Welcome back to Monday tennis briefing where Athletic He explains the stories for the stories of last week in court.
This week he did the worst player on the male tour, what he does best, in the upper part of the female women was the American Shuffle and the Quandary Wimbledon champion revealed a gentle balance of tennis planning.
If you would like to watch our fantastic tennis coverage, click here.
An important milestone for Jessica Pegula?
The American trio just below the top of the female tennis ranking started this week when Jessica Pegula moved in front of Coco Gauff by winning the WTA 500 in Charleston. Pegula, which defeated Sofia Kenin 6-3, 7-5 after it came from 1-5 down in the second set, is now World No. 3 and corresponds to its high ranking.
With a large gap between the American and the world No. 2 Iga Świątek and another large gap between Gauff and World No. 5 Madison Keys, it may look as if the first clay clay clay title is more significant than a tight leisure between world 3 and world 4, with only 38 points separating them.
But Pegula, who missed last year’s clay judge with injury, is now entering two WTA 1,000s in Rome and Madrid, and then the French open in Paris without points that would defend, and effectively gives her free intervention for the next few months. This season (25) gets into the surface crossing with the most wins on WTA (25) before the world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, which has 23.
When Gauff prevented over 1200 points and Świątek on the hook for 4 195, Pegula could even rise higher without having to win the red dirt.
James Hansen
Who can explain the Enigma or Botic van de zandschulp?
Is there a more interesting player on the ATP tour than this Dutch?
Mercury van de Zandschulp became an unexpected tennis master, won when he was in the queue to lose and disintegrate when it seemed to be a reason.
Van de Zandschulp defeated Carlos Alcaraza at the US Open in direct sets, over the last eight months ended his career Rafael Nadal with the Davis Cup and defeated Novak Djokovich in Indian Wells (including the 6-1 hammer of the final set). All of these victories were barely flicked by nerves – remarkable for players with the history of the strut under pressure. He served in the match three times against Holger Rune in 2023 Munich Open Final and had a total of four points of the championship, but eventually lost.
Just more than a year later, in May 2024, Van de Zandschulp said he had become such a disillusioned tennis that he was considering retirement. Instead, he defeated three of the best players in recent history at some of the largest stages of sports and remained calm under pressure, as if he had knocking in the local club.
So how would van de zandschulp be opened in the first round of Bucharest in the first round of the 250-lower rank on tour-Pristo Richard Gasquet, a 38-year-old French, who will leave after this year’s French Open?
He led the ensemble and two breaks and had a match for victory 6-4, 6-4. But he missed it, and eventually lost 6-1 in the referee and looked as neutral as he did when he beat some of the best to ever.
Charlie Eccleshare
How did American men players achieved a milestone in Houston?
Alex Michelsen with easy put-Away ensured three-set victories over French veteran Adrian Mannarino to reach the quarterfinals of Houston Open. A relatively significant moment in itself, but with the victory of April 3, Michelsen ensured that all eight quarterfinalists would be an American. It was the first time it happened on the ATP tour from the classics of the Prudential-Bache Securities Classic in Orlando, Florida, in 1991.
Andre Agassi eventually won the tournament while Pete Sampras lost in the semifinals. These two, plus Jim Courier, began to dominate the sport soon. Will Houston 2025 graduates do something similar?
It seems to me like a big section, but in Michelsen, 20 -year -old California, they have one of the escape stars of this year. After reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open, Michelsen is several hundred evaluation points outside the TOP 30 in the world and has a bright future.
Of the other quarterfinalists, Frances Tiafoe and Tommy Paul are set up top-20 regulars, while Colton Smith, 22, Brandon Nakashima, 23 and Aleksandar Kovacevice, 26, are a little further along the tennis food chain. Christopher Eubanks, 28, failed after its breakthrough in 2023.
Jenson Brooksby, 24 years old, began a week, because the farthest of them 507, rebuilt his evaluation after a doping ban. He saved five match points across the qualifications and his main draws on his way to the finals, where he released around Tiafoe for his first tour title and climbed 335 seats in this ranking.
