Rafael Nadal’s retirement marks the end of a legendary career. Meanwhile, Italian tennis is having a moment. An American high-schooler inks an absurd tennis NIL deal that you have to read about to believe.
Rafael Nadal retires from tennis at Davis Cup after Spain lose to Netherlands: Rafael Nadal’s professional tennis career is over, his final match a 6-4, 6-4 defeat to Botic Van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands at the Davis Cup. Full Story: The Athletic
How Rafael Nadal broke tennis math: Titles, stats, and more: Numbers are how some people make sense of the world. Through them, you can understand how a game is played and what matters the most within it. Each sport has its statistical guidelines, its must-win categories and its unbreakable records. And throughout what will end up going down as about a 23-year career, as Roger Federer was breaking geometry and Novak Djokovic was breaking the laws of flexibility and fitness — and Andy Murray, pushing so hard to reach the top of the sport, ended up breaking himself — Nadal made absolute nonsense out of the numbers that define tennis. Full Story: ESPN
Rafael Nadal: The Warrior Next Door: A longform tribute from the ATP. Full Story: ATP
There Will Never Be Another Tennis Player Like Rafael Nadal: Rafael Nadal looked unsustainable. When Nadal exploded into tennis 20 years ago, his game appeared too physical, too muscular, too hard on the body to survive for very long. Tennis is a game of fluidity and grace, but the teenage Spaniard played it like he was moving a piano by himself. Nadal didn’t hit. He heaved. He didn’t run—he charged. He hit a semi-Western grip forehand with a wild spin, finishing with a lasso-like flourish, and his backhand was a deep, grunting scoop. Full Story: WSJ
Italy Wins the Billie Jean King Cup: It’s fair to say 2024 has been quite a year for Italian tennis. And in particular for Jasmine Paolini, who capped the best season of her career by winning the decisive match in the Billie Jean King Cup Finals against Slovakia to secure Italy’s first title in 11 years. Full Story: CNN
Jannik Sinner is a tennis star. In Italy, his celebrity transcends his sport: Jannik Sinner, the first Italian to achieve the men’s world No. 1 ranking, isn’t just the featured attraction of the ATP Tour Finals tournament in his home country: He is the tournament, on the court and off it. Full Story: The Athletic
8,000 matches later, Carlos Bernardes says goodbye to tennis: For more than three decades, chair umpire Carlos Bernardes enjoyed the best seat in the house. One of the sport’s most respected officials, the Brazilian has presided over some of the game’s most memorable showdowns in tennis’s grandest arenas. Full Story: ATP
Coco Gauff Breaks Tennis Style with Denim Shorts on Court: Gauff shared a video of herself playing tennis alongside American singer and songwriter Faye Webster. She captioned the story, “ntm (not to mention) on my jorts. Full Story: Sports Illustrated Editorial Note: I feel like Agassi deserves the credit for breaking the denim barrier in tennis…
Handing Out 2024’s End of Year Tennis Awards: With 2025 around the corner, it’s time for Jon Wertheim to look back on the season that was and give out some hardware. Full Story: Sports Illustrated
Tennis culture is causing a social racket: Why did millions of people begin playing tennis and fall in love? It’s simple: tennis is easy to catch onto, making it the ideal social sport. You don’t need years of training and extensive equipment to make your way in; all you need is a few patient friends and a racquet and you’ll soon get the hang of it. Full Story: The Old Gold and Black (Wake Forest)
High School Tennis Star Signs Two NIL Deals with Major Companies: Anna Frey, the No. 6 ranked girls’ junior tennis player in the United States has just signed NIL deals with Fila and Head. Full Story: Sports Illustrated Editorial Note: Absurdly, this does not impact her NCAA eligibility.
This Week in Professional Tennis
| Date | Tournament | Tour/Level | Location |
| 11/25-12/1 | IEB+ Argentina Open | WTA 125 | Argentina |
