Desert Bagel: Fireworks (derogatory)

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• Previously on The Bagel: Naomi's looking good.
• If you missed it over the weekend, I had some thoughts on Amanda Anisimova.

• Welcome to Week 2 at "Tennis Paradise". Here's where we're at:
  
  Men's Draw | Women's Draw
• Week 1 Notes
  • On Sunday night, Coco Gauff was forced to retire for just the second time in her career, ending what was one of the marquee matches of the weekend against Alex Eala, who advances to face 14th seed Linda Noskova. Here's what Coco had to say afterwards via flash quotes, where she also said she doesn't think it will impact Miami:

Q. Coco, obviously a disappointing way to finish at Indian Wells. Just talk us through the injury a little bit, what you felt, if it happened during the match. Just as much detail as possible, please.

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, I felt it, like, the second game of the first set. I guess a simple way to put it, it felt like a firework was going off inside of my arm, and then my whole arm felt like it was on fire. We're going to figure out what it is tomorrow, but based off the feeling, being told that it's probably something nerve-related. Never had anything like this before, never felt anything, a sensation like this before.

And then as the match played, it got progressively worse, even when I wasn't using my arm on shots that I wasn't even using my left arm for. It was feeling like fireworks at times. Yeah, it was a scary feeling, but yeah, I don't know.

Q. Was it a particular shot that you hit when it happened?

COCO GAUFF: I believe it was a forehand, and then, yeah, it just got worse and worse. And then I tried, but because it didn't feel like a muscle or a bone thing, I think it felt like my arm was on fire.

I didn't feel comfortable to continue, because usually with those type of pains, I kind of know what to expect, but I've never had, like, nerve pains before. Again, we're going to see tomorrow what it is, but I'm assuming it's that.

• The Round of 16 is set for the Top Half of the women's draw and the Bottom Half of the men's draw.

• The standout showdown will come on Tuesday when Aryna Sabalenka takes on Naomi Osaka in just their second career showdown and first since that memorable 2018 US Open Round of 16. A sliding doors match if there ever was one, Osaka came back from a break down in the third to win 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 and then went on to win the tournament. Why was it such a sliding doors moment? Because Sabalenka had a ton of momentum coming into New York, having made the semifinals of Cincinnati and winning New Haven the week before. She was ranked No.20 at the time, poised to break through in New York, and neither woman – Naomi was ranked No.19 at the time – had ever made it to a Slam quarterfinal. If that match flips the other way, who knows what WTA history looks like? Naomi obviously doesn't win her first of four Grand Slams, but also...does Serena get No.24? Does Madison win her first (Naomi beat her in the semifinals with an absurd performance, saving 13 of 13 break points). Or does a 20-year-old Sabalenka win her first major five years earlier than her 2023 Australian Open title.

Seven Years Later, a Sabalenka-Osaka Sequel

The two superstars will finally face off at Indian Wells for their first match since a defining classic at the 2018 U.S. Open.

BouncesBen Rothenberg

• Flash forward....EIGHT YEARS – my god I am officially ancient – and there are so many funny angles to this one. Tiger vs. Leopard, non-customized Nike vs. bespoke Nike, Gucci vs. Louis Vuitton, the new best player on hard courts vs. the last best player on hard courts, EVOLVE's new No.1 vs. EVOLVE's former No.1, EVOLVE vs. IMG, Stu Duguid vs. Max Eisenbud. It's all happening. Choose your fighter.

• The undercard must-see: Amanda Anisimova vs. Victoria Mboko, also on Tuesday. Amanda has been a wrecking ball since dropping her opening set. She's lost THREE GAMES across four sets, including a 52-minute drubbing of Emma Raducanu, to return to the Round of 16 for the first time since her tournament debut as a 16 year old. Mboko, 19, is making her tournament debut and has not dropped a set yet, beating Kim Birrell and Anna Kalinskaya. This will be their first meeting. (The Independent via Yahoo)

• In the men's Bottom Half sees one unseeded interloper: an outstanding Joao Fonseca. He's dropped one set with wins over Raphael Collingon, Karen Khachanov and Tommy Paul – not too bad. His reward is No.2 Jannik Sinner. Will organizers be nice to Jannik and put that under the lights? Or, with temperatures ticking up every day here in the desert, do they dare put in under the sun? (ATP)
• And how about Arthur Fils? He's been outstanding since coming back from his back fracture. Coming off his final run in Doha, he's in the fourth round to play Felix Auger Aliassime, who held off both Gael Monfils and Gabriel Diallo in three sets. Can't wait to see that one.

• HOLY CANNOLI: There was no Venus Williams and Leylah Fernandez dubs because the tournament goofed?!?!? Indian Wells REALLY needs to sort out its Venus wildcard issues lol. (Open Court)

The knock-on effect of the new Stadium 2 policy, which the tournament declined to comment on, is that night-session matches on that court, which used to fill up with grounds-pass holders, have at times been close to empty. Elina Svitolina’s second-round win over Laura Siegemund was one such example. Even Stadium 1 ticketholders cannot access Stadium 2.

