Chris Evert turns 70. Interesting stats and law enforcement actions related to cyberbullying of tennis players. Netflix announces a new documentary on Rafael Nadal.
At 70, Chris Evert reflects on a life shaped by purpose and meaning: She was a teenager when she arrived in professional tennis and changed it forever. More than a half-century later, after winning 18 Grand Slam singles titles from the baseline, carving out an impressive career as the mother of three sons, an astute commentator for ESPN, the face of the Evert Tennis Academy, a two-time cancer survivor, and an increasingly passionate proponent of early cancer detection, Christine Marie Evert arrives at 70. Full Story: WTA
Hewitt, Borg and others following their tennis parents: There are familiar-sounding names on a tennis tournament entry list that remind you of a different era in the sport. Full Story: BBC
Program to prevent cyberbullying in tennis has reported 15 abusive posters to law enforcement: The results of the first 10 months of the program found that nearly half of the documented online abuse came from what were described as “angry gamblers.” Full Story: Tennis
Gamblers behind half of abusive posts to tennis stars: Angry gamblers are behind 48% of the 12,000 social media posts that have been deemed abusive towards tennis players this year, according to an artificial intelligence-led detection system. Full Story: BBC
Jenson Brooksby talks about living with autism: Jenson Brooksby wants people — other players, yes, but also anyone else, including those who are, or know someone who is, autistic — to hear about his experience living with autism spectrum disorder, which he discussed publicly for the first time during a recent interview. Full Story: AP News
How the ATP Tour is advancing its Tennis IQ platform: The ATP Tour’s player- and coach-facing analytics platform, Tennis IQ, began integrating automatically-tagged video clips. Expanded access includes filtering and sorting points by factors such as point result, shot type, direction, spin, and score. Full Story: Sports Business Journal
11,000 Players, 1200 Events: The 2024 ITF World Tennis Tour in Numbers: The ITF World Tennis Tour has continued to develop and grow in 2024, with additional investment seeing record prize money paid out to players on the tour while new records were also set in terms of numbers of players and events. Full Story: ITF
The first openly gay active professional male tennis player, was just posting a selfie: Joao Lucas Reis da Silva, a 24-year-old professional tennis player, did about the most normal thing anyone does these days. He posted a couples selfie on Instagram. In doing so, he became the first openly gay player on the ATP. Full Story: The Athletic
Wesley Koolhof and Julia Goerges Wed: Following Wesley Koolhof’s retirement from professional tennis in November, the Dutchman has embraced an exciting new chapter. Koolhof and former WTA star Julia Goerges tied the knot on 14 December. Full Story: ATP
‘I Was Dead’: How a Perfectly Timed Tennis Match Saved a Farmington Man’s Life: If you’re going to have a heart attack, a tennis court is a pretty good place to have it. Full Story: UConn Today
Netflix Announces Documentary on Rafael Nadal’s Legendary Tennis Career: Netflix announced that the streaming service will be premiering a documentary on Rafael Nadal’s legendary career—loosely titled Rafa Nadal—following the Spaniard’s retirement from tennis last month. Netflix hasn’t announced the premiere date yet. Full Story: KTSM
This Week in Professional Tennis
| Date | Tournament | Tour/Level | Location |
| 12/27-1/5 | United Cup | WTA 500 / ATP 500 | Australia |
| 12/29-1/5 | Brisbane International presented by Evie | WTA 500 ATP 250 | Australia |
