Welcome to this week's edition of "Hot Shots," a USOpen.org-curated look at what you may have missed on social media over the past few days. Two of the giants of the women's game are sliding into the clay-court season, while the tallest player on the ATP Tour breaks out a classic movie reference.
The biggest WTA clay-court event of 2021 is underway in Madrid, where ATP action will get underway on Sunday. While world No. 1 and top seed Ashleigh Barty already has a clay title to her name—in Stuttgart last week—No. 2 seed Naomi Osaka is making her debut on the dirt in the Spanish capital.
The WTA 1000 event is Osaka's fourth tournament of the season, and she enters with a 13-2 record for 2021, including her Australian Open victory. She opened her Madrid campaign with a 7-5, 6-2 win over fellow Japanese Masaki Doi.
While Osaka is back in competitive action, Serena Williams will wait until Rome, which begins May 10, to make her debut on the clay. Williams has not played a match since her Australian Open semifinal run; she pulled out of the Miami Open due to oral surgery.
The American will continue her quest for Grand Slam singles title No. 24 at Roland-Garros, which will begin in late May. Williams is a three-time women's singles champion in Paris, with her most recent trophy coming in 2016.
A two-time finalist at the French, Dominic Thiem won his first major title at the 2020 US Open. The Austrian is a perennial contender in Paris, but has struggled to date in 2021. The world No. 4 reached the last 16 at the Aussie Open, but has not been able to string together multiple victories at any of the other three events he's played this season.
Thiem will be the No. 3 seed in Madrid, with Novak Djokovic not in the field. After a first-round bye, he will face a qualifier in Round 2 in his first clay-court match of the season.
This week's men's action is split between two ATP 250 events in Munich and Estoril, Portugal. Like at the US Open, there are no spectators on site in Portugal. A collection of players sounded off on what they miss about the crowds, with Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan providing an out-of-the-box answer.
Reilly Opelka will make his 2021 clay debut next week in Madrid, as the world No. 45 looks to get his season on track after a 2-6 start on the hard courts. The 6-foot-11 American will face Germany's Dominik Koepfer in the first round at the Masters 1000 event, while his buddy Tommy Paul will take on Spanish wild-card Pedro Martinez in the opposite half of the draw.
After watching a classic film on his flight to Europe, Opelka provided a window into the Americans' childhood shenanigans.
We celebrated birthdays for three American tennis legends this week: Andre Agassi, and Bob and Mike Bryan. We all know Agassi is one of the greatest returners of all-time, and the sort of analysis he reveals below gives a good idea as to why.
Finally, with the NFL Draft taking place on Thursday, we throw it back to quarterback Mac Jones as a tennis-playing youngster.
