Two recent books arrive at a pivotal moment in men’s tennis, documenting the rapid ascent of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner and the rivalry that has defined 2024 and 2025. Mark Hodgkinson’s Being Carlos Alcaraz supplies the biographical detail and environment that shaped Alcaraz, while Giri Nathan’s Changeover examines the rivalry and the broader cultural moment that surrounds it.

Hodgkinson traces Alcaraz from El Palmar to Juan Carlos Ferrero’s academy in Alicante, and highlights formative episodes: the five-year-old who “loved to bash the ball against the backboard” and a lockdown stint at the academy that accelerated his progress. The book also describes Alcaraz’s psychological training. “When they spoke on Mondays, Alcaraz wasn’t allowed to tell Cutillas whether he had won or lost his latest match, only how he thought he had played,” Hodgkinson writes. “Giving attention to the result would have reduced Alcaraz’s tennis to winning or losing, to being a success or a failure, and Cutillas didn’t want that for him.” Hodgkinson adds, “Cutillas was hoping that as a boy, and maybe deeper into his tennis life, he would be less interested in his results than in whether he was improving and meeting the standards he was setting for himself.”

Nathan’s Changeover is more literary and frames the players within the modern rivalry narrative. He writes that Alcaraz’s game “combined so many traits that didn’t belong together into a single psychedelic point.” Nathan also offers a vivid aside describing Daniil Medvedev as “the expansive plane of his forehead, those cunning beady eyes, the physiognomy of a supervillain plotting to take down the power grid.”

Both books contrast the two men’s temperaments and origins. Sinner’s upbringing in Sexten and his late shift from skiing to tennis are presented alongside anecdotes about his planning and precision, including the moment he told his coach “to stay f-ing calmer” and then dismissed him. Sinner called it “very, very strange” to come from a skiing village and become a tennis player.

Together the books explain how these players rose out of a long era of stasis at the top and set expectations for what the next phase of men’s tennis might look like.

Facundo Bagnis has begun a voluntary provisional suspension after testing positive for hydrochlorothiazide, the International Tennis Integrity Agency announced. The 35-year-old Argentine’s positive result came during qualifying at the US Open in August, and the ITIA classified the substance in the category of diuretics and masking agents.

Bagnis lost in the first round of US Open qualifying, a defeat that was his sixth consecutive loss in Grand Slam qualifying matches. He reached a career-high ranking of No. 55 in 2016.

The player was notified of the test result this month and opted to start a provisional suspension last week. The ITIA process allows a provisional suspension to be credited as time served if a later ban is imposed.

In a social media statement, Bagnis denied knowingly taking any banned substance and said he has assembled legal and medical support to pursue a possible cross-contamination defense. He wrote: “I want to be clear, I’ve never knowingly taken anything prohibited, that’s why I’m confident in my innocence and that the truth will come to light and reveal a fair outcome,” Bagnis wrote on Instagram , calling the situation ‘one of the worst moments of my professional career.’

“The news has taken me completely by surprise,” he added. “Since the beginning, I have cooperated with the ITIA and been completely and totally transparent in order to clear everything up as quickly as possible.

“Additionally, I have chosen to accept a voluntary provisional suspension in order to dedicate my full attention to this process and to demonstrate that I have nothing to hide.”

Bagnis said he is working with a team that includes lawyers and a medical toxicologist as he prepares his response to the ITIA. The agency’s announcement confirmed the substance and the provisional suspension but did not detail the next steps in the investigation.

Petra Kvitova has announced she and husband Jiri Vanek are expecting their second child. The former world No. 2, who gave birth to a son last year, retired from the sport after a brief 2025 comeback and a final appearance at the US Open.

Kvitova and Vanek married in 2023. Their son Petr arrived during the Wimbledon fortnight last year. The now-35-year-old returned to the tour in 2025 “for the love of the game rather than for results,” and in June she confirmed the US Open would be the final tournament of her career. She received an emotional send-off at the grass-court Grand Slam that she won twice and officially bid farewell to the tour after losing to France’s Diane Parry in New York.

Little Petr played a role in the announcement. Kvitova posted a family photo on Instagram and wrote in the caption in Czech and English: “Our little boy will soon become a big brother.” Players sent congratulations, including Belinda Bencic, Sorana Cirstea, Carla Suárez Navarro and Elena Vesnina.

She had acknowledged the need to stop before her final tournament, telling those around her she was “ready to stop,” and expressing a hope to have another child in the not-too-distant future after hanging up her racquets. Her comeback yielded one victory in nine matches.

Kvitova also reflected on the difficulty of returning to top form. ““Mentally, I think I can’t do it any more, as well as emotionally and physically. … You still remember how you played before, how everything was smooth and I was hitting winners and suddenly it’s not there,” she said.

The announcement closes the chapter on a career that included two Wimbledon titles and a place among the sport’s top-ranked players, and opens a new chapter for Kvitova and Vanek as their family grows.