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Hi, this is Billie Jean King. This is Marion Bartoli. This is Bianca Andreescu. I'm Mats Villander. This is Mary Carrillo. This is Pam Schreiber. This is Yannick Noah, and you're listening to The Tennis Podcast. Well, hello and welcome to the Tennis Podcast on this not at all fine Monday morning in South West London. I sent three different people WhatsApp messages on Saturday when I was cruising down the M25. and the...
Temperature gauge on my car hit 14 degrees and the sun broke through the clouds. I text three different people to tell them that spring had sprung. And it's fair to say, based on the catastrophically muddy dog walk that I had this... morning that I was premature. How are you doing, David? How's the weather in sunny Solihull?
similarly damp and rubbish um but um yes i'm quite glad you didn't send one of those messages to me because i would have told you the soli hall reality um which was very different to london and it often is but uh no it's look it's Only around the corner, Catherine. Come on. Let's have some optimism. Well, I did, David. I just, I burned through it on Saturday.
I am looking forward to seeing Indian Wells on my screen and having massive FOMA about that. And Acapulco, that's where the ATP are this week. It looks... Looks pretty nice in Acapulco, doesn't it? Matt, how are you doing? You've re-Carlos Alcaraz'd yourself. In fact, you've now got more of a Carlos Alcaraz haircut than Carlos Alcaraz. Yeah, my hair just doesn't grow as quickly as Carlos Alcaraz is. I'm not sure anyone's on the planet.
Like, he grows out of a haircut within days of having it. I actually played tennis in the wet and wind yesterday, which was a... A big breakthrough for me because I am a fair weather tennis player and yet I... I had 90 minutes of doubles in the wet and wind yesterday. And it was great fun. Maybe I've missed out all these years because it was still good. Was the backhand present? Did the backhand report for duty? Pleased to say it was still there. We're in a good moment. Big breakthrough.
Big, big breakthrough. I get the feeling you're probably going to talk about some... pretty fine backhands over the course of the next hour, Matt, where we will start in Dubai with the second of the back-to-back Middle Eastern WTA 1000 events. This one won by 17-year-old Mira. Andrava. She beat Clara Towson 7-6, 6-1 to win the title. She breaks through to the WTA top 10. It was an extraordinary route through to that final. She beat
Iga Svjontek 6-3, 6-3 in the quarterfinals. Elena Rabakina 6-3 in the third in the semifinals. Earlier in the tournament, she won two matches in a day. And then the next day came back to beat... Igor Sviantek just an absolutely extraordinary breakthrough week for a player that is just a joy in every
possible way. You can tell David I'm absolutely busting to talk about her victory speech before we actually talk about her victory because it was so genuinely iconic but we should give her tennis her dues first before I explain. and talk about the fact that she...
She thanked herself in her victory speech, which was just wonderful. Well, let's talk about the tennis, David. How good was she? Well, I'm looking forward to you regaining me with the story of her victory speech because my recording that I had cut off just as the victory speech.
which was about to take place. So I've watched all the match and all the tennis and absolutely reveled in watching that. And I tell you... I think we have, you know, sometimes you can see somebody win a big tournament and you can say, oh, they've come of age or they've arrived and these sort of things.
Sometimes it might end up being the pinnacle of their career or just a really, really hot moment in a form and where everything comes together. But with her, it doesn't feel like that to me at all. It feels like we have a player who... has just matured. Not obviously in the space of a week. It isn't just that this has suddenly happened and she's a different player. She's been building towards this.
with a fantastic coach along her side in Conchita Martinez, whose vibe with her just seems everything that you would want between a coach and a player. It just feels... good, positive, optimistic, the right levels of contact between the two of them for it all to be healthy. And in terms of messaging and so forth, I mean, even going back to... when I had a chance to interview Conchita Martinez for the show we did about her Wimbledon title last...
spring it was when i spoke to him they'd only just started working together and i thought immediately she's just somebody who kind of gets andreva and is going to and either andreva will be able to handle it the straight talking Or she won't. And it just feels as though she's amused by Martinez's approach. And Martinez is sort of amused by Andreva as a character. But as a tennis player, I think that there were big question marks.
over whether she would ever be able to handle power real power and be able to take it on and kind of out duke some of these big hitters and Here she was facing Sviontek and Rybakina. And then Towson, in fact, who's just a massive hitter and who's gone and beaten Marina Sabalenka along the way. And she just showed she's got... the kryptonite to take these players on and turn it back on them now. I don't think she had before.
reference players like Martina Hingis when we talk about Andreva because stylistically they look similar. Physically, they're not as big as some of the other players. And Hingis had to deal with Davenport and Serena Williams and Venus Williams and these sort of players. And for a period of time, she got the better of them. But it was not long-lasting. But Andreeva seems to be able to... cope with the power now and I suspect a lot of it is the training but also the exposure to it and she's
obviously growing she's older she's 17 not not not 16 and and and i think that this makes a difference when you're just filling out a little bit and being able to physically cope with what you're being asked to do But she's got herself used to these players and it's like it's clicked that, wow, I'm not getting knocked out of my stride here. I can plant my feet, redirect and put them on the back foot, put them on the run.
And add that to the fact that she seems to have developed a serve that is now, when it's going in, is really potent. This was a brilliant title run. This was the sort of title run that does stop you in your tracks. reconsider how good she might be, I think. And I think it's worth remembering or reminding that this isn't normal.
in tennis anymore yes you were referencing Martina Hingis there she won slams at 15 there are there are still anomalous examples of players having great success at a crazily young age and we've had Coco Gough very recently which is I think once again skewed our perception of how normal it is for for female players in particular to have success in their teenage years but this is not normal and it has been getting steadily less normal as the decades have have marched on yes there is still a
odd exceptions and Mira Andreva is one of those and Coco Gough another but generally speaking it has become rarer and rarer to have success of this of this level in your teenage years and younger teenage years. This is absolutely exceptional. I mean, ahead of the curve doesn't even begin to cover it, does it, Matt? This is, you know... just unreal from Mira Androva. Absolutely. Not only is...
You know, is she now into the top 10? As we said, she's up to number nine. She's the only teenager in the top 100 of the WTA. You know, that's how far ahead she is of all the other teenagers. And she's still... She's still got two more years of being a teenager and she's already up to number nine in the world. The next highest ranked teenager is Maya Joint, who's just outside the top 100 now. So she's so far ahead of the curve. And as you said, it has stopped. being a real
sort of normality for teenagers to be ranked this high. She's the youngest woman since Vida Sova to enter the top 10 of the WTA rankings. And that was, you know, close to 20 years ago now. This is absolutely exceptional. what Mira Andreeva is doing. You know, she's younger than Fonseca. And yeah, it doesn't really seem like it because I don't know. I mean, personally, I first watched Andreeva in person.
a couple of years ago almost and you know i first watched fonseca in person a couple of months ago you know that that's just how how long andreva has actually been around and to david's point like this has been a development over over a couple of years now and yet I have also been struck how quickly it seems like her game has developed this year because I watched her quite closely at the Australian Open and
It was quite scrappy, her tennis. It really felt like she was in a... transitional phase of her career you know she was talking about wanting to add a bit more pop to her shots and have a bit more weight of shot herself I think so she could handle some of these big hitters and yet it seemed like she was caught a little bit in between her sort of natural game style and that game style. And I remember her having...
very scrappy wins over Uchi Gima and Magdalena Freck. These were impressive, fighting, gritty performances, but it wasn't standout tennis, and it was absolutely standout tennis this week. in Dubai. Yeah, she was absolutely exceptional. She played the big points so well against Svantec and again in the final against Towson.
Her serve, as David said, has added a bit of pop to it. And it's still not her most reliable shot. I still think she will think that it can improve further. Of course it can. But it's definitely getting better. Yeah, she's really combining the natural traits of her game, which are this great tennis IQ, this great anticipation. She was...
She seemed to know Esfiontech was going to hit the ball at every moment in that match. It was so impressive. She's combining all that with this slightly greater weight of shot as well, which means she can live with these power hitters better than she... better than she could in the past. And yeah, it's a very, very impressive title run. And I'm so sure that there's more to come from her, which is just really, really exciting.
which would mean more victory speeches from Mir Andreeva. And that's really what I'm in tennis for now, after what we got to see on Saturday. David, she ticked all of the victory speech. boxes you know i'd like to thank my team congratulations clara um congratulations to your team thank the tournament you know tick tick tick job done and then she said and i would like to thank myself
And it wasn't just a throwaway line. She really went into detail about why and for what she would like to thank herself. And they were all really solid. There was really solid reasoning there. She just listed all the things that she was really proud of herself for doing.
that week, things that had led to her standing there with the trophy. And I know this is one of those things where it's kind of, you know, in the mouth of another player, that would be... the most you know narcissistic precocious annoying arrogant thing imaginable but but it wasn't trust me like for me A kind of secret source with human beings is irony, a sense of...
That's what I'm a real sucker for. And Mira Andreva has it. You know, Yelena Ostopenko has it, doesn't she? That sort of just looking... knowing look in the eye like she just she just gets it and Mira Androva just just gets something and she
She is a sparkling gem of the WTA. I cannot get enough of her tennis and of hearing her speak. I never know what is going to come out of her mouth when she... opens it i never worry about what's going to come out of her mouth i feel like she's she's neither precocious like she seems her age She seems like a 17-year-old that's just sort of figuring herself and the world out. And yet there's also this incredible poise and knowingness.
wry sense of irony about the world which quite often only comes with with years and and wisdom she's like got the best of those those two worlds and it's yeah i want to be her friend she just She seems so cool. I've long worried a little because I love going to her press conferences and having an opportunity to talk to her, to listen to her, really, because she is just so fun and interesting. You don't know what's coming next.
For quite a while, I was worried that at some... point down the line and this may still happen that there could be a fallout that there could be something she said that gets maybe taken out of context or reported in a way that is not quite as responsible as it should be and she might get Then a little gun shy when she goes into press conferences for fear of being taken out of context. We saw that happen with Andy Murray early in his career.
But there does appear to be, aside from the fact that she just seems to know exactly what she's doing in there and whenever she's speaking publicly, there's also, I feel like, an understanding between the media and her. She actually comes in. and seems like she's looking forward to being able to speak and getting a chance to kind of perform in a different way using her voice. And we as the media are just looking forward to listening to her and letting everybody know what she's just said.
just pushing on a couple of doors to see what will come out then and yeah I do I think she's a gift of a player and a personality for the tour and long may it continue I do feel a little bit biased almost in wanting her to be a big name for the future. Do you think, Matt, she knew she was quoting Snoop Dogg? What a question. I didn't see that one coming.
Well, I could have given it to David, Matt, but he neither saw the speech nor really knows who Snoop Dogg is. So I was left with you. Off you go. I don't think so, no. No. I don't either. I think it was all her. It's great either way. It's absolutely fine if she did know she was quoting Snoop Dogg. But I think she somehow managed to pull off the ultimate call of both quoting Snoop Dogg and coming up with an original, or what she thought was an original, bit of iconic speechdom.
Yeah. OK, glad we're agreed on that. David, Clara Towson, is it finally happening? Yeah. whatever it is I mean because I don't know how good she will end up being or how much she'll end up winning but a little bit like how I feel like Andreva has got used to playing against power. Towson, with this run, I think, showed that she is used to being able to play against tricky players that... have put her off balance in the past and caroline amukova being a perfect example
That was a match where I don't think Mukova's played that well in this tournament. She kind of gutsed her way to this position in the draw. But then she started to find some form. And there was even a moment where she hit an incredible back to the net. tweener lob over the head of Towson and celebrated with the index finger in the air and you're just thinking if ever there's going to be a moment that is just going to floor Towson it's that and yet
She just sort of turned around and walked back, looked a bit pissed off. But, you know, then went and won the next two points. And I thought she's always just been the most incredible. natural ball striker. Her wins over Noskova, that's the second time she's beaten Noskova in the last few weeks.
Her win over Sabalenka, you know, she's able to go toe to toe with Sabalenka and actually get the better of the power rallies sometimes. It tells you a lot. But just the fact that she's now just able to stay with... The players with guile and finesse and balance and movement, things that she doesn't have as naturally and kind of impose her game eventually and win, I think is a huge thing for her. You know, she was right there in this.
In this final, and then second set, towards the end of the first set, she started to look hurt and as though she couldn't properly move. I think maybe Andreva still would have won anyway, even fully fit. It's a huge breakthrough for Taos, and I don't know how much the movement is going to end up holding her back, because I don't think that'll ever be a hugely strong point for her.
When we spoke to her at the French Open last year, she made it very clear that she's not looking to make it a strong point anymore. She wants to obviously do the best with it she can, but she's looking to lean into the weapons, and I think that's a good move. That defeat for Sabalenka by Towson, there were some interesting quotes from Sabalenka after it, weren't there, to Reem? who's out there reporting on the event. And she said fundamentally that she's struggling for motivation.
isn't she? Which was quite an admission, I think, from Marina Sabalenka. In some ways a surprising one because you don't necessarily hear top players say that very often. But I'm... I'm always surprised that you don't hear top players say that more often. I would be surprised if this isn't something that afflicts most.
players after they've won either their first slam or their first sort of handful of slams achieve like the big things that they've been striving to achieve up until this point in her career world number one you know settled world number one Three slams, you know, she's got everything she was setting out for. She's got to reset her goals now, I imagine. The three-peat in Melbourne was a massive carrot for her for a long time and that's gone now.
It will be minimum three more years before she can have the chance to be on for that again. And it's an interesting one, isn't it? I know Irina Sabalenka has switched to... a new agency hasn't she she's got new representation i know that they're really looking for opportunities to promote her kind of outside of tennis and really raise her profile and earning opportunities. And I don't know, it does raise the question of whether this is just a...
A bit of an interesting phase of Sabalenka's career. I don't want to be too recency biased about a couple of losses at a time when she didn't do great at this time of year last year either and she ended up having an awesome season. So this could mean... Nothing. But the results combined with those quotes, I think, could mean that we're looking at a slightly interesting phase for Rina Sabalenka. What do you think, Matt? I definitely think it's possible.
It's funny, she's always seemed like someone who really feels comfortable and relishes that number one tag. And yet she's actually... very often played her best tennis when she's been the number two and been chasing down these goals and had a clear sort of target in front of her. I think just her game.
Her serve is an issue at the moment. We talked about it through the Australian Open a little bit and it was a big problem against Towson. When I say that it's an issue, it's not like it was a few years ago where she had... the yips on it and was double faulting. But it's not as reliable as it was last year. And it is throwing up some errors. And it's such a cornerstone of her game that I think is...
is down at the moment. And we've seen Keyes take advantage of it in the Australian Open final. And we've seen Towson do it here and Alexandreville as well. These are players who can attack that serve. And it just feels like they've got somewhere to go against her in a way that maybe they... didn't quite so much last year. But I don't know, I would actually extend the interesting phase of Sabalenka's career out to...
the big names generally at the WTA, it's been a really fascinating start to the season for Goff, Sabalenka and Sviontek. Because on the one hand, you can look at it and say, Sabalenka's two in the race. She's been the second best player on tour this year. She was a set away from winning the Australian Open. Svantec is three in the race. She has been really consistent across all the events. Goff started the year. You know, you don't have to go back.
very far to listen to our podcast about Coco Goff at the start of the year and we were talking about her as though she seemed like a fundamentally changed player for the better and yet Through this Middle East swing, Goff hasn't won a match. Sabalenka's only won one match. Sviontek has lost to her nemesis and been beaten pretty easily by Andreeva.
Sriantec hasn't won a title since Roland Garros last year. That's a really long stretch now for her without actually winning. And I think they've all got potentially slightly different... as to why they might not be quite at their best. Trying to put a sort of blanket reason over all of them is probably wrong. I think for Goff, you know, still some technical aspects of her game. She's never played that well.
in the Middle East, really. Sabalenka similar, I suppose, but also everything that you've just talked about there, Catherine. And Sviantec has had the doping case, is with a new coach. I think all of this is potentially just... a lot for her to process and sort of deal with. She also talked about the scheduling this week, feeling like it's really taking its toll on her with these back-to-back...
You've kind of got now either back to back intense 1000 events like we have here or the drawn out 1000 events like we have coming up and like we have over the clay. And I think both of those are. are difficult for top players who are going far at both events. Plus then you've got, like, on top of all of that, the form of so many other players.
like Andreva and Towson and Anissimova and Keyes, who have been there winning the big titles this year. And it's all just creating this absolutely... fascinating mix at the top of women's tennis right now like these players i still think are the best players and over a long period of time they've shown that but they're just not quite at their peak at the moment and
Others like Keys and Anissimova and Andreva have taken advantage and have shown that they've got the level as well. And it's just creating a really, really fascinating. with a lot of different moving parts and reasons as to why it's looking like this. But yeah, I think it just sets up the season really, really interestingly. Just one more slightly specific point on Svantec. That was a slightly regressive performance, I thought, against Andreeva. It was a little bit...
lacking in that patience that we've said she's had this year. You know, she went back to just doing the same thing and it not quite working. There being a lot of unforced errors, her not using her defensive skills quite so much.
I don't really know what to read into it. She's obviously got a tournament coming up that she loves in Indian Wells, but I definitely think Svantec... just needs to get a title under her belt again you know when you're so used to winning titles as she was i think if you go a long time without it even if she's still doing a lot of good things which she has been doing she hasn't been
leaving a tournament with that successful, positive feeling. And I think that just accumulates and kind of builds up. So, yeah, it's particularly interesting to follow her progress. Yeah, the last two losses, Riga Shontek, they've been panicked performances from her. And maybe those are isolated. I don't know, but I agree. I'd say, you know, even though she's never... beaten Yelena Ostapenko as discussed last week, like even in the context of that matchup.
it felt like a regressive performance from her. So look, two tournaments is not a huge sample size, but yeah, it's... It's fascinating, isn't it? Who had, at the start of the year, the three biggest titles of the WTA season being won by Madison Keyes, Amanda Inisimova and Mira Andreeva? Please write in to us with receipts if you picked that. But I will be needing receipts, folks. And in terms of players having a...
Well, difficult to find the words, isn't it, really? But troubling start to the season. You'd have to also add Elena. Rabakina in there, one of the players beaten by Mira Andreva this week. And we recorded, we reported last week in the first of our... two podcasts from last week about the ban that her coach Stefano Vukov has been handed by the WTA. Well, after we recorded... that show a couple of days afterwards, The Athletic published a pretty extraordinary piece, a really...
Fantastic piece of reporting by Charlie Eccleshare and Matt Futterman providing more detail of... the relationship between Rabachna and Vukov and her dependence on him, dependence that has been evidently cultivated by Stefano Vukov. I really would recommend... Anybody that can afford to subscribe to The Athletic do so to...
To have a read of this piece, if you can stomach it, it's, as I say, extraordinary reporting. But they've acquired a lot of the details of the events leading up to the US Open last year, which precipitated. Rabakina wanting to split with Stefano Vukov, a split that obviously didn't hold, but... There is reporting of an email from Elena Rabatkin's mother to Stefan Ovukov in which she asked her daughter's coach not to make her cry again.
and details of mental abuse by Vukov of Rabakina and her physical fitness, saying that the abuse would sometimes manifest in the player as a physical illness. For months, her friends and family had been concerned. Thank you. necessary to keep Vukov away cancelling his hotel room and his credential for the tournament but Vukov travelled to New York anyway and was at her hotel roaming around the lobby, trying to speak to her.
And he was just consistently pestering her saying he would find her, speak to her, convince her to take him back. He called her phone over 100 times, sent her numerous text messages, according to a person present who saw them, as well as the... WTA letter summarising its investigation. He refused to leave the hotel without speaking to Rabakina. Then one of her representatives confronted Vukov, telling him he had been asked by Rabakina to procure security.
to remove him from the hotel and keep him away. Portia Archer, the chief executive of the WTA, in her letter summarising the WTA investigation, wrote, whatever your current status may be, you've cultivated a relationship of dependence, causing the player to believe... that she should be treated in the ways you have treated her and cannot have success without your presence, when in reality your success is dependent on her. Now just one addendum.
to this, and this was confirmed this morning, Lena Rabatkin's long-time fitness trainer, Azuz Simchic, confirmed this morning on Instagram that he has left her team. which seems very understandable, but also is further evidence, David, of Rabatkinah's increasing isolation. Yeah, and from the conversations I had over the weekend, it's clear that that leaving of the team was a resignation.
something that Rabakina or indeed Vukov apparently sought. It is something that he decided to do, I think, because he couldn't take any more of what... he'd been around. And that is consistent, really, I think, with certainly what Goran Ivanovic decided to do when he decided to leave the team. Obviously, in his situation, he... He didn't even think Vukov was going to be part of the future at all. Otherwise, he wasn't going to be taking that job. So he was blindsided in that way.
Yeah, that is an extraordinary piece of reporting from The Athletic and all the conversations that I've had around it and since would go along with what has been reported there. And I think those words of Portia Archer are really significant. And the fact that... Simchic has decided to leave this team, you know, a lot of these coaches and fitness trainers, they are dependent for their income, their security on a player doing well.
And Simchic has opted to leave that team, despite the fact that Rebecca was probably going to carry on doing well because she's a brilliant tennis player. And yeah, it... it's difficult to know where this where this ends really because the fact is you know he's banned for a year and so where are we in a year where is she in a year where is he in a year And I think that it's not the end of the story because of that. I'm afraid we have to stay a little longer on the subject of extremely upsetting.
And... troubling male behaviour towards female tennis players. A lot of you will have seen Emma Raducanu, some incredibly distressing scenes from her in Dubai last week. She was approached... By a man close to the Dubai tournament site on Monday, we learned he exhibited what was described as fixated behaviour. That's a phrase used to describe obsessive. unhealthy and unwanted behaviour. Radekani was given a letter.
by the man, which sources in Dubai told BBC Sport included his name and his telephone number. She opened that letter later in her hotel, apparently. After this and tournament teams, tournament security teams were notified on Tuesday afternoon. However, the man was still able to enter the small stadium where Raducanu played Mukova later on that evening. was a small stadium it was it was one of the the outside courts where that match was taking place and two games into the match radhikani became
Very emotional after, it turns out, seeing that man who sources close to Raducanu had said she'd seen a number of times previously. It was incredibly distressing. Raducanu was hiding behind. the umpire's chair shortly after seeing him the man was taken out by security the match continued
And Radhi Karni played incredibly well in the circumstances, actually had a set point in the first set, but did end up losing out in two close sets. She posted on Instagram on Wednesday saying thank you for the messages. of support difficult experience yesterday but I'll be okay and proud of how I came back and competed despite what happened at the start of the match thank you to Carolina for being a great sport and best of luck to her for the rest of the tournament
Dubai police said the man was detained before Radhikarni decided not to press charges. Following Radhikarni's complaint, Dubai police detained a tourist who approached her, left her a note, took her photograph. engaged in behaviour that caused her distress, a police statement read. While Radhikani later chose to drop the charges, the individual signed a formal undertaking to maintain distance from her and has been banned from future tournaments.
who coached Raducanu before she turned professional and returned to work with her in Abu Dhabi last month. tournament that finished a couple of weeks ago, he told the Croatian outlet NET that the man in question had followed Raducanu to every tournament since the Australian Open. That's Singapore, Abu Dhabi, Doha.
and Dubai he said he had a strategy that was terrifying he thought everything through calculated it and you know For context, for anybody that doesn't know, Radhikani had a stalker convicted in... 2022, a man that was stalking her shortly after her 2021 US Open win stalked her at... her house, her parents' house that she continued to live in. He was convicted and given a five-year restraining order and community service in 2022. And there was a victim impact statement from Emirati.
that was read at the time of his sentencing. And it was incredibly distressing in terms of the impact that that had had on Raducanu at such a formative... I am so distressed by this story. Because, well, for very obvious reasons, I think we all are, aren't we? It's fantastically distressing. But I just, I don't know where Emma Adekanu goes from here. How she can ever feel safe, quite frankly. Honestly, I don't know how Emma Raducanu is supposed to ever feel safe anywhere.
let alone on a tennis court, which can quite often feel very exposed. I mean, it is bloody difficult for women to feel safe anywhere in... You know, growing up as a woman is a process of learning exactly how unsafe you are in the world. It's self-defense classes. at lunchtime at school it's being given a rape alarm at freshers week you know it's being told to cover your your glasses in pubs so you don't
So you don't get drugged. You know, that is normality for women and it's completely metabolized. Add into that fame. and status and already having had a stalker and existing in a sport that has the memory of Monica Sellers being stabbed on court in 1993, so deeply embedded in its DNA.
I just, I'm at a bit of a loss for words for what I would even say to comfort Emma Raducanu, quite frankly, because, you know, I did a couple of... I did a couple of interviews about this this week on BBC Radio 5 Live and on BBC Radio 4 and a lot of questions centred around what can the WTA do, what can the tournaments do. to better ensure the safety of players? And honestly, the answer is not very much, quite frankly, right? I think there are limits to what the WTA and tournaments can.
do david what do you think uh yeah i mean listen i suppose the the one point that was made in a bbc sport article on this subject uh in the last few days was Maybe the tournament needs to ask questions as to how she came across this person and reported that he was there, and then he's gained access to her next match. That is something that is concerning, I think. But I agree. I mean, listen, it is very, very difficult. But these are the sort of measures that...
they need to keep building on, I think, in order to try to do the utmost they can to make players feel safe. But I don't know. In particular with her, because of the...
extremities of her success at such a young age and the fame that came with it. I'm always distressed by what happens if you... I mean, I'm not on Twitter anymore, but if ever I used to sort of compliment a result from Raducanu or make any comment about her, the reaction you would get would be... amplified several times over to that which you would get for talking about any other player.
Certainly any other female player. The vitriol you would get really shocked me. I mean, vitriol on that platform shouldn't be any surprise to anybody these days. But that really did take me aback that she was going to be dealing with something. a whole other level of magnitude more than most. And it's bad enough for most. I mean, you only have to listen to what players like Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys have talked about in terms of what they receive online.
I get really upset by thinking about it. I don't know how they cope with that, really. There was one line in that BBC Sport article from Stephanie Hilborn, the chief executive of the... women in sport charity which we did slightly bother me you know she was I mean she made the point about how easy it seemed to be to get close to Raducanu and I couldn't agree more with her about that but she also made the point that
There's a problem with the sport in inadvertently overexposing elite female athletes, which I get the point, but it bothers me that that should be a... a factor to be considering in this conversation why should that be something that that we have to think about you know surely
Players should be allowed to be whoever they want to be online, for instance, and have control of their own social media accounts and not have to think about it. And the tours, maybe not have to think about it. But yeah, I... I don't know where to go with it either. I know that Molly McKelvey has done quite a lot of reporting on this over the years. She had an interview with...
Katie Bolter last year in the Guardian where Bolter talked about being followed on a journey home from Queens once and Daniel Collins has spoken to Molly as well about about having these sorts of experiences and i remember molly saying to me that when she was hearing these stories by these players you know she was as you would expressing real shock and horror at it and
what she was struck by was how normalised it was for these players. It's so frightening and horrible, and yet for them it's actually a very sort of...
normal experience in that way because it happens a lot. It's a gross reality of being... a woman but also as you said a famous sportswoman sort of magnifies the problem um and you know in in molly's substack this week which is cool but do you actually like sport she had some she had some statistics in there from the office for national statistics saying that
As many as one in five women have experienced stalking in their lifetime. And, you know, it's to that point of sport as a wider reflection of society and society is... has always been and feels like it is increasingly threatening and violent towards women and therefore, you know, it's both really, really shocking that these things are happening. but also not that surprising. And as you said, the players that Molly's spoken to have kind of always said that they feel like the WTA.
does a lot you know they do have protocols that they're kind of doing as much as as they feel like they can I think with Raducanu's particular incident It was difficult because it was a very rainy day, wasn't it? And that match ended up moving court, I think, at quite a last minute.
While people on the ground did have this man's photograph and were looking out for him, it was difficult to know where that Raducanu match was going to be. And he ended up there courtside. And look, maybe more could have been done, but I'm not sure that that's the route. problem here. It's a much bigger... much wider threat to women in society and sports women are really, really experiencing it as well. You know, there's a huge number of these cases across sports.
And, yeah, it's extremely, extremely disturbing. Well said. Yeah, we're thinking of Emma Adekarni. I hope she is... okay as okay as you can be after something like that. That's it for part one. We'll be back in part two to talk about the ATP in Doha and Rio. All innovation starts with an idea, a spark of inspiration that can take us to places we never thought possible.
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Unlimited UK only. Fair use in GoRome destinations. £8 per sim when you buy 10 to 15 cents on a 24-month plan. X 20% VAT. Terms apply. Welcome back to part two of the tennis podcast where we head to Doha and the ATP 500. They're won by Andrei Rublev. He beat Jack Draper 75-5761 to win the title for the second time in his...
career. He'd beaten Alex de Menor, Félix Auger alias Seam en route. Both of those wins in three sets. Jack Draper had victories over Alexi Popperin. Popperin, PS, don't think he's won a match in 2025, haven't you? Shocking start to the season. Chris O'Connell, Yui Lahechka in the semifinals and Matej Berrettini as well. Berrettini having conquered Djokovic earlier in the week. And we'll talk about that in a moment. Lahechka.
having been the one to knock out Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals. Great week for Andrei Rublev. It's difficult, Matt, to know. What do you say about Andre Rublev winning an ATP 500 in 2025? Like, it's great. Well done, Andre Rublev. But the what does it mean chat is a tough one with a player like Rublev, I think.
Yeah, I think maybe we shouldn't look at it in terms of what it might mean for his potential to win bigger titles in the future. But I think we should definitely... recognise and credit Andrei Rublev here because he clearly has been doing a lot of work to try and improve.
his his sort of mental state and emotional state on court really you know he's he's talked in the past about being in a very dark place off court and we've seen it on court repeatedly and look i don't think he's ever going to be a serene person on court but
no doubt about it he he is taking steps and is is working on himself you know you see him now every single changeover meditating and just trying to to be more positive and and kind of kinder to himself to be quite honest and that i think we shouldn't underestimate that the the huge amount of work that I'm sure it's taken.
He played some extremely stressful matches this week. The one against Alex de Menor, it took him eight match points to get over the line. And those match points weren't all in a bunch. They were spread out over several games and minutes. and eventually in a tie break, there were just a lot of opportunities and occasions there where, you know, he might have lost that match mentally in the past, whereas he kind of just...
kept it together, kept coming, kept bringing the tennis and ended up winning it against, you know, one of the most informed players in the world right now in Alex Dimonor. And then he comes back. the next day and has a real tussle with Auger Aliassime, which is an extremely high-quality match as well. In the final, he gets pegged back at one set of all by Jack Draper, and that might have again been another moment where... you know, he might have kind of...
lost his focus a little bit in the past. But, you know, I think he had a physical edge over Draper in that match. Draper really did fade physically in that third set. But still, Rublev just kept bringing it all the time. And, you know, it's a... It's pretty much a year since he got disqualified.
in in dubai and he was in a really really low dark place rublev and you know there have been obviously incidents since then as well where where it's been an uncomfortable watch and i just think he deserves an awful lot of credit for for sort of really really working on himself And I'm pleased to see it because we don't want Andrei Rublev to be unhappy and sad. And I think unquestionably he was. And hopefully this is a sign that he's in just a better place.
And that's really, really great news. And I do feel like we often, you know, we so often are probably a bit guilty of talking about like the limitations of Rublev's game because inevitably, you know, we've seen him win so much. At this kind of level, we are always thinking about, can he take that next step? And I think a week like this, just sort of points to just how damn good he is. You know, he was able to rush Alex Dimonor in that match in similar ways to kind of the...
to what Yannick Sinner can do to him. His forehand is huge. He plays with such intensity all the time. And yet I never really worry about him sort of losing physically in these matches. Like it's just, he's a... damn good impressive tennis player and i agree like it i don't necessarily think this is a springboard to to to a huge leap in his career that he's suddenly going to be
winning the biggest tournaments. But I'm just pleased that he's back winning these sorts of tournaments again because he wasn't for a long time. And he's so good that he sort of should be winning these tournaments. And yeah, so kind of...
Really credit to Rublev for a great week. Absolutely. Well said. David on Jack Draper. He's a great watch, isn't he? Because he keeps getting involved in these real... tussles you know these real kind of epic battles here and in Australia I'm talking about but they are taking it out of him and they're causing him to eventually inevitably hit the wall it came after two sets in the final it came
before he'd even walked onto court against Carlos Alcaraz in Australia. And as much as I think it's awesome that he... can win these hustling tennis matches. It's a great thing to have in your arsenal to be a great player from a set down. He's a fantastic competitor and what a feather that is in his cap.
I look at him and, you know, we all watched him close up, didn't we, in Australia? And even though, you know, we'd seen him plenty of times before, when you see him close up, you're so struck by what a... He's like the definition of strapping, isn't he? He's a big guy, big hulking frame. And I can't help but be very frustrated watching him sort of... Not be more of a flat track bully sometimes on the court or certainly not be. He gets embroiled too much.
I think. And it's great that he can win that way, but you can see that at the latter stages, which is where he wants to be, it's costing him. I definitely think that that will be... the determining factor on whether he makes the next step. I mean, he's 12 in the world, so he's doing really well.
He's actually managing to string some tournaments together now, which he so often failed to be able to do. And look, I think the good thing with him and his team, they're aware. They want that sort of tennis as well. It's just that...
When he was coming through, he wasn't this hulking figure and he got used to winning as a scrapper. And he's kind of having to rewire himself a little bit to become the aggressive... point-ending player that his frame would suggest that he could be and maybe should be or certainly would want to be if he's going to take further steps in his career.
I'm actually really encouraged on his behalf by some of the decision making I'm seeing around the tournaments. I mean, I don't like it when players don't. play davis cup but maybe it was just sensible not to and now he's pulled out of dubai and he hasn't pulled out with an injury he's pulled out with a kind of level-headed kind of cold decision that i need to just preserve my body and to you mean the guys had so many momentum stopping injuries over the last three years that
It must be so frustrating for him. I just think this is really smart scheduling. You only have to look at a week ago when we were lording Amanda Inissim over and Iain Rostopenko and the players that are winning those titles and then having to come straight...
back out the next day and then just looking like they've got nothing left in the tank at all I noticed Andre Rublev for instance he's playing Dubai and he's played 28 tournaments over the last 12 months which is more than anybody in the world's top 25 and I just think that and I think Rublev can do that I would still be kind of curious to see whether if Rublev didn't do that whether he might be able to be more of a factor in the biggest tournaments but
Well, I don't think we'll ever know because I don't think he's ever going to do it. But I think that the pennies dropped for Jack Draper that he doesn't have Andrei Rublev's wiry frame. He's got this weight to him that his legs and his hips and his back are going to struggle to cope with. carrying around all the time, but that he can impose on the opponents. And I think they're making really smart decisions. So good week for him and a good little bit of progress in his career.
And personally, I was encouraged by the fact that this week Draper did beat pretty easily the players that he could beat. You know, he kind of dismissed Popper in and dismissed O'Connell in the first two rounds. And it was only when he came up against some really informed players like Berrettini who'd just beaten Djokovic and Lehekska who'd just beaten Alcaraz and Rublev who was in the final. Then it was like those scrappy matches and we were seeing that.
grit from Jack Draper, which kind of defined his Australian Open as well. You know, six of his eight matches that have been completed this year have gone to a deciding set. I agree with you, like it isn't... It isn't really sustainable in the long term to be playing like that. But I did think this week he was kind of only doing it when he really, really needed to. Whereas at the Australian Open...
You know, he didn't have his best tennis. And I think he was just coming back from that sort of curtailed offseason, wasn't he? He kind of was just having to rely on that to beat players that he actually maybe could have beaten a bit more emphatically. But I just think it's a really good development in his career that, as you both said, he's got that grit. He's got that good decision-making with prioritizing his recovery and his body.
As you said, the next step is playing that brand of tennis, which is imposing himself a little bit more often. But I think we're going to see it because I think he's... He's a smart guy, Jack Draper, and he's very aware of himself. which is a great quality to have. And I do think he's going to get there, but it might just take a little bit of time. But yeah, he's on the cusp of the top 10 now, isn't he? So just a really, really nice week for him as well.
Very exciting times. Djokovic's loss to... Berrettini, very straightforward loss. I mean, clearly not fully fit Djokovic. He was seen limping at the airport, wasn't he? Limping really quite badly. I mean, I said last week that... due to his deal with Qatar, he's essentially sponsored by Qatar and Doha, that I think he'd have to be sort of...
basically bedbound not to play that tournament so it didn't surprise me not to see him fully fit but um yeah the the scenes of him limping at the airport were pretty worrying weren't they very odd though because No sign of it during the match. And he said that he felt really good, like physically. Like it was pretty incongruous, those images with... what we'd seen during the match and what he said. He didn't look injured during the match, but he also didn't look...
He looked like... Zippy and bright and fit. He looked like Djokovic often does at an event outside of a really important one to me. He hadn't played in a few weeks. He's not really that bothered about winning Doha. And... He was up against Berrettini. He was crushing forehands for a couple of hours. I didn't watch all of the match live, but from what I saw, I didn't think Djokovic is still injured. But then to see the scenes at the airport, I thought, was very, very odd.
Yeah, I really don't know how to marry those two things up in my head, to be honest. Well, I guess in the last couple of sets against Alcaraz, he didn't look injured, did he? But very much was. Yeah, I don't know either. I agree. I wasn't watching the match thinking, God, this guy's injured. But I also wasn't watching thinking, wow, Djokovic, he's back. I mean, he's expected to play Indian Wells and he's expected to be there with coach Andy Murray, David, because that is continuing.
Yeah, first reported by Stu Fraser of the Times a couple of weeks ago that it looked like Andy Murray was going to carry on. as the coach of Novak Djokovic, and then Djokovic confirming that and using the word indefinitely in his interview. And it certainly seems as though that the target is to go through...
the period between now and Wimbledon. And who knows beyond that? But yeah, it's interesting, isn't it? And yeah, I'm fascinated, as usual, to see how it'll all work out. Because I mean, look... Andy Murray didn't look like he was having a whale of a time while he was sitting there on the court, but he did make it quite clear, of course, of course you don't. You know, it's stressful.
doing this top level sport is stressful and um maybe he was having a good time when he wasn't sitting there but um he's going to carry on Yep, he's going to carry on. The ATP was also in Rio this week with a 500 event there won by Sebastian Baez. He defended his title beating Alexander Muller 6-2, 6-3. in the final. Probably our best ageing take from last week was that João Fonseca might struggle to back up his Buenos Aires win, especially with all the just...
unbelievable hype and attention that was on him. I mean, he was welcomed in Rio, David, like Goran Ivanovic after he'd won Wimbledon when he returned to Croatia. it was real scenes you know it was a hero's homecoming yeah it's it's simultaneously just completely uplifting and intoxicating to watch what he is doing generally on the court but what the reaction to what he's doing on the court is in Brazil and you can't help but get swept along by it but I also
tend to think, oh my word, how does he handle this in the future? I mean, I was around when Gustavo Curtin was winning Grand Slams, and I would be at tournaments where he was at them, and it was a little... tough to kind of just manage it all really the interest levels and he was such a just
easygoing kind of fella and he loved everybody from Brazil you know you could tell that he was so proud to be the one they're all invested in and Fonseca seems to have a similar kind of air about him he really he seems to take to it well but it's a lot for a young lad of his age, 18. He went to watch some of the tennis, didn't he? After he'd lost, he stayed on. He was sat there in the stands and there was a queue forming for people to... He wanted a selfie with him.
Yeah, it was gone midnight and he was watching the doubles final, which had a couple of Brazilians in it. Yeah, it was pretty crazy. Baez, by the way, like, I don't know whether... specialists in tennis are like less of a thing than they used to be like I feel like you used to get more clay court specialists or grass court specialists or maybe even indoor specialists you know I'm sure David can can speak to that better than me but I think we can definitively call Sebastian Baez
a South American clay court specialist. He is just a different guy at these events. And look, he's not beaten an incredible list of players to win this title, but... He's won seven ATP Tour titles now. And why it's particularly with South America is that he actually... doesn't perform all that well during what we think of as the traditional clay court swing in Europe. He's not really been a factor at the events in Europe. He's never won a match in Monte Carlo.
He's never gone beyond the second round of Roland Garros. And yet, put him on a South American clay court in this period, in Rio or in Santiago or, you know, Buenos Aires, and he's an absolute killer. And he just... kind of beats everyone in front of him. I just find it really, really interesting. And I think part of it is the conditions are different, whether there's humidity or altitude or just the clay is a bit different.
I think a feeling of being more at home. You know, we've talked about the different atmospheres that you get at these events. They are particular and special and he does seem to love playing there.
But I just find it interesting. I always think Sebastian Baez is going to be an absolute nightmare for someone at Roland Garros. And he did push Zverev once, didn't he? But I just really will find it interesting whether he... one year can convert this incredible South American clinical success into the sort of...
really meaty part of the clay court season in Europe. It's just going to be interesting to watch because he's so good and we shouldn't just do that thing of saying, oh, it's just a South American clay court swing. You know, he's a big, he's a pretty big... It's a 500 event that he's won back-to-back years. Zverev was in the draw, and yet Sebastian Baez comes out the winner. It's really impressive what he does, and it's just interesting whether he can actually translate it.
to kind of roll on Garros. It's fascinating. And if you want to find out if Matt puts his money where his mouth is or if he sells Sebastian buyers like a hot potato in our transfer window. Oh, I thought you did have buyers. I thought you had quite a few clay court specialists. I have Sir Rundalo, who's done okay for me. You have a Sir Rundalo. Yep. Okay.
Yeah. Okay. Well, it's given, even though it was in error, it has given me an opportunity to bring up the Fantasy League because I had a good week. You did. Thank you. Thank you, Mira Andreva. I'd like to thank me as well. Quickly on Zverev. The decision to head to South America and play on clay down there during this period hasn't gone as he planned, David.
No, not at all. Rubbish. And, yeah, he lost a week ago pretty handily to Surundlo in the third set there. And he's just, I mean, even in the matches he was winning, he wasn't... Hitting his straps, really. I don't know whether there's something wrong with him. I noticed there's some strapping on his arm in the match he lost to Komasana, who's exciting. You know, he's a talented guy. Hits some great dropships.
He was just stranding. He was leaving as very stranded so many times with the drop shot. But, yeah, I mean, come on. Your ranking says world number two. I didn't see much world number two behaviour over the last few weeks from Alexander Zverev. It's interesting because after these losses, he said... He said that it takes him time on clay to kind of get going. And so I had a look at his record and that certainly does bear out. Like he does do a lot better on clay.
in like Rome and Roland Garros and Madrid, you know, the latter clay court events than, for example, Monte Carlo and Munich. He never actually does particularly well in those events. So I'm kind of thinking, is he, is he... playing this system so that he kind of hit the ground running on clay a bit earlier this year in terms of
the European clay court events, if he's already got some reps under his belt, maybe, and maybe it will pay off, maybe he will play better this year in Munich and Monte Carlo for this experience in South America. But then I think at the same time... Zverev's not going to South America to play these events, surely without anything in mind, other than trying to pick up as many ranking points as he can, take advantage of slightly weaker fields, and, you know...
Try and increase his lead over Alcaraz at number two. Try and chase down Yannick Sinner. I would have thought that that would have been a big part of his reason for playing this time of year as well. And he's... he's made a mess of it in that sense because he's really not played well and he's been shown up by some very good clay court players. So it is interesting. If he hits the ground running on clay...
This year in Monte Carlo and Munich, which she tends to play, being from Germany, maybe we look back on this and think, OK, it didn't work in the moment, but it paid off in the long run. I'm not entirely sure if that was his intention here. I would have thought he wanted these points now because it was an opportunity and he hasn't taken advantage of it. I agree with you, Matt. I actually think being world number two, going into Roland Garros is huge.
for Zverev and should be and probably is a massive incentive in his mind. I think not having to play Sinner and Alcaraz is massive for him. And I think, you know, it certainly didn't... harm him getting to the final of the Australian Open did it being the being the second seed okay that is it for part two we'll be back with some looking ahead in part three With Asana you can manage any kind of work.
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They'll inject fresh ideas and perspectives into your business, no matter its size. So go on, try something new. It all starts with skills. Search skills for life. Welcome back to part three of the tennis podcast where just before we look ahead to the tennis happening this week, a note about Indian Wells and a slightly odd situation. with Venus Williams because it was announced by the tournament that Venus Williams, who hasn't...
hasn't officially retired from the sport and seems to have no intention to, but hasn't played a tournament for a couple of years. She's now 44 years of age, I think. It was announced by the tournament that she had accepted a wild card to play, but then... Then at an event in Denmark, it was reported by the Tennis Weekly podcast that she...
won't be playing as she's not available during Indium Miles. She said, I'm not playing. I love Indium Miles. I would love to be there. If I could have accepted it, I would have loved to be there. But I already made commitments.
That was followed a few hours later by a statement from Indian Wells tournament director Tommy Haas to say, our team has been informed that Venus Williams is not accepting the wildcard this year. We wish Venus all the best and hope to see her back at Indian Wells in the future. So as you were really, I didn't think Venus Williams would be playing Indian Wells and Venus Williams, as it turns out, is not playing Indian Wells. There we go.
Anything further to add? Not really. I personally would be quite surprised if we did see her play tournaments in the future, personally. But, you know, if she wants to, then... She can and she will, I'm sure, because I'm sure many tournaments will want to give her wildcards in the future. I thought maybe it was a, you know, it was a... Play to get back in some form so she can win the US Open mixed doubles title this year.
Given that that's, you know, that's pretty winnable, I would say, now for Venus Williams. She could add a Grand Slam trophy. Could be winnable for Matt Roberts, quite frankly. Matt Roberts and Venus Williams combo. Now he's found his backhand. You know, the world's at his feet. The ATP this week is in Dubai and Acapulco for 500s and in Santiago for a 250, which of course is where Sebastian Baez is playing, as well as Francisco Sarangelo, Alejandro Tabilo.
Nicholas Jarry, who could do with a win, and Thomas Martin Etcheverry in Dubai. Round one matches include Medvedev against Strouf, Lehechka, Humbert, Monfils Berrettini, Tsitsipas Sonnago, Bublik against Félix Auger, Aliassime, and Cilic against De Mino. We also have... We have Art of Feast, Andrei Rublev, Grigor Dimitrov and Giovanni Pesciperica in the draw there. There was some debate before we went on air for this podcast about whether Art of Feast travels with a personal head.
dresser there was some very furious googling uh turns out it's a it's his best mate who is also a barber so david is prepared to continue supporting artifice Correct. There was a very hairy few moments there where David was threatening to abandon him for vanity reasons. In Acapulco this week, round one matches include Zverev against Arnaldi, Mahatch against Mensik. That's fun. Kabali Shelton, also fun. And Alex Mikkel.
Wilson against Boo Yunchauketo. Have you put that one on the agenda for me, Matt? I have. A little Easter egg for you. Yep. Thank you very much. They're both in your team, right? Both two players. Both two players from my extremely random fantasy team. Yeah. Holger Runa, Tommy... Paul, Francis Tiafo, Kasper Rude all in the draw. And Lerner Thien and Nishesh Basavredi have both qualified, which is fun. Musetti and Fritz have both withdrawn. Fritz.
told us that he's been dealing with an abdominal injury since before Dallas, which potentially explains a couple of his dodgier results recently. And Mazzetti... withdrew from Rio last week and retired in Buenos Aires, didn't he? So the same injury which has caused him to withdraw from Acapulco. The WTA is this week in Austin. Texas for 250 and in Merida.
Mexico for a 500. Emma Navarro and Paola Bedosa are the two top seeds there with Donna Vekic, Marta Kostiuk, Beatriz Hadadj, Mayamir, Sakari and Anna Kalinskaya all in the draw. We have The Return of Petra Kvitova after her maternity leave. She's playing Jodie Burridge.
in round one, her first match since the end of 2023. And we also have Jessica Begula and Deanna Schneider, who are the top... two seeds there was some talk wasn't there about Madison Keys had been on the entry list for Austin but the WTA have rules about not 250 events not being allowed to have more than one top 10 player in their draw.
And Madison Keyes, as a result of winning the Australian Open, became a top 10 player. And because Jessica Bagula was already down to play Austin, they were therefore unable to have... Australian Open champion Madison Keyes in their draw, which is, well, it's not great for anyone, is it? Insane. It's a misfire. And that's it. For the week ahead. Fun. Fun stuff in there. I always love Acapulco. I wish it didn't take place in the exact preferred sleeping hours here in the UK.
But it is always just a vibe, isn't it? Something sort of slightly insane always happens in Acapulco. Yes, someone will end up on a... On a drip at the end of it due to terrible conditions that they fought through. And it's interesting, Alex Dimonor is the two-time defending champion, but he's playing Dubai instead. Interesting. Very interesting. Of course, this was the week when he won in Acapulco and Katie Balter won in San Diego, wasn't it? But San Diego is now Merida. Yeah, all change.
We have a mascot for this week. Hello to Cosmo. I love that name. Cosmo is a cat owned by Natalie. Cosmo is a three-year-old rescue cat adopted in March 2023 who now lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts after a harrowing journey in a van full of barking dogs from his foster home in Texas. That is... a truly cross-country journey for Cosmo. Cosmo loves cuddles, toy mice and watching TV.
Natalie said, I've never had a cat who actually watches TV before, but Cosmo does. And the movement of the tennis ball really seems to catch his attention. His favourite players are Iger Svantec, Daria Kazikina and Yannick Sinner. And he's extremely lovely. He reminds me a little bit of magic, my old flatmate's cat.
He's lovely. He's looking at me with absolute disdain, which is precisely what I want from cats. Which is just what magic used to do. Yes. Yes. Every day of my life that I lived with him. Thank you, Natalie. Cosmo is excellent. He's one of those cats that just looks like he knows things that you don't know. Again. Cats really nail that look, don't they? Hello to our mascots, Phoebe. We've had a good one this week, Phoebe. Thank you to me. David.
How did you do for Maisie this week? Carolyn and Mook have kept our reputation just about intact, Maisie. But, you know, we've got work to do. And Matt and Roger. Mazzetti's injury is a blow. Didn't have Sebastian Baez. Yeah. It's a big blow for him and also for my team. I thought he was going to rack up the points in this little stretch of the season. It's a tough old sport. Hello to our top folks and executive producers, Greg, Chris and Jeff and Matt.
We have shout outs. Yes, just the one shout out this week. It's a very special one. It comes from Rishi. who is someone that we know. We had the pleasure of meeting Rishi at Indian Wells a couple of years ago. And Rishi would like to dedicate... His shout out to his dear friend, Ed Ramirez, who sadly passed away last year.
Ed grew up in Massachusetts playing college tennis, and he was described by a coach there as having the best lobs in New England. And he remained a... a dedicated, avid tennis player throughout his life. And Rishi says, Ed loved to talk tennis. He loved the history of the game. He would have conversations like, who's going to have the better career at the end of it all? Raducanu or Fernandez? Whose career would you rather have?
or Leighton Hewitt and Rishi says the three of us would have loved to have nerded out on tennis with Ed and Rishi says that not a Not a big match in tennis goes by without him thinking of Ed and with Indian Wells around the corner. especially because they would meet there every year. And Rishi says that some of his fondest tennis memories involve being at Indian Wells with Ed and their friend Bill, having some beers and watching.
the big matches. So we're thinking of Rishi and we're thinking of Ed and yeah, just wanted to use the shout out today for that one. That is... An extremely touching tribute to Ed Rishi. What an absolutely lovely thing to do. And David, whose career would you rather have out of Jim Currier and Leighton Hewitt? I would rather have Jim Currier's. because he won four grand sum titles. But I'd frankly take either one. Either one's fine. There you go, Rishi. That one's for Ed.
that's really lovely thank you thank you very much for that And thank you all for listening. We'll be back next week when we'll be at the start of Indian Wells, the two weeks of Indian Wells, the four weeks of... sunshine swing, and hopefully spring will have sprung once again and receded here in London. Thanks for listening, folks. We'll speak to you then. Thank you.
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