Rome Open 2025 | Sinner Returns, Iga Struggles, and Team Coachella Rises | Ground Pass Podcast
This week on Ground Pass, we’re catching up on all things clay season and diving into the beautiful chaos that is the Rome Open. But first, we recap the wild scenes from Madrid—including a super-detailed voice memo from Ramiro at @courtsatisfaction breaking down everything from seating to surprise side events.
We also talk about:
– Why Rome is a wishlist tournament for Anastasia
– The gorgeous (and packed) tennis grounds at Foro Italico
– Jannik Sinner’s Darth Sinner entrance
– Novak Djokovic skipping Rome but snagging a Geneva wildcard
– The resurgence of Jack Draper and Casper Ruud
– Emma Raducanu’s quiet comeback and mental reset
– The Iga Swiatek conversation—what’s going on and why it’s okay
– Aryna Sabalenka’s rise to world no. 1 and the story behind her dominance
– The rise of Team Coachella (Coco Gauff + Alex Eala)
– Why doubles stories deserve more attention, especially Evan King + Chris Harrison
– Player of the Fortnight picks: Bianca Andreescu and Fabian Marozsan
✨ We’ve got stories, travel tips, and maybe a few statue jokes along the way.
🎧 Don’t forget to subscribe, leave a rating, and check out our new Patreon for behind-the-scenes content.
Links mentioned:
– Karue Sell - Meet the Professionals episode
TRANSCRIPT
Anastasia - Ground Pass (00:00)
Nicholas, a little birdie tells me you haven't watched that much tennis.
Nick Carter (00:04)
What is tennis? Who are you? Where am I? I think I hit my head recently.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (00:11)
It's okay. It's okay. You're safe.
Nick Carter (00:13)
Can you, is there a podcast
that can explain what this is to me?
Anastasia - Ground Pass (00:18)
You know what? There actually is. There actually is. It's called ground pass.
everyone and welcome to another episode of Groundpass where we break down the tennis goings on for you.
we're here to catch you up and talk about the new tournament that's happening now, which is Rome. But before we get into that, some bookkeeping, we have some things to tidy up since So we had our Madrid sort of midweek episode, and then last week we had our Meet the Professionals episode, which we do at the beginning of every month, and it was with Karue Sell It was a really great episode.
Definitely learned a lot about how to be a YouTuber. Tennis, not so much. I'm still working on that part, but I think I'm a better YouTuber now because of Karue
that was a really great episode. Catch up on it if you haven't. I will leave a link to that episode in the description of this podcast. And also we now have a Patreon. We don't have any sponsors for this podcast here. We just do it. But it does take a lot of time. It does take a lot of effort. And if you would like to support us in what we do,
We have a Patreon now. You'll have to go to it to see what it's about, because it'll just take too long to explain. So I'll leave a link for it. But let's just say it's a little bit more of the behind the scenes. If you like home improvement and listening to me, you'll like our Patreon. So I'll leave a link to that below. But if you can't contribute to our Patreon, that is totally fine.
leaving us a review, giving us a five-star rating on the podcast listener of your choice, liking and subscribing on YouTube, all of that stuff really does help the podcast. So there are multiple ways in which you can help us here at Groundpass. Keep ground passing, because we love to ground pass.
What else? What else? Madrid.
So we obviously didn't have an episode talking about the winners. It was Caspar Ruud and Aryna Sabalenka. If you follow us on social media, we talked about it on their ad nauseum, so we won't right now. But we did get a voice memo from a very kind listener. I've talked about them before on this podcast. They have an Instagram called Court Satisfaction. I will leave a link to their Instagram account.
in the description of this podcast, but they sent us a voice memo about their experience in Madrid. And it made me want to buy tickets immediately for next year. Nick listen to it too, yeah?
Nick Carter (02:56)
yeah, yeah, I've listened to it. I think rather than let me tell you what I think of it, I think you should draw your own conclusions. yeah, it's a good listen and I think it's really useful information for if you're planning a trip to.
Ramiro - Court Satisfaction (03:08)
Hi, Anastasia Nick, Ramiro here from Court Satisfaction help you well. So let's do a brief recap of our experience at the Mutua Madrid Open. Firstly, and as most of these big tournaments, book everything in advance. We booked flights and apartments in September 2024 and the prices were more expensive than normal. Madrid is quite touristy but...
This weekend there were other events in the city that probably had some influence on the price. There was a big event in Fiera de Madrid, that is the main place where all the brick trade shows are made. And then, and probably more importantly, the Madrid Marathon that gathered 45,000 runners, many of them from other countries, other cities of Spain. So you see, busy weekend all over Madrid.
and in the end, well, it's normal that the prices went up. Regarding tickets, we also booked at the same time for the first Saturday day session. We booked for the South Stand, the upper tier and the price was 59 euros, around 67 dollars 50 pounds, which I think is quite reasonable for a Masters 1000. If you were on the upper tier of the Manolo Santana Stadium,
the view is really good, not too far away, to be honest I wouldn't mind to repeat the same seats. Still on the main stadium, and we're getting sun which is something we all find important to mention. If the weather is good and the roofs are open, on the side stands you'll have a lot of sun because they are not covered so I fully advise to be prepared for it. If you're on the other end, if you're in the upper tier, north,
or South Stand behind the baselines, they are covered, so you won't have any sun at all. Speaking about stadiums, the Mutua Madrid has a total of three stadiums and 11 courts. When you enter the premises, you will find on that floor the main stadium, the Manolo Santana, with capacity for 12,500 spectators. The second stadium, is the Arancha Sanchez Vicario, with capacity for 3,000 spectators.
and then stadium 3 with capacity for 2000 spectators. Going down one floor you will find access to all the other courts where you can see a lot of matches and practice sessions. The ticket system works in this way. If you buy a ticket for the main stadium you have access to that stadium, stadium 3 and tennis garden. If you buy a ticket for the stadium 2 you get access to that stadium and tennis garden. If you buy a ground pass...
you get access to stadium 3 and tennis garden. The prices of the ground passes, they rise according to the development of the tournament. They start at 5 euros on the qualies, 11 euros first round, 21 euros second round, until a maximum I think 38 euros in the third round when you can also see the WTA round of 16.
Before talking a bit more about the tournament itself, let me just add a side note regarding the location. The tournament is played at Caja Magica that is a of multi-purpose stadium located on the south of Madrid, near the Manzanares River. It's really well located. If you're based in Madrid city centre, it will be like a 20-minute ride by taxi or Uber, or you can also travel by metro.
From the city center is around 25 minutes by metro and then you have a 10 minute walk from the nearest station that is the San Fermín or Casur. So it's pretty easy and suitable. You can get the most of the vibrant city that Madrid is and then quickly get to tennis. Regarding to the tournament itself, the infrastructures are quite good. It was crowded but not too much. The enters of the event
was done properly, foot corners are varied, it doesn't take you too much time, well at least on the day we were there. We were there on that Saturday that usually is a big day for the tournament so it should be pretty good. All the major tennis brands were there with their official stance but there was one that was more preeminent and
standing out from all the other ones area was Lacoste. They had two stands on both floors and were far bigger than all the other ones. Even in Madrid city Sinner their official stores were tennis dedicated so you see quite committed with the tournament. In our view there's the Masters 1000 Madrid have won huge problem that is the
the stadium 3 that is quite small and is always packed. To give you an example, on the day we were there, Tsitsipas and Dimitrov were the second and third match of the day. So to get to see them, you'd have to be there for the first match and basically never leave. If you leave, you lose your seat and will never get access to that because the queue was immense. We never managed to to enter the stadium 3, so you see how it is.
Well, but at least there was some good news announced. They are going to build a new stadium in 2026 with capacity for 8600 spectators. Which, if I remember correctly, so it will be the second largest stadium of the event. It should be ready for 2028, fingers crossed for that. Last note, there was one side event
taking place during the tournament that is the Mini Shop Open. I don't know if you heard about it, Mini Shop is one of the best in streetwear, menwear stores in Madrid. They stock really good brands like APC, Braindead, Camadagarso, YMC, etc. and it's the second edition of that Open where they get together with their friends and family, say, know, good people from...
fashion, arts, music, design, etc. They have a lot of tennis, drinks, food, DJ sets. Well, actually, Braindead and Bagel Magazine, for instance, have been there this edition. So I really believe this will get bigger and bigger and will be a solid tennis culture side event of the Mutu Madrid Open. So yeah, to sum up, we definitely recommend the event.
great urbanization, good infrastructure, the best tennis players, an amazing city to explore and great weather. Really, must go. We see you there next year.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (10:33)
do do
Nick Carter (10:33)
wait whilst
I subscribe to Court Satisfaction on Instagram.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (10:37)
done and done. I love it. So Nick subscribed to Court Satisfaction and that voice memo was fantastic. I mean, it was one of the most detailed ones we've gotten. I loved how he described, you know, not only their process of getting tickets, but also what it was like in the city of Madrid. Apparently there were all these other events going on that also affected
the tennis and getting to the grounds and sort of the prices of tickets and the prices of just things around. I really liked that. And then also talking about some other activities around the tennis that's happening in the city. That happens a lot of times with tournaments where a 1000 level event tournament comes to a city and it kind of takes over the...
the outsides of the tournament ground. That happens a lot during the US Open. Like New York just becomes so tennis focused during the US Open. So it was really nice to hear all of that. And it really did make me want to plan a trip. And I hope on Groundpass, we can start maybe doing a lot more of that to show kind of, it's not just going to the tournaments. Like you can make a whole,
trip out of it, like just thinking of Rome, you know? I've never been to Rome. I would love to go to Rome. Why not combine the two, you know?
Nick Carter (12:00)
I mean, that's what I think, although I have been informed by those people where I go to, hey, do you want to go to Rome while the tennis is on? And everyone's response to me, including my own mother who raised me on tennis was, you can go to the tennis. I'm not, I'm just going to go around Rome. Like, okay, I'm going to Rome for the tennis. You do you, I guess. This is why we're not a purely travel podcast.
but yeah, that's, that's interesting. I think that's what's going to happen. I hope we get some good insights for what it's like at Rome. but going back to what the guys sent in for Madrid, think absolutely. And I could really picture what the tournament was like from, from their descriptions and, you can, and sort of key top tips for like, you know, it did make me feel like, okay, there's, it's not like massively different from attending any tennis tournament, but the fact evokes that.
immediate mindset in me shows that yeah it's a good description of what's
what it's like. And the thing is here is that we're not necessarily going to do stuff like before the tournament happens or like months in advance. Like, especially if you don't live in Spain, this is going to take a lot of planning. So this is your prompt. If you want to go to Madrid, start planning now. Plan a year in advance. Learn to plan in advance. Do not, if you, if you can do a spur of the moment thing, great. But you know,
Anastasia - Ground Pass (13:13)
Yeah. ⁓
Nick Carter (13:22)
Good luck and I don't know how you do it.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (13:24)
You know, think spur of the moment is definitely good when you are in the area. Take for example, our friends over at Black Spin Global, Lucy, spur of the moment decided to go to the finals between Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff but she lives in the UK. A flight to Madrid is not as crazy as if I was to spur of the moment, fly to Madrid.
That is a lot, know, that's across the ocean. She could probably just pop in on an easy jet and it would be easy. So I would say definitely if you are in the area of a tournament, is easy, but even listening to this, it just shows how for a big trip like this, especially when you want to incorporate it into just a trip to a city.
you have to plan ahead, especially because you also don't know what might be happening around the tournament. Like I had no idea there was a marathon going on in Madrid at the same time and there were all these other sporting events as well. It just wasn't on the tennis. So that was really great.
Nick Carter (14:28)
And by the way, like, if anything, you can tell that like sometimes the world is bigger than tennis just by this week when on Monday, the entirety of Spain went down, like lost power. And so they got like two matches in Madrid and then they just didn't get any more done. had to catch up the rest of week. And I was sat there going, ha, this is a bigger problem than just a tennis tournament getting cancelled. Or
Anastasia - Ground Pass (14:48)
Yeah.
Yes.
Nick Carter (14:54)
Other unexpected stuff happening, like if you were planning a visit to Rome, this tournament, you were probably wondering what's going to happen with the Papal Conclave. And I'm going to have to fight through hundreds of thousands of people just to get to the tennis that I have nothing to do with the tennis because it's a bigger world event. So like, even if you come around that, then, you know,
Anastasia - Ground Pass (15:13)
Well...
Nick Carter (15:16)
But around that you can't plan for these kind of things.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (15:20)
Yeah, you you say the Conclave had nothing to do with tennis. I don't know. The Pope is a tennis fan, so I think it had a lot to do with tennis.
Nick Carter (15:30)
I had to drag him away from the Rome tournament to get him in post.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (15:36)
You're the Pope now. Let's go.
But yeah, so thank you so much again for sending in that voice message. And if you are at a tournament and you want to tell us about it and, you know, we are not covering it, it would even be great if you're going to a local sort of ITF tournament or you're going to a challenger or smaller tournament and you want to tell us about it so that we can share it with our listeners.
please send us a voice memo. What you can do is just email us a voice memo. You need to keep it around the five minute mark. I know sometimes if you go over, don't stress about it, but keep it around the five minute mark. We would love to share your thoughts on tournaments around the world with our listeners. send those emails over and we will share those. We are also going to start.
putting up some tournament guides on our website. Yes, we do have a website. So stay tuned this week. We'll be announcing it on our social media, but we will be starting with the Charleston tournament and we want it to be a resource for you. So I go to these tournaments. I learn about what the goings on are on the grounds, like how easy is it to get around and all of that stuff. And we want it to be a resource to our listeners so they can always go there being like, I want to go to Charleston.
what do I do, I'll go to groundpasspodcast.com and find out the gist of the matter. So that's our little bookkeeping session. Now it is time, it is time. As Rafa Nadal said, we are in Rome. We are in and...
