Tennis Unfiltered

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It is George Bellshaw off gallivanting this week, but he took his microphone so he tunes in from Madrid to join James Gray and Calvin Betton and talk all about this week's tennis.

- Juan Carlos Ferrero is back on tour, but not with Rafa Jodar, instead announcing that he has joined Team Ben Shelton to work with the American

- Jannik Sinner has also signed a new coach, bringing on Magnus Norman, for a long time the right-hand man of Stan Wawrinka, to work with Simone Vagnozzi

- Alexander Zverev has been confirmed as the second-oldest man to become world No 1 for the first time, but still has an awful record against other top-10 players

- Carlos Alcaraz is on fire, winning the Vienna title at a canter and producing endless highlight reels

- Valentin Vacherot has proven he is no one-trick pony

- Harriet Dart has finally won a WTA title at the age of 30, coming through qualifying and 15 hours of tennis to win in Guangzhou

- Elena Rybakina has confirmed she will be year-end world No 1

- Leylah Fernandez has hit a purple patch of form with Eric Hechtman

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James is back! Vietnam completed, James Gray of The i Paper returns to marshal George Bellshaw and Calvin Betton through another week of tennis news.

They discussed...

And more!

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Tom steps into the host’s chair alongside George Bellshaw and Calvin Betton to discuss what’s been happening across the tennis world this week, including...

Sonay Kartal’s remarkable run to the Wuhan final and what her comeback could mean for her ranking in 2027

Iga Swiatek’s struggles, Daniela Hantuchova’s controversial comments about player behaviour and the demands placed on tournament staff

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina winning his first Masters 1000 title in Shanghai, and the questions surrounding Rafa Jodar’s on-court behaviour

Alexander Zverev’s complaints about fatigue and whether the ATP schedule is really to blame

The Six Kings Slam being postponed until December amid unrest in the Middle East, reigniting debate around Saudi Arabia’s growing influence in tennis

A 24-year ban for Serbian player Stefan Milicevic and a wider discussion about match-fixing, tanking and the sport’s failure to protect lower-ranked players

Elina Svitolina and Gaël Monfils announcing their separation, and what the news tells us about the personal challenges athletes face away from the court

Audio Edited by Joshua Harrison.

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Tom steps into the host’s chair alongside George Bellshaw to discuss what’s been happening across the tennis world this week, including...

Coco Gauff speaking out against the racist abuse she received following the China Open video review controversy

Zheng Qinwen making history with a triumphant return to win the China Open

Novak Djokovic claiming his seventh China Open title and closing in on Roger Federer’s career title tally

Carlos Alcaraz returning to winning ways in Tokyo and his prospects for the rest of the season

Jannik Sinner bringing his season to an early close and Alexander Zverev becoming the new World No.1

The latest tennis bungles, including a name mix-up from the new Australian Open chief and Wimbledon’s comments on social media influencers

Kei Nishikori’s retirement and his lasting impact on Japanese tennis

Felix Auger-Aliassime appointing Ivan Ljubicic as his new coach

Audio Edited by Joshua Harrison.

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With James away on honeymoon, Tom steps into the host’s chair alongside George Bellshaw to discuss what’s been happening across the tennis world this week, including...

Daniil Medvedev’s disqualification against Novak Djokovic

Djokovic setting a new record for the most consecutive opening-match wins at a single tournament

Alexander Zverev’s struggles against the world’s top players and whether he is a genuine future No.1

Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina suffering early exits at the China Open

Sonay Kartal’s encouraging return from injury

Emma Navarro opening up about her health struggles and the physical and mental demands of life on tour

The latest development in Tara Moore’s legal case against the WTA

Tom will be back later this week with Calvin Betton, live from China, to discuss the Japan and China Open results, Kei Nishikori’s retirement, the Rafa Nadal Academy Slam and Jannik Sinner bringing his season to an early close.

Audio Edited by Joshua Harrison.

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PART ONE, LIVE FROM THE LAVER CUP

James Gray and George Bellshaw take in the atmosphere of the Laver Cup on Day 2, which featured arguably the best matches of the entire weekend. They also made up for lost time last week, when Iva Jovic's title in Mexico passed under the radar, as did a shock defeat for Alexander Eala.

PART TWO, WITH CALVIN BETTON

ATP tour coach Calvin Betton gives his assessment of the Laver Cup in London, including which player would make the best coach (and which one the worst!). He also chats with James about Luke Johnson's progress through the Chengdu draw, why Arthur Fils is in qualifiers and the formation of the Grand Slam Player Council.

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PART ONE, LIVE FROM THE COPPER BOX ARENA

James Gray and George Bellshaw headed to Great Britain vs Ecuador on Sunday to watch Henry Patten and Neal Skupski close out the tie, before Harry Wendelken made his Davis Cup debut.

They discussed the future of tennis's premier and most historic team tournament, why home and away ties really are still the best, and huge performances from Canada, South Korea and Austria in particular to book their place in the Final 8, due to take place in Bologna at the end of November.

PART TWO

Calvin Betton joins George and James to look back at the rest of this week's tennis news, including...

