Served 5 Setter
Update on Alcaraz's shocking news, Osaka to leave Evolve and more.
Happy Friday, Chuckers!
This week, Producer Mike discusses the Alcaraz coaching fallout reported by the Spanish sports press. If you missed Andy’s and JW’s takes on Wednesday’s Quick Served, you can catch up below.
Also in this episode, an early upset at the Next Gen ATP Finals means the group stage is coming down to the wire today. Plus, Garbiñe Muguruza joins the Madrid 1000 as tournament co-director, Iga Swiatek gives back and the ATP finally institutes a heat rule.
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Click below to watch the 5 Setter on YouTube, and come back here for this week’s bonus stories.
Osaka to Leave the Agency She Co-Founded
Naomi Osaka is—to use her idol Serena Williams’s words—evolving away from her own agency. Ben Rothenberg at Bounces reports that Osaka will leave Evolve when her contract expires this month. She started Evolve three years ago with her longtime agent, Stuart Duguid.
Osaka has not confirmed the news, and Duguid declined to comment to Bounces. However, Rothenberg, an independent journalist, is close to the Osaka camp and released a biography of the tennis star last year, bolstering the report’s credibility.
Rothenberg says Osaka and her manager, Alex Boston, may return to IMG. Bounces paints the picture of a bumpy road in Evolve’s second year, when its only two clients, Osaka and Nick Kyrgios, fell off the tennis radar. Evolve added Aryna Sabalenka, among others, and now Osaka’s role in the company appears to have changed.
“While Osaka returned to competition in 2024, and had a strong run in late summer to build her ranking back to its current spot of No. 16, neither her tennis and earning power has yet recovered to the metrics she had reached before her public struggle. Most of Evolve’s focus this fall has been on Sabalenka and Kyrgios and their upcoming ‘Battle of the Sexes’ exhibition on Dec. 28,” Rothenberg writes.
Follow Rothenberg to track this story as it develops. (Bounces)
Mark Cuban Invests in Tennis Analytics Firm
Orreco, a biodata analytics company for elite athletes, announced the purchase of a small tennis AI company, along with a $4 million investment from tech titan Mark Cuban. Orreco is developing cutting-edge tools to help athletes prevent injuries.
Tennis fits in through Data Driven Sports Analytics, a Melbourne-based outfit that works with Aryna Sabalenka. DDSA collects and analyzes match data directly from broadcast footage. Orreco will integrate DDSA’s technology with its own to identify injury risk in real time.
Cuban, a minority owner of the Dallas Mavericks, told Sports Business Journal that he is interested in what Orreco can do for NBA athletes. Orreco is the first company to ink a deal with Sportradar to access its real-time NBA footage.
“This is the first proactive approach to use AI to help reduce injury risk,” Cuban said. “It’s great today and only going to get better.”
According to Tennis Connected, Orreco will continue to work with Sabalenka and other tennis players. Sabalenka has used DDSA since 2020 to analyze her own game and opponents’ games through AI ball tracking and 3D analysis. DDSA founder Shane Liyanage will stay on with Orreco to expand the tennis side. (Sports Business Journal)
Off-Court Impact: 6 Player Foundations
Inspired by the Iga Swiatek Foundation’s news this week, and in the spirit of the giving season, here are a few of our favorite charities, run by active players, that could use a few dollars of your bonus check. (Psst: Right now, Served is matching donations to the Andy Roddick Foundation.)
The Andrey Rublev Foundation is currently raffling off a racquet to provide relief to kids suffering from critical illness, with a special focus on providing surgeries in Uganda.
The Marta Kostyuk Foundation brings tennis into schools in Ukraine, and Kostyuk just partnered with Katie Boulter to launch Serve Hope in the U.K. to raise funds.
The Novak Djokovic Foundation has built 73 schools throughout Serbia as part of its $16 million investment in early education.
Jessica Pegula’s animal nonprofit, A Lending Paw, supports organizations that rescue, rehabilitate and train service dogs.
The Leylah Annie & Family Foundation provides tennis clinics and sports scholarships to kids, and supports single parents. This week, it hosted a holiday event at Miami’s Lotus House, the largest women’s shelter in the country.
The Rajeev Ram Foundation (RIP the fabulous original name, EntouRaj) finances player scholarships and youth tennis instruction, as well as community programs that teach life skills and leadership.
Quick Hits
Timothée Chalamet is making the PR rounds for his new table tennis movie, Marty Supreme, for which he mastered a tweener (Good Morning America)
Nishesh Basavareddy coaching update: Speaking about his new partnership with Gilles Cervara at the Next Gen ATP Finals, the 20-year-old said they are working mostly on fitness and the serve before the Australian Open, while previous coach Bryan Smith will stay on as a sounding board (ATP)
Will Howells, who has dominated pickleball’s APP Tour, is leaving for the PPA Tour in 2026 (Pickleball.com)
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The Weekend Draw
Next Gen ATP Finals
Semifinals - Sat., Dec. 20
Final - Sun., Dec. 21
Tiebreak Trivia
In the 5 Setter podcast, we asked: “There has never been a repeating Next Gen champion, but there has been one repeat runner-up. Who is that player?”
Answer: Alex de Minaur, who lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2018 and Jannik Sinner in 2019.
We’ll be back Tuesday with a new episode. In the meantime, join us in the chat!
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Hey, everyone. Hope you enjoy the 5 Setter today. Who's watching the Next Gen Finals, and what do you make of the Alcaraz and Osaka news? Let's chat once you catch up.