Nick Carter (17:10)
happened
happened in previous podcaster and now we are in Rome
Anastasia - Ground Pass (17:15)
yes, we are at the Rome Open. And this has quickly, I think every time we come back to Rome, I'm almost reminded of how much of a wishlist tournament the Rome Open is for a couple of things. First of all, I've never been to Rome. I really would love to go to Rome and
That's definitely the first thing getting me there. But then this tournament as well is just one of the most beautiful, gorgeous tennis venues I've ever seen. Like it is just so, so gorgeous. And what I'm going to do here, Nick, if the technology will allow us is I'm going to share some photos. So if you're only listening to this podcast, don't worry. We will talk through everything, obviously.
But if you're watching us on YouTube, you are also going to get a chance to see these beautiful photos of Rome.
I don't know if it's just requirement or it's the history, but there are just so many statues over this site. And that is where I'm starting because you almost feel like you're in the middle of some sort of medieval Colosseum and also a modern, you know.
day site, obviously, but they're just statues everywhere. And I love that, I love that just, you know, the juxtaposition of that, where you get ancient Rome mixed in with a modern day
tournament.
Nick Carter (18:48)
Yeah, I think it's interesting. I think it also gives the tournament a sense of character. Like, you know where you are. Like we've talked before about tournaments that kind of feel like it could be anywhere.
could only be in Rome. And I think it gives that tournament a sort of an element of uniqueness, of specialness. Like Wimbledon's got its kind of English garden party vibe, you know.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (18:58)
Yeah.
Right.
Nick Carter (19:12)
Aussie opens like your chill Australian summer kind of you know experience that you would get and this is holiday in Rome and this is what you do as part of your holiday in Rome so absolutely I can see why they would do that either that or they were there already and they just built the tennis around them
Anastasia - Ground Pass (19:31)
Well, so that's also another thing about this site. it's more than just the tennis. Now this is a big map of it so that you can kind of see the idea, but there's like a big soccer stadium in this venue. seems, there are pools, there
You know, there's just so much going on that it's not just the tennis so much. So in fact, which was really funny yesterday watching the Jannik Sinner match. as that was going on, there was also a soccer match happening at the same time and you could hear the crowds from both. was kind of hilarious. I was like, this must be the busiest this site has ever been because of course everyone was there for Jannik Sinner
and also a packed soccer stadium as well.
Nick Carter (20:19)
This kind of reminds
me of the set up Miami has because it's like around the Miami Dolphins stadium. The difference is I don't think they could do a tennis match during a Miami Dolphins game.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (20:25)
Right.
Oh no, no, no, No.
Nick Carter (20:32)
I'm surprised that
they're not doing an Italian football match to be honest, because there's a lot of very passionate fans in whatever sport they watch.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (20:40)
Right, right. mean, can only, just the crowds of people. Like if you're looking at this photo here, which is kind of like an overview of everything, on the far end is the soccer stadium. And then closer to us is the Center court. And imagine that entire Center court filled and then the entire stadium filled. That's thousands and thousands of people on one site. And I mean, you know.
Nick probably would not have been having the best time, but I would have loved to experience something like that, to just be in that sort of mix of, you know, people.
Nick Carter (21:18)
I could do this now. I would be checking the fixture
list for that soccer stadium and would not be going during a day when a match is on. That is just way too much input and people for me.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (21:29)
It is a lot of people, but I mean, the pools are there. It just seems like a very, it's a general sporting facility that holds, yeah, like outside of the main city which I like. Now, favorite courts. I wanted to talk about the courts a lot. This is actually a new stadium that they built this year. ⁓
Nick Carter (21:37)
It looks like it's right on the edge of Rome as well.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (21:52)
It's called, I think it's called the super tennis, like the super tennis arena, It looks like a super tennis arena. And for everyone who's just listening and not watching, imagine a tennis court in the middle of a track.
if that makes any sense. So you know how a track goes around people like it's in an oval and then in the middle it's usually grass and that's where you do the track, the field part of track and field events. They have put a tennis court in the middle of it. And then it's surrounded by, so you have the track around and then it's surrounded by some stairs that is lined by statues. Like it is so epic looking. Like it looks.
Nick Carter (22:31)
Yeah. That just looks like
an ancient Roman site. And like, I'm pretty sure I've seen photos of this court before. It's just the stands were not as high. Like you could sit on the steps.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (22:44)
So that is a different court. That's the Pietrangeli which we're gonna come to but this one so the Rome Open has grown in size over time and I think it almost correlates to the number of Italian players in the top 100 so the more on the men's side. Yes, that's true, but I think Because there's so many Italian players now tennis is becoming so
Nick Carter (23:01)
in the men's side.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (23:13)
popular in Italy, they've had a crowd problem where where do we put all these people? And this was a new stadium that was built this year called the Super Tennis Arena to help accommodate them. I think it's great. But the court you're talking about, I'll skip ahead, is this one. This is Pietrangeli which is almost a sunken court. And you'll see like these white stands that they've put on top.
on the top level, those are the additional stands that have been added to fit more people on the courts. you know, I've never been to Rome, so I don't know the difference of what it was like before as to now. I'm not mad at it. Like, a lot of people online have been like, how could they have done this to the most beautiful court in the world? And I'm more of the opinion of
I've seen this court now as it is all full and all those seats above taken up by people. And I just thought, so all of those people would have been standing before and not actually had a good view of the tennis. So I'm all for adding the stands if it makes the tennis, you know, if you can add more people to the court and then they can get a better view of the tennis. And this is also another court that's surrounded by statues as well.
Nick Carter (24:37)
Yeah, I can see why people are complaining about it, but I'm also looking at it and going, I agree with you, more people are to watch it, especially since it's one of the more major show courts at the Rome Open. But also, I'm looking at the stands, I appreciate it's quite a squished photo. The stands don't look out of place, they actually blend in quite well with it.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (24:51)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Nick Carter (25:03)
Like, yeah,
Anastasia - Ground Pass (25:03)
Yeah.
Nick Carter (25:04)
you can tell the difference between stone steps and temporary white stands, but like, on the surface, I don't hate it. I think it just, it doesn't look ugly by any means. Just because you're, I guess the only reason people can play is you've got something that looks a lot more modern on there.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (25:15)
No, yeah.
I guess so. You I think a lot of people too were like, you could see the, all the statues all around and these white new stands kind of block the statues on the side. But I'm just like, people have to sit somewhere. I love beautiful things. You know, believe me, I love beautiful things, but I also think they need to be functional. And as a tennis site,
it's nice that there are additional stands for people to sit at and be able to view the tennis versus just imagine if that was just a crowd of people on the sides, know, trying to peer over, but they're all the same height. So they can't see over the tall people in front. And this kind of stadium seating gives them an elevated view and they can still watch the tennis and take a rest and sit down, you know?
But yeah, like in general, just looking at those photos and the numerous photos I've seen coming out of Rome, it just seems like a really beautiful, gorgeous venue that is worth visiting. I saw, and Rome especially this year with the Conclave happening, you know,
and also the tennis, it just seemed like the place to be this year, of all the years. It's just Sinner coming back. It just seemed like it was the place to be.
