The ATP and WTA Finals bring the eight best players in the world together at the end of the season. Anastasia Folorunso and Ian Mondul talk about how players qualify, how the race differs from the rankings, how the round robin and tiebreak rules work, and why Anastasia thinks simplifying tennis for new fans is the wrong move.
Then they talk about why the Finals aren't a bigger event. Ian wants the tours to stop for two weeks beforehand and spend that time on the eight players. Anastasia wants the race talked about from January. They also go through where the WTA and ATP races stood when they recorded on October 18.
Next up is Rafael Jódar: his first season as a pro, his year of college tennis, the ball-kid incident in Shanghai and his apology, and Anastasia's three interviews with him this year. Anastasia makes her pitch for Jódar as the rival tennis needs. Ian isn't fully sold.
To finish, Matej Dodig, a former top 200 pro, has signed with Texas. Ian asks whether pros should be taking college roster spots.
Ground Pass is a tennis podcast for curious newcomers and longtime fans alike.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro and movie chat
07:09 Part 1 - End of Year Finals - Why should you care
11:45 Does the WTA and ATP Finals Structure make it hard to promote?
23:20 Location, Location and how important its is to the Finals
27:14 How would we fix the End of Year Finals
33:40 Who is in and who is out of the Finals?
42:52 Part 2 - The Tennis News of the Week
43:20 Sonay Kartal and Maja Chawalinska played the perfect final
47:32 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Rafa Jodar play the all Spanish Final
55:33 Rafa Jodar's villain origin story
01:04:49 The Six King Slam is off and Alcaraz, Djokovic and Fritz are not taking the week off
01:07:12 Joao Fonseca and Eva Lys are the recent players to end their season early
01:09:29 Part 3 - This Week in Tennis
01:14:48 A Bit of College Tennis Drama
01:19:16 Outro
💬 Thank you for Listening.
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About Us: Ground Pass is a tennis podcast for the rest of us. Hosted by Anastasia Folorunso and Nick Carter, it breaks down the pro tour for casual fans and anyone new to the sport, no jargon, no gatekeeping. From Grand Slam drama to the players you should know, we make tennis easy to follow and fun to obsess over.
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