Tennis Unfiltered

It's the clash of the eras this week as Mats Wilander's comments on Eurosport spark an intense debate about whether Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have already eradicated the legacy of the Big Four. Carlos Alcaraz beats Jannik Sinner, who had chances of his own, to win the China Open and wrestle control of their head-to-head in an increasingly storied rivalry Arthur Fils wins a title in Tokyo and beats Taylor Fritz, Matteo Berrettini, Ben Shelton, Holger Rune and Ugo Humbert en route - but then crashes out in the first round a week later Davis Cup Group stages scrapped in favour of a return to post-US Open home and away ties Coco Gauff wins her second WTA 1000 title in China, returning to the top five and improving her final record to 8-1... ...but her match-up with Naomi Osaka disappointingly ended in a retirement as a back injury forced the Japanese player to walk off early Iga Swiatek has split with coach Tomasz Wiktorowski and is already looking for someone new LINKS FROM JG: "Many thanks to everyone who donated to my Cancer Research fundraiser. It made it all very worthwhile! If you would like to and missed out, here is the link." - https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/jamess-giving-page-139725 Hugh Clarke's beautifully crafted newsletter is here: https://substack.com/home/post/p-149701313 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Calvin Betton is still in China, George Bellshaw is still in London and James Gray is still complaining. They discuss... WADA has announced it is to appeal the decision to absolve Jannik Sinner of blame for his two positive tests for banned substance clostebol earlier this year. The case will be heard before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and the World Anti-Doping Agency will seek a ban of between one and two years Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram have broken up their long-standing, multiple grand slam-winning partnership. Salisbury will play with fellow Brit Neal Skupski in 2025 Naomi Osaka has won a match from a set down for the first time in 22 attempts, and now faces Coco Gauff in a blockbuster clash in Beijing British No 3 Jacob Fearnley has cracked the top 100 for the first time after winning his fourth Challenger title of the year Jack Draper is still struggling with the rigours of top-level tennis, injured again in Tokyo this week Marin Cilic has become the lowest ranked player ever - No 777 - to win an ATP title in Hangzhou If you want to donate to James's fundraisers, you can do so here: https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/jamess-giving-page-139725 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Calvin Betton tunes in from Beijing and George Bellshaw from north London to tell James Gray exactly what's wrong with the tennis world. Emma Raducanu told a reporter she was prioritising the Asian swing after a stripped-back schedule in the first half of the year, but after two wins in Seoul she suffered yet another injury, pulling out of the quarter-final with a foot injury and then withdraws from Beijing too. Coco Gauff has ended her partnership with coach Brad Gilbert just two weeks after her "disappointing" US Open title defence. Gilbert said: ”Coco, at just 20 years young, your future is incredibly bright, and I wish you nothing but continued success ahead. I’m excited for the next chapter in my coaching career.” Carlos Alcaraz has complained about tennis scheduling: ”Probably they are going to kill us in some way. Right now a lot of good players are going to miss a lot of tournaments because of that [injury].” Team Europe win the Laver Cup with Alcaraz winning the most points any player ever has - but did any of it mean anything? Beatriz Haddad Maia wins her fourth career title in South Korea Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

James Gray is joined by George Bellshaw and Calvin Betton to discuss all the latest tennis news (and an injury update from our resident coach). Naomi Osaka splits with Wim Fisette and hires Patrick Mouratoglou as her new coach Novak Djokovic is on course to miss out on ATP World Tour Finals but says he isn't bothered by it Jack Draper jumps off a plane and into the Great Britain Davis Cup team, but to no great effect as they are drummed out by Canada and Argentina Dan Evans hints this could be his last appearance in GB shirt Rafael Nadal pulls out of the Laver Cup Sonay Kartal wins her first WTA title in Monastir and enters the top 100 for the first time Emma Raducanu has been picked for the BJK Cup Olivia Gadecki reaches the Guadalajara final from qualifying Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

