James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 13/09/2026joy. 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.comThe emotional roller coaster of the U.S. Open, frame by frame 031
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 12/09/2026sabalenka was the one struggling and under pressure for the duration of the set while rybakina hit 8 (eight) first serves. tennis! 170
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 12/09/2026it's always a fascinating and weird thing when a tennis crowd in a huge match has no idea who to support and when 130
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 11/09/2026martin ødegaard would never engage in a turgid crosscourt backhand exchange 110
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 11/09/2026thus 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" 140
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 11/09/2026gauff 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 020
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 06/09/2026alex eala and iva jović without a serve you will always be famous. absolutely goated night session it ends now right? 1132
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 06/09/2026this osaka vs. mertens "no you try to create an angle" is good stuff 050
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 06/09/2026@mattracquet.bsky.social it's time to form a guild 020
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 06/09/2026the @girinathan.bsky.social they're so good + they can't serve yet = the best matches between younger players theory is indeed undefeated 0155
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 05/09/2026there is ethical tennis, unethical tennis, and whatever the hell this is 020
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 04/09/2026tennis players who introduce a vibe they cannot maintain should be obliged to cease maintenance before midnight 010
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 03/09/2026faria is chuntering about people with honey deuces. it's the fourth game. 020
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 02/09/2026karolína muchová said we're finishing the first round today 020
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 02/09/2026the intersection between this dynamic and the dynamic shift in the lower bowl wrt pricing and renovation has been a complete disaster 110
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 02/09/2026last five points from sonego completely otherworldly 050
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 02/09/2026gaël monfils hoops at night ... may we never lose this recipe 071
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 02/09/2026since you're all going to ask — rybakina, nosková, osaka 030
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 02/09/2026gauff'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 140
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 01/09/2026did the now-usual "they're ok, so it doesn't matter" line 100
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 01/09/2026bencic 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 120
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 01/09/2026i need tiafoe to lock in. martin damm cannot be allowed to aura-farm like that and get away with it 060
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 01/09/2026the jumbo tennis ball roman emperor's thumbs down is the best thing about the u.s. open for real 031
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 01/09/2026shelton and griekspoor sharing breadsticks like they're at olive garden 030
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 31/08/2026it's the backhand which is wonky so i at least feel vindicated but yeah ... scary 010
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 31/08/2026lilli tagger hooping her way to another win with her serve and forehand that will end with everyone rhapsodizing about her backhand 110
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 30/08/2026need a munar vs. faria match for bitching and moaning GOAT research purposes 2172
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 29/08/2026joy, 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.comAt 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. 055
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 22/08/2026That said I do think the non-productive self-focus is more of a thing than with Iga. She would make errors by bashing on balls that deserved more respect, but also adjusts to opponent style. Sabalenka seems to really struggle with having to be the sub-plot to win a match 110
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 22/08/2026Yeah — even Świątek's "Wiktorowski-era dismiss the ball stops working, try to go back to controlled aggressive, get stuck in between" had some sense to it. Sabalenka seemed to stop trusting her Plan B after some of the tighter losses, maybe spiraling ones are just a progression of that 100
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 21/08/2026Think she is so used to mastering her own destiny in the good (can beat basically anyone by force) and the bad (the serving yips) that she takes "focus on yourself" to its purest extreme of 1) spiral of error obsession and 2) losing all sense of what opp is doing and thus of attacking strategy 130
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 21/08/2026it's roddick curse broken or alcaraz defends off no runway for me, clive 042
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 21/08/2026SMASH 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 082
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 20/08/2026tennis' 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.comU.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. 012
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 18/08/2026from "i will never jeopardize the beans" to jeopardizing the beans. the circle is complete 020
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 17/08/2026ben shelton, the sports star who became a sports star quicker than he became a Good Tennis Player and what he will do and won't to bring those two things closer to each other 120
Reposted by James HansenOwen Lewis @owensports.bsky.social · 12/08/2026I 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 | DefectorProfessional 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 ... 53512
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 31/07/2026all 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 010
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 12/07/2026after 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! 000
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 12/07/2026the 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 020
James Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 10/07/2026sinner 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 1/7 010
Reposted by James HansenJames Hansen @jameskhansen.bsky.social · 21/06/2026linda 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 162
