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Editor's note: This story was translated from ATPTour.com/es

In an attempt to temper the on-court mental rollercoaster, finding emotional equilibrium is a key part of Alejandro Davidovich Fokina’s life on the ATP Tour. The Spaniard and his team have discovered that there is no better place to train this than in everyday life. In fact, after a great campaign at the BNP Paribas Open, he had the perfect opportunity to put his training into practice.

Davidovich knew he had to be careful of the explosion of joy that came with reaching his first quarter-finals in the desert and guaranteeing himself a place in the Top 25 of the Pepperstone ATP Ranking for the first time.

“It’s a result of all the hard work,” Davidovich Fokina said. “But sometimes these things make you feel euphoric and excited, and you have to handle it calmly, because otherwise you can come back down with a crash. You have to stay level.”

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Casper Ruud reached the final at the Miami Open presented by Itau last year. The Norwegian is back at the hard-court event this week and chasing his maiden tour-level title of the season.

Before his opening match against Ilya Ivashka, Ruud caught up with ATP Uncovered and answered questions fans put to him. The 24-year-old discussed his bromance with Italian Matteo Berrettini, revealed his guilty food pleasures and picked his favourite player to watch on the Hologic WTA Tour.

“I think she plays fun from the current generation,” Ruud said. “She has been dominating for the past year or so."

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Many fans think Ruud has a famous lookalike in the form of a singer. While unsure of the comparison himself, the Norwegian is eager to play a round of golf with the Irishman.

Editor's note: This story was translated from ATPTour.com/es

Although Guillermo Coria left behind an incredible legacy that includes nine tour-level titles and a spell at No. 3 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings in 2004, many remember him for one of his signature moves: the drop shot. Who better to ask, then, about one of its biggest proponents in today’s game, Carlos Alcaraz?

During his visit to the Miami Open presented by Itaú, a tournament where he reached the final in 2004, ‘The Magician’ analysed one of the key shots in the armoury of the current World No. 1.

“Alcaraz’s drop shot is amazing,” Coria told ATPTour.com. “He’s a very intelligent player, who reads the game very well. He plays drop shots right when they should be played. He always sets up well and, best of all, he disguises it so well.

“That makes it even more complete. I’m in awe of how he plays drop shots. I love and celebrate the fact that there’s a player with so much potential who has such a good drop shot,” he adds with a hint of nostalgia in his voice. His favourite shot is now a rarity on the ATP Tour, but seeing the World No. 1 use it so frequently brings a smile to his face.

Tommy Paul has been one of the breakthrough stars of 2023. The American has clawed to the Australian Open semi-finals and the championship match in Acapulco, putting himself in sixth place in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin ahead of the Miami Open presented by Itau.

Brad Stine, who has coached Paul since 2020, spoke to ATPTour.com about his charge's progress, how they reshaped his game, what it will take to continue his ascent and more.

Last year you said one of the big things you were working on with Tommy was trying to get him to move forward a little bit more. How happy are you with his progress?
I think after Tommy’s first match here, he was interviewed on court and he was asked what he and I might be working on right now and he said, ‘Well, I’ll just tell you that I never come to the net enough for Brad. No matter how much I come in, he would always prefer if I would come in more.’ I jokingly say every single match Tommy plays he could have come in more than what he probably came in. So I think it continues to be a work in progress.

That being said, I think Tommy’s identity as a player has developed into what I would describe, I think a lot of guys on Tour would describe, as an aggressive all-court player. I don’t know that I would describe him as or that he would be described as an attacking player. But he’s an all-court player that can mix in serving and volleying, that can attack off the ground and come forward and finish at the net. He does that enough to keep his opponents off balance and not comfortable.

If they’re giving up any kind of short balls or anything that he can attack, then he’s going to put pressure on them coming forward. He can keep them off balance on his serve. Even against some of the best returners, he can keep them off balance with some serving and volleying. All that stuff I think has definitely improved and become kind of a staple of his game. He’s not Maxime Cressy. I wouldn’t expect him to be Maxime Cressy. But he’s coming forward a fair amount for sure.

It was a slam dunk of a day for Argentine tennis Thursday at the Miami Open presented by Itau. National icon Manu Ginobli, a Basketball Hall of Fame NBA player for the San Antonio Spurs, spent time with some of his country’s stars.

Ginobli met 2022 semi-finalist Francisco Cerundolo and Tomas Martin Etcheverry, who earned a first-round win against Pavel Kotov.

