July 30, 2021

Here’s your roundup of the five most interesting things I’m enjoying or thinking about this week.

1.) Osaka Lights Olympic Cauldron

The lighting of the Olympic cauldron is significant on many levels. However, it was made even more memorable for tennis fans, with Naomi Osaka becoming the first tennis player in Olympic history to do the honors.

2.) Bencic’s Olympic Dreams

Belinda Bencic of Switzerland will be competing for Olympic gold in singles and women’s doubles. Yesterday with partner Viktorija Golubic, they defeated Brazil in doubles, and then she proceeded to take out Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan in a close three-set match. These wins send her to the finals for both events.

3.) 18-Year-Old’s ATP Title

World No. 55, Carlos Alcaraz, became the youngest player in 12 years to win an ATP Tour title, defeating Richard Gasquet at the Croatia Open. When they won an ATP title, the only younger players were Rafael Nadal in 2004, Kei Nishikori in 2008, Andrei Medvedev in 1992, and Lleyton Hewitt in 1998.

4.) Kiki Bertens Retires

On Tuesday, Kiki Bertens announced her retirement from professional tennis. Representing The Netherlands, Kiki achieved a career-high ranking of No. 4 (the highest-ranking Dutchwoman of all time) and won 10 WTA singles titles from 15 finals. She’s currently ranked No. 21 and leaves tennis with a win-loss record of 443-265.

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A post shared by Kiki Bertens (@kikibertens)

5.) King Richard Trailer

Earlier this week, Will Smith shared the first official trailer for “King Richard,” a movie based on the tennis journey of Richard Williams’ and his daughters Venus and Serena. Will stars as Richard in the film, which will hit theaters on November 19th later this year.

If you have a moment, I’d love to hear your feedback. Which topic is your favorite? What would you like to see more or less of each week?

Share your thoughts in the comments below and have a great weekend.