terminal nostalgia is one of the most dangerous things for tennis' longterm popularity and the sport's powers are doing next to nothing to counter it

Petchey was saying he was *shocked* by the odds giving Sinner an 86% chance to win; I'm curious what he thinks would be fair given that Zverev has won two of their last 13 sets. 82%?

arthur fils with the lesser-seen bounce smash, smash, throw triptych against alexander zverev www.nytimes.com/athletic/561...

With the caveat that Karolína Muchová is not an acid test of patience on a slow court, that was a brilliantly restrained, intense performance by Iga Świątek

Two absolutely gorgeous points from Iga Świątek to break Karolína Muchova. One masterpiece of construction; one super-awkward chipped return off a very good first serve to draw an error

Night conditions just gave Linda Nosková more time to uncork on Alex Eala. 6-2 6-0 and it was never that close, really.

In statement sent to The Athletic, BNP Paribas Open will "carefully evaluate" Stadium 2 ticketing policy come end of the event. “Like every decision we make, we carefully evaluate it after each tournament’s conclusion,” it said of removing 2 from grounds passes. www.nytimes.com/athletic/709...

While on a desultorily empty Stadium 2, with the bananas ticket policy not resolved, Victoria Mboko balls out to beat Amanda Anisimova 6-4, 6-1. Mboko's greater rally dexterity helped out with the nighttime conditions — she can just do more with a tennis ball

Jannik Sinner played his two service points impeccably at 6-3 and 6-4. João Fonseca will probably only regret that he lost the 6-5 point at neutral rather than by going for broke. Great set.

Talia Gibson goes 17-5 in 2026 by knocking out Jasmine Paolini, who appears to be undergoing a mean-reversion. Gibson is now 3-0 against top-20 players in 2026. In her entire career, she is 3-1.

The "stop hyping João Fonseca there are other players too" overcorrection in tennis has been a bit exhausting for a long time. Fils and Mensík are both very good and will be even better. So will Tien and many others. But they don't have Fonseca's ceiling! They just don't!

Compression bandage on Gauff's left forearm. She slugged some painkillers down 5-2. Having an injury to that side affects her backhand, which is the shot she uses to bend matches against left-handers.

Peyton Stearns confirms split with Rafael Font de Mora, who denies all wrongdoing while under WTA investigation of misconduct allegations from earlier in his career. Stearns declined to "dive in" to split during Indian Wells interview with @cdeccleshare.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/709...

In an email sent to players seen by The Athletic, the WTA says recent menacing communications sent to Panna Udvardy and Lucrezia Stefanini, which included photos of firearms, did not come from a data breach www.nytimes.com/athletic/709...

Iva Jović is just so good at adding 5 percent to her level of supremacy within a point over and over until her opponent is either hopelessly out of position or makes an error (he writes with her serving at 0-40)

Goran Ivanisevic added to Arthur Fils' team for this week, in addition to Fils' main coach since Jan 2025 Ivan Cinkus. Ivanisevic + Fils will make decision on whether to extend after this week, but both said to be feeling very positive at this point ⬇️ www.nytimes.com/athletic/705...

Good by Giri. The most striking thing about Mboko for me is how damn fast she plays, and how that can propel her to wins or see her lose her serve in what feels like the 25-second window she has to hit one. How that translates under greatly increased expectations will be ... Interesting

We are one match from the semifinals of the Australian Open and the most tense match of the tournament remains Elsa Jacquemot vs. Marta Kostyuk in R1

“I just expect them to read my mind.” On the telepathy of tennis coaching ⬇️ www.nytimes.com/athletic/700...

Alexander Zverev deciding to accept variance in the fourth set of a match in which he just steamrolled a 20-year-old in their first Grand Slam quarterfinal? It checks out

Weird, weird, weird approach shot from Zverev at 5-5

WTA to investigate misconduct allegations against Peyton Stearns' new coach, Rafael Font de Mora. Font de Mora denies wrongdoing. Exclusive by @mattfutterman.bsky.social and @cdeccleshare.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/699...

