Born in 2008, Wins in 2025

Love-Love Letter #3 | April 14-17

Your tennis cheat sheet — for fans who like the game, but don’t want to live on Tennis Twitter.

🌍 Where in the World Are We?

We’re in the full swing of clay season — continue to pack the sunscreen and slide responsibly.

Barcelona Open (ATP 500): A staple on the clay swing and Carlos Alcaraz’s backyard.
📌 What’s happening: Alcaraz cruised into the quarters, but the real scene-stealer was Alejandro Davidovich Fokina who finally beat Andrey Rublev — after five straight losses.

BMW Open Munich (ATP 250): Germany’s oldest ATP event and a chill clay-court warmup... that just delivered a jolt to the timeline.
📌 What’s happening: Diego Dedura-Palomero, 17 years old and born in 2008, became the first player from his birth year to win an ATP Tour match. He beat Denis Shapovalov (retired mid-match)… but then lost in round two. Still: wild.

Porsche Tennis Grand Prix Stuttgart (WTA 500): Stacked draw, slick branding, indoor clay. What more do you need?
📌 What’s happening: Mirra Andreeva? Out. Coco Gauff & Jessica Pegula? In. Aryna Sabalenka? Got a walkover from Potapova. Also surging: Ekaterina Alexandrova, who absolutely steamrolled Andreeva.

Open Capfinances Rouen Métropole (WTA 250): A lower-tier event.
📌 What’s happening: Still some chaos — Suzan Lamens took out No. 2 seed Linda Noskova.

✅ Results You Should Know

Davidovich def. Rublev 7–5, 6–4
💡Why it matters: Rublev had a 5–0 record over him. Not anymore.

Dedura-Palomero def. Shapovalov 7–6, 3–0 ret.
💡Why it matters: First ATP win for a 17-year-old lucky loser. Born. In. 2008. (He lost the next round, but still.)

Alexandrova def. Andreeva 6–3, 6–2
💡Why it matters: Total demolition of one of the WTA’s Gen Z risers.

🔥 Can’t-Miss Highlights

🎥 Born in 2008. Hit a one-handed backhand like that.
Not every week gives us a tweener or a 25-shot clay slog. But this week gave us a 17-year-old lucky loser who looks like he skipped juniors and came straight from a time machine.
▶️ Watch Diego Dedura-Palomero’s first ATP win (backhand at 2:21)

📆 What to Watch For

Barcelona QFs

👀Davidovich Fokina vs. Khachanov — revenge potential and a messy baseline grind
👀Rune vs. Ruud — tension, youth, and one extremely Nordic stare-down
👀Alcaraz vs. de Minaur — could be the fastest match of the week (literally)

Stuttgart

👀Gauff and Pegula are both through — are we getting an all-American semi?
👀Sabalenka still lurking. She’s been to the final here twice.

📰 Off-Court Happenings

Sara Sorribes Tormo is stepping away from tennis indefinitely, citing physical and emotional exhaustion. “I’ve been suffering for a long time,” she said in a candid note.

Serena Williams shaded what she called “double standards” in doping bans — a likely reference to Jannik Sinner’s retroactive suspension being wiped.

Lesia Tsurenko filed a lawsuit against the WTA, claiming emotional distress over how the tour handled Russian and Belarusian player policies. Wild times off the court, too.

👗 An Outfit Worth Seeing

Marta Kostyuk came to Stuttgart serving Blade Runner energy.
Her Wilson dress mixed mesh, structure, and just enough asymmetry to make it feel ready for a clay court… or a runway.