Mirra Andreeva, Muchova, Rublev & Medjedovic - Ground Pass News Round-Up
We are back with a little bonus this week - All the tennis stories we wanted to talk about couldn’t fit into one episode so here is a little bonus pod for you.
Mirra Andreeva’s historic win
Karolina Muchova and Clara Tauson entertain
And Andrey Rublev is back
We discuss it all and also that Medvedovic v Tsitsipas match 🤯
TRANSCRIPT
Nick (00:00)
Welcome. We're trying to get a little bit different here. Peek behind the scenes. We decided to do this midway through the last episode we recorded because we realized that this was going to be a long episode otherwise. And we wanted everyone to kind of really sit and think about what was going on with Indian Wells and Miami. But we didn't want to skip out on talking about all the news. So this is your Groundpass News Roundup.
Anastasia (00:27)
I love a good name. I love a good title to something. But yes, we're trying this out. Let us know if you like it. So if you listen to the Groundpass episode on Monday, that was all about Indian Wells and the Sunshine Double. If you had any questions for us, remember you can email us, send us a note somewhere in social media and we'll try and answer those questions for you. But yeah, this is coming out on Tuesday. It is...
a short roundup of the news because we wanted to talk about some of these stories that came out of last week's tennis because there's been some really great stuff happening. And I'm gonna let Nick start because he's about to wax lyrical about one Mirra Andreeva
Nick (01:12)
I I've been doing that. did that on my other podcast as well, to be honest. you want to, like Mirra Andreeva this week has just been phenomenal, like phenomenal. 17 years old is the youngest ever 1000 champion in the WTA. And that's impressive. I mean, given the, well, the
The 1000 format as it currently exists is fairly recent. I bet you if it went all the way back, as long as the ATPs has, Monica Salish would probably be in there or Martina Hingis as younger. Any of you people who were in the 90s might remember those names. But Mirra Andreeva, wow. mean, she Iga Swiatek she beat Elena Rybakina and just outplayed them.
completely. She got to the qualifying with Iga Swiatek without dropping a set and was bageling and bread sticking all the way through. And I, there's so many reasons to go on like, she's so talented, Mirra Andreeva like she's 17 years old, she's doing all this. And I think she's possibly the most exciting, like she's officially considered as the most exciting tennis talent that we've had in, depending on your point of view, either years or decades.
And what excites me about her is the way that she plays, she always seems to know where exactly she needs to put the ball at the right time. She knows that she doesn't need to hit it hard. She just needs to put it in the right place. And she knows exactly where that is when she's locked in and she's focused. And the more confident she is, the better she is at reading a situation. As she's physically matured, she's got stronger.
We saw that in the way that she's able to kind of go toe to toe with these big name players. And so she's not afraid of them. She's not going to be pushed back by them.
Yeah, Mirra Andreeva is now ranked in the top 10 in the world. Again, she's 17. She turned 18 during the Madrid opening in May, April, May. honestly, it's been such an amazing week for Mirra. And yeah, she is justifiably proud of herself as she shared in her winner's speech, which if you haven't seen, I think you put it on social media, Anastasia. She thanked herself for
And you know what, you know, it's funny. And maybe it's a little bit, you know, it's little bit something, but I think it was, it wasn't intended to be boastful or anything like that. She was using this moment to acknowledge the journey that she's been on in her young life so far. And yeah, really good role model for anyone else her age or younger, or even the rest of us, to be honest. So Mirra Andreeva is a name that is here to stay.
and she's got everyone very, very excited, as she has been since she was 15 years old.
Anastasia (03:54)
Yeah, it's, you know, I think a lot of what I love about this is not just the win itself, because the win, the run to the win was just everything. I couldn't, if I was a tennis player, this is the run to a title I would want. Beating the number two player in the world, Iga Swiatek, beating Elena Rybakina, who is someone that is just, has always been in that sort of top five.
conversation and then to win a title. And who she beat in the final was Clara Tauson who we'll talk about right after this, is really showing up this season and showing that she is the new big hitter in town. So really, really great matches. But for me, I think it's Mirra's journey in general that I just love because we met her all as she was.
15 turning 16 a couple of years ago at the Madrid Open where she's this spunky kid and you're like, oh my word, how is she this talkative and just ready for the cameras and just so excited to be there and loves it.
Nick (05:03)
A little bit to open about he crush on Andy Murray
Anastasia (05:05)
I was just gonna say, I love Andy Murray. I I loved the whole thing. But you've kind of seen that growth from that little girl who was just so excited and happy to be there. And then sometimes on court would have frustrating moments and just not know how to turn things around. And you saw her become this really focused, smart player. know, the thing about
all of her matches, because I watched the one with Iga, Elena and the final. And it's something I noticed, no one was really talking about it, but each time, if you notice her celebration was so subdued. She was very leveled in everything. And you could just see her mind working and her thinking and her maturing on court. She's 17 years old, but I don't think I could have given that championship speech at 17.
She's so confident in herself and, but also willing to acknowledge the work that she's gone through to get to where she is. And I don't know, it was very, very mature moment. And I loved seeing that whole arc. Like the win was great. I think just the arc to seeing her get there was so good. I'm excited to see what she can do going forward. I think we've always known like she's gonna win titles. She's gonna be great.
And it seems like it's finally all coming together.
Nick (06:32)
It's finally coming together like way quicker than I thought. Like I would never predict a 17, 18 year old to get this high this quickly. Like Coco Gauff is the only recent example that's really comparable. And it's going to the point when Andreeva's development is starting to go on a steeper curve than Cocoa's was, which is very interesting. We'll see how that kind of progresses. But yeah, it's not something I would have predicted for her this quickly because I don't want to put that pressure on her.
We don't want another like a Madi Key situation or anything like that, counting Garcia as well. The only thing is, is that of course, if you are a ground passer, you might find that she's not gonna be on those courts anymore. Like not, I think she's gonna get too big a following. even, I can't think of many grand slams that would put her on an outside court or like a sort of a lower level outside court.
And even if they did, it would be packed very, very quickly. So your opportunities to go and watch Mirra Andreeva might be shrinking as we're talking about this.
Anastasia (07:36)
Yeah, so if you see her on an order of play anywhere outside of a stadium court, you go, you run, don't walk, run, because she's gonna make the big time.
I also, someone who maybe you might still be able to catch in a ground pass, but who knows for how much longer, Clara Tauson is money. She's always kind of been around.
talked about, I know she had some injury issues as well, but watching her from the Australian Open where she pushed Aryna Sabalenka and I mean, I I thought, I was like, my goodness, Aryna Sabalenka is going to be out of the tournament because she really was playing her super hard. Now she comes over to Dubai, she beats Aryna Sabalenka in the rematch, which was another great.
big hitting. If you don't know already, I am a big babe tennis watcher. I love some big babe tennis and Clara Tauson is of that variety. And so she's playing really well. She gets to the finals. I think she was gassed. You know, I think she had a lot of tough matches by the time she got to the final, but still was fighting. And that was the crazy thing. Like I remember you could see that she was tired, but she was still going for it. Like she was
going for her shots and could have, you know, if she was meeting a maybe less mature Mirra Andreeva she could have probably wrestled that match away from her. So I think Clara Tauson is fun. I'm really excited to see how her year goes.
Nick (09:12)
Yeah, everything you said about Clara Tauson is pretty much what I was going to say about her, to be honest, I guess for a little bit more background. Maybe you're listening to this and you remember because this match had a lot of hype. The US Open 2021 final between Leyla Fernandez and Emma Raducanu. Obviously two very young talents at the time, 18, 19. They're both born in 2002. Leyla turned 19 during the tournament. Emma's birthday is like November time.
Clara Tauson was also born around about the same time as Emma Raducanu, November 2002, maybe even December 2002, like the back end of the year. Tauson was also in that category of players who could be doing something interesting. Like she'd beaten Emma Raducanu in the final of a challenger, like a week or two before the US Open happened. That was Emma's tournament before she did US Open qualifying. Tauson had got her ranking up enough that she got into the draw automatically.
lost Ash Barty in round two, she had a really rough draw, which meant that she was playing at the time of the world number one. And then as you say, injuries kind of messed her up a bit. And then this year, it's been really, really nice to see her finally get into the big time as someone who's been hyped for a long time and someone I would have been like over the last couple of years doing this podcast or even before that telling anyone on a grand pass, go check out this Clara Tauson girl if you've got the opportunity. there's a Clara Tauson match, well, well, we're checking her out. And like you like,
the reasons why are pretty obvious with that forehand, the way she's so brave with it, the way she fights, you know, I was also impressed by the fact that yeah, she probably fought very hard despite being completely gassed. Another thing to be impressed by with Clara Tauson, she's the last person to beat Madison Keys. She beat Madison Keys in Auckland in the first week of the year. Madison Keys won a winning streak. Yeah, she I remember what she was like, I remember that
Anastasia (10:59)
I about that.
