¶ Intro / Opening
🎵 Music
¶ Introduction and Tournament Mayhem
Hello and welcome to the Tennis Podcast. It is day seven of the French Open. We three are back at Tennis Podcast Towers and Paris Saint-Germain have just won the Champions League. So if you can hear the distant sounds of honking. And fireworks, that is what is going on. Pray for us trying to get to sleep later this evening. We are coming to you at ten fifteen here in part one of the show and at this very moment.
With just two matches still to be completed across the men's and women's order of play today. There have been only three straight sets matches. Get this. There have been more. deciding set tie breaks than there have been straight sets matches today.
Bye.
David Law promised a humdinger.
Ha ha.
And the French Open delivered.
I got a prediction right.
Yeah.
I mean, it's Three of of the most astonishing days in a row. Really, after Synagos out and all that went on there and then Djokovic and Fonseca and all we had yesterday, the drama we've had in in matches, okay, maybe not all with the household names of those two. But people just laying their dreams on the line and their bodies on the line and and just pushing the limit.
It's just been extraordinary today. And it is like matches are contagious after a while. We we saw it at the dud slam, the crappy slam in Australia when everything was rubbish, back to back. And and here it's the opposite.
Yeah, it's mayhem. It's absolute mayhem. Today's been the day where the women's draw were like, Oh, we can do upsets too.
Ha ha ha.
And the men's draw has thought, Well, you know, let's let's move on to everyone playing for five hours or pushing six hours. I mean, it's just been so much to keep up with. I've been so overwhelmed and overstimulated in the past few hours. We've had so many screens on the go.
At five or two.
Yeah, I mean just just wild.
Yeah, I feel absolutely at breaking point. If thank g if the weather wasn't scheduled to break tonight, I would be going home. Except the Eurostar probably wouldn't be air conditioned, so actually I'd just cry in a corner.
And it'd probably take five hours more than the scheduled two because that's just how we roll at the moment.
Yes, exactly.
Yes, my favourite message from someone on the barge was that they started a match in Tuscany and got home to their sofa in England and it was still going on.
¶ Coco Gauff's Upset Defeat
Yeah, that pretty much sums up today, doesn't it? Absolutely wild. We should probably start with the defeat of the defending women's champion Coco Goff at the third round stage to twenty eight seed the Madrid finalist Anastasia Pottopova, four six Seven six six four. Looked like this one was headed for a decided deciding set tie break. It was four all in the third.
Potopova Potopova breaks and serves it out. And look, this is a match that as soon as the draw came out in the orangerie, Matt had it circled as a danger point for Coco Goth, a possible upset. And yet it still feels like a shock to me, Matt. I don't know about you.
Yes, I thought it was a danger match, absolutely, but I also thought Goth would win it and come through it because She so often does, you know, she hadn't lost to anyone here at the French Open other than Igor Fiontek since twenty twenty one. You know, it's an incredible record against the rest of the field here. She's so hard to put away. And that even played out in this match, you know, because Potopova goes up an early break and doesn't end up winning the first set.
Um she takes a big lead in the second set and uh needs a tie break to win it, does Pottopova. And then Goff goes up a break in the third and honestly I kinda thought that Goff was gonna win it from that point, to be honest. She was She was playing pretty well, I thought, like not like incredibly well. She wasn't really on the attack all that much golf, but she was in her lockdown mode. She was extending rallies and
just about getting the better of this of this match. So it was kind of looking how I thought it would look, really, like a tough match, but one that I expected Goff to come through. And then my goodness, Spottopova in that final set was Pretty breathtaking at times. I c I couldn't believe my eyes, some of the stuff she was pulling off. I mean
She's so much better than I thought she was.
¶ Gauff's Frustration and Future
She's so much better than she's ever been.
Right. Like she was not doing this.
Think your assessment of her was incorrect a year ago. Or I don't think she's better than you thought she was. It's just that she's improved out of sight. Because I thought she was Pretty ordinary, really, a year ago. You know, if she was in the drawer against a to uh a decent name, you would not expect much of a fight.
I mean on today's evidence she's a bit of a cocoa got.
Well that was the thing. That was what impressed me, the hanging in these long rallies, going toe to toe Rallies that weren't just back and forth hitting, they were had a lot of movement involved and angles and coming to the net, being lobbed, having to retreat, restarting the point. She was doing all of that, which as you said is very cocoa got.
But then she had a sting as well at the end of those long rallies. She had the power. And you know, I have always thought of her as a power player. She's a She's a big hitter, you know, she's got these long swiping take backs of the racket. And yes, so dangerous today at the at the end of this match. Like that combination of going toe to toe and then being able to pull the trigger was absolutely remarkable. And the and the mental resilience as well to
you know, win that second set tie break, having having had the lead and let it slip. Um Goff I thought played a really poor second set tie break, I must say. And then the resilience from Potapova in the third when she was a breakdown, you know, like everything came together for her today and as as much as I thought she was a dangerous player coming into it, based on what we'd seen from her Claycourt season so far, if I'd if I'd known she could do this
I if I'd known she was gonna play like that, I would have probably predicted the upset because I thought she even showed us more today than she had even even in this clay court season that she'd already had.
Yeah, the quotes from Coca Goff after the match were interesting. I mean it sounds You know, she's not absolutely distraught and having an existential crisis about her game. You know, this was not one of those disaster performances where the double fault count goes viral or some of them some of the shanked forehands, you know, there was one on match point, unfortunately. But generally speaking this was a a perfectly normal defeat to to an excellent player who just showed up
big time on the day. But she seems very frustrated with how much the defeat felt similar to the feat sh defeat she suffered in the roam final and in Madrid as well. And I think what she's getting at is on the big point She's kind of retreating and becoming defensive. There are periods of the match
PSG fans having their say in the in the Coco Golf result there. Um I don't think that's gonna stop all night, so I think we probably need to press on through the fireworks, folks. Congratulations, Paris Saint Germain. Um
Yeah, I I think she's very frustrated with that. And it feels like something that should be with her within her control, but we know that it's not, right? Like it's such a It's a confidence thing and it comes from something very, very deep inside tennis players, whether they are able to do the hard things and the brave things when it matters most.
Yeah, it's about being clutch really at the b in the biggest tournaments and the biggest moments and she Sounds frustrated. That's the main thing that comes out of that press conference. She just kept using the word, I didn't capitalize. When I had these chances, I was in the scoreboard, I was in the point, and I didn't capitalize. And actually that's what Potapova did
It's it is, like you say, so easy so difficult to put Koker Goff away in these positions. For her not to force that tie break is huge credit to Potipova to my mind.
She's frustrated with her serve, isn't she? But in but in a slightly different way than she has been sort of, you know, a year ago and but pretty much throughout her career up until this point, she was like, Well look I'm not I'm not double faulting much anymore, I'm making this eve But she said W but I'm not holding. Who cares how many serves I make in the court if the result is still the same? That's quite a revealing line from her.
Yeah. And we've been tracking that, haven't we? We've we've talked about how she has lost it as a weapon, the ability to fire down the big serve, get her out of trouble, or even set up those points in a way that she then wants to be able to play them a bit more aggressively on her terms. She's having to dig in in the rallies and she's so good at it, but, you know, the serve is attackable, I would say, you know, players are able to get on top of it and Potopova certainly did that at times and
Yeah, if you're constantly having to battle in your service games as well. That's mentally so draining and exhausting and I I'm not even talking necessarily within the context of a match because Goff is able to cope with that better than most, but Over the course of this whole season it feels like Goth is having to sort of battle a lot and I think that can that can take its toll eventually as well.
