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Scintillating Sinner: Tennis Insights

Scintillating Sinner: Tennis Insights

(March 24th - March 30th Recap)

Courtside Tennis & Emmanuel Okosun
April 01, 2024

A complete unraveling!

Jannik Sinner continues to blow our minds. After winning the Miami Open, he now sits at the #2 spot ahead of Carlos Alcaraz. But there were many other storylines last week. The entire week was a cinematic experience on and off the courts but we were able to come up with a concise 5-minute summary for you.

New Videos‼

Casper Ruud’s game has been a subject of one of the biggest debates recently, so we decided to go in-depth on everything about his game last week.

If you missed out on everything that went down in the first week of the Miami Open, we've got you covered right here.

Stay tuned for this week’s recap on Tuesday.

What Happened Last Week

ATP Singles

The man of the moment Jannik Sinner defeated Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 6-1 to win his first Miami Open trophy and his second ATP Masters 1000 crown overall.

WTA Singles

Danielle Collins beat Elena Rybakina in the final 7-5, 6-3. The 30-year-old American became the lowest-ranked Miami Open champion in the tournament's history and will now return to the Top 25. After losing the first set of her opening match, she did not lose another.

ATP Doubles

Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden reeled off the final six points of the championship match for a 6-7(3), 6-3, 10-6 triumph against Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek inside Hard Rock Stadium. It’s their second ATP Masters 1000 trophy as a team

WTA Doubles

Sofia Kenin and Mattek-Sands are Miami Open champions. On Sunday, the Americans came back from a set down to edge No.2 seeds Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe 4-6, 7-6(5), [11-9]. They weren't even supposed to be in the draw but after a team withdrawal, they got in as alternates and ended up being champions

The Biggest Movers Of The Week

Full ATP Rankings

Full WTA Rankings

Major Tournament Updates

After hard-court action at the ‘Sunshine Double’ in Indian Wells and Miami, the ATP Tour heads to Europe, North America and Africa this week for a tripleheader of clay-court ATP 250s as they clay season gets underway.

Millennium Estoril Open - Estoril, Portugal | 1 - 7 April, 2024

Defending champion Casper Ruud leads the field at the tournament, where he is joined by fellow Top 10 star Hubert Hurkacz in Portugal. The main draw is out and here is what it looks like:

Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship - Houston, United States | 1 - 7 April, 2024

Home favorite Ben Shelton is the top seed in Houston as he looks to make his debut in the tournament. Meanwhile, defending champion Frances Tiafoe, who did not drop a set en route to the title, returns to defend crown. There are 10 Americans in the draw excluding qualifiers. #NextGenATP American Alex Michelsen, fifth seed Christopher Eubanks who has only one tour-level win on clay, Marcos Giron, Brandon Nakashima, Aleksandar Kovacevic, and wild cards Michael Mmoh and Denis Kudla are in action. See the full draw here.

Grand Prix Hassan II - Marrakech, Morocco | 1 - 7 April, 2024

Top seed Laslo Djere, will be joined by a strong lineup in Stan Wawrinka, Daniel Evans, and Matteo Berrettini in Marrakech. Berrettini continues his comeback from his foot injury in Marrakech, where he starts against Alexander Shevchenko. Defending champ Roberto Carballes Baena captured his first tour-level trophy 12 months ago in Marrakech, defeating Alexandre Muller in the final. He will be looking to defend his title. See full draw here.

Credit One Charleston Open, CHARLESTON, UNITED STATES | Apr 1 - Apr 7, 2024

The Hologic WTA Tour moves to the clay and the main action is at the WTA 500 Credit One Charleston Open. Ons Jabeur captured the title last year, defeating defending champion Belinda Bencic 7-6(6), 6-4. Ons will be looking to defend her title but she faces a strong lineup that includes World No.5 Jessica Pegula, Maria Sakkari, Daria Kasatkina, Beatriz Haddad Maia, Ekaterina Alexandrova, Elina Svitolina, Madison Keys, and Charleston's own Emma Navarro.

Watch Out For This Player

Tomáš Macháč

2024 has been quite the year for Tomas Machac. The 23-year-old Czech reached his first grand slam third round in Australia, beating Frances Tiafoe in straight sets for a first top-20 win. In Miami, he destroyed world #6 Andrey Rublev and outlasted Andy Murray for a place in the fourth round. Now inside the top 50 for the first time, the Czech player has caught our attention.

The key to Machac's game is a compact, versatile backhand. Although he doesn’t serve so big at the moment, his court-widening slice serve and net play earn him a lot of points off his serves. Also, the Czech creates impossible angles with his backhand to make life difficult for his opponents, although his forehand could be better. It’s a little difficult to predict his ceiling at the moment, we reckon he shouldn’t have a problem breaking into the Top 25 in the coming months.

Off The Court

Roger Federer Named Dartmouth Commencement Speaker

Roger Federer will deliver the Class of 2024 commencement speech at Dartmouth College, the university announced on Thursday. The 20-time major champion will address the graduating class on Sunday, 9 June and be presented with an honorary doctor of humane letters degree from the Ivy League school in Hanover, New Hampshire.