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Learn more at HyundaiUSA.com or call 5-6-2-314-4603. If there's one thing that my family and friends know me for, it's being an amazing gift giver. I owe it all to Celebrations Passport from 1800 Flowers.com. My one-stop shopping site that has amazing gifts for every occasion. With Celebrations Passport, I get free shipping on thousands of amazing gifts. And the more gifts I give, the more perks and rewards I earn.
To learn more and take your gift giving to the next level, visit 1800 Flowers.com slash A Cast. That's 1800 Flowers.com slash A Cast. Hi, this is Billie Jean King. This is Mary and Bartotty. I'm Matt Svillander. This is Mary Carillo. This is Pam Shriver. This is Yannick Noah. Hi, this is Aviam Sudak from UConn Canada playing tennis in the spectacular light of the midnight sun. And you're listening to the tennis podcast.
Hello and welcome to the tennis podcast introduced beautifully masterfully there by Aviam. With the most incredible voice. Aviam says, I've been listening to your informative pod since 2014 and it gives me great joy. I'm an avid tennis enthusiast and player who recalls my first experience at the French Open in 2017 watching Raffa's La Decima. And cycling back to my attic abode, listening to your daily insights.
I love the addition of Matt's mind boggling stats. David's in passion to play by play and Catherine's humour and all important push towards gender equality. He popped the great work and I'll continue to play tennis in my small three month window at Mount Mac Mount Mac White Horse as elk moose caribou and deer graze nearby and bears occasionally sawn to buy for a rally. I assume Mount Mac is somewhere very rural in Canada. That is what I'm going to assume. Aviam, sorry to disappoint.
But there is going to be a significant absence of Matt's mind boggling stats on this podcast. You'll have to settle for my humour and David's in passion to play by play because David law, we're about to do a Matt Roberts' list podcast.
We've just tried to come up with our own mind boggling stats about how old school that means. Well, it was six years ago, nearly to the day. One month short of that when Matt Roberts joined the tennis podcast on air, having been student doing the back stage stats and social media stuff and trying to generally make us look good from behind the scenes.
When he actually then came on air in 2018 of November 2018 and that was episode 474. We're now on episode 1298, which means that Matt has been on nearly two thirds of the shows, which means that how are we supposed to possibly live up to the last two thirds of the tennis podcast with the first third of it. And so, you know, don't expect too much. We are going to do our very best folks to fill the match Roberts void. We did though decide we couldn't have a totally Matt Roberts free podcast.
There would be, there would be outrage, David. There would be uproar. So here is just a little hit of Matt Roberts to keep you going. Hello, everyone. I'm not on the pod this week and thought I'd better do a quick voice note to explain why. Basically, I've seen no tennis. I've had myself a reunion weekend of sorts on Friday night. I have my 10 year school levers reunion, which despite some apprehension was actually a lot of fun. And it turns out being able to say,
I co-host a tennis podcast is a cool answer to the question, so what do you do now, which you get asked about a million times at these things. And then since that of a I've been up here in Newcastle with my final year uni housemates. We're all scattered around the world these days, but we've had the best best few days catching up. So yeah, it's a rare weekend where I'm out of the loop and haven't seen sport, which means an old school podcast with David and Catherine.
I get to be a listener and hope they can answer a lot of my questions, which in no particular order is Goff's final record overlooked eight and one now. So good. Does Mukover have fangs with it ever stop raining in Shanghai and how did a Darmatory not score against Man City on Saturday? Enjoy the pod. Speak to us soon.
And all of Matt Roberts questions will be answered. I promise you that we will we will come on to Shanghai and Beijing and Goff and Mukover very shortly indeed. But first David, do you want to tackle the the Darmatory or a question? It's the big one. It's the burning one. Yes, well, I mean, he is the fastest runner I've ever seen. I don't my Troy or he he it's like if you stuck Carlos Alcorazot front for for full and just such chase that.
And and and off he went into the distance like road runner and then tried to put it in the net and the putting it in the net bit is the bit where Adam O'Troyery falls down. And yes, I pick him whenever my son and I play Fc 24. You know, his football computer game. I always want to pick this guy no matter whom I'm playing for because I just want to see somebody run really quickly and he can't score on that either.
So I do feel for Matt in this instance. He can't score either in real life or virtually. No. Right. He's classic. Lots of brilliant build up no end product guy is. But sorry for Matt and his hopes of beating Man City at the Etihad on Saturday, despite the fact that Matt was in an escape room in Newcastle at the time that the game was happening. So that is one of Matt's questions answered. The others will be addressed in due course.
Have you ever been to a school reunion David? No, I haven't. No. I wish my school had them, but I don't think it does. If it has them, then I've not been invited and I'm upset about that. Same same. I mean, you know, they're coincided with the lost law years of the late 80s and early 90s. So perhaps best forgotten.
