US Open Day 1 - Did Medvedev go too far this time?

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Hello and welcome to The Tennis Podcast, coming to you from Tennis Podcast Towers, New York, on day one. of the US Open, a day that has ended in extraordinary fashion with Daniel Medvedev, who else, creating absolute... chaos on Louis Armstrong Stadium in only the way that he and a New York crowd can combine to do. We have just watched him. beaten in five sets for the second slam in a row by his bogeyman.

Benjamin Bonzi, the Frenchman, over three hours and 45 minutes. A match finishing at nearly one o'clock in the morning, which is where we are right now. And Matt... David, even by Daniel Medvedev in New York standards, what we've seen over the last couple of hours is absolutely wild. Yeah, it's probably saying something that I think this is the most wild Daniel Medvedev.

scenes on Armstrong that we've ever seen, but there are other contenders. It's not a dead cert for this one, but I think this is the wildest. It was... I mean, absolutely insane. I'm sort of grateful for it because I was really, you know, we were walking home and Medvedev was losing and I was thinking, I don't have that.

many more medvedev takes like i feel like we've seen this match before him losing to benjamin bonzi we've seen him struggling at slams now and on tour generally for quite a long time what are we going to say about the medvedev that's new and fresh and interesting for listeners well then everything that's just happened over the last hour happened and and we have plenty to say and i say i'm sort of grateful because

That feels like giving him credit and I don't really want to do that because I actually think some of this was really pretty despicable from Medvedev tonight.

But by the way, my first day as a cameraman on Armstrong went really well. Yes, a reference there to the moment that made everything... So Benjamin Bonzi is leading two sets to love and he is serving for the match at 5-4 in the second set and he gets himself to match point. It's advantage Bonzi. And at this moment... an unnamed but very much face everywhere, well certainly now anyway, photographer, decides to make his way very obtrusively and very noticeably.

physically onto the court, onto the court of Louis Armstrong Stadium. And this, of course, causes a disruption. Benjamin Bonte at this point has hit his first serve at the point that the... The photographer comes onto court. There's then this disruption and umpire, who's the umpire, Matt? Greg Allensworth. It could only be. Of course. Umpire Greg Allensworth awards him to...

first serves, gives him his first serve back because of the break between points, which I think we can all agree is the break between serve, which is that's in the rule book. That's what you'd expect. And yet, of course, Daniel Medvedev is... unhappy, unhappy about this. And there then ensues a, count them, six minute delay. A six-minute delay while Daniel Medvedev tells Greg Allensworth what he thinks of him.

via some quotes from Riley Apelka, which is a bit of a tough scene, and whips the New York crowd, David, into a feral frenzy.

Yeah, this one I didn't enjoy very much, this outburst from Medvedev. So often we come away from the US Open or have these moments with Medvedev which feel sort of iconic. This... just felt a bit oh no i don't like this this feels like he was trying to make it happen because he was playing like crap and I mean, it was an anemic first two sets, and he's getting beaten at one of the lowest ebbs of his career, certainly since he became a leading player.

he he seized on this moment and he just whipped up a frenzy the crowd went with him and it I found it all quite uncomfortable, really, watching it. And I felt really sorry for Greg Allensworth, who made the right call, I think. And I felt really sorry for Benjamin Bonsley, who was... Frankly.

beating him comfortably and suddenly is in this position where the crowd are just not allowing him to serve. I mean, some people might say, well, he should have just served with all that noise going on. But they would... Even when he eventually did serve, he would throw the ball up and they would try to put him off mid-throw. And I think Medvedev lost it, really, tonight. I think he just lost.

lost control. I don't think that was just... uh choreography or or humor that was that was him absolutely on the edge and he did play better afterwards he did play better yeah i mean look it played into his hands and and there were there were bits of him showing heart signs to the crowd which brought back memories of years ago and and the way it did seem to ignite some of his tennis and he played more like the player we remember but i do feel like the right man won and

then the scene at the end where he's smashing his racket in a quite unhinged manner while sitting on his chair i i just i'm glad i wasn't in his vicinity at that point i have to say Yeah, I don't disagree that lots of Medvedev's behaviour tonight was despicable. Like the way he talked to Greg Allensworth, not OK.

Yeah, absolutely not okay. I felt tremendous sympathy for Benjamin Bonzi and yet I did also fucking love it. Like... Is this not what the US Open's all about? Like, I have space in my heart for all of those emotions, I think. And...

Yeah, I really felt for Medvedev at the end there, as abominably as he... behaved at moments tonight i've got i haven't got any problem with the whipping up the crowd that's what i'm coming to new york for daniel medvedev whipping up a crowd it's the it's the stuff towards the umpire that i that i particularly take

issue with and i hope that i don't know if he'll do press it's one o'clock in the morning i don't know who's don't know who's still there i would like i would hope that he would own that and be ashamed of it in the way that he has done in the past. I don't know if that's the case as things stand at the moment. But the whipping up the crowd? A bit, maybe. I'm pretty here for it. But six minutes of it to try to put your opponent off? But isn't that...

I don't think Greg Allensworth did anything wrong tonight, but isn't that for the umpire to intervene? And actually, Medvedev was trying to stop them at points in that six minutes. I mean, he'd...

