Is The Miami Vibe Still In The Room With Us? Alcaraz already said no.

I miss Key Biscayne, sorry (not sorry). Also Carlos Alcaraz needs to get out of this funk asap. And let's muse about the gift and the curse of this age in professional tennis: personal branding.

The Miami Open, when it was still in Key Biscayne (@miamiandbeaches)

Welcome back! First of all, thank you so much for being more and more to follow my tennis musings. Also, clay is around the corner, and I’ll be on-site in Madrid, so if there are clay things you’re especially interested in, let me know!

In today’s edition, I’m going down memory lane again, this time to share my Miami experience, and I’m also musing - with the help of a guest - about what it means for tennis players to enter or not the personal branding era so many other top athletes have now embraced. We’ll obviously also talk about what’s going on on these courts (Carlos?). It’s a long one to keep you busy and entertained for a while, so pace yourself.

As usual, if you want to support my work in any way you can (like, comment, subscribe, get me a coffee), don’t hesitate :)

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MEDIA/BUSINESS

The Gift - or Curse - Of The Personal Branding Era

I was pushed into this new musing by three things. Jannik Sinner’s YouTube video about his run through the Australian Open, that piece from

Jordan Wise

about footballers turning into media companies and our chat about it where the words “strategic authenticity” came to light, and these features from Daniel-Yaw Miller about beauty brands coming for professional sports (but not tennis) and how top athletes were now launching newsletters after going for podcasts.

What did it trigger in my French mind, you’re wondering? Well, the fact that such a few names in tennis could raise their hands when asked who turned their personal branding into an empire. But how many would raise their hands when asked who wants to build one. And how that may also be one of the reasons why the sport right now is playing catch-up and losing its traditional impact on sports culture. And how it’s costing it a lot of money and growth.

“Gen Z and Gen Alpha don’t just follow clubs, they follow personalities," said Jordan Wise in a feature about how the younger fans are pushing football club to rethink everything. And it struck a chord with my tennis reporter brain because, as I’ve ranted about not so long ago, and even more recently, tennis and its players lately have made a lot of efforts…to turn as beige as possible. And that, my friends, was the really worst timing to go vanilla. Not when, for years now, I can hear tennis business and media people brainstorming about how to get the younger generations to really get into the game. They’re still brainstorming about it while tennis is currently on its way to being owned by the WNBA, Formula 1, padel, and pickleball. All are niche sports, but they’ve found ways to get out into the mainstream world. While tennis looks from its bubble.

I hate thinking about authenticity in the same breath as strategy. I hate it. And yet, look around professional sports right now, and strategic authenticity is everywhere among those succeeding. The only way I can reconcile with the concept is through storytelling. These sports stars launching newsletters, podcasts, YouTube channels, killing it on Instagram or TikTok, haven’t turned full KarJenners (thanks the freaking Universe), but they’ve opened windows into their lives and mindsets about their sport and about the world they’re living in. They’ve used this to get people to care about who they are and whatever it is they love (fashion, cosmetics, business, etc.) and to follow their journey. And so to follow their sport.

Did you know that "Women made up 42 percent of Formula 1 fans"? That their average age is 32? No? I didn’t either before nearly falling off my chair reading this piece from

Toni Cowan-Brown

. Can you see tennis staring into the abyss here?

It’s not that tennis players don’t want that level of leverage, it’s that they don’t know how to build it. Oh they’re trying, with their reels and all, but is it really working? Wondering. There are few exceptions obviously: the Big 4, Serena and Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova, BJK, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, Coco Gauff (who’s the one who really gets it these days), and I’ll add Iga Swiatek, who found a way to carve a nice spot for her very different vibe, while there’s a case to be made for Aryna Sabalenka.

You won’t find Nick Kyrgios on my list because I’m talking about players who both win and culturally matter in the professional sports world. For me, Kyrgios is personal branding gone wrong, as it’s always been way more about him acting up for this or that reason than about him being involved in tennis and raising the sport’s profile. It doesn’t move the needle for tennis when Kyrgios plays or doesn’t: ticket sales have also boomed when he wasn’t around, so… Had he been a regular tennis force on Tour while also being who he is, then it’d have been different.

