High Stakes Homestretch

More champs are being crowned and the coaching carousel continues to spin. Plus, the Year-End Finals are fast approaching. The margin for error becomes quite thin this time of year.

Like always, we have plenty to discuss, so let’s get into this week’s topics, presented by SuckerPunch! 🥒

What Should We Make Of Iga Świątek Parting Ways With Her Coach?

On Friday, Iga Świątek announced that she and long-time coach Tomasz Wiktorowski were splitting up. In the announcement, Iga said that it was a mutual decision.

The pair has enjoyed plenty of success in their three years of working together. Wiktorowski was with Iga for 19 of her 22 career titles and her Olympic bronze medal victory. That also included 4 of her 5 Grand Slam titles. 

Iga also said in the announcement that she is “ready to take the next step” in her career. This “next step” may be related to finding more success in the non-clay Grand Slams. Since her US Open title in 2022, Swiatek has not reached the semifinals of a Grand Slam other than the French Open.

Iga will not be competing in the 1000 event in Wuhan this week, which she mentioned in this announcement, saying “due to this important change on my team, I [will] give myself a couple of weeks to start [working] with a new coach.”

She says that she is in talks with non-Polish coaches at the moment and will let us all know when she makes a decision. Iga will likely want to find a coach who has had success coaching players on all three surfaces. Wim Fissette maybe? 

I am very interested to see what direction she goes in and how immediate of an impact a new coach will have on her results.

What Are The New Davis Cup & Billie Jean King Cup Formats?

Both the Davis Cup & the Billie Jean King Cup announced new formats for the Finals, starting in 2025. 

In Davis Cup, the event will change the 6-day 4-group September group stage to 7 home-or-away ties played over 2 days. The seven winners of those ties will advance to the Final 8 in November. The host nation of the Finals will receive an automatic bid to the quarterfinal stage. The host nation must have a top 50 nations ranking or at least one player inside the top 10 of the ATP singles rankings.

The Billie Jean King Cups’ changes include transitioning from a 12-team event to 8, mirroring the Davis Cup’s existing format. These changes are being done as part of a long-term plan to bring these two events closer together. 

ITF President David Haggerty said that the changes are “another positive step forward for [both events]. Moving the Davis Cup September stage…will ease players’ schedules immediately following the US Open, while maintaining the intensity of the competition that they all love.”

Haggerty also said that “the move allows us to showcase world-class tennis in more nations around the world and increase awareness and participation.”

It would be great if these amendments made Davis Cup and BJK Cup more popular among top players. It could also bring a big boost of fan interest if all goes according to plan.

The bidding processes for the 2025 Finals are still underway for both events, so we will have to wait and see where these new formats will be taking place.

A Quick Note On SuckerPunch

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Who Won Last Week’s Tournaments?

Another week on the Asian swing means more mid-week finals. The ATP events in Tokyo & Beijing concluded on Tuesday & Wednesday, respectively.

In Tokyo, Arthur Fils won a three hour, three set thriller against French compatriot Ugo Humbert. He had to save a championship point on his way to a 5-7 7-6(6) 6-3 victory. 

This was a seriously impressive week already from the 20 year old Frenchman. Fils defeated FOUR top 20 players during his Tokyo run, including #7 Taylor Fritz, #14 Holger Rune, #17 Ben Shelton, & #18 Humbert. This win moves Fils up 3 spots in the ATP rankings to #21, just one shy of his career-high. 

The Beijing final was another instant classic between the top two players in the world at the moment, Jannik Sinner & Carlos Alcaraz. It took almost 3 and a half hours, but Alcaraz eventually came out on top with a thrilling 6-7(6) 6-4 7-6(3) win. This was their third meeting this year and Carlitos has won all three. This rivalry has already provided so much entertainment and excitement, and I already can’t wait for the next installment. 

Also in Beijing, Coco Gauff played some of her best tennis this year taking down Karolina Muchova 6-1 6-3 to win her 2nd WTA 1000 title. Interestingly, this is the second time she has won a tournament with a new coach in their debut tournament together. Last year, she won the 500 event in Washington DC, which was her first tournament working with Brad Gilbert. If this new partnership with Matt Daly follows a similar script, there could soon be plenty more success for Gauff. 

Who’s Playing This Week?

For the first time this fall, both the ATP & WTA tours will have 1000 tournaments in the same week. The men will be in Shanghai, while the women will be competing in Wuhan.

17 of the world’s top 20 started the week in Shanghai, and as of Monday 13 remain. It has been a tough week in terms of weather. Rain has plagued the tournament. Prior to Monday, some players were in the fourth round while some were still in round 2. 

Assuming the weather starts to hold up, the final is scheduled for next Sunday. Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, & Tommy Paul are the only players in the round of 16. Zverev, Fritz, Dimitrov & more are still a match away from that stage. 

In Wuhan, main draw play got underway Monday morning. Aryna Sabalenka & Jessica Pegula are the top 2 seeds for the second tournament in a row. 

Jasmine Paolini, Beijing champ Coco Gauff, Qinwen Zheng, & Emma Navarro will all be competing for WTA Finals qualification in addition to a title this week. The Wuhan is also set for Sunday, and hopefully this event won’t have as many rain delays as Shanghai. 

What Do The Races To The ATP & WTA Finals Look Like This Week?

Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, & Alexander Zverev have all qualified for the ATP Finals. #4 Daniil Medvedev is pretty close to qualifying, but the rest of the field is up for grabs. 

Novak Djokovic has made it clear that the majors are his top priority at this point of his career. He said that he may not even play the ATP Finals, even if he qualifies. And with him in the #8 spot currently, that could definitely change the stakes for players hoping to qualify. 

There are less than 600 points separating #5 Taylor Fritz and #9 Alex De Minaur in the Race Rankings. It could come down to deep runs in any of the remaining 500 & 1000 level tournaments to decide the final lineup. Fritz, along with #6 Casper Ruud, #7 Andrey Rublev, #9 De Minaur, #10 Grigor Dimitrov, & #11 Tommy Paul all need strong finishes to the season if they want a shot at competing in the final tournament of the year.

Following her title in Beijing, Coco Gauff moved up 2 spots to #4 in the Race to the WTA Finals Rankings. Iga Swiatek & Aryna Sabalenka are the only 2 that have officially qualified, but Coco is just about there. 

Elena Rybakina is in the #3 spot currently, but it wouldn’t be too surprising if she chose to take the rest of the year off given her recent struggles. If that happens, #8 Qinwen Zheng will really like her chances of qualifying. 

Danielle Collins, currently #9 in the Race, did not play Beijing and is not in the draw of the 1000 event in Wuhan either. Because of this, her chances of making the Finals are now likely slim to none. This is quite unfortunate, especially considering that qualifying for the WTA Finals was one of Danielle's goals in her final season on tour. 

#5 Jasmine Paolini & #6 Jessica Pegula should feel good about their chances to qualify, while #7 Emma Navarro will want to extend her lead over Zheng to ensure qualification.

Who Will The Year-End World No.1 Be?

Jannik Sinner is the No.1 player in the world right now, but it is not an absolute certainty that he will finish the year on top. 

Sinner has just under a 3000 point lead over Carlos Alcaraz in the Live Race rankings, but has some big point totals to defend down the stretch. Carlitos on the other hand did not win a tournament after Wimbledon last season, and will have a lot more opportunities to gain points than Sinner will. 

Alcaraz will need at least another title or 2 and some help from Sinner, but anything can happen in this sport.

On the WTA side, the race is MUCH tighter. Iga Swiatek only holds a 284 point lead over current #2 Aryna Sabalenka. Add in the fact that Iga is not playing the 1000 event in Beijing, but Aryna is, and the margin gets that much smaller.

Swiatek has finished as the year-end No.1 the past two years, there is a very real chance she could be dethroned. Again, anything is possible, but Sabalenka has to like her chances to finish the year on top.

One Last Thing!

Once again, if you guys want your questions answered in next week’s newsletter check out the post in the of the Courtside Tennis YouTube channel. You can also email us, drop them in the Discord, or leave a comment on our most recent YouTube video. Make sure to put Courtside Digest before the comment so that way we can find it more easily. Thanks!