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1:13

Hi, this is Billie Jean King. This is

1:15

Maryne Bartoli. I'm Matt Zwillander. This is Mary

1:17

Carrillo. This is Pam Shriver. This is Yannick Noah.

1:21

And you're listening to the tennis podcast. And

1:27

we are live.

1:36

Hello, everybody. And welcome to the tennis

1:38

podcast. I'm here. You're here. Some of

1:40

you live. Some of you not live,

1:42

in which case ignore all the references

1:45

to people being here live. But

1:47

a very warm welcome to everybody that is

1:49

here live. Matt is here. And

1:51

he's the same age as he was the

1:53

last time we podcasted for once. Matt,

1:56

how are you doing? Hello. I'm

1:58

very well. Thank you. for those

2:00

who are watching live. Update

2:02

is, yep, still nothing on the

2:04

wall, but some rearranging of the

2:07

shelves has happened, and there are some

2:09

little treats in there for people who

2:12

are watching live to enjoy. So, you

2:14

know, slowly but surely, we're

2:16

getting there on my live feed.

2:20

It will have already been noted by

2:22

both my parents, Matt, I'm excited about

2:24

the text. I'll

2:26

get from reviewing your improved

2:28

backdrop. Who do you think helped improve

2:31

my backdrop? Parents have been

2:33

round. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

2:35

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. David,

2:38

also known as the biggest hater on

2:40

the internet, is here. David,

2:42

how you doing? Just going around

2:45

hating on everything. It's

2:47

more life-like. Yep, it's

2:49

good. It's good, I mean, the only

2:51

downside to having cultivated

2:53

the perfect backdrop in the first place is

2:55

that there's just nowhere else to go. Kind

2:58

of like being Novak Djokovic or Rafa on

3:00

the Dao, or, you know, at

3:03

the French Open. But anyway, no, I'm

3:05

fine, thank you. I've just been swanning

3:07

around, ruin everybody's day locally after having

3:09

done it on the internet the other

3:11

day. So, yeah, that's me. Yeah,

3:15

David, you peanut. We

3:17

have lots to get into in today's

3:19

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5:04

That little interlude from me has

5:06

given everybody in the chat lots

5:09

of time to remark upon everybody's

5:11

various backgrounds which was

5:15

slightly distracting for me because it's

5:17

so enjoyable. Matt, overall people are

5:19

pleased with the improved situation but

5:23

I think there won't be, no

5:25

one will achieve peace until

5:27

that blank wall is filled.

5:30

I put such pressure on myself to fill it with

5:33

something good, haven't I? Yeah,

5:36

I hope you've got stuff to put

5:38

on these famous shelves that are going up.

5:41

Okay, that's for another day. For

5:43

today, we are talking mostly about

5:45

Madrid and we start of course

5:47

with the final that we were

5:49

looking ahead to in our last

5:51

show which was recorded on Friday

5:54

morning. Igor Sviontec, the top seed

5:56

against the second seed and

5:58

two time former champions. the

6:00

defending champion, Irina Sablenka.

6:03

And let's

6:06

just say it is a match that

6:09

did not disappoint. Chantec beating Sablenka 7-5,

6:11

4-6, 7-6, 9 points to 7 in

6:13

the match tiebreak. She saved

6:17

three championship

6:22

points along the way. She fell flat

6:24

on her back and celebrated like she

6:27

had won some sort of triple

6:29

crown style event. It was absolutely

6:32

everything we wanted from this tennis

6:34

match and so much more. And

6:39

Recency bias alert here, it's one of

6:41

my favorite tennis matches I have ever

6:44

seen, purely

6:47

on the tennis.

6:49

I love drama, I

6:52

love backstory, I love tension, I

6:54

love aggro, and so often my

6:56

favorite tennis matches feature one or

6:58

all of those things as

7:00

well as great tennis because I just I

7:03

love all that unashamedly. But

7:06

this was

7:08

just pure excellent

7:10

tennis and the

7:13

purity of it just

7:16

made my heart sing. I wasn't worried

7:18

about one of them flaking

7:20

mentally or one

7:22

of them not having it mentally or one

7:25

of them flaking physically. I just

7:28

was glorying in the quality of the tennis

7:30

and the fact that they both played pretty

7:33

much at their peak sustained

7:35

for three hours in a

7:37

huge match and a huge

7:39

occasion. And it was absolutely

7:43

stunning, David, a

7:45

joy. Yeah, we might as well end the

7:47

podcast there really. What else is

7:49

there to say? I mean, I don't see how anybody

7:51

can disagree with that assessment. What

7:53

I would like to add, I think, is something

7:56

you said shortly afterwards when we were chatting about

7:58

it and we were all just... just sort

8:00

of drunk on the three

8:02

hours that we'd enjoyed. And you said

8:05

that it's the best

8:07

non-Gramslam match I think you've

8:09

ever seen. And I said,

8:13

well, I don't see how I've, I don't

8:15

remember seeing a better and Gramslam match than

8:17

that. And you said, yeah, but the point

8:19

being the stakes, the

8:21

history, the importance. And I totally

8:24

take that on board because I

8:26

think the way to put it is had this

8:29

been a Gramslam match, I

8:32

think we're talking about it as maybe

8:35

the greatest match that we've

8:37

ever seen. In

8:40

women's tennis alongside maybe a

8:42

Nadal Federer Wimbledon

8:44

final of 2008. It

8:46

was up there because I

8:49

don't see what it possibly left.

8:51

You had two players playing their

8:53

very best tennis, I would say

8:55

some fans of either may disagree.

8:58

I would say it was very, very close to

9:00

their best tennis at the same time. It

9:03

was winners galore and if it

9:05

was errors, they were extracted by

9:07

previous brilliant shots from the opponent.

9:10

And if you'd have been able to crown a Grand

9:12

Slam champion with a performance like that or

9:14

lost out for one when you've

9:16

had three championship points, you kind

9:18

of deserve to win as well.

9:21

And I don't think Sabalenka choked

9:23

in any way. She had it taken from

9:26

her. It was just, it

9:29

really was a joyous experience to

9:31

watch. I'm sure it really Sabalenka fans

9:33

may feel a bit differently about that.

9:36

But this was the performance I've wanted

9:38

to see from Iga Švęántek for a

9:41

while. Being challenged like

9:43

that, being slightly overpowered,

9:45

being beaten by a player

9:47

who loves Madrid so much.

9:50

She's gone into her opponent's

9:52

favoured conditions And

9:55

she's just come out fighting and come

9:57

out standing toe to toe. Century

10:00

taking it from her and the level

10:02

that surrounds her cat To reach in

10:04

order to win that match was. Mind

10:07

boggling and any I was giddy on.

10:10

it shows a I was I felt

10:12

a fog was holding my breath through

10:14

lots of it's because the rallies would

10:16

just stay for you can't get that

10:18

back and how he can't get that

10:21

back. And and one after another these

10:23

these. First. Defying.

10:26

Seats. were being achieved by

10:28

these two players and them and

10:30

a seems. High Honest as

10:32

well and I loved that that they wrote

10:34

both. Enjoy the challenge and yeah, I think

10:37

we can. Kind of says very fortunate to

10:39

have seen it. I.

10:42

Think what I loved about it is

10:44

it's out to me like it was

10:46

kissing like a couple of pieces wt

10:49

a law against one another and it

10:51

was a case of which would come

10:53

out on top because he just comes

10:56

at wins the first set on a

10:58

cake or she is not lost a.

11:01

Take home match from a set up

11:03

since he became a major champion you

11:05

know that is such a marker normally

11:08

that she is going to go on

11:10

and often dominate matches. but certainly when.

11:13

But. Then she comes up against Arena sub

11:15

Or Lanka who as we spoke about

11:18

the other day, once she gets her

11:20

teeth into a match two months, she's

11:22

fine, so range in a match on

11:24

her groundstrokes and her biggest shots, she

11:26

feels like one of them as unstoppable

11:28

forces in the game. And that does

11:30

the situation we were suddenly in in

11:32

the third set. What? who is

11:35

gonna come out on top speed on

11:37

tech? Historically so good on play in

11:39

this position or Sabbah Lanka. So tough

11:41

to stop when she found her range

11:43

and. I was I

11:45

think like great matches need great

11:47

moments and we got those as

11:50

well like I will. I will

11:52

not stop thinking about arena several

11:54

anchors, second serve ice at thirty

11:56

all for role in the final

11:59

set like. Where did that come

12:01

from That was epic and then also

12:03

the way he goes film tech save

12:05

one of the match points that Cyber

12:07

Lanka had which is the swiping for

12:09

him when I like those two things

12:12

I could have picked out many other

12:14

moments but those to me was stay

12:16

with me and they said have elevated

12:18

this match from you know something really

12:20

good to something really grates I would

12:22

say and just let you. I was

12:25

impressed with yes Context Defense against the

12:27

Bankers attack and and how they both

12:29

just held. It together mentally in those

12:31

to the to states is sometimes

12:33

sometimes I've watched both those players

12:35

and. You. Know,

12:38

I think they can see a bit

12:40

on edge sometimes in matches. There was

12:42

absolutely none of that. They were both

12:44

so com so for a plane well

12:46

right to the ends and stop it

12:48

was just an absolutely or some match

12:50

with. A fill out one

12:52

of those ones were both players come

12:54

out with to so much credit going

12:56

into said have been on dialysis we've

12:58

gone the horizon them. Yeah.

