Chili Bites: How to save a life

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.

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The Catch-up

• Last time I poked my head up around these parts, Maja Chwalinska was running rampant in Paris. Yeah, that’s a long blogging break, even for me.
• But the time was well spent. Since I’ve been unemployed, I’ve made a personal commitment to always choose my friends, family, and myself over tennis. Because I was definitely not doing any of that when I was working in tennis. And I was kinda sad about it.
• I think I’ve actually done a good job of holding myself to that promise. There was an impromptu trip to Paris with family, a week of non-stop Twitch streaming during Wimbledon – that was fun, Twitch fam! – a July that was jam-packed with family fun times, and a couple weeks of attempted downtime, as I recharged my batteries for what is set to be a more tennis-forward finish to the year for me.
• It was great fun, I’ve had a wonderful summer, but what happened happened and now we are in the Rome of Ohio: Cincinnati.

• How It is wet and a little wild here in Mason, where the Cincinnati Open is set to kick off – weather willing – on Thursday. I got here on Monday and here is a roundup of notable events so far:
  • Booked a car at Budget two months ago. Arrived to pick up said car and was told “We have no cars”.

• I was shopping at Meijer and had to take cover in a Tornado Shelter Area due to a Tornado warning in the area. Now, as someone who comes from an Earthquake zone, I know that not all warnings are legit. But when all the employees started heading to the safety area, I abandoned my cart and followed suit like a lemming. The nice folks at Meijer took great care of everyone – and if the apocalypse comes, I would want to be in a Meijer, honestly – and we were out of there in about an hour. All good, business as usual. Then when I walked out of the store, I saw branches down, trash cans all over the street, lights out, and a full-on street sign bent in half. Y’all do not joke!
• Then, 30 minutes after I got home to the AirBnB, the power went out and stayed out overnight. Once again, Meijer came through. Quick midnight run and we were able to pick up flashlights and candles.
• Woke up to power restored but internet out.
• But all is fine and I’m excited to be back at one of my favorite tournaments. Fingers crossed we can get through the next few days – they will be wet – before a second week that should be all groovy.
• Here are the draws for Cincy:

• Some quick Cincy notes: Both Carlos and Jannik are skipping this year (ATP), Serena and Venus are set to play doubles together (Tennis Grandstand), and the WTA World No.1 will be on the line with Elena Rybakina quickly closing in on Aryna Sabalenka. If Rybakina wins Toronto, she’ll be just four points back. (Live Rankings)
• Here’s the ATP’s draw breakdown. I would link to the WTA’s but I genuinely looked for it for 10 minutes and could not find one. So. (ATP)
• It was a full rainout on Wednesday (and a chunk of Tuesday as well), so qualifying will have to roll over into the main-draw start. Thoughts and prayers to the schedulers! There are more than a handful of first-round qualie matches that have yet to be played.

The News

• Naomi Osaka withdrew from Cincy citing fatigue. Sensible decision. She’s played a very full schedule and – this is the good news – she’s been going pretty deep every week for the last few months. (WTA)

• Fine, I’ll say it: There’s no doubt Naomi’s tennis is there and she’s a short-list favorite for what feels like a pretty wide-open US Open. She has plenty of matches under her belt, most recently a 6-4 in the third loss to future No.1 Elena Rybakina in the Toronto quarterfinals last night.
• Emma Raducanu is out of the US Open. She hasn’t played since Queen’s in June. She’s still recovering from a right-leg stress fracture. (BBC)
• Jasmine Paolini enjoyed a bounce-back at Wimbledon with a QF run, but she hasn’t played since. She pulled out of Washington, Canada, and Cincinnati citing a foot injury. Bummer. She was a finalist in Cincy just last year.
• Also out of Cincy: Wimbledon finalist and REIGNING WTA 1000 CHAMPION KAROLINA MUCHOVA, who was a Cincy finalist three years ago. She also has not played since the grass. (WLWT)
• It really was not my intention to just do graph after graph of withdrawals but that is where we are I guess.

When They Keep Breaking Down

Some players keep being sidelined for weeks or months by injuries, and it’s becoming the new background noise of professional tennis. Experts weigh in.

Tennis Sweet Spot by Carole BouchardTennis Sweet Spot

• So this is a withdrawal TECHNICALLY, but: Beatriz Haddad Maia is stepping away from tennis for a bit. (WTA)
• Ok enough everyone is broken physically or spiritually news. Canada has its final four in Toronto (WTA) and Montreal (ATP) and, yes, it’s a bit of a contrast.
• Toronto will see Elena Rybakina vs. Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek vs. Elina Svitolina on Wednesday night. That’s coming off deep runs by Alex Eala and Naomi Osaka, too.
• Montreal saw a rash of withdrawals and early exits, leading to this: Ben Shelton vs. Learner Tien and Rafael Jodar vs. Brandon Nakashima. That’s fine! Almost all of them are very good tennis players!

