Live from Wimbledon Day 8 - Dimitrov's devastation, Sinner's uncertainty

21:21Catherine Whitaker:And yeah, it was just a really, really fun match, certainly the latter half of this match that I saw. Both of them playing well at the same time, I thought. and yeah Ben Shelton has now had his best result his best slam result where each major has come this year so far you know his best so he he really is showing up at slams and getting better at them and look I think a lot of people will kind of level at him draws and all that kind of stuff he hasn't had really really tough draws in slams necessarily to get to those stages but But he's beating people in slams who he's sometimes losing to on the tour.

22:01Catherine Whitaker:There's definitely a difference. I think he backs himself physically over five sets and he knows that he's got an advantage there. And it's going to be fascinating to see him come up against Sinner. That Sinner who, as we've just discussed, not at his best tonight. A little bit maybe rocked by this situation or not. But either way, Shelton I think played him last year here. I think he had a set point and didn't take it. he's had that repeatedly against top players. I know he did get a set against Alcarez at the French Open, but he also could have won that first set.

22:33Jannik Sinner:Anyone can get a set against Alcarez. When he comes up against the best players, Sinner, Djokovic and Alcarez, he'll often rock them for a set. He'll show what he can do, but he often hasn't taken that set. This is a good place for him to do it. This feels like as good a chance as any so far, because I don't think Sinner's obviously way more comfortable

22:52Catherine Whitaker:on a hard court, and Shelton's bringing his game.

22:56Jannik Sinner:You both seem to think he has a chance.

22:58Catherine Whitaker:I do.

22:59Jannik Sinner:A decent chance. Yeah, I mean, Sinner's the favourite. I'm not trying to say otherwise. I wouldn't pick Shelton to win, but I wouldn't be that surprised if he did. He's going to bring his game. I think he's feeling himself here. I think he's showing off a bit here in a really positive way. I think he's surrounded by friends and family and the crowds are drawn to him. I think he's enjoying it. I think he's enjoying this challenge. The grass does provide a little bit of uncertainty for Sinner.

23:32David Law:On a hard court, you just don't have uncertainty. He knows exactly what bounce he's going to get. He knows exactly what's going to happen with his footwork. He's not going to end up on his back like he did today in the first game of the match on a hard court. That wouldn't happen. And all of this, I think, plays into Shelton's hands. I think Shelton might be a better natural surface player as well than a hard court player. And he's obviously had great results on a hard court. But this allows him to bring out that physicality, to dive and it be OK. All that stuff.

24:05Jannik Sinner:Well, Mary Carrillo says it's the best athletes that succeed on grass. Yeah. And obviously there is more to it than that. But if it comes down to pure athletics, it's hard to look beyond Ben Shelton. I'm sure Carlos Alcaraz would give him a run for his money. but I haven't seen Carlos Alcaraz throw a football the length of the Indian Moles players' lawn. Would watch a contest, though. There's a content idea for you for free.

24:34Jannik Sinner:So the men's quarter-finals set up today. We have Shelton against Sinner, and we have Novak Djokovic against Flavio Caballi. Let's talk about Novak Djokovic, shall we? We dropped the first set, and how? 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 against Alex Dominoor, trailed in the fourth set, looked like he was at one point going to lose that fourth set very handily. We were all settling in, gearing up, refuelling for a fifth set. And in the words of Novak Djokovic, I was very relieved not to find myself in a fifth set. I've spoken about this match with quite a lot of people today that were watching it in various different ways.

25:15and some have said they didn't really ever feel in doubt

25:19Jannik Sinner:that Djokovic was going to lose. I personally did think there was serious jeopardy in this match. I thought Djokovic was on the ropes a bit and it's pretty extraordinary that he came through and won. I think he was a little de Menor resisted in the end. But quite a match. Yeah, quite a match. I was court level in the commentary box in the corner there. I found the first set absolutely fascinating because the wind was taking a real interest in this match and impacting it. And the first point of the match, the shirts of the players were billowing around. And the player at the near end, the raw box ends in front of Federer there, near to where we are in the commentary box, they were wind-assisted, if you like.

26:05They got the wind behind them.