13:01

I I know it's obligatory after at a

13:03

tight much to the said pundits to kind

13:06

of ask. Ask. Themselves.

13:08

Old Pontificate on what made

13:10

the difference. Because. Us

13:12

in eight? That's that's punditry wanna one isn't it?

13:14

But I just still a that's. Kind.

13:17

Of pointless hey you know what made the

13:19

difference is handset one an extra points. And.

13:22

And a kid has been sapling to.

13:24

I know that's not good trades for

13:26

people that make a living out of

13:28

analyzing tennis, but that's what it felt

13:31

like to me. nobody. Nobody crumbled, nobody

13:33

navy job that level. It's just so

13:35

happens that you know said it said

13:38

played at best ten point tie break

13:40

sub lanky could one it they played

13:42

best to thirteen. Something that will eat.

13:44

You. A It really is.

13:47

I. do think a kid gone

13:49

either way to sixty sixty is used

13:51

faulty much of his i was thinking

13:53

about it in relation to see penalty

13:56

shootouts is a day in sit ball

13:58

and how is it seems obligatory for

14:00

pundits going into penalty shootouts to go,

14:02

well it's a 50-50 now, isn't it?

14:06

Well it's not, it's not necessarily

14:08

because some teams are better than

14:10

penalties at others, one team might

14:12

have prepared more than others having

14:14

anticipated penalty shootouts more, like it's

14:16

not necessarily a 50-50 just because

14:18

it went 7-6 and a

14:20

third doesn't mean it was a 50-50

14:23

but in this case it was, it

14:25

really really was and I

14:30

think we're going to have a very different conversation

14:32

aren't we with regards to the men's final which

14:34

on paper was kind of almost

14:36

as close, didn't quite get down to the tie break

14:39

did it but almost as close,

14:42

however I think the beaten finest in

14:44

that one will have will have quite

14:46

some regrets whereas I think this is

14:48

a genuine situation for Sabalenko where I

14:50

hope she comes away from Madrid with

14:52

with nothing but positive

14:56

feelings and positive momentum going

14:58

into going into the rest of the

15:00

clay court season, it's hard to believe there's another 1000 event

15:04

before Roland Garros isn't

15:06

there? I put

15:08

to you that she may

15:10

have one regret or one concern

15:12

which is if she

15:15

can't beat Shveon Tech there, what

15:18

chances she got at Roland Garros where it's...

15:20

That's not a regret it is a fact. Yeah

15:24

but this was her chance to

15:27

get a win and get

15:29

some psychological upper hand in

15:31

that rivalry in

15:33

the immediate term. Now it feels very

15:37

unfair to suggest that

15:40

she's behind in that particular match, as you

15:42

say one point but it

15:46

does make me think well if

15:49

Shveon Tech plays anything close to

15:51

that I'm not sure that

15:53

it's as close in Rome, I'm

15:55

not sure it's as close in Paris

15:57

because the conditions just suit Shveon Tech.

16:00

More. Troubling. Could doesn't have

16:02

the conditions that eight her game that.

16:05

Altitude and and so forth at the same

16:07

time. I mean really we should have ended

16:09

up to be honest with a with a

16:11

final assembling current the the French Open last

16:13

year and that would have been very interesting

16:15

of it's recently we ended up with a

16:17

fantastic fun and Mukalla deserves to turn that

16:19

around but I it's. I

16:21

hope I hope saddling to can build on it. And.

16:24

Not. And. That wasn't the

16:26

peak of her. Claycourt. Season

16:28

I, I just I I'm loving

16:31

this describes I mean we ended

16:33

up with three absolutely cracking matches

16:35

that I will remember from Madrid.

16:37

All of them women smashes Collins

16:39

or back in out Rebecca sub

16:41

lanka seven like it's frantic and

16:43

and I just wanna see these

16:46

women. Get. To the sharp. End

16:48

of the tournament sick. As the

16:51

next month's because that that

16:53

could be something really really

16:55

memorable. Yeah,

16:58

I think. Look Zeppelin

17:00

can be see on tech

17:02

in Madrid. Last. Year

17:04

and didn't go on to win the

17:06

French Open. As you said, like Madrid

17:08

is it a little bit of an

17:11

outlier and sends conditions doesn't always translate

17:13

to what's gonna happen about on gas

17:15

and I completely agree. like everything at

17:17

a meeting at Roland Garros is more

17:19

income tax favor than it was even

17:21

in in the trade center fetishes managed

17:23

to win Midway. I just makes fiance

17:26

even more of a ride on Gauss

17:28

favorite. But what I would say is

17:30

that. I've

17:32

been thinking David about that line that

17:34

you brought up on Fridays podcast that

17:36

serene a said about Cyber Length Cab

17:39

when they played a fan open as

17:41

to a few years ago. If she

17:43

wants to play power, let's go. And

17:45

I think that's really interesting line because.

17:49

i think that of ever since in

17:51

america hello came up with the term

17:53

big bay tennis to kind of described

17:55

that the ear of women's tennis late

17:57

nineties early two thousand there is dislikes

17:59

it battle for supremacy in terms

18:01

of like who basically just is

18:03

the best power player on the

18:05

tour like there's always a few

18:07

players who brand themselves as sort

18:09

of power players and I think

18:12

Serena held that sort of you

18:15

know she was the one for so long

18:17

she held that title for so long I

18:19

think when Serena said that probably Osaka actually

18:21

held that title like if you

18:23

were gonna bring up your

18:25

best power tennis back in sort

18:28

of 2020-2021 it was it was

18:30

kind of Naomi Osaka who had it but I

18:32

think what Sabalenka has shown this week is that

18:34

right now that that sort of title belongs to

18:36

her you know like

18:38

she beat Collins and she beat

18:41

Rabatkinna and those are the matches

18:43

of big power tennis so I

18:45

do think that Sabalenka sort of

18:47

sort of her position in the sport

18:49

was sort of cemented a little bit this

18:51

week during Madrid even though she didn't actually

18:54

sort of end up beating Shfiontek

18:56

in the final she sort of marked herself

18:58

as a clear like if I bring my

19:00

big power tennis against the other players I'm

19:02

kind of the one and we saw that

19:04

the Australian Open as well that she didn't

19:06

totally need to prove it this week I

19:08

think she's in a great place heading into

19:11

Roland Garros Sabalenka and I also think the

19:13

conditions are pretty vital in Paris you know

19:15

if it's cold and wet

19:17

and windy Sabalenka is going

19:19

to struggle a bit more to sort of

19:21

penetrate the court if it's hot and fast

19:24

and lively I'd give her a

19:26

much better chance of of troubling Egas

19:28

Shfiontek if they do end up playing absolutely

19:32

I was just going to mention

19:34

that the best chance of replicating Madrid

19:37

conditions is is heat in Paris isn't

19:39

it day session matches in in heat

19:42

Shfiontek of course won the the

19:45

October Covid French Open

19:47

so she has

19:49

a very different position to Victoria

19:51

Azarenka on

19:55

playing tennis in those kind

19:57

of conditions say

20:00

they're on like Iguzfiontek. We've

20:04

talked in the past about whether, you know,

20:06

does she win enough close matches and all

20:08

this kind of thing. I think one of

20:10

the elevations that she's

20:12

made this year is really

20:15

putting that, maybe not completely to

20:18

bed, but she is winning her fair

20:20

share of really tight matches

20:22

now and showing an awful lot of resilience.

20:24

Like in this final, a mini,

20:26

a breakdown at the start of the third, she

20:28

had to serve to stay in a couple of

20:30

times and save match points. She

20:32

was a mini breakdown in the tiebreak and

20:35

every time she just kept delivering.

20:37

And I think it's just interesting

20:39

how, you know, last

20:41

year it felt to me a little bit

20:43

like Iguzfiontek was holding on to

20:45

being the best player in the world. And

20:48

I think this year, okay, she didn't

20:50

win the Australian Open, she

20:52

hadn't won a 1000 event

20:54

before Roland Garros last year. This year she's won

20:56

three and she's really just

20:58

sort of cementing herself as, okay,

21:00

I've got rivals, but like I'm

21:03

still ahead of everyone

21:05

else. Yeah, look, we do know

21:07

what's going to happen at Roland Garros, but she does feel

21:09

like a big, big favourite. And if she wins that, then

21:12

suddenly she's had this incredible start to the

21:14

season, you would have to say. Athleticism

21:18

does seem to be

21:21

the only weapon

21:25

that can fight Sabalenko when

21:27

she's on, when she's

21:29

not missing with that power, right? The

21:31

foot speed to chase down her shots,

21:33

you know, I'm thinking golf and I'm

21:35

thinking Iguzfiontek, it was so

21:38

striking how quick she looked

21:40

on Saturday, quick and strong,

21:42

you know, the

21:44

kind of explosive strength and

21:46

power to get off the mark quickly

21:48

and change direction quickly. But then once

21:50

she's on the move, her

21:53

straight line speed is incredible

21:55

as well. And I think that without

21:58

that, you can't really

22:00

blunt a

22:02

peaking Sabalenka unless

22:05

you're Elena R different

22:27

do we like are we kind of

22:30

expecting the same

22:33

the same personnel are we

22:35

expecting everybody to kind of continue their

22:37

form in Rome and the women's side

22:40

of things and you know not identical

22:43

quarter finalists but similar?

