Miami Open draw: Andy Murray on collision course with Carlos Alcaraz

ATP Tour

James Richardson
March 20, 2023

Andy Murray faces a potential Round of 32 clash with world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz at the Miami Open later this week.

Murray will need to notch two wins to set up the match while Alcaraz will need to win his opening match in the tournament’s second round.

Alcaraz will start his Miami Open title defence with a match against either Facundo Bagnis or a qualiifer.

Murray will have to down Serbian Dusan Lajovic in a tough first round assignment at the Hard Rock Stadium.

If Murray gets through that he will then need to find a way past American 30th seed Maxime Cressy fresh off a bye into the second round.

The early round set up leaves Murray facing an uphill battle to get into the second week of the Miami Open.

Novak Djokovic has not made the field for the second ATP 1000 tournament of 2023, once again missing out due to the ongoing ban on unvaccinated travelers entering the United States by air.

If the top section runs according to seeding, Alcaraz would face home hope Tommy Paul in the last 16.

Paul will start against one of two potentially tricky opponents as he will face the winner of the first round match between Marc-Andrea Huesler and Albert Ramos-Vinolas in his first match.

Paul could be in for a Round of 32 clash with 20th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina who will tackle either Oscar Otte and Brandon Nakashima to start.

The next section looks set up to generate a Round of 16 clash between Taylor Fritz and Holger Rune as both men battle to stay in the ATP top ten.

Fritz might need to get past Denis Shapovalov before he even faces Rune, while the Dane shares a section with 31st seed Diego Schwartzman.

The Round of 16 is a round of mouthwatering potential clashes with third seed Casper Ruud bracketed to meet Alexander Zverev at that stage.

Ruud could yet be halted early given his poor form and tricky draw as he could face Botic van de Zandschulp in the Round of 32 after an opener against either Ilya Ivashka or a qualifer.

Zverev’s first seed opponent could be 22nd seed Roberto Bautista Agut.

Meanwhile Jannik Sinner has no easy path to a possible last 32 clash with Grigor Dimitrov as he could have to beat Laslo Djere to progress.

The seeds will all only have one match before potentially meeting another top 32 player.

Miomir Kecmanovic will face the winner of an all-French Round one match between Gael Monfils and Ugo Humbert with the 29th seed assured of facing a veteran first up.

Meanwhile his possible Round of 32 opponent, Andrey Rublev will start against either big-serving Alexander Bublik or home hope JJ Wolf.

Ben Shelton enjoys a seeding at a big tournament for the first time in his career although his second match might be against Hubert Hurkacz which is not a draw he would have asked for by any means.

Cameron Norrie has been bracketed alongside fellow Masters champion Borna Coric.

Second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas is set for an opening assignment against either French veteran Richard Gasquet or a qualifier.

The first seed Tsitsipas could meet is No 27 Sebastian Baez, while either Karen Khachanov or Lorenzo Musetti might be the next top players he faces as they are bracketed together alongside the bottom of the draw.

British 23rd seed Dan Evans will take on either Lorenzo Sonego or wildcard Dominic Thiem in his opening match and he is on a course to take in-form American Frances Tiafoe in the Round of 32.

Indian Wells finalist Daniil Medvedev will face another Spaniard in his first match in Miami as he is drawn alongside Roberto Carballes Baena and Bernabe Zapata Miralles.

Meanwhile 19th seed Matteo Berrettini is grouped with 15th seed Alex de Minaur.

Andy Murray Carlos Alcaraz