April '06 Awards

==PLAYERS OF THE MONTH==
1.Rafael Nadal
2.Nicolas Almagro
3.Roger Federer
4.Andy Roddick
5.Mardy Fish

==RISERS==
1.Nicolas Almagro
2.Mardy Fish
3.Jurgen Melzer
4.Dmitry Tursunov
5.Tommy Robredo

==SURPRISES==
1.Gilles Simon
2.Bjorn Phau

==VETERANS==
1.Daniele Bracciali
2.Paul Goldstein

==FRESH FACES==
1.Stanislas Wawrinka
2.Chris Guccione

==DOWN==
1.Guillermo Coria
2.Richard Gasquet


==TOP PERFORMANCE==
Rafael Nadal on clay (still). His Monte Carlo title defense, and win over Roger Federer, was just part of the two title-winning turns in April that ran his clay match winning streak to an all-time 2nd-best 46 in a row.

==TOP COMEBACK==
In Houston, Mardy Fish won his first ATP singles title since 2003.

==TOP COMEBACK (DAVIS CUP)==
Andy Roddick's resurgence at least picked up a little traction in Davis Cup play, as his 2-0 propelled the U.S. past Chile.

==TOP BREAKOUT==
Chris Guccione for Australia in Davis Cup vs. Belarus

==TOP MATCH==
Monte Carlo F - Nadal def. Federer
...6-2/6-7/6-3/7-6. Make it 4-1 for Nadal against the (not quite so) Incomparable One (at least on clay).

=="THANKS FOR NOTHING" AWARD==
To James Blake, presented by the U.S. Davis Cup team. The Americans defeated Chile in the QF, but with no help from Blake, who blew a two sets to none lead to Fernando Gonzalez and lost in a 10-8 fifth set.

==LONG LIVE... 2005!==
Hope the Croats enjoyed their '05 Davis Cup title, since they'll have to wait another year before being able to seriously consider adding a second championship. The Croatian team exited in the QF at the hands of the Argentines this time around.

==IT IS WHAT IT IS==
Thomas Enqvist (19 ATP titles, with an Oz RU in '99) and Albert Costa (12 titles, including the '02 Roland Garros crown) both called it a career in April.

==BUT WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY?==
Andy Murray fired his coach over some sort of disagreement. Hey, Murray's first career title in San Jose WAS a whole month ago now... what did you expect?

All for now.

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