Sunset On The Sunshine Double: Recapping The ATP’s Miami Open

Indian Wells and the Miami Open have wrapped, marking the tip of the Sunshine Double and the graduation of the clay-court season.

I had the pleasure of attending the Miami match for everything of the third spherical, catching a number of matches on the boys’s facet.

Whereas I received’t cowl the entire match’s surprises (I see you, Francisco Cerundolo and Misha Kecmanovic), I’ll deal with a couple of gamers I witnessed play in particular person and wrap up with a couple of stray observations.

Kyrgios Places On A Present, Once more

In Miami’s second spherical, Nick Kyrgios seemingly waltzed previous Andrey Rublev 6-3, 6-0, notching a second marquee victory of 2022 after his win towards Casper Ruud at Indian Wells (each Rublev and Ruud are at present within the high 10).

Nick coasted by way of the primary three rounds, not straying from his typical profitable components of massive serve, huge forehand, and opportunistic shotmaking. His first-serve percentage was the very best it’s constantly been all 12 months, staying at or above about 75% for all three matches and peaking at an absurd 79.6% towards Rublev.

For comparability, some players haven’t achieved above a 70% first serve proportion even as soon as within the final 5 months. To do it thrice in a row at Miami is a world-class exhibiting. Not unhealthy for a part-timer!

Kyrgios’ match towards Fabio Fognini was routine and emblematic of the abovementioned strengths. Inside Laborious Rock Stadium, crowds had been drawn to his distinctive on-court character first, the ever-present chance of a tantrum second, and his gifted athleticism third.

One fan shouted, “Underarm serve!” and Kyrgios instantly went into motion. The eventual downfall got here within the fourth spherical to Jannik Sinner, which contained an outburst that I received’t dive into right here however extremely advisable.

I wrote in an earlier post that Kyrgios is nice for tennis viewership. I observed supporting proof within the fluctuating Miami ticket costs for stadium matches.

Costs to see Kyrgios-Fogninii, which wasn’t an exceptionally high-quality match, had been 5 occasions larger than an analogous ticket to see Medvedev-Brooksby later within the match.

Nonetheless, for Kyrgios to get back-to-back fourth-round performances in Indian Wells and Miami is large. This streak is the perfect multi-tournament stretch Kyrgios has had in years. It’s disappointing that we received’t see him take part in Paris come Could.

Brooksby Battles By RBA to Meet Medvedev

One other unseeded participant who made it to the fourth spherical at Miami was Jenson Brooksby. After a rocky start towards Federico Coria, he shortly acquired previous Nikoloz Basilashvili for the primary time in three tries.

However the enjoyable actually started when Brooksby confronted Roberto Bautista-Agut within the third spherical, which slowly developed into among the finest matches of the whole match. Brooksby and RBA are at two polar ends of their tennis careers.

Jenson is 21 years outdated, a pimply child who spent most of 2021 taking part in the qualifying rounds at tournaments. RBA is 33 years outdated, a father (his son sat in a shaded stroller courtside for this match), and a veteran whose profession peaked when he made the semifinals of 2019 Wimbledon.

Nonetheless, when these two took the courtroom in Miami, the similarities of their video games shortly overwhelmed any variations. Each Brooksby and RBA are strong and regular baseliners who strike penetrating and flatter pictures and like to drag their opponents side-to-side.

They’re balanced gamers, not strength-focused or one-dimensional. Neither participant has a dangerous serve, leaning as an alternative on dependable returning and shot placement. Longer rallies populated the primary and second units, with a default sample of buying and selling cross-court daggers with two-handed backhands.

Like a pre-programmed robotic, Brooksby can do something along with his backhand: quick angle, slice, down-the-line, even inside-out (who steps round their forehand!?).

His urge for food and confidence to vary course appeared larger than RBA’s, permitting Brooksby to open up area and pressure errors. However after coming near producing a match level at 6-3, 5-4, Brooksby stuttered. RBA broke shortly to go up 6-5 and take the second set, persevering with the streak into the third set and taking a 4-0 lead.

The match really appeared misplaced, with RBA having bodily outplayed Brooksby. Spectators started filtering out of the Court docket 1 venue to hunt their subsequent viewing expertise.

However the tide took one closing monumental flip as Brooksby received 6 video games in a row to take the third set and the match by way of sheer willpower and error-free play.

Brooksby was elated after the match, acknowledging and responding to feedback from the gang. “Option to combat, Jenson,” I known as as he walked by me to exit the courtroom. He wiped his face on a towel and seemed up. “Thanks.”

He took a beat earlier than referencing the general positivity of the gang: “Your help helped a lot.” It was the type of interplay you may solely be capable of have at a non-slam match, with somebody newer to the ATP tour, somebody who isn’t jaded by having iPhones of their face, somebody who’s nonetheless a child.

Brooksby misplaced the subsequent day to Daniil Medvedev, beginning sizzling within the first set earlier than fully shedding steam. He routinely hit first serves under 100 mph within the second set, which led to Medvedev routinely breaking him.

Creating his serve right into a weapon to realize free factors and save vitality will proceed to be the first barrier to Brooksby’s rise from high 50 participant to high 10 participant.

Alcaraz Brings The Warmth

After his third-round loss within the 2021 US Open to Carlos Alcaraz, Stefanos Tsitsipas said of his opponent, “His ball pace was unimaginable. I’ve by no means seen somebody hit the ball so laborious.” This 12 months’s Miami Open produced a sequel to the Tsitsipas-Alcaraz epic, and Alcaraz’s high-octane ball putting was on show once more.

Whereas it could not have been a 5-setter this time round, the Tsitsipas-Alcaraz match delighted beneath the Miami lights, with Tsitsipas popping out of the gates robust earlier than succumbing to the constant stress of Alcaraz.

The theme of the match was Tsitsipas’ tendency to get caught within the backhand nook whereas Alcaraz comfortably ripped backhands down the road to realize leverage within the level and put Tsitsipas on the defence.

For Alcaraz, the tempo of his pictures, pace, and total shotmaking proved to be his profitable instruments in Miami. He effortlessly turned defence into offence towards Marin Cilic, Tsitsipas, and Misha Kecmanovic as he hit absurd on-the-run topspin lobs to finish the purpose.

All of this unfolded whereas Juan Carlos Ferrero, Alcaraz’s coach, was absent from the match. Ferrero left Miami earlier than Spherical 1 after studying that his father had handed away, finally making a shock return for the ultimate spherical and tearfully celebrating alongside Alcaraz.

On the Miami telecast, Jim Courier stated, “Alcaraz is the longer term, however he’s additionally the current.” With the absence of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in Miami, Alcaraz stepped in to fill the void, accelerating his ascension to the forefront of the boys’s tennis world.

As Roland Garros looms on the horizon, the chatter round Alcaraz will solely proceed to extend in quantity.

Different stray observations from Miami

What did you consider the 2022 Miami Open? Let me know within the feedback.