Founded in 1985 by former pro Butch Buchholz, the Miami Open was built as a sprawling, two-week event with a draw sized closer to a major than a standard tour stop — the root of its enduring "fifth Slam" reputation. It closes the Sunshine Double, the back-to-back North American hard-court fortnight that opens at Indian Wells before the tour decamps for European clay at Monte Carlo and the Madrid Open. For most of its life it lived on the slow hard courts of Key Biscayne; since 2019 it has been staged at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, the Dolphins' NFL home, with a temporary show court dropped onto the field and outer courts ringing the concourse.
The move reshaped the event's character: a stadium-scale footprint, a Latin-American crowd energy that gives Miami a distinct identity among Masters 1000s, and hard courts that historically reward patience and grinding more than raw pace. It's a 1000-level stop on both tours, a combined men's and women's draw running concurrently — one of the few non-Slam events to share that calendar real estate.
The recent honor roll skews heavyweight. Aryna Sabalenka has owned the women's title, beating Jessica Pegula 7-5, 6-2 in 2025 before edging Coco Gauff 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 in a three-set 2026 final. On the men's side, Jannik Sinner took the 2024 crown past Grigor Dimitrov, a year after losing the 2023 final to Daniil Medvedev, who took it 7-5, 6-3.
The Hard Rock era has cemented Miami as the place where North American hard-court form crystallizes before the surface flips to clay — a last data point on the season's fast courts before the dirt swing begins.