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Alex Eala missed an opportunity to climb the WTA Rankings as she suffered a one-sided defeat in her opening match at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.

The Filipina star was beaten 6-1, 6-4 by world No 25 Leylah Fernandez at the indoor clay-court WTA 500 event in Stuttgart on Tuesday.

World No 45 Eala was broken twice as Fernandez raced to a 5-0 lead en route to closing the opening set out in dominant fashion.

Fernandez secured two more breaks as she surged to a 5-2 advantage in the second set before she was broken for the only time when she served for the match.

Eala then saved two match points on her own serve at 3-5, but her 23-year-old Canadian opponent took her second opportunity to serve the match out.

In what was her first encounter with fellow left-hander Fernandez, Eala won just 46 of the 109 points (42%).

Fernandez will face either fifth seed Jasmine Paolini or qualifier Zeynep Sonmez in the second round in Stuttgart.

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Eala’s Stuttgart Open prize money and ranking points

Eala’s first round exit in Stuttgart has seen her earn $13,211 in prize money and collect a single WTA ranking point.

The 20-year-old started the week as the world No 45, and she is now 44th in the Live WTA Rankings on 1,285 points.

If Eala had won her opening match, she would have collected 60 points — which would have lifted her to a projected ranking of 38th.

A run to the quarter-finals in Stuttgart would have earned Eala 108 points and seen her climb as high as 32nd in the Live Rankings.

Eala reached her career-high ranking of world No 29 last month after her run to the fourth round at the WTA 1000 in Indian Wells.

WTA Stuttgart prize money and ranking points breakdown

Champion: €161,310 ($188,438) | 500 ranking points
Finalist: €99,565 ($116,309) | 325 ranking points
Semi-finalists: €57,395 ($67,047) | 195 ranking points
Quarter-finalists: €30,435 ($35,553) | 108 ranking points
Round of 16: €15,690 ($18,329) | 60 ranking points
First round: €11,309 ($13,211) | 1 ranking point

What next for Eala?

Eala is next scheduled to compete at the Madrid Open — the first clay-court WTA 1000 tournament of the season — which will begin on 21 April.

READ NEXT: Alex Eala and Iga Swiatek’s paths have crossed at the perfect moment

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Carlos Alcaraz overcame a minor injury scare as he defeated Otto Virtanen to progress in the Barcelona Open.

Just a few days after losing the Monte Carlo final, Alcaraz was back in action as he competed in his home tournament and the scoreline may not reflect the difficulty he endured on court.

While the world No 130 Virtanen provided as much of a challenge as to be expected, Alcaraz’s main problem was with his own fitness and an issue with his right wrist.

With the score at 5-4 in Alcaraz’s favour, the physio was called on to the court to examine Alcaraz’s hand before taping his wrist. The match is Alcaraz’s sixth in eight days and his body may be showing signs of that packed schedule.

He did however overcome that to defeat Virtanen in 1 hour and 25 minutes, setting up a round of 16 match against Tomas Machac. Their head-to-head record is tied at one apiece but the pair have never faced each other on clay.

Afterwards, he said: “It feels great to be back. To get another win here in Barcelona in front of my people, my everything. I missed playing here in Barcelona. I tried to adapt my game as good as I can. It wasn’t easy. This morning was my first practice here. That with the conditions, different conditions than Monte Carlo.

“But overall I’m just really happy with the way I played and solved the problems I had in the first set. I ended up playing great tennis. Hopefully in the next round feeling a little bit better. Let’s see how it’s gonna be.”

On the injury, Alcaraz said he hoped it was “nothing” and just a reflection of a switch to clay.

“I have had little time between tournaments and clay is one of the most demanding surfaces,” he said.

“Small issues and discomfort always appear in the body. I will look at it with my physio and my team, and hopefully it is nothing.”

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Tennis great Justine Henin has assessed that Carlos Alcaraz was “powerless” in his defeat to Jannik Sinner in the 2026 Monte Carlo Masters final.

Alcaraz was denied a second successive Monte Carlo title as he lost 7-6(5), 6-3 to Sinner at the clay-court ATP Masters 1000 tournament.

It was the first meeting between the dominant duo in 2026, and Sinner’s victory saw him overtake Alcaraz in the rankings to become world No 1 for the first time this year.

