After the drama Down Under the tennis season embarks on something of a global trek with both the men and women’s tours trotting-off to many a varied locale and surface, for although this is predominantly a hard-court season, a few indoor and clay tournaments creep in.
Who enjoyed themselves? Well notable tournament victories included Richard Gasquet and Jo Wilfred Tsonga winning on home soil (the latter perhaps kick-starting his 2013 with a gutsy win over Berdych), There was success also for Del Potro, Raonic and Cilic.
But the story here – in the men’s game at least was the Rafa’s return, it is true that really wasn’t any clear indicator of how the Spaniard would find things and how easily he would get back into his infamous strut.
The heroics of journeyman Horacio Zeballos who denied Nadal a comeback win came as no surprise then, and soon mattered little as three titles were soon collected in ruthless style.
Of them, Indian Wells perhaps provided the highlight (complete with a role reversal victory over Federer who had done the dismantling this time last year), although the 6-0, 6-2 rout over countryman and form-man Ferrer in Acapulco would rank high too.
Andy Murray capped off a more-than-solid two months with victory at the other ‘biggie’ in March, the now soul-sappingly monickered Sony Open Tennis, and returns to the no.2 spot in the world rankings.
Elsewhere, it was quieter for the Serbinator, with only Dubai to show for his efforts (an evergreen Tommy Haas contributing to Djoko’s woes), whilst Berdych and in particular Federer proved the nearly-men with defeats in the latter stages all too often.
As expected, the pool of winners wasn’t quite as deep for the lasses but it wasn’t quite a case of the usual suspects either. Of course Serena and Maria delivered when it came to the premier events (Sharapova crushing a resurgent Wozniacki in Indian Wells whilst Serena denied the Russian the double a fortnight later), although Azarenka did defeat Serena in Dubai.
Elsewhere Sara Errani was the busiest with two titles and two finals, clearly losing none of her heartening 2012 form. Monica Niculescu and Karolina Pliskova also continue to impress with two titles each.
Lastly, there were victories for the household femmes with Jankovic, Kvitova and the truly back-from-the-fashionable mire Kirilenko, no longer the quieter Maria-clone.
The red stuff beckons and we all know what that means now a certain Spaniard is back to his ruthless best. With Serena, Masha et al you never quite know what will happen.
ATP
Open Sud de France
Indoor Hard € 410,200
Singles : Richard Gasquet
Doubles : Michael Llodra, Marc Gicquel
PBZ Zagreb Indoors
Indoor Hard € 410,200
Singles : Marin Cilic
Doubles : Filip Polasek, Julian Knowle
VTR Open
Clay $ 410,200
Singles : Horacio Zeballos
Doubles : Potito Starace, Paolo Lorenzi
ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament
Indoor Hard € 1,267,875
Singles : Juan Martin Del Potro
Doubles : Nenad Zimonjic, Robert Lindstedt
SAP Open
Indoor Hard $ 546,930
Singles : Milos Raonic
Doubles : Frank Moser, Xavier Malisse
Brasil Open 2013
Indoor Clay $ 455,775
Singles : Rafael Nadal
Doubles : Bruno Soares, Alexander Peya
U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships
Indoor Hard $ 1,212,750
Singles : Kei Nishikori
Doubles : Mike Bryan, Bob Bryan
Open 13
Indoor Hard € 528,135