And obviously grass next where sort of expectations are lowest for Cocoa Golf. And maybe that'll help. It's you know, it's a totally free hit for her on grass, isn't it? And she has a bit more time to prepare for it, maybe have a bit bit of time off.
compared to last year where not only she went to the very end of this tournament, but she had that massive media tour afterwards and she everybody was talking about what Sabalenka said about her in the press conference afterwards. It became this huge cut through story, obviously particularly in the US. So maybe she'll just have a a bit of a Shriver reset now for for Coco Golf and I'll look forward to seeing her on the grass. But it's a blow to have her out of this tournament, isn't it?
I was so impressed with Potter Povy today. I'm looking forward to seeing her tennis again. But it It's just a shame for Coco Goff to be gone, isn't it? Oh she
She m moves the needle to use that phrase in in America and globally, you know, she She's just she's a huge star. I mean it it it was noticeable if you looked at for instance how many people m took in our show over the final weekend on YouTube, there were more for Coco Golf than there were for the Arguably the greatest match we've ever seen. Um they're both very high, but Goff really is one of those players.
Um and and j what what what interests me is that she can be sometimes inconsistent at Grand Slam. She can have some early losses and you wonder whether there's a real problem there. And invariably she comes back and and produces at another one. Because she's just such an incredible competitor.
Because David, she's never as high as you think and she's never as low as you think.
I think it sums it up perfectly that. Mm.
¶ Surprise Runs and Heat Struggles
Anastasia Pottopova then through to the second week here for the first time. She faces Anna Kalinskaya in round one. Kalinskaya battling through a s you'll be s shocked to hear a strange match. Against Camilla Rosario, six three, love sick, six two. She had uh treatment and assessment for what looked like heat stroke in the middle of that.
um second six love set, Cannon Skyer. It looked over, quite frankly. She but she was having a pulse and her her blood pressure taken. Sorry to sound like a broken record, but it has been outrageously hot today, the hottest day yet. The city's just been retaining all the heat. It is gonna break later. This is the last you'll have to hear us talk about this heat wave, but it has been suffocating today. So
How Callinskaya found a way through from that point on, I don't know, but props to her and it's Potterpova Callinskaya in round four in a couple of days time. So golf losing was the third match. on uh Philippe Chatrier day session today and it made it back to back upsets on there because second on
Was Amanda Anisimova losing out to Deanne Parry, six three, four, six, seven, six, one of the deciding set tie breaks that we're gonna talk about today. Matt I'm sorry to have to make you relive this, but you did obviously watch it all live from the press box, the inferno, in every possible way.
I hated this match. It was it was giving me um Tatiana Maria flashbacks.
Very similar.
Such a fool while I was watching it, I was like, why was I so confident in Amanda and Samovi? You've seen what Slice does to her.
Yeah. Yeah. And I suppose that was slice on grass. So there was part of me that thought, you know, it'd be more effective on that surface, but Oh, she did not have a good time, Amanda Anisamova facing Diane Parry. I mean, at the start of the match there was part of me that thought she might Anisimova just breezed through this. She won eleven points in a row quite early on at the start of the match and went up a break. And it was that classic thing of like, oh well, it is on her rack.
You know, like she's got the more more powerful game, the heavier weighted shot, all of that. But Parry made things awkward very quickly with i it's the slice with parry, but it's also the very different forehand. The forehand is quite heavily top spun. So you're getting this different ball and this lack of rhythm
And it it throws you off. And Anisimova is a ball striker and wants the ball in the slot and she didn't really get it all that much. And very quickly, everything we've talked about with Anisimova in terms of The temperature being a bit lowered for her and a bit calmer, and her seeming quite relaxed. that all disappeared within minutes really of this match starting and suddenly it was stress again and not having a good time and
sort of getting in her own way with that and battling that constantly. Um have to talk about sneeze gate.
Matt hasn't quite been the same person since this happened.
So in the first set Anissa Mova misses a serve. She's serving at three four. And then she throws the ball up for her second serve, and someone in the crowd very loudly Fake sneezes. I know it was a fake.
Mae'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw.
I know in my heart that it was a fake snake.
Okay.
Because no one sneezes. ACU!
If you sneeze like that. Normally, let us know.
And like I I get, you know, hay fever, allergies. I'm very often watching a tennis match, very conscious that I am I am gonna sneeze and I'm sitting quite near the court here and you can you can s you can stifle a sneeze. Not nice, not pleasant, but you can make a sort of weird noise that's quiet and stop yourself dramatically sneezing if you want to.
It's okay, Matt. Everybody listening understands the concept of snif stifling a sneeze.
Ha ha ha.
It's not just that's that's not just you doing that.
Mm-hmm.
Well, this idiot should either didn't sti stifle their sneeze, but As I said, who sneezes at you? It was and like just as the just as the ball was thrown up. And of course. And this maybe then double vaults and got broken and lost the set.
Do you think the whole course of the match was altered at that point?
I wanna say that it was the defining moment, but I think actually And this mover was arguably already a bit off the rails and this maybe sped things up and didn't help, but there was so much of this match that played out besides Sneeze games.
I was pretty impressed in that deciding set, given how like terrible a time she was clearly having. I was impressed by how she managed to through force of will Keep the train just about on the track. She was a breakdown in that that deciding set, got the brake back, took it into the tie brake.
And there was such tenacity there and she gets to three all in the tie break. She'd bin a bin a mini breakdown early on. She gets a mini break back, she's three all in the tie break. She top edges a second serve. To double fault. And then she checked out. I found that I found that bizarre having fought the way she had up until that point. You know, I it th there there isn't often a finish line in tennis, you know, see the Annex Inner discussion, like you can't wind down the clock, but
When you're into a deciding set tie break, you know there's there's a finish line there. Stop trying, but the game was gone. Like it was a raft of It was back fence stuff from that point onward.
It was as though the whole match she was sort of trying to put her thumb in a leak and she was managing it for all this time and then she couldn't anymore. And I mean like that is the best I've seen Diane Perry play, I should say, and I do think her utilization of the slice was very clever. She overdid it compared to what she normally does. It it and it really worked.
spoken in her press comments about feeding under the weather today. You know, I don't get the sense that this is excuse, Megan. I think it's just she's just being honest. She she She said the wrist was okay, but I just didn't uh I've been dealing with something physical today that and I think that that's like ill health, feeling a bit sick or whatever. And it's hot as as we've we've gone over. And the crowd. I mean it is a lot.
She said.
I I tend to agree with you. My m I would come out of it feeling overall upside that she kept that close because it could have tail spun away very quickly once it wasn't going away. Um and you know, she's qu she's still a bit rusty. That that much is clear I think just generally having not played that much. So I'd I'd be going into the grass feeling quite optimistic first.
Maybe she could have done with Julia Graham not retiring, you know, maybe she could have done with a bit m more tennis ahead of this. But yeah, grass is big for her, isn't it? Don't ramp up the press.
Yeah, I mean'cause obviously now comes the part of the season where she's defending so many points. You know, um, had a good run at Queens obviously before the aforementioned Tatiana Maria match and then, you know, she's got she's got two slam finals that she's defending. So so the pressure's gonna be back on. Um I thought I thought she
never really got the balance right on return today. I actually thought Parry served incredibly well, better than I've seen her serve in a long time. Um a lot of aces from Parry And it's a move right I it was it was feast or famine on return. Like sometimes it was brilliant and she was stepping in and really dominating on it, but she missed too many returns, I would say. Um Yeah, look, I I wasn't expecting
you know, a a really deep run here. I think it felt like an opportunity'cause of the way the drawer opened up and and you would have to say it was, you know.
What even is an opportunity at the twenty twenty six French Open anymore? The goalposts have moved.
I have
Uh and on that subject, Diane Parry in the fourth round for a place in the quarterfinals of this Ronan Garros will face Maya Kvaninska. Um, that is the same person that I was calling my calling Maya Kwalinska a couple of days ago. I've had some instruction from a Polish listener. I'm doing my best here, folks. Kvalinska is is is my current best effort. She beat Maria Sacchari today, one six, six three, six two. This is a player that truly has come from nowhere. I had not
heard of her. I dimly when Matt reminded me that she was a contemporary of Igor Shuntex and they had played in Juniors together, I didn't
that dimly rang a bell, but honestly she wasn't on my radar at all. She's come through qualifying here. She's beaten two good players all already. Today she's beaten Maria Sacary in the heat of the day and Sacchary Sachri has been capitalizing on her her athleticism up until this point and you know, making hay while the sun's been shining and Kvlininska lost the first set of this.
six one. It was all getting away from her very quickly indeed. And she she could have gone on to lose this one sidedly and it would still have been the best week of her life, in tennis terms, by some distance. But Goodness me, talk about tenacity. She stuck in there and now here she is in the second week. Of a slam. She didn't have a hotel booked, obviously. She was asked in the postmatch interview, Are you ready to book the hotel for the second week?
She said, Well, I hope that there are free places or that I have enough money, because I know I earned a lot of money here, but it's not coming yet, so pray for me. I hope just like my appeal for the um the Shark Ninja people to get in touch, which they have by the way. I hope that uh Maya Kvalinska's uh appeal to the hoteliers of Paris
is just as successful as my come and get me plea to the the Shark Ninja people was a couple of days ago, which was PS very successful. Thank you, Shark Ninja. Um yeah. Hoteliers of Paris, if you're listening Give Maya Kvalinska a free room with air conditioning.
Or at least make one available to her. She is good for it. She's got plenty of cash coming her way.
Give her an IOU. Yeah. Um two hundred and eighty five thousand euros for reaching the last sixteen. And look, Deanne Parry will be the favourite in that fourth round match, but what a shot for those two at a grand time quarter final.
Just by the way, on prize money, when players Finish a tournament. I'm not exactly sure how it works now, but back in my day in the late nineties when I was a
Still your day, Dave.
A communications manager. Um, they'd finish the tournament and then they'd go into a little room where somebody would just I actually saw people just hand over cash. For prize money, wads of cash. I don't think it works like that anymore. They did back then.
Gaspar Reed would love that, wouldn't he? He's not into paying taxes.
Ha ha ha.
Right.
Catherine's fighting a real battle against the sort of general public sentiment that a lot of people want Casparude to win this freight show for
I'd be pleased for him, but let's not put him in the same bracket as Matteo Berrettini. had opportunity heartbreakingly denied him.
I mean he played Rafael Nadalanova Djokovic in his bag.
That's how tennis draws work. He wasn't cruelly struck down by injury prior to any of those finals. He had his chance. He wasn't good enough. Not enough em
Ferratini wasn't struck down by injury ahead of Novak Djokovic in the final.
No. And that's that's fine. I don't feel injustice for him not winning that Wimbledon. I feel injustice for him the following one when he had won Queens and he got COVID on the eve of it and for all the other Sequence many sequences of injuries he's had since.
He's had a parasite.
He was beating Alexander Zverev here two years ago and he had a parrot.
I will be pleased for Caspar Rood if he wins this French Open. I'm not anti that. It's just these two things are not the same.
I didn't say I didn't say they were the same.
¶ Naomi Osaka's Resurgence
People are saying it and it's writing me up. Naomi Asaka. This feels a long time ago now, doesn't it? What a match this was to open the day on Long Then. She beat Eva Yovic seven six, six seven Six four. One of the biggest wins, I think, since since she came back. Not because of Ivo Yovic's ranking, although, you know, she's a high rank. play. She s she's somebody that's suddenly in a in a new bracket
very, very quickly. I realized that watching the start of this match and m Matt, you agreed with me, that I really felt strongly that Jovich was the favourite for it. I thought Yovich was was winning this. I thought that Osaka would blast the ball and over the course of three sets, Jovic would bring her retrieval and athleticism
And tenacity. I feel like I'm saying that a lot tonight, but maybe that's the story of the day. I thought she'd be able to bring that a to bear over the course of the battle. And I I I think this was A huge one for Osaka to win.
And we were watching this together, Catherine, and it was a brilliant tennis match. This was I think f maybe my match of the day because because of the quality of it, how close it was all the way through, neither player letting down. And and our conclusion ahead of the sort of second set tie break
was that if Osaka doesn't win this in two, we think it's Jovich's match. We thought that she would be the stronger on the surface, maybe the stronger physically and huge credit to Naomi Osaka for proving that wrong and and and coming through because I don't think Jovich dipped really. I don't think she played poorly in that third set. I think Osaka stuck with it and eventually just wrenched it from
Um I I I just thought both players this was one of those matches where you've got two players playing well at the same time for most of it. So it was a treat and the the crowd absolutely lapped it up. I think Jovich is getting better year on year. She does ha she has the odd dip within month to month, but you can see
her work ethic is undeniable really. She's not gonna leave any stone uncovered as she tries to maximise her career and I think she really will be a factor at many grand slams for the future. But this is the best tennis I've seen Naomi Osaka play. I was trying to work out is this better than what I saw from her last summer? And I think it is, even as well as she played in in the US Open.
Uh maybe maybe her the level of opponent I mean she was it Goff she beat in um in in in New York and then she beat Carolina Mook Carolina Mukova and then she nearly beat Anisamova. But I just feel like in terms of Her movement, her movement looks spot on at the moment on the surface and and obviously it's not her favourite one. So first time in the last sixteen I think she's playing fantastically well.
Yeah, there was a brilliant point in that third set. She was serving three all fifteen thirty. She was in trouble. And speaking of that movement, David, she chased down a a drop shot from Jovic, won this point up at the net, then then fired an ace and that I thought it was a massive hold for Osaka deep in that third set. And I think for me
you can say this is her best ever French open result. And I think Asaka is looking for wins like that, right? Like the validation of why she's still playing, you know, and I think it feels different to last summer for me because that was hard courts and I think if Osaka's anywhere near her best, she's a real title contender on hard courts. I still think on the clay
there feels like there's more of a ceiling to what she can achieve. So to get like your best ever result at a slam, I think it's just massive for her self confidence and something going forward. Exactly. It's sort of invigorating really. But The thing is, yeah, it's a massive if but if she can beat Irina Sabalenka
That is the biggest of ifs.
It's the biggest of ifs that there is, right? But It doesn't it doesn't feel impossible to me the way that Osaka took a set of her Just recently in Madrid, played really well that match, a lot better than when she played on hard courts earlier in the season. Sabalenka went off the boil in the second set today. Like that that kind of thing could happen.
It's just one of those where it feels like there's this massive obstacle, but then if you can get through it, there's suddenly that side of the drawer. is Sabalenka's to lose, really. And if you can be the one to take Sabalenka out So as much as I say there's this ceiling on what I think Osaka can achieve on clay, it it also feels like she's potentially one massive result from busting the thing wide open and and b and going really deep here. I'm not predicting her to beat.
Bye.
The way Azaka's playing and the way she's responding to big moments, I feel like there's a shot there. And a few months ago when she played Sablaine Kwan Harts, I didn't really think she'd she had a chance.
Uh I think she's got a real chance in this one. Um
¶ Sabalenka and Scheduling Debate
What do we got? Forty eight hours until that match. I'm gonna give it twenty-four before I decide in my view what what's gonna happen. But I think she is I don't I st I s I don't think Sabalenka is playing her very best just yet.
