Upsets, Gucci, and Doubt

Rome finally decided to get interesting, Sinner walks out in Darth mode, and the kids aren’t waiting their turn

I was waiting for an interview to come through for this edition of ‘Order of Play’ but couldn’t wait anymore so here is a slightly late edition and I hope I can bring you that interview soon.

Where We Are

Rome took its sweet time, but once it got going, it really got going. The first half of week one was so quiet I actually used the time to take a break from the sport. We all need one from time to time. Then Thursday rolled around, the seeds started playing, and suddenly the bracket cracked open. Sabalenka is out, Fonseca is out, Auger Aliassime is out, Fils retired, Ben Shelton lost, and Novak lost his opener to a 20-year-old qualifier. Meanwhile Jannik Sinner is two wins away from owning every Masters trophy on the calendar, and he walked into Foro Italico with a blacked-out Gucci duffle looking like he owns the place. Which he kinda does at the moment.

So yes, doubts, upsets, and a lot of designer canvas. Let’s get into it.

On the Docket

We recorded on Sunday with Rome heading into its final weekend. Roland Garros is less than two weeks away, and the contender list keeps shifting from match to match. We’ll have a full Roland Garros preview dropping soon.

A couple of housekeeping notes from us:

• We wrapped up our Merch pre-orders on Monday. Thanks to everyone who pre-ordered. If you missed it we still have a sale going on last summer’s drop.

• Our Brooklyn Grand Slam Screening ‘Save the Date’ is up. We’re back for the middle weekend and the closing weekend of Roland Garros, then again for Wimbledon. Free to attend, bagels and coffee on the ground, and a built-in group of tennis fans to watch with. If you’ve ever gone to a Slam by yourself the way I used to drag myself to the US Open, this is the antidote.

Press Play

This week’s episode is up on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. Nick and I unpacked a Rome that took a beat to find its rhythm, Sinner’s quietly historic run, a WTA that has somewhere between five and ten viable Roland Garros winners, and a long list of injuries and withdrawals that are scrambling the men’s draw heading into Paris. We also get into the Two Week Masters debate, Amy Lundy’s tweet that got me rethinking my own stance, and how a 10-day format with two weekends might be the actual sweet spot.

Players of the Fortnight: my pick is Dino Prizmic, the 20-year-old Croatian who took out Novak in round two and followed it up by handling Ugo Humbert in straight sets. Nick took Anastasia Potapova, who has been quietly the most dangerous player on clay this spring, with a Madrid semifinal and a deep Rome run from the qualifying draw.

Bonus Point

Three quick stories I’ve been sitting with this week.

Joao Fonseca and the cost of a loud supportive crowd. Fonseca lost to Hamad Medjedovic in three after the Brazilian crowd turned the match into something closer to a Maracana stand. He went to Medjedovic after to apologize, then told reporters there has to be a limit, that fans sometimes think it’s football, and that the energy hurts him too. I’ve always wondered what it’s like to be 19 and walking onto a court while a whole country tries to lift you over the line by sheer volume. The support is real, but so is the pressure, during Indian Wells we talked about how well he handles Fonsecamania but I’m not sure we talk enough about how that shapes a young player. He’ll be back at Roland Garros and the crowd will travel with him. Worth watching how he carries it.

Nike’s Nikecourt campaign reminded everyone how plugged in they are. The NikeCourt campaign dropped last week and I want everything. Tennis fans love to complain that Nike has slipped in the sport, and look, that argument is fair. But when Nike actually decides to show up, no one else is doing it quite like they can. The styling is current, the references are real, and they are tapped into the culture as a brand in a way that nobody in tennis apparel touches. The shoes are simple and cool, the apparel feels like clothing and not costume, and the visual language understood the assignment. if they keep showing up like this for tennis more often like this the complaints would quiet down fast.

The skipped generation might actually be getting skipped. I had to check twice when I saw Rafa Jodar seeded in Rome at 32. He was at the University of Virginia last year, ranked outside the top 650 twelve months ago, and now he is the first Spanish teenager to win his Rome debut in over two decades. And he isn’t alone. Look at the names showing up at the back of every draw right now: Jodar, Learner Tien, Dino Prizmic, Martin Landaluce, Joao Fonseca, Alexander Blockx, Arthur Fils, Jakub Mensik, and on it goes. They are young, they are physical, and they are not interested in sliding into a polite line behind the players I’m starting to call the skipped generation, the Tiafoe, Tsitsipas, De Minaur, Fritz, and Auger Aliassime cohort that was supposed to inherit the tour from the Big Three and largely got leapfrogged by Sinner and Alcaraz. Now the next wave behind those two isn’t waiting either. The kids are coming and they are coming for everyone.

Off Court

The New York Tennis scene is growing. I have always been envious of the West Coast scene where they have better weather all year round, abundant public courts and a tight community. While we still have to battle for court space in New York, with hours long wait times there are a few members of the New York tennis community who are working hard to build up the scene. Like Jackie Fitz-Randolph did for the Wilson V10 launch. Or vibey New York tennis nights like this ⬇️

And hopefully we can contribute to that.

Excited to bring back our grand slam screenings at McCarren Park and build a stronger tennis community in New York.

On Deck

More Rome, all week. But there is so much happening during the 2nd week of Masters tournaments. There is the ATP Challenger in Oeiras, Portugal and Valencia, Spain and the WTA 125 events in Paris and Parma, Italy.

The Toss

Here’s the hot take I’m putting on the board this week, and I want to come back to it later in the year and see how it ages.

A player from the new wave, meaning Jodar, Prizmic, Tien, Landaluce, Fonseca, Blockx, Mensik, Fils, or someone in that cohort, will win a big title before any member of the skipped generation does. Big title meaning a Masters 1000 or a Slam. The skipped generation has had years to break through at that tier and the window keeps narrowing. The new wave has the physicality, the fearlessness, and increasingly the wins to back it up. I think it happens within the next twelve months. Disagree with me, I want to hear it.

First Look

New Off Season Episodes are back!

We have been on an editing hiatus on the series but we are back to wrap up the original series and launch the next part of this story.

For our paying subscribers, here is the first look at the trailer for Episode 7.