Roland Garros 2025 Draw Show: Chaos, Predictions & First-Round Fire
The draw is out. The chaos begins.
In our latest episode of Ground Pass, I’m joined by the one and only Mitch Michals (host of the Inside-In Podcast) for a deep dive into the 2025 Roland Garros draw—and let’s just say… we had a blast. It’s one part chaos, one part solid analysis, and one part unfiltered hype.
Whether you’re a longtime fan or still figuring out how a tennis draw even works (we explain that too!), this episode will set you up for everything to watch at the French Open.
Here’s what we cover:
🎾 What a Grand Slam draw actually is and how it works
📋 Wildcards, seedings, lucky losers—explained
🔥 Our top first-round matchups (Osaka vs Badosa, Baptiste vs Haddad Maia, Draper vs Bellucci)
👀 Potential 4th round fireworks: Sinner vs Fils, Rune vs Musetti, Coco’s clean path
🚨 The moment we doubted Rybakina vs Bencic… and Bencic withdrew hours later
🇫🇷 Why the French crowd is chaotic in the best way
💭 What a Sincaraz final might actually look like
We’re podcasting all Slam long—so hit subscribe and stick with us as Roland Garros unfolds.
🎧 Listen to the full episode below.
📺 Or watch on YouTube here.
TRANSCRIPTS
Anastasia - Ground Pass (00:00)
Hello guys, welcome ground passers to another episode of the pod. It is Grand Slam season.
Grand Slam season is here and I have the one and only Mitch Michals from Inside In Tennis Podcast to kick us off. Hi, hi Mitch, how are you doing?
Mitch Michals (00:20)
Anastasia, this is great. I'm doing well. Also, you're never gonna get me on the cold open again. So I just assumed I was alive the second I came on. So I was ready to be on the air the second I turned the computer on. So good to be here. Excited to talk, RG.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (00:34)
It's funny because Nick is always the one who's trying to get me and like does something absolutely crazy as we're starting. so I try and do that to the guests, but yeah, you know, this is, we're recording on a Thursday. This episode is probably going to go out tonight or probably tomorrow morning. So ground passers, you are going to be seeing a lot more and hearing a lot more from us on ground pass because it is grand slam season. We're not going to be there every day.
at least not podcasting. not there yet, but we are definitely going to be around a lot. at the end of this podcast, I will kind of give you an insight into our schedule. But firstly, if you're watching us on YouTube, you know the deal. Like, subscribe, do all the cool things. And if you're listening to this on the podcast, listener of your choice, five star rating, and tell us why are you excited for Roland Garros? Because I am, I don't know why this year specifically, I'm lit, I'm ready. I'm like, let's.
Let's get to Sunday so we can start playing some tennis.
Mitch Michals (01:34)
feels like change is in the air. might not be. Like it might actually be the exact same thing as last year, but it does feel like there's a possibility for change. And that's probably what excites us because you have some less doubts on the men's side after Rome, but definitely doubts on the women's side. So I think that might be why everyone's, well, antsy heading into Paris this year.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (01:39)
Yeah.
Right,
right. I feel like for the first time, I don't know. Like I truly have no idea. And you're right, especially on the women's side, but the men's side as well, I have to say, could throw up some surprises. What we are here for, this is our draw show. I wanted to do a show like this for a while on Groundpass. We haven't done it yet, but I kind of want to dive into what the draw is, how it all works, because I think a lot of especially new
list, you know, not new listeners, but new fans of tennis or casual fans of tennis might not actually understand the ins and out of the draw. They just like see the table and they're like, it's a draw. but yeah, we're here to talk about the draw, the French open Roland Garros draw. By the way, Mitch, what do you say French open Roland Garros?
Mitch Michals (02:40)
Yeah. Well,
I worked for a company that were basically told instructed Roland Garros at all costs. So they're kind of bullying it into me, but I'll still sprinkle in French open every now and again, because I don't mean that's what it was known for me growing up. ⁓ and if you read, you know, it's funny cause I got the Chris Clarey book over my shoulder and he gets into the history of it. It's kind of shocking that in Roland Garros, the person, I don't think many people know about him. It's
Anastasia - Ground Pass (02:57)
Yep. Yeah.
Mitch Michals (03:08)
you know, was a hero in a different avenue of life, but kind of shocking that it was named after him. And now all this lineage is associated with his name. So, ⁓ I digress though. think French opens fine.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (03:16)
Right.
Yeah, I definitely go back and forth because you're right. Like growing up, that's how I knew it as I'm I have no qualms to, you know, I don't mind calling it Roland Garros, but French Open is going to slip up. So just be ready for it, everyone. But yes, the draw was this morning. I woke up to the draw, watched it live on YouTube, which was really fun. And but before we go into that, what is a draw? Basically,
Mitch Michals (03:31)
Mm-hmm.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (03:45)
I would say the draw is the schedule of matches. It's the way the matches are going to happen. It's kind of like a knockout round. That's how tennis draws work. It's a knockout round. There is a round robin. Some tournaments are held in a round robin match, which is where kind of the end of year finals, some exhibitions like, Laver Cup and things like that, where you play.
different players multiple times and it's a round-robin format. But with traditional draws, it's a knockout round till you get to the end of the finals and there only two players left and they fight it out to win. Have you ever been to or have you ever attended a live draw before?
Mitch Michals (04:12)
Thank
No, I haven't and I will say that I was maybe one of the conspiracy theorists up until about this time last year when I thought, okay.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (04:36)
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,
wait, wait,
Mitch Michals (04:40)
That
they will home cook a draw or avoid certain things. Although, I know it's ridiculous. I wasn't fully buying into that, but yeah, last year when Nadal played Zverev, which by the way, was informative for me just to kind of concise some thoughts on the draw. The easiest way to explain it is the top four seeds have their own section. it, you you put the numbers in one to eight and then we're all the way down to 32. But what I didn't know, and we found out last year, obviously in Nadal's Zverev is what I'm talking about round one.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (04:44)
Okay, okay.
Mitch Michals (05:09)
But I actually didn't realize, cause I've never actually been to a draw ceremony, that they'll place not the seeds first. There's holding places. It's like their own separate thing. So Nadal in that draw was placed in a bad section where they knew at the end it was either going to be Zverev or Alcaraz. So, ⁓ I haven't been to a draw. I think it's interesting. I think the players being there is just kind of another interesting side to it too. Cause it seems like they never get bad news in person there, but I don't know.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (05:19)
Yeah.
Great.
