TENNIS TUESDAY: Coric Wins 1st Title; Federer Iffy On Paris; Sharapova Returns; Schiavone!

ROGER FEDERER IS STILL UNSURE HE WILL PLAY 2017 FRENCH OPEN
After completing his 3rd sunshine double as part of a 19-1 blistering start to 2017 which has included his 18th major title in Australia and 91st tour title overall. Federer is now ranked World #4 but, conscious that he needs to nurture his body at age 35, he is skipping all the clay court warmups and may even skip the clay court major in Paris as well. He told CNN Sport that "I don't think I will skip it, but I will have to see in, say, four or five weeks how I feel when I get on the clay, how my mood is." Since he also missed the 2016 French Open, he has no points to lose, but doing well there would be a golden opportunity to pick up ranking points if he really wants to challenge for the year end #1.

MARIA SHARAPOVA RETURNS TO WTA TOUR NEXT WEEK AS 18-MONTH DOPING BAN ENDS
5-time major champion Maria Sharapova will return to the WTA Tour for the first time in nearly two years when her 18-month ban for using the banned substance meldonium for over a decade runs out on April 26th. Somewhat oddly, Sharapova was given a wild card into the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, which will be underway at that time, so she will be able to resume playing on the tour immediately, despite having literally no ranking points. She has since received wild card entries into Madrid

CORIC, 20, WINS FIRST ATP TITLE IN STYLE, SAVING 5 MP AGAINST KOHLSCHREIBER
20-year-old Borna Coric of Croatia, one of the photogenic up-and-coming #NextGen stars of the ATP won his first tour title this week in dramatic fashion, saving 5 match points  in the second set against veteran Phillipp Kohlschreiber in Marrakech. Coric was also down a break 2-4 in the deciding set, but won the match 5-7 7-6(5) 7-5.

2011 FRENCH OPEN CHAMPION FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE WINS 600TH MATCH AND FIRST TITLE IN NEARLY 2 YEARS
"Nothing is Impossible" said the t-shirts when Francesca Schiavone won her French Open title (d. Sam Stosur) in 2010 at the age of 29. The veteran is playing her last year in the tour and has been in danger of not qualifying to play her favourite tournament. However, thanks to an amazing performance in Colombia, the 36-year-old is now almost in the Top 100 (ranked #104)and should be able to get into the Roland Garros main draw. I wonder what Francesca will say if Sharapova gets a wild card into the French??