A Balancing Act

ATP 
Tsitsipas wants to be able to say “I’m proud of myself” in 2025

It’s been a rough year on the courts for Stefanos Tsitsipas if you put aside his title in Monte-Carlo, his final in Barcelona, and the quarter-final at Roland-Garros. For such a player, it cannot be enough. Worst, 2024 also marked the breaking point in his coaching relationship with his father. On paper, it’s surely not a bad thing for him to get a new voice around, but the very public way it happened left traces.

As Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz keep rising, the clock seems to be starting to click faster for Tsitsipas. More worrying for the Greek, finalist at Roland-Garros in 2021 and in Melbourne in 2023: he seems to have lost that spark in the eyes, that fire in the belly. Next season could be crucial to see how much he can still matter for the biggest titles, which shouldn’t even be a question when one sees his game but will remain one as long as his head stops to be fully in the game.

After he lost in the last Masters 1000 in Paris, which meant he had no more chance to qualify for the ATP Finals, he shared his thoughts on what went wrong that day (serve) and how he will tackle 2025. You can listen to our chat here:

Alex De Minaur is another player who left Paris with a heavy heart. The Australian was so close to securing his spot in Turin and was visibly very stressed out about that chase. Battling a hip injury since Wimbledon, De Minaur has been showing a lot of grit but couldn’t go all the way in Paris. Listen here:

2024 was the last tango in Bercy for the Parisian Masters 1000, as it will move just outside of what we call “intra muros” Paris next year at La Défense Arena. It is impossible to know what we’re getting, but right now, we know what we’re losing: the atmosphere of a center court made for concerts, with a unique auditive experience when full, and so many memories of the nearly four decades of tennis played there. I went to my first “Bercy,” as we still call it, in 2004 as an intern for Tennis Magazine. Marat Safin won here for the third time. I escaped disaster earlier that week by removing my bag from the ground as it was about to clutch at one of Andy Roddick’s feet. I had overall a ball.

It also remains to be seen how long this Masters 1000 will remain in this spot in the calendar. Or in the calendar at all. We all know that Masters 1000 licenses are coveted items and that this end-of-season could look very different in the years to come as other interests come into play. The NYT has an interesting feature about what it calls the chaos of this Parisian event - where results are tough to read between exhausted players, those who chase a spot into the ATP Finals, and those who might already have their heads at the Finals - and why it should stay that way.

QUESTION OF THE DAY 
Does he have it in him?

You were 88.89% to think that the WTA made the wrong choice by sending the Finals to Saudi Arabia.

“I have watched the women’s game for over 40 years, and I have no intention of watching the finals this year. The way they treat women is a disgrace. As far as I am concerned, the WTA have sold their souls to the devil, and of course, the money had a big impact on their decision,” said Margaret. “There is no getting around the fact that this is sportswashing. I hope the players learn something about the terrible human rights violations by Saudi Arabia. The WTA having a big tournament there may encourage young girls to take up tennis, which is a plus. But it is naive to think it will have any impact on society at large,” added Shirley.

WTA FINALS 
A Balancing Act

The WTA Finals started in Saudi Arabia, and so did the tough balancing act of the WTA. The Tour has to own its presence in this country despite the controversy and prove it made the right choice by showing what exactly bringing these women to Riyadh is doing to open doors for women. Players also have a tough path to negotiate as they’re asked about playing here despite the country’s record regarding women’s rights and the LGBTQ+ community's rights. Overall, the issue is whether the WTA, a trailblazer in the fight for equality, can remain true to itself while being hosted by Saudi Arabia. Or is the WTA risking losing its purpose and values through sportswashing? Only the future will tell.

Coco Gauff had the best answer when asked about it by colleagues on-site:

“I'm very aware of the situation here in Saudi. I mean, my view on it is I do think that sport can have a way to open doors to people. I think in order to kind of want change, you have to see it. Sports, for me, is the easiest way to kind of introduce that. I know they started bringing more male sports here. I know with the golf and the tennis, I think this is the first professional women's tennis event held here. Hopefully, with WTA coming here and pledging for the next three years to help the future Stars Program here in Saudi, we will have introduced more Saudi women, especially into the sport. Their goal is to have a million people playing tennis here by 2030. Hopefully, with that, people can see us, and what we represent, and hopefully, that will enact more equality. Right now, if you never come here, it can never end like that. To want to have change, you have to see it.

