Welcome back to the Monday Tennis Briefing, where The Athletic will explain the stories behind the stories from the past week on court.This week, a Grand Slam ticketing conundrum, a new title winner with a signature shot and a loophole that might need to be closed.If you’d like to follow our fantastic tennis coverage, click here.Will one Grand Slam’s decision affect the tennis ticketing equation?As Grand Slams keep racking up attendance records, the first of the year has made a small decision that could prove to be a seismic one.The Australian Open will cap grounds pass allocations for 2027, on the back of a record-breaking 2026 event which saw just under 1,370,000 fans visit. The tournament announced the move last week, with Tennis Australia’s chief commercial officer Cedric Cornelis saying in a statement that “this decision reflects the growing popularity of the AO and will help ensure fans are able to make the most of everything on offer across the precinct.”At last year’s event, a string of record-breaking attendance days put pressure on the tournament’s infrastructure, as well as on the thing that fans want to see: The tennis. Sales of grounds passes, which run $59 AUD (around $40) were paused on the first Sunday, but otherwise went unregulated, leading to lines stretching around field courts which do not have many vantage points for those who can’t find seats on the courts themselves. This effect was exaggerated when rising talents with fervent new fanbases, like Alex Eala of the Philippines and João Fonseca of Brazil, took the courts. On the first Thursday over 100,000 fans visited a complex which has around half that many fixed seats.All four majors are navigating this balance. Increasing popularity and selling as many tickets as is possible boosts revenues; revenues can be used to reinvest in infrastructure and to make tournaments better in the ongoing arms race for supremacy between the four Grand Slams. It can also put pressure on the fan experience, though, especially because expanding the physical footprint of each tournament’s site to meet demand ranges from complex to almost impossible. The Australian Open has added balconies and courtside bars to create capacity above ground rather than across it in recent years.Whether or not the other three majors follow the same plan — and what impact it will have on the 2027 edition of the Australian Open — remains to be seen. The main draws start January 17.Why a champion with a one-handed backhand should not be put down to noveltyAustria’s Lilli Tagger won her first WTA Tour title at the Prague Open Sunday. Tagger, 18, defeated Daria Snigur of Ukraine 7-6(3), 6-2, coming from 4-1 down in the opening set to force a tiebreak and cruising from there.