Ground Pass On-Site

We’re back. We’re back at the US Open. Our first grand slam as a podcast. What a time.
Thursday was my first full day on the grounds. It’s as supposed to be the last day of qualifying but the rain prevented that. But it gave me a chance to see what was new around the grounds.
I’ve been coming to this tournament for over 10 years and there’s still something new every single time. This year might be the biggest change yet, with the construction happening at Arthur Ashe Stadium completely shifting the layout. That’s exactly where you’ll find me in the first hit of Ground Pass On Site, and I’m so excited to take you along all tournament long and show you what’s different on the ground this year.
Event though the rain pushed back most of qualifying a few players did beat the rain. Grigor Dimitrov made it through, and so did Robin Montgomery, who punched her ticket to the main draw for the first time since 2023. I sat down with her post-match to talk about her recovery from injury, her comeback on tour, winning a title earlier this year, and her Nike kit, which I’m calling the Nike New York Liberty kit.
Later that night, the Open hosted Stars of the Open, one of the exhibition events of Fan Week, and what really caught my eye was the lineup: Alex Eala, Amanda Anisimova, Marta Kostyuk, Iva Jovic, Flavio Cobolli, Learner Tien, Arthur Fils, and Alex Michelsen. These events usually run on names like Frances Tiafoe, Taylor Fritz, Naomi Osaka, or Coco Gauff. Seeing a new crop of faces headline instead says a lot about where the sport is going, and I love it. There are so many players in tennis. We have a top 100 for a reason, and the more these events introduce fans to a wider range of athletes, the less the sport has to survive on two or three names.
And finally, something I’ve been talking about a little on social: qualifying and Fan Week in Queens are only half of the US Open celebration. All week, parties, activations, and events are happening across the city. Last night I attended one called Opening Serve, where Mirra Andreeva, Sorana Cirstea, and Rafael Jodar hosted a party with Baileys for industry professionals and media. I got to interview all three players, and some clips are below.
Yesterday was media day and the end of end of qualifying, so stay tuned for all of our US Open coverage right here on Substack and across our social media.
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I made a surprise and unexpected return to the DC Open, and I am so happy I did. I usually don’t stay for finals weekend at tournaments, and I got a lot of questions as to why when I posted about that.
First is cost. Tickets for the first few days of a tournament are cheaper than the later days, and as a fan I was always cost conscious. You get the best bang for your buck, see the most players, and do it for less. When I started covering tennis as media, I stuck to the same habits. Even though I get free entry to the tournament as media, I am still cost conscious. I am traveling to all these tournaments and putting myself up, and as Ground Pass is still self funded, I can’t afford to be at tournaments the whole time. Also, the fact still holds that it’s easier to talk to players at the start of the tournament than in the later rounds. So that’s the reasoning.
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But it’s still nice to experience the final weekend. It helps me give a full picture to tennis fans who are looking to attend. And what a final weekend it has been.
Alex Eala has completely taken over the DC Open. In the match of the tournament, she defeated Naomi Osaka, then showed up to the Tennis Channel desk to a packed crowd. It’s so great to see fans show up from all over the world for Alex Eala. We have been asking for this sort of player popularity in tennis, and it’s nice to see it in person.
Alex Eala will be meeting Jessica Pegula I the finals on Sunday and both their press conferences were very insightful. I asked Jessica if she hears all the coaching coming from the fans during her matches and Alex if she follows the rankings religiously. Those answers and the full audio of their press conference is below.
Coming for the final weekend also meant I got to talk to some doubles players. With the announcement of the changes the ATP would like to bring to doubles, as a reminder: reduced draws and prize money, I was interested to see how the doubles teams would respond.
And boy did they respond. At the DC Open they have been trialing micing up players during matches, but instead of it being for broadcast, it’s just for social, which has been fun to watch. They tried mic’d up matches a couple of years ago for the broadcast, but to be honest the setup was not that comfortable for the players, and most teams don’t talk all the time. Picking select moments for social works better. I got to talk to Max Gaggino of Backstage Tennis about the new setup. As he points out, this is not a new concept. It’s been done in basketball and football (NFL) for years. Even F1 has team radios that are popular among fans. Trialing it in tennis was a no brainer, and the doubles players are trying to use it to boost their social profiles and help save their category. I am a broken record at this point, but storytelling is the best way to sell a sport, and it’s nice to see its growth in tennis. My quick interview with Austin Krajicek and Nikola Mektic is below, and in a later edition of our newsletter I’ll share my interview with Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool.
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The finals are set at the DC Open: Jessica Pegula v Alex Eala and Taylor Fritz v Rafa Jodar (is it just me, or is Rafa Jodar just Spanish Taylor Fritz?). Whoever wins, it will be a great story. Join me on the next podcast for a full breakdown.



