Can anyone stop another Sinner-Alcaraz final?

0:10Well, hello and welcome to the Tennis Podcast on a Friday night after the ATP Finals semi-finals have just been complete. You are right. I am not Catherine Whittaker. Catherine Whittaker isn't here. There's only me and Matt Roberts. so what's going to happen is anybody's guess Matt how are you doing I'm very well thank you and especially anyone's guess because it's Friday night it's Disco David so literally anything could happen that's right Catherine actually we say Disco David Catherine's sent us photos of what seems to be a quite elaborate wine tasting session. So maybe for the best she's not with us.

0:59I think she is still doing the YouTube upload. So if you're watching this on YouTube, well done. Something's gone well. That could be fun. Yeah, that could be. I mean, I'm almost looking forward to that. Listen, we've got plenty to catch up on because we've had a full week of the ATP finals now and we've got the semifinals to come tomorrow. So we're going to take the two groups in turn, the Bjorn Borg group and the Jimmy Connors group, and we're going to look at the doubles. We're going to throw ahead to the semifinals, which I'll give them to you right away, because I dare say you know the scores and the results.

1:38It's going to feature, who'd have thought it, Yannick Sinner and Karla Zaukras in the two semifinals. um sinner is going to face somebody who he has so many great matches against in alex dimenor but you never know um and we're going to get uh carlos alcaraz against felix ojiali asim and um it's ojiali asim and his group the bjorn borg group that we're going to concentrate on first because that's the one that has just been completed and it's resulted in another win for Ozilia Sim against Alexander Zverev 6-4 7-6 so he finishes second in his group Sinner had already guaranteed his place in the semis before he played against his opponent today in Ben Shelton but you know he's gone three and oh but that match tonight matt that was a proper knockout match straight knockout that's the sort we like and you could probably feel that in the nerves out there would you say yes this was neither player at their best i would say uh quite far from it in fact um and i i would say zverev was probably felt like maybe the better player at the start of the match in the opening stages.

3:02But once Orjali Asim got the crucial break in that first set, which was to win the first set, he broke to win it 6-4, I felt like Orjali Asim became the better player for the rest of the match, but couldn't really take his chances. He kept getting either break point chances or sort of half chances, openings, like Love 30, and he just couldn't quite put the hammer down and convert. And I think there were a lot of nerves there and it looked for a little bit as well like that second set tie break might slip away from Orge Aliasim and we could end up in a third set with neither player playing their best and that would have been really nerve central I think.

3:42But ultimately quite a familiar story I would say in terms of some plays for Orge Aliasim that were effective for him you know going to the slice. Zverev didn't really know what to do off that shot for much of the match often would sort of drop it short or hit it in the net and allow Urjaliassim to take over with his forehand Zverev was having a total hot or cold day at the net and mostly cold he dunked a lot of easy volleys into the net today there were a couple of the he picked up off his toes that were like wow but there was just a lot of misses He wasn't convincing up at the net. And I think Orgelia Seem took advantage of that.

4:29And yeah, ultimately, Orgelia Seem kind of the bolder, bigger player on some of the key points today and just managed to squeak through even without his best tennis. And yeah, you know, that was enough to get him through the group. And, you know, it's Orgelia Seem who lost his opening match to Sinner, but has bounced back well with a three-set win over Shelton and now this one over Zverev and sort of keeps up his good form that he sort of came into this event with. He was one of the form players coming in and I think he'll be pretty pleased he's managed to sort of capitalise on that and get through the group.

5:07Yeah, he's done well considering he looked physically impeded in the first match. I mean, he played a great set against Sinner, he lost it narrowly 7-5 and then seemed to hurt his calf. But he did say after that, as the matches went on, he said look it's not a problem I mean you wouldn't be surprised if you get some tightness would you at this stage of the season now I'm mightily impressed with him when I think back to the chat I had with him just before the US Open yeah if somebody had told us I know he'd had a decent first half of the season he'd won a lot of matches he'd won some titles but they weren't they weren't anything like what he's gone on to do I I really wouldn't have seen this coming and so I find that very impressive.

5:51One thing that strikes me that we're able to do now, now that the group stages are complete, obviously we know the semi-finals, we're going to build up to the semi-finals, but we've also now seen the conclusion of several players' seasons. One of those being Zverev. Yes, he's still got the Davis Cup finals to come next week, but I mean, we hear a lot of my takes about Alexander Zverev and you know how unimpressed I've generally been with him throughout the year. I mean, I find it astonishing that he's still at the ranking he's at. I mean, obviously the ranking doesn't lie, but he's lost to so many players.

6:30How do you assess it and what do you expect for the year to come? Because I felt like that was a really regressive performance tonight. The manner in which his forehand just deserted him, By the end of the match, it sort of started off well, and he was being aggressive, and he was going forward a bit, but nowhere near enough, in my opinion. But by the end, he looked lost to me. But I'm curious to know what you think. Well, firstly, the people definitely enjoy your Zverev takes, so you should definitely give your takes as well. but look I've agreed with you all year long really I think he's going to be in for a bit of a shock next year if he doesn't come close to defending those Australian Open points that are really you know bolstering his ranking right now he's got what over a thousand points on his ranking is that Australian Open final and take those away and he's in with the pack you know he is in with the pack who are a long way behind Alcaraz and Sinner and and that's the way I see it right now you know there's that stat doing the rounds isn't there that Zverev is closer in points to the world number a thousand than he is to the world number two and he's the world number three and it's really illustrative of the gap between them but I I do think that gap has increased over the year you know like start of the season he obviously reached that australian open final he got he got absolutely taken apart in it and it felt then like the gap was big the gap feels bigger now i would say and zverev feels much more in a group with the likes of orge aliasim and dimanore and muzzetti and you know a couple of other players who are maybe injured like a Jack Draper you know he's in that in that category and going down I would say whereas a lot of those are on the way up looking to pass Fereb and all of the same things we've always thought about his game have been evident this year to an even starker degree I would say you know not bold in the big moments not taking on the forehand and being outplayed by a lot of players and I know he's talked a lot about having some injuries this season and how that he feels has sort of impeded him this season and maybe that is the case but I do think the general trend for him has been just sort of down for a little while now and I don't really see many attempts to course correct you know if I think back a year ago he was talking in the right way in terms of I need to try and be more aggressive against the big players, but he's never put it into action.

9:30And we've had a lot of data now and evidence to suggest that he's not really going to. And, you know, in the right conditions, when his serve is working, he remains, you know, a very difficult player to beat. And I think, you know, that will probably always be the case. But those things don't often come together. and he's not really been a massive, massive threat for much of this season, I would say, would kind of be where I am with it. And I think probably similar for you. Yeah. Interestingly, watching Ogilvy Asim felt a bit like watching Zverev against Taylor Fritz tonight. I.e. this feels repeatable.

10:17This could become another problem player for him. and you can see on Felix's face that he kind of knows what he needs to do to beat him and he didn't even play that well tonight. To my mind, if I'm Zverev in his camp, I'm thinking of Elina Svitolina or I'm thinking of, you know, you want to go further, about Mary Jo Fernandes. These are the sort of players who overhauled their standard game to become more aggressive. I do think from what people with way more knowledge than me would say is that he's technically deficient in terms of being able to actually do those things yeah that doesn't necessarily work for him but i think the bigger problem is that in his dna he just moves backwards if he's if he's somebody stands up to him like any old bully stand up to them they just shrink you know and and that that happens a lot with him so i i agree with you i I think it would be a big surprise to me if he were to defend those points in Australia.

11:23And we could be looking at another Medvedev really next year in terms of ranking drop-off. Maybe not to that extent, but still. I think we might have seen the best of him, really. But we'll see how it goes.

11:41The way Felix is playing, it's going to be interesting. will preview his semi-final in part three um but Yannick Sinner is going to be his opponent he's come through three and oh um he actually probably looked at his weakest maybe against Zverev I'd say Sinner he that was when Zverev played well um and and made a lot of the fact that he had most of the break points but I find from a Sinner perspective Matt that it might be even more encouraging that that he was able to win that with his serve by just fighting off break points finding first serves and then winning the big points because if he can do that then maybe he's not on top i mean how how are you going to beat him then because you know his standard game is better than everybody bar one player who on his day might be better some days might be worse but the rest of them what chance have they got?

