US Open Day 14 - Sabalenka’s fitting finale to 2025

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Hello and welcome to the Tennis Podcast coming to you on another stormy night in New York City. It is 8.30 in the evening. We're in the media restaurant due to some seriously inclement weather swirling around us here in Flushing Meadow. New York, Matt Roberts' very own pathetic fallacy. How are you doing, Matt? I'm OK. I'm OK, thank you. Yes, my mood was a bit like... The weather at times today, unsettled, should we say, but I'm OK.

People bounce back. We bounce back. The bit lives. We go into 2026. We ride again. She's reached back to that Grand Slam finals. You don't have to have blonde hair. We're okay. We are okay, and we've all just come from the winning press conference of Irina Savalenka chugging on champagne, dressed in a silver lame jacket, and generally being...

An all-around vibe that we're going to try and channel in this podcast, David. Yes, she looked like she's about to go into the night. I'll say. Good luck to her. She deserves to. The jacket does look waterproof. So she's equipped. Unlike us. Better equipped than me. I'm pretty nervous about the jog for the bus at this point. We've got an hour. Yeah, there could be some good content coming on Instagram tonight. Do give us a follow. Right.

Let's talk about the final. Irina Sabalenka beating Amanda Anisimova 6-3, 7-6, a fourth Grand Slam for Sabalenka and the first woman to win back-to-back titles here in New York since... Arena Williams in 2014. This has been a hard title to defend. Of course, Arena Sabalenka has done it. Yeah, and I think that that's one of the two narratives of struggle that she's managed to overcome and defeat today. She carries weight.

of expectation and pressure extremely well. I know there have been moments in her career where... things have got the better of her. And twice this year in Grandstand Finals, although I do think they were very, very different, Madison Keyes kind of ripped that match out of her grasp. And then the occasion and the Coco Goff.

ability to to sort of turn things in her favor by making things scrappy amongst the wind well Those things went against her, and sometimes she doesn't handle it, but she always comes back for more. This is what I love about Irina Sabalenka. She doesn't shrink. She doesn't go away. You could say she messed up at the French Open and said some regrettable things that were unsporting.

But I think that that's still very human, what she did there. And she came back out. She sort of swallowed it and apologised to Coco Gough. has been unflinching in her apologies ever since about that and saying it'll never happen again. And I did wonder whether that might take some sort of edge off her competitiveness or not a bit of it. And tonight, you know, she had to...

Stare down an opponent who'd beaten her only a... a couple of months ago in a big semi-final again at Wimbledon she had to withstand the 24,000 crowd she always plays Americans here in the latter stages and she also had to withstand a fight back a roaring fight back when the match looked won. And the fact that she still won, I have such admiration for her. Yeah, me too, and... Hannah on the barge called her kind of the main character of this Grand Slam season, which I think was a great...

She's just played so many of the big matches. She's been there, present, at so many of the big moments, but hadn't been able to... be the one lifting the trophy until today and it does feel fitting that Irina Sabalenka ends the 2025 season with a Grand Sam title she's the world number one she's so consistent at the slams and she's obviously put in the work

You know, I found it interesting hearing her compare that Australian Open experience where she said she just wanted to move on and forget about it. Where she said after the Roland Gauss final, she decided she needed to look... to look at what went wrong and she realized she did have the wrong mindset and if ever there was going to be a test of whether that had worked it was today for all the reasons David said crowds

opponent coming back at her serving for the match not closing it right there and then in it in her own words I was really close to losing control but she didn't She absolutely held it together and I thought played a really good match actually from start to finish. Just the level was really, really high and yeah.

It feels right in a way that we're talking about Arena Sabalenka as a Grand Slam champion this season. Yeah, this match was so close. It was teetering on the edge of following the same script as the two other Grand Slam finals that she's played this season, in particular. the French Open final against Coco Gauff. And she told us that were it not for an epiphany, she had in Mykonos, another great advert for the...

for the great party reset. Post Rowland Garros. It doesn't have to be Ibiza, folks. It can be Mykonos. She said, I was in Mykonos reading my book, enjoying the view, and I had this kind of moment of really... realization she said i had been expecting everything in these grand slam finals to go my way and i'd found myself shocked when

my opponents fought and when my opponents made it difficult for me and put me in difficult positions and didn't just kind of lie down and she said look I know that's stupid but like that was how I was going into these Grand Slam finals and when she missed That smash in the latter stages of the second set, Matt, and she ended up being broken back by Inesimova, five all, ends up in the tie break. The tide could have turned then, had it not been.

for that moment in Mykonos when she found a way to accept that not everything is on her racket. And in that sense, I actually think the match-up... today in this Grandstand final was helpful in a sense because it was not all on her racket today. Amanda Nissamova in that first set hit...

28 combined winners and unforced errors. Sabalenka hit seven, which is absolutely extraordinary. Normally, when Sabalenka's playing, she is the one... racking up the winners racking up the unforced errors and i've often talked about it how it's a great thing to have a match on your racket but it is stress-inducing if you're not quite playing your best you constantly have to keep going for it was today in this matchup

I think she sensed Anissimova at times was hitting those absolutely glorious shots that we know she can, but she was also missing quite a bit Anissimova, and Sabalenka was contained, she was controlled, she was aggressive when she needed to be.

