Tennis

Bagel Bites: Taylor Swift has a new album

Nothing in this post is related to that headline.

Courtney Nguyen

Courtney Nguyen

— 6 min read
Bagel Bites: Taylor Swift has a new album
h/t Reddit

Internet ephemera from the tennis world and beyond. Have something you want to include? Join the Discord or hmu on Bluesky.

  • Wilson is so legit. (The Tennis Sweet Spot via Substack)
  • Sports Illustrated is launching the SI Women's Games and I am kinda intrigued. (Awful Announcing)
  • If we're going to have a real discussion about the schedule and the possible bloat of the expanded ATP Masters/WTA 1000 format, then we can't just be handwaving the financial benefits of the change. These increases for the ATP are pretty incredible. Here's the AP on it. (Reddit)
  • Which of course begs the question: Uh....would all y'all who complain about the expanded format be ok with a pay cut for shorter events? As you'll recall, I asked WTA Player Council member Maria Sakkari precisely this earlier in the week. She was speaking specifically for herself, but I'll repost her answer below:
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Cincinnati: Sakkari says not all 1000s are the same
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  • And here's the ever reasonable and level-headed Jessica Pegula very clearly explaining what it is about this expanded format that is causing issues. It's not the format itself per se, it's the cumulative effect of 10 of them:
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Cincinnati: Pegula on the expanded format
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  • Ok, but also, these are top players opining on this issue. As Andy Roddick consistently says on Served, top players play the most, they drive the value, and they're the ones who understandably need the recovery breaks more — this is the basis for his proposed solution of the season ending after the US Open, the ATP/WTA finals being played earlier in October, and the fall season being just 250s. But if you're a mid-ranked or lower-ranked player, you actually want to play. You want lots of tournaments and opportunities for points and money. Your concerns are, therefore, in contrast or conflict with the top players. So I asked Clara Tauson for her thoughts. She had a suggestion that never even occurred to me:
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Cincinnati: Tauson has FOMO
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Are you Team Ivan or Team Mardy?

The Valkyries are actively courting queer fans in ways that would have been unthinkable for women's sports teams just a few years ago. The lavender color scheme, long associated with sapphic pride and resistance, is a hat-tip to queer culture. Wearing Valks’ gear has become an informal method of flagging — a way to subtly signal queerness or availability — with fans encouraging their single friends to approach other potential singles wearing lavender swag.
  • As a labubu non-carer, I appreciated Iga Swiatek's thinly-veiled honesty here. (Instagram)
  • Flagged by Discord HeytherePLH: I thought Adam Lefkoe did a great job hosting the TNT desk during the French Open, so good to see him get an extension.
  • Welcome to the FD STAN HOUSE, Terence Atmane. Reasons why we have chosen to stan: (1) His name is Terence, (2) He has one of the biggest Pokemon collections in France (ATP), (3) He knows nothing about baseball but was wearing a Ken Griffey Jr. t-shirt (Cincinnati Enquirer via Yahoo), and (4) This thoroughly charming hit at the Tennis Channel desk after knocking out No.4 Taylor Fritz to make his first ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal and guarantee his Top 100 debut:
“I think it’s to do with the individuality of the sport, and then a combination of precociousness, attractiveness and visibility,” said a former Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) executive who spoke on the condition of anonymity to maintain relationships in the sport. “You put all those things together and women’s tennis is a perfect storm for fixated individuals.”
Mirnyi thinks he has had a positive effect on Sabalenka. “She’s a strong, dominating girl, she’s got a strong, dominating game but a little more backhand slice and coming into the net after a big serve or back up a powerful groundstroke at the net, I think it could give her new levels.”
Sabalenka agrees. “He wants to move forward always,” Sabalenka said. “On my serve he’s getting me to control my body better, push with my legs, bring my chest up. Nothing really major, but little things that really help.”
  • I really enjoyed these mini-docs Rolex did for Iga and Coco:

Raise your hand if you want to give those mind exercises a try.

Coco's grandparents are so cute.

  • A few bits and bobbles related to the US Open: Grigor Dimitrov and Matteo Berretini have officially withdrawn.... Tracy Austin's son Brandon Holt moved into the main draw.... Sabalenka was set to play the mixed doubles with Grigor but she confirmed she won't look for a new partner.... Venus Williams, 45, leads the wild cards.... Caroline Garcia also got a wild card for what is set to be her last professional event before she retires.
  • From Discord Carrie: Venus is getting a Barbie doll. (USA Today)
  • USTA jacked up the US Open prize money by a whopping 20%, which means the singles champions will take home a cool $5 million each. (USOpen.org)
        • Champion: $5,000,000
        • Runner-Up: $2,500,000
        • Semifinalists: $1,260,000
        • Quarterfinalists: $660,000
        • Round of 16: $400,000
        • Round of 32: $237,000
        • Round of 64: $154,000
        • Round of 128: $110,000
  • I had a Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment call this week and the lovely woman I did my call with was a big WNBA fan. We spent part of the call talking about WTA and WNBA and friends, I wish I could have screengrabbed the look she gave me when I explained that there are over 60 women who will show up to the US Open in a couple of weeks, lose in the first round, and make more than Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, or Paige Bueckers – they all make less than $80K for the season. Nicole was SHOOK.
  • Just for funsies, I looked up the prize money from 10 years ago. First-round prize money has nearly tripled. You know what hasn't nearly tripled? The salaries and rates of all the people who work to put on these events! Weird! (US Open.org)
Winner:$3,300,000  
Runner-Up:$1,600,000   
Semifinalist:$805,000  
Quarterfinalist:$410,975 
Round of 16:$213,575   
Round of 32: $120,200
Round of 64:   $68,600   
Round of 128:$39,500
  • Victoria Mboko did the media rounds in Canada after her big Montreal win. Hot take: this is way more important and valuable to both her and the sport than playing Cincinnati. (YouTube)
  • I started watching STOLEN on Netflix, which is a quasi-documentary about a diamond heist in Antwerp and I was not ready for the WTA to pop up 20 minutes into it. (YouTube)
  • I watched the Netflix doc on the Titan submersible disaster and (1) that rich man was fucking stupid as goddamn shit, (2) Irish people remain perfect and (3) I'm going to be hearing the sound of popping carbon fiber in my sleep. (YouTube)
  • No really, what the fuck does Palantir actually DO. (Wired)

This is important.

  • Tennis commentary should not be this. (Twitter)
  • This whole thing is bonkers and I laughed many times:

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