Matt, tell us tell us about that second set drop off from Sabalenka today against um Daria Kazakhina'cause I I didn't have the chance to watch any of this. I saw that she took the first set six love. And I thought, Hm, yeah, that makes sense to me. This is a horrible matchup for Dario Kazakhina, who I've seen be blasted off the court quite a few times in the past by by Sabalenka. What happened in that second set and how Worried are you about it from a Sabalenka point of view?
I mean I only had one eye on it'cause I was on Chatrier, but it was wayward. Like really wayward. Error strewn. Um you know. Of course it kept being on her racket'cause that matchup is just going to be um But I d I never really thought she would lose. You know, I th I thought she'd get it together. It didn't because that's what she does, you know. Like we do see Sabalenka play sets like that.
I do remember also the Australian Open where she didn't look all that brilliant f th through the first three rounds. And then actually I think it was
Was it in Boko she played first, wasn't it, in the fourth round, like she's got here Osaka, and she clicked into a different gear. And Sabalenka can do that. You know, she's got a level that And I still think that'll be the case, you know, I I still think, you know, Sampanka is She's gonna know about the Coco Golf result and she's gonna know what a what a opportunity this is to
get to another French Open Final with the way that this draw has opened up. Not that she would see Goff as a person who could totally stop her. I think she would still back herself, but I just have a lot of faith in Sabalenko and Slam. She doesn't lose early and
We had slammed this one though, isn't it?
It's weird. Yeah, it is.
The funny slam.
Tell that to the people that have played six hours today, David.
It's funny for me watching
Yeah, look, I mean I phew like I was really impressed with the soccer today. I do think Sabalanka will have to be off For Osaka to have a really good chance there. I just think she's got that toolkit that Osaka doesn't have that she can resort to if she's losing out in the hitting contest. But
And the tie break backdrop.
Yeah, but it it is the weird slam. Who knows?
trying to think of how the weather change is going to affect these things going forward as well. Potentially Which I wouldn't which I think wouldn't be the worst thing for a SARC.
Absolutely not. Sarka Shuntek here where she had match point, peak peak shuntek on clay was under a roof. Yeah.
Um
Or under the roof.
You know, and and I I generally have thought of these quicker conditions as potentially good for Sabalenko on clay. Uh, but I think they're also Quite good for a socket. I think if it if it is not under the roof and it's just it's not gonna be really cold and wet, I don't think. It's just it might be some showers and nowhere near as hot as it has been. More normal French open conditions, I would think.
I hope so.
I I I I I still think I still think that probably is better for Sabalenka with with even more power and ability to get through the court. But yeah, look. The thing is, what's going to be interesting as well is
Oh I know what you're gonna say.
They're gonna have to either schedule that in the day
Okay.
Or put one of the men's matches from that half of the draw on at night. Which I think they'll probably do. But like trying to justify putting one of those men's matches on ahead of Sabalenko Osaka when you're calling it match the day. It feels like the it feels like the biggest test they've had.
Yet. But I almost at this point will be annoyed if they put that
Because I've had plenty of opportunities. Better women's match.
Yeah, it it would almost prove that it is a qualitative decision. Yeah. In in their minds up until this point, and they would feel that this is the only women's match so far in the tournament that justified being picked over a men's.
I think the last one that they had was Sabalenka Sloan Stevens.
Mm.
Thanks.
Three years ago.
I still would be surprised'cause I do think they just have a policy that they're you know, a secret policy, m or maybe an unspoken one, of not
certainly one that they've developed in the last
Absolutely.
Yeah, I think so.
as well. But you we're right, that is it's gonna be a moment when the schedule drops tomorrow when something potentially quite funny is
¶ Keys' Victory and Match Tension
is being builder's match of the day. Will it be funnier than Felix against Nakoshima? Who can say? Although That is turning into its own its own fun battle. More on that to come. Uh Madison Keys beat Victorian Boko, another thriller. Not quite a deciding set tie break, but close. Six three
Five seven seven five had looked like it was gonna be straight sets for Keys this one. Incredible surge from Mboko uh in the second half of the second set to not only break back but break again and take it. And at that point you well I'm backing in Boko, big time. Uh did briefly doze off during the third set. Uh it's been a day, folks. David, Matt, that's why we're a team of f of three. Absolutely. Tell m tell me and the listeners what happened.
Well i w one point that Matt made in the third set, or or or maybe right at the end of the match, is that And Bug has been asked about Serena Williams and playing doubles with her recently. That's a lot on the plate, isn't it, to to be thinking about.
Um she was a little noncommittal about that at the time. But in terms of this match, she did do well to turn it around and then you just have to wonder is it gonna be the the keys purple patch or the keys dip that is gonna be the deciding moment of the match and is g is Rumbaka being gonna be able to ride these moments out and actually
Right at the end it was Umboko who dropped a serve. That was what gave Keys the match and Umboka plays between serves so fast that I w I mean it it is great to see but it felt as though she was not giving herself time to even s settle her own heartbeat down. And she was double faulting galore. She was just not cons not accurate.
not looking poised in quite the way she normally does. And I know that that is a feature of a game and I too love it. Obviously, you know, bang, bang, bang, getting on with the next point. It's great. But I don't know, did you think she was rushing a little bit?
Yeah, definitely. Definitely.
Mm well should to me.
I think the thing for me was that Once Keys gets her teeth into a map. You know, okay, she didn't take her chances in that second set, but she didn't drop off in terms of ball striking and intensity.
She is striking the ball well, isn't she?
It's so hard to get her out of that zone. Like sometimes she just won't have it. She won't have the ball striking. She'll be all over the place and, you know, she can lose quite quite heavily. But once she's once she's in a match like that and playing like that, it's it's a game that well, as we saw at the Australian Open last year, can can take anyone out, really. And it it just felt like she was able to bring enough of that to this one and
Yeah, like...
You know, I've I've s I've said the you know, I've said the top half is kind of Sabalanka's to lose, but you know, Key's key's there with that power and
Kind of snuck through up until this point, hasn't it?
Yeah.
I I hadn't thought of her at all because obviously sh you know, she hasn't had the the best twelve months, you know, relative to winning a slam at the start of last season. But she also was injured in the last match she played before coming in here. There was a doubt about whether she would even take to the court for her first round match. I kind of just
Put her put her out of my mind. Same thing as I did with Deanne Perry when I saw her limp onto court for her first round against Angelina Kalinina.
That's six love things.
Empower.
What is going on?
What's going on?
On. Madison Keys will face Diana Schneider, uh, the Russian player in the round of 16. She beat Alexandra. Olenikovat, the Ukrainian today, uh, who called out Diana Schneider ahead of this match for having played in the Gazprom tournament in Russia. at the end of uh this year uh at the end of last year uh and also brought receipts of some of the
uh posts that Dana Schneider has uh has been liking on social media recently to her post match press conference uh h after her last win, uh did Olonikova. So there was a real I mean well, huge tension around this match. There was extra security at the match. On the cover had led 4-1 in the first set. Um, was driving Schneider a little bit wild, but it felt like once Schneider got a grip on that incredibly unique game of Olinakova's.
She she kind of raced she ended up racing away with it in in that second set. Um yeah, I mean it was awkward, it was uncomfortable, it was it was tense. kind of everything that that you would have expected it to be, quite frankly. So it'll be Schneider against Keys in the round of sixteen for a place in the quarterfinals. Okay. Lots to cover in part two. We'll see you on the other side.
