Cincinnati - Is tennis losing a generation?

38:20And, I mean, people like me got carried away and said he's going to win the French Open. But, you know, realistically, that doesn't happen very often like that, does it? So, look, I think the fundaments of his game are strong and and he will come good but it's yeah it's gonna take a bit longer his scheduling is quite interesting isn't it because he really is pretty much only playing the big events which is kind of what we always ask players to do when they're really good you know like cut down on your events and sort of focus on the main ones i do wonder whether for him still in the developmental phase of his career would actually be prudent to play a few other events and get some wins.

39:12Do some winning. It's almost like he's scheduling for the amount of hype that he's got rather than for the actual game that he's got at the moment. And scheduling assuming that he's going to win a lot of matches at each event. Yeah. And therefore play a lot of matches at each event. But actually he ends up losing and therefore not playing much and having a long time between matches. I feel like when you're... Yeah, he's not even got doubles, has he? He's kicking his heels at Kings Island exclusively. Yeah, I just thought he wants to do it. There are worse things to do. I just feel like when you're like that, you can play a lot of matches.

39:54And I think maybe also just perhaps he's not as physically ready as I thought he was. Perhaps like the front half of the season being so much better than the latter half, perhaps he just is finding it just tough on the tour kind of at the moment. And I feel like a way to build that up would be to kind of play more. So I think it's going to be interesting to see how he schedules going forward. Because, I mean, he was, again, I watched quite a lot of this match on replay this morning. So I just found it such an intriguing result. Like Terence Atman, to me, has always been a bit of a sort of troll figure.

40:37I've never really taken him that seriously. I mean, last time I saw him, he was being booed off court by his own crowd at Roland Garros. Yeah. That's who Terence Atman is, to me. Right. i mean he he's clearly talented but what was what was striking here was fonseca was a passenger like he was being bossed around and i think if i had to pinpoint one thing there's lots of things but fonseca's return is really really below par i think especially off second serve he doesn't doesn't really know how to i don't know whether you know whether there's a stepped back to come in. He just looked totally lost trying to return serve at the moment.

41:17So I think that's a big area. Fies was like that, you know, start of last year. And I just think if you're as good as they are, you can sort those things out with a few tweaks. He did technically get a win in the opening round for Fonseca against Alejandro Davidovic for Kina, but that was by retirement. a new devastating way to lose for Alejandro Davidovich for Kina. Matt, he's really racking up quite a CV of those. Yeah, I mean, I'm not exactly sure what happened. I think it was heat. I think he was struggling in the conditions. And he's not alone with that. We've had a few, but Arta Rindeknes yesterday was a really upsetting sight.

42:06he ended up retiring as well. Yeah, I mean, he was 7-6, 4-0, 30-0, love up, Davidovic, Fikina. I mean, he's almost there. And yet he didn't win another game. He lost that game from 30-0, went 5-4 down in the set and had to retire. So that was, yeah, brutal for Davidovic, Fikina. And a shock loss for Alex de Menor to Riley Opelka, who I, look, I suppose all the cliches about playing a guy with a game like Riley Opelka, like toss of the coin, anybody can lose to him. But Alex de Manor had never lost to him. He was 5-0 against him. And I do remember a few years ago Opelka saying what a nightmare he found playing de Manor.

42:56I've always thought that actually de Manor would do really well in that matchup. And yeah, as you said, Apelka is tricky. I absolutely do not think he's anywhere near the Sitsapas-Rude-Mevvedev discussion that we had earlier, Alex de Menor. But he is on burnout watch for me. He is on, you know, potentially have you peaked? Like, I don't see a steep decline coming for him at all. I think he's going to hang around and be not far off his peak for a long time. But I do just wonder if that style of play and the fact that he's already talked about burnout. I don't know. He's just on amber alert for me, Alex de Menor.

43:47Is that unfair? I mean, look, he's already spoken about that, hasn't he? about how, I mean, speaking to him at Wimbledon, I remember thinking, crikey, this really is a day-to-day thing for him now. He's trying to manage this situation. But I don't, I still see enough good results. And, you know, I just think it's a management case. I don't think he's, I don't think his form's suffering like those other guys. They look lost. They look like they don't really know what their best self looks like anymore. Dimonor, absolutely. I think Diminor's playing some of the best tennis of his career, but it's a tough...

