Live from Wimbledon Day 10 - The Fery tale continues!

13:16Catherine Whitaker:Well, that was put to him, I think, wasn't it? Yes, it was. He was told that he'd been, you know, that Nishikori is... Bigger forehand, Nishikori. It's a good comparison. It is, yeah.

13:29Matt Roberts:Similarly sort of compact and fast arm, similar size.

13:33Catherine Whitaker:I think he's more natural coming to the net than Nishikori was, to be honest. Nishikori was a very, very good baseliner, but he would stay on the baseline, whereas Ferry likes to get forward.

13:46Matt Roberts:He said, I know I've been compared to Agassi, which I thought, oh, you've given them their headline there. What do you make of that, David? King of the 90s, Agassi comparison?

13:57David Law:Listen, production of strokes, Matthew's just questioning whether I'm the king of the 90s here. Let's not forget who actually won the competition, Matthew, two years ago. We have the receipts, so don't try and question it.

14:11Matt Roberts:What do you think of the Agassi comparison, Matthew?

14:14David Law:Okay, Matthew's getting asked now. Return of serve, early ball, but Agassi never came to the net.

14:19Matt Roberts:He said return of serve, early ball, yes, but Agassi never came to the net.

14:22David Law:True. And I asked Arthur about what he thinks of his own return of serve in the press conference because he's blooming well going to need it against Alexander Zverev. And he rates it. You won't be surprised. he said uh yeah i'm a great returner um you know but um obviously he's got a world-class serve etc but i love the fact that he just sort of yeah he says i've been really working on my returner but i've got i've got a good one um i've been watching a lot of agassi on youtube on the way

14:58Matt Roberts:home from these shows we're trying to chat to david and he's just on his phone watching highlights not even Wimbledon from the 90s

15:05David Law:YouTube just suggests stuff doesn't it you know and it just seems to know me and suddenly I'm like it's offering me Paris Bersi in 1994 between Sampras and Agassi and I'm like you've nailed it I'm right up for this and so I'll watch it and then it offers me another one amazing so maybe that's the algorithm so I've been watching a lot of this and it nobody returned like Agassi I've just been listening to John McIner on his show talking about Jimmy Connors was the toughest returner on grass and I really believe I watched a lot of that but I believe Agassi was superior he was returning the serve of Goran Ivanezovic and Pete Sampras on grass and hitting them for clean winners when they're coming in now those are kind of comparisons that are apt of what Ferry's going to face here from such a height the only thing is Zverev doesn't come in that much but he's going to have to return like that the problem is I don't even know if he can reach the ball it's one thing to be able to make good contact on a super fast ball he did that against Dimitrov he's got a great hand-eye coordination that's where I really do see the Agassi comparison but in terms of reaching a ball that's coming down at those angles I think that's a problem

16:29Matt Roberts:yeah I mean Luxembourg serve is a problem for anyone and the first percentage too Catherine yeah like 80 odd percent yeah there was some there was a very elegant distancing of himself from being French in the press conference wasn't there like my parents are French love France very much British but I am a British man at Wimbledon please treat me as such yeah he said

16:55Catherine Whitaker:if you'd asked me 10 years ago I might have had a different answer yeah but I've gone to school here our French colleagues keep on asking yes and I respect it he does have he doesn't he doesn't

17:07Matt Roberts:speak English with a French accent at all no but there is something in the way he says oh that is very very French very French yeah I really enjoy it sort of yeah it's if you know you know I think um and yeah he speaks beautiful French obviously both his parents are French aren't they but he he went to king i mean he went to school he went to the private school down the road in in wimbledon i did i see a members badge on his mum yeah i i think they kept camera kept cutting to his mum who was not i mean you know maybe maybe it was different inside than on the outside but she seemed to be having a great time you know when you see yannick sinner's mum watching him it's like someone tell her he's the best player in the world and it's probably going to be fine because she's not having fun.

17:55Matt Roberts:Arthur Ferry's mum's having a whale of a time.

17:58David Law:And that fits entirely with the way Arthur seems to be going about it. I don't really see what the big deal is.

18:04Catherine Whitaker:By the way you mentioned Yannick Sinner. Do you want to know something that Yannick Sinner and Arthur Ferry have got in common?

18:09Matt Roberts:Well Wimbledon semi-finals.

18:11Catherine Whitaker:Yep. Their last match before this tournament they both lost to Juan Manuel Sarundolo Arthur Ferry on the grass in Eastbourne and Sinner of course in Paris

18:25Matt Roberts:So we need to be looking out for Juan Manuel Sarundolo's activity in Cincinnati Right Noted Regular listeners and viewers of the Tennis Podcast will know that Matthew pledged to go blonde if Arthur Ferry wins Wimbledon

18:45David Law:imagine if Matthew went blonde before Matt stole my bit

18:51Matt Roberts:still up for that Matthew are you starting to become a bit worried that that might actually happen the answer is yes folks his face is saying yes

19:00Catherine Whitaker:for the first time all fortnight speechless

19:03Matt Roberts:could it actually happen

19:06David Law:I mean it could you know if somebody had told me to be in the semi-finals I wouldn't have believed that

19:12Matt Roberts:like does he

19:13David Law:is he in the mix yeah

19:14Matt Roberts:is he in the mix will you be surprised from here

19:18Catherine Whitaker:no he's not in the mix I agree it's still a surprise I'd still be

19:21Matt Roberts:so he's the only one not in the mix he's at least months

19:25David Law:he absolutely can I mean he's got two tennis matches to win it's not many and anything can happen that's what I love about it

19:36Matt Roberts:he's in the mix to reach the final isn't it you give him a chance against Verov do you

19:41David Law:Yeah. Yeah. I mean, look. It would shock you if he beats Barry. Heavy underdog. Yeah. In my assessment of it. I just, when I was watching the first set with you, Catherine, and we were in the restaurant, just because I'd just done the commentary of the Kostiuk against Paulini match.

19:55Matt Roberts:Well, no, I was in the restaurant because it was air-conditioned. I know. It has been hotter than the sun today. We were both there for different reasons,

20:00David Law:but we were enjoying ourselves nonetheless. We were watching the match, and I, you know, it was close in the Caballi ferry, but there was still no suggestion that, okay, ferry's definitely going to win this match. and I just said to you, if Ferry plays Zverev, it's going to be awful for him because of the way his ball comes through. I just think Zverev is going to love it, and he's going to just serve him off the court. And that may well still be the case, because I kind of thought the backhand just gets neutralised because Zverev's got an even better backhand, from the baseline at least. Nice slice.

20:38David Law:And then I was starting to watch the match very closely and the sheer repertoire that Ferry has and how unperturbed he seems. And I did sort of think, well, maybe that's not right. We won't know for sure until we actually see the match happen what the pattern's like, whether he can get the returns back. I mean, he knows he's got a nice-looking serve, but it's going to be returned a lot. so can he get into enough can he get through enough service games can he get into enough service games but his instincts are just wonderful who knows whether he'll be able to be like that yet again he's still new to all this there may be a match that he comes out and it's a sudden realisation that he's actually not as good as these guys yet

21:29Matt Roberts:I think you could put him in against Norway for England on Saturday and he'd be like yeah okay he does seem sure yeah I'll give that a go no problem I'll probably be alright at this yeah

21:44Catherine Whitaker:look and he is very he is very confident but I was very taken by how much he kept talking about how comfortable he was because he'd faced Koboli before I do think facing Zverev is just so different that's why I wanted to ask him

22:02David Law:about facing big servers you know whether he's got any

22:04Catherine Whitaker:any idea what he's in for and the thing is there just aren't that many people who serve as well as Zverev and have the ground game that's very perhaps you know I imagine he's faced big servers but he probably would back himself from the ground against a lot of them but Zverev is so consistent from the ground as well and like he doesn't really have dips Zverev you know like he's not going to do what Kabbali did today that's for sure so it's I think it's such a tall order for him to actually beats a very who looks released to be honest and is is playing well i think i think

22:43David Law:maybe better than he did in paris yeah i think so look we'll come on to that in just a moment first should we just do some puns should we just get some out of the way get them out of our system

22:54Matt Roberts:reel them off catherine okay the fairy tale continues just tell me which ones you like that

23:00David Law:One was mine, so I think it was amazing, don't you? Yeah.

23:02Matt Roberts:The fairy tale continues. The fairy best plucky Brit.

23:06David Law:It's a bit long-willed. I'm less keen on that one. Yeah, OK.

23:09Matt Roberts:Ferry cruises past Cabali. I do like that. It's a decent headline. Yeah. All the fun of the fairy. That's a fair pun. All the fun of the fair. No, OK. I perhaps needed to... All the fun of the fairy. I needed to give that one a bit of a boost. Ferry throws Flavio overboard.

23:29Catherine Whitaker:Flavio overboard sorry yeah

23:30Matt Roberts:ferry throws Flavio overboard I think my dad would approve of that one because my dad did very much throw Flavio Caballi off the boat today yes he said he walks the plank Arthur sprinkles fairy dust on centre court that's good isn't it nice lovely Arthur ferries the hopes of a nation yeah all aboard the cross-channel ferry that's a sort of sophisticated English French reference I think that's really good. Yeah, I like that that's got levels to it, you know.

24:03Catherine Whitaker:I hate them all, apart from mine.

24:05Matt Roberts:Well, you came up with one of them. Well, mine was good. I just feel like...

24:08Catherine Whitaker:Ferry go round, I saw, doing the rounds as well.

24:11Matt Roberts:Yeah, anything else?

24:12Catherine Whitaker:Which I think is decent. I think...

24:15Matt Roberts:It's a ferry big deal.

24:20Catherine Whitaker:Yeah, nice. I think I like the ones where ferry is substituting for very the least.

24:26Matt Roberts:Yeah, okay. Okay, fairy tale. Do you like the fairy more than the boat stuff?

24:30Catherine Whitaker:No, I think I quite like the boat stuff, actually.

24:33Matt Roberts:Yeah, okay. Yeah, okay. Well, it's a rich scene. There'll be more to come.

24:39Catherine Whitaker:Really? David's hoping this is a one-time section.

24:44David Law:Unless we get Rob Morland from the sun, who's going to have his own branch of options.

24:49Matt Roberts:They've got sort of sinking puns. They're really going deep with the boat stuff.

24:54David Law:I heard him say something about King Arthur, and I thought, go on Rob fill your boots okay, well I feel like

25:02Matt Roberts:we just got that out of our system there, certainly until Friday, anyway or until tomorrow when we're previewing

25:10David Law:Friday, have we got any for if he gets completely destroyed in the

25:14Matt Roberts:sinking, I think that would be the ferry sinks, okay right iceberg stuff probably that's just off the top of my head it's kind of a bit dark isn't it just off the top of my head okay Alexander Zverev not

25:29David Law:he played Bergs yes

25:31Matt Roberts:David

25:32David Law:did anybody use anything I don't know sorry

25:37Matt Roberts:very rocks the boat on centre sorry they're coming thicker and faster than I can keep up with stop it right Alexander Zverev not the match we were expecting his straight sets over Taylor Fritz 6-4 6-4 6-2 a player that has had his number for a couple of years now in Taylor Fritz. A total turnaround of what that matchup has looked like in recent times. Two things going on here. Zverev is a serious contender for this title, and maybe we've been sleeping on that a little bit. And Taylor Fritz, who has been so boosted and buoyed so far this tournament by finally feeling free of the knee pain that has been plaguing him for months.

26:24Matt Roberts:started feeling his knee tendinitis three games into this match. And it felt like the match kind of died at that point. He was already a breakdown. He admits, you know, he was already up against it. And he was very effusive about this much more aggressive version of Alexander Zverev that he was facing today. But also he wasn't able to make any kind of match of it because he was physically hampered. And it was one of those injuries where it wasn't really obvious that if you'd just landed from space and never seen Taylor Fritz play before, I don't think it would have been really obvious that he was hampered.

27:07Matt Roberts:But he so relies on his rally tolerance, doesn't he, Fritz? And it just wasn't there. As soon as he was pulled wide on either side, really, he was hitting the ball long. and it just, yeah, that 10 % taken off his game was enough to make it incredibly one-sided, perhaps even more one-sided than the scoreline suggested in Fritz's favour.

27:32Catherine Whitaker:Yeah, look, as you said, it wasn't the sort of injury that he was going to retire from the match from. You knew that he would play this one out, but yeah, he didn't have much say in this one at all and Zverev was excellent, like really good. Fritz said it, he's going to be extremely tough to beat the way he's serving. He was very aggressive with his forehand and his backhand, very aggressive, hit the ball great. He played really well. And I just don't feel like that's been said about Zverev all that often. I think the big test for Zverev will still come in terms of whether he can do that if he gets to the final and faces Sinner.

28:10Catherine Whitaker:I think that's the real test of this new sort of game style or approach that he's trying. But at the moment, he's implementing it very well. And yes, David said, when he's serving 80 % first serves, as he was in this one, it's very, very tough to beat that tennis. And yeah, I didn't know how it would go after the French Open. I thought there was a chance that he might have a bit of a little bit of a slump. Having finally done the thing that he'd been hoping to do for so long, there could have been a letdown but it seems to have gone the other way and he seems to have freed up playing with a lot more confidence feels like he's playing with less to lose and he seems very focused and look it's it's very hard to back up your first major title at the very next major I believe it's only Medvedev and Murray I think who have who have gone from winning a major title for the first time and then reaching the final of the very next major on the men's side and they both did it on hard courts and Sverev's trying to do it on this on this clay to grass transition I think a part of that is because his first major has come very late into his career and he's got a lot of experience already it's a slightly different case to a lot of first-time major winners but he's he's navigating this thing which is hard to back up your first major title or he's doing it well.

29:35Catherine Whitaker:And he's a huge favourite in the Wimbledon semi-final to reach the final. And for a guy who had not really had results on grass before, it's going very, very well for him.

29:49Matt Roberts:That serve, David, not dismissing Arthur Ferry in the semi-final, but if he gets to the final, even against Djokovic and Sinner, two best returners in the world, that serve is a serious problem even for them I think how it's looked so far anyway.

30:07David Law:Yes I don't think he's ever served better than this I don't think he's ever played better than this in all honesty I don't think he's ever looked this convincing I would still reserve judgment against particularly Sinner based on the fact that they I mean I realize he's just turned around a rivalry against Fritz but Sinner has beaten him so comfortably so many times this year that I would still expect that that well expect to win but the thing is that serve I think if you do get it to 80 percent or they're about 78 and you're hitting the corners of the box the way he is from the angle he is you can get through so many service games even when Fritz and I saw this earlier in the tournament against Lehechka and and others even when they get to they might win a couple of points they might get to 30 all and then the game's over you know and then it's two serves and the game's over and that must be really demoralizing for players who are not used to that against verev um he's just so mentally tough and strong and full of self-belief right now um and why wouldn't you be when you've just you've just done the thing you've you nobody has to ask him about being the one of the best players not to have won a grand slam he's always going to be that now um and and it has released him um yeah he's had a pretty kind route again through to this point and he's got a fairly kind semi-final really on paper um but djokovic or sinner in the final well they are another level altogether do you think he will cope better than

31:48Matt Roberts:Caballi did today with the crowd being against him way better I mean I did I wondered how Caballi would cope with it and yet still didn't think that he would cope with it as badly as he did today and be sort of as shocked by it as he as he was

32:08David Law:I'm sorry to say that he was a bit childish today and I love the guy I think he's great fun but he was like a boy really getting a bit of a tantrum because he didn't like it.

32:21Catherine Whitaker:It was going against him. The popped cork as he was serving to stay in the first set and then he lost three points in a row after that and the set was over.

