New Episode: What Is Going On With Tennis?
Rune's Brutal Injury, Race To Turin, & The Broken Tennis Schedule.
This week on Served, a jam-packed first episode from the new studio!
Andy Roddick and Jon Wertheim break down how the weekend’s results impact the races to the year-end Tour Finals. Then, Holger Rune’s devastating Achilles injury reignites a detailed conversation about the broken tennis schedule and the urgent need for player and fan-focused changes.
Plus, Novak Djokovic’s public criticism of the sport’s “monopoly” and his calls for a players’ union lead Andy and JW to question whether there’s a clear plan to address tennis’ evolving challenges.
Rybakina Wins Ningbo Title to Keep WTA Finals Hopes Alive
Elena Rybakina came back to beat Ekaterina Alexandrova 3-6, 6-0, 6-2 to win the Ningbo Open, the weekend’s only 500-level event across both tours. By winning her tenth career title, Rybakina inches closer to securing the last spot in the WTA Finals.
Currently ranked ninth in the Race to Riyadh, trailing Mirra Andreeva by just 14 points, Rybakina can qualify if she reaches the semifinals at this week’s Pan Pacific Open.
Jasmine Paolini, who lost to Rybakina in the Ningbo semifinals, became the seventh player to qualify for the year-end event.
Meanwhile, Leylah Fernandez beat 18-year-old Tereza Valentova 6-0, 5-7, 6-3 to win the WTA 250 Japan Open for her fifth career title. Fernandez, now ranked World No. 22, overtook Victoria Mboko as the new Canadian No. 1.
Contenders Close the Gap in ATP Finals Race
With none of the top players in the Race to Turin rankings competing over the weekend, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Casper Ruud, and Daniil Medvedev capitalized to stay in the hunt for the year-end Finals.
Auger-Aliassime won the European Open by beating Jiri Lehecka 7-6(2), 6-7(6), 6-2 for his third title of the season, and eighth overall. The 25-year-old jumped to ninth in the Live Race rankings, trailing No. 8 Lorenzo Musetti by 340 points.
Ruud stays at 11th in the standings after defeating Ugo Humbert to win the Nordic Open. The 26-year-old looks to make his fourth appearance at the year-end Finals.
Medvedev, ranked 13th in the Live Race, won his first tournament in 882 days after beating Corentin Moutet in the Almaty Open final on Sunday. Medvedev has now won 21 titles in 21 different cities and remains in the hunt for a seventh straight ATP Finals appearance.
11 of the top 15 players in the Live Race standings are in the draw at the two ATP 500s this week in Basel and Vienna. Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, and Novak Djokovic are the first three players to officially qualify for the ATP Finals.
Davis Cup Final 8: Sinner Out for Italy, Alcaraz In for Spain
While Jannik Sinner beat Carlos Alcaraz to win the Six Kings Slam on Saturday, the rivals are taking different routes on their end-of-season schedules.
Sinner will not play for two-time defending champion Italy in next month’s Davis Cup Finals. World No. 8 Lorenzo Musetti will lead the host nation in Bologna.
Alcaraz will join Spain’s team along with Jaume Munar, Pedro Martinez and Marcel Granollers. Fellow Top 10 star Alexander Zverev will represent Germany when the quarterfinal round kicks off on November 18.
Italy, Germany, France, Czechia, Spain, Belgium, Argentina, and Austria are the eight teams vying for the 2025 Davis Cup trophy.
Other Headlines
Frances Tiafoe ends his 2025 season, shakes up team
Iga Swiatek to lead Poland in BJK Cup playoff
Alex de Minaur wins 300th match of his career in Vienna
Coco Gauff stars in new ad for “Wicked: For Good” movie
Have You Checked Out the Served 5 Setter ?
Global Celebration of Padel: The Final 8 of the FIP Asia Padel Cup and the FIP Euro Padel Cup begin this week with a record number of countries participating in a “turning point for international padel.”
