What to watch for in Madrid

0:00Our Cracked Rackets team is proud to partner with our friends at the Laurel Springs School. Imagine a school day that doesn't start with the ringing of a bell, but instead the rhythmic bounces of a tennis ball and the crisp pop of a perfect serve. That's the sort of opportunity offered by the Laurel Springs School. Laurel Springs, they understand how difficult it can be for any aspiring athlete to balance their daily training, weekend travel, competitions, and their academics. That is why they offer a 100% flexible online private education that molds to fit any and every athlete's lifestyle and aspirations. Enrolling at Laurel Springs means every new sunrise is a chance for your child to thrive both academically and on the court by enrolling at Laurel Springs.

1:01You're not only empowering your child with a premium, personalized education, you're also enabling them to thrive. In both their academic and athletic pursuits, start the school year off right and visit Laurel Springs.com today to learn more. You can join them for an upcoming virtual open house and learn more about every program. Every resource they offer, again, go to Laurel Springs.com to start your school year off right. Laurel Springs, a proud partner of Crack Crackles. Welcome to the mini-post, your day off for the story of life for some of you in Congress. From this world day, it's Friday, April 24, busy week for us on the podcast front here at Crack Crackles. It always helps to have a week off from broadcasting my first week off since ML Payday accordingly

2:08wanted to have some conversations with whomever I thought could best help catch us up on everything we may have missed over the last month in the pro tennis world. Of course, that meant yesterday chatting with our old friend Ben Rothenberg who joined me to contemplate one of my favorite questions that's emerged this year. Who's the best American man? Who's the best American woman right now in tennis, certainly a fascinating conversation regardless of which gender you're discussing on the men's side. I feel like any given week four, five, maybe six different guys can lay a claim to that title. Of course, on the women's side, the fact that you have an active slam champion in Coco Goff, still the reigning French open champ, and she may not be the best American woman right now, particularly given again with how well Jessica Bagoula has played to start this season. It was a really fun discussion, one you can listen to by scrolling down on your mini-break podcast feed, Ben, by the way, sneaking in a nugget of next gen ATP finals news that I think some of you pro tennis fans may enjoy.

3:10So if you haven't already, go check out that conversation, of course, today or dear friend Gilgroves joins me on the show to break down some of the biggest questions lingering right now on the ATP tour. Now, I say questions because we do address about seven, eight of them over the course of the show. But our big topic is my favorite discussion right now across all of tennis. Who's next up in the race to our break up? I should say that sincaraz duopoly. We've seen emerge at the top of the men's tennis world. There are five electric 21 and under prospects right now on the ATP tour, all with significant enough successes that I think it was worthy of a significant discussion and that discussion ended up being the majority of today's conversation with Gil. We make the case four or five different men, Arthur Fees, Joel Fonseca, Learner TN, Rafa Houdar, Yakup Menchik, it's a fascinating conversation. It always is whenever we have Gilgroves joining us.

4:10So if you haven't yet, go check out that podcast today. Tomorrow, we're going to perform a similar exercise with my dear friend David Cain and having already recorded that conversation. I can tell all of you listeners we cover far more topics than we did on the men's side. I think there are more topics. I mean, again, there are plenty of topics with discussion on both sides of the equation. They're both great conversations. That one's going to drop tomorrow. I promise all of you tennis fans will enjoy it and certainly again, after I think you listen to this sequence of podcasts, I'll feel, I certainly feel caught up on everything we may have missed discussion wise over these last couple of weeks. Hopefully all of you listeners will feel that same way. Of course, what have I yet to discuss? What I want to talk about today? We got to preview the Madrid draws. It's the front half of our back-to-back 1000 level events that offer the best possible preview, of course, for Roland Garros, which looms, by the way, about a start date, it's about a month from now, crazy, but it's very much looming in the background. Want to break down all four quarters of the men's and women's singles draws, discuss

5:12the biggest storylines, who has the most on the line, do what we do in the build-up too. In a event like this, of course, we've already seen, I believe, all the top seats on the women's side, and most of them on the men's side play at least one match already. So, again, want to offer my thoughts on those first few rounds of action, and of course, preview what I expect to see moving forward, by the way, we got to deal with some breaking news here at the top, going to get to that in a second. Of course, a shout-out, thank you, as always, to all of you tennis fans who tune in day and day at a shout-out, and thank you, of course, as well, to the support we get from our friends at the Laurel Springs School to learn more about why they continue to rank amongst the top private online schooling options in the country, visit LaurelSprings.com today. Also, we're rockin' and rollin' across platforms. Cracked interviews podcast this week. Three different interviews. I think you'll enjoy each and every one of them, whether it's the origin story of the premier junior event, maybe in the world, that eight to twelve event, little mose. If you know, you know, you can go listen to the origin story on our Cracked Interviews podcast

6:14feed. You can go here from two of the best college players in the country, Wake Forest, Luke of Pow, Auburn, CJ Bennett, each of them fresh off of the Securing Conference Tournament titles for their respective teams. We've got two episodes on the great shout-out podcast feed, by the way, breaking down where things stand as the NCAA Tournament draw will be released early next week, postseason play, upon us in the college tennis universe, a lot of great things happening. We're covering them all across levels in the tennis world, across our platform, so whether it's this show, the great shout-out podcast feed, Cracked Interviews podcast feed, or our Cracked Records YouTube channel. Make sure you're subscribed, so you don't miss out on any of our coverage. Let me just say this. If you were all subscribed, I could stop asking. So hit that subscribe button so I can't stop asking, leave a little rating, leave a little review for us on Apple Podcasts as well, always appreciate your feedback. With that said, we got to start with the breaking news, and certainly this is the most significant news we could have received here on a Friday, particularly given the impact it will have at the top of the tennis world, the current world number two, but the back-to-back reigning

7:18French Open Champion, the reigning Australian Open Champion, the reigning US Open Champion as well, Carlos Alcaraz. He's out for the remainder of this play court season, the wrist injury he picked up last week in Barcelona, forcing him out, not only of this week's action in Madrid, he'll be out of Rome, and he has already announced he will be skipping Roland Garros, he will not be defending his title as he nurses that wrist injury. First and foremost, let's be clear, this is a 22-year-old who has already captured the career slam, who is more accomplished at his age than any player I have found in the history of the ATP-2 or in the open era, more accomplished than Rafa, more accomplished than Borg, more accomplished than Federer, more accomplished than Jokovic. The resume speaks for itself, I mean again the only thing he's missing now is a good gold medal and he came damn close to it in 2024 as well. It's devastating because Carlos Alcaraz is best is probably still the best we have in

8:24all of tennis, and certainly you think about the signature moment from this season to date, you know as miraculous as center has been winning Indian Wells, winning Miami, winning Monte Carlo consecutively, you have to turn to Alcaraz, overcoming not only a deficit, but overcoming cramps, overcoming himself in the ultimate obstacle in knocking off Sasha Zerov in that five-set thriller in the Australian Open semi-final that was in five-hour, 27-minute match that no, the tennis wasn't always the best, but watching the sheer competitive will of Carlos Alcaraz, him drag himself through that battle and ultimately find a way over the finish line, like that too, Carlos Alcaraz is just as a competitor and then you think about the spectacular things he can do with a racket in his hand, whether it's on the move, whether it's the pace he can generate, the creativity, the sheer ability to make amazing happen at any moment, but you also think about, and I say this in the most complimentary

9:27way, the athletic violence involved within Carlos Alcaraz's game, how twitchy and explosive he is in tracking down that extra shot, how explosive that forehand comes off of his racket, how immense and you know again fast for lack of a better turn that swing is from him and the racket speed he's able to generate and the things he does on the full stretch and you know again this is a guy who's bordering on doing the splits almost every point, you feel like when he's making amazing happen, it's a very physically intensive, very laborious game, it's athletically violent in the same way that you would say Rafanadal was athletically violent and Rafanadal throughout the course of his career had to deal with different injuries because the human body can only take so much regardless of the genetics you are blessed with, regardless of the athleticism you possess, your body is going to ultimately fight back and it is unfortunate for Carlos Alcaraz that it does feel like in each of these seasons where we've been able to enjoy him still so

10:31early in his career, but at the end, these peaks already, obviously last year you think about him missing out on Madrid due to injury, you think about him missing out on the first month of that 2024 season and not of the 2023 season, excuse me, not getting to play the Australian Open, I mean we missed him from Miami to Madrid in 2024, but 2024 he was pretty healthy for the most part, I mean wasn't great post-Olympics didn't play Canada, lost first match since in Adi, lost poorly at the U.S. Open as well, he wasn't the healthiest then but that was just I think the taxation that would come for any then 20 turning 21 year old playing as much as he had that didn't feel like any sort of debilitating injury, by the way this wrist injury doesn't feel hopefully long term debilitating but look that's why it's so important, the wrist is obviously essential you're holding the racket with that wrist, the wrist is where the violence and the twitchiness and the swing path it all runs through that wrist, you need that wrist to be 100% healthy, I saw the tweet and I think it's a little bit of a what's I don't know what the hip term is,

11:37but when sensationalism, sensationalism to compare this to the late career wrist injuries of Dominic team and how that ruined the home stretch of his career but obviously for Dominic team that didn't come until he was 28, 29 years old he had already accomplished so much and I would argue that the odometer of matches played and miles on the body at that point was much higher than where Cargo Selcoraz is now however again for someone whose game is predicated on such explosiveness it is essential for him to have that wrist healthy and I'm not a doctor so I'm not going to prescribe this is how long he needs to stay out and this is what he needs to do, I will tell you my position if we didn't see him for the rest of the season of course that would be immensely concerning but even if it's just for preventative purposes like I could live I think that wouldn't be a horrible decision and I'm not suggesting that the nature of this wrist injury will require him to do that but there should just be absolutely zero incentive for him to play until he is with 100% certain beyond any measurable reason of doubt that he is ready and healthy to play because there's

12:44just no reason to risk that and by the way you're never going to have that 1000% certainty you would love to have or just like medically cleared everything is held up again you're never going to know until you start playing competition again but there's no need to feel a need to rush back for the French open rush back for Wimbledon again he's already accomplished the most important thing he could have accomplished this season he won the Australian Open for the first time he completed the career slam by the way sinners already overtaken him in the world number one race and yes that gap can obviously grow obviously Alcarez has Rome title points to defend he's got French open title points to defend he's got Wimbledon final points to defend coming up he's got so much to defend after what was a ridiculous 2025 season that saw him go 71 and night none of that shit matters when he's healthy he's going to get back to put himself in a position to be the world number one once again and for the him it's just a matter of when not if he's healthy in those in those draws

13:44so yeah of course it's immensely disappointing because the sincras rivalry has been the defining story at the top of the men's tennis world for two years now consecutively in the level that these two are each capable of playing and the fact that these peaks are going to overlap with each other for the duration of their careers it's something all of us are not only excited about in the present it's something that we're holding our hopes out for in the future of this sport as well and that to go full circle is why it's so essential the Carlos Alcarez not rush this that I actually love that here on April 24th a month out from the French open he's willing to say no you know what I'm skipping that I'm not even going to pretend to rush I'm not even going to you know obviously Carlos Alcarez is a preternatural competitor first and foremost you don't think he wants to be out there healthy trying to win another major title but those opportunities will come if he is healthy that's the key thing here so I actually again I love that there there's no urgency in trying to get back for that major it's no hey this is something serious and we're

