Middle Eastern Swing Round-up

In this episode of Everyone Watches Women's Tennis, I will provide a comprehensive recap of The WTA tennis tournaments that took place after the Australian Open, including the Abu Dhabi, Ostrava, Transylvania, Qatar, Dubai, Austin, and Merida Opens. I'll be discussing some of the key performances, emerging players, and the current state of rankings as the tennis season progresses towards Indian Wells.

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Transcript

Matipa Ruzive (00:06)
Hi everybody and welcome back to Everyone Watches Women's Tennis, a podcast that is solely focused on the women's game, giving you regular updates about what is taking place on the WTA Tour both on and off the court. Hi everyone, welcome back. We are in that weird period, well actually it's not as weird anymore because Indian World starts very soon, but you know right after the Australian Open, there's just like a weird limbo where you're tired,

You were really excited about the Australian Open and then you kind of get sad that it's over and you're not really paying attention to what's going on. And if that's you, someone who hasn't been paying attention on what's going on, then this episode will be the perfect one for you. Cause I'm just doing a, let's call it a Middle Eastern Swing Recap Roundup review.

I'm just going to be looking quickly through all the tournaments that have been played since the Australian Open and before Indian Wells, just to give you a little roundup, what's going on, who's won, who played well, how players are looking. And then that just gives you a basis for the rest of the year to build upon with other tournaments and other things that happened on the tour.

so I'll be going through Abu Dhabi, Ostrava, Transylvania, Qatar, Dubai, Austin and Merida. Cause those were the tournaments that were played after the Australian Open. Quite a few, some of them,

I did watch a lot of matches, so I'll be going in depth. Some of them I didn't watch any matches. So I will just be giving you just a quick little overview of what happened. It's quite difficult because again, this is the time difference, but also the there's only one app to watch tennis tournaments here in Australia. And it's called Be In Sports. And with that, it doesn't make every single match available.

It's only the ones that they want to highlight. Like once you get to the quarterfinals, then you can watch every single match because they all take place on center court. But before that, you just watch whatever match they give you, which can be really difficult when in my opinion, they pick some of the wrong matches to put on. But that's neither here nor there. For slams, it's a lot better. I use Stan Sport. Well, that's the only thing you can really use. Stan Sport. And Stan Sport literally has every single match.

the slam so you can pick and choose whatever you want to watch. before I go on

Please make sure to download this episode, leave a review five stars if you haven't, and also just like this episode on whatever platform you use to listen to your podcasts. And then also on YouTube, if you can go subscribe and like any of the podcast episodes I've posted, it would be much appreciated. And also follow the Instagram, which is EWWT Podcast.

But yeah, that's all. let's go right into it. So starting with Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi was straight after the Australian Open, literally a day after the final. And there were a few players that were like, said they were going to play and then obviously didn't. Elena Rybakina I said she was going to play because she's like registered for every single tournament, but obviously she won. So I don't think she was going to make that journey over to Abu Dhabi for that tournament. But

in Abu Dhabi the top seeds were Badosa at eight, Ostapenko seven, Fernandez six, Samsonova five, Emma Navarro four, Clara Tauson three and Ekaterina Alexandrov two and the defending champion Belinda Bencic was the number one seed but she didn't end up playing due to illness so we just had those seven people seeded and with that tournament

The final was ultimately between qualifier Sara Bejlek who's from the Czech Republic versus Ekaterina Alexandrova and Bejlek won that match 7-6-6-1. It was really, really impressive win from the Czech because she actually played qualifiers and then on her way to the title, she beat three seeds. So Ostapenko in the second round, then she beat Clara Tauson in the semifinal and then obviously beat Alexandrova in the final.

And that's her first WTA singles title.