12:40I found Zverev's comment about Sinner's serve in that match again a classic Zverev comment almost like whining a little bit about the fact that Sinner made first serves on break points as though it was I don't know, lucky or something it's kind of like when someone says oh you only won because you've got a good goalkeeper it's like well having a good goalkeeper is a perfectly legitimate thing to have. Like that's baked into squad building. And like for Sinner, it's like, yeah, I'm going to find my first serve on the biggest points and you're going to have to deal with that. Like Sinner time and time again is stepping up in those biggest moments in a way that Zverev isn't.

13:28And yeah, he has been impressive, Sinner. Even I would say without really his absolute best because he hasn't needed it. he just looks in total control at the moment i've really enjoyed his body language um after he's hit some of these drop shots like he's he's he's become quite comfortable now playing the forehand drop shot it's a shot that he is using frequently and efficiently and effectively and i think he's pleased with himself there's this sometimes there's a little smirk there's a little see that I can do that and what I am really hoping for is obviously Senna Alcaraz and whether he can deploy it against Alcaraz against that movement you know the guy who we know that is in his head when he's hitting these drop shots you know it's all he doesn't need them to beat Shelton for instance but it's a good time for him to practice them and I think he's used that shot really effectively through the group stages and I mean the stats right now are a joke really in terms of what Sinner's putting together at this tournament just not even dropping sets in it in back-to-back years so far and he's now on 29 wins in a row on indoor hard courts which equals one of Federer's streaks Federer also had a streak of 33 and Djokovic had a streak of 35, but he is, you know, he's up with them in terms of this run of form that we're seeing right now.

15:04And he is doing that thing in terms of what they always did, which was just being able to keep the rest of the top 10 guys just at arm's length and just kind of cruise through, have plenty in the tank for what he's going to need if he has to face Alcaraz. I've noticed also he's been doing some interviews for Spanish TV in Spanish I think for the first time Sinner I think he's sort of just sort of feeling himself a little bit at the moment I've enjoyed seeing that as well yeah he's in a great place he's looked very very good as you'd expect it's interesting to me how he's able to just keep his focus I mean we've always remarked upon his focus but today was a dead rubber you know and he's not even dropped a set against Shelton who's obviously come out swinging and you know has played some decent stuff this week I know he's I know he didn't win a match but he really should have won a set against Zverev he should have he was 6-3 up in the tiebreaker against Zverev in the second set of that one he he was up against Shelton um sorry he was up against Felix Ogiali Asim as well he was a set up there and he's got Sinner to a tie break in this one.

16:22But Sinner wins the match in straight sets despite not needing to. I mean, that is something else. And this streak that he's building against Shelton now is just, it's becoming pretty outrageous. Yeah, I think Shelton, from memory, Shelton beat him in Shanghai a couple of years ago, like literally right after post-puke Sinner in Beijing. I think it was the next tournament and Sinner was just out of gas and Shelton won their first meeting. But since then, Sinner's won eight in a row and now 19 sets in a row. And a lot of them, as you say, David, have looked like this in terms of just on the scoreboard.

17:08You think that's quite a close match. You know, there's a tie break in there. I think Sinner only won nine more points in the entire match. Like it's not a huge disparity and yet it's a huge disparity now in their head to head and the general feel of that rivalry, if you can call it that. Like Sinner is winning the big moments, winning all the key points and sets. And yeah, I don't know. Maybe we'll throw this question to you, David. if we're assessing a player's season now that they've all finished Shelton, that was his last match where are we with Ben Shelton? Because there have been times when I thought he was making a case for being kind of best of the refs kind of thing in terms of his slam consistency and he finally got that Masters 1000 title didn't he?

17:58But actually his record against the top players is not great and I think he has been a little bit exposed this week, it's felt to me. Yeah, I think it's a really good year, the fact that he's got to this tournament. He's qualified and I remember him pushing Alcaraz at the French Open. I thought he was impressive there. He obviously won the one that Sinner and Alcaraz didn't attend, the 1 ,000 in Canada there. So great stuff, well done. And in America, in the hard courts, yes, I think he did kind of look like the next one at that level. With Fritz, you know, obviously, but maybe the coming man he felt at that time.

18:48But I also feel like that that was slightly artificially inflated because it was in America. Because of the benefits I think he gets from playing in front of a US crowd and the buzz he gets. and so forth. And I think the hype he ends up getting is probably not quite in line with the level he's producing. I think he gets a bit better every year. That's a good sign. I think his work ethic is there. I think his dad really knows what he's doing and they've got a good thing going there. But I don't see him as the next one. I feel like, had Draper been fit all year, he's way ahead of him, I think, still.

19:33I think, like I've said before, I think Artifis would be ahead of him if he was fit. And these are just my opinions. There's many that might disagree. But I think there are some limitations still there. He's got incredible strengths, but he does have weaknesses. And I don't think those players at the top have weaknesses. And so, you know, I think he's still got improvements that he will make. I think he will get better. but I also think there's a limit to how much better he'll get personally just because I'm not convinced the limitations can be totally overcome. I suppose the big sort of gutting moment for him of his season still is that shoulder injury at the US Open.

20:22We didn't quite get to see what his full potential was at that tournament when he was probably in his best form of the season. with the momentum behind him, you know, you kind of, you know, there's a little asterisk next to that one, I suppose, in terms of, you know, just would love to see him back in that situation, in form, in New York, and kind of see what he can do. But I do sort of ultimately agree with you. Okay, well, that's the Bjorn Borg group. We'll come back in part two to talk about the Jimmy Connors group. Well, welcome back to the Tennis Podcast. and we'll start with Carlos Alcaraz, who's guaranteed himself the year-end world number one ranking match going 3-0.

21:08It was a rather more eventful journey than it was for Yannick Sinner. Not hugely surprising, but the fact is he won all three matches. He's got that number one ranking, and boy, did that mean a lot to him. He had the number one trophy today presented to him, I mean, that really meant something to him, I thought. Yeah, definitely. And I thought that was potentially a bit of a trap match for him last night against Mazzetti, given that he didn't need to win it to get through the group. There was the pressure of knowing if he won it, he would secure number one. And he was against Mazzetti, who we're going to talk about with momentum and feeling and the crowd behind him.

21:56I think there was a Carlos Alcres of old that would have struggled in those sort of circumstances. But I think we did see some of the growth that he's taken on this year. And he was, yeah, he was impressive. And it does mean a lot to him, I think. You know, I think he really respects and knows how good Yannick Sinner is. And therefore knows what an achievement it is to finish ahead of him. You know, even if Yannick Sinner misses a few months of this season, as he did, I think that only adds to it. I think Alcres would have thought, well, I've got to finish the year number one if I've played a full season and he hasn't.

22:35And yeah, I've been pretty impressed with him, considering that, you know, he's not really had a very good record at this tournament, generally, this time of year. I think this is definitely the best he's looked at the ATP finals in his career. And I'm going to throw this one back at you, David. you said early that you felt like you'd be able to tell what kind of form Alcaraz is in. And that opening match against Dimonor took us in a couple of different directions. Like he started off blisteringly good, then totally lost his way in that first set, and then was incredibly good again in the second set.

23:12And I felt like you came out of that feeling pretty good about Carlos Alcaraz and how he's playing this week. yeah it's it's not been like the US Open I'll be honest I thought it might be when we saw the first five games against Imanoa I thought okay he looks bang on it here and then we saw him lose his way a bit and it was a bit more like sort of I don't know French Open uh Carlos Arcares which still won um but you know what I mean it's the US Open level was was a different thing altogether and look there have been lost set against Taylor Fritz and I think we should come on to that I'll give you my prediction about Carlos Alcres in part 3 when we do the semi-finals David's been teasing that he's got a theory about these semi-finals but he won't say what it is yeah but we aren't always that up on the ATP finals and the year end events generally I mean they cannot can sometimes be a bit lackluster and lacking drama and lacking players being at their best and yet there was a day in the early stages of this tournament when well mid midway through when Taylor Fritz took it to Carlos Alcaraz and I wasn't able to watch the whole match I watched the highlights later but you and Catherine were so into this so into the way Fritz was playing.

24:46And I mean, he won the first set on a tie break. He was keeping it close all the way through in the second set. In fact, he was piling the pressure on early on. I remember there was a really long Alcaraz service game, wasn't there? And he was just piling it on and not quite managing to win the match. And then eventually Alcaraz turned it around and won. That was the day that we'll go on. We'll talk a little bit about Lorenzo Mazzetti in a while. that was the day that Mazzetti got his win as well so it was all happening that day it was a brilliant day of tennis and actually the tournament as a whole I think has been a good one this time but tell us about that match with Taylor Fritz why why that was so good it really is one of the best matches I've ever seen Taylor Fritz play and I suppose you know you can take that one way and say well isn't that just a total encapsulation of the problem right because he because he still lost and these were in conditions which i would say suit him more than most of the slams you know these indoor conditions i think would suit fritz over an alcaraz and that's right that is the challenge because he can still play that well and ultimately what it can do is force Alcaraz to reach a level that he doesn't have and just inspire brilliance from Alcaraz and that is kind of what ended up happening I think also what ended up happening was that it took so much effort for Taylor Fritz to be playing at that level that inevitably had a couple of lulls be it of just form or energy or sort of mental mental locked in-ness like because it takes so much to challenge Alcaraz for three hours like that and that was all that happened like a couple of poor games and the match was gone but I do want to focus on what he did well because he was superb really really good Alcraz played a sloppy tie break in that first set but otherwise this was this was Fritz really like toe-to-toe with Alcraz outplaying him really going after his shots and that that game you mentioned the 15 minute game that it took Alcaraz to hold serve what impressed me the most was Taylor Fritz's service game straight after I thought this is the moment everything changes Alcaraz has had a 15 minute hold a bet he breaks in the next game Fritz held in 60 seconds like what a baller move and then just like threw the balls down the other end of the court and was like go on then you'll serve again and that it was the presence and the energy of him was like i belong here i really felt like he thought that he belonged and i was so impressed with him so impressed um and obviously ended up impressed with alcaraz for managing to to turn it around and yeah i don't know how to come out of that match you know do you end up feeling more positive about taylor fritz because you've seen something from him that you haven't really seen before i think you have to i think you have to to me he's he's he's mr reliable he's proved himself over the last five years i think he's been the american number one for the last five years i think he sealed that again yeah and he but that's not enough for him he's got more ambition than that he wants to beat these guys i i don't think when it really matters that he probably will because he's just not quite he's not as good as them They are generational players that he's trying to be.

28:40Sinner, Alcras, there was Djokovic. He's a really, really top-level player, Fritz, apart from those guys. And the fact that he rolled through his service game in 60 seconds doesn't actually surprise me because he does that a lot. He knows his marks that he has to hit. He doesn't faff about it. He just gets the job done. So often he just wins matches, just gets the job done. but then he runs into these players and he and he doesn't look a threat that happens a lot so the fact that he looked a threat in this match to me should give him massive encouragement because he clearly and listening to him afterwards he clearly decided he was just gonna take it on all the time he wasn't going to settle into his reliable patterns and then get beaten by a better player he was going to try to unsettle Al Caraz and clearly he achieved that at least I'd be encouraged by that yes I I think you're right um I think he gave an interesting answer in the press conference didn't he in a little exchange he had with Charlie Eccleshire actually who's out there for the athletic and I think you know Fritz is quite a sort of analytical guy I think he does look at the sort of the big picture of the sport and I think maybe a couple of years ago he thought right I'm trending up here I'm improving Nadal's gone Djokovic can't go on forever could be my time you know I think he really thought that if he keeps making the improvements he would probably win a major and I think he has kept making those improvements he is he's a better player now than he was a few years ago he's not one of these ones who's just stagnated he's he's kept getting better but he said we're now in a big two era and he i don't think he saw that coming you know i think he knew that alcaraz was brilliant but i think he's the fact that alcaraz and sinner have just shut everyone else out i think has maybe spooked fritz a little bit you know and he's done all that he can and he can and he will continue to but it just might not be enough and i almost think in this moment we saw another little him being spooked because i think he thought that that might be enough to beat alcaraz he doesn't get the win and then he was pretty flat in the next match you know like ultimately that's the thing with fritz here he's it's such a weird group this the way it's played out like fritz has got a win in his first match impressed me maybe more than he sort of ever has in his second match, but he's not come through the group because he's ended up putting in a bit of a lackluster display against a very, very good Dimonor who we must talk about.

31:33But you kind of think you just want him to go again after that Alcaraz and just prove that, okay, even if I lost that, I'm still the next best guy in this group. But I can understand, I suppose, it's just how hard that is after he's given it all against Alcaraz it is tough to go again and I think he found that we have seen him have a couple like that this year you think back to him losing to Gael Monfils at the Australian Open that I mean Gael was fantastic that day but it shouldn't happen really for a player of his level I think the other thing just to bear in mind is I found the tennis TV have got all the press conferences on the YouTube channel and I listened to them all the other morning and Fritz was talking quite worryingly I thought about tendinitis in his knees and saying that he now can't play consecutive days without quite a lot of pain like really being impeded and not being able to quite push off and I guess be as explosive as he wants to be um and and it sounds as i mean he says look why would i do anything dramatic when i can still play like that against sourcrows even though i've got this pain so he's that's the way he's looking at it but that's it's not ideal is it really he says the only way you can solve it really is by having time off and kind of realigning and rebuilding and all that sort of stuff and well at least you know now the season is over so hopefully I hope for his sake that that gets sorted out but he does pound those knees I mean you know you think he he does although he wins points efficiently in a way he's got his patterns it's physically demanding still you know he plays a lot of hardcore tennis he plays a lot of tennis generally you know and I just wonder whether we're going to see more of this with players like him who've just been so reliable I mean Zverev's been banging on about how many injuries he's had this year you know these guys have got quite a few miles on the clock so um I am interested to see whether he can go again Fritz because as you say it's one thing having the trying to improve your top level so that you can get that win that you're so searching for against the top couple but what if you sort of lose your floor a bit because you're physically impeded or because you're mentally fried or it's it's it's a tough sport um you mentioned alex dimenor and on the subject of being a bit fried what a week he's had i mean you know he lost his first two matches and i mean in his words he was as low as he's ever been on a tennis court and after a match after his after his second match wasn't it against was that the one against Mazzetti um he was devastated and he was so candid in his press conference about how upset he felt and how just just fed up of losing big matches you know he's had a really good year he's in the HB finals you know he's done so many good things he has spoken openly about his mental health and feeling burnt out earlier this year and I kind of feel like this was another manifestation of that.

34:56Thank goodness he then was able to follow it with an absolutely massive win against Taylor Fritz. When it was his turn to do what Fritz did against Algras and just take it to an opponent and just wrestle it from him, play beyond his normal comfort zone almost, but then just get the ecstasy of achievements. I mean, it sounded like he'd already made peace with himself because he'd played on his own terms. But you won't find much of a contrast like that in the space of a couple of days in the players' press conferences. Yeah, tennis is just such a crazy sport, isn't it? You can be stuck in one place for so long, whether it be a certain ranking or, in Dimonor's case, like unable to get a top 10 win as he as he would he'd really struggled for one hadn't he recently and that's kind of what he was talking about you know sort of almost questioning his own status in the sport you know like do i belong here that kind of thing i can't finish these matches off against players similar to my ranking and then a couple of days later he he gets that win playing as you said super aggressively really good from him against taylor fritz and then because alcaraz beats mazzetti he qualifies for the semi-finals and he's gone from in his words one of the darkest places he's ever been in after a tennis match to through to the semi-finals of the atp finals which for alex dimanore is a great result you know and i think it was again it's a funny group you got three people there who only won one match and lost two so you're going to get one of them coming through even with a negative record but it's Alex Dimonor and it's just it's just wild how those things can change in tennis having been stuck for so long they can't things just can just sort of flip in a day and and Alex Dimonor has experienced that because that was a brutal loss against Mazzetti that I'm sure we're going to talk about it a lot from a Mazzetti perspective and mostly we've been viewing that from a Mazzetti perspective and most people have been viewing that from a Mazzetti perspective it's just such a compelling story but Dimonor let that go like that was that was a joke really it was a brutal loss from him and for him to turn it around a couple of days later i was i was very pleased for him because i have a lot of time for alex dimenor and his general approach to the sport and actually it feels in a way like everybody won in that scenario right in the end because mazzetti only needed the one win yeah he you know he's had this run to get into this thing where he's just looked so sad and so depleted and so in desperate need of the Maldives and and he's finally qualified because Novak Djokovic has let him in and and he's just you know the remains of him almost have been taken to that court each day and I've I mean he's done his best and then suddenly he managed to pull it out well with some help from Dimonor but what what a match 753675 um to to just get his hero's reaction from the crowd chanting his name i mean it was very emotional very very sweet and he went over to his family and his his wife's crying and his you know his family are all there and it's just it felt like he'd won the tournament you know and he he'd won his one run round robin match and now he's on his way home again you know but kind of doesn't matter does it because he had his moment and and now dimenor gets his moment in response yeah everyone won except taylor fritz in that group i think is is the conclusion unfortunately for taylor fritz it was magical those mazzetti scenes like genuinely like Like, I didn't know a round-robin match could move me that much.

39:20Like, genuinely. Like, as you said, the circumstances so specific. That was why he's played every week since the US Open. That's why he was so desperate to get to Turin. And it was just amplified because you thought, OK, he has finally made it to Turin, thank goodness. But what a state he's in. He's depleted. He hasn't got his legs. Like, how can he compete with the best players in the world? And yet he was brilliant in that first set, really good against Dimonor. But then the leg started to go. Dimonor took over. He levels it up. He goes a break up in the third. And you're thinking, OK, this is going to just sort of maybe peter out for Mazzetti.

40:02But he found a spark. and when Mazzetti finds a spark in a tennis match, he's the guy I say wow at the most at the moment, apart from Carlos Alcaraz. He's the guy who is conjuring up shots and creatively thinking of rallies and points in his head and putting them together in such a fascinating, compelling way to watch. And his changes of pace, his changes of height, His willingness to get the forehand into play in those closing stages, just mesmerising. There was a point where they both fell on the floor afterwards. A really, really long point. Dimador won it with a smash. And they both just fell backwards, breathing heavily.

40:49It was really cinematic. And yeah, eventually Mazzetti won it with, you know, you kind of want a great match to end on a great point. And it did. Mazzetti with a brilliant forehand passing shot. and you'd called it David you said either way win or lose Mazzetti is going to be in tears at the end of this one and the ball had barely left his strings and he was in tears like it was unbelievable and he suddenly had all this energy, he was beating his chest, he leapt over the barrier he jumped into his player box and I said on our friend's show the other night, he went full Mondo Duplantis and just had an amazing moment and went over and kissed his girlfriend and yeah it was it was a special moment i don't think he's going to be able to go to the maldives is he because his girlfriend is so heavily pregnant yeah i don't suppose they'll be able to fly i think she's expecting very soon he's pulled out of the davis cart but you're right he only needed the one and he got it and boy did he get it in special special circumstance it was amazing i'd like to make an early request to the draw gods for them to have a rematch in melbourne in the quarterfinals oh yes i i hope the draw gods are listening yeah put it in put it in dimanore's backyard this time yeah yeah okay well we're gonna look ahead and make a preview and predictions for the semi-finals in part three and also have a look at the doubles.

