What's happened since the Australian Open?

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This episode is presented by ServiceNow. Learn how ServiceNow puts AI to work for people at servicenow.com Hello and welcome to the tennis podcast, our first weekly tennis podcast since Crashing back down to earth post Melbourne and post Australian Open. David doesn't care, he's sleep deprived, but he's a Super Bowl champion. Hello David. Yes, yes. Yes, I am. I uh I've got props for for the video Watchers Amongst You. Um and I'm wearing all the colours of the Seahawks because uh

Uh, eight years after starting to support this team for no other reason than I liked the colours, um, and having watched every game and all the disappointments, we are Super Bowl champions. So thank you very much. It was so boring, David. I stayed up and watched some of it. Yes. It was so dull.

Between us I think we watched the whole night, didn't we?'Cause I watched all the terrible sport, which I loved every minute of, despite the fact that the rest of the non seahawks nation hate it, and you watched all the half time show while I was making popcorn and tea. Yeah. Yeah, so between us we watched all of the Turgid Super Bowl. Yeah. Well done us. Yeah, and get me back to figure skating immediately. Uh Matt This time a week ago we were on a plane with Carlos Alcaraz. How are you doing?

Very well, thank you. Uh I did not watch the Super Bowl. I I sent sent David my best wishes and then went to sleep and woke up to a very happy selfie of David celebrating in front of the TV which was exactly what I wanted. So yeah, I'm a I'm a happy man for David. Yeah, me too. Uh and if you'd like to hear more about Meiner Matt's experience of Carlos Augraz and his VIP movement.

Uh, then that is available on our most recent show for Friends of the Tennis Podcast, our Australian Open Review Up Now. for friends uh and if you'd like to become a friend and you aren't already then the link to do that is in our show notes.

Quite a lot of tennis has been happening this week. I mean I know that's not a surprise because the tennis never stops, but wow. Uh before we'd even landed we were knee deep in a WTA five hundred in Abu Dhabi. Uh one surprisingly an incredible story really by Sarah Bailick. Uh a Czech youngster. Where have you heard that before? Yes, this is a new Czech youngster. She beat Ekaterina Alexandra 7-6-6-1 in the final to win her first WTA title.

The semis were where it was at here. Maybe 2026 is the year of the semifinals because these were two great ones in Abu Dhabi. Bailik beat... Clara Towson in three sets and Alexandra beat Hailey Baptiste in three sets. Matt Roberts, you love a Czech youngster. Tell us about Sarah Baelick. She is a good watch. Uh she has A very interesting game because she's only five foot two.

So she has a lot of like sort of making up to do with her game. Uh what she lacks in the sort of physical element of the game, she really does make up for with her with her tennis IQ. She's a lefty Um and What she did this week in Abu Dhabi was really impressive, three times earning her career best win. First over Ostapenko, then over Towson and then over Alexandrova, each time beating a a higher ranked player.

And you'll notice there that group of players, Ostepenko, Taus and Alexandrov are all big hitters, all the sort of people that you might expect to be able to Blast someone who's only five foot two off the court. And I'm sure there will be some occasions where that does happen. But this She put her game together in a really compelling, interesting way and she does it

kind of what you would expect really, like trying to trying to change the pace, trying to extend rallies. She's she runs and runs and uses her foot speed. But she's also got really good sort of craft in rallies. You know, she'll loop balls, she'll throw in drop shots. She's very adept at the lob. I mean the first point of the final was literally a drop shot lob combination on Alexandra to sort of tell her what she's got coming. Yes. Um

Like David in Dingles against Team Athletic. Um and she's gone from outside the top one hundred to inside the top forty in in in one week. Um and yeah, in in the final she had had a couple of set points before the first set tie break but couldn't take And then Alexandrova went into a four two lead in that tie break and I was thinking okay this is This is probably where Alexandra takes over, but Baileck

responded beautifully, hit a incredible forehand up the line at five all in that first set tie break. It was one of those forehands that you thought was going out the whole way, and it just landed in right at the last second, and that was kind of the crucial shot.

S and then she pinched the first set and then really sprinted through the second set, winning ten points in a row at at one stage in it, as Alexandrava faded. Alexandrava was playing singles and doubles this week, she ended up winning the doubles titles, just a lot of tennis. going on and she seemed a little gassed in that in that second set. But yeah, a a really nice moment for Bailick, who is someone who

has been on our radar a little bit in the past. I remember her playing a very good match against Leyla Fernandez at the Australian Open a couple of years ago and she's beaten Marta Kostiuk at a slam. Like she's she's sort of been on the cusp of of climbing the rankings, but not in this. way in in in in such a in such incredible fashion. Yeah, I mean, beating a series of very, very good players and it sort of changes

Changes the tournaments that she can get into. It's one of those weeks. So yeah, really really nice story coming off the back of the Australian There's this little cluster, isn't there, of um these young players coming through that are there's similar sort of size and stature. Obviously we had Evieovich making her big breakthrough at the Australian Open. Emerson Jones, remember her? Think she won a sensation of the day at one point, maybe not, certainly

tried to put herself in the running. Um but she but but both of those two are taller than Baelick, but you know They're not Arena Sabalenka, put it that way. Um and it's just interesting, isn't it, that as much as sort of sometimes you look at Sabalenkas and Rabakinas and you think the game is just evolving in a certain very specific direction, there are always also Bailix and and Jovich and it really is a It's a sport that that really does accommodate pretty much

anyone in terms of size and stature, which is pretty amazing. I think that is the shortest player that I can remember. Um I mean uh Dominica Sibokova was was about five two or five three. Um but yeah that That feels unusually short. Amanda Kurtzer, Dave. Oh, I think she was five years. four Catherine. Very good. I mean I I I c I mean I'm saying that off the top of my head. I'm now frantically googling because now I want to know how tall Amanda Kurtzer actually was.

Um and Matt, have you heard of Amanda Kurtzer? I have, yes. Oh good. Okay. She was five foot two. We're good at this, David. We're good at this. Well I said five foot while we're ahead or should we name more five foot two, ten years? And she got to number three in the world. In November nineteen ninety seven and she reached the semi final of the Australian Open twice in the French Open. So, you know, there's plenty of form there.

And I know we are always saying this about young Czech female players, but it is absolutely remarkable and it doesn't show any sign of stopping. If anything, the sort of the their Checkia's production of these talented youngsters seems to be quickening r rather than slowing down, and they're all such different types of player. Like it is it is the ninth of February. And we have already spotlighted three young Czech female players.

Teresa Valentova, who we've been talking about for for a little while, but I actually think she might be the youngest of of the three.

