Zizou Bergs and coach Kristof Vliegen have disbanded. “After much to be proud of and with lots of gratitude, Zizou and I mutually agreed to part ways. In the past few months Zizou reached the top 50 for the first time with big wins and his first ATP final. Surely many great things to come for you Zizou and I will be ready to congratulate you as you reach them. Good luck. Looking forward to being back on tour.”
Venus Williams will join the ESPN team broadcasting the 2025 Roland Garros Grand Slam, it will be her debut as a TV tennis analyst. It will be interesting to learn if the publicly introverted and verbally cautious Venus will open up with more thoughtful and insightful tennis observations in the TV booth, than the little content she has given to the media at press conferences for the last two decades. This column isn’t expecting much from Venus but hope to be proven wrong.
After defeating Jack Draper in the Madrid Masters final yesterday, Casper Ruud implied Draper has the potential to be a future ATP no. 1. “Jack, thank you for your nice words. What a player you are already at a young age. A player you’ve become on all surfaces. You’re a threat to everyone now. Doesn’t matter where. Doesn’t matter when. I think the sky is the limit for you. So unbelievable effort these couple weeks.. your team as well. Keep going. It’s an honor to watch you play. Luckily it was my day today.”
Ruud is the first Norwegian to win a Masters 1000 title. So far in 2025, the Masters 1000 title winners are: Jack Draper, Jakub Mensik, Carlos Alcaraz and Ruud.
Stan Wawrinka just lost in the Aix-en-Provence Challenger final to Borna Coric 67 63 76 in the third set. Stan’s first Challenger title win was in 2003, before Coco Gauff was even born. The players Stan The Man beat that week were (and the years they retired): 1R – Jerome Haehnel (2009); 2R – Alex Calatrava (2006); QF – Serrano (2005); SF – Arguello (2011); F – Ivan Navarro (2004). Coric has won four Challengers titles this year.
Wawrinka said the Jannik Sinner double positive drug test scandal has ‘hurt tennis’: “We have seen it in several cases in recent years. Some have been suspended for two years because they forgot to properly report their address. It has been handled in a way that I believe harms tennis because, in the end, you wonder what battle you are trying to win. Whether you are really looking for players who test positive or if it all comes down to having a good lawyer who can get you out in the best possible way.”
Andre Agassi did not win the Pickleball US Open title with world no. 1 Anna Leigh Waters.
Pickleball star Zane Navratil praised Agassi’s involvement in the fast-growing sport: “Andre Agassi is the front runner for man of the year in pickleball. He’s absolutely diving into the sport, and it couldn’t be better for @Pickleball as a whole.”
Andre Agassi · Borna Coric · Casper Ruud · Stan Wawrinka
Sam · May 6, 2025 at 4:51 am
Tennis World Scoops??? 😲
You mean you’re not the only one out there? 😉
Scoop Malinowski · May 6, 2025 at 6:47 am
Maybe the next big scoop will be what attire company signs Djokovic as Lacoste contract ends this year. Won’t be nike or Uomo Sport though ) I asked the Uomo founder if he would be interested in signing Novak but he said it will be too expensive.
Sam · May 13, 2025 at 3:43 am
Just curious—if Djokovic retires soon, would he still likely get hired by an attire company?
Scoop Malinowski · May 13, 2025 at 8:49 am
Lacoste CEO said Djokovic intends to play through 2028 and the 2028 Olympic Games. Looks like he will resign with Lacoste. Maybe his French Open result will factor into Lacoste’s decision. The big news today is Djokovic has dismissed Murray.
Scoop Malinowski · May 13, 2025 at 5:39 pm
The rudeness of the Rome crowds is a hot topic. My theory is the tennis deep state is planting these hecklers to harass certain players for corrupt reasons. True tennis fans do not buy tickets and behave like these animals. True tennis fans respect ALL players. The worst fans I ever saw was Fed Cup Russia vs Israel and the jews were viciously bad against Anna Chakvetadze who rose to the occasion to give them the biggest FU you you will ever see. Here is the video of Anna at her best destroying Israel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lw9HmQRyTVo
Sam · May 20, 2025 at 2:35 pm
I have a hard time believing Djokovic will stick around for three more years. 😏
Scoop Malinowski · May 20, 2025 at 3:23 pm
Sam, this is the key year. He’s assuming there will not be a severe drop off in production and results. Only he knows, what’s in his head is the only thing that matters.
Sam · May 28, 2025 at 5:37 am
That’s true, Scoop—it’s totally up to Djokovic how long he wants to stick around. But I definitely think it’s better to go out with a bang than with a whimper. 😸
Scoop Malinowski · May 28, 2025 at 7:57 am
Sam let’s trust Djokovic to choreograph his final departure in the most fitting way. He’s still very competitive and as he said, still improving. So far with Vemic things are looking really good.
Scoop Malinowski · May 28, 2025 at 10:02 am
Wonder if there is some secret super ped that only certain special players are privileged to use?