Welcome back to the Monday Tennis Briefing, where The Athletic will explain the stories behind the stories from the past week on court.
This week, the 2025 tennis season began with Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios revisiting the subject of doping. Elsewhere, Naomi Osaka discussed longevity vs. quality and the returning Belinda Bencic got a reality check for the good.
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How can tennis balance athletes speaking freely with informing fans?
For many fans, the best and most famous tennis players in the world are bigger authority figures than the governing bodies and agencies which make and enforce rules. When players such as Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios speak on doping cases, people listen, even if their comments are not always completely conversant with the reality of a given situation.
Djokovic and Kyrgios, who won their first match as a doubles pair at the Brisbane International in Australia on Monday, discussed the anti-doping cases involving Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek in the lead-up to the tournament. In a news conference, Djokovic said players had been “kept in the dark” on Sinner’s case and questioned “why the ATP hasn’t really talked in depth about it.”
Also speaking in a news conference, Kyrgios said of Sinner’s case: “Why did they wait five to six months to do anything about it?”
GO DEEPER
Jannik Sinner’s doping case explained: What WADA appeal means and what is at stake for tennis
In Sinner’s case, three tribunals — one assessing each of his two positive tests for clostebol, and one concluding the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) investigation into them — found that he bore “no fault or negligence.” The ATP, which runs the men’s tennis tour, has no jurisdiction over doping. In both Sinner and Swiatek’s cases, the players appealed their mandatory provisional suspensions for testing positive within 10 days. Under ITIA protocol, this means their cases are not disclosed until the investigations are concluded.
This has been a recurring theme throughout both cases with many players and fans. Overall, it shows how much tennis authorities have to do to better explain and promote how they protect the integrity of the sport. If there is this much scepticism over the correct application of procedure, it bears considering whether that procedure needs revisiting.
GO DEEPER
Explaining Iga Swiatek’s doping ban, why it was kept secret and what it means for tennis
How does Naomi Osaka see her tennis future?
Of the 10 oldest Grand Slam winners in the Open Era, seven have achieved the feat since 2017 — and one player, Ken Rosewall, is responsible for the other three. The longevity of Serena Williams, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic has planted new expectations about how long a career can be and for how long it is worth playing, but one recent major winner isn’t down to “hang around.”
“The point of my life that I’m at right now, if I’m not above a certain ranking I don’t see myself playing,” Naomi Osaka said in a news conference ahead of the Auckland Classic in New Zealand. Osaka, who has four Grand Slam singles titles, last won a major in 2021.
“I’d rather spend time with my daughter if I’m not where I think I should be and where I feel like I can be.”
Naomi Osaka was at the very top of tennis not so long ago. (Lintao Zhang / Getty Images)
Osaka, 27, who in 2024 came back from giving birth to her daughter, Shai, has risen 776 places in the rankings from No. 833 in January 2024 to No. 57 now. That is neither where she thinks she should be nor feels like she can be. She wants Grand Slam seeding and the deep runs that are expected to come with it; a shift in mindset that played out through last year’s summer hard-court swing as she went from joking about results not “resulting” to swapping former coach Wim Fissette for Patrick Mouratoglou.
Longevity is the aim — but only at high altitudes.
GO DEEPER
Naomi Osaka and the gravity of a superstar at the U.S. Open
A reality check for Belinda Bencic, positive and negative?
Another returning player hoping to get back to their peak is Belinda Bencic, the 2020 Olympic women’s singles gold medalist who also recently had her first child. Bencic, 27, reached the final of her first WTA tournament back, a 125-level event in France. She dispatched world No. 123 Chloe Paquet 6-3, 6-1 in her first match at the United Cup but then ran into a reality check in the form of Jasmine Paolini, 2024’s most-improved player. Paolini dispatched the Swiss in turn, 6-1, 6-1.
Bencic, who reached the top 10 as a teenager before a wrist injury and ensuing surgery forced her to launch her first comeback — which culminated in that gold medal in Tokyo — wants to be back among the best as much as Osaka does. A heavy defeat this early is sobering, yes, but also a helpful reminder of where she needs to be to achieve her goals.
Shot of the week
Cannot argue with going around the net…
Welcome to the @DjokerNole show 🤩@brisbanetennis | #BrisbaneTennis pic.twitter.com/4zTVNBosFh
— ATP Tour (@atptour) December 30, 2024
Recommended reading:
📅 Coming up
🎾 ATP
📍Sydney and Perth, Australia: United Cup featuring Taylor Fritz, Alex de Minaur, Alexander Zverev, Hubert Hurkacz
📍Brisbane, Australia: Brisbane International (250) featuring Novak Djokovic, Nick Kyrgios, Grigor Dimitrov, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard
📍Hong Kong: Hong Kong Open (250) featuring Andrey Rublev, Learner Tien, Arthur Fils, Shang Juncheng
📺 UK: Sky Sports; U.S.: Tennis Channel 💻
🎾 WTA
📍Sydney and Perth, Australia: United Cup featuring Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina, Karolina Muchova
📍Brisbane, Australia: Brisbane International (500) featuring Aryna Sabalenka, Emma Navarro, Mirra Andreeva, Paula Badosa
📍Auckland, New Zealand: ASB Classic (250) featuring Madison Keys, Naomi Osaka, Emma Raducanu, Amanda Anisimova
📺 UK: Sky Sports; U.S.:
Tell us what you noticed this week in the comments below as the men’s and women’s tours continue.
(Top photo: Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)
