The Miami Open, the second Masters 1000 Event of the season, started on Tuesday March 18^th. It comes hot on the heels of the Indian Wells Masters which concluded with the finals in California on Sunday.

For 2019, the event has a new home. Played for more than 30 years at the Crandon Park Tennis Center, this year the event has moved to the Hard Rock Stadium, home to the Miami Dolphins American football team, to the north of the city.

Bolstered by a US $500 million investment, the Stadium’s southern parking lot has been transformed into a tennis plaza, with landscaped gardens, fountains, and attractive pathways surrounding 12 match courts. 18 practice courts have also been added, as well as a food court, a beer garden, an al fresco dining area, and a music stage; tournament organisers want to create an all-round entertainment venue which will attract people to visit the complex, tennis fans and the general public alike, from across South Florida.

Ingeniously, the Stadium Court, which holds up to 13,800 spectators, will be erected inside the Dolphins Stadium as a temporary structure, borrowing the private boxes to create premium seating areas.

In terms of the tennis, Miami has suffered in the past in comparison to Indian Wells, because the tournaments are played back-to-back. The consequence of this is that players can pick up injuries in California which rules them out of Miami. A case in point this year is the men’s world number two Rafael Nadal, who had to withdraw from his semi-final in Indian Wells against Roger Federer with a knee injury, which will rule him out of action for at least a month.

Doubts may also be raised about the participation in Miami of both Kevin Anderson and Juan Martin del Potro, both of whom missed the last tournament with injury. It remains to be seen if either is fit to compete this week.

Equally, a virus affected several top players in Indian Wells last week, with both Serena Williams and Alexander Zverev, the number three in the men’s world rankings, suffering from it. It is to be hoped that both are fully recovered by the time their matches are scheduled to begin.

Historically, it is very difficult to win both Indian Wells and Miami in the same year. This is because to win both tournaments, a player needs to win a lot of matches back-to-back in a short period of time, all against the elite players in the world.

Therefore, in terms of betting on who might do well, it is a good strategy to look at those amongst the world’s elite who were knocked out of the California tournament early. Fortunately, this year we have a good crop from whom to choose.

On the men’s side, world number one Novak Djokovic seems a good bet. Knocked out early in California, he stayed to hone his game in the doubles tournament there, and should be close to his best form here. He also likes Miami – he has won the tournament on six previous occasions. Potential rivals might include Zverev if he is fit, and last year’s winner, John Isner, whose powerful serving game is suited to the hard courts of Florida. Dominic Thiem and Roger Federer reached the final in Indian Wells (Thiem came from behind to win), so asking them to go deep in to this tournament again is expecting a lot).

As for the women, there are plenty of candidates from which to choose. None of the world’s top five – Naomi Osaka, Simona Halep, Petra Kvitová, Sloane Stephens, or Karolina Plisková – got particularly deep into the tournament in Indian Wells, so all should be fresh for this week. Stephens is the defending champion so she may fancy her chances of repeating that feat, but Osaka or Kvitová will also have good chances.

Serena Williams has won the event no fewer than eight times, but she is now 37, and age is starting to catch-up with each other.

There could, of course, be a surprise. Canadian teenager Bianca Andreescu started the year ranked 178 in the world, but produced a remarkable set of performances to win the trophy in Indian Wells. Still the winner is most likely to come from amongst the top ten in the world.

It promises to be an interesting few weeks in Florida.