Roland Garros Day 2 - Has the real Iga Swiatek arrived?

Hi, this is Billie Jean King. This is Marion Bartotti. This is Bianca Andreescu. I'm Mats Villander. This is Mary Carrillo. This is Pam Shriver. This is Yannick Noah, and you're listening to the Tennis Podcast.

Well, hello and welcome to the tennis podcast on day two of Roland Garros. 2025 you find the three of us in our usual spots being looked down upon by court philippe chatrier where yannick sinner the men's world number one is currently on serve against Arta Rinderkinesh. We will keep you up to date on whether there are any bicycle kicks.

that take place on Chatrier over the course of recording and folks we will be back in part three to bring you the result of that and round up a few other bits of tennis news so don't worry you won't be missing out Ah, más. How does it feel to have had a French Open Day that hasn't revolved around a nine-minute interview with Amanda Anisimova first time this tournament? You know, when you put it like that, I realized that today has been relaxing compared to all the other days.

I've not had that looming over me. Yes, I'm Very well, thank you. Glad to hear it. David, how has it been to have your day revolve around Suzanne Longland and Art of Feast? Splendid and and in fact it began with a bit of Carlos Alcraz as well and then concluded with some artifice and he went his usual scenic route but he got there in the end and it was It was a good scene out there. And still with Arta Rinderkinesh Bicycle Kick.

to come. Folks, we will talk about Art of Feast in part two of the show. We are going to start, though, with the defending champion and four-time champion, the women's four-time champion, Iga Svantec. was out on Chatrier earlier on today. She opened Chatrier earlier on today against Rebecca Shramkova, somebody that we've been talking about as this great talent for a long time, hasn't quite had the season so far.

that we may be expected from her after that run in the Billie Jean King Cup finals with Slovakia at the end of last year. She is a talent and a ball striker and I think we all expect that to come good. at some point and look she showed her talent and her ball striking I thought today during the course of this 6-3, 6-3, defeat.

to the defending champion i think matt and i we between us watch the majority of this David you watched some of it as well I mainly watched it through the eyes of Pam Shriver who was giving us a sort of WhatsApp voice, WhatsApp kind of report and got the sense of it from that. She was our freelance unofficial reporter for the day and we absolutely loved it. I personally was extremely impressed with Iga Sviantek. I was trying to filter for

low expectations in terms of how I felt about this performance. Would I have been so impressed with it if this had been her first round performance 12 months ago? And I think the answer is maybe not quite so much. It would just have been, okay, good stuff. Onward. But given the context of everything and given the context of how her season has been and how the last 12 months has been, hasn't reached a final since she won the title here.

I thought this was a really impressive first-round performance, an incredibly high-level match, particularly the first set. And she just did... did the things that were kind of key indicators I thought of being Again. it's first round it's one data point of just being in a slightly better place at three all in the opening set when shramkova had clearly come to play she was middling the ball she was showing really good body language i think those opening games were evidence of how

Igor Shantek's locker room aura has faded just a little bit. I mean, I think Shramkova would come on to court with a certain degree of... belief and positivity against Shontek at any time because she she knows she's good but it felt like there was a little little bit extra today and it was a properly competitive opening six games and at three all Pam sent us all a text and said

Now, if this is the real eager, then she breaks here at 3 All. She said eager of 12 months ago breaks at 3 All, and she did. that felt that felt big to me and again she was down a break in the second set and you know again on the basis of recent evidence you're starting to think gosh it could all fall apart it could all all fall away from her at any moment. You feel on very unstable ground in that sort of situation with Aegis Triantech and she stayed calm, she stayed really positive.

I didn't feel that anxiety radiating from her even though she was was a breakdown as that second set and she just Very calmly upped her level. I felt like she upped the speed on her forehand. Started serving a bit better. And came through three and three. I found this. If not her best ever performance, I still feel like, and Pam picked up on this as well, although she was hitting the forehand well today and there weren't loads of errors on it,

She was taking balls on the backhand that a really confident Igor Shontek would take on the forehand. Those mid-court balls, it's strange seeing her take those on the backhand side. But I thought this was exactly what Igor Shontek needed personally. Yeah, I really don't have much to add to that. Excellent.

analysis and summation of the match I suppose my question would be Are we feeling any different about Egos Fiontech as a result of a performance like that? We have had moments this season where she has looked really good in the first few rounds of tournaments.

let's not forget until the Collins loss she had been reaching the latter stages of every single tournament and then the bad performance was coming so I suppose it doesn't drastically change the picture for me there was There was briefly a world where she on text draw would have gotten an awful lot better today because

Ostapenko was a set down. I'm seeing those two in real tandem. Their fates seem pretty intertwined with each other at this tournament, but Ostapenko... did end up winning so it didn't it wasn't a sort of perfect day because Fiontek in that sense but she's got to get to that stage first and I suppose I suppose when we talked about the draw on Thursday

We looked at all three of the first three rounds and thought there's potential danger there for Igor Svantec, while Marta Kostiuk lost the other day. We'll come on to talk about Emerita Kahn, who she is the second round opponent of Svantec, but given the form we saw from Svantec here...

Given the fact that Kostiuk's gone, feeling personally pretty confident that Igor Fiontek is at least making the fourth round here. I would have thought that the other day, but I just feel more confident in that after a performance like this. this year has shown that a bad performance can follow a good performance for English Film Tech.

extremely encouraging signs. As you said, there was a lot of really good things that she did today. I think that's a really good takeaway. I was panicking a bit when you said you know but what does it mean like has this actually changed how you feel about Sean taking this tournament I'm thinking god I don't actually I don't actually know but I think that's a

that's a really good way of putting it i don't think it's necessarily changed my opinion of whether she's winning this tournament and what's happening to her in the latter stages but it does make me feel more confident about her in this opening week and i actually think it was it was more convincing seeing a win like that than a than a bagel breadstick win over some some slightly more feeble opposition yeah that that it's a double-edged sword a tough draw isn't it because if you come through

You're in form and you're playing your way into form for Sterner tests to come. I mean, the one way of looking at it, if I were her, if I were her coach. I'd be saying, all these people saying you've got a tough draw. I reckon they've got a tough draw. Playing you. You're the four-time champion. Go and show them why. Because it's still a fact that if she plays her best tennis, she's the best player in this draw. I just don't know whether that's coming, whether there's enough.

construct around her in order to to be able to do that you think if she and 2025 arena sabalenka played their best tennis here she on text still wins 100 she has won that title for good reason

I just don't think we've seen that tennis for quite a while. But if you brought last year's play... and stuck her in this draw she's winning this tournament yeah it's like i think they both played their best in madrid last year didn't they and look sabalenka could have won that there was a point or two in it but conditions in madrid would help sabalenka a bit more in that matchup i think If they both played their best here, I would be backing FilmTech as well.

So we're all writing off Emma Adekarno in round two then. Spoiler alert, that is who Igor Shiontek plays in round two. Quite an eventful match for her today against Wang Jin Yu on court number eight.

David was out on court number eight watching quite a lot of this match radhikanu came through seven five four six six two she needed an injury timeout before serving for the opening set six five she led took the injury time out it wasn't actually for the back injury she was given some medication she came out she successfully served for the opening set took it 6-5 then lost that second certain at this point with you know the the fitness question mark that

we had swirling around her coming in with the the back injury from from last week and seemingly having taken some painkillers you everyone's you know we're sitting on a bank of british journalists at this tournament as we as we always do with our seat assignment assignments and people were worried there was there was concern in the air for Emma Raducanu and then David 6-2 in the third and I think this did end up being her longest ever match.

on a clay court, you know, out of not too many, but still. Yeah, it was Eventful it was the scenic routes and I mean when I Arrived at the court. This was before Matt had instructed me how we get to the media section where we can watch In comfort I was lined up with all the spectators just peering through a doorway when she was at 6-5 up in that first sentence. I suddenly realized the players aren't coming out and that's when I realized there was a medical timeout.

She did put minds at rest. I think about that back as much as anything. It wasn't related to that. She felt rough. And she also said, I don't think this is anything that's going to...

be problematic long term um so that's that's pleasing yeah what she what she said after the match she she comes into press and obviously you know it's funny isn't it the the british journalist that So much of their day, their time revolves around Emma Raducanu and what their tournament is going to look like rests on the fate of this.

22 year old woman like it's a it's a strange old thing i know they've got jack draper as well and that's just the nature of the beast but she walks into this press conference room you've got this room full of because they are all the British journalists that are here, it's all men. And, you know, first question is, how are you feeling? Are you okay? Do you have a chance of winning your next match? How much more, Emma Raducanu, are we going to have to report on in the coming days and weeks?

And look, she made it very clear that it wasn't the back. She said she had been feeling a bit sick this morning. And my initial thought when she said that was maybe that was nerves, anxiety related. stress related i'm sure that's something a lot of a lot of people can relate to and then she clarified she said and my interpretation being in the room is she said this with a with a slight kind of

implied look in her eye. She said, look, I've just been feeling like this for a couple of days. It's nothing to worry about. I'm going to be fine.

could be wrong about this but what I took from that is she's she's probably on her period I mean you know there's a 25% chance that any women of menstruating age is on their period at any given time, like it's not. I don't think it should be a big deal or anything negative to suggest that and yet it is so rare to talk about that it does feel like a sort of accusation to even suggest it. So that was how I took that.

comment and she said she was really proud of how she she fought through it today and Yeah, I can certainly relate to that and it just did one other thing it made me think of is obviously this Back condition she has is flared up at various times. I don't she hasn't specified I don't think exactly what's going on with the back, but it's something that that crops up and she manages and Look, again, this is the second day in a row I've mentioned my back condition, woe is me.

the symptoms of my back condition and speaking to lots of other people with with back conditions they it's very very cycle related for me so it did just make me wonder if that's a factor for her as well. And if not, then it certainly can be. So, yeah, there's not very much to take from that other than... yeah it's still very notable for a female player even to hint at possibly having her period and there's a sort of such a It's still such a sort of

It cut out response, isn't there? I don't know. There's just such discomfort and and I feel so conflicted about that because I do think men should tread very carefully when you're talking about it is appropriate. I think that that is how myself and our colleagues feel about it is

You don't want to say something and not be right. And also, is that your place to say anything when she hasn't specifically said it? It's not straightforward, I don't necessarily think. I end up talking to you, really, and seeing what you think. Well, it's not yeah, I don't think there's a sort of clear-cut way to to deal with it or to kind of create an environment where it's just an entirely normalized thing that everybody feels comfortable talking about.

the only thing that feels really obvious to me is that it would be an awful lot easier to achieve any of those goals even slightly if there were more female sports journalists in press conference rooms and that's not to do down I love all of those British journalists. They're great. They're doing a fantastic job. We need more women. It looks to me yet again like the number of women in the media room has declined. It feels like it's going backwards to me.

And yeah, it's important. Yeah. No, I don't think anybody in the room would disagree with that either, generally.

On the subject of Raducanu, I did think her problem solving and perseverance in that match was highly impressive, and I think that that has been a theme really... of the last However many weeks, you know you have to do those things in clay court matches Anyway, you have to problem solve you have to find solutions you can't just automatically hit winners and hit your way out of trouble and she did that against a player who is

tough, who was playing hard tennis herself. And, you know, she wants this match-up with Igor Svantec. The last time they played in Australia, it was very one-sided. I mean, it was dramatically one-sided in Svantec's favour. I think Radha Khan has come on a lot since then and arguably Shvantech's shown these chinks of doubt that I didn't feel at the start of the year so it will be a very interesting one.

Yeah, when they met in Australia, Radekarni was having a real problem with her serve, wasn't she? Like, she'd played those matches against Alexandreva and Anissimova that had been, you know, littered with breaks of serve. And you just cannot go into a match against Sigurdsson Fiontech. unable to hold your serve and Schiontek was playing fantastically well in Melbourne this year and it was a real mismatch they've met before on the clay and it's actually been closer

You know, it was indoor, I think, in Stuttgart, wasn't it? But Raducanu played pretty well in those matches. There is some rain in the forecast for... for the next few days so we don't but there's also some sound like I really don't know what the conditions are gonna be in that match and I feel like that

that might have a little impact as well, you know, sunny conditions, the Egos Fiontech forehand, jumping up, tough. Can I make one prediction about what the conditions will be? Not what we've prepared for. Oh, I think it'll be... Daytime. Good prediction. Yeah. a significant women's seed today maybe not a significant title contender and maybe this result wouldn't be that notable but for the scoreline Emma Navarro losing the first match of the day on Longland today six love

6-1 to Jessica Boothas Monero in 57 minutes. This was every bit as uncomfortable as it sounds, possibly more so. This was harrowing for Emma Navarro. Yeah, like a really, really Horrible match to be honest for her. I went over there to just

Just go and sit and enjoy an hour's tennis right at the start of play. Just a lovely place to watch tennis. As we know, of course, Suzanne Longland, those media seats are such a privilege for us to be in them. I just thought... slightly circled this match as potentially being an upset because I don't think Clay is Navarra's best surface and

Ruth S. Monero likes the clay and she has form in terms of beating a top player in the first round of a slam. Of course she knocked out Marquette of Androsho when she was the defending world and champion. But I did not expect what ended up happening because the one thing with Navarro is that even when she loses you expect it to be a tussle you know six of her last eight defeats I checked had been three sets

and the two straight sets losses had involved a tie break. She's a hard player to beat Navarro. And yet, Bufus Monero served for a double bagel in this one. She was six love, five love up, and then got broken, and then won the next game. And it was just this strange, listless, performance really and I don't think Navarro came to press So I'm not sure what happened, to be honest. If I was guessing, I would have to say that she was unwell.

