Welcome to your weekly 5 Setter, an express roundup of all things racquet sports with Techy Sean. In this episode:

• Roberto Bautista Agut says goodbye to Madrid

• Ons Jabeur and Camila Giorgi eye comebacks as moms

• Portia Archer steps down as WTA CEO

• The Laureus Awards love tennis

• Table tennis’s historic moment

• Tiebreak Trivia

📮 Ask Kim Clijsters

Kim Clijsters will answer fan questions on an upcoming mailbag episode of Love All. Submit yours on Instagram or by email.

Click below to watch today’s 5 Setter on YouTube, and come back here for this week’s bonus stories.

Pitch-Perfect PR in Madrid

Santiago Bernabéu Stadium is home to Real Madrid, 15 Champions League titles and now, apparently, tennis.

Yesterday, the Madrid 1000 tournament nailed a PR stunt, luring stars to a red-clay court set up in the middle of Bernabéu’s legendary pitch. Players can practice there through April 30 while Real Madrid goes on the road. Even Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham joined the fun, hitting balls with the none other than the King of Clay, Rafael Nadal. It was his son, though, who stole the show with his impressive backhand, according to Tennis Tonic.

It’s too bad the court is walled off or we might have been treated to the sight of Daniil Medvedev returning serve from 121 feet behind the baseline.

Over at the Caja Magica, the only ATP or WTA seeds to fall in the first round were No. 7 Elina Svitolina, No. 22 Anna Kalinskaya, No. 33 Maria Sakkari and No. 34 Magdalena Frech.

Draper to Stay Home from Rome

Jack Draper has withdrawn from Rome, next up on the ATP calendar, and his injury pattern has drawn a comparison to a former player who many feel was robbed of a few Slams by his body.

Tennis Channel’s Gill Gross discussed Draper’s situation on the Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast this week, and Gross did not sugarcoat it. He said a listener got his attention with a comparison to Juan Martin del Potro—a generational talent snakebitten by injuries. Shapiro called Draper’s stop-and-start 2026 one of the disappointments of the season. That feels right.

We are not in the business of catastrophizing. Draper is 23. DelPo was playing into his 30s through surgeries and setbacks. But brows are furrowing. At this rate, Draper’s new buzz cut will look like Andrey Rublev’s lion’s mane by the time he is healthy enough to play.

Let’s hope the best for both Draper and Carlos Alcaraz, the only two big names out of Rome at this point.

NCAA Tennis Creates New Season

After two years of pilot programs, hand-wringing and surveys, the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Tennis Oversight Committee made it official this week: The individual championships are moving to the fall, permanently.

“Under the previous format, student-athletes only in the singles and doubles championships could wait up to three weeks from the end of the regular season until they competed again. In addition, tennis student-athletes in both the team and individual championships could compete for nine of 10 days,” the NCAA said in a statement.

The team championships will stay in the spring. College tennis now has two distinct seasons, two championship windows—and two camps with different opinions about the whole thing.

The Case for the Change

The previous format staged both the team and individual postseason championships in May. Some players competed in both and some didn’t, which the NCAA says caused too many injuries and withdrawals. Uncoupling them would reduce withdrawals and even the playing field in terms of prep and rest. A recent NCAA survey of coaches and conferences showed 75 percent in favor of the split.

The Case Against the Split

Steve Johnson, the most decorated player in NCAA tennis history, didn’t hold back on social media.

Johnson went further, arguing that the fall should remain devoted to development—players working on their games, implementing new weapons, building team chemistry, and not competing for the national title.

Quick Hits

• Fly Squash Club in Shanghai, founded by China’s most accomplished squash player, Wang Junjie, is bringing a long-needed and glossy makeover to the sport, according to Squash Magazine. Fly Squash has bigger ambitions than just looking pretty.

• Andy Murray told Sky Sports that he would coach again and backed Novak Djokovic to win a 25th slam, even though Djokovic “probably learned nothing” from the six months that Murray coached him, haha.

• Spaniard Daniel Merida beat Marco Trungelleti in the final round of Madrid qualifying. He drew a lucky loser in the main draw. It was Trungelleti. This time, Trungelleti reached match point first. Watch the end.

• Alexandra Eala snapped a curious losing streak in Madrid—to players whose last names end in the same three letters. Tennis.com said it best: Curse-Ova?

• Barbora Strýcová ran the Boston Marathon this week. The endorphins were gushing at the finish line.

• Would you rather go drinking or go camping with Marat Safin?

The Weekend Draw

Mutua Madrid Open
ATP and WTA 1000
Madrid, Spain

• Early rounds continue this weekend

Full international WTA and ATP broadcast lists

Q&Andy Recap

Iva Jovic proved once again that she is wise beyond her years when she answered fan questions on the latest episode. Check out her advice for juniors turning pro, how she reframes pressure and what Novak Djokovic taught her about court geometry.

📮Submit a question by emailing askandy@servedmediagroup.com or send it through our website or social media.

Love All Recap

One of Kim’s old friends, Francesa Schiavone, joins the show with wisdom, stories, predictions and the same passion that we loved about the 2010 French Open champion when she played on the tour. Kim and Blair also discuss French Open favorites and the Marketa Vondrousova situation.

Tiebreak Trivia

In Set 4, Techy Sean pointed out that tennis dominates the prestigious Laureus Awards, which emphasize athletes in individual sports. Who is the only tennis player to win two statues in the same year?

Answer: Roger Federer, who won both Sportsman of the Year and Comeback of the Year in 2018, honoring his 2017 season. That’s when he returned from a six-month injury layoff and immediately won the Australian Open in five sets over Rafael Nadal, and then won Wimbledon by beating Marin Cilic.

💡Have an idea for Tiebreak Trivia? Send it our way and score some Served merch if we use it.

📝 We’ll be back Tuesday with a new episode. In the meantime, join us on Substack and Reddit to connect with other Chuckers and Served’s staff about the latest news in tennis.

Don’t Miss a Second of Served

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Context-free soundbite: “I used to call it Chipotle Stadium.”

This week on Served, Andy interviews Iva Jovic, a breakout star on the WTA Tour. Now ranked No. 16, the American teenager spills on Aryna Sabalenka’s aura and Novak Djokovic’s mentorship.

First, Andy, JW and Producer Mike discuss the weekend results and headlines, including the LIV Golf ripple effect on tennis and Marketa Vondrousova’s drug-testing ordeal.

Coming Up This Week on Served

• Love All on Wednesday with 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone

• Q&Andy on Thursday with Iva Jovic

• 5 Setter on Friday

Enjoy the new episode and this week’s bonus stories.

Watch the full episode on YouTube

The latest stories that matter right now

Alcaraz Injury Extra: Quotes From the Spanish Press

Carlos Alcaraz accepted his Laureus Sportsman of the Year award yesterday with a brace on his right wrist, an injury that forced him out of the Barcelona and Madrid tournaments. Is it precautionary? Is it severe? It was a hot topic on today’s episode—and in the press room at the awards show. We translated his best quotes to the Spanish media.

On the likelihood of playing the French Open

“I don’t know how to tell you a percentage. We will see how it is after a week of rest. I hope this is nothing and pretty soon we can get back to the courts, but we understand clearly that this has to recover very well if I don’t want to hurt myself in the future.”

On missing Barcelona and Madrid

“Those are tournaments that I have been waiting for the whole year so I can play in front of my people, and to have to miss them really hurts.”

On concerns about losing his rhythm

“To tell you the truth, no. If God allows, I have a long career ahead of me. I’m not afraid right now to skip whatever I have to skip in order to recover this well.”

On whether he will push himself to play in Paris

“I prefer to come back a little late but very well than to come back rushing. We have to take care of ourselves because the race might be very long.”

The Slide Show: Clay Standouts and Storylines

In addition to the weekend winners and shakers discussed in the episode, a few players hit our radar in Week 3 of the clay swing, and we’re looking forward to reading more French Open tea leaves when players return to Madrid this week.

Week 3 Standouts

Rafael Jodar. A month ago, the 19-year-old Spaniard was No. 109 in the world. He goes home to Madrid as No. 42 after winning his first ATP title and making the semifinals of Barcelona. ¿Cómo se dice “crowd favorite”?

Alex Molčan. Ranked No. 166, the Slovakian qualified for Munich and made a run to the semifinals. He committed only nine errors against Denis Shapovalov in the quarters.

Zeynep Sönmez. The 23-year-old scored her first Top 10 win for both Turkey and herself in Stuttgart. She dominated Jasmine Paolini, the world No. 9, who left the court in tears and in the throes of a dismal 8–8 year.

Week 4 Storylines

Is Jessica Pegula still on a heater? She hasn’t played since winning Charleston in early April. Will the American continue her excellent season (24–4 with two titles) on the red clay, historically not her best surface?

Will Jannik Sinner complete the career masters? This is a better question for Week 6 in Rome, where he could wrap up his Masters 1000 box set. But first he has to bag Madrid, one of the two Masters he hasn’t won. He’s the prohibitive favorite, but should he win, the better question might be: Will he even play Rome or rest up for Roland Garros?

Jelena Dokic: What Saved My Life

Iva Jovic’s appearance on the new episode of Served coincides with a story of a previous WTA teen phenom we read this week: Jelena Dokic’s interview in The Guardian newspaper.

The occasion? It has been 25 years since Dokic won her biggest title, the Italian Open, at age 21. But she was derailed by abuse from her father, Damir, to the point that she considered suicide. Dokic never fulfilled her potential with a racquet in her hand. Instead, she has found happiness on the court as a well-regarded commentator for Australian TV—and off the court as an advocate for mental health.

🎤 Jelena Dokic

“I found so much strength in actually speaking up, in being an advocate, in not being ashamed of your life and what you go through. Owning your story and being authentic about it, yeah, it’s brought happiness to me. It’s actually saved my life.”

Read The Guardian’s full story

Perfect Delivery: That’s Not Amore

Flavio Cobolli took a page out of Aryna Sabalenka’s book and teased his girlfriend during the trophy ceremony in Munich on Sunday after a runner-up finish to Ben Shelton.

🎤 Flavio Cobolli

“I call yesterday my girlfriend, and I say, please, don’t let me lose. But she does. So maybe next final, you stay home.”

It was nice to see Cobolli joke around. He played through obvious grief in the semifinal on Saturday after learning that a young man he knew in Italy had passed away tragically.

Let’s see if he can put together good back-to-back weeks for the first time this season.

7

Consecutive WTA tournaments won by the No. 1 seed

On Sunday, Elena Rybakina won the WTA 500 in Stuttgart, Germany, and Marta Kostyuk took home the trophy at the WTA 250 in Rouen, France. Both women were top seeds, just like the five WTA champions before them:

• Mirra Andreeva in Linz, Austria

• Jessica Pegula in Charleston, South Carolina

• Marie Bouzková in Bogotá, Colombia

• Aryna Sabalenka in Indian Wells and Miami

Sabalenka doesn’t need any mystical help to keep the streak alive in Madrid. She has won the title three of the last five years.

The pattern shows how much stability there is at the top of the WTA Tour right now, and it’s giving fans what they want: a chance to watch the best players at the end of the tournament.

As long as this continues, the biggest winner is tennis.

Quick Hits

• Maria Sharapova wrote about the “bitch” label for Ankler and launched a Substack.

• Tennis stars cleaned up well for the Laureus World Sports Awards red carpet and games of Rock Paper Scissors Monday in Madrid. Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka took home the big prizes, Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year. Watch their acceptance speeches on YouTube.

• The New York Times tackled: What’s a better workout, tennis or pickleball?

• Novak Djokovic has spent how many weeks in the Top 5? He just broke one of Roger Federer’s records. (Tennis.com)

• Loïs Boisson said the French Tennis Federation made “quite a few errors on the medical side” while helping her deal with injuries last year after her surprise run to the Roland Garros semifinals as a wild card entry. She returns this week in Madrid after sitting out since September. (So Tennis)

• This gets you disqualified from a professional pickleball tournament. ⬇️

• PADEL: Both Paula Josemaría and Ale Galán became the most decorated players in the sport with their wins at the Premier Padel tournament in Giza, Egypt, over the weekend.

• SQUASH: Canada’s Danielle Ray announced her retirement from the PSA Tour with a candid perspective on an athlete’s highs and lows.

• TABLE TENNIS: The 100th World Team Championships start next week in London—without the world’s best player. Reigning Olympic gold medalist Fan Zhendong of China withdrew, citing “personal reasons.”

• PICKLEBALL: Jack Sock beat the world No. 1, Chris Haworth, at the Sacramento Open last week. Another former tennis player, Hurricane Tyra Black, won the mixed doubles title with Eric Oncins. They were perfect on serves, returns and third shots, a first for a five-set final on the PPA Tour.

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Leave a comment

Welcome to your weekly 5 Setter, an express roundup of all things racquet sports with Producer Mike. In this episode:

• Carlos Alcaraz taps out of Barcelona

• An underarm (serve) uproar

• Roland Garros opens the checkbook

• Boris Becker’s record-setting trophy sale

• The NCAA has a new prize-money rule

• Tiebreak Trivia

Click below to watch today’s 5 Setter on YouTube, and come back here for this week’s bonus stories.

Aryna Sabalenka’s Book Club?

The reigning queen of tennis is one of Esquire magazine’s 2026 Mavericks of Sports, defined as “athletes who are able not only to win championship rings but also to rise above the tumult and turmoil off the field.”

In the interview, Sabalenka discussed how she has overcome the turmoil we have all witnessed since her breakout in 2018. First, there was the string of big-match losses, then a serious case of serving yips, then last year’s French Open meltdown after losing the final to Coco Gauff with 70 unforced errors.

Sabalenka didn’t reveal many secrets to her ever-increasing mellow maturity (the French Open notwithstanding), but one made the conversation: the best-selling book Into the Magic Shop by neurosurgeon James Doly, about turning pain into comfort. She read it after her cringey sore-loser moment at the French last year.

💬 Aryna Sabalenka

“I learned some different breathing exercises to calm myself down, how to control your thoughts. It was really helpful in that moment because I was all over the place, and that book really helped me in the future after I lost in the semifinals of Wimbledon. I took my time, I took some deep breaths. I tried to completely clear my head so I could be a better person in a press conference after that loss.”

We immediately downloaded Into the Magic Shop and consider ourselves charter members of the future Aryna Sabalenka Book Club, because she isn’t the only one who has lost her cool after a tough match.

📖 Read the full Esquire interview.

The Paris Purse: Who Gets the Extra Prize Money?

Set 3 covers the French Open’s announcement yesterday of a 9.5 percent prize money increase. The $6.2 million bump brings the total payout to $72.7 million.

The Big Winners

• Wheelchair players: 15% increase in total prize money

• Qualifiers: 13% increase in total prize money

• First-round losers: 11.5% increase

• Winner: 10% increase

Prize money for other singles rounds and doubles will increase by single digits.

Slam Prize Money

The French Open pays 20 percent less than the US Open, the highest-paying Slam.

• Australian Open 2026: $75 million

• French Open 2026: $72 million

• Wimbledon 2025: $72 million

• US Open 2025: $90 million

Your Move, Wimbledon

The Championships is now the only major that pays less than $100,000 for the first round, i.e., players who earn their way in with a Top 100 ranking or by qualifying. The first-round prize money at Wimbledon was around $75,000 last year. Stay tuned to see how much it increases this year.

Sharapova Has Entered the Chat

Speaking of WTA champions who love to read, Maria Sharapova, an avid bibliophile, announced this week that she is launching a podcast. A brainy one, not just blabbing about tennis like the rest of us. Chuckers knew this was coming because Sharapova mentioned “something brewing” in the podcast space when she came on the show in August.

Now we have details:

We expect tennis will makes its way into the conversations. Here she is on Served discussing how tennis taught her how to pursue excellence in other endeavors.

Quick Hits

• Iga Swiatek won her first match this week with her new clay-colored Tecnifibre racquet, the T-Fight IG 300. The frame says, “You did not wake up to be ordinary.” (Instagram)

• Novak Djokovic pulled out of next week’s Madrid Masters 1000, still recovering from the right shoulder injury that kept him out of Miami and Monte Carlo. (ATP Tour)

• Andy is on the new episode of Kal Penn’s podcast, Here We Go Again. (Snafu Media)

• Jamie Murray has hung up his racquet. (ESPN)

• Roberto Bautista Agut will retire at the end of 2026. (ATP Tour)

• If you have ever wanted to party with Gael Monfils (and who hasn’t?), May 21 at Roland Garros is your chance. ⬇️

Q&Andy Recap

Chuckers send lots of questions about Andy’s experience playing the Big 3, so this week, Andy gave the most detailed analysis of Rafael Nadal’s forehand you’ll ever hear and revealed the element of Novak Djokovic’s game that deserves more credit.

📮Submit a question by emailing askandy@servedmediagroup.com or send it through our website or social media.

Love All Recap

Fresh off her Billie Jean King Cup heroics, 21-year-old Belgian Hanne Vandewinkel joined the show to talk about the thrill of upsetting Iva Jovic in front of a home crowd and how she juggles pro tennis and medical school.

Tiebreak Trivia

In Set 3, Producer Mike talked about the new NCAA rule that allows high schoolers to keep prize money, and asked: What’s the largest purse ever forfeited in tennis to maintain NCAA eligibility?

Answer: $140,000, the amount Maya Joint passed up for reaching the second round of the 2024 US Open when she was 18 and committed to the University of Texas. The Australian joined John McEnroe (1977 Wimbledon) and Fiona Crawley (2023 US Open) as amateurs who forfeited prize money from a Slam.

📝 We’ll be back Tuesday with a new episode. In the meantime, join us on Substack to connect with other Chuckers and Served’s staff about the latest news in tennis.

