Sports
Tennis Briefing: Is a WTA 'Big Four' coming? What's eating Andrey Rublev?
Welcome to the Monday Tennis Briefing, where The Athletic will explain the story behind the stories from the last week on court.
This week, the European clay swing kicked off in earnest across the ATP and WTA tours, with tournaments in France, Germany, Portugal, Spain and Romania. The four best women’s players faced off in Stuttgart, Barcelona witnessed the return of Rafael Nadal, and we saw a serve from zero gravity.
If you’d like more tennis coverage, please click here.
Are the WTA and ATP tours swapping their metas?
For the past year, there’s been some chatter about a ‘Big Four’ forming in women’s tennis. It was a ‘Big Three’, comprised of Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka, but then Coco Gauff won the U.S. Open and became a seriously consistent presence in the business end of tournaments, including the semi-finals of the Australian Open. She also climbed to No 3 in the rankings. At the same time, the rapid emergence of Carlos Alcaraz, succeeded by the slower burn of Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev being Daniil Medvedev, and the elastic continuity of Novak Djokovic forged new rivalries on the ATP tour.
The last few months have thrown a wrench into that thinking. Despite being without a Grand Slam title since last year’s French Open, Swiatek continues to show every sign of being a dominant world No 1 for a good while. The other three haven’t delivered the kind of consistency that would really justify using a name that has its roots in the Roger Federer/Djokovic/Nadal/Andy Murray dominance of the 2010s.
A decade on, it is easy to forget how often those names landed in the last weekends of the biggest events. Consider 2012: of the 16 semi-final spots in that year’s four Grand Slam tournaments, Murray, Federer, Nadal and Djokovic accounted for 12 of them. Murray, Djokovic and Federer also took three of the semi-final spots at the London Olympics that year.
In Stuttgart last week, a rare mid-level tournament to attract the top four women, it looked like they might pull off a semi-final sweep. But then Marketa Vondrousova beat Sabalenka, and Gauff lost to Marta Kostyuk, with Elena Rybakina winning the tournament.
Next up, Madrid. Maybe the quartet will be the last four standing this time.
GO DEEPER
Tennis’ top women say the sport is broken. This is why
What’s behind Andrey Rublev’s eight-set slump?
Good tennis players can see their form nosedive. Right now, it’s Rublev’s turn.
Rublev was world No 5 at the start of the year. He played to his seeding at the Australian Open, but he has been in a bad way since he was defaulted in the final games of a semi-final match in Dubai against Alexander Bublik in February.
Rublev angrily protested a call to a line judge. Another line judge claimed the Russian had used profanity in his native language.
He didn’t.
The tournament officials refused to review tapes before they defaulted Rublev and he was stripped of his ranking points and prize money earned.
The video went viral, and the ATP eventually restored his rankings points and the money he had earned — but the damage had been done. Rublev has won just one match since then, and he has lost to players ranked far lower than he is, including world No 44 Alexei Popyrin and last week, world No 87 Brandon Nakashima, which saw Rublev destroy his racket after losing match point.
The encounters have not been very close either. Rublev has apparently been healthy, but he’s just not playing very well, having dropped eight sets out of 10 since the default in a string of four consecutive defeats.
These stats aren’t awesome, but they aren’t exactly on a decline as steep as his match results. However, take a look at something else…
‘Dominance ratio’ is calculated by dividing the percentage of return points won by the percentage of service points lost. The last time Rublev’s dominance ratio was this low was in 2015, when his ranking high for the year was No 185 in the world and his ranking low was No 438.
Coco Gauff does what Coco Gauff does… for how long?
Gauff gets a ton of accolades for her grit, her competitiveness, her ability to gut out tight matches, especially across three sets.
The American may have all those qualities, but she can also do math.
Gauff has played 25 matches, winning 19 and losing six. Of those 25 matches, eight have gone the distance, and of those eight, she has lost four.
That’s two losses in 17 two-set matches, and four losses in eight three-set matches.
What does all this mean?
Gauff came out on the wrong end of a topsy-turvy match (Alex Grimm/Getty Images)
Sure, her coach Brad Gilbert is the greatest espouser of winning ugly, but it has to include the “winning” part. Gauff pretty much always shows up, and it’s worth remembering that of those two straight-set defeats, one was against Sabalenka in the Australian Open semi-final.
She could still do with being a bit more clinical. As thrilling as it is to watch Gauff fight, as wild as it is to watch her win matches when she is far from her best, slim margins eventually catch up with players. That’s what happened in Stuttgart against Kostyuk, a player Gauff beat in three sets in Australia but who returned the favour in Germany.
It’s a microcosm of the coin flip that her three-setters have become.
GO DEEPER
Listening to women: The slow rise of female tennis coaches
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Casper Ruud peak — but at the right time?
Tsitsipas and Ruud are two of the best clay court players in the world. Ruud has made the finals of the last two French Opens. Tsitsipas made the one before that. Unfortunately, their opponents in those finals, Nadal and Djokovic, have won a combined 46 Grand Slam titles, 17 of them at Roland Garros.
Still, Tsitispas and Ruud have earned the right to build their clay seasons to peak at the French Open, because both should be alive deep in the tournament and, depending on how the draw breaks, they might have a shot at winning it too.
Ruud took control of this final after a meek performance last week (Joan Valls/Urbanandsport/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The way things are going, they might not have any fuel left in their tanks.
For a second consecutive week, Ruud and Tsitispas met in the finals of a tournament, this time in Barcelona, where Ruud avenged his loss to the Greek in Monte Carlo. It was Ruud’s third event of the clay-court season and Tsitispas’s second, with Madrid and Rome — both competitions just under the level of a Grand Slam — taking up the next four weeks of the calendar before Roland Garros starts. That’s a lot of tennis, even for players in their mid-twenties, such as Ruud and Tsitispas.
Yes, this is the time of year when clay-court standouts try to pile up rankings points and prize money, but is it too much? Djokovic certainly thinks so, at least for him. A master of conserving energy and peaking at the biggest events, Djokovic played Monte Carlo, losing to Ruud in the semis, but he took last week off and has pulled out of Madrid too. He will likely play Rome, then head to Paris — fuel reserves on high.
Kick it, real good
It is a truth universally acknowledged — at least by readers of beloved British children’s author Michael Rosen — that if you can’t go over it or under it, you’ve got to go through it.
Brazil’s raw but rising star Joao Fonseca does not acknowledge this truth.
How high does this go?! 😳
Joao Fonseca’s kick serve bounces OVER Sonego 🚀#TiriacOpen pic.twitter.com/t7X7OOI3CC
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) April 16, 2024
Recommended reading:
🏆 The winners of the week
🎾 ATP:
🏆 Casper Ruud def. Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-5, 6-3 to win the Banc Sabadell Open (500) in Barcelona. It is Ruud’s first ATP title above 250 level.
🏆 Jan-Lennard Struff def. Taylor Fritz 7-5, 6-3 to win the BMW Open (250) in Munich. It is Struff’s first ATP title.
🏆 Marton Fucsovics def. Mariano Navone 6-4, 7-5 to win the Tiriac Open (250) in Bucharest. It is Fucsovics’ second ATP title.
🎾 WTA:
🏆 Elena Rybakina def. Marta Kostyuk 6-3, 6-3 to win the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (500) in Stuttgart, Germany. It is Rybakina’s third title of 2024.
🏆 Sloane Stephens def. Magda Linette 6-1, 2-6, 6-2 to win the Capfinances Rouen Metropole Open (250) in Rouen, France. It is Stephens’ first title since 2022.
🏆 Suzan Lamens def. Clara Tauson 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 to win the Oeiras Ladies Open (125) in Oeiras, Portugal. In a wild final, Tauson was 0-5 down in the second set before winning seven games in a row but Lamens then recovered from 4-1 down in the third by winning five straight games for the title.
📈📉 On the rise / Down the line
📈 Marta Kostyuk moves up six places from No 27 to No 21.
📈 Marton Fucsovics moves up 29 places from No 82 to No 53.
