Live from Wimbledon Day 6 - Can Iga Swiatek win this title?

0:10Hello and welcome to the tennis podcast live from Wimbledon on day six of the championships. No Taylor Fritz on today's schedule. So here we are in glorious daylight, a beautiful summer's night in SW19, a day with relatively few upsets, not no upsets because it's Wimbledon. Wimbledon 2025, but not as many as we've become accustomed to. We'll be talking about all of it over the next hour or so here at Wimbledon on the Tennis Podcast with me, Catherine Mütter, David Law on the right, Matt Roberts in the middle, looking nervous about Amanda Enesimova's big match on Court 1 tomorrow. Yeah, yeah. I promised on last night's pod to head over to Court 1 today for my debut this tournament.

0:56didn't actually end up making it but I definitely 100 % will be there tomorrow and yeah got some got some big match nerves I'm nervous for Matt David yeah it's it's big time tomorrow isn't it it's the Jerry Inisim over double I mean you may as well just take your tent after the show just go go and get ready I mean that's all that matters in your world for the next 24 hours big day for Matt tomorrow we'll look ahead to that later in the show, we'll talk about everything over the course of the next hour but I do feel like we should start with Iga Svantec because today I think has been a huge day for Iga Svantec for two reasons, her own match and result and performance and for results elsewhere that we'll come on to but let's start with Svantec herself and her statement victory 6-2, 6-3 over Danielle Collins a match that puts egg on the face of people like us that were bigging up what this contest could be I felt like this was Igor Svantec with a point to prove today David and she proved it Yes, excellent from start to finish today and yeah I asked if I could do this match as a commentary because I thought on the schedule it was the one out of all of them that had the potential to be really good in what I thought might be a quiet day.

2:26And I think that that was proved quite right. But actually, this was almost the quietest of the loss because it was so uneventful because Collins just couldn't make any impressions on the match. I mean, I don't think she had a good day and she was losing her footing quite early on. But a couple of times she slammed that backhand down the throat of Svantec in the way that she would have hoped to. Sviantec just kind of did a little pirouette around the ball and just got back in the rally there's a really good piece written by Matt Futterman in The Athletic about these two players and particularly about Iger Sviantec overnight which talked about how just because she hasn't had good results on grass in recent years doesn't mean she can't play on it but it's it's been about trying to refine her approach rather than just think that she can't do it and And it drew attention to something that I've been seeing for years now, that when she gets under pressure against particularly a big hitter, she tries to take them on at their own game.

3:29And she just has no margin at all. And she lost to Elisa Corne three years ago when she was on her incredible run. She lost last year to Putin Saver in a very similar way. Just hitting long, hitting long, hitting long. this piece was about how Wim Fassett has tried to get her to reign that in and use some of the things that she was doing when she was Wimbledon Junior Champion and I saw it today, I saw it, she wasn't trying to just hit the living daylights out of everything she was waiting for the chance, she was using margins and angles and it was just a masterclass really, it was her at her best It was almost like watching her on her most familiar and comfortable surfaces like clay.

4:14And yeah, that was a statement performance. But I think the biggest statement was made to herself that she's good enough on this surface to go all the way, really. I think if she's in a showdown with a Sabalenka, that might be a different matter. But there's no reason why she can't. Do you think she took particular pleasure in putting in that kind of performance against Danielle Collins today slamming the door shut in her face there did seem to be quite a lot of glee about her She was buzzing She was absolutely buzzing and I think, yeah, part of it could well be Danielle Collins related I tend to think that that aggro is more the other way like for some reason I think Danielle Collins really has it in Frigas Fiontech and I don't think Schwente likes it but I don't think she's constantly making a point of it in the way that Danielle Collins does and has I can't believe it's not upsetting for Schwente I'm sure it has been but I think I think mostly it was about how well she played today and I agree with David look I'm not going to say today was the first time I ever thought Igor Schwente could win Wimbledon because I'm sure in the past I probably have thought well she's so good she's so dominant on other surfaces and at other tournaments I'm sure there have been times in the past where I've thought and probably said on this podcast Igor's fiancé will figure out Wimbledon one day I've certainly had doubts about that over the last year or so but today was a real day where I thought well I mean she could win this Wimbledon I mean given the way that the draw is heading and given the way she's playing I was really impressed today I thought I thought I'm always talking about it but she served outstandingly well a high percentage and in particular incredibly effective behind her first serve her pace on the first serve was really high as well and you know she did that thing got an early break in the second set and then just served it out just confidently served it out like didn't need the extra break um she was constantly threatening the Danielle Collins serve herself with her own returns and like she just had this incredible balance of going after the ball when she needed to but actually being incredibly patient moving Collins from side to side locking down her game it was a great performance really really good and yeah like she always said that when she won junior Roland Garros one of the reasons sorry when she won Julia Wimbledon I'm sorry was that she hadn't won Roland Garros and she was so determined to win that year's Roland Garros that she sort of was in a headspace of right okay now it has to be Wimbledon because she was desperate to win a Junior Slam but wasn't Katie McNally involved in some aspect of this?