26:06David Law:And you could see Dimonor guiding the ball with the wind, not hitting it. He was just stroking it, knowing that the wind would take it a certain length, and then it would just land in. And he was doing it brilliantly. Djokovic, on the other hand, couldn't time the ball, couldn't deal with the wind at all. He hit two double faults in the first game. He hit two more in his next service game down that end. He lost his serve three times in that first set, and he was overhitting. and it was just really interesting to watch Diminoor clearly process what was going on down the other end and think, okay, I'm just going to play solid.

26:45David Law:I'm going to play solid tennis. This wasn't what Dimitrov was doing in the later match. This was just percentage tennis and it got him that first set. It kept him in the next two and I think the only time I really started to think, actually, I'm not sure Djokovic will win this was in the fourth set when he's 4-1 down and there are points for 5-1. And I'm thinking, if this goes to a fifth, I mean, I'd probably do back Djokovic, but then you've got no room for... I'm always thinking, well, when's Novak Djokovic just going to get old? And there were moments in the match where I'm thinking, he looks a bit old here.

27:22David Law:And then he'd come through that, and it's not age, actually. It's just he's not in form.

27:29Jannik Sinner:Yeah, interesting. I mean, I think I defer to your takes on the match. You watched all of it. You were in the best possible spot to watch it. What really struck me watching it was how the extent to which Djokovic was not winning the long rallies. Oh, that was extraordinary. The longer the rally went, the bigger the chance of Alex de Mino winning. And I felt like Djokovic won it with aggression and going for his shots, particularly his forehand.

27:57David Law:Looked at the stats in the third set, I think he'd won eight out of 33 that had gone nine shots and more. Yeah, and it ended up with Alex de Manor winning 36-16 of nine-plus shot rallies, so really long rallies. And the five to eight rallies were pretty even, but de Manor edged them. But the one to four shot, Djokovic won 66-45. and what he did, the BBC brought up a great graphic on the TV coverage, was in the first two sets Djokovic was simply not hitting his spots on serve. They had an amazing graphic that showed that in the previous rounds in the corners he was getting 80 % of his serves, you know, right in the corners, whether it be wide or tee.

28:44Today, in the first two sets, he was more like 50 % and that allowed De Menor to get in the rallies and when he was in the rallies, I thought De Menor was so smart. he was sometimes injecting pace but a lot of the time he was slicing keeping the ball low making Djokovic hit extra shots putting it deep and like Djokovic didn't because he wasn't feeling the ball in his words with the wind particularly at the start of the match he was really struggling to like outmanoeuvre de Manor and take over these rallies but as so many players would not have been able to discover and find what Djokovic found in that match the way he did start hitting his spots on serve the way he did start taking over with his forehand by the end it was extraordinary the change that that happened and look he needed it right at the end it was it was right at the end that he got it in the fourth set from from from 4-1 down but he found it in time and I think I I did always think he would get through it because he's so good at that kind of stuff.

29:51But I did agree there was jeopardy here.

29:53Jannik Sinner:I would say also, Duminor served badly for the first, even that first set that he won. Under 50%. Under 50 % for the first two sets. Like he had a bad serving day as well. And I'm sure for both of them, that was largely down to the wind. I just, still, I know, Novak Djokovic is 38 and even he has to find different ways to win and is evolving as a tennis player as he ages. But still seeing somebody in a match realise the tactic for me here against Novak Djokovic is to try and extend the rallies as long as possible and get in a hitting contest with him from the baseline. That still just feels so wild to me that that can be a sensible and effective tactic.

30:40Jannik Sinner:and I find it hard not to be alarmed by seeing Djokovic lose those longer rallies and clearly look so uncomfortable getting into them. I thought Diminol was really smart about dragging him into the net and Djokovic didn't want to get dragged into the net because he was very aware of what Diminol was doing to him on the passing shots. He looked like Leighton Hewitt out there at times, I thought. And in fact, at one point when Diminol finally missed a pass late in the second set, Djokovic did a crossing himself and a thank goodness one of the missed thing like Djokovic didn't want to get drawn in but he also didn't want to be hanging around at the baseline with him because he was he was losing out on those exchanges and I just found that so bizarre to see but that negative is so balanced out by the fact that he he found another way to win Yeah, and I think in terms of the rest of the tournament, obviously it raises a question mark in terms of whether he's going to be able to live with potentially Yannick Sinner from the baseline in the semifinals, obviously.

31:49But I do think he was particularly poor today from the baseline because of the circumstances of the match with the win. I think the win totally threw him off in that first set. and I think he actually has been hitting his ground strokes well in this tournament and even going back to the French Open when he did go toe-to-toe from the baseline with Yannick Sinner in the semis and okay he lost but he backs himself more on the surface and his serve, he didn't have his serve and I think he would back himself to serve better in future matches as well So I don't know. I agree with the sort of what does it mean for the rest of his tournament.

32:30I think it's definitely a question we have to have. But it also felt a little bit specific to this match that he ended up playing like that.

32:38Jannik Sinner:Interesting. OK. And of course, Roger Federer was watching him. Which was cool. Which was cool. Yeah. And he watched all of me around Draver, didn't he? It was fun seeing Roger Federer there at the front of the Royal Box until he had the powering reaction to Grigor Dumitrov. Anyway, let's not go back there. Let's move on to Flavio Caboli, Novak Djokovic's quarterfinal opponent. He got the better of Marin Cilic today, 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 7-6. This was not, David, the same Marin Cilic that beat Jack Draper a couple of rounds ago. No, and at the same time, it was a different kind of opponent. He obviously wasn't hitting the ball as well in the first couple of sets as he had been to get to this point, but equally, Caballi's so quick and was just getting balls back that I think 36-year-old Baron Cilic was like, hold on a minute, how many shots have I got to hit to get this ball past you?

33:39He played really well, Caballi,

33:42David Law:And I think that it was getting dicey there for him, though, when Chilish started to mount that comeback. And, you know, with Kabbali, I think that you're looking at a player who needs incremental achievements in his career to progress. I don't think he just does stuff and is going to go and win a Grand Slam. I don't think we're going to see him win Wimbledon, for instance, this fortnight. I think he whereas I think he might have the ability to do quite a lot more than he's done so far but he kind of has to have an accomplishment, a little one so he can move to the next stage my mind still goes back to what he was like against Nadal in that Barcelona match last year maybe, where he just couldn't play, he couldn't play he was Nadal his hero, he couldn't play and And I think that as he's moved along and got some other achievements under his belt, he's handling things better.

34:47David Law:Today he handled that really well, probably because he's come through some other challenges. Doesn't fill me with great confidence that he's going to be a threat to Novak Djokovic in the next round for the same sort of reasons.

34:57Jannik Sinner:Yeah, and because Djokovic told everyone in press that Flavio Caballi had had a hit with his son, Stefan, the other day. It's just not giving fangs, that, is it? No. Was it Djokovic said that he's going to get the tactical plan from Stefan, from their hit together? It's quite a funny line. Look, I mentioned Kabali's return the other day, which he really rates. He's been talking it up, and I was interested to see it come up against the Cilic serve. Well, Cilic against Draper was winning 78 % of his first serve points. Through two sets today against Kabali, he was only winning 63%. Do you think Cilic was serving similarly or markedly worse?

35:43I mean, in terms of that's points one on first serve. So that's when the first serve is going in. Caballi was handling it better than Draper. Now, whether that's because Cilic wasn't hitting his spots like he was against Draper, I'm not exactly sure. But I always think, you know, the returner has some impact on how you're serving, right? And Caballi seemed to be on that serve. It did improve for Cilic as the match went on. but I was impressed by Caballi there in those first two sets to be able to do that. And the match did just look a bit, it looked like what a match should look like between an up-and-coming, exciting talent like Caballi and, what is Cilic, 37?

36:2536. 36. He looks about 46. Just, you know, off a surgery not that long ago. Like, that's more like, today was what I expected Draper Cilic to look like, you know. And in the end, it happened a couple of rounds later, but it has ended up happening. Cabali had some amazing support. The vibes he had from these two blokes in the front row was extraordinary. I don't know who they are, but they were making a hell of a lot of noise. And then he had a huge support camp with his team as well, and some very moving scenes at the end with his father in tears and hugs all round. It was really, really, really nice scenes.

37:06and this is a great run from Kabbali. It absolutely is. Got a good stat for you in the difference in experience between Kabbali and Novak Djokovic. This was told to me by the ITF. Kabbali has won 63 matches.