14:49treating it accordingly does it open up the world for Yannick center of course it does like we're going to probably leave the season now having had two players capture the career slam both of them 24 years of age and younger I guess center will be 25 by the end of this year but like it's going to be ridiculous he's now of course the overwhelming favorite to capture title it by the way he had match points to capture last season yeah like and by the way if center wind we're really looking at a world like that's that's the other I don't want to say dirty secrets the wrong word here but that's the other piece of this certainly is that you look at it now for Yannick center who I would remind all of you as of this moment is 25 and 2 so far this year I mean I don't know if you let's say he gets six more wins here in Madrid probably well how does he he's not skipping Rome it's in Italy let's say he runs the gauntlet he could win the treble like let's just put it on the table he could win Madrid Rome Roland Garros and if he does that again that's 667 so that's 19 wins he's

15:54already won one this week so it would be 18 more wins he'd be 43 and 2 with a major title with four masters titles are we talking greatest start to his and he'd be the favorite going into that Wimbledon particularly given the lack of certainty surrounding Alcarazza's health let's say he gets through that at another set like he's look it's crazy to say this we're not even through Madrid and this is on a day where he lost the opening set before earning a three set win over Benjamin Balenci but things are in play and I'm not celebrating the absence of Carlos Alcarazza it's devastating that we don't get to watch these two continue to compete against one another because it's ultimately what's going to push them to these heights that I think we'll allow them to accomplish some special even more special shit within our sport but it just has to be acknowledged like as fun as the conversation was with Gil talking about who might be next up and by the way does the opportunity open up for all if you're I mean let's just talk about it and this gets into the ATP

16:58Madrid storylines now this there will be no better opportunity in Sasha's Vera's career to capture a slam title than this opportunity here at Roland Garros well for the first time he will be like there's just not the pressure on him to win the major he's not the number one guy who needs it most like it's sinner because sinner wants to capture the career major and by the way sinner's going to be the one seed Zverev's going to be the two seed there on opposite sides of the draw and all do respect obviously with the peak of Casparood looks like on clay yeah sure if you want to say that's equal if not better than Sasha's Vera I'll listen to that conversation there are plenty of other guys who are very good on this surface and they can get close to that that's obviously Ben just wins that title in Munich although he lost early here I mean again it's just Zverev who has made a French open final before who has made the semi finals are further I want to say in five of the last six French opens that he's played or something like that or maybe it's

18:00even five in a row or five the last six who lost quarter finals last year joke of itch quarter finals I think in five in a row or better um you've made semi finals or further at australian open indian wells Miami and Monte Carlo now one of the one of the obstacles in your path won't be there for you like Sasha Zverev has to get to this role and that has to that type of product but there will never be a better opportunity for him to get to this major final and and not have to get through one of those two guys maybe ever again like it's the first time in forever where it's like hey I could get to the final and only have to beat one of these guys to win the title that's the real thing is this might be the last time in his career he only has to beat one of those guys to win a major championship and it's at the major where he has come close I'll do respect to his five three lead on team in the fifth set at the US Open in 2020 that version of Sasha Zverev was not ready to win a major title and you saw that in him attempted to serve things

19:01out and not even reach a match point the physicality the serve I had more time on the forehand his game has always been best on this surfaces where I think his highs have been highest though the gold medal on the hard courts in japan tough to argue that that's not the highest of highs the indoor hard courts obviously two or finals titles again he's had good moments on just about every surface book on every surface but grass the pressures amplified and if Zverev can win one of these next two Madrid and Rome now things get fascinating now again he's number two on the list to win the Roland Garros title in a real a number two to win a major on a list in a way he's never been a real number two before and the runway of success is there in a way that it hasn't been before either it's just hard not to look at this as okay the the calendar has opened up for Sasha Zverev or the opportunity has opened up and can he capitalize I think he has to not be you know again Gilla and I said he's kind of he's emerged as the guy the consistency it's better

20:05than the rest of the pack we both agree he's playing the best tennis of his career here in 2026 as well 29 years old that's not like as long as he's been a part of our lives it's not a shocking thing to say again that of 29 year olds playing the best tennis of their career and again a guy who is a serious peer of his on the surface Casper root is just not healthy we don't know about Novak joke which we just haven't seen him at all Fritz isn't healthy Felix and Ben and Demon yeah they're all playing really good ball you're on clay not on hard courts it's a different sort of beast on this surface for those three men in particular Medvedev you'd say the same for muceti interesting but I and getting better and if he's back to the best version of himself by the end of Rome yeah his stocks certainly rises as a contender but all of those guys all of those guys who the immediate peers you would say okay 50 50 ferns there a verse them in a major not on this surface not with their recent form this isn't Australia this isn't the US open this

21:08isn't Wimbledon this is Roland Garros this is on clay this is the Zverev opportunity and for you to really believe that this could be the one major he's got to win one of these next two events I think that becomes the biggest storyline now with the Alcharez absence but again for everyone else in the field and Ben obviously loses here to Dino Prismich shout out to that next gen crew again like how many times do I have to say it next next last year's next gen crew has already aged extraordinarily well you got Lon Delusa in Miami Hodor and what he has done obviously now Prismich gets this Shelton win learner TN beats Medvedev at the fucking Australian open like last year's class was awesome and it was just a year earlier and the reason was a year earlier is because they lowered the age requirement one year younger at the next gen finals so everyone had one last year to build up their rankings you throw blocks you throw all these guys into a next gen finals field now the majority of that field is inside the top 100

22:11next gen field I mean guys like Hodor and Prismich all I think are on lists of people now yeah I would say it's one of the biggest storylines because they keep doing it so yeah I would throw them all on fun lists of players to watch moving forward again Prismich are he gets the upset win Boussi had a shot he's knocked out 75 in the third by Arthur Fees Amelia Navas not next gen because he's more mid 20s than early 20s but 63 in the third over Vashro that's a hell of a win all these young guys man again Hodor wins his round one match Prismich obviously through Martin Dom qualifies he gets a win over like he's popperin as well there's a lot of ascending talent and certainly with how things have opened up in the draw for all of these players now it's big opportunities for them available here this week in Madrid I mean again those are the biggest storylines on the men's side as you look through each of the quarters of the draw now which I want to do who's the favorite in the center quarter I think we know the answer to that question and you look

23:14for center who are the seeds alongside of him you've gotten Andre Rublev fresh off of the final last week at Barcelona better but does anyone see a world where Rublev would knock off a center no you had big serving gap the allos who you say one match maybe put the allos is match one to the qualifier elmer molar again the most fascinating second round match in the draw fifth seeded out it's demon who kicks off his Madrid campaign against Rafa Hodor you know demons only a 53.5% favorite only 53.5 against the Hodor making his 1000 level debut here in Madrid I mean Rafa got the three set win in match number one obviously the pace that he can play with Gilmer we're joking about it we haven't had to see we don't know what his defensive skills are yet because he hasn't had to play defense against anyone because he's just blitzing them with pace and the weight of his shot on this surface how well he hits the return against demon serve on this surface demon is ripe to be upset and if Rafa gets that signature victory can I say I'm going to be honest it's an

24:19admission with you in the listener this is always the saddest part for me when one of my cult heroes becomes mainstream because it just doesn't have the juice to talk about Rafa now you guys know how good Rafa Hodor is like what new am I telling you at this point that you didn't already know what having watched this guy now thrive at the tour level for the last couple of weeks but again Hodor demon such a fun match Fonseca the 27th seed already got a win over chillichick of his campaign bets again you get demon Hodor and the winner plays Fonseca need I say anymore like and for a Fonseca who I talked about him yesterday so I hate repeating myself I get talked about him yesterday I talked about him today since that's when the show with Gil came out today but yeah like four Fonseca on script again Fonseca on Hodor they're gonna have to change balls every four games because those two guys hit the cover off it's the next generation of power man we get more athletic with the technology gets better the things these guys can do on a shot in

25:20shot out basis it's just like how how do you generate power like that if demon makes it through and makes it to the quarter finals excuse me and makes it to the round of 16 I actually think that's a remarkably impressive run for demon here and would your deft go through Hodor Fonseca their way to shot on this surface when he doesn't quite have his feet under in the same way by the way then it would be probably Rubelev or Rinder Kinesh tough section for demon we're gonna find out how real is he as a contender on the clay courts here this year that's fascinating stuff in this inner section of the draw you're watching much more for that oh by the way Tommy Paul the number 15 tricky first round match against Diego Tarantay he could fail phase out of the 19 if he gets through that either 19 seated cam nori or Tomas Mahatch I said I've said this many times the Mahatch Tommy Paul week one week two match yeah week two match in Adelaide was one of my favorite matches of the ATPCs in Las Farcas Mahatch hit a tennis ball as well as a tennis ball could be hit for three sets in

26:21that one and Tommy played well in response Tommy's been awesome this year talked about it yesterday with Ben I would like to see Tommy get to the round of 16 in face Yanuk hold seed here it's a tricky way to do so but it'll tell me how real he is as a contender and again if Tommy Paul's in the bottom half of the draw away from Yanuk center there's absolutely a world where I think Tommy Paul can make a French open final if we see how the draw breaks out accordingly I think for all of these guys you think that if they're not in the center half because even though Zverev has been better and would be the pole sitter the favorite it's not definitively definitively so so again it's an opportunity that's the ultimate storyline here in Madrid opportunity for all of these players to try and gain some confidence again a hierarchy of who needs it most and what that confidence could lead towards but I really like this center section of the draw because there's a lot of guys who are going to have to battle through one another for the right to face Yanuk center which by the way will ultimately feel like being the storyline of the French open moving forward as

27:25well so again that's where things sit in the center quarter of the the stosh zone which is the French open as well that's where things will sit in the center corner of the draw obviously the Shelton quarter of the draw already shaken up as Ben Shelton of course knocked out by Dino Prismich Prismich a three set win over Shelton he knocks out the number four seed with an impressive performance again of Prismich ultimately earning a six four six seven seven six victory over the American who becomes the favorite in this section now we might get an Arthur Fees Lorenzo Musetti rematch Fees of course getting the better of Musetti last week in Barcelona Arthur Fees up to fourth by Elo Rating he's according to tennis abstract and again shout out to Jeff for making the underrated metric comparing your Elo Rating to your uh comparing your Elo Rating to your actual ranking by scale according to that Arthur Fees is the fourth most underrated player in the world right now given where he's currently ranked at 25 behind just Mount Fees the veteran Vavasori

28:26and Kani Shikori I mean again I would take Fees over all three of those in the underrated category he's the real deal and on this surface when he has more time to get under his forehand and blitz through with the pace that he can generate how well he moves the amount of ground he can cover with his first step the creativity a comfortable vallier the cake he can put on his surf accentuated on this surface I'm excited to watch him in Emilio now to hit the cover off of the ball in the round of 32 could be a bunch of errors in that match or it could just be electric shot making but by the way again Prismich is really good I don't know if he's top 10 good as I once thought once upon a time he's just not quite as explosive as I thought he would be but he's explosive move so fluidly on this surface redirects well accordingly it serves not the biggest but man him and Achevary are gonna go to war uh that's a really fun round of 30 to both those matches Fees Nava Achevary Prismich both so exciting for very different reasons one