The Weekend Draw

Barcelona Open
ATP 500
Barcelona Spain

• Fri., April 17: Singles and doubles quarterfinals

• Sat., April 18: Singles and doubles semifinals

• Sun., April 19: Singles and doubles finals

BMW Open
ATP 500
Munich, Germany

• Fri., April 17: Singles quarterfinals, first doubles semifinal, last doubles quarterfinal

• Sat., April 18: Singles semifinals, second doubles semifinals

• Sun., April 19: Singles and doubles finals

Porsche Tennis Grand Prix
WTA 500
Stuttgart, Germany

• Fri., April 17: Singles quarterfinals

• Sat., April 18: Singles and doubles semifinals

• Sun., April 19: Singles and doubles finals

Open Capfinance Rouen Metropole
WTA 250
Rouen, France

• Fri., April 17: Singles quarterfinals, first doubles semifinal

• Sat., April 18: Singles semifinals, second doubles semifinal

• Sun., April 19: Singles and doubles finals

🍿 Watch List

• Iga Swiatek vs. Mirra Andreeva, Stuttgart quarterfinal

• Ben Shelton vs. João Fonseca, Munich quarterfinal

• Lorenzo Musetti vs. Arthur Fils, Barcelona quarterfinal

• Potential Swiatek vs. Elena Rybakina, Stuttgart semifinal

• Potential Alexander Zverev vs. Fonseca, Munich final

• Potential Gauff vs. winner of Swiatek/Rybakina, Stuttgart final

Full international WTA and ATP broadcast lists

Don’t Miss a Second of Served

Connect with us on socials!

Checked out the Served Merch Shop.

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Submit a question for Q&Andy.

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Context-free soundbite: “I might let you take the tip of my pinkie and cut it off before losing 0 and 0.”

This week on Served, Andy and the whole crew have a lot to analyze from the first Sincaraz match of 2026 and Valentin Vacherot proving he is no flash in the pan at home in Monte Carlo. Plus, Producer Mike pitches a fan-friendly ranking system.

Coming up on Served this week:

• Love All on Wednesday with Belgium’s Hanne Vandewinkel—the only med student with a WTA ranking

• Q&Andy on Thursday on the Big 3

• 5 Setter on Friday

Join our discussion on Reddit:

Enjoy the new episode, then come back here for this week’s bonus stories.

Watch the full episode on YouTube

The latest stories that matter right now

The Slide Show: Clay Standouts and Storylines

In addition to the weekend winners discussed in the episode, a couple of players hit our radar in week two of the clay swing. Others leave us with questions as the action unfolds in Barcelona, Munich, Stuttgart and Rouen this week.

Week 2 Standouts

Lilli Tagger (Austria). The 18-year-old is stirring excitement with a one-handed backhand. Jannik Sinner is a self-proclaimed “big fan.” In Linz last week, Tagger upset No. 3 seed Liudmila Samsonova and Paula Badosa. The reigning French Open Girls champion is one to watch at the WTA 250 Rouen Open this week.

João Fonseca (Brazil). After an encouraging Sunshine Double run, the 19-year-old phenom kept the momentum going by making the Monte Carlo quarterfinals and taking Alexander Zverev the distance. He’s trending in the right direction at the right time. He’s in Munich this week.

Week 3 Storylines

Will Iga Swiatek and Jasmine Paolini find their games? Both struggling Top 10 players have tough draws in Stuttgart, their first events on clay. Paolini, the reigning Rome champion, is just 8–7 this year, but she might have picked up some confidence in Italy’s Billie Jean King Cup win over the weekend. More on Swiatek’s draw below.

Can Lorenzo Musetti stop his skid? After starting the year ranked No. 5, Musetti slid to No. 8 this week and hasn’t won a match in three months. He’s defending a lot of points on clay. Will he turn it around before tumbling out of the Top 10 or leave Barcelona with another zero?

Is the Arthur Fils Show still on? The entertaining Frenchman opens his clay season in Barcelona. A final versus Carlos Alcaraz would be a popcorn match. Fils can do better than the 6–2, 6–1 drubbing he took from Alcaraz in February.

Will Alcaraz retake No. 1? If he wins the title, he will reclaim the top ranking from Sinner—at least for a week.

Swiatek Draws the Short Stick in Stuttgart

Iga Swiatek needs a strong clay-court season. She won’t get to ease into it.

The No. 3 seed at the WTA 500 in Stuttgart this week has the hardest possible draw. Her potential gauntlet:

• R1: bye

• R2: Laura Siegemund, the 2017 champion and world-class disruptor

• Quarterfinal: Mirra Andreeva, who just won a title on clay, or defending champion Jelena Ostapenko, who is 6–0 versus Swiatek

• Semifinal: Elena Rybakina, the 2024 champion and dominant world No. 2

• Final: Coco Gauff, who has won the last eight sets against Swiatek

Swiatek’s record this year is 9–4 with three quarterfinals, and she is ranked No. 4—good on paper, but disappointing by her standards. Her last match was an ugly loss to No. 50 Magda Linette at the Miami Open. She split with coach Wim Fisette afterward and admitted to feeling confused on court.

Swiatek hired the veteran Francisco Roig, one of Rafael Nadal’s former coaches, and trained with Nadal himself in Spain. It feels like a fresh start—one she needs to defend 6,195 points on clay and grass.

Swiatek made the semifinal in Stuttgart last year, but she isn’t putting pressure on herself to repeat. Here are her comments from media day:

🎤 Iga Swiatek

“My expectations would be to just improve on the practice court, then maybe on matches, but really not be too harsh on myself, not judge too quickly, but really make it a full process. Like people say, it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. I would love to come to next tournaments and have this kind of mentality.”

Perfect Delivery: Mirra Image

Mirra Andreeva stuck to the script after winning the Upper Austria Ladies Linz on Sunday, her second title of the year.

🎤 Mirra Andreeva

“I don’t want to jinx anything, so I just have to say this, just like a tradition now for me: Last thanks goes to myself!”

Specifically, the 18-year-old celebrated fighting back from a 6–1, 1–0 deficit versus Anastasia Potapova and “believing until the end that maybe, somehow, I can turn it around.”

If you’ve missed it, Andreeva has developed a schtick of thanking herself in on-court interviews and trophy ceremonies with pitch-perfect dry wit. The routine could be wearing thin for some fans, but not for us. We’d like to thank ourselves for having a good sense of humor.

Jump to Andy's take

26,590

ATP ranking points, combined, for Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz

No two players have ever gobbled up this many points since the ATP introduced the current ranking system in 2009. Sinner and Alcaraz together have more points than the next six players combined.

The canyon might get wider this month. Both Sinner and Alcaraz are entered into Madrid after not playing it last year, so any points they win there will increase their lead. They could hoard another 1,650 points by making the final.

Should tennis make its ranking system easier for casual fans to follow? Andy and the crew dove into the question in the new episode.

Jump to the rankings debate

Quick Hits

• The documentary Rafa (as in Nadal) drops on Netflix on May 29. (Netflix)

• Sorana Cirstea, who plans to retire after this season, is nevertheless getting close to a new career-high ranking. She is currently No. 26, and her high is No. 21.

• Boss is the new apparel partner of the Australian Open, replacing Ralph Lauren as the outfitter for 4,000 staff members, officials and ballkids. (YouTube)

• Reminder for club players: Don’t heave your racket across the net after winning a match, like this guy. (Tennis Legend)

• “Lose Yourself” in the absurdity of the 8 Mile soundtrack playing at the Monte Carlo Country Club. ⬇️

• PADEL: Alejandro Galán and Fede Chingotto have a chance to take the No. 1 ranking from Arturo Coello and Augustín Tapia this week in Egypt. The Golden Boys have held the top spot for three years and are sitting out to rest. (Padel Tonic)

• SQUASH: At the El Gouna International Squash Open last week, world No. 1 Hania El Hammamy outlasted arch-rival Nour El Sherbini in a 78-minute, five-game final, described as “a perfect advert for squash.” On the men’s side, world No. 3 Diego Elias upset defending champion and world No. 1 Mostafa Asal in a 93-minute, five-game semifinal, then demolished teenage qualifier Mohamad Zakaria in 38 minutes to win the title. (PSA Tour)

• TABLE TENNIS: Squad lists are out for the ITTF World Team Championships in London. Starting in two weeks, 128 teams will compete in the event’s monumental 100th edition. China is the heavy favorite, but Japan, which has contested the last five finals against them, arrives with a surprise: They left out world No. 10 Mima Ito from the women's squad. (Table Tennis England)

• TYPTI: The inaugural US Open for typti, the new racquet sport backed by Tennis Channel founder Steve Bellamy, will take place in Los Angeles May 20–24. Former WTA Top 40 player Ashley Harkleroad and NFL Hall of Famer Terrell Owens are expected to compete. (Front Office Sports)

Are You Keeping Up With Served and Love All?

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Don’t Miss a Second of Served

Connect with us on socials.

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Leave a comment

Welcome to your weekly 5 Setter, an express roundup of all things racquet sports with Producer Mike. In this episode:

• Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner battle for No. 1

• Billie Jean King Cup’s teen takeover this weekend

• New rules for NCAA tennis

• Welcome back, Holger Rune

• Gael Monfils’s Monte Carlo moment

• Tiebreak Trivia

Click below to watch today’s 5 Setter on YouTube, and come back here for this week’s bonus stories.

Exclusive Clip: How Fed Cup Flipped Kim and Justine’s Relationship

Picking up where Set 2left off, a bonus clip from Love All on Wednesday sheds light on the role Fed Cup (now Billie Jean King Cup) played in one classic WTA rivalry.

Kim Clijsters and Blair Henley interviewed Kim’s former coach and Belgian national team captain Carl Maes. They had so much to talk about, we had to cut their trip down Fed Cup memory lane. Here it is, including the time Belgium accidentally gave their opponents food poisoning and how Justine Henin made Kim cry happy tears at the height of their rivalry.

Kim and Carl predict that Belgium will beat the United States—with Elise Mertens, not food poisoning. The veteran No. 1 doubles player and No. 20 singles player has the edge in experience over No. 16 Iva Jovic, the teenager leading the Americans in her Cup debut along with Hailey Baptiste and McCartney Kessler.

🏆 Follow the Billie Jean King Cup results.

Sabalenka Withdraws From Stuttgart

The World No. 1 will sit out next week’s Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany, citing an unspecified injury. Her next scheduled event is the WTA 1000 in Madrid the following week.

Sabalenka was spotted in training earlier this week, so here’s hoping the withdrawal is precautionary after putting her body through a Sunshine Double marathon last month.

Zheng Qinwen also withdrew. She is still recovering from last year’s elbow surgery.

The 500-level tournament still has plenty of star power with five of the Top 10, including Elena Rybakina, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff. It’s also the first tournament sponsored by a car company since Mercedes-Benz became the WTA Tour’s title sponsor this year. Honk if this feels awkward.

Pickleball Adds Another Major for Anna Leigh Waters to Win

Like tennis, Slams are the top tier of competition for the Professional Pickleball Association Tour. A new Slam will kick off the 2026–27 season in North Carolina, joining the Slams in Dallas, Palm Springs, Atlanta and San Clemente on the PPA calendar.

The Veolia Pickleball National Championships will be held at Cary Tennis Park in Cary, North Carolina, August 31 to September 6 with a star-studded field.

The extra major will give the PPA more fodder for its new behind-the-scenes series called Partners, promising intense action and plenty of drama. It premieres May 5 on YouTube, Prime Video and Pickleball TV. Watch the trailer below.

Quick Hits

• Daniil Medvedev has no idea what happened to his game in his 6–0, 6–0 loss to Matteo Berrettini in Monte Carlo, after which his seven-part racquet smash went viral. His translation from Russian, via Bounces: “I just couldn’t make anything, get the ball into the court. I never hit two balls in a row into the court.” (Bounces)

• Bounces is flush this week. Ben Rothenberg also published an interview with Jesse Levine, Serena Williams’s hitting partner lately. The gist: She isn’t training like someone who is coming back soon, which usually involves playing points. More behind the paywall. (Bounces)

• Jack Draper unveiled a shoe collaboration with Swedish brand Axel Arigato. (Hard Court)

• Taylor Fritz and Morgan Riddle are not splitsville, despite a recent rumor. (Instagram)

• Lorenzo Musetti will drop to No. 9 after losing his opening match at Monte Carlo to Valentin Vacherot, the latest in a series of disappointments that started when the Italian retired from the Australian Open quarterfinal while leading Novak Djokovic two sets to love. Musetti is defending 2,250 points on clay this spring.

Q&Andy Recap

Jason Stacy, Aryna Sabalenka’s performance coach, let us in on what it takes to be the best player in the world. We’ll go out on a limb and say Served is the first tennis podcast to receive an unsolicited question from a world No. 1.

📮Submit a question by emailing askandy@servedmediagroup.com or send it through our website or social media.

Love All Recap

Kim and Blair welcomed a pivotal figure from Kim’s legendary career: her former coach Carl Maes, who broke down player development and shared funny behind-the-scenes stories from Kim’s junior days.

Tiebreak Trivia

In today’s 5 Setter, Producer Mike explained the current battle for No. 1 between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner and compared their dominance—currently at 48 straight weeks—to Roger Federer’s and Rafael Nadal’s, which lasted 2011 weeks. We asked: Who crashed their party in August 2009?

Answer: Andy Murray reached No. 2 after winning the National Bank Open in Montreal that month, beating Novak Djokovic to the punch.

📝 We’ll be back Tuesday with a new episode. In the meantime, join us on Substack to connect with other Chuckers and Served’s staff about the latest news in tennis.

The Weekend Draw

Monte Carlo Masters
ATP 1000
Monte Carlo, Monaco

• Friday, April 10: Quarterfinals, singles and doubles

• Saturday, April 11: Semifinals, singles and doubles

• Sunday, April 12: Finals, singles and doubles

Upper Austria Ladies Linz
WTA 500
Linz, Austria

• Friday, April 10: Quarterfinals, singles and doubles

• Saturday, April 11: Semifinals, singles and doubles

• Sunday, April 12: Finals, singles and doubles

Billie Jean King Cup
Various locations

• Friday, April 10: Singles ties 1 and 2

• Saturday, April 11: Doubles tie and reverse singles

📺 ATP, WTA and BJK Cup international broadcasters

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Context-free soundbite: “‘Truck Stop Trungelliti’ might be my favorite nickname.”

The Served team crashed the USTA’s annual meeting in Florida for a live taping with new CEO Craig Tiley and president Brian Vahaly. Andy’s conversation with them goes deep on strategies to get kids in the game, the crisis facing college tennis and how the sport has managed to grow after Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams retired.

Also in this episode: Andy’s best piece of tennis advice and the Michael Chang story he will never forget.

Coming up on Served this week:

• Love All on Wednesday with Kim’s former coach Carl Maes

• Q&Andy on Thursday with Jason Stacy, Aryna Sabalenka’s performance coach

• 5 Setter on Friday

  

Enjoy the new episode, then come back here for this week’s bonus stories.

Watch the full episode on YouTube

The biggest headlines from this week’s episode

• Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner play their opening matches in Monte Carlo today, and the tennis world will be waiting with bated breath to see if they both make the final and battle each other for the first time this year.

• Jessica Pegula defended her Charleston Open title, becoming the only player in the Top 10 to win multiple titles on all surfaces.

  • Worth a read: The Athletic’s analysis of Pegula’s tiebreak habit.

• Tommy Paul won the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships in Houston, saving three consecutive match points and flipping the script on his Miami Open loss to Arthur Fils.

• Rafael Jodar won his first title at the Grand Prix Hassan II in Marrakech, Morocco, a mere three months after making his tour-level debut in Australia. More on him below.

• Marie Bouzkova won the Copa Colsanitas in Bogota, Colombia, as the No. 1 seed.

• Mariano Navone won his first title at the Tiriac Open in Romania, saving two match points in the semifinal.

The latest stories that matter right now

The Slide Show: Three Standouts From Clay Week 1

The first week on the clay gave us one Cinderella story and two close ones. Here are a few players who hit our radar this weekend.

Rafael Jodar (Spain). The 19-year-old was already hyped as a 2025 Next Genner and the 2024 US Open Boys Singles champion, but capturing his first pro title in only his seventh event raised eyebrows all over again. He’s now ranked No. 57, up more than 900 spots in the last year.

Yuliia Starodubtseva (Ukraine). The Charleston Open finalist has an “amazing story,” said Jessica Pegula at their trophy ceremony. The war in Ukraine has kept her away from home for four years since graduating from Old Dominion University in 2022. She coached in a New York country club before going pro with the help of a GoFundMe.

Roman Andres Burruchaga (Argentina). The heart goes out to a player who served for his first title with a 40–love lead only to leave the court empty-handed and in tears. The 24-year-old beat No. 3 seed Learner Tien and No. 5 seed Brandon Nakashima at the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships and moved up to No. 62.

We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together

Last week, Iga Swiatek hired coach Francisco Roig. This week, the B-side of the story: Roig’s former player feels burned. Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard told L’Equipe that Roig dropped him like a bad habit to work with Swiatek. “It’s a ruthless world,” Perricard said. Yikes.

In today’s episode of Served, JW and Producer Mike discuss the larger trend: player–coach break-ups sounding more and more like Taylor Swift songs.

Another one: Stefanos Tsitsipas bit back last week at former coach Goran Ivanisevic for bashing him in the media as out of shape and poorly prepared. Tsitsipas’s bruised words came from an interview with Tom Kershaw of The Times.

🎤 Stefanos Tsitsipas

“If it was a way of him pushing me into working harder and getting my shit together, it was definitely not the right tactic. I was really hurt. I never expected that a coach could do that to me, and the worst thing is what he said was not true. I was not fit because I had been injured. It was like he kicked me when I was already down.”

It’s like they say: Love means nothing in tennis.

Wild Idea: Should the US Open Include Amateurs?

On today’s episode, an audience member at the live taping proposed that the USTA give everyone a chance to win a wild card into US Open qualifying.

If it sounds familiar, you’re right. The USTA already tried this. It was called the US Open National Playoffs. The tournament ran from 2010 to 2016 and anyone 14 and older could enter.

The problem was, it wasn’t limited to amateurs. The winners were always college standouts or former pros, not recreational players with a dream. The first men’s winner was Blake Strode, ranked No. 522 at the time. Chris Evert entered mixed doubles with ESPN host Mike Greenburg in the second year (and lost).

The USTA cancelled the series after 2016, saying: “We have seen from recent competitions that the Playoffs are being utilized by pro tennis players as a pathway to the US Open. This was not how the Playoffs were originally designed.”

So why not try it again and limit it to amateurs? Because, as Andy said, even he couldn’t win a US Open qualies match now. The best club players wouldn’t stand a chance.

Jump to Andy's Counter Proposal

Perfect Delivery: Friend or Foe?

At the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships last week, Ben Shelton told Tennis Channel that Frances Tiafoe left him out of plans to go to the NBA’s Houston Rockets game when they hosted the New York Knicks on March 31. He even called Big Foe a snake. TC fact-checked.