because she wasn't really chasing down balls. There was an awful lot of unforced errors that she doesn't usually make. Ruth S. Monero was Impressive, you know relentless hitting from the baseline got some heavy ground strokes, but there's just no

no opposition it was an extremely strange match and not at all I was expecting and yeah pretty pretty uncomfortable to watch I had to I had to stay on that court for Carlos Alcaraz to follow like I just needed I needed some vibes after that of course he provided them Sorry for that traumatic experience. It's weird. I've started both days of this tournament. by going to matches which have been six love two love against americans against americans

Sorry, America. Matt Roberts is to blame. You would expect both Stearns and Navarro to at least win a couple of rounds here. albeit pretty tough first rounds they had. But yeah, they were both six love two love down. Are you going to go and say tomorrow? I don't know. I will. I promise not to come for your faves if you're listening. He's going to seek out another American. Heading back to Chatrier, the second match of the day on there, one of those that was circled.

a bit of an ooh-la-la when the draw came out. Palabadosa against Naomi Osaka. And while it might not have been the highest quality throughout, it definitely didn't disappoint in terms of drama, did it? Not at all. while it was While it was kind of nip and tuck, Bedosa finished this match emphatically 6-7, 6-1, 6-4, served it out to love, crossed the finish line almost simultaneously with Stefanos Tsitsipas.

There was a funny moment there where Marion Barsley... results to Melissa during the post-match interview and I thought Melissa was going to pick up on that and start talking about it she said yes when I was down in the first set I looked over at this, I looked over and I thought, oh she's about to say, and I saw Sitsapas was winning and it gave me great motivation. And she said, I saw Rafa Nadal's footprint in the clay. And I thought, I must.

fight you know I must be in channel the spirit of Nadal she just Ignored the reference to since the past that he made. I found it highly amusing. But yes, they did. They did both. You watched most of this from the press scene. Matt, tell us about the match. Yes, well, the portion of the match I didn't see from the press seats was the first set and, you know, Bedossa served for it, had a set point.

And then there was an Osaka Cirque. She had an enormous forehand winner to save that set point. Played a really nice tie break. Lovely, lovely point in particular finishing up at the net there. and then Osaka just completely disappeared and the second set just very straightforward for Paola Verlasa. And so we found ourselves in the third set and the Sarko actually went up a break.

but immediately but also got it back and it was it was up and down this match there were some good moments from both of them there were some errors from both of them but it was highly competitive it was yeah I really didn't know which way it was going to go a lot tight, tense games.

The key moment was probably a suck and misjudging a ball that should have been an easy put away but she just I think she ran a bit too close to it and it bounced up on her and ended up missing with a backhand that went long and that handed, but also the crucial break and the set and Asaka did sit there with her head in her hands at the changeover.

You know, to credit Badosa, she played really, really well in those last two sets, mixed up her game well. I find her a tricky person in a draw to really know what's gonna happen to her, because every time I've... seen her in the last year or so I really do think her tennis has been great you know Hannah put in the in the chat didn't she that she's she's kind of figured out her game in a sort of slightly crushing parallel with Grigor Dimitrov at a point in her career where

their injury risk is so high you know like her body can't cope with it exactly you know Grigor Dimitrov has has absolutely understood his game now but His body has failed him in the past couple of years, and we know, we know, but also... is experiencing these back difficulties, and yet her game, when she's fit, is great, and I've thought that for a year or so, so I did think, if Badosa's fit, I did think she beat Osaka, because

Albeit the wins Asaka has got, she's not been beating players of Bedossa's calibre when Bedossa's playing well. Her game suits the surface more, the forehand shape on the ball suits the clay. I don't think it's a you know, bad loss for Naomi Osaka. That is a tough draw getting Paola Valossa in the first round here. And yet my experience watching it was that I felt like Osaka was being tough on herself for the errors.

it felt like you know we often talk about one of the key things is accepting errors you know you're gonna make errors as a tennis player especially when you hit the ball like Naomi Osaka does, I felt like she was making errors and they were costing her confidence. You could see that she was frustrated. I think she probably had.

pretty high expectations of herself here based on the amount of wins that she's been getting on the clay and even against someone like Velosa, I think she'd set her expectations. you know I'm winning that for sure and when she didn't It was a really tough scene in the press conference.

to back up that take she said in the japanese portion of her press conference which she you know she she replies in english to the japanese questions the the question was clearly about her plans from this point onwards and for the grass court season and she said honestly I don't know I was expecting

to win quite a few matches here so i haven't thought about it yet like this has shocked me today and unfortunately Your other takes there Matt were also vindicated by what was a... A really harrowing press conference for Naomi Osaka, you know, cast your mind back.

12 months to the Naomi Osaka that came in after that loss from Match Point up to Iga Shiontek which you know she told us that hurt of course that hurt but she was so sanguine and had such great perspective on that and was clearly going to use that as a positive you know i know that's such an athlete cliche take the positives from from the losses but she was she was they're cliches for a reason aren't they and she was the embodiment of that it was so uplifting to see her like that after

a crushing defeat and today you know she wasn't match point up okay it wasn't Igor Shiontek but there were similarities match wise today. it could not have been a more different Naomi Osaka in the press conference afterwards she was absolutely crestfallen you know to the point where I think we're all pretty worried about her right now She was asked by Matt Futterman, I know all losses stink, but are they harder now than they used to be? And she just sort of mumbled, yeah, and got.

got very very upset for the moments afterwards that was followed up with with charlie eckleshire asking why that is whether she could put her finger on why that is and she gave the most startling answer to this that i think we're all still processing she said I hate disappointed people. I hate disappointing people. She said with Patrick Moratoglu, her coach, she said, I was just thinking he goes from working with the greatest player ever to like, what the fuck is this?

She said, sorry for cursing. I hope I don't get fined. And then she... kind of crumpled into tears and the moderator dealt with it brilliantly and she left the room to compose herself before actually coming back and taking another few questions including a couple in Japanese. That was an alarming answer David. Yeah, I mean, I hope it's spur of the moment and the emotion of the immediate aftermath because I felt like saying, Naomi,

You letting down Patrick Moritoglund? Yes, he did coach Serena Williams, the greatest player of all time in women's tennis and arguably the sport or certainly one of the very few. But he also then went on to coach Holgeruner about seven times. And Simona Halep, who ended up testing positive after taking a contaminated product that Patrick Moratoglu's team gave her. That's all by the by. I understand that's irrelevant to her in the moment.

revere Serena Williams and by association she reveres Patrick Moratoglu as being part of that. I think he's definitely brought something to her as she's trying to make this But I mean, these are all very, these are side points. I just feel sad for her. I feel sad for Osaka.

That it's not really happening for just at the moment the way she would want and that she is questioning herself within this world, this tennis world, and within this relationship that she has with Maritolo, I dare say he would tell her that is not the case at all. Please don't feel like that. I hope you're saying that anyway. Because It's too tough on herself.

I get it. I get why she feels like that, but I really hope that with a bit of time and maybe talking to somebody, she might not feel like that. Yeah, I hope she... She talks to a professional, quite frankly, because, yeah, that just... just sounded like such profoundly low self-esteem to be to be viewing it that way and for for naomi osaka full-time Grand Slam champion and world number one, to be talking about herself that way, even in a trot.

You've still got those four Grand Slam titles. You're never going to have not been a world number one. distressing to witness? I think it shows She's a human being and... It's not that many years ago that she really suffered mentally with her health and I think she did an incredible job of rebuilding. and has just been frankly a huge example over the last 18 months of what can happen if you talk to the right people and so forth and I really hope that there are better times ahead for her.

Speaking of players that have suffered with their mental health, Caroline Garcia's French Open career came to an end today. 6-4, 6-4. she lost on longland to bernard appara not before though getting around of la marseillaise which is how every French player, maybe every player, but certainly how every French player deserves to end their Roland Garros career. That's how Matt would like to end his Roland Garros career, I think. For sure. Bye.

Pam captured it for us, didn't she? She was in the seats on Longlen. She was ready, wasn't she, Garcia? She was in tears before the match started. She was crying in the tunnel. Yeah, Bernardo Pera must have been rubbing our hands together. But yeah, happy retirement, Caroline Garcia. A couple of other winners, Madison Keyes, very comfortable. Against Darius Saville, Matt mentioned Ostopenko won. Looked like she was on for one of those strange

lose the first set and then win Six Love, Six Love scorelines. But Polina Kudomatova had other ideas. ruined the symmetry but it was very comfortable in the end for Ostapenko and Barbora Krejcikova won her first tennis match today in Goodness knows how long. A bloody long time. I think she did win a few after Wimbledon, but not many. Beat Tatiana Maria in two sets.

She didn't look 100% to my eye nor to Mats, I don't think either. The movement was tentative at best I mean I think the best can be that can be hoped for is that she's she feels okay but she just needs to build up confidence in her body but i I fear it. I fear it's more than that. Yeah, me too. I by no means saw all of this match, but from what I did see, as you said, the movement compromised serve.

extremely compromised as well sort of rolling it in quite a lot you know it's been a back injury that she's that she's had and you know frankly she was facing Tatiana Maria was on a seven match losing streak herself and you know is very much at the tail end of her career I think It was very likely that a lot of players in the draw would have been Zimbabwe or Krejcikova today. But Tatiana Maria was not one of them and it's good to see her back.

For sure. Just a reigning Wimbledon champion. It just feels crazy. that's how good she is at her best but it's obviously been such a tough time for us since then but yes given given the way her back and her movement and her serve looked in this I'm not that hopeful of real progress in this draw for her. Glad she got a win though. Absolutely. Yeah. Okay, that's it for part one. We'll be back in part two to talk about the men's matches today. And finally... the Novak Djokovic press conference.

Welcome back to part two of the tennis podcast where Yannick Sinner has got the first set against Arta Rindeknesh 6-4.

And it's on serve in the second, so still time for bicycle kicks. On to the men's results that we've already had so far on day two of Roland Garros. And in fact, before we get on to those, shall we talk about Novak Djokovic? because he finally did his pre-tournament press conference today at the end of day two after having put back his time.

how many times do we think he rescheduled this thing several yeah many many times anyway he finally graced us with his presence and well it ended up being worth waiting for didn't it Yeah, I do enjoy Novak Djokovic in press conferences now more than ever, really, because

Generally, I think he's quite happy to be there. And I also think he just knows he's got nothing to prove to anybody. He's won the lot. And I think he's also probably just enjoying the fact that he is the one of the big... three stroke four remaining and at the same time I think he does he made it quite clear he does miss them you know I think it's a bit weird for him he kind of made his name

his words striving to overhaul them and that's what's been great about that those rivalries over the years is that the way they they push themselves but Yeah, he came in with a smile and I did take the chance to ask him quite directly

what actually happened between him and Andy Murray and I decided to try to catch it by saying I think was it you who called him? And if so, why? Yeah, there'd been a prior question, hadn't there? Can you... very direct one from Yasmin from the Express and she asked you know what happened can you clarify why that relationship ended and then you were able to to follow up and he in response to that set trotted out his line about it being mutual well david law wasn't falling for that

So you said, but who made the call? Yes, so who did you call him? I can't exactly remember what I said, but... well he wasn't having it and um and he just said actually you know we didn't know we just had a conversation we both felt that it had kind of gone as far as it could and they weren't really getting the results. He said they had a kind of a pre-scheduled meeting.

at which they both decided to simultaneously raise exactly the same thing. Our meetings aren't like that. What do you think happened? If you had to guess, was there a fire? I think that's my best guess, yeah. I think so. Unless they had a disagreement about Rome. That's the other thing that went through my head is that Murray thought they should be going to Rome and Djokovic didn't. We didn't actually ask him about why he didn't play Rome. I kind of wish I had, but you only get the one question.

My best guess would be that he... He does change his mind quite a lot in his career. He's been, you know, not to say that he hasn't been incredibly loyal to Marianne Weider and people like that, but, you know, He basically cleared out his entire team a year ago, including his two agents, you know, people that had been with him for a long time, I think, had helped.

you know make him an even richer man than he already was and he wanted some something new and he did that he brought andy murray and he had this fresh he was really excited about it we looked up the details of that announcement and he said it was to The idea was to play the French Open and maybe Wimbledon. Indefinite was the wording.

Well, I mean, it hasn't been going that well, has it? He had the Miami run to the final, but at no point has he looked his convincing best apart from those couple of sets against Carlisle. And I don't blame Andy Murray for that, but I just wonder whether he...

thinks in that situation that he wants more than that. I just don't know. But my best guess is probably that it came from him, yeah? Yeah, I think so. Because... from Mary's perspective It just feels a little bit odd to me that he would decide to call it a day there, right before Grand Slam.

could have been the end of the relationship anyway you know given given what we knew about the timeline like it was only one more grand slam it's not a huge commitment for Andy Murray given what he's already made and the player is the player is the boss and I think the player decides who their coach is unless the coach you know Goes off to be coach someone else. I just don't think Andy Murray walked out on Novak Djokovic But I can believe that Novak Djokovic thought this

Actually hasn't worked. I need another jolt. Sorry Andy. But I'm going to go on my own now. Apparently there was chat between them. And jokes. yes chippy jokes by the sounds of things yesterday at the thing he said that Andy said you know you win a title now you've got a good coach now you've got a good coach yeah and then Djokovic said Something a bit odd. He said I didn't take it as a joke. I thought that was him revealing how he...

revealing a bit of the reality of the situation there. It has been one of the most fascinating sagas. I've not really understood it at any point in time.

So, gosh, yeah, but look, I said to her after this press conference, I thought the whole... The whole temperature of the tournament changed to me when Noah Djokovic came into that press conference and, you know, we used the word aura and Djokovic has aura. He just does. whether it be on the court or in the press conference room. And he's...

You know, we've been doubting him all year, and you sit in that press conference, or I do anyway, my experience is sitting in that press conference thinking, oh, here we go again. Like, it's Grand Slam. He's up for it. He's up for it. He's just won a title. He's talking about his form coming back. And look, I still stand by that I don't think he's going to win this tournament. But that's mostly because of...

how great Carlos Alcraz and Yannick Sinner are. I think getting past them remains a big obstacle for him, but it's still crazy to me that we can... we can still think that he's so dangerous himself. He just felt dangerous in that press conference. Yeah, he said there was a looseness to it, wasn't it? It felt like it was, apart from the Andy Murray stuff, it felt like he was being pretty open. You know, he said he needed Geneva. He said that was a much needed win for me and Geneva last week.

which I found interesting. He said, you know, I'm not a guy that has ever been able to rock up at slams and just win them. He said, I need the matches and I'm thinking you've done that at Wimbledon and the Australian Open several times.

take the point i think that's become less and less the case as as he's as he's got older and he did specifically mention the clay didn't he for that in terms of that's the surface that feels like it takes the longest to get going on and we've had this we've had this multiple years where he's looked not great through the clay court season

And by the time he gets to Roland Garros, what's been different is normally it's Rome that helps turn it around. But by the time he gets to Roland Garros, as I said before, he's not lost here to a guy other than Nadal since 2019. I will keep saying that. Six years. And that was Dominic Thiem in that incredibly windy match. When he gets going on the clay, he is phenomenal on clay.

Phenomenal. I think he's the second best, well, okay, that might be disrespecting Bjorn Borg, which I don't mean to do, but I think you could make a case that Noah Djokovic is the second best male clay court of all time, I think. He's beaten rough on the doll here twice.

His achievements on this surface are not what they could have been because of Nadal. He's phenomenally good on it. I know it's a different stage of his career and I stand by what I say about Carlos Alcraz and Yannick Sinner right now. I don't know I think Are we underestimating now about your career, I suppose? Just... I don't know. He's so... He's so fascinating.

He, incidentally, he admitted a fascinating, brilliant final answer in the press conference when he was asked about the ceremony yesterday and him now being officially the last one. standing in the big four though he was before yesterday but there's a finality to that stats now and he was asked whether

Yesterday made him sort of his mind wander about what the end might look like for him and how far away it might be. And how did he put it, Matt, the opening line to his answer? He said he was thinking about his own. while he was at my own end of the road. it's very poetic yeah it's on his mind i mean how could it not be but i could definitely see a world where he gives the answer no it's not something i'm thinking about you know i'm here in the present i'm trying to win this title

Sure, the end is going to come, but whatever. But yeah, he led us in on that one. Djokovic plays tomorrow, doesn't he? Yes, Mackenzie McDonald. In part three, we lost the men's fourth seed.

today and yet it doesn't feel like a huge shock taylor fritz Lost 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 to Daniel Altmaier, who is dangerous, particularly on this surface. He's beaten Yannick Senna here before, just a couple of years ago. But... you know this is part of a trend for taylor fritz from us open onwards last year he he elevated himself into a different bracket his losses from us open onwards last year was sinner alcaraz Feast, Djokovic, Draper, sinner, sinner.

This year, his losses are Eugéliasi, Monfils, Shapovalov, Alejandro Davidovich, Fakina, Draper again, Mensik, Ruud, Garone, Herkacz, and now Altmaier. really good players but mostly in a different This is a regression from Taylor Fritz and he knows it. And he would probably be losing to Sinner and Alcaraz and Djokovic as well, but he's not getting through to those matches because he's losing too early.

And yet nobody knows that as much as Taylor Fritz. Talk about somebody that owns their... mistakes and failings and losses and short shortcomings possibly to to a fault Taylor Fritz like he's clearly got this ongoing abdominal issue. He also turned his ankle in Geneva last week. Was it Geneva or Hamburg he played? Geneva. Yeah it was Geneva. Turned his ankle and said that was troubling a little bit today.

but also talked about how he's basically lost his nerve. He says, you know, the big points, I'm playing them badly and that makes me more likely to play the big points badly the next time.

and that's just the nature of the sport and he said the only way out is through you can't go around this thing he said the only way I will start winning the big points was to do it once maybe twice and then I'll be fine I'll never think about this period again but until until you do it you can't do it so you're just stuck in this vicious

It's what makes sport so fascinating to me, that you can have it, and then you can lose it, and then you can get it back. And I mean, we saw the greatest of all time here yesterday, Rafael Nadal. who always seemed to have it, except a couple of years when he didn't.

And it was so jarring to see him not be able to hit his forehand with the conviction he used to. Why can't he suddenly, you know, the 2015 year? But, you know, here... here's taylor fritz going through his backup year to the big breakthrough and i mean the last thing i said to him in the pre-tournament press comments when he was walking out the room is are you 100 and he said yes

oh i did turn my ankle last week in geneva and and sure enough you know he he referenced that here it's um yeah he's right though you've just got to keep going and it's it's a tough old sport

Carlos Alcaraz was very proud of himself for his performance today. He was just chuffed to bits in his press conference. Beat Zepieri. What's Zepieri's first name? i think you did this yesterday did i julio yes yes great not giovanni giovanni julio i knew it all along alcoraz beat julio zepieri on longland and no nose strip No sleeve. Who needs a nose strip and a sleeve? He was very convincing. He could do with a decent kit from Nike. But apart from that...

I think it's the better of the tune. Agreed. What Holga Runa was wearing was egregious. Yeah, the green goes with Roland Garros a bit more, but yeah, that red. I've had one. Yeah. No, but Alcraz was great. He really was. As I said, he came on to that long then called, like, people needed vibes.

They really did. And the first game was actually a little bit of a struggle for him. And yet he also hit four incredible shots. Vollies off his toes, explosive forehands. He just looked in control, didn't he? Just looked like... just looked locked in, just looked like his game is in a really good place. There wasn't a wobble, didn't go missing for a portion of the match, just got the job done emphatically. I've watched a lot of tennis in my life on court.

