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James Hansen

@jameskhansen.bsky.social
340 followers 50 following 315 posts

senior managing editor, 🎾 @theathletic.bsky.social

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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
joy. despair. relief. frustration. agony. ecstasy. all in the rectangle of a tennis court. all on film. in a collaboration with @theathletic.com visuals and data team, here is a free-to-read, frame-by-frame moving collage of the human drama at the u.s. open www.nytimes.com/athletic/int...
nytimes.com
The emotional roller coaster of the U.S. Open, frame by frame
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
sabalenka was the one struggling and under pressure for the duration of the set while rybakina hit 8 (eight) first serves. tennis!
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
it's always a fascinating and weird thing when a tennis crowd in a huge match has no idea who to support and when
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
thus far zverev vs. khachanov reminds me of when tennis tv labeled a 52-shot coward rally between zverev and adam walton as "the highest quality"
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
gauff had been spacing so well on the forehand all night and then went back to the hop footwork where all her body weight goes vertical instead of into the court in the meat of the third set ... tough scene
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
alex eala and iva jović without a serve you will always be famous. absolutely goated night session it ends now right?
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
this osaka vs. mertens "no you try to create an angle" is good stuff
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
the @girinathan.bsky.social they're so good + they can't serve yet = the best matches between younger players theory is indeed undefeated
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
there is ethical tennis, unethical tennis, and whatever the hell this is
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
tennis players who introduce a vibe they cannot maintain should be obliged to cease maintenance before midnight
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
faria is chuntering about people with honey deuces. it's the fourth game.
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
karolína muchová said we're finishing the first round today
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
last five points from sonego completely otherworldly
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
gaël monfils hoops at night ... may we never lose this recipe
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
gauff's years of second-serve problems have clouded just how brilliant — like, top two or three on tour brilliant — her first serve is. crazy-effective pressure valve
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
bencic hits ball into crowd without even looking at what she's doing, hits someone and doesn't get disqualified because tennis has decided outcome means something when players are smashing things over which they have no control
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
i need tiafoe to lock in. martin damm cannot be allowed to aura-farm like that and get away with it
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
the jumbo tennis ball roman emperor's thumbs down is the best thing about the u.s. open for real
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
shelton and griekspoor sharing breadsticks like they're at olive garden
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
lilli tagger hooping her way to another win with her serve and forehand that will end with everyone rhapsodizing about her backhand
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
🎷🔊
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
need a munar vs. faria match for bitching and moaning GOAT research purposes
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
joy, despair, tears of all kinds, relief and disbelief: at u.s. open qualifying, the emotions of tennis are at their height. free-to-read piece from the final day www.nytimes.com/athletic/754...
nytimes.com
At U.S. Open qualifying, the emotions of tennis spill over as players teeter on the edge (Gift Article)
From ecstasy to devastation to disbelief, the high stakes of qualifying create a cauldron of the emotions that define the sport.
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
the safiuphones are getting louder
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
it's roddick curse broken or alcaraz defends off no runway for me, clive
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
SMASH CUT TO ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM, SEPTEMBER 13 2026 The 24,000-strong crowd chants USA, USA, USA over and over as Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton mutually dissolve into puddles of nerves
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
tennis' cultural boom, post-covid live event popularity, the cachet of concerts, ticket scalpers, and an $800 million renovation to arthur ashe stadium. the story behind the surging ticket prices at the u.s. open, free to read from @mattfutterman.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/752...
nytimes.com
U.S. Open ticket prices are skyrocketing, from grounds passes to luxury seats. This is why (Gift Article)
Prices for every kind of seat are on the rise, but so too is the tournament's popularity, as live sports becomes ever more lucrative.
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
from "i will never jeopardize the beans" to jeopardizing the beans. the circle is complete
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Reposted by James Hansen
