2024 WTA Miami

Who will win?


  • Total voters
    29
  • Poll closed .

Bill Lobsalot

Hall of Fame
I've read that she's Jekyll and Hyde. She has a non-engaging, non-personable on-court demeanor and has "resting b*tch face," but is actually a likeable, decent person off court, if not bubbly friendly.
I like her. Unlike most pros, she went to college, graduated and got a Masters degree, then at 24 became a pro. She's an accomplished person. Not a product of a tennis academy where they breed race horses. Well done! She has set herself up for success after tennis.
 

AM75

Hall of Fame
Sure Collins's didn't scream all the time, but when she did, it was random and very annoying. The umpire had to give her at least one warning for hindrance.
 

Tshooter

G.O.A.T.
I like her. Unlike most pros, she went to college, graduated and got a Masters degree, then at 24 became a pro. She's an accomplished person. Not a product of a tennis academy where they breed race horses. Well done! She has set herself up for success after tennis.
Which tennis academy also breeds race horses? Is it the Rafael Nadal Academy by Movistar?

 

Nostradamus

Bionic Poster
Was he there cheering Collins on during the final ?

080_ThornqvistRoland_190405_7246_TimCasey.jpg
 

Arak

Legend
I like her. Unlike most pros, she went to college, graduated and got a Masters degree, then at 24 became a pro. She's an accomplished person. Not a product of a tennis academy where they breed race horses. Well done! She has set herself up for success after tennis.
I second that.
 

insideguy

G.O.A.T.
I always find it kind of rough on these mid rank ladies who win a big tournament like this, they move on to a tournament like Charleston and dont even get a bye.
 
Danimal Collins is too good to only have 2 WTA titles (1x 250, 1x 500). If she's to retire this year, I hope she goes out with a few 1000 HC titles to bolster her stats. This match is not over, but already this run is the 2nd best after her AO final run.

She choked the ao final.
Collins has talked about starting a family, so she may comeback like wozniacki.

I've read that she's Jekyll and Hyde. She has a non-engaging, non-personable on-court demeanor and has "resting b*tch face," but is actually a likeable, decent person off court, if not overly bubbly friendly.
She deserves a slam for the effort and fight she's shown against top players.
Outside of that scowl expression, she's got a lot of oomph and her hair looks great.

Free People!
The outfit was ok but FP could have given dc less of a boxy look as they have a tall 5'10 and curves to work with.
 

Pass750

Professional
Sofia/BMS hold to 4-5 against Dabrowski/Routliffe.
I think you, me and 5 other people watching this :) Navratilova great announcer, straightforward, honest and knowledgeable. When mens match comes on moving from Tennis Channel to TC+, hopefully TC+ doesn’t have Courier, I have had enough of him, he is suffocating the match with way too much analysis on every freaking point.
 

Lauren_Girl'

Hall of Fame
Congrats to Danielle! I was lucky to watch her live in Key Biscayne in 2018. After that massive choke against Iga in Australia, I never thought she could snag a 1000 this year.
 

Pass750

Professional
Routliffe caught in no man’s land too many times coming in off serve, championship point was awful doing that off a weak second serve
 

ScottleeSV

Hall of Fame
Ah, gutted about the doubles. I was about to watch Immaculate in the cinema, and so I was glancing down at my phone during the trailers thinking 'C'mon Gabby'. Had to switch it off at 6-4 5-5 and look at the result later. Great match for anyone there though.
 

spystud

Talk Tennis Guru
On to next week.

 
D

Deleted member 758560

Guest
only the second time in the history of the tourney unseeded player won it, and both times russian girls were defeated (rybka and sugarpova), collins and clijsters are champs (have sth in common in their surnames too btw), scoreline is the same 6-3 7-5
 

Bill Lobsalot

Hall of Fame
Her peak was the AO finals and that will be it. I hope I am wrong as I always want people who haven't won to win. Only 3 titles till the age of 30 should tell you the kind of player she is.
She didn't become a pro til age 23. Won two NCAA Singles championships. She has a Masters degree. She's an accomplished person. Apparently tennis isn't her only mission.
 

robyrolfo

Hall of Fame
Here I am, with one of my posts containing way too many quotes, which I know you all love.