James Gray, Calvin Betton and George Bellshaw waited for the dust to settle... and then promptly started kicking it up again. Jannik Sinner wins the title in New York to become the king of hard courts Aryna Sabalenka is the queen too, or is she? Jack Draper gives a fine account of himself but hasn't impressed Martin Keown Have Jessica Pegula and Taylor Fritz both hit their ceiling PLUS Nick Kyrgios shows his true colours Vasek Pospisil defends the PTPA Calvin ducks the Davis Cup The final results of FTU: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1AB0u6pxiTiaY3kZMfjZZI60lSZ7g3GpJawK5bWxtsoI/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Calvin Betton wakes up from jet lag to predict the men's and women's final with James Gray ahead of Draper vs Sinner and Tiafoe vs Fritz in the semi-finals. They also looked back at Emma Navarro's defeat to Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula's win over Karolina Muchova, as well as a few thoughts on Iga Swiatek's absence from the latter stages. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Calvin Betton is fresh off a flight from New York and talks to James Gray about... Third-round defeat for Henry Patten and Harri Heliovaara Why Beatriz Haddad Maia vs Caroline Wozniacki was a great example of how styles make fights… The secrets to Jack Draper's run at the US Open Why there have been so many double-faults at this year's tournament Is this the real reason everyone seems to hate Zheng Qinwen? What got Alexander Zverev's goat? Grigor Dimitrov limps out of perhaps *his* best chance to finally win a slam but allows Frances Tiafoe to guarantee an American man in the final for the first time since 2006 Also, Donald Young is in the mixed doubles final?! And Harri produces one of the all-time great racket smashes: https://x.com/BenRothenberg/status/1830757928166461726 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

George Bellshaw and James Gray catch up on a busy weekend of US Open action, including... Sky Sports apologise for problems with US Open coverage, raised by Tennis Unfiltered listeners: https://inews.co.uk/sport/tennis/us-open-viewers-frustrated-sky-tennis-coverage-3256452 Video review goes so badly wrong as Beatriz Haddad Maia gets away with one against Anna Kalinskaya: https://x.com/LoveGame_Tennis/status/1830181747281055879 Dan Evans is finally beaten in the US Open, handed two bagels by Alex De Minaur Yulia Putintseva is beaten but more importantly apologises for this behaviour towards a ball girl: https://x.com/MerThomp/status/1829999912399818965 Coco Gauff is knocked out by Olympic team-mate Emma Navarro. Gauff served at 46 per cent and hit 60 unforced errors, but perhaps worst of all hit 19 double-faults and says she will consider a biomechanics expert to break down her service issues. "I definitely want to get other opinions because, you know -- and also I think it's sometimes more of an emotional, mental thing because if I go out on the practice court right now, I would make, like, 30 serves in a row." Who on earth will win the bottom half of the men's draw now? Alexander Zverev and Taylor Fritz are surely favourites with either Grigor Dimitrov or Frances Tiafoe waiting in the semi-final. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

George Bellshaw looks back on a day of US Open action where there really was only one place to start as Novak Djokovic was stunned by Alexei Popyrin as the men's draw continues to disintegrate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Carlos Alcaraz is handed a shock US Open defeat by Botic van de Zandschulp Alcaraz said afterwards he is "not strong enough mentally" and has taken steps back in that regard. Van de Zandschulp meanwhile was proud of his "emotionally stable" approach to the match, impressive for a man who nearly decided to retire just a few months ago at the age of 28. The Dutchman came to the net 35 times in the match, winning all bar seven points when he did so, perhaps revealing a blueprint for beating Alcaraz in the future. It leaves a wide open section of the draw where one of Jack Draper, Dan Evans, Alex de Minaur or five others who have never made a USO semi-final is guaranteed to make the last four Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Emma Raducanu says she will manage her schedule differently going forward after "learning a lesson" in defeat to Sofia Kenin Raducanu had played just one tournament since Wimbledon and flew back to the UK instead of playing qualifying in Canada or Cincinnati, traditional warm-ups for the US Open. She said: "I know when I have a lot of matches, just like every player, you feel really good, you feel like everything's automatic. So yeah, I think I can learn from it and manage my schedule slightly differently." Here is something James wrote about Emma Raducanu in the wake of her defeat to Kenin: https://inews.co.uk/sport/tennis/emma-raducanu-us-open-comments-reveal-sadder-truth-3248144 UK viewers complain about the "mess" that is Sky Sports+ is a mess for lots of users Temperatures hit 34 degrees Celsius in New York City with the heat rule in place, but there is nothing against Tomas Martin Etcheverry throwing up on himself mid-match, and still winning! Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova is out Defending champion Novak Djokovic is through after a Laslo Djere retirement Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

