Argentinian tennis player Facundo Bagnis has entered into a voluntary provisional suspension under the Tennis Anti-Doping Program. He supposedly tested positive for banned substance during US Open qualifying. He has no idea how the drug entered his body but suspects cross-contamination.
Novak Djokovic will skip Paris Masters where he won seven times but said, “Hope to see you next year.”
Casper Ruud defeated 40 year old Stan Wawrinka 6-4 7-6(5) to reach the QFs in Basel. that is six consecutive wins for the Norwegian.
ATP makes a ‘no surprise’ announcement of the expansion to a tenth Masters 1000 to be staged in Saudi Arabia beginning in 2028. Men only, dates yet to be announced, seven or ten days not revealed. February is the rumored schedule date which would wreck the South American circuit.
An active coach in the NBA who was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2024 Chauncy Billups was arrested today as part of a widespread gambling investigation that also has seen at least one player taken into custody. The tennis establishment hopefully has no fear of facing extreme scrutiny at some point because it’s considerably easier to fix one on one matches instead of ten on ten games.
Tommy Paul is finished for 2025, citing a left foot injury.
Jaume Munar has found mastery over Ben Shelton’s, beating the American three times this season to reach the Basel QF (2 indoor hard, 1 clay): Dallas – 62 76, Rome – 62 61, Basel – 63 64.
Casper Ruud · Jaume Munar · Novak Djokovic · Stan Wawrinka
Steve · October 24, 2025 at 10:04 pm
Hope Munar can keep rising in the rankings.
In other news, I just saw Shapovalov retire against Fonseca in Basel via the extended highlights. Looked like a great match with many explosive offensive shots. Hope Denis’ knee & back are okay.
Scoop Malinowski · October 25, 2025 at 7:27 am
Surely Shapo is fine, this seems to be the coming out party for Fonseca who has struggled since spring with disappointing results. All these retirements suggest many of the players aren’t really into playing now, they’d rather be elsewhere or resting. But the Challenger action is still hot and heavy. Last week Damm yelled CMON after an ace on his first service point of the match. Munar may be the next Ferrer, a seemingly plain average Spaniard who somehow ascends to elite status.
Steve · October 26, 2025 at 6:10 am
I’d like to check how many yearly tournaments the top guys played in the 70s, 80s & 90s.
Yeah, I’m hoping that for Munar. One thing that distinguishes him from others is his stellar serve for his height which I think is 5’11” rather than the 6″ listed.
Steve · October 26, 2025 at 2:05 pm
Fonseca is on target to get to the top of the game. Probably the most obvious prospect we’ve ever seen other than Alcaraz. Looking down the road, can he hit through the Big 2? The strokes are gigantic but is he athletic eough to rival Alcaraz and Sinner? It will be interesting to see.
I’m seeing at two tiered upper echelon. With Jannik & Carlos and below a trio of players such as Fonseca, perhaps Mensik and a third interloper yet to be fully noticed.
Scoop Malinowski · October 26, 2025 at 6:35 pm
Steve my guess without looking is they played the same amount of tournaments but they did not complain about it because the game was not as physically demanding then and they wanted to make as much money as they could. The complaining began IMO when the big money entered the equation but I could be wrong. Good question I will investigate it.
Scoop Malinowski · October 26, 2025 at 6:37 pm
Steve, nice to see Fonseca back on track after a lousy summer, he certainly can invite himself to the party at the top echelon of ATP, I like Tien to ascend also.
Sam · November 2, 2025 at 3:46 am
The tennis establishment hopefully has no fear of facing extreme scrutiny at some point because it’s considerably easier to fix one on one matches instead of ten on ten games.
Is that supposed to be a good thing? 😉
Scoop Malinowski · November 2, 2025 at 7:43 am
Hopefully a tennis betting scandal like the NBA disaster does not happen but that may take a miracle.
Sam · November 11, 2025 at 2:49 am
Well, I just hope that any and all corruption gets exposed.
Scoop Malinowski · November 11, 2025 at 8:11 am
Like the Epstein files cover up proves, it never will all be revealed.