Cousins Prove Dreams Can Come True

38:33His serve's rubbish, he basically said. But from the back of the court, he is one of the very, very best players in the world. And I think anyone who's watched TN would probably agree with that assessment. So yeah, more of them playing against each other, please. More of TN generally, and hopefully more of Medvedev looking a bit more like his old self. I know that David's quite into the Johansson-Medvedev partnership. I'm intrigued by it and I like I've always liked Thomas Johansson uh as uh I got to know him similar vintage um I was on the tour when he was on the tour um and I think he's uh he's a shrewd guy but he's also he's just got that really down-to-earth deadpan Swedish kind of I'm not going to listen to any of this nonsense i'm just going to crack on with my job attitude you know um he did a great job of just putting his head down and just saying come on you know serve serve out wide you know watch for the slider you know and he wasn't he wasn't rising to any of it and and it felt like medvedev was trying to challenge him trying to bait him provoke him into a reaction and I've never really, I think probably McEnroe might be similar but I don't think I've come across many like Medvedev who's able to go from I think being really rude and obnoxious actually to umpires and to his coaches and actually makes me thoroughly dislike him and then a couple of minutes later be talking in his on-court interview kind of owning every bit of it but giving a really detailed analysis of what's just happened and and why and and he's utterly compelling and likable how he manages that and and kind of then turns me around it's it's quite something um but i mean i think i think it's come at the right time this coaching change because he needed a new injection of life into his career whether it's going to last and amount to much we'll wait and see but it was definitely the right call I think Okay that's it for part one join us in part two when we will head to Wuhan and the WTA 1000 title won there by Coco Goff Welcome back to part two of the tennis podcast where we turn our attention to Wuhan and Coco Goff's first title there she beat Jessica Pagula her former doubles partner 6-4 475 in the final, beat Jasmine Paolini in the semis, didn't drop a set all week.

41:26She's never as high as you think, and she's never as low as you think, Matt. Coco Goff is incredible. She's absolutely incredible. I mean, the manner of her defeat in Beijing, as much as I said on last week's podcast, and I was telling myself, you know, let's not catastrophize about Coco Goff off the back of one poor performance, I still didn't expect her to go to the next tournament and win it without dropping a set. Same. Yeah, like a very good week for the latter part of that take. Never as low as you think she is. Yeah, she was so nearly double bageled by Amanda Nisimova a few days ago and then turns it around and wins the title.

42:10And actually, this is now two seasons in a row where you've come out of the US Open And there's been a big, big part of me thinking, shut the season down, Coco. Like, go and have a rest, go and work on the game, have a block. And it's two seasons in a row where she's gone on and had some really, really big success. You know, she won, what was it, Beijing last year and the WTA finals after the US Open. And this year she's now won Wuhan. And she even said that her coach thought about shutting the season down. and, you know, considering it. And she said, no, I still want to play. And look, the game was a lot better this week.

42:55I think there are still obviously elements that she can improve. You know, she played a match against Jasmine Paolini where there were 11 breaks of serve in a row, you know, like in the middle of that match. And I thought she played a great tactical match against Paolini to not feed her forehands. She'd lost to Paolini three times already this year, and she just made the matchup look different. Incredibly smart tennis from Coco Gauff to do that. And then in the final, again, incredibly tactically smart to mix up the pace of her shots and not give Pagula rhythm, which Pagula absolutely craves and is so good at.

43:36But she took pace off. She mixed up heights and spins and just really scrambled Pagula's mind a little bit as Pagula tried to take it into a third set. You know, there were still double faults looming. You know, there was a sort of run of them that meant that she went three love down in that second set to Pagula. But she was also serving 74 % first serves in. Like, there were clear improvements to her game that we've seen even from just the week before or certainly since the US Open. So I think, you know, she's absolutely, you know, it's been a good decision to keep playing and try and put some of those changes into practice, I think, and get a title like this.