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¶ Berrettini's Emotional Comeback
Welcome back to part two of today's tennis podcast, which Fifth set tie break shall we start with? Uh I would like to suggest that we start with Matteo Berettini. The curse may be over, at least lifted temporarily. He beat Francisco Comissania seven five five seven six seven six four seven six fifteen thirteen in the deciding set tie break.
in five hours and thirteen minutes. It was briefly the longest match of the tournament. It held that record for about forty five minutes before it was superseded by a match that we will be talking about in a few minutes. time. He saved too much points here, Matteo Berrettini. He thumped his chest afterwards. He was all sorts of emotional. He is a player that makes you feel he's certainly a player that makes me think feel things, Matteo Berrettini. I I
I feel so sorry for the career that he's ended up having. I don't I don't necessarily think he's been denied a trophy cabinet full of Grand Slam titles. It's not that. I just think He hasn't had the chance to find out. You know, it's been
So far.
So far, so far, David, he's one of the only Grand Slam finalists left in. Now look
Yeah.
This was a wild old ride, wasn't it? The two of them were so tense in that tie break. The these arms were as were as tight as they come. I think it was the fourth match point for Bertrini that he ended up Ended up taking it on. There was a a very ropey backhand on one of the match points, sort of flashbacks to the iconic.
ropey backhand on his match point against Andy Murray at the Australian Open that time. But he won, and he's into the second week of a major for the first time since Wimbledon twenty twenty three. You'd have to be hard of heart. not to feel warm and fuzzy about that, I think.
And I think w one of the wonderful things about it is how unlikely it feels because He is perhaps the most surprising story of the lot to me, because he's had no form at all. I I saw him lose in the first round in Rome.
We did beat Daniel Medvedev, six love, six love.
Yes, I know he did but I think most people Um, I mean I saw him losing the first round of round of Rome or the f his first match and that was pretty sad actually seeing him just unable to perform in front of his own fans. I I just thought, Okay, look, I hope he gets on the grass or I hope he gets
Feeling good and healthy. I didn't expect him to win probably even a match here. Here he is in the fourth round. And with this field the way it is, And his experience, as you say, Catherine, as somebody who's actually been at the sharp end of Grand Sam tournaments, it's a really exciting moment for him and and i this was just A glorious mess of a finish to a match on Court Simone Macchio, where it's all...
nice and intimate and closed in and Comasani is a fun watch. He he's he's a real shot maker. Um a bit mercurial, a bit of a maverick, I think. I think he's somebody that Berottini over the course of his career would have beaten probably pretty handily, I think, most of the time. In this situation, deep in a fifth set tie break, this was nip and tuck and just dramatic, and the crowd just loved it.
Such an interesting case, Beratini, because through the course of like a season as you've talked about, Catherine, like he gets so many injuries and gets taken out of so many tournaments that, you know, he he doesn't feel that sort of tore durable. And yet in the course of a match His record in the long matches is staggeringly good, you know, of of of his
longest match of his career, really the only one that he's ended up losing was that Andy Murray one. If you look at the rest of his sort of five, six longest matches, he he he comes out on top. He he has this this quality of
The only guy to beat Carlos Alcaraz in a fifth set.
Right. It's it's like the it's in a way it's like the anti Berrettini stat because he you know it's like
He should be T Thomas Mahatch.
Right. He's he's he's the opposite of sinner. You know, like Cinner is not winning these long matches, but my god, is he like Tor durable and able to string tournaments and wins together in a way that Berrettini has
¶ Record-Breaking Marathon Matches
has never been able to do, really. Um yeah, it was very, very special. And I remember last year he got he got taken out of this portion of the season and he talked about how his only real goal was Davis Carr. You know, he he it felt like he'd become a player who needed a long term target to get himself fit for and make a priority. And he did that last season, helping to carry Italy to that special Davis Cup at home for the first time. And yet here he is.
Suddenly
as we've talked about, he's the only person in the top half of the draw who's been to a Grand Slam final before. You know, on on paper, he's in if got on experience, he's the guy we could be looking at and he's He's also been slightly helped out by the fact that the guy he's playing next is obviously not Yannick Sinner as we all expected. It is the guy who beat Yannick Sinner.
Yeah.
just spent six hours on court.
Fine
He's fine.
Five hours and fifty-eight minutes. Juan Manuel Serundolo beat Martin Landeluthe six four six seven seven six six seven seven six ten eight in the deciding set tie break. Gazumped Beratini Kumasanya to not only the longest match of this tournament, but the third longest Roland Garros match.
Oh.
all time. I've just seen some quotes from Sarindalo in his on court interview uh after the match where he said, Mentally my battery ran out. I want to go to sleep. I can't take it anymore. I don't know what to tell you.
Relatable.
Which is the story of today, I think, really. Uh this was what was this? Find me some words, David.
Oh I mean just grueling grueling uh dramatic. He's amazing this guy Landaluther that d to to be of this age and and able to play three back to back five set matches like this and hang in there. I mean, he has sent a message to to the locker room early in his career.
That you don't mess with me. Like I I you can't bully me about the place. I'm gonna be able to stand up to this, the grueling nature of the sport. Huge credit as well to Surundalo because he's just had this incredible name that he's beaten, albeit in s some pretty dr remarkable circumstances and not all down to to tennis. And he's backed it up. He's come out, he's backed it up. He had a five set match as well there as well. I mean
It's a I can't you can't say enough about the physical and mental feats that these players are achieving by being able to do this in this heat. I do think it's f fair what you've said previously, Catherine, that We sh w you gotta be careful n about celebrating these things as th the main thing. I but it's impossible not to be in awe of what they're doing. It's just a question of
Should they be having to do it? And and I and I don't I don't know entirely where I stand because I I've loved today, I've loved the last three days, but it's also is this just a blueprint we want all the time?
I think it's possible for both, right? Like I've enjoyed it all in the moment just as much. I absolutely think this shouldn't be happening and we shouldn't be celebrating the concept of human beings being forced to play tennis for six hours in conditions like today. I don't I don't think tennis matches should be six hours long. I think we've all lost our minds. Um but I think we're allowed to enjoy it in the moment.
weirdness, um, and for well, for everything, for for the human feats that we're seeing before our eyes. These these men that are being put in this position um and are out there battling. It is absolutely It's unreal. It's absolutely unreal. And yeah. Berettini against Surindalo. I mean I would say it'll be sort of who will who will have more pieces of themselves I don't know if that will be the story of this max next match. I kind of back both of them to be I mean, if maybe not fresh, but like
I don't think there'll be anyone that's either of them that's a shell of themselves out there. I don't know, maybe I don't know quite enough about my mammal Syrinderlo yet, but I I packed Berrettini to be in decent shape, which is
¶ Flavio Cobolli's Dominant Performance
Yeah, exactly. Uh okay, can I tell you there was only one and look there is still a a one other match that that could add itself to this list. uh Tiafo and Faria currently still going and Faria is two sets to love up. But currently, today, there was only one men's match that was completed in straight set. And that was a win by Flavio Caboli. Do you know who is absolutely categorically not shitting the bed with this massive opportunity? And that is Flavio Caboli.
So far.
Well look, there was a big opportunity for him to do it today, David. It was his first win on the Centre Court of a Major. He said he woke up nervous, which is which is no great surprise. You know, he's a very he's an an emotional character, isn't he? Some he's sensitive. He's somebody that feels his feelings. I think he's a lot like Carlos Alcaraz.
in in that way. Um he was reminded by Marion Bartley in his postmatch interview that Leonatian had destroyed him in the match they'd played at the end of the last of last year on hardcourts and he said He said thank you for reminding me about that, but look, clay courts are completely different for me and and also quite different for for Leonardien too. But Flavio Caboli was
awesome today. He was awesome for two sets and I was still waiting for the moment that he blinked and thought, Oh my God, I'm two sets love up. It's all going too well. There's this huge opportunity. I could reach a grand slam final here. And it just never came. He just kept on being awesome. Six two, six two, six three. Being a Kaboli guy really does keep me on my toes.