“[It was] fantastic to get to know Manu. He’s an amazing player. He’s one of the best athletes in Argentine sports, so he’s an idol for me,” Cerundolo told ATPTour.com. “He’s a great basketball player. I know he is a tennis fan. He likes tennis, so it’s a pleasure to meet him and get to know him. I remember watching him in the Olympic games, playing for the Spurs, so there are a lot of memories that come to my mind.”

[BREAK POINT]

Ginobli was more than a basketball star for his country. He transcended sport as an icon, not just a four-time NBA champion. Cerundolo was thrilled to meet him in person for the first time.

Some players would have had a nightmare in Jan-Lennard Struff’s shoes Wednesday. The German walked onto Court Butch Buchholz for his first-round match against Fabio Fognini. One year ago at the same venue, he was dealt one of the most difficult blows of his career.

The German fractured his foot during his first-round match against Pedro Martinez. In the middle of the second set, realising he was unable to properly move, Struff retired. Did returning to the site of the injury bother him?

“No, it’s nice to play here for sure. It’s a beautiful city, beautiful tournament,” Struff told ATPTour.com. “Not really weird, no. I didn’t think about it the whole match. Before I thought, ‘Okay it’s the same court’, but during the match I didn’t focus on that.”

[BREAK POINT]

Struff missed two-and-a-half months after his injury last year, and he fell as low as No. 168 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. He was No. 167 as recently as January.

Italian Lorenzo Sonego snapped a six-match losing streak at ATP Masters 1000 level Thursday night in Miami when he defeated former World No. 3 Dominic Thiem 7-6(7), 6-2.

After a tight first set, the World No. 59 blew open the match by winning the first four games of the second set as his clean hitting from the baseline and a slew of errors from the former US Open champion proved telling.

"I wanted to be aggressive on the return and I was very aggressive overall today. I've wanted to play closer to the baseline this year," Sonego said. "I like to play in Miami because the conditions are really fast."

[ATP APP]Sonego, who reached the Miami fourth round in 2021, will next meet Briton Daniel Evans.

Thiem, who has not won a match at Masters 1000 level since Rome 2021, littered the stats sheet with 13 winners to 30 unforced errors spread evenly across both wings.

The second round of the 2023 Miami Open presented by Itau begins at Hard Rock Stadium on Friday, where the seeded players in the top half of the draw seek to kick-start their campaigns at the ATP Masters 1000 event.

Top seed Carlos Alcaraz is the defending champion in Miami as he aims to back up his Indian Wells title and complete the coveted ‘Sunshine Double’. The Spaniard plays Facundo Bagnis on Friday, while Casper Ruud, Taylor Fritz, Andrey Rublev and Holger Rune are also in second-round action.

ATPTour.com previews a jam-packed Day 3 in southern Florida.

View Singles Draw | View Doubles Draw | View Schedule

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Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury notched a confidence-boosting first-round win on Thursday at the Miami Open presented by Itau, where the second seeds downed Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini 6-4, 6-3.

The American-British pair clinched a late break of serve at the tailend of both sets to earn a 73-minute triumph as the doubles action began at the ATP Masters 1000 event in southern Florida. Ram and Salisbury also saved all three break points they faced to prevail in what was a tough opening test against six-time tour-level titlists Bolelli and Fognini.

The win was Ram and Salisbury’s first at Tour-level since the Australian Open in January. The 2022 Nitto ATP Finals champions are now 4-0 in first-round matches in Miami, where their best showing is a semi-final run in 2021.

The three-time Masters 1000 titlists will take on Tommy Paul and Ben Shelton or Martin Damm and Shang Juncheng in the second round as they chase their first ATP Tour title of 2023.

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When Carlos Alcaraz plays Facundo Bagnis in the second round of the Miami Open presented by Itau, it will be a clash of two players who have followed completely different career paths.

Last year, Alcaraz became the youngest World No. 1 in the history of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. On the other hand, Bagnis reached his first ATP Tour final aged 31 two years ago in Santiago.

“Not all the players have the opportunity to be amazingly good like him in the beginning of our career. I don’t have his talent, I don’t have different things that he does. He is the first player of the world,” Bagnis told ATPTour.com. “I made my career with a lot of work, sacrifice. Every time I managed to give everything of myself for trying to get to a semi-final at 31 years old or any final or results maybe at any Grand Slams. For sure they are so different, our careers.”