Important point? Time for Collins to scream like a rabid monkey when hitting the ball.
Yeah, honestly, this habit of her's is ridiculous and really makes it hard to root for her.
Yuck. One of the least likable players on tour. Cannot retire fast enough
Honestly, I was slightly warming up to her during this run. It seemed like she had started to chill out a little and become slightly less annoying. But nope, that final was vintage insufferable Collins.

I will always be a sucker for an older player sneaking in the biggest win of their career close to retirement.
I agree, and that is why I was almost rooting for her. Almost. And then I just watched those videos of her acting like a complete jerk, and remembered why I can't stand her.

Rybakina has the personality of a cardboard cutout no passion whatsoever
This is also true. I find her matches a little harder to get into.

That was the longest winner's speech I've ever seen.
Understandable, given the context, but still.
Nah, she was rambling on and thanking obscure and random people/things. Honestly, it was bad. I expected some sort of emotion and/or perspective, but instead she gave us some trite PR speak.

Just goes to show that her famous Masters degree didn't somehow imbibe her with some personality or pensiveness.

Collins should reconsider retirement for a year, this level of play could put her in contention at the US Open if she has a favorable draw.
Nah, the fact that she sees light at the end of the tunnel is exactly why she is doing so well. Otherwise she would be playing just like last year.

Sure Collins's didn't scream all the time, but when she did, it was random and very annoying. The umpire had to give her at least one warning for hindrance.
Yep, the constant screaming is annoying, but it sort of makes sense on some level, and it appears like opponents can get used to it. The random screaming is awful and unsportsmanlike. Serena used to do it all the time too, and in ridiculous situations. The umpires really need to crack down on it.

She deserves a slam for the effort and fight she's shown against top players.
Again, I think the term "fight" is used way too much. As if there aren't other players on tour giving 100%?

She didn't become a pro til age 23. Won two NCAA Singles championships. She has a Masters degree. She's an accomplished person. Apparently tennis isn't her only mission.
Enough with the "Masters" stuff. It doesn't really mean that much. I have one, and some of the people that I graduated with were neither clever, nor great people.
 

Bill Lobsalot

Hall of Fame
Here I am, with one of my posts containing way too many quotes, which I know you all love.


Yeah, honestly, this habit of her's is ridiculous and really makes it hard to root for her.

Honestly, I was slightly warming up to her during this run. It seemed like she had started to chill out a little and become slightly less annoying. But nope, that final was vintage insufferable Collins.


I agree, and that is why I was almost rooting for her. Almost. And then I just watched those videos of her acting like a complete jerk, and remembered why I can't stand her.


This is also true. I find her matches a little harder to get into.


Nah, she was rambling on and thanking obscure and random people/things. Honestly, it was bad. I expected some sort of emotion and/or perspective, but instead she gave us some trite PR speak.

Just goes to show that her famous Masters degree didn't somehow imbibe her with some personality or pensiveness.


Nah, the fact that she sees light at the end of the tunnel is exactly why she is doing so well. Otherwise she would be playing just like last year.


Yep, the constant screaming is annoying, but it sort of makes sense on some level, and it appears like opponents can get used to it. The random screaming is awful and unsportsmanlike. Serena used to do it all the time too, and in ridiculous situations. The umpires really need to crack down on it.


Again, I think the term "fight" is used way too much. As if there aren't other players on tour giving 100%?


Enough with the "Masters" stuff. It doesn't really mean that much. I have one, and some of the people that I graduated with were neither clever, nor great people.
It's not so much the education, but the fact that it takes time away from tennis training and playing when the vast majority of pros have limited education time, many home schooled or at one of the tennis factories.
 

robyrolfo

Hall of Fame
And don't worry, I didn't forget about this one...

