Miami Open new and improved–at least in some ways

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 tournament has moved to the mainland, held for the first time in 2019 at Dolphins Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.

There were understandable reservations about the event transitioning away from what was basically paradise on Key Biscayne to an NFL stadium and its surrounding parking lots. But with no more than a few days of action gone by, there are reservations no more. The new site is an absolute touchdown.

The practice courts are massive upgrade from the former site, 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, those at Crandon Park were a jumbled mess scattered throughout the grounds. In the early afternoon Friday, one could simultneously watch the following practice sessions: Federer-Copil, Cilic-Tiafoe, Goffin-Khachanov, Johnson-Medvedev, Tsitsipas-Koolhof, Shapovalov-Bopanna, and the Bryan Brothers. 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 waging particularly intense practice battles).

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 is also no longer miles removed from the rest of the match courts like it was on the key; now the Grandstand is centrally located, with 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.

Naturally, 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. One outer-court match was even temporarily suspended due to a blinding glare from the sun’s reflection off the Hard Rock sign outside the main stadium.

It’s a work in progress, as expected. But especially for year one, it’s better than anyone could have hoped. While Key Biscayne still has us longing for the past just a bit, at the same time this venue has the Miami Masters going full steam ahead into the future.