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Nick Kyrgios asks Rafa Nadal to do live Instagram chat.
The coronavirus crisis could spark an epic tennis truce.

Nick Kyrgios has asked long-time nemesis Rafa Nadal to do an Instagram Live chat together. Kyrgios' request came in response to a BBC post asking for intriguing live chat prospects.

More: Thiem Walks Back Comments

"Rafa lets do Instagram live together. I am down with it. Rafael Nadal let's do it," Kyrgios posted on Instagram.

US Open champion Nadal has done live chats with Roger Federer and Andy Murray and recently participated in a live chat with his Spanish Davis Cup teammates.

Nadal has yet to respond to Kyrgios' request. If it happens, it would represent a calm in a sometime volatile relationship.

The temperamental Aussie admitted he tried drilling Nadal "square in the chest" during his second-round Wimbledon loss last summer.

Kyrgios mocked Nadal's pre-serve ritual at the Australian Open in January by picking at the seat of his shorts. The 23rd-seeded Aussie downplayed bad blood with Nadal after the 19-time Grand Slam champion knocked him out of Melbourne.

"I don't really know Rafa. I've never, like, hung out with him or anything like that," said Kyrgios. "So I don't really know how he is. I don't really dislike him. I never said…

.@NickKyrgios not too happy at being called on a time violation…

Wonder who he's talking about here? 🤔

🇦🇺 Watch the #AusOpen LIVE
📺 Eurosport 1 and 2
📱💻🖥 Eurosport Player: https://t.co/0Fa7uXMVB9 pic.twitter.com/758iQPztoB

— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) January 23, 2020

Asked how he feels about Kyrgios, Nadal was clear he doesn't appreciate disrespect.

"It's clear, of course, that when he does stuff that in my opinion is not good, I don't like," Nadal said in Melbourne. "When he plays good tennis and he shows passion for this game, he is a positive player for our tour, and I want my tour bigger, not smaller.

"So the players who make the tour bigger are important for the tour. When he's ready to play his best tennis and play with passion, is one of these guys. When he's doing the other stuff, of course I don't like."

The "other stuff" of course includes incidents in their Wimbledon second-round clash turned grudge match.

Nadal called out Kyrgios' body blow aas a dangerous play.

"When he hit the ball like this, is dangerous. Is not dangerous for me, is dangerous for a line referee, dangerous for a crowd," Nadal said. "When you hit the ball like this, you don't know where the ball goes. I know he's a big talented player, but I am a professional player, too. I know when you hit this kind of ball, the ball can go anywhere."

Kyrgios, who was annoyed by what he perceived as Nadal's stalling between points, ripped into the chair umpire during a Nadal bathroom break at SW19.

“What is this stuff bro? Play the game," Kyrgios said on court. "Just kiss up to him, it’s a joke. He takes 40 seconds between every serve, is that within reason? No. So don’t tell me to play within reason."

Afterward, Kyrgios admitted he tried to nail Nadal with the ball and said he has no reason to apologize for the act.

"Why would I apologize?" Kyrgios continued. "I mean, the dude has got how many slams, how much money in the bank account? I think he can take a ball to the chest, bro. I'm not going to apologize to him at all."

A basic conflict between the pair is time management: Nadal is methodical and ritualistic between his service points using every second of the serve clock, while Kyrgios can play at an almost manic pace as if playing speed chess.

Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve

The Aussie clarifies his comments, but still expresses unwillingness to acqueisce. Dominic Thiem‘s recent comments about not wanting to donate money to a relief fund for lower-ranked players were perceived as way too harsh by many, but the Austrian has since walked some of those comments back.

Not entirely, but a little.

“There are just a few things that bother me about the whole thing,” Thiem told Sky Sport Austria. “I don’t want to back down from my opinion that there are some players I don’t want to support.”

Dominic #Thiem on the relief fund: "There are many things that bother me. I won't change my mind. There are some players I do not want to support."
However: "Some things that I said came across too harsh."

— Lukas Zahrer (@ZahrerLukas) April 28, 2020

Thiem, who has already earned over $1.7 million in prize money in 2019 and over $22 million for his career, isn’t necessarily against being charitable. He would just prefer to choose the charity, and the terms.

“I’d much prefer it to be chosen by the players themselves because then those players who really need it and who really deserve it will benefit,” he said. “What I said came across as a bit strong. I didn’t say it so strongly. There’ll always be people, animals, organisations who need support much more urgently than probably every single athlete.”

Thiem has previously said that there were a lot of lower-ranked players that were not deserving of no questions asked player relief.

"I know the Futures Tour and played there for two years. There are a lot of people who don't give everything to sport," Thiem told Krone.at sports editor Michael Fall in an interview. "I don't see why I should give money to such people. I would prefer to donate to people or institutions that really need it."

