BONUS: The Tennis Podcast Meets - Roland Garros 2026 Edition 

0:10Hello friends and welcome to Tennis Podcast Meets where we take you behind the scenes over the opening weekend of every Grand Slam and speak to a range of players that will be competing on the courts over the weeks to come. In this edition, we hear from young up-and-coming players Martin Landa-Luthe and Alexander Blocks about their breakthrough years on the ATP Tour and Roland Garros, and from Turkish trailblazer Zeynep Somes. And we finish with an incredible conversation that I had with Alexandra Olenikova, the only top Ukrainian player still based in her homeland. Now, Oliver Kova speaks so passionately for 15 minutes about why she refuses to keep quiet as the war rages on and how she hopes to use her platform to make a difference.

0:56That's coming up later, but first, let's hear from David talking in his favourite place amid the hustle and bustle of the interview area with American 22-year-old Ethan Quinn. Well, Ethan, lovely to meet you. And how does it feel to be here? Part of the main draw, part of the big circuit here? Yeah, it's amazing. Had a really good result here last year. So, you know, just getting back into my comfort zone, getting back into the locker room here was pretty rewarding. You know, the first day we drove back on site, we drove past the qualifying, you know, drop off for the cars. And I was like, whoa, whoa, wait, wait.

1:30And so, you know, I'm having to change my brain of being directly into the main draw this year. So I'm really, really happy to be able to qualify straight into the main, you know, have an extra week playing on a match in Hamburg, get some good preparation, you know, a week to train my body. So I'm really happy with that. And then, you know, today's my first time like doing a media type of day before the tournament. You know, typically for me, I've done media during the tournament, but I've never done it prior. So it's a it's a step up in the world of tennis and I'm happy to do it. Well, it's lovely for us to see you, to meet you and to do it on a slightly strange occasion because the world's tennis players are making a stand about only doing 15 minutes of media today.

2:08I guess we we're the lucky ones. We get to speak to you with it within that. This is all a bit of a strange environment, isn't it, at the moment? I mean, yeah, for sure. But I mean, I'm just happy to be here getting to share my type of story. You know, it's not often that I get to, like I was saying, talk to talk to media before the tournament. So I'm just happy to be here and, you know, get to talk and have some fun before the tournament as well. How do you view clay? I remember the American players obviously play a lot of clay in Houston and places like that. And obviously over the years there have been some great results.

2:38But typically, you know, it's it's it's a tough transition at times. I remember Ben Shelton playing his first clay court season and he'd not really been out the country before. How do you find it? You know I love the clay. As a kid I went to Italy a lot. My family would do family vacations to Italy and you know I'd miss a month of playing tournaments and so I'd practice on the clay here with a local pro in Italy at whatever you know tennis courts were close by. So you know I had an early development on the clay but my first season on the clay didn't go nearly as the way I wanted it. You know, it's a lot different when you're playing the guys that have grown up on it, that have lived on it, you know, competing for your livelihood on it.

3:18So it's the first few seasons I really struggled on it. Last year I really started to feel like, all right, I understand a little bit more. I understand how to play clay court tennis. You know, sometimes I still have a love-hate relationship with it when it comes to moving. You know, it's something that you just have to think about. You know, it's not as natural for me, for maybe some other players. and I think that's similar with a lot of Americans. The movement side of things is probably the most difficult part of it. The French Open clay is the best in the world by far, and so the way that you can produce your tennis is you can play a little bit more aggressive, and so I feel like the Americans tend to like it a little bit more here than maybe a slower type of court like Rome.

3:58I know personally I like playing here a lot more because I can play my aggressive style and I actually get rewarded versus in Rome I feel like the slower courts actually hurt you a little bit. but overall you know the Americans they tend to play Houston I didn't play Houston this year it's a great tournament but I just wanted to try and you know play new tournaments each season try and do something different so I went to Monte Carlo to start the season and you know I didn't really get the best result there but it was the getting on the clay early getting to Europe early and just getting that practice on it which would with the goal of having it help me out here.

4:29Sounds like you're almost investing in the future rather than just looking at results for now. Exactly right you You know, the first season we came over here, I played two challengers. I played Geneva Qualies, and I didn't win a match. You know, I lost in straights, I believe. Or no, I didn't lose in straights, but I lost all the matches. And, you know, I really felt bad about myself for losing those matches. But, you know, the next year I came back and I was like, okay, I'm a little better spot. And then the next year I'm going to come back and I'll be in a little better spot. So it's just a long-term play coming over and, you know, not skipping the challengers or not skipping, you know, this clay court season.

5:00You know, a lot of times players can go to Asia and play on the hard court swing there. and you know for me I just felt like all right this is the the best thing for my career long term this is you know what you dream of when you're a kid is playing the big events your dream of playing the 1000s the 500s the grand slams so you know I'm not going to skip that opportunity to have good results. Is there any element of those decisions driven by wanting experiences in life at all because obviously you're a tennis player you want to be the best tennis player you can be but you know as you said you've come to Monte Carlo rather than playing in something like Houston, that isn't a decision that everybody of your age would necessarily make.

5:35I wonder how you find these experiences. Do you use somebody that goes out of the hotel and has a look around? Yeah, I definitely am a player who likes to go out. My favorite thing that I like to do is look for restaurants that are a little bit niche, a little bit hidden, even if they're inexpensive, but it's this hole in the wall that's delicious. That's the best thing ever. That's finding the golden nugget. And so I really do enjoy getting out of the hotel. as for coming over you know I really wanted to be able to figure out you know for a few my future career is all right you know now I know how to break up my trip if I'm going to come over here you know this this year I stayed over from Monte Carlo until now and so you know next year maybe I'll be able to break it up a little bit differently where I have a little bit more time at home you know in between maybe a tournament or something like that so it's just a learning what works for me I think that's the thing that's most important last year I figured out a few things like that as well as you know maybe I stayed over a little bit too long and in Asia you know I stayed Asia through the end of the year in Europe and you know I felt like that was too long for me so it's just those learning curves um that come when you're a younger player on tour and so that way my future um as I'm an older guy on tour I can really make sure I manage my my weeks a little bit better and you know I still feel fresh coming into this week and so even though you know I probably could have gone home it's like fine I'm feeling good I'm ready to to compete here and have a long trip.

6:50One of the things you said about Clay was movement is is the big challenge and you're a big guy you know you're a tall guy I can pretty much look eye to eye with you um another big guy that I've read you idolize was one Martin Del Potro and I don't think anybody who watches you play can fail to notice your forehand and how devastating it is is was his forehand something that you looked at and I don't know copied or was influenced by at all yeah I wouldn't necessarily say I copied it um you know actually I copied the forehand of when I was seven years old I'd go to Brad Stein's Academy in Fresno and there was this one kid Billy Griffith who was you know a top junior and he had this cobra forehand that I just loved the look of it I know cobra forehand so when it the way I hit my forehand that's a cobra that's kind of what we call it you know Australians call it goosey we Americans call it a cobra and so uh um that's just I loved his forehand and I tried to model it after his and you know it just happened that the way that Del Potro played his game with was with a big forehand and I feel like all right if I can structure the way that I play points the way that I play my tennis after his, you know, I could have a pretty good career, you know, considering he's one of the few players to win a Grand Slam during that era of the big three.

8:03You know, I feel like he's a really good player to idolize and emulate. And so, you know, I kind of just have watched film of him, you know, when it comes to, you know, how he returned, you know, he had a big forehand. So it's like figuring out how to keep my forehand return a little bit more compact. And, you know, I learned things from guys like him and Jack Sock as well. Any specific goals for you for this year? You know, I think the thing that we started off with at the beginning of this year was to be able to walk off the court proud of the product that I put out there. You know, not focusing on wins or losses, but actually focusing on, you know, the mental side of things.

8:34If I walked off the court and I competed as hard as I could, you know, if I was able to, you know, not throw out any points, if I didn't have that long elapses on the court. You know, I think that's the thing that my coaches and I, we've been talking about a lot is to be able to be a little bit more optimistic. And, you know, in life, I'm a pretty optimistic person, but when I'm on court, I can get pretty pessimistic. so you know we're trying to figure out all right how can I be proud of what I'm putting on court even if I lose the match and you know if I'm able to lose and have a smile on my face then you know it's a good match and it's a good effort and then I can roll on to the next match not down.

9:03Sounds very mature. Just as a final point I mean you went through the college system do you think it maybe helps a young player I mean you're still a young player but you're not teenage 17 young do you think it's helped at all that you've gone through the college process before taking these sort of big steps and being here with us on media day at a Grand Slam? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, in college, you have to really understand how to manage your time, manage your distractions, play for something bigger than just yourself. You know, you have five other guys playing at the same time as you, so you're really having to figure out, you know, your emotions when there's a big crowd.

9:38You know, Athens has the best crowds in the country. And so being able to manage yourself while you have 3 ,000 people barking at you, you have five other players, you know, yelling after every single point, You know, you're really having to figure out how to manage your emotions, how to manage your game, be able to stay focused on yourself while also trying to, you know, put forth a competitive environment for your teammates to kind of vibe off of. It was really good for me. You know, I also had to deal with a lot of ups and downs when I was in school. You know, I had a really good end of my career and a really good start in my career.

10:05But right in that middle in college, I really sucked, to be honest with you. I lost a lot of matches. Do you know what? Do you know why? Man, I wish I knew why. I don't know what it was, but just, you know, I really struggled once we got into dual match season. I couldn't figure out those emotions. And, you know, it was a troubling time. I felt like I was like not wanting to leave my room because I felt like I was leaving guys down. And, you know, having that experience really helped me when I first came on tour. I really struggled when I first came on tour. But, you know, having the experience of, you know, not having a good middle part of my college career helped me get through that and be able to get to where I'm at now.

10:38Well, you're doing just fine. And congratulations for being here and being in the main draw. and thank you for your time here on the tennis podcast. Thank you, thank you. Zeynep, thanks so much for speaking to us. It's great to meet you. It's quite a strange day, media day here for us. Obviously, the top ten players are doing this protest. They're saying that it's for the lower-ranked players. I'm just kind of curious what it's like for you, whether anything's been communicated to you, whether you're involved. No, I mean, I haven't talked to any player about it. But I mean, I understand what they're trying to do.

11:16And I mean, to be honest, they were working very hard. Everyone is, I mean, it's obviously tennis is like a very popular sport in the world. And a lot of people are watching it. And these events are very big events. So, of course, players would like to get what they deserve. and I think they are trying to get whatever, like, you know, like they're trying, they're thinking that they, we deserve more. And so, I mean, I respect everyone's opinion. Thank you. It's interesting to hear about. I want to talk a little bit about your 2026 so far. I know you've been working with Ism and spent the off season with him.

12:03Obviously the fruits of that seem to be showing in the results. Tell me a little bit about that relationship. what's working about it? Yeah, I think it's going great. I feel very lucky to have Issam in my team. He's a very experienced and a great coach. In the first couple of months, I would say we got used to each other. He didn't know me. I didn't know him. So we went to some tournaments together and we practiced a lot and we spent a lot of time off court to get to know each other more and to be able to understand each other better on court and off court and I think we found I think we clicked very well and so I'm happy to have him in my team I think he's bringing a lot and he's teaching me a lot.

12:49Was it Ons did Ons kind of help bring the relationship about? I mean no I knew Ons from before but it was like it was not like Ons didn't tell me to work with him it was not the case but uh yeah she knew she was there in dubai she lives there so um yeah she knew that we were going to work together um but no like she was not the one who said guys work together has she been a significant sort of person in your in your life on in your kind of tennis journey uh i mean i mean she inspired a lot of people including me of course she's a great athlete and she changed tennis for her country. So she's a very, very important player, of course.

13:36And yeah, I mean, you know, like sometimes when I was in Dubai, I would see her at the academy like a few times and I would talk to her about like, you know, about tennis a little bit. So yeah, she's a great player and great person overall. I read about how you went to the WTA finals in Istanbul when they were there. What do you remember about that experience? It must have been kind of very inspiring to see those top players. Yeah, yeah, definitely. I mean, it was a great event. I remember I was very young, but I remember my mom would pick me up from the school and we would go directly to watch the matches.

14:16Mario Sharapova, Serena Williams, they were all playing. And of course, it was great because it was WTA finals. You know, they're the best players in the world. and it was a great experience to watch those players in a very young age. So, yeah, I remember those days. It was good. It was a good experience. Was there any player in particular that you were like, I want to be like her? I mean, to be honest, I don't remember if Simona Hale played, but growing up, I really liked her game. And Lina was there, I remember. So I was watching her matches too. And I was obviously watching Sharpoa and Serena Williams.

14:53so I mean they were all very good so I was trying to watch every match. I commentated on your match against Ekaterina Alexandrova in Australia this year and the Turkish support was absolutely incredible and obviously you get that wherever you go. What's that like? It feels like you have a whole country behind you every time you play. Yes it definitely felt amazing I didn't know there were that many Turkish people so I was surprised when I went on the court. I saw many flags and there were many people so of course it was a great experience for me. I felt that I was supported and I felt like I was at home to be honest and I was very very far from home but so I'm very grateful and thankful for the support.

15:43Does it come with pressure kind of being your countries representative? Of course I think it comes with pressure but I believe that I give them the reason to believe in me so that's why I feel that pressure and so it means I'm doing something right so I'm trying to see it as a I'm trying to see it in that way more so I'm trying to take it and you know I said yeah I'm doing something great but I can do more so I will try to work on it and I will try to get better like but definitely comes with the pressure. If you to describe yourself as a tennis player, your brand of tennis, how would you describe it?

