SEATTLE - One of the most prestigious tournaments in the tennis tour kicked off this week. Miami Gardens will be home to some of the world's best tennis players for the next week and a half, as 19 of the top 20 male tennis players lead the pack on the hard courts of the Miami Open.
A good number of Latinos will also partake in the tournament, with a total of 24 players from the region trying to make history across all categories.
Latino Tennis is experiencing another good moment in the tour, especially in the men's ATP. A total of thirteen players are currently ranked in the men's top 100 in singles, with Argentina doing the heavy lifting, accounting for eight of them. The vast majority of them will participate this week in Miami, where only a few Latinos have been able to find success.
Chilean Marcelo Rios remains as the only Latino to win the men's singles at the Miami Open. He did it in 1998, when the Chilean took home the silverware by defeating the legendary Andre Agassi in three sets. The win in Miami allowed Rios to climb all the way to the top of the men's rankings and became the first tennis player of Latino descent to be ranked No.1.
On the women's side, Argentine Gabriela Sabatini made history by winning the tournament at both the singles and doubles category. The doubles crown came first, in 1988, and she followed it with the singles trophy the following year. Sabatini reached three finals at the Miami Open but managed to win the 1989 one.
But Latin America's strength does not solely rely on singles. Mexican Santiago González will return to Miami this year to defend his crown from 2023. Currently ranked 10th in the world, the Mexican will be one of seven Latinos currently in the top 100 competing for the doubles crown in Miami. Out of the bunch, Argentine Horacio Zeballos is the highest ranked, coming in at No.8. The 38-year-old has previously won six Masters 1000 tournaments and is coming off a fresh runner-up finish at Indian Wells, losing the final in two sets along with his partner, Spanish Marcel Granollers.
Diego Schwartzman, another veteran, will starts his journey all the way from the qualifying rounds. The Buenos Aires native has had a tough start to 2024, losing all matches played prior to the Miami Open. Fellow Argentine's Sébastian Báez(19) and Francisco Cerúndolo (21) are well situated to make a deeper run in the tournament.
Baéz is the Latino with the highest rank among all men in the singles division. Currently at No.19, Báez is 17-6 in 2024 and has already won two titles, the ATP 250 in Santiago, Chile, and the ATP 500 in Rio de Janerio, Brazil.
Latinas are also well represented in the women's doubles division with four participants. Mexican specialist Giuliana Olmos, No.25 in the world, has already won one tournament this year.
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