Welcome to Monday's tennis briefing Athletic We'll explain the story behind last week's story at court.
This week, the most Mercurial player on the men's tour was his best, with American shuffle at the top of the women's rankings, and the baffle of the Wimbledon champions revealed the delicate balance of tennis scheduling.
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A milestone for Jessica Pegra?
The American trio just below the top of the women's tennis rankings have been re-shuffled as Jessica Pegra moved ahead of Coco Gough with the WTA 500 title at Charleston. Pegra, who defeated Sofiakenin 6-3, 7-5, is now third in the world, 7-5 after 1-5 down in the second set, matching his career-high rankings.
With the big gap between America and World No. 2 Igawitok, and another big gap between Gouf and the Madison Keys, World No. 5, Pegra's first clay coat title is more important than World No. 3 and World No. 4 titles, and it may seem like just 38 points are separated.
However, Pegra, who missed the swing of the clay coat after an injury last year, has now broken into two WTA 1,000 in Rome and Madrid, then entered the French Open in Paris without any points to defend, giving her a free hit for the next few months. She has the most wins this season on the WTA Tour, ahead of the world's No. 1 Arena Sabalenka, which has 23.
With Gauff defending over 1,200 points and świątek protected with 4,195 hooks, Pegula was still able to climb higher without defeating the red stains.
James Hansen
Who can explain the mystery of Botic van des Andschulp?
Are there any players on the ATP Tour that are more interesting than this Dutchman?
Mercury Van des Andschulp becomes an unexpected tennis master and wins when he is in line, and it appears there is no reason to do so.
Van des Zandschulp defeated Carlos Alcaraz in a straight set at the US Open, ending Rafael Nadal's career in the Davis Cup in Spain, and defeating Novak Djokovic in the Indian Wells (including a 6-1 hammering in the final set). All of these victories were achieved almost with nerve flickering. He worked three times in the 2023 Munich Open Finals with Holga Rune, earning four championship points in total, but ended up losing.
Just a year later, in May 2024, Van des Andschulp said he was very disillusioned with tennis as he was considering retirement. Instead, he defeated three best players in recent history on the biggest stage of the sport, settling under pressure as if he was knocking on a local club.
So, in the first round of the Bucharest Open ATP 250, how will Van Desandschulp be the lowest-rung on the tour, Richard Gasquet, the 38-year-old Frenchman who will retire after this year's French opening?
He led to the set and two breaks and had match points on his serve for a 6-4, 6-4 victory. However, he missed it and lost 6-1 in the decider.
Charlie Eccleshare
How did the American male athlete reach the Houston milestone?
With an easy starting point, Alex Michelsen reached the Houston open quarter final with a three-set victory over French veteran Adrian Mannarino. That in itself is a rather unremarkable moment, but with his victory on April 3rd, Michaelsen ensured that all eight of the quarterfinals would become Americans. It was the first time that it had happened at an ATP tour event since the Prudential Bash Securities Classic held in Orlando, Florida in 1991.
Andre Agassi won the tournament and Pete Sampras lost in the semi-finals. These two and the gym courier soon began to dominate the sport. Do Houston 2025 graduates do something similar?
It feels like a big stretch, but Michaelsen, a 20-year-old Californian, has one of the breakout stars of the year. Having reached the fourth round of Australia's opening, Michaelsen has a bright future with hundreds of ranking points outside of the top 30 in the world.
Of the other quarterfinals, Francis Tiafoe and Tommy Paul are regulars in the top 20, with Colton Smith, 22, 23, Brandon Nakashima, and 26, Alexander Kovasevic, a little below the tennis food chain. Christopher Eubanks, 28, failed to kick-on after a 2023 breakthrough.
24-year-old Jenson Brooksby began the week as the most distant future at No. 507, restructuring the rankings after the doping ban. He saved five match points in qualifying and saved his main draw match on his way to the final, and he eased past Tiafoe for the first-ever tour title.
American tennis fans hope that at least one of the eight quarterfinals will provide the event with a springboard for clay court season.
Brooksby followed a string of matches with a relatively routine victory in the final. (Leslie Plaza Johnson/Icon Sports Wire via Associated Press)
Charlie Eccleshare
What is the price of national pride?
The Billy Junking Cup featured women's tennis from April 10th to April 13th, winning the final round of qualifying for the International Team Event. Two of the headliners to play – świątek of Emma Ladukanu of Poland and England, declared they would not represent their country last week.
Elena Ribakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion who has switched to Kazakhstan from representing Russia, will travel to Melbourne to represent the country against Australia and Colombia. She became a Kazakhstan citizen in 2017 and has been bankrolled since 2007 by billionaire businessman and philanthropist Bratt itemuratov, and in decades of surge, it is designed to turn almost existing tennis infrastructure into pure sports power.
For Rivakina, it means a trip to Australia, missing the WTA 500 in Stuttgart, Germany, starting on April 14th. Rivakina is the defending champion there and loses 500 points for not playing. If the other players work well, she may fall even further. If Kazakhstan goes through, it may not be that important, but it's a great demonstration of push and pull in the tennis competition.
James Hansen
This week's shot
Or maybe a month or even a year from Ryan Segerman in Houston.
Incredible 🤯
Ryan Segelmann shot this year!#usclay | @tennistv pic.twitter.com/vaxfknayye
– Fayez Sarofim & Co. US Clay (@mensclaycourt) April 5, 2025
I recommend reading:
🏆 Winners of the Week
🎾 ATP:
🏆 Flavio Kobori (3) def. Sebastian Baez (1) Win 6-4, 6-4 Tiriac Open (250) In Bucharest, Romania. This is the first ATP tour title in Italian.
🏆 Luciano Dardelli (7) def. Tallon Griekspoor (1) 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4) wins Hassan Grand Prix II (250) In Marrakech, Moloko. This is Italy's second ATP tour title.
🏆 Jenson Brooksby (Q) def. Francis Tiafoe (2) Win 6-4, 6-2 US Men's Clay Court Championship (250) Houston. This is the first American ATP tour title.
🎾 WTA:
🏆 Jessica Pegra (1) def. Sofia Kenin Win 6-3, 7-5 Charleston Open (500) This is the first American Clay Court WTA Tour title in Charleston, South Carolina.
🏆 Camilla Osorio (2) def. Katarzyna Kawa (Q) Win 6-3, 6-3 Copa colsanitas (250) In Bogota, Colombia. Osorio has now won the event three times.
📈📉 Rise/Down
📈 Jessica Pegra After winning South Carolina, they went from 1st to 4th to 3rd.
📈 Jenson Brooksby After a victory in Texas, climb 335 spots from 507 to 507 to 172.
📈 Sofia Kenin He moves 10 spots from No. 44 to No. 34 before re-entering the top 40.
📉 Matteo Berettini From 27th to 34th to 34th, abandoning the top 32 spots he sees in big events.
📉 Maria Sakkari Drop 18 locations from 64 to 82.
📉 Fabio Fognini 14 spots from No. 99 to No. 113 to No. 113.
📅 It's approaching
🎾 ATP
Monaco, Monte Carlo: Monte Carlo Master (1,000) Featured by Alexander Zverev, Carlos Alkaraz, Novak Djokovic and Jack Draper.
📺 UK: Sky Sports; US: Tennis Channel 💻
🎾 ITF
📍Various Location: Billy Junking Cup Qualifier Featuring Elena Rybakina, Victoria Mboko, Elina Svitolina and Danielle Collins.
📺 UK: Sky Sports; Us:
What you noticed this week in the comments below that the boys and women's tours continue.
(Photo above: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images, Designed by Eamondalton Athletic)
