Aus Open Day 8 - The day the big guns arrived

36:12There haven't been any lefties that you would expect him to lose to. I think what he's done to Shelton is a little interesting, because he kind of, to this point at least, has really handled him. But I think Tien is way better off the ground than Schell. Yeah. Yeah. But he doesn't have the weapon of the serve, you know, so that probably would even things up a little bit. It's really fascinating. It is absolutely fascinating. We should stop being it up because it will be a dart the last time you picked up all of today's matches. It is the 2026 Australian Open. Yeah. And look, the leftiness was a problem for Medvedev today, I think, because his standard backhand cross court was going straight into Tien's hitting zone.

37:04But I also think Tien is less bothered by the low trajectory of Medvedev's shots than even someone like Zverev is. I think that bothers Zverev when he plays Medvedev, the fact that he's coming through so low. Tien is lower to the ground than Zverev, and he seemed absolutely fine. So I'm wary of reading too much into the matchup, you know, before we see it. But I don't know. What I saw today from TM was special. I do think he's special. And he's been so good all tournament. It wasn't a total one-off. He'd been building to this. No, I can't wait for it. I'm excited for that match. Me too. Okay, that's it for part one.

37:47Join us in part two when we've got a competitive match to discuss. folks but first of course a word from our sponsors of this episode and every episode of the tennis podcast throughout the Australian Open it is of course Steve Fergal's International Tennis Tours the premium hospitality and experience provider what do the lovely people that populate the welcome desk just outside this creator lounge think of us every night when they hear us do a chorus of premium hospitality and experience provider they quickly type in toursfortennis.com Steve Fogel's International Tennis Tours are, of course, also an official provider of ticket and travel packages for Roland Garros 2026.

38:33And that means that they offer tennis fans a trusted way to experience. How would you describe Roland Garros, David? Dreamy. Dreamy. to experience one of the most dreamy things, dreamy tournaments, dreamy fortnights that tennis has to offer. And tennis podcast listeners can save 10 % on their Roland Garros ticket packages. So you can get official tickets and if you want access to premium hospitality options all secured in the official way, giving you peace of mind and you can get it all with 10 % off. Just go to toursfortennis.com forward slash podcast. That's tours, the number four, tennis.com forward slash podcast and use the code Paris10 to save 10%.

39:23Welcome back to part two of today's tennis podcast, where, as promised, we have a competitive match to talk about. Folks, Coco Goff and Karolina Mukova delivering the goods out on the second court today. Coco Goff with the win 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. I thought Coco Goff was awesome today, but I was getting a coffee order for myself and Matt's parents from a robotic coffee barista during the second set, which she lost. So I am not the most thorough judge of this match today. You had a coffee from a robot. Yeah, there's a robotic barista in the Rod Laver arena. And it was a, I mean, I could do a whole podcast on this if you like.

40:18It was a really, I've been to the future today, folks. Yeah, I've got a video of the robot arm doing the baristaing and delivering the coffees. But anyway. Pop that on Insta. Yeah. It's sort of a bit scary, but also kind of great. That's the kind of thing they like, isn't it? Yeah, OK, I'll pop it on Insta. Coco Gough, Matt, how good did you think she was today? Very good. Yeah, I really did. Interesting that, you know, on the day of all the duds, this match-up actually turned out to be one of the more interesting and competitive ones that they'd had. You know, it was the first time that they'd actually gone to a deciding set.

41:06and it didn't look likely honestly early on because Goff was so good in the opening stages and you immediately saw the match-up problem that this is for Mukovo. Her ability to construct points is almost second to none, her ability to move opponents all over the court is almost second to none and yet Goff can handle those things and what Mukovo doesn't really have is a huge potent weapon to end points she relies on being able to move opponents around and win points in different ways and it's just goth can handle that and in the opening stages we saw it mukova was conjuring up brilliant stuff but goth always had a response there was there was a two points back to back in mukova's first service game i think it was where Gough chased down the drop shot, got lobbed, and then hit this sort of hook forehand passing shot past Mukova at the net.

42:06And you thought, wow, like Mukova wins that point against everyone else in the draw. But Gough's got the foot speed and the skills on the reach to come up with something like that. And then the very next point was a brilliant backhand passing shot from Gough. And it was like, wow, she can do that as well. Like that was the challenge for Mukova. Like, how do you win points reliably against Goff? And she just couldn't do it in that first set. She just could not do it. She made a very good tactical switch, I thought, in the second set, Mukovo, and basically stopped hitting her backhand cross-court.

42:40Whenever she got a backhand, she hit it down the line to cut out the backhand-to-backhand exchanges and to try and get some errors, I think, out of the Coco-Goff forehand, and they came. It made it quite an unusual-looking match for a while. didn't it? You don't often see down the line exchanges. Exactly. Yeah. But Mukova did it really well and hit the backhand with enough pace to, I think, draw some errors from Goff. And it really worked. And then she started to hit with a lot more conviction, Mukova, a lot more. She'd come out, I think, unsure of how to play the match, but she committed to that tactic, played a really good second set and Goff's level did drop but I think what Goff then did in the third set was fascinating how they were responding to each other was realising that actually she's just got to make that forehand when Mukava's hitting it down the line like if she can then loop it a bit and push Mukava back and that's all that's going to be enough she just needs to get that ball back and she'd been missing quite a lot of them in the second set but she corrected that in the third set and the rallies became much more like they were in the opening set and Goff was able to use her all-court game and play really well.

43:58Unfortunately for Mukovo, she had a series of points midway through the third set where she just totally lost her way and lost a break. She coughed up about eight errors in a row, lost eight points in a row and went from 2-1 down to 4-1 down and that was it. That was the match right there and then. It was a real lapse from Mukovo and what otherwise had been quite good recovery in this match. She rallied in the final game and threatened the break back. She saved some match points, an incredible style, did Mukova, but never was able to create a break point in that final game. And Goff closed it out.

44:33And her serve, I thought, held up really well today. Goff, I wasn't thinking about it. I wasn't thinking, oh, my God, she's going to double fault. The serve's a disaster. Not at all. She had a couple of double faults to get broken in the second set. But otherwise, a very reliable serving day. She corrected on the forehand. I thought it was another really good performance from Goff. Yeah, that was the most confident I've felt in Goff's serving forehand in, well, this year, certainly. And OK, I was getting robotic coffee during the period when her forehand had its lapse. but by the time I came back she had really found it and I it felt really secure to me and okay Mukava doesn't have the power to ask that forehand questions that other players can it's when people are going hard into it and she gets rushed with that swing and that grip isn't it so maybe today isn't the best judge, the best evidence to judge on.

45:38But she was clearly thrilled with those two shots today, particularly the serve. She was asked by Mary Jo Fernandez on the court. I think the question was, what makes you so... She did a big celebration after the match. And she was asked, you know, why are you so pleased with this win and this performance? And she said, you know, because today was great on serve. And you've got Gavin McMillan sitting. He's physically on the court at this tournament, of course. He's right there sort of examining the fruits of his labour up close. And it really, look, I know things with Koko Gough are never linear.

46:19This doesn't mean her serve and forehand will look exactly like this in the next match. But it felt like, you know, even if there is one step back to come, this felt like two steps forward today. Yeah, she had confidence. The one thing I noticed in the first set, I was only there in the first set, was she actually ran around backhands to hit forehands a few times because that's the one with the extra oomph on it, isn't it? The one where you can damage opponents more often and she had the confidence to do it. She's 21-6 in three set matches at majors, which is maybe not a surprising record given what an athlete she is.

47:03But when it goes into a third set, I do just think, huh, like obviously Goff is going to win this. She said, I don't get tired, which must be lovely, Coco. Enjoy that. Try being a podcaster.

47:19Alina Svitolina will be Coco Goff's quarterfinal opponent. She beat, not Karolina Mukova, as I've written in the agenda, She beat Mira Andrava tonight, 6-2, 6-4. You both watched this on the Rod Laver arena. Elina Svitolina had that look in her eye again. She did. She did. She played her forceful brand of tennis that we've become accustomed to. Comfortably the better player in the first set. Second set, Andrava went up 2-0 and looked like she'd found a game because in the first set, she was terrible. She had unforced errors all over the place and then looked like she'd corrected it. She won the first 10 points of the second set.

48:05The words golden set were mentioned by one of us and she, of course, lost the next point. It was you, wasn't it? It was. I went way too early on. And, I mean, then she didn't win that set. And it left us reflecting back on last year when she was playing against Lois Boisson. in a very different difficult situation at Roland Garros and and the whole crowd against her and then against Taylor Townsend at the US Open and how I don't want to say badly she handled it because I think that's it was really tough for her but she what she didn't she wasn't able to handle it and play her best tennis in those environments and one of the big things she she made the point of having won the title at the start of this year was that that's what she's trying to do now is just sort of not be petulant, she makes fun of herself in those situations.

49:00I'm not saying she was petulant, but she didn't handle this well tonight. Her form wasn't there and she couldn't find a way to reliably provide it. Do you think being a Russian, playing a Ukrainian, playing a Lina Svitolina, do you think that could have been a factor for Androva tonight? She knew there wasn't going to be a handshake. She went immediately to her chair and didn't sort of stand there waiting for a handshake. She got booed for that on the court because, of course, a lot of people in the crowd wouldn't have known that that Andrava had known that there wasn't going to be a handshake.

49:37You know, just one of those misunderstandings that we've seen a lot. And it's complicated, isn't it? Because I really support Alina Svitolina's stance on this and not doing those handshakes. And yet also Miran Draver is like she's a child. And I don't I just don't feel great about seeing her go through that experience either. But I can't imagine being the age that she is that not being some sort of a factor tonight. I agree. I think these matches do have an odd feel to them. there is an edge to them, a tension to them that maybe doesn't exist in other matchups. And Andreeva, she was so flat in that first set, like just a no-show.

50:32It was like she wasn't really there, you know? And she corrected that in the second set and started to play with a bit more oomph and a bit more impact. but only for a few games and then Svitolina was in charge again and the better player and the one pushing I think though to David's point and I really agree with it she's got to deal better with situations where she's not playing well and look, she's incredibly young and I'm sure this can improve but it is a real pattern that we see and she gets very frustrated i think when she doesn't have her game and for someone who i think has so many tools in her game to be able to adapt and to be able to correct and fall back on something else she she loses her way in matches in in a way that i just think she shouldn't she shouldn't be and that that happened here absolutely like she was under pressure by Svitolina for sure in that final game but she got frustrated she sort of bounced her racket away and that I think was the first moment the crowd sort of turned on her a little bit and then ended up ended up losing the match and I think in addition the reason the crowd booed her was because there was as you said she just walked off you know like there is a way I I think you can handle those situations where you at least acknowledge your opponent, even if you're not shaking their hand because of the agreement that there is.

52:17And look, I don't want to slam Mirandreva for doing that and just walking off. But I do think if she had acknowledged Svitolina, I think Svitolina would have acknowledged her at a distance. And maybe the crowd wouldn't have booed in the way they did. and I'm not not excusing the crowd I if I'd been a fan I certainly wouldn't have been booing her um but I think that was part of why they ended up booing her as well rather than just the fact of no handshake um but yeah there's there's a lot for Andreva to still improve and grow at um and I think tonight tonight did demonstrate that but credits for Selena as well like there's there's an extra zip in her footwork in those latter stages when she's sensing that the match can go in her favor and she's hitting her backhand line suddenly with a bit more with a bit more power behind it or she's getting the ball on her forehand and unloading and unleashing and her record now at slams since she came back is incredible in terms of its consistency she is reliably winning so many matches.

53:32She's not suffering too many early defeats. And now she gets another chance to kind of push one of the very best players in the world. It is remarkable how she's remodeled her game. And yeah, I continue to be in awe of what she's done. I also checked her record against Russian players versus her general record to kind of confirm that I'm not imagining something being different about Alina Svitolina in these matchups. And somebody on Instagram asked us to run the numbers as well. And since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24th, 2022, Svitolina, including tonight, is 12-2 against Russian players, which is an 86 % win percentage.

54:24and overall during that period against all opponents, her win percentage is 67%. So it's a significant difference. So that's Vitalina Goff set up for a couple of days' time. The other quarterfinal set up today, well, Irina Sabalenka, she has beaten Victoria and Boca today 6-2, 7-6. This got interesting for a period at the end of that second set, obviously until it went to a tiebreak when the match instantly fell over because it's Arena Sabalenka in a Grand Slam tiebreak. But by and large, in this match, Arena Sabalenka was absolutely unplayable. Yeah, as you know, I love this point of a Grand Slam when the very best players, particularly in this era, and I'm talking about Sina, Alkraus, Djokovic, Sabalenka, Svantec when she's at her best, when they just arrive, when the real Grand Slam version of them enters the building and you can kind of forget and then suddenly you see this from Sabalenka and you realise again there are levels because Victoria Mboka was playing well even in the first set that she got absolutely hammered.

55:43She's hitting a great shot that would normally be a winner against most players or set up an easy put away. And Samalenka either retaliates with even greater power and you can see the look of shock on Mboka's face or she diffuses it very often with the most incredible soft hands does Samalenka with a slice on the forehand or backhand, puts it down low and then suddenly Mboka is required to just whip up a shot that is so difficult to hit aggressively for a winner, and it's suddenly back in Sabalenka's hands. She's developed, she's improved as a player so much over the last few years. It is kind of Djokovic-Nindale-like, I feel, the way she has added incrementally to her game.

56:28And today, as Matt said at the start of the show, yeah, she just arrived through those doors and just took over. And I feel like the second set, I'm pleased for Mboko, because I think she's gathered a lot of information today about what it's like playing this level of player at a Grand Slam and she got into the match a little bit at the end. But I also don't think it's representative of the match that we saw today, the fact that she ended up in a tyre break. Yeah, that performance would have been terrifying for anybody else in the draw, I think. I thought Mboko played really well. Yeah, I think this performance from Sabalenka was like a huge compliment to Mboko.

57:10Like, because she'd been ragged Sabalenka in previous matches. And today she was awesome. Like, maybe I shouldn't be surprised by world number one plays tennis really well, but it will just always be amazing to me to see tennis played at that standard. Like, she was so good. And 6-1-4-1, it was a flawless match. I actually felt like Mboko's game did feed in a little bit to Sabalenka. Like she had enough power to give Sabalenka pace, but maybe not quite enough to disrupt her in that sense. And I think Sabalenka was able to rush Mboko in such a dramatic way here. But full credit to Mboko, as you said, because it could have been so easy to get despondent, to get down, and to just lose this match one and one.

58:07But she kept believing. She kept fighting. She broke back, saving some match points when Sabalenka was serving for it. And, you know, for a moment there, there was genuine, oh, OK, could this match still turn? Because, as we've been saying, Mboka was playing really well. But that tiebreak from Sabalenka, my God. Like, she's won, what, 20 in a row now at Slams and many more on the tour as well in that period. This might have been the best one. Like, it was extraordinary. The five winners to go five love up, a big serve for six love. And Charlie Eccleshare made the point that this tiebreak streak is so impressive because so often it has required a reset from Sambalenka.

58:57She's very often had a set in her grasp, like she did today, let it go and then needed to resort to a tie break it was a similar story against potopova the other day and she's not letting the momentum of the set carry over into the tie break she is resetting and stamping her authority on them it's so impressive and she now has the outright record at grand slams in the open era for most tie breaks won in a row men or women stealing Novak Djokovic's record and I quite enjoyed his tweet to, I don't know, maybe it was to Sabalenka directly or to an account that posted about the streak anyway. I think it was to Roland Garros.

59:42Don't know why they're getting involved. I think, yeah, somebody aired the fact that his record had been broken and he quipped, I'm not happy about this. Yeah, I enjoyed it. It's also 13 consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinals for Sabalenka. Yeah, an incredible streak. And again, we talk about players who've transformed themselves or changed the stories of their careers. You know, what a long time ago it feels. And I mean, it kind of was now, but Sapolenka used to underperform in slams. She used to lose to Kaia Kineppi here, unable to serve. That was always the criticism of her, right? That she was dangerous on tour and then she'd come into a slam and wouldn't really perform.

1:00:26Well, she's totally upset-proofed her game. You cannot beat her in the early rounds. She's guaranteed to be there in the latter stages. Yeah, it's remarkable. Every time I, for whatever reason, am reminded of that Kineppi match, I think it must have been before the pandemic. It was very much not before the pandemic. It was very much post-pandemic. Right, so that's Sabalenka through to the quarterfinals where she will face 18-year-old Eva Jovic, who delivered the biggest beatdown of the day, guys. Six love, six won, 53 minutes, shortest match of the women's draws so far. Yulia Putinsaver is thoroughly danced out of the Australian Open by a child.

1:01:19She did have a chance to do the funniest thing, didn't she, Jovic? And dance in celebration. Yeah, I mean, wow. She's a class act. She's a grown-up. She's unfortunately a class act. And boy, is she. I mean, she, I went to a press conference and she's like, she's really charming and impressive and not at all obnoxious. But like she could be given how poised and comfortable she is speaking to a room full of strangers. She's like a theatre kid that's been primed for being famous for their whole lives. You know, like they were a child actor that was in adverts for, you know, kids things when they were five years old.

1:02:14Like she's so poised and sure of herself and articulate and comfortable in ways that I can never understand or relate to, certainly for an 18 year old. But it is incredibly impressive. And this is a player who, look, she only turned 18 last month. And she's like, yeah, this is a great run. Obviously, I'm chuffed to bits to be in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. But like, this isn't out of nowhere. She's like, you know, I got to the final in, was it Auckland or Hobart? I get those confused. Hobart. Hobart, yeah. She had a decent run in Auckland as well. Yeah, had a run in Auckland. She pointed that out too.

1:02:53Got to the final in Hobart. She was like, this has been coming. My whole year has been good. Like this is, I mean, maybe the specific results are in excess of what she was expecting, but she was expecting to be a much improved player this year as a result of the work she did in the offseason. She's obviously done serious strengthening and serious work on her game and physicality. And she's able to stand up to adult opposition now. There is no more adult opposition than Irina Sabalenka. I'm not sure anything can prepare you for that. But I did love that she wanted to face Abelenka in the next round.

1:03:44I love to hear that. And that's the thing I feel no matter what. I hope for her sake she doesn't really get a heavy defeat that leaves you shell-shocked. Even that, though, I think would give her information because she got one of those from Elena Rebacca a year ago. I know you asked her about that in the press conference. and you know she didn't shy away from that did she but she's aware that she's a different player now and so if she has a similar experience to Mboko I think that that would be a very positive thing for her but I love the ambition the way that she's coming into this and she's just going to go for it she didn't even properly focus on tennis as her main sport until the pandemic hit.

1:04:35And it kind of had to be tennis because it was the only individual sport that she did and the only one she was allowed to do. All the team sports stopped. So if she wanted to keep doing anything, it had to be tennis. And that kind of made her decision for her. And then she won the Orange Bowl the next year at 14. like yeah she's been she's been destined for this I think for or has maybe felt like she's destined for this for for a long time and she's she's really exciting I fear for a bit of a shellacking but I you know I think she'll she'll come into it with absolutely the right approach and an attitude and that's really all she can do okay so those are the quarterfinal matches that have been set up today.

1:05:26We'll have some more set up tomorrow and do join us in part three when we talk through that order of play and adjudicate sensation of the day. Welcome back to part three of today's tennis podcast where I have just one submission for sensation of the day. I will take others if you have them, but nobody bought me beers today. Did anybody else get bought beers? No. No. No. Come back, Fred. I miss Fred. So in that case, I submit Olivia Gadecki and John Pears, who beat Laura Siegmund and Edouard Roger Vassalan 10-5 in the match tie break on this first match of the day on the second court today. So not only did they win, which nobody else did, they beat Laura Siegmund.

1:06:17It's a pretty strong case. It's a strong case. You could win the Australian Open singles and not beat that. Does anyone have any objections to giving Olivia Gadecki and John Pears sensations of the day? No, they deserve it. Olivia, John, it's yours. Right then, what do we have in store on day nine of the Australian Open? Contenders for sensations of the day everywhere here. In fact, we're guaranteed some. We've got an all-sensation match-up on the second court. So that gets us through one more day. But do still buy us beers if you see us. Does Maybe this is too late in the podcast To be coming up with such an existential question About sensation of the day Does Alex de Menor become a sensation When he plays Carlos Alcaraz Such a good question You know what I mean?

1:07:13Like I think I think if He becomes a plucky underdog I'm going to say it If Alex de Menor beats Carlos Alcaraz I think he deserves sensation of the day. Shall I put it to a poll on our Instagram? Yeah, like maybe I'm folding. Maybe I'm not committing to the real bit. I just think his status changes when he plays Alcaraz. I don't like polls. Yes, do a poll. Poll vault. No, actually, I think we should decide. Can I think about it and decide to? but I think you make a strong case and I'm open to it. I just need to let it percolate. Because it's quite a big deal for us to let Alex de Menor in. It is.

1:08:00I just love the bit so much. Oh, the bit's not going anywhere. I'm assuming we're going to get bought beers daily, Matt. It's a good point, though, that you make, Matt, I think. And, excuse me, but Madison Inglis is still in the tournament. Oh, yeah. Will she be when Alex de Menor plays Carlos Alcaraz? Well, there's only one way to find out on tomorrow's tennis podcast. Rod Laver Arena tomorrow starting from 11.30 is Jessica Pergoula against Madison Keys. Second up, not before 2pm, Lorenzo Musetti against Taylor Fritz while Djokovic has his feet up. Might be having a massage, might be having a nice long bath, might be catching up with the traitors.

1:08:43He's got three days to play with. Doesn't he like hug trees? Yeah, he's not watching the traitors, is he? He's got a specific tree here in the botanical garden that he goes to hug. At night session, Madison Inglis up against Iga Svjantek, 7pm, making a play for Sensation of the Day. And then last up in the night session, this one was scheduled to be Djokovic against Menchik. It's been moved over from the John Kane Arena. Ben Shelton against Kasper Rude. Second court starts with James McCabe and Lee Tu against Jason Kubler and Mark Polmans. There it is. Yeah, that's our banker. They might, whoever wins that.

1:09:27Jason Kubler has been on court. So much. I can't get away from him. The entire time. He's chasing me around. Yeah. The winner of that is not guaranteed sensation of the day because following it on court, We have Guo and Mladenovic up against Kim Birrell and Talia Gibson of yesterday's Sensations of the Day fame. Then not before 4pm, Elena Rabatkinner against the Lisa Mertens. And finally, not before 6pm on the second court, it's Luciano Darderi and Yannick Sinner. And we think Sinner being scheduled on the second court was something to do with the Djokovic situation and the knowing at the time of putting out the schedule there was a high risk of the Djokovic-Mensic match not happening.

1:10:13I can't quite thought map the whole thing. Well, I would have thought that he would have been moved across if that was the case. I wonder whether it is... But tickets had already been sold at that point for the second court with Sinner on the schedule, so I think that would have been tough. I mean, I'm sure he just has made a massive campaign to play in the evening probably, but maybe he hasn't. Maybe. Although the forecast for tomorrow is okay. Yeah, it's around 30 Celsius, I think. Which, you know, in the heat of the day would be potentially tough for Sinner, but nowhere near as bad as the other day.