16:19I think I'm still changing some things in my game, but overall I'm a player who runs a lot. And even when I'm on defense, I'm trying to turn it into an attack game. So on court, I think things can change very fast in my game. I'm trying to use every part of the court. I'm trying to change the rhythm but like I said maybe like six months from now I'm going to be a little bit different than right now so yeah those are the things that I think I have right now. How would you like to be different? What's the kind of project? I mean I would like to change the game a little bit more be able to change the game like with slides maybe with high balls I would like to improve my serve a bit more and overall I think because when you improve your serve I think it affects your game, overall game, because you feel more confident in your other shots because on your serve games you feel more confident.

17:17So on your return games you can take more risks. It's all connected, I think. I get the impression you're kind of a goal setter, like you dream big. Could you share what the goal is for 2026 or maybe one of them? I mean, definitely I would like to improve my game. and I think the ranking comes with it, so I'm not trying to think too much about the ranking, because sometimes when you're trying to add things to your game, like a few weeks or a few months, maybe it doesn't work out, but in the end you have to trust the process and keep going, so I don't want to set a goal with a ranking, but definitely I would like to improve everything in my game, like my forehand, my backhand, and overall, I mean, the most important thing, I think, my serve.

18:07so yeah those are my goals I wish you the best of luck it's great to speak to you, thank you have a good tournament

18:18how are you feeling just coming into Roland House tournament you know so well I try and get the best possible preparation for this tournament my eyes were looking towards this tournament the whole time and now we're here so this is exactly the moment that I was hoping to get to well prepared and I feel like right now I can say that with confidence I'm well prepared Is it a place that you want to see it as a reverse place maybe, like to come back to the top top level and to be against the best player again I would definitely say that it takes a few matches to get into that mindset because it's always so different when you start a tournament and you're in the first few rounds and you're not seeing where you're kind of leaning towards with your game.

19:07So it's a very difficult observation right now. Because, yeah, I might be practicing well, I might be hitting well and doing well in practice sets and stuff, but that doesn't really translate into an actual match. So I want to see how those matches begin and start. And based on the outcomes of those sets, of how I adapt to certain situations, I guess I can really give a clear answer, not to you guys, but to myself. Do you feel like you're in the good direction for that? In tennis-wise? My coaches so far have been happy with the way I've been training. It also comes from the coach and the staff and the team members that are part of your ecosystem.

19:48So they're liking what they're seeing so far. If I was to assess it myself, there are still a few things that I could definitely get better at. but I feel like that's the place that I know really well. The clay is a surface that I've mastered over the years and I felt like I've had my best results or cure on the surface. So I have no doubt about my possibilities as a player, especially in Paris. Yeah, I mean, you know your level, your capabilities better than anybody because you've reached the final here and you came so close. can you understand where you were then versus where you are now and what you would need to maybe do to get kind of back to where you were wins consistent wins not just one or two in a tournament we're talking about like getting consistently in the three to four to five wins over a tournament over and over again that you start building something meaningful for yourself like of course my goal is not to win just one match or two matches in a tournament i'm working for much bigger than that and well i did have a long run a deeper run in madrid which is already a good sign but i need more of those they haven't been enough and i need more of those and madrid was the first time that i felt like i still got this and i'm it's just in my head so i just need to push a little bit more and adjust to certain things adjust to certain situations I didn't regret my loss in Madrid because I tried my best and I did whatever I knew at that time with the tools that I had available in that particular match to get over it.

21:34It didn't really work out at the end but I'm still very happy with the way I fought and made this match a big battle. Maybe a question on Yannick and Carlos. Did you watch the final last year? Yes. Can you tell me what you felt on your TV? Was it like, oh, it's a different sport and I'm far from that or do you feel you still can compete with this level of tennis? I feel the difference is definitely physical. Some of those athletes you see, like Carlos and Yannick, they have this capacity of playing the same tennis over and over again and their physicality doesn't drop. What happens with tennis is everyone can play a good one set, max maybe sometimes in their best case scenario two sets but those Grand Slam matches are like marathons.

22:16They are very different in their form than they are on the regular tour. You see some upsets on the regular tour outside of slums of players beating good players. But this is concentration and physicality that only lasts for two sets. Those Grand Slam matches, they require you being explosive, having the legs of a rugby player and the lungs of a marathon runner in order to keep repeating those shots and keep hitting those winners and defending over and over again. and what happens with most of the athletes, we all kind of hit the same. We all hit with the same pace, with the same power, pretty much.