Nick Carter (26:34)
I have a question then Anastasia, does Rome beat any Grand Slams to visit for you? Like for me it doesn't, but does it for you?
Anastasia - Ground Pass (26:44)
don't think so because if you gave me a coin and you said, hey, flip the coin, you're either going to Wimbledon or going to the Rome Open, I would hope for Wimbledon every time. You know, just because that's where I'd want to go to first. Even if it was Rome or the French Open, I would go to the French Open every time. Every time. So Grand Slam level, no, but right below Grand Slam level,
I think Rome is fighting with Monaco. Rome is, yeah, Rome is.
Nick Carter (27:13)
Interesting because like Monte Carlo was
like that was the one he was like hyped about going no this is the top of my list no no it's Rome and I can see why it wouldn't beat Roland Garros for you. Whereas I think for me
Anastasia - Ground Pass (27:19)
just love beautiful places.
Nick Carter (27:25)
Indian Wells might beat might beat a few of the slams.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (27:28)
ooo really? okay, okay. like which slam? which slam would Indian Wells be?
Nick Carter (27:35)
I think if it take, because obviously like I'm not a big travel person. I'm not, I'm a homebody. really I stay in and read all the books behind me. so, so that I think, I think it's, I think it would probably be all of them.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (27:47)
Hahaha
Okay, go Indian Wells.
Nick Carter (27:53)
all of them because
Roland Garros I've had mixed reviews of. US Open is the same country, but I think Indian Wells has more the vibe I'm going for. Australian Open is an event I think I would like the sound of the most as an alternative, like the slam.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (28:05)
Mm-hmm.
Nick Carter (28:13)
but that is a trip. So I'm factoring that into this as well. If I was going just by venue, I'd probably go with Australia right over it.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (28:15)
Yeah.
Okay, okay.
that is the venue of Rome. And now it's time to talk about the tennis in Rome because the tennis has been tennising. here, Nick. What?
Nick Carter (28:31)
just touched on one point, which is something you've been
so excited about. Jannik Sinner is back.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (28:37)
Yes, yes.
Nick Carter (28:38)
or Darth Sinner as you've been calling him.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (28:40)
I think this was 2023. I can't remember what year it was where he played, but like only played like two matches and got kicked out. I think it was 2023 and he also wore an all black kit. And I just love an all black kit. If anyone remembers Roger Federer at the US Open wearing the all black kit.
You know what I'm talking about. It just is such a good vibe. And a lot of people, not a lot of people, I just, saw some comments online about why he would pick a black kit that it maybe gives super villain a little bit. And I was like, yes, it does give super villain. And I'm happy he went with that look instead of, you know, a bright happy.
color or something like that. he, Darth Sinner is back and he's here to win all the matches. So I hope you're all ready.
Nick Carter (29:39)
I
mean, there's probably quite a few people who think that Sinner should always wear a carrot orange.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (29:44)
You know, I'm thinking now, he's just never worn any orangey type color. I think it would clash too much with his hair.
Nick Carter (29:49)
Did he not win?
I'm sure he has. I thought he was wearing one at the French last year.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (29:55)
he wearing? No, French last year was yellow and black, which Adidas took this year. But no, French opened for him. Yes. He likes black a lot. Like he wears, think it's just, he's also super pale. So it just works on him. But no, Darth Sinner is back and Rome. I don't know if you've seen any of the videos of him walking onto court and the warmup. My goodness. Just.
Nick Carter (30:00)
I
Anastasia - Ground Pass (30:21)
Tennis TV has some really great ones. I'll link some below so you guys can just go straight to it. they were chanting Sinner Ole Ole in a way that I was like, wow, he is a superstar in Italy. he's not just a tennis star, you know, he's just a star in general in
He played a really good match against Navone to get through his first round. And we'll see how far he gets here in Rome.
One person who's super happy to see him back is Carlos Alcaraz. Carlos was like, yay. Carlos was like, I hope to see him in the final. And I was like, wow, Carlos, that's a lot of steps. just jumped. You skipped so many steps.
Nick Carter (30:59)
Thank you.
Especially Carlos, since he's not necessarily won everything he's played.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (31:09)
Right,
right. But he just, was very, it was actually very sweet. He was just sort of like, I want him here because he makes me play better. And then I hope to see him in the finals.
Nick Carter (31:20)
is gonna cope. If he plays Sinner, he plays... because Carlos loves the crowd. What's Carlos gonna be like when everyone hates him?
Anastasia - Ground Pass (31:24)
yeah.
But that's the thing. And I've noticed that actually, especially when they play. Granted, they've never played in Italy. So who knows how that's gonna go. But I've seen them play together at Indian Wells, for example, and in Miami specifically. And the crowd almost don't know what to do.
You know, it's like whoever wins the point is who they're cheering for. So if Sinner wins a point, they're like, yay Sinner. If Carlos wins a point, it's like, yay Carlos. So in that respect, I think they get very even no matter who you're really for. They kind of get even, you know, cheering when they play. But again, they haven't played together in Italy. That would be an interesting dynamic. But how do you even like not like Carlos? He's like a little.
tennis puppy dog. You just like, he's so fun and happy. We can't hate him.
Nick Carter (32:19)
like when Andy Murray used to play Roger Federer at Wimbledon and that was probably the few times that Murray did not get the overwhelming Wimbledon support because Federer had so much love over here in the UK. So, yeah, that could be, I guess, something similar could happen. We might find out, we might not. We hope we get it. Sincaraz is always good. It's always good when we get it.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (32:29)
Right.
Nick Carter (32:40)
Something we're not getting
Anastasia - Ground Pass (32:41)
Yeah.
Nick Carter (32:42)
is Novak Djokovic.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (32:44)
No, we're not getting him. It has been strange times. It has been strange times for Novak Djokovic right now. when he announced that he was not going to be playing Rome, I was definitely shocked. was not that I thought he was going to do well in Rome because we, you know, I think I've said that before in this podcast. Like I think the kids are here and it's just going to be tougher for him to win any of these tournaments anymore.
Nick Carter (32:45)
Rome, anyway.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (33:09)
but I thought he would be in Rome. It's the tournament you go to before the French open, but he's not. And then we just heard recently that he got a wild card into Geneva, which he did play last year when he exited early in Rome. I don't know. What do you think about like the Novak-ness of it all? Is this just sort of like a winding down?
Nick Carter (33:31)
I'm not even sure can do it
I think...
look, Novak Djokovic is 38 now, or will be soon. Like, he has to preserve his body a lot more to have a hope of being up and ready to take on the best in the world now. It doesn't surprise me, like, every athlete has a lot more off days the older they get, and that window of high performance is a lot smaller for them to hit. But trust me, when Novak hits it...
Anastasia - Ground Pass (33:37)
Yeah
Mm.
Nick Carter (34:03)
He could still hit it. We saw that in the Olympics last year and he wants to be able to hit it for the French. So I guess for him from, also from his perspective, he has nothing to prove. He doesn't need another Rome title. He's one of the most successful players ever to play it. He was Rafa's rival at that tournament for a while. So I don't have, I think I'm not super...
