“Mohamed, but do you remember when tennis was an easy and simple thing in the past? Five years ago it was not like that. It was all too easy: a lot of players who happened to be in the top 50, who hardly moved from there. Now this player is not even top 5, or even top 10. Come on what does that mean?” So Alexander Bublik says to Mohamed Lahyani, a historic chair judge in the tennis world, at a change of courts in the round of 16 against Czech Jakub Mensik.

The Russian-born Kazakh exaggerates, as is his wont. But the joke contains less trivial analysis than it might appear, and it concerns Jakub Mensik, a 19-year-old Czech talent who took the title in Miami this year at Novak Djokovic’s expense. Mensik who today is No. 23 Atp, with much still to learn but with a repertoire already complete to compete at the highest level. Bublik ended up losing the match, also rather sharply. But Mensik’s is not an isolated case. In the same part of the scoreboard Sascha Zverev also suffered from a tennis player who perhaps does not fully reflect his ranking. In fact, he came out in two sets from Francisco Cerundolo (21 Atp).

Let’s shift our gaze, from Madrid to the rankings. Outside the top 20 today are Korda, Khachanov, Hurkacz. Not in the top 30 we find Berrettini. Dropping below the top 50 are Jarry, Marozsan, Medjedovic, Nishikori, Fonseca. Bublik is 75, Norrie (former number 4) 91, Coric 104. The objection to be made is that the trend toward an increasingly upwardly shifted balance is not new, but has been well established on the Tour for years.

The change is given by a generation of phenomena. 20-year-olds who are truly from another planet and who in the future can really have their say. In the era of the Big 3, a steady advance in average age was evident; now the situation is back to smiling 20-year-olds. World No. 1 Jannik Sinner is 23, but at the top are also Alcaraz, Draper, Rune, Musetti, Shelton, Fils, Mensik. Players, on the other hand, such as Korda and Auger-Aliassime now seem hiserati, yet they are only 25 years old. Tennis certainly used to leave much more time to blossom, but now the bar has definitely been raised, and no one is 100% sure of winning a tennis match anymore.

Six days of disqualification: that is what cost Real Madrid German defender Antonio Rüdiger his sensational protest at the end of Barcelona-Real, the King’s Cup final.

The Merengues player from the bench had thrown ice at the referee’and was ejected. The disqualification decided by the Spanish disciplinary body will have reduced effect on Rüdiger, who decided to have knee surgery with four games left in La Liga and thus ended his season.

Rüdiger will also miss the Nations League finals with his national team, but the player’s protest in the Clasico has caused controversy in Germany; Voeller, the national team’s ds, has hinted that there will be action against the player.

Two days were also imposed by Spanish sports justice on Lucas Vazquez, who was ejected in the final paraphernalia, while Jude Bellingham was acquitted thanks to a video presented by Real, with which it’s revealed that the Englishman did not deserve the red that was decided by the referee.

Over the past few days there have been uncontrolled rumors about a supposed possible competitive return of Lara Colturi to her native Italy. After defending the colors of our country in the youth categories, in which she was almost unbeatable, for the past three years, that is, since she made her debut in the World Cup, the 18-year-old daughter of 2002 Olympic super-G champion Daniela Ceccarelli has been competing for Albania, and neither she nor her family had ever even hinted that she might return to the Azzurro.

And yet the rumors of a return to Italy are periodically increased, and recently they had drastically increased: it was even written that an application for a change of nationality had already been made. But today, one day before the deadline for confirmation of nationality, the Albanian federersci issued a statement saying that Lara will not move agonistically from Albania nelleno the next season, in which moreover, as all fans know, there will be the Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, thus in Italy. Here is the text of the statement.

“Good news for Albania and the Albanian Ski Federation. An agreement has been reached for athlete Lara Colturi to continue competing for Albania in the 2025 2026 season. The details of the contract are being worked out intensively. We wish Lara success in school these days, in addition to sports and sports career Lara concludes her high school studies this year. Success to Lara and Albania in the Olympics.”

But it is not over yet: in the early afternoon further confirmation of this news arrived in a letter signed by Lara’s parents, Alessandro Colturi and Daniela Ceccarelli: “In this particular moment, we would like to thank the Albanian Ski Federation and the highest Institutions of Albania for believing in our project and for always offering us their support, esteem and friendship, also giving us the opportunity to promote skiing in a country that is showing a growing interest in winter sports. Lara will continue her journey with the Albanian Ski Federation, with whose support she has competed for the past three seasons since the’beginning of her career in the FIS category.”

“Our priority – as well as that of the Albanian Ski Federation – has always been, and continues to be, to ensure Lara the best possible conditions for her growth. This path of development remains linked to our family and our team, which, thanks to the management freedom granted by the Federation, can fully focus on her needs as a young athlete. As the results so far show, a positive environment, offering her serenity and adequate technical support, has put her in a position to aim for increasingly ambitious goals.”

“At this time Lara is busy studying in preparation for her high school graduation exams, as well as continuing her athletic training. Together with her and the Albanian Ski Federation, we are planning activities for the upcoming season. To protect her and our peace of mind, we wish to focus fully on these goals and will not release any further statements or interviews.”

In short, the Colturi family has no plans whatsoever to return competitively to Italy, at least for now, and these two communications are much clearer than they might seem at first glance. And after all, why should it change, given that in the season that just ended, working quietly with her own family team Lara won her first three podiums in the World Cup by finishing eighth in the overall, fifth in the giant slalom and tenth in the slalom?”