Now with Indian Wells behind us, it’s time to turn our attention to the second half of the Sunshine Double when hundreds of tennis players meet in Florida for the combined ATP and WTA 1000 Miami Open.

The main draw kicks off on Tuesday, March 19, 2024, and will close with the women’s final on Saturday, March 30, 2024, and the men’s singles final on Sunday, March 31, 2024 starting at 2:00 pm.

Here’s a preview of this year’s Miami Open, with a look at some of the big questions and fine details so you can get the most out of the next two weeks of action from Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.

How to Watch the Miami Open

In the U.S., Tennis Channel, TC Plus, and T2 are the main avenues for catching matches throughout these two weeks of action from Miami. Tennis Channel will also host a program before live coverage begins each day.

Get the full rundown on viewing from Tennis Watchers.

Three Big Questions

1) What will Simona Halep bring to Miami? The 32-year-old is returning to competition for the first time in 18 months after having her doping suspension shortened earlier this month. It’s certainly a choice to jump right into a 1000-level tournament, but she’s accepted a wild card to do just that at the Miami Open. She has a relatively friendly first round match against injury-riddled Paula Badosa, but would face Aryna Sabalenka in the second round if she makes it through. Is it too much too soon? We’ll see.

2) Can Carlos Alcaraz build off Indian Wells? It’s hard to think about being number two in the world and also being in a slump — especially for Carlos Alcaraz. But with all the winning the young Spaniard had done through Wimbledon 2023, going seven months without a title was highly noticeable. After defending his title in the desert last week, Alcaraz noted a return to his old self, saying, “I’m really happy to lift this trophy because I found myself at this tournament, and I felt good.” With headline makers Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic absent, whether or not Alcaraz can find himself again in Miami will be one of the ongoing headlines for the next two weeks.

3) Will Daniil Medvedev finally successfully defend a title? In all of his career, which includes 20 titles, Medvedev has never been able to win the same tournament two years in a row. Getting that monkey off his back would be certainly a relief since that question of “Why?” wouldn’t be asked any longer. But, more than that, it would help solidify his place among top contenders after a strange start to last year in which he dropped out of the top 10 in the ATP rankings.

The Draws

It’s rare that all top 8 seeds make it to the quarterfinals of a 1000 tournament (just look at Indian Wells last week). But here are the projected quarterfinal match-ups based on the seedings.

Women’s quarterfinals:
1 Iga Swiatek vs. 5 Jessica Pegula
3 Coco Gauff vs. 6 Ons Jabeur
8 Maria Sakkari vs. 4 Elena Rybakina
7 Qinwen Zheng vs. 2 Aryna Sabalenka

Men’s quarterfinals:
1 Carlos Alcaraz vs. 8 Hubert Kurkacz
4 Alexander Zverev vs. 6 Holger Rune
7 Casper Ruud vs. 3 Daniil Medvedev
5 Andrey Rublev vs. 2 Jannik Sinner

Get the full draws from the Miami Open.

Unfortunate First Rounds

Whether it’s fellow country people or fan favorites facing off, here are some first round matches that we simply wish weren’t happening.

  • Simona Halep vs. Paula Badosa: These two are trying to come back in their own ways — and for different reasons. Is it really necessary they have to face each other in the first round? Boooooo.
  • Andy Murray vs. Matteo Berrettini: No matter how you look at it, this one stinks. We’ve got two crowd favorites going head-to-head as Murray winds down the final months of his career and Berrettini tries to build his career back up after months of injuries.
  • Arthur Fils vs. Matteo Arnaldi: Fils and Arnaldi are #37 and #38 in the world, respectively. And they both bring their own brand of flair and charm to the court. Unfortunately, one of them will be going home after the first round.
  • Who Got the Miami Open Wild Cards?

Four men and seven women received main draw wild cards into the Miami Open. A mix of big names and scrappy upstarts have made their way onto the lists.

Women’s Singles Wild Cards
Hailey Baptiste, Brenda Fruhvirtova, Simona Halep, Emma Raducanu, Caroline Wozniacki, Venus Williams

Men’s Singles Wild Cards
Darwin Blanch, Martin Damm, Martin Landaluce, Kei Nishikori, Juncheng Shang

Read, Watch, Listen

A few things to get you in the mood:

Who to Follow

  • Be sure to keep up with Daria Kasatkina and her partner (pairs skater) Natalia Zabiiako on What The Vlog. It’s a side of tennis and life (and Miami!) you likely won’t see anywhere else.
  • Get the absolute best behind-the-scenes looks from the Miami Open by following Blair Henley on Instagram.
  • And keep up with Court Theory’s Miami Open updates on The Daily Theory. We can talk all things tennis by following Court Theory on Twitter. Or X. Or whatever we’re calling it these days.