After more than three decades on tour and more than 8,000 matches officiated, Carlos Bernardes closed his umpiring career at the ATP Finals 2024 in Turin. Now based in Bergamo, the Brazilian has traded the chair for the organizer’s desk and is working as a tournament director on the ATP Challenger Tour.

Bernardes has been visible at events around Italy, including the Monza Open, where he described the atmosphere and his reason for being there. “My wife is working here as part of the official review team, and I had the chance to come as a visitor,” Bernardes explained about his presence in Monza. “I was here last year, and it was nice, but this year the organizers are doing an unbelievable job. The stands have been packed since Sunday when qualifying started. It’s great to see people coming out to watch tennis—not only the Italian players, but the sport in general.”

Earlier in the season he took on tournament duties in Cesenatico, a role that offered a fresh perspective. “It was very nice and interesting to see the side of the organizers. You have to interact a lot with the players. The team there did a very good job,” he said. “At that time of the year, there is usually nothing going on in that region. Many hotels are closed and the city feels like a ghost town. Because of the tournament, a lot of people came, and it was very successful. The mayor and the city representatives were very happy.”

He will continue in that capacity at the ATP Challenger in Cervia in May, where outdoor conditions and longer days should draw more fans. Bernardes has also encountered operational challenges, noting players’ unfamiliarity with tournament procedures. “Some players don’t really know the rules, especially those coming from lower-level events. They don’t always read the fact sheet, like deadlines for hotel reservations. I had quite a few conversations about that,” he said.

Bernardes says what he misses most is the people, not the act of umpiring. “Not the umpiring itself,” he said with a laugh, “but the people. I met some colleagues here that I haven’t seen in more than 10 years. That’s really nice.”

For many of today’s umpires, I was a kind of teacher at some point. It’s like a second family, Carlos Bernardes

He reflected on how the game has evolved and on the impact of new technologies. “This is not only about sport, but it also affects every day life,” Bernardes explained. “With artificial intelligence and automated systems, things are different now. Umpires don’t have the same communication with players about decisions anymore. Their role is more about explaining what’s happening to the crowd or on TV. It’s completely different from when we started.”

The Madrid quarterfinals present contrasting storylines across the men’s and women’s draws. On paper, the headline matchup looks straightforward, but each match carries its own shades of risk.

Sinner and Norrie will meet for the first time despite eight years on tour together. Sinner is No. 1 and arrives with 19 straight wins and three consecutive titles. Norrie is No. 23 and 14-9 for the year; his last tournament victory came in 2023. Sinner is described as having the stronger serve, forehand and backhand and is six years younger. Norrie, however, has climbed from the mid-80s in the rankings as of last July, owns five career titles with two on clay and is a stubborn, pesky competitor known for his speed, effort and fist pumps. His craft has troubled top players before, notably Carlos Alcaraz. Against Sinner he will be forced to scramble on return, extend rallies and fight for every point. Winner: Sinner

On the women’s side, Baptiste, 24, has steadily pushed into the higher echelons, reaching a career-high No. 32 and turning big-match opportunities into results. In Miami she beat Svitolina and Ostapenko before losing to Sabalenka in the quarterfinals. In Madrid she has already beaten Paolini and Bencic to reach another quarterfinal against the world No. 1. Their Miami meeting was a 6-4, 6-4 win for Sabalenka. Baptiste possesses an equally heavy serve and forehand, can produce flat backhand winners and may offer superior transition and front-court play. In that previous encounter she was, in the crunch, a touch less confident and a bit more error-prone than Sabalenka. The top seed comes in on a 15-match winning streak. Winner: Sabalenka

This feels like a trap match for Rafael Jodar, a 19-year-old rookie thriving in front of his home crowds after victories over No. 5 seed Alex De Minaur and No. 27 seed Joao Fonseca. A win would likely set up a blockbuster with Sinner. Standing in his way is Vit Kopriva, a 66th-ranked, 28-year-old grinder described as a tennis lifer. At 5’10” and 152 pounds, Kopriva favors clay, likes rallies and creates from the baseline. Earlier this year he reached the semifinals at the 500 in Rio and earlier this week he knocked out 2024 Madrid champion Andrey Rublev.

Carlos Alcaraz confirmed he will miss both the Rome Masters and Roland Garros because of a right wrist injury, tournaments he won last year. By skipping those title defenses he will surrender 3,000 ranking points in total — 1,000 from Rome and 2,000 from Roland Garros — reducing his current total from 12,960 to 9,960 by the end of the clay-court season.

Despite that drop, Alcaraz cannot be overtaken for the No. 2 position through the conclusion of the clay swing. Alexander Zverev, the current No. 3 with 5,255 points, can come closest but would still fall short. If Zverev were to win back-to-back Masters 1000 titles in Madrid and Rome, capture the ATP 500 event in Hamburg the week after (where he is entered) and claim his first Grand Slam at Roland Garros, he would finish the clay-court season with 8,955 points. That projection already factors in the points he is defending during this stretch, including quarterfinal results at Rome and Roland Garros from last year.

At the top of the rankings, Jannik Sinner is assured of retaining No. 1 and has the potential to extend his advantage. Sitting on 13,350 points, Sinner could end the clay-court season anywhere between 11,500 and 15,400 points depending on his results. To land at the lower bound of that range he would need to lose his next match in Madrid and not play Rome or Roland Garros. To reach the upper bound he would need to win Madrid, Rome and Roland Garros.

Alcaraz’s absence reshuffles the mathematical possibilities on clay but does not change the order at the summit of the rankings through the clay-court season. The scenarios leave room for movement below the top two, but the No. 1 and No. 2 positions are locked for the remainder of the clay swing.