He'd absolutely caused it. Yes. And he had made them like that. Yes, he did try to calm them down. And I think for a minute or two it was... it was quite funny it became really obnoxious and he did try to stop them but there was no stopping them at that point like they'd just completely gone they'd just completely run with this with this

Yeah, it was feral, and it was obnoxious, and yet I still loved it. And maybe Greg Allensworth could have been stronger, but I think anything he would have said at that point would have just sort of escalated it even further. Look, I don't... I don't really think Greg Allensworth had much of a chance there. I mean... Yes, I sort of loved it as well. It did take one of the most boring matches of the tournament.

into something that we're leading the show with. Right, absolutely. But it just went too far. That's where I am with it. Does it mean we would love anything? As you said, the right man still won in the end. The thing is...

though, you say that Medvedev played better. He did, briefly, but he lost to a guy who could barely move and was rolling in serves. He's still not playing well. Medvedev is still rubbish. And that moment at the end, I think, was potentially him... having that Realization that he often has in the press conference in real time. It was like he was

looking back on the match and reflecting and embarrassed about everything that had happened. He didn't even leave the court before the on-court interview with Bonzi. That was pretty remarkable. I'm not sure I've ever really, I'm sure I have seen that, but I can't think of any. examples of a beaten player especially a player beaten in those sort of circumstances just remaining on the court and

And the interview didn't happen quickly. Ben Bonzi was sitting there on his phone that, you know, poor Blair Henley, who did a tremendous job as always, was gently trying to make him notice the fact that she was... They're waiting to do the interview. He's texting away. Goodness knows what those messages read. And he eventually gets up to do the interview, at which point Medvedev is still...

On the court at this point, he's just about finished smashing his racket to smithereens, but he's just looking despairingly into the middle distance and kind of at himself, I think. And then there was this...

Unreal moment of, I think, dramatic irony from Benjamin Bonzi in said interview where, you know, he's asked about... the crowd obviously you can't not ask about the crowd and he said thanks to all the ones who are booing thank you for the energy and I don't think that was a deliberate reference to to Daniel Medvedev from 2019, I think that was totally accidental and just utterly...

poetic in a way that he, maybe someone's pointed it out to him by now, but that he had no idea about at the time. That's what I think anyway. I mean, if he... If it was deliberate, then maybe that's even more poetic. I thought it was deliberate at the time, but that his delivery of it was... not very good and therefore nobody picked up on it in the crowd or or or anything like that but maybe it was just completely separate um

How aware of his Daniel Medvedev lore is he? We don't know this about danger and bombs. Probably. Probably less than we are. We know it so well, we only have to hear those words. I tell you what, he's given us a lot of new gifts tonight, Medvedev. Yeah, because... His body language is just so comedic. You know, the way he was doing his hearts, the way he ran over to Allensworth, the way he was sitting down on the chair.

All of that was extremely funny, but there was a meanness to some of them. He seemed to get hand cramp. Yeah. At the end of the match and there was a lot of flopping his racket hand around, which became a thing in the crowd. They were using it as a celebration. Yeah, I mean, I'm going to start using that as a celebration, flopping my hand around. Yeah, there was a meanness to it.

I guess I just, there's something about it which is just something about the atmosphere, not necessarily all the particulars of what he was doing, but the atmosphere that he created. I was generally here for because it's just so US Open. And if it's going to be happening in the middle of the night, let's make it feral.

I suppose on reflection, Daniil Medvedev, Armstrong, Greg Allensworth. Yeah, we should have known. We should have known this was going to be crazy. As you said, David, the right man. Absolutely won. Daniel Medvedev has won one Grand Slam match in 2025. He's in a hole. And a prize, if anyone can remember his name. The player that he beat. It was in Paris. It was in Australia. Oh, so before the TN match. Was that a second round TN? Yeah. Oh my gosh, it was that absolute random. Kasudit Samrej.

The world number 418. And that was long. That was five sets. That's the only Grand Slam match he's won this year. Wow. He looks completely lost. In those first couple of sets. I thought we were making too big a deal about the fact that he lost a match to Benjamin Bonzi and that he would assert his hard-court prowess, former champion.

And, you know, at some point he would arrest this. But, well, I use the words anemic to describe the first couple of sets there. And it's just, I watch it and I think, well, how did you used to win matches? Because... I seem to remember you hitting the ball kind of like this, but nobody else could handle it. And now they can. But there's just no conviction to him, really. He's just sort of there.

He's going to drop out of the world's top 20 exactly how far outside of the world's top 20. Don't quite yet know. It depends what people do around him, but he's definitely going to drop out of the world's top 20. Of course. absolutely does not feel like a top 20 player at the moment, like not even close. And I don't know, he to the moment is a very powerful thing, but he looked like somebody...

that, you know, if he were called for a press conference, could do something crazy like retire on the spot and then maybe retract it. But he looked like he was capable of anything in that. emotional state tonight, I thought. So, yeah, I felt for him. I felt for Bonzi. I felt for Greg.

I felt for everybody, but I did have fun. And I don't know if that makes me a bad person. Let's move over to the Arthur Ashe Stadium and the match, the story, the man that we thought we'd be leading. with tonight, Darth Djokovic, in his all-black night session outfit, beating Lennartian 617662. to get his US Open campaign underway. Sounds pretty straightforward, doesn't it? I mean, it was anything but. It was actually an incredibly weird match.

I thought we watched the second set, Matt, in the stadium, and that was definitely the weirdest set of the three. So maybe we have an overly inflated sense of how weird this match was. But I thought it was...

