Miami Open cancel matches as Alcaraz vs Fonseca decided and champ downgraded

Organisers of the Miami Open have cancelled eight of Friday’s matches, which will now be pushed back to Saturday, as rain delays continue to ravage the schedule. Constant downpours meant there was no play at all on Wednesday. And the rain continued to cause chaos on Friday, with matches being suspended multiple times between 10am and 3.30pm local time. A new order of play has now been released, with world No. 1 and Aryna Sabalenka downgraded from the main Stadium Court to the third-biggest court, Butch Buchholz. Over on Stadium, the first match of the day session only finished around 5pm local time (9pm GMT). There were expected to be two more day session matches, featuring Coco Gauff and Sabalenka, respectively. But all eyes are on the night session, which was meant to start at 7pm local time (11pm GMT) – around two hours from now – as teenage sensation Joao Fonseca faces world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz for the very first time. Tournament director James Blake has already learned his lesson when it comes to rejigging Fonseca’s matches. Last year, there was outrage when the Brazilian’s match against Ugo Humbert was moved from the 5,000-strong Grandstand court to the near-14,000-capacity Stadium at very short notice, when a space opened up. Thousands of Fonseca fans had waited hours on Grandstand to watch him play, and were understandably angry. This year, Blake has already confirmed that Fonseca will play all of his matches on the main Stadium Court. And given the hype surrounding his first official meeting with Alcaraz, organisers had a tricky task on their hands when it came to Friday’s schedule. Typically, the matches towards the end of the day are usually cancelled and postponed until tomorrow. And in an effort to make sure Alcaraz vs Fonseca can start as close to 7pm local time as possible, Sabalenka’s match has been moved from the third day session slot on Stadium to last on Butch Buchholz. The reigning champion faces American ace Ann Li. When the new schedule was announced, Gauff was already underway against Elisabetta Cocciaretto on Stadium. British No. 4 Francesca Jones is among those who have had their matches cancelled. After taking out childhood hero Venus Williams in round one, Jones was set to face No. 5 seed Jessica Pegula last on the Grandstand court. Tennis news, scores and tournament results plus selected offers and competitions We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. Read our Privacy Policy The following matches have also been cancelled for Friday: Madison Keys vs Elena-Gabriela Ruse (fourth match on Butch Buchholz); Naomi Osaka vs Talia Gibson (last match on Butch Buchholz); Leylah Fernandez vs Oksana Selekhmeteva (last match on Court 1); Zizou Bergs vs Tomas Etcheverry (fifth match on Court 7); Aleksandar Vukic vs Rafael Jodar (last match on Court 5); Qinwen Zheng vs Sloane Stephens (fourth match on Court 2); Iva Jovic vs Paula Badosa (last match on Court 3).