The following Ashleigh Barty started in Miami. The Australian, undisputed number one in the world, winner of the last three Grand Slam tournaments, caused an explosion in the world of women’s tennis by announcing her retirement just before the start of the Florida tournament. A blow for the WTA, orphan. Time will tell how much Barty will miss the game, but one thing is certain, starting this new era with a final between Iga Swiatek and Naomi Osaka is exactly what the women’s circuit needed, which might not have dreamed of a more enticing poster. .
The Pole found herself in an almost incongruous situation in Florida. Barty’s eclipse paved the way for him to take the WTA ranking throne. He only had to take one turn to take power. All this might have disturbed her, especially since everyone only talks to her regarding the number one spot. But she managed remarkably, ignoring the context. “Of course it’s great to become number one, but I didn’t want to change my habits or my attitude.she recalled. The priority is to do the job every game.”
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We want it for this women’s tennis to have more rivalries
Seeing her in the final is very good news, likely to further strengthen her position. Already titled in Doha then Indian Wells, Swiatek can sign an unprecedented hat-trick in the first three WTA 1000s of the season. She’s in a rush, Iga. She dropped only 22 games en route to the final and remains on a streak of 18 sets won consecutively. Even if she has not won a Grand Slam since her Parisian thunderbolt in the fall of 2020, we have known leaders in the WTA rankings less indisputable than her.
“Since she won Roland-Garros, she hasn’t had a big splash. We will wait for a new great title, in the Grand Slams, judge the Eurosport consultant, Justine Hénin. But she is there, she is present, she very rarely misses it. She has such a desire to do well that sometimes she gets a little lost in this energy. There is the experience, the maturity that will gradually come into play. She has something in her personality, she’s a girl who has a lot of freshness, so we hope she will be a beautiful world number one.”
Iga Swiatek assumes her status in Miami.
Credit: Getty Images
This would be desirable and even, no doubt, essential. But for the former Belgian champion, what women’s tennis will need in the coming months and years is not just one, but several Iga Swiatek:
“We want this women’s tennis to have more rivalries, more consistency. In terms of popularity, I’m not sure that the general public really knows a Paula Badosa for example. Rivalries, titles, that’s what we want to see to give some pep to women’s tennis. Seeing the same players win all the time can be a problem, but seeing different players win all the time is also a problem. We need to be able to identify ourselves. And then real rivalries, matches, which we can talk regarding.”
Osaka, the return?
With this in mind, seeing Naomi Osaka in the final of a big tournament is good news. The Japanese had everything to become one of the great figures of the decade. Four Grand Slam titles at 23 and a real personality. For a year and a half, everyone knows the setbacks that have been those of the Japanese. In Indian Wells, she still appeared very emotionally fragile. At the end of the tournament, she confided that she consulted a psychologist for the first time. “I took the plunge, because, honestly, my sister was very worried regarding me. My psychologist gave me strategies and I realize their usefulness“, she explained.
Naomi Osaka
Credit: Getty Images
It is still too early to know if Osaka will be able to find an emotional stability that will allow her to flourish in her life as a young woman, which is by far the most important thing, in addition to constituting an essential prerequisite for her expression in his job. This final in Miami is in any case the first for the former world number one to fall to 77th place since that won at the Australian Open fourteen months ago.
Still young, even very young (24 years old for Osaka, not yet 21 for Swiatek), they have the means to forge a rivalry that would be good for women’s tennis as much as for themselves. All this is still fragile and uncertain, especially on this WTA circuit which has made instability, even illegibility, its credo for a few years. Especially when it comes to Naomi Osaka. But if the questions remain legitimate, Saturday, it’s just time to take advantage. For Miami, it was difficult to dream of a better poster.
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