Pretty strange. Yeah, because in the first set, Djokovic was totally superior and really good, I thought. I was sort of formulating a take about... how often we're talking about how sort of diminished Djokovic is these days and what his limitations are because we're comparing him to Sinem and Alcaraz and yet here he was coming out having not played for a couple of years.

you know six weeks or so playing someone literally half his age and just dishing out a beat down in the first set and I was kind of like well that is still remarkable that he's kind of still able to do that but then in the second set well he looked double tn's eggs didn't he he looked old in that second set the the physical problems that he was having after long rallies tn did a good job of being able to

extend the rallies finally but Djokovic lost the cleanliness of strike that he had in the first set and suddenly he was having to play these longer rallies and he was just Looking completely gassed at the end of them. And I know that maybe some people will listen to this maybe having not watched the match and think... but that sounds like a very novak djokovic thing you know to to play a slightly dramatic set in which he has just had to save a set point in

which he did here, and he did so with an ace. And they might think, well, how much trouble was he actually in? He's ended up winning in straight sets. This all sounds very classic, Novak Djokovic. My take was being in the stadium... Djokovic looked totally there for the taking. I thought he looked bothered by his foot. He had some blisters on that foot. He looked out of gas. He looked just generally sort of...

a bit joyless on the court. I think Tien did some things well in terms of extending the rallies, as I said. I think he'll... I think it'd be gutted to him that he didn't win that second set. That was right there for him. And I think maybe a little, you know, maybe it'd be a good learning experience for him. And he is still young and he's not been in that situation very often. But I think a lot of players...

would have taken that second set against Djokovic today. And then it would have been interesting because he immediately went down a break at the start of the third as well. He wasn't playing very well. He just looked totally unconvincing. Yeah. I mean, how much trouble is Djokovic in? I mean, it turns out not much, but only, I think, because...

Well, my feeling, I was quite disappointed in Leonard Tien tonight. Maybe it's just a case of him not being quite as far along the development curve as we thought. He is still incredibly... And there is obviously talent there. But I thought he would sort of handle the whole situation a little bit better. And obviously it's a lot. Arthur Ashe Stadium, New York, crowd. Djokovic, you know, Djokovic looking there for the taking, that is a lot to mentally handle. And yet...

I'm not sure he did a particularly great job overall tonight. Some interesting, well, some pretty startling quotes from Djokovic after the match. First of all, he said, yes, I did have a blister, but that was not... That was not the main issue of what was going on with him. He said, I was really surprised how bad I was feeling in the second set physically. Good thing is I have two days off now, but it is slightly a concern.

I don't have any injury or anything. I just struggled a lot to stay in longer exchanges and recover after points.

I mean, that's age, isn't it? Well, it's age, and it's in keeping with the theme that he touched upon after the loss against Sinner about how he's surprised about how he's not able to kind of... keep it up half almost halfway through the tournament he was saying he starts to to run low on gas i think the other thing i mean i've i've said for a long time one day he's just we just surely he's just going to get a old before our eyes but

The other thing is he just hasn't played since Wimbledon. And I think not exercising those competitive muscles and emotions and reactions... That is not ideal when you come into a Grand Slam tournament. I mean, yes, he's made a thing of not playing between the French Open and Wimbledon. but not between Wimbledon and the US Open. I mean, who does that unless they're properly injured? Nobody's ever done that. I don't remember Federer, Nadal, any of them doing that. And so...

Maybe it shouldn't be a surprise that he comes out and plays... beautifully for a bit and then kind of hits a bit of a wall because he's just not used to it um and he says he was surprised yeah i know but i think he's maybe being

Can I even say a little bit naive to say that for somebody who's been around for 20 years doing this? But he's never taken a break quite like that before. I think he's probably going to... get better as the tournament goes on as long as he stays in it in that regard because you'll have to build up some matches along the way if he's doing so but i think it does it's left him a bit open

really, coming in without any matches whatsoever, even though I understand why he's done it. Zachary Sveider next, another American, 22-year-old from La Jolla. where I surfed briefly before discovering it was quite a sharky spot. Oh, goodness. Although it is a very popular surf spot, so I'm sure it's fine, everyone. But, I mean, that's on paper the kind-ish draw that it sounds like he's going to need, Matt. Yeah, I'd say so.

As he said, two days off so he can recover from this. You'd think that he'd be able to get through that next one, you know, even if he's not 100%. And then it's about building, as David's described. I am, in my mind, slightly plotting a very American-heavy route through this draw for Novak Djokovic. Two Americans in his first... two rounds and there's potentially mickelson tiafo and fritz rounds rounds three to five as well so he you know

They could all just be these sort of slightly big, heightened occasions. Yeah, I think it's... Look, I didn't think at the start of this tournament that Novak Djokovic was going to win it, but...

I really was thinking he'd get through to the semis. And, you know, you can definitely read too much into round one, but... I have paused for thought for that now because I think if he is anything like this in future rounds, some of those guys in his path probably would be able to... take care of that especially as you know they'll all have seen everyone have seen this like every every time something like this happens those quotes all of it it adds up and it just

Just chips away. Chips away at that Lockery Mora, doesn't it? Gives them a bit of hope, doesn't it? Yeah, I know there's still 24 grand slams worth of Lockery Mora, but it's not nothing. I wonder whether it might end up... changing the way opponents play against him and think maybe i just need to extend this as long as possible and take him into deep waters but that's what you would

saying fritz needs to do if they were to meet in the quarters anyway i definitely think players like him and tfo players that are really accomplished and in their prime they should they should bring physicality into it i think yeah No sign of Monica Selesh tonight. Maybe the negotiations are still ongoing. Rory McIlroy was in situ watching, though, which was pretty wild.