So as I said, she won the tournament as a qualifier. And when she entered the tournament, she was actually ranked 101. And then by winning, she moved about 60 places into the top 40. And it's honestly such a boost, because I don't think...

we put as much emphasis on winning 500 and 250 tournaments but for some players it's I mean for all the players it's a really big deal and really really important and can be a big part in like building your career but then also building your ranking to hopefully get into a place where you don't have to play qualifiers anymore you can get in the draw for slams straight away and maybe even be seeded so hopefully this is a big boost for the rest of her year and just her tennis career

And then on the flip side of that very impressive win from Sara Bailik is Ekaterina Alexandrová who has now lost her fourth final in a row and that's the fourth final she's lost in eight months as well and it's becoming really hard to watch because in

couple of those finals she's gone in as the heavy favorite and she just I Don't know what happens. She just doesn't Doesn't come out on top or she doesn't make her mark and

The first set was very, very close. Bejlek ended up winning it 7-6 and then she ended up winning in straight sets, winning the second set 6-1. So after that disappointment of not winning the first set, Alexandrava just never came back to win it. And obviously making finals is an achievement in itself and it shows that you're heading in the right direction and trajectory. But four in a row.

I think would be hard to take for Alexandrova And she's a really consistent top 20 player, but she's never made it past the fourth round of a major or even made the final of a thousand. She's made like the semi-final of a thousand on three occasions, but I don't know. just, there's another step, another level for her to go to. So,

We'll see. That's that. And yeah, we'll see. That's that on Ekaterina Alexandrova I don't want to dwell too much.

and then still in Abu Dhabi one other player stood out for me and that was Hailey Baptiste. She made it to the semi-finals and that was her first Korea WTA semi-final and on her way there she beat two seeds so that was Emma Navarro and Ludmila Samsonova and then she ended up losing to Ekaterina Alexandrova in

the semi-final in a tight three sets. So I'm happy to see Hailey making steady improvements.

making more and more achievements whether that be making semi-finals for the first time or making the fourth round of a slam for the first time things like that it's good to see because she has so much potential i think i say this every time so much potential and i want to see that harnessed in the right way and i want to see hard work behind that so happy to see that hopefully just throughout the year results just keep getting better and she builds upon them

Because sometimes our seed players have a really good result, one that they've been waiting for for a long time, and then don't do anything else after that. So hopefully in this case, Hailey can build upon this semi-final. Then the other two tournaments that were being played were at the same. and then moving on to the other two tournaments that were being played at the same time as Abu Dhabi. First one was in

Ostrava and that was obviously the Ostrava Open which Katie Boulter won by beating Tamara Korpash in the final in three sets. So the final scoreline was 5-7 6-2 6-1 and that earned Katie Katie Boulter by the way, I'm not sure if I said her last name but that earned her her fourth career title and she's struggled for the past 18 months, especially with maintaining her ranking because going into

quite a few slams the past 18 months. Katie was ⁓ well maybe even before the 18 months she was seeded but she's taken a big stumble down the rankings so her winning these tournaments and getting a bit further in tournaments that will really help Katie

build up her ranking to where it once was. Then the other tournament was a Transylvania Open in Romania. So that tournament Sorana Cirstea beat Emma Raducanu 6 love 6 2 and it was such a brilliant win from Cirstea and for a few reasons. One, she played really, really well and especially after that Australian Open controversy with Naomi Osaka. Then number two,

This is her last year on tour. So I think it's great for her to go out with at least one title and know that she's ending her career still playing at the highest level. And then lastly, the tournament was, as I said, in Romania. So that's her home tournament. So I think it would just be lovely send off to be able to win in front of, in front of your country and home crowd with people backing and supporting you.

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But then to her opponent, Emma Raducanu although I'll say this final in the scoreline was a routing for Emma, it was a final. And that is actually the second ever final that Emma Raducanu has been in. The first one being the US Open in 2021, which she ended up winning. So although she lost really, really badly, there's progress.

And for someone like Emma who struggled with her ranking, with coaches, with consistency, with injuries, with like media and just so much attention, any progress is good progress in my opinion. So it's good to see that from Emma.

So after the Abu Dhabi Open, Ostrava and Transylvania Open, we moved on to the first 1000 of the year. And that was the Qatar Open or Doha Open, depending on what you prefer, but it's namely the Qatar Open. And with the Qatar Open, it was the first 1000 of the year, but there were quite a few big names missing, starting with Aryna Sabalenka.

And then Jessica Pegula wasn't there either. Belinda Bencic wasn't there. Madison Keys wasn't there. So there were some of like the bigger names missing, but the top seeds were at number one was Iga Swiatek Then the second seed was Elena Rybakina Third seed and defending champion Amanda Anisimova. Fourth seed Coco Gauff. Fifth seed Mirra Andreeva Number six seed was Jasmine Paolini.

Seventh seed was Elina Svitolina and the eighth seed was Ekaterina Alexandrova. So the final of Qatar was played between Karolina Muchova and Victoria Mboko who were the 14th and 10th seed respectively and Muchova came out on top. She won that match 6-4-7-5. So she did win in straight sets but it was if you look at the score line there was only one break.

And that didn't happen to like the end of the matches. So it was quite close and it was a really, really massive, big and necessary win for Muchova because it's surprisingly, which I think I knew this, like I knew the fact that this was her second title ever, but it just made no sense in my brain. So it didn't register until I literally went on her Wikipedia.

and I saw all the tennis channels posting that stat that she hadn't won a tournament since 2019. And it's also her biggest title to date, the 1000. And the reason I find that so surprising is because of like, she hasn't maybe won big titles, but she's been there on the big stages quite a few times. So she's been in the final of the French Open

And in that French Open, she almost won against Iga. And then she's also been in a lot of quarterfinals for slams. And then she's been in about, I think, three or four semi-finals for majors as well. So that's the thing about tennis is, obviously it's an achievement to make a semi-final or a final, but if you don't win, it doesn't count. So really, really happy to see that for Muchova. Just kind of having a big win and a big title on her resume, because she deserves it in my opinion.

⁓ and of course she's someone that's always, she gets injured often, but when she's playing, she plays to a very high level and is challenging for those big titles. So it's not like, it's like as soon as she gets back from injury, she's already back at the top. Obviously it's not that easy, but that's what it feels like and seems like. But yeah, great win from.

⁓ from Muchova, even watching her play, especially in the semi-final against Sakkari I could see that she was not letting this title go. Cause I don't know how she ended up winning that match. Obviously it's a combination of her wanting it and, and Sakkari not playing the big moments as well as she could.

But she, yeah, she wasn't letting the title go because by the semi-finals the favorites were out in Iga, Rybakina. So she was in pole position for the title. And I can say I'm quite happy that she completed it. In saying that, on the flip side of the coin, her opponent, Victoria Mboko was also someone I would have loved to win that big title. She already has an 1,000 title under her belt, but she could very have easily had a second one.

I would say Victoria was more impressive on her way to the final instead of how she played in the final. She beat Mirra Andreeva in three sets and then she beat Elena Rybakina in three sets as well and that was back to back. And then in the semis against Ostapenko she didn't really give her, she didn't give Ostapenko a chance. So she's just been playing wonderfully. And to note, if anyone watched the match against Rybakina,

Mboko, she's crazy because on Rybakina's second serve she was standing inside the baseline and not just like a little step where your foot is on the baseline or you're slightly in. She was completely in the baseline with maybe like another foot and I was like I've never seen that. I've never seen that against Elena Rybakina I haven't seen that against most players but especially someone who serves as well as Rybakina especially her second serve.

So it was really, really surprising to see, but she's very, I say she's a very intense player.

