Ben Shelton drew attention by going straight from a US Open final appearance into Davis Cup duty. After losing in four sets to Alexander Zverev in New York, the American travelled to the Czech Republic to join the United States for its tie in Prague.

His first match there did not go his way. Shelton fell 6-4, 6-4 to Jiri Lehecka at the Prague Arena, leaving the contest level at one win each after Learner Tien defeated Jakub Mensik.

Asked in his post-match press conference why he chose to play Davis Cup so soon after his first Grand Slam final, Shelton made clear that the decision was never in doubt. “I’m just happy to be representing the USA here. I think it’s an honour to be able to play,” said the American about playing the Davis Cup.

He also explained the personal context behind the choice. “I missed the tie we played against Czech last year post- US Open because I was injured. I wasn’t going to miss this one no matter what happened at the US Open. No, I’m not feeling tired, and super excited for Day 2 to try and put this match away tomorrow.”

Shelton will not, however, follow that commitment into the Laver Cup the next week, even though he had previously signed up for the team event. He was due to be part of Andre Agassi’s Team World at The O2 Arena in London, but a crowded schedule has forced him out. Brandon Nakashima will take his place alongside Taylor Fritz, Alex de Minaur, and Alexander Bublik.

His next expected stop is the Japan Open, which begins on September 30th. Shelton will enter as the second seed behind Carlos Alcaraz and arrives as a former champion, having won the tournament in 2023. He did not play it last season, so he carries no ranking points to defend.

That gives Shelton room to keep pressing Alcaraz in the ATP Tour rankings. The gap between them is 880 points after the US Open, leaving Shelton with a real opportunity to close in during the final stretch of the season.

Novak Djokovic is still competing with a new wave on the ATP Tour, a testament to the longevity of the 24-time Grand Slam champion. For two decades, he sat at the summit of the sport alongside Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, but since their retirements, his results have been more uneven.

The Serbian has found life tougher against Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev, and he has not lifted a Grand Slam trophy since the 2023 US Open. Even so, Djokovic remains a major presence on the ATP Tour, and Grigor Dimitrov has suggested that the former world No. 1 has clear opinions about where the men’s game stands now.

Speaking to SpilXperten while representing Bulgaria at the Davis Cup, Dimitrov said: “I’ll be honest with you now. The past years I have kind of distanced myself from the ATP Tour.

“Of course, I am on the Tour, but I have distanced myself from keeping up with certain trends or whatever.” My life has always just been about tennis. In a way, age is just a number, but in our sport the gap increases a lot. You can definitely see that, and it`s not only on the court things have changed. It is also just about interactions. I don`t even know everyone on the Tour now. We can laugh about it, but it’s a bit sad.”

Dimitrov also said Djokovic shares his view of the current landscape.

“I feel the same as Novak,” explained the Bulgarian. “A part of me left with Roger and Rafa. Absolutely. We actually had that talk with Novak, where we talked about the challenges and the obstacles back in the day, you know that era of tennis…

“Without disrespecting any players, that era will always be the most challenging that I have ever had to face. I was not only the chaser, but I was trying to conquer the most massive players all the time. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to fulfill the older you get. It sucks.”

Djokovic is close to forty, but retirement does not appear imminent. He is due back at the China Open at the end of September, his first appearance at the ATP 500 event since 2015. The tournament has been one of his strongest, with six titles and no defeats there.

Iga Swiatek’s coach has played down the alarm around her place in the WTA Tour Finals picture, saying missing the event would not be the “end of the world” for the Pole.

The 25-year-old is moving toward her most difficult season since 2021, when she finished ninth in the rankings after appearing at the WTA Finals for the first time. Heading into the Asian Swing, she sits in that same position, but she is 10th in the Race and trails eighth-placed Linda Noskova by almost 700 points.

Her US Open campaign ended with a painful collapse against Qinwen Zheng, as Swiatek let a 5-0 first-set lead slip before going out in the fourth round in New York. She is now set to compete in Beijing and Wuhan as she tries to close the points gap and keep her season alive for the year-end event.

Francisco Roig, who joined her team in April, was relaxed about the situation. He told Radio Zet, “It’s definitely still a long way off, but yes, it’s our goal. However, if we don’t achieve it, it won’t be the end of the world. We’ll have a little more time to prepare as best we can for next season.

“Iga [Swiatek] and I talked about the WTA Finals. The point is, if we perform well in the two upcoming tournaments, we could still [qualify] depending on our opponents’ results. That’s why we want to try to achieve the best results possible without thinking about the WTA Finals.”

Roig, Rafael Nadal’s former coach, has not yet overseen a seamless run with Swiatek. Since they began working together, she has not advanced beyond the fourth round at the three majors, with the Canadian Open title in August standing out as the clearest positive.

Even so, Roig said he has seen encouraging progress, especially in cutting unforced errors and sharpening the forehand. “Above all, she made fewer mistakes. The first rule in tennis is not to make them. I’m sure that when Iga wasn’t advancing, she often lost. It wasn’t like the other player was beating her. We were the ones losing.

“What does this mean? Iga made mistakes too often on her first serve. She tried too hard when she didn’t need to. But Iga is Iga. She has to try. But in my opinion, sometimes she wants it too much. Opponents should be trying to play against her, and she doesn’t have to do it every time.

“She needs to play more solidly. And in Toronto, she improved dramatically in this regard, and she also hit better-quality balls. Her forehand had a better shape, and she played better angles on her backhand. This allowed her to extend each rally, and she later found easier balls to attack instead of trying to attack from more difficult positions.

“Fewer errors when serving high-quality balls yields a lot in tennis. With less effort, and without having to get to the ball so quickly. Sometimes Iga tries to get to the ball too quickly, and then she blocks her movement. We still need to improve all these things, and many more, but that’s the foundation.”