Tennis Unfiltered

Are you a member of the Tennis Unfiltered Supporters Club yet? Why not?! Come join the fun: https://www.patreon.com/TennisUnfiltered In the meantime, here is a free daily podcast from the US Open, offered free and in full because we're feeling generous. It features Calvin's thoughts on a lucky losers who pulled out injured, a very noisy train at one point, Novak Djokovic vomiting on court and a whole lot more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Calvin Betton is in Winston-Salem, the penultimate stop on his North American tour, while James Gray is sitting on his suitcase at home, waiting for a flight... paid for by members of the Tennis Unfiltered Supporters Club! Thanks to the TUSCers, James is heading to New York to make daily podcasts exclusively for members of our Patreon. To avoid missing out on our US Open coverage, head to: https://www.patreon.com/TennisUnfiltered Meanwhile, here's what James and Calvin discussed in this week's free pod: - Arthur Fils is hitting his straps with a first-ever Masters 1000 title, beating Frances Tiafoe in a ding-dong final that ended remarkably quickly for a three-set match - but maybe that is how the paper-thin Frenchman has to play in order to maintain condition at big tournaments - Coco Gauff overcame her sometime doubles partner Jessica Pegula to win in Cincinnati for a second time: only Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka have managed that in the Open Era - The controversial mixed doubles championship has kicked off in New York - Jannik Sinner, Jack Draper, Joao Fonseca and a whole host of other men have pulled out leaving the singles wide open - and we even think Carlos Alcaraz might not play And loads more! Remember, the only way to listen to our US Open coverage is to sign up for the our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TennisUnfiltered⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tennis Unfiltered Supporters Club members are listening to this podcast ad-free! You could be too, and all you have to do is sign up here: https://www.patreon.com/tennisunfiltered (TUSCers also get an extra podcast every week, access to daily slam coverage, and great group chats with the lads and other TUSCers. Give it a whirl.) **** OFF-COURT NEWS - Jannik Sinner is out of the Cincinnati Masters with a knee injury, raising concerns about the US Open - Emma Raducanu has already confirmed she will miss Flushing Meadows as part of her continued recovery from a stress fracture - Serena and Venus Williams will play doubles together for the first time in years at Cincinnati, presumably preparing for a US Open reunion - Coco Gauff addresses the WTA trans policy (with her usual eloquence) WTA TORONTO - Aryna Sabalenka's poor run of form continues with a last-16 defeat to Ekaterina Alexandrova - Jessica Pegula and Mirra Andreeva also lose early - Alexandra Eala goes on another raucous run but this time she is stopped by Belinda Bencic - Iga Swiatek is marching through the draw and it looks like Francisco Roig is having the desired effect - Elena Rybakina is still in but looking increasingly rusty on serve ATP MONTREAL - Jack Draper is left in tears on court after struggling with his arm again against Terence Atmane - Cam Norrie saves match points against Alex de Minaur but then is stopped comprehensively by Arthur Fils - The youngest line-up ever in the quarter-finals includes 8 players born in the 2000s for the first time - Rafa Jodar is on the verge of breaking a long-standing Boris Becker record FUNDRAISING - If you want to sponsor George's Iron Man effort, tap here: https://www.justgiving.com/page/gd-bellshaw-1 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Calvin Betton, George Bellshaw and James Gray are back with another look at the week in tennis. This week: the doubles fightback starts in Washington, more Masters 1000 withdrawal fallout, the 2028 Olympic schedule is announced, the most epic Davis Cup finish ever, and three new tour title-winners. Here's what they discussed **** Washington tournament owner Mark Ein has been doing the media rounds this week (including a stop on Ben Rothenberg's Bounces), and it caught our ear when he declared himself a doubles superfan. Ein says Washington has gone as far as almost any tournament to promote doubles, including proactively engineering eye-catching pairings rather than leaving it to chance His pitch: nothing beats watching top players mixing it up in doubles on a 1,500–3,000 seat side court, right on top of the crowd. He acknowledges the counter-argument other tournaments make that doubles soaks up a lot of prize money, but argues the format needs to "add unique value" to earn its keep. Washington will live mic doubles players again this year, the third year running. Tournament director Valerie Tetreault has called for change after both Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic pulled out of the Canadian Masters 1000, a repeat of last year, when both skipped Toronto. Tetreault is disappointed but understanding of the players' need to prioritise health given the schedule. Her broader point is that repeated last-minute withdrawals from Masters 1000s raise a real issue for the sport, since fans "rightfully expect to see the world's best compete." She's calling for adjustments to better protect the integrity of Masters 1000 events. The 2028 Olympic tennis event, to be held in Carson, near where the Williams sisters grew up in Compton, will start just three days after the Wimbledon men's final. Kicks off the Wednesday after Wimbledon, running as a 10-day event Mixed doubles starts July 19, singles draws begin July 20, doubles from July 21 Will top players get involved in the mixed? Not likely World No. 1043 Ammar Alhogbani was serving for the match against Malaysia when he was violently sick on the baseline, and then a monsoon hit at 5-3, 40-15 in the third set. Play resumed seven hours later. Alhogbani came back and won it Saudi Arabia are promoted to World Group 2 in the most dramatic fashion imaginable Kitzbuhel: Quentin Halys Wins his maiden title at 29. Once a highly-rated junior with four Grand Slam finals (singles and doubles), he never translated it into a senior career until cracking the top 100 four years ago - and has now broken into the top 50. Estoril: Luca van Assche / Titouan Droguet & Kyrian Jacquet An all-French sweep: Van Assche took the singles, while Droguet and Jacquet won the doubles as alternates — including a first-round win over Calvin's pair Luke and Jan. Prague: Lilli Tagger Beat Daria Snigur 7-6, 6-2 to win the title, becoming the youngest player in the top 50 at 18 and the first player born in 2008 to win a WTA title. Also beat home favourite Barbora Krejcikova in the semis. Won the girls' French Open title last year. Austrian, trained at the Schiavone academy near Milan and coached by Francesca Schiavone. Hamburg: Tamara Korpatsch Beat Hungary's Anna Bondar 6-3, 6-3 to become the first German champion in Hamburg since Steffi Graf in 1992. Germans had gone 0-4 in finals there since. Born in Hamburg. Her dad was a truck driver and the pair used to tour ITF events around Germany in a borrowed camper van to save money EXTRA, EXTRA Australian Open caps cheap tickets after overcrowding problems US Open mixed doubles entries have been announced so far, but could change before the deadline Jiri Lehecka has snapped up Fred Fontang as coach, freshly departed from Felix Auger-Aliassime's box Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is a short preview of our daily podcast from Wimbledon, to give you a flavour of what we are doing each day during the Championships. These podcasts are only possible with YOUR support, for which we are eternally grateful. To get our full-length daily podcasts from grand slams, go to ⁠www.patreon.com/TennisUnfiltered⁠ and sign up for the Tennis Unfiltered Supporters Club. You'll have a great time, we promise. (Promises are not legally binding. Terms and conditions apply. This promise may cause nausea, fainting, dizziness and a powerful sense of existential dread.) **** Calvin Betton, James Gray and George Bellshaw discuss the last day of second-round action at Wimbledon, including... - The ATP's controversial plans to downsize doubles draws at tour events, slash prize money in half and reallocate it to singles players - Serena Williams's comeback and whether she lived up to the wildcard - Arthur Fils crashes out at the hands of Matteo Berrettini - Grigor Dimitrov records another emotional victory Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is a short preview of our daily podcast from Wimbledon, to give you a flavour of what we are doing each day during the Championships. These podcasts are only possible with YOUR support, for which we are eternally grateful. To get our full-length daily podcasts from grand slams, go to www.patreon.com/TennisUnfiltered and sign up for the Tennis Unfiltered Supporters Club. You'll have a great time, we promise. (Promises are not legally binding. Terms and conditions apply. This promise may cause nausea, fainting, dizziness and a powerful sense of existential dread.) **** Our top stories from Tuesday are... - Serena Williams is out of the singles after defeat by Maya Joint, but did she deserve a wildcard in the first place? - British tennis is BACK with wins for Arthur Fery, Jan Choinski, Katie Swan and Jacob Fearnley - Ben Shelton is out in the first round, what he called the toughest loss he has had to take - George is just glad he called Donna Vekic's doom **** To donate to George's JustGiving page, head here: https://www.justgiving.com/page/gd-bellshaw-1#supportersList Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For ad-free listening, daily grand slam updates and access to group chats with the lads, subscribe to our Patreon from £3.60 for the first month. Tap here to join now: https://www.patreon.com/TennisUnfiltered *** In the meantime, here are James Gray and George Bellshaw breaking down the Wimbledon draw in the men's and the women's singles. *** Fantasy Tennis Unfiltered, Wimbledon 2026 is LIVE: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Yf28lm97QpO_BhTzFDQGiSGoBe0YDM-XmwfJ8Zuv7Mo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Are you a member of our Patreon channel yet? It's the only way to get ad-free listening, daily podcasts from Tennis Unfiltered during grand slams, access to weekly bonus episodes every Friday and group chats with other Patreon members. Join the Tennis Unfiltered Supporters Club here: https://www.patreon.com/tennisunfiltered **** NB: This podcast was recorded BEFORE the Wimbledon wildcards were confirmed on Tuesday. We can only apologise. Blame the All England Club. Calvin Betton (west London), James Gray (south London) and George Bellshaw (actual Mexico) are back to go through another week of tennis news. And it really is all about wildcards. - Donna Vekic, with Dave Felgate back in tow, wins the women's title at Queen's, seeing off Emma Raducanu in her biggest final since winning the US Open five years ago - Serena Williams was back playing, in doubles for now, with Victoria Mboko, although a nasty knee injury stopped her progress and ruled the teenager out of Wimbledon - Meanwhile, Queen's defending champion Tatjana Maria had to come through qualifying for the chance to play at the west London WTA 500, after organisers handed all the WTA wildcards to Brits - Dan Evans is retiring but he is also not happy at Queen's, after they failed to give him a wildcard to the main draw... will he get one at Wimbledon? - Speaking of Wimbledon, they have announced their prize money with a 20 per cent uplift for players, but not all players... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices