TLL April Wrap

Two of three Finals didn't finish on the court — Mustapha walked over Arthur in Monte Carlo, Jad retired against Omar in Madrid. Only Barcelona's Final went the distance, with Lemoine playing his way through a clean 6-4 6-4 over the upstart Bavington.

Ranked #239 going into April. By the second weekend, he had walked through Barcelona's draw to the Final.

That 13-11 super-tiebreak in the SF was the most dramatic shot in the month — Bavington saved his run to a Final that ranked #178 places below his SF opponent.

He fell to Lemoine in the Final, but it's the kind of run leagues are built around.

Three of the top 10 went out before the QFs at Monte Carlo:

• #2 Marko Ruljanovic lost to Shayne Joe Barretto (#29) — 6-3 6-7 4-10 (came back from a set down)
• #4 Jad Bechaalani lost to Marc Garabedian (#21)
• #9 Lorenzo Tremiterra lost to Arthur Clement (#11) — Clement made the most of it and went on to win the title

Only 3 top-10 scalps across all April — but they all happened in the same round of the same tournament.

Valeria Kikvidze (#305) def. Adithya Mitter (#25) — Barcelona R32, 6-2 4-6 10-8

A 280-rank gap. Closest single-match shock of the month.

Shayne Joe Barretto played 8 matches in April — more than anyone — and went 6-2. That includes the upset over Marko Ruljanovic and SF runs in both Monte Carlo and Madrid.

Honourable mentions: Alexey Kirilov, Mustapha Bouayad, Marc Garabedian, Jad Bechaalani, Laurent Lemoine — all on 7 matches.

• Omar Bekturov: 5-0 in April — strolled through Madrid undefeated (Jad's retirement in the Final the only blemish on the script)
• Arthur Clement: 3-0 — Monte Carlo champion, didn't drop a set across his 3 played matches

Only one double bagel in 93 matches: Mustapha Bouayad 6-0 6-0 Karim Kammouge (Monte Carlo QF).

But 16 sets ended 6-0 and 27 ended 6-1 in April — the lopsided side of the league showing up plenty.

8 players won after losing the first set. Pick of the bunch:

• Sunanda Girolami def. Pierre Gillet 0-6 7-6 6-3 (Madrid R32) — went from a bagel to a deciding-set win
• Laurent Lemoine def. Gregory Roger 1-6 7-6 11-9 (Barcelona R16) — and then won the whole tournament

Jeremiah Bavington vs Marc Garabedian — Barcelona SF, 42 games played, ended 6-4 2-6 13-11. Just the right ending for the month's longest battle.

• 93 matches played across 3 tournaments
• 73 went to a result on court (excluding 18 walkovers + 2 retirements)
• 22% went the full distance (3 sets / STB)
• 20.7 games per match on average
• 18 walkovers — something to chew on for May

54 unique players from 18 countries stepped on court in April.

Plus a player each from Russia, China, Spain, Egypt, Portugal, UK, Colombia, Tunisia, Kazakhstan, and Pakistan.

Three tournaments, three different champions, three different stories. Bavington proved a #239 can make a Final. Bekturov proved an undefeated run is still on the table. Clement proved when seeds fall, you take the gift.

— Onwards.