Tennis Has a Super Bowl. Why Doesn’t It Feel Like One?

The ATP and WTA Finals bring the eight best players in the world together at the end of the season. Anastasia Folorunso and Ian Mondul talk about how players qualify, how the race differs from the rankings, how the round robin and tiebreak rules work, and why Anastasia thinks simplifying tennis for new fans is the wrong move. Then they talk about why the Finals aren't a bigger event. Ian wants the tours to stop for two weeks beforehand and spend that time on the eight players. Anastasia wants the race talked about from January. They also go through where the WTA and ATP races stood when they recorded on October 18. Next up is Rafael Jódar: his first season as a pro, his year of college tennis, the ball-kid incident in Shanghai and his apology, and Anastasia's three interviews with him this year. Anastasia makes her pitch for Jódar as the rival tennis needs. Ian isn't fully sold. To finish, Matej Dodig, a former top 200 pro, has signed with Texas. Ian asks whether pros should be taking college roster spots. Ground Pass is a tennis podcast for curious newcomers and longtime fans alike. - In the Realm of Perfection: McEnroe documentary - https://tubitv.com/movies/684798/john-mcenroe-in-the-realm-of-perfection?utm\source=web\share&utm\medium=Share&utm\campaign=copy\link&utm\content=title\detail\pagehttps://groundpass.substack.com - Valarie Camillo interview on Served - https://youtu.be/Fohc1DwBZ3g?si=jvafJiPWOTwrizw3 **Chapters:** 00:00 Intro and movie chat 07:09 Part 1 - End of Year Finals - Why should you care 11:45 Does the WTA and ATP Finals Structure make it hard to promote? 23:20 Location, Location and how important its is to the Finals 27:14 How would we fix the End of Year Finals 33:40 Who is in and who is out of the Finals? 42:52 Part 2 - The Tennis News of the Week 43:20 Sonay Kartal and Maja Chawalinska played the perfect final 47:32 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Rafa Jodar play the all Spanish Final 55:33 Rafa Jodar's villain origin story 01:04:49 The Six King Slam is off and Alcaraz, Djokovic and Fritz are not taking the week off 01:07:12 Joao Fonseca and Eva Lys are the recent players to end their season early 01:09:29 Part 3 - This Week in Tennis 01:14:48 A Bit of College Tennis Drama 01:19:16 Outro 💬 Thank you for Listening. Leave us a 5⭐️ star rating and drop us a comment we would love to hear from you. For Bonus Content and find out what tournament we are off to next, subscribe to our free newsletter - https://groundpass.substack.com To Support Ground Pass - https://www.groundpasspodcast.com/support Shop the Ground Pass Merch - https://www.groundpasspodcast.com/shop Where You can Find us Online: Website - www.groundpasspodcast.com Email - [groundpasspodcast@gmail.com](mailto:groundpasspodcast@gmail.com) Threads: https://www.threads.net/@ground\_pass Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/groundpass.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ground\_pass Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@GroundPass TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@groundpasspodcast X: https://x.com/groundpasspod **About Us:** Ground Pass is a tennis podcast for the rest of us. Hosted by Anastasia Folorunso and Nick Carter, it breaks down the pro tour for casual fans and anyone new to the sport, no jargon, no gatekeeping. From Grand Slam drama to the players you should know, we make tennis easy to follow and fun to obsess over. **Disclaimer:** This video does not contain a paid for advertisement. PR samples are denoted by the term ‘ad - gifted’. Links containing ad affiliate links are denoted by a '\*'. This means that if you click on an affiliate link, go through to the retailer and purchase an item, we will receive a small percentage of your purchase. Check out our website for a full disclaimer: https://www.groundpasspodcast.com/about * * * Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.