Holger Rune Checks In
Plus: Will Alcaraz play the US Open?
Context-free soundbite: “Let’s say you ask someone out. You say, ‘So you can pick me up around 7?’ Is that how that works?”
Welcome back, Holger Rune -- if not to the ATP Tour just yet, to Served for a chat with Andy and Techy Sean about his injury status. Find out what he has been studying for in his time off the road. Plus, Andy does a racket rundown on the Canadian Open and gauges the chances of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz playing the US Open.
Next week, Served welcomes the acclaimed sports documentarian Jason Hehir, who directed Michael Jordan’s The Last Dance and the forthcoming Novak Djokovic: The Wolf in Winter. GOAT comparisons loading.
Meanwhile, there’s more Served coming your way this week:
Love All on Wednesday
Q&Andy on Thursday
5 Setter on Friday
The stories that matter most this week
Blockbuster Day in Montreal
Rain in Montreal yesterday pushed the singles matches to today, stacking the lineup with all four quarterfinals. Beginning at 12:30 p.m. local time:
Luciano Darderi [19] vs. Brandon Nakashima [28]
Arthur Fils [18] vs. Rafael Jodar [20]
Ben Shelton [5] vs. Jakub Menšík [13]
Learner Tien [12] vs. Daniel Merida
Milestones in the Making
No Top 5 player was left in the draw after the third round, a first for a Masters 1000 since 1991. As a result, Montreal is the first ATP Tour event with all quarterfinalists born in 2000 or later.
All of the remaining players have major ranking milestones at stake.
Shelton will move up to No. 6 if he defends his title, putting himself in line for a better US Open seeding.
Jodar could break into the Top 10 with a title run and some help from Shelton. He was ranked No. 540 a year ago.
Menšík, Tien, Fils and Darderi also have the Top 10 in their sights.
Nakashima could land in the Top 15 by winning the title.
Merida had not won a hard-court match at the ATP Tour level ever before Montreal. His run here puts him into the Top 50, and if he wins the title, he will break into the Top 25.
Beat No. 1 and Done
In this episode, Andy discusses Aryna Sabalenka’s search for form after her fourth-round loss in Toronto. Ekaterina Alexandrova upset the world No. 1 in the fourth round 7-6, 4-6, 6-4.
Alexandrova was the seventh player to take out Sabalenka this year -- and the fifth who didn’t back up the win. She fell to Elina Svitolina 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 yesterday. The only player who has beaten Sabalenka and won the next match is Sorana Cirstea in Rome (Elena Rybakina in the Australian Open final notwithstanding).
There’s no shame in losing to Svitolina, this year’s Rome champion and the world No. 9. But it’s a harder ask coming off an emotionally and physically taxing win. On the bright side, it might give Alexandrova the spark that her 14–19 season needs.
🎤 Ekaterina Alexandrova after beating Aryna Sabalenka
“Last season was really good. Maybe the expectations didn’t help me [this year]. And there were some difficulties with the racquet. It was a lot going on on the court, and it wasn’t helping. A win like this, it helps so much to gain some kind of confidence that you’re doing the right thing.”
Can Sabalenka hold on to No. 1?
Sabalenka’s Toronto result gives Elena Rybakina an opening to take over the No. 1 ranking during the hard-court swing. If she wins the tournament, she will be four points back from Sabalenka. She would need to outpace Sabalenka in Cincinnati or the US Open by a couple of matches to dethrone the queen. Sabalenka has held the No. 1 ranking since October 2024. Stay tuned.
Perfect Delivery: Prime Time
Iga Swiatek has cruised into the Toronto semifinals, and the phrase “vintage Iga” has been in heavy rotation. When Mark Petchey asked her about it on Tennis Channel yesterday, she didn’t take it as a compliment.
🎤 Iga Swiatek
“Everybody keeps saying ‘vintage,’ but what the hell? It’s been, what, two or three years? You must be, like, 9 years old to be calling it vintage.”
