French Open Day 1 - Djokovic fights through, but how did he look?

13:59Matt Roberts:Incidentally, Monfils is in the top half of the draw, which is the sinner half of the draw, obviously. So if Monfils were to keep winning, I believe that Monfils plays Night Session. That's booked in for as long as he's in the tournament. So that's a problem. That's probably Sin's biggest problem in this draw.

14:20Catherine Whitaker:It's that interesting thing, isn't it, with Prime here and the Night Session. They're the ones paying the big money for the rights, but they're also the ones with the far smaller audience, you know like compared to you know Freeview French TV when more people would be able to watch it but you do get the sense that they will go with what Prime won

14:46Matt Roberts:I think so yeah so yeah could be an interesting little wrinkle in the days to come but Hugo Gaston will do his best to have a say in that tomorrow night well I mean having witnessed

15:00David Law:now a day of this tennis and this heat, it really has put the factor of the weather and Yannick Sinner into a bit of a...

15:11Matt Roberts:It feels like Melbourne and not sort of mid-Melbourne. It feels like hot Melbourne. And the difference is there's no shade here. I mean, it's... Look, nobody was expecting weather like this. Like, I can understand why they've been caught out by it. This is really, really extreme. but you know climate change is happening like we are we are on the road to to these extremes and these places have got to have more shade like craig tiley was was very hot on that no pun intended and ahead of his time and and that is a great credit to the australian open and these places need shade

15:52Catherine Whitaker:it's a it's a health issue um yeah for sure and and maybe even worse than melbourne in that like there was no suggestion today that the roof was going to be put on like it's in that it's in that spot where it's really hot but it's not put the roof on hot dangerous levels of hot like it was in in melbourne when cena had the spit ziri match you know like it doesn't feel like it's going to get to that level so you're just having to sustain in the beating sun with no shade for well however long it takes i mean the thing is you know it's still going to be a question of whether it's hot enough to to put sinner off i still don't quite really know what what causes the the physical issues we see him have whether it's just pure heat whether it's players testing him tennis wise and stressing him out like it's a combination of all these factors isn't it i don't think it's as simple as Sinner gets on court in these conditions and can't handle it physically.

16:53Catherine Whitaker:I think it's possible he'll get through one of these matches even in these conditions okay. Okay, he'll be feeling it.

17:00David Law:Especially given how quickly he manages to make so many of his matches because he's that good.

17:05Catherine Whitaker:Exactly. So, yeah, but you're right. It's an element I didn't think we'd have and I think we are going to have it.

17:12Matt Roberts:Not a problem for Taylor Fritz. He is out in the first round for the second year in a row. seventh seed here this year. I mean, obviously, expectations around him were relatively low given how little he's played. And yet, given the state of the draw, it also felt plausible that he maybe could play his way in and go deep here, but not to be beaten today in a really great match, actually, on Longland by Nishesh Basavaredi, the young American, 7-6, 7-6, 6-7, 6-1 in that deciding set. And after Fritz took that third set on the tyre break, he was pumped. I mean, Matt Roberts shouted at the TV in the restaurant where we were eating at the time, right underneath the huge screen, and we were all watching this match.

18:06God, he's a stubborn so-and-so, isn't he, Taylor Fritz?

18:11Matt Roberts:and he was right in that zone that Taylor Fritz gets into where he is just so unbelievably stubborn. I did not, if you told me the next set's going 6-1, I'd have gone, yeah, sounds about right, to Taylor Fritz.

18:27Catherine Whitaker:Yeah.

18:28David Law:Suddenly he's three love down in eight minutes in the next set.

18:33Catherine Whitaker:And he finished that third set by screaming. It's a bit unclear what he said, but something like, this is all me or something like that. It was kind of giving when he talked to have his mixed doubles and then went out in the first round in the US over mixed doubles. He had this big high and then this crash and suddenly he's five love down in a quarter of an hour.

18:51Matt Roberts:Yeah. And he was talking himself up in his press a couple of days ago, wasn't he? Feeling himself, all his heavy lifting. Boom.

19:01Catherine Whitaker:Go back to eating junk food, Taylor.

19:04Matt Roberts:I mean, look, he said he thought he played pretty well today. And he's pretty honest about this stuff, isn't he, fronts up. He said he thought he played better this year than when he lost in the first round last year. I mean, obviously, you know, there were things he would have liked to have done better, but he just thought Bataverelli was awesome today.

19:23David Law:Look, I didn't say the first couple of sets. I saw the end of the third, and then I saw the fourth. And what I saw in the fourth, in that, what was it, 17-minute set or something like that, was exactly that. It was awesome. It was taking Taylor Fritz's serve early on the rise and just smacking it away for clean winners as if it's a nothing serve. It was hitting drop shot after drop shot from back foot positions, completely off balance, Taylor Fritz, not expecting them. Some of them didn't work occasionally, you know, when he lost that third set. But in the fourth, it was like he couldn't miss.

20:03David Law:He just was feeling it. He was strutting around that court as if to say, I want a bagel set because I feel that good. And, I mean, I haven't seen that much of him over the years, you know. I know he's somebody that you really thought a while back had talent, and I can see why tonight. I mean, I know it's not always like this. It rarely is. But, my God, when he hits the heights, this guy's ceiling is a joke.

20:34Matt Roberts:Oh, it's interesting. And I did talk him up sort of 18 months or so ago. He played that match against Djokovic, shouldn't he, at the Australian a couple of years ago?

20:44Catherine Whitaker:Andy Murray's debut in the coaching box.

20:48Matt Roberts:It's actually only a year ago. Took a set off him. So, you know, everybody was aware of him at that time and he just didn't... He sort of disappeared last year, really. And look, I know it's, you know, you see these people play great for a set at a Grand Slam and that doesn't mean they're then going to be a factor on the biggest stages from that point onwards. This development is really non-linear. But, I mean, he didn't seem to be making progress, I guess. And my experience of that was just kind of through mostly seeing his results because he was playing at a low level a lot of the time, wasn't seeing these matches.

21:25Matt Roberts:So I'm seeing these results and I'm like, Basavredi's not really happening. That's an embarrassing take that I had. I'll drop him like a hot potato. But obviously now I'm going to go back and stand by my takes from 12 and 18 months ago. I really like his game. Taking those returns early, as you said, that sweet timing. He's a smooth tennis player. And I've always liked the look in his eye. There is no lack of oomph with Nishesh.

21:56David Law:No, no, no.

21:58Matt Roberts:You know, he saw his draw and he was very careful around the wording. of this because, you know, he's got a lot of respect for Taylor Fritz and he's a countryman, but he saw the draw and he knew Taylor Fritz hadn't played a lot and he thought, I fancy this. He said, he's a great player, but he's not a dirt baller. He said, I know I'm not, I'm not a natural clay quarter. I didn't want to get schooled by someone that lives on this surface, you know, so he thought, I fancy this and I know it's going to be on a big court and that's my jam and I love to hear players say that and to back it up and not shrink out there and and have just the right amount of swagger that's not annoying and that's exactly what he had today and I I really like that about him and the issue is has always been up until this point that he doesn't have a weapon there's no obvious weakness but he does lack a big hammer blow but But maybe the drop shot could be it because he's a wizard.

23:01Matt Roberts:And Fritz gave a really great breakdown, as he does, of why it's so damaging. He said he cooked me with the drop shots today. He said usually when a guy is drop shotting me, my play is just to get the ball deep. So it's really difficult to drop shot off a deep ball. And he said I was doing that and he was hitting these ridiculous drop shots off my deep balls. And he was like, you've just got to say fair play to that.

23:27Catherine Whitaker:Yeah, that's great insight from Fritz there. And I think that speaks to what Basavredi is able to do without those weapons. Because I agree with you, there's so many more players on the ATP Tour who have bigger power and more obvious weapons and more obvious ways to win points. But, you know, he's not a defensive player, Basavredi. You know, he's trying to dictate the points, whether that be what David's talked about in terms of, I think he's got an incredible eye of picking where the serve is going and taking it early and getting on attack that way. Or with these drop shots to get players off balance, some angles.

24:05Catherine Whitaker:I think he's quite good at throwing in, picking off that, you know, off the forehand. Like, there's a lot in his game that allows him to still be on the front foot, even though he is against most players in deficit in terms of power. and I really do enjoy watching that. You feel like he's a smart player who's had to figure that out because it wasn't just an easy route to winning these points. So, yeah, I've always liked watching him as well. I wasn't really sure what his ceiling was, to be honest. I just don't feel like I've seen enough of him, really, but this is a great win. And he had played so many more matches on the clay than Fritz coming into it, hadn't he?

24:41Catherine Whitaker:I think sort of 15 more or so this season compared to Fritz, who'd only had the one. And he, yeah, sensed an opportunity, pounced on it, took advantage.

24:51Matt Roberts:I don't think he knows what his ceiling is. He was kind of asked that at the end of his press conference and he was a bit taken aback where he was like, whoa, that's a big question. And obviously didn't, you know, they're always so reluctant, aren't they, to commit publicly to what their goals are. But, yeah, I think he's having fun exploring what it might be. He had a big beaming smile on his face throughout the whole press conference. He was in the same room as Taylor Fritz, who came in about 20 minutes later. And Basavredi's press conference was better attended. The Djokovic match was going on at the time, and also Taylor Fritz came without any warning.

25:26Matt Roberts:But Basavredi had probably about 10 people in there, and he walked in beaming and was shocked by how many people were there. And I was thinking, gosh, I thought more people would show up. But, you know, he's beaten the seventh seed. this is quite an upset. But he spoke some French on the court, didn't he? Because, of course, he had a brief spell working with Gilles Savara earlier this year that I don't think went very well. I don't think it was long enough to learn French, surely.

25:55Catherine Whitaker:Surely he already had that French, right?

25:57Matt Roberts:Well, no, he had a French tutor during that time. And he said, I got to sort of conversational. Wow. And he said, I have continued, I've done a couple of classes since we split up.

26:09David Law:it was it was interesting it was difficult to to get any sense of what that relationship was like because i remember it ending with medvedev and gil savara had obviously been with him for so many years and then they announced that they're together and i thought what a fascinating combination this is with this young talented um player coming through and this experienced coach with one player. And before I knew it, there was a tweet up with, thank you so much for everything you've taught me.

26:42Matt Roberts:And I think it was Savara that announced it first, which is never a great sign, I don't think. And he very delicately dodged a question about, I mean, it was couched in sort of tell me about your coaching situation generally. So he was able to talk about his new coaches. He's working with Dean Goldfine and David Nainkin, who are very well-known, well-established USTA coaches. It's Dean Goldfine that's with him here in Paris. But he did dodge the Gilles Savara element of that question. I don't think it went great, is my sense. It doesn't sound like it. We should ask Gilles, because we do keep bumping into him.

27:25Catherine Whitaker:Yes, he walked past the restaurant the other night, didn't he?

27:30Matt Roberts:and then walked past us here a couple of nights ago as we were about to record the pod

27:34Catherine Whitaker:the sign I mean we must be mates by now I think for Fritz by the way even in his pre-tournament press conference I got the feeling that very much grass is what he's thinking about in terms of maybe being able to have some more results

27:54Matt Roberts:I think so but he's also I think a bit nervous about his knee

27:58Catherine Whitaker:Because he mentioned that as well, didn't he? He said that's going to be the test of the knee because the movements really test out the knee.

28:07Matt Roberts:Yeah, I think he used the phrase your knee gets jammed about a lot on grass and that made me wince a bit because he's still on anti-inflammatories. He said my knee feels all right but the anti-inflammatories might be masking it so I don't really know.

28:23David Law:That's been horrible playing professional sport when you've got half an eye on and feeling about what's hurting and whether it's bad or not.

28:33Matt Roberts:John Fonseca, a winner today, weathered some storms against the French qualifier, Luka Pavlovich over on Simon Mathieu. Came through 7-6, 6-4. Not quite sure what the score was in the third set. One-sided. I think it was 6-2 in the third. Yeah, one-sided in the end. I've written David was watching, but actually what David was doing was standing at the back of a throng of people unable to get anywhere near the court because it was so busy. But you were soaking up the atmos, David. I sure was. You heard the booing when Fonseca smashed the ball out of the stadium and got a ball abuse warning in that first set tie break.

29:14David Law:Yeah, I mean, it's great that you can have Fonseca with all of his support that he brings with him to tennis tournaments and he's up against a French player who's got the locals. And so when I arrived at the court, yeah, every seat was filled and there were about eight people deep all around the stadium just craning next to try to get a look at the court. And obviously I walk up and then just have pretty much a perfect vantage point over everybody's head. but I was stood next to one guy in the Gustavo Curtin Brazilian Diodoro shirt of 1997 and he was stood next to a very very passionate French fan and so interchangeably they were just sort of trying to outdo each other with their support but yeah I mean it looked like Fonseca was going to get that first set on the board a couple of times didn't take his chances and then suddenly he just exploded emotion ran over and he smashed this ball and there was a real sort of booing in the crowd and whistling and shock I think that he'd been quite as aggressive as he had

30:35Matt Roberts:Reminiscent of his moment against Hodder in Madrid which was a racket smash, but just a fraying that we haven't seen from Fonseca before. I mean, obviously, got it on track today, even won that tie break, so that's impressive. But just something to watch from a Fonseca perspective, and he's got Dino Soaring next. Oh, he's got Dino Prismich next.

31:00Catherine Whitaker:He sure does. Winner likely to face Djokovic.

31:03Matt Roberts:I'm excited. It's a fun little section.

31:06Catherine Whitaker:And Prismich won easily today.

31:07Matt Roberts:He did. He's Soaring.

31:10Catherine Whitaker:Officially. Need to change the group chat back. I know, we ditched him after one match.

31:15Matt Roberts:You ditched it so quickly. He beat Slovak Djokovic. Yeah, he was really poor against Hashanov, wasn't he?

31:22David Law:We're getting pretty trigger happy, aren't we? Yeah, we are.

31:27Matt Roberts:What have we got? Alejandro Davidovic-Fekina, Matt, survived against Demir Jumher. Tell us about it.

31:34Catherine Whitaker:It was just peak Davidovic-Fekina, really. I feel like everyone on court 14, as we walked in this morning, about 20 minutes before play started, it was already packed. I was thinking, must be a Frenchman on there. And, nope, it was Davidovic for Kina. But everyone knew what they were getting themselves in for. And it was exactly that. You know, just this roundabout win for Davidovic for Kina. And actually, a very gritty win. He was struggling in this one big time. He only arrived from Hamburg a few days ago. and it had been 10 degrees there. He said it was like 22 degrees warmer here. He hasn't really had time to adapt to the conditions.

32:12Catherine Whitaker:And he was struggling big time in this one physically. He was a bit checked out as well. He sort of took most of his clothes off at one point and doused himself in cold water. Like he was really struggling. And Jumha served for the match in the fourth set but couldn't get it done. And then even in the fifth, Davidovic Fakina was facing a lot of break points. Yeah, just an amazing match. And he won the Ridovich for Kina, despite the official unforced error count being 90 for him.

32:47Matt Roberts:Wow. Incredible. Final bit of reporting, important journalistic reporting from the men's side of things today. We've had our first watery shits of this. We? Of this Grand Slam.

33:02Catherine Whitaker:It came so quickly.

33:03Matt Roberts:So quickly.

33:05Catherine Whitaker:We were talking last night, what's more on the rise? Puking slash watery shits or hindrance drama? It was a real debate and we landed on sort of puking.

33:18Matt Roberts:We have more data points for the watery shits. I feel like puking has been on the rise for longer. You've got more sustained evidence of a climbing peak. but hindrance in the last six months is is really hot on its heels yeah but today it was all about the watery shits for poor old arthur jagea from uh from france on longland first match of the day against karen national um and uh well i i mean there's no two ways around this he ended up going up to poor old john blom in the chair and saying do you speak french i have diarrhea i need to go to the bathroom. I can't hold it anymore. I'm going to shit myself.

34:04David Law:And at 4-2 he hit a running forehand winner and kept on going towards the exit. That's it because it was mid

34:14Catherine Whitaker:game. He wanted to leave mid game and they were like, you can't do that.

34:17Matt Roberts:I don't think you understand how urgent this is.

34:20Catherine Whitaker:You need to rewrite the rule book right now or you're going to have another problem on your hands.

34:27David Law:It was both a watery shit and

34:29Matt Roberts:hindrance for him do you speak french i have diarrhea is going straight into my essential

34:36Catherine Whitaker:tennis quotable vocabulary incredible it's the it's the best next sentence that's ever been asked after do you speak a language to them just say i have diarrhea so chaotic i loved it do we know

34:51Matt Roberts:said yes or no well it didn't seem to be crucial whether or not i think it's one of those things

34:59Catherine Whitaker:that translates.

35:00Matt Roberts:He communicates.

35:01Catherine Whitaker:It doesn't really matter what language you speak, does it? Everyone knew what the problem was. But he also communicated it

35:05Matt Roberts:in English very clearly. Anyway, that is it for part one. What a note to end on. We'll be back in part two to talk about the women with far more decorum. Welcome back to part two of today's tennis podcast. Let's turn our attention to the women's matches on day one here at Roland Garros. Let's start with Hayley Baptiste, who's only gone and done it again, Matt. She's done it her way. And her way is definitely the hard way, isn't it? But it's also the fun way. 6-7, 7-6, 6-2 in two sweaty hours and 53 minutes against former champion here, Barbora Krejcikova. Oh, it was fun.

35:50Catherine Whitaker:It was, wasn't it? It wasn't like sustained brilliance from both players. It wasn't one of those matches where no matter what part of it you joined, you were entertained. You had to ride out some rough moments in this one. It was played in the heat of the day. It was kind of soporific on Long Glen for a while. It was. It was just after Zeya had lost. I think a lot of the crowd had left. And, you know, it wasn't like the ideal circumstances for it. But the highs were really high. And I was pretty impressed with the way Craig Chicova played, especially for two sets. I was sort of always on alert that Krasikova might be struggling physically, but I thought she seemed good in this one and played some great tennis.

36:34Catherine Whitaker:But Baptiste just, just got out of jail here. And yeah, it was all so tight. After her win over Sabalenka, I said, I just love her doing it her way. And she said today in the press conference, sometimes I can't help myself but do something that's so stupid, it's unbelievable. And that's what I love about watching her play. Like, she does do these things, and in particular in this match, a forehand volley in that first set tie break that would have given her set points and in the end gave Craig Cheek of a set point. She just dumped it in the net after quite a poor approach as well.

37:13Matt Roberts:One of the easier volleys that she... I mean, she made... She pulls off incredible shots. She made 20 more difficult volleys than that in the match, probably more.

37:21Catherine Whitaker:So she's done that in the first set. She's let that first set slip a little bit, and then it looks like she's going to lose it in two when Craig Chicover has two match points. And I, you know, one of those sort of semantics things, but yes, you can say Baptiste saved the match points. It was two Craig Chicover forehand errors on the match points. Craig Chicover, who has a great forehand, one of the greats on the tour, just a couple of shocking misses actually on those match points which just opened the door for Baptiste and then out of nowhere she found her backhand down the line and hit an absolute gem, did Baptiste.

37:55Catherine Whitaker:won that second set and i was impressed with how physically strong she looked in in those conditions and as you said almost almost three hours and she was definitely i think the stronger the two physically and and that and that showed in that in that final set but yeah just a another hayley baptiste fun experience of kind of living on the edge so much great shot making some some moments that make you put your head in your hands, like, why have you done that? But so many more that make you feel alive with her tennis. It's always such a treat watching her. And, yeah, loved it.

38:32Matt Roberts:I think she's one of the best shows in tennis at the moment, Hayley Baptiste. If you have the chance to watch her, it's an absolute treat. And, honestly, I've missed Barbora Krejcikova. I love her tennis. I was very pleasantly surprised by how herself she looked today I was worried that she would look sort of a shadow of herself like she was kind of here last year where she didn't seem quite fit but she just so desperately wanted to play you know this was proper tennis from Coach Eke okay you know patchy in parts but she's a gorgeous tennis player and yeah I loved this match

39:10Catherine Whitaker:yeah no I did too There were so many moments that reminded you of just how good Kraychikova can be, the accuracy on her shots. You know, it's not necessarily huge power. It's enough power, but it can just catch you by surprise how she can just direct it exactly where she wants it to go. And, yeah, another quote I pick out from Baptiste was, I refuse to let myself be the reason that I lose a match. What a great quote that is. and she's talking there about when she's down in these moments, facing match points against Sabalenka or Krejcikova. She just says, I will play on my terms. And that's what I love.

39:54Catherine Whitaker:And in the big moments today, she did that. And I think that's a big step to have made in her career to be able to bring that tennis to those big moments.

40:05Matt Roberts:Miran Draver, a very comfortable winner against Fiona Farrow on Châtelet today, third match of the day. Totally drama-free match, not a lot to report, other than the fact that it was drama-free. It was pretty significant for Mira Andreeva. She was back on Philippe Chattier, playing a French player, and OK, it wasn't the cauldron atmosphere of playing Lois Boisson last year. You know, as you said, soporific crowds around the place today. But the fact that she just no muss, no fuss, came through that, didn't have any lapses really, didn't get embroiled, that in itself, I think, will be big for Mira Andreva.

40:44Matt Roberts:Not so in terms of lack of drama for Magdalene and Teresa Valantova, a deciding set tiebreak for them in a match that David says the term hot mess was invented for.

41:00David Law:Actually, yes. And it was Hannah Wilkes who works with us and looks after the barge and write so wonderfully on there that drew my attention to this match because, and she was the one who called it a hot mess, and I could confirm having been out there that's exactly what it was because it was four games all by the time I joined in the third set, and they'd already been going on for two and a half hours by this point. I mean, Lynette, you know, she's getting on a bit now. You know, she was really, really struggling. In Hannah's words, she was bent double in seemingly immense pain from much of the third set, which she'd still somehow managed to get up 4-2 on.

41:46David Law:She seemed to have one working leg, and she was hitting an underarm serve every few points. By the time I got out there, it was four games all, so Valantova had broken back, and you really thought she should take over, and I was up the end of the court that Lynette was at at that point. and you could see how strained her facial features were, how she was just hanging on. It was so hot out there. I mean, when I first got out there and sat on the press bench, I mean, I was the only one there. There was no other media there at that time. Sat down on what was effectively a concrete step, really, and crikey, you felt the warmth coursing through you at that stage.

42:30David Law:I thought initially, I thought, oh, it's lovely this, sitting in the sun. You know, I was out there for 10 minutes. I felt like I was on holiday. And then about 25 minutes later, I'm starting to think, actually, this is a bit hot now. I'm getting that, you know, I hope this finishes soon. And it didn't because it went all the way into a deciding set tie break. And at that point, a Polish gentleman came and joined me in the press seats, obviously covering Lynette. and he got a bit excited when she went 7-5 up in the tie break, thinking she'd won. And he sort of bolted off down the steps because he thought it was over.

43:12David Law:And then somebody says, no, it's not over. And he came running back up. Valantova breaks back. And suddenly it's nine points all in this tie break. But, I mean, you've got this lovely contrast to Valantova, who's a tall, athletic, really big ball striker. and Lynette, who is a timer of a tennis ball. You know, she just... She doesn't have huge power. She redirects it. And it was a great watch. It was superb stuff. Eventually, Lynette just had a bit too much sort of guile and know-how, really. And you sort of wonder what the handshake's going to be like after a match like that, because Valentova would be gutted, you know.

43:57David Law:It was really warm and magnanimous, I thought. I thought it was a great contest and fought in really good spirit.

44:07Matt Roberts:And I'm sure she can expect the same in the next round when she faces Yelena Ostopenko, known for her warm and magnanimous handshakes.

44:15Catherine Whitaker:That's if Ostopenko wins.

44:17Matt Roberts:Right, yes.

44:19Catherine Whitaker:Let's not jinx Ostopenko-Sviontek before, you know. How many rounds away is that? Well, Ostopenko needs to win, well, they both still need to win two matches.

44:29Matt Roberts:I didn't send you this because I'm known for I'm trying to learn and grow but I'm known for falling for things on the internet that aren't real and there's there's more and more of that around these days but I so I'm trying to be I'm trying to be uber cautious but I did see something doing the rounds which was a screenshot of um somebody that had or a supposed screenshot of somebody that had DM'd Yelena Ostopenko to say, just seen, you've potentially drawn Igor Shvontek in round three, you go girl, beat her a seventh time. And Yelena Ostopenko has replied saying like, I got this or something like, you know, the strong arm emoji.

45:11I don't know if it's real, but it might be.

45:17Matt Roberts:And like, it could, it definitely could be real, right?

45:22David Law:It feels plausible.

45:25Matt Roberts:Right, yeah. But things have felt plausible in the past, David. That's how the internet gets you these days. So, yeah, Ostapenko, should she win tomorrow, will face Magdalene in round two, and then the winner of that would likely face Fjantek in round three. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Marta Kostiuk was over on Simone Mathieu today. She opened proceedings over there, taking on Olga Selekmatova, who formerly represented Russia. We understand she got her Spanish citizenship on Friday, just after Matt Roberts. They're dishing him out like candy, Matt.

46:07Catherine Whitaker:Our paths did not cross at the consulate.

46:10Matt Roberts:So, yeah, her flag changed to Spanish today on the Roland Garros website. Still no handshake in this match. won by Kostrick 6-2, 6-3 and we didn't know over the course of the match that Marta Kostrick was really going through it because she gave this extraordinary, very emotional on-court interview after the match where she broke down almost immediately and said this had been one of the toughest matches of her career that she'd been crying most of the morning before it because she woke up to the news that a bomb had dropped 100 metres from her parents' house this morning in Kiev, which, you know, a lot of the city was subjected to bombing overnight.

46:58Matt Roberts:A lot of people with family and friends in Kiev will have experienced similar things. She hadn't had a chance to talk to her parents on the phone at the time. She had text conversations with her family and seen all these photos and some video, I think, some very harrowing video of the area around her. her family home so she did not know what to expect from this match or her performance whether she'd even be able to get through it and yeah that's the sort of stuff that Marta Kostchuk and her compatriots are dealing with on a daily basis and if you didn't listen to yesterday's show we had an interview with Oleksandra Olnikova on that show talking about exactly that in fact Olnikova still lives and trains in Ukraine and is dealing with what Kostchuk's dealing with and more, if that's possible.

47:51Matt Roberts:And it's just extraordinary what these Ukrainian players are doing and their bravery. So Kostchuk through, as is Katie McNally. This was a match that Ava Wallace circled on yesterday's show. She was very worried, Ava, about her predictions, making her look a fool. Well, this one came off. It was an absolute barnstormer, McNally against Tom Lianovich. 3-6, 7-6, 6-3. In two hours and 40, McNally had been a set and a break down. She's a gritty and a fun player to watch. She's a great little combo of attributes. And if she can just keep making these strides to make herself more and more relevant, I think that's good news.

48:41David Law:Yeah, because what I love about the way she plays the sport is when it's close, when it's tight, when she's in a bit of trouble, she will go for all the more audacious shots. She will pull out the drop shot when it's really tight. And there's a lot of players who aren't like that. You know, I watched Solana Sierra today against Emirati Karnou, and as she was closing in on the finish line, And time and time again, you could feel her tightening. And her game looked totally different to how it had the rest of the match. And McNally seems like the opposite. She gets more dangerous when it's tight and makes her a great watch.

49:25David Law:And she is gritty. She is somebody who digs deep and isn't beaten until the final ball's struck.

49:34Matt Roberts:6-1, 7-6, incidentally, that result for Sierra over Emma Raducani. did so well to make a match of this, Raducanu, because frankly the media centre was on double bagel watch for this after the first set, which was not pretty for Raducanu fans. I think zero winners and a lot of unforced errors. I mean, plenty of evidence of this new style of play or this old, new, old style of play she's going for. She was pulling the trigger and it wasn't going in very much, but it was, you know, she was doing it. She was committed to playing this way. And I don't think it's a surprise that she lost this match.

50:17Matt Roberts:I was a little shocked by that level in the first set. But she's a way off, you know, being ready to win these matches, I think. And she knew that. She said, I just didn't want to miss a slam. Like, I pushed to play the French Open. It's not really about the French Open. She was a bit emotional in press. I think it's been a tough, a really tough year. I don't think the emotion was about this loss. I think it was about the road that she's had recently. But I still overall feel nothing about this result changes what I felt a couple of days ago after hearing from Raducanu before the tournament. I still feel positive.

50:59David Law:Yeah, same. And I did think that was a really good pullback because she was six love, four one down. And it looked like it was going to go 5-1. And then suddenly, you know, I ended up going and watching the rest of that match because she got it back to 4-3 and it was getting close. And she had chances in that second set. And more to the point, you know, yes, she's just got to get some reps, really. And I think the strategy, the approach is the right one. I think she's with the right sort of coach. And let's see how the grass court season goes.

51:37Matt Roberts:A couple of other results to bring you from the women's side. Not to be for Lily Tagger today. This is where Matt started his day in the blazing sun. Wanted to see the Lily Tagger backhand in person for the first time. Lost out to Wong Jinyu 633664. Did you like what you saw of Lily Tagger?

51:57Catherine Whitaker:I did, yeah. I mean, it is a lovely backhand. I mean, I don't know how much I learnt really about the backhand. but it's a lovely shot, obviously a single-hander, so it really stands out on the WTA Tour. And actually it was her more solid wing today. It was the forehand that was frequently breaking down. She started off really well, went up a break straight away, tagger, but Wong seemed to have her string tension all wrong. It's interesting thinking about the weather. She just was overhitting massively Wong's. changed racket, got one sent off to the string and suddenly couldn't miss and had her range and she's got more power than Taggart.

52:43Catherine Whitaker:I do think that's going to be an interesting development for Taggart. Not only can she develop more of her own power, but can she handle power a bit better? I think particularly going into that forehand side, she can break down a little bit and miss in quite a dramatic way. She misses a lot of balls in the bottom of the net, Taggart, which doesn't

53:02Matt Roberts:sound great it doesn't look great but and isn't great it isn't great but i i sort of just hope

53:10Catherine Whitaker:that she'll be able to sort of yeah handle pace better because i think it is often when when under fire that she that she misses in that manner but what i loved about her in this match was the fight she showed she was outplayed in that first set won the second being outplayed in the third five of one down in fact Wong nice combination of drop shots to exploit some of the tagger movement and and more easy power as well but then tagger came back and it feels a bit like a what could have been match because she she got it back on serve tagger having having saved three match points but couldn't quite get the score level and ended up saving a fourth but ultimately losing on the fifth match point that Wong had and yeah like a nice match um and you just got to remember how young Tagga is you know she was she was the junior champion here last year she hasn't played all that much on on the on the WTA tour and I just think bridging that gap there's still there's still players with with power like Wong who can exploit some of her weaknesses but good to see her in person for the first time and enjoyed watching Skiavone in the coaching box as well.

54:23Catherine Whitaker:Such a fun element to Taggart's career, I think, having Skiavone there.

54:29Matt Roberts:Last story to mention from the women's side today. Fran Jones beat Beatrizza Dadjomais 1-6, 7-6, 6-2. Real comeback win. She seemed down and out so many times in this match, played in the pounding heat of the day. It's her first Grand Slam main draw win, Fran Jones, on the seventh try. If you don't know, and this isn't something Fran Jones talks about or likes to talk about because she absolutely doesn't want to be defined by this, but Fran Jones was born with a rare genetic condition called ectodactyl ectodermal dysplasia, and she plays with a modified racket grip. And she's had so many obstacles on her road as a professional tennis player, including retirements with heat exhaustion in tough conditions.

55:24Matt Roberts:And this was about as tough as it gets today, quite frankly. And my goodness me, did she dig deep to come through this one. And I actually wasn't aware of one of the toughest obstacles yet that she's had to face from a couple of months ago. So she had to retire from her round one match in Australia this year with a torn hip muscle. She had rehabbed that and was just on her way back to fitness when she suffered a concussion following a freak gym accident in which the locking mechanism on a leg press machine failed and a 45-kilo weight crashed onto her head and knee. And the doctors told her she was very lucky that actually the, you know, the condition that she didn't have a brain bleed or worse.

56:10Matt Roberts:But, you know, she did have lingering concussion symptoms. And just she must just think, why always me? You know, and well, it wasn't her today. She was incredible, quite frankly. And, yeah, she's quite a woman as Fran Jones. And I'm so, so chuffed to bits for her. Her parents were there. There were very, very emotional scenes at courtside. So well played, Fran Jones. That is it for part two. We'll be back in part three to talk about tomorrow's order of play and award Muscataire of the day. Welcome back to part three of today's tennis podcast. Before we look ahead to tomorrow, one bit of important business from today.

56:54Matt Roberts:And we had to wait until part three because there was a potential Muscataire still on court until moments ago. but poor old Pierre Hugues Herbert was unable quite to put himself in the running. He's just lost in five to Lorenzo Sonogo, and that is why there are sad-looking French people trudging past us right now. They had been on that court. But we do have two contenders. Quite frankly, it was slim pickings today. I mean, for details of exactly how slim they were, sign up for our free newsletter and check out Matt's stat today, which really does expose how bad French results were. I mean, they could be in for a tough one, the host nation, this tournament.

57:41Matt Roberts:I mean, we'll see. Maybe Morphies will win it, but it could be tricky.

57:47David Law:Absolutely. I mean, if you think yesterday, we were talking about Artifise being out and it was all built around him, really in terms of the actual hopes for somebody to go deep. They always get behind their players here. they're always sort of optimistic, you know, but frankly, it really has been slim pickings, to use your words.

58:09Matt Roberts:Two things to pick, two pickings to slim from, two what? Two contenders? Two contenders. All right. Your pickings are... Conte Alisse, he beat Matias Bellucci. It's going to be tough to pick, actually. Alisse beat Matias Bellucci in straight sets and Valentin Royer beat Hugo Delian also in straight sets. I think Royer lost the fewer games. He's the one that now faces Novak Djokovic. But Alisse was the one to break the duck for French players today. So maybe he deserves it for that reason. I'll let you decide amongst yourselves.

58:53David Law:Yeah, I've got a bit of a soft spot for Alisse. Because I feel like he doesn't get a lot of kind of promotion or chat. You know, he's a bit agricultural sometimes. But, you know, he's got to put them on the board. First man of the day from France. I think that that deserves Mousquetier of the day. Alice?

59:17Catherine Whitaker:Alice for me, for that reason too.

59:20Matt Roberts:Co-signed. Quentin, it is yours. This is your day two order of play here at the 2026 French Open. Châtelet opens with a women's match. Emerson Jones, the Australian reciprocal wildcard, the youngster she takes on, Iga Sviontek, first on Châtelet.

59:38Catherine Whitaker:That feels like a Godspeed Emerson, doesn't it?

59:40Matt Roberts:Yeah, I think that's going to be a duffing up.

59:45Catherine Whitaker:She's got a good backhand. She does have a good backhand, so everyone in Australia keeps telling me.

59:50Matt Roberts:Yeah. Can't wait to see it. I think it'll look against woman against child. And that's fine. And that's absolutely fine. Yeah, she is pretty much still a child. I think maybe officially still a child. She was 17 in Australia, I think. So, I don't know. She might have had a birthday. Spiritually, woman against child. Second on is Irajevic. Not sure of her first name. Don't know anything about her. Against Elena Rabakina. Potentially Godspeed there too.

1:00:21David Law:Could be a quick afternoon on the old chaturier.

1:00:23Matt Roberts:Yeah, it's almost as if they want to get the women's matches out of the way quickly.

1:00:27David Law:Because the big one's coming up first. Must not miss.

1:00:33Matt Roberts:I mean, this will be the match of the day that my dad's most interested in. Ugo and Bear against Adrian Manorino.

1:00:39Catherine Whitaker:The gall of it.

1:00:43Matt Roberts:Yeah, in the prime slot. Well, I mean, prime slot for us for the tournament, I think, certainly for prime video, the prime slot is the night session, and that is, of course, Gamal Fies against Hugo Gaston. Longlen tomorrow opens with Arthur Rindikinesh.

1:01:01Catherine Whitaker:I mean, I'm not sure what's worse, actually. Like, this one being first up on Longlen is quite something.

1:01:07Matt Roberts:Rindikinesh Rodionov. David was like, if it is a late one tonight, I don't think I need to be in for first match tomorrow.

1:01:15Catherine Whitaker:But Mathieu's start is strong.

1:01:17Matt Roberts:wrong when we get there. We'll get there. Second match on Longland is intriguing. Alina Svitolina against Anna Bondar. Bondar, a reminder, has won the last four sets against Alina Svitolina. Third on Longland, also interesting, Amanda Anisimova hasn't played an awful lot recently. How is that wrist? She is taking on Sarah Rakitamanga Rajana, the young French wildcard. And finally on Longland. It's Ben Shelton against Daniel Merida

1:01:48Catherine Whitaker:of Spain. Shelton hasn't got a lot of confidence I don't think at the moment.

1:01:55Matt Roberts:Kortsmouth matcher opened strong with Jasmine Paolini against Daniel Stremska. I was wondering earlier, who's even the favourite for that match? It should be Paolini, but...

1:02:08David Law:Yeah, I've picked in my big draw that I did, I picked Jastrzemska to win this. I think a lot of people would.

1:02:20Matt Roberts:Second on Mathieu, Stan Rorinka. One last dance for him. He takes on the lucky loser, Jesper de Jong, who can be entertaining. I think that'll be fun. Third on, Kasparud against Roman Cefiulin. And finally, Karolina Mukova against Anastasia Zakharova, the Russian player. What else have we got tomorrow? We've got Alex Stamonor against Toby Samuel. That is first up on court 14. Jung Chin Wen is first up on court 7. Elliot Spitsiri, remember him from Australia? Caught David Googling him earlier, looking up his record.

1:02:58David Law:Yeah, it turns out he's not played since Delray Beach in February. Or even Dallas. I don't think he even got to Delray. Elbow injury. Yeah, nasty.

1:03:09Matt Roberts:Takes on Francis Tiafoe tomorrow, does Elliot Spitsiri. We've got Andrei Rublev against the Hamburg champion Ignacio Busse. That is third on court seven. That's an interesting one. Elisa Mertens is on 14. Flavio Caboli against Andrea Pellegrino, the Italian qualifier. So an all-Italian clash there. Who knows what to expect from Bloomin' Flavio Caboli. It's a rollercoaster having him in your fantasy team, let me tell you.

1:03:36David Law:Do you get the sense that Catherine's ever so slightly questioning her choices about whether to be a Cabali guy.

