Osaka, Stephens, Kyrgios in action Wednesday at Miami Open. Murray plays Thursday
Former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka will play her first-round Miami Open match on Wednesday at noon against Astra Sharma of Australia on Stadium Court inside Hard Rock Stadium.
Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion who spent much of her childhood in South Florida, has slipped to No. 77 after taking some time away from the sport last season as she struggled with mental health issues. She returned in January at the Australian Open, where she lost in the third round.
She will be looking to recover from a second-round loss at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, where she fell in straight sets to Veronika Kudermetova after being rattled by a heckler in the crowd. She left the court in tears.
Sharma is ranked No. 96. The winner of the Osaka-Sharma match plays No. 13 seed Angelique Kerber in the second round.
The Wednesday night session features a women’s match with 2017 U.S. Open winner Sloane Stephens, a Plantation native, and a men’s match with wild card Nick Kyrgios of Australia. Stephens plays Panna Udvardy of Hungary, who rose from No. 352 to No. 83 last year but is 0-6 so far this year. Kyrgios plays Adrian Mannarino of France.
Kyrgios, one of the most entertaining players on tour, is also entered in doubles with Thanasi Kokkinakis.
Two-time Miami Open champion and former world No. 1 Andy Murray will play his opening match on Thursday against Federico Delbonis of Argentina. Murray had a condo in Miami for many years, spends his off-seasons here and loves the conditions. But he has not played the event since 2016 due to injuries. The winner of that match plays top-seeded Daniil Medvedev.
Community Service: The tournament held a day of service Tuesday called Miami Open Unites, as a few dozen players did community projects around Miami-Dade County. The players washed dogs at a shelter, cleaned beaches, helped people re-entering the workforce, replanted a community garden, and fed the homeless.
Among the players who participated were Stephens, Murray, Frances Tiafoe, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Diego Schwartzman, Carlos Alcaraz, Simona Halep, Jannik Sinner, Reilly Opelka, and Denis Shapovalov.
Campana watches Gomez: Inter Miami forward Leo Campana was on site rooting for Ecuadorean countryman Emilio Gomez, who beat Peter Gojowczyk of Germany 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2. Other winners Tuesday included Jack Sock, Vera Zvonareva, Kirsten Flipkens, Ann Li, Heather Watson, and Mitchell Krueger.
Buccholz to be Honored: The Miami Open will dedicate a new court to the family of tournament founder Butch Buchholz on Wednesday morning at 10:30. Fans are invited to attend.