Nick (11:03)
being on and then like I thought I was thinking keys could be putting together an Australian Open run. Not necessarily title run but someone to watch an Australian Open. And then she lost that match to Clara Tauson. Now, Auckland is an awkward time zone for me. So I didn't see the match but I went, okay, maybe Madison is maybe let's put the brakes on her a little bit for the Australian Open. And Tauson ends up winning the tournament.
It slightly helped by Osaka's retirement, but though having watched her, I could also have seen her wrestling that much back her way, even if they had gone another couple of sets. Tauson, I'm like, no, Tauson was that good that she beat Madison Keys and now she's beaten Aryna Sabalenka having learned from her mistakes in the Australian Open match because I think she lost the Australian Open match because she made a lot of errors when she went ahead and got nervous and she didn't this time.
So that's super, super impressive.
I do want to do one quick tangential shout out because I think the main reason she was gassed in the final, I think it was a physical problem. Like she said after her semi-final, which almost went three hours, that she knew that Mirra would have more in the legs than she did. And you could see as you were struggling with the hip problem during the final, that semi-final match with Karolina Muchova was insane. It was so good. Like it got, it was one of those matches that just got better.
I had it on in the background. I couldn't pay too much attention to it because stuff kept coming up at work and I just had the odd crazy rally in my vision. And then I was able to fully dial in for the tiebreak beginning of the first, the third set. And that was the right time to start watching because the tennis just got so good from both players. Karolina Muchova's between the legs lob was, is going to be in shot of the year. I put it on my
Anastasia (12:46)
It
has to be the shot of the year. I'm sorry. I'm sorry to the rest of the year and whatever happens the rest of the year, but a between the legs tweener lob that hits, the baseline.
Nick (12:58)
Yeah, was perfectly judged. the thing is, so I went that so good. And I try not to spam the rest of my friends with tennis, but I did put it on my personal Instagram story. And my friend who never watches it, who never watches tennis, who kind of is like, doesn't really understand it, not really a sports guy in general, messages me and he's like, tennis is a stupid sport, but that was really good.
That was really good, like props to her I was like, Karolina Muchova book can make any, any doubter love tennis. That's my tangent
Anastasia (13:36)
If again, she's just someone I think maybe one day we'll just make like our top 10, you know, list of people to watch and, you know, put that out. may make an whole episode about her. Karolina Muchova is must watch tennis.
Nick (13:53)
Karolina Muchova often ends
up on a ground pass.
Anastasia (13:55)
Yes, she does. Yes, she does. You just have to go see her because her shot making is excellent. If you like Carlos Alcaraz, you like Karolina Muchova. That's the comparison for you there. So I will put a link to the WTA's post of that shot because I think I've watched it on repeat so many times because you just think, how has she done that?
Nick (14:18)
I mean, the second most impressive shot of that match was then followed up immediately by Clara Tauson, who hit a inside out forehand return winner to break Muchova to then serve out set. that, just sharp exhale of like breath at seeing that shot. I just blinked and the tennis ball was not there anymore. And she was fist pumping and was like, okay.
Anastasia (14:39)
No.
Yeah, yeah, that was definitely, I think probably the match of the tournament. By the way, Nick has a thing where every week, and I'm sure you're making a spreadsheet of this, I'm sure, but if you follow Nick on social media on X or Blue Sky, he has every week, the match of the week, he'll make a little poll and stuff. And I'm hoping that's already on there. I haven't seen the one for this.
Nick (15:06)
I haven't put it out yet, that's why. But yeah, when you listen to this.
Anastasia (15:10)
It will be. So check it out. Check it out for sure. So those were the women. That was the Dubai 1000 level event. And on the other side in Doha, the men's 500 was happening. A lot was going on in that tournament. think Carlos Alcaraz was in it, but he was defeated by Jiri Lehecka which, you know, it's really funny. I think sometimes the online chatter, because I remember Carlos lost to Jiri Lehecka.
