Live from Wimbledon Day 12 - Sinner, Zverev to clash for title

0:10Jannik Sinner:Hello and welcome to the Tennis Podcast live from Wimbledon and presented by Barclays, the official banking partner of Wimbledon. Well, so much for being at risk of hitting the curfew tonight. It is 7pm, our earliest showtime of the fortnight and both men's singles semifinals are done. and dusted. Yannick Sinner heard rumours that people were expecting a five set classic, maybe even an upset like we saw in Australia and he decided to laugh in the face of those rumours David, the real Yannick Sinner showed up on Centre Court today. Yeah, I did think he might and my word did we get the real deal today everything was there everything, he looked fresh he looked tuned in he looked like he'd fixed one or two issues with his game there were a few shonky forehands here and there but I mean basically he was awesome today and he just looked like the guy that we thought we were going to get a few months ago when he arrived into the French Open you know if you think of that incredible run he had in the spring and then it disappeared didn't it in the French in the heat of the day It was warm today, but it wasn't horrifically hot.

1:31And he wasn't out there for long enough to make that a consideration. I actually thought Djokovic played pretty well for two sets there. I certainly thought he was better than he was against Sinner last year. And it was a similar scoreline, but I think Sinner was just electrifying today. And we probably shouldn't underestimate that skill, that ability, that sort of champion superpower of just being able to play as well as you need to on the day, right? We've been doubting his level, doubting his form, and I think that's been valid. But he is just a player now that goes, oh, OK, it's Novak Djokovic.

2:13I'm in a semi-final. I'm going to need to play better today. Here it is. Yeah, and even at 39, having come off a five-hour match, Djokovic, I think, still has that effect on a draw, particularly for Yannick Sinner, who lost to him in this round at a Grand Slam this year. He was never going to take this lightly, and he was just so dialed in. Like, everything that has turned Yannick Sinner into a dominant world number one was functioning today. Even the half chances that Djokovic created just got immediately snuffed out, often with a big serve. It was that kind of tennis from Sinner. He was rushing Djokovic again.

2:54He was pinning the ball on his baseline, sliding across the baseline to defend what Djokovic was throwing at him. Total poise and self-assuredness about himself. and yeah it was it was the kind of performance that made you realize what a miracle melbourne was yeah for djokovic right like it was a reminder of what this matchup had looked like for a couple of years before melbourne you know and djokovic that night pulled off something that no one can ever take away from him and was one of his all-time great performances and he did it in the most dramatic way in five sets late at night saving what was it 16 of 18 break points looking back now it was yeah it was a one-off performance of total greatness and this was more of a reversion to what we've seen in in the last few years and I have to think that some of the five and a bit hours the other day played some part I I didn't think Djokovic was as good today.

4:01I thought there were good moments, but I never really felt like he entered that mode of the ball trampolining off his racket and being able to withstand what Sinner had. I thought he was just a little bit off it and that got exposed by a guy who was in his prime, totally on it. I received multiple messages from friends and family, some casual tennis fans, some not, saying they found certainly the last 45 minutes of that quite sad from a Djokovic perspective. Yeah, I agree. I was out there throughout the second set. We were sort of sharing the seat that we had. It's one of those days where the press box is so full there's not room for everybody.

4:48And I went out in the second set and Djokovic was having his best period of the match there. He got to 30 all on the first two service games of Sinner. He got to love 30 on his third service game. And then again, as you said, that's when Sinner found his absolute best stuff. When he most needed it to see off the threat. Wincere in that third set, there really was an inevitability about it all. And Djokovic knew it. Even in the last point of the match, he didn't really want to win it. because he just he'd had enough you know and I totally understand that he couldn't win anymore and the thing is that you saw today the difference between either one of these two at 24 and 39 you know Djokovic of 24 is keeping up with Senna today maybe beating him either one of them at 39 that is not fair really that is not a fair fight and it's it's mind-blowing that Djokovic has even made that a conversation when you think of the fact that he's I know they're a little older than him Nadal and Federer but his main career rivals and Murray they're all retired a couple of other of his peers this year Stan Wawrinka, Gail Monfils they're doing a lap of honor you know and here's Novak Djokovic getting to all the semi-finals of the Grand Slams and and beating Sinner it's it's incredible what he's achieved but today was yeah it is what you will see the vast majority of times going forwards if he carries on yeah the moment I knew it was done for sure was when Djokovic made a joke at his own expense after a really long rally in the third set and he just went 10 years ago maybe he shouted out and like you know it was it was a it was a great quit but you know Djokovic in his true lockdown mode full of belief does not make that yeah you know and yeah this it did feel a bit unfair to be honest so where now for for Novak Djokovic?

7:04I'm not speculating. He has told us time and time again, I'm planning on playing the LA Olympics in 2028. That's why we're on air right now and not waiting for the Djokovic press conference. He's in press right now. I'm going to be able to get the transcript up and bring you news of what he said. But a couple of years ago, we'd have been on alert for Djokovic could come into the press conference and mic drop retire, couldn't he? Look, he could and even then I don't don't think we'd necessarily believe him we've heard it before because you know in the moment he'll say I don't know whether I might not be back here next year this might be it and it might be you know at any time he could get an injury that just makes him completely unable to play again to that level let's hope that doesn't happen he may just completely lose interest he may have already pre-decided I don't know but everything he said is that he wants to carry on to this point, to this next Olympics.

8:02And maybe you're just waiting, hoping for another opportunity at the Miracle. That's it. I feel like enough has happened this year for him to probably still feel like there's a chance, a small chance. I guess it's just the resignation that we saw in him today. Does feeling like that on a tennis court, that resigned to defeat in a Wimbledon final, Do you think that would chip away at his resolve to continue? Maybe a bit, but I think he's felt like that before. I think he felt like that a year ago. I think he felt like that against Alcaraz at the US Open. But now he's getting breaks like Alcaraz being out.

8:42Yeah, but I think he thinks, well, Alcaraz is out still. What if Sinner had lost to Ketsmanovic? Yeah. What if he hadn't have gone five? What if we get another hot day in New York? You know, I think there's probably been enough for him to keep thinking that he's got a shot. So you think he's probably accepted, look, on a good day, I can't beat these guys, but there's enough.

9:07Jannik Sinner:There's enough you never knows floating around out there. Lightning strike moment with his level. Do you think he's prepared to accept now that he doesn't have it to sort of beat them without that wind assistance? Yeah. Because he did have that. Okay, on the night he didn't in Australia, it was an extraordinary performance. But he did at the tournament. He'd played about double the amount of tennis in terms of court time at this year's Wimbledon going into the Cine match compared to in Melbourne. And that was a massive factor. We said it at the time, and I've probably given, you know, in the six months that have passed, the Cine match has stayed with me more than the Djokovic we saw against Mazzetti.

9:49But actually at the time, we all knew that was big. the withdrawal from Mensic was big and I think today proved that for sure but he's a realist you know I think he he does make jokes at his own expense doesn't he? he does say you know I can't do what I used to be able to do it's okay that I can't really I'm 39 and I think he's loving seeing what he can do and I think if you get the odd win he obviously enjoys it enough. That's it. I definitely think he took a lot from the quarterfinal match. Yeah. You know, he's had a moment there and he's won the longest ever quarterfinal in Wimbledon history and a fifth set tie break.

10:39I even think he took something from the Fonseca match. You know, he talked afterwards about how proud he felt with that performance. I think he's ultimately still about trying to win a 25th major, but I do think along the way he is taking satisfaction. I'm not sure it's totally all or nothing. It is kind of a version of the lap of honour that I used to talk about because he's getting some love along the way as well. People can't, you can't help but just be in awe of what he's doing at this age. And I think he's showing it off.

11:14Jannik Sinner:does each one of these chip away at your what residual belief there is that he might pull off 25 i think it's less likely than it's less than 50 chance to me for sure that he will do that now you know i think a lot less like 20 20 chance i think that he would do that but you know i'd probably still give that a role it would not shock me if we're in melbourne in january and suddenly he's making his way through the drawer again. He's beating everybody, yeah. US Open coming up. When was the last time a man defended the US Open title? Long time ago, it was Federer when he did the five back-to-back, I think.

