Iga Swiatek doens't present the same aura as she did a couple years ago. She's lost her edge, and not only on rivalries she used to dominate. It feels like every player is now feeling more and more confident when they step on court against her.

For her biggest rivals, this means that the sense of danger is no longer there. Gauff hasn't lost in their last five matches despite losing 11 straight, and Sabalenka probably feels like she can beat her no matter where they play, at every stage.

The new coach, plus a time at the Rafa Nadal Academy, could prove to be a pivotal moment in her career to bring her back to winning ways. Stuttgart will be the first tournament where we will see the early works of this partnership, and if the results will follow ahead of Swiatek's favourite and most successful major, Roland Garros.

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It wasn't the best match of their rivalry, but it might as well be one of the most important. Jannik Sinner was yet to win a big title on clay. He lost several really important finals to Alcaraz, including that mystical Roland Garros final in 2025 (last year).

Now he unlocked new potential.

What will happen next? Will Alcaraz play Barcelona and Madrid, maybe skip one or the other? Will Sinner play Madrid?

We are bound to see the full meaning of this victory as the rest of the clay season unfolds - and this victory could be pivotal not only for Roland Garros, but also for the rest of the entire year. Perhaps even their whole careers.

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Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have won all the big titles of 2026, but have yet to play a match this season. The first time they do, it could be for the World No.1 ranking.

Since Alcaraz is defending his title at Monte Carlo and Sinner has not played there last year, Alcaraz needs to win the tournament to make sure he'll keep his title for at least another couple of weeks. If not, a Sinner title brings the top position back to the Italian.

But also, we just NEED them to play each other. It's been just waaaay too long! They can't be trading the No.1 ranking by simply not playing tournaments or losing early to someone else. It's got to be decided on the court, as they trade blows in front of a massive crowd cheering for every point.

On other news, João Fonseca is not in collision route against the Top 2 players this time, but he will have other challenges ahead. Maybe he can play Medvedev this time. If he makes it to the SF, he could face Zverev - who has reached the last four stage at every big tournament this season, and really only loses to Alcaraz and Sinner, though not particularly close to beating any one of them. But he's there, waiting. Anyway, Fonseca will need to get used to playing and beating any player in front of him, not just Sinner and Alcaraz, if he wants to realize the hype that's been following him for a couple years now.

Over to the WTA side, where there are 10 1000 events and only two of these are on clay, I ask: why not a third one? And I think the perfect candidate for that is a tournament now far away from its glory days where players of the caliber of Graf, Hingis, Venus Williams, Nadal, and Federer competed for its trophy.

Down to an ATP 500 tournament and a 250 event in the WTA calendar, this major city in Germany checks all the boxes to holding a 1000 event on its clay courts. And the calendar spot seems wide open, concurrent with Monte Carlo.

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