Live from Wimbledon Day 4 - Dimitrov, Berrettini roll back the years

0:10Hello and welcome to the Tennis Podcast live from Wimbledon and presented by Barclays, the official banking partner of Wimbledon. That incredibly unprofessional intro was largely cameraman Matthew's fault, but also because we have a crowd.

0:30They made it through security. Yay! We don't know how, but they are here. And we are very grateful for the rule breakers of Wimbledon, day four. It is day four of the championships here at SW19. The second round has been completed. And the last man to sneak his way into the last 32 was one Grigor Dimitrov. If you're with us live on YouTube tonight, you've probably just watched his four set win over 15th seed Jakub Mensik, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 6-3. More an exorcism, David, than a win. I felt like we all and Grigor Dimitrov were doing trauma processing there in real time. That was a lot for me. I cannot imagine what that was like for Grigor Dimitrov yeah because he had to remind everybody on court that when play stopped for bad light and they needed to put the roof on that that's what happened to him here a year ago when he played Yannick Sinner and he reckons that that was responsible or at least a contributory factor to him getting injured or at least you know he's freaked out by it and he was worried you know and there's obviously a delay and you cool down and all the rest of it.

1:54And look, he's carried this with him for a year. You spoke to him at the US Open, Catherine, for Tennis Podcast Meets in... Australia. In Australia. And he was so open, wasn't he, about how you're so rarely in that flow state where you're playing Yannick Sinner, you're two sets up, and you're playing like you always wished in your dreams that you could play on centre court at Wimbledon against the very best player in the world. That's what he was doing. and then just a terrible, terrible situation for him. I know this is only the second round. I know it's only Jakub Menchik and that's not to dismiss him as a really, really good player.

2:30It's not Yannick Sinner. And, you know, there's so long to go. But it was a moment. He has been waiting for a moment ever since that Wimbledon centre quarter last year. He's been playing the challenger in Dublin. He reckons that that's helped get him ready for this. But how many matches in first rounds have we seen him play and just not get out of and just not be able to get any momentum going. And there he is with his old coach, Jamie Delgado, in his box there, sitting alongside David Albandian, who's part of the team these days. And yeah, here he is pulling out a really, really good win, proper grass court tennis, just exposing Mensik in the end and now setting up a clash against Matteo Berrettini, of all people.

3:16It's only round three that, but it feels like so much has already happened. But even in isolation, it feels like it doesn't really matter because he had this moment getting choked up in the interview and showing everybody still how he can play. Guy Dixon on the live chat says 25 years since Goran's wildcard win. Grigor could replicate this in 2026. So we're all keeping our heads about the Grigor-Dimitrov situation. Something while you were having a chat over there. Matthew lent into me and he said I think he's going to win the tournament Matthew that thought Sitopas was beating Djokovic last night and Pliskova was beating Fionta yeah but third time lucky guys third time I like it yeah Matthew keeps saying I've got to get one of these he's really really confident about it so wow he just he just said you know it's just I don't think I don't think Djokovic is going to do it I think he's going to do it but there is also Yannick Sinner I know but Matthew Matthew knows that he was two sets to love up against Yannick Sinner.

4:15He's proved he can do it. Well, I'm not getting that carried away. I'm just focusing on tonight and the joy of tonight. And Dimitrov's little, almost like dance at the end when he'd won. He started kicking his feet, sort of giggling like a kid. And even Menchik looked thrilled at the net for him. Very Kasper Rude, that. Yeah, everyone loved Grigor. And, oh, what a moment. Yeah, what a moment. And, look, he kind of stole the third set in a way. That was kind of when I really tuned into this match. And he was the one under pressure on his serve all the way through and kind of digging himself into holes and getting himself out of them.

5:01And then he went down a break in the fourth. And you thought, OK, we're going to be in for the long haul here. And this is probably going to go five. but then he just came up with identical backhand passing shots up the line one after another to get the break back in that fourth set it was incredible shot making and then manages to close it out what a brilliant point to finish as well like one that shows off his his grass court skills where he uses the slice and gets the short ball and whips the forehand it was just it was everything that makes him so good and so good on this surface. And yeah, he was asking for the roof not to be shut after the third set because he thought there was still time to finish outside.

