Tennis Unfiltered

Calvin Betton gives us the inside scoop on what life in Dubai is like right now with Henry Patten, Harri Heliovaara and Boris Chernov all stuck in the United Arab Emirates, where at time of recording the airspace remains closed until further notice as a result of Iranian air strikes.

And with George Bellshaw away, Ben Rothenberg of Bounces (https://www.benrothenberg.com/) fills in as our resident red head, while James Gray anchors as usual.

They discussed..

- The chaos in Dubai where no one seems to have a good way out of the city

- Harri and Henry winning the doubles title with explosions in the background

- Daniil Medvedev finally ends the curse by winning a repeat title, but with an asterisk after Tallon Griekspoor pulls out injured

- WTA Austin introduces a "Rage Room" for private racket smashes, but no one knows if Taylor Townsend used it after losing to Peyton Stearns in the final

- Taylor Fritz says the Dunlop ball at Indian Wells is going to get very slow indeed

- And finally, Jack Draper's haircut
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Calvin Betton is perfectly safe in Acapulco, James Gray is finally home and George Bellshaw is about to head off to India - but for now at least two of the Tennis Unfiltered gang are in the same timezone.

Here are the stories they're talking about this week...

- Carlos Alcaraz only needed 50 minutes to beat Arthur Fils and claim the 26th title of his young career in Doha

- It extends his ranking lead over Jannik Sinner, after he came unstuck against Jakub Mensik in the quarter-finals

- Jessica Pegula finally converted one of her semi-final appearances into a title, winning in Dubai (and proving Calvin right)

- She beat Elina Svitolina, who spent three hours eliminating Coco Gauff, who in turn seems to be falling out of love with her biomechanics coach

- Alexandra Eala keeps selling tickets

- The WTA are forming a 13-player council to fix the schedule

- Emma Raducanu has signed for Uniqlo (See James's story here: ⁠https://inews.co.uk/sport/tennis/emma-raducanu-nike-uniqlo-4255160⁠)

And SO much more!
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Calvin Betton is in Delray, James Gray is in Bormio and George Bellshaw is our northern (London) star, constant and unchanging.

They're back round at the microphone to talk about the last week of tennis...

- Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka pull out of the mandatory Dubai tournament...

- ...and the tournament director calls them out on it!

- Victoria Mboko beats Elena Rybakina en route to the Doha final... but then loses to Karolina Muchova

- Destinee Aiava announces her shock retirement with a massive FU to the tennis establishment

- No meat in Acapulco

- Serena Williams officially reinstated

- A great run for Jack Pinnington Jones

...and SO much more.
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Calvin Betton is back from Turkey, James Gray is now up in the mountains and George Bellshaw still doesn't really know what a pun is.

They discussed...

- Katie Boulter winning the title in Ostrava, claiming her fourth career WTA win

- Emma Raducanu made the final in Cluj but was then battered by Sorana Cirstea...

- ...is she fit enough? Does she need a coach? What now?

- The PTPA's $1bn plans for tennis are scrutinised...

- ...as are Craig Tiley's wild and wacky ideas
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The Australian Open 2026 is in the books. Carlos Alcaraz and Elena Rybakina are our two singles champions, and we have ANOTHER British doubles champion and everyone can take a deep breath (for a bit).

ATP Tour coach Calvin Betton, The i Paper sports news editor James Gray and tennis broadcaster and writer George Bellshaw are here to look back at it all.

They discussed...

- Is Novak Djokovic a genuine contender in other slams this year or will this prove to be his last hurrah?

- Which slams with Carlos Alcaraz win this year and is the calendar year grand slam achievable?

- Has Aryna Sabalenka got a problem in finals?

- Will Elena Rybakina wait another four years to go from two majors to three?

- How will we remember the 2026 Australian Open?

And SO much more.
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