📈 Magda Linette moves up 12 places from No 60 to No 48.
📉 Carlos Alcaraz remains at No 3, but is dropping 1,000 points, wiping out his gap to Daniil Medvedev at No 4.
📉 Karolina Pliskova drops six places out of the top 50, from No 47 to No 53.
📉 Dan Evans drops 20 places from No 49 to No 69.
📅 Coming up
🎾 ATP:
📍Madrid, Mutua Madrid Open (1000) April 24 — May 5 ft. Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz (..?) Rafael Nadal (..?).
📺 UK: Sky Sports; US: Tennis Channel 💻 Tennis TV
📍Savannah, Savannah Challenger (75) ft. JJ Wolf, Bernard Tomic
🎾 WTA:
📍Madrid, Mutua Madrid Open (1000) April 24 — May 5 ft. Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff.
📺 UK: Sky Sports; US: Tennis Channel 💻 Tennis TV
Tell us what you noticed this week in the comments as the tours continue.
(Top photos: Alex Grimm/Eric Alonso/Robert Prange/Getty Images)
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
The Indiana Pacers’ risky move backfired after the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery saw them lose their top pick altogether in a disastrous turn of events on Sunday afternoon.
Heading into the lottery, the Pacers, who went 19-63 just one season after reaching the NBA Finals out of the Eastern Conference, had a 52.1% chance of having a top-four pick.
However, when they didn’t see their team chosen in the first four picks – Indiana also had a 14% chance of getting the No. 1 overall pick – it was time to panic.
Indiana Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard speaks during a press conference to announce center Miles Turner’s contract extension at Gainsbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind., on Jan. 30, 2023. (Marc Lebryk/USA TODAY Sports)
The reason? The Pacers included their first-round pick in a trade with the Los Angeles Clippers for Ivica Zubac, but they only made it a top-four protected pick. That means, if the Pacers were chosen in the lottery as a top-four selection, they would be able to keep it.
But the Pacers were chosen as the No. 5 pick, and the Clippers now own the selection in next month’s draft.
NBA LOTTERY CHAOS: WASHINGTON WIZARDS STRIKE GOLD, PACERS PAY FOR TANKING GAMBLE NIGHTMARE
As a result, Pacers team president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard took full responsibility for the move, apologizing on social media.
“I’m really sorry to all our fans,” he wrote on X. “I own taking this risk. Surprised it came up 5th after this year. I thought we were due some luck. But please remember – this team deserved a starting center to compete with the best teams next year. We have always been resilient.”
Signage is displayed during the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery at Navy Pier in Chicago, Illinois, on May 10, 2026. (Melissa Tamez/NBAE/Getty Images)
The Pacers were viewed as a team that were actively tanking despite the NBA’s attempt to crack down on such a season, with the lottery being one way of that. And it clearly worked this time around.
Pritchard was trying to be transparent and honest with the Pacers fan base, but people were quick to jump in the comments to make their thoughts, and gripes, known.
“You lose Myles Turner and add Zubac,” one X user began. “You lose [Benedict] Mathurin and the number 5 pick with absolutely nothing in return. This is why fans are upset, for a center who not even a top 5 center in the NBA. Who trades their future away for Ivan [sic] Zubac???”
Another X user called this a “generational draft,” and couldn’t fathom the Pacers won’t be picking from a deep class.
“If I were a Pacers fan and my team traded away a top 5 pick for Ivica Zubac in the middle of a tanking season I would be beyond devastated,” a fellow X user wrote.
Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton shoots around on the court before an NBA game against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Indianapolis on April 7, 2026. (Doug McSchooler/AP)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
The Pacers were without their All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton all season long after he suffered an Achilles injury during the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder. But Indiana still has key members of that team returning next season, including Pascal Siakam, Andrew Nembhard, and Aaron Nesmith.
However, this 2026 draft class is quite the spectacle, with many believing it to be deep considering the talent of BYU’s AJ Dybantsa, Kansas’ Darryn Peterson, UNC’s Caleb Wilson, and Duke’s Cam Boozer, among others.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Before the Sparks opening day loss to the Las Vegas Aces, coach Lynne Roberts said that this year “felt different.”
