Episode 16 of The Big T podcast centers on Jannik Sinner’s win over Carlos Alcaraz in the Monte Carlo final and a crossover segment that pairs comedy with tennis.

Nick Monroe and Brad Gilbert open the episode with a breakdown of the Monte Carlo final (1:30), identifying the decisive moments and tactical adjustments that favored Sinner. Monroe relays insight from Sinner’s coach on the game plan, while Gilbert pinpoints missed opportunities for Alcaraz and outlines adjustments he will need moving forward. “Maybe he has started to figure things out, after two wins in a row…he could get on a streak and win five or six in a row. Brad Gilbert, on Jannik SInner”

The hosts also look ahead to the road to Roland Garros and how both players are managing schedules with a potential rematch in Paris in mind (6:10).

A lighter but thoughtful portion of the episode features stand-up comic Matt Rife alongside Chris Eubanks (14:30). Rife describes his first time on court after being invited to try tennis: “Tennis Channel asked me if I wanted to embarrass myself. They were like, ‘have you ever played before?’ I said, ‘not a day in my life.’ So then they brought in the best.” The segment compares performing solo under pressure to competing on court, traces the grind through smaller stages, and debates the greatest of all time in both fields with names like Eddie Murphy, Dave Chappelle, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic entering the conversation.

Rife observes a key technical challenge: “Much like tennis, it’s not something you can learn in a room by yourself. Matt Rife, on the similarities between comedy and tennis” The episode includes a practical lesson, as Eubanks teaches Rife basics and tests him in live points.

Episode 16 closes with the Code Violations segment (48:00), where Monroe, Gilbert and Geoff Chizever discuss the small habits that frustrate professionals, from lateness to messy locker rooms to odd ways of calling the score.

On the latest emergency episode of the Big T podcast, Paul Annacone, Brad Gilbert and Coco Vandeweghe break down Jannik Sinner’s victory over Carlos Alcaraz in Monte Carlo and what it means for both players.

“Sinner has to create more variety while retaining his shot-selection discipline,” says Annacone, “and Alcaraz has to do the exact opposite. He has to create more shot-selection discipline, while retaining his variety.” That exchange captures the mutual respect and the adjustments both stars are considering. After Sinner’s run — making the Italian only the second player ever to win Indian Wells, Miami and Monte Carlo in the same season — Alcaraz lauded his opponent at the net, during the trophy ceremony, and in press. For now, Sinner has the upper hand.

Listen at the 4:15 mark for Annacone’s thoughts on this, and reaction from the panel.

Annacone and Gilbert also drew on their coaching pasts. Both have coached legendary players and once coached against each other when Andre Agassi, with Gilbert, took on Pete Sampras, with Annacone. With those respective coaches, Sampras led Agassi, 13-8.

Annacone recalled one tournament where, after Pete played Andre, Sampras’ second-serve speed was six MPH faster than during the rest of the event. “I said, why is that? And [Pete] said, well, it’s really simple—because against Andre, I have to.” In that sense, Agassi liberated Sampras’ strength.

Like Sampras, Sinner served brilliantly to win a big final. (Gilbert also compared Sinner to Roger Federer, another “dime server.”) The pressure Alcaraz applies forces responses and helps shape Sinner’s performances.

“Other than the game style,” says Annacone, “Alcaraz is a little bit like Agassi, and Sinner is a lot like Sampras … that’s what makes the rivalry fascinating. Different individuals and fan bases that love them both.” Still, questions linger. “It seems like he’s slipping in this rivalry,” says Vandeweghe. Sinner has now won their last two meetings to improve his record against Alcaraz to 7-10.

Gilbert cautioned against overreacting, but offered a matchup note: “If you keep him to script, maybe just for Sinner, it might help a little bit,” says Gilbert, but “I think the flair and unpredictability is what totally makes him dangerous. You can’t take that away from him, and that natural entertainer that he is.”

Listen to the full episode for more of the panel’s thoughts on this rivalry. New episodes drop every Wednesday.

When Jakub Mensik was a junior his father Michal built a simple analytics platform to log serves, returns, plus-one shots and court zones. “You would be surprised!” Mensik joked in Miami. That homemade scouting helped him move from juniors into the early professional ranks. “I’m not saying my father did it better,” Mensik smiled. “But yeah, when I was a junior and basically starting to play pros, that was one of the most basic and necessary things that I needed.”

Today those basic ideas have grown into far more advanced systems. ATP Tennis IQ, relaunched and upgraded after new investment, aims to broaden access to high-quality performance data for players on the ATP Tour. “One of the things we’re most proud of with ATP Tennis IQ Powered by PIF is putting high quality data insights into the hands of more players—enabling easy access to information that can genuinely impact their careers,” said Ross Hutchins, the ATP’s Chief Sporting Officer. “Working with PIF has accelerated that progress—scaling faster, supporting more players, and delivering one of the biggest technological step changes in the sport.”

The platform offers serve patterns, rally lengths, shot placement graphics, shot quality metrics and integrated wearable data for physical measures. A point-by-point video analysis tool is in development and Challenger and doubles coverage are planned. Coaches and players suggest new features; a serve-speed-by-placement breakdown is expected later this year.

Serve maps are the most-viewed section. “From a tennis perspective that makes super sense. Basically 70% of the rallies are zero to four (shots), so that means it’s serve, return, one or two strokes, and that’s it,” he said. “(Knowing the opponent’s) serve placement makes it easier, because in tennis the serve is the only stroke that you can take your time and really think about where you will go. When you have the advantage over the opponent of knowing which side is weaker for him, then you just simply go where it’s most effective for you.”

Players vary in how deep they dive into numbers. “I trust (the stats) a lot,” she said. “Numbers can’t lie, right? I rely on that (information) a lot and I keep it in my mind when I play. A lot of times, in the key moments, it makes a big difference.” “I have a separate service that I use,” the American explained. “I’m not the one reading the stats. My coaches are… It’s not something I like to get down all the way into the details in, because I feel like it can overcomplicate things in my head.

“Something I pay attention to more so especially where my opponents like to serve I think is the most stat thing I like to know before I go on court.”

Former Olympic gold medalist Monica Puig offered a caution: “It’s a fine line. If you’re really responsible with the information that you receive you can kind of just treat it as it is, which is a number,” and “If you’re the type of player who gets a little bit too obsessed with the numbers, hand it off to your team, like I did, and have them kind of make the adjustments. Then you just kind of go along for the ride.”

Film study still matters. “After the match, I definitely looked at all the film I possibly could,” Quinn said of his loss to Carlos Alcaraz in Barcelona last year. “Just watching what Alcaraz does with a tennis ball is pretty special…

“And it’s funny, watching the film and seeing how it actually looks, versus how I felt playing the match. It’s a really good assistant coach, basically, being able to look over film and stuff.”

Looking ahead, teams are exploring AI-assisted scouting and real-time tools, but the sport’s competitive core remains human.