Bagel Bites: It's an honor just to be Asian

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.

• Editor's (Me) note: I compiled this in a very weird order – basically half of it was done before Day 1 kicked off – so you'll have to excuse the fact that this is VERY backloaded. Stick with it!
• Previously, on Bagel Bites: We touched grass and talked mixed doubles.
• The annual list of the highest-paid tennis players is out (combined on-court and off-court), and the results probably won't surprise you! (Forbes)

Forbes Top 10 Highest-Paid Tennis Players In The World 2025 List

See the list of the 10 highest-paid tennis players, who collectively earned $285 million, led by the sport’s next great rivals: Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.

ForbesBrett Knight

• Gosh, Carlos and Jannik really are eating the ATP's lunch because how is it that three of the Top 5 in 2025 prize money are...WTA players:

Tennis Prize Money Tracker: Which Player Has Earned the Most in 2025?

Carlos Alcaraz is the leader in tennis prize money with $10.63 million in tournament winnings through August 19 of this year. The Spaniard won two clay court Masters 1000 tournaments in Monte Carlo and Rome, banking more than $1 million at each event, and he followed up those wins with a French Open title run, …

Yahoo SportsLev Akabas

• In fact, six of the Top 10 are women. Considering not all WTA 1000s offer the same prize money as Masters 1000s – and let's not even get to the discrepancy at the 500 and 250 levels – that's pretty wild!
• I repeat: WHY IS IT A CRIME TO BE LOCKED IN? (The Body Serve on Podbean)

• AUNTIE PAM ALERT!!! Pam hopped onto Sarah Spain's podcast to talk about the US Open and....shipping?!?!? Is this a Forty Deuce fever dream?

• Novak Djokovic told reporters that his plan is to just play the Slams for now on. He doesn't like the 12-day Masters events – and has no desire to go back to a heavy schedule. Good for him!

"For me it's really about where do I find motivation and joy, where will I be inspired to play the best tennis, and where do I care to be, really."

• You can hear his full explanation below. He also believes that the window for squashing the expanded format has come and gone. There's no going back. He sounds disappointed that the current crop of top players didn't step up when they needed to and flex their power when there was still time to negotiate. (The Athletic)

• Speaking of Novak, he didn't look great in his first-round win over Learner Tien, but the greatest match-manager of all time got it done. (AP)
• A look into the behind-the-scenes at ESPN, which doesn't look much like the ESPN most of us olds grew up with. (The Ringer)
• Aryna Sabalenka tried to downplay the pressure of avoiding a Slamless season (The Independent via Yahoo) in her pre-tournament press conference:

• Rick Macci – famously portrayed by the great Jon Bernthal in "King Richard" – talks about the moment he saw Venus Williams' sport-changing potential. (CNN via Yahoo)
• Pam Shriver has dedicated herself to using sports to help rebuild the LA communities that were devastating by the fires in January. (LA Times)

• Naomi is correct: The Tokyo pizza scene is unreal. I cannot wait to get back there in the fall. Also, she spoke directly to Vicky Mboko like an adult would do, so can we all move on from this now? (YouTube)

• "Raducanu on new chiropractor: 'He said my character is similar to a horse'" (The Telegraph via Yahoo)
• Hey, y'all wanna see a masterclass in the art of the press conference? Take it away, Coco Gauff:

• The great Brian Phillips defends the greatest invention of the English language. (The Ringer)
• US Open Fan Week was a huge success, drawing in nearly 240,000 fans. (US Open)

• Maria Sharapova and Bob and Mike Bryan were inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame this weekend in Newport. Couldn't be happier for them. Three hard-working players who understood how to use their fame and idol status to elevate their respective disciplines and the game. What the Bryans did for the ATP and the doubles game in America can't be undersold.
• As for Maria, I've gone back and forth one whether to just do a goofy write up on her here or actually sit down like a goddamn adult and put in the work to write a proper post on her at some point. Out of respect for Maria, I've decided to do the latter. In the meantime, watch her hit on the RodPod. She's hilariously savage:

• And yes, I'm probably burying the lede here, but HOLY CRAP SERENA WILLIAMS DID MARIA'S INDUCTION SPEECH AND IT WAS GREAT AND SURREAL AND REALLY MADE ME REALIZE GODDAMN WERE WE LUCKY TO LIVE THROUGH THEIR ERA. (ESPN)
• Please take 30 minutes out of your day and give the speeches a watch. They're perfect:

• I might have lost it at Serena and Yuri yucking it up together:

• And while I have you here, let me just take a moment to say, I WAS RIGHT I WAS RIGHT I WAS RIGHT SERENA SAID IT WAS A RIVALRY AND DESCRIBED MARIA AS A RIVAL – HEAD TO HEADS DO NOT DEFINE A "RIVALRY" – SUCK IT I WAS RIGHT THE WHOLE TIME

• Alex Eala really is that girl. Not only does she have a knack for delivering against top players, but she also brings the entire Philipino Nation along for the ride. From a pure vibes and crowd perspective, she may just be the WTA's answer to Joao Fonseca. The Swaggapinos had Grandstand absolutely rocking and helped Eala recover from a 5-1 deficit in the third set to win 6-3, 2-6, 7-6[11] over 14th seed Clara Tauson. (ESPN)

• More Asian Excellence: Indonesia's Janice Tjen followed up her successful qualifying campaign to knock out 24th seed and Cincinnati semifinalist Veronika Kudermetova 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 and win her tour-level main-draw debut. In the last 15 months she is an astounding 101-13 across all levels. She plays Raducanu in Round 2. (AP; WTA)
• Her Asian Excellence also counts! (BBC)
• AND YET MORE Asian Excellence: Moyuka Uchijima saved SEVEN MATCH POINTS to beat Olga Danilovic in Round 1. (@tntsports on Twitter)

• AND YOU KNOW WHAT, SHE'S HALF KOREAN SO I AM ABSOLUTELY COUNTING THIS TOO: Jess Pegula won her first-round match over Mayar Sherif. I highly recommend her one-hour turn in the hot seat for Tennis Insider Club. She talks about how her parents handled her career, how she handled her parents handling her career, and reveals how close is the end. (Tennis Insider Club)

• Oh, Daniil. I'm not going to sit here and explain WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED in his match against Benjamin Bonzi – there are simply too many layers – the oversimplification is this: Bonzi was serving with match point in the third set. He struck a first-serve fault and was set to serve a second when A PHOTOGRAPHER ran on court to get to the photo pit. Chair Umpire Greg Allensworth yelled at the man to get off the court and then gave Bonzi a first serve because of the undue delay between first and second serve. Medvedev, understandably (in my opinion), flew off the handle. He yelled many things and whooped up the crowd, which led to a loooooong delay. Bonzi didn't convert the match point, was broken, lost the tiebreak, got bageled in the fourth set, and then somehow won in the end. It was crazy. (ESPN)
• I'm sorry, but I laughed maniacally A LOT:

• Let the record reflect that this is (mostly) what Daniil Medvedev yelled: "Don't shake, man. It's ok, we are mostly men. Are you a man? Are you a man? Don't shake, why are you shaking? So it's a first serve, huh? Oh, you want to go home. [into camera] HE WANTS TO GO HOME GUYS, HE DOESN'T LIKE TO BE HERE, HE GETS PAID BY THE MATCH NOT BY THE HOUR. WHAT DID REILLY OPELKA SAY?!? WHAT DID REILLY OPELKA SAY?!? WHAT DID REILLY OPELKA SAY?!?"

• After the match, Daniil did his best Mourinho impersonation (YouTube): "I was not upset with the photographer. I was upset with the decision. The delay from the photographer was probably four seconds and a half. I'm not sure it's enough for a [first] serve.... I'm getting big fine enough, so if I speak, I'm in big trouble, so I'm not going to speak. Everyone knows what I talked about when I said Reilly. Reilly got fined big-time for this, so I'm going to get a big fine, too."

• Jelena Ostapenko and Maria Sakkari did an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit and the fact that Penko was posting under the official US Open handle makes this very on-brand response even funnier:

• Players don't love the Sunday start, which is new at the US Open this year. (AP via ESPN)
• Good lookback on one of the craziest – and most consequential – matches of the last five years: Aryna Sabalenka vs. Kaia Kanepi in the second round of the 2022 US Open. (The Athletic)

• Look, love 'em or hate 'em – I pretty much love 'em, but it's complicated – the raucous New York crowd is what makes the US Open the US Open. Let them go as crazy as they want, I say. And if that makes the players go crazy, so be it. (The Athletic)
• For a good time, here are all the Championship Points from the last 25 years at the US Open:

• I'll be doing some livestreaming during the US Open over on Twitch. Follow me there at pandaxprs12 to get notifications when I go live. You can also join our growing Discord to chat with me and other fans during the tournament, suggest links for the Bagel Bites, and just have a general fun time.
• Sign up below if you'd like to get these Forty Deuce posts sent directly to your inbox. It's free!