And in my opinion, okay, I'm going to say this. I've been thinking it for a while now, but I've never voiced it, but

I've never voiced it because there are not a lot of players that you can compare to Serena Williams, even in playing style, right? Like I think of, yes, hard hitting players in the Sabalenkas and the Rybakinas but in my opinion, they still don't fully compare holistically to Serena Williams, whereas Victoria Mboko does.

because she's got powerful ground strokes and then she also has the ability to absorb power which we saw against Rybakina and Ostapenko plus her athleticism and agility so she's quite well rounded and I think it puts in that Serena Williams camp and I'm not saying she's as good or will become as good as Serena of course I mean there's always potential but I'm saying that her play style overall matches that of Serena.

And yeah, I think she's a real deal. I just worry about injuries because every time I see her, she's got something different strapped. And she did have a big knee injury when she was younger, but she's only 19. So there is a lot, a lot to see. There's a lot to, there's a lot to be excited for. There's a lot to be excited for.

and still on Victoria Mboko I know she didn't win but this was her second final of the year. She lost in Adelaide against Andreeva and when she lost both the finals, so the Adelaide final and the Qatar final, she did not look happy. She looked visibly upset. Sometimes when someone loses a match you can see them kind of give a half smile and I saw her do that a little bit but not that much

I think that's the mark of a champion because she knows she can do better. She expects more out of herself and she wants more. And I just know that the standards aren't on making finals or playing well at 1000 tournaments. The standards are I enter the tournament to win. Even when she's playing, She gets quite frustrated at herself. And again, it's because I think she has high standards and she knows she can get more out of herself.

So that's that on the finalists. Both women played really, really well. then still in Qatar, I had a couple of, I think a couple of players that stood out to me that played really well in a way I wasn't expecting. Yeah. So starting with Sakkari, it kind of feels like a Renaissance for Sakkari. Cause I think when

She fell down the rankings.

people were doubting her. I know a lot of people online made videos or comments to her and were just doubting. And

I just think those comments are super, super disrespectful to any tennis player, but especially those that have played at a high level before that you've seen, they know what it takes to get to that high level. So why are you doubting them? And then I also think a little bit of ageism plays into it because Maria is 30 now. think

I think tennis fans or the tennis audience and I'm included in this I think I've I've made comments or said something for a player just because they're 30. I think people think once a player is 30 that they start regressing immediately but it's not that way like we see it in Jessica Pegula I made comments saying I think Jess is gonna start regressing but I have not seen that in fact I've actually seen her look better.

be one of the best versions of herself as a player. So I don't know, hopefully all those comments that people were saying about Maria Sakkari have lit a fire under her. But yeah, she in this tournament in Qatar, she made it to the semis and then she ended up losing to Muchova. But making it to the semis, she beat Iga in three sets in the quarters. And in the second round, she also beat Seventh Seed Paolini in straight sets. And I think I was really impressed by

Sakkari's grit and calm especially in the match against Iga. She just kept playing her game and Because we've seen so many times Sakkari get overwhelmed by the occasion or overwhelmed by her emotions Especially against Iga. That's probably The person we've seen her do it the most against but in this match she was just calm. She just played her game and that's what saw her win the match because

she played her game.

And then second player is Ostapenko Great tournament. Made it to the semis and Ostapenko is weird because

she she's not playing at the highest singles level she's ever played and she's not even playing i'd say at the second highest levels of singles she's ever played but she still maintains a pretty good ranking

whilst still playing playing doubles at a very very high level. So I was just impressed by that balancing act that she puts on of playing making it to the semis of the single and then also making the final of the doubles.

And then the last player I would say I was quite impressed by or stood out to me in this competition was Elisabetta Cocciaretto And she's just such a lovely player. She's so respectful of her opponents, especially those that are higher ranked or those that are slam winners. She just seems really happy to be playing against them. And she's very, very respectful of, of them, of their talent, of their tennis.