Ha ha ha.
Yeah, hi hi he was great. Um I thought his intensity from the start was just in stark contrast to T N. I Tim was really poor in this match. That that would be my only caveat that like I think Kaboli was allowed to play well. I think I think T N
had obviously s had his gruelling match the previous round, saving a couple of match points, coming back, winning in five. He also played last week as well. Like it just seemed that he had nothing left really. And Caboli did mention that and T M was you know, low for serve percentage, host of errors, bad decision making, and
Yeah, it was a bit of a no show, really. It was a real disappointment'cause I was really excited about how the rallies might look in this one. But Caboli sensed that, jumped on it. That you know, the fact that TM was like that might even have You know, there's a world where that throws Kaboli off, right? But he didn't allow that at all.
He was so good at attacking hard down the line early in rallies, I think unsettling T N in that way. And doing that thing of shrinking the court with his movement, you know, like standing up on the baseline and moving so well that he wasn't really budging from it and Tien wasn't finding ways through him. So he was great. I was really impressed and I think top level wise.
I think
He's the favourite to come through the top half of the draw. I think
The final.
To the final. Yeah. I think he's got the best tennis. in him, on clay, of anyone in that half. And I th I actually think he's gonna do it.
Do you really?
Does that mean that's true?
My god.
Yeah, I do.
Look at Kaboli guy.
He lost to Jack Pennington Jones earlier, uh just like two months ago.
High ceiling guy.
Yes, I know.
And he gets in these
Right. Also gets in whatever the opposite of a russ r is, a purple patch. Yeah. That is that is his vibe, isn't it? And if he's in one at the best possible time.
And he's and contrary to a lot of other players in in this half of the draw He hasn't had to extend himself so far. I think he's got he's got the long match, I think, in him to still fall back on, you know? Like No, he's completely fresh.
In a set in in a tournament where everyone is dropping all the sets. Flavio Capoli has so far dropped none.
And look I think look I know that we have joked and there's evidence to back it up of Kabali not performing sometimes and just flopping, but The Davis Cup. I'll go back to the Davis Cup. That was a that was a tournament where there was a lot of pressure on him and he delivered. I know he had parties and support in a way that he's he's not gonna have here. That galvanized him, I think.
He did accidentally revealed that he'd be sporting Arsenal in the Champions League final, then tried to row it back. He he's um he's mates with Calafiori, they they used to play together and he sort of mentioned that, started to get booed and then he said, I just want a good match.
Which is adorable. Um but I I I do think they like him here. I could see him sort of you know, galvanizing some some French support for sure. I mean depends who he plays, obviously, in in this final that he's apparently reaching.
What a wild slam. We've just predicted Caboli to reach the final on the first weekend.
Well the good news is we know that Flavio Caboly t shirts exist because we've seen Flavio Caboly in one.
Ha ha ha.
Yeah.
What's on it?
His face.
Yeah.
No way, really?
Yeah.
That's amazing.
Is uh in the gym in Rome, maybe Madrid.
Yeah it was one of those.
Yeah.
Ha ha ha.
And imagine how obnoxious that would be on some tennis players, but somehow on Flavio Caboli it's it's not.
Oh he's extremely likable. Uh and he also has a an incredible Hulk tattoo on his leg. He does. Any anything incredible Hulk is fine by me.
Can I tell you who he plays in the fourth round for a place in the quarterfinals? Yes, please. Zachary Schweider He beat the bad Surundalo today, Francisco the higher ranked of the two, but not for long. Six three, six four, four six, six three for Schweider today. We'll we'll come on to him in a moment because
¶ Svajda's Breakthrough and Personal Story
I'm a Kaboli guy, but I'm also a Schweider guy. More on uh more on that in a moment. But just on Syrungelo, we've been talking about these players. you know, eyes bulging out of their sockets at this big opportunity. I we'll never know cause and effect for Syrinder Lo's performance today, but it was a a pretty rough
Cerindalo performance. His attitude was bad out there, I think. He told his coach Pablo Cuevas to leave halfway through the match. He was ragged. I mean Cerindalo is and has always been a a low floor, high ceiling guy, right? Like we have seen him not show up for matches where we've been expecting quite a lot from him. So maybe this isn't a huge shock, but it is a huge missed opportunity.
Yeah, I I think it is a shock and I I think He's another one that might just leave this tournament thinking It doesn't get better than this in terms of an opportunity. Somebody's gonna grasp this thing. Matt says it's gonna be Flavio Caboli um into the final. Now That could very easily have been Francisco Sarundolo if you'd have asked me yesterday, because
He's a really good player, he's really good on clay. And so many big names and people that I would would expect to beat him are not here. And there's a lot of people in that position. So yeah, I put him, I put Ben Shelton. There are there are others and it it's it's so intriguing. It makes the thing so fascinating.
Let me tell you about Zachary Schweider, the man that beat him. Uh he is just outside just inside the world's top hundred. He has a career high ranking of eighty two. He's just a few places below that right now. He's twenty three years old, American of Czech descent, from La Jolla. In California near San Diego, I've surfed there. I found out it was quite sharky afterwards. I probably wouldn't surf there again, but I was blissfully naive at the time.
I didn't know you were a surfer, even.
Oh I think calling myself a surfer would be a stretch, David. I have surfed on occasion.
Did you stand up?
A bit, yes.
Better than I did.
Yeah. It was a very long board. Which helps, I think.
I need a long board.
Uh he he went through the US college system, so that perhaps why he's a a bit of a a later bloomer. But also Um he lost his father in October of last year, um, who had been totally instrumental in his tennis career. He was a teaching pro at the local tennis club where he first started Playing tennis, he said he used to batter uh a a balloon around with his dad in the living room when he was he's got a memory of that or a picture of that from when he was two years old.
Um he cut his hi his dad had been ill for a while and he cut his season short at the end of of last year. His dad had said, I want you to keep playing but um when it was nearing the end he he cut his season short to go and be with his father in his final days and with his family in the aftermath and he
He made his return in Australia of this year and and qualified for that slam, which was which was quite a quite a big deal for him. He um had only ever won two Grand Slam main draw matches before this tournament, both of those We're at the US Open and um today would have been his dad's birthday or was his dad's birthday and he achieved this. Absolutely unreal thing today. And he posted after his win in the previous round this very funny Instagram post about
Can you believe I'm in the third round of the French Open? Now he's in the blooming fourth round of the French Open and who knows what's happening from here? The world number eighty six.
Yeah, he... He first came on my radar last year at the US Open when he he he took a set off Djokovic, the first set. Um and yeah, obviously really sad what he's been through since then. Uh, but he's he's also caught my eye on TikTok in the past. He's very he's very self deprecating. He's you know he's he's always sort of playing down his own status and he's very much like that Instagram post of, you know
You believe? I'm in the third round. Isn't this cool? Um with his with his massive croissant and his and his beret. Um yeah, really, really likable presence on tour, I think. And this match was It it told you a lot, I think, about Surundalo, because it was only when he went two sets down that he actually freed up and started playing, you know, and then when he he got it back level and taken it to the fifth set, that was when he got tight again and
Schweider really took advantage of that, served really well through the match, um and he said that he was cramping a bit in his legs in third and fourth set Schweider, but tried to Just tried to hide that and get through it and manage it and for a guy who's not been in many of these situations at all, that's that's a heck of an effort. Um yeah. Really incredible story.
¶ Young Talent and Italian Prospects
Hm. So pleased with him. So yeah. Schweider against Gaboli, who by the way is now confirmed to pi to be the only straight sets winner on the men's side today because Francis Tiaffo has just taken a set against Ha Jaime Farri Farrier. So Kaboli against Schweider for a place in the quarterfinals. We will also have
Alejandro Tabilo taking on the winner of uh Felix Urge Lesim and Brandon Nakashima who are just headed into a third set tie break. They're locked at a set apiece at the moment in the night session match. on Chatre. Tobilo getting the better of Moisa Kwame, the seventeen year old. The dream run comes to an end. Four six six three, six four, seven, six, eleven, nine. in that fourth set tie break. He got the scenes going again, didn't he on Long then? He made you feel like it was possible.
Yeah, because he he is such a big stage player. He engages with the fans. As well as anybody around. And it's it's a great watch. And he gets all of them thinking it's possible. And then that makes him more energized. And it's just this wonderful two-way relationship. Um I think he he has so much going for him. I think his athleticism is as is as dramatic as anyone in the world.
already at the age of seventeen, but he is inconsistent, he is erratic. You don't know sometimes when he's just gonna go on a really quiet run of losing game. And that's what happened. He won the first set, he lost the next two. He's a breakdown. It looks all over. And then the comeback starts. If he had a taken that into a fifth, it would have been interesting, because the place was just bound.
And this is when the Champions League final's going on with his team, Paris Saint Germain. He was warming up for this match in a PSG shirt. I I did think crikey's scheduling him third on when you know it's gonna clash with with the match he wants is a bit hard. Um but he made a show of his own. I don't nobody was leaving. Nobody was leaving to watch the football in that stadium. Um and and he is one of the players that I will remember this tournament.
Yeah, match point down, Kwame was unreal, wasn't he? He saved he saved four of them. Uh and there was an ace on one of them. He was absorbing Tobillo's blows. and turning it back on him. Uh, even before that he'd won a point at five six in that fourth set where he volleyed back a Tobilo smash. I mean it was just unbelievable, uh, some of the hand skills he had up at the net, his athleticism.
And yeah, like he got going quickly today, having played a having played a long match before. I was impressed by that. And then, as David's described, rising again in that fourth set having having faded a bit through the middle was Incredible. And it to me it feels like pretty perfect for Crome on this French Open debut to have had those moments, to have had the hype.
to have got to the third round and it to have not got crazy and out of hand. It feels like he's I I hope anyway, he's gonna be able to get on with his career after this in a way that if he's gone much further Yeah. You'd worry about about that already. So so I hope I hope that's the case.
Mm. He's all he already had his own whole section at the top of the France TV homepage. You know, there's the match replays, there's live matches, there's Moi se koa mej.
The revelation.
Yeah. You know, I'm sure got a lot of hits and like I totally understand, all fine, but like it did make you it was a like, oh, you know, this is a lot for a seventeen-year-old. Um, let's just Let's all give him some time whilst also being very, very excited about him. So to Bilo to face either Felix Eugenia Sim or Brandon Nakashima, uh Francis Tiafo and Jaime Farrier are still doing battle.
uh out there. The winner of that to face Matteo Arnaldi, who beat Rafael Collignon in you guessed it folks, a fifth set tie break. Six four, six seven, five seven, six four, seven, six, ten four. in the fifth set tie break in a mere four hours and fifty eight minutes. Where has M Matteo Arnaldi come from? He has been nowhere. for about two years. I used to be quite excited about Matteo Arnaldi. He was a player I really liked to watch and then he Totally disappeared.
Yeah well we've had this with a few players in this draw. Well think back yesterday to Jill Tightman and the chat about her. Matteo Berrettini obviously all of his injuries are s are very well documented. Matteo Arnaldi He he's not a huge guy, is he? He doesn't hit the ball a million miles an hour, but he's he's very quick. He's got great he's got a brilliant Ability to turn your game back on you. He's got a great record against Artifice. You know, he absorbs his game and just diffuses it.
Um but yes, he he has. He's gone very quiet. I'm not I'm not really sure th uh of the injury stasis that that he's had, but yeah, sometimes this happens. People break out and then and then the tour. has a good way of kind of getting its own back on you a little bit. You you might feel as though you've come along and you're just making it all look easy, but it's not as easy as it looks.
Yeah, it's a great way of putting it.
Crazy how
Sin is gone.
Paulini on the women's side's gone. We've still got three Italian men in that wide open top half. Our Naaldi Berettini and Caboli. You know, it's very possible that those Italian journalists are still gonna be here right until the weekend with several players to cover.
None of the ones that did anything in the lead up, you know, even Dod Dairy. He lost to Commissanya in the
Muse didn't even start this tournament? Like there's there's so many.
And we need to establish what the mix is at this point, what the two mixes are. We need a kind of halfway point, what is the mix? And that is what we're gonna do in part three.
¶ Redefining The Title 'Mix'
Welcome back to part three of today's tennis podcast. A quick awarding of Musketeer of the Day. Please, there is only one contender. You're left with no choice but to give it to a woman. Matt I feel is still going to be a
Desperately looking at the doubles results.
Yeah.
I'm afraid my it has to go to Dianne Parry.
It does. It does. She earned it.
Hm, did that taste bitter in your mouth?
Ha ha ha.
Eight it goes to Dan Parry and the man that did the fake sneeze.
Oh that guy.
Right, the mix, folks. Now this uh comes with the caveat that there are two men's third round matches yet to be completed. So I will be naming both of the the players in both of those matches, even though by the time you're listening to this podcast Two of them will have lost. We are where we are, said the
Bye.
So I am going to start with the men's drawer. I'm gonna read out the remaining names and you're gonna tell me whether or not they are in the mix. And just to remind people, our definition of the mix. is not being surprised if they won the title. So the test here is would you be surprised from this point onwards if they were lifting the trophy come Sunday? Okay, are we ready? Yeah. Juan Manuel Surinderlo.
To know from me. No.
Matteo Barrettini.
Yes,
No.
Hi May Farrier.
No.
Francis Tiafo.
Yes. No.
He's two sets to one down to high main farrier.
I've got a list and I don't care what the scores are.
Um Mateo Arnaldi. Felix Auger Aliasim.
Yes.
Yes.
Have you seen the score, Matt?
He's two sets to one up.
Okay.
He's not in my mix.
How many you got in the mix in the top half?
I haven't counted.
But Felix is more than...
No.
more than one, but Felix isn't one of them.
Yeah, I w I would still be surprised. Okay. I'd be surprised if it were Felix. And remember, this is winning the title, not just to get through to the final. Yeah. Brandon Nakoshima. Alejandro Tabilo.
Nah.
Flavio Caboli.
Yeah.
Zachary Schweider.
Yeah.
Yes,
Jakub Mensch is in your mix to win this title.
Have you seen who else is in the tournament?
But this is the tougher half on paper, whatever that means anymore. But it is
Yeah, I mean you basically you're asking me can Jakub Manchik beat people like Rude, Rublev, Fonseca, Hoddar and Zverev? Yes you can.
Okay. Andrei Rublev.
🔇 Silence
Caspar Rude. Yes. Joe von Secret.
Yes.
Rafal Khadar
Yeah.
Pablo Corena Buster.
That's
Jesper de Jong!
No.
Alexander Zverev.
Yeah.
Okay. So you're mostly aligned? No.
David's got about three more in, I would say. Medzik, Tiafo, um Rudlev.
Mm-hmm.
Beratini.
I've got four more in my mix. My mix is ten.
So Beratini not in yours, ma'am.
I would be surprised if Berrettini can win seven best of five set matches in a row and he's just played One that's lasted five hours. And you know, I th I think I think Zverev is is still You know, he's still in this drawer and I think um I'm I suppose the question I'm asking is Can they beat Zverev? That's that's that's a big question here, and I think Berrini after six matches, I I I just would be surprised.