Um and I interviewed her for for Tennis Podcast Meet. She's an incredible talent and then it ended up being Nit Nicola Barton Cover that kind of stole the young Czech female spotlight in in Melbourne, those wins over Benchich and Kazakhina and the way she won those matches, her really unique watchable brand of tennis and now you've got five foot two inch bailick coming along and announcing herself like Yeah, it it's I mean it is a kind of production line but it's also very much not in the

they're producing such different types of tennis players. It's not a kind of factory package feel of this is how we do tennis, come in, we'll we'll coach you, you come out the other side. Like I don't know, w whatever's going on in Czechia. Matt, it needs to be studied and like other federations need to be studying it surely. They need to be sending spies over there. And it is also curious that it I know they do have

male players and and they've got a good group of them at the moment, but it it does seem to be quite a different scene, um, in terms of churning out this this female talent. It's incredible. Yeah, it's like send send half your spies to Czechio and the other half to Italy and you will discover the secrets of how to produce...

a line of excellent excellent tennis players. You know, if you want female players it's probably more Czechia, as you said, and male players, Italy right now, um yeah, the two sort of envies of the o of the rest of the tennis world, I suppose. And and and you're right, like I was thinking about it. I I I do always

think that the sort of Czech players sort of have a sort of clean ball. There's th I think I think there's often sort of a good technique embedded in in the players. But You're right, that there are very different game styles and a lot of them also have quite a lot of variety, you know, if you think of Vondrosheva and Krachikova and Mukova as the sort of leading ones of that generation at the moment, they they will they will bless with a lot of variety, whereas in the past it maybe was more

sort of big hitters, kind of like a Kovitova or Pliskova, you know, but it's really sort of evolved over over time and now you don't really know what what sort of style check you're gonna get, but the but the chances are they're gonna be very good. Karen Fushkova, current tennis player, reached the third round of the Australian Open. I'll have you know. And and and players Amanda Nisimova today, so I better not uh I better not speak too soon.

Um yeah the the the Doha is already underway. Talk about tennis coming at you fast. We're already knee deep in a in a W T A one thousand. We'll um We'll talk about that a little bit later on in the show. Let's head to Cluj, Kluge Napoka. in uh Romania and a title that was won by a Romanian in her final year on tour. Two Romanian speakers in the final include Saronica Steyer beating Emma Radicanu Six Love, Six Two. Quite a lot of drama in this final, al albeit with a not very dramatic

score line. Emma Adacani was suffering from sh she's told us it was an infection. She had her blood pressure taken midway through this match, I think after the first set. She looked she looked very, very out of sorts. Um Which is Obviously a real shame because this was her first final since the US Open in twenty twenty one, like a really significant break th through for Emiratic Khani.

Um she was obviously playing a tournament for the first time since splitting from Francisco Roig. I don't think that was news that we actually reported at the time. In my head it had kind of already happened'cause it was so definitely going to happen after the way she was speaking in that press conference in Melbourne after losing in the second round to Anastasia Pottopova. Um so look overall net a huge week for Amaradakanu, in particular that three set win over Alexandra Olinikova

um who very pleased to be talking about her again. That was in the semifinals. Um yeah, oh overall a great week for Emmeradakanu David just

a real a real bummer that it ended the way it did. Yeah, I think it's one of the the blessings and curses of the the sheer amount of attention that she garners is that Her run to the final.

inevitably produced a lot of these headlines about this is the first time she's got through to a final since that US Open and and that could be looked at as a positive and a negative and and I think absolutely I agree with you it's it's a positive. She's She she spoke at the end of the Australian Open about wanting to kinda revert to an older game style and and to just be

putting the foot on the gas in rallies and moving people around and and look, she was doing that and then of course she runs into Olenikova who just has a game like nobody else in terms of

spoiling and m messing up your rhythm and throwing up moon balls and drop shots and and angles and just doing it in a really aggressive fashion. We Honestly, I I could see myself sort of seeking out her matches if she stays this relevant in in the months and years to come because it's just so interesting watching players try to decode it. And the fact that Radicano kind of got spun into that web and managed to get out of it and win the match I think is a huge win. But

Look, I take on face value that she's she was feeling unwell or feeling underpowered in that final and and she didn't look very well. I mean frankly, you know, d she didn't look great. But also it's uh it's also another bit of a no show in the end and and so th I think you have to take that into f into account. I also think you have to take into account that she's playing in Sarana Castea as somebody who's kind of

I don't know, she's retiring at the wrong time because she's getting better she's getting better by the year. Um She was so good. I remember her as a twenty one year old and there was There was a lot of hype and and but it was there wasn't a l didn't feel like there was a lot of thought going into the ball bashing, really, at the time. And I'm not I'm not a hundred percent sure Her style has changed that much, but she's just got better at it.

you know, as as the years have gone by and I mean yeah, she is still one heck of a player and uh it's quite a thing, isn't it, to win in your home country in your final year. You know, this isn't just a ceremonial farewell tour. This is This is picking up a big deal title for you. So, you know, I I I I wouldn't want to be too hard on R Rodicano and would want to basically take that positive that she got

But even so, she was top seed. She's kinda supposed to win that title. Um tennis doesn't work like that, sport doesn't work like that necessarily. But so yeah, let's say net positive. I think you got it right the first time. Yeah, I'm I'm bracing myself for a Danielle Collins Serrano Costaya not actually retiring situation. I'm I'm I'm just just

I I've I've I've put a pin in it. I'm I'm I'm prepared to do a rant about fake retirements at the end of the year. Um did you see Uh, did you see Boris Becker's suite about Emirata Khane or t this week or a few days ago? It was a kind of, is that it? kind of tweet wasn't. Career accomplishments. Yeah, some some b uh a I don't know what account it was, but somebody had d an account a tennis news account had just, you know, tweeted

The result, beaten on the cover, first final since um US Open twenty twenty one. And he quote tweeted it and said, That's it, question mark. And I it was just the perfect example of how Emma Radicanu like brings out the petty, pathetic often man in in so many people. Like, why are you out here having a having a mean spirited opinion about Emiraticanu and putting it out into the universe? Like

I don't know what it is about her that brings that out in people, but it is a fact that she she does, whether it's Boris Becker or Man in Pub or Taxi Driver or you know, whoever it is. And I just I I I just feel for her'cause as much as you say, you know, stay off social media

All of that. Like she's what, twenty, twenty two, twenty three years old? Like it's not as simple as that, just staying off social media. A lot of life is lived on social media for people of that age, and she just must be confronted with this absolutely bizarre wave of mean spirited opinion about her. And obviously we're here doing a tennis podcast having opinions, but I just don't

Thank you, Billie Jean. I agree. Yeah, like it's just I don't know, it was such a it was such a great example of what she's dealing with and what she Evokes in people, and it's utterly bizarre. Yeah. And and it it's been like that, unfortunately, for a very long time. And yeah, I just hate that, like just punching down like that and um I think it's a sort of classic example which you can't really win.

Of many people, right? Like if she doesn't reach the fire now they're saying, Oh well she hasn't she hasn't reached the final and i if she does it's oh it's only it's only this level of tournament and these category of players and you know it it it's it is And I think there are I think there are sort of valid potential sort of questions you could have over Emradakanu's career over the over the past few years. You know, I think in particular Again, even some of this coverage is is is is sort of

a bit uncomfortable to read sometimes. But I think you can question her decision making with coaches. It's obviously like worked for her at the start of her career and that she's won the Grand Slam title that everyone is craving and people seem to forget people seem to treat that as some kind of fluke or anomaly or it doesn't really count. She has done the thing that everyone is trying to do. Um but I think you can have legitimate questions about the way she has

sort of hired and fired coaches since then because it you know, that strategy has sort of stopped being quite so beneficial for her. But Other than that, I d I I don't really get the huge level of of criticism that that Emirate and it does feel hugely... outsized and not in proportion with the with the career that she's trying to develop for herself, having having had a start that was so extraordinary that sort of no one has ever had to

tread that path before and you know she's she's doing her best I think. Yeah. And I think I I think the most the most um sort of positive moment of the week for her, for me, was the third set against against Olenikova because we have seen a lot of third sets recently for Adacanu where she's maybe lost a tight second set and then ended up really fading in the final set of a match, be it physically or

maybe a bit more mentally in a match, but actually here I thought that could happen again. She was up against a very tricky opponent as we've discussed, and yet she actually leveled up in that final set and played probably her best Portion of tennis and the whole week really going after the ball in the way that she said she wanted to. Won sixteen points in a row to just take control of that final set. Got a little bit tight tryna tryna win it, but then

used the drop shot, which is an effective play, I think, against Olenikova, who is standing so far back. She just found that tactic right at the end of the match and it sort of got her over the line and Yeah, that was a really, really impressive effort from Radicano and I think maybe it took everything out of her. I think she ended up with nothing left in the final.

