Coco Gauff is the moment. The 19-year-old bested Aryna Sabalenka in a physical three sets to win her first major and become the youngest American to win the US Open since Serena Williams. Gauff joins the podcast to discuss the star-studded crowds, ASMR sounds, and, yes, the haterade that fueled her in New York.
Coco Gauff won the biggest title of her career at the Western & Southern Open, sealing a sizzling summer that has seen her win two titles and 11 of 12 matches. But is she ready for the roiling cauldron of New York City? Gauff joins the podcast to discuss the highlights of her week, her win over Iga Swiatek, and how she plans to keep things in perspective at the US Open.
Jessica Pegula's week in Montreal didn't start well, but it finished with a flourish. In a week that saw the American defeat No.1 Iga Swiatek and No.7 Coco Gauff en route to her first title of the season and second WTA 1000 title, Pegula kept her cool and went to work. She joins the podcast after winning the Omnium Banque Nationale to discuss her growing comfort at the top fo the game.
World No.1 Iga Swiatek shut out the noise and the chaos to defend her French Open title, becoming the youngest woman to win four majors since Serena Williams. Swiatek explains how she managed to keep her mind quiet to win the toughest Grand Slam final of her career.
Elena Rybakina won her second WTA 1000 of the season and her biggest title on clay at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia. As the new World No.4 explains, it was a week where everything seemed to break her way.
Aryna Sabalenka took home her third title of the season after fending off No.1 Iga Swiatek to win her second Mutua Madrid Open title. The World No.2 joins the podcast to reflect on the foundations of her game and how she's evolved into the tour's winningest player this season.
No.1 Iga Swiatek stormed through her competitive return to defend her title at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, defeating No.2 Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 6-4 in the final. Swiatek joins the podcast to discuss her week in Stuttgart, look ahead to the challenge of winning Madrid, and talk about her love of books.
Petra Kvitova captured her 30th Hologic WTA Tour title at the Miami Open, where she defeated Elena Rybakina 7-6(14), 6-2 in the final. The victory vaults Kvitova back in the Top 10 for the first time since 2021. Kvitova joins the podcast to reflect on her stunning run to the title and explain why practice doesn't always make perfect.
Elena Rybakina put her stamp on the 2023 Hologic WTA Tour season with a rousing run to the title at the BNP Paribas Open, where she defeated No.1 Iga Swiatek and No.2 Aryna Sabalenka in back-to-back matches to win her first WTA 1000 title. Rybakina joins the podcast to discuss why her game is coming together and yielding big results in 2023.
Aryna Sabalenka still hasn't lost a match in 2023. The 24-year-old will return to World No.2 after winning her maiden major title at the Australian Open. She joins the podcast to discuss her winning fortnight and how she learned to a new side of her fighting instincts.
The 2023 Hologic WTA Tour season is here and Aryna Sabalenka is already bored. The World No.5 kicked off her season by winning her first title since 2021 Madrid, winning the Adelaide International 1. Sabalenka's title run was not without its adversity, but the 24-year-old showed a calmer, more zen approach to her tennis. She joins the podcast to discuss her evolution.
Jessica Pegula captured the biggest title of her career at the Guadalajara Open Akron, winning her first WTA 1000 title after defeating Maria Sakkari 6-2, 6-3 in the final. Pegula joins the podcast to discuss the title that felt like a long time coming, tapping into her ambition, and why she now feels like the main character of her own story.
Liudmila Samsonova captured her third title of the season at the Toray Pan Pacific Open and took her record to 18-1 since the start of August. For the second time this season, the 23-year-old did not lost a set in her title run. Samsonova joins the podcast by phone from Tokyo to discuss the mental work she's done with her sports psychologist and why she's keeping her blinders on for her last two tournaments of the year.
World No.1 Iga Swiatek became the youngest three-time major champion since 2008 after winning her second Slam of the season at the US Open. The win is her seventh title of the season and 10th overall. Yet despite her domination this year, which included three hard-court WTA 1000 titles, the 21-year-old had reason to doubt whether she could go deep in New York. Swiatek joins the podcast to explain why.
Caroline Garcia made history at the Western & Southern Open, becoming the first qualifier in tour history to win a WTA 1000 title. The 28-year-old Frenchwoman will return to the Top 20 after capturing her 10th career title and third WTA 1000 title, after defeating Petra Kvitova in straight sets. Garcia joins the podcast to discuss her return to a more aggressive game and how difficult it was to navigate the five years between her breakout 2017 season and now.
