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Hi, this is Billie Jean King. This is Marion Bartotti. This is Bianca Andreescu. I'm Mats Villander. This is Mary Carrillo. This is Pam Schreiber. This is Yannick Noah, and you're listening to The Tennis Podcast. Well, hello and welcome to the Tennis Podcast on day six of the Australian Open. You find us back at Tennis Podcast Towers, Melbourne. It is a mere seven minutes past one in the morning and David and Matt...
We've just about bounced back today, haven't we? We're in recovery mode, just like... Jack Draper is going to be for the next 48 hours. Yeah, I feel quite indebted to Jack Draper, actually, and Alexander Vukic, the player he beat, because they both played three successive five-setters. They look in a work... state than even we do I mean I know we haven't done any running about plus they've given us the exhilaration of having watched them for the last few hours so
I do feel like I've just bounced back a little bit. Were they up watching Medvedev TN at three o'clock in the morning and then podcasting about it? It's a fair point. You know, you and your five setters, you try and watch that and then come back. Also, you didn't see what I looked up. looked like when I woke from my three-hour accidental nap on the sofa this afternoon because you two had abandoned me. We were being very considerate weren't we? Extremely considerate.
Yes, recovering from a 4am to bed is such a familiar Grand Slam feeling for us. Like, I feel like I should be better at it. And yet I just know that... Every day is a wreck and a write-off after 4am to bed during a Grand Slam. And I don't think I'm very good at it, but we are bouncing back. People bounce back.
People bounce back. Tomorrow's another day. Yes, I actually think today was my worst ever recovery from a 4am finish. I've... been bad today but I'm confident that tomorrow holds a lot of promise before we get into what's happened today a word from our sponsors because of course the tennis podcast throughout this Australian Open is brought to you by
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Well, seeing as we've hinted at what happened there with Jack Draper and Alexander Vukic, Draper winning 10-8 in the fifth set tie break, making it three back-to-back. five setters, which you might think, wow, when was that last done at the Australian Open? Unfortunately, that...
the potential in that stat has been ruined by Adrian Manorino because the answer is last year. But before that, it hadn't been done for a very long time. And don't let Adrian Manorino fool you. It is an incredible achievement. Seeing as we've started, let's finish talking about Jack Draper and where on earth his body might be and where on earth this leaves him in this tournament and his career. My feeling, David, is that...
Three back-to-back five-setters is an absolute disaster for this tournament, but excellent for his career. Yeah, I share that. As long as he, in the future, can avoid... significant physical breakdowns because that's been his main problem over his career. But he's had other problems as well. He sometimes hasn't won the matches you kind of think he should be able to. And he's been a bit of a slow burn, hasn't he? Mostly because of the injuries. But...
Obviously reached the semifinals of the US Open, but this has got something a bit else to it. I know these are not household names, the very top players that he's beaten in five sets.
but he's beaten them all when he was two sets to one down. He has shown such heart and such kind of innovation when things aren't going very well. He's found a way, and that is... is a valuable commodity because there's going to come a point, I think, where Jack Draper in his career hits his straps as a player and plays lights out tennis to get through some easy rounds. and then is able to draw on these sort of experiences because, I mean...
I did not expect him to still be standing. I mean, I remember us leaving the court at two sets to one down in the first round, Matt and I, a few days ago on court number three. And I thought he was out of the tournament. So tonight, again...
I didn't see the whole match. We sort of arrived back at the flat. We'd been watching a lot of other matches, of course, that we'll come on to. But suddenly it became the sole point of the attention for the last two sets. And they were electric. Wonderful atmosphere. He's taken on...
australia in back-to-back matches and he's shown another side to himself i actually think it helped him rid himself of the anxiety and stress that he feels a lot of the time when he's on the tennis court because he had a very small isolated challenge.
which is to shut up everybody in the stadium who's giving him a hard time. Come on, I'll take you all on. And I think it made him a better player. So if he could find a way to just sort of bottle that feeling, I don't know whether it's possible really, but... Credit to themselves. Both players, brilliant win. Yeah, look, Vukic was great. Vukic's forehand is an absolute revelation. I really feel for him right now. But yeah, share all of your thoughts about...
Draper and I do yeah in the context of his career this feels like I'm gonna borrow a turn of phrase that a friend just texted me it feels like anti-baggage for Draper good baggage a a bag full of puppies if you will. So well done, Jack Draper. The remains of him are through to the next round where, good luck, he gets to face Carlos Alcaraz, who looks... I know he dropped a set today, but...
just looks to be absolutely purring. I almost think the fact that he dropped a set mat is symptomatic of the extent to which he is purring so far in this tournament. Yeah, because that set that he dropped was the highlight reel set. You know, if you're going to look up the highlights from this match, you'll see a lot of points from that third set.
There was an incredible diving volley at one stage. There was a lob off a lob. There were lots of tweeners. You know, he was pretty loose in that set. And it's such a fine line for Alcraz because... You know, you want him to be loose and doing his brilliant shot making, but you also want him...
to not get too loose and ragged. And he didn't. He didn't get too loose and ragged, but he also wasn't clinical in that set in a way that he had been clinical in pretty much all the other sets he'd played in this tournament so far. it went to a tie break and then he did play a bad tie break and Nuno Borges was very very solid in it and took it to a fourth but Alcres regrouped immediately and went up a break in the fourth and honestly
There was never really any jeopardy in this match as far as I was concerned. I think... A promising sign for Alcraz is that he's starting matches really well. You know, that's been a problem for him in the past. He's made a lot of slow starts, but he's come out the gates.
