Tennis Unfiltered

James finally tracks down Calvin Betton, who is still recovering from third-round defeat for Henry Patten and Julian Cash to Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden. We talked about... Whether sushi is the root of all the illness at the US Open What it's like to hit on Arthur Ashe How Ben Shelton hits 149 mph serves for fun and why we should never change that (Read James's interview with him here: https:/...

James Gray and George Bellshaw look back at round two of the US Open Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

James Gray and George Bellshaw look back on the second round of the US Open on Wednesday where... - Zhang Zhizhen became the first Chinese man to beat a top-five opponent in ATP rankings history, stunning last year's runner-up Casper Ruud - No 7 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas was knocked out by Dominic Stricker, world No 128 and a qualifier, in five exhausting sets - A Brit finally lost as Lily Miyazaki...

James Gray looks back at the second day of action at the US Open where more seeds fell to make it a total of 17 out, more than a quarter, after only the first round. Six British players picked up wins, all in straight sets, to make it 18-0 in the first round Andy Murray saw the first ever use of VAR in a grand slam go awry Grigor Dimitrov came from two sets down to win a 4:40 thriller Caroline Gar...

What happened at the US Open on Day 1? Well... In the men’s draw… Holger Rune loses to Roberto Carballes Baena and then complains about the court scheduling (while also claiming he wasn’t) Dominic Thiem wins against Alexander Bublik! His first grand slam victory in 2 years and lost three of last four against top 20 players. Bublik also embarrassed himself rather and overstepped the line with a ran...

James Gray and George Bellshaw assess every player's chances at the US Open, going through the men's and women's draw line by line. How easy is Djokovic's draw and is Alcaraz's even easier? Could Andy Murray go deep or will Alexander Zverev stop him in his tracks? What was Iga Swiatek worried about? Who is the WTA dark horse? LINKS Interview with Ben Shelton: https://inews.co.uk/sport/tennis/ben-s...

This week's featured listener emails are From Heather: "I found your discussion on the transgender issues in tennis really interesting but wonder why this is being treated as something new when in fact, the same issues occurred in the 1970s when Renee Richards tried to enter the US Open. I think that after various court cases, she did eventually win the right to compete there but I don’t remember...

Tennis coach Calvin Betton joins James Gray (inews.co.uk and the i newspaper) from Poland in part one before George Bellshaw replaces him in part two from the less glamorous Birmingham. They answer questions on Tommy Paul's serve, string tension for amateurs, tournament scheduling, Alcaraz-Rune-Sinner and the race for No 1 between Iga Swiatek. We also discuss... Is Jannik Sinner triumphing in Toro...

James Gray of inews.co.uk and the i newspaper talks to George Bellshaw (@bellshawgeorge) and Calvin Betton (@calvbetton) about music, Pokemon, walking and occasionally tennis. This week we talk about... A first ATP 500 win for Dan Evans after poor run of form where he’d not won a match since April Similarly in poor form, Coco Gauff gets her season back on track with a title in Washington  Nick Kyr...

James Gray of inews.co.uk and the i newspaper talks to George Bellshaw (@bellshawgeorge) and Calvin Betton (@calvbetton) about music, Pokemon, walking and occasionally tennis. This week we ask... Is Alexander Zverev establishing himself as a US Open threat after winning the title in Hamburg? Wasn't Marketa Vondrousova vs Ons Jabeur at Wimbledon actually just a refreshing change from the usual powe...

Tennis coach Calvin Betton, journalist James Gray and writer and broadcaster George Bellshaw look back at a busy week of news in tennis as well as take a broader look at what happened at Wimbledon having had a week to reflect on the tournament. We pick our awards including best moment, worst moment, biggest surprise and biggest disappointment. We also ask: Is Carlos Alcaraz working too hard? Are t...

James Gray asks Calvin Betton and George Bellshaw the big questions after Carlos Alcaraz claims his first Wimbledon title and Novak Djokovic misses out on his eighth. Questions like: Has Alcaraz's second serve always been this good? What happened to Djokovic in the tie-break? Is this the beginning of a great rivalry? Who will win the US Open? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices....

Calvin Betton and George Bellshaw join James Gray for a debrief on the women's final, which saw Marketa Vondrousova become the lowest ranked women's champion in Wimbledon's history, while Ons Jabeur lost her third consecutive grand slam final. It left us asking questions like... Why shut the roof in the wind? Will Ons Jabeur ever win a grand slam? Will Marketa Vondrousova ever win another? Has the...

George Bellshaw joins James Gray at the gates of Wimbledon ahead of the women's final to look back at Friday's action and ahead to Saturday's. Novak Djokovic felt he was unfairly called for a hindrance against Jannik Sinner. What do you think? https://twitter.com/jamesgraysport/status/1679872598295937024 Does Carlos Alcaraz have any chance of beating him on Sunday? He says he will not be tired or...

Tennis coach Calvin Betton joins James Gray to review the women's semi-finals (Vondrousova vs Svitolina and Jabeur vs Sabalenka) as well as look ahead to the men's last four (Djokovic vs Sinner and Alcaraz vs Medvedev). To sign up for our live text chat on a new app called Circus on Friday, you need to download two apps. First of all, download Test Flight: https://t.co/UAjqwtpRFa Then download Cir...

