18:53
McDonald – Koepfer 1:0
And with that forehand, the German would like to pass the encroaching opponent. But the ball doesn’t come precisely enough either and ends up out of bounds. Without a word, Koepfer hands over his service.
18:52
McDonald – Koepfer 0:0
Koepfer immediately got in trouble. When a cross-played forehand slips significantly, he is faced with three breakballs.
18:50
1 sentence
So it’s up to Dominik Koepfer to open the match in a serving way. The first serve comes straight away. A long rally immediately develops, whereby the German doesn’t seem determined enough and doesn’t take his chance. McDonald does that a little later in front of the net with a soulful forehand ball.
18:45
Entry and coin toss
Now our protagonists enter the square. At 29 degrees, clouds and a decent breeze ensure that it is not so unbearably hot down there. After a few tugs of preparation, the Danish chair umpire Christian Rask meets at the net to vote. The coin falls in favor of McDonald, who decides to hit back. Then both play a little.
18:39
Head 2 Head
For the third time, the two face each other on the tennis court. The previous duels both took place in 2020. First, the German had the upper hand in three sets in the quarter-finals of a challenger in Dallas. A good six months later they met in the qualifier for the Cincinnati Masters, which was then relocated to New York. It was even closer, this time the American had the better end for himself – with 6: 7, 7: 5 and 7: 6.
18:30
Shortly
In the first match of the day at the stadium, Naomi Osaka has just used the fourth match point and defeated Astra Sharma 6:3 and 6:4. So nothing stands in the way of a reasonably punctual start of our men’s match. It will probably start around 18:45 CET. That would be 1:45 p.m. local time.
18:27
MC Donald
Mackenzie McDonald only recently got a taste of the top 50 in the world (49th), is currently number 54. Like Koepfer, the native Californian who lives in Florida has not yet booked a career title on the ATP tour. As a finalist in the Washington 500 last August, the right-hander was pretty close, only just losing out in three sets against Jannik Sinner. At the Masters level, it never went past the 2nd round.
18:17
Both players in Miami
In Miami Gardens, Koepfer is there for the second time. On its debut in 2021, it suffered a first-round defeat against Frenchman Hugo Gaston. So it’s time for the first won match. By the way, McDonald is in the main draw for the third time. So far, the American has always survived the first round, but bowed out immediately afterwards.
18:07
head
From a German point of view, Dominik Koepfer will kick off the men’s tournament. Last year, the man from Furtwangen recorded his best world ranking position to date in 50th place and is currently listed as number 64. The left-hander on the ATP tour was not yet able to win a tournament. The best Masters result goes back to Rome 2020 (Quarterfinals). Not much has happened to the 27-year-old this season, it has never gone beyond the second round.
17:58
masters
With the hard court event in Florida we experience the second Masters tournament of the season after Indian Wells. Daniil Medvedev is number 1 on the men’s seeding list. Alexander Zverev is seeded 2nd. Incidentally, all 32 seeded players enjoy a bye at the start.
17:48
Welcome
Welcome to the Miami Open! After the women yesterday, the men’s main field will now start playing today. Mackenzie McDonald and Dominik Koepfer meet in the first round. The match is scheduled to start around 18:30 CET.