Weekly round-up: Stefanos Tsitsipas successfully defends Monte-Carlo title, Emma Raducanu records first win on clay | 11-18 April
Another week of exhilarating tennis action came to an end with Stefanos Tsitsipas winning the Monte-Carlo Masters for the second straight year. Meanwhile, Emma Raducanu registered her first victory on clay in the Billie Jean King Cup qualifying round.
The latter competition saw eight teams booking their place in the Finals, joining Australia, Slovakia and Switzerland.
Here is a recap of all the action that took place this past week.
Stefanos Tsitsipas triumphs in Monte-Carlo for second straight year
World No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas won his first trophy of the year at the Monte-Carlo Masters. The Greek was the reigning champion and started the competition by beating Fabio Fognini 6-3, 6-0. He followed this by beating Laslo Djere 7-5, 7-6(1).
Tsitsipas then beat Diego Schwartzman 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-4 in what was a thrilling quarterfinal. He defeated Alexander Zverev in straight sets in the semifinals to set up a title clash against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
In the final, Tsitsipas took the opening set 6-3 but the Spaniard held his own in the second to take it to a tie-break. However, the Greek showcased his class to take the tie-break 7-3 and win his first title of the 2022 season.
The 23-year-old became only the sixth player in the Open Era to defend the Monte-Carlo Masters; the others being Ilie Nastase, Bjorn Borg, Thomas Muster, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Rafael Nadal.
BACK-TO-BACK MONTE CARLO CHAMPION 👑
@steftsitsipas | @ROLEXMCMASTERS | #RolexMCMasters https://t.co/AQfxW9KYNc
Emma Raducanu wins first match on clay
World No. 12 Emma Raducanu won her first-ever match on clay while representing Great Britain in their Billie Jean King Cup tie against Czech Republic. The Brit beat Tereza Martincova 7-5, 7-5 to level the tie after Marketa Vondrousova thrashed Harriet Dart 6-1, 6-0.
Emma Raducanu beats Tereza Martincova 7-5 7-5 in Prague.
First clay court match, first clay win. First BJK Cup match, first BJK Cup win.
"This one means so much to me", she says.
Katie Swan takes a polaroid of the moment. https://t.co/RcQ8OOUmrE
However, Raducanu suffered a foot blister during her next match against Vondrousova and lost 6-1, 6-1. Dart's victory over Linda Fruhvirtova kept Great Britain in the tie but the Czechs won the doubles clash and booked their place in the Billie Jean King Cup Finals.
Elsewhere in the competition, Italy beat France 3-1 while the United States beat Ukraine 3-2. Germany were knocked out after losing 3-1 to Kazakhstan, with Angelique Kerber losing both her matches to Yulia Putintseva and Elena Rybakina.
Leylah Fernandez starred for Canada as they brushed aside Latvia 4-0. The US Open runner-up won both her matches against Darja Semenistaja and Daniela Vismane.
Spain and Poland both booked their spots in the Finals with 4-0 wins over Netherlands and Romania respectively. World No. 1 Iga Swiatek beat Mihaela Buzarnescu and Andreea Prisacariu, dropping just one game in the two matches combined.