Three hours after finishing up on the course in Atlanta. Just an unmissable Novak Djokovic first round US Open match that he had to get straight on a private jet to be in place for. Yeah, that was it. The US Open's not going anywhere, Rory. Yeah, presumably Rory McIlroy can go to whatever session of the US Open he likes. And haven't you got tomorrow off? Don't golfers do it on Thursday through Sunday? Yeah. It was crazy seeing him in the crowd. Anyway.

Lovely. Ben Shelton opened up the Arthur Ashe Stadium today. He beat Busa. Are we going with Busa? That's certainly what the commentators were going with. Great, I feel validated. He beat Busa 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, David. Yeah, it wasn't perfect from Shelton. I think he... I sensed a little bit of anxiety as he came out onto the court with the kind of spotlight on him and the expectation. This is the first year that he's felt like he's carrying it as the main guy.

I feel anyway and and I think he relishes that but I also think it was it slightly made him anxious when he came out of the court it took him a while to to sort of break and and and but once he was into the match you you felt him grow before your eyes and really embody that role and listening to jim courier in commentary was interesting talking about the the the shelton forehand and how it's developed and and it's

Moved away a little bit from the Rafael Nadal-like follow through with the big whip and the big brush up the back of the ball. into a more aggressive through the ball, following the path of the stroke with a follow-through, which he believes is making him a lot more dangerous, particularly on a fast surface like this. And I thought that was an interesting insight from a man like Currier.

There were some real highlight moments. This was not an opponent that you would expect to cause him trouble, but he did brush him aside once he got into the... into the games that really mattered, you know? And yeah, he looks in a good place, Shelton. How did Fritz look over on Armstrong? Beat Emilio Navas, 7-5, 6-2, 6-3. He was out there in the first set. I thought a lot...

A lot longer than I expected. It was quite a grind in the opening set. Had a pop at tennis's shadow problem, just for you, Matt. Yes, he's requesting Armstrong instead of Ash because of the Ash shadow during the day. The underlying sort of... unspoken bit there being that he sort of knows he's not going to get ash at night necessarily. There's a joke in there about throwing shade. It's just too late.

Or early for me to formulate it. He was quite straightforward about last year's run that he said... And because of that, I've got more control over the time of day if I ask for Armstrong. He says, as it happens, I didn't get anything to ask for today. Because he didn't want to play first and he didn't want to play on Sunday.

set never was he's explosive that guy it's just that at the end of the set when it really mattered he was being explosive off shots you really shouldn't try to be explosive off and then it all capitulated

So Fritz Thru, Shelton Thru, Jakub Mensik beats Nicholas Jarry. Is he one of Actions Wimbledon? Jarry. He's not, no. No. Thomas Mahatch, the best player in the world, did win, though. And Arta Rindeknesh just squeaked over the line to beat the tennis podcast meets curse allegations for us. Thank you, Arta.

And Alejandro Davidovich Fakina won at 11am. Yes, it can be done. Turns out he can do it. It's a real blow. Did you think he was a little bit annoyed that sort of a blow to his agenda? I mean, he won that. that he complained about it, didn't he? He also won at 11am. I think it actually might suit him brilliantly. He won this one in less than 90 minutes. It was efficient. Okay, those are all the notable men's results from day one.

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Welcome back to part two, where we move on to the women's matches we saw today on day one of the US Open. Arena Sabalenka, the first women's match on Arthur Ashe, the defending champion, of course, 7-5, 6-1. against Rebecca Masarova. David? Yeah, I saw this and Sabalenka came out in a shimmering silver jacket that she explained in her press conference afterwards that she's put a lot of time into with the...

the clothing sponsor because she really wanted to come out and wear something that she felt good in as though she was going out on a big occasion. And her tennis...

kind of fell flat at the start. She was sort of broken early on, and it took her a little while. There was some tense moments, really, for her today against Masareva. And I did think, you know, I wonder whether... I wonder whether she's going to just struggle a little bit to get going because obviously she's had a recent loss in Cincinnati.

And we're sort of waiting to see whether she's going to come good at a Grand Slam this year and actually win one. But she got herself back on track. And I think it's as accomplished and as experienced as these players are.

The first round, they're often still nervous. And she looked a bit nervous. And Masarova is quite a dangerous ball striker herself. But, yeah, got the job done. And I think probably nervous about... facing a new york crowd yeah for the first time since you know the french open final incident and an aftermath like it was absolutely fine um and i i expected it to be absolutely

I'm sure she hoped it to be absolutely fine, but you don't know until it happens. And I'm sure there was some nerves and anxiety there. Over on Armstrong at the same time, or a little bit...

Because, of course, Armstrong starts before Ash. Emma Radicani won her first US Open match. Since lifting the trophy here in 2021, she beat Ina Shibahara emphatically 6-1, 6-2 in 62 minutes and immediately hit the practice courts. afterwards I don't know I don't know how far this run goes for Emma Adekanu we'll talk about her next round opponent in a moment because

That's interesting in itself. There is Elena Rabatkinner likely lurking in the third round. It would be a tough task to beat her. But I do know this is a different Emma Raducanu. To any Emma Adekanu we've seen at the U.S. Open, I include 2021 Emma Adekanu in that. Yes, absolutely. Different, I think is the right word. I don't think it's necessarily a better Emre Adekanu than the one in 2021. You know, I think that was the best tennis that Emre Adekanu's ever played. But...

The tennis she's playing now is the closest it's been to that since then, for sure. And it's also, I think the difference is that I'm expecting her now to play well. You know, like in... Feels like a flaw, this does, doesn't it? Yes, exactly. Even in 2021, it was all this tremendous surprise. You know, she got on this obviously incredible run of form, but...

I still wasn't really expecting it to happen. And there have been a lot of times in the four years since where you're just sort of hoping that she can get through matches or maybe be able to find some form. You know, whereas now it's very much like, I think Emeril O'Connor is going to bring a sort of top 20 level to the court. Pretty sure of that now.

Most times I see her play, and this has probably been going back for a few months now, really, and she absolutely hit the ground running in her first match here. She was striking the ball with... Really a lot of conviction. Just looks so assured out there. It was the sort of matchup that I thought would favour her and actually...

Shibahara coughed up a lot of errors. I suspect that's probably why Raducanu hit the practice court because she didn't have to finish off that many points. She didn't have to be really sharp today because Shibahara really didn't... didn't play particularly well but radhikan who did what she had to do well and that's just become a thing now. It's not been, you know, her losses recently haven't about been heard playing badly. It's about her running into really good opponents, whether it be...

Sabalenka or Nisimova have kind of had a power advantage or hit her off the court, but you're still just expecting Raducanu to play well, and I absolutely expect that to continue this tournament.

And in the next round, she might need it to continue because she plays Matt's new favourite, a woman he became briefly obsessed with between the hours of about 2.30 and 3.30 this afternoon. Have you heard about Janice? He was saying. And, of course, talking about Janice Chen. Very unexpected viewing on day one of a slam, you know, and there's always a good amount going on. And I didn't have...

Janice Chen against Veronica Kudamatova on my list of matches that I knew I would be watching today. And yet... There I was. And yet, tell us about Janice. Janice Chen, the first Indonesian player to win a singles match at a Grand Slam in 22 years.

Yes, and our colleagues at The Athletic, Charlie Ecocher, Matt Futterman, James Hansen, the editor there, have been tracking Janice for a little while because... they see her on a similar trajectory to Loïs Boisson, Victoria Mboko, and that trajectory being just winning so many matches at ICF level. And the question therefore being, can she start bringing it to the tour? So, you know, they've been tracking that. I think she's won, you know, something like 95 of her last 105 matches.

You know, at the ITF level, you know, the rung below the WTA Tour. But just, you know, all those sorts of players talk about it. Winning. Winning is winning and it gives you confidence and you do build something through that sheer amount of winning that she's been doing. And she comes in here, she qualifies. And then she...

has a go at a seed early on. And it's Kuda Matova, who is obviously a very good player and has been in good form recently. But you do always feel like she's a little bit vulnerable at the slams. She rarely plays her best. She's probably... one of the better seeds to draw, I would say. And Chen absolutely took advantage of her. She's got that Ash Barty thing.

heavy topspin forehand set up by a slice backhand so it's a different look you know she's giving players something they're not used to now I'm not saying she's as good as it as Ash Barty was, who sort of perfected it and became number one in the world and a major champion with that. But it's still something that players on the WTA Tour don't see all that much. And it was extremely, extremely effective.

today she she probably should have won it in straight set she she was a set up a break up love 40 up triple break point to go up a double break and she inexplicably tried to hit a slice backhand pass rather than just nudging the ball up the line. Everything sort of spiralled a little bit from there and she lost that second set. So to regroup and get it back in the third was what actually impressed me the most here. And yeah, just a very, very...

fun player. Cool to see someone from Indonesia as well having that kind of success. And yeah, it's a very interesting match against Emma Adekarni now. I think it's going to be a test for Adekarni. She won't know a lot about Chen. She's going to have to... find out and problem solve. And, you know, I sort of back her to do it, but I think she would have been expecting to play Kuda Matova, who's more of a known quantity. So just...

Very, very interesting little section of the drawer there. And it's absolutely not an accident that her game resembles Ash Barty. She was asked about that comparison in her press conference today. She said, Ash Barty is my role model. And I set out to try and copy her.

So she's chuffed a bit with people noticing the similarities in their games. She's an interesting young woman, went to Pepperdine University, graduated with a degree in sociology, was apparently a very good doubles player while she was there. and sort of people kind of assumed she would have a career in doubles, but she wanted to give it a go in singles as well. And that seems to have been... been a very good idea and um she is a

a peer of Alexandra Ayala, obviously from a different country, Ayala from the Philippines, but from a similar part of the world. And they crossed paths a lot, it sounds like, while they were coming up. through the ranks. So it's incredible to see the parallels today of Janice Chen winning and also Alexandra Ayala winning in really quite...

extraordinary fashion over Clara Towson on Grandstand Court today on her fifth match point. We were certain these would be the scenes of the day. on grandstand. How could that be beaten? Enter Daniel Medvedev. And yet I still think they were really the scenes of the day. I think that... It's impossible not to lead with Medvedev because it's just only just happened and it was utter chaos. But when I think back to today, I think I'll remember Ayala.

And that atmosphere more, personally, because I found that all so uplifting. I mean, that was an extraordinary match in itself, wasn't it? Just a showdown between two players who you could imagine meeting much later in the tournament.

in in in years to come and it was 5-1 in the third set to Towson and it looks all done and I'll turn that around and then It goes into, well, there's a pretty dramatic scene with an umpire argument there about whether a replay was going to be shown because a volley was hit away by Alda. Towson said was hit when it was the other side of the net and anyway that kicked off a bit went into the most

Wonderful tiebreak. I just loved the tiebreak. That was an 8-4 lead for Ayala and then brought back to 8-all and it was just to and fro. i mean that's me talking from watching on a screen and loving every minute of it but the scenes the actual atmosphere in that stadium there was there wasn't a seat spare was there No, it was literally standing room only on grandstand. And grandstand is a big court. You know, there's, I don't know, about 8,000 or so.

on grandstand and yet people myself included were having to stand right at the top of the of the upper ring just to just get a glimpse of this you know it's obviously a big filipino community in new york and it felt like So many of them were on grandstand. It was truly wild, wild scenes. I thought I'd missed my opportunity to get it.

taste of this match because it looked like, as David said, with Towson 5-1 up, it looked like it was going to sort of fizzle out and Towson would end up winning it quite straightforwardly. You talked me out of going to the court. You said, well, there's... There's not enough. You won't get there in time. So I went to watch Mahatch, who was on call five, and I had grandstand FOMO because I could hear...

that this comeback was happening from Ayala. So I thought, well, I've got to go. And as I said, I didn't really know if I'd get a good viewing point, but I worked my way up to the top and, you know, stood behind a... few rows of people but managed to managed to get a glimpse of it and i think

I think a lot of people watching this match felt like at times the atmosphere crossed the line. I think there was a lot of cheering of Towson double faults and making noise between her first and second serves. You know, it was definitely on the edge. When I was there... it wasn't like that it was more joyous it was more just eruptions of noise for ayala um and look towson definitely let the crowd and the occasion and the comeback just

bother her you know she was in kind of a bad mood the whole match she looked like she turned it around and then they all have started mounting the comeback whipping up the crowd and it just all got to towson again i think we saw a bit of But a sort of competitive immaturity there, perhaps, from Towson, whereas Ayala was just on this high. And as David said, the quality of that final set tie break was outrageous. Towson, by that point, had...

got her game under control a little bit again. She was playing with a bit more safety in her shots. But the way Eala changes direction is just... incredible to watch it catches you out you're not expecting these shots to go where they go be it a backhand down the line or a sudden drop shot just the disguise and and the timing of her shots is is formidable. And as you said, it took her five match points and a lot of them were brilliantly saved by Towson. Just...

Absolutely thrilling. I would urge anyone to go back and watch this final set tie break if they didn't see it. It was absolute. joy and scenes on on grandstand and yet very very special for Ayala who who have had a big moment in the juniors and in in in the slams is now making history in the You know

In the professional slams, as you said, as the first Philippine player to win a slam match, just like amazing. And actually I was in the little corridor in the... media center when when she came back in i don't know who she was embracing but she embraced someone and just sort of fell into their arms and said

Fucking hell. I love that. And Coleman Wong was out there supporting her and she was out there supporting him and he qualified a couple of days ago. They are both friends from the Rafael Nadal. They both came through the Rafael Nadal Academy, didn't they? So big moments for the Nadal Academy that I've just mentioned three times. Our mate Dave will love that.

He's also a product of the Nadal Academy. While Ayala was doing that. needing five match points on grandstand to win through her match. Simultaneously, there was another deciding set tie break happening in a match between Olga Danilovic and Muyuka Uchijimi, which I, you know, wouldn't necessarily always... mention a match between Olga Dinalinovich and Muyuka Uchijima doesn't necessarily feel consequential in terms of the wider tournament.

But Olga Danilovic lost this in the deciding set tie break after having seven match points in three different games. She twice had three consecutive match points. Muiko Uchijima did a double Alcaraz and then an extra match point on top. And Danilovic was just broken by the end and double-faulted to concede. The match, it was... And you know what she's like. She's... I mean, she looks pretty displeased even when things are going her way. So, yeah, she looked absolutely...

She looked pissed off. She just looked so pissed off, as you would. Yeah. Love 40 twice to come back. Match points. Unbelievable from Iker Uchijima. And one of those was on her serve, wasn't it? Yeah. Three match points and one was on return. Yeah. She did it every which way. Yeah. She saved every type of match point. All bases covered. Yeah, absolutely.

Jessica Begula, a fairly straightforward winner in the end. The final match of the day on Arthur Ashe today. She beat Maya Sharif, 6-6, 6-4, reeled off five games in a row from 4-1 down in the second set. Just a golf in... quality and in level between these two jasmine paulini a comfortable winner as well we shall never overlook jasmine paulini not here on this Not here on this podcast. Any other notable results from day one? I mean, I don't know how...

sort of notable it is really, but I had a great time this morning watching McCartney Kessler beat Magda Lynette. You did. That was a really... Good battle, this one. Occasionally it was distracting you from Fulham. It was occasionally, yeah. Matt started his Grand Slam by mostly watching football. But also McCartney-Kessler. I simply...

I simply have nothing to say to that other than that is true and I don't regret it. Especially the equaliser. The equaliser was absolutely worth it. But this was a great battle. I hadn't quite realised how tricky... McCartney Caster's draw is when I picked her out yesterday to be a potential surprise package. Nor did Charlie when he picked out Ethan Quinn. Gone already.