• Great to see another Washington Post tennishead land: Chuck Culpepper to ESPN. (Variety)

• It's been so interesting to see the post-Challengers surge of high-end brands diving into tennis. My only question is: how much are the players actually getting paid? I hope it's not just in sneakers. You might think I'm kidding, but don't delude yourselves: there are a lot of brands who only pay in product. Which sucks because it creates an illusion as to a player's actual brand value and just adds to the tennis "bubble economy".

• The ATP has extended its partnership with Overtime. (ATP)
• I'm loving the increased focus on and elevation of Team Tien. Learner knocked out an ailing Ben Shelton to move into the Round of 16. (ATP)

• The state of Taylor Fritz's body is stressing me out more than I ever would have expected. (LA Times via Yahoo)
• Owen Lewis goes HAM. (Second Serve)

You wear a lot of hats for somebody with a credential as impressive as “used to coach the GOAT.” And frankly, they’re all pretty annoying. They make you look like a quack, or a hack, when probably you have a decent tennis mind. 

• Pairing up with Tien is the most gamer thing Daniil Medvedev has ever done and that's saying something. They lost to The Cousins, but all gamers know that scrims are for vibes*.

• *This is a very stupid gamer joke. Justice for Kingsman, those girls were beyond goof. (YouTube)

The 100 Greatest Cinemas In The World Right Now

Classic kinos, cult film temples and fabulous picture palaces from across the planet

Time OutLaura Osborne

• So I watched THE BRIDE and WUTHERING HEIGHTS on back-to-back nights, and one of those movies was a thoroughly entertaining mess with interesting artistic choices and great performances that I genuinely enjoyed, and the other involved Emerald Fennell. I don't go into movies wanting them to be bad. I want them to be good! Whyyyy would I want to waste my time with a bad movie? And it was interesting watching these two movies back-to-back because I knew the critical reaction to both going in. THE BRIDE is getting KILLED. But I had a great time! And I liked it more than most despite also absolutely acknowledging it's a mess! I go to the movies for a good time and I had a good time! Win.

God Forbid ‘The Bride!’ Get a Little Motion

Maggie Gyllenhaal’s ‘Bride of Frankenstein’ riff is easily the strangest big-studio release of 2026 so far

The Ringer

• WUTHERING HEIGHTS was just not good. It was not fun. The choices were all bad. I'm glad I watched it so that I can now have an informed opinion on it and finally come to terms with my caustic allergy to Emerald Fennell's work. It was style over substance except the styling and visuals were non-compelling. It was juvenile filmmaking. It was a child thinking they were being edgy. OOH THE CORPSE HAS A BONER! OOH THEY'RE GETTING SEXY DURING A BURIAL! OOOH SHE SLOWLY INSERTED HER FINGER IN THE FISH GELATIN GET IT?GET IT? GET IT? It wasn't even sexy! You have two of the hottest stars in Hollywood and you can't make the longing and kissing and sex hot? It was an attempt at titillation by a precocious 11-year-old's idea of transgressive sex. Page me when Emerald Fennell grows up.

• This was truly the worst movie I've seen in years and I don't put that at the feet of Margot Robbie or Jacob Elordi. They did what they could based off Emerald Fennell's vision, script, and direction, so this all lands firmly at her feet. I don't check out of movies and start tapping my foot and checking my watch, but I did that here and not even in a "Well at least I had fun" kind of way. Our theater was completely empty so we were just straight up yelling at the screen and audibly rolling our eyes by the end of it.

• Because it's thoroughly frustrating and embarrassing that she is now THE name-brand female director not named Greta Gerwig (my wacky queen). In MY world, the world I'M living in, those name-brand female directors/auteurs would be Kelly Reichardt, Lynne Ramsey, Sofia Coppola, Kathryn Bigelow, Chloe Zhao, Celina Song, Nicole Holofcener, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Justine Triet, Joanna Hogg, etc. But the girlies keep trying to girlboss Emerald Fennell and her movies and on this Day after International Women's Day, dare I say: not everything a woman touches is amazing. It's ok to acknowledge that and ask them to do better because we all know the opportunities for women are fewer and farrer betweener, and when the stuff ain't it, it's ok to ask them to be better.

• Anyway. Enough about Emerald Fennell. Let's take a moment to watch something that is, actually, sexy as hell:

• Know your tennis history: Friend of the Blog Joel Drucker has a new Charlie Pasarell book coming out soon. Pre-order if you're so inclined at your favorite local bookstore. Or go to your library and request they buy it.

• Bop of the Day: I was reminded this morning that few songs make me as immediately happy as this. That opening drum hits and it's pure dopamine and headbops for four minutes: