Tennis, drop the nonsense

US OPEN
Is the star power still in the room with us?

The end of this US Open could be wild. Or not. It’s still unclear. What is clear, though, is that the casting has been drastically reduced, especially on the men’s draw side. Losing Carlos Alcaraz was already a massive blow. Losing Novak Djokovic the day after losing Alcaraz? A proper earthquake. And suddenly, you look at that draw in search of the other A-list actors that are now supposed to handle the situation… And you don’t find so many names. Upsets are fun, I guess, but you still have to go to the end of the show without emptying the room. You still have some nice star power for now, so let’s see how the Hunger Games will end. This US Open has been marketing itself like the child of the Met Gala and the Academy Awards, so now it has to deliver, I’m sorry.

Also, are Alcaraz’s and Djokovic’s losses that much of a surprise? My take: Alcaraz’s loss, yes, but not Djokovic’s one. Sure, Djokovic hadn’t lost in the third round in New York since 2006, and not that early in a Grand Slam since the Australian Open 2017 (2nd round). As for Alcaraz, he was indeed not looking wow before the start of this US Open, but it was also the case before Roland-Garros and Wimbledon, and yet the Spaniard was on a 15-match streak at Grand Slam level.

Alcaraz is no Avengers yet; Djokovic’s soul was still flying high in Paris

As Lorenzo Musetti also lost, it meant that the entire Olympic podium was ousted. And I think that’s the crux of the matter. Djokovic and Alcaraz didn’t lose that US Open in New York, but in Paris. It was easier to see it coming for the Serbian than his new nemesis. Why? Because Djokovic is 37, had come back from that knee injury and fought his way claw after claw to the last dream of his career. He gave everything in Paris, and he gave even more in the final. He was always going to be spent emotionally and physically after that. Then he didn’t play until New York. He would have needed another miracle to win that 25th Major, and yes, he could have pulled that out because he is who he is.

But even the Avengers can be brought down to earth occasionally. He was very clear about how he never felt his best since Day 1 at the US Open. His serve, especially, was out of sorts. But, it’s kind of known that even for these legendary players, the first thing that will come back when things are getting rough is their so-called weaknesses. And if you know tennis, you know that Djokovic and his serve took some time before falling in love with each other. So, overall, Djokovic not finding another heart and soul on time for the USO wasn’t that much of a surprise.

Alcaraz though? Sure, he was massively disappointed when he lost the gold medal. Sure, he was on a crazy Roland-Garros title - Wimbledon title - Olympics final stretch. But I thought that being so young, solid physically for a while now, and ambitious would do the trick. I thought he’d make the Tour pay for that golden chance missed. And yet he collapsed. So clearly, the Games left a deeper trace in him than I - and himself - thought. He had forgotten what it was to lose something you wanted so hard. Ultimately, it was all too much, showing that he’s still more human than Avengers. The upgrade isn’t that easy, even for him. He may want to avoid beating himself up about it too much, though. He said, after that loss, that he had gone backward mentally, but maybe being emotionally tired is not something that you should blame yourself for. His career will take a rest over burnout any time. He’s also so young that you feel he’s convinced he has no right to feel meh and so driven that anything else than a title is a failure. It’s both a great mindset and a risk.

In the meantime, here we are: For the first time since 2002, nobody named Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, or Roger Federer has won a Grand Slam title in a calendar year.

It’s rough to lose Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka in New York. It’s tough to lose them anywhere, but their game and personality fit so well with the atmosphere there. And the crowd is just so wild when they’re on the court. And yet, both went down. Osaka, whose day and night outfits won’t be forgotten, had a horrendous draw with Karolina Muchova after Jelena Ostapenko. Yet had she held that serve at 5-4 40-0 in the second set… The click is around the corner for her, but it’s still been a tough year overall. Osaka says she still believes she can win other Majors, and we agree.

