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Unbreakable: Tennis Insights

Unbreakable: Tennis Insights

Channel Update + Week Recap (May 12th - May 18th)

Courtside Tennis & Emmanuel Okosun
May 19, 2024

Big Update.

Lately, we've been thinking about the direction of the channel. We found ourselves in the unfortunate situation of receiving 2 copyright strikes from ATP media. These strikes came at a time when Courtside Tennis had become one of the fastest-growing tennis channels. It feels like a sucker punch because we are now one strike away from being terminated.

We put in a lot of hard work to bring quality tennis content to you in all fairness. We've already reached out to the ATP for more understanding and honesty about the situation and how we can work together going forward. We hope that in the coming weeks, the video production will be back to normal.

However, if anything ever happens to Courtside Tennis, we will be in touch via this newsletter. We are unbreakable. The newsletter will be a place for any updates that hasn’t made it to the YouTube channel. We can’t thank you enough for your support and patience so far.

In the meantime, we will continue to provide our weekly recaps on the newsletter until we can resume posting them on the channel. Here's a glimpse of what we've been working on in the background as well.

Courtside Merch

We are working on designs this week and hopefully be end of week, we will have more designs ready for our Courtside Tennis merchandise. On top of that, we are having our subscribers help us pick a design because we are basically making it for you. Our goal as a channel is to make tennis more enjoyable for everyone while also creating a brand that resonates with our values. You can also support us by placing your orders once we hit the ground running on the merch.

If you want to be a part of this exciting venture, we will be sending out an email to everyone with more details. However, if you already know that you're down to buy merch from us, simply reply to this email, and we will personally make sure to reach out to you with more information about the drop.

Your support means the world to us, and we can't wait to share our passion for tennis through these exclusive designs.

New Videos

For those who might have missed out on latest week’s videos, you can catch up with everything here.

What Happened Last Week

ATP

Alexander Zverev is an ATP Masters 1000 champion for the sixth time. The German beat first-time Masters 1000 finalist Nicolas Jarry 6-4, 7-5 on Sunday en route to a second title in Rome. The title is Sascha’s biggest title since his devastating ankle injury in RG 2022. It’s also his most recent Masters 1000 triumph, the last one being in Cincinnati in 2021.

Sascha won the match with a 95% win on his first serve and he only made 5 unforced errors the entire match. Check out the full stats here.

WTA

In a span of 23 days, Iga Swiatek won the Madrid Open for the first time and followed it up with her third title in Rome. She beat Aryna Sabalenka in a rematch of the Madrid final. But this time, it was a straight sets victory; 6-2,6-3. Swiatek took down Coco Gauff in the semis while Sabalenka stopped the high-flying Danielle Collins. Both players will be looking forward to another chapter in their rivalry as Iga eyes the Triple Crown in a few weeks at Roland Garros.

The Biggest Movers Of The Week

ATP

Rankings Watch: Alexander Zverev leapfrogs Daniil Medvedev after securing the Italian Open title. Next Gen prospects Luca Nardi and Juncheng Shang hit new career highs. Shang breaks into the Top 100 for the first time. Nicholas Jarry and Alejandro Tabilo both jump 7 spots up after deep runs in Rome

WTA

Rankings Watch: Danielle Collins closes in on the top 10 after reaching the semis in Rome. Diana Shnaider is set for a new career high and a Top 50 presence for the first time. Angelique Kerber jumps almost 100 spots after reaching the round of 16 in Rome.

Major Tournament Updates

Geneva Open, Geneva, Switzerland | 19 - 25 May, 2024

These are the tournament’s top seeds.

There's no shortage of star power at the Geneva Open. Djokovic looks to get back on track and has accepted a wildcard to the tournament. He is 4-2 on the clay this season and is looking to find his footing ahead of Roland Garros. Andy Murray is a potential second round opponent for the Serbian.

Elsewhere, Casper Ruud looks to rebound. After a great start to the clay season, Ruud saw early exits in Madrid and Rome. Meanwhile, Americans Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton continue to build their clay repertoire.

Open Parc, Lyon, France | 19 - 25 May, 2024

These are the tournament’s top seeds.

Ugo Humbert, Adrian Mannarino, and Gael Monfils all add to the French flair as seeded players in Lyon. Frances Tiafoe will also be looking to find some form after a disappointing season so far.

Roland Garros, Paris, France | 26 May - 9 June, 2024

The Roland Garros main draw will be made on Thursday, 23 May at 2 p.m. We still aren’t 100% sure about Jannik Sinner’s participation. Also, the Alcaraz engine seems to be revving up but the Spaniard isn’t quite there either. More details to come.

Internationaux de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France | May 19 - May 25, 2024

The final WTA 500 event on clay in 2024 takes place in Strasbourg, France. These are the tournament’s top seeds. Elina Svitolina, the defending champion, has her work cut out for her with six players ranked higher than her in the tournament.

Grand Prix De Son Altesse Royale La Princesse Lalla Meryem, Rabat, Morocco | May 19 - May 25, 2024

These are the tournament’s top seeds. #4 seed Lucia Bronzetti is the defending champion. It was Bronzetti’s first WTA title and she won it as a player ranked outside the Top 100. Are we going to se a repeat of last year’s magic?

Watch Out For This Player

Alexander Zverev

Is this Sascha’s best opportunity to win a slam? With the top seeds dealing with one problem or the other, Sascha would be eyeing a huge opportunity to lift the Roland Garros title. Zverev is one of the most dogged players on tour. He just doesn’t go away. We saw that in his win against Tabilo in the semis and Jarry in the final. Sascha’s forehand is better than ever and other aspects of his game are top-tier. Here’s how he performed in Rome according to Tennis Insights data.

HOT TAKE

Iga Swiatek

Iga Swiatek stands alone at the Top. For all the talk about the new ‘Big 3’ on the WTA, I would argue that Iga Swiatek is a tad above Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina. To defend this unpopular take, I might have to dedicated an entire video to Iga in the coming days.

Off The Court

Dream Come True for Serena Williams

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The former world #1 is set to take center stage for ESPN in July as the host of the 2024 edition of its annual ESPY Awards. The announcement was made earlier in the week. Serena won a dozen ESPYs herself during her career; Best Female Tennis Player 10 times and the Best Female Athlete twice in 2003 and 2013. Williams will be the fourth woman to host the ESPYs' televised show in its two-decade history.

Camilla Giorgi On The Run?

Camila Giorgi & her dad allegedly ran away from a villa where they were staying without paying 6 months rent and also took antique furniture worth close to 100,000 euros. The owner of the villa says he wrote to Camila’s dad & told him to at least return the antique items. Her father responded by saying that the items were ‘of little value. (Source)

What’s going on with Camilla Giorgi?

Rafa and Roger for Louis Vuitton Interview

We were blessed with yet another Rafa and Roger wholesome moment; two iconic rivals reminiscing on some good moments on and off the court.

Watch the full video here.

Anett Kontaveit Announces Her Pregnancy.

The 28-year-old Estonian former world #2 retired last year. Earlier in the week, she announced that a new family member was on the way. Best wishes Anett.