The Tennis Podcast

Catherine, David and Matt recap a week headlined by a family fairytale in Shanghai and Coco Gauff’s title run in Wuhan. 

Part one - ATP Shanghai. Valentin Vacherot became the lowest-ranked player ever to win a Masters 1000 title, doing so by beating his cousin, Arthur Rinderknech, in the final. We cover all the elements that made this story so special and wonder what might be next for both players. There’s also chat about the notable weeks that Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev both had. 

Part two - WTA Wuhan (41:06). We discuss Gauff’s remarkab...

Catherine, David and Matt are finally back together on a Monday to talk all about Amanda Anisimova’s title in Beijing and events so far in Shanghai. 

Part one - WTA Beijing. We discuss Anisimova’s final three matches in Beijing en route to the title, analysing how she’s become such a consistent force at the top of the sport. How helpful could this title be in turning her into a major champion? And what’s left to improve? There’s also chat about Linda Noskova’s extraordinary semi-final win over Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff’s struggle for fo...

Catherine, David and Matt discuss titles for Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner as well as the opening stages of the WTA 1000 in Beijing. 

Part one - Men’s results. We start by reacting to Alcaraz’s triumph in Tokyo, despite an injury scare. Is this the best tennis of Alcaraz’s career? We also discuss Alcaraz’s decision to withdraw from Shanghai and the over-saturation of two week Masters 1000 events as the injuries and retirements pile up. Over in Beijing, Sinner experimented with his game en route to the title and Lorenzo Musetti got booed and was forced to...

Catherine, David and Matt are here, unusually, on a Tuesday to look back on Laver Cup, Iga Swiatek’s title in Seoul, and a couple of ATP events in China. 

Part one - Laver Cup. We start by hearing from The Athletic’s Matt Futterman who spent the weekend in San Francisco at Laver Cup. He explains why and how he entered the week with skepticism only to be won over by the crowds, the format and the vibe of the event. After that, despite promising not to get into an existential discussion about Laver Cup like we al...

Catherine, David and Matt were live to review Italy’s 2-0 triumph over USA which saw them defend their Billie Jean King Cup title in Shenzhen. 

Part one - Italy d. USA 2-0 Review. How good were the victories for Elisabetta Cocciaretto and Jasmine Paolini? Were Emma Navarro and Jessica Pegula a bit flat or Italy just too good? Did the scheduling favour Italy? What's the solution which will allow the USA to leverage its strength in depth? And what’s the secret to Italy’s current domination of tennis? 

Part two - Reflections on the even...

Catherine, David and Matt react to a a couple of enthralling semi-final ties as Italy and the United States booked their spots in Sunday’s final. 

Part one - Semi-finals review. We start by covering Italy’s dramatic comeback to beat Ukraine. There’s an apology for underestimating Jasmine Paolini, analysis of how the match devastatingly slipped away from Elina Svitolina, and praise for Sara Errani’s leadership in the decisive doubles. Turning our attention to USA’s victory over Great Britain, we discuss how both Emma Navarro and Jessica Pegula came back from a set down to see off...

Catherine, David and Matt are here to look back on all four quarter-finals at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Shenzhen and ahead to the semis. 

Part one - Italy d. China 2-0 & Ukraine d. Spain 2-0. We discuss the remarkably similar comebacks pulled off by Elisabetta Cocciaretto and Jasmine Paolini for Italy, ponder whether Yuan Yue and Wang Xinyu choked for China, and praise the brilliant Ukrainian team. Can Marta Kostyuk and Elina Svitolina get it done in the singles for Ukraine against Italy? And what will they do if that tie goes to the d...

Catherine, David and Matt were live on the eve of the 2025 Billie Jean King Cup Finals to preview the event and look back on a weekend of thrilling Davis Cup action. 

Part one - BJK Cup Finals Preview. We discuss the new format and new venue in China, the slew of big name withdrawals in the last week, and all four of the quarter-final clashes. Are Italy the favourites? Can USA live up to their potential? Who will play for Great Britain without Emma Raducanu? And where might Spain vs Ukraine be decided? 

Part two...