Well, Kessler had the tricky Lynette. Absolute battle. Loads of breaks. You just wouldn't go away, Lynette. But the sort of match that you think if you can get through for... Kessler maybe you can sort of build from there and I looked at her draw and she now plays Marketa von Drosheva in the second round who you know

Definitely, definitely tricky. And then it's Jasmine Paolini, I think, in the third round. So, like, it's an absolutely brutal draw. But that was a really good match and a really good win. The only other one I would mention is... Well, Von Drosheva. Vondrosheva, yeah, you watched a bit more of that than I did, I think. Yeah, I watched the period where she was bad, but she won in the end, so she can't have been bad for all of it. But classic Vondrosheva.

And then the other one, just the name to pick out, is Valantova. Oh, yes. Who James, again, James Hansen of The Athletic, has been big on Valantova ever since the French Open, when he thought that she had a real shot of maybe... I can't remember the exact phrase he used. He didn't say beat Goff, but he said something like...

Do damage. Do damage or push or... Take our breath away one more time. Right. Who'd ever do that? These were the sorts of things he was saying. Anyway, she's been another one who's just been doing a lot of... winning qualified in very dominant fashion even though she's already inside the top 100 she got a win today over bronzetti and she probably plays we're back in the in the second round it's very young valent over Czech player

takes the ball early. And I mentioned that just because it's in that fun section with Raducanu and Chen and Rabakina. So Valantova, you can kind of add. Add to the mix of that little section, which I'm immediately drawn to in the women's draw. OK, that's it for part two. Join us in part three when we'll go through tomorrow's order of play.

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Welcome back to part three of the Tennis Podcast, where just before we get into tomorrow's order of play, one of the players we'll be talking about on that order of play is Karolina Mukova. And David has... chatted to her in the lead up to this tournament as we all have chatted to a number of players for the latest edition of Tennis Podcast Meets where we take a few minutes to

get to know and learn things about players that we are curious about and that we think you might be curious about. And that is up now for Friends of the Tennis Podcast. And here's just a little teaser of what we learned from Felix Auger-Eliassime, Fran Jones. Eva Lease, Karen Hashanov, Arta Rindeknesh and Karolina Mukhova. I was looking at...

Back at your 2022 season, you were six in the world. You were winning Davis Cup. You were semi-finalist here. Now you're 25. You're 27 in the world. What is different now compared to then? Me getting back there is not going to be done overnight. It's not because I'm 25 that all of a sudden I want to, you know, to want a magic pill and just click my fingers and I can start winning every match. Would have been the lowest moments.

Yeah, the back end of last year, you know, I had three consecutive retirements in events that I really enjoy in South America on the clay where I feel at home as well. And that was difficult to swallow. And I needed some time to reflect after that. I took some time off.

There was a lot of questioning for me as to where I wanted to go with my career and if I wanted to go somewhere with it. Does it motivate you extra to have success on the court? More success you have, bigger your platform, more people will hear you. Definitely.

I wouldn't say that I'm success driven. At the end of the day when I go on court, I just do what I love and everything else comes with it. But I also know that if you're a tennis player, you're not only playing tennis, there comes a lot of different stuff with it. And I know that a lot of other players have to fight a lot for their rights and they don't have a platform like me. And this is why I always said, even when I didn't have the platform, as soon as I have it, I want to use it for, yeah.

topics i feel like i have to talk about i want to talk about and that's what i'm trying to do we've seen some players of your age your generation have a bit of a dip recently you've always been

super consistent. Do you think that consistency is a little bit underrated? I would say... yeah in a way that i was i am let's say consistent uh with the certain levels with the results you know but then maybe at one point like i said during those five years i was missing this extra push you know to have a little bit bigger results in a bigger to actually be top ten and where I want to be. What does that mean, things that weren't quite right or straight in your head, that are now?

A lot of people are talking about mental aspects lately, these past years, and I was probably right into it. I had to find new... new goals, new reasons. I've always played tennis for the passion of it, for the love of tennis. And this passion and this love was a little bit smaller. Everybody needs confidence, don't they? And everybody needs to feel fully fit. And obviously, fitness has been the big problem for you, just the body breaking down. How are you feeling physically right now?

I think now I feel pretty good. I'd call it pretty good. I've been struggling with a left wrist injury the last few months. But so far, I'd say since Montreal, Cincinnati and now coming here, I feel... and more confident playing again my backhand and rely on that shot so i hope it will go this way and i'll be i'll be able to play fully this tournament so that just a little taste there of the latest edition of the tennis

podcast meets that and all our auditions so far are available for friends of the tennis podcast if you'd like to become a friend then the link is in our show notes to this show and every show

In fact, just before we get into tomorrow's order of play, the Daniel Medvedev press conference transcript has dropped. Lots to take in. He's referenced a potential end to his career and then... backtracked on it and said, no, no, no, I wasn't talking about now. Just thought maybe this being the US Open would be a nice place to end my career when I do decide it's time. But a revelation there that, you know.

It's somewhere in his mind. Ending his career is in his mind somewhere. It's all heat of the moment. There's no apology to Greg Allensworth. In fact, there's quite a lot of doubling down on... on what he clearly thinks of Greg Allensworth, which is a real shame. Anything else you want to comment on from the transcript, David? Well, a lack of owning it, really. I mean, he says I did nothing wrong.

and uh and it's put to him well you delayed the match for six minutes and it was put to him that maybe you were trying to you know distract your opponent and he said no i did nothing wrong i didn't delay the match for six minutes, the crowd did. So he's just refusing to accept that he really had any involvement in any of that. But he doesn't shy away from his own form. At the end, he's asked about his form. He says, I'm just playing.

