Miami Open organisers forced to move all matches off centre court as chaos erupts | Tennis | Sport
The Miami Open has gotten off to a rough start, with the weather wreaking havoc on the tournament. Qualifying matches were severely delayed and cancelled earlier in the week due to rain, and the downpour has now left the Stadium centre court unplayable.
WTA main draw matches got underway on Tuesday, while the ATP main draw is set to begin on Wednesday – at least an hour later than planned due to “weather conditions”. But the Stadium Court will be out of action until at least Thursday, with all matches now spread across the other courts around the Hard Rock Stadium.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, organisers said: “Due to heavy rainfall in the lead-up to the tournament, limited areas of the Stadium Court required additional preparation to ensure optimal conditions for match play. All matches on Wednesday, March 18, will take place on the outer courts.
“Fans with stadium tickets for Sessions 3 and 4 will be contacted directly for next steps. The Stadium Court is expected to open for tournament play on Thursday, March 19.”
The Stadium Court was still available for players to practice. But all of Wednesday’s matches were instead spread across Grandstand, Butch Buchholz, Court 1, Court 7, Court 5, Court 2, Court 3, Court 6.
All matches on the top half of the draw on the men’s side were expected to be scheduled on Wednesday. However, Brazilian teenage sensation Joao Fonseca – who draws huge crowds in Miami – was noticeably absent from the schedule.
He is due to face Fabian Marozsan in the first round in the top half of the draw, and the winner gets world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz in round two. The tournament has not addressed the absence of Fonseca vs Marozsan from Wednesday’s schedule, but it’s likely that they would put Fonseca’s match on the Stadium court, given how many fans will want to see him play.
On the WTA side, Emma Navarro, Maya Joint, Daria Kasatkina, former Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova and British No. 2 Sonay Kartal are among those who have pulled out. On the ATP side, Holger Rune, Tallon Griekspoor, and Lorenzo Sonego are some of the top withdrawals.
