Madison Keys and Tommy Paul both turned in results on clay in April that led to professional ‘firsts’ for each of Team USA’s Players of the Month for April.

 

Keys, the 24-year old Floridian who grew up in Illinois, won her fourth career WTA singles title at the Volvo Car Open WTA Premier event in Charleston, S.C., defeating three Grand Slam champions (Jelena Ostapenko, Sloane Stephens and Caroline Wozniacki, in the Final) and one Olympic Gold medalist (Monica Puig) to earn her first WTA title on clay.

 

Paul, meanwhile, clinched his first professional appearance at the French Open by earning a main-draw wild-card entry into Roland Garros through the USTA’s Wild Card Challenge. The 21-year old Paul, who won the French Open boys’ singles title in 2015, earned the wild card on the strength of winning the singles title at the Challenger 100 in Sarasota, Fla., and reaching the final at the Challenger 80 in Tallahassee, Fla.

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Other highlights from Americans in April:

• Amanda Anisimova, 17, won her first WTA singles title in Bogota, becoming the youngest American champion on tour since Serena Williams at Indian Wells in 1999 and the youngest American clay champion since Davenport in Lucerne in 1993. Former American collegiate stars Hayley Carter (UNC) and Ena Shibahara (UCLA) were doubles finalists there.
• Sofia Kenin got her first Fed Cup win and clinched the U.S. team’s spot in the 2020 World Group by defeating Switzerland’s Timea Bacsinszky in the World Group Playoff tie vs. the Swiss in San Antonio. Sloane Stephens won both of her singles matches to lead the Americans. 
• Asia Muhammad and Maria Sanchez won their second WTA doubles title together, at the International event in Monterrey. 
• Former collegiate No. 1 Sabrina Santamaria (USC) reached her first WTA doubles final, in Istanbul.
• Twenty-five-year-old Lauren Davis put herself on her way toward clinching the women’s side of the Roland Garros Wild Card Challenge by reaching the singles final at the USTA Pro Circuit ITF World Tennis Tour W80 event in Dothan, Ala. The Ohio native clinched the wild card by winning the title at the W100 in Bonita Springs, Fla., in early May. 
• Whitney Osuigwe won her first pro singles title of 2019, at the USTA Pro Circuit ITF World Tennis tour W80 event in Charlottesville, Va., defeating American Madison Brengle in the final. Taylor Townsend and Asia Muhammad won the doubles title.
  
• Former collegiate stars Nathan Pasha (Georgia) and Evan King (Michigan) won the doubles title at the ATP Challenger 125 in Monterrey, Mexico.
  
• Former collegians Ingrid Neel (Florida) and Quinn Gleason (Notre Dame) won the doubles title at the W80 event in Palm Harbor, Fla., while two-time NCAA singles champion Nicole Gibbs (Stanford) reached the singles final there.
  
• Former Wimbledon girls’ finalist Ann Li won her first pro singles title of 2019, at the W25 event in Osprey, Fla., over American Usue Arconada.
  
• Arconada and Caroline Dolehide won two doubles titles together in April, at the W80 in Dothan, Ala., and the W25 in Pelham, Ala.
  
• Jordi Arconada, Usue’s brother and former Texas A&M Aggie, won his first ITF-level singles title at the M15 event in Cancun, Mexico.
  
• Players to win 25-level doubles titles: Pamela Montez (Osprey, Fla.); Hunter and Yates Johnson (2: Santa Margherita Di Pula, Italy; Sunderland, Great Britain)
  
• Players to win 15-level doubles titles: George Goldhoff (Cancun, Mexico); Nadja Gilchrist (Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt); Alexander Ritschard and Justin Butsch (Sunrise, Fla.)