Three clay court questions — Quotes from Charleston
By Joey Dillon
The IX: Tennis Tuesday with Joey Dillon, April 8, 2025
Howdy, y’all and Happy Tennis Tuesday! The clay court season kicked off last week with tournaments in Charleston and Bogota, but the big chunk of the season is still to come. With events like Stuttgart, Madrid and Rome leading up to Roland Garros, I wanted to highlight three questions I — and you — should keep an eye out for on the red clay.
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Can Iga Swiatek “bounce back?”
Lets call a spade a spade. Iga Swiatek is by no means in a slump — she’s still the No. 2 player in the world. However, she hasn’t won a title since Roland Garros, and she’s never gone this long without a title since her first at 2020 Roland Garros. We all know clay is the Pole’s best surface and she’s only lost two matches in the last calendar year on the surface — to Elena Rybakina in the Stuttgart final and Zheng Qinwen in the semifinals of the Paris Olympics. Swiatek’s game is suited for the clay, and she’s a mastermind on the surface and even on an off-day can beat pretty much anyone. I am, however, curious where her head is at currently. The title drought is certainly on her mind and she looked beyond out of sorts in her Miami Open quarterfinal upset to wildcard Alexandra Eala.
Is Jessica Pegula ready for her big breakthrough?
Jessica Pegula is the clear No. 2 player in the world, and it’s in the data. If you take out the points won before Roland Garros last year, she has a healthy lead over No. 3 Coco Gauff.
The American not only has won two titles this year, but she’s won 17 of her last 19 matches. In fact, do you know which player has won the most matches this year? It’s not Aryna Sabalenka (23 victories), but Pegula (24). While Pegula just took her first clay court title in Charleston this week, she has had good, but sporadic results on the surface. While she did lose in three sets to Ons Jabeur in the final at the 2022 Madrid Open, she’s only advanced past the third round at Roland Garros just one time (2022 quarterfinals). What she does have going for her, to me, are two things — a currently confident all-court and all-surface game and a hunger to go for that No. 2 spot after missing the entire European clay swing last year. There’s absolutely no pressure from losing any points since there are none and that’s potentially when the American is most dangerous.
Will a new face shock the world?
While Alexandra Eala is currently holding the “new kid on the block” card, I’m talking about if we’ll see another random semifinalist at Roland Garros. It’s one of my favorite consistent “WTFs” on the WTA Tour. You can almost guarantee it happening every year. Most are Cinderella runs or a first-time breakthrough
2024: Mirra Andreeva
2023: Karolina Muchova
2022: Martina Trevisan
2021: Barbora Krejcikova, Maria Sakkari, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Tamara Zidansek (lol)
2020: Iga Swiatek, Nadia Podoroska
2019: Amanda Anisimova, Marketa Vondrousova
2017: Jelena Ostapenko
2016: Kiki Bertens
2015: Timea Bacsinszky
2014: Genie Bouchard, Andrea Petkovic
2012: Sara Errani
2010: Francesca Schiavone
2009: Dominika Cibulkova, Sam Stosur
2006: Nicole Vaidisova
2004: Paola Suarez
2003: Nadia Petrova
2002: Clarisa Fernandez (my personal favorite and the OG)
Some of these players went on to have solid careers or won Slams on their own. Others? You’re trying to remember who you are. The clay brings out the most random surprises, so don’t be too surprised to see many unseeded surprises over the next month but especially at Roland Garros.
On to links!
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This Week in Women’s Tennis
Jessica Pegula and Erin Routliffe/Jelena Ostapenko won the titles at the Credit One Charleston Open this week, who also announced their title sponsor has extended their rights and the event will start offering equal prize money to the ATP 500 level starting next year.
Camila Osorio took home her third Copa Colsanitas Zurich title to the delight of the home crowd, while Sara Sorribes Tomo and Cristina Bucsa continued trophy success as a doubles duo. The other big story was the breakout of 16-year-old American Julieta Pareja, who won her first WTA main draw matches to make the semifinals.
At the two WTA 125 events last week, Solana Sierra (Antalya, Turkey) and Darja Semenistaja (La Bisbal d’Emporda, Spain) were the singles winners while the doubles champs were Anna Bondar/Simona Waltert (Antalya) and Magali Kempen and Anna Siskova (La Bisbal d’Emporda).
Congratulations to Caroline Wozniacki, who shared she’s expecting her third child. I’ve said it multiple times, but the silence since her loss at the U.S. Open last year is making it look like this comeback is unfortunately over.
The Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers are this week and the action is truly global.
Coco Gauff unveiled her own management company through WME and has left Team8, the agency that has repped her her entire career:
The Top 20 players from both the ATP and WTA have penned a letter to the Grand Slams requesting that players receive more of a piece of the money pie. Could this help give the PTPA lawsuit some traction?
Alize Cornet opened up about her time on the French version of The Traitors and her comeback to the sport only a year after retiring.
This little tidbit about the (dumb) Monday final this summer in Cincinnati now raises even more questions:
Serena Williams and Caitlin Clark sat on a panel with NFL owners to discuss the recent women’s sports explosion and how it’ll impact the future.
Daria Saville makes a good point about why women’s tennis players aren’t getting the sports’ brand deals and instead going to ATP WAGs or other influencers.
Zheng Qinwen was a recent guest editor for the latest edition of W Magazine China.
This year’s Hopman Cup has announced the 2025 edition will be taking place in Bari, Italy.
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Tweet of the Week
ALLLL the dog content:
Five at The IX: Credit One Charleston Open
“Sometimes you get stressed out because maybe it doesn’t work out the way that media, fans, want it to work out. But I think I proved a lot of people wrong in the aspect of me doing so well and being so consistent the last couple of years. Just because I haven’t won a Slam doesn’t mean I’m not having a successful career.” — Jessica Pegula
“Both of us, when we’re smiling, we’re probably playing our best tennis. For some people, it’s more business-serious, but I think both of us are lucky because when we’re smiling, we play our best. We just try to keep that energy going.” — Erin Routliffe (on her first-time partnership with Jelena Ostapenko)
“It’s my first official day as an Australian player. Honestly, it feels different, I’m not going to lie. It’s emotional for me. I have to get used to it. But I’m really happy to start this new chapter of my life representing Australia on the big stage.” — Daria Kasatkina
“I was laughing the other day, thinking, “I feel like we were just in Charleston. Why were we just in Charleston? Oh, yeah, our wedding! I forgot! It feels like it was just yesterday, but also so many things have happened. We’re really excited to come back.” — Madison Keys
“Mindset-wise, I never think I’m going to lose until I shake hands. I always think there’s a chance that I can win the match. I just rely a lot on my toughness and grit and my ability to stick in there. In my head, I can handle any deficit, any challenge that I’m faced with.” — Emma Navarro
| Mondays: Soccer |
| By: Annie Peterson, @AnnieMPeterson, AP Women’s Soccer |
| Tuesdays: Tennis |
| By: Joey Dillon, @JoeyDillon, Freelance Tennis Writer |
| Wednesdays: Basketball |
| By: Howard Megdal, @HowardMegdal, The Next |
| Thursdays: Golf |
| By: Marin Dremock, @MDremock, The IX |
| Fridays: Hockey |
| By: @TheIceGarden, The Ice Garden |
| Saturdays: Gymnastics |
| By: Lela Moore, @runlelarun, Freelance Writer |
