The Speed Edition

Opinion

Like Skipping Rocks

The Paris Masters 1000 event came to a close this past Sunday, with Alexander Zverev taking home the coveted title.

The last 1000 of every season, Paris has become a consistent source of upsets and breakthroughs over the years. In 2020, after losing his first 5 matches against Nadal, Zverev beat him to make the finals. In 2022, 19 year old Rune beat Djokovic to lift his first 1000 trophy. And notably last week, Frenchman Ugo Humbert beat Alcaraz in the Round of 16 on his way to the finals.

That begs the question, why do we see upsets at the Paris Masters more often than at other tournaments?

The answer is in part due to the court speed.

According to the Court Pace Index (CPI), Paris had the fastest courts of all the Masters 1000 events this year. Fast courts favor big servers, players who take the ball early, and those who play a flatter game style, since the ball doesn’t slow down much after touching the ground. It’s like skipping rocks on a glassy pond. Perfect for players like Zverev, Humbert, Mannarino and Rune, who has the most wins indoors (which are typically fast) since 2022 on tour.

While they enjoy the hockey rink fast courts, many don’t, including Carlos Alcaraz. Frustrated after his loss last week, he said, “This is crazy. Probably the fastest court in 10 years at this tournament. I don’t know why they change it.”

While Carlos might not like it, I think having tournaments with different court speeds is great for the sport. It creates more upsets. You can also hear the players burning rubber out there, since they need to slide and dig their feet into the ground harder to absorb the power. And players come to net more often — variety that many older fans yearn for.

So I’m here for it. Dare I say we should even bring back carpet courts?

Trivia

Which player holds the official* record for the fastest serve ever recorded?

A. John Isner

B. Ivo Karlovic

C. Andy Roddick

D. Ben Shelton

Find out at the bottom!

*The ATP does not recognize a faster serve that was hit at a Challenger event, where the speed guns are not the same as main tour events. Bonus points if you know who hit that!

Meet the Player

Donna Vekic

From: Croatia

Best Slam Result: Semis

Career High Ranking: 18

Fun Fact: Started a company called DNNA that sells beeswax candles and diffusers in 2021. A percentage of all sales goes to bee conservation in Croatia.

Game Analysis: Big serve, bigger forehand. The green light to go for winners is almost always on, and she rarely holds back. Once her opponents concede court position, she throws in some cheeky drop shots to keep them guessing.

Career Prediction: Vekic has had a stellar back half of 2024. She made her grand slam semi-final debut at Wimbledon, then followed it up with a silver medal in Paris. That said, 2025 will be her 13th year on tour, and she’s flirted with retirement before. My guess? A couple more years in the top 50, and then she’ll go full time saving the bees. 🐝

Shot of the Week

Monfils Magic

Speaking of speed, here’s a fantastic throwback from perhaps the fastest person to ever play the game, Gael Monfils. The jumping forehand in the middle of the point goes crazy 🫨 Enjoy

News

Headlines From the Tours

🏁 The WTA Finals in Riyadh are well under way, with Aryna Sabalenka leading the pack. What’s at stake? Just an itty bitty $4.45M prize ($5.15M if you go undefeated). And for Sabalenka and Swiatek, the year-end World No. 1 ranking. Get the full breakdown of how each player could end at the top spot here.

⚽️ Uruguayan soccer legend Diego Forlan is making his professional tennis debut this month at the age of 45. The 2010 World Cup Golden Ball winner is playing doubles with Federico Coria at the Uruguay Open Challenger. Can you get a point penalty for kicking the ball out of the stadium? Perhaps we’ll find out. More on this story here.

🆕 2025 New Year’s resolution: Win another slam (same). With Goran Ivanisevic at the helm, that’s exactly what Elena Rybakina intends to do. The Kazakhstani appointed last week’s trivia answer as her coach this week. While she’s been a staple in the top 10 the last few years, she’s got just one slam (2022) to her name. Ivanisevic, who is fresh off of 6 seasons with Djokovic where he amassed 12 slams, seems qualified for the job.

Memes

That “I’m only going to have 2 drinks tonight” mirror pep talk after you’re already 6 deep

Answer

A. John Isner

The 6’ 10” North Carolina native holds the record with his 157.2 MPH bomb that he hit at the 2016 Davis Cup.

Bonus: Sam Groth hit a 163.7 MPH serve in 2012 that’s not recognized by the ATP.