With the April round-up neglected in the wake of the missus’ birthday celebrations it is included in the May round-up. A separate Roland Garros report follows in a fortnight.
The 2012 clay season saw some resurgences from old skoolers Tommy Haas, Igor Andreev and Feliciano Lopez who all enjoyed semi-finals and some significant wins. However, April belonged to the claymeister Nadal who scooped the biggies of Monte Caro and Barcelona against Djokovic and Ferrer respectively, the former being the easier match with much distraction for the Serb off-court.
Elsewhere, a handful of men defended their titles or repeated earlier title win – Juan Martin Del-Potro, Gilles Simon, Pablo Andujar and Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Come May and the star studded Madrid Open saw victor Roger Federer (squeaking past a blistering Berdych in three) retain the no.2 spot in the rankings (albeit briefly one feels) after both Nadal and the increasingly off-colour Djokovic disagreed with the clay colour, a severe case of the blues!
When the field returned to Rome it was Rafa once again who’s name adorned the trophy – at Djokovic’s expense.
The stars of the women’s game on the red (and blue) stuff this year have undoubtedly been Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams who shared the four Premier events between them. Williams swept past Safarova in Charleson in April before a stupendous run at Madrid saw the American conquer Wozniacki, Sharapova and Azarenka to triumph.
Azarenka herself echoed fellow number one Djokovic in going titleless throughout the clay season.
Honourable mentions must also go to Sarra Errani whose fine year continues with another two titles in the April and May with Kaia Kanepi and Angelique Kerber also picking up impressive championship victories.
APRIL
ATP
Davis Cup Quarter-finals (World Group)
Spain d. Austria 4-1 – Castellon, Spain
United States d. France 3-2 – Roquebrune Cap Martin, France
Czech Republic d. Serbia 4-1 – Prague, Czech Republic
Argentina d. Croatia 4-1 – Buenos Aires, Argentina
Grand Prix Hassan II (250) Casablanca, Morocco
Winner: Pablo Andujar
Runner-up: Albert Ramos
US Men’s Clay Court Championship (250) Houston, U.S.A
Singles : Juan Monaco
Runner-up: John Isner
Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters (1000) Monte-Carlo, Monaco
Singles : Rafael Nadal
Runner-up: Novak Djokovic
BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy (250) Bucharest, Romania
Singles : Gilles Simon
Runner-up: Fabio Fognini
Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell (500) Barcelona, Spain
Singles : Rafael Nadal
Runner-up: David Ferrer
BMW Open (250) Munich, Germany
Singles : Philipp Kohlschreiber
Runner-up: Marin Cilic
Serbia Open 2012 (250) Belgrade. Serbia
Singles : Andreas Seppi
Runner-up: Benoit Paire
Estoril Open (250) Estoril, Portugal
Singles : Juan Martin Del Potro
Runner-up: Richard Gasquet
WTA
Family Circle Cup (Premier) Charleston, SC-USA
Winner: Serena Williams
Runner-up: Lucie Safarova
Barcelona Ladies Open (International) Barcelona, Spain
Winner: Sarra Errani
Runner-up: Dominika Cibulkova
e-Boks Open(International) Copenhagen, Denmark
Winner: Angelique Kerber,
Runner-up: Caroline Wozniacki
Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Premier) Stuttgart, Germany
Winner: Maria Sharapova
Runner-up: Victoria Azarenka
Grand Prix de SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem (International) Fès, Morocco
Winner: Kiki Bertens
Runner-up: Laura Pous Tió
Estoril Open (International) Estoril, Portugal
Winner: Kaia Kanepi
Runner-up: Carla Suárez Navarro
Budapest Grand Prix (International) Budapest, Hungary
Winner: Sarra Errani
Runner-up: Elena Vesnina
MAY
ATP
Mutua Madrid Open (1000) Madrid, Spain Clay
Singles : Roger Federer
Runner-up: Thomas Berdych
Internazionali BNL d’Italia (1000) Rome, Italy
Singles : Rafael Nadal
Runner-up: Novak Djokovic
Open de Nice Côte d’Azur (250) Nice, France
Singles: Nicolas Almagro
Runner-up: Brian Baker
WTA
Mutua Madrid Open (Premier) Madrid, Spain
Winner: Serena Williams
Runner-up: Victoria Azarenka
Internazionali BNL d’Italia (Premier) Rome, Italy
Winner: Maria Sharapova
Runner-up: Li Na
Brussels Open (Premier) Brussels, Belgium
Winner: Agnieska Radwanska
Runner-up: Simona Halep
Internationaux de Strasbourg (International) Strasbourg, France
Winner: Francesca Schiavone
Runner-up: Alize Cornet
All Things Tennis 