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- Week 33, 2024
Week 33, 2024
Gill Gross & Ben Ornstein
August 20, 2024
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An essential reminder that the US Open is free entry for fans until Monday. Here’s what we found interesting this week:
Big Foe is Tapped In
Why It’s Interesting: This piece from Giri Nathan was already great when it was published last Thursday, before Frances Tiafoe ran the table to make his biggest career final. Now it’s even better. Read for insights on why new coach David Witt is equipped to tackle the “Tiafoe Conundrum.” and more.
US Open Court Speed
More: Daniil Medvedev coach Gilles Cervara said that the US Open courts are playing considerably slower than lightning quick Cincinnati, according to Jim Courier on Tennis Channel.
US Open tournament director Stacey Allaster on the surface characteristics this year:
"We aim for the court pace rating to be medium fast. Medium fast, per the ITF, is anywhere from 41 to 44. All 17 courts have been resurfaced. The average CPR right now is 42."— Oleg S. (@AnnaK_4ever)
9:18 PM • Aug 14, 2024
US Open Leading The Way
Larger Picture: The controversial matchpoint in the Draper vs. Auger-Aliassime match last week would have been a non-issue had it been the US Open. In the wake of such a high-profile mishap, it would be surprising if the tours and other three slams don’t assess the viability of implementing a review system for next year.
The Start of Music During Changeovers
Why It’s Interesting: You won’t believe how upset Andre Agassi was when the New Haven Volvo Open started playing music at changeovers. The quotes are gold.
Roger, Nadal, Djokovic Vs. Surface Speed
Why It’s Interesting: People are still making interesting Big 3 graphs. And we’ll still put them in The Draw.
There’s A (Valid) Reason Players Getting Whinier About The Schedule
Mandatory tournaments for a top player
2019:
4 Slams
4 1000s (PM)
4 1000s (P5)
2 500s (Premier)
WTAF
Total tournaments: 15, 19 weeks if reach all finals2025:
4 Slams
10 1000s (x7 2 weeks, x3 1 week)
6 500s
WTAF
Total tournaments: 21, 32 weeks if all finalsThis is INSANE.
— moonball enthusiast #6inToronto (@ninjaga20)
2:32 PM • Aug 18, 2024
That Private (but now public) Moment After You Win Your First Master’s 1000
When it starts to sink in 🥹
A moment with family after @AlexeiPopyrin99 claimed his first Masters 1000 title ❤️
@OBNmontreal
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV)
9:00 AM • Aug 14, 2024
We Couldn’t NOT Include This Bernard Tomic Story
🎙️ANNOUNCING:
Gill will be on US Open Radio this week until Friday as part of its coverage of US Open Fan Week from noon to 5PM Eastern Time
On this week’s Monday Match Analysis, Gill dives into Jannik Sinner's Cincinnati Final win over Frances Tiafoe to secure his 5th title of the year. Gill also takes on the controversial match point that went against Felix Auger-Aliassime against Jack Draper in the 3rd Round (YouTube video to be posted soon).
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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