Welcome to the latest edition of "Hot Shots," a USOpen.org-curated look at what you may have missed on social media over the past week. This week's WTA action is in Qatar, while the ATP Tour travels to three continents.
Reports of Iga Swiatek's demise have been greatly exaggerated.
The Polish world No. 1 has not won a WTA title since October, an eternity by her lofty standards. But after a fourth-round defeat to eventual finalist Elena Rybakina at the Australian Open, Swiatek is on the brink of her 12th tour-level trophy at the WTA 500 in Doha, Qatar.
The 21-year-old waved hello to Doha and waved goodbye to her opponents, dominating Danielle Collins and eighth seed Veronika Kudermetova by identical 6-0, 6-1 scorelines to reach the final. Swiatek also received a walkover against Belinda Bencic in the quarters. She will face second seed Jessica Pegula in Saturday's title match.
Before she began her campaign in Doha, Swiatek found time to wish compatriot Hubert Hurkacz a happy 26th birthday. Hurkacz was competing in Rotterdam this week, where he beat Roberto Bautista Agut but lost to Grigor Dimitrov as the fifth seed.
Hurkacz and Swiatek were teammates on the Polish United Cup team last month. Partnering for mixed doubles, they sent Team Poland into the semifinals of the event with a mixed doubles win.
From the reigning US Open women's singles champ in Swiatek, we move to Buenos Aires to check in on our men's singles titlist, Carlos Alcaraz. Like Swiatek, the Spaniard is seeking his first title of 2023 this week.
Alcaraz played his first match since November in the Argentine capital, scoring a 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 win against Laslo Djere. The first former world No. 1 to play at the event since Gustavo Kuerten in 2004, Alcaraz received a warm welcome from the crowd—which included Argentine legend Gabriela Sabatini—and even heard some "Ole Carlos" chants.
After an abdominal injury ended his 2022 season at the Rolex Paris Masters, Alcaraz suffered a hamstring injury during his Australian Open preparations. The 19-year-old lost the world No. 1 ranking to Novak Djokovic during his time on the sidelines, but looked sharp in his return as he begins a new chase for the top spot.
Posting in Spanish following his opening win in Buenos Aires, Alcaraz said: "I missed this SO MUCH! What a night and what energy you have given me! Let's go Argentina Open!"
The ATP Tour is also in Delray Beach, Florida, this week, where one of the stories of the young season unfolded.
The 33-year-old Matija Pecotic, who holds a full-time job in real estate finance in South Florida, qualified for his ATP Tour debut at the ATP 250 event. After beating Stefan Kozlov and Tennys Sandgren in qualifying, the Croatian upset former Top 10 player Jack Sock, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, on Tuesday in his first tour-level match.
"I had to leave work early today," joked Pecotic, whose boss was watching from his player box. "I had to send an email to the whole team. [My boss] let me off. I'm going to have to ask for another day off tomorrow."
Pecotic's dream run was ended by Marcos Giron on Wednesday, but not before he clocked back into work with an ATP Tour victory added to his resume.
Rotterdam is also hosting ATP action this week, with Daniil Medvedev and Grigor Dimitrov the first two men to book their semifinal spots.
While there has been plenty of drama on the court in the Netherlands, things also got spicy on the interview set as players were pressed to spill some tea. There was no clear answer for who has the biggest ego, but there was no contest for the biggest flirt!
Finally, we'll leave you with a Sportscenter Top 10 highlight from back in Doha, where China's Zheng Qinwen stunned Maria Sakkari with a tweener.
Check back next week for more US Open Hot Shots!
