Roland Garros 2025 Recap: A Weekend of Epic Tennis, Historic Wins, and One Big Question
Was that the greatest tennis match of all time?
The 2025 Roland Garros finals weekend gave us more than just two champions. It gave us five hours and 29 minutes of Carlos Alcaraz vs. Jannik Sinner. It gave us Coco Gauff’s gritty, elegant takedown of Aryna Sabalenka. It gave us moments—from a packed bar chanting “Olé” to confused fans learning what a 10-point tiebreak actually is.
In this episode of Ground Pass, Anastasia and Nick unpack it all.
🎾 The Sinner vs. Alcaraz Final: Tennis at Its Peak
Carlos Alcaraz came back from two sets down—something he had never done before—to win the longest Roland Garros final in history. We discuss:
Why this match reminded us of the 2008 Wimbledon final
What made it feel different—from fan atmosphere to shot-making
The psychology of momentum and missed championship points
Whether this match was an instant classic or the best ever
🇺🇸 Coco Gauff’s Second Slam & Sabalenka’s Fallout
Coco Gauff’s win in the women’s final marked her second Grand Slam title, echoing her 2023 US Open victory. But it was Aryna Sabalenka’s post-match press comments that made headlines.
In this episode, we talk about:
Why Coco’s defense + composure wins her finals
The difference between heat-of-the-moment honesty and disrespect
Sabalenka’s later apology—and the debate it sparked
The importance of grace in press moments (and how Coco exemplified it)
📺 The TNT Broadcast: A Turning Point for U.S. Tennis Coverage?
This was TNT’s first year broadcasting Roland Garros in the U.S.—and it worked.
Anastasia shares why this coverage stood out:
More matches were accessible than ever before via HBO Max
The rally-style morning show with Chris Eubanks, Sloane Stephens, Mark Petchey, and Coco Vandeweghe felt dynamic and fan-friendly
Tennis finally felt discoverable again—like a real part of the sports landscape
👟 Players of the Fortnight: Lois Boisson & Colton Smith
Lois Boisson: From wildcard to semifinalist, Boisson’s run electrified the French crowd and became the ultimate Ground Pass story.
Colton Smith: The American college star jumped from Roland Garros qualies to the Birmingham Challenger final—on grass. His rise deserves attention.
🎙️ Listen to the Full Recap
If you missed the episode, you can listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
TRANSCRIPT
ANASTASIA (00:05)
Yeah, so Roland Garros happened, I guess.
NICK (00:11)
Yeah, yeah. So...
Do we want to talk about what just happened?
ANASTASIA (00:15)
I mean, this is a podcast, probably.
NICK (00:18)
There is a very strong possibility that neither of us have fully processed our emotions. When did the match... I am so scrambled right now. When did that match end?
ANASTASIA (00:27)
yeah.
Not really sure because after it ended, I definitely walked around for 30 minutes and said nothing and just was out walking. ⁓ Hello everyone. Welcome to Ground Pass. You find Nick and I post Sincaraz Roland Garros final. I have to say, first of all, props to Nick.
because Nick commentated on that match today. So you've been on the mic for six hours plus at this point?
NICK (01:08)
Six hours, not plus six hours. think we started talking about 20 minutes before the match started and the match took five and a half hours. And yeah, we did a little bit of a wrap up afterwards as well. So I'm looking at this and I think I'm checking my phone, you probably see on the podcast, just to work out what time.
ANASTASIA (01:11)
Okay.
Right.
NICK (01:33)
like where we are, what day it is and everything else like that. I think I stopped broadcasting an hour and a half ago, just over. So I've had time to like recover, have some water, get some food. I've had time to physically recover emotionally from just like, I would be in the same position whether I commentate on that match or not. I genuinely was texting Anastasia after that.
ANASTASIA (01:40)
Okay. Yeah.
NICK (02:01)
whole thing like we were talking about like okay so we have to record a podcast now and my hands were literally shaking from all the adrenaline and I couldn't and I would have had that whether I was commentating or not on that match.
ANASTASIA (02:08)
Yeah.
Yeah, I, a little bit about my day and just to preface all of this guys, know, Nick and I really try and keep the podcast between 45 to 60 minutes because we think it's nice. It's quick as you know, digestible and you know, you can sort of get the most out of it that way. But today is different. They played for five hours and 24 minutes and we will talk for a while. I don't think.
NICK (02:41)
We're gonna be talking for about
the same length of time as the match went on,
ANASTASIA (02:43)
I don't think we will go on for that long, but we might go over an hour here. But yeah, my day today, you know, I think, and we will talk about this in general because I had such a great day of women's finals and it was just, it made my heart so happy. So coming into today, today's men's match, I was kind of like, you know what?
I'm gonna catch the match when I can, but I'm just gonna go about my day. I went to a workout in the morning, so I missed the first set, and then I met up with some friends for lunch, and they were like, you know what, why don't we put the tennis on on our phones? So we put the tennis on our phones, and then Jannik won the second set, and I was just like, ah, this is a beautiful Sunday of great tennis with the lads and friends.
It was just going to be that. was just going to be an easy day and how things changed, how things changed after that. I basically went from a workout to my lunch, to a sprint, a bar. We spr- I can't, I cannot explain to you how fast we sprinted to a bar with bigger screens so we could really watch the last set of the match and just the shock.
the happiness, the elation, the confusion, the speechlessness, heart rate going crazy, just so many emotions. And we're somehow, I think, Nick, going to try and put that in podcast form.
NICK (04:19)
Sure.
Yeah, that's difficult when the emotions are still pretty raw. And like, here's the thing, unlike maybe other podcasts, let me put it this, I think we were both pretty neutral in this match. Like, I wouldn't say that either of them are my absolute faves ever, but I have...
ANASTASIA (04:32)
Yeah. Very. Very.
NICK (04:40)
like I will watch their matches because they give great tennis and you know I think they're both really nice guys but they're not necessarily who I root for like day to day and like certainly against each other I don't have a favorite out of the two of them and you love both of them so
ANASTASIA (04:55)
I love both of them. I think
for tennis, they win. that, like the winner in Sincaraz matches for me all the time is the fans and tennis in general. So that's how I was going into it. That's why I felt like it was just going to be such a chill and happy day. But let's get into the meat of it and we're just going to start, you know, I think, what do you think Nick? Because I made,
NICK (05:00)
Yes.
ANASTASIA (05:24)
the ground pass run down this morning before the match started. And I had put, we're gonna talk about the men's championship first and then the women and then give her thoughts on the tournament. Should we keep that order and start with the men since it's fresh? Okay.
NICK (05:39)
Yes, I think that's the best
thing to do because I think this is otherwise I can't, I'm not going to be able to think about what happened yesterday, which was also a really, really good match by the way. And still not having processed what the hell just happened. Cause we just watched five and a half hours of the, some of the best tennis you will ever see ever.
ANASTASIA (05:49)
Yes, yes it was.
Yeah.
NICK (06:05)
right up until the final point, which was won in incredible style by Carlos Alcaraz. thing to also remember, just to throw some like records at you, this is the longest ever Roland Garros final, and it's the second longest ever Grand Slam final. And this is the kind of record that we didn't think as long-term tennis fans would be being matched or beaten so soon.
after the era of Federer, Nadal, Djokovic
ANASTASIA (06:34)
Yeah, yeah. And, you know, getting into it, I think we can kind of divide this match into three parts and talk about it in that way. I want to say the first two sets and maybe even the third, we can talk about that as one section. Then we can talk about the fourth set and Jannik Sinner serving for the championship. And then we can talk about the fifth set and the 10-point tiebreak.
And because I think it takes you through the emotion of the day in a very sort of structured way. And you called this match. I think you have like more kind of concrete details about like what was happening, not numbers and everything like that. But I would definitely was in and out, especially in the beginning, the first two sets I was, I was having lunch, I was doing, I was at a workout. I was just chilling, you know, but.
