Live from Wimbledon Day 7 - Alcaraz accelerates into quarters, can anyone stop him?

18:28Matt Roberts:We should talk about the controversy. for all in the first set. Pavlyuchenkova is serving. It's been a tight service game. She's at advantage.

18:37David Law:Ladies and gentlemen,

18:40Catherine Whitaker:the grounds will be closing in around 15 minutes. Please make your way to the exit gates and make sure you take all your belongings with you. We hope you've enjoyed your day here at Wimbledon.

18:53Matt Roberts:I think we have.

18:53Catherine Whitaker:Wish you a pleasant and safe journey home. Thank you.

18:58Matt Roberts:I saw Johnny Perkins leaving earlier and I thought don't you have an announcement today?

19:03David Law:Which makes you wonder whether it is live doesn't it? Given how similar he makes it every time

19:10Matt Roberts:This is like those people that think the Strictly Results show is live It's not?

19:15David Law:It's not

19:18Matt Roberts:That's an iconic contribution David was doing a dad joke there but I think Matthew is genuinely finding this out live on the pod We'll chat afterwards Matthew you we've got a controversy to talk about for all first Matthew down as a strictly watcher to be honest I'm trying to concentrate here he's never piped up this much before he claims to be claims to be camera shy right electric line calling drama for all in the first set Pavlyuchenko for serving its advantage Sane Cartel hits a backhand that is very clearly long for all to see and the replay proved that that is the case and the umpire immediately, this is Nico Helworth, stops play, no call comes I should say, he stops play and announces that they need to check that the electric line calling system was working for that call.

20:11Matt Roberts:Several minutes pass by, it's all very, you know, you think you've scored a goal at the football and then there's a period of sort of suspended animation where you're checking. A few minutes go by and then eventually it's announced by Niko Hellworth that the electric line calling system hadn't been working and that they will replay the point, not give the point to Pavlyuchenkova, but replay the point. Pavlyuchenkova loses that point and not immediately, but after a few further points, she ends up losing that game. And at the sit-down, she's obviously not happy and she accuses the umpire of stealing the game and favouring Cartel because she's a local, her words, not mine.

20:55Matt Roberts:She softened on that a little bit in her press conference, but didn't moonwalk away from that sentiment entirely, I would say.

21:03David Law:She made it clear that basically she's delighted to have won the match and therefore she's not as pissed off as she would have been had she lost. But she still said she thinks there was favouritism towards the local. And that to me is maybe an understandable reaction in the moment.

21:24Catherine Whitaker:Like, you know, the heat of the moment. She really got screwed over there. It was a really bad moment for electronic line calling. I think she should have massively rode back on those comments in the press conference afterwards.

21:40Matt Roberts:It sort of misses the point, really, because there is a debate about electronic line calling, and this has exposed something about electronic line calling. I agree with you. I think claiming any kind of favouritism doesn't stand up.

21:57Catherine Whitaker:It's nonsense, and it's not helpful.

21:59Matt Roberts:It's all a bit Benedict Tarango, isn't it? We have a statement, an interesting statement from the All England Club on this. Following the Pavlyuchenkova versus Cartel match, we've had the opportunity to undertake further investigation, including speaking to the players, the chair umpire, Hawkeye operators and review official. They say it is now clear that the live electronic line calling system, which was working optimally, was deactivated in error on part of the server's side of the court for one game by those operating the system. In that time, there were three calls not picked up by live ELC on the affected part of the court.

22:40Matt Roberts:Two of these were called by the chair umpire, who was not made aware that the system had been deactivated. Following the third, the chair umpire stopped the match and consulted with the review official, who I guess is like the VAR, and it was determined that the point should be replayed. The chair umpire followed the established process. We have apologised to the players involved, they say. We continue to have full confidence in the accuracy of the ball tracking technology. The live ELC system relies on the Hawkeye operators, the review official and the technology to work in harmony. This didn't happen.

23:14Matt Roberts:In this instance, there was a human error. And as a consequence, we have fully reviewed our processes and made the appropriate changes. So I guess it comes down on, I mean, I think how you feel about this will largely be divided down the lines of whether you agree with electronic line calling. And that does divide opinion big time. I mean, the fact is it's very similar to football, isn't it? Like there is the technology isn't perfect. You're accepting kind of consistent, unbiased technological margin for error over human error. And that's the deal. And some people like that deal and some people don't, I think.

24:02Catherine Whitaker:Yeah, and look, there was that human error involved here. I think my issue with it would be that there was a very similar instance a few months ago in a match between Fritz and Nakashima where the exact same thing happened. The system failed. And you heard that stop, stop, which people thought at the time was the umpire. It wasn't. It's the system when it's kind of not been set properly. It's quite dystopian, isn't it? It is. It's not the umpire saying that. And look, the protocol there is that the points replayed. So absolutely everything was followed. I think what the frustration was here was that everyone can so clearly see so quickly that the ball was out.

