Aryna Sabalenka, the World No.1, has been one of the biggest draws on the tour in recent years, often handed prime match slots to maximise crowd engagement. However, at the Miami Open 2026, the Belarusian had to temporarily give up that privilege following rain-induced scheduling chaos.
A delay to Carlos Alcaraz’s highly anticipated clash against Brazilian prodigy Joao Fonseca forced organisers into reshuffling the schedule, with the match eventually moved to centre court. There were further disruptions, including Mirra Andreeva’s fixture being slotted into Sabalenka’s original time.
As a result, Sabalenka, fresh off her title run at Indian Wells Open, was shifted to the smaller Butch Buchholz Court. The organisers presented her with multiple options, including the possibility of postponing her match altogether to accommodate the Alcaraz-Fonseca blockbuster — a suggestion that left her stunned.
“Well, I was actually shocked that they were considering cancelling my match, or giving me a couple of options of the stadiums,” she said. “I was like, ‘What’s the problem for Alcaraz and Fonseca to start later?’ Yesterday, the night session started at nine, and then Mirra was playing.”
Sabalenka insisted on playing as scheduled, prioritising recovery time for the later rounds.
“I was really shocked by the idea of even cancelling my match. But I decided to play today so that, if I win, I have a day off — time to prepare and recharge.”
The decision worked in her favour as she defeated Ann Li 7-6, 6-4 to advance to the third round, where she will face Caty McNally.
Sabalenka admitted the episode was unprecedented in her career.
“I think I’ve never dealt with something like that. It’s a first experience. I just thought it’s not a big problem for me to play and for the night session to start a bit later. But I guess that’s what was better for the tournament.”
The scheduling controversy comes just days after Sabalenka hit back at remarks from Salah Tahlak, who had suggested stricter penalties for players skipping tournaments, including docking ranking points — comments she had labelled “ridiculous.”
