The Miami Open is the people’s tennis paradise
After a month of travel, on-site reporting, and trying to keep up with two huge events back to back, this week’s episode feels a little like exhaling. Nick and I are finally back on the mic together, and the timing is perfect because the Miami Open gave us a lot to talk about.
This episode is part tournament recap, part fan guide, and part big-picture tennis check-in after the Sunshine Double. We start with a listener question that gets to the heart of what Ground Pass has always tried to do well: explain tennis in a way that welcomes newer fans in without making them feel like they should already know everything. This week’s question was about why men sometimes play best-of-three sets and sometimes best-of-five, and it opened the door to a broader conversation about how the sport is structured, who controls the format, and why the Grand Slams still hold onto five-set tennis.
From there, we get into Miami itself, which remains one of the most misunderstood tournaments on the calendar. I said it on the episode and I stand by it: the Miami Open is the people’s tennis paradise. It has a very different energy from Indian Wells. The fan culture is looser, more international, more social, and honestly more about the full day experience than simply parking yourself in a stadium seat for hours. The grounds are packed, the food lines are long, the music is everywhere, and there’s a real sense that people are there to enjoy the event as much as the tennis.
That also explains why TV viewers sometimes think the tournament looks emptier than it really is. The crowds are there. They just are not always in the stadium. They are hanging around the food courts, watching matches from screens set up around the grounds, dancing by the live music, or moving between outer courts. Miami feels less like a traditional tennis tournament and more like a day out that happens to include world-class tennis.
We also answer a great listener question about what the Miami Open is actually like for visitors, especially compared with other tournaments. We talk access, shade, wifi, seating, practice courts, and whether it is worth splurging on stadium tickets. My answer is still simple: in Miami, the move is the ground pass. Stay on the grounds. Watch tennis all day. Enjoy the atmosphere. Let the stadium be secondary.
On the tennis side, this episode catches up on the biggest themes coming out of Miami. Aryna Sabalenka continues to look every bit like the clear world No. 1, not just because she wins, but because she keeps putting herself in position to win the biggest matches. Jannik Sinner looks locked in again. Iga Swiatek leaves Miami with more questions swirling around her season, especially after the coaching split. Arthur Fils continues to push his way into the conversation about who could emerge behind Sinner and Alcaraz. And the teenagers keep giving us reasons to believe the future of the sport is arriving fast.
We also spend time on the players who made this stretch so fun to watch. Hailey Baptiste’s run felt especially rewarding to follow, knowing how much work has gone in behind the scenes. Talia Gibson made herself impossible to ignore. Martin Landaluce put together the kind of breakthrough that makes you circle a player’s name for the rest of the year.
And because the tennis calendar never slows down, we close by looking ahead to Charleston, Houston, Bogotá, and the start of clay season. That transition always changes the conversation, and it feels like this year there are a lot of players heading onto clay with something to prove.
This episode is a catch-up, a Miami debrief, and a reset point before the next stretch of the season. If you’ve been following the Sunshine Double closely, or even if you’re just trying to understand why Miami feels so different from the rest of the tour, this one should bring you right into it.