And it was actually something I was expecting because Jiri Lehecka is really good. He's really, really good. But the internet broke. They were like, my word, Carlos Alcaraz lost in the quarterfinals to Jiri Lehecka. I was like, everyone needs to listen to Groundpass from now on because then you would know how good Jiri Lehecka is. that, you know, so there's all this stuff going on. One match that I
cannot get out of my head. And I don't know if you watch this one, the match between Hamad Medjedovic and Stefanos Tsitsipas in Doha. Did you watch this one?
Nick (16:16)
watched some of it, I didn't watch the end of it, which is what everyone was going on about. Why wasn't I watching? Was it on Tuesday?
Anastasia (16:24)
Yeah, it was early. It was like either Tuesday or Wednesday. It was early.
Nick (16:28)
I think something happened where I couldn't watch it or there was a WTA match I was watching instead.
Anastasia (16:35)
Maybe, yeah, probably, because again, was early on and I wasn't even really watching it. A lot of times when I'm working, because tennis is always happening, I'll have tennis in the background, you know, so I'll just like put it on the TV. So it was one of those moments where I was like doing something else. I had the tennis on in the background. Hamad Medjedovic took the first set. Again, something I wasn't completely surprised by because he had been playing really well. He is someone who we've talked about before. He won the next gen.
full a year ago now. 23. And he's when he's healthy and playing well, he is really, really good. So he he has been playing well recently. He took the first set. Okay, great. Then Stefanos Tsitsipas comes back and takes the second set. I was like, you know, great. Stefanos is fighting back. Yay. And then the third set starts and I'm just watching it and then
Nick (17:06)
Three, I think.
Anastasia (17:31)
Hamad is doing really well in the third set. I'm like, my goodness, he might win this match. He goes out to try and get a ball that's going out wide and he slides to it a la Novak Djokovic, like tries to do the splits and then slides to it and hurts. I mean, he gets hurt really bad. He's on the ground. It looks like it's his hamstring and groin and he's like screaming and holding his leg.
And it's just so devastating. I'm like, my goodness, he was playing so well. He was probably gonna win and here we are. He's probably gonna retire. I really thought, I was like, he's gonna retire because first of all, he couldn't get up. The medic had to come over and help him up. There was a medical timeout that was off court. He comes back and he is limping. It's not one of those like,
Oh, I'm going to just shake out my leg and I'm fine. He is limping. He cannot move. But then he goes to the baseline. I'm like, oh my goodness, is he going to just try and just... The score at this point was four, five, Stefanos's serving. So was, yeah.
Nick (18:35)
What was the score at this point?
I if I get a few good returns, cut two good returns in, I win this match.
Anastasia (18:50)
Like just, that's it. And I was like, okay, like this is interesting, but cool. Stefanos holds. So now we're five five. And I'm thinking he has to retire. He's limping. Like literally if the ball goes out wide, he can't get to it. He's literally just standing in the middle and trying to shuffle back and forth in the middle. And I'm like, okay. And then he, it's his service. He serves, you know, he holds as well. Stefanos off.
obviously holds easy because Hamad can't move and now we're at a tiebreak. And I'm like, this is crazy. How are we at a tiebreak? The player across the net can't move. What's going on? But I was like, okay, it's a tiebreak. Stefanos will just win, I guess, and this will be over. No, no, Hamad Medjedovich somehow, and I still cannot process how.
Nick (19:42)
because he was obviously locked in on serve.
Anastasia (19:45)
I mean, was on serve. He was like, it was crazy. He was serving so well. And I think because he was still doing so well, it might have affected Stefanos because Stefanos lost the tie break and Hamad limped to the net to shake hands. And he was so apologetic too. Like you could just tell he was like, I'm so sorry.
Nick (20:10)
I didn't expect this to go so well. I'm so thinking two points or you were gonna beat me in the next two games.
Anastasia (20:13)
I expect to actually win.
It was, I'm still thinking about this match. I just don't know what to think. Cause every now and then.
Nick (20:26)
Is this Anastasia's ATP match of the week?
