Through sponsorship changes and various locales over the course of its 35-year history, the Miami Open has been consistent on one front: rewarding those who’ve had prior success as at least one player in every WTA semifinal lineup at the tournament since 1986 has reached the championship round before.
That streak has come to an end this year as no one among the final four—Simona Halep, Karolina Pliskova, Ashleigh Barty and Anett Kontaveit—had ever advanced to the final at the event. The only other time that happened was in the first year in 1985, when Martina Navratilova defeated home favorite Chris Evert in straight sets.
Throughout the event’s history, the winners’ list has been dominated by a handful of players with Serena Williams leading the pack with eight titles, the most recent coming in 2015 over surprise runner-up Carla Suarez Navarro.