Calvin Betton, George Bellshaw and James Gray are in particularly nonsensical mood, discussing... The return of the clay-court season Emma Raducanu's decision to skip Billie Jean King Cup duty An epic head-to-head battle between Calvin and George The best tennis court in the world The rise of the super-coach And more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In this episode of Tennis Unfiltered, James Gray, George Bellshaw, and Calvin Betton discuss everything that has been going on in the world of tennis and more from coaching techniques and the Wimbledon dress code to scheduling and the recent Miami Open. Jakub Mensik defeated Novak Djokovic, even though the Czech teenager almost withdrew from the tournament before his first-round match. Djokovic did not appear to be 100 per cent with a swelling under his right eye and trouble moving behind the ba...
Calvin Betton calls in from Miami and Molly McElwee subs in for Barcelona with George Bellshaw on holiday. The PTPA has finally broken cover on a legal battle with the ATP, WTA, ITF and ITIA across three different territories. The men's tour says it will not be cowed by the players union, but over the weekend the PTPA filed a motion with US judge asking “to prohibit all illegal contact with players by the ATP or any defendant or co-conspirator”. The ATP said it "refutes their assertions". Nick K...
Presented by Calvin Betton, James Gray and George Bellshaw Produced and edited by James Gray At 23, Jack Draper secured his first Masters 1000 title at Indian Wells, defeating four top-15 players, including Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals. This victory propelled him to a career-high world ranking of No 7. Mirra Andreeva matched fellow Russian Maria Sharapova's record by achieving ten consecutive WTA match wins before turning 21, and actually made it 12 to secure her second consecutive 1000 tit...
George Bellshaw and James Gray are stuck on this side of the Atlantic while Calvin Betton is sunning himself in Tennis Paradise: Indian Wells. We delve into the mailbag for your emails on weird dreams, George's long-term hatred of Indian Wells, the let rule, and comments on coaching by Janko Tipsarevic Emma Raducanu has another coach on trial Nick Kyrgios managed just 1.5 sets on his comeback from injury, beaten by Botic van de Zandschulp... ...who then ruins the party for Novak Djokovic in toug...
Calvin Betton (ATP tennis coach), George Bellshaw (writer and broadcaster) and James Gray (journalist) all gather round the microphone once again to discuss the biggest issues in tennis. On the eve of "the fifth slam", there has been plenty of off-court controversy... Calvin reacts to Andy Roddick's claim that Rohan Bopanna being a good person and helping other people "doesn't necessarily make doubles a use case" as well as insisting that "a singles player might have done the same or even more" ...
Molly McElwee (Substack here: https://mollymcelwee.substack.com/) joins James Gray, Calvin Betton and George Bellshaw to talk about a busy and often fraught week of tennis. Emma Raducanu was approached by a stalker in Dubai, who allegedly followed her across four tournaments, and burst into tears on court, triggering widespread discussion of women's safety in tennis On the court, Mirra Andreeva won the title, beating Elena Rybakina and Iga Swiatek back to back Andrey Rublev won the men's title i...
Quiet week in tennis? It will never happen. ATP coach Calvin Betton, The i Paper journalist James Gray and former tennis reporter George Bellshaw sit down to discuss a couple of weighty issues in tennis this week. Jannik Sinner has agreed a three-month ban with Wada after two positive test for clostebol last March. Wada re-stated their acceptance of his excuse, that a member of staff had used it, but would have claimed on appeal that he bore some responsibility for the actions of his team member...
Grand-slam winning tennis coach Calvin Betton, tennis writer George Bellshaw and The i Paper's sports news correspondent James Gray are all back for another episode of the award-winning Tennis Unfiltered podcast. They discussed... Emma Raducanu is on a four-match losing streak after another defeat in the first round, this time to Ekaterina Alexandrova in Abu Dhabi - but what next for her in the coaching corner? Two-time grand slam champion and former world No 1 Simona Halep is retiring at the ag...
Thank you SO MUCH for voting for us in the Sports Podcast Awards. After two years of disappointment, we the WINNERS of the Best Tennis and Racket Podcast for 2024. We literally could not have done it without you, so thank you to each and every one of you who voted. James, George and Calvin triumphantly returned to the microphones this week to discuss your questions in the mailbag and... Jacob Fearnley made his debut for Great Britain in a Davis Cup tie against Japan, beating Kei Nishikori but ul...
Calvin Betton, George Bellshaw and James Gray are reunited in the wake of a furiously busy grand slam. They discussed Calvin helping Henry and Harri to their second grand slam title and refusing to fly economy class ever again Jannik Sinner wins his third hard-court slam in 13 months and Alexander Zverev vows not to be the best player ever not to win a grand slam Madison Keys denies Aryna Sabalenka an Australian Open hat-trick after beating Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina, Danielle Collins and Elina...
The pod is still coming down from the highs of Saturday night (and early Sunday morning) but there is the small matter of a men's final to discuss as Jannik Sinner dismantled Alexander Zverev to claim his third straight hard-court grad slam title. He becomes the most successful Italian player, male or female, of all time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Henry Patten. Harri Heliovaara. What a team. Two of the last three slams. There is so much work by so many other people that went into that win, but they were the two men standing - or more correctly lying - on court at the end. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
How doubles champions prepare for a late-night final Did Novak Djokovic deserve to be booed off? Does Alexander Zverev have a chance against Jannik Sinner? Has Ben Shelton got any better? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
...but we wanted a Sabalenka vs Swiatek final. Aryna Sabalenka did her part, beating best friend Paula Badosa with ease But then Madison Keys upset the apple-cart, brilliantly hitting Iga Swiatek off the court to reach her second grand slam final, eight years after her first Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Iga Swiatek wins her Australian Open semi-final with ease but not before a controversial double bounce incident (https://inews.co.uk/sport/iga-swiatek-double-bounce-australian-open-emma-navarro-3494688) Jannik Sinner batts Alex de Minaur, guaranteeing 50 years since the last Australian male winner here Ben Shelton books his place in a second grand slam semi-final Madison Keys outlasts Elina Svitolina SEMI-FINAL PREVIEWS Iga Swiatek vs Madison Keys Aryna Sabalenka vs Paula Badosa Novak Djokovic v...
