Week of Upsets in Miami
After a surprising end to 2019’s first Masters 1000 in Indian Wells, which saw Dominic Thiem and Bianca Andreescu crowned champions, the draw was always going to be wide open in Miami. But this year’s Miami Masters draw is wide open after a string of upsets in the first week.
Dominic Thiem’s hopes of completing the Sunshine Double (winning both Miami and Indian Wells in the same year) were ended after a 6-4 6-4 loss to rising star Hubert Hurkacz, who claimed his 3rd top 10 win in 3 tournaments to reach the 3rd round in Miami. Thiem had no answer for Hurkacz’s aggressive style of play and in truth put in a poor performance, considering he had just beaten Roger Federer.
2nd seed Alexander Zverev was knocked out by an inspired performance from former Miami finalist David Ferrer. Ferrer, who is retiring after Madrid this year, came back from a set down to beat Zverev 2-6 7-5 6-3 to claim one of the most gratifying victories of his career. The 36-year-old has also shown the tennis world that the so-called ‘Next-Gen’ has a long way to go before they replace the likes of Federer, Djokovic and Nadal at the top of men’s tennis.
This week also saw last week’s finalist in Indian Wells Angelique Kerber lose to Bianca Andreescu for the second time in 7 days. The match was played in poor spirit, with Kerber allegedly calling Andreescu ‘the biggest drama queen on tour’ at the handshake after being defeated. This may have been in reference to Andreescu having taken a medical timeout for cramp in the Indian Wells final last week.
Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka are also no longer in the running for the Miami title, as Williams withdrew with an injury after her first match, and Osaka was upset by Su-Wei Hsieh 4-6 7-6 6-3 in round 3.
Written by Emre Saridogan