Alcaraz and Sinner circle each other with titles

31:31And I thought, this is clever. This is the way to play Sinner and potentially make him kind of malfunction. But Sinner still came out when it really mattered in the third set and got the job done. The final, Catherine, two games in, I had this memory of sitting in a pub with you in October 2019 reviewing the Basel final. I think it was Basel between Roger Federer and Alex Diminor. And I looked back on it. I looked back at the score. And sure enough, it was 6-2, 6-2. And I remember describing, I'm going to quote myself. This is terrible, but I'm going to quote myself. I remember describing at the time that Federer was playing as if he was ignoring the game of Alex Diminor.

32:20He was just... I remember that. The ground strikes would come at him and he would just sort of, like a tidal wave, just come in towards the net and just sweep all before him. Because he was in his ultra-aggressive phase of hitting the ball incredibly hard, incredibly early, and following it in. And at the time, really, Demenor was a counterpuncher who played at the baseline. I mean, he has revolutionised, or at least evolved his game, to an extreme level in the last six years. and that's made him better than I ever thought he would become Alex Dimonor. But Sinner reminded me of Federer today because he might not do it in quite the same way but everything was about offence, attack.

33:05He wasn't just waiting for a guy to break down. He was looking to just take over every time he's in a rally. And I actually quite enjoyed the way that Tien in the early start stages of the second set kind of went toe-to-toe with him and showed what a good ball striker he is. But how long can you keep that up for? That's the problem. If that's not your natural game, if you're not as good as the other guy, he can do that in third gear while you've got your foot down to the floor in fifth. And if you're not getting any free points either, like Leonard Tien could do with beefing up that serve, couldn't he?

33:42And he knows that. But goodness me, it's an uphill battle if you're just under pressure. all the time if you're not getting those cheap points. Yeah, I really zoned in on the TN serve after this match because I thought it was such a big difference between them. They were, Sinner won 25 baseline points and TN won 23. You know, from the back of the court, TN was at times really good and there with Sinner, but the serves were such a massive difference. You know, Sinner, 10 aces, one double fault in this match. TN, no aces, but six double faults. And not only is his serve not that much of a weapon, it actually costs him quite a lot.

34:26He's in the top 10 on the ATP for the average number of double faults per match. And a lot of the other guys who are up there in the top 10 are the big servers. You know, it's like Opelka, Alice, Mpeshi Perica, Bublik. Okay, they're hitting double faults, but they're making up for it by hitting a lot of aces and getting a lot out of it. Tien doesn't get a lot out of it, but he's hitting a lot of double faults as well. So that is a massive area of his game that I think will hold him back if he doesn't improve it because he's got such a good game, crafty game. He is hurting top guys, but without that serve, it's going to hold him back.

35:05There's going to be a ceiling. Most top 10 wins this year, aside from Sinner and Alcaraz in men's tennis. Yeah. I mean, the one he got this week against Mazzetti was a retirement. And then he also beat Medvedev by retirement. It was kind of, it was a little bit tough to sort of judge the actual level because he had the two retirements. But he did play, he did play really well. And yeah, just very quickly on Sinner, the Atman match, his first match of the tournament. You loved this match. I think I love Terence Atman. I've done, I've done such a 180 on him. I thought he was a joke. And now... You've gone full one point slam.

35:48I have. I think he might have thought he was a joke. He himself might have thought he was a joke. I think he might have been a joke and he's rebranded. I had two... There's hope for us all. I had two Atman reference points. And that was his cramping against Medvedev at the Australian Open and getting booed off court by his own fans at Roland Garros. And yet, in the last couple of months, he was so good in Cincinnati. And here he gave Sinner so much to handle. But what was interesting was that Sinner was, yeah, as you said, true to his word. And clearly, at least treating like the early rounds and this one in particular as a match of experimentation.

36:28He was hitting multiple drop shots a game. A game. Like it was unbelievable. And I wasn't always having success with it. And yet he was like determined to keep trying and keep bringing it. He was serve volleying. He was, as David described in the final, just intent to get forward. And like, I think he did a really good job this week of trying to do that when he knew he could, he could afford to. And then rein it in, go back a bit more to his plan A when he needed to in the biggest moments of the biggest matches. But I remember when he had just lost to Alcraz at the US Open, one of the things he really bemoaned was the fact that he hadn't tried the variety or used it through the tournament.

37:12So therefore, he didn't feel like he could against Alcraz. Just think if he can use these opening rounds where, let's face it, he is mostly brushing people aside. If he can use these opening rounds of tournaments to just tinker and add layers to his game. A, I think it's going to be a really, really fun watch because, honestly, I urge everyone to go out and watch this Atman match. It was terrific until the final set when Atman ended up cramping again. And B, it's just going to be interesting to see whether he can then bring it to the matchup against Alcaraz because, you know, we all know that's what he's really doing it for.

37:47So, yeah, I just really enjoyed watching Sinner this week. And even it was a bit of a reminder that, like, not to totally write off matches because I've definitely said before, I don't need to see Dimonor Sinner again. Well, actually, Dimonor Sinner this week was brilliant. And Dimonor, you know, trying to implement some different things, really brought a good attitude. You wouldn't know that he was, what is he, now 0-11 or 0-10 or something against Sinner. You wouldn't know that that was the head-to-head going into the match. He brought it from the start. So, yeah, really fun week for Sinner.

38:22You're trying to tell me that Guillermo Fils is going to get a win over Novak Djokovic in the final year of his career. Touche, touche. There are. Never know. Maybe there are exceptions. Richard Gasquet and Rafael Nadal coming out of retirement. That I feel confident.

38:42Gutted I miss the Atman match, but one of the things I hate most about this time of year is waking up to a slurry of WhatsApps from David and Matt about a brilliant tennis match that has been happening at a time of day that I just don't consider to be a tennis-watching time or an awake time of day. No, we're all asleep. Just chill your boots for a bit. Billie Jean's with you, I think. I do adjust my wake-up call a bit earlier for this time of year, but, I mean, yeah, there's a limit. just touching on Medvedev for a moment and go on Matt what have you got to say I was going to say that just I realised that Beijing has been a real real tournament for Sinner where he's had these sort of incidents of illness you know a couple of years ago we had post puke Sinner didn't we and did you see in the press conference this week he admitted that this was post diarrhoea Sinner this week

39:53there's information we needed yeah thanks Yannick it was very Jack Draper nobody specifically asked about wasn't asking about your bowels but that is good to know yeah fluid

40:15yes sorry difficult segue now Yeah, I was trying to think of a fluid-based gag, but I couldn't get there in time. So let's just do Medvedev and his wild ride of a semi-final against Lerner TN yesterday. Yeah, it does make you dehydrated, doesn't it? What a weird match. I left this match in the sort of mid-stages of the, or what I thought were the latter stages of the match. And Tien was three love down. It was set in three love down and looked so, I cannot tell you how physically gone he looked. Like his serve, which is a dolly serve at the best of times, his quads, his thighs were so gone that it looked like my serve.

41:07So I thought, okay, I can safely go out and go meet my mum for lunch. Lovely. We're safe here. And then I'm getting texts from Matt again. I'm at least awake for these, but I'm getting texts from Matt about Tien's won the second set and now Medvedev's the one that is just falling apart at the seams, cramping seemingly. I mean, literally just not able to move on the court, but clearly due to a physical impediment. then he gets a code violation from the umpire for lack of effort which he doesn't respond brilliantly to Matt despite the fact that quote I'm trying to be better since the US Open how out of 10 Matt how how badly behaved was he regardless of the fact that he had a he definitely had a point and the ATP did later revoke the violation he's not going to be fined they told the Athletic that that violation was issued in error and it is a it's a strange rule to enforce that one the lack of effort rule but without having witnessed his sort of outburst at the umpire was it was it on the right side of the line is he being better since the US Open I think it depends.

42:31If you want a ranking out of 10, it depends on the scale. If it's a Medvedev scale, oh, then it was quite low, I would say, considering what we've seen. But low on the Medvedev scale is still not great, really, I would say, by ATP standards. And I think, you know, he said to the umpire, why is every referee in the world trying to intimidate me? And look, I think what that is doing is absolutely not realising that yes I think this was a bad call but he has not exactly earned the benefit of the doubt in the minds of umpires I think with the way he's behaved towards them you know like he's been pretty despicable to umpires umpires are human I think it's almost impossible for them to umpire every player exactly the same like I feel like they should but sometimes like your pass probably is in the umpire's mind and yeah just like just like the way Medvedev spoke to him was it was like on the edge of being like really nasty I think he was genuinely like in pain and struggling that he didn't he almost didn't have it in him to fully go at the umpire and I think it's the right call from the ATP to you know say that it was the wrong call and he's not going to get fined but I think it was the wrong call he was clearly he was clearly struggling but I guess what I'm saying is like two things were at play here.

43:56Yes, there's maybe the umpire making a mistake, but also Medvedev with his behaviour generally just, yeah, just needs to look at himself. And he said there after the US Open, I'm trying to be good. So maybe he is trying, but yeah, it wasn't awful, but it wasn't great either. And obviously the umpire is getting absolutely slammed and it was a bad call, but yeah. A last bit of controversy, controversy take your pick to cover from Beijing involving Lorenzo Musetti in a match against Giovanni Mpeci Pericard last week had a bit of an an outburst in Italian but of course there's nowhere to hide it's been translated he complained to umpire Mohamed Leani about a group of fans that coughed between his first and second serves on several occasions.

44:56This is from some reporting in The Athletic by James Hansen. The translated words that he said were, they are always coughing, these effing Chinese, they are always coughing for eff's sake. They cough every three seconds. Not great. and these things blow up in China. You know, what happened with Taylor Townsend a couple of weeks ago in Shenzhen, it goes big on social media over there and obviously they have their own version of Twitter and what have you so we're not kind of necessarily seeing it ourselves but very aware that these things trend pretty highly and word gets around and Mazzetti was quick to issue an apology after this match, which he went on to win.

45:53He said he wanted to sincerely apologise, adding that his comments were never in any way meant for the Chinese people. My words were directed only at a few individuals in the crowd who were coughing repeatedly and disturbing the play. They were never in any way meant for the Chinese people. It happened in a moment of stress and tension in the second tyre break, but still this is no excuse at all. I realised that the way I expressed myself was wrong and inappropriate and it hurt many Chinese fans' feelings. I deeply regret it and feel very remorseful. I've always admired the Chinese people and I truly appreciate playing in your country.

46:28I've been coming back to China since 2018. I always feel very welcome here. I'm grateful for the incredible support I constantly receive and for the many fans I have in China. While he didn't have many for his subsequent matches, he got booed heavily. in his next match against Adrian Manorino, ended up retiring, as Matt said, against Leonard T and got booed off court again. Taylor Townsend not playing Beijing. I don't think she'll play again in China. I do, I don't know, I do wonder, you know, I don't know what goes on behind the scenes, but tennis has not covered itself in glory here in this Chinese swing.

47:15This is not good stuff. No. And I do think... I don't know whether players need to start getting reminders when they're on the way. I mean, they shouldn't need that, should they? But, you know, just respect your hosts and think about what you're saying and consider that maybe just because things aren't exactly what you're used to doesn't make them wrong and you write and just just think a little more um and have some and the language matters yeah absolutely and these people yeah i'd very much like to think that some lessons have been learned the last couple of weeks because of these incidents but i don't really hold my breath okay we're going to stay in Beijing for part two and talk about the women's results that we've seen so far the women's tournament the halfway to the quarterfinals we got two quarterfinals lined up two more being set up as we speak uh live scenes on the screen in front of me uh just to take you into part two though a promo a teaser for a show that we recorded on monday our latest edition of tennis relived telling the story of pam shriver's run to the u.s open final in 1978 as a 16 year old um and the subsequent chapters of her career and and how how it unfolded and uh it's the Pam Triver story really it's been a story we've been wanting to tell for a very long time we told it with Pam she joined us on the show she did the interviews for the show herself she interviewed Martina Navratilova who she beat in the semis en route to that final she interviewed Chrissie Evert who beat her in that final to win her fourth US Open and she even interviewed her sister Alnall which was a lovely lovely moment It's a show that we love making.

49:20It's a show that on the base of what I'm seeing on the barge, friends of the pod are really enjoying. And if you're a friend and you haven't heard it yet, check it out. And if you're not a friend, then the link is in our show notes. Here is a little taster of the Pam Shriver story. Do you remember after I beat you that you left me a note in the locker room? I must have been really nice then. I left a few notes for people, but I don't remember that I left one for you then. I know I left some notes for you, Chrissy, a couple for Steffi. But no, I mean, that was a pretty class act. I just wanted you to do well.

50:02You know, not necessarily beat Chris, as she was my friend. And we were kind of rooting for each other against the newcomers. But you were just so cool and sweet and nice. played fun games so I just wanted you to play well in the finals. Chrissy what do you recall from 1978 U.S. Open you were trying to win your fourth in a row? Well first of all you came out of nowhere. I didn't know much about you I just knew you were young and I was secretly very happy when you beat Martina. I remember feeling that because you know you got her out of the way for me and what I saw was a tall gangly 16 year old with an afro hairstyle with curls all over the place and kind of goofy and very sweet and very very innocent in a lot of ways but really you know mature in other ways very intelligent well what I can't believe is when I think about the passage of time from when I first met in 1978.

51:14And then to think here we are all these years later, still on the same broadcast team, having been friends through all of it. And Mita has had a backseat to the greatest rivalry in sports with you and Martina. It's been amazing. Pammy, it was, you had so many highlights in your career, especially the doubles with Martina. And the three of us have been intertwined, you know, throughout the last 40 years. And what I love about our, our years of my relationship is, you know, it went from tennis. And even if we, I beat you, you beat me, whatever, we still were really good friends. And now with the broadcasting, we're brought together as a team and you and I are a team now.

51:58So we're working together and we're helping each other. So, you know, I love you and we talk all the time. And I do, I have a really special place in my heart for you Pam that's the second time I've listened to those conversations and I I feel quite tearful for the second time I mean on the the first time was on the the subway taking that that ride you were talking about the year that you you reached the the final Pam you know and I was sitting there on my own listening to these these these conversations you'd sent through and I suddenly realized I'm sitting surrounded by people and I'm in floods of tears and it's because i mean i i was trying to i was trying to get to the bottom of why why i found it so emotional and i wonder whether our listeners do as well i think i think it is these shared years and these this this insight you're giving us into your relationship that we can know nothing about without your permission really without your conversations and what you've been through all together and how much it all means to you still, all of you.

53:04And I think it's a beautiful thing. I really do. Well, you know what? It's like life. You share a sport. And then Chrissy, yeah, she started to reflect. I mean, I remember when my oldest sister died, Chrissy flew in for the funeral. We've been to each other's weddings. When her sister died and her dad died, I was able to get to South Florida for their services. So, you know, you celebrate life. You reflect when somebody passes. And you literally share every stage of life from when I was turned 16 and she was like 21. And really the same with Martina. but it's yeah it's been it's been quite amazing and it's another gift of the sport really or the friendships and the relationships.

53:59Welcome back to part two of the tennis podcast where we turn our attention back to Beijing now and the women's tournament there a 1000 event of course which has been frankly blighted by by retirements just as the men's event has as well we've had retirements from camilla osorio paula bedossa jung chingwen in her um comeback tournament from that elbow surgery and it was was elbow pain that caused her to retire barbara krojchikova as well lois boisson um it's been a been a bit of a tough scene in um in beijing and i'm sure the time of the year is uh is definitely a contributing factor there we have two quarter finals already lined up.

54:44We have Jasmine Paolini against Amanda Anisimova and we have Ava Lees against Coco Goff. Those matches in the bottom half of the draw. Those are two very Matt Roberts coded tennis matches. Oh yeah. It's terrific. I feel like I've had a pretty good year actually in terms of Matt Roberts coded things happening. Let's not jinx it. yeah it's great should we talk about Anna Samova who do you want me to talk about yeah I was going to say I mean take your pick Matt should we talk about Anna Samova because I feel like the beauty now is it's sort of editorially legit to lead with Anna Samova because she's so she's so relevant she's world number four like she could very easily win this tournament like she's so relevant so consistently now.

55:42And that's just the new normal. I'm not saying I'm taking for granted that that will always be the case, but that is our normal now. And what a treat that is, not just for Matt Roberts, but for other people too. Yeah, it's great. I can't lie. Yeah, she's right up there with the best players in the world at the moment. And, you know, I think what's been interesting is that she's been starting matches a little bit slowly this week. she was sort of a breakdown early against Zhang Shui needed several set points to get over that first set and then get through it and then honestly she was absolutely taken apart in the first set by Karolina Mukova yesterday in the what I'm calling the Priscilla Hon derby both sort of besties with Priscilla Hon, Mukova and Anissa Mova she sat in both of their boxes throughout the summer didn't know where she was going to be.

56:40I think she was in a neutral point in the stadium. But, you know, we hadn't seen that matchup since 2022. You know, Mukova and Isimova. It was one that was just really interesting to me. And in those early moments, I did think, wow, Mukova's really got a game that can nullify Isimova using the short slice, keeping the ball low. Such amazing balance that she can come to the net. And Isimova was kind of having to come to the net to try and disrupt Mukava. You know, she was really out of her comfort zone, Anissimova, basically. But there we saw the difference. You know, I think previous years, Anissimova, you know, she might have not dug in in the way she did.

57:24But now the resilience is there in these matches and there's no match, there's no matchup that she can't take over with her own game and her own power. You know, name me a player who that game is not going to disrupt. You know, it's disrupted Zabalenka and Sriantec. Tatiana Maria. This year. No, that was a one-time thing. If they played again, I'm telling you, Anisimova's going to win it. But there we go. I want that rematch. But there we go. There's quite a good example. Me too, desperately. There's quite a good example, right? Like, Slice and Dice in Queens, Anisimova never really sort of got into that one.

58:07But since Wimbledon, she has. And like the way she's been, yeah, just hitting those ground strokes. No one can live with it when she really gets it right. And yeah, she ended up taking this match over. It was kind of only the third set when they both played well at the same time. But a key for Inesimova, high first serve percentage in this match, you know over 70 percent that's I think is going to be a really big thing that we're looking at for an Isamoa for going forward like because it's it's still a bit of a weak shot for her comparatively but when she's serving like that it's not and um yeah it was it was a big difference and then she eventually having had sort of lots of half chances managed to break and and winning three against Mukovo and yet finds herself in the quarters and that's it's a really interesting matchup against Paolini because they haven't played since Paolini, you know, has become Paolini that we know now.

59:08So really looking forward to that one. As am I very much looking forward to Ava Lees against Coco Goff. Lees beating Elena Rabakina en route to this quarterfinal. Her best career win happened during what I would describe as the night time for me, but it was probably several hours after David woke up. Do you see this one, David? Some of it. Yeah, I did. And actually, you were talking about it's editorially legitimate to talk about Amanda and Issa Mova all the time. That's kind of how it feels at the moment with Ava Lees, really, is that she's somebody that, because we'd heard her talk before, we were always thinking, oh, you know, it'd be great to do an interview with her, wouldn't it?

59:59You know, but is she ever going to be that good? You know, is she ever going to be that relevant? And suddenly she's beaten people and becoming very relevant. And I think back to that conversation you had with her at the US Open, Catherine. And not only does she speak really well on issues, she's just, she's really ambitious. You know, I get the sense that this is somebody who wants to do a lot in the sport. She's not just on the tour. She wants to make real strides. Every time she goes to an event, there's a purpose, there's a point, there's a goal. And she's going to strive for those goals. And she's improving results-wise all the time.

1:00:40I don't feel like I know her game enough well enough yet to know how far it can go. But it's great to see. I love it when players who I really like and want to become good figure out a way to get on the tour and be in those events where you can get a lot of points. I remember thinking that years ago about Dan Evans when he was first trying to get on the circuit and he was making all of his mistakes in life. And I used to think, how can he do this? How can he kind of tap into the big stage that he loves when actually a lot of what you've got to do is in the middle of nowhere and with nobody watching?

1:01:23But, yeah, she's great. And this is cool. These are great wins. I mean, and then Rebecca, you know, that is a fantastic win. And she's a brilliant absorber of pace, Ava Lees. if you know if you hit the ball big at her she's pretty unfazed by that unless you really get her moving when obviously that's you know that's different i remember when she played uh madison keys and since i think it was cincinnati earlier this year and she had match points but she couldn't quite get over the line and keys actually gave the really good analysis there saying when i was hitting the ball at her with pack with pace it was coming back at me like I had to get her wide with pace and then then I could hit through her but I think in this match against Rebecca she quite liked it she quite liked the the pace coming at her the ball coming at her she crowds the baseline she takes returns early and look Rebecca was clearly had a had an elbow problem in this match her serve was struggling I think she'd had treatment the round before and a very Rabakina, unfortunately, thing that we see a lot now.

1:02:31Errors in big moments. She's not clutch anymore, Rabakina. But Leigh's brilliant. First top 10 win, first top 20 win, in fact, and I think is now going to be in the top 50 for the first time because she backed it up by beating McCartney Kessler as well, which is another good, solid win. yeah intrigued to see what kind of what she can do against Goff matchup wise I think you know it's not that big flat strike you know that you get against the keys and a back and a Goff is going to move you a lot more and give you different different looks and so it's just going to be interesting as we find out more about Lees we find out more about these matchups so yeah this is really exciting name to have in the quarter finals Just in terms of Goff, she beat Belinda Bencic en route to this quarterfinal.

1:03:28Bencic, though, did achieve the extraordinary this week, which was managing to have aggro with Coco Goff. truly incredible scenes. I honestly can't believe this happened. Koko Goff, in fact, said after the match that it was her pettiness that helped her win after she was accused of mind games by Bencic.

1:03:58It happened in the sixth game of the second set of their match as Bencic prepared to serve down break point. this from reporting again by James Hansen in The Athletic.

1:04:10She, on the previous point, Bencic had hit a poor drop shot that Goff returned for a winner, drawing celebrations from her box. Bencic told Goff's box to shut up, saying that they should not have been cheering before I serve and comparing the situation to under 12's tennis. Goff said, I treat your team with respect. You treat my team with respect. Bencic ultimately held serve for three all. before breaking Goff, who hit three double faults. She said she was frustrated in that game. Bencic said at the sit-down, to Goff, no one's talking to you. She's talking to me, OK? This was when Bencic was trying to have an exchange with the umpire about what Goff's team were doing.

1:04:56No one's talking to you. She's talking to me, OK? Your team is chanting. I'm too old for these mind games. yeah you're 28

1:05:11literally younger than Matt Roberts do you feel do you feel too old for mind games Matt no bring them on like it was a real shame that Goff was indiscernible on that changeover I couldn't tell what Goff was saying and I desperately wanted to know yeah I think and the point James made in that article as well was that it was basically an empty stadium and I think the sort of Goff box cheers got to Benchik's because she could hear them. Normally you can't. Normally there's a bigger crowd. Yeah, so true. I think she just massively overreacted there, Benchik, and has come out of it really not looking very good at all, whereas I think Goff handled the situation well and just sort of got to work and dug in and was determined to win.

1:06:07And you don't want to give Coco Goff yet another reason to want to beat you, like the best competitor in the world, getting her all the more fired up. That just spells trouble. But a sneaky good matchup this year, Bengshic Goff. This was their third three-setter of the year. They played in Australia, played at Indian Wells and they split those. They played in Madrid as well and got one easily. But then this one with some aggro, like it's quite interesting the way their games match up against each other. And I think it, I'm going to sound like a broken record, I think it's a lot to do with the fact that they're both on the backhand list.

1:06:48They both rate their backhands. They both want those sorts of exchanges, but they come up against each other and it's retaliated by another good backhand. And there's just immediately like friction in the matchup because they can't do what they want to do. And it just is interesting when they come up against each other. The other quarterfinals in the top half yet to be fully decided. We know that Sone Kartal is there. She has just beaten Mira Andreva. Now, the latter stages of this match have been happening while we've been recording this podcast. So I don't necessarily expect anybody to be able to comment on that in great detail.

1:07:28But I think we were all watching it before we came on. And yeah, Cartel's a proper player. I mean, I've watched her throughout the week and she is a proper player. She is trouble for these players. Their top level is higher than hers, for sure. But she's still pretty new. she's so different to the majority of players you don't get these trajectories of balls and the amount of spin she's putting on it on many players balls and I think that it's really quite disconcerting for top players who just aren't used to it they're used to a flatter hit and they're getting suddenly excessive top spin with with pace as well or they're getting sliced those that's usually the mix.

1:08:18And it's just tough. She's a really compact player who's not making many mistakes. She's a good athlete. She's completely imperturbable. You can't work out what's going on. Whether she's upset, whether she's gleeful, you're not getting anything back at all. And I think that that is a weapon in itself. And good for her. She's putting together a really good year. Must be a first quarter final at 1000 level for her. She'll take on Linda Nozkova. And then in the top section, it'll be either Iga Shontek or Emma Navarro. That match happening as we speak. Emma Navarro, actually, she went an early breakdown, but she's now 3-2 up with a break over Iga Shontek.

1:09:05Still early stages, though. The winner of that to take on the winner are Jessica Pagula and Marta Kostiuk. Just again, just on Pagula, David, you and I both watched her match with Emma Raducanu earlier this week where Pagula saved three match points to come through and win in the end, eventually very comfortably. But six love in the third, was it? Yeah, I think it was six love in the third. Another match for Emma Raducanu where she's had match points and failed to convert. But now Pagula produced worldies on a couple of those match points. My God, did she play them well. And the previous match in which this happened was against Barbora Krojcikova, who was in a groove of playing exactly this kind of match.

1:09:55Like, to some extent, she's been unlucky. But I think it's more perhaps the way that Raducanu has completely fallen away in the deciding sets after failing to convert the match points, which maybe is a slight cause for alarm. As brilliant as Pagula was, and God, she was impressive. Yeah, this was seriously high quality for two sets, and Radakhanu's providing a level now that makes you think, wow, she could be a feature at the latter stages of these big tournaments if she can stay fit for the next few years. And I've always thought that's in there. um Pagula counted it exceptionally well it would have been very easy to have gone away mentally given the sheer number of great shots coming away from Raducanu but I do think that there will have been little notes taken by coaches and opponents of the future of what happened when those players leveled up one set all against Emma Raducanu because the manner in which she just dropped off a cliff thereafter totally understandable in my mind in as a sort of person who's not an athlete and not a professional competitor you know it's the most normal thing in the world I think to just have that massive disappointment hit you and you just collapse really in terms of a force on in the match but the best players don't collapse they dig in they find something so that they can become competitive again in the third set look i mean i know koka goff's an extreme but she's won 10 matches and lost two over the over the distance this year in three sets um radakana just had nothing left now maybe that is still physical but i i think it probably was mental too you know and and again i understand it but she she needs to figure out a way not to go away like that Okay, it'll be the winner of Pagula Kostiuk to take on the winner of Shontek Navarro, who looked to be sort of just knocking bells out of one another.

1:12:10It's got sort of dragged out three setter written all over it from what I can gather. That's it for part two. We'll be back in part three to cover a few bits and bobs of news and to look ahead quickly to what's ahead in Shanghai this week. Welcome back to part three of the tennis podcast with some news that I kind of told you about earlier and you've probably seen already. But 2026 will feature a big goodbye tour for a major beloved player. Is it Novak Djokovic? No, it is not. Well, certainly not announced at this stage. It is, of course, Gael Monfils. He has announced today that 2026 will be his farewell year on tour.

1:12:57and he will retire at the end of the season. So we're going to see lots of emotional Guillain-Mont-Faith goodbyes, David. He still only needs one. Yep, still in there with a chance. I do think that if ever he's going to get a big win or two or a big run out of his system, it's knowing that he's got a finish line in sight at the end of next year. It's now and ever. And he can just go for it. And it's okay. Then he can have a good rest and enjoy the rest of his life. I think it's a great way. I mean, as long as you're not the type of person, Stefan Edberg talked about this because he did the same thing.

1:13:41He announced ahead of time that he was going to have a tour, you know, like a one more year on the circuit. And he kept getting given these emotional send-offs. And it drained him. He said, if I'd have had it again, he told us on Tennis Real, lived when we were doing the original series of those shows he said i probably wouldn't have done that in hindsight because i found it draining um i think monfils will lap it up and love it and i think everybody else will love i'm gonna find it emotionally draining seeing yeah yeah heart-wrenching galmond feast goodbyes every week i think there'll be lots of smiles though and i I think he's going to go all out to just enjoy himself, which will make tennis spectacular.

1:14:26I mean, he played some serious ball for the first six months of 2025. I said he was my player of the year for the first few months. And I mean, this guy beat Taylor Fritz, the Australian Open, for goodness sake. He's fantastic. And I still think Djokovic should and may well end up doing the same thing. But we'll see. steal Monfilsa's thunder one last time

1:14:57some reporting in the Athletic and the New York Times this week by Charlie Eccleshire sort of continuation of a pre-existing story that's kind of always rumbling in the background of men's and women's tennis group of leading men's and women's players All members of the top ten, except for Elena Rabakina, have sent a letter to all four of the major tournaments. It was actually sent on July the 30th, but it's only just coming to light. Pushing for reform to the sport. the aim of the group is to represent the interests of players at all levels. The most recent letter, which has been reviewed by The Athletic, reiterates the players' desire for three key areas of reform from the slams to start contributing to player welfare and a benefit fund to improve pension, healthcare and maternity benefits.

1:16:01An increase in prize money as a proportion of revenue up from the current estimate of 16 % to 22 % by 2030 in line with joint ATP and WTA tour events and greater player consultation and representation with the formation of a Grand Slam player council. This would be consulted on decisions like expanding tournaments to 15 days as the Australian Open and US Open have done in the last couple of years. some quotes from Jessica saying she's really not a fan of that particular development in sports. She said I don't know why they had to make it even longer. She said well I know why they did it. They get to sell tickets for an extra day.

1:16:45She said I don't think a lot of players were for it especially those who play the week before a slam. It makes everything a little longer and a little harder. So that's kind of an ongoing situation in tennis that will continue to keep you updated on. We've had the news that Roland Garros intend to do things their own way. What a surprise. They're keeping line judges for 2026. They are not for turning. Will they turn eventually, do you think? Is it inevitable? Are they holding back the tide for as long as they can before it wipes them out? Or do you think they could continue to be the outlier? Eventually I think the players will push them to change

1:17:36Yeah, I suspect you're right They'll be so used to it, you know And they just won't accept this outlier In terms of this week, obviously there's the continuation of Beijing The WTA 1000 event that we have talked about We have Shanghai on the men's side, which is also a 1000 event. And the top seed is Corintan Mute, David. No, we are talking. A quirk in the draw. Carlos Alcaraz withdrawing after the draw was done. So he comes in, he scrapes into the seeded positions, but because of how it all works out, he slots into Alcaraz's position, which is fun but it actually created a really lopsided draw Can't wait for the Mute Cine final The new Sincaraz you've got Djokovic and Cine in the bottom half you've also got Sholton, Rude, Fritz, Runa and Bublik in there and then the top half is Mute obviously, favourite for the title and Alejandro Davidovich Fagina, Daniel Medvedev Alexander Zverev Alex de Minou Lorenzo Mazzetti Felix Auger Eliassime and Jakub Menchik this tournament ends a week on Sunday which just feels so they've got a whole Ryder Cup done in three days we're going to be watching this event a week on Sunday I mean I probably won't because I'll be asleep but people will be yeah I mean WTA Beijing is is this length and now we've got ATP Shanghai being this length.

1:19:24What I would say is that I think one of the worst parts of these 12-day 1 ,000 events is, well, it's lots of bad things, but the slow start is a struggle. What I would say is that here, at least we've got the end of WTA Beijing. So it's kind of like the next few days is all going to be about WTA Beijing. Okay, you know, some of the seeds will play in Shanghai. They'll get going, but really we're concentrating on WTA Beijing and then next week will be more about ATP Shanghai. So it's not like we've only got ATP Shanghai for the next few days. So that is perhaps slightly better with this weird scheduling that we've got right now.

1:20:06But yeah, Novak Djokovic starts against Marin Cilic, I saw. So maybe that's on my list of matches I don't need to see again. The exception is to my rule. Marin only needs one he's had one hasn't he he beat him up to Queens didn't he Marin's doing just fine David if anyone's having just one it's Monfils true right we will be back with a podcast for change on Monday back on a Monday to review the final stages of Beijing and the opening stages of Shanghai and whatever other nonsense has happened in the tennis world over the next five days. We have mascots, plural, for this episode. Animals being friends, alert, everyone.

