Great Britain’s Andy Murray fought back for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Italy’s Matteo Berrettini on Wednesday (March 20) in the first round of the Miami Open.

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Murray swatted nine aces to Berrettini’s eight, saved 4 of 5 break points and never trailed following the first set. He is a two-time champion at the event, having won in 2009 and 2013.

“It was obviously a great win for me,” Murray said.

Berrettini, who was playing on a protected ranking, needed medical attention in the second set after feeling dizzy. A doctor took his blood pressure, and play eventually resumed.

Also playing on a protected ranking, Canada’s Denis Shapovalov toppled Italy’s Luciano Darderi 6-3 6-7(3) 6-4 to advance to the second round.

And American wild card Martin Damm upset Zhizhen Zhang of China in two sets that went to tiebreak, 7-6(2) 7-6(3).

Women’s draw

Only 11 players have completed the “Sunshine Double“, winning Indian Wells and the Miami Open back-to-back, but world number one Iga Swiatek comes to Florida looking to join an even more exclusive club of those that have managed a double-double.

Only two men, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, have won the double more than once while Steffi Graf (1994 and 1996) remains the only woman.

The top-seeded Pole, who snatched her first double in 2022, could find herself in elite company if she can hoist the Miami trophy again and few are betting against her.

Swiatek completed the first leg of the double in imperious style on Sunday (March 17), steam-rolling to the Indian Wells title without dropping a set, capping off her tournament with a 6-4 6-0 drubbing of Maria Sakkari.

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But having just arrived in Miami and not yet set foot on a court, Swiatek is taking a cautious approach.

“It’s not easy to come from Indian Wells and play here in such humidity. But I have all new positive thoughts. And honestly, I’m really happy with what I really achieved at the beginning of the season. So, I’m really kind of taking it easy, step by step, and I’ll see how it’s going to look like,” she said in an interview on Wednesday (March 20).

Meanwhile, world number three and Florida native, Coco Gauff will be trying to capitalize at her home tournament.

Gauff, who lost to Sakkari in the Indian Wells semi-finals, can count on plenty of crowd support as she returns to Miami for the first time since her triumph at last year’s U.S. Open.

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