Anastasia - Ground Pass (34:15)
Right.
Nick Carter (34:25)
like reddit has showed Djokovic out the door or think he's done yet. I don't certainly don't think he's had it. It just is what it is. He is playing with the privilege that being a 24-time Grand Slam champion at the age that he is has and he's entitled to it.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (34:43)
Yeah, yeah. Well, we'll see how it all goes in Geneva and then in the French Open. One person that might have been like sort of like happy he wasn't playing Rome was probably Carlos Alcaraz because no matter what tournament it is, Novak is always in Carlos Alcaraz's side of the draw and they always have to meet in the quarters or the semi-finals. At least that's what I have found.
But you know what's really funny? And I noticed this and I thought, Carlos can never just escape. He can't get away from Serbians. He's playing two Serbians back to back. Like I don't think they're on court right now. By the way, we are recording on Sunday and the tennis is still happening in Rome. Carlos Alcaraz is supposed to play the last match on today. He's playing against Dusan Lajovic
Nick Carter (35:31)
Mm.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (35:32)
And then before in his first round match, he played Laslo Djere Now I'm thinking, have I flipped those and confused them? If I have, yeah, he's playing Laslo Djere tonight then, then it was Dusan Lajovic for his first round. But he keeps getting the Serbians on his side of the draw. So can never escape Carlos. You can never escape.
Nick Carter (35:41)
He's playing Laslo Djere tonight.
Nope. Nope.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (35:54)
okay. This is one I want to talk about because we prayed for times like this.
At least I did. Jack Draper is a clay dog. Who knew? I didn't.
Nick Carter (36:04)
Who knew?
Yeah, who knew? Draper is still in in Rome and playing really well having come off reaching the Madrid final.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (36:13)
Yup, on clay guys,
on clay. This is big, yeah.
Nick Carter (36:16)
Enclave. I think
maybe, maybe you want me say Jack Draper is good on all surfaces and we didn't think he would be. And it now seems very much like Jack Draper is the guy who will clean up when Sincaraz aren't around
Anastasia - Ground Pass (36:26)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm. It's kind of, it's very interesting because, you know, when Sincaraz came about and for everyone who might not, who's Sincaraz? Sinner, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, they have a team name, it's called Sincaraz. But when Sincaraz came about, I think it was great, but I wanted one more person. I wanted someone to...
upset the apple cart a little bit. And I think for a long time, we thought it was going to be Holger Rune and Holger is still there. And but he comes in and out of it. Unfortunately, he just lost a match today to Corentin Moutet who's a tricky one. But
Jack Draper was someone who I thought, that could be interesting. know, he could be that player to come up and also, you know, insert himself. And for the last couple of seasons, it's always been almost there and then ab injury or almost there and then throwing up at the, you know, U.S. Open. And his body has just not been able to keep up with his ability.
And finally, it just seems like it's all coming together. And for him to be doing so well, like I think it's easy to just say, he's doing well on hard court or he's doing well on grass. And we would all be like, of course he is. But to be doing this well on clay, it really does put him in a different stratosphere, I think. He's already in the top 10 now, top five. I think he's five in the world. And he's just, you know.
coming into his own a little bit as a top player. And I love, love to see it because it would be nice for someone to sort of challenge really Alcaraz and Sinner so they don't run away with it.
Nick Carter (38:23)
I mean, I think that would be a little bit of a step. Draper has beaten Alcaraz before at Queens on grass. That's doable, I think, but like the other matches they've played haven't been as competitive. And then obviously, I think the last time you played Sinner, that was that US Open semi-final beat down that happened. I think that's an extra step that we would need to see Draper take, but I certainly think that...
Anastasia - Ground Pass (38:29)
Mm-hmm.
Nick Carter (38:46)
he is the man who is most likely to be yes of is anyone going to challenge those two, at least until Joao Fonseca matures.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (38:56)
Yes, unless he does. just think, you know, specifically on the men's side right now, if you're a new fan coming in, there's just so much. There's so much to sort of attach yourself to coming into the sport and following a new player. And they're all young. We're all talking about players who are in their teens and early 20s. So it's really nice to have another big player in there.
Nick Carter (39:22)
I'm just looking at the live rankings, ⁓ Jack Draper is two wins, two match wins away from getting ahead of Taylor Fritz.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (39:25)
Mm-hmm.
Nick Carter (39:35)
in the rankings and that would make him number four which would make him fourth seed for the French as well.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (39:39)
Yeah.
Yeah, that's big. To be the fourth seed at a Grand Slam, I keep saying this, Nick, but maybe we really need to at some point do the seeding in tournaments and what that means for the draw and how it either can help or hurt a player depending on what seeding they're at.
But that's big, that Jack Draper is now up there. So that would be Jannik Sinner at one, I think Zverev and Carlos, they're still fighting for who's two and three, and then Jack Draper at four.
Nick Carter (40:10)
Yeah,
exactly. think at the moment, Zverev has the advantage. Alcaraz would need to win Rome to get ahead, to get that second seed. There is another name who's actually in the mix for the fourth spot, but he'd have to win the tournament to do it. And that is the Madrid champion, Caspar Ruud.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (40:26)
Who's that?
Casper Rude, another player. mean, again, we didn't talk about the winners a lot, but Casper is someone who his win in Madrid was so sweet and inspiring. He's such a nice guy and you always want the nice guys to win a little bit. And he's been having a bad time of it on court. And he talked a lot about that and how he's sort of gotten help with a therapist and working on some stuff.
he drops out of the top 10 just before Madrid and then wins the tournament and he's right back in there. So it's really nice to see him back playing well, back enjoying it. I think that has been a theme recently and maybe that will take us a little bit into the women's.
section where I actually want to, it's not on our notes here, but I kind of want to start with Emma Raducanu because just before we started recording, I saw this quick video. just, she won her match against Veronica Kudamatova. And now she's into round four at the Rome, at the Rome Open. And there was this clip that Sky News put and put up and she's just back having fun on court.
back having fun on court, back having fun with a team. She's being coached sort of as needed by Mark Petchy. It's the way she wants to do it. And guys, let her do it how she wants to do it. She's having a good time doing it and winning matches. And I think it's so important to include that in when we talk about the wins and losses of players because tennis is such a mental sport.
We'll talk about that in the end when I talk about our new series called Match Stories, but it's such a mental sport. You're alone out there fighting the other person across the net. And if you're not having fun doing it, it's tough to stay there and keep winning and be out there. So it's nice to see.
Flares equate happiness off court with success on court, if that makes any sense.
Nick Carter (42:39)
And it's typically been talked about because there's this idea that the champions are the ones who lock in and are just use their competitive instincts and their raw strength to succeed. And the ones who have fun and do it might win occasionally, but won't necessarily peak as often or won't be prioritizing it as much. This is the similar kind of conversation that's happening with Carlos Alcaraz at the moment.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (43:07)
Yeah.
Nick Carter (43:08)
So, especially after the documentary came out. So, yeah, I think Emma is someone who needs that. I think actually a lot of players probably fundamentally need to enjoy the sport. Otherwise, career is going to be a bit of a drag. We saw that with even great Grand Slam champions like Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf who just didn't want anything to do with tennis for several years after they retired until eventually they got coaxed back in.
