Using a protected ranking, Canadian Denis Shapovalov, who is on a comeback trail from injury, returned to the Miami Open presented by Itau, producing an encouraging performance to oust World No. 75 Luciano Darderi 6-3, (3)6-7, 6-4 after two hours and 27 minutes in their first-rounder held on Wednesday.
In the second round, the 24-year-old will square off against 10th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Shapovalov set off to a fast start, breaking early and holding to open a 2-0 lead.
From there, he built up a solid display behind his serve, winning 75 percent of the first serve points.
En route to taking the opener, he converted a double break in the seventh game, but in a late challenge, Darderi broke straight back to narrow the gap to 3-5.
Then, the Canadian player broke to nail a 6-3 win in 39 minutes, inching ahead in the scoreboard.
A tight second set unfolded into a tiebreak better played by the 22-year-old Italian, who stole a 7-6(3) win to level up the contest.
Neither player faced a break point during the second set.
The former Stockholm champion raised to the challenge on his way to take a pivotal break in the third game, marching to wrap up proceedings 6-4 to win the set and the match.
The 2019 semifinalist fired 55 winners to 22 unforced errors compared to the Cordoba Open reigning champion 10 and 14, respectively.
Shapovalov missed the second half of the 2023 season due to a lingering knee injury, returning to tour-level competition early in January at the ASB Classic, falling in the first round.
Since then, he competed in six tournaments before heading to Miami to start his campaign at the second Masters 1000 of the season, where he recorded his third triumph this year.
The Canadian leads the Greek player in their head-to-head series 3-2, having met last at the 2023 Barcelona Open, a match Tsitsipas won in straight sets.