Masters level tennis reopens its courts in Miami, albeit with the ravages that the pandemic has left. The Miami Open returns in 2021 after being the first tennis event canceled in 2020 due to the coronavirus, and although it will allow the public to enter (20%), the value of its bag was reduced by 65.6% compared to the prizes that had been announced for last year (although, it should be noted, they were not awarded due to the cancellation).
The total prize money (counting the men’s and women’s branches) will be $ 6,687,570, almost 13 million less than what had been budgeted for 2020: a total of $ 19,471,370. The champions will also see a great decrease in their prize, since this year it will be $ 300,110, while for the canceled 2020 edition it was $ 1,361,360, that is, there was a drop of 77.96%. Before the pandemic, the Miami Open had had its prize promotions for champions since 2013.
If the prize money of the last edition held in 2019 is taken into account, the reduction is 60%, since on that occasion it was $ 16,718,910. In that same year, the individual champions, Ashley Barty and Roger Federer, pocketed 1.3 million, while the runners-up, Karolina Pliskova and John Isner, earned $ 686,000.
By 2021, the difference between champion and runner-up will be $ 135,110, a decrease that has caused discomfort among competitors in the world of tennis: “If I lose I take 10,000 euros, why try harder if to earn only income 30,000, a little more? I arrive, play, collect the money and leave. The circuit has become sad, “said Frenchman Benoit Paire prior to the Acapulco Open this month.
Notable absences between injuries and fatigue
For the first time in 17 years, the Miami Open will be without the presence of the ‘Big 3’: Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer. The Spanish accused a back injury to be absent, the Serbian said he needs to find “a balance between my home and the circuit”, while the Swiss ruled out Miami after playing the ATP 250 in Doha, Qatar, on the other side of the world , a couple of weeks ago.
Given these absences, the men’s tournament in Miami will have five of the top 10 ranked in the ATP, since in addition to the losses of Nadal, Djokovic and Federer, there is also that of the Austrian Dominic Thiem (number 4 in the world) and the Italian Matteo Berrettini (number 10).
Those who have confirmed their presence are the Russians Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev (ranking 2 and 8, respectively), the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (5), the German Alexander Zverev (7) and the Argentine Diego Schwartzman (9).
In the women’s division, only one player from the Top 10 will not be present: Serena Williams (current ranking 7), who announced her withdrawal due to oral surgery a few days before the contest.
The Australian Barty (1), the Japanese Naomi Osaka (2), the Romanian Simona Halep (3), the American Sofia Kenin (4), the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina (5), the Czechs Karolina Pliskova (6) and Pietra Kvitova ( 10), Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka (8) and Canadian Bianca Andreescu (9) are the rest of the top 10 who will participate in the main draw, which begins to share from this March 24.
Renata Zarazúa enters her first Masters 1000
In the knockout phases of the Miami Open, which began on March 22, the Mexican Renata Zarazúa achieved her classification to the main draw of a Masters 1000 for the first time.
The 23-year-old tennis player beat Australian Astra Sharma (5-7, 6-3 and 7-5) and Slovakian Viktoria Kuzmova, who retired in the second set due to physical discomfort, giving the automatic pass to Zarazúa.
Renata did not have a good step in the tournaments held in Mexico in March: she was eliminated in the second round of the Zapopan Open and in the round of 32 of the Monterrey Open; In this last contest, she mentioned feeling pressured and lacking rhythm.
With position 147 of the current WTA ranking (her best position was 141, in February of this year), the Mexican will now face the Japanese Nao Hibino, who is ranked 83, within the main draw of the Miami Open 2021.
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