OK so this is the last post on the Sony Open Tennis event from Crandon Park in Miami, which will cover the two finals on both the mens and ladies events. So without any further interruptions let's have a look at em!
Right starting off with the ladies final, which was between Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams, and in prospect it looked to be like Serena would have taken it pretty easily from the Russian, as her 11-2 head to head record suggests. However the match itself was far from easy as Maria came out firing on all cylinders, playing incredibly aggressive tennis against Serena, pinning her back and blasting all sorts of winners, she broke the American's serve and took her first set off her in nearly 10 years! In the 2nd set Maria went up a break against Serena before the World No.1 mounted her fightback, and from there it was all about Serena who went on to break to level the match at a set all, and in the 3rd she raced to victory, as Sharapova capitulated spectacularly on serve, firing down one double fault after another, and in the end American claimed a record breaking 6th Miami title after a 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 win.
Although I didn't see the match from what I gathered Maria for half of it was the stronger player, as she played some of her best and most aggressive tennis against Serena. But it just goes to show Serena's sheer tenacity and willpower and how it managed to get her through and when she turned it up, there was no way back for Sharapova. So this sees Serena back up her World No.1 ranking once more, and despite her early defeats in Melbourne and Doha, its safe to say that she definitely proved to be the world's best player so far this year. And with Azarenka being absent, this leaves more room for Maria to keep the momentum going and rack more points, with a view of coming the world no.1 again.
But whether or not Maria can wrestle the No.1 ranking from Serena or not will depend entirely on how well she plays in the next coming months, and Maria herself has a lot of points to defend in the upcoming clay season, having won titles in Stuttgart, Rome and the French Open last year. But there will be room for opportunity as if Maria maintains her impressive form on clay then she has an excellent chance of retaining her titles, and Serena it has to be said does struggle a bit on clay, despite winning the Mutua Madrid Open last year, she suffered a shock first round loss at the French Open. But I somehow doubt that Serena will suffer the same fate this year, but its going to be interesting to see how things pan out on the clay this year for the ladies game, which starts this week at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston in America, where Serena and Caroline Wozniacki are the top seeds.
So now onto the men's final, which was between Andy Murray and David Ferrer. Both men had a fair bit on the line here with the outcome of this final, as Andy would be looking to overtake Roger Federer in the rankings to become the World No.2, whereas Ferrer was looking to overtake Rafa and regain the No.4 spot. The match itself was one gruelling affair, and despite being the hot favourite to win the title, it was Andy that got off to a woeful slow start, suffering in the sweltering heat and the windy conditions on court, Andy went a double break down against Ferrer. And despite getting back one of the breaks, at 2-5, Andy double faulted to hand the set to Ferrer. From here Andy's level needed to improve drastically, and to an extent it did as he turned up in the match and the two men engaged in some terrific rallies, although Andy still struggled badly on serve, but he somehow managed to break Ferrer and level the match. In the 3rd set we were treated to breaks aplenty, as neither player could hold onto serve successfully until 4-4, and Andy took another break to go 5-4 and serve for the title. However another shocking service game let Ferrer off the hook, and at 6-5, with Andy serving to stay in the match, Ferrer had a match point, and at the end of crucial rally, Ferrer challenged Andy's return, which turned out to be just inside the baseline. After this Andy miraculously held onto his serve and in the tiebreak he dominated play, just as Ferrer crumbled badly, with cramp setting into his legs, Andy finally made his move after multiple goes he sealed the deal, to grab the title and No.2 ranking with a brutally exhaustive 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(1) epic victory.
While it has to be said this wasn't the highest quality of finals, it nevertheless remained compelling viewing, and despite the poor stuff, there was also some terrific rallies from both men from the 2nd set onward and some wonderful points in between the dodgy stuff. And both men deserve nothing but credit for how they battled on through such brutal and tough conditions, with sweltering heat, unbelievable humidity and high winds. And it would be hard not to feel sorry for Ferrer who fought his heart out in this match, and came so close to winning as he had that match point on Andy's serve at 6-5 in the final set, which was nullified by a hawkeye challenge, and if it wasn't for that, it would have been quite a different result. Ferrer also had the crowd on his side as the underdog, and also with a strong Spanish contingent in Miami, naturally the crowd were more for him than Andy, which is understandable. So unforuntately for Ferrer he is still yet to gain a win over the top four in a big final, but on the basis of this match that win might just yet come.
