US Open Draw - A big Osaka prediction

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Hi, this is Billie Jean King. This is Marion Bartotti. This is Bianca Andreescu. I'm Mats Villander. This is Mary Carrillo. This is Pam Schreiber. This is Yannick Noah. Hi, this is Josh Boehm from Kansas City, Missouri, and you're listening to... The Tennis Podcast. Hello and welcome to the Tennis Podcast and the first of 17 daily pods from the 2025 US Open. It's fan week. We are truly in the thick of it, which is why you can hear bangers.

playing in the background. Thank you, Mr DJ. The draw is out and we have spent the day in and out of press conference rooms speaking to some of the theoretical runners and riders. for the titles here in 17 days' time. Thank you to Josh in Kansas City for introducing today's show with beautiful, dulcet American tones. Perfect for what's been...

A pretty beautiful day here in New York, David. Maintenance issues with our apartment aside. Yes, those continue. More of that in future editions of the Toast podcast. That'll get people... Stay in tune, David. Hear about the brown silt that's in my bathtub. But, you know, the truth is everybody feels fresher than normal because the weather's not... horrible it's it's blue sky beautiful sunny day it's warm but it's not unpleasant and I hope that that continues because

This place can get debilitating for the players and for everybody working here when it's that horrible, sticky humidity. And it's not like that at the moment. I think that that's helped players in qualifying. I mean, you can only imagine what it'd be like to go through three... rounds of qualifying if it was like that and then go into the main draw but I think that there's

there's going to be some players bouncing out of that qualifying draw ready to do some damage in the early rounds. And I like that. I love the sort of chaos of that. creates and uh yeah here we go folks i know we say it every year, but it's true every year and almost feels truer with every year that goes by. The whiplash of the Wimbledon to US Open transition and contrast just could not be greater. And it really strikes me on a day like this, because at Wimbledon...

There's no crowd in. It's a few days before the tournament starts. We have the place to ourselves, basically. The journalists, a few people working there. You know, and there's a hush to it. And we walked in today and bang, we're hit with these, with these.

You know, songs coming out of the speakers and people on stilts and... Irish dances. Irish dancing. And it's like, wow, this is a very different vibe. And the truth is, Wimbledon is the outlier now. You know, like, the US Open is... sort of bigger than

than the others, I suppose, in that sense, and louder than the others. It's the most exaggerated, but Australian Open and French Open are more similar. You know, the hush, the quiet is very much a Wimbledon thing, increasingly so, as they desperately try. to you know put on a fan week when they eventually have the extra space but that's going to be many many years and until that actually comes to fruition so yeah going from Wimbledon to the US Open I think is

Pretty much the biggest whiplash and jarring difference that we get in this sport. You've reminded me that we're yet to get a photo of David with someone on stilts. which is always a priority on a day like this. Maybe they'll let me have a go on the stilts. And then I'll be able to go to the top of the Arthras Stadium without going up the escalator.

Folks, let's start with the draw and we will smatter in our takeaways and our impressions. various players have had to say in the press conference room today as and when they come up while discussing the draw. Media Day is definitely not really so much of a thing anymore, is it? It's media. couple of days like there is still a lot of pretty significant players

including two of the tournament favourites to come through tomorrow, Igor Shontek, Carlos Alcaraz, they're both scheduled to come tomorrow, Jack Draper, a number of others as well. But we've spoken to quite a few today, Sabalenka. Coco Gauff, Yannick Sinner. So we'll bring that into it as and when. But let's use the draw as a framework and let's start with the women. Who has a good draw on the women's side?

I think Igor Sviontek would jump out to me as someone who has a good draw here. Obviously, we knew off the back of her win in...

Cincinnati that she was going to be the number two seed so kind of the big question for me of the women's draw was where Coco Gough would land and look arguably you could say that that's bad news for igas fiontech because coco goth landed in her half um and really i really though i think that's bad news for coco goth i think goth would have rather probably been in the sabalenka half given given the way she's troubled her And...

we know about the tricky head-to-head for Coco Gauff against Igor's Fiontech when Igor's Fiontech's playing well but that's sort of looking at the latter stages of the tournament I think if we look at the early stages Igor's Fiontech's got a good draw here I'm not seeing too many

names, too many types of players that would traditionally trouble Igor Svantec in the early rounds. You know, Kanin Skier is there as her first potential seed in the third round, who has got a win over her, but equally Svantec beat her pretty easily. very recently. Alexandra is in there but she's never really able to bring her tour form to the majors.

and then in the quarterfinals there's a potential Wimbledon final rematch with Amanda Nisimova and look as as much as I'm always big on Amanda Nisimova given what we saw at Wimbledon It'd be tough to say that that feels like a tough draw for Igor's Fiontech. Matt made the bold prediction at our live show last night that if that match happens, it won't be as bad for Anna Samova as it was last time.

I stand by that bold take. So I'm looking at Igor's Fiontek here, coming in in great form and not seeing too many really obvious... threats to her early in this tournament. So, you know, you ask who's got a good draw, my mind immediately out of the top seeds goes to Svante. Let's talk about Coco Gough for a moment. She's come out, as you say, in Igor Svante's half.

So theoretically, she would be a semi-final opponent for Iga Shontek. She's in the Madison Keys quarter. So according to Seed, it would be a Goff-Keyes quarterfinal. But Coco Goff has got Isla Tomljanovic. in round one, a round two with either Donna Vekic or Jessica Buthas-Monaro, and then there's players like, well, your eyes immediately jump to Naomi Osaka as a potential, I think, third round opponent.

fourth round opponent, fourth round opponent for Coco Gough, whose press conference today was fascinating. She was the player I learned the most from in press today because... Well, some big Coco Gough news has dropped this week. There have been big Coco Gough developments. She has employed the biomechanist.

Gavin McMillan, who's previously worked with Irina Sabalenka and seemingly kind of fixed her serve two or three years ago, she has started working with him this week, the week before a Grand Slam. videos circulating of her out there on the practice court in the rain making technical changes to her serve. It was interesting. She really laughed at the questions about her being out there in the rain. She said it was just drizzle, guys. It was only drizzle. She said I wanted to get more reps in.

in the indoor courts were booked. She was very open about this move in press today. She said it was a sudden decision. She said Gavin became available and I felt like I had to... to take that opportunity when it presented itself. She said I had to make a change, so why wait? She said, I don't want to waste time playing a way that I don't want to play. She said, I'm obsessed with the process of getting better. I have a clear future where I see myself and I'm in a hurry to get there.

on the subject of it being on the eve of a slam, she said, look, I hate to lose. So there was never going to be a good time to do this. And she kind of talked about... She didn't quite put it like this, but the sense I got was that she feels like because she's won a slam this year and she's had a pretty consistent year, she feels like it's already a good year.

