The Miami Open presented by Itau is the second stop of the March Masters, and like the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, showcases the best men’s and women’s players over two weeks. American Andre Agassi and current World No. 1 Novak Djokovic have each won a record six titles at this ATP Masters 1000 tournament. Last year, John Isner became the newest American champion in Miami, joining Agassi, Andy Roddick, Pete Sampras, Michael Chang, Jim Courier and Tim Mayotte on the honour roll.

Previously held in Key Biscayne, the Miami Open presented by Itau makes its debut this year at the Hard Rock Stadium, home of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins. There is a 14,000-seat stadium inside the football stadium itself, a Grandstand, 12 tournament courts and 18 practice courts.

Here’s all you need to know about Miami tennis tournament: when is the draw, what is the schedule, where to watch, who won and more. 

Established:1985

Tournament Dates: 18-31 March 2019

Tournament Director: James Blake

Draw Ceremony: Monday, 18 March 2019 at 12:30 pm ET at the Itau booth

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Schedule (View On Official Website)
* Qualifying: 18-19 March at 10am 
* Main draw: Starts 20-26 March at 11am & 7:30pm (22-23 March evening sessions begin at 8pm); 27-28 March at 1pm & 7pm
* Singles semi-finals: Friday, 29 March at 1pm & 7pm
* Doubles final: Saturday, 30 March, second match on centre after 1pm (after women’s singles final)
* Singles final: Sunday, 31 March, not before 1pm 

How To Watch
Watch Live On Tennis TV  |  View TV Schedule

Venue: Hard Rock Stadium
Main Court Seating: 14,000

Prize Money: USD $8,359,455 (Total Financial Commitment: USD $9,314,875)  

Tickets On Sale: Buy Now

View Who Is Playing, Past Champions, Seeds, Points & Prize Money Breakdown

Honour Roll (Open Era)
Most Titles, Singles: Andre Agassi, Novak Djokovic (6)
Most Titles, Doubles: Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan (5)
Oldest Champion: Roger Federer, 35, in 2017
Youngest Champion: Novak Djokovic, 19, in 2007
Lowest-Ranked Champion: No. 45 Tim Mayotte in 1985
Most Match Wins: Andre Agassi (61) 

2018 Finals
Singles: [14] John Isner (USA) d [4] Alexander Zverev (GER) 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4   Read & Watch
Doubles: [4] Bob Bryan (USA) / Mike Bryan (USA) d Karen Khachanov (RUS) / Andrey Rublev (RUS) 7-6(4), 7-6(2)  Read More

Social
Hashtag: #MiamiOpen
Facebook: @MiamiOpenTennis
Twitter: @MiamiOpen
Instagram: @MiamiOpen

Did You Know…  The legendary rivalry between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal began in Miami, when the two players faced off in the third round of the 2004 tournament. Nadal, 17 years old at the time, dismissed the reigning Australian Open and Indian Wells champion 6-3, 6-3. The following year, Federer came from two sets down to defeat Nadal in the final, 2-6, 6-7(4), 7-6(5), 6-3, 6-1. 

What a way to finish! Dominic Thiem punctuated a thrilling semi-final victory at the BNP Paribas Open on Saturday with his 25th winner of the match, crashing the net to secure his spot in the Indian Wells championship.

If this match is any indication of the performance Thiem will have in store against Roger Federer on Sunday, fans will be in for a treat. Thiem booked his place in the title match with a highly-entertaining 7-6(3), 6-7(3), 6-4 victory over Milos Raonic in two hours and 31 minutes. Playing with great confidence from the back of the court, the seventh seed neutralised Raonic’s mammoth game and was in the zone on his own serve.

For the third straight year, the Austrian will appear in the championship of an ATP Masters 1000 event. He is targeting his maiden moment of glory in the desert. Under the tutelage of former Top 10 Chilean star Nicolas Massu, Thiem is already benefitting from the newly formed partnership. Following final defeats on the clay of the Mutua Madrid Open in both 2017 and 2018, the 25-year-old will be hoping the third time is the charm on the Masters 1000 stage.

“It’s always something special to play Roger and also something special to compete in Masters 1000 finals,” said Thiem. “It’s only my third one. I have pretty bad stats in the finals, so I know it’s going to be very tough, but at the same time, I will give everything to hopefully win my first title.”

With actor Ben Stiller looking on, Thiem turned in an efficient serving performance behind 77 per cent points won. He denied the lone break point faced, which came with him serving for the match at 5-4 in the decider. The Austrian captured his first victory in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, with Raonic previously prevailing at the 2016 Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati and the Nitto ATP Finals later that year.