5:46That's how much it was in his head, I think. He was shaking. Yes, and he was having to stretch out his back and his shoulders and his arms, desperate for what happened to him last year not to happen again. He was so on edge about it. So I think he's done an incredible job to play the fourth as he did. And yeah, it feels like redemption. He's always talked the talk, Grigor, hasn't he, about taking the positives from things. He knows that you've got to try and be positive as a tennis player. And I think he generally is a sunny of outlook person. But I think he's also somebody that feels things very deeply.

6:23And he's been talking the talk about, I've processed it. I've moved on. It's okay. It was bad at the time, but it's okay. I really don't think it has been okay until tonight. I think that felt so necessary. He needed it. He needed that. And even in the interview on court afterwards, for the first two minutes, he couldn't talk. He couldn't get a sentence together because of emotion. I kept having to pull away and saying, I've got to get myself together here somehow, you know, and people were cheering him and clapping him and he eventually figured it out, a way to sort of talk about the match and then he was asked at the end, do you know who you play next?

7:10And he says no. And she said, well, do you want to know? And he said, as you wish, he said to her. And she said, Matteo Berrettini. And he goes, oh, that's going to be a pretty match. Game sees game. And I'm thinking, are you talking start a play or you're talking... Yeah, it's the sort of sad, handsome off. Don't you just love it, though, that they're both... These are two guys that are in the autumn of their careers and they've both had so much disappointment, really, sadness on tennis, because they've had great moments as well. I mean, Berrettini was a finalist here. Dimitrov has reached Grand Slam semi-finals, but it's always felt like they've both left something on the table.

8:00Not necessarily all because of their own doing, mostly because of injury. And yet there's still something there and they're getting moments and now they're going to share a court. I love that. And I think there's still something there for both of them here. Yeah. More so than anywhere else. It's a pretty match, but it's also a grass court specialists match. I mean, the Dimitrov slice, I mean, that did for Menshik today. It was so damaging. I saw some analysis from Gil Gross using Tennis Insights about how there's a lot of talk about the Menshik forehand being shonky. And actually, the forehand is kind of fine, stands up really well if it's above waist height.

8:41And we saw that in Paris, where it mostly really stood up to scrutiny, the Menshik forehand. But it's when it's below waist height that he has real trouble with it. And Gregor is a master at keeping the ball low. And he got caught out by that over and over today. And Berrettini, David, against Artifis, not that exact same story, but a gulf in experience and nows on this particular surface. I actually think it was quite similar. Watching where I get chance to watch it, because I was commentating on it for BBC Radio 5 Live, and we are sort of head-hiked to the players in the corner of the court.

9:20and you get to see the trajectory of the ball and what it's doing off the surface. And I think sometimes you can hear people like us and commentators and pundits reference how grass takes the slice. And you can hear them talk about such and such players' game is suitable and effective on a surface. And I think when you watch on TV, sometimes that isn't completely transferable as a way to explain it. I sometimes watch a tennis match from the end of the court with the TV view and think, I don't quite understand why that player's missing and that player's shots are so effective on this surface. When you see it court level, you really get it.

10:03Trying to see Art of Peace handle the gamer Berrettini, who just is so experienced on grass, so good at the particulars, the minutiae of hitting a slice, of getting around and slapping a forehand, hitting a drop shot at the right time, volleying, keeping it low, and hitting a big serve, and just stopping Feast playing the ball in the kind of slot that he wants it in. And he was just sort of sliding the ball all over the place. And it is a different sport in that regard, or a very different slant on the same sport and you just would not get the same reaction out of Berrettini's game on any other surface.

10:49The ball wouldn't do the same things with his shots and it's just a nightmare for these players. Against Dimitrov, you're going to get two players who can both do it. That is going to be like going back to a match from the 90s or maybe even the 80s because it won't all be serve and volley but there'll be so much sliding the ball around and keeping incredibly low to the ground, both ball and player. Now then, the patron saint of you never know over here, David Law. I'm not going to ask you, can it happen for Dybatrov? Because if you know anything, it's that anything can happen in sport and you are the you never know guy.

11:31I'm not going to ask you, will it happen? Because only a madman would predict that it will happen.

