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Hi, this is Mark from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and you're listening to David, Catherine, and Matt on the Tennis Podcast. Well, hello and welcome to The Tennis Podcast, introduced expertly there by friend of the pod, Mark Ladd. I don't know if that's a Wyoming accent that Mark... But I like it. I'll assume that's a Wyoming accent. And I'll now add.
to the list of accents that I like. Mark is one of many lucky friends of the Tennis Podcast who are now listening to us ad-free. Yes, we relaunched Friends of the Tennis Podcast last... week with our brand spanking new categories pet mascots got slots up for grabs again guest editorships unfortunately all the slots in our brand new fantasy tennis league have been snapped up but there are plenty of other
fun things still available. And everybody that is a friend of the Tennis Podcast now at any level gets to listen to us ad-free. So... Lucky, lucky Mark. And thank you for introducing the show so beautifully there, Mark. We are knee deep in the off-season. The Maldives posts have been and gone because we are now at the pre-season training blocks. stage of the off season so the hashtag gifted thank you to the Hilton Mandarin Oriental insert posh resort name here in the Maldives
posts. We've got through it for another year, David. Yes. I did once go to the Maldives for my honeymoon and it was most excellent. Was it hashtag gifted? Yes. I've spent the rest of the intervening time just kind of... imagining going back and then getting wound up every time these tennis players throw it in my face. But at least I've been. So, you know, maybe one day in about 25 years time, I'll go again.
That sounds like a come and get me plea to resorts in the Maldives. Correct. To offer us free holidays. Yeah, we are not above. Please know that my glib jokes about tennis player posts in the Maldives only come from a place of envy and nothing else. And we are absolutely not above doing some Instagram posts about results in the Maldives. Maldives in exchange for free holidays. Matt, you ever been to the Maldives? I've not, but in...
In some ways, I feel like the closest I've come to that kind of experience was when we went to the player hotel at the Davis Cup finals just a few weeks ago. And you realise the... The luxury that those players are enjoying while they're at these tournaments. Obviously not all the players. It was very much a top player hotel where Rafael Nadal was staying. And I think maybe all the Davis Cup.
But yeah, it was pretty incredible. Well, Pedro Martinez was there too, Matt. He was, yeah. Big part of that Spanish Davis Cup team, let us not forget. Yeah, when we were on the... on the way to that hotel, we were like, oh, why are they staying so far away? This is a bit of a trek, isn't it? Why would you want to do this commute when you could stay closer? And then we got to the hotel and we were like, oh, this is why.
This is nice, isn't it? Yes, sometimes it's better not to see how the other half live. Folks, we are here despite the fact that there is no tennis to talk about. There is tennis news to talk about. about because sometimes the... The goings-on in the off-season can be really great tennis podcast fodder. So here we are with our final show of what's been an extraordinary year in tennis to talk about...
all the bits of news that have come out in the last couple of weeks since the tennis season wrapped up. And we start with coaching news, of course. And we start... with Hubert Hercatch making things weird. One last time in 2024 is one of the themes of the year and he's only gone and done it again. How do you make the announcement of a super coach weird?
two of them up at the same time Hubert Hercatch after splitting from long time coach Craig Boynton is going to be coached from now on, David, is presumably being coached, as we speak, by both Nicolas Massou, Olympic gold medalist, of course, in Athens 2004, double Olympic gold medalist indeed, in Athens 2004. a former very successful coach of Dominic Thiem, will be teaming up with Ivan Lendl to coach Hubert Hercatch. That is quite a blend of personalities, isn't it? Is that what I mean?
Sure is. What are the dinners going to be like? I am more interested to find out... how that came about than I am about how Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic came about. I want to know who made the first call, who sent the first text, who sent the first email, what the response was.
And everything in between. Because, I mean, look, it's not as surprising as Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic. It's not the sort of, I better check what date it is and make sure it's not an April Fool. We're not talking that level. But... When I did see it, and fair play to her catch, there were no leaks from this setup at all. It was just an Instagram post, and there he was, standing with Ivan Lendl and Nicolas Massoud. And I'm thinking, wow. That is heavy duty. That, I mean, look, Craig Boynton.
is a very very good coach of of many years and and anybody you hear talk about him talks about him with a lot of respect and look they had success together hubert her catch has become a really credible force in tennis but he has not won stuff that he that that maybe his ability might enable him to win and i suppose that's what hubert hercatch is trying to do here he's trying to get that
extra elements and look if you if you were going to try to get somebody a sort of finishing coach I'd be looking at someone like Ivan Lendl because her catch is so convincing so often And then he plays a big name and he shrivels. That often's like on a big... That often seems to be what happens. He also gets himself embroiled in these ridiculous three-set matches where he's either extricating himself valiantly or he's just taking a scenic route.
And it's the whole Kane Ishikori thing all over again, which is it? And it ends up being... There's a lot of pointlessness to his tennis year, and he needs to make sure he's just efficient in getting the job done. And that's exactly what Ivan Lindel's all about. I mean, Nicholas Massoud has got a lot... I mean...
Out of Dominic Thiem, is that fair? Dominic Thiem being as good as he is on his own, but definitely a very... He made a difference. He made a difference, for sure. Yeah, a really good coach. And I just, I think it is a fascinating setup because... At worst, I think that this triumvirate could be responsible for upending somebody we regard as in the mix at a Grand Slam, and whether they can actually make Hubert Hercatch one of them.
is another matter. But I definitely think that there's a I really, I really take my hat off to They're kind of turning all the stones over of your career and making sure you've got no regrets because that's what this appointment is to me. Yeah, I do too. And I guess what we're going to find out with these appointments is... Whether there is something under a stone, an as yet unturned stone with Hubert Hercatch, I have my doubts. I think we...
We might have been seeing the best of you, but her catch and it's excellent and it probably should be enough to qualify him for the end of year finals. I would be surprised if there's a Grand Slam champion in there. Personally, I think there's something pretty fundamental about how and why he shrivels against the biggest players. But I could very well be wrong and I suspect...
If anyone's going to find a fang or a hint of a fang, it's probably going to be Ivan Lendl. How he works as a collaborator, I don't know. I know that he did have... Jamie Delgado on the coaching team and Danny Velvet. You know, he wasn't solo coached to Andy Murray, but he was...
working with fellow coaches there where he was very clearly top of the hierarchy. You know, he was the big dog, whereas Nicolas Massou, who I'm just going to assume is going to have to be the secondary coach in this triumvirate because of... because I've met Yvonne Lendl and I don't think he's the sort of character that would settle for being anything other than the top dog. Like Nicholas Massoud was the top dog in...
Dominic Thiem's set up, wasn't he? He was the super coach, the finishing coach that came in. So how that works as a hierarchy and a collaboration, I don't know. I suppose we don't have the full details in terms of how much Lendol is going to actually be traveling. You know, that photo that I think was released, I'm pretty sure was taken in Florida where...
Lendl is base where Herkacz does a lot of his training. He's had a lot of success in the tournaments in Florida, hasn't he? Traditionally, Herkacz. I don't know whether Lendl is going to be on the tour week in, week out. He might show up to some big events. But I feel like Masu is going to be the guy who is week in, week out doing the tour with him. So it looks like it looks like her catch is like that little girl who's who's the meme in the in the taco advert who's.
choosing between crunchy and soft tacos. And she's like, por qué no los dos? Why not both? And he's just decided he's going to have two super coaches. But I don't know whether it will in reality... be like that. I feel like he's going to have those two inputs, but I feel like Massoud is going to be the guy who's with him a bit more week in, week out, in a more normal way.
way that we think of these coaches working but it is fascinating it is going from one extreme of having the same coach for five years as he had with crane boyton and that consistency to go into something totally different and Look, there's a lot that Hubert Hercatch, I think, needs to get better at, as David's kind of outlined there. He plays so many long matches.
He also has a tendency to just kind of flop at slams, you know, like he will go in having good tour results. He's won a couple of Masters 1000 titles in his career. But he's reached, what, one semifinal at a slam and one quarterfinal, I think. It's nowhere near as impressive as it should be, that record. And he gets very, very tight in kind of those big moments against...
fellow best players in the world. So all of that you kind of need to improve. But I think it is quite telling, perhaps, that these two coaches are clearly betting on Hubert Hercach's game. Because I was kind of like you. I was kind of like... Okay, I know he's got a great, great serve. He's got a really nice, flat backhand. He can come forward. He likes being up at the net. He's pretty athletic up there. There are good parts to his game. Of course there are, but...
Is it the kind of game that I see really like winning slams and competing with Alcaraz and Sinner? Personally, no. I think the forehand's too much of a weakness. But for... Lendl and Massoud, you know, they're not going to waste their time with someone that they don't believe has like real winning potential, I wouldn't have thought. So it's quite interesting that they've both gone with her catch.
Certainly Wimbledon, I suppose, would be the slam that jumps out with that serve on the grass. He's caused Djokovic some... problems there before and he should be a nightmare on that surface. So it definitely makes Hubert Hurk actually quite honestly I don't find particularly fun to watch or a particularly intriguing part of the tour, it makes him way more interesting going into 2025. So from that point of view, I'm a big fan of it.
David's used the word pointlessness. Matt's used the word flop. Tough, tough segment for Hubert there. But... There we go. He's led the show. So what more can you ask for, Hubert? Next bit of coaching news. Donna Vekic is working with Sasha Byan, of course, former coach of... Well, lots of players. Naomi Osaka, sort of...
Most recently, in terms of major success, they worked together for, I think, a couple of her Grand Sam titles before she took a break from maternity leave. They've already started their off-season. training block. We hear from Pam that it's going well. A lot of that training block took place on Pam's court, which is actually Matt's court, but, you know, we'll... Matt's...
Matt's temporarily lent custody of it to Donna Vekic. What do we think of this? It's a statement of intent, I think, from Donna Vekic. isn't it? I mean, look, we obviously talked about this last week in our review show because Donna Vekic cameoed on Pam's voice note, but...
It can go one of two ways with having the best season of your life, can't it? You can feel like, wow, I've got a silver medal. I've reached a Grand Slam semi-final. I've kind of achieved my potential and that's enough. Anything from this point on is, you know. is a bonus or you can you can think wow that was freaking fantastic give me more of that
Give me more Grand Sam semifinals and more and the rest. And it feels like mentally and emotionally, at least, Matt, it's very much gone the latter way with Donna Vekic. Yeah, well, as Pam said in that... Voice note, you know, they got a taste for it. They got a taste for what it was like over the summer last year to be genuinely in contention for... two of the biggest titles that were played last year in Wimbledon and the Olympics. Vekic was right there. And I think, you know...
It is a statement of intent. I completely agree. You know, Sasha Bayern obviously had that success with Osaka that you mentioned. Also, I'm pretty sure he coached Pliskova to the Wimbledon final in 2021. He was part of that team. as well. He's also a very good hitting partner. He was with Serena Williams for a long time as a hitting partner, which is a very useful thing, I think, for a player to have when they're kind of on the road.
And yeah, all the signs coming out of the Vekic-Schriver camp have been positive. And I think there is a... a kind of premium on it, right? You know, like Vekic, she was in such great form last year. She's got a taste for it. She probably feels like...
it's maybe a little bit now or never in terms of like trying to actually win the very, very biggest titles in the sport, which at this stage in her career would kind of be the thing that would make the most difference to her. You know, like I think. She's pretty much got her career high ranking now.
She's improved how close she's coming to winning those biggest titles. She's not exactly had a lot of success at WTA 1000 level. I think there is that weird stat that she's maybe never reached a quarterfinal.
at a WTA 1000 event, which is kind of mind-blowing. But doing that and maybe reaching a quarter or semi of Indian Wells or Madrid or something, it would be nice, but it doesn't... move the needle I don't think for Donna Vekic right now it's all about yes keeping up consistency but contending at those biggest biggest events and I feel like Vekic thinks that She has a shot to do that at kind of all the majors, given what she did on the clay.
at the Olympics last year. I know Roland Garros played a little bit differently in July than it did in May. So maybe it's not quite as like-for-like as we think. But she's a threat on a hard court and a grass court for sure. And you can probably put Clay in there as well a little bit. So going with a coach who's got experience of getting...
getting players in those big positions in their biggest tournaments kind of makes sense. And I know that her previous sort of tour coach, Nick, has sort of... steps away and some of that is to do with like family reasons um so there was just a spot available there and and obviously pam is very used to working alongside another coach as well, because Pam isn't travelling to all the events. So, you know, let's hope they can make it work. Again, it makes...
Looking out for Donna Vekic, as we would do anyway in 2025, but it adds another element of intrigue to her season. I'm very intrigued to see how it goes. A threat. For sure. That's the language that Matt used there. And I don't think anybody would argue with that, David Donovekic being a threat. Do you expect to be putting her in a mix in 2025?
Not from the outset, no. We won't go into the Australian Open with me thinking that this is a player who I wouldn't be surprised if she won the Australian Open. At the moment, I still would be surprised. I think she is one of the names that I absolutely think could be in the quarterfinals and can go further. We've seen that she can.
She knows she can. We know she can. It's another thing doing it. So until you do it, I think I think it is unless you have a sort of Bianca Andreescu type run in that summer where she she did feel in the mix for the USA. open because of what she was winning and who she was winning against. I think that that is a different level. I would just sound a note of caution because I absolutely think, similarly to Hubert Hercatch...
She's turning over the stones, and I think that this is the right thing to do to make sure that she maximises her career and comes out of it with no regrets whatsoever. But Nick Horvath and Pam... melded perfectly. They both knew their roles. They worked out what they were. They worked out whose voice Donna was going to need to hear when. And look at the results. She's had the best couple of years of her career. Now, we may find that Sacha Byan comes in and it goes another step.
that she takes an even further step. He's got the medals. He's got the credibility as a coach to suggest that he can add something even in excess of what she's had to date. which is great and so i understand why you would do that but there is no guarantee that when it's stressful that he speaks at the right time i'm not saying he won't but we don't know that that it doesn't clash with Pam, that it works. He's worked with a lot of players. He's become a big voice. And I think he...
rates himself. And I think he's got reason to rate himself based on all of his achievements to date and the successes of his players. But he seems to me like a big personality. And so we'll only know by finding out whether that all ends up working. Sometimes they do, sometimes they work perfectly, and a player looks back on their career and thinks, that was my peak. Other times, they don't work.
so well. So to me, I think it's got to be a wait and see. Really interesting and a very, very important point, I think. Final bit of coaching, sort of collaboration news for part one. Emma Raducanu, speaking of making a statement, she has figuratively and literally, David, made a statement with her new appointment. She started working.
with Yutaka Nakamura, the fitness coach known most widely for his work with Maria Sharapova and Naomi Osaka. And those two women's CVs speak for themselves. This is a man with... This is Emma Adekanu saying, this is it. This is me. Turning over stones again. My body is not going to be the thing that lets me down anymore. You know, nobody questions the game, I don't think. Not that they can't.
Not that there aren't areas that she can improve. I really think there are. But, you know, you're always the biggest proponent of that game. And if she can sort of eliminate her body as a... as a factor holding her back, only then can she and we really discover what her true potential is. As a tour player, I mean, obviously we know what the absolute peak of her potential is, but as a tour pro, we just don't know what her potential is.
The hope for all of us, I think, is that this appointment enables us to find out. Yeah, I think that's well put. There are certain tennis players whose game makes my heart sink, and she's one of them. There are other players, Karolina Mukova. are to feast carlos alcaraz the the these are players that just i i just can't wait to watch whoever they play against and and and actually i think there's a lot of people there are a lot of people that would be thinking
Yeah, we've been saying this to you for a couple of years, Emma, you know, that this is what you need to do. And she seems to have this big eureka moment where she suddenly realized that this isn't what I need to do. Listen, I think you've got to cut her a bit of slack. She's been young in that period. She's won this otherworldly tournament out of nowhere. She's been very, very severely injured. And I think that it's okay to sort of...
be told lots of things. I know I was when I was failing my A-levels, and it was only when I failed them and discovered for myself that I actually did something about it. So I think we've got to let people be young and grow up sometimes.
I do love and also shudder when she says some of the quite grand pronouncements that she will say in front of the media about how she's looking to become this... this winning this machine of an athlete effectively and those weren't her exact words but she she's she's very big time in what she says about what this is going to do for her And whilst I actually think that that could be the case and is absolutely the right thing to be doing to build this athletic foundation.
I think that there's also a strong argument for just going and doing it and then talking about it. I always remember there was an interview with the... That footballer, Joey Barton, who I don't like to draw too many parallels, but I always remember before he turned into the freak show that he's become.
He was going through a period where he was taking his career very seriously. And he did a big interview about how he's getting up in the morning at six in the morning every day and running the hills and all the rest of it and doing all the things that...
He knows that, he doubts that Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard are doing that, who were keeping him out of the England team, so he said. And Frank Lampard just turned around and said, I don't talk about it. I've been doing it for the last 10 years. You know, and I think that there are a fair few people in the locker room who might read some of those quotes and just think, that's just standard. That's what you do. Let's see. What do you think, Matt?
Do you think there's an element here of her trying to build back up some locker room aura with these pronouncements or is it not as strategic? Is she really just sort of shooting from the hip and telling us how she feels, whether that ends up being accurate or not in the long term? Yeah, I think the latter. I don't think it's calculated in the way in terms of, like, trying to build up locker room aura. Neither do I, by the way. I agree with you, though. No, nor do I. I'm just wondering...
Yeah, I suppose I'm just wondering why. Yeah, and whether they could, intentional or not, whether there could be any benefit to it, because on the face of it, it does seem...
It does seem a bit of a, dare I say, Joey Botton-esque misstep. I think to some degree she's probably very aware that she's received a lot of... criticism in the past and doubt in the past and she's kind of like well I'm going to talk myself up if no one else is and I think you know we've seen that in kind of the way that you know she said that thing about how she thrives in asia even though like she hadn't really
won that many matches there and then didn't actually end up having a particularly successful season because she got injured in that portion of the season. And she said that thing about how, you know, it's kind of unheard of that she's played, what is it, 15?
tournaments and yet she's ranked in the top 60 or so and you know the reality is that is pretty heard of like mukova's played about eight tournaments and is in his ranked way way higher and you know she on text played a similar number like it's it's kind of an outrageous thing to say but i also do understand why she would want to say that and sort of put that out in the world. And I kind of feel like she does kind of believe these things.
And I think this is a really... I just think this is an important move because she has said stuff in the past. I remember the start of this year, she talked about her goal for the year being wanting to play a lot of tournaments and have a... schedule and we were like well that was great but you've not actually put anything in place you've not changed anything from your previous years to suggest that
you might be able to do that. But I think actually hiring her own dedicated personal fitness trainer rather than just sort of relying on the ones that the LTA would provide, I think is a... big, big step. And as David said, like a step that most other players of her caliber, probably all of them, have made already. So she is sort of playing a little bit of catch up there. But... I think it bodes really, really well, hopefully. You know, when we think about Raducanu's career...
In recent years, she's played her best tennis indoors. And I do think of indoor tennis as maybe some of the least physical tennis, you know, like. And I think it just.
At the moment, conditions and the grind and all of that, she hasn't really been able to sort of... live with and produce her best week in week out on the tour and i think a move like this is hopefully a big big step to doing that because yes there are some elements to her game as well that that can improve i think sometimes her forehand looks a little
bit underpowered compared to the the very very best players in the world for example but there's also so much to to love about her game and if she can If she can kind of for the first time blend together how great her game is with a proper physical trainer who is hardening her for the tour, then... That's got to be a good thing. And look, there are some players who do all the right things and still get injured. You know, like sometimes that can happen.
And I really, really hope that isn't the case for Emma Raducanu. But I think she's giving herself the best possible shot now. And again, I've ended all of these three segments on this note, but it just makes me excited.
for 2025. That's what this pod is really. It's a hype mechanism for 2025. I agree with you, Matt, thinking about it, that this... perhaps comes from a place where Amarada Khanu, of that kind of us-against-them mentality she has with the outside world, which I think it makes me a bit sad, but I can totally understand how she's...
arrived at that I don't I mean I think she does have tremendous support out there from the media and the public but I also think she's had some pretty outrageous coverage too and certainly you know I've seen online and heard in real life plenty of extremely uncomfortable takes about Emma Adekarnu since she won that.
that US Open. And yeah, I think you're right that there's a kind of early days Andy Murray-esque us against them attitude that leads her to a mentality of, well, if no one else is going to big me up, I'm... I'm going to do it. And I respect that. I do think there's a difference. I do think Murray would have just let the tennis do the talking. But we'll see.
You know, the proof's in the pudding. Again, that's what we said at the end of all of these takes, isn't it? Our takes are the same, no matter what the news. Come back in part two for some more of those takes. We'll see you then. Hi, darling. Are you still coming for dinner on Saturday? I could save you money on your energy bill. Everyday noise drowning out what really matters to your business.
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Moments after part one for Friends of the Tennis Podcast that are now listening ad-free. Hope you're enjoying that. Hope the ads aren't too intrusive for non-Friends, but if they are, you know what to do. Other news from the tennis world over the years. the past couple of weeks. We've had the really... out of nowhere news drop from the ITF that the Davis Cup Final Eight, of course, previously held in Malaga, is now to be held in...
Italy for the next three years. The event is moving to Bologna from 2025 onwards. This, you know, we're pretty in tune, Matt, with the Davis Cup and the ITF and Gummings on there and the Billie Jean King. Cup as well, obviously. And this news took me by surprise in a French Open moving itself to October kind of a way. It wasn't on alert for big... Davies Cup venue change news. Were you? I hate to do this, but yes, I was actually.
How? Why didn't you share? Why didn't you share the need to be on alert? I don't know. I think just I'd heard that, you know, they were planning to do the draw for the... 2025 like qualifiers on the day of the davis cup final this year but that that wasn't ready like it didn't happen i don't think they'd they maybe quite
realized how the format was going to work with the change. And also they knew that a venue was potentially going to change as well. And like who the hosts are has quite a big impact on the 2025. sort of format of the Davis Cup. Look, I think to me, it's quite good news. I believe it's only Bologna for one year confirmed and then it could be other places in Italy. So Italy's confirmed for three, Bologna for one, I think is the situation. Chris Clary.
Put out that he sees it as a little bit of a kind of nod to the old challenge round that, you know, David has talked about a lot in terms of, you know, Italy have won this thing for the last two years. Kind of maybe feels like... their turn to host it and and sort of welcome the challenges and certainly i think there will be an absolutely amazing atmosphere for all of italy's
They've really shown up in Malaga over the last few years. It further emphasises Italy as the centre of power in the sport, doesn't it? We're going to have back-to-back... big events there with the ATP finals and the Davis Cup finals taking place in Italy and likely Italian players winning a lot of them, you know, so that's an element here. Personally, I think... Three years is a decent amount of time for finals to be held in one location.
in the current format look i don't think it's a perfect format i'm not sure any format that you could come up with would be perfect there's always going to be challenges but i think three years based on what we had in malaga seems like a decent amount of time to build up some momentum for the event and help it grow year on year but also to recognize that it needs to move around and different countries need to have the chance to host this thing otherwise it's kind of
just a bit unfair, really, for the competition. It doesn't quite feel right. So I was generally encouraged by this news, but I think maybe David felt a little bit... I don't want to put words into your mouth, but maybe you're a little bit more negative about it. Yeah, I'd say so. Look, I...
I understand it from a commercial standpoint, building a bit of continuity. It's difficult in one year to do that. And I think we saw Malaga as... grown each time and in terms of size and success and attendance and I dare say that will happen in Italy and I'm sure as you say it'll be a it'll be buzzing. But if it is going to be a nod to the challenge round, well, actually make it a proper nod and say, OK, that's what we're going to do. And you win the thing, you get to host it. That's a call.
story if that if that's what we're going to do i'm sure letting hewitt will be bringing over his team and wanting to win it even more and wouldn't that be cool then to be able to just just wrestle the thing to australia whether anybody likes it or not um unfortunately that's a
logistical nightmare on many levels as well you're right there's no really perfect system um but i still end up feeling like a good event looking forward to it why isn't it what it should be why isn't it the real world cup of tennis where where everybody gets a good go at hosting it and
And I realise that football has just announced it's going to Saudi Arabia in 2034 and there was no opposition to it whatsoever. And it doesn't go to everywhere. It goes to certain places. But at least it's going global. You know, the Davis Cup's just staying in Europe. And so is the Billie Jean King Cup at the moment. And that's just a bit... That doesn't seem fair to the other nations. I have to say, my... My initial reaction was just, oh, thank God it's not Saudi.
anything not going to Saudi at the moment. Any sponsorship deal announced by a player or a tournament or any entity in tennis, I'm just like, oh, it's not Saudi. Great. Wicked. which is thoroughly depressing. And I'm worried about the Billie Jean King Cup. You know, the fact that this move has been made, you know, it was just kind of...
circumstantial that the tournaments ended up being held together, albeit not in exactly the same venue in Malaga this year. And it does seem like maybe that was a one-off. I don't know. We'll see. But, yeah, we will keep you posted, folks. We've had the news that Stacey Allister is in her final year as the... US Open tournament director. We don't know yet who will replace her, David? No, I don't think so. And she's somebody who's been in prominent positions.
for many, many years, including the WTA's CEO. And so I was a little bit surprised. I was taken aback by this announcement personally. I didn't know that was on the cards, but... Yeah, it's going to be interesting to see what next. Yeah, again, keep you posted. We have Wimbledon and the Save Wimbledon Park campaign. This is...
Not unexpected. Of course, we had the news a few weeks ago that Wimbledon were successful in their bid to get a planning application granted for their extension after a very lengthy... battle with various local councils. And that decision is being appealed. It looks like they are going to the high court. That's been reported in The Athletic. Not unexpected, but, you know, more lengthy hoops to jump through for Wimbledon to get this extension over the line. Many of you will have seen...
The farewell exhibition event for Juan Martín del Potro in Buenos Aires a couple of weeks ago, an incredibly emotional event that Novak Djokovic attended. to play this exhibition match so that Del Potro could get to have a goodbye of sorts. This followed on from an interview that Del Potro posted on his Instagram to promote. this exhibition which honestly I had to read the quotes from this. It was in Spanish. I had to read the quotes from it in two halves because I found them so harrowing.
quite frankly, like this is not a, as much as that event was uplifting to an extent, you know, it was obviously something that Del Potro wanted to do and Djokovic and all the people. that attended made that possible for him. The big picture is really pretty bleak for Del Potre. This is an uplifting story of somebody finding... peace in retirement. You know, he says he's desperate to live his life without pain.
He talked about how this is from a write-up in The Athletic. He talked about how ongoing surgeries and complications with his right knee have affected his quality of life. He said, I haven't run or walked upstairs or kicked a ball. or played tennis since I was 31. He said, do I spend the next 15 years of my life like this? So at 50, they put in a knee replacement and I live okay at 60. He said some people have advised him to undergo knee replacement surgery now. He said he's taking six to eight.
pills a day for pain management, anti-inflammatory treatment and anxiety. He said, I feel like the knee beat me and I had eight surgeries. He said, adding that living life on the sidelines of sporting occasions like football and paddle with friends, bringing the drinks and making the videos has been torturous. He said it's very hard having to put on a facade 24 hours a day. He said I couldn't bear the pain in my legs anymore.
So this is really tough. It's really upsetting me reading it all again. It's just desperately sad. I know, you know, injuries and long term pain and. And the anxiety associated with retiring from the thing you're best at in the world in your 30s, like these are things that all tennis players struggle with. But my goodness me, the slice of... horrific luck that Juan Martín del Potro has been dealt in his career is horrific.
I'm so glad that he got this event, but it is one day and one moment in a picture that looks pretty bleak for him. Yeah, it is. They all have to go through it to some extent, this process. But as you say, his has been particularly amplified because of the nature of the injuries. But also...
by his personality and his interests, I suppose, and who he is. He wasn't ready for this. He wasn't ready for retirement. He's never been ready for it. He doesn't sound at peace with it at all, and he doesn't know what to do next. And I feel desperately sorry for him that he's in that mental space. And I don't know what the solution is for him, but I wish him well because it's sad to hear him so sad.
Anything to add, Matt, or just sadness? Yeah, just to think that he had his playing career cut so... and have it be so fragmented because of injury. And it was always the wrist, wasn't it? It was always the Del Potro wrist that we were talking about through his career. And now he's in a situation where he can't even enjoy his post-playing days because his quality of life is so severely affected.
by his knee. It's just absolutely devastating, really, and I just wish him all the best and hope that there is some light ahead for him. And I suppose the only other thing I would say is kind of what you said, Catherine, but I did think that was very, very good of Novak Djokovic to go and play that exhibition event.
You know, I think he was in, wasn't he in Qatar maybe a day or so later, Djokovic, for some sponsorship things. Like, he kind of went out of his way to do that. And I think that also sort of hints at what a special person Del Potro is.
that Djokovic wanted to do that for him. But yeah, it's all desperately, desperately sad. Absolutely. Just while we're on the subject of... in The Athletic, one that dropped this morning from, I think it was co-authored by both Matt and Charlie, Matt Futterman and Charlie Eccleshire, the tennis or the two... two big parts of the tennis team at The Athletic, about João Lucas Reis de Silva, a professional Brazilian tennis player. I hadn't heard of him.
Probably haven't either. World number 367 did actually win a tournament last week. He has kind of inadvertently become the first out. active male tennis player. He didn't do this via big... announcement or sort of conscious effort to become a trailblazer, and that's all documented in this article. Matt and Charlie have spoken to him. He just... posted an Instagram post on his partner's birthday, a carousel of...
photos of his partner and himself with his partner with the caption I love you so much and by in so doing he became a trailblazer he said I didn't think about it I just wanted to post a picture with him he said it's been a crazy week but in the end it was it was perfect he's talking about having won the tournament last week, which has granted him a spot in the qualifying for the Rio Open, which is, of course, an ATP 500 event held in the first half of the year. So we'll be seeing him.
qualifying for that. He said, I didn't feel pressure. I was happy. I had my boyfriend here with me. He was supporting me. My whole team was here. made me really happy and really sad all at the same time because this is just absolutely how it should be, right? It shouldn't be. Nobody should be having to think, oh, I'll make a... make a big announcement and be a trailblazer. You should just be able to feel comfortable being authentic and posting.
posting happy messages to your partner on Instagram without a thought of the consequences. But sad, of course, because, you know, we absolutely know that there are... gay male tennis players that feel unable to do that as things stand at the moment. And that is tremendously sad. I'd like to think that's changing, but I don't see enough being done culturally to really feel like there's enough urgency about the need for change there. But I was certainly very...
pleased to see Matt and Charlie pick up on this story and cover it in that way. Yeah, Matt sent me a... note saying that he was such a nice guy to speak to and I think Matt's going to be watching a lot more of the Challenger tour now and the doubles circuit just to follow his progress. He's never played a... a match on the ATP tour. He's played qualifying in Rio the last couple of years and not won matches. But he is sort of operating at the challenger level, basically.
But yeah, he's just had one of his best weeks in four years after winning a title. And yeah, there was just this kind of juxtaposition between the kind of... how ordinary and how normal it was for Joao to post that.
And yet the fact that it is a significant news story because it hadn't happened in pro tennis before that an active male player had come out as gay. So there was kind of that tension there between... kind of just pointing to the way that tennis is still lagging behind and still kind of needs to needs to catch up and joao has some quotes in that article i don't want to read the whole thing because people should
people should read the piece. But there are some quotes there that he gives in terms of, you know, he did experience people saying... things that bothered him in locker rooms. But he said that once he came out, he was like, they stop saying those things when they know and... you know he says it's like when they have someone close to them that's gay they respect them more they stop doing shitty comments and he's he's kind of pointed
pointing to the fact that, you know, he realizes that maybe it would have been easier for him had there been a role model. And he's sort of inadvertently one now, but he's happy to kind of be one. um so yeah it's it's a really good interview that that matt and charlie have done and also a reminder that coming out is not just something that you do once you know like joao came out to his family five years ago and
Now here he is doing that Instagram post, but he's sort of come out to the tennis world. So, yeah, like I'm going to say it again, interested to follow his story in 2025. If you're looking for good feeds of tennis tournaments that you didn't previously know were happening, my brother can point you in the right direction. He spends a lot of his life watching tennis that most people don't.
No is happening. Hence his interest in Lou Canadi, who has already started his 2025 season. Apparently he's fourth in the race. It's happening. I know we joke about tennis never stopping, but I do think that ITF level tennis literally doesn't stop. I think it is happening all the time. Hold on, the race has started. Yeah. It's December the 16th. Yeah, Lucanardi is fourth in it. Who's top? Do we know? I could look it up. How interested are you? Genuinely quite curious at this point.
OK, well, how about while you're talking about our next agenda item, Matt, this is actually working out quite well because I don't know anything about this agenda item. And I'm quite excited, given how it's billed, to hear about it. So why don't you tell us about Jasmine Paolini's rant about the WTA Awards while I look up who's leading L-Race. I'm afraid you're going to be psyched.
disappointed because Jasmine Paolini has not gone on a rant, but I would like to go on a rant on her behalf. I'm quite excited. Okay. It was building the agenda as a Paolini rant, so I am... Make this good, Matt, because I'm currently a bit disappointed. Don't doubt it. I'm up for this. Well, look, the WTA Awards this year... did not have Jasmine Paolini nominated for most improved player. And I think...
I think the reason she wasn't nominated for that was because she was nominated for Player of the Year. So she was recognised within these awards. But that just seems like such a stupid system to me where you handcuff yourself that you can't be in two different categories. Because, yes, obviously, Jasmine Paolini should have been up for player of the year.
obviously she should have been up for most improved player of the year as well. You would be hard-pressed to find a single tennis fan who thinks that Jasmine Paolini is not the most improved player in 2024. It just makes an absolute moth... of the whole thing if you're gonna if you're gonna have weird stipulations like that and like emma navarro won it
Like, great. She has been very, very improved in 2024, but not more so than Jasmine Paolini. And the whole thing just comes across as an absolute joke. If you're... One of your most nailed on categories and winners that you could ever have and not there. So I felt quite strongly about that. Yeah, I can tell. That was sensational. Consider me no longer disappointed. And it went on long enough for me to discover who is leading El Race. Tune into part three.
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Welcome back to part three of the tennis podcast where I can drop the bomb now to tell you who is leading L race. I was hoping to make some kind of fun quiz out of this. Unfortunately, I can't because the chances of you have. Having heard of this person, I think despite your encyclopedic tennis knowledge, David and Matt. I think the chances are zero. The ATP race is currently being led by Hadi Habib, a US-born player representing the Lebanon.
He is 26 years old and he has 118 points. I tell you what, you have heard of the player that is second in the race. Have a stab. He's been busy getting engaged. He just got engaged, yeah. Has he? Yeah. Instagram. The internet, David. It's going to be big. No. I'll just tell you folks, second in El Race, and he's actually only 32 years of age. I would have put him at a lot older. I feel like he's been around forever. Demir Jumher. Wow.
106 points, only six points ahead of Luca Nardi, who's in fourth. I am scrolling to find names. Fabio Fanini. He's on Strictly Come Dancing Italy. Is he? Even I know that. Is he? Yeah. Yeah. Do you find that out from the internet as well? Yeah. How's he doing? Does he have hip action? Not sure I'm qualified to say.
You know, I normally do watch Strictly Come Dancing with quite a critical eye, but I didn't watch this video closely enough to be able to comment. I was too struck by the fact that he was just in it. I didn't actually really look at his dancing. Well, it's some fantastic multitasking I would say for him to be top 10 in the race. and be succeeding in Strictly Come Dancing. Kimma Coppians, 29th in the race. He was on Strictly Come Dancing Italy. No. There's that Martin Lander Lut...
Landa Luce? Landa Luce. Landa Luce, the Spanish for junior US Open champion that played that epic final. He is 37th in the race and has minus one point. No, sorry. No, that is a misreading of the table. He has 37 points. He has dropped one point in the race. Anyway, I think... Speaking of, like, tennis happening at this time of year and players that you'd forgotten about, I was going to bring this up on a...
in a later point in the show when we like preview the season and talk about Belinda Bengtschik because she's going to be playing in the United Cup. But I was looking at Belinda Bengtschik's recent results that she has been playing. She played in the Billie Jean King Cup. playoffs last month and she's played some ITFs. But a player she beat in the ITFs was Aravan Rezai. No way. Yes. Did you know she was still going? No. That's 20 years ago.
Yeah, I mean, like, she won Madrid, didn't she, that year, beating Venus in the final. She was a disruptor on the WTA tour. She could occasionally beat some big players. She's 37 years old, playing... Playing the ITFs. I did a real double take when I saw that. Unfortunately, the... The 2025 WTA race hasn't started. Like, Sabalenka is still top of the WTA race, so I can't... Can't check where Reza is. Yeah, I can't bring you any Aravan Reza fun.
Although I am now searching for her name within the spreadsheet. Can you tell that we're very much preparing for a fantasy tennis league? That's why we've got these spreadsheets on the go. Where do we think Aravan Reza might be in El Race? I'd do a lot of scrolling. OK. OK, it's not great. radio, is it? Well, let's move on to those other agenda items that you mentioned. The last few bits of business, I suppose, from the off-season, looking ahead to the 2025 season, which is...
which is basically what all of the show has been doing so far. We've had confirmation that Djokovic is playing Brisbane. That's where his season will start. Obviously, last year he played the United Cup. This year, he's elected to play Brisbane. His coach, Andy Murray, apparently isn't going. Russell Fuller of the BBC reported that. I still wouldn't be surprised if Andy Murray simply couldn't resist and rocked up.
We do know that Andy Murray last week was in Spain, David, with Novak Djokovic doing a training block. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, in the old he's not going to be there conversation, let's not forget he wasn't going to be at the Australian Open because he was retiring from tennis. So, yes, we'll... We'll wait and see, shall we? What? Oh, to be a fly on the wall at that training block. We need one of those. I mean, it...
sort of streams like Federer did when he was playing Luca Pui in his comeback and then two weeks later he went and won the Australian Open. I remember the whole family gathering around the TV to watch that training video. Was that on Periscope? Yes, it was. I think it was. Around about the time I was experimenting with it. Do you remember we did one periscope, David, on a bench outside?
The Billie Jean King National Television. We also did one at a train station once, Catherine. Oh, God, this is bad content. Houston, I seem to remember. That was before we realised you could do this. Did we? Yeah. I don't think I would agree to that. I hate Houston Station. I think it should be blown up and start again.
I think we were just back from the Australian Open and it was mega cold. And I think you might have just been swimming and you really weren't very happy. Why would I have been at Euston? I don't think I would have been at Euston. You were. I've got photographic evidence.
You sure you don't mean Marlebone? Definitely Houston. I'm going to show you. You're wearing a massive coat with a big fluffy top to it. Maybe it was that year you covered the Olympics and you'd been to, you know, you'd been to... the Winter Olympics. But why were we at Euston? Because we couldn't used to do things remotely back then, Catherine. We used to have to be together. Sure.
But we tried to be together at, you know, places that were convenient for one or both of us and Euston has never been convenient for either of us. That was how I used to get down to London when I had to go for meetings. Yeah, it was Marlebone, though. I will send you the photos. I guarantee you. I feel really confident it's Marlebone. I'm really invested in this now.
I'm so sure it's Marlebone, which is a lovely station. It really affects this story, whether it's Euston or Marlebone. I feel like the stakes are quite high. Your mood definitely tells me I'm right because you were really pissed off. I mean, I can be pissed off outside of Euston Station as well. It has been known. Just never as pissed off as I am in Euston Station.
Yeah, talk about tennis, Matt, please. Well, is it interesting that Djokovic is playing Brisbane? Like in a way that where he, I feel like it seems like a little bit of a shift to me. Like I think. Recently, he's played kind of United Cup or ATP Cup as a lead in. And it's almost just been about trying to get a couple of matches under his belt and then it's off for the Australian Open.
He needs to get back in winning a tournament mode, which sounds like an absolutely crazy thing to say about a guy who's won almost 100 of them. But he only won one in 20... 24 and it was the olympics which i know was obviously a huge achievement but it was a bit different it wasn't a regular tournament and i don't know maybe
Maybe he just feels like he needs to work his way through a draw and get used to that and winning a title again going into Australia. Maybe that's what he needs rather than just picking up a couple of wins. at the United Cup that maybe don't lead to anything more. I don't know. It just seems like a little bit of a shift coupled with having Murray on his team.
United Cup starting four days earlier, I think, might be a factor as well. Right. 27th of December. Right. And that is just crazy. And he, I'm sure, wants some time at home with... But it's not like he's got a huge amount of time. I kind of thought if time at home was the main motivation, he wouldn't be playing anything. Because even to play Brisbane, you're still leaving.
Crazy early, really, after Christmas. And I think if Novak Djokovic thought United Cup was playing United Cup would give him the best chance of winning the Australian Open, he'd be playing United Cup. At this stage of his career. But yeah, it also is crazy that it starts on the 27th of December. That is absolutely... bonkers i know it's going to move this is the earliest it will start isn't it it's going to move a week back in the calendar next year so i think i think it will actually start in
in the year it's supposed to start, which is something. And he's also signed up to Doha, Djokovic, in February. Which, you know, again, he played the bare minimum. really this year but like already he's he's just changing things up a little bit now whether he actually ends up playing it we'll see but I just thought it was interesting definitely
Bianca Andreescu is out of Australia. Can someone else talk about this? Because I just, I find talking about Andreescu at all now really quite hard and sad. Like this is... This was tough news, wasn't it? Because it sounds kind of emotional. Well, it certainly sounds not specifically injury-related as an absence and it also sounds potentially open-ended, David. Yeah, it does. Reporting by Stephanie Miles and there's no definite return date on it on her. There's no specific reason given.
Just wish her well, really. Just wish she would come back and feel happy and be ready to go more often than not because she's so great to watch. And just... Yeah, it's not been the five years any of us thought, has it? But for her in particular, I was talking earlier on about how she was just in the mix before she barely played a Grand Slam tournament. Crikey that feels a long time ago.
Sure does. So no Andreescu in Australia, no Andreescu in the United Cup. Canada are represented, though. Leila Fernandes leading the line on the women's side for Canada, who will be in... Perth, they will face Team USA. So that means that before our next pod, which will be on December the 30th, so I lied when I said that this was our last one of 2024. It's our last one. of the 2024 season. Our next pod, while it will be in 2024, will be about the 2025 season, which sounds...
Pretty apt for tennis, really. I think we've nailed that schedule. These matches you will have already seen in the 2025 season before our next podcast on the 30th of December 2024. Jung Chin Wen against Beatrice. Hadadj Maia. Leila Fernandes against Donna Vekic. Thomas Machach against Kaspar Rude. Coco Goff against Leila Fernandes. Jasmine Paolini against Belinda Bencic. You'll also have seen Rabakina sit to pass. Mukova and Zverev in action.
I think it's safe to say we're pumped, yeah? You know how you said you lied about what you'd have seen before the next part? I've just realised I lied. Or, another way of putting it is, was wrong. It wasn't Euston. It was Malibu. Bloody knew it was Marlebone. We've never done a podcast in Euston. I simply wouldn't agree to that. It just occurred to me. Actually, I'm not even sure it would be physically possible to do it there. But you were Euston levels pissed off.
But it was Marilla Bone Station. Sorry about that. The people just heard me get gaslit in real time. It's just my memory failing me and then coming back. So let's, you know, look on the bright side. Marlebone is a lovely station, but I do remember it being blooming cold. Yeah.
There were pigeons around. Anyway, I appreciate the revelation, David, very much. I feel like this much chat about Marleybone, we have to at least say Marleybone at least once. Marleybone, that's what Nadal calls it. That is an all-time. Great. We watched that recently, didn't we, Matt? Yeah, we watched that the morning after Donald Trump had been elected. Oh, yeah. It's very much on our...
On our Pick Me Up YouTube playlist. Yes. Yes. I suggest Hannah add that to her list. Anything to say, Matt, about these matches that we'll have seen before our next pod? Just general pumps? Yes. And when I was looking at the United Cup schedule, I hadn't really engaged with it that much yet until doing the agenda for this show.
I just remembered how much I enjoyed it last year. I think it's a lot better now. They've streamlined it and you've just got, you know, every tie being... best of three matches and the top players there and like... these guaranteed matches i think is is a really good thing for fans to start the season with a with a mixed team competition like that where you know who's going to be playing um so yeah i'm i'm really really excited about all that
And I will also be excited about Brisbane as well because as much as I love the United Cup, what I really love is the first drawer of the year, you know, printed out. Matt. I just love it. I'll stop you there. Can I interest you in the next gen finals draw? Because that has just happened. You can't, really. I'm going to tell you about it anyway. We have the blue group. That features Art of Feast. Oh, OK. When's this? Jakob Mensik, Lerna Tien and Jao Fonseca.
That feels like a stacked group. Yeah, we have the red group, which features Alex Mickelson, Jerry Shang, Luca Van Asch, Anishash Bash... Excuse me, Basavaredi. There we go. Exciting times ahead. Artifis, of course, the finalist last year, beaten by Hamad Majedovic. He needs to be winning this, doesn't he, David? To be honest, I'm a bit surprised he's played, but I do believe there are penalties for not playing if you qualify. Yeah, he needs to just show up and win it and say...
Job done. See you in Turin. Yeah. I kind of feel like that too. I think that's made a bit harsh because there's some serious players there. I mean, Jakub Mensik has beaten a lot of good players this year and there's some other talented players in his group. But I wonder whether... that there's a bit of a feeling that he needs to tick this as well. I take your point on the penalties, but all the players that have gone on to do stuff in the last few years...
as young players, Yannick Sinner, Stefano Sitsipas, have gone and won this thing. And Carlos Alkraas won it one year, I think, didn't he? And I think he would probably... Be mindful of that. And I think it wound him up that he didn't win it last year. I mean, we were talking about him in those terms a year ago, really, and Majedovic beat him.
Yeah, absolutely. Comprehensively, really, in the end. So I think he'll want to show that he's made progress since then because he was mentally very weak in that tournament. He was having a lot of meltdowns. So we'll see. Cannot wait for Fast 4 scoring. God, I hate it. David's going to be watching it on holiday, isn't he? Because it's Art of Feast. No. I'm going to find out from other people what happened. No, I'm not. David's off to Florida on Thursday, folks. This is a test.
Australian Open David is going to have a tan before he even arrives. And we are slightly worried about David's body clock. But, you know, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. David is essentially travelling clockwise entirely around the globe to get to Australia. Fingers crossed. Fingers crossed. And he will be coming to you from Florida on the next podcast on December the 30th. David, unfortunately a tough note to end on, some really upsetting news overnight.
Yeah, very upsetting news for us, those of us who work within tennis. Last night, I read a LinkedIn post from the head of communications at the BNP Power Bar Open in Indian Wells. That head of communications is a chap. named Matt Van Tynan. And Matt is someone I've known for many years. I first met him in 2007 on my first trip to Indian Wells. I remember him sort of patiently working with me. as my broadcast line for the BBC kept failing to connect and he just helped me sort it out.
That kind of bloke. And we returned again to a New Wales last year. First time I'd seen him in 15 years. Exactly the same. Remembered me. Was really great with you both, I think. And, you know, just one of those guys you look forward to seeing every year on the tour. Last night, Matt posted... the news that he has been diagnosed with ALS, which is amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease in the States, or in the UK here.
motor neurone disease and i'm sure everybody listening will understand what a devastating diagnosis that is to be told that you have and matt is a dad of three his wife He and they are facing that now. I've said it to him directly last night, but I'll say it here as well. I'm thinking of you, Matt. We're all thinking of you and your family, and we're sending our love. One of the good guys.
Absolutely. Well said. Thank you for that, David. And yeah, we are sending Matt and his family our love. We, as I have been saying, will be back on... December the 30th for our next podcast. As I mentioned earlier, all of our fantasy places have been filled. So the seven lucky people that are going to get to hear all about where Luke and Ardy is in the race.
already signed up. And the presented mascot slots, all three of them have been filled as well. Hooray. But we have increased the number of pet mascot slots available generally due to high demand. So there are still opportunities. available to have your pet be a mascot of a show. And you can also take us on at Grand Slam Predictions. You can get yourself an intro, a shout out or just become a friend of the pod, get access to all of the bonus content.
including live shows throughout the year, The Barge, and of course now you get ad-free listening as well. And you also, by becoming a friend of the pod, will get access to the pre-sale window for... Big announcement. our pre-Australian Open live show in Melbourne. That is going to be on Thursday, January the 9th, and tickets will be going on sale this week.
