French Open Day 2 - Svitolina, Ruud survive scares

20:44Catherine Whitaker:She's got some shape on her shot. She's really picking the right moment to pull the trigger. She's serving well, which has been an issue for her. I thought Paolini was in big trouble in this match, to be honest, because Jastrzemska looked in control of it. But I think at that point, two points away from the opening set, is when the real test comes. And I think some of those old habits for Jastrzemska kicked in at that moment. and maybe she got a bit anxious of the scoreline and of what was in front of her, but she went back to playing the way that I think of her as playing, really, and going for the line when you just don't need to go for the line.

21:26Catherine Whitaker:You know, your own power is big enough and good enough. And I do want to credit Paolini as well, because I thought she stayed calm under that early barrage from Jastrzemska and then grew into this one. And she didn't really have her forehand to begin with, but found it. and that loopy forehand was causing Jastrzemska a lot of problems on the backhand side. It was like tempting Jastrzemska into going for the shots that she really shouldn't have been going for and she just couldn't help herself and the backhand errors piled up for Jastrzemska. But yeah, I thought Paolini turned it around really nicely and was the better player over the course of the match and that's a big win and she talked about Impress feeling a little bit freer, You know, like she'd put a lot of expectation on herself.

22:13Catherine Whitaker:Obviously, she was defending Rome. I think she just seems in a slightly better place. I still think she's a little bit vulnerable to having what happened to her in that start of the match today. I think other players can do that to her. But I really hope we get a Paolini run here. She's not playing the doubles. Which is quite big, isn't it? Irani's actually playing with Lily Taggart in the doubles. I wonder whether that's coming back through Schiavone potentially, coaching tagger but yeah

22:46Matt Roberts:Matchmaker Schiavone Indeed

22:49Catherine Whitaker:Good to have Paolini still in the draw

22:51Matt Roberts:Yes, exactly Jill Teichman Do you remember her? David's shooting star from about five years ago Yeah, you know She shot a little bit today, David

23:03David Law:She did, she won a match

23:04Matt Roberts:She's in Roland Garros round two She beat Lidmila Samsonova four and four. Look, in your defence, David, I do not know why Joel Teichman has not had better results over the past few years. I remember seeing her play, Victoria Azarenka, here probably three years ago now on Courtsamand Mathieu, and it was an awesome match. I think Azarenka won it in the end, if I remember, but either of them could have won it, and she was breathtaking. She loves a crowd. She loves to fight. She's got so many attributes, particularly on clay, and she has disappeared off the face of the planet. She's really stitched you up with that prediction.

23:45David Law:I would like to just remind everybody that I was asked for two shooting stars and I gave Jill Teichman and Donna Vekic, who had the season of her life.

23:55Matt Roberts:Yeah, he covered his bases. It wasn't his first radio.

24:00David Law:Why did we get onto that anyway at the time? Where did shooting stars come from?

24:04Matt Roberts:Well, it was dropped as a concept soon afterwards. Teichman might be back, though. Watch this space. Last women's result to touch upon so far from today. Quite a tough scene, actually, for Jung Chin Wen. Obviously, the Olympic gold medalist from the Olympics that were held here at Roland Garros less than two years ago, she lost out in the opening round today. a 6-4-6 love to Maja Kwalinska, who is a Polish player of the same vintage, exactly the same age of Igor Svantec, very close friend of hers. They used to play doubles together in juniors. She's come through the qualifying, has Kwalinska, and she, well, in the words of our friend and colleague Itamar, she olinikoved Zheung Chinwen today.

24:53Matt Roberts:She says she's not quite a moonballer in the way that olinikova is, But she said in terms of general topspin and sort of the way she sees a tennis court, she said there were a lot of comparisons to Olenakova. And Jung Chin-Wen did not have a good time out there today. I think there was a lot going on. There was her opponent being excellent and match tough in a very, very tricky way. There was a blister that Jung was struggling with on her foot she received treatment for at three love down in the second set but she also by her own admission in a very emotional press conference afterwards said the nerves and the pressure today didn't allow me to play the tennis that I want she said that losing in the first round was really really tough for me it takes some time to handle she also interestingly said that she she struggled with not having enough space on the court.

25:56Matt Roberts:I think it was court number... It was quite an outside court. Seven, I think. Yeah, court number seven, which has got a bit of a stand, but it's a small outside court, really. And she said that that kind of contributed to her inability to move backwards and deal with this heavy, heavy spin that Kulinska was throwing her way with these high-bouncing top-spin ground strokes.

26:25Catherine Whitaker:That was something Pam shouted out in her voice note from Rome, wasn't it? That she'd observed that, like, modern tennis, he needs more space behind the back of the court. Players are hitting with more spin than ever. And, like, you know, OK, don't have line judges at many events anymore, but here you do. They're kind of in the way or in danger. and that was happening a lot.

26:49Matt Roberts:There was quite a bad collision with a line judge for Jung today. I know Charlie Eccleshire was out there watching. He did a really useful write-up on this match. He was in the press conference and it does sound like it was really quite upsetting from a junction when perspective double-faulted on match point. And she also confirmed, I mean, we could all see something was going on with Pere Reba, Jung's coach. She was sat there and neck braced during this match, and she was asked about that in her press conference, and she said he was in a car accident about 10 days ago and suffered neck and back injuries.

27:26Matt Roberts:So, yeah, wish him well, and definitely wish Jing Chen Wen well, because I do think tennis is better when she's a factor in it, and today was definitely a tough ride for her. On to the men's matches so far today. Let's start with the farewell, or what turned out to be the farewell, of former champion Stan Rorinka. His French Open career is officially over. He lost out to Jesper de Jong, 6 '3", 3-6, 6 '3", 6 '4", over on Court Simon Mathieu. They did the full shebang for him. Amélie Maresmo was out, Gilles Moritain was out on the court. He had a video. He had all the big three in the video. He had the current big two, Yannick Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.

28:18Matt Roberts:He had Gilmore Feast in the video. Notable absence of Andy Murray. We'll try and get to the bottom of whether that was big four erasure or whether he refused.

28:28David Law:Well, no, I should say in the press conference, he used the words big four and he was including Andy Murray in that. He was very, very quick to sort of say the difference. and there are all these stats about how many more Grand Slam finals and semi-finals Andy Murray had reached than he did and how many more Masters series he'd won. And Olympic golds, of course. And look, Stan isn't so petty and insecure that he needs to insert himself into that. He actually said in the press conference, I've never worried about trying to make records. You know, I'm not that guy. I'm not going to be the best player ever.

29:13David Law:I'm not going to be world number one. But I wanted to get better all the time and, you know, ring out every drop. And that's why he says, that's why I've done this this long is I want these feelings. And I'm going to, you know, he clearly stated, you know, here of all places, he's going to miss those feelings.

29:31Matt Roberts:And that shouldn't be underestimated, should it? because imagine how many players with the same number of Grand Slams as Andy Murray

29:39David Law:would be chippy about even the concept of a Big Four

29:43Matt Roberts:that they weren't included in and would be constantly wanting to remind you that they've got the same Grand Slam tally. Yeah, he's very secure in his own skin.

29:53David Law:I mean, I actually asked him afterwards, because obviously we're reflecting on his career at each one of these events, and I said, I think a lot of people in this room, when they think of you here, will think of that final you won against an all-conquering Novak Djokovic at the time. And I asked, have you ever watched that match back and wondered about and thought about that level you achieved that day? And he said, I've watched bits of it. He says, I'm not going to watch three hours of that back. But he's clearly very proud. And he did say that the thing is, in the moment, you're not thinking, oh, I'm playing really well here.

30:31David Law:he says you're just trying to maximise all the time you're trying to get better for the next one and that's what he's always been isn't it, he's a workman like player, agricultural you could say but he's that kind of guy isn't he he clocks in and clocks out and does his best and I think he is so far in excess achieved more than he and most people would have expected to when he first came on the scene he was not a prodigy at all He was exciting. I remember when I first saw him in Gestade, several years before that final that he won in the Australian Open, but he wasn't regarded as the next big thing at all.

31:13David Law:He never was.

31:14Catherine Whitaker:Given we're recording this on Court Philippe Chattrier, I feel like I want to talk about my favourite Wawrinka, probably memory ever really, is a shot he hit in that match against Djokovic in the 2015 final. unlike Stan I have watched it back many times and he slotted a backhand winner through the gap between the net post and the sponsor box that they have it's it's probably what is that a couple of feet gap and he hit a backhand winner through it down the line top spin drive unbelievable shot that that's the one that when I shut my eyes and think of that final that's the one I think of and And there were many, many similar backhand winners.

32:02And, yeah, what a presence he was at this tournament over the years.

32:07Matt Roberts:And the result today probably, you know, underlines that it is the right time for Stan Rorinka to step away. But he also, he had moments today. You know, he was himself. And it was atmospheric. Jesper de Jong handled it all really, really well. And it was lovely. It was really, really lovely.

32:28David Law:And he also, by the way, I think Jesper de Jong did incredibly well to win that match with all that going on. Absolutely. Once Stan had leveled it at once at all and he went away and won it in four. And that is not easy to do. You've got to have a lot of mental strength to handle all that.

32:44Matt Roberts:A slightly different vibe for Rafael Hodder, who absolutely destroyed Alex Kovacevic. 6-1, 6-love, 6-4 in an hour and 34 minutes. He heard our concerns about his body potentially not being able to stand up to best-of-five set tennis, and he decided to make best-of-five set matches the length of best-of-three set matches. Problem solved, David.

33:11David Law:Yeah, an hour and 34 minutes, no trouble at all. Yeah, and actually the third set ended up becoming a bit dicey for him because he was a break-up 4-3, and he did have to save break-back points. And you did wonder, well, if Kovacevic could extend this, will we see another side to Hodder? Because the thing with Hodder is, to me, I've said, I think he's going all the way to the semis here. And my feel about that is because he's just so destructive off both sides. He can hurt off any ball, and he's hurting off the first opportunity. but there are the question marks about if you can drag him into something physical or expose his inexperience.

33:57David Law:The applause you hear is for Gaël Monfils departing the practice court right now and he'll be back for the main event in a little while. But yeah, Raphael Hodder I think is going to be on this court in a few days' time when the challenges get more significant and bigger named. but of course he doesn't have Taylor Fritz in the way now in round three but that is a pretty astonishing arrival scoreline isn't it?

34:25Matt Roberts:First two sets in less than an hour.

34:28Catherine Whitaker:It's unreal yeah and I've been really impressed with him over this clay court season for like the way he's been really consistent actually in you know because it's a kind of game style where you think that might go in and out but actually he's always looking to just sort of seek and destroy with the ball. And he doesn't yet appear to have had days where he's just not got feel or not got timing. And he's really wayward. You know, he's lost matches, as we've talked about, mostly because of his legs giving out or, you know, up against like a Yannick Sinner in Madrid. He's been so good against, you know, pretty much sort of the field really on the ATP tour.

35:10Catherine Whitaker:I think he's the fourth favourite right now for this tournament with the oddsmakers. And it doesn't feel totally outrageous if you were piling a power rankings list, given what he's done to a lot of players. You'd probably have him around there. The question mark really is the legs. But as we said, win all your matches in 90 minutes and I back those legs. And yeah, Opta had a good stat that the last player to drop, Sorry, the last man to drop fewer games in a first completed match at Roland Garros was Novak Djokovic in 2005, who only dropped three on his debut here against Ginepri. So that's the kind of company he's keeping with that first match here at Roland Garros.

35:54Matt Roberts:That's a tough stat for Robby Ginepri, wasn't it? Because that's the same year that Djokovic made his Australian Open debut and that is clock clean by Marit Safin.

36:03Catherine Whitaker:He's a fast learner, Djokovic.

36:06Matt Roberts:Yeah, and Gennepri maybe not quite as good as Marit Sass.

36:08David Law:I think Gennepri was reaching the US Open semifinals around about then as well. So, you know, he was having the time of his life. That is astonishing Gennepri recollection. Well done, Djokovic.

36:21Matt Roberts:Well done also to Matteo Berrettini. Perhaps not consequential for the tournament, but I do feel like just mentioning that he won a Grand Slam tennis match today because that hasn't been happening much. He's had a tough time, isn't he? I feel for Matteo Berrettini. He beat Martin Fuchovic in four sets. Jurila Hetschka lost today. Probably worth a mention, 12th seed.

36:44David Law:I wonder whether he's fully fit, just because that seems so surprising, doesn't it?

36:48Catherine Whitaker:And by all accounts, he was awful. He was one of the worst returning performances I've seen. He didn't create a great point against Krenio Busta on clay. He's a good player, Krenio Busta, but he's not anywhere close to his peak, and he's never been one of the great servers on the tour. He's always going to give you opportunities. He does have a little bit of an underwhelming slam record, Lehekska, doesn't he? He's had those two quarterfinal runs, one in Australia, one last year at the US Open. But apart from that, he's not really matched up with his tour form and he's not far off reaching the top ten, Lehekska, and I thought it could be on this summer, you know, but that's a real setback.

37:31Catherine Whitaker:but a nice win for Queen Joubusta.

37:33Matt Roberts:And he'll have Queen's final points to defend, of course, Will Lahetschka. Incidentally, as David said, Guillermo Fises has left Chattrier, so his practice is over. I was hoping we would see Hugo Gaston come out for practice and we could see who he had got as a hitting partner, having gone to the desk and said, I'd like a Guillermo Fises, please. But I think that Gaston practice might have happened before we got out here. Lots of matches still going on. Looks like Bousset and Rublev are headed for a fifth set. Caballi is still going against Pellegrino. Shelton's still going against Merida. We'll touch upon all of that in part two and, of course, bring you the results and analysis of the night session between Hugo Gaston and Guillaume Monfils.

38:23Matt Roberts:And then we'll be back in part three to look ahead to tomorrow and award Muscataire of the day. So we will see you in part two. Welcome back to part two of today's show on day two of the French Open. But the update is it's no longer day two of the French Open. It's now day three. We are back at Tennis Podcast Towers Paris. It is half past midnight and we've just witnessed the sun setting very, very slowly on Gail Monfils' Roland Garros career. And we've had varying degrees of fun watching it, His five-set defeat at the hands of fellow French wildcard Hugo Gaston and the ensuing ceremony. It's been...

39:06Matt Roberts:Look, I think we all have huge amounts of affection for Gaël Monfils, the tennis player and the person, but it's been a weird night, David.

39:15David Law:Yes, I mean, the match, you tend to think of five setters, particularly involving Gaël Monfils, as just electric, epic nights because we've had so many of them, including sitting right here we've we've watched several five-set classics from calmon fees in recent years uh in the early rounds of the french open this one wasn't one of them at all um none of the five sets were enjoyable particularly because they were all extremely one-sided to to one or the other they ended up in a fifth set monfils had got nothing left and i mean he lost six love in about 20 minutes um the ceremony at the end was longer than that um and look fair play to him you know he he really i think he's probably brought more joy just by his play and his sort of behavior on a tennis court than anyone in recent years you know he takes me back to yannick noah the difference being that Noah did win this title and I think that that's something that Monfils probably left on the table or at least left something a bit more on the table but even so he's achieved a lot and he's made a mark and there is enormous affection for him you can see that with the way all the other players speak about him and I think fans around the world have enjoyed watching him But yeah, it's funny, you know, we had an exhibition night the other night, Gal and Friends, and it was a bit like that tonight, to be honest.

40:59David Law:It wasn't like the previous five set matches we've seen him have in night sessions here at all, was it really?

41:06Matt Roberts:No, not at all. It felt very much like not a part of the French Open tennis tournament. And, you know, I don't always want to be the total downer, But it felt like, well, we sort of did the exhibition send off for Gael Monfils. And that's that's lovely. Those sorts of things might not be my my vibe, but they're lots of people's vibe. And he absolutely, you know, deserves that. And and by all accounts, that was really successful and fun. Kind of felt like we didn't we didn't really need this.

41:40David Law:But made worse by the fact that it was a French opponent. Yes. You know, yes, definitely. It's more difficult. I mean, he's clearly. close with Gaston.

41:50Matt Roberts:It was an odd atmosphere, really odd atmosphere. Even when Monfils is mounting this fight back, it felt a little bit flat, I have to say. So it's kind of difficult to talk about as a competitive tennis match as part of this tournament that we're here to cover, but obviously Monfils is a tennis player. We'll miss him terribly. He only needs one, though, and he has got two left so you never know god imagine no matt's turned into me on every walk to and from roland garros there is a point at which conversation lulls david thinks and pauses for a few moments and he goes god just imagine if and then says something totally improbable.

42:47David Law:But not impossible.

42:49Matt Roberts:But not, crucially, not physically impossible. And he begs us to imagine a world in which that could happen, which is very David Law.

42:59Catherine Whitaker:I did enjoy the piece that Alina Sviterlina wrote in Players' Tribune this week about Gail Monfils. It was like a letter to their daughter, Sky. And there was a little passage in it where Svitolina was like, for some players, you have to go into a long explanation about why they're great and why they're so good. But with your dad, you just need to watch one shot and you know instantly that this is a guy who made people feel things and did things that we'd never seen before on a tennis court. And I thought that was a really perfect encapsulation, actually, of what Monfils brought to this sport.

43:43Catherine Whitaker:He made a lot of people very, very happy with his tennis over the years. And that is a special quality to have.

43:51Matt Roberts:Yeah, she was feeling it, wasn't she, on the sidelines, poor Svitolina.

43:59Catherine Whitaker:I have to say the well one of my favourite moments of the whole evening was the video tribute to Gell-Montfeast that had been recorded and suddenly up popped blonde Alcaraz it's a problem Alcaraz changing his haircut so often and so dramatically it really dates something you know exactly when it was

44:23Matt Roberts:I think I mean it's obviously easy to say in hindsight but you've got to pop a hat on Alcaraz for a video you need to remain relatively timeless. That's a learning. My favourite moment was this. So you'd had this video and you'd had Federer and Nadal and Djokovic and then Gilles Simon pops up and Richard Gasquet and then Joe Wulfertong and it's like, oh, they're doing a musketeer thing, a new wave musketeer thing. Fine, whatever. Then the video ends. You think that's the end of proceedings. David's firing up the recorder for part two. Real life Gilles Simon appears from the ether. Out they come.

45:08Matt Roberts:The trio of Simon, Songer and Gasquet.

45:14Catherine Whitaker:It didn't quite hit like Federer, Djokovic and Barry backstage last year, did it?

45:20Matt Roberts:No, not quite. But anyway, I hope they have a very fun night out tonight, wherever they're off to. And it sure has been fun watching Guillermo Fis here at Roland Garros over the years. And we'll get to watch him at Wimbledon and the US Open. He only needs one. Shockingly, that match wasn't the worst nonsense of the evening.

45:46Matt Roberts:that involved Caspar Rude and Roman Sifuelin what on earth happened on Court Simone Mathieu a few hours ago Matt

46:01Catherine Whitaker:well Caspar Rude looked like he was going to win this match quite straightforwardly against Roman Sifuelin he was on his way to a straight sets victory, had double match point on the Sifulin serve at two sets of love up, had triple match point in the following game on his own serve. So five match points in total, didn't take any of those. And then suddenly and dramatically, the match turned into something absolutely wild in that Rude seemed to, well he's described it as heat stroke and feeling like a zombie on court with a headache and dizziness and unable to see the ball and he just became so pale all the color drained out of him and he was barely able to walk around for quite a while in this match and so fueling wins that third set and goes up five love in the fourth and it was kind of at this point that we were wrapping up part one and we were like right we've got to absolutely get eyes on this this is this is Kasparud this is a guy who could well make the final of this tournament looks like he might go out in round one and as soon as we got eyes on it I was thinking right this is going to be Kasparud going out and kind of the first thing I saw live was Roman Sifulin flat on his back receiving a medical timeout for his hip at five love up in the fourth set with caspar root down the other end unable to walk around so that was very very bizarre and i'm sorry i think a bad move yeah

47:45Matt Roberts:what are you doing so fueling yeah and unless he was unable to walk that was a dumb move because

47:52David Law:rude was about to collapse yeah you gave him a time to recover and be a psychological boost yeah Hope. Rebellions are built on hope. If I am Sifulin in that position, looking rude like that, I am dancing around the court in front of him saying, how you doing, Casper? I feel great.

48:16Matt Roberts:I'm serious. I don't think Roman is that guy, even when he is feeling great, though, is he? Apparently not.

48:24David Law:David, you remember that story from Jimmy Harris? Yes, Jimmy Arias, a former top five player in the world, who told us that great story about how he was feeling terrible in a match once. And he decided, I can't do this anymore. And he started to walk to the net because he was going to retire. And then he saw his opponent walk into the net looking just as bad. And he thought, oh, I'm not going to retire. And he started jumping around really for the next point. And the other guy retired. Fantastic.

48:57Matt Roberts:It's not over till it's over. Yeah, I mean, look, maybe that hip injury was so bad that it was take the medical time out or it's done. But unless it was that scenario, it was a dumbass move. And, yeah, we trooped over to Simone Mathieu expecting sort of a fun, chaotic fifth set, and actually it was just bad.

49:22Catherine Whitaker:Yeah, it was terrible. It was boring and terrible. It was so boring. It was like tennis in slow motion. So Fulin couldn't move. And by that point, Rude had started feeling better that he was able to move and hit much, much better than he had been doing. And it was pretty one-sided, but low quality. It wasn't funny. It wasn't weird. It was weird, but it was just bad.

49:49Matt Roberts:We could have been eating galettes. That's what I was thinking the whole time.

49:52Catherine Whitaker:It's one of the worst fifth sets I've ever seen. In fact, I think it is the worst.

49:57David Law:And we've just seen a six-love in 20 minutes.

50:00Matt Roberts:And that one was totally worse. On a serious note with Caspar Rude, I mean, look, he's a fit, strong guy in his prime, but this is going to have taken a lot out of him. His canister is, you know, he's like people on teams on race across the world that spend a load of money on taxis on the first leg. Like, he spent more canister than he wanted to in round one against Roman Sifulin and in two days' time when he comes back, the weather's going to be the same. And that was a late evening match that he was playing. So he wasn't in full sun. I mean, it was still incredibly hot, but it could be worse in a couple of days' time for him.

50:47Matt Roberts:He could be in trouble here, even though he came through today.

50:51Catherine Whitaker:I've never really thought about Roode in terms of how he copes with these sorts of weather conditions. It's not something I've thought that much about, but I think he did say that he suffered in Washington in the past. And, well, I've not been to Washington in July. I don't think it's as bad here as it is there, but, you know, it's... Bet they've got more air con.

51:18David Law:Yeah, but you don't play an air con, do you?

51:20Matt Roberts:Yeah, but you know there's escape. I'm struggling with this feeling of, like, there's no escape from this. There's nowhere I can go.

51:28David Law:I think it makes it worse when you go in.

51:30Matt Roberts:We tried to go to a corner shop yesterday just to stand next to a fridge for a few moments. The fridge was warm.

51:38Catherine Whitaker:David said there's heat coming out of the fridge. But, yeah, I think he's in a bit of trouble if these conditions continue. I agree with you because I don't think he likes them. and that was, yeah, that took a lot out of him today. It's like the recovery is going to be important, I think.

51:57David Law:I wonder whether he might prepare a little differently, though, for the next one.

52:01Matt Roberts:Well, not play Geneva.

52:05David Law:Well, that is a question mark. Go back in time. It certainly is a question mark. I do feel like unlike the other Race Across the World contestants in this draw, he has invested his money well and therefore has a bigger budget than most. So I think he probably has more in his canister. Does that work?

52:25Matt Roberts:It does. It does. Yeah, but I think he started with a lower budget because he spent some of it on a pre-holiday holiday in Geneva.

52:36Catherine Whitaker:It's weird, the Geneva thing, because I think I do agree that going to Geneva doesn't feel like the best for his role on Gareth. prospects but then i've been looking at his record 2022 he made the semi-final in rome went to geneva reached the final here 2023 semi-final in rome went to geneva final here 2024 won geneva after a poor rome admittedly so that's a bit different that year and then reach the semi-final like Roland Garros here. Like, he is used to going far Roland Garros after doing far in Rome, far in Geneva. But, I don't know. It just, it feels like maybe the sport's even more taxing than it used to be, even three years ago.

53:31Catherine Whitaker:And I've just, I feel like he needed the rest rather than the matches. But look, he knows his body better than I do.

53:38David Law:I'd love to have seen what he was like if he did have the week.

53:43Matt Roberts:Yeah, might have won those Roland Garros.

53:47David Law:It's all looked and seemed a little frantic this week for him.

53:53Matt Roberts:A few other men's results from this evening. Flavio Caballi won fairly comfortably. He beat countryman Andrea Pellegrino. Andre Rublev got the better of the Hamburg champion Ignacio Busse. four sets looked like it was going five this one Rublev did well to get it done in four if you have a few moments I do recommend you check out the Bousset set point at the end of set number two it is well worth a minute of your time it's very special indeed

54:26David Law:Matt, did you see that one? can you give me a quick rundown? I did

54:31Catherine Whitaker:well it starts with a Rublev serve and volley

54:35David Law:what?

54:35Catherine Whitaker:Yeah, there you go. You're interested now already. I am, yeah.

54:39Matt Roberts:It's not that rare anymore. He is rebranding himself. He's talked quite a lot about this.

54:45Catherine Whitaker:And it's quite a good one. He hits a nice serve. He hits a decent volley. The serve throws Boussé out wide. The volley gets him running over to the other corner of the court, running to his forehand side. And Boussé just, he's not really in view when he hits this shot. a forehand pass up the line, kind of like a squash shot style, I think, with a sort of chopper grip. And he hits it for a win. It goes like an arrow. The crowd goes absolutely nuts. And Boussé flings his racket towards the net in celebration and then gently apologizes for doing so. It's a special, special moment. There was a good atmosphere out there.

55:28Catherine Whitaker:It was good scenes. I think Boussé, as we suspected, probably didn't have a huge man in the tank after the title run last week. I'm not sure he would exchange those things at this stage of his career. It's still been a good time for Boussa generally this clay court season.

55:44Matt Roberts:Definitely. Tommy Paul, a winner over Rinki, Hidjakarta. Karolina Mukova looked like she was in a bit of trouble against Saharava, but won three and straight sets in the end. And Yelena Ostapenko won, which means we are now just a round away from Shvantec Ostapenko.

56:03David Law:It can't not happen now, surely.

56:08Catherine Whitaker:No, let's hope not.

56:11Matt Roberts:Okay, that is it for part two. We'll be back in part three with a look ahead to tomorrow and, of course, Muscater of the Day. Welcome back to part three of today's tennis podcast. Just before we look ahead to Tuesday's order of play, the very important business of Muscater of the Day, a few contenders on day two. They've had a better time of things, have the French all on the men's side. Only men's winners today and yesterday. It's almost as if they prioritise men's tennis in France. Who could say? So your contenders are, of course, Hugo Gaston, who beat Guillaume Enfils, six love in the fifth set.

56:54Matt Roberts:You've also got Hugo Umbert, who beat Adrien Manorino, three, four and three. I would like to file a motion to discount any Frenchman that beat another Frenchman.

57:05David Law:Yeah, it's not the same, is it? No, it's not the same.

57:08Matt Roberts:Okay. Umber, Gaston, out. So your two real contenders are Luca Van Asch, who beat Vilas Gorbas in four sets. David's not a Van Asch guy, I think.

57:22David Law:I mean, he's got work to do, put it that way.

57:25Matt Roberts:Well, he won a match today, David. He did all he could do today. And his competition for the real prize of the day is Arta Rindeknesh.

57:34David Law:Yeah, definitely him.

57:35Matt Roberts:He beat Yuri Rodionov in three straight sets, tie-breaking the first, but three sets on Longlen in the first match of the day. And the set point in set one was good.

57:49David Law:That was the highlight of the day for me. I didn't see the Boussey points, but Catherine and I watched the Rindeknesh set point together. here and the rally I mean honestly Catherine couldn't have been less into this match really the way it was going really and we started this set point and Catherine seemed to be in a bit of a...

58:13Matt Roberts:To be clear folks Paulina Yastrzemski was on at the same time that's what had my attention

58:18David Law:I was sort of holding the ipod in front of her face to make her watch this set point and it was very much a sort of get this over with quickly then vibe and Catherine went full one point slam by the end of this point which seemed to last about 48 seconds um and the players were going left and right and front and back it was the most incredible point and it was ultimately finished with a Rinne Kinesh winner and a and a big grunt and a big sort of celebration crowd up and Catherine yelped with excitement it was good it really did get me going. You basically held your breath during the rally, didn't you?

59:00David Law:I did. Because it was one of those.

59:01Matt Roberts:He gave it the big and afterwards as well. It was you know. Wow. Yeah. It was just one point but I did enjoy it.

59:09Catherine Whitaker:Van Asch for Muscatay

59:10Matt Roberts:of the Day then? No. Definitely Rindeknesh. It's going to Rindeknesh. Congratulations Arta. Tomorrow's order of play. This is how it's looking. Obviously day three of this, the three day round one. So So it's taken a while for these players to make it onto the order of play. But here we go. Arena Sabalenka against Jessica Bothas. Monero is first up on Philippe Châtrier. Obviously, I think everybody expecting Sabalenka to win, but also everybody thinking that's a pretty tough first round for Sabalenka. I don't think it would surprise anybody if it was two tight sets or, you know, maybe even three.

59:51Matt Roberts:Who knows? same goes in terms of tough draw maybe in the second match of the day on Chateau for Stefanos Sitsapas against the Frenchman Alexandre Muller a lot of people have gone for the Muller win in our predictions here and I can see why Sitsapas in no form at all really and obviously Muller he's a good player Muller and he'll have the crowd behind him Third on Châtelet, Coco Goff against Taylor Townsend. And in the night session, Yannick Sinner against Clément Tabur, the world number 171 wildcard from France. Never heard of him.

1:00:38David Law:I suspect Sinner might win that.

1:00:41Matt Roberts:Just incidentally, and I know I've said this before, sort of in anticipation, but I think Monfils going out tonight is really big for Sinner. that means I think Sinner gets night session from now on if he wants it.

1:00:56David Law:I don't think he'd get one every night personally, but I could be wrong. I thought they wouldn't have men every night. So, you know.

1:01:07Matt Roberts:Yeah, I could be wrong too. That is my suspicion, though. We will see. Longlen tomorrow opens with Daniel Medvedev. The Medvedev return to Longlen. I'm here for it. He's taking on Adam Walton, the Australian wildcard. Second on Longland tomorrow, yes, please, for Laura Siegmund against Naomi Osaka. Third on is Lois Boisson. She faces the 22nd seed, Anna Kananskaya. Not a big lover of clay, I don't think, Kananskaya, but who knows how fit Lois Boisson is. And last on Longland tomorrow is Auger Liasim against Daniel Altmaier. Mathieu has Moise Kwame, the young French wildcard, against Marin Cilic.

1:01:56Matt Roberts:We've got Corentin Moutet second up on Mathieu tomorrow. Hannah van der Winkle, the young Belgian, up against Madison Keyes, who is a fitness warrior, I think, is Madison Keyes. That's third on Mathieu. And then Jessica Bergula, the fifth seed, against Kim Birrell is last on. A few other matches to circle and draw your attention to. Court 14 tomorrow starts with Ivi Jovic against Alexandre Ayala. That's fun, I think. And second on is Thomas Forel, the French qualifier that is really getting pulses racing around here. I think this would be a fun one against Valentin Vachero, who we saw at dinner the other night.

1:02:42Matt Roberts:Alexandre Bublik against Yannick Struff is third on that court and last on is Mboko against Barton Kovar. Another yes please. Good matches around the place tomorrow. Do we see any upsets?

1:02:57David Law:Um no, not really. Well David's pumped. I'm looking forward to all of it. What about Matt? Any upsets? Well

1:03:10Catherine Whitaker:I think there's a lot of contenders I think well I think Siegmund Asaka is has got upset potential big time

1:03:21Matt Roberts:I think she's going to have a horrible time Naomi Asaka

1:03:24Catherine Whitaker:and I think Muller over Sitsapass is very possible I think Asaka's going to win I think if I had to say I would also pick Asaka

1:03:36Matt Roberts:same same but

1:03:39Catherine Whitaker:upset potential Felix against Altmaier Altmaier can be. Altmaier is sometimes terrible.

1:03:48Matt Roberts:Yeah, but Felix has got a cramping issue.

1:03:51Catherine Whitaker:That's true.

1:03:52Matt Roberts:And these are crampy conditions.

1:03:56Catherine Whitaker:Yeah, but Altmaier has big disparity between his best and his worst, I would say.

1:04:03David Law:Yeah.

1:04:04Matt Roberts:Okay, well, we'll be back at the end of all of it to bring you our day three podcast. Let's say a big hello to Bashir. basking in the sunshine in this photo that I'm looking at. The most photogenic cat, I think, on the face of the planet is Bashir. Enjoying the heat more than I am. And, yeah, definitely looking more poised and beautiful in the heat than I am at the moment. It's an absolute catastrophe. Hello to Bodhi, to Maisie and to Roger, our mascots for the year. Hello to our top folks and executive producers, Greg, Chris and Jeff. let's have some shout outs Matt we have Fiona

1:04:46Catherine Whitaker:from Gloucestershire hi Fiona

1:04:49Matt Roberts:like Fiona Farrow that lost yesterday to Mira and Draver

1:04:56Catherine Whitaker:Fiona says my tennis watching highlights of 2025 included sitting on Wimbledon Centre Court on one of the hottest days of the year watching Arta Rindeknesh finally overcome Alexander Zverev

1:05:11Matt Roberts:We were there too Fiona

1:05:14Catherine Whitaker:Yeah we were It's good watching Arthur

1:05:18Matt Roberts:Muscatare of the day, Rinda Knessh

1:05:20David Law:Indeed, very fitting

1:05:22Matt Roberts:Very fitting, thank you Fiona

1:05:24Catherine Whitaker:We also have Felix and Sarah from Sydney, Australia

1:05:30Matt Roberts:Hello Felix and Sarah

1:05:33David Law:Like Ogierle I assume

1:05:35Matt Roberts:And like Sarah Rakatamanja Rajana Yes Beaten by Amanda Onisimova today on Longland. Tian Tsoa is her full name, but she goes by Sarah, or Sarah in French, but she seems okay with Sarah, just like Yannick Sinner's okay with Carrot.

1:05:58David Law:I'm glad we clarified that.

1:06:01Matt Roberts:He is still trying to make Fox happen, though. Have you seen the social media content recently?

1:06:06David Law:There are T-shirts.

1:06:08Matt Roberts:Confirmed, still trying to make Fox happen.

1:06:10David Law:never going to stop. But he's okay with carrots.

1:06:12Matt Roberts:He's got a logo and everything. Yeah.

1:06:16Catherine Whitaker:Thank you, Felix and Sarah. Final shout out is for Pete Tubb from Kingston upon Thames.

1:06:23Matt Roberts:Oh. All right, Pete.

1:06:25Catherine Whitaker:She's where I was born.

1:06:26David Law:That's where Matt was born. Like Pete Sampras. We were talking today about Pete Sampras at the French Open, weren't we? I was reminiscing on his back-to-back wins over Jim Currier and Sergio Beguera in 1996 to reach the semi-finals. You actually were a bit damning about Pete Sampras at the French Open. Well, he was a bit of a disappointment here.

1:06:47Matt Roberts:He had his chances. He wasn't good enough.

1:06:50David Law:Well, I was specifically asked by Matt if I could have anybody in history to just sort of parachute into this tournament on the men's side, who would it be? And they expected me to say Pete Sampras, and I said, no, you're all right.

1:07:04Catherine Whitaker:You said the opposite.

1:07:06David Law:Yeah, I said the opposite. I said Andre Agassi, 1990 version. That's a good answer.

1:07:14Matt Roberts:Good chat for the barge, actually, all you bargers out there. Yeah. I'd be interested to know what other people's answer to that would be.

1:07:23David Law:Pete's still my favourite player from the past, so don't worry about it.

1:07:28Catherine Whitaker:And I've got a good line here from Pete. He says, fun fact, I had a summer job in the Putney Exchange many years ago.

1:07:36Matt Roberts:No way! Which shop? Or was he the bouncer?

1:07:42David Law:I wonder whether he ever saw us recording in the aisle. Pete, we need way more detail. Let us know.

1:07:50Matt Roberts:Was it Waitrose? Was it Oliver Bonus? Was it Wilco?

1:07:57Matt Roberts:Was it Waterstones? Was it Superdrug? Come on.

1:08:02David Law:Okay, okay.

1:08:06Matt Roberts:Pete, get in touch thank you for being a friend of the tennis podcast thank you Felix, thank you Sarah thank you Fiona we are part of the Athletic Podcast Network how is it 1am? how has that happened?

1:08:21David Law:we got home for an early night

1:08:22Catherine Whitaker:it's always 1am at a grandstand

1:08:25Matt Roberts:we started this show at 7pm oh tennis, what a sport We'll be back tomorrow with our Day 3 Tennis Podcast. Thank you for listening. We'll speak to you then.