Courtside Digest: New Beginnings!

September 1st - 8th (Mailbag & Weekly Recap)

Author

Dominick Brock
September 09, 2024

Courtside Tennis

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Welcome to the Courtside Digest!

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Week of September 9

Welcome to the Courtside Digest, powered by Suckerpunch!

Consider this newsletter to be a reboot of the one we were previously doing. Going forward, we will be answering questions asked by YOU, the fans, going over some of the hottest topics in the tennis world. Stick around to find out how you can submit your questions for future newsletters!

This week’s topics are mainly focused on the US Open, and there is A LOT to talk about. So without further ado, let’s get into it!

-This Week’s Topics-

When was the last time an American man AND an American woman made a Grand Slam final at the same tournament?

It has been 15 LOOONG years since we had a Grand Slam tournament with both an American man and woman making the singles final. 

In 2009, Andy Roddick and the Williams sisters made the finals of Wimbledon. Serena won the women’s title, but Roddick fell just short in a five-set thriller to the king of Wimbledon, Roger Federer. 

It has been even longer since this happened at the US Open. You have to go back to 2002 when Agassi, Sampras, Serena, and Venus made it an all-American affair. 

Now is definitely a great time to be a fan of American tennis, but of course, success comes with inevitable questions of sustainability.

Was the American success at this tournament a flash in the pan, or the start of something big for US tennis?

The short answer to this question, in my opinion, is no. This success has been in the making for a long time. 

Taylor Fritz has been on the come up alongside fellow top-ranked Americans Frances Tiafoe and Tommy Paul for the past 8 years or so. Even though Foe and Tommy have hit some milestones before Fritz, Taylor is still the best of the bunch.  

This bunch of Americans is different from the Johnson, Sock group because they seem to have more belief in themselves and their games. They also have more complete games that consistently hold up against the top guys. 

Back to Taylor Fritz, he fell in straight sets in his first Grand Slam final, but he still has so much to be proud of. Ending the drought for American men in slam finals is huge, and it should serve as motivation for Frances, Tommy, and ALL of the American players looking to continue that success for the U.S. 

On the women’s side, this success has become fairly common once again. Long gone are the days of Venus and Serena dominating the slams, but the WTA is still in good hands. 

There was a really interesting stat that I came across the other day: An American woman has made a Grand Slam final every year but 2006 in the Open Era.  That year, Amelie Mauresmo beat Justine Henin in Australia, Henin beat Svetlana Kuznetsova in Paris, Mauresmo beat Henin again at Wimbledon, and Maria Sharapova beat Henin in New York. These players were all from either France, Belgium, or Russia. 

Heading into 2025 and beyond with Pegula, Gauff, Navarro and Keys leading the way, I have no doubt that trend will continue.

How many Honey Deuces were sold this year?

This is obviously the question that EVERYONE wants the answer to, right? No, but in all seriousness, the profitability of the US Open’s signature cocktail is very impressive.

At the 2023 US Open, roughly 450,000 Honey Deuce’s were sold. At $22 a piece, that came to about $10 million in sales. WOW!

Other tournaments have their own signature drinks, such as the traditional Pimm’s Cup cocktail at Wimbledon. However it is unclear if anything is even close to as lucrative as the Honey Deuce. Except maybe Strawberries & Cream…

But of course, if the GOAT Serena Williams likes it, it’s bound to be a hit. 

Also, side note, it is such a flex to be having a drink with your name on the cup six times.

What is Suckerpunch?

By now, you’ve probably noticed that we’ve brought on a presenting sponsor to the channel, and before you ask, no I’m not the type of creator who blindly hawks products at their subscribers. But when I met the Suckerpunch team through a mutual connection in the tennis world, I knew we were going to do something special together.

The team is super passionate about tennis (maybe you noticed the hats in Frances Tiafoe’s box?) and wants to support players and creators. They’re helping us create even MORE of the content you already know and love, as well as some new stuff I have coming your way in the next few weeks.  

Now you’re probably wondering, what exactly is this product? (and maybe why should I buy it?) It’s a hydration drink designed to help you get the most out of your athletic performance, preventing cramps and promoting active recovery. The hydration shooters are mostly what I use, (I especially like the spicy pepper) but I do occasionally just drink the pickle juice straight from the jar. (Not that weird, I promise)

As a tennis player, I often struggled with my endurance in matches– and I was especially prone to headaches and cramps. When I tried pickle juice for the first time, it was like a light went off in my head. I could play for hours and I could feel my performance improving, especially later on in matches. Needless to say after these experiences, when Suckerpunch came around, it was a total no brainer to work with them.

If you’re interested, I’ll leave a few of my favorite product links down below. Try them and let me know what you think, and be sure to use the code ‘Courtside-Punch’ for 25% off your order. 

Spicy Pepper hydration shooter:

Classic Dill hydration shooter:

Pickle pouches:

Iga Swiatek has only one 1 major, US Open 2022, outside of the French Open. Will this trend continue in 2025?

This has been an interesting, under-the-radar stat that I’ve been following for a while.

Iga Swiatek is the world #1 right now and has established herself as the best active clay court player. However, 4 of her 5 majors have come at Roland Garros, and she hasn’t been going deep at the other slams on a consistent basis. In fact, this season she did not make the second week of Wimbledon or the Australian Open.

She made the quarterfinals at this year’s US Open for the first time since she won the title 2 years ago, and only for the second time overall. 

Part of the reason why she hasn’t done too well at the 3 other slams is the faster court speeds, which allows opponents to rush her. Iga likes to have time to set up on her shots, specifically the forehand. Noskova rushed her enough in Australia to get the win, Putintseva frustrated her with low bouncing slices at Wimbledon, and Pegula took the ball early to speed up play in New York.

Iga may be at the top of the rankings right now, but that’s not from consistently deep runs at all of the slams.

Speaking of winning slams, we have to talk about someone who hasn’t won one in a little while…

Will Djokovic win another major?

For the first time in 22 years, a member of the “Big 3” did not win at least 1 of the 4 majors in a calendar year. 

Could this be signaling the end of an era? 

It’s possible.

Novak has struggled all year long, but did rise to the occasion at the Olympics, securing the gold medal. It would have seemed crazy if this question was asked at this time last season. In 2023, Nole won 3 of the four slams and was showing no signs of slowing down. 

Djokovic is 37 now, and Father Time waits for no one. Novak cannot afford to have another season like this. 

Even if he is able to stay relatively injury-free, recovering from matches becomes tougher with age, regardless of who you are. 

Another aspect to look for is motivation. Winning the Olympic Gold Medal was the one thing that Novak was still chasing coming into this season. He finally checked that off his to-do list, so now what? He has a family now, and spending time with them is no doubt one of his biggest priorities at this stage of his career. 

Do I doubt his desire to win another slam? Absolutely not. 

Do I question whether or not his body can hold up long enough to do so? Yes, I do.

Only time will tell, but in tennis, anything can happen. And we should all know by now to never count out Novak Djokovic.

What is the race to the ATP and WTA Finals looking like post-US Open?

Following his run to the US Open semifinals, Jack Draper has moved up 14 spots in the ATP Finals race to #18. There is still a ways to go, but he will have chances in the fall to move up to at least an alternate spot.

Frances Tiafoe also moved up a few spots to #14 thanks to his semifinal run. 

Taylor Fritz has pretty much locked up his spot in the Finals moving up 5 spots to #5 in the race. Well-deserved for a guy who works as hard as Taylor does. Even though he did not come away with the title, his US Open run gave fans a lot to be excited about going forward.

Also, spare a thought for Grigor Dimitrov who had a really good chance to make his first Slam final at 33-years old. He did move up 3 spots to #10 in the race after his quarterfinal showing, so that’s at least something of a consolation prize.

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On the WTA side of things, Paula Badosa made a bit of a leap, moving up 6 spots to #14 in the live race. 

Emma Navarro moved up 1 spot to #7 in the race, which could prove to be crucial when it comes down to who gets the final spot. 

Jessica Pegula is edging closer towards qualification as well, moving up 2 spots to #5. Despite losing in straight sets in her first Grand Slam final, Jess is on the right track at the moment. 

Olympic gold medalist Qinwen Zheng didn’t move up from the #9 spot, but did gain 430 points. This inches her closer to Danielle Collins at #8 with the Asian swing still to come. 

Where am I going next?

I’ve also loved getting to meet a lot of you at the US Open this year and at various tennis tournaments I worked throughout the season. It’s super cool and encouraging for me when you all come say hi, and it’s been great talking tennis and getting to know you personally. 

With that said, I’m going to start letting you all know my upcoming tennis destinations, so if you see me on or around the courts, come and introduce yourself! 

From October 10th to 13th, I’ll be at the Tennis Congress in Tucson, Arizona, It’s a workshop for some of the best pro coaches in the world and a chance for tennis fans like all of us to improve our games and learn from some of the best in our sport.

Looking forward to seeing you out there! 

One last thing!

If you guys want your questions answered in next week’s newsletter email us, drop them in the discord, or leave a YouTube comment. Make sure to put Courtside Digest before the comment so that way we can find it more easily. Thanks!