Emma Raducanu back with a smile at Miami Open, Novak Djokovic must wait for history, Jakub Mensik dazzles – Gigi Salmon column

Sky Sports Tennis’ Gigi Salmon looks back upon the Miami Open, where Emma Raducanu enjoyed a welcome return to form, and Novak Djokovic was forced to wait longer for a piece of history…

Things tend to get harder with age: recovery from strenuous exercise, a big night out and in some cases achieving our goals and dreams, something 37-year-old Novak Djokovic is finding as his quest for title 100 continues.

He came so close at the weekend in Miami, reaching his eighth final there and 142nd overall. He did it without dropping a set, with movement, serve, everything on point, until he faced 19-year-old Jakub Mensik, who wasn’t born when Djokovic played his first Masters 1000 event and only began playing because of the Serb, his idol. It was Mensik’s first Masters 1000 final.

Firstly, a word on the winner Mensik, who was seconds away from pulling out of the tournament ahead of his first round match with a knee problem. As luck would have it the tournament referee was having lunch, so it was a trip to the physio, treatment and ‘I will give it a go’ in the first round.

He was clutch when he needed to be, mature beyond his years both on and off the court and moves from 54 at the start of Miami to 24 in this week’s world rankings, following his straight-sets final win.

Djokovic-Murray axis finding rhythm

When it comes to Djokovic, the articles celebrating a new record and new piece of history are written and ready to go and while I’m not certain the 25th Grand Slam will be won, I’m sure the 100th title will be secured, with his next opportunity the Masters 1000 in Monte Carlo, a title he has won twice before but not since 2015.

He seems to have renewed motivation, but the task doesn’t get any easier and one thing is clear: he will need to keep playing matches in order to have the sharpness and confidence to try for 25.

It was nice to see the Djokovic-Andy Murray partnership up close. They seem to have settled into a nice rhythm, with Djokovic telling us he still finds it hard to believe one of his biggest rivals is now working with him. He also said they had some time in Miami before the tennis to sit down and talk and get to know each other. Whenever I couldn’t find Tim, there was a high chance he was chatting with Andy and an even higher chance the chat was golf-related!

Raducanu’s renewed vigour

The women’s draw went more to plan with world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka not dropping a set en route to her first title in Miami, beating world No 4 Jessica Pegula in straight sets and then telling us she would be celebrating with Tequila!

We got the chance to speak to world No 2 Iga Swiatek and I asked her about the statement she put out on social media in which she spoke of wanting to “stop the speculation and baseless theories.”

She spoke well of the pressure she feels, especially from back home in Poland, where everything is analysed and broken down and then after the interview she came back to speak some more and it really hit me in the couple of minutes we had with the cameras off, speaking just the two of us, how tough it must be to focus solely on her tennis and the pressure she must feel to always deliver and the collective disappointment that is put on her shoulders with every defeat.

Someone who has a similar level of pressure and spotlight on her is Emma Raducanu who had a great week in Miami, winning four matches in a row for the first time since she won the US Open title, playing with a smile on her face and speaking of how happy she feels.

She spoke of how she is putting in place people around her who make her feel safe and secure and the knock on of that is she is able to express herself on the court. Raducanu is back in the top 50, with decisions around her coaching team still to be made but a lot of positives to take forward onto the clay.

Some news that broke while we were in Miami was Russian tennis player Daria Kasatkina switching allegiance from Russia to Australia after the Australian government granted her permanent residency. Kasatkina had been splitting her time between Dubai and Spain and hadn’t returned to Russia for two-and-a-half years after coming out as gay in 2022, she has also denounced the war in Ukraine.

“With everything going on in my previous country, I didn’t have much choice. For me, being openly gay, if I want to be myself, I have to make this step, and I did it.” Kasatkina, who is 14 in the latest live rankings went on to say: “I’m really happy to start this new chapter of my life representing Australia on the big stage.”

From Miami Beach to the Monte Carlo riviera

Miami was hot, humid, wet, windy and fun, we had a celebratory dinner for Tim being named Laver Cup vice-captain organised by Gary and complete with a cake. Honourable mentions go to Adam and Patrick who came to and survived Barry’s Bootcamp, which isn’t for the faint hearted! We also had the opportunity to drive on the F1 racetrack that was being constructed while we were there, very slowly I might add…

For the players, it’s time to shelve the hard court shoes and get ready to get dirty with the clay season upon us. There are five tournaments this week available to you on Sky Sports Tennis, and then from April 6, it’s the Monte Carlo Masters 1000, a non-mandatory ATP event set in the beautiful setting of the Monte Carlo Country Club, where players in the past on centre court have had to stop play due to the clinking of glasses coming from the hospitality areas that overlook the court.

Still no Jannik Sinner as he continues to serve out his three-month suspension, but despite having played just one tournament this year, the Italian remains No 1, just over 2,500 points clear of Sascha Zverev, who missed another opportunity in Miami to close the gap, as did Carlos Alcaraz. Sinner is due to return just before the Rome Masters next month.

It is definitely worth tuning in to Sky Sports Tennis so you can get a feel for the clay and to see how the players are adapting to it. We will be back in position courtside for the 1000 events in Madrid and Rome and look forward to your company for those.

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