Live from Wimbledon Day 14 - Sinner’s revenge

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Hello and welcome to the Tennis Podcast live from Wimbledon one last time for 2025. It is of course day 14 of the championships and we have just watched Yannick Sinner be crowned champion here. for the first time, beating rival Carlos Alcaraz in four sets, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in three hours and seven minutes. I'm Catherine Mitterger. I'm, of course, joined by David Law. and Matt Roberts to digest and reflect. How are we feeling? Pretty good. Yeah, pretty good. I mean, it wasn't...

The match that we had in Paris certainly wasn't the drama and the climax in quite the same way, but I think that... We did mark the card, really, that that is unlikely to keep happening. I mean, that is probably going to be the occasional occurrence, but it was still a good match.

It was a great win for Yannick Sinner. I mean, really impressive, I think, particularly given what it followed and particularly given some of the similarities that he had to face down in that fourth set and try not to get... drawn in again to actually get over the line. I think it's absolutely massive for him. Really big. Yeah, every... Set score being 6-4 feels like so mundane compared to what we had in Paris. Where are the tie breaks? Yeah, where is the drama? But, you know, like...

That's the match Yannick Sinner wanted, right? He was outplaying Carlos Alcaraz for much of the match in Paris, but couldn't close. And Alcaraz did... ridiculous, unstoppable Alcaraz things to turn that match around. And we talked a lot about the potential scar tissue for Yannick Sinner coming off Paris, but I did kind of think he could tell himself...

He was the better player for much of the match in Paris. He could have won it in straight sets. He should have won it in four sets. And today, even though he goes a set down, he played such clinical, brilliant tennis, just needing one set and just needing one break.

in the next three sets to win. And he was so impressive today. Should we talk through the story of the match a little bit, set by set? David, I know you commentated sets two and four, but you had that extraordinary position on the court. court level watching these two incredible athletes from that amazing vantage point and Matt you were behind James Norton so everyone had good seats and Niall Horan well they weren't together they weren't together no

James Norton was two rows in front of me and Niall Horan was two rows in front of him. But I was most interested in Tom Kearney to my right. You were with Tom Kearney? He was quite a way away, but I saw him. How close was I to Tom Kearney?

Quite close. Slightly worrying that it was the first day of Fulham training today and Tom Kearney was drinking Pimms at Wimbledon. Don't know what that says about his new contract situation. But anyway, I was pleased to be near him. OK, do you have takes about the final? Were you too distracted?

Now I've got some. OK, let's go. Well, look, Sinner got the early break, didn't he? And again... came out playing really well. I felt like he was doing some of those things that we talked about in the preview in terms of being able to rush Alcarez. But then he lost his way a bit at the end of the set. And I think he was a little bit stunned by just how Alcaraz raised his game to win that first set. You know, David Uppert, he's suddenly become unplayable, Alcaraz.

You know, a couple of moments, most notably, of course, the set point. I mean, I don't think you can hit a forehand better than what Yannick Sinner did up the line, and yet... Alcaraz at full stretch behind him dug it out for a winner and yeah that moment I could imagine Yannick Sinner maybe was a little bit freaked and shaken by it like oh god he's doing it again he's pulled off a he's pulled off a miracle shot to sort of steal this set um but kind of that was

That was the biggest Alcares moment that we got in the match. You know, we didn't get that many after that. The way Sinner just...

broke right at the start of the second set with such a telling thing about their rivalry, right? Alcraz is making all this incredible noise happen and pulling off in a miracle shot. And yet, the very next game, Sinner just... unflappable comes out and breaks her and that's the crucial break in in the second set and that kind of like you're thinking that's just the next chapter in many many chapters but actually that that was Not it in terms of a competitive match, but that set the tone for...

how the rest of the match played out. Yeah, the only similarity really Alcaraz-wise to Paris was what he did to turn that first set around. He's 4-2 down. The first thing I was looking out for is what's his serve going to be? like. You know, we've done a lot of talking about serve Bart Alcaraz and thought first game of the match, he served well.

Then he started to lose it. And actually, if you look at that service percentage, first serve percentage in for the match, it's not high enough. It's nowhere near high enough. I mean, it was dipping too. I mean, in the third set, I think he was at sort of 40% in. Throughout the match, he's just over 50%. But from 4-2 down, I remember him holding serve for 4-3.

and just hitting the ball as hard as he possibly could, as though he was trying to just get himself going, ignite something, ignite the magic. And he did it. He actually achieved that. He got the engine going, and suddenly, I think... Charlie Eccleshire in The Athletic described it in his match report as supersonic level.

which even Sinner doesn't have. And he reels off four games in a row. Maybe Sinner's got one or two regrets, but I think mainly that is just Alcrast bending a set towards him which he has no real right to win otherwise.

But the thing is, he still has this lower floor than Sinner has. And to come out at the start of set number two and be broken the way he was is very Carlos Alcaraz. I've thought all along, you're not going to get away with this forever. You can't keep this high-wire act up and always come through. It's incredible the way he's done it as many times as he has, and he can do it against most players, and his floor is...

Good enough to beat the vast majority of players. But let's not forget, he pushed his luck against Fabio Fanini. You know, he loses sets against players way below Sinner's level. And then as the match was going on, he just... He didn't look quite himself, and he looked grumpy. By the time I took over in set number four, he looked grumpy about everything. And...

All the parallels were there to talk about how he's on the back foot. He's two sets to one down. He's a breakdown. When's that moment going to come that he does it again? that's an assumption that isn't fair, really, in a professional sport. It's not fair, really, to either of them, but it's inevitable that you make it. And Sinner did wobble a bit, once or twice, but he...

He slammed the door shut and he was good for that win. It's kind of reassuring in a way, Sinner winning this in four, because it sort of reaffirms my belief that Paris was... exceptional and absurd and freakish and kind of out of this world. He cannot, Alcaraz, be expected to do that every time. It was ridiculous what he pulled off in Paris. Actually...

We kind of ended up in that situation again. Sinner, two sets to one up, up a break. And I feel like if they played that match over and over again, it's going to look more like this one than the Paris one. you know, like nine times out of ten, it's going to look like this one. Sinner is going to close it. And like, yes, Alcarez has been capable of pulling off that kind of magic at times, but... To do it against this sinner feels like a...

possibly once in a career thing that he did in Paris. And today he just couldn't quite do it. He was more subdued. I think the fact that in Paris he'd won that third set, so he had a bit of momentum, the crowd were up, there was a sort of frenzied atmosphere in Paris. He didn't get that frenzy until the end of the... fourth set and there was some frenzy but it was too late and Sina had felt like Sina had overcome his mental not even a wobble but

If Paris fleetingly passed through his mind, he'd sort of traversed that, and he felt solid by that point. And I think in the third set...

