The Tennis Podcast

Catherine, David and Matt convened for an emergency live show to react to the sad news that defending champion Carlos Alcaraz has withdrawn from next month's Roland Garros due to a wrist injury.
We discussed what this means for Alcaraz, how it might affect Jannik Sinner going for the Career Slam, and the different feel the tournament will have without Alcaraz. Who can step up in his absence?
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Part one - WTA (00:00 - 32:07). We start with Elena Rybakina’s title in Stuttgart which takes her to the top of the WTA Race for 2026. What were the keys to her victory? How did she come through an extraordinary match with Leylah Fernandez? And what might this mean for the rest of the clay court swing? There’s also chat about Karolina Muchova’s brilliant run and another loss from a set up for Iga Swiatek. But were there some positive signs for Swiatek in her defeat to Mirra Andreeva? Over in Rouen, we cover Marta Kostyuk’s victory in an all-Ukrainian final against Veronika Podrez.
Part two - ATP (32:08 - 1:05:08). Arthur Fils is a title winner again and David is a very happy man! We discuss Fils’ level to beat Lorenzo Musetti, Rafael Jodar and Andrey Rublev in Barcelona before David makes a very big prediction. In Munich, we analyse Ben Shelton’s improvement on clay and an emotional week for Flavio Cobolli.
Part three - News and Madrid preview (1:05:09 - 1:28:49). We cover the news that Marketa Vondrousova is facing investigation for refusing a doping test before looking through the Madrid draws. How concerning is Carlos Alcaraz’s withdrawal?
Full details of the second edition of the Mike Dickson Award can be found here.
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Catherine and Matt are together for a mid week catch up with events in Stuttgart, Barcelona, Munich and Rouen in full swing.
Part one - ATP (00:00 - 34:41). How concerning is Carlos Alcaraz’s withdrawal from Barcelona with a wrist injury? We react to his press conference and discuss the difficulty of his clay court season scheduling. Elsewhere in Barcelona, Lorenzo Musetti has picked up some much-needed wins and now plays Arthur Fils, while Rafael Jodar has become the favourite for the title. In Munich, there’s excitement ahead of Joao Fonseca vs Ben Shelton but also more dispiriting Stefanos Tsitsipas scenes.
Part two - WTA (34:42 - 59:02). We look ahead to a brilliant quarter-final line-up in Stuttgart, despite a slow start to the event. Iga Swiatek’s new era is underway and we chat about her win over Laura Siegemund and preview her match against Mirra Andreeva. And can Coco Gauff keep up her perfect record against Karolina Muchova?
Part three - News (59:03 - 1:34:58). We discuss tennis’ place in the quickly changing landscape of Saudi investment in sport, with reports that the WTA Finals will not be renewing in Riyadh. Could Czechia or Poland be good hosts? There’s also bits and pieces from Roland Garros’s pre tournament press conference, retirement announcements from Jamie Murray and Roberto Bautista Agut, and a Rafael Nadal documentary coming to Netflix.
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Catherine, David and Matt are here to look back on the first Sinner-Alcaraz match of the 2026 season.
Part one - Monte Carlo (00:00 - 30:59). We discuss Jannik Sinner’s victory over Carlos Alcaraz in the final and how it sets up their rivalry and the clay court season ahead. In what way did Sinner cope best with the windy conditions? How much confidence will he take from his? And how might Alcaraz respond? There’s also chat about the gap between them and the rest of the field after Sinner’s comprehensive win over Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals as well as a final word on Valentin Vacherot’s incredible run.
Part two - Linz and BJK Cup (31:00 - 59:29). Lilli Tagger’s run may have stopped in the quarter-finals, but the fun continued in Linz as Anastasia Potapova made it all the way to the final, only to lose to Mirra Andreeva. Just how impressive was that win for Andreeva? What’s the significance of her doing it without Conchita Martinez in her box? And how do we look back on the first edition of Linz on indoor clay? In the BJK Cup, we cover Great Britain’s shock win in Australia, USA’s defeat to Belgium, a compelling comeback from the Czechs to beat Switzerland, and a devastating day for Bianca Andreescu and Canada.
Part three (59:30 - 1:21:01) - Preview and predictions for the week ahead which sees Alcaraz go to Barcelona and Iga Swiatek return in Stuttgart.
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Part one (00:00 - 41:30) David and Matt catch up on all things Monte Carlo which has seen Daniil Medvedev get double bagelled, Jannik Sinner actually drop a set, Valentin Vacherot win some thrillers, Joao Fonseca look impressive, and Alexander Zverev come back from the brink of defeat. How might the rest of the week unfold?
Part two (41:31 - 56:11) - The Lilli Tagger show in Linz and a preview of the BJK Cup Qualifiers.
Part three (56:12 - 1:04:21) - Aryna Sabalenka withdraws from Stuttgart and Holger Rune announces his comeback.
Become a ⁠Friend of The Tennis Podcast⁠
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Talk tennis with Friends on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Barge! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Sign up to receive our free ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (daily at Slams and weekly the rest of the year, featuring Matt’s Stat, mascot photos, Fantasy League updates, and more)
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