Belinda Bencic, Nick Kyrgios, Gaël Monfils all in action: Miami, Day 2 Preview

Belinda Bencic vs. Dayana Yastremska

>>> Watch live on TennisChannel.com HERE (Start Time approximately 3:10 p.m. ET)

These two haven’t met for a while: 2019 in Hobart, to be exact, when Yastremska was 17. Bencic won that day, just as she won when they met the season before.

Six years later, Yastremska is ranked 42nd and Bencic 45th, but each has played better than that number would indicate so far in 2025. Bencic won a title in Abu Dhabi, made the quarters in Indian Wells, and reached the fourth round at the Australian Open. Yastremska was runner-up in Linz, and won two matches in Dubai and Indian Wells before losing to Iga Swiatek both times.

How Yastremska bounces back from the loss to Swiatek in Indian Wells will be important. It was a vintage-Iga 6-0, 6-2 blitz job that might not have been as close as those scores indicate. But Bencic could be in a similarly shaky position, confidence-wise: Her last match was a 6-1, 6-1 rout at the hands of Madison Keys in IW.

Still, on most days, Bencic, with her good hands and great backhand, is the safer bet than her gunslinging opponent. Winner: Bencic

Gaël Monfils vs. Fabian Marozsan

>>> Watch live on TennisChannel.com HERE (Start Time approximately 1:10 p.m. ET)

Monfils made his Miami Open debut—the tournament was held in Key Biscayne in those days—a full 20 years ago. Since then he has played it 15 times, amassed a 20-14 record, and made the quarterfinals twice. Even at 38, though, it doesn’t feel as if this will be his last trip to South Florida. The Frenchman has enjoyed something of a revival early in 2025, winning in Auckland, making the fourth round at the Australian Open, and beating Sebastian Korda in two tiebreakers in Indian Wells.

He’ll lead off the men’s event in the main stadium on Wednesday against Marozsan, a 25-year-old Hungarian who is still best known for stunning Carlos Alcaraz in Rome in 2023, at a time when the Spaniard was in the middle of a scorching run of play. Two years later, Marozsan is ranked 59th and 8-7 on the season.

Even at 38, Monfils has the edge in athleticism, as well as experience, and he’ll surely have the crowd in Hard Rock Stadium on his side. But Marozsan won their only meeting, last year in Auckland, in a third-set tiebreaker. Monfils can never be completely trusted, even when he’s in solid form the way he is now. But this is his match to lose. Winner: Monfils

Nick Kyrgios vs. Mackenzie McDonald

>>> Watch live on TennisChannel.com HERE (Start Time approximately 2:20 p.m. ET)

Kyrgios hasn’t won a match since 2022. But on a day that’s light on stars and top seeds, his opening-rounder with McDonald, which is third up in the Stadium, probably qualifies as the highest-profile encounter. The Australian always draws a crowd, whatever his mood; and McDonald is a popular veteran American.

Both guys are 29, but they’ve faced each other just twice. McDonald won in two sets when they met on hard courts at the Citi Open in 2021; Kyrgios won in three when they played on clay in Houston the following spring.

It’s a bit of a surprise that McDonald, the steadier baseliner of the two, would prevail on hard courts and lose on clay. But his game, as unspectacular as it might seem, can present problems for Kyrgios. His two-handed backhand is a reliable shot during rallies, and a weapon on the return. If he can use that shot to break Kygrios a couple of times, it might be enough. Winner: McDonald