Daily Bagel: Peak Pit

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.

• Nice and deserved glow up of the RodPod, but I was particularly struck by the details about influencers and content creators. It was already weird that Wimbledon didn't let them record on site, but the UNITED STATES OPEN??? (NY Times)

For the first time this year, the U.S. Open offered what it called a “Content Creator Media Credential,” allowing various nontraditional media figures (influencers, bloggers, podcasters) in tennis and beyond (food, fashion, wellness) access to the grounds. A spokeswoman for the United States Tennis Association said 48 creators received the credential, calling it a “big step forward.”

Yet in total, only about eight podcasters were granted credentials throughout the tournament, according to the U.S.T.A., including those affiliated with corporate sponsors and player teams.

“Served” was not one of them, despite being invited to record an episode on-site, Mr. Roddick and Mr. Hayden said.

Negotiations over advertising on the episode — like making sure “Served” ads didn’t compete with U.S. Open’s small army of corporate sponsors — also somehow devolved into a debate on the difference between podcasters and vloggers. “They were so confused,” Mr. Roddick said. “They didn’t know how to handle it.”

In a statement, the U.S.T.A. acknowledged it was trying to streamline its processes, “adjusting sometimes in real-time” to independent media’s evolution.

• WHHHHHAT?!?!?! This is absolutely crazy to me! Look, this sport is built on back-room deals and handshakes and "well s/he is a good gal/guy", and "Oh, I just love an accent." So if there is ANYONE who actually SHOULD be getting preferential treatment – and then the rest of us scream angrily about it – it's Andy Frickin' Roddick. The fact that the USTA didn't credential served, yet credentialed EIGHT OTHER PODCASTERS, is absolutely bonkers to me.
• To bolster my outrage: This one hour of the RodPod recapping the US Open is, soup to nuts, perfect:

• As Andy said on the podcast, Jon Wertheim's 50 Parting Shots from XXXXX Grand Slam is required reading every time. Some juicy tidbits below. (SI.com)

15. Four days before the first singles match kicked off, the U.S. Open already handed out trophies. In the much-ballyhooed mixed doubles event, Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori struck a blow for doubles specialists, taking the trophy. Some quick points: 

A) There should—and will, I’m told—be a few tweaks here. 
B) Expanding the field for more doubles players is a no-brainer, as the condensed draw/format is a big draw for the singles players with their eyes on other prizes.
C) Congrats to the USTA organizers who were willing to take a risk (and take the slings and arrows that come with risk) with a new format.  
D) It would be an act of tennis malpractice if other majors didn’t try to stage something similar. But …
E) A dirty secret: The players were paid appearance fees in addition to prize money—per a formula tied to ranking—and pretending otherwise is dishonest. 
F) It will be interesting to see the field in 2026. There are some singles players who wish they had entered, while others who participated (whose volleys were exposed as lacking) are in the been-there-done-that camp.

19. Here’s a story to follow. Once again, a major was held with no technology on the net, leaving it to the chair umpire to discern whether or not there was a let on a serve. The backstory is tedious and complicated and involves patent disputes and finger-pointing, but—dramatic pause—here’s the upshot: The majors are deep in discussion to use this as an opportunity to do away with lets entirely and play them out as they do in the juniors. Stay tuned.

25. As (dated reference) Mel Brooks said in Blazing Saddles: “Politics! Politics! Politics!” The person who doesn’t support Eric Butorac to become the new U.S. Open tournament director is the kind of person who doesn’t vote for Federer’s Hall of Fame candidacy. It’s such a no-brainer, it’s gratuitously contrarian to stand in opposition.

26. The ATP still has an open CEO position. Though Ross Hutchens recently departed for the ITF, I’m hearing that an internal candidate has been pinpointed. The WTA has yet to name a successor to Steve Simon, although we understand a job offer has been extended. And the USTA still needs to replace Sherr. All in all: It’s a good time to be a search firm in the tennis space.

32. The Ostapenko pile-on was justified. And we can have a more nuanced discussion about microaggressions and racial undertones another time. For now, her lecturing another player about etiquette is akin to Alcaraz chastising an opponent for short hair. But while we are here, let us take the opportunity to euthanize the performance insincerity that is the net-cord apology. Luck is part of sports. A larger part than most fans (and athletes and coaches) realize. The idea that—mid-competition, no less—you would formally apologize for good fortune is no less silly than a football player apologizing to the opponents for a deflected interception or a soccer player offering a mea culpa after a kick doinked the post and went in the net. (Also, can we kill the confrontation during the handshake? It’s like a married couple fighting at a dinner party. If you have an issue with your opponent, take it up in the privacy of your locker room.) 

39. Four letters barely heard this event: PTPA. The organization filed a federal suit that has already cost the ATP more than eight figures in legal fees—half of which, remember, comes out of players’ pockets. (Weirdly, they are going after the tours, not the majors, which are far more capitalized.) If successful, this could alter the fundamental aspects of the calendar, payouts, and roles of the tours, among other things. Yet, no players were asked about it. No players, for that matter, expressed support. (Privately, players range from indifferent to disdainful when asked.) There were no public briefings. What a strange dynamic this has become. All the more so because, again, the top players took meetings with the majors, hoping that by 2026, there will be a path to increase prize money from the current 13 to 15% of revenue to something closer to 22%, including pension contributions. The well-worn playbook is for the tournament to stall out the players. When the majors don’t commit, let’s see what happens.

• This is an outstanding interview with Dominic Thiem. Everyone should watch it:

• This is great: Meet the artist behind Naomi's bedazzled Labubus. She was NOT sleeping. (NY Times)
• Taylor Townsend hit up Good Morning America after her outstanding US Open, which included being a point – multiple times – of being in her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, and making the Doubles Final.
• This is pretty cool! NBA Player Landry Smith was in the photo pit during the US Open, trying his hand as a photographer. (AP via Yahoo)
• Full disclosure: Stacey Allaster chased me for years to come work for the WTA and was the primary force behind me being hired. I owe so much to her. Also I may have had a few drunk nights on the dance floor with her in China. ANYWAY, there's no denying that under her leadership, the US Open reached unreal heights. Bon Voyage and vaya con dios, Stace!
• The duality of "Why Is It A Crime To Be Locked In:

• Daniil Medvedev and Thomas Johansson? (Tennis.com)

• I don't play League of Legends, but I spend over eight hours on Monday watching Taylor Fritz play on Twitch and first of all, I think it's great that all the proceeds go to charity. Second, it was fascinating to watch this elite athlete so earnestly thirsty for improvement. He was talking through his logic after every game and it shed a ton of light on how he analyzes competition and opposition as a tennis player. I enjoyed it!
• Naomi Osaka, Aryna Sabalenka, Ben Shelton and Nick Kyrgios are playing an exhibition in Atlanta on December 6.

• Carole Bouchard spoke to Taylor Townsend's coach John Williams during the US Open. (Tennis Sweet Spot via Substack)

Carole Bouchard, The Tennis Sweet Spot: Was it then maybe it was easier - I don't know if easy is the right word - to forget about these match points and the what if?
John Williams: It's very interesting because, the day after the match, there were a lot of people asking if she was okay. And we've been okay. After an hour after the match, we were okay. The reason for that is a process we started three years ago, where we don't dwell on the past; we learn from it. And then we get motivated, we get inspired, we get determined to use it to push us to the next level as we move forward.

We've had, we've had plenty of opportunities to practice that! (He laughs) And this was just another opportunity, but now we're good at it. The skill has already been in place and executed for some time now. So yes, in the moment it hurts, but that moment doesn't last long. And we need to get to the next thing, which is, okay, how do we use this information to continue improving and getting better? And not mess up the opportunities that we still have.

• Loved a lot about how Carole phrased what we saw over the weekend, but this line re: Sablaenka made me laugh: "Sabalenka got over herself, and so she won." Honestly, it really is that simple. (Tennis Sweet Spot via Substack)
• As Canada prepares to host Israel in Davis Cup, this reporting from Reem Abulleil is trenchant and important. (The National)

There were many calls for Israel to be banned from competing at last year’s Paris Olympics, but former IOC president Thomas Bach brushed those calls aside, saying: “We are not in the political business; we are there to accomplish our mission to get the athletes together.”

That statement bore little meaning given the IOC’s swift decision to sanction Russia just days after it invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

“In order to protect the integrity of global sports competitions and for the safety of all the participants, the IOC EB [Executive Board] recommends that International Sports Federations and sports event organisers not invite or allow the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials in international competitions,” the IOC said at the time.

• Andy Murray is the best, everyone who agrees to read this blog understands that I know, but this clip really just highlights how British reporters seem to think a sentence fragment constitutes a question. It's always fascinated me! (BBC)

• Here's Sabs on Fallon:

• In this house we click on anything related to THEE Bianca Andreescu, so yes, we were very excited to see she sat in the hot seat for Caroline Garcia's podcast. (Tennis Insider's Club)
• If you were joining my Twitch streams, you know that I have been closing tracking the US Open's HOT SHOT playlist throughout the tournament. Oh, Courtney, are you following it because you love spectacular shots?
• Absolutely not, you dweeb!
• I was following it because it was very clear through the first week that the the selection of hot shots between men and women was SPECTACULARLY imbalanced. I mean...how do you not have a SINGLE hot shot from regular Shot of the Month winner Karolina Muchova – who also made your semifinal in back to back years btw – when she made the QUARTERFINALS. This is insane.
• So, with the tournament concluded, I am here to report that the US Open's "Hot Shot" playlist captured 46 shots from the men's and women's singles main draws. Six were clipped as Hot Shots. Off the top of my head, here are some shots that were not clipped: Iga's 360 degree volley; any of Barbora's insane match point saves; ANYTHING MUCHOVA DID; that one crazy insane cross-court forehand Aryna hit; Kostyuk definitely hit a load.
• All that is to say, please don't ever talk to me about how things are equal. They are absolutely not. Like, that tournament had two weeks and never once thought to QC this automated playlist and rectify the imbalance, all while touting gender and racial equality. It rings pretty hollow when these very simple things keep happening. The USTA does a lot of things right. It just frustrates me when something this simple is glaringly ignored.

• And on that note of "we click anything related to", there's a new ep of The Players Box! Jennifer Brady is definitely the Dratch of that group. And again, we stan any group of people who shout out the WTA physios.

• People keep pinging me asking for opinion about this and all I will say is this: (1) You are naive if you think this exchange wasn't part of a broader context and (2) Who cares!
• Oh! Canada!