22:48

It's a good question naturally

22:51

I would have thought that Sabalenka

22:54

struggles to match that and actually that I

22:56

kind of feel like it's quite a big

22:58

fortnight for her to to get used to

23:01

this type of clay court tennis now she's

23:03

shown she can move on it pretty well

23:05

and and get herself into position

23:07

I really

23:10

hope so I really hope it's similar

23:12

I really hope the big names are

23:14

there at the latter stages I think

23:16

that that does add something to

23:18

the whole story telling of

23:20

tennis and particularly

23:23

at the moment the ingredients

23:26

are just tantalizing really with

23:28

Rebecca and Sabalenka, Chantal Daniel

23:31

Collins, Coco Gough some way off to

23:33

be quite honest with you and and

23:35

be interesting to see whether she can

23:37

do something about that and

23:41

yeah I think overall I would expect

23:43

that the only the only thing I

23:45

am aware of is that I think

23:48

now that they've had this tournament under

23:50

their belt a

23:53

bit like how Schwanzek kind

23:55

of pulled the cord didn't she when

23:57

she got hurt in that match last year against Rebecca

23:59

back in her. And

24:02

I'm not saying she wasn't hurt, I think she

24:04

was, of course she was, but it was, she's

24:07

not going to take chances. And I think that that

24:09

is okay, we've seen more

24:11

serious injuries in the men, it would

24:13

appear that they've decided not to play

24:16

Madrid, Rome

24:18

now after her getting hurt in Madrid. But that's,

24:20

that's the question mark is how far

24:22

are they going to go if they

24:24

feel anything. And I would have thought

24:27

that we may see more of that,

24:29

I really hope not because because I

24:31

just love the incremental storytelling that allows

24:33

you to just beef up

24:35

the the hype. Not that

24:37

I need much invitation to do that. The French

24:40

open. Last

24:44

thing on this match and maybe maybe

24:47

there was stuff out there that I didn't see I have

24:49

been trying to keep off Twitter

24:51

after last week's last week's debacle.

24:55

But nobody

24:59

was tweeting, no players were tweeting about

25:01

how great the match was. Do you

25:04

remember Senna Alcaraz in Miami?

25:06

The world and insert Senna Alcaraz match

25:08

here feels like every top player men

25:10

and women is tweeting about how great

25:13

it is. Or you

25:15

know, Djokovic Nadal matches in the past

25:17

or Alcaraz Djokovic in Cincinnati. Everybody's

25:21

everybody's tweeting about it. I feel

25:23

like no nobody tweeted about this. Maybe it's

25:25

because it's women's tennis. I

25:27

don't know. But

25:30

I or maybe it maybe I missed all the all

25:33

the tweets. I was definitely all fit. So

25:36

can't help you. I'm

25:38

looking at you here, Matt, David. David's being

25:40

a hater in the real world these days. I

25:44

definitely like to tweet by

25:47

Daria Savall about the match. She

25:49

was watching it. But I

25:52

think generally that probably feeds

25:54

into, you know, the

25:56

fact that the WTA posted like a five

25:59

minute highlight package of this which is you

26:01

know if you imagine if that was

26:03

a men's match tennis TV you know which you

26:05

know some ATP media would have had you

26:08

know eight different videos lined up about this match and

26:10

it would have been everywhere and that's a good thing

26:12

that's what we want we want this match to be

26:14

everywhere I think

26:17

you know there's there's probably also a

26:19

point that Igor

26:22

Svantek said at the

26:24

end like who's

26:26

gonna say now that women's tennis is boring she

26:28

said in her in her sort of little speech

26:30

after the match to the crowd and I didn't

26:34

totally know who that was aimed at it

26:36

was like it was potentially aimed at Madrid

26:39

as a tournament and I think

26:41

it's notable that there were there

26:43

were more empty seats for the women's final than there

26:45

were for the men's final in that they

26:48

don't market that tournament the

26:51

women's event well like you know the way

26:53

that they've treated that event they've treated it

26:55

as inferior all these years and that is

26:57

then going to be reflected in kind of

26:59

the way that people turn out and see it so

27:02

like I think it was potentially aimed at them if

27:05

we are yeah I was gonna

27:07

say if the name could it have been aimed at Sabalanga

27:09

I was gonna say if we're going

27:11

if we're going at Catherine's yeah wanting

27:13

to find some some aggro to elevate

27:16

this match into even higher echelons maybe

27:18

it was there if you've

27:21

got some maybe

27:23

it was there and look so Sabalanga

27:25

said at the start of the tournament

27:27

that she doesn't watch as

27:29

much women's tennis as she watches men's

27:31

tennis because it's not as interesting to

27:33

her and she thinks and she thinks

27:36

there's more strategy in men's

27:38

tennis I believe was her was her

27:40

quote and I think she actually later

27:42

sort of clarified

27:44

it by saying that

27:47

you know she sort of has

27:50

to watch more women's tennis for

27:52

work purposes because she's studying crisis

27:54

communication I thought from whether

27:57

it whether there was some urging from the

27:59

WTA I mean if there

28:01

was well done WCA because that needed to

28:03

happen. Yeah, exactly. Yeah,

28:05

she did she did she rode Yeah,

28:08

she rode back a little bit. Yeah, which was a

28:11

relief because they were disappointing quotes like

28:13

you can You

28:15

can big up men's tennis without

28:17

putting down women's tennis And anyway,

28:20

like women should you know should

28:22

be supporting women really and I

28:24

love it when you know For example, Danielle Collins

28:26

is always talking about how much she loves the

28:29

WTA tour and they're part of it big it

28:31

up You know, it's great. I Don't

28:34

think they were aimed at Sabalenka those

28:36

comments. I would be pretty surprised. That's

28:38

not really she on textile I think

28:40

most likely they were aimed a

28:43

bit more at the tournament. Mmm

28:46

Yeah, and kind of unprompted as well, right? She

28:48

had something to say and she

28:50

she made sure she got the chance to say it I Yeah,

28:53

I really liked that from her So

28:57

that's it you can show on tech kind

28:59

of completing the set of big clay

29:01

court Trophies, of course, she's

29:03

she's won Rome before That's

29:07

probably a disservice to to Charleston, but but

29:09

not everybody plays Charleston Charleston is it, you

29:11

know, it's a 500 event but She

29:16

wanted I don't think she's ever played it certainly in

29:18

recent times. She hasn't played it. So She's

29:21

she's won them all now and I kind of

29:23

think Regardless of what happens

29:25

in Rome. She's gonna go. She's

29:27

gonna go into Roland Garros as the nailed-on

29:31

heavy favorite but with the

29:33

asterisk of Let's

29:35

see which after the draw. Elena. We're back

29:37

in her falls in because she beat her

29:39

in Stuttgart and that still remains You

29:43

know results wise and matchup wise

29:45

the most interesting

29:50

Facet of if whether or not

29:52

eager shuntake is gonna win the

29:55

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uh1.com. That's uh1.com. Hello

30:56

Tennis Podcast listeners. David here. Now

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it right. Before

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we move on to talk about the... men's

32:00

finals and the semi-finals or rather

32:02

kind of one semi-final and one

32:06

injury-wrecked non-event typical

32:08

of the Madrid

32:10

men's events 2024. I'm

32:12

just going to mark your card that

32:15

for friends if you're enjoying this live

32:17

YouTube show friends have got another one

32:19

coming up on Thursday of this week

32:21

same time 8pm same people, me, Matt

32:25

and the biggest hater on the internet

32:28

and we will be taking

32:30

questions from the

32:32

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32:35

questions and we can't wait so do

32:38

join us for that if you're already a friend if

32:40

you'd like to become a friend and join us live

32:42

on Thursday the link to do so is in our

32:44

show notes on now to

32:46

the Madrid men's final.

32:49

André Rublev beating Felix

32:51

Orge Elieisim 46 75

32:54

75 he'd beaten Taylor Fritz in

32:56

the semi-finals and Orge Elieisim had

32:59

benefited from the early stage

33:02

retirement of an absolutely devastated

33:05

Yuri Lhatska. So

33:07

Rublev despite suffering

33:11

David from the world's most

33:14

confusing illness with the most

33:16

eclectic group of symptoms you

33:19

have ever heard revealed

33:22

by André Rublev in various

33:24

different interviews and press conferences

33:26

after this match. If

33:28

there are any doctors out there listening

33:30

or watching please let me know what

33:33

illnesses have as their

33:36

symptoms a swollen finger

33:39

and also the need to only

33:41

eat baby food because that

33:44

was André Rublev's situation for the

33:46

entirety of last week and still

33:48

I think he said he

33:51

was still feeling rough and he was going to have to undergo

33:54

some further investigations to figure out what

33:56

was going on but basically

33:58

he seems to have won the equal. biggest title

34:00

of his career David, feeling

34:02

like an absolute dog's

34:05

dinner and maybe that's not an

34:07

accident, maybe that took the

34:09

pressure off because he had been

34:11

in the mental doldrums for

34:13

a while before Madrid. Yeah he's

34:16

been in a bad place ever since

34:18

that default and that match in

34:21

Dubai where we had

34:23

all that kerfuffle and he

34:25

was very upset about it and he

34:29

just couldn't get wins

34:31

at all after that. I mean he

34:33

lost early in both Indian

34:35

Wells and Madrid, he's just not looked

34:38

himself at all and

34:40

you know the one thing you always feel

34:42

like you get with Andrei Rublev is his

34:44

baseline level, you know he gives you what

34:46

he's got, it's a very high

34:48

floor maybe not as high a ceiling

34:50

as some but reliable

34:53

and that's what he's not been the last

34:55

couple of months and it's been sad to see really,

34:58

I always think I always feel quite conflicted

35:00

with him because he just seems like such

35:02

a great guy and yeah I struggle to

35:05

watch him when he's just raging at himself

35:07

and I feel bad for him but I

35:09

also don't want to watch it, I certainly

35:11

don't want to expose my kids to it

35:13

a lot of the time but

35:16

at this tournament he came out and he just he

35:19

was gritty I mean gritty anyway,

35:21

you take away the illnesses and

35:23

he was gritty, he was fighting

35:25

through some tricky matches and getting

35:27

good wins and then when it

35:30

started to come out just how rough he

35:32

was feeling all the way through the tournament,

35:35

that is a mighty achievement and then

35:37

on the day itself I mean he

35:39

went 4-1, 40 love

35:42

down, I mean we'll come on to

35:44

Ojelie, I've seen side of that in

35:46

a while but from Rublev's

35:48

perspective to be 1-4 and

35:51

40 love on the other guy served

35:53

down and really struggling to cope with

35:55

the pace of shot not really seeming

35:57

to be quite there and And

36:01

the commentators we had, Miles McClaggen, was

36:03

saying that he understood that he was

36:06

feeling unwell. And I feared the worst.

