This episode is brought to you by Progressive. Most of you aren't just listening right now. You're driving, cleaning, and even exercising. But what if you could be saving money by switching to Progressive? Drivers who save by switching save nearly $750 on average, and auto customers qualify for an average of 7 discounts. Multitask right now. Quote today at Progressive.com Progressive casualty and trans company and affiliates National Average 12 Month savings of $744 by new customer surveyed who saved with Progressive
between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings were very discounts not available in all safe and situations. This is Mary Carrillo, this is Pam Shriver, this is Janik Noah, and you're listening to The Tennis Podcast. Hello and welcome to a sunny Friday evening in Paris, and it actually is Friday evening. I promise, last time I introduced the show as being on a Friday evening.
It was in fact a Monday, but this is a Friday evening. It's lovely. You find the three of us, pushed at our usual outdoor spot just outside, Philippe Chatrier surrounded by various different concession stands, tennis fans, lots of very long cues, which I'm not sure both brilliantly for when they've got full capacity crowds from Sunday onwards.
That's not a problem quite frankly. We are having a lovely time, David. Oh yeah, it has been wonderful the past two days. I think part of that is lovely being here anyway. The grounds are great. It's been fairly nice weather, but the buzz has come from the qualifying.
It's been a qualifying stadium on Long Lenn. What is it? 10,000 seats stadium, something like that. I've just come from there where the final French player was trying to mount a heroic comeback and got into a tie break. There were sing-in l'amassees, and it was so emotional. I'm thinking the tournament hasn't even started yet, but it's been wonderful really.
Yeah, I shouldn't be getting FOMO before the tournaments even started, and yet I was because David was revealing that he was on Long Lenn listening to the Marseillez, and I wanted to be on Long Lenn listening to the Marseillez. People are so invested here. Both the locals and the Zuzu Bergs fans from Belgium, there were about 20 of them. Belgium fans are good fans, aren't they? They travel in numbers and they're very vocal.
It was just a brilliant atmosphere, and you can feel just the love for their own nation here. So, significantly in every pore, it's wonderful. That was the final, a completed match of qualifying, which means we should get the qualifying draw. I.E., the successful qualifiers drawn assigned to the spots in the main draw where qualifiers slash lucky loser
has been, I've explained that so badly, haven't I? I hope you get the gist, but basically, Eagashontek has been drawn to play a qualifier, Colossal Alkraz, drawn to face a qualifier, Jack Draper as well, who's press conference I went to today. There are a few significant names that have been drawn to face a qualifier and a few names that have qualified that we have absolutely asterisk to look out for.
The chemistry side for us, I think, that's Sare Rani, just mostly for the lulls and Eulani Maya. Eulani Maya, absolutely, future Wimbledon champion, Eulani Maya. Lili Agashontek. Lili Agashontek. Have you said that right? She has her forehand, is either a moon ball or a drop shot. There's nothing else in that 400 repertoire, it's amazing. There's also a former French Open semi-finals tomorrow, as you dan check, as qualifier.
Wow. Wow. And of course, on the men's side, as we flagged yesterday, we really have eyes on Hamad Majedavic. I can't believe he'll ever be qualifying for a slam again after this, unless injury or something really unexpected happens. It's a good point. We all think he's the real deal. He's young, I'd expect him to be fresh and he's played himself into form with three wins. I think that's a nightmare draw for someone. I also think Tiaga Montero would be a nightmare for someone.
He has had a really good clay court season, beats its surpass. He's just been getting a lot of wins and yet had to go through qualifying and has done so. I think him and Majedavic would be the toughest men's qualifiers. We'll keep an eye on that and we will keep you posted if we don't get that news in time for tonight's podcast. Don't worry, David Churchill's an extra podcast. Tomorrow, we've got you covered, folks. 6pm French time tomorrow evening, Saturday evenings. That's 5pm in the UK.
Midday East Coast time and 9am West Coast time. And various different hours of the morning in Australia. Yeah, well middle of the night. Really, but you know you can get up. Come on. Yeah. Or stay up. We do try and make it convenient for as many of our listeners as possible and we're really sorry for those of you that would like to watch but prioritize sleep over live podcasts. And I very much respect that decision.
So why did Matt miss out on the Marseille A's? It was because he was doing his duty and diligently waiting with me for Elena Rabatkina to come into press. Only to find out that actually Elena Rabatkina had been rescheduled for tomorrow. There are a number of players are on. We're coming to you at the end of what is technically media day. What has been media day here in Paris, but as is kind of always the case these days, there are a few stragglers.
Now of course one of those stragglers is no that Jokovic for very understandable reasons. He's been in Geneva. He's probably already not in Geneva having lost at Thomas Mahatch about an hour and a half ago. We will talk about that, don't worry. But Rafal Nadal, also a straggler Elena Rabatkina. I love the name. I'm looking forward to the express headline. Tenest podcast labels, Jokovic and Nadal stragglers. And Nomiya Sarka, a straggler. I think those are the bigons.
And Nomiya Sarka. Yes. So anyway, but I'm sure that there's more grand slams than the North and the North. I'm sure that there's a big one. David, I'm going to wait you feel bad now. It was a great call from you to schedule an extra podcast for tomorrow because, look, we've got lots from today. But a media day without Rafal Nadal at Roland Garros in this year of all years is very much incomplete.
So we're very pleased that we'll be able to come to you tomorrow and report on what we hear in those press conferences. Because it'll be significant. You know, I feel like it is in keeping the way with the way Grand Slam tournaments are going. You don't have days off at these things. And when we get here, we got here, we had to rearrange our flight because we were coming to come on Thursday. And then we realised the draw was Thursday and we wanted to be at the draw.
So you just feel as though you're doing a slightly incomplete job unless you do something every day. And I mean, look, it's not massively hard work for us. We work hard, but we love it. So being around it, and that is always something going on at these tournaments. And yeah, you go day without a podcast and you feel like you've got a lot to catch your part. So we'll be back tomorrow. We'll tell you what Nadal has to say. What Jockovich has to say, Asaka and Rebecca as well.
But we've had the rest of the runners and riders through the press conference room today. And tell me if you feel differently, but I feel like the main headline from today is the guys that we were worried about injury wise have done a really cracking job of convincing us why we shouldn't be worried about them injury wise. That's well put I think. I mean, I actually wasn't in the main press conference room for most of the day.
I came in late on and it happened to coincide with Janik Sinner and Carlos Alcraz. I was not expecting to leave that room feeling as upbeat about them. Even me, as they made me feel. I don't know what handed them at you, you feel. I felt the same, but then I also know media day lose you in. Yes, I fall in the media day all the time. Give me an example from the past where media day is just completely scuppardous.
I think of Eagish Fountain when she came into the 2022 US Open and had us all convicts. Yes, that's the one. She went on one of the things in the mind and Jabur here two years ago. Yeah. I think I changed my predictions after I was going to say two years ago. Yeah, but no, I agree. I think Sinner and Alcraz both played down their injuries. They both said that, well, certainly Sinner said that his hip is fine. He's not actually worried about his hip was what he said.
He did say that he only studied playing points a few days ago when he got here to Paris. And as a result of that, his physical conditioning is not where he wants it to be because he simply hasn't had the reps on court in the last few weeks. He said he took a two week break from even hitting tennis balls, which is a big chunk of time as the most enormous wasp has just crawled into my beer. And now, that is absolutely terrifying. This is real shardon for you to for me. Yeah, no Sinner may be okay.
Matt and David made me continue podcasting through a beasting and now Matt is ceased functioning as a human being as a wasp comes a meter. Sorry, it's going to land on that bald guy's head. It's fine. We're fine guys, carry on. Sorry. So I think injury wise, Yannick Sinner seems to be okay. But, you know, he hasn't played many matches. He hasn't got much form. And he clicking to get he just makes everything seem so simple.
Yannick Sinner, I was just thinking about like there was so many lines in this press conference where he's like, well, tennis is a game where you start at zero zero and whoever's the best player wins. He says, I have my job to do. I'm not right about other players. He just focused on himself. I come here, I play, I go home. And it's like that's kind of what his tennis has been like this year. Making matches look very, very simple.
It's just a question of whether he can pick up that good form given that he hasn't played so much. But as we said yesterday, he's got quite a workable draw in that sense. Yeah, I think it might not be as kind of robotic and dismissive as we've become used to seeing early rounds for Yannick Sinner. I think it could be a bit more labored early on, but provided he's able to work his way through that, it sounds to me like he'll be in good shape by the second week if he gets there.
And yeah, he was so, it was really interesting having Sinner and Alcarus back to back. Wasn't it? I mean, generally, obviously they're so intertwined in tennis, but also at this very moment they're particularly intertwined because we're talking about them as a couplet in terms of injury, aren't we? In terms of them being big, big question marks with their fitness. And it could be the English.
It could be the difference in foreign language skills in sort of how unequivocal and clear Sinner was about the situation with his hip. He said, I'm not concerned about the hip anymore. The last test we made were very positive, I'm fine. It was all so methodical and clear. The hip is fine. I didn't play tennis for three weeks, so that could be a problem in the short term, but I'm fine. Alcarus, I felt like the overall message was I'm okay, but it was woolyer.
He had an incredibly relatable line, actually, and he said that you can't remember really the name of what his problem was. And we've all been there with the docs, they've said something, and then you're trying to report back to someone. You're like, what did he say? Generally, I sort of roughly know what he was talking about, but I can't remember the specific name, and that's kind of what Alcarus described. He said, I am listening to all the people when they're telling me what's wrong.
I do what they say. I can't remember the specific words that they use. And yeah, just as you said, that's a good insight into their slightly different personality. He's very honest about it being in his own head as well. Alcarus, he said, you know, there is no pain, but I'm thinking about it because I'm scared. Yeah, and he did kind of imply that hopefully that he thinks that would just be a first round thing.
Once I played a match with it, a best-of-five set match, and I tested it in those conditions. Hopefully my confidence in it will grow and grow, but that's not a certainty, is it? And perhaps there are no certainties because you can't completely replicate match conditions. A couple of things about Sinner. One is, I think he's taking a page out of the Novak Chokovich playbook, where actually I think he's almost looking forward to the first couple of rounds.
As a chance to play best-of-five sets and get that match practice, almost not that he'll artificially lengthen matches, but I think he's not afraid of how to maybe go for sets, for instance, just to, it's all reps really that he's been lacking. The other thing is, when the question I asked him, I tried to be unequivocal, are you 100% and do you think your hip can last seven matches if your form is sufficient? And he didn't like Shirk that at all.
He didn't try to suggest that well, we'll have to wait and see. He seemed very clear in his mind that, well, yes, I'm not necessarily match fit because I've been playing any matches, so that there are parts of my physique that aren't quite ready, but I got no sense that there were doubts in his mind. No, me neither. I was certainly, as you said, with the caveat that media day can mess with your head sometimes. I left up fulling.
I certainly left that press conference thinking, OK, Yannick Sinner is a contender to win this title. And it's quite interesting because I had this sudden flashback to being in Yannick Sinner's press conference here last year when he'd lost. It's a Daniel Altmaier in the second round. He actually mentioned that loss. And then everything he was saying again was very matter of fact and clear, except he just didn't quite marry up with his results.
He was talking then about, in fact, no, he wasn't worried about the fact he was losing all the close matches. His goal for the year was to reach to Ren. These were very clear direct messages that he was giving, but it was like, well, doesn't quite make sense given your result, but he's always trusted his process. The process. And now here we are a year on, and it's like, now he's got the results to back it up as well. And suddenly everything he says feels really convincing.
There was such self-assurance about him. I was really struck by that. And parallels with Yushurantech, I know Sinner isn't a world number one yet. He could become world number one this fortnight. Yes, I've got to remember the exact scenarios, but I think Jokovic needs to reach the semi. Yes, I think that might be changed slightly by Geneva, but not much given Jokovic has gone out the semi-final stage of Geneva.
Basically, Jokovic needs to have a decent tournament, regardless of what Sinner does to become world number one, because Sinner lost so early last year. It struck me with both of them there, easing themselves. To an extent, I haven't seen with them before. It was really striking. Without cries, I think the best moment was... I mean, the best moment always without cries is a beaming grin, isn't it? It sends energy into the room.
It emits us like a bat signal, the Algaraz grin, and what elicited what it was a question. I actually can't remember who it was from. That's Paul from me. Was it Howard Fendrick? I can't. No. But it was asking whether he wished he had calm and that. The question was, is there any part of you that wanted to play Nadal in round one?
And before the question was even out, he was beaming and he went, no. And then he revealed in the Spanish portion of the press conference that he had been watching the draw live. Yes, he was watching live, and so he knew that it was either going to be him or it was very facing Rafa and Nadal, because the way the draws were done, Nadal was in his place in the draw, and that was either going to be him against the third seed or the fourth seed.
So there's a 50% chance, and Algaraz was on tentahooks, hoping it wasn't here. The Netflix cameras were on that, because Netflix are following him, aren't they? For Algaraz's specific documentary. And I think he sort of slightly hinted at it in Spanish that there was part of him that wants to play Rafa and Nadal here at Roland Garros. That would be such a special moment.
But he kind of knew in that moment that it was, if he was going to play, it was going to have to be in the first round, basically, or the final. But those were kind of his two options once the draw had been sort of half made, and he didn't want to face him in the first round, as he said. So I think there is a slight sense that, you know, I think it would be his dream to play Rafa and Nadal at Roland Garros, but he was very clear not in the first round.
Yeah, that's interesting, because I've heard from various insiders that sort of over this kind of good by tour from Rafa and Nadal over the past few weeks, players aside from the very top guys, and maybe even some of the top guys, but not Algaraz maybe, but players have been desperate to play him, desperate. Everyone wants to shirt. Oh God. And I'm using shirt. I'm using shirts as a metaphor, David.
Everyone wants the memory, whether you want the physical evidence of that memory or not, which is an insight, isn't it? But it was interesting when Zverev came into press, obviously, his draw was the main feature of conversation, and he said the same as what you described Algaraz saying there, in terms of having a desire to play Nadal again here, but he framed it so differently. He framed it as... He framed it as kind of, Nadal is a character in my story. I'm not a character in Nadal's story.
This is my redemption arc going back to my injury against him here two years ago. This is the completion of my redemption arc, and Nadal plays a part in that, but I'm the main character. Which is so interesting, because there wasn't anybody that went to that press conference today, press conference room today, man or woman, that wasn't asked about Nadal.
I don't think, and all of them were just heaping praise on him and talking about putting themselves in Nadal's shoes, and talking about everything he's given to the sport and all the rest of it. Zverev saw it all through his various lens. Can I tell you something that Stefano Sitsapas said when he was asked if he'd have liked to have played him in the first round? He said, I don't think anyone wants to play him in the first round. It's Rafael freaking Nadal, which has actually got a good line.
Here's a good line. Yeah. I think he did think he'd won 17 round in Garas titles. He's got to be the only person I've ever come across. Who's actually been disappointed when he's found out? That's so Stefano Sitsapas, isn't it? Oh my god. So it's a roster of back on, by the way. That's not the other thing to come out of media there. Yeah. Yeah, no you're right. There was not a single recognition in Zverev's press conference that this was a big deal for Nadal as his last Roland Carras.
It was all about his own redemption arc, his own redemption narrative. He said he's been desperate to play Rafael Nadal because he didn't want his last memory of playing Nadal to be leaving the court in a wheelchair. I think he's deep down, I'm sure he knows that Rafael Nadal is not going to be Peacrafon Nadal, but he's convinced himself that he's going to be playing Peacrafon Nadal in, well, Monday, we know that match is going to be.
It's a pretty good insight into the mind, I think, about his own Zverev. I don't think there would have been many players who didn't at least sort of recognize that maybe they're not the big story. Your character in his story is, at least as well. Yes. As the other way around. Yeah. Other men that came through the press conference, well, I was going to say room, but there was room and then there was circus area. David stationed himself in circus area.
So it's far, David described something that would have given me a panic attack. Yeah. And there was, I'm in the time of my life. Our anxiety dream is David's dream. It was great, honestly. It was bedlam. I mean, not helped by the fact that they have two official interview rooms here. So the one Catherine and Matt were in for all the players you've just described there in our crowds and the center. That's a big auditorium, isn't it?
And there's a big desk up front and it's all soundproof and very controlled. And right next door there's another one interview room two. However, on media day, interview room two is not available to the media because they were doing some kind of social media content with the players from the tournament's perspective. And we just had to lump it. I hope it's very good content because it made things very awkward for everybody trying to do their jobs, including the players.
The alternative to the main interview room was just an open plan, portion of the press room, which was divided off by basically almost, almost like those COVID screens that people used to have to sit by so that they didn't breathe on it on each other. And then not soundproof in any way. So you've got several different players sitting side by side doing interviews and you could hear every word of the one adjacent. There was no soundproofing whatsoever.
I mean, look for me, I wasn't actually doing many interviews. I was going to interview room three occasionally, which was basically just part of the open plan room. Two rows of things. The room is doing a lot of heavy lifting and that's not tight. That's to give the guy a microphone just so that people on the second row could hear him or her. Because you could just hear everything else that was going on a J in the rest of the room.
But for me, it was a great situation because I was just eavesdropping on loads and loads of interviews all at once and just picking up lots and lots of different bits and bobs.
And best of all, I got to speak to some of the journalists who were representing players and actually I've realised in the last couple of days my experience with the French journalist Julian from Le Keep and today with Holger Runner's press pack and TV coverage stations that you often get a lot more from the media that are following them and they can give you that local insight. So it was really great. Tell us what you've learnt about young Holger Runner.
Well, I did actually go and listen to a couple of his interviews and there were, you know, he's a perfectly personable chap and polite and so forth. But he wasn't saying a lot really. He strikes me, David, as the sort of guy that like, needs to go on a gap year. That's good here. You know, if you went on race across the world, he'd have a moment of revelation. Shed some tears and he'd come back. Please, cast Holger and Annika, press across the world. Don't I mean like...
He would do the world, he just needs to go out there and have a year of experiencing the world and he'd be a, he'd turn out a perfectly good human, you know. I'm not saying he's not now, but he's just not, he's a child. He is, he is. And I can't even find him quite lovable in a way. But I had a chat with Nikolai Anderson from the Danish TV station TV2. They're the ATP and WTA rights holders here. They don't have the rights. But Nikolai writes for their website and was doing an interview.
He did quite a lengthy interview with Holger on camera for, I guess, for news, sports news purposes. And Nikolai actually, I'll listen to her, but I actually use her, hello Nikolai. But a very nice chat. And I asked him lots and lots of questions about Holger. Because I kind of wanted a sense of how does Denmark view Holger Runa? You know, because it's, it's interesting, isn't it?
And, and he said, first of all, he is one of the top three sports people in Denmark in terms of being well known, in terms of conversation, coverage, only behind, and actually we'd put him as number two probably behind the cyclist Jonas Vingegard, who's won the Tour de France the last two years.
He said he does divide opinion, which tallies with, with our experience, he said that a lot of people love him and, and there's also a lot of people that don't like the behaviour and the sort of antics on the court. And that sort of thing, that having been said when he had his really big results, beaten Jokovic in Paris and doors the other year and, and so forth, he says then the whole nation feels behind him.
They do embrace his success, but I actually drew the parallel to him that it feels a bit like Andy Murray early years in Britain, where people were trying to get to know him and, and not everybody was keen at the start, and but Murray won them all over in the end. And I sort of wonder whether that might be the, the journey that Runa goes on.
I mean, I do try to cut him a bit of slack. He's so young, you know, and, and I think your gap here, sort of analogy and picture is one that is relevant to tennis players. Yes, they travel the world, but it's not real life. So much of what they do is not, is not normal. And I think that they do struggle sometimes to get grown up to mature. I asked him about, about his mother, and what, you know, we've, we've seen that Netflix episode, which was fascinating, you know, and how involved she was.
And, and both he and, and, and, and, and, and, and a little chat with Max Eisenbud, who's, who's agency, I'm, she and our representing Runa, said she is, she wants to take a bit of a step back from him now. And, and not that she's not involved, she, she is, but she wants to give him room to find out for himself, make his own mistakes, make his own decisions on the court and be responsible for them.
