Maria Sharapova...Andy Murray

The mission in Miami was straightforward: Show up and play exceptionally well. Two players did that better than anyone. And not by coincidence, they happened to also win the respective singles titles. So mazel tov, Novak Djokovic andAgnieszka Radwanska, you are worthy champions.

But, believe it or not, a whole lot more transpired. Here are our top 10 takeaways from a tournament rife with entertainment and unexpected drama:

1. Listen to me, would ya?

Don't you just want to give Maria Sharapova and Andy Murray a good old finger-wagging, in-your-grill lashing on how to win? Maria, please stop making those silly mistakes. Andy, why can't you play the important points better? If only it were so easy to follow these directives, we might have two different champions at the podium. Alas, the stubborn ones find themselves the bridesmaids again. But before we get too down on Murray and Sharapova, let's consider the good: Murray was, after all, playing the world's greatest player. No one, but no one, has found the necessary ingredients to blunt Djokovic's pristine play in these mandatory tournaments. But the saga of the mercurial Murray has gone on for so long that you wonder if he'll ever find a way to leverage his dynamic shot-making during key moments. As for Sharapova, lest we forget, she's been a top-tier player going back almost a decade now, finishing in the top 10 every year since 2004, except for 2009 and 2010. That's an incredibly hard feat. She's come back from a career-threatening shoulder injury and still sits at No. 2 on the world. But Sharapova, by her own admission, knows only one way to play: fast and furious. If she could channel just a little Caroline Wozniacki and stick with the point a shot or two longer, who knows? For now, second place will have to suffice for these two.

2. A new breed of success

Radwanska won the Sony Ericsson Open with a brand of tennis that's tricky to explain. She's defensive-minded, as we know, but she also plays a beguiling style that her opponents don't seem to like very much. Radwanska is kind of like Wozniacki in her overall approach, but with more creativity. She's a little bit like Jelena Jankovic, but with superior precision. Her unassailable attention to detail and her unique tactical approach have vaulted her up the ranking to No. 4. But, like Wozniacki, you wonder how high the ceiling is. You also have to wonder how long until the power hitters figure out how to crack her craft, much like they did versus Woz. But for now, Aga, as she now likes to be referred to, is doing all the little things right, which is leading to some big results.

3. You sure fooled us

Venus, Venus, where have you been? There were few people in and around the game who gave her any shot of producing a decent result, considering her extended time away. Venus Williams, who surmounted a few arduous three-setters to reach the quarterfinals in Miami, might not move with fleet of feet, which she never really has, and sometimes appears to be limbering along with almost no footwork. But she can still serve some serious heat, and she can also end points early when she's in the right position. That'll be a lethal combination at the All England Club. Plus, her five previous Wimbledon trophies suggest she has an inkling on how to make a healthy living on those lush lawns.

4. Rafa, don't be so sad

In a vacuum, Rafael Nadal appears to be your typical superstar going through a few rough patches. But if you parse it closely, the issues are a lot more disconcerting: He hasn't won a title in a year, his knees are hurting and he's obviously ticked off by his inability to persuade the ATP brass to adopt his views on a scheduling reform and a two-year ranking system. And he's even more vexed that his greatest on-court rival, Federer, won't use his vast influence to help push his agenda. Nadal's overall dour disposition came to light at Key Biscayne, even before pulling out of his semifinal match against Murray. The grind of the tennis season takes a hefty toll, especially for someone who plays as punishing as Nadal. If he's not in the right frame of mind, 2012 could be a long season. Fortunately for him, the clay circuit, his longtime oasis, is next on the calendar, but you get this uneasy suspicion that things might not work out for him quite the way they have in the past.

5. Welcome to planet Earth, Vika

You can't win them all. Well, Victoria Azarenka did until finally conceding to Marion Bartoli in the quarterfinals. But don't get too worked up. Azarenka's level and, more so, her will to win from the onset of the season have greatly changed from a year ago. For Bartoli, she's made a nice living thwarting the game's giants. She ended Serena Williams' run at Wimbledon last year, and in 2007, Bartoli reached the final of Wimbledon before running into a far superior Venus Williams. As we reported last week, Bartoli actually has 12 career wins over top-five players. But as for Azarenka, she should fare quite nicely on the dirt. Azarenka's irrepressible mindset is a good match for the surface, which requires maximum physical output.

6. Slow down, boy

It was clear from the beginning that the slower conditions here in Miami were going to be a considerable obstacle for Roger Federer to overcome. The courts themselves are slightly faster than at Indian Wells, but the high humidity caused the ball to almost poof up after hitting the ground. Federer's stout strokes were clearly nullified, and Andy Roddickcapitalized. Of course, it didn't hurt that Roddick played "like the No. 1 player in the world," as Federer said after the match.