44:32Do you think he'll continue to qualify for Turin? Yeah, I do. For the foreseeable few years? Yeah, I certainly think in the next year or two, he's going to be in that conversation, certainly. Yeah, I think being a Turin contender is probably, to me, Alex Diminor's... Dimonor's, you know, that'd be a really good season for him because there are players with bigger games who can probably win bigger titles. But yeah, Shelton's, for example. But he builds his season on that sort of week in, week out consistency. Yeah, I suppose. I suppose like kind of everyone to me is on Amber Alert for burnout. It's kind of how I would feel like if it can if it can get Alex Dimonor.

45:21do you know what I mean it feels like it can it can get everyone and he's he has he has been through it I kind of just think he will he will manage to avoid the real trappings the real pit falls of it but yeah all of tennis on amber alert for burnout yeah permanently uh folks just before we move on to talk about the WTA event in Cincinnati as you've probably gathered we're pretty pumped about the US Open it'll be happening this time in a week it'll be happening and we'll be there and more specifically the reimagined US Open mixed doubles championship presented by Vital Proteins will be happening it's going to be a must-see event we'll be seeing it we're getting Think of it.

46:15We are going to be there and we're going to be wanting to watch it. Both of the recent Wimbledon champions, Igor Sviantik and Yannick Sinner, have entered with their partners Kasper Rude and Emma Navarro. And they're joined on the acceptance list with teams like Carlos Alcaraz and Emma Raducanu, Madison Keyes and Francis Tiafoe and Elena Rabakina and Taylor Fritz. And that is not all. Novak Djokovic has entered with compatriot Olga Danilovic. Ben Shelton plays with the world number one doubles player Taylor Townsend. that's a team that I'm particularly hyped for. And even Venus Williams has signed up to compete and any opportunity to get a glimpse of Venus Williams is an absolute treat.

46:55So the event takes place over the 19th and 20th of August. And to find out what else is planned for the amazing US Open Fan Week, including free access to the qualifying tournaments, feature practice sessions and brilliant off-court activities, Go to usopen.org forward slash fan week. Right, the WTA event in Cincinnati. Let's start, shall we, with a match that we were all engrossed by last night. I'm sure the same is the case for many of you listening right now. Irina Sabalenka beating Emma Raducanu in a deciding set tiebreak, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6. Sabalenka extending her tiebreak record for 2025 to 18 wins and just one loss.

47:45Not always the absolute highest quality match. I don't think Sabalenka will put this in her highlights reel of great matches. It was a lot of unforced errors from her, but an utterly compelling match. I absolutely loved it, Matt. yeah I think a real sort of lesson from the summer has been more Sabalenka Raducanu matches please because the one at Wimbledon was compelling as well and this one very similarly so if not as high a quality I would agree Raducanu began the match so well like hitting the ball brilliantly doing damage, I sent a very David Law style text two games into the match like god Raducanu's playing well.

48:32Well she'd won nine points in a row. Right. She'd won the first nine points in the match. Yeah and then like lost four games in a row and it was like okay this is still Arena Savalenka. That's why you've got to send the texts while they're relevant. Right. You've got to strike while the iron's hot with those sorts of takes. Although I then said I'm not sure Raducanu will win another game at that point 4-2 Dan. Hot takes were flying around. They were flying about. That's how into it we were. And yeah, look, I think Raducanu played closer to her best than Sabalenka played to hers in this match. But still, just really, really encouraging match from Raducanu, I think.

49:15The serve in particular was so effective in this match, particularly from the second set onwards. And, you know, he's got obviously a new coach Francisco Roy going in there and I'm sure we'll talk a lot more about that partnership and sort of our first real view of it during a match but what strikes me is that you see in a match like this what's a new coach going in like why you would be drawn to the Emma Raducanu sort of project to put it in really sort of horrible football parlance but But there's just so much in her game that if you can tap into it, she can hurt the best players in the world.

49:59And obviously Raducanu has spoken about not feeling like her quality of shot is quite there with the best players in the world. And I do agree with that. But I think we saw little parts of this match where it absolutely was there with Sabalenka, but we also see the other elements of her game, the way she can absorb some of Sabalenka's power, her hand skills on the baseline. I think her fitness has improved a lot. You know, this was a long match and in gruelling conditions. And yet I wasn't worried about Emerita Canu sort of lasting the course in it. In fact, it was Sabalenka who seemed to be struggling physically a bit more in parts of this match.

50:39So, so much, so much good for Emerita Canu. There was an incredible 13-deuce, 23-minute game at 3-4 in the third set that Emeril O 'Kanu eventually held. Very reminiscent of the game they had in the first set at Wimbledon, when again Emeril O 'Kanu held. You know, just these battles that Emeril O 'Kanu was coming through. And yeah, I absolutely loved this match, but the difference was Sabalenka in the tie breaks. and that is a phenomenal record that she's got 16 in a row she's won and it's slightly I know we talked about it at Wimbledon but I still feel like we haven't given it the credit it deserves like and I say we I mean us but also just like tennis as a whole hasn't been as across this Sabalenka tiebreak record as we for example used to be across Novak Djokovic's tiebreak record I think it's because with Djokovic there was such a clear tactic that he had in in those tie breaks locking his game down it was like he just went into a slightly different mode I feel like with Savalenka I haven't quite figured out what she's doing to win these tie breaks other than being to use Friday's word of the pod like so clutch and just like being the best player in the world in the biggest moments.

52:01She's still feeling like she's playing her game, but just bringing it. And it's an incredible thing, especially for someone who has had a bit of an issue bringing her best tennis at the latter end of majors. There is a world where Sabalenka isn't always playing her best tennis in the biggest moments. And yet in tie breaks, which are like the biggest moments in matches, she's doing it repeatedly. So I kind of find that fascinating. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely loved this match. I thought both players came out of it, you know, with so much to be really positive about, to be honest. And those are kind of my favourite matches.

52:45Yes, Emerita Carney, this is the first time she looks like a... Not the first match or tournament, the first sort of consistent period where I've really thought of her is like a properly hardened pro tour tennis player. And so much of that is about her body. Her body seems able to stand up to it and she obviously has confidence in her body in a way she hasn't done before. I feel like you can see she has core strength like never before. Those returns that Sabalenka hits, a little bit like the one you described from Yannick Sinner earlier, where you think you've hit a good serve and suddenly you're just rocked back, shocked by this booming return that pushes you back.

53:34And so often against power hitters like that, she's been caught out by those returns and you see her getting pushed back and instantly off balance. I feel like she's able to stand up to those sorts of shots physically and not get instantly rocked back in a way that she wasn't before. I still think the movement out wide from side to side needs maybe a little bit of work, not necessarily the speed, but kind of the balance when she gets there and the shot she's able to produce when she gets there and maybe the recovery from being taken into the corners. But look, the signs of improvement are so clear for Emma Raducanu And that's kind of before Francisco Roy, I presume, has really been able to have any kind of impact.

54:26And that is a man with ideas, David. He's got thoughts and we are hearing those thoughts. He is a chatty man. Now, I'm wary with this that, like, we are at the mercy of the television producers with this stuff, right, with the on-court coaching. It might be the microphone is better that they've got on the coaching box on Centre Court in Cincinnati than at other tournaments. It might be that we're just hearing a better version or hearing more of what the coaches have to say than we do elsewhere. but purely on the basis of what we saw and heard last night during this match. He has thoughts and he is making sure that Emma Raducanu hears them.

55:19What do we think of all that? Well, at least he was trying to. I mean, the thing is, I think we heard a lot more of what he'd got to say and think about than she did because she's so far away from him and she actually got ticked off by the umpire for going over to him, which is absurd. I mean, if you're going to have courtside coaching and she's saying, yes, but you're playing music, I can't hear him, so I've got to go physically closer if you want, you know. Otherwise, give me the earphones and I'll hear what all the viewers are hearing because they're in everything. The rule is basically you're allowed to sort of passively take on as much on-court coaching, but you're not allowed to proactively seek it, go over and seek it out.

