Tennis Talk 2026: Vol 1 (United Cup, Brisbane, Auckland, Hong Kong)

For wisewords, I have a tiebreaker in mind for the Better sister comp. Let me know when you see this I will let you know. We need to make our picks before early Saturday morning for this, but ideally as soon as possible.

Can anyone tell me the Price of MERTENS vs Zhu. Match over now. Just wondering what the pre betting odds were please.

1.4x

Jan 1, 2026 -- 12:58PM, TheCarambaExperience wrote:

For wisewords, I have a tiebreaker in mind for the Better sister comp. Let me know when you see this I will let you know. We need to make our picks before early Saturday morning for this, but ideally as soon as possible.

I should win on forfeit imo.

happy new year hope everybody has a successful one

Less than one day til tennis season starts for real!

@VenusGauff ·4h
Australian Open Qualifying Update

OUT: Jennifer Brady
IN: Mingge Xu

no wonder Elise doesn't play mixed. What a mug Bergs.

Potapova already representing Austria. Playing Australian Daria Kasatkina tomorrow.

Demon 1.31 against Casper?

Fritz busted at 1.01 too

market concerned about Eva's knee/ankle.

oh Eva layers at 1.71 in the 2nd set on serve.

Christian's Court
@christianscourt
Taylor Fritz just seen talking to the tournament director about his knee issue. Fritz told the press ahead of the United Cup that he's battling through "pretty serious tendonitis".

World No. 114 Mackie McDonald would likely replace Fritz in the remaining ties if needed.


would explain his weak performance yesterday. Didn't look his best. Not a good sign to have this carry over from the previous season after a six week break. Not sure if he played exhos during that time, if so that will not have helped.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/G9wFP97WsAAyu_c?format=jpg&name=small

VK on the Holger Rune controversy.

Vera Zvonareva playing Canberra challenger and edy not allowed to post about it here

Cobolli with a blinding pass to go 4-2 up !

At 5-4* in the TB someone left up a monster Cobolli lay 1.51, all snipered by someone there when Stan lost the point

Still blows my mind people effectively are placing huge bets at a monster point where they are only getting their 1.51 lay matched if it goes a certain way and they could have just layed at 1.11 instead after that point

Aussie tele betting!

Novak Djokovic
@DjokerNole
After careful consideration, I have decided to step away completely from the Professional Tennis Players Association. This decision comes after ongoing concerns regarding transparency, governance, and the way my voice and image have been represented.

came to post that here about Novak. I thought he was Mr. PTPA so I find this a bit strange. I wonder when things started to go wrong between them. I don't actually really know who's behind the PTPA, just that they were able to get Novak & Vasek to be faces for it

shall we just call it a draw in the Better sister comp 2025 and see who wins the 2026 edition instead?

also what does everyone think about the nationality changes?

Kasatkina: Russia to Australia
Potapova: Russia to Austria
Rakhimova: Russia to Uzbekistan
Timofeeva: Russia to Uzbekistan
P Kudermetova: Russia to Uzbekistan

previously:

Gracheva: Russia to France
Avanesyan: Russia to Armenia

I wonder who will be next..

btw, VK is just doing damage control regarding the Rune stuff. she's not really sorry about it

anyone know when edy will be back posting on the tennis?

Kasatkina is only 28 years old but I'm getting an inkling that the 2026 season is going to be a very difficult one for her. I only see regression in her game, and it will only get harder for her to maintain the level of her super physical game style. she's trying to put more on her serve / go for it more, but this really doesn't suit her. she hit 16 double faults in 16 service games yesterday against Potapova; a dreadful rate that really demonstrates how much she is over-straining herself in attempt to serve bigger.

Raducanu's still got a foot problem. another messy season riddled with random injuries coming up for her, mixed in with some false dawns when she wins a couple of matches at some random tournament in April. market will probably still price her mad though which is good for us.

Ka Plis playing in Brisbane shortly against Baptiste. will be interesting to see how she gets on because she wasn't very good in her small comeback tournaments last year. not holding much hope for her tbh, and would not be surprised at all if this is her final year on tour.

Jan 5, 2026 -- 12:41AM, wisewords wrote:

shall we just call it a draw in the Better sister comp 2025 and see who wins the 2026 edition instead?

phorum is dead. there is no point making a 2026 edition. Happy to call the 2025 version a draw though.

Jan 5, 2026 -- 12:49AM, wisewords wrote:

also what does everyone think about the nationality changes?Kasatkina: Russia to AustraliaPotapova: Russia to AustriaRakhimova: Russia to UzbekistanTimofeeva: Russia to UzbekistanP Kudermetova: Russia to Uzbekistanpreviously:Gracheva: Russia to FranceAvanesyan: Russia to ArmeniaI wonder who will be next..

countries should be bidding for Mirra.

Jan 5, 2026 -- 12:56AM, wisewords wrote:

anyone know when edy will be back posting on the tennis?

no time frame :(

Emma had a good and more healthy season in 2025 compared to previous years.
I do find it a bit irresponsible to sign up for United Cup though if you are not 100% and risk leaving your team with a mug line-up like Billy Harris and Katie Swan. She's still scheduled to play against pigeon Maria Sakkari today.

KaPlis withdrew.

early doors yet, but I say Taylor Fritz will fall out of the top 10 this season.

for a guy who wants to challenge for slams he really doesn't help himself with his scheduling/maintaining his body

at least he just won this 3 hour pointless grindfest in united cup when he's not 100% fit though

no idea what he is doing, he should be smarter than this.

reason I say he's done, is because he's been struggling with tendonitis since at least the end of the last season, and he looks like he has lost a step. Makes no sense for him to play this mug event.

Eva Lys who normally struggling to win games against Iga is playing lights out today.

with Iga also mugging a bit.

Sweetheart Eva Lys plays the match of her life but comes up short.

tasty odds on Emma (evens) against her pigeon Maria Sakkari

Jan 5, 2026 -- 6:58AM, TheCarambaExperience wrote:

early doors yet, but I say Taylor Fritz will fall out of the top 10 this season.

agreed. Fritz is useless. apart from playing while injured which suggests he is lacking in the brain dept, his return numbers are absolutely dreadful with no sign of improvement

Jan 5, 2026 -- 8:59AM, TheCarambaExperience wrote:

with Iga also mugging a bit.

at least iga found a way to get the win. unlike gauff who managed to get bagelled and breadsticked by a player who'd been bagelled by sierra who gauff managed to beat easily. the serve remains an absolute disgrace to pro tennis, with gauff continuing to df all over the place to the point it took her about 13 second serve points before she managed to win one. its that bad its getting to the point that you wonder if gauff is just trolling by this point.

The Coco market was beautiful. Emma broken after failing to convert from 0-40 previous game. Surprised she can't win some of these points with Tim offering great advice "this point, this point Emma" after every point

Jan 5, 2026 -- 6:03AM, TheCarambaExperience wrote:

KaPlis withdrew.

but this gave a 2nd chance for Poots and she stormed to victory

I think someone/something made Aryna mad. very, very mad

this Kovacevic guy must be cheating somehow. no way he's beating Kyrgios 6-3 in a set playing fairly

Practicing tennis before a match is not cheating.

true. Kovacevic has even added David Witt to his team recently so the quality of his practice is sure to have gone up a little lately

Coco losing from a low SP in the UC yesterday was quite surprising, but I assume Cobolli took it as a challenge and did something way more dramatic to lose today

Sorana plays lazy Aljona again later. do you believe in Sorana?

yes always, she said her final year on the tour would be her best.

Jan 6, 2026 -- 5:43AM, wisewords wrote:

Coco losing from a low SP in the UC yesterday was quite surprising, but I assume Cobolli took it as a challenge and did something way more dramatic to lose today

too much kangaroo imitating with Jasmine Paolini, not enough time preparing for the match.
https://x.com/UnitedCupTennis/status/2008043549405991317

although market pricing Osty up like she's end of the season Osty. She might be motivated at this point.

Andrea Petkovic has a very cute way of saying corner.

The Mirra muggery continues.

won easily in the end :)

Same as Rubleb

Rublev* even

OMG Big Bottle Crew has a new member:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHZyCc36irU

It takes a lot for Francesca Jones to retire says the commentator

Thank you to Angela Rebecchi for the Odds on the Mertens match. Apologies on the late Reply.

Nick decided it would be unfair of him to win the AO, and beating the world number 1 in straight sets was enough for him. instead he's going to concentrate on winning the doubles again with The Kokk.

For my WTA race top 8, I'm going with
Sabalenka
Swiatek
Gauff
Anisimova
Rybakina
Pegula
Mirra Andreeva
Mboko

We're going on which 8 will be in the official WTA finals photo shoot. However, if someone has qualified but has to withdraw due to injury or other reason, you'll get a point for that as well.

Deadline is pre Australian Open, but don't let that stop you from making your picks NOW.

Mirra's ranking will collapse if she doesn't follow up her Middle Eastern/IW swing, but I think she's too good of a player to keep her final half of 2025 muggery going. Jess will decline at some point, but after thinking last year was that year end it not happening, I don't think it will this year either. Ryba is always unpredictable, but I think she's too good not to end up in the top 8. Anisimova is a bit of a question mark (there could be injuries, there could be a reaction to last year), but I think she's in the top to stay. Mboko is a joker in this, but I think with her trajectory and easier draws this year, she has every chance to keep climbing. Thought about Osaka and Bencic but ended up not going with them. Fitness always a question mark with Osaka. Same with Muchova.

Jan 9, 2026 -- 6:41AM, wisewords wrote:

Nick decided it would be unfair of him to win the AO, and beating the world number 1 in straight sets was enough for him. instead he's going to concentrate on winning the doubles again with The Kokk.

surely he deserves a wc into the womens tourney for beating the world #1

woah can you believe Alex Eala did this!
https://x.com/ASB_Classic/status/2009765269627949231

Jan 9, 2026 -- 9:00AM, TheCarambaExperience wrote:

For my WTA race top 8, I'm going with SabalenkaSwiatekGauffAnisimovaRybakinaPegulaMirra AndreevaMbokoWe're going on which 8 will be in the official WTA finals photo shoot. However, if someone has qualified but has to withdraw due to injury or other reason, you'll get a point for that as well. Deadline is pre Australian Open, but don't let that stop you from making your picks NOW.

edy is going with:
Sabalenka, Iga, Gauff, Kostyuk, Mirra, Rybakina, Anisimova, Bencic

Bublik/Musetti just played an insane point.

Jan 11, 2026 -- 8:42AM, TheCarambaExperience wrote:

Bublik/Musetti just played an insane point.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1220377800027188

Mirra, Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff, Amanda Anisimova, Rybakina, Sabalenka, Marketa, Swiatek

:)