I have never seen anything like that guy. And I was only there for a few guys. But, I mean, actually, the first game, those incredible points that he was winning, I got slight flashbacks to Baltic van der Zanschub at the US Open. Oh, God. You didn't mention that at the time. No, I did, because I remember him playing just...

absurd recovery shots in that first game to kind of hold on to his serve after facing a couple of right points. And in this particular instance, he was, you know, he was a bit close to the scoreboard, and yet he looked an absolute world-beater. And in the next couple of games... Suddenly the control he got over his shots in addition to the athleticism and the volleying skills and everything. It's just nobody else quite like it. He plays Fabien Marjan next.

who of course beat him in Rome a couple of years ago some interesting quotes about Marijan and more specifically about drop shots which obviously Marijan is even more famous for than the famous Carlos Alcaraz. The question was from Charlie Eccleshay, who I know is working on and has been working for a while on a piece about drop shots for The Athletic. And I thought Outcryz's answer was really interesting. He was like, yes, I will do very specific.

preparation for this match. He said, I like to study my opponent. he didn't trot out the i just focus on myself line that you so often hear when the player is asked about their next round opponent they're a great player but i'm going to focus on myself okay no he said I he said I like to study my opponents and I will prepare accordingly and he said I'm gonna try and hit shots so that he can't hit drop shots. My plan is to try and put him in positions where he can't hit his drop shot.

Sounds like a good plan. Yeah. But how rarely do you hear a player tell you their game plan before a match? I mean, I guess it's just that he's so good, he doesn't need any secrets. It's like, yeah, if this goes well, it doesn't matter if you know it's coming.

Actually, I'm interested to talk to Pam about this, but I always find it interesting when players say the coach or do the game plan like the coach or watch the player and do the game plan and i get that that is their that is their role but i just find it interesting that the players don't also want a bit of input in that as well you know like i i feel like i'm maybe drawn to players who I do.

want a bit of input in the game plan. And it's interesting that Alcraz is one of those players because you could definitely given the relationship and the reliance on Juan Carlos Ferreira which is sometimes rung alarm bells for us in the past or that we've speculated about I could definitely see it not being the case him saying Juan Carlos does that I trust him End of story, but... Yeah. And yeah.

Also, you could imagine what is actually happening and Alcaraz's mind is buzzing and there's enthusiasm and he wants to watch these matches and come up with a plan. great that he's going to be watching Marajam drop shot compilations and trying to come up with a way to to counter them because he didn't in Rome like As David said, Marijan is more than a drop shot. But I do remember that day in rowing the drop shot being particularly effective for Marijan. It was a bamboozle, wasn't it?

Yeah. And look, he'd just won Madrid, hadn't he? So there were factors. Yeah, exactly. But still.

We're coming on to Feast, David. Don't worry, just a couple of others to wrap up. Francisco Sorundolo lost today in straight sets. Yeah, this was the biggest shock of the day for me. Yeah. huge shock actually massive he's just been so reliable all season really you know he's He's been winning multiple matches at every tournament that he's played, making good runs, looking a threat, particularly on the clay. Of course, he wins so many matches on the clay. I thought he would get to that.

what is it fourth round with alexander zverev i just thought he would be there and i thought that was terrible news for zverev you know kind of like we're talking about Sviontek and Ostapenko as their fates intertwined. It felt to me like Zverev and Surundalo were a bit like that in this tournament. But he's been beaten straight sets by Diallo. out on what was it called 13 maybe sort of over the far side of

of Ronan Garras here, and I know Matt Futterman spoke to us very briefly after this. He did a bit of press in the interview area. I was just talking about like sort of tricky tricky conditions out there and Diallo massively serving huge and just going free goes for shots six foot eight exactly huge guy yeah and It's still a bad loss to not get a set. I agree. I think it's a bad loss. And when I watched it, it just didn't look like the Surundale that I've seen all season where he's been...

He's got a huge shot of his own from the lower forehand, which is... You know, so dangerous and it just wasn't able to impose himself on this match. That's a real shocker actually because, as I said, he's been one of the most consistent players on tour all year.

Okay, we have arrived at that time. David Artifis has his first Roland Garros victory, not though his first straight sets Grand Slam victory. Needed four against Nicholas Jarry. Yeah, and I think that that... Will perturb him a little because he really should have had a straight sets win today against the Jerry who is Way short way short of where he was a Jerry. Yeah, I mean he's he's

He's not the player he was a year ago at the moment. He's got a rebuilding job. He actually played very well in the third set, but really the first two sets Feast just handled him very comfortably and playing within himself. And that's the thing that changed. in the third set he was he was playing panicky tennis he was he was getting over

adrenaline, adrenalized in the set and losing control. And I think anxiety, I think anxiety came into his body as he was trying to play that third set. He's still very New really, I mean, it's his third year of playing this tournament and and he's gonna if he keeps going he's gonna get used to it But you can't waste and use up all that energy in a set. I thought the way he reset and came and won the fourth was impressive. The truth is, it's just all part of learning how to do...

Because he's got the good. And the crowd just love him, don't they? Second round coming up, is it Jamo Munar? I think he's got next. He's a tough clay court player. No, I think the base game, the floor, is high for Feast right now. It used to be just the ceiling that was high. but he's got to sort out the bit in between. Okay, that's it for part two. We'll be back in part three with a look ahead to day three.

Welcome back to part three of the tennis podcast where it is now a little past 11 p.m. local time the crowds are streaming out of court philippe chatray players ended for the night and we are sitting here about to talk about a yannick's in a straight sex victory um but also a little flourish for rinder kinesh

And midway through the third set there, Matt declared at one point that Arta Rinderkinesh was breaking the internet. He certainly had some upload issues with parts one and two of the podcast. It was... it was the perfect little cameo from from a french player wasn't it didn't keep us up too late everybody everybody seems like they're leaving here very satisfied what with what

Arta Rindeknesh did, which was make things fun for a bit and then fade away extremely quickly. Yeah, I'd say we got all the hits.

pretty mundane for a couple of sets and Yannick Sinner just totally took him to the cleaners and then suddenly He was like he turned into the Hulk. He just suddenly just began playing out of his mind and just knocking Sinner. Left and right. Winners galore. Celebrations. At one point I'm pretty sure he did a version of the Muhammad Ali shuffle. And I mean, that is quite a celebration but I've never seen a tennis player do before. Not quite high knee.

stuff but but right up there and the crowd lapping it up i mean the level he attained for about maybe five games was Pretty much Carlos Alcaraz level. But he got nowhere near that for the rest of the night. And then Sinner just sort of reeled him back in and took over. But my word was that fun. He led four long. in the third set, Arta Rinderkneesh, with a double break. The crowd were, I mean, new definitions of going wild. People were losing their minds.

Briefly. Yeah, it was such a fun passage of play. I think my favorite moment was the drop shot that he hit and He span around after it, for seemingly no apparent reason. But it did have the effect of putting Yannick Sinner off, who then missed a relatively routine backhand. It was hilarious. I'm a little bit obsessed with Arthur and Ganesh. Did you want a fourth set? No. I mean, I wanted exactly what happened, as you said. Perfect. Absolutely perfect. So fun. great to get a competitive set.

And really funny as well like because it unraveled as quickly as it become really fun and entertaining. He then started missing in wild and spectacular ways as well, you know, four hands into the bottom of the net, a terrible missed volley to give Sinner the crucial break at the end. I salute you in the Kanesh. That was just a hell of a third set performance. I absolutely loved it. And fair play Yannick Sinner for just like keeping his head while... All of that was going on around

Yeah, the perfect cameo. Thank you, Arta Rundeknesh. Yannick Sinner now gets to face another Frenchman. Can Richard Gasquet produce the Ali Shuffle?

on what will surely be the night session match. on Wednesday. Cannot, cannot wait for that in terms of... No, no, it's the answer he can't. I still think he'll have some moments that make the crowd go wild. P.S. Richard Gasquet. One today, we know this is his last French Open. He beat another Frenchman, Terence Atman, who managed to get booed off the court by his own crowd. Oh, goodness. For sort of distinct lack of effort. Yeah, he seemed to be cramping.

He lost the fourth set six love and he barely shook Richard Gasco's hand. Oh really?

by his own crowd. Incredible. This is how tomorrow is looking here at Roland Garros. French opponent first up on Chatrier against Sophia Cannon. Then Livia Gadecki against Coco Gough. Mackenzie McDonald against Novak Djokovic is your third day session match. And then in the night session it's Hugo Delian against Gaël Monfils over on Longlen. Mira Andreeva takes on Christina Bookcher first up. Then Zverev against Lerna Tien.

uh anna todoni against jessica bagula and then matteo bellucci against jack draper finally uh on on longland over on simon mature medvedev nori Frec Jabba, Moutet Tabo, an all French clash there. I don't think Moutet will like taking on another Frenchman. And then Mukova against Alicia Parks. Court 14 is where you find Alex de Menor, Jakub Mensik, Elisa Mertens, Anna Kalinskaya, Beatrice Adajmaier is on court 7 tomorrow. Andrei Rublev.

is there and that is where you'll find as well hubert her catch against joel fonseca that is the last match on court seven and i suspect the atmosphere there is going to be wild i'm fascinated by that court scheduling because you know think look there's not going to be as many brazilian fans here as there were in miami but like remember when Fonseca wasn't on the main stadium in Miami and they had to move him over to it just to accommodate like you do get a lot of Brazilian fans here

Court 7 doesn't strike me as being big enough for that match. I think it's gonna be very very interesting to see. and what happens around it and of course there's a Brazilian who's starting the day on there as well so it's possible that some Brazilian fans would take their seat for Hadash Maia. Sit through the next two matches. Ride the Rublev wave. Just so they've got the best seat in the house for Fonseca Forth. I might be amongst them.

It probably hasn't escaped your attention that it's a men's match in the night session tomorrow. Not only that, it is women on first. on Chateau, the first two matches on Chateau as it has been for the first few days of the tournament as well. Women on first on Longland as well. We know we have

talked about this a lot and we know that nothing has changed in fact unbelievably things seem to be getting worse and we don't want to just keep repeating ourselves on this matter But Gilles Mauritain, the president of the French Tennis Federation, came to press this morning and the topic came up. Just when you think you can't be surprised by the French Tennis Federation's position and views on women's tennis. they just go and make your jaw drop.

to the floor. This reporting is from Matt Futterman in The Athletic today. He said The president of the FFT has stepped on the landmine of the tournament's own creation by implying that the French Open is not placing women in the featured night session. on the biggest court at Roland Garros because the men's tournament offers quote better matches.

The schedule is one key point on the tournament, said Gilles Moraton on Monday. Sometimes we have to think about what could be better for spectators. That's why sometimes we have to make some choices. The main point is that the sport is first on the schedule. Sometimes we need to put for the night session, we need to put the better match.

Maybe we will have a few female matches on the night sessions. We'll see depends on the schedule who is playing who who will be the best match And Matt goes on to say, Matt Futterman, he did not, Gilles Mauritan, address a follow-up question about whether the scheduling decisions might be sending a potentially damaging message to young female athletes, especially tennis players. about where they rank in the sporting culture and Matt Futterman also points out

France has struggled to produce quality female professionals at the same rate as male players. This year there are twice the amount of French men in the main draw compared with French women. David, you were in the room for this press conference.

Just to reiterate what you were saying, I sort of came into this tournament thinking I don't want to talk about this issue anymore. I'm just going to rename the night session the men's session, make fun of it because frankly I've made my position clear. outrageous really why they do schedule it here Sitting in the room when he said that I found myself losing my breath. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

that he could, he was trying to say, oh, it's like, Amelie Marisman makes the decisions about the schedule, so I'm not going to get into that. I'm not going to comment on the female issue, he said. And then he started to say this stuff and make it absolutely... transparent that women's tennis is regarded as an inferior product and therefore that's why they don't put it on the night session and I don't know I just think

They need to just take a look in the mirror and think, do we really want to, do we really think that, do we really want to be a federation that is saying that to women? They do. They do. They've had it put to them. They don't mind being that federation. It shocks me. It shocks me even after all these years when I shouldn't be shocked. I just can't understand it.

I think they should hang their heads in shame. I really do. And I don't see, it doesn't look like it's changing. I mean, you know, we've gone about the last 20 odd, 20 night sessions where not a woman has been seen. Come on. Yeah, and one of the really frustrating things I think comes up when we talk about this topic, when people talk about this topic, when the questions are put to players is people will say well the women don't want to play night sessions and the point I would make is

The reason the women are not playing at night is not because they don't want to play there. It's not that the tournament are doing them some big favour by scheduling them in the day. They are making decisions on who plays at night. based on what they think the best matches are. You know, Jean Mauritain has said that today. Amelie Maresma has said it in the past, talking about attractivity of matches. They have made that very, very clear. So, by scheduling...

the women, not at night, multiple times in a row, you know, 90-95% of the time the women are not getting the night session matches. The tournament is saying that they value the men over the women. fact that is what they're saying and that should bother you that should concern you like take whether the women want to play there or not out of it you've got a federation

which is saying that they value men over women. That is damaging. It's harmful. And the point Matt Futterman makes in that article about the lack of... female players from this country

Over a long period now. Okay. They've had some but not as many as you would expect from us a grand slam nation With such a tennis culture. I think is important and I don't want to draw too much of a direct correlation like you know direct cause-and-effect like there are I'm sure much wider issues as well about why France is not producing that many top women but Coco Goff gave a really interesting answer earlier in the tournament about why there are so many American players.

She pointed out, okay, there's a lot of people in America, we've got a big talent pool to choose from. But she also talked about the history of seeing American women on the biggest stages, having the role models. you know, people to look up to and You know, let's look at tennis history here. The US Open 1973, the first slam to give equal prize money. The French Open was the last one to agree to it in 2007.

