Bloviation Station

Tennis returns to China after four years away, as Iga Swiatek reminds us who's boss and Jannik Sinner takes a huge step forward by beating Alcaraz and Medvedev for the Beijing title. Meanwhile, the Cancun organizers are building their Field of Dreams in less than a month and several top players are already bowing out of BJK Cup. We also cover the growing chorus of abuse survivors who are taking aim at the USTA, and why this is far from the last time we'll hear about it. Plus, a few diversions about Zheng, "athleticism," Safarova's extremely brief non-return, and how tennis babies its players when it comes to endangering the people who work on court.    1:05 WTA returns to China with none of what it demanded 7:00 Iga sets things straight with Beijing title 12:25 Jannik Sinner gets his first Meddy win by using a tactic that’s becoming more common …  18:35 WTA Finals in Cancun: stadium is loading ... (currently at 1%) 27:15 Can you ever forgive me? Qinwen says definitely not  33:30 It’s not only about trans people’s participation in sports and it never was 38:30 Tennis is very unserious about hitting staff with flying objects 42:40 USTA legal team under fire for how they’ve handled sex abuse cases 54:30 Lucie Safarova’s very brief return to tennis 56:25 We saw Stevie Nicks!