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$45 a month from 3 months plus taxes and fees, promoting for new customers for limited time, unlimited more than 40 gigabytes per month, so full turns at MintMobile.com. Hi, this is Billie Jean King. This is Mary and Bartori. This is Bianca and Drasco. I'm Matt's Belander. This is Mary Carrillo. This is Pam Shriver. This is Yannick Noah and you're listening to the tennis podcast.
Hello and welcome to the tennis podcast live from Wimbledon on day seven of the championships from a wet weather position, which I think we're going to have to transition into calling our position because frankly that is what has happened to British summer time this year. I'm captain we're together. This is my Roberts. This is David Law. This is our crowd. Go on guys. Eventually. Hot was in my mouth there for a moment. I'm not going to lie. The two busy chatting.
That was almost the most embarrassing moment of my life. That was almost so bad. We would have had to have scrubbed this from the internet. You saved us in the end guys. Thank you very much and thank you everybody for staying and cheering and being so energetic. The tennis has been awesome today but it is cold folks. It is not only a wet weather position. It's also kind of a general shelter from the elements position.
This is not for effect. I was not able to feel my hands when we came off yesterday. I saw these in the draw this morning and I thought, you know what I'm bringing the mittens in. I have no regrets. I think we can all agree. They tone nicely with my strawberry jumper. The one thing the Wimbledon shop doesn't do. Why would the Wimbledon shop sell mittens David? Why would they? Why should they?
It shouldn't be required in July. But here we are at Wimbledon during what is becoming an indoor tournament, quite frankly, because that is what the elements are requiring. Today was just bizarre from a weather point of view. Absolutely bizarre and probably not quite as chaotic and hectic as yesterday. But we have had some big stuff happen today and probably the biggest of the lot is what just happened.
We have lost the second seed. My pick for the title, Coco Gough. We have lost her pretty routinely to Emma Navarro, the far better player Matt. Yeah, absolutely. As you say, it has just happened quite difficult to process it. But it went fast. As soon as that first set was nippened up, but Emma Navarro came up with a brilliant forehand passing shot to win the set.
And then, kind of, Egas Fyantech vibes from Coco Gough in that second set, just a string of unforesterious at one point losing 12 points and 9 of them being unforesterious. Most of those off the forehand in the middle of that second set. And that is kind of the story of the match from Coco Gough perspective. I've been saying for a couple of months now, I think the game is in a lot better shape. I've been banging on a bad it. I thought she looked really good here through the first few rounds.
And it just seemed like the first bit of pressure, the first time she went down in a match. Her game kind of fell apart. And it was really poor in that second set, especially off the forehand. With poor, bad communication between her and the box, sort of asking the team to say something, why aren't you saying something?
Did seem like there was a bit of a breakdown there between player and box. And, you know, kind of a different 21, the US Open, when she was telling them that they were saying too much. The complete opposite today. But from an Emma Navarro perspective, I think I was really impressed with her against Naomi Assoca. The other day where she only made, I think, five unforeseen errors in that whole match against Assoca. She's just so in control of her own game in a way that Coco Gough wasn't today.
Kind of silky, puts the forehand in awkward spots. It's got a reliable backhand. Moves great is what I've been saying, all tournament. And was by far the better player and deserved the win. And I think a match that it's always a bit weird country person versus country person, especially considering they're going to be on an Olympics team kind of together in the next few weeks.
So there was that sort of elements of the match as well. But fast improving Emma Navarro and deserve this win. And to me, kind of a bigger shot than English film tech. I don't know whether that's why I'll think to say because I think Emma Navarro, we had really marked her card as a threat here. But we weren't sure about Eagish Fiontech on the grass. I was sort of waiting for maybe someone to beat her. But I wasn't really waiting for this sort of performance from Coco Gough.
This has not come out of nowhere because we have seen her not have her best game in the past. But she's so good usually at battling through when she hasn't got her best game. And that grit just wasn't wasn't really there today. And this changes the whole complexion of the women's draw for me Coco Gough going out.
Yeah, we have kind of chaos in the bottom half of the women's draw. We'll kind of look at the individual results today. And then we'll zoom out and look at that bottom half of the draw, which is in a tantalising and interesting and slightly weird place at the at the court of well halfway through the round of 16 stage. She's kind of stone cold, David, isn't she? Emma Navarro, I got the vibe from her that like, this isn't an upset. This isn't a shock. This is me. Like, I'm really good.
And I don't know well enough to be able to tell exactly what it is because I think my sense is that she's just kind of an understated person who it does mean a great deal to and it is a big deal. But she's just not that person that is necessarily going to let you know every single thought and feeling that goes through her head outwardly. Or whether it is that, whether it's just supreme confidence. What I can tell you is the way she's played against both Coco Gough and Naomi Osaka.
Doesn't makes me feel which shouldn't even be thinking of anything else she doesn't destroy as a shock because she is comprehensively outplayed these two playets. Now, they may look at themselves and think that they've underperformed. And I'm sure they have looked. We know what their top level is, but her level was so high and so relentless and so difficult to counter that I feel like she's not really given them much play on anything. She's not given them an in.
Yeah, and also we shouldn't forget the win she had over Diana Schneider who, you know, confident player who beat her on the grass last week. That was a revenge win for Navarro. Yeah, Osaka Schneider Gough. That's a very legit. It's serious. Her two first outings on center court in there. She just told the center court crowd. This is probably my favorite court in the world to play on. She seemed so at home out there and that's interesting, isn't it? Because she's a she's a college player.
She was the NCAA champion in 2021 and sometimes I think I mean, is there a bigger gap in the world vibes wise between center court and the chaos of college tennis? Like it's not necessarily a natural fit. Oh, here we go. Grounds will be closing 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 Wemudden and wish you a pleasant and safe journey home. Thank you.
It's a bit Taylor Fritz, isn't it? Wish you a safe journey home. I think some people are getting really annoyed with me doing the announcement, but like we can't do anything else. We can't do anything else. It's either sit here and just watch us in awkward silence or watch Matthew that. Let us know what your preference is. Emma Navarro, what was I saying? Yes, NCAA champion. Could it be a big of a change between college tennis and center court, but she clearly just absolutely loves it.
