The Mary Carillo Interview

Hall of Famer to Hall of Famer

Jul 21, 2026

Context-free soundbite: “This is like playing H-O-R-S-E with Steph Curry and expecting Steph Curry to take you seriously.”

Mary Carillo is far too scarce on our screens these days, so we are thrilled she joined Served to talk shop with Andy and JW. The legendary, award-winning sports journalist—and Roland Garros mixed doubles champion—talked about her upcoming induction to the International Tennis Hall of Fame, her perspective as a broadcaster, her start in media and that famous parenting screed disguised as a badminton rant at the Olympics.

Coming up this week, actor Jake Johnson joins Q&Andy to talk about The Dink, which hits theaters on Friday.

Watch the New Episode on YouTube

The stories that matter most this week

WTA Tour Mandates Gene Testing

Renee Richards, a transgender player in the 1970s

Every WTA Tour player is required to take a test for the SRY gene, according to the tour’s updated Women’s Eligibility Policy effective today. The SRY gene signifies the presence of the Y chromosome. The test is mandatory to maintain WTA eligibility.

The new policy reads: “Eligibility to participate in WTA tournaments will be confirmed through a required, one-time screening process for the SRY gene. Player screening will begin in 2026, following all appropriate confidentiality and data privacy safeguards and concurrent with a comprehensive player engagement program. The WTA recognizes that this is a sensitive and complex issue and is committed to treating all players with dignity and implementing the Policy in a respectful and thoughtful way.”

The previous policy permitted trans athletes to compete if they maintained testosterone levels below 2.5 nmol/L for two years.

Per the Associated Press, “The new policy takes the organization in line with the eligibility policy introduced by the International Olympic Committee in March to align with U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order on sports ahead of the 2028 Games.”

According to Ben Rothenberg at Bounces in a non-paywalled story, no other major women’s sporting league or organization has such a requirement.

There hasn’t been a transgender woman on the WTA Tour since Renee Richards in the 1970s. Richards sued the USTA after it banned her from the women’s draw at the 1977 US Open. The New York Supreme Court ruled in her favor, one of the landmark cases involving transgender athletes.

Tennis Stars at the World Cup Final

Carlos Alcaraz with actress Jung Ho-yeon (Photo credit: AFP/Getty Images)

Tennis’s global star power took center stage at the World Cup final when Carlos Alcaraz turned out to be one of the most visible celebrity fans. First, he carried out the trophy in a Louis Vuitton case before the game. Then he was a go-to for the camera crew, most meme-ably when one of Spain’s goals was reversed.

It’s like when a tennis player thinks they won the match before realizing it’s a 10-point tiebreak and they have only seven points.

Other players repping tennis at Met Life Stadium included Novak Djokovic, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Rafael Jodar, Francisco Cerundolo and Diego Schwartzman.

Diego Schwartzman with Lionel Messi (Schwartzman’s social media)

MIA: self-professed biggest football fan on the ATP Tour Flavio Cobolli, who mimicked Ronaldo’s celly after his quarterfinal win at Wimbledon. Cobolli was seaside on vacation.

Carlos Alcaraz@carlosalcaraz

🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸!!!!!

10:25 PM · Jul 19, 2026 · 810K Views

415 Replies · 5.38K Reposts · 87.6K Likes

Djokovic on SinCaraz vs. the Big Three

While he was in town for the World Cup, Novak Djokovic appeared on a live taping of LeBron James’s podcast, The Shop, at the sports-centric Fanatics Fest in New York City, where the entertainment ranged from a three-point shooting contest to a dunk tank filled with dipping sauce.

Djokovic shared the stage with James and his business manager, Maverick Carter, and soccer star Folarin Balogun. He compared playing Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer to going up against Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.

🎤 Novak Djokovic
“We were three of us, we were all different. And now with Alcaraz and Sinner being the dominant force in tennis, these two guys remind me of myself so much. I’m like I’m playing myself from like 10 and 15 years ago.
I want to kick their ass.”

Djokovic also competed in the three-point contest and table tennis with Tom Brady and Justin Bieber.

His New York City weekend included a premiere of his upcoming Amazon Prime documentary, A Wolf in Winter, at the Museum of Modern Art. See the celebrity guest list.

100

Aryna Sabalenka’s weeks at No. 1

In this week’s new rankings, Sabalenka became the 10th player in history to stay in the penthouse for a total of 100 weeks.

She is currently on a 92-week run, passing Monica Select for the sixth-longest consecutive streak at No. 1. She is only the third player in the 2000s to spend a full year at the top, along with Serena Williams and Ashleigh Barty.

Sabalenka cooled off on the clay and grass, but she powered through the first three months of the year with a 23–1 record, including the Australian Open final and the Sunshine Double. She has a narrow 257-point lead over No. 2 Elena Rybakina, but No. 3 Jessica Pegula is a distant 2,000 points behind them. Most likely, the year-end No. 1 is a race between Sabalenka and Rybakina, unless Sabalenka, who won the US Open last year, crashes out early in New York.

Quick Hits

Stefanos Tsitsipas won his first tournament in 16 months at the Gstaad Open and rose to No. 51 in the world. He said it was destiny. (Tennis World)
Jasmine Paolini withdrew from the tournaments in Washington, D.C., and Toronto with a foot injury.
The Dink hits theaters on Friday. Andy plays a 1980s villain.
Karolina Muchova will be out of a few weeks after having an unexpected “small surgery,” per her social media. Her hospital outfit meets the Wimbledon dress code.
Like mother, like daughter ⬇️