Week 5, 2026

Career Slam At 22!

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Gill Gross & Ben Ornstein
February 03, 2026

ATP Events This Week: Montpellier 250

WTA Events This Week: Abu Dhabi 500, Ostrava 250, Cluj-Napoca 250

  • Career Grand Slam Achievements

    Gill’s Note: First 40 years of Open Era tennis: 2️⃣ career Grand Slams, next 17 years: 4️⃣ career Grand Slams. Sinner just needs a Roland Garros. Very real trend towards surface mattering less for contemporary elites.

    Career Slam Graphic: See here.

  • Elena Rybakina’s Sabalenka-Slaying Strategy

    Why It’s Interesting: In one of the most statistically balanced finals in recent memory, Jeff Sackmann identifies the subtle pattern that tilted the result.

The Rybakina Serves That Tipped the Scale In the Melbourne Final – Heavy Topspin

In Saturday’s Australian Open final, Elena Rybakina won 92 points. Aryna Sabalenka won 92 points.

www.tennisabstract.com/blog/2026/02/02/the-rybakina-serves-that-tipped-the-scale-in-the-melbourne-final

  • Elena Rybakina’s AO Run Was Historically Strong

    What This Actually Means: It means Elena Rybakina involved opponents whose average ranking (calculated via geometric mean) is the 7th lowest among all Grand Slam champions since 2000.

  • Eva Lys Opens Up

    More: Ajla Tomljanović sits down with Eva Lys to talk tennis and life on tour. From her breakout run as a lucky loser to handling social media, dating, fashion, and expectations, Eva opens up about blocking out the noise and building her career on her own terms.

  • Djokovic’s 2012 Australian Open Racket Sells For Record $540k 😱

Novak Djokovic's 2012 Australian Open racket sells for record $540k | cllct

Djokovic used the racket to beat Rafael Nadal in the longest Grand Slam final in history

www.cllct.com/sports-collectibles/auctions/novak-djokovic-2012-australian-open-racket-could-set-all-time-record

  • ATP Forehand - Speed x Spin Rankings

Instagram Post

  • David Ferrer’s Encounter With 14-Year-Old Carlos Alcaraz

  • Leaving You With This Satisfying Alcaraz Court Surface Compilation

    Also Leaving You With: Hot Shots Kid interviews Alcaraz

On Monday Match Analysis, Gill breaks down Carlos Alcaraz's milestone victory in the 2026 Australian Open men's final against Novak Djokovic. The win makes Alcaraz the youngest ever to complete the career Grand Slam, and breaks Djokovic's undefeated record in AO Finals. We'll discuss Alcaraz's critical tactical adjustment, the physical battle and his smart attacking. Then, Joel Drucker and Amy Lundy join the show to discuss what the record means, the Samuel Lopez and Juan Carlos Ferrero storyline, how this finals run changes the view on Djokovic, and more.

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Hey everyone, Gill Gross here. While I’m grateful for any amount of success I’ve had talking tennis on the internet for the past half decade, I believe we should all be doing better in this sport as creators and as fans. The tennis content economy is far behind other sports by metrics of engagement and popularity. This newsletter is our effort to DRAW the great things we find in tennis every week- we search for content that teaches us, makes us think, makes us laugh and ultimately makes loving this sport the best possible experience. Our vision is to speed up the growth of a robust content economy in tennis, for the benefit of fans, players and creators alike.