Sinner and Novak skip Montreal, Korpatsch ends the German curse, and a teenage takeover with a one-hander

Calvin Betton, George Bellshaw and James Gray are back with another look at the week in tennis. This week: the doubles fightback starts in Washington, more Masters 1000 withdrawal fallout, the 2028 Olympic schedule is announced, the most epic Davis Cup finish ever, and three new tour title-winners.

Here's what they discussed

****

Washington tournament owner Mark Ein has been doing the media rounds this week (including a stop on Ben Rothenberg's Bounces), and it caught our ear when he declared himself a doubles superfan.

Ein says Washington has gone as far as almost any tournament to promote doubles, including proactively engineering eye-catching pairings rather than leaving it to chance

His pitch: nothing beats watching top players mixing it up in doubles on a 1,500–3,000 seat side court, right on top of the crowd.

He acknowledges the counter-argument other tournaments make that doubles soaks up a lot of prize money, but argues the format needs to "add unique value" to earn its keep.

Washington will live mic doubles players again this year, the third year running.

Tournament director Valerie Tetreault has called for change after both Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic pulled out of the Canadian Masters 1000, a repeat of last year, when both skipped Toronto.

Tetreault is disappointed but understanding of the players' need to prioritise health given the schedule.

Her broader point is that repeated last-minute withdrawals from Masters 1000s raise a real issue for the sport, since fans "rightfully expect to see the world's best compete."

She's calling for adjustments to better protect the integrity of Masters 1000 events.