No, I would be lying to you if I said I had no reservations. Obviously you know who I am and the things I speak about. I was pretty much on every player call I could make with WTA. One of the things I said, if we come here, we can't just come here and play our tournament and leave. Like, we have to have a real program or real plan in place. We spoke with a lot of women here in Saudi. One of them was Princess Reema. Multiple calls with her, how the best approach would be to enter into this different place that women have never kind of, women from the U.S., have never kind of been in. I think for me, it was important, and it was one of the questions I brought up about LGBTQ issues, women's rights issues, and how we can help with that. I'm also very aware that we're not going to come here and just change everything. That would be very nuance to say. But it's a nuance kind of conversation. I think knowing from the past from my grandmother, integrating her school, people aren't going to like it, but obviously, in the long run, I think it could be better for everybody.

The LGBTQ+ community is always a community I'm going to fight for. I have family, and friends who are a part of this community. I hear your concerns. I really do feel like in order to ignite change, you have to start little by little. That's how I've been taught growing up black in America, knowing our history. Obviously, there were a lot of people opposed to it. Now we're all equally living together. If we shied away from it then, where would we be now? The same message goes out there for women. Obviously, I'm a woman. I was very concerned. My dad was very concerned with me coming here. It's one of those things where I want to see it for myself, see if the change is happening. If I felt uncomfortable or felt like nothing was happening, then maybe I probably wouldn't come back. As far as being here for a week, I really feel like it's in the progress of going forward. The people I've spoken to, they say it's in that way. I can only trust what I'm being told. Obviously, I don't live here, so I can only trust what people are telling me that live here.”

As far as the results are concerned, Iga Swiatek made a winning return to the competition against Barbora Krejcikova with Wim Fissette as a coach. As a complete side note, that came to my brain while reading one more piece about the growth of the female fandom around sports in the US and how they’re pushing the merch market and the ticket sales to new heights: where is this fandom in tennis? What do the WNBA, the NFL, or soccer now have that the Tour doesn’t? That should be a major focus (and worry) for both Tours right now because it seems we’re among the few sports missing that train. Is this fandom able to understand and accept the WTA’s involvement with Saudi Arabia, or is it a roadblock? I don’t have these answers, but I’m curious to see if, at some point, we find out.

BUSINESS / MEDIA 
China helps to boost the WTA Finals audience

• Xièxiè Zheng Qinwen. No doubt that the qualification of the Chinese player for the WTA Finals has a lot to do with that new deal landing in the WTA’s lap. The Tour indeed announced on Saturday that “Live tennis from the WTA Finals Riyadh presented by PIF will be shown by CCTV-5, China’s leading sports broadcaster, following a new deal announced by WTA Ventures and China Media Group (CMG).” Let’s be real, it’s mostly a Zheng Qinwen deal as the main thing it covers are…her matches. But the rest of the field will get some kind of exposure too which can’t hurt.
  
  “As part of the deal with CMG, all of Zheng’s matches at the 2024 WTA Finals will be broadcast on the CCTV-5 linear channel. Other matches and clips will be made available on CMG’s digital services, including the CMG Mobile app, the CCTV Sports app, CCTV websites and mobile apps. The deal continues CMG’s support for the Hologic WTA Tour, following its role as official broadcaster for the recent China Open in Beijing and the Dongfeng Voyah · Wuhan Open.” Did we tell you already how big Zheng Qinwen was in Asia right now? Yes, we did. 
  

• Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka join Angel Reese and LeBron James, among other big names, for a Beats By Dre “The Athletes Get It” campaign.
  

• Going all in for women’s sports, again. This time, the Athena Pledge is in the news as it emerges with four big brands as founders. What is it? A platform dedicated to investment into women’s sports but also research, funding, and creating more opportunities. Someone said “formation!” and these brands answered the potential to make money call. Who’s in? AT&T, Capital One, Cisco, and Deloitte. “We want to find twenty like-minded brands who want to band together to make a pledge to support women's sports,” said Pete Giorgio, the Global and US Sports Practice Leader at Deloitte, to Forbes. “We're looking for companies that want a seat at that table as we push this forward because [women’s sports] is going to grow, and we want it to grow in the right way.”

