Iga Swiatek continues to authoritatively dominate the WTA rankings, even if she failed to do the “Indian Wells-Miami” double, being eliminated prematurely in Florida by Alexandrova. The champion in Miami was Danielle Collins, who ticked off the first WTA 1000 in her career and who, in her retirement year, is one of the fittest athletes on the circuit. The player from the USA lost only one set on the way to the trophy and is the protagonist of the most impressive jump, climbing up to 22 WTA (she advanced 31 positions).
As far as we are concerned, Sorana Cîrstea did not manage to defend her points from last year’s semi-final in Miami, but she had a meritorious performance, playing optimally, which means that she remains among the 30 best players in the world (place 29). A very important thing, because this translates into the top seed status at tournaments and easier opponents at the start of the competitions.
Returning to the circuit after 6 months of absence, Irina Begu made the final in Antalya, playing excellent tennis and climbing 11 positions in the ranking (up to 115). It seems only a matter of time until the Bucharest native will return to the top 100 in the world, although she has some points to defend in the clay season (quarters in Madrid and round 3 at Roland Garros, in 2023).
But, the most important thing for us, Romanians, is the return of Simona Halep in the WTA ranking, she accumulated 10 points with the first round in Miami (defeated by Badosa). Simo is currently ranked 1143 in the world, but it certainly won’t be long before she returns to the top 50 players.
WTA ranking after Miami
1. Iga Swiatek – 10835 points
2. Aryna Sabalenka – 8045
9. Marketa Vondrousova – 3895
10. Jelena Ostapenko – 3438
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29. Sorana Cîrstea – 1748
83. Jaqueline Cristian – 844
185. Miriam Bulgaru – 185
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Sinner, the new world number 2, after Miami
World No. 3 Jannik Sinner captured the big trophy at the second Masters 1000 tournament of the season in Miami on Sunday night after defeating Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 6-1 at the end of a a match which he dominated from start to finish and which lasted an hour and 14 minutes of play.
Winner of the Australian Open in January and then the ATP 500 in Rotterdam in February, Sinner has lost just one of his 23 matches in 2024 and will be the new world No. 2 starting today, surpassing the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz.
After the success of Carlos Alcaraz at Indian Wells, where the Spaniard inflicted the only defeat of the year on Sinner, in the semi-finals, the American circuit on the hard court confirmed that the Spaniard and the Italian are the undisputed leaders of the new generation of players in world tennis.
Alcaraz and Sinner will now have to prove their qualities also on clay, in front of the Serbian Novak Djokovic, the current leader of the world ranking, with a lead of over 1,000 points over the Italian, who is to return to the competition after a disappointing start to the year (defeat in the semi-finals at the Australian Open, then in the third round at Indian Wells and absent from Miami).
If he continues to develop at the same level as until now, Sinner can hope to get closer to the leader’s seat of the ATP ranking, with many points collected on clay, a surface on which he did not shine in 2023, being eliminated in the semifinals at Monte Carlo, in the quarters in Barcelona, in the round of 16 in Rome and, especially, in the second round at the Grand Slam at Roland Garros.
Thanks to the final in Miami, Dimitrov returns for the first time in the last 6 years among the top 10 in the world, as of today he is ranked 9th in the ATP. The Bulgarian is the only player in the top 10 to use the one-handed lapel and it has to be said that the chances of him remaining at the top of the world ranking are high, given that in the clay season he has only 420 points to defend (only Hurkacz, with 235, is more advantageous than the athlete from the south of the Danube from this point of view).
ATP ranking after Miami
1. Novak Djokovic – 9725 points
4. Daniil Medvedev – 7165
5. Alexander Zverev – 5415
9. Grigor Dimitrov – 3540
10. Hubert Hurkacz – 3425