• Coco Gauff and Taylor Fritz are new brand ambassadors for Oura Rings.
• Alex Eala is a new brand ambassador for Marriott Bonvoy.
• The PTPA is threatening to sue Andy Roddick’s SERVED for, you know, doing journalism. (Awful Announcing)

• Apropos of nothing: Here’s a long profile on the very amazing and impressive and super successful high-powered second-to-none law firm representing the PTPA, Clare Locke. (NY Times)

Last fall, Harvard’s president, Claudine Gay, came under fire from activists and alumni like the hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, who accused her of plagiarism. The university hired Clare Locke to defend Ms. Gay and to warn The New York Post about the prospect of litigation if it published articles about the allegations. The Post ran its stories, and Ms. Gay soon resigned as president.

Then Clare Locke began representing Mr. Ackman. In January, Business Insider published articles accusing his wife, Neri Oxman, of plagiarism. Mr. Ackman hired Clare Locke to write a 77-page letter threatening the outlet with litigation if it didn’t retract the claims. Business Insider has stood by its articles.

In a recent interview with The Times, Mr. Ackman said he was upset with the media’s power “to destroy lives.” Announcing the letter on X, he called Ms. Locke and Mr. Clare “the rock stars of defamation law. They should be your first call if something like what happened to Neri and me happens to you.”

• More PTPA news: The Saisai/Trungelliti plaintiffs have narrowed their suit against the Ons/Hubie defendants, dismissing Winners Alliance (that’s Bill Ackman’s company) and Ahmad Nassar. (Danial Kaplan via Substack)
• Rafael Jodar is stratospheric and on the verge of the Top 10. (BBC)

The Good Reads

• I loved this: Tumaini Carayol spent months asking players about using AI to scout their opponents. It’s a fascinating – and at times truly infuriating lol – look into what players will or won’t do in search of an edge. And thank you Naomi Osaka for thinking of the environment! (The Guardian)

Daniil Medvedev has found himself on ChatGPT with friends and his team members as they jokingly try to solve the most pressing question in men’s tennis: how to beat Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. He describes AI as a true armchair coach: “[It] says some things [about Sinner and Alcaraz] and I’m: ‘OK great, how do I do it?’ Like: ‘OK, I see what you mean and it’s not bad things, but how do I go on court and do it?’”

A bored Coco Gauff once asked an AI platform about the best strategy for playing herself. “It didn’t say anything I didn’t already know,” she says. Then she comically rolls her eyes. “Newsflash: everybody plays me the same way – hit to my forehand and hope I double-fault.”

• H/t Discord Harlan: Giri Nathan tries to get to the bottom of the Question of the Day: Why the hell aren’t players smacking the shit out of Alex Eala’s eephus-esque serve????? (Defector)

Often you can spot her parked right on top of the baseline, crouching low to take the ball on the rise, smoothly redirecting the rally at will. She can tolerate a longer rally because she moves well, but it is movement with the intent of creeping forward and suffocating the opponent, rather than simply hanging deep and prolonging the point. Within the realm of counterpunchers, hers is a more aggressive approach. As Eala told BAGEL Magazine recently, growing up in the hoops-obsessed Philippines, she trained on a tennis court that had basketball hoops behind her, and she literally couldn't move back too far behind the baseline. Her spinny lefty forehand is a versatile shot that cracks open the court with angles, while her flatter two-handed backhand is becoming a better tool for ending points.

• Saschia Vickery explains why she’s on OnlyFans. (Second Serve)

Once Vickery’s first month on the site concluded, she made more than $80,000 and went on to make over $1 million that very same year—five times more than what she earned in prize money the year prior. And with this new source of income came multiple benefits in her playing career. She was able to hire a chef, a nutritionist, and a trainer, and to pay for her coach to travel with her to more events—luxuries that seemingly can only be enjoyed by those in the upper echelons of the sport. How these luxuries were afforded through OnlyFans presents a gray area regarding how athletes can garner significant success on the platform. “Me being a pro tennis player at a high level helped the marketing side of it. I still do OFTV episodes with other creators where I give them tennis lessons,” Vickery said. “But to be really honest with you, when I passed over the six-figure mark, it was only content that I posted pushing the limits, pushing the boundaries, showing more skin, doing lingerie photo shoots. It sounds harsh, but it’s the reality: Any man that goes on OnlyFans, he doesn’t really care about watching the end of your practice. He wants to see you with the least amount of clothes on as possible.”

