That time of year has rolled around again where the WTA and ATP tours take to the clay as the clay court season gets underway in multiple locations across the world.
With a stacked April calendar just around the corner, we’ve pulled together all the must-watch WTA, ATP, and wheelchair tournaments for the upcoming month, so you can add them to your radar.
Key events:
1-7 April: WTA 500 event in Charleston headlines the start of the clay court swing
Credit One Charleston Open
Headlining a jam-packed opening week, the Credit One Charleston Open will kick off on the 1 April. The WTA 500 event will welcome four of the top 10 players in the world to its clay courts with Jessica Pegula, Ons Jabeur, Maria Sakkari and Jelena Ostapenko leading the charge.
Voted back-to-back WTA 500 tournament of the year in 2022 and 2023, the Charleston Open has crowned a number of renowned names across its 41-year tenure, including Jabeur, Serena Williams, Venus Williams and four-time champion Martina Navratilova.
Waving the British flag this year in the doubles draw is Heather Watson and Olivia Nicholls, who will team up in the hopes of lifting their first title together.
U.S Men’s Clay Court Championships
Over on the ATP Tour, three ATP 250 events line a stacked seven days with tournaments taking place in the US, Marrakesh and Portugal. The U.S Men’s Clay Court Championships will welcome some of the top American talent in Frances Tiafoe, Ben Shelton, Tommy Paul and Christopher Eubanks while a host of international talent are also set to join them.
British doubles stars Neal Skupski and Julian Cash are set to contest the doubles title, as they team up with Santiago Gonzalez and Robert Galloway respectively in the hopes of making a winning start on the clay.
7-14: Lexus Great Britain Billie Jean King Cup team take on France in qualifiers
Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers
The Lexus GB Billie Jean King Cup team will be back in action as they head to France for the 2024 Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers. The Brits are set to take on a strong French team in Le Portel, France in what will be a re-match of the 2023 qualifiers between 12-13 April.
Great Britain will be led by British No.1 Katie Boulter, Harriet Dart, Heather Watson and Emma Raducanu, as they set their sights on a spot in November’s Billie Jean King Cup Finals.
Find out more about the British team
Rolex Monte Carlo Masters
The clay season showcases three Masters 1000 tournaments, with the Rolex Monte Carlo Masters marking the first on the 7 April. The seven-day tournament is held at one of the most picturesque locations on the circuit at the Monte Carlo Country Club and attracts the biggest names in the men’s game.
Reigning champion Andrey Rublev will be joined by the rest of the world’s top 10, while 11-time Monte Carlo titlist Rafael Nadal could be set for a return to his favourite surface. Joining them will be Britain’s Cam Norrie, Jack Draper and Dan Evans who will all be looking to make a fast start to the clay court season.
Japan Open
The Japan Open is back for the second year in a row as the ITF Super Series events gets started on the 9 April through to the 14 April.
Resuming last year for the first time since the pandemic, 2024 marks the 40th edition of the tournament.
2023 semi-finalist and 2019 men’s singles champion Gordon Reid returns to Iizuka City this year, along Alfie Hewett. Hewett will arrive in Japan as world No. 1, having returned to the top spot as a result of his victory at the Cajun Classic, the last Super Series tournament, in early March. Hewett and Reid were Japan Open men’s doubles champions in 2018 and semi-finalists in 2019.
British No.1 Lucy Shuker is set to contest the women’s singles and doubles daws in Iizuka.
15-21 April: Raducanu returns to action in Stuttgart
Porsche Tennis Grand Prix
A star-studded line-up will take to the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix once again with nine of the world’s top 10 heading to the indoor-clay courts in Stuttgart.
The WTA 500 event will see two-time defending champion and world No.1 Iga Swiatek top the entry list, with fellow reigning Grand Slam champions Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff and Marketa Vondrousova also making an appearance.
Britain’s Raducanu has also entered the tournament and will be looking to surpass her tournament-best of the quarter-finals as she continues her return to full-time action on the WTA tour. Last year’s event in Stuttgart marked the 21-year-old’s last tournament of the season before undergoing three surgeries which would keep her on the sidelines for the remainder of the year.
Barcelona Open
Meanwhile on the ATP Tour, the 71st edition of the Barcelona Open will get underway from 15-21 April at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona-1899. One of the most valued events in Spanish tennis, the tournament has brought title success to a number of Spanish players over the years including back-to-back champion Carlos Alcaraz, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Fernando Verdasco and Nadal who has picked up a record 12 trophies at the tournament.
The Barcelona Open is yet to see a British victory across the singles or doubles draw, although Norrie and Evans will bid to become the first as they prepare to battle for the silverware in the singles event.
23 April–3 May: Combined 1000 event wraps up April’s clay entertainment
Mutua Madrid Open
Rounding off a thrilling month in the world of tennis, the combined WTA 1000 & ATP 1000 event at the Mutua Madrid Open will commence on 22 April and conclude on 5 May.
Former world No.1 Andy Murray became the first Brit to win the event back in 2008 when it was played on an indoor hard court. Murray beat Gilles Simion 6-4, 7-6(6) to lift the trophy before the event transitioned to a clay surface in 2009. The Brit then went on to lift his second title in Madrid in 2015 where he defeated 22-time Grand Slam champion Nadal 6-3, 6-2.
As always you can still expect to see the world’s best women and men take to the clay, including defending champions Sabalenka and Alcaraz.
View the full season tennis schedules:
