21st April 2025
The clay season is advancing at a rate of knots, with another week’s action in the bank on the red dirt. This past seven days saw tournaments in Barcelona and Munich on the ATP Tour – with a surprising champion in one – and events across Stuttgart and Rouen for the WTA Tour. Read on for a look at how each played out, plus a breakdown of all the off-court stories and a peek at what’s to come this week.
Champions corner
As always, we begin by saluting those who were able to get their hands on trophies in the past week.
In Barcelona, a big surprise took place as an unlikely victor emerged. Carlos Alcaraz returned to the event this year, but he didn’t end up winning the trophy like he did in his previous two events.
He made the final but was beaten by Holger Rune, who had a fantastic week. Alcaraz also picked up an injury, which severely hampered him in the second set, but he didn’t retire—rather, he played it out. Time will tell whether this injury alters the pace of the clay season, because it didn’t look great.
In Germany, Alexander Zverev pleased his home fans by winning his third Munich Open. The 27-year-old bested Ben Shelton, who stunned people with his level on clay, but Zverev’s serve and backhand was a bridge too far in the final.
In Rouen, it was Elina Svitolina who won the trophy, beating Serbia’s Olga Danilovic and improving to a sensational 18-4 in finals. The Stuttgart event has not yet concluded, but it’s already delivered a big upset, with Jelena Ostapenko beating Iga Swiatek again. She faces Aryna Sabalenka in the final on Monday.
Alcaraz’s injury
Circling back to Alcaraz’s injury, this has the potential to become a major storyline, given the Spaniard typically dominates the natural surfaces.
While he didn’t look too worried himself when it happened in the final against Rune, he clearly couldn’t play the way he wanted to. Only time will tell whether it’s a small niggle that is better the next day, or if he withdraws from Madrid to give himself space to recover.
Zverev gets heckled, again
When we say Zverev’s title in Munich pleased his home fans, that’s not entirely correct. There were certainly some who were not on the German’s side.
The world No 2 was heckled multiple times by local fans who alluded to his domestic abuse allegations. He was called a wife-beater more than once, but it didn’t really matter as he was able to keep his composure in what ended up being a title-winning run for him.
Drama on WTA Tour
A bizarre incident took place at the WTA event in Rouen when Britain’s Harriet Dart faced France’s Loïs Boisson. At one point in the match, Dart said to the umpire that Boisson needed to wear deodorant because she was smelling really bad.
The comment still drew a lot of criticism among fans and on social media, but Boisson didn’t care as she smashed Dart and then joked about the comment on social media. Dart, however, has caught heavy criticism for what many perceive to be an uncalled-for remark.
Ostapenko vs Swiatek, take six
Another piece of WTA Tour drama is the ongoing rivalry between Swiatek and Ostapenko. The latter famously said that she simply knows how to play against Swiatek, and it’s true.
She’s now up to 6-0 against the Polish player after beating her once again in Stuttgart. The handshake after the match was traditionally very cold because it’s known that Swiatek doesn’t quite like Peno, and she doesn’t like playing against her either.
The Latvian doesn’t care—she embraces the meme that their rivalry is becoming because she is on the winning side after all.
Jannik Sinner returns to training
Suspended player Jannik Sinner has been spotted practicing again with an actual tennis opponent, hitting with Britain’s Jack Draper ahead of his return. This is only two weeks away now, with the Italian set to rejoin the ATP Tour at the Italian Open.
Tennis betting sites still fancy his chances of making a smooth transition back to competition after three months on the sidelines, with the world No 1 priced as second favorite to win the 2025 French Open.
Coming up this week
After a fascinating week of tennis, action continues on the clay this week.
The first combined Masters event kicks off in Madrid mid-week, with play beginning on Tuesday for the women and Wednesday for the men. The opening days will be typically slow given all the big names have byes through to the second round, but expect a few good clashes over the weekend still.
Swiatek’s form will be of particular interest, as the Pole really needs to regain some confidence heading into the French Open. The men’s draw is intriguing too, given Alcaraz might sit this one out and we still have no Sinner. Could this be the event Novak Djokovic bags his 100th title?
