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Hey, it's Bill Simmons from the Bill Simmons podcast. Games get 10 times better when Michelob Ultra is on the line. So race to the bottom of a slope. Winner gets an Ultra or enter@michelobaltra.com ultrainstructor for a chance to win tickets to the hottest sporting events of 2026. Michelob Ultra Ultra Instructor. No purchase necessary. Open to US residents. 21/plus begins on January 30, 2026. Ends on February 22, 2026. See official rules@michelobeltra.com rules for free entry, entry deadlines, prizes and details.

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What's up Chuckers? Producer Mike here. Welcome to your Served 5 Setter, a weekly roundup of all things racket sports. Five stories in 10 minutes or less. Today is February 6, 2026. Here's what we've got for you. A Texas sized field in Austin, Phonegate or something like that. Paddles global season A new Olympic path to gold. But first, Carlos Alcaraz is officially on tattoo watch. After winning the Australian Open, Carlitos confirmed that he will be keeping up with his Slam tradition of getting a tattoo. The next being, of course, a kangaroo. The down under marsupial will be joining his Wimbledon Strawberry, Parisian, Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty. However, his parents should not be concerned, he confirmed this week in an interview with the Spanish outlet Marca. Quote, I am not going to get one on my face or in the middle of my thigh or anything like that. And they're relatively small tattoos, medium sized. That's why they don't raise any red flags. It's under control. You know what dmerved Mike on Instagram, your drawing of what Carlos's tatt should look like and I will share the best ones on the next episode of Served. Andy and I will pick a winner and maybe we'll send the winner a hat. All right, now back to the news. We may not be able to confirm Carlos's next tattoo design just quite yet, but but it is confirmed that the world number one has withdrawn from Rotterdam, saying he needs time to recover after a long Australian Open run, a trend that has spread across the tours as we have seen withdrawals from Alexander Zverev, Marina Sabalenka and Jessica Pula. However, stateside, the Dallas Open is getting underway with a heavy American presence, including Ben Shelton and Tommy Paul. Also, quick shout out to the Nexo Dallas Open tournament director Peter Lebedev, who joined Andy on this week's Q and Andy for a special edition breaking down how a tournament actually comes together. If you haven't checked it out yet. It's live on YouTube and in the podcast feed. Set number two is sticking in Texas. The ATX Open in Austin is right around the corner, running Feb. 21 through March 1, and the field is loaded. It was confirmed this week that the 45 year old Venus Williams is back, accepting a wildcard for both singles and doubles. And joining the living legend is one of the sport's fastest risers, Iva Jovic, who cracked the WTA top 20 this week at just 18 years and 2 months of age. Jovic became the youngest American woman to reach the Australian Open quarterfinal since, well, Venus Williams did in 1998. I'm no mathematician, but that's like nine years before Eva was even born. Wow. Here is set number three from a marathon mentality to a total focus fail Maybe one of the strangest moments of the young season. World number 38, Hugo Humbert stopped play in a deciding third set tie break while leading 43 to check his phone at his bag. What a shot that is, Humbert turning this tiebreak around Catholic the chance there and such good accuracy backhand up the line. The timing couldn't have been worse. Humbert didn't win another point, dropping the tie break 74 and ultimately the match. Social media immediately spiraled with theories, but regardless of what the Internet dreams up, the optics are brutal. And whatever the Frenchman Umbera was doing, one thing is for sure, France is in the process of potentially banning social media for people under the age of 15. But maybe they should add players ranked 38th or higher to the potential law. We will keep an eye on this story. Check out the newsletter for more. All right, onto the fourth set. Tennis isn't the only racket sport firing up its season. The Premier Padel Tour officially begins its 2026 campaign this week with the Riyadh season P1 starting February 9th. This year marks the fifth season of Premier Padel, and the tour structure is starting to look very familiar to tennis fans. At the top, there are four Premier Padel majors, the sports equivalent of Grand Slams. Just below that are the P1 events, which function much like the masters 1000 bigger points, bigger prize money and the strongest fields on tour. After the event this month in Saudi Arabia, Premier Padel's next P1 event is in Miami, March 23rd through the 29th at the Miami Beach Convention Center. Also during the Miami Open, the tour schedule features over 20 tournaments across some 15 countries, checking many of the boxes that would lead some to consider it a global sport. Will we see Padel potentially making a push to be included in the upcoming Olympic Games. I'm going to say yes because it's fun as hell to watch. Let's go to set number five. And speaking of the Olympics, on January 31st officials announced the LA28 Olympic qualification system for one of its newest sports, squash. The Olympic tournament will feature an ultra exclusive 16 player draw for both men and women played on a purpose built glass court at Universal Studios World. Squash President Zenna Wooldridge said, quote for many, the Olympic dream will feel one step closer. Today, squash will join the current Olympic racket sports lineup of tennis, badminton and table tennis at the Games in Los Angeles. And that brings us to this week's tie break trivia. Which Olympic gold medalist in singles became a seriously competitive sport squash player after retiring from tennis? Sign up for the 5setter newsletter to find the answer if you haven't already googled it. All right guys, that's it for this week's five setter. Be sure to hit subscribe on YouTube or follow us on your favorite podcast platform for deeper dives. Sign up for the newsletter. The link is in the Show Description this has been a production of served media. Thank you to the team behind the scenes Bubba for filling in for Techie Sean and I will see you Chuckers on Tuesday.