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Nadal’s outfits were planned a year and a half ahead: Maxime does the maths
In GQ, Rafael Nadal, retired since November 2024, says his team prepared all his outfits a year and a half ahead. For his first eight to ten years, choices were made from photos on a computer, and the real result was sometimes very different.
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It’s true, we checked
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Mertens asks Belgians to cheer her on in Beijing, Jean-Pol is still looking for a flight
Elise Mertens plays Zheng Qinwen on Saturday at 1 pm in the Beijing Masters 1000 semi-final, after beating Iga Swiatek 7-6, 6-3. Before the match, she asked “all Belgians” to come and…
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Wimbledon accredits no influencers, the C30.4 wants the same rule on Sundays
Wimbledon accredits no influencers and will not let spectators bring portable ring lights. At the US Open, a photo shoot disrupted a Naomi Osaka match. Richard Atkinson, the club’s interim chief executive,…
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Alcaraz tells the ATP to fix the calendar, but Jean-Pol said it first and better
Asked about Jannik Sinner pulling out for the rest of the season, Carlos Alcaraz, a seven-time Grand Slam champion, again criticised the ATP calendar, which he finds overloaded. He wished Sinner good…
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Zverev wins in Shanghai while the match didn’t depend on him: Maxime seeks the culprit
Speaking on the ATP’s microphone, Alexander Zverev said that, serve aside, his match against Yibing Wu did not depend much on him. He won it 6-4, 7-6(4) in the second round of…
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Sinner becomes “Jacob” for the Australian Open boss: the club player sympathises
Andrew Abdo, former head of the National Rugby League (Australia’s rugby league competition) and now director of the Australian Open, spoke of “Jacob Sinner” on 8 October during his first official presentation…
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Ferrero and Sinner, “not to annoy Carlos”: Maxime discovers the tour’s coaches
Juan Carlos Ferrero, whose partnership with Carlos Alcaraz ended in December according to We Love Tennis, raised the idea of joining Jannik Sinner’s team in an interview with Punto de Break. He…
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Vacherot, a qualifier ranked 204th, gets a Shanghai statue: the C30.4 takes heart
Monegasque Valentin Vacherot has discovered in Shanghai the terracotta statue made in his honour, a tradition for every Masters 1000 winner. He is back to defend the title he won in 2025,…
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Djokovic, 34-0 in Beijing, finds tennis cruel: Monique compares it with whist
Novak Djokovic won the Beijing tournament, where he is now 34-0, after beating Zverev and Medvedev. He told a press conference that tennis is cruel because it is played as a knockout.
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Vacherot defends Shanghai knowing he will slip, and Maxime discovers ranking points
Valentin Vacherot, world No. 14, is back at the Shanghai Masters 1000 (7-18 October), which he won last year against his cousin Arthur Rinderknech. Speaking to Eurosport, the Monegasque said he knew…
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Mertens finally beats Gauff after five defeats: Jean-Pol saw it coming, bar the sixth
Elise Mertens, world No. 19, beat Coco Gauff, No. 4, 6-3, 6-3 in the round of 16 of the WTA tournament in Beijing on 7 October. It is her first win over…
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Woodruff beats Black in four sets in Harare, the C30.4 has played that decider before
In the first round of the 2000 Davis Cup, John McEnroe’s United States beat Zimbabwe 3-2 on indoor hard court in Harare. Chris Woodruff won the deciding rubber against Wayne Black, 6-3,…
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Djokovic asks ball kids to speed up in Beijing, the C30.4 doesn’t even have one
In the final of the Beijing ATP 500 against Alex de Minaur, Novak Djokovic, chasing a 102nd title, asked the ball kids to move faster. Nicolas Mahut regretted his attitude on Eurosport.
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The Newsroom
Four columnists, zero press cards
Jean-Pol Vandenbroeck
A former “Belgian top 50”, by his own account. Never wrong: when the facts contradict him, it’s the facts that changed.
Maxime
22, journalism intern, discovering tennis in real time. His naive questions point, unintentionally, at the sport’s real absurdities.
Céline, dite « la C30.4 »
Ranked C30.4, a club-level ranking, “since a transitional period”. Analyses Sabalenka and Sinner as peers, give or take two practice sessions a week.
Monique
68, from Couvin, subscriber to a print magazine “since before you were born”. Never criticises anyone: she compares, which is worse.
They are characters. They have a profile, tics, obsessions and no legal existence whatsoever. Meet them.