No, here I wish this era of tennis would find its LeBron James, Lewis Hamilton, Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark, Kylian Mbappé, Russell Westbrook, or add every Formula 1 driver’s name you want to these days. Personalities. Like, give us something. Imagine Eric Cantona, but in tennis in this day and age, omg. If you’re too young to know about Cantona (grabs heart), enjoy the research!

And so I’m back to why Jannik Sinner’s YouTube video in Melbourne triggered my brain. It’s the last proof that tennis players want in but just don’t know how. The idea is great: living a Grand Slam from the inside world of the best player out there. You’re kidding?! Amazing. And yet, it fell flat for me because there was no storytelling up to what should be Sinner’s standards. What did he have to say? How did he feel? Where are the stakes? Where are the rough times? Where are the talks with the team about the work? Where’s tennis? The last thing players seem to brainstorm regarding their personal branding is storytelling. I’m still wondering, “Who are you, really?” about way too many of them. Fans won’t wonder, they’ll scroll away. This gen doesn’t stay if you don’t bring it, as authentically as possible, behind the curtain.

Obviously, the context around Sinner didn’t help. But the attempt at connecting in a different way is a great idea. It’s just that, once again, tennis players are trying to have it both ways: playing the strategic authenticity era while keeping 90% of their doors shut. It won’t work without opening up. Daria Kasatkina does it the right way. Andy Roddick does it the right way. Gaël Monfils has been at it for a while, from YouTube to Switch and LinkedIn. Caroline Garcia has joined and is trying to do it the right way. Imagine Andy doing that podcast while being at the top of the game. Imagine Federer. Serena or Maria. Imagine Nadal with a YouTube channel through Roland-Garros?

Daria Kasatkina’s Personal "Propaganda" Campaign

That’s what it’s going to take for tennis to break through here: a huge active name launching that podcast, starting that channel, writing that newsletter. Not in Vogue, not for a Vanity Fair column, but on their own. With things to say about them, sides to take about what’s going on in the world, and generosity in sharing their professional life. And last but absolutely not least, real storytelling skills (and so a team of professionals). I’m very curious to see how that Carlos Alcaraz’s documentary goes on Netflix next month. And about Andy Murray going on Tour on stages this spring.

I asked Kasatkina about it last year in Madrid, and that’s what she had to say. “Not everyone likes to film and play in front of the camera. It also helps to make our sport more famous, and more watchable, to reach more people around the world. This is well developed in football or hockey, where the coverage is huge, but in tennis, it’s lacking. (…) It’s nice to show how tennis players actually live. Top players have a luxury lifestyle, but it’s not just that. Most people don’t see the struggles. It’s interesting and very important to show how it actually is so when people see us on court they understand a little bit more what we are going through. When you only see someone on the court, you just see the athlete who runs and hits the ball but it’s also nice to show there is a personality inside. We’re not just tennis players.”

As Caroline Garcia told me about her podcast, it’s also a way for players to get some fresh air and a way for more players to get more coverage. “After so many years on Tour, it’s nice to have some projects outside of it that also allow you to have another view of things when you’re going to stop playing. We got lucky enough to talk with very smart people who were able to take a step back when looking at their journey. It’s really inspiring. I’m also getting out of my comfort zone, doing something I didn’t know, and I’m sharing this adventure with my partner. It’s really nice. On Tour, it feels like it’s always the same things and the same people who get coverage, whereas it’s way deeper than this: what we have to go through, what’s really our day-to-day life.”

Am I again ranting about how, by currently killing tennis fashion, the brands are actually shooting themselves and the sport in the foot? Roger, Serena, or Maria wouldn’t be caught in 90% of these outfits, not even for training sessions. They knew dressing up was part of building their brands (and they had some taste). Now? It’s minimum effort for everybody out there, stars included. Of course, there are exceptions (Osaka at the last US Open, Coco Gauff in Melbourne and through the Sunshine Double, Marta Kostyuk, or Frances Tiafoe come to mind). Zendaya would wear none of this current tennis fashion on no red carpet, yet courts are tennis players’ red carpets. Again, please help them suit up so they can push the sport into more faces.