On a pretty surreal day at the US Open, Carlos Alcaraz won his sixth Grand Slam title and became the new World Number One by beating Jannik Sinner in four sets. Catherine, David and Matt discuss it all. 

Part one - Match reaction. We cover what made Alcaraz’s performance so impressive, the way in which both players talked in press about how much they’re trying to improve because of the other, and the future of the rivalry. We also discuss the shocking scenes as the match was delayed and fans were delated getting into the stadi...

Aryna Sabalenka has her Grand Slam title in 2025, Matt won’t be going blonde (yet), and we’re here to talk about it all and look ahead to Carlos Alcaraz vs Jannik Sinner. 

Part one - Sabalenka’s victory over Amanda Anisimova. We cover the key moments from the match, the way Sabalenka handled the big match emotions better than Anisimova, the most interesting lines from the press conferences, and what might be next for both players. Can Sabalenka win a major on grass or clay? Will Anisimova’s time come at the Grand Slams? 

Part two...

The entire men’s tournament has been building towards Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner meeting in the final and Friday’s semi-finals confirmed that clash will happen on Sunday. Catherine, David and Matt discuss it all and look ahead to the women’s final. 

Part one - Alcaraz’s win over Novak Djokovic. We cover how this was actually Alcaraz’s least convincing performance of the tournament, the extent to which Djokovic’s presence caused that, and a big discussion about what’s next for Djokovic after he admitted he can’t beat Alcaraz and Sinner over best of five anym...

World Number One Aryna Sabalenka is set to face Amanda Anisimova in Saturday’s US Open final after a thrilling night of tennis on women’s semi final night in New York. Catherine, David and Matt discuss it all. 

Part one - Anisimova’s win over Osaka. How did she pull it off despite not finding her best tennis until deep into the second set? Why did Osaka not play more aggressively? And how on earth has Anisimova turned a double bagel loss in a Wimbledon final into a fortifying experience?

Part two - Sabalenka’s win ove...

Amanda Anisimova will meet Naomi Osaka in the US Open semi-finals and it’s a pretty big moment for the pod! Catherine, David and Matt discuss it all.

Part one - Women’s results. We discuss the extraordinary way Anisimova overcame her Wimbledon final demons to beat Iga Swiatek. What was different about this match? Just how incredible is this feat? And how might Anisimova vs Osaka go on Thursday night? There’s also chat about Karolina Muchova’s gutsy performance and David’s press conference exchange with Iga Swiatek. 

Part two - Men’s results (39:0...

Part one - Day session. We cover another wonderful performance by Carlos Alcaraz, his press conference which prompted lots of discussion about body language, Jessica Pegula’s victory over Barbora Krejcikova, and the sad withdrawal of Marketa Vondrousova ahead of her match with Aryna Sabalenka. 

Part two - Night session (27:56). After Novak Djokovic improved to 11-0 against Taylor Fritz, we discuss where Fritz came up short, just how incredible this Grand Slam season has been for 38-year-old Djokovic, and whether he can beat Alcaraz in Friday’s semi-final. 

Part three - Day 11 preview (46:28).

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Part one - Day session. Mary Carillo joins Catherine, David and Matt to reflect on Naomi Osaka’s victory over Coco Gauff. Did the match look like we expected? What was notable about Osaka’s body language? How has Tomasz Wiktorowski helped Osaka? And what should be next for Gauff? There’s also chat about Iga Swiatek’s victory, the good form of Felix Auger-Aliassime, and Lorenzo Musetti reaching the quarter-finals. 

Part two - Night session (38:57). We discuss emphatic wins for Jannik Sinner over Alexander Bublik and Amanda Anisimova over Beatriz Haddad Maia. What happened to Bublik? And can A...

Part one - Women’s matches. We start by covering Marketa Vondrousova’s superb performance to beat Elena Rybakina and Barbora Krejcikova remarkable escape act against Taylor Townsend. How did Vondrousova negate Rybakina? How did Krejcikova save the 8 match points? And how dangerous are both players going to be for Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula in the quarter-finals? 

