April 9, 2021

Here’s your roundup of the five most interesting things I’m enjoying or thinking about this week.

1.) French Open Postponed

To give the tournament a shot at welcoming more fans, the French Tennis Federation announced they’ll be postponing the French Open by a week. As a result, it will begin on May 24th and end on June 13th.

The Roland-Garros tournament, postponed by one week, will be played from 24 May to 13 June 2021. #RolandGarros

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) April 8, 2021

2.) Umpire Gets the Score Wrong

During her round of 16 match, Astra Sharma won the point at 0-30, which would have given her a 0-40 advantage, but the ump called the score 30-15. Her opponent, Giulia Gatto-Monticone, proceeded to win the next two points and claim the game going up 2-1 in the third set. The broadcast announcer knew a mistake had been made and had a tough time believing what he was seeing.

Disastrous umpiring as @astrasharma isn’t given the break of serve she deserved. Umpire calls score as 30-15 when it should have been 0-40 and from there it’s one big mess. ? pic.twitter.com/OzXvqqkiOP

— The Overrule (@theoverrule) April 6, 2021

3.) Hurkacz Historic Miami Run

24-year-old Hubert Hurkacz claimed the biggest title of his career and became the first Polish man to win a Masters 1000 title at the Miami Open. To get there, he defeated an impressive lineup of players, including five seed players plus Tsitsipas and Rublev, both top-10 opponents. It’s his second title of the year which pushed him into the top 20 for his first time with a ranking of 16.

4.) Barty Shows Why She’s #1

Ash Barty sat out from the tour for 11 months during the pandemic but retained her #1 ranking due to the WTAs revised ranking system. As a result, some were critical, suggesting it tainted her long-standing run as world #1, which has reached 70 weeks. Despite those claims, Barty managed to win her first tournament upon her return to the tour, reached the Australian Open’s quarterfinals, and last Saturday won the Miami Open. It seems safe to assume she’s put any doubts to rest.

5.) Nadal to Coach Auger-Aliassime

Toni Nadal stepped down as Rafa’s coach in 2017 to focus on their academy in Mallorca, Spain. However, he’s apparently been tempted to return to the tour with an opportunity to work with world #22 Felix Auger-Aliassime, who has yet to claim his first title despite his success on tour. To date, he’s 0-7 in finals. They’ll begin working with each other at next week’s Monte Carlo Masters.

Welcome aboard Toni ?? pic.twitter.com/BGH0HIapUr

— Félix AugerAliassime (@felixtennis) April 8, 2021

If you have a moment, I’d love to hear your feedback. Which topic is your favorite? What would you like to see more or less of each week?

Share your thoughts in the comments below and have a great weekend.