7. Woz up with that?

Say what you want about the most scrutinized player on the WTA. But Wozniacki showed she has enough game to hang with today's power players, when she wants to. Against Sharapova, she was in it until the bitter end when a controversial call (albeit the right one) on a Sharapova serve led to an abrupt ending to the match. But Wozniacki showed some pop on her own serve and, on occasion, some oomph in her groundies. Perhaps she is taking a small step toward making the requisite changes everyone knows she needs to make.

8. Going, going … gone!

It was a pretty amazing scene on center court this past Friday afternoon. With the air yanked out of the stadium after Nadal withdrew from his semifinal match against Murray, world No. 1 Djokovic galloped onto center court a couple of hours later for a practice session. But first, he began taking … batting practice as his hitting partner pitched ball after ball to him. Djokovic used the handle of his racket as a baseball bat and smacked some prodigious home runs into the sparse, but suddenly galvanized, crowd. This was, obviously, intended for the amusement of the fans, but you couldn't help but admire his superb hand-eye coordination.

9. Ewww!

Radek Stepanek has to be ugliest dressed tennis player -- maybe ever. (Well, perhaps second to Dominik Hrbaty, but that's a conversation for a different day). Forgive the hyperbole, but his garish blue-checkered, wannabe golf shirt crammed way too tightly into his slightly-longer-than-John Stockton-wore white shorts probably turned a few heads away. If you don't believe me, just ask de facto fashionista Sharapova, who named Stepanek as one of the worst-dressed athletes when she briefly was given the editorial keys to a 2011 issue of ESPN The Magazine. It didn't help that his doubles partner, Leander Paes, was donning a pretty hideous florescent lime green top. Together, well, let's just say he would not pass the Tommy Hilfiger "American Idol" design test.

10. Juan's the Mon-aco

Many a tournament, especially those with slower conditions, often produces an unexpected floater deep into the draw. It was Juan Monaco's time at Key Biscayne. You'd think that Monaco would be outclassed versus Roddick and Mardy Fish -- and certainly Djokovic, even after a bleak opening set. But his modus operandi -- don't stop, don't ever stop -- drove his opponents crazy. He actually made the aforementioned Americans look, dare we say, old and slow. In the end, Djokovic outplayed the spritely Argentine, but with the clay season just moments away, you had better watch out, 'cause Juan is coming for you.

Venus Williams

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. -- The storylines coming into this star-stuffed Sony Ericsson Open were Victoria Azarenka's phenomenal winning streak and the resurgence of Roger Federer.

Well, the great Swiss champion is gone from the tournament and Azarenka is lucky to be hanging around. They were completely upstaged by a retro blast from the deep, distant American past.

Between 1999 and 2004, Venus and Serena Williams and Andy Roddick won this event six times among them. They've all won Grand Slam singles titles and reached the No. 1 ranking, but lately it's been tough sledding. Venus, 31; Serena, 30; and Roddick, who turns 30 in August, have been showing their age the past few years.

But, for some reason, this past week they looked like kids in a sweet shop, bouncing around on a Skittles sugar high. Serena and Venus played their way into the quarterfinals here, and it was Roddick who stunned Federer in the third round.

Hey, maybe the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon had it right when he inadvertently discovered Florida in 1513. Nearly 500 years later, you have to wonder if he should have been looking for the fountain of youth a little closer to Miami.

Tuesday, however, brought a sobering case of reality. Nostalgia -- and you know this if you have seen the new Van Halen tour -- can be overrated.

Roddick, still struggling after a hamstring injury, hit the wall against the higher-seeded Juan Monaco, losing 7-5, 6-0. In the first evening match, in something of a surprise, Serena fell to No. 4 seed Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 6-4.

"This was special," Wozniacki said in her courtside interview. "I'm so excited. She is a great champion."

From the beginning, Serena seemed out of sorts. She was broken in the third game and although she pressured Wozniacki, particularly in the three-deuce eighth game, the 21-year-old Dane did not fold. In the second set, Wozniacki again broke Serena in the third game. Down 3-1, Serena was broken again when Wozniacki successfully challenged a call that would have leveled the fifth game at deuce.

Serena made it interesting, breaking Wozniacki at 2-5 -- for the first time -- but couldn't do it again. Two points from leveling the second set at 5-all, Serena sprayed a backhand service return long and netted another backhand to give Wozniacki the match.

"I struggled with errors," said Serena, who was credited with 36 of the unforced variety. "I don't think she was a nightmare to play. I was fine. I just probably needed to make a few more shots."