37:28Jannik Sinner:Oh dear, this isn't. Djokovic today reached his 63rd Grand Slam quarterfinal. It's just unbelievable. And, you know, with the comments of practising with Djokovic's son, to me it is giving... Two, three and one. By the way, I know Charlie Ecclesher from The Athletic did an interview with Kabali fairly recently and found out what a good footballer he was. And I think that there was a real crossroads for Kabali there. so yeah worth a read of that yeah I did learn a lot about him I like it a lot about Flavio Caboli he's a really stylish player and a great athlete I just like fangs and I'm I'm yet to feel them but I feel like Lorenzo Mazzetti has grown some fangs over the last couple of years so it's possible yeah and he and that match could have got away from him you know Cilic Cilic was coming back at him he was playing a lot better in that fourth set and he he resisted him He did well.

38:34He had great backhand to save a break point at one point. The tie break, you know, was...

38:38David Law:I think Mazzetti is a good comparison because I think that goes with the incremental thing that I'm talking about because that has been the same trajectory, hasn't it, for Mazzetti?

38:47Jannik Sinner:Needs to do it to believe it's possible. Yep, absolutely. Good luck in a couple of days' time, Flavio. OK, let's move on to the women's draw and the matches that we've seen there today. Let's start with Miran Draver. And her very comprehensive victory over Emma Navarro, 6-2, 6-3, watched on by Roger Federer, who was absolutely top of her list of people that she wanted to watch her play tennis, and yet she couldn't look at him because she knew it would make her tight. And she said, actually, at one point she did glimpse up. She let herself peek, and it did make her tight, and she lost about five points in a row.

39:29She said on court, one of my dreams was to see you in real life. Oh, bless. And then she complimented Mirka's outfit. It was an incredibly charming interview after the match.

39:42Jannik Sinner:Charming is the word, isn't it, for obviously hearing her speak and getting to know her, but also watching her. The whole Mira Andrava experience is charming. How can you not be charmed by her and her tennis? I think she's one of the best watchers in the sport, really, just generally. She's one of the best news developments for tennis in the last three years, both in terms of how she plays the sport and gives you something different. She's one of those players you can watch win a really comfortable match and still enjoy it.

40:15David Law:It's not just uneventful because she's got such a stylish game. And then you also know that you're likely to get an interview to listen to afterwards and it's going to give you something that you didn't know that'll make you smile. I mean, Catherine and I went to her press conference. We were two of about seven journalists in there because there was so much going on elsewhere. The Dimitrov Cinematch was going on at the time. But, you know, every question is an answer that you just, you're noting it down because you're remembering her and she looks like she wants to be there. Yeah, her press conference answers are a bit like her rallies.

40:55You know, like there's just kind of got everything in them. You know, there might be a really smart point. There'll be some humour. And the rallies she plays, I mean, honestly,

41:05Catherine Whitaker:like in the same point, you might see a drop shot, a slice forehand, a backhand down the line, a lob, a looped ball. Like she can kind of do everything. and that's why I go to Mira Andreva matches for those rallies. I just love watching her construct points and there was a lot of that today against Emma Navarro because Navarro hasn't got a big powerful game. She's a point constructor. Exactly, so it's similar but Andreva was just a lot better at it and I do still think the point that Pam has made and we've made, you know, the forehand. Can you rush it and can she generate enough pace off it? I think opponents later in this tournament will maybe ask those questions that Navarro couldn't today.

41:50But she was great. I thought she displayed a lot of poise in that centre-court experience.

41:58Catherine Whitaker:Her anticipation continues to be absolutely mind-bending. She just knows where opponents are hitting the ball. The points she played to break at the start of the second set, a perfect illustration of that. She was just reading where Navarro was going to go and just there. Yeah, I thought she was really good today. I know Hannah and Vicky were on centre court and loved the Mira Andreva experience that they got as well. And after that point that she played, anticipating, I picked them out in the crowd and they were looking at me and I was looking at them and it was just a kind of appreciation of, yeah, this is really, really good.

42:35She let 4-1 become 4-3 in the second set. I think that was when she let herself peek at Roger Federer.

42:41Jannik Sinner:Right. She's just slightly lost her way there for a little bit. But, yeah, really impressive. And, again, I've been banging on about it, but I've been looking at Wimbledon champions and players that do well at Wimbledon and thinking about they either tend to have power or touch. And she's got both. You know, that serve that she hits now is big. It's a big serve. It's dominant when she's rolling with it. She can crack power on the backhand. The forehand is a question mark, as I said, in terms of power. But touch and craft, she's got that too. It does feel like a combination that can win here. And she's got this slice forehand going on that's incredibly effective.

43:24Jannik Sinner:Both as a kind of keeping the opponent on their toes because they don't know which shot is coming, but also it's just an effective shot in itself and it helps her protect the relative weakness of the forehand I'm desperate to see somebody that can go really hard and flat into that forehand and test it. Or at least hard into the forehand. At this point, I am thinking about Andree Vyshontek in the semifinals. I'm already kind of picturing that match and wanting it.

43:58Catherine Whitaker:I mean, Bencic in the next round, a little bit. I certainly think more than Navarro. She's not got enormous power, Bencic, but she takes the ball early and she can rush you that way. I think she will pressure the Andreeva forehand in a way that maybe it hasn't been yet on the grass at Wimbledon this year.

44:21Jannik Sinner:7-6-4 for Bencic over Alexandrova on court one today. Matt was delayed making his way to the Djokovic match when Djokovic looked like he was in serious trouble on centre because, quote, Bencic Alexandrova has become incredible. It did, though. It really did with Bencic trying to serve it out.

44:44Catherine Whitaker:It was like a 13-minute game. She had so many match points. And the thing about Alexandrova is she plays every point the same. Like, it doesn't really matter what the score is. She's just doing the same thing. and there was this kind of, it was like she was blind to what the score was because she was hitting ridiculous shots up the line to save match point. And you're like, your match point down and you're going for that. And yet she was landing them every time. And Bengshik's the stress on her face. She did that funny thing of shouting at her team,

45:20Jannik Sinner:calm down.

45:25Oh, that's relatable. She gave them a very sarcastic thank you after she lost the point. She was feeling it in this nervous energy she had.

45:36Catherine Whitaker:Whereas Aleksandr was just hitting the tennis ball and it was landing in. But then she did end up breaking Aleksandr, but then Benchik broke her in the next game. There's quite a lot of neck cords towards the end that went in Benchik's favour, which did, I think, help her. But it just became great. It became really, really compelling. I think it took her six match points in the end to get over the line. And that's a good win. You know, Alexandra Verbe, we always talk about how she doesn't deliver her tour form at slams. She's started to show it a little bit more. She's been a factor in terms of like she's played golf and she's played Bengt Shiksha to get to the quarterfinals.

46:18Catherine Whitaker:You know, like she's been there. I don't think she's played her best in those matches either, but she's not like bombed out in the first or second round. And she was up in that first set. Bengtich had to come back. I think that's a good win for Bengtich, who is kind of a threat on the surface because of the way she can take the ball early and rush players. That would be a nice match. I'm looking forward to that one. I really am. Stylish match. Two backhand listers. Backhand listers having quite a tournament.

46:50Jannik Sinner:The other quarterfinal set-up today on the women's side. It's almost as if players with good backhands are good tennis players. I know. I knew someone was going to say Adam Bogdan. Victoria Goljewicz. Sorry. The other quarterfinal set-up today on the women's side, Iger Svjontek against Lyubmila Samsonova. Svjontek getting the better of Towson, 6-4, 6-1. Once she was down in the opening set of this, David, once she got the break back then and got her teeth into this match, it was a jog towards the finish line, really.

47:27David Law:Yeah, I didn't get to watch it in depth and up close, mainly because Sina Dimitrov was going on at the same time and there were a lot of other press conferences, but I saw that early break of serve. And I did wonder, you know, Tassin hit such a clean ball, could she be one of the big hitters that could rush Svantec? and but my I felt reassured on behalf of Chvantek because of her approach because she's decided she's going to rein it in and not try to just meet fire with fire all the time use her immense skill set an incredible movement because these are things that Towson for instance just doesn't have and that turnaround I think tells you Svantec's in a good place yeah it was a very

48:17Catherine Whitaker:slow kind of sloppy start to the match from both of them they were both really struggling with their serve Towson went up a break Svantec broke back Towson went up a break again and I was at that stage thinking uh-oh like this could be one of those matches this doesn't look like the Collins match was kind of what I was thinking you know but then once she got the break back Svantec went to 3-0, squeezed through that first set a little bit. Towson, I don't think, was feeling great. She didn't look particularly well. She was clutching her throat. It looked like she was maybe struggling to breathe.

