The draw is out, Paris is heating up, and Ground Pass is back with a full Roland Garros 2026 preview. Anastasia and Nick break down a lopsided men's draw where most of the drama lives in the bottom half, a wide-open women's draw with at least fifteen real title contenders, and the section of the bracket where Iga Świątek and Novak Djokovic both drew the worst possible neighborhoods.
We get into Carlos Alcaraz's grass-season pullout (and yes, that Vanity Fair cover), the players we're watching from the top of the field down to the qualifiers, the wild card storyline we've been tracking all year in Akasha Urhobo, and the first-round matches we're refusing to miss, including a bold upset call on Aryna Sabalenka in round one.
Plus: dates for our McCarran Park screenings, how to join the Ground Pass crew in the Served Bracket Challenge, the launch of our daily Coffee Catch-Up newsletter for the fortnight, and Nick reading a tennis match report from 1878 that you have to hear to believe.
Players covered include Arthur Fils, Mirra Andreeva, Casper Ruud, Linda Nosková, Rafael Jodar, Lilli Tagger, Elina Svitolina, Flavio Cobolli, Hailey Baptiste, Eliot Spizzirri, Frances Tiafoe, Taylor Fritz, Nishesh Basavareddy, Kaitlin Quevedo, Emilio Nava, Michael Zheng, Toby Samuel, and Akasha Urhobo.
Chapters:
00:00 Weather and Merch: A Warm Welcome
03:19 Carlos Alcaraz's Withdrawal from Wimbledon
07:47 Thoughts on the Roland Garros Draw Ceremony
11:00 Join us for the Served Bracket Challenge
13:44 McCarren park Screenings details
15:14 Draw Analysis: Men's and Women's Perspectives
19:27 Players to Watch: Rising Stars and Dark Horses
34:28 Qualifiers to watch
39:00 Spotlight on Qualifiers: Rising Stars
40:46 Wild Cards and Their Potential
44:13 Our interview with Akasha Urhobo
53:10 Exciting Matches to Watch: First Round Highlights
59:02 Roland-Garros Updates: What to Expect
01:04:28 Tennis History: A Look Back [Outro]
Links:
Send us a voice memo: https://www.groundpasspodcast.com/voice-memo
Athletic story about Alcaraz injury [Gift Link]: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7263807/2026/05/20/tennis-worst-injury-wrist-recovery-treatment/?source=user_shared_article&unlocked_article_code=1.klA.BuEf.htnlRpDbLNVV
Roland Garros Draw: https://www.groundpasspodcast.com/guides/rolandgarros2026printabledraws
Served Bracket Challenge: https://served.bracket.tennis
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