Everybody is coming for the night sessions

MENS SANA IN CORPORE SANO 
Everybody is coming for the night sessions

Yes, everybody is coming for them. But not the right way. Everybody is coming for the night sessions because everybody wants them gone. But, guess what, I don’t think they’ll go anywhere. Yet, this US Open has cemented what’s been known for a while already: most people in tennis are absolutely done with the night sessions, especially the players. And now it seems the debate is on more than ever about what can be done to take them out or at least reduce their toxic effects. I love the atmosphere of night sessions, especially in NYC, but it has gone wild and must be contained. Playing tennis after midnight and until 3 or 4 am is nonsense.

Yet, we all know that money talks louder than the rest in professional sports, and the money raining on tennis due to the night sessions (double sessions for ticketing, prime-time broadcasting rights, etc.) might honestly win every time. During the US Open, they didn’t even apply their own new rule about moving a match from the last spot of the night session if it’s taking too long. Like Roland-Garros, they refuse to start the matches earlier because they fear too few people will show up. But please tell me how you expect to have more people there at 2 am? It’s been debated in circles for years.

What could change now? Not sure. But it’s interesting to see the NYT publishing a feature about being done with the late-finish matches in 2025. And ESPN getting an exclusive from the PTPA, the players association, about a study they did that says that night matches “lead to increased injury risk.” "No data is perfect," Sikka said. "But these are trends that are pretty indisputable. And now there's a measurable thing that if we want to intervene, we've got a baseline for comparison."

ESPN quotes Daria Kazatkina summing up the effect of finishing at nearly 3 am in Canada last year: “You’re destroyed.” She also added: "The tournaments are longer, the draws are bigger. Recovery time is less.” This report, led by PTPA’s medical director, Dr. Robby Sikka, used data from Grand Slam events taking place from April 2018 through May 2024. It also comes in the middle of a controversy as, during the US Open, Andy Roddick asked the PTPA what it was exactly doing for the players. So overall, the complaints are the same, but it seems they’re gaining traction among the people who can really move the needle. I am not that optimistic about fixing the whole thing, though, but maybe if the noise of the rebels grew louder, it would at least push the ones with the power to decide to find some compromises. If we could at least go to the “let’s find a compromise” point, it’d already be a watershed moment.

QUESTION OF THE DAY 
Any belief in that?

You were 77% not understanding why broadcasters keep hiring Nick Kyrgios. “Nick has negative energy. Isn’t mature enough to get along with people he needs to work with and picks fights with people. He doesn’t enunciate and doesn’t add much in the way of color commentary,” said Bridget, while Danae had just this one line: “He’s a disgrace.”

BUSINESS / MEDIA 
Tennis Channel ousted its CEO

Lay-offs have been going crazy lately in many industries and for many reasons. Yet, it will surely not make Ken Solomon feel better knowing he’s not alone there. That is obviously not a club you’re craving to get into.

• What happened? Solomon, longtime Tennis Channel CEO, has been ousted by the channel’s parent company, Sinclair Inc. He had been the head of the channel since 2005.

• Why did they fire him? That’s when it becomes 👀: the reason given is “time spent in non-work activities,” reported Deadline. Hmm, say more? “Specifically, Sinclair took issue with Solomon’s role as a board member and an adviser for Dr. Phil McGraw’s company, Merit Street Media, as a growing distraction,” reported the WSJ in an exclusive. Solomon has been allowed to take on that role, but these reports suggest that “Solomon’s role with McGraw had become more active and time-consuming than they had anticipated.”

• Why is it extra weird? The timing doesn’t seem ideal, as Sinclair is trying to sell Tennis Channel, as Front Office Sports* started to report back in February. Solomon also has stakes in Tennis Channel.

A new player in the broadcasting rights buyers club?

It’s getting crowded in here! Maybe it’ll be a good thing in the end. Who knows! So, who’s the newcomer? Roku. In tennis? Not yet, but maybe soon? Why? Because this media company has sworn that sports are now their priority.

In May, Roku already made headlines for securing the rights to broadcast an exclusive MLB game every Sunday. It was “the first time one of the four major sports in the U.S. (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL), will air a live game on a FAST channel,” reported The Current. So what now? Now, the streaming service confirmed during the Tuned In event presented by FOS, that it was only the beginning of their sports ambitions. “Even when it doesn’t have the rights, Roku still wants to create shoulder programming and prioritize sports content on its partner platforms,” reported FOS, who talked with Roku’s president of media, Charlie Collier.

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SOME BREAK POINTS… 
It’s always important to read the room

Some people will always assume the worst of you. Nothing to do about that. Except maybe anticipating it. After landing on the wrong side of a news cycle for a tweet about Jessica Pegula’s family money, Eugenie Bouchard might wonder about that. And don’t start me on the state of what was once known as Twitter…

So what did Eugenie say? Here:

I saw that and honestly thought she was defending Pegula against those who still think she bought her way to the top due to the good old “nepotism for the child of a billionaire.”

But some people took it as she was attacking Pegula for being a nepo-baby. Which wasn’t making sense, but hey, it’s the world we’re living in. And so here it went for a round of articles calling drama, shade, and feud. The whole thing got to Bouchard’s nerves as she came back to explain what she originally meant, ending with a “Leaving this app” that hit close to home for many, I am sure. Here’s what she said: “I’m complimenting her, she achieved a grand slam final because of hard work, dedication, etc. not because of money. You can’t buy your way through the US Open draw. She’s amazing. Leaving this app.”

Tennis media really went quickly from hiring people to “Let’s just ask AI.” After having AI writing match reports and creating video highlights, now comes the AI generated commentary of matches. Tennis Channel indeed announced that, beginning this for the WTA event in Guadalajara, they would offer the following service: “live matches with the original English commentary dubbed into Spanish in real time through a new artificial intelligence-driven feature. Though the matches will be announced and analyzed in English in the United States on Tennis Channel and subscription service Tennis Channel+, the commentary will be translated into Spanish in Spain for the entire tournament,” reports SVG News. Hiring Spanish-speaking commentators, maybe, instead? So passé.

“It’s incredible to listen to matches announced in one language translated almost instantaneously into another at the same time by AI. As this technology develops, we’ll be able to create content in our U.S. studios or abroad and quickly tailor it to audiences anywhere in the world. This greatly enhances what we provide on each of our channels globally and allows us to better connect with viewers in the countries we serve,” said Andy Reif, senior vice president, Tennis Channel International. You connect better with viewers if you give them content in their language: who would have thought about that without AI? I wonder…

Wuhan comes back

The Chinese WTA 1000 is back on the calendar this year and will be played as before at the Optics Valley International Tennis Center from October 7th to 14th. For its return, the Dongfeng Voyah ONGFENG VOYAH · Wuhan Open went all out with 29 players out of the WTA Top 30, including seven Grand Slam singles champions in the main draw.

Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff, Barbora Krejcikova, Victoria Azarenka and Jelena Ostapenko are on the list. Sabalenka won Wuhan in 2018 and 2019, the last time the tournament was held. It should be quite the party for the locals, as Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng, who grew up in Wuhan, will also be in the draw. US Open finalist Jessica Pegula is joining too.

LAVER CUP: The tournament had the opposite issue before its start in Berlin (Sept. 22) than Wuhan, as they had to find more players to get in. Team World indeed saw both Alex De Minaur and Tommy Paul withdraw from the competition. Francisco Cerundolo and Thanasi Kokkinakis will replace them.

WTA Finals: Lyudmyla Kichenok and Jelena Ostapenko have become the first doubles team to qualify for the WTA Finals in Riyadh. They will appear at the Finals for the second time, having reached the semifinals in 2022. They have reached four finals this season, winning titles at the US Open (their first Grand Slam title in doubles) and at the WTA 500 events at Brisbane and Eastbourne. They also finished as runners-up at the Australian Open at the beginning of the year. You can check the Race here.

PLAY HARD, TRAIN HARD, DRESS THE PART 
Together but not coordinated

I will always be fascinated by how every woman Grand Slam champion comes out all glammed up for their post-victory photo session and media tour while the men just show up in their everyday outfits. On “Today,” Aryna Sabalenka went all fashion week ready, while Jannik Sinner came ready for a stroll and maybe some brunch afterward. Also, nobody in this segment had called the others asking for the dress code: come as you are, folks! Bless.

EDITOR’S PICKS 

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