24:51Catherine Whitaker:You know, it was not ambiguous at all. It was very easy on the replay. you feel like if if there needs to be some sort of like backup technology used and in that case it would just be a simple replay that might not always solve everything because it could be incredibly tight but on this occasion it would have solved it instantly and the umpire needs to have the authority to you know be able to intervene there and the obviously the umpire cannot overrule a hawkeye call but there was no hawkeye call made so i think the umpire should have the authority to intervene be you know be guided by someone who's seen the replay and told that is very clearly out it just seemed like there was a there's a step in the protocol that's missing like there's a there's an element where you could review it another way if the if the common sense

25:41Matt Roberts:totally they have said that they will continue to review continually review the processes so i do wonder if that will be added. I mean, it's probably unfair to use VAR as a comparison because that's got its issues. But they have been through a process of, whereas at first it was, we've got VAR now, the computers are in charge. There has been a slight rowing back in re-empowering of human officials, hasn't there, in football in response to issues and criticism so yeah I'm not saying football should necessarily be the template to follow

26:21David Law:but I do wonder if and that's the thing I think we've got to be okay with that if you're going to bring a system in like this it is not going to be perfect from day one and either in terms of its administration or its protocols and I think that this is where they just have to hold their hands up and say you know what there is a missing link there we need to we need to complete it um i mean i i think they'll probably figure it out so that this hardly ever happens where there's this this error in the first place but you know there has to be the capacity to just make a common sense

26:58Matt Roberts:decision i mean sonic hattel's been catching strays from some quarters hasn't she but for not intervening and saying hang on a second you should have the point that was my backhand was very clearly out she says she couldn't see the the where the ball landed because the net sort of the angle that she was looking at it because she's too short she said that's what she said

27:20David Law:and and therefore the net tape was in in the view of her of where the ball was landing and i mean i

27:28Matt Roberts:i believe that to be the case look i'm personally i'm prepared to take her word on that and i've kind of got no reason to give her the benefit of the doubt it's also one of those things where you're wedded to the split second decision that you make let's say she could see that it was out she might 10 seconds later thought yeah i probably should have given her the point but you can't go back on it you have to stick with what you choose in the moment she said it felt

27:55David Law:good off my racket and i don't know where it landed but it felt good and and i that made me You think, okay, fine. Yeah.

28:07Matt Roberts:Look, a heck of a run from Sonny Cartel at Wimbledon and I kind of back her to not necessarily reach fourth round at every slam or anything, but use this as a building block.

28:19David Law:There's a game there.

28:20Matt Roberts:Yeah. And it was an amazing atmosphere in centre court

28:27Catherine Whitaker:when she was playing really well in that first set, When she went from two love down to three two up, there was an incredible forehand pass that she hit at one stage. And it was kind of spine-tingling reaction. It was different to the Emerita Canu vibe. Because you're so aware when you're watching Emerita Canu on center court that everyone knows who Emerita Canu is. And I think everyone is thinking about how good she can be with Emerita Canu and getting excited about it. But Sonny Cartel, you know, I think a lot of people on centre court wouldn't have known who she was, but were cheering for the Brit.

29:04Catherine Whitaker:And there was this, there was probably, you know, there's this sort of thing with British sporting fans where you're kind of, maybe you're always kind of expecting the worst and hoping for the best. And that is kind of the atmosphere that there was. It was like a lovely surprise whenever she came up with something brilliant while also recognising that she's a bloody good player now and I think is going to be just a solid tour player. I think she says that she has difficulty playing these sorts of players like Pavlyuchenko, who are big hitters, and there are a lot of them on the tour. There's a lot of players who just strike a clean ball and I think will be able to just sort of overpower her and overhit her.

29:44Catherine Whitaker:But, you know, we've seen that she's figured out ways to cause them trouble as well, and it's just going to be interesting to see whether she can keep doing that or whether the tour sort of learns her game a little bit as well. But no, she's been a great addition to this fun opening week at Wimbledon, having a homegrown player go on a run like that, impressed with her style and her game. And yeah, she's been great.

30:11Matt Roberts:So Pavlyuchenkova against Anisimova, the winner to face the winner of Irina Sabalenka against Laura Siegmund. Let's talk about Sabalenka, 6-4, 7-6 for her over Elisa Mertens in a ridiculously high quality match. Unreal this was.

30:29Catherine Whitaker:This was so good. I think this is the best match in terms of quality that I've seen this tournament from start to finish. I thought Mertens was brilliant. and Mertens who is a you know very very good player someone who's reached the semi-final of a slam I thought she played well and yet she lost in straight sets which tells you how well Sabalenka played Mertens was doing things you would expect which was using a slice occasionally taking pace off trying to put the ball in awkward spots really fighting getting her teeth into the match all things you expect from Elise Mertens but also doing some things that frankly I hadn't seen her do before or certainly to this level.

31:18Catherine Whitaker:Injecting pace suddenly, taking the ball up the line really early in rallies and just causing Sabalenka to have to give all that she had in order to win it. And that is all you can really do as a player, isn't it? Give your absolute best. And Mertens unequivocally did that today. Sabalenka sort of started well, got pegged back, managed to win the first set and then was down in the second set and then came back really, really strong, but still needed a tie-break. And I think we need to start talking a lot more about Irina Sabalenka's tie-break record. If this was Novak Djokovic, we'd be talking about how he's sort of reinvented tennis in terms of like you get him to a tie-break and he's won the thing.

32:04Catherine Whitaker:Well, Sabalenka's now won 14 tie-breaks in a row. It was Alexandrov back in the Middle East swing that managed to win a tiebreak against her.

32:14David Law:14? 14 in a row.

32:16Catherine Whitaker:When the stakes are the highest, she's doing it. And I think maybe the reason it hasn't caught our attention so much is that when Djokovic kind of does it, there's a very specific mode that he went into when he had that streak of winning tiebreaks, that kind of lockdown mode. There was a look in his eye. I'm not sensing that necessarily from Sabalenka. It's not like she suddenly changes her game style or anything, but she's just stepping up in these big moments. And it's a hell of a record she's got right now. And yeah, it's been a big part of why she's been able to kind of dominate on the tour this season.

32:56Matt Roberts:And now she faces the oh-so-unique challenge of Laura Siegmund because Siegmund beat Solana Sierra 6-3, 6-2, despite not showing up for the match.

