Welcome to The Service Game, where serves start the story.
In this week’s First Serve, the Middle East Swing delivers chaos and drama, with The Hit taking center stage: Daniil Medvedev captures a milestone title in Dubai amid flight cancellations and geopolitical tension that could disrupt the road to Indian Wells, Felix Auger-Aliassime continues his surge, and Acapulco brings its own intensity as Alexander Zverev falls to Miomir Kecmanovic in a result that raises real questions ahead of the slow hard courts, alongside injury defaults, net-cord swings, and matches where the scoreline didn’t tell the full story. We also touch on Emma Raducanu’s reported $3.5M move from Nike to Uniqlo and what it means for tennis fashion, all building toward Indian Wells on March 4
Matches/Links mentioned:
Emma Raducanu Deal: https://justwomenssports.com/reads/nike-emma-raducanu-uniqlo-tennis-sponsorship-2026/
Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Jiri Lehecka: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mImpl1Vxzs
Dubai Open Semifinal Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bk-2c6GigwA
Alexander Zverev vs. Miomir Kecmanovic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XWFsEMHi8M&t=65s
Mexican Open Semifinal Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G84WUUqsSNs
Mexican Open Final Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EEZ8hRlZVg
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🎾 Thanks for listening—and let the serves begin!
Produced with assistance from Radio CKUT
CKUT Radio: https://ckut.ca/
