Sabalenka, Alcaraz advance at rain-hit Miami Open

Persistent rain forced further scheduling changes, with several matches pushed to Saturday, while world number one and newly crowned Indian Wells champion Aryna ⁠Sabalenka was moved to a secondary court to face Ann Li. Sabalenka survived a stern battle against her American opponent, grinding out a 7-6(5) 6-4 victory to reach the third round.

"I was there, ​I was fighting ‌no matter what, even though my game probably wasn't the best one that I ‌have," Sabalenka said in her on-court interview.

"She played incredible tennis - she was super aggressive and she served incredibly."

Men's top seed Carlos Alcaraz later kept his title charge on track, sailing through to ‌the next round ‌with a composed 6-4 6-4 win over ⁠Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca.

Carlos Alcaraz reaches for a backhand against Joao Fonseca (not pictured) on day four of the 2026 Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium. Reuters

World number two Elena Rybakina continued her tremendous ‌form, defeating her Kazakh compatriot Yulia Putintseva 6-3 6-3.

Sixth seed Amanda Anisimova overcame a second-set wobble, after serving for the match before the rain delay, to ⁠beat Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic 6-1 5-7 6-4.

Fourth seed Coco Gauff and seventh seed ​Jasmine Paolini both came from a set down to defeat Elisabetta Cocciareto and Taylor Townsend, respectively, and advanced to the next round. 

Reuters