Black Spin Global: The Podcast

Clervie Ngounoue is the Girls’ champion after seeing off Nikola Bartunkova in straight sets in Sunday's final out on Court 12! The 16-year-old American did not drop a set all tournament. Class act!

During recording, top seed Carlos Alcaraz and second seed Novak Djokovic were scrapping it out on Centre Court in the men’s final. (Shouts out to Carlitos)

In the women’s final, our North African sis Ons Jabeur was unable to get over the line against Marketa Vondrousova. Big congrats to the low-key Czech.

Interview snippets from Ngounoue’s press conference.

And that’s a wrap, guys. Thanks for riding the Wimbledon 2023 wave with us!

Madison Keys falls to second seed Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 4-6 in what was by far her toughest test on grass this year. Sabalenka is playing some good ball at the moment and it was an experience witnessing her ferocious power and incredibly audible grunting on No 1 Court. Keys was upbeat in press afterwards, which was very nice to see. 

Christopher Eubanks’ dream run is over after another five-set epic against third seed Daniil Medvedev – 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, (4)6-7, 1-6. Eubanks made a nervy start but boy did he find his groove in sets two and three and went to six-all in the fourth but was unable to close out the match in the tiebreak. So immensely proud of Eubanks after this fortnight and excited for his future.

Elsewhere, in the Girls’ draw Ranah Stoiber and Clervie Ngounoue are both through to the quarter-finals after impressive straight-set wins. The girls will be in action on Thursday.

Interview snippets from Eubanks and Keys included.

Christopher Eubanks is a Wimbledon quarter-finalist after taking down fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in five entertaining sets. The American who had the Gauffs cheering him on from his box, spoke in press about the people who have influenced his career. Daniil Medvedev, the third seed, is his next opponent.

Madison Keys is also into the last eight after coming back from a set and 1-4 down against 16-year-old Russian qualifier Mirra Andreeva. Keys is now a two-time Wimbledon quarter-finalist after her appearance in 2015. In press, the American was bombarded with questions centered around Andreeva which was a little jarring.

Elsewhere, in the Girls’ draw Ranah Stoiber and Clervie Ngounoue are both through to the third round after getting straight-sets wins today. 

Interview snippets from Keys and Eubanks included.

Chrostopher Eubanks’ dream Wimbledon run continues after seeing off Christopher O’Connell in three tiebreak sets. The American spoke about his new-found affection for grass in his press conference while his fourth-round opponent, fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, revealed what he knows about Eubanks’ game.

Madison Keys continues to cruise through the draw and upped her level against Marta Kostyuk in another straight-sets victory. Keys, who seems to be playing better than she did in Eastbourne, faces 16-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva next in what has the potential to be a quality match.

Elsewhere, there was disappointment for Frances Tiafoe who had to play over two days due to the rain. The 10th seed eventually fell in straight sets to 21st seed Grigor Dimitrov. Understandably dejected in press afterwards, Tiafoe spoke honestly about not feeling any extra pressure following his rise up the rankings.

Interview snippets from Eubanks, Tsitsipas and Tiafoe included.

Madison Keys books her spot in the third round with a businesslike performance, while Christopher Eubanks scores the “biggest win” of his career to secure his place in the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time. Meanwhile, Mikael Ymer gets into another five-set tussle for the second day in a row but falls short after cooking Eugene in the opening set.

Interview snippets from Keys’ and Eubanks’ pressers included.

Mikael Ymer and Frances Tiafoe book their spots in the third round in different fashion. While Arthur Fils, Alycia Parks, Michael Mmoh, Sloane Stephens and Ben Shelton all suffer second-round defeats.

Interview snippets from Ymer and Tiafoe pressers included.

Sloane Stephens, Frances Tiafoe, Madison Keys, Ben Shelton and Christopher Eubanks all bagged impressive wins to book second-round spots.

While George Loffhagen, Jasmine Paolini and Heather Watson put in decent efforts before falling at the first hurdle.

Interview snippets from Stephens, Shelton and Eubanks pressers included.

Alycia Parks v Anna-Lena Friedsam American looked impressive – first serve was firing and net-play was super clean which frustrated Friedsam who was visibly rattled towards the closing stages of the match. Parks has Ana Bogdan next who upset 15th seed Liudmila Samsonova. 

Michael Mmoh v (11) Felix Auger-Aliassime Massive win for lucky loser Mmoh who played an incredible match against a hampered but solid FAA who actually hit more winners during the tight four-set contest. Mmoh plays German qualifier Maximilian Marterer next. Eugene did go to FAA’s press conference where he spoke about his knee issue

Laurent Lokoli v Casper Ruud Very entertaining match after a one-sided opening set, Lokoli fought his way back into it and took the second. Big congrats to qualifier Lokoli though who definitely won some new fans on Wimbledon debut.

(7) Coco Gauff v Sofia Kenin Unexpected loss for the sixth seed (our pick for the women’s title). Qualifier Kenin came in hot and played extremely well. Gauff’s errors, on both wings, ultimately cost her and she alluded to that in her post-match press.

