Aussie Bites: Parks and Rec

Internet ephemera from the tennis world and beyond. Have something you want to include? Join the Discord  – we have a really nice and active community growing there – or hmu on Bluesky.

If you're reading this on email, just know that all the embeds render better if you view the newsletter on the website. You'll also get the most updated copy. Just click through.

If you're not reading this on email, subscribe for free to get all these dispatches sent directly to your inbox.

Nuts and Bolts

Day 2 Results | Day 3 Order of Play

• The Upshot: Nothing tooooo crazy happened on Day 2, other than a whole lotta cramping from the Canadians. In fact, by the time the night session kicked off there had been just one five-set match – Learner Tien needed that many to fight off Marcos Giron.

(I'm sending this as Novak Djokovic and Casper Ruud are still on court and look in good control. If I wake up and catastrophe happened...whoops!)

• Bracket Busters: So who had No. 198 French qualifier Arthur Gea straight-setting 17th seed Jiri Lehecka 7-5, 7-6(1), 7-5?
  • Round 1 WTA Casualties: 5
    • Day 1 Exits: 3 – [11] Alexandrova, [20] Kostyuk, [32] Vondrousova
    • Day 2 Exits: 2 – [15] Navarro, [27] Kenin
  • Round 1 ATP Casualties: 5
    • Day 1 Exits: 1 – [20] Cobolli
    • Day 2 Exits: 4 – [7] Auger Aliassime, [17] Lehecka, [24] Rinderknech, [27] Nakashima
• On tap for Day 3....
  • Men: Dimitrov vs. Machac, Hurkacz vs. Bergs, Shelton vs. Humbert, Khachanov vs. Michelsen, Mpetshi Perricard vs. Baez, and they're going to try and it Joao Fonseca and all the Brazillian fans in 1573. Good luck with that.
  • Women: Osaka vs. Ruzic, Cirstea vs. Lys, Samsonova vs. Siegemund, Joint vs. Valentova, and which version of Jelena Ostapenko will show up aginst Rebecca Sramkova?

Day 2 Highlights

• Day 2 Place To Be: Court 6 for Alexandra Eala vs. Alycia Parks
  • Here's an important tip for any tournament attendee: if Alex Eala is on the schedule on an outer court in any major metropolitan city, go early and get a seat. If you do, you will be nestled alongside one of the most electric set of people on the planet. That's right: Filipinos. They come out in force to support their 20-year-old star, which means the vibes are immaculate:

• Despite the first-set bagel dished out by their favorite daughter, the crowd could not will Eala past a dialed in Parks. One can only assume Parks was so dialed in because of the adverse atmosphere, which makes me wonder if we need to just start booing her all the time get this level of focus from her. Because she was outstanding in the last two sets, winning 0-6, 6-3, 6-2.

“I was just so focused on the crowd in the first set, which is why it went the way it went,” she said. “I don’t know what my record is with crowds against me … It definitely puts a fire on me.”

• Kia Arena during Stan Wawrinka's four-set win over Laslo Djere came in a close second. The Old Man makes good on that wildcard.

• The Zheng Qinwen Award for Best Bogarting of a Microphone goes to... Stan Wawrinka:

• The Check Their Waterdrops Award goes to... Team Canada.
  • Both Felix Auger Aliassime and Marina Stakusic were forced to retire from their matches due to cramping. Seeded No. 7, Felix is the highest-ranked men's player to go out so far. That's a really disappointing turn of events for Felix, who looked outstanding in his first match at United Cup but became ill and dropped his next match to Zizou Bergs in straight sets. Now this. (AP)
  • As for Stakusic, it was tough scenes as her cramping fits left down on the court twice. She needed a wheelchair to leave the court. Props to Priscilla Hon for the (unsurprising) compassion and sportsmanship:

• Not all was lost for the Canadians on Day 2: Victoria Mboko and Denis Shapovalov moved through in straight sets.
• Oh! And Bianca Andreescu won the ITF 35K in Bradenton on Sunday, too. Nothing but love for a player willing to play down to find matches and confidence. Hey, it worked for Andre Agassi....
• The Compartmentalization Award goes to... Jessica Pegula.
  • Jess was on court for practice during the latter stages of the Buffalo Bills' heart-crushing loss to the Denver Broncos in the AFC Divisional Playoffs, so she practiced with one earbud in so she could listen to the stream. That's crazy. She took care of business today, beating Anastasia Zakharova 6-2, 6-1 to set up a Round 2 against her doubles partner McCartney Kessler. But the Bills' loss was still on her mind:

• The Best Thing To Happen So A Bunch Of Us Could Get Off A Joke We've Been Patiently Sitting On For Weeks: Ann Li d. Camila Osorio, 6-4, 6-7(5), 7-5.

