Attendance in Indian Wells was 504,268. Attendance in Miami Open – 405,448. Both record setting totals for each tournament.
A legend has called it quits. Su-Wei Hsieh played her final tournament in Indian Wells (she skipped Miami) where she made semis with Zhang Shuai. The 39 year old marvel scored eight top 10 wins in her over two decade WTA career – including two against the world no. 1. She won nine Grand Slam titles in doubles and mixed and held the no. 1 doubles ranking for a total of 59 weeks.
40 year old Stan Wawrinka won his first match of the year in Bucharest edging Timofey Skatov 76 in the third.
Three players who retired in the last couple of years have returned to pro tennis competition – Mikael Ymer, Alize Cornet and Christina McHale, who just won a $125k doubles title in Mexico.
Daniil Medvedev has hired Goran Ivanisevic to be his next coach.
Adrian Mannarino got lucky in Houston. Entering qualies in Houston 2-12 on the year, the 36 year old beat Nakagawa but then lost to Denolly 67 in the third. He got into main draw as LL and beat Yannick Hanfmann 63 76 for his first main draw win of the year 1-4 and overall 4-13. Now ranked 144, the former world no. 17 last January, will play 5th seed Alex Michelson in the 2R, who he beat in Newport 2023 finals 64 62 (grass) and lost to in Mallorca last year 67 46 (grass).
John McEnroe performed his song tribute to his friend Vitas Gerulaitis at Indian Wells during the tournament. Check out the video clip of some of his singing here
WTA no. 6 Jasmine Paolini has dismissed long-time coach former ATP top 100 player Renzo Furlan, without citing any specific reasons:
After 10 amazing years together, I want to say a huge thank you to Renzo Furlan for everything he’s done for me.
We’ve been on an incredible journey, shared unforgettable moments, including an amazing 2024 with the finals at Wimbledon and Roland Garros, and winning Olympic gold in Paris. And even in 2025, we’ve started strong.
Renzo has been such an important part of my growth, both as a player and as a person. Everything I’ve learned from him will stay with me and continue to guide me in this new chapter, he’ll always be an important person in my life.
I’m truly grateful for the time, energy, and sacrifices he’s made for me, often far from home and his family. I have so much respect and appreciation for him. For his professionalism, his passion, and the values he’s passed on to me over all these years.
Renzo, I’m really thankful for everything. Wishing you all the best for what’s next!
Thanks for everything,
Jagger Leach, the son of former WTA no. 1 and US Open and Wimbledon champion Lindsay Davenport, will make his ATP debut as a wildcard in the Sarasota Open ATP Challenger qualifying draw as a wildcard next week. Here’s the rest of the entry list so far.
Rinky Hijikata (AUS) – #86
Yibing Wu (CHN) – #108
Daniel Elahi Galan (COL) – #110
Brandon Holt (USA) – #116
Eliot Spizzirri (USA) – #134
Cristian Garin (CHI) – #136
Federico Agustin Gomez (ARG) – #138
Mitchell Krueger (USA) – #141
Tomas Barrios Vera (CHI) – #149
Liam Draxl (CAN) – #179
Facundo Mena (ARG) – #186
Adolfo Daniel Vallejo (PAR) – #187
Andrea Collarini (ARG) – #198
Mark Lajal (EST) – #205
Titouan Droguet (FRA) – #212
Murphy Cassone (USA) – #223
Tung-Lin Wu (TPE) – #230
Emilio Nava (USA) – #235
Micah Braswell (USA) – CO 3
Charlie Robertson (GBR) – JR 8
Joel Schwaerzler (AUT) – NG 14
Daniil Medvedev · Sarasota Open · Stan Wawrinka · Su-wei Hsieh
JJ Gray · April 2, 2025 at 12:29 am
Great read Snoop,
Hey everyone, this is a great read without the ‘establishment’ biased writings. You know what I mean.
Is this a regular thing Snoop?
Cheers, JJ
catherine · April 2, 2025 at 6:49 am
Emma R has indicated she will retain Mark Petchey in the run-up to Wimbledon.
After Miami Emma R gave us some thoughts on her ideal match preparation:
‘I think just being able to switch off and have fun with them
(her team) before the match just creates certain routines.
They bring small doses of happiness that I guess just keep you going.’
A revealing use of words I think.
Scoop Malinowski · April 2, 2025 at 7:26 am
Nice to see Raducanu regain her mojo and become a prominent elite player again, she was in wilderness limbo for far too long. Hopefully she can ride this momentum wave from Miami – or will she stumble again with more poor results?
Scoop Malinowski · April 2, 2025 at 7:29 am
JJ thank you, glad you liked it. Yes it’s semi-regular. As we know, the news cycle in tennis never stops ) Gotta try to keep up with it all. I didn’t even mention the bombshell I got from a coach of another top 100 player about a certain American who had his marriage and career ruined by sex addiction.
catherine · April 3, 2025 at 1:59 pm
Emma will continue looking for those ‘small doses of happiness’ that keep her going. I don’t think she’ll play the conventional circuit and when the time seems right she’ll leave.
Scoop Malinowski · April 3, 2025 at 3:52 pm
Big surprise Coco Gauff has dismissed Team 8 Federer Godsick as her manager, like Zverev did four years ago. She will now be self managed. Let’s see if she begins to suffer some strange blowback for daring to fire Federer and Godsick, as Zverev certainly did.
Scoop Malinowski · April 3, 2025 at 3:53 pm
Emma will continue to train hard and pick her spots to play and if the results don’t come, surely there will be injuries as the reason. But I think she can still become an elite player again and for longer than a couple of weeks.
Sam · April 7, 2025 at 4:24 am
So . . . who’s the better singer—John McEnroe or Jimbo Connors? 🎤 🤣
Scoop Malinowski · April 7, 2025 at 8:10 am
Can’t answer without seeing the Connors video. But if he gave up after one attempt it’s not a good sign for his chances. McEnroe has been at it for decades now with no sign of surrender. )
Sam · April 14, 2025 at 4:19 am
Well, I’m glad that McEnroe had an amazing tennis career, because, based on what I’ve heard from him, if he’d gone into music instead, it’s unlikely he’d be a public figure. 😹
Scoop Malinowski · April 14, 2025 at 8:38 am
Sam, the music industry is so dysfunctional it could make a star out of a minimal talent. McEnroe has some talent and a determination. He could have easily been manufactured into a top 40 pop star with the right lyrics, promo, producer assistance, calculated duets and dance moves )
Sam · April 21, 2025 at 5:50 am
Scoop, that’s true—nowadays basically anybody could become a pop star. But even as recent as the ’80s, that wasn’t really possible. In an interview, Sheena Easton once said that back when she was getting started (around 1980), you actually did have to be able to sing. 😏
As far as dancing goes, could McEnroe honestly have done that? 🤣 Plenty of pop singers with outstanding voices weren’t good dancers, like Whitney Houston.
Scoop Malinowski · April 21, 2025 at 7:46 am
Sam, dance moves are an extra selling marketing point for the singer but some don’t need it. Elvis had it, Sinatra didn’t )