A wave of withdrawals. A collection of comebacks.

A tennis ball right to the eye!

It's the circle of life, y'all.

The tennis season marches on, and there's already a bunch of post-Australian Open items to talk about.

Let's get you caught up on all the results, ramblings, and rigamaroll from around the ATP, WTA, and ITF tours.

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*Gea/Machac match still ongoing in Montpellier at the time of this email

🚨 Everybody Out! Carlos Alcaraz and Alex Zverev withdraw from Rotterdam. Lorenzo Musetti drops Buenos Aires and Rio. Aryna Sabalenka, Jessica Pegula, Madison Keys, and Iva Jovic all back out of Doha. And defending champion Belinda Bencic pulls the plug in Abu Dhabi due to illness. The tour's biggest names are choosing rest and recovery over post-Aussie Open point accumulation.

🌟 The Queen Returns Venus Williams will hit the hardcourts sooner than most of us expected. The living legend accepts a wildcard into the WTA 250 event in Austin on February 24. The 45yo went winless in her first three matches this year. But... that's not the point. And fans will pack the stands to see her. (Tickets, anybody?)

💔 Eyes Wide Shut Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard catches a ball right in the eye during his 1st round match against in Montpellier. The 6'8" Frenchman couldn't continue after suffering the freak injury during his match against Arthur Gea, who advances to face #3 seed Tomas Machac. Mpetshi Perricard's next scheduled event is Indian Wells on March 4.

🔥 Crowd Favorite Comeback Alexandra Eala storms back from a 2-5 deficit in the 3rd set to defeat Aliaksandra Sasnovich, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6⁵. Despite serving for the match at 5-2 and again at 5-4, Sasnovich couldn't shut the door on the Filipina or her growing army of ecstatic fans.

🎾 Re-Entry Fils Arthur Fils plays his first match since August, defeating fellow Frenchman Valentin Royer, 7-6⁷, 6-7⁴, 6-2, in Montpellier. The 21yo Frenchman, sidelined by a stress fracture in his back since Roland Garros, fires 50 winners and 14 aces on his way back. He reveals he's lost six or seven kilos since the injury to reduce strain on his body.

👀 Raducanu Rally Emma Raducanu looks finished at 0-5 in the 1st set against Kaja Juvan. Then, she reeled off 11 consecutive games before capping the win, 7-5, 6-1. The top seed advances to the quarterfinals, where she faces qualifier Maja Chwalinska.

🏆 The Swiss Rolls Stan Wawrinka defeats Hamad Medjedovic, 7-6³, 6-4, to become the oldest man to win a tour-level match indoors outside the Davis Cup since Ken Rosewall (45) in Melbourne in 1980. The 40yo, competing in his final season, faces defending champion Felix Auger-Aliassime next.

✊ A Silent Statement Oleksandra Oliynykova defeated Hungary's Anna Bondar (8), 6-4, 6-4, to reach her first WTA quarterfinal in Cluj. But the Ukrainian refused the typical post-match handshake, citing Bondar's participation in the 2022 North Palmyra Trophies in St. Petersburg. The exhibition was held six months after Russia's invasion and sponsored by Gazprom, a key supplier of the Russian military.

🎾 Damm, Martin! Martin Damm Jr, the 22yo son of 2006 US Open doubles champion Martin Damm, upsets 7th seeded Hubert Hurkacz, 7-6⁵, 6-4, then demolishes Roberto Bautista Agut, 6-1, 6-3, to reach his first ATP quarterfinal in Montpellier.

👀 Supersizing the Slams? Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley suggests women play best 3-out-of-5 set matches from the quarterfinals on at the Australian Open. Saying he'd like to see it as early as next year, Tiley calls it "logical" after this year's 3-set AO women's final between Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina. Early reactions from the locker room are mixed.

