The current Roland Garros champions - Rafael Nadal and Iga Swiatek - reigned in Rome last week. But they took different routes to the title.

Catherine, David and Matt react to Swiatek double bagelling Karolina Pliskova and Nadal earning a tight three set win in his 57th meeting with Novak Djokovic.

How much of the 6-0 6-0 scoreline was about Swiatek being amazing and how much was it down to Pliskova’s performance? Where does Swiatek’s ruthlessness come from? Why was Djokovic vs. Tsitsipas so wonderful? How should Djokovic feel about his week in Rome? Is Nadal in perfect shape for Roland Garros? And how has the Nadal-Djokovic rivalry evolved on clay over the past few years?

There’s also a look ahead to next week which sees Serena Williams in Parma and Roger Federer’s return in Geneva, an update on Andy Murray, and a huge tangent about Cobra Kai after Lorenzo Sonego gets a mention.

The Tennis Podcast is presented by Catherine Whitaker and David Law, and features Matt Roberts. It publishes on Mondays and Thursdays, and daily during Grand Slam tournaments.

SUPPORT THE TENNIS PODCAST

We crowdfund The Tennis Podcast every December, with shout-outs, mascots and chances to take us on at predictions. For a reminder when the next campaign goes live, put your e-mail address in here - http://eepurl.com/gwWILX

Or, if you don’t want to wait and prefer to support us on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/TheTennisPodcast

NEWSLETTER

Sign up to get our news, offers, predictions and Matt’s Stat - http://eepurl.com/gbmzRX

EMAIL

We hope that the podcast helps to provide some form of escape during these challenging times. If you ever feel like writing to us, our e-mail is open – info@tennispodcast.net

SOCIAL MEDIA

Twitter - https://twitter.com/TennisPodcast

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thetennispodcast/

Reddit - https://www.reddit.com/r/thetennispodcast/

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

Human Skin: Lampshades, Wallets, Books, Oh My!