Brunch Bites: Watch your step

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• Previously on The Bagel: I rambled.
• Two days ago I was really impressed with a bunch of top players. And then a bunch of them lost in the third round. Such is my power.

• Last year's finalist Taylor Fritz dropped 11 games in six sets going into the third round. Two of those games came in his second-round match. He looked well on his way to booking a trip to the second week. He was two sets and a break up on Francisco Cerundolo and then...oof.

“I mean, I don’t even know what to say,” said a despondent Fritz. “I don’t really want to talk to anybody, see anybody. I just need to get out for a couple days and then just get back to work. I don’t know how I let that happen.” (NY Post)

• Fritz was all class after the match. He gave credit to Cerundolo upping his level, which, once he did, Taylor struggled to keep up. That's a crusher for him, though. Big opportunity missed. (ATP)

• It was just a rough day for last year's runner-ups. Amanda Anisimova looked to finally find her tennis this summer, and aside from a second-set lapse against Lilli Tagger in the second round, she was rolling through sets. But she had no answers against Anastasia Potapova's baseline defense, losing 6-2, 7-5. 46 unforced errors in a 99-minute match pretty much tells the story there.
• Another buzzsaw out: Wimbledon finalist Karolina Muchova. Her set scores going to the third round: 6-3, 6-0, 6-1, 6-0. She went out to a resurgent Emma Navarro 6-3, 7-5. That's a big boost for Iga Swiatek and Marta Kostyuk's attempts to get into a qualifying position for the WTA Finals. Muchova currently sits in the No.7 spot.
• It was one of those days for Anna Kalinskaya. When she gets all her smooth groundstroking in order, she's a world beater, and she knocked off No.9 seed Elina Svitolina in three sets on Friday to make her first US Open Round of 16.

• But the heartbreaker of the third round belongs to Madison Keys, who led Zheng Qinwen 5-0 in the third and lost seven straight games. Her post-match press conference was a rough watch. All credit to Madi for taking it on the chin and being brutally honest about how much she's been struggling over the last few months. (Steve Tignor via Substack)

“Tennis just feels really hard right now, so I feel like that kind of took over,” she said of her spiraling emotions. “I’m sure everyone could kind of see that I was struggling a little bit, but inside it felt probably even bigger than that.”

For Keys, it sounded as if this collapse was about more than just how she was feeling on this one afternoon.

“I just feel like I’ve kind of been struggling for a while now, and I feel like I was able to kind of play through it for a bit,” she said. “Some weeks are easier than others, and this week is obviously one of the harder ones just because you care so much.”

This loss, at least in the moments afterward, felt like a breaking point.

“It’s been something that’s been building for a while,” Keys said. “I just kind of keep pushing it off and pushing it off just because that’s how the tennis world works. It’s just to the point where I actually need to do something about it.”

“I’m going to have to make some sort of changes.”

• It's hard not to see the irony of Madison's breaking point coming against Zheng Qinwen, a player who has also openly discussed her wayward path in her injury comeback. Zheng has spoken frequently about still trying to find that competitive fire after her long layoff, but it was a feeling that remained elusive. She fell out of the Top 100 and had to qualify in New York for the main draw. But something finally clicked for her against Yulia Putintseva in the second round. It was her best performance in over a year, and it looked like the old Qinwen was finally back. Give her presser after that second-round win a listen:

• Zheng had slipped so far out of competitive relevance this year that it's easy to forget that she won Olympic gold, made the Australian Open final, and qualified for the WTA Finals – where she was edged out in a thrilling three-set final by Coco Gauff – just two years ago. It's also easy to forget that she's still just 23 years old.

• One person who won't forget about what a healthy, motivated, and in-form Zheng can do is Iga Swiatek. She's quietly into the second week without the loss of a set, and that's despite getting a stern test from Marie Bouzkova on Saturday. Swiatek steeled herself to win in two tiebreaks. She'll get a Qinwen rematch on Monday.

• Yet, with all those upsets on the women's side of the draw, the Round of 16 looks spectacular. 14 of the 16 remaining women are seeded, including the four women vying for the No. 1 ranking (Aryna, Elena, Jess, and Coco), two former No.1s and champions (Iga and Naomi), and the three Grand Slam champions of the season (Elena, Mirra, and Linda). How good is that!
• Oh, and just as a reminder: Elena Rybakina is two wins from sealing No.1. It's hers outright if she makes the semis.

• As for the men, here's where we're at. And no, we're not talking about how Daniil Medvedev has not dropped a set. Nope, we aren't talking about that all.

• But if we WERE going to talk about it, we might the following joke: Boy, that LED Screen in Winston-Salem might have just played Medvedev into form.

• But we're not.

• WAIT THIS STAT IS CRAZY???? "At least one player with a one-handed backhand has reached a major semi-final in men’s singles every year since the inaugural edition of Wimbledon in 1877." No pressure, Stef! (ATP)

• Alex Eala and Iva Jovic played one of the matches of the tournament on Saturday, with the American breaking one last time to win 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 in over three hours. (The Athletic)

• Eala will head to the Singapore 500 next before skipping Beijing to represent the Philippines at the Asian Games. Winner of the Asian Games for both the men and the women will earn automatic qualification for the LA Olympics.

