On Monday Match Analysis, Gill Gross previews Indian Wells with quarter-by-quarter predictions, dark horses, upset alerts and popcorn matchups. Top-seed Novak Djokovic returns to the California desert for the first time since 2019, two-seed Carlos Alcaraz defends his title, three-seed Jannik Sinner looks to stay perfect this season and four-seed Daniil Medvedev is the reigning finalist. Rafael Nadal returns from injury against longtime adversary Milos Raonic. After the final weekend prediction, we’ll chat with Tennis Channel analyst Nico Pereira to debrief on the Golden Swing of South America. We discuss the Cinderella runs, Sebastian Baez’s growing collection of titles and the calendar trends that could affect tennis in South America. Lastly, Nico explains how the Players Council works. CORRECTION: Baez has won six titles, not five as stated.

00:00 Intro

02:30 Djokovic Quarter

12:03 Medvedev Quarter

22:12 Sinner Quarter

30:40 Alcaraz Quarter

36:27 Final Weekend

39:18 Nico on Golden Swing

42:52 Calendar Changes

49:27 Sebastian Baez

54:37 Players Council

On this week's Monday Match Analysis, Gill Gross recaps his experience going to Las Vegas for the first ever Netflix Slam with Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz. We'll start by going over the match itself and why just the two taking the court was a victory. Then we'll get into the roadtrip to Vegas, the city itself, hotels, gambling and all the sort. As we transition to Sunday, Gill talks about his experience inside the arena. Lastly, we'll cover the long-term viability of this event as an annual exhibition.

00:00 Intro

Gill Gross answers your comments, including: is Frances Tiafoe correct that tennis is the hardest sport in the world, can Daniil Medvedev repeat last year's Sunshine Double success, why do Czech Republic and Russia produce so many stars, should there be a January Masters 1000, has Medvedev's career already been a success, what can Gilles Simon add to Medvedev's team, how can lower ranked players earn a better living in tennis, are sparse crowds in Middle East tournaments a problem, why have Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka's nerve management gotten worse with age, why has Lorenzo Musetti struggled recently, should Naomi Osaka and Emma Raducanu be taking wildcards and who is most likely to win the Sunshine Double?

On this week's Monday Match Analysis, Gill Gross breaks down Jordan Thompson's Los Cabos win over Casper Ruud to win his first career title and Karen Khachanov's takedown of 18-year old Jakub Mensik. First we'll open with some quick takes on Sebastian Baez winning his first 500 in Rio. We'll try to unpack Thompson's late career improvements before going to the film to analyze the tactic that he used to beat Ruud on so many big points. We'll also address the positive elements to Ruud's baseline game, including his backhand. Then we'll get into Khachanov's performance against Mensik, plus deep dive into the crucial 1st set tiebreak. Finally, Gill explains why Mensik is his new favorite prospect on tour.

00:00 Intro

00:45 Baez Wins Rio

03:25 Thompson Overview

07:24 Thompson-Ruud Analysis

25:55 Khachanov d. Mensik

34:50 Mensik Monologue

On this week's Mailbag, Gill Gross is joined by Abigail Johnson to answer your comments. First, we'll discuss the breakout weeks for teenagers Jakub Mensik and Joao Fonseca. We'll react to Holger Rune reuniting with Patrick Mouratoglou as head coach. Then it's to the comment section: how can Jannik Sinner be defeated, why is Andy Murray slumping, are tennis players becoming robotic, can serve and volley make a comeback, why is Lorenzo Musetti struggling, should something be done about Andrey Rublev's self-harm habit, Botic Van de Zandschulp's code violation, singles players ruining doubles draws and Emma Raducanu discourse.

00:00 Intro

04:40 NewGen

23:45 Rune & Mouratoglou

26:55 Jannik Sinner

37:50 Andy Murray

46:20 Robotic Tennis

51:15 Serve & Volley

55:40 Lorenzo Musetti

59:20 Rublev Self-Harm

1:07:40 Botic Code Violation

1:09:50 Doubles Withdrawals

1:14:30 Emma Raducanu

On this week's Monday Match Analysis, Gill Gross reacts to next week's historic ATP Rankings revelation. Stefanos Tsitsipas's drop to #11 means there will be no one-handed backhands in the top-10. Is this just a moment in history, or is it the start of a non-reversing trend? Then, we'll cover Jannik Sinner's straight set win over Alex De Minaur in Rotterdam, which preserves the Italian's undefeated 2024 record. Finally we'll go to Rotterdam, where Facundo Diaz Acosta became a first-time champion and Carlos Alcaraz took a loss to Nicolas Jarry, extending his title drought.