And maybe she's somebody that's kind of comfortable anywhere. But the most you saw more of this match than I did, Matt. The most glaring thing to me was Emma Navarro doesn't have a weakness. Coco Gough's got a glaring on today. Yeah, I think that's fair. Like the forehand was really, really bad from Coco Gough. And I highlighted it the other day as saying I thought it was really good. So, you know, I hope I'm giving some balance there.
I'm not always just pointing it out when it's bad. Like that she does how she has been having some better days on it. But this was a real regression and Navarro exploited it. And I think that's the way she plays a looking at that though, right? Like if it can be just bad out of nowhere, that's a very insecure place to be for Coco Gough. And I think maybe when it was, you know, when it was repeatedly bad, kind of over the past year or so, you know, she won the US Open with it not being very good.
And I think that's just in that mindset of battling and grinding. And I think this maybe caught her out a little bit because as I said, she had been playing well. I think she looked shocked that this had happened today. I think she's impressed in 20 minutes or so. We weren't able to report on that in this podcast. But I wouldn't be surprised if she came in and said, don't you know where that came from?
She was talking, she was talking and pressing the other day about her serve not being quite where she wanted it to be, but she did speak about the rest of her game being in good shape. And it's unravel today. And it just felt like it took her by surprise. And you know, it's what we say about best of three. Like suddenly you're setting a break down and Navarro is playing beautifully out there.
Yeah, it went quick. That was the thing. Like you didn't really have time to get your head around it. And I imagine that she was feeling some of those same things. These vibes with the box from Coco Gough. There was a lot of gesticulating. I wouldn't get to say it looked toxic, but it wasn't good stuff. Was it? Are we worried about that?
Well, I felt at the end there. It was a sort of, oh, what's the point kind of vibe from both sides almost. You know, I could see Brad Gill, but I think trying to motion maybe for more shape. I'm not exactly sure what that meant, but I got the sense he was giving suggestions at that point. She wasn't having it. Maybe she was saying something back and he was, he looked like he was thinking, I'm just trying to help here.
You know, I'm just trying to, but it's difficult. It's difficult to know. And as you say, certainly at the USA, when we've been able to get more of an insight because people are so well-miked up, you get a real insight as to what's being said back and forth. But there's no question. I mean, it was an anxious time because nothing was working. That's the bottom line. She was doing trying to do what she does.
She was digging and you never get a tank from Coca-Goth and I mean, obviously nobody tanks in that level of match. But you never feel like she's just going to tailspin away and not dig in. It's just that she couldn't get any traction. She's digging in them. There's just nothing happening. It's still going downhill. I mainly feel that's Navarro that is to credit with that because there were a couple of loose shots at the end where I thought, oh, here we go.
I remember thinking I was watching it with you in this press conference room, because we would just been in the Emma Radikano press conference. I was just about to say to you, when this goes 5-4, I'm going to the hill to watch the rest of it. And it never got to 5-4 because she or if it gets back on server, I can't remember what the score was at that time. But then Navarro just weathered that little rocky patch and still put her away. Just fantastic.
She could be headed for the top turn with this run. She's 17 in the world. It was just straightly in open this year, Matt, when you said to me on the eve of the tournament, how in Navarro is seated at this Grand Slam? I need to figure out who she is and what she's doing well. And now here we are with her, 17 at the moment, depends how far she goes here, but could be looking at a leap into the top turn.
Crazy. Yeah. And the way the draw has gone, it's a huge opportunity for everyone in this bottom half, like massive. Yeah, absolutely. Her next opponent is Jasmine Paulini. We'll talk about that match up a little bit in a moment because the head to head there is interesting. First of all, we should talk about how Jasmine Paulini booked her place in the quarter final, 6'3", 6'7", 5'0", retirement against Madison Keys.
And this is such a dreadful shame because it was the match of the tournament up until that point, wasn't it? It went from glorious to agonising in a matter of moments. Yeah, I was so ready to come on the show tonight and only have brilliant things to say about this match because I was enjoying it so much. Firstly, it was the busiest press seats I'd been in all tournament. When I got there, the press seats were full of Italian journalists.
What I think is so interesting is they've got these two players in Sina who they absolutely know now, the Italian journalist, is reliable and he's going to deliver. And they know who he is as a player, as a person, like he's kind of a banker for them now. But it still feels like Jasmine Paulini is a bit of a surprise to them. And she was pulling off these things and you could tell that the journalists were living for it. And they seem to have a real emotional connection with her.
Like how can you not just the way that she bounces on court? She's a bouncy person, the way she sort of walks around the court and brings that incredible joy to the court. So I just enjoyed being in that environment, sort of experiencing the Italian journalist react to Jasmine Paulini in that way. She played a great first set, Paulini by far the better, won it pretty comfortably, 6-3. And then the heavens opened onto the court one room. It was a lot of that, too.
And there was this moment where it was so loud inside court one with the rain hammering down. And then at the exact moment, Madison Keys studied hammering down big ground strokes as well. And it all seemed to slightly overwhelm Paulini. And Keys ended up being 5-1 up, had a couple of set points and you're thinking, right, okay, we're settling in for a decider here.
But when she didn't convert those set points, Paulini started on the comeback and you then had half an hour, 45 minutes towards the end of that second set, which was the most fun I've had all tournament watching, watching a match with Paulini coming back. The quality was awesome from both. Love just seeing a new side to Paulini as a tennis player on grass. Her anticipation is so good because she has to because Keys has got all this power. If it doesn't anticipate it, it's going to go faster.
But she was anticipating it. She was playing close to the baseline, great hand skills, big deep returns. She's such a good returner. And she just mounted this comeback. And I started to stress a little bit on behalf of Madison Keys. She's someone who I don't think has always used that Carlos Alcarez phrase.