really well in in all of his matches his first serve percentage which is obviously something we're looking out for with his with his change of technique was very good in that second set and just generally he was dominant on on serve in that set so yeah
Like another really, really good performance from Alcaraz, his first time on the Rod Laver Arena this... this tournament and he mentioned you know how important it was for him to get that win after the memory of a loss on it the last time he played on it last year and look he
He obviously lost to Draper the last time he played. That was on the grass at Queen's, wasn't it? Alcarez had obviously just come from a pretty gruelling French Open where he played a lot of... long matches and Draper was absolutely awesome that day kind of took the racket out of Alcaraz's hand but I think Alcaraz has got a huge huge advantage here you know he's a better player anyway but he's also got
Way more in the tank. And the way Draper was looking at the end there, shaking his legs out as he was talking to Jim Currier and mentioning the fact that his body doesn't feel great. Currier's last question was about facing Al Karaz. we couched it really positively. Like you beat the guy at Queens last year and Draper was like, all I can think about is an ice bath right now. It was, yeah, it's tough to see, isn't it? A word for John, the little mascot.
we love John we love John John I think maybe did the on court stuff with Al Karaz doing his match today and then that's the Coin toss. Yeah, exactly. And then was sort of backstage, which sounds much more glamorous than it is, was in the media centre.
where we are, with Carlos Alcaraz. And Alcaraz sort of walked him into the press conference room and John was dancing down the corridor. He was so pleased to be there. And he sat in the front row during Alcaraz's press conference. And Alcaraz was... joy with him. John and... Carlos share the same outlook on life and the world, I think. Okay, so that is Draper and Alcaraz set up to meet in the fourth round. We can put it off no longer. It's time for the Thomas Mahatch.
Reckoning. Matt, how many times have you been added this evening? I feel a bit like a football manager having to defend my... team's poor performance or maybe not even defend it right well i'm interested in what defence you might have for this evening. Djokovic beating Mahac 6-1, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 rather. And look...
It has to be said Djokovic was loose and dialed in from the get-go. This was a different Novak Djokovic tonight than we've seen the other two matches. But on the other side of the coin, you know, match Mahac... just about cleared the lowest possible bar, which was performing better than in his US Open match against Jack Draper, but he did not clear it by much, did he? I thought this was poor.
from Mahatch? It was, to be honest. I kept trying to... justify to myself I suppose that it wasn't that bad during the first I don't know hour or maybe a bit longer of this match you know but the More and more it went on and as comfortable as it was for Novak Djokovic tonight, it was hard to come to any other conclusion that Mahac had really not performed anywhere close to his best. I think the reason I was... hyped about this match and excited for it is that, you know, Mahakshas...
beaten Djokovic in the past. He pushed him in another match that they played in Dubai. Like, I thought there were things in this match-up that Mahatsh could do well, you know, given he's... He's incredibly good defending in the corners. And given some of the problems we've seen Djokovic having through the first two rounds when players have gone toe-to-toe with him in long rallies, I thought Mahak could do that, plus have the weaponry to actually be able to...
hurt him and take him on. But I was really struck by, he just didn't really land any blows. Like, I've seen Mahatch hurt Sinner and Alcaraz and Fritz, but... He didn't hurt Novak Djokovic at all tonight, really. And obviously a lot of that is a big credit to... to Novak Djokovic, who, in his words, played his best match so far, and I think he was a little bit surprised by how well he played, but he was kind of allowed to play like that. I think Mahac...
He was either really, really passive and defensive. I think he was a bit nervous. I think he wasn't doing his... is his fun stuff or he was trying to do stuff that was too spectacular and ridiculous you know like his ridiculous jumping forehand that that hit the back fence and a couple of easy misses that he had like
He never really got into a rhythm of playing aggressive, high-margin tennis. And that's when he's at his best, when he's going for big targets but he's being aggressive. He just didn't settle. And Novak Djokovic settled quickly. And it was also a match where Novak Djokovic was completely controlling...
the energy in the stadium. You know, he was letting people know exactly how he felt. He was picking fights for people in the crowd. And that's probably intimidating for Thomas Mahatch to... go up against that and you know on his first time on the Rod Laver arena against the 10 time champion but I felt like he needed to impose his personality on the match a little bit like Djokovic just had that whole stadium
in the palm of his hand, really. He was, you know, being a little bit bratty at times and he was being a little bit theatrical at times with sort of how he was feeling. All things that we're used to seeing Novak Djokovic do, but Mahatch didn't... Didn't do anything really. It was just a secondary character in this match. And I thought he would bring it a lot more than he did. And yeah, I was pretty...
disappointed really with his performance. And I suspect he will be as well. He knows he can play a lot better than that. I think the most damning assessment of Mahatch's performance was actually kind of accidentally by Djokovic in his post-match interview where he said...
that he was surprised that it was... straight sets he said started the second set i was struggling physically he said he was struggling to catch his breath made a joke about not being as young as he used to be i said i was struggling physically um He was getting hot-headed, wasn't he? Irritated with the crowd. And he was a breakdown and he was expecting it to be tricky from there. And it just wasn't. And that's it. He just let Djokovic...
Totally off the hook tonight. Didn't feel like he was under any pressure. But he was great. He was great. Djokovic, this is what he needed. There are tougher tests ahead. You'd think Lehechka next round would be a... Tougher test, albeit one that Djokovic, if he's in any kind of shape, probably should pass. Lehechka beating Benjamin Bonzi today.
What else have we got? Alexander Zverev yet to drop a set. He beat Jacob Fernley in straight sets today. He's yet really though to face anyone that you do. expect him to be remotely troubled by all due respect to fernie who i've got a lot of time for he just doesn't have the weapons to hurt zverev but he does david have ugo and bear Next. Who's playing some very nice tennis. I watched...
most of the match that he played against Arta Fies, and it was a really high-quality contest on the John Kane Arena. For the first two and a half sets, I mean, that's where the competition was. Unfortunately, Fies seemed to roll his ankle. at the end of the third set and had to retire at one love down by that time he was training two sets to one but he came out
and played some seriously high quality stuff. He had the disappointments in the first set of getting sort of broken back and then immediately... broke again to win the set and and i think i think this was one of his best grand slam performances in a way because in the second set
or he went to break down earlier on but then he suddenly ignited with that kind of turbo beast tennis that i that i sometimes refer to with him when he gets the adrenaline flowing got himself a break back for five all went 30 love up with huge hitting and grunts and the crowd on his side but he didn't hold his serve from five all 30 love up and a set up against Hugo Umber. But Umber's got, he's a much quieter character. He didn't really have the neutrals on his side, but...
