International BNL d’Italia ATP 1000, WTA 1000

 

International BNL d’Italia ATP 1000, WTA 1000
Rome, Italy
May 6-18, 2025

Pietrangeli Stadium

Italian Open 2024 - ATP/WTA 1000

“You may have the world if I may have Italy” — Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)

C'è qualcosa nell'Italia -

The city of Verona is rich of Roman antiquities (the city is also known as little Rome), nevertheless it is mostly famous as the setting of the love story Romeo and Juliet. The symbol of the city is the great Roman Arena (Arena di Verona).

Mutua Madrid Open - 2024 ATP 1000 /WTA 1000

Street Art by SpY Urban Art, Madrid, Spain

Note:  SpY is the correct listed spelling as shown 

Mutua Madrid Open

Madrid, Spain

April 23rd - May 5, 2024 - WTA

April 24th -May 5, 2024 - ATP

Miami Open 2024 - ATP 1000/WTA 1000

Miami Open ATP 1000, WTA 1000
Hard Rock Stadium
Miami, Florida, USA

WTA March 19-30
 ATP March 20-31, 2024

Surface: Hard
Draw: Singles 96, Doubles 32

The tournament was first held in 1985 and is considered the second half of the Sunshine Double.

Week 2 of ATP 1000 Shanghai + WTA Seoul, Hong Kong & Zhengzhou

 

Finally, this week's tournaments are back to a normal schedule - a Monday start (it's China time zone) and the ATP Shanghai Masters 1000 going into its 2nd week. All tournaments this week will finish on Oct. 15.

Congratulations to the WTA Beijing Masters 1000 winners this week:

Singles: Iga Swiatek d. Liudmila Samsonova

Doubles: M. Bouzkova/S. Sorribes Tormo d. H-C Chan/G. Olmos

Hartt shares an important reminder about Peng Shuai:

With the return of the WTA to China we are reminded of Peng Shuai. In November 2021 she accused Zhang Gaoli, a retired Chinese Vice-Premier, of sexual assault. Since then, outside of what appeared to be staged situations, she has disappeared from public view. We hope that reports that she is safe and living with her family in Beijing are accurate.

Peng is now officially retired from tennis, but she had a wonderful career. She won the doubles trophies in Wimbledon (2013) and Roland Garros (2014) with partner Hsieh Su-wei. In singles she reached a career high ranking of No. 14. Another highlight was winning the gold medal at the Asian Games in 2010.

The reality is that China, having suspended tournaments during the Covid pandemic, has allowed them to resume, and both the WTA and the ATP are back. But it is important that we do not forget Peng Shuai.~ Shirley

👇

HEAT'S ON IN CINCINNATI 2023

 

As they say - there's no rest for the wicked or for the players competing in the North  American Swing. From the rain in both Toronto and Montreal, we're back-to-back this week in Cincinnati for another combined Masters and WTA 1000 event.

Congratulations to this week's champions:

Toronto Men's Champ Jannik Sinner d. Alex de Minaur; Doubles Champs Arevalo/Rojer d. Ram/Salisbury.

Montreal Women's Champ Jessica Pegula d. Liudmila Samsonova; Doubles Champs Aoyama/Shibahara d. Krawczyk/Schuurs.

So let's play ball and see some Abstract Art👇

O Canada! ATP 1000 Toronto, WTA 1000 Montreal

 

           Canadian art for Hartt 

Bubbles by Canadian artist Kelly McNeil

ITALIAN OPEN - ROME ATP/WTA Masters 1000

 

Congratulations to the Mutua Madrid Champions, WTA  #2 Aryna Sabalenka and ATP #1 Carlos Alcaraz.  Razzie Award to Madrid's event organization for a slew of faux paus - from 'Cake-Gate' to not allowing the Women's Double Champions speak at their ceremony. If Feliciano Lopez is feeling the heat, well asi es la vida😕

However, Tennis moves on quickly.  Viva Italia for 12 days - the event is more than just tennis. It's an entertainment experience, high fashion, fine food, fabulous shopping and celebrity musical performances have made the tournament one of the most glamorous stops on the ATP/WTA Tours.  

Let's play ball!👇

Mutua Madrid Open ATP and WTA 1000

    For Foodies...... 

