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This week, George dials in from Mexico while James and Calvin are down in Eastbourne trying to avoid the heatwave.

Here are the stories they discussed

- Serena Williams has been handed a wildcard for Wimbledon, where she will play her first singles match for four years

- Dan Evans meanwhile is going to have to battle through qualifying if he wants to play the main draw at Wimbledon one more time

- Francisco Cerundolo is the Queen's champion, watched by his father Alejandro who had taken a flight for the first time to see him. He beat Tommy Paul in the final.

- Frances Tiafoe won a title too, beating Taylor Fritz in the Halle final to confirm his advances this year and suggest he could be a dangerous man to face in the Wimbledon draw

- Aryna Sabalenka was bagelled in the final set for the second tournament in a row, Jessica Pegula dishing it out, but it was Linda Noskova who came up trumps in the final

- And finally, Paula Badosa calls out Stefanos Tsitsipas's 'toxic' behaviour

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NB: This podcast was recorded BEFORE the Wimbledon wildcards were confirmed on Tuesday. We can only apologise. Blame the All England Club.

Calvin Betton (west London), James Gray (south London) and George Bellshaw (actual Mexico) are back to go through another week of tennis news. And it really is all about wildcards.

- Donna Vekic, with Dave Felgate back in tow, wins the women's title at Queen's, seeing off Emma Raducanu in her biggest final since winning the US Open five years ago

- Serena Williams was back playing, in doubles for now, with Victoria Mboko, although a nasty knee injury stopped her progress and ruled the teenager out of Wimbledon

- Meanwhile, Queen's defending champion Tatjana Maria had to come through qualifying for the chance to play at the west London WTA 500, after organisers handed all the WTA wildcards to Brits

- Dan Evans is retiring but he is also not happy at Queen's, after they failed to give him a wildcard to the main draw... will he get one at Wimbledon?

- Speaking of Wimbledon, they have announced their prize money with a 20 per cent uplift for players, but not all players...

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With George Bellshaw gallivanting in Mexico, Myles David of Tuned into Tennis steps in to the breach, joining Calvin Betton (WORLD NO 1 COACH) and James Gray (WORLD NO 1... er, of being himself) to review Roland Garros 2026.

They discussed:

- Mirra Andreeva is a grand slam champion, overcoming an awkward clash with qualifier Maja Chwalinska in Saturday's final

- Is this the beginning of a significant run at the top of the game for the Russian?

- Will Maja Chwalinska get a wildcard?

- Are the big hitters going to bounce back from big upsets?

- Alexander Zverev has finally ended his quest for a grand slam title, winning his maiden major at the fourth time of asking, but will it change anything for the German going forward?

- Can anyone expect to challenge Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon? And does the Italian have something to prove after his heat-related exit from Roland Garros?

- What does it take to become world No 1? Just ask Calvin Betton!

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Calvin Betton and James Gray are in Paris, while George Bellshaw holds the fort in London (while dodging celebrating Arsenal fans).

• Serena Williams confirms her comeback to tennis and will play doubles with Victoria Mboko at Queen's next week
• Jannik Sinner suffers one of the biggest shocks in French Open history as cramp and fatigue beats him (and Juan Manuel Cerundolo)
• Novak Djokovic is beaten for just the second time ever from two sets up, smoked off the court by Joao Fonseca in a compelling five-setter in the heat of Chatrier
• Iga Swiatek's return to form comes to an end with a shock defeat to Marta Kostyuk that she blames on being "tense" on the court
• Elena Rybakina and Coco Gauff are also early casualties to leave the draw relatively open in the second week

For daily podcast updates from the grand slams, join the TUSCers on our Patreon channel for just £3.60 a month.

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https://inews.co.uk/sport/tennis/tennis-rich-players-french-open-prize-money-4434620

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Are you a TUSCer? For ad-free listening, daily grand slam podcasts and group chats with the lads, join the Tennis Unfiltered Supporters Club for just £3.60 for the first month, just tap the link here: https://www.patreon.com/tennisunfiltered

And if you want to play Fantasy Tennis Unfiltered for FREE, then you can enter here before 1pm BST on Sunday: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1gBnATXVxgHeKD-Ihek5woFg0RciA9SaXXiBhHvVjMJE

The basic concept is simple: predict the quarter-finalists. Do that successfully, and play your captaincy chip right, and you'll win!

You must pick one player from each section of the draw, and hope that they go as far as possible - as well as nominating a men's captain and a women's captain.

(To help you, the players are presented as they are in the draw, so you know who plays who!)

SCORING

Players are split into four categories: Top Seed (a top 8 seed), Minor Seeds (9-32 seeds), Unseeded (self-explanatory) and Bolter (a wildcard or a qualifier).

Unlike previous years, you do not HAVE to pick any qualifier or wildcards - but they will score points more quickly if you do pick a successful one.

Top Seed - 10 points per win

Minor Seed - 15 points per win

Unseeded - 20 points per win

Bolter - 30 points per win

The overall tournament winner also receives a bonus of 20 points.

CAPTAINS

You must select a captain in the men's and the women's draw. Captains will score double points.

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Are you a TUSCer yet? Join the Tennis Unfiltered Supporters Club, just £3.60 for the first month. Sign up ON BROWSER for the best price and offer: https://www.patreon.com/tennisunfiltered You can then use the Patreon app to connect the podcast to your existing podcast app.

****

Calvin Betton, James Gray and George Bellshaw are here to look back on Rome and start thinking about Roland Garros favourites...

- Jannik Sinner became only the second man to win every single Masters event since it was introduced in 1990, joining Novak Djokovic in extremely rarefied air

- Can anyone stop Sinner? Probably not, but his own body might betray him... as Daniil Medvedev nearly found out

- Alexander Zverev will be No 2 in Paris but was unhappy with court in Rome, blaming the clay for his defeat to Luciano Darderi

- Elina Svitolina won arguably the biggest title of her career, beating Coco Gauff after already knocking off Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina to claim the title

- Svitolina is now the first Ukrainian player to win 20 WTA titles

PLUS...

- Andy Murray is back in a coaching box after agreeing to work with Jack Draper for the grass-court season, including Wimbledon

- Emma Raducanu has re-hired Andrew Richardson, the man who guided her to the 2021 US Open title, to coach her nearly five years after letting him go

NEWS

- Andy Murray is to coach Jack Draper over the course of the grass court season

“I am very grateful for everything Jamie Delgado has done for me over these past six months.

“He is a world class coach and a great man.

“In the interim, I will continue to be supported by the excellent team at the LTA, with the addition of Andy Murray, who will be supporting me throughout the grass court season.”

- In other coaching news, Emma Raducanu has announced she is back with Andrew Richardson, the man who coached her to US Open glory five years ago. 

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Calvin Betton calls in from Rome (and a rather echo-y Airbnb) to join George Bellshaw and James Gray for another look back at a week of news leading up to the French Open - and to break some exciting podcast news!

We are launching Patreon channel because we want to bring you even more unfiltered content throughout the year - that means daily podcasts from every grand slam, bonus premium content every other week, group chats with all three of us, the chance to help shape the podcast, and loads more. But that’s not easy - by launching a Patreon, it will give us more time to spend putting together great podcasts, making sure we have a presence at every slam, and going deeper on the sport we all love than we ever have before.

Sign up for just £3 for the first month at https://www.patreon.com/tennisunfiltered and join The Tennis Unfiltered Supporters Club.

In the meantime, here is this week's free podcast:

- Novak Djokovic returns to Rome but it is in vain as he is beaten in three sets by Dino Prizmic...

- ...and the 24-time grand slam champion admits battling physical issues is "a new reality" for him at the age of 38

- Jannik Sinner is on the verge of breaking one of Djokovic's records as his Masters 1000 winning streak extends into the 30s - can anyone stop him?

- Aryna Sabalenka's Roland Garros favourite tag is under threat after another shock defeat, this time to the retiring Sorana Cirstea

- ...so who is in line to take favouritism to Paris?

- And there's a dispute brewing between the top players and the tennis authorities with Sabalenka, Sinner and Gauff all among those threatening a boycott of a grand slam

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James Gray, Calvin Betton and George Bellshaw are all back around the microphones to discuss another week of tennis news - and as we always say, what a week!

Here's what they talked about

- Jannik Sinner crushed his pigeon Alexander Zverev in the men's final to claim a fifth straight Masters title

- Eight years after breaking through as a 15-year-old, Marta Kostyuk finally won the biggest title of her career and then of course failed to shake hands with her Russian opponent Mirra Andreeva

- Calvin had to coach both sides of semi-final but the match was marred by a horrific warm-up injury...

- ...but Henry Patten and Harri Heliovaara did at least win the title a day later to sweeten the pill a little

- Kei Nishikori announces his retirement (and it's not fake news this time)

- Jack Draper is out of the French Open with a new injury

- Novak Djokovic is back in Rome

And so much more!

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Calvin Betton is in Madrid, George Bellshaw is in recovery again and James Gray is in a dark, lonely Pembrokeshire car park.

They discussed...

- Carlos Alcaraz has pulled out of the French Open, and perhaps beyond, with an ongoing wrist injury

- Jannik Sinner is now a 70 per cent favourite to win Roland Garros, but who is his closest challenger? Alexander Zverev can't beat him, Novak Djokovic isn't fit... the lads assess the challengers

- Rafa Jodar is on a breakout run and beat fellow young gun Joao Fonseca - might he join the Possibles in Paris?

- Has a sickness bug ruined our chances of understanding the WTA power rankings at Madrid?

- Venus Williams has lost 10 (TEN) singles matches in a row but is still getting wildcards

- The players are torn over electronic line-calling after a number of marks appeared to differ from the call made by Hawk-Eye

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Calvin Betton, George Bellshaw and James Gray are all back around a microphone - in different parts of London but nevertheless all in London, yet nowhere near organised enough to get in the same room together.

This week, they are talking about...

• Arthur Fils's comeback arc
• Ben Shelton's ability to power through slow care
• The apparent invincibility of Elena Rybakina
• Jamie Murray's retirement
• Marketa Vondrousova's fight to clear her name
• An injury epidemic in Madrid
• And underarm serves!

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