Emergency pod - Alcaraz out of Roland Garros

“I've got a beer on the go, because I was supposed to be at the pub right now, but instead I'm here forming a healing circle with my favorite people, David Law and Matt Roberts, following the news that Carlos Alcaraz, the defending champion, has withdrawn not only from Rome, but also from Roland Garros.”

“I'm concerned for him that it's serious. I'd be more concerned about one Martin Del Potro, probably, because he had a wrist injury that changed his entire career and he still managed to get something out of it. There has to be a chance as well that it's something that they've got to be very, very careful with.”

“I do think there is a not unlikely scenario where Jannik Sinner cruises to this title, and that will feel... I wouldn't consider it an asterisk at all, but it certainly would be, you know, people would remember Carlos Alcaraz wasn't there. And that would be a shame for Jannik Sinner.”

“Everyone is going to want to be in that bottom half of the men's draw, because it will feel so open, you know, even if Zverev and Djokovic are both down there. I still think that people like a Fees or a Muzetti or, you know, even you can branch out further... everyone basically is going to fancy their chances.”

“This is kind of a stark reminder of the fragility of a big two in men's tennis, because you lose one of them and suddenly the whole feel of that tournament feels different, for example, to when we used to lose one of the big three, for example, because you still had two of them.”

“I just have this increasing anxiety about the strain on these athletes' bodies and this feeling of the canister, you know, and the canister not covering a full tennis season. You've got to be making difficult choices. And I know that Artifeez's David had eight months of saving up canister. But I don't know, like I'm suddenly like everybody just wrap yourselves in cotton wool.”

“He's not going to have to beat Carlos Alcaraz to win this French Open. But the way Carlos Alcaraz has forced him to develop his game might end up also helping him win the French Open. And I think that's kind of interesting in the way that these rivals are just always impacting each other, even when they're not actually facing each other.”