With the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells headed towards its exciting conclusion, we can also begin to turn our attention to the second and final leg of the Sunshine Double: the Miami Open presented by Itaú.

Main-draw play in Miami kicks off on Tuesday, March 18 with the year’s fourth WTA 1000 title on the line. The best of the best on the Hologic WTA Tour will test their skills in Hard Rock Stadium, home of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins.

Over 8.9 million dollars is up for grabs at the outdoor hard-court event. The singles champion will take home $1.12 million, along with 1,000 precious PIF WTA Ranking points and one of the WTA’s most prestigious trophies.

Here are the key facts you should keep front of mind about the 2025 Miami Open — and keep this post flagged for updates as the tournament edges even closer:

Miami: Draws | Scores | Order of play

Main-Draw Start Date: Tuesday, March 18
Singles Final: Saturday, March 29, not before 3 p.m.
Doubles Final: Sunday, March 30 at 12:30 p.m.
Qualifying Dates: Sunday, March 16 – Monday, March 17
Main-Draw Ceremony: Sunday, March 16 at 12 noon
Singles Main-Draw Size: 96 players (including 12 qualifiers and 8 wild cards, with first-round byes for the 32 seeded players)
Doubles Main-Draw Size: 32 teams
Time Zone: Eastern Daylight Time (GMT -4)

And here are some key storylines to think about as play gets rolling in Southeast Florida:

• World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka will aim to capture her first Miami Open title this season. Sabalenka has won many of the tour’s most prestigious hard-court tournaments, including three Grand Slam titles on this surface, but she has never advanced beyond the Miami quarterfinals in six appearances.
• World No. 2 Iga Swiatek, on the other hand, won the Miami title in 2022. That year, she completed the Sunshine Double by winning Indian Wells and Miami consecutively. She is one of four women to pull off the Sunshine Double in singles, along with Stefanie Graf (1994 and 1996), Kim Clijsters (2005) and Victoria Azarenka (2016).
• Elena Rybakina nearly joined that list in 2023, winning that year’s Indian Wells title and making it all the way to the Miami final before losing to Petra Kvitova. Rybakina has come achingly close at Miami twice in a row, also finishing as runner-up to Danielle Collins in 2024. The Kazakh is 10-2 in Miami over the last two years.
• Coming into her home event, World No. 3 Coco Gauff seeks her first Miami Open title as well. The Floridian started the year 9-0 (leading the United States to the United Cup team title and reaching the Australian Open quarterfinals) but will seek to improve upon a 2-3 record in her last five matches.
• Danielle Collins, another Floridian, returns to Miami as the defending champion. Collins won the first WTA 1000 title of her career here last year, kickstarting a 15-match winning streak that included another title at WTA 500 Charleston the following week.
• Petra Kvitova, who won the Miami Open title two years ago, will also be back — this time as a wild card in her return from maternity leave. Former World No. 2 Kvitova, who gave birth to son Petr last July, will play the third event of her comeback after opening losses in Austin and Indian Wells.
• Victoria Azarenka will contest this year’s event as a three-time Miami champion (2009, 2011 and 2016). She and Venus Williams are tied for the third-most Miami Open singles titles, trailing only Serena Williams (8) and Stefanie Graf (5) — all of them are former World No. 1 players.

Miami ranking points and prize money
First round: 10 points | $23,760
Second round: 35 points | $35,260
Third round: 65 points | $60,400
Round of 16: 120 points | $103,225
Quarterfinals: 215 points | $189,075
Semifinals: 390 points | $332,160
Finalist: 650 points | $597,890
Champion: 1000 points | $1,124,380

Stay tuned for more updates!

MIAMI – A 49-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a sexual assault case from 2014 after DNA evidence linked him to the crime, authorities confirmed Thursday.

Julio Cesar Alvarenga was taken into custody Wednesday at his Miami home and faces charges including kidnapping, sexual battery, false imprisonment, strong-arm robbery, and criminal mischief, jail records show.

Investigators said the attack happened on the morning of Jan. 1, 2014.

The victim told Miami police she was walking to work along Northwest 12th Avenue near 30th Street when a man, who officers identified as Alvarenga, began following her.

Police said the victim tried to get away after Alvarenga told her he wanted to be with her. Shortly after, they said he grabbed her purse and glasses, forced her into a wooded area, and raped her.

She told police that Alvarenga covered her mouth to silence her cries and held her against her will for an hour and a half, according to an arrest report.

Police said surveillance video captured Alvarenga at the time, but the case remained unsolved until this January, when DNA collected from the victim’s rape kit finally yielded a match.

As of Thursday, Alvarenga is being held without bond at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.

Associated Press

Boston Celtics (47-19, second in the Eastern Conference) vs. Miami Heat (29-36, ninth in the Eastern Conference)

Miami; Friday, 7 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: Miami will try to end its five-game slide when the Heat take on Boston.

The Heat have gone 18-22 against Eastern Conference teams. Miami has a 3-8 record in one-possession games.

The Celtics have gone 32-11 against Eastern Conference opponents. Boston has a 6-3 record in one-possession games.

The Heat are shooting 45.8% from the field this season, 0.5 percentage points higher than the 45.3% the Celtics allow to opponents. The Celtics are shooting 46.1% from the field, 0.3% lower than the 46.4% the Heat’s opponents have shot this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Bam Adebayo is shooting 48.8% and averaging 17.6 points for the Heat. Duncan Robinson is averaging 3.4 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

Jayson Tatum is averaging 27.2 points, 8.8 rebounds and 5.9 assists for the Celtics. Derrick White is averaging 4.6 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Heat: 3-7, averaging 108.6 points, 40.3 rebounds, 28.2 assists, 8.2 steals and 3.5 blocks per game while shooting 47.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 108.9 points per game.

Celtics: 7-3, averaging 114.0 points, 43.4 rebounds, 25.1 assists, 8.0 steals and 5.0 blocks per game while shooting 46.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 109.9 points.

INJURIES: Heat: Dru Smith: out for season (achilles), Alec Burks: out (back), Nikola Jovic: out (hand).

Celtics: Kristaps Porzingis: out (illness).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.