Besides her boyfriend, golfer Rory McIlroy -- who was in the stands -- Wozniacki is most notable for the 67 weeks she spent as the WTA's No. 1 player. And for failing to win a Grand Slam singles title.

Now that's she has fallen below the radar, to No. 6, the pressure seems to be off. Her defensive-dominated game is starting to evolve. Against Serena, she went for her serves (she was out-aced only 4-3) and was more aggressive from the baseline. Late in the match, she even started throwing down a few fist pumps.

"I think she served the best she's served in her career," a subdued Serena said. "She knows in order to hang out, she needs to serve bigger."

[+] Enlarge

Al Bello/Getty ImagesWho needs practice anyway? Venus Williams is the lone American women remaining at the Sony Ericsson Open.

This felt like a distinct shift in the status quo; Wozniacki beat Serena for the first time in four tries. She next plays No. 2 seed Maria Sharapova in Thursday's semifinals.

With all due respect to Roddick's well-deserved victory, the story of the tournament is American tennis' senior citizen, Venus Williams.

Time was when she could blow into an event with no matches under her belt and rip through the draw on adrenaline and muscle memory. But, after rebuilding her body after wrestling with an energy-sapping autoimmune disease, she arrived here with zero WTA matches played in 2012. It had been seven months since she pulled out in the second round of the U.S. Open.

Wednesday, when she meets Agnieszka Radwanska, Venus will step on the court as one of just two undefeated players in the world. Granted, 4-0 doesn't begin to compare to Victoria Azarenka's 26-0, but consider the quality of her (unlikely) wins.

After a routine first-round win over Kimiko Date-Krumm, Venus took down world No. 3 Petra Kvitova in three sets. In the final frame, when you might have thought she'd have been fatigued, Venus pitched a 6-0 shutout. In the third set against 24-year-old Canadian Aleksandra Wozniack, Venus pulled out a tiebreaker victory. In her third three-set match in four days, she prevailed over former No. 1-ranked Ana Ivanovic on Monday night, 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-2.

After she spent 7 hours and 35 minutes on the court in her past three matches, however, it's valid to wonder if Venus will have anything left for Radwanska, a crafty player who knows how to extend points.

"I come out on court knowing I can play well, but with almost no expectations," said Venus, who hit 13 aces. "It means so much to me to win. You never know what each day will bring."

Written by and all credit goes to:

Greg Garber

Spain’s other southpaw has one of the best forehands in the game.

1. Hitting on the run is a particularly difficult part of tennis for many club players. You don’t have time to concentrate on your footwork or preparation, so you often end up off-balance and flailing at the ball. If you need help hitting on the run, Fernando Verdasco is a great model. In this picture, notice his compact, well-timed backswing, his full shoulder turn, and the position of his left foot. The left leg is going to help propel Verdasco into the shot.
2. Verdasco plants his left foot and begins to push off toward the net. Even if you’re stretched wide and running hard for the ball, try to get your weight moving into the court. That way, you don’t have to rely solely on your arm to generate power. Also, look closely and you can see that the butt cap of Verdasco’s racquet handle is aimed at the ball. This sort of rotation will allow him to use his shoulders and legs as much as possible.
3. Verdasco explodes off his back foot and into the ball. Normally, you don’t want to hit a forehand with a fully extended arm, but this on-the-run, crosscourt shot is an exception. The key is to make contact early. Verdasco hits the outside of the ball and strikes it well in front of his body. His balance is perfect: His shoulders remain level, his right arm begins to tuck in as his shoulders rotate, and his feet, though both are off the ground, are equidistant from the center of his body.

4. As he whips his follow-through over his right shoulder, Verdasco lands on his right foot. It’s tough to hit a flat, crosscourt winner on the run, so he wisely opts to add extra topspin to his shot. Even though he lands with great force on his right foot, Verdasco doesn’t hunch forward or fall over, another sign that he’s balanced and striking the ball cleanly. When club players are faced with a tough shot, they tend to rush or overhit. Verdasco shows why it’s important to remain calm and concentrate on making good contact.
5. A full shoulder rotation provides another benefit: It sends your body spinning back toward the middle of the court in preparation for the next shot. Verdasco pivots on his front foot and extends his left leg to stop his sideways momentum. His shoulders now face the net, and he can move in either direction, depending on his opponent’s reply.
6. Or, he can celebrate with a fist pump.There’s something to take away from this photo, too. In between points, whether you hit a winner or make an error, give your hitting hand a rest and hold the racquet with your off hand. It keeps the wrist loose and ready to whip more forehands on the run.