VOTE FOR US: It’s your last chance to get a vote in for us in the Sports Podcast Awards, which we would dearly like to win this time after narrowly missing out two years in a row.

The deadline is THIS WEEKEND: www.sportspodcastgroup.com/sports_category/best-tennis-podcast/

George Bellshaw (from convalescence after surgery) and James Gray (preparing for a flight to Australia) get together to discuss a genuinely exciting week of pre-grand slam tennis. The off-season is well and truly over!

They discussed:

• Nick Kyrgios returning to court in singles and doubles, and making sure to return to form on Instagram as well. (See Cruz Hewitt’s post with Jannik Sinner: https://www.instagram.com/cruzhewitt/?hl=en)
• Novak Djokovic is beaten by Reilly Opelka, who reaches the Brisbane final just over two years since he had hip surgery
• Coco Gauff gets another one over on Iga Swiatek as the Americans win a thrilling United Cup (The Brits did okay too, but in truth only won one tie…)
• Luke Johnson and Sander Arends take the title in Hong Kong, beating Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov in the final to give Calvin yet another title
• Naomi Osaka gets through to the Auckland final but worryingly retires with another injury while a set up in the final
• Speaking of big-name Japanese stars and comebacks, Kei Nishikori was back in a final this week too!
• Meanwhile, Emma Raducanu did not even make the start line in Auckland, pulling out with a back problem, but is already back in training ahead of the Australian Open in Melbourne
• Elena Rybakina’s coach Stefano Vukov is suspended by the WTA pending an investigation into an alleged breach of the code of conduct, which he denies (H/t to the great reporting by The Athletic’s Charlie Eccleshare and Matt Futterman here: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6034236/2025/01/02/rybakina-vukov-coach-suspended-wta-investigation/)
• Gaby Dabrowski reveals she was diagnosed with cancer in April, but has come out the other side - and played through it to win an Olympic medal and the WTA Tour Finals (Read her incredibly moving Instagram post here: https://www.instagram.com/gabydabrowski/p/DEPGbMNvrCF/?img_index=13)
• Beatriz Haddad Maia hits one of the all-time bad serves (https://x.com/josemorgado/status/1873229229493764484?s=46&t=Rhiq-18RZr7lX_TkDfCsvA)

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VOTE FOR US! We are desperately trying to beat Dan Kiernan to an award and *really* need your help in doing so. It takes about 20 seconds to vote for us, just head to this link: https://www.sportspodcastgroup.com/sports_category/best-tennis-podcast/

This week, George Bellshaw is a late withdrawal after being called in for surgery on a torn meniscus, Calvin Betton tunes in from Hong Kong (sorry about the satellite delay!) and James Gray is at home for the last time before heading to Australia.

They discussed...

• Jack Draper has been forced to pull out of the United Cup because of a hip injury and will also skip the Davis Cup, but says he is still optimistic of competing well at the Australian Open
• Emma Raducanu has turned over a new leaf for 2025 and says she is learning to say no more
• Max Purcell has been provisionally suspended after admitting to a breach of anti-doping rules relating to "a prohibited method"
• Nick Kyrgios is back, drawn in a big-serving match-up with Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in Brisbane

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Merry Christmas! (Or just happy Wednesday if you don't celebrate.)

VOTE FOR US: It's the Sports Podcast Awards next month and Tennis Unfiltered is up for best tennis show. We came third two years ago and second last year, so would mean a lot if you added your vote and helped us complete the set!

https://www.sportspodcastgroup.com/sports_category/best-tennis-podcast/

While the lads take a well-earned week off over Christmas, we pre-recorded an episode with Tom Corrie of the excellent Tennis Insights to talk about how they generate their data, what it means, how they use it and a whole lot more!

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Thanks to Chris, Deb and Colum for their questions and comments which we read out this week. You can get in touch by emailing us on tennisunfiltered at gmail dot com - and James does read them all even if they don't all make the pod!

If you want to sign up for our newsletter, Substack is the place to do it: https://tennisunfiltered.substack.com/

And finally, have a very Merry Christmas when it comes!

As well as our awards this week, we discussed...

• Nick Kyrgios and Novak Djokovic teaming up to play doubles in Brisbane
• The LTA bringing in a ban on trans women in female events down to Grade 6 amateur tournaments

Got an opinion? Email us. We welcome it.

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A special BONUS episode from James Gray and George Bellshaw from the UTS Grand Final in east London, held at a sold-out Copper Box Arena.

NB: James apologises for the edit and audio quality. An amateur sound engineer at best, this is as good as he can do with the equipment in hand!

