After losing the Monte-Carlo Masters Final to Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz posted a fun video of his bestie Jannik diving into the club's pool. Cute! Good for engagement! Bad for winning. This week we talk tennis rivalries and question whether Carlos needs to go darker if he wants to beat Sinner. We also dig up clips of Chrissie and Martina talking about how they had to lose the friendship bracelets to truly compete.

Also:

• The Onion's dumb tennis satire piece
• Rybakina's weird used tennis gear/crypto scam online shop
• Nadal Netflix final year documentary incoming (are these actually good television?)
• Alcaraz wrist injury. Oh God 😱

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The Clay Season is officially in session now with the symbolic opener, the Monte-Carlo Masters, taking place. Why don't we all live in Monte Carlo, with it's zero percent personal income tax, European adjacency and $6300/sq. ft. real estate? Perhaps because we don't have $6.3 million dollars for a 1000 square foot flat. One day...

Today on the pod, we talk about the Joy of Clay, Monte Carlo, why Americans can't seem to win on slow surfaces, and how it relates to Bryan's general lack of patience and attention to detail.

Also,

• Jessie Pegula's win in Charleston over a Ukranian player who hasn't been home in four years and had to do GoFundMe to stay on tour (did Jessie donate anything?)
• Iga is now being coached by Rafa's former coach (with Rafa giving pointers)

Enjoy!

Send us your hot takes at perfectmatchpodcast@gmail.com

As always tell your friends, rate this podcast in your app, and send us feedback at https://www.perfectmatchpodcast.com/

You can also follow us on Bluesky at @perfectmatchpodcast.com or @shellsteak and YouTube at @PerfectMatchPodcast

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A lively, bad faith debate in which Michele defends what Bryan calls "Woke 1.0" while he posits that so-called "Dark Woke" can be better for one's tennis fandom. Do we need to broaden our tolerance for players' questionable posts and comments in order to enjoy the sport more?

It's a weird one! But relevant (maybe)!

Also:

• The WTA Finals is out of Saudi Arabia, mercifully
• Meh about the two Sunshine Doubles. What a weird feeling

Send us your hot takes at perfectmatchpodcast@gmail.com

As always tell your friends, rate this podcast in your app, and send us feedback at https://www.perfectmatchpodcast.com/

You can also follow us on Bluesky at @perfectmatchpodcast.com or @shellsteak and YouTube at @PerfectMatchPodcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.