⁓
Mitch Michals (05:39)
I don't know.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (05:39)
You're like, don't know. don't know. Eka was there. We'll come to that for sure. I actually last year went to my very first live draw. I've never been a draw person until I saw it happen live. I was at the Cincinnati Open last year. They do a whole ceremony. Tommy Paul came out. Marcos Giron was there. And they're like,
Mitch Michals (05:44)
Yeah.
What tournament? Cincinnati. Okay.
That's why. That's why.
Yeah.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (06:04)
That's why they made it fun.
But you know, they're picking out numbers and names. And I thought, this is fun. This is like, can be a whole activity. And I started really getting into draws and the process and stuff. But you explained it a little bit there. So basically the players are divided into the seeded players, which at a Grand Slam, there are 32 seats and the non-seated players. And the way it works is the seeded players are,
they try and separate them along the draw. So we're not getting Sincaraz first round, you know, because then one of them's out of the tournament and it's not great for the tournament either. And it's also kind of a bummer that that's the first thing and you still have like two weeks to go.
Mitch Michals (06:46)
Yeah. Yeah. And if you think about it in multiples, going back to, you know, elementary school, you think about what the important seeds are, numbers to get like four or five Fritz at four is essentially his own quarter. If you get the nine seed, for example, you could be in a, in a murderous row as well. So, and then obviously 32, that last seeded position. It's also interesting too, to think about like if a player pulls out or if they're like, Berettini isn't playing.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (06:55)
Mm-hmm.
Mitch Michals (07:11)
You know, and you can, you can go into the two, like there'll be players that move up. Sometimes it happens after a draw. That's the big one. After a draw, there is no substitution. The draws done. You just put a lucky loser in there and I just, I bring up the example I can think of as Andy Murray pulled out of the U S open one year as the two seed. That entire side of the drive was just barren of seeds. So we don't want them. My advice to players, my, my pull to players, if you're a top seed, try to pull up before the draw, just to help us all up.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (07:21)
No.
Yeah.
Please,
just help us all out for sure. just, you know, cause I think when you get those tournaments where it's like all of a sudden it's like, and sometimes they wait till the day they're playing to pull out. And I'm always like, I mean, you didn't know though, but.
Mitch Michals (07:49)
Mm-hmm.
I got one. I got one for you. And this is
another inside one. I'm just guessing. I don't know, but it was a match. think it wasn't. was, was Roland Garros years ago, obviously. Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Serena withdrew like an hour before the match. And I'm convinced that Anastasia and I know they're on good terms now, but I think she wanted Sharapova to have to do her whole warmup and go through everything for a match and then be like, I'm out. Yeah. Yeah. One final thing. Cause you know,
Anastasia - Ground Pass (08:18)
Like do the whole thing.
wake up early, do the warm up, eat right, like do your meditations, focus, and then it's like.
Mitch Michals (08:22)
But yeah, mm-hmm, yeah.
You don't get a night out the night before, not on my watch, no. So, yeah.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (08:31)
No. ⁓
Man, but yeah, so, you know, that's pretty much what the draw is meant to do is separate the seed So like you said the four seeds they're all separated in their own quarters of the draw. So there are four quarters and then The seeds are just sort of randomly distributed in that so sometimes you get a top heavy half Sometimes you get a bottom heavy half And we'll go into that in this draw for sure
Mitch Michals (08:51)
Thank
Anastasia - Ground Pass (09:01)
Just some terms to just take care of and get rid of just so that everyone knows what it is. Cause we've said some of it and I don't know if people know, but so they're direct entry is when you get into the draw by your ranking. So you're ranked high enough to get in there and you're all set. It's usually Mitch, think it's like what? Like 105, like between one and 103, depending on who withdraws or not.
Mitch Michals (09:25)
Yeah. Yeah. I don't know specifically. I don't know specifically,
but it's in that range. It's usually about firm. There's qual. The reason why it's not the same is, I mean, this is really getting granular. have qualifying, but you also have wild cards that they're given out in certain arrangements like the, the French Federation and the U S Federation have an exchange program going on that people aren't really a fan of. But yeah, there is a direct entry. There's qualifying. There's a few wild card spots.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (09:31)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Mitch Michals (09:53)
Which by the way, Stan Wawrinka know where it might be jumping ahead getting a wild card as a non-French player. mean, that is one of the honors that is not bestowed upon many. He is a former champion, so he gets it in his final one, but it's rare to get a wild card spot if you're not French in this tournament.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (09:59)
Yeah.
Right,
right. No, no, it's very weird. I was looking at the list and it's just like French, French, French, French, then like you said, the US and France, they have like an exchange program is what I call it. It's an exchange program. So we get like a couple of, you know, French players for the US Open. They get a couple of US players for... ⁓
Mitch Michals (10:17)
Yeah. ⁓
Did you know
that there was like some beef within the French tennis circles about fans? should say that veteran put they gave them to some veteran players instead of maybe some young players. So there's arguing over who deserved like Riley Opelka said no one deserves a wild card. I'm on his school of thought, but it was interesting to see like, Humbert get one and then there's young players that I think if I was going to have to pick one other than maybe former champions, I would say young player get the opportunity, but
Anastasia - Ground Pass (10:30)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Mitch Michals (10:52)
No one's happy. That's the everyone's going to argue.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (10:53)
Same. And that's
the thing about wild cards. It's like, no one's happy. You're not going to make anyone happy. So sometimes I just feel like it's just like, just do it. You know, what's going to happen? Everyone's going to be mad. But if I was the one picking wild cards, I would go for younger players too. Like, I just feel like the essence of a wild card is to give someone the opportunity. So I think that's where I would go with it.
Mitch Michals (11:10)
Mm-hmm.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (11:22)
So how does the French Open draw work specifically? Now I said earlier in this that I watched it live. The French Open is one of the draws that you can watch live on YouTube. They stream it live on YouTube. I think it might be on their website too. Probably it's just like an embedded link in their website as well. And I love that. just, every, it's so.
low cost to just put an iPhone and freaking stream the draw on YouTube. I really think every single tournament should do it. like it because I think also speaking a little bit to your conspiracy theory in the beginning, it kind of gives a bit of transparency with the process is if it's like stream live and stuff. So I watched it this morning. The draw specifically at the French Open is in this place. I'm not going to try and butcher
Mitch Michals (11:47)
Mm-hmm.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (12:14)
the French name right now. I think it's Orangerie, Orangerie. But thank you, Mitch. You're like, sure. But it is one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen. I've never been to the French Open. Have you been to the French Open? No, same. And it's just one of those like.
Mitch Michals (12:20)
Sure.
I have not, no.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (12:35)
bucket list places that I would love to go to, but it looks like it's a greenhouse, like a massive greenhouse. It looks beautiful. Everything is set up well. And then you see the guy, Marc Maury, you see him. And if you don't know who this is, if you've watched the French Open on TV and you hear a Nadal is playing and you hear the guy like going through the years that Rafa Nadal has won the slams, that's him. Just.
Mitch Michals (13:02)
Yeah.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (13:03)
You see him and you know it's time. It is time. It is time for Roland Garros to happen.
Mitch Michals (13:05)
It is.
Yeah, it makes it feel like a big fight when he's announcing, announcing accolades, announcing what you've done and yeah, he'll have a, he'll have a more of his breath this year that Nadal is not playing.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (13:17)
Yeah.
Aw, man. Although, I mean, this is a total side tangent, but are you excited for this, opening ceremony thing?
Mitch Michals (13:26)
I am, I think I'm excited. I'm also a little relieved because it sounded like everybody in his camp hated the Davis cup one. So I think that this is good to finally have a nice bookend and yeah, talk about not talk about a non French person getting the highest honor. mean, this is, know, statue all this, like it's well deserved obviously, but yeah, I'm excited to see.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (13:33)
Yeah.
Yeah. I mean, I don't see
them. I don't see them renaming a court because the man, Nadal, already has a statue in there. ⁓ But I'm really excited to see what they do because it seems like it's kind of been no one's saying exactly what the details are. But you're right in terms of Nadal. think he might maybe they just make him a French citizen on the spot or something.
Mitch Michals (13:53)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah,
he's done it all there. Yeah, it's kind of interesting too. I mean, we'll get into it, but how much he's involved in tennis going forward, that's what I'm really fascinated about. So time will tell.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (14:20)
Yeah, yeah,
yeah, I hope he sticks around with it. But the draw was happening. They had a soccer player there. Ousmane was the guest. I do not know this man. I'm really sorry to this man, but I do not know him. But they always have a French sporting guest there. And he plays for the big Parisian soccer team. And he was there.
And it just was a vibe. And I really enjoyed kind of like the vibe they created of the tournaments. had Iga Swiatek and Carlos come out as well after the draw. it was, everything was nice. Like there was no sort of like the computer didn't work or anything like that. you know, I think was it what? No, it wasn't the French. No, it wasn't Australia. But I think it was a tournament maybe before Australia where
Mitch Michals (15:00)
Yeah.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (15:12)
Daria Kasatkina was like pulled in the draw, but they put like a Spanish flag next to her name. Do you remember this? Yeah. So there was nothing like that.
Mitch Michals (15:17)
⁓ yeah, now I'm trying to think.
Yeah, well the budget might be a little higher. I'm guessing for the Roland Garros draw. I know it's streamed only on like an iPhone, but still it's pretty good.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (15:28)
Yeah,
yeah, yeah, totally. So that's kind of the sort of intro to draws, now, let's go, let's jump into the meat of the matter and the French Open draw. And what, mean, let's start with what we know, which...
Mitch Michals (15:36)
Mm-hmm.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (15:46)
I always say we know the first round matches. Like that is a for sure thing. We will talk about projected stuff, which I'll talk about later, but let's talk about first round matches that we're hyped about. And I kind of gave us a budget of three, just pick the three that you are looking at or whatever. We could go for more if time allows, but I want to start if I can.
Mitch Michals (16:09)
Okay.
Yeah,
yeah, I okay. I think I know what you're gonna say, but go ahead.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (16:15)
Because the first...
Well, the first thing that jumped out to me is Osaka Badosa. Like that is the first round match of dreams. Naomi Osaka playing Paula Badosa in the first round of the French Open.
Mitch Michals (16:30)
It's fascinating in a lot of ways also, Badosa looking good. So I have a friend that's like a big UFC, like combat sports fan and his phrase that he uses that I'm going to steal for tennis is I, I'm not entirely convinced it's going to happen until they shut the cage door. And I'm worried that these, like, I'm just worried and I know I probably shouldn't be, but good to see Badosa back. struggled. Osaka's had some health things too. If they're both playing their best, this is like at minimum a fourth round, if not a quarter final level match.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (16:38)
Mm-hmm.
Right.
Mitch Michals (17:00)
I don't know. Naomi's success on clay might be something, right? Like is this something new? It's just an attitude, right? She actually looks like she's enjoying herself on the surface for the first time. And I'm in the school of thought Anastasia where I think a tough first round match actually helps you. If she survives this or if Badosa wins, this is great for them going forward. I think it's good to just rip the band-aid off and play a highly competitive match early.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (17:25)
Yeah, yeah. For me, as someone who actually loves both players, this is a sort of match where I'm just like, I mean, come on, couldn't they have drawn someone else, like someone 70 in the world and just like move on with it? You know what I mean? But frankly, this morning when this came out, Badosa was still playing her match or still at least scheduled to play her match and where she playing right now, she's in Strasbourg.
Mitch Michals (17:39)
Mm-hmm.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (17:51)
And I saw the Osaka Badosa first round and I was like, both like, if they were both healthy and swinging, that would be a blockbuster. But Badosa has been having back issues as we know, and Osaka is on the rise. Like she's really playing well on clay. So I thought, hmm, this might be actually good for Osaka and she'll just like take it and it'll be easier than we all think.
But then Badosa lost her match, which was a three set match in Strasburg. And she put this post on Instagram, which she basically ended it with, I'm back. And I was like, okay. And I'm not going anywhere. I know. And I was like, okay, Badosa. I'm going to get the popcorn out and I'm going to be ready for this match. It's almost like, I think she saw the draw. And then she was like, let me put something on Instagram.
Mitch Michals (18:22)
I saw it.
And I'm not going anywhere. That was the big thing, right?
I don't know who's favored in that matchup off the top because it just came through. I'd be curious to see who it is. I think Badosa when she is healthy, it's a big if, but fitness-wise she's tough to beat. if this becomes a heavy three-set match, I would favor her to win. But Naomi has the ability to hit anyone off the court. So yeah, that's a good one. It's hard to follow that. I knew you were going to go there and I just can't. I don't know if I can follow that.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (18:57)
Yeah.
Well, I will let you go next. What's your first one?