Milestone For Irish Padel: Ireland will host its first-ever Padel Irish Open next month, marking a new chapter for the sport in the country.
Check This Out: The “world’s first pickleball stadium” is now open in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The stadium is part of a massive facility that includes 43 courts.
Dirk is Ready to Dink: NBA Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki will headline the PPA’s ‘Celebrity Pickleball Showdown’ on November 5 during the Pickleball World Championships in Texas.
Our October 14th Newsletter Poll Results: 20% of respondents correctly backed Jannik Sinner to win the Six Kings Slam.
Don’t Miss A Second Of Served
Connect with us on socials.
Check out the Served Merch Shop.
Subscribe to our YouTube page.
There could be a roll for copying part of the USTA league formats. It’s not a perfect fit and needs some more trim around it but here is the idea based on USTA “early start” leagues that play in the fall ahead of the season they count against for rankings:
Events after the US Open can choose to be a same-season event or and early-start event for the following year.
Players choosing the early start tourneys apply those points to the next season instead of continuing to fight for current rankings.
They would only get to play early start tourneys every other year.
Early start participants would get a small bonus points bump
Expected benefits:
Existing tourneys don’t have to get cut.
Players can choose to reset instead of grind out the year.
Top Players coming back from injury could benefit from tune-ups that matter but not points they have to defend.
Fans can follow current year tourneys or Next year tourneys at the same time even on the same weeks
Again, none of this is even half baked but the idea of starting the next season sooner might allow those players to take spot time off throughout the next season and decompress their own schedule every other year while still keeping the individual tournament total relatively the same.
Today you asked the question, what specifically needs to change in tennis? What is Novak actually asking for? I suspect he’s thinking about a LIV Tennis arrangement but what he should be advocating for is this:
PLAYER WELFARE & FAIR GROWTH AGENDA — A Vision for a Stronger, Fairer Tennis Tour
Proposed by Novak Djokovic (hypothetical)
1. Smarter Scheduling, Less Burnout, More Opportunity
• Reduce mandatory Masters participation for top 20 players from 9 to 6–7 events.
• Protect player rankings during rest periods.
• Expand main draw spots to give lower-ranked players more access and ranking opportunities.
• Maintain overall tournament volume so the sport grows — even as top players manage their load better.
2. A Transparent Revenue-Sharing Model
• Allocate 55% of total tournament revenue (Slams + Masters + 500s) directly to players.
• Create a clear distribution model:
• 80% performance-based for main draws
• 10% dedicated to lower-ranked player support
• 10% to long-term pension and welfare funds
• Publish annual breakdowns for full transparency.
3. Player Pension & Welfare Fund
• Dedicate 10% of shared revenue to create a portable pension, injury, and insurance system.
• All players with 3+ years on tour receive guaranteed retirement and medical coverage.
• Top players who opt for reduced schedules contribute proportionally more to sustain the system.
4. Premium Events that Power the Ecosystem
• Establish a small number of marquee “premium events” with elevated prize pools and media rights.
• Feature top players selectively to reduce burnout and raise commercial value.
• A fixed % of broadcast revenue from these events goes directly to fund lower-tier prize pools.
5. Stronger Challenger & ITF Pathways
• Guarantee a minimum 10% annual increase in Challenger and ITF prize pools.
• Introduce travel/accommodation stipends for players ranked 100–400.
• Expand ranking opportunities so the pathway to the top remains open and meritocratic.
6. Balanced Governance for a United Sport
• Create a joint Player–Tournament Council with equal seats for:
• Top 20 players
• Players ranked 21–200
• Tournament/ATP representatives.
• Major financial and calendar decisions require cross-block approval, ensuring no single group dominates.
✨ Closing Statement (very hypothetical Novak):
“Tennis is global, open, and built on generations of players — not just the few at the top.
Real player welfare isn’t about creating a closed shop. It’s about making the sport stronger for everyone — stars, challengers, and fans alike.
Let’s build something lasting, for all professional players’