Tennis Sometimes Is a Fairytale

AUSTRALIAN OPEN (F)
Tennis Sometimes Is A Fairytale

Were there really people picking Madison Keys to win this Australian Open? Especially after the draw was made? I mean, that was a pretty bold bet to make. If you had checked that box: massive props to you. It’s been a while since a Grand Slam delivered a fairytale-like ending for a long-time outsider like that, and I discovered that I had missed it. We could, of course, mention Marketa Vondrousova at Wimbledon 2023, but she wasn’t an outsider at the start at all, and she was facing Ons Jabeur, who was the target of that fairytale-ending so… Still, Vondrousova winning Wimbledon shone like a miracle in the tennis books, and that’s a huge thing. I’m also taking Barbora Krejcikova’s Roland-Garros out of this because she wasn’t an outsider when she clinched it (same as Jelena Ostapenko at Roland-Garros in 2017: what a ride she had!), but her run to the title last year at Wimbledon may be the closest thing to tennis fairytale we had. Minus? Well, she hadn’t seen the door closing on her as many times as the players who, for me, qualify for the fairytale script.

Madison Keys qualifies like wow! She’s a player who was destined from the start to clinch these big titles and yet could never find a way to. She came so close a few times, when she played for the title at the US Open in 2017 obviously, lost a semi-final 7-6 in the third against Aryna Sabalenka in NYC in 2023, also when she reached the semi-finals at Roland-Garros in 2018 but also already in Melbourne three times actually (2015 semi-finals, 2018 quarter-finals, 2022 semi-finals).

Keys was there and around, so why wouldn’t we naturally pick her name up as a title contender? (I plead guilty, by the way) I guess it’s because between these achievements, there were a lot of injuries and rough patches results-wise and because she would give this kind of vibe that she was not going over the last hurdle. After years of thinking she would make it, the tennis world has stopped believing. So, of course, that’s when she proved everybody wrong! Maybe even herself. It was very interesting to hear her say she had surely won in Melbourne because she had finally stopped tormenting herself over not having won a Grand Slam title already. If it were to happen, great, but if not, no big deal. And so she was finally swinging (that crazy good forehand) freely.

Some players that fit that career path came close in the recent past to get their well-deserved happy ending. Names coming to mind in no particular order: Nadia Petrova, Elena Dementieva, Jelena Jankovic, Elina Svitolina, Jelena Dokic (that insane AO 2009!), Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Karolina Muchova. I’m surely forgetting others. Keys winning in Melbourne is going to be such an inspiration for players who may feel their best years are behind them and so their biggest chances, too. Surely, someone like Svitolina could look at Keys and feel a new layer of belief growing. The Ukrainian was so close to her fairytale ending at Wimbledon in 2023, and that’s surely the closest comparison to what Keys did in Australia.

We’re not talking about young and on-the-rise players but players who got beat up by that sport a lot, physically and emotionally. Players who’d have had all the reasons to stop believing they could make it into Grand Slam glory. But who kept and keep fighting. It’s overall a great lesson: champions like that - because you can be a champion and be Slamless - can always find a way, and they keep going because they know it. There are few to be rewarded for this resilience, and the overall joy in the sport after Keys won that final can be explained by the relief: sometimes, the “forever outsider” gets rewarded.

You need the biggest names to win the biggest titles to grow the game, but you also need the formidable outsiders to get their fair share along the way, to keep the hope alive through the ranks, and to get the suspense going through the fans. Yes, tennis can still be crazy despite the overall margin that the top players like Swiatek, Sabalenka, Gauff, or Rybakina have on the rest of the field. And, yes, there’s a version of tennis history where Madison Keys saved a match point against Iga Swiatek and went on to beat Aryna Sabalenka for the title, having already beaten Rybakina in the fourth round and Svitolina in the quarters. Talk about torching that draw, by the way! A good reminder for the sports and business worlds too: Tennis Always Delivers On The Inspirational Drama, so join the fun.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN (H)
The Never-Ending Wrong Side Of The Djokovic’s Show

Jannik Sinner’s game is absolutely the legacy of Novak Djokovic. And he might put the Tour in the same chokehold this year unless, of course, he gets banned. Sinner is Djokovic, but Djokovic without the drama. Some people would surely say he’d gain by being a bit less polished, but others will remember that it was Roger Federer’s only way to succeed. To each their own trick. Also, Sinner is still very young, so we might see him opening up at some point. Anyway, the Italian won his second Australian Open in a row, his third Grand Slam title, and showed everybody who was the boss. Yet, somehow, Djokovic stole the show again. And I’m not sure, for once, that he wouldn’t have preferred not to.