44:22And she's got this absolutely remarkable record in finals, hasn't she? She's never lost a final on a hard court. She's the first player ever to win her first nine WTA finals on a hard court. It's a really impressive thing, the way she competes in these big finals. and yeah you come out of it just absolutely in awe again of her resilience really because you know she could easily have been really dismayed coming off uh beijing where anisimova beat her so so easily and yet she puts it behind her comes out and wins the title the next week it is absolutely remarkable it's it's it's something that has powered her whole career really where she's often had her her biggest successes off the back of some really poor form just in in recent in recent months so yeah like very very impressive week from Coco Goff and good to see because I did I was beginning to wonder whether you know it did feel like she needed a week like this you know as much as I'd stand by the take you know I do still think she needs those little wins along the way and she just hadn't really had one in a while you know kind of ever since Roland Garros it had been only question marks and only concerns about the game from the outside mostly I think she was pretty confident in her choices and the and the and the process she was on but you want these little wins along the way and she's got a pretty big one here and yeah just hats off and incredibly incredibly impressive from Coco Gauff.

45:59On Pagula David she might not have left Wuhan with the trophy, but she's confirmed her qualification for Riyadh. OK, that was never in much doubt, but she's confirmed to be in that field. Fourth American to qualify this year. Reached the final, obviously, but also did the impossible. She snapped Irina Sabalenka's tie-break streak by beating her in the semifinals in an incredible match. Yeah, and particularly an extraordinary end because she was 5-2 down in the deciding set. To Arena Sabalenka, to turn around a match like that, I'm not sure whether to be more shocked at Sabalenka letting that go or more impressed that Pagula turned it around.

46:53I mean, I suppose on both, at the end of the day, I certainly don't want to take anything away from Pagula because I really feel like she stepped up to Sabalenka. She challenged her. She took play away from her. She has a brilliant way of retaliating in rallies, does Pigula. I think she's great at staying in them, reading where balls are going. And then she tries to sting you with her own shots if she can get half a yard sort of thing to swing. But that was a massive shock, really. Sabalenka, once she'd got into the tournament, I mean, I saw Sabalenka's first match against Rebecca Sramkova. and Shremkova broke her immediately with some incredible returning and I thought, oh wow, Sabalenka's in trouble here, she lost the set and when she'd won that match and got back into it I thought, she's going to win this whole tournament again, you know she just doesn't lose this thing and that's how it was looking really, you know she's in the semi-finals against Pagula who's had, I was sort of waiting for the tournament to catch up with Pagula you know, that was her 8th match in a row where she's gone best of three sets, gone the distance.

48:04And Matt had detailed that in his stat in our newsletter that this is sort of in the record books stuff now. This was equaling the most recent streak of three set matches in a row. I can't remember who the other player was. I know Alison Risk was the leader, Matt. Who was the second one? It was Ostapenko on eight a couple of years ago as well. Yeah. Yeah. And she'd become such a great watch at Peguilu, the way she was just struggling to convert match points herself, but then saving match points on her own side. And kind of when everybody's wilting physically and everybody's just sort of struggling at the end of the year and struggling in the conditions, she seems to be almost getting better.

48:55and I definitely do think this has been the best spell of the year in many ways for her. She's looked great. She's looked full of running, full of energy and I dare say she doesn't completely feel like that but that's how it was coming across. So it was a fantastic run to the final. I do think I felt like she was hitting the wall in the final. She went three love down immediately to golf. Made a real match of it even though it was straight sets But as Matt was saying, that the strategy of golf, who I would say, I mean, I always remember the quote she gave at the US Open where she said, after the US Open to me, the rest of the year really is about working on my game.

49:38so even though she hasn't taken time off for a block to work on it her attitude shifts in her words so that she's not thinking about results all the time even though she's actually amassing these incredible results she says it's about working on her game and trying to get better for next year um and maybe there's something in that in terms of what you actually end up with that you perhaps loosen up a little bit um she certainly looks a lot looser than she does at the US Open which it really struck me when we were at the US Open how not only obviously all the question marks about the serve and the biomechanics coming in but all the stuff she is signed up to do with sponsors and expectations of her at the US Open suddenly weighed incredibly heavily this year I felt I was taken aback by that and so yeah maybe now it's a little easier in a way.

50:37and weighed heavily before that on Wimbledon I think in a slightly different way because of the amount of stuff of that ilk she did following on from the Roland Garros victory yeah I think that's a really good point I just want to echo David's sentiments on the Jessica Pergoula experience over the last two weeks like her matches particularly the ending of her matches have been so fun like i and i can't tell whether she's been like the most clutch player on tour or the most unclutch like she's she's won from match points down against radhikarnu lost from match points up against noskova made a total mess of the first set against navarro but ended up coming back to win it needed seven match points to beat hayley baptiste double faulted four times in a game when trying to serve out the match against Sabalenka.

