Hey everyone …
• Here’s this week’s Served podcast:
• This week’s unsolicited book recommendation: pre-order Giri Nathan’s Changeover.
Last week we had a few long answers. One of you suggested we change the rhythm and try to fit a lot of questions in little time. Because we aim to please …
Onward …
Hello Jon, I hope you are well. I saw some great news this week. Hyeon Chung picked up some wins at a challenger event this week. A reminder for all … At 21 years old he won the 2017 next gen finals. At 22 he made two Masters 1000 QFs and a semifinal at the Australian, even beat Novak [Djokovic] in straight sets which is incredible. He’s been tragically riddled by injuries since 2019. These are the types of players I can’t help but cheer for as I really feel bad for all of the years they lost due to injury, especially when he had such tremendous potential. He left when the Big 3 were still utterly dominant, but now he comes back to the new world order of [Carlos] Alcaraz and [Jannik] Sinner. I’m really hoping he can stay healthy and get some confidence back. Have you heard anything about him? Does he have a new team, coach, or trainer?
Respectfully,
Anthony, Melrose, MA
• That is great news. We are duty-bound not to root, but this is one of those cases where if you’re not pulling for this player, consult your cardiologist immediately.
For many years, Chung was the unlikely answer to a trivia question, Who was the last player to beat Novak Djokovic at the Australia Open? In straight sets no less, Chung took out the GOAT at the major the GOAT won most, effectively out-Djokovicing Djokovic. Before that—get this—he beat Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev in succession!
Memorably, he retired against Roger Federer in the semifinals with a gnarly blister. Still, he was a slugger, a deceptively good mover and in his early 20s. Who would have guessed he would spend most of the next eight years bedeviled by injuries and ranked outside the top 500?
Cruel sport, tennis.
I’m told Chung, now 28, missed the preseason with more injury concerns. He’s struggled a bit (and hoped for wild cards). But he is playing better and making incremental progress. He is traveling with a physio, not a coach. Though Neville Godwin, his former aide-de-camp, is available to watch matches and discuss them via text.
I’ve heard from multiple sources that this is one of the all-time good dudes. Low maintenance, grounded, amiable. You’d like to think the tennis fates will start paying off their debts to this guy. But it will require full commitment and, more critically, full recuperative powers. Adjacent …
Jon, what has happened to Bianca Andreescu? She is still only 24, but it has already been half a decade since she beat Serena Williams in convincing fashion at the U.S. Open final. However, she hasn't accomplished much since. Has she been frequently injured? I can't even find any recent press about her online, nor any recent interviews.
Raymond
• Short answer: She’s had a terrible time staying healthy. Injured since October, she played her first tournament of 2025 in Rouen last week and lost 7–6 in the third set to Suzan Lamens. Longer answer: She stands for the proposition that “mental” and “physical” are not two distinct buckets, handy as that shorthand is. When your body prevents you from doing what you’ve devoted your life to doing—impacting your lifestyle, your finances, your routines; all as colleagues take what you think is rightfully yours—how does it not impact your mental health?
Still only 24, she is currently ranked No.130. Wish her well.
Jon, Any idea what is going on with Alexander Zverev? Granted [Matteo] Berrettini was a tough draw for a first match in Monte Carlo, however he has gone 6–6 since the Australian Open though still holding on to the No. 2 ranking. With Sinner out you would have thought it would be motivation for a chance at No. 1 however there seems to be a hangover from the Australian Open loss and a healthy Alcarez would be hard to stop at Roland Garros.
Bob
• Not a great one for “short answer week.” And note this was submitted before Zverev won last week’s BMW Open title. Zverev projects supreme confidence commensurate with his sumptuous skills and elite ballstriking. And then when matches tighten he reveals self doubt. To his credit: He is aware of this and openly admits to disappointing himself. But that acknowledgement only makes him more vulnerable. Players on the other side of the net—especially top ones—know that if the set gets to 5–5, or if matches go to a decisive set, he’s a blinker.
If I’m in charge of marketing at Secret or Lume or Dove or whoever, I’m signing [Lois Boisson] to an endorsement contract ASAP.
PR
• This nonstory— that went viral like few others this year—“broke” shortly after we filed last week. You’ve no doubt seen or heard (or smelled) this story from last week. Boisson beat you to the punch with this brilliant response that Dove noticed. Top marks for her. One image to say, quite eloquently. I am not oblivious. But I am not bothered by the unserious story. I won the match. I am stronger than this. And I am open for business. You might say she deodorized a potentially noxious situation. (And won an army of fans.)
We had a few questions about Lesia Tsurenko and her lawsuit against the WTA. Read my friend and former colleague Michael McCann here. It raises some interesting points and thought exercises. But ultimately, this falls squarely into the two-conflicting-things-can-be-true-at-once department …
• We should have great empathy for Ukrainian players and the Ukrainian people; and great contempt for Vladimir Putin and the Russian government. No serious person can look at the facts (remember facts?) and see this as anything other than an unprovoked attack. That so many Ukrainian players carry on—often with great success—amid this situation? They make for real profiles in courage. And, it should be noted, the WTA has been strong and unequivocal on this point.
This does not mean Tsurenko’s lawsuit has merit. After the splashy headline, it’s not clear what exactly she is alleging. (“Mortification” is not a cause of action one often sees.) She had a panic attack at Indian Wells because Steve Simon … what? ... would not ban Russian players who might support the war? And Veronika Kudermetova of Russia wore a sponsor patch of a problematic Russian company; one that she later removed? (Do players really want the tours to have more power and discretion to police independent sponsor deals?)
If anything, a tour banning individual athletes for acts of their nation’s government—or demanding loyalty tests—would be much more legally problematic.
Can’t stress this enough: the Ukrainian players are heroines, all of them. Someone should be making a documentary about their persistence and symbolic importance while their country is attacked. But that doesn’t mean a lawsuit here alleging emotional distress because an executive made decision disagreeable to a player has merit. It doesn’t.
What’s going on with the provision whereby members of the tours agree not to sue the tours? It’s April and tennis has already funded the forthcoming holiday party for Proskauer, the New York law firm defending the WTA here and the ATP against the Professional Tennis Players Association. Seriously, the WTA’s finances are sufficiently shaky that it lost its moral capital and returned chapeau-in-hand to China; that it is selling off a stake to a private equity firm; that it is parting ways with some of its best employees; that it still lacks basic media and website capabilities. Where are the funds coming from for all these mounting multi-front legal bills?
According to filings, Tsurenko is represented by Arkady Bukh. Quite a legal career, he’s had.
Hi Jon,
We're big fans of [Nathaniel] Lammons and Jackson Withrow, but notice the last several tournaments Jackson has been playing with new partner(s). Do you know if Nat is hurt or if their partnership broke up? Thanks, as always, for all of your awesome reporting on Tennis Mailbag and Served!
Barbara Berke
• Our moles tell us Lemmons is injured. He hasn’t played since Dallas but plans to return in Madrid.
After the match ended but before the trophy presentation in Barcelona, two vocalists appeared on court and performed … a few songs, including "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" and "I Just Called to Say I Love You". Have you ever seen anything like it? Perhaps it wasn't the singers’ fault, but they made quite a racket.
Daniel R., Morrisville, NC
• Nothing says tennis like Randy Newman’s theme to Toy Story. You know the rules: What starts with lounge singing must end in the pool.
HAVE A GOOD WEEK EVERYONE!
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Tennis Mailbag: Injury Updates, Alexander Zverev’s Win and More.
