Week 42, 2024

Big rankings week for Sabalenka, big money week for Sinner. Here’s what we found interesting this week:

• Why Sabalenka Became No. 1 On A Week She Didn’t Play

  Why It’s Useful: After scouring the internet for an explainer that was both digestible and detailed, we landed on the one below.

  Extra Perspective: Ranking systems should be intuitive and user friendly. If “explainers” are required when someone becomes No. 1, something has gone wrong. The tour needs to look at these mandatory 500 rules.

• The On-Court Coaching Announcement At Last

  Why It’s Interesting: Since the second half of 2022, coaching has been allowed on tour. That's why we could forgive you for asking the question: how is this news? Well, the governing bodies had been radio silent since announcing that coaching would be under trial for the 2nd half of 2022. This week’s news indicates that the trial is over.

  Reaction: Nobody is surprised. After allowing coaching for so long, the toothpaste was not going back in the tube. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be a fresh batch of takes on what was once the hottest topic in tennis. Taylor Fritz, Denis Shapovalov, Magnus Norman and John Millman are among the dissenters.

• Djokovic Discusses Childhood Trauma

  Why It’s Interesting: A piece of Novak’s life before any of us were watching.

• Saudi Arabia’s Place In Tennis Today

  Why It’s Interesting: More essential reporting from Matthew Futterman on this topic; something we featured so often in the first few months of the year. This piece is an update on the dealings between the tennis tours and the PIF and all its complications structurally, fiscally and morally (NYT Paywall).

  One Thing To Know: The Six Kings Slam and the upcoming WTA Finals are being seen as a “lab experiment” according to Futterman. “What happens during the next month,” he wrote, “from how the players experience the event to whether locals and tourists fill the stadium, will dictate what happens down a still-unfinished road.”

• Danimal Reverses Course On Retirement

  Why It’s Interesting: Doubt surrounding her retirement decision swelled as Collins compiled the best results of her career, but she says her personal life, not her results on-court, continue to dictate her decision making in this matter.

• USTA Shakes Things Up

  TL;DR: Martin Blackman is no longer at the helm of Player Development. Plus, Player Development, which once operated on an island, is now merging under a larger umbrella within the organization.

  Why It’s Interesting: This marks a turning point in how the USTA will approach developing American pros, but how exactly the changes will impact prospective professionals and college players will take years to unpack.

• Shapovalov Vents

  Why It’s Interesting: The opinionated Shapovalov voices his resentment with the Washington DC disqualification, anti-doping in tennis and, perhaps most importantly, struggles in form. Let’s not forget that Shapovalov is a 25-year old former world #10 who hasn’t been near the top for almost two years now.

• Carlos Alcaraz’ Brotherly Duties

  Why It’s Interesting: This week, a video of Jaime Alcaraz playing tennis went viral. Watch it if you’d like, but we’re highlighting Carlos’s protective response. Carlitos is understandably worried that the outsized attention on Jaime both online and at tournaments will have a negative effect.

• Dimitrov Opens Up On Mental Health Challenges

• Shot Of The Year Candidate With Gill On The Call

🎙️ Commentary: Gill is on T2 for match commentary following “Second Serve” from Wednesday to Friday.

On Monday Match Analysis, Gill starts by specifying his stance that Six Kings Exhibition will be forgotten before diving into analysis of Jannik Sinner vs. Carlos Alcaraz. He then looks at the race after Tommy Paul's title in Stockholm and discuss how he picked apart Grigor Dimitrov. Lastly, he breaks down how Roberto Bautista Agut's consistency was too much for Jiri Lehecka in Antwerp.

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