As for Coco Gauff, what a rough summer she had with the quickest turnaround before the US Open. She didn’t land in NYC in the best conditions to defend her title, but through the first matches, it looked like she was working her way back. Yet, she got Emma Navarro again after Wimbledon, and really, it’s not a good match-up for her, even less when she’s struggling like this with her game and absolutely not when her serve is in this state. 60 unforced errors, including 19 double-faults, is wow in the worst sense. I liked how real she was about it after the match, saying she needs other opinions about her serve and that it’s surely more of a mental hurdle. She also said she wasn’t going to beat herself up about that loss but focus on getting back to work instead. She’s just 20 and had a very busy summer with many heartbreaks and tears. She will learn so much from this because she has a strong head on those shoulders. But she really needs to fix that serve asap.

By the way, only four players achieved the double Olympics - US Open in history.

ATP/WTA 
Instant Red Card

I’m sorry, but WTAF. Now that you’ve got the summary, here are the details:

• Yulia Putintseva deserves to be docked points and money for her absolutely horrendous behavior to that ball girl during her loss against Jasmine Paolini in the third round of the US Open. She should also be told she’ll get banned from the Tour for some significant time if something like that happens again. She got booed for that, and it was fully deserved. Let’s be clear: it’s not a rare sight coming from her. Putintseva has been a repeat offender of all types of outrageous behaviors on the court for too long. She got a pass most of the time. It should end here. And, no, her apology isn’t enough to compensate for what she did. Also, that comes from someone who, most of the time, enjoys how feisty she can be on a court and how much of a competitor she is, but there’s a difference between “pulling a Danielle Collins” and just being out of all lines. Enough.
  

• Maxime Cressy, what’s wrong with you? Please explain. Talk about someone else who should get docked points and money. We all understand frustration and sadness after a loss, especially in a Grand Slam. But this level of disrespect? I’m sorry, no. You don’t get to throw detritus on the court. And expecting someone to come and clean after you? Do we need to bring a parent to tell you to clean your room? Cressy is half French, but after that, believe me, we’re not going to claim him too loud for a while.
  

• What He Says. And also, How Many Times? 

Qinwen Zheng and Donna Vekic got the record that no one wanted in tennis: the latest-ever finish for a woman’s match at the US Open at 2.15 am. So rare, right? No, because Maria Sakkari and Bianca Andreescu made the previous record just three years ago. And we’ve been having matches finishing early in the morning regularly for years now. Have you forgotten the nightmare of the night sessions at Roland-Garros this year?! I had titled my rant, “Tennis shouldn’t be played at 3 am”. 

So, maybe instead of writing news about “omg, it’s a record!”, let’s try to make sure we won’t have to write about these types of records ever again. I - and so many others - are a broken record about how it makes zero sense to play that late. Everybody hates that. So why can’t the sport fix it? Well, broadcasting rights are both a fantastic thing for the sport and a curse. At some point, someone will have to be brave enough to say no to the dough and put players’ safety and everybody else involved’s safety and sanity first. It is just getting ridiculous at this point.

• What are we doing for Andrey Rublev? Seriously. We’ve already talked about how we lost him on the way this year and about how he opened up about his mental health struggles. But I’m asking again: is it time for the Tour to intervene? For Rublev’s sake? Is there a way? Because it can’t keep happening, and if it does, it will not end well. Beaten by Grigor Dimitrov in the fourth round of the US Open, Rublev had a meltdown in the first set and cut his left hand on his strings while hitting his racquet. Physio had to be called. It cannot keep going on like this.

QUESTION OF THE DAY 
Are you worried?

You were 93,75% to think the Tour has been gambling with players’ health lately. And here Kathy is sharing the overall feeling by saying, “Seems so many players are getting injured and then need to withdraw from playing .”

BUSINESS / MEDIA 
A record year for the ATP bag

• The ATP’s bank account is thriving, thank you very much for asking. In a statement, the men’s Tour announced that “ATP Tour delivers record sponsorship revenues and growth in 2024.” It also says that the projection reaches an 89% increase by 2026 compared to 2023. How? Because of “the signing of nine new global partners and multiple partnership renewals,” that “drive 50% year-on-year increase in sponsorship revenue.” Who are these sponsors? Since 2023, the newcomer's list includes “PIF, Lexus, Yokohama, Haier, Waterdrop, LONGi Solar, Sense Arena, OFX, and most recently, Fitline. Infosys, Lacoste, Dunlop, Asti Docg, Emirates, along with Nitto, Rolex, Nilox and Sense Arena.” 