James Gray and Calvin Betton look back at some of the highlights from the second half of the first round of the US Open, including... Holger Rune promises his fans he "will not let you down any more" after being well beaten by Brandon Nakashima in the first round of the US Open. Karolina Muchova and Bianca Andreescu both produce early shot of the tournament contenders, Muchova's here https://x.com/usopen/status/1828459066626044039 and Andreescu's here https://x.com/usopen/status/1828586747438956844 Katie Boulter is through despite losing the first set to Aliaksandra Sasnovich, complete with white bodysuit. Felix Auger-Aliassime is beaten by improving teenager Jakub Mensik while Stefanos Tsitsipas is blown away by Thanaski Kokkinakis Danielle Collins ends her US Open career (in singles) but refuses a bunch of flowers at the end and says she had requested no presentation on the court Dan Evans grabs an unlikely win, beating Karen Khachanov in a match that lasted more than five-and-a-half hours, the longest in US Open history Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's the first daily update from Flushing Meadows after Day 1 of the US Open Novak Djokovic becomes the most successful ever player on Arthur Ashe, beating another Roger Federer record, in his easy first-round win over Radu Albot Coco Gauff promises she "will" win the US Open again, but maybe not this year Jack Draper says cheat accusations hurt him Emma Raducanu insists she will keep playing a stripped-back schedule to concentrate on the big events Diego Schwartzman and Dominic Thiem both bow out of the US Open for the last time Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Men's draw in full: https://www.usopen.org/en_US/draws/mens-singles.html Women's draw in full: https://www.usopen.org/en_US/draws/womens-singles.html George Bellshaw and James Gray go line-by-line through the US Open draw for 2024, and try to put together their #FTU teams. They also of course discussed the shock news this week of Jannik Sinner having twice tested positive for a banned substance. If you want to enter Fantasy Tennis Unfiltered, the last of the year, then please do so here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1csjRJTTdquLZiFPgrGogAzXtXMRyRaDxYrWco5mlFvY The concept is simple: pick players you think are going win matches. You have to pick a total of 10 players, five men and five women, one from each category. The Underdog (30 points per win) - A qualifier, lucky loser or wildcard The Surprise (25 points per win) - Another unseeded player in the draw The Possible (20 point per win) - One of the seeds between No 17 and No 32 The Probable (20 point per win) - One of the seeds between No 5 and No 16 The Star (15 points per win) - One of the top four seeds They score points for every match they win - with 5 bonus points for each match they win in the second week, and 5 more bonus points for winning the tournament overall. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Calvin Betton checks in from North Carolina to join James Gray and discuss... Jack Draper's controversial match point against Felix Auger-Aliassime Novak Djokovic calls for video replay in the aftermath Umpires come under fire after failing to overrule clear HawkEye failure Naomi Osaka writes a lot... but says very little Frances Tiafoe finds some form from nowhere Carlos Alcaraz hits out (at the ground) And much more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Calvin Betton tunes in from Cincinnati, James Gray from back home in London and George Bellshaw from the sharp end of his anecdotal yardstick. Calvin gives us an update on Henry and Harri's bizarre concussion retirement: https://www.atptour.com/en/video/tennis-a-contact-sport-wimbledon-champs-collide-in-montreal Denis Shapovalov is defaulted for swearing at a fan: https://www.skysports.com/tennis/video/12110/13190123/denis-shapovalov-defaulted-after-heated-exchange-with-fan Hunter Reese and partner Scott Duncan are defaulted after ONE game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCONS88kPpo Jannik Sinner and Jack Draper having a blast playing doubles Rafael Nadal to skip US Open because he will not be 100 per cent but will play Laver Cup, is this the end? Stefanos Tsitsipas sacks his Dad as coach Coco Gauff loses to a player who is younger than her for the first time Emma Raducanu skips qualifying in North America and Novak Djokovic is barely going to play before the US Open Greg Rusedski to coach Victoria Azarenka: https://inews.co.uk/sport/tennis/greg-rusedski-coach-victoria-azarenka-3220235 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