Alcaraz was, as David said, really not serving well. And Sinner kept getting chances or half-chances on his serve. He had break points right at the start. He got to 30 all a couple of times. And I did think if Alcaraz could just somehow... push through that third set where I thought he was by far the second best but if he could just somehow get through it then maybe he could have a boost but Sinner just capitalised right at the end of that

third set. His backhand down the line was an absolute killer shot all match. The number of times he caught Alcruz out with that or changed the dynamic of a rally with that shot was really notable.

Yeah, once. And also, you know, the third set's big because then it means he doesn't have to win in five. Right. You know, so I think he settled a little bit even more after winning that third set. I think that's maybe why there was some frustration for him at the end of the first. Because he probably should have...

won that first set or maybe because it certainly could have done and suddenly it's like oh god like now I can't make a mistake because if I do I'm gonna have to try and beat this guy in five and as well as I'm playing I'm not Matteo Berrettini the odds go in El Corazzo's favour so

I think we did see Sinner a little bit more frustrated than we normally see him right at the end of that first set. He did seem affected by it, but the way he put it behind him was impressive. So impressive. I thought he was awesome. On reflection, like... Of course Carlos Alcaraz didn't win Wimbledon. He almost lost to Fabio Fanini.

Who then retired immediately. Yeah, we failed to cover the big Fanini retirement. I didn't realise that that wasn't his retirement. But anyway, he has made it official now. Yeah, like... Does Alcaraz need this loss to Sinner? Bigger picture. It's a very interesting question because Hannah Wilkes, who works with us, put in our group on the barge that...

Alcraz is lacking focus in this match. The focus that he normally has against Yannick Sinner because he has to have it if he's going to be competitive. And maybe the reason he's lacking it is because he's won the last, what, five in a row? Maybe it's difficult to feel quite so threatened and quite so focused and quite so worried when you keep beating this guy. That may be it. May not be it. I can't know. But I've always felt that that...

head to head was actually not really reflective of what I was seeing. I mean, he did keep winning those matches, but some of the times... it didn't feel like he should have been winning them. I mean, it's incredible that he turned them around. The Rome one, Sinner's only just back from being out for a long time and frankly should have won the first set of it. There's loads of occasions when I think really Sinner should have won. So...

Maybe this will make Alcraz go and rebuild a little more. I say rebuild. He's got an amazing game, but maybe he's going to have to look at his game and try to figure out, why was my first serve percentage so low? relatively why is Sinner more consistent than me you know why does he he doesn't have these Fanini type matches I know he had the Dimitrov one but those are not Dimitrov was playing out of his mind that day, and he's considerably younger than Fabio Fanini.

But it's very rare that you see... I can't think of too many performances from Sinner where you think, why Sinner playing like this? Alcruz does that a lot. I mean, the last one of those I remember from Sinner was here against Novak Djokovic. That's about three years ago, isn't it? Yeah, where I felt like, wow, where is this Yannick Sinner that we've been hyping and he just didn't have a forehand that day and it really rocked me and my conviction that...

Yannick Sinner absolutely had it. That was not a take that aged well. Turned out, folks, he did absolutely have it. But yeah, I don't think he's played that way since. And it's hard to, obviously anything can happen. This is total recency bias, but it's really hard to see him doing that, given the character.

that he is and how we've seen him deal with things that would derail any other player like it's like he's on a conveyor belt and people are throwing things at him yeah we've had like all the things we've had just like Whatever. We've had like two slams in the last 12 months where Sinners had like appointment press conferences on the eve of the tournament because some big news has broken, you know, in...

In the US Open last year, it was obviously his positive test coming to light. He won the tournament. Here it was getting rid of his physical team. He won the tournament. These are things that you would expect to shake players or certainly like to lead to some sort of tangible difference. you know, reduction in quality. And in Australia, he was waiting to hear the date of his hearing, wasn't he? Yeah. And I think that date came out immediately, pretty soon after the Australian Open.

Only one there. Yeah, like, it is remarkable. And, yeah, look, I think I'm with... I think I'm with David, really, in that the... The Alcaraz recent wins over Sinner were a bit misleading. Because of the manner that he did it, it made it...

It wasn't as big a gap between them as the 5-0 in those matches made it seem. And also the conditions. A lot of those in slow conditions. Rome, Roland Garros, Indian Wells. Where I think... Alquez has learned against Sinner to do a much better job of mixing up.

the type of rallies that you get. Remember at Indian Wells when he started looping the ball and he's able to do that on clay as well just a bit more naturally. He's able to use his incredible athleticism to just extend these rallies and do that kind of thing today. I know like Alcaraz is great on grass. It's a great surface for him. But I felt like we were back to Sinner being able to rush Alcaraz a lot, you know, like off the ground or off the return.

The strides that Sin has made on grass, really, really underrated, I think. Because, you know, last year he got ill here, didn't he, against Medvedev. And, you know, he had that bit of a no-show against Djokovic a couple of years ago. He was great through this tournament. I know there was the Dimitrov match. I really think that was heavily elbow impacted. I know...

I know Dimitrov played great, and he really did, and I know Sinner is not going to want to blame it on his elbow in those circumstances where Dimitrov's had to retire. It would have been... pretty classless if Sidney said, oh, I was only two sets of love down because my elbow was hurting. He wasn't going to do that. But he was clearly impacted in that match. And throughout the rest of the tournament, see him against Shelton, see him against Djokovic.

Like, no let-ups whatsoever in a way that Alcarez was occasionally having them. And, yeah, I just think those conditions today, with it being fast, really, really... exacerbated some of the parts of their head-to-head and made it look like a lot of their old matches before poor Alcaves really did figure out changing up the sort of tempo of their rallies a lot.

Sinner didn't have his absolute best serving day today but I feel like it was still a good demonstration of just how much he's revolutionised that shot because it wasn't his best serving day and it was still... such a weapon and such a clear difference between him and Carlos Alcaraz. There's no point in changing your serve and doing things to it if it lets you down when you most need it.

It's still a work in progress for Carlos Alcaraz. I'm not saying this is a failed project. We have done many shows with the words Carlos Alcaraz Servbot in the title. This isn't revisionist history. It has worked for Yannick Sinner and that is a risk and a change that he made and deserves credit for. You shouldn't be having a drop-off in first-serve percentage in the type of which Alcoraz had, say, from Wimbledon final a year ago. He should be getting over 60% in, and he's getting around 50%.

