Tennis Asia Podcast

In episode 27 of the Tennis Asia Podcast, we discuss:-Moyuka Uchijima's breakthrough in Madrid including a first-top 10 win over Jessica Pegula. -Alex Eala's decent second showing against Iga Swiatek-17-year-old Wakana Sonobe's first title win. Shibahara and Ito also impressing. -Chung Hyeon's return to Challenger tennis, and Kwon's return from the army.-Naomi Osaka stepping down to WTA 125 level. -a look ahead to the rest of Madrid and the upcoming Challengers.

Eddie and Alastair review a remarkable Miami Open from a Tennis Asia perspective. Alex Eala, the 19-year-old from the Philippines, more than justified her wild card by going all the way to the semifinals. She beat three slam winners in Ostapenko, Keys and Swiatek in straight sets, making history for her country and sending her flying up to no. 75 in the WTA rankings.Coleman Wong of Hong Kong also made his history of his own by winning his first-round match in Miami and then beating no. 13 seed Ben Shelton in a remarkable match. Meanwhile, on the ITF Tour, the former world no. 19, Chung Hyeon, won his third title of 2025, propelling him back into the world's top 500 for the first time in almost 3 years. Could we see him back at the top level again?

Eddie and Alastair preview the upcoming 2025 Indian Wells Open from a Tennis Asia perspective, featuring Zheng Qinwen, Naomi Osaka, Kei Nishikori, Zhang Zhizhen, Elena Rybakina, Buyunchaokete and more.

On Episode 24 of the Tennis Asia Podcast, we review a very successful week for three teenage players on the professional circuit, namely 15-year-old Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi and 17-year-old Manas Dhamne, both from India, and 17-year-old Wakana Sonobe of Japan. Maaya, who recently joined the Rafa Nadal Academy, came through qualifying to reach the semifinals of the WTA 125 event in Mumbai, while Manas Dhamne won his first professional title, becoming the second youngest Indian male to do so. Indian tennis journalist, Haresh Ramchandani, was at the event in Mumbai and he joined Eddie to give us the lowdown on these talented prospects as well as Indian tennis as a whole. Meanwhile, Sonobe qualified for the WTA 500 event in Abu Dhabi and won her first-round match, just after lifting the girls singles trophy at the Australian Open. The future of Asian tennis is looking bright!

We run through the men's and women's singles draws for the upcoming 2025 Australian Open, with our focus of course on the Asian players (mostly).

It's episode 22 of the Tennis Asia Podcast, and we cover an eventful week and a half, including the ATP tournament in Hong Kong where Kei Nishikori made his first final in 6 years, Jerry Shang retiring due to illness, Hyeon Chung winning his first title since 2019, Naomi Osaka making the final in Auckland but sadly retiring, Aoi Ito winning her first WTA 125 title only to come up short in Melbourne, and a look ahead to the Davis Cup ties featuring Japan, Korea and Chinese Taipei.

Tennis Asia is in Hong Kong for the Hong Kong Tennis Open being held in the first week of the 2025 season. Some of Asia's finest players will battle it out alongside established stars and young up-and-comers for the title in preparation for the upcoming Australian Open.

Tennis Asia Podcast gives the rundown of our top 10 players from Asia in the 2024 season, featuring men and women from the singles and doubles circuits. Who will make the top 10 and who just missed out? Listen/watch to find out!

We're finally back with Tennis Asia Podcast Episode 19, which features: -Zheng Qinwen's admirable run to the final in her first WTA Finals appearance, ultimately coming up short in a classic match against Coco Gauff in Riyadh. -Kei Nishikori's title win at the Helsinki Challenger, his first in over a year, putting him on the verge of the top 100. -ATP Challenger roundup -Preview of Billie Jean King Cup where Japan will take on Romania

-Zheng Qinwen finishes runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka but puts in an excellent performance. It turned out to be enough for her to qualify for the WTA Finals in Riyadh, making her the second Chinese player to do so after Li Na. -Meanwhile, Japanese youngster Aoi Ito qualifies for Osaka and reaches the quarterfinals with excellent performances over Kenin and Cocciaretto. -Also discussed are WTA Ningbo, ATP Almaty, as well as upcoming ATP Challenger events in Asia.

