Live from Wimbledon on Media Day - what's the story with Sinner?

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Hello and welcome to the tennis podcast live from Wimbledon on the Championships Eve Eve. That is what we are calling it. The place has been... A little bit buzzier today, a few more of the outside courts being used for practice, more people milling about, staff being trained, ready for Monday, security being briefed. I've seen briefings all about the place, that kind of thing.

calm before the storm energy at Wimbledon today except for here on the broadcast roof where it's been it's been middle of the storm energy here on the broadcast roof and in the media centre hasn't it literally hundreds of players passing through the media centre, stopping to do press conferences, one-on-one print interviews, radio interviews with people like us, fun social bits and bobs. I think we accidentally...

photo bombed some Emma Raducanu content earlier that you might see us in the background of. Big broadcast interviews as well. It's been... chaos up here and we can't wait to talk about it all on today's show hello if you're with us live hello if you're taking part in the live chat hannah is there vicky is there if you're listening to us as a podcast hello as well and do check us out live YouTube every night as well if that is your jam. Matt.

you got to enjoy a Grand Slam Media Day without being stood up by Amanda Anissimova. What a treat. Only because he didn't ask. Yeah, I've learnt my lesson. Yeah, French Open Media Day was defined by... not doing an interview that I was expecting to do and today was defined by...

doing an interview that I wasn't expecting to do. What a fantastic tease from Matt. Matt and I have a story for later in the show, folks, and I don't think it'll disappoint. We're still processing something that happened earlier. on in the day david you did um italian media a favor today by speaking to matteo berrettini at some length i did yeah i i'd requested um matteo berrettini for tennis podcast mates for friends of the tennis podcast

which will be going out in the next day or so. And, you know, it came up with a yes, but it was going to be part of a sort of media huddle, a sort of media conference, because there was more interest than just me, you know, and he didn't want to keep doing the same interview twice or similar ones. And I was helped out personally by the fact that the Italian media, who also wanted to speak to him, were already speaking to Lorenzo Sonego.

But actually, I then stepped in because the moderators were all saying, well, what are we going to do with Berrettini? All the Italian media are in Sonico and he's on his way. And I said... I can talk to him in English. I'm available for a chat. I'm quite happy to help you out if you'd like. And sure enough, off we went into a little side room and had a lovely chat. Which is very indicative of how Media Day...

It is, isn't it? Honestly, you'll be standing in the hub in there and you'll turn around and there'll be a Wimbledon champion behind you just sort of stood there looking a bit like a rabbit in the headlights, waiting to be... shunted into a room like it's yeah it's it's a bit wild yeah i was told there were over 900 requests wow wow so

No wonder it was chaos at times. Only about five of those was from us. Yeah, I think we were responsible with our requests. We're a part of the problem, but only a small part of the problem. We've spoken to a lot of tennis players today.

So one-on-ones and we've been to all the significant press conferences as well. So let's get right into it. And let's start, I think, with the men's world number one, Yannick Sinner, because a lot of people in the room today in the media... theatre the main big press conference room which has a real sense of well sense of theatre about it doesn't it it's dark in there it's it's lit like a theatre there's some real real grandeur and everyone in there today

Well, a lot of people in there today had the same question for Yannick Sinner. Why have you sacked your trainer and physio a week out from Wimbledon? Was that question answered, David? Not really, no. And bear in mind, these are a trainer and physio that he's only had with him for, what, six or eight months, something like that, since the whole debacle of his previous physical... team conspiring effectively to have him get a ban.

by accidental means, rubbing this cream into his back that had a banned substance in. He's missed three months of the tour. So he dispenses with them and he hires Novak Djokovic's team, basically, to look after him physically. Good hire. These are guys that have had a lot of success with Novak Djokovic in terms of Grand Slam titles won. It had started really well with them as well over the last few months. And then suddenly we get word...

reports that they are no longer part of the team. So yeah, the first three questions of the press conference were about that specific subject. He absolutely said, yes, that is the case. They no longer work with me. We've had some good times. Nothing really big happened, is what he kind of said. And that was pursued. And he was asked, well, why then? Or something along those lines. And he kind of gave this sort of, well, sometimes these things happen type of line. I asked him...

when did you make this decision? And he said, after Haller. So he's confirmed that that is literally a week ago that he's made this decision. And so we don't know why, really. yet something has happened. You don't do that. You don't dispense with such people of pedigree on the eve of a Grand Slam unless... There's something up. And people in those kind of roles as well, like a physio and a trainer. It's quite hard to imagine a situation where you would need...

where you'd want to get rid of them urgently. You couldn't just hold on for the sake of stability until the end of a grand slam. Something has to have... happened here and I suppose it's pretty pointless speculating about what it what it might be because it could be anything but you know there was no kind of

Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray-style platitudes about deepening friendships. I do feel like there's a story there and it's tantalising. Yeah, and even the way the news... came out like if it was completely amicable you would have thought that he would have put out like a nice statement announcing it and really thanking them as it was he gave like a throwaway line in the press conference obviously thanks to them we did some good work together but actually you know

He wasn't really showing much warmth towards them. in the press conference and with the way this news has come out, you have to think that, OK, he said nothing crazy has happened. But Yannick Sinner, if something crazy had happened, Yannick Sinner would not come in and say something crazy happened, guys. That is just not Yannick Sinner, is it? He made a doping band sound pretty well in the middle, didn't he, with the way you talked about it? Yeah. Something acute has obviously happened, I think.

And look, it's thinking about this tournament. He actually finds himself in a similar situation that he was in at the US Open, where he'd got rid of his former team, as David said, just before that. He then played that tournament with Darren Cahill, with Simone, his other coach. I'm not actually sure.

who else was with him at the US Open. Maybe he was using tour physios or something. And look, he won that tournament. So in terms of the impact that it might have... on him as we kind of always talk about with sinner the way he's managed to withstand everything that's happened in the last year and keep winning you have to think that

it's probably not going to have a huge impact on him on this tournament. And I do think the work he did with that team has been good. I mean, I think he is physically stronger than he was. I mean, we saw how great he was playing after five and a half hours in the... in the Roland Garros final. It is just very, very interesting. And I agree, I don't really think we got answers today. And it's hard to think that this was related to anything.

you know, the shock lost to Bublik in Haller because he said today, didn't he, that I feel fine now, I'm ready, my head's in the right place. It wasn't in Haller. He said, Haller, there was a hangover from Roland Garros. Very, very understandable.

I mean, it was quite a wild press conference generally, wasn't it, from Riannick Sinner for such an un-wild man. When I say un-wild man, topics of conversation included... His partnership with Emma Navarro, more on that in a moment. His partnership with Gucci. His partnership with Andrea, I've written Bolelli. That's not a person. Bocelli. That's the love child of Simone Bocelli and Andrea Bocelli. Yes, his partnership with Andrea.

Bocelli, just to push my agenda here a little bit, if this were a female player and that was the nonsense that they were doing away from the tennis court, a duet with Andrea Bocelli, some hoo-ha with... Gucci and well those two things are enough but can you imagine what the narrative would be? Too much going on off the court. Too much going on off the court. Too many deals. Too many music videos. Too many distractions. Yeah, anyway.

I think my favourite part of the Bocelli stuff was when he said congrats to him and his team. I've written that in. That's what was distracting me when I started talking about Simone Bolelli accidentally. He started talking about Andrea Bocelli. It was so funny. Yes, so that was the obligatory question about the Andrea Bocelli team-up.

which he still is unable to explain, isn't he? He can't make that make any sense to anybody. He's just like, yeah, it was great. It was a lovely thing. Congrats to him and his team. Gucci, yeah, he talked about how he likes the colours. Emma Navarro, though. This was so fun. This was incredible. It is now incredibly clear to us and I think to everybody that... The US Open picked these mixed doubles pairings. Yannick Sinner had never spoken to Emma Navarro until yesterday. Yeah. Yeah.

He said it was very unexpected to be partnered with Navarro. He said he'd never met her. They texted a little bit. But only after they'd been put together. and he said the choice was not big in terms of who he was going to play with. They were both left on the shelf. And there was a follow-up, you know, was this essentially some matchmaking for the US Open? And he said...

Yeah, that's what's happened. And he said, I'm very happy to be playing with her. And we did a bit of, you know, joking about, oh, she's going to have to put up with my volleys. The usual. Yeah. Oh, it's so funny. Yeah, it was a real moment. Yeah, I mean, I don't quite know why Yannick Sinner had, you know, such last pick. Maybe they... put it to certain definites that they knew wanted to play and that they wanted to play and they went for you know

I can't even think who these partnerships are anymore. Well, Paolini is with Musetti. Yeah, I mean, there's probably some obvious ones. Which is the kind of obvious person you might... And then you... I mean, let me put it to you. Who would you suggest Yannick Sinner plays mixed up? Well, you could have Sinner and Sabalenka, the world number ones in defending champions. Sabalenka's in with Dimitrov. Okay. He'll probably withdraw. Right.

Yeah, that's off the top of my head. Give me 30 seconds and I can find a few other than Sinner and Navarro, David. Okay, almost everyone else. Someone he's spoken to before. Generally...

How do we feel? What have we learned about Yannickson as prospects at this tournament from that press conference? Great, OK. I mean, nothing. Other than I think he's feeling good. There was one moment where I saw him, he was chatting. to Lee McKenzie, who does the on-court interviews, does those really well.

You know, the players get a bit of rapport with people in those sort of roles. And at the end, they did an interview here next to us. And afterwards, she just said, oh, see you on court. And he goes, yeah. And he goes, oh, if I win. Because, of course, you've got to actually win a match in order to speak to her on the court. Which I thought was just a little insight into, A, how their minds have to work. You know, they have to... see the potential for losing.

to have a little bit of jeopardy, I think. And I really believe that that's what they do. They make themselves scared of the potential so that they're absolutely bang on it.

OK, Carlos Alcaraz also impressed today. Matt, you went to this one. Did we learn anything about Carlos Alcaraz other than it's fun being Carlos Alcaraz, which we definitely already knew? Yeah, honestly, there wasn't too much to come out of this. press conference he was in a great mood of course he gave a lovely answer about you know why he loves playing on grass so much

I think he just really appreciates the style of play that comes up on grass and he was listing it and it was all the things that he likes doing. The game makes so much sense for him on this surface. And then there was a funny moment right at the end of the press conference where he'd said earlier in it that one of the things he'd done post-Queens was playing golf with Andy Murray. Of course, because...

Andy Murray's golf-obsessed. Andy will play with anybody who's up for it at the moment. Give him a call, David. I think he wants good partners. Not me. You're pretty good, David. And you forgot your clubs. That's more of a problem. It would be embarrassing to turn up to golf with Andy Murray not having any clubs, I think. David is a specialist at getting out of a bunker.

That is true. Yeah. I've seen it with my own eyes. Just seen on your left foot, right? Yeah. So Andy, if it's just you and me in the bunker, I fancy my chances. That's getting clipped up. Okay, Matt, as you were. Well, as he was leaving the press conference, a journalist just shouted at him, who won the golf? And he said, Andy. But I let him win. Yeah, because Andy's spending like 16 hours a day working on his golf, isn't he?

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. That's a nice moment. But we didn't learn anything about... Oh, he's fine. I mean, we don't need to learn anything about Alcoraz, do we? Sometimes we want to read into press conferences. We don't need to read into that Carlos Alcrest press conference. Can I tell you one thing I learned today about Carlos Alcrest by association, Catherine? Yes, please. At the end of my interview with Matteo Berrettini, so I've had lovely six or seven minutes with him.

And then, you know, you press getting clipped up as well. A little montage. You press stop. on the recorder. We're on our way out. And I said, and he'd been talking, as part of the interview, he was talking about Sinner and Alcaraz, which was nice, really interesting to get a fellow professional's viewpoint on them.

And then at the end, as we're walking off, and he was talking about how long that match was the other day, five and a half hours, and he couldn't believe what he was seeing and all the rest of it. And so when we were walking out, I said, by the way, you're still the only person who's actually beaten Carlos Arcaraz in a fifth set. And he goes, yeah, yeah, I knew that because he told me. When?

I don't know, but it sounds like it's quite recent. But Carlos Alcaraz, it appears, has told Matteo Berrettini, you're the only bloke who's beat me in five sets. It definitely checks out to me that Carlos Alcaraz absolutely... knows that like that record is at the forefront of his mind yeah and my read would be that like next time he finds himself in a fifth set with Matteo Berrettini if he does

He's definitely going to be putting that record straight. He wants to sort of wipe the slate there. I'd have thought so. Okay.

Novak Djokovic, I feel like we did learn a lot about how he's feeling, what his prospects might be at this tournament. David, he was bullish, he was relaxed, he was chatty. This press conference started with a... sort of theatrical exchange between him and Narina Sabalenka who were back to back in the main press conference room and yeah they did a they did a cutesy little thing at the start

didn't they, to demonstrate how relaxed they both are. Djokovic does like those, doesn't he? We've seen quite a lot of that. There's often quite a lot of that between Djokovic and Sabalenka. They were doing that dance-off at Roland Garros, weren't they, when they came off the courts? Yes. Didn't they practice here together? Yeah, and they spent half an hour chatting after that practice, apparently. Oh, wow. Yeah, I think they're...

I mean, they go to the pub together, but I think they are sort of friends in the way that tennis players are friends. He... He was a real open book today, David, wasn't he, Djokovic? Unfortunately, his answers are so long. I mean, they're good. They're really good answers and he really opens up, but they're so long.

There was only time for four questions, and I felt like, God, he's in such... You were speaking for 15 minutes. ...effusive mood today. It was a shame not to be able to put more stuff to him, but we did learn a lot from... from what he said he's he he said categorically yes I would agree that Wimbledon is my best chance of winning number 25 and interestingly he carried on that sentence

to say because of motivation. Not because I have an edge on grass over most other players, but because he... I mean, he's made very clear, hasn't he, that it's the slams that count, and he doesn't really give any hoots at all outside of the slams. But it sounds like Wimbledon, above all the others, is where he's most motivated. And I think we learned that last year, quite frankly, because the fact he even played Wimbledon last year...

so soon after the knee surgery with the Olympics on the horizon. I remember we were speculating sort of just before Wilmington last year, we'll... Will he even play? Would he skip Wimbledon to prioritise the Olympics? And look, winning the Olympic gold was everything to him. But... He also made sure he played Wimbledon. He was never going to skip that to try and achieve something else. Wimbledon is huge for him. His most successful slam is obviously Australia, but I think...

the sort of connection that he feels with Wimbledon is perhaps stronger here than even there. He said, I like the way I feel right now physically. And you could tell, couldn't you, in the way he was carrying himself. I was really... taken by that and and that was actually part of his very long answer to my question which um

I didn't think I phrased quite well enough because it meant that he ended up going around the houses a little bit, but he actually got to a really good answer in the end there. I mean, what I was trying to... talk to him about is what's it like to be hunting again rather than the hunted you know you've got Alcraz and Sinner there the way you used to have Nadal and Federer almost and

I was trying to think, or do you feel like that? Or do you feel like, actually, hold on a minute. I'm the bloke with 24 grand slams. I'm still the man here. And I got the sense that he's totally respectful of Sinner and Alcaraz and he knows how good they are and he does want to... He does want to achieve as much. He wants to beat them, but he said it's about records for me now. I'm playing for records, really, and to see what I can do and to get the last whatever is left out of me.

Then he transitioned into how he feels right now, and he was very clear that... I feel good on that practice court. And if I think back 12 months ago, that press conference, that same press conference was dominated by his knee. And how on earth he managed to get surgery between the French Open and Wimbledon to play it, let alone go and reach the final, is truly one of the astonishing things.

He was tense in that press conference a year ago. The room was tense. It was an inquisition about one body part, really. This time it's just... It's just not a consideration. He doesn't feel injured. He's not talking about injury. He looks fresh. He looks ready. And he did say, look, that doesn't mean...

that everything's going to go well in the tournament. But I get the sense that it couldn't be going better on the practice court. Yeah, absolutely. It was very interesting, that press conference, as was Jack Draper's. He...

As I kind of always am with Jack Draper, very impressed with the way he talked and the maturity of how he talked. He talked a lot about the process of learning to take responsibility for himself and his actions. He talked about... almost not quite being unprofessional, but he talked about the process of going through the time when all of his mates from school were going off to uni. And he said...

Use a nice turn of phrase, he said kind of extending their childhoods, whereas I was thrust into a very adult world of responsibility and hard work, whereas, you know, first year of uni is... It's a bit of a joke, isn't it? So kind of when he was pushing his absolute hardest to make a go of being a professional... professional tennis player his his mates are going off and doing doing freshers week and he said

I mean, I've never thought of Jack Draper as ever having had a problem with professionalism and hard work. I feel like that's the area that he's always had down. kind of indicated that that's been a process he kept saying I've really had to learn to take responsibility for myself myself and my actions and and my choices I did think his his energy was quite tense

even though he was saying the right things. But then how could it not be? How could he not be wired? He knows he's going into that press conference. He's going to be thrown a load of... british tabloid questions which are are an experience aren't they like there's a real art to it and yeah more on those later yeah absolutely but I don't necessarily think it's a reflection of how he's feeling about his tennis. I just think he's...

He's aware of the situation and being the man. Incidentally, he was asked about, I referenced on last night's show, the treatment he seemed to be getting during practice the other day, which looked quite... unusual yeah um he works with a breathing coach it was his breathing coach and she was sort of behind him with her

with her arms around him. And it makes total sense now what that photo was of, now that he said that that's what it was. And he said it helps with, I mean, breathwork helps with everything, doesn't it? Oxygen is life, but obviously helps with... anxiety and heat stress as well because breathing can be affected by intense heat and it is going to be intensely hot here on Monday. That has been a bit of a theme.

Throughout the day, actually, players from Florida being bemused and amused by questions about how hot it's going to be here on Monday. They're like... Get a life, everyone. Yes, you're right. I forgot to mention the bit in the Alcres press conference. There was a lot of comments on sweat. Okay. Alcres was a bit like... I'll be fine. So that's Jack Draper. How was his tonsillitis? Fine. He says that's fine. Yeah, he did reveal how tough queens had been.

He really had been struggling with that all week and he was just desperate to do well there and kind of put a lot of pressure on himself to fight through it. But his voice was fine. That seems to be behind him. in a stress test situation, who knows? But for now, that all seems OK. David, Matt, I think you both went to the press conference of his scheduled...

third round opponent, Alexander Bublik. I didn't have the guts to do that because I find him terrifying. So please report back. I do too. I had a one-on-one with him. Yeah, and you said he was really eggy. He was a bit. Yeah, and I was struck by that in the press conference as well. I thought he was sort of rejecting the premise of questions put to him.

He seemed, I thought he seemed quite tense, actually, compared to, like, I think we think of Bublik as this, you know, bit of a loose cannon. And... A, I think that's wrong. I don't think that is him. But he seemed a bit tight. This is the first time. He's really been taken seriously as a tennis player coming into a Grand Slam, as a prospect, as a threat.

This is different for Alexander Bublik. Yeah, I think it is different, and I think he's at pains to sort of make out that it's not, really. But I also think he... I think he finds it all quite boring talking about tennis and prospects and potential. I just think he thinks it's all a load of nonsense. Let's just get on with the tournament. And I think if you were to take him... off-piste with questions.

that weren't about his prospects of winning this thing or of going far. I think he'd probably lighten up quite a bit more, if they were good, or if he thought they were good. He can be difficult. I thought it came across as a little bit of a defence mechanism because he was asked about that. It's different. And he just kind of rejected it. And he really played down the Sinner win.

And again, look, the stuff he was saying makes sense. He was saying, you know, Sinner's not himself in that round of that tournament. But also, like, no one else had beaten Sinner in... that round of those sorts of tournaments it was special what he did and I don't know I I felt like I think he is feeling that

people are talking about him differently and that his results have been the best they've kind of been in this little period. But he's kind of not really owning all that. It was quite interesting. I can't wait to hear... David's chat with him. David's one-on-one. Yeah. There's a moment at the end, which I'm excited to hear, that David has described to us. Well, yeah. David getting fed up with his egginess. I decided to challenge it a little bit.

I'm excited, David, very excited. Two final men's players from today that I wanted to touch upon before we move on to the women. Two very different press conferences. David, you were in both of them. The number three seed, Alexander Zverev, impressed today. Are you with the only one that went to this? How did you find him? I mean, it's honestly, it could have been any press conference that I've been to all year with him, really, since the Australian Open, where...

He talks up his chances. He likes the way his game's trending. But I get the sense that this is... He's trying to build himself up a bit because everybody else in the room is thinking, hold on. look how many people have beaten you in the last four months. There's so many people that have beaten you. And yes, he'll often point to his title in... Munich, or he'll talk about his run to the final in Halle. Yeah, but you... Or was it Stuttgart? Stuttgart. And I'm thinking, yeah, but...

then you lost to Taylor Fritz. And then he'll talk about his semi-final in Hallow. Yeah, but you lost to Daniel Medvedev. And I'm not saying that you can't lose matches.

But he's talking as though, I mean, he says, look, I'm still ranked three in the world. I'm still three in the race. You don't feel like you're three in the race. That was six months ago, mate, when you... routes to the final of the Australian Open that's really why you're three in the race because I'd like to know what the race would be if it was from February onwards I'd quite like somebody to do the maths on that

But I understand it. You know, he's coming in. What's he going to say? I'm playing rubbish. I have been for months, and I've got no chance. He's not going to say that, and I totally understand that. But do you think he believes what he's saying? Do you think his internal monologue is the same, or do you think... I think he believes it consciously, but I think the problem is when he's getting out there...

suddenly it's just not quite there. He hasn't got the inherent banked confidence that he had a year ago. When he arrived here a year ago, and I remember asking him about whether he actually thought... he could go deep here and and he said actually this is the first time i've really thought that i could and i believed him

I believed him then. And actually, don't forget, he was two sets up on Fritz here a year ago, playing well. I mean, I know we sometimes kind of say, well, you talked about the injury. Well, you weren't injured when you played him in the US Open. But actually...

I think he was injured here a year ago and I think that that probably is why he lost to Taylor Fritz so he could well have done big things here a year ago that he didn't end up going on to do as a result of that I don't get the sense that he's in that mind

How could he be in that mindset? He hasn't had the wins of late. Last player on the men's side to touch upon from press today. Very different experience, David. You and I were both in... the room for this. And for me, it was my moment of the day, the Dan Evans press conference. It was incredibly moving. Yeah. Incredibly. It was a pretty run-of-the-mill press conference.

He's got a good relationship with the media, as Dan Evans, particularly the British media, many of whom we know him. And he's... He's very relaxed with them and there was a moment where the son's Rob Moore walked in about two minutes late and Dan just quietly looked at his watch and then looked at Rob and sort of, you know, took the mick. And then Rob made him cry later in the press conference.

kind of penultimate question in the press conference about is it Wimbledon that is kind of kept you going in the last few months knowing that you know and now you've had a bit of form and he started to talk about that and within a few words he was his eyes were filling with tears and he and he he was clearly taken by surprise that he was

getting emotional and he says i don't know what i'm why i'm so upset about this i don't know why i'm getting so upset but i think that it's just that you know i keep looking at my wife who's travelling with me and I keep looking at my dad and they're all trying to support me and they're telling me you can still do it and they believe in me and I'm wondering whether they really do. It was kind of like that because you can tell that he's had his own doubts.

And he's not been playing at a level that he's used to. And he says that just makes you think it's hard. It's hard to keep doing the training and wondering whether you've still got it. And I think the last couple of weeks where he's actually had some wins and had some performances have made him realise that it's still there. kept him up at night you can tell it's really worried him and made him feel I think insecure as a player and

He says, I'm not worried about retirement. It's not that. I think it's just facing up to kind of his tennis mortality. Well, he said, didn't he, it's not retirement. I'm not afraid of retirement. He's afraid of this limbo zone of should I be retired? Should I be retiring? Have I not got it anymore? Have I not got it?

Is everybody around me, are they just telling me what I want to hear? And privately they're thinking, give it up, Dan. You don't have it anymore. And he's very aware of what people are sacrificing for him to... continue to do to do this i mean his lip starts wobbling whenever he talks about his wife doesn't it it's quite a thing to be in a room full of people like we were it's a small very intimate room yeah it's three rows of chairs maybe 20 chairs and they're all filled

You can suddenly hear a pin drop because a guy is crying in front of you. You weren't expecting that. I think everybody feels for him a bit in that moment, and I thought he handled it really well. It was good. He also was quite happy to talk about the fact that he knows...

the prize for winning round one is not only a bunch of ranking points that he desperately needs. I tiptoed into the question, Matt. You did, David. Have you seen your draw? But you also know Dan Evans well enough to know that he... I said, some players, Dan, don't like to look at who their next round might be. He goes, I know. I hadn't even finished the question yet. I mean, he plays Jay Clark, and if he wins that, he's likely to be playing Novak Djokovic.

I mean, he's clearly pumped about the prospector's knee. It's having the chance to have a crack at Novak Djokovic, particularly after all the months of playing in goodness knows where and not playing anybody of that ilk. He said it would be... a brilliant ending to the grass court season. And then he corrected himself and he said, not that it would be an ending. Yeah. Which was, it was a real moment, a real poignant moment. He's one of those...

that just makes you feel than Evans. So it's going to be hard not to root for him, I think. If you've been watching the Grand Slams lately you might have noticed the Blue Owl logo on the shirts of some of today's most exciting up-and-coming players. Blue Owl Capital is the global asset manager redefining alternatives and now supporting tennis players redefining the game.

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To learn more about Blue Owl, visit blueowl.com slash investing. That's blue like the colour and owllakthebird.com slash investing. One last time, blueowl.com slash investing. Now, back to the tennis. BetterHelp Online Therapy bought this 30-second ad to remind you, right now, wherever you are, to unclench your jaw. Relax your shoulders. Take a deep breath in and out. Feels better, right? That's 15 seconds of self-care. Imagine what you could do with more.

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On to the women's draw and the WTA players that came through the press conference. room today by the way if you're with us on YouTube do smash that like and subscribe button let's start with the women's number one like we did with the men's and Irina Sabalenka This was, she's getting better and better in press. This was a really, really good press conference following on from, okay, look, her final press conference in Roland Garros was really good for the wrong...

but it was an incredibly open press conference, albeit a very, very controversial one. And I wondered how she would be when talking. about that i wondered if she would feel like look i've i've owned it i've apologized i've done a tiktok with coco goff that's put to bed stop asking me about it it's done And she wasn't. She really wasn't defensive about it. I'm pleased to hear that. She was asked whether she felt that the reaction had been...

or whether she was annoyed at some of the reaction, particularly in the US press. I think it's been bad in the US, perhaps even worse than I realised. I think she might be a bit anxious, in fact, about... what's going to happen when she goes to New York. But that's, you know, worry for another day. And a worry for Grigol Dimitrov, her mixed doubles partner. But, yeah, she said, I deserved it. You know, I did the crime. I need to do...

I need to do the time. And I've learned a lot from it about myself. And it didn't just feel like boilerplate apology. I'm sure she has had PR advice about it, don't get me wrong at all, but it felt pretty genuine and human to me. It didn't feel like boilerplate. I apologise for any hurt that I've caused. Kind of say the things you need to say, tick that box to hopefully get everyone to sweep it under the carpet and move on. I found it impressive. And I think...

That, to me, is going to be the most fascinating element of all this. Like, yes, she's learned something about herself, but, like, can she change it? Because I think we're in a, you know... My instinct is she's so far developed now, she's so far into her career, and my instinct is this is a situation where her vice is also her virtue, you know?

That sort of attitude that she had in the press conference is one of the fundamental reasons why she's managed to get as good as she's got. Because she does own these...

matches and think that she has all the power in them and all of that kind of thing. But there are one or two occasions where it holds her back. And if she can get that balance right... then and she can learn from this that will be the ultimate for her like because I've absolutely no doubt that she's gonna keep playing with that same sort of confidence but

If she can learn from that sort of experience that she had against Coco Gauff and take that into potentially future matches, well, then she'll probably be thankful for this entire episode because it will probably make her even stronger. So I think... I believe her when she says that she feels like she's learned from it. She really hopes it doesn't happen again. But whether you can actually change something that's so fundamental about yourself now, I'm not so sure.

I asked her whether she was keen to face Coco Gauff in another Grand Slam final or whether there's no one she'd less like to face in a Grand Slam final than Coco Gauff. And she liked the question. It wasn't something she'd given thought to, but she really, really did give thought to it in the moment. And she kind of gave both answers. She said, on one hand, yes, I...

I would like to face her for revenge. And obviously, on the other hand, you know, I've lost two of these to her. It would be a nightmare. But I found, like, I found the most... interesting thing about this answer, Matt, I think you've read the transcript, is how she interpreted the question. Because I meant just from a competitive point of view, do you want to get revenge on Coco Gauff, lay the ghost to rest, prove to yourself?

that you can beat her in a grandstand final. She interpreted it as, would you like to kind of prove that you can be a magnanimous loser against Coco Gauff? Would you like to put those... PR ghosts to rest almost which was very revealing of how much that

has been on her mind and continues to be on her mind, I think. Totally. And that's why her answer was a little confusing. Because she interpreted it that way, her answer was, yes, I would like to... prove that I can sort of lose differently but actually no I don't want to lose to her so it was she didn't really know whether to say kind of yes or no but absolutely I think it's fascinating what you've picked up on there in terms of her mind going to that rather than

the actual tennis. And incidentally, the theme of being a good or bad loser, particularly in... Grand Slam finals has been a real theme throughout the press conferences today and the fact that tennis is the only sport that requires... the loser in those moments to stay on court and watch the person that's beaten them receive the trophy and then have a microphone shoved under their nose. It's one of those things that's just...

That's what tennis does, so you don't question it. But other sports don't do that. Yeah. So, look, I'm not giving her a free pass on what happened after Roland Garros, but I think you can be understanding without.

without kind of totally forgiving it and saying it's all fine. Coco Gough was asked a lot about it as well, as you can imagine. And yeah, this was really interesting. She says she's...

she struck a really great balance of being like, I'm not holding a grudge, everything's fine. But it wasn't fine. I was pissed off. Yeah, and she was kind of asked whether she was tempted at all to clap back a little bit and give some back. And she goes... I was a bit, and I think if the apology, because she says the apology wasn't immediate.

She said, I was expecting it to come sooner. Yeah, but I think once it came and when she realised it was genuine, and she'd sort of talked, I think, privately to people and thought, well, you know...

If she reaches out to me and apologises to me directly, I'm going to accept it and we're going to move on because, you know, I don't want to be that kind of person. I don't want to carry that around. And she says, you know, we'd always... got on okay before and and whatnot but yeah i i thought i thought i'd just come out of it as usual feeling wow she's so she's so cool um but

Yeah, they've diffused it to as far as they can with PR. I still want to see them play again, and I'm sorry, I don't see... it being a non-issue the way they suggest it will be, because I do think Sabalenka could play inhibited tennis as a result of this against Coco Gauff for the next time they meet. Or... She could just be who she is normally and it could kick off again. Yeah, I want that too. Some other moments from Gough's press conference, she came in clutching...

one of these strawberries. She did indeed. And I had a rush of blood to the head. You thought David Law asked Yannick Sinner about carrots? If David can ask Yannick Sinner about carrots, then I can ask Coco Gough about a strawberry. So Matt... You need to ask a player about fruit and veg at the US Open. I would say consider it done, but actually no. Amanda, what's your favourite? We obviously had Jude the Bear last year, named after Jude Bellingham. The football was happening.

We got carried away. We need a name for our strawberry here, so we are open to submissions. We could wait for the women's Euros to get underway. That was my suggestion. Yeah, but I feel like we need a name now. Jude was very sort of organic in the moment. I think a female name. Personally. For anybody listening as a podcast, we've got a squishy, cuddly bear strawberry on the table as our sort of mascot available from the Wimbledon shop. When's the Euros start? Soon.

Tuesday, I think. Coco did not enjoy, well, did not really rate the name that the... Kid had come up with. It was a tough moment for this kid. She said, oh, a kid just handed it to me. I think it was one of the little social media bits that they've been doing. She said she wanted to call it Straub, but I'm not having that. She said, I'm going to rename it. I'll give it some thought and I'll...

I'll let you know. So we're open to submissions from both you, the listener, and from Coco Gough. She talked about women playing best of five sets in slams, David. Yes, and she wasn't completely averse to it, but also, you know, I didn't think she was that bothered about it. And I asked her as a follow-up, would you... Would you like women's tennis at mixed men's and women's events to start playing the finals sometimes on a Sunday?

Because if you think about it, it just doesn't happen. It's not a thing. And would you like women's tennis to be the final chapter of a Grand Slam? And she acknowledged that. It would give the game more oxygen to have the stage and to be talked about more. And it's denied at the moment.

Inevitably she comes back to the scheduling problem of five sets versus three sets and how would you make that work and I think that that's the problem all of tennis just is convinced that you can't do that because women play three sets and men play five so it's structurally impossible in the current setup so fine change the setup and then you can change that bit too because let's be honest it is absolutely absurd that

You never have women's tennis finishing tennis tournaments, ever, unless they're playing just women's tennis tournaments. And she acknowledged that at the Masters 1000, where they play three sets, they should be doing it. And just on that...

subject area. I spoke to Anz Jaber today. Well, Anz Jaber came to do a general press conference and then I got the chance to do a one-on-one with her afterwards, which was pretty... extraordinary really that'll be going out as part of tennis podcast meets the show for friends that'll be up tomorrow but she did a press conference as well and she was asked a lot about the post that she made the incredibly heartfelt

A powerful post that she made, and brave, during the French Open in response to the lack of... Well, she was very clear, actually, this wasn't just about the night session. She said this was about total disrespect across the board.

of women's players. And she said, she expressed a bit of disappointment that more players hadn't spoken up. I think she singled out Coco Gough as kind of... being the one to always stand with her on stuff like this and be prepared to put her head above the parapet, she made it very clear that Amélie Muresmo in the French Open had not said anything.

to her after she she made that statement not approached her not tried to have a conversation nothing um and i asked her in our one-on-one whether she would be interested in the idea of a boycott And, yeah, become a friend of the podcast if you want to find out what she said. But, yeah, it was quite a tough press conference in a lot of ways with Anne Chabert. She's not in a great place. She's not in a great place. I mean, there's the emotional damage that...

that the two final losses did to her here. In particular, that second one, I really feel like it's the wonderage of a loss that haunts her. But the injuries, the injuries as well, like... I was just looking at her thinking, you were the minister of happiness. Yeah, it was tough. There was lightness in there as well, but there was a lot of darkness too. I just...

Look, I don't think she has a run in her hair, but just a moment or two to recapture some of what she's had here at this tournament would be very popular.

I think. And just since Marketa von Drosheva has come up, Matt. Shall we talk about that? Let's talk about that. That was the interview I wasn't expecting to do that I ended up doing with you. Yeah. Yeah. What actually happened was that I was worried that I was accidentally going to end up in a Kamenori press conference. No offense. Which is a danger when times move and you suddenly think...

I don't need to be in this press conference. I'll leave it. I'll leave that to the Brits to do that. Came out of that room and... Standing in front of us was Marketa Vondroshova, the Wimbledon champion from two years ago. Looking a bit lost. Looking completely lost in this jumble of people up in the area.

And she was taken into interview room seven, which is as small as it sounds. I didn't know there were seven. I thought it ended at six. And she was taken in there and she sat down and the door was left open. I was looking at it like, it's Margetta von Trochler. She's just won a title. She won this title two years ago.

just sat in a room on her own sat in a room on her own and like no sign of anyone going to that press conference at all no checks around so we were like let's go in we've got to go in

Yeah, and thank goodness we did. I couldn't be more proud. Because it was fantastic. Yeah, we had a 10-minute 2-1-1 with Marquesa Vondrosha. That can go in the montage. And actually it was like... you know even on her title run here she was in the main press conference room and there are a lot of times where you know I don't think she's that comfortable in the main press conference room and she was winning the tournament and yet it didn't really feel like

we were necessarily getting all that much out of her and that's that's fine she just I don't think was particularly comfortable in that in that environment but She was so comfortable in this environment, in the smaller press conference room when the attention's off her. And it kind of fits exactly who she is as a tennis player as well. When you're not thinking about her, she can do her best stuff.

Most players, let alone players that have won a Grand Slam, let alone players that have won this very Grand Slam that we're at two years ago, would have had their ego bruised by that situation. by two tennis podcasters taking pity on you because you're in a room and no one's shown up. And she wasn't at all. No, she loved it. She loved it.

She loved it. It's so great. I can't wait to hear it. I haven't thought of her as a great talker before. I haven't thought, oh, I mustn't miss a Marquette von Droshofer press conference. But in the circumstances, she was really interesting. We talked dogs. She's got a new dog. More on that in tennis podcast meets. Emma Raducanu, I wanted to mention.

She came into press. She was one of the last players in after Carlos Alcaraz. And she was asked about Carlos Alcaraz, Matt. Yes, she was asked. by those British tabloids that we mentioned. Wimbledon is wild. It is. There's a lot of British tabloids and they are what you think they are. They basically formulate the headline that they want.

And put it to the player and say, would you say this? There's a lot of rumours online about your friendship. Are they true? They're so true. I mean, they have some chutzpah. I could not do that. I really could not do that. No, I don't think I could either. And actually, it was the final question. She said, no, just good friends. And the moderator went, guess we'll wrap it up there then.

People are getting... People are getting quite tired of the Alcaraz-Radikani thing, aren't they? Do you think it's the fact that they're leaning in... So which people? Well, a lot of people on the live chat right now... See, they want real mixed doubles, that's what it is. No, no, not the mixed doubles, David. The... The plot. Oh, okay. People are getting tired of the plot. I'm joining that club. And I think the problem is how much they're leaning into it.

And how much Evian are leaning into it, the fact that it feels... Yeah, like it feels very PR people leaning into it. Yeah. It doesn't feel organic anymore. Some people think it's all a front for something else. There's just a subplot for a separate rumour. Anyway, yeah, it's... Aside from distracting tabloids, headlines, re-Radakanu, I didn't think she was in a great place.

Physically. I didn't like some of the quotes that I've heard the last week, to be honest. How it sounded like she was just trying to get through a day at a time, pretty much. Yeah. She said, not 100%. Managing the back. And not expecting much from herself. And look, I think there have been times in the past where she's really talked down her chances and her prospects.

here at Wimbledon I think because that's probably a very sensible thing to do but actually I well I just believed it I really think given what we've seen given the fact she was clearly struggling with the back at the end of Queen's, had to pull out of a tournament, wasn't at her best last week. I just don't think she's going to be capable of playing her.

best tennis here because because of the back and that's a it's a real shame yep absolutely wish her well she's got a fellow brit in round one hasn't she mimi ju who i think she's good friends with or certainly knows and and has has connections too so uh yeah best of luck to them both in round one on whatsapp no one can see or hear your personal messages Whether it's a voice call, message, or sending a password. To WhatsApp, it's all just this.

So whether you're trading those late night voice calls that could basically become a podcast or sharing the streaming password to the family chat, your personal messages stay between you, your friends and your family. No one else, not even us. WhatsApp. Message privately. Here we are. Couple of pints. Great. Neck oil, yeah? As requested. So, what did you get up to this weekend? Well...

Funny story, actually. I befriended this panda, discovered he had a beautiful singing voice, taught him how to harmonise. We got a record deal, went on tour, went platinum in Basingstoke, then broke up due to creative differences. Right. So that's why there's a panda giving you the finger from across the street then? That's right, brother. Stick your neck out. Beavertown. Never normal. Visit drinkaware.co.uk. Enjoy Beavertown beer responsibly.

We have some results from other events that have been happening. In fact, we have all the results. All of the pre-Wimbledon events are now done and dusted, starting in Bad Homburg. Jessica Bergula. beating Iga Svantec for the title there, 6-4, 7-5. Matt, you watched some of this. I did, and I thought it was an extremely high level from Pagula. She's actually got...

a sneaky good record against Diego Svantec, certainly recently. She's beaten her four times in the last two and a half years. She's one of only three players. with five wins total against Igor Svantec, the others being Sabalenka and, of course, Ostapenko, whose record stands. stands apart and stands alone, of course, with no defeats. But it was interesting to me because I feel like a lot of the other times Pagoula's beaten Svantec, it really felt like Svantec was the big favourite.

in that match and in that match up. And there's been kind of shock element to that result. That's not to say that, you know, it's been a total shock. Obviously, Pagula's an absolutely top-ranked player herself. But... here it just doesn't feel like a shock and I think part of that is the surface a big part to be honest you know

Gras really makes a lot of sense for Pagula's game, and it makes the least sense for Icarus Fiontech's game. But it's also just, I think, indicative of their different places in the sport right now. Pagula is... you know, as good as she has always been. You know, she's right there in this last year or so. She's reached the grandstand final. She's won about five titles on the tour. And Fiontech, you know, still hasn't won a title.

in a year. And so they're just in different places coming up against each other. But Pagula did really well here. She served really well. She found a constant sort of issue there with the Svantec forehand return. She played a great point. There's an absolutely epic point from this match that I'm sure people will have seen. 5-all, 30-all in the second set. Pagoula defending, drop shots, scrambling. She anticipates so well.

wins the point, gets the break, and ends up winning the match. And I was kind of thinking, you know, about what that means for Wimbledon. And we talked about Igor Shiontek a lot yesterday, you know, bit unbit. a bit under the radar, with a bit less pressure. We think that can help her. But she's got that big obstacle of Elena Rabakina in her draw. It's hard to look that far beyond that. We didn't really talk about Pagoula. And, you know...

You mentioned Catherine, which I think is absolutely right. She was beating Marquette Vondrosseva here a couple of years ago before the roof came on. She's reached the grandstand final in that time. She's got over the quarterfinal. hurdle that she had for so long i still think we're probably underrating or underestimating or not not talking enough about pagula given given the side of the draw she's on and the fact that

No one really is a sure bet, and yet she's so consistent, the grass makes sense. I'm going to go as far as to say that I'm putting Pagudo in the mix. Oh, that feels significant. That feels very significant. To me, she's in my mix. Considering how, like, what we're saying about Sabalenka is our favourite, but there's other...

There's other names who are comfortable on this surface. I don't feel strongly about Sabalenka. I think we have to give Pagula the credit that she deserves. The draw is big here. She's in the right section of the draw. Yeah, and that's not to say that she's... totally you know she's totally resistant to being upset early like I don't feel totally confident you know Tatiana Maria is lurking in that second round potentially but if Pagula makes her way through this draw

I don't think I'm going to be surprised. I think the single biggest test is, you know, can she beat the best players in the final when they're kind of at their best? And that probably is still a hurdle that... She hasn't shown us yet, trying to beat Sabalenka in that US Open final. I thought she played well, Pagula, but she lost to a better player. So who is the mix then? To me, it's quite big on the women's side.

Yeah, I feel like it could be five or six players. Sabalenka, Goff. Keyes, I would put in. You've got Goff in the mix. I've got Goff in the mix. I would put Keyes in. Yeah. I'm putting Pagula in. And Draver? It wouldn't surprise me that much. No, to me, she's in it. Yeah. And actually, Gough had a line about Androva. She said, I think she's going to do well here. Yeah, I think you put Androva in the mix. Yeah. We're back in her.

Vondrosheva? Yeah, Rabatkinner. Whoa! I can't wait for this tournament. I'm pitting Rabatkinner and Vondrosheva in my mix. Yeah. This is great. I think this is the tournament where it's the biggest. I mean, look at our last two winners. It's interesting, isn't it? Because it's been the smallest on the men's side. Yes. In recent times. Like, it's been the most locked down by the...

by the big three slash four of, well, big four, of any Grand Slam over the last 15 years. And it's because, you know, Sviontek, Sabalenka, Gough have been so... you know great on tour winning a lot of big events winning a lot of slams but this is the one where they haven't won. And I just think that brings in so many more people. It allows your mind to go to other people potentially winning it. Is Anissa Mova in the mix?

Not quite. Oh, those are nice good paws there. You actually gave that thought. I did give it thought. I think it's worth thought. I think if you're confidently predicting someone makes the semi-finals, then it's a... Well, confident with a Putin save a caveat. YouTube gave me Anissim over against Sambalenka at the Australian Open from, what, six years ago? Oh, my favourite match. Highlights of that. I watched that.

Very happy this morning. Were you logged in as a tennis podcast? Yeah. So you're getting Matt's recommendations. Yeah, I'm getting all of Matt's Alyssa Mova content. You have to be careful what account I'm on. Yep, we'll pop that in the montage. Okay, so a big mix announcement from Matt. Oh yeah, it's not even my big announcement. And now I feel like there might be another big Matt announcement coming on here. What's happening there?

In Eastbourne, Maya Joint beat Alexandra Ayala, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6, 12-10 in the deciding set tiebreak to win her second title of the season. She's won one on clay. This is one on grass.

Ayala had championship points. She was absolutely devastated afterwards, sobbing underneath a towel for... quite a long time and because it's tennis had to stay on court for the um for the ceremony and everything my joint absolutely thrilled and it's not even i don't think her biggest achievement of the day matt roberts Some people will call this an impulsive decision, but I made it.

There and then, in the press conference room, as we were watching this match together, on my laptop. Which was a riot, by the way. Getting obsessed with it. It was so good. You saved four match points. Like... Oh, there were seagulls flying across the screen and just above the players' heads. It was cinematic. Oh, it was epic. I loved it. And I got so carried away. My joint.

Onto the backhand list you go. Do you know the live chat already knows who you're bumping off? There is a lot of Anna Bogdan sympathy happening on the live chat right now. Tell me I'm wrong. No, no one is wrong. Anna Bogdan. out. It's like double jeopardy losing qualifying and lose your backhandless play whereas Maya Joins just won a title won a title with her backhand it was a backhand winner that was what sealed it for me.

She didn't know how much was on the line. It's like having your birthday on Christmas Day and getting double presents. Do you know what he really likes? The secret formula, it's not even that secret, is seeing shonky forehands mixed in with beautiful backhands. That was a great moment. So the seagulls are flying across and she hits this worldy backhand and Matt's like purring.

next point it's this sort of triangular looking forehand that goes over there and Matt just said that makes her even more of the backhand list yep It's true. Perfectly described. Someone on the live chat has pointed out that this is a tough scene for Ethan. For Ethan, who's made me a t-shirt with the back canvas on. I think he has dated it though. So it did say...

of Wimbledon because he knows that I'm a liability. It's also got a subject to change on the back, hasn't it? Yeah. Well, everyone's got subject to my approval apart from Amanda Nisimova, who just is always on the list. No need for an asterisk. On the men's side, Taylor Fritz won another Eastbourne title, of course. Beat Jenson Brooks V7561.

in the final here. And Talon Greeks will beat Corentin Mute 75-64 in the Majorca final. You've still got a pending interview request with Quarantan Mutay, David. Yeah. You better get here quickly because we want to put it out. So this podcast meets might not be able to wait for you, Quarantan. Yeah. Get your act together. Absolutely. That's how much we've grown in a month. Last month it was players rejecting us. Now we're like, we don't need you. A month ago it was called loitering with law.

And then we had a rebrand. I would still like to... to have a loitering with law, you know, in our future. I love that so much. It's just, it's inspired by. Yeah, it is. Yeah, tennis podcast meets wouldn't be happening if it weren't for loitering with law. So I think we can leave it there in the past. Yeah, loitering with law.

walked so that Tennis Podcast Meets could run. Yeah, exactly. And we will be running tomorrow. That show will be going out tomorrow. It's already good. Dave's going to be speaking to Joel Fonseca tomorrow as well. There's some really good stuff in there. And I'm very excited about it. So that'll be available tomorrow, Sunday, for Friends of the Tennis Podcast. If you'd like to become a friend, the link, as always, is in our show notes. We will be back with our final...

Wimbledon preview tomorrow, Sunday at 7pm live right here on YouTube in this incredible position available as a podcast as well. We will be taking your questions. We will be talking about the... We have plenty more to talk about tomorrow. So do join us live if you want to ask us a question. at 7pm local time on YouTube. It's going to be great fun. We have our mascots that I'd like to say hello to. Hello, Phoebe. Hello, Maisie. Hello, Maisie.

And hello, Roger. Hello to our top folks and executive producers, Greg, Chris and Jeff. Matt, we have some shout outs. We have Amy Helfeld from Seattle, Washington. Hello, Amy. Like Amy Frazier. Who we talked about the other week. Yes, and came up in Tennis Relived this week. That's right, wasn't she? Yes, she was going to be partnering with... Tarango? Yes, I think so. She got Tarango'd. Dog's the bullet there. But we still had Tarangard.

I feel like we know Amy. I think Amy is a repeat shout out. And Amy's got a great little story. Amy says, I queued in 1999 for Wimbledon and I had no clue what I was getting myself into. I was by myself and this nice family took me in and said the line was worth it. Seven hours later, court one seats watching Andre Agassi. This year, my ballot was picked and I'll be back on court one.

Fantastic. Love it, Amy. That's so cool. That's such a great narrative. Yeah, love that. Thank you, Amy. And have a great time. Come and see us on the roof. We've also got Vicky Cole. Hello, Vicky. Hi, Vicky. Like Vicky Spreadbury. It has to be Vicky Spreadbury, doesn't it? Yeah, who is looking after all the wonderful stuff you're probably seeing on your screen. Yes. This is a same church, different pew situation. Vicky with a Y? Yep.

And Vicky's very thankful for the pod because she can't always watch tennis that she wants to. You know, with TV rights changing a lot. So she says we keep her up to date. That's lovely. Thank you, Vicky. Do we have a Vicky tennis player with a Y? There's Victoria Duval, who's a Vicky. I think that's another Vicky with an I. Pretty good work, that. We'll take that, will we? OK, Victoria Duval, Vicky. Vicky Duval. Thanks, Vicky. And finally, we've got Celia Rafalco.

from Richmond, Virginia, home of Arthur Ashe. Hello, Celia. Hello, Celia. And we know Celia. Celia says, I'm a competitive dressage rider and owner of recent pet mascot Talisman. So cool. Talisman is on an injury timeout at the moment, but we're rehabbing and hope to be back in the show ring soon. Get well soon, Talisman. And Celia also says that she has tickets for Wimbledon this year and wants to come and meet us all and come and see the library as well.

And she also says, my husband Rick and I had always hoped. to go to all four Grand Slams. We got to go to the French Open and the Australian Open before he sadly passed away in 2023. He will be with me in spirit at Wimbledon and I hope to get to the US Open. this year as well Celia I've already cried in a Dan Evans press conference today that's beautiful yeah it really is that's absolutely beautiful Celia I hope you have a wonderful time

At Wimbledon. I can't think of any other tennis Celias, but who needs one? Well put. I had a wonderful au pair as a kid called Celia. So I have very fond feelings for that name. And that was a lovely shout out. Celia, enjoy your Wimbledon. Thank you to all of our friends of the Tennis Podcast. Thank you to everybody that's joined us live, taking part in the chat tonight. We'll be back.

tomorrow 7pm for our final preview and then it all kicks off on Monday when we will be here not before 9.30pm live every night could be after 9.30pm we'll be here when at the end of play on the show courts So very shortly after the end of play on the show courts. But it is guaranteed to be not before 9.30pm. But tomorrow, 7pm. Thank you for watching. Thank you for listening. We'll speak to you then.

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