A Grand Slam “Arms Race,” a surprise retirement announcement, and a leadership change at the ATA. The tennis news that you probably missed last week.
The Grand Slam tennis arms race between Wimbledon and the Australian, French and U.S. Open: The Australian, French and U.S. Opens and Wimbledon all want to be three-week tennis festivals, rather than two-week tournaments. Full Story: The Athletic
Simona Halep announces her retirement: Two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep announced her retirement from tennis at age 33 after a first-round loss at a tournament in her home country of Romania on Tuesday, ending an injury-filled comeback from a doping suspension. Full Story: AP
Robert Foster Elected President of American Tennis Association: The American Tennis Association Inc. (ATA), the oldest African American national sports organization since 1916, announced the election of Robert Foster as its new President. He succeeds outgoing President, Roxanne Aaron, who served the organization as President for the past six years. Full Story: Racquet Sports Industry
The Strategy Behind On’s Tennis Ambassador Lineup: The current lineup features players in a mix of places in their careers, but always youthful and certainly diverse. Full Story: Forbes
Collins delivers on Australian Open promise of ‘five star vacay’: American tennis firebrand Danielle Collins delivered on her pledge to take a vacation in the Bahamas with her Australian Open prizemoney in a final shot at fans who booed her at the Grand Slam. Collins posted video on social media on Sunday showing her enjoying a “five star vacay” at a Bahamas resort with friends. Full Story: Reuters
Reilly Opelka Continues to Endear Himself to Dallas Tennis fans: A video shows Reilly Opelka using obscenity toward a fan at the Dallas Open and receiving a point penalty, which indicates there was some earlier code violation in the match. Afterward, Opelka sounded off over the tournament referee and how tennis needs more officiating accountability. Full Story: Tennis Editorial Note: In 2019, I attended the Dallas Challenger. where Opelka behaved poorly toward officials, fans, and even the ball kids. This appears to continue that rocky relationship with the Dallas tennis community.
Taylor Fritz Blames Australian Open’s Tennis Balls for Injury: In a Dallas Open post-match interview with the Tennis Channel, Fritz revealed that he has been recovering from an oblique injury and offered a surprising cause for the issue. Fritz said, “I was trying to recover a little bit from an injury; I had already injured myself before. It was my oblique; it was caused by the balls that were supposed to be the same ones we were using here and the ones we were using in Australia, but they just weren’t.” Full Story: Sports Illustrated
A Pickleball vs. Tennis War That Tore Apart a 55+ Community: The wounds inflicted by the controversy will take some time to heal. “I’m embarrassed to acknowledge how much this has divided the community,” said one resident. “We used to be a very cohesive, happy community. The name-calling that went on was just crazy.” Full Story: Palm Beach Post
LMFAO’s Redfoo, 49, Made His Professional Tennis Debut: Stefan Kendal Gordy, commonly known as Redfoo from the EDM-house duo LMFAO, played in the M15 Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt during the ITF Men’s World Tennis Tour. Full Story: People
An Essay on Tennis Balls: Pop. Hiss. Peel. The perfect three-note symphony, chased by a rubber-sweet scent. Full Story: Hither and Yon (Substack)
What is a “Good” Tennis Movie? Dissecting some of the sport’s cult classics through the lens of a fan. Full Story: Tennis
This Week in Professional Tennis
| Date | Tournament | Tour/Level | Location |
| 2/9-15 | Qatar TotalEnergies Open 2025 | WTA 1000 | Qatar |
| 2/10-16 | Open 13 Provence | ATP 250 | France |
| 2/10-16 | Delray Beach Open | ATP 250 | USA |
| 2/10-16 | IEB+ Argentina Open | ATP 250 | Argentina |