🎤 Frances Tiafoe

“He’s lying out of his ass. I never said that. I was waiting when I came on here for y’all to bring that up. I FaceTimed him as soon as I seen it today. I was like, ‘Man, you’re so full of it.’ It’s probably him getting me back for me calling him ‘part-time.’”

As for what Foe meant by that, it’s best if you Google it.

36

Marco Trungelliti’s age when he broke into the Top 100 this week

By making the final of the Marrakech tournament on Sunday, Trungelliti became the oldest man ever to debut in the Top 100 as well as the oldest ever to make his first ATP Tour final. He played 492 matches on the ATP Challenger level while persevering to reach this new height.

🎤 Marco Trungelliti

“Making the Top 100 was a big goal for basically my whole career. I feel over the past two years I was getting closer and closer in terms of level and mentally. Physically, I have been doing a lot better than my whole life, which helps a lot. It is amazing.”

Quick Hits

• Carlos Alcaraz plans to play every week through the French Open in an effort to maintain his world No. 1 ranking with Jannik Sinner coming for it. (@Josemoron)

• Tommy Paul, Ben Shelton and Learner Tien pulled out of Monte Carlo this week after deep runs in Houston.

• Good read: How Jack Draper Became Fashion’s Go-To Guy in Tennis (SportsVerse)

• Daniil Medvedev won Rome but still doesn’t trust himself on clay. (@tiempodetenis)

• No, this viral point didn’t count. ⬇️ Here’s why.

• PICKLEBALL: Say it ain’t so! We missed the chance to play pickleball with the band Weezer last week. They hosted a tournament for fans in Santa Monica, California, to go along with the announcement of their next tour. (The Los Angeles Times)

• PADEL: With this week’s Premier Padel tournament in Qatar cancelled for security reasons, the padel world is buzzing about money instead of matches. A $15 million Series A funding round for the team-based Pro Padel League led by Charlotte Hornets co-owner Rick Schnall sparked a new league-high valuation for the Toronto Polar Bears of $25 million. (The Padel Paper)

• TABLE TENNIS: Sun Yingsha made history by becoming the first woman ever to win three consecutive ITTF World Cup singles titles. World No. 1 Wang Chuqin finally secured his first-ever World Cup with a thrilling 4–3 victory against 18-year-old Japanese sensation Sora Matsushima, who is the top threat to Chinese dominance at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

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Don’t Miss a Second of Served

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Subscribe to our YouTube page.

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Leave a comment

Welcome to your weekly 5 Setter, an express roundup of all things racquet sports with Producer Mike. In this episode:

• Iga Swiatek Announces New Coach

• Andy Murray Gets Into the Shoe Game

• Alcaraz’s Coach Talks Mid-Match Mentality

• 2026 Monte Carlo Withdrawals

• Charleston Signals Possible Charlotte WTA Finals Success

• Tiebreak Trivia

Click below to watch today’s 5 Setter on YouTube, and come back here for this week’s bonus stories.

Rackets and Racquets on Apple TV

Season 2 of our favorite tennis show, Your Friends and Neighbors, premieres tonight on Apple TV. Jon Hamm plays Coop, a hedge fund manager who loses his job and starts robbing his wealthy neighbors to maintain his family’s lifestyle. That includes a $9,000 tennis coach.

Coop turns out to be a good thief. But he’s a better tennis player.

For those of us who have suffered through painfully bad tennis on screen, that matters. Tennis is hard to fake. Stiff groundstrokes and a serve learned like choreography are unwatchable to us.

Hamm, a massive tennis fan and rec player, gets it right. His character played tennis at Princeton University, and he works out his stress with a ball machine session and tries to coach his daughter. Hamm’s racket-head speed is there. He opens his hips at the right time. Spacing isn’t always perfect, but that’s realistic.

“He’s probably a 3.5, almost 4.0. He knew what he was doing,” says Gus Treyz, director of racquets at Sleepy Hollow Country Club in New York’s Westchester County, where most of the tennis, restaurant and pool scenes were filmed. It was also once the location of a Beyoncé video.

Treyz served as the show’s tennis consultant—and he’s the one who drilled a ball from off camera into Hamm’s groin in season 1.

Treyz also coached Isabel Gravitt, who plays Coop’s daughter. She wants to follow in Coop’s footsteps and play for Princeton. Gravitt is not a tennis player, and her physique and backhand aren’t convincing for a D1 commit, but Treyz got her hitting cleanly enough that tennis fans won’t cringe.

Bad news, though—there won’t be any tennis in season 2. Rain interrupted the tennis shoots at Sleepy Hollow this time.

We’ll cross our fingers for tennis to return in season 3, which has been greenlit. Sending Served merch to the wardrobe department now.

Making Their Marks: Clay Movers This Week

Checking in on the clay events taking place on four continents this week, here are players who have impressed.

Iva Jovic at the Charleston Open. It’s no secret that we at Served are big Jovic fans. We are excited to see how her fearless baseline game and tactical maturity translate to the dirt this spring, her first full clay season on the WTA Tour. So far, so good—Jovic won her first two matches in Charleston in straight sets. She plays Anna Kalinskaya in the quarterfinal today, then heads to Europe defending only 212 points. Playing the Fed Cup qualifier in Belgium next week, then WTA 1000s in Madrid and Rome, she could go into the French Open ranked even higher than her current No. 16.

• Rest of the draw: Six of the top eight seeds remain in the quarterfinals. Madison Keys hasn’t dropped a set, while top seed and defending champion Jessica Pegula has survived in a pair of three-setters.

Roman Andres Burruchaga at the U.S. Clay Court Championships in Houston. There are no Cinderella stories in the NCAA Final Four this weekend, but there’s one in Houston—the 24-year-old Argentine Burruchaga. He entered the main draw as a lucky loser from qualifying and got the first Top 40 win of his career by eliminating No. 5 seed Brandon Nakashima 6–4, 4–6, 6–2 yesterday. He plays Learner Tien today in the quarterfinals. Soccer fans might know the name—Burruchaga’s father, Jorge, famously scored the game-winning goal for Argentina in the 1986 World Cup.

• Rest of the draw: Top seed Ben Shelton hit 21 aces in a win over Zhang Zhizhen, and NBA star Kevin Durant attended Frances Tiafoe’s match yesterday. Top four seeds Shelton, Tiafoe, Tommy Paul and Tien all play the quarterfinals today.

Luciano Darderi at the Grand Prix Hassan II in Morocco. The top seed has avoided the early-rounds bloodbath that took out six of the top eight seeds. Darderi won the 250 Chile Open in February and sits at a career-high No. 18. He’s one to watch heading into the bigger clay tournaments. The Italian plays either Corentin Moutet or Marco Trungelliti in the semifinal tomorrow.

• Rest of the draw: Like his fellow Spanish Next Genner Martin Landaluce in Miami, 19-year-old Rafael Jodar scored a big win, this one over Tomas Machac, currently No. 50 but ranked No. 20 last year.

Emiliana Arango at the Copa Colsanitas in Colombia. The local hope is still alive with a chance to win her first title. She’s ranked No. 105 and plays Vavara Lepchenko today.

• Rest of the draw: Top seed Marie Bouzkova remains, but most of the other seeds are out, including two-time defending champion Maria Camila Osorio from Colombia.

New Balls, Please

Andy hit a nerve with his rant on Tuesday’s show about the “dog shit” Dunlop balls he used at an exhibition in Brazil recently. If you missed it, here you go.

Several Chuckers commented about a noticeable drop in ball quality over the last few years. These came from locations around the world. A sampling:

“We are playing at a club tennis in South Africa. After Covid, the quality of the balls has been inconsistent. Now the balls are unplayable, no power, fluffs up after 3 shots. Please Dunlop. Do something about your balls. It used to be the best tennis balls prior to 2019.”

“All balls have taken a massive dip in quality, especially since Covid. We used to use Head Tour balls (Penn in the U.S.) at our club but they now fluff up immediately and become unusable.”

“I’ve had the same experience with Dunlop. First time for me was in Indonesia and I thought they were counterfeits. But then it was like that with every can. UNUSABLE!”

How did we get here? Let’s review some milestones in the great ball debate.

2023

Zizou Bergs posted on Instagram:

“I think it’s time to look carefully at the fact that many players are getting wrist injuries, which could possibly be prevented by not changing the balls every week.”

Stan Wawrinka posted on X:

“Four weeks – four different balls. When are tournaments going to listen to players??”

Novak Djokovic said in a press conference:

“Yeah, this inconsistency is an issue, and that’s what most of the players, and also of course including myself, we complain about. I think there needs to be a bit more consistency with the balls so that we avoid any kind of issues with wrists and elbows and shoulders.”

Taylor Fritz on X:

“Have been dealing w wrist issues since beginning of USO series cause of ball changes we went 3 different balls in 3 weeks.”

2024

The ATP and WTA announced a “strategic review” of the balls “with the aim of increasing quality and consistency of balls during tournament swings from 2025 onward.”

Zverev, a member of the ATP Players Council, said he had personally investigated by calling ball manufacturers.

“Because of Covid, the companies tried to cut costs, and they’re using a different rubber material now. It makes the tennis balls between 30 percent and 60 percent slower on average.”

Daniil Medvedev beat Matteo Arnaldi in Shanghai but wrote on the camera:

“Nice balls.”

2025

Aryna Sabalenka posted damning evidence of low-quality Dunlop balls.

Defector ran a story, “Has the Tennis Balls Problem Gotten Worse?” by Giri Nathan, who interviewed Jeff Bardsley, the vice president of marketing at Penn, and wrote:

“Bardsley conceded that the company did navigate challenges from mid-2020 through the end of 2023, when demand for tennis balls spiked due to the increase in recreational tennis, but production itself was compromised due to the pandemic. Other factors Bardsley mentioned included additional demand for rubber, as the sport of padel surged in Europe, and the freight issues that many companies faced during the pandemic.”

The ATP announced it was centralizing the process of choosing ball suppliers in cooperation with tournaments, but pointed out that changes will take a couple of years to implement because tournaments had to honor existing contracts with ball manufacturers.

Zverev again, in Rome:

“The balls are much slower this year. I don’t know what they’ve done new with the balls.”

Ellen Perez, on her podcast:

“Me and Jessica Pegula were talking about this. We’ve consulted with a lot of the players, and honestly thought these were a bad batch of balls for the hard-court swing.”

Alexander Bublik posted the receipts:

2026

The ATP released an update:

“Following major progress in 2025, ball centralisation will advance further in 2026, with almost all tournament swings aligned on ball manufacturers to enhance playing conditions and reduce variability for players.”

Daniil Medvedev called a supervisor to the court mid-match in Rotterdam to complain about Head Tour XT balls and claim they aren’t even round. After the match, he said:

“These balls are horrible. Please delete this (effing) balls from this (effing) life.”

Alex de Minaur backed him up:

“I have actually been quite frustrated with the balls in practice, which is not like me. I do get what Daniil says about the balls. They are definitely not my favorite. I don’t think they are anyone’s favorite balls. They are very difficult to control.”

Indian Wells switched from Penn to Dunlop balls. Tournament director Tommy Haas explained:

“All the players know that when they come here, this is a rather sandy, rough hard court surface. That means the balls can be inflated a bit more, but in general, we enjoy how the conditions are. This year we are playing with the Dunlop ball, which means the players have the opportunity to play with the same ball at the Australian Open, Indian Wells, and the Miami Open. Hopefully, that will generate less stress on their bodies.”

Fritz discussed it while playing video games on Twitch.

“I think that the quality of the ball has dropped exponentially. On fast courts, the Dunlop works very well, but on slow courts it’s awful. Seven or nine games is too many. The other day, at 3–3 in the first set, I was looking at the ball and thinking, ‘How are we playing professional tennis with this?’ It’s ridiculous.”

Q&Andy Recap

This week, Andy fielded fan questions about clay courts, and we debuted a new segment called Random Question. First: Which ATP player would Andy not fight?

📮Submit a question by emailing askandy@servedmediagroup.com or send it through our website or social media.

Love All Recap

Kim and Blair look back at the Miami Open and talk about the adjustment to red clay, and Blair shares on-the-ground insights from Houston, including why players like Frances Tiafoe love the event. Kim reflects on her 2005 Sunshine Double run and the superstitions that fueled it. The episode also dives into Aryna Sabalenka’s new mental edge, coaching and relationship dynamics on tour, and David Goffin’s retirement.

Tiebreak Trivia

In today’s 5 Setter, Producer Mike discussed the regional popularity of women’s tennis in North and South Carolina, demonstrated by the Charleston Open, which has attracted the best WTA players in the world for over 50 years. Many legends have won the title multiple times, including Chris Evert, Tracy Austin, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Gabriela Sabatini, Conchita Martinez, Justin Henin and Serena Williams. Which of those players went on to win the French Open the same year?

Answer: Evert (1974, 1975, 1985), Navratilova (1982), Graf (1987, 1993), Henin (2003, 2005) and Williams (2013), proving that Charleston results have predictive value for Roland Garros.

📝 We’ll be back Tuesday with a new episode. In the meantime, join us on Substack to connect with other Chuckers and Served’s staff about the latest news in tennis.

The Weekend Draw

Charleston Open
WTA 500
Charleston, South Carolina

• Friday, April 3: Quarterfinals, one doubles semifinal

• Saturday, April 4: Semifinals, one doubles semifinal

• Saturday, April 5: Finals

U.S. Clay Court Championships
ATP 250
Houston, Texas

• Friday, April 3: Quarterfinals, doubles semifinals

• Saturday, April 4: Semifinals

• Saturday, April 5: Finals

Grand Prix Hassan II
ATP 250
Marrakech, Morocco

• Friday, April 3: Quarterfinals, doubles semifinals

• Saturday, April 4: Semifinals

• Saturday, April 5: Finals

Copa Colsanitas Colsubsidio
WTA 250
Bogota, Colombia

• Friday, April 3: Quarterfinals, one doubles semifinal

• Saturday, April 4: Semifinals

• Saturday, April 5: Finals

Tiriac Open
ATP 250
Bucharest, Romania

• Friday, April 3: Round of 16 and quarterfinals (rain delayed)

• Saturday, April 4: Semifinals

• Sunday, April 5: Finals

Are You Keeping Up With Served?

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Don’t Miss a Second of Served

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Checked out the Served Merch Shop.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Join our Substack community.

Context-free soundbite: “He’s my No. 1 in the injury what-if game. I hope no one ever forgets how fucking good he was.”

Welcome to the Miami Open recap! Andy, JW and Producer Mike take a beat to unpack Jannik Sinner’s and Aryna Sabalenka’s Sunshine Doubles before we head into the clay swing. It would be easy to be blasé about their dominance, but not on our watch.

Also in this episode: Andy’s rant about “dog shit” Dunlop balls.

📝 Programming notes:

• Next week, Craig Tiley joins Served for an exclusive interview.

• Jason Stacy, Sabalenka’s performance coach, is on deck for Q&Andy soon! Please send questions for him to askandy@servedmediagroup.com or DM them to us on socials. Videos preferred.

There’s more Served coming your way this week!

• Love All on Wednesday

• Q&Andy on Thursday

• 5 Setter on Friday

Enjoy the new episode, then come back here for this week’s bonus stories.

Watch the full episode on YouTube

The latest stories that matter right now

The WTA Finals Will Leave Saudi Arabia

Riyadh is going three-and-out as the host city for the WTA Finals. Journalist Ben Rothenberg wrote on Bounces yesterday that the WTA Tour will relocate its year-end championships in 2027. Its three-year contract with Saudi Arabia ends this season.

While the WTA hasn’t confirmed the news, we have heard the same thing because Charlotte, North Carolina, the world headquarters for Served Media Group, hopes to make a bid. Andy and Producer Mike share their intel on the local buzz in this episode.

Jump to the WTA Finals discussion

One early thought: Good riddance to the generic group photos in Saudi Arabia. The annual glamour shots are beloved by fans, and in previous host cities, they were taken outside in an iconic setting. In Saudi Arabia, they have been in faceless locations, like inside a hotel, below. Hit us up for suggestions in Charlotte.

The Slide Show: Our Top Clay-Season Storylines

The clay season is officially underway at five tournaments this week.

• Charleston Open (WTA 500)

• U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships in Houston (ATP 250)

• Tiriac Open in Bucharest (ATP 250)

• Copa Colsanitas Colsubsidio in Bogota (WTA 250)

• Grand Prix Hassan II in Marrakesh (ATP 260)

Here are our burning questions as the players grind toward the French Open.

1. Will Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner finally play each other?
   The two titans have yet to meet in 2026. We’re overdue for a SinCaraz showdown.

2. Will Sinner challenge Alcaraz for No. 1?
   Whether they play each other or not, they will be battling for the No. 1 ranking until the French Open. Alcaraz has to outperform Sinner by 460 points to arrive in Paris as the world No. 1.

3. Will Iga Swiatek hire a coach?
   She has never played the clay season without one. However, she isn’t in danger of dropping out of the Top 10 this spring even if she doesn’t make her first semifinal of the year.

4. Will Sabalenka continue her finals streak?
   She is four-for-four this year and excels on clay. This could become a historic run.

5. Who will emerge as Roland Garros contenders?
   Lorenzo Musetti hasn’t gotten out of the gate in 2026, and Flavio Cobolli has been up and down, but both could get new life on clay. Plus, Arthur Fils, Joao Fonseca and Karolina Muchova are poised to make noise on a favorable surface.

   

Heat Check: All the Sunshine Double Achievements

Blink and you missed a new record or milestone during Indian Wells and Miami, when players—mostly Sabalenka and Sinner, who both won the Sunshine Double in singles—kept achieving new heights. Let’s put them into perspective.

Most unbreakable: Sinner is the first player to win three consecutive Masters 1000 titles without dropping a set. More men have won three Grand Slams in a row than three consecutive Masters. To do so in straight sets adds another level of improbability.

Most extra: Sinner didn’t just win the Sunshine Double. He did it without dropping a set, a first in the sport. Along the way, he broke Novak Djokovic’s record for the most consecutive sets won (34) in Masters 1000s.

Most historic: Sabalenka is the first player to complete the career Sunshine Double. She swept the doubles in 2019 with Elise Mertens.

Most impactful: Jiri Lehecka is the first man to make the final of a Masters 1000 without dropping serve since Novak Djokovic in 2018, a result that might have more consequence for his year than either winner’s will.

