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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 seven of the Australian Open, where it is shortly before 7pm. The night session on the Rod Laver Arena in the second court are shortly to get underway.
myself, David and Matt, in the lobby of the media centre, just a stone's throw from the Kia Arena, where David has been out having the time of his life watching Lennartian and Korentan Mutay, and more on that later, folks. We have to start with the biggest shock of the tournament so far, the defeat of the fourth seed on the men's side. Taylor Fritz is out and nobody, but nobody, well certainly nobody in the tennis podcast vicinity, I'm sure there is.
are geniuses out there that did see this coming but those geniuses were not us taylor fritz beaten three six seven five seven six six four by 38 year old gail monfise and matt delivered the most jaw-dropping stat to me after we were leaving the second court having caught the last two games of this live and just soaking up the incredible vibes out there. This is Guillaume Monfils' first top five win.
at a Grand Slam event since, Matt? 2008. 17 years. Against David Ferrer at Roland Garros, and he'd never had a top four win. Which is what Taylor Fritz is. Wild. The spirit... The serve, the hustle, the celebration dance, feed it all into my veins. Gail Monfils had everything today. Yeah, I think it's one of the most unlikely results on paper that I could have been asked to predict. They could have played ten times at the moment with him as 38-year-old.
Kelman Feast and Taylor Fritz being what he is and I would have picked Fritz every time we talked about it in the first set didn't we Matt we were just looking at it and love watching you know he's so exciting he's given so much to the sport you know i've spoken to two separate americans this this week american players who've named him as their favorite player alex mickelson who we'll talk about later
Ben Shelton, they've both called him their favourite player. My 13-year-old son watches his highlight reels, you know, from before he was born. But honestly, I just thought... The Taylor Fritz that we have now looks impregnable for a guy like Monfils. How would he possibly win? And he kind of explained it in the on-court interview afterwards, didn't he? He got his strategy and it paid off.
perfectly shape hold the baseline slice away and but but it's the execution it's the patience it's it's what he did against some pesci pericard never back down never stop never lose focus i mean it's one of the best runs of his career this I think yeah and honestly it was the Taylor Fritz press conference which I came from not that long ago Fritz and Monfils came in
came in back to back. It was Fritz's press conference that helped me really understand how magnificent a performance this was from Gail Monfils, because Taylor Fritz is a guy that is so hypercritical. of himself, so hypercritical. He's playing here as the fourth seed for the first time at a Grand Slam. He's won a lead-up event. He's reached the final of the last Grand Slam and the ATP finals, you know, the last two.
big hardcore events he came into this tournament thinking he could win it and and that That wasn't ludicrous for, you know, who's an outside chance, but not ludicrous for Taylor Fritz to be thinking, I can go all the way here. I was expecting a devastated, furious Taylor Fritz because at times on the court he was... emoting big time but actually that emoting was frustration because he was so philosophical for it he just kind of shrugged and said sometimes someone produces something
crazy good and you just have to hold your hands up to it and he said I'm really going to try and turn off the hypercritical tap today because there's just no point Monfils was Just so good. He said, I couldn't hurt him today. Couldn't hurt him. I was trying to get into the net. I was trying to do proactive things. But he felt like a passenger in that match against 38-year-old Guillermo.
feast it like unbelievable because I didn't get to watch all of this match you know I got to see the last couple of games all together and I checked in and out over the course of it so I hadn't really appreciated until that Taylor Fritz press conference how awesome this was from Monfils today. So Taylor Fritz comes in, delivers that incredible assessment of the match. So I'm sitting there anticipating feverishly the game Monfils.
press conference how big is he going to be dreaming can i put the i only need one line to him how much has he preferred to hype himself Well, can I tell you who's significantly less hyped about Monfils' performance today and prospects in the tournament than Taylor Fritz? It is Gael Monfils. I mean, he was... He was lovely. I love being in the company of Gail Monfils. He is my favourite French person to hear speak.
Like, I could doze off to sleep listening to Guelman Fries speak French. He did English first and then answered a few French questions. But, look, there... There was one of two things going on with Guillermo Fis in that press conference. He either thinks he can win the tournament and it's all a strategy to minimise pressure and expectation. Or he's absolutely fucked physically.
Somehow that just feels perfect, doesn't it? That that announcement has come on at that time after Catherine's comment. I really want it to be the former.
for I think very obvious reasons, but I really fear it's the latter. I think he needs today to be... enough he was kind of refreshed he was asked actually by somebody else whether maybe somebody that was in his previous press conference where you put the the dreaming line to him david and he said i always have dreams he did not have dreams today
Today, his dreams were just having, you know, having a nice family. And the ice bath never ends. Honestly, he scoffed at the idea of even dreaming of winning this tournament. It was the most like snuffing out of a flame moment imaginable. Yeah, it was extraordinary. He went, winning it.
God, no. I dream of being an old man and having lots of kids, which is lovely, but not what I wanted from you today, Gail. I mean, obviously, logically, it would make sense if he's... kind of at the end of his tether physically because he played the week before this tournament. He's 38 years old. He's just had to go toe-to-toe with the world number four. You sound like Gilmore Feast, Matt. Right. So logically, I think he's probably right. And look, we saw it on court. He was hunched over.
I don't think he was feeling his absolute best on the court necessarily. But this is a tournament where logic is... is going out the window, right? We've got this beautiful thing happening of loads of teenagers doing incredible things, but also the only two active players who were still...