It's not going to get the job done against this guy. Not against an amazing returner like Sinner who was going for it. That was what really struck me is that I kept... referring to how Alcraz in this position will go for it, but actually Sinner was also going for it, and I don't think he was going to leave himself any regrets. And you're absolutely right, he can rely on his serve, that's the difference.

Al Crass can have incredible serving days, but he can't rely on it in the same way. He doesn't actually know what... is going to happen from day to day I don't think in the same way. And perhaps the fact that he knows deep down that he can't rely on it and there's a risk that it'll desert him when he most needs it makes it more likely to happen if that's anywhere in his brain.

that's a problem. I don't think Yannick Sinner is going into matches like this thinking, I wonder how I'll serve. No. Well, you have to say, I said it in the... preview show he had served poorly against Alcres recently you know he'd been down didn't serve well in Paris no he'd been down in the low 50s for a sort of percentage and he got that up today which was

which was big for him. Actually, Alcarez didn't do a very good job of returning the second serve, to be honest, especially early in the match. I also thought Sinner... Kind of sprinkled in a nice bit of variety as well. Alcraz had early success with the drop shot. He made Sinner lose his footing a couple of times. But actually, as the match went on, the Alcraz drop shot really didn't work today.

missed them quite a lot in the net or Sinner was up to it and read them and actually Sinner threw in one or two successfully. Had a couple of nice points up at the net as well. I think, again, that's a... That's a part of his game which has improved and made him the all-surface, all-conquering player that he is. Just thinking about how grouchy and grumpy...

Carlos Alcaraz got today. And thinking about Charlie Eccleshaw's very early call that he's not going to win this Wimbledon and at some point Paris will catch up with him. Was the well just a little dry today in terms of the depth he needed to dig to, to even have a chance? It still might not have been enough against Yannickson, given how good he was.

You know, in Paris, we watched it back last night, David, or some highlights because we had to get some sleep. But, you know, even at two sets to love down, at two... Two sets to one down, you know, holds of serve. He was so pumped up. He was showing his team and the crowd at every moment. I'm still in this. Yeah. I need you with me. I've got this. Just...

give it to me and I'll give it back. It just felt to me like he didn't quite have that today. No, it was very different. And actually, if you think back, maybe... Maybe what's happened is that that has come earlier in the year this year because he's just had this extraordinary run.

A lot of tennis matches, a Grand Slam title run, a quick trip to Ibiza, back for Queen's, win that. Don't come for Ibiza, David. Well, you know, the evidence is there. He'd have lost to Fanini if it wasn't for Ibiza. You might have to think about Ibiza next year. Anyway, you know, and he's gone to the final here. You've gone all, I'm Carlos Ferreiro and what's he called? Agent Man. Yeah, Edward Molina. Yeah. But I think of a year ago.

when he won this title and then went straight to the Olympics. And, I mean, look, he did brilliantly. He got to the final and he very nearly won the gold medal. And then he hit the wall. Yeah, then he hit the wall. Then the racket smashing started in America. Where was that? Montreal or Toronto or Cincinnati? I can't remember. And I mean, that was such a violent, I've had enough of all of this racket smash and an early loss.

And then he goes and loses the Baltic, you know, in quick-fire terms, and he doesn't look himself at all. There was a bit of that there today, body language-wise. You know, he's trying his hardest, but he was... grouchy and we're not really used to that but he's a human being and I think the only time he smiled in the whole match was about the last five minutes when he held on to his serve and he sat down and you thought oh my word he might still do this yeah there was that there was that

game with Sinner serving at 4-3 where I've written down here the game before the chance of si se puede started and you know and Acquaz got to 15-40 in that game and it did I've written oh my god is it happening again You know, the Alcrest smile after a great backhand. He was right in front of the press seats. He just looked up and he smiled and people rose to their feet. Smiling at Tom Kearney. As you would. And look.

It was only a moment, though, because Sinner snuffed it out. But that was all... Like, in Paris, it's what he needed, a moment, and he capitalised on it here. He just didn't... Didn't quite have it. He was more subdued. I think he was a bit sluggish. A couple of times when he sort of bashed at his legs, weren't they? Like, come on. Apparently he was heard and it was translated that he said to his box...

He's better than me today. He's better than me. And look, on the flip side, Sinner's had three months off. Yeah. You know, in February, March, April. Yeah, it was that period, wasn't it? So, like, he is fresher.

No doubt about it. And I'm sure he would absolutely much rather have not been banned during that period. But if that's, you know, the margins are so small between these two. And I do think a little bit of extra... gas in the tank in this second half of the season might might end up proving a bit of a difference maker I'm not saying that's the reason the match was won today but you know just he seemed fresh yeah and also like

he wins so efficiently all the time. You know, like there's that whole thing of him not winning these matches over three hours, 50, but... He's not in those sorts of matches. It's sort of a redundant stat until we keep seeing him in those sorts of matches. David's already sort of killed the Dimitrov element here.

But come on, we have to have a word for Gregor Dimitrov. Sure. I think I might have killed it. The weirdness of that element of all of this. But that could have been a total sliding doors moment for this entire tournament. Amazing to think, really. Yeah. Do we get Grigor like a little trophy? A mini one? Just this big? Fine. I think he can feel bloody proud of himself for what he did that day, Gregor. From his hospital bed? Yeah. It's definitely a sliding doors moment.

When the story of this Wimbledon is written, when there's a Wimbledon 2025 relived... That'll be a big moment. Big moment. Big moment. At the very least, he's got to go all the way. He's got to go five sets to win that. Yeah. And then still play a bunch of other people. Yeah. Yeah. No, I think... And he might have beaten them all. I still think he probably was going to win that match because he's that good. And Gregor's not won that many of those sort of matches.

We'll never know that. It was two sets to love and two all. I mean, it was not a given that Sinner's coming back from that. OK, I will look into mini Wimbledon trophies. They sell the keyring ones in the shop, don't they?

Maybe just one of those for Griggle. So there's a name etched on it. So we now have these two players in this extraordinary rivalry that's still in its very early days and both of them are now... one slam away from the career slam. Yannick Sinner needs a French Open. Carlos Alcaraz needs an Australian Open, obviously.

Carlos Alcaraz will get a shot sooner than Yannick Sinner, but he also seems further off. He's never got past the quarterfinals in Australia, whereas Yannick Sinner obviously was one point away from winning the French this year. He's one point away from... holding all four at once, Yannick Sinner. And I know it doesn't work like that, because the pressure would have been different coming here to Wimbledon if he was trying to win all four in a row and hold all four. But it's...