Just as simple as that. And he does say, I really want to try and put that right next year. He's got a long way to go, I thought. And he does seem to know it. Yeah.

It's a bleak picture right now for Daniel Medvedev. Not going to be on another order of play at this year's US Open. This is what we have for you tomorrow, day two of the tournament. Keyes, the six-seed reigning Australian Open champion, of course, against the Mexican Renata Zarazua, first up on Ash and second on after an 11.30 start, which is... because it's usually midday on Ash. We don't quite know why they're doing that, but I fear there's going to be quite a lot of intentionally blank.

Tomorrow, our favorite matchup always. Second on is Francis Tiafoe against Yoshihito Nishioka. So an American double header in the day session and again in the night session, which starts with Venus Wood. Could I have some predictions for those two matches, please? Punchy ones. Mukava in two Alcaraz in four I'm going to say Alcraz in three and I'm not going to tell you my Venus and Mukherjee because it's in the newsletter. Okay.

Do subscribe to the newsletter. Link in the show notes. Armstrong opens with Barbara Krejcikova against Victoria Mboko. Yes, please. I would ask you for a prediction on this, but it's tough because... Everything depends on Krojikova's fitness. Or does it? Maybe you think Mboko's winning it regardless of how fit Krojikova is. I'm going Mboko. Yeah, mind you, I've got her in the semi, so I should go for it, shouldn't I? I would go Mboko as well. Let's think that she's still riding that wave.

Jack Draper second on Armstrong against F. Gomez, Federico Gomez, I believe, from Argentina. Again, all going to be about how fit Jack Draper is. We're obviously, we've got our doubts and concerns after what he said in press yesterday, but we will see. Night session on Armstrong is Sebastian Ofner against Kasper Rude and second on Alicia Parks. against Mira Andrava. Grandstand features Petra Kvitova in likely her...

Final Grand Slam match, certainly her final Grand Slam tournament. She takes on Diem Parry. Joel Fonseca vibe, second on Grand Slam tomorrow against Miriam Ketamanovic. That's probably the... the connoisseur's choice of the day. If we meet anybody on the tube tomorrow, Matt, that we make friends with and they ask us what outside court match they should go and watch, maybe we'll tell them Ketsamanovic-Fonseca.

We gave them good advice this morning. We told them to go and watch Arla Towson. Yeah, our new best friends. That was good advice. And they were Fulham fans. One of them is a Fulham fan. Well, I think by extension. And they did say they were going to start listening to the tennis podcast. So hello to you. Hello. We regret not getting your names, but it was a lovely way to start the day. I tell you what, third on Grandstand tomorrow, also a good pick, Bertik van der Zandstel.

against Holger Runa. Anything could happen. And finally on grandstand, Anna Bondar against Alina Svitolina. Rabakina is on court 17 tomorrow. First up there is Cameron Norrie against... Bastion Korda, Daria Kazekina on 17. Your new friend, you two, Karen Hashanov against Nishesh Basavredi is the final match on 17. Dino Prismic against on 17. Andre Rublev is the last match on court five. That's where you can find Flavio Caballi as well. It does feel like there's just a...

It didn't feel slow today, but it does feel like there's going to be that bit more happening tomorrow. It's going to feel like a round one Grand Slam day, I think. Yeah, there's a few more courts in play. Yeah, it's going to be good. We were sort of saved by a couple of huge atmospheres, weren't we, today? Yeah, exactly. By the way, I do really like the game of Zarazua. Is that a prediction? No. I think Keynes is going to win. She's crafty.

Oh, I look forward to seeing. Watched her play on this one over at Wimbledon. Watched her play with Batkaner the other day. She beat Putin's saver the other day. She pushed Ostopenko to three. I think she's improving. I think Keyes will have too much. and too much game, but I've always quite just enjoyed watching Zara Zua. Well, you can do that tomorrow. Yeah, it'd be a nice start to the day for those on Ash, I think. Looking forward to it. It looks like a good day.

Tomorrow we'll be back with another tennis podcast. Of course, we have a mascot for this tennis podcast, a very special mascot, a mascot we know well, a mascot that I have held in my arms 50 weeks ago. In Manhattan, it's Bruno. Three. Lovely Bruno. Bruno, of course, owned by Alyssa Lee. Lovely Alyssa. Bruno was last year's US Open mascot. And Alyssa said, we had the honor of meeting the Tennis Podcast crew in person. I remember it well, Alyssa.

While they were in town for the tournament, Bruno is as popular as Roger Federer in our Brooklyn neighborhood and is the only dog we know who has stickers of himself pasted up all over New York. I have some of those very stickers. In fact, I think I have some of my... backpack right here I occasionally find a rogue one I'm like oh there's Bruno uh he's he's a lovely boy is Bruno um and he's a he's a returning mascot and we love those we love

Dogs are all about loyalty, aren't they? So it's only fitting. So thank you, Alyssa, for bringing Bruno back during this year's US Open. He is a very, very good boy. And we're very grateful for all of your support. We, of course, have our mascots, Phoebe, Maisie and Roger. Hello to you. We have Greg, Chris and Jeff, our top folks and executive producers. And we are, of course, part of The Athletic.

podcast network. It's one down. It's 14 more to go. Thank you for listening. We will be back tomorrow. Popsicles, sprinklers, a cool breeze. Talk about refreshing. You know what else is refreshing this summer? A brand new phone with Verizon. Yep. Get a new phone on any plan with Select Phone Trade-In and MyPlan.

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