- Jack Draper reveals he will miss the rest of the year as he continues his recovering from a complicated arm injury

- Four-time grand slam doubles champion and former world No 1 Joe Salisbury has retired from tennis

- The WTA Finals will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina from 2027

- Juan Carlos Ferrero is coming back on tour next year... but won't confirm with whom!

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Have you been missing us?

That's because you're not in the Tennis Unfiltered Supporters Club.

Join here for daily podcasts during grand slams, exclusive group chats with the lads, and loads of bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/TennisUnfiltered

It is only with continued support of the TUSCers that we can keep doing the podcast the way we want to: covering the slams in-depth, retaining our unfiltered brand and not kowtowing to the tennis authorities. We are eternally gratefully to anyone who wants to keep helping us do this.

Now, on with the weekly podcast...

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CORRECTION: James erroneously claimed Elena Rybakina is based in Dubai. She has in fact lived in Slovakia for the last six years.

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Back together again! James Gray, Calvin Betton and George Bellshaw assess the US Open 2026.

In order, they discussed...

- Calvin reveals Henry Patten and Luke Johnson's plans for the rest of the year

- Elena Rybakina confirms her status as the best player in the world, leaving Aryna Sabalenka playing catch-up

- Where next for Iga Swiatek? Another collapse, another apparent inability to turn the tide when it starts going against her.

- Was Serena Williams a positive impact on the tournament?

- Alexander Zverev wins another slam this year, but has only had to play one top-10 player across the 14 matches at the majors he won. Lucky or opportunist?

- Ben Shelton makes his "big breakthrough" with a first appearance in a grand slam final, but we have seen this film before...

- Carlos Alcaraz came back, but not as 100 per cent Carlos Alcaraz

And more!

LINKS

- US Open report cards with every top-10 seed graded on their performance: https://substack.com/home/post/p-215571457

- Open Tabs, James empties his imaginary notebook filled with all the spare thoughts you might have missed from the US Open: https://substack.com/home/post/p-215928948

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If you want to listen to daily podcasts from the US Open - and every other grand slam - sign up for the Tennis Unfiltered Supporters Club: https://www.patreon.com/TennisUnfiltered

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If you want a FREE newsletter every day as well, you can sign up for that here: https://tennisunfiltered.substack.com/

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Today, Calvin and James discussed:

- Henry and Harri's continued success in the US Open men's doubles draw

- The Australian Open chief deciding it might be good to re-open the best-of-five debate in his first month in the job

- Carlos Alcaraz and Ben Shelton finishing at 3.33am and whether players really care about late finishes

- Mirra Andreeva choking two match points against Coco Gauff, who won in three sets

- Elena Rybakina beating Zheng Qinwen and becoming world No 1

And later...

- It's Alexander Zverev's US Open to lose after he cruised into the last four against Botic van de Zandschulp

- And he will play Karen Khachanov after Alexander Blockx's body 'gave up'

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The only way to get daily podcasts from the US Open in your feed every day is to subscribe to the Tennis Unfiltered Supporters Club: https://www.patreon.com/TennisUnfiltered

Every subscriber makes what we do possible: without TUSCers, the podcast literally would not be running, and every new person who joins makes it even more likely that we will be able to keep going in 2027.

Please get involved if you can. We need so many more of you.

In the meantime, here is the Day 6 podcast from Friday, and part of the newsletter below. Enjoy

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Women’s seeds out: No 7 Karolina Muchova (lost to Emma Navarro), No 15 Diana Shnaider (lost to Taylor Townsend), No 18 Ekaterina Alexandrova (lost to Marta Kostyuk)

Men’s seeds out: No 15 Alexander Bublik (lost to Tommy Paul); No 26 Arthur Rinderknech (lost to Daniil Medvedev)

I think the Serena Williams thing has run its course. That is not to say she is not a legend of the game, the GOAT in many people’s eyes, or that she will not continue to fill stadiums if she keeps playing. But you have to think the integrity of a tennis tournament will start to come under threat if she - in singles or doubles - does not start winning some matches. Caroline Wozniacki on ESPN hinted she was planning to play singles again in 2027. I’m not sure it’s a great idea.

This was the second time in four years that she and her sister had graced night session on Arthur Ashe for a first-round doubles match, beaten then and beaten on Friday night. The match against the No 14 seeds Maya Joint and Angel Chan did not even get onto ESPN’s main channel, instead relegated to ESPN2 so they could build up to Miami vs Stanford uninterrupted. Perhaps that is not such a big deal in the age of streaming but it felt significant.

And the Williamses weren’t particularly good, either. Chan and Joint are a decent pair - they won a WTA title only last week - but they were so much more polished and efficient than their more experienced opponents, who racked up unforced errors at a far greater rate. They did manage to nick the second set and Chan-Joint did get tight, but from 5-0 up in the deciding breaker, the Williams sisters choked, frankly. Joint has now beaten Serena twice this year but otherwise endured a difficult year, and it showed in pressure moments. Even when match point had been sealed, Joint was still apologising to her partner.

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