28th of March

The world number one has captivated the attention of the Florida crowd since his arrival at the beginning of this week and is now preparing himself for his singles debut tonight against Teimuras Gabashvili, who he has never played against before.

The Russian, came out as the winner of the match against Simon Bolleli in the first round of the American tournament, where he has reached the second round once before. He's 23 years old and is ranked 72 in the world, (reaching as high as 59 at the beginning of this year).

The match is scheduled for today, Saturday 28th of March at 8:00pm (local time) in the main Stadium. It is the first time that Rafa appears as the number 1 seed of the Miami tournament, which means there is a thought road ahead of him. Pllayers like Ivo Karlovic, David Ferrer, Fernando Verdasco, Feliciano López, Fernando Gonzáles, Richard Gasquet - amongst others - will be waiting for him.

DOUBLES

Rafa Nadal and Marc Lopez have had a successful debut in Key Biscayne after beating doubles pair: Brunstrom and Rojer , 6-2. 7-6, in an hour and a half of play in the first round of doubles of the second Master Series event of the season in Miami.

Vamos Rafa!