Live from Wimbledon Day 14 - Sinner’s revenge

18:47Catherine Whitaker:No. Well, you have to say, I said it in the previous show, he had served poorly against Alcres recently. He didn't serve well in Paris. No, he'd been down in the low 50s for a serve percentage, and he got that up today, which was big for him. Actually, Alcres didn't do a very good job of returning the second serve, to be honest, especially early in the match. I also thought Sinner kind of sprinkled in a nice bit of variety as well. Alcraz had early success with the drop shot. He made Sinner lose his footing a couple of times but actually as the match went on the Alcraz drop shot really didn't work today and he either missed them quite a lot in the net or Sinner was up to it and read them and actually Sinner threw him one or two successfully.

19:32Catherine Whitaker:He had a couple of nice points up at the net as well. I think again that's a part of his game which has improved and made him the all surface all-conquering player that he is.

19:45Matt Roberts:Just thinking about how grouchy and grumpy Carlos Alcaraz got today, and thinking about Charlie Eccleshire's very early call, that he's not going to win this Wimbledon, and at some point Paris will catch up with him, was the well just a little dry today in terms of the depth he needed to dig to, to even have a chance. It still might not have been enough against Yannickson, given how good he was. But, you know, in Paris, we watched it back last night, David, or some highlights because we had to get some sleep. But, you know, even two sets to love down, at two sets to one down, you know, holds of serve.

20:33Matt Roberts:He was so pumped up. He was showing his team and the crowd. at every moment, I'm still in this.

20:40David Law:Yeah.

20:41Matt Roberts:I need you with me. I've got this. Just give it to me and I'll give it back.

20:45David Law:Yeah.

20:46Matt Roberts:Just felt to me like he didn't quite have that today.

20:50David Law:No, it was very different. And actually, if you think back, maybe what's happened is that that has come earlier in the year this year because he's just had this extraordinary run. A lot of tennis matches, a Grand Slam title run, a quick trip to Ibiza, back for Queen's, win that. Don't come for

21:09Matt Roberts:Ibiza, David.

21:10David Law:Well, you know, the evidence is there.

21:11Matt Roberts:He'd have lost to Fanini if it wasn't for Ibiza.

21:13David Law:You might have to think about Ibiza next year. Anyway, you know, and he's gone to the final here.

21:18Matt Roberts:You've gone all Giancarlos Ferrero and what's he called? Agent Man. Melina. Yeah.

21:24David Law:But I think of a year ago when he won this title and then went straight to the Olympics. And I mean, look, he did brilliantly he got to the he got to the final and he very nearly won the gold medal and then he hit the wall you know then he hit the wall then the racket smashing started in in america where was that montreal or toronto or cincinnati i can't remember yeah and i mean you know that was such a violent i've had enough of all of this racket smash and an early loss and then he goes and loses to botick you know in in quick fire terms and he doesn't look himself at all there was a bit of that there today body language wise like you know he's trying his hardest and but he was grouchy and we're not really used to that but he's a human being and I think the only time he smiled in the whole match was about the last five minutes when he held on to his serve and he sat down and you thought oh my word he might still do this yeah there was that there was that game with

22:23Catherine Whitaker:Sinner serving at 4-3 where I've I've written down here the game before the chance of si se puede started and you know and Alcruz got to 1540 in that game and it did I've written oh my god is it happening again you know the Alcruz smiled after a great backhand he just he was right he was right in front of the press seats he just looked up and he smiled and people rose to their feet smiling at Tom Kearney as you would um and look it was only a moment though because Sinner because Sinner snuffed it out but that was all like in Paris it's what he needed a moment and He capitalised on it here. He just didn't quite have it.

23:02Catherine Whitaker:He was more subdued. I think he was a bit sluggish.

23:06Matt Roberts:A couple of times when he sort of bashed at his legs, weren't they? Like, come on.

23:10David Law:Apparently he was heard and it was translated that he said to his box, he's better than me today. He's better than me.

23:18Catherine Whitaker:And look, on the flip side, Sinner's had three months off.

23:20Matt Roberts:Yeah.

23:21Catherine Whitaker:You know, in February, March, April. Yeah, it was that period, wasn't it? So, like, he is fresher. no doubt about it and I'm sure he would absolutely much rather have not been banned during that period but if that's you know the margins are so small between these two and I do think a little bit of extra gas in the tank in this second half of the season might might end up proving a bit of a difference maker I'm not saying that's the reason the match was won today but you know just He seemed fresh. Yeah. And also, like, he wins so efficiently all the time. You know, like, there's that whole thing of him not winning these matches over three hours, 50, but...

24:06David Law:He's not in those matches. He's not in those sorts of matches.

24:09Catherine Whitaker:It's sort of a redundant stat until we keep seeing him in those sorts of matches.