51:36The only time all match she hit the double fault, but then reset to win the tie break against Sabalenka who'd won 19 in a row. Like her ability, and I use that word reset, her ability to put stuff behind her and get back to work in matches is ridiculous. Like, you know, we talk about Coco Goff's resilience. I think Pagula is up there in terms of resilience as well. It's remarkable the way these matches have finished in such dramatic ways, one after another. And I have to come down on the side of Clutch generally because she's won so many of them. It's just taken a really long-winded route so often to get there, but she's often ended up getting the win.

52:21And yeah, full credit to her. It's been so fun to see that. Jasmine Paolini got her first ever win over Iga Svantec and how? 6-1, 6-2 in the quarterfinals. Matt, you texted the group to say Paolini was returning like Andre Agassi. Which I know is always a dangerous thing to put in a WhatsApp group with David because, you know, Andre Agassi's returns, David will defend them to the help, put them as... He'll go to war for them. Yeah, but I thought, he's not going to argue about Jasmine Paolini. I'm safe. Wasn't far off. And look, Andre Agassi was doing it against Gorani Ionisovic's serve on a slick, fast grass court at Wimbledon.

53:13But what I meant was just the devastating impact, you know, and Paolini was just taking Svantec's serve apart in a way that I'd never seen her do before. I'd seen other players do it, but I'd not seen Paolini do it. And her numbers generally in that match were incredible. 15 winners, only three unforced errors. She was playing bold, risky tennis, but not making errors off it. It was like a perfect Paolini performance. She was so good. I think Jante looks pretty exhausted, to be honest, and like she needs the end of the season. so I wouldn't draw too many conclusions about her performance really.

53:58I think it's likely that some of your worst habits are going to come out at this time of year when you're feeling like she is. But from a Paolini perspective, she needed that win, right? It's important for her. She's trying to get into the WTA finals and she'd never beaten Igor Sviontek before. Even an Igor Sviontek who's not at her best, I thought would be a difficult matchup for Paolini, but she just dominated it. And okay, she couldn't keep it going against Coco Gauff, but she's at least like really put herself in pole position. I would say it's in her hands, you know, she is now ahead of Rabakina in the race.

54:37And if they're both in Ningbo this week, so, you know, if Paolini can better Rabakina's result, she's going to still be in front of her. So like a big week for Paolini, I would say, who hadn't had her best tennis before the Svantec match and then just delivered it emphatically. Yeah, we've got two spots up for grabs and basically three players fighting for them. And all three of those players are playing the 500 event in Ningbo this week. So it's Andreva, Paolini and Rabakina. And Paolini is very much in pole position there. And yeah, they've got a great field in Ningbo. So Andreeva, Raducanu, Rabakina, Paolini, Bencic, Mboko, Alexandrova, Vondroshova, Mukova.

55:25Great, great field. Alexandrova is a top 10 player now. When I did my fantasy league picks at the start of the year, I didn't think Katerina Alexandrova was going to be my bread and butter. She's keeping you afloat. But I also didn't think Unchaketebu was going to be my bread and butter. So, you know. Did you have bread or butter? Yes, Alexandra. No. No. No, my original team had Hubert Hercatch in it. Where's he been? I managed to fob him off on David. Yeah. That was a good bit of business. You named your team Buyer's Remorse. and I very much stand by that it was it was like 2 o 'clock in the morning wasn't it in Perth it was 2 o 'clock in the morning and I was also hosting the oh yeah that was the other excuse the draft it was a savage matter yeah I really fumbled it was a real it was terrible for me I had a real crisis of confidence afterwards anyway it was a learning experience as I recall it mid auction you were really doubting yourself all the way through it I thought I was quite a good multitasker but I really I don't know under the heavy microscope of a draft I really I crumbled David and ended up with Huber Hercatch and Ekaterina Alexandrov although accidentally that was a great pick so here we are Folks, that is it for part two.

57:12Join us in part three when we'll cover some bits and bobs of news, including important one-point slam news. Welcome back to part three of the Tennis Podcast, where before we get on to the section that I'm busting to talk about, pertaining to the revamped one-point slam, some more serious bits of news. Jack Draper has hired Jamie Delgado as his new head coach. He will continue to work with James Trotman, who's been his very, very long-standing coach and has remained a part of the team, even when other coaches have come on board. Obviously, Wayne Ferreira, most notably, for a short period last year.

57:56But Jamie Delgado will be the primary coach, by the sounds of things. He will cover the majority of weeks on tour. And James Trotman will continue to be there. but in a slightly more backseat role. What was your reaction to this news, David? Well, I do think James Trotman's a very good coach. I mean, they've done really well together. I don't know the circumstances behind that, but I do rate Jamie Delgado. I think he's a good bloke. I think he's proved that he can work with several different players now. And he's, I mean, he did a solid job with Andy Murray at different stages of his career. He was there for a long time.

58:43That gave him a good grounding at the very top level. He saw things, I think, at the top level that really stand you in good stead for informing other players what it takes. and I think Denis Shapovalov made an enormous mistake by not continuing with that relationship and really investing in Jamie Delgado for the long run because he got an immediate return as it turned out with a run at the Australian Open. Grigor Dimitrov then picked up Delgado and really has had some amazing results the last two or three years. I think absolutely maximised his game, helped him maximise his game. I know also Danny Valvedu was involved there too, but just looking at the work of Dimitrov, he finally kind of figured out what he should be doing, I think.

59:41And Delgado was a big part of that. I think he just, I think he understands tennis. I think he understands, when I sometimes say, I'm talking from a layperson's point of view, that I'll often go to Jamie and he'll sort of back it up. He'll back up what I'm seeing with my eyes, with the specifics. And I would have thought he will understand Jack's game very quickly. He will understand how it hurts people. And there's always the question mark of how to manage Jack to try to help him stay fit, which is not something a coach alone can do. They need a team of people. But there will be a similarly common sense approach, I think, that Delgado will provide, as will have happened under James Trotman, and at a higher level with more people in the past.

1:00:36He's also happy to go all in, Delgado, isn't he, and be there as many weeks as you need him for. Yeah. Which I think can be quite a big deal. That's often not the case with the very top, you know, the high level coaches. It's a bit of a negotiation of how many weeks they're prepared to be on the road. So that'll be interesting to see in 2026. We've also had the news that the ITIA has introduced a support programme for players navigating integrity investigations. So that's anti-corruption and anti-doping investigations. This is a trial scheme which is starting immediately and it introduces support initiatives for anyone involved in an ITIA investigation, including financial assistance to test products, confidential third party counselling and free legal support.

1:01:33so a review of this trial will happen at the end of 2026. The CEO of the ITIA, Karen Morehouse, said anyone who finds themselves part of either an anti-doping or anti-corruption investigation deserves the opportunity to defend or explain themselves and we recognise the process can come at both a financial and emotional cost. No player picks up a tennis racket as a child with any motivation other than playing the game. Individuals find themselves in these situations for a lot of reasons. And so no matter what those reasons are and where the case ends up, they also deserve someone to talk to. This is kind of a, it's basically legal aid, this, but in a tennis setting and does seem to be, although it's not explicitly referenced there, a direct response to some high profile cases.

1:02:24You've got the Tara Moore case, which dragged on for a very, very long time. And she's been very outspoken about the toll that that took and her own personal inability, she felt, to be able to properly defend herself in that time. And also you've got the Yannick Sinner case where everything seems to have been above board, but he obviously has tremendous resource available to him to be able to defend himself and get access to every possible bit of leniency or loophole or whatever you want to call it. Get the best possible treatment because that is what you hire people to do for you. If you've got the resource to do it, everybody would.

1:03:10So this on the face of it, you know, practically how it all works out, we don't know. We'll find out at the end of 2026. But as a headline, David, this seems like a really good thing. Yeah, I'm happy that this is happening. I do think, goodness, how deep are the pockets here for the cases that could come up, the number of cases. and given the Tarah Moore example, just how long it's taken and how expensive it would have been. But look, I'm happy that something is changing in this situation because, yeah, I mean, it doesn't feel right that you just don't have a chance of defending yourself if you are innocent because you don't have those resources.

1:04:09Yeah, you don't want finance and resource to be the determining factor in justice. Nobody wants that. The sport doesn't want that. Okay, that'd be an interesting one to follow. Now, the big one-point slam news. It's had a makeover, folks. I'm nervous. I'm really nervous. I've been it didn't need a glow up it was well it wasn't quite perfect but it was a it was a beautiful beautiful thing and maybe it will continue to be maybe it will get more beautiful I'm I'm wary of not doing what I what I originally did with the one point slam which was write it off and then it turned out to be the absolute light of my life this this could be the same but I I am anxious they've announced this week Tennis Australia, that the winner of this year's one point slam will earn one million Australian dollars.

1:05:11There's a new format. It means that there are 10 amateurs competing and 22 professionals. This year it was 16 and 16. And Craig Tiley has confirmed that Carlos Alcaraz will play. So any Australians or international players who have registered with Tennis Australia can enter the one-point slam events at their local tennis clubs. The winners of the grassroots tournaments will then go into a draw with one amateur player from every state and territory selected to take part in the grand finale in a night session on Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday the 14th of January. Now, I can't believe I'm about to say this because I would have thought that there is no event in tennis that could not be enhanced by the participation of Carlos Alcaraz.

1:06:07I don't think this event needs Carlos Alcaraz. In fact, I think Carlos Alcaraz goes against the spirit of the one-point slam. Is that controversial to say? No. Like, it needs professionals, but I almost think the fact that this year the professionals were Priscilla Hon and Omar Jessica and okay there was a Hercatch there was a Rublev but like the point is that it's pros against amateurs not that it's I don't know it's not Carlos is a pro

1:06:46yeah Catherine you're gonna it's gonna happen all over again you're gonna turn up and you're gonna bloody love it I'm I look I think I will enjoy it but I'm worried they've stripped the heart and soul from the one-point slam. You want it on the Keir Arena. I want it on the Keir Arena. I want Paul. We all remember Paul. Yeah, and look, okay, it was won by a pro this year, but it was won by a pro for whom$60 ,000, which was the prize, was still a really, really massive deal. It was won by Omar Jessica, wasn't it? I don't know I know I'll be into it I'll love it but I just I feel very protective of it's my favourite event of the year I feel very protective of it and I don't think it need I just don't think it needed a revamp it was such a beautiful thing all it needed was the finessing of the coin toss situation it needed less faff I remember there'd been quite a lot of yeah it needed less faff yeah it's going to get more faff isn't it It's going to get more faff.

1:07:58I think this is Craig Tiley's response to the US Open mixed doubles. It is. I think that's the reason that they've gone so big now on the one-point slam. I think they've seen what the US Open did in terms of hosting a big event in the lead-up with top players, and they've thought, we want some of that. They've seen what it did to Catherine Whittaker. yeah but what it did that to to me because Paul was the start of the one point slam 2025 not Carlos Alcaraz I don't remember who Paul is or was I sent you a video of Paul I know mere days ago David with timestamps I didn't quite get to it Paul was Paul was the am that that took the one point slam by storm didn't quite win it but he did take out a couple of pros along the way.

1:08:58Had a swashbuckling wide serve. Paul is the point of the one-point slam, not Carlos Alcaraz, is what I'm trying to say. But still 10 potential Pauls. Paul should be the star. I would feel better if it was even number of amateurs and pros again. I don't like that discrepancy. It's got a little bit of, I suppose we will have to invite Andrea Vavasori to the next doubles to it, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I suppose they will say that by doing this local club, grassroots stuff, they're trying to reach out to the amateur players and get people participating that way. But my response would be great, but let's have equal numbers on the actual Rod Laver Arena for the finale.

1:09:50I don't see why you can't even that up. against Hercatch playing one point. No. That's just absolutely not the point. No. No. What makes you think Hercatch is in this? Because he was in it last year. He was the big draw last year. Yeah. He was. Yeah, him and Rublev were the big names, weren't they? You think he's not going to get the call up again, David? No. Like Matt says, I think this is their mixed doubles, so they're going to get as big of names as possible and they're going to make it as glitzy as they can. But it's still amateurs coming in for one point against them. I think it's going to be great.