And I think she's always found joy and suffering on a court. Madison Keys and she can get pretty tight and stressed. And I thought when Paulini got it back, I thought she was going to win it in straight sets. So full credits of Madison Keys that she won that second set tie break. And the set point was incredible with a half volley winner after some nice back hands as well. At this point in the match, once at all, it was just an absolute treat.
I was jogging out to the media seats, having watched that tie break on a screen waiting waiting for a barista to brew my coffee. Relatable content for me. And yeah, I the lid didn't fit. And I need to run, but it's going to spill everywhere. But I did the most steady-handed run you've ever seen. I went to court one preserving my coffee and was well with the world. I thought, great, I'm in for the third set. This is awesome. And for a while, it was.
It was, yeah. And Carlos Alcarez was playing at the same time on center court. And something has to be really, really good for me not to really be watching Carlos Alcarez. Because, you know, I love watching him play, but I was like, I'll come back to you later, Carlos. I'm locked in on Paulini Keys. And Keys had to face some break points in her first couple of service games in the third set, but she came through. And then she built a lead.
Again, like she had in the second set, she went five to up. And, you know, at that point, I really did think Keys had it. She was playing, she was playing really well. There was, of course, the scar tissue from the second set where we should see that lead evaporate on her. And there were a couple of key moments. There was a really tough call that went against Keys, which would have been 30, 15.
Paulini challenged, and the ball was actually in rather than out. Rather than replaying the point, the umpire gave the point to Paulini. I thought it was a bad call because I think the call affected Keys is shot. And Keys made the ball anyway. I really didn't understand why they didn't replay the point, gave the point to Paulini. That swung the momentum. Paulini won that game. And then Keys hurt her leg. I'm not exactly sure of the moment,
but there was one forehand that she hit that went out where you then saw her clutching at her leg. And it was really tough to watch. She had to take a medical time out, which I think some people around me, some of the Italian journalists thought taking a medical time out, right as Jasmine Paulini is sort of serving to stay in the mat. Because there was no big dramatic screech or scream or anything, I think people were confused, but it was pretty clear something bad was wrong. She hobbled.
She limped off court, and she came back with strapping and limping even more. And she then tried to serve it out and couldn't. It was such a brutal way for such a fun match to end. It was horrible, Chetra Tire. And yeah, it was such a shame that the match finished in that way because it had been so good. And there was an incredibly moving standing ovation for Madison Keys, is she left the court?
There might have been a few people that went off for that medical time out, were confused about what was going on, but as soon as she came back and had a brief attempt at resuming the match, it was clear what was going on. She was devastated and the crowd really acknowledged and got that moment. I don't know whether it would have been absorbed by Madison Keys in that acutely emotional moment, but I hope it meant something to her because she's had some tough goals, isn't she?
Yeah, well, my mind went back to that US Open loss to her in the Sabalankha last year when she was so upset in the press conference afterwards. You know, this is somebody who's admitted during the French Open when I was in that press conference, whether that she's had a lot of difficulties dealing with the sport and dealing with her place in it and trying to navigate life, I guess.
And she's had some blows there and this is another one just bang when she's right there when she's playing well, she's major keys, she's about to upset everybody's form book and who knows what it might lead to. And yeah, if you didn't feel for her in that moment, there's something very cold hearted about you.
So Paulini against Navarro in the Wimbledon quarterfinals Navarro's head to head here is three and oh, and all meeting two meetings this year and one last year on hard, hard and clear, they haven't played on grass, but still. Yeah, that's fascinating that that's enough evidence to suggest that there's a match up thing there that that Navarro really likes or Paulini doesn't. And yeah, the fact that their recent is important because I mean, Paulini is.
I mean, they're both different players, but Paulini in particular and I think, you know, reaching that French Open Final just seems to have done absolute wonders for her confidence. You know, I think I'm really pleased because that that was a tricky final like to put it lightly like she didn't really have a chance in that and you know, it could have been crushing, but she seems to have only taken confidence from the French Open and she had never won a tall level match on grass before this year.
Yeah, she'd won some matches in qualifying and you know, tour events and I think one at Wimbledon as well, but not a main draw match ever. And you know, she's won a couple leading into Wimbledon and now she is in the quarterfinals. It is a transformation. She's a, she's one of my favorite players to watch right now, especially live, especially watching her on court. I think you get an even greater appreciation for her power.
You know, because, okay, keys hits a bigger ball, but I don't feel like Paulini was underpowered against Madison keys. It's as I said, I'll say it again, a marvel. Yeah, it's such a good point because look at the season, Junction, when has had since reaching the Australian Open Final and I think entirely understandable that that whole experience and kind of adjustment of status is going to take some time.
And there's, you know, a bigger data sample for Junction, when then for Paulini, but still like very different reaction. It could easily have rocked her a bit. Paulini, the experience of that final, but she's, she's carried that confidence over and it's, I agree. She's right up there in favorite players to watch live at the moment.
So Paulini against Navarro is set up today as was Donna Vecch, against qualifier New Zealand qualifier Lulu Sun. Lulu Sun beating Emma Radikarnu 6257, 62 in the second match of Centre Court today and we will focus on the Radikarnu angle plenty. But I do want to talk about Lulu Sun, I think actually first apologies. Lulu Sun, she is so good. So like, I know she's reached a woman in court of final like, of course, however, yeah, but like she's, she's really, really, really good.
She was asked a lot of questions in that match, you know, and she just answered them one after another. For a start, her lefty game is lethal. She hits a big ball and you don't want it anywhere near her forehand. She uses her left in us that old saying of really creating angles. She took on whatever Radikarnu was trying to throw at her and different things were coming.
And she just dealt with them all and she showed the personality as well in the moment to run away with it at the end and massively impressed her. Yeah, Lulu Sun, I was not familiar with your game like, wow, I was blown away by her today. And again, I had a great appreciation when I went out onto the court to watch her. I was watching the first sort of half of this match on a screen. There was a lot happening. But once I got out there, yeah, you realize what a big ball she hits.