Part two - Men’s matches (31:18). The shot of the day came from - who else? - Carlos Alcaraz with a behind-the-back half volley. We describe that moment, look ahead to Novak Djokovic vs Taylor Fritz after both players hit pre...

Part one - Day session. We cover Jannik Sinner’s slightly sub par performance against Denis Shapovalov, get excited about Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka setting up a fourth round clash, and discuss Lorenzo Musetti, Karolina Muchova and Andrey Rublev all reaching the second week. 

Part two - Night session (35:24). We react to Iga Swiatek somehow winning in straight sets against Anna Kalinskaya, a quite brilliant performance from Felix Auger-Aliassime to beat Alexander Zverev, and Amanda Anisimova putting together her best ever US Open run. 

Part three - Day 8 Order of Play (1:00:20).

Tickets are...

Catherine, David and Matt wrap up a day which was a tough one for the home crowd until Taylor Townsend came along in the night session. 

Part one - Men’s Results. We discuss Novak Djokovic struggling with his body but finding his form to beat Cameron Norrie, Carlos Alcaraz’s electric form continuing, and a couple of sad results for US tennis as Ben Shelton had to retire and Frances Tiafoe lost in straight sets. 

Part two - Women’s Results (36:16). There’s coverage of Elena Rybakina’s dominant win over Emma Raducanu, Aryna Sabalenka ex...

Part one - Women’s results. Once again, Coco Gauff was the big story as she fought through tears and tremors to beat Donna Vekic. We cover the performance, the press conference and Gauff’s prospects in this tournament. Elsewhere, there’s chat about Iga Swiatek dropping a set, Catherine reports on a quite extraordinary win for Karolina Muchova, David has all the analysis of another Naomi Osaka victory, and Matt reacts live to Amanda Anisimova’s win. 

Part two - Men’s results (37:59). We discuss the way Jannik Sinner shut down the threat of Alexei Popyrin, how Lorenzo...

Part one - Women’s results. The big story on day four was Taylor Townsend’s victory over Jelena Ostapenko and, in particular, what Ostapenko said to Townsend. We cover the situation in full, including what unfolded on court, Ostapenko’s statements on Instagram, and the wonderful way Townsend spoke about it all in her press conference. 

Elsewhere, there’s chat about a third round match to come between Emma Raducanu and Elena Rybakina, and Aryna Sabalenka extending her career phenomenal tiebreak record.  

Part two - Men’s results (32:27). We start with the news that Jack Draper h...

Part one - Women’s Results. There’s only one place to start and that’s with Coco Gauff’s enthralling win over Ajla Tomljanovic. How did Gauff serve and play generally? What can we read into the sadness of her post match interview? And what could this match mean for the rest of the tournament? Plus, David watched Naomi Osaka win to set up a mouthwatering clash with Hailey Baptiste, Matt reports on Amanda Anisimova, and Iga Swiatek reacted to the news of Taylor Swift’s engagement. 

Part two - Men’s Results (35:11). We cover Jannik Sinner’s demo...

Part one - Day session. We cover Madison Keys’ shock defeat to Renata Zarazua and the way she described nerves as “paralysing” her. And that wasn’t the only big women’s result as Victoria Mboko lost to Barbora Krejcikova. How did we not see that one coming? Elsewhere, there’s chat about Jack Draper’s desire for more time on court, France’s Tiafoe’s position in the pecking order of American men at this tournament, and Joao Fonseca setting up a round two clash with Tomas Machac. 

Part two - Night session (36:57). Carlos Alcaraz has a new haircut…and a...

Catherine, David and Matt react to an opening day of the US Open which saw a couple of extraordinary moments and matches involving raucous crowds. 

Part one - Men’s results. We start by reacting to all the late night drama involving Daniil Medvedev, Benjamin Bonzi, a photographer, and umpire Greg Allensworth on Louis Armstrong. There’s also chat about Novak Djokovic’s fitness in his three-set win over Learner Tien, straight sets wins for the top Americans, and some very Tennis Podcast coded matches. 

Part two - Women’s results (29:26). We cover Alexandra Eala’s crazy come...

