Chili Bites: Love ON top

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• Previously on The Bagel: Hello, my little chili babies.

• It’s a Roger Federer sweep up in Canada, after Iga Swiatek (Toronto) and Ben Shelton (Montreal) take the WTA/ATP 1000 titles in Canada.
• For Shelton, that’s a clean title defense, going back-to-back in Montreal and Toronto just like Jessica Pegula did in 2023 and 2024. Not an easy feat at all. And for all the talk of the collapsed Montreal draw, Shelton had a pretty solid run to the title, beating Brooksby, Bergs, Fonseca, Mensik, Tien, and Nakashima without dropping a set. That’s a great rebound after his sputtering start to the summer hardcourts, where he struggled to a quarterfinal showing in Washington D.C. (l. Tabilo). He’s back up to No. 6 in the ATP Rankings, just one off his career high at No. 5.
• Here’s Ava Wallace on Shelton’s dominant week in Canada. (The Athletic)

• As for Iga, well, well, well, what do we have here? On the verge of dropping out of the Top 10, she exorcises a handful of demons – both on the court and in her own head – to win her first title of the season and 26th WTA title overall. To do it, she knocked off her Roland Garros vanquisher Marta Kostyuk, Indian Wells and Rome vanquisher Elina Svitolina, and her Australian Open vanquisher (and general bugaboo) Elena Rybakina in the final. With that, Iga is now three big titles away from a Grand Slam Masters Pokemon thingy – she’s won every Slam and WTA 1000 and WTA Finals except: Australian Open, Dubai, and Wuhan.
• After the win, Iga let herself unleash all that anger she’s been bottling up for the last few months, which she said stemmed from the negativity about her season and career from her own countryfolk in Poland. Granted, she’s never one to not break a fourth wall, but this time, Swiatek celebrated by staring straight down the court camera in pointed exultation while pointing at her head. Ok girl, damn!
• Just as I am very into Coco Gauff’s “this one’s for the haters” pettiness, I am also well and seated for this. Let it all out, Iga. You’ll feel better!

Rankings Watch: Swiatek returns to Top 5, Rybakina narrows gap to No. 1

Toronto champion Iga Swiatek returns to the Top 5 after a four-week absence in the latest edition of the PIF WTA Rankings, while Toronto runner-up Elena Rybakina has narrowed the gap between herself and World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka to just 54 points.

Women's Tennis AssociationAlex Macpherson

Swiatek's run was also another reminder of how good she has been in finals. Her career record in championship matches now stands at 26-5 (84%). Among the rest of the current Top 5, Coco Gauff has the next-best winning percentage at 69% (11-5), followed by Aryna Sabalenka at 55% (24-20), Elena Rybakina at 50% (13-13) and Jessica Pegula at 46% (11-13).

• Tumaini Carayol asked Iga a great question in her pre-tournament press in Cincinnati on Friday: Your home country is where you’re supposed to feel the most support, so what the heck is up with Poland? (The Guardian)

“That’s an interesting question, I think, for a sociologist or someone, because honestly, it’s not only in Poland, but in Great Britain as well, in different countries, for different sports, not only for individual athletes

“There is unfair judgment from different parts coming to us, and we need to handle it. For sure, last month I faced it, my team faced it. My goal was for it to not interrupt my process and define who I am. Being sure about my decisions, not letting this disrupt anything and focus on growing because it’s just the world that we live in. It shouldn’t be like that so I took yesterday’s opportunity to just talk about it a little bit more even if it helps one person, or one young athlete knows that we all try to do something with it, maybe it will help a little bit.”

• Do you have a theory? Drop it in the comments. I’d love to hear different takes on it. It’s such a weird phenomenon.

• Mark Petchey and Andrea Petkovic were really good on Swiatek here:

• And speaking of Petko: "Before the tournament, I asked Hawkeye for a bunch of numbers on Iga’s tennis because I wanted to make sense of why she hadn’t been able to reach a final this year. There were numbers about groundstroke speed, height above the net, serve numbers, return numbers. Interestingly, they were not much different to some of Iga’s numbers during her best years. Some were down by a very small margin of points, but others were up so they should’ve balanced each other out. When I came across breakpoints saved and breakpoints converted, though, is where I saw the biggest discrepancy. That’s where she had fallen of. To me, this meant one thing: the barrier in front of Swiatek was not her tennis, it was her belief. Not necessarily the belief in herself as a champion - after all, she had shown many times that she was one in the truest meaning of the word - but the belief in which style of tennis was the right one during what time of the match. Having evolved as a tennis player suddenly meant she had options. Too many options? Maybe for a little while.” (Finite Jest)
• This is a very good point from Todd Spiker: Canada’s scheduling was wonky. (WTA Backspin)

All that extra work to reach the final did her no favors once she got there, as Rybakina was never able to re-ignite her game against Iga Swiatek with the title on the line. In all, the oddly scheduled event made poor use of its calendar, as Rybakina was forced to bear the brunt of a program that saw her play the QF-SF-F on successive days even with the event's week-plus running time, then having to play the final in an albeit late-starting *day session* match that began at 6 p.m. on Thursday after not having finished up her late night match and post-SF obligations on Wednesday evening until 1 a.m. on Final Day.