Very compact, which is what I think I really like in a play and have compact strokes and yet still generates a lot of power. The forehand's better than the backhand, for sure, that she massively outwinnered Radikarnu today. She was in the middle of 50 minutes. Which is the most by a player in the women's draw, all tournament. Wow. Incredible the way she was in control of this match. And yeah, I was just absolutely blown away.
She saved a match point in the second round of qualifying against Gabriella Nutsson. And since then. Who's that? Someone who went to my university, actually, I was alerted to that by Durham University tennis going, go on Gabriella Nutsson in qualifying. I follow her. I was tracking this match. Yeah, I saw match point against Gabriella Nutsson against Lulu Sun. I thought, you know, I didn't think I would be talking about that in 10 days' time.
Like unbelievable. And, you know, she beat the junction when, she beat an Emiradikarnu, big serve. And, you know, there's a Kerberesque quality to her. But it's different in that Kerber prefers her backhand to her forehand, I think. And she prefers down the line shots, whereas Lulu Sun hits with a bit more spin. And she has a better serve than Kerber, I would say. But there's just a sort of groundedness to a balance, and a comfortable on the grass, and a kind of unshakable quality as well.
Like, okay, there was one forehand that she missed at 4-2 on break point to get a double break. And I thought, oh, that could be a big moment. She missed an easy forehand long. But it didn't seem to phase her, and she broke that game, served it out, so impressed. And, like, sorry, her first time on centre court, was like, that court with its history can... Playing a Brit. Playing a Brit, like, that can swallow you.
And she came out firing. Well, the few of those, haven't we? When you think of what Navarro's done on both us, Maniera? Yeah. Yeah. That's seven matchrooms in a row for Lulu Sun. It's very emeraldicarni.
It's calming radicarni-esque, absolutely. And look, it wasn't exclusively Brits in the press box for this match, but there was obviously decent British representation in there, and everyone's looking at it for understandable reasons through radicarni-lens, and Matt just turns around and goes, Lulu Sun. So good. And I was thinking exactly the same thing. She was an absolute joy, and I don't think that radicarni lost this match.
I do think Lulu Sun won it, and would have been a match for almost anyone today. Maybe not Rabatkin or Aviesti today. I'm not sure anybody could compete with that. But equally, I don't think it was Peak radicarni. I don't think it was the radicarni that we saw again, Zachary, or even her performance from the round before that, which rounds two and three for radicarni were really clean, I think, in it. Yeah.
It wasn't clean today from radicarni. What it wasn't, though, is what I was fearing that it might have been in the early stages when she goes in immediate breakdown, and then she's a double breakdown, and everyone's thinking, given what we all know happened yesterday, and the in-emoradicarni's words are cloud that was hanging around her, and that decision to pull out of mixed doubles.
I was worried about a horror show for radicarni today, a sort of love and one type situation that could really cause her damage and scar tissue. And it absolutely wasn't that she dug her tails in, and she made a match of it, albeit not her best match of the tournament. Yeah, she did. And that second set really was quite impressive the way she turned that around, I thought.
We definitely saw some of what she's got, and that's where I give massive credit to Luluson for coming back from that as well. And she spoke in her press conference about qualifying, how she lost out in the final round of qualifying last year here.
Did someone went to university? No, no. But it really stung, and she had stayed with her, and she was talking about how, I mean, I think back to when we went to qualifying on the final day, and of course that's where she was making this start to this incredible journey.
And she just said, the level's not that different, actually, when you're in terms of the play, it's more, the ranking places are different, but it's about what it means, it's about that difference between qualifying and not qualifying. That was like the biggest moment for her of all, I think. And she could have said, I couldn't have possibly imagined I would end up in the quarter finals, but honestly, she speaks really well.
She's a great listener, and actually, if you get to hear in an interview, I think the one on court was a very emotional one, understandably. The one in the press conference was a real getting to know you vibe. I mean, I only had time to be in for two questions and answers, because it was just before we were coming on live. I would be surprised if she's still going half an hour on. But from a Radikano perspective, it was an interesting press conference.
I was very, very pushed on the, I guess you would say fall out, the cloud that she used it, and we detailed it in a lot of depth yesterday, having decided not to play the next doubles, and having to make that call to Andy Murray and let him know. I thought she handled it well. On the whole, I thought she did a good job of trying to diffuse the bits that were inevitably there. I, what, what Judy tweeted, and she said, I'm sure she didn't mean it.
And now I'm in what, what she really thinks, I have no idea. But that was her wet method of doing it and to smile and just try to get through it. It's not easy. But were you at all surprised that there was, she really owned the decision, didn't she? She said there was no, there was no kind of PR, PR gloss on it. There was no sort of, I'm so sorry to Andy, I really didn't want his Wimmel into end like this, et cetera, et cetera. It was really, she said the decision was a no brainer.
She said, I needed to focus on my singles. Lots of players would have done the same. It was a tough phone call, but simple as that. It was ice in the veins, kind of, kind of stuff. She really owned it. She said, I understand why he's disappointed. And I could tell, you know, you could tell there was, there was regret about it in that way. But yeah, she did.
She said, other players would make this sort of decision. And she also was asked at the end, was there any sort of scenario planning by Stu Fraser at the time, whether there is any scenario planning between the two of you and your team about what happens if you have a run. And she kind of said, well, you know, he didn't bring that up. He asked me if I wanted to play. And I said, yes, because I wanted to play. And then I felt my wrist yesterday and decided that, well, singles is my priority.
That was her, that was her way of dealing with it. Which, I mean, my sense is that this last 24 hours for her has been pretty tough. Do you think it affected what we saw out there today? Yeah, probably, probably. It doesn't help. She gave a good impression of somebody that wasn't that ruffled by the last 24 hours. I think it wouldn't really really human nature if you weren't a bit affected by something like that.
And knowing that the person involved in it is one of the greatest legends of sport in this country. And somebody she's eyed lies since she watched her, watched him in the Olympics in 2012. You know, she's made it very clear just how aware she is of his position and what he means to her. But at the same time, does that mean she's meant to not listen to what she's feeling in the moment?
I don't think so. I think it was okay as we discussed it last night. But I know not everybody agrees with me on that. It's kind of what I mentioned on yesterday's show was my worry in terms of like, could it just, could that decision, which may well have been the right one for her, could it, could it kill the vibe? Could it kill the mood a little bit and just a lot going on like there was no cloud two days ago.
And there was a cloud today. And I think we should also mention the back issues that she had. I do think that was perhaps more of a factor in the match than I've said so far. I think she was clutching her back wasn't she through the second set and then she slipped right at the start of the third set and had a medical time out and you could tell her movement was a little bit compromised after that.
I thought I do think that was perhaps a little factor in the match. It's just so fascinating like the different approaches tennis players take to what they do about doubles in this situation. Because right as this emerald o'carnu press conference was happening Ben Shelton was also in press in the in the small interview room.
And he was asked about the fact that he still played his doubles even though he'd been on the singles shed every day and I played 15 sets of singles and had world number one Yannick sinner today.
You know I think everyone would have understood kind of from a Shelton perspective if he said the doubles has got to go and pulling out like we do understand tennis players have to make selfish decisions I'm not not criticizing them for making selfish decisions when they do but Ben Shelton said he was never going to do that to McKenzie McDonald's he said he's been waiting around for four or five days to play doubles I wasn't going to pull out on the guy I wasn't raised that way.
You know she's quite a statement from Ben Shelton and it wasn't I don't think in any way you know pointed at the emerald o'carnu situation. Yeah as much as there are people lots of emmers absolutely right there are lots of players that would do this there are ones for whom it would be a total red line as well. Yeah. That they would not cross. Yeah exactly.
Yeah. It's going to rumble on isn't it. I would whatever you think about the decision from beauty from a objective PR perspective this is not gone well. It's not going well for anybody. Well it's not going well for emerald. It's not going well for anybody in my opinion. Who else is there for it to not go well for? I don't think it's gone great for Julie. I don't think it's gone great really for Andy Murray. I think there's absolutely a situation which he could have said.
You know these things happen. I do have to prioritize the singles and you know right behind you. I definitely think it's bad on him that he hasn't said that. I don't think it's bad on him but I don't but I think it was it was a an option that could have been taken. That's the one I would have liked to have seen just to put everything behind everybody. That's what I would have liked to see. I don't judge him for it. I mean I think the world of the guy.
But you know it's the whole thing. But that's not how he feels. Okay a lot of people sort of don't always do and say exactly how they feel at a given moment. Sometimes you do what you know is the right thing to do even if you don't want to do it. Yeah I think he's not said what he feels and that's saying nothing. Yeah whereas Judy was being sarcastic. Yeah okay let's talk about Donna Beckett shall we? Oh Donna Beckett. With apologies to Paula Bedossa here who's run I am at this tournament.
I am really chuffed for and it you know we talked about her a couple of days ago didn't we? And what this run at Wimbledon means to her and the trouble she's been through. But obviously you know we do have a particular interest that we must declare. We are friends with Pam Shriver, one of Donna Beckett's coaching team. And we're not just friends with her. We do get a particular insight from Pam into the world and the dynamics of coaching.
An insight that we're incredibly grateful for and I think hopefully enriches the way we talk about that whole landscape. And it's just so hard not to be thrilled for Donna Beckett and of course for Pam as well. Who's won through to her third grandstand called a final today. Her first here at Wimbledon and I don't want to par the pressure on here but she suddenly has just the most immense opportunity. 6-2, 1-6-6-4 for her today. A match that the start was delayed by two hours.
It was three times suspend due throughout the course of the day and it eventually finished at 6.37pm having started or being scheduled to start at 11am. And then it flashed up the match time of an hour 38 and I thought that feels like a troll. This has been on all day. And it was emotional scenes at the end man. Really was you could tell what a big moment this was Pam shouted out during the encore interview when Donna was asked if she was alright.
It had been a trying day with all those suspensions and it was a back and forth match. It was a big battle. There was a massive hold of serve from Donna Beckett for all in the third set really battling. And the interviewer just said asked are you alright and Pam shouted out of course she's okay. I think Pam probably had some pent up nervousness that she just wanted to get out there. We know Beckett is such a great ball striker and she's dangerous particularly on the grass I think.
And you know this is a really big moment because her previous two grand sam called a finals. Her opponents were Belinda Bengchic at the US Open and Arena Sabilecka at the Australian Open. Sabilecka of course who went on to win the title. And Beckett didn't win a set in either of those quarter finals. Look we just talked about how good Lulu Sun is. I'm very aware of that. Pam definitely knows how good Lulu Sun is. Absolutely based on some of the messages we were getting. Like Pam knows.
She's not taking that lightly. Absolutely. But you know it's not Arena Sabilecka for example. And what I would say is Beckett Shathink has lost eight of her last ten against lefties. Yes or they beat one in round one. Beat one in round one so that's big you know that she's done it this tournament. But generally that is a match up that I think Pam is very aware is tricky and I'm sure Beckett Shathink is as well.
But yeah like you saw exactly what it meant to Donna Beckich and Pam as well who of course you know we have a we have such a soft spot for. And look we know that Pam isn't travelling all year round with Donna Beckich. She's coaching Donna Beckich all year round in her mind and in her life. The amount of thought and preparation and worry that goes into this player that she's guiding. I'm sure lots of coaches are like that as well. We get the insight from Pam and we know you know Pam special.
So I'm sure Pam is sort of such a people person. She's really thinking long and hard about the tactics, the emotions, what to say, when to say it, all this stuff. And to just to see it come off and be rewarded with a run to the quarter finals in a great shot at going further is really nice. And she came up in the press conference David. Yeah and it wasn't me who asked the question although I was curious actually to get Donna's side of things on Pam as well.
But actually a colleague of ours Alex my first and asked the question of what she's brought to her game. I mean you know it's nearly two years now that she's been part of her team and she just says she's a great mentor. And you know she reminded her during the rain delay that the first time they'd met was during a rain delay really and work together in San Diego. And she ended up going on to win and she just really glad to have her as part of a team. And it just seems to work.