James Gray and Calvin Betton look back at the second set of Wimbledon quarter-finals as Ons Jabeur beats Elena Rybakina, Carlos Alcaraz tonks Holger Rune, Daniil Medvedev outlasts Christopher Eubanks and Aryna Sabalenka cruises past Madison Keys. To sign up for our live text chat on a new app called Circus on Friday, you need to download two apps. First of all, download Test Flight: https://t.co/U...

Tennis coach Calvin Betton joins James Gray of inews.co.uk and the i newspaper to look back at the first day of quarter-finals at Wimbledon Order of play Centre Court – 1.30pm (6) Ons Jabeur (Tun) vs (3) Elena Rybakina (Kaz) (1) Carlos Alcaraz (Spa) vs (6) Holger Rune (Den) No 1 Court – 1pm (25) Madison Keys (USA) vs (2) Aryna Sabalenka (Bel) (3) Daniil Medvedev (Rus) vs Christopher Eubanks (USA)...

James Gray and Calvin Betton look back at a day of shocks that never were - and ask why Wimbledon insists on starting matches so late. Tuesday's Wimbledon order of play on the show courts Centre Court (1.30pm) (1) Iga Swiatek (Pol) vs Elina Svitolina (Ukr) (7) Andrey Rublev (Rus) vs (2) Novak Djokovic (Ser) No 1 Court (1pm) (4) Jessica Pegula (USA) vs Marketa Vondrousova (Cze) (8) Jannik Sinner (I...

James Gray looks back at the second ever scheduled Middle Sunday, and ahead to a not so manic Monday, which will feature... Centre Court (1.30pm) (13) Beatriz Haddad Maia (Bra) vs (3) Elena Rybakina (Kaz) Not before 2.30pm, to finish: (2) Novak Djokovic (Srb) leads (17) Hubert Hurkacz (Pol) 7-6, 7-6 (6) Ons Jabeur (Tun) vs (9) Petra Kvitova (Cze) (1) Carlos Alcaraz (Spa) vs Matteo Berrettini (Ita)...

James Gray, Calvin Betton and George Bellshaw debate the merits of the BBC's Wimbledon coverage and why British tennis has had such a poor tournament. Order of play for Sunday Centre Court (1.30pm) (7) Andrey Rublev (Rus) vs Alexander Bublik (Kaz) (1) Iga Swiatek (Pol) vs (14) Belinda Bencic (Swi) (17) Hubert Hurkacz (Pol) vs (2) Novak Djokovic (Ser) No 1 Court (1pm) (4) Jessica Pegula (USA) vs Le...

James Gray gets Calvin Betton and George Bellshaw to break down all the action from the first Friday of Wimbledon, including Andy Murray finally losing to Stefanos Tsitsipas. Saturday’s order of play (All courts start at 11am unless stated) Centre Court (1.30pm start) (1) Carlos Alcaraz (Spa) vs (25) Nicolas Jarry (Chi) (6) Ons Jabeur (Tun) vs Bianca Andreescu (Can) Katie Boulter (Gbr) vs (3) Elen...

James Gray and Michael Hincks look back on Day 4 at Wimbledon, and Denis Shapovalov talks about what it's like trying to beat the SW19 crowd ahead of his clash with Liam Broady Order of play for show courts (All courts start at 11am unless stated) Centre Court (from 1.30pm) (1) Carlos Alcaraz (Spa) vs Alexandre Muller (Fra) (Not before 3pm, to finish) Andy Murray (Gbr) leads (5) Stefanos Tsitsipas...

James Gray of inews.co.uk and the i newspaper looks back at a wild Wednesday, before asking Grigor Dimitrov about how to unlock the secrets of Carlos Alcaraz. Order of play (British players in bold; show courts only) Centre Court 1.30pm: Liam Broady (Gbr) vs (4) Casper Ruud (Nor) Alize Cornet (Fra) vs (3) Elena Rybakina (Kaz) Andy Murray (Gbr) vs (5) Stefanos Tsitsipas (Gre) No 1 Court 1.00pm: (19...

James Gray is joined by brand expert and editor-in-chief of PRWeek UK Danny Rogers to talk brand Wimbledon, as well as looking back at a rain-affected second day of the Championships Wednesday's order of play (All courts start at 11am unless otherwise stated) CENTRE COURT (1.30pm) Daria Kasatkina [11] vs Jodie Burrage (GBR) Iga Swiatek (POL) [1] vs Sara Sorribes Tormo (ESP) Jordan Thompson (AUS) v...

Wimbledon order of play, day 2 (All courts start at 11am BST unless stated; show courts only) Centre Court – from 1.30pm Shelby Rogers (USA) v (3) Elena Rybakina (Kaz) Ryan Peniston (Gbr) v Andy Murray (Gbr) Panna Udvardy (Hun) v (2) Aryna Sabalenka (Blr) Court 1 – from 1pm (1) Carlos Alcaraz (Spa) v Jeremy Chardy (Fra) (6) Ons Jabeur (Tun) v Magdalena Frech (Pol) (12) Cameron Norrie (Gbr) v Tomas...