Will Rafael Nadal win his race against the clock?

WOMEN’S SPORTS ARE HAVING A MOMENT 
Women’s Tennis is in a unique position

Women’s top sports could generate more than $1 billion in 2024, and with the frenzy around NCAA star Caitlin Clark, not forgetting Angel Reese, who knows if this prediction will now be beaten? Professional tennis players have always been in the “most bankable” driving seat, with Serena and Venus Williams or Maria Sharapova becoming global icons. Naomi Osaka and more recently, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff are walking the same path.

But as women’s sports worldwide are having a moment, is tennis still in a leading position?

• A report from SponsorUnited states that only two women’s sports leagues have signed over 1000 sponsorship deals: the WTA and the LPGA. For the WTA, it’s a 34% increase from the previous year. Individually, athletes of these two sports are also among the pro athletes having the most endorsement deals.

• 8 out of 10 of the athletes on the most-endorsed list compete in the WTA, says the report.

So, yes, the WTA is still in the lead and its marketing power is growing. Yet as the tides seem to favor more investments in women’s sports, the WTA still needs to ensure it stays at the table. Women's tennis cannot forget how its success is as much tied to the charisma and influence of its leading players as it is to their results.

An influence that will be scrutinized after the Tour accepted to send its biggest event, the WTA Finals, to Saudi Arabia for a record prize money of $15 million, despite the protests of some of its biggest Legends, human rights groups watchers and the worries regarding members of the LGBTQ community. The WTA is betting it can both keep the prize money and its reputation as a fighter for women’s rights by presenting this move as a way to lead for change.

This move also shows that the WTA might not have all the control it would want to get on its destiny right now. Why?

• The WTA had to accept Saudi Arabia’s offer because it needed the money and couldn’t afford to decline the offer. It’s never a good position to be in if one wants to keep any kind of leverage. The 10-year deal with China’s Shenzhen collapsed following the Peng Shuai scandal and last year’s last-minute edition in Cancun left players frustrated. The WTA also feels the pressure from inside as its players are demanding more money and more opportunities.

• Last year, the WTA also gave a 20% stake to CVC Capital Partners, a private equity firm, for $150 million.

So women’s tennis is in a unique position of having to keep leading the way, owning its long history of women’s rights fighter, while finding ways to avoid being left out of the investment table at a time when there’s surely never been more money put on women’s sports tables. Women are back to that good old question: can they have it all?

MENS SANA IN CORPORE SANO  
Is Rafael Nadal at risk of missing Roland-Garros again?

Rafael Nadal doesn’t play, but he’s still the talk of the tennis town. it’s the 2024 reboot of the 2023 “Will he or won’t he” blockbuster with the sad ending. Is Rafael Nadal going to be ready for Roland-Garros? This is THE question of that 2024 clay season, as it was THE question last year.

• Why are we worried about Rafa again? The star pulled out of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, explaining that his body still doesn’t allow him to compete at the highest level. Nadal hasn’t played an official match since Brisbane in January and no match at all since his Netflix show against Carlos Alcaraz.

• What did Nadal say? “These are very difficult moments for me, sporting wise. (…) Unfortunately, I have to tell you that I am not going to be playing in Monte Carlo. My body simply won’t allow me. Even if I am working hard & making the maximum effort every day with all the will to play and compete again at tournaments that have been very important for me, the truth is that I can’t play today. You have no idea how hard this is for me to not be able to play these events.”

• What is the injury? It’s still not fully clear if what keeps Nadal from coming back is the new hip muscly injury suffered in Brisbane or another injury that might have happened during his Las Vegas match. Or something else as Nadal revealed that he also suffered from an abdominal injury since coming back from Australia. His uncle and former coach, Toni Nadal, told the Spanish media that Nadal had to withdraw from Monte-Carlo because he was still not able to serve fully. The director of the Rafa Nadal Academy insisted on the fact that there was nothing else wrong with him outside of this.

• And now, what? Now the wait begins to see if Nadal will be able to get his clay swing going a little or at all. His schedule should now be Barcelona, Madrid, Rome and Roland-Garros. Nadal has posted videos of him training on his social media. To keep the hope alive. 2024 could be Rafa’s last year on Tour but, for now, his plans are being messed up by these injuries.

• Novak Djokovic told Eurosport that he hoped to see Nadal in Paris for Roland-Garros. “For the sake of all tennis and Roland-Garros in particular, we hope that he can play there. It would be great to have another great encounter.”

CLAY RESULTS 
Collins keeps going, Shelton makes an impression

• Ben Shelton clinched the title in Houston, the second of his career and first on clay, on Sunday, beating Frances Tiafoe (7-5, 4-6, 6-3). He’s now ranked 14th and he will surely not stop there.

