By Richard Pagliaro & Alberto Amalfi | Thursday, April 4, 2019
Roger Federer captured his 101st championship, including his fourth Miami Open title.
Photo credit: Lindsey Godwin/Miami Open
Drive across the Rickenbacker Causeway, turn right into Crandon Park and step back into a hard-court garden of eden.
The sun set on the Miami Open's magical 32-year run in Key Biscayne last year.
Watch: Serena Talks Major Motivation
So what happens when you trade tennis paradise for a parking lot in Miami Gardens?
Surprisingly, some pretty positive and cool developments.
The Miami Open made its debut at the Hard Rock Stadium home of the Miami Dolphins to record-setting crowds in a strikingly different setting.
While the tournament said good-bye to the most scenic sunsets on the pro circuit, the 14,00-seat stadium within the Hard Rock Stadium is a mixed bag of innovation, inspiration and work-in-progress installation.
The good news on the metallic stadium-within-the-stadium: the seats are actually closer to the court than the old Crandon Park so despite the fact you're in a cavernous football stadium the court itself doesn't feel distant.
A state-of-the-art shade canopy means the majority of the court—and crowd—are always covered in shade, which is a welcome reprieve from the south Florida sun that scalded fans at the old Crandon Park site.
The sound system is clear and booming—a musical mix featuring everything from Motown to dance to salsa to pop to Led Zeppelin—and sight lines are clear.
All four stadium high-definition video boards used for Dolphins games are active so you see brilliant close-ups of dazzling shots, medical treatments and the kiss-cam. There are more bathrooms, concessions and bars and the tournament boasts about 50 luxury suites nearly doubling Crandon Park while providing major revenue.
The bad news: an outdoor tournament now feels like an indoor event when you're in Hard Rock Stadium.
There's a kind of constant humming that sounds like something you'd hear inside an industrial park. The sound of the ball inside the stadium is deader thud than the livelier pop you'll hear on the outer courts.
Crandon Park could feel like Carnival with South American spirit flowing as brightly as the flags of Argentina, Chile and Brazil. That festival feel wasn't quite as strong at Hard Rock, but given organizers had less than a year for the $60 million rennovation to the site what they have achieved is impressive.
While the blue back walls provide players with a clear contrast of yellow ball off the wall, some players said the aqua paint job surrounding the court was too bright requiring a visual adjustment to pick up the ball.
Both Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams complained the shady conditions were too dark. In fact, Djokovic demanded officials turn on the lights during his day match—and the chair umpire complied.
There is more of everything and everything costs more.
A bottle of water costs $5, a margarita will set you back $18 and a bottle of Stella Artois is $10.
Our 12 days in Miami Gardens was filled with pulsating tennis, tasty food, more than a few Stella Artois and loads of sunscreen.
Despite uneventful finals, the new site is building buzz.
Jerry Seinfeld, Anna Wintour and Florida governor Ron DeSantis enjoyed the action though the tournament lacked some star power with Rafael Nadal, Juan Martin del Potro, Andy Murray and Maria Sharapova all MIA due to injury or surgery.
Of course, any change can evoke both good and bad reactions, depending on your point of view.
Here's our view of the best the worst of the new Miami Open based on our 12-day stay.
Best
Variation Celebration
Singles champions Roger Federer and Ashleigh Barty and Canadian semifinalists Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov mixed the spins and speeds beautifully in all-court attacks.
Equally importantly, both champions explore and expand the depths of the court more than most. Both used the short chip backhand to drag opponents forward and both were superb closing at net. The champions reinforced a hard-court truth: Champions play this game moving forward.
Barty owns one of the best kick serves of any player shorter than 5'7" and showed shrewd court sense and a commitment to the cause.
Barty's comeback from 2-5 down in the tie break to toppled Australian Open finalist Petra Kvitova, 7-6 (6), 3-6, 6-2, was pivotal to her run. She stole a set against the third seed to spark her first title since the 2018 Nottingham and crack the Top 10 for the first time.
The tournament, which also saw the Bryan brothers defend their doubles crowns, was a celebration of shot variation and a reminder that complete players who can transition from defense to offense are still so dangerous in this baseline era.
