The Racquet Will Talk

We accidentally recorded an Indian Wells quarterfinal preview and we did it in record time. In our first ever episode of reasonable duration we quickfire chat about the performances we appreciated and hated in the first 1.237 weeks of tennis in the desert, and pick our semifinalists and finalists - hint: Sams are bold.

Everyone knows that the February back-to-back 1000s in the Middle East are a pretty silly gimmick, but we are willing to put that aside for the sake of agendas to promote Muchová's monumental achievement.As well as appreciating Muchová's second career title, we also discuss the greatness of Elisabetta Cocciaretto, the Svitolina v Gauff epic, Alcaraz's chances at 41 in a row, and who exactly is the Katie Boulter of the ATP.

The "Worst Slam in History" finished with an historic achievement for Carlos Alcaraz as he became the youngest man in tennis history to win all four grand slams. Elena Rybakina sought revenge for the 2023 final as she defeated Aryna Sabalenka in 3. We are joined by a very special guest to discuss how the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals unfolded and their implications for the future.

It was straight sets galore in round 4 in Melbourne but we still found plenty to talk about, looking back at performances past and previewing the matches to come. Will Tien continue his run? Does Jovic have a chance against Sabalenka? Is this finally Pegula's time?

Seeds blossom and controversy takes centre stage for no reason whatsoever. We chat about the memorable matches and impressive performances from the first week of the Australian Open. Sam explains why Sinner is not an industry plant and Charlotte tries to grapple with the latest fashion scandal in tennis.

A meandering trip through the men's and women's singles draws at the Australian Open as we pick our winners while Sam tries to figure out exactly where Andreeva is in the draw. We also give ELO the respect it deserves and appreciate the longevity of Venus Williams with an impressive stat.

It's 2026! Nostalgia is in the air for some reason and so are tennis balls. But they always are. The new season is well underway and the last one is still warm. We look back at 2025 and forward to 2026 and discuss disappointments, improvements, and predictions.

The slams are done and dusted for 2025 and we have two very familiar victors. Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka reclaimed their thrones and we're here to talk about how they did it and what it means. We also discuss Djokovic's future, Anisimova's potential, and the impending dominance of Sincaraz.Follow us on Twitter: https://x.com/racquetwilltalk

The sharp end of the final slam of the season is here and we are buzzing. We chat about the mostly disappointing quarterfinals matches and look ahead to the exciting final four days of grand slam tennis for 2025.

Looking forward to perhaps the best WTA slam quarterfinal lineup this decade and a seemingly inevitable rerematch of Sincaraz lurking in the distance. We preview the matches to come in the next two days and marvel at Krejcikova's great escape.

Unnecessary drama and temper tantrums overwhelmed the first week of action from New York. From the ashes of the chaos, some very exciting matchups were born.We look back on the first week and chat about what is to come. Including:- Are Medvedev, Zverev, and Ruud finished?- Will the star-studded matchups deliver?- Is this another Krejcikova slam?

We discuss which players have good chances in New York this fortnight. Is it Alex De Minaur's time? Is it giving Pegula maiden slam? Some would say "no, that's ridiculous!" But anything is possible in the city that never sleeps.Featuring:- Discussions on Coco's new coach boost- Will Naomi recover from the Montreal final?- Are we continuing Sincaraz Summer?

We have returned a month later! A lot of tennis has happened since so before starting our US Open Coverage, here are our (slightly blurry) thoughts on the tennis and controversies of the summer that was. In this episode we discuss- Who of Raducanu and Rybakina is likelier to get a 2nd Slam?- What on earth happened to Naomi? And what's so great about Mboko? - Is the Pegula moment over? - Has Shelton actually improved, and since when? - "Opportunists" making the most of Toronto- Is this terrible scheduling going to change?And so much more!

Iga Swiatek, powered by stolen towels and Rosa's Thai, ended her year-long title drought in one of the most surprising slam runs in recent years, finishing the job with an historically dominant victory over Amanda Anisimova in the final.Jannik Sinner exacted revenge against his great rival - Carlos Alcaraz - and became the first Italian ever to win Wimbledon, edging ever closer to completing the career slam in the process.We chat about the winners, some notable storylines and players, and our experiences attending this years Championships.

Here we go again: 5 weeks later. We all expected a Roland Garros final rematch between world #1 Jannik Sinner and world #2 Carlos Alcaraz and that is exactly what we got. The greatest rivalry currently in sport writes its thirteenth chapter as the pair go head-to-head on the grass of Centre Court. We talk about what we are looking forward to in today's Men's Singles final.