1:10:33OK. I hope so. Thank you for your reassurance, David. It's very important to me that the one-point slam remains the light of my life. I mean, you can go. I think there's an event also on the Monday, Catherine, involving just the amateurs. It's some sort of qualifying thing to get to the night session event on the Wednesday. And I'm pretty sure you might already be in Melbourne. So you've got to be there. Yeah. Yeah. Great. Brilliant. This week, while I twiddle my thumbs, just counting down to the one point slam, what have we got to entertain us this week? Talked about Ningbo, the WTA 500 event.

1:11:16We've also got a WTA 250 event in Osaka, where Naomi Osaka is the top seed. You've got Linda Nojkova there as the second seed. She must be absolutely exhausted, Nojkova. That tournament, I was watching a bit of that this morning, that's a throwback event in terms of the court colours. You know, like most courts now are blue. This one is green. It's like watching tennis from David's time. Obviously, it's still David's time. Okay. But David's favourite time. Good rescue. Yeah, good save, Pat. What I'm saying is I couldn't see the ball.

1:12:07Fernandez Baptiste is the first round. I'll definitely check that out. That sounds great. We've got the ATP 250 event in Almaty. Karen Hashanov is there. Daniel Medvedev, Flavio Cabali all in the draw. We've got Mute Tomic round one. Did you all see the social video this week from Shanghai of the players trying to hit through a very, very small target or three targets of varying sizes, but everybody was going for the top one, the smallest one. Have you seen that, David? No. Oh, no, I have. Yes, yes. Yes, I did. Very good. Wasn't it? Didn't Medvedev turn up and do it first time on the backhand?

1:12:51He certainly did it. Not quite first time, but he did it. Everybody was so on brand. He missed the first couple and then kind of figured it out and bunted a completely flat backhand through the slot. TN did it. Then a TN figured it out. He looped, he plopped a topspin forehand through the slot. Flavio Caballi just sort of flailed a bunch of shots at the target and then just did sort of very extravagant gestures towards the target when they didn't go in. Alexander Zverev just looked annoyed and like the world was against him because it didn't work out for him. Yeah, it was a good bit of content.

1:13:36and not necessarily revealing because everybody was exactly who you thought they would be, I think, in quite a fun way. The ATP is also in Brussels this week for its 250 event. You've got Lorenzo Mazzetti and Felix Orgelia Seam as the top two seeds. Joel Fonseca and Botic van der Zanschulp is a round one match. Yes, please. I've also got an ATP 250 in Stockholm. Holger Aruna and Kasper Rude, the top two seeds. You've got Ima against Ima in round one. Mikhail against Elias, keeping up the family theme in the ATP. And we've also got the Six Kings Slam in Saudi Arabia, involving Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alkharazianic Sinner, Taylor Fritz, Alexander Zverev and Denis Shapovalov.

1:14:28No, it's Tefano Sitsipas, isn't it? I thought that was weird. Why was Shapovalov? Have you just done a late edit to the agenda? I mixed up Tsitsipas and Shapovalov in my head and wrote Shapovalov when I meant Tsitsipas. My trust in you is such that I went ahead and read Shapovalov, even though every bone in my body was saying Denis Shapovalov has not been asked to play the Saudi Kings. Yeah, Tsitsipas. Djokovic has been given the second seeding in this event, which means he gets a bye. How many of these injured players are going to make it, I wonder, after all their various ailments? Matches on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.

1:15:14It's going to be on Netflix. So, there you go. By the way, what a wild thing a tennis season is. Joao Fonseca is now lower ranked than Valentin Vachero.

1:15:31He's the guy we should have been bigging up. Like, predictions really are a false game, aren't they? Yeah. What about us? We are back on Monday with our next show to talk about all of that. We also have a Friends show, a Q &A show live on Friday night this week. What fun. A Friday night live show. Disco Davis. Disco Davis will be out, yeah. Disco David making a comeback. So if you're a friend of the pod, that'll be live on Friday on YouTube. It'll be available as a podcast as well. If you'd like to become a friend, then the link, of course, is in our show notes. We have a mascot for today's show.

1:16:20In fact, we have two. These mascots are from lovely, lovely Carol Ray. Long time listener, supporter, all around, wonderful person, has been to our live shows before and she submits today Dobby and Stray. Now we've had Stray as a mascot before, I think several times before actually. Yes, Carol says you've met Stray a few times before on the tennis podcast so I thought I'd introduce Dobby. Dobby came to my daughter in March as a rescue from North Macedonia. He was billed as a Jack Russell but a doggy DNA test since shows there's no terrier in him but some Pekingese, some Chihuahua and 5 % wolf.

