Roger Federer’s public support for quicker courts at the Laver Cup reignited a long-running discussion about whether hard courts are becoming uniformly slow. During Andy Roddick’s Served podcast at the event, Federer picked up Roddick’s line of criticism; Alexander Zverev added that he “hated” how uniform surfaces had become and endorsed the suggestion that some tournament directors prefer slower courts because it helps certain players reach finals.

Jannik Sinner, asked about the remarks, reminded reporters: “You know, me and Carlos [Alcaraz], we don’t make the courts. It’s not our decision. We try to adapt ourselves in every situation. I still feel like every week (the surface) is a bit different.” That exchange shifted attention from perceived favoritism toward a broader concern: the loss of meaningful variation in surface speed and the tactical challenges it creates for players.

The technical side is messy. The ITF’s Court Pace Rating, produced from lab and on-site testing, groups courts into five categories with scores up to 50. By that system a French Open-style 23 sits in category 2 while an Australian Open figure of 42 falls in category 4. Most hard-court Masters events in 2024 were in the medium to medium-fast bands, categories 3 to 5, with Paris at 45.5 (category 5) and Indian Wells aligned with Roland Garros in category 2.

Match-driven indices also exist. Broadcasters and data firms use serve and rally metrics to produce Court Pace Indexes that generally align with CPR. Tennis Abstract’s surface metric uses 1.0 as average; Basel led with 1.54, meaning players hit 54 percent more aces than at an average event. Its top-15 fastest list contained only two Masters tournaments.

Players’ perceptions remain central. Frances Tiafoe called Washington this year a “servebot-fest.” Taylor Fritz described Canada as “lightning-fast.” Many found Cincinnati slower than in prior years, and opinions on the US Open were mixed. On balance, John Isner offered a measured counterpoint: “I tend to disagree with the claim that courts are getting slower across the board. It just seems to me that some get faster and maybe some are slower.”

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, both retired from professional tennis and now keen golfers, recorded a short video from a Mallorca course to offer support to Team Europe ahead of the Ryder Cup.

“Hello everybody from the golf course here in Mallorca,” Federer said. “I wanted to wish you all the very, very best for the Ryder Cup for Team Europe. We are behind you.

“And maybe, in the future, we’ll have a new player on the team,” he added with a grin, as the camera panned to Nadal teeing off—though his swing didn’t win much praise.

“I mean, with that swing…?” Federer said skeptically amid laughter, as Nadal replied, “With that swing maybe we need a couple more years!”

The Ryder Cup is a prestigious men’s golf tournament held every two years, pitting the United States against Europe in a three-day team competition. The 2025 edition is being staged at Bethpage Black in New York.

Federer has cited the Ryder Cup as the inspiration for launching the Laver Cup in 2017, bringing a team format to men’s tennis. This year’s Laver Cup took place at San Francisco’s Chase Center, where Team World, led by Taylor Fritz and Alex de Minaur with captain Andre Agassi, edged past Team Europe, fronted by Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev under captain Yannick Noah. The tie went down to the final match, giving Team World its third title.

Federer attended the San Francisco event while balancing promotional duties, media interviews, and a courtside sitdown with Steph Curry. He was also seen showing a new Rolex alongside Alcaraz, and he played golf with Laver Cup participants. Federer and Nadal had also teed off together in July during a surprise visit to Nadal’s academy in Mallorca.

Looking ahead for tennis fans, Federer hinted at more on-court appearances. “I know that Rafa is also totally open to maybe play some tennis,” Federer told CNBC’s Squawk Box. “It sounds terrible, seniors tennis, to us, but maybe we can create a tour, like a ‘Fedal Tour’ or something like that. It would be cool.

“I think that’s one of the reasons why I started the Laver Cup, to shine a light on the past greats of the game. Maybe with a seniors tour, we’ve had a little of that in tennis… but there’s a lot of appetite for seeing past champions in tennis, as well.

As the calendar shifts from summer to fall, three performances stood out: Taylor Fritz’s decisive contributions at Laver Cup, Iga Swiatek’s gritty Seoul title, and Jasmine Paolini’s clutch displays for Italy in the Billie Jean King Cup.

Taylor Fritz secured the win that changed the weekend for Team World, earning his first victory over Carlos Alcaraz and his first over a world No. 1 in a 6-3, 6-2 performance. Asked how it compared to his Indian Wells title over Rafael Nadal in 2022, Fritz said this one felt even more satisfying. “I think I take almost more pride in this one,” the American said after steamrolling Alcaraz 6-3, 6-2 . “Because I feel like, start to finish, I won it and I earned it…I went out and I took it.” He followed that upset with a clinching victory against Alexander Zverev the next night to seal the Cup for Team World. Against both Alcaraz and Zverev, Fritz was more aggressive, taking the first strike and converting when it mattered.

Iga Swiatek produced a narrow, hard-fought win in Seoul, edging Ekaterina Alexandrova 1-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5. Statistically she trailed on many measures yet found timely serving and decisive forehand finishers in key moments. Serving at 4-5, 30-30 in the second set she combined a first serve and forehand winner to swing momentum; later she produced a service winner and added an ace in the tiebreaker. Reflecting on the result’s personal resonance, Swiatek said, “I’m happy that I could win here because of the family history. My dad couldn’t win the Olympics [here], but at least I won this tournament.” The victory gives her a strong start to the Asian swing.

Jasmine Paolini delivered under national colors in Shenzhen, closing the Billie Jean King Cup final with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Jessica Pegula. “Yesterday I think was the first night we ate dumplings,” Paolini said after clinching the Cup with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Jessica Pegula of the U.S. “It worked really well. We played amazing today. So more dumplings for us. I love dumplings, honestly.” Her record in the event has been outstanding and her energy on court drew notice: “Paolini’s just bringing another level of energy here,” a commentator said as she ran away with the second set.