• Hopefully this is the last from me on the influencers: D'arcy Maine has a great breakdown of the debate and, importantly, reports on the details of the USTA's Creator Credential program. As I mentioned in the last blog, I think it's sloppy to refer to every person taking a selfie as "an influencer". Like, that one video that was going around of the people in a suite doing some sort of coordinated group video or photo – that's just people in a suite. The US Open has ALWAAAAAYYYS had issues with loud and rowdy people in suites. That's not new! (ESPN)

• I found it interesting that some of the USTA's credentialed creators work for mainstream outlets. Why not just give them normal credentials then? (ESPN)

Some pointed to the USTA's credentialing of content creators as part of the problem. But we know this for sure: None of those who faced ire on Monday night during Osaka's match were credentialed by the USTA.

The USTA credentialed roughly 100 content creators this year – up from 54 in 2025 – and that number includes social media editors from legacy media brands like Tennis Channel, Time and the Associated Press. The independent creators given official access were vetted and, in many cases, have been engaged in conversations with the USTA for months about coverage. Per the USTA, the idea of their inclusion was to "to engage with fans where and how they consume content" and "formal guidelines govern access and content capture for these credential holders." The 2025 tournament was the first time the organization offered these credentials.

• Colette Lewis has everything you need to know about the US Open junior event. (ZooTennis)
• Mackenzie McDonald explains why Grand Slams are everything. (The Guardian)

• Oh look, Andrea Petkovic is being reasonable. Again. (Finite Jest via Substack)

The U.S. Open have become a place to be. More importantly, a place to be seen. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. If it brings people to an event that promises great entertainment value and makes them into tennis fans by accident, that’s great news for the sport. Where it becomes murky and why a lot of people have a difficult time brushing influencers off like an annoying but harmless fly, is when everything about it becomes about showing you were there. That, however, is not a sole U.S. Open problem. That’s a societal problem. Have you seen the discussions about Coachella?

Access has always been a status symbol, a luxury that showed off financial standing or the network someone had built or been handed. But it used to be enjoyed in private. Today, access is blasted all over social media. Suddenly, it elicits desire in people to have something they didn’t know was needed in the first place.

• Quote of the Day comes from Tomasz Wiktorowski, who was able to snap Naomi Osaka out of her spiral by yelling "Fight with her, not with me!" It really did work. Naomi stopped yapping at her box and fought back to beat Elise Mertens 6-3, 3-6, 7-5. She was so locked in she thought it was a third-set tiebreak at 5-5.

• Just a reminder: If you see people refer to or introduce Trinity Rodman as "Dennis Rodman's daughter", can you please do me a favor and slap them upside the head, either literally or figuratively? She is the star of the USWNT and the highest-paid female soccer player in the world. She's earned her own name. He had very little to do with any of that, if anything at all. (People)
• Anyway. Trinity and Ben are cute. (ATP)
• A few last tennis things:
  • Serena and Venus lost their doubles match to Maya Joint and Angel Chan and they skipped out on press. No injury reason was provided, as would usually be a legit reason to skip out on press. USTA has confirmed that they will not be fining the sisters. The reporters onsite are annoyed that there was no press conference. Literally everyone involved in this is being reasonable. Players can skip press and risk a fine. Tournaments can choose not to fine – can you imagine the PR hit here? And yes, journalists are totally allowed to be annoyed that their companies – or they themselves – have paid a shit-ton of money to be in New York to interview players for stories and they rely on that promise of access and they did not get it through no fault of their own. No one is wrong. Everyone is right! It's fine!
  • I don't know why Aryna Sabalenka is snapping at reporters for absolutely no reason, but her crankiness could just boost her to the title. It would be so her.
  • I am still amazed by the Forbes report that Elena Rybakina ($6M) made more off-court endorsement money last year than Alexander Zverev ($5M).

• More Swaggapino greatness: The legendary Lea Salonga became the first Filipina to get a star on the Walk of Fame. From Miss Saigon to Les Mis to the voices behind Jasmine and Mulan. It's hard to capture what she meant for us Gen X and Millennial Southeast Asians. (Rolling Stone)

Lea Salonga on ‘Miss Saigon,’ ‘Aladdin’ and Supporting Her Trans Son Amid Anti-Trans Rhetoric: ‘It Makes Me Intensely Afraid and Not Just for My Child’

Tony winner Lea Salonga talks about “Miss Saigon,” “Aladdin” and supporting her trans son Nic.

VarietyMarc Malkin

• Shoutout to "Home", the greatest episode of network television I ever saw. An X-Files episode so psychologically horrifying, it was subsequently banned from reair, though it now does run in syndication with warnings. (Polygon)
• As a matter of fact yes, I did finally get the X-Files Lego Set, thanks so much for asking! It's on the off-season to-do list. I also picked up the Gingerbread AT-AT because it made me laugh.

The adorable love story behind Wikipedia’s ‘high five’ photos

Nearly 14 years later, the tale of this iconic couple can finally be told.

InputAnnie Rauwerda

• Are someone who always writes down reminders on any scrap of paper you have or, if need be, on your hand? Well this slap-bracelet memo pad just won the Grand Prize at the Tokyo Stationary Awards. (JetPens)

Bop of the Day: It's the weekend. Let's dance.