Welcome back to Monday’s tennis briefing sports The story behind the story in court over the past week will be explained.
This week, the kindest player on the men’s tour did what he did best, with an American seat at the top of the women’s rankings, while Wimbledon’s championship puzzle reveals the delicate balance of tennis schedules.
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An important milestone for Jessica Pegula?
Jessica Pegula won the WTA 500 in Charleston, and the American trio below the peak of the women’s tennis rankings this week took the Coco Gauff this week. Pegula defeated Sofia Kenin 6-3 after falling 1-5 in the second set and is now third in the world, matching the career-high ranking.
With the huge gap between the United States and the second-of-world Igaświątek, and another huge gap between Goff and the World 5 Madison Key, it seems that Pegula’s first clay field champion is more important than the tense struggle between World 3 and World 4, with only 38 points separating them.
But Pegula missed what she missed last year with an injured clay swing, now entering Rome and Madrid for two WTA 1,000 before opening the French Open in Paris with no points to defend, which actually gave her a free blow over the next few months. She will lead the world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the WTA Tour this season (25), and he will enter the ground transition, with the latter having 23.
As Gauff defended over 1,200 points, and Świątek could climb on the hook on 4,195, and Pegula could climb higher without having to win a big win on the red dirt.
James Hanson
Who can explain the mystery or the weird Vander Zalpupp?
Is it more interesting than this Dutchman on the ATP tour?
Mercurial van de Zandschulp has become an unexpected tennis master, and when he fails and collapses in line, he seems to have no reason to do so.
Van de Zandschulp defeated Carlos Alcaraz at the U.S. Open, humbled his career in Spain’s Davis Cup, ending Rafael Nadal’s career and defeated Novak Djokovic in Indian Wells (including the final matches of the last eight months). All of these wins are achieved with little tension flickering, which is significant for players who buckle under pressure. In the 2023 Munich Open final, he competed with Holger Rune three times and won a total of four championship points, but he eventually lost.
In just one year, in May 2024, Van de Zandschulp said he became so disillusioned about tennis that he was considering retirement. Instead, in some of the biggest stages of the sport, he beat three of the best players in recent history and remained calm under pressure as if he was knocked at a local club.
So how will Van de Zandschulp face 38-year-old Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the first round of the opening ATP 250 in Bucharest (the lowest run on the tour) against Frenchman Richard Gasquet, who will retire after this year’s French Open?
He led one game and two breaks and won the match point 6-4, 6-4. But he missed it and ended up losing the game 6-1 in the Decider, looking as neutral as he did in defeating some of the best things.
Charlie Eccleshare
How did American male players reach a milestone in Houston?
Alex Michelsen won three sets to reach the Houston Open quarterfinal with a simple launch. Michelsen was a pretty slim moment in its own right, but Michelsen ensured that all the eighth-finals were American. This is the first time that it has happened on the ATP Tour since 1991 at the Prudential-Bache Securities Classic in Orlando, Florida.
Andre Agassi eventually won the game, while Pete Sampras lost in the semifinals. The two men, plus Jim Courier, started dominating the sport shortly thereafter. Will Houston 2025 alumni do something similar?
It feels like a big deal, but at Michelsen is a 20-year-old Californian who has one of the breakout stars of the year. After entering the fourth round of the Australian Open, Michelsen is in the top 30 in the world and has a bright future.
Among other quarterfinalists, Frances Tiafoe and Tommy Paul were established as the top 20 regulars, while Colton Smith, 22, Brandon Nakashima, 23, and Aleksandar Kovacevic, 26, are a little far away in the tennis food chain. Christopher Eubanks, 28, failed to start after a 2023 breakthrough.
Jenson Brooksby, 24, started this week as they were the farthest in the No. 507 match, rebuilding his rankings after the suspension. On his way to the finals, he saved five matches in the qualifying and his main draw, where he relaxed Tiafoe, earning his first ever tour title, ranking 335th in the process.
