Week 5, 2025

ATP Events This Week: Dallas 500, Rotterdam 500

WTA Events This Week: Abu Dhabi 500, Cluj-Napoca 250

• Jannik Sinner Joins Vlogger Nation

  More: Not exactly a headline we thought we’d ever write. In fairness, we also didn’t think the Mavericks would trade Luka Doncic.

• Taylor Townsend On The Prohibitive Cost of Junior Tennis

  Why It’s Interesting: Jemele Hill often covers sports through the lens of worldly topics. On her podcast Spolitics, Hill tees up Townsend to discuss economic hardship in the sport.

• Medvedev Admits He Needs Confidence

  Why It’s Interesting: This is the first time we’re hearing from Danill after he skipped his Australian Open press conference after losing to Learner Tien (at 3 AM).

  Related News: Danill has ended his coaching relationship with Gilles Simon.

• 2026 ATP Calendar

  Notable Changes: Estoril is back as a 250 event in July, Marseille 250 event moves from February to October, Stockholm 250 gets pushed back from October to November and Metz 250 is removed completely.

• US Open Becomes 3rd Slam To Switch to Sunday Start

  How Should You Feel?: Ben Rothenberg did a nice job of summarizing the effects this could have on all stakeholders: fans, players, media partners and the tournament itself. Wimbledon?: Tim Henman says there’s no appetite for a change to a 15-day schedule.

• Davis Cup Disaster Ends in Garin Time Violation Default

  The Official Decision: Mercifully, the ITF had enough sense to allow referee Carlos Ramos speak in front of the media after the unprecedented incident. His explanation for how it was officiated: See here.

• If You’re Not A Doctor, You Probably Need This Explained

medspired

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• Reem Questions Rybakina On Coaching Saga

• Tennis & Dice With Carlitos & Stef = Elite Rotterdam Content

On this week’s Mailbag, Gill responds to your comments about Australian Open 2025, including: did Carlos Alcaraz make a mistake managing his emotions against Novak Djokovic, how could Alexander Zverev learn from Madison Keys, will Jannik Sinner succeed on the natural surfaces, how does Sinner compartmentalize with an incoming CAS doping trial, is Keys Yonex racquet change getting too much credit, how can Learner Tien be top-10, thoughts on Novak Djokovic posting his MRI and the booes after his semifinal retirement, the art of the post-match interview, and much more.

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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.