Anastasia (20:29)
Yes, it is. And it wasn't even that, you know, it wasn't because of, great tennis or whatever. It was just like shocking. It was shocking. And poor Stefanos Tsitsipas, like, I just don't know how he was feeling after that. He's in Dubai right now. I just saw a video of him practicing, so I'm sure he's fine. But tough, tough loss. Like that was bananas for sure.
Nick (20:56)
That was a match that, yeah, that was probably one of these stories of the tournament. Although, you I did say match the tournament. I feel like Andrey Rublev might throw something else in the mix given he not only won the title, he won at least two epics to get there and was being bothered by Jack Draper in the final a little bit. But Andrey Rublev...
still clinging on to the top 10 by his fingertips and has finally got himself another title in what was a pretty strong field. it's nice to see him constructively using his kind of, yeah, whenever he's constructively using any frustrations he might have and applying it. Yeah, because he beat Felix in a tough tie break and who else he had another match that was like
super, super close. It might have ended in a match tie break, but I can't remember who it was with.
Anastasia (21:47)
Was he against Berettini
Nick (21:50)
It was De Minaur. Draper
beat De Minaur. That De Minaur match. Yeah, I saw the De Minaur match. Yeah, I remember that match now. Yeah, that was a crazy end to that match. So close. yeah, Rublev, so close to going out twice, wins those toughies with De Minaur and Felix. And then I still think even if Draper was fully healthy, he probably still would have won that final. You know, so really, really
Great to see Andrey Rublev kind of doing Andrey Rublev things again.
Anastasia (22:19)
Yeah, it really is nice to see him play so well. I haven't watched him play live in a while. Not live, but just any of his matches in general in a while because of how he was treating himself on court. was very difficult to watch. So it's really nice to finally see him back, harnessing the good thoughts and the good vibes and just, you know, sticking to the tennis, which there he goes.
wins a title, wins another 1000 level event. It's actually, there's a thing where he and Medvedev have never won the same tournament twice, except for now. Andre has finally won a tournament twice because he won Doha a few years ago and now he's a two-time champion.
Nick (23:02)
You would have thought, Andrey Rublev I've achieved something that Daniil Medvedev is not.
Anastasia (23:05)
Medvedev, that's a whole different episode. what else happened? Okay. So we've talked Dubai, we've talked.
Doha.
So there's been a lot of conversations about doubles going on, which will bring us to Rio. So it's all going to tie together. But I finally got to meet Christian's court in person. He's someone that we know online. And I finally got to meet him in person because he was in Delray as well. And Christian's great. know, if you want like
I remember talking to him being like, I don't know how you do it, but he's like on the minute news. If you're looking for on the minute news about tennis, he's making a video the second something happens. And I'm like, how are you doing this so quickly? But he posted something because at the Delray Beach Open, we all got to talk to Taylor Fritz and Taylor Fritz made some comments about mixed doubles, the new mixed doubles change.
coming to the US Open. So he made a video about it. You know, it went everywhere. And Riley O'Pelka replied to that video. And historically, Riley O'Pelka has been someone who doesn't believe in doubles, apparently, and thinks that it's just singles and doubles should just not even be a thing, which I think we vehemently disagree with Riley O'Pelka in that regard. But
What has transpired since then has actually been such a good showcase of what doubles can be at the Rio Open. And I posted about this because I got to talk to the Bryan brothers at Delray and they were going to talk to the ATP. I really wish I could get an update on how that conversation went, but they have some tips that they wanted to sort of suggest as well as.
one of the most successful doubles teams that's ever existed really. Some of their stuff was like having doubles players wear the same outfit, which is, you know, interesting. So it's more sort of like, oh, they're a team and they're a team. So if they wear the same outfit, also something that they were suggesting is doubles teams staying together longer, but also being from the same country. And I thought, huh,
The one time we do get doubles players a lot from same country, there are some teams that exist already that just play together on tour. But the one time we get those for sure, Davis Cup and during the Olympics, we get like doubles teams playing together. At the Rio Open this year, we got Rafael Matos and Marcelo Melo, who are both Brazilian playing together at the Rio Open. And we've already talked about how great the crowds are during the golden swing.
their doubles matches were, I mean, packed with Brazilians supporting them. They don't even play on, I don't think they play regularly on tour together, those two, but they played together at the Rio open. They're the first Brazilians to win the title at the Rio open. You had João Fonseca in the crowd during their matches. I think he was at the semi-finals and the finals.