• Danielle Collins got her hands on her second trophy in a row, by dominating Daria Kasatkina (6-2, 6-1). She really knows how to do this retirement-looming thing! “I was going to say that I'm going to miss you on the tour but after this match, I'm not sure," Kasatkina joked. Collins is now back in the Top 20 (15th).

• Matteo Berrettini won the title in Marrakech and is now back in the Top 100 (84th). No top player is going to want to face him in the early rounds of the next tournaments…

• Hubert Hurkacz won his first title on clay in Estoril against Pedro Martinez (6-3, 6-4). Camila Osorio clinched her second title at home in Bogota.

• Players who didn’t have a great week on clay? Casper Ruud was surprisingly beaten by Pedro Martinez in Estoril where he was defending his 2023 title. And Taylor Fritz crashed from the Masters 1000 in Monte-Carlo in the first round as he was beaten by Lorenzo Musetti.

TRAIN HARD, PLAY HARD, AND DRESS THE PART 
Svitolina and Monfils join NBA’s Poole in the new Dockers apparel campaign

Dockers has revealed its cast for the second edition of its “Live Original” campaign, and Elina Svitolina has been added to the cast, joining her husband Gaël Monfils and Washington Wizards Jordan Poole. Dockers state that each ambassador has been picked because of their courage to take roads less traveled.

BUSINESS / MEDIA
Serena Williams launches a beauty brand

• Serena Williams officially launched her beauty brand yesterday (April 7th). Who is Wyn Beauty it for? For the athletes who intend on keeping their makeup on while playing. Ain’t gonna be an issue with that sweat if Serena has a thing to say. The brand has debuted via Ulta Beauty and includes lip, complexion, and eye products. “Throughout my career, I was always searching for makeup that looked good after hours on the court, mixing products myself and creating my own formulas while traveling the world,” said Williams in a statement. I needed makeup that could truly move with me.”

• Rafael Nadal cannot play, but he finds other ways to grow the game. The Spaniard announced on Monday that he had invested in and become a shareholder of the company Playtomic. Playtomic “facilitates immediate booking and management of clubs dedicated to tennis and padel”, says a statement. The app covers 50 countries.

• Silver Lake, the company that wants Endeavor to go back to being private, had another trick up its sleeve: this move will also create a new media company, partly aimed at the sports industry. Patrick Whitesell, who is Endeavor’s chairman, will lead it. $250 million in seed equity will be committed to this.

• There’s a new $4 billion sports fund in town. Private investment firm Arctos has announced the final close of Arctos Sports Partners Fund II. It closed with over $4,1 billion in capital commitments. Arctos is already involved with F1 but also NBA, MLB, MLS, NHL, etc.

WHAT ELSE? 
Break points…

• Djokovic is the oldest No.1 in the ATP ranking history. A feat he achieved yesterday on Sunday and so this Monday the 36-year-old starts his 419th week on the throne as he breaks Roger Federer’s record by being 36 years and 321 days old.

• French coach Jean-Christophe Faurel is back with Coco Gauff, says L’Equipe. He previously coached the American player in 2019 / 2020. He will work alongside Brad Gilbert.

• Jannik Sinner is everywhere, even in Vogue. The Gucci ambassador had some thoughts about his relationship with pressure: “You have to be kind with the pressure. You have to make friendship. If you hate this pressure, it’s the wrong spot for you, no?” The Italian already has a strategy to deal with the clay as it’s a surface he still has to fully master. “The expectations are not that high for this beginning of clay”, he told journalists on Sunday in Monte-Carlo. “We will take this week as a practice week, playing with matches hopefully, hopefully, more than one match but you know, it’s gonna be interesting to see.”

• Every four years, tennis brains are doing extra work to figure out who is eligible to play in the Olympic Games. You want to spare your brain cells? The ITF has tried to help by sending this memo with all the rules, enjoy.

• Carlos Alcaraz appeared with a tape on his right arm during a training session in Monte-Carlo so… Fingers and toes crossed it’s nothing too serious.

EDITOR’S PICKS 

• WATCH: The Greatest Night In Pop and Quincy on Netflix for those keen on a trip down memory lane.

• READ: Carrie Soto is back, from Taylor Jenkins Reid. I keep hearing about how good that book is, but it’s still on my “to read asap” list so let me know if you’ve read it!

• TRAVEL: Do I need to remind you to get that tag so you don’t lose your stuff? Those are the days we’re living in, people. Also, if your skin tends to act up while you’re on the go and have no time to waste with pimples: get these patches on. They’re making miracles.

  
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