36:08

I feared another retirement, or at least

36:10

a really one-sided match. And to

36:12

have that strength

36:14

of character and determination, to just

36:17

dig in and find

36:19

a way back and make it close enough so

36:21

that he could ask questions of

36:23

a guy who, maybe

36:25

if that was somebody else, he might not have had

36:27

that chance, both in terms of quality and having

36:31

been there and done it. Because Oceania Seem

36:34

isn't used to this in the

36:36

way that some of these guys

36:38

are. And hasn't proved himself the

36:40

way that Al-Qaras and Sinner and

36:42

Medvedev and Djokovic and Nadal all

36:44

have. But you can't

36:47

take anything away from Rublev in that regard. That

36:52

was a fantastic win for him. And

36:56

hats off. I hope he feels

36:58

better soon, because he did look like he

37:00

was in a right state. Classic

37:03

Rublev, wasn't it? Sort of tragic comedy, the

37:05

way he's just sort of laughing

37:08

at himself and the absurdity

37:10

of his various ailments, but

37:13

dealing with them in a really human

37:15

way. He's

37:17

a lovely bloke. And I

37:20

like it when he's happy. And

37:23

he was really happy after that. Yeah,

37:27

that's something he just elicits in people,

37:29

isn't it? It's a sort of paternal

37:31

feeling of, I just want you to

37:33

be OK. You

37:36

know, please let Oceania Rublev be

37:38

OK one way or another. And

37:41

I want Felix Ojelie Seem to be

37:43

OK as well. But

37:47

and look, there has been a lot

37:49

of highlighting

37:51

and discussion around his route to the

37:53

final, which is absolutely not

37:55

his fault. It's not his fault he

37:57

got two walkovers and a retirement. What

38:00

he needed today. He beat Casper Raid

38:02

on his. You know that is a

38:04

big victory He he beat. He.

38:06

Beat the guy in. Front of the I get. It.

38:10

Was a tremendous opportunity that was

38:13

handed to him. It was a

38:15

tremendous slice of luck I don't

38:17

think either been reaching that final

38:20

am. Ah

38:22

with without that slice of luck than

38:24

I did Some city controversial thing to

38:26

say on the basis of Felix or

38:28

Zola Seems recent results in a hasn't

38:30

been doing anything close to reaching masters

38:32

one thousand. Final say he was handed

38:35

an enormous slices lot and. Yeah.

38:38

You look at that school line and he

38:40

was competitive. In that final he did not

38:42

play badly. But. I

38:44

do think he squandered a

38:46

an enormous opportunity and he

38:49

will have. Substantial.

38:52

Regrets or at least. He ought

38:54

to have substantial regrets mount, would

38:56

you think. Yeah

38:59

I think come. There.

39:01

Was part of made the it's sort of

39:03

felt like I didn't want. Felix.

39:05

Ah yes or or they always seem to

39:08

have a big moment of winning a Master's

39:10

one thousand event which it would have been

39:12

it would have been you know the biggest

39:14

to the individual type of his career overseas

39:16

how Canada when the Davis Cup which was

39:18

big but as it it didn't really want

39:20

that to come with an asterisk and and

39:23

and it certainly would have done in it

39:25

wasn't. It wasn't just

39:27

one retirement or to a story. that's.

39:29

That's. An awful law and one of them

39:32

being Yannick Center as well. You know who,

39:34

you know, sort of. Had yeah nixon

39:36

have been say and able to play almost certainly

39:38

would have said have stopped it's I just didn't

39:40

want that for Felix for that. To

39:42

Happen. And

39:45

yet in the final obviously you know he.

39:47

he put himself in a position for one

39:49

up and I think group that feeling how

39:51

he's feeling. s

39:54

of he's up against one of those players

39:56

that david's listed there you know who's who

39:58

said have been there and done it a

40:00

bit more. I don't know whether we

40:02

quite see the same level of resilience

40:04

from Andre Rublev. It was really impressive

40:06

resilience and I sort of credit

40:09

him for that. But I think almost the fact

40:11

that he knew he was up against Felix Orgereri,

40:13

who hasn't won at that level

40:15

before, has got to give you a little bit

40:17

of belief if you're Andre Rublev that maybe there

40:19

was a chance of getting back into it. I

40:23

thought that the backhand remains a weakness for

40:26

him. I think 25 unforced arrows off that

40:28

side in the match. It's just such an

40:30

area that Rublev can target and

40:33

also his return diminished as the

40:36

match went on. But

40:39

that was a good win over Kasparood

40:42

and it is overall a

40:44

positive for him to

40:46

reach a Masters 1000 final even

40:48

in those circumstances. But

40:51

I do think he will have some

40:53

regrets about that final. There was some

40:56

discussion that maybe he wasn't

40:58

feeling his best and maybe

41:02

not having to play three matches isn't

41:04

good preparation for going into a final

41:06

like that. Again, you could analyse that

41:08

two ways because you would think that

41:11

maybe he wouldn't start the match well

41:13

if that was the case, if his

41:16

competitive juices weren't quite ready from the week.

41:18

But he did start this match really well.

41:20

It was strange to me how he tailed

41:22

off and maybe that's a

41:24

sign that he wasn't quite feeling physically right himself

41:26

because he hadn't played a lot of tennis and

41:28

yet he was needing massages on

41:30

his legs and he was stretching those

41:32

out. Perhaps he was more

41:35

affected than we know but I do

41:37

think he let that one go.

41:41

It's probably an indication of

41:44

what we've said before about him just missing

41:46

those those fangs and

41:48

that's a killer instinct in these big

41:51

matches. had

42:00

some big wins, I think, of the

42:02

Davis Cup, particularly. I think that that

42:04

showed some real

42:07

guts and he sort

42:09

of took ownership of that particular tie.

42:12

And he did build on it and

42:14

he had the Rotterdam win. Or

42:17

maybe that was before, but

42:19

even so since then. And

42:21

I know he's had injuries, I do understand

42:23

that, but he hasn't looked

42:26

like the same player from that Davis

42:28

Cup since that I can

42:30

remember. And

42:32

I think the problem is it does

42:34

accumulate. It's

42:37

a lot of losing, I'm afraid, as a

42:39

tennis player. Unless you're one of the

42:42

very best, and even when you are one of the best, you

42:44

have to lose a lot of matches. And

42:46

he just looks like a young guy

42:48

who was told all this stuff was

42:50

gonna happen to him by

42:53

loads of people around him, people like us, he

42:55

had a hype train and all the rest of

42:58

it. How can you not be affected when actually

43:00

that doesn't happen and you end up losing lots

43:03

and lots of matches and you get

43:05

criticized because that's the nature of the

43:07

sport. It's pretty unforgiving in that way.

43:11

And I just think he looks uncertain. He

43:13

looks uncertain in the most important moments. I

43:15

mean, when he was 4'1", 40 a love

43:17

up, sorry, you just have to stamp down

43:20

on that set and win it efficiently and

43:22

then get into the next set and try and get

43:24

that early break. And he just, he

43:27

doesn't have that, there

43:29

are places to go, as Matt said,

43:31

weaknesses. He

43:35

just doesn't have that at the moment. I don't

43:37

know whether he can develop it, but he looks

43:39

like it's not really there, that ability to just

43:42

have no doubt whatsoever and just

43:44

impose his game. And

43:46

he was trying, I mean, listen, he was serving well.

43:48

He was hitting the forehand well until

43:50

he wasn't right at the end. And the

43:52

truth is the server's keeping him in it.

43:55

And then suddenly it's two double faults in

43:57

a game and including one a match point

43:59

to actually lose. match and I

44:01

felt for him because like

44:04

Rublev he just seems like a really great

44:06

guy and somebody who you

44:08

want to pull for and

44:10

see good things for. I

44:14

keep repeatedly going back to the time

44:17

I saw him thrash Janek Sinner a

44:19

couple of years ago and think

44:21

well where is that differential?

