Hu Niu (Sabalenka) clinches back-to-back "Sunshine Double" titles, Zhang Shuai competes in both singles and doubles, Wang Xinyu withdraws.

Three minutes a day, stay updated on global tennis news. Hello tennis fans, today is Sunday, March 29, 2026. Welcome to the News Midday Report brought to you by "Tennis Home".

This morning Beijing time, the WTA1000 Miami tournament concluded brilliantly. In the singles final, top seed and world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka battled through three sets, defeating fourth seed and local favorite Coco Gauff 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 to successfully defend her title. This marks Sabalenka's 11th career WTA1000 title and her third championship this season, completing the coveted "Sunshine Double".

After winning back-to-back titles, Sabalenka has joined the exclusive "Sunshine Double" club—players who have won both Indian Wells and Miami in the same year—as its fifth member. The previous four are Steffi Graf (1994, 1996), Kim Clijsters (2005), Victoria Azarenka (2016), and Iga Świątek (2022). Congratulations to Hu Niu (Sabalenka)!

ATP1000 Miami Masters: In the men's doubles final, the Italian pair Bolelli/Vavassori defeated Heliövaara/Patten 6-4, 6-2 to claim their first Masters title together, which is also their ninth tour-level championship.

Now let's look at next week's tournaments. Last night Beijing time, the WTA500 Charleston released its main draw. Defending champion Pegula, along with Alexandrova, Bencic, Jovic, Keys, Mertens, Schneider, and Kalinskaya, are among the top eight seeds. Chinese veteran Zhang Shuai continues her busy schedule, competing in both singles and doubles. In singles, she faces Starodubtseva in the first round; in doubles, partnering with Krunic, she will meet Sutjiadi/Zeng in the opening round.

Originally scheduled to play, China's second-ranked Wang Xinyu withdrew before the draw was released. Wang has been struggling with recent results and some physical issues. We wish her a good recovery and hope she returns to competition when fully healed!

The singles draw for the ATP250 Bucharest tournament in Romania has also been released. Diallo, Mannarino, Marozsan, and Borges are the top four seeds, with players like Busta, Agut, and Baez also participating.

Additionally, the ATP1000 Monte Carlo Masters, which kicks off the European clay season on April 5, announced its main draw wild card recipients last night Beijing time. French veteran Gael Monfils, Swiss veteran Stan Wawrinka, Italian Matteo Berrettini, and 17-year-old French rising star Kuanmei are among those awarded wild cards.

Here's another positive update. In the ATP Challenger CH50 men's doubles final in Yokkaichi, Japan, which concluded last night Beijing time, the Chinese cross-strait duo Sun Fajing/Wu Donglin performed excellently, defeating the Australian pair Cook/Sac 7-6(6), 6-3 to lift the championship trophy.

Finally, a guessing game. The image below shows a player during a match. Without any hints, can you identify who she is?

For the previous guessing game, some fans provided the correct answer. Indeed, the person in the picture is Serbian tennis king Novak Djokovic.

Source: Tennis Home, Author: Independent Thinker