Each month, we turn to our ausopen.com experts to give their thoughts on players making waves.
As the Sunshine Double continued through to the business end in Miami, we caught up with former world No.4 Jelena Dokic to discuss five players capturing the spotlight and generating interest in April.
Iga Swiatek
April marks the start of the European clay-court swing, Swiatek’s most productive period.
She’s already shown imperious form on hard courts, building a 22-3 record in 2024 and scooping WTA 1000 titles in Doha and Indian Wells. And now she’s about to step onto her favourite surface, with the ultimate goal being a third consecutive title at Roland Garros.
However, it hasn’t been completely smooth sailing for the world No.1, who was outplayed by Ekaterina Alexandrova in a 6-4 6-2 fourth-round loss in Miami. This continued a pattern of losses to players ranked outside the top 15 – her other two defeats in 2024 came to 40th-ranked Anna Kalinskaya in Dubai, and Linda Noskova, the world No.50, at the Australian Open.
On the flipside, she’s won her last 10 matches against top-10 rivals, and with her latest trophy lift at Indian Wells, she improved her record in finals to an astonishing 19-4.
"In a way it speaks to how good and consistent she is, that when she does lose a match it is a bit of a shock,” Dokic said.
"I think she's the most explosive player on tour, who probably moves the best as well. Because she does move so well, that defensive style she can actually learn to do that… believe it or not, being No.1 in the world and a multiple Grand Slam champion, I still think that can get better.
"When opponents go hard, fast, flat into her forehand, they will get some errors when they push her on the back foot, and that's what's been happening at times.
“She is improving her serve, she's adjusted her motion, and I think the next step is adding in variation – slice, drop shot, coming forward. These aren’t changes; I look at them as additions, and this will take her to that next level when maybe things don't go so well, then she can go to something like coming forward.
"She has worked on getting a bit more pop on her serve and getting a bit more out of her second serve. I like when players look for those extra things.”
Daniil Medvedev
Medvedev has produced similar numbers to Swiatek in the first quarter of the season, winning 18 of his 22 matches and notching three top-10 victories.
Yet unlike the Pole, he has fallen short in finals.
Medvedev was the Australian Open and Indian Wells runner-up, falling to Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz respectively. Those defeats means he has lost his last five finals, another of those being the US Open 2023 decider to Novak Djokovic.
The last time he hoisted a champion’s trophy was almost a year ago in Rome, which perhaps bodes well for both his confidence and chances as the tour transitions to clay.
"I think that there's a combination of running into great players (in finals) … (but) I think the fact he lost to Sinner and (Rafael) Nadal from two-sets-to-love up in Australian Open finals, I personally think it stays in your mind,” Dokic observed.
"He can just keep going, he's like a wall ... he does like to manoeuver the ball around and even though he can be aggressive and has a big serve, he is comfortable playing the long points. I think to really finish off and win those Grand Slams, you’ve got to do it with weapons.
"We're talking about one-percenters. He's barely losing matches. As good as he is, and not many can match it (with him) especially on hard courts, you need to put that extra bit of pressure on players, knowing you can't just get balls back, you’re going to come forward, serve and volley. It's also an element of surprise.
"Don't underestimate Medvedev. He's smart, he's a hard worker, he will work on a lot.”
Emma Navarro
The young American has risen from obscurity – this time last year she was ranked outside the top 100, playing on the ITF tour – to become a top-20 presence.
Charging home in late 2023 to end the season ranked 38th, Navarro earned her first Grand Slam seeding at Australian Open 2024, where she advanced to the third round after winning the previous week’s tournament in Hobart – her first WTA title.
MORE - New Grand Slam seed Navarro: “It's a little bit overwhelming”
The 22-year-old has continued to thrive, reaching the San Diego semifinals and then stunning world No.2 Aryna Sabalenka to arrive in the quarters at Indian Wells.
“Her potential is really great,” said Sabalenka, the reigning AO champion. “I think she have this potential to be in top 10.”
Dokic agrees.
“There is a big jump from 20 to 10, but at the same time, she moves so well, she's got that shape on the ball, but with heaviness, which not a lot of players have,” she said.
"She played a lot on the ITF Circuit, and I love that, when players play a lot of matches, build up, not just the ranking, but the amount of matches and match fitness that you're getting under your belt. That to me signals somebody that is patient, focused on improving, looking for those matches and knows what she needs to do to get better.
“She's a great ball-striker, technically really sound, she moves incredibly well, she's really fit. Has the ability to back up matches, as well, and from what I can see is really psychologically strong.
"I like her press conferences as well – you can see she's very proud of her wins, but not shocked by them. It's a great time for her, because there's no pressure. No-one has expected her to do this well.
“I'm looking forward to actually seeing how she'll play on clay.”
Grigor Dimitrov
Navarro’s rise has coincided with Dimitrov’s resurgence.
The former world No.3 began the year by winning the Brisbane International – his first ATP title in more than six years – and he has since reached the Marseille final, semis in Rotterdam and the Miami Open final.
READ MORE: The recipe behind Dimitrov's renaissance
The Miami result boosted him back inside the top 10 for the first time since late 2018.
In January, Dimitrov told ausopen.com: “I sort of had to like reinvent myself on so many different levels, on and off the court, and adopt a different way of life.”
Dokic believes she sees a new maturity in the way the Bulgarian is approaching his game.
"I think he's maybe now learned to play tennis. And what I mean by that, is that I don't know if anyone has as beautiful of a technique as he does ... but how effective is it? I think at times for him it's been the flair, but has the kind of consistency in matches, being able to back it up, been there?” Dokic said.
"I think it's taken time (to get to that point). Grigor is an unbelievable player. For me, someone who deserves at least a Grand Slam final. I do hope he gets to the latter stages of a Grand Slam again.
“He's got the game, tools, and weapons, and now it will be just a matter of that maturity, how strong he is psychologically, and can he keep up the level of play?”
Maria Sakkari
Speaking of resurgent, 28-year-old Sakkari is another player revitalised and reminding the tennis world the level she can attain.
Just six months ago, after a first-round loss at the US Open, she admitted to feeling uncertain of her future plans and contemplated a break from the sport. In her appearance in Netflix’s Break Point docuseries, she revealed she had considered quitting tennis entirely.
But how quickly things can change.
Later in 2023 she won her first WTA 1000 title in Guadalajara, and this season, after parting ways with long-time coach Tom Hill and linking up with David Witt, she advanced to the Indian Wells final.
Sakkari’s latest result was a quarterfinal run in Miami; she has won seven of her past nine matches and returned to world No.7 after briefly dropping outside the top 10.
"I think the good thing is she's talking about (her struggles), I love that. She did that at the US Open, she was so vulnerable in that press conference, I think that was great to get a lot of that out,” Dokic observed.
"And she went on to win Guadalajara, a WTA 1000. I think that her recognising that, that she was struggling mentally, is great.
"I really think she's an amazing player, doesn't need to go to the lengths of wanting to quit tennis (laughter). I really hope that doesn't happen. Sometimes we all say things in the heat of the moment.
"But it's great to see her doing well. I think you've just got to continue working hard and wait for your chance.”