US tennis fans will hope this event will provide a springboard for at least one of at least eight quarterfinalists to the clay court season.
Brooksby followed the game with a relatively regular victory in the final. (Leslie Plaza Johnson/Icon Sportswire via AP)
Charlie Eccleshare
What is the price of national pride?
Billie Jean King Cup took center stage in the women’s tennis match from April 10 to April 13, the final round of the international team event. Two headlines planned to play – Emma Raducanu Świątek of Poland and Britain announced last week they would not represent their country, both of whom felt it was necessary to do a week’s date under their dates.
Elena Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, has switched from representing Russia to represent Kazakhstan and will travel to Melbourne to represent the country against Australia and Colombia. She became a citizen of Kazakhstan in 2017 in exchange for financial support from the country’s tennis federation, and since 2007, billionaire businessman and philanthropist Bulat Utemuratov has been doing it for decades to transform a country that rarely has the existing tennis infrastructure as a real sports type.
For Rybakina, that means a trip to Australia – a WTA 500 missed in Stuttgart, Germany, which began April 14. Rybakina is the defending champion there and will not lose 500 points for not playing, which will allow her to stand out from the top 10 at most. If other players perform well, she may drop further. If Kazakhstan experiences, that might be a little less – but it’s a great testament to the push and pulling of tennis.
James Hanson
One week’s shot
Maybe it was a month, or even a year, for Ryan Seggerman of Houston.
Incredible 🤯
Ryan Seggerman’s lens of the year!#usclay | @tennistv pic.twitter.com/vaxfknayye
– Fayez Sarofim & Co. Us Clay (@mensclaycourt) April 5, 2025
Recommended reading:
🏆 Winners of this week
🎾 ATP:
🏆 Flavio Cobolli (3) defense Sebastian Baz (1) 6-4, 6-4 win Tiriac is open (250) in Bucharest, Romania. This is the Italian’s first ATP Tour champion.
🏆 Luciano Darderi (7) defense Tallon Griekspoor (1) 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4) Win Hassan Grand Prix II (250) in Marrakech, Morroco. This is the Italian’s second ATP Tour champion.
🏆 Jansen Brooksby (Q) defense Frances Tiafoe (2) 6-4, 6-2 Win American Men’s Clay Court Champion (250) in Houston. This is the Americans’ first ATP Tour champion.
🎾 WTA:
🏆 Jessica Pegula (1) defense Sofia Kenning Win 6-3, 7-5 Charleston Open (500) In Charleston, South Carolina, it was the Americans’ first clay field WTA Tour.
🏆 Camila Osorio (2) defense Katarzyna Kawa (Q) 6-3, 6-3 win cup colsanitas (250) in Bogota, Colombia. Osorio now wins three matches.
📈📉 Rise/Offline
📈 Jessica Pegula After she won in South Carolina, she moved from No. 4 to No. 3.
📈 Jansen Brooksby After his victory in Texas, he rose 335 positions from No. 507 to No. 172.
📈 Sofia Kenning After rising from No. 44 to No. 10 positions on No. 34, the top 40 will be re-entered.
📉 Matteo Berrettini Seven positions from No. 27 to No. 34, abandoning the top 32 will allow him to be planted in major events.
📉 Mary Sabbath Descend from No. 64 to No. 82.
📉 Fabio Fognini 14 spots from No. 99 to No. 113.
📅 Here comes
🎾 ATP
📍MonteCarlo, Monaco: Master Monte Carlo (1,000) features Alexander Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic and Jack Draper.
📺UK: Sky Sports; Us: Tennis Channel💻
🎾 ITF
📍Variety of locations: Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers Features of Elena Rybakina, Victoria Mboko, Elina Svitolina, Danielle Collins.
📺UK: Sky Sports; Us:
Tell us what you noticed in the comments below this week as the men and women travel continues.
(Top photo: Matthew Stockman / Getty Images; Design: Eamonn Dalton sports)
