A special BONUS episode from James Gray and George Bellshaw from the UTS Grand Final in east London, held at a sold-out Copper Box Arena. NB: James apologises for the edit and audio quality. An amateur sound engineer at best, this is as good as he can do with the equipment in hand! VOTE in our Tennis Unfiltered 2025 awards: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1aUUOiYvsuDQpALWPEQpJj1v873OP-vk_-7gpQDRZCBg/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Dec 12, 2024•53 min
Calvin Betton, James Gray and George Bellshaw are in full off-season mode - and spending as much time talking nonsense as possible. No Peaky Blinders chat, this time, although our Spotify Wrapped does get a mention We answered questions from Taz, Jeff, Ben and Nicolas about boring tennis matches, the 2009 US Open and tennis analytics. Plus... Emma Raducanu reveals her pre-season plans (More here: https://inews.co.uk/sport/tennis/emma-raducanu-australian-open-plans-glory-3419042) And we preview o...
Dec 09, 2024•1 hr 18 min
Tennis never takes a week off, does it? And neither (sort of) do James Gray, Calvin Betton and George Bellshaw, who are back to discuss all the latest goings on in a busy week of breaking tennis news. Iga Swiatek is serving a one-month ban after testing positive for trimetazidine or TMZ, a banned metabolic modulator Simona Halep, Nick Kyrgios and Denis Shapovalov have plenty to say about it, as does everyone else Novak Djokovic explains more about his coaching link-up with Andy Murray Hubert Hur...
Dec 03, 2024•1 hr 28 min
James Gray, George Bellshaw and Calvin Betton get round the microphones again and wonder if there is anything to talk about this week... Andy Murray has agreed to join Novak Djokovic's coaching team for pre-season the Australian Open at least, just three months after retiring from playing (James wrote this piece for the i paper if you're interested: https://inews.co.uk/sport/tennis/andy-murray-coaching-novak-djokovic-storyline-netflix-3397499) Oh, also Rafael Nadal retired this week as Spain cra...
Nov 26, 2024•1 hr 29 min
Uh oh, Calvin is not a happy man... but why? Listen on to find out as George Bellshaw and James Gray do their best to keep him in hand while discussing... Jannik Sinner dominates ATP World Tour Finals, not even dropping a set en route to the title in Turin Taylor Fritz moves to a career-high ranking after reaching the final, and continuing his dominance of Alexander Zverev Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter lead Britain into the semi-finals of the Billie Jean King Cup Frances Tiafoe avoids a ban fo...
Nov 19, 2024•1 hr 15 min
Calvin Betton calls in from the ATP World Tour Finals in Turin to help James Gray (inews.co.uk) and George Bellshaw (his flat in north London) discuss the latest in tennis Coco Gauff wins the WTA Finals in a dramatic - but not necessarily high-quality - final victory over Zheng Qinwen John Wertheim is forced to apologise for comments about Barbora Krejcikova's "eight-head" Denis Shapovalov wins a first title in five years, but isn't in the mix for ATP Comeback of the Year Daniil Medvedev "loses ...
Nov 12, 2024•1 hr 21 min
Calvin Betton is in Helsinki but that doesn't stop him dialing in to Tennis Unfiltered; George Bellshaw is in north London but that doesn't stop him struggling with tech; and James Gray is now married and didn't get into a scrape with Elena Rybakina. We answer your questions on LTA funding and doubles end-of-year tournaments, plus... Alexander Zverev wins the Paris Masters title and returns to No 2 in the world Giovanni Mpetshi-Pericard's huge serve keeps on entertaining on the French capital's ...
Nov 05, 2024•1 hr 29 min
Calvin Betton, George Bellshaw and James Gray are all in England at the same time, a genuine rarity this year, but are still all sitting in their respective living rooms refusing to actually spend time together. Instead, they talked about... Jack Draper's second career title, beating Karen Khachanov in Vienna to move up to No 15 in the world Novak Djokovic pulling out of the Paris Masters and perhaps calling time on his whole season Nick Kyrgios raising his head above the parapet on Louis Therou...
Oct 29, 2024•1 hr 21 min
Calvin Betton calls in from Vienna, James Gray from honeymoon and George Bellshaw... is here also. We started by answering a listener email from Blair, who asked: “I'm taking a few too many long haul flights in the next couple of months, and am looking for distraction recommendations. Which matches from the past 30 years would you recommend I download to watch? Any documentaries? I particularly enjoyed the Vilas one, so anything like that'd be great.” Here are some links to the docs mentioned. A...
Oct 22, 2024•1 hr 17 min
Calvin Betton dials in from Antwerp to join James Gray. George Bellshaw is, unforgivably, on holiday. Rafael Nadal announced his retirement this week, causing Calvin to ask whether he is actually the most underrated or perhaps most influential player of all-time ...and whether he will sign off on a high by winning the Davis Cup The full decision from CAS that reduced Simona Halep's ban for testing positive to just nine months has been published Frances Tiafoe, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zv...