24:16Matt Roberts:David's already sort of killed the Dimitrov element here. but come on we have to have a word for Grigor Dimitrov sure

24:24David Law:and that could have been I think I might have killed it

24:26Matt Roberts:the weirdness of that element of all of this

24:29David Law:but that could have been a total sliding doors moment for this entire tournament yeah amazing to think

24:33Catherine Whitaker:really

24:34Matt Roberts:yeah do we get Grigor like a little trophy a mini one I think he can just this big

24:40David Law:fine I think he can feel bloody proud of himself for what he did that day Grigor

24:47Matt Roberts:from his hospital bed yeah

24:51Catherine Whitaker:it's definitely a sliding doors moment i definitely you know when the when the story of this wimbledon is written when there's a wimbledon 2025 relived that'll be a big moment

25:02David Law:big moment big moment very least he's got to go all the way he's got to go five sets to win that

25:08Matt Roberts:yeah and then still play a bunch of other people yeah yeah no i think and he might have beaten them

25:13David Law:all i i wouldn't have i i still think he probably was gonna win that match because he's that good and grigor's not won that many of those sort of matches but we'll never know that it was two sets to love and two all i mean it was not it was not a given that sin is coming back from that

25:33Matt Roberts:okay i will look into mini wimbledon trophies they sell the key ring ones in the shop don't they maybe just one of those for Grigol so there's a name etched on it so we now have these two players in this extraordinary rivalry that's still in its very early days and both of them are now one slam away from the career slam Yannick Sinner needs a French Open Carlos Alcaraz needs an Australian Open obviously Carlos Alcaraz will get a shot sooner than Yannick Sinner but he also seems further off he's never got past the quarterfinals in Australia whereas Yannick Sinner obviously was one point away from winning the French this year.

26:12Catherine Whitaker:He's one point away from holding all four at once, Yannick Sinner. And I know it doesn't work like that because the pressure would have been different coming here to Wimbledon if he was trying to win all four in a row and hold all four. But it's crazy to think about so early in his career being that close to winning all four.

26:33Matt Roberts:Who's going to do it first?

26:38Catherine Whitaker:it's interesting isn't it Alcaraz gets to have the first go but I don't know I think Sinna's closer to winning the French Open than Alcaraz is to beating Sinna on a hard call for example.

26:52Matt Roberts:What if I throw Svantec in there? Which of those three will get their first? Obviously she'll have her shot at the same time as Alcaraz in Australia.

27:01David Law:Maybe I'd go Svantec I think I would go Alcaraz I think he'll regroup and I hope he has a sensible off-season whatever that is Ibiza? you know, something just to recharge and come out firing in Australia

27:20Matt Roberts:what do you mean by sensible? well, not playing a load of exhibitions in the middle of goodness knows where

27:26David Law:you know I don't know what all that's about they're all doing that I know, but I think it's stupid

27:33Catherine Whitaker:he's got enough money He played, what, Madison Square Garden last year? Was that at the end of the season?

27:38David Law:He played in Charlotte against Francis Tiafoe. He plays in the Middle East and stuff like that. I just think, just rest up and make sure you're ready to go in Australia.

27:50Catherine Whitaker:He hasn't really figured out his start of the season, has he? He doesn't play United Cup. No, he doesn't play anything. He goes in without playing anything. and, you know, maybe needs to look at that.

28:05David Law:It's really close, though. I think all three of those great champions are just fascinating stories for the first two Grand Slams of next year. And, I mean, for the next one, too, there are so many good storylines and players and they're all going to make these little tweaks here and there. And, I mean, in that regard, when you said earlier, Catherine, is this kind of what Alcraz needs, maybe to send him away to get him even better. Maybe it is. Maybe just continually winning. I don't know what that does to his mindset. It can go different ways, can't it? We come into this one thinking, well, he's never lost a Grand Sun final, so of course he's not going to lose.

28:49David Law:Well, he has now. Anything can happen. And it doesn't mean he's not a great, great champion, but it's what I love about it. They've got to keep making these little tweaks.

29:01Matt Roberts:There were a lot of people I spoke to ahead of today's match who I asked how they felt it would go, who they wanted to win, and a lot of them said, look, I don't really mind. Last year I was supporting Alcaraz, but I just love this rivalry so much, and the best thing for the rivalry is Sinner winning today. So I want Sinner. Sinner winning is the better thing for tennis. Does that feel accurate to you right now?

29:31David Law:Not to me, really. I don't think it would have made any difference, personally. What do you think? I can see why from the outside people would think that,

29:42Catherine Whitaker:because five in a row feels like Alcraz has got huge dominance over this rivalry. I think, as we've talked about, the five I know felt a little bit misleading. it never felt like Sinner had a match-up problem but I think you know I've I think it's interesting swinging it back in terms of like what it means for Wimbledon going forward because I had been thinking Alcaraz at Wimbledon could rack up some serious numbers and he might still I thought he was ahead of Sinner on grass until like I started thinking about it and actually thinking about the matchup on grass that we that we sort of saw today and then just before the final I was like actually Sinner on this fast court I think that favors him in the matchup but previously I've been thinking Alcaraz with his variety and with his record here in the in the last couple of years I thought like Wimbledon was his turf.

30:37David Law:2-0 now.

30:38Catherine Whitaker:Right for Sinner here so it sort of feels like that's like an interesting narrative shift in in the rivalry which I find interesting. Alcaraz obviously got the edge at the moment at Roland Garros having won their last couple there so look as I said before we're still so early in this in this rivalry we really are like we could be talking about this for the next five ten years you know and so therefore I don't I don't I wouldn't put such a premium on today's result however it went I feel like the rivalry was enough in the balance.

31:14Matt Roberts:Yeah, I was watching another episode of Gods of Tennis, the BBC documentary series about the 70s and 80s halcyon days of tennis and rivalries. But you took so much telly. Without me.

31:25David Law:Had a great time.

31:28Matt Roberts:And episode three was about Martina Ratilova and Chrissie Ebert. And there were, I mean, there's just so much to cover there in an hour-long show. There were like, it was like almost a decade's worth of grandstand finals that they just sort of couldn't even cover. Because there's just so much of it, you know, in the scheme of things, health permitting, this could end up being a blip. You know, I doubt the French Open will, but whatever, like probably we're not even going to remember every individual twist and turn of every individual Grand Slam match that they play. Because there should be tons of this to come, which is an incredible place to be.

32:08Matt Roberts:The other little wrinkle sort of really throwing this rivalry forward and throwing Yannick Sinha forward is that Darren Cahill intends to step down as his coach.

32:19David Law:Interestingly enough, it was referenced in our commentary on BBC Radio, Pat Cass suggested that it might not be, actually, that he might not be categoric about stopping. He's done a Daniel Collins. And that he would certainly, at the very least, not want to be doing it the way he is, but maybe he might do a bit of it. So that'll be interesting to find out. I mean, maybe it is it, but that was definitely the suggestion.

32:54Matt Roberts:It's the travel, I think, isn't it? I mean, I think it's a dream, isn't it? Their relationship, he just doesn't want to be on the road. but he seems a very not codependent charge, Yannick Sinner. I could imagine he could cope with Darren Cahill being more remote than he currently is.

33:16David Law:Yeah, that three-person, I mean, considering all the instability that Sinner has had in his team, that three-person team of himself, Beniozzi and Cahill has been solid. and they all seem to understand each other and the wavelength and what they need from each other.

33:38Matt Roberts:He's proven he can do it without the Carotta boys. Bit of a blow for them, isn't it?

33:44Catherine Whitaker:I think he'd already proven that. Had he? Yeah. I think there's been a blow for them for a while. His success without them. Big win for the fox. Was it?

33:54David Law:Well, you know, no carrots about, were there?

33:57Matt Roberts:No, there was a carrot. I saw a carrot. There was a woman, she wasn't dressed as a carrot because she's got self-respect, presumably, but she had a big carrot teddy. It looked like one of Billie Jean's toys, but big.

34:12Matt Roberts:I don't know if he saw it, but I didn't see any foxes about. No, never have. But anyway, and Yannick Senna's mum, I think both his parents were there, actually. His dad had the day off work. He was working, wasn't he, during the French Open final. so Yannick

34:29Catherine Whitaker:his mum went in Paris I wish they'd edited

34:33Matt Roberts:her out of the highlights of the French Open final that we watched because I find her face traumatising

34:41David Law:yeah it was nice to see her looking I mean we only saw her at the end of the match it was ok by then as though she was probably going through it during the match but no you know it was a nice scene

34:52Matt Roberts:what now US Open what happens there

34:56Catherine Whitaker:I was talking about this with Matthew you actually and you know it's like what's the what's the chances of getting a repeat of this and like what a what are yannick sinners chances of getting to the final unless unless injury happens or something it feels like 90 95 percent you know he just feels that sure alcaraz less than that but i still feel like who's going to beat him unless he beats himself which is more likely than Sinner beating himself but I don't know they're just so far ahead of everyone else at the moment it's so hard to go into these slams predicting something else so if we saw a if we didn't see a repeat in New York it would be more shocking to me than if we did

35:46Matt Roberts:it was another match not quite to the extent of the French Open final but it was another match that emphasised how big the gap is between them and everybody else

35:56David Law:right yes i i think so and i mean the rankings the rankings tell you tell you that and then the sheer number of times they keep leaving everybody in their wake i i'm not as convinced about it happening in new york for the same reason that federer and adal never did i know that they have met in new york but all the focus was on the fact that they ended up meeting in new york really that time, three years ago. They weren't doing anything anywhere else yet when that happened. But it's just that a lot of the times they were stopped by Djokovic or by Murray

36:34Catherine Whitaker:or Del Potro. I just... I know. I'm not really seeing that guy at the moment. No, I mean, I definitely think Al Krause...

36:43David Law:Draper. And I do think Draper is a factor. On hard course. Yeah, I think that Al Krause has got a lot of proving to do in this swing coming up.

36:53Matt Roberts:And maybe this will give him the motivation he needs.

36:57David Law:He's looked the last two years, the last three years, he's not, is it two, in 23 he lost to Medvedev. To Medvedev, yeah. And 24 he's lost to van der Zanschel. He just didn't look right in either of those matches, really. It wasn't like a worldy performance that's knocked him out. I mean, they were both very good.

37:18Matt Roberts:Excuse me, justice for Bertic over here, please. all right but

37:22Catherine Whitaker:Burtick at this point is on our bingo card isn't he comes up every episode I try and make it

37:28David Law:so the real Carlos Alcaraz beats beats him yeah yes Carlos Alcaraz is a

37:33Matt Roberts:better player than

37:34David Law:Burtick

37:35Matt Roberts:and so he hasn't

37:37David Law:looked the same for three years so he's got to figure that out and that's what was always happening every summer really with well or a lot of summers with Nadal some summers occasionally with Djokovic you know that neither one of them had as good a record at the US Open as they had elsewhere it's it's tough it's really tough to just keep on going so how you make sure that Alcras comes into that fresh I don't really have any doubts over Sinner he doesn't seem to have these letdowns so yeah I'm fascinated the rest though can they close the gap because it feels

38:18Matt Roberts:like a lot of the rest are maximising. Taylor Fritz feels like he's maximising. Tommy Paul, Alex de Menor, Alexander Zverev feels like a bit of a busted flush. Okay, Fonseca might be coming, but he's pretty unknown territory. Jack Draper, I'm still a believer, but he's a way off. But he's at least not maximising yet. There's still upside to come, you would think, but a lot of the rest feel like they're maxing out and the gap is huge.

38:51Catherine Whitaker:That's true. Yep, yep. I don't disagree.

38:56Matt Roberts:So were we in a great state of affairs with men's tennis, with these two incredible athletes in this rivalry for a lifetime?

39:06David Law:At the moment, it is kind of like if they meet.

39:09Matt Roberts:Yeah.

39:10David Law:Because if you put one of them in the final against one of the others, at the moment it doesn't feel like it's going to be a great final at the moment yeah and look i'm not

39:24Catherine Whitaker:you know they are meeting so right i think we are in a good place and as i said we're we're early in this rivalry i'm excited for many more i think we are in a good place but yeah like you're kind of waiting for i don't know a shelton or a feast or a fonseca you know one of them to to kind of step up and i i at the moment i see them as potentially being able to do it once you know but i i don't really see any of them at the moment fonseca a bit different because he's so much younger but as like joining in terms of with the same level of consistency andy murray right even djokovic frankly i know djokovic ended up overtaking but yeah you know he was behind and And then he overtook.

40:11Matt Roberts:I can't believe it took Matt to mention Artifis.

40:13Catherine Whitaker:Well, listen. I mean, for this summer, that feels...

40:16David Law:I've been mentioning Artifis really strongly if he was fully fit. Yeah. I hope he's been on bed rest for the past five weeks. He's probably not going to play again this year. Five weeks. Meaningfully.

40:26Catherine Whitaker:He posted today some back-in-the-gym photos. Did he?

40:31David Law:Just take it easy, Artifis. I'd love him to come back and be a force, but the worst thing of the lot would be if he came back too soon. and wasn't right.

40:40Matt Roberts:Absolutely.

40:41David Law:You know, what's going to happen with Novak Djokovic? I mean, fascinating questions.

40:50Matt Roberts:What is going to happen with Novak Djokovic? Does he play New York?

40:54Catherine Whitaker:We said in Serbian press that he thought he would be in optimal physical condition come New York, you know, in terms of the injury and everything. I think he is absolutely intending to play New York.

41:08Matt Roberts:good news for Alguer Danilovic very I mean I was

41:12David Law:questioning him for the Olympics if you remember a year ago that aged well because he'd lost that final badly and etc you know and they and the same could be true of Alcrest they rebound so quickly these people it's just

41:29Catherine Whitaker:given what we talked about on the show the other day and what we've seen this year he feels as far off Sinner and Alcaraz

41:37Matt Roberts:as the other guy.

41:39Catherine Whitaker:He feels more likely to meet them. He feels more likely to be reliable to play them.

41:44Matt Roberts:And he's going in the other direction.

41:46Catherine Whitaker:Yeah.

41:47Matt Roberts:It feels, I mean, logically he must be.

41:50Catherine Whitaker:I think Djokovic now, I'm going to hype up the terrible US Open draw, he would want, I think, Alcaraz, you know, he wants to be in Alcaraz's half

42:03Matt Roberts:versus Sinner's,

42:04Catherine Whitaker:I think for sure and he probably wants him early in the tournament you know as early as possible I don't know what his seeding will be imagine I don't quite know but you know let's say quarters as early as he could get him because given what he talked about with his tank emptying the later he plays in I think the fewer matches he's got in his legs the fewer chance of injury the better for Djokovic but then still trying to go on and win the tournament feels like such a such a big ask yeah

42:32Matt Roberts:and maybe that's not enough like he did that in Australia didn't he got one of them he had that moment and didn't have any more wanting more I got the impression from here that one last time 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

42:57Catherine Whitaker:Wimbledon and wish you a pleasant and safe journey home thank you it's nice that they don't change it for the final we hope you've enjoyed your tournament at Wimbledon no, day

43:12Matt Roberts:and they definitely could because they definitely are there live definitely definitely never goes off script incredible work, Johnny Perkins and Matt Roberts I'm going to miss that tomorrow

43:28Catherine Whitaker:me too it's gone so quickly

43:31David Law:when I'm in bed in a dark room

43:34Matt Roberts:let's talk about a few of the other important things that happened today before that men's singles final eliza mertens and veronica kudamatova won the women's doubles they beat sue way shea and yelena ostepenko three six six two six four um this is mertens has won grand slam titles before but this is veronica kudamatova's first in fact she was the only player on the court today that hadn't won a grand slam title before so a huge moment from her and they did it from a breakdown in the third set. It looked like Ostapenko was Ostapenko-ing and they managed to turn that tide and win a thrilling final and deny us the thought of Jelena Ostapenko being at the Wimbledon Ball tonight with Igor Sviontek.

44:19Catherine Whitaker:That's what I was thinking about.

44:21Matt Roberts:The ultimate party pooper. You know she's annoyed about that.

44:25Catherine Whitaker:Oh God, yeah.

44:29Matt Roberts:But they were great, Mertens and Kudematoba. and it was a really great final and had great crowds, didn't it? The men's final yesterday had great crowds as well. On to some critical wheelchair tennis results today. Takedo Oda got the better of Alfie Hewitt once again in the wheelchair men's singles final. 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, his second Wimbledon, Oda. I think he thought he had him, Alfie Hewitt, after that first set. But you said it, David, when we were watching this together earlier. He threw every punch he had, Alfie Hewitt, in those opening two sets. And they weren't enough. And he didn't have anything left to give.

45:15Matt Roberts:Whereas Takedo Oda just seems to have an endless tank. Yeah, yeah.

45:22David Law:He needed to get him early. And when he wins the first set, 6-3 in 32 minutes, that was a short set for the finals these two play. and then the second one just became grueling and yeah, the moment that Oda wins that he's got a bit of the Alcaraz about him as well once he starts winning he gets more dangerous because he gets gleeful and he starts connecting with crowds and drawing energy from them and this is in front of Alfie's crowd, you know he was doing the fingers of the ear thing to Alfie's crowd, you know, great stuff He's awesome. He's charisma central to Kito Oda, isn't he? And the way he just turned it on in this match, because in that first save, he was making a lot of errors.

46:12Catherine Whitaker:Oda, he really didn't have his game, but he found a spark through the match, which was incredible. And I think it's such an interesting rivalry because it feels like Oda's got more game, you know, like he can do more things. there's an absolutely incredible backhand flick that he does. Like, you know, the ball lands right by his wheels and he sort of turns and yet he flicks it back and then does turn, so he's not facing the court. Flicks it back, half volleys it back, he does it repeatedly. You know, so he's got all that talent and yet Hewitt's got so much grit and fight and I think a lot of players would probably be despondent playing Oda.

46:57Catherine Whitaker:knowing that he's got so many shots. But, I don't know, I think Hewitt really rises to the challenge of playing him and gives all that he's got. And I did think he could have won it in straight sets today, but he just looked absolutely gassed by the end. There was an absolutely incredible rally that Hewitt won to save a championship point. I think it was the second or third championship point that Oda had. And you just see what it took out of Hewitt to live with Oda. He was awesome. and yeah, he's still a teenager, isn't he? He's still only 19 and yet he's just seemingly getting better and better.

47:34Matt Roberts:It's a brutal state of affairs for Alfie Hewitt because he's only 27 and yet he's got this nemesis in Tiquito Oda who just keeps getting the better of him and he's close but the bottom line is he's just not as good as Tiquito Oda and Oda's getting better and maybe Alfie Hewitt can get better but it's going to be hard isn't it it's going to be hard to to track with odors improvements and more yeah um and look he's achieved so much in his career he has the the career slam he doesn't have the career golden slam i mean i cannot he's already one of the most intense competitors in the sport like i cannot imagine how he's going to be when i can't give anymore when the la olympics comes around like he's gonna i imagine that is already just totally in his mind that that la la olympics and avenging that defeat to to odor there but i do i feel like he's going to keep reaching finals and he's just going to keep coming up against tiquito odor and i guess he's just got to keep believing that he he can get the better of him but odor is he's ridiculous he's 19 this his sixth major singles title and now we have the fun once again in New York of him going for the career golden slam there at 19.

48:57Yeah I'll be watching.

49:00Matt Roberts:Niels Vink won the quad wheelchair singles title he beat Sam Schroeder his countryman and friend and rival in the final 6-3-6-3 nailing himself on as the best in the world, Sam Schroeder. So congratulations to him. Big win for Frosted Tips.

49:24David Law:We were so close. It's not over. It's not over. It can still happen. In New York, perhaps.

49:33Matt Roberts:I popped the bleach into my toiletry bag for New York.

49:40Catherine Whitaker:Good work.

49:41David Law:It's coming with me.

49:45Matt Roberts:Right, let's just take a moment to have a little look back on the tournament as a whole, only a little one because we have a dedicated show for this. We do a review show after every Grand Slam, a couple of days after the dust has settled, so we get the benefit of a bit of quiet reflection and a bit of sleep to help us with our quiet reflection. and we also get voice notes in from some incredible contributors that we're lucky enough to hear from in that show. And why are you waving at me, Matthew?

50:19Catherine Whitaker:We're live on air. Matthew wants to be one of them. Just pointing out that Matthew might be a voice note. Yes, I know that.

50:25Matt Roberts:I asked you earlier in the fortnight.

50:28David Law:He's just chuffed to be regarded as one of them, I think.

50:31Matt Roberts:nothing like having the camera operator waggle his fingers in front of the camera lens to get your attention while you're live broadcasting yes one of them might be from Matthew

50:42David Law:although maybe not now

50:47Matt Roberts:where was I? we'll be recording that show on Wednesday and it'll be up for Friends of the Tennis Podcast but we can take a few moments now to quietly reflect without Matthew on the last two weeks. Your thoughts, your emotions, your highlights. And lowlights, maybe. I mean, the lowlights, Gregor Dimitrov, isn't it?

51:10Catherine Whitaker:Yeah.

51:11Matt Roberts:Slash yesterday for you.

51:13Catherine Whitaker:Yeah. Yeah. Not wanting to take anything away from Svantec, who has actually been a real highlight. You know, seeing Igor Svantec back at her best and coming off Roland Garros and the clay season she'd had generally was honestly a surprise to me. I think it was also a surprise because she sort of did the work in the week just before Wimbledon, didn't she? Which is always like a week that just passes me by a little bit. But like when I saw that win she had over Alexandreva, for example, in Bad Homburg, that was the first moment where I thought, hang on a minute, that's a result on grass that I wouldn't necessarily expect from Igor Sviante.

51:52Catherine Whitaker:And she carried it through and she was absolutely incredible. Obviously my highlight is, Anissimova in the semi-final will always have that moment. Just the most incredible, incredible win from her. And actually, I enjoyed the first few days very much. I enjoyed the chaos of it. I enjoyed not knowing what was going to happen. That sense of, oh my goodness, all these results are catching. Who's going to be next? Like the drama of it all I thought was really compelling. in those early days. And then yet we still ended up with big names in the final as well and big talking points. So I think it's been a great slam with a 6-love, 6-love and a Grigor Dimitrov mid-match retirement as exceptions.

52:46Catherine Whitaker:But otherwise, I think it's been a really good slam and very different to Roland Garros as well.

52:51Matt Roberts:I think so too. I think this has been a really good slam. My lowlights were the devastating Grigor Dimitrov scenes and the devastating scene of you when you arrived yesterday and seeing how pale you were and knowing that we had to immediately send you on air. But people bounced back. Here is evidence of just that, Matt Roberts. So, yeah, seeing you look well today was a tournament highlight. David, what about you?

53:24David Law:I mean, I do think the weather was a highlight. The fact that we've been able to sit here all fortnight long compared to a year ago when we were having to sit over there.

53:32Catherine Whitaker:We did six in a row over there last year.

53:34David Law:I mean, under cover, it just got you down after a bit, really. And so that didn't, it was a fact, I mean, it was uncomfortable for some spectators and for some players maybe, but generally it was just not a factor, the weather over the course of the two weeks. I loved those first few days. It was such a buzz. And to still end up with, you know, Cineralcras in the final. I mean, how cool is that? Yeah, it was a great Wimbledon. Absolutely loved it.

54:06Matt Roberts:I loved, I think, what round did Amanda Anderson overplay Dalma Galfi? Was that third round?

54:12Catherine Whitaker:Third round, yeah. Out on court three. We'd gone up from 15 to 12 to three.

54:17Matt Roberts:I loved going out there. You were sat in the public bid of the stands because you'd got there so early. you could you could take your pick of the seats david and i arrived a bit later and sat in what we thought were the press seats actually they weren't and we were ejected from them later but anyway that's that's an addendum to the story david getting grumpy with the steward and rightly so

54:38David Law:is it's not hard it's a separate story it takes a bit it takes a bit to get me in that mood but okay right now you're being rude and out of order so no i'm not moving um maybe that's a better

54:51Matt Roberts:story I don't know no what I was going to say was us arriving and sitting down we weren't sat anywhere near where Matt was but sort of about 10 different people turning around and going well where's Matt then one woman goes I'm only here for him where is he and every time a man is over here to hit a backhand winner Matt would be like this to us yeah I really enjoy the tennis podcast

55:14Catherine Whitaker:community heading to those Amanda and Isomova matches.

55:19Matt Roberts:Vicky if you're watching on the live stream on YouTube has just done some absolutely extraordinary work. There you are Matt.

55:28Catherine Whitaker:Yeah I was enjoying it more than I look like I'm enjoying it there. You were tense. Yeah well I was with my with my mates who were chanting Isomova songs.

55:38Matt Roberts:That was actually a good situation for you because they were able to emote on your behalf.

55:42Catherine Whitaker:I remained professional. I didn't clap.

55:46Matt Roberts:Yeah, you look really professional in that photo. Arms folded. You'd never know what your internal monologue looked like. That was incredible from Vicky.

55:55Catherine Whitaker:It was a fun journey, going up the courts for Anissa Mova all the way to the final.

56:02Matt Roberts:Will she win a slam?

56:04Catherine Whitaker:I'm going to say yes. I mean I think we're we're closer than we ever have been right you know like she's just beaten the world number one in the semi-final I know the final was a disaster but I think if she's in that position again she'll play better

56:21Matt Roberts:I hope so I don't want her

56:25Catherine Whitaker:it's not a given it's not a tennis relived you'll win one of these I don't want to say that I just I just think she's hungry yeah

56:35Matt Roberts:and losses can make you hungrier maybe that's what's happened today and yesterday Alfie Hewitt looked hungry yeah so did I so did taquito odour and actually so did Igor Spiontech yeah right folks we of course have our mascots some shout outs but we also have some thank yous if you'll bear with me for a moment I would like to thank Matthew despite his unprofessional interjection into the show earlier. Matthew is just the absolute greatest.

57:16Matt Roberts:And I'm at a loss for words for how much we love Matthew. That is the extent to which he makes our tournament here at Wimbledon.

57:25David Law:One of David's diamonds, who I spotted all those years ago.

57:29Matt Roberts:David's trying to make David's diamonds happen. Yeah. For people that he's talent spotted.

57:36David Law:YouTube counts as well.

57:37Matt Roberts:There's also a David's Duffers. Yeah. But the names on that list are to remain private. Shall not be shared.

57:44Catherine Whitaker:Yeah. Oh, Matthew just makes our day. Every time we come up here.

57:49Matt Roberts:Every single time.

57:50Catherine Whitaker:And we see him. He just lifts my spirits all the time. Yeah. We love Matthew.

57:57Matt Roberts:Your favourite Matthew take from the fortnight?

58:01Catherine Whitaker:Wimbledon's not for the people.

58:06Matt Roberts:I was watching the latter stages of Anisimovic Fiontek with him over there and he just kept shouting, hit it over the net! As if she wasn't trying to do that. But then he also did do really sweet little claps every time she won a point.

58:21Catherine Whitaker:Pros hitting the ball in the net. Matthew cannot stand that.

58:25Matt Roberts:Yeah, he thinks it's unprofessional. Matthew, we love you. I would also like to embarrass Hannah by saying she's wonderful too. I know she hates it when I say this. She's here in the live chat. If you're in the live chat right now with Hannah, please tell her how wonderful she is because she deserves to hear it no matter how much it makes her squirm. She is absolutely incredible. a wit, a poet and somebody who just slams down the trolls in a way that I love so much my mum was here today and she was like Hannah doesn't have time for those trolls does she she shuts them right down yes Hannah and the same absolutely goes for Vicky who, we keep saying it but she has changed our lives this year and I keep having moments of thinking we used to do this without Vicky what were we thinking I don't know how we did it and and

59:24Catherine Whitaker:truth be told we we didn't do it as well yeah you know like everything that you've if you've been watching the live streams Vicky bringing up the graphics the photos the banners the comments you know all of that is is Vicky and she's just just taken it on and made these live streams better and yeah Vicky Hannah we're so lucky to have them two more David's diamonds

59:51Matt Roberts:you keep trying to make diamonds happen I have to mention some duffers David they're out there they are out there um I would like to thank Gorona our incredible designer who again has helped expand our offering and what we're able to do with the help of Vicky and Hannah as well, everybody working as a team just to create more output and better output and make everything look good and exciting. Well, we think so anyway. It's been really, really exciting and overwhelming for us and knowing that we have these incredible people that we can just rely on and go, can you guys do that? The answer is always yes and seeing them all work together, Gorona, Vicky, Hannah, the next guy on my list, is really incredible and the next guy on my list is Jib

1:00:45Catherine Whitaker:Oh Jib We love Jib as well

1:00:48Matt Roberts:A guy that I've never met who might be my favourite person

1:00:56Catherine Whitaker:He's our editor He's our video editor He's been our audio editor in the past but you know because we're doing these shows live we don't need to edit the audio unless we've done something catastrophic but thankfully you don't think we have But he's been making all our Instagram reels and YouTube shorts. And we love Jib. He's got into tennis. He's playing tennis now. The first match he ever watched live was yesterday's Wimbledon final.

1:01:24Matt Roberts:Yeah. Don't be put off, Jib.

1:01:26Catherine Whitaker:No. And he's just always available.

1:01:30Matt Roberts:Yeah.

1:01:30Catherine Whitaker:Which is incredible.

1:01:31Matt Roberts:To quite a worrying extent, actually.

1:01:33Catherine Whitaker:Does he sleep? We don't know. We don't know. But yeah, he's wonderful.

1:01:37Matt Roberts:He's absolutely wonderful. And he's another one for the David's Diamonds list.

1:01:41Catherine Whitaker:Big time. Yeah. I mean, common strand.

1:01:45Matt Roberts:I think, hang on, do we officially include Garner in David's Diamonds?

1:01:49David Law:Is that a bit more of a grey area?

1:01:54Matt Roberts:We'll ask Garner whether she's comfortable being included in David's Diamonds. I would like to thank Pam Shriver.

1:02:03Catherine Whitaker:Oh, yes.

1:02:04Matt Roberts:for appearing on the pod, for sending us texts, for coming to see us constantly and for just being the force of nature that she is and for giving us, not giving us, I mean the Wimbledon shop gave us Jam Shriver, but Jam is called Jam Shriver because of Pam Shriver. So thank you for that. And thank you, of course, to Charlie, Matt and James from The Athletic, who it has been an absolute pleasure working with over the last couple of weeks. And obviously we've had Charlie and Matt on the show and that's been an absolute treat and thank you to The Athletic too generally it's been our first Wimbledon working with them being part of the Athletic Podcast Network and that's been a joy and yeah these are exciting times the tennis podcast so thank you to The Athletic thank you to Wimbledon perhaps most importantly thank you to Wimbledon

1:02:54David Law:giving us this place to do this it's amazing

1:02:57Matt Roberts:it is absolutely amazing that we get to sit here every night and talk about this tournament and get the access and privilege and help that we do. We know how special it is. We don't take it for granted. And we are very, very grateful for that. And thank you to the Wimbledon shop as well for giving us our wardrobe for the next 12 months and more.

1:03:22David Law:Like my tie?

1:03:24Matt Roberts:Yeah, there's a lot of compliments on your tie in here. Oh, good. Thanks very much. I know lots of stuff is sold out because it's so nice. but lots of it is still available online so it is definitely worth taking a look and the shop is open year round if you swing by if you're on Wimbledon Common which I am every day do say hi and then pop in to the Wimbledon shop folks if you're worried about the post-grandslam blues as I mentioned we have an episode of our Wimbledon review show coming recording on Wednesday that'll be up for friends of the tennis podcast we've got voice notes in the works we love those shows they're some of our absolute favorites um so if you want to become a friend of the tennis podcast the link is in our show notes you get access to that show all of our bonus shows there's

1:04:17David Law:an archive of how many david oh uh our bonus shows yeah oh well over around 100 something like that

1:04:26Matt Roberts:And we're doing more all the time. We do eight relived shows a year. We do the four Grand Slam review shows. We do a monthly live show for friends, often a Q &A episode that you can contribute to and ask us a question. You also get access to the Barge, which is where you can hang out with Hannah all the time and Vicky too, and just generally enjoy, chat about tennis in a safe and friendly space. You get all sorts of other stuff as well, but ad-free listening is another thing you get with friends of the tennis podcast. So well worth taking a look. You can join for starting from£6 a month. The link, as always, is in our show notes and I'll pop it on Instagram as well.

1:05:07Matt Roberts:Thank you to Phoebe. Thank you to Maisie. Thank you to Roger for being our mascots throughout this Wimbledon, throughout this year. And the same goes to our top folks and executive producers, Greg, Chris and Jeff. Matt, do we have some final shout outs?

1:05:21Catherine Whitaker:We sure do. We have Keturah. Keturah.

1:05:24Matt Roberts:Oh, Keturah. Hi, Keturah.

1:05:27Catherine Whitaker:We know Keturah. Long-time listener and friend.

1:05:30Matt Roberts:Very long-time supporter.

1:05:32David Law:Who introduced us to pet mascot-dom.

1:05:37Matt Roberts:Yes.

1:05:37David Law:With Charlie the Ferret. Our first ever mascot. And as brilliant as Goran's modern latter-day design work is for us,

1:05:51Matt Roberts:possibly her greatest ever triumph was designing logoed ferret wear yes from ferret couture an actual shop yeah a true moment of triumph for gorona and yeah it was a joy having charlie

1:06:08Catherine Whitaker:as our first mascot so couture thank you we've also got anna peepsik i think i'm hope i'm saying that right from Poland, Krakow in Poland. And Anna says hi this is Anna of Anna and Ola. We had the chance to meet Catherine, David and Matt during last year's Wimbledon on Court 1 right before the Iger Svontek match with Yulia Putin Saver and we had our photo taken by Simon Briggs. What a

1:06:36Matt Roberts:tennis podcast encounter.

1:06:38Catherine Whitaker:I wore Polish flag colours with the intention to bring luck and support. But now I think about it in retrospective I'm of the opinion I bring to Viontech bad luck having attended her matches twice at Wimbledon in 2022 to Corne and in 2024 to Putin's saver and Anna says I'm hopeful this shout out falls on Ola's 30th birthday which is the 14th of July so that's tomorrow so this is our closest show to that Vicky's done some incredible work to make sure this shout out is in this episode and Anna says Ola is the one who introduced me to the podcast during Roland Garros 2022 and we listen to you talk about Eager and Rafa's victories happy birthday Ola to many more Wimbledons and other Grand Slams together and thank you Tennis Podcast you rock

1:07:26Matt Roberts:that is wonderful thanks Anna you rock too thank you Anna like former backhand lister Anna Bogdan

1:07:36yep

1:07:36Catherine Whitaker:although this is Anna with two N's

1:07:38Matt Roberts:and former sinner person Anna Kalinskaya.

1:07:47David Law:And Anna Ivanovic, who I saw wandering around here earlier. But that's one N as well.

1:07:53Catherine Whitaker:Czech for Tadzi. Was that two Ns?

1:07:55Matt Roberts:Very good. Kornikova.

1:07:59David Law:Smashnova. That's a good Terrence name. That is a good name, isn't it?

1:08:03Catherine Whitaker:That might be even better than Volley Nets.

1:08:06Matt Roberts:Potato says, what about Anna Bogdan? We've mentioned Anna Bogdan.

1:08:10Catherine Whitaker:Yes. Right, right.

1:08:11Matt Roberts:Anna Bogdan gets more airtime here than in all of the rest of the media collectively combined. There's no justice required for Anna Bogdan.

1:08:22Catherine Whitaker:And final shout out of the tournament is via Simon Briggs, the aforementioned Simon Briggs. And we have Darren and Laura, who are good friends of Simon's, big pod listeners. I believe they actually met on a tennis court, Darren and Laura. Darren plays the club championships with Simon Laura is a translator they have a wonderful dog Stella

1:08:47Matt Roberts:I'm looking at Stella

1:08:48Catherine Whitaker:who I think is on the screen right now if you're watching live and anyway they had a rough time did Darren and Laura Laura was diagnosed with ovarian cancer lots of months of really rough treatment but very happily she's now been given the all clear

1:09:07Matt Roberts:that's incredible

1:09:08Catherine Whitaker:And they are engaged, our Darren and Laura. So we, via Simon, wanted to give them a big, big shout out.

1:09:19David Law:Yeah.

1:09:20Matt Roberts:Darren and Laura, hello. That is glorious news on all fronts. I hope Stella, who I'm looking at now, is going to be some sort of ring bearer at your wedding. I'm very into canine wedding involvement. Of course. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. like Laura Siegmund. Yep. And Darren Cahill.

1:09:47David Law:One last mention for Siegmund then.

1:09:50Matt Roberts:I've got Bertic in, I've got Laura in.

1:09:52Catherine Whitaker:She didn't come up in your Wimbledon highlights and lowlights.

1:09:56David Law:Doesn't know where to put her. Yeah. Bit like Bertic, really. Yeah.

1:10:02Matt Roberts:So is that it for our shout-outs?

1:10:04David Law:That is, yep.

1:10:05Matt Roberts:Is there anything we can do to eke out more Wimbledon?

1:10:09Catherine Whitaker:I'm afraid not. That's it. You'll probably be watching Gods of Tennis later. I reckon that'll do it. Probably.

1:10:17Matt Roberts:Folks, I think that just leaves us to thank you for watching, for listening. However you've enjoyed the tennis podcast this fortnight. We hope you've enjoyed the tennis podcast this fortnight. Without you, it's just us having a chat. Which is also quite good. Which is also great. but there'd be quite a lot of resource going into it for not a lot of return so we're very very grateful to you for listening for participating in the way that you do for creating a really wonderful special community it means so much to us when people pop up on the roof and come and see us and say hello and generally just an incredible vibe it's a very very special thing and we don't take it for granted and we're very grateful for it and we're very grateful to you for listening and giving us a chance to do this and sit here and talk about the sport that we love.

1:11:05Matt Roberts:So thank you. We will be back in a week because that's tennis. David's going on holiday. I'm going on holiday, but don't worry. We're here. We have content coming your way, the soonest of which is our Wimbledon review show up for friends at the Tennis Podcast next week. And the link to become a friend, as I said, is in our show notes. That's it. nothing to be said thank you for listening happy Wimbledon 2025 hopefully we'll see you next year