44:23

Was that a total one-off? Is he

44:25

not able to do that or

44:28

is Sinner just gone

44:30

shooting off into the distance and improved

44:32

that much but with a

44:35

weakness like the back hand and also

44:38

he was trying to hit drop shots

44:40

and some of them were working but they all

44:42

look very clunky. It almost looks

44:45

like he sort of keyed in the

44:47

coordinates for a drop shot at a

44:49

specific point and they

44:51

don't really feel right and

44:55

I don't mean to be mean to him by

44:57

saying that. I know it probably sounds that but

44:59

that's just how it looks and I'm not

45:01

sure how much more

45:05

there is there. I

45:07

think if you put this performance on other surfaces,

45:10

I mean look he's done it indoors. I'd love

45:12

to see what would happen if the Davis Cup

45:15

Felix Angelia scene came out at

45:17

the US Open or at

45:19

Wimbledon or something like that. I'd love to see

45:21

that. I think it was an

45:23

indoor final in Madrid though. That

45:26

was in his favour. The

45:30

thing is I could be

45:33

wrong about this.

45:35

I'm reading between and reading between

45:37

lines but my empathetic

45:40

sense with Felix Angelia is that

45:42

I feel his

45:44

self-doubt. I felt like

45:46

he stepped onto court in that final,

45:49

himself very aware of the

45:51

route that he had had

45:54

to get there rather than thinking yeah I got

45:56

some luck. I've earned it. I've

45:58

earned it. you know over

46:00

the what all sort of

46:03

six years of my professional career or rather

46:06

than finding a way to spin that

46:08

in his mind he was deep

46:11

down feeling feeling sheepish about it

46:13

and that is entirely

46:16

entirely normal but

46:19

maybe not for a champion you know

46:21

like that there is a necessary level

46:24

of self-delusion with being a with being

46:26

a top top tennis player and I'm

46:28

not sure he possesses it

46:30

I think he might be maybe

46:33

too normal or too self-aware or

46:36

too in touch with his emotions I don't know

46:38

I don't think any of those expression

46:40

turns a phrase I've just come up with a

46:43

quite right but I just he

46:45

just radiates self-doubt

46:47

to me I

46:49

feel it in him. He's too

46:52

well adjusted. Yeah maybe

46:54

it'll make for a happier human

46:56

being but

46:58

he didn't look too happy did he

47:00

staring into space while they

47:03

prepared the court in a confetti

47:05

cannon for for Andrei Riblov yesterday

47:07

it remains just the cruelest

47:09

thing in sport that the beaten finest

47:11

has to stay

47:13

on court in

47:17

their sad chair while a

47:19

stage is erected. And confetti

47:21

falls on them. And

47:24

confetti falls on them yeah it's absolutely

47:26

brutal. Does

47:28

it mean anything that Andrei Riblov's on this

47:30

title? Does it mean anything in terms of

47:32

the French Open or in terms of grandsoms

47:35

generally and Andrei Riblov breaking his

47:37

quarterfinal duck? Does it make

47:42

you feel like if a if a drawer opens

47:44

up he could be the guy to

47:47

capitalize upon it? Well What

47:49

I would say is that this

47:51

draw that Roland Garros may well

47:54

open up given the sheer number

47:56

of injuries we were looking at

47:58

right now Medvedev, Sina. Oh

48:00

crap, see them and no doubt obviously

48:02

fan states the guy won the tournament.

48:04

Know that Geochemist it Soon as you

48:06

want to think about people that come

48:08

out of that sentiment, think him or

48:11

her I can already to clean up.

48:14

But. Does going into

48:17

debt the could well be an opportunity

48:19

in that drawer for somebody that we

48:21

wouldn't really not have seen had those

48:23

guys all been fully fit. And listen

48:25

the still time they may end up

48:28

being fully set or at least to

48:30

sit enough. and I do sinks rub

48:32

live. As long as his illness clears

48:34

out, the i think he's likely to

48:37

give you are a level of performance

48:39

that is high. Whether. It's

48:41

high enough to come through I'd Still,

48:43

I still expect people at Casper Rude

48:45

to be probably more lightly. I've probably

48:47

would say maybe Zverev more likely to

48:49

could sit to take advantage of of

48:51

it when I just think about the

48:54

games you talking about. But.

48:57

He is gonna produce a game at

48:59

a decent we could be infrared a

49:01

surprising one. Generally. Bizarre. My answer

49:04

would still be no Catherine that that I don't

49:06

think Ruble of ends up being in the final.

49:10

I think one of all year

49:12

long predictions questions this year was

49:14

will Andre Whiplash or just it

49:16

at the Gala. Either. Rule

49:18

base break their grand

49:21

slam quarterfinal. Avenue

49:23

that. See

49:26

it, You remember what you put it. this started yeah

49:28

and he knows it's. Changed. I

49:30

think I probably said pergola. Would.

49:33

But I can't remember under present now. But

49:35

see, You. Are allowed to database of them. I think

49:37

we'll just. Stick giving given where we

49:39

are now and other see some it depends

49:41

on the drawers you stick. Relevant joke of

49:43

it is part of the draw. No chance.

49:46

I don't think so. I think he's got

49:48

more of a chance. Think he could get

49:50

to semi now with these in our like

49:52

I I think I'd be. thinking.

49:55

Along those lines if you got decent drawer

49:57

and the others on as fit as a.

50:00

would like to be or are they not there? What do you think?

50:03

Yeah, it's funny, like, I don't

50:05

think of Rublever's necessarily like a

50:08

clay specialist. I don't think he

50:10

is a clay specialist. He's very

50:12

good on, you know,

50:14

kind of all surfaces. But it's interesting that his

50:16

two biggest wins have come on clay, and maybe

50:19

that's a sign that Roland

50:22

Garros is perhaps his most likely slam

50:24

to try and finally reach

50:26

the semi-final. I think you've

50:28

said it. I think the draw is

50:30

massive for a lot of people. It's pretty massive

50:33

for Rublever. If he ends up in

50:35

the section of the draw that

50:37

falls apart, and

50:40

maybe that's doing him a disservice,

50:42

because maybe he could manage a

50:45

big win at Roland Garros. You

50:47

know, I think that's possible. I

50:49

think he could beat one

50:52

of the kind of, I don't

50:55

know, it feels like he would need Al Khraz or Sinner to

50:58

be below their best, like him Madrid.

51:01

Or Oranges. Or, exactly.

51:03

That's kind of what I'm saying.

51:06

We know that this is kind of the most uncertain

51:08

men's Roland Garros in years because

51:10

of Al Khraz and Sinner being as they

51:12

are. Djokovic hasn't played well

51:14

in several months. Nadal's on

51:17

a farewell tour. There are opportunities there, and

51:19

I do think Rublever could pounce on one

51:22

of those, like he did in Madrid, beating

51:24

an under-par Al Khraz. But

51:28

for him to actually beat maybe a

51:30

couple of those guys still feels like

51:33

it might be a sort of step too far. But

51:36

yeah, I think he's got a

51:38

very good chance of finally breaking

51:40

his Grand Slam quarterfinal sort

51:44

of drought, or semi-final drought instead

51:46

of quarterfinal curse. And yeah, at

51:48

the same time, I think he

51:51

needs to put himself back in that position to

51:53

prove that he can do it. Like, I don't

51:55

know whether winning Madrid actually counts all that much

51:57

for when you find yourself back in a Grand

51:59

Slam quarterfinal. Suddenly that record would be

52:01

in his head again and it's about how

52:03

he deals with that on the day.

52:06

But look, he set himself up well.

52:11

But it wasn't that long ago that

52:13

he was in a real slump and struggling

52:15

to win matches at all. So

52:19

we probably do need to see a

52:21

bit more than just one great week in

52:23

Madrid, I suppose. I

52:26

mean, it's a good time to be

52:28

hitting some form, though, if you're an

52:30

ATP player because, I

52:33

mean, frankly, the Roland Garros

52:35

draw could be falling apart before

52:38

our eyes. The top of men's

52:40

tennis right now is in

52:42

a pretty catastrophic situation. Now,

52:44

we hope that that's pretty temporary.

52:47

There's an awful lot of injuries. I

52:49

have question marks over them, you know,

52:51

players saying, I hope

52:53

it's just keeping me out of Rome, but I

52:55

don't know. We've

52:58

got Alcaraz. He

53:00

felt some pain after playing Madrid. He said

53:02

some discomfort in my arm. Today I did

53:04

some tests and I have

53:06

a muscle edema in my pronated

53:08

teres, a consequence of my recent

53:11

injury. So that's the forearm injury.

53:13

Now, edema doesn't sound too

53:16

serious or long term, but we

53:19

don't know. Sinna's situation

53:21

is rather more unclear. He said,

53:23

I don't want to go into

53:25

details. We thought it wasn't anything

53:27

serious, but then with the MRI,

53:29

we saw that something was wrong.

53:32

The situation is under control. I won't play

53:34

for a while. From next week, we'll decide

53:36

a few things. The preparation for Paris will

53:38

not be optimal, but my team,

53:40

we will do our best to be competitive.

53:42

Arriving in Paris without matches in Rome is

53:44

not easy. This tournament is important

53:47

in view of Roland Garros. We'll have answers in

53:49

a week. I'll play in Paris if I'm 100%. I'll

53:52

stop a little longer if I don't recover 100%. I

53:56

don't want to throw away years of my career

53:58

in the future. I'm in no hurry. It

54:00

is is he surgical with his.

54:03

Precision. Even in a

54:05

statement about. Injury. Yannick

54:07

Center is any. Of

54:09

the the a rough on the dollar

54:11

farewell tour know about joke of it's

54:14

a bit of an unknown quantity. Daniel

54:16

Medvedev is seems to be pretty injured.

54:18

Juri The Hatch their of the sustaining

54:20

that injury last week it did that

54:22

everybody and I look under I realize

54:24

is a wider discussion to be had

54:26

here about. Injuries

54:29

and satchel and

54:31

while this. Is

54:33

happening but just looking at it in

54:36

micro terms. This is a

54:38

real world. David. Yeah,

54:41

because because listen, totally sir. I

54:43

feel for them individually but selfishly

54:45

from a sporting prospective. We've spent

54:47

a lot of our time here

54:49

on this podcast. Hype in these

54:51

guys up as being the story

54:54

to follow in the sport and

54:56

trying to get excited about rivalries

54:58

with and particularly needing them given

55:00

that Roger Federer retired now and

55:02

Andy Murray isn't before see was

55:04

anywhere near and stammering cause nearly

55:06

dawn and ruff hundred hours on

55:08

his father. you. You recorded needed

55:11

these players to follow in the

55:13

same weather. We've been getting extremely

55:15

excited because the top three or

55:17

four women at the moment are

55:19

all. Kind. Of getting to

55:21

those stages and listen it's happen in the

55:24

men's as well. I'll Cross is when to

55:26

slam sinners one wants. Medvedev keeps arriving struck

55:28

of it, She still there. That's all great

55:30

but it's three of those for. Oh,

55:33

in the drawer uncertainty and in his

55:35

in Rome two of them are not.

55:37

And the two youngest. Most exciting ones

55:40

for the future. The when we raided

55:42

a Pin in A Lives On is

55:44

a tough. Sell.

55:47

To an audience to to who aren't

55:49

into tennis In I am in. There's

55:51

nothing. Everybody watching this everybody listen to.

55:53

This is gonna be into the tennis.

55:55

No no but I was at all.

55:57

What's the matches in the finals? Maybe

55:59

they were. as excited about them either if

56:01

they're not really big names.

56:03

But it's more just when you're trying

56:05

to appeal to people that are kind

56:08

of, you know, not that bothered either

56:10

way but oh actually if they're in

56:12

it I'll watch. It's

56:15

tough. It's a tough sell and the sooner

56:18

they're fit and raring to go the better. Yep,

56:22

we'll miss them in Rome. Fingers

56:24

crossed they can get fit in

56:26

time for Roland Garros. Reggie's

56:28

in the chat so I just want

56:30

to touch upon the doubles results from

56:33

Madrid. Starting with

56:36

the women, the title there

56:38

was won by Christina Buxa. She

56:40

was winning for more than a bit. She

56:43

partnered Zara Saribes-Torme and they

56:45

won 62.62. And obviously demolition

56:47

job in the final over

56:49

Boporo Kortugova and Lara Siegmund.

56:52

These two only

56:55

decided to play together I think minutes

56:57

before the sign-in deadline Saribes-Torme was supposed

56:59

to be playing with Marie

57:02

Busceva but Busceva got injured

57:05

so there was a vacancy

57:07

and enter Christina

57:10

Buxa to fill

57:12

that vacancy. And it was

57:14

rocking. TBC and whether

57:16

they'll continue to play together because

57:18

of course you know Marie Busceva

57:21

is going to re-enter the scene at

57:23

some point. But

57:25

of course you have to play

57:27

with somebody of your nation at the

57:30

Olympics so I

57:32

feel an Olympic doubles team

57:34

coming on and

57:36

potentially Christina Buxa Olympic

57:38

gold medalist Reggie. It

57:42

could happen. It could happen.

57:44

The men's doubles title was won

57:47

by Sebastian Korda and Jordan Thompson

57:49

6-3, 7-6 over Ariel Baier and

57:53

Adam Pavlicek in the final.

57:56

Of course the ATP were

57:58

trialing these new things

58:02

in the doubles. I

58:05

mean last year the doubles was won by it

58:07

was won by Roblevan Hashanov wasn't it who were

58:09

obviously singles players so yeah it's been

58:12

won by a couple of singles players but anyone

58:16

got anything to say? Matches

58:20

were a bit shorter and sharper

58:23

because of some of the changes

58:25

are reducing the time between points

58:27

and you know I was listening to

58:29

some of the some of the doubles

58:31

players I mean you got people at Matt Epton

58:33

who's on the council and obviously was part of

58:36

proposing all this and explaining the you know the

58:38

reasons for it and only having the tournaments

58:40

in the second week of

58:42

these Masters 1000s and others were less

58:45

positive about it. Jamie

58:49

Murray was kind of you know

58:52

could see the benefits of some of it and

58:55

didn't like other elements. I

58:58

do like the I mean obviously that anything

59:00

that can reduce the amount of time between

59:02

points and the dead time is good.

59:05

I do wonder

59:07

whether you know these second week

59:10

ones whether singles

59:12

players are gonna risk that you

59:14

know if they are genuinely

59:17

serious about going deep into the second

59:19

week of a tournament and

59:21

is that when they really want to start playing the doubles? You

59:24

know I'm not sure but

59:27

I still think it's right to try

59:29

stuff and I think

59:31

we've seen that in the next-gen finals

59:33

a lot of quite a few things

59:35

they've tried there have ended up becoming

59:37

things that we now just take as

59:40

for granted whether it's Hawkeye

59:42

Live and Towels and all those

59:45

sort of things so you know

59:47

I definitely think the sport needed

59:49

that mode of the sport

59:51

needs needs shaking up to some degree

59:53

so we'll see. Yeah

59:56

they've Got to reduce. Sorry Matt They've

59:59

got to reduce. The amount of

1:00:01

time team spends chatting behind.

1:00:06

Gotta. Go. Sure,

1:00:10

I can get on board with that. It

1:00:14

it is. It has got to either Do. Like

1:00:16

a serious point months was struck me that

1:00:18

that wasn't the series point. I really. Do

1:00:21

believe that like if it

1:00:23

if they're trying to. Like.

1:00:26

You know, reinvent. Oh. Reinvigorated of

1:00:29

interest in in doubles, I hadn't

1:00:31

really think any of the things

1:00:33

that they try out this week

1:00:35

are it. Personally, I think that.

1:00:37

You know fifteen shit, the fifteen second

1:00:39

shot clock on a rally less less

1:00:41

than four shots like a be interested

1:00:43

to see that route in in singles

1:00:45

you know and and the fact that

1:00:47

they had the fan movement around leno

1:00:49

free fan movement that you know said

1:00:52

as during the match in the same

1:00:54

way that they had during the Australian

1:00:56

Open like a be interested in a

1:00:58

let's bring that into the singles as

1:01:00

well like a felt like some things

1:01:02

that could help the sport generally and

1:01:04

you know I'm saying keep those things

1:01:06

in doubles as well. But.

1:01:08

Night, I don't actually think that what

1:01:10

they did is gonna make a huge

1:01:12

difference to doubles overall And as you

1:01:14

said, I notice that Fritz was meant

1:01:16

to reply in the doubles and then

1:01:18

he he was with him and then

1:01:20

they were doing really well as fit

1:01:23

as damn what in the single So

1:01:25

cause like to the quite naturally he

1:01:27

pulled the plug on the doubles and

1:01:29

and focused on on the singles. I'm

1:01:31

not sure that that is the solution

1:01:33

that. That. They think it is to

1:01:35

to getting doubles off the ground in as

1:01:37

it is focusing just on has singles by

1:01:39

as a latter stages tournament's when they were

1:01:42

ready and single thing not sure that's that's

1:01:44

a I don't have the answer Billie Jean

1:01:46

King will whoa come at me for saying

1:01:48

it's a problem and and not having a

1:01:50

solution but that's kind of kind of the

1:01:53

state where. I

1:01:56

k speaking as a state where in we can put

1:01:58

it have no longer sakes the era. at

1:02:00

the news portion of the show

1:02:02

and of course there is

1:02:04

one big news story dominating all the

1:02:07

chatter in the tennis world and that

1:02:09

is the sad demise of Tsitsidosa

1:02:12

announced yesterday on Paola

1:02:15

Bedosa's Instagram. I'm

1:02:20

gonna find it really hard not

1:02:22

to be irreverent about this. I

1:02:25

know it's sad, I

1:02:27

really hope they're okay. Trust me I

1:02:29

know breakups are hard, I

1:02:31

hope they're both listening to Taylor

1:02:34

Swift right now and

1:02:37

truthfully, honestly, hope they're okay.

1:02:39

We did we

1:02:41

did in our, again, our

1:02:43

year-long predictions we were asked

1:02:46

to predict whether Tsitsidosa would

1:02:48

last for a year. David,

1:02:51

do you remember what your

1:02:54

prediction was? I said

1:02:56

they would, yeah. David is

1:02:58

an optimist. So they probably feared

1:03:01

the worst when I said that because

1:03:03

my record isn't that good

1:03:06

is it? David's prediction has

1:03:08

come down on Tsitsidosa. Matt,

1:03:13

do you remember what you thought? I think we actually

1:03:15

all said that they would last

1:03:17

the year. I think, do you know

1:03:19

what, I actually, I did

1:03:22

think they'd last. I

1:03:24

think they lasted longer than I thought they would

1:03:27

and and yet I still

1:03:29

ended up kind of surprised that that

1:03:31

they that they had broken up.