Star Outshines Shadow
Roger Federer played vintage attacking tennis carving up massive servers Kevin Anderson and Isner and outclassing NextGen star Shapovalov en route to his 101st title. The 37-year-old Swiss glides across the court moving with the efficiency of a man in his mid 20s.
Legions of Fed fans got what they came for: The Maestro made music in Miami where he once defeated David Nalbandian and Guillermo Coria in succession to win the Orange Bowl as a blond-haired teenager.
The beauty of Federer is you're seeing a legend still near the peak of his powers whose desire is undiminished. And though some observers sometimes get caught up in what's next or when's the end—one of the questions Federer faced after winning the title was "wouldn't this be, like, a great time, if you were to say good-bye to Miami after this win?"—the star continues to outshine the shadow of past achievement and expectation.
The truth is at 37 Federer still plays periods of the transcendent tennis the rest of the world can only aspire to realizing.
Grandstand Rules
The best court on site is the 5,00-seat Grandstand. Wherever you sit, you've got a great sightline and the energy from the crowd translates to the court. Some of the best matches we saw, including the electrifying duel between NextGen stars Denis Shapovalov and Stefanos Tsitsipas, happened here.
In general, the tournament did a fine job with the outer courts, which provide the intimacy you don't always get at a tournament of this sze and stature. Though the Grandstand is the ideal size for a tennis venue, it lacks the natural shade that Hard Rock Stadium court provides.
Still, the tournament resisted the temptation to build a bigger Grandstand and the result is a venue that's ideal for tennis.
Super Staff
The majority of staffers we dealt with from security guards to parking attendants to media staff to restaurant crew were courteous, helpful and patient facing repetitive questions from confused patrons in the first year on the new site.
A special thank you to dedicated media director Sam Henderson, his assistant Lisa Franson and their staff, who worked first to last ball every day of the tournament and kept it all running smoothly despite some schedule craziness.
Sam, Lisa and staff also continued the tournament's long-running tradition of hosting the Bud Collins memorial media tournament in honor of the late, great Hall of Fame writer.
Staged on Saturday morning hours before the women's final, the tournament gave media a chance to play on the same outer courts with the same Penn balls the Miami Open uses and enjoy all the amenities of the pros for a few hours. It was a classy personal touch to a very professionally-run tournament.
A shout-out to Mauricio, who showed Division I skills dominating the rest of us media hackers in taking the title, and to long-time tennis writer Harvey Fialkov of Sun-Sentinel fame for a big comeback tournament. Harvey underwent hip surgery a few years back, was playing with a bulky black knee brace, but was flying around the court like a young Johan Kriek all while detailing the strengths and weaknesses of NextGen stars and the Miami Marlins.
Major Vision
The Miami Open boasted the largest video board in tennis alongside Hard Rock Stadium’s South Plaza. The 90 foot wide by 40 foot high screen was one of several large video screens throughout the grounds so when you take a break for a bite or a drink you can still see the action.
The Nick Kyrgios Experience
No one present in the packed Grandstand for Nick Kyrgios' three-set defeat to Borna Coric—not even his mom who was seated directly across from us—can reasonably argue his current level of tennis is consistently high even to win a Grand Slam.
But nearly every single person in the building walked away sharing a common sentiment: Kyrgios, even in a sometimes crazed racquet-breaking, F-bomb spewing craze, is still one of the most entertaining tickets in the game.
This guy hits shots only Roger Federer is capable of making. Watching Kyrgios warm-up for this match he suddendly stepped a couple of feet inside the baseline and unleashed a flurry of quick-release serve bombs—each easily in excess of 100 mph with no leg-power supplied—is nearly was entertaining as watch some matches.
The issue is Kyrgios is fit, focused or fierce enough to channel the talent into tangible results in Masters and majors.
Mac-Masterful
The title for most under-appreciated coach in tennis still belongs to David Macpherson.
The veteran coach guided the Bryan Brothers to their second straight Miami Open title months after Bob Bryan had a hip replacement surgery and coached 2018 champion John Isner to his second straight Miami singles final.
Year after year, Macpherson quietly does the job and gets results.