She's playing with house money from now on. She said, I haven't got much to defend from this point onwards. OK, she won the WTA finals last year, but up until that point, she hasn't got an awful lot to defend. She is treating this US Open as a... free hit like if if making this drastic change now costs her her chances at this US Open that's priced into the decision that is a consequence that she's

prepared for which i find fascinating yeah i i don't know whether it's a good idea i don't know whether it's going to work neither does she but wow do i admire it i admire the ambition the the determination to just crack on with it. It also tells me how low she must have gone in terms of her sense of how she's serving and how she's playing. That is a drastic move.

to make on the eve of a Grand Slam and to do it with so little time to actually make an impact but then I think she is a player who has shown that with a change to the backroom team she can she can make some drastic improvements as well. I mean, that happened with Brad Gilbert in a different way, but she was playing terribly at Wimbledon a couple of years ago, came out and didn't lose another match, basically, for about two months and won the US Open.

and i think that's an interesting one about the house money the feeling that well i've got one under my belt and and i just want to get on with making myself the best possible player that i can be not just worry about the the record books and what they end up showing in the short term um i just end up admiring her for it because she's not shying away from the issue she's just facing it head on And it is interesting isn't it because she has...

shown herself to be someone who can still win matches can still get through tournaments even when she is serving a big number of double faults like normally she ends up running into an opponent who's playing too well for the standard she's playing she rarely actually like wins the biggest titles when her serve is in that state you know but she can still win matches she can still win rounds she could have

I think very conceivably got through some matches here with the game that she had in Cincinnati. And yet she's made the change, as you said, kind of a long-term view of it. Like, clearly it's a problem that needs solving. Why not just solve it now? Let's see what the US Open brings. And I asked Doreena Savalenka today in the press conference how long it took.

her to see changes with Gavin McMillan and get her to a place where she was happier with her serve. And she said two weeks. She said two weeks of, you know, she said I was desperate. Two weeks of incredibly hard work doing whatever it was he told me, fully buying into what he was telling me, and I saw a big difference. And I think it's going to be hard for Coco Gauff.

with a grand slam going on at the same time to see really meaningful change in such a short space of time. But that answer from Sabalenka did suggest to me that, OK, like maybe the US Open... We might still see some problems, but there's definitely a potential bright end to the season for Coco Gauff. Obviously, Sabalenka stressed every player is different. It might take Coco Gauff longer than it took me, and that's absolutely a fair point.

I'd sort of had it in mind that it took Sabalenka longer than that. You know, I could have had it in mind that technical changes are really... Really hard things to do and implement and make a meaningful difference to your game. It really strikes me as a big long-term kind of project, but the way Sabalenka put it, it wasn't really like that. So that's going to be...

a fascinating part to see whether Goff's improvement is at the same rate. It's fascinating listening to both Sabalenka and Goff, like how huge the mental aspect is to making a technical... making a big technical change, which is obviously what Goff is looking to do on the serve. Savalenka, when she was talking about that period, when she worked with Gavin McMillan, she said, I was desperate.

I was willing to do anything. And while Coco Goff didn't use the same language, she was kind of saying the same thing. She was like... it's more important to me than winning a US Open, potentially, or reaching a semi-final of a US Open. You know, if she hadn't made this change, she would be in all of our mixes, I think. I don't...

We wouldn't be picking her as the favourite, but I don't think any of us wouldn't have had her in the mix, despite her form and the state of her serve and her game. And yet she's got this urgency to...

Well, as she says, get better. I'm obsessed with the process of getting better and, yeah, you've got to be sorry to, you know... use all the therapy speak but you've got to be willing you've got to be open to change in order for any of this to work you've got to have the humility to be prepared to to do what's what's required and yeah same as you David, and I'm sure you as well, Matt, just so full of admiration for her. She is a Grand Slam champion this year, this summer.

She could so easily be like, yeah, I'm fine, thanks. OK, I'm not in my best form right now, but I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing because I'm doing just fine, thank you very much. But she wants to be a better version of herself. Yeah, it's super cool. And yet I haven't got to come in through that section of the draw, personally.

I feel very bullish about Naomi Osaka for this tournament. Tell us why. I just think... Osaka's shown the levels of improvement on the court that I was looking for. I know it all ended pretty sourly and sadly, in a way, in that final against Victoria Mboko and the whole... on-court speech not going well and not doing press comments afterwards then she didn't but she owned it you know in a subsequent posts that she put out and interview

I just think she's in form again and she's remembering how to win. I think she needs to get on a bit of a roll. I mean, it's important to get that. momentum going but I I've always thought there's there's one more Grand Slam in Naomi Osaka and I think that this could well be it I think she she's She's going to come through that section of the draw with Goff, end up playing Goff, win that.

and end up playing keys. You know, I know it probably sounds like quite a long shot, but that's where I'm thinking. Where do you stand on Osaka, Matt? She's got Greton Minnan in round one, potential round two with Hayley Baptiste, or... Katarina Siniarkova. Yeah, both of those dangerous opponents, I think. Particularly keen to see Baptiste against the Saga. Big time. I think that would be some phenomenal shot-making.

I absolutely agree on the improvements that we saw from Naomi Osaka through Montreal. I thought she was moving a lot better. I think I've liked the vibes with... With Karofsky in her camp, you know, I'm generally positive about that trajectory. I'm far less sort of confident about her. in terms of going really, really deep here. I think what we saw in that Montreal final was something...

Something that I'm not sure is going to go away in just a few weeks. It was pretty alarming the way things fell apart there. I think it spoke to a pretty... Pretty deep lack of kind of self-esteem, you know. And for someone who so often rose to those big moments, you know, she's not been someone who has...

like had a load of Grand Slam quarterfinals and semifinals in her career in Amy Osaka. When she's got to the latter stages of tournaments in the first part of her career, she ended up winning them. She rose to those big moments. And what we saw in... in Montreal was so far from that player. So I like what I've seen in terms of the game but to me I'm not sure she's necessarily ready to go all the way and win a major again just yet.

But it's an incredibly exciting section of the draw with Goff and with Osaka and with Madison Keyes. Baptiste. It feels quite an open section. It's Madison Keyes's... So her scheduled round of 16 opponent would be Karolina Muković. She's got Venus Williams in round one. That's a blockbuster. Marta Kostiuk is in this section, Linda Nozkova, Ava Lees, Sarana Kastea, retiring Petra Kvitova, who is, by all accounts of joy, in her press conference earlier on today.

Is Madison Keyes in everyone's mix? Yeah, she would be. I don't make her the favourite. I don't... think she will win it but i wouldn't be surprised if she did because she's done it she's also performed well here reached the final here before feels like she's probably in the best mental state to handle what's expected of American players, high profile American players that she's ever been. I am convinced by the Madison Keys health the way she's been all year.

but i just i i struggled to see lightning striking twice and i think that that's what happened at the start of the year she she pulled that off good for her if she did it again i'd be delighted for her but i think I think it's going to be Osaka because I realized her second round would concern me if she played either Baptiste or Sini Archiva.

Yeah, I am just so interested in not just the top couple of names this time. I mean, I think that women's draw is always, there's always intrigue and there are always interesting match-ups, but I think there are actually quite a few players who could go all the way here.

Who have we got in the top half then that's an intriguing name that could go all the way? This obviously is Sabalenka's half. She sits at the top of the draw. Her scheduled quarterfinal opponent would be Jasmine Paolini Butt. I've got an awful feeling that we're going to do an underestimating Jasmine Paolini thing here because also in this section is Elena Rabakina, Veronica Kudomitova, Emma Raducanu, Leila Fernandez.

