What's new in Newport: Underhanded serves, Laver Cup's summer vacation

With history around every corner of the International Tennis Hall of Fame and Gilded Age mansions lining Bellevue Avenue, you might not think there’s much that’s new about about Newport. But in addition to the Hall’s fresh class of inductees each summer—this year’s chosen includes Mary Pierce, Li Na and Yevgeny Kafelnikov—there were signs of where tennis may be headed around the Newport Casino on Wednesday.

Over/Under: Underhand serves

The day’s play kicked off with a match between 22-year-old Alexander Bublik and veteran Viktor Troicki. Bublik’s penchant for flash is such that Nick Kyrgios has said of him, “hopefully he can just pull it together a little bit and play those bigger points with a little bit more discipline.”

Fans expecting more of Bublik’s racquet sorcery should have come away pleased from his second-rounder. Underhand serve? Check. Tweener lob? Check:

Back to the underhand serve for a moment. In an upcoming TENNIS Magazine feature, we lay out a supposition of the 2030 US Open. We had some fun with the ideas: racquets specifically made for serving and returning are commonplace, and the majors feature 256-player singles draws. We also looked back at the 2029 US Open final, when Stefanos Tsitsipas hit four underhand serves to begin the match.

Is this crazy? Maybe; maybe not. Bublik and Kyrgios employ the underhand serve in their arsenals, and it can be an effective surprise tactic at the right time. And even more so on the low-bouncing grass of Newport.

The Laver Cup’s summer vacation

The Laver Cup, whose third edition will take place following the US Open in Geneva, Switzerland, has also made stops in Prague and Chicago. Add Newport to the list. An exhibition in the Hall of Fame museum will showcase the trophy and the competition, one which has quickly become a must-see event on the tennis calendar.

“It’s very good for tennis in general,” said John Isner, who will compete for Team World for the third time this September. “Any great event has to start somewhere, and I think this one is off to a very, very good start.

“I think it’s very cool that the trophy is housed here year-round. It makes sense for it to be housed here in this place, which is steeped in so much history.”

With its namesake, the great Rod Laver, the Laver Cup has an undeniable element of history. The 50th anniversary of The Rocket’s second calendar-year Slam is acknowledged in another Hall exhibit, showcasing Laver’s spiked tennis shoes. (Watch “Museum Minute” above for a closer look.)

But to me, the Laver Cup is a symbol of where tennis may be going. The exhibition is recognized by the ATP, and there are no shortage of stars eager to compete in the shortened-format challenge that has become known for raucous player interaction. They didn’t play tennis like that at the Newport Casino, generations ago.

Marcel Marcel

Looking ahead to the quarterfinals of the singles and doubles draws, one name pops out: Marcel Granollers. The Spaniard is still swinging in both tournaments, after defeating third-seeded Jordan Thompson at 11 a.m. on Court 2 and then, a few hours later, partnering with Sergiy Stakhovsky and defeating the second-seeded team of Jonathan Erlich and Artem Sitak. This is only an ATP 250 event, but that's still a really impressive day.

Apparently, the tennis gods smiled on Granollers for his efforts:

Granollers will be back in action on Thursday—twice—playing Mischa Zverev in the second match on Stadium court and then, not before 2:30, heading to Court 1 for doubles. Double duty calls.