Miami Open tournament director James Blake has learned his lesson when it comes to one player in particular. Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca has become one of the biggest young stars on the ATP Tour, attracting huge crowds wherever he plays, but that’s especially evident in Miami, with plenty of Brazilian and Latin American fans attending the tournament.
Blake and the tournament team ran into some trouble last year when they moved one of Fonseca’s matches at the last minute. The 19-year-old was set to face Ugo Humbert on the Grandstand court – the tournament’s second-largest showcourt – and fans waited hours to see him in action. But Fonseca vs Humbert was moved to the 14,000-strong Stadium court to fill a gap following another mid-match retirement, and those on Grandstand were understandably furious.
Blake has now learned from his mistakes and knows that Fonseca will need Stadium Court billing for every match, so his fans know where to find him, and there will be plenty of room for them. “Harkening back to last year, when I learned my lesson: Fonseca needs to be on Stadium. He will be, yes,” the tournament director told Tennis Channel.
The former world No. 4 also believes Filipina sensation Alexandra Eala, who enjoyed her breakout run here last year, also deserves top billing. “I think the international interest in both of them is so high,” Blake added.
“And Miami being sort of a cultural melting pot with so much international flavour here. I think we’re going to need them to be on centre court, because they have so many fans worldwide. These might feel like home matches, for both of them.”
Fonseca is set to face Fabian Marozsan in his opening match, but it is not known when they will play. Fonseca and Marozsan are both in the top half of the draw, and all of these matches were expected to be played on Wednesday. However, when Wednesday’s order of play was released, Fonseca vs Marozsan was the only match in the top half of the ATP draw not to be included.
This was likely because organisers announced that the Stadium Court would not be used on Wednesday. “Due to heavy rainfall in the lead-up to the tournament, limited areas of the Stadium Court required additional preparation to ensure optimal conditions for match play. All matches on Wednesday, March 18, will take place on the outer courts,” they said in a statement.
Matches were expected to begin at 11am local time (3pm GMT) on all courts except Grandstand, which was set to start an hour later. However, play has now been pushed back to 6pm local time (10pm GMT) on all smaller courts. The Grandstand court will now only have a night session from 7pm local time (11pm GMT).
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