29:27the explosiveness the other the physicality this whole section's awesome the Hachka Mikkelsen in what do I do with Alex Mikkelsen I'll never know the world may never know um again opportunity for Mikkelsen you're just still waiting for that loud result for some reason it just feels like he hasn't had that loud result even though again 21 22 I think still 21 um and he's been top 15 the world now for the last two and more often than not throughout the course of his pro career and then by the way Musetti good win over her concept to date with the always dangerous uh big hitting talent Greek Spur again Musetti last year's the fourth best player in the world that clay feels like he's starting to get his feet under him no shame in a loss to this version of Arthur Fees but if Musetti's gonna be that guy again go to the semi-finals get through this section of the draw they're all fun no matter who gets there even if it's unceded Emilio Nava it's a fun semi-finalist um I'm I've been on the Arthur Fees bandwagon again I stakes my claim

30:28to that position very early it's just so evident what he's able to do things that others are just not in this surface accentuates it in all of the best ways I'll take his explosiveness over the creativity and just fluidity the certainty of a healthy Lorenzo Musetti I'll ride the hot hand with Arthur Fees but man like I it could also be an etch of airy week etch of airy won the 500 in Rio etch of air is fucking good man the discount Casper root Kirkland brand who needs it most etch of airy etch of airy needs it most etch of airy beats a feasts and gets to a quarter final or yeah etch of air gets to a quarter final here how etch of airy could really get to the semi-final I mean who needs it most Lorenzo Musetti because if Lorenzo Musetti's back in the semi-finals like uh oh this guy is one of the five contenders now for a French open title and if he's in the bottom half absolutely should believe he can make a major final in Roland Garros he needs it most Fees doesn't need it because he's just been so good but if he gets it again you feel like it's

31:31just unequivocal this guy's one of the eight best players in the world and maybe closer to four than eight Musetti won etch of airy to Michelson three because eventually I'm just going to have to come to a firm take on Alex Michelson over to the Felix Ojiro alias scene quarter of the draw Felix is your number three seed this is such a strange section to me and by the way those top two sections are loaded this one's open for opportunity again you've got third seeded Felix who knows eighth seeded Sasha Bublick he's certainly been a top 20 player in the world but he hasn't been unequivocal top 10 player in the world he was to end last season but he's closer to 10 than 20 like he's still been good Bublick's first round matchup a date with the current world number 83 I believe what is he the current world number excuse me uh world number 80 Stefano Cizipas Cizipas good opening round win for him uh over I mean I need wins a good win for this point Cizipas just needs to find some confidence but a good three set win three six seven six seven six

32:34for him over Patrick Kipson although the idea of that being a seven six and a third match for him on Clay Courts unfathomable even as recently as two seasons ago I mean 12 seeded Casper back in the draw I don't know how healthy he is we'll find out as his first matchup he'll take on how many Moonar David Vitch Fokina has been okay but like not great this year Surundalo if we get Miami Surundalo great but he hasn't been first five months of last season Surundalo first four months I should say I mean the wild card in this section it's not Felix it's Luciana Darderi again a Darderi who over the last two seasons on this surface has picked up I want to say five different Clay Courts titles yeah Maricass, Bostad, Umog, oh no lost final Buenos Aires and win Santiago so excuse me four titles five finals on this surface over the last year he's 22 in the world it did not have the greatest sunshine swing

33:35loses the Hitchicada Londaloos albeit both in three set matches opening round matches semi-finaled Maricass three set lost to her constant Monte Carlo three set lost to Caprival and Munich not great so facing a lefty Surundaloos going to try and find that back him but certainly Darderi will have the biggest weapons on the court in his forehand it absolute piss missile on this surface the draw is there for the 24 year old to have his big European Clay Courts signature moment all of this success has been at the 250's or in South America this would be the opportunity for the signature moment and the draw is there for him to do so so he's number one on the urgency rankings no Seatsy passes number one on the urgency rankings duh I mean he's eight this was the question to get more improbable of Ashrose rise or Seatsy passes false a 27 year old multi-time slam finalist on multiple surfaces and it just feels like it's over and it's not it doesn't feel injury related be one thing if he just couldn't play because his body didn't hold up

34:38he said some injuries but I don't think that's it um Seatsy pass one Casper Rude 2 because yes he's the 12 seed but once the last time Casper Rude did something inspiring probably last year when he won 1000 on the clay and again with with Elkarez not in the draw if you can just position yourself to be a high enough seed that's not on the center side the opportunity to make a slam final is ripe for you Rude 2 because we know what the upside can be Darderi 3 but all the talented Alex blocks in this section and again what if Felix really just is a top eight player in the world right now I ask you more likely to get back to the to the tour finals Felix or demon and we both agreed Felix it's an interesting section of the draw who do I think gets through I hope it's Casper Rude because his best on clay courts can be top like legitimate top five tennis good and we kind of need the injection of that player given the

35:39absence of Elkarez and I think you'd have to turn into that to get through this with certainty who probably does come through it I don't know for this feels like a boob like week I'm gonna double down on my Darderi takes I'm a big fan of the Luciano Darderi game so I'll roll with him to get through and then this very section of the draw again the top half is so much it's it's just a lot more clay court talent a lot more interesting storylines top half of the draw than the bottom half of the draw but you look at this bottom half obviously the Sasha's Vera of section he's joined by seventh seeded you know Medvedev 10 seeded completely 13 seeded hatching off the other seeds Tien Mencik Umbher shop of all of shout out to qualifier Nikolai Budakav Kiar qualifies into the main draw then he's able to advance after Opelko was forced to withdraw with injury but there's another guy and you guys all know my thoughts on Budakav Kiar again last year's field Tien's 18 Hodars 37 blocks his 65 Prismich 77 Londalusin 96 Budakav Kiar 127

