Roland-Garros Day 9: Serena Williams is BACK, Sabalenaka overpowers Osaka + Berrettini into QFs

Serena Williams is officially coming back. The 23-time Grand Slam champion has confirmed her return to professional tennis, with the 44-year-old set to make her long-awaited comeback in doubles at Queen’s Club alongside Victoria Mboko. Joel and Chris discuss what this means for Serena’s future, whether this is simply a doubles return or the first step towards a full comeback, and if another major title could still be within reach.At Roland Garros, Aryna Sabalenka strengthened her French Open title credentials with a statement victory over Naomi Osaka in the tournament’s long-awaited women’s night session. The team debate whether Sabalenka is now the clear favourite with the rest of the top five seeds eliminated, assess Osaka’s resurgence, and celebrate surprise quarter-final runs from Anna Kalinskaya and Polish qualifier Maja Chwalinska. On the men’s side, Matteo Berrettini continued his resurgence by ending Juan Manuel Cerundolo’s giant-killing run, while the team also discuss Adolfo Vallejo’s record fine, Amélie Mauresmo’s comments on electronic line calling, and preview a blockbuster showdown between teenage stars Joao Fonseca and Jakub Mensik.SOCIALSFollow us on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, plus email the show tennisweeklypod@gmail.com.MERCHPurchase Tennis Weekly Merch through our Etsy store including limited edition designs by Krippa Design where all proceeds go towards the podcast so we can keep doing what we do!REVIEWS***Please take a moment to rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your pods. It really means a lot to us at HQ and helps make it easier for new listeners to discover us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.