This week’s stories range from soaring ticket prices and AI-assisted scouting to prediction markets, public-court technology, the Williams sisters, and the growing global influence of Alex Eala.
US Open tickets selling for hundreds on secondary market, frustrating NYC tennis fans: Some fans say the tournament is now for the biggest spenders, rather than the biggest fans. Full Story: CBS
Game, set, Chat: how tennis players use AI to scout opponents and run their lives: The emergence of GenAI has led to a generational shift with stars conflicted on the impact of technology on their sport. Full Story: The Guardian
Roger Federer’s Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Set to be Broadcast on the Tennis Channel: Tennis Channel announced it will exclusively broadcast the 2026 International Tennis Hall of Fame induction ceremony. This year’s event will honor 20-time major champion Roger Federer and journalist and former professional player Mary Carillo. Veteran Tennis Channel analyst Brett Haber will open the celebration..Full Story: Variety
Alex Eala’s tennis phenomenon is growing and changing the sport – everywhere she goes: Alex Eala has drawn crowds at every event she has played, from Grand Slams to smaller tournaments. She has been making tennis history for the Philippines — an archipelago of 7,641 islands and more than 110 million people — since she was a junior. Full Story: The Athletic
Serena and Venus Williams to reunite for doubles at Cincinnati Open as sisters eye another comeback: Serena and Venus William are back on track to playing doubles tennis ahead of the U.S. Open. The Cincinnati Open has announced that they have received a wild-card entry into the doubles field. Full Story: NY Post
Polymarket becomes official prediction markets partner of ATP Tour: Polymarket is making a bigger push into live sports, partnering with the ATP Tour — the global governing body of men’s professional tennis — to pair official tennis match streams with real-time prediction markets data. Full Story: Axios Teresa Comments: Given the ongoing match-fixing scandals in tennis, this is an… interesting move.
USTA Ventures and Rec bring modern technology to the millions who play tennis public parks: The USTA’s strategic investment initiative USTA Ventures has invested in Rec Technologies (“Rec”), the company modernizing how Americans discover and access places to play. USTA Ventures’ investment aims to support Rec as it enhances the play experience for the millions of tennis players who currently play on public courts with the goal of continuing the country-wide boom in grassroots tennis participation. Full Story: USTA
In ‘Finding Renée Richards,’ Writer and Subject Volley Over a Legacy: Julie Kliegman’s thorough biography of the transgender tennis player is fascinatingly complicated by her changed stance on gender and sports. Full Story: The New York Times
Sliced open and rebuilt, discarded tennis balls become wearable shoes: With its springy rubber shell and a grippy curving surface, a used tennis ball already contains much of what a shoeneeds. For SLICE, designer Soroosh Riazi Isfahani begins with those existing qualities, cutting discarded balls into repeatable components that can be assembled around the foot. The fluorescent yellow skin remains instantly recognizable, complete with white seams, printed logos, and patches worn down through play. Full Story: Design Boom Teresa Comments: These look neither good or comfortable.
Film Review Bloody Tennis (2026): With a chillingly strict coaching staff and the unsettling setting of a remote girls’ boarding school, the horror clichés could easily feel stale. But strong performances lobs the film over the net of predictability. Top-notch, gory tennis for horror fans. Who says women’s tennis isn’t brutally tough! Full Story: Out Now Teresa Comments: Totally not my genre. This is the rare tennis movie that I will skip.
‘Bimbo Tennis: The Play’ Is Coming to the Courts at Colonel Summers Park: The battle between tennis and its smaller, louder cousin pickleball has reached the theater. Bimbo Tennis: The Play will take over the tennis courts at Colonel Summers Park this weekend and next. The audience will sit courtside for the two-act comedy, which is coming off a sold-out premiere run in Santa Monica, Calif. It’s a dramatization of tennis vs. pickleball with a cast of seven actors. Full Story: W Week Teresa Comments: This is something I would attend if I were in the area.
This Week in Professional Tennis
| Date | Tournament | Tour/Level | Location |
| 8/2-13 | National Bank Open Presented by Rogers | WTA 1000 | Toronto |
| 8/2-13 | National Bank Open presented by Rogers | ATP 1000 | Montreal |
| 8/13-23 | The Cincinnati Open | WTA 1000 ATP 1000 | Cincinnati |