36:45Bosphorati 181 angle 183 so five of the eight guys are inside the top 100 Budakav Kiar is up to a new career high 127 still at 19 years old you can play next gen this year and Bosphorati's already been inside the top 100 it's a damn good next gen class um I mean look this no draw could have broken better for Zara to find his weak one certainty whether it's Umbher or Atman both dangerous lefties the more dangerous matchup for Zara in his first two is Mariana Navone around one if you can get through that look Mencik can serve big Hatchnov knows his game well but Zara is a significant favorite to get through to the quarterfinals and whether it's Koboli or Medvedev or to anyone Koboli Medvedev the hell could be Budakav Kiar maybe this is a Budakav Kiar we could beat Shapo beats Medvedev and gets to around of 16 I'm gonna be playing the biggest game if I told you so and I can't I know I shouldn't be but I just was you could see it that's where it's like watch the fucking tennis those guys are good um huge moment for learner yeah I mean he's

37:52an underdog against qualifier Daniel Vallejo as he should be given the lack of play court pedigree for learner crazy then I think this like he's a 17 seed what do we know about learner on clay still doesn't feel like much I mean Zara should blitz through this quarter of the draw it opened up so beautifully for Sasha Zara then again for a guy who needs to find that top tier confidence this whole bottom half of the draw there's no excuse for Sasha Zara to find himself anywhere other than the finals here in Madrid and I think we're out gonna get that I think we're gonna get center in Zara of part 1000 centers obviously one what the last seven eight against Zara you do feel like things slowing down for him the clay court should be more beneficial for him in the match up against Yonic center he'll have more time to hit his forehand effectively his serve translates across surfaces though of course the onyx does as well I actually think he's better mover on the clay because he slides so well his length is that much more valuable get away with maybe a slightly shotier values just by being in the right spot in

38:54the recovery out of corners being that much more difficult I mean centers one what the last four 1000s he's played pair of bird whatever it was in the Middle East but I think that was a 500 so he's one Paris Indian Wells Miami Monte Carlo fifth in a row would be crazy it's also crazy to think about picking anyone in this field not named Yonic center because no one else in this field is named Carlos Alcaraz and so Zara of has to get him once has to see the ball go through the hoop before the idea of him capturing doing it at Roland Garros for the first time no way I'll take Zara of Twin Madrid I don't feel great about it but I'm gonna take Zara of to nominate Yonic center to win Madrid but Zara will have his chances and certainly get needs to capitalize here if you're gonna think he really is a contender for that first major title at Roland Garros that's the men's side of course let's head on over now to the women's

39:58side of things first just more broadly pick his storylines of course we've got the return of the world number one arenas at the link at kicking off her clay court season cheers of five and three win over paid stones in doing so David Kane oh you know yeah I'll spoil it I asked David Kane who's the oh no I'm not gonna spoil it but I asked David Kane who's the biggest threat to knocking off arena sepillanka during this clay court season he gave a fast ending answer that I certainly did not expect I think all of you will enjoy it on tomorrow's podcast but again most if not all of the seeds have played as of this recording in Madrid on the women's side the active matchup right now Victorian Boko taking on Katie McNally and Boko is actually down a set I need to see what it looks like for Victoria and Boko on clay more closely before I assess what I think her prospects will be in her first play court season with expectations um but yeah I was certainly a big storyline given how she dominated the first three months on the hard courts I mean the biggest storyline of all is witchy gashvian tech are we getting are we getting the

41:01treble winning ega shvian tech of 2024 Rome Madrid Roland Garros consecutively are we getting the ega shvian tech who of course has struggled uh more broadly over the last four months to capture the sort of signature victories that she was able to walk her way to didn't have to run didn't feel stressed walk her way to on clay from 2022 through 2024 tick things off with a one and two win over darius sneaker I mean if you don't have the weapons she's gonna fucking blitz you on this surface she should have won the andriva match uh in stuttgart and by the way we're back in a winning stuttgart remarkable um indoor clay of course it fits her so well we're back in by the way three set win to kick off her campaign against uh here in Madrid nox off gabriela rusa next up for her junction when you get the return of chin win once upon a time obviously three sets with ega at Roland Garros in at the French open and of course beat ega at Roland Garros on her way to that gold medal at the Olympics if we get a healthy version of junction win it is the ultimate

42:03wild card that I would absolutely throw into near the top of the tennis uh near the top of my contender rankings I've never sold any of my positions on what I believe junction win's future can be win healthy um yeah I mean look again um all everyone everyone everyone on the women's side sons Amanda and isimova who's looking for a new coach and still trying to figure some things out here early in her season all everyone's playing on the women's side and you know again the more broad story lines like does pagula continue the level we saw from her the best level I think of her career those first three months on a surface that has never been the most beneficial for her european clay cocoa golf has a million points to defend Madrid Rome finals Roland Garros title coming up how does she do in her quest to protect those points I mean can we're back going to make a legitimate pushback at sample link for the world number one is she still at that level of the vats muheva bench it's fidelina I would throw pagula in that mix as well who have all played top eight

