March 27, 2020

Five Point Friday

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

1.) Thiem’s Confessional Cart

During the lead up to Indian Wells, world no. 3 Dominic Thiem rode with a golf cart named Clyde and answered some fun questions, including “If you could be courtside for one match in history, what would it be?” Check out the video for his answers.

2.) US Open Changing Court Surface

The US Open has used DecoTurf as their hard-court surface since 1978, but they announced this week they’ve reached a five-year agreement to use Laykol courts, which is the same surface used by the Miami and New York Open.

Read the Annoucement

3.) Medvedev Behind the Racquet

Behind the Racquet featured world no. 5, Daniil Medvedev, who shared some intimate details around his internal struggles as he fought through the ranks to become a top-ranked tennis player.

View this post on Instagram

“There was always a little bit of a fight between my father and my mother. My mother wanted me to study more, which is why I was in school while playing tennis until I was 18. In Russia most professional athletes are done studying around 12 years old. It might have been the reason I wasn’t as good as my friends for some time, but I have no regrets. There were many tough times before the help from the federation and sponsors, when there wasn’t enough money. There were matches where I lost and all I was thinking about was the extra 100 dollars I could’ve made. The toughest period for me was the switch from juniors to pros. I ended at 13 in the world in junior tennis. I started to quickly understand, after playing futures, just how difficult it would be to get from 700 to 300 in the world. You needed to save as much money as possible while trying to win five or six futures as quickly as possible. At the time I was lost, didn’t know how to do that because there were so many other players trying to do the same thing. I remember talking to Bublik, playing a future thirty minutes away from where I lived in France. I was around 700 in the world and asked him, ‘How do you even become 300, it seems impossible?’ To this day he remembers that line and will joke when he sees me, ‘Come on, how did we become 300?!’ Even after reaching the top 100 for the first time, I knew deep down I wasn’t professional. When I was on court I would give 100%, but off the court I wouldn’t do the right things. I would go to bed late, play hours of PlayStation and just not worry about the small things. From 70 to top 5 in the world was the jump where I really decided to dedicate everything to tennis. I wanted to finally find my limits. I know people say there are none, but I want to test myself and find mine. That was the moment for me. I remember before that major jump where I would play one long match and I would lose the next day just because I couldn’t move. If you talk to anyone from juniors they would say I was one of the players in the worst shape, sometimes cramping after only thirty minutes…” Swipe 👉 pictures to continue reading @medwed33 story!

A post shared by Behind The Racquet (@behindtheracquet) on Mar 21, 2020 at 9:59am PDT

4.) Roger’s Generous Donation

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, many families around the world struggle to meet basic needs. Roger and Mirka Federer stepped up to donate one million Swiss Francs to a recently established emergency fund to help Swiss families in need.

View this post on Instagram

These are challenging times for everyone and nobody should be left behind. Mirka and I have personally decided to donate one million Swiss Francs for the most vulnerable families in Switzerland. Our contribution is just a start. We hope that others might join in supporting more families in need. Together we can overcome this crisis! Stay healthy! Dies sind herausfordernde Zeiten für uns alle und niemand sollte zurückgelassen werden. Mirka und ich haben beschlossen, persönlich eine Million Schweizer Franken für die am stärksten gefährdeten Familien in der Schweiz zu spenden. Unser Beitrag ist nur ein Anfang. Wir hoffen, dass sich andere anschließen, um noch mehr bedürftige Familien zu unterstützen. Gemeinsam können wir diese Krise überwinden! Bleibt gesund! Nous vivons une période difficile pour nous tous et personne ne doit être laissé pour compte. Mirka et moi avons décidé de personnellement faire don d’un million de francs suisses aux familles les plus défavorisées en Suisse. Notre contribution n’est qu’un début. Nous espérons que d’autres se joindront à nous pour aider encore plus de familles dans le besoin. Ensemble, nous pouvons surmonter cette crise! Restez en bonne santé!

A post shared by Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) on Mar 25, 2020 at 4:33am PDT

5.) Petition for Pay

The ATP, WTA, and ITF are currently on hold until early June, which has left many low ranking tennis players who live tournament to tournament on small prize money in an awkward position. Sofia Shapatava from Georgia is ranked 371 and has started a petition to ask for support from the ITF during this period of shut down.

Hello everyone, I know it is rough times for everybody, but I would really appreciate if you took a minute and signed a petition I created, also could be great if you could share it https://t.co/eD2gWA343G

— Sofia Shapatava (@SofiaShapatava) March 19, 2020

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.