Steffi Graf stormed through Indian Wells in 1994, although the event was not as prestigious as it is today and only 32 players were playing. In Miami, things went quite smoothly for her, although in the final, she only managed to beat Natasha Zvereva in three sets. At that time, however, the German’s dominance in world tennis was unquestionable and she did not need more than an hour to defeat most of her rivals.
SEE ALSO: Iga Świątek won the WTA tournament in Miami !
– During these three weeks I was very confident and I practically did not feel tired – she admitted after increasing the number of consecutive match wins to 32.
Two years later, the competition in California had a higher rank, with a 96-place bracket, but Graf’s fierce resistance was only in the final by Conchita Martinez, who lost in two tie-breaks. In Miami, however, no opponent was able to break a set from her.
In 2005, Clijsters was returning from injury, starting as the 133rd player in the world, and in the final she defeated Lindsay Davenport in three sets. In Florida, in turn, in the deciding match she won against Maria Sharapova. In both tournaments she was not seeded, had to fight from the first round and needed seven victories to win the title.
“After my wrist surgery, I had a lot of time to reflect. My life had changed a lot at that time. I was excited to be back on the court, I had a huge hunger to play, and my first victories gave me confidence,” the Belgian recalled.
As she added, she focused on the little things.
“I ate the same, trained the same, regenerated the same. This kind of order, even routine, helped me a lot then. It made me feel calm,” she said.
The tennis spring six years ago belonged to Azarenka, who defeated the then ranking leader Serena Williams in the final of Indian Wells, and in Miami gave no chance to Svetlana Kuznetsova.
– I put a lot of work into preparing for this month of good and consistent play – the Belarusian noted then.
The difficulty of this challenge is evidenced by the fact that, in addition to the four cases on the women’s tour, there have been six cases on the men’s tour where the events in California and Florida had the same winner. For comparison, Świątek is the 28th player in history to open the world ranking, which has existed in its current form since 1975, and 52 different players have triumphed in Grand Slam tournaments during that time.
What makes winning at Indian Wells and Miami so difficult?
– I think it’s adapting to new conditions, because there’s a huge difference between Indian Wells and Miami. Of course, apart from that, you have to maintain a high level of play and have a really great streak – assessed Świątek.
And after the triumph in California, the winner must immediately adapt to different weather conditions, different courts, different balls, and deal with travel fatigue and the change of time, because the difference between the two southern corners of the United States is three hours.
The main difference in the weather is humidity. The air in the Californian desert is dry; in the month with the highest humidity, December, the level reaches about 30 percent. The least humid month in Miami is March, but the indicators oscillate around 56 percent. Miami is also much lower than Indian Wells in relation to sea level.
According to many players, the courts in Indian Wells are very slow, as for a hard surface, and the speed of the balls is similar to that of the Parisian “clay” at the French Open. The suppliers of the balls, which fly much faster in Miami, are different, the specifics of the facilities and the audience are different – in short, from intimate conditions in California you have to adapt to noisy Florida.
The two locations are separated by over four thousand kilometers, almost exactly as far as from Warsaw to… the North Pole or from Kiev to Lisbon.
How difficult it is to cope with these changes is shown by the latest examples of Petra Martic and Maria Sakkari. The Croatian won four matches in Indian Wells and was eliminated only in the quarterfinals, but in Miami she had the qualifications waiting for her. Although she was the highest seeded in them, she lost her first match to Christina McHale. In turn, the third racket in the world from Greece, after the final defeat in the first of the American “thousanders”, lost in the opening match in Florida to the lower-ranked Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Mai.
Świątek, on the other hand, gave the impression in Miami that Indian Wells was just a warm-up. She went through the tournament in Florida like a hurricane. She didn’t lose a set in any match, and she managed to win three games 6:0 against three opponents.
This was the case even in Saturday’s final, where she faced the former world ranking leader, Japanese Naomi Osaka. The Pole won the first set 6:4, but in the second she did not give up even a game to her opponent.
– To be honest, I’m very tired. The last few weeks were very intense and I didn’t know if I would be able to maintain the winning streak. However, I showed great mental strength. I often felt that I could do better, but I lost without even knowing why. This season, however, everything is clicking – said Świątek in a short post-match interview on the court.
She joined the “Sunshine Double Club” as the youngest in history. On Monday, the Polish woman will officially take the lead in the world ranking.