Episode 17: Zheng Qinwen dishes out a first-ever bagel to Mirra Andreeva on the WTA Tour but ultimately falls to Karolina Muchova in the semifinals at the China Open in Beijing. Meanwhile, Wu Yibing puts on an impressive showing on his comeback in Shanghai, losing but putting on a sparkling show against Carlos Alcaraz that even got the respect of the Spaniard. Also discussed: - Yosuke Watanuki's return and march to the last 32 - ITF 75 Rancho Santa Fe: Shibahara loses in final to 16-year-old Iva Jović - Preview of WTA 1000 in Wuhan. - Preview of the Hangzhou Challenger and ATP 250 in Almaty. - ...and, uh, Taro Daniel spending 18 hours in Seoul

Episode 16: It was a superb week for Chinese tennis as Bu Yunchaokete became the first Chinese man to reach the semifinals of the China Open in Beijing, with big wins over Musetti and Rublev. Alcaraz and Sinner played a superb final. -Zhang Shuai remarkably reached the quarterfinals after ending her 24-match losing streak. Zheng Qinwen is also in the quarters. -Kei Nishikori made the quarters in Tokyo but loses out to Rune. And some disappointment for Naomi Osaka. -A look ahead at Shanghai Masters. Jerry Shang vs Alcaraz awaits. -WTA 125 in Hong Kong and Challenger roundup.

We discuss the incredible first title win in Chengdu for 19-year-old Shang Juncheng, aka Jerry Shang. He becomes the first player born in 2005 or later to win an ATP title, and just the second man from China to win an ATP title. How far can this young talent go? Also discussed is the Hangzhou Open, with a run to the final for Zhang Zhizhen and a semifinal run for Bu Yunchaokete, with Bu entering the top 100 for the first time. How good is Chinese men's tennis right now?! Yasutaka Uchiyama also reached the quarters in Hangzhou. Also discussed are the recently completed Korea Open, this week's China Open, Zhang Shuai breaking her record 24-match losing streak, the return of Naomi Osaka, and the Japan Open featuring Kei Nishikori and Rei Sakamoto. We even made room to discuss the Nonthaburi 4 Challenger and the return of a certain Mr. Hyeon Chung!

A look ahead at the qualifying tournament for the 2024 US Open. Can players like Bu Yunchaokete, Coleman Wong, Sara Saito, Alex Eala and Hong Seong-chan qualify for their first slam main draw?

Eddie and Alastair discuss Japanese star Kei Nishikori's remarkable run at the Canadian Masters event in Montreal, where he beat Stefanos Tsitsipas on the way to the quarterfinals. Also on the agenda: -Moyuka Uchijima gets her first-ever WTA 1000 win; disappointment for Naomi Osaka. -Coleman Wong of Hong Kong finishes runner-up at the Lincoln Challenger; China's Bu Yunchaokete reaches the semis. -Wei Sijia makes semis in Landisville -A look ahead at the Cary Challenger and the Cincinnati Open

Eddie and Alastair reflect on Zheng Qinwen's amazing tournament that saw her take out the top player in the world and clinch a gold medal for China. Also covered are: -Olympic silver for ZZZ and Wang Xinyu. -Hong Seongchan's excellent run in Washington, including his career-best win over Karen Khachanov. -Preview of the Canadian Open, including a blockbuster tie between Naomi Osaka and Ons Jabeur. -A round-up of the ATP Challenger events, including good results for Jason Tseng and Coleman Wong. -Young Chinese up-and-comer Wei Sijia wins back-to-back ITF titles -A look ahead at the Lincoln Challenger

Eddie and Alastair look ahead to all of the singles and doubles events at the upcoming Paris Olympics. As well as discussing the prospects for players like Zheng Qinwen, Zhang Zhizhen, and Rohan Bopanna, they talk about what the Olympics means in tennis, past Olympics winners, and how there might not be any tennis tournaments in Korea were it not for the Seoul Olympics. They also talk about the tennis going on elsewhere, particularly the success for Jerry Shang, Alex Eala and Bu Yunchaokete.

Eddie and Alastair preview the men's and women's draws for the 2024 Wimbledon Championships. Wimbledon is about to start and we've got some pretty interesting draws. Eddie and Alastair discuss the prospects for numerous Asian players, including Naomi Osaka, Elena Rybakina, Zheng Qinwen, Zhang Zhizhen, Jerry Shang, Sumit Nagal, Alexander Bublik, Kei Nishikori, Kwon Soonwoo, and many more! We even get into the doubles draws.