Interesting hearing Anissa Mova talked about how rushed she still felt, even though she was, you know... kind of the one in control of a lot of the rallies Sabalenka was still putting her under pressure so I think it was helpful in that sense from a mindset point of view that everything wasn't on her in this match and then

She also had that extraordinary tie-break record to fall back on. You know, talk about it being fitting that she ends this Grand Sam year with a Grand Sam title. Well, how fitting that she does it with a tie-break, which has been... Extraordinary. Was it 19 in a row now she's won? She's only lost one tiebreak all season. I think she now holds the standalone record across men and women for most tiebreaks won. It was beating Andy Roddick.

and he was in the stadium to see that record fall. Like, unbelievable what Sabalenka did. And as Onisimova was... coming back at her and had played a very good second set tiebreak herself in the semi-final Anissimova against Osaka. OK, we can talk about that tiebreak from an Anissimova perspective and there were one or two things I'm sure she would want back and could have done differently.

But Sabalenka just stepped up, didn't let losing serve when she was serving for it become a big thing and closed out the match. A really impressive mindset performance. I've always kind of thought that game in full flow is the world number one game. Like, how do you stop it? The power, the movement, the athleticism, she's got everything. Now she's added some variety as well.

But there's just been this thing holding her back in some Grand Slam finals. Not all of them, but some of them. Not a moment of that today. She was... Pretty exceptional, I thought, in this match, as she was in the semifinal as well against Pagula. There was a similar thing in terms of stepping up when it really counted. There was, I mean, look, there were a lot of...

Interesting lines from Amanda Anisimova in her post-match press conference and on the court today, and we'll talk about all of them, but one of them in the press conference where she was incredibly... open despite being so clearly devastated more devastated certainly more like obviously devastated than even after the Wimbledon final which was interesting but she said I wish I'd been more aggressive

I'm interested in both your takes on that because I didn't think, like, I'm struggling to imagine how she could have been more aggressive, really. I view it as... This may not be what she means, but actually if I'm to understand... where she might be coming from, I feel like it's aggressive the way Sabalenka is, i.e. going out to win the title, not just hit the ball. I mean, she hit the ball incredibly hard at times, but... There was a sort of mental ferociousness about Sabalenka.

She wasn't fighting herself. Sometimes she does. Sometimes she fights with herself and fights with her box. And we've seen how that's unraveled once in a while. Here, it was channeled into winning. Whereas I felt like, unless I'm over, you could feel the frustration quite early on. And she was fighting herself. And I think sort of being aggressive, being more aggressive would be...

to be more positive with your intent. I think that that's a significant area of improvement for her that she needs to find. Because even two nights ago when she beat Osaka, I thought...

This is a risky game she's playing. The way she's going for her shots, it was incredible to watch. One of the most devastating examples of power hitting I've ever seen. And she... basically took out Osaka with that but it was it was a real roll of the dice what she was doing and I kind of feel like there is another version to her that could have won that match and could have won then today's match whereas just

all out hitting the ball as hard as you can and looking like you're absolutely on the edge of your nerves all the time. And it was almost like if she didn't win it in... four shots, she wasn't going to win it. Because the moment they started to go long, she was a step behind the ball and she was spraying it 20 yards long if she couldn't finish it. Maybe.

a more Sabalenka-like version, or 2025 Sabalenka, because you go back and watch Sabalenka five years ago, and she was on that edge, wasn't she? She was just, go for it, if it doesn't go in, oh dear. Precisely. And I think it's there. I think this is about learning. She's learning how to be... She's already become a great player. And she's just got otherworldly talent. And she's found out... I mean, look, at the start of this year, she was nowhere.

She's figured out how to reach Grand Sun Finals now. Now she's got to figure out how to win them. And I just see a student there.

The way she had that Wimbledon experience and was prepared to go back into the video to watch herself suffer, that tells me you've got a student who's going to learn.

Do you think that's what she meant when she said, I think I didn't fight hard enough for my dreams today, which was the most crushing line that she delivered in the ceremony? Yeah, that was a... devastating line because it it didn't match up at all with with what I'd seen out there you know fighting back from going down an early break and you know

Again, you might start thinking, oh God, is this going to happen again in a grand slam final? But she dug in, she got the first set back on serve, and she did the same twice in the second set, getting it back on serve. She actually played her best tennis, I think, when she was down in the score. today in a Samoa which is sometimes easier to do that I think that would be a kind of learning for her like she needs to try and bring that tennis

when she's ahead and stamp her authority on a match a little bit. I think the word that came to mind is I felt like in the middle of this match she had a real drop in intensity. I think she came out. fired up, hitting the ball so well. Even in the first couple of games she didn't win. There were really good signs that this was not the Wimbledon final. She was making plays, hitting winners. She then got that first set level, as I said.

But then there just seems to be a drop in intensity which carried on into the second set a bit. And I guess what I'm talking about there is kind of, I think, what David's talking about as well in terms of she wasn't, like, projecting this. positive image to Sabalenka that she was there to fight. Or the crowd. She didn't use them. And she never really does. That's not a natural thing for Anisimov to use them, I don't think.

Maybe there could have been a bit more than that, and I think things were bothering her today, you know, clearly. With the roof and the lights, she was really struggling on the serve. And there was quite a lot of untimely double faults. Her percentage wasn't great. We've talked about how her serve has been improving. Today was a bit of a regression on that front. I never felt like she had an easy hold of serve in her. It was always just a little bit of a struggle, and you could tell...

by how annoyed she still was about it in the press conference hours later, that clearly there was no chance of her overcoming that in the match. She said...

You know, it bothered her. She wasn't expecting it. And I think she was never quite able to snap out of that. And that would be another thing that maybe... she can improve going forward like you've got to be able to let those things go I think the Osaka match was under the roof though wasn't it but she particularly talked about it as being in the in the day under the roof I think it's just something to do with

what you see when you look up there because they close all the they close all the shutters at the top and it's white yes and she's just losing the ball I think she was just losing the ball and It's probably something that if she plays out there again, she'll know to expect it. And I think it was the shock factor, wasn't it? I could imagine in future years, she might come in early one morning when it's raining and have a go.

just to try it out so I definitely take the sort of aggression point in terms of I think she was imposing herself on Savalenka with her tennis but maybe just not with her body language and that's my read on it because Tennis-wise, I thought she was pretty much as aggressive as you can be, the way she was going after the ball. You're not going to be able to dominate every rally against Sabalenka, but she dominated a lot of them.

She was asked by Charlie Eccleshire in the press conference, Anisimova, about how she felt physically today after all the tenors she had in her legs. I think that was all of our greatest concerns for Anisimova ahead of... this match and she said look I was I was fine physically and that's something I'm proud of and I've been working really hard on treating Grand Slams as a as a marathon like knowing you can't just reach the summit

reach one mini summit and then say yay me, because there's another summit to come. She said it was nerves. She said that... What she was disappointed about in herself today was the extent to which she felt nerves. I didn't get to follow up on my question. because I'd asked her about that crushing quote that she gave on court and she started talking about the nerves that she experienced and I wanted to ask were they the same as Wimbledon because I can imagine that.

would be disappointing. I don't think you would expect not to feel nerves. I think everybody would feel nerves ahead of a grand slam final no matter how many times you've done it. But I can imagine expecting it to be less and perhaps being shocked that it... It wasn't. Finals at Grand Slams are so different to anything else you can experience in tennis. She's come out here, she's won all these matches to get to the stage, but...

particularly if you're not the very biggest names. You're playing on smaller courts. There's not all this razzmatazz. You haven't got this focus on just this small window of time that could change your life. It's not easy to do it. And I think... Most players probably need to have a couple of goes. I think if she... If there's one thing she kind of didn't fight hard enough for, and I really don't think that that's fair terminology, I think she lost the battle with her own anxiety.

And I'm not criticising, but her team, I was commentating so I could hear a lot of the interactions. They were trying so hard to get her to stop just being... doomsday about everything you know they were trying they were trying really hard to get her to just no no concentrate don't worry about that I know you can't see the ball stop talking about that you know they were desperately trying she was spiralling and Taylor

spinning and i understand it it's a lot easier in a way to accept defeat to those things and she was she was having that battle and she was trying to get something and she did i felt like she she got She got going, but it was too late. And a US Open final is so goddamn different to a Wimbledon final. Matt and I were up there in the press seats just as the countdown was starting for the players.

to come onto court speculating idly about which variety of Grand Sam final we would find more anxiety inducing the silence of Wimbledon and the lack of you're not even announced onto court Those doors just open at the back of Centre Court and you're walking out. Whereas here, there's a countdown, there's a DJ, there's somebody playing, not the National Anthem tonight, it was America the Beautiful.

There's a big VT. There's all the nonsense. And trying to translate the Wimbledon experience into tonight's experience must have felt like... sort of trying to translate a foreign language that you don't quite understand. She's going to be so much better for it, though, in the end. Right, she's had the two polar experiences now. She's experienced all ends of the spectrum.

So she's going to be fine in Australia, is what we're saying. I think the beauty for her is she's a threat on every surface. Her game translates. Can I just make a mention of the game that Sabalenka played, I think at 5-6? in that second set, which I do believe is one of the best games of the year because she's just lost three in a row. She's 5-3, serving for it at 5-4, loses a serve.

five six down and knowing I guess maybe knowing you've got that tie break record helps to focus the mind if I could just get to a tie break but still The crowd's going crazy. You've been made to sit down by Enesimova at 5, 6. And you come out and hold. I think that is big time. Yeah, she's badass, isn't she? Marina Sabalenka. But not in an impenetrable way, in a feels the fear and does it anyway way. Yeah, exactly. She lets you know exactly what she's feeling at any one time.

Just this tournament, she's given us all manner of incredible gifts that I've saved on my phone. She lets you know. And then she says, bring it on anyway. Yeah, which is pretty incredible.

So it's a fourth slam. They're all on hard courts. What now for Irina Sabalenka? And we've had this conversation before. Because, you know, when she's won... hard court titles at slams before it's felt like okay well the next thing to do is trying to win the French Open and trying to win Wimbledon and look she was extremely close to winning the French Open this year

If you'd said to her, you'll beat Igor's Fiontech, she'd probably thought, well, I'll have a French Open. Great, I'll book my celebratory dinner now. And, you know, Wimbledon, she got beaten by Nissimova. So I still think that's it, right? Like, obviously, she's going to keep being a threat of these hardcore majors. But if she... Like, to fully take her into a whole new category of player, I think it's still about doing it on the other surfaces. And I think she's capable.

I've always thought she's going to win Wimbledon because of, frankly, the game that she has. I just think there's going to be a time when she just all comes together there. Yeah, our Fantasy League friend Drew said in our group chat at the end of this match that he'd love to do a sort of sliding doors analysis of the two Wimbledons. Sabalenka had to miss. One through the ban of Russian and Belarusian players and one through that shoulder injury.

I mean, we'll never know. It's totally hypothetical speculation. But she feels like a Wimbledon champion in weighting, doesn't she, with that game? And she hasn't had that many bites at the cherry in her prime. And hearing the way she's talking, she's still producing 2.0, 3.0, 4.0 versions of herself all the time. The way she talked about...

how she worked with a psychologist for a long time and she got a lot from that and she thinks that's a really positive thing that she would recommend. But then she also said that it got to the point where she realised she was using that psychologist. as a shield for accountability. She said I was expecting her to fix me.

which is, I think, a very common psychologist therapy pitfall. But for her to realise that and realise, right, OK, I'm going to take what I've done with that psychologist but take accountability for myself.

