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“Cobolli clearly wanted to exploit Shelton's backhand return. On the deuce side, Ben was standing really, really deep. But it was strange after his match against Zverev, when he was locating the T-serve phenomenally well. Against Shelton, he totally threw that away. Cobolli went wide 82 percent of first serves on the deuce. He hit one T-serve all match. It's one thing if it keeps working and you just keep going to it. This was not that. This was just, I've got one serve, I'm going to hit it the whole match and it's not even working that well.”

“Number 1 is Yannick Sinner, winner of five of the last six big tournaments, beat Alcaraz in the Monte Carlo final, and had three championship points in Paris last year. This was just the first pass-through. The point of the power rankings is that as we go through the clay court season, they move around, they're updated, we refine them, we look into them, we make sure that they're really on point by the end. Sinner is currently on top, but there's a long way to go until Roland Garros.”

“The other thing that is the unknown, Maresmo struggled with it. It's really hard to play at home. We talk about the pressure in New York. We talk about the pressure in London. There's a real pressure in Paris. Like JW is talking about you were five weeks out and they're already talking about it, like with this guy. I mean, it's real, but it can go either way, right? Like I think it rarely stays neutral.”

“And suddenly we talk about the men having one and two that have separated themselves from the field. There are two really, really good players on the women's side who seem to be distancing themselves from the pack. This was indoor clay, right? So she's getting it done on a variety of surfaces. And yeah, this Rybakina, Sabalenka, look for it on the second Saturday in June as well. This has really become a two person race.”

“On tour, this is a different win. This is like, oh, OK. This is a nice win. Like, we say statement too much, but this is at least kind of, may I have your attention for 12 seconds while you're eating lunch? Ben won on slow clay in Munich. I was really impressed. I like what I saw. You would think tennis doesn't work this way, but you would think with his game and the way that his serve jumps, forehand jumps, you got to think Madrid would be a nice landing spot.”

“Rublev wasn't getting outmaneuvered. He was getting overpowered. It was striking how out of Rublev's hands this match seemed. And let's just remember who we're talking about here. Andre Rublev is typically thought of as a powerful player. He hits big off the ground. He did not look powerful next to Fils. He did not look dangerous offensively next to Fils. Serve damage came easier to the Frenchman. There was an 11 mile per hour advantage in first serve average speed and a 10% advantage in serves unreturned.”

“The other thing that is the unknown, Maresmo struggled with it. It's really hard to play at home. We talk about the pressure in New York. We talk about the pressure in London. There's a real pressure in Paris. Like JW is talking about you were five weeks out and they're already talking about it, like with this guy. I mean, it's real, but it can go either way, right? Like I think it rarely stays neutral.”

“I want to talk about his serve though. You cannot properly credit Ben Shelton's serve for how good it is without talking about his second, which I believe has become the best second serve in all of men's tennis. He is the leader right now in 2026 on second serve win rate. In order, it's Shelton, Fiese, Sinner, Alcaraz, Zverev. That's the top five.”

“Munich is in some altitude, which is worth mentioning. Definitely increased the serve effectiveness on both ends. But Kaboli with a, real string of missed first serves at five o. He missed, four first serves in a row.”

“Arthur Fils's first title since coming back from injury in Barcelona and discuss why he's a legitimate threat to Sinner and Alcaraz. Finally, the first installment of the French Open Power Rankings.”

“Iva Jovic interview later in the show. Obviously, Phenom, 16 in the world at 18 years old, quarter finalist in Australia. Recently, semi-finalist in Charleston. She just keeps putting up results. I don't know her at all. I think I like her. I think she's awesome. I like the way she plays. Can't wait to hear more about her and her process and everything. If she's anything like the other young WTA stars that we've had on this show, we're good. They're all full adults, 35-year-old adults stuck in 18 years old.”