I think also isn't anywhere with Emma, like she won the US Open in 2021 and then suddenly everything had to be about winning everything. And I think when you watched her in 2021, you could see how much fun she was having and like how is this all fresh and new and exciting to be out here. And that was fueling her. Um, and she was discovering herself and
Anastasia - Ground Pass (43:39)
Right.
Nick Carter (43:53)
The journey of self-discovery has not been as fun the last few years. So it's nice to see that back again.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (43:58)
Yeah.
Yeah, I know it's been really great watching her discover the joy of tennis again and just be happy on court because she's had some tough times as we have seen. But.
Nick Carter (44:11)
I really wish
Iga Swiatek would find that again.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (44:15)
Yes, yes, on to Iga. She lost to Danielle Collins, which is a little bit of her nemesis. You know, I think she's one of the players that Iga finds tricky. You know, it's kind of like the whole Ostapenko thing as well. has been having, right.
Nick Carter (44:28)
quite as bad because I think Collins has reputation for irritating her and pushing her close, but
I she's only beaten her a couple of times.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (44:35)
Yeah,
right. And I think, but that almost highlights this even more because I was almost, you know, certain that Iga would come out of this match the winner. She didn't have a great time in Madrid. She lost one and one to Coco Gauff in Madrid, which was a big thing, I think.
I, you know, we talk about head to head sometimes here and Coco is definitely leveling that head to head with Iga that Iga used to run away with when it came to Coco Gauff but Coco has won their last three meetings. So it's definitely becoming sort of a level matchup. And, you know, people talk about how Iga hasn't won, hasn't been to a finals in a while, or hasn't won a title in a long time, but I never really.
You know, I don't think we always say here, it's not all about winning. It really isn't. And I think you can't literally win every single thing. She did go on a long run a while ago and did win a lot, but I don't think I really had alarm bells ringing or anything until Rome, I have to say. Like I was just like, Iga's doing her thing. She's going to lock in.
Rome's gonna come, she's gonna crush everybody and then she's gonna go French open, she's gonna crush everybody and everyone's gonna be like, ah, see? See? Why were we all worrying? But no, she loses early here to Danielle Collins. She won the tournament last year and I think definitely the questions have started to come up and she even said it in her press conference at the end. She was sort of like, something is definitely not working.
but I don't know about you. This is actually when I get excited about a player, when it's time for them to figure it out. Like if you're just winning, it kind of gets boring for me sometimes. I'm just like, okay, great. They're going to win. You know, what's, what's, what's new, but her in this state now, I'm almost super locked in to how does she figure it out?
What does she need to fix? What does she need to do to turn this back around? I don't know. What do you think?
Nick Carter (46:48)
I'd like her to win a lot more, but that's because I'm an Iga fan.
I agree with you. I'd like your perspective on it was like the same as like, was assuming you was going to win this tournament, especially after she crushed Elisabetta Cocciaretto and looked like there was absolutely nothing wrong at all. Like she wasn't letting up on an opponent that even if she let up on, don't like to lose a handful of games. like she, she, she lost one. ⁓ it was, it was like, okay, she's back. And then yeah, this, this is questioned it. I think.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (47:10)
Mm-hmm.
Nick Carter (47:19)
It's interesting, I listened to the interview that she gave to with Caroline Garcia on the Tennis Insider Club podcast, because I thought that was a really good thing to listen to before this. I was listening to it on a long car journey. And she said that like, she can get very tempted by looking at all the stats and the achievements and everything else like that. But actually, she's much happier when she's just focusing on playing and just playing the sport. And
Yeah, maybe something isn't working. Something is distracting her from that potentially. And I don't think there's a good chance that we'll never know until after she retires what was bothering her, what is bothering her at the moment. Why it's not quite clicking because it's clear it's not. Like nobody can say, well, everyone else is caught up. Like Iga is playing in a way that is unlike, it isn't that close to we know what she can do, especially on a...
in a place that she likes playing in, like Rome, where she hasn't lost a match since 2020. And I'm not counting when she retired in 2023. So, yeah, I'm excited to see what she can do.
And like, you know, the whole thing of like alarm bells and questions, like what are the alarm bells for? Like, why are we asking questions? And the answer is, is because we are
looking at the legacy and not the player. Like the legacy is what everyone gets excited about before they've even stopped. That's why we got bogged down with the big three. That's what happened when we were watching Serena Williams trying to chase 24. And by the way, I'm talking like old tennis fan here, like comparatively, if you're new to this, you have no idea what I'm talking about.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (48:38)
Mm.
Yeah.
Nick Carter (48:58)
That is absolutely fine. But this is not new is what I'm saying. Like we're waiting to see what legacy a player builds. And suddenly we're questioning of like, maybe it's not going to be so great. Hello. This woman is a multiple Grand Slam champion. When she locks back in, she's going to win at least one, like multiple Roland Garros' from here. Can we just get some perspective on how good she actually is? And you know, she's having a dip.
Big whoop, like she's still gonna be top, she's probably, she's gonna be top 10. She's likely gonna be top four at the end of the year. She'll win a trophy again unless something goes horribly wrong. And if she doesn't, like, I'll use another example from tennis history. Martina Hingis famously won three Grand Slams when she was 16 years old. She then retired like five years later, six years later.
in her early 20s. Did a brief comeback in singles, was okay. Did another comeback in doubles in her 30s, was very successful. Nobody is arguing about remembering Martina Hingis as being a wow player back in the late 90s, even though most of success happened at the very, very beginning of her career. So the only alarm bells is, this story is not going how I thought it was.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (49:53)
Yeah.
Nick Carter (50:13)
So can we just not worry about what we want the story to be and worry about what the story is and enjoy the high points that are going to come back because Iga is going to have more high points whatever they look like.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (50:12)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, yeah. No, I love the way I love what you said there about worrying about the legacy before it's even happened. Because you're right. When you see all the sort of like angst online and stuff, it's not because they're actually worried about the player. I don't think you're right. It's because they're worried about like, but I thought they were going to win like 20 grand slams already and they haven't. And you're sort of like, but you can't.
That's not what you should be looking at in sports, especially.
It's a journey. It's not just all about one season. It's an entire journey. And yes, we won last year, didn't win this year. We'll work on it. We'll build on it. It's not a finite, this is it. And I love that. It's not all about the
no, it's over. It's all a part of her journey.
Anyhoo, ha.
Nick Carter (51:23)
Aryna Sabalenka.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (51:24)
Oh, that's what, because she is the number one. She is the... And I don't think I had realized how much she had separated herself from the field, because remember, it was only a couple of years ago, we were doing the whole like, Iga, Aryna, Iga, Aryna, like who's going to be number one. And then all of a sudden I was looking at the rankings and she's like 4,000 points clear.
of the next person. And just, if you don't understand what that means, guys, like to win a grand slam, you win 2000 points. So in order to beat Arena and become the next number one, first of all, you need to hope that she just does nothing from now on, like now until whenever. And then you win two grand slams to even try and get close to her. Like that is a big, big difference.
