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Hello and welcome to the tennis podcast on day seven of the US Open, where it's a little before 8 p.m. The night session is yet to get underway on the arthorac stadium, because the day session went long. It takes them a hour at least to change things over. So it is going to be a late one tonight folks and you'll get to here. Our weary voices at the end of it all in part two, but today right now we cover the day session and the defeat of the defending women's champion.
Coco Gough beaten 6363 by country woman Emma Navarro, a match, a performance match that was described by Jimmy Areos on the World Feed earlier that we were listening to in a compliment to watching this match as a horror. And I can't really find a better word than that to describe it. Me neither. And he was mostly referring, I think, to the high, high, high number of double faults that Coco Gough hit in this match.
19 in total 11 in the final set. And that that was totally the story of that final set. Coco Gough's just inability to find the court with her serve. It was, yeah, horror to be honest to watch. And I think we all had had this match as a possible win for Emma Navarro, given that she beat Coco Gough at Wimbledon, given that Gough has not played her best tennis sort of for a few months now.
But I think the nature of it makes it pretty shocking. Like 19 double faults is such a high number. And she's had serving problems on and off for a while, Coco Gough. But this was as bad as it's ever been. And you know, it wasn't the full story. She didn't have the rest of her game for much of the match either. But as usual, she had her fight and she had her sheer will and somehow managed to take it to a third set.
Despite being by far the inferior player out there and you know, that's a credit to just I think the kind of aura that she's built up on the Arthur Asteradeum. It's very, very tough to beat her. And Emma Navarro kind of blinked when she was up a set in the break and could have closed the match. It was still tough for her to win. But yeah, a really, really poor Coco Gough performance to be quite honest.
And that aura, David, that Matt references makes it a very odd experience watching Coco Gough play matches like that, doesn't it? Because you're watching it and you're thinking, this is awful. Like it was awful. 60 unforestered Asterade to just 14 winners. 19 double faults. Like it was a horror show, as Jimi Aria said. And yet you're still thinking, well, she could win this match because she quite often does, particularly here at the US Open.
She won the title by winning ugly last year. And yet also now that we've seen it all, now that we know the result. I do think I can confidently say that this was worse than anything she had to battle through 12 months ago. Yeah, it was. Yet you stood at your right. She should have lost in straight sets. She was getting comprehensively outplayed. And part of that was she, Emma Navarro is really good. You know, she's, she doesn't have any technical weaknesses.
She's just really strong and her, her nerve failed her a bit at the end of that second set. And not Gough asks you questions. She asks you the questions that can make you choke. But quite honestly, it didn't really feel like Gough was going to come through this. Even though she was pushing and making the best of what she got, she hadn't got very much.
And I am actually struggling to remember the last time I saw Coco Gough where I didn't think there was something she's having to kind of work around. You know, which other top players are like that? I mean, it's a testament to the great champion mentality she has, the great athleticism she has. But it is always going to hold her back if she can't find a solution. You know, this is sticking plasters over a wound rather than a cure.
And I do think there was a shift from Coco Gough in her press conference just now that we've all come from in terms of her tone in talking about those technical issues. Previously quite often there has been a desire to play it down so that it doesn't get overinflated as an issue in her head. Well, just now she was talking about potentially hiring somebody technical to get involved a bio mechanist, whatever one of those is.
We know they did good things for Arena Saba Linkers serve, don't we? We don't know specifically what, but it was good stuff. And she talked about maybe taking a significant training block in order to do that because making changes on the job in tennis, I think is basically impossible.
I think it's the only way she can do it by taking some time out of the tour. I don't think the office season really is long enough if you're going to have rest as well, which I wouldn't want any tennis player to sacrifice rest, especially after an Olympic season. So I think that is what's going to have to be required. And I do back Coco Gough to make smart decisions and do what's required. But if she does, it will be quite something because I do think big changes are what's necessary here.
She said, I'll see what Asia looks like and obviously if I qualify for the WTO finals, I will play. But she didn't say anything to use the ask to go down and expect enthusiasm after a heart breaking loss like that. This really will hurt her. But I do think there is a chance that she might just not play again this year and then come out of the star next year.
I think there would be a really good argument for doing that. The challenge is if you do that, she's got a lot of sponsors who expect her to be appearing in their brands at tennis tournaments on the television and she would be not doing that. She would be losing ranking points. She would be going down in the seedings. But as I said, we're talking about sticking clusters over a problem at the moment.
And I think she wants more than that. Do you remember earlier on this year when she was asked that question about how many grand slams she really was hoping to win in her career? And I was absolutely staggered when she said, I'm hoping for double figures. I thought goodness me, what a pressure to put on yourself. She just won her first one. And I remember thinking, I think you can win more, but you'll know when near the best player in the world compared to all your contemporaries.
And that point about sponsors, I think, is a really interesting one because I agree that I think that would ordinarily be a big factor in players' decisions in this situation. But everything I hear about Coco Gough from people that know about this stuff is that she has instructed her commercial people, her agents, her agency. It's teammate, isn't it? Roger Federer's company, to take a really long-term view of her endorsements. They're not a make-ay while the sun shines type.
