Black Spin Global: The Podcast

Ladies’ finals day did not disappoint, but it was not to be for our girl Jasmine Paolini who lost out to 31st seed Barbora Krejcikova in three quality sets.

Paolini more than gave a good account of herself in a match that was a great advert for women’s tennis and doubles, as both had their moments with great net play.

The Italian, understandably not as upbeat in press afterwards, was still positive about her incredible Wimbledon campaign and her remarkable 2024 season.

In the doubles final, fourth seeds Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniakova secured the title after beating second seeds Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski in two tiebreak sets on Centre Court. 

First-time Grand Slam doubles champion Townsend was emotional afterwards and both ladies were in great form in press.

Day 11 saw Jasmine Paolini book her place in her second consecutive Grand Slam final, and first at Wimbledon, after a three-set epic against Donna Vekic.

The Croatian was the first to settle and took the opening set before Paolini upped it in set two to draw level and then persevered in the third to take it in the match tiebreak.

The Italian was good vibes in press, as always, and spoke about how “crazy” it is to make two major finals in a row and also the prospect of facing Elena Rybakina or Barbora Krejcikova in Saturday’s championship match.

We look ahead to Day 12 where Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniakova will be in ladies’ doubles semi-final action and Lucy reveals what she expects to see from the men in the singles semi-finals.

Day 9 was a historic one for our Italian-Ghanaian sister Jasmine Paolini who secured her place in the semi-finals with a fine 6-2, 6-1 victory over 19th seed Emma Navarro. The 28-year-old becomes the first Italian woman to reach the last four at SW19.

Paolini is one match away from her second consecutive Grand Slam final but will have to get past Donna Vekic on Thursday.

Listen out for presser snippets from a typically upbeat Paolini. Tumaini also shares some nice anecdotes from this year’s Championships.

Day 8 saw our young French first-timers Giovanni Mpetishi Perricard and Arthur Fils fall in the fourth round to two talented seeded opponents – (25)Lorenzo Musetti Musetti and world No 9 Alex de Minaur respectively.

Birthday boy Mpetshi Perricard was in good spirits in press and spoke about looking forward to playing the US Open as a direct main-draw entrant. As for Fils, he shared his thoughts about playing on No 1 Court for the first time.

Listen out for an interview snippet from Musetti who spoke about what it was like facing Mpetshi Perricard’s serve. We preview Jasmine Paolini’s quarter-final against Emma Navarro on Centre Court on Day 9 and highlight some juniors.

Day 7 was an eventful one, starting with the women’s match of the tournament thus far – Madison Keys vs Jasmine Paolini, where Keys unfortunately retired due to a left thigh injury.

We then discussed Paolini’s next opponent for the quarter-finals, Emma Navarro who beat Coco Gauff 6-4 6-3, ending Gauff’s singles journey at SW19. 

We also get into Ben Shelton’s straight-sets defeat to world No 1 Jannik Sinner on No.1 Court – the American had not had a day off coming into the fourth-round.

And to close we shoutout some of the doubles winners.

Listen out for interview snippets from Gauff, Shelton and a funny one from Paolini.

*DISCLAIMER: Apologies in advance for the audio quality from Lucy’s mic*

For Day 6 at Wimbledon, we are joined by Anastasia Folorunso from the Ground Pass Podcast, as Eugene is OOO for this weekend.

We discuss the success of Frenchmen Arthur Fils and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard making it to the fourth round for the first time. As well as Ben Shelton, who won another explosive five-setter against Denis Shapovalov.

We also shoutout to the doubles matches and British junior Hephzibah Oluwadare who won her opening match today.

Listen out for interview snippets from Shelton, Mpetshi Perricard and Fils.

Day 5 was a washout, for the most part, in terms of play on the outside courts but there were some top performances on No 1 and Centre Court where Jasmine Paolini and Coco Gauff picked up wins as well as Madison Keys (on Court 17).
Frances Tiafoe versus Carlos Alcaraz lived up to the billing on Centre as the pair provided another five-set thriller. And Gael Monfils came up short against Grigor Dimitrov but was happy with his run at SW19 where he likes “the vibes”.

Listen out for interview snippets from Paolini, Keys, Monfils and Tiafoe. Looking ahead to Day 6, Ben Shelton resumes against Denis Shapovalov and Arthur Fils and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard play their third-round matches.

Day 4 was a good one in terms of weather, matches and wins for Madison Keys, Arthur Fils, Gael Monfils, Ben Shelton and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.

Robin Montgomery’s Wimbledon came to an end though but the 19-year-old qualifier gave a good account of herself on and off the court at SW19.

Listen out for interview snippets from Keys, Fils, Shelton and Mpetshi Perricard. And looking ahead to Day 5, Frances Tiafoe gets his Centre Court wish, while Jasmine Paolini, Monfils and Coco Gauff all play on No 1 Court.

The weather put a damper on things, as play didn’t start on the outside courts until after 1pm, but Day 3 saw Coco Gauff, Frances Tiafoe and Jasmine Paolini all secure impressive victories. Gael Monfils also leads Stanislas Wawrinka.

Christopher Eubanks and Felix Auger-Aliassime both came up short in different ways in the first round. While Sloane Stephens just has doubles to focus on now and Naomi Osaka can look ahead to the Olympics.

Listen out for interview snippets from Gauff, Tiafoe and Paolini. And to close we go through Day 4’s order of play where Madison Keys, Ben Shelton and Robin Montgomery among others all feature.

Day two in the books that included monumental debut wins for lucky loser Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and qualifier Robin Montgomery. Ben Shelton and Arthur Fils also registered impressive victories in their own right.


There were also tough five-set defeats for British wildcard Paul Jubb and Swedish qualifier Elias Ymer. And qualifier Alycia Parks fell short in her first-round match.


Listen out for interview snippets from Jubb, Shelton, Mpetshi Perricard, Montgomery and Ymer. And to close we go through Day 3’s order of play which includes last year’s quarter-finalist Christopher Eubanks.