1:10:48Which leaves just one singles match on the John Kane Arena. And unfortunately for Matt, it's Amanda Onisimova against Wong Jin Yu. Are you going to go? Who have I upset at Tennis Australia? The Amanda Innocent Arena. That's its next name. This scheduling was a personal attack. Yeah, I'm going to go. I am going to be there. Of course I am. Having a bad time. And you're going to bitch about it on the podcast later. It's what the people want. It's when she loses. If she loses on the John Kane Arena. My God. Tune in to tomorrow's show, folks, to find out. Right. Hello to our lovely mascot, Gus, who I'm looking at a picture of sitting in front of some wine barrels, which is how she spends her day being a wine dog.

1:11:44What a life. Thank you, lovely Gus. Hello to Maisie. Hello to Bodie. Hello to Roger. Of course, hello to our top folks and executive producers, Greg, Chris and Jeff. Let's have some shout outs, Matt. We have V. Ellickson V. V. V. Hi, V. They are from Washington State. Oh. And they say, I've been an avid listener of the pod since 2018. And you've been instrumental in deepening my understanding and appreciation for tennis, both as a sport and as a medium for viewing and thinking about the world at large. Oh V I really like that Thank you That's lovely Washington State Home of the Seahawks David I know I'm wearing my Seahawks Top right now Big day for David What time's the game?

1:12:37I think local time here It's noon So 12 o 'clock And I'll be ready I'll be sort of Double screening Madison Keyes And Jessica Begula With the Seahawks Against the Rams All while Matt Is en route To the John Kane Arena After playing tennis With Simon Briggs Lots is happening tomorrow That's where the real action is Hey Matt needs the practice He's got something to get ready for More on that tomorrow Thank you V That's lovely We've also got Bridget Robinson Hello Bridget Hi Bridget Who is currently in Halifax, Nova Scotia Wow And says I've been listening to the podcast since close to its start certainly since the days of David and Catherine recording in the Putney Exchange.

1:13:30Hooray! Oh, the good old days. Well, I imagine Bridget is sad to see Victoria Mboko go out of the tournament today, but generally, Bridget, the future is very bright for you with Mboko, I would say. Tennis Bridget's. Bridget's come up with the only tennis-adjacent Bridget of which I know is Bridget Wilson-Sampras. Oh, very good. I think that's a great submission. Yes, well done, Bridget. Well done, Bridget. You can come again. And finally, we have Natalie Howin. Oh, hello, Natalie. Hi, Natalie. Who is currently living in London, but from Sydney. Yes, we know Natalie. We know Natalie. We met Natalie at our Melbourne live show last year and we chatted to her afterwards and she told me she was moving to London in the spring and did I have any advice for her?

1:14:29And she's met Billie Jean. She's been for a walk in Wimbledon Common. My advice for moving to London was just meet Billie Jean. Best thing London's got going for it. Always worse when I get down there. So, yeah, Natalie. We love Natalie. And she inadvertently almost did the calendar fan slam last year, only missing out on the US Open because she'd planned a trip to Croatia already. Well, that was a good idea. Always a good idea. I can see why David loves it so much. Yes, Natalie. Absolutely right. Natalie, like Natalie Tozier, coach of Victorian Boko. Odeshi. Odeshi, yeah. Lots of French Nathalies.

1:15:13Natalie, thank you ever so much for being a friend of the pod. Natalie's a big barger. If you'd like to become a friend of the pod and get access to The Barge, our exclusive community platform for talking about tennis with like-minded people in a safe space, then the link is in our show notes. You also get ad-free listening. You get access to all of our bonus episodes. We'll be doing an Australian Open review show with contributions from some incredible people. That'll be coming just a few days after this Grand Slam and every Grand Slam to help you get through the come down period. So the link will be in our show notes if you'd like to become a friend.

1:15:56We are part of the Athletic Podcast Network. We will be back tomorrow to tell you about Matt's intrepid adventure to the John Kane Arena. Thank you for listening. We'll speak to you then.