Tennis Unfiltered

Calvin Betton is in Madrid, George Bellshaw is in recovery again and James Gray is in a dark, lonely Pembrokeshire car park. They discussed... - Carlos Alcaraz has pulled out of the French Open, and perhaps beyond, with an ongoing wrist injury - Jannik Sinner is now a 70 per cent favourite to win Roland Garros, but who is his closest challenger? Alexander Zverev can't beat him, Novak Djokovic isn't fit... the lads assess the challengers - Rafa Jodar is on a breakout run and beat fellow young gun Joao Fonseca - might he join the Possibles in Paris? - Has a sickness bug ruined our chances of understanding the WTA power rankings at Madrid? - Venus Williams has lost 10 (TEN) singles matches in a row but is still getting wildcards - The players are torn over electronic line-calling after a number of marks appeared to differ from the call made by Hawk-Eye Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Every Tuesday at 6pm, another hour of tennis news, reviews and opinions drops from James Gray, Calvin Betton and George Bellshaw. This week they discussed... Jannik Sinner wins his first major clay-court title by beating Carlos Alcaraz in a wind-swept Monte Carlo final Has Sinner finally cracked the last surface on which he has not won a slam? What does Alcaraz have to do to arrest his slump in their head-to-head battle? Daniil Medvedev produced one of the all-time meltdowns in Monaco, beaten 6-0, 6-0 by Matteo Berrettini and marmalising a racket on court Valentin Vacherot reached the semi-final of his home tournament and said he would rather win that than a grand slam! Mika Stojsavljevic and Harriet Dart led Great Britain to an unlikely Billie Jean King Cup victory over Australia And more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Calvin Betton is on R&R in NYC but he is not MIA - he's bang up to speed to join James Gray in south London and George Bellshaw back from Benidorm for another Tennis Unfiltered podcast. They discussed most things that happened in tennis over the last week, including... - Jannik Sinner ended Jiri Lehecka's rather charmed run to the Miami final with a brutal serving performance to complete the 'Sunshine Double', the eighth man to complete the feat - Sinner has also now won three Masters titles in a row WITHOUT DROPPING A SET... no one had ever even won two in a row - Aryna Sabalenka also doubled up, winning Miami after Indian Wells, in an entertaining final win over Coco Gauff. She is only the fifth woman to win it, joining an elite club of Steffi Graf, Kim Clijsters, Victoria Azarenka and Iga Swiatek. - Arthur Fils is most certainly back, winning the match of the tournament against Tommy Paul - Amanda Anisimova splits with her coach Hendrik Vleeshouwers - David Goffin announces he is retiring - The WTA are done with Finals in Saudi Arabia And more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Calvin Betton is on training camp in North Carolina, George Bellshaw is dragging himself through Ironman regimes and James Gray is, well, still here. They're back to talk all about tennis from the last seven days, which included the end of Indian Wells, a whole host of withdrawals from Miami and another glimpse of the new structure of the tennis tour post-Saudi spend. Jannik Sinner won his first Indian Wells title, finally ending Daniil Medvedev's winning run... ...but is the Russian, who is now back in the top 10, ready to become the third guy in men's tennis? Jack Draper is back to winning ways, beating Novak Djokovic en route the quarter-finals... ...but was he unfairly "hindered" by a hindrance call in his last eight defeat? Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka slogged it out in the women's final... ...and while Sabalenka won to ding-dong the head-to-head back in her favour, is it really a match-up that helps the women's game? That and SO much more... LINKS Charlie Eccleshare and Matt Futterman on the new tennis tour: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7106736/2026/03/12/tennis-atp-calendar-tournaments-saudi-arabia-buybacks/ THAT hindrance call: https://x.com/TennisTV/status/2032299932947005764 An interview with Eugenie Bouchard: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tennis/2026/03/16/eugenie-bouchard-interview-i-understand-raducanu-pressure Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Calvin Betton gives us the inside scoop on what life in Dubai is like right now with Henry Patten, Harri Heliovaara and Boris Chernov all stuck in the United Arab Emirates, where at time of recording the airspace remains closed until further notice as a result of Iranian air strikes. And with George Bellshaw away, Ben Rothenberg of Bounces (https://www.benrothenberg.com/) fills in as our resident red head, while James Gray anchors as usual. They discussed.. - The chaos in Dubai where no one seems to have a good way out of the city - Harri and Henry winning the doubles title with explosions in the background - Daniil Medvedev finally ends the curse by winning a repeat title, but with an asterisk after Tallon Griekspoor pulls out injured - WTA Austin introduces a "Rage Room" for private racket smashes, but no one knows if Taylor Townsend used it after losing to Peyton Stearns in the final - Taylor Fritz says the Dunlop ball at Indian Wells is going to get very slow indeed - And finally, Jack Draper's haircut Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Calvin Betton is in Delray, James Gray is in Bormio and George Bellshaw is our northern (London) star, constant and unchanging. They're back round at the microphone to talk about the last week of tennis... - Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka pull out of the mandatory Dubai tournament... - ...and the tournament director calls them out on it! - Victoria Mboko beats Elena Rybakina en route to the Doha final... but then loses to Karolina Muchova - Destinee Aiava announces her shock retirement with a massive FU to the tennis establishment - No meat in Acapulco - Serena Williams officially reinstated - A great run for Jack Pinnington Jones ...and SO much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Australian Open 2026 is in the books. Carlos Alcaraz and Elena Rybakina are our two singles champions, and we have ANOTHER British doubles champion and everyone can take a deep breath (for a bit). ATP Tour coach Calvin Betton, The i Paper sports news editor James Gray and tennis broadcaster and writer George Bellshaw are here to look back at it all. They discussed... - Is Novak Djokovic a genuine contender in other slams this year or will this prove to be his last hurrah? - Which slams with Carlos Alcaraz win this year and is the calendar year grand slam achievable? - Has Aryna Sabalenka got a problem in finals? - Will Elena Rybakina wait another four years to go from two majors to three? - How will we remember the 2026 Australian Open? And SO much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Molly McElwee subs in for George Bellshaw to review the women's singles final at the Australian Open with James Gray. - Elena Rybakina came from 3-0 down in the deciding set to win her second grand slam title - World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka has now lost three of her last four major finals, including two in a row in Melbourne - Rybakina's coach Stefano Vukov was presented with a trophy too, despite his chequered history working with Rybakina Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