Mitch Michals (19:09)
So I had a few I was looking at and there was, could go bold. I could really just like risk it all right now and just tell you one that I don't know that a lot of people would have, except, mean, your listeners would probably have, but you know, of all the first round matches that I saw, and I'm not going to name check any, but the one that I really liked was Baptiste - Haddad Maia
Anastasia - Ground Pass (19:14)
You
Mitch Michals (19:29)
Because Haddad Maia actually looks good now all of a sudden which brings stuff up and If you're your your podcast highlights the matches, you should see ground pass, right? Like this is gonna probably be a ground pass match Baptiste and someone pointed this out to me. She plays a long close matches like across the board So I'm a little bold with the first one on this list of round one. I'm only looking at the women's side I think I'll switch to the men in a little bit but
Anastasia - Ground Pass (19:30)
Ooh. All of a sudden. All of a sudden.
Mitch Michals (19:58)
That match I think is going to be a three set war. I really do.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (20:01)
Yeah, yeah, mean, Haddad Maia already has that reputation, like for years, she just can't play a straight set match to save herself. But she has been looking not great all season until this literally five seconds ago. All of a sudden, she's making it to semi finals of tournaments. And she's coming. That is such a great call. that's going to be a good one because
Mitch Michals (20:14)
yeah.
Right?
Anastasia - Ground Pass (20:24)
I watched Baptiste live for the first time in Charleston this year and I was really impressed with her game. She trains really hard. You know, she, I think she had lost in the, can't remember what round she lost now in Charleston, but she stayed at the tournament just practicing. I saw her every day that I was there and I was really impressed by that. And she came into the clay swing and has had some really great matches. Like you said, a lot of three setters. So
That is a good call. I did not even see that match in the draw.
Mitch Michals (20:55)
Right, like
if you wanted to do, mean, you can go again with another women's one. I left you like a tasty one that I thought would be the easier one to go with, but I don't know.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (21:02)
Okay.
Well,
I'm actually going to move on to the men and go for something maybe similar-ish. But I feel like this one might surprise people. But Draper, Jack Draper versus Mattia Bellucci. Mattia Bellucci of Player of the Fortnight fame. We've had, you know, we've talked to him on the podcast before.
Mitch Michals (21:08)
Okay. Okay.
Hmm.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (21:30)
But the reason why I picked this match is because it's almost an upset alert for me. It is almost an upset alert for me last year. And I just, do you listen to the changeover podcast? Shout out to the changeover podcast. They just interviewed Francis Tiafoe. I'll leave the link if you want to check it out. And Francis Tiafoe last year played Mattia Bellucci first round of French open and almost got kicked out.
Mitch Michals (21:43)
Little bit. Yeah.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (21:58)
It went to five set tiebreak. It was a fifth set tiebreak. And in the interview with the Changeover Podcast, Tiafoe brings it up as in, cause he recently made some comments about just the depth of the draw on the men's side where, you you're looking at a player and you're like, okay, that player is like, you know, 94 in the world. Like what can they do? And they're hitting you off the court.
You know, so he, he talked about Mattia Bellucci like that because he said he came into the French open. He looked at his first round and he was like, okay, cool. This is going to be three sets. I'll be home by lunch. It'll be great. And there he is stuck in like a five set battle. So, you know, all the players, you know, they do their scouting and stuff and recent form, Bellucci has not had great form recently, but I don't know.
Mitch Michals (22:30)
Mm-hmm.
That's an interesting one. have two men upset alerts and they're both Americans that could be upset and they could go down to Italians. that's the thing. Korda - Darderi, watch that match. actually, mean, Darderi looks really good recently. So that one scares me for Sebi Someone I've been a fan of, but the consistency hasn't been there. Ben Shelton - Sonego I mean, I don't know.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (22:50)
It's interesting.
Ugh.
Mitch Michals (23:12)
It's not a good draw for Ben and Ben has not looked great on clay recently. Sonego is 30 years old now, which I couldn't really believe that he's already 30, but he's a veteran. He can handle the moment. He can handle these crowds. We saw him against Fonseca in a similar match, handling Brazilian crowds. So those two, kind of lumped them together Anastasia but I think that those are going to be good competitive matchups and those American boys better be ready to go from the first point because these are trap matches and
Anastasia - Ground Pass (23:20)
Right.
Mitch Michals (23:42)
could be short stays in Paris if they're not ready for the Italians. Italians are coming, unfortunately.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (23:47)
The reason why I am laughing at what you're saying is that in the draw, I think it's Musetti's section. Why are all the Americans in Musetti's section? All of them. All of them are in that section. I'm like, what did we do? What did we do to Italy?
Mitch Michals (23:48)
you
Yeah.
I don't know.
I don't know. Yeah, I know. It's like you're
to the guy with the best kit on tour probably in your opinion. But he's also been playing. Well, it's not enough to just have a good, good dress game. You have to be playing, you know, it's like whether it's like the one year where Naomi had a nice outfit and lost first round. It's like, I didn't get to wear this more. It's like, yeah, well, we said he's been playing top five level tennis on the clay and he's, you know, getting to show off his ⁓
Anastasia - Ground Pass (24:10)
I mean, come on, look at the kit. It's perfect.
Right.
Mitch Michals (24:30)
Physique, which I also think is great, right? The, the moral of the story is just be really skinny to start. So that way when you add some weight, it's like, wow, this guy's getting stronger. It's like, yeah, was 110 pounds last year.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (24:35)
Yeah
This guy's getting strong.
It's like when Sinner came back and everyone's like, my God, he's so beefed up. I'm like, okay.
Mitch Michals (24:46)
I don't
have Sinner on that list, on the assignment, but I will say Sinner - Rinderknech is one to watch because I want to see the reaction. I want to see what the crowd's like for Jannik Sorry. Sorry. Yeah. ⁓
Anastasia - Ground Pass (24:54)
Okay, you just stole my next one, but that's fine. No, this is great. That
match I'm ready for because of course this was also another, I don't know if he did this on Instagram or Twitter or where I saw it, but there was a reaction of Arthur Rinderknech which, okay, if people don't know Arthur Rinderknech, let's take it back. Let's take it back to when he came, he's very French and he came for Taylor Fritz.
Mitch Michals (25:18)
Very French. He's very French.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (25:23)
and Taylor Fritz was not having it.
Mitch Michals (25:25)
But he did it in a French way. And I think that's the issue that Taylor and maybe others, other American podcast hosts might've had a problem with is that if you're going to come for someone, it's one thing, but don't act like perturbed when they're coming right back at you. Yeah. And it's sports, it's competitive. This is professional sports. This is your livelihood. And I also think tension is good. Just watch those Sabalanka and Kostyuk matches and tell me that tension isn't great for the game and the level.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (25:29)
Yeah.
when they come right back at you, yeah.
Yeah.
Mitch Michals (25:52)
But don't
act annoyed or dumbfounded that the player is happy to have beat you after maybe you said some stuff. but Hey.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (25:58)
Exactly.