The head-to-head is now 10-7 in Alcaraz’s favour, with Sinner having won the last two encounters and three of the last four completed matches.

After the match, Alcaraz said: “We have seen Jannik’s level on clay and I think he’s been improving a lot year by year.

“I think he’s reaching a level on clay that is going to be really dangerous for everybody. I’m not surprised at all, because we could see last year in Roland Garros the level he played. He just played better than me.”

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Speaking to Eurosport France, Henin had some words of caution for Alcaraz as she gave her verdict on the Spaniard’s respect for Sinner.

“Beyond the title slipping away and the No 1 ranking, it’s in the relationship with Jannik that this match can have an impact,” said the Belgian, who won seven Grand Slam titles.

“In Alcaraz’s post-match comments, I sensed respect but also a kind of admiration for the new world No 1.

“Respect him, yes, but we also need to try to find new ways to win. I sensed Alcaraz was powerless, not lost, but powerless in the face of what Sinner is achieving.”

The former world No 1 added: “Of course it’s impressive [what Sinner is achieving], but it might do Alcaraz some good and give him energy on the road to Roland Garros.

“How will he cope psychologically?”

Alcaraz is in action this week at the Barcelona Open — an ATP 500 tournament he is aiming to win for the third time after victories in 2022 and 2023. The 22-year-old was a runner-up at last year’s edition, losing to Holger Rune.

READ NEXT: Jannik Sinner sent messages by Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic after Monte Carlo Masters triumph

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Carlos Alcaraz has made the commitment to play a full clay swing this season but could it cause him issues later down the line?

Having lost to Jannik Sinner in the Monte Carlo Masters final, Alcaraz made the commitment to play the full clay season, something he admitted was the goal last year.

“The main goal is to play the full clay season calendar. Let’s see how it’s gonna be. It was the goal last year, as well, and unfortunately, I couldn’t because I was injured,” Alcaraz said after losing to Sinner on Sunday.

“We are touching wood and praying that nothing’s going to happen to my body.”

The clay season though is a particularly gruelling part of the year. Days after the Monte Carlo tournament, Alcaraz will begin his defence of the Barcelona Open, a tournament that could add a further five matches to his schedule.

After Barcelona, Alcaraz will head south to Madrid for potentially another six matches and then Rome for the six matches of the Italian Open.

The clay season climaxes with Roland Garros, adding another seven matches to Alcaraz’s schedule.

If Alcaraz keeps his commitment and makes the final of every tournament, he will come away from the clay season with 29 matches under his belt. By comparison, Alcaraz played 23 clay matches last year and had injury problems later in the season.

The risk of injury is not lost on Alcaraz either but he believes he understands his body better now than he did 12 months ago.

“I feel my body is much better than last year. If I’m gonna skip one, I will skip one tournament. If my body stays healthy, I’m going to do whatever it takes to be healthy and take care of my body,” he said.”

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“If I do’t have any problems, I will play everything on clay. Let’s see how it’s gonna be in the next few weeks. I don’t know how it’s gonna be, the matches, if I’m gonna win matches, if I’m gonna lose in the first rounds, if the matches are going to be super demanding physically or not, so I don’t know how it’s gonna be, but what I can tell right now is I will hear my body much better this year than last year.”

This is also coming from a player who has complained about the ATP tour schedule being too tightly packed.

“I agree with Iga,” Alcaraz said after Iga Świątek voiced her concerns. “I think that the schedule is really tight. They have to do something with the schedule. I think there are too many mandatory tournaments, too many in a row.

“They put in some rules that we have to play Masters 1000s, 500 tournaments, whatever it is. But there are too many rules that we as tennis players are not allowed to have a choice if we have to play or not.

“To be honest, I have to consider in the future if I have to skip some mandatory tournaments just to maintain my physical condition and good shape. Obviously it’s more than the physical condition.

“I think mentally it’s really demanding as well, playing so many mandatory tournaments in a row or playing so many tournaments without having days to rest up mentally. I will consider skipping some mandatory tournaments to the benefit of myself mentally. I agree with Iga and I think a lot of players are going to do that.”

The most matches Alcaraz has ever played in a year was the 80 of last year but Alcaraz could be on 48 for this year by the end of the clay season alone.

The competition with Sinner for No 1 means neither player can spend too long away from the court but both could pay the price come later in the year.

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Jannik Sinner remains on the entry list of the Madrid Open, but things could change in the coming days following his successful title run at the Monte Carlo Masters.

The four-time Grand Slam winner continued his incredible form at ATP Masters 1000 tournaments as he won his fourth-consecutive event at this level with three of those trophies coming in the past two months.

Following his success at the Paris Masters last November when he won the event without dropping a set, Sinner won 12 matches in a row – again without conceding a set – across the Sunshine Double as he collected the Indian Wells Open and Miami Open trophies in March.

He then followed it up with the Monte Carlo title, beating Carlos Alcaraz in the final – although his run of consecutive sets was ended by Tomas Machac in the round of 16 – with the win helping him to regain No 1 spot in the ATP Rankings.

While Alcaraz and several of the Italian’s other top-10 rivals are in action in either Barcelona or Munich this week, Sinner has decided to take a break with his next event the Madrid Open.

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“It’s all been pretty hectic, so now it’ll be nice to have a few days off the court,” the 24-year-old told Italian media after securing his eighth ATP Masters trophy.

But it remains to be seen if the Italian will travel to Spain for the second clay-court ATP 1000 tournament of the season as he added: “I’ll take two or three days off, then I’ll evaluate with my team whether to go to Madrid or not.”

No Points To Defend

Sinner’s Monte Carlo Masters title run saw him to move ahead of Alcaraz in the rankings, but the battle for the No 1 spot is far from over as he leads the Spaniard by just 110 points.

However, Alcaraz will drop 330 points in Barcelona this week as he finished runner-up to Holger Rune 12 months ago, putting 440 points behind the Italian, and the only way for him to regain top spot is to win the tournament.

Should Alcaraz stay within touching distance, then the top spot will again be up for grabs at the Madrid Open and it will be a straight shootout if they both compete as neither featured in the Spanish capital last year.

Alcaraz, though, has already indicated that he plans to play in Madrid if he is 100% fit, while Sinner’s latest comments suggest he might not take part.

The post Jannik Sinner hints at big schedule change after ‘pretty hectic’ Monte Carlo Masters appeared first on Tennis365.

The total number of players to withdraw from the 2026 Barcelona Open has climbed to seven after Jack Draper’s mid-match retirement due to injury.

This year’s Barcelona Open is the 73rd edition of the prestigious clay-court tournament staged at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona.

Main draw action at the ATP 500 tournament began on Monday 13 April, and it will conclude with the final on Sunday 19 April.

Holger Rune is the reigning champion, having overcome Carlos Alcaraz in the 2025 title match to claim his maiden crown in Barcelona.

The Dane is not defending his title, though, as he is working his way towards a return to action having suffered an Achilles injury in October.

The main draw at the Barcelona Open features 32 players, with eight seeds, and it is played over five rounds with no first round byes.

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2026 Barcelona Open withdrawals/retirements

Five players withdrew before the Barcelona Open draw was made on Saturday: Felix Auger-Aliassime, Casper Ruud, Learner Tien, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Ugo Humbert.

Valentin Vacherot reached the semi-finals at the Monte Carlo Masters — his home event — last week, losing to Carlos Alcaraz on Saturday.

The Monegasque was in the Barcelona draw and seeded sixth, but he pulled out before his opening match. He was replaced by lucky loser Marco Trungelliti.

2026 Barcelona Open pre-tournament/pre-match withdrawals

• Felix Auger-Aliassime (world No 5) – replaced by Camilo Ugo Carabelli
• Casper Ruud (world No 12) – replaced by Reilly Opelka
• Valentin Vacherot (world No 17) – replaced by Marco Trungelliti
• Learner Tien (world No 22) – replaced by Terence Atmane
• Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (world No 23) – replaced by Sebastian Baez
• Ugo Humbert (world No 34) – replaced by Mariano Navone

Draper, the No 8 seed in Barcelona, was trailing world No 29 Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 3-6, 1-4 in his first round match on Monday when he retired.

The 24-year-old, Brit, who returned to the tour in February following five months out due to a bone stress issue in his left arm, was struggling with a knee injury in Barcelona.

The former world No 4, who is currently ranked 28th, was playing his first match since his defeat to Reilly Opelka in the second round of the Miami Open last month.

READ NEXT: Carlos Alcaraz gets some candid advice from former British No 1 after Jannik Sinner defeat

The post Barcelona Open withdrawal list: 7 players out as Jack Draper retires with injury appeared first on Tennis365.

