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Carlos Alcaraz returned to the ATP Challenger Tour on Wednesday, not as a competitor, but a spectator.

The Spaniard grew up close from the host site of this week’s Murcia Challenger. After a strong ‘Sunshine Double’ in the United States, Alcaraz returned home and made an appearance at the Costa Calida Region de Murcia.

 

The eight-time tour-level titlist enjoyed second-round action at the Challenger 75 event and interacted with fans who were eager to meet their home favourite.

The 19-year-old Alcaraz found his professional tennis roots on the Challenger Tour before rising to the top echelons of the sport.

Defending champions and home favourites Nuno Borges and Francisco Cabral made a winning start at the Millennium Estoril Open on Wednesday. The only all-Portuguese pairing in the ATP 250 draw earned a 6-3, 7-6(3) victory against Romain Arneodo and Sam Weissborn, not facing a break point as they progessed to the quarter-finals.

Borges/Cabral will next meet Robin Haase and Philipp Oswald, who upset top seeds Hugo Nys and Andreas Mies 7-6(4), 6-1. The Dutch/Austrian team saved both points against them in the win.

Second seeds John Peers and Marcelo Melo were also knocked out on Wednesday, as Diego Hidalgo and Cristian Rodriguez scored an upset of their own with a 7-6(5), 6-7(7), 10-6 result.

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Cressy/Olivetti Advance In Marrakech
Just one doubles match was completed on a rainy Wednesday at the Grand Prix Hassan II. Before play was suspended for the day, fifth seeds Maxime Cressy and Albano Olivetti defeated Petros Tsitsipas and Hendrix Jebens 6-3, 7-6(5) to advance to the quarter-finals.

Wednesday's play at the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship was cut short due to rain, with only one set completed on the red clay of Houston.

In the day's only action at the ATP 250, Max Purcell won a 6-4 set against Daniel Altmaier in the last match of the opening round. Top seed Frances Tiafoe was set to open his campaign with a second-round match against Steve Johnson, while fourth seed John Isner was scheduled to face Gijs Brouwer.

With Wednesday's rainout, all eight second-round matches are now on the Thursday slate, with the winner of the Purcell vs. Altmaier match set for double duty with a second match against eighth seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry.

In addition to Isner and Tiafoe, second seed Tommy Paul will also begin his tournament on Thursday against qualifier Yannick Hanfmann. Six singles matches are on tap for the Houston stadium court.

View Thursday's Schedule

Is this the week Casper Ruud finds his form?

The Norwegian made a good start at the Millennium Estoril Open on Wednesday when he rallied past Portugal’s Joao Sousa 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals at the ATP 250 clay-court event.

"I am just happy to get the win today," Ruud said in his on-court interview. "It was not looking good after the first set, but I managed to step up and play better and better and I think that is a good sign going into the next match."

Ruud, who is making his debut in Estoril, entered the match holding a 5-6 record on the season after losing in the third round in Indian Wells and Miami. The top seed ensured he would not suffer another early exit against Sousa, though, raising his intensity and level as the two-hour, 15-minute match went on to improve to 4-0 in their ATP Head2Head series.

"Joao is such a nice guy," Ruud said. "I have mixed feelings, winning against him here in Estoril. I know he is a home-crowd favourite. He is a great example of a great fighter. He really has had an influence on this tournament and the fans here."

In a clash spanning two days due to rain, Benjamin Bonzi booked his spot in the second round at the Grand Prix Hassan II Wednesday when he defeated lucky loser Alexey Vatutin 6-3, 6-3 in Marrakech.

Competing for the first time since his semi-final run in Marseille in February, the seventh-seeded Frenchman broke Vatutin five times to earn his 11th tour-level win of the season after 83 minutes.

"It was pretty tough to stop yesterday after the first set. After one night everything is different. It has been a long wait today with the courts. The key today was to focus and be ready to start the second set well," Bonzi said. "I managed to do it and it is a good win for me after a few weeks off."

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The World 50 Bonzi, who reached the final in Pune in January, will next play Pavel Kotov. Bonzi’s match against Vatutin was the only singles clash played on Wednesday at the ATP 250 clay-court event due to rain.

“It is funny to think about when you say it.”

Until Monday, Ben Shelton was in the remarkable position of being a Top 40 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings who had never competed on red clay. Having made his bow on the surface at this week’s Millennium Estoril Open, the early signs for the #NextGenATP American have been good.