'Cause I even thought earlier in the week against Juvan when she went five love down she could well have been a little bit ill in that match or struggling physically. So I think it was something she was contending with the whole week and she found a brilliant passage of tennis in the in the semis, but it probably did end up

costing her in in the final, but um yeah. Oh I mean David said he's gonna be seeking out her matches. I I already am. She saved twenty one of twenty three break points against Wong Jin Yu in the quarterfile. And I like I I was thinking of the late great Bud Collins all the time while watching her Bud who invented the word moon boy. Like, what a time he would have had watching her. I mean, like, how fun to have like a professional moon baller like

tr bringing that game and then occasionally really flattening it out or playing the drop shot. Like I wanna see all the players have to pass the Olonikova test. It's so fun to watch her matches. I think I said this during the Australian Open but like she really highlights how much we've been calling things moonballs that aren't moon balls. Like that's a proper moon ball that she's doing.

Yeah, yeah. Not just like a heavily topspun thing. And it's the aggression she's doing it with. She's doing it to mess you up. And and like the look in the faces of her opponents when it's happening it They're they're almost looking around as if as if to say is this is this allowed?

You know, are you are you permitting to do this? Because this doesn't 'Cause that is how I I used to feel if I would play club matches or university matches against somebody who just whacked it up in the air and I wasn't good enough to put it away enough. times to win the match and I would I would just tend to look over and just can we just just play normal tennis, will ya? And I'm sure most pla uh some of the players are Have a period.

reined it in at the Australian Open and just socked her off the court. But Crikey, you've got to play well or or keep you know, some point she's gonna play somebody who's ju who we're just gonna watch unravel in a kind of not not figuring it out, just completely combust and my money's on a lane roster bank.

I want to say that match. Yeah, that's almost too easy, isn't it?'Cause it'll definitely happen against Yule and Rostapanka. I won I kind of want to see it against somebody that wouldn't you're not used to seeing unravel, but But Olenikova w will be the straw that breaks the the camel's back. Um I d for what it's worth, I I really liked the way that Emiratakani was hitting the ball this week. Like I could see

that much more conviction in her shots. And it really showed up what we could all see very plainly towards the end of her time with Francisco Roig, which was that she was She wasn't believing in what she was being told. There was such indecision in that in that ball strike. It was it ended up looking really feeble in the end. And look, I think

this week having been indoors helps a lot. Obviously you get a cleaner ball strike indoors than you do with conditions and it was a little bit breezy in that match against Potapova, but it that definitely wasn't the whole it. Like she was sh she clearly had a clarity about the way she wanted to play, um, in the way that she she hadn't for a while with with Roig um and I I think you can you can have those very, very legitimate questions about her general approach to coaches.

But also still think it was very much the right thing for her to split with Francisc Francisco Roig. It's like football managers, isn't it? You can think that like Like generally, we should be sacking football managers less, but let's definitely get rid of this one, because he is rubbish. Is that relatable, David?

Very, very Uh right, let's head to Estrava and a final that was of course happening at at exactly the sam same time as the final in Cluj because tennis, which is actually just I mean it's always tennis shooting itself in the foot, but given it was two Brits in in a Brit in each of the finals, like you're just you just decimating your your audience, your potential audience in one of the biggest markets for these these matches.

um for Katie Bolter beating Tomara Corpatch, five seven, six two, six one. Um but still just like tennis being Absolutely ridiculous. Um David, you watched this win for Katie Bolter in the final, a very significant one. I mean she has been in the wilderness as Katie Bolter. She needed these two hundred and fifty points. Yeah. I mean she was kind of not not going to be getting into major draws and big masters one thousand draws unless she had a week like this.

Um, and she was really down last year all the way through it. She just couldn't get any form going at all. Um, she made a pretty significant coaching change. Um uh which involved bringing in Michael Joyce, a former coach of Maria Sharpova and Jessica Bagula and um and Johanna Conter. Um and that has paid pretty quick dividends, at least on the sh I mean, I don't know whether it's down to him or what it is, I'm sure a big part of it is going indoors because Katie Bolter is

head and shoulders a better player indoors than she is outdoors, quite honestly. We're gonna talk about Felix Augier later and the same is true of him. He's he's he's obviously a had good results outdoors as well. But when you go indoors you suddenly see the conditions settled, this ability to just strike through a tennis ball, know where it's going, know what's coming off your racket, know what's

know where you need to be when it comes towards you'cause there's no wind at play and and all those sort of things. But yeah, I mean last year, honestly, I if somebody had said to me that we had

seen the last of her in kind of grandson draws without wild cards, the way things were going last year I I would probably have believed that. And that proved she's proved that that's not right, that there's more in her and she was speaking pretty bullishly at the start of the year that that was her intention was to to actually get to a ranking eventually that's higher than what she's been in before.

Um but this was this was an amazing performance all week long. She did lose one set early on in the tournament, but then if you look at her scorelines thereafter They're all absolute decimations of the opposition. I mean most sets six one, six two or six three. Just wiping the floor with everybody. And I remember seeing this in the f in the Fed Cup as it was then, the Billy Jean King Cup now.

um sort of pre pandemic that when she sets her feet and runs around a a backhand to strike an inside out forehand, indoors, it's it's just w it's one of the better ones in the game. Um and she was just like that all week. Everything was solid but aggressive. Um so she she flew through to the final, plays Tamara Corpat. She's you know in a similar position of just being outside the world's top hundreds.

You know, w we all remember her because of the argument she had with Harmony Tan at uh at Wimbledon when Uh, Tan had a run in the singles and ended up pulling out the doubles and Corpage got really arsy about it and said, You're just not professional on Instagram. And we found that very amusing and there have been several moments where I think I found Tomora Corpatch quite amusing. But actually this was an opportunity to see her as the tennis player.

Um and and similarly to Bolter just just get through to the final without dropping a set. Um she also won the first set of this final despite

It being five four Bolter with Bolter serving in that first set. And I think actually that's a pretty big achievement from Bolter to to not let that derail her because she dominated our Um and just a nice moment in the the speeches on court afterwards because Corpat there was a w real warmth between them at the the handshake, but there was there was also warmth in the words from Corpatch to say, Look, I was I was going through a hard time not that long ago and in the locker room, um

Katie just asked after me like asked if I was okay and and was showed genuine concern for me. And I haven't forgotten. Um and it s it was just a really nice moment of realising these are human beings and It's a it's a tough sport and if you're going through bad times on or off the court and the loss is piling up, just having somebody ask after you who's kind of your

peer but also you're somebody who could take your happiness away again on the court. That's a that's really something and um and so it's quite nice They've changed the trophy in Estrava. You notice it's a little bit of a telescope. It's a tennis racket. Now it used to be a sort of more classical trophy. I don't mind the tennis racket, but it did remind me of the the guerrilla trophy that Katie Bolter won last year. Do you remember that? Just what an eclectic trophy cabinet, Katie Balter has

I swear Ostravi used to have a sort of, you know, more standard trophy ish trophy. Anyway. It's still got its exclamation marks, that much I do know'cause it's written on the court. It d well the day that Estrava stops having exclamation marks, I'll refuse to talk about it. I don't it's this the only Estrava I recognise.

One other little thing that caught my attention in Ostrava was watching the semi final between Corpatch and Parry and Diane Parry is doing something potentially very interesting and innovative. She is As we know, Diane Parry is one of the very few players on the WTA Tour with a single handed topspin backhand, but she is at the moment using a double handed backhand on return.

which is quite an interesting development, you know. Like sh she's the only person I know who's who's doing that. But I think a lot of the thinking behind why the one handed backhand has declined and disappeared is that On return these days it's such a disadvantage. Speed and the spins that people are putting on those serves

it's much harder c to control, you've got less stability with just the one hand. So the double handed backhand and you can get over the ball a bit more easily has has has really has really taken over as we know. But yeah, a potential game changer if someone is able to you know, use that effectively, a double a double hander on return and then going back to her single hander in the rallies. So definitely something to to keep an eye on, whether Parry can really sort of make that work. Take note.

Jo Joe Wolfrid Songa used to alternate sometimes between a single hander and a and a double hander, but I think really what that was was neither one of them were that good. He just he didn't know what to do. Okay, that's it for part one. We'll be back in part two to talk about the return of Arta Feast, David. Yeah. AI is only as powerful as the platform it's built into. That's why it's no surprise that more than 85% of the Fortune 500 use the ServiceNow AI platform.

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Welcome back to part two of today's tennis podcast where we head to Montpellier now and a title won by Felix Auger Elias Seam over Adrian Manorino in the final six three seven six. We will talk about that in a moment. But I think I think we should put David out of his misery first up and allow him to talk about the long awaited return. And it really has been long awaited. This has been a long old time that he's been off the tour. Arta Fees won two matches, David.

He beat Valentin Royer in three dramatic sets, then he beat Hugo Blanchet in straight sets before losing to the eventual champion. How was your artifice comeback experience this week? It was great. It was great to see him back on on court. It was great to see him not look in pain, certainly visibly. I couldn't detect any issues. And the fact that he kind of You know, he rebounded from the first round which was long and intense and

played again couple of days later and won more handily. Then he had the back to back days and obviously then he's running into a far, far better player than Felix Oji Aliasim and he lost six two, six four. But Overall, I think that I mean as long as he hasn't come out with any

real issues, I think that this is a a major step just to get back out there and and kinda look like himself. It didn't look like there were compromises being made or if he'd lost stuff he looked like he was hurtling towards balls, he was smacking his serf down, he was he hit some incredible sort of jumping overheads backwards, um And so yeah, I thought he was really good, uh, overall and I mean I it's it's great to see

I frankly any tournament in France I I will happily watch just because the sheer number of people that co that pack the stands, I mean the final we'll come on to is incredibly well attended. But you know, Fees in particular, I think that they know he's he's one that could not just be fun and they could get behind but that could be a contender a at the sharp end of big tournaments. But this is a a first little step. And it was great to see.

Yeah, I mean the the the vibe in that final was incredible, wasn't it? And and uh talk about everything we've been saying about players that are are different and transformed indoors. Felix Augel has to be the ultimate example of that, doesn't he? Like i I mean D would he be world number three if tennis were played indoors? I mean probably not, given that Novak Djokovic has just reached the Australian Open final, but like

I was I was kind of compiling a list in my head. Like I would I would confidently say Cinna, Alcaraz and Djokovic are better than him indoors. I would probably put Zverev there as well. But After that, like I genuinely think you're looking at Orgealia Seam in in terms of being the the next best in those conditions. He's He's unbelievable. He's he's one and seven now in outdoor finals and he's eight and five in indoor finals.

You know, eight of his nine titles have come indoors and his record in the big matches just improves when he when he plays in those conditions and Yeah, I think what David was saying earlier about like knowing the strike you can get on the ball just helps him so much indoors, particularly on the backhand. Like he's got a bit of a awkward technique on that on that side. But I think knowing where the ball's gonna be in the slot, you saw it in the final

he just drove a couple of backhands down the line very early against Manorino and it's just just a shot which he doesn't play so confidently, I think, on the rest of the tour. And then of course like his bread and butter is the big serve, big forehand, and he's able to set that up so consistently indoors and Yeah, I was really impressed with him in this in this final against Manorina, who was who was playing his first final in France, which really shocked me.

It was his fifteenth final overall, but the first time he'd managed to reach one in France, um sort of unfortunately for him, he's coming up against someone who you know, had had had won this tournament last year, were very comfortable in those conditions and Manorino was clearly a level below in the first set but did really well in the second set to to push it to a tie break and actually led by a mini break in that tie break and then Orgelia seemed just totally

locked his game down in that moment, came up with an absolutely brilliant combination that was You know, big words, but kind of Alcaraz esque in terms of using the short backhand slice low to then set up the forehand pass. Like how many times do you see Alcaraz do Orj Aliasim executed that brilliantly to get the mini break back and then ended up racing racing through the last few points of the tie break to win it. And there's just such conviction about him indoors that you don't get

re necessarily the rest of the time. And yeah, like a really nice bounce back from him after that unfortunate sort of cramping that he had that took him out of the Australian Open.

And he's given us an opportunity, thank you, Felix, to finally mention that Milos Ramnich is retired. Milas Ranich obviously did this about six weeks ago, um and we all responded to that news Slightly perplexedly'cause we all thought Milos Randich had already retired, but he hadn't sort of officially announced it.

and we felt like we should mention it so we kept on putting it in agendas but it was the start of a grand slam and it just never felt quite editorially right to slip in the news that a player you haven't thought about for three years has uh retired. Uh but here we go. Uh Felix Auger Aliasim's win in Montpellier means that he's now won more titles than any Canadian man, and that moves him ahead.

Of Milos Rownic, who had eight, um which and and an incredible career, Milos Rownic. Happy retirement, Milos. Sorry. Sorry, it's taken us so long for us to mention you and for anybody that hadn't heard about the Milos Rownich retirement, sorry that you've been living in the dark for the last six weeks thinking that Milos Rownitch is is a is an active tennis player waiting for him to take to the court. Uh but no, he he's not gonna

No. Uh i and it is ten ye I mean it's not surprising in a way that he's kind of drifted out of our consciousness. I mean i as you say, it's it's sometime since he played active tennis matches, but it's it's really ten years ago when he had his His heyday, if you think of it, he he that was the year that he he reached the Wimbledon final.

and and and played Andy Murray in the final. It was the year twenty sixteen that he that he very nearly beat Murray in the the ATP finals and could have changed history there because Murray fought back and won that title and ended up finishing the year world number one. You know, that was a a huge moment as well for

Um and a and there was a and he was two sets to one up against Murray in in Australia as well. So there was a period there where he was he was really causing some of the top players problems. Not all of them. I mean, Novak Djokovic used to really handle his big game very comfortably, but having been on the other side of the court,

um sort of court level behind a glass window when his serve smacks into your window. I it's one heck of a a force that he would hit that ball with. And and I feel like Hey Akshay! fulfilled his potential and actually exceeded what I would have expected he would have been able to do. Um

I I spent a little bit of time with him at Queens, sort of behind the scenes. Um I think it was twenty seventeen he did a he he he did one of these little sort of media colour pieces where he was taken to the House of Commons for a tour by the Speaker of the House, John Burko, and I went along. So I got to know K Milasz Ranich a little bit during that period and he was he was good company. Um and it'd be interesting to see what he goes to.

Really good. That that was fun. I mean mine wasn't led by John Burko, so I probably had a slightly superior experience, but still It was good fun and and he he was he was a good laugher. And he was quite an inquisitive person to be around. You know, he was very interested in how Leicester City had won the Premier League and lots of things like that was going on at the time. Um but I am interested to see what he goes on to do, whether he

a foot in tennis in some way. I I kind of hope he does. But um Not really sure what it what his plans will be. Um just just just very quickly on um on that final with Oji Ali Hassim. He hi his record as well is seventy percent of his matches he wins indoors.

and only fifty six percent of them he wins outdoors. I mean that's a it's a heck of a differential. Manorino is trying to combat this by Standing out really wide to serve with his left hand, so he was standing in like a doubles position and he was trying to He was trying to put Oji Aliasim into the sort of sponsor hoardings on the side of the the court and he was very nearly getting him to hit the hit them as he hit the ball. Um but it still wasn't quite a bit.

That is very Adrianorino, isn't it?

Uh right. Uh moving on to the Davis Cup and round one qualifiers that were played this weekend. There will be Second round qualifiers they'll be played in September involving the teams that won through these first round of qualifiers. So this is what we had. I think probably the headline is the fact that Great Britain beat

Casper Rudless Norway. Rude welcomed the uh his first child, uh kind of on the eve of this uh tie, so no no great surprise that he wasn't part of Team Norway, although he did leave it to the very last minute to pull out, or certainly Norway waited to the very last minute to announce that he was was pulling out. Um so G B uh the three and O winners with the returning Jack Draper, quite a big moment, similar to Artifice in in Montpellier. Jack Draper's been out for a similar

amount of time. Um and sort of good news, bad news, he returned, he played someone ranked outside the world's top three hundred, he looked to dream, and then he didn't play again and he's now pulled out of Rotterdam. Um and you know, he's talking down the significance of that, but

I don't know, Matt, that doesn't that doesn't sound brilliant to me from a Jack Draper point of view. What do you think? I mean y I I get why he's being abs totally cautious, if not over cautious. You know, you don't want to spend seven months on the sidelines and have it be for nothing, you know, for the sake of a week. But either you're either you're ready to go or you're not.

kind of like and if he's if he's if he's not ready to to pr properly play day in day out tennis now, then I don't know, that that's that's a worry. What do you think? Yeah, I was I was trying to to play, so therefore, you know, you feel like maybe he has felt something this week that he's not quite ready. Uh I c I can imagine there's a lot of anxiety.

for him about how best to handle this return when you've been on the sidelines for so long, the last thing you want to do is set yourself back anymore in in any any kind of way and I think now the plan is for him to play later this month, uh in in the Middle East. Um but yeah, like at like at one point you've you've probably gotta try

playing a tournament where you n where you're hopefully gonna have have sort of what Feast had this week, which is like multiple matches in a week, and kind of see how you respond to that. Uh so I really hope that He didn't feel any unexpected pain or anything this week. Um and it's and it is just uh decision in terms of being, you know, cautious and

taking maybe all the necessary steps that he has to take. Um but yeah, I was I was sort of ready and looking forward to seeing him in Rotterdam because, you know, the opponent he he played was called Jurassic, wasn't he? I think he might have played in the United Cup as well. Um You know, he just wasn't he just wasn't really in in drapers.

class really, so it was it was quite difficult to gauge. I mean, as you said, Draper looked really good. He's got a new service motion. He's he's changed from a pinpoint service motion where you bring your feet together to a platform where you keep them apart and I think part of that is to do with trying to protect the arm a little a little bit more as well. Um

But yeah, it w it'll it'll have to be a few weeks until we until we see Draper again. But fingers crossed everything everything is okay. But yeah, I am I'm a little concerned.

Elsewhere in the Davis Cup qualifiers, South Korea beat Argentina, a team for South Korea that incl included Hyun Chung. Uh, and Sun Ruquan, they uh won the final two matches for Korea, they came from one two down. Uh and they will now face India who beat the Netherlands and Matt has put an exclamation mark on that and he texted the group about it yesterday. Matt is very excited about India beating the Netherlands. Tell us everything, Matt.

Well now we get South Korea versus India for a place at the Davis Cup. finals, which is really cool. Um and Yeah, I mean that that Argentina team was very weak. They didn't they didn't have anyone who'd played Davis Cup before. Um but nice to see Yung Chung get a get a moment again and Sort of be the star, he got he got the uh winning point for them and yes, Sun Wu Kwan is still completing his military.

in Korea. So if you if you're wondering why you haven't seen him on the tour recently, it's it's because of that. But he is able to play those Davis Cup ties still. Um so that was a really big win for them against Argentina and then India against the Netherlands. Well I mean the Netherlands have been such a sort of sneaky force in Davis Carpo the last few years, you know, reached the reached the final a few years ago. But there's a there's a real dispute currently at the heart of the of

of the Dutch Davis Cup team and Greekspoor is essentially on strike and not playing for the Netherlands anymore. He's very unhappy about the about the setup. He described the the Dutch uh Federation as amateurist. and is very unhappy with uh the fact that um

Uh Jacko Elting, who's the director of of Dutch tennis, is like never at the national tennis centre. He thinks that's he thinks that's amateurish. Uh he's disagreed in the dis in the past about the decision about which fifth player to bring into the team um and he's upset about the quality of the courts at the Federation and he's basically said that he's not gonna play until he sees change in in his country in terms of the way that tennis is

is run and make it more professional and better. So there's a big big dispute there. So he was out, Bortiek van der Zanskoop also out out. So a very weakened Dutch team went over to India And ended up losing and this guy, DK Suresh, who's at Wake Forest University, beat Yespa de Jong. Then won the doubles with Yukie Bambury, and then won the decider to get India through, beating a a a Dutch player called Den Uden.

and absolute scenes in India as they as as they won that tie, you know, j Suresh, he was a big, big guy, big lanky guy with a with a big serve and comes forward to the net. I I'm not sure that that technique is gonna is gonna stand up to the very best players in the world, but I enjoyed watching it. The ITF were streaming this on their on their YouTube page. Um and he just he just took it. to his opponent. Come forward, big game, trying to get the first strike in.

And he ended up getting the win and he just he just fell directly backwards when he when he won the match point onto his back and his whole team came rushing on and suddenly there you've ended up now with a With a tie, South Korea versus India, where you know, whoever wins that, that's gonna be a huge moment for them to be at the um at the Davis Cup Finals. And I think, you know, this competition is still

We've we've talked about it endlessly, haven't we? W it's still it's trying to find its place and you know, it was a a standard Davis Cup experience where there were these good stories if you dig into them, but How do you watch it and who's seeing it? And and yet this sort of story is classic Davis Cup, a kind of unheralded name doing something brilliant for their nation and and and and sort of becoming an overnight hero. Um so

But I just can't wait for the South Korea India tie later in the year to find out who ends up at the Davis Cup finals. That's uh that's the one I'm looking forward to most.

Uh G B's opponent in the round two qualifiers will be Ecuador. They beat Australia p uh a d will be a very depleted Australia, but they beat Australia three and oh man. Yes, uh in keto, uh on the clay and yeah, an Australian team. Uh they had they had lots of sensations. Higge Carter, Duckworth, Kubla uh Jordan Thompson but but couldn't get it done and again that's gonna be two years in a row now where Australia not at the finals. Um Again, they've been a really good team over the last three.

over the last few years. Latin Hewitt's been desperate for some home and away ties and he he's had some and he and he keeps losing them. Um th they lost they lost at home to Belgium last year, didn't they? And now they've just gone out to Ecuador and now going out of this stage they now actually face a fight to sort of keep themselves at this at this level. So yeah, big big big uncertainty for Australia there, but an amazing amazing win for Ecuador.

Spain are gonna have to head to Chile uh for their second round qualifier. Uh Chile beat Serbia. Um I mean Carlos Alkaraz said, didn't he, in that post Australian Open Press Conference when he was asked After completing the career slam what is Goals now were he said Davis Cup, didn't he? So Off to Chile you go, Carlos. Just days after completing the calendar slam. Yeah, watch this space to see if Carlos Alcaraz goes to Chile.

Uh Austria will be hosting Belgium. Austria came from two one down to beat Japan. Uh and Canada will be hosting France. Canada beat Brazil three two. Uh USA, France, Belgium, Ger Germany, Czechia, they were all very comfortable winners in these qualifiers. And that means we will see Cechia yn y USA, yn ymwneud â Cechia. Mae'n ymwneud â Cechia yn ymwneud â Cechia. Mae'n ymwneud â Cechia yn ymwneud â Cechia yn ymwneud â Cechia yn ymwneud â Cechia yn ymwneud â Cechia.

Yeah, it was the it was the standout tie at that s at that stage of the competition last year. It was in it was in the US last year. Um you know, the US still had a pretty good team, but Jakob Mensick, I think, beat Francis Tiaffa, I want to say, in in in the deciding match there. And it those are two teams who if they if they all commit have got a lot of you know, the sort of top

thirty in the world are kind of from Czechia and the US. So the so you could get some some great ties there. And I think both countries really have talked about really wanting to win this competition with this sort of crop of players that they've got. Uh So yeah, like for them to come out on on on that part of the draw together, when you've then got a tie like South Korea, India, who you don't have anywhere near the calibre of play.

It sort of just just sort of shows the way the drawers go sometimes. But yeah, that's that's the sort of big headline tie, I would say, again, of that of that second. Hmm. Okay, that's it for part two. We'll be back in part three with a bit of news and a look ahead to this week in tennis.

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Did you know that the Shell V power used in my F1 car is very similar to the Shell V power you and I Welcome back to part three of today's tennis podcast and a bit of news from the tennis world reported in The Guardian top players reject offer to have greater say in running of major tennis championships. Uh so the Grand Slams, all of them except for the Australian Open, uh you might remember the Australian Open have kind of settled

their dispute. So we've now got Wimbledon, uh the French Open and the US Open kind of negotiating with the top players. uh on both the WTA and the ATP side. Um and the SLAMS have proposed setting up a player council Um and that has been offer which incorporates a number of other things has been rejected by the players.

Um in correspondence that's been sent to Wimbledon, the French Open and the US Open last week, the players turned down the offer of a meeting with representatives of the three slams at Indian Wells in March and accused the tournament organisers of ignoring their concerns. About play and uh about pay and player welfare. Um what what do we read into this, David, other than sort of more more unproductive tennis politics.

Yeah, well in short the players have made clear what they want but and they've they've done it both privately and kinda publicly as well. They've said we want We want a bigger percentage of revenue, we want an amount paid into the sort of player welfare post. And it seems the slams have come back and said, Why don't we set up a player council so we can have more more conversations? And I suppose they want to have those conversations behind closed doors.

I think the players are accusing them of trying to kick the can down the road, really. And And and whilst they're saying Yeah, sure when be nice to have that, but can we sort out the money first? You know, and th and and at the moment the Slams are just just not doing that. I mean they've got their own ongoing battle with the Professional Tennis Players Association in trying to sort of fight off this lawsuit. So they've got their hands full on a couple of

counts there, despite the f uh aside from everything else. I mean Wimbledon for instance Still trying to get their extra land in order to be able to buy. build and do more in the future. So that I think that they I mean they just don't want to be having to deal with these players asking for more money and they're not prepared it appears to just say, sure, let's just give you an extra seven percent or whatever it is.

And yeah, I I'm afraid this is just the nature of the standoff at the moment. I th they're kind of telling the players they they understand their concerns and they have respect for them and et cetera, but they're actually not doing what the players want. Um so yes, we continue. It's alarming how far apart the two parties sound, doesn't it? Like the players are saying we want

this much more money, um, and that's pretty much a red line. You know, okay, the exact sum might be negoti or the exact percentage might be negotiable. So seven percent sort of been floated, but you know, that's that's the headline of what they want. And the um the slams are saying, Well let's just have a load of meetings about it. Let's let's just set up a platform in which we can just have more meetings

Yeah. I'm sure that will rumble on and will keep you posted as it does. Uh Andrea Galdenzi has been reelected uh as head of the ATP. No great surprise. I d I I've is any um ATP CEO not been reelected, David? I mean I think I think what's interesting is I think this is the second time he's been reelected, whereas say Chris Commode was reelected once. Um I think I think that's a good thing. He never lost an election.

He well he was he he he he was basically given a kind of voter no confidence and may it may he wasn't he wasn't given another chance to to to get another term. Right. Um so I I think it's one of those that Of you you either move on to something else, uh that the because because you've got a better offer, or or it becomes clear that the players On into you and and and etcetera, and there's I guess in this instance maybe there's not enough discussion.

dissent to to to do anything about it. What what's interesting is that you know Gaudenzi has led this uh two week Masters one thousand event move and yet he's still getting re elected, um, despite the fact that players are coming out and saying they're not not happy about But then it I also think if you if you don't have a clear plan of what what you're gonna go to, um, maybe you should just carry on and not rock the boat too much more. Maybe that's how the how they No boat rocking here.

This week in tennis we have a WTA one thousand in Doha which is very much already underway. In fact today got underway yesterday, doesn't it, didn't it? So today is day two. We're in Uh round one match territory still we've got Nojkova against my joint, Maria Sakari against Zenep Sonmez. Alexandra Ayala versus Teresa Valentova, that one's really fun. And we've already had Alicia Parks beating Dana Schneider in a deciding set tie break.

Uh we've got the return of uh Jung Chin Wen, um I keeping everything crossed. for her it feels like she's been out an age and she's been another one that's just been having to put back and put back and put back um this comeback so So So many limbs crossed for the health of Jung Chun when she faces Sephir Kenin in round one. Um Probably the biggest news of the tennis week is that Vera Zvonoreva in the year twenty twenty six qualified for a WT one thousand and beat Peyton Stearns.

In round one. Vera Zavonoreva. David was commentating on her in Grand Slam finals in twenty ten. Yep. David? Yep. It's quite something, isn't it? It's a heck of an achievement, really. Um and a testament to her love for the sport, I think, and you know,'cause you've got to put yourself through a lot to be ready for these tournaments and yeah. She can still do it, clearly. And um I I I I'm impressed.

Yeah. I I didn't even realise she was still trying to play singles. I thought she was just exclusively a doubles player. But a bit like Andrea Vavasori, I guess. If you're at these tournaments playing doubles, you've got a gap in your schedule and a spot opens up in singles qualifying, it's kind of like, Well, nothing to lose, why not? situation. Um she faces Mboko next, by the way, is Vonor Avery and that's a twenty two year age gap between the two players.

Uh Irina Sabalenko is withdrawn. Uh so we've got Igor Shvyontek as the top seed. Uh Elena Robatkiner is is playing, she's the second seed. And of course uh Mandarina Samova is the defending champion.

And as Matt said, she starts against Carolina Pleshkova. This is an interesting one, Matt, isn't it? Anisimova defending this title because this is sort of where new Anisimova began. last year, this is where defending the points of being a top ten, top five player, this is where it begins for Anisamo. Yeah, absolutely. Um a great run to the title she had last year and I remember she was always playing late she was last on every day and it was a real accumulation of

of late nights and physical matches and and she really showed something there that she'd never really shown before in terms of that resilience. I think um she had had a little bit of a of a drop off, I think, sort of through the through the clay. There'll definitely be some points that she can that she can still gain on on on the clay this year. But yeah, like It's a hefty hefty load of points she's defending this Um and I think interesting as well to monitor Sviontek scheduling over the next

few weeks, right? You know, she she talked about how she's gonna do things differently this year and she is gonna miss events and yet here she is still playing the one thousand immediately after the Grand Slam where she's just gone, you know, fairly deep getting to the quarterfinals. Sabalenka, who is you know, she's been jostling with uh at at the top of the sport, is is opting to miss this one. Like I get why Sviontek's playing it. She always tends to play really well in Doha.

And then you know, like maybe she'll skip one where the conditions do suit her a bit less, you know, but frankly she's played well kind of most places on tour. Um so that's gonna be something something to monitor. I did I did think maybe she might she might skip this one, but no, she's she's there at the top seat. And I thought Rebecca might as well, but she likes to play a lot, so yeah.

Uh the ATP have two five hundreds this week in Rotterdam and in Dallas. Now obviously Carlos Alcraz is the defending champion in Rotterdam. He had been down to play. He has very predictably uh withdrawn from Rotterdam. So the two time r runner up from the past two years, Alex DeMenour, is the top seed and he faces David Artafe.

in round one. It's it's a tough old draw that, isn't it, for Arta? Yes, yes, and a g quite a test for the uh Feast forehand, even if he is fully fit because one thing Alex Diminor does is rough

And uh and the the wind up forehand doesn't like being rushed necessarily. Um although they did have a good match at Wimbledon a a couple of years ago and and and that went deep So but again look, you know, Fesus of if he's physically okay he's just got to keep exposing himself to this stuff and getting used to it.

is part of it. He he shouldn't expect to be winning that match. I don't think he should be disheartened if he doesn't. But yeah, if to me it's a win if he can get through matches without suffering setbacks physically. Uh there's a round one between Stefano Sitzapas and Artur Rindiknesh where Artor Rindiknesh is the seeded player. Kind of a real state of tennis uh situation. We've got a round one between Daniel Medvedev and Ugo and Bear, between Hubert Herkatch and Alexander Bublick.

and between Alexei Popperin and Felix Auger Aliasim Uh you've also got Zizou Berg, Stan Rarinka, Giovanni Pesci Perikar, Karen Hashinov, Cameron Norrie, and Burtik van der Zanskoop all in the draw. Thank you, Matt, for for putting Burtic in the agenda. I'm not sure he carries any editorial relevance there, but I do I do love to see his name. Uh in in Dallas. He's a marvel, David. In Dallas. Taylor Fritz is a man of his word. He is headlining the field in Dallas, David, with his dodgy knee.

I mean up to him, I suppose, and he knows his body better than I do, but I don't get that. I just don't get it. And listen, maybe I should be taking the view of, Oh, he's supporting the tour and he's made a commitment, so here he is, he's playing, it's good. But it's not good if you'd if you're never gonna get yourself fully physically fit. And I don't see that the state he was in the last time I saw him can become that in the space.

I hope I'm wrong, but I I I I just want him to do whatever it takes to get fully physically fit because he doesn't n he doesn't need to be playing things unless he is. He's got Marcus Giron in round one, Ben Shelton's the second seed. He's got Gabriel Diallo in round one. Uh, we've got Michael Zheng. Remember him from the Australian Open? Well, he's got a rematch of that thriller he won in Melbourne against Sebastian Corda in round one. Apparently he lost the college match last week.

Yeah. It's giving all of a ta of it, isn't it? Don't you diss Oliver, he's gonna be back this year. Uh we've also got a first round between Leonard Tien and Marin Chilich. I'm gonna call that intergenerational. Uh Tommy Paul and Jensen Brooksby, Grigal Dimitrov. Fifth more limbs crossed for him. He's got Alex Mickelson and Terence Atman against Francis Tiafo. Denis Shapovalov in the draw, he's the defending champion. Remember that?

Remember Denis Shapovalov winning Dallas last year and we were high on him very briefly. Led to me interviewing Yanko Tipsarovich, who was also briefly a coach of his. Also in the drawer, which is a very sort of withering way of putting it, Matt, in the agenda. Also in the draw, Flavio Caboli. Which is I suppose what he deserves after losing in straight sets to Luca Nardi last week.

Um, I've gotta say, being a Kabali guy has been a a rough ride in twenty twenty six. There have to be there have to be better days ahead. It's it's rinse and repeat for Kabali, isn't it? He started last year terribly and you thought okay, he's got a chance to make up some points and yet he's He's struggling again, but struggling. Watery shits and a a loss to Luca Nardi. I don't think seasons

I don't think there is a worse start to a season than that, other than a career ending injury. You don't want to jump off the bandwagon now they're catching'cause then when he has his surge it's horrible when he starts doing well and you're not on. Yeah, yeah. I'm I've got a comfy seat, don't worry. But it has been catastrophic.

Did he get a win at United Cup? He got one maybe, didn't he? Against uh against Warinka. Was that right? Yeah, and that was a struggle. Well Warinka's been great though. That's ended up not being a bad win. Um To be clear, being highlighted on my list of in the draw is a is a huge compliment. It's just It's an honour. Yeah. It's just that he wasn't playing anyone interesting in the first round. So I didn't I didn't list it there. But yeah, I wanted to Wanted to let you know. Yeah, it is good.

They are. Yeah, they're a good time, the five hundred. Uh there's also a two fifty in Buenos Aires, the uh the South American swing before Indian Wells, Francisco Cerindolo and Luciano Darderi are the top two seeds. You've also got Joel Fonseca, more limbs crossed for for fitness.

Matteo Bertrini, I'm running out of limbs, but he can have one or two. And Sebastian Baez, all in the drawer. Did you see the little social video from um last week? I think it was the LTA one of uh Jack Draper And he was asked who he was asked for a non r the last text he received from a non British tennis player And it was Matteo Berratini just sort of checking in on his health. I like the idea that he's the sort of the doyen of injured ATP players, just checking in on them all one by one.

Oh bless it. Okay, that is that's this week in tennis. Actually quite a Quite a busy, fun week ahead. We'll of course be back with the podcast at the end of all of it. Uh we have got quite a mascot this week, folks. Uh our mascot is Teddy. David is o uh Teddy is owned by David Ragsdale, amazing name, and Teddy is a toy poodle.

He's seven years old and aside from eating and going for walks, his main interest is snuggling. He's always looking for a soft soft lap to settle down in. Um he's very um cocoa and rescue is Teddy. Um and Spinny Jean is half toy poodle, so I've got a got a soft spot in my heart for them. And Teddy is gorgeous and very well camouflaged with the furniture. In this photo I'm looking at. Yeah, which will be in the newsletter and, well, you're looking at it now if you're watching us on YouTube.

Um enjoy. Thank you, David, and thank you, Teddy. Uh hello and thank you to our mascots, Bodie. It's tough being a Kaboli guy, but we're hanging in there, Bodie. Uh Maisie and Roger are David and Matt's mascots. And you're both in sort of

handsome mid-table territory in the fantasy league. So no disgrace on Maze Masium Roger. Uh we have our top folks and executive producers Greg, Chris and Jeff. Hello to you. And let's have some shout out We have two shout outs today and they're both excellent and we start with Kelsey Turner from Philadelphia and Kelsey is Kelsey of shouting out her dad who's big with dad's face. Oh Kelsey And Kelsey says my dad Brett, the dad Sister Devon and I are headed to Charleston.

For the first time, I'll be sure to head to all the Yonx sponsored players in an attempt to say hi to Pam. Don't know whether Pam's gonna be in Charleston, but Pam, if you're listening, this is this is the call out from Kelsey. Head to head to Charleston and say hi to her and her excellent day. I love that so much. Kelsey, you have given us such a gift uh on the tennis podcast over the last couple of years. You and your dad, Brett, thank you and have a wonderful time in Charleston.

And finally, we have Andrew H. And we know Andrew. Andrew of course spoke at the history conference last year. Spoke brilliantly. Andrew would like to give a mega birthday shout out. for his husband Alessandro. And Alessandro shares his birthday with Catherine on Tuesday. Andrew's birthday is today, the ninth. Today. And Alessandro's is tomorrow. Like Wow, said

Happy birthday all of you back to back birthdays. Wow. That's like me and my friends Sarah and Grace from School, my two oldest friends, our birthdays are the ninth, tenth, and eleventh of of February, and when we were young we thought that was the most interesting fact that had ever existed in the world. It was like our whole personality for a for a time there. Andrew and Alessandro, what are you doing to celebrate your joint? I bet they've had some good joint parties over the years.

That's really cool. Let's see what have I got here? Andrew says that unfortunately Alessandro is working. He's working at the uh Bologna Opera House. Which is apparently in the in the area sounds tough for Alessandro, that that that gig. It's in the area where the Davis Cup was was held last year. I hope you have a wonderful combined birthday, forty eight hours of celebration, or m uh and more if you fancy it. I'm having a whole

Whole week of fun. And yeah, happy birthday to all who celebrate this week, myself included. Uh, thank you very much for being friends of the tennis podcast. Of course, if you'd like to become a friend, the link is in our show notes. You get access to that Australian Open Review show. uh and uh significantly fewer ads in your listening experience you get access to the barge or community platform monthly.

Uh live QA shows, uh tennis relived episodes, all sorts of fun to be had with uh being a friend of the tennis podcast. So the link

for that is in our show notes. We are part of the Athletic Podcast Network. Um and just before we go today, um unfortunately we've had some pretty devastating news in the um tennis media journalism community over the last You might have seen quite a lot of tribute. ymwneud â'r hyn ymwneud â'r ymwneud â'r ymwneud â'r ymwneud â'r ymwneud â'r ymwneud â'r ymwneud â'r ymwneud â'r ymwneud â'r ymwneud â'r ymwneud â'r

he was so young and we're all still very much in shock about this news. Um Because he was He was a very significant figure in in the tennis world over the last twenty years, David. Yeah, and this was sudden. Um he was taken ill, the telegraph says, on Wednesday and died the following day in hospital. Um

just forty six years of age, as you say. Mark was um was Simon Briggs' predecessor as tennis correspondent for the telegraph. He he followed in the footsteps of the great John Parsons, who was the longtime correspondent And they they only had five correspondents, I believe, in the history of the the newspaper in tennis and uh

And Mark was effectively chosen by John to succeed him. I I I remember John introducing me to Mark in two thousand four at the Royal Albert Hall where I was running the media operation for the Champions Tour event there and uh Mark I mean he was he was fresh out of university he was In fact I think he was still at university. He had a sort of scrapbook of articles with him that he'd had published

while he was at university and y you could just tell how impressed John was with him. And John died a couple of years later. Mark was appointed the telegraph tenn tennis correspondent and um and still only in his mid twenties at the time and that was pr m totally unheard of really to to be that young in such a role and uh and he was in that position for

six years. He was in my experience he was a gentle soul. And I mean, he had a sharp pen when he felt the need arise. He I remember one eviscerating takedown of the uh of the money he perceived that had been wasted by the British Federation, the LTA, on expensive coaches in the mid two thousands.

But, you know, to deal with him sort of one to one, he was a a very gentle fellow and um he I I would say he was more a a writer than a story breaker. He he had a lo a lovely way with words. Um And it was no surprise to me that he he later flourished as an author and uh and he's produced books.

such as searching for Novak on an unauthorized biography of Novak Djokovic that has been very popular, um, and more recently being Carlos Alcaraz, um Just forty six and our thoughts in particular go out to his partner, Amy, and their two daughters, Molly, fifteen, and Rosie, twelve. the first British tennis journalist that I really sort of spoke to because he was Always there at the Abbot Hall.

as you said, for those those first few years that I worked on that event, I think the tel did the telegraph have a sort of media partnership with with that event. Yeah. Um and the fact that he was so young, you know, it was really Stark how how young and fresh she was compared to all the other um tennis journalists. And that that made that sort of profession feel that much more achievable for me. I remember I remember having some conversations with him and Yeah, gentle is a very

Very good um good word to describe how I think uh pretty much everybody found him. So exactly as you say, our our thoughts are with all of his friends, family and loved ones at the moment. It's uh it's a terrible shock. Um and he will be missed by the tennis tennis media community, that is for sure. Um that's it for the Shipping, billing, admin, payroll, marketing, you're managing all the things. So why waste time sending important documents the old fashioned way?

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