Most foretelling: Coco Gauff completed her set of WTA 1000 quarterfinals at just 22 years old, demonstrating her versatility across surfaces and seasons—the mark of a Top 5 stalwart.

Most dominant: Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid won their 60th title, the most of any wheelchair doubles team in history.

Perfect Delivery

En route to losing her third straight match to Elena Rybakina this year, Jessica Pegula walked over to her coaches and unloaded some F-bombs in Miami.

The perfect part, though? Even dropping obscenities, Pegula kept the chill factor we love about her. Check it out:

Pegula worked hard to raise her game this year, particularly the serve, and she has a 19–4 record and a WTA 1000 title to show for it. But she keeps running into her kryptonite, world No. 2 Rybakina. On those days, dirty words are the only answer to clean power.

There is a silver lining for Pegula, though. Keep reading.

200

Consecutive weeks in the Top 10 for Jessica Pegula

According to Tennis.com, the 32-year-old reached a career milestone this week by maintaining a single-digit ranking for nearly four years. She broke into the Top 10 in June 2022 and hasn’t left. It’s the third-longest streak among active players, behind Sabalenka (281 weeks) and Swiatek (231 weeks).

Even more impressive? Most of that time—71%—Pegula has been in the Top 5. It’s hard to remember her last bad loss.

• PADEL: Both world No. 2 teams knocked off the No. 1s at the Miami Premier Padel P1 tournament over the weekend. In women’s doubles, Paula Josemaria and Bea Gonzalez beat Delfi Brea and Gemma Triay in a dramatic comeback that lasted over three hours. In men’s doubles, Fede Chingotto and Ale Galan defended their title over Arturo Coello and Agustin Tapia.

• PICKLEBALL: The PPA Tour debuts in Vietnam this week, kicking off tomorrow, April 1. It’s the first international competition for Anna Leigh Waters. Given how dominant she has been, losing an average of three points per set, the real suspense surrounds what Nike will have in store for Waters for this milestone.

• TABLE TENNIS: The ITTF Men’s and Women’s World Cup 2026 kicked off on Monday in Macao. It’s the first flagship event for the sport’s 100th anniversary tour this year. For the first time in World Cup history, the group stage is using the best-of-five-games format.

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Welcome to your weekly 5 Setter, an express roundup of all things racquet sports with Producer Mike. In this episode:

• Miami Open hits and misses

• A prize money critique goes viral—among players

• Carlos Alcaraz gets a yacht

• Rafa’s U.S. padel tournaments

• Charleston Open preview

• Tiebreak Trivia

Click below to watch today’s 5 Setter on YouTube, and come back here for this week’s bonus stories.

Miami Open Women’s Final Is Set

Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff will play for the Miami Open title Saturday, their first meeting of 2026. Sabalenka is the defending champion, while Gauff is looking for her first title there.

Both Miami-area residents got through their semifinals yesterday in total command.

First, Gauff eased by Karolina Muchova 6–1, 6–1, remaining undefeated in their head-to-head. It was Gauff’s first straight-set win of the tournament.

Sabalenka took out her biggest rival, Elena Rybakina, in a match that wasn’t as close as the 6–4, 6–3 score suggests. At one hour and 20 minutes, it fell short of the quality the two produced in Australia and Indian Wells. Sabalenka served flawlessly (nine aces to Rybakina’s two) and adjusted her return position on Rybakina’s second serve, translating to eight break points (she converted four). Rybakina appeared to run out of gas in the second set.

It was just the second time in 17 meetings that Sabalenka beat Rybakina in straight sets.

Sabalenka and Gauff are 6–6 against each other. Sabalenka won their last match at the WTA Finals 7–6, 6–2, but Gauff has won their biggest matches, in the US Open and French Open finals. Sabalenka has the edge in her current form, but Gauff likes the matchup and has found a new gear in Miami. It’s hard to ask for a better final.

A Triple Sunshine Double Is in Play

The Indian Wells champions, Sabalenka and Jannik Sinner, are still alive in Miami. So are the women’s doubles champions, Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend. We could have three Sunshine Double winners over the weekend.

A triple Double happened 10 years ago. In 2016, Novak Djokovic, Victoria Azarenka and the team of Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut all pulled it off.

Sabalenka won the doubles Double in 2019 with Elise Mertens. It would be the first Sunshine Double for Sinner, Siniakova and Townsend.

Fils vs. Paul: Match of the Year?

The biggest question going into the men’s semis today isn’t who will win. It’s whether the matches will continue to be as good as they were through the quarterfinals.

The Arthur Fils and Tommy Paul instant classic on Wednesday is the frontrunner for ATP Tour Match of the Year. To clarify: That means non-Slam match. The overall MOTY so far is Novak Djokovic’s win over Jannik Sinner at the Australian Open.

Thursday morning’s headline was about Fils coming back from 2–6 in the third-set tiebreak and stealing the match 6–7, 7–6, 7–6.

But the story was the absolute lights-out tennis from both men. Fils threw his heaviest artillery at Paul, hitting 105-mph forehands...off his back foot. Paul redirected and improvised beautifully while matching Fils’s ability to hit through the court.

They both held serve 18 times and broke none. Paul won the first tiebreak, Fils the second. Fils threw down 35 winners, Paul 25. They were tied at 114 points each when Fils reached his first and only match point.

The intensity radiated off the court for nearly three hours. Afterward, Fils summed it up perfectly.

🎤 Arthur Fils

“It was just a dog fight, and I never back down from a fight.”

Or from a bubble bath:

Iga’s Next Move

Gauff will take over Iga Swiatek’s No. 3 spot in the world rankings, adding injury to the insult of her opening-round loss in Miami. The upset ended her run of 73 straight opening-round wins—and her relationship with her coach of 18 months, Wim Fissette.

Swiatek will fall to No. 4 next week. Her next event is in Stuttgart, starting on April 13. A big storyline of the clay season will be whether she holds steady in the rankings or falls further before the French Open, which would have major ramifications for the women’s draw.

According to the Polish sports newspaper Przeglad Sportowy Onet, Swiatek will train on clay at the Rafael Nadal Academy in Spain. It also reported that Nadal’s former No. 2 coach, Francisco Roig, is on Swiatek’s short list. Roig recently ended his partnership with Emma Raducanu and began working with Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.

The paper expects Swiatek to name a replacement soon, well ahead of her Wimbledon title defense in the summer.

Or, it says, Swiatek could take her time, trusting herself and her other team members to manage her performance on her favorite surface. She isn’t defending as many points as usual on clay—just 1,430, compared to 4,195 in 2024—which might give her some breathing room.

On Love All this week, Kim talked about working with Fissette for many years and what she observed about his and Swiatek’s partnership.

Watch Kim's take on Iga and Wim

Quick Hits

• Meet Marcos Borges Muguruza. (Instagram)

• Baseball-capped Coco Gauff is still Team Headband. (Sports Illustrated)

• Tomas Machac or Tommy Shelby? ⬇️

The Weekend Draw

Miami Open
ATP/WTA 1000
Miami, Florida

• Fri., March 27: men’s semifinals, men’s and women’s doubles semifinals, wheelchair finals

• Sat., March 28: women’s final, men’s doubles final

• Sun., March 29: men’s final, women’s doubles final

Full international WTA and ATP broadcast lists

Q&Andy Recap

This week, Andy fielded fan questions about his own career and game, going all the way back to his days as a 9-year-old, hustling adults at the tennis club. He also touches on sleep, his high-school car stereo, his Reebok deal and how he coaches serving.

📮Submit a question by emailing askandy@servedmediagroup.com or send it through our website or social media.

Love All Recap

Kim and Blair fan-girl out talking to none other than Hall of Famer Gabriela Sabatini. Sabatini remembers her rivalries and riding a motorcycle to tournaments, and tells us about her life in Switzerland now. Kim and Blair also give a mother’s perspective on Naomi Osaka’s dilemma about staying on tour, and Kim offers insight on Iga Swiatek’s crisis of confidence.

Tiebreak Trivia

In today’s 5 Setter, we previewed the WTA’s Charleston Open, starting tomorrow, and asked: Where was this pioneering WTA tournament held for 28 years before it moved to Charleston?

Answer: Hilton Head, South Carolina. The Family Circle Cup started there in 1973, moved to Amelia Island, Florida, in 1974 and 1975, then returned to Hilton Head. It was the first women’s tournament broadcast on national television.

📝 We’ll be back Tuesday with a new episode. In the meantime, join us on Substack for live chats during the weekend’s biggest matches.

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Context-free soundbite: “You’re so mature. Are you actually, like, 47?”

You love her, we got her. World No. 29 Alex Eala joins Andy and JW this week for a 30-minute chat on her meteoric rise up the rankings and her emergence as a national hero in the Philippines.

Eala didn’t defend her semifinal run at the Miami Open this week, but we can report that she has a healthy relationship with competition—and a solid support system, including Zeynep Sonmez, who broke down Eala’s game on Love All recently.

There’s more Served coming your way this week!

• Love All with guest Gabriela Sabatini on Wednesday

• Q&Andy on Thursday

• 5 Setter on Friday

Enjoy the new episode, then come back here for this week’s bonus stories.

Watch the full episode on YouTube

The stats behind one big result

Hailey Baptiste def. Elina Svitolina 6–3, 7–6
Miami Open third round

On a weekend full of upsets, Baptiste scored the biggest win of her career, beating a red-hot Svitolina with aggressive returns and exquisite volleys to set up a quarterfinal match against Aryna Sabalenka.

8

Svitolina’s ranking

20

Match wins for Svitolina this season, the most of any WTA or ATP player

5

Break points converted by Baptiste, out of 6

73%

First-serve points won by Baptiste, up from her season average of 65%

28

Winners for Baptiste, to Svitolina’s 15

15

Net approaches by Baptiste, winning 9 (60%)

10

Three-set matches Baptiste played this year coming into Miami, out of 14 total matches

0

Sets Baptiste has dropped at the Miami Open

The latest stories that matter right now

Big Foe’s Big Win

After we taped this episode, Frances Tiafoe proved that sometimes numbers do lie, actually. The stat sheet for his third-round upset of Jakub Mensik does not look like a 7–6, 3–6, 7–6 victory for the American.

Mensik, the defending champ, led nearly every important metric:

Tiafoe won two categories: unforced errors by 22 and pressure points by 1. But Mensik out-aced Tiafoe 22 to six, nearly wiping out Tiafoe’s advantage on unforced errors.

One pressure point made the difference, at least statistically. A pressure point is a critical point—when the returner is one or two points from winning the game and either tied or ahead of the server. So love–30, 15–30, deuce, etc.

Beyond the stat sheet, Tiafoe eked out a few more points in the tiebreak. The first set’s was 7–4 and the third’s was 13–11. Tiafoe won the match on his seventh match point. Mensik had two of his own in the last tiebreak.

After two hours and 51 minutes, Tiafoe had the 250th win of his career. He will play Terence Atmane today.

This was the match when Tiafoe’s decision to shut down last season early and reset paid off. He discussed the approach on Served in December.

The Vamos Kids

With Carlos Alcaraz’s loss to Sebi Korda on Sunday, the highest-ranked Spaniard left in the Miami Open is Martin Landaluce, ranked No. 151. The 20-year-old Next Genner is making noise in Miami by qualifying and beating two Top 20 opponents. Next up: Korda in the fourth round today.

Landaluce, the 2022 US Open junior champ from the Rafael Nadal Academy, won his first pro match in Miami two years ago. Since then, he has won two ATP Challenger titles and been ranked as high as No. 110 in the world. Landaluce and Alcaraz have the same agent, Albert Molina, who spotted the Madrid native a few years ago, according to the Spanish newspaper Marca.

Despite Landaluce’s pedigree, it’s hard to say anyone saw his Miami run coming. Until this week, Landaluce was a little overshadowed by 19-year-old Rafael Jodar, the 2024 US Open junior champ. The two grew up playing together, and Jodar beat Landaluce at the ATP Next Gen Finals last year and sits 42 spots higher in the rankings at No. 109.

The two were running neck and neck in Miami. Both qualified, made the third round and faced opponents who had won tournaments last month in South America. Jodar lost, while Landaluce beat No. 17 seed Luciano Darderi and No. 19 seed Karen Khachanov to become the lowest-ranked man to make the Miami Open fourth round since 2009.

Another Spanish kid stole some limelight from across the pond over the weekend. You may have heard of him already: Jaime Alcaraz, the 15-year-old brother of Carlos.

Jaime won a 15-and-under tournament in Spain— with a fully improvised backward flicker Magoo after running down a drop shot, then a lob. He looked every bit like his brother’s flair apparent.

Andy will react to the hot shot—and Korda’s big win—in next week’s Miami Open recap.

Wimbledon Expands Video Review

Over the weekend, Wimbledon announced that it will add more electronic review capabilities—on the six biggest courts only. Players on the other courts won’t have the ability to challenge umpire calls like double bounces and hindrances.

The imbalance puzzles the Served team. JW and Producer Mike unpack it in this week’s episode, and Andy will discuss it on an upcoming show.

Jump to this week's discussion

The tournament tiptoed into the future last year by implementing automated Hawk-Eye line-calling. Until then, human officials still called the lines and players could challenge by requesting a Hawk-Eye review. The tournament said players provided feedback last year and want more electronic line-calling (ELC), which led to this year’s six-court expansion.

Wimbledon wasn’t the last holdout on ELC. The French Open still hasn’t implemented any of it because officials believe the technology isn’t accurate enough on clay. Players can challenge a line call via the mark, but not a double bounce, net touch, hindrance or foul shot (contacting the ball on the opponent’s side of the net).

Pity the players who have to keep this straight:

• US Open and Australian Open: ELC and video review of umpire calls on all courts

• Wimbledon: ELC on all courts, video review of umpire courts on six courts

• French Open: No automatic ELC or video review

Stay tuned for next Tuesday’s episode to see if Andy agrees with the Chuckers.

Perfect Delivery

Rei Sakamoto won us over with his trademark samurai celebration in the first round (see it below), then he made us fans for life when the on-court interviewer asked him to do it again.

🎤 Rei Sakamoto

“I can’t do it now. For me, it is sacred. I only draw the sword when the battle is won on the court. To do it here, without the sweat and the fight, would be a fake. It belongs to the moment, not the interview.”

The moment on Friday definitely earned the sword draw (called a katana). Sakamoto, the 2024 Australian Open junior champion, won his first ATP Tour match 6–4, 3–6, 7–6 (7) over Aleksander Kovacevic.

The 19-year-old lost in the second round to Daniil Medvedev, but took the first set in a tiebreak. Ranked No. 164, he got on the practice court this week with Jannik Sinner thanks to his Italian coach Federico Ricci’s connections.

Practice your katana. We will be saluting this warrior in the future.

5

Top 20 wins for Talia Gibson this month

The 21-year-old Australian, ranked No. 68, won 11 of her 13 matches during the Sunshine Double. Except for Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina and Jessica Pegula, she might have had the most impressive run on the WTA Tour this month.

Gibson qualified for Indian Wells—fighting off a match point along the way—and reached the quarterfinals, where she lost to Linda Noskova. Then she qualified for the Miami Open and made the fourth round.

Before losing to Rybakina last night, Gibson powered past five Top 20 players:

• Ekaterina Alexandrova in Indian Wells, 6–3, 7–5

• Clara Tauson in Indian Wells, 7–6, 4–6, 6–4

• Jasmine Paolini in Indian Wells, 7–5, 2–6, 6–1

• Naomi Osaka in Miami, 7–5, 6–4

• Iva Jovic in Miami, 6–2, 6–2

It’s one thing to pull off an upset, but backing it up again and again is another.

“Just to be able to keep going through these matches without draining yourself mentally, that’s huge,” Tennis Channel’s Prakash Amritraj said while previewing Gibson’s match against Rybakina.

Gibson started the year ranked No. 118. She reached the doubles quarterfinals at the Australian Open with fellow Aussie Kimberly Birrell, beating No. 2 seeds Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini. Then she rattled off 10 wins at WTA 125 and ITF events in February. As we seem to say every week, winning begets winning.

Gibson is projected to rise to around No. 56 next week.

Quick Hits

• With her win over Sorana Cirstea yesterday, Coco Gauff became the youngest player to make the quarterfinals of the 10 current WTA 1000 tournaments. (OptaAce)

• Victoria Mboko is the youngest WTA player to make both Sunshine Double quarterfinals in the same year since Caroline Wozniacki 17 years ago. (TNT Sports)

• Learner Tien—who didn’t know until last week that his coach, Michael Chang, won the Miami Open—hinted that he’s skipping the clay season, which makes you wonder if Tien knows Chang won Roland Garros, too. (The First Serve)

• The Italian Open in Rome will have new stadium in May.

• Lately, the ATP and Dominic Thiem have acted coy about the 2020 US Open champ returning to tennis as a coach. The teases were for the ATP Fantasy league, launching at the Masters 1000 in Monte-Carlo next month, with fans trying to beat Team Thiem. (ATP Tour)

• Ons Jabeur, still the Minister of Happiness. ⬇️

• PADEL: World No. 1s Arturo Coello and Agustin Tapia bring an 18-final streak to Miami’s top-tier event this week after surviving a 6–7, 6–3, 7–5 thriller against Juan Lebron and Leo Augsburger in the Cancun final last week. All eyes are on a potential semifinal rematch in Florida.

• PICKLEBALL: The PPA Tour hits Utah this week for the Greater Zion Cup with a massive 1,500 points on the line. Watch for Will Howell’s return from injury and the high-power debut of the Jack Sock and Lea Jansen pairing as players scramble for May Finals spots.

• TABLE TENNIS: Teenagers dominated WTT Chongqing as 17-year-old Miwa Harimoto of Japan became the youngest-ever Champions winner after a seven-game epic against Kuai Man. Meanwhile, 19-year-old Frenchman Felix Lebrun defeated Wen Ruibo for his first title in China, a major milestone in the sport.

• SQUASH: India’s 18-year-old star Anahat Singh defended her Indian Open title Sunday with a 3–1 win over Hana Moataz, cementing her status as the youngest Asian player to crack the Top 20. The 16-time PSA winner is now being hailed as a premier gold medal prospect for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

Are You Keeping Up With Served and Love All?

Subscribe to Served's YouTube Channel

Don’t Miss a Second of Served

Connect with us on socials.

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Subscribe to our YouTube page.

