In April, tennis moved to clay courts. Here are the results, plus some other updates…

Davis Cup Quarter Finals

USA v France – USA won 3-2

Spain v Austria – Spain won 4-1

Czech Republic v Serbia – Czech Republic d Serbia 4-1

Argentina d Croatia – Argentina d Croatia 4-1

Davis Cup World Group Semi Finals (to be played 14-16 September):

• USA plays Spain in Spain
• Argentina plays Czech Republic in Argentina

Full details on the Davis Cup website

Grand Prix Hassan II – Casablanca

Pablo Andujar defeated Albert Ramos to win this ATP World Tour 250 tournament for the second time.

US Men’s Clay Court Championships – Houston

Juan Monaco defeated John Isner to win the River Oaks US Men’s Clay Court Championships in 3 sets.

Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters

Rafa won his eighth straight Monte-Carlo title, defeating Novak Djokovic, whose grand father died during the tournament.

As Djokovic has defeated Nadal in the last seven finals that they played against each other, in his victory speech Rafa said “After seven times, thank you for this one”. That’s what I call class all the way!

Monte Carlo wasn’t without court related issues or injuries. Get the deets in this article: Cursed Tournament

BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy – Bucharest

Gilles Simon defeated Fabio Fognini to win this ATP World Tour Masters 250 tournament for the third time.

Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell

Rafael Nadal defeated David Ferrer to win the Barcelona Open for a record seventh time.

Ivan Ljubicic Retires

Here is the official ATP World Tour retirement video of Ljubicic, former president of the players’ council who spent 15 years on the tour….the vid is well worth watching.

Other News

• Wimbledon prize money has increased by 10%
• Djokovic has been named as TIME magazine’s Top 100 most influential people in the world
• Sharapova and Djokovic appeared in this amazing photo to promote the Rome tournament
• Djokovic and Nadal will play in a charity match in Madrid

As for me, I’m heading off on the French Open / Wimbledon leg of the fan slam tour in less than two weeks!

Before the French Open in terms of ATP World Tour 1000 tournaments we’ve got Madrid and Rome to look forward to, plus all the other tournys listed at the top of the ATP website.

Until next time

Grand Slam Gal