I remember opening my phone and looking at the scores and seeing that, know, Jannik was already two sets up. And there is this record that Carlos up until today had never come back in a five set match when he's two sets down. So what were you thinking at that point?
NICK (07:40)
Yeah.
So the advantage of calling a match for a YouTube channel is you're allowed to be biased unlike if you were doing it professionally. And more my co-commentator, but myself as well, we wanted it to go five sets. We saw Jannik to go up two set by two sets and we wanted Carlos to come back and make it five.
ANASTASIA (08:01)
Mmm.
NICK (08:08)
because we felt that was what the match deserved based on the two sets that we'd seen. So it doesn't sound like you saw much of the first two sets. So what happened? The first four games took half an hour and both players saved break points in every single one of them. Carlos then broke for 3-2, Jannik immediately broke back for 3-3 and then broke pretty late in the set and got...
Carlos but like so it started off really really even Stephens both trying to get at each other and then Carlos kind of struggled to deal with Sinner like all the standard Carlos things that would expect that he was doing like his explosive speed his crazy shots they were off for a lot of that match and I think you probably would have seen that particularly in set four which we'll get to
ANASTASIA (08:53)
Mmm.
NICK (08:58)
And they were off and in the second set and for the second set they were off That's why Jannik broke so early and like and then Jannik searched for the second set at 5-3 And Carlos breaks him back and like okay No, yeah, is that right? Yeah five Yeah, yeah. No, sorry wrong set. Yeah, he serves the set at 5-4 Breaks back Alcaraz breaks back it goes to a tie break. Sinner plays a really really good tie break in comparison to Alcaraz he goes two sets up but
ANASTASIA (09:08)
Mm-hmm.
Mm.
NICK (09:26)
after those first two sets, I felt like Sinner had the marginal edge, but you just knew if Alcaraz switched it on, he was going to get it. Alcaraz, Sinner then goes a breakup right at start of the third. Alcaraz immediately breaks them back and then goes a breakup. And then Sinner breaks him when he's serving for the set. Only for Jannik to then break Sinner as he's serving to stay in the set. So that third set was kind of crazy, but you've got the sense that.
Carlos was trying to claw his way to stay in this match and keep it going. And I guess that's kind of how it felt was like after that initial onslaught of those first four games of like two or even six games going to and from with each other. It was like Sinner kind of started motoring and Carlos was just fighting to keep up with him. But the thing is because Carlos is so good, keeping up with him was actually not that.
hard. It was not hard. It was hard, like, still made for a really entertaining match. It was doable. ⁓ And then so that's kind of how it happened. And then so it's like, okay, we get to a fourth set and we're like, okay, is Carlos going to get some momentum now? And the yeah, because the immediate answer to that was no.
ANASTASIA (10:17)
Yeah.
He was doing it. Yeah. Yeah.
And that's where I come in.
Yep. So I came in, like we were just getting into this place where we were having lunch and
Carlos had just sort of scraped by that third set. And I remember being with my friends and I was like, you know, well, this is great. You know, at least Carlos got a set. Cause at that point, I really didn't know the dynamics of the first and second set really. I see the sort of scrap for the third set. And then I'm like, you know what? Too good, Sinner, too good. You're just crushing it right now with life. You're the number one player in the world. You know, grand slam.
run, know, calendar slam run is still alive, you know, so I was very content with at least we get four sets and we call it a day and then we're watching the match and that's where it seems to go. Sinner then gets to 40 love in the fourth set while serving for the match. No.
NICK (11:37)
No.
No. Yeah, but Alcaraz was serving.
ANASTASIA (11:40)
Wasn't it 5-3?
Oh wait, was Alcara's serving? Even, I remember that now, cause he saved, break, yep, yep, yes. Alcara's was serving, yes, correction. Alcara's was serving, but yeah, so we had three match points. I pretty, again, I just remember being with my friends and I was like, oh, this is so great, yay, Sinner. I had done the applause, I had done the celebration. I was like, Sinner did it.
NICK (11:46)
Our class was serving.
ANASTASIA (12:15)
So imagine my just shock and surprise. And just to set the scene, we are in a public place having lunch. It's not a sports bar. We have the match on my phone that's resting on these sort of like wooden blocks that the restaurant uses to set like number the tables. And I'm at this point on my feet.
staring at my phone in the middle of this restaurant and everyone's looking at me like I'm crazy.
How are you feeling at this moment?
NICK (12:46)
So at what point the break back or the.
ANASTASIA (12:48)
Well, when Sinner was serving for it and then wasn't able to do it.
Or not, not Carlos was serving for it. Sorry. Carlos was serving to stay in the set, but Sinner had championship points.
NICK (13:03)
I kind of like, okay, the way Carlos had saved it and it was clear the crowd was on his side, I kind of thought, I think the comeback's on, I think this is gonna be close and then.
ANASTASIA (13:13)
Did you really
think Comeback was on?
NICK (13:15)
I thought it was a high possibility. I didn't think it was the most possible outcome because I Sinner had been playing pretty well, but I knew it was going to be on how Sinner dealt with the situation.
ANASTASIA (13:18)
Okay, okay.
NICK (13:26)
So after Alcaraz held, saving the championship points, I thought, I've kind of seen something like this happen before in other matches. And I felt like Alcaraz might have some momentum. And obviously there was also this element of hoping that he'd make it five. So I wasn't expecting him to quite kick the door in, in the way that he did, because...
literally between saving championship point and holding serve to make it, what would it be? Holding serve to take it to a tie break. Jannik only won one point. That was, which was crazy, but like that was just because Carlos had, Carlos was like motivated. He was switched on, he was dialed up. And Jannik was kind of probably a little bit knocked back by it.
ANASTASIA (14:02)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
NICK (14:17)
And I think that kind of continued to early in the fifth as he tried to reset after that. I think that's, yeah, so I wasn't surprised that Carlos broke back then, but it was, I did feel like, hmm, you missed three championship points like that. Especially since they were fairly neutral rallies as well. That.
ANASTASIA (14:24)
Yeah.
NICK (14:42)
I did wonder what it was all going to be about how to handle the situation mentally. Having said that, I think the main difference maker was Carlos just turned it on.
ANASTASIA (14:47)
Right.
Yeah, mean, you know, that takes us through the fourth set where I definitely was still feeling honestly that sinner would find a way, you know, because I thought, okay, we've now gotten to a fifth set and this is the match we deserved, you know? I, at that point, after Carlos wins the fourth, I'm like, fifth set.
This is the match we deserved. And Carlos broke early in that fifth set. And I thought, well, this is interesting. You know, I didn't expect Carlos to all of a sudden turn it on that much where he was going to take it. And in the back of my mind, I still had this stat, which is funny though. I think there were two big stats that were governing this match. First stat was Jannik Sinner hadn't won a match past four hours before.
He just hadn't proven that before. But the second stat was that Carlos has never come back from two sets down to win a five set match. So I thought, well, something's got to give. Someone's going to break their stat today. So I just didn't know where it was going to go, but I definitely was leaning more Sinner just as things were going. Carlos then breaks first.
I was like, okay, he's leading. And then Carlos is now serving for the match. So I'm thinking, wow, how did we get here? Now Carlos is serving for the match. And where were you when Carlos then doesn't quite serve for the match?
NICK (16:27)
So
here's a stat that I shared during the commentary. And I was like, here's why you should believe. First of all, what we'd noticed was Carlos having a hard time serving after he broke, whereas Sinner was finding it easier and easier and easier. And he was the one dialing it up. But the other thing to notice is that in sets two, three, four, the person serving for that set got broken. And I didn't see a reason why that pattern would-
ANASTASIA (16:50)
Really?
NICK (16:54)
break and lo and behold, Sinner comes after it. So yeah, in sets two, three, four, and five of this match, the person serving for it got broken in that game. And then it's game on. Sinner breaks back. He holds for six, five. And at that point, that's when I'm like, it's literally anybody's match. I genuinely don't know who's going to win because Jannik looks like he's doing well and Carlos is fighting tooth and nail to hold him off.
and it literally could have gone either way. And I think that should do some credit that he fought back in the way that did because other players would have crumbled and kept going with it. So yeah, I was thinking, yeah, that's about right for this match basically.
ANASTASIA (17:22)
Yeah.
Yeah.
I am at that point, all I wanted and I think I posted this in capital letters once we did get to a fifth set tie break was we deserve a 10 point tie break at this point in the match. Cuz when Sinner broke and he was leading six five, just I was like, can we just get to a tie break?
in the fifth set. Like that's all I wanted at this point. I was like, we deserve it. We've, we've battled through with these guys and, and you were right at that point, it was, it was everyone's match. It was totally even. And I thought what we deserved was a tie break to call it. And I wanted to just bring up something now here of what it's been like, I think generally through Roland Garros and especially today and yesterday with the women's final.
Watching these matches with fans, old or new, is revolutionary. Like I feel like I'm completely, you know, cause I'm just so used to being the one my friends text and like, what's going on? And you know, have you seen this or have you not seen that or, but I remember when we got to the 10 point tie break, I was sitting at a table, like it was, so we had run over to this bar to watch it. It's in New York. It's called 30 Love.
It's a tennis bar, guys. There's a sports tennis bar in New York. It exists. And we were sharing a table with just a group of girls. And they didn't understand that they were going to play to 10 instead of seven, like the last tie break that happened in the match. So they're thinking in their head, okay, so it's first to seven. And I had to then explain, no, in a final set,
NICK (19:12)
Yeah.
ANASTASIA (19:25)
of a five set match, have to, in a grand slam, they're playing to 10. And just that, I spent this whole yesterday, today, explaining, scoring to friends and, this is why this player matters. And this is what this final means. And letting people know that this is a first time in a long time, we've had the number one and number two on the men's and women's side in finals and at a grand slam. And...
It's just so rewarding and fulfilling and it kind of just, you know, almost highlighted what we do here on Ground Pass. And that's what I was feeling at that moment at the, you know, six all in the fifth set. I just knew it, that it was gonna be an education moment for someone. Cause I was gonna have to explain, we're going to 10, not to seven.
NICK (20:16)
there were people on the YouTube stream that I was doing commentary for who also didn't realize that it was going to going past seven. And it was like, wait, what? There was a few wait, what people kind of commenting like, no, no, no, it's first to 10. So it works in the final set. And I like that they did it. They've done it like this because it adds the extra crescendo to a five set match since they got rid of, well, basically playing to infinity in theory.
ANASTASIA (20:22)
Yeah.
Yeah, and beyond.
NICK (20:42)
having
to get two clear games, which is how you ended up with the longest matchable time. And I was thinking this, like, this is the first match that's gone to a 10 point deciding set tie break in a Grand Slam final outside of the US Open. First time outside the US Open. The last time it happened was the US Open in 2020.
ANASTASIA (21:01)
Mmm.
NICK (21:07)
in the men's side, which was Dominic Thiem beating Alexander Zverev So this is like uncharted territory in a lot of ways. I think for me, what in that moment, like, yeah, that also caused a lot of people. like, even when Carlos Alcaraz went 7-0 up in that tiebreak, there was a part of him who going, but Sinek can get him back. But that didn't...
ANASTASIA (21:27)
Yeah, yes, yeah. That's how easy
tie breaks can flip. It's very easy for a tie break to flip because I think sometimes people think, five zero. like, I, you know, don't count your chickens before they hatch. Just wait, just wait. Which kind of brings me now to the last point I wanted to make before we move on to the women's final. But was this the best match ever?
NICK (21:31)
Mm.
Yeah.
and
It's too soon to say. Like there's a lot of emotions in the moment of it. I need to rewatch the 2008 Wimbledon final, which is what everyone says is the best men's match of all time. And I remember watching that as a 14 year old. Sorry if this makes anyone feel old. But I remember watching that and I have hazy memories of it and I want to watch it in full because I haven't done since it happened.
ANASTASIA (22:03)
Yeah.
me
NICK (22:16)
It's a long match. That's why it's like another four or five hour epic. I think on paper, that one is still difficult to beat in a lot of ways because I think there wasn't necessarily the lulls that we, that it wasn't, I don't think there was this clear momentum for one player as this match had. What I will say is that there's actually some interesting similarities in the
ANASTASIA (22:19)
Mm-hmm.
NICK (22:40)
what that match also had Rafael Nadal going two sets to love up on Roger Federer and then having championship points in the fourth set and Roger Federer taking it to a fifth and then it goes to an absolute epic decider. Again, this is pre-final set tie breaks, ended up being nine games to seven to Nadal because the key difference here is Roger couldn't come back from two sets to love down, Carlos Alcaraz did. I don't, I think, but even then it's like down to taste. There are some people who have
ANASTASIA (22:54)
Yeah.
NICK (23:09)
different ideas of what the best match ever is based on what you enjoy and whether you have a player in that final that you like. I think this is up there. I think if you just wanted to tier rank it and have an S, A, B, C tier, whatever, this is automatically S tier this match with that 2008 match with some of the great Djokovic Nadal clashes with Borg and McEnroe from 1980, which is a legend in the sport that probably hardly anyone remembers now.
in terms of actually watching it live. So was this the best match ever? I don't know. If I got into semantics and I went on a different podcast, I might go down the no route, but I could be convinced, yes.
ANASTASIA (23:51)
Yeah, think still nothing beats that 2008 Wimbledon final. not because, because you're right, there are so many similarities between that match and this match tennis wise, but there was an element of je ne sais quoi. And I really can't tell you, but Wimbledon, center court didn't have a roof. It was getting dark, night was falling.
You know, I still can vividly remember just the flashes of camera, camera lights, like from the cameras when they were taking photos of like the final moment. And it's just, it's so hard to replicate that because for me, the best match ever is not just the tennis because the tennis is part of, is great. Of course, the tennis has to be great to even be considered, but the atmosphere, the, the,
the different storylines, the parents, my goodness, the parents, if they kept showing Jannik Sinner's mom, I'm like, leave her alone.
NICK (24:54)
You
look like she like her mascara clearly run that poor woman was not coping well.
ANASTASIA (24:59)
She was not coping well, and I was like, please leave her alone. Stop showing her. And then they would show Carlos's mom, and I was like, leave her alone.
NICK (25:02)
Also, why would they not show in...
Yeah, barely saw Carlos's parents. I felt that was rather unfair, really.
ANASTASIA (25:11)
Yeah, they show them a few times, but really they focused on Sinner's mom. It was just, I think she was more sort of expressive emotionally about it. maybe that, of course for TV, that's where you go, I think. But I was just like, leave the parents alone. But yeah, so I really do think that Wimbledon final still holds such a big place in my heart as one of the.
the best match ever. This one is really close. mean, this is really close just for the emotions because here's the thing. This was a great tennis match. I'm gonna remember it more for the experience of it, of being with friends, watching it on my phone, sprinting to a bar, watching it on TV. And there was this guy, there was this guy at the bar who was a sinner fan and...
He was so great because he would cheer for Sinner. He was doing the Olé chant and we would all be like Olé. And then he would do Forza Jannik. when everyone was cheering, he would then pretend to be the umpire and he would be like, merci, merci, merci, everyone quiet, quiet. I mean, it was so good. the thing, what was really crazy was like he was in the middle of the bar. Like he was...
NICK (26:21)
That is amazing. Everyone needs that.
ANASTASIA (26:31)
centered like he was the umpire. So it just made sense that he was doing that as well. And I will remember this match for those moments and the experience of explaining what a 10 point tiebreak is to someone and living through every moment with everyone and texting my friends and be like, are you watching this? Is this really happening? So I think that's what makes tennis so great. It's sharing it with other people. And I'm glad that we both got to do that today.
in a way, especially with this match.
NICK (27:00)
Yeah, absolutely. And I think that highlights it. mean, like, certainly the feelings of experience in the match was very different to my experience in the women's final, because I watched that on my own. And I think I would have enjoyed it even more had I watched it with other people as I'd originally planned. It didn't go through because, the people I was supposed to watch it with weren't well.
ANASTASIA (27:10)
Mm-hmm.
NICK (27:20)
That's, I think it does add something special and it's something that like increasingly, if I'm going to watch tennis, I'd much rather do it with other people. I do have one more point to make about the greatest match of all time thing or greatest match thing. So this is something that I got thinking about because a lot of the matches we talk about as being the best ever tend to be men's matches. Like a lot of the ones I just listed, I'd throw in 2012 Australia.
ANASTASIA (27:34)
Yes.
NICK (27:48)
Nadal Djokovic or 2018 Wimbledon, between the two of them. But very rarely does a women's match get included in that mix. And I wanted to kind of say, okay, just do a little poll on the internet, because that's a reliable source of information of, well, what do you think the greatest women's match of all time is? And I think it was interesting seeing some of the responses.
the responses very much depending on how old the person was and whether they experienced that match live. from a journal, a lot of journalists, I got a couple of journalists replying to me and they said the 1992 Roland Garros final between Steffi Graf and Monica Seles. You know, some people said like Andy Roddick did a thing on his podcast, Served, where the highest scoring match on there was Martin Navratilova and Chris Evert also Roland Garros, 1985.
ANASTASIA (28:18)
interesting.
Mm.
NICK (28:41)
There's a Wimbledon final between Margaret Court and Billie Jean King, two iconic players from the 60s and 70s, 1970. That match was insane, it was a straight setter, but there's no TV footage of it. Just going back to mens for a second, like I've read through, I've got a book of like, on this shelf here of like match reports from Wimbledon since Wimbledon started in 1877. And there's a few legendary matches in there that again, there is no footage of, because they're from the 1930s or the 1950s.
ANASTASIA (29:11)
Yeah.
NICK (29:12)
Why are we getting up with this? The other so the big debate that came on because obviously there's usually debate on social media. When I did it was like the Martina Navratsov and Evert match bearly got mentioned unless the person was old enough to have seen it. got mentioned quite a bit by people who maybe have gone back and watched it or people who were there at the time. And a lot of people said the 2005 Wimbledon final between Venus Williams and Lindsay Davenport, which
ANASTASIA (29:18)
Of course, of course.
Mmm.
NICK (29:37)
and was also super close and super exciting. Why am I going through this list? get to the point, Nick. The point is, I think if we're gonna say this is the best match ever, it's gonna depend on what generation we're talking about. Because we're talking about the 2008 Wimbledon final because we watched it. There was a good chance that people listening to us, whatever age you are, didn't see that live.
you may have been born like you might have been like six or something when you saw it or when it happened or you are 40 but you're only watching tennis now. And so yeah, that match is available on YouTube. You can go watch it but you won't have the same experience going back and watching especially since you probably know the outcome unless you didn't look it up which you know that's probably the best way to experience it. This will probably be this generation's best match ever of the current generation of fans because they don't
have this previous experience to look back on. Whereas you and I who are a bit longer in the tooth tennis fandom wise do. So it's going to be subjective, it's going to be based on your experience. If I hear anyone who maybe is a bit more of a recent tennis fan saying, yes, that was the best tennis match ever, I'm not going to argue with them, because you had to experience it.
ANASTASIA (30:50)
Yeah, that's such a good point, Nick. You're so right there because there is, like I just literally described, the moment of experiencing it live, it makes it part of why I think it's one of the best matches ever. So such a great point.
And that really should take us to part two of this podcast, which is the Women's Championship. The Women's Championship was won by one Coco Gauff. And I don't know about you, Nick, but coming into this,
I thought Aryna had this in the bag. She's been playing so well. She had just beaten Coco Gauff in Madrid at the Madrid final. You know, she had been looking so good, playing so well. She beat Iga in the semi-finals. And I just thought this is going to be a tough one. This is going to be really tough one for Coco. And I don't know if she can pull through. And especially with their history, having played...
the US Open and Coco beating Aryna at the US Open. I thought, okay, so, so Aryna's learned from that situation and boy was I wrong. Boy was I wrong. You said Nick that you watch this by yourself. What, did you feel coming into it?
NICK (32:00)
Okay, before I kind of go into it, Anastasia did you look at their head to head before this match?
ANASTASIA (32:06)
I did, I did look at their head to head and I think I know what you're about to say. It was 5-5. They were pretty even. And here's a funny thing too, while I was watching it, some stats came up of their stats at this tournament at Roland Garros, they were exactly even on everything. So yes, continue, because I think I know where you're going.
NICK (32:13)
Hmm.
Hmm?
It was so close.
I, you know that one of my favorite clips that you've ever released of the podcast was me going, I called Jessica Bousaz-Manero knocking out Emma Navarro and you going, no, didn't. I called this one as well. ⁓ I did. And I have video evidence to prove it because on, I went on another podcast to preview the French Open.
ANASTASIA (32:42)
Yes.
No, you didn't.
Yeah.
NICK (32:55)
And I not only predicted Coco Gauff would win the title, I predicted pretty much how the final would go in that she would drive Aryna crazy by getting all every single ball back because that's what she did in the two 2023 US Open. And yes, Aryna has beaten Coco several times since. Guess what? Every match I've watched of theirs has gone to at least one tie break. And I've seen Aryna tearing her hair out, trying to work out why this ball keeps coming back.
And I thought it was going to be even worse on clay where like getting a bit more technical, Aryna Sabalenka has less of an advantage because it slows the ball down. So it's going to give Coco more time and you don't give Coco more time. So going into this, I thought I wasn't necessarily thinking, I'm probably right. Because I saw how Aryna had beaten Iga and I saw how she'd been playing. She'd beaten Amanda Anisimova and like...
ANASTASIA (33:40)
Yeah.
NICK (33:51)
that usually means that she's playing well when she beats Anisimova So I was thinking it was going to be 50-50. I thought it was going to be a tussle. And boy was it a tussle. Like apart from maybe the midsection of the match, it was a tussle in capital letters, especially the first set. And yeah, this is, this is what happened. Like basically Coco Gauff runs everything down. She locks in for finals.
You can say whatever you want about how she handles any other match, but when it's a final, she shows up and Coco did it again. She got everything back and drove Aryna Sabalenka crazy. And there were aspects of her game that also competed head to head with Aryna's So yeah, absolutely. This match ended up going how I predicted it two weeks ago.
ANASTASIA (34:29)
Yeah.
Yeah, it's really funny because so this match was the featured match in our very last screening at McCarran Park. So I was definitely in the mood of just sort of like meeting people if anyone had any questions explaining and things like that. So I was definitely watching it from a different perspective and just enjoying the match with other people and kind of watching them seeing how they saw this match.
And let me tell you, it's so funny because Coco did lose that first set. But I don't know if you remember this point where the point that Coco or the shot that Coco hit to get that first set to a tie break. I think it was like, was one of these weird around the net kind of things. I mean, the entire place went crazy. The entire room just lost their minds.
And it was so funny because then she ends up losing that set in a tie break, but it was so epic and you just, I think at that point, I almost knew that she would, she would go down fighting. If she didn't win it, you'd have to drag her off the court. Like you would have to like physically remove her from the court.
NICK (35:55)
which is
pretty standard for Coco Gauff right? Like I don't think I've ever, oh no, actually that's a lie. think, I don't wanna say I've ever seen it. I can't remember the last time I've seen her completely capitulate.
ANASTASIA (35:58)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah. And you are totally spot on with exactly your analysis of this match. Coco drove Aryna crazy. And I watched that US Open final that Coco won live. I watched it live. And I have never seen someone implode in that manner on a court ever before. Aryna was losing it. She was giving her rackets to her team.
to, I don't know, restring or fix, I don't know. It was so chaotic. And for some reason, I just thought we were past that Aryna and I didn't expect a literal mirror of that match in this one, but that's what we got. And Coco literally won with her athleticism, just...
She definitely had a strategy and she got every single ball back. Every single ball back. And I like how she kind of
kept it all within herself in a sense that she was, she had a goal and she was going to execute that goal and it didn't matter what was happening on the other side of the net. You know, so it was such a great final to watch and you know, I just didn't think like leaving that final, my heart was so full and happy and we got such a great match and a great final.
I didn't think the men would even come close today, but here we are with two really great finals. But, you know, I think what, unfortunately, unfortunately, fortunately, I don't know. I don't know how you say it. Unfortunately or unfortunate.
moment that match was over, what took over, what I have gotten the most text about or the most comments about have been, I know, I see you doing it, but we have to talk about it.
NICK (37:56)
No, I know
we do. You put it on the rundown. I... I... Go on.
ANASTASIA (38:01)
What we do have to talk about is, I mean, maybe the after match speech, so the trophy ceremony speech, but mostly Aryna Sabalenka's comments in the post-match interview. Because I feel like, what is that phrase where you say people are missing, they're missing something for the something. I can't remember what it is now, but I just think people are,
forgetting about a phenomenal tennis match and focusing on not the important part.
NICK (38:32)
The drama, the wrong kind of drama, the cattiness, because that sometimes comes into women's tennis, unfortunately, by people who want to up it when these women are actually professionals. This is not the real housewives of wherever. So like...
ANASTASIA (38:35)
The drama.
Yes, yes.
NICK (38:55)
This is why I'm rolling my eyes because yes, it's all over social media, people see it like we do need to talk about it because it does raise some interesting questions. But I am not impressed that this became the story in a much of a similar way as you Anastasia. So do you want to explain it?
ANASTASIA (39:14)
So basically what happened in the after the trophy in the trophy ceremony and also in the post match interview is that Aryna Sabalenka mostly
put the match loss on herself. So she went into, on court she said, I played the worst match I've ever played in my whole life. The conditions were horrible and I lost this match. And then she goes into press as well, says pretty much the same thing, doubles down and maybe makes it even worse. There is a comment that I don't know about you. I do think people are misinterpreting it in my opinion. And
I'm surprised that no one's considered the alternative, but in her press, she said something about if Iga had beat her in the semi-finals match, Iga would have beat Coco. And a lot of people are taking that to mean that Iga would have lost, sorry, Coco would have lost to Iga in a final match. Whereas I took it to mean...
But when she said it, it was like the first thing I thought. So I was really surprised when everyone had the reverse. But I just thought she was so critical of herself and her performance that she was saying, if Iga had won the semi-final match, Iga wouldn't have lost the final. Saying that she wasn't good enough to win the semi-final match and then win the final.
but Iga would have. Like I don't think it had anything to do with it was Coco or whoever else was on the other side. In my opinion, that's what I thought she was saying. So when it turned into even a more cattier version, I was like, huh, that's fascinating. That's interesting. But it wasn't what I heard or understood. So that's the premise of all the sort of hoopla going around this match
NICK (41:16)
Yeah, so I took it as everyone else took it, that comment. So I understand why you kind of interpret it as that. I think when you combine it with everything else, like in Aryna's head, she lost that match. She didn't allow Coco to beat her. Like most of the time people will, players will recognize, I didn't play great, but my opponent still played well. They played in the right way to beat me.
And when you see players like Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff having bad days, they still win a lot of the time because their opponents don't play the right way to beat them on a bad day. That's usually how it works. The rea... I think the problem is, is that I don't have a problem with Aryna Sabalenka getting down on herself about how she played. Fine, you didn't play as well as you could have.
ANASTASIA (41:46)
Correct.
NICK (42:13)
That's probably true. That is fine. To then basically say that you're a, but to basically give as little credit to our opponent as she did, I wasn't impressed because in my opinion, Coco played really, really well and I don't think you could argue in any way that it was a battle of two people playing badly and Coco happened to get over the line. That is not what that final was. Now,
I will say this, you're allowed to be in your feelings, you're allowed to focus on yourself and that's the image, you have to work through those emotions. And I don't think people would come down on her as hard as they did until the Iga comment happened. Because in my mind, she's going, if Iga is in the final, she wins this match. Now there is a bit of an in-house tennis knowledge here that maybe adds some context that might help Aryna here in the...
The final was played in really, really windy conditions, which is Iga Swiatek is the best player in the world in playing in those conditions as a general rule. Add to that, it's French Open, it's clay. You know, I could see why you would draw that conclusion. But I don't want to think that because it takes away from Coco because Coco's a good enough player to have figured it out. And Coco did figure it out against Aryna.
ANASTASIA (43:29)
Right.
NICK (43:32)
And yeah, Aryna made a load of mistakes in that match. Half of them was down to how she was handling the situation. Guess what? Half of it was the context that Coco was giving her in that match. That is what's going on. And I do think that even watching that clip in context, it does still come across that she thinks that Coco didn't play well enough to play her or Iga on a good day. And...
the reality was you win on the day that you play. And Coco is a better player than I think way too many give her credit for in the tennis world and people who aren't professionals. So yeah, in my mind, I wasn't impressed by how that went down. I'm not impressed by how everyone kind of hyped it all up and made it more of a thing either, but...
ANASTASIA (44:02)
Yeah.
NICK (44:21)
It was a story, Aryna did say it. She has apologized on her Instagram, which is fair enough. And you know, like, know, he at the moment and like, as I said, 99 % of the things she said, I think, think are okay. I don't think she addressed the point that I and a lot of others are upset about. I'm going to forgive her for it because frankly, I don't know her. She had a tough day and it's not
This is not one of those things that's worth disliking someone about, to be honest. I still think Aryna Sabalenka is an amazing tennis player. And I think that she is going to be a worthy Grand Slam champion when that comes back round again, because I'm pretty confident she's going to win another one. But I don't want this to be the story. I want Coco Gauff played the better on the day of a final in a match that was actually closer than a lot of people.
ANASTASIA (44:54)
Yeah.
Yeah.
NICK (45:17)
gave Coco credit for.
ANASTASIA (45:19)
Yeah, yeah, no, I completely agree with all the things you said there. you know, Aryna did apologize. She put it on her Instagram stories, I think. So depending on when you're listening to this, go look for it. But I'm sure someone's clicked it and put it online or something like that. So she did apologize for her statement. But I think it's just I really wanted to talk about this because I think there are nuances to it. And I don't think we should shy away from.
NICK (45:30)
Yes.
ANASTASIA (45:46)
having different opinions to other people. And I would love to know what people think in general. Leave it in the comments wherever you're listening to this. Let us know what you think in a nice way, guys. No need to be catty in the comments because I think it's nice to have discussions and think about these things. And one thing I do want to express to people is this interview happened maybe half an hour.
She came into press really quickly after the trophy ceremony. And I just give people a little bit more grace in the heat of the moment stuff. Did she say things nicely? Absolutely not. There was a more gracious and nice and frankly, a better way to say things because you saw in her apology,
She basically said all the things that she should have said in the press conference. She said, Coco played great and she definitely was the better player on the day. She said all the things. I just think in the heat of the moment, right off the court, you're super angry. already know Aryna Sabalenka is someone who's very emotional in a good way. I love the way she emotes on court. It's why I love her. Just like.
You can feel everything from her serving to every shot, her grunt. Like you just feel everything she's putting on the court. That having that sort of energy post-match after you just lost, she probably wasn't happy. She probably was not happy at all. Which for me, in contrast, Coco has to be the best ambassador.
of this forth that we currently have. I am constantly shocked that she's 21 years old. Like, I at 21 couldn't put two sentences together. And, you know, I remember in press they asked her about the Aryna comments and she was so, I mean, she was definitely firm in her answer, but also gracious and just well said and just like she.
expresses everything so well. And I remember they asked her about what it's like to be patriotic and her answer was just like, wow, like, how are you so coherent and smart at 21? And I think to have her as an ambassador to this sport, we were just so lucky. We're really lucky.
NICK (48:16)
yeah, Coco Gauff's great, love her. And she is probably the most recognizable tennis name out there now in the women's game, like internationally. No disrespect to the other players who've kind of dominated, especially since I'm a big fan of at least one of them. Like I think in certain markets they are...
like they are big names and they're up there but like Coco Gauff is the one who transcends and is the the instant name recognition. I say that I still have to explain who she is to some people but the I agree I think the way that she handles herself the way that she talks it's very thoughtful it's very clear and she just I get that because obviously she's been mature since she was 15.
it was, that's how she beat Venus Williams at Wimbledon and also her fighting spirit, which is just incredible. yeah, long, we're going to have Coco Gough around for a long, long time. And I think that's going to be a great thing for this sport. I mean, you've said it yourself, like she's the only tennis player who has a shoe or like a line named after that you can get. That's how big a name that she is and how much of an impact that she's already having.
at 21 years old with only having just won her second Grand Slam. So I'm up for that continuing.
ANASTASIA (49:34)
Same, same. Before we move on to the third part of this, which is our thoughts on the tournament in general and the coverage, I did want to bring up this point because I didn't want to lose it, but Nick, I will have a video coming out. Nick recorded a new tennis lessons and we're a little bit backed up because Roland Garros did take up a lot of our time.
NICK (49:54)
I feel so sorry
for Anastasia because she has like several reels, some of which will never get used because they were time sensitive, of like me spamming her with like, we could do this and we could do this and we could do this. And yeah, I may have overdone it.
ANASTASIA (50:01)
but.
It's okay, but the one that I do want to still do is the one you did on unforced errors. Because there have been a few articles that have come out talking about unforced errors and especially in this match, the discussion of what an unforced error is and is it really important or should it really be a real, you know, statistic that we recognize in tennis has come up. I will leave some links to
the athletic I think they did they did one I'll leave some links in the description of this podcast, but and I think it came up especially because You know in the press conference Aryna sublanko was like I you know, I hit 70 on force errors, which she did That's a lot of unforced errors, but Nick just a quick description What is an unforced error and why might it be? Deceiving if I could say that
NICK (51:05)
So I didn't go into that last point in the reel, which I've made, because this wasn't a conversation point. What I do go into is the subjectivity of it. So, unforced errors essentially is when a player makes a mistake that they have full control over, essentially. That's in theory what an unforced error is.
And I think this is where the context of it comes in is that like, how much control does a player have? Cause you're basically watching from a technical perspective of, well, you know, they missed a shot they were in full control of, but there's a lot going on in a tennis player's brain where they're trying to figure out how to beat their opponent. And they play a shot that doesn't work.
goes out, but they feel they needed to was actually probably the right choice, but maybe the execution was slightly off. And that's down to the context of what they need to do to beat their opponent. So for example, Ovis Avelenko couldn't figure out how pull past Coco Gauff. If we use the men's final that we just watched, there were a bunch of misses from both Carlos and Jannik, which were basically because they both had to go for the very edges of the court to have a hope.
of putting that ball somewhere where the other guy couldn't get it. There is context. You can also just have a brain fart and put a ball in a net that was just the easiest shot ever and you don't even need to try. But unfortunately, you know, that breaks things down into a nuance that is difficult to turn into a statistic. And that's the reality of it. The reality of it is that if you want a comprehensive view of how a tennis match goes,
ANASTASIA (52:35)
Yeah.
NICK (52:40)
you need to like read a bunch of handwritten notes and a report of what happened.
ANASTASIA (52:44)
Yeah, but I mean, in the talking about unforced errors, though, I think what really has come up is, is it even possible to have an unforced error? Because take, for example, we've been talking about with Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka, Coco was playing in a way that frustrated Aryna. So are the errors that Aryna was having, was it unforced?
100%. You know what I mean? Do you know what I mean?
NICK (53:09)
Yeah, which
is what was trying to allude to in my answer. I'm going to say this, the answer is yes, 100%. There is such a thing as an unforced error that is genuinely like, you weren't even, like that was a ball that you were aiming for the middle of the court to try and get a rally going and you put it in the net. That happens a lot, even on the pro tour. That is a genuine unforced error. Your opponent, especially if you do it in like the first point of a game. Yeah.
ANASTASIA (53:27)
Yeah.
of a game. Exactly.
NICK (53:35)
or even like the first point of the match. Like, so that's, let's not overanalyze this. Yes, there is such a thing as an unforced error, a true unforced error. But I do agree that there needs to be an understanding of the context of what's going on, which is why when I try and do match reports, I kind of go with what was the opponent doing to help them win the match?
ANASTASIA (53:57)
Yeah, yeah. I love this topic because I think you did the real because I literally asked you, was like, what exactly is an unforced error? You know, we're all still learning about this sport that we really love. And, you know, I think now this conversation has come up, it's got me thinking as well. I think that's the fun part about tennis. You're always learning. Like there's no, you never get to the point where you're like, I did it.
I did tennis, although Djokovic kind of did it, but he's like, I did it, all of it.
Okay, now onto the third part of this. And this is where we talk about the things that I know about. ⁓ our thoughts on the tournament in general. I want to come at it in two ways. One, what do you just think of the tournament in general compared to other Roland Garros's even last year? Like, was this a good tournament? Not, whatever. And then also,
NICK (54:34)
Thank
ANASTASIA (54:49)
from the viewing perspective, especially because the TV coverage, think it's really important and I think it's really important to new fans as well. So on your side of the pond, Nick, just viewing the tournament, what did you think of this year's Roland Garros in general?
NICK (55:07)
As a tournament, I didn't notice anything different to previous years. There wasn't anything that was significant about it. I thought, they're doing that thing new at the tournament. Like it looks and felt like a standard row on Garros, which is a lot of fun. And, you know, nothing to say about it. I will be interested to hear from anyone who's been this year, who maybe has been before. Like, please comment or send us a voice note and tell us.
you know, what's it been like this year compared to previous years? Heck, if it's been your first time, we'd love to hear a voice note from you as well. Because Rowan Garrison is one of those places we don't really have a lot of info on and we'd still love to share it, especially if you've been watching and going, I fancy a trip to Paris in like, early June 2026. Especially since tickets are probably not too bad to get hold of, price wise or ease wise. And
ANASTASIA (55:47)
Yeah.
NICK (55:55)
But in terms of maybe the coverage, again, I'm gonna be really boring and say, despite the fact that technically TNT took over from Eurosport, it's the same company, like fundamentally parent company, they just switched branding around. And apart from a few couple of newer presenters who I've never seen before, of younger generation who were quite friendly and really good conversation, the panel lineup was the same. We still had Jim Courier,
and Tim Henman and Matt's Volander playing a big part in the coverage or Chris Evert popping in every now and again. John McEnroe occasionally as well. But this is what I'm used to from British coverage over the last few years. So it's a really boring answer, but I think that is my experience of this year's Ruin Games. Even using the Discovery Plus app has been the same of selecting the matches I wanna watch as one of the pluses of using that surface.
So in reality, on this side of the pond, not too much different other than some branding that was different. Contrast that to your side where everything changed.
ANASTASIA (56:53)
Yeah.
everything changed, everything changed. And I think I can confidently say everything changed for the better. For me in general, you're right in terms of the tournament itself. And, you know, I think I'll let you speak about this too, but, you know, this is a conversation that has come up. I don't think the viewing public, so people at home,
especially casual fans, like not non-casual, but I think especially casual fans, I don't know how much they notice the fact that there are no women's night matches at Roland Garros. And this is from actual experience. Like I've asked people and again, maybe they're watching. Here's the thing, a night match in Paris is an afternoon match in the States. So I don't think there's that sort of
NICK (57:44)
you
ANASTASIA (57:49)
the same visceral kind of like, there are no women matches happening over here on this side. But I'm sure on your end, you definitely saw that a lot. And people who are attending the tournament, there were no women night matches at Roland Garros. Has it become unfortunately the norm? Yes, it is what they do now. And I've heard all of the, you know, the reasons, it's length of match.
because women have shorter matches and if you're buying, they only have one night session and it's only one match. Not one night session, they have a night session every day, but they only have one match at the night session. So if you're buying a ticket to go to the night session and you only have one match, they want to make sure that you get at least three sets. Now, the thing is, a women's match can be three sets too, and yes, it can end in an hour.
But I believe Carlos had an hour and nine minute three set match at one of the Roland Garros night session. I don't know how well that stat stands up. I definitely hope it's something that they're working on. They got a lot of news about it at this year's tournament, I think more than any other one. And hopefully they're working on it for next year.
You have Wimbledon and Wimbledon doesn't have night sessions. I have the US Open where we have a night session, but it's two matches and it's one, it's a woman and men and they alternate who goes first every time. So it's definitely something I think the French Open has to work on. You know, I'm thinking about it now. I don't know what the Australian Open does. Do they have two? Okay, yeah, so they have two as well. So yeah, so that's definitely.
NICK (59:29)
Australia Open, where is the US Open?
on two big courts as
well, because that's the other difference is that Roland Garros night session only happens on Philippe Chatrier whereas you have a night session on Ash and Armstrong in the US Open and Rod Laver and Margaret Court on the Australian.
ANASTASIA (59:39)
Yes.
Yeah,
yeah. So yeah, I feel like there are things to work out there that they could definitely do to make it more equitable and have women's matches at night as well as men matches. Because again, if you're in that time zone, that is the prime time. And that is the time people all sit around with a drink and watch the tennis or with food, whatever, however you watch tennis guys, popcorn.
So that's that. I think, like you said, the tournament itself was very, you know, what it usually is. We had a Rafa tribute, which I loved, obviously. I obviously love that. You don't get that every year, but I did love that. But in terms of the TV coverage, you were right. It was completely different. Usually, for the last few years, Tennis Channel has been the rights holder of Roland Garros. And the way it always worked,
NICK (1:00:23)
Yeah, we will get that after you. I'll give you that.
ANASTASIA (1:00:40)
was they had some matches, but they also split it up with different other networks. Like NBC had some matches and Tennis Channel had some matches and it was just so jumbled. And Tennis Channel this year became fully streaming so you could stream every match. But when they were covering Roland Garros, you know, the last few years, they weren't. So you also had to have cable. You would have to have, if you wanted to watch every single match, you would have to have cable where you could get
tennis channel and you also had to have the streaming service. So you were paying double. It was just, it was a lot. Having TNT take over again, I had no idea how it was going to go and it's gone fabulously. I'm a tennis junkie. Not everyone's like me. I want to be able to pick the match I want to watch, when I want to watch it, how I want to watch it. So
I got the streaming service that TNT has. They were streaming all of the matches on Max, HBO Max. I was watching it there. I always suggested to people, if you are a super tennis fan, that's what you should do. But what I loved about the TNT coverage is in the States at least, TNT, they cover basketball and they cover football. So the NFL and the NBA. And those are really big markets. Tennis was then shoved in the middle of
So people could just stumble on the tennis. They were discovering it every day. Roland Garros is one of my favorite tournaments simply because Rafa was one of my favorite players and he always won here. And I just love the clay. There's something about the clay and the grass. I like the natural surfaces a lot more than I do hard court But people never asked me about Roland Garros. They would ask me about Wimbledon. They would ask me about the US Open.
Australia, absolutely not because it's just not in the right time for us. Like I think so many people skip the Australian Open because they don't even know what's happening. And I feel like this year was one of the years where people paid attention because Madison Keys won, you know. It's kind of similar with the French Open. Nobody used to ask me about it, you know. This year, nonstop, absolute nonstop. Like people just stumble and they're like, it's the tennis. and even in the place that we were screening,
ESPN is a premium service, so you have to pay extra for it and get the ESPN Plus to get all the matches and stuff. The place we were screening, they just had TNT. It was just available. I remember when I went over there to just check out the space and I said, hey, Roland Garros and it's gonna be on TNT. And they're like, yeah, if you just turn on the TV, it's already on TNT. They already just had the first channel that you turned on.
on when you turned on their screen was TNT. That's invaluable. Like I think it was such a great thing to have it on a channel that people could just stumble on. And then added to that, the people that they picked to be part of it worked. First of all, Sloane Stephens she's still playing. She's still playing. She's just currently injured.
but she was kind of a sort of on court reporter. And I mean, she was just fantastic. First of all, her looks were insane. I'm going to write like a little article and film a video just about her outfits because they were absolutely crazy. And it was just fun watching to see what she would wear the next day, which was always something fabulous. But then they had this, I don't know, Nick, I don't know if they did this because you've had TNT forever.
But did they have this thing called the rally with you?
NICK (1:04:22)
You keep asking me this. No, they did not. This is not. Yeah, it's not a thing in the UK because I tried looking for it. No, it's not something that they've put on our relationship. So TNT is not that new established a brand. It's a rebrand from some like corporate shenanigans that happened a couple of years ago with BT Sport, who then got owned by Discovery Network.
ANASTASIA (1:04:25)
did I have I asked you this already? Okay.
Yeah.
Mmm.
NICK (1:04:48)
So it's all part of the discovery network. So it's very cool to hear that you can just get TNT with a standard sort of cable package or whatever in the States, because here you can get TNT with that if you are paying for whatever our equivalent of cable is. But you can also just not stumble across it because it's all really, really expensive and you have to have the right subscription for it. So it's great to hear that how it is in the States, but no, the rally is not a thing.
ANASTASIA (1:05:05)
Mm.
So that's different.
NICK (1:05:12)
the TNT coverage here was very much aimed at established tennis fans.
ANASTASIA (1:05:17)
Gotcha. So the rally here was basically a round table show. So they had a desk and it was Mark Petchy, Coco Vandaway, Chris Eubanks, and then Sloane Stephens would pop in and out. And what they would do every single morning, it would start at 5 a.m. and they would just go where the action was. And apparently this was the brainchild of Mark Petchy. Like he's always had this idea and he wanted to do it and
TNT went for it, but it was brilliant. I even used it. Cause usually what I do is like on my tablet, I'll have like the match I want to watch, but I also wanted to check out what the rally was. And then I just ended up having them the whole tournament because it was so fun, especially when in those early days where they're like 400 matches happening at the same time, it was so nice to like pick the match I want to watch watching that. But then I could also just have in the background.
Mark Petchy and Coco Vandaway and Chris Eubanks just bump, you know, jumping around matches because they would just go to wherever the action was. And I would be like, that match is going into a tie break or you know, that's a six love set over there in that match. And I think also the dynamics of the people were really fun. You know, I think Mark Petchy and Coco Vandaway, they just sounded like an old married couple every day. Like every day, Mark Petchy would find something to make fun of Coco about and
They just sounded like this old married couple. And then Chris Eubanks was their like smart friend who would, you know, separate them and be like, actually, did you know? And he would put up a stat or something. So I think the dynamic was really great. And I just really enjoyed the coverage. There was the main guy for the night show. His name's Adam Lefkoe. He works for TNT and he's done a bunch of other sports. This is his first time doing tennis.
and I really loved having someone, it was actually interesting, it was almost having a casual fan as a tennis presenter because he could speak to the people that didn't know much about the tennis, you know, because they could almost see themselves in him a little bit. So I think it was really nice to have such great coverage and this was their first time, they now have,
the tournament for 10 years. I think they have some work to do and some things to change, but all in all, I'll give that coverage an eight out of 10. That's how good it was.
NICK (1:07:40)
Nice.
Yeah, I think that sounds really positive. Obviously I didn't experience it, so I can't give you my opinion on it. ⁓ I like the fact that they did try something like that, that they were jumping to where the exciting bits were happening. Like, I like that as a concept, I think. I've interested see how it played out in real life. But I think for tennis, which is always so busy, especially in those early rounds, it can be really good, especially if you are
ANASTASIA (1:07:49)
Yeah.
NICK (1:08:06)
you're new to the sport and don't know which batch to watch you just only know the names so but hey that's what we're here for to tell you what's gonna be interesting as well so yeah I'm glad that TNT was a success and hopefully they get the other slams for you
ANASTASIA (1:08:11)
Exactly. Yeah.
that is.
let's see how long ESPN's contracts are or if they learn or if they learn from how successful the TNT coverage was.
NICK (1:08:30)
TNT might get
the Australian open because they have it in the UK.
ANASTASIA (1:08:34)
That would be great.
NICK (1:08:34)
I have
a feeling that you have to press Wimbledon and the US Open out the cold dead fingers of the people who already have them.
ANASTASIA (1:08:40)
Yeah
Exactly, Okay, we're coming to the end here. Just a few more things. What's coming up next? Grass is here. It already started, guys. Grass season's already started. We had a really great episode with Lucy and Eugene from Black Spin Global. So I will just direct you over there. I'll leave the link in the description. talk, you know, we talk about what's coming up in the grass, especially Queens, which starts tomorrow. And they kind of give their thoughts on that tournament.
NICK (1:08:52)
Yeah.
ANASTASIA (1:09:10)
I said it there and I'll say it here again. I could buy a flight to London and get a ticket and it would be cheaper than the US Open. Ruminate on that for a second.
NICK (1:09:16)
you
ANASTASIA (1:09:22)
Players of the Fortnight Nick, we haven't done this in a while, I feel like.
NICK (1:09:26)
No,
we didn't do one the last episode because there wasn't much of a Fortnight to reflect on and well now we have a Fortnight to reflect on and it's quite the Fortnight. I'm trying to work out which of us to go first because I think yours is quite left field and is looking to the future. Mine is the most obvious pick known to man. should I go first for this one?
ANASTASIA (1:09:31)
Yeah.
Yes it is.
Let's go with the obvious.
Huh? Yeah, let's go with the obvious.
NICK (1:09:53)
Should I go first for this one? Because
I think that nicely wraps up the French Open and then your pick can help us to look forward. Indeed. So my pick in absolutely no surprise, there is no drum roll here. It's Lois Boisson Like, who else was it gonna be? She's the ultimate ground pass story.
ANASTASIA (1:10:03)
Look forward!
NICK (1:10:18)
you could have gone and watched her on the ground pass at the French Open and then she ends up in the in a ground time semi-final. Amazing story of one year ago being in a hospital bed having surgery on a torn ACL, which ruled her out of her Rowan Gowers debut and then her more than making up for it this year by beating Jessica Pegula and Mirra Andreeva to make the semi-finals. I don't know where she goes from here. Doesn't matter. She's had her moment.
the French crowd will always remember her for these heroics. And, well, let's face it, think she's kind of been overshadowed by the two amazing finals we had this weekend, but she kind of makes it the trinity of amazing stories that we got from this Roland Garros finals weekend, as it were. So we talked a lot about her on the last episode that we recorded.
ANASTASIA (1:10:56)
Yeah.
NICK (1:11:10)
That's the episode before the Black Spin Global won. And then, you I know you talked a little bit about her run to the semi-finals again with them, but yeah, it's Lois Boisson. And I think we'll be talking about her run for a very long time.
ANASTASIA (1:11:27)
We will, and we do have a match stories that I recorded, but never released because I was tired and I haven't edited it yet. So I will edit that and I will release it because I think it deserves to be released. She is the player of the Fortnight on the women's side and that will be coming probably sometime next week. We will see how that goes. Mine is a little out of left field.
but is definitely someone we've talked about on this pod before. And I think I definitely wanted to give him this shout out now. And it is Colton Smith. Colton Smith is the ATP player of the Fortnight. And you might ask, was he at the French open? Didn't he lose first match in Qualies? Yes, you're right. Yes, yes. But then,
NICK (1:12:06)
And as per usual, was he the French open?
ANASTASIA (1:12:16)
He took a probably train or flight, who knows, and he went over to the grass and he got into the Birmingham Challenger, which was happening this second week of Roland Garros. And I wanted to kind of bring this up too, because it also highlights something that people might not know, but the ATP has this program with colleges where a select amount of college, I think it's called their accelerator.
the ETP accelerated program, but if I find the correct name of it, I will link it in the description of this episode, but they basically award direct entry into challengers for college players because a lot of times college players don't have the rankings to go into even challengers. know, they're too low ranked, but this kind of accelerates them.
onto the tour if that's something they want to do. There's a whole list of players who have been, there's a whole list of players on the website. I'll link again the article that have been giving this and Colton Smith is one of them. He got into the Birmingham Challenger and he got to the final. He got to the final of the Birmingham Challenger on grass the first time he's played on grass. So the reason I bring him up is,
He is one to watch. He's definitely one to watch. His ranking is now high enough. I think he still has to play qualies at Wimbledon, but this run to the finals of Birmingham has definitely taken him up the rankings. And he's just one to watch. If he gets to the finals of a challenger in his very first grass court tournament, and he beat some really great players. He beat Rinki Hijikata to get here in the semifinals.
I'm really excited to see how he does at Wimbledon because I feel like he might at least get into the main draw. Whereas on clay, he was a little bit bambi on ice, hadn't really played on European clay before, but it seems like his game and his footwork is really working on grass. So Colton Smith, he made a run at Indian Wells. You might remember he also won a challenger already this year.
In the States, it was the first challenger after the Australian Open he won. So he's definitely one to watch this year. Excited to see how far he goes. He's also big on fishing. So we have that. He fishes with Tommy Paul.
NICK (1:14:41)
That
sounds about right. Tommy Paul is definitely that kind of guy you go fishing with. Yeah, Colton Smith sounds like a guy that if you don't get to go see at Wimbledon, you might go see at the Newport Challenger.
ANASTASIA (1:14:54)
Yes, exactly. Exactly. Which is really exciting. I hope, um, ground pass is going to be able to make our way to the Newport challenger this year. I've never been to a grass court tournament ever. And Newport, which used to be an ATP 250 is now a mixed challenger event. So they kept the tournament. It's just now a mixed challenger event. It's also where the tennis hall of fame is. So I just think that's just a great trip in general. See the tennis hall of fame.
watch my first pro matches on grass. Hopefully I can make that happen this year and we will bring you more details on that and the summer swing when they come. But Nick, it's too early to think of the summer swing because we're just coming off of Roland Garros and I'm like, my goodness, Wimbledon's in three weeks. It's a lot, a lot happening.
NICK (1:15:45)
And
at start of the journey, tell you something scary. We're officially halfway through the tennis season.
ANASTASIA (1:15:48)
What?
Where did the year go?
NICK (1:15:52)
Like, they play for 46 weeks, we've just completed week 23.
ANASTASIA (1:15:56)
Wow, 23 more to go. It is a marathon and not a sprint, but Nick, feel like there's only one way to end this pod
NICK (1:16:08)
Abra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-bra-
ANASTASIA (1:16:11)
Olé! Thanks everyone for joining us. It was a long one, but boy was it worth it. Bye!