American tennis fans will hope that the event will provide a springboard for the season of clay courts for at least one of these eight quarterfinalists.
Brooksby watched a narrow run of matches with a relatively routine victory in the final. (Leslie Plaza Johnson / Icon Sportswire through Associated Press)
Charlie Eccleshare
What is the price of national pride?
Billie Jean King Cup gets to the middle state in women’s tennis from 10 April to 13 April. Two of the headliners scheduled to play-only Poland and the British Emmy Raducan-to report that they would not represent their countries last week, both referred to the need to earn on their schedule outside the week.
Elena Rybakina, the Wimbledon Championship from 2022, which moved from the representation of Russia to represent Kazakhstan, will travel to Melbourne to represent the country against Australia and Colombia. In 2017, she became a citizen of Kazakhstan in exchange for financial support for the country’s tennis federation, which has been a billionaire entrepreneur and philanthropist Bulat Utemuratov since 2007 in a decade of overvoltage to transform a country with little previous tennis infrastructure.
For Rybakina it means a trip to Australia – and missing the WTA 500 in Stuttgart in Germany, which starts on 14 April. Rybakina is a defending champion and loses 500 points by working well if other players work well. If Kazakhstan passes, it may matter less – but it is a great demonstration of the pressure and pull of the tennis competition.
James Hansen
Week
Or maybe a month, or maybe a year, from Ryan Segggerman in Houston.
Incredible 🤯
Ryan Seggerman with a shot of the year!#Usclay | @Tennistv pic.twitter.com/vaxfknayye
– Fayez Sarofim & Co. US Clay (@Mensclaycourt) April 5, 2025
Recommended reading:
🏆 Week winners
🎾 ATP:
🏆 Flavio Cobolli (3) def. Sebastian Baez (1) 6-4, 6-4 to win Open Tiria (250) in Romania in Bucharest. It is the first Italian title ATP Tour.
🏆 Luciano Darderi (7) def. Tallon Griekspoor (1) 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4) to win Hassan Grand Prix II (250) in Marrakech, Morroco. It is the second title of Italian tour, etc.
🏆 Jenson Brooksby (Q) def. Frances tiafoe (2) 6-4, 6-2 to win The Male Men’s Castle Championship for male men (250) in Houston. It’s the first American title ATP Tour.
🎾 WTA:
🏆 Jessica Pegula (1) def. Sofia Kenin 6-3, 7-5 win Charleston Open (500) in Charleston, SC is the first American clay opponent WTA Tour.
🏆 Camila osorio (2) def. Katarzyna Kawa (Q) 6-3, 6-3 win COLSANITAS Cup (250) in Bogota in Colombia. Osorio has now won the event three times.
📈📉 On the rise / down line
📈 Jessica Pegula After her victory in South Carolina, she moves to one place from No. 4 to 3.
📈 Jenson Brooksby 335 seats are rising from No. 507 to No. 172 to his victory in Texas.
📈 Sofia Kenin After they increased 10 seats from No. 44 to 34.
📉 Matteo Berrettini Falls seven seats from No. 27 to No. 34 and give up the Top-32 place to see it inoculated in large events.
📉 Mary Sabbath Drops 18 seats from No. 64 to No. 82.
📉 Fabio Fognini Stains 14 stains from No. 99 to No. 113.
📅 Comes
🎾 ATP
📍Monte Carlo, Monaco: Monte Carlo Masters (1,000) representing Alexander Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Jack Draper.
📺 UK: Sky Sports; US: tennis channel 💻 tennis television
🎾 ITF
📍 Making a place: Qualifiers Billie Jean King Cup They represent Elena Rybakin, Victoria Mboko, Elina Svitolina, Danielle Collins.
📺 UK: Sky Sports; US: tennis channel
Tell us what you noticed this week in the comments below, as male and female tours continue.
(Top Photo: Matthew Stockman / Getty Images; Design: Eamonn Dalton Pro Athletic)
