Storylines for the North American hardcourt swing — Venus Williams talks comeback

With the change in surface leading to the year’s final Grand Slam, I figured now is the perfect time to discuss some storylines to either keep tabs on or questions that might need to be answered.

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Where does “The Big Three” stack up?

While the WTA Tour is deep, there is a clear line with Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek headlining the game. Sabalenka is perhaps the greatest hardcourt player on tour with two Australian Open titles and last year’s U.S. Open crown, along with another final in each. Gauff is the 2023 U.S. Open champion, while Swiatek won the year prior. Consistency has been the rule of the land for both Sabalenka and Swiatek, while Guaff tends to be the player of the three to have an early round loss. Sabalenka is almost a near-guarantee to make the semifinals, Swiatek surprised the tennis world by grabbing Wimbledon where Gauff crashed out in the first round following her Roland Garros triumph. Something to remember — the last time Gauff lost in the first round at Wimbledon, she had an epic summer that saw titles in Washington D.C. and Cincinnati before claiming the U.S. Open.

If I were to guess/be a betting man — which we know is The IX’s biggest joke — you could already pencil these three in for a big summer. Sabalenka and Gauff are the names many expect to just dominate on the hardcourts but I just have a gut feeling Swiatek getting over the hump and winning a title at Wimbledon (her “worst” surface) might’ve unlocked something to help her potentially reclaim her dominance. Sabalenka did withdraw from Montreal, which makes a bit of sense given how consistent she’s been at every tournament, so all eyes will be on Gauff and Swiatek kicking off their summer season.

Will another American break through to make the final?
2024 U.S. Open – Jessica Pegula
2025 Australian Open – Madison Keys
2025 Roland Garros – Coco Gauff
2025 Wimbledon – Amanda Anisimova

The last four Grand Slams have seen an American woman make the championship match, with two winning in Madison Keys and Coco Gauff. Similar to the Brits on the grass every year, the American woman are most comfortable and able to dominate on the hardcourts. The run started with Jessica Pegula, who admitted that it’s her favorite time of the year. The United States has five in the Top 11 (Gauff, Pegula, Anisimova, Keys and Emma Navarro), but after that the next player is No. 26 Sofia Kenin, who has won the Australian Open in the past.

There are loads of players that could produce a substantial run in New York — No. 29 Ashlyn Krueger, No. 31 McCartney Kessler, No. 35 Peyton Stearns and No. 50 Hailey Baptiste all have the games to make a run to the middle of the tournament but final weekend? I’m not 100% sure they can currently do it. At No. 11, Navarro is my pick after she made her debut Grand Slam semifinal last year in New York but I think we’ll probably see veterans really leading the charge next month.

Venus back in orbit

The big news this week is Venus Williams’ comeback at Washington D.C., her first WTA action since last year’s Miami Open. Unranked in both singles and doubles, the former World No. 1 won her doubles match, partnering with Hailey Baptiste and today, she’ll face off against Peyton Stearns. At 45 years old and coming back after 17 months, many are imagining “why?” For Venus, it’s simple. “Why not?” she said. While the wildcard seemingly came out of nowhere, tournament director Mark Ein said he was able to confirm the seven-time Grand Slam champion was training hard ahead of the tournament and taking things seriously. What’s certain is that it doesn’t matter how old or rusty she is, Venus Williams is tennis and brings the crowd and energy.

Williams, who will be playing (at least) mixed doubles at the U.S. Open, spoke out about the viral clip sister Serena posted on TikTok of her practicing. While Venus said it was only for 15-20 minutes, the GOAT was hitting cleaaaaaan. I’ve been saying since Serena retired in 2022 that there would be no way she would return to the game, but now I’m starting to have a slight bit of doubt. Could Serena possibly join Venus for doubles for her older sister to say goodbye in New York? They did link up for Serena’s farewell in New York, losing their opening match. Time will tell…

Now, on to links!

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This Week in Women’s Tennis

Lois Boisson continued her rapid rise by winning her first WTA 250 title at the  MSC Hamburg Ladies Open over Anna Bondar. The doubles title was won by Nadiia Kichenok and Makoto Ninomiya, who downed Bondar and Arantxa Rus.

At the UniCredit Iasi Open, Irina-Camelia Begu captured her first WTA singles title since 2022 with a victory against Jil Teichmann. Veronika Erjavec and Panna Udvardy defeated Maria Lourdes Carle and Simona Waltert to take come the doubles crown.

Teenagers continue to slay at the WTA 125 level with Tereza Valentova and Petra Marcinko winning events in Porto and Rome, respectively.

We’re going to discuss this more in a future Tennis Tuesday, but Tara Moore’s original four-year ban after testing positive from contaminated meat was upheld by CAS:

Congratulations to Sloane Stephens, who received the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award at this year’s ESPY Awards.

Zheng Qinwen had an elbow procedure and shared she will be missing the U.S. Open as a result, while Ons Jabeur will be taking a break for her mental health and various injuries.

Therapy used to be a taboo subject in sports but it’s helped unlock new heights for players like Madison Keys.

This one is personal because without Jaime Kaplan, I don’t think I’d be writing this. She was running the tennis program where I played my first-ever tennis tournament and her impact probably can’t be measured. She got to return to Wimbledon this year as she navigates another battle with cancer.

