Roland Garros begins this week. Beneath the usual anticipation sits a sport wrestling with bigger structural questions, including player compensation, governance, scheduling, commercialization, and the future direction of professional and collegiate tennis.
Why you might want to watch the first round match between Akasha Urhobo and Katie Boulter at Roland Garros: Tennis players generally learn to compete from the baseline. Then they learn to move forward. In Urhobo, tennis has a potential answer to a fascinating question. Can a top player learn how to play the sport backwards? Urhobo finished last year as the world No. 432. She has climbed nearly 250 spots since then. For five weeks between the end of March and the start of May, she won more rankings points on clay than any other U.S. player outside the top 100. That made her the winner of the organization’s “wild card challenge” for the French Open. Full Story: The Athletic
Tennis stars will hold media protest at French Open over Grand Slam prize money: At the Italian Open earlier this month, stars like Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff suggested that players could boycott one of the four biggest events in tennis. At Roland Garros, players will not go to those lengths, but they will walk out of their pre-tournament news conferences early, a source briefed on the group’s plans, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect relationships, said Wednesday. Full Story: The Athletic
What to know about the proposed player boycotts in tennis: While labor disputes in sports are nothing new, this scenario is different than those typically seen in team sports, in which players are direct employees of the various leagues and often have a union. Professional tennis players are independent contractors and not part of collective bargaining conversations. Not to mention, every Slam has its own leadership and structure, with differing prize money and revenue splits — and on top of all that, the ATP and WTA operate separately. Full Story: ESPN
French Open prize money won’t change this year: The French Open prize money will not change this year despite players complaining they deserve a bigger share, tournament director Amelie Mauresmo said Thursday. Top players have criticized the French Open organizers for reducing the players’ share of revenue to an alleged 14.3% — compared with 22% at standard ATP and WTA events. Full Story: ESPN
Rafael Nadal retired a tennis great, but his career was almost cut painfully short: While Rafael Nadal’s achievements have been well documented, what is lesser known is how close it came to never happening at all, and how an injury sustained at the start of his career almost derailed everything he had worked towards. Full Story: CNN
World Team Tennis, the starry mixed league founded by Billie Jean King, gets another reboot: There will then be a home-and-away competition throughout December, featuring city-based teams. This iteration of WTT has been scheduled to coincide with the ATP and WTA off-season, which runs from the end of November to the end of December. Full Story: The Athletic
Georgia AD Josh Brooks wants NCAA to reconsider tennis championship decision: The NCAA National Championships will be held at the The USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla. for 10 years from 2028 to 2037. In a post on X, Georgia AD Josh Brooks shared “A decision that was essentially made behind closed doors without giving any campus sites an opportunity to bid on any of those years. I haven’t met one athlete, coach or fan that prefers this tournament to be played on off campus sites.” Full Story: Online Athens
American Collegiate Player Wildcard Playoffs return to USTA National Campus: The second annual American Collegiate Player Wildcard Playoffs—featuring the best American men’s and women’s college tennis players competing for six total wild card entries into the US Open—will be played June 16-18 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla. Full Story: USTA
Billie Jean King graduates from college at age 82: Last year, Billie Jean finally returned to finish the degree in history she started at UCLA more than six decades ago. On Monday, she graduated at 82 years old. Full Story: The Guardian
Why luxury brands are courting tennis stars: The style of athletes and a shifting sportswear market are turning the game into the industry’s newest obsession. Full Story: The Financial Times
California racquet club accused of taking over public courts that are supposed to be free for all: A group is accused of taking advantage of court rules to shut out players not part of the Meetup squad, which suggests a $5 donation to join its back-to-back doubles sessions on weekends. Numerous complaints have been filed with the city, with one critic accusing the club of clipping carabiner locks onto the gates in a ‘hostile takeover’ of the public courts. Full Story: MSN
This Week in Professional Tennis
| Date | Tournament | Tour/Level | Location |
| 5/24-6/7 | Roland Garros | Grand Slam | France |