48:48Catherine Whitaker:She just looked low energy a little bit. But the point I would shout out is the point that Svantec played to break for 3-1 in the second set. After that, she then just raced to the finish. But that one, defence. She was just defending, scrambling, running from side to side, not trying to hit out from the corners putting the ball in an awkward spot and I imagine Igor Schvontek fans just watching that like we used to pray for times like this you know like she's she's using her skill set as David said and forcing the other you know forcing her opponent to win the point rather than losing it herself you know it was it was a real marked difference I think to to the way she's played on this surface at Wimbledon in the past and if she's doing things like that combined with the you know the clean attacking tennis that we've that we've seen at times this tournament that's a really great combination um and you know she'll probably need it again in the in in the next round because she's playing she's playing another big hitter yeah i'm just reading well just browsing through the eager strong tech press conference transcript not one question about strawberry pasta no biggest shock of the day call that growth

50:04Jannik Sinner:yes Iga Shontek's next round will be against Lyudmila Samsonova finally, finally making the breakthrough into a Grand Slam quarterfinal, she's been a factor on tour she's been winning titles for a long time and yet most people that only pick up tennis at Grand Slams and there's a lot of them and I don't mind it, you know I only follow golf at the majors that's an important cohort of tennis fans isn't it, they probably haven't even heard of Lyudmila Samsonova This is absolutely huge for her beat. Jessica Boutas-Monero, 7-5, 7-5. And David, you chatted to her afterwards.

50:41David Law:Yeah, and she saved a set point in that first set as well. And, you know, I really thought at that stage, I probably would trust Boutas-Monero more because of Samsonova's record. I'm thinking there's got to be a lot of scar tissue here at Grand Slam level, for a player who's done as much as she has in terms of threat at the tour level and has so often just bombed out at the Grand Slam. So I've never been to a press conference of hers before. And I thought, well, now's the time. And it was also in room two, which is the smaller one, which was a really nice opportunity to meet her. And as we're walking in, there was a little chat going on outside the press conference room.

51:27David Law:and I didn't realise I'd just walked straight past Ludmilla Samsonova because she wasn't dressed like a, what I would think is dressed like a tennis player, she's wearing a sort of sweatshirt, like a blue sweatshirt, she just looked like she was somebody who's just come back from the gym like your normal social gym.

51:46Jannik Sinner:Some players do look so different when they're not on the court.

51:49David Law:Yes, I didn't recognise her at all and I realised, oh there she is, we'd better go in quickly and I thought, I wonder what they're talking about. Anyway Anyway, we're sitting in there and the moderator came in and said, guys, a request from Ludmilla, could you please not ask her about her next opponent? And it wasn't even played yet, Svantec against Towson. Could you please not ask her about that match? Because she doesn't know they're playing one another. She had no clue who were her prospective call to final opponents.

52:25Jannik Sinner:Is she going to find out? Is this an Adria Manorino situation?

52:28David Law:Tomorrow, she said. And it was really interesting. It's not superstition. It's just because, I mean, we're in this difficult situation. OK, well, we've got to speak to Liv Mellon and try to get to know her. Obviously, there's this huge match going on and we're not even allowed to ask her an either-or question about the prospective opponents. OK, but look, that's what she's asked for, so we're going to respect that. but towards the end of the press conference one of the journalists said um why is that that you don't want to know your she says i've always been like this she says it's because i don't want to have that in my head yet because if i do i'll be thinking about it all the time and my head will basically explode as the gist of what she was saying and we said okay so when are you going to find out she said tomorrow i'll find out tomorrow so okay you know so we carried on and tried to get to know her a little bit without asking that question and I think even that itself was instructive she was so nice she's so sort of um patient with the questions and trying to answer them in a in a positive way in a helpful way um and you know I I just I got the sense that I mean this is the biggest moment of her career she said she said look it's equal the biggest win but this is far the most emotional you know and she said grand slam i said what why do you think you've been so successful on the tour but you have yet to translate it into grand slam success until now she said i think i think even the word grand slam just feels such a big deal you know and and i haven't basically i haven't been able to relax i think is is the gist of it um and so this was this is just monumental for her to get through um she talked about um maria sharapova and garbini mcgruth are a player she used to watch when she was a junior here and really inspired her she really loved watching them and um and yeah this is somebody and they said how do you keep it quiet how do you sort of not find out who these aboundments are she says she says well nobody contacts me on social media nobody even knows who i am I said so it's really easy thinking crikey I've never heard anything quite like this before couldn't be me I'd be I'd be Carlos Alcraz staring at the drawer me too

54:49Jannik Sinner:people are so fascinating it's like people that don't want to find out the sex of their baby cannot get my head around that like I totally understand the logic and respect it if get her saying I would obsess about it I would obsess over not knowing. I'd obsess over all the possible people it could be, scenarios, the wandering. Yeah. Human minds is just fascinating. She was also very funny when asked about the strawberry pasta because she was born in Italy. They're not asking you Shontek about the strawberry pasta now. They're asking... They've gone off-paste.

55:23Catherine Whitaker:Well, Sam's on about because she was born in Italy and naturalised the stuff.

55:28David Law:I can't believe it. can't believe you do that with pasta none of us can

55:37Jannik Sinner:so they couldn't jasmine paulini wasn't i told you that was the next evolution asking all the italians i didn't think of sam zonover was fabio caboli asked i don't think he was was he uh right does she have a chance against viontech

55:51David Law:yes she has a chance i mean she's a such a big hitter it but i i think what's more likely i'm sorry to say is that she gets nervous and Svantec makes her play a lot of balls and she misses too much. I think that's more likely.

56:11Jannik Sinner:Right, tomorrow's order of play, starting on centre court where there are only two matches. Tomorrow we've reached that stage, two matches on the two main show courts. It starts at 1.30 on centre as per usual with Irina Sabalenka against Laura Siegmund. Go with God, Irina. What percentage chance are we giving Siegmund here? 25. I think she'd sign for that. Matt?

56:38Catherine Whitaker:A little lower.

56:40Jannik Sinner:20?

56:40Catherine Whitaker:Yeah, let's go 20. I... Yeah.

56:44Jannik Sinner:OK, Cam Norrie, second on centre against Carlos Alcaraz. What percentage chance does Norrie have? I don't know if I like this new percentage chance feature. Well, there's no point in me asking who's going to win because you're going to say Sabalenka and Alcaraz. What am I, an excitement rating meter to you? An accurate one. You're just going to say Sabalenka and Alcaraz. That's no fun for anyone. I'm not sure flailing over a percent is that fun. Make it fun. God damn it, make it fun. 30. Thank you, David. No, I think lower than that. I'm a David, I think. I could see Norrie causing him a few problems and Alcaraz winning.

57:28sure but isn't isn't that 20 % as well causing a few problems

57:32Jannik Sinner:same percent that fanini had give me a percent god damn it matt 20 okay number one court you know we're carrying on we know that i'll go to david first david's more amenable yeah let's do it buys you some time matt uh taylor fritz at 1 p.m against karen hashanov oh this is going to be an absolute slugfest, isn't it? Yeah, 100 % chance of being long. Yeah, I do think it's going to be four sets for Fritz. But in terms of, you know, I'd say it's a 65-35 job for Fritz. OK, that's a man that understands the assignment. Matt? I understand, I just don't like it.

