The Miami Open was shifted this year to the Hard Rock Stadium from its traditional home of Crandon Park and this required an investment of $72 million in order to build extra courts. The general ticket prices were priced 40 per cent higher than last year and tickets for the final showdown between the two veterans were priced as high as $4,528.
The high price was hardly a deterrent as the star power of the Swiss maestro set an attendance record of 3,88,734 which comfortably trumped the previous record of 3,26,131 set at Crandon Park. The men's singles final between Federer and Isner saw a football of 17,373 people. Meanwhile, the women's final between Ashleigh Barty and Karolina Pliskova attracted 16,413 people to the stands.
Talking about Federer, Alexander Zverev said that the Swiss, along with Rafael Nadal, are still the best players in the sport at the moment. "Rafa and Roger are still in the best out there right now, they are still winning the Grand Slams, the biggest titles, so of course I have competed for a lot of Masters titles now but not won a Grand Slam yet, so saying that I am at their level would not be fair."
Zverev also spoke about how prepares for his matches, stating that familiarity plays a big part. "Most opponents I know how to play them as I have played them before so we all know each other quite well."
The man who beat Novak Djokovic in the ATP World Tour finals also spoke about how he was the second best player on clay behind Nadal. "I broke through at the Roland Garros already. I showed that I can play a long match, that I can beat great players in the Grand Slams so we are past that part now, and then, unfortunately, I got injured. Throughout the clay-court season, I felt like I was the second best player."
"I do not know if you agree with it or not but I think Rafa was the best and I was the second, so getting injured in the French Open quarter-finals - obviously, Dominic is an unbelievable player - but it was frustrating for me. In the grass-court season, I did not play at my best because I had no practice behind, I did not feel fit enough," Zverev concluded.