He made himself heard. He tried to match Feast as much as he could vocally and with adrenaline. But he plays in a totally different way. He's not winding up huge, big haymaker forehands. He's playing it with a very short take-back, and he's deflecting the power of Feast. He was redirecting it a lot of the time on both sides. a pure ball striker he is when he's playing well. And credit to him. He sort of withstood the crisis of the match. And I think he's in a good state now to have a good go at.
Zverev in this next match I don't necessarily think he'll win I think he's the underdog in it But if his best self were to arrive on the court, I think Zverev's going to have some problems there. They've played three times before. He has got one win against Zverev. But...
The most recent one was a hammering by Zverev in the Paris indoor final. But I don't think that was representative of Umber. I think he's a better player than what we saw that day. He did have a little bit of treatment on his shoulder. Early on, I think, in the third set, it was sort of massaged. Not really sure what was going on there, but he's playing some very, very good tennis. Okay, so that's Draper against...
Alcaraz, Umber against Zverev, and Djokovic against Lehechka that's been set up today in terms of fourth round matches on the men's side. We also have an Alejandro Davidovic-Vikina against Tommy Paul. Alejandro Davidovic-Vikina... starting to make a play for the inexplicable players. I think. Came from two sets to love down again. Did it against Felix Auger Liasim two nights ago. Now he's done it to Jakub Mensik, who had match point. in this match, didn't he? And probably should have.
put Alejandro Davidovich Fikina away. He was struggling with a physical issue on his foot. I think a blister in the third set. And frankly, by the end of the match, he was just... struggling with his body altogether given you know his his relative lack of experience in best of five set matches so that's that's another of these teenagers failing to back up the big win which you know i think is fine but it
does just go to show how hard it is. Yeah, I think particularly Grand Slams, five setters, you know, the only way they can learn is by doing it, isn't it? And they've sometimes got to take a bit of a... tough experience to get there and i was looking at men's six record and his last four losses at slams have either been from two sets to love up or two sets to one up
He's been leading in those matches and ended up losing in the fifth. And those fifth set scores are 6-2, 6-love, 6-2, 6-3. So look, I'm sure it sounds...
probably sounds worse than it is. Like, he's been a teenager that entire time. And, you know, he's had leads against good players. But I think it does paint a picture of... development really and and physicality maybe being a little bit of a of an issue still like i think he's i think he's strong isn't he i think he looks strong but five set tennis especially
As you say, five-set tennis after previous five-set matches is just something that you have to learn and experience. It's like Jack Draper, isn't it? He looked physically... developed very, very early and big and strong. And in some ways he was, but he had a big problem with long matches. And he does flatter to deceive a bit in that way, Jakub. because he's got that physique that looks manly. He doesn't look like a boy.
A bit different to Jao Fonseca, who I feel like in a few years, he's not underdeveloped, but I feel like he might look a bit different in a few years. Mensik looks how he's going to look, I think. But yeah, you just can't cheat the five set thing. But yeah, I mean, Davidovich for Kina, like, he's come from nowhere. I mean, he had a really poor year in... 2024. I think he only had three wins against top 50 players in the entire season. And he's just had three in this.
tournament but like that's such a Davidovich Vakina thing to do I suppose he has always been a guy of quite severe ups and downs and yeah fair play to him like He really took control of this and got the...
crowd on his side. He's kind of an irresistible force when he does play well. You are drawn to him because he's a shot maker and he's flinging himself all over the court. He's just exciting to watch. Obviously he was helped out by Menzik's physical... troubles but yeah like he now plays Tommy Paul and that could be fun again another great athlete and Paul
won the last 10 games of his match today. You know, that was quite tight for a while, that match, but he just absolutely raced to the finish. So, yeah, like, as you said, fun. I think there'll be some... Great rallies in that one. Are we expecting any upsets of those four matches that have been teed up today? Djokovic, Lehechka, Davidovich, Shakina, Paul, Alcaraz. and Draper, and then Umber and Zverev? I would say I expect the favourites to win.
all of those matches is a little bit like how we started the tournament by saying we think there's going to be some really good matches but in the end the names will come through the one thing about Djokovic that occurred to me watching today is how different he is to the other members of the big three in terms of...
you not knowing which version of him is going to come out. The first couple of rounds bore no resemblance to today, just in terms of demeanour, etc. And I think because of all the hype... about Mahatch. I think he was aware of it. I think he... I mean, he doesn't listen to us. But he would be aware that there is chat about how good this guy is. And he will know anyway, because he's a real intellectual about the sport. But...
I don't think it's a guarantee that he'll be quite as highly tuned and psyched up in his next match. Now, not to say he'll underestimate Yuri Lehechka, but it's about those heightened senses. You could see it from ball one today. He was right... there and he was up for it um and and who knows whether whether he might hit a flat patch and somebody quiet like the hedge car might take advantage i'm constantly watching
Djokovic trying to assess whether he's slower, you know, whether he's just half a step or a quarter of a step or an eighth of a step slower than he was a year ago, two years ago. And look, he must be, right? He can't be peak speed and strength and physical fitness, not by his standards. So I...
I don't know, unless I see Novak Djokovic in a sprint race against past Novak Djokovic, I find it tough to tell just from the eye test. Like, until he comes up against the person that exposes it, you know, Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final. And he had an injury at that time or suddenly was recovering from injury. It was in his knee sleeve era. So that...
It could have been attributable to the knee sleeve or it could have been the start of the physical decline. Like, we won't fully know until it's... passed like we as you said Matt like we might not know when it's happening it might very well have already happened yeah I think what Wimbledon showed is that even without his very best tennis he is still capable of beating the vast majority of players in the field. And when he starts doing that...
you start to think, oh, well, it's Novak Djokovic. He can probably bring it against Alcaraz and Sinner as well. But I think the reality of his matches in the past year over the best of five sets against those two have been that... he's fallen short against them. So we won't know until he comes up against Alcaraz, because he's obviously pretty close now in this draw. They've only got to win one more match each, and then they face each other.
It was funny because it was so comfortable for Djokovic today, and yet he didn't... He didn't... Really looked like he was having a very good time. Like it wasn't serene. Which is bizarre because it was a stadium full of Serbians. It felt like Serbia night in Melbourne tonight. It was... Serbians scheduled back-to-back on the Rod Laver Arena night session. We'll talk about Olga Danilovic in part two. But, like, it was...
feverish Serbian support in there. And you're right, like, OK, there was the one guy, wasn't there, that Djokovic really took issue with and it... It bothered him, as I say, described himself as hot-headed and, you know, had to calm himself down to kind of get into interview mode and be jolly at the end of it because it was still rattling him. But even so, like, it was mostly just...
you would have thought, a good time in there and he didn't seem to be having a good time. But I think that that is what gets the best out of him. I grow a little bit. I did have a little exchange with Goran while the match was going on to just say, this is when he's at his best, isn't it? When he's... pissed off with everybody and he and he wants to he wants to have an argument and go and said it doesn't matter how well it's going he he he finds a way to
to not be happy about it. And that's why he's so good. I'm sure it's the heightened senses. And I think he needs to find things to rail against little bits, even himself, you know, the perfectionism in him. yeah the thing is there was just these two things going on there was the thing towards the people in the crowd like and i thought oh well that's
That's terrible news for Mahaksh if Novak Djokovic has found someone in the crowd that's annoyed him and he's going to use that. And he did. There was a moment, quite a... long period actually at the start of the second set where Djokovic clearly was struggling physically and he was breathing heavily and he was hunched over a lot and look these are things that we've seen Djokovic do before but I thought in that moment
Mahatsh ended up being the perfect sort of opponent for him because he didn't test that. He didn't knuckle down and... not make errors for half an hour. And I actually think Lehekshka is more of a guy who's more likely to do that. He's a lot more solid than Leheksh. He's less spectacular. He's less...
I think overall he's slightly less sort of talented. I think his ceiling is maybe not as high, but he won't give it to Djokovic in that moment. He's also very confident. He's just won a title and he's... I think he's got some weapons as well. I think he can be a dangerous player for Djokovic if Djokovic isn't quite on his game or quite feeling physically strong.
Djokovic's game today was really good. He was serving well. He was in every one of Mahatch's service games. I think for the first hour, Mahatch had to save break points in every service game that he had. He was just dialed in in a way that he hadn't been. Look, I don't think, to go back to your question, I don't think there'll be an upset in that one, but I do still see Le Hetschko as quite a dangerous, dangerous opponent.
Okay, those matches will be in two days' time. We'll be back in part two to talk about today's women's matches. Ready for a career change? One way you can truly be yourself, gain valuable training and shine with your customer service skills? Then listen up. Sage is a leader in accountancy tech for busy businesses. Founded right here in Newcastle, we've got Geordie Spirit with Global Reach.
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Welcome back to part two where we turn our attention now to the women's draw and our day started with two fantastic women's matches. Unfortunately viewed, well, I say unfortunately, we do have an absolutely splendid, enormous telly in our apartment with a delightful corner sofa. But, you know, we'd have liked to be in the stadium for these, but factors... Factors made that feel...
Pretty impossible at 11am. So we watched Clara Towson take on Irina Sabalenka and Donna Vekic take on Diana Schneider in a multi-screen situation. And it was about as good... Good a time as three people can have with a Daniel Medvedev hangover, David. Yes, they were great matches, really good contests, both of them. I was really pleased.
that Clara Tasson showed what a good player she is, what potential she has, what a good ball striker she is. And Sabalenka was pretty rich in her praise afterwards in the press comments about... what a clean ball is coming at her and how it seems it's sort of...
takes you aback, really, what she's able to do. And actually, I thought Sabalenka was really not playing well at all in the first set. I mean, there were a lot of breaks of serve, and it wasn't actually a great match at the start, but it became good. Partly because I think Towson actually didn't go away in the way that a lot of times I think players of her ranking tend to just fade if they get a disappointment. She kept coming back for more and Sabalenka sort of played her way into form.
That's how it seemed to me. Again, it's that kind of, as I was saying about Djokovic, the heightened senses of being under pressure and under threat. What kind of form did she play herself into? Is she still searching for title winning? I think so. It was decent. It was good enough. But I think she's going to have to play. She's not playing as well, I don't think, as she was a year ago. That would have been my assessment, generally.
Completely agree, yeah. I think when she's won her slams, she's actually played really well from the start in those, you know, and she's been laying down some pretty dominant scorelines. And look, she hasn't dropped a... a set yet so we should keep some perspective like she's not she's not
having a complete disaster and there would definitely be some people who would say that's a really good sign you know winning without your best tennis but i i just think for sabalenka it's actually a good sign when she's
dominating and crushing opponents. I think I never would have believed that this match would have become gripping in a really... good sense like because right at the start it was so bad you know like they were just breaking each other and but not in a not in a way that they were both returning really well it was just a
really ragged performance, particularly from Sabalenka. I thought her footwork was a little slow. She talked in the press conference about some struggles with the serve that she's having and her pace was down on her serve today quite a bit. She was talking about the balls being heavy and the court being a bit slower than she's used to. But yeah, that's probably something to monitor because her serve is crucial to her game.
You know, it was very much the start of this match was like when she had the... service yips not not in terms of those huge number of double folds but just how vulnerable she was in every service game it was very it was a throwback really and and for Sabalenka that's not good because The last couple of years have been the best Sabalenka. But, as David said, second set was a whole lot...
Still wasn't peak Sabalenka, but it was better. And there was an absolutely phenomenal game. I think a seven-deuce game at four-all in that second set, which Sabalenka eventually won to set up the chance to serve it out, which she did.
And it was just a great, great contest there at the end between the two of them. But I don't know. I was such a... Even with the form of Coco Gauff coming in and Igor Svontek coming in, I just thought Sabalenka... such a favourite at the Australian Open and I still think she's the favourite but
I was expecting her to be playing better than this. I really, really was. She's got Andreva next, who she's obviously got a really, really good record against and has generally played well in that matchup. And Andreva has...
She hasn't quite been at her best this tournament either. She's done well to get herself out of some tangles and she's found her best tennis right when she needed it. But she's been a little bit... little bit passive in the matches I've seen until the final moments when she sort of pulled the trigger but I just think Sabalenka will probably have too much for her but
I don't know, it doesn't feel like title winning form for Sabalenka, to be quite honest, compared to the form she's been in when she's won her other majors. So something needs to change, I think. But I would back her to be able to do it because she's so good. A potential quarterfinal opponent for her if she comes through against Mira Andreeva would be Donna Vekic, who set up a fourth-round match today with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Vekic went...
Into the trenches, David, to beat Diana Schneider. 7-6, 6-7, 7-5 after Schneider served for the match at 5-4. I mean, this was... An extraordinary feat of will for Donna Beckett. She is some competitor, isn't she? Yeah, and they both are. This was one of the matches of the tournament for me. I thought the quality of this was far higher than the other one.
Part of it is you know what Donovekic is going to do. You know she's going to line up this forehand and try to dominate you. And it is one of the better shots in the sport. But... Schneider is able to absorb it. And with her leftiness as well, she's very...
Difficult lefty, I think, to play. She redirects it back on you. And I got the sense quite often that Vekic was taken aback by what was going on out there. She sort of turns defence into a tap very quickly. And I really thought she was going to win this thing. When she broke for 5-4, I didn't see the comeback from Vekic. But you're right, she's got heart. She's been around a long time. I get the sense that Vekic, because she came along as a 16-year-old and as...
She's had undulations in her career, but it's largely felt as though she has... had unfulfilled potential until the last couple of years. This last 18 months when Pam came on board, and it was two years ago that she got to the quarterfinals here, and then obviously last year she's gone...
Further steps. She's reached a grand slam semifinal. She's won an Olympic medal. I mean, she's almost Djokovic-like in the way she talks about that Olympic medal. It doesn't matter what else I do in my career. That's kind of the shackles off. And what I find really interesting and... I think it kind of gives any player hope who wasn't in great form. She was really not in form before this tournament. She was losing matches. She kind of scraped through the first few rounds. And then suddenly...
She's scraped through this one, and you think maybe the form is coming, and this run could develop into a big deal. Great moment at the net between players, good spirit between them. It was just a brilliant battle. It's kind of the best of what tennis is. We always... cite pam's quote don't we about leila fernandez being you know the best show in in tennis i kind of feel like
Donna Vekic at Grand Slams over this past year, like Pam's had a hand in creating the best show in tennis. Like you think of the matches that Vekic has played and actually she's been on the wrong side of a lot of them, you know. Paolini at Wimbledon, Jung-Chin Wen at the US Open, the Danilovic one at Roland Garros last year, and finally she's got over the line in one of these absolutely epic, epic matches. And I know that...
It's very big for Donna Vekic that her mindset coach, you know, I think we can use that word, mindset coach, is here with her Jonathan Lehman, who I think is only other sort of previous Grand Slam where he's been. been with Donna Vekic the whole time was Wimbledon last year. And that was a big match today for Vekic in terms of...
like her mindset, you know, because she's got a thing in her head about lefties. She said in the on-court interview, in my next life I want to come back as a lefty. She'd lost nine of her last 12 against lefties, including... one against Diana Schneider in the Bad Homburg final. Like, it's not only in her head, I think it is also a match-up thing. You know when Donna draws a lefty...
In a grand slam draw, we'll get a text from Pam going, oh, lefty. Yeah, and of course, in this draw, Marketa von Drosheva was in her section, but ended up... withdrawing from the tournament so that could have been a lefty earlier as well but yeah she just had to have a lot of A lot of resets here, Donovekic, and did it really well. And I agree, I thought the quality here was really high from start to finish. Both players, Schneider got tight.
Schneider really did drop off right at the end having put herself in a position to win. Vekic raised her game for sure but Schneider did. did have some misses that just weren't happening previously in the set. But yeah, huge, huge effort for Vekic, especially as David said, considering the form she had coming in. I think fourth round is a really, really good run here already. and with a chance to go further. And just on the subject of Pam, Pam Shriver, Vekic's...
Other coaches, obviously working with Sasha Byan now and he's here and that seems to be going great. As you said, she's got her mental coach here as well and her physical team and her family are here as well. But, you know, we've talked on the part about... Pam living in LA and the awful time that she's had and obviously everybody in that part of the world. It's been very much on our minds and, you know, Pam is waking up at...
all hours of the morning to watch Donna's matches in a hotel room that she's sharing with three rescue cats. Like, you know, it's a terrible... weird discombobulating time over there in LA and we woke up this morning to the news and Pam's tweeted this as well that she had she had managed to to rescue her a lot of her grandson trophies from her house when when she evacuated um but she doesn't have anywhere to put them so they were in a bag in
in her son's car, I believe. And that car has been stolen. It's been reported to the police. Obviously, there's no chance that it'll be found, but it feels... potentially unlikely so yeah if i guess if anyone sees any grand slam trophies pop up on ebay or on the dark web or or any anywhere then um drop us a line
anything just just uh yeah raise raise the the red flag and and hopefully all is not lost for for pam and we are continuing to think of pam and everyone based in LA, and Taylor Fritz is giving his round one prize money, isn't he, to the disaster relief over there, which was a really nice touch. We were very much looking forward to Osaka against Bencic today, weren't we? And it was fantastic for a while. Osaka was fantastic for a while. She was serving so well. And then...
