#25szn

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This is the first Janniga slam and it’s WIMBLEDON. If you gave me four chances in January to guess which slam, I would’ve gotten it wrong four times (I would be insisting it was Roland-Garros and doubling down and you’d be all, Lili are you sure you want to waste a second guess on the same tournament and I’d say yeah lol of course it’s RG why are you being weird and you’d be like Sully you’re not gonna believe this!

And I’d be like fuck

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Carlos Alcaraz's Year-to-Date Wins/Losses (2025 season up to Roland Garros)

how to read the sheet

Six months and four titles into the 2025 season -- including his first defense of a Roland Garros title in thee men's match of the year -- Carlos Alcaraz must surely be feeling on top of the world.

After taking a defeat from resident child-murderer, Novak Djokovic, in the AO QFs, Alcaraz stuck to hard courts for the first time in his career post-AO. Having gone through a whopping six surface transitions last year due to playing the Golden Swing and the Olympics (H->C->H->C->G->C->H), I feel confident in saying minimizing his surface transitions has aided his game. It showed in Rotterdam -- his first indoor hardcourt title in his first tournament appearance. The same couldn't be said for his first appearance in Doha; Alcaraz's second loss of the year came at the hands of Jiri Lehecka.

The Indian Wells threepeat wasn't to be, either, with Alcaraz losing in a bizarre up-and-down match against Jack Draper who went on to win the title. Miami was even tougher; Carlitos didn't even make it to the third round, losing to a brilliant David Goffin who will retire with a positive H2H against Alcaraz.

Then came clay for the first time, and boy, did he show up! Carlitos took his first Monte-Carlo trophy home after dismantling the injured Lorenzo Musetti (bookmark that phrase...). Unfortunately, Carlitos himself suffered an injury in the Barcelona final against Holger Rune and was forced to withdraw from Madrid. Luckily, the call paid off and Carlitos was able to not only play well in Rome, but beat the returning World No. 1 and his boyfriend, Jannik Sinner, in a final that wasn't memorable so much for the tennis as the narrative significance.

The question at this point on everyone's lips -- would Roland Garros deliver the long-awaited Sinner-Alcaraz Major final? As the top two seeds, they were all but assured to make their final Sunday date, and holy fucking shit, did they!!! Coming back from two sets and a break down, saving three championship points on his serve, and winning in the very first final set tiebreak of a men's Major final in the longest final in Roland Garros history is the stuff they write books about. I would be first in line to buy it!

Now for grass -- can he defend the Channel Slam successfully? Will we be blessed with another Sinner-Alcaraz Major final, and their first on grass? What of the North American hardcourts? And is he ever going to crack the code for the indoor swing? Stay tuned!

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Would y’all be interested if I made a 2025 season trivia quiz like I did last year? Similarly intense but probably shorter*

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GRASS GRASS GRASS GRASS GRASS GRASS!!!!

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I’ve been away for a minute so let me sum up my reactions to a select few events

Absolutely goddamn thrilled for Madison Keys. Her run was downright legendary! And though it goes without saying, I’ll say it anyways — her tennis was SUBLIME. An all-time run to one’s first major surely must include a player who beat three major champions and another finalist en route. Madi killed it, and everyone being ecstatic for her is just so chefs kiss

I LOVED Aryna smashing her racket right after losing the AO final. I like a racket smash in general, and this was by far my favorite ever. I’m not joking even a little! It was an explosion of frustration that was utterly controlled and she removed herself from the situation when she felt she needed to, and came back with the most gracious, congratulatory, self-effacing but NOT self-deprecating attitude. I love women

Carlitos finally won an indoor hard event and all he had to do was (1) play his nemesis VDZ (2) win the best men’s match of the year so far and (3) beat the poor guy who lost last year in the final to his/their boyfriend

Speaking of. The opinions I have re: Jannik’s suspension are far too numerous and serious to sum up in this post. Suffice it to say, um. Wow. So we’re doing that, then. Unrelated question: are there too many cooks in the tennis kitchen? (Spoiler: yes the fuck there are)

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short n sweet profile of Victoria Mboko's 2025 season so far on The Second Serve

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Carlitos made the ATP finals already lolllll

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JASMINE PAOLINI WORLD NUMBER FOUR?????? OHHHHHH MY GODDDD 2025 IS GONNA BE SOOOOOO FUN