What he said: “After careful consideration, I have decided to step away completely from the Professional Tennis Players Association,” Djokovic posted on social media. “This decision comes after ongoing concerns regarding transparency, governance, and the way my voice and image have been represented.” He added: “I am proud of the vision that Vasek (Pospisil) and I shared when founding the PTPA, giving players a stronger, independent voice – but it has become clear that my values and approach are no longer aligned with the current direction of the organization.”

Previously: In reality, Djokovic had been distancing himself from the PTPA for some time, which became blatantly clear when he said it was time for other players to step up and take on leadership roles — and when he declined to be named as a plaintiff in the PTPA’s antitrust lawsuits against the sport’s governing bodies.

What they said: “As part of its mission, the PTPA initiated litigation against the tours and Grand Slams to advance reforms related to governance, transparency, and player rights. As a result, we have been targets of a coordinated defamation and witness intimidation campaign through the spreading of inaccurate and misleading narratives intended to discredit the PTPA, its staff, and its work. A federal court has already ruled this type of harassment improper and ordered it to cease,” the PTPA posted. “We are working closely with legal counsel, law enforcement and players to evaluate all available options to address the spread of misinformation. These attacks from non-player third parties will not distract us from our mission: pursuing meaningful reforms for all players.”

What she said: “I feel like we’re definitely, in the tennis department, the worst,” Gauff said during press at the United Cup. “I’ve always said I wish our country in other places would show up throughout the world, as we see maybe smaller countries support,” Gauff said, adding: “But I also think it’s just because our country is good at so many sports, so it’s just hard. I definitely think there are Americans that come out more in Melbourne than necessarily here (Perth), but I would like to see some more Americans in Sydney — if we make it to Sydney — than there were last year.”

A misunderstanding: Some fans took Gauff’s comments to mean American fans writ large and took issue with the cost and other difficulties of travel for Americans to go to Australia. The replies to Gauff’s words were often harsh. Just before taking court against Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, she attempted to clarify that she was referring to American fans who are already in the countries where they are playing.

The result? Gauff looked distracted during her match. She quickly found herself down 6-1, 4-1 before stealing the second set, and losing 6-0 in the third. She got it together in time for mixed doubles with Christian Harrison to send the U.S. to the quarterfinals.

The record: Dimitrov barely edges out Carreno Busta in the head-to-head, 4-3. But take that record with a grain of salt. Although the two have had incredible battles over the years, their most recent one was five years ago at the 2021 Australian Open, where Carreno Busta had to retire without winning a game.

On the line: For both of them, this match represents getting some continuity after coming off mixed years of brilliant play and disappointing circumstances. For Dimitrov, he has semifinal points to defend from this time last year. An early loss would mean dropping out of the top 50.

McCartney Kessler vs. Madison Keys (2nd round)

Elena Rybakina vs. Shuai Zhang (2nd round)

Karolina Muchova vs. Ajla Tomljanovic (2nd round)

Sofia Kenin vs. Ekaterina Alexandrova (2nd round)

Sorana Cirstea vs. Jelena Ostapenko (2nd round)

Nick Kyrgios vs. Aleksandar Kovacevic (1st round)

Grigor Dimitrov vs. Pablo Carreno Busta (1st round)

Brandon Nakashima vs. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (1st round)

Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard vs. Tommy Paul (1st round)

Alexandre Muller vs. Miomir Kecmanovic (1st round)

Coleman Wong vs. Mariano Navone (1st round)

Juncheng Shang vs. Francisco Comesana (1st round)

Jesper de Jong vs. Gabriel Diallo (1st round)

Jan-Lennard Struff vs. Botic van de Zandschulp (1st round)

Alejandro Tabilo vs. Michael Mmoh (1st round)

Laslo Djere vs. Marcos Giron (1st round)

Canada vs. Belgium

Australia vs. Czechia

Italy vs. France

Stan Wawrinka is NOT into farewell tours.

The WTA sets 2026 expectations for the tour.

…and plays 20 questions with Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah.

Now that Novak Djokovic has fled vacated relocated to… is spending his time in Greece, did you know you can rent his family retreat in Serbia for about $18,000 a night?

By the way, he’s skipping Adelaide and going into the Australian Open without a warm-up tournament.

Thanasi Kokkinakis goes into some serious detail about the injury, the surgery, and the rehab that kept him off the tour for a year — until he played an emotional doubles match with his friend Nick Kyrgios last night.

About that Veronika Kudermetova comment on Holger Rune…

Hubert Hurkacz sure does know how to stage a comeback.