43:06tennis this year like do they sustain that level which of the young up-and-comers a yogvich and and dream a anemboko do any of them take the next step here in this portion of the calendar a lot of good stuff at the top of the women's tennis world right now again all good stuff we cover tomorrow we cover all these storylines with decay so I I'm red isn't to repeat myself here won't you all listen to that show so let's just get right into the quarters because obviously again they're not missing a carlo suffer as a perhaps a little less juice you know again more certainty of what to expect to see I suppose thus far in Madrid for the women and certainly it starts again at the top of the draw with arena sabalanka and you look at that sabalanka section of the draw I mean she's dealt there are her fellow top eights he does in a seated jasmine palini who in terms of the urgency ranking she might be number one outside of shiontech on the list of needs to get it down in here because this is someone who really struggled through the first three months three and a half months of this 2026 season they may be one memorable jasmine palini match the answer to that

44:12question is the loss to yogvich throw around for at the australian open we're talking about a loss again not a victory she's ten and eight overall in the season she's made one quarter final it was the marita semifinals she made that five hundred right before indian wells again beat bolter hard to get there but lost to buksha losses during the sunshine swing were to gibson austapenko though both in three sets nothing memorable in february a portion of the calendar where she's obviously had some success in the past that was really where the breakthrough started for her it felt like in 2024 again get grinds through from a set down three set win over Laura seagamond in around number one that was once she had to grind through by in theory enclay she should be the favorite against big hitting and always danger is highly baptized in her round of 32 matchup but who's been better in this 2026 season pretty clearly baptized she's got some weapons to hit palini off the spots and by the way it's all seeds still in this section of the draw bench for Schneider baptize first palini

45:16if palini can find herself to a quarter final it would be a sequence of her three best wins on the season and it would be your biggest result on the season to date i mean for sabalanka i think she's gonna blitz christian osaka gets a good one over kamiosori around one should be killing and around you but on this surface i was just so thoroughly favored sabalanka over osaka but boy that would be fun two players who by age should be peers and right now what osaka's got four major titles sabalanka i think has four as well like i mean who's had the more accomplished career sabalanka who's best was better we probably say sabalanka now as well but this is her peer we didn't get to enjoy that matchup as much as we should have relative to where these two should have been throughout the courses of their respective careers alongside one another i mean palini's number one on the urgency ranking would be nice to see dianna Schneider pick up some signature when she gets a three-set one over boss this manier she'd be benched in the round of 32 that would be her biggest win on the season to date um it's a really interesting section of the

46:21draw do i think any of these players on this surface are playing well enough to knock off sabalanka i do not if this was a hardcore draw it'd be fascinating because you do have a benchage because you do have an osaka to match up with sabalanka but it's not it's a clay court and accordingly i expect sabalanka to find her rhythm as she always doesn't work her way through to another significant semi-final of course in her top half of the draw though even though i think her quarter relatively easy to maneuver through she was deltigish fjontek in the top half of the draw and you look for fjontek certainly again that she's got nine seated mary and driva who she got knocked out by of course um last week in stuttgart i think that's a gift from the tennis gods there's nothing you love more than the opportunity to play an opponent who just knocked you off who you think you're better than the next week um fjontek a lot of seeds surviving in fact you know again her section of the draw it's all seeds in the round of 32 she's going to take on and lately knocking out parks in the american american three-set battle leva Fernandez looked really good

47:22in a straight set win of july against july agribaron Fernandez quietly i test thing it's getting better for the lefty here now in month number four of the season she's going to take on eva jovich uh jovich a good win overlinat to kick off her midred campaign i mean again physicality from the big hitter uh not a big hitter plays line drive tennis and it's just a ball machine coming back at you Fernandez yeah it can beat you to the spot at times lefty always interesting jovich same thing beats the spot plays line drive tennis but none of these players have the overwhelming rep weapons to rush egus fjontek with egus fjontek is going to have matches on her rackets and it's going to be about her rhythm it's going to be about her consistency as so many of her matches typically are and of course often what's gone wrong as she loses that threat of consistency she can so many gifts of errors over to these opponents and they're able to capitalize accordingly opportunity for her to find her rhythm find her form work her into this midred draw and certainly again bottom half of her quarter that seven c to delina's

48:24fiddling it was upset your biggest upset of the opening round got knocked out three and four by anabondar by the way massive win for the teenager lora samson and knocking off long shin you in the round of 64 as well bottom half of the draws opened up beautifully four meter entry fun this is what you know every so often as as our dear friend Ben Rothenberg said yesterday blind squirrel finds the acorn feeling good about the hodar take i'm feeling good about my andriva has a massive clay court taken certainly the draw has opened up for her to get back to another 1,000 quarter final here in midred give herself a shot at shfjontek i'm sorry i'm just not selling my shfjontek clay court static i don't think there's a world especially outdoors when the serves neutralized for both of them by that indoor serving andriva has the better serve right now than shfjontek outdoors can't say that's definitively the case i think shfjontek gets through her to set up a match up with sapolanka any time i have an opportunity to predict a sapolanka shfjontek battle you know i like to do so i think we get that semi-final god the thing eager shfjontek needs more than anything

49:30in the world and dare i say the thing that would make this women's clay court season the most interesting is if shfjontek beats sapolanka in that midred semi-final on her way to a midred title now all of a sudden we're saying well wait do we get this eager back for the remainder of this clay court season if we do you're talking about the best clay court player of her generation going up with against a top ten a player in the midst of a top ten two and a half year run in sapolanka rebachina still looming goth still improving it's what we deserve as tennis fans the other question is again can she find rhythm on serve can she find rhythm in her game can she stop hitting herself out of matches that someone with her physical capability should never do it's the question as we head into the women's clay court season when i look forward to seeing answered here in midred midred i'm picking shfjontek to advance out of the court i'm picking shfjontek to win the tournament and again i'm sure i will be wrong to pick against sapolanka at this point it feels foolish i'm willing to go down with the ship i'm willing to be the fool this week in

