Rei Sakamoto, 19, joins Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and more in landmark win on ATP Tour
next generation
19-year-old Sakamoto follows Djokovic, Murray and others in achieving milestone victory
For the first time since 2007, five teenagers advance to the second round at Miami
March 20, 2026
ATP Tour
Rei Sakamoto won his first ATP Tour match in Miami.
Jerome Coombe
Rei Sakamoto added her name to the list of junior standouts on Friday with her first ATP Tour victory at this year’s Miami Open hosted by Itau.
After five previous tour-level losses, the 19-year-old Japanese wild card earned his fifth match point with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(7) victory over Aleksandar Kovacevic at the ATP Masters 1000 event. With the win, Sakamoto will set up a second-round showdown with in-form Indian Wells finalist Daniil Medvedev.
Joining Moise Kouame (17), Darwin Branch (18), Rafael Jordal (19) and Joao Fonseca (19) in the second round, Sakamoto ensures he has five teenagers in Miami for the first time since 2007 This stage was entered in 2011, when Juan Martin del Potro (18), Evgeny Korolev (19), Sam Querrey (19), Novak Djokovic (19) and Andy Murray (19) all advanced.
In his first Lexus ATP head-to-head match against Kovacevic, which was delayed due to repeated rain, Sakamoto finished the match in clinical fashion in the deciding set. After missing one match point 6-5 in the final set and three more match points in the tie-break, the Japanese team finally crossed the finish line.
Kovacevic pushed former world number one Novak Djokovic to three sets in Indian Wells, but the home favorite could not get past Sakamoto.
Samurai Sakamoto⚔️
19-year-old Rei Sakamoto defeated Kovacevic 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(7) to win his first tour-level victory! @miamiopen | #miamiopen pic.twitter.com/6p6aPirSpm
— ATP Tour (@atptour) March 20, 2026
Sakamoto won the 2024 Australian Open men’s championship and continued his rise last season, winning two more ATP Challenger titles and becoming the first Japanese teenager to win three trophies at this level.
Sakamoto enters Miami as the No. 164 player in the PIF ATP rankings, seven spots shy of his career-high ranking, and will now look to carry that momentum into his match against ninth seed Medvedev.
