Carlos Alcaraz, who became world N.1 again this week thanks to his triumph in Indian Wells, will launch into the defense of his title in Florida, later in the afternoon (local time), against the Argentine Facundo Bagnis (100th).

Meanwhile, Sinner, whom the young Spaniard had ruled out of his way in the semifinals of the California Masters 1000 last week, had no trouble reaching the third round, beating Serbian Laslo Djere (6th) 3-6, 2-58.

The 21-year-old Italian accelerated after being broken at 4-3 in the first set, winning the next six games to break away 6-3, 3-0. He easily retained his advantage to finish in 1h23.

Rublev took 18 minutes more to dismiss American JJ Wolf (7th) 6-7 (3/6), 4-50.

The 25-year-old Russian, who did not go beyond the 1/8th final in Indian Wells, was broken at the start of the match. Overwhelmed by the aggressiveness of his opponent, he also committed a lot of fouls and often got angry on the court. But he recovered by relying on a solid first ball (16 aces) to enforce the logic of the ranking.

"I didn't know what to expect for my first game here. I didn't have much time to adjust. After the break conceded at the start, it was not easy (...) I had to wait for my moment. When it happened (when Wolf was leading 5-4), I started playing a little bit better and I felt more confident," he said afterwards.

Jabeur not ready

A semifinalist in the event in 2021, Rublev will face Serbia's Miomir Kecmanovic (35th) or France's Ugo Humbert (78th) in the next round.

Earlier in the day, Emil Ruusuvuori (54th) also passed, beating 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), as in Indian Wells two weeks earlier, the Spaniard Roberto Bautista (28th). The Finn will face Germany's Alexander Zverev (15th) or Japan's Taro Daniel (97th).

Ons Jabeur seeks a second wind in his match against Varvara Gracheva in Miami, March 24, 2023 © MATTHEW STOCKMAN/Getty/AFP

On the women's side, Ons Jabeur (5th), who returns to competition after knee surgery, still looked far from the level she was at last year, when she reached the finals of Wimbledon and the US Open. The Tunisian was swept 6-2, 6-2 by Russia's Varvara Gracheva (54th), from qualifying.

For his second tournament since his injury in January at the Australian Open, Jabeur, 28, eliminated in the third round at Indian Wells two weeks ago, had announced to be "90%" of his physical possibilities. But she didn't weigh heavily in that match, against a verve opponent who reached the final at the Austin tournament earlier this month.

Maria Sakkari, semifinalist at Indian Wells, gave in after a fierce battle against Bianca Andreescu (31st). The Canadian, winner of the US Open in 2019, won 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, after a match where the 27-year-old Greek also struggled with her serve (six double faults) and her nerves, as she sometimes complained to the referee about the time taken by her opponent to serve.

© 2023 AFP