32:31David Law:I think he'll end up as a better player as a result of it because I think he will reflect on it and be better for this sort of thing next time. That's tended to be what's happened. Remember that loss he had to Nadal in Barcelona where it was embarrassing. you know he just didn't he couldn't play tennis he was up against a hero you know he's had a few like that and then he's been he's got better i'm not sure players necessarily expect it here though

32:57Matt Roberts:do they like paris playing a frenchman or woman but i think particularly the men you know you know you're in for a tough time i don't think players prepare themselves for a tough time and they

33:09Catherine Whitaker:always say that they're very fair yeah which is very fair i've kept saying that and and he also

33:14David Law:made the point look i'm nearly 30 now but i've done it i've played in all the the environments and and yeah i think he played cam nori here a few years ago i think it's a bit different um but i was taken aback by the noise for arthur ferry like it really is something but arthur ferry's got to get into that after that yes and also like this will be after after djokovic

33:36Catherine Whitaker:sinner and if djokovic sinner goes really long i know there'll be a little break between 35 degrees But it'd be tough for that stadium to be packed when it starts. And if he doesn't get off to a good start and Zverev gets...

33:47Matt Roberts:Is this Matt campaigning for split session men's semi-finals? Touche.

33:53Catherine Whitaker:No, absolutely not.

33:56David Law:But it could be 5-1 in 20 minutes in a half-empty stadium because people need a break after a long match.

34:02Catherine Whitaker:And like today, Ferry's able to get into the service games of Kabbali and put pressure on, and that's exciting. If Zverev's rolling through his service games, it's hard to get into it. It kills the vibe, doesn't it? It kills the vibe. Yeah. So it's different, I think.

34:16Matt Roberts:What percentage chance do you give Arthur Ferry on Friday against Zverev?

34:20Catherine Whitaker:20. That was the number I had.

34:23Matt Roberts:Matthew?

34:23David Law:70. 70. Did you say 17 or 70? 7-0. 7-0. 4-Ferry.

34:32Catherine Whitaker:I'm not you, Matthew.

34:34David Law:You seem to be saying this with a straight face. And what's your reasoning for that, Matthew? I'm going to... Just free-flowing. Free-flowing. And he has the crown on his side. He has the crown on his side. And he will disrupt Sasha. He will disrupt... Disrupt.

34:50Catherine Whitaker:Remember Brooksby's winning five of his next nine against Sinner.

34:53Matt Roberts:Yeah, and Sitsapas beating Djokovic. Yeah. He's no Paul the Octopus, this guy, is he?

35:00David Law:But this might be... But he has called Ferry. Yes. He's very in tune with Ferry.

35:04Matt Roberts:He's about to go blonde. He was five hours on court 18 with Arthur Ferry. Very intense.

35:10Catherine Whitaker:Matthew was very confident he would beat Caballi. Very confident. Just imagine.

35:16David Law:Imagine if Ferry's in the Wimbledon final. That'd be amazing. We would find it more amazing than he would. Honestly, this room was packed full of journalists. Do you realise what you're doing? Amazing, isn't it? how'd you do it and you know if i'd have told you and he's like yeah i mean i just i just i knew i

35:41Matt Roberts:could do it and i did it but he's not arrogant he's just very self-assured and just doesn't see really he's a he's a not too high not too low guy i'll say not sure he's deeping it right now maybe maybe he'll do that afterwards yeah but you know it's interesting how we've we've just had

36:04Catherine Whitaker:Maja Kvelinska reached the French Open final and all along she was talking about being in this sort of bubble but you you sort of got the sense that she was you know having to go through a process to kind of block kind of block everything out she was she was doing a good job of taking in her stride but you felt like she was she was sensing how kind of crazy it all was and just trying not to get disrupted by that but this is this is a different vibe fairy dusts verev is a is a pun

36:37Matt Roberts:that tennis tracer has got ready for friday it's good i mean that you could have fairy dusts cabali i mean that's applicable applicable regardless of who he's beating very good stuff they just keep coming i said we were getting them out of our system but it's such a rich seam and i've also got i have to mention this because it's from vicky zverev gives tailored fritz a dressing down

37:02David Law:yeah yeah anyone it's pretty good anyone vicky i can do no wrong in my eyes but um can we stop now

37:09Catherine Whitaker:we shall stop of course the final thing to mention on uh ferry is that his birthday is is finals day Matthew just did a C Matthew just raised it to 80 % chance

37:26Matt Roberts:even seeing the Queen right before I mean she picked a dodgy time to say hello to the players didn't she they're literally backstage about to be called on court and the Queen pops up

37:37David Law:Catherine slams Queen

37:40Matt Roberts:well I'd find it a bit annoying you've got to think oh god, what's the protocol? Do I curtsy? Am I allowed to shake their hand?

37:50Catherine Whitaker:It didn't seem like Ferry was deeping all that though. He was like yep, she wished me good luck.

37:57Matt Roberts:Yep, it was nice. All good.

38:01Matt Roberts:Arthur Ferry ladies and gentlemen, Wimbledon semi-finalist. Right then let's talk about the women's quarterfinals today. Also two straight sets matches and wins for Marta Kostyuk and Linda Nozkova. We will have a Kostyuk Nozkova Wimbledon semifinal tomorrow. Of course, the second of the two semifinals. Let's talk about Kostyuk first on Centre Court, her Centre Court debut, her first win. She'd been there as a fan before nine years ago. She said she was watching Roger Federer beat Paolini today 6-3, 6-2. She was sublime, David.

38:41David Law:it was hard to believe that there could be a better performance than arthur ferries on centre court today but i think maybe marta koscik was even better um she she was pretty much perfect from from ball one just it's all clicked it's all clicked on grass this is a play who'd never been beyond the third round she twice lost in the third round to madison keys no disgrace in doing that but it's this year isn't it this year her game has just come together and this is the year that she's realized that she can play on a grass court and her game is so suited to it her movement well is pretty peerless her and coca golf that's it really I would say in terms of movement and then these sort of lacerating strokes that she hits down both wings and it was destructive it was incredible to watch paulini just kind of have no answer to this game we've seen that in a couple of matches for paulini even in the two really good seasons she had where she would run into one of the very best players and they would show her another level that she didn't quite have and that happened today against a player that wasn't one of those but Kostiuk is becoming one um I do think Paolini showed some fragility today there was some once things weren't going away and once the the sheer weight of shot was too much for her she did start making errors as well um she worked her socks off to try to get back into it she tried lots of different things but this was incredibly one-sided and uh just huge credit to Kostiuk who finished it with an amazing winner as well it was one of those sort of perfect ways to finish it with a running passing shot down the line and uh and yeah she's right she's she's another one sort of playing with house's money you know she just looks like she's just kind of come out and swing i'm wondering whether she'll get nervous at some point but never been on center court in her life

40:44Matt Roberts:before when did that 9.7 out of 10 shot quality on the forehand for kostiuk today that shot was unreal today it would not have been long ago that I would have thought and described the

40:59Catherine Whitaker:Kostiq forehand as a bit of a weakness in her game it was it's always been the shot that could could break down but it was awesome the intent with which she was hitting it like going for winners and they were just flying by Paolini it's come on so much that shot and yeah it has felt like we've been talking a lot about forehands in the women's draw this year you know with with mukova and the round you know the round before this paulini's forehand really stood out against the arlo and kostiuk today took it to another level all together i think um yeah she was absolutely brilliant and look she's she's lost one match since the end of miami one match she's won 22 of her last 23 matches and look that match was a Grand Sam semi-final and we see her in that situation again tomorrow and it was a bad performance

41:54Matt Roberts:bad performance

41:56Catherine Whitaker:noticeably worse than all of her others but I think she'll be better for that experience

42:00Matt Roberts:I do too I don't think she'll do that twice

42:02Catherine Whitaker:I really think she's a learner so I'm definitely expecting her to play a lot better tomorrow

42:09Matt Roberts:somebody's just I was going to bring this up but somebody's also just picked up on it in the chat it it's not an accident is it that the two best athletes on tour are in the Wimbledon semifinals, Goff and Kostiuk? And I think they are the two best athletes.

42:25Catherine Whitaker:Yeah, it's something Mary Carello always says, isn't it? Good athletes win on grass. And look, there's plenty of other qualities that you can have as well, but these two do move so well. And also I think, you know, you have to take the Wimbledon that you're experiencing and it's been a very hot Wimbledon and the grass is playing differently to how it sometimes does there's not there's not a lot of grass left on these on these courts and it's bouncing up in the heat yeah and I think that is helping Goff and I think it is helping Kostiuk it's it's it's grass court tennis of course it is but it's it's playing a little bit more like a hard court than it maybe has done in some years when we've had wetter Wimbledons grounds will be closing in around 15 minutes please make your way to the exit gates and make sure you take all your belongings with you we hope you've enjoyed your day here at wimbledon and wish you a pleasant and safe journey home thank you thank you it's like you're a sleeper cell that gets activated when that announcement starts happening i keep expecting one of you to come with me with at Wimbledon.

43:37Matt Roberts:I always want to come with you. I think you should. But I feel like I'd be treading on your toes. Please do. I can do it too.

43:41Catherine Whitaker:I feel like we've got to change this up a little bit. Oh really? Okay. David doesn't know if he wants to go with it. One of us have a go. I think it'd be fun. Right. I'm up for it.

43:50Matt Roberts:Okay.

43:50Catherine Whitaker:There we go. That'd be fun. Great.

43:52Matt Roberts:I don't know what that means for Matthew's tight zoom on Matt but we'll style it out. I'm going to have to realise.

44:03Matt Roberts:What were we saying? Athletes? Kostiuk? Yeah.

44:07Catherine Whitaker:I think I actually had finished my point. You had. And it quite seamlessly went into the announcement.

44:11Matt Roberts:Great. She talks so much about Sandra Zanevska, her long-time coach. I mean, obviously a fantastic partnership together, yielding great results. But it didn't yield great results straight away. and she was asked about the longevity of their relationship today and how important that's been to her having that consistency and settlement within the setup and she said yeah I used to feel like when the results weren't happening that I just need to change everything kind of a knee jerk or I've got to do something different and again you know on this therapy journey she's she's been on she's realized that that no that's not that's not the answer she said they sometimes they try and bring someone extra into the team she said tantalizing actually she said they tried to bring some somebody extra onto the team before the clay season but they said no so i'm absolutely dying to know who that was and whether they have regrets about turning down the opportunity to be part of this this wild Kostiuk ride although it's not a ride is it it just feels like this is who she is now this is probably the rest of her career now or certainly yeah a few few years at the peak of her her career I mean what she's 23 I think she's been

45:44Catherine Whitaker:around so long yeah it's really it's sort of discombobulating when you hear goth's age and you hear Kostiuk's age, you think they must be older than that. We've known about them for so long.

45:53Matt Roberts:She's the same age as Arthur Ferry, but most people have only heard of Arthur Ferry this month. And Kostiuk's been around since she was 15.

46:03David Law:Same as Goff.

46:04Catherine Whitaker:By the way, you mentioned Sandra Zaniewska. Great piece with Matt Futterman in The Athletic earlier this tournament where Matt had talked to Sandra about her real desire in life is to be an author and a writer. and I've shouted out her substack before, The Unseen Court, and I absolutely recommend that. It doesn't come out that often, but when it does, it's gold. And her writing in a second language is just fantastic. And, yeah, it's a really good interview with Matt Futterman, and I do recommend subscribing to that substack as well.

46:39Matt Roberts:Great shout-out. She's 24, apparently, Kostrick, if man on the internet is to be believed. I think that is right, yeah.

46:47Catherine Whitaker:Like Arthur Ferry when he turns 24 on Sunday when he plays the Wimbledon final.

46:51Matt Roberts:Exactly. Same day that Matt's going. Imagine if they're both in the Wimbledon final. Well, David, is Marta Kostiuk going to be in the Wimbledon final? Kostiuk against Nozkova will be the semi-final tomorrow. Nozkova today 6-3, 7-5 against Elise Mertens, channelling Petra Kvitova as her inspiration.

47:11David Law:Yeah, I find this one a very tough one to pick because as convincing as Kostjeep was today, I think Noshkova is just made for Grand Slam sharp end tennis. You know, she's another one who's just sort of cold when she goes for winners. She just delivers, you know. It's fantastic to watch. Although she did, I don't know whether it was a wobble on her side of the net or whether it was Elisa Mertens playing really well late in the second set. But it got a bit dicey there, didn't it?

47:41Catherine Whitaker:Yeah, it was a good match, this. I do think Mertens hit the two most memorable shots. There was a volley that almost came back over the net. It had so much backspin on it. And then towards the end, there was an incredible lob that Mertens hit that was honestly Goff-esque. At the end of her reach, having done a lot of defending, managed to get it over Noskova and save a break point and hold in that game. And basically what happened in this match is that Mertens was the one constantly under pressure on serve she was having to fight off way more break points but when she kept doing it Mertens and kept holding serve that increased the pressure on Noskova to be like well you're not taking your chances and there was quite a lot of occasions where Noskova maybe had a lot of room to play with but went a little bit too close to the line I would say with some of her with some of her big shots and but she was always in charge Noskova she's got the power advantage she's she's such a sweet pure strike of the ball Catherine your your brother is now uh now very much certified Noskova guy having been on number one court today he was like different watching it in person that kind of ball strike I always used to think about it I used to think the same about Thomas Burdick you know he had a lovely ball strike when you would watch that in person in particular I think Pagula is similar and and Noskova is definitely one she can generate pace she can handle pace she's got a two-handed slice that she hits on the backhand side which stays so low she's pretty comfortable coming forward she's not like it's not the cleanest volleys but she she she makes it work up there and yeah it was a very complete assured performance i would say this one from noskova and they met recently uh kostiuk and noskova on the clay in in Madrid and it was a very close opening set and then a six love second set I think for Kostiuk but Kostiuk destroyed Noskova's second serve that day I was looking at the stats Noskova won 20 % of her second serve points and I think that's a big battleground for tomorrow's semi-final because Kostiuk's such a good return and trying to be so aggressive off it and Noskova's second serve is definitely less, stands out less than her first serve, which is devastating.

50:03Catherine Whitaker:But I think Kostiuk's second serve can sometimes be a bit of a weakness as well. And on this surface, I expect Noskova to be stepping in and trying to attack it.

50:11David Law:I'm going to go Kostiuk because of that exposure to centre court today and how comfortable out there she looked.

50:21Matt Roberts:And having already been in a Grand Slam semi-final and so recently and kind of actually think the fact that she laid a bit of an egg in Paris, that's probably harsh, but it was a flat performance from her. I think that makes it quite unlikely that it happens tomorrow. I really don't think that's going to happen again. I think it's totally understandable that it happened the first time, but I would be really surprised if that happened again. I think she's going to show up, not put much pressure on herself, play free. I think I backed Kostrick too. Interestingly, Kostryk and Nozkova are 8-9 in the WTA race this year, and Goff and Mukova are 6-7 in the WTA race this year.

51:08Matt Roberts:So the 8th and 9th best players in 2026 facing off, and the 6th and 7th best players in 2026 facing off.

51:17Catherine Whitaker:And that's why it's such an interesting crop of players, isn't it? Because, yes, we've had the upsets, but we've still got players here who've just been so good all season knocking on the door all capable of doing something like this none of them none of them really feel like totally out of the blue semi-finalists I wouldn't have picked a lot of them I wouldn't have picked Kostiuk and Goff coming in I know Charlie Akashia obviously picked Goff but I also picked Fritz today yeah i did have noskova on absolutely on my radar to do well here and mukova and actually if we get uh if we get mukova noskova it will break the curse of winning a pre-tournament uh wimbledon event i don't think anyone has won women on the women's side having won uh tune-up events since sharapova all the way back in 2004 and that's a lot because like serena and venus wouldn't play them but yeah you know it's been a lot of years when they didn't win as well and yeah so it's a really interesting semi-final lineup interesting noskov said that

52:22Matt Roberts:she first played on grass only in 2023 again it's another one where sort of being reminded of how young she is still yes is useful and she said she felt totally lost on the surface which for somebody that looks like oh it's so obvious that your game would suit grass she said her first ever hit on grass with Barbora Stritzover. Remember her?

52:45David Law:Yeah. She's playing in the Invitational event here. The Legends. Alongside Dominika Sibylkova.

52:51Matt Roberts:Oh. There we go. I've been watching. Who else is in the Legends?

52:56Catherine Whitaker:I think someone who took Carlos Alcaraz to five sets last year is in the Legends this year.

53:03Matt Roberts:Is it Fabio Fanini?

53:05Catherine Whitaker:Yep. Amazing. I saw his name on the scoreboard earlier and thought, what's he doing in the Legends?

53:12David Law:So are your finalists Goff and Kostiuk?

53:16Matt Roberts:Well, shall I do the order of play tomorrow? Sure. I mean, it's probably quite self-explanatory at this point, but here we go. Centre court starting at 1.30 with the first women's singles semi-final, Karolina Mukova against Coco Goff, followed by Marta Kostiuk against Lyndon Nozkova. And finally on the centre court, as is tradition now, the mixed doubles final, final and it's Mark Polman's and Storm Hunter great to see her back in a Grand Slam final because she basically missed all of last year with an Achilles injury just devastating world number one in doubles and all taken away from her and they take on Marcelo Arevalo and Yelena Ostapenko and we all know about the route they've had through to this final.

54:04Matt Roberts:Storm Hunter and

54:04Catherine Whitaker:Ostefanko could not be more different. This one.

54:09Matt Roberts:So I'll take a prediction for that mixed doubles as well as the singles matches. Mukava and Goff, folks. I'm sticking with Goff because of the Charlie Eccleshare effect. That's all I've got to choose between these two. What are you going for?

54:26Catherine Whitaker:I think I'm just leaning Goff as well, mostly for head-to-head reasons. I know that Mukava got the win recently and they haven't met on grass before. And it's very possible. I think it is. I do think it's a scenario here that Mukava is able to hurt Goff more on this surface than she is on other surfaces. But Goff looking like this with her teeth into a Grand Slam tournament. I think I'm going to go Goff. David?

55:03David Law:well I understand why you're doing that but I'm going Mukava I think it could be a classic I think if it is a classic actually that could be problematic for Mukava because how do you beat Goff when it gets really nails? Do you think it's possible

55:19Catherine Whitaker:Mukava just has it done in two before Goff is able to find her game?

55:25David Law:I definitely think that's possible as well because I just think she's so talented and so good, she can do things that can make people so uncomfortable and not really give them much of a chance. I'm gonna go for her but what I love is that we're guaranteed exciting finalists I feel no matter what happens from here.

55:46Matt Roberts:Kostryk Noskova?

55:52David Law:Kostryk for me.

55:53Matt Roberts:Yeah for me too.

55:56David Law:I'll go Noskova okay Matthew

55:59Matt Roberts:who are your women's finalists Goff and Kostchuk for Paul the Octopus over there just by the way

56:08Catherine Whitaker:one last stat on this it's the first time in Wimbledon open air history that the four semi-finalists are four first time Wimbledon semi-finalists which again leads it emphasizes what an interesting set of semi-finalists it is like they've all got obviously got a lot of experience generally but not necessarily at at this tournament is that not matt stat now is matt stat about the weather uh that was somebody tipped me off that was yesterday that was in today's newsletter yeah sign up for the newsletter even if katherine hasn't given it the greatest promo of all time

56:49Matt Roberts:I do usually it's free we've got a lot on I'm busy it's a great stat I'm busy documenting the puns do you want to feel Catherine in

56:59Catherine Whitaker:no I think she should go and read it

57:02Matt Roberts:Matthew's done a hard zoom on me on me being exposed good Polman's Polman's and Hunter or Aravalo and Ostapenko and what sponsor patch will Yelena Ostapenko be wearing on Centre Court

57:19Catherine Whitaker:I think TK Maxx and Hunter and Polmans

57:25David Law:yeah I think No Patch and I think Hunter and Polmans she's on centre court prime time I had a word with Laura Siegmund and they found out that this isn't somebody they should be patching up I'm joking I still think No Patch and I still think Polmans and Hunter

57:45Matt Roberts:I think she'll have TK Maxx I think if they were with her on court 14 when she was starting a fight with She was starting a fight in an empty room with them Who was it?

57:59Catherine Whitaker:TK

58:00Matt Roberts:No, no, but who was her partner that she was Edouard Roger Vassalan Edouard Roger Vassalan, that's who it was that's who she had it out with Yeah, I think it'll be TK Max I think they're with her through thick and thin and I think they are the second seeds Yeah, let's go for it Ostapenko-Aravallo to win there we go okay uh let's wrap this up so i can go and read the newsletter yesterday's and today's i've got some catching up to do but not before we say hello to phoebe the happiest dog in town uh vicky says like all of us phoebe is thrilled to be doing a show before 11 p.m yes phoebe that is the spirit of course that we were like you know fritz verev caballi you know we were so prepared for today to be a late one and then we ended up waiting two hours after the match is finished to to go live so um you never know david that's the lesson from today so hello covers everything uh hello to our mascots bodie maizey and roger hello to our top folks and executive producers greg chris and jeff and it's over to matt for some shout outs we have noemi fernandez noemi what a beautiful name noemi says noemi basiletti is currently a

59:22Catherine Whitaker:20 year old italian player who lost to svitolina in the second round of rome this year oh okay good to know and has also given us mary joe gg and leila for fernandez really doing our work for us that's excellent stuff brilliant that's really useful i really do think noemi is a beautiful name yeah and noemi says my five-year-old thinks all tennis players are either coco goff or ben shelton after we were lucky enough to see them play at the 2023 us open that goff won he's always desperately disappointed when i tell him other players exist

59:56Matt Roberts:uh okay noemi like noemi from call my agent says hannah which is a great show not seen it David definitely has no clue what I'm talking about. But we know, Hannah. We know. Thank you, Noemi.

1:00:13Catherine Whitaker:And finally, we have Hannah Dunning, who is in our Wimbledon predictions group.

1:00:19Matt Roberts:Hello, Hannah. How's Hannah getting on in the predictions? Shall I consult the newsletter?

1:00:24Catherine Whitaker:Yeah, that'd be a good idea. Hannah is mid-table, 10th out of 17.

1:00:31Matt Roberts:Like Fulham. That's all I aim for, quite frankly. In the predictions. Respectable mid-table.

1:00:39Catherine Whitaker:And Hannah is from Wimbledon, but currently living in California.

1:00:43Matt Roberts:Wow. Whereabouts in California?

1:00:46Catherine Whitaker:Oakland.

1:00:47Matt Roberts:Oh, yeah. Okay. Like, that's where the Raiders used to be. Check you out, Catherine. Well, because when I went on my family holiday to California, we did a tour when I was 11. and I got an Oakland Raiders cap and only discovered about 18 months ago that they don't exist anymore. Yeah, can you put a marker over it with Las Vegas? I didn't realise American sports teams could do that. It's blown my mind a bit.

1:01:16David Law:And they call them franchises. Let's move the franchise to a completely different city.

1:01:21Matt Roberts:What would you do if Fulham was suddenly in Lincoln?

1:01:26Catherine Whitaker:I'd have to move to Lincoln.

1:01:29Matt Roberts:But wouldn't you be so annoyed with them that they'd done that?

1:01:31Catherine Whitaker:It happened in Wimbledon. With Wimbledon, yeah. Milton Keynes.

1:01:34David Law:Yeah.

1:01:35Matt Roberts:But that was a total exception.

1:01:36David Law:They won the 1988 or whatever it was, well, FA Cup, ended up in Milton Keynes. I mean...

1:01:43Matt Roberts:Yeah, but that was a...

1:01:44David Law:It's a bit of a downer.

1:01:45Matt Roberts:That was a real exceptional set of circumstances. That wasn't normal.

1:01:49David Law:And then they started another Wimbledon up. Mm. AFC.

1:01:53Catherine Whitaker:Yeah.

1:01:53Matt Roberts:Yeah, the real Wimbledon, I think, is...

1:01:56Catherine Whitaker:Maybe I'd do that. Maybe I'd start up a new Fulham.

1:01:59Matt Roberts:Okay.

1:02:00Catherine Whitaker:That would go well.

1:02:01Matt Roberts:Well, Hannah, thank you for sparking this important debate at the end of the show.

1:02:04Catherine Whitaker:Our Hannah's going to be saying more pointless football chat.

1:02:07Matt Roberts:Yes, that's absolutely, absolutely what she is saying on the chat. Hannah, thank you. Great to have you part of the predictions competition. If you'd like to keep across the predictions competition, do subscribe to the newsletter. Great stuff in there. I am going to go and read it now straight away because I have been shamed by my dear friends and colleagues and by the Matthew Zoom. So a great end to the show for me. Also a pretty poor start to the show from me. So what a day 10 I'm having. It's John McEnroe's fault.

1:02:38David Law:That was definitely not your fault. And that chap who was shouting very loudly as if he was the only place person to hear it. Are we going to edit that out of the audio version? I think so.

1:02:48Matt Roberts:Do I need to wrap this up so we can re-record the audio intro? I'll certainly cut it down.

1:02:54Catherine Whitaker:I think the 30 seconds of silence from us can probably go on the audio version. So that was your treat, live viewers.

1:03:04Matt Roberts:All extra incentive to join us live tomorrow night at the end of play, not before 8pm. But I think it's likely to, I mean, it would have to be a heck of a long day of tennis. No, let's not jinx us. Not before 8pm or whenever play finishes on centre court tomorrow. We will be here. I was going to say John McEnroe won't, but he actually might be back tomorrow, mightn't he? Might be, yeah. So you never know what's going to happen on tomorrow's show. You'll have to be here to find out. Thank you all for joining us tonight. However you have joined us, we'll be back tomorrow. We are part of the Athletic Podcast Network and we'll speak to you then.