Andy Roddick has identified the third-round meeting between Alex Eala and Iva Jovic as one of his favourite matches from the US Open.

The two friends had already shared court during US Open Fan Week on Arthur Ashe Stadium, when they played a practice set and both of their fathers briefly joined them on court. Jovic won that exhibition 6-3, continuing a strong run in the rivalry after straight-set victories over Eala at the French Open and Queen’s Club earlier in the year. Across those two matches, the Filipina managed only 10 games in total.

Their night-session clash at Flushing Meadows told a different story. In front of the crowd, Eala and Jovic produced a demanding three-set battle that lasted three hours, with the American eventually edging it 7-5, 3-6, 7-5. Jovic then fell to Coco Gauff in the following round.

Even so, Roddick was deeply impressed by both players, who are inside the WTA Tour’s top 20. Eala, 21, and Jovic, 18, have drawn attention for their rapid rise, and Roddick believes the sport benefits from their presence at this level.

On Served, he said, “You know what match was one of my favourites of the entire tournament? Eala and Jovic. Do you want two prospects who can be at the business end of a Slam one year? Yes.

“Do you want them to have their first big night stage session and let them carry it? Check. Do you want them to be gracious, classy and compete their a**** off? Check. Do we want to raise their profile so we have megastars in the game? Yes.

“Do you want one to be humbled by the victory and one to be gutted by defeat but in the right way and still go hug her? Yeah. They did themselves such a service. That was probably my favourite moment of the first week.”

Eala has been described as the WTA Tour’s brightest emerging star, while Jovic is actually two places higher in the rankings at No 16 compared with Eala’s No 18. For Roddick, their performance on one of the tournament’s biggest stages offered a promising sign for women’s tennis.

Rafael Nadal has spent much of his retirement away from tennis, with only rare brief returns to the sport he ruled for almost 20 years. Since stepping away after the Davis Cup in 2022, he has not played an exhibition match, although that will change at his own academy this autumn.

As part of the 10th anniversary celebrations for the Rafael Nadal Academy, Nadal has been confirmed for a series of exhibition matches in Manorca on Saturday, October 3rd. A press release says he could be joined by some of the sport’s biggest names, though his opponents have not yet been announced.

For Nadal, the occasion will bring another first. It will be the first time he has appeared in front of a live crowd since representing Spain in the 2024 Davis Cup, and ticket-sale details are expected in the coming days.

The academy itself was launched in 2016, when Nadal was still at the height of his playing career. Since then, it has become a major development base for players across the ATP and WTA Tours. Alexandra Eala trained there in Manacor and met her coach, Joan Bosch, during her time at the academy. She returned ahead of this year’s European clay court swing and practised alongside former world No 1 Iga Swiatek.

Casper Ruud, Jaume Munar, Solana Sierra, and Coleman Wong have also spent time at the academy before going on to achieve notable success on the ATP and WTA Tours.

In recent years, the academy has expanded well beyond its original home. By 2026, it also has bases in Costa Mujeres, Greece, Kuwait, Hong Kong, Marbella, Egypt, and Punta Cana, in addition to Manacor. Nadal has said he will not work as a full-time coach for a player on the professional circuit, but the academy continues to reflect his influence on the next generation.

Fans unable to attend the event in Spain will be able to watch the Rafael Nadal Academy Slam on Movistar Plus.

Ben Shelton has taken aim at a tennis rule he believes needs to be changed after losing to Alexander Zverev in the 2026 US Open final.

The No. 8 seed fell 6-3, 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-2 to the top seed in New York on Sunday, bringing an end to Shelton’s first appearance in a Grand Slam final. The result also left the American with a 0-6 record against Zverev.

Zverev’s habit of bouncing the ball many times before serving drew attention throughout the tournament, and Shelton was asked whether the German’s serving routine made it difficult to find a rhythm of his own.

“I think there’s not an athlete in the world that you’re going to look and watch them do their thing and they’re going to sit in a ready position for 30 seconds before the play starts,” the 23-year-old American said in his post-match press conference.

“So for me it’s the same. I’m not going to sit there in a ready position with my knees bent, tension in my body for 30 seconds while I’m waiting.

“I’m going to try to stay loose, and you know, I’ll let him do his thing when he’s up there, but I’m not going to sit there, be locked in, focused, in a ready position for that long.”

During the final, chair umpire Marijana Veljovic told Shelton to take his return position earlier. Shelton said he was told to move up, but insisted the responsibility should not fall entirely on the returner.

“[The umpire] was telling me I needed to get to the line earlier, and I was like, ‘he can start his routine whenever he wants. I promise you there will never be a time where he serves and I’m not ready’,” Shelton explained.

“But I shouldn’t have to sit at the line. If he’s bouncing the ball 20 to 25 times, I shouldn’t have to just sit there for that. He should be able to start it. He never does less than 10 bounces. I’m always going to be ready when he’s ready to serve.

“I think that that is a stupid rule, that you gotta be sitting there if it’s a guy who has his routine. As long as you’re ready when he puts his hands together and starts bouncing the ball, that’s what should matter.”

Shelton was then asked about the possibility of a rule change, and said he believed the issue should be reviewed.

“I know everybody wants that to be the story… yeah, I definitely think, for a first serve, you can do whatever you want. You can use the full 25 seconds every time.

“I think that there should be some sort of rule –I’m not sure exactly how you would do it — limiting time on second serve. You shouldn’t have unlimited time.

“I think for our sport, for the fans, I think it’s tough to be sitting there that long [waiting] for the next play, the next action to happen.

“I’m sure at some point, it’ll be something that these tournaments look at, just because there is such a delay in play in some matches.”