← Served with Andy Roddick
Served with Andy Roddick
Tennis Legend Continues, Swiatek Bad Karma, and a Wild Card Scandal | 5 Setter
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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 November 6th and this is what we got for you. The tennis legend continues. Iga's karma catches up with her. AI stands for Agassi Intelligence and a wildcard scandal shocks the top 10. But first, news from the championships. The Touch Tennis US Open was played this past weekend. Shout out the Blue Water Convention center at Lake Huron. Luka the Machine Sokovic took home his fourth Touch Tennis Slam title. No, but seriously, shout out to Luka. But let's get on to the ATP Nitto finals. The stage was set in turn Italy with the unveiling of the highly anticipated draws, a draw that has been released this week with two glaring question marks. 1. Will it be FAA or Musetti that will take the last spot? FAA is sitting out any events this week and is currently in but if Musetti wins this weekend in Athens, the Italian slides into FAA spot. The second question despite reports that he is committed to to playing in the finals this year, Novak Djokovic has stated otherwise, saying that he is unsure if he will participate in the tour's finals that kick off on Sunday. As of the time of this recording, the answers to these questions still loomed. Will it be FAA or Musetti? Or will they both make it because the goat decided to bow out? Tbd I guess what we do know for sure are the groupings named after the Legends of the Games. There's the Jimmy Connors group, which is made up of Carlos Alcaraz, Taylor, Fritz, Alex De Minor and currently Novak Djokovic. Then there's the Bjorn Board Group featuring Yannick Sinner, Alexander Zverev, Ben Shelton and FAA now. But maybe Musetti if he wins or if Novak doesn't play. Honestly guys, I'm not even sure I know what is happening so if you do please help me out in the comments. As always. But one thing I do know for sure, the ATP Tour has a new logo. Makes sense. With so many players sidelined with injuries and constant debate about whether the calendar runs too long and people asking for financial transparency and a seat at the table, where better to spend some cash than on a new logo? Smart. Speaking of intelligence onto set number two, Andre Agassi has announced a partnership with IBM to launch an artificial intelligence powered platform a aimed at advancing global racket sports. The platform will feature AI technology and advanced video analytics referred to as Egassy intelligence to deliver professional grade coaching directly to players mobile devices. So the mullet rocking rebel turned pirate turned eight time Grand Slam champion turned pickleball evangelist, now turned AI guru had this to say. This initiative with IBM embodies everything we believe about sports as a force for positive change. We are developing new technology that makes racket sports more inclusive, more dynamic and more impactful than ever before. Our goal is to deliver smarter tools, stronger communities and global access to the sports we love. Agassi wasn't the only one in tennis teaming up with a digital brand. This week the ATP and Spotify announced a partnership that would bring tennis fans closer to the sport through content and behind the scenes storytelling. One of the first projects includes a documentary on the 2025 Finals set to debut in December. With sports video consumption on Spotify surging by over 250% this year, the platform aims to meet the growing demand for immersive sports content. Man Sean, should we get some video on Spotify? Yeah, I think so anyways. The ATP Senior Vice President of Brand and Marketing Andrew Walker said in a statement quote this partnership enables us to create new content experiences that resonate with fans, showcase our athletes in fresh ways and invites new audiences into the sport. So that's a big week for the ATP, a new logo and a deal that I hope gets players free Spotify Premium. Nice. By the way, if you haven't yet, follow this podcast and all of our serve shows on Spotify or anywhere else you get your podcasts. Next up, let's head to Riyadh for the WTA Finals where the world number one keeps breaking records. That's right. Sini. Sini Akiva. Actually you thought I was going to say Sinner. Why would sinner be playing in the WTA? The Czech legend Katerina Siniakova is now tied with Martina Navratilova for the most year end number one finishes in WTA Doubles history. Congrats. However it's been a rough week for a former world number one, IGA Swiatek. As if facing one of the top players in the world isn't hard enough, apparently she also had to deal with the one drunk guy in Saudi Arabia.
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He's disturbing the game.
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IGA went on to lose the match to American Amanda Anisimova in three sets. After the match, IGA had this to say about feeling prepared, but I felt.
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Good mentally, physically and smiles also. It was nice, you know, looking at the conditions and everything. So. So I don't really get why I couldn't go out of the group, but like, I don't know, maybe I won too much in last year and this is karma. It's really hard for me to say. Like it feels kind of, I don't know, weird. Like it's not like I'm expecting, but from my experiences, if I put like so much intensity and grit and, and I care that much, like usually it kind of paid off. So we'll see if I keep working if it's going to pay off or not.
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I'm not really sure that's how karma works, but I guess. Lessons learned. Congrats IGA on a great season. One other lesson we can take away from this burgeoning rivalry is from Anisimova. After getting bagel at Wimbledon, losing 6060 to IGA, the world number four has bounced back and since beat IGA twice in a row. As my friend coach Connor Casey told me, sometimes a 6060 dummying is just what the Karma doctor ordered. And speaking of karma, let's go to the lower tiers of the tennis circuit. Two veterans of the tour, David Marrero and Malik Jaziri, faced major suspensions and fines after the International Tennis Integrity Agency uncovered violations of its anti corruption rules. Marrero, a former world number five in doubles, admitted to paying for wild cards on four occasions between 2022 and 2023. Marrero has received a two year seven month suspension plus a $15,000 fine. Jaziri, who is currently Tunisia's Davis cup captain, confessed to a single breach involving Marrero and will serve a nine month band and be required to pay a $5,000 fine. Both men are barred from playing, coaching or attending any ATP, WTA, ITF or Grand Slam event during their suspensions. Maybe we'll see him on the touch tennis tour in 26. Shout out Lake Huron. Honestly, I didn't know you could pay for wild cards if you weren't a billionaire. You know, someone who has no need to pay for a wild card. The person in the Next story We close out this week with news about Venus Williams. The 45 year old tennis legend and all around icon has announced that she will keep the comeback train rolling on tour. The seven time Grand Slam champion will open her 2025 campaign in early January playing in the Auckland Classic. Tournament organizers granted her a wild card for Wait for it on merit. Williams, who won the Auckland title in 2015, joins Naomi Osaka in the field ahead of the Australian Open, which begins January 18th in Melbourne. This will be Venus Williams 33rd straight season. Why don't you let that one sink in for a minute? Now time for the Tiebreak trivia and this week's question. Venus Williams debuted on the WTA Tour in 1994 at the age of 14. Who is the last woman born before 1994 to win a Grand Slam singles title? Want the answer? Without the hassle of searching the Internet? Just sign up for our five setter newsletter link in the show description and we will share the answer in the Tiebreak trivia as well as the rest of the top stories from the week that did not make the cut. Plus, you can find the weekend draws so you know what to watch, where and when. Be sure to hit the subscribe button on YouTube and follow us on your favorite podcast platform. To stay up on all things served. Shout out to coach Connor Casey for helping write this script, Techie Shawn for the newsletter and all the other things that he does, and the social team Sophie and Ella. This is a production of Served Media. See you chuckers on Tuesday. Later.