After a well deserved rest Sorana returned to the tour for the so-called ‘Sunshine Double’ the combined 1000 series events in North America, Indian Wells and Miami.

Her first match which was against German veteran, Tatjana Maria, who loves a single handed slice backhand sadly fell on my work shift, therefore I could not watch the full match. Yet I did squeeze in the second half between night patrols. Sorana looked super sharp, having won the first set 6-4. Sorana was chasing from a break down when I joined, no PP sadly, I would have taken him to work if I had known I would be watching it, he loves Sorana. She was soon back to 3-3 and with her super slick style which we have become so accustomed to this year was leading 5-3, she looked so confident and comfortable, I would have put both kidneys on her serving out the match and if PP was with me he would have bet his flippers on it yet there was drama as there often is, resurgence from Maria and a slight drop off from Cirstea and it was soon 6-4 4-6. Sorana put the disapointment behind her and regrouped and there was only one player in the final set which she won 6-3.

A word for the Romanian fans in the crowd too, they made an amazing effort today, singing their hearts out, draped in the Romanian colours of blue, yellow and red and a flag with Sori’s face on it. Amazing stuff. Can’t wait for the next round and PP will join me for that too! Haide 🇹🇩🎾

The next round was against Diana Shnaider of Russia, the two had never met previously but the world number 20 up and comer was a dangerous prospect on paper. Not as dangerous as our Sorana who is on a mission on her farewell tour, the first set in particular was a demolition job, Sorana smashed it 6-2 with a strong serving display and was as sharp as a knife. The second was much closer as Diana raised her own service display after a plethora of double faults early on, it got to a tiebreak which Sorana absolutely dominated by winning to 0!!! Another excellent display from the Romanian, Linda Noskova is next, a name you will recognise from the last article as the two have just met in Dubai where Sorana was comfortably victorious. Noskova will be expected to play better than the previous meeting but you would have to fancy Sorana to get through the next one.

Later in the day, or night if you are in the UK, Sorana played doubles with her good friend Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, an exciting team on paper but sadly a very early exit for the team as they lost in straight sets.

Sadly Sorana’s Indian Wells ended after an extremely close battle with Noskova, 7-6 4-6 4-6. It was high quality from both throughout, having saved two set points in the first set Sorana then capitalised in a tight tiebreak with some stunning points, not least the delicious cross court passing shot on set point to seal the deal. A late break in the second was enough to allow Noskova to pull the rug from under the Romanian’s feet and force a decider. Sorana was given a mountain to climb by losing her serve to love early in set three. She twice looked like coming back by going 0-30 up on Noskova but could not get further than that in either game. When the moment came Noskova served out with ease. Painful, but Sorana should be very proud of this match and her run at Indian Wells. She is still playing so incredibly well and looking better than ever! Cannot wait for Miami!!!

So on to Miami we go. Now the fear with any player doing so incredibly well, not least one who is about to turn 36 in a couple of weeks time, that there will be a little drop off at some point and the amazing consistency may take a dip. Sorana has been brilliant this season so far, if you are reading all of these (thank you ❤️) On paper Sorana’s first round match against China’s Shuai Zhang was tricky. Zhang is a year older than our Champ and leads the Head to Head 3-2, winning the last three. It just felt with Sorana being so magnificent in all her matches this year, could it continue? Was this the curve ball? It had rained heavily before this match, so much so the organisers could only use a a limited number of courts. The conditions still damp and overcast, a chilly Sori came on sporting some of New Balance’s winter wears.

It was a worrying start for our Champ as she was broken in the very first game however she immediately returned the favour by breaking Zhang to love!!! A relatively tight set then followed, a flurry of double faults letting Zhang down at the wrong time costing her a late break which Sori capitalised on to win the set 6-3. She raced ahead to a commanding 4-0 lead in the second set, she needed the cushion too as she was unable to serve it out at the first time of asking. Overall, it was a brilliant shift from Sorana, 14 Aces in the match proving at 35 years young she can still pack a punch. She saved 60 per cent of the break points she faced and a couple of those were with Aces! That’s the confidence she is playing with right now. I thought this would be close, I feared Sorana may even fall short but it was yet another Sorana Masterclass!!! She was sensational yet again, I cannot wait for the next match, let’s hope there’s a bit of sunshine for this one!

Sadly I missed Sorana’s third round match against her familiar foe Linda Noskova.

A rain delay after the first game or two lasted for nearly three hours so once they restarted I had to go to work 😢

However a brilliant result 6-2 3-6 6-4 Sorana will be super happy with that as she lost their last meeting after being a set up.

Looking at the match stats our Champ had the edge in another close affair but one number that stands out for me is break point converted 31.2% Sorana created 16 break point opportunities but only converted 5, she would have found that tough mentally so to pull through in the third set shows her incredible mental resolve.

Today marks Sorana’s 16th Match win of the season, that is absolutely amazing and deserves a mention. 16 matches won, only 4 lost, that’s Top Ten form for me. Sorana is truly playing some of the best tennis of her life right now, I’m disappointed I missed it today but the numbers don’t lie. No work for me tomorrow so Wild Horses would not stop me watching Sorana’s third round match against Elise Mertens. Never Surrender Champ ❤️

Our Champ went into the next match against Belgian’s Elise Mertens with a comfort blanket of a 3-0 head to head and was victorious in a convincing 6-3 6-2 display, the first set had it’s moments of edginess but there was only really one player in the second set. Again the break point conversion rate was quite low for our Sorana but she hit the peaks when it mattered most. The passing shot down the line winner at 2-2 in the second set to break was the highlight of the match, and arguably the point of Sorana’s tournament, under pressure and forced onto the back foot in the rally the angle she created from deep behind the Deuce court baseline corner to carve out a glorious winner was a joke. The crowd went wild. Yet another brilliant win from Sorana who sailed into the fourth round as her Magical Miami ride continues on….

Sadly the Miami dream came to a conclusion in the next match against the 4th Seed American, Coco Gauff. A strange match where neither player produced their very best tennis, Coco seemed a little surprised she was a set and a break up after 4 double faults yet while Sorana’s first serve percentage was very high she only won around half of those points and both player’s games’ had a large number of errors outweighing some great winners. Coco’s return game was very solid to be fair which explained her advantage however with the serve always vulnerable Sorana struck back to take the second set. Tired and perplexed our Champ never really recovered from an early break to love, not even a prolonged delay of someone needing treatment in the crowd helped our Champ. At a double break down she showed plenty of fight, she saved a match point in amazing style, bossing down an overhead after a dramatic and tense point saw both players licking the lines with thunderous strokes.

Whilst you could barely say Sorana played badly it was not at the same level as she has been producing so far this year but she has been super human and sustained it so well. This was another brilliant week, 17 wins and 5 losses as we come closer to ending the first third of the Sorana Swansong, she was and is sensational. Cannot wait for the next tournament! Never Surrender Champ ❤️