Nadal Still King in Barcelona, Sharapova Retains Stuttgart Title

Rafael Nadal lost his stranglehold on the title in Monte Carlo, but keeps his reign in Barcelona intact.  He has won there eight times now, every time he has entered since 2005.  Lukas Rosol is another example of a player in their late-20s breaking out and having career years.  He won his first career title in Bucharest and is now ranked no. 35.  And of course there was that win over Nadal at Wimbledon last year.

On the women's side, Maria Sharapova showed that clay is her best surface since her shoulder surgery, as she won the title in Stuttgart again while surviving some close matches.  And Francesca Schiavone snapped out of her funk to win a small tournament in Morocco, showing she's not done at the age of 32.

Good Stories
-The young Pablo Carreno-Busta (ESP), won a match last week in Casablanca, won again in Barcelona, upsetting Haase
-Victor Hanescu (ROU) getting back on the radar in his local tourney in Bucharest by reaching the quarters
-Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) going over to Europe and playing Stuttgart, annually one of the deepest tournament fields, qualifying and reaching the semis, with wins over Errani and Lisicki.
-Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO), another qualifier advanced in the tough Stuttgart field by defeating Vesnina.
-Flavia Pennetta (ITA) after struggling with injuries for several months, getting a win in Marrakech
-Maria Teresa Torro-Flor (ESP), ranked #5 among players born in '92, and Yulia Putintseva (KAZ), ranked #2 among players born in '95, each got wins in Marrakech

Bad Stories
-David Ferrer (ESP) going out in his first match on clay in Barcelona, to Tursunov
-Sara Errani (ITA) after helping Italy to win in Fed Cup and all her clay prowess, falling to Mattek-Sands in Stuttgart

WTA Premier: Stuttgart, Germany

1) Maria Sharapova (RUS) def. 2) Na Li (CHN) 6-4 6-3

-Sharapova wins 29th career title, 2nd of 2013, last '13 Indian Wells

-Of her 10 post-surgery titles, 6 have come on clay

Defending champion: Maria Sharapova (RUS) - defended title

Quarterfinalists: 3) Angelique Kerber (GER)-SF, 5) Petra Kvitova (CZE), Ana Ivanovic (SRB), Sabine Lisicki (GER), Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ), Q) Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)

Players reaching QF in '12 and '13: Sharapova, Kvitova, Kerber, Li

Locals performance: 5-7, OK but probably worse than they would have liked, Kerber and Lisicki got two wins each, Goerges won one, while Barthel, Beck, Petkovic, and q-Pfizenmaier lost their first round match.

Americans performance: 3-1 for Mattek-Sands

Third set tiebreaks: none

ATP 500: Barcelona, Spain

2) Rafael Nadal (ESP) def. 4) Nicolas Almagro (ESP) 6-4 6-3

-Nadal wins 54th career title, 4th of 2013, last '13 Indian Wells

-It is his 8th title in Barcelona ('05-'09,'11-'12)

Defending champion (2x): Rafael Nadal (ESP) - won title

Quarterfinalists: 5) Milos Raonic (CAN)-SF, 7) Juan Monaco (ARG), 8) Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER)-SF, 16) Thomaz Bellucci (BRA), Albert Ramos (ESP), Tommy Robredo (ESP)

Players reaching QF in '12 and '13: Nadal and Raonic

Locals performance: 20-14 (so they had 15 entrants - wow).  Besides those who made the quarters, 15-Granollers, Montanes, Andujar, Carreno-Busta, and q-Olaso won matches and 1-Ferrer, 12-Verdasco, Gimeno-Traver, G.Granollers, Carballes Baena, q-M.Lopez

Americans performance: none

Third set tiebreaks: Carreno-Busta def. Haase (R1), Kohlschreiber def. Kuznetsov (R2), Kohlschreiber def. Klizan (R3), Raonic def. Robredo (QF)
Other notable results: R3 - Monaco def. Chardy 6-0 7-6(11)

ATP 250: Bucharest, Romania

Lukas Rosol (CZE) def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) 6-3 6-2

-Rosol wins first career title!

-It was in first ATP final

Defending champion: Gilles Simon (FRA) - SF l. to Rosol

Quarterfinalists: 1) Janko Tipsarevic (SRB), 2) Gilles Simon (FRA)-SF, 5) Florian Mayer (GER)-SF,  8) Viktor Troicki (SRB), Daniel Brands (GER), Victor Hanescu (ROU)

Players reaching QF in '12 and '13: Simon and Brands

Locals performance: 2-2, a loss for Ungur but a pair of wins for Hanescu

Americans performance: none

Other notable winners: 19-yr-old Jovana Jaksic (SRB), ranked no. 356, qualifying and beating Dushevina before losing to Kirilenko.

Third set tiebreaks: Nieminen def. Donskoy (R1)

WTA International: Marrakech, Morocco

6) Francesca Schiavone (ITA) def. Lourdes Dominguez Lino (ESP) 6-1 6-3

-Schiavone wins 6th career title, last '12 Strasbourg
-It is her 5th clay title

Defending champion: Kiki Bertens (NED) - QF l. to Dominguez Lino (tournament played in Fes)

Quarterfinalists: 3) Alize Cornet (FRA), 5) Kiki Bertens (NED), 7) Kristina Mladenovic (FRA), Chanelle Scheepers (RSA)-SF, Mandy Minella (LUX)-SF, Silvia Soler-Espinosa (ESP)

Players reaching QF in '12 and '13: none

Locals performance: 0-2, losses for El Allami and Qostal

Americans performance: none

Third set tiebreaks: none