March 20 (Reuters) - Rei Sakamoto became the latest teenager to make an impact at the Miami Open on Friday, claiming his first ATP Tour victory as five young players reached the second round of the Masters 1000 event for the first time in 19 years.
The 19-year-old Japanese wildcard beat Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-4 3-6 7-6(7) in a rain-interrupted match to set up a second-round meeting with ninth seed Daniil Medvedev.
Sakamoto, who won the boys' singles title at the 2024 Australian Open, is ranked 164th in the world and hisvictory added to a remarkable collection of teenage triumphs at Hard Rock Stadium this week.
Moise Kouame, 17, beat American qualifier Zachary Svajda 5-7 6-4 6-4 to become the youngest male player to win a match in Miami and the youngest to claim an ATP Masters 1000 victory since Rafael Nadal in 2003.
Kouame also became the first player born in 2009 or later to win an ATP Tour match. Ranked 385th in the world, the French wildcard is the youngest player ranked in the top 900 players and next plays Czech 21st seed Jiri Lehecka.
Brazilian 19-year-old Joao Fonseca eked out a 6-4 3-6 6-2 victory over Hungary's Fabian Marozsan to set up a second-round clash with world number one Carlos Alcaraz, and American Darwin Blanch, an 18-year-old wildcard, overcame German Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3 3-6 6-3.
Together with Spanish 19-year-old Rafael Jodar, who beat German Yannick Hanfmann 6-4 4-6 6-1, the five teenagers reaching the second round in Miami marked the first such occurrence since 2007, when a group including the 19-year-old Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Evgeny Korolev and Sam Querrey , as well as Juan Martin del Potro, 18, came through the opening round.
(Reporting by Angelica Medina in Mexico City, editing by Ed Osmond)