It's crazy to think about so early in his career being that close to winning all four. Who's going to do it first? It's interesting, isn't it? Yeah, Alcraz gets to have the first go, but I don't know, I think Sinner's closer to winning the French Open than Alcraz is to beating... Sinner on a hardcore, for example. What if I throw Svantec in there? Which of those three will get there first? Obviously, she'll have her shot at the same time as Alcoraz in Australia. Maybe I'd go with Svantec.

I think I would go Alcraz. I think he'll regroup. I hope he has a sensible off-season, whatever that is. Ibiza? You know, something. Just to recharge and come out firing in Australia. What do you mean by sensible? Well, not playing a... A load of exhibitions in the middle of goodness knows where, you know. I don't know what all that's about. They're all doing that. I know, but I think it's stupid.

He's got enough money. He played, what, Madison Square Garden last year? Was that at the end of the season? He played in Charlotte against Francis Tiafoe. He plays in the Middle East and stuff like that. I just think...

Just rest up and make sure you're ready to go in Australia. He hasn't really figured out his start of the season, has he? He doesn't play United Cup. No. doesn't play anything he goes in sort of without playing anything and you know maybe needs to look at that it's really close though I think all three of those great champions are Just fascinating stories for the first two Grand Slams of next year. And I mean, for the next one too, there are so many good storylines and players.

They're all going to make these little tweaks here and there. And, I mean, in that regard, when you said earlier, Catherine, is this kind of what Alcraz needs maybe to send him away to get him even better? Maybe it is. You know, maybe... continually winning I don't know what that does to his mindset it can go different ways can't it

We come into this one thinking, well, he's never lost a Grand Sun final, so of course he's not going to lose. Well, he has now. Anything can happen. And it doesn't mean he's not a great, great champion, but it's what I love about it.

They've got to keep making these little tweaks. There were a lot of people I spoke to ahead of today's match who I asked how they felt it would go, who they wanted to win, and a lot of them said, look, I don't... really mind last year i was supporting alcaraz but i just love this rivalry so much the and the best thing for the rivalry is sinner winning today so i want

Sinner. Sinner winning is the better thing for tennis. Does that feel accurate to you right now? Not to me, really. I don't think it would have made any difference, personally. What do you think? I can see why from the outside people would think that. Because five in a row feels like Alcraz has got huge dominance over this rivalry. I think...

As we've talked about, the 5-0 felt a little bit misleading. It never felt like Sinner had a match-up problem. But I think, you know, I've... I think it's interesting swinging it back in terms of like what it means for Wimbledon going forward because I had been thinking Alcaraz at Wimbledon. could rack up some serious numbers. And he might still. I thought he was ahead of Sinner on Grass until I started...

thinking about it and actually thinking about the matchup on grass that we sort of saw today. And then just before the final, I was like, actually, Sinner on this fast court, I think that favours him in the matchup. Previously, I've been thinking Alcaraz with his variety and with his record here in the last couple of years. I thought Wimbledon was his turf. 2-0 now.

Right, for Cena here. So it sort of feels like that's an interesting narrative shift in the rivalry, which I find interesting. Alcres obviously got the age at the moment at Roland Garros, having won their last couple there. So, look, as I said before, we're still so early in this rivalry. We really are. We could be talking about this for the next five, ten years, you know?

So therefore, I wouldn't put such a premium on today's result, however it went. I feel like the rivalry was enough in the balance. Yeah, I was watching another episode of Gods of Tennis, the BBC... documentary series about the sort of 70s and 80s halcyon days of tennis and rivalries. But you took so much telly for that. Had a great time. Sorry, Matt. And... You were ill. I was ill. Episode three was about Martina Ratalova and Chris...

ever and there were I mean there's just so much to cover there in an hour long show there were like it was like almost a decade's worth of grand slam finals that they just sort of couldn't even cover because there's just so much of it you know in the scheme of things health permitting This could end up being a blip. I doubt the French Open will, but whatever. Probably we're not even going to remember.

every individual twist and turn of every individual Grand Slam match that they play, because there should be tons of this to come, which is an incredible place to be. The other little wrinkles sort of really throwing this rivalry... and throwing Yannick Sinner forward is that Darren Cahill intends to step down as his coach at the end of this year. Interestingly enough, it was... referenced in our commentary on BBC Radio, Pat Cass suggested that it might not be, actually, that he might...

he might not be categoric about stopping. He's done a Daniel Collins. And that he would certainly, at the very least, not want to be doing it the way he is, but maybe he might do a bit of it. So that'll be interesting to find out. I mean, I certainly, you know, maybe it is it, but that was definitely the suggestion. It's the travel, I think, isn't it? It's not the...

I mean, I think it's a dream, isn't it? Their relationship, he just doesn't want to be on the road. But he seems a very not codependent charge. Yannick Sinner, I could imagine he could cope with Darren Cahill being more remote than he currently is. Yeah, that three-person, I mean, considering all the instability that...

Sinner has had in his team, that three-person team of himself, Beniozzi and Cahill has been solid. And they all seem to understand each other and the wavelength and what they need. From each other. He's proven he can do it without the Carotta boys. Bit of a blow for them, isn't it? I think he'd already proven that. Had he? Yeah. I think there's been a blow for them for a while. His success without them. Big win for the fox. Was it? Well, you know, no carrots about, were there?

No, there was a carrot. There was a woman, she wasn't dressed as a carrot because she's got self-respect, presumably, but she had a big carrot teddy. It looked like one of Billie Jean's toys, but big. I don't know if you saw it, but I didn't see any foxes about. No, never have. But anyway. And Yannick Senna's mum, I think both his parents were there, actually. Yeah, they were, yeah. His dad had the day off work. He was working, wasn't he, during the...

French Open final. His mum went. I wish they'd edited her out of the highlights of the French Open final that we watched because I find her... face traumatising yeah it was nice to see her looking I mean we only saw her at the end of the match it was ok by then as though she was probably going through it during the match but no you know it was a nice scene what now?

US Open. What happens there? I was talking about this with Matthew, actually, and, you know, it's like, what's the chances of getting a repeat of this? And, like, what are Yannick Sinner's chances of getting to the final? Unless injury happens or something, it feels like 90%, 95%. It just feels that sure. Alcaraz, less than that.

I still feel like who's going to beat him unless he beats himself, which is more likely than Sinner beating himself. But I don't know, they're just so far ahead of everyone else at the moment. It's so hard to go into these slams predicting something else. So if we didn't see a repeat in New York, it would be more shocking to me than if we did. It was another...

not quite to the extent of the French Open final, but it was another match that emphasised how big the gap is between them and everybody else, right? Yes, I think so. The rankings tell you that. the sheer number of times they keep leaving everybody in their wake. I'm not as convinced about it happening in New York for the same reason that Federer and Nadal never did. I know that they have met in New York.

But all the focus was on the fact that they ended up meeting in New York, really, that time. Three years ago, they weren't doing anything anywhere else yet when that happened. But it's just that a lot of the times they were stopped by... Djokovic or by Murray or Del Potro. I know. I'm not really seeing that guy at the moment. No, I mean, I definitely think...

Al Krause, and I do think Draper is a factor. On hard course. Yeah, I think that Al Krause has got a lot of proving to do in this swing coming up. And maybe this will give him the motivation he... Yeah, he's looked the last two years, the last three years, he's not... In 23, he lost to Medvedev. To Medvedev, yeah. In 24, he's lost to van der Zanschel.

He just didn't look right in either of those matches, really. It wasn't like a worldy performance that's knocked him out. I mean, they were both very good. Excuse me, justice for Bertic over here, please. OK, all right. Burtick at this point is on our bingo card, isn't he? He comes up every episode. I try and make it so. The real Carlos Alcaraz beats him. Yes, Carlos Alcaraz is a better player than Bertic. And so he hasn't looked the same for three years.

He's got to figure that out. And that's what was always happening every summer, really, or lots of summers with Nadal, some summers occasionally with Djokovic. Neither one of them had as good a record. at the US Open as they had elsewhere. It's tough. It's really tough to just keep on going. So how you make sure that Alcross comes into that fresh... I don't really have any doubts over Sinner.

He doesn't seem to have these letdowns. So, yeah, I'm fascinated. The rest, though, can they close the gap? Because it feels like a lot of the rest are maximising. Taylor Fritz feels like he's maximising. Tommy Paul, Alex de Menor, Alexander Zverev feels like a bit of a busted flush. Good points, yeah.

OK, Fonseca might be coming, but he's pretty unknown territory. Jack Draper, I'm still a believer, but he's a way off. But he's at least not maximising yet. There's still upside... to come you would think but a lot of the rest feel like they're maxing out and the gap is huge that's true yep yep i don't disagree so were we in a great state of affairs with men's tennis with these two well incredible athletes and this rivalry for a lifetime at the moment it is kind of like if they meet yeah because

If you put one of them in the final against one of the others at the moment, it doesn't feel like it's going to be a great final at the moment. Yeah, and look, I'm not... You know, they are meeting, so... Right. I think we are in a good place. And as I said, we're early in this rivalry. I'm excited for many more. I think we are in a good place. But yeah, like you're kind of waiting for...

I don't know, a Shelton or a Fies or a Fonseca, one of them to kind of step up. At the moment, I see them as potentially being able to do it. once you know but I don't really see any of them at the moment Fonseca a bit different because he's so much younger but as like joining in terms of with the same level of being Andy Murray right Even Djokovic, frankly. I know Djokovic ended up overtaking, but he was behind and then he overtook. I can't believe it took Matt to mention Artifice.

I mean, for this summer, that feels... I've been mentioning Artifice really strongly if he was fully fit. I hope he's been on bed rest for the past five weeks. He's probably not going to play again this year. Five weeks. Meaningfully. He posted today some... Back in the gym. Did he? Photos. Just take it easy, Arthur. I'd love him to come back and be a force, but the worst thing of the lot would be if he came back too soon and wasn't right. Absolutely.

You know, what's going to happen with Novak Djokovic? I mean, fascinating questions. What is going to happen with Novak Djokovic? Does he play New York? We said in Serbian press that he thought he would be in optimal physical condition come New York, in terms of... The injury and everything. I think he is absolutely intending to play in New York. Good news for all good Danilovic. Very.

I mean, I was questioning him for the Olympics, if you remember, a year ago. That aged well. Because he'd lost that final badly and et cetera, you know. And the same could be true of Alcrest. They rebound so quickly, these people. It's just, you know, given what we talked about on the show the other day and what we've seen this year, he feels as far off.

Sinu and Alcaraz as the other guy. He feels more likely to meet them. He feels more likely to be reliable to play them. And he's going in the other direction. Yeah. It feels, I mean... Logically, he must be. I think Djokovic now... I'm going to hype up the terrible US Open draw. He would want, I think, Alcaraz... You know, he wants to be an Alcaraz's half.

versus Sinners, I think, for sure. And he probably wants him early in the tournament, as early as possible. I don't know what his... seeding will be imagine I don't quite know but let's say quarters as early as he could get him because given what he talked about with his tank emptying the later he plays in I think the fewer matches he's got in his legs the fewer chance of injury the better for Djokovic but then

Still trying to go on and win the tournament feels like such a big ask. Yeah. And maybe that's not enough. Like, he did that in Australia, didn't he? He got one of them. He had that moment. Then didn't have any more. Sort of wanting more. I got the impression from here that... One last time. Grounds will be closing in around 15 minutes. Please make your way to the exit gates and make sure you take all your belongings with you.

We hope you've enjoyed your day here at Wimbledon and wish you a pleasant and safe journey home. Thank you. It's nice that they don't change it for the final. Yeah. We hope you've enjoyed your tournament at Wimbledon. No. No. Yeah, and they definitely could because they definitely are there live. Definitely. Definitely. Yeah. Never goes off script. Incredible work, Johnny Perkins and Matt Roberts. I'm going to miss that tomorrow. Me too. It's gone so quickly. When I'm in bed in a dark room.

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Let's talk about a few of the other important things that happened today before that men's singles final. Elisa Mertens and Veronica Kudomatova won the women's doubles. They beat Sue Wei Shea and Yelena Ostapenko, 3-6-6-2. 6-4. Mertens has won Grand Slam titles before, but this is Veronica Kudumatova's first. In fact, she was the only player on the court today that hadn't won a Grand Slam title before. So a huge moment from her, and they did it from...

A breakdown in the third set. It looked like Ostapenko was Ostapenko-ing. And they managed to turn that tide. and win a thrilling final, and deny us the thought of Jelena Ostapenko being at the Wimbledon Ball tonight with Igor Sviontek. That's what I was thinking about. The ultimate party pooper. You know she's annoyed about that. Oh god, yeah.

