Week 22, 2024

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Gill Gross & Ben Ornstein
June 04, 2024

It’s The Draw’s first-ever slam. We’re splurging with some extra content to celebrate. Here’s what we found interesting this week:

  • The Official Two-Minute Trailer For The Federer Doc

    Warning: Melodramatic music paired with Federer nostalgia clips. Viewer discretion is advised. (have tissues nearby)

  • No Headline Seems Appropriate For This Mish Mosh Of Excellent Roland Garros Discussion

    Why It’s Interesting: This is water cooler talk with immense literary chops. Many storylines are discussed but we particularly enjoyed Giri Nathan’s description of the Hubert Hurkacz umpire coup. Warning: it’s a long read.

Let Us Consider The French Open's Thrilling, Waterlogged First Week | Defector

Defector’s tennis desk has spent the past week and change watching the French Open. Two-thirds of said desk have done so in person, and one-third of the desk is currently in the stands at Roland-Garros. In a discussion that took place alongside Novak Djokovic’s wily, rocky fourth-round matchup with Francisco Cerundolo, Giri, Owen, and Patrick […]

defector.com/let-us-consider-the-french-opens-thrilling-waterlogged-first-week

  • Intuitive Tennis’ Breakdown of Carlos’ Improved Serve Technique

  • Lize West Roasting Tennis Outfits Is Consistently Gold

  • Wertheim Mailbag

    Why It’s Interesting: Jon hadn’t published a mailbag in some time. Behold, the triumphant return of one of the most popular web series in tennis.

Mailbag: Rafael Nadal's Sentimental Exit Headlines the French Open

Jon Wertheim answers your questions from Roland Garros, unpacking the early-round results.

www.si.com/tennis/mailbag-rafael-nadal-s-sentimental-exit-headlines-the-french-open

  • Grigor Dimitrov Joins A Short List of Active Greats

  • Emma Navarro is Striking & Turning Heads

    Why It’s Interesting: Navarro has altered her game to adjust to the speed of the pros.

Emma Navarro, the surprise of U.S. tennis, surprises again with win over Madison Keys | Tennis.com

“You’re either striking or you’re getting struck,” said the 23-year-old, is in the fourth round at a Slam for the first time. “I’d rather do the former.”

www.tennis.com/news/articles/emma-navarro-the-surprise-of-u-s-tennis-surprises-again-with-win-over-madison-keys

  • Alcaraz Won’t Celebrate Quarterfinals

    Gill’s Take: I’m casually fascinated in how self-expectations can affect player performance. And I’m increasingly convinced that being perpetually unsatisfied is part of the champion’s mentality. It comes with risks of negativity and burnout, but not if you love the process as much as Alcaraz seems to.

  • Murray Spammed With The Moutet Meme

On this week’s Monday Match Analysis, Abigail Johnson joins Gill to preview all four men's quarterfinal matches at Roland Garros 2024. They hit on some of the 4th round matches as well. Jannik Sinner and Grigor Dimitrov will contest the first quarterfinal in a Miami Open rematch, Alexander Zverev has survived a couple five-setters to set up a meeting with Alex De Minaur on his career-best run in Paris. Carlos Alcaraz will look to stay undefeated against Stefanos Tsitsipas, and defending champion Novak Djokovic eyes two-time finalist Casper Ruud.

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.

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