11:39Go on, Matthew. I am going to ask you exactly how ludicrous you think it is that Matthew has made that prediction tonight. How improbable does it feel right now? I don't think it's ludicrous to think that Dimitrov could reach the final. I don't. And the reason is because the next match feels 50-50 to me. Him and Berrettini feels 50-50. And the winner of that should win the next one because it would be Bergs or Ferry. They should win that one, the winner of it. And then you're into that, and they can let Zverev and Fritz and Tiafa beat each other up in the other section of the draw. There is Dimonor.

12:22There is Dimonor as a quarterfinal. And look, probably he's the favourite to come through that section. But on the surface, Dimitrov, if he's fit, he would back himself, I think, to be able to cause trouble. So I don't think it's out of the realms that he could. The big question mark has to be also whether his body holds, because how many grand slams has he had to retire in in the last year? It's not just Wimbledon, is it, last year? It's several. It's more often than not that his body just fails him. And it is only the second round. It sounds ridiculous. But the level he's playing and the inspiration he gets from this crowd, well him and Berrettini I just again hope that they're fit hope that they play out another classic well that's all made me very emotional it's not ludicrous for him to get to the final I don't think do you agree?

13:21it's unlikely I really don't want to have to go after David come on because David's made such a nice case let's have it and I do believe you for tennis reasons I do think this bottom half is so open there are so many people you can make a case for and I don't think there's much between a lot of them and I would put Dimitrov and Berrettini in there I just don't trust either of their bodies over six best-of-five set matches I don't and Berrettini we saw it at the French Open month ago and Dimitrov as Dave has described we've seen it so many times over the last couple of years so I would probably say like on on on balance there I would take someone else in in this half of the draw over either of them just because I have more faith in in other people to last the course but I would you know I would love either Berrettini or Dimitrov to get to the final it would be incredible especially Dimitrov.

14:27Be such a sentimental I mean it's it's every sentimental person's pick, surely. How hard of heart would you have to be to not take some pleasure and some joy from that? Maybe you're just a Taylor Fritz guy, because if one of those two's in the final, then Taylor Fritz isn't there. I mean, not loads to report from his match today, 6-2, 7-5, against Patrick Kipson. He wore the blazer again. He wore the trousers again. He tried to do the stripper whip of the trousers a bit more smoothly today than he did two days ago which wasn't hard because by his own admission it was not smooth two days ago he said he'd got some advice from from tiafo who really has really has got the magic mic thing down yeah he looks like he's been doing it on a weekly basis yeah off it goes uh still not quite that smooth but he's got at least another round to perfect it i did find it interesting that he didn't put the blazer on for the interview which the real, the guys that are really committed to the Blazer, they put it back on for the interview at the end.

15:35That's what Djokovic is doing. Fritz is like, I've done my bit. I've done my bit with the Blazer. The sponsors are happy. They're going to talk about it on the tennis podcast. Let's quit while we're ahead. And he gave a really great interview on the court and also some interesting quotes that he gave to ESPN after the match as well. He visited the set. he still seems to be having a bit of a crisis about not playing Eastbourne. He really wanted to play Eastbourne. And he said, you know, he's just absolutely dismissed Patrick Kipson in this match. And that's two straight sets matches. He's looked great.

16:12And he said, I still haven't got the rhythm that I usually have. Because I didn't play and win Eastbourne. You know, that's my routine here in this part of the season. And then he was asked about it further on ESPN. And he said that his team forced him not to play Eastbourne. He said he wanted to play. But after making the two finals at the previous two events, they said, this is madness, Taylor. And he listened to them just like he did with not playing Monte Carlo. Good for them. And I suppose the point being that it's OK not to feel rhythm in the first couple of rounds. that's what Yannick Sinner's talking about at the moment that's what a lot of the top players who don't play the week before a slam feel they trust themselves in those early rounds get through it and then they've got plenty in the tank for the end of the tournament I think Fritz's in a great place I really do I think he had a good form coming in he's kept it going remember last year when he got when he was on court the entire first week here at Wimbledon he played those long first matches in the first couple of rounds He did a great job to get through them.

17:22They were tougher draws than this. But, you know, you always felt like he was playing catch-up from that point. And he was going to have to try and conserve and make the best of what he had. And he did. But here it's been efficient winning. And I think the most important quote that he gave all day was talking about his knee. And saying how, yes, it is still a work in progress in terms of, like, properly getting over it. But he said, it's felt great on the grass. and he was worried about the grass with the kind of bending down low and sort of unstable nature of it but he says he hasn't been thinking about knee pain on court and that's a huge step forward for and that's through the whole of the grass court season so and i think i feel like he would have told us you know i think he's i think he struggles to to not be honest about kind of what he's feeling out there i think if there was there were an issue i think you would be able to kind of detect it and And that's not to say that something won't come.

18:19It's still there in the background, I think, for him. But so far, so good. And, yeah, it's so important to be in this side of the draw. And there's a lot of good players. But he's kind of leading the pack in this bottom half. He's going to win Wimbledon and still be thinking about the Eastbourne that got away. I want to hear him say it in his on-court speech when he's holding the trophy. I could have done the double. The thing is, Eastbourne probably don't want him to win Wimbledon because then that will become his new routine. Yeah. Anyway, it's lovely that he feels that way about a 250 the week before a slam, but I also think it's absolutely the right thing for him not to be playing it, certainly in these particular circumstances where he'd gone to the final the two weeks previously.

19:09He's got Lorenzo Sonnego next in round three. he beat Diallo today in five sets. Sonogo Diallo, of course that went five sets. Of course. Of course it was down here with lots of noise. Yes. Alexander Zverev very little to report here. A slightly more competitive third set against Valentin Royer. 6-1, 6-3, 7-6. He's got Marcus Girone next, who's a good grass court player, Girone, but you'd have to call that a fairly comfy draw, Royer Girone for the second week. At the moment he got past that first round, I thought, before he gets to the fourth round or quarterfinals when he would face Fritz. Quarterfinals.

19:52I just thought, I don't see anybody threatening him until then, really. You mentioned Arthur Ferry. He beat Otto Wertonen today, the conqueror of Ben Shelton, of course, in the previous round. And you said, Matt, I know despite the fact that you're a big Werton and Believer, when you were asked about Werton and Ferry today, you did say it's really, really tough to come back after a big win. And that is what it looked like today for him against Arthur Ferry. Four sets, good match. We sent Matthew out to be our reporter on this one. He really enjoyed it. Did indeed enjoy the work of Arthur Ferry.

20:32And he said, yeah, he's a bargain basement Carlos Alcaraz. Which is a great review. He absolutely meant as a compliment. And he is a compliment, I think. He was buzzing about Ferry when he got back. I think to be any version of Carlos Alcaraz is a tremendous compliment. And what he liked is how brave he is and daring and willing to take on difficult shots and make plays. And yeah, he did really well today, Ferry. and again he's in a he's in an open section of the draw I mean it's a tough one against Zizou Burgs who's just won a grass court title and has kept that going but you would sign for that right?

21:18Absolutely to reach the second week of Wimbledon Burgs would sign for it as well by the way like he's pleased with his draw so there's an opportunity for both there Yeah, Burgs is finally happening my long range investment in Zizou Berg's is finally what constitutes happening well doing a damn sight more than he's done for the rest of the season David I feel a bit like that about Berrettini some total of nothing and Dimitrov now they're only going to be one of them after the next round Flavio Caboli he gets a day off tomorrow and he gets into round three two big bits of news for Flavio Caboli who I was keeping an eye on this on the screen with a bunch of other matches at the same time and every time I turned my attention to his court he was on the floor he seems to be just a bit of a chaos magnet and he seems to be sort of exhausted by it I think he is exhausted but also seeing the fun in it I think he's a good example of how clay court guys and guys that have expended a lot in Paris can can kind of come into this, like come into Wimbledon with a realism, I think there's a realism about him, I don't think he'll be gutted if and when he loses say when he loses not predicting Caballi to Wimbledon, I don't think he'll be devastated but I also think he's giving his heart and soul when he's out on the court, I mean he's as I say, clearly exhausted on the floor after every other point, I don't quite know why, maybe he thinks that he's seen Boris Becker and thinks that's that's what you need to be doing he's he's giving incredible stuff in the on-court interviews today it was a question again with Jenny Drummond she seems to be getting all the all the big moments in the interviews and um actually no excuse me it was Carthy Carthy and Anna Seagram this one um and uh she noted that he had scooped up 15 towels at the end of the match.

23:2915. I didn't know there were 15 made available to them. And the question was, are you going to distribute them to the, is it so that you could distribute them to the Italian fans that are here cheering you on and really were, I mean, we know what the Italian fans are like, right? It was a great vibe out there. And he said, shut up, no.

23:50Around 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. He said, shut up, no. He said, you're stitching me up here. Now I'm going to look like the bad guy for not giving them the towels. But he said, the towels are for my team. But thanks for cheering for me. And again, he just handled it with such charm and sort of loveliness that, yeah, it was great. He wished his trainer a happy 10th wedding anniversary. He said, you're welcome. We're done in good time for dinner.

24:35So you can go out for dinner with your wife. It was good stuff from Kabali. And he's got Karen Hashanov next. Yeah. And if you look at his scores so far this tournament, he's won all four tie breaks he's played. Those have been vital for him. He's had close sets and he's had to very much ride some ups and downs during the matches. But he has played the big moments and the tie breaks incredibly well. And this one's awkward today against Duckworth, who's super consistent, steady, comfortable on the grass, not going to break down physically, like asks a lot of questions. and right at the end of that third set, Caballi just surged and suddenly started coming up with the brilliant shot making we know he's capable of.

25:25And he celebrated that third set today, I think bigger than any set he won at the French Open en route to the final. Like it was an incredible celebration, incredible outburst. And I find Caballi an interesting example of how despite everything David said, which I think is so true about grass and its subtleties and how it can change the sport, Caballi is one of those guys who can thrive on clay and grass. A natural services guy. We get those in the sport and I think a lot of it is about being comfortable moving and he's such a good athlete, such a good mover. He's also brilliant at kind of the return of service.

26:11his eye is so good he can pick up a serve and I think I think that's a quality he really uses on the grass where it's harder to return as it's skidding through and yeah I just think he's an interesting case there and look he prior to the French Open his best slam was was here last year and he reached the quarterfinals and Hugh Grantful asleep I had I'd kind of written him off at this Wimbledon because coming back from the French Open just seemed like such a such a tall order but actually I think he's in a workable section of the draw. He's coming through big moments. He seems to be in a great mood despite saying he hates his life and he's got the qualities to really thrive on this surface and it's really fun to have him back in a draw like this and doing well.

26:58I'm glad he survived these two matches which were close. It's just more fun with him in the draw. Fun is it, isn't it? It's more fun when Flavio's around. The last men's result to pick up on David Francis Tiafoe avoiding a scare against Jan Choinski, which was, I cannot tell you how far from upset watch this match was for me. So when Tiafoe loses the first set to Choinski, 6-4, not only do I start paying attention, but David hightails it over to court number three? Two. Court number two, because of course David is, David's got some credibility riding on Francis Tiafoe this fortnight. I didn't know my prediction was not that Francis Tiafoe would go out to Jan Choinski.

27:44What happened? Well second set Tiafoe pretty comfortable 6-2 and gets himself back on track but the third set was a bit of an ordeal quite honestly for for Tiafoe I mean Choinski I've never seen him play like that I mean he's 6-5 he's he's just broken into the world's top 100 he's 30 years old you know he's been trying this for a long time he's he's a real workhorse of a player um but he's limited he's got a huge serve and probably this is the first time i've really sat down and watched a match live courtside um he prepared for this tournament he only played one i think one grass court tournament you know he was playing clay court tournaments when the grass court season had started you know and you look at the size of him you think really is that a good idea apparently he's much more comfortable on clay that's where his challenger wins have come from but toe to toe from the baseline he was just really cracking his backhand he's got a really sweet strike on that hits it very flat he was going toe to toe he was getting the better of some of the baseline exchanges Tiafa was doing quite a bit of of then suddenly throwing in a short ball and then lobbing him or passing him and he was getting some success with that.

29:05But there's probably only so many times in a game that you can do that. You've sometimes got to just play bread-and-butter type tennis from the baseline. And honestly, Choinski was staying with him all the way through. Goes to the business end of it, and the absolutely vital moment came when they were at five games all, and Choinski was brought into the net again. Hits a volley into the open court. Tiafa just sprints off to his right and just slaps this forehand cross-court winner through Choinski rather than past him it went under his armpit it went so far and I said to Matt Futterman sitting next to me from the athletic I said did it was one of those where the shadows are lengthening on the court because it's it's sort of seven o 'clock in the evening and and it's bright sunshine but only on part of the court I said did did Choinski lose that in the sun and and Matt said no no it just went too fast he couldn't do anything it was extraordinary and then Tiafa just sort of stands there looking at somebody in the crowd like this and it was a brilliant pose but the whole match was was an ordeal for him I think um the biggest win for him aside from obviously getting through to the next round is that he didn't get stopped for bad light again because that's what happened to him in the first round against Terence that man if he had have done it that would have meant he was playing four days in a row which is really not ideal he's now got a really tough match she plays against Alexander Bublik yeah how do you feel about that I actually think in some ways this match was probably quite good preparation for getting the eye in on the big serve I mean you're not going to get the changes of pace that Bublik's going to throw at him Bublik won in straight sets today so I think that that is it's probably a pretty much 50-50 match I'd make Tiafoe a marginal favorite on paper but I just believe in Tiafoe as hence why I've put him all the way are you seeing the things you saw in Haller that made you so convinced by him or is that not really what these first few rounds are about and he just needs to get through those it's nowhere near as convincing as that at this point I mean that he was chopping the very best players up in that tournament he lost a set to Terence Atman who's a good player but he's not that level he lost a set today against shan choinski 100 in the world um he's gonna have to really raise it against public but in a way i think that that might be a little bit easier for him to get his head around because you're you're supposed to beat these guys that's you know that that's in his mind a little bit he's trying really hard to sort of just compartmentalize it into a match but you know he wants a deep run he doesn't want to even have to consider losing to this guy Well, and we know he's given that quote about losing to Clans.

31:58Yeah, and he was very sort of sporting, and it was a good handshake. But I do think it's about getting through. It's just that you need to have an injection now. You need to have another level that you find. And he's got it. It's in there. But now he's got to bring it out because, you know, it's serious. It's serious suddenly. It's public, and then it's probably Fritz. And, you know, there's no, I mean, the old cliche, there's no easy, well, there's no easy match for him right now. Grant Campbell says, Bublik is like watching West Brom in the championship. You just don't know what you're getting.

32:38How do you feel about that take? I'd take Bublik's ranking for West Brom in Germany, to be quite honest. And while we're on the football, Spain 3-0. Vamos. Okay, before we move on. It's great having two teams in the last 16. Right, on to the women's matches from today. Let's start with Iga Svjantek. Not necessarily because this match was particularly scintillating, 6-1, 6-3 over a very hampered Karolina Pliskova, but just because Iga Svjantek is so fascinating and her next match is absolutely fascinating. I mean, anything to say about today? I mean, Pliskova isn't... She's not a gazelle at the best of times.

33:21It's not a movement-based game, is it? and today she was extra far from being a gazelle. She had a lot of strapping going on. It wasn't pretty, this. Would that be fair to say? Yes, I think that would be fair to say and Svantec started brilliantly, jumped out to an early lead and kept it going. She did get broken at the start of the second and there was a brief moment where I thought, oh my God, it's happening again, even against this Pliskova. but she got it back on track straight away and ensured that it didn't become like we've seen in a lot of matches where she struggles to get it back um yeah she was good today she on tech and she talked in the press conference about kind of what what David thought might happen getting the first match off her back she said she felt a lot more relaxed and at ease going into this one compared to going into the first match on Centre Court on Tuesday as the defending champion.

34:22She said it was just an easier match to prepare for in that sense. And, you know, I think there is a correlation between how Shvantec plays and the pressure she feels like she's under. And, yeah, she was very good today, did a good job of exploiting that Piscova movement and moves on very comfortably. to what I think is an incredibly tricky match for her in round three against a player who's beaten her before on a big stage in Alexandra Eala, who I went out to watch today with Matthew, beating Maya Joint 3-6, 6-2, 6-love. So I watched the early stages of this from the media centre, then went out to court number three, where there was a good amount of Filipino support.