You know the Miami Open (www.miamiopen.com) is in town when traffic on Key Biscayne gets a little more hectic than usual. This year is no exception – with shuttles shuttling people back and forth from the general parking lots, crowds crossing from parking lots to the entrance through a single intersection, and fans scouring restaurants on the Key to get a glimpse of their favorite players. But it’s all a lot of fun and worth every minute of traffic mayhem for one of the great tennis tournaments in the country.
Over the years the tournament has been known under different names depending on that years’ sponsors. It looks like it will be known as the Miami Open from here on out, though the future of the tournament beyond the next couple of years is in doubt due to disagreements on facility upgrades. Though I've read in the last week that this issue may be working itself out.
I really thought that the 2017 was going to be the best ever with Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal committing early on to play. Alas, Murray and Djokovic withdrew about a week before the start due to injuries. But with Stan Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori, Milos Raonic, Federer andNadal as the top five seed on the Men’s side, it’s still going to be a great tournament. The Women’s side is equally strong with Angelique Kerber, Karolina Pliskova, Simona Halep and Dominika Cibulkova in the top spots. Venus Williams is in this year but sister Serena is not. That’s a shame because Serena is such fun to watch.
I went last week to watch some of the early round matches. I saw Pliskova dominate Madison Brengle (61 63), Damir Dzumhur defeat Hyeon Chung (36 62 76) and Borna Coric best Marcel Granollers (76 46 63). All great matches. I think some of the early round matched are the best to watch. You get to see some young playing their hearts out to advance to the next round.
The tournament ends the first weekend in April with the Women’s final on Saturday afternoon and the Men’s final on Sunday. Come on out for a great event before it’s gone for good.