Well, the only two players who are still active who were in the 2005 Australian Open, Monfils and Djokovic, are into the second week here, like now. We've got these dual narratives happening of young players and older players doing things. Look. I think my most unpopular tennis opinion has been that I've not always been that into Gael Monfils matches. Like I've loved him as a guy. I love his highlight reels. But I have often found his matches a bit of a struggle to watch personally.
sat down and watched full galmon feast matches because when i have i've often been left a little bit disappointed by By his approach, really. But I think that is what's so interesting right now. His blend of tennis is perfect. He's obviously serving brilliantly. That was something Fritz talked about a lot, wasn't it? But he's getting the blend right between...
holding the baseline and not making errors, as he said, but then exploding on the ball when he does get the chance. And it's magnetic to watch. And when you're in the stadium with him, it's even better. That guy's charisma is... off the charts i mean imagine imagine being able to pull off that dance after after match point most people would have looked so stupid and yet it was the coolest thing he had to
stadium in the palm of his hand he managed to make chat about ice bath fun in the interview like he's just a vibe right now and I think he's probably fucked physically but let's enjoy that one while we can and let's dream maybe he's hustling everybody maybe just maybe look Not to spoiler what's coming, but one of Lennartian, Lorenzo Sonego, Ben Shelton, Lorenzo Mazzetti and Guilherme Enfils is reaching the semi-finals here.
Like, surely he can allow himself to dream of reaching the semi-finals, fucked or not. Who's he got? He faces the winner of Shelton Mazzetti, which is ongoing as we record. I do think he's got a chance. The way he's playing. I mean, look, I'm not in his body to be able to assess just how fucked he is. Or not. We've all said it now. The explicit tag is going on this show. It's a free-for-all. now she started it um but but the bottom line is that the way he's playing
Because I share your frustration. I mean, I've had 20 years of following this guy and thinking he should be able to do more with what he's got than what he does. And I found it enormously frustrating over the years. He had a spell when he was coached by Roger.
Rasheed he had a spell when he was really hitting out in a way that made you realize just how much power he's got and he's been to semi-finals of Grand Slams and you look back and there's often sort of four years gap where not much has happened at all i mean the last time he reached a quarter final of a grand slam was here three years ago then he injured his heel and he was out he didn't play for a year and a half so he's had these huge gaps and and i think
I think he's sort of... He has lacked a certain amount of ambition, I think, in terms of results. There's more to him than that. I think he does enjoy the highlight reel. I think he enjoys... the joyous kind of environment that he creates. But I just think that he's marrying the two now. There's a maturity about the way he's going about it. He's not hyping up his chances.
Always not, David. No, but he's getting out there and he looks like he's got ambition on the court. He's not talking himself out of it. I mean, obviously, when he plays Novak Djokovic, forget it. Well, opposite sides of the draw. That's another thing. You're playing great.
tennis and even though you've had to wait 20 years for it, you're in the opposite half of the draw to the guy that you're never going to beat. I kind of feel that you'd probably prefer Shelton than Mazzetti in a way because Mazzetti's... I mean, I said to you when we saw the match point, this is the tournament of artists right now, which I love. I love that on just about every level.
And I think he could make life tough for Shelton. But Mazzetti, I think, would be able to do the same things and be younger, fresher and more powerful. We'll see. I certainly won't be dreaming too big for Gail Monfils, but I would love to see the run continue. Well, as we... Spoilered just a few minutes ago, we have got this incredible contrast between 38-year-old Guillemot Fils progressing and... The youngsters, we've got Lerna Tien and Alex Mickelson, the NextGen alumni, both booking...
their spots in week two today. Lerner Thien beating Corentin Mute, who's currently on his way to press. Good of you to stay here with us, David, and not rush off to that. 7-6, 6-3, 6-3, struggling a bit at the end there physically, wasn't he, Corentin Mute? And we've had Alex Mickelson getting the better of Karen Hashinov, who's no longer there in the draw. Hashinov update.
No longer there, beaten by Alex Mickelson, 6-3, 7-6, 6-2. We've been talking the past couple of days in the context of Mensik and Fonseca, how difficult it is to back up the big wins for these young guys. Well, Tiernan and Mickelson there have done it in straight sets, have done it emphatically, David. Yeah, I couldn't be more impressed with both of them. And for different reasons, really. I think Mikkelsen, because he'd already beaten Sitsapass, and that's in itself a good result.
But to do it to Karen Hashinov, who is one of the guys that we always look at as a level you have to pass in order to get to the next level. You've got to be able to beat Karen Hashinov if you want to. if you want to get to quarterfinals, et cetera, in grand slams. Because he's always there, and he's always going to produce a certain level of performance. For him to do it in straight sets, and particularly when he was down in the second set, he was a breakdown.
He broke back, he goes into a tyre break, and I think he's right on the brink. You know, if that goes a set all... I'm not convinced that he wins that match. In fact, I think Karen Hashinov is the favourite if he wins that second set. And they're at five points all in the tiebreak. Mickleson produces a couple of worldies, to be honest. I think he...
I think he feels a little bit fortunate because he rolled the dice on a couple of casino shots that caught lines. And look, credit to him. I think that's what you've got to do to put Karin Hashinov away when you're not. one of the top three or four in the world and he did it and then he rolled through the third set so brilliant performance from him and learner tn well
It was a comical match that he had with Corentin Mutay. Of course, Mutay was involved. Yes, but they're like replicas of one another. And we actually saw the best part of the match all together in the press room, and that's... what made me want to go out there and watch the rest of it because they they had one of the most comical first sets tie break i think it was 10-8 or something like that in the in the first set tie break just
brilliant rallies these are two artists on the court who use different spins and paces of shots and height and angles and and they're even when they don't need to sometimes and they're sort of they're like setting you each other up for different shots down the road in the rally, which I absolutely love, particularly from Tien. I think his imagination of how to construct a point so that it ends a certain way is...
Pretty unmatched from what I've seen in recent times. But once he'd got the first set on the board, Mutay collapsed. But mentally, he'd gone, really. Whereas Tien has this nice... sort of simple approach to the sport he doesn't get too high and too low he's not combustible and yet he's got this creative game and what I absolutely loved about it was how sporting it was the number of times they applauded
each other's shots when they were heartbreakers for themselves but they were really recognizing each other's ability they were enjoying the match they were enjoying the exchanges there was such a conversation at the end and hugs between them very very heavy fall from Moutet at the start of the third set which I mean fair play who was comforting him
His opponent. He was speaking to him across the net, and then when Muta eventually got up, Tian got the crowd to all applaud him. It was all very nice. But, I mean, I think the impressive thing, a little bit like Mickelson, is that... Tien did it after that big win over Medvedev in the middle of the night. I mean, that is unusual to be able to back it up like that. And Mickelson said that Tien is his best friend on the tour. They've known each other since they're eight years of age.
And they're a couple of lads who've been able to come through together, and it's a cool story. Do you think it's safe to assume that Leonard Ian felt better yesterday than we did? Because I've bounced back today, but I... I didn't feel ready to beat Koretan Mutay when I woke up this morning. I think that is fair to say, yes.
That's incredible to me. That dual thing that he's done there of backing up, beating a big name and also recovering from it taking place at 3 o'clock in the morning. Just having to overcome one of those things I think would have been extraordinary, but both.
is is different level from tn and look i don't want to put too much pressure on him or anything like that but it would be such a joy if he could get to the top of the sport because You know, it wasn't that long ago that, you know, I remember at the ATP finals we were bemoaning the lack of... variety really that there is at the top of the men's game right now look there are some there are some exciting players and obviously there are some rivalries forming but you know
the advancement in string technology and the and the you know such a forehand dominated sport you know and big serving and all that kind of thing but if a guy like tn with his smarts and his his just all-round court craft could get to the top that would be such a great presence for the acp tour to have a guy like that who's who is you know like like david said we've got a mute for example but mute isn't really relevant in the latter stages of big tournaments um
he's great to watch during the first week he's a he's a really fun presence but I do feel like someone someone with that sort of game making themselves a big big part of the tour would be fascinating I'm just interested to see whether it's possible yes you know like he's he's clearly very very good
But I do still sometimes look at that serve and think people are going to be able to take advantage of that. I know it could develop. You know, Rafa Nadal used to have a dolly of a serve, didn't he? And he developed it. But whether the sort of modern game has a place at the top of the sport for someone.
like tn i think it's going to be an interesting development over the next few years just to just to see like if anyone can do it probably is him because he's clearly so so talented and kind of grounded with it as well it's sonago next for tn aiming to become the next-gen slayer-in-chief, having taken down Fonseca a couple of days ago. That'll be a great watch. It will be a great watch, yeah. He took out Fabien Marjan.
today, lost the first set second set on a tie break and then two very one-sided sets in Sonogo's favour Mickelson's next opponent is Alex de Manor now he showed real metal today to turn the match against Francisco Sarundolo around. 5-7, 7-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, the last two sets. Sarundolo was cramping by the end. He broke down Sarundolo physically.
And that takes some doing, I think. So really impressive from Duminor today. You got a taste of the atmos out there. I did, because I think in the early stages, actually... Maybe Dimonor was a little bit... surprised by what the atmosphere was. He was slightly struggling to impose himself in the match. Sarundolo, who has an incredible forehand. He can really create pace and angle off that shot. And he had a legion of arguments.
Argentinian supporters and they were making a lot of noise and it didn't necessarily feel like it was the big Alex de Menor moment on Rod Laver Arena but as the match went on and on it turned into that and by the end you couldn't hear the Argentinian fans and the home fans were so loud for de Manor. He just has that quality of drawing you in because literally seeing someone run fast is thrilling.
Like, that's why the 100-meter final is, like, the biggest event of every Olympic Games. Like, how fast can you run? And you get that in de Manor matches, the way he chases balls down. And there was an incredible moment in the fourth set where he chased one down and won the point. Surundalo, who, as you said, had been cramping and receiving a bit of massages at the changeovers and that kind of thing on his thighs, after chasing this ball down, de Manor slapped his thighs.
And Jim Currier, who it's great to have him back, he's here now at this tournament and he's doing some on-court interviews. He asked him, what did that mean? You know, you were slapping your thighs. And he said, it meant my legs are back. Because...
He didn't have them at the back end of last season. He was injured and it was a really, really tough time for him. But he is buoyed by the pre-season that he's had. And it's a match like this where he's breaking down physically someone like Sarundalo.
where all that work that he's done in the off-season has paid off. And it is just incredible to watch him chase down the balls like that. His foot speed is remarkable. And he's also... got great hands when he gets there you know he doesn't just get there he does something with it so a big win it wasn't a it wasn't the highest quality match a lot of unforced errors between them but
That would have been bitterly disappointing for de Menor if he'd gone out in the third round. So he's battled through and that's an interesting one against Mickelson because I think they've split their head to head. So you could make a case for either of them. into that match. Yeah, me too. I'd expect Dominal to win for all the reasons you just said, but that is not a gimme at all. This is not a route to the final graphic situation. That's tough, I think.
OK, that is the men's matches that we've seen so far. Of course, later in the show, we will talk about Yannick Sinner. He's taking on Marcus Garon. We've got Runa Ketsamanovic. We've obviously still got Shelton Muzetti taking place. So don't worry, those will be covered later. But that's it for part one. We'll be back to talk about the women's matches so far today in part two.
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Welcome back to part two of the tennis podcast on day seven of the Australian Open, where we are brought to you throughout this tournament by Steve Fergal's International Tennis Tours, who are, of course, your gateway to premium tennis events. Sorry, I dropped the ball there.
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we are often painted as giving the Labour Cup a hard time, aren't we? But we do absolutely know and we hear this from a lot of people that... Write to us and contact us on Instagram. As a fan experience, the Labour Cup is an absolute dream. You get guaranteed top name. players it's it's visually incredible it's it's as a show it is put on and staged incredibly well and Steve Fergals can lay on
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Transfers to and from the venue and seats, how about this, at the gala dinner. Okay. And we know from Charlie Eccleshire, who went to the last edition of the Labour Cup, that Francisco Sarundolo... who was on Team World at the last David Cup, was introduced at the Gala Dinner as Disco Surundalo.
which I'm very annoyed that there isn't video evidence of. So if you do get a Steve Urgl's package to the Labour Cup and go to the gala dinner, please make sure you are filming the player introductions because they sound quite comical. If that sounds appealing... Just head to toursfortennis.com forward slash podcast to check it all out. On to the women's matches that we've seen so far today. And we start with the utterly awesome.
she chastened emma radicani today in the first match of the day on rla 6-1 6-love look radicani was was impotent in this match. I don't think she played a great match, and it's one of those where you want to see that Sviante put up against other players to kind of get a gauge of how badly Raducanu played, because it's quite possible that...
Svantec would have had a scoreline something like that against most players in the world today. That is how good she was. That is the best performance I've seen from Yagish Svantec anywhere other than at Roland Garros. She could do no wrong. Every ball was coming out of the centre of the strings. Every ball that was coming out of the centre of the strings was hitting lines.
And she was the aggressor throughout. There was never a moment that Raducanu could rest. She likes to be able to sort of feel her way into a rally and then begin to dictate it. And Svante was just stamping on them. one after another, and she's relentless. I don't think I've seen her look this content and comfortable and happy with her own game and her own mindset, frankly, in a long, long time. Certainly not since Roman Garros when she's been winning that title.
There's something that's changed, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if Wim for Set is a big part of that. I've seen... him deliver his on-court coaching when they used to actually come out onto the court and mic it up, and I remember him talking to Jo Conta when she was playing, and she would get pretty tense during matches, and he just... had a way of
of speaking to a player that made you feel like everything's okay everything's fine and there's nothing to worry about really and he wasn't patronizing anybody he wasn't it wasn't too much he wasn't laying it on thick he just had a nice way of doing it And I'm sure there's a heck of a lot more to it than that. I mean, I know they've worked on the serve and they're working on various aspects of Schrontek's game, but she just looks settled and...
and ready for whatever's coming next. I mean, she is now a major contender for this title. Yeah, personally, I think we've seen a few different... versions of Igor Sviontek's game over the years. When she came through, there was a lot more variety in it. Then when she started working with Thomas Witkarowski... He kind of streamlined it and took away that variety. And for a while there, I would say she was hitting aggressively, but with margin.
kind of during the streak time you know that that that that is what i still think was kind of the best tennis i've ever seen english frontech play and then over the last couple of years that version has become like hyper aggressive like To the point where sometimes you're thinking, why are you not using the other aspects of your game? Why are you trying to hit a winner off that ball? She's still been extremely successful with it.
But I feel like today, and actually this season generally, we've seen her go back to that middle version a lot more, where... She's not necessarily pulling the trigger on every ball. She's content to hang in rallies. She's doing that thing of giving herself time if she needs it by just putting the ball a little bit higher over the net. We saw her at the United Cup a lot. She didn't have to do it much.
because she was mostly just bossing the rallies. But a couple of times she did, and I think that is the best version of Igor Sviantek, that one that is aggressive, but not on every ball. And she can use her physicality. She can use her movement. And she just had it so perfectly calibrated today. And Raducanu was a...
was a kind of perfect opponent for her with the state of Raducanu's serve at the moment. You want your serve to be able to give you the initiative in a rally, but Raducanu's serve was just giving Igor Sviontek the initiative in a rally, so it meant that holding was just... so so tricky for her and Svantec served well herself so it was just incredibly difficult for Raducanu with the lack of pace on her shots really everything was just falling nicely for Igor Svantec and
And she just completely, ruthlessly took advantage. And it was so impressive, so impressive. And, you know, I talked about a few physical concerns maybe that I had about Svantec at the start of this tournament, given what we'd seen at the United Cup. there was there was none of that today i mean she wasn't she wasn't really tested physically but she looked absolutely perfect with her movement so that's a really good sign as well and yeah i agree like honestly of of the three
big major names in this draw in terms of who we probably would have had as the three big favourites at the start, Sabalenka, Goff and Sviontek. I think Sviontek has looked the most convincing so far. And she's in the other half of the draw to those two. So it's all coming up. Igor Svantec at the moment, I would say. Yeah, and look, I'm not sure there's any need for a great autopsy on Raducanu because of everything we just said about...
about Shiontek, but she does look underpowered to me. I do think this work with Yutuke Nakamura, which obviously is physical work, but you'd hope that that increased strength. I know that the majority of her power comes from her. timing you know she's never going to be an Arena Sabalenka out there but I do think she needs to work on that that deficit a bit I don't think you can afford to be giving away that much weight advantage certainly not at the very top of the game. It'll win it.
matches against amanda anisimova but you know she's got she's got bigger ambitions than that but you know she's doing the right things definitely i've i've i was in commentary with daniela hantakova today and she had watched the shvantek radhikani match and she was positive about radhakanu in her her direction of travel um The match that I was commentating on with Daniela was Elena Rabatkinner against Diana Ostramska. 6-3, 6-4 for Rabatkinner. Still yet to drop a set. This match...
totally bizarre. Like, Rabatkinner is a real worry now because she was struggling physically with her back today quite significantly. Not a... It never seemed a retirement risk. But she... Her serve was diminished. She wasn't able to apply much spin, much topspin on her kick serve, which has become a real weapon, I think, and is already a bit improved with Goraniv Nuzovic's tutelage on the basis of the limit.
sample size we've had so far um and she just wasn't able to she wasn't able to stretch when she was dragged out wide which was not on many occasions and we'll come on to that in a minute um you know she was really really in trouble If she got into any kind of rally, Rabakina, she was in trouble. So given that, you'd think the game plan from the opponent would be, let's get into some rallies.
Oh, no, no, David. Not Diana Stremska. Not today, not now, not ever. It was... Honestly, it was one of the dumbest matches I've ever seen anyone play. Like, it was... utterly inexplicable. I know tennis players tread a fine line of that thing of I'm just going to focus on my game and not get too caught up in what the opponent is doing. Stubbornness can rub both ways, can't it? Stubbornness in some ways is the trait of a champion. But this was Russell Martin.
stuff like a wonderful niche reference yeah maybe i should say ang postacoglu given given the part of the world that we're in it was extraordinary like not one attempt to use an angle or just to maybe put a bit of shape on the ball actually no even worse I think once she did put a bit of extra shape on the ball reined the margins in, got a rally going, won the point, obviously, and then never did it again. It was wild how dumb it was from...
I don't watch enough of her tennis to know categorically whether maybe she was just having a brain fog day or something. I'm trying to be kind. In my experience of watching her, she's kind of Ostapenko Mark II, and she's not as good as her. So, I mean, look, she has reached the semi-final here, and she's a good ball striker, but, yeah, it's ridiculous what she was doing. You've got a player who's clearly impeded, and you're just an unforced error machine. What are you doing?
So, frankly, she got nothing out of that match and she didn't deserve anything. No. And because of that, because she was gifted so much today, I don't really know how to assess her back and how bad that injury... She's got two days to recover. Look, if she can get the first strike in, she can win injured because her first strike is that good. But, you know, there are going to be... players that can move her more than Diana Stremska and...
By that, I mean literally every other player on tour will move her more than Diana Ostremska did today. She's got Kiesel Collins next. We'll know when we come back in part three who her opponent is. We just had... So many false storms with Rebecca, you know, where we think she's fit and healthy and then something, something happens. I hope that 48 hours... is enough i don't think she knows like i i just think the proof will be in the pudding in in two days time um emma navarro
A winner today, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 over Anz Jaber. David, you watched quite a lot of this and went to the Navarro press conference. Yeah, it's the first time I've actually spoken to Navarro in a press conference setting. Really, I think I may have attended one.
or two during the US Open but there was there were only a couple of us in the press conference room so we got a chance to have a proper chat with her and this was her third successive three-set match and it was something she referenced on court it sounded like she was sort of almost self-mockingly saying I love three sets but when we put it to her do you really and Matt Futterman said do you really like three sets she goes actually I do
and and i and and the gist of it was she kind of wears it as a badge of honor that she trains sufficiently hard that she knows she can last and she quite likes the the challenge of seeing if she can outlast an opponent not obviously she'd rather win in two but she's not getting anxious if she goes into the third set because she puts the work in i found the conversation really fascinating because
She's a very ambitious tennis player. Here's somebody who's just had her career best ranking, her career best Grand Slam at the US Open. And a lot of players would just kind of... do the same all over again. I'd be quite happy to do that. She went into the off-season to make changes, and...
It really cost her results-wise at the start of this year. She lost a couple of bad matches. She says, I was never worried in the slightest. I just wanted to make sure my game was going in the direction that we'd set out. to be more aggressive, to take things on. And she actually said that one of the reasons she wanted to make changes, it's not like a one-off. It's not like she just decided to do it on this occasion. She said it's an ongoing thing.
to keep her mind engaged she if she's going to keep on this tennis tour she has to keep things interesting to herself and see what the possibilities are within her own game so on one level i was really interested in how she views that side of things and then i was absolutely gobsmacked when she she basically
didn't know anything about her next opponent. And her next opponent is Daria Kasekina. It's not like there isn't a lot of evidence out there and sort of footage for you to go and watch. She says, I've practiced with her maybe once, but I don't really know a lot. about her game and I'm thinking I mean I'm genuinely thinking are you having us on here because how can you not know much about maybe she is maybe that's part of the strategy I don't know but it was a strange moment
Okay. Yeah. Someone get Emma Navarro the tape. She'd have a great time. Masakina's a great watch. Yeah. And I actually think that they will... Tune up the vlog. She might enjoy that as well. They will be a good... combo in a match I think because the but she needs to know what's coming yeah it's it's very Adrian Manorino it is it's a good thing for her to have to fall back on, this ability to enjoy three-set tennis and grinding it out because I still don't think she's found her game.
in this tournament I really don't you know go back to the tennis she was playing last summer at Wimbledon and the US Open and I think she's she's some levels below that I would say but she's competing really really well um there were encouraging signs for jabber like she started so slowly she was five love down she gave herself sort of too much to do in that set but
There were some great Jabur moments in this match, you know, return drop shot winners, and just generally she had Navarro in a bit of a spin for the middle portion of this match. She has been struggling physically, this tournament, with her breathing. I think generally she's actually been very realistic about her comeback. She knows that...
She's not immediately going to have the level to challenge the very, very best players in the world. But she's OK with that right now. And it's about, you know, being able to be back on court again and finding the joy there again. And I think in amongst the sort of difficulties she's had this tournament... there have been some good signs and before the Australian Open as well she had a few good results so like
moving in the right direction, I think, from Schabert as well, which is good to see. As you said, it's Kazakina next for Navarro. Just finally for this section, Schabert's next opponent is Ava Lise. He's a great story, Matt. Brilliant. She is a lucky loser who lost to Destiny Ayava in the final round of qualifying, which kind of turned out to be quite a tough draw because Ayava had a decent showing in the main draw as well herself.
And it's just amazing how a few days like this can literally change your life. She's going to earn at least $260,000 from this run. here to the fourth round. That is a vast sum for Avalis. Like, huge. She can reinvest that in her career. She's now up into the top 100 for the first time. I get the sense, listening to her press conference, that being a lucky loser is perfect for her. Because she strikes me as someone, and she kind of said this herself, who's...
kind of put a lot of pressure on herself in the past and maybe got her set up in a match and then realised that it could be really big for her and then felt that pressure. And she said, the more I think, the worse I do. And it strikes me that she's... just playing here with house money and she's got a great perspective on it of being a lucky loser and knowing that everything now is upside and a bonus. And she said she's playing with a loose arm in a way that she hasn't done before.
This match today against Jacqueline Christian, she lost the first set. But she's lost the first set every time she's played Jacqueline Christian. And that had been three times before. So she didn't panic. She knew what to do. And she took over the match. She's got a hell of a backhand, let me tell you. A hell of a backhand. Which made you put something on the barge that opened my eyes wide. It's under consideration.
It's Anna Bogdan-esque. And if you know, you know. That's just waiting for someone else to get pregnant so you can bump them off. He said she's... Under consideration for the list, spelt L-Y-S-T. Little pun for the barge. I don't get it. Well, her name is Lise, L-Y-S.
So backhand list potential. You know, what would matter more to her? A place in the next round or a place on the backhand list? And she changed her original flight to... tomorrow so she's having to change it again because she's still in the drawer I'm such a sucker for stories like this like the Marco Tringoliti story of having to
go on a road trip with his nan or something to get to the French Open. She's also got an absolutely adorable little sister who she immediately runs over to after every win. There's only one adorable child in town this week and that's John. John Jones, you have my heart. Excited, excited, excited. That's it for part two. We'll be back 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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We keep your vehicles on the road 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 it is now 20 past 11 in the evening. We are all back at Tennis Podcast Towers, Melbourne. Holger Runa has somehow found a way to lose the third set to Mimini. Ketsmanovic in a match that very much has here at one o'clock in the morning written all over it
And Matt has watched Alina Svisalina do the Gems life double. Earlier on, we watched Guillermo Fis on the second court. beat the fourth seed, Taylor Fritz, and say in his post-match interview on court that his wife, Alina Svitolina, would be following him. onto that very same court, taking on the women's fourth seed. And he was hoping that she could follow in his footsteps. And at the time I thought, oh, that'd be a cool story. But didn't really think that much more of it.
And now it has happened. And Matt, you watched it. And I think it's the coolest story, much as I love Jasmine Paolini. And much as I kind of hate the whole love match narrative, we've been exposed to a lot of, you know, Alex de Menor and Katie Bolter stuff. And what's the other one? There's another big one, isn't there? Another big love match. Paola Bedossa and Stefanos Sitzapas. Paola Bedossa and Stefanos Sitzapas. But actually, it's good old Gems Life that have stolen the show and how, Matt.
Yeah, the OGs. It was very, very special, actually. I think particularly so because Amalfice was there on the court. You know, he was back on the... On the second court, just hours after he'd had his amazing win, he was supporting Alina Svitolina. I don't quite know if he... I mean, does he count as a...
as a coach for Alina Svitolina. I thought it was strictly coaches that were only allowed on the court, but it now maybe seems like they just want to fill them. So go on, Gail, get yourself courtside. Elena Svitolina quite fanny in her on-court interview afterwards saying... I would love to say I was inspired by Galmon Fiest, but I was so bad in the first set that I'm not sure it was that. But, you know, I think it did sort of make a difference generally.
Honestly, this is a big shock. This is a really big shock, to be honest, because Jasmine Paolini had had a good start to the year, and we all know what she did last year, and she takes the first set very, very comfortably six games to two. And then honestly...
This was when I then picked up the match. Svitolina completely outplayed her. And it strikes me that we've said similar things about Paolini and Svitolina in the last couple of years in terms of, you know, when Svitolina came back from... from having her baby she came back as a as a more aggressive player a sort of a kind of a stronger force in a way and
Paulini has become more aggressive as well as a tennis player over the last few years and has taken charge of matches. So I was struck by the fact that they've both sort of had... in that way, similar evolutions in the last couple of years. But... I did not expect Alina Svitolina to completely dominate Paolini in those last two sets. 30 winners she hit across those two sets to only about 15 unforced errors. It was unbelievably good tennis. Paolini got pretty dejected.
You know, her body language wasn't great, which we've not seen from her that much. Do you think we've seen that at all in the last year? I think there have been... I think they've been isolated moments. But I was struck by it. You know, I do think that... Well, I said on the show before the Australian Open...
I genuinely think Jasmine Paolini isn't just interested in holding her position. And I think she genuinely wants to compete with the... very very best players in the world and find a way to beat them and she's sort of cautious but ambitious and you know it is a new thing for her to be coming into a new season with that
And, you know, maybe there was just a little bit of extra pressure on her. And she was pretty powerless in that third set. She lost the first eight points of it. And then from there on in, it was just a similar story. taking charge, hitting winners, so impressive. And normally I'm used to the crowds being with Jasmine Paolini, you know, but actually I think they were swept up in the...
in the Svitolina Monfils, Gem's life of it all. And Svitolina had an awful lot of support out there. And yeah, it's always gutting to me to lose Jasmine Paolini from a draw because she's just such a vibe. But... Equally, it's always great to have Alina Svitolina doing her thing because she's such a tenacious competitor. I just love it. And, yeah, she was a worthy, worthy winner. She was by far the better player.
And if it hadn't been for what Guillemot Fee said in his press conference earlier, I cannot tell you how much I'd be hyping the mere possibility of the Gems Life Slam. I'd be going full tabloid. And I still reserve the right to do that later. Later in the tournament. Once Monfils is beaten. Yes. Yes, exactly. It's now going to be...
Svitolina against Kunimatova for a place in the quarterfinals. I mean, huge opportunity to face the winner of Madison Keys against Elena Rabakina and factoring in the fact that Rabakina is a major injury worry. Feels like a huge open section of the drawing. Madison Keyes has beaten Daniel Collins in straight sets. This evening, Collins was struggling with a knee injury. She got her leg mummified in that.
second set so kind of tricky to assess exactly where madison keys is at but she's coming in here off a title in adelaide last week and she's she's made pretty good going through the draw so far and If Rabachner isn't at the races physically, Kieser's... got to be the favourite for that. So, yeah, Svitolina Kudomitova, Keyes Rabakina, one of those will be an Australian Open semi-finalist this year. Yeah, it's...
It's a fascinating section to draw now. I mean, I still think it bears reminding that... Svitolina is a Ukrainian player. He's going to play a Russian player in Kudomatova. And I dare say that is, as well as the Monfils story, that there is still, that has been a story that... All the Grand Slam crowds have followed the last three years and they know about Alina Svitolina and they know how...
She and fellow Ukrainian players feel, and they feel with her, I think. I mean, she's faced Russian players a number of times, but it's... I don't think it dims as a result of having happened a number of times. No, not as a result of having happened a number of times, but it does feel like, I mean, this is not specific to tennis. Tennis is obviously a microcosm of the world in this regard, but it does feel like that story has faded.
You know, tennis is taking a stand on Ukraine and sort of the spotlight being on Ukraine matches featuring Ukrainian players against Russian players. Maybe they just haven't... happened to have occurred as much but um this is a sort of quite high profile thrusting of it all back into the spotlight and um i i think evidence of that is the fact that
It came to our attention earlier this week, courtesy of a spat that seemed to unfold between Thanasi Kokanakis and Todd Woodbridge over some criticism that... Tom Whibbridge had aimed in the direction of the Nicycoconakis about his scheduling. in the couple of months leading up to the Australian Open, which he thought might have contributed to his sustaining an injury over the course of the tournament. And one of the events that Kokonakis had played in December was the...
Gazprom Open in Russia, an exhibition event in Russia, which has been held for the last few years. And I remember that Adrian Manorino came under a lot of heat for playing in a year ago. I haven't read or heard or seen anything about that event continuing to take place and top tennis players, not just Russian ones, choosing to take part in it. And that's on us as well. You know, we haven't...
We haven't mentioned it either, but yeah, it does strike me that it has faded from the spotlight a little bit, but it certainly won't have faded from... Alina Svitolina's consciousness. And I suspect that'll be a very awkward matchup. Indeed. In terms of the men's matches this evening, Ketmanovic, Runa, feels like it has a long way to go. You never quite know with Holger Runa. A winner of this one to take on Jan.
who was just class apart with Marcus Garone earlier on. I'm afraid it just... The outcome of this just... I'm trying not to use the phrase foregone conclusion, but... it felt writing on the wall didn't it from the word go it was everything we expected it to be and yeah I think
Sin has kind of had his little wobble against somebody that you wouldn't have expected him to. I'd be very surprised if he has any others. That having been said, at least both Runa and Ketsmanovic are wonderful ball strikers. Be nice if the winner of it did themselves justice against Sinner and played well. But he's just moving through the gears, really, isn't he? He's taking care of business in these stages.
He's the classic player who just doesn't want to peak yet. He wants to peak at the end. And he's becoming that player. Yeah, absolutely. And look, I'm watching Ket's manager... Ketsmanovic-Runa this evening and I'm loving but like it's been a glorious match to watch the ball striking and Ketsmanovic has been incredible and yet somehow I would just prefer to see Runa
You know, it just feels instinctively like that would be more competitive. But maybe I'm wrong. Double Orange Bowl champion, Mir Mir Ketsmanovic. Right. We also were tracking Mazzetti against Shelton. At the end of part two, we can now bring you the result of Mazzetti against Shelton. It was a four-set tie-bree victory for Ben Shelton, who took out Lorenzo Mazzetti in quite physical...
I thought he was excellent, didn't you? I thought Mazzetti was getting the better of that and starting to turn the tables on Shelton to read his serve enough so that he could... get him into rallies he was extending them and i and that third set when when shelton kind of hauled himself over the line of that third set
suddenly it's a different feeling match altogether. He has really got something, Shelton, as a character. He's a... big personality who just imposes himself on you and then right at the end you know he's these days he he doesn't throw in his biggest fastest serves very often but he hit one he just decided i'm gonna hit this as hard and flat it was just after he'd taken a really heavy fall actually and it was almost like the the
The awkwardness and embarrassment of that moment and the pain, he just decided to direct into a fastball. And he hit it straight at Mazzetti. And, I mean, it missed Mazzetti by a... an inch like he he had he barely moved his racket it went straight through his guard and if that had hit him square on he's in trouble yeah it was 137 miles an hour
And I think there was that element of surprise, wasn't there? Because he, as you say, doesn't do that all the time. And he did used to, not quite all the time, but he used to do it more, didn't he? Oh, big time. Yeah, he's become a lot... a lot more tactical really about how he uses his serve. And again, this match illustrated how Mazzetti has had the better of their...
Head-to-head in the past, as David said, through the middle portion of this match, Mazzetti started doing the things that causes Shelton problems. He's got great hands, Mazzetti, so he can neutralise big power.
And he can keep the ball low and he can pass Shelton at the net. You know, Shelton said he... in preparation for this match he was watching the the tapes of their two previous meetings and it was basically just Mazzetti hitting passing shots you know because because that's what he can do against Shelton but really impressive from Shelton therefore to to weather that and turn it in his favour.
