Spring Clay Season Commences: The focus shifts to the red clay in April with eight tournaments on the ATP World Tour taking place. The lone North American clay tournament in Houston and the only African event of the season in Marrakech, which is a new stop, kick off the swing. There are 12 clay court tournaments in the next seven weeks, leading into Roland Garros, which begins on May 22.

Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship (Houston): This year’s event will mark the 82^nd tournament hosted at River Oaks Country Club. The last four winners are in the 28-player field, with reigning champion Jack Sock, 2014 titlist Fernando Verdasco, 2013 champ John Isner, who is the top seed for the second time in three years, and 2012 titleholder Juan Monaco. The other seeds are: No. 2 Benoit Paire, No. 3 Feliciano Lopez, No. 4 Sock, No. 5/two-time finalist Sam Querrey, No. 6 Steve Johnson, No. 7 Marcos Baghdatis and No. 8 Denis Kudla. Overall, there are seven players in the Top 50 Emirates ATP Rankings in the draw.

Reigning Champion: Last year Sock defeated countryman Querrey 76(9) 76(2) to earn his maiden ATP World Tour singles crown. It was the first all-American final in Houston since 2003 (Agassi d. Roddick). Sock came in unseeded and ranked No. 46 before winning his last 10 sets (lost the opening set). Sock went on to reach the 4R at Roland Garros (l. to Nadal), his best career Grand Slam singles result. He finished a year-end best No. 26. This season he opened with a runner-up in Auckland (ret. vs. Bautista Agut) and afterwards reached a career-high No. 22 on Jan. 18.

Milestone Watch: Isner is four match wins away from reaching 300 in his career (296-183). The 30-year-old American comes in with an 8-6 match record on the season. He helped the U.S. to the Davis Cup quarter-finals (vs. Croatia) with a pair of wins in Australia. His last four losses have come in a third-set tie-break. He is 9-9 in tie-breaks on the season. Isner is making his ninth straight appearance in Houston (11-7 record) and he won his first clay court title in 2013 (d. Almagro). The last two years he lost in the opening round (after bye to D. Brown, Gabashvili). Last season Isner finished a year-end best No. 11 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

Next Generation in Draw: There are three members of the ATP World Tour’s Next Generation in the main draw: last year’s ATP Most Improved Player of the Year, 19-year-old Hyeon Chung of Korea along with 18-year-old wild cards Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe. Paul won the Roland Garros boys’ title last year and was runner-up at the US Open boys’ tournament. He is expected to crack the Top 200 (from No. 215) after qualifying at the Miami Open. Tiafoe is ranked a career-high No. 167.

Querrey Starts Strong: No. 3 American and 2010 & last year’s runner-up Querrey is off to a 12-6 start this season, having captured his eighth career ATP World Tour title in Delray Beach (d. Ram) in February. Querrey has an 11-6 career record in Houston and along with his two runner-up finishes, he advanced to the SF in 2014.

Spaniards Return: Madrid natives Lopez and Verdasco are both playing in Houston for the fourth time. Lopez has a 4-3 record, reaching the SF in his 2012 debut while Verdasco won the title two years ago and SF last year. Verdasco has an 8-2 record at River Oaks Country Club.

Bryans Back: Five-time U.S. Clay Courts champions Bob and Mike Bryan, who      have finished No. 1 on the ATP World Tour in 10 of the last 13 years, are making their 12th appearance in Houston. They have won five titles (2007, ‘09’-10-11, ’14) in their last seven visits (DNP ’08, ’12) and have compiled a 24-2 mark since 2007. They are looking for their first title of the year. Their best result is a runner-up in Delray Beach. Their last title came at ATP Masters 1000 Montreal last August.

Grand Prix Hassan II (Marrakech): The only African tournament on the ATP World Tour, the Grand Prix Hassan II, inaugurated in 1986 in Casablanca, takes place at the newly relocated Royal Tennis Club de Marrakech. Leading the way is top seed and 2014 champion Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, No. 2 Joao Sousa, No. 3 Borna Coric, No. 4 Federico Delbonis, No. 5 Teymuraz Gabashvili, No. 6 Albert Ramos-Vinolas, No. 7 Pablo Carreno Busta and No. 8 Jiri Vesely.

Spanish Success: A Spaniard has hoisted the Casablanca trophy in five of the last seven years, with Stan Wawrinka lifting the trophy in 2010 and Martin Klizan last year. The Spanish winners are Garcia-Lopez (2014), Tommy Robredo (2013), Pablo Andujar, who won back-to-back titles in 2011-12,  and Juan Carlos Ferrero (2009). There are a tournament-high eight Spaniards in the main draw, including three former finalists: Daniel Gimeno-Traver (2015), Albert Ramos-Vinolas (2012) and Albert Montanes (2007).

Garcia-Lopez Top Seed: Garcia-Lopez, who won the title two years ago, is the top seed in the tournament for the second straight year. The 32-year-old Spaniard is making his fifth straight tournament appearance and eighth overall (10-6 record). Along with his title, Garcia-Lopez has reached the QFs three times. This season he has compiled a 6-8 match record with his best results the QFs in Chennai and Sofia. He also advanced to the 3R at the Australian Open.

Almagro on the Move: Former World No. 9 Nicolas Almagro is making his third tournament appearance and last year he returned for the first time in 10 years to reach the quarter-finals. In February, he reached the final in Buenos Aires with wins over No. 9 Tsonga (QF) and No. 6 Ferrer (SF) before losing to Thiem in a 3^rd set TB.

Morocco’s Hope: The are three local players in the draw: wild cards Amine Ahouda, Reda El Amrani and Lamine Ouahab. The 31-year-old Ouahab is the No. 1 Moroccan player at No. 315 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. Moroccans won titles in 1997 with current tournament director Hicham Arazi and Younes El Aynaoui in 2002.

Next Generation Star: No. 3 seed Borna Coric, who is making his tournament debut, is the only teenager in the Top 50 Emirates ATP Rankings at No. 46. The 19-year-old Croat opened the season by reaching his maiden ATP World Tour final in Chennai (l. to Wawrinka).

Defending Champ Out: Reigning champion Martin Klizan withdrew from the tournament due to an ongoing foot injury. The No. 1 Slovak Republic player won the biggest ATP World Tour title of his career at the 500 level tournament in Rotterdam in February (d. Monfils).       

In Case You Missed It

Novak Djokovic downed Kei Nishikori in Miami to win a record 28^th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title. Read

Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut captured their second consecutive ATP World Tour Masters 1000 doubles title. Read

Birthdays

4 April – Dudi Sela (31)

6 April – Robin Haase (29)

7 April – Pere Riba (28) 

Ranking Movers

13 – David Goffin (+2, career-best)

20 – Nick Kyrgios (+6, career-best)

79 – Taylor Fritz (+2, career-best)

Milestones

Houston Singles

Marcos Baghdatis – 297 wins

John Isner – 296 wins

Benjamin Becker – 148 wins

Houston Doubles

Philipp Petzschner – 148 wins

Marrakech Singles

Albert Montanes – 248 wins

Albert Ramos-Vinolas – 97 wins

Marrakech Doubles

Maximo Gonzalez – 49 wins

Michael Venus – 46 wins

The tennis family is rallying around former player and coach Ricardo Acuna, who is battling Alzheimer’s disease.

A pro-am was held Wednesday to raise funds for the Chilean former Top 50 player, ATP and USTA national coach. Chilean gold medallists Fernando Gonzalez and Nicolas Massu, along with current and formers players Brian Baker, Brian Gottfried, Tommy Paul, Reilly Opelka, Giovanni Lapentti, Diego Moyano and Raleigh Smith took part in a pro-am at the Royal Palm Tennis Club in Pinecrest, just south of Miami.

Additionally, a Go Fund Me page has been set up to raise funds for his care.

Former player Andres Pedroso, who helped to set up the pro-am, said that Acuna was a mentor when he worked as a USTA national coach in Boca Raton, Florida. “Ricardo took me under his wing, taught me a lot and helped me become a better coach for the players I was working with,” Pedroso said.

“He was always very loyal and an important lesson he taught me over dinner once is that true friendship involves staying in touch with people, asking how they are doing, keeping up with their lives, asking about their families. It wasn’t just about the tennis; he exposed me to another side of life. He taught me to invest in people and I have never forgotten that. I have tried to live that way.”

Acuna, now 58, played college tennis at Northwestern State University in Louisiana, where he was an all-American in 1979. As a pro he reached a career-high singles Emirates ATP Ranking of 47 in 1986 and he won three doubles titles. One of his most memorable runs came at Wimbledon in 1985, when he defeated David Pate and future champion Pat Cash en route to the quarter-finals. Acuna also served on the ATP Player Council during his career.

Brian Gottfried, who played Acuna just once in 1983, said: “He was an unusual player to hail from Chile; he was one of the few South Americans who played better on a faster surface. He was a good serve and volleyer and an accomplished doubles player.”

Gottfried spent much more time with Acuna after both retired when they worked side by side at the ATP Tennis Club at Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. When the club opened in 1989, Acuna was the club’s first head pro and he later became tennis director when Gottfried was promoted to general manager.

“Ricardo showed tremendous loyalty and work ethic and was always a great team player, covering whatever needed to be done,” Gottfried said. “He did a lot of teaching for us and he had clients who would stay with him for so long that we joked that those clients were his college trust fund for his kids.

“He brought in pros to train at the ATP club and he still could handle most of them even when he stopped playing professionally. He kept himself in great shape and was always doing something physical, whether it was tennis, golf or soccer, and he was always smiling.”

J. Wayne Richmond, a former ATP executive and now the general manager of the Emirates Airline US Open Series, says that he treasures his friendship with Acuna. “I was fortunate to meet Ricardo during his great quarter-final run at Wimbledon in 1985 and we continued our friendship through when we both came to work at the ATP in Ponte Vedra.  He loved the sport and made friends with everyone he met along the way. A true pro in every sense of the word. Ricardo was so much fun to be around on and off the court.”

American player Brian Baker said that Acuna was instrumental in his development: “He was the first coach I worked full time with from the USTA. I met him when I was 14 or 15 and in my last couple of junior years he would travel with me. When I turned pro he’d travel with me, Amer Delic, Bobby Reynolds and a little bit with Rajeev [Ram].

“Ricardo was a great coach but also a really good friend. He had a no-nonsense approach to practice which I enjoyed; although practices were hard you felt like you accomplished a lot. He took his job seriously and he worked hard and stayed in shape. He remained a really good player and early on he’d beat us pretty bad when we played.

“He could also easily flip roles from on court to off the court, where he had a lively personality and he could joke around with the best of us. He was always up for doing something. When he lived in Ponte Vedra I would come down to train with him and stay with him and his wife and kids (Rachel and Christian).”

As Acuna’s family, friends and colleagues coalesce to support him during his battle with Alzheimer’s, Gottfried best sums up the feeling within the tennis family. “This is something we want to do for Ricardo, not for charity, but to say thank you for touching our lives.”

It’s not often you see a former World No. 1 and 17-time Grand Slam champion competing in an ATP Challenger Tour event, but Leander Paes spoke of his time this week at the $75,000 event in Leon with the same reverence as some of the biggest events on the ATP World Tour.

Competing in the doubles draw with Sam Groth, the No. 3 seeds advanced to the final and held two championship points before narrowly losing to No. 1 seeds Santiago Gonzalez and Mate Pavic, 6-4, 3-6, 13-11. But despite the loss, Paes only had good things to say about the tournament.

“It’s been a while since I’ve played a Challenger, but the stadium was packed,” said Paes. “Everybody loves their tennis here in Leon. It’s really special for me to be able to come out and play here and make people happy. The club is beautiful and the local hospitality is something that I’m very appreciative of.”

Paes also expressed optimism about his partnership with Groth. Having reached the final of their first event together, the pair plan to team up again and Paes believes their combined skill sets could be a winning combination.

“Sam is a dear friend and a great tennis player,” said Paes. “The combination is excellent. He has a big serve and I’ve got some touch, so we’re just trying to keep each other happy out there.“

After 25 years on tour, Paes still remains determined to get back to the top of the game and has no plans of retiring. But as he reaches what even he acknowledges is the back end of his career, his main goal is to maximize the time he has left.

“After you’ve won 17 Grand Slams and played in six Olympics, you don’t really worry about expectations,” said Paes. “I just want to go out and have fun.”

Four other Grand Slam doubles champion joined Paes this week in competing in doubles on the ATP Challenger Tour. Former World No. 1 Mahesh Bhupathi and Jonathan Marray teamed up at the $50,000 event in St. Brieuc, while Frederik Nielsen and Jonathan Erlich competed separately in the $125,000 tournament in Ra’anana.

Kei Nishikori knows better than most about the challenges presented by Novak Djokovic.

Nishikori, a player known for his versatility, adjusted his game plan in an attempt to overcome the World No. 1 in the Miami Open presented by Itau final on Sunday.

“I don’t know for other players, but it’s tough to find his weakness,” he said. “I had a couple of strategies before this match, but I don’t think I did well enough to beat him today. I was missing a lot with my forehand and made too many unforced errors.

“He has great defense, so it’s tough to break his game,” the Japanese, who fell to 2-7 in the FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry against Djokovic, added.  “He was very patient and he didn’t miss. It’s always tough to play Novak.”

The No. 6 player in the Emirates ATP Rankings recognised that Djokovic’s main strength is an uncanny ability to prevent his opponents from playing their best.

“Maybe five or six [out of 10],” replied Nishikori when asked how he rated his performance in the final. “I thought I wasn’t playing too badly. But at the same time, he played great tennis.

“My serve wasn’t going today. He has a great return, so I felt a little pressure on my service games. He’s definitely the No. 1 player right now. It was about him, even if I didn’t play the way I wanted to.”

Nishikori, a resident of Bradenton, Florida, will now head to Europe after a successful March hard court swing and attempt to re-enter the Top 5 Emirates ATP Rankings.

“Indian Wells and Miami have been important,” Nishikori noted. “I live in the States so I feel more comfortable playing these two tournaments. I’ve never done well at Indian Wells but this year I did make the quarter-finals. That’s progress.

“I’m excited to be back on clay. I been playing well on clay, so starting in Barcelona I hope to get my ranking up.”

A LOOK BACK

Israel Open (Ra’anana, Israel): In the third ATP Challenger Tour final this year to feature two Top 100 players, No. 1 seed Evgeny Donskoy (World No. 82) squared off against No. 3 seed Ricardas Berankis (World No. 86). A lone break of serve in each set was all Donskoy needed to take the match, 6-4, 6-4.

The win gives Donskoy the 8^th ATP Challenger Tour singles title of his career, with the most recent one coming last August in Segovia. He will also move up to No. 66 next week in the Emirates ATP Rankings, just one spot shy of his career-high ranking of No. 65.

No. 5 seed Thomas Fabbiano, who lost in the semi-finals to Donskoy, will crack the Top 100 of the ATP Emirates Rankings for the first time in his career when next week’s rankings are released. He becomes the third player to reach the Top 100 for the first time in 2016, joining Taylor Fritz and Yuichi Sugita.

Torneo Internacional Challenger Leon (Leon, Mexico): After advancing through four tight matches to reach the final, No. 6 seed Michael Berrer let loose in the championship against unseeded Joao Souza. The German needed just over an hour to win the title, 6-3, 6-2.

After nearly retiring from tennis last year, Berrer’s victory gives him the 11^th ATP Challenger Tour title of his career and his first since 2013. He’s also inching closer to returning to the Top 100 for the first time since January 2012. Berrer has also become the second 35-year-old winner this year on the ATP Challenger Tour, joining Stephane Robert, who prevailed in February in New Delhi.

In the doubles draw, former world No. 1 and 17-time Grand Slam champion Leander Paes reached the final with Sam Groth, marking his first time in a Challenger final since Sunrise in March 2010. The No. 3 seeds narrowly lost after holding two match points against No. 1 seeds Santiago Gonzalez and Mate Pavic, 6-4, 3-6, 13-11.

Open Harmonie Mutuelle (St. Brieuc, France): French wild card Alexandre Sidorenko capped off a dream week by winning the first ATP Challenger Tour title of his career at age 28. The World No. 379 came out on top in a marathon match against No. 6 seed Igor Sijsling, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(3).

Competing in his first ATP Challenger Tour final in eight years (the last being in Grenoble in 2008), Sidorenko rebounded strongly after a nervy opening set and had an opportunity to serve out the match at 5-4. Sijsling responded brilliantly by breaking serve and the match eventually went into a final-set tiebreak. With the crowd firmly on his side, Sidorenko saved his best tennis for the end of the match. A backhand passing shot winner on match point saw Sidorenko collapse to the ground in celebration as the crowd leapt to their feet.

Sidorenko is the second-lowest ranked winner this year on the ATP Challemger Tour, with the lowest being No. 721 Blake Mott prevailing in February in Launceston. He’s also the fourth different French titlist on the ATP Challenger Tour this year, joining Pierre-Hugues Herbert, Stephane Robert and Adrian Mannarino. The win this week will also propel the Frenchman over 100 spots in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID

Donskoy: “Thank you everyone for coming today. I hope you enjoyed the tennis today. Today was a hard match. I’m good friend with Ricardas, so I was a little bit nervous on the court, but I guess I was just more lucky today.”

“The atmosphere here is awesome. This is my second time in this tournament. I enjoyed coming back here and hope to come back here next year. “

A LOOK AHEAD

Two tournaments are the on the calendar this week, with the $100,000 event in Le Gosier, Guadeloupe taking top billing. This always-popular tournament returns for the sixth straight year and features three players inside the Top 100, with World No. 61 Rajeev Ram earning the honours of being the top seed. Other notable names in the draw include #NextGen stars Taylor Fritz and Yoshihito Nishioka as the No. 2 and No. 5 seeds, respectively. Malek Jaziri, a winner last month at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Guadalajara, is the No. 3 seed.

The $50,000 event in Napoli, Italy is one of the oldest ATP Challenger Tour events on the calendar, with the first edition taking place in 1995. The prestigious list of winners includes Richard Gasquet, David Ferrer, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Thomas Johansson. Filip Krajinovic looks to join that notable list of names as the No. 1 seed this year. Thomas Fabbiano, a winner last month at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Zhuhai, is the No. 4 seed. Sidorenko and Sijsling will also play in Napoli and could potentially meet in the quarter-finals. Other notable names in the draw include last year’s finalist Matteo Donati and former Top 25 player Filippo Volandri.

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