Black Spin Global: The Podcast

Lucy and Eugene recap Day 1 at the US Open, which fell on a Sunday for the first time.

Ben Shelton opened proceedings on Arthur Ashe, seeing off Peruvian qualifier Ignacio Buse in straight sets – 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. The American sixth seed was untroubled and looked locked in from the first ball and handled business the way a top-10 seed should in the opening round of a Grand Slam.

Afterwards, in a nod to the celebrations taking place to celebrate trailblazer Althea Gibson at this year’s US Open, Shelton was asked whether his father and coach, Bryan Shelton ever spoke about any racial issues he faced growing up as an aspiring professional. 

Buse spoke about how difficult it was to get a read on the American’s serve that was not only coming in with pace, but also different variations.

In our second and final match of the day, Jasmine Paolini took care of business against Australian qualifier Destanee Aiava, winning 6-2, 7-6(4) on Louis Armstrong. The seventh-seeded Italian, steamrolled the first set, before going down an early break in the second. But in typical Paolini fashion, the Italian No 1 broke back immediately, firming up her game before closing out the match in the tiebreak.

Afterwards, Aiava shared her surprise at the weight of the Italian’s groundstrokes. We asked Paolini about her thoughts on the Sunday start.

To close, we talk about Serena Williams introducing Maria Sharapova for the Russian’s Tennis Hall of Fame induction and run through the matchups we are looking forward to on Day 2.

Listen and watch out for post-match press snippets from Shelton, Buse, Aiava and Paolini.

Credits: US Open Tennis Championships

Lucy and Eugene, from the grounds of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre, bring you the 2025 US Open draw show.

The likes of (3)Coco Gauff, (6)Madison Keys and (7)Jasmine Paolini are among the top 10 seeds in the women’s draw. While 18-year-old US Open debutant Victoria Mboko is seeded 22nd in just her third ever Grand Slam. Two-time champ Naomi Osaka, who looked back to her best in Montreal, is the 23rd seed.

Gauff starts against Ajla Tomljanovic, Keys faces Renata Zarazua, Paolini takes on Destanee Aiava, Mboko faces two-time Grand Slam champion Barbora Krejcikova and Osaka starts against Greet Minnen.

Venus Williams, still going strong at 45, has been awarded a wildcard as has 19-year-old Clervie Ngounoue and both have drawn seeds in the first round. Venus has (11)Karolina Muchova, while Ngounoue has (29)Anna Kalinskaya.

Doubles world No 1 Taylor Townsend has drawn Antonia Ruzic, Hailey Baptiste will face doubles world No 2 Katerina Siniakova and Alycia Parks, who went deep in Monterrey, has an exciting first-round match against (5)Mirra Andreeva to look forward to.

On the men’s side, (6)Ben Shelton, (17)Frances Tiafoe, (25)Felix Auger-Aliassime and (31)Gabriel Diallo are among the 32 seeds. Shelton faces Peruvian qualifier Ignacio Buse, Tiafoe takes on Yoshihito Nishioka, Auger-Aliassime starts against British qualifier Billy Harris and Diallo plays Damir Dzumhur.

Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, who was in the middle of his semi-final in Winston-Salem at the time of recording, has (10)Lorenzo Musetti in round one, while Gael Monfils faces Russian Roman Safiullin – La Monf and FAA could play each other in the second round.

Listen and watch out for pre-tournament press snippets from Gauff, Paolini, Shelton and Tiafoe.

In another celebratory pod, Lucy and Eugene bask in the glory that went down at the Canadian Open where there was success on both the singles and doubles courts.

Victoria Mboko, the 18-year-old Canadian wildcard, completed a fairytale run at her home WTA 1000 going all the way to the final in Montreal and winning the title. The new world No 24 took out Sofia Kenin, Coco Gauff and Elena Rybakina before beating four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka in the final.