Like it just created this great vibe that to me was like the perfect contrast to the comments Riley made where it's like doubles doesn't matter. And you just saw what doubles could be regularly. And I was like, this is great. Like it was like the perfect timing for something so cool and so awesome to happen.
during the doubles game, because I think doubles is great. Yes, doesn't need a little bit of reform. Doesn't need a little bit more promotion and like trying to work it out totally. But as a section of the sport, I think doubles is just, it's fabulous. It's great.
Nick (27:11)
Doubles is brilliant. And we've seen that this week, not just in Rio, but also in Doha as well on the ATP side. Like so many top-name clashes going really, really well and being quite exciting. yeah, that Brazilian run for Matos and Melo, who are both fairly accomplished, I suppose, their own right, has been one of the stories of the tournament and the crowd having some Brazilians to root for.
has helped, I think, helped draw it in. And like what you said, like if you've got like some nationalness to it, like with Davis Cup or Olympics, that's going to have the attachment, help with the attachment, particularly in your own country. Interestingly, they obviously beat probably the two people who probably would have been one of the heavy title favorites in that they beat Krajicek and Ram in round one. And, you know, that's not too dissimilar to
someone who's going to be in the Rio singles final beating the one of the title favorites in round one. albeit sadly, it was the opposite story for the Brazilians because yes, Joao Fonseca came off the back of the Buenos Aires title, went to Rio, loses first round Alexandre Muller. That loss is now looking a lot better in retrospect.
Anastasia (28:19)
Yes, it is. Mueller is now in the finals. He's in the finals of the Rio Open. By the way, this is his second final of the year. He won Hong Kong, which I think was a bit of a surprise in a way. Who would he? Was it Cam Norrie
Nick (28:38)
It might have been.
Anastasia (28:39)
If he didn't beat Cam in the final, he beat him at some point, I think, during that tournament.
Nick (28:45)
it was Hong Kong right first tournament of year yeah so he beat Nishikori
Anastasia (28:50)
was Nishikori. Yeah, so even like
Nick (28:53)
You might have also beaten Norrie.
Anastasia (28:55)
I think he did it. Maybe they play it. can't remember exactly, but I thought they did play at some point.
Nick (29:00)
No, Nishikori beat Norrie.
Anastasia (29:03)
There we go, okay. It's all coming together, friends. But no, so either way, I think his run to that title was very surprising. I don't think anyone looking at that draw was sort of like, Mueller is gonna make it to the finals and win.
Nick (29:18)
I know why you may have blanked his run from your memory. He beat Arthur Fils
Anastasia (29:23)
Fail, how dare he? But no, know, so I think that was a surprise run for anyone, I think. And him now doing that again in Rio is incredible. And he's playing well. Like he's playing incredibly well. And he's not someone I've ever had on my radar. He's definitely now someone I'm going to be watching throughout the year just to see.
Is this just a moment? Is this a blip or is it a thing that's gonna happen? I think I had a very similar thing when I started watching Tomas Machac where I was very much like, he's playing well. This was a couple of years ago and I was like, is this a thing? And now look at him. Like he's beating some really, really top players. So it'll be interesting to see where he goes. If we had a player of the Fortnite, which don't worry, this week we do not.
he would be the one I would be talking about because I'm really excited by his game and seeing where he can take it from now. yeah, know, João Fonseca loses in the first round of his home tournament. Not great, but the win doesn't look as bad right now.
Nick (30:32)
Yeah, definitely not. No, and think Mueller, I'm interested to see what happens when Mueller plays Baez as it went as when recording this in about an hour and a half from now. Yeah, it certainly seems to be like 2025 is going to be Alexandre Mueller's year. Yeah, which is exciting to round off our new segment. Going back to the doubles thing. Reily Opelka has one ATP doubles title.
Anastasia (30:56)
does.
Nick (30:57)
He does. He has been by the way, I just looked up his doubles record is he he has reached four ATP tour finals in doubles. He's also reached a futures title in doubles and he also reached a junior Grand Slam final in doubles 2015 Wimbledon. Of those he has only won one which is his most recent one. He won the 2021 Atlanta Open doubles title.