33:09Catherine Whitaker:made her wait five minutes did she something like that yeah she's probably like i've got plenty of time it's 15 you're allowed did she get in trouble for that or no no uh look she she she

33:24Matt Roberts:was awesome today it was it was she's carving her up it was old school grass court tennis but with a with a real edge you know and a real injection and aggression as well it was such smart tennis She is such a canny, brilliant player, so intense. And as she pointed out in her press conference afterwards, this is the first match where she hasn't been the heavy underdog. You know, this was a very different psychological look for her, but she's got a psychology degree. Like, psychology is where she thrives. She's never been passed round two here before. And I wonder if she's 37 years old, the oldest woman left in in the women's draw she she was asked today about the fact that she's never been passed around to here before and she said look I'm I really like clay and usually by the time the grass court season comes around I've played a lot because I put a lot into the clay court season I've never really invested the time on grass and like by the time I feel I'm finding my feet it's over and I do wonder if now she's discovering age 37 that she really can play on grass if oh what could have been but I don't get the impression she's actually the sort of person that thinks that way at all she's just glad it's happening now Charlie Eccleshire I know is working on a piece it might already be up but a piece on you know the psychological warfare and games that players like Laura Siegmund engage in within the confines of the rules and he asked her about it in press today and she insisted that she's not doing anything explicitly aimed at pissing off the opponent or disrupting them.

35:14Matt Roberts:She said, I do the things that work for me and that I've always done. And what it is, is I don't, I don't care how the opponent feels about them rather than specifically wanting to annoy them. I just don't care. I don't care who's on the other side of the I don't care how they feel about what I'm doing, I'm doing me. And that is the case whether I'm facing Irina Sabalenka or the world number 101 Solana Sierra. And I do think that is going to be critical for her against Sabalenka and is always critical when she causes problems for top players in that she's not deferential at all. She doesn't pay them extra respect because of who she is.

35:57Matt Roberts:She's not thinking about them at all. Laura Siegmund is thinking about Laura Siegmund and what is going to best help her win. And look, I don't think she's going to beat Sabalenka, but I think she's going to make her have a horrible time.

36:12David Law:A really horrible time. I mean, I don't know whether I believe her or not. I mean, it doesn't matter, does it? And there's no way of me proving one way or another. I tell you what, I remember for many, many years, It's Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic making their opponents wait forever as they went through their routines and the ball bouncing for Djokovic and all this nonsense from Nadal. Look, it's what he needed to do to be ready, right? Some players didn't like it, who he was up against, and he didn't care. It's in the rules. He needs to get himself ready. And actually, I think maybe we should approach Laura Siegman the same way.

36:54David Law:It's just that Laura Siegman does do other stuff too.

36:58Matt Roberts:Oh, yeah, she does. Not just that. She does. I mean, she does disrupt her opponent's service rhythm a lot. And sometimes she gets warnings for it or she'll get point penalties for it. And that is not within the rules. You're supposed to play at the service pace. Well, she would say, you know, but I get punished that, you know, I did the crime. I served the time. But she does do that and that is not within the rules. She also does. I think, I know you think I should be a Siegmund person. I do. And I get that. There is so much that I do really like about her and I respect her endlessly. It's the time that she takes.

37:41Matt Roberts:It's the pace at which she plays the sport. That is a big thing for me. I'm really drawn to players that play quickly. Watching Fonseca live the other day, I suddenly realised he's like that between points. I'm not getting distracted because there's no faff. there's an awful lot of faff with Laura Siegmund. There's the ball bouncing, and you think, OK, that's done. We've got that out the way. We're ready to serve. And then she holds this position for about 40 seconds.

38:07David Law:It's like a wind-up, isn't it? It's like, get on with it.

38:11Matt Roberts:Yeah. I find it really... We've got lives to lead, Laura.

38:17Catherine Whitaker:And it was particularly when you were commentating on her, right? Yeah. That was the... That was, I mean, I know you don't like faff anyway, but like that was a real, it seemed like that was a real turning point at the start of the year. I'd not heard you mention Siegmund all that much before this year, before she sort of did it personally to you commentating.

38:37Matt Roberts:Yeah, when I'm on my deathbed, I will be ruining the hours that Laura Siegmund took from me. Definitely.

38:43Catherine Whitaker:Yeah.

38:45Matt Roberts:But I do have such respect for her. I really do.

38:49Catherine Whitaker:Yeah. And there's definitely parts of her game which can disrupt, for example, an arena Savalenka. You know, the slice forehands and the drop shots and all that kind of thing. I just kind of always think that a player like that might also just get absolutely taken apart by Savalenka. I think there's a chance that that match is not close at all.

39:16Matt Roberts:Oh, it could be one and two very easily. Yeah. I do think she's got a chance. There's a bigger chance that it's one and two.

39:25Catherine Whitaker:Yeah, yeah. I think I'd agree with that.

39:28Matt Roberts:Yeah. I am pumped for it, though. I really am.

39:33David Law:She's a great addition to the lineup, isn't she? It's because of the potential. You don't know what's going to happen. And most of Wimbledon's never seen her before.

39:40Matt Roberts:And the fact, you know, she's not going to freeze. She might get taken apart. She might get obliterated by the power, but she's not going to freeze. she's going to walk out onto centre court and bring the intensity and the energy.

39:53Catherine Whitaker:Yeah, that's what you want.

39:54Matt Roberts:That's what you want. There'll be a sense of occasion to this match. You won't be thinking, oh God, is this sort of delicate player going to get...

40:02David Law:She ain't going to freeze. Yeah. She's just going to stomp around.

40:05Matt Roberts:She's going to stomp and she's going to hold that service position for as long as she damn well likes. And then when she wins a point,

40:12David Law:she's going to be like, light in your face. and walk off like that.

40:17Matt Roberts:That's our Laura. Right, the men's matches that we've seen today. Let's start with Alcaraz. Tell me about Alcaraz.

40:27Catherine Whitaker:Didn't see a ball. That's got to be the first time. Yeah, literally.

40:33Matt Roberts:Dropped the first set to Andre Roblev. 6-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. I thought Alcaraz was awesome today and I thought his reaction to dropping that first set was very interesting because Rublev played excellent tennis in that opening set.

40:49David Law:For Rublev, Reid Mertens. Yeah. It looked like a Sinner-Alkaraz match.

40:54Matt Roberts:He was playing like Yannick Sinner, that kind of tennis. Pinpoint accuracy, blistering, darting balls from the baseline, coping with Alkaraz's pace. It was a great set of tennis.

41:06Catherine Whitaker:This was all coming through in the chat. There was a lot of messages back and forth from everyone. I felt like I was missing the sort of all-time great Rublev performance. I think you were.

41:18Matt Roberts:For a set, you were. He was brilliant.

41:20David Law:I haven't seen him play that well.

41:21Matt Roberts:And he'd led by a break in that set, got pegged back, and he was a mini-breakdown in the tie-break and still held it together to win the set. And you didn't think this was a mentally frail Andre Rublev out there. But Alcraz's reaction after losing that first set was really interesting because he didn't look worried at all. And I think that's because he knew he was playing well. And he knows if he's playing well, he's going to win. In a best of five set match, he's going to win if he's playing well. He wasn't worried about how he was playing. And he knows it doesn't matter really how well world number 14, I think, Andre Rubelev is playing fundamentally.

42:01Matt Roberts:Because he really was playing well today, I thought, David.

42:05David Law:Yeah, once he'd got himself going, I agree. and he was a slightly slow start, but it was also a lightning fast Rublev start. He was connecting from the first ball, and there were some points that really took my breath away, because Alcaraz would, and I'm thinking of the third set as well, because they've levelled, and then suddenly Alcaraz is starting to really nail the ball, and you're waiting for that to just overwhelm Rublev, and there were a couple of points where Rublev actually managed to turn it around in the rally, and counter-attack. And I've not really seen that before. Usually he's first strike tennis and he either pushes you back and dominates or he loses the point.

42:48David Law:And so this was a new level. He kept his composure well, I thought, really well. He did properly go, as Catherine was saying. It was toe-to-toe, sinner-like tennis, really, from Rublev. And then there was... My family were in the crowd today. They've never been to Wimbledon, my kids. And this was their exposure to Carlos Alcaraz. And the final point they saw was when he got the decisive break in the third set. And it was the most astonishing point. I mean, even seasoned Al Coraz watchers like us and people around us. You know, we're not supposed to show emotion in the press box. You don't applaud.

43:25David Law:That's one of the things you don't do. And we didn't applaud, but you literally jumped out your seat because you couldn't believe what you'd seen. He's going side to side. He's getting pushed all over the place. by Rublev, he comes up with an incredible backhand cross court, which Rublev manages to meet and match and go down the line with his own backhand. It's a clean winner until this blur comes out of nowhere and slaps this forehand winner cross court and the place just erupted. And honestly, I just thought, OK, well, the match is over. The match is over. I think Rublev did too. And there's no coming back from that.

43:59David Law:It's what he does when he suddenly finds whatever it is that he's got, when he's pushed to find it.

44:08Matt Roberts:I think Ryblev played him into form. Yeah. And it is that kind of ping-pong tennis which can do that. He gives you a lot of rhythm, Andre Ryblev. He also occasionally just injects bludgeoning power, a bit like Carlos Alcaraz can, and obviously that puts a dead hole in the rally a lot of the time, but he also does give you rhythm, and I feel like that was exactly the match that Alcaraz wanted. He also served well today. 22 aces, 67 % first serves in. He's exactly where he wants to be, I think.

44:40David Law:Best serving performance I've ever seen from Rublev. 77 % first serves in versus 64 % the rest of the tournament. Still didn't win.

44:50Catherine Whitaker:And Alcaraz only faced four great points in the whole match. I mean, he faced like four great points in the first game or something against Fanini and Tarvit had looks as well.

45:00Matt Roberts:Oh, it was different gravy tonight. Big time. But he might need to up at another level in the next round when he faces Britain's last hope,

45:09Catherine Whitaker:Cameron Norrie, who took down Nicholas Jarry.

45:15Matt Roberts:6-3, 7-6, 6-7, 6-7, 6-7, 6-3. He came back, Matt, did Jarry, but not all the way back. And the Breathe Right Nosal Strips are in the bin.

45:27David Law:literally an event

45:30Catherine Whitaker:no actually it was just for content I'm not going to throw away you know 30 perfectly good breathe right nasal strips there'll be another run

45:40Matt Roberts:talk us through the match a little bit and the Jari come back and the aggro

45:48Catherine Whitaker:yeah the aggro it was very odd aggro wasn't it

45:52Matt Roberts:I thought it was quite lame aggro

45:53Catherine Whitaker:I thought it was yeah Nicholas Jari went down two sets to love against Norrie here having lost the second set on a on a tie break and then he just he just started having a word with the umpire it was one of those where kind of they were doing their end you know like change of end stuff that they do on the tv and they were showing the stats and all that kind of thing Norrie had gone off court and then they sort of picked up the argument halfway through it so it was quite hard to tell exactly what the issue was and also because I'm not sure there actually was an issue like he seemed to be annoyed at the ball bouncing that Cameron Norey was doing and the time that he was taking in between his first and second serve and the fact that he was taking longer and changing the rhythm before big points and important points and Jerry was kind of saying like is there anything you can do as an umpire or do I just have to use the phrase suck it up you know is it is what he's doing against against the rules against the code or not and the umpire was just kind of like nothing i can do like kind of a bit like what like all of us like what are you talking about um and it was just strange but i think it was indicative of the fact that he was frustrated you know because he was two sets to love down he then actually came back and won the next two sets he saved a match point in the in the third set in the tie break and he just entered that mode that he got in against runa that he got in against Fonseca where suddenly he starts timing the ball so sweetly, going after the ball, and he becomes an absolute nightmare to have to face when he's got that serve going as well.

47:34Catherine Whitaker:I think he hit close to 50 aces today. He was up over 100 winners for the match. He was hitting a massive ball, and there were moments in the fourth set where each had break points, and he was saving them, and it was good. It got exciting in that fourth set, and Jarry took it and headed to a fifth. And then absolutely credit Cameron Norrie for playing a great fifth set. The very first point he played wasn't a sort of remarkable one, but he won it and he just showed great body language. And he does a bit of the Andy Murray thing in terms of picking people out in the crowd. Cameron Norrie, very specific to try and get them on side.

48:18Catherine Whitaker:he is so comfortable on that court on court one like I know we joke about sort of Cameron Norrie being a vibe there but he is I mean he genuinely is the way the crowd go with him I'm sure a lot of people don't like watching Cameron Norrie's tennis it's not my favorite style of tennis either and yet on court one in those conditions in a good fight I can get swept up by it he's He's a really, really good watch for the way he competes there. And, you know, he served really well today. Jarry did not break him, which says probably something about Nicholas Jarry as well. But four and a half hours, he didn't lose serve, did Cameron Norrie.

48:59Catherine Whitaker:And he was mentally strong. He played really, really well. And, yeah, he's through to the quarterfinals in a season where he's, you know, really had to battle his form and his confidence. but he's got it back now for this grass court season um there was a the kind of aggro continued a little bit at the end but i'm not sure if it did really i think it was one of those where nori won and fell on his back and instead of like waiting for him at the net jerry started packing up his bag nori then got up and went over and went over to jerry and jerry just i don't know what he said but he clearly said something to him I assume it was maybe maybe trying to put his point across about what the point was he was trying to make I'm not even sure Nari had been that aware of what was of what Jerry had been saying to the umpire because he was off court for most of it and like in the in the on-court interview afterwards Annabelle Croft did a great job I think asking the question saying to Nari what happened there and Nari said you know what I just liked the way he competed.

50:07Catherine Whitaker:We had some words, two guys competing. I liked all the Chilean fans.

50:12Matt Roberts:Yeah, he didn't bite, did he? He didn't bite.

50:13Catherine Whitaker:And I'm not sure Norrie was annoyed with Jarry. I think Jarry was annoyed in the moment with Norrie. But I'm not sure it was quite the aggro that we maybe thought it was.

50:31Matt Roberts:I think the aggro died when Jerry tried to imitate what he was doing to make a point, and he hit a double fault.

50:39Catherine Whitaker:Yeah, that was funny.

50:40Matt Roberts:It's pretty embarrassing, isn't it? That is not the way to do aggro. And he got booed off, call one, which is a tough way for that run to end.

50:48Catherine Whitaker:But again, the boos were typical of, is this aggro? Is this not aggro? Yeah, pantomime. They started the boos when he was clearly having a word, but then they shook hands and sort of whipped out each other up, and it was kind of like, oh, maybe we don't need to boo. Maybe they are fine.

51:05David Law:Jarry kept on trying to shake hands. Yeah, it was all... Repeatedly.

51:08Catherine Whitaker:It was very, very weird.

51:10David Law:A lot of the time, players misunderstand each other in those moments. A lot of the time, they can't hear what each other's saying. There's loads of other noise.

51:17Matt Roberts:Basically, crap aggro.

51:18Catherine Whitaker:Yeah, really lame.

51:21Matt Roberts:Yeah, I agree. Norrie against Alcaraz. There is just no way they can't beat this on centre court. I'm sorry, Frit Tashinov. but Norrie you're going on centre court

51:31Catherine Whitaker:yeah quite right

51:32Matt Roberts:do you think that's a genuine problem in terms of would you rate his chances differently against Alcaraz if this were on court one versus centre?

51:41Catherine Whitaker:a little bit, I mean 5 % more chance something like that, I still think Alcaraz is an overwhelming favourite especially given the way you've described him coming into form today and kind of what we've seen is when he hits form, you know like certainly at Queen's once he found the form and he found the serve he kept it going but Norrie is the best version of himself on court one and that is going to need to be at his absolute best and hope Alcaraz

52:11Matt Roberts:has an off day to have a chance I do find it interesting that look I don't think it'll go to five sets to test this because I think Alcaraz is too good but Norrie always backs himself physically no matter how long the match. He's got these horse lungs, hasn't he? These scuba divers lungs. We all know so much about Cameron Norrie's lungs.

52:33Catherine Whitaker:That was another question in the encore interview. Yeah, I didn't know. I knew where it was going because I know the story about the Cameron Norrie lungs, but I'm sure there were some people in that crowd thinking, where is this sentence going? The doctor told you you had a very big pair of...

52:50Catherine Whitaker:lungs.