Suddenly, almost out of nowhere, her serve just deserted her. She could barely hit it. She could barely push up on it. Her toss went a bit... bit strange and and after losing the first set on a tie break to Bencic she had the trainer out for for an abdominal strain what caused her to
retire from the final that she played in Auckland and debatably lost. And she ended up retiring from this match as well. And it was just... such a terrible shame for tennis fans for Naomi Osaka you know it's a strange one apparently I asked her about it in the press conference afterwards she says she gets one abdominal strain a year it's like you know
getting one cold a year and she said i usually get it during the stuttgart tournament shout out stuttgart she said um but this year she's she's got it now i guess the fact that she's Prone to them means she knows how to manage them, but also that must be incredibly frustrating. I can't imagine it's something that has improved.
post-pregnancy, given all the impact that that has on abdominal muscles. But it just feels like a terrible stroke of bad luck for Naomi Osaka, quite frankly. Belinda Bencic, though...
Her comeback I find absolutely fascinating. Here she is in the fourth round of the Australian Open. She gave birth to her daughter eight and a half months ago. She... started her comeback playing itf events she played three itfs at the end of last year and she she said impressed today that the plan had been to continue playing to continue playing low-level events for a bit until Switzerland...
got entry into the United Cup and she got a call about that and it seemed kind of too good an opportunity to turn down. Of course, with the United Cup, it's a guarantee of two matches. So maybe she has Dominic Stricker to thank for this incredible run in her first Grand Slam returning after having a baby. She said, you know, the reasoning for dropping down in a level and she was...
totally comfortable and unfazed with it. She said it didn't bother her at all playing in front of sparse crowds and all the rest of it. She said she wanted to get to know her new body. and figure out the practicalities of traveling with a baby and... build up confidence and do all of that in an extremely low pressure environment. And externally, it really was a low pressure environment. Like the Belinda Bencic comeback had no fanfare.
whatsoever did it and and now because she's kind of sneaked her way back like she's just there and oh Belinda Bencic is back and she's reached the the fourth round of a slam and she's she's playing great like oh, we're back there, are we? Brilliant. But yeah, it's... It's an interesting way she's gone about things. She's played 20 matches since October the 28th and she's won 15 of them. And just for context there, Coco Goff and Sabalenka, Irina Sabalenka.
played 13 in that time obviously most of those were at very different levels but still you know she she played her first pro match uh back did Bencic at an ITF in Hamburg almost six months to the day after her daughter was born.
And she started training two months, pretty much to the day after her daughter was born, but eased herself back in very gently. It doesn't sound like there was any question about... wanting to return i think that was always the plan but she never felt in any kind of rush she just felt like she wanted to and and here she is it's a it's a fascinating story
quite frankly. And she now faces Coco Gough for a place in the Australian Open quarterfinals. Gough beating Leila Fernandes 6-4, 6-2 tonight. Didn't get to see loads of this. I've read a couple of write-ups of it and I did watch bits and bobs. It sounds like it was basically great from Goff, but just a...
Just a couple of notes of concern. Quite a few forehand errors in the first set and just a period in the second set where her serve just dropped off. I think she said two double faults in a row. Got back on track. very, very quickly and is basically playing really, really well. But, you know, they're just things to bookmark for when she comes up against stiffer opposition than Leila Fernandes. I just think that's a really...
Great matchup for Goff. And so it proved tonight. Paola Bedossa is through to the fourth round. Paola Bedossa. 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 today for Marta Kostyuk. She's the 11th seed here. I've been sleeping on how big of a deal the Bedossa resurgence has been.
I think. She played great tennis last year. She really did from... Probably from the start of the clay court season onwards. I thought every time I watched Balassa play, she was... OK, maybe not back to her... absolute best but playing really high quality stuff um But yes, she hasn't really felt in contention to win big, big tournaments, I suppose, in that time. So therefore, it doesn't maybe feel like she's...
She's around the 11th seed. But, you know, I think her sort of form generally has been really, really good. And this match today against Marta Kostiuk was up and down. It was very different for... for Paola Badasa because her previous matches had been indoors. She'd sort of got used to those conditions. She'd played at times when it was raining. But here it was actually doing quite a windy portion of the day.
And it was scrappy and she really had to fight here. And Kostyuk sort of... raced ahead in the second set going five love up but didn't close it and When she didn't close it, Bedosa just kept coming back at her and sort of built up some momentum actually for the third, which they eventually came into. And it was Bedosa who was a lot more just on her game in that third set. And yeah, like...
Obviously, a big thing for her is her body holding up. We know that she's got a pretty serious injury that she's managing, but she does seem to have found a rhythm at the moment that... that it can last these multiple matches in a row. That was always my concern. I just didn't necessarily think that it could. But, you know, I don't think she's lost...
matches because of the injury over the last few months. I think it's maybe been some nerves at the US Open, some tightness against Navarro. That was definitely costly that day or just being outplayed. The body seems really healthy, which is obviously brilliant news. And, yeah, she's done really well here. Olga Danilovic next for Bedossa. 7-6-6-1 against Jessica Bagula tonight.
Quite an upset, isn't it? I mean, I think, you know, Jessica Bagula, Grandstand finalist recently at the US Open, and I would have made her a pretty heavy favourite for this match, even though Danilovic is a player of long thought. should be more of a player than she's... proving where the results and a lot of that is injury based but uh in the last six or eight months she's got us her ranking around 50 in the world and that's a big difference to where it had been
And she's had a couple of grand slam runs. You know, that win over Donna Vekic that we've talked about at the French Open last year. In this one, it was a dogfight in the first set, tiebreak, and Danilovic won it. And then she raced away with it in the second set in a manner that I actually thought... maybe Pakura's injured. You know, I thought that's such a lopsided scoreline. But reading the...
the press conference transcript of, of Pegula, no suggestion of that whatsoever. And she pointed to the very high percentage of first serves that Danilovic was getting in 80%. She said, I mean, maybe that was an exaggeration. I haven't actually checked the stats, but she.
was mightily impressed with the left-handed game of Danilovic in that respect and the other thing she talked about was that the the massive discrepancy in pace of court and conditions between what she experienced tonight as the night session match on one of the main courts at Rod Laver Arena there, and the John Kane Arena, which she'd played in the daytime. a couple of times she said that was lightning quick and this was really slow
And she likes a fast court. And she said she found it really tough. She wasn't making excuses. She knows it's the same for both players. But it's an interesting insight, isn't it, that conditions-wise, this tournament can be... Very different depending on when you play, what the weather's like. And obviously Melbourne does have a very different weather from hour to hour at times. And even though you can get 30 degree Celsius or 100 Fahrenheit days.
you know, in the afternoon, you get to the evening and it gets pretty cold. Yeah, and I've commentated matches with some experts. Quite often they're... there's a third commentator positioned courtside, and they'll often note that just when the sun goes in, there is a notable change in the speed of the court, like right there and then in the moment they can...
see it change which is yeah fascinating so quick conditions coming up this weekend I think because it's it's getting hot in in Melbourne over the next few days certainly compared to
to what it has been. And yeah, I mean, I thought Danilovic was awesome, like really wrestled that first set tie break. There was then a very... long game at the start of the second set on Danilovic's serve and it went her way and it just seemed like Pagula's head dropped a little bit after she couldn't get the breakthrough there but you know you said earlier about the
about the atmosphere on Rod Laver Arena, you know, that was, there was so many Serbian flags there today. And I think Danilović felt like she raised to, she rose to that occasion, which is, which is impressive, you know, you know. Not every player necessarily would have done that following Novak Djokovic onto the Rod Laver arena. Never been on a stage like that before, she said, which is a factor that...
Maybe sometimes we forget about it, really. Some players do rise to it and others struggle. Yeah, I was impressed. Really impressed. Got a chance against Bedossi, you'd have to think. That feels like the open one, doesn't it? I mean, maybe... Pavly Chenkovic, we could be underestimating Pavly Chenkovic because we haven't seen that much of her. She was awesome today against Laura Siegmund. Maybe that one's a bit more open. Yeah.
Bencic actually... I wouldn't write off Bencic. I think Goff's the favourite. But we know how good Bencic can be at her best. But I'm not expecting an upset there. In fact, Sabalenka-Andreva feels like... the most predictable outcome, doesn't it? Just because of that.
head-to-head and the match-up issue. And Andrava was like, I'm tired of playing Sabalinka. You're only 17. You shouldn't be tired of playing anybody. I shouldn't be tired of anything at 17. Right, that's... it for part two join us in part three ready for a career change one way you can truly be yourself gain valuable training and shine with your customer service skills then listen up
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and your business running smoothly. Search better business to learn more. Lexus awarded Best Reliability in the 2023 What Car Awards. Welcome back to part three of the tennis podcast where I'm going to talk you through tomorrow's schedule but first... Sensation of the day has caused some friction in tennis podcast towers. Now what's happened is I've made a rod for my own back with what I did yesterday, which was make an exception by awarding Tristan's school case.
sensation of the day despite losing his match there were no other contenders no winning Aussies on day five so I thought that Tristan Schoolkate by winning a set against the world number one who hadn't dropped a set since since when I believe it was against Thomas Martin Echeverry in Shanghai. Right. A long time ago. I thought, you know...
Given the desert wasteland we were operating in, I thought that was enough from Tristan Schoolkate to give him sensation of the day. Unfortunately, that seems to have opened the floodgates for non-winning players. be considered for sensation of the day which Which really sets the cat amongst the pigeons. So although I was tremendously impressed with Alexander Vukic, and I know David wants to give Sensation of the Day to Alexander Vukic, and I hear that argument.
I am going to award sensation of the day to end all debate to lovely Tim that stopped me while I was waiting to get onto the Rod Laver arena to say he loved the pod and to give me a beer. That is a sensation, folks. It's a fun development that we can't award sensation of the day to... sensations who lose because it just sets too much of a precedent but we can award it to just Australians who are nice to us
Yeah, look, I'll agree. I under-workshopped the format going in. I think we can all agree on that. And if it's a returning feature for 2026, then maybe we'll set some firmer parameters. I accept that criticism. Right, tomorrow's order of play. What have we got for you on day seven of the Australian Open? Well...
I think we've got a pretty egregious situation on the Rod Laver arena, which is Emma Adekanu and Igor Svantec up first. And incidentally, once again, it's a women's match first and last on the Rod Laver arena. So yes, they are committed to equality in terms of... numbers of matches on the main courts here and that's great but it kind of shields the fact that there is a gross inequality like we know what the best slots are um and the women aren't getting them
quite frankly, we're seeing women scheduled first and last often. And it's just a shame for Raducanu and Shantek, especially as two European players, to be positioned there. Like that is, that's... That's not a good time slot for anyone. I mean, that match in Europe is taking place 1, 2 a.m., which massively reduces the number of people that will be able to watch it.
And it's unlikely to have the atmosphere in the stadium that it might in a better slot. You know, it's hot in the Rod Laver arena at that time. It's going to be hot tomorrow. You know, that does affect the gusto that people are able to give to a match. But fingers crossed, it's a good enough match to create some atmos in there. So Raducanu Schwantek to kick things off. Then Alex de Menor against Francisco Cerro.