After gaining his first taste of competitive red-clay action on Monday in a doubles defeat alongside his former University of Florida Gators teammate Duarte Vale, Shelton returned on Tuesday to down Constant Lestienne in straight sets at the ATP 250 and make a winning start to his singles career on the red dirt.

“For sure, I was a bit nervous today,” Shelton told ATPTour.com after his 7-5, 7-5 win against the Frenchman. “Maybe more so than my last few matches or tournaments just because I wasn’t sure how things were going to go. It was a good nervous, it helped me focus and lock in. I always enjoy playing matches when I have a little bit of nerves.”

The American played on green clay occasionally growing up and competed at two ITF World Tennis Tour tournaments on that surface in 2021. That is the extent of his clay-court history, however, and he notes that certain differences between the red and green varieties still make his Estoril odyssey a fundamentally new experience.

The first quarter of the 2023 ATP Tour season marked breakthrough runs, career-best wins and titles on the ATP Challenger Tour for many #NextGenATP stars.

American Ben Shelton advanced to the quarter-finals at the Australian Open, while Frenchman Arthur Fils reached tour-level semi-finals in Montpellier and Marseille, respectively. Swiss lefty Dominic Stricker and Frenchmen Luca Van Assche and Arthur Cazaux have tasted success, lifting trophies at ATP Challenger Tour events.

ATPTour.com looks at some of the most notable #NextGenATP accomplishments of the year so far.

View Latest Next Gen Race Standings

Shelton’s Stunning Start
American Shelton has enjoyed a standout start to the season, rising from No. 96 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings to a current career-high No. 39 following a series of impressive results.

One year ago J.J. Wolf arrived in Houston as the No. 157 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. This edition he is the fifth seed and showed why on Tuesday.

Wolf cruised past Australian Jordan Thompson 6-3, 6-2 in 74 minutes to reach the second round of the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship. 

“First clay-court tournament for me of the year, so I was really excited,” Wolf said. “Just trying to kind of be patient and play some good clay-court tennis. Holding serve was big for me today.”

[BREAK POINT]

The American did not face a break point and lost just four first-serve points (22/26) to move past Thompson. Wolf, who enjoys the atmosphere in Houston, will next play countryman Denis Kudla. 

Roberto Carballes Baena earned his highest-ranked win of the season Tuesday in Marrakech.

The Spaniard rallied from a set down to defeat World No. 38 Maxime Cressy 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-1 in the opening round of the Grand Prix Hassan II.

Carballes Baena, who was a quarter-finalist last year in Marrakech, held his ground while converting five of his 13 break points. Serve-and-volleyer Cressy, seeded fifth, stayed bold on his second delivery, but ended with 20 double faults to his nine aces.

The 30-year-old Carballes Baena will next meet Bulgarian qualifier Dimitar Kuzmanov, who beat Hugo Grenier 6-3, 6-4. Kuzmanov, 29, defeated the Frenchman in qualifying Monday before Grenier got in the main draw as a lucky loser.

In other action at the ATP 250, Italian Andrea Vavassori survived Santiago champion Nicolas Jarry 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. Frenchman Alexandre Muller defeated countryman and sixth seed Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-4.

Nominations for the Tom Perrotta Prize For Tennis Journalism are now open, with the award presented to a writer under the age of 35 for excellence in tennis journalism.

The annual award commemorates the life and journalism of Tom Perrotta, who provided a large contribution to tennis journalism prior to his untimely death at the age of 45.

The prize includes a $2,000 cash award and will be presented in New York City during the US Open. Applications should include a brief CV and two recent examples of the applicant’s published work. Examples can be in any language but articles should be translated into English before submitting.

Submissions should be forwarded to [email protected] before midnight (EST) 14 May 2023.

ATP, WTA, ITF and The International Tennis Writers Association co-sponsor the award.

The world's brightest stars make their way to the 2023 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, which is the first of three clay-court ATP Masters 1000 tournaments. 

Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic is back in action with hopes of claiming a third Monte-Carlo crown. Miami titlist Daniil Medvedev is ready to pursue clay-court glory and Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas is aiming for his third consecutive title at the Monte-Carlo Country Club. 

Here's what you need to know: 

When is the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters?

The 2023 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters will be held from 9-16 April at the Monte-Carlo Country Club in Monte Carlo, Monaco. The tournament director is David Massey.

Who is playing at the 2023 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters?

The Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters will feature stars such as Novak Djokovic, Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas, who has won the past two editions.

When is the draw for the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters?