They don't have a make-ay while the sun shines approach to deals. The sponsors that she has are partners that I would like to think from the sounds of things would be understanding of her, you know, going for short-term pain for long-term gain. That's encouraging. Very encouraging. Yeah. That came about as a result of multiple conversations I've had with people about how much more
prevalent Frances Diapho's felt to me as a face of this tournament relative to Coco Gough. And I'm not saying I haven't seen Coco Gough about New York City, but there's defending champion I thought she'd be on Billboard everywhere. And she hasn't been. It's been slightly more toned down than I thought, and I think that might be why.
So I do think if she decides this is what she wants to do, I think she's going to do it. And I kind of hope she does, but I'm not sure that Brad Gilbert's going to be the guy to go on that journey with her, Matt. No, it does feel like, look, I don't want to say that a coaching relationship needs to end. You know, we don't have a huge insight into what goes on other than what we see.
Most of it we don't see, but you know, I think, Brad Gilbert's an on the go guys, well, isn't he? Like he'd want probably want to be out at tournaments all the time. And I think the Sabilecka example is key here that there was a specific serve person employed to help with that specific issue. I think that is what Coco Gough needs. I know that she's, you know, had worked from Andy Rodic in the past and she has done that, but I think we're kind of at Christ's point right now.
If you're hitting 19 double faults when you're defending the US open on, on Ash, like there's a big, big problem there. And I think, you know, part of it, it's tough to always say, whether it's kind of mental or technical with something like that. The first thing Gough pointed to in her press conference was a kind of mechanical technical issue that she knows she has on the serve, collapsing on the left side.
So there definitely is a technical thing wrong with her serve that needs to be fixed. And just as you both said, the, I think maybe only way you can do that is to, is to take a chunk of time away from the sport and work on it. And if the, you know, would kind of really increase the pressure when you get back, like everyone would know that that's the reason you've taken time off and like kind of better get better.
Imagine the reveal she comes, comes to Australia, having taken a chunk of time off, everybody sitting there waiting for her to hit her first serve and first forehand, and a new model. So actually, which equals to be on tech came out this season with a new serve, you know, it's not a massive change, but it is different. And I remember in the United Cup thinking, wow, not, not seen that before. Jokobitch did it, didn't he?
Yeah. If she made a meaningful difference to it, it would, it could potentially freak out the opposition because they've got the book on what to do against Coco Gough, haven't they? And it's the opposition know where she's going to break down. I think it's so, the patterns of her failures are so ingrained, you know, Emma Navarro knew she could hang in the rallies, be a solid, a solid backboard and Coco Gough was going to be the one to break down.
Apart from the collapse at the end of the second set when Emma Navarro did choke, quite frankly, she choked in one anyway, and I'm always in awe of people that choke and then managed to get back on track. Apart from that period of the match, she just seemed so comfortable to me and baseline exchanges. I was expecting Emma Navarro to win them pretty much every time.
Coco Gough's only hope really after losing that first set was to junk up the match, drop shots, underspin forehands and she did do some of that. But the thing is, yes, Coco Gough is the best athlete on tour. She is a better athlete than Coco, than Emma Navarro, but Emma Navarro is a bloody good athlete herself. There wasn't a gulf in that department, like they're often is for Coco Gough. Navarro is really impressive.
I wanted to ask you what you thought of her backhand, because this is one of the first times I've watched Navarro properly. She was going back and to backhand and winning a lot of those exchanges. To my eye, that is a pure strike. What do we think that? Suggesting someone for the list. I'm just curious to you for your view. Is she somebody who might one day come under consideration?
She's never come under consideration yet. I don't think Coco Gough has hit her backhand at all well this tournament. That's really been notable how her reliable shot has kind of let her down. List status in jeopardy? No. What would have to happen? Well, this would have to continue for a while, I would say. She's on watch. No. She's not on watch. Coco Gough's backhand is one of the best shots in the sport. I really do think that.
What I like about Navarro's backhand is actually she can slice it well and you never feel it's going to break down. As you said, it is very reliable. It doesn't move me. It's a very good shot for sure. I was impressed just generally with her temperament today.
You were out in the press seats on Ash, so you'll have a better perspective on this than me. But it did feel like Coco Gough didn't quite have the Arthur Ash age that she normally has in terms of the crowd because it was against an American. And the second set got very loud in Gough's favour and she used that. But this was Navarro's first time on Ash, I think. Didn't seem in awe of it. It's kind of an impressive quality that every Emma Navarro match I watch kind of feels the same.
I could see it holding her back slightly and that does she have that extra gear to wrestle a match away from someone who is kind of peaking. I don't know. That's still a question mark for me with Emma Navarro. But in terms of like dialing it down and taking the age off Coco Gough, I think she's done that in two straight slams now. She's beaten her.
She's able to just play matches on her terms, I think, which is quite an impressive skill. And there's definitely quite a lot about her game that disrupts Coco Gough. Probably more than I had given her credit for. It's back to background slam quarter finals for Navarro outside after Wimbledon. Two years ago she was ranked outside the world's top 150. She ended last year at number 38 in the world. She will likely finish top 10 this year. She's really in a hunt for a WTA finals place.
She's a serious contender in tennis now and I can't help but think about the fact that this grand slam year started with you and I looking at the draw. I think doing rush predictions or something just before the start of the Australian open going, oh my god, how is Emma Navarro seated at a grand slam. And looking up her results and thinking, how has she done this? Like she just hasn't been on our radar at all and yet she's been such a presence in the year 2024.
Yeah, if it wasn't for Jasmine Paulini, we would probably have been making a bigger fuss about the strides this woman has taken because they are pretty significant from a position of... I suppose it's Pagula like if I think back three, four years ago when Pagula was that level of player of somebody who is...
I don't know, she was fine but she wasn't on our radar really. And then suddenly she was, she'd made herself this feature of it and we'll see what else Navarro's got next but it's taken me by surprise. Well what she's got next David is Paula Badossa who beat Wongifan today, 6162, which I know sounds like a beat down. But it really wasn't. I mean this was, this match was the perfect illustration of the tennis scoring system and its beauty because Badossa won 67 points to Wongi's 49.
So she won just 57% of points but she won 80% of games. She won pretty much all the points that mattered. In lots of ways this match felt more competitive than Goff against Navarro and yet it was a straight set 6162 which is, you know, that's just tennis isn't it? It's the wonder of tennis. But Badossa seems really match tight to me. I mean that's what winning the points that matter comes down to, doesn't it?
And her forehand mat is on fire in Fuego. Yes. She's been, yeah, match tight I think is a really good way of putting it which she just hasn't been for so long because of the stop start nature that she's had to do with all of her injuries. But over the summer she's managed to keep playing, she's kept winning and you know we said it the other day in the previous round when she saved match points against Rousseau.
That does something to players sometimes. We've seen players win slams from match point down. It can toughen you. Today as you say particularly in the early stages that was really when it was so nippin' dark and Wong had game points and just wasn't winning the games because Badossa was playing those big points better.
Yeah, like the ball toss for her is a little bit of an issue. Like it's quite far out in front of her and I do sometimes think she's going to double fold. But that's kind of like the only aspect of her game right now that doesn't seem absolutely primed. And as you say the forehand is huge right now. She had such a weight of shock, fire power advantage against Wong.
And she will against Navarro as well. Like I think Navarro as you said with her athleticism can maybe counter that and she can put the ball in maybe more awkward spots than Wong could. But that match is going to be on Badossa's racket. I think she is playing great tennis and is sustaining it. I was a big question mark for me today.
Okay, sort of mentally I think she was fortified by the match against Rousse saving the match point. But how would she be physically pulling up after a long match like that. And she seemed great. And we haven't been able to say that about Badossa for a couple of years but we can now. And like I think she's playing the best tennis in kind of this half of the draw rather than other well in this quarter.
I think she's been more convincing than certainly golf. I think she's been more convincing than Navarro. I think she played better today than Navarro did. And I'm liking Badossa in this tournament to reach the semis. It's so huge isn't it. Neither have been passed a Grand Slam court final. Both have been there before. Navarro more recently obviously this is a real rekindling of the Badossa flame this morning.
But this tournament which frankly I I thought might have burned out forever. I thought Sitter Pass had already kind of earmarked the kitchen for her. And ever since he did that tradwife post her results have surged. It's like I mean she's not because she loves him and they seem very happy and good luck to them. The narrative in my head is she's making a point to have better results than him and win more bread than him. If either one of them should be making the dinner it's Sitter Pass.
I think they can probably afford to go out. I mean they won 250 grand for mixed madness. David they're doing fine. I think that's a real I'm into that semifinal. That's called the final actually. It's not one of these picked pre-tornum and you know, Emanavaro didn't really come up in our which American woman is going to go the furthest conversation. But here we are.
It's sort of low key interesting for people like us really this match rather than you know the the count maybe the casual sports fan who would have turned on specifically for Coco Gough. I'm not sure they're going to be churning this on but we're going to be glued to it. We've had one and a half men's quarter finals set up today. Grigal Dimitrov awaits the winner of Francis Chafo against Alexei Popperin.
In the night session this evening and should be getting underway fingers crossed very shortly. David Grigal was looking dangerous. Then he wasn't and then he was 6361 636663. Tell me if you feel differently but I don't think this match was very good. I think there were moments but for the most part I think you're right. I actually think I enjoyed the first couple of sets which Grigal won and very easily could have gone one set all. I didn't enjoy sets 3 and 4 very much because it was tough.
What happened? Why did Dimitrov go off the ball? I didn't think about the body issues and it seemed like he might have even been cramping and trying to hide it a bit. What's humid out there today? It is also worth pointing out. He's 33. Now I know what Djokovic is doing is rewritten stuff but... He's the oldest guy left in the draw David. All the guy left in the draw and he had to work so hard to win that second set.
It's a bit like Dan Evans. He hadn't got a 5-30 minute match in his legs but last night after Evans won that second set. That's it. I'm on empty and I haven't got a charger. Dimitrov needed a couple of sets off in order to be competitive again. Then I do think that there comes a point that because you've won the first two sets suddenly you'll level up at two sets all. There's the finish line. I've got no excuse. I've got to go for it. A bit of adrenaline starts, crowd get into it.
He still was striking the ball purely for quite a lot of the match. He's able to generate power when he needs to without muscling the ball in quite the same way that Rublev has to. Rublev was his own worst enemy at times again. He drew blood from his own hand after the fifth game of the match. Four one down. He had to call the trainer to attend to a self-inflicted injury. We know he's aware of this stuff because he's talked about it. My heart breaks for him that he's unable to control it.
But at the same time it remains distressing and I wish there's something that could change with that. He still looks tortured out there. When they got down to two sets all and I do think Rublev had done exceptionally well to come back from two sets to love down. For the second time in this tournament he beat Rindiknash for the second time in his career to come out from two sets to love down and win.
At two sets all you would think the momentum is with him but actually Grigor just took it from him because he's got more to his game and he used it. He deserves to be in this match. I think it's a big ask for him to go all the way but it's also his chance. This is the thing with all of these guys. It's that chance. He was pretty bamboozled by the Dimitri of Slice. Wasn't he, Rublev today? And it is a bamboozling shot.
I mean I think Rublev is less equipped than a lot of others to deal with it because he doesn't have that dexterity. But at one point he went over to his coaching box and said, tell me what I can do with the slice. And I think that probably replicates a lot of opponents feelings when playing Dimitri of. Yeah and yeah at the same time I was kind of surprised like you know Grigor Dimitri of is going to be slicing that backhand. Yeah he did seem alarmingly surprised by the Dimitri of Slice.
I actually think maybe the reason he was surprised is because it wasn't as relentless a slice as it has been in the last couple years under Jamie Doggada. He actually hit more of Slice than we quite a lot. A bit more like he used to. I mean actually if you look at the unforestation statistics on his backhand they were bad for Dimitri of because he was hitting a lot of them. But that was my sense anyway. He's so used to that groove.
And I think he probably the strategy was don't just get too predictable with that because he's going to know how to run around it and he's going to dictate with the forehand. So but I think probably that combination then made it difficult for Rublev to know what's coming next. Is it a short slice? Is it a deep slice? Is it a looped ball? You know there was a lot of variety there. He was watched throughout this match Dimitri by Serena Williams and Alicia Keys.
Rumored ex-girlfriend Serena Williams. So Reece and Yark of Emma Hatch apparently it is possible to have a good breakup. All those speaking of I see what you've done here big news big news courtesy of Barger Jess. We don't need checksources. We don't need them. Jess has done the Lord's work went out to court 17. Was it? Well actually they insist on calling it stadium 17. We're capturing a cinearch of it was playing doubles with Taylor Townsend and who popped up Thomas Mahatch.
That's big. It's big. I'm taking its confirmation. Yeah and I think you know Mahatch is playing a big match tomorrow as well. We could get double confirmation tomorrow. Our eyes will be on the Mahatch box. What further confirmation do you need? Do you think there's a possibility that he was there for Taylor Townsend? I mean I suppose you do sometimes support your friends or your former doubles partner. Yeah there's amicable breakups David and there's cloud cookie lands.
But yes I mean I will take further confirmation if it becomes available tomorrow. But today was a big big day. Big day for all the barge. And I'm actually triumph for the barge truly. The men's quarter final that we have already set up is a rematch of match that we saw at Wimbledon. Taylor Fritz will face Alexander's verve once again. Fritz getting in the better of rude coming from his set down to beat him 36.
6.46.362 and Zverev beating would end up being quite a feeble brand and Nakashima I thought. After winning the first set Nakashima he just totally fell away. 6.16.262 the final three sets for Zverev. When asked about facing Fritz Zverev in his uncle interview and it being a rematch of their Wimbledon match, he was asked how the match would be different to Wimbledon's verve laughed at the question and said well first of all I'm healthy this time. Yeah I thought that was spectacularly Zverev like.
And I hope Taylor Fritz sees it because we know how Taylor Fritz can challenge, enjoy a flight home energy. And that is my favourite Taylor Fritz energy. I shouldn't say it's now or never for Fritz but I don't see the scenario getting much better than this in terms of who he might end up playing to win this title. And he never beats Novak Djokovic, he just doesn't have a game to do it I don't think. Maybe he will when Djokovic is 40 or something.
But you know this is his chance, this is the moment and he's got to go and get past Alexander's verve who looked ropey again early on. That's three times he's lost the set in a match. I thought after a set and a half with the humidity he was on the court that Dan Evans was struggling on and perspiring heavily. I thought he looked like he was struggling a bit physically and to breathe Zverev and that first set and a half.
Suddenly he started to hit the ball purely, the service stats are way back up he's serving around 80%. And I agree with you that the drop off from Nakashima was just a reminder that actually what we've been seeing in the last two weeks is him playing way above his normal level. And then this was a reversion of to a level that he, I think it just showed he's not a grandson player yet. He gets to a fourth round and actually he's out of gas. He looked like he was done after that first set.
Speaking of drop offs, Taylor, Taylor Rude, Caspar Rude after winning that first set against Taylor Fritz, I was expecting that to be a back and forth tussle. His physical fade I found really alarming today. Me too. Look, it was, it was humid today and it was tough conditions. A lot of players were talking about that. But Caspar Rude has not been right physically for a while.
You know, honestly, since he had that parasite at Roland Garros, he's struggled for form, for results and physically as well. And today he was actually leaking out of his shoes. He was sweating so much. And by the end he was barely moving for the ball. He was just not at full power at all. He was a shell of a person out there. And that fourth set was not competitive at all. And that's a big part of Rude's game, isn't it?
Being able to throw himself around the court and last the course physically. That's all part of what makes him a top player. And without that, he's eminently more beatable. And yeah, Fritz played well. I think he served well, didn't he? 24 aces, which is an extremely high number for him. And he's been playing well. And it was importantly one that second set. He had all these chances and couldn't take them and eventually he did. And once he did, as you said, Caspar Rude just fell off.
And I think the Fritz, yeah, the Fritz Veriv-Cordafone is very intriguing because, you know, Darren Cahill's analysis the other night when Nakashima against Veriv was set up was that he thought that Zverev would be able to win that match from the baseline because he does a lot more with his forehand than Nakashima does. And I heard that and thought, well, I don't think Zverev does a lot with his forehand.
And often, a criticism of Zverev that he just sort of pushes it. But actually, Darren Cahill's analysis, of course, was spot on because watching those last three sets today, Nakashima was doing nothing with his forehand at all. And Zverev really was, as David said, he started timing it. So Fritz needs to be using his forehand a lot more. He's got a great backhand for it, but Zverev's got one as well.
But Fritz needs to be a lot more proactive than Nakashima was today. And I think he will be. And I think there will be a little bit of an edge, you know, remember as well. Morgan Riddle's posts during Wimbledon. Like, we know how she feels about Alexander's Veriv. And I know those posts were deleted and Taylor Fritz played it down.
And I think, you know, he Fritz wasn't playing into the kind of age that there is. But I think he, he, he'll have heard that quote from Zverev. Look, I think Zverev's got a point. He wasn't fed at Wimbledon. He's got a point. But Fritz needs to think, no, I'll also beat you when you're 100% and go into that match trying to take it. You know, we've seen him play Novak Jokovic in Grand Samcorder finals.
And it's felt over very quickly. It's felt like Fritz doesn't have the belief. I think he does have the belief against Ferry. He's beaten him multiple times. And I'm, I'm pretty excited about what that might do to, to Taylor Fritz. I think there is a question of it's going to be first time this tournament on Ash. Which is a factor. That's a factor. But I believe he's been requesting Armstrong. The way he started today against Rude, he looked like a man with a realization of the opportunity.
And he wasn't free. And he was poor in that first set. And, and he was challenged at the start of the second set. Then he calmed himself down and got his feet under him and just sped away. I think there is a chance that he might be inhibited by certainly early on by the opportunity.
And as you say, he's very has been starting slow. Yes, he will be interesting. I was quite impressed by the quote from Fritz in his own court interview about the draw falling apart around him and how, how he keeps a level head about that. And he said, look, two years ago, I came here thinking I can win this thing. And I lost in the first round to Brandon Holt. And that keeps me grounded. I don't you go thinking, I'm going to win this thing. Don't get all hebristic.
I think he learned a lot mentally from that, particularly here. I think that was very chastening and obviously balancing that humility with confidence is just always a tight rate that tennis players are walking. I did like that answer. It was a good answer from him. So with the self awareness there wasn't there? Yeah, I want to see him walk out on the court with a sh- tattoo on his index finger Jessica Buthas-Minero style.
And to do it. Frank, they want to see every tennis player. Do it at the next. Do that. Do it at the wall, warm up. Yeah, that's what I'd like to see. Okay, right. In soon to be able to date tennis news, popper in and TFO have started. It is on serve in the first set. We are shortly going to go and watch that match and watch Donneveckit against Junqim when whatever time that might start and finish.
We will be there and we'll be telling you about it in part two before we head out there a word from our sponsors, A O Travel and experiences who we are in partnership with throughout the US Open. They are of course your one stop shop for the Australian Open. And that of course includes the A O Reserve, which is the way to elevate your Australian Open experience. It is where Grand Slam tennis meets Australian luxury. No, not too many.
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Investing involves risk. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fener and Smith Incorporated, registered broker dealer, registered investment advisor. Member SIPC. Well, welcome back to part two, where it is now, 2.24 am. And a fair bit has happened since you heard from us just a few moments ago. Most recently, we have seen Jun Chen when the 7C, the Olympic gold medalist beat the Olympic silver medalist, Donna Vechich, 76662.
In a match, an extraordinary match that lasted just shy of three hours and finished at 2.15 am, which apparently, as James Blake just informed us in the on court post match interview, is the latest ever finish for a women's match at the US Open. It's been an absolutely extraordinary night. I think we all have really, really mixed feelings right now because it was electrifying and exhilarating.
And, you know, it's a bit of a guilty pleasure enjoying experience like that because it just shouldn't be happening. So there's a lot of anger and disbelief and frustration mixed in there as well. But my goodness me, Matt, David, what a tennis match. The level of that tennis match was unreal. So good from both players, from start to finish. Jun Chen when is, I think, a much better player than the one that reached Australia in the open final back in January.
We were lucky to be able to watch a lot of her matches up close then as well. And this tournament is kind of the next time that I'm doing that, I suppose. And she is awesome. She really is. I do think playing on that big stadium, the Arthur Asteradeum really suits her. She can stand so far back on the return and give herself time and swing. And when she swings and connects and that ball stays hit, it's so heavy.
And she was absolutely wonderful. And kind of every moment when you thought that, you know, maybe there would be a little opening for Donovekic Jun Chen when would slam the door with a big shot of her own very often a serve. I think she won 80-something percent of her first serve points tonight. That was a real weapon for her. And she was magnificent. I think if there's one little area that Donovekic might have some regrets over it would be the end of that first set.
I would say she missed a second serve return into the net at 5 all, 15-30. So there's a little opening there. And I don't think Vekicic played a brilliant tie break. Again, a couple of misreturns in the net, a double fault in there as well. But that's being really harsh to kind of single that out. Because generally, as you said, the level between them was magnificent.
And Vekicic was awesome to win the second set. Court fire with some returns. There's then this big long break as both players go off court. And Jun Chen when came out and we often talk about the Donovekic reset, well, how about the Jun Chen when reset? Because that was a pretty much flawless deciding set from her. Again, the little moment where Vekicic missed a drop shot of 30 all trying to get the break back. Matt said she's got it when it was hanging in mid-air. She didn't have it.
It just hit the net call and then the very next point as well, Vekicic had a forehand that went off the net call. It was such fine moments and margins like that. There was so little between them, but full credit as Jun Chen when and all played in, I don't know, a 10th full Arthur Asterium. But the Chinese fans that we've been talking about making so much noise and making their support for her felt and, you know, she really delivered. She was absolutely phenomenal.
Yeah. It was quite something to see her up close like that. I mean, we were able to get close because there were so few people in the stadium. In the final set, I did what they do when they bring people down from the bleachers to come and watch her up close. I went and what were the equivalent of the Susan Longland press seats just to get that vantage point. One of the really effective Donna Vekicic shots is a diffusing lofted ground stroke up high right onto the baseline.
And what I hadn't really noticed in the past that Jun Chen when has got is footwork when that's in the air to get right around it and not hit a backhand but to attack with a forehand. She creates space for herself using that big courts around, but she has the most wonderful footwork and looseness in these free looking ground strokes of hers.
I agree. She's a better player than she was in January. She has that way she carries herself in between points, that presence, but she's got the game to back it up. Vekicic threw the lot and I feel for her, but there's a reason Jun Chen when wins these matches, twice she's come back from a set down. Now she's one of three set up. She is the business. It's a replay of the Australian Open Final in the next round in the quarter final here. Jun Chen when against Arena Sabalenka.
Sabalenka winning through very comfortably on Lewis Armstrong Stadium earlier against Elisa Mertens. I'm expecting a very different match to that Australian Open Final personally. I am too because that was not very competitive to be quite honest. Sabalenka did Jun Chen when, which did to everyone else in Australia, which was pretty much below them off the court. I do think there were a couple of factors when Vekicic really unleashed on the ball tonight, often on the return.
There's still a tendency for Jun Chen when to maybe not quite be able to control it. There was a few occasions where she's rushed and she slightly miss hits the forehand and it goes long. Vekicic is very good at that. Arena Sabalenka is great at that, at hitting just a high velocity ball all the time. I still am a little bit worried that Jun Chen when might not be able to handle that pace.
There's also the factor of this late finish. This was 2.15 as you said. It's three or four hours before a player gets to sleep because of the fact that they've consumed so much energy. Cafe, probably. Energy gels. They've got press and recovery. It's going to be a long time. I know we always talk about this, but it's important. Speaking from experience, they'll be ruined tomorrow. We'll be ruined. We weren't running around for three hours. We weren't running around.
So Sabalenka would have finished what, four or five hours before, she'll be on her normal rhythm in a way that Jun Chen when won't. That could be a factor. I think where I think it will, however, be different from the Australian Open Final is, Jun Chen when couldn't really hurt even Sabalenka in that final reliably. Occasionally, but now I think she's serving a lot better and I think her own game can impose itself more. I do expect it to be closed.
When it flashed up on the big screen, it was probably midway through the third set that she'd hit more than twice the number of aces of the next highest server at this tournament. I think that's Palabad Ossoran 22. She's hit 46 at that point. I guess that's over 50 now with the rest of the match.
It's some weapon that serve. I think the first time I really became aware of it. I know she got a big serve, but in that Olympic final, when we were watching it, you said, oh, she's got the serve going here and this is a problem and it's devastating shot. When the serve is really going, she's close to unplayable even for the best in the world. Now it does go off. It can go off the boil big time, but it hasn't been that much in the last couple of matches.
First set against Amanda and her son over. Feels an awful long time ago, but big time off the boil. Then her whole game was off the boil, but she does seem to have got into a groove and I end it all out. Now will this late finish get her out of that groove? You know, it could put her totally off kilter. There is the possibility of that.
I know we said it all before and it have anything new to say about the lateness of this finish and what we're doing to players and fans and everybody involved in the sport by playing matches at this time of day, but I am angry about it every time it happens. Andy Burry has tweeted it was amateurish tonight. I mean, and the rest, and the rest, it is pathetic. It is tin pot. It is laughable from tennis that it keeps doing this.
I almost feel like we need to do what the Democrats are doing with Trump. Take a new approach and just laugh at it. Like this is weird and rubbish. Like what are we doing? And there are actionable solutions that you could put in place tomorrow that would prevent this from happening that really wouldn't be that controversial. Inaction is a choice at this point. Apathy is a choice and tournaments are making that choice and it's unacceptable.
There were eight singles matches on the schedule today. Eight and we finish one of them at 2.15. Going on at 11pm. And again, it's a tough assignment doing an encore post-match interview at 2.15am. Tough gig for James Blake. The first question is to say, Jin Wen, you've just won the latest ever finishing women's match at the US Open. How does it feel to be playing tennis this late? There's the problem. It's not a friggin badge of honor for anyone. It's an embarrassment and disgrace.
It should be ashamed and they're celebrating it. Absolutely. I'm sorry that you've heard all that before but it keeps happening. And I fear it will continue to happen. What feels like 400 years ago, Francis Tiafo won also in the night session on the Arthur A.D.M. Four sets for him against Novak Djokovic's Conqueror Alexey Popperin. Felt in danger, perhaps, of being taken to five at which point it would have got really dicey. But did so well to pull it back and finish this off in four.
And I did detect a certain amount of relief in Tiafo at the end of that match. I think so because he was playing really well in the first set. He found himself, I think, five, three, four, he loved down in the second. So he's really got out of jail there and he's won that set. And he was nodding to the standing ovation, great scenes. Kind of expected him to just put the hammer down there and go and win efficiently from there on.
But I think you can see, you can feel the weight of the opportunity on the shoulders. All these guys I've mentioned it about Dimitravo, mentioned it about Fritz in the first set of his match. And here we are with Tiafo. He knows that this could be the one. And he came close a couple years ago and he doesn't want to believe in early this time. Popperin pushed him, had a real go himself. Probably should have done a bit better overall. He looked exhausted, didn't he?
I think emotionally, we saw it with Van his Anshel, but obviously this is another level player. He wasn't as bad as Bertie. He was good. But I do think it takes something out of you when you get a breakthrough win like that. But Tiafo had to struggle and scrap and fight and choke and then not lose. And that's what he achieved. And he'll now play Grigal Dimitravo for a place in another US Open semi-final.
They looked up their head to head earlier and I was very surprised to see the headline which is 3-1 in Dimitravo's favour. Really, that is interesting. But then you drilled down into it. One of the wins, Lever Cup. I remember that one in Australia is the one that Tiafo went on. Yeah, so the one grand slam meeting on a hard court in Australia, 2019 won by Tiafo in four incredibly tight sets. It was a brilliant match that, wasn't it? That one was won by Tiafo.
Last meeting Wimbledon last year, won by Grigal Dimitravo. That really anemic performance from Tiafo after which he was... Over two days, I think. There was a break in it. And he came back and he was still terrible. It's the day before. He was absolutely scathing of himself after that performance. And then the two wins before that for Dimitravo were both 2018. One was Lever Cup and one was in Canada. Which was three very tight sets. So make of that what you will, folks. Who's the favourite?
It's Tia. It's Tiafo. I think Tiafo is the favourite. I could see it going either way. Look, I've picked Tiafo to go all the way. So I'm not going to change my mind now. And I think he has belief in the toughest moments at this level. And he has less scat issue at this level than Grigal does. And Grigal's also just had five sets in his legs. And I'm not sure that's going to help.
I think I agree with you, but just to play Devils Advocate, how much of Grigal's scat issue is kind of opponent specific? Big three specific. Who he's kept on running into in these matches. Francis Tiafo doesn't carry that scat issue for him. No, that's fair. He's not the same opponent. But he's Grigal fit enough, fresh enough. I don't know because he's probably not going to win easily. So we'll see him. And look, he got through today and he beat Rubelev.
But I would have thought that Tiafo would be too much for him. What are you two things? I think it's tough talking about Grigal Dimitrov in terms of being sort of older and less fit. It just makes me feel old. I may be doing a bit of service there. No, I mean, it's true. He's the oldest man left in the draw. He said he three. He's just played five sets. These are facts. It's just wild because he's so defined by being young. He's so defined by potential.
It'd be interesting to see what plan they concoct. Because Jamie Degard is a very good tactician and his packaged Dimitrov's games so effectively. And like I said, there were tweaks today. I wonder what the tweaks are against Tiafo. The whole thing. And with David Wetton, his corners are all of it. And in toxicating, who thought? I think I backed Tiafo. I don't know if I'm backing him all the way like you are. But I think I backed him in this one.
Same. Okay, let's look ahead to what we've got tomorrow on Ash at midday. Danish Schneider, Deanna Schneider in one of her six or seven bandanas against Jessica Pagula. And then it's Nuno Bojosh against Daniel Mervador. Those are your day session matches in the night session. Eagish Yontek taking on Ludmilla, some son of her and Yannick Sinner against Tommy Paul on the Louis Armstrong stadium. Somehow for some reason at 11 a.m. It's Caroleen Amouk of against Jasmine Paulini. I'll be there.
Then it's Jack Draper against Thomas Mahatch. Thank Caroline Wozniaki taking on at Beatrice Haddad Shemaia and Alex Diminor Jordan Thompson. Should we do what we did last night? I liked it. Should we do Matt Roberts punchy predictions? Yeah, you were quite good too. Schneider or Pagula? Schneider. Bojosh or Mervador? Shwontek or some son of her? Shwontek. Sinner or Paul? Sinner. Mukva Ropoulini. Mukva. Draper or Mahatch? No. Mahatch. Wozniaki or Haddad Shemaia?
Haddad Shemaia. Diminor or Thompson? Diminor or Thomas? And what time are we going to finish? One? Stupid o'clock. I'd sign for a 1A and finish right now. I actually think Shwontek, Sam Sonnevo, might be quite quick. What ever gives you that? Paul was way off his game against Diallo. He needs to improve a lot if he's going to travel Sinner. I think he's capable of, but Sinner has been ruthless. He has, but he also hasn't been tested. No, but that's what I'm saying.
Paul needs to up his game to test him. Agreed. But he does just thinking in terms of how late we're going to finish. Tommy Paul tracks a lot of balls down. Yeah. They could, even if it is fairly once I did for Sinner, it could still be long-ish. So we'd probably better... Raffer better. Things up and get the last boss, which leaves in 17 minutes. Imagine what happens if you miss the last boss? Let's not go there. Is anyone ever like plotted out that scenario?
Can you sleep at the Billie Jean King tennis centre? Yeah. That flower bed looks quite comfy over there. Is someone those sweets look alright? Right, we have our USAP and mascot Bruno. Hello to Bruno. Thank you, Alyssa, for Bruno content that I work up to this morning. It was, as always, a delight. We all school points today for our mascots, Matt Fahydor and Soma, David, Paul Francis and me for the dearly departed Darwin. Hello to Billie Jean Squirrel, who's sponsored by Billie Jean King
and Alana Class. Hello to our top folks and executive producers, Greg, Chris, Jamie and Jeff. And it's over to Matt for 243 AM shoutouts. We have Noonie Towel. Hello Noonie. Right, Noonie. A little bit like Noono of Bourges on the Arthur Ashe Stadium taking on Mervative tomorrow, fam. Only one vowel different. A little bit like Cardinal Noonie. Yep, again, one vowel different. Okay. What do we know about Noonie? Noonie has written just the loveliest message about how much they love the podcast.
And Noonie is in Israel near Tel Aviv. Hello Noonie in Israel near Tel Aviv. Can we advance on one vowel different? No. I think we've done okay. Noonie, let us know. I hope we've done okay for you and thank you very much. We've also got Kylie Ellsgood Smith. Hello Kylie. Hi Kylie. In Perth. Like Kylie. I'm sure she's never heard of before David. I was going to go like Kylie Edmund. Oh, wow. One vowel different. That's the theme. What do we know about Kylie? Long time fan of the pods.
My husband Ken bought me this shout out for our anniversary. So I'd like to send big love to him. What a legend. There was an American tennis player called Kylie McKenzie, which does ring a bell. In fact, I think, this is a bit of a downer for a shout out, but I think Kylie McKenzie was the player that sued the USDA. Yes. There we go. Kylie. Hi Kylie. Thanks for being a friend. Yeah. Thank you. Also, Kylie Edmund, though. So I have kept it light. If Kylie Edmund is ever keeping it light.
And finally, we have Karen Varley. Hi, Karen. Hello, Karen. And we've met Karen. Karen is from Guernsey and is a friend of Woolie. Hello, I have met Karen. Yep. And I have a Wimbledon. Yes. That's me. We've all met Karen. I've met her multiple times, but it's not a competition. Karen is absolutely lovely and is indeed from Guernsey and is friends with Woolie. Yeah. And she's on the barge. Yeah. And where I think her name is Karen from Guernsey. And she loves it.
And she's planning to go to see some clay tennis live for the first time next year. That sounds like an excellent decision. That's an excellent plan. Like Karen Hashanov. Very good. And just very quickly, I woke up to two texts this morning, informing me of the existence of Pennymore. Yes. From the start. A player from the 80s, 70s and 80s. Yes. I believe.
So thank you to everybody that informed me of the existence of Pennymore and apologies to Penny from yesterday shout outs that we didn't come up with Pennymore ourselves, but there you go. Good work. Bonus shout out for Penny. And thank you to all of our shout outs from today, all of our friends of the tennis podcast. You are the reason why we are here at 247 in the morning. And we could not be more grateful to you.
We'll be back tomorrow with another one of these as we embark upon week two at the US Open. Whatever could it have in store? Whatever it is. We'll be there. And we'll speak to you tomorrow. Music Hi, this is Jonathan Fields, host of the Good Life Project. Where each week I talk to listeners about investing in their future by increasing their own vitality.
But when it comes to those financial goals, whether it be saving for home renovation, growing your child's college fund or travel, life can make it difficult to stay the course. By working with a dedicated moral advisor, you get a personalized plan and a clear path forward. Having the bullet your back helps your whole financial life move with you. So when your plans change, marbles with you every step of the way. Go to ml.com slash bullish to learn more. Merrill, a bank of America company.
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