Serena Williams 'Digs' Future Miami Tennis Stadium

MIAMI GARDENS, FL — Back when tennis legend Serena Williams was just Venus' kid sister, the two girls would look forward to making the hour-or-so drive to Miami with their dad to see the sport's biggest stars up close. They dreamed that perhaps one day other girls and boys might drive with their fathers to see them. We already know the rest of the story.

As the first round of this year's Miami Open tennis tournament got underway on Wednesday Serena now walks among the brightest of those stars. She had won the tournament eight times — more than any other woman or man. Among the men, Andre Agassi and Novak Djokovic are tied with six wins each for the most titles.

While she would lose this year's first round match, Williams was literally digging the very future of the Miami tournament earlier this week — with a silver-plated shovel and a promise from Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross that she will soon own a piece of the fan-favorite event.

Ross partnered with tournament owner IMG to keep the Miami open from moving out of the Magic City and possibly even out of the country. Instead, the tournament will simply pack up in Key Biscayne after the April 1 trophy ceremony and head across town to Hard Rock Stadium, which is the home of Ross' Miami Dolphins.

Hard Rock Stadium will become the world's first football stadium that also doubles as a tennis venue in the off season.

"I remember watching Gabriela Sabatini and Steffi Graf and Monica Seles and sitting on these courts and saying to myself, 'I want to be there one day, I want to be on these courts. I want to be able to play in Miami. I want to be there.' That was my whole goal'" Williams recalled ahead of the tournament. "When I heard they were going to move it, it literally broke my heart."

The 23-time Grand Slam champion, who also has a minority stake in the Dolphins, said she was skeptical when Ross hatched the idea of carving out a tennis stadium within his massive football empire.

"I was thinking like Steve 'I love you, but this is not happening,'" Williams confided as she participated in a groundbreaking event for the 2019 much expanded Miami Open tennis stadium.

"He had a vision and there's a reason why he's Steve Ross," she said. "I'm really excited that we believed in him and listened to him — and even though we thought for a minute he was crazy — we all can see what he saw, and it's going to be incredibly amazing. It's going to be the most unique experience. There's nothing like this on the planet — in tennis or in sports. So it's going to be literally one of the best experiences out there, and I couldn't be more excited to be part of it."

IMG Co-President Mark Sharpiro joined Williams, Ross, newly named tournament director James Blake and local dignitaries in the groundbreaking ceremony.

"We did not want to leave Key Biscayne," Sharpiro lamented. "Unfortunately, we weren't able to spend the money. We weren't able to make those upgrades" that were needed to allow the tournament to compete on the world tennis stage.

The additional space will give next year's event an expanded fan experience that includes concerts and a culinary festival.

"I'm an American tennis player. I want tennis to be thriving here in America," observed Blake, who reached a career high ranking of fourth in the world during his 14-years on the men's tour. "For that to happen, I think it's really important to have these kind of events here — the biggest events in the world — here in America."

Even so, Blake told Patch that he is not certain whether the mixed use football stadium concept will spread to other NFL cities.

"I would love to say 'yes,' but I don't know if every city has Stephen Ross — someone that's willing to make these kind of commitments — willing to have this kind of idea and put his checkbook behind it," Blake explained. "I would love to say that there's going to be a lot of these but Stephen Ross is pretty unique. And when he says it's going to be the greatest tournament in the world, I think he means it."

Blake had mixed emotions heading into the final event at Key Biscayne's Crandon Park, capping off a 32-year run in the idyllic setting with views of the Miami skyline and only a short walk from Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.

"It's going to be nostalgic a little bit," he said. "But, I think we'll create our own traditions here at Hard Rock Stadium. We'll create more memories and more history. So the things that we'll miss are really just the memories — the times Andre Agassi won, Marcelo Rios winning, Steffi Graf, all the times Serena won — but, hopefully she'll have plenty of opportunities to do it here at Hard Rock Stadium. I think some of the champions will miss it, but once they see what's being done I think they'll be happy with the progress."

He said that the biggest upgrade of all will simply be more space.

"The food area is going to go almost triple, more than triple — 9,000 square feet to 30,000 square feet. The locker rooms are almost double, nine more practice courts and I think that's big," observed Blake. "With all the qualifying matches going on, there aren't that many courts for the seeded players to practice on. Now next year we'll have that opportunity. We have a lot more space. I think with the growth of the teams — you got a lot of top plays with five, six,even, 10 people with them. Just having that space is really important and being able to accommodate them and not having everyone cramped in there."

The location of the tournament in Hard Rock Stadium will also potentially allow the tournament to piggyback on the Dolphins fan base of season ticket holders.

As a former player himself, Blake said he understands the importance of keeping the tournament player friendly.

"I think that's something I'm very sensitive to is making sure the players are getting what they need," he said. "That's why my door is always open. Any player that has an issue. Any player that feels like something isn't good enough, we're going to fix that right away. The things that we can fix this year, we're going to do and if not, we'll take care of it next year."

Williams, who recently gave birth to first daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian in September, will have to cement her return to professional play in another tournament this year. She will be back in Miami to help kick off the 2019 tournament.

Ross, who recently paid $500 million for upgrades to Hard Rock stadium, predicted that Williams is on her way to yet another first.

"She will be the first person to win a tennis tournament that she owns," quipped Ross.

Defending champion Roger Federer will hit the court during Saturday's day session (Session 9) for his first match. Federer is hoping to earn his fourth Miami title.

Juan Martin del Potro, who recently beat Federer to take home the Indian Wells title in a three-set final, will make his first appearance on Friday night (Session 8).