Tennis’ governing bodies are working on finalizing a $6 million player relief fund and are still in the process of determining which players will receive the money, and how much each will receive.

The tournament has not ruled out playing without spectators and expects to make a decision about the event in mid-JuneThe US Open is still working on holding the 2020 edition and, in an update posted to its website on April 30, says that it has not ruled out running the event with no spectators. The Covid-19 also reiterated the event’s unwillingness to shift the date or the location of the event.

Latest USTA statement on the 2020 US Open. Nothing truly new but very little appetite for shifting dates or moving locations to Indian Wells or anywhere else. But still not ruled out entirely pic.twitter.com/pNkX32D2LA

— Christopher Clarey (@christophclarey) May 1, 2020

“We understand that there is a great deal of speculation regarding the USTA’s planning for the 2020 US Open,” the statement, posted on USOpen.org, read. “We would like to clarify that while we are exploring every possibility around the US Open, the potential to shift the event location or date is not at the forefront at this point in time.”

The tournament expects to make an announcement on the status of the tournament in a six-to-eight week time frame.

“The USTA's goal is to hold the 2020 US Open in New York on its currently scheduled dates,” the statement read. “In fact, our plans to stage the US Open on our scheduled dates at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York with fans, remain on-going. However, we recognize that we are all facing an uncertain and rapidly changing environment regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, and therefore have been aggressively modeling many other contingencies, including scenarios with no fans.”

The pair joined CNN's Christine Amanpour to dive into the biggest issue in tennis right now. In an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Billie Jean King makes it clear that a potential WTA/ATP merger must be more than an acquisition.

“We’re not an acquisition,” said King. “The WTA would not be an acquisition. We’d be a full partner in this drive to make our sport better and more valuable."

Roger Federer has raised the idea of merging men’s and women’s tennis.@andy_murray: “It’s definitely a step in the right direction.” @BillieJeanKing: “When top male players bring it up, people listen… We’re much stronger… if we’re together.” pic.twitter.com/ZXjHYe9usd

— Christiane Amanpour (@camanpour) May 1, 2020

King, who participated in a 20-minute discussion on many topics with Murray and Amanpour, added: “We are much stronger if we are together. From sponsorship to opportunities—we can grow. But what we have to understand is that we have to stay together as a sport, because we are not competing within our sport like a lot of tennis people think. Our job is to be together so we can compete against the other entertainment and other sports.”

Andy Murray gave his thoughts on the subject of a potential merger between the tours.

“This is something that obviously Billie Jean has been wanting to happen for 40 to 50 years,” he said. “She’s the one that really had the vision for all of this and we need to remember that. I think it’s great if more of the male players are seeing it as a positive step for the sport.”

Murray went on to highlight some of the oft-overlooked positives about the current state of professional tennis. “I think we have a very unique sport in that we have the men and the women competing at the biggest competitions together, that doesn’t really happen in any of the other global sports and I see that as a big positive,” he said. “We have equal prize money at those events which I think that’s fantastic and I think that’s very attractive to sponsors.”

Though Murray, like many others, sees many potential hurdles when it comes to a potential merger, he’s happy that the conversations is being pushed forward at the moment. In his opinion there are a lot of reasons for the sport to strive for a more united front.

“We have pretty much a 50/50 audience split between the men and women which again is rare across sports,” Murray says. “I think all of these things are things that we should be celebrating in the sport and sometimes they aren’t and there’s a lot of infighting that goes on with these things and I don’t think that should be the case. I think there’s some issues potentially with a merger as well but I think it’s definitely a step in the right direction to start these conversations.”

In unsanctioned events, players are still subject to the sport’s anti-corruption rules.
Unsanctioned events are not subject to tennis' anti-corruption rules, but players and officials are subject to those rules.

The Tennis Integrity Unit said players and officials participating in non-tour pro events popping up while the pro circuit is shutdown due to the coronavirus must abide by tennis' standard integrity rules.

More: Berrettini Headlines UTR Pro Series

"The TIU is aware of the emergence of new tennis events and exhibitions in certain countries during the current lockdown of the professional game," the Tennis Integrity Unit said in a statement. "To date, these events have been privately organized and not sanctioned or recognized by the international governing bodies of tennis. As such they are not subject to the sport’s anti-corruption rules (TACP – Tennis Anti-Corruption Program).

"But professional players, officials and support staff who participate in them and who are registered with the ATP, WTA and ITF will continue to be Covered Persons. This means they will still be subject to anti-corruption rules. The TIU has issued guidance to players in this respect."

Matteo Berrettini, 39th-ranked Reilly Opelka, Tennys Sandgren and Tommy Paul form the men's field for the UTR Pro Match Series presented by Tennis Channel.

