With Indian Wells and Miami on the schedule, March is a tough month to top. But as the tours head off in their own directions, April offers a ton of great tennis from around the world.
 This Month...
The Cup Runneth Over
There isn’t much rest for the tennis fan in April, because right off the bat the Davis Cup quarterfinals offer great match-ups April 7–9. Rancho Mirage, Calif., and Mission Hills Country Club play host to the U.S.-Chile tie. The Americans were looking for home-court advantage when they chose grass as their surface for the clash with the South American dirt-ballers. But Fernando Gonzalez had a great showing at Wimbledon last year, and Nicolas Massu can grind with the best of them. The Americans should have the advantage with No. 4 in the world Andy Roddick and No. 8 James Blake, not to mention Bob and Mike Bryan, who are the world’s best doubles team.
Visit TENNIS.com for live coverage—updates, articles, videos, photo galleries, and more.
Elsewhere in the world of Davis Cup, defending champ Croatia plays host to Argentina, Belarus heads Down Under to battle the Australians, and Russia faces off with France.
Monte Carlo: It’s Not Just for Avoiding Taxes
The next Masters Series event on tap for the ATP is in Monte Carlo. The clay lends itself to a whole different breed of tennis players, and appears to be the one surface on which Roger Federer doesn’t simply walk all over the competition. Last year Richard Gasquet upset Federer, giving him one of his four losses in 2005. When it comes to clay everyone is chasing Rafael Nadal. Nadal was 50-2 on clay courts last year, and won eight of his 11 titles in 2005 on his favorite surface.
The Fed Cup
On April 22–23 the ladies do battle in the first round of the Federation Cup. Russia looks to retain the Cup, but it won’t be easy. The Russians travel to Belgium to play on the red clay. The teams haven’t been announced, but the prospect of playing Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters on the road could equal a very short title defense.
The U.S. heads to Germany— and who will be selected to play for the Americans is anybody’s guess. Other first round bouts: Italy at France, Austria at Spain, Switzerland at Japan, Argentina at Croatia, Czech Republic at Thailand, and China at Indonesia.
The King Returns
After a couple years on the golf course and in diaperland (More), Pete Sampras makes his return to the tennis spotlight in Houston in an exhibition against Robby Ginepri on Thursday, April 6. He will also play for Newport Beach in World Team Tennis (WTT) this year.
We Are Family
The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour heads to South Carolina and the Family Circle Cup, which carries a purse of $1.34 million. Now, it’s not the $3.45 million that was won at the NASDAQ-100 Open, but it is certainly nothing to sneeze at. Last year Justine Henin-Hardenne took home the title. This year you can catch the action on ESPN2 and Eurosport April 13–16.
 On Newsstands - April 11th
TENNIS Magazine's May issue featuring:
- James Blake: How High Can He Climb?
- 5 Skills You Need At Net
- Junior Tennis: Should your child go to an academy? Four top U.S. teens
on how they got there. Kids’ training schedules, gear, and apparel.
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 Last Month...
Double, Double
For the second year in a row Roger Federer took home the American Spring Double, winning the Pacific Life Open, and then two weeks later winning the NASDAQ-100 Open. Federer lost two sets along the way and once again dominated the competition in big events that aren’t held on clay. (We recognize the fact that the NASDAQ -100 technically ended in April.)
Monkeying Around
When Maria Sharapova defeated countrywoman Elena Dementieva in the Pacific Life finals it was her first title in nine months, and thus silenced all those who kept asking when she was going to win another title. If she got the monkey off her back, then Svetlana Kuznetsova got the gorilla off her back when she defeated Sharapova to capture the NASDAQ-100 Open. For Kuznetsova it was her first win since Bali in 2004, one week after she won the US Open. The win propelled her back into the Top 10 (dropping Venus Williams out).
Eyes Like My Grandfather
For as long as there have been linespeople, there have been arguments between players and chair umpires. Before the NASDAQ-100 Open debuted Hawk-Eye, not one player in the history of tennis was ever wrong about a call. Johnny Mac and Jimmy Connors saw every ball ever played perfectly, or so they thought. In Miami, the players, as well as the linespeople, were under the microscope, and the know-it-all attitudes usually on display by the players were a thing of the past.
During the 12 days of matches on the stadium court a total of 161 calls were challenged by both the ATP and WTA players, and of those challenges 53 were successful. The men were successful 32 times on 84 challenges, while the women were successful 21 times on 77 challenges. Now this does mean that there were a decent amount of wrong calls from the linespeople, but the players were happy—despite the fact that they were usually wrong.
The James Gang
After a career of uncertainty and unfulfilled expectations, James Blake is finally living up to his potential. In 2006 Blake has continued to play at a high level, and has dipped himself in uncharted waters, the Top 10. With his first Masters Series final appearance, in Indian Wells, and a quarterfinal appearance in Miami, he currently sits at No. 8 in the world.
Bombs Away
If nothing else Andy Roddick wears his emotions on his sleeve. His demeanor on the court translates into his demeanor in his press conferences. After an upbeat week from the American at the Pac Life Open, the lighthearted press conferences that Roddick had been having were nowhere to be found after he lost to Igor Andreev. Roddick was going to beat someone that day, and if it wasn’t the Russian it was going to be the media. His answers referenced everything from Sideshow Bob of Simpsons fame to Miss Cleo the psychic. If he didn’t like the question, he hit the equivalent of a 150 m.p.h. serve at the journalist. If nothing else it was entertaining, even if you were one of the people he had for lunch. Read transcript.
Don’t Miss…
- TENNIS.com’s Live Davis Cup Coverage
Online Editor Peter Dopkin will be live on the grounds at Mission Hills with the U.S. Davis Cup team as they face off with Chile April 7–9. Visit TENNIS.com for daily updates, articles, videos, photo galleries, and more.
- Vince and Bryanne - Now On SMASHtennis.com
Follow the ATP and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour’s with Vince Spadea and Bryanne
Stewart. These two pros share great stories and insight as they travel
the world playing tournament after tournament. You can find their blogs
exclusively on SMASHtennis.com.
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