Tennis Unfiltered

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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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