Tennis

Miami Open 2023 Preview – All You Need to Know About Miami Open

The second 1000-tier event of the ‘Sunshine Swing’ is right around the corner, at the time of writing. As many of you will know, the Miami Open is the second huge Masters tournament played in the USA in March. Therefore, with the tournament quickly approaching, I figured now was the ideal time to provide a Miami Open preview. 

And just for clarity, the Miami Open is a tournament that is held for both the ATP and WTA Tours. For both events, the Miami Open is a 1000-level tournament, meaning that there are 1000 points up for grabs here. Also, the Miami Open format is the same as it is for some other tournaments of the same level, like Indian Wells, the other part of the Sunshine Double.

Miami Open Preview

Of course, this is significant in terms of rankings points, and that’s precisely why all of the best players in the world are flocking to Miami this week. However, as part of this Miami Open 2023 preview, I want to discuss some specifics relating to the top players involved, the Miami Open schedule, the draw, and more. If you’re more interested in ATP Miami Open predictions or WTA Miami Open predictions, we got you covered as well.

In any case, are you ready to digest this fully up-to-date preview before things begin? Let’s dive right in now.

Miami Open Preview for the 2023 Event

In order to give you all of the necessary details ahead of this tournament, I’ve covered several key areas below. And since the draw has now been published, we know exactly where the seeds are and who might face off at certain stages. Therefore, I can also provide specifics on key talking points regarding the 2023 Miami Open draw. Yet before we get to that, let me run through a few other areas to provide a comprehensive tournament preview.

Miami Open Tournament History

I may as well start by talking about the history of this event before looking at how things stand for 2023. On that note, many people don’t realize quite how old this tournament is. Amazingly, it was founded 38 years ago, meaning that the first tournament was played in 1985. Back then, the Miami Open was played in Delray Beach, Florida. However, the tournament has moved through several other locations since then.

In 1986, the tournament was played in Boca West, Florida. Then in 1987, the event moved for the third time in three years to Key Biscayne, Florida. Finally, the location of the event then settled down for three decades before it moved for the 4th time to Miami Gardens, Florida, in 2019. And interestingly, it’s two Americans who hold the records for the most Miami Open title wins.

On the men’s side, it’s Andre Agassi with 6 titles, but Novak Djokovic also has 6 in his locker too, so this record is shared. Yet for the women’s side, the all-time Miami Open title leader is Serena Williams with 8 titles.

Biggest Stories Relating to the Event

There are two main categories relating to the biggest stories of the 2023 Miami Open. One of these categories is the recent Miami Open wild card announcements, and the other covers Miami Open withdrawals/absences. Of course, everything else concerning the draw, seeds, and who’s playing who is separate (and discussed below). So, let me start with the wildcards as part of this Miami Open preview.

For the men’s Miami Open, the following main draw wildcards have been issued (along with accompanying rankings):

  • Dominic Thiem (AUT) – 102
  • Taro Daniel (JPN) – 103
  • Zizou Bergs (BEL) – 139
  • Juncheng Shang (CHN) – 171
  • Emilio Nava (USA) – 188

As for the women’s Miami Open, there are some more interesting wildcard announcements. Here is the full list:

  • Emma Raducanu (GBR) – 77
  • Erika Andreeva – 127
  • Ashlyn Krueger (USA) – 154
  • Brenda Fruhvirtova (CZE) – 163
  • Robin Montgomery (USA) – 187
  • Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva (AND) – 194
  • Alexandra Eala (PHI) – 220
  • Hailey Baptiste (USA) – 270

Adding to these announcements, as promised, I wish to also highlight any withdrawals and top players that are missing. On the men’s side, the biggest players who aren’t competing include Djokovic and Nadal. As for the women’s event, a couple of key withdrawals include Cornet and Kontaveit. Both have been replaced by others who have now been added to the main draw.

Top Players Competing

Let me now get back to the good news for this Miami Open preview! For the ATP Miami Open tournament, all of the big guys will be there except Nadal and Djokovic, which is expected given the tournament’s reputation and generous Miami Open prize money. This means that guys like Alcaraz, Medvedev, Tsitsipas, Ruud, and all of the other top 10 players will be there as the main ATP Miami Open seeds. We will also see Andy Murray as he tries to do well in one of his favourite tournaments.

This promising lineup also holds true when looking at the WTA Miami Open seedsOf course, the defending champion and world number one, Iga Swiatek is headlining the event. Yet she is joined by the Australian Open champion, Aryna Sabalenka, as well as Pegula, Jabeur, Sakkari, Rybakina (last week’s champion), Coco Gauff, and many more! Needless to say, this stacked lineup in both events should guarantee plenty of entertaining tennis.

Miami Open 2023 Preview for the Schedule

The women’s qualifying draw for the Miami Open started on Sunday, March 19th. This was the same day as the men’s and women’s singles final in Indian Wells. From here, both the women’s and men’s Miami Open qualifying matches will be played on Monday, March 20th. And the qualifying draws will then be wrapped up on Tuesday, March 21st. As it happens, this is also the day that the first round of the women’s singles event will be played.

Beyond that point, both the men’s and women’s singles events will go through a progressive knockout process. With both draws following a 96-player format, this means that the women’s singles final will be played on Saturday, April 1st. And the men’s final will be played on Sunday, April 2nd. In any case, you can find the complete Miami Open schedule here.

Furthermore, for those who are interested, the doubles action is scheduled to begin on Thursday, March 23rd. So this is the point at which you can watch both doubles and singles action or at least follow the Miami Open results for them.

Where You Can Watch the Miami Open

The final part of this Miami Open preview is arguably the most important of all for those who wish to watch the tournament. So to clarify, in the United Kingdom, all of the coverage of the Miami Open will be serviced by Amazon Prime. This is only accessible if you have an Amazon Prime account, which can be purchased for a price of £8.99 per month. 

By grabbing this subscription before the Miami Open begins, you can pick and choose your court to watch whatever matches you like – another major positive of Amazon Prime being the provider! 

Miami Open Draw for the 2023 Tournament

As promised, I shall now wrap up this preview by briefly talking about the men’s and women’s singles draws. Both have been discussed below.

Men’s Singles

The men’s singles should be a classic this year. Carlos Alcaraz needs to win the tournament to retain his number-one ranking, yet in his half, he has Rune, Fritz, Rublev, Sinner, Zverev, and Ruud – all top players. As for the bottom half, it’s loaded with Tsitsipas, Tiafoe, Auger-Aliassime, as well as last week’s finalist, Daniil Medvedev.

Women’s Singles

For the women’s tournament, the top two seeds are Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka. However, neither of them won in Indian Wells last week. The title was taken by Elena Rybakina, who is in the top half of the draw. So she could face Swiatek in the quarter-finals. As for other big names in that half, we have Pegula, Kasatkina, and Gauff. 

On the opposite side of the draw, Sabalenka faces potential clashes with Krejcikova, Garcia, Jabeur, Bencic, or Sakkari.


Subscribe to Punditfeed on Google News for all the latest updates from the world of sports!