And so for the last two or three months, she hasn't been traveling with him. She's, you know, that she's a, she sounds like a really interesting character to, to, to all of them, but, you know, she used to be his press manager, you know, taking all the requests and those requests no longer, well, yeah, no longer go into, to her. And so I think he's trying to, you know, to try to find the way he's trying to find his way, but it's very clear that at the moment he,
whole ruiner is still not there mentally. There's, there's, there's, there's feeling that, I mean, Niklai said his game from everything that they, they see is as good as ever. There's no issue with form, but he just has these mental collapses in that she's, and we've seen it with some of these, these alarmingly quick third sets and one-sided scorelines. And, and that's, that's got to change. And from, from what I'm told from Patrick Moratoglu,
his, he's been pretty adamant that that has got to change. I don't think anybody's soft-soaking that. So when it will happen is, is a big question mark. I mean, he's got Dan Evans and the, the first round they've never played each other before. Rooner did know about Evans. He said he had found him very creative and so forth. And, and Evans seemed to quite like, like Rooner from what, from what I gathered from his press conference. But, this didn't have sport Evans.
They haven't, they just stood up from his coach. Yeah, two guys searching. I mean, Evans has won three matches all year. And, and Rooner has not won that many either on by his standards. So it's, it's very interesting. It makes me think about Jack Draper, who's press conference I went to earlier and he's just employed the services of Wayne Fair. And he confirmed today that that's no longer in a trial phase. That is a permanent setup. And, he said, I am in a transitional phase of my career.
And he said, he's, he's trying to completely rebound himself, basically, and do all the things that we and people far wiser than us have been calling for from him. Basically, to be a far more aggressive tennis player, to be a, to be a big, big, babe tennis player, you know, be, be a left-handed, anti-rodic. It sounds to me like Wayne Forever has come in and said, it's really simple, Jack. Look at your game. You're six foot five, you're a monster lefty serve, you've got a great forehand.
It's great that you can defend. And it's great that you have that to fall back on. That is not your A-game dude. And he's totally taken it on board and embraced it and said, if I'm employing you, I need to listen to you. And he said he thinks he still has 40 or 50% left in him that's currently on the table. And he said, I'm looking around and a lot of the guys around me are maxed out. And I've got that much left to go, which is a good feeling.
And he said, yeah, I'm in a transitional phase. I'm working on my serve technique, trying to stand in more on return and play front foot tennis. And that's mature stuff to, to buy into a reworking, if you're tennis DNA, at that young and age. I think that's really, I mean, we're always impressed by Jack Drape is maturity, aren't we? But it's just another indicator of it.
Yeah. And I dare say there are other coaches he's had who have probably kind of said similar things. But Wayne Ferrero has got clout. This is a guy who was a top 10 player. He's coached Francis Tienfo to the US Open semi-finals. He had a monster four hand of his own, Wayne Ferrero. And whenever I've spoken to him about tennis players, it sounds like you've just said. It's very clear. He doesn't mess about, he doesn't use many words.
He just wants to, it just gives you a straight blunt. And I think that that's good for Jack Drape because he's a whole king guy. And it takes humility to hear it. And implement it, I think. And that's what Francis Tienfo did for a while though. I don't know what's going on with him now. I don't quite understand what's going on with him now. He simplified, didn't he? Totally simplified it. And it doesn't work unless the player has full buy in. And that's what I heard from Jack Drape today.
We had Daniel Medvedev in the main press conference room. No major headlines, but as always a nice time in the company of Daniel. He also was pleased not to have drawn Rafael Nadal in the first round. Yeah, he practiced with him yesterday. And he spoke about that both in French and in English. He's just as fluent in French, if not more so than in English. And that was something that Mary Carrillo marked upon in press. We spent a lot of time in the main room with her.
She said, she said to Matt, you're fluent in French and Spanish, right? Are you able to be funny in those languages? And I had to say no. There's Medvedev with the whole room in the palm of his hands in three different languages. And this was, Mary didn't say this directly, but she hinted at it. He's also fluent in body language, isn't he?
The way that he answered your question, Catherine, because I asked him about his serve. We've talked a lot about on this podcast about the way Medvedev serve has diminished really over the last couple of years. It used to be his biggest weapon. It isn't anymore. He now has a far lower percentage for serves. It doesn't hit as many aces. It's not the foundation of his game in quite the same way that he used to be. He's hinted at physical problems leading to that.
And he's talked about the fact that he can't always practice his serve because of those physical problems. So therefore, when he gets onto the match court, he's not had the reps, the practice reps. And it becomes a less good serve. And I asked him whether he's accepted that that's just going to be the way it is now, or whether he thinks he can get it back to what it was.
And he very quickly said, no, he hasn't accepted it. He said that he's actually had a couple of good weeks of serving, and he thinks he's serving well at the moment. But yeah, he's looking for ways to overcome these physical problems. Anyway, Catherine then followed up on that and said, was it the hernia operation that sort of led to those physical problems that sort of directly maybe caused the serve to have its problems?
And he said, no, not directly. But then he did this incredible bit of body language to sort of... It's like mine, wasn't it? Yeah, he's a very friend. He sort of demonstrated his whole body sort of drooping or sort of caving in as a result of the hernia operation. He said, well, maybe that led to a physical issue that has led to serving problems. It could be linked if not directly. It certainly sounded like the timeline checks out. It does. If not sort of a very clear medical cause and effect.
Yes. Having been established. Yeah, he was asked a lot about Nadal, and he just told me, I mean, he said, didn't he? I think after the third question about Nadal, or with the third question about Nadal, the journalist prefaced it with, I'm so sorry, this is another question about Nadal, and he goes, it's fine, it's normal. He gets us, doesn't it? And he said that he practiced with Nadal, and he said that he thought he was playing a lot better than what he saw on TV in Madrid and Rome.
He also was traumatised by the hercassion, by the sounds of things. Yeah, I mean, the reports are that he lost that practice set to tinadal. I don't know. What do you read into practice? We can't. Not much other than, at the moment, it feels like Nadal is going to play. That I'm more confident than 24 hours ago than Nadal is going to play. We still don't know until the time comes. And look, I share this in common with what we're attending, Syner, and Al Krasnitz Press Comments as well today.
It's so different to when you're a set and a half into your first match. And you've put various parts of your body on the stress in a match situation that you just haven't, like Syner being a perfect example, he hasn't played any matches. Neither is Al Krasnitz. There's so many unknowns. I feel much more optimistic today than 24 hours ago on behalf of all of them. But yeah, it is media day, not first round day.