Rundleau should win that, but will need to be decent, Domino. You know, he can't not show up and win that. He's an enormous favourite. Is he? In that, which... I don't know, I think it's tighter than that. Like, Sarindolo's good. He's easy to underestimate, Sarindolo. I think Domino will win, but, yeah.
Australia on edge again. Yannick Sinner against Marcus Garone, first in the night session, and then the All-American clash between Madison Keyes and Danielle Collins. On the second court, we start with Emi Navarro against Ons Javon. then Taylor Fritz against Guillermo Feast the first night session match is Alina Svitolina taking on Jasmine Paolini and then Mimir Kitsvanovic against Holger Runa is last on and I've got a feeling we're going to be watching that
in the small hours of tomorrow morning. Paolini Svitolina followed by Ketsamanovich Runa. Buckle up, folks. John Kane Arena starts with Alex Mickelson against Karen Hashanov. Then Elena Rabakina facing Diana Stremska. And finally, Ben Shelton against Lorenzo Musetti. We have Putin. Save it Kazikina. on the Kia Arena. Mute and Tien is there as well. Hadajmaya against Kudamatova is on the 1573 Arena. And Lise Christiane and...
Sonago Marijan are on court number three and that's it for your singles matches tomorrow that's not quite it for today's pod because I do need to tell you about today's mascot The mascot is Bentley. Bentley is owned by Andrea Lennox. And Bentley is such a delight that in a tough moment a couple of days ago...
Matt cheered me up by sending me a preview picture of Bentley. He said, can I cheer you up with a picture of an upcoming mascot? Yes, you can, Matt, any time. Bentley is a 12-year-old Lassa Apso who lives in... son. clemente california a beach city in southern california halfway between la and san diego ever since he was a puppy at four months old he was accompanied he has accompanied his pet parents and andrea hope i'm
saying that right, and Michael on their annual trip to the Indian Wells Tennis Tournament. He enjoys road trips, whether it's to the desert for the tournament, to the wineries in Paso Robles, or more recently to parks. city utah he loves pillows loads of affection and just sitting outside on the patio with the breeze blowing through his hair and folks let me tell you it's a lot of hair
So much hair. Yeah, I'd love to know how long it takes to blow dry Bentley. Maybe Andrea and Michael aren't blow drying Bentley themselves. Maybe that's a professional job. But honestly, his face is such a delight.
And John, the little mascot with Carlos Alcaraz today, they have provided my dopamine hits. So thank you very much for that, Andrea. And hello to Bentley. And just on the subject of mascots, if you would like your... pet to become a mascot this year then you have two more weeks to sign them up we are closing mascot entries at the end of this month luckily phoebe has already bagsied me uh Lucky you, Phoebe, and lucky me as well. Hello to you, Phoebe. David has been bagsied by Maisie.
Yeah, unlucky Maisie, but lucky me because I love having Maisie around. And Matt, of course, is awaiting news of who his mascot will be and what their name will be. It's a very exciting time. And we have our top folks and executive producers, Greg, Chris and Jeff. Hello. We salute you and Matt. We have the return of shout outs. Yes.
It's good to have shout-outs back, doesn't it? Even though the tennis starts in nine hours and we've got two episodes of Traitors to watch and sleep, but we can definitely extend this podcast to have shout-outs. It means... Roberts is just about okay. I was just sparing a thought for some of our British journalist colleagues who've just been called to interview room two to speak to Jack Draper at 2.05am.
Where's Simon Briggs? Emma Raducanu is on court at 11.30am. Yeah, harassed Briggs coming up in a few hours time. Anyway, shout outs. And we start with Phil. Phil Nguyen in Brisbane. Hello, Phil. How you doing, Phil? What do we know about Phil? That is all we know. Phil Dent was the father of Taylor Dent and a former player, and an Australian, actually, although Taylor Dent is an American.
Former tennis player Phil Dent is down to Australia. And of course Brisbane, home of the Brisbane event, former home of my parents. I've spent a couple of wonderful Christmases in Brisbane. It's a great city. Thank you, Phil. Cheers, Phil. Next, we've got Diana Spadafora. We know Diana. We do indeed. Hi, Diana. Tough day for Dianas with Schneider losing.
Yes. Good player, though. Good player. Lovely player. Diana says, I was part of the train wreck that was the 2024 US Open daily predictions competition. Yes. I resorted to having my son randomly pick for me. me and he went head to head against matt it was pretty cute that was great i'm pretty sure i lost to diana's son uh love love that approach diana and i agree it was indeed a train wreck
Thank you very much. You've been a long-time supporter and you always send lovely messages on Instagram. So thank you. And finally, we have Laura Slattery. Hello, Laura. We know Laura as well. Yeah, hi, Laura. Laura is from Dublin. And Laura says, not far from where Matt and Catherine were hanging out after the Bruce gig last year. What a night.
One of the best nights of my life, Laura. It was so good. Yeah, it was brilliant. What was the name of that place? Oh, it was such a good night you can't remember. The event was Hungry Heart. That's all that matters. It could have been anywhere. Laura Robson, who's here doing TV work. Yep. Siegmund. Siegmund. Lost today, but still I think she'll chalk it up as a good tournament.
And Laura was at the penultimate day of the Olympic tennis in 2024. That was her highlight of the year. Wow. Well, that's incredible. Laura. Thank you very much, Laura, Diana and Phil. Thank you very much for your support, folks. Thank you for listening. We'll be back tomorrow, day seven of the Australian Open. We will speak to you then.
Hi, Gemini. The football transfer window's open. How are my team's stats looking? Well, your team definitely has a lot of star power. Do you think we're going to have a good season? It's going to come down to consistency and a little bit of luck on your side. I'll let you know if we win. I'll be keeping an eye on the score.
Yeah, me too. Now we're talking. Transfer to Google Pixel 9 with Gemini Live today. Sequences shortened. Gemini Live available for ages 18+. Internet required. Results are illustrative. Check responses for accuracy. Feature and account compatibility limitations apply.