One of our more international podcasts as tennis coach Calvin Betton joins us from the Rogers Cup in Montreal, James Gray from the Olympics in Paris and George Bellshaw... still at home in London. They discussed... Novak Djokovic exacted revenge on Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday and ‘completes tennis’ with Olympic gold. He is just the fifth player to complete the career golden slam, joining Andre Agassi, Rafael Nadal, Steffi Graf and Serena Williams and first man to win gold without dropping a set, although it was pretty close in the final. Zheng Qinwen became the surprise women’s champion, beating in-form Donna Vekic. Zheng had an eventful tournament: she retired Angelique Kerber, ended Iga Swiatek’s Roland Garros winning streak and had a fall-out with Emma Navarro after which it became clear that basically no-one seems to like her. Iga Swiatek barely spoke after semi-final defeat to Zheng, says she cried for about six hours after defeat but did come back to win bronze. Andy Murray’s career is finally over, beaten by Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul in the Olmypic men's doubles. Sponsored by AG1, click here (https://drinkag1.com/tennisunfiltered) for free Vitamin D3/K2 and 5 travel packs Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

First, an apology: James is covering the Olympics in Paris and the technological conditions are challenging to say the least, so his audio is not in great shape this week. However, he has identified the problem and has a solution in place for next week. In the meantime, here is this week's episode with Calvin from Porto, George from London and James from Paris. Calvin talks about Harri Heliovaara wearing a microphone on a live match court Rafael Nadal is drummed out of the Olympic singles by Novak Djokovic Coco Gauff loses her temper in defeat to Donna Vekic Late withdrawals fire Matt Ebden and Petros Tsitsipas into the singles draw Andy Murray and Dan Evans keep the dream alive And SO much more... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Calvin Betton, James Gray and George Bellshaw answer your questions on all sorts of topics, including some from the very bottom of the mailbag. Here's what we got into... Veteran Athlete: Is there a future for grass court tennis? Wazza: Is it time for Wimbledon to re introduce grass court seeding? Having Swiatek as number 1 seed when she has lack of ability on the surface makes a mockery of the draw in my opinion. Ian Warren: Hi guys question about the BBC coverage of Wimbledon. Do you think it’s time to pension off John McEnroe, Pat Cash and other players winning slams 40 to 50 years ago? As great as it was how many more times do we have to hear from John McEnroe about his rivalry with Borg. JG: Why is no one excited about the Olympics? Jari Jarvinen: Who do you think are best dubs players all time and why? This came to my mind because of Leander Paes Hall of Fame election. He won a lot and with so many different partners, that's a strong case for him. Definitely one of the best dubs volleyers Tennis Ranter: We see tennis players throughout the year jetting off to lots of locations, with air travel being the most used. What would your thoughts be on a carbon cap for players to limit the amount of carbon they use and encourage the use of less carbon intensive transport? Matt Gunner: For the modern great male players, is it the new normal to win 20+ majors? Pundits that played in the 80s and 90s often say how hard it is to win 7 matches over 2 wks and how remarkable it is to see numbers the big 3 have. For me, in the yrs ahead, these numbers will be the norm. Lynney Pin: Not really a question…. Just wanted to say I HATE seeing the ball kids passing the sweaty germ ridden towels to the players. Why the flip have they brought that back??!!! It’s revolting. GB1: Of the current crop of young players (let's say under 25), who has the best tennis IQ ? Would Alcaraz be lost without Juan Carlos ? How far would Ben Shelton get without his Dad's coaching ? For me, the Big Four and Meddy are high IQ players, but what about the next gen ? Also, do you think players like eg Shapovalov, Tiafoe, and certainly in the past Dimitrov, haven't reached full potential because they use their natural game without developing their tennis IQ brains as much ? Sponsored by AG1, click here (https://drinkag1.com/tennisunfiltered) for free Vitamin D3/K2 and 5 travel packs Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Calvin, George and James are reunited for the first time since Wimbledon to discuss... Who will challenge Carlos Alcaraz? Is Novak Djokovic on the decline? Would Jasmine Paolini have been a more popular winner than Barbora Krejcikova? Should the Brits be pleased with their championships? What was the Champions' Ball like? And *so much* more. Sponsored by AG1, click here (https://drinkag1.com/tennisunfiltered) for free Vitamin D3/K2 and 5 travel packs Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices