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This is Billie Jean King. This is

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he added know and you listening to the

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Teddy's but guess. What?

1:01

Hello And welcome to the

1:03

Ten his podcast On this

1:05

fine and Monday morning the

1:07

day after it's been too

1:09

busy. A Tools Of Crowned

1:11

Champions in Stuttgart, Munich, Bucharest

1:13

wrong and Barcelona. Don't think

1:15

I missing anywhere. There's lots

1:17

to talk about, lots to

1:19

look ahead to. David say

1:21

hello David. Hello Castle,

1:23

it's a lot of tournaments isn't It

1:26

did take some some following over the

1:28

weekend, basically oversee when they overlapped and

1:30

clashed is as per usual, but some

1:32

also. I found it quite an invigorating

1:35

week of tennis I i I enjoyed.

1:37

lots of the story lines are in.

1:39

I felt slightly short changed once or

1:41

twice. I felt like the were a

1:44

couple of stories brewing that we were

1:46

gonna get the full house. but overall

1:48

I feel like that's a bit. Better.

1:51

Pedantic to complain about because I wrote

1:53

it's pretty cool. Yeah, we've

1:55

gone from. Lots. Happening to.

1:57

Nothing. happening there is now the know tennis

2:00

available because we are in week one of a

2:02

two week combined 1000 events

2:06

which means that pretty much

2:08

until the weekend nothing of

2:10

interest or import will happen

2:12

so thank you tennis scheduling once

2:15

again Matt how you doing I'm

2:18

very well thank you thankfully Catherine we have

2:20

a we have a new Taylor Swift album

2:22

to listen to which will see us through

2:24

until the clay court season

2:28

and said this is a convenient time

2:30

for them and we appreciate

2:33

you Taylor for doing that yes Matt

2:35

and I it's like we've got homework

2:37

to do learning 31

2:40

new Taylor Swift songs and

2:42

we've somehow fitted it in around

2:44

watching tennis so not all heroes

2:46

wear capes we

2:48

have lots to talk about before

2:50

we get into it all I'm going to

2:53

tell you about On Location who are sponsoring

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and you might have heard one of the

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things we're going to be talking about in

3:24

today's show is Rafael Nadal well just

3:26

this morning the news has broken that

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code for labor cut packages, terms

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and conditions apply. So

4:51

we will talk about Nadal, we will talk about

4:54

Barcelona, but I think we're going to start in

4:57

Stuttgart with the WTA

4:59

Tour and Alaina Rabakina

5:01

becoming the champion, becoming a champion on

5:04

clay. She beat Marta Kostjak 6-2 in

5:06

the final. Her

5:09

third WTA 500 title of this season.

5:11

She also, of course, won Brisbane

5:13

and Abu Dhabi. We will talk about the

5:15

final and we'll of course talk about Marta

5:18

Kostjak. But

5:20

the real match that won her this

5:22

title, I think, was beating the top

5:24

seed and defending champion, Iga

5:26

Šviontek in the semifinal in

5:29

three sets. And the fascination,

5:31

David, of the Šviontek, Rabakina

5:33

head to head continues.

5:37

Oh, it's just delicious. And it's

5:39

perhaps even more so on this

5:41

surface. I think them

5:43

against each other on clay indoors. And

5:45

I know we only really get it

5:47

once a year because Stuttgart's the

5:50

only indoor play court tournament on either tour.

5:53

But it is just

5:55

about perfection because I think

5:57

certain conditions can probably

6:00

Shfiontek more. I

6:02

was asked you just in conversation the

6:05

other day, both of you, do you

6:07

think Shfiontek's better indoors on

6:09

clay or outdoors? And as the week went

6:11

on, and perhaps an easy thing to say

6:13

after she's lost a match, but I just

6:16

feel like her game

6:18

with some conditions becomes

6:20

even more difficult to contain.

6:22

Whereas Rebecca,

6:25

in steady conditions like that, is

6:27

able to trust what's coming.

6:30

Yes, there might be violence, spin on the

6:32

ball and angles and so

6:34

forth, but she's able to get used

6:37

to it, I think, in a way, maybe

6:39

it's perhaps more difficult outdoors. And

6:41

I think it just shows ultimately what an

6:43

incredible tennis player she is,

6:46

what a ball striker, what a hand

6:48

coordination, hand-eye coordination she has and

6:51

really good movement, particularly for somebody of

6:53

her size. And

6:55

she was always in

6:58

the ascendancy in this match and Shfiontek was always

7:00

trying to reel her in. That's

7:03

what I was getting from it. There were so

7:05

many games where Shfiontek's just trying to hold

7:07

onto a serve when she's been put under

7:09

pressure. And that return,

7:12

that ball strike, that consistency,

7:15

I don't think either one of them was, I

7:17

don't think even Rebecca was at her very

7:19

best in this match, but it

7:21

was still good enough. And I think

7:23

it really sets up this clay court

7:25

season nicely now, because I love

7:29

domination, I love watching Iga Shfiontek dominate

7:31

because she's so impressive, but

7:34

I really prefer seeing

7:36

that domination, that

7:38

majesty being threatened like this. And it was

7:40

in the previous match that Shfiontek had against

7:42

Radhikana, which we can come on to in

7:45

a bit. But Rebecca

7:47

has consistently done this throughout

7:49

their rivalry, throughout her career,

7:51

she's caused her problems. And

7:54

it makes me just want to watch them come

7:56

up against each other more in these next two

7:58

or three. Matt, is this Is this

8:00

a straight-up match-up issue

8:03

for Chiontek against Rabakkina? It's not

8:05

just Rabakkina, is it? We talk

8:07

a lot about her slight

8:10

weak spot against those big, languid

8:13

hitters and ball strikers. And

8:17

this is specific to Rabakkina, or is

8:20

it that Rabakkina's top level is

8:22

higher than Chiontek's top level?

8:26

I've sort of been asking myself the

8:29

same questions, really, and I'm not sure

8:31

I have a definitive answer yet. This

8:34

was maybe one of the times where I

8:36

thought, you know what, maybe this isn't a

8:38

match-up problem. Maybe this is

8:40

just what happens when two really good

8:43

players come up against each other. And

8:45

I think we so often think of

8:47

Iga Chiontek as this incredibly dominant figure,

8:50

because she lays down these incredibly dominant

8:52

scores so often. So to

8:54

see her lose a match on clay makes

8:56

you think, wow, is there

8:58

sort of something a bit wrong with

9:00

her? But I don't necessarily think there

9:02

was. She's just playing a really good

9:05

player in Elena Rabakkina who, yes,

9:07

I think has some match-up advantages

9:10

against Iga Chiontek, like, as

9:12

David spoke about, she

9:14

can really step in on those

9:16

returns and put Iga Chiontek's second

9:19

serve, in particular, under a lot of

9:21

pressure. We saw her do that. I

9:23

also think Chiontek hasn't quite figured out

9:25

how to return Rabakkina's serve. I don't

9:27

know whether she knows whether to

9:29

stand in or step back. It

9:32

strikes me that she really needs to try and

9:34

develop a bit of a block or chip return

9:36

just to start some rallies, because actually, once she

9:38

gets in the rallies, Chiontek, she's got

9:40

so many skills on a clay

9:43

court to get Rabakkina moving. And

9:46

she can be okay in those rallies, but

9:49

starting off is just so hard against

9:51

Rabakkina who's got the big serve and

9:53

the big return. But,

9:56

you know, Chiontek won their previous

9:58

match in the final. of

10:00

Doha on a hard court, so they're 1-1

10:02

this year. They've had very similar

10:05

seasons in terms of the titles that they've

10:07

won. Sheontech's won the bigger titles with

10:09

a couple of 1,000 events to her name, but

10:13

Rebecca Knur is sort of consistently

10:15

reaching finals now. It's just a

10:17

really good rivalry. So I still

10:20

think Sheontech remains the player to beat

10:23

on Clay. I think her record at

10:25

Roland Garros speaks for itself. She feels

10:27

like the most likely one to get

10:30

to the latter stages of that tournament.

10:32

She's been such a guarantee there over

10:34

the past three or four years. But

10:37

actually, I was looking at Rebecca Knur's Roland

10:40

Garros record after this title, and

10:43

it's sneaky good, you know. It is a sneaky

10:45

good record she's got there. It was 2021 where

10:47

she beat Serena. That

10:50

was sort of her breakout win at a

10:52

slam. She'd obviously done things just before the pandemic,

10:55

but that was a really big win. It

10:57

took Pavlyuchenko beating her 9-7 in the third

10:59

that year. Pavlyuchenko, of

11:01

course, went on to reach the final.

11:04

And then 2022, it took Madison Key's

11:06

7-6 in the third to beat Rebecca

11:08

Knur at Roland Garros. So kind of

11:11

like, kind of overtime needed to

11:13

beat Rebecca Knur at Roland Garros in the past

11:15

few years. And then, of course, last year she

11:17

looked good for two rounds and then had to

11:19

withdraw. So I

11:22

definitely think the one play Iguazriontek is

11:25

not going to want to face at

11:27

Roland Garros is Elena Rabakina. Because of

11:29

that pretty good record she's got at

11:31

Roland Garros, this ability

11:33

to hurt Iguazriontek in the

11:35

matchup. But

11:38

I do think that Iguazriontek, it's not like

11:40

– it's not to me

11:42

like a Federer against Nadal right at

11:44

the early stage of that rivalry, whereas

11:46

like, oh my goodness, Federer just is

11:48

being absolutely pinned in the backhand corner.

11:51

He's got kind of no answers. It's a

11:53

very clear matchup problem. Like, I

11:56

think there are advantages for Rabakina in the

11:58

matchup. I do

12:01

think that she's got ways to really

12:03

hurt Rebecca know as well and it

12:05

sets up the rest of this clay court swing

12:07

just perfectly Yeah,

12:11

I think it's my favorite Rivalry

12:13

at the moment on the WTR. I think

12:16

if I had to pick one to

12:19

consistently Be happening

12:21

within within the realms of of

12:24

realism. I mean, obviously there are fantasy

12:27

rivals that You

12:29

know, I'm not To quote

12:31

Taylor Swift. I'm not I'm not waiting for but

12:33

I am I am carrying a torch for You

12:37

know in my heart and dress given

12:39

a soccer that rivalry will still happen

12:42

one day But

12:45

of the realistic Rivalries

12:47

at or near the top of the sport

12:50

that are happening but just aren't happening with

12:52

the regularity that we crave. I think Rebecca

12:55

know in Chantek would be would be

12:57

the one for me. I love I Love

13:00

the contrast in the way they do things

13:03

sure the Chantek Technique

13:05

is so effortful, isn't it? For me?

13:07

I I find it less appealing But

13:11

it's never more appealing to me than when it's in

13:13

stark contrast with Rebecca news

13:17

Languid easy style. I

13:19

find that contrast utterly compelling And

13:23

I do wonder how

13:25

much it'll rattle Chantek

13:27

to have lost to

13:30

Rebecca in a wrong player I know it's a good point

13:32

you make Matt that will she on sex got one

13:34

over on Rebecca and on hard course this year So

13:36

it's kind of even Stevens,

13:38

but I do, you know Mentally,

13:40

I do wonder if

13:42

this will just shake Chantek

13:45

a bit that that Rebecca

13:47

has landed a tank on her lawn It

13:53

certainly makes the next couple now

13:56

even heightened interest

14:00

And I think that they're always exciting and

14:02

there's a lot to look forward to. But

14:04

yeah, this this puts a little bit of doubt

14:06

into things in a way that I mean,

14:09

I've been looking at Shveon Tech really as

14:11

the Nadal of the WGA door for the

14:13

last couple of years, really, on during the

14:16

clay court season. And

14:19

yeah, I mean, is she still playing

14:21

well? But that's two

14:23

players in a row who've got close to them, one's

14:25

beaten her. And and now we

14:27

get to move it along. And

14:30

I do feel I like these little sagas. You

14:32

know, we've we've got one in the Barcelona final

14:34

to talk about later. And I just

14:36

like these little ongoing returns,

14:38

rematches, what they're going

14:41

to come out with next. It's also it's not only

14:43

just sort of the emotional I want to get revenge.

14:45

It's what tweaks am I going to make? And and

14:48

how's that going to match up? Just

14:50

sort of specifically on this on

14:53

this semifinal, I was really thinking

14:55

what you just said there, Catherine, about could this

14:58

get into Shveon Tech's head when she

15:00

lost that first set? I thought her energy was

15:03

was bad in that first set. She went I think she

15:05

went to break up immediately and then lost

15:07

a string of games. And it was pretty one

15:10

sided in Rebecca's favor. I thought

15:12

I know she went on to lose the match, but I

15:14

thought that the next two sets were

15:16

reasonably encouraging from that point of view for Shveon

15:18

Tech. I thought her body language was a lot

15:20

better once she went off the court

15:22

and came back. And I didn't feel like she

15:24

was really getting down on herself in

15:26

those last two sets. Like it was it was

15:29

nip and tuck. I agree with David. It always felt

15:31

like Shveon Tech was chasing

15:33

a little bit. It felt like Rebecca was

15:35

the one in control. But there were so

15:37

many big points and the deuce

15:40

games and break points and Shveon Tech was playing

15:43

them well. And I think if if it had

15:45

really been in her head, she might not have

15:47

played those big points quite so well. So I

15:50

was pretty encouraged by the sort of

15:52

approach and attitude that Shveon Tech had

15:55

even in defeat. And

15:59

Again, as David said, Stuttgart. being indoors is

16:01

a little bit of an outlier claypool

16:03

event like a know about kinetic get

16:05

that when said it's technically over scrims

16:07

like him roam last year which but

16:10

the ended by retirement the net. But

16:12

if if we're back and I were

16:14

to go to Rome and beach be

16:16

on tech ahead of the French open

16:18

I think that would be a real

16:20

sort of blow against than sex confidence

16:22

as it is. I. Think

16:24

she on sex still. Sort. Of

16:27

backs herself where the I'm on the

16:29

surface even against you know of biggest

16:31

rivals. They'd the

16:33

giddy sense. I guess he doesn't need

16:35

to to make room in her garage

16:37

where neck strip porsche. We're.

16:40

Back to. Relax. And

16:42

a happening is to build a

16:44

garage. Stinkin sees one herself. A

16:47

Porsche. And doesn't

16:49

have a driving license. Which.

16:53

Is very tennis player isn't I am.

16:55

So if you're in Elaine or about

16:57

can is in a circle am you

16:59

might be said is. Trying.

17:01

To be in the right place

17:04

at the right time? Say if

17:06

she's having a generous moment. Like

17:08

Kevin Jeweller journal, the Champion Still,

17:10

David's been in a player's plays

17:12

with when a jeroboam of champagne

17:14

or something. And day the

17:16

last thing they wanted was to

17:19

be having to pay excess baggage

17:21

for an enormous enormous bottle of

17:23

champagne on the fly on the

17:25

way Heinz if he'd just made

17:27

to loiter didn't in the right

17:29

place at the right time I

17:31

became pretty experts in there are

17:33

acquiring of acquiring be bottles of

17:35

champagne from. From. aging

17:38

tennis players. I

17:40

got one, it never scored a Porsche

17:42

says the know I got, I got

17:44

one of those. Catherine on the court

17:46

ruled out at all from John Mcenroe.

17:48

In fact, he announced over his microphone

17:50

to the crowd that he was going

17:52

to give his. But. The champagnes

17:55

mates. I think it was a of the

17:57

bad things about a prediction I don't prefer.

17:59

It hurts. But

18:02

anyway, and then I got one from

18:04

Cedric Peeling when he won Nottingham and

18:06

up is very clearly I can't get

18:09

this in my baggage. Anorexia. We kind

18:11

of get on So to God and

18:13

I was like. Well.

18:16

I can't carry on the trust. Of

18:19

are just as good now. As

18:21

it we dispense to the on the die. Yeah, yeah,

18:23

see anything to dates M T

18:26

Huge name. Just David said the

18:28

basis of the day. Lean back.

18:30

In rain say they. Say

18:33

as some somebody. Around elaine were back in

18:35

is probably getting a free porsche or she's

18:37

gonna hastily child. Policy Driving

18:39

Test. Know.

18:41

Poses a multi caustic

18:43

incredible. Week. For heard

18:46

they are. I'm going to say

18:48

that against the odds reaching reaching

18:50

the final beating take a golf

18:52

much as a fundraiser on the

18:54

way but it feels like everything

18:56

of notes that mall at that

18:58

multicar state does is against. The.

19:01

Old slight. That's. How

19:03

she wins tennis matches right? The

19:05

something. I mean that and as

19:07

it's very easy to unite, bring

19:09

the whole being Ukrainian situation into

19:12

this instead of overlay that narrative

19:14

on it. But everything about the

19:16

way he plays tennis and wins

19:18

tennis matches is like she's fighting

19:20

against the tide and yet somehow

19:23

you know coming out on top

19:25

most of the time. and yet

19:27

you also have this feeling if

19:29

you're waiting for her to hit

19:32

the. Wall near I case another to be

19:34

in this match. Will it be in. The.

19:36

Next much they to that has to happen

19:38

eventually in and could that happen in the

19:40

final against Elaine we're back to know but.

19:43

I am going to remember her

19:46

quarter final against Take A Golf

19:48

which which my my what the

19:50

majority of together on Friday. I'm

19:53

going to remember that much. Fall

19:55

sick good, haven't batteries for quite

19:57

some time. Yeah.

20:00

Can't decide whether I love Cocoa

20:02

golf as as multicast it matches

20:04

or hate them because that to

20:07

they played this year which. Have

20:10

been fi compelling, but I wouldn't

20:12

describe as good and that's why

20:15

bring the best out of one

20:17

another. Didn't they quality wise know

20:19

equaliser? Which is trying to me. Now

20:21

it isn't as. They. Are quite similar in

20:23

terms of like had a let their

20:25

so. The two of the best

20:27

athletes on that on the to war. I

20:30

think that the such great movers and the

20:32

singer the rallies to go on and on

20:34

and. Like

20:36

in Australia is a really hot day. It

20:38

was tough supply of good tennis in those

20:40

conditions as sort of give that one a

20:42

bit of a pass may be, but this

20:44

one was just. It. Was

20:47

so high and nervy and

20:49

like. You. Just

20:51

did not know what was coming off

20:53

Coca Goths racket. I mean there was

20:55

one this one swing volley with sticks

20:58

in my head which pretty much hit

21:00

the back fence. And.

21:02

Then when she was match points down

21:04

she suddenly found the middle of the

21:07

strings and played this inspired tennis and

21:09

eventually took caustic i think eight match

21:11

points to get over the line. Like

21:13

spell wilde said of roller coaster matches,

21:15

but not always the highest quality, but

21:18

I did. I did find both matches

21:20

they fight this year pretty. Pretty.

21:22

Compelling. And yeah, that's a heck

21:24

of a rum to the final

21:26

for caustic three hours against Siegmund

21:29

say five max points against seems

21:31

him when survivor ethic against golf

21:33

beats the beats the Wimbledon champion

21:36

Ponderosa in the semi. Ah yeah

21:38

like. And as three tournaments

21:40

in a row now. Fun in San

21:42

Diego, quarter finals at Indian Wells and

21:44

Fun and. In

21:47

to go with a asked a friend open

21:49

court a fondness. well at this is some

21:51

real consistency them out to costs which is

21:53

great to see and yeah like. In.

21:56

tennis years the case isn't she's twenty one

21:58

years old still but she's she's

22:01

been around for so long,

22:03

she's kind of a mature 21-year-old in

22:05

terms of the amount of

22:08

tennis and experiences that she's had. And yeah,

22:10

it just all seems to be coming

22:12

together this season, which is really great to

22:15

see. It

22:19

is. I mean, you can't

22:22

take your eyes off her. It's not always pretty.

22:24

She's not the cleanest

22:26

hitter of the ball. And I think maybe

22:28

that's something that with with goth and costu,

22:31

like they neither of them seem to

22:33

be hitting that cleanly against one another. I don't

22:35

know whether that's just sort of an

22:38

alchemy of one another's ball

22:40

coming coming back

22:42

to the other. But

22:45

yeah, you absolutely cannot take your eyes off it. Von

22:48

Drochter, of course, having beat

22:50

Sabalenko in the quarterfinals,

22:52

there was a there was a

22:55

moment when we thought it was going to be

22:57

the top four in the semifinals. But of course,

22:59

along comes Marchetta Von Drochter

23:01

to make herself relevant for

23:03

the first time this season

23:05

just when you least expect

23:07

it. That's the most Marchetta

23:09

Von Drochter thing ever. And

23:13

we had Emma Radicarno continuing her

23:16

run of relevance last

23:18

week as well, didn't we? Ran into Iga

23:20

Šięevtek in the end, challenged her,

23:22

took her to a tiebreak in the opening set

23:24

and okay, wasn't

23:27

able to take it to a third, but gave

23:29

Iga Šięevtek a good run for her money. And

23:31

of course, before that, beat Angelique

23:34

Kerber and Linda Noskowitz. This

23:37

is she's putting

23:39

something together now, Emma Radicarno, and

23:41

it's really exciting, David. Well,

23:44

frankly, although

23:47

There are differences because of injury

23:49

and so forth. I draw some

23:51

parallels with Marta Kostjic, because Kostjic

23:53

came along as a 15-year-old and

23:55

had extraordinary results at the Australian

23:57

Open and then kind of disappeared.

24:00

And then you know overseas is

24:02

having and has had the trauma

24:04

of of everything happening in Ukraine

24:06

but she should have had to

24:08

bills herself as a tennis player

24:10

and we're now seeing the. The

24:13

potential coming out soon week after

24:15

week. It's taken two

24:18

and a half years more, even

24:20

for I'm radical new to go

24:22

from. Winning. The Us

24:24

open out of the blue

24:27

to read, struggling physically to.

24:30

To have a a body that

24:32

can withstand the rigors of the

24:34

tennis. Tall and lots of discussion

24:36

about coaches and all this all

24:38

the stuff that that the British

24:40

call him that Hannah right about

24:42

I'm around a Corner last week

24:44

as vital for friends of the

24:46

podcast math was all about how

24:48

wedding reintroduced to this player. We're

24:50

we're learning about who she is,

24:52

what sort of player receipts and.

24:55

Put. On guys remember yeah I ah

24:57

she's pets the player on I

24:59

most enjoy watching and yet I

25:01

least know because we just haven't

25:03

a chance to see her very

25:05

much and. When. You.

25:08

When. You get chance to watch her

25:10

in back to back matches. You realize

25:12

just how good she is, just how

25:14

capable she is of has mixing it

25:16

with the very best nine. Julie Copper

25:18

is some years past the best you

25:21

would think but she's gone and taken

25:23

her on instant. Got. In.

25:25

Our home country as she's really beat

25:27

my comprehensively and she's done it. with

25:30

some. With. Some guts and

25:33

stubbornness as well. It wasn't just

25:35

just shotmaking, you know, she got

25:37

broken into bad twelve minute game

25:39

of nine. Juices, And several

25:41

bright points in it's barely lost on

25:43

the game. After that, I'm. Oh

25:45

shit she back that up against and an

25:48

asked if it incredibly hit and miss in

25:50

her but on a day is dangerous and

25:52

as one set the six love the next

25:54

one's really close but radical new been bus

25:56

of them and then you're done. She's followed

25:58

that up which film sec. Her

26:00

she's gone toto for tie break, sat

26:03

in there are not many that do

26:05

that on play and she was showing

26:07

that she's got the goods. It's.

26:10

About trying to build. A.

26:14

A resistance to the circus to

26:16

the rigors, to the every day

26:19

grind. Because. That is

26:21

tossed that is not winning the Us Open

26:23

Out of the blue that. Doing.

26:26

What costs, don't get to go to final

26:28

the never wake of think it's another quarter

26:30

final. didn't get to a final. I mean

26:33

I find it extraordinary how these players are

26:35

able to do it, but if you want

26:37

to be a regular feature of the toy,

26:39

that's what you have to be ah to

26:41

do. And and this is a first chance

26:43

with properly had a chance to see Radical

26:45

to do that since Wimbledon for Fran and

26:47

Twenty Twenty One followed by qualifying and all

26:49

rest of it over the stat summer and

26:51

then finally ending up when in the Us

26:53

Open. That's not to say this will be

26:55

repeated right now. But. Equally,

26:57

why shouldn't it be She is good

26:59

enough to and to to be a

27:02

to be a problem for any player.

27:04

That and I just want to see

27:06

all the time because I love watching

27:08

a play tennis. Squishy.

27:10

Take attendance in. The dredge. The.

27:13

Soul couple years ago I was out

27:15

there in the to a cheese steak

27:17

salad. Lena. In the

27:19

end that she'd been a couple of matches

27:21

the full that's and ah and she'd to

27:23

say but she can days in jail because

27:26

he or she it's getting a ranking up

27:28

so she can get seated at these events

27:30

She's she's gonna have tough tools but some

27:32

yeah I say much fun to have had.

27:35

The. A profit player or developing into

27:37

a proper player on the tool. Yeah,

27:41

tennis is better for it. Yeah.

27:44

At those the stuff I liked that

27:46

said is illustrated just what a tough

27:48

match that was this film tech. It

27:51

was the fourth longest straight sets when

27:53

of her career. Over

27:55

two hours that sounds like is much

27:57

more likely to play a match under

28:00

one hour. He has play a match

28:02

over two hours and yet that was

28:04

it. Really? You know the first? that

28:06

incredibly tight second set com sec always

28:08

said of in the lead, but rather

28:10

Carney kept it close. And yeah, it's

28:12

really encouraging. she's hitting a forehand. so

28:15

much better than I have seen. Like

28:17

really going off the that shot at

28:19

times. Is that like she's lacking power

28:21

in the past on that on that

28:23

bowl? but not the moment. It's great

28:25

to see. and yes, but let's hope

28:27

that she can keep coming through these.

28:30

Tournament sort of unscathed physically, because

28:32

if she can have no doubt

28:35

that. The level is is good

28:37

enough to be competing with the Best

28:39

Buy's. She's got me

28:41

excited about full hand weights as I

28:44

can tell he takes underlings, but he

28:46

is. He's. Not a forehand

28:48

guy as him. Take by the

28:50

way last last thing on her

28:53

See ah this week Month Hundred

28:55

Week as the world number One

28:57

Consecutive hundred Sweet I. Which nose

29:00

or holders know those? A small leveling

29:02

cup? hear it in the middle? Where

29:04

were all. There was no My

29:06

God sublingual raises. This. Terrible?

29:11

yes, sorry. and hundred sleek as

29:13

well. Nibble on. don't editorialize on

29:15

the air on the agenda, Catherine,

29:17

That's what. We've just learned that

29:20

if Matt hasn't that it in

29:22

it didn't happen. It

29:25

moves their hinted nights on the

29:28

all time list that is in

29:30

the agenda. I feel confident of

29:32

it moving on. C Room and

29:34

the other deputy a event happening

29:36

last week one by Sloane Stephens.

29:38

He beat Magdalen at six on.

29:41

T Six Six see in the

29:43

final on Ritual said be Peyton

29:45

Stearns you I knew he ah

29:47

Karenina plus cover to I think

29:49

is he ready? Connie's. Has drawn

29:51

in the first round of Madrids as

29:53

they have yes although she's just having

29:55

roll a. Price. Of

29:58

Rights. again wasn't any agenda didn't

30:00

need to say it and

30:02

Caranine Garcia as well also a

30:04

victim of Sloan-Stevens last week. I

30:08

don't know what to make of this really

30:10

other than to say I am

30:13

so here for Sloan-Stevens being a

30:15

factor of whatever

30:17

level on clay

30:21

or anywhere quite frankly but definitely on clay.

30:23

I think it's a big deal Catherine I

30:25

really do I think she did this last

30:27

year as well she played a lower level

30:30

tournament and won

30:32

it and I just feel like

30:35

it's sad to say in a way

30:37

but Sloan-Stevens hasn't been a factor at

30:39

the top for a while you know

30:41

she'll have little moments but you

30:43

know she hasn't she's not playing Stuttgart she's

30:45

not competing at the very latter stages of

30:47

the big 1000 events but

30:50

she's certainly capable of doing it and

30:53

I feel like she's got to rebuild in order

30:55

to do it and I love that she's gone

30:57

to Rouen and has experienced

30:59

something else you know she often used to

31:01

be regarded as a almost

31:04

a poor tourist I remember when she won

31:06

the US Open she then went on that

31:08

run of half a dozen

31:10

tournaments I think in Asia and

31:12

lost in the first round of all of them and

31:15

it was almost as though she just wasn't

31:17

into it you know wasn't really that into

31:19

being away and away from the States and

31:22

and here she is playing tough

31:24

players I mean I watched a good 20

31:27

minutes highlights reel of that fine against Magda

31:29

Lynette it was a good good match actually

31:31

but Lynette really playing aggressive tennis that I

31:33

wasn't quite expecting but both of

31:36

them just going for broke and

31:38

Stevens just digging in and coming

31:40

out on top and I

31:42

don't know I don't know whether that

31:44

is transferable when you get up against

31:46

the the better players at the

31:49

bigger tournaments but I think that's her best

31:51

bet because she's got to she's

31:54

got to rebuild so

31:56

much of this going on isn't there but I love

31:58

that she's gone down to a slightly smaller tournament You

32:00

know, you talked about Naomi Tharker doing

32:02

it last week, Katherine, and being pleased that she

32:05

was doing it, and I think this is similar.

32:07

Obviously, Sloane Stevens is a much more natural playcorder,

32:09

but you're right. Watching

32:11

her on clay is

32:13

like watching an art form. She

32:16

just makes things so appealing

32:18

to look at. Yeah,

32:20

it's pretty staggering to

32:22

me that that was her

32:24

first WTA-level title on red

32:26

clay. She'd

32:28

won Charleston before, back in 2016, on

32:31

the green clay, but that's pretty

32:33

mad, I think, for someone who has

32:36

made the Roland Garros final and

32:38

has reached the second week there

32:40

nine times. And honestly, you sort

32:42

of ask what this result means.

32:44

What I think it means for me is that

32:46

I'm probably going to do something very irresponsible

32:50

with Sloane Stevens in my

32:52

Roland Garros predictions, because I

32:54

always get sucked into Sloane

32:56

Stevens because she

32:58

can look so good when she gets that

33:00

blend right, when she's defending and you just

33:02

think, how is anyone going to get the

33:05

ball past her? But then she's also got

33:07

this attacking sting in her game that if

33:09

she wants to finish points, she just really

33:11

can. And yeah, she had to dig her

33:14

heels in in that final against Magdalene. Dropped

33:16

the first set of the tournament that she

33:18

played as well against Peyton Stearns, and

33:22

was up for the fight. And that's what

33:24

you love to see. I

33:26

was actually looking at the sort of Roland

33:28

Garros odds and like the

33:30

following players are all favored

33:33

ahead of Sloane Stevens at Roland

33:35

Garros, right? Simona

33:37

Halep, Mira

33:39

and Graver. She's just pulled out of another

33:41

event unfit. Yeah. Naomi

33:45

Osaka. And Graver's a child, okay.

33:48

And a Salkalos round one in

33:51

Rouen, okay. Alina Svetilina.

33:55

Okay. Jessica Paguga.

34:01

Now. How did I don't? Your. Calendar:

34:07

Nasca. Is this

34:10

Is this correct? Post. Winning?

34:12

Real? Yes! My checked this morning.

34:16

Linda knows cover. Yeah,

34:18

I'm Maria Thackeray. All of

34:20

those are higher. In

34:22

the odds than son Stephen threat on

34:25

girls and let maybe. Maybe

34:28

the made many Stevens's such sensitive

34:30

known quantity now like pets that

34:32

works against a maybe some of

34:34

those players that Isis, Manx and

34:36

a bit more unknown said and

34:38

maybe you think maybe they're more

34:40

likely to do something outrageous. Lake

34:42

Stevens has consistently said his got

34:44

about the fourth round around garrison

34:46

then said have fizzled out and

34:48

last but. I know,

34:50

I just. Did. A great Sub

34:52

Lanka performance last year to take a yeah.

34:55

Absolutely. Wow.

34:58

Semi. Sizzler's tell when I have something

35:00

and amenities probably going to be something outrageous

35:02

of see if it's you have another Jeff

35:05

another good week I'll get a lose lose

35:07

my head with says the. High

35:10

ranking right at this moment is

35:12

thirty three. I tell you

35:14

what, Every top player is

35:16

hating see has another. Run pretty

35:18

well on girls. And gets herself seeded.

35:20

I mean, I know they'll be tools

35:23

and the current ranking will probably get

35:25

a rain, but I think everybody would

35:27

like it to be confirmed that St.

35:29

Stephen's will be seated. At.

35:32

Wrong girl. Plan.

35:37

On. Reading from that

35:39

list I am shit on what. Why

35:41

don't we just quickly touch upon one

35:43

of the players? It's in that list

35:46

as a favorite existence. the this when

35:48

well Garth name is soccer and as

35:50

you say David went to room kind

35:52

of drop down. still a debatable event

35:55

that by far the smallest. that

35:58

see has play since I come

36:00

back and the

36:03

most accessible draw in terms of

36:05

ranking and she

36:08

comes up against Martina Theresa in the

36:10

first round who is just you

36:13

know effortlessly comfortable on

36:16

clay and that is that's

36:19

really exposed the thing with this dropping

36:21

I still believe that was the right thing

36:23

to do for Naomi Saka but she's

36:26

gonna have to keep doing it I

36:28

think she's gonna have to keep showing up at these

36:31

smaller events yeah you know she'll play Madrid and Rome

36:33

and Roland Garros and all the rest of it but

36:35

she is gonna have to play I think quite

36:37

a lot of these smaller events to

36:39

really get something going

36:41

and that's gonna be tough because it

36:44

that kind of been a fun experience

36:46

full-time Grandson champion rocking up to Rouen

36:49

and losing in the

36:51

first round to Martina Theresa and in what

36:53

I thought was quite

36:55

a lackluster performance from Saka I was

36:58

a bit disappointed

37:00

in her lack of grit she was

37:02

really competitive in the opening set had

37:04

a couple of break points I think

37:07

on the Theresa and serve midway through it

37:09

and when she didn't take those her

37:12

head dropped and her whole

37:14

you know she was like an unwatered

37:16

plant then she just started to droop

37:19

and I thought that was I was

37:21

a bit disappointing but

37:23

I just hope just hope she

37:25

sticks with it yeah I what

37:28

I would say is I am

37:30

quite reassured by the way she's

37:32

communicating she's communicating quite often

37:34

and she seems to be just accepting

37:37

this is a process and a journey

37:39

and she seems to be kind of

37:41

getting something out of it even so

37:44

and and I like that but

37:47

it has been a feature of her

37:49

comeback to this point is being pretty

37:51

good being often the better player for

37:53

the first portion of a match and

37:57

getting us excited but not winning big

37:59

points not winning sets that that

38:01

level of play should probably win. So

38:04

maybe that is just a question of

38:07

repetition. On the clay

38:09

itself, I mean there are just some

38:11

glorious strokes she hit down the line

38:13

with the back end, sort of things

38:15

she does on a hard court. And

38:17

then the familiar discomfort

38:20

and lack of being

38:23

a natural on it just came to

38:25

the fore. But no, I'm hopeful

38:27

because of the way she's

38:30

talking. And so keep at it is

38:32

the hope. Do you just

38:34

came back to these odds which they

38:38

can live rent free in my mind until she's

38:40

the most silly girl I think of that

38:42

group. Putting her I

38:45

think Linda Noskova. Yeah, I suppose

38:50

she's not. She's not. She's absurd. At

38:55

least Bedosa's a got

38:57

clay court pedigree and

39:00

she pushed Sabalinka to three all in the third

39:02

set before she got injured last week. She was

39:05

playing well. I mean, I

39:07

know she hasn't done much research.

39:09

I will eat something revolting

39:11

if Paola Bedosa wins the friendship and

39:13

I'll do whatever you want.

39:17

Name the dare. You shouldn't

39:19

have named the dare and I will do it if

39:21

Paola Bedosa wins the friendship. I

39:23

said I'll sing the más ciez if our

39:26

Tofis gets to the semi-finals. Right,

39:29

yeah. Well,

39:31

yeah, I mean, great. So we could do

39:34

a duet. Catherine's going

39:37

to eat something awful and that's going to

39:39

sing. For the Spanish national

39:41

anthem. I think eating is

39:43

far less humiliating than singing. Oh,

39:47

yeah, probably anything. I'd rather eat

39:49

feces than sing publicly. Don't

39:56

quote me. I mean, I'm exaggerating for

39:58

Comic Effect but you get the good news. I was going

40:00

to try and make a sensible

40:02

point about those odds. I

40:07

was just going to ask, do

40:09

odds compilers still exist or is it

40:11

just AI now? Would it just be an algorithm

40:14

compiling those odds or is there a human being

40:17

somewhere going I'm

40:19

having a soccer Nozka-ver over, let

40:22

us know if anybody knows. OK,

40:28

we don't promote betting on this podcast, folks. Can

40:32

you tell? But

40:34

we can acknowledge that it exists. Yeah, we

40:36

can. We can listen. It's and it is. I

40:39

mean, you know, it is a market out

40:41

there which which actually measures performance

40:44

of players and likelihood of things happening. And

40:46

it is it is actually quite interesting to

40:48

see how it's set up. Science.

40:54

Yeah, I'm interested in that. Answers on

40:56

a postcard. Let us know. You

40:58

can do a combined communication. Let us know

41:01

about the answer or odds compiler

41:03

question and let me know what my

41:05

dare should be if Paolo Badosa wins

41:08

the French Open. Hey,

41:14

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comm slash tennis That's home chef

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comm slash tennis for 18 free meals

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and free dessert for life. You heard

43:08

it, right? We're

43:11

going to talk about Barcelona Munich and

43:13

Bucharest in a moment and a few

43:15

other bits and bobs as well But

43:19

I just want to take a moment

43:21

to tell you about the tennis we

43:23

lived episode that we recorded for Friends

43:25

of the Tennis podcast this week it

43:29

focused on former French

43:31

Open champion Wimbledon finalist the

43:34

last Person the last

43:36

of two people to compete in

43:39

an all-British Wimbledon final

43:43

With Angela Mortimer, of course, it is

43:45

Christine Truman She was the focus of

43:47

our most recent edition of tennis relived

43:50

David and I went to

43:52

Wimbledon where she's still a regular

43:54

member we spent an hour and

43:57

more in her company and it

43:59

was an absolute joy.

44:02

We've had such wonderful feedback from this

44:04

podcast and I'm so pleased

44:06

that that is the case. We

44:09

were on such a high after

44:11

spending time

44:14

with Christine. So

44:16

if you're on the fence about becoming a friend

44:18

of the pod or you already are a friend

44:20

of the pod but haven't had the time to

44:22

listen to Christine yet, here is a little teaser

44:24

for you of what you'll be in the store for. That

44:28

was my dream. I think one of my

44:30

dreams was to dance the

44:32

opening dance at the Wimbledon ball and

44:35

I always thought that would be the perfect ending.

44:38

I always had my dress for my

44:40

four semi-finals but never

44:43

got to use it for the opening dance. Have

44:45

you ever worn the dress? Oh yes,

44:47

yes, quite an expensive

44:49

dress Catherine. Good,

44:52

I would take to think of a beautiful,

44:54

sad, never worn ball gown.

44:56

Yes, no I went to the ball anyway

44:58

but you know, something

45:01

just didn't happen the way you

45:03

would like. But you did get even

45:06

closer. Yes, I did. I

45:08

did. I got to the final and

45:10

I led 6-4 and 4-3 and 40-30 so five points and

45:16

winning and I slipped and fell.

45:18

The court has been a bit of a moist day,

45:20

a bit of fizzle around and

45:23

I slipped and fell and I'd

45:25

already been, my first injury actually

45:28

was an Achilles tendon injury. It's

45:30

a horrible injury for an athlete

45:32

or a sports person so when I

45:35

fell I thought, oh no, not my

45:38

Achilles tendon and so lost my concentration

45:42

and rightly so, Angela Mortimer, who

45:44

I was playing against, took advantage

45:46

which you should do when

45:49

you're playing a match and competitive and

45:52

so I lost five games in

45:54

a row very quickly and went from 6-4, 4-3

45:56

and 40-30 to

45:59

three left down in the third. our final set and

46:02

I came back a bit but not enough. I

46:04

lost 7-5 so lots of tears shared

46:08

over that. A big

46:11

disappointment of course. I

46:17

read an interview from a number

46:19

of years ago in the Telegraph

46:21

with you and Angela together, Ian

46:24

Chadban's interview, a sort of

46:26

reunion on Centre Court and

46:28

he was asking about that slip

46:30

when you were five points away

46:32

from victory and he

46:34

asked you both was that the

46:36

turning point and Angela immediately

46:39

said no I think I would have

46:41

won anyway and you

46:43

said well

46:47

I think it was the turning point

46:49

actually. How much do

46:52

you think of that moment as

46:54

sort of the sliding doors moment? Do you

46:57

imagine the alternate reality

46:59

where you didn't have that slip? It

47:02

goes on through life, my life

47:04

Catherine actually, in that it

47:07

still irritates me

47:09

and I feel slightly mmm.

47:14

I'm glad that she won, she was 29, I was 20

47:16

so she wasn't going to have

47:21

many other chances whereas it looked like

47:24

I would have you know years of

47:26

it but it

47:29

hurts and I think

47:32

for me quite a strange thing for

47:34

Angela, she's a very guarded person to

47:36

think that she might give

47:39

that given opponent a 6-4 4-3 and 4-3 lead and you

47:41

know come back and win. It would be taking

47:46

quite a chance I would have thought you normally

47:49

want to get on top get

47:51

ahead not plan to win

47:53

a match from that far down but

47:55

anyway whatever It shows

47:57

the It

48:00

always comes back and haunts me

48:02

a bit. I

48:05

have to say that because she's

48:08

a Wimbledon champion and I never did

48:10

get back to that position again.

48:13

I got the semi-finals again, I think in 1965, but

48:18

I was never the Christine Truman that I

48:20

remembered. I was not

48:23

the same really after that. It

48:26

was an incredible moment that David

48:28

and I think sort of glanced at one another

48:31

like, wow, this is really,

48:33

really, really poignant. And a lot of

48:35

that interview was very poignant. And yeah,

48:38

it's life-affirming stuff from Christine. So that

48:40

is up now for Friends at

48:42

the Tennis Podcast as is Hannah's most

48:44

recent column. David mentioned it earlier, it's

48:47

about Emma Radicarno. The

48:49

barge has been buzzing with chats

48:51

about various different things. Don't worry,

48:53

the Taylor Swift related chat is

48:55

enclosed within one thread. So it

48:58

doesn't seep into the

49:00

chats of people that don't wish to

49:03

exclusively talk about Taylor

49:05

Swift's most recent album. But

49:09

it's a broad church folks, there's

49:11

stuff there for everybody, whatever your persuasion.

49:14

And of course, tomorrow we are

49:16

recording our TV and film review show.

49:19

And that'll be going up for Friends at the

49:21

Tennis Podcast. So if you'd

49:23

like to become a friend of

49:25

the pod, the link to do

49:28

so is in our show notes,

49:30

or you can go to tennis.supportingcast.fm

49:32

to join. Onto

49:34

Barcelona, which just

49:37

looked to have an absolutely glorious

49:39

week of weather

49:42

this week. I gazed

49:44

longingly into my TV at

49:46

the bright blazing sunshine as

49:49

Caspar Rood won his first ATP

49:51

500 level title, avenging

49:55

the defeat to Stefano Sitsopass in

49:57

the Monte Carlo, Monte Carlo. Carlo

50:00

Finelove just a week ago and winning

50:02

this time around 7563 in what I can only

50:04

describe as

50:07

a deep, deep troll

50:09

of Catherine Whitaker and

50:12

her predictions. I

50:15

mean that is three weeks in a row

50:17

isn't it? This feels like a personal attack.

50:19

David tried to warn you. No,

50:21

okay so last week I

50:24

had Caspar Roode and

50:26

he loses to Sitzipas in the final. I

50:28

was very scarred by that loss if that

50:30

wasn't clear on last week's podcast. I thought

50:32

he was appalling

50:34

in that final really. So

50:37

I'm looking at this week's predictions. I'm liking

50:39

the look of the Barcelona draw and I'm

50:41

thinking Roode or Sitzipas, Roode or Sitzipas and

50:43

then the trauma of the Monte Carlo final

50:46

hits me like a freight train. I'm like

50:48

what are you doing Catherine? Caspar's

50:51

lost you forever. So

50:56

I went with

50:58

Sitzipas and the universe told

51:01

me what it thinks of me. And

51:03

I did tell you immediately that

51:06

doesn't seem like a good idea.

51:10

Because you'd gone two weeks in a row

51:12

with Roode and he got to

51:14

the final both times and lost. Yeah,

51:18

I'm one of those people, you know those

51:20

lurkers in casinos on the fruit

51:22

machine thingies that pick

51:25

up, that profit

51:28

off the despair of the people that

51:30

have come before them. They lurk. I'm

51:35

the mug who they're all profiting from. I

51:39

put my coins into the machine with no return

51:41

and there's Caspar Roode jumping into a swimming pool

51:43

with a trophy. He

51:47

was good there, wasn't he? He was

51:50

really good. So was that seven

51:52

days ago? He's like a different

51:54

guy. Do you

51:56

think it's quite hard when you've beaten somebody

51:58

as handily as you have? Sitsopas did

52:01

and you then play the same player again. You know

52:06

it's so easy to think oh well the same

52:08

will just happen but I

52:10

think it's really hard to play that player again

52:12

because it can only get worse. Yeah

52:14

it must be

52:16

and I guess it was

52:19

an occasion where I always

52:21

wonder about the psychology of whether

52:23

it's best to lose having played

52:25

your best or lose having

52:28

played badly

52:30

psychologically and I

52:32

guess that Rude after the Monte Carlo final

52:34

he could at least say well I lost

52:36

because I played really badly. If I play

52:38

well I've still got a chance whereas

52:40

if you lose having played your

52:43

best I think

52:45

I would find that psychologically quite difficult

52:47

to cope with going into the next

52:49

meeting because I think well what's the

52:51

point in playing well they'll

52:53

get me anyway unless they're having a bad day

52:56

but it feels less within

52:59

your control I suppose. I'm

53:02

just so impressed the fact that he got

53:04

to this final for start. I mean week

53:07

after week after week he just

53:09

produces and gets somewhere most of

53:11

the time. I mean what a

53:13

pro for a start to do

53:16

that and then to really

53:18

turn it on in that final I mean

53:20

he was hitting his backhand better than I've

53:22

ever seen it hit. I mean I know

53:24

he beat Novac Djokovic in Monte Carlo and

53:26

there's some elements to that there you know

53:29

you're thinking is that Kaspar

53:31

Ute's backhand? He

53:33

borrowed somebody else's because that

53:35

doesn't look like his at

53:37

all but he's clearly worked bloody

53:39

hard on it and he went

53:42

after Citzabas. I mean he was

53:44

broken immediately in that final and I thought

53:46

there were a couple of really nice plays

53:48

from Citzabas he was doing that Federer thing

53:50

of floating a chip backhand

53:52

approach sort of Inside

53:54

the service box and rushing in after it

53:56

and bringing in Rude and he won both

53:59

of those points. It's it's a

54:01

pass but. Richest. Dog

54:03

in any to when after the ball

54:05

big time I'm and I just think

54:08

he. I think she's

54:10

a credits himself really the way he

54:12

just keeps on coming back for more

54:14

no matter how much does it really

54:16

struck me this week's some weeks it

54:18

is. It strikes me just how much

54:20

disappointment players have to stomach and of

54:22

because you you so rarely when the

54:24

tournament's and he's lost her all these

54:26

foreigners what is about five bottles in

54:28

a row? I'm an and a is

54:30

never never want to five hundred or

54:33

thousand events in a race, the grandson

54:35

finals but he never die with the

54:37

try sake you know unless it's a

54:39

to fifty. World you don't want

54:41

to be that guy, do you mean

54:43

it's great on one level, you're rich

54:46

man, he is davin loads his success

54:48

generally? You. Want to be? You

54:50

wanna be? Break him that and he's done it.

54:52

I've seen this is a big deal. Yeah.

54:55

I think he's. Such.

54:58

A learner Casper Rude who he

55:00

keeps coming back and keeps getting

55:02

a little bit better. Like he's

55:04

not going to just suddenly. Do.

55:07

Something out of the blue that he's

55:09

never become close to doing before like

55:11

he he has to to take the

55:13

steps. Since you know he he he's

55:15

the sort of embodiment of the stammering

55:18

coquo you know fail once than and

55:20

sad again the foul better. And I

55:22

think last week I spoke about his

55:24

of like his. Lack. Of

55:26

belief a little bit against these top

55:28

players and he said a reference that

55:30

himself this week saying he knew he

55:32

needed a different approach. The and sits

55:34

about humid summers paid sit supposed to

55:36

my suspect and that fallen. In.

55:38

monte carlo was this time he decided

55:41

to take it to sit surpass and

55:43

he was heading out on his forehand

55:45

and is david said his back cameras

55:48

in absolutes revelations especially down the line

55:50

is improved that must set that shot

55:52

out of sight yeah just takes him

55:55

a few goes to do something and

55:57

yeah lights he said of getting better

56:00

the time and he's now got that 500 level

56:02

title to show for it. But

56:05

I must say, I do think the

56:07

oddest, most

56:09

inexplicable stat in tennis right now is

56:12

Sitsopas being 0-11 in 80p 500 finals.

56:21

Like 0-11.

56:23

It doesn't make

56:25

any sense. Extraordinary how he

56:28

cannot get his hands on

56:30

one of these playtalks. Like

56:32

it's really weird. He's lost

56:34

in four or five Barcelona

56:36

finals now I think. He

56:40

could have told me about, so at

56:42

the time of my prediction it was

56:45

0-10. Yeah but then Rude never wins anything

56:47

above a 2.50. No, well he might have.

56:49

It was two curses against each other. It's

56:51

not like you were listening to us Catherine.

56:53

That's true. David told you and you

56:56

ignored him. And

56:59

then you're probably also thinking, well David what do you ever

57:01

get right? Trauma

57:03

alters the neurological pathways

57:05

of your brain. That much

57:08

we know. Anyway

57:11

yeah, he was really really good. This

57:13

Sunday, not

57:16

the Sunday before. Sunday

57:18

he was really really good. Well done

57:21

Catherine. What does it mean folks? What

57:23

does it mean for Catherine? Is this

57:25

a new level?

57:29

Is he now in the mix? For

57:34

Roland Garros. Yeah I think he probably

57:36

is in the mix. Yeah. I think

57:39

he has. A two time finalist in

57:41

form Edda Rafa on the

57:43

dial, this Roland Garros with

57:46

an injured Carlos.

57:49

Even if Alkraj and Djokovic come

57:51

good for Rome, it still

57:54

will have been a sub-optimal preparation

57:56

for them. This could be quite

57:59

an open role on Garros. I think a

58:01

two-time finalist in form has

58:04

to be in the mix. I

58:09

think that's a step up, don't you? I mean, I

58:11

think we often say, well, he's

58:13

the guy we never really give

58:17

the expectation that he will go on and win. And

58:19

I certainly feel like I'm in that camp, and I

58:21

would always put half a dozen of the players ahead

58:23

of him. But all those other players may be Sinner

58:25

aside, there are question marks over at the moment. And

58:27

even with Sinner, because he's not done it on play

58:30

and he's not done it on running Garros, it

58:33

just makes... I still think

58:35

those guys at their best beat Rude.

58:38

But I don't feel as confident

58:40

that he's going to run into one of them in

58:42

that form. But I still would

58:44

be surprised if Rude isn't there somewhere. Yeah,

58:48

agree. I agree with all of that. No

58:50

notes. Nidal, let's

58:52

get on to the Nidal of it

58:55

all in Barcelona. Beat Flavio Cabolli, Handley

58:57

in the opening round. I think it's

58:59

fair to say Cabolli was a

59:02

little bit overawed by the occasion. And

59:05

I guess playing Rafa Nidal on piece

59:07

de Rafa Nidal, maybe we'll cut him

59:09

a bit of slack for that. But

59:11

I did think it was an absolute

59:13

shocker of a performance from him. He

59:16

done forced their account, agreed. 27 on

59:18

four series in a 6-2 set. And

59:23

I thought that was generous. I felt like I'd watched

59:25

more than 27. It

59:28

was like he just forgot the

59:30

concept of trying to construct a rally.

59:34

Right, yeah. He forgot the dimensions of a

59:36

tennis court and the point

59:39

of a rally. You know

59:41

how you're a tennis player. Play

59:43

tennis. Right.

59:46

I guess, you know, the whole playing

59:49

the guy on the court,

59:51

the guy's named after it. It was

59:53

understandable. It is absurd. It is absurd.

59:55

They should have waited, but

59:58

they didn't. It's been called that. since

1:00:00

2017. It's ridiculous.

1:00:04

Anyway, so he

1:00:06

beats Cabolli in the opening

1:00:08

round and he's holding

1:00:11

back here and there on the serve, isn't he,

1:00:13

and on some of the movement, but it basically,

1:00:17

overall, given how low

1:00:19

and unsure expectations

1:00:21

were, I think basically it was an

1:00:24

encouraging performance. And

1:00:26

then in the second round, Nadal

1:00:28

lost out to Alex de Minor,

1:00:30

which is the exact opposite

1:00:32

of Flavio Cabolli in the opening round, who was

1:00:35

just gifting him just

1:00:38

hemorrhaging errors and

1:00:40

brain farts. Alex de Minor gives you absolutely

1:00:42

nothing. It's kind of the

1:00:44

nightmare opponent for somebody

1:00:48

on the comeback trail, as Rafael Nadal

1:00:50

is. But

1:00:52

really, I think the Rafael Nadal situation is

1:00:54

all about the quote he

1:00:56

gave after that loss to Alex de Minor.

1:00:59

He talked about how he

1:01:01

is broadly encouraged

1:01:03

by his experience of

1:01:05

playing Barcelona. He was encouraged by the fact

1:01:08

that he was able to be competitive despite

1:01:11

not letting himself and

1:01:13

his body go completely.

1:01:16

He basically has told us, I

1:01:18

have one

1:01:20

tournament left in my canister

1:01:23

to give it everything, to let myself

1:01:25

go. And that tournament is

1:01:27

going to be Roland Garros. He says,

1:01:29

I will try to take another step

1:01:31

forward in Madrid, then in

1:01:33

Rome. And if in a

1:01:35

tournament it is worth going out there

1:01:38

to give everything and die for it,

1:01:41

then it is Paris. I

1:01:44

get goosebumps every time I see that

1:01:47

quote. He's

1:01:50

got one chance to die on the

1:01:52

tennis court and end his

1:01:54

career. And he's going to

1:01:56

do it at Roland Garros. It Could

1:01:58

be in the first round. It could be in

1:02:00

the fourth round. It could be in the final. I don't

1:02:03

I. Bet.

1:02:05

He's gonna die on the courts and then come

1:02:07

back in to see month and play less accounts.

1:02:12

Or your i don't get rid of slime reading

1:02:14

that article for net. Yeah,

1:02:16

it is amazing and. Yeah.

1:02:20

I mean, it wasn't bad, it

1:02:23

wasn't too bad. Imbeciles better my

1:02:25

fears: He still feels like he's

1:02:27

round arming their the the Survivor

1:02:29

butts. It was certainly better than

1:02:31

I feared, and I don't feel

1:02:33

like he didn't look like he

1:02:35

suffered setbacks year in this match

1:02:37

like he did during that exhibition

1:02:40

against our class a couple of

1:02:42

months ago and are so. As.

1:02:45

He says is what it is, can

1:02:47

he do a bit better the next

1:02:49

couple cat but even even if not

1:02:51

can get to the start line in

1:02:53

rolling out and just just. Came

1:02:56

to the tank whatever is left and

1:02:58

you know from our well gee I

1:03:00

will fit song applied in his sort

1:03:02

of final match should say at Roland

1:03:05

Garros and and I just feel like.

1:03:08

You. You wouldn't want to play. it is

1:03:11

still wouldn't want to fly rough. Ah, the

1:03:13

Out or Roland Garros if you drew him.

1:03:15

I don't care who you are. You.

1:03:18

Thinking skills. That

1:03:22

guy's ass, So on. And

1:03:24

forty two. Fourteen time champion.

1:03:27

Yeah. Yeah I mean. He

1:03:30

lot. Of times it must surely die on The.

1:03:33

Court yeah it was wonderful. A round

1:03:35

robin girls are not met a bible

1:03:37

and the and he's raised one that

1:03:39

many say around. Here.

1:03:43

And also I was at my my nose

1:03:45

goes back to a couple years ago when

1:03:47

he turned up with his zombie force you

1:03:49

know in his his inability to to walk

1:03:52

without having his foot frozen completely an age

1:03:54

as far as you said during practices of

1:03:56

me that like a different player. Like

1:03:59

to? What? seen in the other tournaments

1:04:02

you can't rule

1:04:04

that out that he might actually have a

1:04:06

couple of weeks where he doesn't feel too

1:04:08

bad and imagine if

1:04:10

he doesn't feel too bad or

1:04:13

you know just numbs the body

1:04:15

part that that

1:04:17

doesn't feel good he's

1:04:21

gonna do it with a

1:04:24

zombie torso this time yeah

1:04:26

like he's kind of already been

1:04:28

through this doesn't he of like leaving

1:04:30

everything out there at Roland Garros as

1:04:33

you said that kind of was the

1:04:35

case in in 2022 I heard Caspar

1:04:37

Roode give an interview

1:04:39

I'm gonna

1:04:42

have to credit the source and that source

1:04:44

was UTS I do think they do very

1:04:46

good player interviews where they sort of sit

1:04:48

down and and have a meal and sort

1:04:50

of talk to each other and Roode said

1:04:52

that the day after he lost to Rafa

1:04:54

Nadal at Roland Garros he saw Rafa Nadal

1:04:57

on crutches which was kind

1:04:59

of like a sort of mindfuck

1:05:01

for him like oh my god I just lost

1:05:03

to that guy yes they didn't get anywhere near

1:05:05

him and now he's on crutches but

1:05:08

they know that wasn't a doll like leaving

1:05:10

everything on the court at Roland Garros and

1:05:12

like there wasn't exhilarating 20

1:05:14

minutes against Diminore

1:05:17

and when he got that first set back on

1:05:19

track and it was it was

1:05:21

really stark like wow okay that's the Rafa

1:05:23

Nadal that we that we know and love

1:05:25

he just didn't have it in him for

1:05:28

much longer than about an hour and he

1:05:30

spoke about that afterwards so he needs to

1:05:32

needs to build up some match fitness because

1:05:34

he was fatigued and he just couldn't couldn't

1:05:36

keep it going and he didn't as you

1:05:39

said he didn't want to let go and

1:05:41

sort of give everything either in true

1:05:43

Nadal fashion he spoke about needing to

1:05:46

be very logical about this you

1:05:48

know he does something in Madrid and then he

1:05:50

ramps up a little bit more Roman just building

1:05:53

the blocks ahead of Roland Garros

1:05:55

he's got a very interesting draw in

1:05:58

in Madrid and that he's got

1:06:00

Darwin Blond in the first round

1:06:02

who was born in 2007 so

1:06:04

like has absolutely no memory whatsoever

1:06:06

of many

1:06:11

of Rafa Nadal's sort of biggest career

1:06:13

moments and then the second round if

1:06:15

Nadal wins that is Alex Diminore again.

1:06:20

Yeah it's kind of that's

1:06:22

kind of a dream first round and a

1:06:24

nightmare second round isn't it? It's

1:06:26

Kibali Diminore all over again. It's very

1:06:28

similar and yet you know maybe it's

1:06:30

a perfect test to see how much

1:06:33

further along you've come a couple

1:06:35

of weeks later you know play Alex Diminore again

1:06:37

and try and do a bit better I

1:06:39

suppose like maybe you could think about it. The play to the

1:06:41

room row Nadal wins. I

1:06:45

love a David unsolicited prediction. Okay

1:06:52

so long as he doesn't die doing it

1:06:55

and he saves the... I don't think he wins

1:06:57

row I mean he beats Alex Diminore if they

1:06:59

play. Okay I think Diminore's tough

1:07:01

I think that's tough wherever but

1:07:04

I'll go with it David. On

1:07:10

to Munich David he said earlier in the

1:07:12

pod that Stuttgart

1:07:15

is the only indoor clay

1:07:17

court event on either

1:07:20

tour in professional tennis. It

1:07:22

shouldn't be should it? Munich should be an

1:07:25

indoor event if they're going to hold

1:07:27

it in mid-April you need

1:07:30

to put a roof on it and probably

1:07:32

some central heating. I

1:07:36

didn't see a single player bearing

1:07:38

skin throughout the whole tournament.

1:07:40

They were all wearing those lycra

1:07:43

trousers and

1:07:45

arm sleeves and looking

1:07:49

cold and miserable and fed up and so

1:07:51

were all the crowd and I mean fair

1:07:53

play to them they all turned out for

1:07:55

the final there was a really great full

1:07:58

packed crowd for the... final, which Jan-Lenard

1:08:01

Ströf, who made

1:08:04

it look like it wasn't cold the way he played

1:08:06

tennis, he's on a damp clay

1:08:08

court in cold conditions

1:08:10

and he's just hitting blazing

1:08:12

winners through it. And I love watching

1:08:14

him. Damp clay, damp cold clay

1:08:17

does favour the agricultural, doesn't it? Yeah, it

1:08:19

does. You need to be a bit agricultural to

1:08:23

make your game resonate

1:08:26

in those conditions. He

1:08:30

is a sneaky agricultural player because

1:08:32

I always used

1:08:34

to think of him as a tall,

1:08:37

big server, but he's suddenly become this

1:08:39

barrel-chested bruiser. And here

1:08:41

he is at 33, winning his first

1:08:43

ever career title. And I find

1:08:46

him so likeable. He had that incredible run didn't

1:08:48

he last year in Madrid and he had that

1:08:50

coach who was really going for it with him

1:08:52

and then he had that horrible injury.

1:08:54

Not him. Yeah, I think so. And he

1:08:56

looked like he wasn't going to be able to really

1:08:58

become a factor again because he was so badly

1:09:00

injured after that. And I

1:09:03

mean, look, he's beaten some proper players

1:09:05

at this tournament. He's beaten Felix Ojialiou-Seam

1:09:07

and Holger Röner, I think, in the

1:09:09

same day. I mean, frankly, Röner didn't

1:09:11

offer much opposition. That was a 45-minute

1:09:13

match, which I didn't see. And I

1:09:15

think, Matt, you may have gone back

1:09:17

to rewatch, didn't you? Do

1:09:20

bear in mind, though, David, that Röner's mum

1:09:22

has told us that he wasn't well. So,

1:09:27

honestly, when Röner wins tennis matches,

1:09:30

I just sit strumming my fingers

1:09:32

waiting for the social

1:09:34

media explanation of why he wasn't

1:09:37

fully able to compete. I

1:09:40

love Ströf and I just I love... I

1:09:43

was talking earlier about the perseverance. We've got

1:09:45

another one with Martin Fuczovic who won his

1:09:47

second title of his career, six years after

1:09:49

his first. Just

1:09:52

looking at their faces after

1:09:54

these things, all this

1:09:57

struggle to try to be the last

1:09:59

player standing. and how rarely

1:10:01

it happens. Even for the good players, I

1:10:03

think Sloane Stevens in her whole career has

1:10:05

won about seven or eight titles, you know,

1:10:07

it's not that many. And when they

1:10:11

get it, they've really got to make

1:10:13

the most of it. And you could see on

1:10:15

the face of both Fuchevich and Strueff

1:10:19

how much it means, and Rude, you

1:10:21

know, just this kind of like,

1:10:24

I did it, I did it, I

1:10:26

finally got over the line in one of these

1:10:28

things. And you can't take it away from me.

1:10:30

So good luck. Good work to him. And

1:10:33

I've always thought of Strueff

1:10:35

as a player who gets pretty tight.

1:10:37

Like I don't back him in really

1:10:40

close matches very

1:10:43

often. And I was very impressed

1:10:45

with how well he played under

1:10:47

pressure yesterday. Certainly at the

1:10:49

end of that first set, he saved

1:10:51

loads of set points, and then just

1:10:53

reeled off a series of points in a

1:10:55

row to win that first set. Then

1:10:59

he did get tight when he had to serve it out.

1:11:01

Fortunately, he had a double break. But

1:11:03

actually didn't need it because he failed

1:11:06

to serve it out, but then broke to win. And yeah,

1:11:09

it's a really nice moment

1:11:11

for someone at 33 to not only get

1:11:14

their first title, but to do it like

1:11:16

at home as well. And yeah, I was

1:11:18

really, really impressed with Jan-

1:11:20

then Strueff. And as you said, like

1:11:22

he's defending loads of points from

1:11:26

Madrid last year. So nice that

1:11:28

he sort of banked the 250 in Munich

1:11:30

as well this week, just prior.

1:11:32

You should just quickly say,

1:11:35

by the way, Rouen says hi as

1:11:37

another indoor clay

1:11:39

tennis event. Literally this week.

1:11:42

Yeah, although... David, it's the first time. He's

1:11:45

got fake news to me into

1:11:47

going off-piste with the agenda again.

1:11:49

Is it a new tournament? It's been upgraded

1:11:53

to a 250. It's sort of been

1:11:55

on the calendar, but not on the

1:11:57

WJ. David, we should never... state

1:12:00

facts that aren't Matt Roberts approved. Imagine

1:12:06

how we got on for what was

1:12:08

it about four years before we even

1:12:10

met Matt. Imagine if you go into

1:12:13

the archives and find all the mistakes.

1:12:15

Don't do it. David

1:12:18

you watched the

1:12:20

Bucharest final, Martin

1:12:22

Fuchovich beating Mariano

1:12:24

Navone. Navone is what the

1:12:26

commentator was saying. Listen this

1:12:29

was one of those tournaments that is

1:12:32

Yontiriac organised. It looked like it got

1:12:34

quite a lot of enthusiasm around it.

1:12:36

However would you know David

1:12:38

that Yontiriac organised it? Very

1:12:41

hard to tell. Yeah, he's

1:12:44

got his name on it. He's called the

1:12:46

Tyriac Open. Yes, he's not on the real

1:12:48

thing that the boxing promoter Eddie Hearn does

1:12:50

when he puts two boxers face to face

1:12:52

eyeball to eyeball and he puts his own

1:12:55

head in between them. And

1:12:57

Tyriac was virtually doing that when he handed the

1:12:59

trophy over. He was sort of applauding in a

1:13:01

shot that you couldn't possibly crop him out of.

1:13:06

It was one of those camera angles for the

1:13:08

TV coverage that wasn't

1:13:11

exactly ideal. But

1:13:13

I still enjoyed watching these two

1:13:15

guys go in

1:13:17

for it. Which was probably

1:13:19

one of the biggest matches of their lives. Certainly

1:13:22

Navone and Fuchovich winning in the second title as

1:13:24

I said. I mean he at the

1:13:26

end of it he was just sort of motionless

1:13:28

on his haunches for several seconds

1:13:31

just taking it in. Because

1:13:33

he's been around a long time and he

1:13:35

just hasn't won titles. He's won one in

1:13:37

2018 in

1:13:40

Geneva. But you know he's won another

1:13:42

one and good for him. I

1:13:44

don't expect him to be a factor

1:13:47

beyond what he's been in the past anywhere.

1:13:50

But he's got over the line in a tournament

1:13:52

and well that's

1:13:54

something to remember forever for him. Two

1:13:57

big wins for Fuchovich this year.

1:14:00

the Bucharest title and

1:14:03

Grigor Dimitrov being absolutely horrified that he

1:14:05

didn't feature in the top 10 most

1:14:07

handsome men on the ATP list.