The first set saw Thiem fire 10 winners and zero unforced errors, while winning 93 per cent of first-serve points. The 25-year-old eventually took the opener in a tie-break, lacing a backhand winner down-the-line to take a commanding 5/1 lead.

Both players turned in dominant serving displays throughout the afternoon on Stadium 1. Just one break point was earned through the first two sets, with Raonic facing 30/40 at 2-1 in the second. It was promptly dismissed by the Canadian and he would stay the course in forcing yet another tie-break. There, he earned a fortuitous bounce as a backhand clipped the tape and dribbled over for a 5/3 edge. And two points later, Raonic would force a decider.

Thiem was dialed-in as the match entered its final frame, securing the first break of the encounter for 3-2. And as Raonic pressed to break back, a sublime drop shot winner restored Thiem’s command and he would deny a break point when serving for the match at 5-4 30/40. A volley winner sealed the victory after two-and-a-half hours.

“I knew it’s gonna be tough,” Thiem added. “His serve is unreal. I knew that there was going to be probably a tie-break. I played really well the whole match, basically. I didn’t make a lot of unforced errors. And I had a very good first-serve percentage. That was great.

“In general, it was a very good match because the only break point I had to save was in the last game, and that was what I wanted to do, to play my service games well and not give him too many chances.”

Perhaps the most glaring stat of the match was forehand unforced errors, with Raonic striking 23 and Thiem just four. Despite the defeat, the Canadian will hold his head high after another impressive week in Indian Wells. It marked the fourth straight semi-final appearance for the 2016 runner-up. Also a quarter-finalist at the Australian Open in January, the World No. 14 is pushing towards a Top 10 return in the ATP Rankings.

“There were definitely some things I would have liked to do better, but I thought I competed and I tried to figure things out as best as I could,” said Raonic. “It’s the way it goes. He played well. He did the smart things and he did the things better at the end.

“He was pushing me back. He wasn’t missing many first serves. Then he was aggressive from the very first ball. There wasn’t many times that I got to be on the offensive on the return games and when I did, I wasn’t efficient about taking advantage of it.”

In Sunday’s championship, Thiem will face Federer for the fifth time in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. Split at two wins apiece, the budding rivalry saw Federer most recently triumph at the 2018 Nitto ATP Finals after Thiem won back-to-back encounters in 2016 – on the clay of Rome and grass of Stuttgart.

While Federer is bidding for his 101st tour-level crown, 28th at the ATP Masters 1000 level and a record sixth in Indian Wells, Thiem is vying for his first taste of Masters 1000 glory and first title on outdoor hard courts since Acapulco 2016. He owns an 11-7 record in tour-level finals.

Novak Djokovic and Fabio Fognini may have suffered early exits from the singles draw at the BNP Paribas Open, but they thrilled crowds in Indian Wells by playing entertaining tennis to advance to the doubles semi-finals. Sixths seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo battled hard to bring their run to an end, though, defeating Djokovic and Fognini 7-6(5), 2-6, 10-6 on Friday to reach the first ATP Masters 1000 championship match of the year.

“I think the fact we played together for a long time, this makes a difference. We know against these guys we had to play to win,” Melo said. “I think we were aggressive, how we should be, in important moments. We do what we have to do and most of the time for us, it pays off. I’m very happy with this, so let’s go forward for tomorrow to the finals. We’re really looking forward to this one.”

Kubot/Melo and Djokovic/Fognini won the same number of points (71) in the match, but the Polish-Brazilian duo was a step ahead in the key moments, triumphing after one hour and 40 minutes. They will face Nikola Mektic and Horacio Zeballos on Saturday for the Masters 1000 trophy.

“Now we face two doubles players. They know how we play, we know how they play, so it’s going to be a very strategic match. Like today we have to go and try our best, focus, because if not they’re going to win,” Melo said. “They’re such great players. We have been playing very good, so I hope we keep this level and hold the trophy.”

Kubot and Melo have played together full-time since 2017, whereas this is only Mektic and Zeballos’ second tournament together. Kubot and Melo are giving the Croat-Argentine duo its due, though, and they know they’ll need to be at their best to earn their fifth Masters 1000 crown as a tandem.

“They have a lot of wins together this year already and are also full of confidence, so we’re looking forward for another [tough] match,” Kubot said. “But we want to enjoy the match we just finished.”

