Shake It Out

DAVIS CUP
The Final 8 is set: did you care?

These two weeks following the US Open must be one of the worst spots to get out of the entire schedule. And it’s even worse this year because of the Olympics. So, major props to the Davis Cup for even succeeding in bringing so many big names for this last round of qualifications. Also, major props for finding ways to have more than decent coverage about it, despite everybody suffering from tennis fatigue following that Roland-Garros to Wimbledon to the Games to the US Open manic stretch.

The competition was set over six days through four cities (Bologna, Manchester, Valencia, and Zhuhai), and, let’s be real, that format is not really helping to keep track of it all or to really feel the stakes. But we’ve had a decade of brainstorming and arguments around the Davis Cup format and I am personally over the drama: let’s just play and see.

So, what are the main things to take out of it:

• We now have the teams that will battle for the title in Malaga (19-24 November): Canada, Netherlands, Argentina, Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, and the USA. The draw will take place on Thursday.

• Canadians Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov did a great job in Manchester and clinched Canada’s third participation in a row in the Finals.

• The Netherlands won the thriller of the weekend as they ended at the top of their group by the thinnest margin, finishing ahead of Belgium and Brazil due to a superior sets win-loss record.

• There will be a chance to see Jannik Sinner play in Malaga, as Italy got through even without him in Bologna. The World No.1 came to watch the team, though.

• Spain qualified after a great effort from Carlos Alcaraz, who was then allowed to opt out on the last day as Spain was already qualified.

• Lleyton Hewitt’s Australia is through to the Finals despite its captain still despising the new format and never missing a chance to let it be known. Hewitt called the schedule “ridiculous” but praised his “banged-up” team. “To try and ask players to play the second day after a grand slam finishes, it’s not easy,” said Hewitt. “In the old [weekend only] format, I used to have to do it, but you’d at least have until the Friday before you had to play. Now to play on Tuesday, it’s ridiculous,” he told The Guardian.
  
  One has to love Hewitt’s fire for the game, really. It’s been 84 years, and he’s still out there as feisty as ever. “That’s the stupid part of this format, isn’t it? You know, I can keep saying it,” shrugged Hewitt. “But the format is what it is, and we’ll do what we need to do to get through and give ourselves a chance of hopefully holding up the trophy.” Yep, he finds it all stupid, but he’s still gonna coach that team through whatever is coming their way because he wants their hands on that trophy.

• Serbia will stay in World Group I after triumphing at home against Greece, thanks to Novak Djokovic's help.

ATP 
Djokovic lets the mystery live on

When will we see Novak Djokovic on a tennis court again? Good question! After helping Serbia to keep its spot in Davis Cup World Group I, “Nole” sent some shock waves through the tennis world by saying he wasn’t chasing qualification for Torino nor points for the World No.1. Actually, he said he wasn’t chasing anything at all right now and that he didn’t know when he’ll play again. Talk about some cliffhanger!

“Torino is not my goal at all, to be honest; I am not chasing ATP Finals, I am not chasing the rankings, etc," he told Serbian reporters. "As far as I am concerned, I am done with those tournaments for my career. Whether I will play other tournaments this year or in the future, I can't say right now. (…) Weeks like these represent another motivation, they inspire me to keep going. I thought that I would never have to seek motivation anywhere, it all used to come naturally – automatically – but that has not been the case in the last few years. In order to prolong my career, I need to enjoy, I need to choose wisely the tournaments I am going to play.”

Djokovic is supposed to play an exhibition in Sofia and then the Masters 1000 in Shanghai. After that? It’s anybody’s guess! “My main priorities are playing for the national team and Slams, everything else is less important. (…) "After Shanghai, I am going to see what I am going to do. Usually, in my career, I used to have my schedule ready six months in advance, but nowadays, that's not the case. Now, it's more spontaneous. Firstly, I need to physically, emotionally, and mentally rest to even start thinking what I want to do next, in what way, how much, and where," he added.