52:54is that that's how it's phrased yeah i was like we're gonna be fine here she's gonna say lungs

53:01David Law:she's gonna say lungs she did say lungs she said lungs but there are definitely people who were

53:07Matt Roberts:like oh matt i've got to carry on broadcasting now we're live for goodness sake um so nori and his horse lungs yeah his big pair of lungs um i do i'm just gonna i might just abandon my serious point i was gonna say i just think that you know obviously alcaraz is so fortified by that five set record and it's it helps him in all matches not just ones that go to five sets i think it helps him when he's playing badly for a set in the middle and he goes he's like because he knows okay fine if I have to go to five I'll still definitely win well exactly and I just wonder if that will be blunted ever so slightly against Norrie who always really backs himself in the distance

53:58David Law:I think we're now at the stage of the tournament where Carlos Alcraz's senses are heightened and he is out there to destroy he ain't there to faff about now and I mean I do take your point I mean Norrie's the sort of fellow that, yeah, you don't rest on your laurels with that sort of athlete and competitor against you. It's about outplaying him now. I mean, look, I think Alcruz would still back himself if he went to the fifth set, because why wouldn't you if you were him? But I think we're at a different stage now.

54:37Catherine Whitaker:I could definitely see it being a scenario where it's like, I've just said Norrie didn't drop serve in four and a half hours against Nicholas Jarry. Like he might drop his opening service against Carlos Alcabez or like his second. And it'd be like, OK, this is different now.

54:54Matt Roberts:Yeah. Yeah. Your big pair of lungs can't help you now, Cam. Let's talk about Taylor Fritz and Karen Hashanov. Difficult to say too much about Fritz's match today. his opponent Jordan Thompson clearly unfit retired trailing 6-1-3 love he'd won just 12 points in total he's got a he's got a disc problem David it sounds like he probably shouldn't be playing and this could damage him long term to be honest

55:22David Law:it's astonishing that he got to the stage because he might have relapsed there but this was a problem coming into this tournament I saw Todd Woodbridge just ahead of the match and asked him what he was doing today, and he said he was covering that. And he said, you know, but really it's amazing that Thompson's got to this stage of the tournament because he's not fully fit and he might need to take some time off, you know. And that was before the match. So then he's retired, set in the half, winning a few points. You know, he's a good player, Jordan Thompson, you know. But, yeah, it's... I know Taylor Fritz will say he wouldn't want to win like that, and of course he wouldn't.

56:01David Law:but at least it helps freshen him up after all he's had the last few days.

56:07Matt Roberts:Yeah, not like that, but a quick match definitely was what he needed. And he might need something in the tank to beat Karin Hashanov in the next round. He was awesome today. Look, I know Kamil Marshak for a place in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon, it's a good draw. But he was so, so good. It was like he knew when the rain was coming and he was playing to that deadline. 4-2-3, 44 winners to 21 unforced errors and 74 % first serves in. He was so good, Hashanov. The backhand, he was just hitting backhands down the line at will.

56:46David Law:And he probably got played in by that Nuno Borges match.

56:49Matt Roberts:Absolutely.

56:50Catherine Whitaker:He's had two five-setters to get to this stage.

56:53Matt Roberts:He needed a quick one as well, probably.

56:55Catherine Whitaker:Yeah, exactly. And I think I had the same thought. Like I, you know, often when you watch Karen Hachnop, there doesn't seem to be a great deal of urgency to him. You know, like matches can go on for a long time, long drawn out rallies. He's a big guy, always thought he should be imposing himself more. He's got, he's got power to burn. And yet he doesn't, he does seem to get involved in a lot of sort of grinding matches. But I did think today it was like he knew that, you know, he had two hours, maybe two and a half hours trying to get this done. And, yeah, that urgency, that desire to just take charge, I think, helped him.

57:30Catherine Whitaker:And I think he'd be wise to play like that a bit more, to be honest.

57:36Matt Roberts:Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Just because you can win playing the longer way. It's a bit like Jack Draper, isn't it? It doesn't mean he should. Yeah, I think Fritz is going to have to be good to beat Khashanov. He's another one that just shows up in slams. You don't think about him the rest of the time. And then he just pops up.

57:55Catherine Whitaker:It's very Karin Hakchnov to have been able to survive the seed carnage. He is reliable. He's reached quarterfinals and a semifinal, and he's done it on all the surfaces. They haven't actually played since 2020, these two. They last played in a competition which no longer exists at the ATP Cup. And actually, Hakchnov owns a 2-0 head-to-head. But I think it will be interesting because, again, this might be unfair, but I kind of think of Karen Hachinov as being so steady over the last five years, but not getting loads better. I think Hachinov in 2020, not that different from Hachinov in 2025. Fritz in 2020 versus Fritz in 2025, a big difference.

58:48Catherine Whitaker:Like, he moves a lot better. He serves a lot better. He goes off his forehand more. he's got a sort of more top player mentality and I have to think we're going to see that difference there. I think Hatchenov is always tough to beat but I do back fritz to do it here.

59:08Matt Roberts:OK, the order of play for tomorrow. We enter, it's Sunday today, right? We enter week two tomorrow. It's happening. Did I say today was Manic Monday yesterday? today?

59:20David Law:No, you said that it had a feel of... I think

59:26Catherine Whitaker:you said the fourth round starts. Used to all be played on Manic Monday. Yeah.

59:33Matt Roberts:Right. OK, good. We're all straight on days of the week. Good place to be. Tomorrow, Monday, starts at 1.30 on Centre Court with Alex de Manor against Novak Djokovic. David, you're going to be commentating on this. What percentage chance do you give Alex de Mino?

59:54David Law:20. Yeah, that seems fair.

59:59Catherine Whitaker:Jokovic practicing with a knee sleeve on today. 23.

1:00:07Matt Roberts:Second on Centre Court, Mira Andreva against Emma Navarro. Good match, that I think. Stylish match. Andreva the favourite but 60-40?

1:00:20Catherine Whitaker:I could give a 65.

1:00:23Matt Roberts:OK. OK. What percentages are we giving Grigol Dimitrov against Yannick Sinner tomorrow?

1:00:33Ten.

1:00:35David Law:That's higher than I thought.

1:00:38Matt Roberts:Hannah said, and I quote, he's going to turn Grigol Dimitrov into paste. You lot.

1:00:44Catherine Whitaker:Honestly. Well, I think Sinner wins in straight sets.

1:00:48Matt Roberts:Yeah, me too. I don't.

1:00:54David Law:I think he wins in four sets. And he's not paced. He's a...

1:01:00Matt Roberts:He's a chunky puree. Correct. Yeah, OK, I'd sign for that right now if I were Grigor. Court number one starts at 1pm. Like a guacamole, a chunky guacamole. Yeah.

1:01:17David Law:A big chutney.

1:01:18Matt Roberts:Yeah. Court number one starts 1pm with Aleksandrovic against Bencic. Who's the favourite for that?

1:01:26Catherine Whitaker:Good question. Maybe there isn't one.

1:01:31Matt Roberts:OK. 50-50, we'll call that. Second on, Ben Shelton against Lorenzo Sonego. Matt's got a stat in the works for this.

1:01:39Catherine Whitaker:Yes. When it came to my attention, just as I was watching them set up that match yesterday, I just thought, well, they've played a lot. Actually, they've played at every slam this year. that must be rare um and i've put the itf stats team to work uh tom and joe who who are excellent and they have they've delivered for me using their database i'd love to have a database um and that's your database and and and they've come up with with the answer so that'll be in the newsletter about sort of how uncommon it is for players to meet at the first three slams of the year and also you know i'm gonna i'm gonna hype up the u.s open draw like will they meet in in new york and get the get the can and the slam and i hate the u.s we'll find out via pdf yeah i hate the u.s open draw and yet i'm finding a reason to be excited weeks out from it the reveal the

1:02:37Matt Roberts:uh way to subscribe we'll put the link to subscribe to the show to the newsletter in our show notes as always uh third on court number one tomorrow igor shiontek against clara towson Clara Towson doesn't think she's going to win do either of you no

1:02:53Catherine Whitaker:no no but I I would give her much more chance than I would give Dimonor or Dimitrov yeah

1:03:02Matt Roberts:25-30

1:03:04Catherine Whitaker:around about there

1:03:05Matt Roberts:yeah court number two Marin Cilic against Flavio Caballi who we just strolled past earlier David outside the media centre which one? Caballi right which one of those two do you think was more likely to be standing around chatting, not looking like he had a Grand Slam fourth round to play the next day.

1:03:23David Law:I did not clock him at all. I walked straight past him. Catherine said Flavio Caballi. I'm like where was he? I didn't see him at all. Anyway.

1:03:34Matt Roberts:Well he looked relaxed.

1:03:35David Law:I think this could be one of the matches of the day.

1:03:37Catherine Whitaker:He absolutely took Cilic apart at the French Open. I mean obviously different surface here and that absolutely favours Cilic for them to be playing on grass rather than clay, I think. Yeah, I'm looking forward to this one. Looking forward to this.

1:03:53Matt Roberts:Me too. I'm back in Cilic.

1:03:55Catherine Whitaker:I think I am too.

1:03:57Matt Roberts:Finally, well, finally in the singles, on court two tomorrow, Ludmilla Samsonova against Jessica Boutas-Monaro.

1:04:04Catherine Whitaker:I don't make Samsonova predictions. No, OK. That's just a rule that I have in life.

1:04:09Matt Roberts:I respect it.

1:04:11Catherine Whitaker:Just don't do it.

1:04:12Matt Roberts:I won't ruin your excellent day by making you break your rule. Although I do reserve the right to do so in future rounds if she keeps winning.

1:04:20Catherine Whitaker:No. Because we will reach the point. No.

1:04:22Matt Roberts:She reaches the final. You refuse to preview that final.

1:04:26Catherine Whitaker:I'll preview it, but I'm not making a prediction.

1:04:28David Law:Even if she plays an Ismova, can she do that? Yep.

1:04:32Matt Roberts:Yep.

1:04:33Catherine Whitaker:Oh, she beat an Ismova like one and one the other week.

1:04:37Matt Roberts:Wasn't that the tank?

1:04:39Catherine Whitaker:It was. Yeah. It would be a blow if Nismov tanked the Wimbledon final.

1:04:45Matt Roberts:Has anybody ever won Wimbledon after tanking in their warm-up tournament prior?

1:04:53David Law:Probably.

1:04:54Matt Roberts:Actually Nadal did, didn't he? Really? We definitely tanked at Queen's ones, didn't we?

1:05:00David Law:He definitely levelled up at once at all and his shoulder was hurting a bit more than was worth pushing through. I think

1:05:09Matt Roberts:right yeah yeah that was not

1:05:11Catherine Whitaker:what a Nisimov did

1:05:16Matt Roberts:right folks that is your lot for today except to tell you about our very important mascot for today oh my goodness look at Rocky Rocky Rocky owned by Hinner Rocky is returning for his three-peat as a mascot I know this face he's a seven-year-old collie cross not sure what he's crossed with says Hinner who Hinner adopted from the Dogs Trust excellent charity excellent, excellent charity he enjoys food, laying in the sun and attempting to chase squirrels and cats when still attached to his lead although he is a nervous boy he's very affectionate and has all the grace of a sack of potatoes regularly trips over his own legs walks into things because he's not paying attention you're describing me and has not mastered how to plant his 20 kilos of body weight on your lap slowly so it doesn't feel like your legs have been crushed what a good boy he is he's another one of those dogs that is like definition of dog man's best friend right there is rocky i confessed to david the other day that i've never seen the rocky movies and we have scheduled in at some point in the future a team watch along yeah yeah i'm very excited about that

1:06:31Catherine Whitaker:Before or after the watch along of Challengers with Pam.

1:06:36Matt Roberts:That's a priority.

1:06:38Catherine Whitaker:I'm not watching that.

1:06:42Matt Roberts:Talked about OnlyFans with Pam the other day.

1:06:45Catherine Whitaker:Yeah, discovered that Simon Briggs has an account.

1:06:47Matt Roberts:Yeah. Not, hang on. Not as a content creator.

1:06:53Catherine Whitaker:No, he was doing research. Doing research. Into a professional article.

1:06:57Matt Roberts:Yeah. Lots of athletes. About what? Lots of athletes are on OnlyFans. it's a thing it's a very legit I'm going to dig you and Briggs out of this hole now Matt it's a very legitimate line of research he is not a content creator to our knowledge okay thank you Rocky hello to our mascots Phoebe, Maisie and Roger hello to our top folks and executive producers Greg, Chris and Jeff Greg texted us on like a split second after Amanda Renesimov hit that backhand for match point yeah he knows

1:07:32David Law:he knows

1:07:34Matt Roberts:we have some shout outs Matt

1:07:36Catherine Whitaker:we have Alex Rylance

1:07:39Matt Roberts:hello Alex hi Alex Alex is from

1:07:41David Law:Bracknell Barclays

1:07:43Matt Roberts:my neck of the woods yep

1:07:44David Law:like Alex O 'Brien the former American player who once played doubles alongside Todd Martin against Great Britain in the Birmingham Davis Cup tie of 1999

1:07:55Catherine Whitaker:that was incredible I was going to say

1:07:58Matt Roberts:like Alex Mickelson of in my fantasy team letting me down relentlessly since Australia fame.

1:08:06David Law:Yeah, him.

1:08:08Matt Roberts:Bracknell, where I used to go five days a week to the ice rink there, which now doesn't exist, which is very sad. Thanks, Alex. But very significant place in my life, Bracknell. So thank you, Alex.

1:08:24Catherine Whitaker:We've also got Catherine Higgins.

1:08:27Matt Roberts:Hello, Catherine.

1:08:29Catherine Whitaker:Hi, Catherine. different pew Catherine with a K

1:08:32Matt Roberts:Catherine with a K but in an E-R-I-N-E

1:08:38no

1:08:38Catherine Whitaker:an A-R-I-N-E ooh yeah sorry I just that took me longer to process than it should have done

1:08:45Matt Roberts:different side of the aisle but very much the same same excellent church

1:08:50Catherine Whitaker:yeah

1:08:51Matt Roberts:Catherine is a returning shout out we know Catherine I think

1:08:54Catherine Whitaker:and Vicky has found for us William Higgins who twice reached the third round at the US Open. Wow.

1:09:03Matt Roberts:Do you know him, David? That's good.

1:09:04Catherine Whitaker:No.

1:09:05David Law:Billy, it says. I love it when

1:09:09Matt Roberts:they do our research for us. That is excellent. Thank you, Catherine. You obviously have an excellent name. Like Katie McNally, who's a Catherine, isn't she? But not a Catherine with a K.

1:09:20David Law:No, see.

1:09:22Matt Roberts:Well, you're unique, Catherine. You're still awesome.

1:09:26David Law:You're a friend of the Tennis Podcast, and for that we say thanks.

1:09:31Catherine Whitaker:And we also say thanks to Ros van der Zwet.

1:09:37David Law:Ros? All right, Ros, like my mum. Yes, absolutely.

1:09:42Catherine Whitaker:And Ros is trying to get a fan slam of shout outs while at Grand Slams. Oh, that's cool, Ros. So that's just epic.

1:09:51Matt Roberts:Is she at Wimbledon right now?

1:09:55Catherine Whitaker:Probably not right now because the... It's dark.

1:09:59Matt Roberts:You announced that the gates were closing about 45 minutes ago.

1:10:03Catherine Whitaker:But I think probably at Wimbledon this tournament. Has been at Wimbledon this tournament. Vicky's done some great work scheduling the shout out for this tournament. And Ros says that her earliest memory of watching tennis was staying up late with her mum to watch the 1980 Wimbledon final between Yvonne Goulin-Cawley and Chris Evert. my mum passed away last year and I think of her and our shared love of tennis often I got so excited when Yvonne won and I've followed tennis ever since Ros says so nice Ros that's beautiful

1:10:41Matt Roberts:thank you very much uh thanks for being a friend of the pod it's obviously a wonderful name that is my mum's name so thank you uh thank you to Wimbledon for letting us sit here and talk about tennis every night in this incredible position which apparently you can get to within about 90 seconds from the press seats on court one, that's good to know isn't it?

1:11:03David Law:If you run If you're exuberant and euphoric It would have been a longer walk It would have been a trudge of about 8 minutes otherwise

1:11:12Matt Roberts:And thank you to The Athletic, we are of course proudly part of The Athletic Podcast Network and you should definitely check out Charlie's piece about Laura Siegmund being a master of the dark arts no matter what she said in her press conference today i will certainly be reading that with great interest folks if you'd like to become a friend of the pod get yourself a shout out an intro anything else get yourself access to all of our bonus episodes ad free listening as well access to the barge our safe community space to talk about tennis then the link is in our show notes as is the link to subscribe to the excellent newsletter that It features daily Matt Stats during Grand Slams.

1:11:49Matt Roberts:We'll be back tomorrow, not before 9.30. If you subscribe to our YouTube channel, then you can get an alert when we are going live or you can check us out on Instagram. We always post on there when we know what time we're live, but it is guaranteed not to be before 9.30 tomorrow. We can't wait. Thank you for listening or watching, however you have enjoyed this show. We hope you've enjoyed it. Bye for now.