Clay – you have to love it. It stains everything. You feel like Torvill and Dean slipping and sliding about, and… when you fall on it, man it HURTS! But the Path to Paris is well underway!
Winners’ Circle
- ATP 250 Houston: Reilly Opelka
- ATP 250 Morocco: David Goffin
- WTA 500 Charleston: Belinda Bencic
- WTA 250 Bogota: Tatjana Maria
WTA 500 Charleston: Belinda Bencic
In 2014, a 17-year-old made her professional debut – and announced her presence to the world by romping all the way to the semi-final. And now Belinda Bencic has won her first clay court title in Charleston, eight years on from making her WTA debut.
It has been a solid run of results recently for the Swiss, having made the Miami semi-final. Clay is not a particularly comfortable surface for her so it will be fascinating to see if this continues once she moves to the claggier clay in Europe.
ATP 250 Houston: Reilly Opelka
At least both Reilly Opelka and John Isner can joke about their ‘servebot’ status as the younger American won the battle of the big servers, and claimed the Houston title, his fourth ATP title and his first on the dirt.
ATP 250 Morocco: David Goffin
One of the nicest guys on the tour David Goffin dished out a bit of revenge over Alex Molcan – who beat him in the first week of the season. If you are going to get a bit of revenge, you may as well do it in a final!
Goffin has struggled a lot with injury in recent years, but is a handy player on the dirt, and while he still looks like he is 12 years old, he is a veteran now in tour terms, and he lifts a sixth title.
WTA 250 Bogota: Tatjana Maria
Germany’s Tatjana Maria has won herself a second title to share with her two daughters, winning this title after returning to the tour following the birth of her second child. It was a battle of the qualifiers and was a masterclass in defence and variety for the German veteran.
ATP Rankings as of 11 April
| Ranking | Move | Player | Country | Points |
| 1 | – | Novak Djokovic | Serbia | 8420 |
| 2 | – | Daniil Medvedev | 8410 | |
| 3 | – | Alexander Zverev | Germany | 7195 |
| 4 | – | Rafael Nadal | Spain | 7115 |
| 5 | – | Stefanos Tsitsipas | Greece | 5980 |
| 6 | – | Matteo Berrettini | Italy | 4945 |
| 7 | – | Casper Ruud | Norway | 4380 |
| 8 | – | Andrey Rublev | 4375 | |
| 9 | – | Felx Auger-Aliassime | Canada | 3625 |
| 10 | – | Cameron Norrie | Great Britain | 3440 |
WTA Rankings as of 11 April
| Ranking | Move | Player | Country | Points |
| 1 | – | Iga Swiatek | Poland | 6711 |
| 2 | – | Barbora Krejcikova | Czech Republic | 4975 |
| 3 | – | Paula Badosa | Spain | 4970 |
| 4 | +1 | Aryna Sabalenka | 4711 | |
| 5 | -1 | Maria Sakkari | Greece | 4705 |
| 6 | – | Anett Kontaveit | Estonia | 4511 |
| 7 | – | Karolina Pliskova | Czech Republic | 4252 |
| 8 | – | Danielle Collins | USA | 3151 |
| 9 | +1 | Ons Jabeur | Tunisia | 3095 |
| 10 | -1 | Garbine Muguruza | Spain | 3070 |