Talking about fairytale-ending, Djokovic had something like that at the Olympics in Paris. But, this golden triumph excepted, his path lately has been filled with too much drama. And while I watched the new episode of “Djokovic against the rest of the world or something,” this time again in Melbourne, I was left wondering how long he would cope with it emotionally. He has to be exhausted by all of this. I mean, it’s exhausting from outside already. Where’s the fun at this stage of his career to go through that?

Djokovic never played that sport to somehow land the role of the villain. I don’t believe, either that he rejoices in being put in the mindset that he’s alone out there fighting the whole world. It’s, by the way, not true, but the issue seems to be that an untrue prophecy that was manufactured to give him the party-crasher party in the “Fedal” era is being kind of set up to become a reality at a time where it doesn’t make any sense. For the past five years especially, it seems that whatever road he takes, he lands on the wrong side of the narratives. Sometimes, he asked for it; sometimes, he clearly got caught up in something that had nothing to do with him.

But each time it happens, I keep wondering why it’s being fed. Like, who cares about that Channel 9 guy? Was it worth it the days-long news cycle and the walking out on Jim Courrier? The booing? Who cares about the people doubting his injury? Like, as if anyone following the sport even casually would believe he’d walk away from a Grand Slam semi-finals if he could crawl to the win. The guy who won a match at Roland-Garros with a broken meniscus. Why are you out there giving this attention, putting the IRM for all to see? I’m not saying “who cares?” because of his personal branding, his business, or whatever, but “who cares"?” regarding how Djokovic is to go through this last stretch of his career.

If it keeps going on like that, Djokovic is going to spend his last years somehow fighting to prove himself worthy. This is insane. The guy won 24 Grand Slam titles and literally owns nearly every mattering record of that sport. He should be out there enjoying the fact that at 37, he remains the worst tennis nightmare of twenty-something champions, with legit shots to pile more Grand Slam titles. He should be out there being celebrated for the game that is now giving us Jannik Sinner. Why is he out there fighting with TV hosts, social media haters, and the like? I think it’s high time he takes a step back from always reacting. He beat Alcaraz in Melbourne while injured: that should have been what he walked away with. Heroic tennis stuff, wall-to-wall coverage. And that’s it.

His legacy doesn’t deserve nor need to be dragged into whatever drama comes his way. He cannot control whatever mess people are going to throw in his path, but he can control how he reacts to it. It doesn’t look healthy to me to keep going in whatever has been happening for the past five years: it’s too much pressure, too much negativity, too much anger, and too many piling grudges. Sure, Djokovic has always found a way to feed off adversity and even anger, but right now, it’s too much. Right now, it’s nearly all that’s left. So Novak, put that phone down and put the walls back up.

Novak Djokovic battling it out with the rest of the Big 4 was a golden ride. His quite complicated relationship with Federer was exactly what the sport needed because we cannot only have buddies (it’s boring). Djokovic being Gandalf on the bridge while Alcaraz and Sinner try to take over? Please, give us more. But this new BS cycle that happened again, this time in Melbourne, needs to stop: it has nothing to do with what will be, at some point, the story of his career. It’s not worth it.

Djokovic had somehow found a way through the defaulting at that US Open, the rejection of the Covid-19 vaccine decision, and the “crazy detention in Melbourne” era, which was no small fit. The cycle was over. It’s high time to stop trying to be dragged back into it. He got wronged many times, he was also wrong many times and now he needs to take the highest road and move on. Detox, cleanse, reboot. Or, at some point, it will take over all the incredible things he has achieved in that sport and all he did for that sport. And it will turn his last rodeo in that sport into a personal struggle.

