An action packed month in the tennis calendar as the clay court season started - April threw up several surprise winners in the sport. For one, Stanislas Wawrinka won his first ATP 1000 Masters title at Monte Carlo beating compatriot Roger Federer in the finals and denying him his first title at Monaco. Fernando Verdasco had earlier captured the US Claycourt championships title at Houston with a win against fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro. And, Kei Nishikori won the Barcelona Open title beating Santiago Giraldo to become the first non-Spanish player to win there since 1996.
In the WTA events, an injury-plagued Andrea Petkovic won her first title in three years by winning the Charleston Open. Maria Sharapova took her first title of the season by winning the Stuttgart Open.
Meanwhile, the Fed Cup and Davis Cup play-offs resumed in April with Germany making it to their first Fed Cup finals in 22 years. They convincingly beat Australia in their semi-final playoff to meet Czech Republic in the finals. The Czechs scored a 4-1 win against defenders Italy.
In the Davis Cup quarterfinals play-offs, Switzerland beat Kazakhstan 3-2 to secure a semi-final match against Italy which beat Great Britain (3-2). Holders Czech Republic rampaged through Japan (5-0) in the quarters to set up a semi-final date with France, who beat Germany (3-2).