Osaka also played some good ball during her run to the final. The former world No 1, who returns to the top 30, saw off numerous seeds en route to the championship match that was somewhat overshadowed by events post-match. We share our thoughts.

Staying in Montreal, Coco Gauff and McCartney Kessler won the doubles title. The American duo, who were linking up for the first time, beat Washington Open champions Taylor Townsend and Shuai Zhang in a thrilling final.

Over in The Six (Toronto), Ben Shelton, the new world No 6, handled business. Shelton, a Masters 1000 champion for the first time, came back from a set down to beat 11th seed Karen Khachanov in the final. The 22-year-old American took out world No 4 Taylor Fritz and world No 8 Alex de Minaur en route.

To close, we talk Cincinnati Open which began on Canadian Open finals day. “We love this game!
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Intro 00:00
Victoria Mboko 02:46
Mboko vs Gauff 05:55
Mboko vs Osaka 15:41
Osaka post-match 26:58
Gauff winning doubles 35:51
Shelton's run 39:20
Khachanov's speech 51:30
Cincinnati Open update 56:38

Lucy and Eugene are back after a little rest post-Wimbledon.

Before recapping the brilliant Washington Open, we share our thoughts on Naomi Osaka parting ways with Patrick Mouratoglou. Osaka will be working with Iga Swiatek’s former coach Tomasz Wiktorowski for a trial period starting in Montreal.

Venus Williams was the story at the Citi Open. The 45-year-old brought the crowd and excitement to DC and made more history in the process.

Taylor Townsend is the new doubles world No 1 following another title in Washington. Townsend is the first mother to be crowned world No 1!

Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe met in the quarter-finals and the match delivered.

Action now turns to Canada where Coco Gauff, Madison Keys and Jasmine Paolini are among the top seeds in Montreal. In Toronto, Arthur Fils makes his long-awaited return. The Frenchman is joined by fellow seeds Shelton, Tiafoe, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Gabriel Diallo among others.

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Intro 00:00
Tennis news 02:58
Osaka & Patrick split 06:02
Tennis coaches debate 11:50
Venus Williams's return 21:41
Celebrating Townsend 27:03
Other Citi Open highlights 28:58
NB Open so far 36:16

Shout out to Iga Swiatek, double-bagelling Amanda Anisimova in the ladies’ final in 57mins. The Pole is now 6-0 in Grand Slam finals which is quite bossy. Also, shout out to the  men’s champion Jannik Sinner who came back from a set down to see off defending champ Carlos Alcaraz in four – these two are playing a different sport.

Lucy was spot on with her men’s take (she knows ball), while Eugene had Anisimova as his second pick.

From a BSG perspective, Ben Shelton reaching the quarter-finals, where he lost to the eventual champ was very good going – went one round better than last year. The American is up to a career high world No 9 in the rankings. 

Hailey Baptiste making a run to the third round on her singles main-draw debut was also a standout. Her second-round match against lucky loser Victoria Mboko was a nice moment.

Naomi Osaka looked good on the grass and had opportunities against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in round three. Glad to see the four-time major winner already hitting on the grounds at Flushing Meadows.

Gabriel Diallo gave a good account of himself on his debut, very nearly taking out eventual semi-finalist Taylor Fritz in five sets in the second round.

Big shout out to 2024 ladies’ doubles champions Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniakova who bowed out in the semi-finals this year. Congrats to Siniakova for securing the mixed doubles crown though with Sem Verbeek.

We absolutely loved celebrating the 50th anniversary of Arthur Ashe winning Wimbledon with the oral histories before each episode during week 1! The Wimbledon Watchalong at PlayBox, BoxPark was such a blast and year 3 at the Championships overall was a great experience. We feel blessed and privileged to be part of the growing community of podcasters in this space – shouts out to Tennis Weekly, Quality Shot and Tennis Unfiltered.

Happening this week, Mikael Ymer returns to ATP Tour action for the first time since 2023 – playing Bastad with his brother Elias. Noma Noha Akugue is playing Hamburg where she was runner-up in 2023.

