Jannik Sinner’s hilarious throwback moment with Tiafoe, Potapova’s Dubai downtime, and Draper’s road to recovery

In this new edition of "Daily Dose of Social Media," the off-season grind continues for the Tour's biggest stars. Jack Draper shared footage of his recent gym work ahead of his return at the upcoming United Cup, mirroring the efforts of Stan Wawrinka, who is preparing for the same team event.

The viral moment of the day belongs to unreleased footage of a very young Jannik Sinner at the 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals, capturing a funny exchange with Frances Tiafoe during promotional filming. Elsewhere, Anastasia Potapova shared photos enjoying a concert in Dubai, Marta Kostyuk posted a new photoshoot on social media, and Siniakova and Townsend celebrated being named the WTA Doubles Team of the Year.

A funny video from the 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals has resurfaced, featuring a draw that looks incredibly impressive in hindsight. Frances Tiafoe, Ugo Humbert, Casper Ruud, Mikael Ymer, Miomir Kecmanovic, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Jannik Sinner, and Alex de Minaur gathered in Milan for the 2019 edition with the same goal: to be crowned the best young player of the year.

On that occasion, a documentary was filmed during the four days of the tournament, capturing a hilarious moment when the players were recording parts of the promotional videos. One by one, they said a word from the phrase "The Next Gen ATP Finals … See the future." It was none other than Jannik Sinner who had to finish the phrase. Tiafoe joked that Sinner needed to put more spirit into the line, something the Italian took too seriously, leaving a funny moment from six years ago that was shared today on the ATP Tour and Next Gen ATP Finals social media channels.

Jack Draper continues his off-season preparations as his return to the courts draws closer following months of absence. The British No. 1 suffered an injury at the past US Open which forced him to end his campaign early, though he still managed to close the year inside the top 10 despite missing several months of competition.

Draper was initially expected to make his comeback at the recent Ultimate Tennis Showdown in London, an exhibition event featuring Alex de Minaur, Casper Ruud, and Andrey Rublev. However, he withdrew at the last minute as a precaution to focus fully on the 2026 season. His first official tournament will be the United Cup, where he will form an exciting partnership with former US Open champion Emma Raducanu.

Marta Kostyuk once again shared a photoshoot on social media as she continues her off-season training regimen. The world No. 26 has already finalized the schedule for the start of her 2026 season: she will travel to the Brisbane International for her first tournament before heading to the Australian Open, where she is set to defend third-round points.

The Ukrainian faces the challenge of contending for titles again in this new season. While she maintained her status within the top 30 during 2025, she failed to reach the semifinals of any tournament at any level throughout the year. Her best performances were limited to quarterfinals appearances at the WTA 1000 events in Qatar, Madrid, and the Canadian Open.

Stan Wawrinka continues to showcase his preseason progress on social media as he prepares for his 25th season as a professional. The 40-year-old spent the last few days at an exhibition tournament played in France, the Open Marques Avenue de Bourg-de-Péage, and shared several photos from his training sessions. The three-time Grand Slam champion joined players such as Gael Monfils, David Goffin and Hamad Medjedovic for the event, where he once again displayed the high level of tennis he maintains even at 40.

"Stan the Man" has his first tournament scheduled for the first week of January at the United Cup, where he will lead Switzerland as captain and the No. 1 male singles player. He will join former Olympic gold medalist Belinda Bencic in Group C in Perth. There, the Swiss team will face France (featuring Rinderknech and Boisson) and subsequently Italy (led by Cobolli and Paolini).

Anastasia Potapova made headlines a few days ago after changing her sporting nationality from Russian to Austrian citizenship, immediately becoming the Austrian No. 1. She joins a growing list of Russian players who have changed flags over the last year, a group that includes Daria Kasatkina, Maria Timofeeva, Kamila Rakhimova, and most recently Polina Kudermetova.

The current world No. 50 shared photos on social media from the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, where she was enjoying a concert during her off-season. The 24-year-old has set her first commitments of the calendar to play the Brisbane International starting January 5—with players such as Sabalenka, Anisimova, and Rybakina on the entry list—before traveling to Melbourne for the start of the Australian Open.

This Monday, the WTA Awards were announced, including the award for the best doubles team of the season, which was granted to world No. 1 Katerina Siniakova alongside No. 2 Taylor Townsend. The slight difference in their rankings was exclusively due to a couple of tournaments they played with other partners. However, during a large part of the year and the major events, the Siniakova-Townsend duo achieved the best results and finished the year at the top of the rankings.

Townsend had been posting strong results on the doubles tour for years, but she lacked the final leap to secure a major title and reach the top of the rankings. She achieved this by joining forces with the Czech star Siniakova, a longtime doubles leader who had stopped playing with her countrywoman Barbora Krejcikova during the last year.

Siniakova now holds 10 Grand Slam doubles titles, the last two won alongside Townsend. Together this year, they added titles at the Australian Open, Dubai, Korea Open, and Wuhan, in addition to finishing as runners-up at the US Open.