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Few have seen the World No. 1’s improvement as closely as Bagnis. The Argentine first played Alcaraz at an ATP Challenger Tour event in Cordenons three years ago. The Spaniard was a 17-year-old not yet in the Top 200.

The Miami Open presented by Itau and the stars of the ATP Tour are heating up in more ways than one.

The on-court action is firing, and some of the players have enjoyed interacting with the NBA world. Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev, Holger Rune, Lorenzo Musetti and Miomir Kecmanovic were among the players who attended Wednesday evening's Miami Heat game against the New York Knicks.

"Great night last night watching @MiamiHEAT in Miami! ??" Alcaraz tweeted. "It was a pleasure to meet @DwyaneWade, and great to see you again @JimmyButler!"

Great night last night watching @MiamiHEAT in Miami! ?? It was a pleasure to meet @DwyaneWade, and great to see you again @JimmyButler! pic.twitter.com/9sAfSH0d7q

Kecmanovic, Musetti and Rune posed for a group photo on court during player warmups before beginning the season's second ATP Masters 1000 event.

Jiri Lehecka wasted little time settling in to his maiden Miami Open presented by Itau campaign on Thursday morning, when the big-hitting Czech eased to a 6-3, 6-4 first-round victory against Federico Coria.

The 21-year-old Lehecka surged to an early 3-0 lead against Coria on Court 1 at Hard Rock Stadium, where he is competing in an ATP Masters 1000 main draw for just the third time. That set the tone for the pair’s first ATP Head2Head encounter, as Lehecka’s powerful groundstrokes and confidence to move forward whenever possible helped him to a comfortable 63-minute victory.

“The conditions suit me much better than in Indian Wells,” Lehecka later told ATPTour.com. “The surface is a bit faster and the balls are flying more. Today’s match was tough because it was my first match in Miami. I managed it well.

“I was serving pretty good. I knew that Federico improved a lot on hard courts, which meant I tried to prepare a bit better for our match, and I’m super happy that I won.”

The World No. 44 Lehecka fired 23 winners and won 75 per cent (9/12) of points at the net en route to his win. Cordoba finalist Coria battled well to restrict his opponent to a single break of serve in each set, but the Argentine was unable to conjure any break points of his own as he fell short in his bid to reach the second round in Miami for the first time.

The fastest serve ever recorded in professional tennis is 163.7 miles per hour (263.4 kilometers per hour) by Samuel Groth of Australia during a Davis Cup match in 2012. This speed was officially recognized by the Guinness World Records. However, it's worth noting that some unofficial measurements have recorded even faster serves, but they are not ...

The ATP, governing body of of men’s professional tennis, has launched a global bid process to determine the future host of the Next Gen ATP Finals, from 2023-2027.

Since its inception in 2017, the Next Gen ATP Finals has been held in Milan, Italy, featuring the best eight ATP singles players aged 21-and-under each season. Eight of the current Top 10 players in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings have competed at the event, with the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Jannik Sinner all lifting the trophy.

In addition to spotlighting the future stars of the game, the tournament has provided a platform to trial new innovations. Several of the rules and technologies first tested in Milan have since been incorporated onto the main ATP Tour, including shot clocks, Live Electronic Line Calling, Video Review and more.

With players competing all season long to qualify, the event delivers a consistent and compelling narrative for the Host City – building on its impressive global broadcast and digital reach.

Andrea Gaudenzi, ATP Chairman, said: “This season-ending tournament has created a pathway to stardom for young talent within our sport. It drives innovation and gives fans a unique opportunity to witness the stars of tomorrow going head-to-head.

Mirjam Bjorklund was battling deep into the third set of her first-round match at the Miami Open presented by Itau on Tuesday against Jasmine Paolini. The Swede had never won a qualifying match at a WTA 1000 match before, but she qualified and put herself in a position to reach the second round of the main draw.

When Bjorklund walked to the side of the court to collect her towel, longtime boyfriend Denis Shapovalov was in the front row cheering her on.

"I wouldn't call it coaching,” Shapovalov said. “As players we try to help each other out if we see something, but it's more support than anything.”

Bjorklund clawed past Paolini 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 for one of the biggest wins of her career. Nobody was happier than Shapovalov.

"It's always nice to get a first,” Shapovalov said. “She lost first-round qualifying the past two years in tough matches, so for her to win both qualifying matches and the first round is massive. We'll see where she can take it from here.”

One Direction and two ATP Tour stars combined for an unforgettable moment in Mexico.

Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev spent a day in Mexico before traveling to Florida for the Miami Open presented by Itau. They received a big surprise when they met One Direction’s Louis Tomlinson.

“That was funny because when we were arriving, we saw so many people in front of the hotel,” Rublev said. “Daniil was like, ‘Why [are there] so many people here?’

“Outside of the hotel were a thousand people, kids, girls. As soon as he came out you cannot imagine what was happening. I saw it only in YouTube videos. I’ve never seen something like this in my life.”

Andy Murray said that he was surprised with his flat performance Wednesday at the Miami Open presented by Itau after suffering a straights-sets loss to Serbian Dusan Lajovic.

Having won two matches at the BNP Paribas Open and coming into the tournament off the back of encouraging practice sessions at Hard Rock Stadium, the two-time Miami champion sad that he expected better.

“I served pretty well, but the rest of the game was a bit of a problem today. Didn't really return that well, made a number of errors that obviously I wouldn't expect to be making,” Murray said of the 6-4, 7-5 defeat.

“I didn't really feel like I moved particularly well, which is really important for me, something I've been doing very well actually in most of the matches this year. So that was probably the thing.

“Some days you obviously don't hit the ball your best, but my movement wasn't great today.”

Wu Yibing continued his ascent on Wednesday at the Miami Open presented by Itau.

The Chinese star defeated Briton Kyle Edmund 7-5, 7-5 to reach the second round at the ATP Masters 1000 event. This year’s Dallas Open champion will next face 31st seed Diego Schwartzman to reach the third round at this level for the first time.

Six years ago, Wu made his Miami debut in qualifying as a 17-year-old, losing in straight sets to Jared Donaldson. In his first match at the event since, the 23-year-old broke his opponent’s serve four times to triumph after one hour and 35 minutes.

It was not an easy win, though. Wu let slip an opportunity to serve out the match at 5-3 in the second set against Edmund, who was playing his fourth match of the year. But the Chinese player did not allow the complication to fully shift the momentum to Edmund’s side. The former World No. 14, who is working back to form following injury, missed a backhand wide to fall in straight sets.

Did You Know?
This week last year, Wu was tied for No. 1,869 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. With his win against Edmund, he climbed to No. 57 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.

Daniil Medvedev isn’t ready to throw out the playbook just yet.

Despite scavenging just five games from Carlos Alcaraz in Sunday’s one-sided BNP Paribas Open final, ‘Deep-court Daniil’ says that he won’t be altering his court position should he face the World No. 1 again at the Miami Open presented by Itau this fortnight.

“It's possible [that I may not play as deep] but I'm not sure if I would do it,” he said Wednesday of his next hard-court meeting with Alcaraz, whenever that might come. “For sure if I lose two matches in a row staying back and [I get beaten] just as easy I have to definitely change something. But one match is not enough."

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Alcaraz exploited Medvedev’s positioning through a combination of well-timed serve/volley plays, his signature drop shots, and by taking advantage of the slower court conditions to take big cuts from the ground to clock a series of winners past the 2021 US Open champion.

World No. 76 Dusan Lajovic brushed aside his recent modest hard-court record to upset two-time former champion Andy Murray 6-4, 6-4 on Day 1 of men's main-draw action at the Miami Open presented by Itau on Wednesday.

The 32-year-old Serbian, who was once as high as No. 23 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, had won just four of 16 matches on hard courts since the start of 2022. But the 2019 Monte-Carlo finalist won his first career meeting with Murray to pick up his first hard-court win of the season.

Lajovic’s victory was underpinned by his strong performance on second serve against one of the game’s best returners. He won 72 per cent of second-serve points and saved two of the three break points he faced, while converting all three opportunities on Murray's serve. He failed to serve out the match at 5-4 but after missing two match points from 40/0 in the final game, he closed out the match when Murray framed a forehand at the end of an extended rally.

“When I didn’t close it out I thought it’s happening again,” Lajovic said of Murray’s ability to pull victory from the jaws of defeat this year. “Honestly that last game I was super right at 40/0 and he was able to put pressure on me. Luckily he shanked the last forehand, which he normally doesn’t do.”

Murray ends the ATP Masters 1000 'Sunshine Doubles' with a 2-2 record in Indian Wells and Miami, having reached the third round at the BNP Paribas Open. The 35-year-old Scot slips to 8-5 on the season, highlighted by a run to the Doha final (l. Medvedev).