But they were great, Mertens and Kadamatova. And it was a really great final and had great crowds, didn't it? The men's final yesterday had great crowds as well. On to some... Critical wheelchair tennis results today. Takito Oda got the better of Alfie Hewitt once again in the wheelchair men's singles final. 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, his second Wimbledon. I think he thought he had him, Alfie Hewitt, after that first set. But...

You said it, David, when we were watching this together earlier, he threw every punch he had, Alfie Hewitt, in those opening two sets, and they weren't enough, and he didn't have anything left to give, whereas... Takedo Oda just seems to have an endless tank. Yeah, he needed to get him early and when he wins the first set... 6-3 in 32 minutes, that was a short set for the finals these two play. And then the second one just became gruelling.

Yeah, the moment that Oda wins that, he's got a bit of the Alcaraz about him as well. Once he starts winning, he gets more dangerous because he gets gleeful. And he starts connecting with crowds and drawing energy from them. And this is in front of Alfie's crowd. He was doing the finger-to-the-ear thing. Two Alfie's crowd, you know, great stuff. He's awesome. He's charisma central, Togito Odor, isn't he? And the way he just turned it on in this match, because in that first save, he was...

Making a lot of errors, Oda really didn't have his game, but he found a spark through the match, which was incredible. And I think it's such an interesting rivalry because it feels like Oda's got... more game. He can do more things. There's an absolutely incredible backhand flick that he does. The ball lands right by his wheels. He sort of turns, and yet he flicks it back, and then does turn, so he's not facing the court. Flicks it back, half-volleys it back, he does it repeatedly.

He's got all that talent, and yet Hewitt's got so much grit and fight. I think a lot of players would probably be despondent playing Oda, knowing that he's got so many shots. I don't know, I think Hewitt really rises to the challenge of playing him and gives all that he's got. And I did think he could have won it in straight sets today, but he just looked absy.

gassed by the end didn't he there was an absolutely incredible rally that that Hewitt won to save a championship point I think it was the second or third championship point that Oda had and you just see what it took out of Hewitt to live with with Oda like he was awesome And, yeah, he's still a teenager, isn't he? He's still only 19, and yet he's just seemingly getting better and better. It's a brutal state of affairs for Alfie Hewitt.

Because, look, he's only 27 and yet he's got this nemesis in taquito odour who just keeps getting the better of him and he's close. But the bottom line is he's just not as good as taquito odour. And Odor's getting better. And maybe Alfie Hewitt can get better. But it's going to be hard, isn't it? It's going to be hard to track with Odor's improvements and more.

And look, he's achieved so much in his career. He has the... career slam he doesn't have the career golden slam i mean i cannot he's already one of the most intense competitors in the sport like i cannot imagine how he's going to be when i can't give anymore when the la olympics comes around like he's gonna I imagine that is already just totally in his mind, that LA Olympics and avenging that defeat to Oda there. But I do, I feel like he's going to keep reaching finals.

And he's just going to keep coming up against Takito Oda. And I guess he's just got to keep believing that he can get the better of him. But Oda is... He's ridiculous. He's 19. This is his sixth major singles title. And now we have the fun once again in New York of him going for the career Golden Slam there at 19. Yeah. I'll be watching. Niels Vink won the quad wheelchair singles title. He beat Sam Schroeder, his countryman and friend and rival in the final 6-3, 6-3.

nailing himself on as the best in the world, Sam Schroeder. So congratulations to him. Big win for Frosted Tips. We were so close. It's not over. It's not over. It can still happen. In New York, perhaps. I popped the bleach into my toiletry bag for New York. Good work. He's coming with me.

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Right, let's just take a moment to have a little look back on the tournament as a whole. Only a little one because we have a dedicated show for this. We do a review show after every Grand Slam, a couple of days after the dust has... settled so we get the benefit of a bit of bit of quiet reflection and a bit of sleep to uh to help us with our quiet reflection and we also get voice notes in from Some incredible contributors that we're lucky enough to hear from in that show.

Why are you waving at me, Matthew? We're live on air. Matthew wants to be one of them. Just pointing out that Matthew might be a voice, no? Yes, I know that. I asked you earlier in the fortnight. He's just chuffed to be regarded as one of them. Nothing like having the camera operator waggle his fingers in front of the camera lens to get your attention while you're live broadcasting.

Yes, one of them might be from Matthew. Although maybe not now. Where was I? We'll be recording that show on Wednesday and it'll be up for Friends of the Tennis Podcast, but we can take a few. moments now to quietly reflect without Matthew on the last two weeks. Your thoughts, your emotions, your highlights and lowlights maybe.

I mean, the low-light's Gregor Dimitrov, isn't it? Yeah. Slash yesterday for you. Yeah. Yeah. Not wanting to take anything away from Svantec, who... has actually been a real highlight, you know, seeing Igor Svantec back at her best and coming off Roland Garros and the clay season she'd had generally was... honestly a surprise to me I think it was also a surprise because she sort of did the work

in the week just before Wimbledon, didn't she? Which is always a week that just passes me by a little bit. But when I saw that windshed over Alexandre, for example, in Bad Homburg, that was the first moment where I thought, hang on a minute. that's a result on grass that I wouldn't necessarily expect from Igor Sviante and she carried it through and she was absolutely incredible. Obviously my highlight is Anissimova in the semi-final.

We'll always have that moment. Just the most incredible win from her. And actually...

I enjoyed the first few days very much. I enjoyed the chaos of it. I enjoyed not knowing what was going to happen. That sense of, oh my goodness, all these results are catching. Who's going to be next? Like the drama of it all, I thought was... I thought was really compelling in those early days and then yet we still ended up with big names in the final as well and big talking points so I think it's been a great slam with

With a 6-love, 6-love and a Grigor Dimitrov mid-match retirement as exceptions. But otherwise, I think it's been a really good slam. And very different to Roland Garros as well. I think so too. I think this has been... A really good slam. My lowlights were the devastating Grigor Dimitrov scenes and the devastating scene of you when you arrived yesterday and seeing how pale you were.

And knowing that we had to immediately send you on air. But people bounced back. Here is evidence of just that. Matt Roberts. So, yeah, seeing you look well today was a... was a tournament highlight. David... What about you? I mean, I do think the weather was a highlight. The fact that we've been able to sit here all fortnight long compared to a year ago when we were having to sit over there. We did six in a row over there last year. I mean, under cover, that was, it just got you down.

after a bit really that did and so that didn't It was uncomfortable for some spectators and for some players, maybe, but generally it was just not a factor, the weather, over the course of the two weeks. I loved those first few days. It was such a buzz, and to still... end up with, you know, Sinner Alcaraz in the final. I mean, how cool is that? Yeah, it was a great Wimbledon. Absolutely loved it.

