The Mini-Break [Tennis Podcast]

Cracked Racquets Editor-in-Chief Alex Gruskin recaps the 2026 Wimbledon Men's Singles Semifinals. He breaks down dominant performances from Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev, previews the Men's and Women's Singles Championship Matches, plus SO much more!! Episode Notes Sinner/Djokovic - 4:45 Zverev/Fery - 17:35 First thoughts on Zverev/Sinner Championship match - 25:00 Noskova/Muchova Championshi...

Cracked Racquets Editor-in-Chief Alex Gruskin recaps the 2026 Wimbledon Women's Singles Semifinals. He offers his thoughts on Muchova's thrilling three-set victory over Gauff. He also marvels at a dominate display of first strike tennis from Noskova, shares his first thoughts on the Women's Singles Final + final thoughts on Friday's Men's Singles Semifinals, plus SO much more!! Episode Notes Mucho...

Cracked Racquets Editor-in-Chief Alex Gruskin previews the 2026 Wimbledon Singles Semifinals. He breaks down what's allowed each semifinalist to thrive at this year's championships, offers his tactical assessment of each matchup, shares his predictions, plus SO much more!! Episode Notes Overview of Semifinals - 3:00 Kostyuk vs. Noskova - 11:45 Gauff vs. Muchova - 21:45 Djokovic vs. Sinner - 29:15...

Cracked Racquets Editor-in-Chief Alex Gruskin offers nine takes to recap the first nine day of the 2026 Wimbledon Men's Singles Draw. He breaks down the current pace of Jannik Sinner's 2026 season, shares his thoughts on the continued parity displayed at the top of the Men's Tennis World, chimes on the "Ferytale" of this year's Wimbledon, plus SO much more!! Episode Notes Sinner is on a...

Cracked Racquets Editor-in-Chief Alex Gruskin offers nine takes to recap the first nine day of the 2026 Wimbledon Women's Singles Draw. He breaks down the exceptional fortitude of Coco Gauff, contemplates which Top Three Seed faces the most pressure following their respective upset losses, offers his predictions for the rest of the event, plus SO much more!! Episode Notes Coco frickin Gauff - 6:25...

Cracked Racquets Editor-in-Chief Alex Gruskin recaps Day 3 of Wimbledon. He shares his thoughts on a three-set survival from Gauff. He also breaks down Krejcikova's upset of Andreeva, discusses which of the Top Seeds have looked best through the opening rounds, previews Day 4, plus SO much more!! Episode Notes Storyline #1: Gauff survives, Andreeva falls - 6:35 Storyline #2: Top Seeds keep cruisin...

Cracked Racquets Editor-in-Chief Alex Gruskin recaps Day 2 of Wimbledon. He breaks down upsets of Ben Shelton and Elina Svitolina. He also offers his thoughts on all things Serena/Joint, looks at the many seeds who survived R1 battles in deciding sets, previews Day 3's action, plus SO much more!! Episode Notes Storyline #1: Shelton + Svitolina Upset - 6:20 Storyline #2: Serena provides the thrills...

Cracked Racquets Editor-in-Chief Alex Gruskin recaps Day 1 of Wimbledon. He offers his thoughts on a strong start for the tournament's Top Seeds. He also breaks down the day's upsets, analyzes a fantastic day for the Americans, previews Day 2's action, plus SO much more!! Episode Notes Storyline #1: Top Seeds look (mostly) sharp - 7:00 Storyline #2: Great Day for the Americans - 24:40 Storyline #3...

Cracked Racquets Editor-in-Chief Alex Gruskin previews the 2026 Wimbledon Men's Singles Draw. He breaks down each quarter by strength of section, names his most intriguing Round 1 matchups, lists his favorite storylines entering the event, offers his predictions, plus SO much more!! Episode Notes Overview - 4:00 Sinner Quarter - 14:20 FAA Quarter - 25:40 Shelton Quarter 37:40 Zverev Quarter - 47:5...

Cracked Racquets Editor-in-Chief Alex Gruskin previews the 2026 Wimbledon Women's Singles Draw. He breaks down each quarter by strength of section, names his most intriguing Round 1 matchups, lists his favorite storylines entering the event, offers his predictions, plus SO much more!! Episode Notes Overview - 4:00 Sabalenka Quarter - 8:50 Pegula Quarter - 30:00 Swiatek Quarter - 41:15 Rybakina Qua...

Cracked Racquets Editor-in-Chief Alex Gruskin previews the first Championship Weekend of the 2026 Grass Court Season. He offers his thoughts on the action in Queens, 'S-Hertogenbosch, and Stuttgart, breaks down his top performers of the week to date, plus SO much more!! Episode Notes WTA Queens - 3:55 WTA 'S-Hertogenbosch - 11:30 ATP 'S-Hertogenbosch - 14:00 ATP Stuttgart - 17:35 WTA 125Ks - 20:40...

Cracked Racquets Editor-in-Chief Alex Gruskin shares his nominees for the 2026 ATP Halfway Mark Award Show. He breaks down his candidates for Player of the Year, Favorite Storyline, Biggest Surprise, Most Improved, and SO much more!! Episode Notes Player of the Year - 4:50 Most Improved (WIDE OPEN) - 12:05 Biggest Storyline - 22:50 Newcomer of the Year - 29:45 Biggest Surprise - 31:50 Biggest Disa...

Cracked Racquets Editor-in-Chief Alex Gruskin previews Week 1 of the 2026 Grass Court Season. He breaks down the draws in Queens, 'S-Hertogenbosch, and Stuttgart, names the players in need of a fast start to the month, plus SO much more!! Episode Notes WTA Queens - 8:40 WTA 'S-Hertogenbosch - 17:50 ATP 'S-Hertogenbosch - 22:10 ATP Stuttgart - 27:25 WTA 125Ks - 31:15 ATP Challengers - 33:20 Laurel...