Netflix has released a trailer for a new documentary focused on Rafa Nadal which will release during the French Open.

The American streaming service has a long history of producing sport documentaries and Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam winner, seems a very apt subject to portray.

But Nadal’s career was not so straightforward with arguably no top level player suffering as many injuries as the Spaniard and that appears to be the focus of the documentary.

In the trailer, which was released on Netflix’s social media accounts, Nadal is seen playing on court but also in the treatment room and spoke of his desire to keep playing.

“People think I was a winner,” he said in the trailer. “I am not a winner. I am a competitor.”

“What always motivated me is the desire to keep fighting.

“You can’t be a great champion if you don’t do things that are truly difficult.”

 

His relentless grit is his greatest legacy. This is the definitive documentary on an all-time great: Rafa Nadal.

Rafa premieres May 29. pic.twitter.com/Hz8aP8TEYW

— Netflix (@netflix) April 13, 2026

It will release on May 29, a week into the French Open, and is directed by Emmy Award winner and Oscar nominee Zach Heinzerling.

A description from Netflix reads:

Behind the titles, the records, and the victories, there is a story that has never been told. Today, Netflix unveiled the release date, teaser, and first-look images of Rafa, a documentary series about Rafael Nadal, which will premiere on Netflix on May 29. The series offers never-before-seen archival footage and exclusive access to the tennis champion, his family, and his inner circle during Nadal’s final year on the ATP Tour in 2024. Over four episodes, the series provides an intimate and deeply human portrait of one of the greatest legends in sport.

Rafa retraces Nadal’s remarkable journey with cinematic scope, combining testimonies from those who know him best—on and off the court—with unseen moments that reveal what lies behind the legend. From his beginnings at just three years old to his return to competition in 2024, the documentary not only shows the evolution of a champion, but also the physical and emotional toll that has shaped his path, as he faces time and again Nadal’s most constant rival: his own body. Rafa spotlights a candid and vulnerable superstar, and each episode goes beyond tennis to explore the life, story, and legacy of an unparalleled icon.

The series also features some of the most prominent figures in world tennis, including Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and John McEnroe, as well as testimonies from his team, family, and close circle, offering a comprehensive and unprecedented look at Nadal, his impact on the sport, and his influence beyond competition.

 

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Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic have sent congratulatory messages to Jannik Sinner after the Italian’s triumph at the 2026 Monte Carlo Masters.

Sinner overcame Alcaraz 7-6(5), 6-3 in the championship match at the Monte Carlo Masters on Sunday to win the prestigious event for the first time.

The 24-year-old’s victory — which was his maiden clay-court Masters 1000 title — saw him overtake Alcaraz to return to world No 1.

Having also won in Indian Wells and Miami to complete the Sunshine Double last month, Sinner became just the second man to win the first three Masters events in a season after Djokovic in 2015.

Sinner has won four consecutive Masters 1000 titles — a run that started with him winning the 2025 Paris Masters.

In an Instagram post after his victory Sinner — who lives in Monaco — wrote: “Grazie!!!! It’s like a dream.”

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Alcaraz commented “Well deserved Jannik” on Sinner’s post.

Djokovic, who did not compete in Monte Carlo, wrote: “Molto forte (very strong). Bravo Jannik.”

Sinner is only the second Italian to lift the Monte Carlo title in the Open Era after Fabio Fognini.

Fognini, a former world No 9 who retired after Wimbledon last year, congratulated his compatriot in a humorous message.

“It was time…. At least you won a tournament like mine. BRAVO,” wrote Fognini.

What did Sinner say after his Monte Carlo triumph?

After the final at the Monte Carlo Country Club, Sinner said: “It was a good match from him and also from my side.

“Small things where he is gonna improve, for sure, for the next match against me, and I have to be ready for that. But now I also want to enjoy this moment.”

“It was a very strange match, because it was very windy. The conditions were not warm, which, you know, the ball is less bouncy that [makes it] a little bit easier to play tennis in general.

“I think I was serving well in the important moments in the first set. In the tiebreak, I was very, very accurate. And in the second set was up and down a little bit from both [of us].

“We both were slightly tired, because, you know, at the end of the tournament it’s normal that you feel this way. A lot of tension for both of us.