George Bellshaw and James Gray look back at a thrilling day - or specifically, night - of tennis at Melbourne Park Novak Djokovic beat Carlos Alcaraz in an instant classic across four sets Djokovic had treatment for a left leg injury, thought to be groin or hamstring, but rallied from losing the first set to triumph just before 1am in Melbourne How will he pull up to face Alexander Zverev, who beat Tommy Paul, in Friday's semi-final? Aryna Sabalenka outlasted Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in a wind-s...
Novak Djokovic boycotted Channel 9 interviews after beating Jiri Lehecka, claiming he had been offended by comments made by anchor Tony Jones. Jones appeared to have already apologised on Saturday, but Djokovic said he would not talk to the broadcaster until an official apology had been issued Jack Draper was forced to retire after two sets of his fourth-round clash with Carlos Alcaraz (More on that here: https://inews.co.uk/sport/tennis/carlos-alcaraz-message-jack-draper-3489163) Coco Gauff nea...
Emma Raducanu is thrashed 6-1, 6-0 by Iga Swiatek to end her Australian Open run Gael Monfils shocks Taylor Fritz to reach the fourth round - and then watches his wife do the same thing by beating Jasmine Paolini on the very same court Eva Lys, the lucky loser, continues her dream fortnight by reaching the last 16 and setting up the biggest match of her life against Swiatek Ben Shelton is doing his best to cash in on a soft section of the draw too, beating Lorenzo Musetti in a hard-fought four-s...
NO. SLEEP. TIL. BROOKLYN. James Gray is delirious, Jack Draper is through to round three and it's going off in Melbourne Park. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
It's the fifth day of the tournament and I've finally tracked down Calvin Betton, our resident tennis coach, to chat through the biggest issues of the day - including why the Brits are on the verge of history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tuesday at the Australian Open wraps up the first round of the year's opening major Emma Raducanu beat Ekaterina Alexandrova despite hitting 15 double-faults in an error-strewn performance - but she did win her 7th and 8th tie-breaks in a row A win for Katie Boulter over Rebecca Marino made it six Brits into the second round, a new record But Cam Norrie could not join them, beaten by Matteo Berrettini There was a shock win for Joao Fonseca, the teenage qualifier, over No 9 seed Andrey Rublev And...
Jacob Fearnley beat Nick Kyrgios in straight sets on Monday, leaving the Australian questioning whether he would ever play singles at the Australian Open ever again. In his first-round match, Novak Djokovic, now coached by former rival Andy Murray, overcame a challenging start to defeat 19-year-old American Nishesh Basavareddy. After losing the first set, Djokovic rallied to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2, marking the beginning of his pursuit for an 11th Australian Open title and a record 25th major tit...
George Bellshaw and James Gray look back a rain-affected first day of the Australian Open, talking about Kei Nishikori, Emma Raducanu, Jiri Lehecka and more! An interview with Andrey Rublev: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/jan/12/andrey-rublev-i-dont-feel-any-more-that-crazy-anxiety-and-stress Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Play FTU, AO 2025 edition sponsored by Raquex NOW: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/19oQbG9pcnYnX0oXLGFgDkta5ugKcs5MEizCPmXLC3A8/ [Closes 12 January] James and George go line by line through both draws to suss out the new fantasy tennis format. Don't forget to vote for us in the Sports Podcast Awards either! https://www.sportspodcastgroup.com/sports_category/best-tennis-podcast/ [Closes 13 January] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
VOTE FOR US: It’s your last chance to get a vote in for us in the Sports Podcast Awards, which we would dearly like to win this time after narrowly missing out two years in a row. The deadline is THIS WEEKEND: www.sportspodcastgroup.com/sports_category/best-tennis-podcast/ George Bellshaw (from convalescence after surgery) and James Gray (preparing for a flight to Australia) get together to discuss a genuinely exciting week of pre-grand slam tennis. The off-season is well and truly over! FTU is ...
VOTE FOR US! We are desperately trying to beat Dan Kiernan to an award and *really* need your help in doing so. It takes about 20 seconds to vote for us, just head to this link: https://www.sportspodcastgroup.com/sports_category/best-tennis-podcast/ This week, George Bellshaw is a late withdrawal after being called in for surgery on a torn meniscus, Calvin Betton tunes in from Hong Kong (sorry about the satellite delay!) and James Gray is at home for the last time before heading to Australia. Th...
Merry Christmas! (Or just happy Wednesday if you don't celebrate.) VOTE FOR US: It's the Sports Podcast Awards next month and Tennis Unfiltered is up for best tennis show. We came third two years ago and second last year, so would mean a lot if you added your vote and helped us complete the set! https://www.sportspodcastgroup.com/sports_category/best-tennis-podcast/ While the lads take a well-earned week off over Christmas, we pre-recorded an episode with Tom Corrie of the excellent Tennis Insig...
Thanks to Chris, Deb and Colum for their questions and comments which we read out this week. You can get in touch by emailing us on tennisunfiltered at gmail dot com - and James does read them all even if they don't all make the pod! If you want to sign up for our newsletter, Substack is the place to do it: https://tennisunfiltered.substack.com/ And finally, have a very Merry Christmas when it comes! As well as our awards this week, we discussed... Nick Kyrgios and Novak Djokovic teaming up to p...