Very impressive, and you can see the fruits of it, you know, from on the court to off the court with the Coco Gough hoo-ha in Paris. Like, she does own stuff. Yeah. She does. Yeah, I've got a lot of time for her. I think she doesn't want to leave anything on the table at all. I don't think she's one of those athletes that's...

Never going to be satisfied until she realises, OK, I just don't have it anymore, one day. Well, did you see the quotes from... an interview she did ahead of the US Open about seeing herself taking a maternity break during her... playing career she said i want to have a long playing career but i don't want to wait necessarily until retirement to to have children so i do wonder if there's sort of a even though she's still i mean she's 27 yep

There is a sense of urgency about her, isn't there? And I wonder if that's a kind of, you know, part of the strategy. And I think she is aware that this is her prime. And I think that's why this year has been...

Bittersweet, really, because she feels like she should probably have three of these things right now. And it was a lovely moment seeing her fall to her knees the way she did. The weight of it all suddenly came out. what she'd been trying to hold up, the psychological element of just having missed out twice, having kind of... become public enemy number one after the French Open and had to really look inwardly at that and then rebuild her sort of hope and game.

and get to this point again and withstand it all. And then it all just came crashing out in emotion at that moment. But I think that not every year might be like this. She might... She might not play as well as this and win two of them or three of them. I think she was a little bit unfortunate.

to not actually end up with more, given how dominant she's been, how consistent she's been. So maybe the best is still to come. I certainly think the fact that she hasn't won it on play and grass yet means that... Her appetite is going to be all the more intense in the future. On Anna Samova, how... Because, full disclosure, after the Wimbledon run, I was...

I'm so prepared to ride the wave with you both about this is just the start. She's going to reach more finals. She is going to win one. And I was very persuaded by your confidence in that and went with it. I'm not sure I really felt it in my gut. But I do now. I really do. How do you two feel about Amanda Enosomoba's Grand Slam winning prospects now? I mean, fitness permitting, I'd be amazed if she didn't win a Grand Slam title.

With that game, how it can work on all the surfaces and how... how much of an adult she is in terms of dealing with situations like this, that she doesn't just deflect and just... sort of write things off it's accountability again yeah it's accountability I didn't know that was what she was like I didn't know her very well until she

reach these finals and then you hear more from her and you actually I mean that I still can't quite get over what she told us about the Svante watching the video the night before it's incredible So I feel very bullish for her. I think she's going to get better too. She just needs to maintain good fitness because I think her movement will improve still further. I think her...

Handling of the moment will improve. Well, she employed this sort of backroomed staff, what, in the spring of this year? These are early days. Yeah, she's been with... Her coach, Vleeshowers, for about a year now, but in terms of the backroom staff and Shidi, I think, isn't it, who's been so instrumental, yes, that's been in the last six months or so.

And that's the thing, I think. Yes, we've known about Amanda Nissimova for a long time, even though she's still only 24 years old. But this is the first year where... everything's in place for her to be a Grand Slam contender. You know, like, I think the one thing she had in place before was the top level.

The game has always been dangerous against the best players, but you're not a Grandstand contender just because you've got that top level once in a while. There's a lot of players who can probably... lay claim to that it's the floor and ceiling thing isn't it right she's raised the floor and she's she's more comfortable on tour now after her break from the sport she's got a great team in place who

I think, really understand her and tailoring her training specifically around her. Her movement's improved. She's working on her forehand and her serve, which have...

which can be great but can also break down a little bit. The mentality is so much improved and there's still work to do. We've talked about... not getting so down on herself in the matches. But as I said, this is the first year where all of those things have been in place. And I don't see a reason why...

she's not going to continue to be this person and this player for a few more years. So therefore I think she remains a Grand Slam contender in the years to come. On all surfaces? Clay would be the one... I think she's dangerous on clay. I do. I think she can play on clay, but I think it's harder for her to impose her game quite so much and some of the weaknesses.

like the movement, are exposed a little bit more on that surface. But she's still dangerous. She still reached the Roland Garros semi-final, you know, back in 2019. And she pushed Sabalenka this year on the clay too. So I suppose what I'm saying here is we've had a couple of other players recently, Hans Jaber, Jasmine Paolini, reach multiple...

grandstand finals, and you kind of come out of them thinking, OK, can they keep this up? All that kind of thing. I do think Anissimova is a better place than them. You know, Paolini was... much later in her career and also it felt like she was absolutely peaking to do those things.

I suppose Jabir's a little bit different because she reached that third one and that did feel like a massive, massive chance. It's after the third one where things have changed. But Furnissimova just feels like she's not hanging on to that. that she's shown these couple of months that feels like this is her level now and actually that there may be more to come there may be more to come and I think you talked about Grandstand finals being so different from other matches that you play

It was interesting hearing her just say the word finals generally. She didn't say Grand Slam finals in terms of nerves. She's not won that many titles. She's won three titles in her whole career. And a couple of those were three set wins in finals against players that she's a lot better than. Do you think she could do with just... winning getting the winning feeling I think so cleaning up going to Almaty I don't know if there is a WTA event in Almaty but insert

Almaty-esque tournament here. Linz! That is what I'm saying. Monastir! I just think a bit more experience of playing... Big matches, finals, stuff on the line. I know she won Doha earlier this year, but she didn't really show up in the Queen's final. I know it was Tatooine Maria. None of the big hitters were showing up against her. Another one who scrambled her brain there. Scrambled her brain. Good point. I think I've seen her get out of a lot of matches this year when she has been.

but they've just not been in finals. She is capable of doing it, it's just the final thing is difficult. So the more experience she gets, I do think will be helpful for her and she's going to be... what, four in the world, I think, on Monday. Like, she's going to be seeded at all the events for the foreseeable future. Like, she's going to be able to work her way into tournaments. So, I really...

really do think the outlook is extremely positive for Anissa Nova. The other thing is she's got a taste for it now and I found it really notable tonight how...

As sad as it was, because she was obviously in a devastated mental state, but the number of times she used the phrase, my childhood dream, my childhood dream to win one of these, and I feel like I haven't... heard her talk about that for quite a long time and I feel like it It was a real admission to us and to herself of how much she wants this. Because I do think there was a period there, very understandably, it coincided with a terrible period in her.

personal life, her father dying, experiencing... mental health problems and lack of drive for being on tour. But there certainly was a period where it looked like... she kind of put that childhood dream in a box and like I'm going through the motions here because it's what I know and I kind of maybe even owe it to my talent to to do this and give it a go but is my heart really in it well I felt like

She's put her heart and soul into this now. And she's prepared to put that on the line and be hurt, you know, because that's what putting yourself out there potentially means. Yeah, good on her for doing it. Just finally on Sabalenka, I feel like I'm going to ask this question, this terrible question.

which you can probably see coming. I'll do it every time she wins a slam because I'm sure she's going to win more. I'm going to ask you what her final Grand Slam total is going to be come the end of her career. I think she can double what she's got now. So eight? Yes. Yeah, I had seven or eight in mind. Interesting. I think a lot of people would think that's maybe quite low.

Maybe, yeah. She could get to seven next year if she has a really good year. You've had four different champions this year. That's it. There's just so many players who are capable of... winning slams. I mean, if Anissimov is going to win one, as I think she will, and then I look around and I think, well, surely Sviantec's going to win some.

Coco Goff has won a couple. I would have thought she'll probably get another one. And Draver's coming. Yeah. Rebecca still has that game and Sabalenka could run into Rebecca and we know she doesn't love that.

There's so many out there that are dangerous and champions in waiting. I think eight's a good number, I do. I think she's got a big enough window. as well, to get that many. It's a lot of majors. Will she do the career slam? Right now, I would say no. I'm not entirely convinced. I think she's capable of winning them all, but...

I don't know whether she will actually do it because it's difficult. It's bloody difficult. Will there be a better opportunity than the ones she had at the French this year, I guess, is the big... I certainly think she'll win one of those two. She'll be on a quest. I'd be very surprised if she doesn't end up with a natural surface Grand Slam title. I do love a quest for a career slam. Okay, well, I'll keep asking you that question every time.

She wins a major title. That is it for part one. Join us in part two when we talk about some other results from today. And of course, we'll be looking ahead to tomorrow, the final day of action at this year's US Open. Just before that, though, we want to take a moment to throw forward to next year for anybody thinking of taking a big tennis trip in 2026, because there really is no one better to organise a tennis-themed trip of a lifetime for you than Steve Fogel's...

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which boasts room for up to eight. Design your Defender 110 at LandRoverUSA.com. That's LandRoverUSA.com. Welcome back to part two of the tennis podcast, where we have some other results to wrap up from the penultimate day of action here at Flushy Meadows. Let's start with the men's doubles final one. in dramatic fashion by Marcel Grenoyes and Horatio Zabios beating Joe Salisbury.

And Neil Skubsky, 3-6, 7-6, 7-5 in the first match of the day on the Arthur Ashe Stadium, saving three match points along the way, David. Oh, Catherine, I heard an interview with Joe Salisbury. Oh, dear. I mean, listen, congratulations to Granois and Tobias. Take nothing away from them at all. But... Working on a British radio station, you get to hear the British player interviews. And his voice, and he said...

We'll probably have to give ourselves a few days before we watch this one back and debrief where it went wrong, but we'll have to do it eventually, but I think we're going to have to give it a few days. I just...

Your heart breaks for players in that position. Somebody's got to win, somebody's got to lose, but my word, that's a tough way to lose. And it's the second slam final of the season that they've lost to Granollah Zabajos. They beat them in the French Open final as well, which wasn't... quite as heartbreaking, but it was a bit heartbreaking.

Another close one. So incredible year for Grenoja Zabajos, their second slam of the season, their first US Open title. They reached the final here back in 2019 in one of their first tournaments. together i remember at the time they weren't they were kind of trying it out they weren't sure if this was going to be a partnership that lasts and six years later

Here they are. That's really good going for a doubles team. There was a very sweet Carlos Alcaraz behind-the-scenes bit of footage reacting to their win, wasn't there? He was into it. Of course he was into it. You surprised me. Gave it the double fist pump and bam-os when they won. Obviously his fellow Davis Cup teammate, Marcel Granollas, there. Yeah, I love...

Tennis players watching tennis, it always delivers. And our crowds watching tennis, of course, delivers. It's such... under ploughed turf massively in the in a sport in a world that is desperately seeking content and content ideas all the time tennis players watching tennis

is just such an easy win. Feed it into my veins. Speaking of which, Taquito Odor beat Gustav Fernandez 6-2, 3-6, 7-6, another... crazy dramatic match to win the men's wheelchair singles title completing the golden slam at the age of 19. It must be so tough and demoralising for all other men's wheelchair tennis players right now to just be looking at this guy that feels pretty unbeatable. in a sport where you can have tremendous longevity if you want it. Like, if he stays motivated...

It's pretty mind-boggling to think what he might be able to achieve. And he looks pretty damn motivated. Yeah, he's got natural charisma. He already has an awesome game. And, yeah, 19. It's just extraordinary. And, look, he's...

