Episodes

  • Draper wins in Vienna, Djokovic is done for 2024 and Kyrgios's pyramid conspiracies

    Draper wins in Vienna, Djokovic is done for 2024 and Kyrgios's pyramid conspiracies
    Oct 29 2024
    Calvin Betton, George Bellshaw and James Gray are all in England at the same time, a genuine rarity this year, but are still all sitting in their respective living rooms refusing to actually spend time together. Instead, they talked about... Jack Draper's second career title, beating Karen Khachanov in Vienna to move up to No 15 in the world Novak Djokovic pulling out of the Paris Masters and perhaps calling time on his whole season Nick Kyrgios raising his head above the parapet on Louis Theroux's podcast, positing all kinds of wild theories on the pyramids, the flat earth and his own tennis abilities Dominic Thiem's retirement and legacy Maria Sharapova's induction into the Tennis Hall of Fame Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard's serve And so much more... LINKS The Louis Theroux Podcast with Nick Kyrgios: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4KpdqmxkTVSO9qy50GZ2SD Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard has always been a giant: https://x.com/Nigee_Uno/status/1850189321619337633 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 21 mins
  • Swiatek's new coach, the 'Six Kings' of Saudi Arabia and James's wedding reviewed

    Swiatek's new coach, the 'Six Kings' of Saudi Arabia and James's wedding reviewed
    Oct 22 2024
    Calvin Betton calls in from Vienna, James Gray from honeymoon and George Bellshaw... is here also. We started by answering a listener email from Blair, who asked: “I'm taking a few too many long haul flights in the next couple of months, and am looking for distraction recommendations. Which matches from the past 30 years would you recommend I download to watch? Any documentaries? I particularly enjoyed the Vilas one, so anything like that'd be great.” Here are some links to the docs mentioned. Agassi vs Sampras: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ACFmPyN80g&ab_channel=AustralianOpenTV Federer vs Safin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agF1HkdpR6s&ab_channel=AustralianOpenTV 1984 Wimbledon final, McEnroe vs Connors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQS-XriW9p8&ab_channel=JohnMcEnroeChannel Girls on Tour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnHcaki-PO8&ab_channel=RealStories In other news... Iga Swiatek hires Wim Fissette, saying: "I said many times that my career is a marathon for me, not a sprint and I’m working, operating and making decisions with this approach. I want to say that I’m very excited and looking forward to working with Wim. He seems to have a great attitude, vision and huge experience at the very top level of tennis.” Aryna Sabalenka passes Iga Swiatek as world No 1 despite neither playing this week Danielle Collins backtracks on retiring, saying: "The Danimal story has not reached its conclusion. I will be back on tour in 2025.” She added: "Dealing with endometriosis and fertility is a massive challenge for many women and something that I am actively traversing, but I am fully confident in the team I am working with. It is just going to take longer than I thought." In the “Six Kings Slam” event in Riyadh, Daniil Medvedev earns a $21,739 a minute after getting hammered by Jannik Sinner 6-0, 6-3, while Holger Rune reportedly earned 68 per cent of his annual tournament earnings But is Saudi Arabia changing? Novak Djokovic beats Rafael Nadal to end their rivalry and both gave gushing tributes as you would expect Forgotten man Roberto Bautista Agut beats Jiri Lehecka to win Antwerp, the second-oldest tour-level champion this year at 36 Grigor Dimitrov opens up about anxiety and panic attacks on court after losing the final in Stockholm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 17 mins
  • Rafael Nadal's legacy and why Frances Tiafoe deserves a ban

    Rafael Nadal's legacy and why Frances Tiafoe deserves a ban
    Oct 16 2024
    Calvin Betton dials in from Antwerp to join James Gray. George Bellshaw is, unforgivably, on holiday. Rafael Nadal announced his retirement this week, causing Calvin to ask whether he is actually the most underrated or perhaps most influential player of all-time ...and whether he will sign off on a high by winning the Davis Cup The full decision from CAS that reduced Simona Halep's ban for testing positive to just nine months has been published Frances Tiafoe, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev have all been mouthing off at umpires PLUS Your questions answered Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 29 mins
  • Sinner vs Alcaraz or Federer vs Nadal?

