Despite the notoriously difficult transition from hard courts to clay, Jessica Pegula, Tommy Paul, and Ben Shelton all secured tour-level titles on home soil, sweeping the biggest domestic tournaments on Sunday, April 5. The hardware haul wasn’t just celebrated by the fans, as Madison Keys, who made a deep run of her own this week, promptly took to social media to hype up her compatriots.
Madison Keys Shows Support for Her Fellow Americans
While Madison Keys fell short against Yuliia Starodubtseva in the semifinals of the Charleston, Jessica Pegula triumphed over the Ukrainian to successfully defend her title at the WTA 500 event. After fighting through grueling three-set battles in each of her earlier matches, the world No. 5 cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 win in 1 hour and 22 minutes, becoming the tournament’s first repeat champion since Serena Williams in 2013.
Pegula was thrilled to take home a whopping $354,345 in prize money, thanking tournament owner and Emma Navarro’s billionaire father, Ben Navarro, for raising the prize pool to $2.5 million for this year’s event.
Meanwhile, Tommy Paul battled it out against Román Andrés Burruchaga in a hard-fought title clash at the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston. The American had to dig deep to stave off three championship points en route to his 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 victory. In doing so, the 28-year-old clinched his first tour-level title on clay and earned his fifth ATP trophy overall.
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Although Ben Shelton crashed out early in the singles contest in Houston, he didn’t leave the tournament empty-handed. He formed a stellar partnership with former University of Florida teammate Andrés Andrade for doubles at the ATP 250 event, with the duo beating Orlando Luz and Rafael Matos 4-6, 6-3, [10-6] in a thrilling final. The victory earned both Shelton and Andrade their first career ATP doubles titles.
Keys celebrated her fellow Americans by sharing celebratory posts about their wins as Pegula, Paul, and Shelton delivered a collective American victory lap.
Keys and Pegula have both chosen to take time off to unwind at home instead of traveling to Stuttgart for the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, where the likes of Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff, and Iga Świątek are set to compete.
MORE: Monte-Carlo Masters Hit by Mass Withdrawals and Snubs As Novak Djokovic, Ben Shelton Missing
Similarly, Shelton and Paul have opted to skip the Monte-Carlo Masters, joining Taylor Fritz, Novak Djokovic, and Jack Draper in doing so. All of them are expected to return to action at the Madrid Open, which begins on April 21 for the WTA Tour and April 22 for the ATP Tour.
