By: Aaron Xiong
As the smaller tournaments wrapping up around different parts of the world, one of the biggest tournaments outside of the Grand Slams is underway in Miami, Florida! The 2021 Miami Masters is a tournament that has seen several top players withdrawing such as world number one Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and countless others due to COVID-19 cases in the U.S.
The Miami Open is one of the two tournaments along with the Indian Wells Masters known as the Sunshine Double. The Indian Wells Masters is usually held two weeks before the Miami Masters but due to COVID-19, the tournament has been cancelled this year. Completing the Sunshine Double requires a player to win both the Indian Wells and Miami Masters in the same year back to back. The most Sunshine Doubles is Novak Djokovic with four and Roger Federer not too far behind with three.
Photograph: Julian Finney/Getty Images
The first round of the Miami Masters has begun today with numerous first round match ups. Early exits include American Sam Querrey and Spanish player Feliciano Lopez. The two have shown a decline in form and early losses in other tournaments to younger players. Querrey has yet to see any success following his semifinal run at the 2017 Wimbledon Championships where he defeated defending champion, home favorite, and world number 1, Andy Murray.
This is also the second year the Miami Open has moved to the Hard Rock Stadium for match play which is also home to the Miami Dolphins of the NFL. The tournament used to be held in Crandon Park, but was moved due to the tournament site being “outdated.” Top seeded players like number one seeded Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Denis Shapovalov have received first round bye’s due to tournament format.
Round 1 action continues through to Tuesday with round of 64 beginning on Friday in Miami.