    Sinner vs Alcaraz or Federer vs Nadal?
    Oct 8 2024
    It's the clash of the eras this week as Mats Wilander's comments on Eurosport spark an intense debate about whether Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have already eradicated the legacy of the Big Four. Carlos Alcaraz beats Jannik Sinner, who had chances of his own, to win the China Open and wrestle control of their head-to-head in an increasingly storied rivalry Arthur Fils wins a title in Tokyo and beats Taylor Fritz, Matteo Berrettini, Ben Shelton, Holger Rune and Ugo Humbert en route - but then crashes out in the first round a week later Davis Cup Group stages scrapped in favour of a return to post-US Open home and away ties Coco Gauff wins her second WTA 1000 title in China, returning to the top five and improving her final record to 8-1... ...but her match-up with Naomi Osaka disappointingly ended in a retirement as a back injury forced the Japanese player to walk off early Iga Swiatek has split with coach Tomasz Wiktorowski and is already looking for someone new LINKS FROM JG: "Many thanks to everyone who donated to my Cancer Research fundraiser. It made it all very worthwhile! If you would like to and missed out, here is the link." - https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/jamess-giving-page-139725 Hugh Clarke's beautifully crafted newsletter is here: https://substack.com/home/post/p-149701313 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 31 mins
  • Sinner doping case comes back to life, doubles gossip and the "Mount Rushmore" of tennis

    Sinner doping case comes back to life, doubles gossip and the "Mount Rushmore" of tennis
    Oct 1 2024
    Calvin Betton is still in China, George Bellshaw is still in London and James Gray is still complaining. They discuss... WADA has announced it is to appeal the decision to absolve Jannik Sinner of blame for his two positive tests for banned substance clostebol earlier this year. The case will be heard before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and the World Anti-Doping Agency will seek a ban of between one and two years Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram have broken up their long-standing, multiple grand slam-winning partnership. Salisbury will play with fellow Brit Neal Skupski in 2025 Naomi Osaka has won a match from a set down for the first time in 22 attempts, and now faces Coco Gauff in a blockbuster clash in Beijing British No 3 Jacob Fearnley has cracked the top 100 for the first time after winning his fourth Challenger title of the year Jack Draper is still struggling with the rigours of top-level tennis, injured again in Tokyo this week Marin Cilic has become the lowest ranked player ever - No 777 - to win an ATP title in Hangzhou If you want to donate to James's fundraisers, you can do so here: https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/jamess-giving-page-139725 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 37 mins
  • Gauff splits with Gilbert, Raducanu's latest injury setback and Laver Cup fallout

    Gauff splits with Gilbert, Raducanu's latest injury setback and Laver Cup fallout
    Sep 25 2024
    Calvin Betton tunes in from Beijing and George Bellshaw from north London to tell James Gray exactly what's wrong with the tennis world. Emma Raducanu told a reporter she was prioritising the Asian swing after a stripped-back schedule in the first half of the year, but after two wins in Seoul she suffered yet another injury, pulling out of the quarter-final with a foot injury and then withdraws from Beijing too. Coco Gauff has ended her partnership with coach Brad Gilbert just two weeks after her "disappointing" US Open title defence. Gilbert said: ”Coco, at just 20 years young, your future is incredibly bright, and I wish you nothing but continued success ahead. I’m excited for the next chapter in my coaching career.” Carlos Alcaraz has complained about tennis scheduling: ”Probably they are going to kill us in some way. Right now a lot of good players are going to miss a lot of tournaments because of that [injury].” Team Europe win the Laver Cup with Alcaraz winning the most points any player ever has - but did any of it mean anything? Beatriz Haddad Maia wins her fourth career title in South Korea Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 27 mins
  • Osaka hires Mouratoglou, Djokovic shrugs off ATP Finals and GB's Davis Cup flop

    Osaka hires Mouratoglou, Djokovic shrugs off ATP Finals and GB's Davis Cup flop
    Sep 17 2024
    James Gray is joined by George Bellshaw and Calvin Betton to discuss all the latest tennis news (and an injury update from our resident coach). Naomi Osaka splits with Wim Fisette and hires Patrick Mouratoglou as her new coach Novak Djokovic is on course to miss out on ATP World Tour Finals but says he isn't bothered by it Jack Draper jumps off a plane and into the Great Britain Davis Cup team, but to no great effect as they are drummed out by Canada and Argentina Dan Evans hints this could be his last appearance in GB shirt Rafael Nadal pulls out of the Laver Cup Sonay Kartal wins her first WTA title in Monastir and enters the top 100 for the first time Emma Raducanu has been picked for the BJK Cup Olivia Gadecki reaches the Guadalajara final from qualifying Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 27 mins
  • US Open review: Why Sinner won it, if Sabalenka can be stopped and more

    US Open review: Why Sinner won it, if Sabalenka can be stopped and more
    Sep 10 2024
    James Gray, Calvin Betton and George Bellshaw waited for the dust to settle... and then promptly started kicking it up again. Jannik Sinner wins the title in New York to become the king of hard courts Aryna Sabalenka is the queen too, or is she? Jack Draper gives a fine account of himself but hasn't impressed Martin Keown Have Jessica Pegula and Taylor Fritz both hit their ceiling PLUS Nick Kyrgios shows his true colours Vasek Pospisil defends the PTPA Calvin ducks the Davis Cup The final results of FTU: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1AB0u6pxiTiaY3kZMfjZZI60lSZ7g3GpJawK5bWxtsoI/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 26 mins