Are Czechia the best BJK Cup team ever?

45:18david four years is crazy not to get a bed i never thought twice about it i didn't have any money for a bed was there not was there not room for a bed and a sofa no there wasn't room in my bank account for those i mean the bloody rent for my entire salary. My God. Monte Carlo. It's nice when you walked out the door. You know? You were travelling a lot. Yeah. Exactly. So it was at least only two years worth, really. How did it feel to put your key in the door when you got back from a trip? I used to love it. Yeah? It was pretty cool, isn't it? To be, you know, living in Monte Carlo. You don't get to see the view out of the balcony.

46:03before I saw the photo. I'll send you the view of the balcony tomorrow, Catherine. I'll drip feed the memories into your WhatsApp. Thank you. You do that, David, and then I'll drip feed them onto our Instagram. Okay, that's it for part two. We'll be back. That's it for part one. We'll be back in part two to talk about the Labour Cup. Welcome back to part two of today's tennis podcast, turning our attention to the Labour Cup, which for Matt and I has been in town over the weekend. It's been at London's 0-2 Arena and it has seen a home victory for Team Europe. Let's all beat our chests as proud Europeans.

46:45They've done it for us. They beat Team World 13-5 with Alexander Zverev beating Lerner TN yesterday for the decisive point. Europe now lead World. The World? World? What is it? Team World, they say, apparently. Europe now lead world 6-3 from the nine previous editions of the event. Matt, you attended the Labour Cup for the first time. Tell us about your experience. Yes, I went on Saturday and then I actually had such a good time. I went again on Sunday and had less of a good time. Sunday was a little bit of a flop really it felt very in keeping with the 2026 tennis season I would say in that Alexander Zverev won and Carlos Alcaraz didn't play even though you know people people I think were very much hoping for Carlos Alcaraz to play um but you know the competition had been won so there was no need for him to play so just the two matches on Sunday and that was yeah it was a bit of a damp squib to be honest on on sunday but how much of your enjoyment therefore do you think was attributable to carlos alcaraz look i think quite a lot i'll be honest and i but in the same way that i think quite a lot of my enjoyment generally of men's tennis is is is often it's often helped by carlos alcaraz you know what event isn't improved by the presence of Carlos Alcarez.

48:27And I think it's big for the Labour Cup that he is buying into it and he is wanting to play it. You know, like this event was set up 10 years ago or so and it had the buy-in, obviously, of Federer because he'd set it up. But in those first few years, we saw Federer, Nadal, Djokovic. We saw the big players playing and it was, you know, whatever you thought of the event and whether it works as a concept, to me, there's been no denying that it's been quite cool to see those players interacting on the same team. And it's been a sort of value add in that sense to the tennis calendar. And now we get Carlos Alcaraz doing it.

49:05And to me, that's a good thing. And people in London were loving it. I mean, the Alcaraz-Fritz match was as electric as kind of any match I've really been at this season in person. And yes, that's Carlos Alcaraz. But if this is a vehicle to get Carlos Alcaraz in fun situations, then that's a good thing, I think. And I'm not blind to the issues that we've had with the Labour Cup in the past. You know, I think people probably think we're really, really cynical about the Labour Cup. I would say that I do feel like it's to some degree our responsibility, maybe too big a word. But as tennis podcast people who follow the sport year round, I think we have to just look beyond.

49:52Is this a bit of fun? Sometimes, you know, like I am asking the question all the time. Where does this fit into the calendar? Is the scoring system too contrived? Does Europe against the world work as a concept? Why is it not mixed? Or at least why is there not a women's equivalent? Why is it taking itself so seriously and talking about labor breakers and trying to make that happen? Like all of these things are issues that I've had with the event in the past and still have really and still are trying to reconcile. But the truth is, it also offers, I think, a lot. And for a sport that, you know, sometimes is hard for people to view and sometimes doesn't look very good on the TV, even.

50:37There is absolutely no denying that this looks great. We've had, what, nine editions of this now. So it's here to stay. It feels a bit sort of pointless talking about it in really existential terms. And there is a lot of fun and good to be had and enjoyed at this event. You know, like this week, we had some great player interactions and really interesting bits of coaching nuggets and advice that they were sharing. We saw all the usual funnies and we saw some genuinely really good tennis as well. Like Alcaraz Fritz was a really compelling tennis match. And I think my realisation going on Saturday was that if someone came up to me and said, hey, I'm, you know, like a casual, was like, should I go to the Labour Cup?

51:22I would say go on the Saturday. I would say just go to that event by, if you can, go for the whole day and go for the morning, have a break, go and get dinner somewhere and then go back for the evening. You get four matches. It's not going to go on crazy late because of the scoring system. you'll see the good players because that's the day that the good players play and I think tennis fans really casual ones or really dedicated ones can get an awful lot out of particularly the Saturday at Labour Cup I think that is a good day in the tennis calendar and there's and there's lots to be enjoyed there so I had a good time that's a good tip is it a problem with the format do you think that yesterday panned out as it did and you had Alcaraz there who okay there's the odd person out there that isn't that bothered about Carlos Alcaraz but most people are like I want to see Carlos Alcaraz and you've got him there wanting to play ready to play and the format doesn't allow him to play or is that the price you pay for trying to have some integrity to the format yeah look I think it's that probably you know like he did play the first day in doubles he played the second day in in singles you you know the Lever Cup got its Alcaraz fix I think the weird thing for me being in the stadium was that it it kind of exposed the floor of Europe and world because there's there's not this big partisan feeling you know like I I think most people were probably supporting Team Europe in that stadium.

53:06It was in London. But at the same time, they all wanted to see Carlos Alcaraz play. So to see Carlos Alcaraz play, you needed Lerner Tien to win. So Lerner Tien was getting quite a lot of support. I felt like people were there for the players rather than for the badge, you know? Yeah, I think the players are into which team wins, you know, and the captains are into that. I'm not sure the crowd are into that. Like a little bit, a little bit, but it doesn't feel really partisan. And I think the players are into it. I think what it is, is they don't want to be the one to lose. And on the sidelines, they've got Yannick Noah or Andre Agassi.

53:49They want to sort of impress them. They want to impress their teammates. So they buy into it from that perspective, which I think is fine. I don't get the sense that people are really phoning it in. Maybe Bublik. I thought Bublik was a bit of a catastrophe across the two days. He was giving Monfils vibes, really, in terms of he was like, what do you want from me at this event those years ago? Bublik was a bit like that. But on the whole, I think it was, I think there were, you know, five of the six singles matches, I think, went to the match tie break. I've said labour breaker once. I don't need to say it again.

54:27Went to the match tie break and they were good. Did you have a contractual obligation? we said world cup of tennis we said labor breakers when you get your accreditation catherine you have to do you know it wouldn't shock me if that were true

54:45so sorry matt we interrupted you no i i think i i think i'd finish with it i'm interested in what david thought like watching it on on tv again and like i i think i think my experience not interested in what i thought well yeah but david i felt like david was watching more of it was my was my sense i just wasn't talking about it okay i was doing a lot of talking i had a great time honestly i i i think it's the first time certainly in a long time that i've just watched it for enjoyment's sake and like not not just being i've accepted i kind of accepted what it is you know that okay i've never agreed with this their their sales pitch that it's like you know it's like tennis is right a cup well it's it's not that and it never will be while you have world it just can't be i mean and i'm honestly i've i'm all right with that um and i really enjoyed it.

55:45I really had a great time watching the matches. I think I ended up watching a lot of the good ones on the Saturday, including the Dimonor against Zverev, which was an incredible comeback. And I mean, it showed real nerves and I think the thing is as well they want to win because that's how they're wired. Everybody was kind of doing what they do. But Blick does behave like an arse sometimes. Monfils sometimes looks disinterested in tennis matches or he used to. you know dim and all bloody puts his heart and soul out there you know and so everybody was doing what they do um and yeah i think i think you you've nailed it really well like i think the players couldn't have cared more in the moment about winning their matches they were absolutely ravenous to win i think in two weeks time they'll have forgotten all about it but that's all that's okay you know i personally couldn't give a stuff who won like i didn't you Whereas I was watching the President's Cup and I was quite into the who wins of out of USA and international team.

56:51David sent a lot of President's Cup messages as well. I did. I got really into that. And I think maybe that's also because... He was sending photos of the scoreboard about every half an hour. I think it might be because, you know, I don't work in that sport. Maybe that's part of it, you know. but I definitely for the first time kind of I think a lot of it is about like what frame of mind are you in when you go and watch it you know I feel like I'm in a good frame of mind so I was I was happy to just suspend all my disbelief of in terms of worrying about what it is and what it isn't and I just thought well actually this is this is great entertainment really good competition fun i really was i was trying to do that and i do agree with you like the frame of mind that you approach it in really affects the experience that you have and i was really really trying the problem is the the coverage feels like a sales pitch to me i feel like i'm watching an infomercial and that that will grate on people to different extents some people it won't bother them at all David, you've obviously found a way to just let that wash over you.

58:01It really, really bothers me. Like it spoils my enjoyment of what I'm watching that I feel like I'm being sold to all the time. That remains a big problem for me. And that could be very specific to me. I don't know. But I definitely know that that's not everybody and I'm particularly sensitive to it. I do think, look, I was supposed to go with Matt this weekend. I didn't feel very well on Saturday. I think I would have had a good time if I went. I'm sure I'd be talking about it differently. If I'd had the in-person experience, I've no doubt about that. And the, I think, in theory, one of the very, and for a lot of people in practice and reality, one of the very best things about the Labour Cup is the player interactions, both on the sort of fun and the tactical side.

58:56Like, look at that. That's really cool. I love Flavio Caballi doing Flavio Caballi things. Labour Cup was just like creating a scenario for him to do all his things. For me, the involvement of Alexander Zverev makes all of that not fun. Again, some people, that won't bother. I don't find Alexander Zverev fun and his involvement in all of that prevents me from enjoying it. I think it's a great thing in principle and I hope to be able to enjoy it at future editions of the Labour Cup. And I am fully aware that other people will feel differently about that. And I am, again, particularly sensitive to that element of it.

59:44But that is how I feel. And it's a really big problem for me. But I'm really glad you had a good time, Matt. And I loved watching Carlos Alcaraz. I love, you know, I will enjoy watching Carlos Alcaraz no matter what the format they put him in. Yeah. And I think, you know, to try and take some tennis things from it, you know, it was interesting seeing him obviously again for the first time since the US Open. And I felt like one big improvement from the US Open was his touch was totally back. You know, there were some rallies against Ben Shelton in that match where I thought, oh, OK, that maybe wasn't always there.

1:00:28He was so sharp with that this week, particularly against Fritz. I mean, the number of times he was going to the drop shot in key moments was just fantastic. He's still trying to make improvements on the serve. He's still not up to the pace that he was before. But, you know, I'm confident that's going to come. I really enjoyed his breakdown of Sarindolo's game. I think he was giving advice to Kasparud, wasn't it, on the first day? He was like, he's not good at the net. Just bring him into the net. And then he almost like toned it down because he was a bit like, yeah, I realise I can play these drop shots and these slices, but maybe for Rude it's not the best advice.

1:01:15I really enjoyed that. I really enjoyed Fritz on the bench. He's perfect for that. mic'd up on the bench. Fritz is probably my favorite because it's team world so I don't have the other issues so much and he's just he can't help there's no filter is there you can't help him so he's saying everything. No and it was it was genuinely really interesting to me to hear him break down Hodder's game. Bublik was being absolutely taken apart by Hodder and I just feel like because Hodder's been so new I don't really know what the tour thinks of him and what they you know like how to play him and fritz was very very clear he was like trust me his backhand is better than his forehand he was like you have to go to his forehand and like next time fritz plays hodder i'm going to be watching out for that now because i've heard fritz say a tactic against him out loud um i enjoyed agassi trying to input some tennis wisdom into learn a tn you feel like tn's really soaking all of that up like there's there's a lot he loves tn i think so andy murray said he loves tn he's like the players the players player isn't he yeah so like i i once again i enjoyed i enjoyed those elements um which admittedly you don't get in the stadium you know like the in stadium experience is really good it's a very comfortable place to to watch the lighting is nice it's not it's sort of vibesy but they're not really blaring music all the time it's it's it's just a nice atmosphere to be in very comfortable um but you do miss out on on hearing the interactions and i think the best feed to watch is the one that that david was on the world feed like where you don't get the ads because sky and tnt i felt like i got lucky there i i i found the the best swear to watch it and and i really got the agassi experience this year which i think last year all i i think i must have not been watching the right stuff because people were saying they were enjoying agassi and he was really winding me up last year with how kind of eyes bulging all the time he was about i think you were reading hard courts at the time as well weren't you yeah maybe i probably was yeah um whereas i just got i got all the yeah i love his tennis brain it was really fascinating because because what these guys are getting to do is pit their wits against some of the best players of the current generation albeit not with their own skill set but with somebody else's but that you could hear what he's saying a tea and a bat's verve you know if he says you can always go high up to that forehand always that's a safe place for you to go to and i mean you know i i found henman and zverev pretty stomach churning at times but at the same time i found the the advice he was giving or the way sash yeah i was the way he was getting the best out of him was was was a very interesting listen you know just tactically and kind of like as a human experiment almost um so yeah you do hear things in in this competition that you just you just don't get anywhere else and and and i mean a couple of the the the newish british tennis writers that have come to the this event for the first time were writing about how they just feel like other events should be and the sport generally should be taking from this this is an amazing opportunity to just sort of like see what tennis can be in certain areas that it isn't you know whether it's the length of it whether it's the presentation whether it's the the the the people on the bench whatever it is you know and just steal stuff yeah but also the labor cup could steal something and make itself a mixed event certainly yeah and look tony godstick did a did a press conference that is not going to be happening like there's they're not interested in that which is a real which is a real blow um and so one thing the tours should not take from the event is the court speed it is it is comically slow ludicrously slow like i do find speed sometimes a little hard to judge on the on the telly not at all with this but when you can when you can tell this clearly yeah on the telly that it's slow it's like yeah and then in person you just i noticed i just was waiting for the ball to come to them so but i don't think it's going to change because they've paid for the court right it's the same court they're logging it around the world yes and i believe it's i believe it might be something to do with the way that it's made to make it that color the black gray i think there's something in the way that it's made that makes it really slow but i feel like they've got they could they could do with trying to figure that out because i think i think it would be even better tennis if the cork just had a little bit more in it Al Karaz we talked last week about some very, was it last week?

1:06:19anyway we've been talking recently about Al Karaz's very punchy quotes about the tennis's schedule both sort of in event and the calendar more generally well he's going even further he is becoming tennis's men's tennis's great advocate for for cut the faff for for bring in bring in curfews he's he's on board with all our agendas folks he talked about wanting to be able to miss tennis and realising during his period of absence that he was having the feeling of going to events because he was required to and not because he wants to and he wants to go to events feeling like I'm here because I want to be here.

1:07:10He said that players need more practice weeks to show up to events physically ready and to avoid getting injured. And he said all these things with such purpose and intention and clarity and articulation. He knew exactly what he was doing, exactly what he wanted to say. He's a hell of an advocate. and once again like if tennis doesn't listen to this then idiots idiots i mean it could not be clearer i think i think john wertham tweeted that there was there were conversations being had just almost an attempt to sort of re-raise the idea of the premium tour um or that they had several years ago with the grand slams and kind of you know about streamlining and having this this and listen i i just uh unless you ripped it all up and kind of just decided like right we we we need to just make the perfect calendar and everybody needs to buy-in then you're never going to get what Carlos Alcraz wants so his his his way of reacting to it will be fine well I'll just enter what I want then and I can afford not to play these tournaments um but my word is it nice to hear somebody who's just not just prepared to go along there's so many really really rich ex-players who just don't stand up at all they might moan but then they'll go along with it and or they might just you know not get involved you know not want to get involved and i love the fact that he just speaks so straightforwardly about it and and you look he's i'm not saying he doesn't have his his own interests uh in mind at all you know he's had this this injury in this period on the sidelines and he obviously personally wants to enjoy the sport as much as possible.

1:09:19But I feel like he has such genuine care for the sport. He wants it to be as good as possible. And so often I feel like we don't hear that genuine care from the sports decision makers, you know. So yeah, listen to Carlos, folks. He speaks sense. That's it for part two. We'll be back in part three to look ahead to this week's tennis and talk about a few other bits and bobs of news as well. Welcome back to part three of today's tennis podcast. Just before we look ahead to events this week or events, some starting this week, some that started last Wednesday and finished tomorrow. it's all pretty complicated folks but we'll hold your hand through it or we'll hold one another's hand through it but just before that David mentioned that some meetings have been happening in the sport over the last week or so and we now know that the Grand Slam Player Council has been formed this was one of the things that was granted in the kind of settlement between the Grand Slams and the top player group that never found a better name for their organisation and seem now to be largely defunct because they've achieved, well, certainly enough of their aims that they're satisfied, certainly for the time being.

1:10:53And one of those was this Grand Slam Player Council. On the women's side, we have Elena Rabakina, Irina Sabalenka, Jessica Begula, Alina Svitolina, Eva Jovic and Maria Sakharie. And on the men's side, we have Alexander Zverev, Ben Shelton, Novak Djokovic, Felix Auger Eliassime, Lorenzo Mazzetti and Arta Rindekinesh. What a ragtag bunch, Matt. Yeah, it would have taken me a lot of guesses to get Rindekinesh, I think. Right. I'd have said a lot of names before Rindekinesh. But, you know, I suppose I think good for all these people, really, in terms of, you know, getting on that council and trying to be involved in conversations.

1:11:38I think Djokovic is an interesting one considering that he wasn't part of the group that were doing the 15 minute media boycott but I suppose it is in keeping in the past he's been on councils maybe that is the way he likes to do these things and then from the women's perspective you know I think it's great that you've got the two best players in the world on there Pagulo as well is someone who speaks so well about this issue I think sees the big picture I think it's great that she's on there First name on the team sheet Yeah definitely She'd have taken fewer guesses than Rindikne Yes I'm sort of intrigued how it's going to work with Sabalenka and Svitolina I suppose being on the same council together.

1:12:35Gosh, yeah. But yeah, and look, Jovic is someone who's very young. I think it's good that she's put herself forward. So yeah, we'll just have to see how it goes really. Slight David issue? David's gone. David does seem to have gone. Do you feel you can bear the weight of talking about Hangzhou and Chengdu solo? We won't linger. Sure, yeah. Hangzhou, these are the events that started last Wednesday and they finish tomorrow, Tuesday. Is that correct? Yes, these are a couple of 250s. They started a bit out of sync because of the concessions that the ATP tour makes for the Davis Cup to give people a bit of a chance to try and play both.

1:13:35And yeah, in the Hangzhou final, we have Andrei Rublev, Daniil Medvedev. There's a throwback match. It's the first time they've played since 2023. Wow. And you think, you know, they were playing all the time. David wouldn't have had that stat. He is, Andrei Rublev is godfather to at least one of Medvedev's children, isn't he? They're genuinely very, very close. David's had a power outage, by the way. That's your David update. Wow. So I hope these takes are good, Matt. Alejandro Davidovic for Kina and Hubert Hercatch will play in the Chengdu final. Now, if I said Hubert Hercatch is your favourite player like I did about Kim Birrell, there perhaps would be a touch of irony.

1:14:28Yeah, I think that's probably fair. I watched a bit of Herkacz today beating Shapovalov and Herkacz hit 24 forehand winners, which must be a record for him. He was hitting that shot better than I've ever seen him hit it. And Davidovich Fikina didn't play the North American swing. He's been out injured for a little while. So nice to see him back. And it would be very Davidovich Fikina if he could, I feel like if he could back up winning his first title that took him ages to win by suddenly winning another one. So, you know, that's an interesting little story about that match. I've got a feeling David's there, but in the dark.

1:15:13Certainly there's sort of the ghost of David. Are you there, David? He needs some candles like in his Monte Carlo days. Okay, that's a negative on day. Oh, hang on. the physical reality of David Law.

1:15:31He's back. Are we okay? I think you've got the wrong microphone selected, David. We'll keep talking about the tennis. You sort yourself out. We had the news in terms of events starting this week or that have already started. Have they already started this week? Who could say? Certainly qualifying has started. We had the news last week that Yannick Sinner has withdrawn from Beijing. He was expected to play. There had been reports from Italian media that he wasn't going to play. Then there were reports from Italian media that he had booked his flight and that he was going to play. Then we had the news, the officially confirmed news.

1:16:08He said, my knee is not where I would like it to be and I'm not ready to compete yet. I will do everything possible to be there on court as soon as I can. So that means he still hasn't played since winning Wimbledon. And look, it could be not much, Matt, because I don't think Yannick Sinner is going to take any risk at all. Physically, certainly not for a 500 event post Grand Slam season. And certainly not after how playing all the tennis that he played in the spring period ended up panning out for him. So this really could be largely precautionary, nothing sinister. But it also could be, this could be a symbol of a sign of something, a quite worrying situation.

1:17:05Yeah, completely. And I think the thing is we don't know, do we? We just have so little information about this knee injury. You know, Corriera della Sport, which, you know, is a sort of fairly big website in Italy. I don't think it's always the most reliable. It's not Corriera della Sera. It's not one with the tier one sort of reporting and sources. But they published something that was a journalist in his substack talking about how it could be something to do with his IT band causing the issue with the knee. and that one, you know, surgery hasn't been ruled out was sort of what he was saying, even though they're hoping not to go down that route.

1:17:53And I think, you know, pulling out of Beijing, I think Shanghai would have to be in doubt as well. You know, that's only a week or so away. Like, I think it's just pushing further and further back. And it was clearly a setback, wasn't it? You know, he was clearly planning to be in Beijing. there was that clip going around of him talking to Anna Wintour and she was like, I thought you were going to be in Beijing and he was like, I also thought. That's how the news broke, isn't it, initially? Via Anna Wintour. Perhaps. I also saw him do a statement on Instagram. I don't know which came first. Maybe he did the statement because maybe someone was like Yannick.

1:18:41someone filmed your interaction with Anna Wintour it's very it's concerning for sure he hasn't played for months and it's concerning in the short term in terms of what the rest of the season looks like for him, I'm sure he would absolutely be hoping to play in Turin but I also think it's just concerning you know going into next year as well and again in that little exchange James Jodan, a winter, he was like, if it's not back by, if it's not better by January, it's going to be a real problem. And he was sort of laughing it off and joking about it. But, you know, if you, if he's not played at all since Wimbledon going into the new season, and you go straight into a grand slam, that's suddenly like a really hard thing, I think, to do.

1:19:29So yeah, big, big, big question marks. And I hope he's back soon. I think the tour has, has missed him. And now we've got Alcaraz back. It'd be nice to get Sinner and Elko is back together. Like ships in the night, aren't they? So we have the WTA 1000 event Beijing, which starts on Wednesday and runs through until next Sunday, the 11th of October. We have also the ATP 500, sorry, the ATP 500, which starts Wednesday as well, but only runs through until Tuesday, the 6th of October. Clear on that? Yeah, very good. Quite a long list of withdrawals for the WTA event, including the defending champion, Amanda Inisamova, who we heard today has shut her season down.

1:20:23It was a wrist injury that caused her to pull out of Singapore in the end. And that same wrist injury seemingly is causing her to, shut the season down, regroup for 2027. It's a blow. But honestly, it's also a relief sometimes to see players make bold decisions about that and think about the long term. And yeah, there was a part of me that was relieved to see that decision. So no Manda Onisamova, no Pagula, no Kostiuk, no Iala, no Keys and no Emi Navarro. So we have the world number one, Leina Rabatkinah. She's, of course, at the top of the draw. In that half, you have Jung Chin Wen, Belinda Bencic, Lina Svitolina, Coco Goff, Ivi Jovic and Igor Svjantek.

1:21:15And in the bottom half, you have Linda Nozkova, Jasmine Paulini, Mira Andreeva, Karolina Mukova, Naomi Osaka and Irina Sabalenka. A lot of players in there that feel like they might be running on fumes a bit, kind of trying to keep the train on the tracks after exploits either in Singapore or in Shenzhen this week. The ATP 500 in Beijing has Alexander Zverev. He's obviously the top seed. He starts against Cameron Norrie. Nuno Borges is there. He'll be playing Novak Djokovic. Alexander Bublik plays Jakub Mensik first round. Talon Greekspour against Andrei Rublev, Roman Sifuelin against Flavio Caboli, Lerna Tien against Hubert Hercatch and Karin Hashanov up against Felix Auger-Liasim.

1:22:09That is a stacked draw and those are some awesome round ones. Daniel Medvedev and Alex de Menor also in the field in Beijing. And you also have the ATP 500 in Tokyo this week, which is headlined by Carlos Alcaraz. and he's got Alex Mickelson in round one. Very much seated for that. You've also got Lorenzo Mazzetti against Arthur Ferry, which is a rematch of their US Open round one, I believe. Luciano Darderi's got Kasper Rude in round one. Alejandro Davidovic-Vicina has Matteo Berrettini and you've got Keanu Shikori against Francis Tiafoe And that is potentially Kei Nishikori's last ever professional tennis match because Tokyo is going to be his last ever professional event.

1:23:01We've got a few of these coming up. I think David Goffin is going to be retiring at the Brussels event. We've obviously got Stan Wawrinka, who's going to be retiring in Basel and Guillermo Fis. I know you might think he's already retired because of the number of retirement related events we've seen him have. But he is officially retiring at the Paris Indoors in a few weeks time. You've also got Raphael Khadar, Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, Brandon Nakashima and Holger Runa all in the field in Tokyo. And you also possibly have Artifis, although he is going to have to make his way through qualifying.

1:23:37He's around one qualifying match against my guy Martin Dam. he's got another Martin oh god

1:23:51it's going to take a while to embed I think it's like when Matthew rebranded as Matthew Matt still sometimes slips out Martin Dahm anyways out of the draw who cares about Martin Dahm beaten by Arthur Fease who's qualifying because his agent forgot to enter him in the main draw David yep that's what happened you've still got the wrong mic selected have I? not according to this but anyway yeah that's what happened I'm just thrilled to have you David

1:24:31Sitsabas is also in qualifying and Taylor Fritz and Raphael Hodar are both scheduled to play qualifiers in round ones There's some potentially tasty, tasty matches there. And I think one of my favourite things I've seen this week has been in Beijing, where obviously it's not a combined event, as we said. They're running on different timelines and one's a thousand, one's a 500. But it does mean the men and women are together for a little bit. And I saw a clip of Novak Djokovic giving Igor Sviontek some sort of coaching advice on court. She was specifically asking him about the return position. You can hear a little bit of what she's saying.

1:25:15She says, yeah, Arena does this. I just absolutely love that kind of crossover stuff. And Victor Troitsky's in the back saying, come on, Novak, we need to practice. And he's like, eager, we will talk more about this. And yeah, I just think with that and with the little bits of advice that we saw at the Labour Cup with Agassi and Tien. It's kind of been like the sort of, you know, the teachers sharing with the class this week. And I've enjoyed seeing that. So that's input from Nadal and Djokovic that Shontek has had this year. Yeah. Care to make some predictions for this week? I'll take a WTA Beijing prediction as well, even though it goes on for the next month, seemingly.

1:26:10I'll take predictions in all of these, please. Who's going to win Hangzhou out of Rublev and Medvedev? Oh, got to go Medvedev, I think. He normally beats, like, the guys of his generation, doesn't he? David? I don't know whether you can hear me, but I'm going Medvedev. Yes, you sound good now. You're back. You're back in the game. Medvedev. Davidovich Fikina or Hercatch, David? Let's make the most of this lovely, rich sound. Davidovich Fikina. Matt, he's never going to pick you, but Hercatch. I think that might be a bit of a choke fest. Do you know what I mean? That's got both of them getting very tight written all over.

1:26:53I think I might go Hercatch, actually. I thought he was quite good today. Beijing WTA, David.

1:27:07okay Matt I'm thinking I'll go Noska I know but it's it's radio David it's we're live it doesn't work I'll go Noska but I got to the final last year maybe she's burnt out from the Billie Jean King Cup but that's a very sensible Noska and a Rabakina I'll take that ATP Beijing

1:27:35Zverev? Probably. Matt? Yeah, probably. Hold on, no, Djokovic. Djokovic always wins Beijing, doesn't he? He's never lost it. So I'm going Djokovic. Yes, a lot of that data is from when he was not 38 years old, 39 years old. Still, I'm going Djokovic. Okay. you're going zverev matt uh yeah yeah okay and atp tokyo who have you both got art of face okay still in qualifying not seven wins for 500 points yeah it's it's one of those that He's got Kamil Majacek first in qualifying, and he could definitely lose to him because he lost the first set 6-2 today. He's already beaten Martin Dahm. I know, but next up.

1:28:36He won that 2-6, 6-1, 6-1. What sort of scoreline is that? But if he qualifies, then he's going to roll through the draw and win. Okay, Matt? I'm going to go Alcares. Yeah, seems fair. Okay, well, we will be back on, when's our next pod? Thursday? Friday. Who do you think is going to win them all? I think Carlos Alcaraz. I think...

1:29:11I think somebody weird could win Beijing. Somebody not Zverev and not Djokovic. You would not accept that from us. No, I know. Who's going to win? Somebody weird. You know, somebody like, I mean, not Kabali, obviously. Somebody like TN or Menshik. Yeah, OK. Someone like that. WTA Beijing. I'm going to go. Let's go for Sviantec, powered by Novak Djokovic's. Nice. advice and that's it I think not it in Hangzhou I'll go for Medvedev and in Chengdu oh I shudder when I say Chengdu dear oh dear I've for anybody new in this parish I had a very bad trip to Chengdu once for the Champions Tour it's nothing well it is personal to me but it's nothing nothing to do with the city which I'm sure is glorious when you're not in the physical state that I was in I will go for Davidovich Fakina there we go can I move on to talk about animals now yep because it's a double mascot week and they're friends introducing Peachy and Boo Boo owned by Tim and Justina look at them Looks like Alcaraz in Kabbali.

1:30:56The mascot photos are getting better and better. They are. The bar is being raised so much. It's just brilliant. These cats are five-year-old brothers, Peach and Bubble, or Boo-Boo, as we affectionately call him. They live in Toronto, Canada, and they were adopted from northern Ontario when they were very young. They were the last pair left from a litter of two orange cats and four black cats. but we think we got the cuddliest ones. Peachy is our little rascal who's always zooming around the house or trying to steal chicken off our counter while we're cooking and Booboo is our sofa cat, content to lounge until Peachy inevitably comes over to start a chase and off they go.

1:31:37They're the best of buds. They're loved by their human sisters Mia and Aria who come along after them. The girls, who came along after them rather. The girls brought a lot more noise into their lives but the boys have slowly adjusted and now happily collect their warm cuddles and generous tweets. And for anybody that isn't looking at a picture of Peachy and Boo Boo right now, they are intertwined. That is the extent to which they are friends and love one another. It's very lovely. And I had a ginger cat and a black cat growing up. Either that or the ginger one is pinning down the other one. Well, yes.

1:32:21Let's not even know who's won the wrestling match. You never know with cats, do you? Hello to our mascots. Hello, Bodhi. Hello, Maisie. Hello, Roger. Hello to our top folks and executive producers, Greg, Chris and Jeff. Let's have some shout outs, Matt. We have Alex Rylance from Bracknell, Barkshire. Oh, down the road from where I grew up, from where my parents are right now watching this show. That's where I went ice skating five times a week for a decade. Alex says... That doesn't exist anymore. Alex says, Catherine's likely to mention it's near her and where she used to ice skate.

1:33:08I hate you, Matt. You let me... Well done, Matt. That played out perfectly. Will anybody else got any Bracknell material they'd like to share with the group? No, didn't think so. No, I do have another line from Alex in that Alex says, I met David Law in 2003 when I worked as a steward at Queen's. Wow, I might have only had the 28 ,000 grey hairs at that point.

1:33:41I don't remember it, sorry. I'm too humiliated to continue. What was our mate Dave's time of being a steward? Yeah, our mate Dave was somewhere around 2008, something like that. So they probably won't have overlapped. Dave knows every steward that's ever left at Queen's. Anyway, was delighted to meet you, I'm sure. Thanks, Alex. Delighted to have you as a friend, Alex. You're a top geezer. Geezer. And finally, we have Joseph Ha. Hey. Hi, Joseph. I'm not saying anything. Hello, Joseph. Joseph is originally from South Dakota, but has been living in various parts of Asia since 2010. Including Singapore, I remember.

1:34:43We know Joseph. Yeah. Yeah. and Joseph says my first professional tennis match was an exhibition match between Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick in North Dakota in 2004 who won? if you don't know David, no one knows and he says Jensen brothers were also there excellent including ambidextrous Luke Jensen the Jensen brothers were also there is a very damning line somehow isn't it Joseph like

1:35:32Joe Salisbury Joseph Salisbury Joseph

1:35:40that's all I've got yeah There are some people saying some things about Bracknell in the chat, though, if you want some other Bracknell material. Gary says, I had a short story published, which is set in Bracknell, a fantasy story. It's not where I'd set a fantasy story, but very intrigued by that. Ruth says, my grandparents are buried in Bracknell. Any other Bracknell material? No, that's all we've got. Hannah says, I've just looked up Bracknell on the wiki, and apparently recent academic conjecture is that the name means a hidden place where bracken grows, not a nook of land belonging to a man named Bracker.

1:36:23Evidence of human existence in Bracknell dates back to the end of the last ice age. I'll remember that for the next time Alex has a shout out.

1:36:36Folks, this has been the Tennis Podcast. It's been a joy. We'll be back on, when did we decide? Friday? I think it's in the calendar for Friday. Yeah. Friday. We'll be back on Friday, folks. Thank you for listening. We're part of the Athletic Podcast Network. Thank you for joining us on YouTube tonight. If you did, remember to hit that like and subscribe button. We'll be back on Friday. Thank you for listening and watching. And we'll speak to you and see you then.