So basically, Taylor Frizz told him to go take a plane home at Wimbledon. That video is iconic. If you haven't seen it, I'll find it and try and look below. that match, so someone posted his reaction to finding out that he had Sinner first round. And he basically tagged. And I've kind of seen some of them. I don't know what they're called now, but they seem to be basically a group of fans.
Mitch Michals (26:10)
you
Anastasia - Ground Pass (26:27)
of French tennis players. Like they wore this blue shirt, like they have a whole uniform and everything. They were in qualifying. I saw a lot of them there. And he basically tagged them and said, hey, you guys have to show up. And I was like, no, we are not in Italy anymore. Yeah.
Mitch Michals (26:40)
they're gonna fight the carrots. They're gonna fight the carrots.
It's be a produce aisle fight. Just everyone's fighting. We got vegetables on the. Yeah, wow.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (26:50)
And this is something
about the French Open that I think it depends on the sort of fan that you are. Some people are perturbed by it. I, for one, live for it. Because I think as long as fans are respectful, so they're not calling you names or being malicious, if they're just being excited for their player,
and cheering on their player. I love the French Open crowds. They bring it. Yeah.
Mitch Michals (27:18)
Mm-hmm.
You just have to not yell in the serve, you know,
while the points going on. Cheering faults is a bad one. But, but other than that, I mean, yeah, those are pretty general rules. I have to say it's, it's really Roland Garros in the US Open that has a tougher time following those rules. But, but yeah, I think it's good. And some players rise to that level and that might actually help.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (27:28)
Don't share faults, guys. Don't do it.
Mitch Michals (27:44)
You know, was hoping that Ben Shelton would get a French player because then he'd be locked in like the old college days. You know, he kind of seems like one of those players. Francis is kind of like that too, that needs a little edge to get going and you know, get into it. So, that's a good one. I just want to go back to the women for one, the one, I don't want to leave the listeners guessing about Rybakina - Bencic that, that, go ahead. I want to hear your thoughts on it.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (27:54)
Right.
Yeah.
Okay.
I don't think I have, I'm of the popular opinion though. Like I saw everywhere, everyone was like fire emoji, popcorn signs, Bencic - Rybakina Bencic hasn't played well on clay, hasn't played well all clay season. So I'm just like, I think I posted, I was like, if this was on hard court call me, I'll be there. I'll be the first person at the court waiting.
Mitch Michals (28:21)
Mm-hmm.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (28:33)
Because this is on clay, and maybe I'm completely wrong, I'm not as excited for it. I'm just not as excited for it because Bencic has not brought it this season on clay. She was out first round in Charleston, came to Europe, hasn't done much of anything.
Mitch Michals (28:52)
She hasn't gone farther than the
third round at the French open, but you know, so maybe that's what we're kind of saying. She made fourth at Madrid. Yeah, I just, I think she could be a player that jumpstarts here. I don't, I think it's more Rybakina like, what are we going to get? Are we going to get a contender? Are we going to get somebody that's, know, this week again, playing a little better.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (29:10)
But kind of similarly,
exactly, I was just gonna say like kind of similarly to players like Haddad Maia all of a sudden this week, she's in the semis.
Mitch Michals (29:17)
And she's had success on clay like she beat Iga when Iga was Iga on clay.
So like this is somebody that there's a lot going on obviously, but I'm more, want to see the level test too. Cause even if Bencic we're not expecting a deep run. isn't maybe an opportunity with Rybakina not being full form. So, okay. All right. We're just panning a little bit on that one. All right. Hey.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (29:35)
Yeah.
I don't know. I just, I'm not feeling it and I will be happy to be surprised, but I just feel like this might just be Rybakina's to take. you know, controversial, controversial thought, but I think she might just take that one easy. Before we get into sort of like the projected possible matchups, because there's some spicy ones in there.
Mitch Michals (29:46)
Maybe.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (29:58)
just a few more, what do you think of the Fonseca - Hurkacz thing?
Mitch Michals (30:04)
That's a good one. I kind of thought you'd mention it. I think there was a moment today where Hubie looked a little upset vs Fritz. I think he might've found out what the draw was. Like it kind of looked like he maybe someone told him there. I, Hubie on clay at majors has not been very good. So this is an opportunity for Fonseca but he like a lot of young players. Anastasia has been hyped up a lot. Maybe, maybe.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (30:16)
Yeah.
Mitch Michals (30:31)
It's funny when you get a big win, right? Like the projections just seem like they're moving a little too fast. And most tennis people I talk to say this is a two, three year plan of like, he's going to take his lumps. He's going to develop. I think he's probably, I would pick him to win this match though. I would lean Fonseca in this match, but I just, I don't know that a deep runs in order given his age and his inexperience.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (30:35)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, I just don't think Hurkacz is 100 % healthy yet. He is playing well right now. But I saw his last match in Rome and that knee, I mean, it was not looking great. So I don't know if the load of having played this tournament before Roland Garros, he's going deep in that tournament.
Mitch Michals (31:08)
Mm-hmm.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (31:19)
coming into Roland Garros to play some kid that's an energizer bunny and like hitting forehands and like running around the court might not be, might not be a good one for Hurkacz
Mitch Michals (31:30)
I had two I was just going to mention quickly and then we can move on to bigger and better things. But, Muller - Mensik going to be tuned into that one. Muller's the good. I mean he beat Zverev and like not just that, he beat Fonseca in Brazil. He's somebody that I think given the stage and again, we don't know what we're going to see from some of these young players going through it the first time. And then the other one I had that I wanted to mention, yeah, was Arnaldi and Felix.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (31:33)
Yeah.
Yep.
Mitch Michals (31:57)
That's right. Like, that's not easy for for FAA.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (31:59)
which
Arnaldi lost today to Novak. You Novak got his revenge or whatever, but he was leading that second set for one. Arnaldi can play. So it's like, that's an interesting one, but also Felix is doing really well as well. All these players, true, true, true.
Mitch Michals (32:11)
Mm-hmm.
But he loses a lot in first rounds at majors. Look at the track. There's been runs, but there's been some
early losses. we're going to have like, we're going to have like 10 Italians in like round three. can already see the scenario. Very possible.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (32:24)
True.
to be
an Italian tennis player. You guys have it good right now. Okay, let us, you might've seen all the lights go on in my apartment. Yes, it's dark in New York. ⁓
Mitch Michals (32:34)
Yeah.
Mm.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (32:43)
But let's go into the projected round. So guys, you know, I think if you're a new fan, you might see a lot of this. I remember this one. Okay, I have to bring this up, but.