“You cannot properly credit Ben Shelton's serve for how good it is without talking about his second. Which, I believe, has become the best second serve in all of men's tennis. He is the leader right now, in 2026, on second serve win rate. In order, it's Shelton, Fils, Sinner, Alcaraz, Zverev. Historically, the players who have dominated that particular stat have just been the best baseliners. Shelton is pulling off an Isner right now. He is atop the leaderboard, and it is obviously because of the serve itself.”

“Shelton's heavily spun forehand cross court was an ace up the sleeve for him. It was the most impactful ground stroke on the court to my eyes throughout the match because Kaboli's backhand contact points ended up being nightmarish. Absolutely nightmarish. Because of the way that ball was jumping up on him.”

“And suddenly we talk about the men having one and two that have separated themselves from the field. There are two really, really good players on the women's side who seem to be distancing themselves from the pack. This was indoor clay, right? So she's getting it done on a variety of surfaces. And yeah, this Rybakina, Sabalenka, look for it on the second Saturday in June as well. This has really become a two person race.”

“How does clay hide Shelton's weaknesses? First off, it's easier for him to return serve. He's easily rushable on the return. He's worked very hard on abbreviated technique in order to improve on the return. But based on his numbers coming into this Munich final, that remains a work in progress. This week, he went to the back fence. The surface is obviously going to take speed off the ball. It's not going to punish negative court position as heavily. So Shelton took much fuller swings at the ball on the return because he had time to do so.”

“Remember, he had a great match last year at Roland Garros, who got the crowd into it. He beat Jean-Munar, five sets, drama, agita. And then he has that back injury, doesn't play for months and months and months. That is an injury that spooked a lot of people. And the way he has come back and recovered in one on service, beating Rubelv on Clay, he hits a huge ball, but he also gives himself some margin. He's so fun to watch.”

“Iva Jovic interview later in the show. Obviously, Phenom, 16 in the world at 18 years old, quarter finalist in Australia. Recently, semi-finalist in Charleston. She just keeps putting up results. I don't know her at all. I think I like her. I think she's awesome. I like the way she plays. Can't wait to hear more about her and her process and everything. If she's anything like the other young WTA stars that we've had on this show, we're good. They're all full adults, 35-year-old adults stuck in 18 years old.”

“50% of Arthur Fils' shots were contacted six and a half feet behind the baseline or further. Fils' court positioning was conventionally bad. It maybe used to be the case that you can't play offense from seven feet behind the baseline. That was before Arthur Fils existed. That was before 84 mile per hour forehands on average existed. If you have Arthur Fils' power, use it. You might as well buy yourself some extra time. There's no need to get rushed. He doesn't need to be on the baseline to hit a winner.”

“On tour, this is a different win. This is like, oh, OK. This is a nice win. Like, we say statement too much, but this is at least kind of, may I have your attention for 12 seconds while you're eating lunch? Ben won on slow clay in Munich. I was really impressed. I like what I saw. You would think tennis doesn't work this way, but you would think with his game and the way that his serve jumps, forehand jumps, you got to think Madrid would be a nice landing spot.”

“Fils is a real Sincaraz threat. No conversation about who may start challenging Sinner and Alcaraz in a more earnest way is complete without Arthur Fils. And it's because he matches those two in explosive athleticism. And I just don't really know who else you can say that about. Most guys, most top 100 pros, no matter what they do developmentally, they don't have a chance to be as good as Sinner and Alcaraz because either they don't hit hard enough or they don't move well enough. Fils is the closest thing.”

“Remember, he had a great match last year at Roland Garros, who got the crowd into it. He beat Jean-Munar, five sets, drama, agita. And then he has that back injury, doesn't play for months and months and months. That is an injury that spooked a lot of people. And the way he has come back and recovered in one on service, beating Rubelv on Clay, he hits a huge ball, but he also gives himself some margin. He's so fun to watch.”

“How does Klay hide Shelton's weaknesses? First off, it's easier for him to return serve. He's easily rushable on the return. He's worked very hard on abbreviated technique in order to improve on the return. But based on his numbers coming into this Munich final, that remains a real work in progress and a bona fide weakness in Shelton's game, his ability to return effectively.”