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The Miami Open might have served as a style of what tennis followers can count on for the subsequent few years on the tour.
Two of the game’s most touted children took the subsequent step in direction of superstardom with their victories on the 1000-level occasion, one in all whom reached the head of the game together with her win at simply 20 years previous.
Count on much more weeks like this one sooner or later.
However for the Canadians, they’re keen to place Miami behind them and transfer onto the clay.
Right here’s what it’s worthwhile to know.
In Case You Missed It: Świątek, Alcaraz topped in Miami
It’s been no secret for fairly some time now that Iga Świątek and Carlos Alcaraz are the 2 most promising gamers on the excursions. However after their victories on the Miami Open, you’ll be able to take away the phrase “promising” from the record of adjectives to explain them.
For Świątek, Miami was a coronation, with the title the icing on the cake of an occasion that had assured she would ascend to primary on this planet after only one match.
However the Pole was not happy with guaranteeing the highest spot, as she confirmed why she is deserving of the highest spot. Not solely did she not drop a set throughout the occasion, she solely misplaced greater than 4 video games in simply two of her six matches and gained three units 6-0, together with one in her 6-4, 6-0 defeat of Naomi Osaka within the remaining.
Świątek, who formally takes excessive spot on Monday, turns into the primary lady since Victoria Azarenka in 2016 to finish the Sunshine Double, profitable each Indian Wells and Miami. She additionally joins Novak Djokovic in 2015 as the one two tennis gamers to win the primary three 1000-level (or equal) occasions of the season because the stage was launched in 1990.
Her profitable streak is as much as 17 consecutive matches and 20 consecutive units, having not misplaced one because the opening set of her fourth-round match in Indian Wells.
In the meantime, ever since he confirmed as much as the Australian Open in a tank prime having clearly spent the winter hitting the fitness center, the tennis world has been buzzing about Alcaraz and eventually in Miami he broke by means of, powering to the most important title of his profession up to now.
The Spaniard hardly blew the competitors away, coming by means of some powerful matches together with an upset of third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, a third-set tiebreak within the quarter-finals in opposition to Miomir Kecmanovic, and a decent semi with defending champion Hubert Hurkacz. However within the remaining, he was capable of put away Casper Ruud in straight units.
Alcaraz, whose uncooked energy mixed with unbelievable courtroom protection and deft contact has many touting him as not only a future main champion, however a possible contender this season, is now as much as No. 11 within the rankings, having began the yr at No. 32 with the acknowledged aim for 2022 of ending within the High 15, one thing that appears fairly assured as he’s at present No. 2 within the race to Turin behind his mentor, Rafael Nadal.
The primary rating was up for grabs on the boys’s aspect too. Had Daniil Medvedev reached the semi-finals, he would have retaken the highest spot. Nevertheless, he fell one match brief, dropping within the quarters to Hurkacz.
Medvedev then introduced on Saturday that he had surgical procedure to take away a hernia and can miss one-to-two months, possible protecting him out of all the clay courtroom swing and assuring Djokovic will hold the highest spot for the foreseeable future.
The second week of Miami was quiet for the Canadians with all of the singles gamers dropping in week one and each Gabriela Dabrowski and Denis Shapovalov falling early within the week in doubles.
What to Watch: Auger-Aliassime, Fernandez kick off clay season
Hopefully you want the color purple, as a result of there may be going to be quite a lot of it in your tv over the approaching weeks because the clay courtroom season kicks off this week with a bunch of 250-level occasions.
Félix Auger-Aliassime will look to shake off the frustration of his powerful Sunshine Double this week as he’s the highest seed on the Grand Prix Hassan II in Marrakech, Morocco.
He opens his clay swing in opposition to a neighborhood wildcard and will have an opportunity at revenge within the quarter-finals in opposition to sixth seed Botic van de Zandschulp, who beat Auger-Aliassime in Indian Wells. Dan Evans is the second seed.
The Canadian No. 1 has not reached a clay-court remaining since 2019, when he reached his first two ATP finals each on the grime.
Auger-Aliassime isn’t the one Canadian man competing this week, as Steven Diez will make his return to the ATP primary tour, competing in his first primary draw since 2019. Diez bought into the US Males’s Clay Court docket Championship as a fortunate loser and can play his first tour-level match in almost three years in opposition to Jordan Thompson. He might play fifth seed Christian Garin within the second spherical.
As is usually the case at 250 occasions in the US, the Individuals are very current within the draw, with Garin the one seeded participant not from the host nation. Taylor Fritz is the very best ranked participant within the draw after Ruud withdrew.
Leylah Fernandez will get her clay swing underway this week on the WTA 500 occasion in Charleston, the place she is seeded seventh. After a bye, she is going to meet both Magda Linette or Katie Volynets. Fernandez might meet 11th seed Petra Kvitova within the third spherical and is in the identical quarter as third seed Karolina Pliskova.
The attract Charleston is robust with a pair of High 5 gamers, Aryna Sabalenka and Paula Badosa, as the highest two seeds.
There may be additionally a 250 occasion in Bogota, with Camila Osorio as the highest seed.
Beneath the Radar:
Final week was quiet on the decrease excursions, with Kelsey Stevenson’s quarter-final in Egypt being the lone notable end result.
This week may very well be quiet on the excursions once more, with no Canadians competing on the Challenger tour and solely a handful on the ITF.
One notable event to keep watch over might be in Monastir, Tunisia, the place just a few of Canada’s prime juniors might be competing in an ITF Tour occasion.
You may comply with the Canadians in motion each week here.
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