Welcome to The Service Game, where serves start the story.
In this week’s First Serve episode, I discussed some of the news following the Australian Open. I gave my opinion on the Australian Open’s tournament director, Craig Tiley’s statement on women playing five-set matches. Following the Grand Slam tournament, the WTA tour had a 500 level in Abu Dhabi, and the men’s tour featured matches in the first round of David Cup qualifying. From Sara Bejlek's impressive run to the Abu Dhabi title from qualifying to nail-biting matches in the David Cup, I covered a lot that happened this week on the tour! Listen more to find out!
Matches/Links mentioned:
Women playing Five-Setters: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7012975/2026/01/31/australian-open-tennis-format-women-best-five-craig-tiley/
FULL MATCH Novak Djokovic vs. Jannik Sinner:
FULL MATCH Carlos Alcaraz vs. Alexander Zverev:
FULL MATCH Elena Rybakina vs. Aryna Sabalenka:
Davis Cup Format Explained: https://www.daviscup.com/en/about/format
Fabian Marozsan vs. Ethan Quinn:
Jack Draper vs. Viktor Durasovic:
Sara Bejlek vs. Clara Tauson:
Hailey Baptiste vs. Ekaterina Alexandrova:
Sara Bejlek vs. Ekaterina Alexandrova:
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🎾 Thanks for listening—and let the serves begin!