00:00 Intro

00:55 One-Handed BHs

07:25 Sinner d. De Minaur

16:19 Facundo Diaz Acosta

17:55 Jarry d. Alcaraz

On this week's Mailbag, Gill is joined by Coach Jonathan Stokke, a former Duke player and host of the Baseline Intelligence Podcast. We answer your comments including: is there a place for the one-handed backhand in the modern game, can a player who hits two forehands like Teodor Davidov have success in the pros, why are you losing matches even though you hit the ball better than your opponent, should players be taught to slide on hardcourt, what are the pros and cons of training with a ball machine, is Daniil Medvedev's technique as unorthodox as everyone says, where does a player get power from, how do elite pros still have weak parts of their game, should more players hit slice for their 2nd serve?

00:00 Intro

03:00 One-Handed BHs

8:30 Two Forehands

12:40 Winning Matches

19:55 Sliding on Hard

23:43 Ball Machine Training

29:07 Medvedev's Technique

35:08 The Source of Power

41:20 Elite Player Weaknesses

46:25 Slice 2nd Serves

On this week’s Monday Match Analysis, Gill Gross dives into the championship Sunday action in Marseille, where Ugo Humbert beat Grigor Dimitrov, and Dallas, where Tommy Paul took out Marcos Giron. We’ll talk about what it means that Humbert is top-10 in ELO and how he bothered Dimitrov tactically. We’ll discuss Paul’s elite court coverage and how he’s trying to close the gap to the top-10. Finally, we’ll cover a surprising title run for Cordoba qualifier Luciano Darderi.

00:00 Intro

00:45 Humbert Marseille

18:00 Paul Dallas

29:33 Darderi Cordoba

On this week's Mailbag, Gill gets you caught up on his time off, including an experience at PGA Golf's Waste Management Open, before answering your comments: what to make of Holger Rune splitting with coaches Boris Becker and Sevrin Luthi, how tennis should handle Saudi Arabian involvement as Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune agree to an exhibition in Riyadh, takeaways from Alexander Bublik's Montpellier title, explaining variance in hard court speed, Jessica Pegula's breakup with Coach David Witt, the ATP Reality Show, Andy Roddick's "served" podcast and much more.

00:00 Intro

00:58 Gill’s Vacation

05:40 Rune Coaching

20:17 Saudi Exhibition

37:48 Bublik Montpellier

42:33 Court Speed Explainer

43:50 Top 10 Hardcourt Prefs

45:37 Pegula Splits w Witt

47:50 Sinner Rest of Year

49:28 Talent Maximizing

54:00 ATP Reality Show

57:15 Roddick on Alcaraz

59:50 Cerundolo Struggles

1:00:44 Roddick Pod

1:02:58 Active Tennis Viewing

This is the post-Australian Open Mega Mailbag. Gill Gross answers your comments, including: What is the status of Carlos Alcaraz and his title draught, how do the elite backhands in the Australian Open semifinals stack up, is men’s tennis more consistent than women’s due to best-of-five, is Novak Djokovic’s loss to Jannik Sinner a sign of lack of motivation, is this current top-four ready to dominate, what can Sinner improve from here, is Daniil Medvedev the best one-slam player ever, how can tennis media get better and thoughts on Andy Roddick’s new podcast, an update on Three, my take on Patrick Mouratoglou’s Djokovic take, is Rafael Nadal’s stock up or down after January, revisiting my top-10 prediction, Alcaraz overreaction and expectations, plus much more!

00:00 Intro

01:53 Alcaraz Status

06:10 Elite Backhands

10:15 Men vs. Women Dominance

14:03 Djokovic Motivation

19:49 Tennis Outfits

20:30 Top 4 Dominance

22:20 Sinner Next Steps

25:48 Bopanna and Hsieh

28:02 More Comebacks

29:15 Best 1 Slam Player

31:41 Medvedev Style Change

36:11 Tennis Media

41:07 Three Podcast

42:31 Cazaux vs. Prizmic

45:28 Djokovic-Sinner H2H

46:39 WTA Consistency

48:57 Mouratoglou on Novak

55:01 Nadal Stock

58:25 Sinner Drive Volley

1:00:55 Sinner Surprises

1:04:47 Top-10 Prediction

1:08:14 Alcaraz Overreactions

1:13:20 Alcaraz Expectations

1:11:55 Hot Takes

1:16:44 Nadal Scheduling

1:18:15 Cam Norrie

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