Monday 2 April 2018 17:47, UK
Just as Roger Federer appeared to have complete control of the tennis landscape, we witnessed back-to-back maiden Masters 1000 champions in Juan Martin del Potro and John Isner at Indian Wells and Miami.
Federer arrived in the California desert as the oldest world No 1 after his return to the summit of the sport in Rotterdam, with great rival Rafael Nadal on the sidelines, and was expected to make a strong challenge for consecutive Sunshine Double triumphs.
In the continued absence of former world No 1 Andy Murray, Nadal and the return from injury of Novak Djokovic the next tier of players were confident of making an imprint on the American hard courts.
Juan Martin del Potro continued on from his title in Acapulco with an absorbing three-set victory against Federer in the Indian Wells final and was forced to stave off three match points against the Swiss great. Attention quickly switched to the Miami Open - being held for the final time at Crandon Park - where an out-of-form Isner discovered his best tennis to record a memorable triumph, including victory against the former US Open champion in the semi-final.
Sky Sports analysts Annabel Croft and Greg Rusedski discuss the key talking points from an unpredictable Indian Wells/Miami double, a return to form for a Grand Slam finalist and look ahead to the clay court campaign...
Croft: Del Potro has been the revelation during this hard court run - everyone is marvelling at how he has recovered after he dropped to an all-time low emotionally and physically. I think he just ran out of steam in Miami. He has gained enormous respect from his fellow players. I think a lot of people are now looking at him to really kick on and take his tennis to another level.
Rusedski: Everyone expected another domination by Federer when the Masters Series started off, obviously with Rafa out injured. Federer had a few match points against Del Potro in the Indian Wells final. It was exciting that he won his first Masters 1000 title. He is a great champion and has come back from all the injuries and wrist surgeries he has had. It would have been a shame if he had never won a Masters Series event because he had won at every other level. Federer suffered a shock surprise defeat to Thanasi Kokkinakis in Miami which opened up the draw. It was a week of upsets and unpredictable matches but Isner, the big-serving American, had the dream run. His victory against Cilic was brilliant and against Del Potro he produced even better tennis to end the Argentinean's 15-match winning streak. I think it was quite fitting Isner ended up winning because Sascha's forehand looked off, the American never lost his serve [in the final] and was the best player of the event.
Croft: There is a huge difference between what is happening in men's tennis now and when we had that massive domination [by the big four]. We haven't seen quite a lot of the big names [in recent months] like [Stan] Wawrinka and Andy Murray. It is a fascinating time in men's tennis because no longer at the beginning of an event can you predict what will happen. At the start of the year it looked like Federer was going to dominate once again but that is not quite happening. Rafa has had the hip problems and then there is the massive number of young players coming through the game, who are trying to take advantage of this changing period in the game.
I think we are going to see the transition in men's tennis over the next year or two. Still with the old names doing well but with some new players knocking on the door.
Rusedski: It feels like we are in a transition period with the men's game. There have been three new Masters Series winners [Jack Sock, Del Potro and Isner]. Those events had traditionally been dominated by the big four and possibly Wawrinka. It is very interesting times. I think we are going to see the transition in men's tennis over the next year or two. Still with the old names doing well but with some new players knocking on the door.
Rusedski: Raonic is the exciting story. I was in Del Ray playing a Champions Tour event and I saw him with Jonas Bjorkman on a trial for two weeks. He said to me he was going to have Goran Ivanisevic for the next five weeks to see where he wanted to go with his tennis. Goran, as usual, changed the player's serve. When he was with Cilic and Berdych he gave them a lower ball toss and tried to get them moving forward so I am actually pretty excited about that partnership. That is the right partnership for Raonic. He had a great run at Indian Wells and had a real shot in Miami before his defeat to Del Potro in the quarter-finals.
Croft: I wasn't really surprised with that split because it never got going and it never really had a chance. He didn't play at the end of last season and only played three events last year and then of course got off to such a bad start in 2018 with some early losses to people he would never have really lost to before. He is just not looking himself. When you think of Novak at the very best, he is a ruthless operator and appears extremely balanced on court. However, he looks anything but balanced at the moment. He looks to be struggling emotionally and appears to be overthinking everything and has forgotten what got him to the top of the game. He appears to be doubting himself and his aura has slipped. Nevertheless, I have learnt over the years never to underestimate the mind of a champion.
Croft: Clearly everyone is expecting that Rafa will come back and be really dangerous. We really hope that his hip is fully healed and everyone is excited about what he can do [on his return]. Can he take his [clay court achievements] to greater heights? Dominic Thiem seems to have been quiet. Clearly now is his period of the season to really make an impression and gain the points in order to take his game to a new level. He seems to have been a little under the radar with injury problems.
We'll be back for more tennis on Monday, April 16 for the start of the ATP Monte Carlo Rolex Masters with coverage underway from 9.30am on Sky Sports Arena.
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