Winners of the week
It was a welcome return to form for Carlos Alcaraz at the prestigious Monte-Carlo Masters, with the Spaniard seeing off the likes of Francisco Cerundolo, Arthur Fils and Lorenzo Musetti en route to his 18th career title.
Having previously never won a match at the ATP 1000 event, Alcaraz was forced to recover from a set down three times during the tournament, including in the final against Musetti, which the 21-year-old eventually won in emphatic fashion, 3-6, 6-1, 6-0.
It wasn’t always perfect tennis from the Spaniard, but he managed to find his top level more often than not in the key moments, overcoming several tricky opponents to claim a sixth Masters 1000 crown.
As a result of his victory, Alcaraz moves up to second in the rankings, which could prove to be significant ahead of next month’s French Open as it would place him on the opposite side of the draw to closest rival Jannik Sinner, who returns to action in Rome on May 7.
Meanwhile, on the WTA Tour, it was a busy week of qualifiers in the Billie Jean King Cup, with Great Britain, USA, Spain, Japan, Ukraine and Kazakhstan all sealing their spots in September’s Finals alongside hosts China and defending champions Italy.
The best story arguably came from the tie between Ukraine and Switzerland, as Elina Svitlona’s 6-4, 6-2 win over Jil Teichmann led Ukraine to the top of Group E and a historic first-ever Finals berth.
“I’m very proud of all the team to bring us to the Finals," Svitolina said after her victory. "We’ve been waiting so long for this moment, to play there, and try to have a chance to win the World Cup.”
Strugglers of the week
The dismal form of Alexander Zverev continued at the Monte-Carlo Masters, as the top seed fell at the first hurdle in a 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 defeat to Matteo Berretini.
Since losing to Sinner in the Australian Open final, the German has failed to advance beyond the quarter-final stage in all six of his tournaments, including shock defeats to Learner Tien and Francisco Comesana.
Zverev has dropped to third in the ATP rankings as a result of his early exit in Monte Carlo, and will surely rue his inability to capitalise on Sinner’s absence from the Tour and the missed opportunity to claim the world number one spot for the first time in his career.
Another big name who lost his opening match in Monaco was Novak Djokovic as the legendary Serb was comfortably beaten 6-3, 6-4 by clay-court specialist Alejandro Tabilo.
Although he reached the Miami final just a couple of weeks ago, Djokovic has also suffered early exits at Doha and Indian Wells in recent months, so he’ll be desperate to bounce back during the rest of the clay-court season to prove his days at the top of the sport aren’t numbered.
Moment of the week
He might have fallen just short in the semi-finals against Musetti, but Alex de Minaur secured a career-first double bagel in the last eight, humbling an out-of-sorts Grigor Dimitrov 6-0, 6-0 in just 44 minutes.
It was a ruthless display from the Aussie, who continues to go from strength to strength on the surface after reaching his third clay-court semi-final on Tour.
As for the Bulgarian, he'll be keen to respond as soon as possible after failing to earn a single game point in the contest as well as losing a set 6-0 for the first time in nine years.
Rallies of the week
Alcaraz produced his fair share of magic in Monte Carlo, including this remarkable point against Daniel Altmaier in the third round.
Berrettini vs Zverev always promised to be a slugfest, and that was typified by an incredible 48-shot rally which the Italian eventually won with a trademark forehand.
Upcoming events
Unsurprisingly, it’s another busy week ahead with ATP tournaments in Barcelona and Munich, as well as WTA events in Stuttgart and Rouen.
World number two Alcaraz headlines a strong field at the ATP 500 in Barcelona, with Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas among the other top seeds, while in Munich, home favourite Zverev will be hoping to overcome the likes of Ben Shelton and Felix Auger-Aliassime to secure a much-needed title.
The best of the WTA action comes in Stuttgart, where Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff will all be looking to make an early statement in the clay-court swing. There are plenty of other players to watch out for in a stacked draw, including Mirra Andreeva and the in-form Jessica Pegula.
Finally, at the WTA 250 event in Rouen, Elina Svitolina and Linda Noskova are the top two seeds, while Bianca Andreescu makes a welcome return to the Tour after six months out with injury and health issues.
Check out the full schedule for tournaments in Barcelona, Munich, Stuttgart and Rouen via the links.