1:03:43Matt Roberts:No, I'm still a Cabali guy, but I'm just saying it's tough. Yeah.

1:03:46Catherine Whitaker:I think she's a Cabali guy but wants to reserve the right to... Drop him like a hot potato. Or be annoyed.

1:03:53Matt Roberts:Or just be annoyed about it, yeah. I need to fill my feelings, David.

1:03:58David Law:Yeah, if it's reliability you want, I'm not sure Flavio Cabali's your man.

1:04:03Matt Roberts:No. Caspar Rood, maybe?

1:04:07David Law:He always delivers Caspar. Cameron Norrie?

1:04:10Matt Roberts:you troll

1:04:11Catherine Whitaker:what do you want Catherine

1:04:13Matt Roberts:never ever be I know right that is it for today except to tell you about Bashir, I'm looking at a picture of Bashir who looks lovely and cosy in some shade and shade is really all I want from my day two at the French Open so well done Bashir you beautiful beautiful boy and our mascot for this French Open hello to our mascots Bodie, Maisie and Roger hello to our top folks and executive producers Greg, Chris and Geoff, Matt, shall we have some midnight 41 minutes past midnight shout outs.

1:04:51Catherine Whitaker:We have Amy Helfeld from Seattle. Another Seattle.

1:04:58David Law:Seahawks are taking over. Well they've already taken over.

1:05:01Catherine Whitaker:Creeping up on New Jersey a bit in Seattle isn't it? Yeah, isn't it?

1:05:04Matt Roberts:Been sleeping on that. Hello Amy.

1:05:06Catherine Whitaker:Amy says Love the podcast. It's like an hour with friends who I've never met, excited for the 2026 Seahawks season.

1:05:14David Law:Yeah, me too. Tell you, we're going to go back to back, Amy. Amy-like? Amy Frazier. God, you got in there before me, David. Well, that's because I knew it and you didn't.

1:05:31Matt Roberts:Amy, thank you very much.

1:05:33Catherine Whitaker:Go Seahawks. We also have Katie Chalton from Hertfordshire. Hello, Katie.

1:05:40Matt Roberts:Like McNally.

1:05:42Catherine Whitaker:Yeah. Yes, although spelt like Bolter.

1:05:45Matt Roberts:Right. Well, Bolter too.

1:05:46Catherine Whitaker:Yeah, and we know Katie. Katie's in our fantasy league. Hi, Katie. And Katie, I think in the past, has zoomed into our fantasy league meetings from a hotel because, as she says, I'm a tennis parent as well as a tennis fan now. She's often on the road, Katie. travelling to tournaments.

1:06:07Matt Roberts:Tennis parents are made of strong stuff.

1:06:10David Law:Katie's the one who I offered Taylor Fritz to for about four different players.

1:06:15Catherine Whitaker:Yes, and Katie stood firm.

1:06:17Matt Roberts:Yeah, she was there with it. She was not interested in Taylor Fritz.

1:06:22David Law:He's very available. I found a willing taker in Reggie who was happy to accept Taylor Fritz briefly in exchange for Joao Fonseca. And then he traded in Fritz and used the money. Yeah, got himself a pagula.

1:06:40Matt Roberts:Which was a really smart play from Reggie. Yeah. Katie could have done that. Mr Trick, Katie. Thank you, Katie.

1:06:50Catherine Whitaker:And finally, we have Gail Nell from Madison, Wisconsin.

1:06:56Matt Roberts:Gail, like, will Gail accept Gail Monfils?

1:07:01Catherine Whitaker:I hope so

1:07:03Matt Roberts:I assume it's a different spelling

1:07:06Catherine Whitaker:it is a different spelling but here of all places it's this big night tonight on day two

1:07:13David Law:I can say tonight now

1:07:15Matt Roberts:Madison is the capital of Wisconsin and I know that Matt because I was a cool teenager quite right and you'd have loved to be friends with me

1:07:25David Law:geographical whiz

1:07:27Catherine Whitaker:I can tell you more about Gail Gail says I've been listening to the podcast since 2016 This year my husband Mike and I will be adding our third Grand Slam into our Fan Slam We will be attending the French Open And we can hardly wait We've been to the US Open and Wimbledon in past years Hope to see you there

1:07:49Matt Roberts:Say hi Gail

1:07:51David Law:Superb yeah hope to see you Gail

1:07:53Matt Roberts:Hope to see you We're very easy to spot We've sort of got a regular location now David's enormous

1:07:59Catherine Whitaker:I spotted David on the stream of Valant over the net earlier. I was on the telly. I was thrilled about it.

1:08:05David Law:I had lots of people mentioned it. I was concerned that you didn't have your hat on. Yeah, I didn't have my hat on, and I came back all a bit red-faced, didn't I? But I've learned my lesson. I've got my hat on now. Good. Well, I've brought it with me.

1:08:16Matt Roberts:And speaking of David Law and Clothes, David has launched his T-shirt today.

1:08:22David Law:Yes. It's called The David. Yeah. And it's got the word pumps on the back with a big exclamation mark. Because I am.

1:08:37Matt Roberts:If you'd like to get yourself a David Lord tea, then just head to our shop. We'll pop the link in our show notes and it's on our Instagram. It's everywhere. And you can look and feel like David. It's like having a sort of David Lord pep talk in clothing form.

1:08:53David Law:Yeah, and if you're a friend of the Tennis Podcast, you can get 10 % off with our code.

1:08:58Matt Roberts:There you go. All sorts of reasons to be a friend of the Tennis Podcast. Folks, that is it for your day one pod from the French Open here at Roland Garros. We'll, of course, be back with a day two pod, whatever that may hold. We are part of the Athletic Podcast Network. Thank you for listening. We'll speak to you tomorrow.