While the tour has been relatively weak since 2008 after the old guard of Henin, Hingis, Davenport, Capriati, and Mauresmo all retired (at least from singles) while Venus diminished with Sjogren's syndrome and Clijsters returned to play only part-time leaving only ATGs in Serena and Sharapova, Swiatek is undoubtedly the most dominant player since Serena retired. While Iga shares the same number of slams as Osaka, she is far more consistent in results than Osaka and Iga is 4 years younger. I don't know why Graf is the measuring stick because she has a strong argument as GOAT. You're basically saying because Iga is not GOAT material, Iga is not very good. If that's the case, the only good players in the Open Era are Evert, Navratilova, Graf, and Serena (and maybe Seles). That's a nonstarter of an argument. Raducanu is not a good example either. She has basically been continuously injured since shortly after her US Open win. We know injury can derail a career. Just look at Murray and Thiem, who have been shadows of themselves for years. Maybe Raducanu would have still not amounted to much, but we can't know for sure.


Every great player has poor losses. Nadal lost to Steve Darcis in the first round of Wimbledon and to Lucas Rosol and Dustin Brown, both in the 2nd round of Wimbledon. Ostapenko has had a better career than all of those three. Who has Iga beaten when they played fantastic? If you weren't biased against her, the answers come to mind easily. Just looking at last year, Swiatek beat new #1 Sabalenka on Iga's way to winning the year-end-championship, Swiatek beat a red-hot Garcia in Beijing, Swiatek beat a strong Muchova twice, once to win Roland Garros and once at Montreal.


While I love watching Alcaraz and Sinner play, I know they are going to win 95% of their matches when playing someone outside of the top 5, which is not conducive to much excitement. The winners in women's tennis are not preordained and so that level of uncertainty helps. I also like the stories on the women's side better. Can Osaka return to her old form? What's going on with Jabeur's slump? Will Andreeva break through to the top? Can Sabalenka, Rybakina, or Gauff take the top spot away from Iga? I think those latter four are pretty competitive against one another except for the lopsided Swiatek-Gauff matchup. And while the tour is weaker at the top than in the past, the tour has more depth than in the past: #10 Ostapenko, #11 Kasatkina, #12 Muchova, #17 Svitolina, #20 Navarro, #21 Krejcikova, #27 Garcia, #30 Boulter, #32 Azarenka, #35 Fernandez, #38 Andreeva, #42 Siniakova, #53 Collins, #67 Stearns, #72 Townsend, #80 Badosa. There are a lot more names to follow, and at least for me, I tend to find those names more interesting than similar top 100 names on the men's side.

I've also complained about how the WTA has been weaker for a long time, but Swiatek is not a weak #1. Her career win percentage is 81.6% at age 22 when she may not even be at her physical or mental peak as a player. That win % puts Swiatek at #8 among all players in the past 50 years, just under Seles and Henin and above Hingis, Clijsters, Davenport, and Sharapova. Even if the field is weak, you can't argue against her because she has been dominating it. Sure, she's not dominating it like an Evert, Graf, Navratilova, or Serena, but she is dominating it one tier short of that and giving out breadsticks like there's no tomorrow.
First off, Sharapova isn't an ATG. Sorry, she's just not. A great, maybe, but not an ATG. And I'm not the one comparing Iga to some of the greatest in history. Other people are, and I'm just pointing out how ridiculous that is.

And look at the examples you cite of her beating top players. Sabalenka at the tour finals? That tournament was a complete joke. Swiatek and Gauff were the only players that didn't just give up at a certain point, and Gauff was still awful. A "red-hot" Garcia? What? She can go from hot to cold in just one match, so I wouldn't use that label for her. And a strong Muchova, who had little match play under her belt, is not "fantastic." None of those are examples of an opponent playing their best, and still getting beaten by Iga.

