Vacherot's shock in Shanghai, the Djokovic soap opera and Gauff waltzes in Wuhan
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This week, he's jet-lagged and jaded, but Calvin Betton is back from his sojourn in the Far East, George Bellshaw is bang up for his head to head and James Gray is just trying to keep everyone calm.
Here are the stories they discussed…
Valentin Vacherot made history as the lowest ranked Masters champion ever, beating his own cousin Arthur Rinderknech in the Shanghai final having knocked out Novak Djokovic in the semi-final
For his own part, Djokovic was a surprise entrant in Shanghai and was pushed to his limit by Yannick Hanfmann, Jaume Munar and Zizou Bergs before Vacherot finished the job in the last four
And Rinderknech revealed afterwards that he had thought about quitting tennis only a few months before, but was helped through his rough patch by coach Lucas Pouille
Coco Gauff triumphed in Wuhan, a rare one-week Masters, but her run to the title hardly felt impressive given the players she beat, including 11 breaks of serve in two sets against Jasmine Paolini and then a more credible win against former doubles partner Jessica Pegula
Aryna Sabalenka had been unbeaten at the event since 2018 but she was downed by Pegula in the semi-finals, but not before the Belarusian had sewn up year-end world No 1 for the second time in a row
Jack Draper has appointed Jamie Delgado, a former coach of Andy Murray, to work with him ahead of the 2026 season - but long-time coach James Trotman is very much still involved, and simply wants to travel less on the main tour
Goncalo Oliveira, a Portuguese-born player who represents Venezuela, has been banned for four years after testing positive for methamphetamine last year. He claimed that a girl he met in a bar in Mexico, who did testify at the tribunal, had taken drugs that evening and contaminated him through kissing - but the director of the lab that tested the samples said that there was between “four and 36” times too much methamphetamine in his system to have been transferred by kissing
Under a trial scheme, the ITIA are offering up to $5k in costs to players who want to test supplements or medication at a Wada lab, or to investigate meds contamination. The package also includes a degree of free legal support and confidential third-party counselling. And the PTPA already offers free support from two law firms. The trial is going to run until the end of next season.
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