Breaking Back, a tennis podcast

← Breaking Back, a tennis podcast31 Aug · 56 min

US Open 2026: The Honey Deuce Recovery Plan

US Open 2026: The Honey Deuce Recovery Plan31 Aug56 min

<p>The 2026 US Open main draw is out and it&#39;s wide open. Sinner&#39;s out, Alcaraz is back but rusty, and nobody looks like the guy to beat.</p><p>Norm, JB, and Natalie Cutter break down both draws: whether Alcaraz gets out of a quarter stacked with Shelton, Fils, and Tommy Paul; why the last three Cincinnati winners went on to win the Open; Menšík&#39;s path through the soft second quarter; and a fourth quarter on the women&#39;s side with Świątek, Osaka, Rybakina, Keys, and Bencic that reads like a bracket unto itself.</p><p>Plus: the Wawrinka wild card mess and what actually goes into handing them out, JB on how draws really get made after years inside ATP events, the ticket-price backlash against a $23 honey deuce that somehow didn&#39;t go up this year, Federer&#39;s exhibition night and why Andre was the awkward one, and Sabalenka&#39;s fishnet kit getting torched online.</p><p>Then Nat&#39;s Numbers on where the value actually sits in round one — set betting on Berrettini/Wawrinka, live-betting angles on Fils/Tsitsipas, and futures on Shelton and Djokovic if you think Alcaraz goes early.</p>