There’s a new No. 1 WTA player here in the Miami Open and she’s ready to show the whole world why she has earned her spot.
Iga Swiatek, who is fresh from a victory at Indian Wells, is currently the tour’s hottest player and she’s the favourite to win it all again according to the Miami Open 2022 odds.
Despite the absences of several big-name players, Swiatek is still facing some stiff competition and the matches continue to come in thick and fast.
The best tennis action never stops here at SBOTOP, so continue to read down below as we’ll give you the latest Miami Open 2022 updates.
Ashleigh Barty suddenly retires
Ashleigh Barty is having a great start to 2022 which is why she caught everyone off guard when she just announced her retirement from professional tennis.
After winning on home soil during the Australian Grand Open, her third Grand Slam following the 2021 Wimbledon and 2019 French Open, Barty pulled out of Indian Wells and the Miami Open before the actual announcement.
At 25, Barty decided to walk away from the game at her peak, citing her fulfillment of achieving her career goals and fatigue that has accumulated over these last few years.
“Ash Barty the person has so many dreams she wants to chase after that don’t necessarily involve travelling the world, being away from my family, which is where I’ve always wanted to be,” an emotional Barty said.
“I’ll never, ever stop loving tennis, it’s been a massive part of my life. But I think it’s important that I get to enjoy the next part of my life as Ash Barty the person, not Ash Barty the athlete,” she added.
When asked about her future plans, Barty was coy about it, although she mentioned that she isn’t completely ruling out a possible return to the sport.
“You’ll have to wait and see. I’m not giving you everything right now. It’s alright, you can be patient,” Barty told the media.
“I’d say you never say never. I’d say the door is closed, but it’s not padlocked. I’m never one to absolutely say never, never, never. But yeah, it feels like it’s closed,” she added.
Barty will retire with 15 titles and she has spent a total of 121 weeks as the top-ranked WTA player. This is basically her “second retirement” from the sport after walking away as a teenager in 2014, but she came back in 2016 and got to where she is now.
Iga Swiatek is on top of the world
With Ashleigh Barty retired, the No. 1 spot now belongs to Iga Swiatek to become the 28th player and the 10th youngest in history to reach the WTA summit.
Swiatek picked up where she left off with a dominating win over Viktorija Golubic and she’s slated to take on Madison Brengle in the third round.
The 20-year-old has come a long way here in the WTA. Seventeen months ago, Swiatek was a virtual unknown for many as she was ranked No. 54 in 2020.
From there, something magical happened as she took over in Paris to win Roland Garros at age 19. She was the lowest-ranked Grand Slam champion since the WTA rankings was introduced in 1975 and she has made her steady ascent to the top ever since.
“I’ve never been in such a place. I think it’s going to be a little bit different. Maybe the hype is going to be a little bit bigger, but I’m ready for it. And honestly, it’s part of the job. From my perspective, I don’t think anything will change,” said Swiatek.
Naomi Osaka goes back to work
Another player to look out for in this tournament is Naomi Osaka, who is looking to have a better outing following a disappointing run at Indian Wells because of an unfortunate heckling incident.
At the time, Osaka was seen in tears between games and she said that the incident reminded her of when the Williams sisters were heckled at the same event in 2001.
Her struggles with mental health since the past year are real and she has been seeing a therapist ever since, which has helped because she’s rounding into form here in Miami.
Osaka has won two straight against Astra Sharma and Angelique Kerber, and she’s scheduled to face Karolina Muchova in the third round. “The last match I played wasn’t the greatest memory of me. I just wanted to prove I could come back out here, compete and have the best attitude I could,” said Osaka.
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