56:06I think unless your opponent is taking a bathroom break or something. Sabalenka went off court for an outfit change, didn't she? And Raducanu instantly went over to Francisco Roy and sort of downloaded his brain. We're allowing coaching, but we don't want anybody to know about it. Just get over it. It's a stupid fudge at the moment. But I mean, in terms of... Look, there was a good 45 minutes where we didn't hear from Francisco Roig at all. Now, they may have just turned off the mic. I think they turned off his mic. Because when you could hear him, he was relentless. And we heard not a peep out of the Sabalenka box.

56:48And I could see them talking at times and you couldn't hear them. So that's an element of it. But, yes, I mean, he was ongoing. going and i mean look some of some of what he's saying i found really fascinating for instance you talked about her ability to absorb the power of the shots coming towards her he kept saying feel the ball don't kind of hit the ball you know as though he was wanted her to trust that she didn't have to panic and try and meet fire with fire all the time she could just use it um he was strong on where he wanted her to stand personally i was thinking well if she can hear all this how long until she gets irritated by it because it was so non-stop and i'm sort of thinking gee if i've got a mind mind of my own i don't necessarily want to hear this all the time what we don't know is whether they've had a conversation about what she absolutely wants yeah because i would be irritated by that um and i would find it totally overwhelming um i've absolutely no idea if she's saying yeah i want to hear it i want to hear it i want constant sort of reassurance and um if she hasn't said that's specifically what i want i i imagine she might have been slightly off put by it although she played great so maybe not maybe she's like wow this this this works let's keep doing this within this specific match it seemed well received on radhikaru's end she didn't seem annoyed by it and you know i liked that his his comments were i think generally positive in tone and constructive it seemed in this specific match like it worked but i always think it's a little bit of a red flag generally when there's that much relentless stuff coming from the box like you know telling you where to serve and where to stand and all that kind of thing I just I'm not sure that that lasts all that well you know when like when things start going against you and you've got your coach constantly telling you stuff that's when it's harder to receive you and just like what sort of player are you molding there like one that fully relies on you.

59:10I'm not sure that's good either. So I'm fascinated to see how it's going to develop. And coaches that want players to fully rely on them, that I find to be a red flag generally. You should want to empower your players surely as far as possible. But yeah, this is small sample size. Very early stage. And she played great. She played great. And also he was, I quite liked that he was saying you're the better player he was sort of trying to really I mean I think great you know when they were going into that third set and look she was very close, she served out of her mind she did yeah there was a lot going on in that match wasn't there, there was a point where there was clearly a lot of noise happening you know she said I can't hear my coach because of the music and then I think it was in the second set or the third set there had been a baby crying for a long time and Raducanu after a while said to the umpire, Miriam Blais, I think it was, she said, can we do anything about that?

1:00:16And Miriam Blais was like, well, it's a child. It's a child growing. She said, I can ask them to leave. What would you like me to do? I was very triggered by this. It really annoyed me. Miriam Blais is a great umpire and this might just be all me. It really annoyed me that she put that decision on Emma Raducanu. She was quite arsy with Emma about that, actually, I thought. It's lose-lose, isn't it? Either you're the absolute twat that asks for the baby and its parents to be kicked out, or you have to continue to put up with the screaming child. Yeah, I don't think that was the right way to handle that particular instance by the umpire.

1:00:58It reminded me of when a woman asked me to switch from my aisle seat to a middle seat so that she could sit across the aisle from her family on a plane. Yeah, that's unacceptable. It's unacceptable to ask that question. because now I'm in a situation of either being a total arsehole, which is the route I took, or sitting in a middle seat for a flight, which I go to great lengths to avoid. And if that's important to you, you too can go to those lengths to avoid that. Yeah. Okay. I also think, like, the parents there have got to take the kid out. Like, it's a boiling hot day. the baby's screaming get out of there yeah do better parenting go and watch in the shade on outside court or something like yeah and don't make it Emma Adekanu's problem no no hear hear thanks I feel seen Matt thank you Madison Keyes is at it again saved match points to beat Ava Lees and then beat Aoi Ito last night my new favourite player in very different circumstances, kind of flattened her.

