Black Spin Global: The Podcast

Coco Gauff goes down to Emma Navarro again, but this time in three. The 2023 champion’s serve deserted her at crucial times and she spoke openly about getting “other opinions” to help remedy the issue.

Frances Tiafoe put on another show under the lights, fending off a comeback by the in-form Australian Alexei Popyrin in four quality sets. Big Foe is now looking forward to his third consecutive quarter-final in New York where ninth seed Grigor Dimitrov awaits.

In the junior competition, Akasha Urhobo, Tyra Grant, Christasha McNeil and Matthew Forbes all secured first-round wins. And in women’s doubles, Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniakova ousted Heather Watson and Asia Muhammad.

Shout out to Anastaia from Ground Pass Pod for joining us.

Jasmine Paolini booked her place in the fourth round in comfortable fashion, seeing off fellow shorty Yulia Putintseva in straight sets. The Italian used the word “solid” to describe her performance which is exactly what it was. She has now reached the second week at all the Grand Slams in 2024 and is the first Italian woman in the open era to achieve that feat. 

Gabriel Diallo, playing in the third round of a major for the first time, showed he belonged at this level, going down in four sets to world No 14 Tommy Paul of America. The Canadian, ranked 143 in the world coming into New York, is on the brink of cracking the top 100 for the first time after a great US Open run and solid Challenger results in the lead up.

Listen out for post-match presser snippets from Paolini and Diallo.

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Coco Gauff stayed the course against Elina Svitolina, coming back from a set down in similar fashion to the match she played against the Ukrainian in Auckland earlier this year. Good to see the reigning champ find good form heading into the second week in New York.

Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton provide box office, primetime entertainment in the afternoon on Ashe as Tiafoe registers his first win against his compatriot. Novak Djokovic will not be his next opponent.

Madison Keys fell in three and we also had a few casualties in women’s doubles. Taylor Townsend and Donald Young did get their mixed doubles campaign off to a winning start though.

Listen out for interview snippets from Gauff, Shelton and Tiafoe.

Jasmine Paolini was through to the third round before we even got to the grounds after Karolina Pliskova retired due to a rolled ankle. Gabriel Diallo vs Arthur Fils did not disappoint and produced a result that we did not see coming.

Two-time champion Naomi Osaka fell to last year’s semi-finalist Karolina Muchova but had her chances in the two-set defeat – she was in relatively good spirits afterwards during her post-match press conference.

Listen out for interview snippets from Paolini, Diallo and Osaka.

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We had Madison Keys get things off to a winning start on Arthur Ashe, where Frances Tiafoe followed and looked impressive before Alexander Shevchenko retired. We’re getting the third-round matchup we all wanted after Ben Shelton got the job done against Roberto Bautista Agut. Coco Gauff played her first night match and handed Tatjana Maria a bagel en route to victory.

The day did start (and end) with a defeat after Taylor Townsend fell to Paula Badosa on Louis Armstrong. Rain and thunder halted Gael Monfils and Casper Ruud but play did resume as we were recording – La Monf eventually falling in four.

Listen out for interview snippets from Tiafoe, Shelton and Gauff.

We also address the Marketa Vondrousova cornrows situation.

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Day 2 was special! Naomi Osaka provided two shows, a fashion show and a tennis show, on Louis Armstrong as she saw off Jelena Ostapenko in straights. Arthur Fils and Gabriel Diallo will do battle in round two after both won their first-round matches in four.

There were defeats for Felix Auger-Aliassime and 18-year-old wildcard Matthew Forbes who looks like he has a bright future ahead.

Listen out for interview snippets from Osaka, Fils and Forbes.

Our first day at the US Open is in the books, and boy… what a day it was!

Ben Shelton, Coco Gauff, Madison Keys and Taylor Townsend all won in straight sets, while Gael Monfils and Frances Tiafoe took the four-set route.

There were defeats for debutant Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, Christopher Eubanks who went down in five, and Sloane Stephens who fell after dishing out a bagel.

Listen out for interview snippets from Shelton, Gauff and Townsend.

Lucy and Eugene big up Frances Tiafoe for making it to his first Masters 1000 final in Cincinnati – the American, back inside the top 20, fell to Jannik Sinner who escaped a ban after testing positive for a steroid that was unknowingly administered by his physio. Hear our thoughts and opinions. 

The final Grand Slam of the year (#USOpen) is here and we dive into the draw – Coco Gauff, Jasmine Paolini and Madison Keys are all seeded, third, fifth and 14th respectively. Seeds on the men’s side include Ben Shelton (13th), Felix Auger-Aliassime (19th), Tiafoe (20th) and Arthur Fils (24th).

Notable first-rounds include two-time champion Naomi Osaka taking on 10th seed Jelena Ostapenko, Paolini against 2019 champion Bianca Andreescu. Shelton opens against 2020 champion Dominic Thiem and is projected to meet compatriot Tiafoe in the third round.

As is tradition for Slam review pods, we reveal our picks for the men’s and women’s titles.

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Black Spin Global had the pleasure of being the official podcast partner of the 2024 Tennis Black List awards. The event, in its second year, was supported by the LTA, Barclays and YC Sports. 

We won the Media category, which was a huge honour, and were able to speak to some of the award winners including Tatenda Makoni, recipient of the Game Changer in the Community award as well as Leonard Ogbanna, who was also recognised for the work he does in his community.

We also spoke to co-founders Anne-Marie Batson and Richard Sackey-Addo who shared their thoughts on how the evening went and to close, the brilliant Alexis Simms, LTA EDI Development Partner, told us about his role at the LTA and the importance of such an event.

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Lucy and Eugene shout-out Arthur Fils, Alycia Parks and doubles pair Taylor Townsend and Asia Muhammad who all picked up titles since we were last on.

We share our thoughts on the Olympics and the huge role tennis played in the opening ceremony – great to see Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal and Amelie Mauresmo represent and what a time for Team USA flag bearer Coco Gauff alongside LeBron James. 

Props to Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani who won women’s doubles gold for Italy, Felix Auger-Aliassime who secured mixed doubles bronze with Gabriela Dabrowski for Canada – FAA also made it to the bronze-medal match in singles.

American Swing is well and truly underway and Townsend is having herself a time in singles. Frances Tiafoe confirmed he is now working with David Witt, Naomi Osaka is back on familiar ground and continues to show good signs (admirably played Cincinnati qualifying).

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