  
  The ATP is not always alone in driving that growth, as it adds that “the ATP and WTA also entered a joint licensing partnership with game maker Nacon for the TIEBREAK tennis game.” The digital side of things is also on the rise, as the ATP states, “This season has seen record digital and social growth across obicial ATP Tour social media channels. Followers grew seven percent to 9.7 million in the 12 months to June 2024, with video views up 159% and reach increasing 48% to 2.9 billion over the same period.”
  

• Why are finance brands all over tennis, especially at this US Open? Marketing Brew investigated the trend. And overall, it seems that it’s as much about tennis as about entertainment. These brands want to be where their clients might come to party. “At the end of the day, I want people to leave an incredible event and experience like the US Open and say, ‘Wow, that experience that I just had was even better because of American Express,’” Shiz Suzuki, VP of global brand sponsorships and experiential marketing at American Express, a US Open partner since 1994, said. 

MENS SANA IN CORPORE SANO 
Hit that ball, gain ten more years?

Hmmm, so tennis players might be able to have it all? Could be! Fortune reports that people playing tennis might live ten more years than those who don’t, as the sport boosts both physical and mental health. Who’s saying this? The Copenhagen City Health study, “which followed over 8,500 people for 25 years, found tennis players have a better chance of living longer than those who engaged in badminton, soccer, cycling, swimming, and jogging. The study projects that recreational tennis players will live an average of 9.7 years longer than they would have otherwise.” It mainly has to do with heart health, and tennis being very - very - good for it.

SOME BREAK POINTS… 
In and out

IN: Look who’s back in town! Serena Williams. The star came back to the US Open for the first time since she stepped away from the game in 2022. And, because she still knows how to deliver, she brought back the denim vibes that had made waves on the court in 2004. Way to celebrate a fashion birthday! Williams took time to chat with Iga Swiatek or Frances Tiafoe while she was around. She also attended Grigor Dimitrov’s match, and he thanked her for it.

OUT: Judy Murray hits the pause button on Dunblane. She tried everything, but, as we shared last week, she decided enough was enough. Judy Murray’s charity, The Murray Play Foundation, decided to stop trying to set up Andy Murray’s legacy center in Dunblane and, for The Times, she reveals how the whole thing spanned over a decade left her family distressed. As she explained, she had funded the entire thing, so lost “significant amounts of money,” and she rejected claims the project was a cash grab. “The idea that it is some kind of get-rich scheme is absolute nonsense. We set it up as a not-for-profit charitable foundation. It was always about investing in sport and in the community that the boys grew up in.”

She revealed things went too personal overall for her to feel that the the project had any chance to see the light of day. “We have been misrepresented every step of the way by a small number of people. They seem to be against anything that involves change. (…) Andy and Jamie are both incredibly disappointed and are amazed at all the challenges and obstacles that we have faced along the way.” Her parents, Roy and Shirley (92 and 90), were also left hurt by the situation: “I don’t live in Dunblane but, for them, it’s been hard. They’ve heard mistruths and allegations being levelled which they know are completely untrue. All we were trying to do was to create something wonderful for our local area.”

Judy Murray says she received lots of messages asking her to bring the project to another city in Scotland. And that she’s still motivated to build a Murray legacy in Scotland. But she now needs some time to recover from that Dunblane heartbreak. “Our heart is set on doing something in Scotland. We have been inundated in the last week with emails from people saying; ‘What about Aberdeen?’, ‘What about Inverness?’, ‘What about the Borders?’ We will take a bit of time and look at what opportunities might be out there to create a fitting legacy. The country is incredibly proud of what Andy and Jamie have achieved and it makes me so sad that we have absolutely nothing to show for it.”

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