Catherine, David and Matt are joined by Charlie Eccleshare from The Athletic ahead of the first Sunday start at the US Open. 

Part one - Press conferences. We cover the news that Novak Djokovic might be about to work with Monica Seles, good vibes from both Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek, how Amanda Anisimova is processing the Wimbledon final experience, some concern over Jack Draper’s fitness, and a fascinating chat with Naomi Osaka as she reflected on what happened in Montreal and her new partnership with Tomasz Wiktorowski. 

Part two - Tournament predictions (47:22). Charlie give...

Catherine, David and Matt are together at Flushing Meadows to dissect the US Open draws and analyse what’s been said on media day. 

Part one - Women’s draw. We cover why we think this draw is good news for Iga Swiatek, the potential for Elena Rybakina to be a problem for Aryna Sabalenka, and why Victoria Mboko could come through a wide open section. There’s also chat about Coco Gauff hiring bio mechanist Gavin MacMillan to help her serve and David explains why he’s feeling bullish about Naomi Osaka’s chances. 

Part two - M...

Catherine, David and Matt are back at Tennis Podcast Towers in New York after watching Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori win the “reimagined” Mixed Doubles championship at the US Open. 

There’s chat about just how fitting it was for Errani and Vavassori to be champions, how their presence in the draw added to the event for us, and whether the USTA will even want them in the event again. 

We also discuss the event more generally, including what the experience was like in Arthur Ashe stadium tonight, what we liked about it, the many aspects...

Catherine, David and Matt were live in New York to look back on the opening day of the US Open Mixed Doubles and the closing stages of Cincinnati. 

We start by discussing the Mixed Doubles - what worked, what didn’t, how did our feelings about the event evolve, and which teams really stood out?  

Moving onto Cincinnati, has Iga Swiatek made herself the US Open favourite after her title there? We discuss her victory over Jasmine Paolini in the final, the confidence she’s playing with after Wimbledon, and the way she’s turned her head...

For this episode, Catherine and Matt speak to Giri Nathan, author of a new book called ‘Changeover’, all about the rivalry between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. 

We talk about how their epic match at the 2022 US Open gave Giri the idea for the book, what separates these two from other players in the post Big 3 era, and how Giri went about capturing all the key moments from the 2024 season for the book. 

Giri tells the story of his airport encounter with Sinner on the day that Sinner’s doping violation became public, we compare Sinner’s...

With the closing stages of Cincinnati approaching, Catherine, David and Matt convene to look at how the big names are faring with the US Open on the horizon, and who has gatecrashed the party.

Part one - ATP Results. With Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev and Ben Shelton all still in, who is looking like the champion, and what is Terence Atmane doing among them?

Part two - WTA Results (32m01s). Aryna Sabalenka is going to have to do things the hard way if she is to win Cincinnati, with Elena Rybakina, Iga...

Catherine, David and Matt are back to talk about the opening stages of Cincinnati which has seen brutal temperatures, a power outage, and plenty of compelling tennis too. 

Part one - ATP Results. We start by taking stock of the careers of Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Casper Ruud after their struggles continued. There’s also Lorenzo Musetti’s poor form on hard courts, both Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz immediately going out to practise after their latest victories, another tricky week for Joao Fonseca, and a surprise defeat for Alex de Minaur. 

Part two - WTA...

Catherine, David and Matt were live on Friday night to look back on the dramatic final few days in Canada and ahead to Cincinnati. 

Part one - WTA Montreal. Rarely have we felt such conflicting emotions watching a tennis match as we did during Victoria Mboko’s victory over Naomi Osaka. For Mboko, what made this run so special? And what does this title mean for her future? But what happened to Osaka? How much criticism should she get for her post match speech? And where does this tournament leave her? 

Part two - ATP Toro...

David is back from holiday to join Catherine and Matt in discussing week one of the Canadian Open, where lots of the big names are out, there has been loads of good matches, and both draws feel pretty open heading into the final few days. 

