Welcome to the monthly review of the #WTATour on this blog.
Check out January's edition HERE.
Check out February's edition HERE.
The March tennis madness is over, with two surprise packages lifting the titles at the #BNPParibasOpen and the #MiamiOpen respectively. In a month headlined by the underdogs, the top players underperformed while there was a rise of the upcoming youngsters — and just a precaution because you will see one particular name repeated many times.
Player of the Month: Bianca Andreescu
And there you guessed it, the best-performing player of the month has to be #BiancaAndreescu. Winning the most matches this year on either tour, the Canadian stunned the world by lifting the Indian Wells title as a 60th-ranked wildcard. Defeating four consecutive top-20 players, the 18-year-old lifted her maiden WTA title while reaching a new career-high ranking of 24 despite starting the year outside the top-100.
Defeating three-time Major champion Angelique Kerber twice in a week, Andreescu overcame her shoulder issues to reach the fourth round at the Miami Open before finally being forced to retire as her body gave way after a strenuous outing this month. Her winning streak ended at 10, becoming only the third WTA player to reach double digits in winning streaks this season.
Honourable Mention: Karolina Pliskova (one of two women to make consecutive quarterfinals in Indian Wells and Miami), Ashleigh Barty (Miami Champion, Top 10 debut)
Team of the Month: Elise Mertens/Aryna Sabalenka
The only players who managed to claim the Sunshine Double this year are #EliseMertens and #ArynaSabalenka, two singles specialists who teamed up to lift successive double titles. En route to their triumphs, they ousted the top-ranked doubles team of Barbora Krejcikova/Katerina Siniakova and Australian Open champions Samantha Stosur/Zhang Shuai.
Considering Indian Wells and Miami were just their second and third tournaments together respectively, that was an incredible feat. Mertens consolidated her spot inside the top-10, reaching the sixth spot while Sabalenka rose to a new career-high ranking of 21. Needless to say, this will be a dangerous pair to watch in the upcoming months.
Honourable Mention: Chan Hao-ching/Latisha Chan (Indian Wells and Miami semifinalists)
Breakthrough of the Month: Bianca Andreescu
I mean, who would have expected Andreescu’s rapid rise in March? She started off her Indian Wells campaign in the first round against Irina-Camelia Begu and even had to recover from a set down to triumph. From there, it was all history.
Andreescu has proved herself to be one of the biggest rising stars in the sport and has shown that she has the ability to challenge the top players consistently if not for her frail body. With close to nothing to defend in the following months, it would be interesting to see whether the youngster could back up her results and continue to rise in the rankings.
Honourable Mention: Marketa Vondrousova (one of two women to make consecutive quarterfinals in Indian Wells and Miami)
Disappointment of the Month: Sloane Stephens
Just when you thought the relatively slow courts at Indian Wells and Miami could benefit #SloaneStephens, it turned out horribly wrong. Especially when she had the exuberant home support, one could wonder what happened to the American, who crashed out early in both tournaments.
It was the golden opportunity for the 2017 US Open champion to put up a real challenge for the number one ranking particularly after she received favourable draws which she could have exploited. Being the defending champion in Miami, Stephens fell in the third round which ultimately caused her to fall out of the top-five.
Honourable Mention: Naomi Osaka, Aryna Sabalenka
Best Performance in a match: Belinda Bencic d. Naomi Osaka
#NaomiOsaka had rarely, or never, been outplayed ever since she became a Major champion. #BelindaBencic sent the world number one straight back into reality with a stunning performance in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open, triumphing 6-3, 6-1 in just 66 minutes of play.
It was the perfect display of counterpunching tennis as the Swiss outclassed the powerful Osaka with some solid baseline hitting, redirecting the pace well and finding all her angles. It would be unfair to say that the Japanese played her worst match of the year — because she did not. The win was legitimately earned by Bencic, and Osaka was helpless against her in-form opponent.
Honourable Mention: Barty d. Ka.Pliskova (Miami final), Kerber d. Bencic (Indian Wells semifinal), Andreescu d. Muguruza (Indian Wells quarterfinal)
Best match of the Month: Serena Williams d. Victoria Azarenka
In what could be the best match of the year, former world number ones #SerenaWilliams and #VictoriaAzarenka clashed in a battle of Major champions and mums in a blockbuster and intriguing second-round encounter at the BNP Paribas Open.
Showcasing some high-quality tennis, both players found some of their best tennis ever since returning from maternity leave, which provided a thriller for the full crowd out on Stadium 1. It has been a long time since we managed to enjoy a battle between Serena and Vika, remember their thrillers at Roland Garros and Wimbledon in 2015?
The intensity was maintained at a high level from the first point onwards, and neither player refused to let loose as women’s tennis reached its pinnacle once more.
Honourable Mention: Andreescu d. Kerber (Indian Wells final), Kontaveit d. Tomljanovic (Miami R3)
Biggest upset of the Month: Hsieh Su-wei d. Naomi Osaka
Just months ago at the Australian Open, #HsiehSuwei lost a 7-5, 3-0 lead against the eventual champion Osaka. They met once more at the Miami Open, and with the Taiwanese looking to exact revenge for her heartbreaking loss, the fans were set for a thriller out on Stadium.
Osaka raised her level significantly, producing yet another comeback to take the first set 6-4 before leading by a set and a break, alongside the golden opportunity to serve out the match. Being just two points away from the win, the Japanese completely lost her way as she paved the path for Hsieh to find her way back into the match.
Hsieh, overcoming her internal devils from Melbourne, successfully flipped the tables and earned the biggest win of her career and her first against a reigning world number one.
Honourable Mention: Andreescu d. Kerber (Indian Wells final), Pliskova d. Halep (Miami semifinal)
Best comeback of the Month: Venus Williams d. Petra Kvitova
Never ever count #VenusWilliams out. Time and time again, the American has proven that the impossible is possible. As seen through her second-round win over #PetraKvitova in Indian Wells, the seven-time Major champion is indeed a real fighter.
With her movement looking hindered by a knee injury, it looked as though Williams was set for a quick straightforward defeat by the Czech after trailing by a set and a double break. Many fans thought that it was the end of the match, but stunningly, she fought back to send the match into a deciding set despite looking down-and-out earlier on.
Recovering from another break in the decider, Williams sealed her first top-five win since the 2017 WTA Finals in Singapore, ultimately reaching the quarterfinals to keep her place inside the top-50 for a longer period of time.
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