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Let’s start at the end, shall we.
Something quite unexpected happened on Day 3 of the DC Open. Off Season was put on the big stage.
I thought it would be an early day for me. After recording my quick hit for this GPOS, I was planning to go home after what was a very long day.
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The Naomi Osaka cookout took up most of my day, Venus Williams and Diana Shnaider debuted as a doubles pair, and more. But let’s start with how a tee I designed with my friend Yevheniia, who designs all of Ground Pass’ merch, ended up on Frances Tiafoe on center court in his first round match against Terence Atmane.
Hailey Baptiste, who is an Off Season athlete, was coming to watch the night match. I have been filming with her for Off Season while in DC, so I thought B-roll of her at the match would be great for the upcoming episode, which you can find here. While I was packing up someone in the press room asked me if I had seen Frances Tiafoe walk out in a tee with Hailey Baptiste on it. I asked what shirt, because as far as I knew there was only one shirt with Hailey Baptiste on it, and it’s the one I made as our first Off Season player tee. And it couldn’t possibly be that one, because I didn’t give one to Frances Tiafoe. Right. Right?!
But lo and behold, as Frances Tiafoe got to his bench and took off his Lululemon hoodie, there was the OFF SEASON logo on the front and the Hailey graphic on the back. I have never felt more paralyzed in my life. What to do, how to capitalize for the benefit of the show. But in the end that’s not me. I don’t know how to guerrilla market, as they say. So I did what I planned to do, stayed and filmed Hailey for the DC episode of Off Season, and decided to wait until the end of the match to maybe ask Frances how he got the shirt.
But the match didn’t go well for Tiafoe. He lost to Terence Atmane, someone he has played three times this year alone and beaten all three times. The matches have always been close, and I had actually called Atmane to win this one. If you listen to the pre-tournament podcast I recorded with Ava Wallace, you will remember we talked about the pressure Tiafoe probably carries trying to win this tournament. This was a tough first round draw.
Both players came into press, and while Tiafoe was very down on his game and level (don’t worry, I didn’t ask about the shirt), Terence Atmane was more positive about his level and how hard he had to work to win the match.
Below is the full audio of their press conferences for paying subscribers.

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Frances subsequently withdrew from the tournament, citing a right wrist injury. And probably a lot of disappointment.
Going back to the start of the day, Naomi Osaka’s cookout was such a moment. Something I have never seen at a tournament before. Naomi held what ended up being a meet and greet with fans in one of the food areas on site. She talked to fans, took photos, signed autographs, and basically hung out for an hour. As I said in the video, this could not happen at a bigger tournament, and it’s what makes tournaments like this so special.
Leylah Fernandez talked about how she approaches being a defending champion.

"But my coaches have done a great job throughout the weeks working together saying, Hey, we're coming in here to earn it. We're not here to defend anything because we're not a defensive team. We're an aggressive team."

And Venus Williams expressed what it’s like to feel joy on court.

"Yeah, I think I said to Diana in the middle of the match, I was, like, Now we've reached the fun zone, like, we're having fun. I think we got there today where we were having fun with the challenge of the game, because it's most certainly a challenge."

If you would like to pick up a Hailey Baptiste shirt, you can here.
Follow along on Instagram and YouTube as I keep sharing things from the tournament there.