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Ben Shelton fell to world No 1 Jannik Sinner in straight sets – 7-6(2), 6-4, 6-4 – on a busy No 1 Court.

The American 10th seed, who admitted he felt under pressure on serve throughout the contest, was up a mini-break in the first-set tiebreak before Sinner rattled off six points in a row to win it.

In set two, Sinner, who was rocking a sleeve on his right arm, was in the zone. Serving at 4-5, Shelton got broken which handed the second set to the Italian.

The third set was on serve until 4-5, with Shelton serving to stay in the match. Sinner turned up the heat on return and broke the American for the second and ultimately final time.

In his post-match press conference, we asked Shelton to reflect on reaching the *quarter-finals or better at all four of the Grand Slams at the age of 22 (Shelton corrected us as he is yet to reach the last eight in Paris).

We did have something to celebrate after defending women’s doubles champions Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniakova booked their spot in the semi-finals after a 7-6, 6-3 win over 10th seeds Timea Babos and Luisa Stefani

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Before we get into the action, massive big up to everyone who showed up and showed out for us at Boxpark Croydon on Sunday (Day 7). We had a blast and it was a pleasure meeting you all.

Ben “10” Shelton is through to his first Wimbledon quarter–final after a 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(1), 7-5 victory over Lorenzo Sonego. The head-to-head now reads 4-1 to the American.

The 10th seed made a sluggish start and dropped his first set of the tournament to the Italian who he was facing for the third Grand Slam in a row.

Shelton recovered well in the second set, winning it 6-1. At 1-1, Shelton held from 15-40 down and took over after that, breaking Sonego in the next game, then holding with ease before breaking the Italian again en route to securing it.

The third set was a much tighter affair. The pair exchanged breaks at 3-3, then both held until 6-6. It was one-way traffic in the tiebreak with Shelton wrapping it up 7-1.

The fourth set followed the third, both men were holding comfortably until Sonego, serving to stay in the match at 5-6, fumbled. Shelton hit a clean return winner at the start of the game and would eventually break the Italian for a fourth time to seal victory.

Jannik Sinner or Grigor Dimitrov await in the last eight.

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Friend of the pod Tumaini Carayol joins in Lucy’s absence to go through the day’s action.

Hailey Baptiste versus Mirra Andreeva did not feel like a 6-1, 6-3 match. The American, playing on No 1 Court for the first time in her career, made a nervy start but tightened things up in the second set. Baptiste though can be proud of her third-round run at Wimbledon on debut. The 23-year-old American is trending in the right direction in the rankings and has “a game made for the natural surfaces”, according to Tumaini.

The Guardian man also shares his thoughts on Iga Swiatek-Danielle Collins, which was the match he was assigned to for the day, and also talks about the Aryna Sabalenka-Emma Raducanu third-round match that took place on Day 5.

In the final match on No 1 Court, Ben Shelton looked good against lucky loser Marton Fucsovics. Shelton, making a habit of winning in straight sets at SW19 this year, won 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-2. The match felt like it was on American’s racket from ball one – even in the second-set tiebreak, a devilish slice backhand set the American on his way to stamping further authority on the match.

The 10th seed will face Lorenzo Sonego in the fourth round. It will be the third Grand Slam in a row the two have faced each other.

Listen out for a post-match press snippet from Shelton. We also talk you through a funny/awkward exchange between the American and a US-based journalist.

Grab a FREE ticket to our Wimbledon watch party at Playbox at Box Park Croydon for the 6th July! https://boxpark.co.uk/events/black-spin-global-wimbledon-watch-along/

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John Barrett, interviewed by Yolanda Hester, Nov 6, 2023, for the Arthur Ashe Oral History Project, an initiative of Arthur Ashe Legacy at UCLA. The oral history is from the Center for Oral History Research, University of California.

