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Episode 35: Roland Garros 2026 Recap & The Grass Court Swing Begins

We're back with a Roland Garros week two recap that had us screaming, crying, and everything in between. Mirra Andreeva claimed her first Grand Slam title at 19, dropping only 17 games in the second week and accepting the trophy in a custom Nike jacket that read "I'd like to thank myself" — because she absolutely should. Meanwhile, qualifier Maja Chwalińska became only the second player in Open Era history to reach a Grand Slam final as a qualifier, jumping from ranked 114 to number 21 overnight, getting a hero's welcome at the Warsaw airport, and somehow almost running out of money for her hotel mid-tournament. Her story — which includes a very public battle with depression in 2021 and a decision to come back to tennis on her own terms — is one of the most moving in recent memory. We also send our love to Hailey Baptiste, who suffered a torn ACL and meniscus in her second round match and has been sharing her recovery journey with breathtaking honesty. On the brighter side, Karolína Siniaková and Taylor Townsend are one US Open title away from a career Grand Slam together, and their post-win press conference might be the most wholesome four minutes of the year.

We then head to the grass court swing, where the palate cleanser we all desperately needed arrived in the form of Serena Williams making her competitive return after 1,375 days away. She and Vicky Mboko upset the third seeds at Queen's Club and reminded us all why tennis is worth watching. We break down Donna Vekic going from lucky loser to champion, the deeply pointed wildcard snub of defending Queen's Club champion Tatjana Maria, Alex Eala's win in Birmingham, and Robin Montgomery winning a WTA title in the Netherlands ranked 484th in the world. Resh also delivers an important journalism moment: a full breakdown of why Wimbledon grass and football grass are about as similar as clay and hard court, and why that actually matters for how the ball behaves.

In our Five Minutes with the 5%, we talk about Flavio Cobolli — the charming, superstitious, emotionally open 24-year-old from Florence who nearly upset Zverev* in a five-set Roland Garros final and who we are officially rooting for. We also address the men's champion, Alexander Zverev*, with a content warning for domestic violence — including why L'Équipe made the deliberate editorial choice not to put him on their front page after his win. We close out with the ongoing prize money fight (Wimbledon just announced a 20% increase, but players say it's not enough), the rumored Serena/Venus mixed doubles pairing with Sinner and Alcaraz at the US Open, and Resh and Stef's ongoing appreciation for women coaching women across tennis, the WNBA, and the NWSL.

Next episode: our Wimbledon preview and thoughts on the Rafa Nadal documentary. See you out there, queens.

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