Ben Rothenberg

1 week ago | benrothenberg.com | Ben Rothenberg

PARIS, France — After TNT Sports shelled out massive money for the rights to Roland Garros—$650 million for 10 years—they kept on spending for the glitteriest on-air talent, too. In its first year as the American rightsholder, TNT lured superstars like Andre Agassi and Venus Williams into TV punditry for the first time. They put those shiny new objects alongside Hall of Famers who are already veterans of the booth like John McEnroe, Chris Evert, and Lindsay Davenport.

1 week ago | benrothenberg.com | Ben Rothenberg

PARIS, France — Readers of mine, old and new, will know that I don’t shy away from controversial issues or divisive characters in tennis. But even with years of experience running toward the thorniest topics, I cannot recall previously meeting any figure who inspires the consistently impassioned, hyperbolic reactions in the tennis fan community as does the man I interviewed today.

1 week ago | benrothenberg.com | Ben Rothenberg

PARIS, France — Longtime subscribers may recall that my first reporting trip for Bounces, in its first month of existence was to a mid-range ATP Challenger event in Charlottesville, Virginia in October 2024, where I watched players in a sort of purgatorial middle ground, unsure who might swim and who might sink. Nearly seven months later, two of the players I met in Charlottesville could figure into Day 3 of the French Open in a big way.

1 week ago | benrothenberg.com | Ben Rothenberg

PARIS, France — I take pride in my eagerness to zag here at Bounces, swerving away from the pack to find something unexpected like yesterday’s story on Elmer Møller and his wicked backhand. I was very happy to see how that story resonated—a hearty velkomst to all the new Danish subscribers here!—and enjoyed watching that backhand sizzle as Møller took the first set over Tommy Paul today before running out of steam and falling in four.

1 week ago | benrothenberg.com | Ben Rothenberg

PARIS, France — ATP No. 7 Casper Ruud, again the top-ranked player from Scandinavia after his win at the Madrid Open earlier this month, admitted Saturday at Roland Garros that he hadn’t yet gotten to watch much of the young player who is currently the Scandinavian No. 3. But Ruud said he had caught one specific glimpse of 21-year-old Elmer Møller of Aarhus, Denmark, who is currently 108th in the ATP rankings. “I saw this compilation of this backhand of his—which was crazy,” Ruud said.