• The We Are So Back Award goes to... Daniil Medvedev.
  • The three-time Australian Open finalist won just one match at the Grand Slams last year. He matched that mark by beating Jesper de Jong in straight sets to open his tournament. It was his first Grand Slam victory in 360 days. He's won all six matches played in 2026. (BBC)

• And on the topic of ending a drought: Magda Linette's win over Emma Navarro was her first Grand Slam win since 2023. Got bounced the last eight times.
• The Inside Joke That Has The Potential To Go Horribly Wrong Award goes to... Chris Eubanks and Coco Gauff:

• The 'Wait, What?' Award goes to: Marin Cilic

• Stat of the Day: Built Different.

• The A For Effort But Let's Be Honest That Didn't Work goes to... The Soothing Ocean Waves in the Tunnel:

• Iga Swiatek lost the first three games and Yuan Yue served for the first set before the Pole edged out the 7-6(5), 6-3 win. Those waves did NOT soothe her. The girl wants AC/DC not Enya. They DID soothe Yuan Yue though. She played fantastic.

Daily Reads

If you've been enjoying my return to the blogosphere, you can support me just by spreading the word – I am allergic to self-promotion – or with a tip. And if you read something you think is worth sharing, send me the link! Thanks in advance!

• Bigger isn't always better: The Day 1 crowd issues at Melbourne Park has Tennis Australia rethinking things...maybe. (The Guardian)
• Francesca Jones tearfully retired with a glute injury. This was her 16th retirement since 2023. (BBC)

She has Ectrodactyly Ectodermal Dysplasia, a rare genetic syndrome that has resulted in her having three fingers and a thumb on each hand and seven toes along with several other physical issues. Jones has struggled badly with injuries throughout her career but she insists they are not a direct consequence of her condition.

“I don’t relate to any of the retirements and things directly to what could be referred to as ‘kid with a syndrome.’ I don’t relate to any of that. I think what I relate it to … is that I don’t think I had a team in place and the expertise that I needed from a younger age. So my age might say 25, but my physical journey, I’m still quite early in. I think that’s where my tennis level is so much higher than my physical journey, and I’m trying to match those up every year and every time.”

• Nothing but love and vibes to Storm Hunter, who bested Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in Round 1. Fun fact: did you know that Storm grew up over a bar? Her parents owned a bar in Western Australia and the family lived upstairs.

• I love hearing Dasha Kasatkina talk about the culture differences between Australia and Russia. I'm sure she could do a 10-part podcast on the subject. (The Guardian)

Since changing allegiances, she has also been invited to join the WhatsApp group that Australia’s top women’s players use to communicate, and provide emotional support.

Kasatkina was initially confused by the invitation, wondering what there would be to discuss. “But then I realised that the girls, whoever won, they just said like ‘good job girl, keep going’. And I’m like ‘oh OK, so that’s how it works’,” she says. “I wasn’t used to it as well, but I think this is nice, it’s this team spirit here, so you’re supporting each other, you’re happy. Like … you’re not jealous of the success of the other player.”

• The Australian Financial Review has quotes from Craig Tiley on the players' louder demands for more prize money. AFR reports some of the Top 10 and their agents held private meetings in Melbourne and "agreed to escalate industrial action for a bigger share of the Australian Open's revenue." As was reported last year, the Top 10 players want to see prize money at 22% of a Grand Slam's revenue, as well as contributions to pensions and benefits. They say the AO is at 16%, but Craig Tiley vehemently disputes that calculation. (AFR, subscription required)

“At least $150 million [of our $700 million revenue] is not related to the Australian Open. I keep saying this to the players, that you can’t go and calculate that percentage that’s got nothing to do with running this event.”

• Under NCAA rules, a collegiate player can accept no more than $10K in prize money from tennis tournaments. If an athlete accepts more, they will lose their collegiate eligibility. Columbia's Michael Zheng still has a semester until graduation, and under the rules, he can't take the prize money he's already won by qualifying and winning his first round, around $150K. (AFP via Barron's)
• That's a whole lotta bunk:

• Here's Zheng on his understanding of the rule as of now:

• Here's the BJK Cup qualifiers draw for April:

Italy (1) (c)** v Japan
Belgium (c) v USA (2)
Australia (c)* v Great Britain (3) 
Kazakhstan (c) v Canada (4) 
Slovenia (c)* v Spain (5)
Switzerland (c) v Czechia (6) 
Ukraine (c) v Poland (7) 

(c) = choice of ground; * = choice of ground decided by lot, ** = choice of ground as 2025 champions 

• Bop of the Day: