NEW EPISODE: The Alex Michelsen Interview
Inside the ATP's Southern California talent wave, plus the Indian Wells draw preview and the end of the best stat in tennis.
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.
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.
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.
Are You Keeping Up With Served and Love All?
Don’t Miss a Second of Served
Connect with us on socials.
Check out the Served Merch Shop.
Subscribe to our YouTube page.
Submit a question for Q&Andy.
Join our Substack community.