"These moments are moments I only have dreamed about. Selling out stadiums is insane and being in these matches in particular are just really the ones that kind of stick with you." - Alexandra Eala on her crowd-pleasing comeback in Abu Dhabi ¹

"It's been a long process. I'm back, so that means everything is positive, both mentally and physically." - Arthur Fils on his return from injury ²

"I always enjoy. I'm still passionate about the game. For me, it was important to keep pushing myself and trying to win as much as possible." - Stan Wawrinka after making history in Montpellier ³

"I just had to grind and keep digging and digging. Obviously the second set was not great for me, but I'm really happy I was able to turn it around." - Hailey Baptiste after upsetting Emma Navarro ⁴

"When I was losing in the third set in some moments, I said to myself just to enjoy being here, because actually it's a big luck to compete in this tournament." - Oleksandra Oliynykova on nearly missing Cluj due to a Kyiv power outage ⁵

"Before committing to another meeting, it would be more productive for the grand slams to provide substantive responses to the specific proposals the players have put forward regarding prize money." - Letter from ATP & WTA Top 10 Players rejecting a proposal from grand slam organizers to raise prize funds to 22% of revenue by 2030 ⁶

Abu Dhabi (WTA 500) - Quarterfinals

◆ Clara Tauson (3) vs. McCartney Kessler

◆ Sonay Kartal (Q) vs. Sara Bejlek (Q)

◆ Alexandra Eala vs. Ekaterina Alexandrova (2)

◆ Liudmila Samsonova (5) vs. Hailey Baptiste (WC)

Montpellier (ATP 250) - Quarterfinals

◆ Tallon Griekspoor (4) vs. Pablo Carreno Busta

◆ Luca Nardi vs. Flavio Cobolli (2)

◆ Felix Auger-Aliassime (1) vs. Stan Wawrinka (WC)

◆ Arthur Fils (6) vs. Ugo Blanchet (LL)

Cluj-Napoca (WTA 250) - Quarterfinals

◆ Xinyu Wang (4) vs. Oleksandra Oliynykova

◆ Emma Raducanu (1) vs. Maja Chwalinska (Q)

◆ Anastasia Potapova (5) vs. Sorana Cirstea (3)

◆ Yue Yuan vs. Daria Snigur (Q)

Ostrava (WTA 250) - Quarterfinals

◆ Katie Volynets vs. Alycia Parks

◆ Linda Fruhvirtova vs. Katie Boulter

◆ Diane Parry vs. Nikola Bartunkova

◆ Caty McNally (6) vs. Tamara Korpatsch

¹ WTA Staff. "Eala comes from 4-0 down, saves match point in dramatic Abu Dhabi second-round win." WTA Tour, February 4, 2026. link

² Livaudais, Stephanie. "Arthur Fils wins on return at Montpellier after injury layoff." Tennis.com, February 4, 2026. link

³ ATP Staff. "Wawrinka downs Medjedovic for historic win in Montpellier." ATP Tour, February 4, 2026. link

⁴ WTA Staff. "'I just had to grind': Baptiste upsets Navarro in Abu Dhabi three-setter." WTA Tour, February 3, 2026. link

⁵ WTA Staff. "Creativity and 'a big luck': Oliynykova claims first WTA win in Cluj-Napoca." WTA Tour, February 2, 2026. link

⁶ Hughes, Matt. "Top players reject offer to have greater say in running of major tennis championships." The Guardian, February 2, 2026. link

ADDITIONAL SOURCES:

⁷ Kane, David. "Oleksandra Oliynykova makes first WTA quarterfinal after refusing to shake opponent's hand." Tennis.com, February 3, 2026. link

⁸ Tennis.com. "Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard retires after freak eye injury in Montpellier." Tennis.com, February 3, 2026. link

⁹ WTA Staff. "Venus Williams accepts wild card into ATX Open in Austin." WTA Tour, February 4, 2026. link

¹⁰ Field Level Media. "Qualifier Martin Damm upsets seventh seed in Montpellier." Field Level Media, February 3, 2026. link

¹¹ Briggs, Simon. "Women's best-of-five sets part of plans to shake up Australian Open." The Telegraph, February 1, 2026. link

¹² EssentiallySports. "'Very Special for Me': Jack Draper Confirms Tennis Comeback After Injury Layoff." EssentiallySports, February 2026. link