QUESTION OF THE DAY 
Will we see him again in 2024?

You were 66,67% to join me in thinking tennis won’t find a way to fix its night sessions.

“Every year the same story whether it’s the AO or US Open. And yet every year nothing changes. It’s clearly not about player welfare…,” said r.white. “The ATP had a policy of not starting matches at night late? That went by the wayside at the USO .The WTA just as bad: a women’s match started at Midnight at the USO. Unacceptable, full stop! ” agreed Margaret, while Cheryl pointed out the need for stronger action from the players: “But they'll only fix them if the players start refusing to play in those sessions and force the issue. The power is in the players' hands for this. Just as threatened player boycotts (or actual boycotts) have worked in the past, it probably would also work here.” 

Well, as for other big issues in this sport, I don’t think you’ll ever see players united enough to stage a boycott or strike. Finally, because we need some hope, Shirley expressed some optimism: “This may be overly optimistic, but I think they can at least find ways not to have matches beginning so late that the matches must end well after midnight.”

BUSINESS / MEDIA 
VIP Club

• Is Reese Witherspoon coming to tennis? Well, that’s a stretch. BUT, her production company, Hello Sunshine, has signed a first-look deal with Ross Greenburg Productions “to develop and produce unscripted content centered on female sports,” Variety reported. You say female sports, and we’re like, “WTA?” Why not?! I mean, we already got Zendaya…
  

• Roger Federer knows his business. Never in doubt. A new proof? He took over the Laver Cup Merchandise. In Berlin, starting September 22, people who attend the event will also be able to shop exclusive, limited-edition Laver Cup Berlin 2024 apparel. RF branded apparel. It includes “Uniqlo Team Europe blue and Team World red ultra light down vests, On ROGER Clubhouse Pro LC tennis shoes, Limited edition Wilson ‘RF’ Roger Federer/Laver Cup branded rackets and bags, and Luxury, hand-crafted eyewear from Oliver Peoples’ RF Eyewear Collection, co-designed with Roger Federer.”

MENS SANA IN CORPORE SANO 
Very Tired Bodies, A New Edition

It’s not the first season that feels too long for the bodies and minds. And it surely will not be the last. The signs have been all over the post-US Open schedule, so where do we start?

• The Korea Open’s draw is carnage, as all the Top 10 players who had entered the event have withdrawn. For the first year as a WTA 500, the Seoul event looked so good before disaster struck, and Iga Swiatek (fatigue), defending champion Jessica Pegula (rib injury), Elena Rybakina (back injury), 2014 champion Karolina Pliskova (foot injury), and Emma Navarro (change of schedule) gave up. Organizers shared that Swiatek told them “she was not back to 100 percent following the U.S. Open last week and was forced to alter her schedule,” and that “she promised to visit Seoul for next year's tournament.” Not everybody is mad at this, as Sloane Stephens and Emma Raducan are now in the main draw.
  
  Big picture: it’s absolutely awful for a tournament that made the efforts to get from a WTA 250 to a WTA 500 to lose its entire cast before even the first ball has been played. It also shows what would happen to more events the moment the mandatory tag would be removed. It would not be sustainable, because no sponsor or organization would pledge this much money without being more or less guaranteed top players in the draw. It’s also what the Tour risks experiencing more and more if no compromise with its best players can be found regarding the overall setup of the season.
  

• “A mental calendar.” Jack Draper says hold my beer to the Korea Open draw as he joins the chorus that drags the state of the schedule. As we’re reaching the last stretch of the year, it’s also a usual tune: they’re all tired and done with it all. Especially players who have very little chance to qualify for the Finals. And especially players who are rather new to playing a full year on Tour. Not every player can afford to manage their schedule in Federer’s or Serena’s back-in-the-day style. Draper, 22, has expressed his worries regarding the ability of his generation to last as long on the Tour as the previous ones. Going from the semi-finals in New York to the Davis Cup in Manchester was a bit of a shock to his system. “There's no doubt it's a quick turnaround; I think a lot of people in my position would not have come this week. It's a mental calendar. It's my opinion that it's going to be very hard for players of my age to achieve longevity anymore,” Draper said to the BBC.
  
  I would remind everybody that, in 2011, Rafael Nadal had to go from the final of the US Open to a Davis Cup tie on clay in Cordoba. I was there, by the way. It's a beautiful city with crazy heat. So, yes, that calendar has been mental for a while, but I’d also agree that these Masters 1000 in two weeks have pushed it all over the edge. "Since Miami, I just haven't had any time," added Draper. "We went straight into the clay, then straight on to the grass, straight to the Olympics, straight out to Montreal, Cincinnati, training week, US Open, here, then it's Asia, then it's indoor season. I look at the sort of schedule, and I know players have done it for years, but the way the ATP have changed to two weeks with the Masters and these types of things, it's giving us no time any more. There's literally no break. It's really mentally and physically challenging."
  

• Even a Roger Federer event isn’t immune to losing a big chunk of its draw. People had supposed for weeks now that Rafael Nadal would use the Laver Cup as a retirement parade. I never felt he would… But I still thought he’d play there whatever it took because he committed to it a while ago, and it matters in the “Fedal” world. So it’s worrying that in the end, Rafael Nadal had to withdraw from the Laver Cup that will start on September 22 in Berlin.
  
  “I’m really disappointed to share that I won’t be able to compete at the Laver Cup in Berlin,” Nadal said in a statement. “This is a team competition, and to really support Team Europe, I need to do what’s best for them, and at this moment, there are other players who can help the team deliver the win. I have so many great, emotional memories from playing Laver Cup, and I was really looking forward to being with my teammates and with Björn [Borg] in his final year as captain. I wish Team Europe the very best of luck and will be cheering them on from afar.” Nadal hasn’t been able to play since the Olympics in Paris. It remains to be seen when and where Nadal might decide to quit the sport or if he could even call it quit without playing one last time. In the meantime, Grigor Dimitrov will replace him for Team Europe… and the Laver Cup, which has lost a huge part of its 2024 appeal, now has to hope it can find a way to compensate. The event had already lost Alex De Minaur and Tommy Paul for Team World, replaced by Francisco Cerundolo and Thanasa Kokkinakis.

SOME BREAK POINTS… 
Osaka and Sinner shake things up

Naomi Osaka’s patience had run its course, apparently. The Japanese player lost way too much for her liking this year, maybe underestimating how tough it’d be to return after giving birth to her daughter. I have already written about how not all comebacks were created equal and about Osaka’s situation. The former World No.1 took every loss the hardest way, asking her team if they thought she’d ever be back into the Top 5. And, even before the US Open, I was starting to wonder how much longer she’d give to her coach, Wim Fissette, before deciding she needed a change.

Well, as Open Court was the first to reveal, Osaka had basically already decided she was going to end things with the Belgian coach, and then she was seen on the court in Los Angeles with… Patrick Mouratoglou. The French coach, as Open Court also revealed, had already been in touch with her last summer when she was looking for a coach. Both Fissette and Mouratoglou have an impressive coaching résumé on the WTA Tour but Osaka might have felt she needed to try another voice. And especially one who found a way to get Serena Williams back to the top post pregnancy. So, let’s see how it goes as, for now, nothing official has been announced, except Osaka parting ways with Fissette.

Jannik Sinner hasn’t fired his coaches, but he has revamped the rest of his team. And for it, he hired… Novak Djokovic’s former team members, physio Ulises Badio and fitness trainer Marco Panichi. I mean, they clearly did a great job, so if you can afford the ones who worked with the best, that sounds like a good choice. They also have a wealth of experience to share about Djokovic’s routines and preparation methods. For Sinner, whose game keeps being compared to the Serbian one, it all makes sense. This shake-up comes as Sinner had parted ways with his physio and fitness trainer ahead of the US Open in the middle of his doping trial scandal.

