Miami Open: Jacob Fearnley reaches main draw with victory over Tristan Boyer
Jacob Fearnley overcame American Tristan Boyer in straight sets to qualify for Miami Open, live on Sky Sports from March 18-30; fellow Brit Billy Harris also into main draw after win over Hugo Gaston; Naomi Osaka survives first-round scare at Miami Open
Tuesday 18 March 2025 22:59, UK
Jacob Fearnley booked his place in the Miami Open, live on Sky Sports, with a comfortable straight-sets victory over Tristan Boyer in qualifying.
The 23-year-old joined fellow Brits Jack Draper and Cameron Norrie in the tournament with a 6-2 6-4 win over the American. Fearnley adjusted well to the Miami heat, blitzing through the first set in just 35 minutes with scintillating tennis.
Having broken the serve of Boyer in the first game of the second set, it looked like the British No 3 would continue his dominance. However, Boyer broke back and was disappointed not to have been able to build momentum at 2-2.
Although the second set was not as straightforward, Fearnley continued to impress against the serve. The Brit won four out of six break points in the match, before serving for what turned out to be a convincing victory.
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The victory secures Fearnley a place in the main draw for the Miami Open. As a result, he goes one step further than at Indian Wells, where he lost to Joao Fonseca in a qualifier for the prestigious tournament.
There will be four British representatives in the men's draw in Miami, with Billy Harris winning his qualifier against Hugo Gatson. The second part of tennis' 'sunshine double' will be live exclusively on Sky Sports from March 18.
Fearnley adds to what is an incredibly exciting time for British tennis, with the heroics of Draper in California fresh in the memory. The British No 1 would ultimately avenge his countryman against Fonseca before going on to win the tournament in dominant fashion.
Draper goes into the Miami Open as the world No 7 and will be dreaming of an American double. However, Fearnley will be hoping to impress when he takes to the Miami stage.
Osaka survives first-round scare in Miami
A scrappy Naomi Osaka came from behind to beat Yuliia Starodubtseva 3-6 6-4 6-3 in the first round of the Miami Open on Tuesday for her first win since January's Australian Open.
Osaka dropped the first set and trailed 4-2 in the second against the tournament qualifier before finding her rhythm in front of a supportive crowd on a sunny day in South Florida.
The match hinged on a tense Osaka service game in the third set, where she fended off two break chances for her Ukrainian opponent and crushed an unreturnable serve to take a commanding 4-1 lead.
She would pound another serve Starodubtseva could not get back over the net on match point to secure the hard-fought victory in two hours and 28 minutes, with coach Patrick Mouratoglou looking on.
Osaka was forced to withdraw from her third-round match in Melbourne Park with an abdominal strain and piled up the errors in her first-round loss at Indian Wells earlier this month, but moved well and showed her trademark power to grab the win on Tuesday.
The Japanese player faces 24th seed Liudmila Samsonova of Russia in the second round on Thursday, with the pair having split their two career head-to-head meetings.
American Alycia Parks, Czech Katerina Siniakova and Romanian Sorana Cirstea were among the other players who advanced to the second round of the WTA 1000 event.
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