If anybody in the sort of alumni admin alumni circles of Kendrick grammar school is listening, I would I would love to go to a school reunion just to be nosy and find out what everyone's doing with their lives. And to be able to tell everybody that you present it's on his podcast for a little bit and see what the reactions. I think that would get a less good reaction amongst the alumni of Kendrick grammar school than it would it than it would at Matt's school reunion.
I think it could be wrong though. I hope to one day find out right. Let's head to Beijing where Coco Goth has won the second WTA 1000 title of her career. She dismissed Carolina Mukover in the final 6163 her biggest title since the US Open in 2023. The perfect start to her new coaching relationship with Matt daily just an incredible performance from from Coco Goth and a very much not incredible performance from from Carolina Mukover in the final.
And there is there is the whole Coco Goth's final record of it all here which Matt has already touched upon for us. She is now one eight of nine WTA finals and the one she didn't win was against EGish Filantec at Roland Garros which you almost give her a free pass for.
My answer to Matt's question David is yes I have been sleeping on Coco Goth's final record. I didn't realise honestly that it was this good and this much of a thing because honestly Mukover had been the far better of the two players coming into this final and she was a shadow of herself in the final. Goth had been pretty patchy getting to the final and just found a completely new level once she got there. It was like their roles reverse. It was actually quite a strange experience watching it.
Mukover's forehand was so shaky I was sort of holding my breath every time the ball went to her forehand which is usually how I feel watching Coco Goth David it was a it was a slightly bizarre tennis match to watch but incredible from from Goth's perspective.
I agree I've also been sleeping on that final record I didn't realise it was quite as emphatic as that until we were in the match and it was being brought up in commentary and also the fact that she just looked like a completely different player to the one we've been watching all year long I would save and I mean that is the best performance I've seen from Coco Goth all year in 2024.
It was complete it was secure it was hyper aggressive she had she just looked like final mode Coco Goth a mode I didn't know there really was before the match but when I now look back on it I think oh this is you know what it was like it was like when she's having one of these big sort of tug of war matches and she's scrapping and staying around and then she finds that little acceleration at the end to go win it
because she's such a great competitor and a great match player and champion she had that from moment one in the final and maybe that's final mode Coco Goth. I was watching I think at the same time as you the semi final she played against Paola Badosa and she was terrible for the first set and a bit of that and Badosa was very good I mean I left that match I think early stages of the second match I needed to go out with the family
and I saw no way on the balance of playing that match how Coco Goth would win it and then when I was out for a while you message and you just sort of intimated that oh here we go a Badosa's tendency to kind of choke in these big matches that we saw at the US open and the tendency of Coco Goth to come on strong as a match goes on and if you look at the stats of that match
she hit five double faults in the first set five in the second and just one in the third set now if if that is due to kind of a lack of nerves because she stones a free up I can start to believe that she only hit five altogether in the final but she obviously found a different gear but also really really must have faded badly you can tell me more about that but in terms of the final itself
it wasn't the match I was expecting either I mean and maybe with the hindsight of looking at the head to head if you look at that as a bit of a benchmark maybe that should have been more of a telltale I just thought that we were going to get a more complete performance from Mukava that we'd seen decimating opponents at all week long and then finding a way to beat Arena Savalanka probably helped quite a lot by Savalanka at the end there Savalanka should have won that match
but what we actually got was vintage Goth and I think that that Goth causes Mukava problems I think it's asking her to play out of a skin too often now she's got the game to do it but as she got the game to do it on every point one after another because you have to do so much to put Coco Goth away if you don't have point ending power on its own
she's having to do it with this surgical beautiful combination of shots which looks amazing when it comes off she did it two or three times and you just like oh my god she's got everything Goth's like okay fine do it again because I'm going to run them all down and and and and make you pay if you miss or if you put it short and I think that that's what what you've got with that rivalry I think that they have the ingredients for the most incredible matches
but Mukava's level has got to be so high to to stay with Goth if Goth's playing well yeah just on Badosa quickly I do think that semi for the quarterfinally the US open when she was five on up in that second set and then just losing to her Mnivaro I think that is created significant scar tissue for Paola Badosa
in theory it can be overcome but the more it kind of keeps happening the more tight losses keep happening or losing from winning positions keep happening the more that scar tissue is kind of confirmed and I think you know she's she's I mean she's she's not old by any means but I think scar tissue can be overcome more easily the younger you are you know I worry for her a bit about that problem
and I think that's a very good compounding because as you say it was generally poor from from cocoa cocoa Goth yes she she found a level at the end of the match and she most needed it to come through and win but Paola Badosa let her in the door gave her an opportunity to find that level which I'm not sure she she she really should have done on to the final I agree with all of your takes that that this is tricky for mucover against Goth kind of regardless of how she plays
and particularly in a final given that final record from from God for sure it's tricky for her but I was quite shocked by this performance from from mucover I thought there were two things going on here and it wasn't just Goth making it difficult for mucover I think this was a real not showing up frankly from mucover and I hadn't really ahead of the match considered that as a potential scenario