Oct 16, 2024•1 hr 29 min
It's the clash of the eras this week as Mats Wilander's comments on Eurosport spark an intense debate about whether Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have already eradicated the legacy of the Big Four. Carlos Alcaraz beats Jannik Sinner, who had chances of his own, to win the China Open and wrestle control of their head-to-head in an increasingly storied rivalry Arthur Fils wins a title in Tokyo and beats Taylor Fritz, Matteo Berrettini, Ben Shelton, Holger Rune and Ugo Humbert en route - but the...
Oct 08, 2024•1 hr 31 min
Calvin Betton is still in China, George Bellshaw is still in London and James Gray is still complaining. They discuss... WADA has announced it is to appeal the decision to absolve Jannik Sinner of blame for his two positive tests for banned substance clostebol earlier this year. The case will be heard before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and the World Anti-Doping Agency will seek a ban of between one and two years Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram have broken up their long-standing, multip...
Oct 01, 2024•1 hr 37 min
Calvin Betton tunes in from Beijing and George Bellshaw from north London to tell James Gray exactly what's wrong with the tennis world. Emma Raducanu told a reporter she was prioritising the Asian swing after a stripped-back schedule in the first half of the year, but after two wins in Seoul she suffered yet another injury, pulling out of the quarter-final with a foot injury and then withdraws from Beijing too. Coco Gauff has ended her partnership with coach Brad Gilbert just two weeks after he...
Sep 25, 2024•1 hr 27 min
James Gray is joined by George Bellshaw and Calvin Betton to discuss all the latest tennis news (and an injury update from our resident coach). Naomi Osaka splits with Wim Fisette and hires Patrick Mouratoglou as her new coach Novak Djokovic is on course to miss out on ATP World Tour Finals but says he isn't bothered by it Jack Draper jumps off a plane and into the Great Britain Davis Cup team, but to no great effect as they are drummed out by Canada and Argentina Dan Evans hints this could be h...
Sep 17, 2024•1 hr 27 min
James Gray, Calvin Betton and George Bellshaw waited for the dust to settle... and then promptly started kicking it up again. Jannik Sinner wins the title in New York to become the king of hard courts Aryna Sabalenka is the queen too, or is she? Jack Draper gives a fine account of himself but hasn't impressed Martin Keown Have Jessica Pegula and Taylor Fritz both hit their ceiling PLUS Nick Kyrgios shows his true colours Vasek Pospisil defends the PTPA Calvin ducks the Davis Cup The final result...
Sep 10, 2024•1 hr 26 min
Calvin Betton wakes up from jet lag to predict the men's and women's final with James Gray ahead of Draper vs Sinner and Tiafoe vs Fritz in the semi-finals. They also looked back at Emma Navarro's defeat to Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula's win over Karolina Muchova, as well as a few thoughts on Iga Swiatek's absence from the latter stages. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sep 06, 2024•41 min
Calvin Betton is fresh off a flight from New York and talks to James Gray about... Third-round defeat for Henry Patten and Harri Heliovaara Why Beatriz Haddad Maia vs Caroline Wozniacki was a great example of how styles make fights… The secrets to Jack Draper's run at the US Open Why there have been so many double-faults at this year's tournament Is this the real reason everyone seems to hate Zheng Qinwen? What got Alexander Zverev's goat? Grigor Dimitrov limps out of perhaps *his* best chance t...
Sep 04, 2024•49 min
George Bellshaw and James Gray catch up on a busy weekend of US Open action, including... Sky Sports apologise for problems with US Open coverage, raised by Tennis Unfiltered listeners: https://inews.co.uk/sport/tennis/us-open-viewers-frustrated-sky-tennis-coverage-3256452 Video review goes so badly wrong as Beatriz Haddad Maia gets away with one against Anna Kalinskaya: https://x.com/LoveGame_Tennis/status/1830181747281055879 Dan Evans is finally beaten in the US Open, handed two bagels by Alex...
Sep 02, 2024•49 min
George Bellshaw looks back on a day of US Open action where there really was only one place to start as Novak Djokovic was stunned by Alexei Popyrin as the men's draw continues to disintegrate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Aug 31, 2024•21 min
Carlos Alcaraz is handed a shock US Open defeat by Botic van de Zandschulp Alcaraz said afterwards he is "not strong enough mentally" and has taken steps back in that regard. Van de Zandschulp meanwhile was proud of his "emotionally stable" approach to the match, impressive for a man who nearly decided to retire just a few months ago at the age of 28. The Dutchman came to the net 35 times in the match, winning all bar seven points when he did so, perhaps revealing a blueprint for beating Alcaraz...
