Has women’s tennis served its purpose for Saudi Arabia?

Catherine and Matt are together for a mid week catch up with events in Stuttgart, Barcelona, Munich and Rouen in full swing. 

Part one - ATP (00:00 - 34:41). How concerning is Carlos Alcaraz’s withdrawal from Barcelona with a wrist injury? We react to his press conference and discuss the difficulty of his clay court season scheduling. Elsewhere in Barcelona, Lorenzo Musetti has picked up some much-needed wins and now plays Arthur Fils, while Rafael Jodar has become the favourite for the title. In Munich, there’s excitement ahead of Joao Fonseca vs Ben Shelton but also more dispiriting Stefanos Tsitsipas scenes. 

Part two - WTA (34:42 - 59:02). We look ahead to a brilliant quarter-final line-up in Stuttgart, despite a slow start to the event. Iga Swiatek’s new era is underway and we chat about her win over Laura Siegemund and preview her match against Mirra Andreeva. And can Coco Gauff keep up her perfect record against Karolina Muchova? 

Part three - News (59:03 - 1:34:58). We discuss tennis’ place in the quickly changing landscape of Saudi investment in sport, with reports that the WTA Finals will not be renewing in Riyadh. Could Czechia or Poland be good hosts? There’s also bits and pieces from Roland Garros’s pre tournament press conference, retirement announcements from Jamie Murray and Roberto Bautista Agut, and a Rafael Nadal documentary coming to Netflix. 

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