Who would like to put their hand up to underestimate Jasmine Paolini first? I think I'm about to do the ultimate underestimating Jasmine Paolini. I'm going to tell you a fact which makes a strong case for Jasmine Paolini, which is that she has a winning record over Elena. And that's a potential last 16 match likelihood to face Irina Sabalenka in the quarterfinals. So you could think, OK, well, maybe Jasmine Paolini is going to be the one to face Irina Sabalenka.

And yet, despite that, I think it will be Elena Ravakina to face Irina Sarolenka. So that is me doing the ultimate underestimating Jasmine Parolini, because I'm aware of the facts, and yet I'm kind of going against them. But I tell you what... Sabalenka, she did not want to see Elena Rabakina in her section. I was going to say, the fact that you think that will be the quarter-final, Rabakina against Sabalenka, does that mean you...

I think Rabatkinner is coming through this quarter because I know you find the head-to-head between Rabatkinner and Sabalenka pretty compelling for Rabatkinner. I mean, it's hard not to. It speaks for itself. Yeah. I think a lot of Sabalenka's recent wins over Rabatkinner have been tight, whereas quite a lot of Rabatkinner's wins over Sabalenka have actually been blowouts. Rabatkinner has an ability to just...

actually hit Sabalenka off the court, which is quite something when we think of Sabalenka as one of the main power players on tour and she thinks of herself as that. She prides herself on being that. Yet the smoothness of Rabatkin's power and the ability to turn that back on Sabalenko has really troubled her a lot in the past. But I think...

Yes, I'm a believer in that head-to-head being tricky, but I'm such a believer in Sabalenka in terms of getting to the latter stages of slams. That record speaks for itself as well. The doubts I have over Sabalenka are not actually... in those first four or five rounds. You know, it's the latter stages, I think.

If they were to meet here, it would be much more like their matches where Sabalenka's won through very tight fashion. You know, I think she's going to bring it. I would back her to just get through Rabakina. I think with Rabatkinner... Potential round three against Raducanu, Rabatkinner. Yeah, which is very interesting. I just, on any given day, I'm not confident that Rabatkinner is going to bring the top level.

whereas I'm more confident at a slam that Sabalenka's going to bring it. So I still have Sabalenka as the big favourite in this section, but Rebecca is definitely a threat. Opens in, it's Rebecca Massarova, there's Irina Sabalenka, and then there's a potential Polina Kudumatova in round two, Leila Fernandes potentially in...

Round three. David, you and I went to ask Karina Sabalenka the same question in press today. I had to cancel my question because you asked it. And then I thought of another one. And Matt. was going to ask that one. So it was all... Anyway, we were all on the same wavelength with what we wanted to know from Marina Sabalenka.

Tell everyone what you asked her and what you made of the response. I wanted to know, given how dominant she is in the rankings this year, how consistent she's been, whether if she ended the year... without a Grand Slam title and bear in mind she's zero for three for Grand Slam titles this year whether whether that would be tough for her to take and I actually thought I mean my personal view is that I think it would be pretty devastating for her

Her natural inclination would be to really be pissed off at that and feel like she'd blown it or let herself down or not got what she deserved because all the effort she puts in. how good she believes she can be and is, but she actually very artfully handled that question that I thought, and as though she... She'd probably... She often references how much she's learned from this year. And I think whenever she does that, she's referencing...

all the fuss that happened after the French Open final and the situation she got herself into with the Coco Gough lack of respect and lack of giving credit. Because I think that that really...

really bothered her at the time. I think it hurt her, hurt her pride, hurt her sort of sense of... of justice and and she was upset and she felt like she she'd said something she was in big trouble and i think with with everybody with the crowd and with and she she didn't like it and i think she keeps bringing it up because it shows you how much it bothers her

And I think probably she had to go through quite a process to come out the other side of that. And part of it is to learn how to be a bit kinder to herself, even if it's just speaking it into existence. about if she doesn't actually pull this off and win the US Open, she's got to be okay with it. And I think it's quite sensible to have got to that state. Even if I think inside, she'd be burning.

Do you see it being a Rabakina-Sabalenka quarterfinal, or would you like to estimate Jasmine Paolini? No, I wouldn't. Why break that habit of a lifetime? No, listen, I... I feel bad about that but I mean I still think Elena Rebecca head to head, should be winning that match on a hard court in America. And I think the form she showed the other week is, I would make her favourite to do so. I do think that Sabalenka Rybakken is going to happen.

I think I might have gone for Rabakina to win that last night in the live show. I feel really on the edge either way with that one.

Yeah, and the potential round three with Raducanu for Rabatkinu is interesting. She came through the main room, the main press conference room today. Very well attended press conference. It's clear Emma Raducanu feels very good about finally getting the reps in as a tour player. She feels good about this hardcourt summer she's had. She mentioned the Sabalenka match in Cincinnati a lot. Like, she is taking so much validation from the fact that she was able to make that.

as close as she was. And she said she also referenced the Sabalenka match she played at Wimbledon, which was obviously two very tight sets. And it was after that match that she was seeking out a new coach. And her agent, Jill Smoller, who, of course, worked with Serena Williams for a very, very long time, she suggested Francisco Roig. And it was interesting the turn of phrase she used it. She said, I feel like...

The way I played in that Sabalenka match at Wimbledon helped my case in getting him to agree to work with me. And I found kind of... What that revealed about the balance of power in that conversation was interesting. Like, I don't know, I might have thought that somebody like Francisco Roy, OK, he's got Rafael Nadal on his CV, but he's not got...

a long CV. I wouldn't have thought that he could pick up the phone and work with whoever he fancied working with, but she obviously felt, Raducanu obviously felt like the ball was in his court. She's an interesting... case radicano because she's a total one-off in that she's already had this career high that so many good players never have and if you pick up the the sort of baton to to be coached in emir adekano you're always going to be compared to that and so

Maybe that makes it more difficult, in a way, to get coaches to commit. Has she got that in her again, or was that a one-off? And I suppose she also has... And I think she would accept this, you know, now a reputation for not staying with coaches for long periods.

You know, that's her approach to coaching. That's her team's approach to coaching. We had Max Eisenbard tell us about it on the show, didn't it? Their approach is, you know, mine them for their expertise and then... mind someone else for their expertise and you know fair enough um but Coaches will know that. You're not getting job security with this role, and that all feeds into the power dynamic as well. There were moments of real revelation about...

Raducanu today. Some of it was very rehearsed and media trained, but there were some good moments as well. She was asked a lot about Francisco Roig and that partnership. what she hopes to get from it. And she was asked about, you know, the Rafael Nadal of it all. Like, are you desperately trying to mine him for information about one of the greatest of all time and trying to learn?

from that sort of secondhand via Francisco Roig, who was so embedded in that camp for so long. And she said, she kind of said no. And she said, I don't want to pry. Which... Very polite, lovely, but if true, and it's possible she just sort of didn't want to go there or get into it, but if true, and I did sort of get the sense that it was true, a curious answer, I thought.

What are you paying him for if not to pry into what he knows about greatness and elite sporting success from working with Rafael Nadal? Yeah, it was an interesting moment. And I don't quite know what conclusions to draw from it. The other line or sort of answer from her press conference was her revealing that... how much she didn't enjoy returning here in 2022, defending her title. She lost to Corne, I think, didn't she? And that was a tough watch. And she actually said, this, this year...

is the first time I've come here and felt able to enjoy it and enjoy the memories that I made here four years ago. Wow. Which is kind of sad. Like, OK, good that you're happy now, but...

There's a lot going on there. A lot going on there. The second quarter of the women's draw is the last one yet to be discussed. I feel like this is... Quite a land of opportunity. This might be the section you'd want to be in if you were sort of an under-the-radar dark horse, perhaps. Yes, I think so. If you were Victoria Mboko, perhaps, who does find herself in this section and I think is...

You know, she's not a dark horse because everyone is probably going to be looking at her in this section, given what she did in Canada, given how great and obvious her talent is. And as you said... given the fact that the two highest seeds in this section, I think, have some question marks against them. One of them is Mira Andreva, and mostly the question mark is we've not seen her much.

really we saw her carrying Daniil Medvedev in the mixed doubles but that's about it really in the last few weeks because she's not been fit so kind of where's her level at I don't expect her to be as high as it was at in the spring, you know, where she was winning 1,000 titles, I think expecting that here.

would probably be going a bit far, but we know she's a great player, so she could come through this section. It wouldn't be a great surprise, but equally it wouldn't be a great surprise if she didn't. And then you've got Jessica Pagula at the top of this section who... ordinarily going into a Grand Slam, certainly this time last year, I absolutely would have been penciling in, you know, through the rounds. Like, Jessica Pagula, she's so reliable. OK, she had a quarterfinal.

hurdle that she hadn't got over but she did get over it went one better and reached the final here last year so she's defending all those points but she's just changed a little bit As a player, you know, she's not been as consistent this year. She has taken some pretty strange losses at the slams, I think, this year to Cochiretto and Danilevic and Boisson. You know, these are players who...

you would expect her to kind of take care of at the slams, but she's been upset by them, and she comes in with two wins, two losses on the American hard courts. So... I don't feel that confident in Jessica Baguda. She's also got potentially Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, who she's never won a set against.

So that's not an ideal draw for her. That's one of Tennessee's weird and wonderful head-to-heads, isn't it? It is. You would have thought that would be quite an even head-to-head, but actually Bencic has dominated it. So kind of for all those reasons... The name I'm drawn to most in this section is Mboko. You know, I spoke a lot about how Canada felt like everything coming together at the right time, her confidence, the crowd.

It feels like maybe things are continuing to come together with this section that she's ended up in here. And of course, the fact that she's got herself seeded, having such a big jump in the ranking. you know, she's sort of, let's see if she can really make the most of that. It's going to be fascinating. By drawn to, do you mean coming through? Coming through this section, reaching the semi-finals? Right now, that's my pick. We're the Wimbledon champion in the first round.

But a Wimbledon champion who, last time we saw her, could not move. You know, she was really struggling with her left foot, wasn't she? Yeah, the critique of her. The critique of her, that is, you know. The level Craig Chicova's brought this summer in the matches that she has won and when she has been fit, quite impressive. And when she's got a point to prove, Bob or Craig Chicova, never is she more...

I'm just not banking on her fitness, really. I think Mboko's also capable of beating her even if she is fit. Like, it would be very, very tricky. But I'm just not... confident in that fitness for Craig Chicover but it's absolutely I think one of the standout first round matches in this draw there wasn't an if you allow me to have a mini rant about the US Open draw we didn't get a

ooh, or a ooh-la-la, or a drawing of breath, because we got all 256 names presented to us at once. In a PDF. In a PDF at midday. Absolutely pathetic. But had the draw been done properly, this would have been a real moment when those two names came out against each other. You're right. We've been denied. Yeah.

David, where do you stand? Disco David. Where does he stand on Victoria Mboko? Well, I've got her in the semi-finals of the tournament. That's the Disco David I never love. And, you know, and yet I... I could imagine a scenario where she loses in the first round. Yeah. I think that those are both perfectly reasonable predictions. I think so. Or expectations, but I find her so convincing.

as an athlete, as a player, and there's a freshness to her coming on the circuit. There are a lot of players in that section of the draw. that you've talked about there. Andreva would be normally the player I would be picking to face Pegula in the quarterfinals, but I don't feel there's something not quite right about what I'm seeing from Andreva the last couple of months. I think maybe she hit the wall a bit. She had a lot of success in the springtime.

Maybe there's massive expectations and so forth and coming into the other Grand Slams, she had the really tough situation against Boisson and Roland Garros, she just doesn't look... quite the same at the moment I'm very sure she's going to come back whereas Mboka looks just looks like this force out on the court and I'm thinking wow it's her I think this is her debut at this tournament and yet

She seems like she's been here before. It's a bit Radekanu-esque. And I think she's going to go through this section of the draw and end up in the semis. So you have an Osaka Mboko... No. So you have an Mboko... Sabalenka. Sabalenka. You have an Mboko Rabakina semi-final? Correct. And an Osaka Keys semi-final? No, an Osaka Keys quarter-final. And then eventually Svjantek against Osaka in the semifinals. And Matt, you've got?

I don't know if I've been quite as thorough as David in terms of mapping out the whole thing, but I've got Igor Sfiontek winning it. Yeah. I've got Osaka winning it. All of it. I love that. I think it's absolute insanity, but I love it. We've been there before. Disco David, what can I say? OK, folks, that's it for part one and the women's draw. Join us in part two when we'll go through the men's.

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Your car says a lot about you. So if we asked your car what it would say about you, what would it say? Listen, you dropped one of those tiny cheeseburgers under the seat like last week, and now we're both dry heaving at the stench. Do us a favor. Grab some turtle wax and let's get to work. This has been Car Tracks with Turtle Wax. You are how you car.

Welcome back to part two of the tennis podcast where the party really is getting started over on the fan week stage. We are... We're moving slowly towards Disco David being invited up. DJ Ty Alexander up there at the moment. And no doubt waiting for DJ David to come and join him. Yeah. It's a big DJ scene, the US Open. I don't hate it. A bit of an Ibiza vibe.

Yes. Never been there. Never gonna. Does that mean Carlos Alcaraz is going to win the 2025 US Open? Or Matt, does it mean he's going to lose in the first round to Riley Apelka? I'm a bit worried about Riley Apelka. I did physically recoil when I saw that among the 256 names in the various drawers. Look.

I think he'll be fine. I think he'll beat Riley Opelka. I'm not predicting Riley Opelka to beat Carlos Alcaraz. But you don't want Riley Opelka in round one. I know we've talked about Alcaraz's various... Ups and downs in matches and all this kind of thing. And we've been on high alert for another Burtick van der Zandt situation happening. The truth is he's actually been remarkably consistent this year. He's put together seven finals in a row.

row now. He has... he has slightly got rid of that tag that we perhaps had next to his name this time last year as being someone who can just kind of lose to anyone.

So I am backing him to beat Opelka, but he is going to have to concentrate. He is going to have to play well in some big moments. I can just imagine him smiling if you said that to him. You know, like Opelka... he's in and out of form and all that kind of thing he's not he's not going to miss seven serves in a row though is he Riley Opelka no and he just I know someone that might though he just beat Alex Dimonor did Riley Opelka someone he'd never beaten in his career that's one of

It's one of the best wins of Riley Opelka's career that he's just had. I think he's a dangerous opponent. Yeah, you just don't want that if you're Carlos Alcarez. But maybe... Or maybe he does. Maybe he's so aware of the threat, it's so you know what you're going to get, and that allows him to lock in. Maybe the... Maybe he overlooked Burtick van der Zanskalk last year. Lads, it's Burtick. Yeah, this guy's been hopelessly out of form. I'll be fine. Certainly that's what we were thinking.

Whereas you can't really overlook Riley Opelka. It's so obvious what he's going to do, so obvious how you prepare for that match. Maybe that focuses him and actually it's not too much of a bad draw. Yeah, it just made me a bit jumpy. Understandably so.

I remember when we were bigging up Thomas Mahatch at the start of the year, the best player in the world. Feels quite a long time ago that, doesn't it? In inverted commas. I haven't mentioned him for about three months. Huge talent. But then he's up against Riley Opelka and I thought...

There's no way Mahatchi's going to concentrate long enough to win this match. And he's going to be close and then suddenly he'll lose one point in a tie break three times and lose this match. And actually he did the opposite to... apelka i think it was four sets or maybe five but i think it was four and there were tie breaks and and he just he said after he said he concentrated really hard on his own server i always think

it's it's the other way around surely you're concentrating really hard on your return because you're trying to figure out a way to break the guy but no it's it's more sort of inverted you you you construct your own serve he's not a very good returner so you win your own service games that puts pressure on him as well and gives you chances when you get to those tyre brakes and that's what Alcaraz has got to do he and he's got the brilliance and the athletic

and the inspiration to get those couple of points here and there that he needs. I think Al Kraus will be okay. Theoretically, his quarterfinal would be against Ben Shelton and very theoretically his fourth round opponent would be Daniel Medvedev, although he unfortunately has drawn Benjamin Bonzi. in round one who is the man of course who beat him in round one of the last slam. Is he going to do the Bonzi double? Or is Bonzi going to do the Medvedev double?

I think he might, you know. I think he might, yeah. I mean, Bonzi's got better since, yeah. He's exactly the sort of player Medvedev's been consistently losing to. Will we get Alcaraz Shelton in that quarterfinal? I say yes. I say yes to the biggest obstacle. For Shelton would be probably Kaspar Rood or Yuri Lehechka. Shelton just beat Lehechka, didn't he? Very recently. Rood hasn't been in. hasn't been in great form really. So I do see Shelton coming through there. And I think...

Shelton has lost to Alcaraz and Sinner this year at the Slams. He's lost to Sinner when he's gone on to win the title and Alcaraz when he's gone on to win the title at the Slams. I think playing... Alcaraz at the US Open would... feel like a much better shot for Shelton than playing Sinner at Wimbledon and Sinner at the Australian Open. Yeah, it's best case scenario, this for Shelton. I think that would be night session, like...

you can try and turn it into the sort of match that he wants. I still would back Alcaraz, but I would really like to see Shelton in that environment. Can we have Mute against Shelton first? You'll have to get through Quarantan Mutay in round three. I just want that. I just want that. Okay? No offence to Pablo Carina Busta or Jordan Thompson or... qualifier times two that are in the way of that potentially Apple. I think Orton Thomas is going to find this US Open far too woke.

I don't want any of those people to get in the way. Or even Talon Greeks, Paul, and I've got a soft spot for him. I want Mute against Shelton in round three, please. I feel like I should mention... Casper Rude in this section just to beat the allegations. That you don't like him? I'm just not moved by him. There's no hate there at all. What's he going to do? Lose to Ben Shelton. In the fourth round? Yes. Yeah. Not Curran Tammuti? No.

No, I back Shelton to, because he does tend to meet the people he's supposed to meet. Absolutely. And then he can't quite do it against them because he's not as good as them.

That's what's happened so far in his career anyway. Staying with the bottom half of the draw, so this, the top of the bottom half, the third quarter, if you like, this is where you find Novak Djokovic and he would be seeded to meet Taylor Fritz. in this quarterfinal. It's a nightmare for Taylor Fritz. Yeah, he's never beaten Novak Djokovic. And... Is it a nightmare for us? I'm not enthralled by the prospect of Djokovic Fritz in the quarters. But this is, first round aside...

Sort of big picture, this is a good draw for Djokovic, who'd have wanted Alcaraz rather than Sinner in the semi-final. He'd definitely sign up for Taylor Fritz in the quarter-final. The problem might be round one slash... early rounds for Djokovic. Yeah, I mean, he's drawn Lerner-Tien. That's a very fun first round match, I think. TN, who has a winning record on the year, his kind of first year on tour, I think that's pretty impressive. But the most impressive thing is his...

record against the top players this year. He's 4-1 against the top ten, is Lerner-Tien. Medvedev, Zverev, Shelton and Rublev, he's got wins against them. Now, obviously Novak Djokovic... is in a different category to all of those players. Yes, he's top ten, but he's an all-time great, and I'd do back Novak Djokovic to figure that out. I think you need...

You need a bit of a weapon, I think, still, to be able to beat Novak Djokovic. TN can beat you with court craft and can beat you with creativity and imagination. I don't know whether he can beat Novak Djokovic with those things. All those aspects of Novak Djokovic, I think, are tremendously underrated. He's so good when he gets involved in those sorts of matches. And he's also able to constrict someone like TJ.

and stop them being able to play with such creativity as he might be able to against Zverev or Medvedev, for example. So I am backing Djokovic to come through it, even though... He's wearing a sleeve. We haven't seen him since Wimbledon. He was even wearing the sleeve when throwing the first pitch at a Yankees game. I imagine he didn't want to go full pelt with his serving arm on a pitch.

Very much half pelt, if not less. I don't think they tend to throw those very hard. I think they are very ceremonial, those things. But he was wearing sleeve while he was doing it. He just looked a bit... It wasn't a flex, put it that way. No. I think Tien will keep him out there for a while and there'll be some moments that you think oh what's wrong with Novak Djokovic and then he'll be alright but I actually think that

If Fritz doesn't have a good chance this time, he never will. I feel like his chances feel like they get better every time he plays Djokovic, in a way, or in theory they should, because... Age. Of Djokovic's age, quite frankly. And yet... And Fritz is at his peak pretty much now. And yet... It just seems like there's so much...

Scar tissue there. So much baggage. And it's a tough match-up just generally for Fritz, isn't it? Because he gets put off balance. What does he do better than Novak Djokovic? Even a 38-year-old Novak Djokovic? Well, he's better at being... in his 20s. So is Matt. That is something I have over Novak Djokovic. And look, Fritz is a very good player. It does feel like his...

his best game just sort of feeds Novak Djokovic rather than hurting him. But I do feel like if Fritz could go out there and really believe... He his youth And the fact that he's at the peak of his career and Djokovic is kind of hanging on to his best days, or not even those really. He still can produce incredible tennis, but the guy has not played. He only plays grand slams.

I don't know whether you can keep getting away with that. Yeah, and he really, most of his press conference today was popping off at two-week-long Masters events. I mean, look, I don't think he'd be playing a whole lot of... 1,000 events, even if they were the same length they used to be, but it's pretty clear that them being two weeks long is a total turn-off to him, and he's pretty...

Feels pretty strongly that there are, well, a terrible turn of events for the sport. But he also, he called out, not anybody in particular, he called out, he said his understanding is that...

There's not really much point in trying to lobby for any change because the contract is signed, the deal is done. He said there are 30-year-long contracts for those events to... be structured that way which is a pretty extraordinary thought but he said he kind of said oh well you know it's one thing all these players coming into press and

saying all this now but like when the negotiations were being done nobody was really prepared to put the time and the energy on the line required to prevent this from happening or to or to to adjust things at all. And yeah, I think he's got a really, really fair point there. He would potentially face Francis Tiafoe.

In round four, also a possible Holger Ruhner loitering, although Holger Ruhner's got Bertuc van der Zanskel in round one, who's coming in in just optimal form to take out a seed in the first round. Yeah, fresh off a... losing a 6-0 set against Sebastian Baez on a hardcore. He's primed and ready. He's got everyone right where he wants them. Tiafoe, Djokovic, fourth round.

Yeah, I'd like to see it. I mean, Tiafa did pull up with his back a couple of weeks ago in Cincinnati. He certainly didn't look very good in mixed doubles the other day. Don't know how much to read into that. But this is the place that he wants to play his best tennis more than any other. Tiafoe against Runa, I think that is a heck of a clash if it happens for the right to face Djokovic.

Despite all that I've said about Djokovic and the fact that I think Fritz has the best chance he's going to have, I still have Djokovic in the semis. Losing in the semis to Alcaraz? Losing in the semis to Alcaraz, yeah. But as you said, Catherine, it's... It's the best scenario, I think, here for Novak Djokovic. Alcaraz is half. I think he's got a better shot of beating Alcaraz than he has of beating Sinner.

you know, not having to face one of those in the quarterfinals so that it takes stuff out of him. if he does get through them in the later rounds like we saw in Australia. He had nothing left against Zverev. So I think of all the Grand Slam draws he's had this year, Novak Djokovic, I think this is... the best one in terms of how he's ended up landing with respect to Alcaraz and Sinner. He'd have preferred, he'd have liked this draw at one of the other slams, wouldn't he? Yeah.

We got a Mensik Jari tennis podcast coded first round that we got in trouble for not mentioning it last night's live show. So I'm just going to mention it to get out ahead of the criticism on this show. Joel Fonseca in Taylor Fritz's section, he was brought to press today and put in far too small an area. He took up the whole area. When will the people learn that lots of people, just forever more now, regardless of what he does, are going to watch?

speak to Joel Fonseca. It was the media equivalent of some of his court schedules you know that one in Miami when they had to to suddenly move him and get him into the big stadium. That caused a great scene earlier this season. It was giving that. Let's move on to the top half at the men's draw. Let's talk about Yannick Sinner. He's obviously at the top of the draw.

Reaver for him in round one, potential round two with Alexi Popperin and a Tommy Paul fourth round and a Jack Draper quarterfinal, according to seeding, of course. Yes, it's It's a fascinating section to draw that to me because of the unknown about Draper in particular. The guy just hasn't played since Wimbledon, which is, you know, that is a problem for him.

But he looked so good in the mixed doubles. Absolutely. I know there's no way of knowing until we see the proof will be in the pudding, but you were pretty bullish about the scenario, David, where this...

This injury, provided it is healed and he's good to go, could end up being a good thing for Jack Draper. Enforced time on the sidelines to... to refresh mid-season you know look at yannick sinner isn't a bad thing with the way tennis is structured there's quite a big disparity in draper when he's unleashed and when he looks like he's not in his own head and when he's not maybe ground down by the the relentlessness of the tour or physical ailments compared to

Right now, in that mixed doubles, he looked like, just give me the ball. I'm going to make mincemeat out of it. And he looked like he could hit the ball bigger than everybody he faced. And I don't know how sustainable that is, because... It's a fine balance because you've got to have enough robustness to get through the rounds. And if he has long matches, is he going to hit the wall at some point? Because those matches are not in his legs already from previous weeks.

I think he looks dangerous. So I'm fascinated by that. I mean, and actually, when I look at Sinner's draw generally, I do see threats. Sometimes I see good players that I just don't regard as threats. Whereas here you've got potentially Alexey Poprin in the second round. Significantly... Alexander Bublik is in his section and could be a fourth round opponent. And then could be Draper in the quarters. So those are players that on their day can hurt you.

I still think Sinner comes through it, but it's at least an interesting draw for Yannick Sinner. It does remind me of Roland Garros a little bit, where I remember being desperate for Sinner. Draper there, quarter-final. Draper had been in such good form through the spring, playing really well, obviously, Indian Wells, Madrid, you know, like...

I was hyped for that potential match. And then along came Alexander Bublik and played 90 of the greatest minutes of tennis you will ever see to beat Jack Draper. And then suddenly we had Bublik Sinner instead of Draper Sinner. Obviously, since then, Bublik's got a win over Sinner in Halle, so that remains intriguing. But I must say, I'm not as high on Bublik on hard courts as a threat. I'm not sure he is either.

Based on his scheduling post-Wimbledon. He took advantage of those weaker fields on the clay, won back-to-back titles incredibly emphatically, and then just hasn't played. But I think there's something about the chaotic nature of his game that disrupts more on the natural surfaces. I think on a hard court...

I would be stunned if he beats Yannick Sinner. I think a little part of me was wondering how Yannick Sinner's going to be after this virus. I thought he absolutely sort of... quashed any notion that that will be a problem for him in the press conference, he said. He's fine. He looked fine, didn't he? He looked fine, he sounded fine. He said he's not quite 100% yet, but he's been hitting. I think he's going to be absolutely ready to go here.

The difference in his body language and demeanour this year compared to that equivalent press conference last year where he was having to explain to the world what had happened with his... doping violation and you could feel it, the heaviness of him, whereas the lightness of him now is so notable. He's been doing lots of, as they all do, lots of sponsor appearances.

This week, we have unfortunately seen Yannick Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz playing pickleball. Was it Yannick Sinner? No, it was Alcaraz and Fritz. Ah, well... Pickleball has been happening. We've also seen Alcaraz being sort of blessed by a priest. That's the most uncomfortable I've seen Carlos Alcaraz look, sort of being doorstepped by... Having heard his apelka in round one. No, it was...

I saw Yannick Sinner playing at some sort of sponsor-y thing. And he just looked... He looked like Carlos Alcaraz does. It was big golden retriever energy. And he never looked... He always looked...

This time last year, he was dealing with it all brilliantly, but he never looked like this, like happy. It's such a contrast. And he was asked in his press conference about his... kind of rivalry with Alcaraz he was he was asked to sort of sum it up and his face kind of lit up he he's aware of how special the rivalry is as well and and he spoke about he says Honestly, the only thing that's the same between the two of us is how hard we work to try to maximize and be the best we can be at tennis.

Otherwise, we're totally different. But you can tell he really likes Carlos Alcaraz. Carlos clearly likes him. And they love the fact that they've got this rivalry together. It's a really cool thing there. And I did hear a great... stat today from our friend and colleague Matt Trollope who told me that if Sinu and Alcaraz were to meet here in the final they would be the first pair in men's Open Era history to play three grandstand finals against each other in the same calendar year.

which i immediately reacted to that and just thought surely some combination of the big three did that you know it felt like they were always meeting in grandstand finals but but no it hasn't happened in the open era in the men's game, and it hasn't happened in the women's game since Venus and Serena. So it's a very rare thing to do. You mentioned at the live show last night, David, how many times did we come into the US Open expecting Federer and Nadal to...

Certainly meet, probably meet in the final, and it just didn't happen. It feels like, in contrast to the women's draw, where there are lots of possible winners, lots of possible names that we're looking at that could do well here, the men's draw... It's all about Sinu and Alcaraz and whether they're going to meet. And we have...

I have certainly kind of just assumed that that will probably happen, but it would be pretty sort of history defying. And I just wonder whether we're in for a shock that none of us are seeing. coming here you know like sustaining this level of constantly meeting in big finals is rare and I think they're good enough to be able to do it I do expect it to happen but just

Be warned. Except Riley Apulka is the shock that we all are seeing coming. So is it even a shock? Last section of the men's draw to cover the second quarter. So the quarter finalists from here. here would theoretically meet the Yannick Sinner section quarter-finalist. The seeded quarter-final at the top is Sinner and Draper. The seeded quarter-final in this second section would be Alexander Zvez.

against Alex de Menor. It is, David, a dream draw for Alexander Zverev. I don't think he could have handpicked a better selection of prospective opponents than he has right here. Right from the beginning he starts against Alejandro Tabilo who has won five out of 17 matches this year. Second round, Bautista Agu or Jacob Fernley. Zverev's won his last 12 sets against those two players combined.

Third round could be Gael Monfils or Felix Solskjaer Aliasim. You know, players that are really good, but I'd be surprised. I mean, Zverev should be beating these guys. He should beat everybody in his path, including... Andrei Rublev in the fourth round and probably Alex Dimonor or Karen Hachinov in the quarterfinals. I know Hachinov got a win against him in Canada, but that was match point to Zverev and it was a net core that denied him.

Zverev should be in the semi-finals. There's just no other outcome that I think he could accept there and I think that we should expect. Yes, Alex Demenor is a very good player. It just strikes me that...

that Zvereva's got exactly what he wants here and he should be playing Sinner in the semi-finals and if he doesn't, it's a failure. Do you agree, Matt? Generally, yes. I... I think with the caveat that, you know, one of the reasons why we're sort of... down on Zverev I suppose as a player relative to his ranking is that we always think he's a bit vulnerable you know like because we think there are a lot of players that can outplay him and if Zverev doesn't

doesn't play his best i do think that brings in a rublev for example who was brilliant against alcaraz in cincinnati who finally has a potential grand slam quarterfinal not against a djokovic or an alcaraz or a sinner you know chance here for Rublev to get through to his first semi-final. Alex Dimonor, again, I don't think that's a given for Alexander Zverev. No, not a given, but...

He's got a really good record against him. I absolutely think this is a good draw for Zverev. Of the players he could have played. Absolutely. And if he plays as he can, Zverev, I think he will get to the semis. But I'm just not 100% convinced that he will play as he can. And as David says, that would be a...

That would be kind of a failure, really, if he doesn't get to the semi-finals here. So who have we got winning this thing on the men's side? What are your semi-final, final line-ups and champions? I've got Sinner. But you were also covering your bases with a big shock. Well, that was in terms of whether Sinner or Alcaraz meet in the final. I'd be stunned if one of them doesn't win it. We could potentially be in a situation where one of them gets shocked. I'd be really surprised.

both of them lose here. David? I've got a Sinner Zverev semi-final and a Djokovic Alcaraz. I've got an Alcaraz Sinner final and I've got Alcaraz winning the thing. How far do you think we'd have to start polling around the media centre to find somebody not picking Sin or Al Kraus for this title? I think anybody who does is probably being quite contrarian.

I think you could make arguments for Zverev and Djokovic, but look, they're so by far and away the best players in the world in men's tennis right now, Sinner and Alcraz, that... You know, you're looking at injury or illness, I think, as the main reason for one of them not winning it.

And that's obviously not to say that we can't see a scenario where one of those two doesn't win the title. It's obviously sport and anything can happen. But to suggest that one of those two winning it isn't the most likely scenario is... It's pretty ludicrous, really. Even for Disco David.

who really is going to get called up onto stage pretty soon. So that's it for part two. The stage has got closer. The beat's got louder. That's how volume works. That's how the volume knob works. They want to get on the tennis podcast. That's it for part two.

Part two, join us in part three for more disco. You're a hustler. You get things done, but you don't always do things for yourself. With J.Lo Beauty, it takes just a few minutes a day to look like facials are a regular part of your routine. J.Lo Beauty's fresh and flawless skincare kit includes six skincare products that work as hard as you do.

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Welcome back to part three of the tennis podcast, where we'll whiz you through a few notable results from qualifying. Unfortunately, Awe Ito didn't make it, David. Oh, that's a shame. She still has a chance of... as a lucky loser. I don't want to wish anybody to have to pull out in the next 36 hours injured, but usually somebody does, and having lost in the final round of qualifying, she'd be in with a chance, but she did lose quite heavily in the final round.

around a qualifying uh hitting zero winners oh dear in fact the stats from that match was so strange we are we're not sure that they're putting the best people on qualifying stats compilation because we're not quite sure how points were won. On the basis of the stats. No, there were basically no winners or unforced errors listed in the stats. But anyway, sad for our Ito fans like me. I'll tell you what though, Fran Jones, Britain's Fran Jones.

has qualified for the main draw here for the first time, her second time qualifying for the main draw of a slam. It's her fourth time playing the main draw of a slam, but that includes two Wimbledon wildcards. It's an extraordinary achievement for Franjo.

who battles a number of physical situations. As she said herself, I spoke to her today for Tennis Podcast Meets, and she was absolutely brilliant. She is a serious, proper, interesting... person you know she said everybody's got something she said she said i'm not saying my what i deal with is necessarily worse than anybody else but it is different she deals with a very particular set of physical circumstances and she's

She's incredible. She's qualified here without dropping a set, and she faces in round one, Matt. I'm receiving this news live, but I can tell from Matt's face it's interesting. Well, it's very tennis podcast coded. Ava Lees. Is it? Wow. I did ask her as she was, you know, after I'd stopped rolling and we were...

Well, she was actually walking to her next interview, Fran Jones. Everybody wanted to speak to her after qualifying today. I said, when will you know and would you rather big name, big court? Small name, small court, bigger chance of winning. And she said, honestly, I don't care. And quite often when players say that, I don't believe them for a second. But I did believe her. I really did believe her. And look, she's...

As I say, she's not really like anybody else on tour, Fran Jones, and I big up my own work. It's her work, really. I'd say that's... That's worth a listen in Tennis Podcast Meets, which should be going up tomorrow. We've done a few interviews today. David is accompanied Arta Rindeknesh to the locker room. Yep.

And recorded it. He was offering me a very short interview in the interview area, or a longer one if I accompanied him on his walk back to the locker room. So I told the latter. Had a lovely chat. Walking talks can sometimes be... It's like sometimes you get into deep chats when you're in the car with somebody. Yes. You know, it's something about that scenario which can... It's a loosener. We connected. How loose was Arthur? Oh, he got there.

So did I. We had a great time. I'm looking forward to listening to that. And David and Matt had a 2-1-1 with Karen Hashinov. Yes, we did. We had a lovely chat again. And that's the whole point of Tennis Podcast Meets, isn't it? Yes. He's got Nishesh Basavardi, incidentally, Hashanov. in round one um so yeah and hopefully more interviews to come tomorrow for uh for tennis podcast meets uh which will be going up for friends of the pod we think tomorrow unless um unless anybody promises us a

A blockbuster interview. I think we can confidently say tomorrow. Are we confidently saying tomorrow? Yep. Yeah, we're not getting a one-to-one without Kraz. Okay, we haven't asked. Maybe we should be asking. Anyway, tomorrow for Friends of the Tennis Podcast. Last qualifying result I wanted to touch upon was Dino Prismich. Remember that name? Yes. Was it last year?

It was the opening day of last year's Australian Open. When he pushed Novak Djokovic to five sets, I think he led him two sets? Was it five? I think it was four. I think it was... But he led him by a set and a break, maybe. But it was the nature of the... He was so electrifying. Yeah. Really was. And didn't Djokovic say it was like, you know, looking in a mirror? Yeah. And...

Look, he's had injury in the period since then. There are reasons why he seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth. But I think it also just hasn't quite happened in the way... We all thought on the basis of that performance, but my brother's had him in his fantasy team and has been tracking his progress very closely indeed and has got a group chat. name ready to go for when Dino Prismic finally fulfills his talent and it is good. What would be fulfilling his talents?

I thought you were going to ask what the group chat name would be. Well, I want to know that too. You know. You know. I can't remember. Dino Soaring. Okay, that's very good. It's very good. Now, what needs to happen in order for that to happen? I mean, relative to the last 18 months, I'd say qualifying for a Grand Slam is soaring. So we're in then. We might be. Well, I think I'm going to say Math. Change that group name if he beats Rublev, who he's drawn in round one. It's a fun round one.

That would be soaring. Yeah. It's funny how the group started out as Kirioptimists. That feels a long time ago. Yeah. Yeah. That feels an awfully long time ago. The group's gone on a journey. And hopefully the destination is Dino Soaring. Because that would be a fun time. And I will make a point of watching Ryblev against Prismich. Certainly some of it.

Have you seen that Marek Safin is in tow with Team Rublev? Yes, he looks like he hasn't had a haircut in about three years. I'd love to know what the contents of Safin's suitcase were. Like, what are these outfits? What did he think he was packing for? It was like me at the French Open, like, urgently order some trousers, Marat. Some proper trousers. It's fun, though. It's a fun element to the... to that dynamic okay that's it for today's preview we've got another preview to come

tomorrow after we've spoken to Carlos Alcaraz and Eniga Shontek and we'll have Charlie Eccleshire on tomorrow's show as well and maybe the DJ will be back? Well hopefully not Yes. Yeah, we'll see. TBC on the DJ, but we will definitely be here. Hello to our mascots, Phoebe, Maisie and Roger. Hello to you all. I saw Priyanka, Phoebe's owner, at the live show last night.

Got some pictures of Phoebe always seems to be smiling. Every single picture. She's... What a mascot. So thank you, Priyanka, for coming to last night's show. And thank you, actually, everybody that came to last night's show. It was... I haven't wanted to talk about it too much because I don't want to give people FOMO that wanted to come and weren't able to, but it was an incredibly special time and we're very grateful to everybody that came.

and made it so. It was very overwhelming for us and really really special and our executive producer Greg was a very big part of that. making it happen so thank you Greg top folk and executive producer alongside Chris and Jeff hello to you let's have some shout outs Matt we have Claire White from County Clare, Ireland. Oh, hi Clare. Hello Clare from Clare.

And Claire says, after being lucky enough to get tickets to the Olympics last year, I was somehow successful in the ballots for both the French Open and Wimbledon. Wow. Well done, Claire. Claire, what are your tricks? Cleaning up. I feel like Claire deserves something better than what we always produce, which is Claire Wood. Yeah, Claire Liu. Very good. Sensational. Very good. Any whites?

Anne White. Yes. Yes. Of all-in-one white jumpsuit. A pretty iconic Anne White, in fact. Leotard. There you go, Claire. Lovely stuff. Very jealous you got to go to the Olympics. We've also got Owen McCroissant. Hi, Owen. McCroissant. As I said it, I thought, surely that can't be the correct pronunciation. Owen. Owen McCrusson. Owen, you've reminded me that my favourite moment of today was when our subway broke down.

Yeah, we struggled to get into Queen's today. Yeah, we were on that subway for sort of over an hour. It was a pretty dark moment. I remembered that I had a croissant in my bag. It was just such a pick-me-up. You made a very similar noise as when Sarah Rani hit an underarm surf. The whole subway was alerted to them. It was the boost that I needed. So thank you for reminding me of that, Owen. Tennis, I'm going to assume there's no tennis question. Owen Davidson.

the Australian tennis player who sadly died a couple of years ago and was a doubles partner, mixed doubles partner of Billie Jean King and they won numerous mixed doubles Grand Slam titles together. Very good. Very good. Thank you, Owen. And finally, we have Matthias Soup. Hello, Matthias. Hey, Matthias. Surreal. food theme to my pronunciation of these names. I feel more confident about this one. Matthias Soup.

You're going to have to produce a tennis Matthias, David, or else I will end up telling the story of my brother's German exchange student again. That is what Matthias says. He says, I'm still not the famous German exchange student from Catherine's youth.

but a long-time fan of the pod from Stockholm. Come on, Tennis Matthias. Well, I know lots of players from Stockholm, if that helps, or at least from Sweden. I mean, alongside Stefan Erdbeck, of course. I always remember when I was a young lad liking... Henrik Sundström. I remember thinking, what a name that is! From Sweden. And Joachim Nyström. My word did they have some good names in Sweden. We've got Mattia. Mattia Bellucci. Mattia Bellucci, very good. Mattias Bachinger. Yes, I remember him.

I have Googled that. No, I remember that. I don't think 90s, no. I think more recent. Hang on, hang on. Stand by. He has a Wikipedia. He is 38 years old. Told you. Wow. He retired in 2023. Yep. There we go. Thank you, Matthias. Again.

Thank you to all of our friends of the tennis podcast. We will be back tomorrow. If you'd like to become a friend of the tennis podcast and get to listen to our upcoming episode of tennis podcast meets, then the link as always will be in our show notes. We are part of the athlete. Popsicles, sprinklers, a cool breeze. Talk about refreshing. You know what else is refreshing this summer? A brand new phone with Verizon. Yep, get a new phone on any plan with Select Phone Trade-In and MyPlan.

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