Coco Gauff spent media day insisting a new sports drama is worth the attention of her peers and her mother. Since arriving for the Australian Open she has been urging colleagues to sample Heated Rivalry, the six-episode adaptation that debuted at the start of the November off-season and dramatizes a long-running romance between fictional hockey stars Shane Hollandar and Illya Rozanov.

“I’m their number one fan, I think,” Gauff said when asked about her enthusiastic social posts. One of those posts read, “heated rivalry…. lemme give you your 10s 🫡 👏🏾” and her praise has been steady across conversations on tour.

Gauff described how the show first caught her attention: “I just kind of saw people talking about a hockey show, a gay hockey show. That interested me,” she said during her Australian Open Media Day press conference. “I was like, ‘Oh, six episodes, perfect.’ I just dove, like, right in.

“Obviously, there’s some nice spicy scenes. It’s such a beautiful love story, I think. I think that was like the main thing.”

Her endorsement has not been private. Gauff has recommended the series to teammates and other players, naming Jess Pegula and [Giuliana Olmos] among those she has told to watch. She also relayed a family reaction: “She gave it an 8 out of a 10, which is really high because she watches a bunch of shows.” Gauff added, “Yeah, I wanted the world to know about this show. I’ve been telling everyone. I told Jess Pegula and [Giuliana Olmos] to watch it today. We’ll see how much of the WTA I can convince to watch the show.”

Fans within the tennis community are joining the conversation, including Morgan Riddle, Naomi Osaka and others. On the common debate over which character to prefer, Gauff declared her allegiance plainly: “My favorite is Ilya on the show, for sure.”

Madison Keys, the defending champion at the 2026 Australian Open, was asked about her viewing habits off court and made clear she is not choosing sides in the latest Real Housewives of Salt Lake City drama. The topic brightened a press session otherwise focused on the pressure of defending her maiden major.

Keys said she is still catching up on the series she first discussed publicly during the 2025 US Open. “I’ve got to catch up a little bit,” cautioned Keys, who first opened up about her love for the long-running *Housewives* franchise during the 2025 US Open . “I have a few more episodes of their Greek trip, and then the reunion. I’m really excited. I have to wait for a time where my husband’s not watching because he can’t handle the fighting. I find it very soothing.

“I try to watch it before bed. He hates it. I’m trying to find a little quiet time, like four hours, where I can just binge it all!”

Asked to weigh in on a growing feud between Heather Gay and Meredith Marks, Keys said she prefers to relish the ensemble nature of the show rather than pick a side. “You know, I feel like it really just depends on the episode where I end up,” she said with a laugh. “I really feel as though they’re all just doing their part to give us the best entertainment. They’re doing it well.

“I feel like I don’t even want to pick sides because I just hope that they continue to be the people that they are!”

With a major tournament looming, Keys reflected on the aftermath of her breakthrough in 2025, when she defeated Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka in successive matches to claim her first Grand Slam trophy. “Everyone keeps asking me how my life has changed,” Keys admitted. “It hasn’t changed that much, other than I have a really cool trophy at home. I have a lot of people that come up to me and tell me winning made them cry. I never thought I would have that ability.

“I think it’s just really been cool as an athlete to have had that impact on so many people. I’ve always tried to be very open and honest with everything that goes on in the sport, kind of do my part of humanizing this part of the sport. I think for me, the biggest thing that I feel like is a huge takeaway is I was able to do that. I don’t think very often in sport you see that you have the ability to make people cry happy tears.”

Carlos Alcaraz used media day at the 2026 Australian Open to talk about a small but notable modification to his serve and to frame it as part of an ongoing process of refinement.

The world No. 1, in his first major outing since his split from coach Juan Carlos Ferrero, smiled when asked about the new motion.

“You wanted to say it’s really similar to Djokovic serve?” he joked. “I know you want to!”

Practice footage circulated before the tournament made the similarity obvious to observers. Alcaraz said the likeness was coincidental and emphasized that the adjustment is one of many tiny changes he makes to his game.

“I think everyone has to make changes, small details,” Alcaraz explained on Friday. “For me the serve is something that I really want to be better every year, in every tournament. I just putting constant work on the serve.

“I would say, like, for myself, I’m just making changes all the time, every tournament, every day, without someone has to tell me. Like, for example, I just changing the movement a little bit. Now with this movement on the serve, I just feel really, really comfortable, smooth, really calm and peaceful rhythm, which I think it helps me a lot to do a better serve.”

Alcaraz acknowledged that service had long been a relative weakness and noted the tangible gains from earlier tweaks. At the 2025 US Open he struck 10 aces and won over 80% of first serve points as he dethroned Jannik Sinner on hard courts last summer. He said further alterations remain possible.

“Let’s see how it’s going to be this year. Probably you’re going to see another change, I don’t know if the next months or at the end of the year. I just make constant changes in every shot. It’s just about really small details.”

Off court, the Spaniard has kept much of his routine under current head coach Marc Lopez as he pursues a Career Grand Slam. The six-time major champion acknowledged the goal and its magnitude.

“Obviously complete the career Grand Slam is something amazing to do, be able to be the youngest that have done it before, you know, is even better,” mused Alcaraz. “But three are three! Three Grand Slam are three Grand Slam. So I don’t know. It is a question that I got to think about.”