Venus Wiliams vs Elina Svitolina Five-time champion hurt the same knee that caused her trouble in Birmingham against Camila Giorgi but pushed through. Ended up losing 4-6, 3-6, which was a respectable scoreline and she was in good spirits in press afterwards where Lucy asked her about her new coach Hugo Armando.

Mikael Ymer v Alex Molcan We did not get to catch any of Ymer’s first-round match as it was going on at the same time as Mmoh, Gauff and Venus, but stats-wise his performances on day one – 39 winners vs 16, 81% 1st serve points won, 95% net-points won. Could get ninth seed Fritz next.

Tuesday’s schedule
Sloane Stephens vs Rebecca Peterson (moved from Monday)
Heather Watson vs (10) Barbora Krejcikova
George Loffhagen vs (6) Holger Rune
(25) Madison Keys vs Sonay Kartal
(10) Frances Tiafoe vs Wu Yibing
Arthur Fils vs (31) Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
Christopher Eubanks vs Thiago Monteiro
(32) Ben Shelton vs Taro Daniel

Lucy and Eugene – with accreditations around necks (allow us) – dissect the draws and recap events on the grass these past few weeks at Queen’s, Birmingham and Eastbourne.

Venus Williams, the five-time champion, starts against fellow wildcard Elina Svitolina in one of the standout first-round matchups.

Coco Gauff, seeded seventh, faces fellow American Sofia Kenin in another opening-round belter.

Madison Keys, the 25th seed who had a brilliant week in Eastbourne, starts against British wildcard Sonay Kartal.

On the men’s side, 10th seed Frances Tiafoe, winner on grass this season in Stuttgart, opens against China’s Wu Yibing. 

Debutant Ben Shelton is also seeded (32) and starts against lucky loser Taro Daniel.

Felix Auger-Aliassime, seeded 11th, was due to face Filip Krajinovic at the time of recording but the Serb has withdrawn and been replaced by lucky loser Michael Mmoh.

Head over to blackspinglobal.com for show notes in full.

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Friend of the pod Tumaini Carayol joins us in the studio for another fun episode.

We share our Wimbledon accreditation news – yes, Black Spin Global will be at The Championships this year as media!

Roland Garros men's "demi-finals" day was a lot of fun (courtesy of Rodney Rapson aka The Plug). Find out how we got on in Paris (and why Lucy calls it "The Ghetto") where Novak Djokovic made history after winning his 23rd Grand Slam. Tumaini also brilliantly articulates why Djokovic and Serena Williams should never be compared.

On the women's side, Iga Swiatek secured her third Roland Garros title – second in a row. 22-year-old joins Naomi Osaka on four Grand Slams. Swiatek really did her thing again this year in an entertaining final against Karolina Muchova.

Handshake-gate and fascinating behind-the-scenes insight regarding Aryna Sabalenka. Did the French crowd really understand what was really going on when the Ukrainian players refused to shake hands with Russian and Belarusians?

Gael Monfils was talk of week one after his epic five-set victory over Sebastian Baez. La Monf suffered severe cramps and was 0-4 down in the fifth before coming back to take it. Was very emotional afterwards. Sadly withdrew the following day due to a wrist injury.

Coco Gauff made a run to the quarter-finals where she fell to eventual champ Swiatek in straights. One of the better matches played against the Pole so far in their seven meetings. Also came through a nice three-set match with 16-year-old talent Mirra Andreeva in the third round. Also reached the women’s doubles semi-final.

Frances Tiafoe was rocking a custom Nike + IDK collaboration kit which paid homage to his Sierra Leone roots – super clean. (IDK’s music goes hard too thoroughly recommend the F65 project) The 12th seed made a run to the third round where he fell to Alexander Zverev in four sets. Loved the win over Aslan Karatsev in R2.

Sloane Stephens, who is "a good time in press", stunned in her FP Movement kit. That blue she was wearing in round two was an absolute scene. The 2018 runner-up made a run to the last 16 where she fell to Sabalenka in two tight sets in the one only women’s “night session” match this year. We share our thoughts on the sexist scheduling.

We had success in doubles where Clervie Ngounoue and Tyra Caterina Grant secured the girls' doubles title after beating the top seeds in the final. Taylor Townsend and Leylah Fernandez, looking pretty in pink, finished runners-up in the women’s doubles event. The American-Canadian duo are a serious team.

Also shout out Kgothatso Montjane and Yui Kamiji – women’s wheelchair doubles champions. And Donald Ramphadi and Andy Lapthorne – Quad men’s doubles champions.

And to close, bi-lingual king Tumaini talks about his seven-week stint on the road including his trip to Murcia, to carry out a Spanish interview with the people who knew world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz before he became That Guy! Nice long read is here: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/may/26/born-to-be-no-1-tennis-the-making-of-carlos-alcaraz

Keep commenting, liking, sharing and subscribing – we appreciate you all!

#BlackSpinGlobal