Weekend Tennis Roundup

Carlos and Aryna won in Madrid -- yet I'm more interested in knowing who came out top in the photo below. More HERE.

I must admit I was pretty happy to see Aryna Sabalenka take out Iga Swiatek 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the Madrid final. I don't dislike Iga, but find her holding her hand up to try to control the pace of the server to be off-putting at times -- plus I like that the Pole doesn't have as big a lock on the No. 1 ranking now. 

 Sabalenka needed 2 hours and 26 minutes to beat the top seed to win Madrid for the second time in the past three years and 13th title overall.

Carlos Alcaraz captured his fourth ATP Masters 1000 title Sunday when he overcame Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to successfully defend his crown in Madrid. 

Carlos is incredible, but the German lucky loser deserves a lot of credit for keeping the match close -- and for beating Shelton, a red-hot Lajovic, Cachin, Tsitsipas(!), Karatsev (who had beaten him in qualies!) before losing to the Spanish phenom. 

👏👏👏

I haven't been paying much attention to Cakegate, but you've probably heard that Victoria Azarenka and Beatriz Haddad-Maia beat Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula in the women's doubles final, but none of the players were allowed to give the customary speeches during the trophy presentation. Now people are speculating that it was payback from the tournament for complaints by the women about the disparate cakes Sabalenka and Alcaraz received for their birthdays, as well as scheduling disparities and claims that the ball girls' outfits were too suggestive. 

I'm working with limited information, but as far as the birthday celebrations go, to me it seemed like Carlos received the giant cake because it was in HIS HOME COUNTRY and because it was the end of his being a teenager. Sabalenka, on the other hand, turned 25 -- not exactly a touchstone -- and is playing under no flag because of the war in Ukraine. 

No complaints from the men's doubles, where the handsome Russians shared a court with Matt Ebden's pecs  

Andy Murray overcame a slow start and World No. 17 Tommy Paul to triumph 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 Sunday at the ATP Challenger Tour 175 event in Aix-en-Provence, which became a big-name tournament as the early losers from Madrid all raced to enter. 

As was pointed out by Ben Rothenberg, Challengers aren't easy, even for a great: Murray has only won 3 of the 19 Challengers he's played; he hadn't won the previous four challengers he entered, dating back to 2019.This was the first Challenger win for Murray since Binghamton 2005(!).

Ugo Humbert capped a dramatic week Sunday, when he captured the title at ATP Challenger Tour 175 event in Cagliari, Italy. The Frenchman downed fourth seed Laslo Djere 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 in the final to lift the trophy at the Sardegna Open. Humbert fended off 12 of 16 break points in an entertaining three-hour, eight-minute battle.

Hot duo alert: Lucas Miedler and Alex Erler took home the doubles crown at the Sardegna Open

Great result for Borna in reaching the semis, where his match against Alcaraz was closer than the score indicted ... until it wasn't 

Looking sharp

Fabien Reboul can't stop teasing the gays

I like the Frenchman with either of these gents

Ooh la la

Travelmates Pedro Cachine and Nico Jarry

Pedro Martinez Portero & Co. hit the practice court in Rome

Lucas Percy and Adam Jones keep dry

Adam's brother Ben Jones and Giles Hussey ...



Make a cute mixed-height couple

Marton Fucsovics never gives it a rest 

The Quad Squad: J.J. Wolf and Marcos Giron 



The fruits of Marcos's labor

Russian Aslan Karatsev is back to putting on his lower-body show

Bart Stevens seemed to have an occasional 'stache happening in Prague

Juan Martin del Potro is getting better with age

Andrea Vavassori: Birds of a feather 

Carlos's secret asset 

Stan the man 

Does Riley Opelka play tennis anymore? 

or is he too busy watching "Drag Race'? 

Cheers! Incredible two weeks for Daniel Altmaier, reaching the quarters in Madrid

I see more endorsements in the German's future 

I see Andy Seppi hasn't retired that bod

Hard to imagine Jack’s body failing anyone 

And last but not least: 

American Amanda Anisimova announced Friday that she’ll be taking an indefinite break from tennis, citing burnout and concerns for her mental health.

"I've really been struggling with my mental health and burnout since the summer of 2022," the former World No.21 wrote on Instagram. “It's become unbearable being at tennis tournaments. At this point, my priority is my mental well-being and taking a break for some time. I've worked as hard as I could to push through it."