Best Matches of 2024 Miami Open: Fan Vote Edition

As another year comes to a close, the fans had the chance to have their say on what matches were the best ones at the 2024 Miami Open.

1. Quarterfinal clash between Grigor Dimitrov and Carlos Alcaraz

This match was the clear fan favorite from this year’s tournament. Alcaraz was coming into Miami hot off the heels of winning the BNP Paribas Open and attempting to secure the “Sunshine Double.” However, Dimitrov played a dominating performance that quickly left Alcaraz in the dust. Dimitrov came out fast breaking Alcaraz’s serve in the second game of the first set. Dimitrov took the first set, 6-2 and with the momentum he carried, he broke Alcaraz’s serve in a pivotal game to jump out to a 3-1 lead in the second. Alcaraz knew he was not going to get many more chances to stay in this match and was able to hold twice and break serve to bring it back to even at 4-4. Dimitrov gained back control and held his serve in the next game. In the final game of the match, Dimitrov broke Alcaraz’s serve at 5-4 with a ferocious roar as Alcaraz’s crosscourt forehand attempt flew wide. It was an incredible upset in which many people had counted on Alcaraz to win and to even win the tournament. Some important stats that made the difference for Dimitrov were 77% of first serve points won, 80% of break points saved, and a slightly faster first serve average speed than Alcaraz. TennisTV and Tennis Insights tallied this as the fifth highest combined performance rating of the 2024 season. In Alcaraz’s post-match press conference, when asked about Dimitrov’s performance, he joked saying, “He made me feel like I’m 13 years old!”

2. Grigor Dimitrov fights his way past Alexander Zverev and into the finals

In what turned out to be the dogfight of the tournament, Dimitrov successfully inched his way past the fourth seed, Zverev to earn his spot in the final and his chance to win another ATP Masters 1000 title since Cincinnati in 2017. The pair had first met in Basel of 2014 where Dimitrov earned the first win in the head-to-head, but Zverev had gone on a seven-match win-streak against Dimitrov. In the first set, it was the battle of the holds to see who would break serve first. Dimitrov came out as the lucky one as he was able to conveniently be the first to break serve at 5-4 to take the set. The second set did not look much different, except that the first break did not happen until the first point of the tiebreaker. Zverev would go on to win the second set tiebreaker, 7-4. The match would now come down to a third set with the winner securing a spot in the final.  The first six games wrote a similar story to the other two sets up until the seventh game. It was Dimitrov who would break first that would eventually propel him to a 6-4 victory. With this win, it bumped Dimitrov into the top ten for the first time since November 2018. Dimitrov would eventually fall to Jannik Sinner in the final, but his spot there was well-earned after a fantastic run through the draw.

3. Monster match between Tomas Machac and Andy Murray

Three hours and 28 minutes. Machac and Murray would play the third longest singles best-of-three matches at Miami, and the atmosphere on Butch Bucholz Court would match the sensational energy from the tennis itself. Murray has previously won the tournament twice, so in terms of experience, Murray towered over Machac. The first set would last a lengthy hour, and it was Murray who would get the first pivotal break to go up 6-5 and go on to win the set, 7-5. In the second set, it was Machac’s turn to break at an important time at 6-5 to win the set and force a decider. Machac got out to a fast and furious start in the third to go up 3-0, 4-1 and then 5-2. As many fans know, however, Sir Andy Murray never goes down without a fight and fight he did. Even down 4-5 in the third, Murray suffered a painful ankle injury that made it seem like he was not going to be able to continue. Murray mustered up all power and pushed through the pain to force a tiebreaker. Murray kept it close, but it the 24-year-old Czech that would seal one of his biggest wins of his career. Machac would go on to have an amazing run, eventually losing to the 2024 champion, Jannik Sinner in the quarterfinals.