1:17:08That's incredible. Dobby is a perfect, a pretty perfect little dog. He loves people, food and my daughter Eliza. He adores stray and follows her everywhere. They enjoy digging huge holes in the lawn together and Dobby can take or leave a tennis ball but stray makes up for that sometimes traveling with two in her mouth and we've got an absolutely adorable picture here of Dobby and stray together uh curled up on a sort of plushy thing definitely being friends um and yeah I Carol sent me a message on Instagram actually when Dobby was added to the um the family and it was it was all just very wholesome wholesome lovely time so I'm very happy for Carol and the family and Dobby and Stray who look like they're the very best of friends which is my absolute favourite thing so thank you Carol.

1:18:03We of course have our mascots Phoebe, Maisie and Roger hello to you we have our top folks and executive producers Greg, Chris and Jeff let's have some shout outs Matt. We have Marion and Martina from Mainz, Germany. Hello, Marion and Martina. Very Tennessee names there, like Bartoli and Hingis or Navratilova. Or Trevisan. I was not expecting that third name. But true. And Marion and Martina say we have now made the WTA tournaments in Stuttgart and Bad Homburg, a fixed part of our calendars. I can highly recommend both. Love that. Just ticking off all the key German events. Good stuff. Thank you, Marion and Martina.

1:18:57Thank you. We've also got Becky Piggott-Badare, or Bader, maybe, Piggott-Bader, from Collier's Wood in London. oh nearby my neck of the woods it is or the wood

1:19:17hello Becky this is like Rebecca Marino I don't know if she goes by the name Becky to be honest it's a good shout though and this is a present a shout out is a present from Becky's husband Jimmy oh lovely Jimmy. Like Connors. Well, that's a very Tennessee name. Becky actually isn't a very Tennessee name, is it? I think we might need a... Well, in fact. Might need a bit of Pam help or some Nick Imerson help. Becky, or maybe Jimmy, has come up with Becky Vest, an American player in the 70s, had a second round ceiling in the slams, but is apparently the only Mississippi born and raised female player to make the main draw at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open.

1:20:08Haven't fact checked that but sounds good. Jimmy we like it when people do the research for us. We salute you. Thank you very much. Jimmy has done you proud there Becky. And finally we have Andrew Greenhoff from Bristol. Hello Andrew. We've met Andrew at the US Open a couple of years ago during the Alcaraz Medvedev semi-final oh yes gosh and Andrew says I'm writing this this shout out form a couple of hours before the women's semi-finals at the US Open which I agree is the best night session in Grand Slam tennis I'd intended to be there this year but sadly my mother passed away in the middle of last month so plans have understandably had to change and instead of being at Arthur Ashe Stadium tonight.

1:21:03I've been getting some sleep in ahead of attempting to pull off an all-nighter watching Sabalenka Pagula and the much-anticipated tennis podcast Derby, Osaka versus Anissa Mova. Andrew says, the daily Grand Slam episodes have helped enormously in coping with several long motorway trips between my home in Bristol and my mother's house in Yorkshire. So big thank you to the three of you and your guests for providing a much-needed distraction. and giving me other things to think about and making me laugh and smile. Oh, Andrew, thank you for that. I'm sorry you lost your mum. Thank you. Thank you for listening to the pod and taking some comfort from it.

1:21:51That's extremely lovely for us to hear. And, yeah, I hope you're doing well. Andrew, like Andrew Barron Murray. that's what he was when he first came on the scene, right? He was an Andrew. That's right. Like Stanislas. He had a rebrand, like the one-point slam. And that worked out all right, didn't it? It did, yeah, yeah. Andrew, Becky, Marion, Martina, thank you ever so much for your support of the Tennis Podcast. If you'd like to get yourself a shout-out, you can do that by becoming a friend of the Tennis Podcast. The link is in the show notes. We've got that live show with Disco David on Friday night.

1:22:35We will see you then, friends of the Tennis Podcast, and we'll be back next Monday on The Main Feed. We are part of the Athletic Podcast Network. Thank you for listening. We'll speak to you soon.