A Santa Special: Tennis Insights

Christmas came early and we couldn’t be more grateful for your support over the year. 

Here’s something to help hardcore tennis fans like you get through the week.

New Videos‼ 

We just uploaded a NEW video on someone y’all have been asking for - Jannik Sinner is the man. Unfortunately, not many fans know so much about the details of his game, his trajectory so far, and what has changed about him this year. But not to worry, we've already put everything together for you, so check out the video here.

What Happened Last Week?

World Tennis League (December 21 - December 24)

For those of you who have never heard of the event, it’s quite understandable because this is only the second edition of the mixed-gender team tournament. By the way, it is non-ATP/WTA-affiliated. The tournament took place on the hard court at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Many of our top 10 players from the ATP and WTA are participating in the competition. 

Players are split into 4 teams which then compete against each other. In team Kites, we have “Tsitsidosa”, Grigor Dimitrov, and Aryna Sabalenka. Team Hawk has Hubert Hurkacz, Casper Ruud, Iga Świątek, and Caroline Garcia. Team Eagles have Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Mirra Andreeva, and Sofia Kenin, while Team Falcons have Taylor Fritz, Elena Rybakina, Sumit Nagal, and Sorana Cîrstea. The Eagles and Kites made it to the final before beating the Kites 29-26.

Major Tournament Updates 

United Cup

A host of top stars from both the ATP and WTA Tour will compete at the 2024 United Cup in Australia. Team United States will be looking to defend the crown they won at the beginning of the year. World no. 1, Novak Djokovic will make his event debut for Team Serbia. The tournament will be held from 29 December 2023 to 7 January 2024 at the RAC Arena in Perth and the Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre. 

The draw was held a couple of days ago and we’ll be having 18 teams placed into six groups of three. 9 of the world’s Top 20 men will feature while 5 of the top 10 women including Iga Swiatek, Jessica Pegula, Maria Sakkari, and Marketa Vondrousova will be available. You can find out more about the draw and schedule here.

HOT TAKE

Time Up for the Old Guard?

Veterans like Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka, Dominic Thiem, Gael Monfils, and Richard Gasquet all enjoyed notable moments in 2023. There were final runs for Murray in Doha, Wawrinka in Umag, and Thiem (Kitzbuehel). Meanwhile, we saw title triumphs for Monfils in Stockholm and Gasquet in Auckland. As much as we love these fan favorites, I think the playing field might be a tad too strong for them in 2024. We might not see as much magic as we did in 2023. I could be totally wrong of course. What are your thoughts?

Watch Out For This Player

Sofia Kenin

She won the Australian Open and reached the final of the French Open in 2020 but a series of injuries and struggles with form meant that we didn’t get to see the best of Kenin for the next two years. 2023 offered redemption and was a comeback year in many ways as she returned back to the top 30 after previously dropping out of the top 200. After her incredible performance for team Eagles at the World Tennis League, you get the feeling that 2024 could prove to be a great year for the American.

Off The Court

Tiafoe’s New Chapter

The 25-year-old American announced on Wednesday that he had split with his coach, Wayne Ferreira, who had been with him for the past three years. Tiafoe reached a maiden semi-final major at the 2022 US Open and broke into the Top 10 under Ferreira’s tutelage. Tiafoe says that he has nothing but love and respect for his former coach. However, ahead of the upcoming season in 2024, Tiafoe has now reunited with former USTA coach Diego Moyano for the start of 2024. 

The Argentine has previously worked with the likes of former World No. 5 Kevin Anderson and WTA star Coco Gauff. Moyano has also spent time working with Tommy Paul and Reilly Opelka alongside Tiafoe in the past. We could probably give Tiafoe a B+ for his 2023 season. He won two titles; on clay in Houston and on grass in Stuttgart and finished the year at No. 16 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. But you get the feeling that he could become a consistent top 10 player in the coming seasons.

Alcaraz & Sinner Meet Up

The world no.2 and world no. 4 practiced together In Villena, sharing a court on Thursday at the Ferrero Tennis Academy in preparation for the 2024 season. Alcaraz was accompanied by his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero and Samuel Lopez, who will be traveling with him to Australia. Ferrero had an arthroscopy on his left knee, so he won’t be traveling with Alcaraz for the Australian Open in 2024.

Rune Hires New Coach

Former Federer coach Severin Luthi joined Boris Becker on Rune's team on Wednesday. The high-profile addition to Rune’s team will now see him being coached by former coaches of 2 members out of the Big 3. The Dane had an underwhelming year by his standards and will be hoping to confirm his place as one of the leaders of the Next Gen in 2024. 

Trivia Of The Week

Ahead of his 2024 comeback, we took time to look back on some of Rafael Nadal’s records that might not be broken soon. One of such records has to do with most Grand Slams without dropping a set. Rafa did it on four different occasions at the 2008, 2010, 2017, and 2020 editions of the French Open. Roger Federer did it at the Australian Open in 2007 and at Wimbledon in 2017. Interestingly, Novak Djokovic hasn’t managed to do it.

Highlights Of The Year

You know, one of the best things about tennis is the unique sportsmanship and respect culture that we get to witness.

Let’s relive some of those special moments that happened in 2023

Happy Holidays!

For the Love of Tennis