Served 5 Setter: Novak Talks Retirement
Plus: JW analyzes the French Open's revenue-sharing proposal and potential ripple effects
Welcome to your weekly 5 Setter, an express roundup of all things racquet sports with Producer Mike. In this episode:
The French Open offers revenue sharing
Djokovic talks retirement
The WTA’s new gene testing policy
Cincinnati’s full house
DC opens hard-court season
Tiebreak Trivia
Also, in a bonus video this week, JW reports on the French Open’s prize-money proposal—why it’s murkier than the headlines sound and what it means for the US Open and its massively popular mixed doubles tournament. An excerpt runs in Set 1. Here’s the full interview.
Click below to watch today’s 5 Setter on YouTube, and come back here for this week’s bonus stories.
The latest stories that matter right now
Tennis.com Stops the Presses
Sadly, Tennis magazine is fully relegated to history now. Tennis.com has closed its editorial department and now publishes just scores, rankings and tournament information.
When the print edition of Tennis went away in 2022, it lived on digitally at Tennis.com with some of the same venerable writers and editors, such as Peter Bodo, Joel Drucker and Steve Tignor. Tennis Channel owned it at that point, but longtime readers recognized and respected the editorial DNA, even as it lost some of its literary heft.
In June, the articles disappeared from the home page, replaced by scores. The News section is now an archive of stories. Jill Dortheimer, Tennis Channel’s vice president of communications, told Defector this week, “Tennis.com is in the midst of a full rebuild and the first priority is to deliver fast, comprehensive match and tournament schedules, scores, draws and data. We are continuing to improve the experience for all fans, so stay tuned.”
However, Bodo and Tignor confirmed to Defector that they were (unceremoniously) let go. Defector’s story, “Tennis.com Lived and Died by the Internet,” chronicles the evolution of the magazine into a digital product that was before its time—and now out of it.
Ben Shelton Pauses YouTube Series
It was a gloomy week for tennis media. According to Hard Court, Ben Shelton is pausing the production of his YouTube series, The Long Game, after five episodes, citing two sources familiar with the decision. Shelton launched the series in December.
The article notes that other player vlogs have lost steam and analyzes the boomlet’s challenges. It seems that while well-funded. traditionally produced tennis documentaries are thriving, the player vlog has not grown legs.
“What the past several months have undeniably exposed is just how difficult it is to sustain a series built around a single tennis player,” writes Hard Court creator Jessica Schiffer.
Head over to Hard Court for the full story.
Doubles Trouble: ATP Considers Big Cuts
During Wimbledon, the ATP Player Council met with doubles players to discuss proposed 50% cuts to prize money and draw sizes, according to The Athletic.
Under the new terms, ATP tournaments would reduce prize money from 20% of the total purse to 10% and cut draws from 32 teams to 16 teams at Masters 1000s and eight teams at smaller tournaments.
The ATP contends that doubles does not generate enough ticket sales to cover its 20% share of the prize money, and singles players generally agree, whether they go on the record or not. Doubles advocates say it is impossible to tell how much fans value doubles since those tickets are not sold separately; that the tour hasn’t marketed doubles enough to know if it’s truly unpopular; and that early-round matches at big tournaments are often well-attended.
No. 1 Henry Patten spoke out about it at the trophy ceremony at Wimbledon after winning the men’s doubles title with Harri Heliovaara.
🎤 Henry Patten
“I’m a strong believer that we’re here to grow the game. This is a fantastic example of the joy that doubles can bring. We should be growing the sport instead of taking opportunities away.”
This week, Patten talked about the issue on The Changeover podcast, along with Robin Haase, ranked No. 46 in doubles. Haase quizzed the hosts on how much doubles players make compared to singles players, using those ranked No. 100 as an example. The hosts were shocked at how little the No. 100–ranked doubles player has made so far this year (about $21,000), then asked Patten how much he has made as No. 1. It’s $1.4 million. Touché.
The questions of appeal and attendance persist, though. The Tennis Tribe, a doubles-focused media outlet, made its point by posting photos of packed stadiums where people are “not watching doubles.”
Any changes are not expected to be implemented before 2028. Until then, this debate isn’t going anywhere.
Quick Hits
Victoria Mboko and Hailey Baptiste will not play the US Open as they both recover from summer knee injuries.
Washington, D.C., withdrawals: Felix Auger-Aliassime, Daniil Medvedev, Arthur Rinderknech, Arthur Fery and Sebastian Korda.
Asia Muhammad got married last week (and plans to retire this year).
Two Armenian players have made the quarterfinals of a WTA event for the first time in history. Elina Avanesyan and Alina Charaeva set the mark at the Hamburg tournament today. Video proof.
French Open girls’ junior champion Alisa Oktiabreva switched her nationality from Russia to the Czech Republic. Best take goes to Redditor Jasnata: “Chances of winning Wimbledon just increased significantly.” (h/t Tennis World)
Welcome back, Jack ⬇️
The Weekend Draw
Generali Open
ATP 250, clay
Kitzbühel, Austria
Friday, July 24: Semifinals
Saturday, July 25: Final
Estoril Open
ATP 250, clay
Estoril, Portugal
Friday, July 24: Quarterfinals
Saturday, July 26: Semifinals
Sunday, July 27: Final
Prague Open
WTA 250, hard court
Prague, Czech Republic
Friday, July 24: Quarterfinals
Saturday, July 26: Semifinals
Sunday, July 27: Final
Hamburg Ladies Open
WTA 250, clay
Hamburg, Germany
Friday, July 24: Quarterfinals
Saturday, July 26: Semifinals
Sunday, July 27: Final
Q&Andy Recap
Jake Johnson, the star of The Dink, joined Q&Andy this week to tell stories from the set, including Brad Gilbert’s obsession with legs, and takes your questions.
📮Submit a question by emailing askandy@servedmediagroup.com or send it through our website or social media.
Love All Recap
Kim and Blair discuss the WTA’s controversial new rule, the best of Novak Djokovic’s press tour, Kim’s memories of the summer hardcourt swing and her favorite tennis advice.
Tiebreak Trivia
As of today, Andy Roddick is a movie star … in a pickleball movie (The Dink on Apple TV). But this is not his first time playing himself on screen. What early-2000s teen sitcom cast Andy as a guest star playing himself?
💡Answer: Sabrina the Teenage Witch in 2002.
📝 We’ll be back Tuesday with a new episode. In the meantime, join us on Substack during the weekend’s matches.
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Can you please update the Tiebreak Trivia Archive page?
Another perfect newsletter, Megan! Thank you for keeping us in the loop on the broader tennis world (media, tournaments in action, current events, etc.)! 👌