However, he may have been carried to it by his partner, some Italian guy called Jannik Sinner.
They beat Steve Johnson and Jordan Thompson in final.
Anastasia (31:33)
That is too good. That is too good. I cannot believe that is too good. How has no one else dug up Riley? Look, it's doubles history.
Nick (31:45)
It
would probably by and large prove him right other than he does actually has actually successfully won a doubles title. But even if it's like, know, doubles is pointless from his perspective, he probably only feels that because he doesn't play well in doubles.
Anastasia (32:02)
Yeah, yeah. But it's not his greatest take. I'm going to have to say that for sure. Okay, so that was the news, basically. I mean, I'm glad we separated this out because there was a lot to go through. Before we leave you, we'll hit you with what's coming up. By the time you've listened to this, in fact, yes.
Nick (32:21)
already started by the time you're listening to this.
Anastasia (32:26)
Here's the thing I'll say, the tournaments in the Middle East throw me off a little bit because their finals are on Saturdays and then they start on Sundays for some of them. And I mean, you're so used to like a Monday, Sunday schedule, but either way, here's what's coming up. On the ATP, we have Dubai, Dubai 500, which has started already. And again, all of these have started. Acapulco which is a 500 level event.
Two things to note actually, from the Dubai tournament, Jack Draper was supposed to play, but he has pulled out because he wants a break before he goes into the golden swing, I'm actually, I actually kind of like. I like when players try and do this thing with the schedule where it's like they, they're almost more focused, I think, with you don't have to play everything. In fact, your body doesn't want you to play everything. You know, space it out a little bit.
He is this close to making the top 10, this close. So I think it's best he takes the rest and actually gives himself a shot to do well at Indian Wells or Miami and maybe make that jump into the top 10. Acapulco 500, Taylor Fritz was supposed to play, but he just pulled out. He has an ab injury that he's been actually carrying since Dallas, he said.
And then we have the Santiago 250, which I actually do not know who's in that draw.
So much is happening.
Nick (33:57)
Yeah, which is the true golden swing, think you said it's golden swing earlier instead of...
Anastasia (34:02)
sorry, I probably I meant sunshine double.
Nick (34:05)
to
be honest, I knew what you meant and everyone else knew what you meant. I'm a pedant. yeah, Chile open. Yeah, so Cerundolo is the top seed, Baez is playing. It's basically all the guys you would expect to see from the golden swing to be honest, apart from Joao Fonseca, who's taking some time off. But yeah, all the top South American players are there.
Anastasia (34:22)
Okay,
great, excellent. And for the WTA, what are they up to?
Nick (34:26)
So we got, if you listened to the other podcast, we mentioned that they're in Austin as part of the spring swing with so like a lot of the top American women are playing that event. Well, few of them like not Keys, sadly, but you know, massive, Jessica Bagula, Peyton Stearns, few other kind of regulars on the from the American side, playing Petra Kvitova is also playing she's you know, she used to come back.
And then there's a 500 happening in Merida in Mexico, which is got Emma Navarro was the top seed, then Paula Badosa, a few other top 20 players, Sloane Stephens is there. So yeah, it's kind of the kind of the best of the rest going for their first, just going for a 500 titles there and getting up some some useful points ahead of Indian Wells. But that's that's everything going on. So if you're an American,
Right now, this is the best possible time zone for you because the only tennis you're missing is really Dubai.
Anastasia (35:23)
Yeah, yeah, no, this is, we're, it's our little bit of a ramp up. We had a week off, technically, we had a week off, but now we're ramping up. We're coming in, tennis is back in the States and we're leading into the Sunshine Double, which we are excited for. So thank you for joining us on this mini pod. It's been great to catch up on the news that we thought was fun and exciting from last week. We will see next week.
And I can announce this already. So
if you are listening to this and you've listened all the way to the end, we can announce already. Next week is gonna be a recorded episode. It's another episode in the Meet the Professionals series where we will be interviewing Calvin Betton who is a doubles coach. He coaches Henry Patten, Wimbledon and Australian Open Champion in doubles.
and also Julian Cash, who is a doubles player on tour. So yeah, that's what you'll be expecting next week. And then we will see you all in two weeks.
Nick (36:28)
Sounds good. Looking forward to it. See you in two weeks, everyone.