1:03:33

It must be just awful

1:03:35

breaking up with a tennis

1:03:37

players breaking up. I mean they're gonna see one

1:03:39

another like presumably they've bumped into another today like

1:03:41

you can unfollow one another on

1:03:44

Instagram all you like. Which

1:03:46

they have. All

1:03:49

of the stuff in the

1:03:51

statement about how amicable and lovely the

1:03:53

breakup is unfollowed on Instagram straight away.

1:03:55

I did fear the worst when they're

1:03:57

gonna bump into another like every day. David.

1:04:01

When he was asked to describe her in

1:04:03

a word, in three words, and one of

1:04:05

them was diligent, I did fear the worst,

1:04:09

to be honest. That was a cut, that

1:04:11

was a cut of the month ago, isn't

1:04:14

it? But anyway. I had

1:04:17

forgotten. You

1:04:19

mentioned Taylor Swift, David. Catherine, I

1:04:21

was listening to, I was listening

1:04:24

to LOML today and the lyric,

1:04:26

it was legendary, it was momentary,

1:04:28

sort of came to mind for

1:04:31

the Cixadocia. Are you saying

1:04:33

Cixapas is the docis mati-healer? Who's

1:04:38

that? Who can

1:04:40

say? It's sad, though, because Rome

1:04:42

was the place

1:04:45

of the Cixadocia's inception,

1:04:47

wasn't it, last year? What,

1:04:51

didn't it last a year? No,

1:04:53

it was almost like, you

1:04:55

know, we've got to do this before we

1:04:58

hit the year point, because there's an anniversary,

1:05:00

somebody didn't want to have to buy an

1:05:02

anniversary gift, maybe. Anyway,

1:05:04

look, I know I'm

1:05:06

being me about it, but I do, I

1:05:08

hope they're okay. And especially having to bump

1:05:12

into one another all the time. I mean, that

1:05:14

just sounds absolutely dreadful. We've

1:05:19

talked quite a lot about Rome, but

1:05:22

I'll just wizz you through some interesting

1:05:24

things from the draw. Raphael Nidal has

1:05:26

got a qualifier in round number one.

1:05:28

If he wins through that, he will

1:05:30

face you but her catch. Good

1:05:33

draw, bad draw, any thoughts and feelings?

1:05:36

Bad draw. Bad draw,

1:05:38

okay. Yeah, it

1:05:41

feels like a bad draw for someone

1:05:45

who's struggling with their serve. You've got

1:05:47

to be holding serve against her catch

1:05:49

because he's a tough guy to break,

1:05:52

even on a clay court. You

1:05:55

don't get any rhythm. But what I mean

1:05:57

is Nidal was unseated, so

1:06:00

He was always going to have to face someone. Yeah,

1:06:05

but it could have been somebody in

1:06:07

less good form and with a rubbish

1:06:09

serve. You think Hubert Hurkach? Yeah, but it

1:06:11

could have been Djokovic. Yeah. It's

1:06:13

not Djokovic. It's Hubert Hurkach.

1:06:17

But I take your point. I'd

1:06:20

have rather it were Djokovic. That would have been more

1:06:23

fun. It would have been very

1:06:26

fun. Djokovic could play, he gets a

1:06:28

bye, of course, from Annaborn. He could

1:06:30

play Roman Sifuolin in round two. Who

1:06:32

is somebody I usually say, oh, that could

1:06:35

be tricky. But I think he's been in

1:06:37

desperately bad form recently. He's had some heavy

1:06:39

losses, so maybe not. But he

1:06:41

could have a Yakov-Mensic in round three, which

1:06:44

would watch. It could be very interesting,

1:06:46

that one. What

1:06:49

have we got in the women's

1:06:51

and first rounders? Martina Trevisan against

1:06:54

Yulia Putin-Sava, Andriva against Bedosa. Thoughts

1:06:57

and prayers to everybody there. Vekic

1:06:59

against Serenko. Oh, dear. Thoughts

1:07:02

and prayers to Donna Vekic. She hates playing

1:07:04

Serenko, doesn't she? Yeah, good luck, Pam. Asaka

1:07:07

against Clara Burrell, Sara Irani against

1:07:09

Amanda Anisimova. You can tell who

1:07:11

wrote this agenda, can't you? Dan

1:07:14

Evans has got Fabio Fanini in

1:07:16

round one. I will clear

1:07:18

my schedule to watch that. Thomas Mahatch

1:07:21

against Mateo Arnaldi, Daniel Altmaier

1:07:23

against Luca Nadi. And Jack

1:07:26

Draper against Bourna Chorich in

1:07:28

round one. And that's

1:07:30

interesting because Jack Draper has

1:07:33

just unveiled his new coach,

1:07:35

a new partnership on the

1:07:37

ATP Tour, and it

1:07:39

is Wayne Ferreira. And I

1:07:42

am excited about this,

1:07:44

David. It's not a potential partnership

1:07:46

that I had thought of. But as soon as

1:07:49

I heard about it, I thought, great,

1:07:51

good appointment. Yeah, and

1:07:54

Ferreira is coming in, apparently,

1:07:56

in a consultancy capacity, certainly

1:07:58

at this point. James Trotman

1:08:01

continues to be in the picture

1:08:03

for Jack Draper, but I do think,

1:08:05

I mean, we know Wayne

1:08:08

Ferreira a bit from the Champions Tour and obviously

1:08:10

he was a very good player in his own

1:08:12

right and an excellent coaching

1:08:14

stint with Francis Tiafoe. I mean,

1:08:16

he really got the best

1:08:18

out of himself, Tiafoe, when he was underneath

1:08:22

the guidance and they

1:08:25

were really good together, Tiafoe and Ferreira.

1:08:28

I just think that Draper

1:08:30

is a sponge. He's so

1:08:32

dedicated, so determined to make the

1:08:34

best of himself and he's kind

1:08:36

of just hit a bit of

1:08:38

a dead end really

1:08:41

in terms of progress at the moment. He still

1:08:43

plays well and wins some, but

1:08:45

he doesn't get wins that you

1:08:47

don't expect him to necessarily

1:08:50

get that might shove him onto the next level.

1:08:52

I think that Ferreira's know-how and having been there

1:08:55

and done it and helped a guy come through,

1:08:58

I just reckon that that could really work. Yeah,

1:09:03

me too. I'm excited about it. So

1:09:07

the headlines in

1:09:09

the draw, the WTA, we've got

1:09:11

Chantec Gough, Jung Shinwen and

1:09:13

Marchetta Von Durocheva in the top half

1:09:16

and then the bottom half is Rebecca

1:09:18

Nasabolenko, Jabir, Sakary Ostapenko

1:09:20

and Collins all in there.

1:09:22

So that is a

1:09:24

hefty bottom half of the draw in

1:09:26

the WTA and in the ATP. We've

1:09:28

got Djokovic who could play Rude

1:09:30

in the quarterfinals and Zverev in

1:09:32

the semi-finals and then in the

1:09:34

other half it's Tsitsopas, Rublev Medvedev

1:09:36

who's an injury question mark at the

1:09:39

moment, Hubert Hurkac, Brackett,

1:09:41

Raffar Nidal and Holger Runa

1:09:43

in that half as well.

1:09:47

And we had the news today that

1:09:49

Diego Schwartzman is going to be retiring,

1:09:51

this is going to be his final

1:09:54

full season on tour, he's going to

1:09:56

retire at home next year in Argentina

1:09:59

at Buenos Aires event

1:10:02

I think he actually won today

1:10:04

didn't he? Only 32 years old

1:10:08

which I guess is

1:10:10

not much in today's money but

1:10:15

it feels like the right time doesn't it?

1:10:19

His trajectory has been waning. I

1:10:21

mean it's the right time

1:10:24

when the player decides it's the right time I'm

1:10:26

definitely not on the train of telling

1:10:28

players they should retire but good

1:10:32

luck to him. Yeah. I

1:10:34

hope he has a nice retirement moment

1:10:37

in in Argentina and emotional headbands

1:10:39

are left on on nets.

1:10:41

Great career. I don't hope that

1:10:43

I can't handle that again. Yeah

1:10:46

a fantastic career. Fun to watch.

1:10:48

He's somebody that I think will sleep

1:10:51

well at night in retirement you know.

1:10:55

Yeah. I don't think he'll be haunted by

1:10:57

any ghosts. No

1:10:59

he made he made the most absolutely

1:11:01

of what he had and I

1:11:03

think he won I think I read today that

1:11:06

he won Argentine

1:11:08

Sportsman of the Year one

1:11:11

year which in

1:11:13

the era of Lionel Messi who I just sort of

1:11:15

assumed has won that every year since about 2005 that

1:11:18

feels like quite an achievement and yeah there was

1:11:21

a couple of years there where he would he

1:11:23

would really push the the very

1:11:25

best players and you know you know just

1:11:28

always always a joy to watch and

1:11:30

and sort of fun fun presents on

1:11:32

tour as well I think everyone everyone

1:11:35

liked him everyone was rooting for him.

1:11:38

Do you remember when we went

1:11:40

to a steak restaurant in Wimbledon

1:11:42

and Diego Schwartzman and his team

1:11:44

were in there which we felt

1:11:46

like was a fantastic endorsement for

1:11:48

a steak restaurant. In

1:11:51

fact I think an Argentine steak restaurant so

1:11:53

yeah we sort of we once sort

1:11:57

of had a steak dinner with Diego Schwartzman.

1:12:00

He definitely didn't know about that.

