- HJTEP 52nd Annual Gala Set For NYC, Tickets on Sale Now
- Mutua Madrid Open Schedule and Draws for Saturday, April 27, 2024
- Tennis Balls Favorite Photographer and Producer Rob Stone Premieres THE Blue Angels IMAX Film!
- Mutua Madrid Open Schedule and Draws for Friday, April 26, 2024
- It’s a Girl! Belinda Bencic Welcomes Daughter to the World
- Nadal kicks off Mutua Madrid Open campaign with easy win over Blanch
- Mutua Madrid Open Schedule and Draws for Thursday, April 25, 2024
- Mutua Madrid Open Schedule and Draws for Wednesday, April 24, 2024
- Novak Djokovic Earns 5th Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award
- Mutua Madrid Open Schedule and Draws for Tuesday, April 23, 2024
- Rafael Nadal Commits to 2024 Laver Cup
- Mutua Madrid Open Schedule and Draws for Monday, April 22, 2024
- Casper Ruud Tops Stefanos Tsitsipas for Barcelona Title
- Former World No. 1 Garbiñe Muguruza Retires
- Fritz Flies Into First Clay-Court Final in Munich
No Key Biscayne, No Problem; New Site, Same Great Miami Open Tennis Event
- Updated: March 23, 2019
By Ricky Dimon
It was the end of an era at Crandon Park for the Miami Open last year. From the Lipton, to the Nasdaq 100, to the Sony Ericsson, to the Sony, to the Miami Open presented by Itau, Key Biscayne saw it all.
Now this Masters 1000 has moved to the mainland, staged in 2019 for the first time at Dolphins Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.
There were understandable reservations about moving away from what was basically paradise on Key Biscayne to an NFL stadium and its surrounding parking lots. But after less than a week of qualifying and main-draw action, there are reservations no more. The new site is an absolute touchdown.
The practice courts are massive upgrade, with all of them right next to each other in two long, adjacent rows. You can see just about every practice court at the same time. By contrast, practice courts at Crandon Park were a jumbled mess scattered throughout the grounds. On Friday, I was simultaneously watching Federer-Copil, Tsitsipas-Koolhof, Shapovalov-Bopanna, Cilic-Tiafoe, Goffin-Khachanov, Johnson-Medvedev, and the Bryan Brothers. You can’t make that stuff up. Tennis heaven for the true diehards who love practices and simply appreciate pro tennis players hitting a tennis ball even if it isn’t in a match situation (note: since seeded players get byes at Masters 1000, they spend the first few days holding quite intense practices).
As for the rest of the grounds, they are much more spacious than at Crandon Park and generally nicer, with plenty of green space, palm trees, and far more eating areas and food selections. There are five food trucks in between the two rows of practice courts, and those are just a few of many options.
The Grandstand is similar to the old one on Key Biscayne. There is some reserved seating, but fortunately for the common tennis fan the entirety of one side behind the baseline is general admission. It’s also not miles removed from the rest of the match courts like it was at Crandon Park; now the Grandstand is centrally located, with all of the other match courts to its left and the practice courts to its right. Court 1 is also similar to the old one, with seating on all four sides and a nice view of Court 2 from the top row of one sideline so you can watch two matches at once if you find the right viewing spots.
It isn’t perfect. The main stadium just looks weird–and that can’t be helped. When you construct a tennis stadium in the middle of a football field, it’s not going to look normal. But it’s certainly not bad. The outer courts aren’t big enough to handle the record number of attendees. Court 2, Court 3, and Court Butch Buchholz need to be as big as Court 1. There was also a glare problem on a couple of courts when the sun was reflection off the main stadium.
As expected, year one at a new site is a work in progress. But it’s better than I expected and basically everyone I’ve spoken to feels the same way. The nostalgia of Key Biscayne is still there, but at the same time this venue won’t make us long for the past.