The 2025 Rome Open had it all—career-defining wins, surprise storylines, and a whole lot of clay. In this Ground Pass mini pod, we break down Jasmine Paolini’s stunning singles and doubles sweep, Jannik Sinner’s return after suspension, and Coco Gauff’s ongoing stat struggles. Plus: why the men’s vs. women’s tennis debate needs to stop, who’s trending ahead of Roland Garros, and the vibes from one of the best stops on tour.

Chapters

00:00 - Intro

3:30 - WTA Storylines: Jasmine Paolini, Coco Gauff, Qinwen and more

12:50 - Italian Tennis Rennaissance

17:47 - Mini Rant: Let’s Retire the Gender Debate

21:01 - ATP Storylines: Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz

30:10 - Other Winners: Draper, Stearns, Musetti, Osaka, Raducanu

34:59 - Coming up this week on tour

36:10 - Outro

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This week on Ground Pass, we’re catching up on all things clay season and diving into the beautiful chaos that is the Rome Open. But first, we recap the wild scenes from Madrid—including a super-detailed voice memo from Ramiro at @courtsatisfaction breaking down everything from seating to surprise side events.

⏱️ In This Episode:

0:00 – Kicking off + the Ground Pass update

2:50 – Madrid wrap + listener voice memo

17:00 – Rome is stunning: travel vibes + stadium drama

28:00 – Darth Sinner + Alcaraz’s tennis puppy energy

32:40 – No Djokovic in Rome—what’s going on?

38:00 – Jack Draper on clay is the real deal

41:00 – Emma Raducanu’s comeback + mental reset

44:00 – Iga Swiatek: time to figure things out

52:00 – Sabalenka: world #1 and thriving

55:00 – American women rising: Stearns + Baptiste

57:30 – Team Coachella = Coco Gauff + Alex Eala 🕶️🎶

1:00:30 – The doubles story you’re not hearing: Evan King + Chris Harrison

1:03:40 – Player of the Fortnight: Bianca Andreescu + Fabian Marozsan

✨ We’ve got stories, travel tips, and maybe a few statue jokes along the way.

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Links mentioned:

– Karue Sell - Meet the Professionals episode

– Our Patreon

– Instagram @court.satisfaction

– Match Stories: Osaka v Golubic

💬 Don’t forget to give us 5 stars and drop us a comment ⭐️

Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/GroundPassPodcast

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What if you could restart your tennis career—with a camera in one hand and a racquet in the other?

In this episode of Meet the Professionals, Anastasia and Nick sit down with Karue Sell, who has lived every version of tennis: a top junior in Brazil, NCAA standout at UCLA, coach on the ATP tour, hitting partner for Naomi Osaka, YouTuber behind MyTennisHQ, and now… a 30-year-old chasing ATP points again.

We talk about:

• Why college tennis helped him avoid burnout
• The hustle behind building a tennis YouTube channel
• Coaching vs. playing: what’s harder?
• Turning pro again—and filming the whole thing
• Why storytelling is tennis’ biggest growth opportunity

Karue gets real about finances, motivation, injuries, and how he’s redefining success in tennis on his own terms. This is one for the dreamers, the doers, and everyone in between.

New to Ground Pass?

We’re the podcast for anyone who’s tennis-curious—from brand new fans to lifelong watchers.

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Follow Karue:

YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@Karue-Sell

Instagram → instagram.com/karuesell

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Enjoy the episode and stay tuned for more from Ground Pass!

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