Week 1, 2025

AuthorAuthor

Gill Gross & Ben Ornstein
January 08, 2025

ATP Events This Week: Adelaide 250, Auckland 250

WTA Events This Week: Adelaide 500, Hobart 250

  • How Sumit Nagal Became the Exception in Indian Tennis

    Why It Was Interesting: This magazine-style in depth feature is so good, we don’t even think you’d have to be a tennis fan to love it. Nagal’s story is compelling in itself, but you may also find fascination in how a tennis-loving country of 1.4 billion rarely produces tour-level singles players.

The miraculous case of Sumit Nagal

The Indian tennis star who has succeeded despite a dysfunctional sports administration and woeful funding – and Indian tennis is refusing to learn its lessons

www.himalmag.com/culture/sumit-nagal-australian-open-2024-aita

  • Jess Pegula — Burnout to Breakthrough

    Why It Was Interesting: Leading coach and podcaster Jonathan Stokke chats with his friend, WTA world #7, Jess Pegula who reflects on managing injuries, training smarter, lessons from the US Open, and balancing life and tennis while preparing for the upcoming season.

  • A Total Mess Within Team Rybakina

    Why It Was Interesting: Matt Futterman comes through with some striking details in reporting the provisional suspension of Rybakina’s fired and rehired Coach, Stefano Vukov. Among them – Goran Ivanisevic was blindsided by the news.

    Rybakina’s Comment On The Matter: See here

Elena Rybakina’s former coach Stefano Vukov suspended by WTA under code of conduct investigation

Vukov is barred from obtaining coaching or Grand Slam credentials, but Rybakina wants him back on her team — and could boycott the WTA.

www.nytimes.com/athletic/6034236/2025/01/02/rybakina-vukov-coach-suspended-wta-investigation

  • Coco Gauff Invests in Women’s Hoops

    Why It Was Interesting: New women’s basketball league Unrivaled brings on its newest investor in Gauff. Coco says this is as close as she’ll ever get to fulfilling her father’s dream for her 😂.

Unrivaled | Official Site of the Unrivaled Basketball League

A 3v3 league built in collaboration with the biggest stars in women’s basketball, co-founded by Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart. Launching in January 2025.

www.unrivaled.basketball/news/coco-gauff-announced-as-unrivaled-investor-0b6974vvsr5u

  • The Alina Avanesyan Beat

    Why It Was Interesting: X user Joseph Wofford is turning his dedicated fandom of the Armenian Player into a Substack. The modern DIY media landscape can be a beautiful thing sometimes.

  • Iga Sits Down With Tennis Insider Club

    Why It Was Interesting: Iga opens up about her tennis journey, mental resilience, and balancing life on and off the court. From her early days inspired by her father to the challenges of success and managing expectations, this conversation offers a unique glimpse into her world.

  • Nishesh Basavareddy’s Pro Decision

    Why It Was Interesting: Basavareddy has had an exceptional start to his professional career. In 2024 he went 28-6 on the Challenger Tour (2 titles) and reached a pinnacle ranking of 138.

Nishesh Basavareddy on deciding to turn pro | ATP Tour | Tennis

Nishesh Basavareddy is remarkably composed when he speaks about his thought process before opting to leave college and become a pro tennis player in early December.

www.atptour.com/en/news/basavareddy-2025-turning-pro-feature

  • The First Open Gay Active ATP Pro

Joao Lucas Reis da Silva: How Instagram post led to the ATP Tour's first openly gay active player

When Brazilian tennis player Joao Lucas Reis da Silva posted a loving birthday message to his boyfriend on Instagram, he did not expect the attention which followed.

www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/articles/cy89w01xl1zo

  • Matthew Willis Handshake Prose

On Monday Match Analysis, Gill highlights Jiri Lehecka and Alexandre Muller's title runs before breaking down Reilly Opelka's win over Novak Djokovic in Brisbane. He also covers Coco Gauff's second straight victory over Iga Swiatek, and Taylor Fritz's clutch performance against Hubert Hurkacz to clinch USA’s second United Cup title in three years.

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Hey everyone, Gill Gross here. While I’m grateful for any amount of success I’ve had talking tennis on the internet for the past half decade, I believe we should all be doing better in this sport as creators and as fans. The tennis content economy is far behind other sports by metrics of engagement and popularity. This newsletter is our effort to DRAW the great things we find in tennis every week- we search for content that teaches us, makes us think, makes us laugh and ultimately makes loving this sport the best possible experience. Our vision is to speed up the growth of a robust content economy in tennis, for the benefit of fans, players and creators alike.