BONUS: Rune, Kokkinakis and Humbert join James and George at UTS
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/
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53:14
What's the most boring era of tennis ever?
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 our awards for 2025
George's newsletter: https://tennisunfiltered.substack.com/p/the-best-and-worst-bits-of-tennis
VOTE in our Tennis Unfiltered 2025 awards: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1aUUOiYvsuDQpALWPEQpJj1v873OP-vk_-7gpQDRZCBg/
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1:17:56
Iga Swiatek's secret ban
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 Hurkacz has replaced long-time coach Craig Boynton with an unusual combo of Nicolas Massu and Ivan Lendl
And Calvin has dug out a stat about the good old days...
PLUS
Your questions on Jannik Sinner, tennis balls and cats all answered
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1:27:47
Will Andy Murray be a decent coach for Novak Djokovic?
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 crashed out of the Davis Cup to the Netherlands
Italy retained their title thanks to Jannik Sinner, who ends the year without losing a match in straight sets
And they also won the Billie Jean King Cup, powered by the extraordinary doubles pair of Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani, the underarm-serving legend
Britain blew their big chance in the semi-finals, losing having been a set away from a straightforward win over Slovakia
And finally... the USA made the same mistake all over again in their clash with Australia, dropping their doubles specialists for the deciding clash with Jordan Thompson and Matthew Ebden, only to see Tommy Paul and Ben Shelton beaten in straight sets
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1:28:50
Why 2024 was the year of Jannik Sinner (+ unpicking the Fritz-Zverev H2H, BJK Cup madness and Tiafoe's $120k fine)
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 for his sweary outburst at an umpire in Shanghai earlier in the season, but is fined $120,000
Plus your reviews and questions on a fifth slam and foot faults answered
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