• The whole Marketa Vondrousova decision is well and truly worth your time. WHAT in the world was she, her agent, and her boyfriend thinking???? I don’t blame the dog. Dogs are good doggos and always innocent! (ITIA)

• Sports Business Journal has released their annual 40 under 40 list, but more interestingly to me was this collection of answers re the fundamental question everyone is grappling with: What’s the biggest challenge facing the sports industry?
• Spoiler alert: IT AIN’T TRANS WOMEN.

• If you’re still on Twitter, Kirsti Miller is worth a follow. She’s been doing the lord’s work in bringing actual facts and science to the completely stupid and made-up debate about trans women in sports. (Twitter)

Trans Women in Sport: What Does the Science Say?

Research suggests trans women have minimal to no performance advantage over cisgender women.

Trans ResearchTrans Health Research team

• Jonathan and James at The Body Serve, did a fantastic episode on the WTA’s new testing policy and I’d encourage everyone to give it a listen:

• More homework: Last year, NPR and CBC did a six-part series of the EMBEDDED podcast dedicated to the history of gender testing in sports. The series is called TESTED and it’s very much listening to in full. Here are all six episodes:

• For now, this is the one thing I’ll say: If you present me with an issue that pits a majority against a minority, you have to clear an extremely high bar for me to even think of joining the majority side. I ain’t punchin’ down. It absolutely blows my mind how ravenously and gleefully people are being in going out of their way to attack ONE PERCENT of the population – let alone the even smaller group of trans women and girls who play sports across all levels worldwide. I don’t need to know the history or the science or even feel all that strongly at all about the topic to reflexively reject whatever they’re trying to sell. It’s not that complicated.
• Or, as Van Lathan said: "If you cannot gift trans people with visibility, humanity, and acceptance, could you at least gift them with silence? Could you at least shut the fuck up about it? Could you at least leave them the fuck alone?” (Higher Learning)

NowThis Impact (@nowthisimpact.bsky.social)

Podcaster Van Lathan slammed WNBA player Sophie Cunningham over her opposition to trans women in women’s sports despite no openly trans woman playing in the WNBA. (with @vanlathan on Instagram)

Bluesky SocialNowThis Impact

• Two tennis books in the spotlight at the moment: Matt Futterman’s THE CRUELEST GAME (Defector) and Julie Kliegman’s FINDING RENEE RICHARDS (NY Times).

Kliegman is respectful of Richards, but also visibly frustrated with her as a champion for the cause. “She wants to have her expertise heeded somehow without ever being called on,” they conclude of her absence from present-day debates. “She wants to be in the zeitgeist without making a peep.”

• Ben Rothenberg also had a long conversation with Kliegman. (Bounces)
• Thank you Tommy Paul for acknowledging that US Open ticket prices are TOO DAMN HIGH and that the parasitic corporatization of American sports has pushed out true fans that have been there from the start and supporting the sport across all levels over the full 11-month season. (Instagram)
• Ricky Dimon with a pretty fair take on L'Enfant Terrible Du Jour: Rafael Jodar. (Tennis Grandstand)
• H/t Discord Roberto: Asterisks on RG26? (The Set Break via Substack)

• RIP Tennis.com, a website that once served as an incubator of tennis writers and takers (including myself). An organization that doesn’t see Steve Tignor and Pete Bodo’s value is not a serious organization. (Defector)

In 2017, Sinclair purchased Tennis Media Company, cramming Tennis magazine, tennis.com, and Tennis Channel under the same umbrella. Tennis Channel rarely made an attempt to advertise tennis.com on its airwaves. Within five and a half years, the magazine folded. The website leaned into more ephemeral content—the featured article at any given point in a day could be a Steve Tignor recap or preview; it could also be about an Aryna Sabalenka TikTok and include an emoji in the headline. Tignor settled into a more professional style: still analytical, less personal. In 2023, Sias saw his regular work with tennis.com slow down, and the pitching process grow more complicated. Bodo felt the latitude to criticize players or even the tours shrink, the previous freedom complicated by corporate concerns about offending broadcast partners in the ATP and WTA. He added that tennis.com increasingly resembled a fan website and promotional vehicle for Tennis Channel and the tours. "It was not independent journalism, is what it comes down to," he said. 

• I know everyone is rightfully excited for Robert Pattinson’s Chris Hansen movie, but let us not be distracted from the fact that we are ALSO getting PAPER TIGERS which looks like an absolute BANGER:

• Bop of the Day: Read about it at your Barnes and Nobles.