On Alcaraz and Sinner, I'm not particularly an Alcaraz fan, but even when he is winning with ease, his matches are still entertaining to watch. Anyway, yes, the WTA does have plenty of interesting stories, and that is part of the reason why I watch it regularly, but I'm just pointing out that the tennis itself is a little lacking at times, and Swiatek isn't putting out performances like Alcaraz (flair) or Sinner (consistently high level).

Finally, I just don't see all of this dominance. The field is indeed weak, so that means she really has to step up on the rare occasions that she does encounter some stiff competition (either one of the few other top players, or a solid player in good form). But she hasn't done that. She isn't as bad as Gauff in this respect, but she isn't consistently stepping up when necessary.
 

robyrolfo

Hall of Fame
It's not so much the education, but the fact that it takes time away from tennis training and playing when the vast majority of pros have limited education time, many home schooled or at one of the tennis factories.
Well, I'm in agreement with the overall point. Going to college is going to give a player at least some perspective, whereas those academies do seem terrible in terms of raising kids in a tennis bubble that has little to do with the outside world. So many clueless gits on both tours (Rune and Zverev come to mind immediately).

The irony is that they do have a chance to learn something once they actually start touring the world to play, but it seems like they don't even bother. That's actually one of the reasons why I like Tsitsipas and don't understand all the hate he receives. The guy is genuinely trying to be a good person.

Anyway, we mostly agree, but I just don't but that much blind faith in a Masters degree alone. I need to see more than that.
 

zvelf

Hall of Fame
First off, Sharapova isn't an ATG. Sorry, she's just not. A great, maybe, but not an ATG. And I'm not the one comparing Iga to some of the greatest in history. Other people are, and I'm just pointing out how ridiculous that is.
Fine, if your argument is that Swiatek isn't on the level of Evert, Navratilova, Graf, and Serena, then I agree. But not being on the level of the greatest who have ever played the game doesn't make Iga a lackluster player.

And look at the examples you cite of her beating top players. Sabalenka at the tour finals? That tournament was a complete joke. Swiatek and Gauff were the only players that didn't just give up at a certain point, and Gauff was still awful. A "red-hot" Garcia? What? She can go from hot to cold in just one match, so I wouldn't use that label for her. And a strong Muchova, who had little match play under her belt, is not "fantastic." None of those are examples of an opponent playing their best, and still getting beaten by Iga.
That's just wrong. All of these players were playing near their best in those matches and lost.

Finally, I just don't see all of this dominance. The field is indeed weak, so that means she really has to step up on the rare occasions that she does encounter some stiff competition (either one of the few other top players, or a solid player in good form). But she hasn't done that. She isn't as bad as Gauff in this respect, but she isn't consistently stepping up when necessary.
You don't see the dominance? Iga has the 8th highest winning percentage among all female players in the past 50 years and every third set she plays is a bakery product. How is that not dominance? What win percentage counts as dominance for you?
 

robyrolfo

Hall of Fame
Fine, if your argument is that Swiatek isn't on the level of Evert, Navratilova, Graf, and Serena, then I agree. But not being on the level of the greatest who have ever played the game doesn't make Iga a lackluster player.


That's just wrong. All of these players were playing near their best in those matches and lost.


You don't see the dominance? Iga has the 8th highest winning percentage among all female players in the past 50 years and every third set she plays is a bakery product. How is that not dominance? What win percentage counts as dominance for you?
Glad we agree on the first point. I don't consider her a lackluster player. I consider her a very good player that happens to be playing in a weak period. (I do, however, consider her net game and volleying to be lackluster).

I admit that I don't remember some of those matches so vividly, but I stand by my assessment that the tour finals were a total joke. I remember most of the players, including Sabalenka, getting a few strange bounces from the court and basically deciding it wasn't worth their maximum effort. That was far, far from peak Sabalenka.

And for true dominance, she needs to dominate the slams as well.
 
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