Friend of the pod Tumaini Carayol joins us in the studio for another fun episode.
We share our Wimbledon accreditation news – yes, Black Spin Global will be at The Championships this year as media!
Roland Garros men's "demi finals" day was a lot of fun (courtesy of Rodney Rapson aka The Plug). Find out how we got on in Paris (and why Lucy calls it "The Ghetto") where Novak Djokovic made history after winning his 23rd Grand Slam. Tumaini also brilliantly articulates why Djokovic and Serena Williams should never be compared.
On the women's side, Iga Swiatek secured her third Roland Garros title – second in a row. 22-year-old joins Naomi Osaka on four Grand Slams. Swiatek really did her thing again this year in an entertaining final against Karolina Muchova.
Handshake-gate and fascinating behind-the-scenes insight regarding Aryna Sabalenka. Did the French crowd really understand what was really going on when the Ukrainian players refused to shake hands with Russian and Belarusians?
Gael Monfils was talk of week one after his epic five-set victory over Sebastian Baez. La Monf suffered severe cramps and was 0-4 down in the fifth before coming back to take it. Was very emotional afterwards. Sadly withdrew the following day due to a wrist injury.
Coco Gauff made a run to the quarter-finals where she fell to eventual champ Swiatek in straights. One of the better matches played against the Pole so far in their seven meetings. Also came through a nice three-set match with 16-year-old talent Mirra Andreeva in the third round. Also reached the women’s doubles semi-final.
Frances Tiafoe was rocking a custom Nike + IDK collaboration kit which paid homage to his Sierra Leone roots – super clean. (IDK’s music goes hard too thoroughly recommend the F65 project) The 12th seed made a run to the third round where he fell to Alexander Zverev in four sets. Loved the win over Aslan Karatsev in R2.
Sloane Stephens, who is "a good time in press", stunned in her FP Movement kit. That blue she was wearing in round two was an absolute scene. The 2018 runner-up made a run to the last 16 where she fell to Sabalenka in two tight sets in the one only women’s “night session” match this year. We share our thoughts on the sexist scheduling.
We had success in doubles where Clervie Ngounoue and Tyra Caterina Grant secured the girls' doubles title after beating the top seeds in the final. Taylor Townsend and Leylah Fernandez, looking pretty in pink, finished runners-up in the women’s doubles event. The American-Canadian duo are a serious team.
Also shout out Kgothatso Montjane and Yui Kamiji – women’s wheelchair doubles champions. And
Donald Ramphadi and Andy Lapthorne – Quad men’s doubles champions.
And to close, bi-lingual king Tumaini talks about his seven-week stint on the road including his trip to Murcia, to carry out a Spanish interview with the people who knew world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz before he became That Guy! That nice long read is here: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/may/26/born-to-be-no-1-tennis-the-making-of-carlos-alcaraz