More U.S. Open mixed doubles teams have been announced with new teams including Venus Williams and Iga Swiatek.

UNC’s Reese Brantmeier is suing the NCAA after she wasn’t allowed to keep her U.S. Open winnings and her case got a boost as she gears up for another doubles run in New York.

Wimbledon looks to move forward with major upgrades after a judge dismissed filings from locals campaigning against the changes.

Congratulations to Greet Minnen and Caroline Garcia, who each had their weddings this past week.

Aryna Sabalenka is going to unveil a YouTube channel to show off more of her life outside of the tennis court.

If you have a cool $25 million, you can buy recent Hot Ones guest Maria Sharapova’s custom-built abode.

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Tweet of the Week

Genie Bouchard, one of Canada’s greatest tennis products, announced she’s retiring after next week’s National Bank Open:

Five at The IX: Washington D.C. Media Day

VENUS WILLIAMS: Hello. How’s everybody? Long time, no see.

I’m going to start out.

THE MODERATOR: Yeah, I was just going to say welcome, and give us your thoughts ahead of your first match in D.C.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I’m so excited to be here in D.C. Playing here is like playing at home. I have an older sister who lives here, a cousin who lives here, lots of cousins, a niece, my great nephew, on and on and on. All my family are here, all my friends are here.

The community here that supports me so much, it’s like playing at home. I’ve been coming to D.C. for a long time. I see a lot of people, like this gentleman back here who said I first met you when you were 13. And I remember my first time coming here, I was about 13 years old.

So definitely a love affair with D.C. and also a great opportunity to play in the U.S., which, you know, the American players aren’t afforded as much. And also, this is very special for me to come back and play tennis. I think it’s a surprise for the fans and a surprise in general as I hold my cards tight (smiling).

You know, in this last year, I have been through a lot physically, as well. So to come back and be able to play and hopefully enjoy myself is a great opportunity, so I’m very grateful to the tournament for the wildcard. I’m very grateful to Mark who I call a friend. He does so much for tennis and the community here. I really admire him. It’s great to be a part of that.

Any questions you may have that I didn’t already answer?

Q. You did some work for TNT Sports during Roland Garros. How did you enjoy that broadcasting side of things? Is that something you might want to do in the future?

VENUS WILLIAMS: It was very fun. I had the opportunity to work with TNT. It was so fun to work with TNT. I think they wanted to bring a new perspective to what was happening with the coverage.

I got to do some fun stuff, work with some fun people, and, you know, in tennis, outside of tennis. I think it could be very easy to say the wrong thing, is what I realized when I was live on the air. I was, like, Just be careful. Don’t say the wrong thing. Don’t be too opinionated, because I have a lot of opinions, and many of them possibly unfounded. So don’t put too many of those opinions out there.

So I’m glad I got out of it without being canceled. I don’t know that it’s something I would do full time, but I think there are great moments to be involved in the game in that way, and that was a lot of fun.

Q. What does it mean for you to come back and play in front of your fans? Also, you feel your big draw. What does it mean for a player like you and maybe other players to help promote the sport in the United States?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I always felt a big responsibility towards promoting tennis and also promoting women’s sports. I think that this generation can’t forget that, that women, we still have lots to fight for and an example to set. It’s so important.

Of course I’m in love with tennis, so to have an opportunity to have this platform to promote the game even now is a great opportunity. I think when I go out there, I’ll definitely be trying to focus on me and not focusing on playing for the fans. I think in places like this, it’s one of the only places where I feel that way.

I’ll definitely try to keep the focus on me and what I’m doing. But I know that I’ll love playing here, and the last time I played here too was such a great feeling.

Q. One more on being back here, maybe it feels like a while ago when you won your first title in these parts, but so much had happened prior to that, injuries, et cetera, you have done a whole lot of winning since then. Curious what that week and maybe this tournament meant for you, thinking back to getting over that hump and everything that’s kind of happened since.

JESSICA PEGULA: Yeah. It was a huge breakthrough for me as a player. It was the first professional title I had ever won. I never even won a challenger singles title.

So for me, getting that monkey off my back, being able to do it at a tour level for the first time was great, and to think that was such a big mountain for me to climb at the time and now I’m sitting here and I have won, I don’t know, eight or nine or whatever it is, and doubles titles, as well, it’s kind of funny how things can seem far away, but once you do them it becomes easier, it’s less of a mountain to get over.

But it definitely was a really fun week for me here, and I still feel like I have those memories every time I come back. I know so many of the volunteers and the people that work this tournament, from the security to the transport that have seen me and helped me over all the last four or five, whatever I’m on, six years ago? Over the last six years.

So it’s been really cool, and I still have that same kind of feeling every time I come back here, and that’s why I always feel like I can play good tennis here and have some good results. So, yeah, I love coming back here.

Q. What does this tournament mean to you? Is there a lot of pressure on you to perform well in front of your hometown?

HAILEY BAPTISTE: Yeah, I mean, it’s probably my favorite week out of the year. Growing up, I think I have been at this tournament every single year it’s been played. It means a lot, for sure.

I wouldn’t say so much that there is pressure, but of course I want to win and do really well at my home tournament. That’s obviously an amazing thing for the fans, as well. I think it’s just something that everybody wants (smiling).