AVOIDING THE CURSE OF IT ALL, THOUGH

Yet, if I admit that I’d love to see more tennis players being out there in the professional world’s face, it’s not all sunshine and rainbow. And it’s also totally fine for players to want to be private or quiet in a life that is already abnormal. You’re letting the world in, and suddenly, you find your sanity under attack, or you suddenly lose the plot on what really matters. Tennis players are the best positioned to get a slice out of the content creator’s pie because of their lifestyle, but it’s also why it’s dangerous territory for them. They’re already under so much pressure, and they’re in an individual sport: it’s all on their shoulders. The glam of their lives is maybe 10%.

I personally don’t want to deal with players who suddenly would only care about building their personal brands in ways that would be the opposite of authentic. We don’t need the PR stunts. We don’t need either to see the Tour doing that for them in some sort of overall communication package that really fools nobody. You’d also hear players complaining about the Tour not giving them social media coverage, and I’m like: But why are you waiting for the Tour to build your personal brand? You, the independent contractors? You, the known control freaks? Seriously. Build it yourself and/or with your agent/manager. Step into action and tell your story.

The Tour won’t spend on building your brands as they’re busy building theirs. It doesn’t always align, even if they all should understand they’re tied to each other most of the time. So I tend to think this personal branding era that’s unavoidable for sports stars is both a gift and a curse: it’s giving athletes opportunities (during and after their careers) former champions couldn’t even dream of, but it’s also putting them under pressure to perform and become an empire in a chase that can turn toxic when all that matters is suddenly the branding. I like that tennis players haven’t fully gone into the trend, that they keep the niche vibe alive, but it’s still high time they at least get a good foot in: For their own ambitions and for the sport’s growth. We have pretty badass people playing that sport, and the world should know! :)

INTERVIEW:

It’s always interesting to see how people who aren’t covering tennis specifically but are immersed in professional sports look at what’s going on. So I had to ask a few questions to

Daniel-Yaw Miller

(whose features triggered my tennis brain). I’m grateful he agreed to answer them.

Tennis hasn't embraced the content creator era (newsletters, podcasts, etc.) as much as other sports. Do you see any reason why? And does it hurt players’ personal branding?
Tennis as a sport isn't set up to allow individual names to shine or be platformed in the same way they are in basketball or soccer. For example, Rafel Nadal is maybe one of the greatest sportspeople to ever have existed, but as a cultural force, he doesn't match up to greats in other sports. But there have always been exceptions.

Rene Lacoste, for one, founded his namesake brand in the 1920s with a genius play on his "Crocodile" nickname and built a lasting name for himself with the origins of a sports-fashion brand that is still relevant today. Those who do often put their heads above the parapet are often subject to abuse and don't get support from the tennis establishment. The Williams sisters came in for their fair share of thinly veiled digs about the clothing they chose to wear, same for Nick Kyrgios. In both instances, they've been able to build consumer and media businesses for themselves to transition to after playing because they stuck their necks out and decided they wanted to represent more than just tennis culture.

One day, when tennis catches up with the times — and there are certain federations/tournaments that are slowly getting up to speed — we will see a cultural renaissance where young players are empowered to showcase their interests and ventures beyond tennis.

Am I wrong to say someone like Angel Reese now has more leverage than Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, and Iga Swiatek combined in media coverage and commercial pull?
I think a player like Angel Reese (she is the primary example, but you could point to several other young women's basketball stars who are in similar positions) has an edge over any and all tennis players because 1) she plays a sport that is a lot more open to making the individual players stars and allowing them to express interests in other things beyond the sport; 2) she, unlike most tennis pro players, went to college and was able to grow her profile as a fashion, beauty and basketball star while cashing in on endorsement deals via NIL. Tennis simply isn't set up to provide its athletes with that same platform or opportunity. It's hard to say whether Angel has a bigger pull than Carlos or Jannik because they both rake in big endorsement money from the likes of LVMH and Gucci, respectively, but Angel certainly has more organic cultural stardom, in my opinion.