What’s next after this Australian Open? Here are the questions that would need to be answered from now on through the sunshine double: Is Andy Murray here to stay with Djokovic (I hope he does because he might be the one voice to get through)? How long will Novak need to recover because he cannot do like last year and barely play if he wanna with n°25? Is Alcaraz going to get that he needs a serious reset and not only a change of racquet weight? What about Learner Tien? I enjoyed that kid’s lefty game a lot, and he makes for some show!

QUESTION OF THE DAY
Did tennis win?

You were 54,55% to say you liked these pods the Australian Open put for the coaches on the court. “I'm actually in-between. If there is going to be on-court coaching, better to have the coaches nearer the players than each having to shout at one another as it used to be because of how high the boxes are in the stands. It's also interesting to see which players use those pods and which do not (Coco Gauff did not, for instance). I'd say the on-court seating has to go, but the bottom rows at Wimbledon's Centre Court are not much better so far as distance from player goes (think of how many times players have crashed into that first row),” said Cheryl.

“I’m not for the on court coaching full stop,” objected Hajar, joined by “Chutes”: “Family separate to coach, not good ! And it's ugly with this poor chair !”

BUSINESS/MEDIA
Status? Funded

• The more the merrier! Three more sponsors are joining the BNP Paribas Open for this 2025 edition (March 2-16). Who? La Roche-Posay (a Jannik Sinner sponsor) has joined as the Official Sunscreen Partner, Kim Crawford as the Official Wine Partner, and Laykold has been named the Official Court Surface Provider. Other brands have renewed their deals with the tournament: BMW and Motorola remain the Official Luxury Car and Official Smartphone Partner respectively, while Veroni will also continue as the Official Italian Charcuterie of the event.

• Tennis Australia’s first venture capital fund, named AO Ventures, has completed its first close. How much is the fund worth now, then? US$30 million. What’s that fund for already? To provide early backing to high-growth technology-led startups that are innovating in the worlds of sport, entertainment, media, and health.

• Talking about funding, Daniil Medvedev’s heavy fine at the Australian Open could come in handy for whatever activity it is used for now. Medvedev, who destroyed a net camera during his first round, then got a point penalty in his second round, and then added a no-show at his mandatory press conference, got fined a total of US$76,000.

MENS SANA IN CORPORE SANO 
Naomi Osaka’s missed opportunity

Melbourne could have marked Naomi Osaka’s comeback to the center of the tennis stage. And for sure, she knew it. She was hitting the ball extremely well and moving the best we’ve seen in a while. But the abdominal injury that ruined her final in Auckland also ruined her Australian Open in the third round. A recurring injury for the Japanese, who explained it regularly happened to her for years. So here we’re left with the biggest “What If” of that first Grand Slam event of the year.

Actually, Osaka is the biggest “What If” situation of this 2025 season. The sport needs her star power, and she’s clearly very motivated to get back on top, but somehow, the tennis stars are still refusing to align. Osaka escaped injuries until the very end of 2024 (back injury), but she now starts 2025 with a tricky one. As she stated, she won’t stay around just for the sake of it, so every missed opportunity to win is a much bigger deal. Osaka and her team also obviously want to get back as close as possible to the top before the clay season hits, and so somehow, we’re only in January, but her clock is already ticking.

SOME BREAK POINTS…
Women’s tennis back in Shenzhen

• Back in 2018, Shenzhen was supposed to be the home of the WTA’s Finals for ten years, starting in 2019. But in the end, the Chinese city just got that 2019 edition: COVID-19 came to play, then the Peng Shuai scandal came to play, and then it all went South. So this is not a small news to read that Shenzhen is now going to be the BJK Cup Finals for 2025 - 2027. ITF President David Haggerty said he was able to talk to Peng Shuai, reports The Athletic. This move could also mean that the event would move from November to an earlier spot in order to be added to the Asian swing.

• In other ITF news, Iga Swiatek and Jannik Sinner have been named ITF’s World Champions. Sinner became the first Italian man or woman to win that title, and Swiatek clinched it for the second time after 2022.

• Also, just for the comedy of it all, Arina Rodionova made the biggest buzz of her career for sure by announcing both her divorce and her new OnlyFans venture. Yes, you read that right.

PLAY HARD, TRAIN HARD, DRESS THE PART
Nike, Please, Wake Up

Nike, we cannot start 2025 in the same dire state as 2024. I know your business ain’t doing great right now, but please, you’re gonna have to make a tennis effort. Or just plainly officially announce that you’re done investing in the sport.