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Leave a comment

Welcome to your weekly 5 Setter, an express roundup of all things racquet sports with Producer Mike. In this episode:

• Coco’s Firework Arm

• Meddy vs. United Airlines & Sabalenka’s Small Army

• Miami’s $100 Hot Dog

• The WTA Wants Its Privacy

• Tiebreak Trivia

Click below to watch today’s 5 Setter on YouTube, and come back here for this week’s bonus stories.

Fonsecaraz? CarJo?

Talk about a Sunshine Double: João Fonseca versus the two best players in the world, for the first time, in back-to-back weeks. After a barn-burner with Jannik Sinner at Indian Wells, Fonseca takes on Carlos Alcaraz tonight in Miami.

The 18-year-old Brazilian is the darling of the Miami Open crowd, and for good reason. Miami Open tournament director James Blake told us this week on Q&Andy that Fonseca is drawing a level of fan intensity unlike anything he saw with Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal in Miami. They packed Hard Rock Stadium for Fonseca’s first-round win yesterday over Fabian Marozan, 6–4, 3–6, 6–2.

Fonseca and Alcaraz have played once before, in a December exhibition in Miami, where Fonseca led 5–0 in the match tiebreak before Alcaraz activated God mode and came back to win.

But on a big stage, with a Brazilian crowd going wild? That’s a different animal entirely.

🍿 More Friday Bangers

• Alexander Bublik [10] vs. Matteo Berrettini

• Casper Ruud [11] vs. Ethan Quinn

• Jack Draper [23] vs. Reilly Opelka

• Amanda Anisimova [6] vs. Ajla Tomljanovic

• Belinda Bencic [12] vs. Zeynep Sonmez

• Naomi Osaka [16] vs. Talia Gibson [Q]

Linette Snaps Swiatek’s 5-Year Streak

Magda Linette of Poland did what 73 other women before her couldn’t do: Beat Iga Swiatek in her opening round at a tournament.

The 34-year-old Linette, ranked No. 50, came back to beat the No. 2 seed 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the second round of the Miami Open. It was Swiatek’s first match of the tournament after receiving a first-round bye.

The last time Swiatek lost an opening match was at the 2021 WTA Finals, to Maria Sakkari in the round-robin draw. In a knockout draw, the streak went back three more months to Cincinnati with a loss to Ons Jabeur.

Linette has changed her forehand “almost completely” with the help of Aga Radwanska, former world No. 2 from Poland, she said at the Tennis Channel desk after the match.

🎤 Magda Linette

“I’m more able to compete with those top players because I’m just playing so much flatter. I don’t really have physicality anymore to run around and spin forehands.”

Linette plays Alexandra Eala in the third round. The next stop for Swiatek is the European clay. Perhaps she can find her old self on her favorite surface. Her statements after the match were blunt.

🎤 Iga Swiatek

“This is the worse nightmare a top tennis player can have. Dropping in matches in level like this. I need to live through this and figure it out.”

“I haven’t felt like this in, I don’t know, probably over 5 years.”

“I feel like I carry a lot of expectations when I’m on the court. I’m a bit confused, but I’ll just work hard to get it back. I know I have it in me. I just lost it for a second.”

No doubt she will. Last season, Swiatek bounced back from the emotional weight of a one-month suspension and a title-less clay season to win Wimbledon. Afterward, she talked with Andy about how she turned it around.

Former World No. 39 Banned for Blood Doping

Marinko Matosevic, a former world No. 39 turned coach, received a four-year ban this week after an independent tribunal found him guilty of five anti-doping violations between 2018 and 2020.

The violations included blood doping and facilitating another player’s blood doping. The Athletic has the full list.

The 40-year-old Australian admitted to receiving a blood transfusion in Mexico in 2018 —“stupidly,” in his own words—and said he retired shortly afterward, partly out of disgust at his own actions.

But Matosevic didn’t go quietly.

In a statement issued before his hearing, he accused the ITIA of being “corrupt and unjust,” claiming the agency built its case on years-old text messages and what he called “made-up laws like intent.” The tribunal dismissed his allegations as without merit.

Spring Breaks for Djokovic and Fritz

Novak Djokovic withdrew from the Miami Open this week with a shoulder injury, and the tennis world had thoughts. Our own JW addressed it in his SI mailbag, offering a measured defense: The moment Djokovic lost to Jack Draper in the Round of 16 at Indian Wells, a former player texted him, “There goes Miami.” Nobody who knows tennis was surprised.

Andy was more direct on Tuesday’s show, pushing back on what he sees as a glaring double standard. Fans and media praise Djokovic for prioritizing majors and family at this stage of his career, then criticize him when he does.

🎤 Andy Roddick

“Those are the same thing. That’s the exact same conversation. ... He’s Novak. He doesn’t need to win Miami. Who gives a shit?”

Hard to argue. The man has 24 Grand Slam titles. At 38, he has earned the right to pick his spots.

Djokovic isn’t the only top player making a calculated health decision right now. Taylor Fritz is using Miami as his own deadline. The world No. 7 has been managing knee tendinitis all season, and he told reporters this week that if things don’t improve after Miami, he may skip the clay-court swing entirely.

The math isn’t complicated. Fritz has just 170 ranking points to defend on clay. But right afterward on grass, he needs to defend 1,300 points—two titles and a Wimbledon semifinal.

It would sting for Claylor fans, but there is a silver lining: more of Fritz’s Q&As on Twitch.

Quick Hits

• Remember the name: Moise Kouame. Yesterday, the 17-year-old Frenchman became the youngest man to win a Masters 1000 match since Rafael Nadal in 2003—while fighting off cramps in the final set. His idol Novak Djokovic slid into his DMs afterward with a congratulatory message. Kouame’s response: “I’m so nervous. I don’t know what to answer!” (Tennis.com)

• Defending Miami Open champion Jakub Mensik has a secret stats weapon. (Tennis.com)

• Pickleball participation grew 23% last year, while tennis jumped 6%, according to a new report from the Sports & Fitness Industry Association. (The Dink)

• 💡 Next fan-week event: the Wrong Hand Slam. ⬇️

The Weekend Draw

Miami Open
ATP/WTA 1000
Miami, Florida

• Fri., March 20: men’s and women’s second round

• Sat., March 21: men’s second round, women’s third round

• Sun., March 22: men’s and women’s third round

Full international WTA and ATP broadcast lists

Q&Andy Recap

Former world No. 4 James Blake answered fan questions this week and gave an unfiltered look at what it really takes to run one of the biggest tournaments in the world, from managing ego-driven player requests to scheduling nightmares. Plus, what he remembers from that classic US Open semifinal with Andre Agassi.

📮Submit a question by emailing askandy@servedmediagroup.com or send it through our website or social media.

Love All Recap

Kim and Blair break down the Sabalenka–Rybakina rivalry, and Kim explains why she asked for her opponent’s press conference transcripts. Also: the coaching culture in Europe, player-led media, Corentin Moutet’s viral racket throw and recommendations for wellness trends and travel gear.

Tiebreak Trivia

In today’s 5 Setter, we talked about the just-released rosters for the next BJK Cup Qualifiers in April, including Iva Jovic making her debut for Team USA. Who was the youngest player to make a Fed Cup or BJK Cup debut?

Answer: Denise Panagopoulou. She was five days shy of her 13th birthday when she played for Greece in 1977. She won her match in three sets.

📝 We’ll be back Tuesday with a new episode. In the meantime, join us on Substack for live chats during the weekend’s biggest matches.

Are You Keeping Up on Served ?

Click Here to Subscribe to Our YouTube Channel

Don’t Miss a Second of Served

Connect with us on socials!

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Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Join our Substack community.

Context-free soundbite: “I got some questions about a couple nights out in the early 2000s.”

As tennis’s version of March Madness heads to Miami, Andy, JW and Producer Mike break down the outstanding Indian Wells Final Four and check in on the Cinderellas that made moves in the desert. Aryna Sabalenka’s record in finals—problem or not?—also gets heavy airtime.

Plus, Andy makes a ruling on the Jack Draper hindrance call. Find out if he agrees with you guys or Pat McAfee.

📣 Programming notes:

• Please send questions for James Blake on Q&Andy by the end of the day to askandy@servedmediagroup.com or DM them to us on socials. Bring the heat, Chuckers.

• WTA sensation Alex Eala is on deck for next Tuesday’s show.

Enjoy the new episode, then read today’s stories below.

Watch the full episode on YouTube

The latest stories that matter right now

The Canadian Wave, Part 2

In this episode, Andy makes a bold prediction about Victoria Mboko, the 19-year-old Canadian who broke into the Top 10 with her quarterfinal run at Indian Wells—she’ll win a slam by the end of 2028.

Mboko’s consistent results, impressive defense and ability to win without her A-game have convinced Andy that she is majors material.

Her fast rise recalls Naomi Osaka’s and Bianca Andreescu’s breakout years. Both women, like Mboko, exploded audaciously onto the scene by winning their first WTA Tour title at the 1000 level.

Both Osaka and Andreescu went on to win the US Open after their Indian Wells shocks. Mboko didn’t equal their feat, but she has made deep run after deep run since her breakout. She left Montreal last summer with a wrist injury that hampered her through September. Then she closed out the season with a final and a title. Since regaining full health, she has lost only to Elena Rybakina, Mirra Andreeva, Aryna Sabalenka and Karolina Muchova, and not before the quarterfinals.

All of which leads us to wonder if Andy’s two-and-a-half-year window might be a conservative prediction.

In Mboko’s shadow, Andreescu—who played doubles with Mboko last fall—has quietly been stacking wins this year, too. After starting the year ranked No. 227, she has gone 17–4 in WTA 125 tournaments and shaved 60 spots off her ranking in just 10 weeks.

Winning begets winning. Andreescu is only 25 years old. An all-Canadian final in Toronto at some point isn’t a crazy thought.

Jump to Andy's Mboko Prediction

Singles Players Even the Mixed Doubles Score

Unlikely 2026 headline: Mixed doubles is hot!

Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli ran through four experienced doubles teams to win the Indian Wells title and the $360,000 check.

The result added a new wrinkle to the surprising boost in mixed doubles popularity that began in New York, when a revamped format and $1 million prize attracted top singles players. But when a seasoned doubles team—Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori—won the title, it looked like doubles specialists have an edge on singles champions on their own turf.

Bencic and Cobolli said not so fast.

Bencic, ranked No. 12, and Cobolli, ranked No. 14, beat the best of the best in the desert—this after playing together just once before, at an exhibition in December. Their path:

• Jelena Ostapenko and Evan King

• Kristina Mladenovic and Manuel Guinard, the Australian Open finalists this year

• No. 4 seeds Errani and Vavassori, the reigning US Open champs

• No. 1 seeds Gabriela Dabrowski and Lloyd Glasspool

Leaning into the mixed doubles trend, Indian Wells increased the purse to $1 million this year, more than seven times what it was two years ago. Two teams of singles players entered and did well. In addition to the eventual champs, Maria Sakkari and Stefanos Tsitsipas made the semifinals, where they lost to Dabrowski and Glasspool 13–11 in the match tiebreak.

Cobolli revealed another upside of the new mixed doubles opportunities. He said playing alongside Bencic, the 2020 Olympic gold medalist, taught him that he isn’t focused enough in his singles matches.

🎤 Flavio Cobolli

“I saw what she does outside the court. On court, she is completely different. She changes the attitude, she changes her face and the eyes are more on focus, you know. So I miss that part on my game. Sometimes I cannot stay focused for a long time, but with her, it’s another thing. I think I stayed focused for all four matches.”

Will the impression show up in Cobolli’s singles game? Something to watch for this season.

Ethan Quinn Wins in Phoenix

Ethan Quinn had a moment at the Australian Open this year. The 23-year-old American upset Hubert Hurkacz to make the third round and jump 12 spots in the rankings to No. 68.

Quinn made another leap this week with a win at the Arizona Tennis Classic Challenger in Phoenix, beating fellow American Marcos Giron 7–6, 4–6, 7–5. He won five of six tiebreaks en route to his second Challenger title and is now ranked No. 56.

The 2023 NCAA champ celebrated by cannonballing into the pool at the host country club, a tournament tradition.

The day before, Corentin Moutet celebrated his semifinal loss by cannonballing his racquet out of the stadium.

Perfect Delivery

World No. 1s, they’re just like us. Aryna Sabalenka revealed low-maintenance celebration plans in her press conference after the final.

🎤 Aryna Sabalenka

"I guess a couple espresso martinis, probably, and Five Guys to go. Basically, that’s why I’m never in good shape, because it’s Five Guys and espresso martinis in celebration (laughing).”

No need to explain, Aryna. You played for two-and-a-half hours in near-100-degree heat. We played for an hour in air conditioning yesterday and ate pretty much the same thing.

91

Percentage of first-serve points Jannik Sinner won in the Indian Wells final

Daniil Medvedev did just one thing wrong in the final—he left a makeable volley at 5–5 in the first-set tiebreak, and it dropped in. Yet he still lost the match in straight sets.

Sinner’s serve carried him past a nearly perfect Medvedev. Winning 91% of first serves for the match—43 for 47 points—is preposterous. In the first set, Sinner lost just one point on his first serve. He never faced a break point in the match and hit 10 aces to two double faults.

Sinner has retooled his serving footwork and has been hitting his spots much more frequently this season, sharpening his serve into a serious weapon. Throughout the tournament, 59% of his serves were unreturned, an 11% increase on his average last year.

That’s what happens when you play doubles with Reilly Opelka.

Miami Open Draw Preview

The Miami Open draws are out. Here’s our preview, based around the likely paths of the top two seeds in each draw.

🍿 Carlos Alcaraz and Joao Fonseca could play an ATP match for the first time, just a week after Fonseca played Jannik Sinner for the first time. They will meet in the second round if Fonseca beats Fabian Marozsan on Wednesday. Marozsan won their only previous meeting, on clay last year.

WTA Draw

Aryna Sabalekna (1)

• Madison Keys, fourth round (or Zheng Qinwen)

• Elina Svitolina, quarterfinal (or Jasmine Paolini)

• Elena Rybakina, semifinal (or Jessica Pegula, Naomi Osaka or Iva Jovic)

Iga Swiatek (2)

• Karolina Muchova, fourth round

• Victoria Mboko, quarterfinal (or Mirra Andreeva)

• Amanda Anisimova, semifinal (or Coco Gauff or Linda Noskova)

Scouting Notes

• Rybakina’s quarter is stacked. She, Pegula, Osaka and Jovic are all on a collision course in that section.

• Rybakina and Pegula played in the Australian Open semis and Indian Wells quarters, with Rybakina winning both.

• Osaka and Jovic could meet in the third round.

• Swiatek could meet Alex Eala in the third round.

• Mboko and Andreeva could meet in the fourth round.

ATP Draw

Carlos Alcaraz (1)

• Karen Khachanov, fourth round

• Taylor Fritz, quarterfinal (or Jack Draper or Casper Ruud)

• Lorenzo Musetti, semifinal (or Alex de Minaur, Arthur Fils, Tommy Paul or Alexander Bublik)

Jannik Sinner (2)

• Andrey Rublev, fourth round (or Alex Michelsen)

• Felix Auger-Aliassime, quarterfinal (or defending champ Jakub Mensik)

• Alexander Zverev, semifinal (or Daniil Medvedev or Ben Shelton)

Scouting Notes

• Musetti’s section is loaded. In the fourth round, he’ll likely play the winner of Flavio Cobolli and Tommy Paul.

• Medvedev is in Sinner’s half and could have to beat Shelton and Zverev for the Indian Wells final rematch.

• Learner Tien is in Zverev’s quarter and could have an Indian Wells rematch with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the third round.

• Sebastian Korda got another brutal draw. He could play Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the second round, then the winner of Alcaraz/Fonseca in the third.

• Draper and Fritz could meet in the third round.

Quick Hits

• The PongBot, seen at the Racquet X showcase in Florida over the weekend, is on our wish list.

• Speaking of robots, scientists in China have re-created the skittish beginner club player.

• Aryna who? ⬇️

• PADEL: The Rafa Nadal Academy Padel Tour, an amateur competition circuit in Spain and Italy, landed stateside last weekend with its first American event at Padel X in Miami. Three more stops are scheduled this year: Austin in April, back to Miami in May and New York at a date to be announced.

• PICKLEBALL: Major League Pickleball has launched an amateur league. Minor League Pickleball will operate as Regional Showdowns and give winners a pathway to MLP tournaments. The competition format includes four-person coed teams and three-person gendered teams.

• TABLE TENNIS: Marty Supreme may have been shut out at the Oscars, but the sport itself is winning from the movie’s popularity. Major League Table Tennis, an American league launched in 2023, sold out events for the first time in January, and clubs have seen an increase of 20 to 40 percent in reservations, according to The Guardian.

• BADMINTON: The sport is still buzzing about Wang Zhiyi ending a nine-match skid in title matches to world No. 1 An Se-young to win the All England crown earlier this month.

• SQUASH: Sivasangari Subramaniam won the Australian Open, solidifying this season’s “complete comeback” narrative that started with a life-threatening car accident in 2022. Paul Coll won the men’s title.

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Welcome to your weekly 5 Setter, an express roundup of all things racquet sports with Producer Mike. In this episode:

• Drama in the Desert

• More Million-Dollar Doubles

• Indian Wells’s Ghost Court

• Rest of the Racquets News

• Roger Federer, Richer Than We Thought

• Tiebreak Trivia

Click below to watch today’s 5 Setter on YouTube, and come back here for this week’s bonus stories.

Pardon the Interruption?

Elina Svitolina scored the biggest upset of the tournament yesterday, taking out the in-form world No. 2, Iga Swiatek, in the qu—hello?! Waves arms

Bear with us, Elina. We have to talk about this hindrance business.

It has been 15 years since a hindrance call against Serena Williams factored into the 2011 US Open final, which she lost to Sam Stosur. Most fans would strain to remember another hindrance call before this year.

Last night, we had our fourth prominent hindrance call of 2026.

It happened in the Daniil Medvedev and Jack Draper quarterfinal at Indian Wells. Draper, the defending champ, was down a set and serving at 5–all, love–15, a big point. Medvedev hit a deep ball that landed on Draper’s baseline. Draper played it, but threw his arms in the air, as if to ask, “Where is the call?” (This is a common reaction in tennis.) Medvedev continued the rally. Seven shots later, he hit the ball into the net. Then he asked the umpire about Draper’s gesticulation.

