We Are Tennis by BNP Paribas brings you the best of the past week, on and off the courts, day after day. A week marked by injuries and the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas, but also by urban crocodiles and a freezing cat who was eventually saved.

Monday, February 4th

It was mayhem in the Australian streets ! Following some important floods, crocodiles have been seen roaming around houses and stores. The start of a good week for the locals, but also for Aryna Sabalenka who climbed up one spot at the WTA ranking (she’s now the world number 9). Things were different for Caroline Garcia, who lost 20 spots (she’s now the world number 64), and Stan Wawrinka, who lost in the first round of the Sofia ATP Open (6-3, 6-7, 4-6 against Marius Copil). Both have some difficult days ahead of them. In their heads, at least.

Tuesday, February 5th

It’s a fresh start for Simona Halep : the current world number 3 hired a new coach, and will now train with Thierry van Cleemput. The news are less joyful for the world number 1, as Naomi Osaka announced that she was withdrawing from the Doha Open because of an injury. Just like Alexander Zverev, who won’t be playing in Rotterdam. As for Thomas Berdych, he is slowly coming bak to her best level, after another convincing win against Matthias Bachinger (5-7, 6-3, 6-3) in Montpellier, while Petra Kvitova’s Tuesday was less fun, as she went to the trail of the man who had assaulted her at knifepoint inside her home, in December 2016. « I was lying on the ground, screaming, there was blood everywhere » she recalled, painfully. In lighter news, an escort-girl from Japan was contacted by her client to…help him move out from his flat. Why not, after all ?

Wednesday, February 6th

Here’s the top 5 of the feats achieved today. Number five : Berdych destroying Benoît Paire in exactly 58 minutes (6-2, 6-0). Number four : Martin Kližan defeating the title-holder Mirza Bašić in Sofia (6-0, 3-6, 6-2). Number three : Filip Krajinović crushing David Goffin, the seed number 2 of the tournament, in Montpellier (6-4, 6-4). Number 2 : Matteo Berrettini’s win against Karen Khachanov, who was the big favorite in Bulgaria (6-7, 6-3, 6-4). Number one : the barehand fight between a jogger and a puma won by the man in a natural park in Colorado, USA. A true case of self-defense, here.

Thursday, February 7th

It doesn’t seem to be the easiest time of the year for tennis players. The latest example came with Nick Kyrgios announcing his withdrawal from the Rotterdam Open after sustaining an injury. However, Denis Shapovalov held his rank and defeated Marcel Granollers (6-4, 7-6), while Radu Albot managed to knock out Ernests Gulbis (7-6, 4-6, 6-4) in Montpellier. Where Lucas Pouille, who lost against Marcos Baghdatis (6-7, 7-6, 4-6), won’t win a second consecutive title. A little further up north, a woman received a lot of attention after giving birth…in a metro station. Ah, Paris…

Friday, January 8th

Yellow vest, waffle, menstruations… Great, 230 new emojis will soon be available on our smartphones ! Enough for Kevin Anderson to kill time, after he also announced that an injury was forcing him to withdraw from the New York Open ? In any case, players didn’t really have the time to send texts in Montpellier and Sofia : Berdych, Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Albot respectively defeated Krajinović (7-6, 6-7, 7-5), Shapovalov (7-5, 7-6) and Baghdatis (6-2, 7-6) to reach the semi-finals in France, while Berrettini et Gaël Monfils managed to defeat Fernando Verdasco (4-6, 7-5, 6-4) and Stefanos Tsitsipas (6-3, 7-6) to reach the final four in Bulgaria. Only two matches left to lift the trophy !

Saturday, January 9th

And the finalists are… Marton Fucsovics and Daniil Medvedev in Sofia and Herbert against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Montpellier ! There can only be one left in each city, and all four players will have to give their maximum to survive. Just like Fluffy, a cat which was found freezing to death in Montana, and which was thankfully saved by a heroic team of vets. The animal will probably take more time to recover than Marin Čilić, whose knee injury also forced him to withdraw from the Rotterdam Open. Is there a curse ?

Sunday, February 10th

The Fed Cup by BNP Paribas hasn’t been forgotten. It even received quite a lot of attention this weekend : Belarus, the first team to qualify for the semi-finals, defeated Germany, France crushed Belgium in three short matches and will face Romania, who won against Czech Republic. On the ATP circuit, Medvedev won the fourth title of his career (6-4, 6-3 against Fucsovics), Tsonga won his first Montpellier Open (6-4, 6-2 against Herbert) and…Pouille announced that he won’t be playing at the Rotterdam Open because of an injury. In other news, we’re looking for the owner of a USB stick which was found in the feces of a seal. As the pictures on it are, thankfully, undamaged.