because if this sort of performance had happened in the French open final last year or in the US Open semi final last year I'd have understood it a bit more quite frankly I had I have never felt or had never felt more secure and confident in carrying a mucover in her game
then I felt this past two weeks in Beijing that I felt going into this final I just thought she's in the groove like she's showing up it's a tough match either way but she's showing up and I I don't think she did I think she laid a bit of an egg out there I was I was quite shocked by it 24 unforeseen from mucover 24 winners from Goth and as I said I was holding my breath every time the ball went to her forehand I felt like the timing just was not there at all
and maybe this brings us on to Matt's question about mucover and fangs she's only won one career title that was in soul in 2019 she's reached five other finals including this one so she doesn't have the muscle memory of getting over the line in finals okay that's not that's not a terrible record 1 1 lost 5 we've seen worse than that but it's not great either
now the the issue of fangs David with check players is an interesting one isn't it because it can be so easy to dismiss them as fangeless because very generally speaking check players do have a very particular demeanor which is very cool and calm and outwardly emotionless
and I think to dismiss that as lack of fangs can kind of underestimate the the inner steel that they can have however I do have a fangs question mark hanging over Carolina mucover even having said that about check players what do you think well I think she's got it to prove absolutely and I think the the examples that you could cite as demeanor not necessarily equating to ruthlessness or fangs being our short cut to describing that
is is in plies like market of under us who's gone on one the win will them and barbara critique of it won two grand sam titles petra cavittiver okay maybe she's a little more expressive on the court but yeah you know that there are plenty of big wins from check players
and I do believe that mucover will be one of them if she stays fully fit but she still has to prove it you know and at the moment that record isn't good that that record suggests that she's short at this stage and I put it down to her being ultimately very inexperienced because even though she's reached five finals there are over a long period of time because of all these injuries she has just not been a tennis player for most of her career she's been a person who plays tennis sometimes
but is just most of the time not able to and and I just think exposure is is what she needs and look she probably is going to need to be one of those players who wins one or two slightly smaller events it comes out with this incredible array of ability that is I would say more or less peerless in in women's tennis and for it to prevail and for her to be hold on trophies and then probably work away from there she's come close in the biggest tournaments
grand slams this one but as actually you know kind of hit the wall really certainly against Jessica Beguil I did this one was this one did feel different because because how as you say the tight the weather timing went on the forehand but I do I do believe in in her to to kind of just learn how to get over the line in big big matches with more matches so to me it comes down to physical fitness now am I just being my usual optimistic self or am I somebody you can agree with right now?
I would say I would say having fans and being a champion aren't necessarily the same thing most grand sum champions do have fans it's pretty hard to win seven matches in a row without them but I do think it's been done I think the fang debate isn't necessarily just about results
for example I'm I wouldn't categorically say more ketomondrusia that has fangs I would say I would say Bob or a crecheque of it does I do think there's a real ruthlessness about crecheque of it so I do think I agree with you about reps you know as I was reading out that record
of only having one title in 2019 I was thinking yeah but how much accumulative fitness as she had since 2019 very very little like stats stats it different with with mucava than they then they do with everybody else and and those asteroids
should be born in mind but equally I do think there is something there about her not not being able to create a fire or a spark herself you know her her game does the talking she she doesn't I never any point in that much thought she's going to find something here she's going to catch fire
I thought she came out for that and I thought each okay this is going to be a tough watch I didn't think oh there's going to be a point and she's going to get the crowd into it and it's going to turn things around in the way that I would with cocoa goff
and I sort of did because she was she went three love down didn't she you know and that was you know terrible start and I did think oh she just needs to settle down and and as the matter is going along well the two things were happening at the same time cocoa goff was playing amazing
and and also just the little flickers I think I wonder whether it really shocked mucava occasionally to to play two three good points and find herself not winning them because you know she always wins those ones but no there was never a feeling of a comeback
out there and and and I I'm trying to think of matches where I've seen a mucava comeback since her comeback from injury you know she she's an amazing front runner I don't know how much of a well David retriever she is in that way you could you could point her cause of final match against arena sabile nker because I do I do want to touch upon that she ended sabile nker's 16 match winning streak
in that quarter final heck of a match 762664 reeling off the last three games she's won the last three against sabile nker does sabile nker have a mucava problem I would say no and I see the evidence for why sensibly one would say she does you know that that's a couple of massive leads that she's squandered she's just ended up not winning matches both at the French Open and here where she's she's head and shoulders ahead that the she's about to win
and then she's lost and and it's felt like it's well it's felt like it's it's she who has let it go rather than the opponent just completely wrestling it from her but I don't I don't expect that to continue because the important thing is that she's got herself into these winning positions in my view