Elena Rybakina went into Wimbledon wondering if she would ever feel as confident as she felt when she announced herself in the first two months of the 2020 season. She leaves as the first player representing Kazakhstan to win a major title, beating Simona Halep and Ons Jabeur in back-to-back matches to win The Championships. Rybakina joins the podcast to discuss her doubts, her shock, and her growing belief that she can do it again.
World No.1 Iga Swiatek's astounding win streak remains intact. The 21-year-old dominated once again in Paris, losing one set en route to her second major title. Swiatek joins the podcast and tries to find the words to explain how it feels to win 35 consecutive matches and six consecutive titles.
World No.1 Iga Swiatek continued her winning ways to successfully defend her title at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome. The 20-year-old has now won five consecutive tournaments and extended her win streak to 28 straight wins.
Ons Jabeur continues to blaze trails. The Tunisian became the first Arab or North African player to win a WTA 1000 title at the Mutua Madrid Open, defeating Jessica Pegula. Ons reveals the secrets to her success, which include the whispered secrets of the animal kingdom.
World No.1 Iga Swiatek continued her winning ways at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, winning her fourth consecutive title and extending her win streak to 23 straight matches. But how does she feel about being a meme queen?
Belinda Bencic captured her first clay title at the 2022 Credit One Charleston Open, holding off Ons Jabeur in three sets in the final. The win comes eight years after the Swiss star marched her way to her first WTA semifinal as a teenage qualifier ranked No.140 in the world.
World No.13 Jessica Pegula joins the podcast from the Credit One Charleston Open to dish about the highs and lows of her hard court season, marvel at Iga Swiatek's rise to No.1, and laugh about being a rookie on the WTA Player Council.
New World No.1 Iga Swiatek and her sports psychologist Daria Abramowicz join the podcast to reflect on the 'Swiatek Sweep', after Swiatek dominated the Miami Open to become the youngest player to win the Sunshine Double and first to ever win the first three WTA 1000 events of the season. On Monday, the 20-year-old will become Poland's first-ever World No.1.
Undefeated on the season and firmly entrenched as the World No.1 Ashleigh Barty stunned the world after announcing her retirement from the Hologic WTA Tour. Barty joins the podcast to discuss her decision to hang up her racquets.
WTA Web Editor Alex Macpherson returns to discuss Iga Swiatek, Maria Sakkari, and the biggest storylines from the BNP Paribas Open and look ahead to the Miami Open presented by Itaú.
Iga Swiatek captured her second straight WTA 1000 title on Sunday, defeating Maria Sakkari 6-4, 6-1 to win the BNP Paribas Open. The 20-year-old Pole is now on a career-best 11-match win streak and will rise to a career-high No.2 on Monday. Swiatek joins the WTA Insider Podcast to try and process what's she's accomplished so early in the season. Doubles champions Yang Zhaoxuan and Xu Yifan also sit down to reflect on their 'lucky' title run.
WTA Web Editor Alex Macpherson joins the podcast to reflect on the lessons learned from the Middle East and Mexican swings and preview the BNP Paribas Open, a WTA 1000 event in Indian Wells, California. Note: This episode was recorded before top seed Barbora Krejcikova withdrew due to elbow injury.
In their fourth tournament together, Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula captured their first team title and it was a big one. The American duo came from a set down to win the Qatar TotalEnergies Open, a WTA 1000 event, defeating No.3 seeds Elise Mertens and Veronika Kudermetova in the final. Gauff and Pegula join the podcast to discuss their team chemistry, how they handle pressure in both doubles and singles, and how the win sets them up for the Sunshine Swing.
Iga Swiatek captured her second WTA 1000 title at the 2022 Qatar TotalEnergies Open, defeating Anett Kontaveit, 6-2, 6-0. Playing a more aggressive game style, the 20-year-old Polish star defeated three Top 10 opponents at a single event for the first time in her career. Swiatek joined the podcast by phone from Doha to explain the changes she's made to her game under new coach Tomasz Witkorowski.
Anett Kontaveit has no idea how she's doing it, but she's doing it. The Estonian extended her indoor winning streak to 20 matches after a resilient comeback to defeat Maria Sakkari in the final to win the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy. It's the longest indoor winning streak in over a decade and it earned Kontaveit her sixth career title. Kontaveit joined the podcast from St. Petersburg to reflect on her winning week.
