Welcome to Take Five, a new weekly series at USOpen.org recapping five of the biggest stories of the last week on the professional tennis circuit. Aussie Ashleigh Barty and Poland's Hubert Hurkacz took home the singles titles at the only event on the WTA and ATP calendars last week—the Miami Open.
Barty defends Miami title, tightens grip on world No. 1 ranking
It was a Barty party in South Beach over the weekend, as the Aussie claimed her second WTA title of the 2021 season, successfully defending her 2019 Miami crown after the 2020 edition was scrapped. In Saturday's final, Barty led 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu, 6-3, 4-0, before the Canadian was forced to retire with an right-ankle injury sustained late in the match.
With the new adjusted WTA rankings system taking effect immediately following the Miami Open, Barty's spot at the top was under threat from Naomi Osaka as the Aussie's 2019 points were set to come off the board. But her victory, along with Osaka's shock quarterfinal exit at the hands of Maria Sakkari, tightened her grip on the No. 1 spot, which she has now occupied for a total of 70 weeks in her career.
Hurkacz wins biggest title of young career in surprise Miami final
The 24-year-old Pole won the third—and by far the biggest—title of his career by defeating 19-year-old Jannik Sinner in a surprise Miami final. The No. 26-seeded champion broke the 21st-seeded Italian youngster late in the opening set to force a tiebreak, then and used that key surge to propel him to a 7-6, 6-4 victory.
Hukacz came through a pair of three-setters en route to the final, twice coming from a set down to knock off No. 2 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas (quarterfinals) and No. 12 Milos Raonic (Round of 16). Things didn't get any easier in the semis, where he faced a red-hot Andrey Rublev, but Hurkacz scored a third straight upset win to plant the No. 4 seed, 6-3, 6-4.
He improves to 3-0 in ATP finals, while Sinner dropped his first final in three attempts. Both men improved their ATP rankings to career highs with the result, with Hurkacz up to No. 16 and Sinner now at No. 23.
Sakkari ends Osaka run, reaches new career high
Greece's Maria Sakkari played in two of the matches of the tournament, first taking out Naomi Osaka, 6-0, 6-4, in the quarters before falling just short against Andreescu, 7-6, 3-6, 7-6.
By beating Osaka, the No. 23 seed ended the reigning US Open and Australian Open champ's 23-match win streak, which stretched back 13 months to before the COVID-19 suspension. (Osaka did pull out ahead of two matches during that run, with the pre-match walkovers not affecting the streak). After dominating the opening set against the Japanese, Sakkari fell behind in set two before closing the match out with another flurry from 3-0 down, winning six of the last seven games.
The ensuing semifinal against Andreescu was another high-level encounter, this one tight from start to finish as the Candian saved two set points in the opener before taking it, 9-7, in the tiebreak. In set three, Sakkari served for the match at 6-5, but it was a resurgent Andreescu who advanced, edging her opponent, 7-4, in the decisive tiebreak, with the match finishing after midnight in the early hours of Friday morning.
Pavic-Metkic, Aoyama-Shibahara win Miami doubles crowns
Two same-nation pairing won the men's and women's doubles titles in South Florida, with Croatians Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic taking the men's trophy and Japan's Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara claiming the women's.
The No. 2-seeded Croatian duo defeated Britain's Neil Skupski and Dan Evans, 6-4, 6-4, in the final and did not drop a set in five matches on the week, getting pushed to a tiebreak just twice in 10 sets.
The Japanese pair, seeded fifth, won two match tiebreaks to reach the final, where they topped Hayley Carter (USA) and Luisa Stefani (Brazil), 6-2, 7-5. The WTA 1000 title is the biggest of their three trophies on the 2021 season.
A gem for G.E.M.S.
The couple known affectionately as G.E.M.S.—Gael Monfils and Elina Svitolina—announced their engagement over the weekend, with a wedding date seemingly set for July 2021. Congratulations to the happy couple!