1:14:13

You seen that video David? You look confused. I

1:14:16

can't say how. He was scandalised at

1:14:18

Fuchovich's lack of inclusion. It's pretty much

1:14:21

the first name he came up with

1:14:23

wasn't it? Yeah. Fuchovich, of course. So

1:14:29

I've got a catch up on 31 Taylor Swift songs

1:14:31

and go and watch the Martin Fuchovich isn't handsome enough

1:14:33

to put a top 10 list. Yeah. Some bits

1:14:36

and bobs

1:14:41

of news from the week leading

1:14:44

with the retirement of

1:14:46

two-time Grand Slam champion and

1:14:49

former world number one Garbina

1:14:51

Mugarutha. She has retired from

1:14:53

the sport. It's

1:14:56

a funny oneness because obviously that's a

1:14:59

huge deal, you know, listing her

1:15:01

achievements there and there are many

1:15:03

more besides. Are the Grand Slam

1:15:05

finals, WTA finals champion a couple

1:15:07

of years ago, extraordinarily. You know,

1:15:09

she made an incredible

1:15:11

contribution to the sport and yet this

1:15:14

doesn't feel like big news because kind

1:15:17

of in my mind she was already retired

1:15:19

really. I was pretty sure she

1:15:24

wasn't gonna return to the

1:15:27

sport. I know Instagram can be

1:15:29

misleading but it's really happy and

1:15:32

since she announced that she was going to take a break

1:15:34

from the sport, I think a bit over a year ago,

1:15:37

she doesn't strike me as

1:15:39

somebody that's looked back at

1:15:42

all. I'm sure in private moments she's

1:15:44

missed it but it seemed

1:15:47

very clear to me that she was at

1:15:49

peace with no longer being involved

1:15:51

in tennis and I don't know whether there's a

1:15:54

bit of a sadness there that, you

1:15:56

know, the sport wasn't able to

1:15:58

find a way to accommodate. someone

1:16:00

like that and make her happy.

1:16:04

But she certainly seems happy

1:16:06

now and we wish her well in

1:16:08

her retirement of course. But it

1:16:11

is a shame that tennis

1:16:14

didn't get her at her peak for longer,

1:16:16

I think. Yeah,

1:16:19

I've been thinking about Muguru for

1:16:21

quite a lot this weekend. One of my friends

1:16:25

who love sport but isn't massively

1:16:27

into tennis asked me straight away

1:16:30

should she have achieved more. And

1:16:34

my immediate response was that that would feel

1:16:36

like quite a harsh take on her career,

1:16:38

as you said, like two slam titles beating

1:16:41

Serena and Venus in those finals. I think

1:16:43

she's the only person to have

1:16:45

done that. World

1:16:47

number one on Australian Open Final,

1:16:49

Wimbledon Final, these

1:16:52

are all massive achievements. And side

1:16:54

note, she also gave us one of

1:16:56

the great aggro quotes of all time

1:16:58

being that Kiki Milenevic speaks 25 languages.

1:17:02

We will always savour Garbina Muguru

1:17:04

for that press conference at Roland

1:17:06

Garros, just absolute aggro

1:17:08

sweet spot. But

1:17:11

you know, only 10 titles in total. So

1:17:13

I suppose she won big but maybe didn't

1:17:16

win that much. But I

1:17:18

think what it is for me is

1:17:20

there is this there is this nagging

1:17:22

sense of sadness about her career in

1:17:24

a way because I don't know about you, but

1:17:27

my sort of introduction to Muguru,

1:17:29

I know she'd done some things before. But

1:17:31

my big introduction was when she beat Serena

1:17:33

at Roland Garros in 2014. She arrived in

1:17:35

with, you know, with such

1:17:39

a bang, such a powerful force. And

1:17:42

that her career has sort of ended in

1:17:44

this, in sort of the opposite of

1:17:46

that sort of fizzling out. Because, as

1:17:50

you said, she wasn't that happy on

1:17:52

the tour. And that I think does

1:17:54

come with with some great sadness. And

1:17:56

yes, there were there were

1:17:58

peaks but even even before. she took this

1:18:00

break, there were some real troughs in her

1:18:03

career as well. And, you know,

1:18:05

I think back to a lot of the interactions

1:18:08

with Sam Sumick, and that

1:18:10

was always a very uncomfortable

1:18:13

sort of relationship to observe as

1:18:15

well. So even sort of during some of

1:18:17

the best years of her

1:18:19

career, there were also these moments where you

1:18:21

felt like maybe she wasn't

1:18:24

all that sort of happy on tour.

1:18:26

So I'm really pleased for her that

1:18:28

she seems happy now and in

1:18:31

her sort of new life. And

1:18:33

as you said, I wasn't shocked

1:18:35

by this decision. And I don't

1:18:37

think of her as a great

1:18:39

underachiever. And yet sort of if

1:18:41

the circumstances were right a little

1:18:43

bit more, maybe she could have done

1:18:46

more. But yeah, like one of the most fascinating

1:18:49

careers, I think of the last 10

1:18:51

years or so, just so interesting. And

1:18:53

yeah, she

1:18:56

sort of left her

1:18:58

mark on the game, even though it wasn't the

1:19:00

longest career. Yeah,

1:19:08

I actually thought when she

1:19:10

first came along, I wouldn't have expected her to do

1:19:12

as well as she did. And then

1:19:14

she forced away into this feeling

1:19:17

that she could dominate the sport. She was the

1:19:19

one I was really thinking was going to pick

1:19:21

it up from Serena Williams and when she won

1:19:24

her second Grand Slam, and then she

1:19:27

became world number one. That's when it

1:19:29

seemed to get unhappy,

1:19:31

or at least that's how it came across. I don't want

1:19:33

to put words in her mouth, but she

1:19:36

didn't look happy out there. And

1:19:38

the results were never quite the same again.

1:19:40

Because I mean, when she would initially come

1:19:42

into press conferences and in that

1:19:45

sort of 2015 era, she

1:19:47

was so enjoyable to talk to,

1:19:49

so open, so comfortable in the

1:19:52

media's company. And

1:19:54

that did change. And that may be

1:19:56

partly avant as a media group. I

1:19:59

don't know. you'd have to ask

1:20:01

her but it definitely lots of things changed

1:20:03

in the way she came across and and

1:20:06

and like you Catherine I've seen the feeling

1:20:09

at least since she's stopped playing and and

1:20:11

it wasn't an announcement that I'm going to

1:20:13

retire it was just I'm going to take

1:20:15

a break and then suddenly her demeanor changed

1:20:17

too and uh and it is a bit

1:20:19

of a shame not to have a moment

1:20:21

that we can say right like with song

1:20:23

and all the other players that have said

1:20:25

goodbye to tennis for

1:20:27

people to be able to say goodbye to them and and

1:20:30

them to do the same but whatever

1:20:33

it's it's been a great career

1:20:35

she's had and uh and

1:20:37

I really wish her the best shame

1:20:40

there's not women at the laver cup and

1:20:42

then maybe there

1:20:44

would be a you know a

1:20:46

vehicle for retirement retirement moments

1:20:48

for for some

1:20:51

female players as well because it does sound

1:20:53

like that's what that's what's kind

1:20:55

of being laid on for Nadal at laver cup

1:20:57

for him to have the same experience that Roger

1:20:59

Federer had a couple of years

1:21:01

ago um Matt

1:21:05

an update on Roberts versus Reddit

1:21:08

from last week yes

1:21:12

my update is that I've been gaslit by

1:21:14

Yannick Sinner because

1:21:18

the reason I didn't think he

1:21:20

was cramping was that he took a medical

1:21:22

time out during that match and you cannot

1:21:24

take a medical time out for

1:21:27

cramping so I thought okay well it's clearly an

1:21:30

injury but then he he admitted

1:21:32

apparently I've I've checked and been

1:21:34

told uh he admitted

1:21:36

in the Italian portion of his press conference

1:21:38

that he sort of told the

1:21:40

umpire that it was an

1:21:42

injury when actually it sort of

1:21:44

was cramp that he was experiencing he didn't say

1:21:47

the word cramp I don't think but he

1:21:50

sort of described cramp and

1:21:52

he said it was brought on by nerves by

1:21:54

the fact that he didn't manage to get that

1:21:56

that second break against Sitsopas and he sort of

1:21:58

his sort of body tense They

1:22:01

all do it, don't they? I

1:22:04

didn't think Yannick Sinnoh would necessarily do

1:22:06

it. I mean, I do...

1:22:09

I'm loathed to have a whinge about it because

1:22:11

I don't have a solution. But the

1:22:16

cramping rules are satisfactory, aren't they? Because

1:22:18

it treats cramp as a loss of

1:22:20

conditioning. And

1:22:22

of course it can be, but I

1:22:25

think it's actually rarely linked to that. First

1:22:27

of all, some people are just more prone

1:22:29

to it than others. It's about muscle

1:22:32

mass, it's about stress. I

1:22:35

just think that the rules treat

1:22:38

it physiologically far

1:22:41

too simplistically. But

1:22:43

again, I don't have

1:22:45

the solution. Which

1:22:50

is very... Billie Jean King won't

1:22:53

be happy about that, will she? She only complained

1:22:55

about things if you have a solution to put

1:22:57

forward. I'll keep thinking about

1:22:59

it, but yeah, just

1:23:01

a whinge at this stage. I

1:23:06

mentioned that Matt and I

1:23:08

watched the Kostryuk and

1:23:11

Gough match together on Friday. We all

1:23:13

watched the latter stages of the Radikarnoosh

1:23:15

Viontek match together on Friday. And

1:23:18

that was all really nice, wasn't it? We had a nice

1:23:20

time watching tennis together on Friday. The reason

1:23:23

that we were all together down here in South-West

1:23:27

London at Tennis Podcast Towers was

1:23:30

for rather less happy reasons.

1:23:32

We all attended the memorial

1:23:34

service for Mike Dixon, the Daily

1:23:36

Mail's tennis correspondent that many

1:23:39

of you will remember passed away

1:23:42

very suddenly out in Australia during the

1:23:45

Australian Open. It was something

1:23:47

that, of course, impacted us at

1:23:50

the time. We received a lot

1:23:53

of incredibly lovely messages

1:23:55

from listeners around that time.

1:23:57

It was a

1:23:59

strange one-off. Friday, because obviously a tremendously

1:24:02

sad occasion of an

1:24:07

incredible family man clearly, and

1:24:09

a great, great journalist taken

1:24:12

far before his time. And yet

1:24:14

also there were elements of

1:24:18

wonder and happiness about the occasion as well. There

1:24:20

were, I think, close to 700 people

1:24:24

at this memorial service in Wimbledon.

1:24:26

It truly was a sight

1:24:28

to behold this many people. Gathering to

1:24:32

pay tribute to Mike. We

1:24:35

arrived about 15 minutes early, didn't we, for the

1:24:37

service. And the church, a

1:24:39

huge church, it has to be said, in

1:24:41

Wimbledon, it was already full. And

1:24:44

we were directed towards an

1:24:46

overflow room to watch the

1:24:48

service on a projector. And there were a

1:24:50

lot of people in that overflow room. It

1:24:53

was really, really moving, David, to see

1:24:55

that many people

1:24:58

want to take time out

1:25:00

of their days and their lives to

1:25:02

pay tribute to Mike. And it told

1:25:05

a huge story. Yeah, I've never seen

1:25:07

anything like that before. And there

1:25:10

was a line in one of

1:25:12

the eulogy is given by

1:25:14

the journalist Jonathan McAvoy, who's a colleague

1:25:16

of Mike's, a good friend of his

1:25:18

at The Daily Mail. And he said,

1:25:20

I cannot think of anybody in sports

1:25:22

journalism who would have

1:25:25

this number of people turn

1:25:27

out for them. And Mike

1:25:29

was 10 days shy of

1:25:31

his 60th birthday. He was, as

1:25:34

we discussed at the time, there was no obvious

1:25:36

sign of ill health. And it was such a

1:25:38

shock to all. I left

1:25:41

in awe at the reaction from from

1:25:44

everybody who was there towards him as

1:25:46

I was in awe of his career.

1:25:48

And perhaps most of all, I was

1:25:51

in awe of his family because his

1:25:54

his wife and his three children

1:25:57

who are now you know, the

1:25:59

late teenagers or early to

1:26:01

late 20s all spoke

1:26:03

and the stories they told and the

1:26:05

way they told them about their dad

1:26:08

was was incredible to me and

1:26:10

I can only imagine

1:26:12

how proud of them he was throughout

1:26:15

his life and I'm

1:26:19

really glad that I knew him and

1:26:21

I'm really sad that he's gone

1:26:24

as I'm sure everybody there will

1:26:26

feel the same. Absolutely

1:26:30

and we'll be

1:26:32

thinking of Mike's family I think over

1:26:37

the coming weeks and months and it was an

1:26:39

incredibly moving day on Friday and I'm glad we

1:26:41

were all able to be there and I'm glad

1:26:43

we were all able to be there together and

1:26:46

it felt fitting wasn't it that we

1:26:48

left and we all came back

1:26:51

to watch Emirati Kanyu which is exactly what

1:26:53

Mike would have been doing as

1:26:55

well sort of surreptitiously checking

1:26:59

the schools over our glass of wine

1:27:01

at the wake telling

1:27:03

ourselves it's okay because Mike would

1:27:05

have been doing this too. A

1:27:09

quick look ahead to what we've got this week

1:27:11

I've touched upon some

1:27:14

elements of the drawers in Madrid

1:27:16

the WTA main drawers starts tomorrow Tuesday

1:27:18

and the ATP starts on Wednesday of

1:27:20

course different times why would why would

1:27:22

it not be we

1:27:25

have round one matches on the WTA

1:27:27

side which includes Sloane Stevens against Martina

1:27:29

Trevisan Miranda Avergens

1:27:32

Taylor Townsend and

1:27:34

Radocarno against not Carolina Plushkova

1:27:36

because Plushkova is withdrawn. Chiantek

1:27:38

Gough, Jabbar and Sakari are

1:27:41

all in the top half

1:27:43

with Sabalenka, Rebecca Novendro,

1:27:45

Shavek Collins and Zhongqin Wen

1:27:47

all in the bottom half

1:27:49

and we have Jessica Baghula

1:27:52

out injured continuing what's been

1:27:54

a tricky season for her so far. On

1:27:56

the ATP side Djokovic

1:27:58

has withdrawn for

1:28:01

non-medical reasons. No

1:28:05

idea what that relates to. Hope he's

1:28:07

okay, hope his family's okay. I guess

1:28:10

he's trying to say that I'm

1:28:13

fit and I'm healthy, so we

1:28:15

would expect to see him in Rome. Carlos

1:28:19

Alcaraz, of course, has been suffering with

1:28:22

that forearm injury. He's the defending champion.

1:28:24

He is in the draw, as things

1:28:26

stand at the moment. So

1:28:28

we have round ones that include Darwin

1:28:31

Blanche against Rafa Al Nidal with, as

1:28:33

discussed, the winner to play Alex de

1:28:35

Menor, Nishioka against Felix Wojalie, a team

1:28:38

best player in the world, Thomas Mahatch

1:28:40

against Emil Ruhusevoore and Aslan

1:28:43

Karatsov against Fabian Marozhan, Sinema

1:28:45

Vadev, Rude and Sitzipas are

1:28:47

all in the top half

1:28:49

with Hercach, Zverev, Rublev

1:28:51

Alcaraz and Aruna all

1:28:54

in the bottom half. There's going to be

1:28:56

a lot of eyes on Carlos

1:28:59

Alcaraz and how that forearm is.

1:29:01

I saw some footage of

1:29:03

him practicing this week, but he didn't

1:29:05

have a tennis racket in his hand,

1:29:07

which I realised

1:29:10

tennis players do all sorts of drills,

1:29:12

but it didn't fill me with

1:29:14

massive confidence, I have to say. He was doing

1:29:18

air swings. Wishing

1:29:22

him luck. Wishing

1:29:25

him luck, yeah, absolutely. And that

1:29:27

is it. That's your wrap on

1:29:30

the week that was and you'll look ahead

1:29:32

to the first week

1:29:34

of two weeks of Madrid,

1:29:36

of course. We have a

1:29:38

mascot for this episode. That

1:29:40

mascot is Luna. Luna is

1:29:44

an eight year old domestic short haired

1:29:46

cat who's owned by

1:29:48

Justin Robinson and he says, my wife

1:29:50

and I adopted her when she was

1:29:52

eight weeks old and weighed a hefty

1:29:54

£1.5. And I

1:29:57

don't know if that's an ironic

1:29:59

hefty there because one £1.5 sounds

1:30:02

like nothing to me. But anyway.

1:30:05

Right, okay. Due to

1:30:07

a neurological condition, Luna can't jump

1:30:10

very high and is very clumsy

1:30:13

and gallops like a horse when she

1:30:15

runs, but she makes up for all

1:30:17

that by being an expert napper and

1:30:19

cuddler and a master of

1:30:21

soaking up all of the Southern California sun.

1:30:23

While we'd like to think we are her

1:30:25

favourite things in the world, we have a

1:30:27

feeling it's probably wet food and treats. She

1:30:30

especially loves chasing her treats and hunting

1:30:32

for them like she's a lion stalking

1:30:34

a gazelle. Luna is very sweet and

1:30:37

affectionate and has never met a person

1:30:39

or cardboard box she doesn't

1:30:41

instantly love. And the

1:30:43

picture of Luna is so

1:30:45

cute. She's grey with

1:30:48

a white rough little

1:30:50

white patch on her forehead, little white

1:30:52

patch on her mouth and

1:30:55

white paws, which you call

1:30:57

socks, don't you? It's like she's got socks on.

1:31:00

And she's absolutely adorable. So thank

1:31:03

you Luna and thank you Justin,

1:31:06

Luna's owner. We

1:31:08

have our mascots. I have the

1:31:10

dearly departed Darwin. There's no need

1:31:13

to revisit the trauma of what happened

1:31:16

to us this week. David and

1:31:18

Francis, how did you fare

1:31:20

with Jauf on Seca? It

1:31:23

was going okay until it

1:31:25

wasn't. And I'd just like to say

1:31:27

Katherine, you are the Casparood

1:31:29

of the predictions aren't you? So kind of

1:31:31

all these finals in a row and

1:31:34

now, now is the week. See?

1:31:38

Is that David trying to goad me into picking

1:31:40

Casparood for Madrid? No. No? It's

1:31:42

me trying to soften the blow of all

1:31:45

these disappointments Katherine, because there's always next week.

1:31:48

That's very David. That

1:31:50

advice isn't it?

1:31:55

Very much reusable

1:31:57

analysis of our predictions competition. that

1:32:00

it was going really well until it

1:32:02

wasn't. Max,

1:32:06

Hida and Soma? Yes

1:32:10

sorry Hida and Soma, my my

1:32:13

pick was ill which was why he lost. Runa?

1:32:17

Yes. Yeah. According

1:32:21

to his mum anyway, Billy

1:32:24

Jean is sponsored by Billy Jean

1:32:26

King and Elana Kloss. We have

1:32:28

our top folks and executive producers

1:32:30

Greg, Chris, Jamie and Jess. And

1:32:33

it's over to you Matt for shout outs. We

1:32:36

have an Australian theme

1:32:39

to our shout outs today,

1:32:41

all three from Australia. And

1:32:43

we start with Kate Sale

1:32:45

in Sydney. Hello

1:32:48

Kate. Hello Kate. Kate says you

1:32:50

can tell Catherine if she asks that

1:32:52

Kate is short for Kathleen. So I

1:32:54

think that maybe puts me in the

1:32:56

church car park she says. I

1:33:01

would say that's about right Kate, the

1:33:03

church car park. Great place

1:33:05

to be. Can't think of

1:33:07

any Kathleen's though in tennis world which is a

1:33:09

bit of a blow for me. So

1:33:13

Pam, Mary over to you. We

1:33:16

always end up doing Katie as well

1:33:18

don't we? I know. It's

1:33:22

terrible. No Kate's will ever

1:33:24

become shout out friends because we let them

1:33:27

down every time. We

1:33:29

can talk about Sydney. That's

1:33:32

where Kate's from or maybe we can't talk about

1:33:34

Sydney. I've been

1:33:36

and it's very nice. It's great. Yes

1:33:38

we like Sydney. We like Kate. Thank

1:33:41

you very much Kate. And

1:33:44

our next shout out is also

1:33:46

from Sydney. Coda Farha.

1:33:50

Oh how is that in Coda? K-H-O-D-E-R. Oh

1:33:57

okay. Because Coda

1:33:59

Spalding. about K-O-D-A

1:34:02

means a friend to everybody in a language.

1:34:09

I mean, obviously different spelling, different

1:34:11

language, different everything, but that's

1:34:14

a nice thing, isn't it?

1:34:16

And our coder is

1:34:18

a big Medvedev, Shviontek,

1:34:20

Kasakina and Ondzcuberfan. Oh,

1:34:24

good taste coder. Good

1:34:26

selection. Love that. And life

1:34:28

goal is to attend all the majors,

1:34:30

has been to the Australian Open and

1:34:32

this year is going to the US

1:34:34

Open. Oh. Go

1:34:36

on coder. Go on coder, two more to

1:34:38

go. We love it when

1:34:41

people are on the pursuit of the career

1:34:44

fan slam. That's a great

1:34:46

thing. Thank

1:34:48

you very much coder. And

1:34:50

finally today we have

1:34:52

Paulie and Linda Owen

1:34:55

from Brisbane. Hey.

1:34:59

Hello Paulie and Linda. That

1:35:02

sounds like a 60s sort of folksy

1:35:04

band like the Mamas and the Puffers,

1:35:06

doesn't it? Or Peter,

1:35:08

Paul and Mary. Have

1:35:12

you heard that? Paulie

1:35:15

says that in the early 1980s,

1:35:18

he ball-boyed for Elina Starzy,

1:35:20

Ken Roseville, John Newcomb and

1:35:23

Stan Smith in a Legends

1:35:25

exhibition match in Brisbane. Wow.

1:35:29

Wow. Those are good

1:35:31

names. Well, Brisbane

1:35:33

is somewhere I know very well. My parents used to

1:35:35

live there. So at

1:35:38

one time it was like a second home to me. So

1:35:41

lovely stuff. Thank you

1:35:43

to all of Australia that supports the tennis

1:35:46

podcast. Hello.

1:35:51

Hello. Has anyone got anything else? And those that...

1:35:54

Yeah. Like Linda F

1:35:56

revertiva. Very good.

1:35:58

And Linda Nolskva. among

1:36:00

the favorites for the French Open. And

1:36:03

actually Paulie has clarified, no, Linda is

1:36:05

not from the Czech Republic. Very

1:36:11

good. I enjoyed that. Thank you Paulie and

1:36:14

Linda. Very good. Thank you

1:36:16

Paulie, Linda, Kate and

1:36:19

Coda. Coda? Yeah. Thank

1:36:21

you very much to our shout-outs for this week.

1:36:23

Thank you to all friends of the Tenant Podcasts.

1:36:26

Thank you... Let me say podcast. Thank

1:36:28

you for listening and

1:36:30

we'll see you next week. Click

1:36:58

on the link on the screen to find out more.

1:37:00

And check out our website at www.tiktok.com/SportsAdFree