Early reports indicated it was going to be a wet start to the Miami Masters, but a complete washout on Day 2 is a real disappointment for the fans.
It all adds up to an extremely busy Thursday when almost the entire First Round of the ATP tournament and the majority of the WTA event have to be completed- some of the Second Round matches that were due to be played on Thursday are scheduled to go out on the new Stadium court, but we are already in catch up mode at the tournament.
The two selections that were made from Day 2 will have to be played on Thursday and there are two more selections below that were originally in the batch of remaining First Round matches due to be played on Day 3.
A few Second Round selections had been identified from the WTA event being played here, but those will be out in the Day 4 thread- with the majority of those matches set to be scheduled for Friday being put together at the end of play on Thursday, further selections will be added to that thread on the day as we also try to keep up with a tournament that would have appreciated having some tennis on Day 2 instead of the complete wipeout of a day.
Marin Cilic - 2.5 games v Alexei Popyrin: He will be turning 38 years old later this year, but Marin Cilic still feels he has enough in the tank to compete at a level that will make him feel satisfied. Early results have been pretty solid in 2026, including reaching a Semi Final in Dallas, but Marin Cilic suffered opening defeats in Delray Beach and Indian Wells.
Instead of taking in a Challenger event last week, Marin Cilic will have headed over to Miami and begun preparation for the next Masters event on the calendar.
The faster surfaces remain his favourite domain and Marin Cilic may be targeting a strong run that can help him move closer to the Seeding positions for the next two Grand Slams on the clay courts and grass courts. You would definitely like his chances of having an impact at Wimbledon, but Marin Cilic is pretty competent on all surfaces and he is rightly set as the favourite for this First Round match.
Alexei Popyrin entered the top 20 of the World Rankings in August 2025 to reach a new career high mark, but his form since then has been disappointing.
Now the Australian will be entering the Miami Masters as the World Number 47 and it is really concerning to see Alexei Popyrin holding a 9-23 record on the hard courts since the beginning of the 2025 season. He is at 2-8 for the 2026 season and that is largely down the pressure that Popyrin has faced on the return with less than 30% of returning points won in those ten matches.
The serve will always be a potentially dangerous weapon, but Alexei Popyrin has not been able to play the big points effectively with the pressure that has been put on him by his own struggles.
Marin Cilic can put pressure on with his own strong serve, while the veteran has also been the much more effective return player in the opening months of the season.
The 2-1 head to head in favour of the Croatian will also help mentally and that includes a very strong win in Miami, albeit back in 2022.
The last meeting came thirteen months ago on the hard courts of Dubai, and Marin Cilic rallied in that one for another victory over Alexei Popyrin and he may have the higher confidence level to come through this First Round match.
Alex Michelsen - 3.5 games v Mattia Bellucci: Any time someone comes through the Qualifiers, they have to be respected and that is certainly the case for Mattia Bellucci who also reached the Final of a Challenger event in between these two big Masters events played in North America.
That run will have given him confidence, although it should also be noted it would have been in a field where players are not quite of the level that he is going to be facing in the main draw.
However, this is a winnable match for the lefty and Mattia Bellucci will have some confidence behind him after a difficult opening to the 2026 season- he will surely be looking forward to the run on the clay courts coming up, but Bellucci has shown he can be competitive on the hard courts.
Over the last twelve months he has tended to struggle against the higher Ranked opponents faced though and that is the situation for the Italian in the Miami First Round.
Alex Michelsen has had some mixed results, but a strong run in Indian Wells will have done him the world of good and he can use the home crowd to push through this opening match.
At 21 years old, Michelsen will know there is room for improvement, but he has a serve that can be effective and his return numbers have been much better when facing those Ranked below him. That is evident over the last twelve months and Alex Michelsen is expected to get the better of Mattia Bellucci having beaten him on the Washington hard courts a little over eighteen months ago.
MY PICKS: Marin Cilic - 2.5 Games @ 2.00 Bet Victor (1 Unit)
Alex Michelsen - 3.5 Games @ 2.25 William Hill (1 Unit)
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