As Matt alluded to earlier, we do know that the days that the first round matches will be, we know that Andy Murray against San Roorrenca will be a Sunday match. There are rumours, a swirling. I've heard these from David who heard them from someone else. The Murray Roorrenca could be a night session. Yeah, I heard that from somebody else who had spoken to a French radio journalist. It's nailed on. I don't want it to be a night match, but okay. Murray, I don't want it to be a night match.
Because I don't like the night matches here. I think the best slot is third on the day session. And I want that in the best. That would be good. I went to Murray's press conference. David went to Roorrenca's press conference. He was released loitered in the vicinity of the Vrinka's press conference might be a slightly grandiose word for what was happening down there. But there was nothing major to report from Murray's.
Except for a really quite haunting answer from him about the 2017 semifinal that he played here against Stan Vrinka, which in the words of Matt on last night's podcast broke his hip. He was very directly about that and a really dark, traumatized look across his eyes. I thought and he started to reflect on it and said, yeah, that was the match that broke my hip. He said, look, it was it was it was wearing down.
He said, if you look at my major results from the nine month period before that match, he was basically saying to us all the signs were there, if you were looking closely, he said, I started losing matches from two sets to one up, which I never used to do. He said, Nishikori, US Open, Del Potro, Davis Cup, Vrinka, French Open. He said, I just never used to lose those matches and I was consistently. And then he said it was the semifinal here against Vrinka that ended it once and for all.
And it sounds like he knew in the moment. He said that night after the Vrinka loss, he didn't sleep a wink because he was in that much pain. And then he went onto the grass and couldn't stretch out his leg. He said, couldn't push up on his serve and it was it was curtains. Like to think about, to think back on that knowing what we now know, he went into Wimbledon as World No. 1 as a two time champion and all of the hype and dialogue that surrounds that and he knew he was gone.
It was over. Like that's just amazing. When he came into Queens before that and he was wearing that sort of blue and red outfit that was kind of branded as the Superman outfit. And he lost to Jordan Thompson if you remember in the first round. And I think he'd had some sort of injection to maybe freeze the problem in some way. And he was talking about how woozy he felt and he was walking around stiffly the whole day and he couldn't feel the ball.
So, I mean, that's seven years ago. It's incredible to think, really. It was so Andy Murray, he gave this absolutely devastating answer about that whole experience in the aftermath and how he reflects on it now. And basically said sort of, yeah, I thought it was going to be career-ending but here I am. But yeah, it was terrible. And then there's a pause and he goes, it was a shame. And the most deadpan delivery of AI was so Andy Murray.
Hey, I'm Ryan Reynolds. Recently, I asked Mint Mobile's legal team if big wireless companies are allowed to raise prices due to inflation. They said yes. And then when I asked if raising prices technically violates those onerous to your contracts, they said, what the f*** are you talking about? You insane Hollywood s***. So to recap, we're cutting the price of mint unlimited from $30 a month to just $15 a month. Give it a try at MintMobile.com slash switch.
$45 up front for three months plus taxes and fees from ODE for new customers for limited time. Unlimited more than 40 gigabytes per month, slow. Full turns at MintMobile.com. Quality sleep is essential. That's why the sleep number smart bed is designed for your ever-evolving sleep needs. Need a bed that's firmer or softer on either side? Helps you sleep at a comfortable temperature? Sleep number smart beds let you individualize your comfort. So you sleep better together.
JD Power Rink sleep number number one in customer satisfaction with mattresses purchased in-store. And now save 50% on the sleep number limited edition smart bed for a limited time. For JD Power 2023 award information, visit JD Power.com slash awards. Only at a sleep number store or sleep number dot com. Everyone knows therapy is great for solving problems, but getting therapy has its own problems too. Like finding the right therapist, fitting into their schedule and of course the cost.
Well, better help can solve those problems. It's totally online and built around your schedule. It's surprisingly affordable too. Connect with a credentialed therapist by phone, video or online chat, all from the comfort of your home. Visit betterhelp.com to learn more and save 10% on your first month. That's better help H-E-L-P. We had fewer of the top women through the main room today. I feel like Rebecca is coming tomorrow. Asaka who we had requested is coming through tomorrow.
We had Jabba, we had Eagish Filante, we had Arunis Abelanka and Matt. We had Coco Gough who I think you were David was loitering. I was with Andy Murray, you were our sole Gough representative. It was quick, very short press conference. I was only able to ask about Serbs today and did the same with Coco Gough. I thought her answer was quite interesting and she's obviously committed to this slight change of technique that she's made on the serve.
She's very aware that she's serving worse now than she was, let's say a year ago, or last year when she was winning the US Open. The serve's now a problem. She says she needs to be uncomfortable with it to get better. That whole thing learning happens on the edge of uncomfortable. She's very into that and is prepared to go through this period. It's pretty confident she's going to come out the other side, a better player because of it.
She said the serve's a tough one because in pressure moments it's something where you can fall back on maybe your previous technique and you can control it, aren't you, with the serve. There's a lot going on there and I think it sort of helped explain to me why we're seeing so many double faults. She is right slap bang in the middle of her evolution to hopefully a better serve. Right now she's having to go through it being worse. I was pretty encouraged that she had at least accepted that.
I don't think she's in her own head about it, even if it can maybe look that way on the court when the double faults are piling up. But yeah, like as I said yesterday, I think she's got a pretty good draw here. Despite those issues, I'm still expecting a good tournament for Coco Gough. Directly after all soon after Coco Gough, we had Irene Sabelenker through the main room. She's never kind of appointment viewing as she's Sabelenker in press command.
She's got a very sort of likable disposition but she's not quite machine. Did we learn anything? You can say no. No, I don't think I did really. I ended up, you know, my mind went back to, again, last year's Frank Chopin and I was thinking in a weird way, I think she'd have been closer to beating Shifu-Mtek last year at the Frank Chopin. If she got through to that final from what was she for, maybe in that final set against Mukiver, certainly in a very strong position.
Shifu-Mtek wasn't playing as well as she is now. Sabelenker didn't have the... I don't think the defeat she's just taken to Shifu-Mtek unnecessarily baggage, but they might be. She might carry, you know, she does end up playing Shifu-Mtek here. She's got two recent defeats in her mind last year. She's beating her in Madrid. Almost felt like, I don't know, I was in that press conference thinking, maybe last year was your chance to win the Frank Chopin.
If she feels a little bit further away now, even though she's been well number one since then, and she's won another Australian Open, and she's had a great season, feels like the gaps are bigger at the moment. I don't know whether that's a reach, but that was what my mind went to while in her press conference. And it really was striking for me with Shifu-Mtek how comfortable she looked. There was a real... She's not always been the catch, she's... She's not always been the catch, she's...
You're right, I've often felt a little bit on edge for her in pre-tornament press conference, is where she's so aware of everybody looking at her and the fact that she's supposed to win by the rankings, etc. I wasn't in there today, so I'm pleased to hear that, because I don't know, I was... I saw a sort of slightly worried for Shifu-Mtek just being such a young person who... who is trying to kind of... contort her personality into one that can fit and work in this environment.
Yeah, and she was asked by Matt Fatterman of the Athletic to compare how she feels now coming into Rolongaros to how she felt two years ago when she was on the streak. And she was asked to compare it in terms of like tennis terms, but also just feeling.
And she didn't really want to go into the tennis of it all, she kind of said she couldn't really remember what she was working on and thinking tennis-wise two years ago, but it was very clear that she felt more comfortable this year, like in herself, I think, and in the fact that she just... I think exactly as you've just described there, David, she felt that outside pressure, even when she was on that streak, you know.
She doesn't really seem to quite feel that, to quite the same degree at the moment, and it all just gives this air of confidence, which comes off as you said in her own terms. She's just sitting up on that table, a lot more comfortably than I've seen her in the past. And she really sort of quietly owns that stage. There was a question about kind of comparing the women's draw now to in the past and comparing it to the men's.
And she absolutely shut it down. She wasn't having any talk whatsoever that would suggest that women's tennis has been bad in the past. Like, she shut that question down, didn't really engage with it at all. But in a very polite manner, but that in itself was, I think, quite revealing of her pretty confident state of mind, that would say.
She was one of a number of players today that was asked by various different journalists about, you know, as a result of yesterday's draw drama, whether Nadal slash past champions, past great champions in general as a matter of principle, should receive a seeding in situations like the one that Nadal finds himself in. And I can absolutely see why that's a story angle, but I didn't see any players today that bit on that. Everybody was like, I don't know, that would just be completely unworkable.
And she on take was my favourite shot down over the lot. She went, I've just created a huge mess. Yeah, that was great. I just, yeah. Like, there wasn't much cool before the draw. It's a pretty unique situation, I think, the one that Raffa and Nadal is in as a 14-time champion. Like, as you can see on take, sort of said, there's so many former major champions on the WTA Tour. If you're seeding all of those, like, what do you do about St. Stephen's? What do you do about...
And rescue. And rescue. He's about to play a first match, you know, however long it would just be a huge mess. It would create a huge mess. They did used to seed players with a four, not even a formula, a committee at Wimbledon, where they just, you know, had a look at the rankings, got together and said, yeah, but is Alex correct or any good and grass? No, well, we're going to send him down to 15 then. That's how it was to work. But it was like, oh, Tim Maillot.
He might be ranked 38 in the world, but he's going to be the night's seed. Was it drastic as that? I mean, I'm probably exaggerating, but yeah, basically they had a committee meeting, and they just discussed who they thought with that real formula. I mean, they eventually added a formula. I remember the formula in a day. But before that, no, it was just suddenly you'd get the seeds and be like, oh, so it's just gone up 12 places in the seed.
And it was almost, well, it was very often the Spanish players who would kind of be on the receiving end of being absolutely bump down the rack. And there was a big thing when they were trying to like boycott and threaten not to play. If there was a committee now, it would be a tough scene for Casparoud, I think. Sorry, Alex, for the way. I've said him because he's nice. Anybody else who want to touch upon from Media Day Part One?
Well, you mentioned Stan Varinka, and I did attend his press conference. And you dear listener, won't know that last night we had a very spirited debate in the hours approaching midnight, Matt and I. I'm Catherine then joined in as to... not to. ...as to the degree. I'll make Dave would have loved it. Yeah, as to the degree. To which Stan Varinka and Andy Murray's careers can be mentioned in the same breath. Me of the view that, well, they've both got three grand sound titles haven't made
means that they should be. Matt, you took a very different view on that subject. Yeah, I think Andy Murray's career is streaked ahead of Stan Varinka's. And streaked ahead was a very inflammatory turn of phrase for me. And I've just used it again. I started off somewhere between the two of you. I was thinking, oh, I can play the very unusual role for me of peacemaker here potentially. But then David talked himself out of my support over the course of the debate and I ended up.
And I ended up on Matt's sofa. Well, so here I am in Stan Varinka's press conference and I've got a couple of questions in mind. And I didn't ask this question but somebody asked him, he never to be given your plane, Andy Murray, your careers have been like together and you both want to figure out any, any interrupt to him, Stan did. And he says, well, first of all, I don't think we should be mentioning in the same breath. And he's that. Because I've had a far better career than Andy Murray.
No, he said because yes, we've won three grand Sam titles, but he should have won more than that. And not that he didn't think he deserved his own three, but he said, Andy Murray was top of the sport for 10 or 15 years fighting with the big three. He said, nobody pushed the big three like Andy Murray. And he was right there with them pushing them struggling, fighting it out.
And he says, I don't, and I said, I tried to sort of ask you, do you think that's a sign of just the mental strengths that Andy Murray had to keep on going? And you had moments and were able to find an incredible level. And he said, honestly, I don't think I could have got anything more out of myself. I don't think I don't have regrets. I was striving to get to where I did get to. But he said he was right there all the time.
And so yeah, he, he, I don't know whether he was sort of in the room next door to our weird apartment. And he was thinking, yes, Matt, yes, Matt, I agree with you. But he fiercely did. So fair enough. Wow. Okay. And I really hope that that doesn't come across as like diminishing Sam of Rinkham. I think both things can be true. Like I think, well, Rinker had an amazing career. And those peaks were astonishing.
I just think if you look at the grand slam totals only, I think three feels like you would end up sort of underrating Andy Murray's career. And three for Rinker, you could sort of not, sort of overrate his career in comparison to Andy Murray. So I just think, well, number one, two Olympic goals. I think four, double figures, masters, 1000 titles. Like to me, that whole package comes into it. Loads of wins against Federer that Murray had.
You know, and while Rinker was absolutely incredible, particularly against no about Jokovic for a three-year period, he did something that Federer couldn't do, that Nadal couldn't do, that Murray couldn't do. He beat, no about Jokovic repeatedly, over five sets in Grand Sands. No one else cracked that formula like what Rinker was incredible. The whole debate exposes the total insufficiency of comparing, comparing records and achievements and tennis players and goat debates and all of that.
But David absolutely did lose me at the words, it wasn't a full hip replacement. You got quite angry about that. Yeah. By the way, just on the subject of Stan. And again, I realise we may be about to get taken in by media day charm again. But I got absolutely no sense that Stan for Rinker intends to stop playing tennis any time soon.
Yeah, well it turns out that the rumours that I reported on yesterday as having been swirling about San Francisco's potential retirement in the near-ish future, because he'd said he had an announcement for everybody. With a 38-year-old, you hear... So everyone, I've got guys I've got an announcement. He thinks, okay, right, we've been waiting for this, turns out... turns out he's utterly thrilled to tell us that he's partnering with a new crypto company.
Great. Yeah. I mean, looking at his results of later, I'd look through his results after this press conference, because I'm afraid I phrased the question quite poorly. Which he had to smirk at. And which was basically, how far away do you think you are in your actual form and your level compared to when you were at the top? And he just said, well, the results would tell you quite far. And looking at the results, I mean, he just played two challenges in one-one match.
And before that, he lost six loves, six three to an external long play. That's team-esque, isn't it? It's not great. But what he did say, and I do believe this, he said, I am playing a hell of a lot better than my results suggest. I am practice. He seems to think that he can still find something. Now, he may be living in Cloud Cookerland, but I'm glad that he feels like that. I'm glad that he's talking like that. And he looked fresh, he looked like he was really up for it.
That's the exact line that Andy Murray was saying right through, you know, kind of since the Australian Open, he kept saying, I've been practicing really well, because I haven't been playing well. Which he said is kind of the opposite to his career, generally. He said he's never really measured himself on practice, because he hasn't always been amazing in practice. But then he, Murray trusts his match instincts, I think, to kick in and get him over the line.
By the way, on Strasbourg said she felt fully fit now, which I was pleased about. Yes, she did. She did. Has fitness been the issue? Generally, for on Strasbourg though? I do worry about the need. Yeah, I'm not saying it hasn't been an issue. I just feel like there are big, there are bigger, long-running things going on there. It was perfectly pleasant, wasn't it? She's always likeable, engaged, engaging, polite. But it was really different to how it used to be with Jibber.
There was a slight going through the motions feel, I thought, about her press conference. That could be confirmation bias, because I've got this just general feeling around watching Jibber at the moment. I don't love and I desperately want it to be how it used to be. And then, Mary Grillo asked her, does your game require joy? It was a great question. And the answer was yes. And that makes total sense to me. She's been trying very hard to re-inject joy and playfulness into her game again.
If we could all artificially create joy, the world would be a very different place, wouldn't it? Maybe cryptos, the answer. The final thing on Andy Murray, I don't know whether it came up in his press conference today, but on his new racket, the fact that he's gone to... It did come up to the end.
And I was reading Tomini Carriol's piece about it. He's done a big read in Nagardi and about the fact that, you know, this is a pretty drastic thing to do, especially at the stage of his career that he's at. And obviously, Tomini's been asking all the players for their reaction to the news. And there was just this paragraph that really made me laugh, that Tomini wrote. He said, as other players learned of Murray's switch, their shot reactions were comical.
Stefan or Sid Spass was so taken aback he required a moment to process the news. Taylor Fritz needed to hear it twice. Tommy Paul, who endorses Jonek, said, wow, that's crazy. Of course, silently staring into space. I think he's perfectly captured the personalities there of Sid Spass Fritz and Tommy Paul. So shout out to Mione, because I very much enjoyed that reporting. And yeah, like Murray bought these... He went to a shop. He went to a shop and bought some more of his tennis rackets.
He took them to the National tennis centre and he had to go with each of them. So there has to be the guy in the shop and Andy Murray comes in. And he goes, I want 10 different rackets. Chad Draper was asked about it. I think by Tomini. And he was like, it's the most Andy Murray thing he's ever done. Like, of course he's done that. And then he was asked, you know, could you ever imagine doing that? And he was like, no. And then he went, I signed a deal with Don Lopp.
And the end of last... I mean, I'm done with Don Lopp, but the end of last year, I'm very happy. Yeah. Yeah. Always keeping his honor to you. Don Evan said that he actually changed his strings upon Andy Murray's suggestion. I mean, all this was going on and he sort of... You know, from and to... I'm asking for my dad. Just all the crisscross nonsense, you know. And I don't exactly know how it works, but... Well, change the material or change the tension. No, they're the configuration of them.
So, like, 18 by 20. Yeah, I didn't ask any... I mean, I was going to sleep by that time. But I was getting those details. But dad, I'll find out for you privately. He says, I can't tell you anything in the RULT yet. Put it that way. But, you know, he seems happy to have given it a go. Wow. Andy Murray just shaking the tree. Shaking things up. Should we just talk for a moment about what's happened away from Paris? Today, one very significant thing.
Novat Jokovic defeated in the semifinals in Geneva by the best player in the world. No shame there. 6'4, love 6'1 for Thomas Mahatch. As weird as it sounds. Yeah, as weird as our apartment this match. Less threat of burglary. An ants. Yeah. I think we were so kindly advised in a note. I don't really know what to make of this because I say just a day on the podcast that, you know, got on sight at a Grand Sam tournament and suddenly thought, well, novat Jokovic knows how to win these things.
His draw looks pretty kind. Even without him being here, I started to convince myself that novat Jokovic is kind of the favourite for this thing on the men. I would say much uncertainty about other players. And yet I watched him today and I'm suddenly reverted back to the feeling I've had watching him all year. This was not out of the ordinary for Novat Jokovic's year. He looks, I mean, a shadow of himself is not even beginning to get to describe how poor he looks really.
Physically, he's barely making it through these matches. He's bent over. He's using the ice towel after just a few games in Geneva. Once again, I found myself checking the weather app to find out just how extreme the temperatures were in Geneva. Not extreme at all. Like 20 degrees. Perfectly pleasant playing conditions. He looks depleted. He looks lacking in energy. He's not just in the line tanking in that third set. Just a bizarre experience.
He's given some quotes saying he felt weird overnight. I just am finding Novat Jokovic such a bizarre watch in 2024. This has happened repeatedly. And I've kept thinking, well, is this just how he plays now? Is he suddenly going to turn it on at Roland Garrus? Deep down, I've sort of thought, you know, there's so many big events this summer. He's been dominating the tour for years. It's inconceivable that he won't win one of these big events over the summer.
And yet, the more you watch him, the more you think, is he gone? This is not the Novat Jokovic we've been used to at all. He's really uncertain. He's said he's worried about his form. Did he mention the potential for concussion? No, I mean, there's no trouble that he's missing some head on this head. I suspect from having a scanner and ultrasound or something on that patch of head skull.
As we described before, that performance against Alejandro Tabillo was an extreme example of the sort of performances he's been having this season. Again, he was rushing today. But yeah, probably the two most extreme matches that I've watched of Jokovic were today. And the one against Tabillo, and they've both been post-water bottle, if you like. It's very hard to put your finger on the cause. But the eye test right now in Novat Jokovic is not passing it at all.
If today's match had happened in isolation, if the rest of the year had been normal Novat Jokovic fair, I'd take it all with a pinch of salt and go, probably didn't want to win it that much. Does he want to be in Geneva tomorrow? Probably not. He said three matches. Fine. I'd have written it off as that, I think. But it's the context of the year. He looked miserable really out there. He looked depleted as a good word.
We've got three slams in what, four months. So I think we'll find out a heck of a long very soon. Yeah, we're going to find out whether this is any more than those concerns at a tall level. I know that Grand Slam was involved in there as well. But yeah, we get the us a test now. Thomas Mahatch, though. Yeah. Is he playing in the final? It's either Casparoude or Fabio Caballi. I don't know what the score is. Let me just bring it up. It is.
I don't think they're on. Is it raining in Geneva? Maybe it's right. It was a beautiful. Because it should be on, if not finished. I think it might be raining in Geneva. I can give you a Leon update if anybody would like that. Alexander Bublick, who served six under on serves in one game. I was. Has shockingly lost to Giovanni Pesci Perricard, a French wildcard who's also received a wildcard here in the main draw. And is somebody that we will keep an eye on a very young, talented French player.
So he's into the Leon semi-finals echoes of what Artifiest did. Did last year, of course, and he'll face Thomas Martin Etcheverri, who beat Luciano Darderry early on today. And in Strasbourg, we have live scenes involving Daniel Collins and Angelina Callinina to decide who will play in tomorrow's final. Yeah, because Mattis and Kees is already in the final. Yes. She thrashed Sam Sonnever. And due to rain in Strasbourg, Callinina played her quarterfinal against Sam Sonnever.
Against Vondrosiaver. Sorry. Against Vondrosiaver earlier on today. And Stern's, Peyton Stern's somewhat miraculously, is into the final in Rabat. She was five love 40-30 down in her quarterfinal, final set, and one seven games in a row. Against Lucia Bronsetti. Yes. And today has beaten Victoria Tomover, 7-6 in the third. And she will play Maya Sharif in the Rabat final. And we'll update you on all of those finals and semi-final results tomorrow.
In our live show, 6pm Paris Time. Live on YouTube. If you don't want to see our faces, that's fine. It'll be up as a podcast as per usual. But come for the lamps. Come for the lamps, folks. We're discovering new things about our accommodation. Every day that we spend every hour. I turn the... I turn the... I flipped a light switch and the printer came on.
Yeah, today we discovered a big notice, you know, some sort of essential house info by the entranceway that we'd overlooked upon checking because, you know, we were tired from carrying luggage up five flights this day. It was quite frankly. And in bold and underlined were the following two bullet points. Number one, we have already been robbed several times. Close the door with a turn of the key when you're away. And immediately following that.
There may be ant invasions. And it's a nice, he says, in brackets. Do not leave food in the kitchen. Like, where else are we leaving food? So, yeah, we're on a journey. Thrilled to be here, as I keep saying, despite factors. And we persevere. We'll be back tomorrow. And, yeah, we need to go and have a production meeting about what to have in the background of our shot from tennis podcast hours Paris. There's anyone more to find out, folks. Join us at 6 p.m. tomorrow.
We're starting a thread on the barge for you to submit questions for that show. And we're also going to use the article Hannah wrote this month, her column about Raffa on the dial, which is available for all friends of the tennis podcast to read right now. And it is incredible. And we're going to use that as a kind of jumping off point for discussion into Morrow's show as well. And we'll be looking ahead to the day one order of play, which will be out by them.
We know what the match is going to be, but we don't know in what sequence. So, yeah, I might have more of a rant about Morrow over Rinker being in night session. And potentially just a night session rant in general. So, join us 6 p.m. tomorrow, Paris time, 5 p.m. in the UK, midday, East Coast time in the US, 9 a.m. West Coast time in the US, and in the middle of the night in assorted other places in the world. We have a French open mascot, folks.
That mascot is Bature, our six year old lovely cat born on the streets of Doha, David, have you seen pictures of Bature? No, yeah, I'm looking forward to it. I'm going to show you shortly. Well, I'm almost. He's a handsome chap. Let me tell you that. We have our mascots. I have the dearly departed Darwin. David has Francis and Thomas Mahatch this week. Come on. And Matt Heider and Soma. And Madness Keys. And Madness and Keese. Oh, you're joking. Wow. It's not as many points as Mahatch.
Billy Jean. Which one's going to win? It's sponsored by Billy Jean King and Elana class. We have our top folks and executive producers, Jamie Jeff, Greg and Chris and Matt. Or we have shout outs. We have Skip Schwarzman. Oh, we know Skip. We do know Skip. Right, Skip. I think Skip might be our only Skip. I think so. Shout out. Yeah, I think so. Now he's been listening to the Centre's podcast for many, many years. There's often centres notes and engages as well. Sometimes debate stuff.
It's lovely to have him as a partner. Skip was a ball kid for Labour against Rosewall at the US Pro-Indoor 1972. That's extremely cool. Skip, you are cool. Amazing. Imagine being called Skip. Yeah. I don't think I could pull it off somehow. You'd be a completely different person if you were cool Skip. You know? Yeah. I wonder what type. Thank you, Skip. We've got Blair Patterson in Manchester. Hello Blair. Right, Blair. Like Blair Henley. Yeah. Tennis. We like Blair.
Tennis MC, social media person. Lovely, lovely person. We like Blair. And well, this Blair previously had a pet mascot, Colin. Oh. Fox Red Lab, would you? Fox Red Lab. I remember Colin. I do like it when animals have human names. Colin is right in that sweet spot. Okay, brilliant. Thank you Blair. Cheers, bro. And finally we've got Fiona Handstock in Gloucestershire. Hi, Fiona. Hello, Fiona. Fiona has been a friend since 2019 and is a big fan of tennis relived. I always love to hear.
Thank you, Fiona. 2019, that means you have helped support all of our collective trips to Roland Garros. So thank you ever so much. Like Fiona Faroe, who plays another French woman. Yes, Diane Barry. Yes. And we had a Diane yesterday. We did. Brilliant. Shout out Symmetry. Thank you to all of our friends of the tennis podcast. If you want to become a friend, as always, the link to do that is in our show notes and we promise you won't regret it. We'll be back tomorrow 6pm local time.
We will see you then. Here's a cool fact. A crocodile can't stick out its tongue. Another cool fact, you can get short-term health insurance for a month or just under a year in some states. United health care short-term insurance plans are designed for people who are between jobs, coming off their parents plan or turning a side hustle into a full-time gig.
Underwritten by Golden Roll Insurance Company, they offer flexible budget-friendly coverage with access to a nationwide network of doctors and hospitals. Get more cool facts about United health care short-term plans at UH1.com. Quality sleep is essential. That's why the sleep number smart bed is designed for your ever-evolving sleep needs. Need a bed that's firmer or softer on either side? Helps you sleep at a comfortable temperature? Sleep number smart beds let you individualize your comfort.
So you sleep better together. JD Power Rink sleep number number one in customer satisfaction with mattresses purchased in-store. And now, save 50% on the sleep number limited edition smart bed for a limited time. JD Power 2023 award information visit JDpower.com slash awards. Only at a sleep number store or sleep number dot com.