Served 5 Setter

Miami Open winners and errors, Carlos's new toy and the Grand Slams under fire

Megan Fernandez

Mar 27, 2026

Welcome to your weekly 5 Setter, an express roundup of all things racquet sports with Producer Mike. In this episode:

Miami Open hits and misses
A prize money critique goes viral—among players
Carlos Alcaraz gets a yacht
Rafa’s U.S. padel tournaments
Charleston Open preview
Tiebreak Trivia

Click below to watch today’s 5 Setter on YouTube, and come back here for this week’s bonus stories.

Miami Open Women’s Final Is Set

Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff will play for the Miami Open title Saturday, their first meeting of 2026. Sabalenka is the defending champion, while Gauff is looking for her first title there.

Both Miami-area residents got through their semifinals yesterday in total command.

First, Gauff eased by Karolina Muchova 6–1, 6–1, remaining undefeated in their head-to-head. It was Gauff’s first straight-set win of the tournament.

Sabalenka took out her biggest rival, Elena Rybakina, in a match that wasn’t as close as the 6–4, 6–3 score suggests. At one hour and 20 minutes, it fell short of the quality the two produced in Australia and Indian Wells. Sabalenka served flawlessly (nine aces to Rybakina’s two) and adjusted her return position on Rybakina’s second serve, translating to eight break points (she converted four). Rybakina appeared to run out of gas in the second set.

It was just the second time in 17 meetings that Sabalenka beat Rybakina in straight sets.

Sabalenka and Gauff are 6–6 against each other. Sabalenka won their last match at the WTA Finals 7–6, 6–2, but Gauff has won their biggest matches, in the US Open and French Open finals. Sabalenka has the edge in her current form, but Gauff likes the matchup and has found a new gear in Miami. It’s hard to ask for a better final.

A Triple Sunshine Double Is in Play

The Indian Wells champions, Sabalenka and Jannik Sinner, are still alive in Miami. So are the women’s doubles champions, Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend. We could have three Sunshine Double winners over the weekend.

A triple Double happened 10 years ago. In 2016, Novak Djokovic, Victoria Azarenka and the team of Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut all pulled it off.

Sabalenka won the doubles Double in 2019 with Elise Mertens. It would be the first Sunshine Double for Sinner, Siniakova and Townsend.

Fils vs. Paul: Match of the Year?

The biggest question going into the men’s semis today isn’t who will win. It’s whether the matches will continue to be as good as they were through the quarterfinals.

The Arthur Fils and Tommy Paul instant classic on Wednesday is the frontrunner for ATP Tour Match of the Year. To clarify: That means non-Slam match. The overall MOTY so far is Novak Djokovic’s win over Jannik Sinner at the Australian Open.

Thursday morning’s headline was about Fils coming back from 2–6 in the third-set tiebreak and stealing the match 6–7, 7–6, 7–6.

But the story was the absolute lights-out tennis from both men. Fils threw his heaviest artillery at Paul, hitting 105-mph forehands...off his back foot. Paul redirected and improvised beautifully while matching Fils’s ability to hit through the court.

They both held serve 18 times and broke none. Paul won the first tiebreak, Fils the second. Fils threw down 35 winners, Paul 25. They were tied at 114 points each when Fils reached his first and only match point.

The intensity radiated off the court for nearly three hours. Afterward, Fils summed it up perfectly.

🎤 Arthur Fils
“It was just a dog fight, and I never back down from a fight.”

Or from a bubble bath:

Iga’s Next Move

Gauff will take over Iga Swiatek’s No. 3 spot in the world rankings, adding injury to the insult of her opening-round loss in Miami. The upset ended her run of 73 straight opening-round wins—and her relationship with her coach of 18 months, Wim Fissette.

Swiatek will fall to No. 4 next week. Her next event is in Stuttgart, starting on April 13. A big storyline of the clay season will be whether she holds steady in the rankings or falls further before the French Open, which would have major ramifications for the women’s draw.

According to the Polish sports newspaper Przeglad Sportowy Onet, Swiatek will train on clay at the Rafael Nadal Academy in Spain. It also reported that Nadal’s former No. 2 coach, Francisco Roig, is on Swiatek’s short list. Roig recently ended his partnership with Emma Raducanu and began working with Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.

The paper expects Swiatek to name a replacement soon, well ahead of her Wimbledon title defense in the summer.

Or, it says, Swiatek could take her time, trusting herself and her other team members to manage her performance on her favorite surface. She isn’t defending as many points as usual on clay—just 1,430, compared to 4,195 in 2024—which might give her some breathing room.

On Love All this week, Kim talked about working with Fissette for many years and what she observed about his and Swiatek’s partnership.

Watch Kim's take on Iga and Wim

Quick Hits

Meet Marcos Borges Muguruza. (Instagram)
Baseball-capped Coco Gauff is still Team Headband. (Sports Illustrated)
Tomas Machac or Tommy Shelby? ⬇️

@tomas_machac

Tomas Machac on Instagram: "Please @netflix, hit me up with @pe…

The Weekend Draw

Miami Open
ATP/WTA 1000
Miami, Florida

Fri., March 27: men’s semifinals, men’s and women’s doubles semifinals, wheelchair finals
Sat., March 28: women’s final, men’s doubles final
Sun., March 29: men’s final, women’s doubles final

Full international WTA and ATP broadcast lists

Q&Andy Recap

This week, Andy fielded fan questions about his own career and game, going all the way back to his days as a 9-year-old, hustling adults at the tennis club. He also touches on sleep, his high-school car stereo, his Reebok deal and how he coaches serving.

📮Submit a question by emailing askandy@servedmediagroup.com or send it through our website or social media.

Love All Recap

Kim and Blair fan-girl out talking to none other than Hall of Famer Gabriela Sabatini. Sabatini remembers her rivalries and riding a motorcycle to tournaments, and tells us about her life in Switzerland now. Kim and Blair also give a mother’s perspective on Naomi Osaka’s dilemma about staying on tour, and Kim offers insight on Iga Swiatek’s crisis of confidence.

Tiebreak Trivia

In today’s 5 Setter, we previewed the WTA’s Charleston Open, starting tomorrow, and asked: Where was this pioneering WTA tournament held for 28 years before it moved to Charleston?

Answer: Hilton Head, South Carolina. The Family Circle Cup started there in 1973, moved to Amelia Island, Florida, in 1974 and 1975, then returned to Hilton Head. It was the first women’s tournament broadcast on national television.

📝 We’ll be back Tuesday with a new episode. In the meantime, join us on Substack for live chats during the weekend’s biggest matches.