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Ground Pass: A Tennis Podcast

Roland Garros 2026 Preview: One Half of the Draw Is Doing All the Work

Season 3, Ep. 24
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The draw is out, Paris is heating up, and Ground Pass is back with a full Roland Garros 2026 preview. Anastasia and Nick break down a lopsided men's draw where most of the drama lives in the bottom half, a wide-open women's draw with at least fifteen real title contenders, and the section of the bracket where Iga Świątek and Novak Djokovic both drew the worst possible neighborhoods.


We get into Carlos Alcaraz's grass-season pullout (and yes, that Vanity Fair cover), the players we're watching from the top of the field down to the qualifiers, the wild card storyline we've been tracking all year in Akasha Urhobo, and the first-round matches we're refusing to miss, including a bold upset call on Aryna Sabalenka in round one.

Plus: dates for our McCarran Park screenings, how to join the Ground Pass crew in the Served Bracket Challenge, the launch of our daily Coffee Catch-Up newsletter for the fortnight, and Nick reading a tennis match report from 1878 that you have to hear to believe.


Players covered include Arthur Fils, Mirra Andreeva, Casper Ruud, Linda Nosková, Rafael Jodar, Lilli Tagger, Elina Svitolina, Flavio Cobolli, Hailey Baptiste, Eliot Spizzirri, Frances Tiafoe, Taylor Fritz, Nishesh Basavareddy, Kaitlin Quevedo, Emilio Nava, Michael Zheng, Toby Samuel, and Akasha Urhobo.


Chapters:

00:00 Weather and Merch: A Warm Welcome

03:19 Carlos Alcaraz's Withdrawal from Wimbledon

07:47 Thoughts on the Roland Garros Draw Ceremony

11:00 Join us for the Served Bracket Challenge

13:44 McCarren park Screenings details

15:14 Draw Analysis: Men's and Women's Perspectives

19:27 Players to Watch: Rising Stars and Dark Horses

34:28 Qualifiers to watch

39:00 Spotlight on Qualifiers: Rising Stars

40:46 Wild Cards and Their Potential

44:13 Our interview with Akasha Urhobo

53:10 Exciting Matches to Watch: First Round Highlights

59:02 Roland-Garros Updates: What to Expect

01:04:28 Tennis History: A Look Back [Outro]



Links:


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Disclaimer: This video does not contain a paid for advertisement. PR samples are denoted by the term ‘ad - gifted’. Links containing ad affiliate links are denoted by a '*'. This means that if you click on an affiliate link, go through to the retailer and purchase an item, we will receive a small percentage of your purchase. Check out our website for a full disclaimer: https://www.groundpasspodcast.com/about 



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    54:54||Season 3, Ep. 45
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  • 44. US Open Round Three: Ashe, Armstrong, and Who Gets Moved

    48:40||Season 3, Ep. 44
    Eala and Jović opened the Ashe night session while Naomi Osaka played Armstrong. We recap US Open round three from the grounds, on the worst day for the Americans.▶ Round 2 Recap: https://youtu.be/9rBDwwJCLXw?si=3ELLEmErZaPO5uTW Anastasia is joined in this episode by Ava Wallace of The Athletic and Blair Henley co-host of the Love All podcast and On Court Presenter at the US Open on the recap.In this episode:- The Ashe night session call: Eala vs Jović in the opening slot, Osaka on Armstrong- Madison Keys in press after the Zheng comeback, and what she said about needing to change something.- Taylor Townsend's post-match interview, the language that made it to air, and Townsend on coming in scared and defending a big points haul.Townsend's fourth round preview and her fit plan for the walk-on.- Taylor Fritz out, and the American men's drought question- Tsitsipas and Medvedev, and finding form this late in the year.- Alexander Blockx over Cobolli on Armstrong, from a set down.- A doubles upset from a collegiate wildcard pair.- Frances Tiafoe on Armstrong and where the real tennis fans sit.- The night session ground pass sold only at the gate, and what we still need to confirm about it.Chapters00:00 Intro - Round 3 Recap from the grounds01:44 Just watching Tennis12:45 Blair Henley on Louis Armstrong vibes and Taylor Townsend24:24 Ava Wallace on Madison Keys and Taylor Fritz44:15 Hot Tip for Cheap US Open tickets41:24 Alex Eala and Iva Jovic recap44:44 OutroLinksUS Open Guide - https://www.groundpasspodcast.com/us-open-guide Taylor Townsend’s 4th round match look - https://www.instagram.com/reel/Dcdsjn4gVSE/?igsi=MWdlMTBhNng4aDAxMQ==Ground Pass Newsletter on Substack - https://groundpass.substack.com💬 Don’t forget to give us a leave is a 5 ⭐️ rating and drop us a comment Want to Support Ground Pass - https://www.groundpasspodcast.com/supportGround Pass Shop - https://www.groundpasspodcast.com/shop Where You can Find us Online:Substack - https://groundpass.substack.com Website - www.groundpasspodcast.com Email - groundpasspodcast@gmail.com Threads: https://www.threads.net/@ground_pass Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/groundpass.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ground_pass Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@GroundPass TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@groundpasspodcast X: https://x.com/groundpasspodDisclaimer: This video does not contain a paid for advertisement. PR samples are denoted by the term ‘ad - gifted’. Links containing ad affiliate links are denoted by a '*'. This means that if you click on an affiliate link, go through to the retailer and purchase an item, we will receive a small percentage of your purchase. Check out our website for a full disclaimer: https://www.groundpasspodcast.com/about LinksUS Open Guide - https://www.groundpasspodcast.com/us-open-guide