I loved, I think, what round did Amanda Anderson overplay Dalma Galfi? Was that third round? Third round, yeah. Out on court three. We'd gone up from 15 to 12. to three i loved going out there you were sat in the the public bit of the stands because you'd got there so early you could you could take your pick of the seats david and i arrived a bit later and sat in what we thought were the press seats actually

They weren't and we were ejected from them later. But anyway, that's an addendum to the story. David getting grumpy with a steward, and rightly so, is a separate story. It takes a bit. It takes a bit to get me in that mood. But okay, right, now you're being rude and out of order. So, no, I'm not moving.

Maybe that's a better story. I don't know. No, what I was going to say was us arriving and sitting down, we weren't sat anywhere near where Matt was, but sort of about 10 different people turning around and going, well, where's Matt then? One woman goes, I'm only here for him. Where is he? And every time I miss him over here to hit a backhand winner, Matt would be like, this to us. Yeah, I really enjoy the tennis podcast community heading. to those Amanda and Isomora matches.

Vicky, if you're watching on the live stream on YouTube, has just done some absolutely extraordinary work. There you are, Matt. Yeah, I was enjoying it more than I look like I'm enjoying it there. You were tense. Yeah, well, I was with my... with my mates who were chanting and some over songs. That was actually a good situation for you because they were able to emote on your behalf. I remained professional. I didn't clap.

Yeah, you look really professional in that photo, arms folded. You'd never know what your internal monologue looked like. That was incredible from Vicky. It was a fun journey, going up the courts for Anissa Mova, all the way to... To the final. Will she win a slam? I'm going to say yes. Okay. I mean, I think we're closer than we ever have been, right? You know, like, she's just beaten...

The world number one in the semi-final. I know the final was a disaster, but I think if she's in that position again, she'll play better. I hope so. I don't want her... It's not a given. It's not a tennis relived, you'll win one of these. No. I don't want to say that. I just think she's hungry. Yeah. And losses can make you hungrier. Maybe that's what's happened today and yesterday. Alfie Hewitt looked hungry. Yeah. So did Oda. So did Tiquito Oda, yeah. And actually so did Igor Spionte. Yeah.

Right, folks, we of course have our mascots, some shout-outs, but we also have some thank yous, if you'll bear with me for a moment. I would like to thank Matthew, despite his... unprofessional interjection into the show earlier Matthew is just the absolute greatest and I'm at a loss for words for how much we love Matthew. That is the extent to which he makes our tournament here at Wimbledon. One of David's diamonds, who I spotted all those years ago. David's trying to make David's diamonds.

happen for people that he's talent spotted. YouTube counts as well. There's also a David's Duffers, but the names on that list are to remain private. Yeah. Oh, Matthew just... Makes our day. Every time we come up here. Every single time. And we see him. He just lifts my spirits all the time. Yeah. We love Matthew. Your favourite Matthew take from the fortnight?

Wimbledon's not for the people. I was watching the latter stages of Anisimova Svontek with him over there and he just kept shouting... hit her over the net as if she wasn't trying to do that but then he also did do really sweet little claps every time she won a point Pros hitting the ball in the net. Matthew cannot stand that. He thinks it's unprofessional. Matthew, we love you. I would also like to embarrass Hannah.

by saying she's wonderful too. I know she hates it when I say this. She's here in the live chat. If you're in the live chat right now with Hannah, please tell her how wonderful she is because she deserves to hear it no matter how much it makes her squirm. She is... Absolutely incredible. A wit, a poet and somebody who just slams down the trolls in a way that I love so much.

My mum was here today and she was like, Hannah doesn't have time for those trolls, does she? She shuts them right down. Yes, Hannah. And the same absolutely goes for Vicky, who... We keep saying it, but she has changed our lives this year. And I keep having moments of thinking, we used to do this without Vicky. What were we thinking? I don't know how we did it. And truth be told, we...

we didn't do it as well. You know, like everything that you've, if you've been watching the live streams, Vicky bringing up the graphics, the photos, the banners, the comments, you know, all of that is Vicky and she's just... Just taken it on and made these live streams better. And yeah, Vicky, Hannah, we're so lucky to have them both. Two more David's Diamonds. You keep trying to make diamonds happen and I have to mention some duffers, David. They're out there.

They are out there. I would like to thank Gorana, our incredible designer, who again has helped expand our offering. and what we're able to do with the help of Vicky and Hannah as well. Everybody working as a team just to create. more output and better output and make everything look good and exciting well we think so anyway um it's been really really exciting and overwhelming for us and

knowing that we have these incredible people that we can just rely on and go, can you guys do that? The answer is always yes. And seeing them all work together, Gorona, Vicky, Hannah. The next guy on my list is really incredible. And the next guy on my list is Jib. Oh, Jib. We love Jib as well. A guy that I've never met who might be my favourite person.

He's our editor. He's our video editor. He's been our audio editor in the past. But, you know, because we're doing these shows live, we don't need to edit the audio unless we've done something catastrophic. But thankfully... don't think we have but he's been making all our instagram reels and youtube shorts and we love jib he's got into tennis

He's playing tennis now. The first match he ever watched live was yesterday's Wimbledon final. Yeah. Don't be put off, Jib. No. And he's just always available.

Yeah. Which is incredible. To quite a worrying extent, actually. Does he sleep? We don't know. We don't know. But, yeah, he's wonderful. He's absolutely wonderful. And he's another one for the David's Diamonds list. Big time. Yeah. I mean... common strand I think hang on do we officially include Garner in David's Diamonds is that a bit more of a grey area to be fair We'll ask Gorenna whether she's comfortable being included in David's Diamonds. I would like to thank Pam Shriver.

Oh, yes. For appearing on the pod, for sending us texts, for coming to see us constantly and for just being the force of nature that she is and for giving us... Not giving us, I mean, the Wimbledon shop gave us Jan Shriver, but...

jam is called jam shriver because of pam shriver so thank you for that and thank you of course to charlie matt and james from from the athletic who it has been an absolute pleasure working with over the last couple of weeks and obviously we've had charlie and matt on the show and that's been an absolute treat and thank you to the Athletic too generally it's been our first Wimbledon working with them being part of the Athletic Podcast Network and that's been a joy

And, yeah, these are exciting times, the tennis podcast. So thank you to The Athletic. Thank you to Wimbledon. Perhaps most importantly, thank you to Wimbledon. Giving us this place.

do this it's amazing it is absolutely amazing that we get to sit here every night and talk about this tournament and get the get the access and privilege and help that we do um it's yeah we know how special it is we don't take it for granted and we are very very grateful for that and thank you to the Wimbledon shop as well for giving us our wardrobe for the next 12 months and more. Like my tie? Yeah, there's a lot of compliments on your tie in here. Oh, good. Thanks very much.