After one game, though, it feels a lot like the same.
During their season opener, the Sparks couldn’t get momentum against the defending champion Aces and fell 105-78 behind a remarkably efficient shooting day from the visitors at Crypto.com Arena.
After posting the worst defense in the WNBA last season (88.2 points per game), the Sparks made a flurry of offseason moves prioritizing stopping opponents. It’s why they brought in Nneka Ogwumike, Ariel Atkins and Erica Wheeler.
But the Aces shot 63% from the floor and the Sparks had few answers.
“Today was on us,” Ogwumike said. “Defense is not something that gels. You either want to do it or you don’t.”
Reigning WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson led the Aces with 19 points, Jackie Young had 20 points and nine assists and Chennedy Carter added 22 points in her first WNBA game since 2024.
The Aces, who were coming off a 33-point blowout opening day loss to Phoenix on Saturday, scored 33 of their points in the third quarter and that’s when the wheels fell off for the Sparks. Las Vegas shot 73.7% during the quarter.
Sparks coach Lynne Roberts reacts during a 105-78 loss to the Las Vegas Aces at Crypto.com Arena on Sunday.
(Luiza Moraes / Getty Images)
“I think that was probably one of my worst one-on-one defending nights,” Ogwumike said. “But defense is definitely not something that you guys should be sitting here watching and hoping we get it down by the end of the month. You should see it on Wednesday.”
Kelsey Plum scored 11 of her 27 points in the fourth quarter, but by then the Aces had opened a 20-plus point lead.
The Sparks narrowed the deficit to one by halftime following an Ogwumike (19 points, 10 rebounds) three-pointer and backhand layup late in the second. But mostly, the Sparks’ defense activated, forcing 10 Las Vegas turnovers, led by two steals apiece from Atkins and Wheeler to fuel the comeback.
That energy was gone by the third quarter after the Aces started doubling Ogwumike, and aside from Plum, the Sparks’ offense had no answers.
“They punched us in the face,” Plum said. “We didn’t respond. And obviously, they’re a great team, right? When someone is shooting 63% it’s going to be hard to win that game. … I’m disappointed in our effort.”
Of the Sparks’ 19 turnovers, 10 came in the second half. The Aces scored 26 points off those giveaways, which made things even more difficult on the defense.
“Turnovers are, you’re just leading the other team to a fast break,” Roberts said. “And so we were giving them the turnovers, then there are two individual players who are expected to get a defensive stop after the turnover.”
They also need more from reserve center Cameron Brink (0 points, 0-for-0 shooting, three rebounds, three fouls in eight minutes) and Wheeler (two points, 1-for-11 in 20 minutes) going forward. Once Brink got in foul trouble, the Aces could continue blitzing Ogwumike and Dearica Hamby (12 points, five rebounds) without worry.
“We need Cam to produce,” Roberts said. “We need Cam to bring that defensive energy. We have so much confidence and belief in her. She’s got to get out on the floor with some confidence and do what she’s capable of doing, but we’re going to need her.”
If the Sparks have turned a corner from last season, they will need to find consistency on the defensive end of the floor. It won’t get easier with Caitlin Clark and Indiana (0-1) coming to town on Wednesday.
But the reason the Sparks built the roster that they did was to stop opponents after falling short of the postseason with the league’s third-best scoring team in the league.
“The good thing about this league is that we play in a day or two,” Plum said. “So, we’ll fix things.”
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Last August, when the NASCAR Cup Series went to the road course at Watkins Glen, Shane van Gisbergen captured the checkered flag.
Now SVG finds himself at the top of the oddsboard to win again when the series goes Bowling at The Glen on Sunday, May 10 (3 p.m. ET, FS1).
Let’s take a look at where the rest of the field sits as of May 10 at DraftKings Sportsbook.
This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports.
