\u2014 CBS Sports (@CBSSports) February 18, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022 This week\u2019s unsolicited book recommendation: Kings and Pawns<\/a> by Howard Bryant.<\/p>\n Onward \u2026<\/p>\n Let\u2019s start with a topic that is still getting a lot of play, especially on social media. It pertains to athletes being asked politically charged questions. This was a story at the Australian Open and has been a topic of discussion at the Winter Olympics<\/a>. Coco Gauff weighed in from Dubai<\/a>.<\/p>\n Then came this account<\/a> from the Rotterdam ATP event, alleging that the tournament was (shamefully, self-defeatingly, censoriously) restricting interview questions to \u201cmatch-only.\u201d<\/p>\n A quick riff. I will always take the side of an independent media. I will always oppose censorship. So bear that in mind. But I would submit the system works fine as is. Athletes are public figures. They seek an audience beyond sports. They often like to engage in topics beyond sports. They are smart, self-sufficient adults with agency and free will, able to steer conversations where they like. Some athletes (understandably) resist political or tendentious topics. Other athletes, such as Gauff, (understandably) happily engage with these topics. (Tangent: After the Russian invasion of her country, I had a session with Elina Svitolina and I was specifically requested to include at least one question about Ukraine.)<\/p>\n Would I ask\u2014in a press conference setting, ambush-style, not knowing the athletes\u2019 predilections\u2014about their opinions on representing the U.S. amid uproar<\/a> following the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minnesota? I would not. Is it a valid story topic? Sure. But there are ways to poll athletes without putting them on the spot. Pull the athlete aside and ask if they want to weigh in. Text the tour or the player\u2019s agent and explain your idea. The post-match press conference is \u2026 a choice.<\/p>\n But fundamentally, this is an exercise in free speech, on all sides. Let the journalist ask the question. Let the athlete respond with a no comment or a that was a clown question, bro. Let social media weigh in. Let an editor decide if the resultant story is worthy of publication. Let the public decide whether they want to hear athletes weighing in on politics.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s not perfect, but it beats the alternative. Censorship never wins. And someone should tell that to a hypocrisy-drenched tournament in the Netherlands, sponsored by a bank, seeking a wider audience \u2026 and allegedly asking the media and players for \u201ctennis only\u201d questions.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hi Jon, What do you make of [Destanee Aiava]\u2019s retirement statement? Especially the comments attached. It\u2019s a stain on the tennis community that they\u2019ve made her feel this way and I wish we could have all treated her better.\u00a0<\/p>\n Zach\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 For those who missed it:\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s not your conventional retirement announcement.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t know Destanee Aiava. As you say, it\u2019s unfortunate that she\u2019s had this experience. I\u2019d like to know more and hear more specifics about the racism, homophobia and misogyny she experienced. One of you cited the current success of players of color as pushback against her claim that the sport is racist. I don\u2019t think she forfeits her claims because Serena Williams won 23 majors, Coco Gauff is a star or Victoria Mboko is a top-10 player. I also don\u2019t think you can level such serious blanket charges and, absent specifics, leave it at that.<\/p>\n Aiava has had some injury challenges throughout her career and was open about her mental health challenges<\/a>. May she find happiness and fulfillment in this next phase of life.<\/p>\n Few Observations from the AO:<\/p>\n 1. Novak [Djokovic] is the GOAT\u2014everyone can chill and get over it.\u00a0 It\u2019s kinda sad that it has to be explained to an American audience what he does well \u2026 while he\u2019s mentoring so many top youngsters and the next generation of top players. He\u2019s the most balanced player ever, almost every facet of his game is technically one of the top five ever (except overhead hahaha), and he\u2019s the master of challenging your strike zone and finding your technical and mental weaknesses \u2026 Once he does, you\u2019re done.<\/p>\n 2. [John] McEnroe\u2019s commentary gets more and more \u2026 for lack [of a better] term \u2026 unhelpful. He still has the old \u201chit, rush net, win point\u201d mindset. Has he not seen a Novak, [Rafael] Nadal, [Carlos Alcaraz], [Jannik] Sinner, [Daniil Medvedev] passing shot? These guys could have been champions in different sports, they chose tennis. That\u2019s how amazing the athleticism is these days.<\/p>\n 3. [Ben] Shelton STILL needs a serve coach! The drop off in speed and accuracy when he’s not slam dunking the ball is jarring.<\/p>\n 4.\u00a0 How hard is Sinner kicking himself for underestimating Novak with Fresh legs? For another year or so at least no one should do that!\u00a0<\/p>\n Cheers! Vijay<\/p>\n 1. I had to check the timestamp of your note. Has anyone since, say, 2023 really debated this point? That Djokovic is still reaching finals and beating defending champions at 38 years old is only the latest in his lengthy bill of particulars. He\u2019s the GOAT on the men\u2019s side. Case closed.<\/p>\n 2. I premise this by saying that, on balance, I\u2019m team John. We need to think of McEnroe the way we think of Charles Barkley. There is an entire segment premised on Barkley\u2019s lack of contemporary NBA knowledge (\u201cWho He Play For?\u201d<\/a>). But it\u2019s offset by entertainment, experience, comfort and lack of a tongue. Think of John that way. He\u2019s not going deep on Gabriel Diallo or Linda Noskova\u2019s X\u2019s and O\u2019s, recent matches and backstories. But he\u2019s the inimitable John McEnroe.