Onward \u2026<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s start on a sad note. It was shaping up as a typical fall tennis week with some far-flung tournaments, withdrawals and vacation posts to social media. There was a comically well-paying exhibition in Saudi Arabia where Jannik Sinner made more money<\/a> for beating Carlos Alcaraz in a best-of-three performance than he did for beating Alcaraz to win Wimbledon<\/a>.<\/p>\n Then, Holger Rune tore his Achilles tendon. First, all sympathy to Rune. Never mind that, per his own social media post<\/a>, he is unlikely to play again until 2027. Any injured athlete will tell you that the worst part of getting injured is not the physical pain (or financial hit in an individual sport) but the emotional and existential trauma. Here\u2019s a 22-year-old whose entire career trajectory\u2014his life even?\u2014has suddenly changed dramatically. Send him your best wishes. Be kind to him on social media.<\/p>\n Inevitably, this led to a discussion about the ATP schedule and the untenable demands put on players, the physical grind of tennis in 2025 and the failure of the tours to take meaningful action\u2014heaps of credit to Taylor Fritz for engaging with a fan and laying out the specifics<\/a>.<\/p>\n Correlation is not causation. It\u2019s impossible to draw a direct line from the ATP\u2019s risible schedule to Rune\u2019s injury. However, common sense mixed with data<\/a> suggests that players are paying a price for an 11-month schedule, the ball-surface mix-and-match and a reluctance to change format, despite a changing level of physicality and technology.\u00a0<\/p>\n At some point, perception becomes reality. Both tours need to be aware that any injuries will be reflexively attributed to an unwillingness to adjust the schedule in a meaningful way.<\/p>\n In a related point, we need more data. Information about surfaces, how string technology affects the body and the impacts of rally length need to be examined. If anyone is interested in a research project, I\u2019d love to see a study correlating physical injury and illness with travel. Anyone who spends significant time on the road knows the rigors on the body, compromise to the immune system and the sleep challenges that come with it. Fly private and stay at five-star hotels? It doesn\u2019t matter much. As tennis players pinball across continents and time zones (in a way their forebears never did), I wonder about the effect of this variable.<\/p>\n Jon is it me or is the field getting younger? You have Alcaraz and Sinner. You have Coco [Gauff] and [Iga] \u015awi\u0105tek and even [Aryna] Sabalenka is only 27? Where are the thirtysomethings?<\/p>\n Renee<\/p>\n \u2022 Funny, I was writing about this very topic and speaking with some coaches. My take: It\u2019s more about the renaissance of the kids and twentysomethings than the decline of the old folk. But here are my five best-informed theories:\u00a0<\/p>\n 1) Training has adjusted for the realities of the modern pro game. There was once a thinking that the sport had gotten so unrelentingly physical that only fully mature bodies could handle the grind. Rafael Nadal, Stan Wawrinka, Novak Djokovic or even M\u00e1rton Fucsovics were never going to lose to some kid who looked like he just walked out of algebra class. Now? Teens are building strength and conditioning at an earlier age, spending more time in the gym and less time on the court.<\/p>\n 2) The absence of Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Nadal, and Serena, and the decline of Djokovic, Venus, and Wawrinka have changed the math. When players in their 30s hold more than 100 major titles, the sport will indeed seem older. When they start retiring, inevitably, the average age at the top will decline.<\/p>\n 3) The pathways to the pros make it easier to execute the transition. With pro and junior events held at the same sites, more wild cards going to kids and $75,000 events open to teens, the jump becomes easier.<\/p>\n 4) One of the great challenges to young players is (or at least was) the international nature of tennis\u2014not just the expenses, but the mental toll of all the displacement. Now you have federations (think Canada with regards to Victoria Mboko) intentionally taking players all over the world, setting up training blocks overseas, and even supplying them with international coaches. Suddenly, a young person turns pro, and jet lag and time differences are no longer obstacles to success.<\/p>\n 5) Note that the trend is happening at a time when more players are picking the college route. You might think that would delay a pro career (and would, counterintuitively, militate in favor of older players), but there are college players like Peyton Stearns, Learner Tien or Ben Shelton who didn\u2019t spend four years on campus. They play for a year or two, winning a ton of matches, learning how to deal with hostile crowds and turning pro with emotional maturity, but they\u2019re still only 19 or 20.<\/p>\n Ben Shelton competed at the University of Florida before turning pro. \/ Mike Frey-Imagn Images<\/p>\n We got a lot of chatter about Peng Shuai and our column last week<\/a>. Strip away the trolls and the loudest 5% on the fringes and margins, and you are left with 90% of tennis fans who can have a reasonable and reasoned discussion about a complex issue and set of facts.<\/p>\n \u2022 I still maintain that we should all be deeply uncomfortable that the whereabouts of a once-prominent player has basically been reduced to a dim rumor, that censorship seems to have prevailed over freedom, that a tour that took such a firm and principled stance\u2014i.e. it could not do business in a place that acted so inconsistently with its morals and values\u2014reversed course so quickly and comprehensively.<\/p>\n The counterargument is completely valid. The WTA, ultimately, is a business. No business operates in ideal conditions; there are always moral compromises and unpleasantries. As one former WTA player texted me last week: \u201cWhat are we supposed to do? Not play [China] and watch the tour completely fall apart financially. What good does that do?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n It would have been preferable if there had been a creative solution or strategy, one that didn\u2019t destroy the WTA financially but also didn\u2019t compromise its credibility. It would have been preferable if other businesses and leagues (starting with the ATP) joined the march. It would have been preferable if the marketplace had rewarded the WTA\u2019s courage of conviction and a sponsor had emerged to stanch the China losses.<\/p>\n Back in the real world, the WTA had a tough hand to play. Even deep inside the WTA, there was a debate. To some, this was an embarrassment, eroding credibility. To others, it was the only financially responsible decision.\u00a0<\/p>\n Lost in all this: The player at the center of it has, at a minimum, become a cipher, absent from the discussion, and, it seems, absent from public life.\u00a0<\/p>\n RE Peng Shuai, good for you. Well done.<\/p>\n RE [Valentin] Vacherot: Another point that, frankly, I\u2019ve not heard expressed: how much does this say about the level of tennis being played at the Challenger and Qualies level? I suspect it says a good bit, but Vacherot\u2019s won\/loss going forwards will tell us whether that \u201cgood bit\u201d tells us, in fact, a lot, or that it\u2019s an \u201con any given day\u201d thing and not more.<\/p>\n Skip Schwarzman \u2022 Good things do indeed happen in Philly. (In addition to the pretzels and murals, it\u2019s where I met my wife.) <\/p>\n Anyway, where were we? Oh, right \u2026 Vacherot. Yes, it will be interesting to see where he goes from here.* Was this lightning in a bottle? Has greatness been unlocked, \u00e0 la Pat Rafter in the mid-90s? Or is this an Aslan Karatsev situation, where there\u2019s a breakthrough, a sustained period of top-50 ball, then a retreat\u2014that is, not a fluke, but not a future major winner.<\/p>\n You\u2019re right, though. What a validation of the level of the Challenger\/qualies. This player\u2019s ranking disqualified him from the U.S. Open qualies. Less than two months later, he beat Djokovic en route to a Masters 1000 title, 1000 points and $1.1 million. It gives a renewed appreciation for the level of tennis played by those\u2014male and female\u2014with triple-digit rankings. It\u2019s hardened into a tennis clich\u00e9, but the margins truly are that thin.<\/p>\n *I hate to write this because she is a) lovely, b) still a teenager and c) might still be smarting from a wrist injury. But in the spirit of \u201cfair and balanced,\u201d are we not duty-bound to note that since her stunning win in Canada, Mboko has gone 0\u20134 and has dropped eight consecutive sets?<\/p>\n So last night (Oct. 13) Jeopardy had a category on tennis backhands. One of the questions (answers?) about lobs asked, essentially, what is the opposite of topspin? Naturally I shouted out \u201cbackspin,\u201d but Ken Jennings assured America that the answer was \u201cunderspin.\u201d I’ve been watching tennis for over 40 years and never heard the term \u201cunderspin.\u201d Before I write an indignant email to whichever intern monitors the Jeopardy email address, can you confirm that I am indeed in the right?\u00a0<\/p>\n P.R.<\/p>\n \u2022 I\u2019m with you, or simply flat. I just saw this thread<\/a> dedicated to discussion about the episode.<\/p>\n Jon, why are you not writing about Conchita Mart\u00ednez and the Hall of Fame? She won a major, won an Olympic medal and has now been a top coach for many years.<\/p>\n [Name withheld]<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Philly, where good things happen<\/p>\n