VOTE in our Tennis Unfiltered 2025 awards: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1aUUOiYvsuDQpALWPEQpJj1v873OP-vk_-7gpQDRZCBg/

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Calvin Betton, James Gray and George Bellshaw are in full off-season mode - and spending as much time talking nonsense as possible. No Peaky Blinders chat, this time, although our Spotify Wrapped does get a mention

We answered questions from Taz, Jeff, Ben and Nicolas about boring tennis matches, the 2009 US Open and tennis analytics.

Plus...

• Emma Raducanu reveals her pre-season plans (More here: https://inews.co.uk/sport/tennis/emma-raducanu-australian-open-plans-glory-3419042)
• And we preview our awards for 2025

George's newsletter: https://tennisunfiltered.substack.com/p/the-best-and-worst-bits-of-tennis

VOTE in our Tennis Unfiltered 2025 awards: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1aUUOiYvsuDQpALWPEQpJj1v873OP-vk_-7gpQDRZCBg/

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Tennis never takes a week off, does it? And neither (sort of) do James Gray, Calvin Betton and George Bellshaw, who are back to discuss all the latest goings on in a busy week of breaking tennis news.

• Iga Swiatek is serving a one-month ban after testing positive for trimetazidine or TMZ, a banned metabolic modulator
• Simona Halep, Nick Kyrgios and Denis Shapovalov have plenty to say about it, as does everyone else
• Novak Djokovic explains more about his coaching link-up with Andy Murray
• Hubert Hurkacz has replaced long-time coach Craig Boynton with an unusual combo of Nicolas Massu and Ivan Lendl
• And Calvin has dug out a stat about the good old days...

PLUS

Your questions on Jannik Sinner, tennis balls and cats all answered

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James Gray, George Bellshaw and Calvin Betton get round the microphones again and wonder if there is anything to talk about this week...

• Andy Murray has agreed to join Novak Djokovic's coaching team for pre-season the Australian Open at least, just three months after retiring from playing (James wrote this piece for the i paper if you're interested: https://inews.co.uk/sport/tennis/andy-murray-coaching-novak-djokovic-storyline-netflix-3397499)
• Oh, also Rafael Nadal retired this week as Spain crashed out of the Davis Cup to the Netherlands
• Italy retained their title thanks to Jannik Sinner, who ends the year without losing a match in straight sets
• And they also won the Billie Jean King Cup, powered by the extraordinary doubles pair of Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani, the underarm-serving legend
• Britain blew their big chance in the semi-finals, losing having been a set away from a straightforward win over Slovakia
• And finally... the USA made the same mistake all over again in their clash with Australia, dropping their doubles specialists for the deciding clash with Jordan Thompson and Matthew Ebden, only to see Tommy Paul and Ben Shelton beaten in straight sets

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Uh oh, Calvin is not a happy man... but why?

Listen on to find out as George Bellshaw and James Gray do their best to keep him in hand while discussing...

• Jannik Sinner dominates ATP World Tour Finals, not even dropping a set en route to the title in Turin
• Taylor Fritz moves to a career-high ranking after reaching the final, and continuing his dominance of Alexander Zverev
• Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter lead Britain into the semi-finals of the Billie Jean King Cup
• Frances Tiafoe avoids a ban for his sweary outburst at an umpire in Shanghai earlier in the season, but is fined $120,000

Plus your reviews and questions on a fifth slam and foot faults answered

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Calvin Betton calls in from the ATP World Tour Finals in Turin to help James Gray (inews.co.uk) and George Bellshaw (his flat in north London) discuss the latest in tennis

• Coco Gauff wins the WTA Finals in a dramatic - but not necessarily high-quality - final victory over Zheng Qinwen
• John Wertheim is forced to apologise for comments about Barbora Krejcikova's "eight-head"
• Denis Shapovalov wins a first title in five years, but isn't in the mix for ATP Comeback of the Year
• Daniil Medvedev "loses his head"

And finally...

• Roberto Carbaelles Baena throws his hat into the ring for wettest bloke on tour after beef with Cam Norrie

And here is THAT Jannik Sinner stat Calvin was talking about: https://x.com/TennisTV/status/1855594522199150734

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Calvin Betton is in Helsinki but that doesn't stop him dialing in to Tennis Unfiltered; George Bellshaw is in north London but that doesn't stop him struggling with tech; and James Gray is now married and didn't get into a scrape with Elena Rybakina.

We answer your questions on LTA funding and doubles end-of-year tournaments, plus...

• Alexander Zverev wins the Paris Masters title and returns to No 2 in the world
• Giovanni Mpetshi-Pericard's huge serve keeps on entertaining on the French capital's lightning-fast courts
• Richard Gasquet says a tearful goodbye to Paris, but he will be back
• Jack Draper picks up a big win over Taylor Fritz
• The WTA Finals is underway in Saudi Arabia

And more!

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