7:13very possibly I think maybe they maybe they met in one of the matches I think so anyway yeah but either way I was just thinking about it in terms of like now she's a pro like there is this weird thing of we've always felt like the transition from Roland Garros to Wimbledon was going to be tough for Igor Sviontek but we've always she's come in in the last few years having won Roland Garros so you're always like well she's confident she's playing well can she carry it on this time she lost at Roland Garros and we kind of went the other way we were like well her form's not been good she's not playing that well therefore Wimbledon's going to be tough but actually it kind of feels like losing at Roland Garros being in this totally different mindset more under the radar a bit a bit down in the rankings having had some reps on the grass in Bad Homburg it just feels like there's a bit of momentum gathering behind her right now and yeah I've definitely been guilty in the past of just kind of assuming that her game doesn't work as well on the grass and look it's not going to be her best surface but if she serves like that and if she can move like that and she's got that mindset and that patience there's of course the game can work on grass because she's she's one of the best players in the world and she can make it work and today i thought she was awesome emily marsden is validating me in the live chat she says katie mcnally beat her in the Roland Garros Junior semi-finals then they won the Roland Garros Junior doubles title together and then Iga Shontek came came in here and won the the Wimbledon Junior singles title she said in her on-court interview after the match Shontek she said many things in that interview she said this is the first time that the ball is listening to me on grass and she didn't mean the match she meant in general she meant in her practice sessions generally that she's been having on grass lovely clothes yeah and it makes sense doesn't it like it doesn't feel like she's fighting against something out there this year and it feels like the first first time that's the case she's going with it I mean she sees it as the grass is going with me but from the outside it looks like Shontake's going with the grass.

9:36Yeah, yeah, exactly. And I've been thinking today, I was talking with our colleague Itamar who's here about something that actually Rafa Nadal said on Andy Roddick's podcast, which was that after clay, grass was actually the surface that he thought suited his game the most when he was fit and when he was healthy. and like you said, I would much rather have played Novak Djokovic on grass than on a hard court and I was kind of thinking about that in the context of Igor Svontek I was kind of like, well, you know, she obviously looks up to Rafael Nadal so much and her game is not the same as Rafael Nadal's, but there are elements, you know that if she can get her serve working, she's got the foot speed to be able to get the forehand into play she doesn't have a slice, kind of, like Nadal did but I just I had like an epiphany today I was kind of like grass can work I thought she was so so good in this match in a way that I've never seen her like that on on centre court before even when she's battled through she had that great match with Ben Shicks didn't she a few years ago but it wasn't she wasn't playing with this conviction against an opponent who yes she normally beats but is normally a really, really dangerous opponent for her.

10:58And, yeah, I just like the way suddenly this tournament's looking for Svantec. A come-to-eager moment. Just came up with that. Is that anything? Could be. We need to talk about pasta with strawberries. It's become a thing. Big time, quickly. Big time. It's the new Frankie the Cat. Oh, that's harsh. There's plenty to talk about. You went in her press conference. I saw that she was asked about it a lot. Big time. And she's done Instagram posts about it. She's leaning in. I don't think she realised that it was going to be such a controversy when she just put it out there in the Encore interview with Anna Melcroft.

11:42I've done some digging. It is a traditional Polish dish called, this is pasta with strawberries, and it really is as described. This is not like a strawberry garnish or, you know, like sometimes you have a raspberry vinaigrette on a savoury salad that only has a slight tang. This is a bowl of pasta with pretty much exclusively strawberries in it. And sometimes there's icing sugar. Like, it's... Sounds quite nice. It's called, and bear with me here, macaron struiscavkami. I've written that out phonetically, clearly. this is from the website polonist quote this is a simple unsophisticated recipe it won't win any awards and it won't shock your taste buds into submission but to but to the whole generations of poles a plate of plain pasta topped with fresh strawberry sauce brings back nostalgic memories and look i'm sure if i was brought up in a culture where this was a comforting dish there's every chance i would enjoy it um i like to think of myself as an adventurous eater but as somebody that has grown up somewhere where pasta with strawberries isn't so much of a thing it does sound absolutely horrendous and the next evolution of the story is all the journalists going and all the Italian players press conferences and asking them what they think everyone's upset that Paolini's out Flavio Caballi is going to get asked about this Caballi, Sina, Sonego pasta questions are coming at you in your next press conference well if they don't approve of chicken in pasta which Paolini does not I would be surprised if they're into this yeah I quite like the sound of it at a Champions Tour event in Chengdu I witnessed I love it when Chengdu Champions Tour events come up I witnessed John McEnroe be served a pizza with strawberries on it and he sent it back he sends a lot of things back but there you go I'm telling you as long as she keeps winning this pasta with strawberries thing is just gonna keep going and and there was a point in there that she was cracking she was kind of cracking jokes in that encore interview she was there was a lightness to her i think you know they kind of knew that they had a lot of time for the encore interview so annabelle croft kind of you know asked a lot of questions but she just spoke so freely and openly she just seemed in a great mood um you know probably because of just how well she played but i just thought you know maybe you know maybe we can read too much into these things but it just it just seemed like a good sign to me that that she seemed so relaxed she was the same in press very happy to talk about the pasta with strawberries thrilled thrilled when it came up and everyone just ran with it and then the insta posts have come it's if you're sick of it now folks buckle up uh and look it was It was already a great day for Svantec, provided she was able to win today because shortly before she took to centre court for her match with Danielle Collins, Elena Rabatkinner departed from her section of the draw.

14:53She went down 7-6-6-3 in a rain-interrupted match on court two to Clara Towson. Your gal, David. It's finally happening. She'd never won a grass court match before this Wimbledon. You just have to persevere sometimes. And I have. And so she. But that's a great win, isn't it? It's a great win. And to win the first set on a tie break, you know, I don't quite know how to think about this because I'm very pleased for Clara Towson, but Elena Rebecca is the most perfectly equipped player on this surface in that draw. And she's not come up drums there. and I just don't think that should be happening.

15:40As well as Clara Tasson's clearly played, it shouldn't be happening that Elena Abackina is out in the first week. I'm not shocked because this has been a theme. She has not played well for a long time. But it's shocking that it's not shocking, isn't it? Yeah, it shouldn't be happening. She should be doing way better than this. What's going wrong, Matt? You watched pretty much every ball of this, I think. I did yeah look it was a slightly strange match because of the delay at 4-all in the first set was well that was there were actually two delays but that was the longest one at 4-all in the first set and actually I felt Rabatkin was quite lucky to be at 4-all I thought Towson was the better player the one with getting more chances and I thought the break was good for Rabatkin because I did think Towson was the better player but in that first set she was she was really not clinical Rebecca, you know, she had a couple of set points.

16:37There was quite a fluky save from Towson on one of them and a great save on the other. And then it went to a tie break. And again, Rebecca just thought there was a point, a big point, where she just should have put the ball away. And had she put it away, she would have had three set points consecutively. Some moments of just horrible misses from Rebecca. You know, open court, she would just miss the ball. And if anyone's seen the match point of this, that's exactly what happened then as well, short forehand and just sort of ballooned it long. And that was kind of the story of the match from a Rebecca perspective.

17:13She was, you know, her body language was pretty negative during the second rain delay where they didn't actually go off court. They just sort of sat there while it sort of showered and cleared. She didn't go over to her coaching team once. You know, they're literally staying there on the court. she's got an opportunity to go and talk to her team and she didn't whereas Towson did go over and like just the contrast in vibes there was really really stark and yeah like as you said it's been quite a long time now since Rabakina has had a big win at a slam she's become much more vulnerable in these early stages of slams and for someone whose game makes so much sense especially on grass it's it's a tough scene but i do want to say i was very impressed with Towson i couldn't couldn't believe it when you said never won a match on grass before this event this tournament because it actually seemed like i kind of had a Towson epiphany as well i kind of like i didn't know she welcome to the club but i was like i didn't know you could slice oh matt don't worry she didn't either right so where did that come from then because it It was an incredibly effective shot for her today.

18:30Drop shot, slice, like touch. She was making Rebecca look completely one-dimensional and it looked like she had a few layers to her game, which I was surprised about. It sounds like a bit of a kind of emergency addition to her game, not some big master plan that she's been working on for a long time with a view to targeting success on grass. She talked about it in her press conference as if it was a very Rabacna-specific tactic, potentially inspired by her defeat to Tatiana Maria at Queen's. Right. And, yeah, she was really chuffed with how she was hitting that shot today. She said, my slice was working really good today.

19:13I was hitting all the spots I wanted. It's not often that it works like that. That's what I thought. Right. Okay, this is validated. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And to be honest, that was kind of the theme of the Towson press conference. I was expecting her to be riding high. And she was chuffed with this win. But in terms of bigging up the potential of Towson-Fiontech, which I could really get into, Clara Towson rather poured cold water a little bit on that with her quote. She was asked to look ahead to that match. And she said, look, if I play like I did today, it'll be a tight match. But it's not often I play as good as I did today.

19:58She's just honest, Catherine. You know, she doesn't, you know. Straight shooter. Yeah, yeah. You've got to do better. Psyching out talk than that, haven't you? I'd have thought so. Look, the thing about Towson is, watching her today, I've always thought of her as just a big hitter. You know. And actually, she just had a lot of control about her today. Like, she's not a big hitter who, like, totally smothers you. She kind of gives herself time. She does have a bit of shape on her shots. It's not a totally flat hit. It's a timing-based power. Yeah. Really. She's not throwing her body into the ball.

20:48She's not your strength. More like Keith. But, you know, I've been to so many press conferences today where a player has set up a big match against a top player and has talked in almost sort of self-help speak about how they're excited and they're going to do this and that and the other. And yet you're kind of looking at them thinking, you've got no chance. And yet Towson's doing the opposite. And I kind of feel like she might actually be dangerous. You know, she's not saying a lot, but actually that's her way. And she may come out. and just connect. And if she connects, she's blooming dangerous.

21:29She may well, but I definitely think that Svantec rather plays Towson than Rabakina. That's huge for Svantec, isn't it? Rabakina going out? I think so. I was looking at that as a real roadblock in the draw, to be quite honest, given what we've seen Rabakina do in the past against Svantec. But, you know, even just a month ago, she was leading that match at Roland Garros comfortably. I know Shefiontech turned it around, but on the clay, obviously now I'm a grass court, Shefiontech convert, but on the clay, like, it made more sense that Shefiontech was able to turn that around. Had that been on grass, I think that would have been a real challenge for her.

22:11And I just think with Towson, yes, she does have power, but she doesn't have complete smothering power like Rebecca Canota, her best, does. And also, if Schvontek plays like she did today, she can just, I think she can absorb the Towson power and move her, move her side to side and be patient in rallies. If she serves well herself, that will give her a foundation. Yeah, as you said, it's a two-pronged reason why that was a good day for Igor Schvontek today. and that maybe Towson can defy her own quotes and play like that again, and in which case she would be dangerous. But I don't know. I think I'm backing Svante there.

