Episode 20: Elina Svitolina joins the show; the players' contention over revenue; Roger vs. Rafa in Rome revisited

🏛️ Anniversary Drop: 20 years ago in Rome, Roger and Rafa played a five-set, 5:05 long final that helped define a rivalry. Andrea Petkovic sets the scene, and the nostalgia hits hard. (0:40)
⚠️ Sabalenka and Djokovic both lost early in Rome—where are we on the panic meter? The crew takes the temperature of both stars. (4:00)
💰 Show me the money: Top players are reportedly threatening a strike over revenue share. Will it happen? Should it? Would it even work? Our experts weigh in. (12:45)
👩‍👧 Elina Svitolina—two-time Rome champion, WTA super mom, and one half of tennis' power couple—sits down for a wide-ranging interview. Life on tour as a mother, Gaël Monfils' farewell tour and, yes, hair talk with Petko are discussed. (29:50)
📈 Buy, Sell, Hold? Prakash Amritraj runs the room in Rome. Who overperforms their ranking at Roland Garros? Who's a sell heading into Paris? And who do you want locked in your portfolio through grass and the U.S. hardcourt summer? (43:20)
📬 Fan Mail: A tennis mom writes in about her 14-year-old daughter who owns group classes but freezes in tournaments. The crew brings real, experience-backed advice. (52:20)
🚨 Code Violations—Prakash has grievances. Gym etiquette and cheat meal chaos are on the docket. (56:15)

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20 Years Later: Roger and Rafa's riveting Rome classic

On May 15, 2006, the notoriously divided world of tennis found something that it could agree on: that the rivalry between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, after simmering for two years, had come to a boil over the course of a five-hour final at the Foro Italico in Rome.

More important, fans and media concurred, was that this clash of opposites was exactly what the sport needed.

Borg–McEnroe, Evert–Navratilova, Sampras–Agassi. Tennis, that metaphorical duel, is at its best when there’s a tug of war between two top players. If the crushing, captivating five-set duel that Federer and Nadal staged was any indication, the stylish Swiss and the swashbuckling Spaniard were about to carry the game into a new golden age.

For once, the prophecies proved correct and the optimism was justified. What no one could have known then, though, was that it would be the quality of their relationship, as much as the fierceness of their rivalry, that would put a unique, indelible stamp on the decade to come.

⏪ Wayback Wednesday: Reliving the Roger and Rafa's 2006 Roman epic

Before there was Sincaraz, there was Fedal. And before Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal played what is arguably the greatest tennis match ever in the 2008 Wimbledon final, they contested another beautiful battle in Rome.

At the beginning of their rivalry, as you knew something special was happening—that was wild. Prakash Amritraj

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Rafa's 6–7 (0), 7–6 (5), 6–4, 2–6, 7–6 (5) victory over Federer at the Foro Italico, in which the 19-year-old Spaniard saved two championship points, and won the final four points of the deciing tiebreaker, for an improbable and incredible triumph.

"It's still burned into my mind, to be honest," says Mark Petchey, "the forehand miss on match point for Roger."

You can watch the entire match here, on the Tennis Channel app (subscription required), and we'll have more about this iconic showdown later in the week on TENNIS.com.

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"It's such a precious thing that we have our daughter," Svitolina, this week's special guest, says on The Big T.

🎤 The Big T Interview: Elina Svitolina

Every day should be Mother's Day. And this week on The Big T, we extended the celebration with a special conversation. Elina Svitolina, still playing on tour while raising a family, joined Petch at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia.

Svitolina has won the event twice, in 2017 and 2018, and apparently sitting down for this interview rekindled the good vibes in Rome, as she's back in the quarterfinals.

"Maybe it's about the food, you know, in the city itself," Svitolina said with a smile. "I love Rome."

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She's yet to drop a set in Rome 🔥

Elina Svitolina stops by The Big T this week to spill some clay court secrets 🤫

Subscribe now to watch or listen every Wednesday: https://t.co/6XlaGcEugl pic.twitter.com/lsUZ5CZb4o
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) May 13, 2026

Nearly a decade after she reached a career-high No. 3 ranking, Svitolina is still in the Top 10—and is only 31. It may feel like the Ukrainian has been on tour forever, but she's been very good for a very long time, and is still very much in the mix.

There has been "nobody on the WTA Tour that has outworked you," believes Petchey, and while Svitolina has had to adjust her training regimen for a variety of reasons, it's still a tenet of her enduring success.

"I think learning to relax and learning to rest is something that is more difficult than working hard," she says.

PLUS:

Andrea Petkovic asks Svitolina about how she resets—and about her "snatched" hair. 👱🏻‍♀️ (31:35)
Svitolina on husband Gael Monfils' last dance. 🎾 (33:30)

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How are you feeling about Iga right now?

📈 Buy, Sell, Hold: Taking stock of...everything

No topic is off limits...

👉 Petchey BUYS Cam Norrie—but Petko asks if that's just Mark being an English homer...

👉 Petchey SELLS Swiatek, but someone quickly disagrees, leading to a transaction...

👉 Monfils can seemingly do it all, on the court. How about off the court, as a financial advisor? Who trusts Gael with their money?

Answers on this week's show.

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💰 And speaking of money...

It was reported that players threatened a boycott of Roland Garros over a dispute about prize money. Mark Petchey dug into the hot-button issue, and discusses it with his co-hosts in great detail at the 12:45 mark of the show.

This is a very layered subject, and it's very important for me to caveat everything that we're gonna say here, and particularly myself with, I just wanna set the table. I've got no skin in the game in terms of whether it's for the tournaments or for the players or for the majors, or for the tours.
I just want to have a nice open discussion and let's talk some facts. Mark Petchey

The entire conversation is well worth your time.

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