MENS SANA IN CORPORE SANO 
Khachanov didn’t fake it

It was the useless controversy of the week in Paris during the last Masters 1000 event of the year. Was Karen Khachanov really that injured by the end of his semi-final against Ugo Humbert? The French player didn’t seem to think it was that bad as he kept pumping his fist through the end of the match, getting some heat from his rival for it. “Against Grigor (Dimitrov), he was exhausted: did you see me jumping and screaming ‘Allez’ after every point? (…) Jumping and screaming ‘Come on, Allez!’ every point? You think it’s OK? You can celebrate after, no problem…but to hit once one guy is on the ground? OK, see you next time,” Khachanov said, adding that the French had “no idea how to behave.” 

Well, Khachanov put all the debate to rest on social media by announcing that a grade 2 sprain was found in two parts of his right leg. One of the issues in tennis in recent years has been the trend of deciding, by default, that players are faking injuries. Another sign of the post-truth era we’re living in, obviously. Of course, it happens, but it remains the exception and not the rule. It was obvious to anyone watching the match that Khachanov was struggling in the end. Yet, Humbert, who was very nervous and said he thought Khachanov was cramping, knows too well that you can start losing against an injured player if you start thinking about it. Could he have toned it down on the celebration? Obviously. Did he really realize he was going over the line? Nope. End of the season, everybody is on their last nerve.

SOME BREAK POINTS… 
Didn’t see that one coming!

• Elena Rybakina returned on Tour for the first time since the US Open and did it with a bang. Not really with her racquet as she lost her first match at the WTA Finals, but she won the announcement of the tennis week as she revealed she hired Goran Ivanisevic as her new coach. They will start their collaboration this winter to prepare for the 2025 season. Ivanisevic has already famously worked with Novak Djokovic, Marin Cilic, or Milos Raonic with great results. What will he do with a WTA player? Things could get fun here, and Andy Roddick seems to agree as he commented, “What does Rybakina need? Maybe a little levity in her box with someone that actually has a sense of humor once in a while, so this looks like an unbelievable fit.”
  

• Are the Italians happy to see Jannik Sinner arriving in Turin for the ATP Finals? I think we can totally say they are. Like, a lot.
  

• Croatia and Argentina are officially in for the United Cup from 27 December to 5 January. The announcement came this Monday that both countries had qualified for the event, and we also got the names of the players involved: Donna Vekic, Borna Coric, and Ivan Dodig for Croatia (playing Canada to start in Perth), and Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Nadia Podoroska for Argentina (playing Australia to start in Sydney).

PLAY HARD, TRAIN HARD, DRESS THE PART 
After the NFL, here comes Formula One. Tennis?!

I was already left outraged when the NFL got one before tennis. And now, a new layer is added to my outrage as Formula 1 is also getting one before tennis. This Is So Wrong. What do they get that tennis doesn’t? A Fashion Editor. “The Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One team is hiring a marketing operations driver clothing executive,” announced this report from WWD.

What will the new hire have to do? “The new hire’s chief responsibility is to serve as the project manager for drivers on the Mercedes F1 team’s styling planning and process. The new executive will coordinate with the drivers’ stylists and the team’s apparel partners to decide on looks for collateral shoots, marketing appearances, trackside walk-in attire, and marketing appearances. (…) Knowing how integral image is to fans, Mercedes is looking for an executive who will manage drivers’ nontechnical apparel and footwear such as personal, fitness, formal, and travel clothing, as well as their walk-in attire for the F1 paddock and trackside.”

Lewis Hamilton really did the job by signing with Dior and being announced as co-chair of the next Met Gala! And obviously, LVMH just signed a 10-year deal with Formula One for brands like Louis Vuitton and Tag Heuer. Tennis is missing out on the glam right now, and that makes my French heart sad! We were always in the lead on that front; what happened??… The Sigh.

EDITOR’S PICKS 

You can find other picks here, including my go-to newsletters for anything tech*, anything backstage* or professional sports*, and the one for everything NIL*. If you’re a solopreneur, you might like this one, by the way. I also have a sweet spot for The Creator Spotlight*, which provides examples of other creators’ journeys. If you are a collector of anything sports-related, look at Above the Mantel.

READ: Is it still spooky season? I’d say yes. Anyway, this one seems like it would be a seasonal fit in your to-be-read slash: We Used To Live Here,” from Markus Kliewer.

WATCH: Iga Swiatek commenting on her first win after not playing since the US Open.