12:01That was the last title defence on the men's side of the US Open. Alcaraz, OK, he's saying the noises out of the Alcaraz camper that they're targeting Cincinnati for the comeback. And look, it's great to see him hitting tennis balls of any kind with the racket in his right hand. But it's early stages, isn't it? He looks like he's playing mini tennis. Yeah, it's... He's going to have to go some in the next few weeks. Yeah, exactly. So I guess, you know, we're back in a you never know situation in six weeks' time, aren't we?

12:35Jannik Sinner:We go again. Yannick Sinner. just thinking just thinking back to the 10 days we had of analysing and speculating about why Yannick Sinner might not be quite himself so far in this tournament and all the entirely valid possible explanations of that the most prominent being the weird and awful and exposing thing that happened to him in Paris a tournament that he had admittedly centred his whole season around like if that had sent him off track for the whole of the rest of 2026 that would have been understandable I think the fact that he's just like last year when he had match points in that epic French Open final and he came back and won Wimbledon he's doing something similar to that again here so maybe we shouldn't be surprised but like it is unreal yeah it is I I think And as you say, the difference to last year is that, OK, other than the Dimitrov match, he found a good level at Wimbledon quite quickly.

13:42And, you know, certainly before the semifinals, maybe he just needed a rival to come in front of him. You know, we talked about how sort of soft his draw had been, really, in terms of the ranking of his opponents. It did feel like he did that thing of just raising it all today and the intensity. I don't know how they do that, but great players do have a way of doing that. I think it's threat. You can't fake threat. And knowing what you're up against, it's going to heighten you. It sharpens you. Yeah, I think so. Yeah. The serve is... And that has been firing all tournament, to be fair. I mean, that shot has really clicked for him.

14:34But it's so good, isn't it? I mean, and again, that reminded me of their... Do you remember there was that period where Djokovic didn't break Sinner's serve? For like so... Like he was, you know, the best returner of this era. And he just couldn't touch Sinner's serve. And Sinner's not someone who you would traditionally think of as serve bot. But when he gets in that mood and he backs it up so well with his ground strokes, it's formidable. and the timing of it you know big serves when he needs yeah Sampras-esque are we in for like a 90s style final here David oh that's a good question well the way Zverev was serving today yeah I mean it's it's it's possible you know you I am fascinated though because we've seen a lot of Sinner Zverev matches this season and Sinner's quite comfortably got hold of Zverev's serve I do think Zverev is playing at a different level right now, though.

15:28I think you can see him standing a little taller. You can see what a grand slam title has done for him. And he has improved. He's worked incredibly hard on his game the last year to add to it. And I think that, well, it's absolutely fascinating to see, right, okay, is it going to work then? you know are you a new guy or have you just been kind of bullying everybody else because you didn't play Sinner um and look he's taking care of everybody everybody put in his way other than Sinner and Alcaraz this year so fascinating okay let's talk a bit more about Alexander Zverev and of course the end of the fairy tale and the end of the fairy tale associated puns RIP but just just before we do that.

16:21Yeah, until the next slam, obviously when Arthur Ferry is, you know, he's going to become a mainstay at Grand Slams if the British tabloids are to be believed. But just before we do that, a word from our sponsors this fortnight. Barclays, the official banking partner of the championships here at Wimbledon.

16:37Jannik Sinner:And Barclays, through its support of the Wimbledon Foundation, which is the official charity of the championships, are backing programs that are changing lives. And one of those is Set for Success, which is delivered with the Youth Sport Trust. and the programme is all about giving young people from underserved communities access to mentoring from inspirational athletes, helping them build confidence, leadership skills and to achieve their potential. It is growing fast. It started in 15 schools and has now expanded to 150, reaching nearly 4 ,000 young people and counting and giving them the tools to shape their future.

17:12To find out more, search home.barclays forward slash Wimbledon and it's a great scheme and that is how to find out more. So Zverev then. A win over Britain's Arthur Ferry,

17:25Jannik Sinner:the world number 114, the wild card from down the road in Wimbledon, 7-6, 6-2, 6-4. The first set of this was the most competitive set of the day. I think it really was fantastic and the tie break ended up not reflecting that at all, unfortunately, but I don't want that to colour my memories of those first 12 games because it was a fantastic first set. Yeah, for the first set, Ferry kind of did to Zverev what he's been doing to everybody else for the last few rounds. You know, he shocked him. He gave him shots that he's just not used to facing. He was able to get to a couple of balls that Zverev always wins the point on.

18:11And I think unless he's playing Sinner or Alkraaz, somebody with that sort of acceleration who then has hands at the end of the run and very one a couple of those and it was honestly i was watching that and i was thinking crikey you know i wonder if he's gonna just discombobulate zverev a bit here because i think zverev was really quite tight in that first set he didn't he admitted it i didn't really know how to play him in the first set i'm you i've just played lehetchka and i've played taylor fritz people who are banging a ball down and hit him big from the baseline and that's not what Ferry does so he just needed to get through that first set that was the that was the thing I did think when he went sort of 3-1 up maybe he might just streak away at that point but then Ferry broke him back immediately and I thought god this is this is great to see you know no matter what happens Ferry came out and played well from the first ball all the way through that first set he played well but what Zverev did to him for the next two sets was nigh un mean you know he just knocked him off the court um and and he played so well i thought zverev for those two sets it feel like we had two mean semi-finals yeah like different age categories and different weight categories yes the handshake photo of zverev Ferry is it does look unfair yeah yeah like the noise when Ferry broke back in that first set on centre court was genuinely spine tingling it was electric it was fantastic Vicky who's here today and actually up on the roof with us said it felt like Mo Farah winning in the World Athletics Championships there was this British go for Vicky hooray Matthew's done one of his pans and thankfully this person's not going to heckle us I don't think you know it was great it was really, I was so pleased that Ferry showed up like that but Zverev was awesome in the tie break and Ferry started the tie break poorly, a double fault and an error and you just can't afford to give that away against Zverev and Zverev was banging down 137 seven mile an hour serves and hitting out on the forehand i mean really going after that shot today especially as the match went on and yeah he was very very good today it's very of insects in sets two and three once he weathered the the early ferry storm and had his serve broken and just resisted all of that i thought he was i thought he was very good i thought there's a version of in the past that wins this match maybe with a couple more tie breaks or maybe even dropping a set and just does enough to win but this was a version that was just stamping his authority on it and showing his class and as David says the question now is whether he can raise it against Sinner and play in a way that he talks about but hasn't really yet been able to do against Sinner this year, maybe other than one set in Miami where he pushed him, a lot of their matches have been kind of blowouts.

21:31So that is the, to me, that's the key question going into the final. Like, can Zverev do what he's been talking about? Watching that performance from Zverev today, and frankly, all the tennis I've seen of his, this tournament, and okay, I do think he is loosened and somewhat unlocked and unleashed by winning that Grand Slam in Paris. And I do think he is improved as a player. And he was very keen to point that out in his press conference, you know, when asked about being loose and unleashed, he said, well, yeah, I am, but I'm also just a better player. And I think that's absolutely true. He's delivered on his word to be more aggressive.

22:15But he hadn't been past the fourth round here before this year. He hadn't, I don't think, beaten a top 40 player at this tournament before this year. We're talking about a huge leap all of a sudden. Like, looking at this guy, it suddenly occurs to me how woefully he's underperformed at this tournament up until now. Yeah, he will tell you that he was playing not far off this level two years ago, and then he got injured against Taylor Fritz. He was two sets to love up against him, and he lost that match. I don't think he missed too many tournaments after that. So, I mean, I do take that with a pinch of salt.

22:58But he has underperformed at this tournament. And I think he's another one of the players, and there's been many in history. Richard Krychek, we're talking about a lot this year because it's his 30th anniversary. He just didn't used to be able to play on grass. He wasn't comfortable on it. And then suddenly it clicked. Maybe it's clicked for Zverev. I don't think it's as dramatic as that because, well, not right now. If we're sitting here on Sunday and he's beaten Sinner in the final and Sinner's fully fit, then I might revise this because Krycek beat Sampras and Michael Stig. They were the best grass court players in the world.

23:34So Zverev's going to play one on Sunday. If he goes and beats him, then I would completely think that he's just suddenly figured it out. I think it's more that he's doing what he probably should have been doing a bit more anyway. Just playing way better and utilising this more aggressive stance. And just sort of walking around like a champion rather than just talking about it. And yeah, that makes Sunday fascinating to me. It's a big test for him. Yeah, I think just the one other point to make on the Wimbledon sort of form and run and everything. He's pointed out a couple of times this tournament that the first round was actually his most, kind of his most dangerous match when he played a big server in blocks.

24:28And that one did get quite tight at times. And blocks had his moments there. And on that slick grass, that's when he said he felt the most vulnerable coming in to this tournament, that first match. Obviously last year he got beaten by a big server in Rindekanesh in those conditions. And once he got through that, I think he settled and calmed down. And everything that he's been doing, as David says, we've always wondered why is a 6 '6 guy with so much power playing so far behind the baseline a lot of the time. I think the adjustment he's made has really helped him on this surface as well to just hit through the ball with much more authority and impose himself.

25:09and that serve is an absolute nightmare on every surface, but particularly this one. And there's a great graphic today on the coverage about the width he gets on that serve. And for Ferry, who doesn't have the biggest wingspan, it was a total nightmare. He's almost lobbing him. And he was having to cover like a, I think they showed it was like a six metre distance between like his serve down the tee and his serve out wide that Zverev couldn't. And like, it was almost impossible for Ferry to get anywhere close to it, when Zorales was finding it. So it's all come together. But I do agree with you that it does feel like there's been an underperformance here in the past.

25:48In fact, that's probably true for both men's finalists, right? That their biggest test was in the first round. Ketsamanovic for Sinner. Yeah, definitely. That's a rough thing to say for Novak Djokovic, but I think probably true. Absolutely. Djokovic, incidentally, has been into press and given a very lengthy press conference, it has to be said, just before we get onto the stuff about himself, he's broken down the sinner serve, what it's like to try and return the sinner serve. He says you cannot attack his serve. You can try to read it, chip it, block it, get it back. It's very unpredictable, great variety, great balance, great pop.

26:28He uses his height extremely well. Also, his second serve is very deep in the box. He gets a lot of rotation on it. he can also go for speed he doesn't make many double faults he's just super solid and he backs it up with an aggressive first shot if you play a shorter return you're again on your back foot it's really really tough to play in particularly when he serves like that wow and that and there's another interesting thing in there like i would say and that's talking about that's coming from like the greatest returner and he says that's in the past yeah was was the greatest return was and there's another incredible line there's a question here novak this year you seem to be

27:06Jannik Sinner:more competitive in a way than last year wrong he says and then the i think the same questioner follows up and says today maybe you were tired what were your feelings about it do you feel that really you can go on and on or not he said i just said you're wrong i don't agree with your opinion i'm always competitive i always give my best of course i'm disappointed i wanted to win wimbledon that's why I'm still pushing myself so hard but I lost to a better player I have to accept it I'm not upset with myself don't think I've done too much wrong just a level or two worse than he is step and a half late he said in every shot simple as that just not sharp enough not reactive enough not balanced enough to play him there's not much I could do on the court and when asked do you intend to come back next year when you're 40 he said I would like to at least one more time let's see and one of his last answers in the press conference is about that question you asked basically Catherine does it still remain about winning titles or can you leave a tournament like this with satisfaction from other stuff and he gives a long answer to that one it's his longest answer to the press conference and you can almost feel him weighing it all up he says for 99 % of players this is a very good grand slam result but for me it's good but not good enough but then he talks about enjoying the thrill of the competition and taking something from the battle on court and he's also he's also I think buoyed by how healthy he's been this tournament you know we've seen a lot of grand slams in the past few years where injury has actually taken him out and I think that's it's kind of three slams this year where that hasn't been the story and I think he's buoyed by that and pleased with the way he's kind of working there and feeling.

28:58So yeah, like, I mean, a Novak Djokovic press conference quite soon after a loss is often gold, isn't it? And I think there was a lot of good, good stuff in this one. Really good stuff.

29:11Jannik Sinner:Should we talk about Arthur Ferry one last time? Got any puns left? No. The well is dry. I'm quite relieved he's out, to be honest. Arthur Ferry is up to 36 in the live rankings. Wow. Does he feel like the 36th? How good a player does he feel like to you? I mean, that is quite jarring, isn't it, to think that he's suddenly that ranking. But then I also felt when he was ranked 114 in the world, he was way too low. Even before we came into this tournament, he's always felt like, well there's a real game there you can see it watching side on and actually one thing I wanted to mention is I'd not commentated on these two from our position low down in the corner of the centre court, either one of them in the past and first of all just on the Zverev's serve it is a quite awesome sight, I mean it's terrifying to think what it must be like trying to get that thing back because it's not just once in a while that he's hitting 130 yards Would you take the Zverev serve over the Sinner serve?

30:18No, because I think Sinners is so devastating in its accuracy into the corners. I think they're kind of interchangeable to me. Zverev kind of looks the most terrifying up close because his stature on the court and the height it's coming down from is just intimidating, isn't it? It hasn't, to this point, done the damage to Sinner that Sinners has done to him. I mean I think also they're also different level returners I think I would also take Sinner's because it's Sinner hitting it do you know what I mean like if if Sinner could be the one with Zverev's serve

30:57Jannik Sinner:so you're taking Sinner's head yeah basically you want his hair lovely hair it's what I'm saying about like coming up with it at the right time like I back Sinner to do that even more than I back Zverev to do it I think Zverev's serve functionally is maybe more devastating with the height and the width and the bounce and the pace he can get but Sinner's very good at all of that as well and I trust him to deliver it in the key moments and just in terms of the way he produces the power Zverev how smooth it looks like the ball just flies um off and the second set like he was putting 137s in frequently throughout the first set just just It doesn't even look like he's having to try to hit it hard.

31:43But he was actually winning more points on his second serve that was going down at 122 to 124 because it got all that spin on it and Ferry was clearly trying to crowd the court. And suddenly the ball almost lobs him because it's coming down from such a height. But what I was going to say about Ferry is that in the trade from the baseline, his ground strokes stand up. That was always so great about that opening set when, yeah, before Zverev had sort of found his point-ending power and was just like putting rallies away, when there were more rallies to be had in the match, Arthur Ferry was standing up to it so well.

32:24Backhand to backhand, you know, and it's blooming hard to take on Zverev to the backhand, and he was winning some of those rallies. A lot of them. I did think that what would happen, though, is when Zverev caught one really deep, he often got a slightly shorter ball and these days now he just tries to finish the thing. He doesn't just rally with you anymore and that's where he's come on so much. I think there's a bit of rally tolerance for Ferry to learn there and the other thing is this is grass. To me it's a total unknown whether this game has as much impact on the other surfaces. I certainly don't think it would on clay.

33:05I think he can be effective on anything to a degree but I just don't know on a hard court when the ball's bouncing up higher I know it's an extreme with Zverev but he was struggling with some of those high balls I thought so yes I do think it's an inflated ranking totally earned but it is a bit freakish to reach a Wimbledon semi-final but now what he's got the luxury of is being in all the draws where all the points are and I think for the next year certainly he's going to play a lot of players who just don't like his game because it's so different It was quite interesting how he was asked in the press conference whether he's going to, I think the phrase was tap into Emera Adekanu and her experience of a breakout and a big rankings jump and he said, well yeah and Vachero I was thinking of Vachero and that does feel like a comp there suddenly in our agendas every week

34:10Jannik Sinner:Valentin Vachero would be singled out as somebody we have to pay attention to Arthur Ferry is going to start popping up in our agendas in the same way isn't he? and Vachero has done a good job I think of backing up his breakout and he's kept having the odd result not that consistently but enough of the time and I think that's the thing a lot of players have been asked about it impressed this tournament actually is the gap between 20 and 100 all that big and I personally I think that one of the one of the biggest gaps is that ability to sustain it and all that kind of thing I think players around 100 in the world a lot of them can have an edge it's just they need to somehow find it and I think Ferry totally found it this tournament in terms of the grass and being a Brit on this run and playing as a wild card and pressure free like he's not going to have that those circumstances week in week out but he showed that his game's good enough to have got him this tournament have made the run and I think on a quick hard court he could still be very effective and have some results and have enough of those to prop himself up a little bit.