42:29Welcome back to part three of the tennis podcast and as well as the singles the doubles has been flying along over the last few days I've been finding myself watching quite a lot of it I mean it's been quite intriguing and interesting from a scoreline perspective a lot of the matches have felt quite similar to me you know the the men's doubles often does these days I'm I'm I'm mouth agape at how powerful and consistent they are but serve does dominate a lot and um you know we've ended up with four four doubles pairings that are seriously strong pairs and I suspect we're going to get some really competitive semi-finals as well I I mean there are a lot of British players involved there's five of them in total so from a from a sort of british perspective obviously i'm quite pleased about that um this is the first time that one country's had that number reached the last four of the events since um since australia did it in 1992 i mean that's that's good going isn't it cash and uh glass pool have secured the year-end number one ranking as well they're the first all british team to achieve that but you're you're left with a lineup which is simone valelli and Andrea Vavasori against Harry Heliovara and Henry Patton.

43:53And then we've got Joe Salisbury and Neil Skupski against Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool. I mean, even though they're all those Brits, I think the whole mixed doubles thing has just meant that I have quite a soft spot for Vavasori all the time these days, Matt. Yeah, I can get on board with that. Anyone who plays like that at the net defending the Sararani serve is a hero, really. And the way he took that on at the US Open was superb. And yeah, there is a nice sort of flavour to these semifinals with three teams with at least one Britain. and then the all-Italian team, you know, in their home tournament.

44:47Yeah, and tough to call, I think, from here, but it often is in men's doubles, right? The margins are thin in these matches. Yeah, if you told me any one of those four teams was the champion, I wouldn't be surprised. But based on what I've seen, I mean, Heliovar and Patten, I saw edged out by Salisbury and Skubski in the group stages, but they both qualified in the end. And these matches, they're on a knife edge so often. But, you know, I think Vavasori, he's so used to these big match occasions now and with the Italian crowd. I mean, it could be dramatic stuff. But then you're just still going.

45:30Yeah. It's cool. Okay, well, yeah, I'm going to go for the Italian pair to win it. there you go i'm on the record now what about these singles semi-finals matt we've got yannick sinner against alex dimenor in the afternoon what's the record now is it 12-0 in the favor of sinner it is indeed is that the one you're making a a bold prediction on hold on and then we've got in the evening we've got carlos arcries against felix algelli asim i actually think I could make a reasonably compelling argument for both of them being upsets. Here's my reason. Please make those arguments now. I am all ears. Okay.

46:17So I don't think that Sinner is at the top of his game, even though he hasn't lost a set. I don't think he's playing as well as I have seen him play. and I think that Alex Diminor has got absolutely nothing to lose now nothing at all and even Sinner said that Sinner was interviewed he said he's got nothing to lose I've got a lot to lose which I thought you're both in the semi-finals mate but you know he knows what it's like and I just I think the last couple of times I've seen them play Dimonor has just made some incremental impressions in those matches he got a set in Beijing didn't he yeah it's just felt like there are little things he's doing in terms of rushing Sinner I mean it's difficult to rush Sinner because he's so fast and so balanced but he's just taken it on I think we're going to see Dimonor try to do to Sinner what Fritz tried to do to Alcaraz and what, frankly, Dimonor managed to do to Fritz.

47:30I think the blueprint needs to be the same. Just go for it. Just go for it. And that in itself isn't enough. Sinner plays well, Sinner still wins. But, you know, he's not always going to be on. Not to the very top of his ability. and if he's a bit off, I don't think, one of these days, I think if Dimonor keeps believing, one of these days he's going to beat him, I think. Because I don't think he's, I don't think he's David Ferrer against Roger Federer. And I don't think he is that. I think there's, I think he comes at it with more to throw at the opponent. More ambition, more possibilities, more belief, most of the time.

48:22I still think Sinner will win, obviously. Okay. But I'm just, and you may say, oh, you're just having your cake and eating it here. Which I'm still going to go for a Sinner Al-Karaz final because you'd be mad not to. Oh, I thought you were doing something. No, no, you'd be mad not to, right? You'd be mad not to. For the tape, David has built this up since before we started recording. David was giving it the whole, you wait for my part three predictions. I was thinking, okay, I can't wait. And you're going Sina Alcaraz. I mean, listen, it's one thing to make the case for it. It's another thing to actually say you think it's going to happen.