Maybe it's the sport's culture that reigns that in? "The game is always bigger than the players' names" is something told repeatedly in tennis...
Exactly. In tennis, there is an outdated perception and unspoken rule that no singular player should put themselves on the same level as the game itself or break outside of its codes. We have seen time and time again over the years how players who "don't fit the mold" are shunned and ostracised. So many great and talented players have fallen by the wayside simply because they don't conform to people's perceptions of how a tennis player should act. This stifles the sport. It's the same way drivers in F1 were expected to be until recently, and look how good for the sport it's been now we can see the personalities of the drivers, team principals, and other individuals shine through more.

Tennis seems to love being niche but also hates it at the same time because, well, they need the money…
For tennis to be successful, it has to be not niche. Culturally, more people should feel they are able to feel like they are a part of tennis. The issue is the sport is incredibly inaccessible to watch at the highest level to the majority of people. Having said that, I do feel like the current crop of young stars on tour are going some way to making tennis break out of its bubble again — people like Coco Gauff, Frances Tiafoe, Ben Shelton, Taylor Fritz, Sabalenka. Also, the efforts of people like Ayan Broomfield (who is increasingly making efforts to give access to POCs and others who can't typically afford tournament ticket access) and Morgan Riddle, who are showing people the behind-the-scenes realities of life on tour, I think, are extremely valuable in making tennis more accessible and "aspirational" at the same time.

But also, does the sport need its stars to excel at personal branding to stay relevant and grow?
100%. Since the tennis administration (on the whole) seems completely unable or unwilling to make sweeping changes to how it operates, it's the players above who I mentioned that are the ones bringing the sport to new audiences and making it culturally relevant through the sheer force of their personalities, their TikToks and their sporting excellence.

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MIAMI VIBE - THE FILES

THE GOOD:

This Miami Open is obviously not over yet, but there are already things I liked to see. Here’s a short list:

• Gaël Monfils, 38, winning a blockbuster in the third round against Jaume Munar in a crazy atmosphere with people yelling their hearts out.

• Victoria Mboko, playing outstanding tennis, and reaching the second round after beating Camila Osorio and battling deep in the third set against Paula Badosa. The 18-year-old is now 28-1 this season. If you don’t know her and why I’m highlighting her here, you need to catch up with this interview I did with her right before Miami ;)

• Zizou Bergs confirming he keeps improving and rising through the ranks. He got the win over Andrey Rublev in Miami, his first-ever win against a Top 10.

• Mirra Andreeva. No, she didn’t do the Sunshine Double, but she still competed extremely well in Miami despite all that went down in Indian Wells. At 17, it’s new proof that she’s already ready to stay week in and week out. It also took another huge talent, Amanda Anisimova (who won the WTA 1000 of Doha), and three sets to put an end to Andreeva’s winning streak (13 matches).

• Obviously: Joao Fonseca being out there toying with players already at just 18. Telling you, some top players right now cannot wait for that kid to be seeded already so they can avoid him.

• And finally, a shoutout to Taylor Townsend, who got out of the qualifications and reached the third round, beaten by Zheng Qinwen. We love her lefty paw and her willpower, and she needed that run in singles here.

THE BAD:

Carlos Alcaraz needs to figure things out asap. There’s something living rent-free in his brain right now, and the co-living situation isn’t going well. David Goffin now leading their H2H is kind of tennis wild! He said his level was “poor” and that he “wasn’t feeling well” during the match, especially in his legs, despite being totally fine before the match. It seems that the mind is hampering the body out there.

I still think he’s been playing too much and too much stuff he didn’t need to be playing. Alcaraz needs a fresh mind, body, and soul to display the intense tennis that has quickly brought him some extraordinary success. He and his team should be on the burn-out watch, in my opinion. It’s this, or he has put himself in panic mode over getting the World No.1 back. Someone who’s not worried about keeping the throne right now? Jannik Sinner. Anyway, it’s also part of the champion’s journey to go through it at some point.

