It may seem like Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have the ATP World Tour under lock and key but at least one veteran believes he can rearrange the balance of power. “At the moment, Carlos is the kind of the star boy now. He just brings great energy to the court and along with Jannik, they are the players to beat. I just hope to spoil their party a little bit and I think I can do that.” – Alexander Zverev
“Serena Williams said she would have been banned for 20 years and had some of her Grand Slam titles taken away if she had committed the same anti-doping offence as men’s world number one Sinner.“ – British player Tara Moore, who was provisionally banned for two years while challenging a doping charge of which she was eventually cleared after 19 months, also suggested top players were “treated differently” with their image prioritized.
BBC viewership numbers for their first ever match-ups in a Wimbledon Final. 2025 Alcaraz vs Sinner 8 M… 2023 Alcaraz vs Djokovic 15.4 M.
Liam Draxl of Canada had lost his first four ATP Challenger finals this year but prevailed in the fifth final on Sunday in Winnipeg. Draxl recently switched attire from Nike to Sofibella.
Stan Wawrinka lost 63 62 in Gstaad 1R to Alexander Shevchenko and is now 11-16 on the year and 1-9 in ATP events. He’s ranked 156. This week Stan did not need a wildcard to enter main draw, the first he tournament that he did not need wildcard assistance. The 40 year old started the 2025 season ranked 156.
I’m reading Tracy Austin‘s 1991 autobiography Beyond Center Court and it’s a wonderful book. She drops many cool insights about her relations and rivalries with Chris Evert (9-8 head to head), Martina, Pam Shriver, who once called her a “fuc**** ***hole” at their net handshake. Austin was the first really young teen phenom to bust her way into the WTA at fourteen. Her astounding rise irritated many players, one JoAnne Russell even complained to the media after her second loss to the California kid that Austin intentionally dressed and styled her hair like a little girl to create a false helpless little girl image. She also implied beating Evert five times in a row provoked Evert to almost quit the game. The undersized Austin’s career crashed after numerous injury problems, the result of overworking in two practices a day for four hours, as instructed by her ex coach Tony Roche.
I’ve been told Bill Ackman, the billionaire wildcard entry with Jack Sock into Newport 2025 Hall of Fame Open doubles, is going to grant the International Tennis Hall of Fame $8-10 million.
Alexander Zverev · Liam Draxl · Stan Wawrinka
catherine · July 15, 2025 at 2:24 pm
Tracy Austin wasn’t the most popular prodigy to burst upon the tennis scene in the 80s. She was seen as a spoilt overrated bossy young thing by many (much older) commentators. Not entirely fairly. I don’t know what Chris’s problem was with her – their games weren’t really alike.
Pam Shriver definitely did have a problem with prodigies – viz her oft expressed exasperation with Andrea Jaeger’s nattering.
Scoop Malinowski · July 15, 2025 at 4:25 pm
Catherine, I have vague memory of Austin’s amazing emergence. She was certainly not embraced by the establishment like Capriati and the Williams sisters were. But she kicked the door down and took over. I don’t recall her having an offensive or annoying personality, she was a bonafide whiz kid and she didn’t back down to the big star women which is admirable and inspiring. Then her body broke down and her career withered unfortunately. I always liked her direct commentary for USA Network during US Open, in fact I still remember her saying during a US Open match, “Tennis is a fistfight without the fists.” I only met her once, about a decade ago at US OPen, we did a Biofile and the first thing she said was, “What am I getting myself into?” Half joking. Her book reveals she learned early at age 15 not to trust the media, as her dad’s favorite columnist in LA Jim Murray, wrote a negative article about her decision to go pro. But she ended up giving me a nice Biofile. https://www.tennis-prose.com/articles/biofile-with-tracy-austin/
Scoop Malinowski · July 15, 2025 at 4:27 pm
Austin clearly revealed Pam had a bully aspect of her character and also a rage. They had a strange relationship but eventually became friends and settled their scores over lunch at US Open. I don’t remember Pam’s disputes with Jaeger but I do remember her verbally cheap shotting the Maleeva sisters.
Steve · July 17, 2025 at 8:56 am
I heard Tracey Austin was the first player to travel to tournaments with a dedicated coach and I think she was Robert Lansdorp’s first legendary player. I really like her commentary and she always offered great insights on Justine Henin’s game as smaller player herself.
There is some hope yet for Zverev’s slam dreams. He might be working with Toni Nadal next. He burnt through Ferrero, Ferrer & Lendl. This is an amazing opportunity for someone with seven Masters 1000 championships this late in his careeer.
Scoop Malinowski · July 17, 2025 at 10:08 am
Steve, Yes indeed Tracy Austin was the first teenager to come in and vault up the rankings of the WTA in the Open Era. She was a phenomenon and shook up the WTA hierarchy. But she was hardly embraced by the elites who did not particularly like being upstaged by Little Miss Britches. Landsdorp was one of her key coaches but they had some issues and there was some legal action about payment. Landsdorp also did not like the idea of having other coaches helping her, he wanted total control – and credit. My take on Zverev is he needed to change up his training base situation and Nadal Academy needs a high profile player to train there to keep them in the public and media eye. Uncle Toni is a figurehead coach. I would not be surprised if Nadal Academy is giving him free housing and perhaps a salary for training there. Uncle Toni’s failure with Felix didn’t deserve a second chance with Zverev. This is business.
Steve · July 17, 2025 at 11:26 am
I see, like Mouratoglou Academy access to the stars.
Sam · July 21, 2025 at 11:47 pm
Serena Williams said she would have been banned for 20 years and had some of her Grand Slam titles taken away if she had committed the same anti-doping offence as men’s world number one Sinner.
What a joke—Serena would’ve been given a medal and a parade in his honor. 😛
I think they socked it to Tara Moore because she dared speak out about the corruption of the governing bodies.
Scoop Malinowski · July 22, 2025 at 8:23 am
Sam, Serena is not being honest and she’s implying fake racism and corruption. She should have gotten some kind of punishment or ban for missing that test at her home. It certainly looks like they made an example of Moore by destroying her career. Just a horrible injustice she has suffered.
Sam · July 29, 2025 at 3:07 am
Well, Scoop, I do think Moore doped, but it’s definitely unfair to burn her at the stake while Sinner just skates. 🤮
Scoop Malinowski · July 29, 2025 at 10:27 am
Sam, the Moore injustice is really awful that she had her career wrecked by this while Sinner Iga got nothing. If they do this publicly just what the heck are they doing in private?
Sam · August 6, 2025 at 2:59 am
Good point, Scoop—who knows what goes on under cover? 🦹
Sam · August 6, 2025 at 3:05 am
But Spadea said in his book when he visited them in Vegas all [Steffi] said to him was stay positive Vince stay positive.
Well, Scoop, maybe she should use that line on Sinner, because I doubt he’d have any trouble staying, um, “positive.” 🤭
Scoop Malinowski · August 6, 2025 at 9:11 am
Nothing is beyond suspicion anymore.
Scoop Malinowski · August 6, 2025 at 9:11 am
Have a feeling we will never hear about positive test result no. 3.