Singles : Jo Wilfried Tsonga
Doubles : Colin Fleming, Rohan Bopanna
Copa Claro
Clay $ 493,670
Singles : David Ferrer
Doubles : Fabio Fognini, Simone Bolelli
Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships
Hard $ 1,785,500
Singles : Novak Djokovic
Doubles : Michael Llodra, Mahesh Bhupathi
Abierto Mexicano Telcel
Clay $ 1,212,750
Singles : Rafael Nadal
Doubles : David Marrero, Lukasz Kubot
Delray Beach International Tennis Championships
Hard $ 455,775
Singles : Ernests Gulbis
Doubles : Jack Sock, James Blake
BNP Paribas Open
Indian Wells, U.S.A. Hard $ 5,191,943
Singles : Rafael Nadal
Doubles : Mike Bryan, Bob Bryan
Sony Open Tennis
Miami, U.S.A. Hard $ 4,330,625
Singles : Andy Murray
Doubles : Jean Julien Rojer, Aisam Ul Haq Qureshi
WTA
Open GDF SUEZ
SINGLES: Mona Barthel d. Sara Errani 7-5 7-6(4)
DOUBLES: Roberta Vinci/Sara Errani d. Andrea Hlavackova/Liezel Huber 6-1 6-1
PTT Pattaya Open
SINGLES: Maria Kirilenko d. Sabine Lisicki 5-7 6-1 7-6(1)
DOUBLES: Kimiko Date-Krumm/Casey Dellacqua d. Akgul Amanmuradova/Alexandra Panova 6-3 6-2
Qatar Total Open
SINGLES: Victoria Azarenka d. Serena Williams 7-6(6) 2-6 6-3
DOUBLES: Roberta Vinci/Sara Errani d. Nadia Petrova/Katarina Srebotnik 2-6 6-3 10-6
Copa Bionaire
SINGLES: Lara Arruabarrena d. Catalina Castano 6-3 6-2
DOUBLES: Catalina Castano/Mariana Duque-Marino d. Florencia Molinero/Teliana Pereira 3-6 6-1 10-5
US National Indoor Tennis Championships
SINGLES: Marina Erakovic d. Sabine Lisicki 6-1
DOUBLES: Galina Voskoboeva/Kristina Mladenovic d. Sofia Arvidsson/Johanna Larsson 7-6(5) 6-3
Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships
SINGLES: Petra Kvitova d. Sara Errani 6-2 1-6 6-1
DOUBLES: Bethanie Mattek-Sands/Sania Mirza d. Nadia Petrova/Katarina Srebotnik 6-4 2-6 10-7
Copa Claro Colsanitas
SINGLES: Jelena Jankovic d. Paula Ormaechea 6-1 6-2
DOUBLES: Mandy Minella/Timea Babos d. Eva Birnerova/Alexandra Panova 6-4 6-3
WTA Brasil Tennis Cup
SINGLES: Monica Niculescu d. Olga Puchkova 6-2 4-6 6-4
DOUBLES: Anabel Medina Garrigues/Yaroslava Shvedova d. Anne Keothavong/Valeria Savinykh 6-0 6-4
BMW Malaysian Open
SINGLES: Karolina Pliskova d. Bethanie Mattek-Sands 1-6 7-5 6-3
DOUBLES: Kai-Chen Chang/Shuko Aoyama d. Janette Husarova/Shuai Zhang 6-7(4) 7-6(4) 14-12
Abierto Mexicano TELCEL
SINGLES: Sara Errani d. Carla Suarez Navarro 6-0 6-4
DOUBLES: Lourdes Dominguez Lino/Arantxa Parra Santonja d. Catalina Castano/Mariana Duque-Marino 6-4 7-6(1)
WTA Brasil Tennis Cup
SINGLES: Monica Niculescu d. Olga Puchkova 6-2 4-6 6-4
DOUBLES: Anabel Medina Garrigues/Yaroslava Shvedova d. Anne Keothavong/Valeria Savinykh 6-0 6-4
Abierto Mexicano TELCEL
SINGLES: Sara Errani d. Carla Suarez Navarro 6-0 6-4
DOUBLES: Lourdes Dominguez Lino/Arantxa Parra Santonja d. Catalina Castano/Mariana Duque-Marino 6-4 7-6(1)
BMW Malaysian Open
SINGLES: Karolina Pliskova d. Bethanie Mattek-Sands 1-6 7-5 6-3
DOUBLES: Kai-Chen Chang/Shuko Aoyama d. Janette Husarova/Shuai Zhang 6-7(4) 7-6(4) 14-12
BNP Paribas Open
Indian Wells, Usa
SINGLES: Maria Sharapova d. Caroline Wozniacki 6-2 6-2
DOUBLES: Elena Vesnina/Ekaterina Makarova d. Nadia Petrova/Katarina Srebotnik 6-0 5-7 10-6
Sony Open Tennis
Miami, Usa
SINGLES: Serena Williams d. Maria Sharapova 4-6 6-3 6-0
DOUBLES: Nadia Petrova/Katarina Srebotnik d. Lisa Raymond/Laura Robson 6-1 7-6(2)
All Things Tennis 