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are set to compete at the BNP Paribas Open for the fourth time in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series on Saturday, when they meet in the semi-finals.

Federer has won two of the pair’s three meetings in Indian Wells, but three-time champion Nadal will try to even their rivalry in the desert. ATPTour.com looks back on the pair’s first three clashes in the desert:

2012 Semi-finals: Federer def. Nadal 6-3, 6-4
For the first time since 2003, Federer arrived in Indian Wells outside the Top 2 of the ATP Rankings. In 2011, the Swiss did not capture a Grand Slam title for the first time since 2002. And less than two months before this match, Nadal defeated Federer in the Australian Open semi-finals. The pressure was on for Federer to earn a big win.

Federer got off to a perfect start in their BNP Paribas Open semi-final, storming to a 3-0 lead to set the tone for the match. While Nadal battled hard, the Swiss was too strong on the day, breaking the World No. 2’s serve four times to advance to the final.

“I felt good about my game. I guess I had a no‑lose mentality,” Federer said. “I’ve not felt great this week. I didn’t expect myself to play so well tonight, and this is sometimes when you can pull off the biggest wins of your career. That’s why I’m happy I gave myself a chance this week.”

Federer lost a set in the third round against 21-year-old Milos Raonic and another in the fourth round against Thomaz Bellucci. But he was able to summon his best tennis against Nadal to triumph after after one hour and 32 minutes on a windy day.

“He played fantastic. His serve was with high percentage, and I wasn’t able to play my usual tactics against him with those conditions,” Nadal said. “I tried, fought until the last ball. I lost against a player who played better than me this afternoon.”

Federer had not lifted the Indian Wells trophy since capturing his third straight in 2006. But the Swiss went on to defeat home favourite John Isner in the final to win his fourth of five titles in the desert.

2013 Quarter-finals: Nadal def. Federer 6-4, 6-2
After the pair’s 2012 semi-final in Indian Wells, the legends did not meet again until the next year’s BNP Paribas Open. That was in part due to Nadal not competing after his second-round loss at Wimbledon because of knee tendinitis.

Nadal, who began 2013 in February by playing three clay-court events, won 12 of 13 matches leading into Indian Wells. And while it was his first hard-court tournament of the year, you wouldn’t have known by watching him play, squeaking by Ernests Gulbis in a three-set thriller that lasted more than two-and-a-half hours to reach the quarter-finals against Federer.

The World No. 5 feasted on the Swiss’ second serve, winning 70 per cent of those points. Nadal earned 11 break points, converting four times.

“Two weeks ago I didn’t know if I can be here, and tomorrow I will be in semi-finals,” Nadal said. “A lot of positive energy, and [I’m] very happy.”

Federer struggled a bit with a back injury, so Nadal knew winning the first set would be key. The Swiss dismissed two set points on his own serve at 3-5, before Nadal held to close out the opener, and that was all the momentum he needed.

“I played a fantastic first set,” Nadal said. “The first set was a good match, my opinion. Both of us tried to play our best. I played much better than yesterday. My movements today were much, much better than what it used to be yesterday, so [I’m] very happy for that.”

That victory served as a springboard for Nadal, who would go on to beat Tomas Berdych and Juan Martin del Potro to lift his third Indian Wells trophy. Nadal won 10 tour-level titles in 2013, the second-most in his career, and he would also return to No. 1 in the ATP Rankings.

2017 Fourth Round: Federer def. Nadal 6-2, 6-3
Federer and Nadal had not met in more than a year when they clashed in the 2017 Australian Open final, a five-set classic that saw 17th seed Federer return to Grand Slam glory.

Yet less than two months later, they were across the net from one another for the third time in Indian Wells, meeting in the fourth round. It was the first time they had played before the quarter-finals of any event since their first FedEx ATP Head2Head match 13 years earlier in the third round in Miami.

While their Melbourne battle was a nail-biter, Federer was in control from the start in Indian Wells. The 35-year-old was aggressive — hitting over his backhand with authority — to keep Nadal on the back foot. A tremendous backhand return winner gave him the double-break in the first set, eventually finishing the opener in just 34 minutes.

“It was all about coming out and trying to play the way I did in Australia. I didn’t think it was going to be that possible, to be quite honest, because the court is more jumpy here or more rough, so it’s hard to put the ball away,” Federer said. “Once I got the break in the second set, obviously you had to be very careful you didn’t get down double-break. I was able to hold my serve, and he couldn’t find a way how to get into my service games more frequently. Next thing you know, it’s all over. It was a really good performance by me.”