Tennis.com Lead Editor David Kane joins Editor-in-Chief Alex Gruskin for the 2026 WTA Halfway Mark Award Show. They breakdown their nominees for Player of the Year, Favorite Storyline, Biggest Surprise, Most Improved, and SO much more!! Episode Notes Player of the Year - 7:00 Most Improved - 17:00 Favorite Storyline - 27:30 Newcomer of the Year - 34:00 Biggest Surprise - 41:30 Biggest Disappointme...

Cracked Racquets Editor-in-Chief Alex Gruskin offers his WTA Top 10 Rankings at the 2026 season's halfway mark. He shares his grades for each of his Top 10 players, evaluates which players have the most on the line in the second half of the season, plus SO much more!! Episode Notes #1 Ranking - 6:35 #2 Ranking - 12:40 #3 Ranking - 17:20 #4 Ranking - 21:15 #5 Ranking - 26:30 #6 Ranking - 31:00 #7 R...

Cracked Racquets Editor-in-Chief Alex Gruskin offers his WTA Top 10 Rankings at the 2026 season's halfway mark. He shares his grades for each of his Top 10 players, evaluates which players have the most on the line in the second half of the season, plus SO much more!! Episode Notes #1 Ranking - 5:20 #2 Ranking - 15:10 #3 Ranking - 21:30 #4 Ranking - 26:50 #5 Ranking - 33:00 #6 Ranking - 39:40 #7 +...

Cracked Racquets Editor-in-Chief Alex Gruskin offers his thoughts on Championship Weekend at the 2026 French Open. He shares his thoughts on Alex Zverev's run to a long-awaited first Major Championship, marvels at a truly exceptional two weeks of tennis from Mirra Andreeva, plus SO much more!! Episode Notes Zverev ends the drought - 4:00 Andreeva ready for primetime - 38:45 A few post-RG thoughts...

Cracked Racquets Editor-in-Chief Alex Gruskin offers his thoughts on Day 11 of the 2026 French Open. He recaps all four singles matches, breaking down victories for Shnaider, Chwalinska, Cobolli, and Arnaldi. He also shares his predictions for Thursday's action, plus SO much more!! Episode Notes Shnaider knocks out Sabalenka - 5:30 Chwalinska finds more magic - 17:15 First thoughts on SF matchup -...

Cracked Racquets Editor-in-Chief Alex Gruskin offers his thoughts on Day 10 of the 2026 French Open. He recaps all four singles matches, breaking down victories for Kostyuk, Andreeva, Mensik, and Zverev. He also shares his predictions for Wednesday's action, plus SO much more!! Episode Notes Kostyuk def. Svitolina - 6:10 Andreeva def. Cirstea - 15:16 First thoughts on SF matchup - 20:50 Mensik def...

Cracked Racuquets Editor-in-Chief Alex Gruskin previews the 2026 French Open Quarterfinal matchups. He ranks all eight of the Men's and Women's Singles battles, offers his takeaways from Monday's action, plus SO much more!! Episode Notes Sabalenka's best performance - 6:25 Three unexpected Women's QFists - 13:45 Ranking the Women's QF Matchups - 20:35 How about the Italian Men - 25:10 Can FAA actu...

Cracked Racquets Editor-in-Chief Alex Gruskin offers his thoughts on a REMARKABLE middle weekend of action at the 2026 French Open. He talks about the remarkable rise of the ATP teenagers (Fonseca, Jodar, etc). He also shares his highlights from an insane Men's Singles R3, names his top contenders entering Week Two, plus SO much more!! Episode Notes The kids...very good (Fonseca, Jodar, Mensik, Ko...

Cracked Racquets Editor-in-Chief Alex Gruskin breaks down the biggest shocks to date of the 2026 French Open. He also shares his most surprising positives, offers his predictions for the remainder of the event, plus SO much more!! Episode Notes Sinner succumbs to the heat - 7:50 Who makes the Men's Final? - 15:10 Rybakina knocked off - 32:10 Ranking the Women's Upsets - 42:00 Ranking the Men's Ups...

Cracked Racquets Editor-in-Chief Alex Gruskin breaks down a fantastic Wednesday of Quarterfinal action in Rome. Episode Notes Swiatek/Pegula - 6:15 Svitolina/Rybakina - 16:05 Ruud/Khachanov - 21:10 Darderi/Jodar - 27:00 Laurel Springs Ranked among the  best online private schools in the United States , Laurel Springs stands out when it comes to support, personalization, community, and college prep...

Cracked Racquets Editor-in-Chief Alex Gruskin breaks down where things stand at the top of the ATP Tennis World as the clay season reaches it's homestretch. He offers his reflections from Championship Weekend in Madrid, shares his thoughts on the past week of action in Rome, plus SO much more!! Episode Notes Snap shot - 5:00 Tier 1 - 13:10 Jannik Sinner - 13:20 Carlos Alcaraz - 18:05 Tier 2 - 20:4...

Cracked Racquets Editor-in-Chief Alex Gruskin breaks down where things stand at the top of the WTA Tennis World as the clay season reaches it's homestretch. He offers his reflections from Championship Weekend in Madrid, shares his thoughts on the past week of action in Rome, plus SO much more!! Episode Notes Tier 1 - 7:50 Aryna Sabalenka Tier 2 - 15:10 2. Elena Rybakina - 15:40 3. Iga Swiatek - 21...