Rome is done and Roland Garros starts tomorrow. Anastasia is joined by Lucy Deuce for a tennis-friends-on-the-couch breakdown of one of the loudest weeks of the clay swing: Jannik Sinner completing the Career Golden Masters at 24, Elina Svitolina lifting a third Rome title and locking herself back into the top 10, and Coco Gauff fighting her way to a final the discourse swore she wouldn't reach. They also stop for a voice memo from journalist Hanlon Walsh on the ground in Rome, get into Gucci and the luxury-fashion-meets-tennis moment, and preview a Roland Garros draw that genuinely no one has figured out yet.
In part two, Anastasia sits down with Edward Schmidt, author of The Open Era — a queer, mental-health-forward tennis novel out June 2 (June 4 in the UK). This conversation also kicks off something Anastasia has been sitting on for nearly a year: the very first Ground Pass Book Club. Links to pre-order and to the book launch at The Strand in NYC are in the show notes.
Settle in, pour the coffee, this one is a long, juicy ride.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:26 Highlights from the Rome Masters
08:31 Locking In for Roland Garros with Lucy Deuce
12:28 Fashion Meets Tennis: The Gucci Influence
18:30 Rome Tournament Highlights and Results
20:32 Jannik Sinner's Triumph in Rome
29:57 Elina Svitolina's Comeback and Impact on Women's Tennis
35:44 Coco Gauff's Journey and Resilience
43:55 Looking Ahead to Roland Garros
48:52 Interview with Edward Schmidt
51:53 Eddie's Journey into Tennis
54:12 The Open Era: Book Overview
57:36 Mental Health in Tennis
01:02:14 Cultural Moments in Tennis
01:03:22 The Impact of Social Media on Sports
01:06:48 Representation in Tennis
01:10:41 Coming Out in Sports
01:13:46 The Impact of Representation
01:15:36 Mental Health and Authenticity
01:26:24 Outro
Links:
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