Owen Lewis @owensports.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
I interviewed @mattfutterman.bsky.social about his new tennis book, The Cruelest Game, which is as thorough an account of the sport's bleak qualities as I've read: defector.com/the-cruelest...
defector.com
'The Cruelest Game' Examines Tennis As Torture | Defector
Professional tennis has a way of breeding misery. It begins with the dream of reaching the No. 1 ranking, but almost everybody falls short. Those who find the promised land feel puzzlingly empty once ...
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
all respect to bernard tomic for not confusing new tennis fans by producing a mini version of his entire career arc in los cabos. top lore adherence
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
after taking a return position mystery tour for the second set, he just decided to lock in on the fact that zverev's first-serve strategy is fast but not hugely accurate and started going after returns in the tiebreak. hey it worked!
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
the ceiling of sinner's serve is of course very high, but he was mostly playing floor tennis all tournament until djokovic. having such a serve made it possible, but zverev assumed all the risk in that set and was rewarded. sinner has to assert himself more if he wants to win
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
sinner and djokovic both serving 100 mph + on seconds, but sinner getting far more out of it. he's 5/5 on second-serve points; djokovic is 1/7
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
bang, and as they say, bang
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Reposted by James Hansen
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
linda nosková is still only 21. plenty of time to shrink the gap between her ceiling and her floor. even small improvements in movement and reliability out of the corners on defense would make her a very, very consistently dangerous player
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Reposted by James Hansen
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
variance gonna get ya
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
miomir kecmanović hoops on grass against jannik sinner, just like everybody saw coming
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
linda nosková is still only 21. plenty of time to shrink the gap between her ceiling and her floor. even small improvements in movement and reliability out of the corners on defense would make her a very, very consistently dangerous player
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
tiafoe playing v. well ... fritz playing pretty badly ... third-set tiebreak then
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
variance gonna get ya
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
becoming increasingly hard to parse the relationship between how much ben shelton thrives in high-variance mini scenarios (because it's the only place the chasm between his serve and return gives him any kind of edge) and how much his opponents have just been deeply unserious of late
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
serena williams is back to tennis, on her terms. she is also the main character in another story unfolding across sports, about whether or not glp-1 drugs should — or ever will be — classed as performance-enhancing @mattfutterman.bsky.social reports, free to read www.nytimes.com/athletic/734...
nytimes.com
Serena Williams and the coming reckoning with GLP-1s and performance enhancement
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
was serena good? yeah was mboko good? yeah were routliffe and melichar-martinez ... yeah is that going to be enough for singles like the gallery is saying? no is that fine? yeah!
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Reposted by James Hansen
Charlie Eccleshare @cdeccleshare.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
Alexander Zverev wins his first Grand Slam title at the French Open. Which leaves tennis in a deeply uncomfortable position, one that has been inevitable since allegations, all denied by Zverev, first came to light in 2020. www.nytimes.com/athletic/734...
nytimes.com
Alexander Zverev’s Grand Slam wait is over. His uncomfortable status in tennis lingers
Zverev, 29, won his first major title Sunday at the French Open.
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
cobolli doesn't seem to have a plan against zverev's return position. zverev is deep enough that cobolli wants to take a first step up the court, but he just keeps getting jammed in no-man's land. moving back for the plus-one gives zverev time; coming in hasn't worked.
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
jim courier has become the voice of tennis for a new and curious generation of fans. this is how he did it a free-to-read interview by @mattfutterman.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/727...
nytimes.com
Jim Courier’s tennis life, from the French Open to becoming a voice of the sport (Gift Article)
Thirty-five years ago, Jim Courier was a terrified 20-year-old in his first major final. It turned into the start of the rest of his life.
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
this tennis is almost too ethical
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
if the french open would like to get any weirder we may as well do it all in one tournament, so, come on!
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James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
menšík doing no damage with his plus-1 after the serve whatsoever, and the improved forehand was shonky on the real break point opportunity (first one zverev's serve was just too good). the lack of a kill shot early in a rally that isn't a volley is a real problem
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