Eddie and Alastair discuss: -Zhang Zhizhen's run to the semis in Halle, defeating Medvedev and reaching a new career high and seeding at Wimbledon. -Naomi Osaka and Zheng Qinwen's performances -New ATP rule changes mean good news for Kwon Soonwoo -Jerry Shang, Sumit Nagal, Jang Su-jeong -A look ahead at Wimbledon qualies

This review of Roland Garros comes a bit later than planned but it feels an appropriate time to release this one since all the players of Asian nations have been knocked out the singles. Nonetheless it's been an eventful tournament with much to talk about, including: -An incredible match from Naomi Osaka against Iga Swiatek. -The end of Moyuka Uchijima's incredible run against Sabalenka. -Disappointment for Zheng Qinwen and Rybakina. -The return of Kei Nishikori and Kwon Soonwoo. -Zhang Zhizhen aka ZZZ in singles and doubles. -A look at players in action in the Challengers, including Jason Tseng, Gerard Campana Lee, Alex Eala, and Beibit Zhukayev. -And more!!

Eddie and Alastair review the recently completed Roland-Garros qualifying tournament (including more success - again - for Moyuka Uchijima!), and preview the French Open main draw which starts on Sunday. What are the prospects for the Asian players such as Zheng Qinwen, Zhang Zhizhen, Kei Nishikori and Elena Rybakina? They also cover some of the Asian players' performances in the recently completed ATP Challengers and ATP 250 events. 

Eddie and Alastair review an eventful week in Asian tennis, including: -Taipei Challenger success for Adam Walton, and decent runs for Hsu Yu-hsiou and Ilya Marchenko. Nam Ji-sung and Ray Ho win doubles. -Italian Open: Zheng Qinwen and Zhang Zhizhen's runs to the quarterfinals in Rome. -Moyuka Uchijima's incredible title triumph in Madrid, her third title in three consecutive weeks, and new Japanese number 1. -The return of Sumit Nagal in Bordeaux and Geneva. -Shang Juncheng aka Jerry Shang reaches semis in Bordeaux; top-100 debut; prospects for French Open. -A look ahead to qualifying for Roland-Garros.

Eddie and Alastair discuss an eventful week in Asian tennis, including: -The Italian Open in Rome, featuring the Tennis Asia supermatch between Naomi Osaka and Zheng Qinwen, as well as success for Zhang Zhizhen over Ben Shelton. -A review of the Wuxi Challenger where Bu Yunchaokete had a great week. -A look ahead to the Taipei Challenger. -The machine that is Moyuka Uchijima, who apparently can't stop winning even across multiple continents! -The return of Kwon Soonwoo and success in Tunis for Gerard Campana Lee. -Fukuoka: Jang Su-jeong proves us wrong, and the return of Zarina Diyas.

-Eddie and Alastair review the recently completed Guangzhou ATP Challenger event, covering Bu Yunchaokete, Adam Walton and a superb week for Tristan Schoolkate -A look ahead to the Wuxi Challenger -W100 in Gifu: the champion Moyuka Uchijima on the rise, and Jang Su-jeong exceeding expectations -A review of the the Madrid Open featuring Yulia Putintseva and Elena Rybakina -A look ahead to W75 events in Fukuoka and Luan, with returns for Wang Qiang and Zarina Diyas

A lot covered in this episode, including: - The ATP Challenger events in Shenzhen and Guangzhou - The Philippines' teenage tennis sensation Alex Eala makes history at the Madrid Open - Chinese hopeful Jerry Shang's 4-hour battle against Corentin Moutet and controversial loss to Davidovich Fokina - Disappointment for Zheng Qinwen in Madrid - Japan's doubles star Ena Shibahara's run at the W100 singles event in Tokyo, as well as doubles success for Jang Su-jeong and Kimberly Birrell - The return of China's former WTA top-20 player Wang Qiang as a champion on the tour

Eddie and Alastair review the recently completed Gwangju Challenger, and Eddie gives his predictions for Shenzhen. Also discussed are Sumit Nagal's UK visa conundrum, the WTA 500 in Stuttgart (particularly Zheng Qinwen and Elena Rybakina), and the upcoming Madrid Open.

Eddie and Alastair discuss last week's Busan Open, the ATP Challenger 125 event, and Eddie gives his predictions for Gwangju.