Pre-Spring Surge

Career-changing wins and masterclass performances ruled across the globe as we get further into the 2025 season.

As always, there is plenty to discuss, so let’s get into this week’s topics!

New Videos!!

We have three new videos on our channel this week!

You won’t want to miss out on a recap of a THRILLING week of action in the first video. 

The second video is a special deep dive into a very special Billie Jean King Cup team. 

Finally, the third video covers one of the most controversial topics surrounding our sport in recent years. Which we actually dropped yesterday!

Check them out and let us know what you think!

What Happened Last Week?

Tomas Machac is a champion on the ATP Tour for the first time! The 24 year-old Czech won his first title in style, with a 7-6 (6) 6-2 win over veteran Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. He is now also the #1 Czech player in the ATP rankings and the third highest ranked Czech across both tours.

Entering 2025, Stefanos Tsitsipas had won at least 1 title on the ATP Tour every year since 2018. He continued that streak with a 6-3 6-3 win over Felix Auger-Aliassime in the final of Dubai. The Greek hasn’t won more than one title in a season since 2022, but has a lot of time to change that this season.

Emma Navarro picked up the biggest title of her career this week in Merida. The world no. 10 secured the win in dominant fashion over Colombian qualifier Emiliana Arango, not dropping a game, in a 6-0 6-0 rout. Navarro becomes the first player to win a final by that score line since Iga Swiatek did it in the 2021 Rome final against Karolina Pliskova.

Laslo Djere has only played in the main draw of 2 Tour-level events this year so far. He’s 8-1. Fresh off a semifinal in Buenos Aires a week prior, Djere went a few steps further this week, winning it all in Chile. He got it done with a dramatic 6-4 3-6 7-5 win over last week’s winner Sebastian Baez. Look out for the Serb during this year’s clay court swing.

#1 seed Jessica Pegula came out on top in an all-American final at the ATX Open. She overcame a tough challenge against University of Florida standout McCartney Kessler in straight sets 7-5 6-2. This is Pegula’s first title of the year and also her first with new coaches Mark Merklein & Mark Knowles.

Live Ranking Update:
The Biggest Movers Of The Week

WTA:

80. Emiliana Arango (+53)

85. Maya Joint (+18)

94. Ajla Tomljanovic (+17)

77. Zeynep Sonmez (+11)

48. McCartney Kessler (+8)

Ajla Tomljanovic is a top 100 player once again and should like her chances of making main draw entry lists and avoiding qualifying very soon. 

Emiliana Arango is up to a new career high AND making her top 100 debut this week. 

Maya Joint, Zeynep Sonmez, & McCartney Kessler were also rewarded for their efforts this week.

ATP:

74. Laslo Djere (+29)

59. Quentin Halys (+18)

20. Tomas Machac (+5)

18. Felix Auger-Aliassime (+3)

10. Stefanos Tsitsipas (+2)

Tomas Machac and his short shorts are up to a new career high. 

Felix Auger-Aliassime has moved back into the top 20 thanks to his performance in Dubai. 

Stefanos Tsitsipas secured the Dubai title and his place in the top ten this week.

Laslo Djere & Quentin Halys take top honors for biggest moves.

Major Tournament Updates

Here’s a quick look ahead to what’s coming up this week:

• ATP/WTA BNP Paribas Open - Indian Wells, USA (March 5 - March 16)

The first half of the sunshine double officially starts this week! ☀️

The top players on both Tours will kick off the North American swing in Tennis Paradise. 

Key players to look out for in the men’s draw include defending champ Carlos Alcaraz, 2024 finalist Daniil Medvedev, top seed Alexander Zverev, Dubai champ Stefanos Tsitsipas and top Americans Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, & Ben Shelton.

In the women’s field, the big names to watch are 2024 champ Iga Swiatek, 2023 champion Elena Rybakina, world no. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, Aussie Open champ Madison Keys, and fellow top seeds Coco Gauff (#3) & Jessica Pegula (#4).