He's probably going to start to go away from the others as well. I mean, at the moment, he's still having these battles like against Fernandes. He's often having three set battles with Alfa Hewitt, but they're giving away so many years to him. He's going to get better and they're going to get older. It's just the way of the world. But, yeah, what a star. And this match is, like, number one on my list of I need to go back and watch it. We didn't see it, but I know that he saved her.

four championship points I think towards the end came back Hannah was watching it said it was absolutely incredible like maybe one of the matches of the tournament so yeah it's absolutely We will need to re-watch this one. Yeah, in our defence, we were petting Matt Futterman's dog at the time. We were. Ziggy and Bagels. What a dog. What a bagel. In the women's wheelchair singles final, Yui Kimiji continues her...

Career resurgence. She beat Xiaohui Li. Love 6 came back from losing a 6-love first set. Love 6, 6-1, 6-3 to win her third US Open title. She won her first back in 2014. been an extraordinary year for for yui komiji it's her 11th major singles title overall she's still just missing wimbledon for that career slam so she's on a quest

And she was involved in the coin toss for the women's singles final this evening, which was lovely. Slightly less lovely or slightly less well-timed was the... presentation they did. of Takito Oda and Niels Vink. Niels Vink having won the quad wheelchair singles final beating countryman Sam Schroeder 6-1, 7-5 in the final. They presented Takito Oda and Niels Vink to the crowd on the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Lovely. Lovely thing to do. They did it at the change of ends at 4-3 in the first set of the women's singles final. It's just not the time, is it? It was absolutely insane. Did that hold things up?

No? No, but because it was so rushed and weird. Like, there was literally a countdown on them. You have a countdown on the change of ends. Like, they were... It was... Right, off you go now. Maybe they've... listened too hard to me saying there isn't time in the day to do everything so they're like okay we'll do it all at the same time then we're going to slot things into every sit down i know we sound like goldilocks but this was not the solution

This was not it. But congratulations to Niels Vink, his third Grand Slam of the season, seventh major singles title overall in his second US Open. The Juniors. talent spotting corner the men's was won or the boys rather was won by a 16 year old Bulgarian with an excellent name Ivan Ivanov

Oh, we've got another Bulgarian to start up the career with. Yes, in fact, David, we have two. It was an all-Bulgarian boys' final. It's where the tennis podcast started all those years ago. Ivanov beat Alexander Vasilev. And it adds to his boy's Wimbledon title. That is the same double that Grigor Dimitrov did back in 2008. Unfortunately, David, we are now old enough and we have been podcasting long enough that we are seeing the Grigor Dimitrov legacy.

It'll be Grigor Dimitrov relived before you know it. It's been in the pipeline for ages. So you might look at that and think, oh, this guy's the next... Grigor Dimitrov because he's on the same trajectory but also doing that Wimbledon US Open boys double was Philip Pelibo who I know nothing else about. vaguely remember that name as a much type junior probably yes The girls' singles title was won by 17-year-old Belgian Jeline van Drom. She beat the Swede Liam Nielsen in the final. Great name.

Yeah, every time I see it on the app, I think it's Van Damme. Jay Van Damme. Jean-Claude. Indeed, yeah. So those are your names to look out for in the future. And that's our new Grigor Dimitrov, David, to get irrational about. Excellent. We need those. Right, that's it for part two. Join us in part three when we'll look ahead to tomorrow, the final day of action from the 2025 US Open.

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Welcome back to part three of the tennis podcast on day 14 of the US Open. Let's look ahead to tomorrow's order of play. There is only one match on it. It is Yannick Sinner, the top seed, the defending champion. against Carlos Alcaraz, the second seed and 2022 champion here. What are the battlegrounds? What's it going to take to win? Who is going to win?

And also can I point out that when I went to look up the Order of Play on the US Open website, I found an article about Carlos Alcaraz with the title From Bald to Blooming. Which I'm obsessed with. It is quite funny if you put side by side the day we first saw the shaved head and now. It's grown a lot, folks. And I think we said at the time... He's going to look great in the final. He's going to look good when he's holding the trophy. So is he going to be holding the trophy? Well...

I think he will be. The battlegrounds you talk about, I think the first thing to say is, is Yannick Sinner going to be fully fit? I know he said it's nothing much. I'm going to be fine. It's not going to be a factor. I hope that's true. But I haven't been entirely convinced about... his physicality over the last few weeks really because obviously he it was an illness that he retired from the Cincinnati final with certainly when you look at the two of them Arkraz looks like the one who is

in pristine condition and absolutely bursting out of his shoes to get going. Not that Sinner isn't up for it. He is. But I wonder whether he's a little concerned about something. If not, then he will do what he does. He will be slashing balls down the wings and trying to rush. Alcaraz the way he's successfully done in big matches before. I mean, he was very, very close in 2022.

to beat Alcaraz here and it was another one of those French Open final types where Alcaraz just sort of bent reality his way with mystical powers that only he possesses and he only possesses them every so often. The rest of the time, he's just a general wizard. But I have been more convinced by the Our Cryers game this tournament than ever before.

I think, fitness permitting, I think we're in for another great final, four or five sets, but I do think Alcraz comes out on top. Do you think Alcraz can come out on top? without doing the mind bending. reality-defying things. Without doing what he did in Paris. I do. You think that's the difference? That's where I feel differently about it. There's more authority about the way he's playing right now. For his sake...

I'd like to see him play a little bit more like he did in the first five rounds rather than the sixth round, where I feel like it wasn't quite there. The authority and the conviction behind the strokes. And the clear thinking wasn't quite there yesterday. And yet he still won in straight sets. I sort of think he might just put it all together tomorrow.

And I've said four or five sets. It might even be three because I think he's... Really? Yeah, just because... No man has ever won this title without dropping a set. I think it's possible. And that's not to do any... slight to Yannick Sinner and look I think it's more likely to be four or five sets but I think I wouldn't rule out a real masterclass from start to finish from Alcaraz. Certainly if Sinner isn't quite 100% fit.

Yeah. I mean, I know he was ill, but even just the first game or so when he played him in Cincinnati, and some people might say, well, that's not... You can't even consider that, but just... just something about it's more about Alcraz it's not about Sinai it's about what I'm looking at with Alcraz it's fascinating I think

I've been very convinced by Alcaraz as well. I do feel like I've shifted to thinking that Alcaraz is going to win tomorrow. I suppose the Djokovic performance gave me slight pause for thought in terms of like... How different is he? Because I kind of expected him to come out and be really convincing against Novak Djokovic, and he wasn't. So to suddenly expect him to come out and...

outplay Yannick Sinner on a hard court, it does feel like we're expecting there to be a jump, a difference there, which we just haven't seen against Sinner yet. Like, I think... He's beaten him convincingly at Indian Wells. I don't read too much into that because of the conditions. I think they do play into Alcaraz's...

They're the clay quarters hard courts, aren't they, Indian Wells? They play in his ability to change the shape of rallies. Dominic Thiem's consolation prize for not winning French Open. But I just think some of the wins, like... Like a lot of the big wins that Alcaraz has had against Sinner, he has had to pull rabbits out of the hat. Like that Beijing one last year, he just went...

nuclear in the tie break. That was wild, wasn't it? Roland Garros this year did something ridiculous. Rome was a bit different to me because Sinner, first tournament back, I don't read too much into that one. US Open here all those years ago, saved a match point, came up with some dazzling stuff. I just think he needs that magic against Yannick Sinner. And he has produced it a lot.

My feeling is maybe this is the time where he can just outplay him and be really convincing. But I just don't know if there's that much evidence to suggest that that is going to happen. Yannick Sinner... is so good, is... capable of rushing Alcaraz. We saw what happened in the Wimbledon final when his serve was working for Sinner. And that is a big battleground, I think. We talk about battlegrounds. I think he's only been up above 60% first serves in once, all tournament.

Whereas Alcaraz has only been below 60% once. So that, to me, if I had to pick a battleground, I would come back to the serve, because I think they can both do dazzling things to each other off the ground. I'm leaning Alcaraz because of the serve. I think Sinner might not have a great serving day again. I think there's something up with that shot right now. And I think Alcaraz can take advantage. But if Sinner does find the serve...

I think Alcrez is going to have to come up with the magic. Okay, from balls to battlegrounds? Is that anything? It is now. OK, I will come back to you both for final, final predictions in just a moment. You'll get them at the end, David. You'll get it at the end. Mine is that no better headline will be written than... from bald to blooming. The other thing to mention about tomorrow's men's singles final is that President...

Trump will be attending. As reported by multiple outlets today, he will be a guest in the Rolex suite tomorrow. And that obviously comes with a lot of security implications, I think.

Provisions have already been made. Bulletproof glass is being put into that suite, we understand. Yeah, there are an awful lot of implications for... anyone that's going to be in the vicinity tomorrow including us it also comes with implications for anyone involved in covering or broadcasting tomorrow's men's singles final, according to a leaked memo from the USTA that was first reported in Ben Rothenberg's Substack Bounces. the memo that went out to all rights holders read thus.

Quote, the president will be shown on the world feed and the Arthur Ashe court feed during the opening anthem ceremony. We ask all broadcasters to refrain from showcasing any disruptions or reactions in response. to the president's attendance in any capacity, including electronic news gathering coverage. Now, New York is a blue...

Democrat state. It voted Democrat at the most recent election. There is a good deal I think it's fair to say of anti-Trump sentiment here and it's safe to say that the The expectation is that there will be boos and jeers and negative reaction when the president is... presented to the crowd. There was significant negative reaction the last time he attended the US Open in 2015 when he was a candidate for president. It's expected that he will be shown on the coverage.

and the big screen within the stadium just once during the final, and that will be during the national anthem prior to the match, at which point there is usually a fly-past, a military... Now those are two, the Anthem and Flypass, those are two pretty noisy events. So joining those two dots, there is a pretty clear effort here to quieten the anticipated negative.

reaction to the president. The USTA spokesperson Brendan McIntyre did tell The Athletic, quote, we regularly ask our broadcasters to refrain from showcasing off-court disruptions. So that's what will be happening tomorrow while the land of the free and the home of the brave is being sung out in the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

We will be there in the stadium and we will be able to report on the events of the match, whatever happens. Now in terms of what is going to happen, let's end with some last predictions. Matt Roberts. I will go Alcaraz in five. Five. David. I will go Alcaraz in four. I'm going to go Alcaraz in four. But there was a part of me that almost went Alcaraz in three. Because I think this AB issue is...

a little bit worse than Yannick Sinner is probably letting on. I don't think it's going to be an uncompetitive match. I don't think he's going to be a shadow of himself or anything, but I think the gap between these two is so narrow. that any level of compromise is enough to significantly swing the pendulum. He didn't practice outside today, like there may well have been a practice.

somewhere else away from the public eye, but there wasn't a public practice like Alcarez had today. I know that Simone and his team spoke on it. Did the same thing that Yannick Sinner did and talked it down and said he had some discomfort but that it's gone away, it's nothing serious, he's calm. But yes, that is certainly an element going in.

into this final. I just hope, I don't know, I always get a bit of a, you know, a real excitement, a real tingle whenever Sinner and Alcaraz meet, especially in a big match. I just, I have a... have an anxiety about tomorrow, just generally, with everything you've just said there about Trump. Like, it could be a weird, uncomfortable day. Yep. It's taking away from... Yeah. The match. Yeah. And sport is a place of escapism for so many people. It's a strange feeling, for sure.

Shall we talk about today's mascot? Looking at that face, I think we should, yeah. Yeah, and this is perfect because Luna, today's mascot, very closely resembles Ziggy. I was thinking that. And Ziggy is good dog. We like Ziggy. We like Ziggy, and I bet we would like Luna. Owned by Holmes and Maria Finch, Luna is a seven-year-old Havanese. which is what Ziggy is, who lives with Holmes and Maria and her dog sister Maggie in Muncie, Indiana. I really hope I'm pronouncing that right.

I think you've nailed it. Thank you. Like Jasmine Paolini, Luna is quick to smile and full of energy. She loves playing fetch with her humans and taking walks with Holmes while he listens to the podcast. She can also often be found snuggling with her humans while they watch their favourite player, Carlos Alcaraz. Big day for Luna tomorrow.

In this photo, she is sitting with Holmes' vintage Borg Pro rackets that he played with on his high school team in the early 80s. David, do those rackets look familiar? They're Don A. They do. That's a blast from the past. Slightly early for even me, but yes, they are quite recognisable, yeah. That's a good photo. It's dog. it's tennis rackets it's good stuff thank you luna what a lovely dog um

Thank you, Holmes and Maria, as well, for making Luna today's mascot. We, of course, have our mascots, Phoebe, Maisie and Roger. Hello to you. I've got a big chance of a... A mid-table finish this tournament, and I'm clinging to that respectability. Same. None of us are getting higher than mid-table. Ambitious. Phoebe, Maisie, Roger, it's been a tough tournament. Hello to our top folks and executive producers, Greg, Chris and Jeff. We salute you. Matt, let's have some shout-outs.

We have Keith Rice. Right, Keith. Hello, Keith. Keith is an un-Tennessee name, isn't it? Yeah, I've got an uncle. who passed away a couple of years ago called Keith. It's a very uncle-y name, Keith, isn't it? Uncle Keith. Used to go to the football with me all my life. Bless him. Lovely. Keith. hasn't added too much extra information about himself, just says simply, Alejandro Davidovich Fakina will win a major one day. Keith's a bold guy.

Yeah, now he's my kind of fella. Yeah. It's not grounded in reality, but it gets people talking. I wonder if this could become a fun shout-out. Yeah. Subsection, you know, just drop your random bold prediction. I do not hate that, Keith. I think I will enjoy that. Keith, who thinks Alejandro Davidovich Fikina is winning a major one day. Love it, Keith. Thank you. We've also got Diana. Diana Spadafora. Yes, I know Diana. Diana is in our predictions competition.

this tournament probably kicking my ass Diana is from Canada and Diana says I've never seen live tennis before but I have a special retirement savings account set up for this exact purpose I love that that is a super her by idea, Diana. What is retirement for, if not that? Exactly. I met a tennis podcast listener today who has done the Calendar Fan Slam this year. That is wild, isn't it? Lovely chat.

That is, well, I mean, Diana might be on for the same thing when she retires. And by extension, shout out to the... newsletter predictions group chat always a good vibe during these slams and this one's been very very fun Lovely stuff. Thank you, Diana. Very engaged with our content on Instagram a lot. I appreciate that. Oh, good. Thanks, Diana. And speaking of engages with our content, we have Mark Hillman. Mark! Didn't you see Mark this week? I did. I saw Mark and I saw his son, Trenner. Aww.

Right, Mark. Which was lovely. Trenner is... Mark has two sons, I think. Emmett as well, who's now at university. So Trenner is his US Open companion now. And Mark says he'd like to dedicate this shout-out to his wife, Abigail, who is not only the biggest Bruce Springsteen fan other than Matt, but she graciously supports my watching, playing, and attending tennis events worldwide.

knows it's my happy place oh how nice is that sorry abigail about the springsteen no show today we did do our best yeah i i have just learned from a Springsteen podcast I listened to, that he was at a... Born to Run 50th Anniversary Symposium by the Bruce Springsteen Archives today. So what you're saying is had he been available, he would have been here. And it would have made the difference. Exotic excuse. That's what we're taking from that.

Okay, that's lovely. A shout-out dedication is a lovely, lovely thing. And Mark has been a staunch supporter of ours for a long time. We're very grateful. So Mark, Keith and Diana. Like Schneider. Absolutely. Very good. And Mark like... Philipsis. Philipsis. Both tennis marks. We decided there were no tennis Keiths, didn't we? I just don't think... Can't think of anything. I just don't, yeah. But Alejandro de Vido Chiquina winning a major.

Who needs tennis? Keith's when he got that prediction. Thank you all ever so much for your support of the Tennis Podcast. If you'd like to become a friend, the link is in our show notes. It gets you access to all of our bonus episodes, including the archive of bonus episodes.

so much stuff on there we'll be doing a us open review show following this slam sort of help you get through the the post grand slam blues we'll be doing that in the coming days um we do monthly live shows on youtube for friends of the tennis podcast we do eight annual editions of tennis relived that matt puts his heart and soul into, as well as the Wimbledon Library.

The treasure trove of information that Matt has at his fingertips there. It gets you ad-free listening and it gets you access to the barge, which has been a joyful place. tournament so that's what you get with being a friend of the tennis podcast we'll pop the link in our show notes folks there is one more day to go of the US Open 2025. Let's get what counts for us as an incredibly early night and let's be at our best for tomorrow. Thanks for listening. We'll speak to you then.

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