Swiatek was laughing and didn’t put it on Petchey. “It’s not you. There have been many people coming to me saying ‘vintage Iga.’ I’m still 25 years old!”
Point taken. Let’s just say that Swiatek has been busy in the bakery this week, delivering a bagel and three breadsticks in four matches. She has dropped just one set, to Marta Kostyuk. “Her superior best,” Petchey said later when recapping the match. Let’s hope that ages well.
1977
The last year a man won the US Open without playing either Canada or Cincinnati
The context is that Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz both pulled out of Cincinnati to rehab injuries. If one of them is going to win the US Open, it will be (mostly) unprecedented.
Hat tip to Chucker Ayejayy86 on Instagram for this pull, saying no one has won the US Open after skipping both Canada and Cincy. See, we really do read the comments. Technically, Guillermo Vilas did it in 1977, but the US Open was still played on clay. Vilas played other warm-up tournaments before running the table in New York.
Since the US Open moved to hard court in 1978, no man has rolled up without prep and won. Dominic Thiem came close in 2020, playing just one match before the Open. But in the Covid year, tennis didn’t resume until August 22. Everyone was in the same rusty boat.
In this episode, Andy speculates on the likelihood of Carlos Alcaraz returning at the US Open, and Holger Rune discusses the practice timeline when returning from a major injury. Listen below.
Quick Hits
The lineup is set for the Roger & Friends legends exhibition at the ATP Shanghai Masters 1000. Federer will partner with Li Na against the only brother-and-sister combo to both reach world No. 1. Know who they are? (Tennis 365)
Good soldiering, as JW says: Roger Federer’s US Open exhibition is Tuesday, Aug. 25, at 7 p.m., with Andy, Andre Agassi and John McEnroe. Tickets here.
Oleksandra Oliynykova of Ukraine donated her $18,000 prize money from Toronto to her country’s military, specifically for drones. She also took a shot at the WTA. (UA News)
Speaking of taking shots, João Fonseca might have called Novak Djokovic an old man. We’re looking forward to their next match. (Essentially Sports)
If you have more WTA quarterfinals under your belt than candles on your birthday cake, your name is probably Coco Gauff. She is the first to reach 25 quarters at 22 years old since which Swiss No. 1?
Victoria Mboko couldn’t defend her Canadian Open title, but she swung by to give some fans a suite surprise.
Two guys who released books on August 4: Matt Futterman at The Athletic (and author of The Cruelest Game) interviewed Steve Flink about his new release, The Immortals of American Tennis. An excerpt follows the Q&A.
Stand up, Botic van de Zandschulp ⬇️
Barstool Tennis@StoolTennisGenerational12:16 AM · Aug 8, 2026 · 10.4K Views2 Replies · 2 Reposts · 77 Likes
Tournaments in Progress
ATP 1000/WTA 1000 Canadian Open
Tuesday: Quarterfinals
Wednesday: Semifinals
Thursday: Singles and doubles finals
PADEL. The youngest player to win a Premier Padel title is now Martina Calvo, an 18-year-old from Spain. She and Claudia Fernández beat world No. 1s Gemma Triay and Delfi Brea at the London tournament last weekend. Arturo Coello and Agustin Tapia started a new streak by taking the men’s title.
PICKLEBALL. The Major League Pickleball Playoffs are underway. The quarterfinals this weekend take place in Newport Beach, California, with the regular-season champs the New Jersey 5s as the top seed.
TABLE TENNIS. Home favorites Tomokazu Harimoto and Miwa Harimoto won the WTT Champions Yokohama in Japan over the weekend.
SQUASH: The 2026-27 season is just getting started. At the Copper-tier Professional Squash Association’s Valencia event in Spain this week, former Qatari No. 1 Abdulla Al-Tamimi is making his return after a long injury absence.
BADMINTON: The BWF World Championships draw has been released for the August 17 kickoff in New Delhi, India. The buzz: defending champion Shi Yu Qi taking on 21-year-old native son Ayush Shetty in the first round. Here’s a preview.
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