The Wimbledon Women's Singles Final is here! And so are we, to chat about it. 5-time slam champion Iga Świątek takes on American Amanda Anisimova, who plays in her maiden slam final and faces the former world #1 for the first time as a professional.Will we be getting Iga SW19tek or 3/4 of the way to a calendar slam for the USA?Listen to our chat/analysis about how we expect the match to play out.

We set our alarms very early to chat through the 2024 Wimbledon quarterfinalists: how they got there and what we expect of them next.

In this episode, we power rank our top 8 prospects for Wimbledon and preview the draws. Includes chat about what actually makes a player good on grass, an almighty struggle to come up with women's finale predictions and a rather puzzling tennis trivium.

The 2025 edition of Roland Garros concluded with the most electrifying crescendo as Carlos Alcaraz came from 2 sets to love down and saved 3 championship points to defeat the world's best men's player, Jannik Sinner in the second longest grand slam final ever.The day before saw the world #2 Coco Gauff dissect Aryna Sabalenka to hand her her second consecutive slam final defeat.We're joined by our good friend Marty to discuss all the chaos and excitement of the final week on the dirt.Also includes:- Gauff fans v Sabalenka beef- Scheduling nonsense- Should women play best of five?- Which Czech is winning Wimbledon this year?

We chat about the first week on the dirt at Stade Roland Garros and look ahead to the enticing matches set up in quarterfinals.Includes more predictions and hot takes, as ever.

The French Open is here! We breakdown the men's and women's singles draws and chat about likely matches to look forward to this coming fortnight.

The clay season reaches its crescendo on the Parisian dirt and we predict who will do what and when at the second slam of the season.We also chat about the recent Masters 1000 in Rome, which saw victories for Jasmine Paolini and Carlos Alcaraz, and how we believe the fortnight's results will inform Roland Garros.

Apologies for the absence, but we are finally back. Expect longer, more chaotic, more regular podcasts than ever for the next few months. We chat about the clay season so far and preview Madrid (don't check the upload date). Featuring our best Starter for Tennis efforts yet.

(2 hour version). This episode we chat about all things Tennis Paradise, won by the prodigious talent Mirra Andreeva and tennis' answer to David Beckham - Jack Draper.Sam also unpacks the PTPA lawsuit and we make predictions about what the future will hold for our Indian Wells champs. Don't ask me how the episode got this long.

Tomáš Macháč meanders through a decimated Acapulco draw to claim his first career title while Tsitsipas breaks his 500 curse in Dubai, fresh Babolat in hand. In Chile, Laslo Djere takes down the Golden Goat Sebastian Baez. In Merida and Austin, billionaire babies Navarro and Pegula strike gold. We also look at the first few days of Indian Wells and look ahead to what the future of the tournament will hold as well as discussing off-court news.

This episode we reflect (haha!) on victories by teen phenoms João Fonseca and Mirra Andreeva, Sebastian's South American bias, Amanda Anisimova's moment, and Catar - not a misspelling, there were cat invasions on court daily.Also featuring discussions of Elena Rybakina's situation, the resolution of Jannik Sinner's doping case, and the US Open effectively ditching the mixed doubles tournament.

Tennis goes throwback as Denis Shapovalov and Belinda Bencic claim titles, Davis Cup stirs up controversy and Elise Mertens does Elise Mertens things. We discuss the happenings since the Australian Open and give some predictions for the future. Featuring an extra special revelatory conspiracy theory.

Madison Keys and Jannik Sinner are the 2025 Australian Open champions! We discuss how they did it and the range of extraordinary, unforgettable, predictable, and impossible feats that got them there. Featuring many predictions and a brand new trivia segment.

We take a deep dive into the upcoming Australian Open quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals and discuss likely outcomes and storylines from the first major of the season.

An in-depth (and I mean, in-depth) preview of the first major of 2025. Can Carlos complete the career slam? Is Coco the next best player in the world? Will Marie Bouzková fulfil her destiny and lift the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup? (No). Listen to Episode Love of The Racket Will Talk podcast to find out our answers to all these and more. Timestamps: (00:35) - The 2025 season so far (06:30) - Draw preview (07:20) - Women's draw top half (35:00) - Women's draw bottom half (41:20) - The Rybakina situation (59:15) - WTA predictions (1:05:00) - Men's draw top half (1:27:00) - Men's draw bottom half (1:39:00) - ATP predictions (1:41:50) - 2025 predictions