This is not possible to keep putting bland after bland outfits on Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. There is also no way these kits are selling anything, especially not for a Gen that is all about (for good or bad) fashion statements. So why even bother signing these two champions? Have all the creatives and budgets gone after Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams retired? Was the only one left only there for Rafael Nadal, and so they’re gone too? What’s going on? The only wow Nike outfit in ages has come at the last US Open with this iconic bow-themed situation for Naomi Osaka. It is cruel even to show us that you can still do it, just to get back to this sad Australian Open 2025 situation. Do we need to talk about what Madison Keys was made to wear?…

As I’ve said multiple times last year, tennis fashion has historically been a key to the popularity and growth of the sport. And it’s about making those statements. So why single out Nike, especially? Because they’ve so far been the ones with deep enough pockets to invest in proper tennis fashion. (We lost Adidas and Reebok a while ago already.)The ones able to make it to pop culture, Zendaya style. Zendaya, who is now working with On, by the way. The only statement that came for this AO 2025 was Coco Gauff’s NB dress and the Frances Tiafoe all-pink from Lululemon. After being owned by Wilson - yes, they were - through the whole 2024 season thanks to these amazing dresses on Marta Kostyuk, Nike is about to be dropped to the end of the pile, taking Sinner and Alcaraz with them. Which is an issue for the sport as these two are becoming the faces of it. Could you imagine so little effort put on Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal back in the day? Please.

Telling you, Jannik and Carlos are landing on no young people’s social media feeds while dressed like that, and that should become a bit of a concern for them, too. You don’t sign with Gucci and Louis Vuitton (where are these collabs?!!) to then spend your whole on-court time looking like meh. Sounds like a personal branding wtf to me, and they might want to be reminded of how fashion sent someone like Maria Sharapova into global stardom. And surely they understand how much money Federer and Nadal have made by turning their logos into fashion assets? Funny enough, Sharapova had an op-ed for the Business of Fashion about how female athletes are shaping the future of business. Nike made this all happen, fashion-wise, for Sharapova. As they obviously did for Serena Williams. And I’m at a loss as to why they seem to have now totally given up on tennis stars. Smaller brands have now taken over the tennis fashion side, but can they build as big of an impact? Anyway, tennis fashion has always been a fun side of the sport, especially when the Grand Slams come around, and I’m at two years of Nike spoiling my fun. I’ll keep ranting.

By the way, a brand that I never heard about (sorry) has now signed Elise Mertens. And French player Clara Burel has joined the Lacoste family after years with Adidas.

EDITOR’S PICKS 

You can find other picks here, including my go-to newsletters for anything tech*, anything backstage* or professional sports*. I also have a sweet spot for The Creator Spotlight*, which provides examples of other creators’ journeys. If you are a collector, look at Above the Mantel. And if you’re a woman looking for better coverage of our lives, issues, and interests, I suggest you, Gloria. Looking at longevity tips? You should look at Livelong Newsletter*.

READ: I’ve asked my followers on Bluesky (@carolebouchard.bsky.social) to send me their book rec regarding my “Escapism-Only” era and people delivered! My TBR has grown significantly in the process: Love that journey for me. Do you have books rec? Send them my way! What I’m currently reading? The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods, The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (not liking it, but I will finish it), Carrie Sotho is Back, by Taylor Jenkins Reid (getting there), Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty, and The House in the Cerulean Sea, by TJ Klune (loving it). I’ve also just finished The Thursday Murder Club series (really good).

READ More: If you want to know why the domestic abuse allegations are still sticking to Alexander Zverev.

WATCH: It’s so tough to deliver a second season that answers the hype of the first one, and yet the team behind The Night Agent did it. I have to pace myself so I don’t binge-watch this show in a couple of days. It is SO good. The cast is again a lesson on how to cast. The whole thing is nerve-wracking in a fabulous way. Highly recommend. By the way, don’t waste your time with the book that has been used as the foundation for season 1. It always pains me to say bad things about books, but this one is a miss, especially once you’ve watched the show.

WATCH more: Here’s Madison Keys praising the work she did in therapy.

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