TENNIS

The Miami Open is officially open for business. The annual tennis tournament is underway with qualifying matches at Hard Rock Stadium.

I soon began to wonder what was the deal with this sport -- and why were people becoming so obsessed with it?

Without question, 2022 will forever go down as a memorable one in the sports world with all that was achieved by athletes and teams around the world.

All rights reserved)Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams are lined up to compete in the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium. MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – The Miami Open announced the field for next month’s event, and it will be star-studded. Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and a host of other stars headline this year’s entrants. Djokovic and Osaka are coming off Australian Open titles last weekend. The Miami Open begins play in front of a limited number of fans March 22 at Hard Rock Stadium.

FILE - In this Thursday, June 21, 2018 file photo, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II arrives on the third day of the Royal Ascot horse race meeting, which is traditionally known as Ladies Day, in Ascot, England. Queen Elizabeth II will not be attending the Royal Ascot horse racing meeting for the first time during her 68-year reign. (AP Photo/Tim Ireland, File)LONDON Nothing has kept Queen Elizabeth II away from the Royal Ascot horse racing meeting during her 68-year reign as U.K. monarch not pregnancy, a speech to Parliament or even an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. But this year, the 94-year-old queen will not be attending Royal Ascot, which starts Tuesday, because of the coronavirus pandemic. Unlike Wimbledon and the Open, Royal Ascot has not been canceled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, though spectators will be absent.

In what was perhaps the most anticipated exhibition match in the history of the Delray Beach Open, Coco Gauff defeated Estela Perez-Somarriba 6-3, 6-3 on Saturday night in her homecoming debut. There was plenty of support for her Saturday night on the main court at the Delray Beach Tennis Center -- the same facility where she grew up practicing. “The University of Miami, they’ve been my family for the last four years and if I’m here today, it’s because of them. Although there was plenty of fanfare for both players during the match, Gauff had, by far, the bigger following. After the match, Gauff was far from elusive, taking the time to sign autographs, pose for selfies and toss autographed tennis balls into the crowd of fans.