she's shown that her power game eventually kind of overpowers mucava's variety and and and beautiful game most of the time but so why hasn't she won I think she's she's got tight and started missing but I don't think that's going to carry on in the future I'd be surprised what do you think I don't I don't think she's got a game that I agree with you I don't think she's got a match up problem with with mucava
I think you know the fact that it was close look mucava playing the way she was last week final aside is is a challenge for anybody even sabile nker's power you know when she's timing the ball sweetly she absorbs that power and sends it back doesn't she is just such a sweet hit just trampolines off her off her racket I do think she has a mental problem with mucava though for sure which I guess means yes I do think she's got a bit of a mucava problem
she got really really tight and I think tighter than she would have done against other players that she didn't have such significant losses against and in particular I'm of course thinking of that French open semi final defeat I think that has left a bit of scar tissue
now sabile nker's a three time grand sam champion I I back her to get over it eventually I don't think she's never going to beat Caroline I mean a mucava again but I do think there's something there in that match up in sabile nker's mind I do she's somebody who feels things very deeply about the sport I think I think sabile nker is probably somebody who goes to sleep at night thinking about tennis matches she hasn't won and like really really wants to turn that around
and maybe in the moment that makes her tighten because she's overly keyed up does mucava go to sleep at night thinking about tennis matches she hasn't won I wouldn't thought so I don't know her but no I don't think so because I just I don't think so
I think she wants it a lot but she's not going to destroy herself over it I think she's she's going to end up with a nice balance but but that haven't been said the ones that the ones that have got the most ruthlessness are the ones that can elevate and just
when it's when it's nerve-racking produce the best cocoa goff egoschreantech in finals and I think sabile nker in grand slam finals you know the ones that we've seen this this last year I just I love all that and that's what I don't think we've seen from mucava we haven't seen a final version that is certainly better than what she's produced on our way to the finals in fact she's been the opposite so far she she can't start a fire without a spark that's that's one for that
you're welcome Matt it's like he's here before we move on to Shanghai just staying with the women for a moment the big news this week or from last week that egoschreantech has split from her coach of three years Thomas Whitkerowski and they'd worked together since the start of 2022 during that time shrontec won four grand slams been world number one for over 120 weeks one nine WTA 1000 titles and the WTA finals she said on social media coach Whitkerowski
joined my team for three seasons when I strongly needed changes and a fresh approach to my game his experience analytical and strategic attitude and enormous knowledge about tennis helped us to achieve things I've never dreamed of only a few months after we started working together due to this important change on my team I give myself a couple of weeks to start a cooperation with a new coach I'm in the middle of first talks with coaches
from abroad brackets non-polish because I'm ready to take the next step of my career I will let you know when I make a decision she also announced that she's not playing Wuhan this week which will mean that she kind of has ended up taking quite a break
she's told us incrementally I don't know whether the plan for her was always to take this long break or she has made the decisions independently I'll skip soul, I'll skip Beijing, I'll skip Wuhan but all together this is going to end up being a pretty decent sized break
she said after an important change in my sports team I decided to withdraw from the tournament in Wuhan I'm really sorry for fans in China and those who wait to see me play but I hope you understand that I need some time David your your reaction to this when it came out surprise surprise on a number of levels one is that I was in the press conference after she lost the US open and when it was put to her maybe take a good break that seemed not something she was about to do
even though she didn't like the schedule and she's talked about the problems with these long two week masters 1,000 events and how there's too much tennis there's never a time to break but there's never a suggestion that she was about to take a break
I think it's surprising to announce a coaching change when you're still three big tournaments from the end of the year in a way I understood it more with I mean you might say well cocoa goth just done it and look at the things that worked out for her
I felt like that was definitely coming that that seemed absolutely on the cards I don't know whether this was on the cards whether they decided between them that three years is enough or maybe he's burnt out or maybe they were working towards us and they just agreed at the same time
but why wouldn't you wait and just until the end of the year to do this rather than have to miss tournaments maybe it's maybe it's good that she's having a break for a while because I do worry about her and the sort of stress she's sometimes and talks about being under you know it's a lot generally but I also wonder whether there is more to it than that because you know this is a coach she's been with for three years it does feel like it's come a bit out the blue
I know she hasn't won everything she's wanted to this year but she still had some significant success and to make a change like this when you're still not at the end of the season and then taking tournaments out in order to kind of you know finds your new coach and work things out that is a bit of a surprise to me what do you think yeah similar I was really I was really surprised particularly by the timing particularly as you say in light of that exchange
that we all witness live at the US open between Niger Shron Taken Macphutum and where she was affronted by the mere concept of taking a break I could be I could be reading too much into this but the wording of the announcement calling him coach Witt Karofsky very formal isn't it they worked together for three years and look I know there's actually a rare situation where I felt like the Netflix show break point did illuminate for me
and I an aspect of the US you know taking her team and what that dynamic was was like and it did seem very serious and very formal maybe you know very very functional and optimized to achieve maximum success and maybe not necessarily with any frills around the edges maybe that's what she wants from wants from a coach but yeah after three years working together not calling him Thomas I found a bit jarring but maybe that's maybe that's polite
and as maybe I'm reading too much into it I don't know but it does without knowing anything else without being able to speak to about it yet hitting the panic button to me like it doesn't I'd be surprised if this was something that was in her mind before the US open say
whereas I would be very surprised if Coco Gough was envisaging working with Brad Gilbert beyond this year kind of regardless of how results went like that even during their time of greatest success that didn't feel long term whereas you know this worked with Thomas Wittkorowski now we have talked about and Matt in particular is highlighted how she's become almost a bit one dimensional as a tennis player
not that she doesn't have the other dimensions available to her but she's become increasingly unwilling to use them and you know that has been the case since she started working with Thomas Wittkorowski
so maybe maybe depending on who she starts working with now we will start to see a move back towards greater variety in the ShronTech game I would celebrate that but you can't argue with the results and the success that they've had and it is going to be fascinating who steps into those shoes because
starting to coach someone when they're already world number one I think is a bloody difficult task there's no there's anyone way to go from there and I think it's also tough because I do think there is a very particular vibe within that team well there certainly was when Thomas Wittkorowski was there and I don't know whether that was because of him whether he was setting the tone or whether he was falling in line with a tone that ShronTech and other members of her team were setting
but I do think it's a very serious setup intense serious and intense and thanks Biddi Jean and I do I don't know I'm not sure every personality type is going to work in that setup I think she's she obviously wants a great coach she might have a particular idea in mind of how she wants to start playing but I also think she needs a very particular personality type I am absolutely fascinated about where she gets married this time of the year is fascinating because you do get a lot of change
and we've recently had Naomi Asaka announcing a coach as well but those are two very different situations Asaka and Goth they were well sure to where they wanted to be this year and I don't think you can say too much about EashonTech's record as you say
I mean she's at the top of the ranking it's not gone as well the last few months but yeah that's a big ask for any coach to come in and impose themselves in some way and have some fresh ideas so I do wish we got chance to talk to Eager about it find out what she's looking for that she hasn't had
maybe it's a sort of fresh voice I don't know it's three years that's enough I remember Darren Cahill saying when he was coaching someone how that does come a point where your player has pretty much heard everything you've got to say and how you say it and just needs something else
so we'll see but it does feel a bit of a crossroads for her as she comes into a new year Andy Murray to coach Eager ShonTech well I mean what I would say is that would be a big surprise to me as well but I would never rule anything out with Andy Murray
I remember the day that he announced Ivan Lendel I remember the day that he announced Emily Maraismo I remember the day that he announced Steve and Lendel again and all of them just took me totally by surprise so who knows it would only take me by surprise because of the timing
and I don't think Andy Murray is ready to be a full-time coach yet or rather Andy Murray's family isn't ready from to be a full-time coach yet if it were a year from now I would be seriously thinking Andy Murray there we go well I could see them both being intrigued by the proposition
and us and tennis podcasters being intrigued by the proposition right that is the women's results and news dealt with we'll be back in part two with the men and whether it'll ever stop raining in Shanghai time is a luxury for us especially if you're a mom that's why we need a skincare routine that's easy, fast and gives us results plus what if your products had thousands of five star reviews were natural and affordable?
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visit go.acast.com slash ads to get started today welcome back to part 2 of the tennis podcast where David is now going to tell Matt whether it's ever going to stop raining and Shanghai David well there are matches happening it was it was Pam Shriver who was on a way to Wuhan
in the last 24 hours who sent us some photos of the weather in Shanghai where she was transferring through and oh my word it was raining a lot so I don't I don't hold out a great amount of hope I mean they're well behind aren't they and some people have been asking us how come
our cries appears to be in the last 60 years and everybody else is playing their first rounds and all this sort of thing I mean this sort of thing does happen and it does become very unfair in a way on a lot of the field you know you you you just tend to have this happen
but it's been a it's been a tough week for Shanghai and it must be tough for the players this this I suppose is where it's good that you've got a longer tournament because you've got more you've got more days to fit the rest of it in and it does kind of mean that the back end of these events
is a bit more like they used to be because everybody's just got a play every day so you know silver linings yeah certainly silver linings for us I do I am all at sea David with where on earth we are in this tournament I find it hard enough with these two week long one thousand's
and now with with the reindeer lays and the inequity between the top players they get to play on the main court and and everybody else that's stranded elsewhere in the rain I'm just I am all over the place with this event all I all I know is that Holger Runaer is at the moment
in sin to be able to take tennis news up against Mateo Baratini and there appears to be in round two and that's about all I know and I guess despite this being a two week long it men's only event which is just it's just too much somehow Colossandra has still ended up playing on back-to-back days how does that happen?
I just don't get it no he beat back-to-back Chinese players straights that's both of them interesting matches though Jerry Shang first up obviously the 19 year old won a title a couple of weeks ago he's looked so good and and then he comes up against Colossandra and he looked like a junior
he just got absolutely picked apart it was such a good demonstration of how the this kind of hidden levels there are in tennis and about how you don't really find out how good someone is unless they're up against a certain level of good right anybody can look like the best player of the world
unless they're playing Colossal Carraz because he honestly looked like a junior his forehand which had looked like a sort of wippy weapon for the couple of weeks prior to that they look like feedables to Alcarraz they were just sitting up and his sitting zone he was dismissing them away
yeah levels in sport are always quite jarring to me as to my assessment of how good somebody is no matter what the sport is I see it's in football a little time where my team when they play which is West from a job and you know they're not they're in the second tier of the British system
and when they when they end up playing somebody from the top division the top you know this these good players that I think we've got really good players that I think are really good players and they look like oh my word our flying right finger can't keep up with their normal left back
and then in tennis you see this as well and it is interesting to see who can step up and actually live with these guys I mean will you be the other player that Alcarraz played against it's interesting drew some quotes I was actually on my back foot in this match I'm not used to that
I'm not used to being able to not just dominate people but I also think it shows that he's capable of winning in more than one way and so he's doing fine I mean I suppose that the player I've been most interested in has been over at Chokovitch because I didn't really expect to see
Chokovitch again this year I didn't realize it had been five years since he played in Shanghai I didn't know what to say but I don't know but my word did he enjoy himself I mean he was up against Alex Mikkelson who's an American player who's just increasingly started
to look like a grown-up tennis player he came on the scene no system for the first time this year and he was really quite antsy in most of his matches like a junior like really petulant and I think he's still got some of that in him don't get me wrong but when you watch his game it's a mature game
and he stood toe-to-toe with Chokovitch took him to two tie-break sets but at the end of the match I mean Chokovitch who was being greeted like the biggest superstar on the planet inside this full Shanghai arena he was loving that he was absolutely lapping it up and I just thought I was thinking while the match is going on what are you doing this Nova? Why don't you just take the rest of the year off and come out firing in Australia?
You know, that's what you bothered about but I mean I think there are a couple of things that you've got to be careful not to completely lose your form and fitness versus everybody else you want to make sure you don't drop too far in the rankings etc etc but the main thing is
I think he's just making the most of it he's getting on he's not going to be around that much longer and finally, finally Nadal and Federer are out the way and he's getting the love and respect and adulation that he thinks he should have been getting all along and he's getting it in
in spades right now I mean they couldn't have been more reverential and delighted and excited to see him and I think he's just making the most of it Yeah I was shocked that he's playing Shanghai honestly because he hasn't played for five years and I'd say his motivation to play anything other than slams and events where he's representing Serbia well he's told us, isn't he?
his appetite for those has only diminished over the last five years and particularly diminished this year since winning Olympic gold he's told us that so I was really shocked to see him pop up in Shanghai he's more motivated to try and qualify for the finals than he made out a few weeks ago
and he gave those quotes saying he's really not that bothered but yeah I do think also the adulation is a big part of it I suspect China is playing in China is something his sponsors would be keen for him to do I don't know that but generally speaking He did a big lacosta period generally speaking
that is a motivation to play in China it does make me it does make me quite hard to get really into it the fact that this seems almost a bit exhibition for Novak Djokovic I'm sure if he ends up getting to the latter stages and takes on one of his big rivals you know Alkraz or Sinner
I'm sure then it would suddenly become serious for him and I would be very into that but at the moment it does just feel a bit exhibitiony to me I mean good luck to him it kind of feels a bit lap of onery and sort of you know I'm gonna and look honestly it was quite startling just how
excited the crowd were to see him there were 10,000 in there or whatever but yeah he always just lacks that edge I completely understand you can only have when you care more than anything else about the results and that's gonna be grand slams and limbics and Davis Carp
and sort of representing Serbia these days but it'll click into action if he ends up playing against one of these lads Sinner Alkraz you know he's gonna bring out that side of himself if he's up against them Speaking of Sinner post-pute Sinner and now a really beat post-pute catcher very in a bit of a thriller actually wasn't expecting this to be as much of a thriller as it was Juan Carlos Ferreiro clocked watching on did you see that?
there's a lot of other players and coaches watching matches at this event I don't know whether it's to do with proximity of the players lounge and doesn't there made available to players and so many of them were out watching Alkraz weren't they Mazzetti Caboli Tiafio I think called spotted out
fanboying over Alkraz but I did love Ferreiro being their scouting Sinner a lot of rain as well for these people to be sitting through as they're waiting for their matches to spend the day here eat this gorgeous food watch some tennis Mervadov's trucky along is an e-beat potato on now
D6-4 in the third despite having some real aggro who received a point penalty did need kind of gave some quotes after the match admitting that the aggro is a little bit tactical not necessarily kind of in the moment but it's a little bit tactical because do you remember
it feels like a distant memory now but do you remember the start of the year when Mervadov was all about being calm oh do you remember and it's almost I interpreted the quotes as saying well look I tried that and it didn't work so here I am being the old me again let's see if that works
I mean look it was he was going around doing shushing motions and saying karma which I interpreted as meaning karma K-A-R spelling me too David and that is a hill I will die on and I put that to him as being something he wanted to stick it to his wherever about and he very much
refuted that and lots of people said no no he's saying the word for being calm I've become calmer and it's the thing I'm doing now it's a joke it's an in joke with my team to show that I've been good I've been calm and look it's got me these results
well he seems to have completely abandoned all that if that ever was actually what he was doing and yeah he just said sometimes you need to do this sometimes you don't and I just think I'm going to go with my feeling in the moment which for entertainment purposes is exactly what I want to hear
yeah yeah I agree I agree as long as he stays on the right side of the line and I mean he said that himself didn't he said you know so I don't cross the line I don't think he's the best judge of what is the line I mean my leaning into it face no not in the heat of the moment probably should have been defaulted from from Labour Cup shouldn't he yeah and anything else jumping out to you from Shanghai post-parasite rude is still a real worry
isn't it? I shouldn't be laughing at that it's just the name did you see that? did you see the ATP the clip of I think it was an ATP interview that he did where he was sort of I mean it was phrased in a very gentle way but the question was really like what's happened to your results since the French Open it's been bad and he said he goes well
there have been no clay court tournaments which I think under the values is going maybe you're a US Open finalist come on and maybe he doesn't want to say the real answer which is that he hasn't physically been himself since what we now know was a parasite that he had
the last stages of the French Open he has looked depleted physically I remember watching him at the Labour Cup when when he was just fading away in front of us he just looked like he just really hadn't got much in the tank at all and he looked like he was doubting his own physicality
and I think he's another example of just how long the plummage year is because he plays so much early on as he's trying to cram him all the cram in all the clay court tournaments I think he does have an ability in a capacity to play a lot but eventually the edge is just going to be taken off
I to some degree I blame him as well as well as the schedule obviously we have everybody points to but he could choose to play less and rest up more yeah I hope that is going to be behind him soon because horrible thought that you're being compromised to that degree by a physical ailment
I mean the only other one I suppose I should mention is Artifice given I got so excited about him winning Tokyo and then I watched him two three days later lose to Roberto Caballero who played very well I should add in their match in two tie breaks but it just goes to show
that it's still there's still another level you have to find from reaching the heights of a title win to then not losing first round the next week it's that in itself is a bloody difficult thing to do and I think only the experience and the best players can do it and feasts isn't there yet
yeah it didn't shock me at all to see that defeat but it is evidence of you know the levels that they still are to hit okay well that is Shanghai so far Runa looks well on the way to losing to Matteo Baratini which is very much in keeping with Runa's results of late
there is still a whole week of this tournament to go and we will be back to talk about the remainder of it and to talk about Wuhan on the WTA side a week today in between that we have a live show for friends this Thursday a video of a live show taking questions from the barge we had a live
Q&A show last week on coaching which was though I say so myself I think in all time of a of a friend show with with guest Pam Shriver in the second half and just truly fascinating stuff with some brilliant questions from friends on the barge so more of the same coming this week that is on Thursday
so please do your best and get access to that get yourself an intro or a shout out then the link to do that is in our show notes and there will also be a new edition of Tennis Reel Lift coming your way soon on drumroll please David you can announce Vitas Gerolitis who is
somebody that has always been a real fascination for me or I really was following Tennis I do remember his name from when I was a really little lad but then heard an awful lot more about him as the years went on particularly from people like John Macchino and
Merrick Arillo who are going to be on this show to talk about him and which is a great privilege for us and for friends we hope who are going to be listening but yeah we're going to try and really find out who he was somebody that seemed to bring the various parts of the tennis world together
you know John Macchino and Jim Econus wouldn't talk to each other but they were both best friends with him as was Bjorn Borg as well so yeah I'm very much looking forward to that show Me too so that is coming your way in the next couple of weeks as well as the live show on Thursday
just one last bit of news wrap things up, format changes announced to both the Davis Cup and the Billie Jean King Cup in 2025 part of efforts, movements to align the two events so the Billie Jean King Cup Finals will transition from 12 to an 18th event to mirror the existing Davis Cup Final 8 format
that's part of that longer term strategy to bring the World Cup of tennis events together in order to make that transition the 2025 Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers will be played across seven group events in April consisting of three teams per group each three day event will be held in one location
and played on a round robin basis the seven group winners will join a host nation in the 2025 Finals Homer awaited as will return in the qualifiers from 2026 onwards and the next year for the Billie Jean King Cup is kind of a bit of an interim transition year and from 2026 it will all fully resemble
what they're going to be doing with the Davis Cup from next year where the September stage will move from four group stage events played over six days to seven home or away ties played over two days the seven winning teams will join a host nation in the final eight in November
so the host nation still get a direct pass through to the finals and just while on the subjects of the Davis Cup Finals Nadal posted a training photo this week with the Spanish flag in the caption and there have been some quotes from David for Rare about intending for Nadal to play singles as well as doubles he said I want him to be ready to play Burtek Van der Zahn's group and the CBC on which Burtek Van der Zahn's group will be ready to play Nadal what do you think these changes David?
