It was shaping up to be a statement night for Jannik Sinner, until the Miami skies had other ideas. After all, a win here would put him right on the brink of completing the Sunshine Double.

And for a while, everything was going to script.

Facing Jiri Lehecka, the Italian settled in quickly, took early control, and pocketed the first set with confidence. But then came the inevitable Miami twist.

Out of nowhere, the skies opened up. The rain poured in, and just like that, play was brought to a halt.

From washed-out qualifiers on March 15 to a complete shutdown of play on March 18, rain has had a firm grip on the 2026 Miami Open. And it’s not just bad luck, it’s a recurring problem. The matches at Hard Rock Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins, remain at the mercy of the weather, with no roof in place to shield players or keep play uninterrupted.

For years now, fans have voiced the same concern: the venue, built primarily for football, isn’t quite designed for the demands of top-level tennis. Yet despite repeated complaints, little has changed, leaving players and matches vulnerable every time the Miami skies decide to open up.

Meanwhile, Jannik Sinner still has history within reach, waiting for his shot to complete the Sunshine Double and add another milestone to his growing resume.

On the other side, Jiri Lehecka has plenty at stake himself. The Czech is already set to rise to a career-high World No. 14 on Monday. And if he wins, he could climb even further to No. 12, marking a significant leap from his current World No. 22 ranking.

It’s a remarkable trajectory for the 24-year-old, who turned pro in 2020 and, in just six years, now finds himself knocking on the door of the top 10.

And this run hasn’t come easy. Lehecka has battled his way through the draw at the Miami Open with statement wins, including taking down sixth seed Taylor Fritz in the Round of 16 and overpowering Arthur Fils in the semifinals. Now he’s into his first-ever Masters 1000 final.

Their head-to-head before going into today’s match is 3-0, with Sinner taking the lead. Though Lehecka has been in career-best form, this demonstrates that he is more than capable of causing some trouble to the world No. 2 on a given day. Whether today proves to be that day remains to be seen.

However, Sinner has already broken the Czech’s serve in the third game of the first set. Lehecka had the opportunity to break back in the next game, but the second seed saved three break points, and this sealed the story of the first set. The Italian won the first set 6-4, with a sensational 100% win percentage on his first serve. Can Lehecka stage a comeback? We will have to wait and see.

Miami Open has tested its hosts at every turn

There has been another delay in the match. Just after three points in the second set, the rain returned to the stadium, resulting in the suspension of the play until further notice. 

This is not the story of this match, but a crisis that has been lurking from the start of the tournament. Miami is known for having tropical weather around this time of the year, and to conduct a tournament without any roof courts is a task in itself. 

The rain has wiped out full-day schedules, sending the tournament timetable into a backlog. This led to many players playing two matches in a day, creating havoc for them and giving an unfair advantage to their opponents. 

The weather was not the only headline at the Miami Open 2026. The first round match between Matteo Arnaldi and Alexander Shevchenko was forced to be interrupted in the middle of the play since there was no artificial lighting on the outer court (Court 4), and players could not continue playing as the sun went down.

The Medvedev-Cerundolo match had a spider cam cable, which got entangled in the umpire chair, causing an unusual and threatening delay. And defending champion Aryna Sabalenka was taken out of the main stadium into the third-ranked Butch Buchholz arena to fit in the match of top seed Carlos Alcaraz and crowd favorite Joao Fonseca, a decision that attracted much criticism.

The fact that the tournament has still managed to produce some compelling tennis, a stunning women’s final between Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff, a series of upsets all through the men’s tournament, and a final that has history on the line is a tribute to the players.

Infrastructure, on the other hand, has been a disgrace to a Masters 1000 event of this magnitude. Whether Hard Rock Stadium can still host one of the biggest tennis tournaments without a major investment in covered courts and the ability to have facilities for the outer courts is a question that will not go away quietly after this two-week-long period.

For now, the players will have to wait till the sky is clear and the cover has come off. Till then, you tell us, will Lehecka cause an upset, or Sinner will seal the match in straight sets to create history?