READ NEXT: Carlos Alcaraz makes a stark confession after he is beaten by Jannik Sinner to lose world No 1 ranking

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Jack Draper’s injury woes have struck once again as he was forced to throw in the towel during his first-round match at the Barcelona Open.

Playing for the first time after a shock defeat to Reilly Opelka in his opening match at the Miami Open, Draper was seeded eighth for the ATP 500 event and earned a clash against the unseeded Tomas Martin Etcheverry.

There was not much between the two players in terms of their official positions in the ATP Rankings as the Brit is currently at No 28 with Etcheverry one place behind him.

The opening set was a real mixed bag in terms of serve as there were five breaks in total with Draper shading it 3-2 as he took the set 6-4 before the Argentine took it to a decider with a single break in game two of the second set.

Draper, though, was clearly struggling during that second set as “the knee just went” and, although he battled on until game six of the decider, he eventually quit with Etcheverry leading 4-6, 6-3, 4-1 with an hour and 46 minutes on the clock.

During Tennis TV’s commentator Naomi Cavaday told viewers: “Jack taking some time to think about it during the changeover and deciding that he couldn’t play anymore. I think it’s the right call.
“The knee just went very early in the second set, and he’s been pulling up, it’s just been getting worse and worse.”

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Barry Cowan added: “You really feel for him, he just can’t catch a break at the moment. We first noticed it at 2-0, 30-0 [in the second set]. I think it’s the right decision. Above all, you have to take care of your body. It just didn’t seem to make sense if it seemed to be getting worse.”

The Story So Far In 2026

It is another massive setback for the 24-year-old as he has played only three ATP Tour events so far this campaign as he started his season late due to a shoulder injury that has troubled him since Wimbledon last year.

After missing the Australian Open, he made his first appearance at the Dubai Tennis Championships and lost in the round of 16 before his Indian Wells Open title defence came to an end in the quarter-final.

That defeat to Daniil Medvedev resulted in a drop out of the top 20 of the ATP Rankings and he slumped further after losing in the second round of the Miami Open.

Draper didn’t have any points to defend in Barcelona so he is unlikely to suffer a massive drop as a result of his first-round exit.

His next event is due to be the ATP Masters 1000 Madrid Open, which gets underway next week, but it remains to be seen if he will feature.

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The No 1 spot in the ATP Rankings changed hands for the first time in five months after the Monte Carlo Masters with Jannik Sinner overtaking Carlos Alcaraz, but his stay could be short-lived.

Alcaraz spent 22 consecutive weeks at No 1 as he replaced his Italian rival at the top on 10 November to take his overall tally to 66, but Sinner’s title run in the Principality has seen him usurp the Spaniard.

The four-time Grand Slam winner didn’t have any points to defend at the clay-court ATP 1000 title while Alcaraz was the defending champion so there was a big points swing after the tournament.

In the updated ATP Rankings, Sinner sits on 13,350 points with the seven-time Grand Slam winner on 13,240 ahead of the Barcelona Open.

“I’m pleased, but I won’t change what I said: Carlos and I are very close, and that can change from one week to the next,” Sinner said during his post-Monte Carlo Masters press conference.

“I’d be lying if I said I’m not happy, but honestly, the most important thing is to prepare well for the next tournaments, have the right mindset, and do the right things.

“And then, as we move forward, there will be the Slams: Paris and London remain the goals. We’ll see about the ranking after those tournaments.”

What’s To Come After Monte Carlo…

Sinner is right, the top spot could change again next week as Alcaraz will be in action in Spain while the Italian won’t feature on the ATP Tour.

Alcaraz finished runner-up at ATP 500 tournament last year so he will drop 330 points, while Sinner doesn’t have any points to defend this week as he was still serving his three-month ban 12 months ago.

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That puts Alcaraz on 12,910 with the lead growing to 440 points, but that means there is only one way the Spaniard can return to the top of the ATP Rankings next Monday and that is by winning the Barcelona Open as that is worth 500 points.

The battle will then move to the Madrid Open and Alcaraz could start the tournament at No 1 or with a big deficit if he loses early in Barcelona.

But Alcaraz certainly faces a battle in the longer term to remain top of the rankings as he has another 1,000 points to defend at the Italian Open while Sinner will drop 650 points

At Roland Garros the Spaniard will defend 2,000 points following his five-set win over his rival last year and Sinner will drop 1,300 points.

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