The Monte-Carlo draw will be made on Friday 7 April at 5 p.m. local time.

What is the schedule for the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters?

* Qualifying: Saturday, 8 April – Sunday, 9 April at 11:00 a.m. local time
* Main Draw: Sunday, 9 April - Friday, 14 April at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, 15 April at 11:30 a.m.
* Doubles Final: Sunday, 16 April at Noon.
* Singles Final: Sunday, 16 April at 2:30 p.m.
* View On Official Website

What is the prize money for the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters?

The prize money for the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters is €5,779,335 and the Total Financial Commitment is €6,228,295.

SINGLES
Winner: €892,590 / 1,000 points
Finalist: €487,420 / 600 points
Semi-finalist: €266,530/ 360 points
Quarter-finalist: €145,380 / 180 points
Round of 16: €77,760 / 90 points
Round of 32: €41,700 / 45 points
Round of 64: €23,100 / 10 points

Arriving at the Millennium Estoril Open without a win since mid-February, Dominic Thiem showcased all of his resilience to battle to first-round victory on Tuesday at the clay-court ATP 250 in Portugal.

Thiem defeated his fellow Austrian Sebastian Ofner 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to clinch his first triumph in five tour-level events. The 29-year-old made a shaky start but broke his No. 122-ranked opponent twice in each of the second and third sets to prevail in a two-hour, five-minute encounter and set a second-round showdown against #NextGenATP American Ben Shelton.

The World No. 111 Thiem converted five of 16 break points he earned against Ofner, which proved enough to close out victory and improve his ATP Head2Head series lead against his countryman to 3-0. Some flashes of trademark brilliance, particularly off his backhand win, helped engineer the turnaround.

Thiem holds a 2-8 record for the year after Tuesday's win, which he will hope is the catalyst for improved results. The Austrian, who reached the Roland Garros final in 2018 and 2019, has historically excelled on clay. He has won 10 of his 17 tour-level crowns on the surface.

[NEWSLETTER FORM]

Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz and Felix Auger-Aliassime withdrew from the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters on Tuesday due to injury.

Nadal is an 11-time champion in the Principality, where he has earned a 73-6 record. The Spaniard wrote on Instagram Stories that he is not ready to compete for the first time since the Australian Open, where he suffered a grade 2 injury in the iliopsoas muscle of his left leg. 

“Unfortunately I am still not ready to compete and will miss one of those special tournaments I always love to play,” Nadal wrote. “Monte Carlo is and has been a key event on my career, but unfortunately I will have to miss it again since I am still not ready to compete without the risk of getting injured. I will continue the long process of getting ready to come back.”

Alcaraz, who is 18-2 on the season and fresh off a title at Indian Wells and semi-final showing in Miami, revealed two things that will keep him out of the season’s first clay-court ATP Masters 1000 event.

Ben Shelton added to his season of firsts in confident style on Tuesday at the Millennium Estoril Open, where the #NextGenATP American prevailed 7-5, 7-5 against Constant Lestienne in his first professional singles match on red clay.

Until he competed in a first-round doubles match on Monday at the clay-court ATP 250, Shelton represented a rare case of a Top 40 singles player who had never competed professionally on the surface. The World No. 39 played two ITF World Tennis Tour events on green clay in 2021 but had previously only competed on hard courts on the ATP Tour and ATP Challenger Tour.

Despite falling to defeat in that doubles match alongside his former University of Florida Gators teammate Duarte Vale, Shelton showed few nerves upon returning a day later for his first-round singles match. The eighth seed took down the World No. 63 Lestienne in 95 minutes in Portugal.

The American earned decisive breaks of Lestienne’s serve in the 11th game of both sets to improve to 7-6 for the year. The tall lefty’s serve proved crucial to the win, with Shelton’s ability to give extra kick to his delivery a major factor in him winning 83 per cent (35/42) of points behind his first serve.

Shelton reached the quarter-finals at January’s Australian Open, during his first trip leaving the United States. His trip to Portugal represents his first time in Europe, and the 20-year-old acknowledged he was relishing another new experience in his whirlwind introduction to life on the ATP Tour.

Jason Kubler hit with Fernando Verdasco when he was 14 years old. On Monday, they met in ATP Tour action for the first time.

The Australian Kubler defeated the former Top 10 star Verdasco 7-6(7), 6-0 to reach the second round of the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship.