Nick Carter (52:19)
It's huge. I'm surprised it's, yeah, I saw it trending in this direction probably after Miami, like, because that's when I saw the gap first starting to open up. And the thing about Aryna Sabalenka is she has evolved so much as a player. Like she's gone and got better at everything until she's got to the point where she does everything at a base level so well.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (52:26)
Yeah.
Nick Carter (52:44)
and has the ability to play tennis in a way that doesn't rely just on her attacking skills, because she has them and that's what she's been relying on from early on in her career. But now she can do pretty much anything. And that's why she's good on any surface. Pretty much any surface, she's a contender there.
And, you know, it's what makes her so great in Madrid where that just comes out where you need a bit of everything to win that title because it's clay, but it's altitude, the ball moves a bit faster. yeah, for me, Sabalenka's kind of set herself, at least for now, apart from the field, because she's just that hard to beat. She's just that far ahead in the ranking.
And she's kind of, she's reached the final of all but two tournaments she's played in 2025.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (53:27)
And someone
told her that and she was surprised.
Nick Carter (53:30)
Yeah, could...
players don't track these things.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (53:32)
Yeah, I don't know. It's been really great. I think why Aryna Sabalenka specifically is so inspiring as a world number one and how far she's gotten is because of where she came from. So if you watched Aryna Sabalenka a few years ago when she was in her double faulting era and literally would have 17 or more double faults in a match, she couldn't serve. She would have to underarm serve.
You would never, speaking of people who, you know, alarm bells rang and like things, you would never at that point have thought, okay, yeah, this is gonna be by far and away the world number one player in a few years. And look at where she is now. That arc, that's what I love about sport is watching a player go from couldn't serve to 4,000 points clear.
as the world number one. That's a big art.
Nick Carter (54:32)
Yeah, I don't think she's losing that number one ranking unless something goes horribly wrong around the US Open. Like, I don't see it. But yeah, that and that and you know, that's a journey we didn't think was gonna happen. And it took a time, it took time. And I don't think it fell into place until the back end of last year. And you're kind of seeing it now with her. Like, if you want to win, you have to go through Aryna Sabalenka And that's what the field is, is learning. She's getting the standard for the tour.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (54:38)
Yeah.
Yeah. Right.
Nick Carter (54:59)
You've definitely got, although there are a couple of other stories that you're probably more interested in that happened in Rome from the women's side.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (55:05)
There are a couple that I could just mention really quickly because I always like to keep track of the young Americans and what they're doing. Hailey Baptiste is someone we've talked about for a while. She's playing really well. She lost her second round match to Elina Svitolina, but it was another three set battle. She's been having these like.
three set battles with really good players. If anyone remembers the one in Miami against Naomi Osaka, that was like a really great one. And she just feels like she's someone on the cusp, like she's almost there. And, you know, something's going to happen that will just catapult her and she'll have that run. But she's definitely one to watch. And I think in one of the upsets, you know, I think everyone was talking about like Iga losing to Danielle Collins.
that somehow it wasn't missed, but it definitely didn't get as much of the news. But Peyton Stearns defeated Madison Keys in a really just Peyton Stearns plays so well. Like when Peyton Stearns is on, again, throwing it back to a match from a couple of years ago where she played Aryna Sabalenka and almost won at Indian Wells, Peyton Stearns is a bulldog, man. She is a tough cookie. And I love it when she like,
gets gritty and like wins matches like this.
Nick Carter (56:32)
Peyton Sterns is always a candidate for playoff for Fortnight from my perspective because if you want to go, if you're on a ground pass and it's highly likely even if the US Open, she'd be on a ground pass. You have to go watch it because it's highly likely that match is going three sets and she's going to make it a fight. And she's now winning these fights, which early in the year or back in the last year, she was struggling to a little bit. So she's definitely made a step in the right direction.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (56:42)
Mm-hmm.
Nick Carter (56:58)
I think also saying to notice is like an underrated trait in tennis is consistency. So even though she's one of those people who's kind of like to fight through these early rounds, she's getting to the kind of latter stages, like second weeks of these big tournaments more and more often. This is now her third master's level last of the year. Like if she keeps doing that, she's going to be ranked top 20.
So, Sterns is a player who's up and coming, but I would still recommend if you can go watch it, do, because I think you'd be highly, highly entertained. if it is, you're to go watch singles because you might want to watch some doubles instead.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (57:36)
Which, if you're in Rome, because they're playing tomorrow, you must go watch Team Coachella. Team Coachella is where it's at. And if you don't know what Team Coachella is...
Nick Carter (57:47)
Coachella set a
What musicians are playing from Coachella at the tennis?
Anastasia - Ground Pass (57:51)
Team Coachella is the newest team on the tennis tour. It is Coco Gauff and Alex Eala And boy, oh boy, are they a good time. As good a time as you would have in Coachella, Team Coachella brings it to the court.
Nick Carter (58:10)
think at the start she just broke herself. I don't even have to try this time.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (58:14)
I cannot take credit for this team name. Cam Williams, who has been on the podcast before on one of his streams, he came up with this team name and I think it is genius. But I can't tell you how.
excited I was at first when I first saw it come up. was like, my goodness, Coco Gauff and Alex Eala playing doubles together in Rome. Like this is exciting. know, Coco is trying to play more doubles again. It seems like she played doubles in Madrid with Robin Montgomery. And here she is playing doubles again in Rome. And I thought it would be fun. You know, two young players, really popular. I thought it would be fun. was...
much more than that. It was just so good. They were having a good time. They were enjoying each other, enjoying playing tennis. And it was just on a day. So their first match was the same day where Peyton Stearns defeated Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek was defeated by Danielle. Like a lot was going on and I just did it. You know, there was just so much tennis going on, a lot of stuff happening. And I remember just putting on their match and just relaxing. Like it was just fun.
to watch and tennis sometimes just needs to be fun and exciting. So that's what Team Coachella brings and I'm really excited that they teamed up for Rome.
Nick Carter (59:32)
Yeah, that's like they just generating headlines in a way that doubles doesn't usually and that's a good thing because I think doubles is highly entertaining and should be watched and I'm excited to see how far these two can go. I think Gauff on clay is great on singles or doubles. But yeah, no one talks much about doubles, do they Anastasia?
Anastasia - Ground Pass (59:54)
They don't. there's a story, okay. So there's a story I think that's just not being told right now. And it involves doubles players. And I think part of it not being told is because it's doubles players and they're not as popular. But all I keep thinking about is that if this was a singles player and this happened to singles players, it would be shouted from the rooftops of Tennis Channel. Like everyone would be talking about it. And...
They are former players of the Fortnight, but I'm talking about Evan King and Chris Harrison. I've talked about them a lot on this podcast, but their story is just so incredible. This week, this past week, Evan King became the highest ranked American doubles player. He's the number one American doubles player right now. At the beginning of overall, at the...
Nick Carter (1:00:38)
Wow.
Where is that overall? No, like, over,
in the route, where is he in the world?
