Tennis & Bagels Podcast

(I said Svitolina beat four Top 20 players on route to the Rome title - this is wrong. She beat three Top 5 opponents, but the next higher ranking she beat was World no.25 Hailey Baptiste.)Elina Svitolina wins her first WTA 1000 since Rome 2018. Her third crown in the Italian capital, with hard-fought, well-earned wins over Elena Rybakina, Iga Swiatek, and Coco Gauff. What a tournament by the Ukrainian, who sits now as the WTA Race World No.3, and No.7 in the 52-week rankings.Will that be enough to earn her a first grand slam title at Roland Garros, starting next week??Time will tell - but, I think that would be really difficult. Not so much because Svitolina is not a great player, in fact, she's probably the best version of herself on a tennis court in her career. But the WTA is full of surprises, and the level is insanely high across the board. The Top 5 is playing amazing tennis, with Aryna Sabalenka being as consistent a World No.1 can be, reaching SF and Finals at almost every tournament she plays, only without the major title to show for it in 2026. Which in turn could make her even more dangerous an motivated to win her first Roland Garros trophy.Elena Rybakina the WTA Race World No.1, World No.2 in the 52-week rankings, and Australian Open champion, would be looking to transform her Race ranking into her real ranking, climbing to World No.1 for the first time in her career with a deep run in Paris - a title would all but guarantee it. And then, who knows: a Calendar Grand Slam in the making?Gauff, the defending champion at Roland Garros, lost to Svitolina in the Rome final in a tough three-setter. Doesn't matter how Gauff plays, it seems it's always impossible to beat her without massive effort. There are no true bad days for the American. She's coming for that title again, no matter who stands in her way - even if it's her own self.Finally, Iga Swiatek. The four-time Roland Garros champion started the year without playing well at all. All seemed completely out of control, with her game spiraling and losses stacking up. Until Francisco Roig joined her team as her new coach, and a couple days with Rafa Nadal himself, seemingly changed the course of her year overnight. Now playing a much more confident tennis, with her strengths emphasized and game plans set on more that just hit the ball very hard, Swiatek made us all look at her again as one of the top favourites. But you can't just erase months of struggle like that, and her loss to Svitolina in Rome showed that, despite the great progress over this clay season, Swiatek might still have some internal issues to work out before fully returning to her very best. Will it happen at Roland Garros 2026?We will have to wait and see how all this unfolds.

Since Alcaraz announced he'd miss the remainder of the clay season, it was obvious: Jannik Sinner would be utterly unchallenged to win Madrid, Rome, and Roland Garros.It has gone pretty much as expected from him. Only surprise was losing a set to Medvedev. Other than that, it almost seems disingenuous to say there's any doubt Sinner will sweep the Clay Slam, just like Rafael Nadal did in 2010, the only player to do so.As we close the Masters events on clay, there are some interesting stories still to follow, including Casper Ruud, Daniil Medvedev, Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Jodar. But these will all be left as side quests to Sinner's iron fist domination over the ATP Tour.It seems only a miracle will stop him - and that has now extended itself until Wimbledon, now that Alcaraz has shocked the world one more time by announcing his withdrawal.

Joao Fonseca passes the eye test. He has passed the test a long time ago.Now what he needs is the support of his fans in the highs AND the lows. He needs people to known HOW to support him, too, both on social media and on court.Sure, the atmosphere can be great with lively fans. But tennis has a specific kind of behaviour that is expected of fans, and it's not at all similar to a soccer match. You just have to stay silent sometimes.In fact, trying mess with his opponents by being obnoxious is not only going to disrupt them, but also break the rhythm of the match, put pressure on Fonseca, and ultimately could hinder his performance in said match.So, we gotta chill.And we need to be patient also. He still needs to gain more experience, learn more about on-court tactics and decision making. He will lose tough matches. He will lose early. He probably won't win a big title this year, at least not a Grand Slam.And that's fine.All that hype needs to be translated into disciplined excitement, not emotional breakdowns on social media saying Fonseca is "just hype". He clearly is ridiculously talented.Oh, and by the way, let's be gentle with how we approach the careers of Rafa Jodar, Alexandre Blockx, Martin Landaluce, and any other talented teenager that will appear. They also need to learn and play, and, more often than they'd like, lose. Even if it looks like they won't be losing much right now.Cited Andy Roddick short: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/XupeWCeY7xoSUBSCRIBE to the YouTube channel!Follow TENNIS AND BAGELS!Twitter/X: https://x.com/TennisAndBAGELSAndre:Twitter/X - https://x.com/RolembergAndreBlueSky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/andrerolemberg.bsky.socialVansh: https://x.com/vanshv2kOwen (BlueSky Social): https://bsky.app/profile/owensports.bsky.social

Zverev once again reaches the later stages of a tournament, and is once again utterly incapable of making a match out it against Sinner.As Jannik Sinner continues to sweep every Masters 1000 of the year virtually unchallenged, the question is beginning to get loud online: is the ATP Tour boring? Some might even start saying that Sinner himself is the problem.Well, is he?Short answer is no. But it's probably more complicated if you're a neutral tennis fan. Sinner just isn't the same type of player or person that Federer was, or that Djokovic is. He is introverted, he is efficient, and all that he does is his job: winning. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that.But, combining Sinner's ruthless tennis, his introverted demeanor, and the fact that the entirety of the ATP minus Carlos Alcaraz simply has no idea how to even begin to win sets against him, it turns the tour into something rather uneventful.If you are a Sinner fan, that's awesome. Your fave is winning and you're happy when you turn off the tv. If you aren't, you shouldn't blame Sinner. You should question: why the heck isn't anyone else standing up against him?I love seeing records getting broken. But I love a good tennis match with a lot of tension and high stakes tournaments even more. I hope we get that back soon.SUBSCRIBE to the YouTube channel!Follow TENNIS AND BAGELS!Twitter/X: https://x.com/TennisAndBAGELSAndre:Twitter/X - https://x.com/RolembergAndreBlueSky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/andrerolemberg.bsky.socialVansh: https://x.com/vanshv2kOwen (BlueSky Social): https://bsky.app/profile/owensports.bsky.social

Aryna Sabalenka is a three-time Madrid champion, World No.1 by many points, and possible favourite for Roland Garros.Elena Rybakina is the Australian Open champion. World No.1 in the Race, an just won Stuttgart with only one tough match.Yet, in a turn of events, it was Marta Kostyuk who rose up to the challenge and took the opportunity in the final by defeating a struggling Mirra Andreeva to win her first WTA 1000 trophy in Madrid. Sabalenka lost in the Quarter-finals, Rybakina in the 4th round.Sadly, Kostyuk won't play in Rome next, but she remains an intriguing contender for the Roland Garros crown.But where does all that leave us in regards to Rome?In an exciting place where there's a crap ton at stake: dominance, Wolrd No.1 battles, and favouritism for the second major of the year.Rome could be one of the best tournaments of the year, on both tours.SUBSCRIBE to the YouTube channel!Follow TENNIS AND BAGELS!Twitter/X: https://x.com/TennisAndBAGELSAndre:Twitter/X - https://x.com/RolembergAndreBlueSky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/andrerolemberg.bsky.socialVansh: https://x.com/vanshv2kOwen (BlueSky Social): https://bsky.app/profile/owensports.bsky.social

The stage was set in Madrid. The only teenagers in the ATP Top 100 faced each other for the first time. Both carrying the weight of some ever-distant "future of tennis". One loses, gets called overrated, unsubstantiated hype, flop. The other, the real deal, the next Rafa Nadal, the one who will disrupt the Sinner-Alcaraz dual dynasty.Of course, tennis is played over many tournaments, over many months, different conditions, different surfaces, and players ride momentum, get big wins, then fall back a little and struggle with tough losses.As such, Joao Fonseca and Rafa Jodar benefit most not of the hype trains departing the station of Tennis Twitter, with the insanely hyperbolical cries from Tennis TV social media coordinators at every winner. They benefit of the calm. The quiet. The time to think, to assess their mistakes and acknowledge the positive and negative from each match. They need our patience.Jodar is not Alcaraz. He is really freaking good, and I really am excited to see him develop into a Top 10 player threatening to win the biggest titles. But there's a lot of road ahead for him to get disappointed, to lose from match point up, to play a terrible match in windy conditions, serve under 50% first serves in a match. He'll have that, and he'll be alright.Fonseca has had his moment last year. He came, he played, he conquered. Now the other players know him. They work with their coaches to find strategies to exploit his weaknesses and neutralize his forehand. He is getting frustrated, probably, by not having another big win under his belt and a deep run in a big tournament. But it will come. Fonseca will work with his own team to hide his weaknesses, to improve his game, and to find a way to crack into the Top 10 and, along with Jodar, to also be a big threat to win the biggest trophies in tennis.All in due time. All in their own timeline.SUBSCRIBE to the YouTube channel!Follow TENNIS AND BAGELS!Twitter/X: https://x.com/TennisAndBAGELSAndre:Twitter/X - https://x.com/RolembergAndreBlueSky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/andrerolemberg.bsky.socialVansh: https://x.com/vanshv2kOwen (BlueSky Social): https://bsky.app/profile/owensports.bsky.social

Carlos Alcaraz should not have played Barcelona. Now, dropping out of the remainder of the clay season, he's left with no Barcelona title, no Madrid title, no Roland Garros and a chance to hold all four majors at once, and probably no No.1 until 2027.It seems like it's never going to get easier for Sinner. He now has the chance to completely dominate the tour, win every tournament he enters, post what could probably be the best season of ALL TIME.That is, if he can handle the now immense pressure of being the heavy favourite to win every tournament he enters. As heavy a favourite as it can possibly get.And, a quick look into Arthur Fils, whom I believe has tremedous potential to be a huge challenge to the current Big 2 of Alcaraz and Sinner. Maybe just not this year yet, though.SUBSCRIBE to the YouTube channel!Follow TENNIS AND BAGELS!Twitter/X: https://x.com/TennisAndBAGELSAndre:Twitter/X - https://x.com/RolembergAndreBlueSky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/andrerolemberg.bsky.socialVansh: https://x.com/vanshv2kOwen (BlueSky Social): https://bsky.app/profile/owensports.bsky.social

Elena Rybakina could have lost in the quarterfinals in Stuttgart. She didn't. And maybe that was the confidence boost she needed to know she could be one of the big favourites for Roland Garros and the World No.1 mantle, both for the first time.Losing to Fernandez could have thrown Rybakina's No.1 quest off course, and given Sabalenka almost free rein over Madrid and Rome, making only herself her biggest enemy. But now that Rybakina is playing amazing on clay, Madrid and Rome suddenly became the battle grounds for favouritism ahead of the clay-court major in Paris. The results from both, and possibly two mouth-watering clashes in the final of both tournaments, could be decisive factors for who will finish the clay season on top of the World.But the battle doesn't end on just the Top 2 players, unlike what we are seeing on the ATP. The entire WTA Top 10 is very strong, and upwards to the Top 30, every player can be extremely dangerous. Gauff, the Roland Garros defending champion, is a bit of a tough prediction, since she plays at her best infrequently, but always finds ways to win matches no matter against whom she plays. Pegula is not just going to sit there and hope for the best either, letting Sabalenka and Rybakina have all the fun.I am particularly curious about Karolina Muchova and Iga Swiatek. Muchova, former French Open finalist, is having a great season so far, and injury-free, too, which is a relief for her. Although she lost to Rybakina in the Stuttgart final convincignly, she got her first wins over Gauff (1-6) and Svitolina (1-3), both in three tough sets. Perhaps after that emotionally tiring run, she'll come out firing in the next WTA 1000 events.Swiatek is a huge question mark. She showed positive things in Stuttgart, but remains unconvincing as a favourite to any of the next tournaments, despite her impressive clay resume. Will she find her level in time for Roland Garros, where she is a four-time champion? Who knows.All rests on the results from Madrid and Rome.Favourite this podcast if you like our work :)SUBSCRIBE to the YouTube channel!Follow TENNIS AND BAGELS!Twitter/X: https://x.com/TennisAndBAGELSAndre:Twitter/X - https://x.com/RolembergAndreBlueSky Social: https://bsky.app/profile/andrerolemberg.bsky.socialVansh: https://x.com/vanshv2kOwen (BlueSky Social): https://bsky.app/profile/owensports.bsky.social