As he's done in all of his matches this tournament, he's played the big points well. He's had a lot of tight sets, but he's come out on top of most of them. Yeah, like that crowd absolutely loved him. You know, it's a good court for Shelton, that one. I think he's never lost on the John Kane arena. It does attract a... profile of fan that enjoys the tennis of Ben Shelton should we say. So it was a bit of a riot out there. So that means that one of...
Lerner Thien, Lorenzo Sonego, Gael Enfils and Ben Shelton will be reaching the semi-finals here. Yeah, that's a pretty tantalising prospect actually. Really excited. about this section of the draw yeah absolutely it is a fun section okay that is day seven what have we got to look forward to on day eight rod laver arena starts at 11 30 a.m and surprise surprise it's a women's match in fact
Tomorrow has a real let's get the women out of the way flavour about it. We start 11.30 with Sabalenka against Andreeva. That is followed by Coco Goff against Belinda Bencic. And then enter the men.
headline acts Jack Draper against Carlos Alcaraz not before 3.30pm and then in the night session we have a men's singles match Novak Djokovic against Yuri Lehechka followed by a men's doubles match featuring some sensations uh lead to and luke savile the sensations in question uh the second court tomorrow starts with some men's doubles uh
And Andrea Vavasori, the third seeds in action there. Then it's Paola Bedosa against Olga Danilovic. And then the night session. Well, actually, it's not a night session. It's a not before 3 p.m. is Alejandro... Davidovic for Kina against Tommy Paul tomorrow. So no night session on the second court. We're trying to find orders of play from last year to find out if this is some kind of...
It feels early for the second court not to be doing night sessions and for us to be down to one singles match in the RLA night session. Not that that's not a good thing, but... Yeah, we were surprised when the order of play came out today. John Kane Arena starts with some men's doubles featuring Botic van der Zandtruppe. Second on up before 12.30 is Donna Vekic against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Then some women's doubles featuring Sara Arani and Jasmine Paolini against Mira Andreva and Deanna Schneider. That's a, yeah. That's a goodie. And then the final match on John Kane Arena is Ugo Ember against Alexander Zverev. And that's it for singles. Three courts. Wild how that happens. Yeah. They'll be shutting the John Cana arena before you know it.
Yes. Yeah, they literally close it and you're like, oh, OK. Right. Our mascot for today's episode is Archie, the mini golden doodle owned by Amanda. I've been thinking about this. I think a mini golden doodle because the golden retrievers don't vary in size. So I think this means a miniature poodle crossed with a golden retriever.
And I don't want to think too much about the process of the crossing, quite frankly. But the outcome of the crossing is a lovely thing. Archie is an absolute beauty. What a... What a good boy he looks. He's four years old. He's from Missouri. His interests are squirrels. Socks, birthday parties at his daycare, and he loves watching tennis with his mama. It sounds like Archie has got life.
thoroughly figured out so hello Archie hello Amanda and thank you for sponsoring this episode and just a reminder that if you'd like your pet to be a mascot this year then you've just got a couple of weeks more to sign up entries for that close at the end of Hello to our mascots. Hello to Phoebe. We got snuck out of some points by a lucky loser today, Phoebe. Eva Lees. She's good. Yeah, she is good. David and Maisie, of course, and Matt and Thierry Champion, TBC.
Hello to you all. Hello to our top folks and executive producers, Greg, Chris and Geoff. And Matt, we have some shout-outs. We start with Koda Farha in Sydney. Hi, Coder. Hello, Coder. How are we spelling Coder? K-H-O-D-E-R. Okay, so not the way... that means a friend to everyone, because there is a spelling of Coda that means a friend to everybody. But I'm sure this Coda is a friend. He's certainly our friend. Absolutely.
And Coda ticked the US Open off the bucket list last year. Good work, Coda. And says, I'm thinking either Roland Garros or Wimbledon. Help me decide. Oh, Roland Garros. We are sponsored by Wimbledon, David. I love them both. But Roland Garros is first, so go there first. Yeah, go to Roland Garros first and then, you know, take a view on Wimbledon.
It's Sophie's Choice Coda. We can't possibly do it. Our favourite slam is the one we're at. Exactly. Always. And your favourite slam will be the one you're at, Coda. Thank you very much. We've also got Matthew Moverhead in California. Hello, Matthew. And Matthew says, my mum loves tennis, but isn't a tennis podcast listener. So if you can mention her, Barbara, in the shout out, maybe that will get her to listen. Come on, Barbara. Yeah.
I mean, it feels like Barbara might be a lost cause, but hey, Barbara, please listen. Yeah, you'll love it. Promise. Matthew like Matthew Roberts. And Matthew, cameraman Matthew. I was just about to say there is no other, but yes, there is cameraman Matthew. Thank you, Matthew. And finally, we have Guillermo. We know Guillermo. Guillermo del Angel in Mexico City. Hi, Guillermo. Hello, Guillermo. Like Correa. And like Vilas.
Good tennis name, Guillermo. Yes. Guillermo says, I'm from Mexico, originally with a long-time resident of Massachusetts. I'd love to say that I was named after Guillermo Villas, who was in his prime years when I was born, but the truth is much more mundane.
It's also my dad's name. That's a good reason. So you were named after a great Guillermo. That's great. Guillermo, thank you very much. Thank you, everyone, for listening to the pod. If you'd like to become a friend, then the link to do that is in... our show notes. We're going to go and watch the implosion of Holger Runa and we will be back with another tennis podcast tomorrow.
Look at him go. He's a quality striker. No, not him. The electrician fixing those lights. Wow. Is he? Yes, he uses QuickBooks to prepare for self-assessment. This is truly game-changing. Use QuickBooks year-round to ensure your income tax return is shock-free. That's how you business differently. Intuit QuickBooks. There's cars and SUVs. Then there's vans and pickups. Looking for expert advice on your next vehicle?
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