The bonkers 2026 French Open has concluded with the most disappointing Men's Final since the 2019 US Open (if you know, you know). The "deeply polarizing" winner (as the NY Times put it) has become a symbol of society's inability to properly address domestic violence allegations, leading to the emergence of the #anyonebutzverev hashtag when he became the favorite to win the tournament.

Michele refuses to speak his name in this episode, and Bryan chooses to only use commentator mispronunciations (McEnroe's "Zah-VER-ev" and Agassi's "Zah-REV"). Dark times.

Also:

• Maja Chwalinska's fairy-tale run
• Townsend/Siniakova win the women's doubles (setting up Taylor Townsend for the Career Slam at the US Open)
• Rafa praises David Ellison (but we forgive him)
• Trump ruins another sporting event, but Go Knicks!

And more!

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This week we marvel at the surprises the French Open has produced so far. Is it weird that we are enjoying the Sincaraz absence? And we get early exits on the Women's side to mix it up? This is shaping up to be one of the most interesting Frenches (?) in a very long time.

Also:

• Bryan apologizes (sort of) to unhappy listeners
• The French Open's woman problem
• The electronic line call that didn't matter (quel triste, Casper!)
• Serena is BACK
• The Rafa documentary 👍😢
• #fonsecafever

And more!

Send us your hot takes at perfectmatchpodcast@gmail.com

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This week we're all over the place (or lieu, if you must), going back and forth about the French Open.

• Alcaraz not playing Wimbeldon 😢
• No one is going to beat Sinner at the French Open 😕
• Heat wave in Paris 🥵
• An emergency "medical timeout" 💩
• Naomi Osaka's outfit is 🔥

And...the TV Coverage, the "boycott" and ticket scalping. Okay!

Send us your hot takes at perfectmatchpodcast@gmail.com

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Before we talk about the current issue of players threatening to boycott a slam, let’s go back in time to 1973 when an historic boycott of Wimbledon by the top men’s players completely changed the power dynamic between the grand slams and the players.

Also:

• We got blocked by a Bluesky user. We have arrived.
• Joao Fonseca admits that his Brazilian fans annoy him too
• An 11-year-old kid flips off Tommy Paul at the Rome Open

Support the pod. Keep the faith 🙏

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/

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Relationships are delicate entities, and breakups should be handled with care, but it does not appear that the high profile uncoupling of Taylor Fritz and Morgan Riddle is unfolding as planned. This week, we go a bit gossipy and snarky, but get into questions around what people expect out of a Relationship as well.

Also:

• Players are getting "food poisoning" in Madrid and dropping out, but is it the tacos? Or the cultural bias toward Latin food?
• Carlos OUT of the French Open ☹️
• Ontario passed a law that you can't resell tickets for ANY profit at all. Can we move to Canada now?

Send us your hot takes at perfectmatchpodcast@gmail.com

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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 😱

Send us your hot takes at perfectmatchpodcast@gmail.com

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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/

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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

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