One tour ends and another begins. Goodbye to hard courts –poor Daniil Medvedev– and hello to clay courts –Rafael Nadal celebrates–. But first, it is time for him to take stock of what has happened in these last two weeks in a Miami Open 2023 who has given us memorable matches and has reminded us of some notes from the circuit that we had already forgotten. Let’s go with the ten conclusions of every Monday after a big tournament.
1. Medvedev is still in the fight. And when I say the fight, I don’t mean the fight to win Masters 1000 titles, which we have taken for granted for quite some time. What I really mean is the fight to be number 1 in the world at some point in the calendar, even to choose to finish the season at the top of the ranking. With their four titles and five finals in just three months, now it remains to be seen if the dynamics will also continue on clay.
2. Kvitova is infinite. Impossible not to be moved by the tournament that the Czech has won in Miami, a place where he had never reached the quarterfinals in his career. Incredible data, taking into account that we are talking about a living legend of the circuit, someone with 30 titles to his credit and a validity within the reach of few. At 33 years old, the Bilovec player still sees herself prepared to fight for great feats, something that we celebrate and hope to see again.
3. Sinner is missing something. What is missing? Possibly, win a big title in one go. The Italian has a lot of talent, there is no doubt about this, he is one of the earliest champions on the tour, he has also shown that he has a table to measure himself against the other great rival of his generation, Carlos Alcaraz. However, he could not beat Hurkacz two years ago in Miami, nor could he beat Medvedev this time in the same final. Something fails in the last corner for people to finish seeing him as a candidate for everything in the future.
4. The ‘Double Sunshine‘ do not touch. Perhaps it is that we primed the idea too much in the middle of last week, but there came a time when the superiority of both was such that it seemed that it was done. Finally, neither Carlos Alcaraz nor Elena Rybakina managed to continue their success in Indian Wells, confirming that the ‘sun doublet‘ is still a challenge that you need to be 100% up to if you want to meet it. We will see in 2023 what happens.
5. Alcaraz is not invincible. Don’t laugh, many of us here came to think about it seeing the beatings that the Murcian has been giving away during this month of March. They were his first hard court tournaments of the season, but Carlitos reached the semifinals in Miami without losing a set in ten games, how could we not trust him? It was finally shown that he was not invincible, either because of those cramps that appeared inopportunely or because of a Sinner who knows perfectly how to play against the Spaniard.
6. The Spanish lose prominence. With how fun the women’s circuit is right now, how open it is for the entire top50 and, nevertheless, how it hurts not to have any Spaniards up there. With the disappearance of Muguruza, the fall of Badosa and the injury of Sorribes, the WTA ranking dawns this Monday without any of ours in the group of the thirty best in the world, a punishment for the poor performance that is depriving us of enjoying a little more than the beginning of this 2023.
7. Ruud is still missing The one who should be happier than anyone is the Norwegian, who finally says goodbye to the first term of the course to embrace the clay court tour once and for all. These have not been easy months for him, carrying the pressure of being a favorite and adding just five victories in six tournaments played. A disaster that he will try to fix soon on the red surface, starting this week in Estoril.
8. The WTA, increasingly orderly. You may not have noticed, but what was sold as a circuit that was a circus, there is less and less prominence of Russian roulette. Thanks to Rybakina, Sabalenka, Krejcikova, Pegula or Swiatek herself –right now injured–, the women’s circuit begins to show a certain logic in the outcomes of its major tournaments. A group of players who have stepped forward to impose their authority on others.
9. What about Tsitsipas? Since he made the final at the Australian Open, the Greek has played five games and has lost three. What about Tsitsipas? Nobody understands anything, we just hope that the clay court tour answers our question.
10. Swiatek’s No. 1 is not insured. Conclusion that is slightly related to #8 and that comes to alert us to something that we could not imagine a few months ago. The distance of the Pole is still considerable with respect to her pursuers, but it is no longer something insurmountable. Just as in January we saw her finishing the course at the top without ruffling her hair, now certain doubts may arise on the subject. Iga, who has a gap of 2,000 points with Sabalenka, will have to defend 3,500 on this tour of brick dust. Get out the calculator.
