NEW EPISODE: WTA Top 20 Season Recap
Start Your Day With Served!
Context-free soundbite: “With that backpack at the US Open, she’s cost me about $1,000 in Labubus.”
Happy (early) New Year, Chuckers!
This week on Served, Andy, JW and Producer Mike give the WTA the review-and-preview treatment, looking at the year-end Top 20 and forecasting what’s to come when the 2026 season kicks off this week.
💬 Are you excited for the return of pro tennis? Have some predictions? Let us know in the chat!
🎤 Programming notes: No 5 Setter this week. We’ll return next Tuesday with full coverage of the Australian swing—and announcements of new Served shows launching soon. Also, you have two more days to win an appearance on Served!
🍿 Watch the full episode below and come back here for this week’s tennis headlines.
Three stories we love this week.
Venus Williams Weds in Five-Day Extravaganza
No stranger to white dresses, five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams married Andrea Preti in Palm Beach, Florida, on December 19.
Highlighted by about a dozen looks, including a dramatic bustle for Williams’s bridal shower (pictured above), the fashion frenzy fit the couple’s story—Williams met the Italian serendipitously at Milan Fashion Week last year.
“I was in Lake Como on a sisters’ trip when I got an invite at the last minute and decided to go on a whim, and Andrea was tired. Neither of us was planning on being there,” Williams told the magazine.
The couple held a ceremony in Italy in September, but the marriage wasn’t official until December 19, when they went to the Palm Beach County courthouse before 7 a.m. for a civil ceremony. Then a traditional wedding capped off five days of pool parties, dinners, organized sports and a choreographed Beyoncé number by the Williams women.
The 45-year-old will open her 2026 season at the ASB Classic in Auckland next week. (Vogue)
Alcaraz, Sabalenka Earned Record Prize Money in 2025
Even before their exo checks cleared, both Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka cashed in last season to the tune of $21.3 million and $15 million, respectively.
Sabalenka’s total is the highest in WTA history for a single season, taking the top spot from Serena Williams’s 2013 haul of $12.3 million. Alcaraz fell $300,000 short of edging Novak Djokovic’s 2015 earnings for the ATP record, but knocked Jannik Sinner from the No. 2 spot.
Both US Open champs benefited from a record bump in prize money at the tournament. The winner’s check increased 39 percent over 2024, from $3.6 million to $5 million, the largest single payout in the sport. (Tennis.com)
Draper Leads Australian Open Withdrawals
World No. 10 Jack Draper withdrew from the Australian Open this week. The Brit is still recovering from the arm injury that sidelined him after Wimbledon. Holger Rune is the only other Top 100 player missing from the men’s field.
“I’ve had this injury for a long time, I’m at the very end stages of the process, and to step back on court in best-of-five-set tennis so soon just doesn’t seem like a smart decision right now,” Draper said on Twitter.
Bianca Andreescu also withdrew, joining Danielle Collins and Victoria Azarenka as the biggest names missing from the women’s draw. Azarenka, the 2012 and 2013 champ, did not enter qualifying and will need the only remaining main-draw wild card to play.
Grigor Dimitrov is headed in the other direction, making his Grand Slam comeback from a muscle tear that forced him out of Wimbledon while leading Jannik Sinner two sets to none. Dimitrov returned at the Paris Masters 1000 in October, winning his first match and withdrawing from his second. If he posts in Melbourne, it will be without coach Daniel Vallverdu. The pair called it quits for the second time in the off-season. (Sports Illustrated, Tennis.com )
Quick Hits
Juan Carlos Ferrero spoke for the first time about being blindsided by the Carlos Alcaraz split. Ironically, the team originally brought in Samuel Lopez (who replaces Ferrero for the time being) to prevent the relationship from eroding while traveling together. (Marca)
Tennis Australia settled a lawsuit brought by the PTPA players’ association. (The Athletic)
Novak Djokovic set an ATP record in 2025 by winning a title for the 20th consecutive season. (Tennis.com)
Nick Kyrgios won the Battle of the Sexes. May we never see that Frankencourt again. (The Guardian)
The Drawsheet
The 2026 season kicks off this week with four events featuring Top 20 players.
Jan. 2–11
18 national teams
Jan. 4–11
WTA 500, ATP 250
ASB Classic (Auckland)
Jan. 5–11
WTA 250
Jan. 5–11
ATP 250
📺 ATP and WTA international broadcast lists
Are You Keeping Up With Served?
Global action beyond tennis.
PICKLEBALL: The sport is growing in prisons as a rehabilitation tool. (San Francisco Chronicle)
BADMINTON: Shi Yuqi of China upset world No. 1 Anders Antonsen of Denmark 22-20, 21-7 to win the King Cup Badminton Open, becoming the first Chinese player to win the tournament in Shenzhen. (Badminton Planet)
PADEL: Playtomic digital racket sports platform secured a $6 million investment, building on its Babolat sponsorship earlier this year. (Athletech News)
Don’t Miss a Second of Served
Connect with us on socials.
Check out the Served Merch Shop.
Subscribe to our YouTube page.
In my opinion, calling your fans Chuckers is insulting just as it is insulting to call your podcast “a dumb little show”. It’s not self deprecating, it’s faux humility we all can do without. I enjoy listening to. your content (when it isn’t overly repetitive) but find myself offended by your not so endearing nickname you choose to call your fans. Please respect us and rethink how you refer to us.
Just my favourite time of the year. While we have winter, everyone down there in full sunshine and joy celebrating the players, the sport, the competition and brining so much energy from the side. It's a joy to wake up early to watch all that. One day I hope to see it live. 😊