Opelka denies Eubanks in Miami serve battle; Bu sinks Norrie

Reilly Opelka claimed his first ATP Masters 1000 win since 2022 on Thursday at the Miami Open presented by Itau.

The American finished with a flourish behind his serve to defeat countryman Christopher Eubanks 6-3, 7-6(4) and improve to 4-0 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series. The 6’ 11” Opelka won all 26 of his first-serve points in the second set, according to Infosys ATP Stats, and fittingly sealed the 85-minute win with an ace out wide on the Deuce court.

“The first set I didn’t serve well at all, I didn’t know what was going on,” said Opelka, who landed 16 of 30 first serves in the opening set. “I waited until the second set to address it, regroup and think about some technical things. My toss was way off, that happens to me sometimes. As soon as I made that adjustment, it clicked straight away and I knew it was going to be tougher to break me in the second, even though he didn’t break in the first. That gave me a lot of confidence.”

Catching a vibe in the 305 😎

In a battle between two of the biggest servers on tour, Reilly Opelka extends his stay in Miami by defeating Eubanks 6-3 7-6(4)!@MiamiOpen | #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/3QdWDpcIYf

— ATP Tour (@atptour) March 20, 2025

Opelka reached his seventh ATP Tour final in Brisbane in January and is now 9-5 on the season. After defeating the 6' 7" Eubanks for the second time in as many months, the 27-year-old will next face 11th seed and last week's Indian Wells finalist, Holger Rune.

In other action at the ATP Masters 1000 event, Buyunchaokete produced a rock-solid performance to see off former World No. 8 Cameron Norrie 6-4, 6-2 in 79 minutes. The 23-year-old, who did not face a single break point against the Briton, is now one spot off his career high at No. 66 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings. Buyunchaokete will meet 10th seed Alex de Minaur in the second round.

Zizou Bergs claimed his third consecutive win over Nuno Borges this year by moving past the Portuguese 7-6(2), 7-5. Bergs, who is at a career-high No. 51 in the PIF ATP Rankings, takes on eighth seed Andrey Rublev in the second round.

Qualifiers Jacob Fearnley and Thiago Agustin Tirante both advanced on Day 2 in Miami. Fearnley survived Benjamin Bonzi 7-6(6), 2-6, 6-4 to set a clash with top seed Alexander Zverev, which is a repeat of their Australian Open third-round match in January. Tirante reeled off five consecutive games from 1-3 in the final set to overcome Flavio Cobolli 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 and set a second-round meeting with 27th seed Denis Shapovalov.

Lucky loser Hugo Gaston advanced past Yoshihito Nishioka 6-3, 3-1 before the Japanese was forced to retire. Gaston entered the main draw earlier on Thursday after former World No. 4 and 2016 Miami finalist Kei Nishikori withdrew due to a back injury.

Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina overcame Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6(3), 6-3 to level their Lexus ATP Head2Head series at 1-1, while Canadian Gabriel Diallo beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 6-0. Jordan Thompson moved past Marcos Giron 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.