1:02:22Aoi Ito, by the way, was just absolutely bamboozled Pavlyuchenkova in the previous round. That was so much fun. But Madison Keyes and her saving match points. She's a great show at the moment, isn't she, Matt? Oh, she's been... I actually kind of think her and Sabalenka have played so many good matches this year. you know keys just continually all season coming back from the brink and she was asked about it on on tennis channel on her interview there at the desk and you know she was she was being heaped with praise like wow you keep doing this and she was kind of like yeah but what am i doing constantly putting myself in that position what am i doing i just really really loved her her sort of attitude um and look she was in trouble against ava leese and she gave some great insight into how the court speed which is you know most players seem to think it's playing really quickly in in cincinnati she said leese is a great exponent of absorbing pace and of redirecting it so keys said at the start of this match she was hitting the ball to leese with big power but actually that was the worst thing she could be doing because leese wanted that power and she was redirecting it she was causing all sorts of problems but keys said if i can get width on my shots that's when the court speed helps me because suddenly i'm hitting these big shots and players having to chase them down they've got less time to do it because the conditions are fast and i thought it was really interesting analysis and she was in big trouble in this match keys you know not only match point did she have to say but she was love three love 30 down in the third set and then she just put together a string of points the like of which she just has kept doing this season with when her back's against the wall i find it so compelling now we've seen that tennis win a major i'm just so drawn to madison keys matches at the moment and she came up with a completely ridiculous backhand winner down the line in in the tie break that hit the sideline and yeah she just keeps keeps coming up with it and i think she wants her form to be a little bit better you know but she's finding it the right time to me yes yes yes is she in yours yeah yeah because of that because the clutchness the clutchness the big time stuff the kind of like i'm going for it might not make everything but i'm going for it and you've got to deal with it yeah Yeah, I do.

1:05:02Winning from match points down does something to a player. It gives you just an extra layer of armour, I think. Yeah, absolutely in the mix. and she got Rebecca in the next David's which also has winning from match point down kind of written all over it potentially that's I mean you know these tournaments they just go on forever but there's some now there are some some good matchups percolating aren't there and there's there's a perfect one pretty early on really but there's some good matches out there that they're going to be set up now that the thing's finally getting going. Yeah, although not for Iga Shiontek, she played her first match on Saturday and she'll play her next one on Wednesday.

1:05:58She'll be Anna Potapova and then Marta Kostiuk had to withdraw from her scheduled next round match with that wrist injury that she was troubled by in Canada as well. So Shiontek's having a weird tournament already. Matt you multi-screened some Amanda Anisimova last night I know you'll have been disappointed by the result but was Anna Kaninskaya's dog any kind of consolation to you because there were some good dog scenes very good dog scenes I turned it off by that point I'll send you some clips I am aware of Kaninskaya's dog Bella I believe I believe Bella is the name of the dog. It's a blonde, a toffee Daxon, long-haired Daxon.

1:06:53And she was wearing a little hat, a little bonnet. Yeah, I did see the scenes on social media and was like, oh, maybe I shouldn't have turned off in such disgust. Was she bad? No, I think she, look, she wasn't great, but I wouldn't say she was really bad either. She lost her way at the end of both sets. She had 15.30 on Canon Sky's serve at 5.4 in the opener, didn't take that chance and then lost the set. And she had triple break point at 4.3 in the second set, didn't take those and lost her way. She let those moments get to her. Maybe some of the resilience that we've talked about a lot this year being brilliant was kind of missing in this one.

1:07:40And it's obviously been a slightly tricky stretch since the Wimbledon final. She played great against Raducanu in Canada, but that was kind of it. I do think she was hurt here by having a walkover in her first match. You know, she was meant to play Jean-Jean. That match didn't happen, so she's waiting around for a match. And suddenly she's got Callan Skye, who's a really good player, who'd already got a tight win was match tough and she just she was match tougher than Anissimova in those big moments but it has it has spared us a Svantec rematch because that match again was lurking in this draw there they weren't far away you're always on alert for that now yeah there's so much trauma it'll happen eventually yeah it will and look probably would be a good thing if it did happen and Matt it'll be better than last time It has to be better than last time.

1:08:37I think for Anissa Mova, the thing is she's at least going to be high-seeded at the US Open. If you think back to last year, she went into that tournament unseeded. She played Jung-Chin Wen in the first round. There are some dangerous unseeded players, potentially, at this year's US Open, but I feel like she is going to be able to work her way, most likely, into the draw in a way that she just hasn't really been able to do since Wimbledon. so not is she in the mix yeah david matt is not a reliable answerer of this question i'm going to say yes because i feel like her top level is such that she can win any of these things um and i don't feel and i look i think she needs some form obviously and some but but i even though there have been a couple of losses the last couple of weeks, I think there's plenty banked for the year that if she can get into the draw, get up and running, I think she's absolutely a contender for the title, yeah.

1:09:43I do think the US Open, and this is a factor for a lot of players, but the conditions can vary so much at the US Open, unlike kind of Wimbledon, for example, where, OK, you might get a hot day, but it's not going to be, by their standards, awful. You know, she was playing in the heat of the day yesterday in Cincinnati. And look, I think she's got a lot better at dealing with those sorts of conditions, but it's not her preferred conditions. Like, I feel like along the way at the US Open, and that's what really separates the very best players. They can kind of handle absolutely everything. You're not worried about the conditions of a match.

1:10:22But I think Anisimova could do with maybe a little bit of luck of the draw in that sense. not get a horribly sticky day session match that just takes it all out of her. Again, when we think about Wimbledon, she did say how much it took out of her beating Sabalenka on that hot day and how tired she was after that. I think that's kind of a factor in her US Open as well. Again, that's maybe an improvement she just still needs to make. But right now, I think it is a factor for her, the conditions of a match. I think of Doha. She played all her matches last on, basically, at night. And the conditions were the same every time.

1:11:02It was still, it was a bit cooler. I think these are sort of elements that can determine how well Anissa Mova plays. Barbora Krajcikova, biggest win of her comeback. Three-setter over Alina Svitolina. Great to see for Krajcikova. those scenes of her exiting Wimbledon will really haunt me. So glad to see her put that behind her. And the last result I wanted to mention, Emma Navarro, whose dad obviously owns this tournament and has invested$200 million in this incredible redevelopment for the complex. And when we talked about the event on Friday, I hadn't quite digested exactly how renovated this place is.

1:11:50like it's totally on steroids this year. And look, his ownership of that tournament is separate to the fact that his daughter is a top tennis player, but I'm sure he would have been hoping that she would have at least gone on a run and not lost her opening match to Ella Seidel, which is actually what ended up happening. It's quite stunning, though, when you see those aerial shots that they're giving us a lot of, David, on the broadcast because they're obviously wanting to show off these renovations. And, well, good luck to them. I'd be wanting to show them off as well. You can see the 200 million, put it that way.

1:12:32Yeah, yeah, they've done an amazing renovation job and it's a cool facility. I do sometimes have some issues with the visibility of the ball on the centre court when it's really gleaming sun in certain angles because they've changed the colour coding, haven't they? You know, it's always been darker blue court with a green surround, the same as the US Open, to get that US Open series going, which I must admit, I preferred that. I liked that idea of having an identity for a swing of American hard courts. I liked the US Open series. Yes, so did I. Why did that die? I don't know. I think it's a shame but I really like what they've obviously done a great job, the players love going there the problem is it's so hot at the moment it looks like a miserable place to be spending time and it's out of their control it's where it is I've covered that event once in 2016 maybe, 2016 I think, and I think I struggle with the heat there more than more than the US Open.

1:13:46I found it absolutely brutal. They do have an ice cream sponsor, though. That helps. It does affect the vibe of the matches. You know, when people come... And the vibe of the crowd. Well, that's what I mean. When people can't sit in those non-shaded seats, it just looks empty and... Yeah, it's a shame. People look sleepy. and this is all a bit much, isn't it? Yeah, I do think the brightness of that centre core has been a problem for a while. Like, I don't think that's to do with the colour change. I think it's something to do with the position of the camera there on the centre core, which they've moved about a lot in Cincinnati.

1:14:30It used to be really low in Cincinnati. Now it's one of the higher ones. And yes, something's wrong because, as you said, during the day session it's really hard to see the ball really it's too bright you go to other courts it's not a court colour issue because they're perfect on other courts yeah it's a bit of a tough scene to have spent 200 million dollars making somewhere really sexy but to can't see the ball for the ball for the ball not to be visible Sabalenka called out a lack of space in the play of dining as well did you see that did she what was it oh my god That's very Alejandro Davidovich Fikina calling out having to play at 11am.

1:15:15Was it 11am or 10am? Oh, it was 11. It was a perfectly normal time. 11am. What a sport. Right, join us in part three for a big announcement. Is it a new Taylor Swift album? Who can say? Welcome back to part three of the Tennis Podcast, where it is time for our big announcement. No, it is not a beloved pop star releasing new material. That's already been announced on a rival sports podcast. What we have to announce for you is potentially more exciting. Who can say? There are no metrics for these things. We, the collective we, myself, David, Matt, Billie Jean, TBC, are coming to Wrexham, Melbourne, London, New York, Wrexham.

1:16:07It's the new big four, folks. Wednesday, the 22nd of October, we will be coming to the Grove Park Theatre for a live audience show. It's taking place during the Wrexham Open, which is the biggest tennis event in Wales since 1996 and the biggest women's tennis event in the UK outside of the grass court season. Tickets will be going on sale this week. The Friends pre-sale for an exclusive 48-hour ticket window for Friends of the Tennis Podcast will start tomorrow, Wednesday at 10am. And then the tickets will go on general sale on Friday at 10am. Space in the theatre is limited. So, you know, it's first come, first serve.

1:16:56would encourage you to be hot off the button if you want to come. And we are very excited. I have a lot of roots in North Wales. My parents met and grew up there. All of my grandparents lived there. My gran and all of my extended family are still there. So, yeah, this is another very Catherine Whittaker-coded location, just like Shrewsbury. I'm very excited. yes I'm very pumped actually as well and the theatre is beautiful lovely it's it's not huge but it's just it's perfect for for us you know and I think um I think it's going to be a really nice environment to to do this can't wait Matt your Wrexham debut yeah Wrexham's like a you know it's really on the map at the moment isn't it Wrexham so excited Ryan Reynolds Matt Roberts they're all going to Wrexham folks we will have a documentary crew following us around and you will be able to watch us on Netflix in a couple of years time about our Wrexham takeover yeah it's a sporting hub, we're very excited so look we will put the link in our show notes to tickets if you'd like to get access to the pre-sale then become a friend of the Tenors Podcast.

1:18:25We'll, of course, have the link to that in our show notes. And if you subscribe to the newsletter, then you'll get an alert about tickets going on sale as well. And I'll put it on socials and everywhere else too. So Wrexham, Wednesday, the 22nd of October. Tickets on sale for Friends on Wednesday and on general sale on Friday, both at 10am. We hope to see you there, folks. We have mascots plural for this episode. We have Rafa and Lulu who are owned by Grace Weinstein. And we also have Lana owned by Grace's friend Olivia. This is an animals being friends situation and I'm into it. All three of them are rescues.

1:19:10Rafa is a two-year-old red healer pit bull terrier mix. and Grace has specified that a red healer is like bingo in bluey and I can't tell you how much I wish I understood that reference but I do not. But Grace, I will be Googling it. Matt, David, bluey? No. I think it might be a kid's show. No. Lana is an eight-year-old pitbull mix and I'm looking at a picture of them here where it looks like they're holding hands. Very, very into that. and Lulu who is owned by Lana is a three-legged oh my god it's a three-legged dog a three-legged chihuahua pitbull mix I'm gonna overlook all of my questions about how a chihuahua and a pitbull mix and just focus on how completely adorable Lulu is oh my goodness me this is a story of pet friendship and tennis podcast friendship says Grace I'm gonna like this story I think Rafa and Lulu live together with their owners Grace and Kai in Rochester and Lana lives with their dear friends Olivia, Lisa and Dave Rafa and Lana became close in part because of Grace and Olivia's shared love of the tennis podcast and discussing all things tennis Lulu is relieved when the two of them play so she can be left alone to be the queen that she is and also according to Grace, how perfect is this Lulu is a huge Swifty and permanently in her reputation era.