The mini tournament featuring top ATP and WTA players will be televised live by Tennis Channel starting on May 8th and feature social distancing rules. It's billed as the first top tier pro tennis event since the coronavirus crisis forced tennis to go dark on March 8th.

The TIU emphasized it has provided information, but cannot endorse any of the new pro events.

"The TIU has, upon request, provided integrity-related information to some organizers," the TIU announced. "This does not constitute advice and can in no way be seen as an endorsement or approval of any event that does not come under its jurisdiction.

"It is vital that as these new events begin to appear they regard integrity as a nonnegotiable central priority to reduce any risk of match-fixing and betting-related corruption."

Photo credit: Christopher Levy

Tennis Channel will televise pro matches live starting May 8th at noon Eastern time.
Get ready for a shot of live tennis to beat the quarantine blues—and a lesson on playing safely in a coronavirus climate.

Pro tennis returns live next weekend.

Becker: Unwise To Play US Open

US Open semifinalist Matteo Berrettini headlines the UTR Pro Match Series presented by Tennis Channel.

The mini tournament featuring top ATP and WTA players will be televised live by Tennis Channel and feature social distancing rules. 

It's billed as the first top tier pro tennis event since the coronavirus crisis forced tennis to go dark on March 8th. 

There will be no spectators, no handshaking, no ballkids and no line judges.

One chair umpire will oversee the match, and the court and facility will be professionally disinfected before and after play. Each player will be provided with their own set of marked balls for use during the match. Players will provide their own drinks and towels, and each player will have their own separate area off the court.

The first event of the series will be held May 8-10th with a four-player men’s round-robin event beginning at noon Eastern time with three hours of live coverage on Tennis Channel.

The big-hitting Berrettini, 39th-ranked Reilly Opelka, Tennys Sandgren and Tommy Paul form the men's field.

Alison Riske (UTR 13.19),  Amanda Anisimova (UTR 13.04), Danielle Collins (UTR 13.07) and Ajla Tomljanović (UTR 12.85) will play the women's event.

All matches will be held at a private court in the West Palm Beach, FL, area with no spectators or public access.

“We are excited to bring back the game to tennis fans and give players the opportunity to compete in a safe, competitive environment,” said Mark Leschly, Universal Tennis Chairman & CEO. “The world has changed and we must adapt and innovate.

"Local, individual and small group play will be the new normal for the foreseeable future. The UTR Pro Match Series showcases how tennis can be played locally, safely and have results count toward the UTR global rating.”

These are the first two events in what will be a continuing US and international series. UTR is partnering with others around the world to deliver UTR Pro Match Series events for players according to local guidelines as restrictions are lifted.

UTR Pro Match Series events are prize money competitions, not exhibitions, and have been reviewed by the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) to ensure strict compliance.

Results from all Pro Match Series events will be included in a player’s Universal Tennis Rating (UTR), the most accurate international tennis rating system that provides real-time head-to-head rating comparisons based on performance.

“We’re excited to work with our longtime partners UTR to bring professional tennis and high-quality live sports coverage back to millions of tennis fans in the United States and Europe during this uniquely challenging moment,” said Ken Solomon, president, Tennis Channel.

Brett Haber will call play by play for Tennis Channel from the network’s Los Angeles studio during the event. He will be alongside former NCAA champion and professional tour player Prakash Amritraj.

During coverage Friday, May, 8th, former world No 1. And US Open champion Andy Roddick will also offer commentary via Skype. The four players competing in the tournament will have headsets and be able to interact with Tennis Channel’s studio during changeovers.

Photo credit: @ATPFinals

"Any help those guys can get, they'll be happy for," says world No. 239 of proposed financial aid.
Dustin Brown knows all about the peaks and valleys in the journey to the Top 100.

The 35-year-old Brown, who lived in his camper and strung racquets for spare cash while traveling the Challenger circuit for three years, says lower-ranked players will welcome a relief program to provide financial aid during this coronavirus crisis.

More: Brown To Headline First Live Tennis Since Coronavirus

The world No. 239 says financial aid can be a lifeline to keep careers afloat.

"My opinion is it's a great opportunity that guys that have lower ranking obviously make less money that they can get help," Brown said after winning both of his matches in in the Tennis Point Exhibition Series in the Rhineland-Palatinate state in Germany. "For me, just thought that if players do pay or if they don't pay I think everyone they need to decide that for themselves…

"It's everyone's choice what they do with their money and who they give it to. I just think that there are a lot of people out there who have potential. And I don't think that always the best guys and the most talented guys are the ones that make it through.

Australian Open finalist Dominic Thiem publicly opposed a Novak Djokovic-led plan to distribute between $3 and $4.5 million to lower-ranked players.

Thiem says the struggle to rise from tennis' lower ranks is part of the process all pros face and he doesn't support the plan, initiated by Djokovic and supported by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, to give money to lower-ranked players trying to survive the sport's shutdown during this coronavirus crisis.