In other news:

• Magdalena Frech clinched the first WTA title of her career, in Guadalajara, by beating Australian qualifier Olivia Gadecki (7-6(5), 6-4).

• British player Sonay Kartal also won her maiden WTA title, in the Jasmin Open in Tunisia, beating Rebecca Sramkova (6-3, 7-5), while coming all the way from qualifications. She will now enter the Top 100.

• Tomas Berdych is the new Czech Davis Cup captain. The former star player was an absolute pillar of the Czech team, and it sounds totally logical to see him walking in the steps of the now-former captain Jaroslav Navratil. Navratil has been in the chair for two decades, including for the back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013. It remains to be seen what happens to his role inside of Jiri Lehecka’s team now.

• Maria Sharapova into the Hall of Fame? Well, if you ask the fans, yes she should get in. The former World No.1 won the fans vote organized by the ITF ahead of the decision made by the official voting group for the 2025 ballot. Winning the fans vote gives Sharappova a bonus 3% points added to her vote total. “I am incredibly grateful to the fans all around the world who supported me during the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s Fan Vote. It is a tremendous honor to be considered for the Hall of Fame, and having the fans’ support makes it all the more special,” Sharapova said in a statement.

• A common point between Iga Swiatek and Ashleigh Barty? 121 weeks. What? Yes, as of this Monday, Iga Swiatek has been at the top of the game for 121 weeks, equalling Barty’s record. 

• Elise Mertens and Hsieh Su-Wei have qualified for the WTA Finals in Riyadh. They are the second pairing to secure their place at the season-ending event after Jelena Ostapenko and Lyudmyla Kichenok. They join World No.1 Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Aryna Sabalenka, who have qualified in singles. They finished runner-up in 2021 and have already been champions at the Finals: Mertens in 2022 and Hsieh in 2013. “Hsieh Su-Wei and Mertens have amassed over 5000 points courtesy of winning the Australian Open, the WTA 1000 BNP Paribas Open (Indian Wells), and the WTA 500 Rothesay Classic Birmingham. In addition, they also reached the semifinals at The Championships, Wimbledon, and the WTA 1000 Mutua Madrid Open, with their results earning them each a return to the PIF WTA World No.1 Ranking earlier this year,” said the WTA in a statement. You can follow the Race here.

PLAY HARD, TRAIN HARD, DRESS THE PART 
Gauff’s fall inspo

Coco Gauff x American Eagle may not have gained all the momentum they had hoped for at the US Open, but it’s not a problem: they will just come for your Fall now. Gauff dropped a new photoshoot with the brand on Instagram for some nice Gen Z inspiration for fall. We ain’t no Gen Z, but we kinda dig that jacket.

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. As their journeys might help your own.

READ: It’s a tough read but a needed one. The “hurdle queen”, Ludmila Engquist, is opening up about everything she kept hidden throughout and after her career, including doping and abuse. The book is called "Ludmila, You Can't Get More Swedish than This." Enquist, who is severely ill, calls it her “last chance to tell,” as she explains the Sweden Herald. “I don't know how long I'll live. This could be my last chance to tell my story. It would feel wrong to die and disappear without having explained myself.” Sport can be a wonderful and empowering journey, but too often, it can also destroy lives, so we need to keep fighting the systems built to get the wins at all costs.

READ more: If you feel you need to lighten the mood after all this, join me in being fascinated by this story and interview. There’s a private ultra VIP club at Disney called Club 33, and this couple got fired from it, but it’s fighting all the fights to either get back in or make it burn. They’re dropping all the tea and naming all the names. And I’m like: all of this for Disney? Amazing. I’m clearly not in the right circles, as I had no idea about this. But also, are these the right circles? LOL.

WATCH: “Can I use your discount at Louis Vuitton?” Players came up with all the tough questions for Carlos Alcaraz in this ATP video.

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