It was near the moment and you know good for them. I was curious as well asked Donna about the emotion that she showed at the end. What whether that was a sort of in the moment this has been a hell of a day kind of thing. I mean she'd been on and off the court four times so you know this all this it's stressful. Rain delays are stressful and they don't have them as much as they used to.
You know because of all the courts with a roof on or is it more of a kind of this milestone element of getting to a quarter final of Wimbledon for the first time and having this incredible opportunity. And she said it's kind of it was kind of both you know it was in the moment it's been a tough day but you know she said I've I've dreamed since I was little of winning a grand slam.
And obviously that's a long way off and she can't think like that because I asked her you know if you allowed yourself to think like that you know given all the great creation athletes that they've been and couple of players like even my early and growing even is a issue one grand slam so it says yeah absolutely you know that is my dream but just cannot afford to think like that I think she's the thing is Donna
Vecca just been around for a long time now and more than 10 years and she started very young but she's hit this ceiling and she's back there again with this opportunity but. Pam Schreiber smasher of glass ceilings.
Yeah but she knows that she knows how good I think Lou is son is and how dangerous she's going to be and that that's it's so easy for people like us to say oh Sabalinka's gone from your half the drawing now all this sort of thing and we've seen enough evidence really that there's a lot of good players and if you don't bring it on the day you could be the one getting caught out.
Yeah players are there for a reason and you know Vecca is in the quarterfinals because she's playing really well and the same of Lulu's son incidentally been a been a day which has taken David's bucket hat theory in in two directions because Coco Gough and Greg Gilbert bad yeah Donna Vecca and Pam Schreiber in the box and daughter Kate good like Carlos Alcras last year good but let's be honest it's a laden nonsense.
What do you see what's this space David you're in a sprinkler situation again so watch that space as well okay so Lulu's son Donna Vecca and then Emma Navarro and Jasmine Paulini who's reaching the final oh it's so hard isn't it I mean I don't I don't know
I clue it's kind of like my my head of my heart is just taking me in in different directions kind of it in both matches I just need a name Emma Navarro Paulini you know Pam's watching I've just said lovely things about Pam and Donna Vecca and I stand by all of them so okay let's talk about the men's pressure up to as a tactical move oh a bluff okay I see what you've done there I like and subscribe folks like and subscribe you're wedding will be one of the happiest days of your life and blue
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23 award information visit JD power dot com slash awards only at a sleep number store or sleep number dot com before we talk about the men's draw let's start with Carlos Alcoran show it a completely different situation in the men's in the women's we've got kind of chaos although I do think Elena rebankener is looking at all the chaos and going to see my set yeah hi guys and but in the men's you've got kind of all the names you'd expect really from this set half
of the draw booking their spots in the last eight Carlos Alcoran today six three six four one six seven five over the center court today okay he was allowed back into the match by Carlos Alcoros he did play a weird third set also yeah he did it like you lost four times in a row right you did need to be given that foothold and bear but once he once he had it he went okay this is my chance to show you what I can do just just a little bit as my as my pointed out while we
were watching well this is all pointless because the best he can do now is get Carlos Alcoran into a fifth set and that's it's oh yeah it's like when I realized that I was like he's already dead like it was like he'd been injected with some venom that was going to take its you know it's going to take effect in an hour or so you've got a half hour stay of execution before the feeling of intense dread sets in that's it like if Alcoros is two sets up we know he wins the fifth set
yeah you can have a bit of fun for a couple of sets yeah but you'll fate a seal exactly well I was commentating on this match for BBC Radio and the first set in a bit Alcoros was playing the best tennis have seen him play all tournaments he was absolutely awesome he hit he hit around the netposts between the netposts and the chair backhand winner down the line from way outside the tram lines and and just before that from a floating
ball onto his baseline from on bear he unleashed a 107 mile an hour forehand win at cross-court from it from a nothing ball it was extraordinary and then the second set that forehand was one of those that sort of sparked WhatsApp messages from all the same people but in different groups I got some from David in some in one group you in the same group math way then I was like everyone I know is talking about this
for yeah it's just incredible and then the second set on bear really came to play and I think he played pretty close to his best level but Alcoros was still playing well so Alcoros wins it what six four third set Alcoros gets to break points I'm back on commentary for this set and then it then bears survives this little bit and I think it was one all and it was sort of 40 30 chance to go to one for our crash and he just completely lost his head as though he just started thinking about something
completely different and he ballooned several shots lost total control of his ability to kind of hit the ball properly and then he lost the next five games in a row and he basically gave up the last two games he looked like at least that's what I thought he was saying I was still playing the ball one I was still focused on thinking no you worry anyway it looked like he got to sort of four one two breaks down and just thought
I was just waiting for you know because he was barely moving to serves and I thought actually this is a bit dice you know because he's let the guy back in and can you just turn it on again I don't know whether you can and it was a bit dicey in the full set yeah he held from love 40 didn't he three four and and that was the spark I think very similar to when he held from love 30 second serve against Francis
Tiafo which was a more parallel situation because he was two sets to one down rather than two sets to one up but as soon as he held he then I mean he finished the match playing the most incredible tennis the return game he played at five all was absolutely awesome and he kind of did just turn it
back on like I agree with you like I'm bear was playing really well and I was needed to find it again but he did and I do think an element of this of this tournament here you know we were talking about our list of players who who are helped by the roof being on I don't think I was
alkalis is on that list you know I we've never seen in players best tennis indoors and I've always been a bit confused by that because you know there's there's so much about his game that you feel like it shouldn't really matter whether he's playing indoors or not and maybe I've
just thought it's the end of the season when they normally play indoors he's a bit tired maybe a bit injured we've not seen the best version but I went to his press conference today which was actually delayed by by a little putting contest that that he was doing watched on by former