Williams lost her first round match to Indian Wells champion Naomi Osaka during Wednesday's day session (Session 3). Also featured on Wednesday was three-time Miami Open champion Victoria Azarenka, who bested young American CiCi Bellis.

Six-time Miami Open champion Djokovic will play his opening match during Friday’s day session (Session 7), while 2017 Miami Open semifinalist Nick Kyrgios will take the court during Saturday’s evening session (Session 10).

Tickets can be purchased online at www.miamiopen.com. For more information about the event, call the Miami Open Ticket Office at 305-442-3367. Click here to purchase tickets online.

Here is a list of Friday's matches:

STADIUM start 11 a.m.
WTA - N. Osaka (JPN) vs [4] E. Svitolina (UKR)

Not Before 1 p.m.
ATP - P. Herbert (FRA) vs [2] M. Cilic (CRO)
ATP - B. Paire (FRA) vs [9] N. Djokovic (SRB)

Not Before 5 p.m.
WTA - [8] V. Williams (USA) vs [Q] N. Vikhlyantseva (RUS)

8 p.m.
ATP - [5] J. Del Potro (ARG) vs R. Haase (NED)

Not Before 9:30 pm
WTA - M. Puig (PUR) vs [2] C. Wozniacki (DEN)

GRANDSTAND start 11 a.m.
ATP - [7] D. Goffin (BEL) vs J. Sousa (POR)
WTA - A. Sabalenka (BLR) vs [9] P. Kvitova (CZE)
ATP - [Q] J. Millman (AUS) vs [26] K. Nishikori (JPN)
ATP - [14] J. Isner (USA) vs J. Vesely (CZE)

Not Before 5 p.m.
ATP - M. Marterer (GER) vs [3] G. Dimitrov (BUL)

COURT 1 start 11 a.m.
ATP - [13] D. Schwartzman (ARG) vs N. Jarry (CHI)
ATP - [WC] M. Ymer (SWE) vs [20] M. Raonic (CAN)
WTA - K. Flipkens (BEL) vs [11] J. Konta (GBR)
ATP - J. Donaldson (USA) vs [25] F. Lopez (ESP)
WTA - [6] J. Ostapenko (LAT) vs T. Babos (HUN)

COURT 2 start 11 a.m.
ATP - [Q] M. Mmoh (USA) vs [12] R. Bautista Agut (ESP)
WTA - [16] C. Vandeweghe (USA) vs [Q] D. Collins (USA)
ATP - [19] H. Chung (KOR) vs M. Ebden (AUS)
WTA - [15] K. Mladenovic (FRA) vs P. Martic (CRO)
ATP - [WC] N. Kyrgios (AUS) / M. Reid (AUS) vs [8] J. Cabal (COL) / R. Farah (COL)

COURT 7 start 11 a.m.
WTA - D. Vekic (CRO) vs [24] E. Vesnina (RUS)
ATP - [30] R. Gasquet (FRA) vs J. Chardy (FRA)
ATP - [27] A. Rublev (RUS) vs V. Pospisil (CAN)
WTA - [22] E. Mertens (BEL) vs [WC] B. Pera (USA)
WTA - [WC] V. Azarenka (BLR) / A. Sabalenka (BLR) vs D. Gavrilova (AUS) / S. Stosur (AUS)

COURT 8 start 11 a.m.
ATP - [22] F. Krajinovic (SRB) vs [Q] L. Broady (GBR)
WTA - [26] D. Gavrilova (AUS) vs [Q] A. Petkovic (GER)
WTA - [19] D. Kasatkina (RUS) vs [Q] S. Kenin (USA)
ATP - M. Youzhny (RUS) vs [23] G. Muller (LUX)
WTA - A. Rosolska (POL) / A. Spears (USA) vs [PR] L. Arruabarrena (ESP) / A. Parra Santonja (ESP)

COURT 9 start 11 a.m.
WTA - [WC] C. Liu (USA) vs [21] A. Barty (AUS)
WTA - B. Haddad Maia (BRA) vs [31] S. Zhang (CHN)
WTA - [28] A. Kontaveit (EST) vs M. Sakkari (GRE)
WTA - V. Lepchenko (USA) vs [29] K. Bertens (NED)

COURT 10 start 11 a.m.
ATP - [5] J. Rojer (NED) / H. Tecau (ROU) vs N. Monroe (USA) / J. Sock (USA)
ATP - A. Mannarino (FRA) / D. Medvedev (RUS) vs R. Bopanna (IND) / E. Roger-Vasselin (FRA)
ATP - [1] L. Kubot (POL) / M. Melo (BRA) vs S. Johnson (USA) / S. Querrey (USA)
WTA - S. Hsieh (TPE) / M. Niculescu (ROU) vs K. Bondarenko (UKR) / A. Krunic (SRB)

COURT 5 start 11 a.m.
WTA - M. Adamczak (AUS) / D. Jurak (CRO) vs [8] A. Klepac (SLO) / M. Martínez Sánchez (ESP)
WTA - [5] A. Sestini Hlavackova (CZE) / B. Strycova (CZE) vs R. Atawo (USA) / A. Groenefeld (GER)
WTA - I. Begu (ROU) / S. Halep (ROU) vs J. Goerges (GER) / B. Mattek-Sands (USA)
WTA - [1] E. Makarova (RUS) / E. Vesnina (RUS) vs [WC] E. Bouchard (CAN) / S. Stephens (USA)

Photo gallery by Paul Scicchitano