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I figured it was time to give you a tour of the grounds. It was the last day of qualifying yesterday, a day that means so much to the players who make it into the main draw. This is a life changing moment for a player trying to climb the rankings or take their first steps onto the pro tennis tour like Cruz Hewitt is doing here.
Cruz, if you didn’t know, is the son of Lleyton Hewitt. And the pressure and expectation of that must be great. He made his big breakthrough recently by making it to the final of the Junior Wimbledon boys event. He lost that to American Jordan Lee, and because of that breakthrough both he and Lee received wildcards into the qualifying draw here. Lee lost in the first round of qualifying, but Cruz, through a series of unfortunate events, got through to the main draw after both his opponents retired due to injury/illness.
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I was able to watch parts of his second match against Zachary Svajda. Svajda won the first set easily, but Hewitt put up a fight in the second, breaking Svajda while he was serving for the match and winning the tiebreak. And even though Svajda was compromised (Zach did make it to the main draw as a lucky loser), Hewitt showed his tenacity and grit in those closing moments of the second set, and it will be interesting to see how he develops on the main tour. He had Jordan Thompson in his box. I was surprised when I saw him on the grounds as he hasn’t played in a while, and it looks like he is taking on a coaching/supporting role for the youngster.
There is also a new podcast out today, so this is a combined GPOS and Order of Play.
On the Docket
I had the most impromptu podcast recording with Ava Wallace of The Athletic right in the heart of the DC Open. I wasn’t even sure I would post this, but listening back, it’s the type of free flowing tennis chat I would have with a friend, so why not let you in. Forgive the rambling, but we touch on what makes DC so special as a tournament on the tour and how it reflects not just the city of DC but the real fan base of tennis. And of course we get into Andy Murray as a tennis coach. Still wild to see.
Press Play
Prefer audio? Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Bonus Point
It was another week where I didn’t watch any tennis, but I saw Lili Tagger won her first title in Prague, beating red hot Barbora Krejcikova along the way. She is now the youngest player in the top 50. I got to talk to her at Indian Wells this year. You can find clips from her interview here.
Off Court
Off Season: In Season - Dallas
Off Season: In Season - Dallas is live. Would love for you to check it out and share. We are back in production in Dallas. I caught up with Hailey Baptiste, Ethan Quinn and doubles team Chris Harrison and Neal Skupski. The next episode of the documentary, Delray, will be out in a couple of weeks. But there is a lot in the bank to catch up on here.
On Deck
Here in DC for the next few days, then will probably be back for the final weekend. There are a lot of players here hoping for a good start to the summer hard court swing. Ben Shelton would like to break the spell of first round losses. Can Frances Tiafoe finally win his home tournament? How good can this Andy Murray and Jack Draper partnership be? Can Naomi Osaka get further in DC than she did a year ago, and what’s next for Venus Williams? So many storylines to keep up with, and that is not taking into consideration the surprises we could get.
The Toss
The DC Open is unique because it’s a combined 500 event. It’s what I think makes it so successful.
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Day 1 at the DC Open: qualifying around the grounds, media day with Venus Williams and the top seeds, and Off Season DC officially goes into production. The mini US Open is back.
Read the full Day 1 newsletter on Substack: https://groundpass.substack.com/p/6ddbaf57-3fb7-412d-b0ad-df5a38706899
Ground Pass On Site is back for our fourth year in DC. In this episode we're on the grounds as Daria Kasatkina, Cruz Hewitt, and the Svajda brothers battle through qualifying, while Venus Williams, Ben Shelton, Taylor Fritz, and Frances Tiafoe take media day. Plus an Off Season update: our DC doubles special with Christian Harrison and Neal Skupski is officially in production, and we catch up with Hailey Baptiste and Ethan Quinn.
The full newsletter includes press conference audio for paying Substack subscribers. YouTube Members and Patreon supporters: check your member posts for a discount code to unlock the paid sections of the Substack post.


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit groundpass.substack.com/subscribe