And they are very limited for Melbourne. So if you'd like to get access to the pre-sale window for friends, then the link to do that, of course, is in our show notes. And look out on email and on social media. for details of how to get tickets to our live show in Melbourne on Thursday, January 9th at Fringe Common Rooms, which I've not personally been to, but the internet assures me is a lovely place.
and I've had excellent dealings with them and it's going to be a fantastic night. We have a mascot for this episode. Hello to Shady. What a name. Shady is owned by Jesse Flanders. This is Shady's third year as a pet mascot. And I've definitely said what a name every single year of Shady's mascotdom. He's an 11-year-old rat-terrier mix. I don't really know. I assume that doesn't mean that a terrier and a literal rat mated.
But I don't know. I don't know what a rat is in dog context. Jessie, please let us know what Jessie does tell us about Shady. I rescued him from a shelter in Arkansas and we live in Memphis, Tennessee. Shady enjoys naps, walks, squeaky toys and lots of treats. This year's photo is of Shady on the right celebrating his birthday. with my USTA tennis teammates, Pops Zoe and Flame. And it's an excellent photo. Shady is wearing a very chic bandana.
In fact, all the dogs are wearing quite chic neckwear. What a pointy-toity dog party. And there's a cake and it's good. Good stuff. And I'll pop that photo on our Instagram. And it'll be in our newsletter this week as well. So thank you, Shady, for coming back for the three-peat. And thank you, Jessie, as well. And while we're on the subject of mascots, folks, for one last time, we are thanking our personal mascots. I would like to thank Carrie for sponsoring me with...
The dearly departed Darwin, I'm so, so sorry. It was such an upsetting thing to read from Carrie earlier in the year that she lost Darwin and we lost Darwin. And I'm sorry about my performance in the predictions. competition and that that is associated with Darwin's memory in any way. But he was a very good boy. And thank you, Carrie, for having him sponsor me throughout the year. And I hope he's enjoying the great big park in the sky where dogs go to be happy forevermore. David, some words.
from you for Francis and for Drew and David? Well, I mean, how many times can I apologise? Because, I mean, I've absolutely disgraced Francis at every step of the way, really, and you, Drew and David, so apologies. I don't know what happened. And that's really the problem, isn't it? I never know what happens when I go wrong in the predictions. But maybe next year? There's always next year, isn't there? But thank you anyway. Matt, Haida Soma and our dear friend Chris Albert-Lee.
Yes. Thank you very much, Chris. I think I did OK in the predictions this year. I came third in the newsletter, beaten by... beaten by Hannah and Lynn, which maybe I, you know, maybe I should be more sort of cutthroat and should be aiming for first place, but... You know, I'm a Fulham fan, so I'm quite happy with third. Like, that's pretty good. So I hope I did Haider and Soma. I've sore of my arm for third place, Matt.
Yes, congratulations, Matt. And congratulations, Haida and Soma for beating David and me. Hello to Billie Jean King and Alana Kloss. And thank you from the bottom of our hearts for sponsoring. Billie Jean, who's freshly bathed and snoring at my feet. She is very grateful to have her namesake. sponsor her. So thank you very much. Thank you profoundly to our top folks and executive producers. One last time, folks, Greg, Chris, Jamie and Jeff.
We really, really appreciate your support of the podcast. You really are top folks and we're so grateful and you're so excellent and thank you. Thank you very much. And Matt, we have our season-ending shout-outs. And we start with Selina Woods, which she says is like Serena, but... With an L. And Selena is from Westchester, Ohio, right next to Mason, where the Cincinnati Open is held. Thank you, Selena, for...
providing all the component parts of your shout out for us. We really appreciate that. I know of Westchester, New York, because it's mentioned in Friends. But I didn't know of Westchester, Ohio, so thank you for the geography lesson. Tennis Selinas. I mean, Selina has kind of given us license there to get away with saying Serena, but I would like to come up with a Selina for her. Selina Janitz Ilyevich.
of france who uh has got herself as high in the world as 153 this year just 22 years of age so go in places Maybe. There she is in the race. Shall we add on another ten minutes to the pod for me to find out? Yeah, we could find her name. Where would we be without the internet? Thank you, David. And thank you, Selena. And actually, Selena says that what she really wants is a car bumper sticker that says, I'm listening to the tennis podcast. Because she listens all the time in her car.
That's a great idea, Selina. We're on it. We've also got Chrissie Davis in Sydney. who says, hope to meet you in person in Melbourne. Come to the live show, Chrissie. Yay! January 9th, tickets on sale this week. Well, there's only one tennis... Well, there's two tennis Chrissies now, aren't there? But I hope you'll forgive us for being obvious, Chrissie, and going for Everett. Yeah. This is, in fact, our Chrissie is Chrissie with a Y. Oh.
OK. I'm afraid I can't. I still think we can have Chrissie. I'm afraid I can't do Chrissie with a Y. David, can you? But we can have a Lauren Davis. Yes, very good. Almost beat Simona Halep at the Australian Open once in an incredible match. Remember that? I do. We could have Dwight Davis, the... the founding father of the Davis Cup. Yes, very good. All good stuff. Thank you, Chrissie. And finally, we have Martina Vranjelic, who...
Was born in Zagreb, but now lives in Vancouver. Hang on, are you telling me we've entirely organically had a Martina and a Chrissy in the same shout-outs? We sure have. That's very cool. That's pretty incredible. and sort of a Serena, sort of a tennis Mount Rushmore situation going on here. Zagreb city that I lived in for two and a half years. Yeah, David speaks fluent Croatian. Well, Martina says, I have a question for David. Do you know any Croatian words? Da. Puno.
He sounded like a Goran Ivanovic impersonation rather than an actual attempt to speak the language. Yeah, I did actually go to some lessons when I was there. Yeah, I could order stuff and generally understand what was going on some of the time. I reckon you're better than you. Well, I still have the same problem of having done similar things with French and Croatian because I lived in both countries and learned some of both.
And I only really have room for one or the other, that bit of one or the other. And therefore, I do find myself speaking the wrong language in the wrong country sometimes. Fortunately, when Martina asked, do you know any Croatian words, you didn't say, oui, beaucoup. Good joke, Matt. Excellent way to round off this podcast and the 2024 tennis season. You don't have to wait long, folks, before we're back for the 2025 tennis season. It is just around the corner.
We can't wait. Thank you for listening. Thank you for supporting. I'll speak to you on the other side. Go on. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath. Feel that? Refreshing, isn't it? But we get it. You're busy. And you work incredibly hard. When you're going this fast, the noise can be deafening. We're Moneypenny, and our job is to take care of your business calls, chats and more, so you can make your time count.
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