rider cup caps in Paul McGinley and it was a real how's his putting not great it was a real test of the like would you watch Carlos Alcarez just kind of do any physical sport just because he's a fun he's a fun vibe and the answer is like yes like there's a crowd of people standing watching
him just because it's Carlos Alcarez like you just wanted to be in his orbit and he was having fun but anyway once he eventually finished that he came into press and I did ask him about this indoor outdoor thing and he was he was pretty explicit I would prefer to play outdoors
you know he said it's big factor now it is I really think that the second week the weather forecast is suggesting we're going to be mostly indoors like he said he said I prefer to be outdoors when it's not windy and he said you know but look he can clearly get barred
get by indoors but if it were to come down to say a semi final for example against Yannick Sino where there's not that much between them conditions could be a factor and I think you know Carlos Alcarez I think he can win win wouldn't if it's indoors I do but I think he's
more likely to win it if we're if we're outdoors here he said I don't consider myself a bad indoor player but there were lots who were better than me very interesting and look Tommy Paul in in the next round is someone who's beaten him a couple of times and he can hang
with Alcarez did such a good job Tommy Paul today to to get finished before before the darkness came two hours and two minutes against Roberto Batista it didn't didn't play the first point until about seven p.m. I think a lot of people thinking you maybe this one will get moved
to court one or to center but no Tommy Paul said don't worry I can get this done and he did and that's an interesting one Tommy Paul against Carlos Alcarez I mean I don't think Paul is particularly assisted by being indoors he's not a as very or he was we talking about
earlier who seemed to particularly enjoy indoors runa maybe but does make it extra interesting and I think that much up is already pretty interesting you haven't mentioned Matt your favorite genre of tennis point which occurred oh yeah Matt's favorite genre of tennis point
is one where a player falls over and still gets up to in the point and Alcarez did this today yeah on set point you did it on set point in the second set just ridiculous you know to scamp all over the court and he was asked he was asked about that and he picked out
he said I remember when I did it against Janik Sinner at the US Open and he did that in that incredible call of final they played a couple of years ago he obviously remembers that point like I do like it was just ridiculous like he literally fell on his backside got back up and won the point and yeah it's it's ridiculous the athleticism.
So we're now just one round away from Alcarez Sinner but Tommy Paul and Daniel Mervatov say hi Sinner beat Ben Shelton today 6264 7 6 11 9 in that third set tie break he's developing Matt a bit of a jock of it she in tie break record Janik Sinner.
Yeah he's won eight in a row he won his last four in Halle and he won his one his all four that he's played here and look he's needed them you know he needed them against Matteo Verroteini that was that was a struggle for him in that match and look I think if he'd
lost that tie break today against Shelton I still would have had Sinner as as quite a strong favorite but just getting it done in straight sets was kind of emphatic and a bit of a statement and he was by far the better player in this match certainly for the first
two sets so yeah like it's you know we talked about it the other day Alcarez can rely on that fifth set record that he's got and Sinner is showing that he's kind of the man in tie breaks right now so yeah really impressive and Mervatov through to that quarter final
by virtue of a tough scene for Grigal Dimitrov on court one tweaked what looked like the groin in the seventh game is such a shame I was on that court as well low down so getting that incredible vantage point from the commentary box there and Dimitrov went three love up
you know playing beautifully can't tell you how looking good his footwork up close is incredible and then ironically that's what did for him he he we saw it look it was already turning Mervatov was struggling with the with the flight to the ball that Grigal was giving him
for those three games and then he just adjusted a bit and suddenly you've got this metronomic consistency again and he reels him back to three all and then in the seventh game a slip from Grigal and the look on his face he just knew instantly done something bad and trying
to come on and they immediately went off the court together and Grigal was limping off the court he comes back out and he still limping and I think in a hot you know he played one game in which he barely moved side to side on the return he hit one serve and then
he just called it and that was the right call felt terribly sorry for him on on Mervatov center obviously this is a very interesting rivalry because you've had an avalanche of Mervatov wins it was once I did in Mervatov's favour now you've had an avalanche of
Sino wins and at the moment it's poised very once I did in Sino's favour and I asked Mervatov about this in his press conference a while ago asked him to compare like what's different for you how is Janik the Janik Sino you face these days different to the one who used
to be your pigeon and he basically said he's exactly the same player he just misses less which maybe is really obvious but he said he serves a lot better and he misses a lot less like the shots are the same just more of them go in and then he said he said look
I know I've lost a lot to Janik Sino recently but a lot of them have been close he said there's plenty in those losses that I can take confidence from and he said I think my record is better against world number one than it is against world numbers two and three so maybe I have
more of a chance now that he's world number one and I thought logic fail whatever you need to do to feel good about that match up Janik you feel your boots and maybe there's something in it I find it hard to see it's intriguing as a match up because of that those runs for
each of them you know you would think that Sino comes in with the upper hand because here's the recent ones but just having seen what Medvedev can do to him so many times including the first two sets that Australian open and it not having been played out on
this surface yet it's so fascinating it is and I think the point Medvedev makes about how they've had close matches is interesting because it never really felt like Sino should be what was it six love down in that head to head like some of those were close as well
the ones that never know one focusing on that but then it never it doesn't really feel like it should have turned so dramatically and Sino's favorite either like it feels like a close match up which it is at six five head to head it's just they've been on these
streaks each of them I give I have Sino quite a big advantage though I think Medvedev's got a little bit of a problem at the moment in these in these matches not just against Sino he's not beaten Djokovic in a while and mostly he's losing to Al Kurez like these
guys seem to have a level that he doesn't quite have at the moment I think he would need Sino to be to be off a little bit yeah I think I agree tomorrow's schedule we start at 130 as per usual on center court Elena Rabakina against Anna Callinsky will Sino be there supporting