Whomever it was who'd played the late match on Wednesday was going to be greatly disadvantaged the following day, and that person turned out to be Rybakina, whose 6-2/6-3 loss to Swiatek prevented her from getting tantalizingly close to #1 Sabalenka in the rankings (she'd been just four points behind at #2 w/ the win).

• Owen Lewis wonders if Ben Shelton is a short-list favorite in New York. (Second Serve)

Shelton is an occasionally maddening player to watch. He’s relentlessly positive during his matches, yelling in a somewhat nasal voice after everything from brilliant winners to win sets to bland service winners at 1–1, 15–love. Then he’ll blast a low-percentage forehand down the line wide to lose a five-setter at Wimbledon and show so little anguish that I wonder if he’s sufficiently bothered to correct the erroneous impulse next time out. Easy to forget now that he’s defended his title in Canada and looks like a potential Tier 1 US Open favorite pending the health of Sincaraz: Shelton is 1–2 at the last two majors, losing in straight sets to Raphael Collignon and from two-sets-to-one up to Otto Virtanen. There wasn’t much indication heading into Canada that Shelton would play the best tennis of his life; this article began as a pitch about him being in a slump. Almost as impressive as the tennis in Montreal was how Shelton summoned it as if out of necessity, with more than a quarter of his ranking points on the line.

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• Until next time: Goodbye and au revoir Canada!

How Aryna Sabalenka Became the Most Compelling Player in Tennis

“I want to be remembered as a fighter on court, but so cool and fun off court”

TimeSean Gregory / Pinecrest, Fla.

• Aryna Sabalenka landed the cover of TIME Magazine. Here’s the first line of the Sean Gregory’s feature story, which I think is a really good, comprehensive feature (though (1) hard core fans won’t learn anything new, which is fine, and (2) whether the profile shines a positive or negative light on her…YMMV): “Aryna Sabalenka did not get completely drunk.” (TIME)
• Side note: If you have a Serena superfan in your life, a big reprint of her iconic TIME cover would be something special:

The Greatest - Serena Williams Canvas Print by Photograph by Paola Kudacki for TIME

Purchase a canvas print of the photograph “The Greatest - Serena Williams” by Photograph by Paola Kudacki for TIME. A grayscale portrait of a woman with closed eyes, featuring a strong profile and elegant posture. The magazine cover design complements her powerful presence.

TIME Cover StoreAmber Freedman

• WTA No.1 Watch: With her run to the Canada final, Elena Rybakina is just 54 points behind Aryna Sabalenka going into Cincy. In the grand scheme of things, you would think that Rybakina might want to consider skipping Cincy, given she has played a heavy schedule this year. Why play yourself into fatigue with the US Open coming up? But no, she’s here in Cincy and it looks like she’ll give it a go. To overtake Aryna here, Elena needs to at least make the final. If Aryna makes the quarterfinals, Elena will have to win the title. Aryna can clinch it outright by making the final herself.
• Iga’s win over Rybakina in the Toronto final might have done enough to help Aryna extend her consecutive weeks at No.1 through the US Open. Had Elena won, she would have been just four points back of Aryna. Bestie x Bestie!

• Pretty cool: During the Shanghai Masters in October, Roger Federer will pair up with Li Na for a hit and giggle with Marat Safin and Dinara Safina. Between Roger and Li Na, that’s like 80% of the entire tennis economy from 2010-2015. (Zhang Bendou via Twitter)
• Jess Pegula has confirmed for WTA Singapore in September. Singapore has been elevated to a WTA 500 and is now Southeast Asia’s biggest WTA tournament. And yes, Alex Eala is also headed there. (Straits Times)
• At a time of skyrocketing tennis ticket prices, I absolutely love Singapore starting ticket prices at 8SG, which is like $6.50. (PhilStar)

Designed to welcome a diverse audience, the ticket options are purposefully curated to ensure the tournament remains accessible for all. Single-session tickets start from just SG$8, making live tennis accessible to all, especially those discovering the sport for the first time. Fans can also opt for single-session packages with hospitality elements, starting from SG$500. All-access passes for devoted fans seeking the complete tournament experience start at SG$650.

• I’m pretty influencerphobic, but I have all the time in the world for Coach Jackie and I LOVE that she went to the NBO in Toronto and recognized royalty when she saw it. (Instagram)

The overlooked consequence of WTA’s new sex testing policy

The WTA has introduced mandatory genetic testing for every player seeking to compete on the women’s professional tour.The policy has largely been discussed through the lens of transgender participation in sport,But the athletes most likely to receive an unexpected result may not be transgender women.They may be women who have always lived and competed as women, but unknowingly have an intersex variation.Under the new policy, players must complete a one-off test for the SRY gene, usually through

The First ServeDale Roberts

• H/t Discord Harlan: How do you not read this article on the company that is set to do the WTA’s sex testing test and come away being highly sus about this from a competency, privacy, and integrity basis. (Sportico)
• I’ve been getting frequent questions on stream about what’s going on with Victoria Azarenka. For now, here’s her most recent update from the end of July:

• Rough times for Jack Draper right now. Tumaini caught up with him in Cincinnati, where he lost in the first round again. (The Guardian)

“The reason I got emotional was that through all the challenges, you can forget who you are on the court. And last week I felt like I couldn’t give any more. I was emotional because I didn’t recognise the player I was out on the court due to my injuries and due to probably the way I’ve been feeling for a long time.

“When you reach rock bottom like that you can come back up again. Since then I’ve practised really well, I’ve had amazing support from the people around me and you get to a point more and more of acceptance. We’ve definitely reached that acceptance phase now.”

• Along with Beatriz Haddad Maia, Lulu Sun and Laura Siegemund are also shutting it down for a bit. (Women’s Tennis Blog)

• “Answer Engine Optimiation”? OOF. A must-read by Katie Baker on the death of Google, and thereby, the internet. (The Ringer)

Already, going online and looking for something can be a depressing experience, filled with 404 errors and stubborn walled-garden paywalls and rotted links and shuttered publications and busted GIFs. As Brandon Wenerd, the publisher of BroBible, noted about one web-browsing experience on his Substack: “Look at this mess … SIX ad units above the fold on a Metro.Co.UK story about the All-American Rejects. You really think Google finds this UX so precious that it wants to drive people to it.

Once upon a time, I thought nothing could be worse than the proliferation of websites driven by SEO. That was before I learned of the existence of AEO: answer engine optimization. In my day, I could get lost in the glorious SI Vault; now I can find those old gems only if I know exactly what to search for and deploy the Wayback Machine. Not all of this is specifically Google’s fault. But the company’s new priorities seem like they’ll only exacerbate the general state of dilapidation online.

• I love Jeremy Strong. He seems like an earnestly good guy who takes something that people think shouldn’t be taken seriously, seriously. I’ll always ride with those souls. And yes, Method can be sus, but we can all recognize there’s a difference between staying in an accent and being a roaring prick of a human, right? (GQ)

• Ducked out to watch the Anne Hathaway dinosaur movie and it was fun! Queen Anne 4 for 4 this year.
• Had a fun and quick chat with Emiliana Arango after her 6-2, 6-2 win over Venus Williams in the first round of Cincinnati, which was Venus’ 14th consecutive singles loss. Arango says she’s feeling fit and confident after a strong qualifying campaign and she was in a great mood when she stopped to chat. She was accompanied by everyone’s best friend, Giuliana Olmos, who Arango called “my emotional support animal.”

• I asked Arango about her dog Oreo, and she said that he’s doing great and, thankfully, is in Florida.

“I love my dog and if you ask me, he's perfect. The thing is…he’s not the friendliest. But he’s very cute and people want to touch him, and he doesn’t want to be touched. So I can’t bring him to a tournament, so I’m really sad he has to stay home."

• Colombia was devastated by a 7.5 earthquake last week, and she said after the early panic of being unable to get in contact with her family, she can confirm that they are safe and suffered minimal damage. But the process of rebuilding and recovery has begun. A large building right next to her coach’s family’s house collapsed down to rubble. “They couldn’t find 30 people. Right now, my family back home is trying to get as much donations as possible, food and water."

“Luckily my hometown wasn’t hit as hard. My coach’s hometown was hit really hard. It was hard because we couldn’t get in touch with his family the day of, but we’re just really glad everyone is ok and trying to help as much as we can."

• Arango credited her win over Venus to her ability to make the match “ugly”, not giving Venus the same look twice. She hopes she can do it against against Iga in the second round, but she knows it’s a tough task:

“When she’s in form, there’s nothing much I can say. We’ve all seen it. It’s tough. She’s a great player. I think if I go out there and play my game – again, try and make it ugly — who knows."

• I asked Coco Gauff to contrast the first-strike power games of Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina, and I thought this was a really astute read, and might explain why Coco knows – and maybe the whole locker room knows – doubt is Aryna’s greatest enemy:

“Elena just doesn’t second guess. She has her way of playing. I don’t know, maybe in her head she has a Plan B or C, but I feel like she plays the same way every time and she’s very sure of her game. There’s obviously pros and cons to that. When she’s on, it’s really tough. Aryna, she’s similar but she’s added more things, like dropshotting and coming to net, so it’s a little bit different than she’s done in the past."

• Roberto Bautista Agut is a professional soccer player now? (BBC)

• Bop of the Day: Summertime means dusting off Japanese legend Haruomi Hosono’s HOSONO HOUSE. I remember seeing this album cover for the first time at a record shop and thinking THAT IS THE COOLEST ASIAN MAN I HAVE EVER SEEN I MUST HAVE IT.