She hadn’t seen it. She said Medvedev could ask for a review. He did, and the umpire ruled that it was hindrance. Draper lost the point. He argued it, saying there was no way it distracting enough to warrant a call, but he got nowhere. Medvedev won the game and the match. Medvedev and Draper discussed the call calmly over their handshake and parted ways in peace.

Fans weren’t as calm, storming to social media to debate the controversy—and to call the karma police on Draper, who benefited from a dubious double-bounce no-call on match point two years ago against Felix Auger-Aliassime in Cincinnati. Tennis fans don’t forget.

Later at the Tennis Channel desk, Medvedev explained why his conscience is clear.

🎤 Daniil Medvedev

“Was I distracted big time? No. Was I distracted a bit? Yes. And if you look on the first forehand I make after he makes a gesture, I think I would have made a better forehand.”

The incident was at least the fourth notable hindrance call this season. The others:

• Flavio Cobolli for a ball falling out of his pocket at United Cup

• Aryna Sabalenka for a late grunt at the Australian Open

• Daniel Altmaier for saying “oh, no” as his drop shot was in the air in Rio de Janeiro (on match point, no less)

Back to Svitolina. She now leads the WTA Tour in match wins this year at 19. She will play Elena Rybakina in the semifinal today after the Australian Open champ took out Jessica Pegula in straight sets.

Sabalenka’s Big Diva Energy

In Set 1 today, Producer Mike talked about the irritability we’ve been seeing from players and fans in the desert. There must be something in the champagne. One player immune to any negativity is Aryna Sabalenka, who is busy living out every 27-year-old’s mood board.

The world No. 1 started the tournament on cloud nine, in love with her new puppy and new fiancé. Nothing was going to steal her joy as she floated through the draw under palm trees and blue skies, basking in the bliss of it all.

She played wearing her massive diamond engagement ring. She model-walked across Novak Djokovic’s practice court. She warmed up in a bridal veil that a fan had tossed to her.

When she beat Naomi Osaka in the fourth round, she doubled down on the divatude. She told the media that she loved being the only megastar at her agency, Evolve, which also represented Osaka until late 2025.

🎤 Aryna Sabalenka

“I’m super happy that now all time that they were kind of like, how you say, balancing between me and the Naomi, now I got most of the time. I’m happy with that (smiling).”

Sabalenka wants it all, and she owns it. Will she own the tournament in two days? She plays No. 14 seed Linda Noskova today in the semifinal. Sabalenka won their only meeting, three years ago.

Ons Jabeur: “Am I Worth It?”

Ons Jabeur plans to return to tennis after having her first child next month, and she will bring with her a new attitude—that she deserves big titles.

On her new YouTube series, Her Game, Her Rules, the former World No. 2 revealed that she struggled with imposter syndrome after she became one of the most popular players on tour. She was so concerned with remaining humble that she didn’t grasp the scale of her impact as the first Arab player to reach a Grand Slam final.

She and good friend Paula Badosa spent the premiere episode on Badosa’s couch in Dubai, discussing how they both found balance on the tour.

🎤 Ons Jabeur

“Am I worth it? That’s the question that I probably asked myself a lot. So much doubt about it. And that’s what maybe didn’t help me win the biggest tournaments. I’m like, do I deserve this?”

Jabeur is coming around to the idea. When she opened an academy in Dubai in January, the amount of love and support she received was finally undeniable. “I didn’t realize it,” she said.

She and Badosa have both learned to accept the sport’s emotional roller coaster, set boundaries to avoid burnout and generally be a happy pro tennis player. Jabeur revealed the secret sauce on Love All’s premiere episode this year.

Jabeur is the latest top player to document tour life on YouTube, along with Casper Ruud, Ben Shelton, Jannik Sinner, Arthur Fils, Alex de Minaur, Daria Kasatkina and Zeynep Sonmez.

Quick Hits

• Pickleball queen Anna Leigh Waters will play her first international tournament, in Vietnam, in April. (The Dink)

• The PTPA announced a leadership change yesterday. Executive Director Ahmad Nassar is moving to an “advisory role,” and Deputy Executive Director Romain Rosenberg is taking his place. Nassar said, “This was always the plan. Build the institution, then hand the reins to the right leader.” (PTPA)

• The Phoenix Challenger this week is a fine example of a lower-tier, cut-rate event that punches above its weight in entertainment value. Case in point: Wild card 18-year-old Darwin Blanch beat No. 52 Terence Atmane, a Cincinnati semifinalist last year. He lost the next match, but it’s still nice to get a Top 100 win before your driver’s license. (Tennis.com)

• Blanch is among the Miami Open wild card recipients. (Miami Open)

• The ATP renewed its partnership with Overtime, which resulted in 80 million social-media views and 1 million new followers last year, the tour said. That’s good news if you like clips of players taking quizzes and answering goofy questions about each other. (ATP Tour)

• One thing we’ve learned from tennis social media is that ATP players are bad gift-givers. Boys, your time and company don’t count.

• Yonex, however, knows what it’s doing. ⬇️

Q&Andy Recap

Andy’s former coach Larry Stefanki delivered the goods on two episodes this week. Tuesday, he told the story of a hangry Andy chucking a muffin across an airport lounge, among other juicy anecdotes from Stefanki’s time coaching legends of the game. Thursday brought Part 2 as he fielded fan questions.

Watch the Latest Episode on YouTube

📮Submit a question by emailing askandy@servedmediagroup.com or send it through our website or social media.

Love All Recap

Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez is bringing a new fan base to tennis, much like her best friend, Alexandra Eala. Kim and Blair talked to the 23-year-old about the friendlier locker room sisterhood compared to Kim’s era and having Ons Jabeur as a mentor.

Watch the Latest Episode on YouTube

The Weekend Draw

ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 Indian Wells

• Indian Wells, California

• Fri., March 13: women’s semifinals, men’s doubles and mixed doubles semifinals

• Sat., March 14: men’s semifinals, all doubles finals

• Sun., March 15: men’s and women’s finals

Full international WTA and ATP broadcast lists

Tiebreak Trivia

In today’s 5 Setter, we let you know that Roger Federer debuted on the Forbes billionaire list this week with a net worth of $1.1 billion and asked what fellow Hall of Famer is ranked higher on the list than Fed.

Answer: Ion Tiriac. The Romanian player competed in the 1960s and 1970s, before there was money to be made in tennis. Tiriac built his fortune later as a businessman to $2.3 billion in net worth, according to Forbes.

📝 We’ll be back Tuesday with a new episode. In the meantime, join us on Substack for live chats during the weekend’s biggest matches.

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Context-free soundbite: “Sphincteritis has got a hold of you.”

Buckle up, Chuckers. Supercoach Larry Stefanki—the only person who can call our host “Andrew” besides his mother—joins Andy and JW to shoot the breeze on his time with Andy, Marcelo Rios, John McEnroe, Tim Henman…the list goes on. Plus, his own crazy Indian Wells win and the top players he passed on coaching.

📣 There’s more Served—and more Stefanki—coming your way this week;

• Love All with Kim, Blair and guest Zeynep Sönmez tomorrow

• Q&Andy—Stefanki Part 2, answering fan questions—on Thursday

• 5 Setter on Friday

• Indian Wells live chats—watch social media for details

Enjoy the new episode, then read today’s stories below.

Watch the full episode on YouTube

The stats behind the best match this week

Joăo Fonseca def. Tommy Paul 6–2, 6–3
Indian Wells third round

Joăo Fonseca has entered this season’s chat after a 1–3 start in January and February—although he did take the Rio Open doubles title to recapture that winning feeling. He roared to life in his match against Tommy Paul on Sunday, nuking forehands through the court. Next up: his first meeting with Jannik Sinner tonight.

73%

First-serve points won by Fonseca

59%

First-serve points won by Paul

50%

Total return points won by Fonseca

20–12

Fonseca’s winner-to-error ratio

12–31

Paul’s winner-to-error ratio

1

Break point for Paul (converted)

10

Break points for Fonseca (converted 4)

2

Match points Fonseca saved in his second-round win over Karen Khachanov

11

1000-level match wins for Fonseca, the second South American to achieve 10+ as a teenager (with Juan Martin del Potro)

1

Masters 1000 fourth round reached by Fonseca

The latest stories that matter right now

WTA Players Receive Serious Threats

Last week, two WTA players received a photo of a handgun along with a demand to lose their next match. According to The Athletic, the FBI is contributing to the WTA’s investigation.

The threats targeted Italy’s Lucrezia Stefanini at Indian Wells and Hungary’s Panna Udvardy at a WTA 125 tournament in Turkey.

When Stefanini’s news broke first, she said on Instagram that the WTA told her it could have resulted from a data breach, including players’ phone numbers. According to The Athletic, the WTA walked it back after Udvardy was threatened.

Udvardy said her message included a threat to kidnap her mother. Her parents contacted the Hungarian embassy in Turkey, which sent security to the tournament for the 27-year-old.

Here’s Udvardy’s detailed account on Instagram.

The messages were sent through WhatsApp, unlike most betting-related threats that come via social media.

Italy to Add a Grass-Court Tournament

The ATP’s indoor 250 European Open in the fall will move from Brussels to Milan in 2028 and become a Wimbledon tune-up. It will be the first grass-court tournament ever in Italy.

The Italian Tennis and Padel Federation paid $24 million for the rights, according to Italy’s largest daily newspaper, Corriere Della Sera. The acquisition is the latest power play by the Italians, who are increasing their footprint in pro tennis on the foundation of a men’s talent wave led by Jannik Sinner. Italy has won the last three Davis Cups, hosted the ATP World Tour Finals in Turin since 2021 and produced eight current Top 100 players, trailing just France (11), Argentina (nine) and the United States (nine).

Sinner is unlikely to play the 250 event. It’s scheduled for the week after the French Open, so unless the World No. 2 loses early in Paris, he might be unavailable to play so soon after the long clay-court season wraps up. However, Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini and semifinalist Lorenzo Musetti should gravitate toward the lawns.

According to the Corriere, Italian federation president Angelo Binaghi has grand ambitions for tennis. “They have developed a real industrial plan to keep growing and even surpass football,” the article says. It adds that Binaghi wants to upgrade the Milan tournament to the 500 level in the future.

Economic signs are pointing in the right direction. The article says ticket sales have increased by 30 percent at the Italian Open and 41 percent at the World Tour Finals, and tennis and padel together produce $1.2 billion in tax revenue for Italy every year.

The move will leave Belgium without an ATP or WTA tour-level event for the first time since 1899, with the exception of one year, 2014.

ATP Debuts the Tunnel Walk

The men’s tour introduced its version of the NBA’s tunnel walk at Indian Wells last week.

Eight ATP players got professionally styled and flexed their fashion sense upon arrival to the tournament in partnership with GQ Sports, which shared the clips on social media.

The players featured in this debut shoot included some no-brainers already associated with personal aura—Frances Tiafoe, Andrey Rublev, Taylor Fritz, Zizou Bergs. Also, Jakub Menšík, Francisco Cerundolo and Alexander Zverev, looking more than comfortable. And lastly…Alex Michelsen. Can’t say we saw that coming, but the kid looked clean in his cream pants and navy knit polo.

The project is part of the ATP’s new effort to present tennis through the lens of fashion. Last summer, Vogue Business reported that the tour is rolling out more high-fashion initiatives.

🎤 Andrew Walker, ATP Tour senior vice president of marketing

“There’s a clear intersection in interests between tennis and fashion for our fans, and we see this as an opportunity to bring fans who might be following the sport more casually deeper into the fold.” (h/t to author Jessica Schiffer of the Hard Court fashion-beat newsletter)

The looks themselves were a little safe: five monochromatic jacket-and-pants combos and two classic fits of light-colored pants with navy knit on top. The only daring accessory was Bergs’s handkerchief head wrap.

Occasional runway model Reilly Opelka approved.

Perfect Delivery

Carlos Alcaraz’s 14–0 start this year is a long way from Novak Djokovic’s 41–0 start in 2011, but there’s already talk of Alcaraz breaking that record. One reporter asked Djokovic about the likelihood.

🎤 Novak Djokovic

"He can do it. He has everything needed in terms of game, adaptability to different surfaces and the level of fitness and recovery he has shown and matured over the years. If he keeps his body healthy, he is so good that he can win any tournament he participates in.”

Alcaraz would need to run the table between his fourth-round match tomorrow and the second round of the French Open, assuming he plays the same schedule as last year, skipping Madrid in April. That would mean sweeping Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome.

You Chuckers disagreed with Djokovic three to one in our recent poll.

11

Percentage of bagel sets won by Iga Swiatek in WTA 1000s

Iga Swiatek must get her cream cheese at Costco. She bagels one of every 10 sets she plays at the WTA’s highest level. Since 1990, only Gabriela Sabatini has out-bageled her, winning 12.9 percent of those sets 6–0. (Source: OptaAce)

The stat circulated last week when Swiatek won her opening round at Indian Wells 6–0, 7–5 over Kayla Day.

The Hole Truth

• Total bagel record: 40 of 376 sets (10.6%)

• Most bagel sets: Indian Wells, 11 of 62 sets (17.7%)

• Best bagel percentage: Rome, 9 of 49 sets (18.3%)

• 1000 tournaments without a bagel: Canada and Wuhan

Dipping Into Breadsticks

To date, Iga has also recorded 61 breadsticks, or 6-1 sets. Combined with bagels, Iga’s Bakery has cooked up 16 percent of her sets at the WTA 1000 level.

• Indian Wells produces the highest volume of bagels and breadsticks at 27 of 62 sets (43.5%) played in the desert

Baker’s Dozen

Here’s an extra stat in Swiatek’s bagel lore. She hit 250 weeks inside the Top 10 this week, and she debuted in the Top 10 after winning Rome in 2021, when she beat Karolina Pliskova in the final. The score was a double bagel.

Quick Hits

• On Sunday, an elbow injury forced Coco Gauff to retire from a match for only the second time in her career.

• On Tennis Channel, Chris Eubanks and Coco Vandeweghe are getting chippy

• Venus Williams is still in Indian Wells (perhaps to play mixed doubles?) and watched Reilly Opelka and Jannik Sinner’s first-round doubles match, which they lost to the No. 1 seeds, Marcel Granollers and Horatio Zeballos.

• Columbia University senior Michael Zheng was allowed to claim his $150,000 winnings from the Australian Open. (Front Office Sports via Forty Deuce)

• Lance is the Roman Empire of Indian Wells.

• That was fast ⬇️

• PADEL: Last weekend’s sold-out finals in Giron, Spain, featured rematches of the previous week’s finals in Riyadh, but the results flip-flopped. World No. 1s Gemma Triay and Delfi Brea beat Ariana Sanchez and Andrea Ustero, breaking their five-month title drought. Fede Chingotto and Ale Galan upset World No. 1s Arturo Coello and Agustin Tapia. (Premier Padel Tour)

• PICKLEBALL: The Professional Pickleball Association is cracking down on cheating. A new rule took effect last week for courts where players call their own lines. Players can now pay $100 for a challenge after the match. Match results will stand, but the review committee will begin tallying bad calls and assessing fines on repeat offenders as a deterrent. (Pickleball.com)

• TABLE TENNIS: The WTT Champions Chongqing tournament kicked off yesterday in China with heavyweight matchups right out of the gate. World No. 13 Satsuki Odo took down No. 2 Wang Manyu in straight sets. It was Wang’s first loss to a Japanese player in seven years. (WTT)

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Welcome to your weekly 5 Setter, an express roundup of all things racquet sports with Producer Mike. In this episode:

• The ATP’s Dubai difficulty

• Juan Carlos Ferrero speaks

• Novak Djokovic’s recovery secret

• Aryna Sabalenka’s new furball and fiancé

• Pickleball’s $1 million mystery

• Tiebreak Trivia

Click below to watch today’s 5 Setter on YouTube, and come back here for this week’s bonus stories.

Juan Carlos Ferrero: “Nothing bad happened, seriously”

We know how Carlos Alcaraz has coped with the split from former coach Juan Carlos Ferrero. He’s thriving.

Ferrero seems to be holding up well, too. Yesterday, he appeared on the Spanish podcast El Cafelito con Josep Pedrerol and devoted 20 minutes to the Alcaraz situation.

TL;DR:

• The split stung, but JCF is in a good place.

• He has talked to Alcaraz recently and expects they will meet up soon.

• He’s open to coaching Alcaraz again.

• The disagreement wasn’t over money or where to train—it was over “the environment.”

• The tea is private and will stay that way.

In Ferrero’s own words…

On His Netflix Remarks

Pedrerol: In the Netflix documentary, you said [Alcaraz] left before Wimbledon, and you said, “His understanding of work and sacrifice is different from ours. It makes me doubt if he can become the best in history.’” Did you think that phrase hurt him?

Ferrero: Maybe. He never told me that hurt him. But it’s a phrase that I maintain. There are many players who can, let’s say, live in both worlds, which is work, talent, sacrifice, discipline, and at the same time mix it with, I go on vacation four or five times here and there, I spend five or six days without training, and then I come back and everything is the same. … So from my understanding, from the beginning, I thought he wouldn’t make it that way. But he’s proving that he’s the type that can do it. But in the future, who knows? Nobody can predict. I hope so. I hope I was wrong.

Specifically…

Ferrero: After winning Roland Garros, [Alcaraz said], “Hey, I need a week of rest.” And I used to say, “OK, but then we’ll have Queen’s and Wimbledon, and we will only have a couple of days to train.” My biggest fear, and those of my team, were more about injuries than tennis-wise. [Grass] is very demanding physically, and he is a very explosive guy. What I mean by that: He needs to be fresh, muscularly speaking, so he doesn’t get injured. That fatigue from not having slept and done different things [on vacation], we were having a bit of short circuits.

On Unfollowing Alcaraz on Instagram

Ferrero: I needed a little time to separate. But at the same time, if I look at Instagram [and I follow him], he will appear everywhere. I didn’t do it out of spite.

On the Relationship Status

Ferrero: I wrote him after the Australian and spoke to him again after Doha. I really have no problem, to tell you the truth. I look forward to seeing him and being able to give him a hug and really tell each other goodbye. Not like goodbye, but normalize everything that has happened and be able to play golf if it comes up.

Here’s the full interview on YouTube. We anticipate the press will ask Alcaraz for a response after his first-round match tomorrow.

Coaching Carousel Update

Enough of the sad. These new coaching relationships are in the honeymoon phase.

