Tennis: Tournament Watch Week 12 & 13

Miami closes out the sunshine double

Back in their rightful places, one after the other instead of bookending the different swings of the tour, now things start to feel a little more like normal.

WTA Miami

The only Top 20 players absent are defending champion Ashleigh Barty, Barbora Krejcikova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 

This week we have seen great performances especially from the semi-finalists Simona Halep and Paula Badosa, who proved her run to the title most definitely was not a flash in the pan. And of course we will have to see how the finalists from Indian Wells carry their momentum in search of that Sunshine Double.

The qualifying rounds start on Monday for the WTA with the first round starting on Tuesday.

Women’s semi-finals will be on Friday 31 March with the final on Saturday.

ATP Indian Wells

Finally, Rafael Nadal will take a break as he skips Miami ahead of what is sure to be a tantalising clay court season. And miraculously the right admin has been done and Novak Djokovic is off the entry list so we won’t have to endure the farcical situation of him being in the draw, then out with a lopsided bottom half.

Notable wildcards include former two-time champion Andy Murray still in search of some consistency. Also, Nick Kyrgios is awarded a wildcard after his event-strewn return in Indian Wells, where he made the quarter-final.

Built in the Hard Rock Stadium complex purely for this two week stint, it is the last significant stop before we ease into the clay court season.

The ATP qualifying rounds start on Tuesday, with the first round starting on Wednesday 10 March. The semi-finals are on 1 April, with the finals taking place on Sunday 3 April.