– As the women wrap up qualifying AND start their first round on the two big courts, the men – whose final is a day later – will only finish up the qualifying on this second day in Madrid. Dominic Thiem, who somehow escaped a loss to Meligeni Alves in the first round, will try to get to the main draw with a win over Thanasi Kokkinakis. And a battle between former top Spaniards Bautista Agut and Ramos Viñolas is a throwback, with big stakes. WTA Madrid – Tuesday OOP (Madrid is 6 hours ahead of EDT) ************************************ Mutua Madrid Open Location: Madrid, Spain Surface: Outdoor ..read more

– Along with the final round of qualifying, the women begin their first-round matches on Tuesday. And that means they take up both Manolo Santana and Arantxa Sanchez stadiums for that purpose. Both Fruhvirtova sisters, IMG clients and Madrid wild cards, get slots on the big stadium court. ATP Madrid – Tuesday OOP (Madrid is 6 hours ahead of EDT) ************************************ Mutua Madrid Open Location: Madrid, Spain Surface: Outdoor Clay Category: WTA 1000 (Joint event with the ATP Tour) Dates: April 23 – May 5, 2024 Prize money: $8,770,480 Draws: S96 – D32 Tuesday, April 23, 2024 Ord ..read more

– One ATP 500 and a pair of weather-wracked ATP 250s meant three different champions last week on the ATP Tour. In Barcelona, a rematch of the Monte Carlo final between Stefanos Tsitsipas and Casper Ruud, with the Norwegian finally winning at the 500 level – the biggest title of his career. In Munich, in the icy cold rain, 33-year-old Jan-Lennard Struff is another tribute to persistence, as he wins the first ATP Tour title of his career. And in Bucharest, strongman Marton Fucsovics wins his first title in six years. So – a lot of happy stories. WTA Rankings Report – As of April 22, 2024 Mean ..read more

– The fellas are getting the red carpet on this first day of qualifying at the Madrid Open. There are three courts with retractable roofs. And on Monday, the boys have exclusive rights to two of them. That said – a lot of well-known names will take to those courts on Day 1. David Goffin, Diego Schwartzman, Dominic Thiem, Richard Gasquet, Roberto Bautista Agut … so many former top-10ers who trying to get their mojo back. WTA Madrid – Monday results (Madrid is 6 hours ahead of EDT) ************************************ Mutua Madrid Open Location: Madrid, Spain Surface: Outdoor Clay Category: AT ..read more

– The Madrid tournament’s PR strategy to do a little smoothing over after last year’s faux pas isn’t exactly starting off swimmingly. And while we get there are some pretty big names in the men’s qualifying, which also starts Monday – and that they’re going all-women or all-men on the eight (eight!) match courts – it still looks bad that the men are getting the. big stadium. And two of the three stadiums. It is, as they say, what it is. ATP Madrid – Monday, April 22, 2024 final results (Madrid is 6 hours ahead of EDT) ************************************ Mutua Madrid Open Location: Madrid, S ..read more

– Choosing the main draw in Rouen over potential qualifying in Stuttgart, Sloane Stephens reached the final with an upset win over No. 2 seed Caroline Garcia Saturday. She defeated resurgent but unseeded Magda Linette to win the title, only her second in the last six years – since Miami in 2018. In Stuttgart, No. 4 seed Elena Rybakina reaches her fifth final in the first four months of the season – not done since Victoria Azarenka in 2012. All the more impressive given it doesn’t include a final at the Australian Open. And she wins the event. ATP Tour – Sunday, April 21, 2024 final results ..read more

– A full slate of players this week. But with only the one joint WTA/ATP 1000 in Madrid, most of them have to play lower level events. Notably, Rebecca Marino and Carol Zhao continue on hard court, at a $100 ITF in China where they’re also joined by Stacey Fung. And Gabriel Diallo finally hits the European red clay. But he’s just short of getting into the Madrid qualifying (although you’d think there’d be a shot he’d make it as an alternate), and takes the sure thing at a Challenger in Ostrava. *********************************** Mutua Madrid Open Munich, Germany (ATP 1000 + WTA 1000)  M ..read more

– Before Friday in Stuttgart, there was a possibility that the top four players in the world would be there for today’s semifinals. But only No. 1 Iga Swiatek and No. 4 Elena Rybakina – both surer values week in and week out – made the date. No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka and No. 3 Coco Gauff (whose game is so full of woe at the moment), did not. The two who did will face off in one semi, and the winner will be the favorite to win it all. And in Rouen, two players who opted for the smaller event to make some headway instead of Stuttgart, Sloane Stephens is having a WEEK. She easily disposes of Caroline ..read more

– Five seeds in action in Rouen, including No. 1 Pavlyuchenkova and No. 2 Caroline Garcia. As for Stuttgart, they’ve got world No. 1 and new Lancôme ambassador Iga Swiatek, plus No. 4 seed Elena Rybakina. And Ons Jabeur, and Zheng Qinwen (also Lancôme!!). Basically there are no weak spots in this 28-player, top-shelf draw. ATP Tour – Thursday results (Stuttgart and Rouen are 6 hours ahead of EDT; Oeiras is 5 hours ahead) ************************************ Porsche Tennis Grand Prix Location: Stuttgart, Germany Surface: Indoor Clay Category: WTA 500 Dates: April 15 – 21, 2024 Prize money: $9 ..read more

– Porsche ambassadors Angelique Kerber and Emma Raducanu, both Grand Slam champions needing wild cards for varying reasons, were the spotlight evening match in Stuttgart. And it was hardly even the match with the biggest potential. There was Aryna Sabalenka vs Paula Badosa to follow – two good pals who ended up having to play each other in Miami, after all the personal tragedy surrounding Sabalenka. In the end, the battle of the former Slam champs was a bit of a dud. And the besties battle didn’t have a proper conclusion as Badosa retired midway through the third set. And in Oeiras, Canadian K ..read more