22:52It's rare you're going to find players that, you know, the speeds are that much different. So at the end, it comes down, in my opinion, it comes down to the physicality and how fresh you are when the match gets into the four or five sets, how much you can actually, the one that can reduce his level less in terms of speed, in terms of legs, explosiveness when you serve. those things scientifically show that most of the players drop so the one that drops the less amount ends up having a big advantage when they play these type of matches and you have to do this every single every second day you have a day off and you have to do it all over again so the one who's able physically to withstand that better is is the winner and that's what i did really well when i played finals here i was able to recreate that over and over again and And, you know, my back kind of ruined it for me for the past year or so.

23:47That's my answer. How are you feeling physically at the moment? Great. Nothing to complain about. I feel great. Thank you very much. Thank you. Martin, how does it feel to be here in your position after such good results recently? How do you feel about your progress? It feels amazing. I think I've made really good progress in the last two months. All the effort, all the work I was putting in, it shined. The last tournaments have been really nice. In clay, I've demonstrated myself that I can beat good players, I can do good results in the top tournaments. And we'll see here, it's the first Grand Slam I entered on the main draw with my ranking.

24:32So very, very happy to be here. I'm practicing with really good players this day, so improving my level, improving my game. Yeah, I mean, you've definitely shown how capable you are recently. And as you say, you've proved it on clay. You're here at Roland Garros. And yet I read that grass is perhaps the surface you like the best. Why is that? Because my game adapts really well. I really enjoy playing there, trying to slide in the possible ways, serving volley. There's like a lot of possibilities and games to improve and to adapt to your game and to complement your game. so it's really nice to play that month of the year and coming from the level I'm having I really have good hope on what I can do on grass so enjoy this tournament, play my best and then enjoy the next month.

25:23These are good times, we wish you the best. Thank you. Well Alex, welcome and congratulations on the excellent results you've been having. How do you feel coming in here to Roland Garros with the results behind you? Yeah, I'm feeling good. I've had some good results the last weeks, but that doesn't mean that they will come every week. I still need to stay grounded, to work as hard as I did before. And yeah, it's just a nice opportunity to play the main draw here. It's not the 10th time I'm playing a main draw, so it's just my second time. so I'll be ready, excited and I'll do everything I can to bring that level that I had two weeks ago again.

26:16You've had a lot of experiences the last couple of months, haven't you? What have you learned about yourself and about, I guess, what you need to be able to do to compete at this level? I think the experience is a big part to play against those guys at the highest level more and more. I feel like in the beginning of the swing I had some close losses, which I needed to improve myself. Afterwards, I felt like I did that well in Madrid against a few really good players, which maybe a few weeks before I would have lost the match, I managed to come out on top, because I mentally was better prepared for it.

27:04I knew I had to do certain things better than before and I think that is a really important part to win those matches. I was reading that your parents were both athletes, your dad on the track and your mom a swimmer. Did you ever have a difficult decision at all to make about what route to follow yourself? No, not really. I always played tennis and I knew from a very young age that I wanted to be the best at it and to give everything I had to put it into tennis. So I didn't really have a decision to make. Did you ever ask them about their athletic careers at all? yeah but I mean they were not like superstars or anything they they just did some professional sport and they just know what I'm doing and going through and I think that's also an important part yeah exciting days ahead the best of luck to you thank you very much Alexandra thanks so much for speaking to us it is great to meet you and what a year you've had career high ranking, climbing all the time, a lot of attention on you as well.

28:27Can you describe what 2026 has been like for you so far, both on and off the court? Of course, something new, new challenges, new experience. And yeah, in general, of course, I'm happy to play on the better tournaments. I did so much to participate on this level. so yeah we will talk only about the tennis part of course I think there is the things which I can be happy and proud but yeah it was happening really a lot of things on tour so yeah you have a very distinctive playing style which is great to watch I know you've earned a lot of fans this year how did how did your style of play develop when you were younger um you know I just wanted to be myself on court and this is something that was important for me I was always playing a bit different and I think I feel the game a bit on my own way so yeah that's what I actually decided to improve so not you know make my game more standard but to make this difference in my game style my weapon you know so I accepted that I will have my own way.

29:48If it will take time, that's okay. I'm ready for all challenges, but I will continue and I don't want to change myself. Yeah, I mean, that's kind of, that seems like your thing, right? Doing things your way, having your own style. And that's not always easy for young women to be prepared to stand out. Is Is that who you've always been, even when you were really little? Yeah, I think I was kind of raised like this because my father, he was always telling me that you're different. Don't look to everybody else. You have your own way. So, yeah, now I don't even feel like, you know, this is something special if we will speak about this part.