"I know the Futures Tour and played there for two years. There are a lot of people who don't give everything to sport," Thiem told Krone.at sports editor Michael Fall in an interview. "I don't see why I should give money to such people. I would prefer to donate to people or institutions that really need it."

Startin In 2004 I Lived In A Camper, Surviving From Week To Week With The Money I Made… Losing First Round In A 10k Was 117,50$ – Tax… Because Of This I Was Also Stringing Rackets For Other Players For 5€ A Pop… If This Would Happend Then, It Would Have Cost Me My Career!! https://t.co/xVPzXTSqIw

— Dustin Brown (@DreddyTennis) April 26, 2020

Three-time Grand Slam finalist Thiem says there are no guarantees in individual sports like tennis.

"None of us top people got it as a gift. We had to fight our way up," Thiem told Krone.at. "I'm not guaranteed in any profession to make a lot of money at some point.

"No tennis players are fighting for survival, not even the ones down below. Nobody has to starve."

Brown's tennis adventure has taken him from today's exhibition played without fans to his epic Wimbledon upset of Rafael Nadal and virtually everywhere in between. Brown says players will welcome the help.

"I think there is a lot of things that have to fall into place [to make it]," Brown said. "I could still not have made it, still live in a camper. Luckily I did make it. So I think any help those guys can get, they'll be happy for."

Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve

A pair of Slam champions has expressed enthusiasm for tour unity. A pair of two-time major champions and leading voices on the WTA Tour have voiced their opinion on a possible ATP/WTA merger.

Simona Halep and Petra Kvitova both showed support for a potential unifying merger between the tours, in response to the media clamor that occurred in the wake of Roger Federer’s surprise tweet last week.

Halep has long supported the notion of having the tours play under one collective roof and elaborated on her reasoning.

"I think the advantages of a merger would be unifying the sport, and being stronger together,” Halep told Reuters this week. "If we have one product, one brand and everyone working together to achieve the same goals, the future of tennis could be very bright after we come out of this crisis."

"One product, one brand and everyone working together to achieve the same goals… the future of #tennis could be very bright after we come out of this crisis,” @Simona_Halep tells Reuters mind talks of men's and women's merger #ATP #wta https://t.co/2nB0Yxz569 pic.twitter.com/2H3GVmQe5K

— Ossian Shine 🇪🇺 (@ossianshine) April 29, 2020

The Tours will have a lot to work on if there really is to be a deal struck. The two entities work under a similar business model but there are many differences, including prize money variances, different television deals and length of season, to name just a few.

Halep said that equal prize money across the board would have to happen. Currently it isn’t the case as the ATP and WTA only receive equal compensation at the majors and at Indian Wells and Miami.

"Men and women on the same level, marketed and promoted in the same way with equal opportunities and of course equal prize money across the board," said Halep, adding: "It would also be exciting to have the chance to work more closely with the top male players."

Two-time Wimbledon champion also believes that a merger would help the sport put forth a more cohesive package for its fans worldwide. But Kvitova admits that much work will have to be done for true unity to be achieved.

"Combining our tours year-round would hopefully produce a stronger sport, better TV coverage, more sponsors and most importantly, a better experience for fans," she told Reuters. "First of all, a merger would take a great deal of discussion and hard work as many things would need to change.”

Hands up if you agree with @rogerfederer 🤚 https://t.co/UUpptLIiqt

— Petra Kvitova (@Petra_Kvitova) April 22, 2020

The pair are teaming up on a new venture called "Tennis Majors."

Serena Williams has joined forces with coach Patrick Mouratoglou as an investor in the new tennis website, Tennis Majors.

Williams, who has a growing investment portfolio that includes investments in many startups and her own clothing line, told Danielle Rossingh of Forbes how the venture came about.

Serena Williams Adds A Tennis Website To Her Vast Business Empire via @forbes https://t.co/beVTaKxApq

— Danielle Rossingh (@DRossingh) April 29, 2020

“Tennis Majors was born during a discusssion with Patrick two years ago at the US Open and to see such a major project become a reality is super exciting,” Williams told Forbes. “Tennis fans are passsionate about their sport and its players and they want to know what happens behind the scenes. I am looking forward to starting this adventure.”

The site features video interviews, news and long-form features, in addition to two interview series with Mouratoglou himself, one called “Eye of the Coach” and the other called “The Coach and the Star.”

It is expected that Mouratoglou, who founded the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in 2016, will enlist Williams to beef up his content library.

Mouratoglou and Williams have won ten majors since they first started working together in 2012. Williams is still bidding to catch Margaret Court at the top of the all-time Grand Slam titles won list with 24.

The American has dropped her last four major finals after returning from giving birth to her daughter Alexis Olympia in September of 2017. Williams will turn 39 in September.