Zheng Qinwen has added Marcos Baghdatis to her team, which is still headed by Pere Riba. If it seems like an odd couple, they have at least one thing in common—both were Australian Open finalists, Zheng in 2024 and Baghdatis in 2006.

Arthur Fils hired Goran Ivanisevic, who is moving on after his summer fling with Stefanos Tsitsipas. Fils returned to the Tour this year after an eight-month injury break and made a 500 final in Doha, only to run into peak Carlos Alcaraz.

Andre Agassi sat in Marcos Giron’s player’s box during his first-round match at Indian Wells. His daughter, Jaz Agassi, is part of Giron’s training team, led by Agassi’s former guru, Gil Reyes.

Aleksandar Kovacevic brought on David Witt in January, worth a shout-out now because Kovacevic ended a dubious record yesterday by beating Hubert Hurkacz.

Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard has hooked up with Francisco Roig, a longtime member of Rafael Nadal’s camp. Most recently, Roig tried to introduce variety and finesse into Emma Raducanu’s aggressive baseline game, and they pulled the rip cord after six months.

Meanwhile, Raducanu has reunited with former coach (and Tennis Channel analyst) Mark Petchey on an ad-hoc basis. She’s also bringing in others as needed. At Indian Wells, she told the BBC that she won’t rush to hire another full-time coach, and if she ever does, she will be in control, Alysa Liu–⁠style.

Quick Hits

• Lucrezia Stefanini of Italy received a grisly threat before her Indian Wells qualifying match and responded with remarkable courage by reporting and publicizing it. (Yahoo Sports)

• Harri Heliovaara, who won the Doha–Dubai double in doubles with Harry Patten, detailed their five-day saga on his blog. It’s in Finnish, but Google will translate. It sounds like their kids were troopers.

• Taylor Fritz and Elena Rybakina defended their Eisenhower Cup title at Indian Wells.

• If you have an Indian Wells grounds pass, head’s up—it no longer gets you into Stadium 2. That’s the trade-off for the tournament opening Stadiums 1 and 2 for $10 general admission during qualifying.

• On the bright side, the seats at the practice courts have been upgraded.

• Felix Auger-Aliassime took Canada’s Olympic hockey result well ⬇️

Q&Andy Recap

Yesterday’s new episode was all about Indian Wells—where to see pros at dinner, the playing conditions that are worse than the wind and why the tournament should never become a fifth Grand Slam.

You can hear his answer to the newsletter-exclusive question in Tuesday’s edition.

Watch the latest Q&Andy on YouTube

📮Submit a question by emailing askandy@servedmediagroup.com or send it through our website or social media.

Love All Recap

Martina Hingis (!!) joined Kim and Blair this week. The Hall of Famer reminisced, strategized, compared today’s power game to her era’s, and so much more. If you’re a longtime tennis fan, it’s pure candy. If you’re a novice Chucker, it’s a crash course from one of the sport’s best tacticians.

Watch the latest Love All on YouTube

The Weekend Draw

ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 Indian Wells

• Indian Wells, California

• Fri., March 6: men’s and women’s 2nd round, women’s doubles 1st round

• Sat., March 7: men’s and women’s 2nd round, women’s doubles 1st round

• Sun., March 8: men’s and women’s 3rd round, women’s doubles 2nd round, men’s doubles 1st round

Full international WTA and ATP broadcast lists

Tiebreak Trivia

In today’s 5 Setter, we were inspired by Aryna Sabalenka’s new puppy, named after Arthur Ashe, and asked which WTA icon christened her dog after Pete Sampras.

Answer: Serena Williams. She named a pooch Jackie Violet Pete after one of her childhood idols and later had a dog named Christopher “Chip” Rafael Nadal. If you have a pet named after a tennis player, send us a photo.

📝 We’ll be back Tuesday with a new episode. In the meantime, join us on Substack for live chats during the weekend’s biggest matches.

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Context-free soundbite: “I’d be a damn good-looking 40-year-old.”

This week on Served, SoCal son Alex Michelsen joins Andy from his childhood bedroom, and Andy, JW and Producer Mike discuss the latest results and a proper sendoff for the best stat in tennis.

While we’re psyched about Indian Wells, our thoughts are with all the ATP players, personnel and press in Dubai affected by the hostility in the region. We look forward to seeing everyone safe and sound at the Sunshine Double.

📣 There’s more Served on tap this week:

• Love All with Kim Clijsters and Blair Henley tomorrow

• Daily Indian Wells live chats beginning tonight

• Q&Andy on Thursday—check out the newsletter exclusive question below!

• 5 Setter on Friday

• Indian Wells live chat with Andy—watch social media for details

Enjoy the new episode, then read today’s stories and Indian Wells preview below.

Watch the full episode on YouTube

The latest winners and why they matter

Daniil Medvedev—Dubai Championships. Meddy ran through the draw on the fast courts of Dubai without dropping a set and took out an in-form Felix Auger-Aliassime. Injured Tallon Griekspoor couldn’t post for the final and gave Medvedev a walkover for his 23rd title—and first repeater. He’s up to No. 11 now. Let’s hope that if he can’t play Indian Wells, the ATP freezes his semifinal points from last year.

Flavio Cobolli—Mexican Open. The 23-year-old Italian won his third title and first on hard court, beating Frances Tiafoe 7–6, 6–4. Cobolli rose to a career-high No. 15 this week and would be higher if he hadn’t gotten ill during his first-round Australian Open match.

Luciano Darderi—Chile Open. The 24-year-old Italian capped the Golden Swing with his fourth title in under a year—all on clay—by beating Yannick Hanfmann 7–6, 7–5. Darderi now leads the tour in clay titles in the last two years and has reached a career-high ranking of No. 21. He also made the fourth round at the Australian, proving he’s not just a dirtballer.

Cristina Bucsa—Merida Open. The 28-year-old Spaniard outlasted Magdalena Frech 6–1, 4–6, 6–4 to win her first title, upsetting Jasmine Paolini along the way. She entered the tournament on a five-match losing streak and left on a five-match winning run. Any given week…

Peyton Stearns—ATX Open. The University of Texas alum won her college-town tournament in Austin, defeating fellow American Taylor Townsend 7–6, 7–5 in the final. Stearns is only a few weeks into a new coaching arrangement. ICYMI: Oksana Selekhmeteva had us at cowboy boots.

Q&Andy Exclusive!

This week’s Q&Andy will feature fan questions about Indian Wells. The star-studded scene in the L.A. orbit made us wonder about Andy’s own celebrity run-ins. Enjoy the first of a new weekly feature, the Q&Andy newsletter exclusive.

📮 Keep your burning questions coming! Email them to askandy@servedmediagroup.com, or send them through social media or our website.

No Backhand, No Problem

Today on Served, Andy offers his first impression of ambidextrous teenager Teo Davidov, known to the tennisphere online as the boy without a backhand. He recently debuted in the ATP Tour rankings by winning his first pro matches at an ITF tournament in Naples, Florida.

Davidov hits a forehand off both sides and can serve both left-handed and right-handed.

The Bulgarian-born American went viral as a junior player. He won the prestigious 12-and-Under Eddie Herr tournament in 2021 and the doubles at Les Petits As in 2024. Last month, the 15-year-old qualified for the ITF Naples event and won two main-draw matches to become the youngest player currently in the ATP rankings.

Davidov’s father has offered a couple of reasons for developing Teo’s ambidextrous style. At one point, Teo injured his dominant wrist and trained with the other hand while it healed. He has worked with Patrick Mouratoglou for several years.

Lucas Herrera Hernandez, a 14-year-old junior, also plays ambidextrously and recently competed on Germany’s national team. Our own JW doesn’t think these two will be outliers for long.

The common question is whether playing with two forehands is sustainable at the pro level because the faster pace leaves less time to switch between the forehand grips. Andy thinks the serve is where an ambidextrous player could change the game. Listen to his take below.

Jump to the Ambidextrous Serve

Indian Wells Draw Preview

The full Indian Wells draws are here, pending the placement of qualifiers later today. The main draws begin tomorrow.

Here are the potential quarterfinals, the threats likely to spoil some of them, and the early popcorn matches and storylines.

Women’s Draw

Top half

• Projected quarterfinals: Aryna Sabalenka vs. Amanda Anisimova, Coco Gauff vs. Jasmine Paolini

• Threats: Victoria Mboko, Iva Jovic, Alexandra Eala

• Lurking: former champ Naomi Osaka

• Spoiler alert: former champ Bianca Andreescu, who is 13–2 this year with two sub-Tour titles, but winning begets winning—she could play Gauff in Round 2

• Early-round popcorn: Gauff vs. Eala in Round 3

Bottom half

• Projected quarterfinals: Iga Swiatek vs. Mirra Andreeva, Elena Rybakina vs. Jessica Pegula

• Threat: Karolina Muchova, Maria Sakkari, Elina Svitolina

• Lurking: Jelena Ostapenko reached the semi in Doha, and slow conditions could give her a puncher’s chance versus Pegula in Round 3

• Early-round popcorn: Swiatek vs. Sakkari, Round 3, a rematch of the Doha semi that Sakkari won

Looming questions

• Will anyone stop Rybakina, the best player of 2026 and the 2023 Indian Wells champ?

• How will Sabalenka play in her first event since the Australian Open?

• Will Doha finalist Mboko win IW early like the young phenoms before her—Andreeva, Andreescu, Osaka?

• Is Zheng Qinwen still rehabbing her right elbow? She took Rybakina to a 7-5 third set in Doha, but withdrew from Dubai the next week.

Men’s Draw

Top half

• Projected quarterfinals: Carlos Alcaraz vs. Alex de Minaur, Novak Djokovic vs. Taylor Fritz

• Threats: Daniil Medvedev (thinking positively), Sebastian Korda

• Lurking: former champ Cam Norrie

• Early-round popcorn: de Minaur vs. Korda, Round 2; Fritz vs. Alex Michelsen, Round 3

Bottom half

• Projected quarterfinals: Jannik Sinner vs. Ben Shelton, Alexander Zverev vs. Lorenzo Musetti

• Threats: Felix Auger-Aliassime, Jakub Mensik, Flavio Cobolli, Learner Tien

• Spoiler alert: João Fonseca started the season poorly but won the doubles title in Rio and the MGM Slam exo in Las Vegas on Sunday, and any victories count for confidence—he could meet Tommy Paul in Round 3

• Early-round popcorn: Cobolli vs. Frances Tiafoe, Round 3, the Acapulco final rematch

Looming questions

• Will Carlos Alcaraz, the 2023 and 2024 champ, remain undefeated in 2026?

• Is Jannik Sinner—who lost to Mensik in Doha—trending more toward Alcaraz’s level or the field’s level?

• Is defending champ Jack Draper fully recovered from injury and ready to challenge Sincaraz again?

• Will Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov make it to Indian Wells from Dubai? And how will the ordeal affect them?

• Will the Golden Swing clay-court winners (Francisco Cerundolo, Tomas Etcheverry, Luciano Darderi) like the desert’s slow conditions?

🗨️ Served Live Chat: Eisenhower Cup tonight

The Eisenhower Cup mixed doubles exhibition—not to be confused with the tournament’s official mixed doubles draw—will air on Tennis Channel starting at 10 p.m. ET. It’s similar to (and predates) the US Open’s popular mixed-doubles tournament last year, featuring teams of top-ranked singles players in an abbreviated format. Here, each match is a 10-point tiebreak. The winners will split $200,000. Here’s the field, and we’ll be in the live chat during the action.

Perfect Delivery

Taylor Townsend’s first WTA Tour final at the ATX Open gave her a chance to get something off her mind.

🎤 Taylor Townsend

“Honestly, everyone who has talked shit, they have to eat their words. I’m still standing, I’m still here, I’m not going anywhere. It’s only going to just keep getting better, so they have to buckle up.”

Any recent shit talk about Townsend hasn’t hit our radar, but whoever the culprit is has egg on their face now. The wins are starting to come in bunches for the 29-year-old American, who is up to No. 87 in the WTA rankings from No. 119 at the start of the year.

Townsend is in full grind mode right now. After playing two singles and two doubles matches Saturday and Sunday in Austin (she won the doubles title), she flew to California in time to play Indian Wells qualifying on Monday. She won her first match and plays again today.

If you’re wondering why Townsend didn’t receive a wild card into Indian Wells, they were awarded to these eight women:

• Bianca Andreescu, 2019 champion

• Venus Williams

• Sloane Stephens

• Donna Vekic

• Jennifer Brady

• Lilli Tagger

• Alycia Parks

• Katie Volynets

22

Number of cities where Daniil Medvedev has won tournaments

Medvedev’s Dubai title this weekend ended our favorite stat in tennis. Up until then, he had never won a tournament in the same city twice. All 22 of his titles had come in different locations.

Fittingly, there was a bizarre wrinkle to title No. 23.

While we’re sad to see Meddy’s global sampler platter come to an end, there is a silver lining.

Quick Hits

• Aryna Sabalenka has hit runway-front-row status. She joined the A-listers at her sponsor Gucci’s Milan Fashion Week show last weekend.

• The WTA will return to Memphis, Tennessee, for the first time since 2013. The 250 Memphis Classic in July will replace the WTA’s Cleveland tournament that was scheduled for August.

• Taylor Fritz talked extensively—and critically—about the new Dunlop balls at Indian Wells on a Twitch livestream while he played World of Warcraft.

• The Athletic interviewed Andy and Producer Mike about Andy’s new gig with ESPN.

• Terence Atmane joined an unfortunate club ⬇️

• PADEL: Tim Henman backs the idea of adding padel courts at Wimbledon if the tournament wins its legal fight to expand across the street.

• PICKLEBALL: In last week’s Major League Pickleball draft, the St. Louis Shock lived up to its name by taking Anna Bright for a record $1.23 million. For comparison, superstar Anna Leigh Waters’s draft price two years ago was $340,000. Former tennis pros Jack Sock and Genie Bouchard were picked up at No. 8 for $105,000 and No. 23 for $20,000, respectively.

🎤 Anna Bright

‘I’m going for way too much money. I have more pressure to play so well. What if I have a bad day? I’m going to feel so guilty. I’m going to have so much pressure to play like God.”

• TABLE TENNIS: The WTT Singapore Smash wrapped up with new world No. 1s. Felix and Alexis Lebrun became the first French players ever to win a Grand Smash–level event and ascended to the top of the rankings as a result. Ryu Hanna and Kim Nayeong lost in the quarterfinals but still took over the No. 1 women’s ranking.

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Leave a comment

Welcome to your weekly 5 Setter, an express roundup of all things racquet sports with Producer Mike. In this episode:

• Craig Tiley makes it official

• A new Indian Wells kickoff

• Barbie honors Serena and Indian Wells invites Venus

• Raducanu’s kit and coaching news

• Rage rooms at tournaments are real

• Tiebreak Trivia

Click below to watch today’s 5 Setter on YouTube, and come back here for this week’s bonus stories.

The Hidden Toll of Tennis

Daniil Medvedev returning to his winning ways means more mic time in press conferences, and we all win when that happens. His latest truth bomb came after his first-round win in Dubai this week, when he offered unflinching insight into the physical grind of tour life.

🎤 Daniil Medvedev

“What people don’t see is the toll the travel plus competition brings,” said the former world No. 1, citing constant changes in beds, pillows, food, balls and courts up to 40 times a year. He noted that upsets often stem from invisible factors: “You got food poisoning, which is not big enough to retire, but big enough to make you in a bad shape. Everyone is going to be like, What the hell? You are just [having] food poisoning.”

Medvedev handles it well—with his Dubai run, he has reached 64 ATP Tour semifinals, more than any active player except Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev.

(Read More)

Pickleball Tests Smaller Singles Court

The PPA Challenger Series debuted a shrunken court for singles last weekend. The new dimensions bring in the sidelines one-and-a-half feet on each side, reducing the court width to 17 feet.

Player reactions were mixed.

“It gives us the ability to showcase some more creativity, some more shot selection,” said Zoey Weil, while Christopher Crouch praised the “cat and mouse” gameplay. But Jada Bui was blunt: “I couldn’t play my best. I wouldn’t want it for the future.”

PPA Challenger VP Tanner Groff defended the trial, positioning the Challenger tier as pickleball’s innovation laboratory, akin to our Next Gen ATP Finals. The narrowed dimensions continue at the Tampa Bay Challenger next week.

Just keep those extra lines off public tennis courts, please.

(Read More)

Quick Hits

• JW sat down with Arturo Coello, the biggest padel star on the planet, for Sports Illustrated.

• Stefanos Tsitsipas said the quiet part out loud about appearance fees.

• Boris Becker is auctioning off signed MacBooks for charity.

• Jack Draper ran back Carlos Alcaraz’s buzz cut and Taylor Fritz’s wardrobe fail.

• Not everyone finds Alexander Bublik amusing.

• Love to see it, Damir Dzumher ⬇️

Q&Andy Recap

Following his discussion on GOAT ATP servers with Chris Eubanks on Tuesday, Andy answered reader questions about the most important shot in tennis. He covered platform stance versus pinpoint, his own dubious match versus Gael Monfils at the French and the WTA’s best servers.

📮Submit a question by emailing askandy@servedmediagroup.com or send it through our website or social media.

Watch the latest Q&Andy on YouTube

Love All Recap

This week, Henley’s Headlines connected the dots between a new $20 million lawsuit against the WTA and the ATP tournament in Acapulco removing meat from its menu. Plus, Kim and Blair reviewed Carlos Alcaraz’s clash with an umpire in Doha, what makes Alexandra Eala’s game dangerous and how crowd dynamics can shape a match.

🚨BTW, has anyone seen Kim’s phone?

Watch the latest Love All on YouTube

The Weekend Draw

ATP 500 Mexican Open

• Acapulco, Mexico

• Semifinals: Fri., Feb. 27

• Final: Sat., Feb. 28

ATP 500 Dubai Championships

• Dubai, U.A.E.

• Semifinals: Fri., Feb. 27

• Final: Sat., Feb. 28

ATP 250 Chile Open

• Santiago, Chile

• Quarterfinals: Fri., Feb. 27

• Semifinals: Sat., Feb. 28

• Final: Sun., March 1

WTA 250 ATX Open

• Austin, Texas

• Quarterfinals: Fri., Feb. 27

• Semifinals: Sat., Feb. 28

• Final: Sun., March 1

WTA 250 Merida Open

• Merida, Mexico

• Quarterfinals: Fri., Feb. 27

• Semifinals: Sat., Feb. 28

• Final: Sun., March 1

Full international WTA and ATP broadcast lists

Tiebreak Trivia

In today’s 5 Setter, we let you know that Serena Williams will be honored soon with the inaugural Barbie Dream Fest Icon Award. But she wasn’t Mattel’s first Barbie tennis player. Who was?

