As the rumor of a possible disappearance of the Miami tournament by 2024 is floating around, due to a pending lawsuit between, on one side, the parc located right next to the stadium, and on the other side, the tournament’s organizers, ATP and WTA players haven’t stopped praising the tournament in front of the cameras, saying how awesome it is. Same for us.
…you love the heat.
…your childhood hero was Don Johnson from Miami Vice.
…you love the humidity.
…you drink Vodka-apple juice like Richard Gasquet.
…you love Cuba Libre cocktails.
…you’ve discovered Sebastian Grosjean’s forehand stroke and his famous cap worn backwards during his final against Richard Krajicek in 1999.
…you’re not afraid of alligators.
…you remember this 17-year old Spaniard who beat Roger Federer in 2004…while wearing Bermuda shorts.
…you also remember that a year later, Federer managed to come back from two sets down against Nadal, who’s never managed to do the same against the Swiss. Ok, Rafa was only 18 years old but we don’t care…
…you still can’t stop calling it Key Biscayne.
…you remember Marcelo Rios becoming world number 1 after defeating Agassi in 1998.
…you remember André Agassi : 6 titles, 2 lost finals. Beast.
…you put yourself in his boots and wonder what will be left for him in his match against his wife Steffi - Miami being the only tournament where he has more victories than her - if the tournament disappears ?
…you remember Ivanisevic’s stiff neck after only three games during his final against Agassi. A bit like Coria’s due to a kidney stone against Roddick.
…you remember Serena Williams : 8 titles, 2 lost finals. Beast.
…Lipton, Ericsson, Nasdaq-100 or Sony... Oh yeah, the tournament has had many different names. It’s just a way to mark an era, after all.
... you can easily switch from English to Spanish during a conversation.
…having been played on three occasions over 15 days, 7 rounds and in a best-of-five sets format, it’s the only tournament which applied for the title of « fifth Grand Slam tournament » to actually deserve it. The winners of these three editions : Mecir (1987), Wilander (1988), Lend (1989). Not bad.
…you remember the time when Miami was more popular than Indian Wells.
…you love the players who take the opportunity to go play basketball at the AAA.
...you’re still angry at the driver who ran over Thomas Muster during the tournament in 1989. Hands off Musterminator !
…you remember his rehabilitation, his leg strapped to a bench, hitting the ball at home. Rocky Balboa !
…you know it, the only real trophy was the big bowl. Somewhere between Moser Crystal and Ikea.
…you love this anecdote : one year, Noah ended a five-set match against Volkov at 1 a.m in front of a dozen freezing spectators. Among them was Dizzy Gillepsie, who came to bring him a doggy bag filled with chicken parmesan he had eaten at a restaurant a few hours earlier. Super class.
By So Press’ editorial board