Remember when the tennis channel did the projected Alex Eala to the finals for like, what tournament was it? I can't remember what tournament it was, but I was like, this is bold guys because I get it. I get it.
Mitch Michals (33:07)
Yeah, I know what you're saying.
I don't like those in general because
you're projecting seeds all the way out and sometimes they're not even... I'm against it too. like just... Here's how I like to do it. In general, I look at the top seed and just say who is in their path and who could really make a run. But sometimes that top seed isn't even the top player in that section. It's funny how that works, right? So...
Anastasia - Ground Pass (33:19)
They're not even gonna make it. Yeah.
Right.
Right? Yeah. Yeah.
So it's, so that's why I bring that up to say this is a, you know, hypothetical things happen in first round matches. People have bad days and then your projected draw just goes away. so take all of this with a grain of salt. But before we go into specific matchups,
Mitch Michals (33:43)
Mm-hmm.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (33:58)
I think we just have to talk of Iga Swiatek's complete like run to the final.
Mitch Michals (34:04)
Her run to the final would be if she actually had a reset, was able to get back on track mentally, find comfort in the place that she's won four times, and then slowly start to build on it. know, Rome's not built in a day, she's got to win seven matches, which she knows how to do better than anyone in this draw. If it's Emma Raducanu in round two, which it could very well be, I actually think that's a really good stepping stone, because Emma's gonna play the way that has beaten Iga in the past, which is a lot of ball bashing.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (34:28)
Mm-hmm.
Mitch Michals (34:34)
Emma could do some other things, but I think that's, that's a nice way to get her as we were talking about earlier in, in check. But I kind of, told you too before, like, you know, she's in the, she's the five seed That's the biggest thing to tell people out there, right? She doesn't even have her own section, but she's in the Paolini and we love Jazzy on this show. I'm sure she's in the Paolini section. I heard today that there's some trendiness over Maya Joint upsetting.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (34:34)
Right.
Yeah.
Mitch Michals (35:00)
Paolini in round two. was the one that I heard was like a, was like a gamble prediction. I'm not going to say who told me, but point being, think Iga actually drew very well for the five seed She doesn't have to play Coco or Sabalenka in the quarters. think this path, well, not the easiest, I know there's Osteppenko and they're floating somewhere, but she's got to get back to basics. She's got to find comfort here and just take it one match at a time. think she can, I think she has a clear path to get back to the quarterfinals and then we'll see what happens.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (35:29)
Yeah, yeah, no, I love your approach. Your approach is measured, it's thoughtful. I'm just like, Ostapenko, please God happen. Please, all I ask, round three.
Mitch Michals (35:38)
I know. Well, where would that be? That would be round, that would be if
Ostapenko gets through Paolini in that section, if it's not joining. I don't think that that'll be the upset area, but if it's, it's actually, it'd be Ostapenko round four. I think it would be, I think Marta Kostyuk round three would be the first one where it's like, you know, what to expect. The thing with Kostyuk is she plays that way that could beat Iga recently, right? Bold goes for it. She'll make a lot of errors, but.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (35:52)
Yeah, round four.
Yeah.
Mitch Michals (36:05)
In the past, is able to just neutralize that and just wear you down. If she can do that here, I don't know. I think that was my first observation is Iga has a chance to get back, but you got to see some confidence in her body language to start.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (36:08)
Right.
Right? No, you're totally right. Because when I first saw Kostyuk, I was kind of like, well, but Iga beats Kostyuk all the time. But Kostyuk recently, I mean, I've just watched her matches against Aryna Sabalenka and I'm like, wow, like who is this person? And if she can bring that energy to an Iga match, I think she definitely has a chance there. you know, I like your measure take because
I can't totally, yes, she hasn't gotten to a final or won a tournament since last year's French Open, but I don't think we can count her out. It's almost like counting, I mean, you know, I'm sorry I don't think this is hyperbole, but it's almost like counting out Rafa at this point at Roland Garros. You just don't.
Mitch Michals (37:09)
You don't. If she turns it on wins it, it's very raffle like where nothing matters until you get here, she's still going to be considered the favorite. This would be the most impressive of her wins because she doesn't have the momentum. But can I say like the thing that stood out to me in the women's draw, the first glance, first impression, which you got to love it if you're a Coco Gauff fan. I think this is the draw that it's ideal. There's no such thing as a dream draw because there is depth on the WTA, but very, very ideal.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (37:24)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Mitch Michals (37:37)
avoided a lot of the land mines early and sets up very nicely for.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (37:42)
Yeah, it's, it's, you know, I am not, I do not believe in easy draw. We'll get to sort of like Alcaraz later and what his projected second round is, but it's like, I do not believe in easy draws, but you're right. This is the opportunity. This is the opportunity where theoretically you should beat all these players and get yourself to the final. So let's see. Okay.
Mitch Michals (37:48)
Mm-hmm.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (38:09)
some potential, some, some potential big ones. Sinner - Fils, 4th round
Mitch Michals (38:15)
Yeah, yeah, what's not to like about that Fils has risen to the occasion when he's played some of these players. But I don't think he has met a top I could be wrong, but this would be in a best of five.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (38:16)
I mean, come on.
Well, here's the thing. So Fils has lost first round of the French Open. He's not gone deep at the French Open. And I think especially this French Open specifically, he's probably looking to redeem himself a bit. He's been playing well, know, Monaco, like he's had some really great runs this clay season. He should get to that fourth round match. He really should.
Mitch Michals (38:35)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (38:54)
And as long as Rinderknech doesn't spoil the Sinner party, know, that should be a fun fourth round.
Mitch Michals (39:02)
That's a very fun fourth round. So is, selfishly, we've said his name once, but I want, for all the chaos, I want Musetti and Holger, round four. Under the lights, parents screaming, just let's go.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (39:14)
So I can't.
Mitch Michals (39:19)
That's what I want. I want just shorts, hiked up sleeve with shirts on. Let's go.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (39:25)
I'm sorry guys, but how can you not love tennis and the characters in tennis?
Mitch Michals (39:29)
I, right. That's what we want.
And both exciting styles of play too. There's so much made about what's exciting and what's not. Holger is such an enigma in a lot of ways because he'll make a deep run. He'll be the top player. He'll get bounced early. He'll tweet about how sick he is online and all the stuff he's got going on. But it's, why we watch. It's entertaining. And I think that could be a great match in round four. that
Anastasia - Ground Pass (39:34)
Yeah.
Yeah. No, that could be
an awesome match. Now that I'm thinking about it, actually, I watched them play before Musetti was a top 10 player at Indian Wells, like two years ago now. ⁓ And that would be a really, really interesting matchup for sure. How about what?
Mitch Michals (40:01)
Mm-hmm.
The other one there is, well, sorry,
was just saying the other one there is Casper and Tommy could be a fourth round matchup.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (40:12)
Ooh, I didn't even see that one. Ugh, Casper.
Mitch Michals (40:14)
⁓ Tommy's got
a nice opportunity to make a run here and they've played before and it's been heated and major, literally heated. You might've been at that US Open where Tommy almost like passed out in the fifth set. He barely walk to the net.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (40:26)
Yeah.
Yep. Yep. I like I think that's a very interesting one. Casper, who usually plays the week before Roland Garros, did not this year. So it will be interesting to see how he's doing. You know, I think now that Tommy has his car back, he's fine or his truck, you know. So who knows, that could be a really fun one. The one that jumped out at me that I was kind of like.
be for real, how is this a fourth round match? Is Medvedev Djokovic possible fourth round? How many times has that been a final at the US Open?
Mitch Michals (40:59)
Yeah, that's...
So you're just, We're assuming that both get there, huh?
Anastasia - Ground Pass (41:10)
Okay, tell me more Mitch, tell me more.
Mitch Michals (41:14)
I think Djokovic is going to get there. The draw is nice. know, would be, it would, you know, Mackie, it's tough break for Mackie. Now we'll have played Djokovic and Nadal in the first round at Roland Garros. So fun fact there. Um, and then Shapovalov, I think Djokovic will, will be able to handle him. But Mevedev on clay, and I know he's more positive. He says he likes it. He has, you know, potential. Is he going to just waltz right through? I don't know.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (41:21)
Mm-hmm.
Mitch Michals (41:39)
Ugo Humbert Clay in the French side of it like could be a tough challenge. There's also maybe some plots that he could even Cam Norrie around one. didn't say that match, but I don't know if you can really fully count on Medvedev on clay so.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (41:53)
Look,
you're right. And these days in general, it's tough to count on Medvedev. you have, if you're listening to this and haven't either listened or watched the latest episode of Match Stories, I talked about this concept that I've had for a while called the Lost Boys and I'll link it below. But the generation of players born in the 90s, Tsitsipas, Zverev and Medvedev, it's like they're having a tough time.
at the moment. And it's funny that I'm like looking at that match and being like, Ooh, fourth round. And I remember at the Australian Open, Medvedev was in like in a battle with, was it a qualifier from New Zealand? Like I can't even remember who that player was. And you're just like, wait, what? It's Daniil Medvedev. He was supposed to win like four grand slams. Like what happened?
Mitch Michals (42:44)
I have a question for you. Do you know the answer to this? How many males in the nineties have won Grand Slams? How many total?
Anastasia - Ground Pass (42:45)
⁓ no.
No. How
many total?
Mitch Michals (42:53)
Medvedev & Dominic Theim
That's it. So that's it. know, then we've already got Alcaraz and Sinner have already combined for seven. So those two in the nineties, you got seven. I'm going to go on a limb and say, and counting for those two.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (42:57)
That's it. Generation skipped,
Yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah. It's tough going for those 90s kids. But let's see. I mean, I would love to see it. I think Medvedev has, you know, some unfinished business because that final where Djokovic won his 24th Grand Slam, I think Meddy did not really show up and he might have like, you know, unfinished business there. But you're right. Will they get there?
Who knows? We've already talked about Kostyuk-Swiatek Any other kind of projections jump out at you?
Mitch Michals (43:44)
Yeah, I think...
If we get a, here's my bold take, is that the winner of Badosa, Naomi, is gonna get to the fourth round. Maybe not that bold if it's Badosa and she's healthy. And a match with Mirra Andreeva in round four between one of those two should be really fun. That would be one on the women's side. Because the top of the draw, I think we're in agreement, is a little more loaded with some potential up there. So that would be one on the bottom I'm looking at. And then on the top of the women's draw, boy, you know what?
Anastasia - Ground Pass (43:51)
Mm.
Yeah.
Mitch Michals (44:12)
I got one for you. Round three, not even talking round four yet. Peyton Stearns, Qinwen Zheng, round three, sign me up.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (44:21)
I'm sorry, that's gonna be tough for Qinwen That is gonna be tough. ⁓ Yes, she is.
Mitch Michals (44:24)
Stearns is tough, but Qin... the Queen is tough too. She is not looking to make friends
out there. So they might, we might, we might need a referee to separate them a few times, but who knows.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (44:36)
Okay,
okay, that is a good one. I did not see that one either. That is a good one because Peyton's been looking so fire like
Mitch Michals (44:43)
seeded
now that this is incredible that what she's done this this year has gotten her in the seeded range. So she's earned that and earned it the hard way. Last time Qinwen has played this played in these courts, she won the gold medal. So you know, confidence is going to be there for her in beating Sabalenka But yeah, there's on the women's side, like we've, we've heard a lot on the men's side about it's open. We've heard all this stuff. it's a wide open major like, anyone can win.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (44:46)
Right!
Mitch Michals (45:09)
You know, men's side, it's just like sunshine Anderson. We've heard it all before, but on the women's side, but on the women's side, there might actually be some belief to that where I could be talked into. Not quite double digits, but getting close to that number with players that could conceivably win this tournament
Anastasia - Ground Pass (45:18)
Right?
Right, right, you're really right. Because when you like dig into it with the men's side, because I was gonna bring up like Sinner and Alcaraz, like what are the possibilities that we actually do get that final? If they're both playing the way they can play, I just don't see how we don't, you know? They're definitely tough ones there. I know for the first time ever, because usually Djokovic is on Alcaraz's side of the draw, but this time he's on Sinner's side of the draw.
So that should be interesting, but.
Mitch Michals (45:58)
And he's in the Joe and he's in the Zverev quarter, which is nice.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (46:00)
And he's in the, yeah, it's just like
Sinner, Djokovic and Zverev are all on the same side of the draw. And I'm like, you guys fight it out. You guys fight it out. Let me know when, let me know who comes out on top. Okay. ⁓
Mitch Michals (46:11)
I would
be shocked if Alcaraz isn't at least in the final, given how that what you just said. that would that would shock me. think his path to the final is never look clear. We had doubts about health, Barcelona injury doesn't doesn't doesn't seem to be battling anything.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (46:16)
Yeah.
No, he doesn't seem to be battling anything right now. The one thing I would say is probably the hiccup in his draw is Fabian Marozsan in the second round. I think Fabian Marozsan is someone that is very easy to underestimate. I think we all did when he first beat Alcaraz at that Rome tournament, what was that, three years ago now, maybe two or three years ago. And I think Fabian in general likes
Rome because then he did the same thing to Joao Fonseca this year, same score line and everything. So I think Fabian Marozsan is definitely gonna be the first test. And if he can get over that first test, you're right. Path to the final seems pretty clear.
Mitch Michals (47:07)
I think we're going to get a wild quarter finalist on the men's side in that Taylor Fritz section. could be some, mean, Fritz, Tiafoe, like looking at the other numbers there, Korda, like Michelsen just, Fritz hasn't looked great. That section's wide open. I think we're looking at, my thing would be, and I don't think he can win it, because I don't think he can beat Alcaraz but I Musetti to get to the semis. I think he's got to.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (47:19)
Yeah.
Yeah.
same.
Mitch Michals (47:33)
He's a great clay court player. He's got the Tsitsipas disease, Like Tsitsipas could be making it to round four, I think is Alcaraz like Tsitsipas great clay player, just can't beat that guy. That guy Carlos just gives him trouble. So Musetti got a little bit that, which is understandable.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (47:44)
Yeah.
Right, right. No, I'm sure Musetti would want to redo that match that happened at Rome for sure as well. But you're right. It kind of seems like we will or probably hopefully maybe we'll get a Sincaraz as like I see the vision there. But on the women's side, I mean. And it's not almost like also just like anyone like there's some great players. I can list at least five that I would like if they got to the final.
I would be like, yep, sign me up.
Mitch Michals (48:20)
We can't end without me mentioning this too, because Sabalenka has been the model of consistency. She's possessed to win Roland Garros. I think losing Italian Open was just fine at the end of the day to kind of get back to, you know, rest up for the big goal, which is that first French Open title. But round four would be Amanda Anisimova if the seeds hold. And that is a player that has given her a tough time. She's a semi-finalist at this very tournament. That could be, that could be intriguing.
I just think if you're looking at history and you want to play the odds and looking at what's been there, there's been no more consistent player on the women's side by far major in major out than Sabalanka to get quarterfinal, semi-final on. So that'd be where I would start.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (48:57)
Yeah. Yeah.
She's one of this sort of like, think if anyone wants to like look at what perseverance and hard work can do, look at Sabalenka because if you had told us back in the day when she's doing like 17 double faults in a match and she can't like serve out and she's underarm serving and all that stuff, no one I think at that moment would be like, yeah. And then she would be number one far and away the number one. Like.
To catch her right now, you have to win two Grand Slams. So she just looks so steady and sure that I think she's gonna be a tough out, but you're right. Amanda Anisamova I talked to her as well at Charleston and she said it right there. She's like, I wanna be top 10. And you know, if you wanna be top 10, gotta beat Aryna Sabalenka to get yourself there.
Mitch Michals (49:46)
I love it. I think it's going to be good. think we're going to see every major is great because we're going to see someone that starts out on the ground passes on the outer courts that makes it deep for the first time round, fourth round, quarterfinal, semifinal. Women's side has like a pretty high percentage of unseated players making quarterfinal or semifinal. So someone's probably going to do it again.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (49:47)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, no, I'm excited for that for sure. And, you know, I think what I always say with draw shows and things like that, everyone take it with a grain of salt. Stuff happens. Stuff really does happen at these Grand Slams. And, you know, we're all probably going to look stupid at the end of this when we don't get a Sincaraz Final. And, you know, we're all like, holy moly, who made it there? But yeah.
Mitch Michals (50:21)
Yes.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (50:35)
Really exciting stuff. I'm so excited for what's coming up at this tournament this year. Any other matches before I wrap up, Mitch? Or do you think that was pretty much it for you?
Mitch Michals (50:45)
Wow. well, would say just for anyone out there that's a fan of hers, like I am, Ostapenko - Paolina Kudermertova round one, you know, we're always penciling Ostapenko to make run. She has to actually get out of the first round to do it. So that was the one. And then I think there was one, let me look, there was one more men's, Zverev - Learner Tien Can Learner beat him again and maybe beat him in the first round? That would be the low point of, of, where Zverev's at. So yeah.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (50:57)
Shit.
Yes.
That would
be rough, but on clay, I don't think that matchup is the same for sure.
Mitch Michals (51:17)
Do think Monfils can give Jack Draper a match in round two?
Anastasia - Ground Pass (51:20)
It's hard because I was thinking back, when was the last tournament Monfils played? Was it Madrid?
Mitch Michals (51:27)
Yeah, he hasn't been doing really well since Miami clay season hasn't been good for him, these crowd, the crowd loves him. I mean, he's, he's going to get the heroes. Welcome. We saw it in that match against Baez years ago where he couldn't even walk. He's like, hamstring was giving up.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (51:28)
Yeah, he hasn't, yeah, hasn't been great.
Yeah.
Yeah. ⁓ my.
you just reminded me of that match. That was the best match that year. that was the best match that year. Guys, if you do nothing, if you want to just go watch replay, Sebastian Baez, Gael Monfils first round. What was that? Two years ago? Three, But ⁓ That was so good.
Mitch Michals (51:46)
He's nothing if he isn't a showman.
Maybe two or three, I can't remember. It all blends together. But there's some opportunities.
This tournament's gonna be great. I will always put Roland Garros near the top of, obviously, SLAMS, but any tournament. But the best thing about it is we're hitting the golden stretch, the peak of the tennis season, Roland Garros through Wimbledon, we got two majors within less than two months are gonna be completed. So I'm ready to swim through the, what the,
Anastasia - Ground Pass (52:18)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Mitch Michals (52:26)
the channel like this, not what it's called the channel. So I'm ready to start swimming.
Anastasia - Ground Pass (52:27)
Yes.
It is going to be a busy, busy time. So again, thank you guys for listening. This Grand Slam, we will be, there'll be more podcasts. We're going to try and come to you after every single round. Hold us to it. If you don't hear from us, like bother us and we'll come to you after every single round. We're going to have the daily catch-ups. They'll be a little different than...
Australia because of the time zones like matches are probably going to be ending later. So it maybe it'll be an afternoon tea catch up. You know, we'll see how it goes there. We're on sub stack. We're going to be on social media, Instagram threads, everything. Wherever you need us, we will be there giving you all the stories coming out of Roland Garros So again, if you're watching this on YouTube, please like and subscribe. And if you're listening to this,
on the podcast listener of your choice, give us a five star rating. And my question for the end, so if you listened all the way to the end, what first round match are you excited for? Like let me know in the comments, that way I know you listened all the way to the end and we will see you actually on Sunday after the first day of Roland Garros. Bye guys.
