A clear winner is emerging from this year’s ‘Sunshine Double’ in America and it is the biggest name missing from the opening two ATP Masters 1000 tournaments of the season.
Jack Draper’s win in Indian Wells was a warning that the Brit is threatening to convert his enormous potential into something a little more threatening to the players at the top of the sport, while Brazilian wonderkid Joao Fonseca is continuing to impress and delight the crowds in Miami with his brand of explosive tennis.
Yet world No 1 Jannik Sinner will not be looking in on the events on both sides of American fearing his big rivals are making ground on him in his absence.
Sinner’s career will forever be tarnished by this current period that sees him serve a three-month suspension for the positive doping test he recorded at Indian Wells last March, but any suggestion that his enforced absence will end his dominance at the top of the men’s game can be dismissed after the events of the last couple of weeks.
His leading rival Carlos Alcaraz appears to be going through one of the most alarming phases of his career, as the young Spaniard admits he is struggling mentally after his defeat against Draper in Indian Wells was backed up by a shock loss against the veteran Belgian David Goffin in Miami.
“Mentally, I’m screwed, to be honest,” said Alcaraz after the Goffin defeat. “This is a tournament where I want to do well, and losing in the first round hurts a lot.
“I know this part of the season very well; I’ve played great tennis in the past at these tournaments, but after what happened today, I don’t really know what to say.
“I think I was feeling good after Indian Wells, but now with this loss, I don’t know what to say.
He also admitted he was nervous prior to the Goffin match, but suggested that was a positive sign.
“I felt great, I was fine, just a little nervous as usual before every match, but nothing out of the ordinary in these types of situations, nothing I hadn’t felt before,” he added.
“I felt prepared, convinced I could put on a good level of tennis, but in the end it just wasn’t to be. I did everything right before the match; it wasn’t a question of an injury or any other pain; I was fine before the match.
“I did have the feeling after the first set that this match was going to be tougher than previous ones, then I started to feel a little more tired in my legs, especially at the end of the second set.”
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Novak Djokovic would have been hoping to send out a message that he still had some fuel in his tank after an uncertain start to 2025, but the Serbian legend was well beaten by Botic van de Zandschulp in Indian Wells and will be hoping for better in Miami.
Meanwhile, Draper was brought back down to earth with a second-round loss to Czech teenager Jakub Mensik at the Miami Open.
Less than a week after winning the biggest title of his career, and one of the biggest in the sport, in Indian Wells, the British number one was felled 7-6[2], 7-6[3] by 19-year-old Mensik.
Draper’s early exit in Miami suggests his rise to the top will include plenty of highs and lows, while Holger Rune also failed to back up his run to the Indian Wells final after he lost against Reilly Opelka in Miami.
A glance at the draw in Miami confirms we may get some surprise quarter-finalists after a host of shocking results, which lead to a conclusion that Sinner remains the outstanding performer in the men’s game.
The Italian’s dominant Australian Open win in January added to the aura he has built up over the last year and while the image of the best player in the world spending time away from the sport for a doping violation is something of an embarrassment, Sinner looks well placed to click back into title-winning mode when he returns to action in front of his home fans at the Italian Open in May.
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The post Carlos Alcaraz and Jack Draper shocks leave one clear winner at Miami Open appeared first on Tennis365.
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