There's a culture there. There's a history there. The Frank's Tennis Federation has always been behind in that respect. and now you've got a president who's saying things like that in a news conference.

and a tournament director in Amelie Mearesma who said it multiple times like it's embedded in the culture this is how they feel this is how they treat the women and we will keep going on about it and I found it equally depressing three years on if not more than I did when we first started talking about it you know those few years ago where this issue first came up like it is

it's a stain on this otherwise fantastic tournament i love the french open i love coming to paris in may so much i love the clay i love pretty much everything about this tournament I have such a good time and yet this issue Drives me mad every year and it should drive people mad just just because maybe they don't want to play there like they're not playing there because the tournament is telling them they don't matter as much and that is extremely problematic and it has to change

the female players don't seem to notice or care and you know I say this with the caveat that you know I wish that not all women had to be you know just by existing as a woman in the world you are political you know you can't men have the luxury of just certainly straight white men have the luxury of just

existing and in the world whereas women have to be you know as a woman you are representing all women in some way and that is exaggerated for people with profile and status and I know that that's difficult and I know this is an incredibly demanding individual sport but You are being dismissed and disdained. by the sports federation by one of the sports four biggest federations by the organizers of this tournament and I would be boycotting, I'd be rioting, I would be...

jumping up and down and obviously I'm, you know, I get particularly enraged about this stuff and people respond differently and all the rest of it. But, you know, just to give you a flavour, eager shanté. today was asked about these comments by Gilles Mauritain. She said her position hasn't changed. She said, I don't mind. I like playing days.

I'm happy that I'm done and I can have a rest. There was a follow-up question. These questions were from Ben Rothenberg. But does it bother you that the men get such a bigger platform? No. Then Daniel Collins was also asked about it, and she did... say it bothered her and that it really wasn't good for the sport, wasn't good for women's tennis, women's sport.

But she also drew attention to the fact of how tiring it is trying to decide whether to make stands when you're trying to be a professional athlete and also that she feels that if you do say something you you get clipped up and you get used you get misrepresented and targeted and it's horrible all the stuff that gets said to them it is it is but Nothing in value comes.

free you know nothing of value comes without a cost and nobody is nobody in women's tennis really is prepared to take on that that cost and that is That is a dreadful shame because where would we be now? Where would Igor Svantec be if, when asked whether it bothers you that the men get a bigger platform and a bigger prize money, if Billie Jean King had said no? Aren't you lucky that Billie Jean King didn't say no?

Yeah. No, I constantly find the players' response to this disappointing like and to some degree I understand the way they want to you know focus on themselves and their games and especially in the tournament time and all of that

I still find it disappointing, but I do direct 90%, if not more, of my anger and my anger at this issue towards the officials you know it frustrates me so much more that the players have to fight or you know now in the year 2025 like it's shocking it's shocking And no wonder they feel disempowered. Maybe they're not rioting and boycotting because they don't feel they have the power to make that kind of a change. This is a sport that is trying to disempower them.

every turn and whose decision makers still are almost exclusively exclusively men so and whose decisions are made via the male gaze, if not exclusively by men. Yeah, look, I agree with you, and yet I still... We can talk about this till we're blue in the face, but one line from Igor Shontek could... could actually spark genuine change and not just Yggish Fionté you know insert player with status and power and sway and platform here and yet nobody, nobody's doing it.

I find that baffling and demoralizing. But I do agree that in terms of blame, there's one clear direction where that should be going. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I've had to talk about this again. I'm sorry. That's the note that we're ending today's show on. It really wasn't our... Intention, but Gilles Mauritain had other ideas this morning. For some reason he wanted to hold a press conference. Absolutely. Okay, folks, let's...

Let's segue into multiple animals, shall we? Take a deep breath folks because we have We have a smorgasbord of mascots for you today. We have Kat, Willy, Abe, Cordelia, Morty, Stanley and Percy, along with dogs Charlie, Clover and Petunia. And they are owned by Rachel Shoshay. And apologies, Rachel, if I'm not pronouncing that right, could be Scoshay. And Rachel is in Idaho, clearly living her best life.

Rachel says, Willie and Abe are the two cats I inherited from my mum after she passed away in September. I'm sorry to read that, Rachel. I gave them to her when they were kittens and they were acquired near the Billie Jean King tennis center in Long Beach, California Willie was a pet mascot in 2020 and he and his brother are now 16. Cordelia, who was found as a kitten at the Billie Jean King Tennis Centre, was an Australian Open mascot.

in 2023 i remember cordelia and doodle charlie was a pet mascot last year petunia is an albino pitbull rescue from louisiana what a collection of words and rachel says she is the most loving and sweet dog ever i'm looking at a picture of her wearing pink sunglasses um and so rachel says a special shout out to the repeat mascot and hitherto unsung heroes Morty Stanley and Percy the cats and Clover and Petunia the dogs. What a life Rachel is living.

In Idaho. Wow. Thank you, Rachel. I don't know how we're going to squeeze all those animals into the newsletter, but we will find a way, rest assured. hello to our mascots phoebe maize and roger hello to our top folks and executive producers greg chris and jeff and matt we have some shout outs We have Phil Harris from Philadelphia. Oh, Phil. Hello, Phil. And don't ask me for any more details because there aren't any. Like Phil Dent. A mysterious Phil.

That's pretty gangster, isn't it? I like that. I love it when people fill in the extra details box, but I also like it when they just think... My name's enough. I'll leave it. Exactly. Dennis Phils. Phil Dent. Father of Taylor Dent. And a good player in his own right. Excellent. And Billy Harris. Very good. Very good. And Lloyd Harris. And who plays Andre Rublev tomorrow, right before João Fonseca, will be watched on by many Brazilians. Thank you, Phil.

we also have skip schwarzman we know skip we do also from philadelphia good work skip okay There's no T in Schwarzman, so it's not quite like Diego Schwarzman. I hope Skip will accept Diego, because I don't think we've got a Skip. No, although apparently Skip was the nickname for the former Australian umpire Richard Ng. Oh yes. So there you are. That was incredible. Is that our most niche reference yet? Check me out. Wow. Skip.

I think we can all agree David has excelled himself there for you. Thank you. And finally, we have Natalie Hoenn. Hello, Natalie. Like Natalie Tazia, who is now the coach of Victoria Mboka. David's on fire. This is unbelievable work, David. Also a former Wimbledon finalist. What do we know about Natalie? Natalie originally from Sydney, Australia, but has recently moved to London. Oh, I know Natalie! That was why I looked at you, I was expecting you to say that from the start.

well david chipped in with his i was thinking about natalie tozier i met natalie for coffee she's absolutely lovely she's just bought some of our new merch and has just moved to London and is thriving and is a longtime friend of the Tennis Podcast and is wonderful. So, hello, Natalie.

hi natalie folks this is five down 13 to go of our 18 daily roll on garros 2025 podcast They are available wherever you get your podcasts, including YouTube. The Tennis Podcast is proudly part of the Athletic Podcast Network. And one last thing to flag, tickets to our London live show are still on sale, that is.

june the 26th at shoreditch town hall in london and just to save the date for you for august the 21st foreign new york live show that's the thursday before the us open full details and tickets on sale soon folks thanks for listening we'll speak to you tomorrow