I know lots of stuff is sold out because it's so nice, but lots of it is still available online. So it is definitely worth taking a look. And the shop is open year round if you...

If you swing by, if you're on Wimbledon Common, which I am every day, do say hi and then pop in to the Wimbledon shop. Folks, if you're worried about the post-Grand Slam blues, as I mentioned, we have an episode of... our Wimbledon review show coming recording on Wednesday that'll be up for Friends of the Tennis Podcast we've got

voice notes in the works we love those shows they're some of our absolute favorites um so if you want to become a friend of the tennis podcast the link is in our show notes you get access to that show all of our bonus shows there's an archive of How many, David? Oh, our bonus shows? Yeah. Oh, well over, around 100.

Something like that. And we're doing more all the time. We do eight relived shows a year. We do the full Grand Slam review shows. We do a monthly live show for friends, often a Q&A episode that you can contribute to and ask us a question. You also get access to the... which is where you can hang out with Hannah all the time and Vicky too and just generally enjoy chat about tennis in a safe and friendly space you get all sorts of other stuff as well but

ad-free listening is another thing you get with friends at a tennis podcast so well worth taking a look you can join for uh starting from six pounds a month the link as always is in our show notes and i'll pop it on instagram as well thank you to Phoebe. Thank you to Maisie. Thank you to Roger for being our mascots throughout this Wimbledon, throughout this year. And the same goes to our top folks and executive producers, Greg, Chris and Jeff.

Matt, do we have some final shout-outs? We sure do. We have Keturah. Oh, Keturah. Hello, Keturah. We know Keturah. Long-time listener and friend. Very long-time supporter. who introduced us to pet mascot-dom. Yes. With Charlie the Ferret, our first ever mascot. And as brilliant as Goran is... modern latter-day design work is for us possibly her greatest ever triumph was designing logoed ferretware yes from ferret couture an actual shop

Yeah. A true moment of triumph for Garner. And yeah, it was a joy having Charlie as our first mascot. So Katira, thank you. We've also got Anna Piepsik, I think, I hope I'm saying that right, from Poland, Krakow in Poland. And Anna says, hi, this is Anna of Anna and Ola. We had the chance to meet Catherine, David and Matt during... last year's Wimbledon on court one, right before the Igor Svantec match with Yulia Putintseva.

And we had our photo taken by Simon Briggs. What a tennis podcast encounter. I wore Polish flag colours with the intention to bring luck and support. But now I think about it, in retrospective, I'm of the opinion I bring Swiątek badly. luck having attended her matches twice at wimbledon in 2022 to corne and in 2024 to putin's saver and anna says i'm hopeful this shout out falls on ola's 30th birthday which is the 14th of July, so that's tomorrow.

So this is our closest show to that. Vicky's done some incredible work to make sure this shout-out is in this episode. And Anna says, Ola is the one who introduced me to the podcast during Roland Garros 2022. And we listened to you talk about... and Rafa's victories. Happy birthday Ola to many more Wimbledons and other Grand Slams together and thank you Tennis Podcast. You rock.

That is wonderful. Thanks, Anna. You rock too. Thank you, Anna. Like former backhand lister, Anna Bogdan. Yep. Although this is Anna with two Ns. And former... sinner person Anna Kalinskaya and Anna Ivanovich who I saw wandering around here earlier But that's one N as well. Check for Tadzi. Was that two Ns? Very good. Kornikova. Smash Nova. That's a good Terrence name. That is a good name, isn't it? That might be even better than Volley Nets.

Potato says, what about Anna Bogdan? We've mentioned Anna Bogdan. Yes. Right, right. Anna Bogdan gets more airtime here than in all of the rest of the media collectively combined. There's no... No justice required for Anna Bogdan. And final shout-out of the tournament is via Simon Briggs, the aforementioned Simon Briggs, and we have Darren and Laura. who are good friends of Simon's, big pod listeners. I believe they actually met on a tennis court, Darren and Laura.

Darren plays the club championships with Simon. Laura is a translator. They have a wonderful dog, Stella. I'm looking at Stella. Who I think is on the screen right now if you're watching live. And anyway, they... They had a rough time, did Darren and Laura. Laura was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. lots of months of really rough treatment, but very happily she's now been given the all-clear. That's incredible. And they are engaged, Darren and Laura. So...

We, via Simon, wanted to give them a big, big shout out. Yeah. Darren and Laura, hello. That is... Glorious news on all fronts. I hope Stella, who I'm looking at now, is going to be some sort of ring bearer at your wedding. I'm very into canine wedding involvement. Of course. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Like Laura Siegmund. Yep. And Darren Cahill. One last mention for Siegmund then.

I've got Bertic in, I've got Laura in. You didn't come up in your Wimbledon highlights and lowlights. Doesn't know where to put her. Yeah. Bit like Bertic, really. Yeah. So is that it for our shout-outs? That is, yep.

Is there anything we can do to eke out more Wimbledon? I'm afraid not. That's it. You'll probably be watching. gods of tennis later I reckon that'll do it probably folks I think that just leaves us to thank you for watching for listening however you've enjoyed the tennis podcast this fortnight we hope you've enjoyed the tennis podcast this fortnight Without you, it's just us having a chat.

Which is also great. But there'd be quite a lot of resource going into it for not a lot of return. So we're very, very grateful to you for listening, for participating in the way that you do, for creating a really wonderful, special community. It means so much to us when people pop up on the roof and come and see us and say hello and are generally just an incredible...

It's a very, very special thing and we don't take it for granted and we're very grateful for it and we're very grateful to you for listening and giving us a chance to do this and sit here and talk about the sport that we love. So thank you. We will be back in a week because that's tennis. David's going on holiday. I'm going on holiday. But don't don't worry. We're here. We have content coming your way.

the soonest of which is our Wimbledon review show up for Friends of the Tennis Podcast next week. And the link to become a friend, as I said, is in our show notes. That's it. Nothing to be said. Thank you for listening. Happy Wimbledon 2025. Hopefully we'll see you next year. Meet Smart Recommendations, your AI-powered media planner. Just describe your target audience in your own words and ACAST Smart Recommendations will pinpoint the perfect podcast in seconds.

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