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Hat trick
With record attendance at the BJK Cup
Good morning. If you didn’t get your taxes done by the 15th, this is your reminder that you can still flee start. If you got some money back (hooray!) and are thinking about what to spend it on, maybe this is the year you go to a slam? Here’s how far we are from the next ones:
Roland Garros - 39 days
Wimbledon - 73 days
Olympics (not a slam) - 98 days
US Open - 129 days
If you end up going to the US Open, I’d recommend having a “Honey Deuce” budget. While the mostly-ice cocktail costs a whopping $22 a pop, the August New York heat will have you asking for three at a time.
ATP
Hat trick for Tsitsipas
Stefanos Tsitsipas after winning Monte Carlo last weekend
Stefanos Tsitsipas won Monte Carlo for the third time in his career last weekend, defeating Casper Ruud 6-1, 6-4 in the final. The win brought tears to Tsitsipas, who hadn’t captured a title since July of last year and had recently fallen out of the top 10. “It’s been very difficult. Being back on the podium and winning a tournament again feels amazing”, he shared after the match. With the win, he jumps back to No. 7 in the world, and gives Grigor Dimitrov some company as the second top ten player with a one-handed backhand. For Ruud, this tournament had both a breakthrough and a tough pill to swallow. He beat Novak Djokovic for the first time (lost all 5 previous meetings), but is now 0-7 in finals above the ATP 250 level.
In a quick turnaround, Tsitsipas and Ruud are both looking to keep the momentum going by playing the ATP 500 Barcelona Open this week.
Trivia
Who was the last American man and woman to become World No 1?
Find out at the bottom!
WTA
See you in Seville
Qualifying for the Billie Jean King (BJK) Cup commenced last weekend, with record attendance. What’s the BJK Cup? It’s one of the few team events in tennis, where players represent their countries in a tournament. The women have the BJK Cup, while the men have Davis Cup. Last weekend, the match between Brazil and Germany in Sao Paulo drew 8,050 fans on day two, setting a new single-day attendance record. And across both days, a total of 14,940 spectators attended, marking a new high for the event.
The finals will be played in Seville in November, with the following teams:
Poland, Great Britain, Romania, Germany, USA, Japan, Slovakia, Australia, Canada, Italy, and the Czech Republic.
By the Numbers
Prize money year-to-date
In honor of tax season, here are the top 3 earners this year from each tour:
ATP
Jannik Sinner $4.2M
Daniil Medvedev $2.3M
Alexander Zverev $2.0M
WTA
Iga Swiatek $2.5M
Aryna Sabalenka $2.4M
Elena Rybakina $1.4M
I’m guessing that none of these players will get money back next year…
More News & Media
Tennis movie Challengers, starring Zendaya is coming out in theaters on April 26th. Check out the trailer.
Nadal finally returned to action this week at the Barcelona Open, winning his first round, and then losing to Alex De Minaur. This was likely Rafa’s last appearance in Barcelona, where he has lifted the trophy a record 12 times. He’s scheduled to play in Madrid, hoping to get more matches in before Roland Garros.
Watch Andrey Rublev obliterate his racket after losing first round in Monte Carlo (where he won last year) against Brandon Nakashima
The internet dug up an old video of 8 year old Coco Gauff cheering on Venus Williams at the 2012 US Open. There were two champions in Arthur Ashe stadium that day.
Thanks for reading!
DP 🤠
Answer: Andy Roddick (2003) and Serena Williams (2002)