But, in this tournament, she made the quarterfinals, which is, she which was her first quarterfinals in a 1000 tournament. And she made it as a lucky loser. Actually she was, she didn't make it through qualifiers. So she took her opportunity that she was handed and did very well with it. And she made it to the quarters by beating Elsa, Jacquemot

then world number four Coco Gauff and then

third round against Ann Li then she eventually lost to Ostapenko in two close sets

And I'm quite happy for Cocciaretto because she's had a pretty good start to the year. Number one, she won Hobart just before the Australian Open. And then she, as I said, made her first quarterfinal off a thousand tournament. Then quickly looking at some disappointing performers, not too much in depth, but we'll start with Coco Gauff She lost in the second round to Cocciaretto, as I just said before.

It was the second round but she had a bye for the first round. So it was her first match and This is the second year in a row. It's happened for Coco in Qatar where she loses straight away and It's a little bit frustrating because I think I've mentioned before I need I would actually I would really like if Coco Started showing a bit more consistency throughout the whole year

I think my expectations for Coco now are a lot higher. I'm starting to expect a bit more consistency. So going into the first 1000 of the year and losing in your first match is not the greatest, but knowing Coco, she also bounces back very quickly. Then second player, I would say disappointed me, but not even at all. I'm just putting a name down is Iga And that is only because it was the first time

the quarterfinal against Maria Sakkari that she lost a thousand match after winning the first set and this is in regards to completed matches not where she got injured or anything. And then lastly is Rybakina again I'm not really disappointed she lost in the quarterfinals it's not sort of bad loss but I do feel as though when she has an opportunity to become world number two she doesn't take it.

because Iga lost first against Sakkari and then Rybakina played Mboko and if she had won that match and then gone on to win the tournament she would have gotten her highest ranking ever which would be world number two. So that's frustrating but again the year is long not that big of a deal.

So that's rounding everything off for Qatar Open. Then moving on to the next 1000 tournament, it was the Dubai Open in the UAE.

And for the Dubai Open, the defending champion was Mirra Andreeva. I will say this tournament should have been called the dropout or the walkover open because there were so many people who dropped out last minute and then so many walkovers just during the tournament, which I will touch on. But with the dropouts, namely Sabalenka and Swiatek pulled out a day before the tournament started. And I think it was quite frustrating for the

the event organizers because they were advertising these players and promoting them and people paid and buy tickets to go see them. And of course I know with the players you always have to put your health and your tennis and everything above all else

And they do have a very long playing calendar. But again, it's just it's I think it's very frustrating for the organizers. And the Dubai Tennis Association, as I said, was not happy and they actually asked for the players to be sanctioned, which I'll be honest with you, I agree with it's because it was quite last minute. And because it's Iga and Sabalenka, they can afford a sanction. If it was like some of these lower ranked players, I think.

I would be less inclined to agree with a sanction, but with the higher ranked players, I'm like, go ahead. They can afford it. You know, actions have consequences. But maybe I'm being too harsh. Let me know. And as I said, there are quite a few people that dropped out and some other than Sabalenka and Iga, some dropped out because they had just played in Qatar in the last days.

and they just couldn't match the turnover because the turnover is so fast. It's so fast. So that was pulled out because of injury and Mboko. So Muchova and Mboko were in the final. Sakkari was in the semifinal. So it makes sense. And with walkovers, there was a total of seven. Seven people pulled out due to what not pulled out, but seven people ended a match early.

due to injury or illness during the tournament. So it just felt like every time I woke up to check the scores, there'll be a different person who didn't finish their match. But as I like to say, that's neither here nor there. actually no, it is here and there because

I think a lot of players are wanting to protect their bodies earlier on in the year, not to exacerbate any injuries that are already there or not wanting to...

not wanting to get a really really massive injury that takes them out for a long time. Anyway so in Dubai the top seeds were Elena Rybakina at one, Amanda Anisimova at two, Coco Gauff at three, Jessica Pegula at four, defending champion Mirra Andreeva at five, Jasmine Paolini at six, Elina Svitolina at seven and Ekaterina Alexandrova at eight.

So this final was played between Elina Svitolina and Jessica Pegula and JPegs came out on top in straight sets winning 6-2, 6-4 and quite honestly she never gave Svitolina a chance. She never gave her a chance at all but this is Jess's fourth 1000 title and her fourth big title and she has been

She has been the standard of consistency for the past six months. She's made seven semis in a row and it just felt like she kept getting super close, super close and nothing was coming out of it. So I'm very, very happy to see her win this title and it'd be a big title as well.

And honestly, I, after the fourth round of the Australian Open, I really thought Jess was going to go on to win it, but it wasn't meant to be. So we'll see for the rest of the slams, but she's just, she's just consistent and she's consistent, been consistent for the past two, three years. But I think the past six months, her standard of tennis has leveled up and the results have leveled up as well.

And I think I mentioned it before, but I was very wrong about Jess Pegula because I predicted that she would start declining. I think at some point last year, even at the start of this year, I predicted that, but she's proven me wrong because she seems to be going in the opposite direction. She actually is playing the tennis of her career. And I think she's looking at these next couple of years as her last shot at a major title. So we'll see what's to come of Jess.

And yeah there's not much else to say other than she's playing really well.

And then moving on to Elina Svitolina, although she lost on this occasion, I think she is someone who's playing really, really well. She's been playing very, very well since the start of the year. Already won a title in Auckland, made the semi-finals of Australia Open and then made the thousands for a final. So I think she's a dark horse of any tournament she enters, honestly, because she's such a steady player, but she's also become a lot, lot more aggressive.

So we'll see what's to come of that. Yeah.

⁓ yeah and because of her making it to the final she's actually got herself firmly in the top 10 or back in the top 10 so that's very nice to see because I feel as though that's the place that Svitolina belongs in the top 10.

Alright, then still in Dubai, just quickly moving on to my standouts for the tournament. First I had Coco Gauff. I think sometimes it's hard to put top players in the standouts because they should always be making quarterfinals, semi-finals, etc. But I do think Coco deserves to be here just because of the great bounce back and resilience from that Qatar Open and even the poor performance in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.

This is so helpful for her, think, going into Indian Wells, because she goes into that really big tournament with some wins under her belt. The next player I've got is Antonia Ružić of Croatia. And I watched Antonia Ružić play Naomi Osaka in the Australian Open, and she did end up losing the match, but I I was seriously impressed.

because of her determination, but not just that. I think she has a high tennis IQ and because of her high tennis IQ, she can play herself back into a match. She can figure out what she needs to do better and raise that level, then figure out what to attack her opponent on. So she did that so well. And with this Dubai tournament,

It was her first WTA 1000 quarterfinals. And then through the tournament, she beat Emma Raducanu. And then in the fourth round, she Elena Rybakina. And although Elena Rybakina pulled out of the match, Antonia Ruzic had played herself back into the match

and she was now dictating the play. So a win is a win, right? But yeah, I just, I'm gonna keep an eye on her. She's been very successful on the ITF tour and I think she's really built up her game playing so many tournaments and winning so many tournaments in the ITF. So we'll see. Then lastly, I had just impressive to me was

Alexandra Eala and she made it run to the quarterfinals. She beat Parline in straight sets and she's such a fighter and competitor Alex and she's just exciting to watch because she doesn't give up and her return game is excellent and the reason I stress how excellent her return game is is because her serve is one of the weakest on tour. I think one of the weakest in the top 100.

So I don't know where she will be when that serve gets better. But anyway, always impressed with her. And in terms of still tennis related, but not her playing, she has such a big draw. The Filipino tennis fans do not play. They support their player. They back her completely. Because when you watch Eala, it feels like you're watching a final almost every time she plays because the noise.

and amount of people watching is just so loud and so much. So it's always good to have around because you can see that tennis is going to different parts of the world where tennis isn't highlighted as much and players of certain nationalities are not highlighted as much.

So all that attention that she gets as a Filipino, I hope it pushes her on and doesn't put too much pressure on her Because pressure is good, right? Pressure is a privilege but not if it's detrimental to... If it's not detrimental to your tennis and your achievements.

And then just, have one player here who disappointed me a little bit and that's Jasmine Paolini.

And I do think she's on a downward trajectory in terms of her singles career, but I also don't think she should be losing in her first match of the tournament because she did the same thing in Dubai and in Qatar. So my expectations are not super high, but my expectations are not on the floor. I'm not expecting her to be losing that quickly and that easily. so I hope

I she gets a tournament, like a really good tournament run under her belt very soon or else I see her falling out of that, that top 10 very quickly. And then what else? I don't think anyone, no one else really stood out as being disappointing. I would have loved for like Mirra to defend her title, but she gave all she could in that match against Anissimova to the point where she was crying and.

So I don't really think I can falter on that because I hate when someone loses And they just lose easily or they're losing like straight sets. I don't like that. So she gave it her all Wasn't meant to be in the end. But Yeah, and I will say the time after the australian open is always a bit weird. I think it's quite weird for players trying to adjust And just trying to figure out where they want to go with their season So I have a lot of grace during this period of

During this period after the Australian opening and before Indian wars, I give a lot of grace.

Then quickly to round off just the last two tournaments that were played last week. We've got the Austin Open where Peyton Stearns beat Taylor Townsend in two tight sets. She won that 7-6-7-5 and that is Peyton Stearns second title at the WTA level. And I think Peyton really needed this win and just can use it as a boost for the rest of the year. Cause she's, I think been struggling with her tennis for the past.

Yeah, and then not just that her tennis off court as well with coaches and stuff. She's just had a difficult time. For those that don't know, there was a moment where she was literally tweeting who wants to be my coach. was someone in the top 100 should not be someone in the top on someone in the top 100 with as much potential as Peyton Stearns. I don't think she'd be looking for a tennis coach on Twitter. So hopefully things are now heading in the right direction for her.

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then on her opponent Taylor Townsend. I'm just mentioning this because she did lose but it was her first ever WTA singles final. So that's an achievement all in itself. And then lastly

in Mexico, we had the Merida Open where Christina Busca beat Magdalena Frech in three sets, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4. And that won her her first title and pushed her up to a new career high of 31. So achievements all around for all the players. So that's just a quick, maybe not that quick, but as quick as I can get it round off of the

the past several tournaments that have been played just to give you some sort of

just to give you a starting point going into Indian Wells, knowing where certain players are at and knowing which players to look out for as well. And then before I

And just before I close out the episode, I'm just going to do a quick rankings update. So this is before Indian Wells has been any matches been played. I'll give you the top current top 10 and then also players that have hit their new career high. So top 10 we've got at number one, Aryna Sabalenka number two, Iga Swiatek number three, Elena Rybakina number four, Coco Gauff number five, Jessica Pegula number six, Amanda Anisimova.

7 Jasmine Paolini 8

Mirra Andreeva, 9 Elina Svitolina and number 10 Victoria Mboko and that is her first time in the top 10 for Mboko so that's a career high. Then some other players in the top 100's new career highs with Cristina Busca at 31, Sara Bejlek at 40 and Oksana Selekhmeteva at 71.

So like I said, that was just an episode to go through some of the tournaments that have been played and just to get insight and information before Indian Wells starts.

And I think that's all I have to say on that. So thank you so much for listening to this episode. Make sure you download it on whatever you listen to podcasts on. So Spotify, YouTube, Apple podcasts, Buzzsprout, that'll be very much appreciated. And then

And then if you haven't yet, please leave a five-star review again on whatever you listen to podcasts on. Then on the YouTube, please subscribe and like any episodes that are on there. And also follow our Instagram, is at EWWT podcast. Thank you everyone for listening. I appreciate your support so, so, so much. See you for the next episode.