Watch Out For These Players

Emiliana Arango:

Once a top ranked junior, this 24 year-old Colombian has had a bit of a difficult time adjusting to the pro circuit.

She is certainly finding her footing this week in the familiar climate of South America. And, while she may prefer a clay court, she’s making a statement on the hard courts of Merida.

One of her biggest improvements in recent years has been her return points won. She is winning 49.1% of her return games in 2025, which is a career best in her 3 full seasons on the main tour (+14% from 2024). To understand how good this number is, world no. 1 Aryna Sabalenka is at 40.5% in this stat and Iga Swiatek is at 45.6%. Arango does not posses a big serve, so breaking serve is a very big component of her success.

Her return win percentage has been good enough so far to bring the Colombian success at the lower levels of the pro tour. If Arango can continue to improve her service game win stat (57.1%), more big finals are in her future.

Tomas Machac:

This Czech has been soaring up the rankings in both singles and doubles since 2023, now top 100 in both disciplines.

Machac has had some great results in the past year, but couldn’t make a push to a first career final. Until now.

Machac’s serve stood out in particular. He won 29 consecutive first-serve points during a stretch of the match and won 37 of 39 (95%) overall. For reference, his career 1st serve points won % is 70%. Quite a big jump in production if you ask me.

In fact, he is sitting at 75% first serves won for the season, and this number has been improving by an average of about 3% each year since 2020.

Tomas is still working on becoming an elite returner with lower career numbers in return points won (38%) & return games won (23%). But, winning points off your first serve at a high clip is bound to inspire confidence in any player, and that is certainly the case with Machac. If those return numbers start rising too, the rest of the tour better watch out.

Off The Court

Sinner Removed As Laureus Award Nominee Following Ban:

Jannik Sinner's nomination for the Laureus sportsman of the year award has been withdrawn.

The news came on Thursday, and the official reason given was the three-month ban that Sinner is currently serving.

”Following discussions by the Laureus Academy it has been decided that Jannik Sinner’s nomination for this year’s Laureus world sportsman of the year is to be withdrawn,” said Laureus World Sports chairman Sean Fitzpatrick.

Novak Djokovic won the award last year for the 2023 season.

Kokkinakis Undergoes Surgery For Pectoral Injury:

World no. 84 Thanasi Kokkinakis announced that he has undergone surgery to try and resolve a lingering pectoral injury.

The Australian aggravated the injury at his home slam in January during a 5-set match against Jack Draper. The following day, Thanasi retired midway through his doubles match.

He put out a statement on his X page announcing the procedure:

As of now, it is unclear how long Kokkinakis will be out as a result of this surgery. Hoping he has a speedy recovery as he is a player who always seems to be dealing with injuries.

Krejcikova To Miss Indian Wells & Miami:

Reigning Wimbledon champ Barbora Krejcikova has withdrawn from both 1000 tournaments taking place this month.

The Czech cited a back injury, which has kept her off tour since November, as the reason for the withdrawal.

The world no. 16 sustained the injury during the Asian swing last fall, and played through it at the WTA Finals, where she made the semifinals.

Julia Grabher of Austria will take Krejcikova’s place in the Indian Wells draw.

Again, hopefully we see Barbie on court again soon, she’s another player who just can’t seem to stay healthy for extended periods of time.

In Case You Missed It…

Here’s an “Off The Court” story that you may have missed from last week:

Jessica Pegula picked up more than one win in Austin this week. 

Following her victory in the final, Jessie offered up her private jet for any player who wanted/needed transportation to Indian Wells for this week’s 1000-event.

Zhang Shuai, one of the doubles finalists, shared her appreciation for the kind act in an Instagram post:

Pegula has always been praised as a kind player, and this just further proves that sentiment.

Highlights Of The Week

Check out some of the best shots from last week’s tournaments!