My favorite thing of the US Summer swing has been watching Brandon Nakashima show what a great player he has always been. BNak stans where are you at? Takes out Fritz to make it to his 2nd Masters Semifinals in a row. #CincyTennis

PSA - The US Open Fan Week passes are back up. I suggest try and use a computer to register. I tried my phone and iPad and I got the still unavailable message but on my computer got through. Don’t know why.

Haven’t solved the ticket issue but I have some hacks to survive them 👀 Our US Open guide is live. From someone who has attended the US Open for 10+ years. www.groundpasspodcast.com/us-open-guide

This is the actual part of the conversation that should be clipped. We act like there are no solutions to this problem. Producer Mike nails it here. And to be clear if this was a one off issue I would understand but the US Open resale ticket problem has been one for a while. (1/2)

Jannik Sinner is out of the US Open. Apparently we are not allowed to have nice things this year.

The year of the small tournament is about to go hard! 👀

Absurd. Just ridiculous what Rafa Jodar is doing right now. I just don’t think I have seen a rise like this before. If you told me he would be at the doorstep of the Top 10 when I talked to him in Delray I would not have believed you. Not even close. #CincyTennis

Is Spain building their best Davis Cup team in a while? And Alcaraz hasn’t even entered the chat 👀

This is why I love tennis. Samsonova was playing brilliant tennis some of her patterns were insane. So how do you turn it around? Well that’s the puzzle and watching Coco Gauff solve it was fun. Good Night firends. See you on the pod on Tuesday this week. ✌🏾

Big big win for Jamie Faria. A young Portuguese player with a big personality. Sign me up. Tough turnaround for Ben Shelton winning Canada but Faria played really brave tennis to get his first top 10 win. #CinncinatiOpen

Jakub Mensik wins the battle against Mattia Bellucci. This was a knock out drag out kinda match. It’s been a while since I have just watched tennis. Nice to remember how fun that is. Up next JPeg, Atmane and Tommy Paul. #CincinnatiOpen

Great win for Tiago Tirante who is bringing his Canadian Open good form and bringing it to Cincinnati by defeating Novak Djokovic to get to the 3rd round. #CincinnatiOpen

Back to Back Outside of the Grand Slams Ben Shelton has had his best season yet. Back to no. 1 American and defended his Canadian title. Can he bring this energy to the US Open?

We called it early. In the pod last week Christian’s Court and I talked about how Brandon Nakashima has come to play this summer hard court swing. With a new coach in tow 👀 He is on court now against Ben Shelton in the final of a 1000 level tournament 🍿

Show Courts. They are the marquee features of a tennis tournament and the Cincinnati Open has a few spectacular ones with some very unique features. Let me show you ⬇️

She’s back… First final of the year, first title. It’s been a while since we have seen this version of Iga Swiatek. Maybe she has figured it all out. And if she has… 👀

One of the most common questions we get at Ground Pass is “How are the Practice Courts?” The practice Courts at the Cincinnati Open got a big upgrade last year. Here are our thoughts on it. Link in reply

Our Cincinnati Open guide dropped last night. it’s probably the only guide that will describe a tennis tournament as your hot high school friend. If you are going or know someone who is, check it out for all our tips, tricks and relatable analogies. 🔗⬇️

The Ground Pass YouTube channel just got verified! At least You Tube knows we are real. Taking the small wins and working harder 👊🏾

This kid! The intensity level is at 1000. Into a semifinal at a 1000 level event and you can help but see him as the favourite if he can keeps this intensity level up. Rafa Jodar is here.

If you are new around these parts you might not know about Ground Pass On-Site & my daily dispatches from the ground. I was in Cincinnati for 7 days last year. I will be there for a shorter time this year but you can look back at my thoughts on the tournament. Here is Day 1 🔗⬇️

In tennis we need to get out of our own way. The influx of new Alex Eala fans should be seen as a good thing, an opportunity to educate more people about tennis. We can probably take something from them; bring that energy to other matches. More with Christian’s Court & I ⬇️

New Episode is out with Christian of Christian’s Court We discuss: - that the Canadian Open is doing right and the impact of Alex Eala on the tournament - Coco Gauff playing her best yet and that call out - we DON’T freak out about the men’s tournament - and more Link below to listen

The last 2 weeks have been wild. Thank you to all the new listeners of the podcast who not only come for the Alex Eala content but to learn more about the sport and the players in it. 🙏🏾

Belinda Bencic, former Canadian Open champion, gets the win over Alex Eala. Bencic played much better than her last match and the battery was out for Alex Eala. Ealamania in Canada was fun. On to Cincinnati… or does she take a tournament off 👀

Naomi Osaka is defending finalist points and I really didn’t expect much but she has been playing incredibly well. And she wins in straight sets against Leylah Fernandez in what I thought might be a tricky match.

The Learner Tien match got interesting at the end. Don’t think I have seen Tirante play in any capacity before but he put up a fight at the end. While everyone is declaring ATP in disarray I’m frankly enjoying watching the new crop - Tien, Jodar, Merida, Fonseca, Fils - have their moment in the sun.

The Spaniards are coming. When I watched Daniel Merida at Indian Wells in qualifying he was ranked 139 and I was impressed. We made him player of the fortnight in April and now he breaks into the top 50 and is into the quarterfinals in Montreal. Joins Jodar. (1/2)

Damn this actually looks good. One thing I feel tennis tournaments could do better is food that doesn’t make you feel like crap and this looks so good. Chicken and rice! Yes please.

Jeff D.@jeffdonaldson.bsky.social · 2w ago

Yes, the Alex Eala Filipino Adobo Chicken is a real meal in Toronto. Yes I got it. Yes it’s amazing. Yes I’m Filipino now.

Not yet unpacked from DC, running on 4 hours of sleep but home from work, glass of red on the go, left over Indian and some tennis. Love Coco Gauff’s navy dress this tournament. What are we watching next?