Incredible performance by Learner Tien to defenestrate Daniil Medvedev. Medvedev's ball did zero damage and Tien's did 100. The fascinating part is that this feels seismic on both sides ... But the matchup is so specific that it probably isn't

Something striking about Mboko, Jović, Valentová and Bartůňková is how in tune with their strengths they are. They so rarely try and force something that isn't in their interest on the court. They know what they are good at and they build their matches around it.

Mboko thinks she's hit an ace T, misses same-direction second serve way wide, cleans the line with a short backhand gets to net to take it. A super match

Not only is Nikola Bartůňková a frighteningly good Muchová / Andreeva composite ... She has twice been bageled in the second set of matches, by vastly more experienced players, at her first Grand Slam, at 19 ... And has won them both.

Incredible match. Valentová looked like she would run away with the third set, Fruhvirtová pegged her back, then Valentová went supernova down the stretch to take it

Valentová vs. Fruhvirtová is a future major final in-waiting if there is any tennis justice in the world. Incredible quality and point construction. Don't learn to serve too quickly please

Mirra Andreeva is absolutely hooping right now

On that great Keys-Oliynykova match: www.nytimes.com/athletic/698...

Coco Gauff's serve may still be kind of all over the place in general but her slice to deuce court absolutely rips

impeccable celebration no notes

4-2, 40-0 up on No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev, Gabriel Diallo misses a regulation volley. It gets in his head and a double fault and two forehand shanks later, back on serve

Yulia Putintseva into a third set against a hostile crowd in the shape of Beatriz Haddad-Maia's Brazilian fans? It's going to be cinema

Will someone on her team please tell Victoria Mboko that she can slow down between pressure points

I wrote about an up-and-coming Swiss the mainstream is not yet aware of: www.nytimes.com/athletic/697...

I'll be doing some work for The Athletic during the Australian Open! I asked Jannik Sinner to reflect on the moment he considered quitting tennis today, and spun that into my first piece for them: www.nytimes.com/athletic/697...

Tension at the top of the women's draw is so interesting. Aryna Sabalenka, master of consistency but wrestling still with finals, has the kinder run than Iga Świątek, who is wrestling with her game but a master of finals

Sebástian Báez inheriting Jaume Munar's “wait, on hard courts???” role for 2026

The vibes-based analysis of the Świątek vs. Gauff head-to-head flip is getting worse and worse. Tennis fans deserve better than guff about mentality which doesn't even get the dynamics right!

In the wake of Tennis Australia's deal with a Novak Djokovic-less PTPA, the other three majors met with the ATP and WTA behind closed doors to try and chart a way forward. Exclusive from @mattfutterman.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/695...

Well, nevertheless

Marie Bouzková low-key hooping to open 2025...

Feels like the concept of the "big hitter" is becoming increasingly obsolete or at least insufficiently analytical in women's tennis. The style clash at top of WTA Tour but also further down now is so compelling and it goes well beyond pure power

Lys is redlining like crazy and Swiatek looks rusty, but the long overdue conversation about Tomasz Wiktorowski and his effect on the measuredness of Swiatek's game is getting closer!

Nice win for Sara Bejlek at the Auckland Open over Panna Udvardy. Another young Czech player with a bright WTA future alongside Tereza Valentová, the Fruhvirtova sisters, Nicola Bartůňková...

Flavio Cobolli playing some increasingly silly tennis while Stan Wawrinka just joysticks him around the court with side-to-side and short chips

The short period of time when Tennis TV carries both ATP and WTA because of the United Cup always feels like a frustrated portal into a much better tennis media future

Solana Sierra hard-court bagel. Sebastián Báez telling Jaume Munar to leave his hard-court renaissance in 2025. Tennis is so back

2025 was my first full year freelancing, and to my happy surprise I got enough published to do a summary thread! I mostly wrote from bed, but I was at the very fun and hot Australian Open, and covered it for Defector. (Sans credential, but check back in a month.) defector.com/the-australi...