NASCAR Cup Series Go Bowling at the Glen 2026
Shane van Gisbergen: -135 (bet $10 to win $17.41 total)
Connor Zilisch: +360 (bet $10 to win $46 total)
Christopher Bell: +900 (bet $10 to win $100 total)
Tyler Reddick: +1200 (bet $10 to win $130 total)
Ty Gibbs: +1400 (bet $10 to win $150 total)
Chris Buescher: +1800 (bet $10 to win $190 total)
Michael McDowell: +2000 (bet $10 to win $210 total)
Austin Cindric: +2200 (bet $10 to win $230 total)
Ross Chastain: +2500 (bet $10 to win $260 total)
Chase Elliott: +2500 (bet $10 to win $260 total)
Carson Hocevar: +3000 (bet $10 to win $310 total)
Ryan Blaney: +3000 (bet $10 to win $310 total)
Chase Briscoe: +3500 (bet $10 to win $360 total)
William Byron: +4000 (bet $10 to win $410 total)
Kyle Larson: +4500 (bet $10 to win $460 total)
AJ Allmendinger: +5000 (bet $10 to win $510 total)
Joey Logano: +5500 (bet $10 to win $560 total)
Kyle Busch: +7500 (bet $10 to win $760 total)
Denny Hamlin: +8000 (bet $10 to win $810 total)
Alex Bowman: +9000 (bet $10 to win $910 total)
Daniel Suarez: +9000 (bet $10 to win $910 total)
Brad Keselowski: +10000 (bet $10 to win $1,010 total)
Bubba Wallace: +13000 (bet $10 to win $1,310 total)
Ryan Preece: +30000 (bet $10 to win $3,010 total)
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: +35000 (bet $10 to win $3,510 total)
Riley Herbst: +40000 (bet $10 to win $4,010 total)
Austin Dillon: +60000 (bet $10 to win $6,010 total)
Zane Smith: +60000 (bet $10 to win $6,010 total)
John Hunter Nemechek: +60000 (bet $10 to win $6,010 total)
Erik Jones: +60000 (bet $10 to win $6,010 total)
Todd Gilliland: +70000 (bet $10 to win $7,010 total)
Josh Berry: +70000 (bet $10 to win $7,010 total)
Noah Gragson: +80000 (bet $10 to win $8,010 total)
Cole Custer: +80000 (bet $10 to win $8,010 total)
Ty Dillon: +90000 (bet $10 to win $9,010 total)
Katherine Legge: +100000 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)
Josh Bilicki: +100000 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)
Cody Ware: +100000 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)
The Favorite: Last year at Watkins Glen, Shane van Gisbergen finished eighth in Stage 1, 22nd in Stage 2 and led 38 laps on the day before getting into Victory Lane. And as it stands currently, SVG could use a win; the driver of the No. 97 car hasn’t won yet in 2026. He’s also 19th in the standings. However, he has two top 10s this year and one top-five finish. Bettors also might want to note that van Gisbergen won five of the six NASCAR road courses in 2025 and finished second at COTA earlier this year.
One to Watch: Another driver fans might want to keep their eyes on is Ryan Blaney. At The Glen in 2025, Blaney won the pole, finished seventh in Stage 1, won Stage 2 and finished the race sixth overall after leading 35 laps. On No. 12’s resume so far this year are seven top 10s, three top-five finishes and one win. He’s currently fourth in the standings.
-
Lifestyle2 minutes agoChaos Gardening: A Laid-Back Way to Garden
-
Technology14 minutes agoThe Bastl Kalimba is a wild synth that thinks it’s a thumb piano
-
World20 minutes agoRemains recovered of US soldier who went missing in military exercises in Morocco, 2nd soldier still missing
-
Politics26 minutes agoHegseth says Pentagon will review Mark Kelly’s public statements about classified briefing amid ongoing feud
-
Health32 minutes agoCruise ship linked to deadly Hantavirus outbreak arrives off Tenerife as passenger evacuation begins
-
Sports38 minutes agoPacers president apologizes to fans after team’s ‘risk’ backfires in NBA Draft Lottery
-
Technology44 minutes agoDrone delivers 2 pizzas in minutes
-
Business50 minutes agoSweeping California law on single-use plastic meets with outrage from all sides as it goes live