Aug 30, 2024•17 min
Emma Raducanu says she will manage her schedule differently going forward after "learning a lesson" in defeat to Sofia Kenin Raducanu had played just one tournament since Wimbledon and flew back to the UK instead of playing qualifying in Canada or Cincinnati, traditional warm-ups for the US Open. She said: "I know when I have a lot of matches, just like every player, you feel really good, you feel like everything's automatic. So yeah, I think I can learn from it and manage my schedule slightly d...
Aug 29, 2024•25 min
James Gray and Calvin Betton look back at some of the highlights from the second half of the first round of the US Open, including... Holger Rune promises his fans he "will not let you down any more" after being well beaten by Brandon Nakashima in the first round of the US Open. Karolina Muchova and Bianca Andreescu both produce early shot of the tournament contenders, Muchova's here https://x.com/usopen/status/1828459066626044039 and Andreescu's here https://x.com/usopen/status/1828586747438956...
Aug 28, 2024•40 min
It's the first daily update from Flushing Meadows after Day 1 of the US Open Novak Djokovic becomes the most successful ever player on Arthur Ashe, beating another Roger Federer record, in his easy first-round win over Radu Albot Coco Gauff promises she "will" win the US Open again, but maybe not this year Jack Draper says cheat accusations hurt him Emma Raducanu insists she will keep playing a stripped-back schedule to concentrate on the big events Diego Schwartzman and Dominic Thiem both bow o...
Aug 27, 2024•24 min
Men's draw in full: https://www.usopen.org/en_US/draws/mens-singles.html Women's draw in full: https://www.usopen.org/en_US/draws/womens-singles.html George Bellshaw and James Gray go line-by-line through the US Open draw for 2024, and try to put together their #FTU teams. They also of course discussed the shock news this week of Jannik Sinner having twice tested positive for a banned substance. If you want to enter Fantasy Tennis Unfiltered, the last of the year, then please do so here: https:/...
Aug 23, 2024•1 hr 17 min
Calvin Betton checks in from North Carolina to join James Gray and discuss... Jack Draper's controversial match point against Felix Auger-Aliassime Novak Djokovic calls for video replay in the aftermath Umpires come under fire after failing to overrule clear HawkEye failure Naomi Osaka writes a lot... but says very little Frances Tiafoe finds some form from nowhere Carlos Alcaraz hits out (at the ground) And much more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Aug 20, 2024•1 hr 15 min
Calvin Betton tunes in from Cincinnati, James Gray from back home in London and George Bellshaw from the sharp end of his anecdotal yardstick. Calvin gives us an update on Henry and Harri's bizarre concussion retirement: https://www.atptour.com/en/video/tennis-a-contact-sport-wimbledon-champs-collide-in-montreal Denis Shapovalov is defaulted for swearing at a fan: https://www.skysports.com/tennis/video/12110/13190123/denis-shapovalov-defaulted-after-heated-exchange-with-fan Hunter Reese and part...
Aug 13, 2024•1 hr 30 min
One of our more international podcasts as tennis coach Calvin Betton joins us from the Rogers Cup in Montreal, James Gray from the Olympics in Paris and George Bellshaw... still at home in London. They discussed... Novak Djokovic exacted revenge on Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday and ‘completes tennis’ with Olympic gold. He is just the fifth player to complete the career golden slam, joining Andre Agassi, Rafael Nadal, Steffi Graf and Serena Williams and first man to win gold without dropping a set, al...
Aug 06, 2024•1 hr 12 min
First, an apology: James is covering the Olympics in Paris and the technological conditions are challenging to say the least, so his audio is not in great shape this week. However, he has identified the problem and has a solution in place for next week. In the meantime, here is this week's episode with Calvin from Porto, George from London and James from Paris. Calvin talks about Harri Heliovaara wearing a microphone on a live match court Rafael Nadal is drummed out of the Olympic singles by Nov...
Aug 01, 2024•1 hr 3 min
Calvin Betton, James Gray and George Bellshaw answer your questions on all sorts of topics, including some from the very bottom of the mailbag. Here's what we got into... Veteran Athlete: Is there a future for grass court tennis? Wazza: Is it time for Wimbledon to re introduce grass court seeding? Having Swiatek as number 1 seed when she has lack of ability on the surface makes a mockery of the draw in my opinion. Ian Warren: Hi guys question about the BBC coverage of Wimbledon. Do you think it’...
Jul 24, 2024•1 hr 17 min
Calvin, George and James are reunited for the first time since Wimbledon to discuss... Who will challenge Carlos Alcaraz? Is Novak Djokovic on the decline? Would Jasmine Paolini have been a more popular winner than Barbora Krejcikova? Should the Brits be pleased with their championships? What was the Champions' Ball like? And *so much* more. Sponsored by AG1, click here (https://drinkag1.com/tennisunfiltered) for free Vitamin D3/K2 and 5 travel packs Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podca...
Jul 16, 2024•1 hr 22 min
