Is Alex Eala a Top 10 Threat?
Plus: Vondrousova’s full four-year suspension
Context-free soundbite: “Now I’m going to be like, that’s the guy who said he had to shit his pants and he won Cabo.”
A loaded week of tennis news leads off with Alex Eala’s first WTA Tour–level title and Andy’s read on her threat level at the moment. Also, the guys react to Carlos Alcaraz amping up his forehand in practice, Taylor Fritz taking the Washington title over Rafa Jodar and Marketa Vondrousova’s suspension.
Holger Rune will join the show next Tuesday. 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
Laver Cup Teams Finalized
The rosters are complete for this year’s Laver Cup, which returns to The O2 in London September 25 to 27. Rafael Jodar is in, continuing his breakout 2026.
Team Europe
Yannick Noah, captain
Carlos Alcaraz
Flavio Cobolli
Rafael Jodar
Jakub Menšík
Casper Ruud
Alexander Zverev
Team World
Andre Agassi, captain
Alexander Bublik
Alex de Minaur
Taylor Fritz
Tommy Paul
Ben Shelton
Learner Tien
Chwalinska Seeded at Her First Canadian Open
The Canadian Open brings stars and crowd favorites back to the court after the post-Wimbledon break. One of the players we haven’t seen in a while is French Open finalist Maja Chwalinska, who has played only one match since her magical run in Paris.
It wasn’t surprising for Chwalinska to take time off to process her newfound status as a Slam finalist and rest after playing 10 matches (from qualifying). She skipped the grass-court tuneups, then got injured in her first-round match at Wimbledon -- on her match point. The 24-year-old rolled her ankle when she was up a set and 5-2 on Thailand’s Mananchaya Sawangkaew and wound up losing.
Ranked No. 22 and seeded No. 18, Chwalinska is playing the WTA 1000 in Canada for the first time. She received a first-round bye and will play Talia Gibson in the second round in Toronto.
US Open Kits Have Arrived
So much for being fashionably late. The US Open outfits are already rolling out. Here’s what we have seen so far.
Naomi Osaka is putting large-scale mesh under a cropped basketball jersey, a nod to the New York Liberty and part of Nike’s new hoops-inspired Slam Dunk collection for women. See it.
Aryna Sabalenka is also going with basketball mesh, but in black and orange, and it’s giving Halloween vibes.
Sports Illustrated has a look at Adidas’s collection, which cribs from 1990s nightlife and sports culture in New York City. See it.
Jannik Sinner’s maroon trim on his white Nike kit nearly matches his hair. See it.
Novak Djokovic has traded bright colors for a minimalist black-and-gray ensemble, one for day and one for night. See it.
On is putting João Fonseca and Flavio Cobolli in black-and-turquoise ombre. See it.
So far, the most inspired design is Carlos Alcaraz’s New York Knicks homage night kit, honoring the team’s NBA championship run in June. See it.
20
Years since Maria Sharapova won the US Open
In August 2006, Nike released a commercial featuring Maria Sharapova set to “I Feel Pretty” from West Side Story. It was already iconic before she won the tournament a month later.
The commercial ended with Sharapova shattering the delicate melody with a scream while slamming a ball in Arthur Ashe Stadium. As tennis fans already knew, she wasn’t primarily a pretty face. She was primarily a fierce, world-class competitor.
Hence the name of Sharapova’s podcast, Pretty Tough, which she launched this year. She will host a live taping of one episode on Sunday, August 30, in New York. Tickets are $30 and were available at press time.
Quick Hits
The WTA has begun testing players for the sex-determining SRY gene, a new mandated policy announced two weeks ago. Jessica Pegula gave her opinion in D.C.
Thirteen new teams have entered the US Open mixed doubles tournament. Here’s the new list of hopefuls. Selections are still pending.
D.C. champ Alex Eala at golden hour ⬇️
Tournaments in Progress
ATP 1000/WTA 1000 Canadian Open
Montreal (ATP) and Toronto (WTA)
Hard court
Alexander Zverev, Aryna Sabalenka, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Elena Rybakina, Ben Shelton, Jessica Pegula, João Fonseca, Coco Gauff
PADEL. Fran Guerrero and Javi Leal, the No. 7 seeds, beat world No. 1s Arturo Coello and Agustín Tapia 7-5, 7-5 in the semifinals of the Pretoria P1 in South Africa. They snapped Coello and Tapia’s streak of 27 consecutive finals. Alejandro Galán and Fede Chingotto won the title, saving a championship point, for their sixth trophy of the year.
PICKLEBALL. Manny Pacquiao’s Maharlika Pilipinas Pickleball Tour announced the founding 12 teams. A five-leg invitational runs October through December, and the regular season starts in February. (Pickleball News Asia)
TABLE TENNIS. An 11-year-old competitor from California, Karina Xiao, was invited to the 2026 China–U.S. Table Tennis Youth Camp at the China National Table Tennis Base. She also wants to be a neurosurgeon. (Butterfly Online)
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Top 10 threat based on one good week? Leylah won DC last year or two years ago and then didn’t do much. Let’s stop the hype for crying out loud.