1:20:43Yes, Lulu. And if you're watching this on YouTube, you are looking at pictures of these dogs right now. Lucky you. And if you're not, then those pictures will be on our socials and in our newsletter. What incredible dogs. That is lovely dog content. Lovely backstory. Thank you, Grace. Thank you, Lana. no thank you Grace and Olivia are the humans Lana, Rafa and Lulu are the other dogs is that, have I got that straight? yes well done me hello to Phoebe, to Maisie and to Roger, our mascots of course, hello to Greg, Chris and Jeff our top folks and executive producers, hello and thank you to The Athletic, we are a part of The Athletic Podcast Network and Matt we have some shout outs today we have Dana Douglas from Allendale New Jersey every time that's a great name Dana Douglas that's a good stage name Dana goes to the US Open every year and last year she apparently weirdly loitered to try and say hello to us excellent Well, that's very in the spirit of the tennis podcast, Dana.

1:22:07We're always weirdly loitering. Some of us more than others. Yeah. I think like Dana Leconti, who was the umpire in the 1991 Connors run to the semifinal. And yeah, I always remember that name and that visual of Connors just roaring at him. Yeah, but that was a bloke. But yes. And I've been watching a lot of Connors on YouTube because YouTube just keeps suggesting Connors material to me. So it'd be rude not to, wouldn't it? What a shout. Incredible work. David. Dana, I hope you weirdly loiter with success at the US Open and we get to say hi to you. We've also got Supna Shah. Hello, Supna. Hi, Supna.

1:22:58Sutner is from Tribeca, New York and has been to all the slams except the Australian Open Oh, you've got to go, Sutner You know what to do, Sutner Well, Sutner is going to Australia for the Christmas holidays but because of kids' college schedules he's having to return home before the Australian Open they are going to take a tour of Melbourne Park and the Rod Laver Arena and she wants to know whether that counts as the spectator slam. I'm really sorry. I don't want to ruin Sopner's shout out, but that doesn't count. Can't a kid's go to college on their own. Just change things. They're adults, aren't they?

1:23:43All the way to Australia, like two weeks before the Australian Open. Sopner. The tutors will understand. Just change it all. Sopner, come on. Let's get a grip here.

1:24:00If you need me to talk to your kids and make them understand, I'm available for that. Or the tutors. Yeah, whoever needs to be spoken to to make them really understand the situation, I'll make myself available. Thank you, Supna. And finally, we have Mindy Pozov. Hello, Mindy. Hi, Mindy. Mindy is also from New York, but now living in Philadelphia and says is a native New Yorker, grew up nine miles from Forest Hills. And watching the US Open was a yearly ritual. It's a very New York coded set of shout outs. The only Mindy I'm aware of is from the old Robin Williams show Mork and Mindy. But that is not tennis related.

1:24:48Well, Mindy Kaling, who I know you're going to say you don't know, but you do know. I do know. Because you watch The American Office. From The Office? Yeah. Check me out. But if, I bet Pam knows tennis Mindies. It's a name that kind of, it's one of those names that doesn't really exist here, but does in America. I bet there are American Mindies. I'm disappointed in this right now. well our Mindy says that their first in person experience at Flushing Meadows was Sampras Lendl in five sets 1990 I was watching that the other day Mindy says Catherine Matt everything David says is 100 % true yeah what a great note to end today's podcast on Mindy, Supner and Dana.

1:25:43Thank you ever so much. Folks, we'll be back on Friday with our next podcast and then next Tuesday with the one after that. Tuesday, Friday, Tuesday. No, Friday, Tuesday, Friday, Tuesday. That's how we roll now, folks. So enjoy the next few days of Cincinnati. We'll be back on Friday to talk about it. Thank you all for listening, for watching however you have consumed today's tennis podcast we will speak to you very soon