James Gray and George Bellshaw are back around the microphone after two MORE straight-sets wins - Aryna Sabalenka saved break points in the opening game against Elina Svitolina but never looked back after that.. - ...except when she was called for a hindrance in the fourth game of the match, a decision she says "p***ed her off" but also inspired her to win the match - Elena Rybakina came through the challenge of the religiously consistent Jessica Pegula to set up a repeat of the 2023 final Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Calvin Betton is back and anything BUT boring... however, is the Australian Open turning into a boring tournament? George Bellshaw and James Gray join him to discuss... - Ben Shelton knocking out Casper Ruud to add another top-eight seed to the men's quarter-finals, making it seven in total and 13 across the two singles draws - Lorenzo Musetti sets up a clash with Novak Djokovic by putting Taylor Fritz out of his misery - All four women's matches end in straightforward straight sets victories for the favourites AND, as a special treat, here is a free link to read James's column for The i Paper: https://inews.co.uk/sport/tennis/novak-djokovic-getting-lucky-4193977?utm_campaign=PNITUx1xSr1ai7e&ito=gifted_article&data-target=gifted_article&utm_source=XJPLeh5koSHChZEU Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ben Rothenberg of Bounces and James Gray look back (mostly) at the seventh day of action at the Australian Open. - Jannik Sinner lost the opening set to Elliot Spizziri in sweltering conditions, which triggered the heat rule, shut the roof and seemingly swung the match in the Italian's favour - Madison Keys's title defence goes on in fine style - And why Daniil Medvedev vs Le-arn-er Tien is the match of the day on Sunday And loads more! Go check out Ben's work on Bounces (https://www.benrothenberg.com/), it really is excellent. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

James Gray and George Bellshaw look back at the fifth day of action at the 2026 Australian Open. - No 10 seed Belinda Bencic is shocked by qualifier Nikola Bartunkova, the teenage sensation who served a six-month ban for inadvertently ingesting banned substance TMZ - Stan Wawrinka kept rolling back the years to beat Arthur Gea in five sets and set up a third-round clash with Taylor Fritz - Naomi Osaka wound up Sorana Cirstea, knocked her out the tournament and then hung her out to dry. Just watch: https://x.com/tntsports/status/2014296632775336143 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yes, the hat. Not Brooklyn Beckham, not the actual tennis. Naomi Osaka's incredible hat. George Bellshaw and James Gray are keen to focus on some other things... eventually. Because THAT. HAT. It was also a cracking first-round tennis match. But the hat. Where does she go from now?! LINKS The hat in question: https://x.com/tntsports/status/2013590606128263313https://x.com/tntsports/status/2013590606128263313 How are you faring in fantasy tennis? Check here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/125MgiVs97Xnbi9OQ5UdXck-VM2liwwxbQMVxeevJIIY/edit?resourcekey=&gid=1734778613#gid=1734778613 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices