The Miami Open has struggled in recent years to attract top-drawer names. Roger Federer, for instance, skipped the tournament multiple times in his later years on the tour. After opting out in 2015, he criticised the scheduling and implied that was the reason behind his absence.
Federer participated in the Indian Wells Open in 2015, losing the final against Novak Djokovic. However, he opted to not play in the second tournament of the Sunshine Double swing. Speaking to the press in Indian Wells (via Tennis.com), he elaborated upon his decision.
He launched a scathing attack on the schedule of the first two Masters tournaments of the season. Federer said the few days between Indian Wells and Miami Open are wasteful, adding he would rather take a complete break or play another tournament.
“The week in between Indian Wells and Miami is always a wasted week—in my opinion—for me. So I’d rather use that for some more time off, some more practice, maybe play another tournament.”
The Swiss icon stated he skipped Miami because of the back-to-back schedule and also because he has played there many times. He felt it was better to play an ATP 250 in Istanbul, a city he had never visited.
“Plus I’ve played Miami so many times, so that’s just the one I decided to skip. And substituted with Istanbul, a city I’ve never been to, a country I’ve never been to, so I just thought it would be a nice mix-up.”
Roger Federer claimed having two 10-day events one after the other was wasteful for players whose Indian Wells campaign ends early. Such players cannot travel anywhere else or play another tournament. Hence, they have no choice but to wait for ‘a month’ for the Miami Open to come around.
“But when it’s back-to-back 10 days, there is a lot of time that gets wasted. It’s a long break ’till the first round in Miami, and let’s say you don’t play well again, you’ve sort of wasted a month, nothing happened. So I’ve never been a huge fan of the back-to-back 10-day events, but it’s been like this for a long, long time. That’s the only way I ever knew it.”
From 2013 to 2016, Federer appeared only once in four editions of the Miami Open. Both Sunshine Double events are now 12 days each, but the issue of a few days between the final of Indian Wells and the opening rounds of the Miami Open persists. This period is too small for players to regroup or rewind. They cannot travel anywhere else and there are no parallel ATP Tour events scheduled.
Roger Federer, nevertheless, has won the Miami Open 4 times. He beat Rafael Nadal in two finals in 2005 and 2017, while Federer won in 2006 against his ex-coach Ivan Ljubicic in the final as well as John Isner in the 2018 final. Federer also began his famous rivalry with Nadal at the Miami Open, although he lost to him in the Round of 32 in 2004.
Novak Djokovic follows Roger Federer in choosing Indian Wells over Miami Open
Along with Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have also increasingly opted to skip the Miami Open. The latter also faced legal troubles because of his anti-vaccination stance.
As their age advances, these players rightly prefer to prioritise their health and fitness. The Florida-based Masters tournament bore the brunt as it came after the Indian Wells.
Like Roger Federer and his absence, Djokovic has also not played in the Miami Open since 2019. He recently returned to the Indian Wells after five years but pulled out of the Miami event. He lavished praise upon the first ATP 1000 tournament of the year, seemingly preferring that to the Miami Open (via Bleacher Report).
“I always have a fun time. There are a lot of golf courses around, and it’s very peaceful with great restaurants and great facilities, a lot of people come to watch, enjoy and support you playing tennis and the conditions are good.”
The Miami Open was once the premier ATP Masters event but has recently been reduced to being in the shadow of the Indian Wells Open. Currently owned by Itau, one of the largest Latin American banks, it peaked in the late 1990s and early 2000s when Lipton and Sony Ericsson ran the show. A shift of venue to Hard Rock Stadium marks baby steps in the right direction but the tournament is yet to win the fans over like two decades ago.