22:57I'm backing Svante. I also think she's giving me confidence at the moment, Svante, that she's not going to panic. If she does get manhandled for a few games by the power of Towson and get rocked back on her heels a bit, I don't get the impression at the moment that she's going to panic. That's, I think, the most important thing to her longevity in this draw, you know, because that's what she's been doing in recent Wimbledons, panicking. I mean, recent events, really, this year. And I think that that is what Wimphoset has been trying to recondition in her game, is to just get her to stop doing that.

23:36Stop worrying. Trust your movement. Trust your racket skills. but be prepared to just neutralize and and we were talking about this in australia that was a that was the style of play she brought to the australian open you know she wasn't necessarily hitting out all the time she was using some variety she was soaking up pace she was being a counter puncture at times but she was also like dismissing opponents too it was a great blend and balance that she had in Australia and as the season's gone on she's moved away from it but yeah today was the first time I really felt like it was back, actually no the turnaround against McNally was another one, I said it, patience that's what got her through that match and it was a key attribute today as well Cameraman Matthew was just distracted by him tenderly placing a waterproof jacket over all the equipment could you tenderly place a waterproof jacket over us?

24:34Please? because it is starting to rain. I've got an emergency umbrella here and there is another one in my bag as well, Matthew, if you need it for the equipment. We're monitoring the situation. It's fine, there's no rain in the forecast. A quote from merely half an hour ago. It's just a few spits and spots. At that point, Matt, we were very committed to this position. It was all about just making the best of an unchangeable situation, which we shall continue to do. Absolutely. Right, let's head to court one and the opening match there, Mira Andreva dissecting Hayley Baptiste, 6-1, 6-3. It definitely took Baptiste, I thought, a while to settle in that environment.

25:14The roof was on for this match. It was all new and overwhelming and she was overhitting a lot in the opening set. There was a moment at 4-2 in the second set, Andreva serving, where it felt like if Baptiste could have just got one of the break points in that game, then everything could have changed. And in that one game alone, Baptiste won over everybody inside court one. She left, you know, this was a 6-1, 6-3 match. And that is kind of reflected of how one-sided it was. I thought Andreeva was awesome. And yet Baptiste left the court to a rousing ovation. Like people will remember Hayley Baptiste from today.

25:56Yeah, because there was that pocket where they played well at the same time. And it made you think, just imagine if Baptiste had played her best today. And I'd like to see it again. I'd like to see that match up again. That's what I left thinking. Because the first set was a disappointment. Very one-sided on the scoreboard. There were little flickers for Baptiste, but she was missing a lot. And Andréva was playing beautifully. She just sort of had an answer to everything. But in the second set, when Baptiste rallied, there were a couple of points where they'd have like a 10-12 shot rally and every shot in the rally was different.

26:33Slices, whipped forehands, drive backhands, volleys. And I think there were two of those in two points and both of them ended with Andrava passing shots. There was nothing more that Baptiste could do. She was throwing everything she got. And Andrava's passing shots are so good. she just dissects you she stays with you gets in position and then you you know and the thing is the first one she did with a backhand and I thought okay well that's where you've gone wrong Hayley because you've done everything else right but you don't get to the backhand next point she went to the forehand and she got skewered with that one cross-court as well it was it was a beautiful performance from Andreva I thought and and you know a suggestion to me that that she's not done yet and she's still got that big serve as well knocking those in nearly 120 miles an hour the serve is huge like the with the roof on today the crack that that serve the noise that it makes it's a huge weapon she looks everything apart from the forehand looks so right on grass i don't think hayley baptiste was able just because she didn't have a range today to go hard into that forehand and ask the question of it.

27:47I do think there are going to be players, potentially Igor Shvantec, in a semi-final that can ask bigger questions of that technique on the forehand. And I would like to see her ask those questions because I don't really know how big an issue it is on this surface because today I thought she looked a dream and I was kind of nailing her on for the semi-finals, really. And she did actually talk about that in press. She said she felt like today she found the right balance between slicing the forehand and hitting over it with topspin. But she did say something telling. She said, I found the right balance between slicing and hitting the forehand when I had the time.

28:27She does need time to hit through the forehand. So there's a very obvious play against her if somebody is able to technically execute. Yeah, which I think is why, you know, with that probably one big exception, Sabalenka's had a lot of success against Andreeva. Like, she can rush that side. It'll be Emma Navarro next for Mira Andreeva. She beat the defending champion, knocked her out. Barbora Krejcikova, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. Look, there's a Navarro story in this match. She was very impressive from midway through the second set. There were some fascinating exchanges between her and her coach, Peter Ayers, but I do feel like we should deal with the Krojikova of all this first because there were some incredibly distressing scenes out there on court one in the deciding set when Krojikova started to fail physically.

29:27I at first thought it was the back that was troubling her because she kept on being bent double and using her knees as a brace. And we know she's had this chronic back issue, but it turned out she was feeling physically very, very ill. She became dizzy. She described in some quotes afterwards, she didn't come to a press conference because she wasn't well enough, but she did provide some quotes. She said it was basically like she powered down. It sounded like it happened quite suddenly. and it was quite dramatic. She was so upset. She was in tears at the back of the court, shaking. You know, that is not how you want your Wimbledon title defence to end.

30:12And look, I think we should remember here that Barbora Krochika has barely played a match for a year. She was the bookies favourite in her opening round match to lose. Alexandra Ayala was favourite to beat her. The fact that she won two matches here and made it competitive against Emma Navarro is good news for Barbora Krejcikova, given where she's been recently. Do you remember watching her in her match at the French Open? I found that quite harrowing, actually, how unathletic, uncompetitive she looked. I thought there's no way she's going to be able to mount any kind of Wimbledon title defence.

30:55And she looked like herself at this tournament. And I think that's uplifting, even if it ended on an incredibly upsetting note. And it was upsetting. It was brutal. It was really upsetting to watch her, yeah, kind of sobbing at the back of the court midway through that final set or certainly towards the end of that final set. She got an amazing ovation and reception from the court one crowd after that. But yeah, it was absolutely brutal because you could tell that the tennis was, when it was there, it was so good and it was troubling Navarro so much. Like her forehand is such an incredible shot.

31:42The angle that she can create on it, the disguise, the precision with it. And it was doing so much damage in this match. and in that final set she could break Navarro but she couldn't hold serve. They kept being an incredible amount of breaks in that final set and Craig Chico was just clearly struggling so much. She was sort of getting the serve in and then immediately having to go after the ball and play a lot more aggressively than she would usually do because of how she was feeling. And yeah, it's just such a such a brutal way for a for a title defense to end, really, considering that had she been fitter and healthier, I think I think the tennis is is good enough to, well, to honestly to beat anyone in the draw.

32:33You know, considering that she won the title last year and we've seen what she's done against so many of the best players in the world at times in her career. and it's kind of, she's got so used to having to come back from these enforced breaks and it is remarkable the level that she can pick up in so few matches and I did feel like her movement had even improved from the first round but I thought she was really tentative. I felt like in the first set today it was much more the Kraychikova that won this tournament last year, minus the serve, which was such a big factor for her last year. And yeah, really, honestly, a really tough seat.

33:16With most of the upsets this tournament or big moments this tournament, it's kind of a shame to lose so many seeded players in one sense. But I've just found myself having a lot of fun this tournament. I had very little fun watching this because it was just kind of harrowing to see Craig Chicova go through it like that. Yeah, Navarro was a class act throughout. There was a fascinating exchange between her and her coach, Peter Ayers, after the second set, Krojikova went off court. She went over to coaching box, as you're allowed to do. And he just, I really like him. I really like the way he talks, the way he addresses her, how I love, the dynamic just seems so healthy.

34:06healthy and he said be good to yourself he said this isn't easy it's a challenge be good to yourself just go one point to the next give it all you've got and you'll be fine and like I want him to come and give me affirmations in my daily life the way he said that was just so reassuring but also empowering it didn't feel like she was seeking reassurance as a sort of crutch that she needed a man to come along and say you're going to be fine don't worry don't worry it just just felt really healthy and encouraging but also like you've got this you're you're you like you're enough you've got this and I loved it and I'm full of respect for Emma Navarro and it will be her that takes on Mira Andreva in the next round I think that's good match.

34:59That's a nice match. It's a stylish match isn't it? Yeah. I think could be long. Could be a lot of good rallies. The other fourth round matches set up on the women's side today. Belinda Bencic sneaking through the draw. 10-7 in the match tie break today against Elisabetta Cotciareto. Yeah, this was a match where there was so many women's matches first on today that I couldn't watch them all. I went with the Rebecca Towson match to focus on but I caught the match tie break here and it seemed like two players trying to do quite similar things. Bengtich always wants to take the ball early. That's her thing.

35:54And Kocirato, this tournament has really made it a thing. That was what we said was so impressive against Pugula in the first round. They were both trying to do it in the tie break. It was good. But Bengtric just did it better. Came up with some big shots when she needed them. Koccivetta was up a break in that third set. She turned it around after the rain delay. I think that did help her. She had the momentum. She was up a break in the third. It sounded like Bengtric was maybe getting in her own way a little bit. But once she kind of calmed down and started playing her game, she just had enough to get through.

36:31I don't think she's playing her best, Benchik. I don't think she's in the sort of form that she was in right at the start of the year when she came back so impressively. But actually, fourth round here on grass, I think that's a good run for Benchik. She should have signed for it, I think. Absolutely, yeah. I think this has been a really, really good tournament for her. She's got Alexandrova next, who's finally doing it at slams. Yeah, and it is interesting, isn't it? Because she and Sam Sonova, who have such huge games that do well at tour events, but haven't done well at Grand Slams, they're still there.

37:09And Alexandrova in particular, you know, she's got to take one of these chances. I mean, she should be believing that she can take Belinda Bencic out. And yet, I still think Bencic is probably the favourite. In my mind, even though she hasn't played that much tennis and she's had injuries, I just love the way she steps up and redirects pace. I'm fascinated. Fascinated to see what happens in that. Yeah, Alexandrovic beat Sonmez today. Straight sets in Samsonova. Dismissed Dario Kazekina, 2-3. And she now plays Jessica Boutas-Monaro, who took out Diana Estremska. She's sort of a Wimbledon specialist, Booth Asminero.

37:51She beat Vondrusova, the defending champion, a year ago. And yeah, I would think of her as a clay court player, probably because of her surname. And yet there's a clear ability from her. I mean, I think she's a good player anyway, but she really likes this surface. I think one of the most interesting things at the moment is that there are a lot of players who play well on both clay and grass. There are absolutely still players who come alive in the grass court season, when they might start slamming down serves or whatever, or with just a slice and all that kind of thing. And he's not even in the draw and he's going to catch a stray.

38:37there are your Caspar Rude types who, you know, love the clay. It wasn't me. And don't really give the grass a chance. But, you know, when I talk about like Flavio Caballi, for example, I would not have thought that he necessarily would. He's busy being the ATP social media admin. Yeah. And yet he's talking about the way that he returns the ball being really, really like suiting the grass. And I think, you know, I've mentioned that Nadal quote. We saw Sviantec today. Alcoraz we see it every year look at the way Sinner's just transferring like I think it's a really fascinating part of the sport right now where you do get people who for them it seems like two different sports on grass and clay but actually there's a lot of players who the grass and clay are their best surfaces above hard courts you know they're kind of natural surface specialists and I think Boutes Monero is kind of proving to be one and Craig Shikova is one yeah gosh it's fascinating it's like it's like the extremes of the political spectrum like once you get to extreme fascism and extreme communism like they it's all kind of the same did that work did it work better than a come to eager moment wasn't where i thought you would be going where did you think because you said yes to start with like yeah you've got this i just wasn't expecting you to say fascism and communism when i brought up when i brought up clay and grass you know what mean like i do know what you mean once it gets so extreme it's the same right david is not convinced that's the problem is what you're saying yeah anyway uh okay onto the men's draw uh let's start shall we with well i've i'm leaving flavia caballi to the end because i just don't understand him i've got i do not understand that guy david's our caballi yes He's in my team and I kept faith with him when he was going through a 0-8 run at the start of the year, getting me zero points.