Part one - WTA Montreal. We cover Victoria Mboko’s special run to the quarter-finals, Coco Gauff’s recurring double fault issues, Naomi Osaka’s resurgence under new coach Tomasz Wiktorowski, compelling matches involving Madison Keys, Elena Rybakina and Marta Kostyuk, the unorthodox game of Aoi Ito, and the decision to give Eugenie...

Catherine and Matt are joined by The Athletic’s Matt Futterman to discuss an eventful week in Washington and a whole lot of tennis news. 

Part one - Washington Review. We start by covering an incredible performance from Venus Williams to beat Peyton Stearns and why her wildcard this time felt like a perfect one. Leylah Fernandez’s impressive title run, and where it fits into the narrative of her career, is also covered, as well as Alex de Minaur’s extraordinary victory over poor Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the final. Will ADF ever get a title? 

Par...

David is away on holiday, but Catherine and Matt are here to wrap up the week’s results and talking points, before an audio montage of Wimbledon highlights. 

Part one - Catherine and Matt discuss the title winners from last week including Lois Boisson and Alexander Bublik, the spate of withdrawals from Canada, and the upcoming week in Washington which looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun. 

Part two (24m25s) - If you’re missing Wimbledon, then this will hopefully be just the thing for you. The wonderful Vicki Spreadbury has put...

On the final day of Wimbledon 2025, Jannik Sinner became the first Italian to win the singles tournament, and Catherine, David and Matt were live afterwards to react to his four set defeat of Carlos Alcaraz.

In part one we talk over the manner of this win and how Sinner put paid to any suggestion of scar tissue from Paris with a focused and intelligent performance. We discuss Alcaraz’s unmatchable brilliance at the end of the first set, and how Sinner’s resilience allowed him to stay on task, break at the start of a second, and win...

Catherine, David and Matt were joined by Charlie Eccleshare of The Athletic to talk through Iga Swiatek becoming Wimbledon champion and her 6-0 6-0 win over Amanda Anisimova in the final.

In part one we talk through what happened in a match that had the most one-sided of scorelines and the most brutal of defeats for a nervous and – in her own estimation – tired, Amanda Anisimova. We discuss how nerves played their part in limiting Anisimova’s ability to hurt Swiatek and how much the semi-final against Sabalenka may have taken from her in emotional energy. Disappointing as it...

Catherine, David and Matt were live from Wimbledon on Day 12 as Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner set up a mouthwatering final, while Novak Djokovic looked his age.

In part one we focus on Djokovic and digesting his press conference after his one-sided loss to Sinner. We speculate about what Djokovic’s future may look like now injuries are affecting him and he can’t keep up with Sinner and Alcaraz.

In part two (20m54s) we cover Alcaraz’s four set win over Taylor Fritz, another strong serving performance, and whether we actually like it when h...

Catherine Matt and David were joined by special guest Pam Shriver to analyse two completely different women’s semi-finals and look ahead to tomorrow’s men’s semis.

In Part 1 we discuss the gripping match between Amanda Anisimova and Aryna Sabalenka, a tight, three-set tussle that felt on the edge until the very last point. We talk about where the match was won and lost, whether Sabalenka got her tactics right, and what Anisimova did to carry herself over the line.

Part 2 (40m44s) - Anisimova will meet Iga Swiatek in the final, who was utterl...

Catherine, David and Matt were live as blockbuster semi-final line-ups were set up in both draws.

In Part 1 we review the defeats by Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner of Flavio Cobolli and Ben Shelton respectively. We discuss how much better Cobolli performed than we expected, how Djokovic is looking at this stage of the tournament, and whether his late stage fall is anything to be concerned about. Jannik Sinner’s elbow seems to be holding up reasonably well; we talk over Shelton’s approach to the match and whether there’s anything he could have done differently to tro...

Catherine, David and Matt were live at the end of the first day of quarter-finals.

In Part 1 we covered Sabalenka’s efforts to overcome Laura Siegemund, who was using every single one of her arsenal of tricks to frustrate and wind up the world number one. It looked fraught at times but Sablenka fought through in the end to set up a semi final clash with Amanda Anisimova, who likewise required no small amount of resilience to put missed opportunities behind her and win a compelling second set tiebreak against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

In Part 2 (29m40s...