What’s also been bad in Miami? Elena Rybakina, a finalist last year, lost against Ashlyn Krueger (6-4, 2-6, 6-4). She’s now close to leaving the Top 10, which is tennis nonsense. Unfortunately, it’s useless to wonder what’s going on with her lately because we all know what’s up… Finally, should we be surprised that since winning Doha, Andrey Rublev hasn’t won a single match in three events (Dubaï, Indian Wells, Miami)? Unfortunately, again, that is a no.

THE “IT HAPPENS”:

Jack Draper and Holger Rune, brilliant in California, crashed in Florida. These two Masters 1000 back-to-back are demanding outstanding efforts to master, so it’s not a huge surprise that the British and the Dane struggled. I’d also say that Draper being beaten by Jakub Mensik ain’t a huge upset because this 19-year-old Czech is a Top 10 in the making.

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Once Upon A Time For A French In Miami

Nothing in “Miami Tennis” will ever equal and absolutely never top Key Biscayne. Let’s be clear, and let’s be real. That drive to the tournament in the middle of the sea? Please.

Tennis on an island where you can walk to the beach and enjoy the palm trees? Please. You can try everything you want to sell me the Hard Rock Stadium; it won’t ever change the fact that it looks set in a parking lot. It looks like so many sports venues, which is fine. It’s bigger, and facilities are better, but by leaving Key Biscayne, tennis lost all its Miami glam, charm, and swag. So yeah, I’m still in tennis-mourning over that.

I love Miami. I’m a Miami Beach and South Beach fan. I’ve walked Collins Avenue so much that my feet still remember. I’ve come there for work, and I’ve come there for vacation in the winter: like many Europeans, I just love the vibe. My US friends always eye-rolled at me for that because “only Europeans are falling in love with that tacky place.” I plead guilty. I once stayed, not knowing what I was doing okay, right on Ocean Drive: I had so much fun despite the fact I didn’t sleep because they were clubbing outside in that hotel all night long. I’d walk outside and see such a diverse array of people; it was like watching a movie. The sun? The water? The white sand? Oh, the dream. Extremely overpriced all around, obviously.

Anyway, the irony IS that as much as I loved Miami and Miami Beach, and as much as I loved that going to Key Biscayne for work looked like a trip to tan on the beach, OMG, that tournament put me through it. Not as much as Rome did, but that’s a story (or an amount of stories) for the clay season.

First of all, Miami tennis cost me a bloody fortune because there’s always this or that wow event going on in that city, so the hotel prices (even the ones negotiated for tennis media) are bonkers. The quality, though? Not bonkers at all. I had this year praying twice a day not to get stuck into the elevator. Which happened to Caroline Garcia, I can still remember the picture she posted on social media about it. Well, the other side of seeing this is that I earned so many points that I got nice stays for free elsewhere. Still, Miami hurts the bank account BUT it was worth it because so few foreign press were there that my access was stellar. And have I told you how much I love Miami already? Maybe…

Miami when tennis was played at the beach!

Then came both the highlight and the fear of my daily reporting life at the Miami Open: The Transportation. Highlight? One year, we had like limo vans or something: so VIP and comfy and amazing. Fear? The years before that, when I honestly sometimes prayed I was going to get there in one piece. Once, one driver had glasses so thick that I started to worry the moment the ride started because he’d take these glasses off for one reason or another. Sir, please put them on! He was the nicest guy, but I am still not sure he fully saw where he drove us.

If I remember correctly, it’s also with him that I got stuck in the parking lot of the tournament because the door of these pretty beat-up vans wouldn’t open, and he had to put a foot through it. That’s what I get for not driving, I know. So yeah, when these super nice and shiny vans showed up after that, we were all teary-eyed. It wouldn’t change the fact that you’d better be on it regarding the transportation (ever-changing) schedule because the risk of getting stranded there for a reason out of your control was real. I haven’t returned since the move out of Key Biscayne, so I don’t know how it’s going today.

