The Miami Open is winding down. What are the points one should remember from the tournament more than anything else? Lots of story lines emerged, but these are the four biggest ones:
1. Federer And Nadal Should Continue To Play Well This Year
This is becoming a special 2017 tennis season. Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer created a third meeting of the season, their second in a final. These guys aren’t playing in the finals of ATP 250 or 500 tournaments, either. They met in the Australian Open final and now Miami, a Masters 1000 event. Federer has made the finals of each of the three most important events on tour to date, the Aussie Open, Indian Wells, and Miami. Rafa has now made the finals in two of those events. It’s true that Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray are out of the picture, but the fact that both Federer and Nadal took advantage – not just one of them, but both – shows how great they are, individually and together. If Djokovic and Murray don’t get healthy and play better, Federer and Nadal should continue to thrive.2) Karolina Pliskova Is For RealThere are lots of inconvenient truths about sports, including tennis. One of them is that Karolina Pliskova didn’t make the final of either Indian Wells or Miami. This might seem like a bad thing for a player who was seeded in the top four at both tournaments. Yet, Pliskova was the only top-seven player to make the semifinals at either Indian Wells or Miami… and she went deep in both events, not just one. Pliskova is a consistently good player now, a complete reversal from the player she once was, before she won Cincinnati in 2016. Pliskova has changed her career and seems likely to continue to threaten for big titles.
3. Nick Kyrgios And Alexander Zverev Should Have Great Careers
It was special to watch Nick Kyrgios play Alexander Zverev in the Miami quarterfinals. It was also stirring to watch Kyrgios go toe-to-toe again with Roger Federer in another Masters 1000 tournament (the previous one being Madrid in 2015). Kyrgios and Federer have played six sets in two matches, and all six of those sets have gone to tiebreakers. Kyrgios is competing at a very high level. He is getting better at managing his emotions and carrying himself through tough situations. He still throws racquets, but he shrugs those events off instead of getting too captured by them. His ability to serve huge, hit big, and create angles show that he has the skills of a top player. Zverev, who engaged him in a tough quarterfinal, shows the same level of aptitude, only with a more modest and workmanlike style. These young players are building experience and gaining lots of lessons that should pay off in two or three years, maybe even sooner than that.
4. Caroline Wozniacki Still Has A Chance To Win Majors On Hardcourts
The tennis world keeps wondering if Caroline Wozniacki, formerly a major-tournament finalist, will ever break through and win a major. We’re talking about a player that was a former world No. 1 back in October of 2010. She had made it to the U.S. Open Final twice and the Australian Open semis in 2011. While she’s done a lot of winning in her career, she’s been a fading commodity in the last five seasons. Consider that in 2011, she was the No. 1 seed going into all four of the Grand Slams. Since the start of 2013, she hasn’t been seeded higher than fourth going into any Grand Slam and in 2014, she was 10th or lower each time.
But there appears to be a change in her. By making the Miami final against Johanna Konta, Wozniacki showed that she still has the game to threaten tough opponents. She can still redirect the ball and play defense. Wozniacki won’t beat Serena Williams, but if anyone other than Serena is in her path, she can do a lot of damage and eventually hoist a major trophy. She’s been in the game for a long time but she’s stil only 26 and has plenty of time to earn her first major win.
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