1:21:04We've got some goodens this week, and it is from a gooden. This week's mascots are Layla and Batman Bobby. You heard me. Layla and Batman Bobby. and they are nominated by the wonderful Hannah Timmons who is a great friend of the show and is in our fantasy league and is awfully good at it. I don't know what she knows that I don't but maybe she should have a tennis podcast. Yeah, Hannah really shows that we can't just say oh, all predictions are luck and a fluke because Hannah's done it for a number of years hasn't always been really good at it. Consistently good. And she's been very unlucky with her fantasy team.

1:21:55A lot of injury and a lot of scandal. She was leading the way, I think, for a long time. She even had Kei Nishikori on her team. Nishikori scandal. There is just no way of predicting that. No, desperately unlucky. A Nishikori romance scandal. There's just you could not get more unlucky. Anyway, back to Layla and Batman Bobby. They are two of Hannah's furry cousins. She says, my cousin Cynthia is their awesome human. I love this. They just live across the James River from me and my animals. Layla may be part gremlin and Batman Bobby is probably descended from Catwoman. They love to play fight with one another.

1:22:37Then Layla will saunter off and go catch flies while Bobby sprawls out looking gorgeous. So Hannah hasn't actually specified who's who, but I'm going to confidently say that Layla is the delightful terrier, terrier-y looking dog. And Batman Bobby, obsessed with that name, is the absolutely startlingly beautiful shiny black cat that I'm looking at. And I do have a picture of them cuddling together, which is my absolute favourite thing. I need something went something went very wrong with my algorithm yesterday and I was being presented with all sorts of nonsense I didn't want. So I literally put into my search bar animals being friends and it sorted things right out.

1:23:22The Internet is back to now knowing what I want. So thank you, Hannah. And thank you, Leila and Batman Bobby and Hannah's cousin, Cynthia, for this week's mascots. we of course have our mascots Phoebe, Maisie and Roger hello to you, hello to our top folks and executive producers Greg, Chris and Geoff shall we have some shout outs Matt we have Ben from London I'm not Ben very simple, could be someone I know, I know Ben's I know a Ben Ben says, actually I know two Ben's one of them's in London well Ben says I think Catherine tell us more about Ben and let's see if it's the one I know Ben says I think Catherine is a fellow Ellis and John fan so yes Ben knows stuff about you

1:24:21I am an Ellis and John fan and Ben says we're all hammer legends yes we are are you on email Ben just we're cool unrivaled you might say that's true Ben like Ben Shelton you sound great like Ben Shelton who we could do with having him back on the circuit he is in Shanghai worried about that shoulder yeah thank you Ben we've also got Arda from Zurich but originally from Ohio Cleveland, Ohio Hello Arda Cleveland, Ohio used to be where I think IMG were based out of or certainly had a big office there, used to be where Gary Swain manager of John McEnroe and Amanda Anisimova lived, didn't he, yeah he was keen to move to Florida as I recall

1:25:27Well Arda's moved to Zurich

1:25:36and Arda is a cat lover and a violinist oh what a multi-layered person you are Arda you sound very chic love that I don't think we're going to find any tennis Arda's but I hope you will accept my Gary Swain story I think it's exceptional

1:26:05There we go Ohio of course home of Cincinnati There we go Thank you Arda Cheers Arda Finally we have Carol Hooper Hi Carol Hello Carol And Carol says that she recently bought a Tennis Podcast t-shirt to wear on Arthur Ashe Stadium Well that's an exceptional Yes, Carol. Use of your time and resources. Yes, Carol. We love that. Tennis carols.

1:26:40We must have had this before. Let me open my Nick Imerson and Pam Shriver page. We have a document. We have a document. Carol King, the singer. Just padding time while David opens the document. shout out name suggestions we've got Emily's, we've got Gillian's Carol Kirkwood the BBC weather presenter that used to come to Queen's every year, David that's right and present the weather from Queen's first thing on a Monday morning and our mate Dave would be her personal chaperone that's right, we love to see Carol all the time and meanwhile up pops Carol Zhao Canadian the world number 279 well at the time of writing yes at the time of writing highest 131 so that's what Google tells me about because Nick Iverson oh that's her live ranking okay sorry I thought that was from the document oh there's another one there's a Carol Young-Soo Lee who is ranked 230 in the world and that is her current highest ranking so there we are she's on the up is what she is Carol look out for her

1:28:16Carol Arda and Ben thank you very much for your support of the Tennis Podcast hope you have listened to and enjoyed Pam Shriver Relived. If you're a friend of the pod and you haven't already, do check it out. And if you'd like to become a friend, the link, as always, is in our show notes. We are part of the Athletic Podcast Network. We will be back on Monday. Thank you for listening. We'll speak to you then.