Coco Gauff races past Sofia Kenin at Miami Open, Novak Djokovic delighted to be back
Coco Gauff, perhaps inspired by the F1 track that surrounds Hard Rock Stadium, raced past fellow American Sofia Kenin 6-0, 6-0 at the Miami Open on a sunny Thursday afternoon in 47 minutes. It was the fastest win of her career.
Third-ranked Gauff, the Delray Beach native who celebrated her 21st birthday last week, won 84 percent of her first-serve points and converted six of her nine break points. She advanced to the third round, where she will face another American, Ashlyn Krueger, who shocked seventh seed Elena Rybakina 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
Gauff has been among the world’s top players since winning the 2023 U.S. Open, and she started 2025 well, beating Kenin in straight sets in the opening round of the 2025 Australian Open en route to the quarterfinals. But she had a few hiccups since, going 2-3 during the past six weeks.
Meanwhile, Pembroke Pines resident Kenin has dropped to No. 46 but came into the Miami Open in good form. The fans who showed up Stadium Court on Thursday anticipated a tough, close match, as did Gauff.
“I didn’t expect it to be that easy, but today just happened to be my day,” Gauff said.
The two South Floridians have faced each other in important matches in recent years.
At the Australian Open in 2020, Kenin beat Gauff in three sets and went on to win her lone Grand Slam title. At Wimbledon in 2023, Kenin beat Gauff again. Gauff came away the winner at the 2025 Australian Open, 6-3, 6-3 in the opening round.
Asked if she thought Kenin was ill or off her game, Gauff replied: “I don’t think she was sick, not that I noticed. I was definitely playing well and maybe she wasn’t playing her best tennis. I don’t think anyone who’s playing their best tennis would have that score line. I think it was a combination of really great tennis for me and maybe her not playing as well.”
She added that she felt at ease partly because she was so close to home, with family and friends in the stands.
Another high-profile player who feels at home at the Miami Open is 24-time Grand Slam champion and six-time tournament winner Novak Djokovic, who is tied with Andre Agassi for most titles at this event. The former world No. 1 returns to the Miami Open for the first time since 2019.
“I haven’t played in Miami in six years, so I missed it,” Djokovic said on Thursday. “I look forward to getting out in front of the very vibrant crowd, it’s very international here, a lot of South Americans that love tennis. I always loved the atmosphere in Miami. I thought it was very unique. So, I can’t wait to be on the court.”
Djokovic made his first big career breakthrough on April Fools’ Day 2007 in Key Biscayne, when he won the Sony Ericsson Open (the Miami Open name at that time). The skinny, charismatic 19-year-old in the bright yellow shirt knocked off Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinal and Guillermo Canas in the final.
He didn’t drop a set the entire tournament — the first men’s champion to do that since Ivan Lendl in 1989. And he became the youngest winner in the tournament’s 23-year history. He was ranked No. 10 at the time, known mostly for his spot-on impersonations of fellow players.
“Tennis has a new star today,” tournament chairman Butch Buchholz declared at the trophy ceremony. “He’s going to be around.”
Those words proved true.
Djokovic evolved into a tennis legend and is now one of the sport’s elder statesmen. He was a longtime member of the players’ council and co-founded the Professional Tennis Players’ Association in 2020 and has been advocating for players’ rights his entire career. This week, the PTPA filed a lawsuit against tennis’ governing bodies, citing “anti-competitive practices and a blatant disregard for player welfare.”
It was filed at the U.S. District Court in New York. The PTPA claims the ATP Tour, WTA Tour and International Tennis Federation violate U.S. antitrust laws.
Djokovic, who plays his opening match Friday against Rinky Hijikita, spent much of his pre-tournament press conference answering questions about the suit.
“I felt it’s my responsibility and my role to try to use the influence to support players and fight for their rights,” he said, stressing that players throughout the sport should get a bigger percentage of the money. “I’ve never been a supporter of division in our sport, but I’ve always fought for better representation and positioning of the players globally in our sport, which I think is still not where I think it should be.”
Asked to reflect on his journey from teenage winner in Key Biscayne to who he is today, Djokovic smiled and replied: “There’s been quite a transformation. It’s kind of a logical and natural cycle in life. I’m not a teenager anymore, but I’m still playing, and I’m still in love with the sport.
“The Miami win in 2007 was my biggest title at the time, it opened so many doors for me, made me believe in myself more that I deserve to be in the mix with the best players in the world. So, it was a huge springboard for me and meant the world to me at the time. And, 18 years later, here we are. Another Miami Open. The excitement is always there.”
In Thursday’s matches, Reilly Opelka earned his first ATP Masters 1000 win since 2022 with a 6-3 7-6 (7-4) win against American wild card Christopher Eubanks. Thiago Agustin Tirante of Argentina beat Flavio Cobolli of Italy 6-1, 3-6, 6-3; and former No. 1 Naomi Osaka, who has Haitian and Japanese roots, advanced with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Liudmilla Samsonaova and celebrated her victory by wrapping herself in a Haitian flag and signing autographs for Haitian fans. American Lauren Davis lost in straight sets to Quinwen Zheng of China; and Jasmine Paolini of Italy beat Rebecca Sramkova of Slovakia in straight sets.
Brazil’s rising star, 18-year-old Joao Fonseca, beat American Learner Tien 6-7 (1-7), 6-3, 6-4 in the first night match in front of an electric crowd that was largely Brazilian, wearing yellow shirts and waving Brazilian flags. The scene looked more like a soccer match than a tennis match, and the courtside reporter joked that it was hard to tell whether it was Miami or Rio de Janeiro.
“I knew there were going to be a lot of Brazilians, but I didn’t know it would be that many,” Fonseca said, smiling. “I mean, 80 percent of the stadium were Brazilian, and if not, it seemed like it. I wrote on the camera lens, `Am I in Brazil?’ because I was really feeling at home.”
Fonseca, who picked up tennis as a hobby six years ago, has had a meteoric rise from 2023 U.S. Open boys champion to No. 1 in the junior rankings to No. 60 in the world rankings. He is 25-4 since December and won his first ATP Tour title in Buenos Aires, becoming the youngest Brazilian champion in the Open era. He beat No. 9 Andrey Rublev in the first round of the 2025 Australian Open, the youngest man to beat a top 10 player there since 1973.
“Things got very fast, juniors, winning U.S. Open [juniors], and then after I turned pro everything got very, very, very crazy in a short time,” he said. “And well, here I am. Things in my career have been so fast, and are still happening. I’m still trying to process everything, but enjoying every moment.”
Former finalist Kei Nishikori withdrew from the tournament with a back injury.
Friday’s schedule includes No. 2 Iga Swiatek vs. Caroline Garcia, No. 5 Casper Ruud vs. Miomir Kecmanovic, Nick Kyrgios vs. Karen Khachanov; No. 4 Jessica Pegula vs. Bernarda Pera; No. 5 Madison Keys vs. Elina Avanesyan, and No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz vs. David Goffin in the final night match. Alcaraz drew a huge crowd to his practice session on Thursday.
This story was originally published March 20, 2025 at 7:20 PM.