MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — It doesn’t take an expert in code cracking to figure out the pattern that has emerged in professional tennis in the past month as the tours descended on the United States for the winter-spring swing in California and Florida.
Over four weeks, and two of the most important tournaments other than the Grand Slam events, a small group at the top of the sport became a little more crowded, especially with some members injured (Iga Swiatek, Rafael Nadal) or sidelined because the United States still prohibits foreigners not vaccinated against Covid-19 from entering (Novak Djokovic).