<\/p>\n 3. Does Shelton need a new serve coach, or just a different risk threshold\/tolerance?<\/p>\n 4. Reaching a major semifinal and losing to the GOAT is hardly a crisis. But this was definitely a regression for Sinner. He won the Australian Open two years in a row and beat Alcaraz in their previous meeting. Alcatraz abruptly parted ways with his coach ahead of the event, and Sinner\u2019s bid to three-peat looked promising. Then he got lucky, nearly being upset in the middle weekend after his legs turned to tiramisu before the heat index hit the threshold for roof closure, mercifully. In the semifinals, he played a 38-year-old and basically got outfought. And his rival (who\u2019s younger) won the title, moving ahead of him in majors, 7\u20134. Again, it wasn\u2019t a catastrophe, but not the January he would have ordered up.<\/p>\n Frances Tiafoe fell to Sebastian Korda at the Dallas Open. | Mike Frey-Imagn Images<\/p>\n I saw Frances Tiafoe just lost in Dallas. What is going on with him? Time to sell that stock?<\/p>\n JT. Brooklyn<\/p>\n \u2022 I preface this by saying it\u2019s not personal. Tiafoe is the Pat Rafter\/Kim Clijsters\/Gustavo Kuerten\/Jessica Pegula of this generation. If you have a problem with them, look inward. Here we have a fun, light, collegial presence. Tiafoe is great with colleagues, fans and the media. He\u2019s charitable, funny and sunny. \u201cGreat guy\u201d is such an overused shorthand, but it applies perfectly here.<\/p>\n But\u2014and I\u2019m sure I\u2019ve either written or said this before\u2014I think we can tend to conflate Tiafoe\u2019s likability with his tennis. His tennis is uneven, tending to peak at majors and sag throughout the year. There are lapses in concentration and tactics.\u00a0<\/p>\n There\u2019s a running joke about the mess Tiafoe leaves on the court. His side of the chair looks like the floor of a sophomore\u2019s dorm room, with flung towels, discarded bottles and shoes with untied shoelaces. It\u2019s funny. But I wonder if it isn\u2019t a tell, too. There can be something disorganized about his game. As one of his former coaches once told me, \u201cI love him; things need to be tightened up a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n Scattered asides: <\/p>\n A) I wonder if we haven\u2019t mischaracterized him a bit. Maybe he\u2019s overachieved, not underachieved. There\u2019s his unlikely backstory. The hitch in the forehand. The volleys that can break down under pressure. The unique set of external pressures. He has overcome a lot to get to where he is. That he has cracked the top 10 and been a steady presence in main draws, never losing his amiable mode of being? That\u2019s a win.\u00a0<\/p>\n B) Players talk about peaking for majors, which makes sense. But you can overdo it. It\u2019s hard to take on bad loss after bad loss and then rock up to a best-of-five tentpole tournament lacking in wins (and aura) and assume you\u2019ll be there in Week 2 simply because you get up for the biggest events.<\/p>\n C) I took it as a positive sign that Tiafoe decided to make a coaching change and work with Dr. Mark Kovacs, a renowned sports scientist who cuts a very different figure from conventional coaches. This signified not merely a willingness to make a change but a willingness to reassess an entire approach.\u00a0<\/p>\n D) His results have been rough in 2026. But, happily for Tiafoe, it\u2019s early in the year. Plus, he\u2019s still only middle-aged in tennis years. And Lululemon paid for that endorsement deal, so he is free of financial pressure. You could press Tiafoe and say, Buckle down, time is ticking as the reader implies. You could also try to reduce pressure and tell him, Relax: You already won. Now you\u2019re playing with house money.<\/p>\n \u00a0Marin \u010cili\u0107, is he a Hall of Famer?<\/p>\n @Chrishammer<\/p>\n \u2022 This follows the usual heuristic. Are we being faithful to Hall of Fame precedent? Or are we talking about an all-time great, as halls of fame are designed to do?<\/p>\n If it\u2019s the former, he\u2019s in. (I would vote for \u010cili\u0107 if he were on the ballot today.) He has a major title and two finals appearances, all during the Big Three era. He also has more than 600 match wins (for comparison, Dominic Thiem retired with 348). \u010cili\u0107 has had a long career and enjoyed success on all surfaces. Aside from a nebulous doping suspension<\/a> in 2013, he maxes out on good-for-the-sport points. There are certainly enshrined players with lesser qualifications.<\/p>\n If (when?) the Hall of Fame wanted to tighten the screws and break with precedent? \u010cili\u0107 is a tougher candidate to support. One major? A career-high ranking of No. 3? A 3\u201337 record vs. the Big Three? It\u2019s no doubt an awesome career. But is that Hall of Fame worthy?\u00a0<\/p>\n I can\u2019t understand why Coco [Gauff] gets all this sympathy when she objects to cameras showing her smashing her racket. Then you noted the WTA response supporting her. Where was this when [Aryna] Sabalenka smashed a racket after the 2023 U.S. Open and it was shown on camera? I guess you have to be a \u201cgolden girl\u201d to get sympathy from the woke media.<\/p>\n Anonymous.<\/p>\n \u2022 I take issue with so much of this.<\/p>\n A) Does the media have its flaws? Sure. Many, in fact. Is coverage of tennis\u2014or any sector\u2014perfect? Hardly. But a little more critical analysis, rather than the blame-the-media lazy fallback, would be great.<\/p>\n B) As much as this was a bigger issue at the 2026 Australian Open than the 2023 U.S. Open, it\u2019s less about a difference in sympathies than a difference in timing. Gauff\u2019s incident came mid-tournament (so there were other players to ask, etc.), not after the final, as was the case with Sabalenka.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"Frances](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/01khs3kd1bwheny98a3t.jpg\" "\\"Frances")
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