Served 5 Setter
The WTA's new major sponsor, Ben Shelton's new show, Battle of the Sexes and more.
Happy Friday, everyone!
The WTA announced a new sponsorship with Mercedes-Benz, breaking into the luxury-brand echelon of sports for the first time. How do you say “flex” in German?
Also in this episode, Producer Mike talks about Ben Shelton’s new YouTube series, Venus Williams’s Met Gala honor, the Masters 1000 champ who pulled out of the Next Gen ATP Finals, and the Battle of the Sexes redux coming up this month.
Watch the full episode to stay ahead of the game, and scroll down for this week’s bonus stories!
ITIA Hands Out Longest Suspension in Tennis History
The International Tennis Integrity Agency banned Quinten Folliot of France for 20 years for his role in a match-fixing scandal that came unraveled this year.
Folliot, 26, is the sixth player suspended for participating in an organized scheme that operated on the Challenger and ITF circuits. The ITIA called him “a vector for a wider criminal syndicate, actively recruiting other players and attempting to embed corruption more deeply into the professional tours.”
Folliot was once ranked No. 488 but fell out of the top 1,000 earlier this year. He also received a $70,000 fine. (The Athletic)
Sabalenka and Kyrgios on Piers Morgan Uncensored
This week, Aryna Sabalenka and Nick Kyrgios appeared together on Piers Morgan Uncensored to promote their Dubai exhibition on December 28. When asked, both said they disapprove of trans athletes in women’s sports.
The 30-minute conversation focused on their motivation for running Battle of the Sexes back with altered rules to even the playing field. Casting the net wider, Morgan asked both players whether it’s fair for trans athletes to compete in women’s sports.
“That’s a tricky question. I have nothing to do against them, but I feel like they still got a huge advantage over the woman, and I think it’s just not fair to women to basically face a biological man,” Sabalenka said.
Nick added, “I feel the exact same way.”
Defector called the comments “transphobic,” and The Telegraph and People.com covered the controversial exchange. The relevance extends to earlier backlash to the upcoming exhibition. When the event was announced last month, Rennae Stubbs said it “benefits no one in tennis” and Catherine Whitaker of The Tennis Podcast called it a “dog whistle publicity stunt.” (YouTube)
Aussie Swing Preview: The Return of a GOAT
Roger Federer will headline the first-ever opening ceremony in Melbourne. The six-time champ will join Andre Agassi, Patrick Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt in a new event called the Battle of the No. 1s on Saturday, January 18, to kick off the Australian Open.
But first, United Cup, the Brisbane International and the ASB Classic in Auckland will open the season with stacked player fields. Updates this week:
United Cup (Jan. 2–11): Naomi Osaka playing for Japan, captains Gabriela Dabrowsi 🇨🇦, Stan Wawrinka 🇨🇭, Tim Henman 🇬🇧, Lleyton Hewitt 🇦🇺, Lucas Pouille 🇫🇷, Go Soeda 🇯🇵, Alexander Zverev, Sr. 🇩🇪, Christian Ruud 🇳🇴, Stefano Cobolli 🇮🇹
Brisbane WTA (Jan. 4–11): Amanda Anisimova and wild card Emerson Jones join a Top 10–heavy field of Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Jessica Pegula, Madison Keys, Mirra Andreeva and Ekaterina Alexandrova
Brisbane ATP (Jan. 5–11): Joao Fonseca, Grigor Dimitrov and wild card Adam Walton join top seeds Daniil Medvedev and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, plus Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe returning from injury
Auckland WTA (Jan. 5–11): Wild cards Venus Williams, Katie Boulter and Sloane Stephens join top seeds Elina Svitolina and Emma Navarro
Potapova Changes Nationality But Not the Press Release
Anastasia Potapova became the fourth Russian player to switch her nationality this year. The world No. 50 will play for Austria starting in 2026. Previously, Daria Kasatkina changed her flag to Australia, and Kamilla Rakhimova and Maria Timofeeva both began playing for Uzbekistan.
Potapova’s announcement rang a bell to some fans. They compared it to Kasatkina’s in March, and lo and behold, it matched nearly word for word, with Australia changed to Austria. The blunder caught Kasatkina’s attention.
They say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery.
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TIEBREAK TRIVIA
In the 5 Setter podcast, we asked: How many people watched the Battle of the Sexes match between Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King, on TV, in 1973?
The answer: 90 million globally, the largest audience for a tennis match to date. For comparison, the 1973 Super Bowl drew around 50 million.
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Huge news for the WTA. We were worried about the post-Serena era, but the tour is poised to keep growing and capitalize on the boost she gave to tennis. 👏👏