1:12:02

We've I'm very excited And finally

1:12:05

shoutout to Mariano Novotny He said

1:12:07

name we'd never mentioned before up

1:12:09

until a few weeks ago, but

1:12:11

now we seem to be mentioning

1:12:14

him rather a lot at he

1:12:16

won the category challenger, he beat

1:12:18

the runs a music the in

1:12:20

the final and that victory not

1:12:23

I need fantastic in itself that

1:12:25

it means that he should be

1:12:27

seated at Roland Garros even though.

1:12:30

Roland Garros will be his first

1:12:32

ever. Grand. Slam main draw

1:12:34

he played collies the Australian Open the

1:12:36

Study in a prison it remember him.

1:12:40

But since leaving and the collies in

1:12:42

Australia he's reached the find the free

1:12:44

a semi finals in Morocco the find

1:12:46

of be a big arrest and I

1:12:48

was one this. Challenger.

1:12:51

I mean talk about outta nowhere.

1:12:53

He. Suddenly he some the a

1:12:56

guy the nobody is gonna wanna

1:12:58

play at wrong girl. that's a

1:13:00

bad draw. You. Know

1:13:03

your rights are are are seen quite a

1:13:05

bit of him or to the inverse verse

1:13:08

matches in those run from the guy and

1:13:10

he comes across as pretty fearless for an

1:13:12

eye on a guess when you when you

1:13:14

have come like that out of nowhere you

1:13:16

you so just think it's all new to

1:13:19

so fresh and he says gonna go for

1:13:21

a messiah comes a girl. Unkind

1:13:25

could. Put. In More Than

1:13:27

Play. Or I'm in Amman of all. Right,

1:13:29

I was gonna die Is gonna be like

1:13:31

the my that diagnosed training open where the

1:13:33

task was to find out how good M

1:13:35

and of our is gonna be the task

1:13:37

Clean Point good A and I reviewed some.

1:13:39

Might be the same soon as I ne

1:13:41

yeah. Yeah

1:13:44

well lit We will. We will keep

1:13:46

an eye on him. I could see

1:13:48

him being somebody that we one of

1:13:50

this might decently weird within predictions which

1:13:53

is the is with great as they

1:13:55

soak lucky of the draw the nets

1:13:57

m that a this. As I you and

1:13:59

know the thing. known as the Nicholas Jerry

1:14:01

guy. You

1:14:08

love that bit Matt. That

1:14:12

is it for this week's tennis news

1:14:14

except to tell you about our mascot

1:14:16

for this episode. That mascot is Kevin.

1:14:19

Kevin is a four-year-old rescue living

1:14:21

with his dads Jason and Peter

1:14:23

in Brooklyn. Peter now has a

1:14:26

Taylor Swift song named after him,

1:14:28

Lucky Peter. He's a

1:14:30

perfect mix of bull terrier,

1:14:32

daxened, bordercory, colly,

1:14:34

beagle and retriever. What

1:14:36

a mix. I'm assuming

1:14:39

that Jason and Peter did one of those

1:14:41

dog genealogy tests.

1:14:45

Or maybe they were just present at

1:14:47

conception. Who can say? Let us know Jason

1:14:49

and Peter. When not

1:14:51

sleeping, his favorite activity, he enjoys

1:14:53

snacks, chasing squirrels and making friends.

1:14:57

The gene just heard me say the words squirrel

1:14:59

and perked up. He loves

1:15:01

watching tennis on TV most of the time,

1:15:04

except when his dad goes crazy during tight

1:15:06

rougher matches. He's more of an

1:15:08

Al Kharaz fan. And here he is on

1:15:11

a sofa clutching a tennis

1:15:13

ball, watching Carlos Al Kharaz.

1:15:16

And he's lovely. I'm going to pop a picture

1:15:18

of him on our Instagram. And

1:15:21

a correction, a very important correction.

1:15:23

I have been told on

1:15:27

the subject of mascots from last

1:15:29

week, you might remember we

1:15:31

were discussing Huey from Thursday's show. Hello,

1:15:33

lovely Huey. David Bazzar's

1:15:36

Huey, Huey Dewey and Louie were.

1:15:39

I'm not I'm not meaning to throw you under

1:15:41

the bus here, David, because I was very much

1:15:43

on board with this mistake. But you answered Alvin

1:15:45

in the chipmunks. We

1:15:48

have been inundated with

1:15:51

corrections from disgusted listeners, telling us

1:15:53

that they are in fact Donald

1:15:55

Duck's nephews. Sorry, everybody.

1:15:59

Yeah, we. apologize but they did have

1:16:01

their own show yeah I'm

1:16:05

trying to remember duck great

1:16:08

TV remember

1:16:10

it though when I couldn't remember

1:16:14

and of course the Alvin

1:16:18

in the chipmunks

1:16:21

David are Alvin

1:16:24

Simon and Theodore well

1:16:26

of course so why didn't you say

1:16:28

that the other day I

1:16:32

was let astray David you're

1:16:36

my authority on all things you know right

1:16:39

we have our mascot size called

1:16:41

some points this week for the

1:16:44

dearly departed Darwin thank you to

1:16:46

eager shontak David and Francis

1:16:48

I was one point one point

1:16:50

away from 150 three

1:16:54

times Matt Heider and soma

1:16:56

see you any points yes

1:16:59

thanks to eager shontak to

1:17:03

old reliable Billy Jean is sponsored

1:17:06

by Billy Jean King and Alana

1:17:08

class we have our top folks

1:17:10

and executive producers Jamie Jeff Greg

1:17:12

and Chris and Matt

1:17:14

we have shout outs we

1:17:16

start with Bastian who

1:17:19

is in Munchen glad back

1:17:22

in Germany Oh like barista

1:17:24

munching glad back indeed

1:17:29

hello Bastian Bastian said he's been a

1:17:31

listener to the pod since Charlie the

1:17:33

ferret times Wow our

1:17:37

first ever mascot I've

1:17:43

always wondered about the name Bastian is

1:17:45

it short for Sebastian or

1:17:49

is it a name in and of itself like

1:17:51

Schweinsteiger yeah

1:17:55

no but married to Anna

1:17:57

Ivanovich married to Anna Ivanovich

1:18:00

So I've made that work. Thank

1:18:02

you, Matt. Very good.

1:18:04

Bastian's everywhere, let us know. Is it

1:18:06

short for Sebastian? It's

1:18:09

fine either way, I would just like to know.

1:18:11

Thank you, Bastian. We've

1:18:14

also got Josephine Maybaum

1:18:17

from Lausanne in Switzerland. Stan, we've

1:18:19

already got a territory. Oh, we've

1:18:21

had Josephine before. Hello,

1:18:24

Josephine. Hi, Josephine. Come,

1:18:26

Josephine, in my flying machine. I

1:18:29

think you might have done that before as well, possibly. Now,

1:18:36

if Reuben is listening, I don't want

1:18:39

that credited into any kind of

1:18:41

anything. I do. Go

1:18:43

for it, Reuben. What

1:18:46

have we got for Josephine? Big

1:18:49

fan of tennis we lived and

1:18:51

jealous that her mother and sister

1:18:53

met us at Roland Garros last

1:18:55

year. So we need to

1:18:57

complete the set. Josephine, say

1:19:00

hello if you see us. Hannah

1:19:04

doesn't know who Josephine in a flying machine is.

1:19:06

I believe it's an old sort

1:19:09

of song, nursery rhyme type

1:19:11

thing, but I know it because Leonardo

1:19:13

DiCaprio sings

1:19:16

it to Kate Winslet in Titanic.

1:19:21

Thank you, Josephine. And

1:19:25

finally, which is perfect for our live show because

1:19:27

I know she's in the chat, we

1:19:31

have Vicki Spreadbury. Hey! Oh,

1:19:35

hello, Vicki. We love Vicki.

1:19:39

We've always loved Vicki, but Vicki

1:19:42

knitted... Well, Vicki

1:19:44

made us baked goods at Wimbledon last year, first and foremost. That

1:19:47

was great. So obviously sensational.

1:19:50

But Vicki also knitted the

1:19:53

most incredible and touching dress

1:19:55

for my baby niece

1:19:57

last summer when she was born.

1:20:00

It says on the boat on it and she's

1:20:02

going out of it now because that's what babies

1:20:04

do. But it was the most wonderful

1:20:06

special thing and Vicky is a

1:20:08

wonderful special person. And

1:20:10

we're very glad to have her as a

1:20:13

friend and Vicky is very

1:20:15

present on the barge. As

1:20:17

a lot of you that are in the chat

1:20:19

today and we're going to be answering questions from

1:20:22

the barge in Thursday's live

1:20:24

YouTube show for friends and one

1:20:26

last little promo for that. We

1:20:29

are going to be making a very

1:20:32

exciting announcement in Thursday's show

1:20:34

as well. You'll all hear about

1:20:36

it but we'll be making it in Thursday's

1:20:39

show exclusively for friends. So if

1:20:41

you want to jump on board

1:20:43

that train the link to do so is

1:20:45

in our show notes as always. Thank you

1:20:47

all so much for listening, for

1:20:49

joining us live tonight. If indeed you have

1:20:51

joined us live, for getting involved in the

1:20:53

chat, for getting involved in the

1:20:55

chat on the barge. Thank you to

1:20:57

Hannah, thank you to Willie, his incredible

1:20:59

log. And there you are in the prime sea. Thank

1:21:02

you David, thank you Matt. Mom

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