“It was an honour to play Fernando. I’ve looked up to him for a long time,” Kubler said. “I remember when I was 14 and I got to hit with him in my hometown. Ever since then I’ve sort of followed his career because I felt like you actually made contact with one of the stars you watch on TV.”

[ATP APP]

Verdasco, who lifted the Houston trophy in 2014, earned an early break of serve. But Kubler battled back and once he won the first-set tie-break, he was able to surge ahead.

Holger Rune and Patrick Mouratoglou announced Monday that they ended their full-time collaboration.

“Thank you so much for your help to the team, Patrick?? It’s been great learning for me on many levels on and off court and a lot of good energy?,” Rune wrote on Instagram. “I will take all your advice with me onwards ?See you soon at the academy.”

Last October, Rune announced Mouratoglou, who has coached stars including Serena Williams, would join his team for the rest of the season. The Dane went on to triumph in Stockholm and claim his first ATP Masters 1000 title in Paris. Mouratoglou shared his own post on social media Monday.

“Holger! We've successfully completed our mission and ended up having an incredible 6-month adventure, exceeding our original plan of 3 months,” Mouratoglou wrote. “It was a pleasure to share this journey with you. Your energy and enthusiasm made it even more special.

With the help of a local legend, Hugo Gaston made a winning debut appearance at the Grand Prix Hassan II on Monday in Marrakech.

The Frenchman, who is undergoing a coaching trial with Moroccan former World No. 14 Younes El Aynaoui, defeated Jan-Lennard Struff 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 for his first tour-level victory of 2023.

The 22-year-old Gaston clinched a closely fought contest by sealing the only break of the deciding set in the 11th game. He went on to wrap a two-hour, seven-minute triumph during which both players converted two of four break points.

Gaston will take on top seed Lorenzo Musetti in the second round at the clay-court ATP 250 as he chases his first tour-level quarter-final appearance since last June in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.

[ATP APP]

After his title run on event debut in 2022, Sebastian Baez retains only positive memories of the Millennium Estoril Open. Yet the Argentine knows he needs to stay focused if he wants to maintain his unbeaten record for another year at the clay-court ATP 250.

That was evident on Monday, when the defending champion had to dig deep for a 7-5, 7-6(3) victory against Radu Albot to advance to the second round in Portugal. Baez dropped serve four times in his two-hour, 13-minute win but engineered five breaks of his own to prevail in the pair’s maiden ATP Head2Head meeting.

“Always the first match [back on clay] is tough,” said Baez, who reached the third round on the hard courts of Indian Wells in his most recent ATP Tour event. “It was close. I know him, he is an experienced player… To take the win [I had to be] strong in difficult moments, because there is pressure for me [as the defending champion] of course.”

Baez trailed 2-5 in the second set but raised his game to force a tie-break which he proceeded to dominate. Having defeated home favourite and former champion Joao Sousa, Marin Cilic, and Frances Tiafoe en route to his first ATP Tour title in Estoril last year, the World No. 32 feels comfortable in his surroundings in southern Portugal, even if this year’s event is being held three weeks earlier in the season.

“I know it is a different time, because this year it is the first tournament on clay in the season,” said Baez. “It is a time difference, it is colder than last year. A different situation, but happy to be back.”

A thrilling conclusion to the 2023 ‘Sunshine Double’ saw Daniil Medvedev triumph at the Miami Open presented by Itau to claim his fifth ATP Masters 1000 crown.

The win ensures the 27-year-old continues his recent steady upward trend in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, which are now topped by Novak Djokovic. Despite not competing in Miami, the Serbian replaces Carlos Alcaraz as World No. 1, after the Spaniard fell short of defending his crown at Hard Rock Stadium.

ATPTour.com looks at the movers of the week in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings as of 3 April 2023.

View Pepperstone ATP Rankings

[ATP APP]

Trivia question: who is the youngest player in the Top 100 of the current Pepperstone ATP Rankings?

If you guessed Frenchman Luca Van Assche, you’d be correct. The 18-year-old, who is one of four ATP Challenger Tour champions this week, triumphed at the Sanremo Tennis Cup to capture his third Challenger title.

After dropping the opening set in his first-round match against Ryan Peniston, the Frenchman didn’t look back. Van Assche didn’t drop a set the rest of the week and downed Peruvian Juan Pablo Varillas 6-1, 6-3 in the final to lift his second Challenger trophy of the season (Pau).

 

“I’m very happy, it’s been a crazy four weeks for me,” Van Assche said. “Tough first match, but I managed to find solutions and my level was very high the rest of the week.”