The Tennis Podcast

Catherine, David and Matt are back from Paris and here to discuss the first week of the grass court season. 

Part one - WTA Queen’s. We cover Tatjana Maria’s extraordinary run to the title as women’s tennis returned to The Queen’s Club for the first time in 52 years. How did she use her slice and dice game to defeat the likes of Elena Rybakina, Madison Keys and Amanda Anisimova? And what more could they have done against her? T...

Catherine, David and Matt react to Carlos Alcaraz saving three match points to beat Jannik Sinner 4-6 6-7 6-4 7-6 7-6 in one of the best matches of all time to win his second Roland Garros title. 

Part one - We go through all the key moments of the match, including Sinner’s fast start, the way Alcaraz turned it around, how Sinner overcame concerns about his physicality to come on strong again in the fifth set, the spellbinding ...

Part one - All about Coco Gauff’s incredible comeback victory over Aryna Sabalenka to win her first Roland Garros title. We discuss the key moments of a dramatic match, Sabalenka’s press conference in which she lamented the conditions, criticised her performance and even threw some shade at Gauff’s, and what the future might hold for both players. 

Part two (48m19s) - Reaction to the wheelchair, doubles and juniors results, inc...

Part one - It was an extraordinary night in Paris as Jannik Sinner overcame a remarkable effort from Novak Djokovic to reach his first Roland Garros final. We discuss the crowd support Djokovic received and his emotional exit from the court, how Sinner came out on top in the big moments, and what the future might hold for Djokovic. 

Part two (26m49s) - We cover Carlos Alcaraz’s win over Lorenzo Musetti, including the way Musett...

The Athletic’s Charlie Eccleshare joins Catherine, David and Matt to discuss Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff reaching the Roland Garros final and ahead to the men’s semi’s-finals on Friday. 

Part one - We cover Aryna Sabalenka’s 7-6 4-6 6-0 win over Iga Swiatek. Was this a good match? What on earth happened in the final set? And where does Swiatek go from here now her ranking has dropped to No.7 and her streak in Paris is over?&...

Part one - The Lois Boisson fairytale continues! We cover her remarkable win over Mirra Andreeva, the way the crowd got to Andreeva during the match, and whether Boisson can beat Coco Gauff after the American’s three-set win over Madison Keys in a match filled with unforced errors. 

Part two (31m34s) - We discuss how Novak Djokovic dissected the game of Alexander Zverev in the night session and start looking ahead to a semi-fin...

Part one - There’s only one place to start and that’s with Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek setting up a tantalising semi-final clash. We discuss how they both got there with impressive wins over Zheng Qinwen and Elina Svitolina respectively. And then our hype for the match begins!

Part two (31m29s) - We cover Carlos Alcaraz racing through in the night session against an injured Tommy Paul and Lorenzo Musetti’s slightly controversial...

Part one. We start by reacting to Alexander Bublik’s extraordinary performance to knock out Jack Draper. Just how good was he? And could Draper have done anything differently? We then look ahead to Novak Djokovic vs Alexander Zverev as both men reached the last eight with ease. 

Part two (30m40s). The remarkable run of Lois Boisson continued as she beat third seed Jessica Pegula in an enthralling encounter on Chatrier. We discu...

Part one - It was a quite extraordinary day of action in the women’s draw. We discuss how Iga Swiatek overcame a 6-0 2-1 deficit to defeat Elena Rybakina, the way Elina Svitolina has completely transformed herself as a tennis player, the importance Zheng Qinwen places on Roland Garros, and how Aryna Sabalenka showed how she’s developed as a player to defeat Amanda Anisimova in straight sets. 

Part two (39m56s) - Carlos Alcaraz’...

Part one. Madison Keys is doing it again! We start the pod by reacting to her dramatic victory over Sofia Kenin in which she saved three match points. We revisit our conversation about whether she’s in the mix, discuss wins for fellow Americans Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff, and recount a fascinating win for Lois Boisson over compatriot Elsa Jacquemot. 

Part two (26m26s). So Joao Fonseca won’t be winning Roland Garros. We cover...

Part one - Sadly, Iga Swiatek will not be facing Jelena Ostapenko in the Last 16. We analyse Swiatek’s impressive win over Jaqueline Cristian, discuss Elena Rybakina’s demolition of Ostapenko, and remember why Swiatek vs Rybakina can be exciting instead. Elsewhere, our pod correspondent for the day, Pam Shriver, updates us on wins for Aryna Sabalenka and Zheng Qinwen, while Matt discusses Amanda Anisimova’s victory over Clara Tauso...

Part one - It was an extraordinary day in the men’s draw but nothing was more incredible than Arthur Fils’ five set victory over Jaume Munar on Suzanne Lenglen. We describe the twists and turns of the match, the spine tingling atmosphere, and what it might mean for Fils in this tournament. We also cover Novak Djokovic shutting down the Corentin Moutet show, losses from two sets up for Alex de Minaur and Jakub Mensik, and the news t...

Part one. Iga Swiatek once again put in a strong performance to beat Emma Raducanu, but she remains on a collision course with Jelena Ostapenko. We discuss both of their performances, as well as a win for Amanda Anisimova, and another impressive victory for Victoria Mboko.

Part two (28m52s). The men’s draw was headlined by defeats for former finalists Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tstisipas. We cover Ruud’s injury and comments about the ...

Part one - We discuss the main men’s results from Tuesday at Roland Garros, including Joao Fonseca’s fantastic performance to beat Hubert Hurkacz. Will David’s wild prediction actually come off? We also cover Novak Djokovic’s first round win, a tough loss for Daniil Medvedev, and Jakub Mensik channeling his inner Djokovic to defeat Alexandre Muller and the Court 14 crowd. 

Part two (36m40s) - On the women’s side, Coco Gauff for...

Part one - We cover an impressive first performance for Iga Swiatek, the still taboo subject of periods in sport, and Naomi Osaka’s sadness and worrying press conference following her narrow defeat to Paula Badosa. 

Part two (35m12s). Novak Djokovic finally does his pre tournament press conference and it does not disappoint. We discuss his answers on Andy Murray, being part of the Nadal ceremony, and the form he found in G...

Part one - Our reaction to the ceremony honouring Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros, which saw Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray come onto court to celebrate his career. 

Part two - Women’s results and headlines (28m00s). Dominant starts for Aryna Sabalenka and Zheng Qinwen, we learn more about Victoria Mboko and Eva Lys as they set up a second round clash, and Jasmine Paolini survives a scare. 

Part three - Men’s r...

With just one day to go until Roland Garros, Matt Futterman joins Catherine, David and Matt on the show to wrap up media day and get hyped for the start of the tournament.

Part one - More reflections from media day, including a big discussion about whether tennis has a toxic culture of playing through injury.

Part two - Novak Djokovic wins his 100th title in Geneva, but what does it mean for Roland Garros? (from 39m54s).

Part three...

On media day at Roland Garros, David loitered in the area, Catherine spent time with all the big names, and Matt didn’t speak to Amanda Anisimova. 

Part one - Men’s headlines. We cover Arthur Fils’ aura, Carlos Alcaraz’s love for draws and dogs, Jannik Sinner’s physical concerns, and interesting reflections from Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev on how the sport has changed and maybe left them behind. 

Part two - Women...

For our first show from Paris in 2025, Catherine, David and Matt are at Roland Garros to discuss the French Open draws.

Part one - Women’s draw. The big headline from the draw was that Jelena Ostapenko has landed in Iga Swiatek’s section. Will that match happen? And just how tricky is Swiatek’s possible route here? There’s also chat about how top heavy the draw is generally, how Aryna Sabalenka’s draw could develop into a hard one, ...