What I know, though, is that they’re still trying to give us all pneumonia with that air conditioning in the media area. Some things don’t change! What I hope has changed is the media restaurant. People, my first time at the Miami Open, I survived - on-site -on M&Ms and Sugarpova. True story. 1) Not a good place for gluten and dairy-intolerant people 2) Lovely staff, horrendous food, so even if I had been able to cheat on my diet at the time, it was going to be a no. You also should have seen the stairs we had to go up and down to either get to the media center or to the interview rooms: an adventure in itself.

I once told that to someone I always chatted to while on Tour, forgetting she was an IMG person. IMG owns the Miami Open. She was like, “Carole, you cannot tell me that!” And I just told her more (Telling you, making sure you had the right info and the right times to attend to the right things was a big part of the job there. Like, proper detective work). You’re coming from the Indian Wells Californian vibe, and you get to Miami, and that is not the same world at all. Forget the peace and chill of the desert and be ready to tango. Once you got used to it, you were fine. It’s just… You had to get used to it.

And yet, I would come back every year because it was worth it, you could make it work, and it was this Miami glam and pace that would put as much energy into you as I don’t know how many energy drinks (I don’t touch that). Miami at Key Biscayne was a tennis oasis like no other. Not perfect, but with some unique swag. Also, to get on center court, you just had to walk as the media center was right on it. That court was beautiful. Some players like Andy Murray would even come to Miami in the off-season and train there.

There was a beach volleyball event on the tennis site, people!

But, yes, the neighborhood got sick of tennis or whatever deal fell through, and tennis got sent away to the Hard Rock Stadium or a corner of it. Indian Wells in the desert, followed by Miami on the island at the beach, was The Double Sunshine for me. I’d go to Monte-Carlo a week or so later with the biggest smile on my face despite the travel and the long days: full of that Sunshine energy. I’m so grateful that I got to experience that tennis era. Do you get that vibe on that gigantic parking lot of a stadium in the city? Let me know if you’ve attended and feel I’m an unfair whining French.

Oh, and this exchange between Andy Roddick and Kim Clijsters said it all, too, about that past Miami era. Roddick was talking about how the tournament might be sold soon (if you’re a TSS reader, you already know all about that!). Kim Clijsters said, “Can we go back to Key Biscayne?” Andy Roddick: “Key Biscayne was awesome.” Clijsters: “That was the best.” Enough said.

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SOME BREAK POINTS…

✅ Last year, in one of the first TSS editions, I was telling you how Deloitte was expecting women’s sports to reach around $1,3 billion by the end of 2024. Well, they got it wrong a bit, as Women’s sports exceeded all expectations and reached $1,88 billion in 2024. More impressive? Deloitte’s experts now expect women’s sports to reach $2,35 billion in 2025. It marks a 240% rise in four years, as the market was worth $692 million in 2022!

“Women’s sport is rewriting the playbook and challenging traditional norms to redefine the future of the industry. In 2025 and beyond, the challenge will be for the sports’ industry, brand partners and investors to do things differently. Increasing strategic investment is more important than ever to drive a professional global landscape and create an engaging industry for generations to come. It is crucial for women’s sport organisations to implement the right structures, develop a clear plan for investment, and define a long-term vision for their place within a rapidly evolving global industry”, Jennifer Haskel from Deloitte said in the report.

😲 Look who’s back! Alizé Cornet. The French player retired not even a year ago at Roland-Garros… but she just couldn’t stay out of the game. On Monday, she announced she was coming back and would play her first event in Rouen (12-20 avril) thanks to a wild card. She said in a statement that she resumed training two months ago. “You thought you were done with me, but it’s not yet the case,” she added.

❌ Jannik Sinner isn’t competing, but the Italian is staying busy. And that wasn’t good news for Sinner’s longtime manager, Lawrence Frankopan, at StarWing Sports as the World No.1 announced he was parting ways with the company. It seems Frankopan was asked to join AVIMA, which is Sinner’s longtime friend and co-manager Alex Vittur’s company, but he declined. Frankopan had been managing Sinner’s career since the player was 18, and it has to be said that he found a way to sign him very early with some lucrative and prestigious deals. Vittur and Sinner have also built an extensive business together on the investment side through Sinner’s Foxera holding.

Here is what they had to say in a statement:

✅ On a more “on-court” note regarding Sinner, he signed for Hamburg’s ATP 500 (17-24 May 2025), building his return from that ban to get enough matches under his belt for Roland-Garros. It’s a big win for Hamburg as it’s been moved to a tricky slot in the calendar right before the French Open. It’ll be Sinner’s first time at the iconic Rothenbaum and the first time since 2008 that a World No.1 comes to play there. Other players confirmed: Stefanos Tsitsipas, Gaël Monfils, Holger Rune, Andrey Rublev, Jan-Lennard Struff.

🤨 Venus Williams, who declined an invitation to play in Indian Wells, came to play in Miami. But just on the practice courts. The tennis icon, who lives in South Florida, was seen hitting the ball with Ons Jabeur. The only ever sure thing in tennis for me is that Venus Williams is never where you expect her to be. She has her own way of doing her own thing. And I kind of love seeing her pop up here and there by surprise.

🤨 PTPA Executive Director Ahmad Nassar talked to

Ben Rothenberg

at

Bounces

about all things lawsuits. It’s worth a read to make your opinion about what he says and what he doesn’t say or fully know. Share your opinions about it all in the comments, let’s see what you got out of it! Me? Haven’t changed my mind.

🤨 In the meantime, the ATP and the WTA bosses presented a plan to the Tour for a whole reset. Do you remember this Premium Tour frenzy and the very upset Grand Slam events in response of last year’s tennis drama? Yes? Well, it’s a sequel. What’s on the table now? A quick summary here: 10 ATP 1000, 10 WTA 1000, the new 10th happening in February and surely in Saudi Arabia, 16 ATP 500, 17 WTA 500, reducing the number of 250s, getting a new board with only three seats for the Grand Slams, six seats for the players and nothing for the ITF, two seats for the 1000s and one seat for both the 500s and 250s. Owners of the 1000s, 500s, and 250s weren’t included in the proposal formation.

▶️ What’s happening on the Challengers and ITF events front? Well, Antonia Ruzic (CRO) won her second title of the season at W75 Maribor (SVK), having also won at W75 Trnava (SVK) this month. Stands on the brink of breaking the Top 100 (#132) for the first time at 22. Oskari Paldanius (FIN), the Boys’ singles semifinalist at this year’s Australian Open, reached his first final as a professional at 17, falling to Michal Krajci (SVK) at M15 Sharm El Sheikh.

MENS SANA IN CORPORE SANO

Muchova checking on a very distressed Azarenka in Miami (@Sky Sports)

Victoria Azarenka got quite the scare in Miami when she hurt her neck during her match against Karolina Muchova. At first, I thought it was a shoulder injury, but the official reason given was a neck injury. Physio tried everything, but Vika had to retire when Muchova was leading 6-0, 0-0 40A. The Czech showed a superb attitude (not surprising for her) as she came to check on her opponent and then carried both their bags off the court while still keeping a worried eye on Azarenka. It seems the former World No.1 hurt herself badly on a shot in the first set. She looked in a lot of pain when the trainer came back to manipulate her before everyone came to accept that there was no point in playing.

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EDITOR’S PICKS

READ: I might have missed the other times something like that happened, but it seems the ATP is putting their ATP No.1 Club to the task. I loved that they got Andre Agassi to come to Phoenix to talk at the Challenger event. “It was too important to me and people thought I was Bruce Springsteen playing at the local bar or something. But for me, it was the most connected I’d ever felt with tennis because I finally had my reason to be back out there,” the tennis icon said about the time he had to go through Challengers again.

READ More: If you’re French or can read French, I highly suggest you pick up that beautiful comic book (see picture above) from Julien Frey called “White Only,” about Althea Gibson’s story.