Sinner's New Record, Arkansas Tennis Is Saved & Coach Andy Murray Returns
Newsletter exclusive: An interview with one Arkansas tennis savior
Welcome to your weekly 5 Setter, an express roundup of all things racket sports with Producer Mike. In this episode:
Sinner breaks all-time Masters 1000 match record
Fireworks smoke out Rome quarterfinal
University of Arkansas reinstates tennis
Andy Murray joins Team Draper
Roland Garros Bracket Challenge details
Tiebreak Trivia
Click below to watch today’s 5 Setter on YouTube, and come back here for this week’s bonus stories.
Served Exclusive: Inside Arkansas’s College Tennis Reinstatement
We have been following the University of Arkansas story closely since the school abruptly cut its men’s and women’s tennis programs without discussions with coaches or alumni. On Thursday, the university reversed its decision after a feverish fundraising effort by former players and other supporters. They came up with $5 million to fund the teams for two years, and the money will buy more than uniforms—it also buys the program time to find a long-term solution and keep college tennis at Arkansas.
Served talked to one of the alums behind the reinstatement effort, Simon Robinson, who played for the Razorbacks in the 1980s. The New Zealander explained how the group convinced the chancellor to reconsider the decision.
Robinson choked up several times discussing the ordeal of the last 20 days and what it meant for the Northern Arkansas tennis community to come together.
“You got to fight like a tennis player. You’ve got to grind. You’ve got to compete. You can’t give up. Our analogy was, Man, we’re down a set and a double break and John Isner is serving and it doesn’t look good. But you know what, you still have a chance. And we made it work,” Robinson said.
It’s an emotional and powerful interview that reveals how important NCAA tennis is to the greater American tennis community—and what other tennis alumni bases might face soon in the new age of college sports.
Rome Women’s Final Preview
This one is going three.
Coco Gauff, the No. 4 seed, will face Elina Svitolina, the No. 7 seed, for the Italian Open title on Saturday. It’s their third meeting of the year (Svitolina won both previous matches). It will be Svitolina’s third Rome title if she wins, and it’s her third final of the year. She beat the No. 3 seed, Iga Swiatek, who has won three Rome titles.
Threes everywhere. It’s a sign.
Omens aside, Gauff versus Svitolina has all the makings of a marathon match. Both players put on masterclasses in defense to reach the Foro Italico final. Gauff won her first four matches in a third set. Svitolina fended off both Elena Rybakina and Iga Swiatek, the No. 2 and 3 seeds respectively, both in three sets and saved 27 break points between those matches. Gauff and Svitolina have been the best fighters in the draw.
Neither player will give an inch. Extended points and long rallies will test their toughness. Will Svitolina have enough aggressive offense to get balls past Gauff on clay, or will the reigning French Open champion refuse to lose once again and take her first title of the year and her first WTA 1000 title on the dirt?
Whoever wins will earn €1,055,295, which is €38,000 more than the men’s champion this year. Three thumbs up.
Pickleball Cashes In
Tom Dundon is spending big this week, just not on the Portland Trail Blazers.
The Dallas billionaire and Carolina Hurricanes owner, whom Blazers fans call “El Cheapo” for his unpopular cost cuts, just helped close a $225 million investment in Pickleball Inc., the parent company of the PPA Tour and Major League Pickleball. Apollo Sports Capital led the round.
The deal brings total investment in Pickleball Inc. to $315 million and values the company at $750 million—a high number for the 719,000 viewers that CBS averaged for a PPA broadcast earlier this year.
Pickleball Inc.’s combined business verticals generated more than $140 million in revenue in 2025, while the pro tours brought in $30 million in sponsorships and are projecting $74 million in combined revenue in 2026. The sport has been the fastest-growing in America for five consecutive years, with 24 million U.S. players in 2025.
The investment signals an expectation for more growth. For now, there aren’t huge plans for the funds. Pickleball Inc. CEO Conner Pardoe said, “We’ve got to keep doing what we’re doing. There’s no reason to stop doing the things we know.” But he has a wish list. He wants to turn major tournaments into tentpole events by using the festival model that tennis Grand Slams and Indian Wells have done, and put resources into Pickleball TV, other media platforms and a better app.
Quick Hits
Carlos Alcaraz dirties up well. How does one get clay out of Louis Vuitton?
Emma Raducanu has reunited with coach Andrew Richardson from her 2021 US Open title run. So she’s still in single digits for number of coaches.
Served’s Roland Garros Bracket Challenge opens next week on May 22. Sign up now to receive reminders.
The WTA 500 in Strasbourg is Victoria Mboko’s first tournament as the top seed.
This is becoming a habit for Luciano Darderi. ⬇️
The Weekend Draw
Italian Open
ATP/WTA 1000
Rome, Italy
Friday, May 15: Men’s semifinals, men’s doubles quarterfinals, women’s doubles semifinals
Saturday, May 16: Women’s final, men’s doubles semifinals
Sunday, May 17: Men’s final, men’s and women’s doubles final
Internationaux de Strasbourg
WTA 500
Strasbourg, France
Sunday, May 17: First round
Hamburg Open
ATP 500
Hamburg, Germany
Sunday, May 17: First round
Geneva Open
ATP 250
Geneva, Switzerland
Sunday, May 17: First round
Full international WTA and ATP broadcast lists
NCAA Division 1 Men’s National Team Championships
Semifinals and final
Athens, Georgia
Saturday, May 16: Wake Forest vs. Virginia, Texas vs. TCU
Sunday, May 17: National championship match
NCAA Division 1 Women’s National Team Championships
Quarterfinals, semifinals and final
Athens, Georgia
Friday, May 15: Auburn vs. LSU, Ohio State vs. Pepperdine, Georgia vs. North Carolina State, Texas A&M vs. North Carolina
Saturday, May 16: Semifinals
Sunday, May 17: National championship match
Matches stream live on ESPN+
Q&Andy Recap
Andy dives into all things tennis rackets—his own setup, the tech that changed the modern game, James Blake’s deep dark racket secret and the tweaks behind Roger Federer’s late-career Slams.
📮Submit a question by emailing askandy@servedmediagroup.com or send it through our website or social media.
Love All Recap
Kim and Blair discuss life outside the Top 100 with WTA pro and model Carson Branstine, whose recent viral TikTok took the sport to task for not supporting lower-ranked players.
Tiebreak Trivia
In Set 1 today, Producer Mike shouted out Jannik Sinner for breaking Novak Djokovic’s record for the most consecutive Masters 1000 match wins, and asked who Djokovic was playing when his streak of 31 matches came to an end in the 2011 Cincinnati final.
The answer: Andy Murray. Djokovic retired from the final with a right shoulder injury. Winning 57 matches already that season took a toll on his body by mid-August. He bounced back to win the US Open.
💡Have an idea for Tiebreak Trivia? Send it our way and score some Served merch if we use it.
📝 We’ll be back Tuesday with a new episode. In the meantime, join us on Substack and Reddit to connect with other Chuckers and Served’s staff about the latest news in tennis.
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Fantastic interview with Simon Robinson. And it sounded like this was the first one about the reinstatement. Well done Meghan and a great assist from Sean. Lots to think about…is the new model that NCAA sports that are non “US big 4 professional” feeders (football, baseball, basketball, hockey) will need to self support? Feels absolutely bizarre and really icky. I also thought the point about the tennis program appearing to be low hanging fruit that could quietly be cut was interesting and glad that turned out to be very wrong. Strong support for the tennis program and great organizational work.
Newsletter Meghan on camera!