One of the most traditional and famous rice dishes in Spain, paella comes in several varieties, but if you can, try Valencia paella. Valencia is the region in which this dish originates

ATP Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters 2023

 

For the next two weeks, only the men are competing in the ATP Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters 1000 - 'The Gem of the Mediterranean.'  

With so many withdrawals, including those by several top players, there was considerable discussion about the timing of Monte Carlo. Is one week sufficient time for players to make the transition from two, long hardcourt tourneys in the US to red clay in Europe?

There are no regular WTA tournaments this week, but 18 nations will compete in Billie Jean King Cup ties on a home-and-away basis. The BJK Cup qualifiers will be competing at multiple locations on April 14 and 15, 2023, and the 9 winners will advance to the Finals on November 7-12.

Several top players are taking part, including Elena Rybakina playing for Kazakhstan in the Kazakhstan vs Poland tie and Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff representing the US in the USA vs Austria. For further information: Billie Jean King Cup.

Let's get dirty👇

MIAMI OPEN 2023 - Week 2

Miami Open Masters
Hard Rock Stadium
Miami Gardens, USA
March 21 - April 2, 2023

INDIAN WELLS 2023 - WEEK 2 FINALS

 

This prestigious tournament has been in Indian Wells since 1987, having begun as a non-tour event in Tucson, Arizona in 1974. It has an unusual format, with 96 players in a 128-player grid. To make this work the top 32 seeds have a first-round bye, and the tournament runs for 12 days. The tourney likes to call itself the Fifth Grand Slam, played in Tennis Paradise.

It is certainly popular with both players and fans. Indian Wells has been voted the best Masters tourney by the players several times, including in 2022. It is the most-attended tournament outside of the 4 Majors, and has the 2nd largest tennis stadium with more than 16,000 seats. Along with the Miami Open, Indian Wells is known as the Sunshine Double. 

INDIAN WELLS 2023

This prestigious tournament has been in Indian Wells since 1987, having begun as a non-tour event in Tucson, Arizona in 1974. It has an unusual format, with 96 players in a 128-player grid. To make this work the top 32 seeds have a first-round bye, and the tournament runs for 12 days. The tourney likes to call itself the Fifth Grand Slam, played in Tennis Paradise.

It is certainly popular with both players and fans. Indian Wells has been voted the best Masters tourney by the players several times, including in 2022. It is the most-attended tournament outside of the 4 Majors, and has the 2nd largest tennis stadium with more than 16,000 seats. Along with the Miami Open, Indian Wells is known as the Sunshine Double. 

The Eisenhower Cup Mixed Doubles Contestants (teams l-r: Wawrinka/Bencic, Tsitsipas/Sakkari, Badosa/Norrie, Fernandez/FAA, Świątek/Hurkacz, Jabeur/Ruud, Pegula/Paul, Sabalenka/Fritz 

A new event this year was the Eisenhower Cup - a mixed doubles exhibition held on March 7, just prior to the first day of main draw action. It featured 8 teams playing Tie Break Tens for a winner-take-all prize of $200,000. The last team standing was Aryna Sabalenka/Taylor Fritz who defeated the formidable pair Iga Swiatek/Hubert Hurkacz. 

So, let's play ball👇

WINTER IS COMING: 2022 WTA Finals & ATP Paris Masters

 

ATP 1000
Rolex Paris Masters
Paris (Bercy), France

WTA Finals
Fort Worth, TX, USA

As October comes to a close, we're officially in the final lap of the 2022 Tennis Season. The men's regulation tournaments end with this week's Paris Masters and the women's regulation tournament season closes with the WTA Finals in Fort Worth, Texas.  Both tours ring in Halloween tomorrow, their first day of competition🎃

Congratulations to this week's Champions: 

ATP 500 Basel, Switzerland - Felix Auger-Aliassime (d. Holger Rune).

ATP 500 Vienna, Austria - Daniil Medvedev (d. Denis Shapavolov).

So as we leave October and Winter is coming to this tennis year, let's get to it!👇

Western & Southern Open - ATP/WTA Masters 1000 - Cincinnati, Ohio USA

Western & Southern Open
ATP 1000, WTA 1000
August 14 - 21, 2022

Hot off the heels of the National Bank Open (Montreal and Toronto, Canada) we're into the 2nd month of the North American Swing leading to the USO at the end of August.  I'm sure we'll see some withdrawals since we had an unexpected - but worthy - final four in both Montreal and Toronto.  