like Callinsky was for him today I think he will be I mean he was sat on a bench on court seven or whatever it was the other day and now he now he gets a comfy seat on center court no no seat to pass on court to you today for Bidoff sir he's in the kitchen Taylor Fritz
against Alexander's Verre of second on center court tomorrow do we give what chance do we give Fritz there likely to be an indoor match I think I give him a chance I think I've played twice at Wimbledon and one was five sets and one was a tight four setter Fritz is
full of confidence having just won a title thinks Verre is the favorite there's a question a little bit of a question mark over as Verre is knee like we saw him getting some treatment on that in the Nauri match he said he didn't eat at the time he said you know I am in
some pain he said the fact that I played the rest of the match makes me think it can't be too serious but he was going to get it looked at I'd say 60 40s Verre of 65 35 maybe and speaking of knees third match on center court tomorrow Holger Runa against Novak
Jokovic some quotes from Novak Jokovic after his match yesterday on on his knee saying it might look fine it might look like him moving fine but it doesn't feel fine I am not at 100% he said now he does tell us when he's not 100% you know he's not he's not he's not shy about this stuff but
no one's going to test the movement like Holger Runa tomorrow I think I think Runa's got a good chance given their past record well he's yeah that's interesting I mean I would I would have said he has a definitely has a chance I don't feel I feel like Jokovic is the favorite going into it
based on all the obvious reasons but having seen I know it's a different court but having seen keys and Dimitrov come a crop at a day these these courts are under a lot of stress at the moment because they're not getting natural light you know they're not getting wind they're underneath
this roof where it does get a bit stuffier you know and they do everything they can to try to make it good playing conditions but it's it's quite perilous for Jokovic I mean I think I trust his ability to manage his movement to be able to get through that but if you are having to do
some of that then maybe you're not going to be quite as explosive and effective in your actual play so it will be a fascinating one really Runa Runa does definitely have a chance yeah utter feet is on court one tomorrow David yeah big look how far he's calm
the fire in quite a short space of time he has got Alex Domenore first up on number one court tomorrow then Yulia Putin-Saver against Yelena Osterpenko won for the outgrow connoisseurs and finally Daniel Collins taking on Barbara Cree-Chiqava I'm going to make a point of watching that
because I don't know why but I didn't didn't really look at Collins when I was doing my predictions but everybody is like I saw a bit of her match against Beatrice Haddad Jumaya and was very impressed with how she played after the Rangelay was impressive but I want to watch for more of that tomorrow
and get a feel for whether she's a genuine contender here because I was kind of just all about the Olympics and the US Open in terms of the big Daniel Collins story I'd sort of put it on the back burner for Wimbledon but maybe not I'll let you know tomorrow number two
court tomorrow starts with Lorenzo Mazzetti against Giovanni Pesci Perricare and then it is 21st birthday and then Elena's Fittelina against Wang Jin Yu and folks that is it for singles tomorrow lots of doubles lots of juniors wheelchair event kicking off as well but
it's getting down to the business end in the singles interesting stuff happening rain I'm sure continuing to happen we've just accepted it as part of our lives now haven't we yeah two slams in a row yeah pumped for the friendship for the for the US Open no it's great look it's
it it it exacerbates the the difference between the haves and the have-nots doesn't it the rain the people that are having to endure these on-off situations on on outside courts and it did feel a bit like qualifying today like the players that were on the outside courts like if you just
win today then your award is your next match is guaranteed to be on a on a roofed court so yeah last day before the quarterfinals will be back tomorrow of course at the close of play we'll have Maverick our Wimbledon mascot owned by Carol hello to Maverick we have our mascots of
course the dearly departed Darwin for me Francis for David Hyder and Soma for Matt we have Billy Jean who's sponsored by Billy Jean King and Elana Klos we have Jamie Jeff Chris and Greg our top folks and executive producers and it's over to Matt for shout outs we have Jim Session who is in
Australia hello Jim and Jim says that he once met Novak Djokovic at a football match in Melbourne when he was a young academy player just before the 2014 Australian Open Jim says he was great value in our brief conversation stating he was envious as he'd love to be a footballer 10 years later he's
winning Grand Slam's while I'm a washed up hack playing five aside on Tuesday nights so we're talking soccer rather than AFL yes soccer yeah great Jim right Jim career yes the one and only thank you Jim we also have and this is perfect Donna Shepherd oh hello Donna like the one and only the one and only also Donna Kelsey the WG Supervisor yep very good yes Donna has three dogs all rescues yeah Donna yeah and she she spent her adult life in Africa calling Kenya home for the past decade
marvelous hello Donna and thank you next Donna and finally we have a very special shout out for Kevin Lanky and Kevin is in our Wimbledon predictions competition in the newsletter isn't doing quite well middling mid how are we doing you're doing quite well I think and Kevin was also
able to spend today on court one with his wife Steph and Kevin was was in our crowd at the start of the show Kevin and Kevin would also like to shout out his parents Mike and Betty for their support of Kevin and Steph's tennis adventures Kevin says that they purchase the tennis podcast predictions
package as a birthday present for him and he wants to thank everyone in the predictions chat WhatsApp group which is buzzing all day for a wonderful experience and I'm so glad Kevin Kevin had a great I think he's had a week long trip to London and a trip today to Wimbledon and even
man has to get on center core at the end so he's had a he's had a great Wimbledon experience that is incredibly uplifting Kevin thank you please don't beat me in the predictions competition I'm finally on a good run it's but I know how it feels now to be Maria Sakari like having a
lead to defend not even an absolute lead just a not being in the bottom two type lead so it feels very perilous it's not good having something to lose um Kevin thank you thank you to all of our shout out friends friends the tennis podcast if you'd like to become a friend get
access to the barge which was positively rocking today and yesterday then the link to do that is in our show notes as is the link to subscribe to the newsletter which is where you can follow king of the naughtys questions soon to be administered to our two contestants camera my Matthew and David
Law so do subscribe to the newsletter and do hit like and subscribe if you are with us live on YouTube right now and if you're listening to the podcast and would like to check out the YouTube go to our YouTube channel what you laughing at Matt camera Matthew's face
poking out to the darkness camera Matthew right folks let's get the show off the road we'll see you and speak to tomorrow after what used to be manic Monday is now just what's going on today sounds great doesn't it join us on wet Monday will speak to you tomorrow
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