As for Andy well, while he was far from the top of his game, his sheer grit and determination to make it through was by far the most impressive thing about this match, again showing the growing mental fortitude he has learned under Lendl's coaching. And throughout the tournament you could just tell at certain points in matches when he looked down and out, that you knew that somehow he would come through and win it. And the main point that sealed it for me was when at 5-6 in the 3rd set, after Ferrer waited too long to challenge a point he had lost, it went to 15-15, with a hostile crowd booing the umpire's decision to not let him, Andy calmly went on to produce a service winner and garner a big cheer from the crowd. In moments like that you know you have a champion on court, as champions even when they are not at their best somehow know how to dig out a win, and that's what Andy did and he got the job done.
Although some concerns about these two back to back Masters events in Indian Wells and Miami are the brutally hot conditions and the fact players are expected to play a maximum of six rounds (the top seeds anyway) or seven if unseeded players are fortunate to reach the final, which over the space of four weeks is lot of tennis. Physically also the final between Andy and Ferrer was a real war of attrition and the last man standing won, which raises a concern for players fitness on the tour, that at times it no longers appears to be about winning a match or a title, but surviving one. However fortunately from here going into the clay season, the conditions despite high altitude and bounce on certain courts such as in Madrid, will not be as brutally hot, and that will in part help players cope with the demands of playing. But it does remain a concern of course as Andy himself said he planned his schedule this year to play fewer tournaments, as to save himself physically for the bigger ones, and alot of players are complaining about the toll the tour takes on their bodies, which remains an ongoing concern, but we can leave that for now.
So that's it, we now have a new World No. 2 in Andy Murray, having won his 9th Masters title, and his 2nd title in Miami, and his 26th career title overall, and Andy no doubt can take great heart from his efforts at Key Biscane. And in regards to the fight for the No.1 spot, from here it really is all still up in the air, as with Rafa back on the scene it remains to be seen how the rankings will go, and Roger so far looks to be taking a bit of a back seat, although you can never write him off in any situation. What is for sure is Rafa will have alot of points to defend during the clay season, so he won't actually gain many of them, as all the titles he has won he will need to defend on points, which means his ranking won't really go up for now. And from here we can only guess how Andy will adapt his game to playing on clay, as last year he had a pretty mediocre clay season, despite reaching the quarter finals at the French open (where he lost to the very man he just beat today). It also remains to be seen just how well Rafa will play against the new top two players in the world, i.e. Andy and Nole, and if Andy can sustain his ranking and keep on improving, or will he end up being relegated back to No.3 or No.4, but time will tell on that.
But what is really encouraging to see is Andy's improved commitment to getting more consistent results on the ATP tour events throughout the year. As in a post interview he admitted that prior to winning his first major he was more obssessed with winning a major than trying to do well on the tour, but now he has won one, he is more dedicated towards winning the other titles on the tour as well, which is what he should be doing, so its good to see that and let's hope he continues to do so.
So a big well done to Andy Murray who thoroughly deserves his victory today in Miami and let's hope he will win plenty more big titles this year whether it be Masters or majors. And as a rather bizarre coincidence, the last four titles that Andy has won on the men's side, Serena Williams has won the same one's on the ladies side of the tour (i.e. Olympics, US Open, Brisbane and now Miami), which is strange to say the least! So let's hope if Andy reaches the final of Wimbledon again this year and Serena wins the final there, that it remains a good omen for him. And as we move into the clay season it will be exciting once the big four have all been properly reunited how things will pan out on the red dirt.
But for now that's all for Miami, next up will be Monte Carlo for the men's tour and ladies clay season starts this week on the green clay in Charleston, but I will probably wait and cover the WTA tournament in Stuttgart, which is easily one of the best on the ladies tour.
So until the next time bye!
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