Okay, let's go.
I I think mixed to get to the final is different.
Yes.
But I think Beratini's in that. But going all the way and winning the title.
Surely if you get to the final you can win the final.
It's not can you, it's would you be surprised if they All of these can I mean they've proven they can do Kind of anything.
If Berrettini reached the final, would he not be in the mix?
Well it might depend who you play.
I would have said Caspar Rood wasn't in the middle.
Like, yeah.
Men's final in twenty twenty two. Like before the match.
It's like almost none of these were in When we started the tournament, it's a it's a sort of movable thing, but right here, right now, I'd be surprised.
I think uh uh oh do we have to go through the whole drawer again?
Mm-hmm.
I just wanna know.
Uh from the top half in terms of winning it, not the final. I think my mix is quite a lot smaller than yours. I do th even though this has been wild. I do really favour that bottom half. I think from the top half I would have Kaboli. That might be it. But from the bottom half I would have Rude Zverev possibly Rublev. I would have Fonseca. I would be surprised at Hoddar. Fiz physically.
But you wouldn't be surprised at Rublex.
Rublev was borderline. I'd be more surprised at Hoddar than Rublev. I'd love hot art to be in it, but I s I have I think there's a wall there. We'll see. The women's drawer for the Uh no risk of anybody you say is in the mix being out of the tournament by the time people are listening to this pod, at least.
Yeah.
Uh okay. Arena Zabalenka.
Yes, 100%.
🔇 Silence
It got a lot harder very quickly, didn't it?
I'm gonna say yes. I've just changed my mind. I've just added her as a last minute entry.
She's not in mine.
You know, I've I've made I've tried to make the case for her against Sambalenka earlier, but I I would still be surprised if she beat Sabalenka. So I would I would say no.
Madison Key. No. Deanna Schneider. No.
Bye.
Anastasia Potapova, this is interesting.
Nah. Nah.
Yeah.
Maybe not. An Anna Kalinskaya.
Yeah.
Maja Kvalinska. No, no. Dan Parry. No. Lena Switalina.
Yes.
Belinda Benchich. No.
Sure.
Martykostik. Yes. She might be out of the tournament by the time people are listening to the other.
Kostiuk's hard for me, but I will thing is not much has changed really with Kostiuk. Um
She's not sure.
I think I'd still be surprised at this stuff.
I would still be surprised. And Drava. Tychman No. Castya No Wong.
No
Okay. So much alignment. Asaka and Kostjuk are the are the points of difference here.
I think the difference with the women's drawer is that the mix has shrunk.
Yeah.
Whereas on the men's side it's grown.
I've I've never known it like this go this way round. I I mean I've I've got five in in the women's actually six with the Sarka now and I've got ten in the men.
¶ Day 8 Previews and Wrap-Up
Crazy times. Tomorrow's order of play Chateau opens with Marta Kostuk against Igor Schwantek, then it's Alina Svitolina against Belinda Bencich, then once those women's matches are out of the way, it is Jesper Jong against Alexander Zverev. And finally in the night session, Casper Rood taking on Joel Fonseca. What percentage chance do you give Fonseca there?
Pretty tight, I think.
In terms of like sort of close to fifty fifty. I've
Yeah, I think something like forty sixty sounds about right to me.
Longland tomorrow, Castara Mong opens things up, Hodal Karenya Buster, second on, and Drava Tykman and her support. group, third on, and then Munshik against Rublev is the final match of the day, and that is all your singles matches. Simone Mathieu doubles only. It all very much shrinks down to two courts from tomorrow onwards. If you had to pick tomorrow's big upset,'cause there will surely be one. What match are you picking?
I was talking to a Spanish journalist earlier who thinks that Krenya Busta's gonna be Hodar. Mm. So that's one to circle, potentially. Not sure I'm picking that.
Well I do I do think Koschuk and Svantec really would be the one that I would look at and I would still make Schwantek favourite, but bear in mind when I did that writing out of the draw from the third round onwards, I actually crossed out Kostuk and put in Schwyantech. having initially done it the other way around because to me
I think there's a really good case for for thinking Koschuk could pull that upset. But then I end up coming down on the view that if you get Sviontek this far, I'd expect her to be getting better.
Fascinating.
I also think it's not impossible that Benchik beats Fitzelina. You know, like I I think it the way this tournament's going wouldn't be totally wild if we ended up with
She'll take it.
Yeah. Like they're not neither of them are slam dunks in favour for Sviontek and Svizzelina. Th those are very, very tough matches first up.
Gosh. I need a reset before before we start again with uh with the next round. Uh we have lovely Bashir who has provided more relatable content overnight. Bashir has needed an extra nap. in order to process all the upsets and excitement. Same, Bashir, same. Uh he did get very excited again during the Kwame match, but then a bit sad after his loss and Coco's. And he really does look sad. This cat gives incredible fate.
I've never seen anything quite like it. What an expressionful cat. What a poser. Amazing. Thank you, Bashir, and thank you, Elise. Uh hello to our mascots. Hello Bodie. Hello Maisie. Hello, Roger. I could do with a prediction coming off tomorrow for you, Bodie. I will do my best. Uh hello to our top folks and executive producers Greg, Chris and Jeff, Matt will take some shout outs tonight.
We have Hazel Thomas from Fort Worth, Texas.
嗨 害羞
Hello Hazel
Hazel has been to Wimbledon a couple of times in two thousand and twenty sixteen.
Lucky Hazel.
Remembers seeing Lindsay Davenport beat Monica Selig in two thousand and Andy
That wasn't twenty sixteen.
And Andy Murray beat Nick Kyrios twenty sixteen.
Good times. Tennis hazels, that's tough. Oh excellent.
From the Whiteman Cup. Was it Britain against America?
Yeah.
Mm.
Yes. Played at the Royal Abbott Hall, wasn't it, for a while? Amazing. Thank you, Hazel.
We also have Samantha Martin.
Hello, Samantha. Like Samantha Sharon Murray.
Yes. Former British tennis players, I think former is correct, but I don't know for sure.
She might still be going.
Oh okay.
Okay.
Ha ha.
I will go check that. What do we know about Samantha?
Uh Samantha says heading to first French Open this year. So not sure whether Smantha's already been or has it to come.
Oh.
But that's exciting. And also has a dog named Ashoka.
Oh, fun. What kind of dog? You don't know that, do you? No. Let us know, Samantha, and do uh say hi if you see us at Roland Garros. Thank you for being a friend of the pod.
And finally we have Michael Toth from Putney.
Hello, Michael.
Hi Michael.
Still never seen you in the Green Man.
Lives on the upper Richmond Road.
Well, we know the upper Richmond Road.
Sure do. And Michael has a career golden fan slash.
That means he's done the Olympics. He's done better than us.
I attended the women's semi final at the Atlanta Olympics. That's where I used to live. Wow. I'd bought tickets for the semifinals, specifically hoping to see Steffi Graf, my favourite player at the time, because I figured she would at least make it that far, but she ended up not playing. Still, we had a ranch, sanctions Vicario, defeating Yarna of Otna and an incredibly impressive Lindsay Davenport. Steam rolling through Mary Jo Fernandez and then going on to wing up.
Big set of shout outs for Lindsay Davenport tonight, isn't it? Yeah. Wow.
Michael.
Hazel and Samantha, thank you ever so much for being friends of the tennis podcast. If you'd like to become a friend, the link is in our show notes. We are part of the Athletic Podcast Network. We're gonna have a reset and bounce back tomorrow. The weather's gonna be cooler. The honking will hopefully have stopped. Thank you for listening. We'll speak to you.