50:33midred that's your top half of the draw bottom half we start out with the number three seed cocoa goth section of the draw she of course draws fifth seed of jescapegula tenth seed of the victoria and boko thirteenth seeded linda naskava she's got the heavy hitters in this section tossing kerstaya kastjuk and then i suppose a little bit of a gift in lute melisamsenova samsenova who for what it's worth knocked off jane is chen to reach the round of thirty two seeds are doing really well in this section naskava samsenova kerstaya goth your round of thirty two matchups kerstaya has been one of the twenty best players in the world maybe better than that for six months it's a real test for cocoa goth after she gets an opening match victory over lily lily shon jane good round good run for qualifier tyrant grant the teenager former wta wta itf girls junior finals participant qualifying winning her opening round match did grant straight sets over jacamo um i really like the game of tyrant grant i don't know if i'd have for

51:34you know again who's the best non top one hundred rising american right now parade has been high on that list for me for a while i still remember watching christina lu tova as well i was had some big junior results at grants not american once upon a time was um i've always been on the goon away train hasn't landed quite as fluidly as i thought it would in the at the pro level but still a believer in clarities game by the way cocoa goth is still so young cocoa goth still what twenty two years old which is just crazy to say out loud but she's obviously already in the top one hundred still fascinating obviously section of the job by the way katia mcnelli four and one four and one over victorium boko i apologize i all the listeners a bigger breakdown of that match i'll go back and watch it here on friday uh and give you a full report for a second show again tomorrow it's a massive win for katia now he's been knocking on the door of it

52:34by the way huge win for the american um opens up this section of the draw that much more this a fascinating section again the biggest question is can pa gula sustain her level because she's the third best player in the world coming out of the first three month three and a half months clay has the european clay has never been her thing we'll get a great litmus test for her in this section of the draws it's heavy hitters in each and every match can cost you get it going i just don't understand why marty cost you couldn't capitalize on how fucking good she was week one of the year um this is such a good section of the draw everyone has a little something on the line lindon osquas the most in lindon osquas and lori yori lahatchka might be the same player might be the same person which is like these players are so fucking good why doesn't it move the needle 21-year-old again could she pick up a big result here this week who is the most on the line goth because goff literally has to defend finals points and it's a massive stretch for her on the calendar i mean and bokeh would have been high on my list but she gets knocked up by McNally

53:37so that's tough i bought lindon osquas respect needs to be higher on my list but caustic's too because it's like come on marty caustic let's get things going tough to bet against koko goff on this surface i'm i'm going chalk in all four quarters i think this will be a top four seeded turn semi-final i think we're getting all the big guns in our semi-finals and we're getting blockbuster matchups over the course of championship weekend because when i look at the linar obokina section i mean the three sets she went with roosen match one might be the only set she loses on her way the semi-finals sockery the thirty-three seed knocked out buksha the twenty-seven seed knocked out free of the thirty-four seed knocked out ostipenko still alive but she's going to face potapova in the round of thirty-two yeah the winner of that'll be a tricky round of sixteen matchup for linar obokina assuming she can get through junction win and i just don't know if junction win is ready to deal with the sort of pace relentless firepower that linar obokina is going to throw at her when she had to deal with it against sapolanka she wasn't quite ready for

54:38that it's a massive opportunity for potapova go get to a round of sixteen after all ready making a final here on the claim there feels like there's wind behind the potapova sales for the first time in forever it's a massive opportunity for her against ostipenko how about plisciva straight set win over sockery could be at elisa mertens quarter final week feels like she's good for one of those just about every year but i expect her obokina to cruise out of this quarter um that junction win match again if chin win can get a signature victory i'm ready to hop back on the chin win bag win a bandwagon and hype up what is obviously one of the most explosive games win in form we have on tour but i think we're back on it gets through i think it's all chalk i really do and i think ultimately it's going to be the top four seats in the semi finals we know who the best players in the women's world are on typically they're the best players in the biggest moments i'm going to fiontech over sapolanka i'll even go golf over obokina let's have some fun this weekend and i'll take shiontech over golf in the midrida final but that's how you know i'm going to end up being wrong what i think uh with my heart instead of my head

55:44yeah that's all the action we've got this week for you in midrida again we'll keep you up to date all weekend long on the action of course we've also got the wt 125k osigwevers polina kutumatova is a really fun match in oeris fiona fero coming back she's through the semi finals she's going to take on clima vikova of course on the men's side five different challengers you've got the action here in the states in savannah the afloor mentioned nashashbosperetti playing for that ust wild card the french open main draw to try and kickstart his run back up the rankings he's through the quarter he's the highest seed remaining you've got an american teenager jack kennedy kennedy the future university of michigan recruits uh michigan university uh excuse me the future university of virginia commit uh player he's had an awesome two-week run he got the win over nishikori of course nishikori just kind of ran out of gas in that run out of sixteen battle but you've got savannah you've got roam you've got shine shim met or tomis these scantops going to take on for mean you've got opijon of course as well then you've got the action in guangju shout out to former san diego all

56:49american nca singles finalist august holmgren there that's your action it's a busy championship weekend ahead folks looking forward to obviously watching it all unfold and we'll keep you up to date as the biggest developments continue as well but yeah that's your update as we head into this weekend again busy weekend ahead in the tennis world busy weekend of content ahead here at crack rackets again ben rothenberg talking top americans yesterday guild grows with the biggest ATP questions today david came with the biggest WTA questions tomorrow luca pow DJ Bennett the origin story of the little mode junior event all available in conversations and crack interviews podcast the college talk on the gsp tons of stuff over on our crack rack and youtube channel shout out as always makes it all possible that's a cool thing friend of the lower spring school from all of us have a crack rackets in the bleed podcast that we're going to get out rustic and set that's the break thanks everyone