Well, in short I like them the fact that the Davis Cup is bringing in an awful lot more home and away ties once again I do think it's a little bit frustrating to think that it was six years ago that the Davis Cup had been in the lead and it was six years ago that the changes were made
to just do away with them all together and then to gradually have moved back to them it just feels like they just went too far in one foul swoop and they had the whole cosmos thing as well which ended up being terrible but I think that they needed to do something other than home and away
from the events and actually if you look now how the heck of a lot more top players played the Davis Cup now than were five or six years ago and actually I think that they're going to end up with something really good now the host nation of those finals that the eight team event in November
which I think is going to be brilliant in Malaga this year with both events being in the lead and I think that the Davis Cup still ended up drawing really good crowds I think it's just all important because I mean we had a this scenario recently where the United States played effectively a home tie
but it was in China and that was just crazy in terms of lack of atmosphere and interest Billie Jean King Cup I fully support the idea of them being more aligned I'm looking forward to 2026 more than I am 2025 because I just don't like round robin but I understand if it's sort of means to an end
in order to bridge and get to where they want to be and I get it and so be it because I think 2026 could be fantastic and again is my my big concern I hope it's somewhere that has atmosphere, has resonance with all the teams that are playing in it and they've got to have a think about how they
then move it around I mean to my mind maybe the team that wins the thing needs to be host in it the next year or something like that or what about you No notes really very similar thoughts I feel the same about round robin but I do like their announcing their intentions not just for next year but
the year after kind of like bear with us we know that this year is going to be perfect to want to road to to somewhere better I do appreciate that but yeah it all carries the same caveat for me of anxiety this year I think that's brilliant but it's so uncertain it's hard not to have a bit of
a notive anxiety and uncertainty about it but generally speaking I think reintroducing more home and away it did feel like that those qualifiers in China were a bit of a breaking point for that format last month or that element of the format so I'm pleased that we know now that that you know
that won't be happening again certainly the Davis Cup so generally speaking positive but with with asterisks for sure we'll follow the situation closely of course and we'll be back next Monday with Matt Roberts we do have an episode mascot for this week I've been dying to tell you about
a picture of Rue to one of my friends and suggested that this be a dog breed that she might want to look into she's considering getting a dog at some point in the medium future and I took a one look at Rue read the description and just sent a screenshot Rue is an almost eight-year-old
cotton detoolier who is the sweetest dog that's been in the community and she's been chasing the deer and bunnies in the backyard and sit on her autumn and perch in the living room surveying any and all activity in our backyard she loves cheese and chicken and we've probably trade us
for a bowl of each and honestly she is gorgeous she looks like one of those things but now I do it's a soothing relaxation thing she looks like one of the dogs that you'd see in those she's cotton white and she's staring into my soul and she's absolutely gorgeous I googled cotton detooliers
named after a place in Madagascar quite rare dogs their numbers used to be sort of keep them exclusive so yeah, Flisty might have to fork out get a check to get one Aaron and Jeff have got one of the only ones yes thank you Aaron and Jeff it really made me smile
going through the agenda and meeting Rue so there'll be a picture of Rue on our Instagram and in our newsletter as well produced by Matt Worry he'll be back for the newsletter you can subscribe to that for free and the link to do that is in our show notes as well we of course have our mascots
hello to frances hide and soma on Matt's behalf and of course the dearly departed Darwin is my mascot Billy Jean has been sat by my feet mostly quiet throughout this recording sponsored by Billy Jean King and Alana Kloss Jamie and Jeff and of course no shout outs this week
because what even is a shout out without Matt Roberts and we genuinely don't know the answer to that because Matt's the one with the spread sheet so David, thank you for your company without you it would just be me speaking to avoid so thank you very much we'll be back next week and we have three of us you www.alumovees.com Balancing a wellness routine and busy travel plans? Try ALO Moves. The Health and Wellness app you need to stay consistent.
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