Answer: Billie Jean King. Mattel released her doll in its 2020 Inspiring Women Series. Since then, Serena, Venus, Naomi Osaka, Evonne Goolagong Cawley and Ash Barty have received the Barbie treatment.

📝 We’ll be back Tuesday with a new episode. In the meantime, join us on Substack during the weekend’s biggest matches.

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Context-free soundbite: “I’m not wearing a tie. Just put that out there.”

This week on Served, Andy, JW and Producer Mike break down the weekend results with a special focus on Sebastian Korda’s and Jessica Pegula’s understated smoothness. They also weigh in on two of the biggest ongoing stories in tennis: the Craig Tiley situation and the Serena Williams reinstatement buzz. Then Andy and Chris Eubanks close out their debate trilogy with the best ATP serves of all time.

There’s more Served coming your way this week:

• Love All With Kim Clijsters on Wednesday will break down Jessica Pegula’s game and dig into the Alexandra Eala effect on tennis

• Q&Andy on Thursday will focus on serve questions—submit yours to askandy@servedmediagroup.com or on Instagram

• 5 Setter on Friday—all things racquet sports in 10 minutes

Watch the full episode below, then read today’s stories and join our Substack chat.

Watch the New Served on YouTube

Playing Through Chaos in Mexico

Both the Acapulco ATP 500 and Mérida WTA 500 in Mexico are pressing ahead—without any player withdrawals as of this morning—despite the cartel violence erupting in the country following the killing of drug lord El Mencho.

Acapulco sits in the state of Guerrero, which carries a Level 4 Do Not Travel advisory from the U.S. State Department—its most severe designation—and was subject to Sunday’s shelter-in-place order for Americans. Qualifying matches continued through the weekend as violence flared elsewhere in the western part of the country. Main draw play began yesterday.

Brett Haber, the high-profile tennis broadcaster, was in Mexico when the violence broke out and publicly called on the tours to evacuate players.

Several airlines suspended flights to and from Guadalajara, and soccer matches were postponed. Sebastian Korda and Tommy Paul were still competing in the Delray Beach final Sunday, meaning neither had yet traveled to Acapulco.

In Acapulco, tournament officials have implemented heightened security protocols and stated that players, staff and fans are safe within the tournament perimeter.

(Read More: BBC)

Etcheverry Breaks Through

Tomás Etcheverry finally captured his first ATP title at age 26, and he had to earn it the hard way. The Argentine won the Rio Open at the end of a marathon day Sunday in Rio de Janeiro that stretched nearly five hours on court.

First, Etcheverry finished a rain-delayed semifinal against Vit Kopriva, then a heat-delayed three-set final against Alejandro Tabilo, logging six hours and 49 minutes of match time across two days.

The backstory makes the title sweeter. Etcheverry had lost three previous finals—most painfully in Lyon in 2024, where he held a championship point against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and came up short. He was five-for-five in tiebreaks this week, including the final set against Tabilo, who was playing for his first title, too.

🎤 Tomás Etcheverry

“I lost three finals before, so it was in my head. One of the goals of this year was to be ATP Tour champion, and I did it."

The South American clay swing has produced back-to-back Argentine champions: Francisco Cerúndolo in Buenos Aires, Etcheverry in Rio. The Chile Open is underway to wrap up the Golden Swing. Will it be a Golden Sweep?

(Read More: ATP Tour)

Perfect Delivery

A few days before Jessica Pegula won the Dubai title, Zheng Qinwen sat next to her on The Players Box podcast and said the quiet part out loud.

🎤 Zheng Qinwen

“In China, some people wonder why such a rich girl got into tennis. They say that because it’s an extremely demanding sport. Like: ‘Why not just live a high-society life?’”

As if answering the question, Pegula went out in Dubai and beat four Top 20 players—Iva Jovic, Clara Tauson, Amanda Anisimova and Elina Svitolina—to claim her fourth WTA 1000 title and 10th career title.

Pegula left Dubai $665,000 richer and is now 5-0 against Anisimova lifetime, 13-2 on the season and 32-3 against Americans since 2023. Dubai is also her first WTA 1000 title outside of North America.

🎂 Happy birthday, Jess!

Numbers Don’t Lie

Carlos Alcaraz def. Arthur Fils 6-2, 6-1
Qatar Open final, Doha

50

Minutes the match lasted—tied for fifth-shortest ATP final ever

• Fils’s new coach. Goran Ivanisevic, can relate: Boris Becker once beat him in three sets in 50 minutes.

24

Points Alcaraz allowed Fils—tied for fifth-fewest ever in a best-of-three final

• The record belongs to Mikhail Youzhny, who held—of all people—Rafael Nadal to 17 points in the 2008 Chennai final after Nadal had played a four-hour semifinal.

5

Points Fils won on Alcaraz’s serve

82

Alcaraz’s first-serve percentage, 14 points higher than it was against Andrey Rublev in the semifinal

26

Career titles for Alcaraz at age 22, drawing level with Andy Murray for the most ATP 500 titles since the category launched in 2009

14

Countries in which Alcaraz has won a title

28

Current ranking of Cam Norrie, the last player not named Jannik Sinner to beat Alcaraz (Paris final, October 2025)

12–0

Alcaraz’s record in 2026, halfway to his career-best winning streak of 24

30

Alcaraz’s current winning streak on outdoor hard court

From the Qatar Open final laden with gaudy numbers, this is the most relevant just eight days before the Sunshine Double starts.

The streak extends back to Alcaraz’s Cincinnati title last year. If he runs the table at Indian Wells and Miami, he would extend the streak to 40 matches. He would need to win Canada, Cincinnati and New York this summer to pass Roger Federer’s record of 56.

Quick Hits

• Emma Raducanu has signed with Uniqlo, continuing Nike’s ghosting of tennis. (The Athletic)

• Roger Federer watched Stan Wawrinka break his record as the oldest man to win a match in Dubai. (Tennis TV)

• Andre Agassi presented the trophies to Rio Open doubles champions João Fonseca and Marcelo Melo. (ATP Tour)

• Venus Williams is playing singles and doubles at the ATX Open in Austin this week—her doubles partner is Peyton Stearns, the same player she beat for her first win back on tour last year in Washington, D.C. Next up: wild cards into both singles and doubles at Indian Wells, where she will partner Leylah Fernandez. (WTA Tour)

• Speaking of Austin, University of Texas alum Peyton Stearns hit with Longhorns/tennis superfan Matthew McConaughey last week. (ATX Open)

• Speaking of the University of Texas, the men’s tennis squad won its first National Team Indoors last week over Ohio State. The week before, Georgia won the women’s title, also over Ohio State. College tennis team season is in full swing—it’s fast, passionate and worth your time. (ITA)

• Andys support Andys ⬇️

• PADEL: Patrick Mouratoglou is coming to Middle America. The Mouratoglou Tennis Center Indianapolis will be the megacoach’s second standalone facility in the States (not operating at a resort, tennis club or school) and open to the public. It will be his second U.S. site with padel. Former WTA player Tara Moore will run the center and lead high-performance junior training. (Mouratoglou.com)

• PICKLEBALL: Are triple crowns endangered? Regular three-peaters Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters fell short last week at the Mesa Cup in Arizona. With competition getting tougher, it's harder to win three finals on a single Sunday now. (Pickleball.com)

• TABLE TENNIS: The WTT Singapore Smash, one of the sport’s four Grand Smash events, is underway through March 1 with $1.55 million on the line. China has owned this tournament: All eight finals last year featured only Chinese players on both sides of the net. World No. 1 Wang Chuqin and women’s top seed Sun Yingsha are both in the draw, with France’s Felix Lebrun as the top non-Chinese threat. (Daily Racquetball)

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Don’t Miss a Second of Served

Connect with us on socials.

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Subscribe to our YouTube page.

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Leave a comment

Welcome to your weekly 5 Setter, an express roundup of all things racquet sports with Producer Mike. In this episode:

• The WTA’s new blueprint

• A vegetarian tournament

• ATP stars in sarongs

• Eala mania in Dubai

• Table tennis’s Hollywood surge and Agassi’s Vegas gamble

• Tiebreak Trivia

Click below to watch today’s 5 Setter on YouTube, and come back here for this week’s bonus stories.

Pegula Steps Up

Jessica Pegula was named this week to lead the WTA’s new 13-person Tour Architecture Council, a heavy-hitting group tasked with rethinking the calendar, ranking rules and player requirements to address burnout. While she’s busy reshaping the tour’s future, she and two fellow Americans are busy dominating its present.

For only the third time since the current WTA 1000 format began, three American women have reached the semifinals of a 1000-level event. Pegula is joined by Coco Gauff and Amanda Anisimova in the Dubai semifinals (along with Elina Svitolina).

For Gauff, the run is a sharp turnaround. She fell in the first round in Doha last week and committed a record number of double faults in her first two matches in Dubai. But she steadied in time, rolling past Alex Eala 6-0, 6-2 in the quarterfinals. Not bad for a week that started rocky. (Read More)

Menšík's Moment—and Sinner’s Rare Stumble

Jakub Menšík pulled off the biggest upset of his career Thursday in Doha, serving his way past world No. 2 Jannik Sinner 7-6, 2-6, 6-3 in the quarterfinals.

Worth noting: The last time we saw Menšík, he was withdrawing injured from his Australian Open quarterfinal against Djokovic.

Next up is a semifinal against Arthur Fils—and if he wins that, a possible final against Alcaraz, who has never lost to a player younger than himself. Menšík, born in 2005, is three years Alcaraz’s junior. Something to watch this weekend.

As for Sinner, it’s the first time in 18 months he lost before the final at back-to-back events. One telling detail: He actually won more points than Menšík. You don’t really beat Sinner so much as squeak past him.

The Italian isn’t sweating it.

🎤 Jannik Sinner

“I’ve had two incredible years and now I’m having a little downturn, but it’s not something that worries me.”

The ranking hit will be minimal, too. Sinner has no points to defend until Rome, since he was suspended last February.

(Read More)

How to Own-Goal in Tennis

Sometimes the cruelest moments in tennis aren’t the tight tiebreakers or the double faults on match point. Sometimes they’re the ones where you beat yourself.

In Rio de Janeiro this week, German Daniel Altmaier found himself in exactly that situation. Down a set and locked in a second-set tiebreak at 7-all against Dusan Lajovic, Altmaier ripped a gorgeous drop shot that would have given him set point and new life in the match. But convinced it wasn’t going to clear the net, he blurted out “Noooo!” while the ball was in the air.

It cleared the net. It also cost him the point.

His outburst was ruled a hindrance, gifting his opponent match point. Which he converted. Ouch doesn’t quite cover it.

Q&Andy Recap

Andy gets philosophical about chair umpires on this week’s Q&Andy. He walks fans through how to professionally argue with an umpire, weighs in on whether umpires need playing experience and shares his biggest pet peeve: umpires in loafers. There’s also a bladder-control discussion involving John Isner that you won't soon forget.

📮 Submit a question by emailing askandy@servedmediagroup.com or sending it through our website or social media.

Love All Recap

This week on Love All, Kim and Blair cover a packed week in women’s tennis, a revealing look at Ben Shelton’s off-court character, Karolina Muchova’s tactical resurgence, Victoria Mboko’s rise into the Top 10 and Destanee Aiava’s blistering take on the sport’s “toxic” culture.

Quick Hits

• Learner Tien survived a match point to beat defending Delray Beach champion Miomir Kecmanovic 6-4, 6-7, 7-6 and advance to the quarterfinals. (Tennis.com)

• Veteran journalist Brett Phillips of The First Serve podcast reported that Craig Tiley will be announced as the new USTA CEO next week. (Ubi Tennis)

• A limited-edition Marty Supreme table tennis table is now for sale. (GQ)

• Carlos Alcaraz isn’t always smiling ⬇️

The Weekend Draw

WTA 1000 Dubai Tennis Championships

• Dubai, UAE

• Semifinals: Fri., Feb. 20

• Final: Sat., Feb. 21

ATP 500 Qatar Open

• Doha, Qatar

• Semifinals: Fri., Feb. 20

• Final: Sat., Feb. 21

ATP 500 Delray Beach

• Delray Beach, Florida

• Quarterfinals: Fri., Feb. 20

• Semifinals: Sat., Feb. 21

• Final: Sun., Feb. 22

ATP 500 Rio de Janeiro

• Buenos Aires, Argentina

• Quarterfinals: Fri., Feb. 20

• Semifinals: Sat., Feb. 21

• Final: Sun., Feb. 22

Full international WTA and ATP broadcast lists

Tiebreak Trivia

In today’s 5 Setter, we told you that Timothée Chalamet’s Marty Supreme has been nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor. If Chalamet wins, he will be the second-youngest Best Actor winner in Oscar history. The youngest famously kissed the woman who presented his trophy. Who is it?

Answer: Adrien Brody, who won Best Actor for The Pianist at age 29 in 2003. The kiss heard around the world was with presenter Halle Berry.

📝 We’ll be back Tuesday with a new episode. In the meantime, join us on Substack during the weekend’s biggest matches.

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Context-free soundbite: “You couldn’t confuse him on that side at 55 years old, when I could still serve 139.”

Welcome back, Chuckers. In today’s episode, Andy and Chris Eubanks pick up where they left off last week—choosing the best ATP forehands of all time—and run around to ATP backhands.

There’s more Served coming your way this week:

• Love All With Kim Clijsters on Wednesday

• Q&Andy on Thursday, talking umpiring and on-court etiquette

• 5 Setter on Friday

Watch the full episode below, then come back here for this week’s bonus stories, and meet us in the Substack chat with your takes.

Dubai-Bye

After both Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek pulled out of this week’s WTA 1000 in Dubai two days before the main draw started, the tournament director proposed stricter fines for withdrawals from mandatory events.

🎤 Salah Tahlak, Dubai Tournament Director

“There should be a harsher punishment on the players [for withdrawing], not just fines. They should be docked ranking points. It’s a shame that we’re spending these huge amounts to upgrade our facilities and in the end the players are the main part (of this tournament).”

Tahlak suggested players lose 500 or 1,000 points for missing a mandatory tournament.

This isn’t just a rant. Tahlak says he plans to raise the issue at an upcoming leadership meeting. He has the clout to make waves. Tahlak has been influential in tennis leadership for over 20 years and has sat on both the ATP and WTA tournament councils. (Read More: The National)

Jump to Andy's Take

Two Teens in the Top 10

Two teenagers are ranked in the WTA’s Top 10 for the first time since 2009.

Victoria Mboko, 19, broke into the upper echelon this week after making the final of the WTA 1000 in Doha. She joins 18-year-old Mirra Andreeva, whom Mboko beat in Doha. Andreeva sits at world No. 7 and Mboko is No. 10.

Mboko is the fourth Canadian woman to make the Top 10, after Carling Basset-Seguso, Genie Bouchard and Bianca Andreescu. Mboko would need to reach No. 3 to become the highest-ranked Canadian woman ever. No Canadian player, man or woman, has been ranked higher than No. 3 in the world (Milos Raonic).

Andy talked with Mboko about her breakthrough last summer.

Both Mboko and Andreeva are in elite company. Here are some notable Top 10 teens over the last 50 years. (It’s not a comprehensive list.)

A Fourth to Be Reckoned With

Luciano Darderi is approaching the Top 20 faster than he ran off court at the Australian Open last month.

Up to a career-high No. 21 this week, Darderi is close to making it four Italians in the Top 20, along with Jannik Sinner, Lorenzo Musetti and Flavio Cobolli.

The 24-year-old had a 15-match winning streak on clay before losing the Buenos Aires final to Francisco Cerundolo on Sunday. The run included two ATP 250 titles in July last summer.

Darderi sits 51 points back from No. 20 Cobolli and is defending only 50 points over the next two weeks as the Golden Swing continues in South America. Keep an eye on Darderi in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Santiago, Chile, this month.

More ATP ranking moves

• Novak Djokovic reclaimed the No. 3 spot

• Alex de Minaur is back up to his career-high No. 6

• Marin Cilic is back in the Top 50

• Stan Wawrinka returned to the Top 100 after a win in Rotterdam last week over an opponent less than half his age

Quick Hits

• Australia’s Destanee Aiava announced her retirement (at just 25) with a bombshell of a social media message, calling tennis “racist, misogynistic, homophobic and hostile.” (Tennis.com)

• In honor of Black History Month, the International Tennis Hall of Fame has expanded its digital exhibit Breaking Boundaries in Black Tennis with 10 new trailblazers for 2026, including Chris Eubanks.

• With his win in Buenos Aires, Francisco Cerundolo has the most clay wins on tour (46) since the start of 2024.

• The Qatar Open last week was the first WTA 1000 since August 2021 without either Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff or Jessica Pegula in the semifinals.

Perfect Delivery

After Ben Shelton won the Dallas Open Sunday, he beelined for his player’s box and hugged girlfriend Trinity Rodman without toweling off.

“EWWWWWW,” she said of the sweaty embrace.

There were no hard feelings, though. Shelton had his girl’s back on social media later.

Turns out, love means a lot in tennis.

Stat of the Day

3

Titles Ben Shelton has won at the ATP 500 level or higher

Shelton’s Dallas Open win separated him from his fellow American men in one key department—he has now won more than two ATP 500 and 1000 titles, the first American man since Andy Roddick to bag a trio of non-250s.

Listen to the show for Andy’s take on the surprising stat.

Jump to Andy's Reaction

• PADEL: Red Bull TV is streaming quarterfinals, semifinals and finals live from all 26 Premier Padel tour stops this season. Early-round matches can be found on its YouTube channel. (International broadcast list)

• PICKLEBALL: Centerline Athletics, the official apparel sponsor for the major pickleball tours, is blowing up in pop culture and reported a 437% year-over-year revenue increase in 2025. (NY Post)

• RACQUETBALL: The 2026 US Open was postponed for another year after the host facility in St. Louis suffered water damage. The tournament was making a return after a three-year hiatus. (Daily Racquetball)

• SQUASH: This is a beautiful ode to the resilience of Olivia Weaver, the world No. 4, who is up against a brick wall of a Big 3 in women’s squash. (The Nick on Substack)

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