Worst
American Women Wilt
Sloane Stephens started March steps from the summit arriving in Indian Wells with a shot at world No. 1 before scraping out just three games in a BNP Paribas Open loss to 109th-ranked qualifier Stefanie Voegele.
The defending Miami Open champion looked listless and reluctant to step into the court crashing out against the slices and spins of Tatjana Maria in her Miami Opener. Stephens, who met the media in the mix zone which is feet away from the court, looked upset and frustrated in the aftermath. Hopefully, she'll assert her speed and skills more offensively in clay-court season.
Miami Dolphins co-owner Serena Williams joined Roger Federer, Naomi Osaka and Novak Djokovic at the stadium's ceremonial ribbon-cutting, but trimmed her homecoming to one match.
Serena's second serve lacked sting, she wasn't coming out of the corners with her typical quickness and looked labored in a 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 win over Rebecca Peterson. Afterward, Serena cut short her post-match presser saying "one more (question)."
"Man, LeBron would never do that," an NBA writer seated next to me said while shaking his head.
A day later, Serena withdrew due to a knee injury, which probably explains her reluctance to talk too much when her body isn't quite yet 100 percent ready for the grind.
Floridian Danielle Collins toppled Venus Williams surging to the 2018 Miami Open semifinals, but stumbled early and had no answers bowing to Yafan Wang, 7-5, 6-1, in round three.
Novak's Stumble
Look there's no shame in Novak Djokovic losing to the tough Roberto Bautista Agut. If you saw their first meeting of the season when the Spanish baseliner surprised the world No. 1 in Doha then you know Bautista Agut is a dangerous foe.
The real surprise is how Djokovic, who has swept the last three Slams in a row, grew so ornery so quickly. From barking at his box, to chirping at the chair umpire over dim conditions to exhorting the ball kids to feed him balls faster, the top seed looked more edgy than energetic. Ultimately, Djokovic just didn't convert the multiple break-point chances he had vs. Bautista Agut.
Still, Djokovic is hitting the ball cleanly and should get back on track during the upcoming clay season as he takes aim in completing his second career Nole Slam.
Pricey Parking
Good news: the tournament has twice as many marking spaces as the Crandon Park site—and there's no need for a bus ride after you park either.
Bad news: parking comes at an eye-opening U.S. Open priced $40—if you buy parking on site. Go on the official website, Miami Open.com, and buy a parking pass in advance for $25.
Full disclosure: Media parking was free, conveniently located right near the southwest gate and staff, including our favorite driver, the charismatic Judy, were ever-present on golf carts driving us from parking lot directly to security check. That was a huge help especially when lugging computers and other gear around in the heat. Media parking was excellent and staffed stayed on site until the final ball was played.
Skimpy Scoreboards
The outer courts are beautiful, but they installed only one scoreboard on each, whereas on US Open outer courts there's a scoreboard on each end.
Seems like an easy fix to install scoreboards at each end rather than forcing players and fans to always look at one end.
The outer courts are completely wrapped in blue wind screens and while that's good for on-court play it prevents fans walking by the opportunity to catch a sneak peek of the action. People pay a lot of money to attend this tournament, they should be able to see a side view of the outer courts as they do at the US Open.
Under-Performing Umbrellas
The food court features artificial turf and umbrellas to provide diners shelter from the sun.
Good in theory, right?
In reality some of the umbrellas were incomplete so when the skies opened and rain poured down during Ash Barty's semifinal win over Anett Kontaveit standing under the incompleted umbrellas provided as much protection as holding a spaghetti strainer over your head.
Simple fix: Construct complete umbrellas in select areas of food court to give fans total protection from the elements and adding some more water fountains would help too.
Angie's Diss
Angelique Kerber, typically classy in victory or defeat, dissed Canada’s Bianca Andreescu after falling to the Canadian for the second time in six days on a late Saturday night in Miami.
“You’re the biggest drama queen ever,” Kerber said after a half-hearted handshake.
Go to :38 of the above video to hear Kerber's words...
The match ended at well after 1 a.m. Miami time and came as Andreescu was on a winning streak that stretched back to Indian Wells.
Kerber later took to social media and posted some praise for the young Canadian, which garnered quite a few comments, including a comment from none other than Nick Kyrgios.