United Cup vignettes
Observations from yours truly
It’s good up here on the Magic Mountain of tennis. While the NFL and soccer players are being buried in heaps of snow, tennis players chase summer wherever they go. And so do I as a person covering the sport we all love. I’ve been in tennis for well over 19 years now and I have yet to become a cynic over it. I do show tendencies, particularly in the later months of the season when the tennis has exhausted even my nerve endings, but generally speaking, I’m all for it.
The United Cup is well underway and when this newsletter hits your inbox like that good first cup of coffee in the morning, we will be just about ready to start the semifinals. Belgium has been a surprise package from Zizou Bergs beating Félix Auger-Aliassime only to follow it with a beautiful serve-and-volley display win over Jakub Mensik and then also twerking in the press room. I’m not going to lie to you, out of these three things I definitely thought the twerking part to be the most accomplished. But that’s just me. Elise Mertens has been her stoic, solid self playing even better tennis than she had all last year which already was very successful in its own right with two titles and a comeback to the TOP 20. She has also casually won the Wimbledon title in women’s doubles with her partner Veronika Kudermetova but who’s counting?
Team USA is still alive in their mission possible of a title defence lead by Coco Gauff who bounced back from a tough day at the office against Jessica Bouzas Maneiro with some stunning tennis in both singles and doubles against team Greece who have been the absolute crowd favourites over in Perth. The last time I saw Stef Tsitsipas this emotionally invested in something was when he discovered that you can upload videos on YouTube or copy and paste quotes of the internet on social media. Caring for something this much looked better on him than his perfectly symmetrical facial features ever could.
So many beautiful stories, so fulfilling to see both Stef and Maria Sakkari play this well, Stan Wawrinka forcing his body to do the unthinkable all the while supporting Belinda Bencic from the corner of the court (Belinda who’s yet to lose a match!) and already a contender for match of the season with the Eva Lys and Iga Swiatek encounter in the books. And yet, my personal favourite strikes again. Taylor Fritz loses his nose to sunburn, plays on basically one knee, dies on the court 3 to 4 times due to heat exhaustion, is physically unable to finish a match under 3 hours and multiple breaks and then cannot help himself but to be completely honest in the post-match interview and admit TO ALL OF IT while most of his opponents are probably listening and while I’m yelling at the TV at the top of my lungs: JUST LIE, TAYLOR, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, LIEEE!
We here at Finite Jest love Taylor for his honesty and his affinity to drama.
Last week, I teased a few tennis players’ answers to my interview questions and some of you asked for details. Well, here they come. Casper Ruud changed from a 100 racquet frame to a 98 after the US Open and has told me that in the off-season he finally had time to properly get used to it. He feels like he has more control over his shots when he plays the most powerful players out there. Jakub Mensik mentioned that he adjusted a few of his off-court patterns to be more professional this season (he did not want to tell me what kind of off-court behaviours they were). Alex De Minaur hired a new fitness coach and is trying to add a few pounds of muscle mass to his body to have more forceful strikes at his disposal.
Iga Swiatek has worked on refining some of her technique in the off-season while Eva Lys’ main focal point was her fitness and strength. And finally, Barbora Krejcikova’s goal for the season is to stay healthy and if the tennis gods can allocate full honesty to Taylor Fritz can they please also allot health for 12 months to Barbora Krejcikova? The tennis purists will thank them and you might even get a handful more people in church (terrible numbers I hear, worse than Tron: Ares did at the box office).
I’m watching Poland play Australia in mixed doubles while I’m writing this and the Poles have a set and a break to their advantage. As somebody who lives in a Polish neighbourhood in New York, I have an affinity to them the way Taylor Fritz has an affinity to drama. But enough for now. Let’s enjoy the tennis, it’s only week one after all, before we get sick of it and somebody forces us to watch Tron: Ares. Because nobody wants that.
Things that make me happy
After years of being the unappealing step sister of English food, Australia’s restaurant scene has had better and quicker progress than Amanda Anisimova had in the 2025 season. I went for a swim in the Icebergs and than had a lovely and boozy little lunch at Totti’s and over prawns and aioli came to the conclusion that we should all move more and be outside more and eat more real food and we’d probably be happier. Unfortunately, not everywhere is Australia where these things are easier to achieve than elsewhere but for now, that makes me very happy.
Things that make me unhappy:
The fact that Rennae Stubbs is a much better swimmer than me. Boo.
This is it for this week. May your dreams be filled with sharks and may their teeth be extra sharp this weekend so they can bite your enemies. Don’t forget to go outside and if you run into Rennae Stubbs, please heckle her on my behalf!
Yours truly, Andrea
Best writer in tennis. Period. Lie, Taylor, Lie. He's a head case who doesn't know tennis is a head game. But perhaps he's playing the ultimate double cross and isn't beat at all, only trying to lure his opponents into thinking he's down for the count? Nah. P.S. Please FedEX me that prawn dish pronto.
Delightful reading you who seem to effortlessly blend joy and sarcasm, and are appreciative without being patronizing.