Congratulations to this week's champions:

NBO Montreal 

Singles Champion: Pablo Carreno Busta d. Hubert Hurkacz

Doubles Champions: W. Koolhof/N. Skupski d. D. Evans/J. Peers

NBO Toronto

Singles Champion: SIMONA HALEP (d. Beatriz Haddad Maia)

Doubles Champions: Cori Gauff/Jessica Pegula d. N. Melichar Martinez/E. Perez

"When the end of the world comes, I want to be in Cincinnati because it's always twenty years behind the times." ~ Mark Twain (debatable but it's stuck with Cincinnati)!

Hopefully, it's not too hot or humid this coming week, since the players had little rest from Canada but not far to travel. Perhaps, too, there's more stamina in the top seeds in Cincinnati since most on both tours got rest they didn't expect with their early knockouts north of the border. In any event, it'll be another grueling week with a small breather before the USO.  

This week's visuals visit some whimsical, off-the-beaten paths in Cincinnati and Ohio and one of the utmost historically significant memorials in American History👇

National Bank Open - ATP 1000 Montreal - WTA 1000 Toronto, Canada

 

Congratulations to this week's Champions of the the first leg of the North American Swing: 

Citi Open ATP 500 - WTA 250 Washington, DC

Men's Champion: Nick Kyrgios

Doubles Champions: Nick Kyrgios/Jack Sock

Women's Champion: Liudmila Samsonova

Doubles Champions: J. Pegula/E. Routliffe

Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic WTA 500 San Jose, California

Women's Champion: Daria Kasatkina

Doubles Champions: Y. Xu/Z. Yang

Abierto de Tenis Mifel ATP 250 Los Cabos, Mexico

Men's Singles Champion: Daniil Medvedev

Doubles Champions M. Kecmanovic/W. Blumberg

The Canadian Open in the provinces of Quebec and Ontario is one of the oldest tournaments in tennis, beginning in 1881 for the men and 1892 for the women. It has had many different titles over the years, often depending on the main sponsor. It became the National Bank Open in February 2021, with a 10-year agreement, so at least we won’t have to learn a new name for the next few years.

Beginning in 2011, the men’s and women’s tournaments alternate between Toronto and Montreal. This makes it easier for the venues to handle a big tournament, with the added advantage that if it is raining in one city it's usually fine in the other, so TV coverage can continue.

Both cities have family weekends for the qualifying rounds, with lots of activities geared to families and free admission, a terrific way to gain new fans, especially youngsters.

The DC weather was miserable - hot and humid - and took its toll on more than one player. The heat was less taxing in San Jose and Los Cabos and hopefully Canada's weather is more forgiving - so let's see who's game👇 

INTERNAZIONALI BNL D'ITALIA - ROME ATP/WTA MASTERS 1000

 

Last week was all Madrid, this week it's all Rome - both tours, not much rest, another Masters 1000 and a week before Roland Garros for a very grueling May on Clay.

First congratulations to the two Singles Champs in Madrid - Ons Jabuer and (no surprise now) Carlos Alcaraz who defeated Rafa, Djokovic then totally annihialated Alexander Zverev in the Final in an hour!

When in Rome ... 👇

MUTUA MADRID ATP/WTA 1000

 

For the next week, there's only Madrid - the ATP begins and the WTA continues with the third and fourth rounds of competition today and tomorrow.

The WTA had a handful of seeds knocked out early - Sabalenka, Badosa, Muguruza, Collins, Pliskova, Ostapenko. I am 🙏 for a 3rd Madrid Title for Simona Halep!

With the Italian Open Rome beginning immediately after Madrid (May 8-15), we'll see who's match tough for these grueling two weeks with only one week rest for some before Roland Garros begins May 22, 2022.

Vamos - a ver que pasa👇

ATP ROLEX MONTE CARLO MASTERS

 ROLEX MONTE CARLO ATP MASTERS 1000

"GEM OF THE MEDITERRANEAN" - Monte Carlo Country Club overlooking the Mediterranean Sea

This week we only have eyes for the the Rolex Monte Carlo ATP Masters (since there's nothing else on the calendar this week😎) - so let's get busy on the French Riviera!👇

Miami Open Week 2

 Still Standing...

 Miami Open, 
ATP/WTA Masters 1000
Hard Rock Stadium
Miami Gardens, Florida, USA
March 21 - April 3, 2022

Marriott Hotel, Miami Beach