Credits for instrumental: Caught in the Middle (Instrumental) by Amarent, Free Music Archive, CC BY

Ben Shelton needed just 71 seconds to get the job done against Rinky Hijikata – 6-2, 7-5, 6-4. The American 10th seed served out the match to love, and with an ace on match point, to book his place in the third round. Lucy asked Shelton to talk about the technical changes he has made this season and how they have impacted his grass-court game.

The 10th-seeded American’s next opponent will be Marton Fucsovics after the Hungarian lucky loser won the one-set shootout against Gael Monfils final score was 6-4, 1-6, 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4. This match was also carried over from Day 4 after being suspended for bad light. La Monf got broken at 2-2 and was unable to recover. In his post-match presser, Monfils spoke about what he thought went wrong in the decider.

Naomi Osaka made a great start against Anastasia Pavlychenkova taking the first set but lost in three – 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. The four-time Grand Slam champion trailed 0-3 in the second and third sets, before drawing level but serving at 4-5 in the decider, Pavlyuchenkova broke and took the match. Osaka was understandably low during press but did give a positive, upbeat answer in response to a question from a Japanese journalist.

Madison Keys, the sixth seed, lost 6-3, 6-3 sets to Laura Siegemund which was in keeping with the top seeds falling in the first week at SW19 – Aryna Sabalenka is the only top-10 seed left in the top half of the women’s draw. Was a puzzling defeat for the American who seemed to struggle with the German’s variety.

Listen out for post-match press snippets from Shelton, Monfils and Osaka.

Grab a FREE ticket to our Wimbledon watch party at Playbox at Box Park Croydon for the 6th July! https://boxpark.co.uk/events/black-spin-global-wimbledon-watch-along/

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Leslie Allen, interviewed by Chinyere Nwonye, Nov 19, 2021, for the Arthur Ashe Oral History Project, an initiative of Arthur Ashe Legacy at UCLA. The oral history is from the Center for Oral History Research, University of California.

Credits for instrumental: Caught in the Middle (Instrumental) by Amarent, Free Music Archive, CC BY

It was a later start for us today and the match we were most looking forward to did not disappoint. Wimbledon main-draw debutants Hailey Baptiste and Victoria Mboko faced off in the second round and it was the American that came out on top winning 7-6(6), 6-3. Mboko led in the first set and even built up a lead in the tiebreak, but Baptiste’s fighting spirit and experience saw her through.

Ben Shelton and Rinky Hijikata will finish their match on Day 5 after bad light halted their second-round encounter. Shelton was leading 6-2, 7-5, 5-4 and actually had three match points at 5-3 on Hijikata’s serve but the Australian managed to hold. The American 10th seed will serve for the match on Day 5.

Gael Monfils lost the first set against Marton Fucsovics but put things right in the second, winning it 6-1. La Monf won the third 6-4 and served for the match at 5-4 in the fourth before Fucsovics broke back – the Hungarian went on to take the set in the tiebreak. They will play out the deciding fifth on Day 5.

Felix Auger-Aliassime fell to Jan-Lennard Struff in four sets – 3-6, 7-6(9), 6-3, 6-4. This match started on Day 3 but was suspended due to bad light. It was a tough loss for the Canadian who was looking forward to the prospect of facing defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the third round.

Listen out for post-match press snippets from Baptiste, Mboko and Auger-Aliassime.

Grab a FREE ticket to our Wimbledon watch party at Playbox at Box Park Croydon for the 6th July! https://boxpark.co.uk/events/black-spin-global-wimbledon-watch-along/

Rate, review and share on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Audioboom. And join the conversation on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and Bluesky.

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Otis Smith interviewed by Chinyere Nwonye, Sept 4, 2022, for the Arthur Ashe Oral History Project, an initiative of Arthur Ashe Legacy at UCLA. The oral history is from the Center for Oral History Research, University of California.

Credits for instrumental: Caught in the Middle (Instrumental) by Amarent, Free Music Archive, CC BY