Anastasia - Ground Pass (1:00:48)
Oh, in the world he is 19. 19 or 18? I can't remember right now.
Nick Carter (1:00:55)
which is probably a shock to anyone who might be listening who's like a long time fan because back in the day the Americans dominated doubles.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (1:01:02)
Yes, yes they did. Remember the Bryan Brothers? Let's get back there. Either way, Evan King started this year in the 70s. He was closer to 80 in the world and was trying to pair up with higher ranked singles players so he could play Grand Slams. Even when I met him last year at the Champagne Challenger, he was lower ranked and just grinding through trying to make it.
He was able to get a wild card to qualifying with his current partner, who's been his partner for a while, Chris Harrison. And they have just dominated. They went from wild card in qualifying in Dallas to winning the title. Then they get to the finals of Del Rey. Then they won, they won Acapulco? I think, yes, in Mexico.
then they get to the quarters, or was it semis now actually, think, they got to the semis of Indian Wells, the quarters of Miami. that's, if there was a singles player doing that, it would be headline news. And it's a story that's not being told, which is a disservice, I think, to the doubles specialty. And it's definitely a story I'm gonna tell. So stay tuned for our YouTube, you know.
Nick happened to mention we weren't doing any sort of like YouTube only videos recently, but I think we're going to start doing those. And I did one this past week, which was basically an extension of some reels that we usually do on our Instagram called match stories. So I did one on the Naomi Osaka match against Viktorija Golubic because I watched that. I actually watched that match twice.
I watched it and then I watched it. I watched the replay and it was just a very fascinating match and told such a good story that even if I posted it on social media, I was like, this is not enough. I need to talk about it. So I did and it's on our, it's on our YouTube. I'll put a link to, to that below, but I think I'm also going to do one on, on Evan King and Chris Harrison. Cause I, I said, I said in the video that I posted, it's like, I'm not an analyst.
So do not come to these videos looking for serve speeds or, you know, double fault counts. know I am a store. Yeah, I, know, I have no clue. I'm going to not that I don't have a clue, but it's just not what interests me to talk about. I want to tell the stories and the Naomi Osaka match had a great story. And I think.
Nick Carter (1:03:24)
You don't even know what an unforced error is.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (1:03:41)
and Evan King and Chris Harrison are a great story. So we will tell that. We will tell that story. It is time to wrap it up. What is coming up this week? We're in Rome. We're still in Rome and we're just gonna be in Rome next week. That's what we're gonna do.
Player of the Fortnight, Nick, how about you start?
Nick Carter (1:03:59)
I had to check with Anastasia that this wasn't cheating, this pick, because this person's won a Grand Slam. You might already know who this person is, but she won a Grand Slam coming up for six years ago now.
and is currently ranked outside the top 100 in the world. That is Bianca Andreescu, who is a Canadian player. She is coming up for that 25 now.
So should be in the prime of her career. And you're thinking she's a Grand Slam champion. Like she won the US Open in 2019 as a 19 year old. She beat Serena Williams in that final by the way. And then didn't play in 2020 because she was injured. Played some of 2021, got injured. 2022 was in and out due to physical and mental issues. 2023 and 2024.
and the beginning of 2025, she has been injured. And she just keeps dropping down, having to scrap her way as high as she can, then gets injured again. And Bianca Andreescu is a scrappy player who, again, a bit like Peyton Stearns, if you go watch her, you're pretty much guaranteed a three set match. Because she won't go down without a fight. She doesn't win easily either. always going to be
Anastasia - Ground Pass (1:04:55)
Yeah.
Nick Carter (1:05:11)
entertained by Bianca Andreescu especially given how unfiltered she can be on sometimes. One of her iconic moments to me is like walking out on court for a warmup, then going up to the umpire and saying, sorry, I'm going to change my outfit because this just isn't working. And coming back out with a completely different outfit. And yeah, like that's, that's kind of a vibe we're get from from Andreescu. She's she's very blunt. She's very you get what you get from her. And
Why am I talking about her? Because she's just made the last 16 of Rome. She's made the last 16 of Rome. That's a big deal because Rome is a big tournament. And not only did she do that, she beat Donna Vekic, who is good on clay and reached the last year. then she just took out the former Wimbledon champion, Elena Rabacuna, who has also won Rome before. She won it in 2023. Now, it's seasoned people who go, oh, well, they're not their best. Neither is Bianca Andreescu right now.
So Andreescu is still capable of competing with people who are in the 50, dare I say top 10 and making it a match and making it competitive. And it's great to see the fact that despite hitting that physical wall so many times, she's still trying, she's still competing, she still wants to play tennis and she's still chasing a hoped for second grand slam.
So I'm going to say Bianca Andreescu. If you can watch her on a grounds pass, go watch her. You won't be disappointed.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (1:06:36)
Good pick. Bianca is always, always a great watch. So go check her out. I'm going for Fabian Marozsan who ever since he came on the scene at the Rome Open here, when was that? 2023.
he's a Hungarian player and young. think he's early twenties as well. And it was a lovely sunny day, 2023 at the Rome Open. He was playing second round against Carlos Alcaraz and everyone thought easy. What could go wrong? Well, Fabian Marozsan drop-shotted, if you can say that.
Nick Carter (1:07:09)
you
Anastasia - Ground Pass (1:07:12)
Carlos Alcaraz off the court. It was one of, I think it was one of those matches where you just sit in front of the TV with your jaw open and it doesn't close till the end of the match. And he's just been hanging around ever since, you know, he's a player kind of like in the top 40, 30, 50 of the world, plays very, very well.
but just comes alive in Rome. And he has done it again, where, you know, here he is just minding his own business and his first round match is against Joao Fonseca. And everyone's like, Joao's got this. He's gonna win. And Fabian Marozsan says, excuse me, remember what I did here two years ago? And he beat him with the exact same score line.
That was the crazy part. The scoreline was the exact same as the one that he beat Carlos Alcaraz against. So, Fabian Marozsan is definitely one to watch. He followed up that win against Joao Fonseca and he defeated André Rublev in the very next match. And he just loves it in Rome. I think it's the pasta, I don't know. But he loves it in Rome and he's a fun watch.
He's very emotive on court. He does have the hand skills. So you will get a lot of drop shots in there. And I personally, ever since he won that match against Carlos Alcaraz, every time I'm at a tournament and Fabian Marozsan is there, I go see him on a ground pass, whether he wins or loses. I remember the last time I saw him at the US Open, he was playing Dan Evans.
Den Evans won the match. he's a fun watch and definitely worth checking out. Even if you can just say I watched Fabian Marozsan, the guy who beat Carlos Alcaraz and then Joao Fonseca in Rome.
Nick Carter (1:09:03)
Maybe if you do that Rome trip, go to Fabian Marozsan's match.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (1:09:07)
There you go. Exactly. Because he'll always come alive in Rome, I think. Okay, so that is it from Nick and I for this episode. Thanks again for joining us. You will be getting a mini pod next week. And, you know, do what you always do. Like and subscribe. Give us five stars on whatever podcast listener you're listening on. And we will see you
again in a fortnight. Bye guys.
