The 2025 Miami Open is now in the books. To say that it did not go as planned woul be an understatement, but it was filled with good, bad, and ugly moments.
It was the 40th anniversary of the inaugural Miami Open held in Delray Beach, Florida. Walking down memory lane with some of the first champions such as Martina Navratilova and Tim Mayotte as well as tournament founder Butch Buchholtz were a wonderful nod to tennis's past.
TC's own Paul Annacone received a custom Dolphins jersey to celebrate the 40th anniversary of his doubles victory at the inaugural #MiamiOpen 🙌 pic.twitter.com/3gcfvGHc2d
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) March 29, 2025
In addition, these moments captured the headlines for a variety of reasons.
The good of the Miami Open
Aryna Sabalenka and Jakub Mensik were crowned singles champions. Sabalenka never dropped a set or cracked a sweat in the brutal Miami humidity en route to the title. Mensik's route was more eventful, with wins over Arthur Fils, Indian Wells champion Jack Draper, and the legend and his idol, Novak Djokovic.
The Student Becomes The Master(s) Champion 🏆
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 31, 2025
The moment @mensik_jakub_ completed his 7-6 7-6 victory over Novak Djokovic! #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/GDqFHrvsPB
Mirra Andreeva achieved a Sunshine Double of sorts. She and doubles partner Diane Shnaider had to wait hours through the rain delays to finish their finals match, but they were crowned the champions. The 2024 Paris Olympics silver medalists are proving to be dual threats, in singles and doubles.
Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider are the Miami Open champions!
— WTARussians (@WTArussians) March 31, 2025
They defeat Cristina Bucsa and Miyu Kato 6-3, 6-7, [10-2] to lift their first WTA1000 title as a pair, sealing off a successful week in Miami as they improve their 2025 record to a stunning 16W/3L! pic.twitter.com/tTaUb8Sbig
New stars emerged in Miami. The world formally met wildcard Alexandra Eala of the Philippines, who took out Jelena Ostapenko, Madison Keys, and Iga Swiatek. She leaves Miami after leaping up the rankings to World No. 75.
For the people who had not seen Brazilian teenager João Fonseca, he delighted the crowds. His opening round match with American teen Learner Tien filled the stadium and provided an excitement rarely seen in an opening round of a tournament.
The bad
While the weather cannot be controlled, the Miami Open's response to it was. Cancelling matches because of rain and rescheduling them in the main stadium, along with the previously scheduled ones, proved problematic. Surprisingly, Novak Djokovic and Sebastian Korda's quarterfinal match did not get played on the planned day, much to the fans' chagrin.
Getting messy with the schedule in Miami. A 1pm start for five matches (an extra match was squeezed into the original schedule) across two sessions on one court is a diabolical decision @MiamiOpen
— Stuart Fraser (@stu_fraser) March 27, 2025
Finals weekend was also a weather headache, but at least fewer matches were to be played, so fans could wait six hours and know they would see the featured match.
The ugly
Fan behavior headlines what was ugly about the event. Grigor Dimitrov was heckled by a fan during his semifinal match, and the fan was subsequently removed.
Iga Swiatek was also harrassed by a fan, an issue that the tournament was forced to deal with.
Iga Swiatek was harassed by a well-known online hater who appeared in the stands at her training in Miami. Later she was accompanied by security, even during an interview on the court. A scandalous situation that should never have happened. Hence the appeal again - stop the hate!
— Dominik Senkowski (@dsenkowski07) March 24, 2025
Fan demeanor in general could be better. Excitement is one thing, but excessive cheering when a player is preparing to serve needs to be curtailed at every tournament, not just the Miami Open.