58:19Catherine Whitaker:Yeah, Fritz for me, I think, as I said before, he's not beaten Hachanov and I think this is a great chance to show how much his game has evolved in the time since they last played and he wants to do that doesn't he? desperately and he keeps saying he's playing really well this tournament and I kind of like Taylor Fritz's analysis and self analysis and I kind of believe him when he says it and I think he takes Hachanov in 4 as well

58:49Jannik Sinner:Good answer not the question I asked

58:55Catherine Whitaker:70-30

58:56Jannik Sinner:sorry for this additional blow but the chat loves the percentage game well we shouldn't be you know, shouldn't be led by what the people like

59:11that's a dangerous game

59:13Jannik Sinner:I think I've realised why you're grouchy about this game it's because of what's coming next I refuse Second on court one tomorrow. Amanda Anasimova against Anastasia Pavlyacek. Doesn't matter. Just get over the line. David, honest percentages, please. Yeah, I think this is close. I think 55-45 for Anasimova. I think this is really close. 55-45 for the mood of this podcast tomorrow. We've already had a downer episode today. We can't have another. I've said she'll win. For what it's worth. Would you sign for that? sure yeah but i i actually feel a little more confident for anissimo over a 60 40 let's do it wow yeah okay that's good yeah i appreciate you getting on board with my game she's um

1:00:05Catherine Whitaker:she's been constantly under threat on serve this tournament which which is definitely something that i think she can she can try and improve in this match like even even zarizua had a lot of looks at her serve, Galfi and obviously Noskova I think that's a dangerous area for Anisimova and Pavlyuchenkova can jump on returns and take the ball early but she's found herself just enough when she's needed it, she's been, she was great from the ground against Noskova she's got an amazing record when she wins the first set at the moment, Anisimova, she's on a very long streak of winning matches when she's won the first set so that feels potentially crucial as well

1:00:46Jannik Sinner:you can go with god as well you and arena day nine of wimbledon uh we have our mascots to say hello to hello phoebe hello maizey david's lovely mascot hello roger we should have showed roger

1:01:01David Law:a picture of roger when he was here yeah why didn't we think of that yeah that was a bit good God there was a lot going on

1:01:11Jannik Sinner:He put some Willow content up this week Did you bring that up when he came and shook your hand David? I didn't More Willow content Roger That was an amazing moment We had John McEnroe and Tim Henman over there David frantically trying to set up StreamYard over here Cameron Matthew here Reggie over there through walks Roger Federer and suddenly like the whole energy of the place changed and he came over, he shook David's hand, said it was nice to see him. It was lovely actually. Said hello to everyone.

1:01:48David Law:He was like, you didn't used to have that grey hair. No, you didn't.

1:01:51Catherine Whitaker:Did some bants over there with Hemman and McEnroe and then he was taking pictures over here with members of the public, I think, just as he was about to leave and Reggie who was behind a fence.

1:02:06David Law:And the hedge. Yeah. Seized his opportunity, waited for the perfect moment and said, Roger, can I have a picture?

1:02:14Jannik Sinner:It's the most iconic selfie you've ever seen. Yeah, it's unbelievable. And Federer went, oh, I don't know how. He said, sure, but I don't know how. And Reggie was like, I do. I do. And he repositioned and he got, and Federer's head's just sticking up over this hedge with a beaming smile. and then Reggie's got the best smile on his face. It's going to go in our newsletter. That photo, I'll pop it on our Instagram as well, at the Tennis Podcast. On Instagram, we'll just search for us and the link to subscribe to the newsletter is in our show notes. It's worth it, folks. Take my word for that. Hello to our top folks and executive producers, Greg, Chris and Jeff.

1:02:59Jannik Sinner:And Matt, if you can bear it, could I have some shout outs, please?

1:03:04Catherine Whitaker:we have Matthew O'Shea from Cork Ireland but living in Amsterdam

1:03:10Jannik Sinner:hello Matthew hi Matthew we love Matthews here on the tennis podcast we've got a couple of them in our vicinity and they're both excellent and so are you

1:03:19Catherine Whitaker:and Matthew went to the Rotterdam tournament this year and he saw and he shouted out a match here which I'd forgotten about but it was excellent Alcaraz Hercach

1:03:29Jannik Sinner:it was unexpectedly excellent It was excellent. He says it's underrated top five match of the year. This was Alcaraz's bright pink nose strip era.

1:03:39Catherine Whitaker:He won the title. Good tournament, Rotterdam. It is, yeah. I like that place.

1:03:44Jannik Sinner:Yeah, I think that low key is one of the best tour matches of the year, definitely. Matthew, thank you for reminding us about it. Thanks, Matthew. We've also got Michael Petzalis. Hello, Michael. From Quebec. Hi, Michael. In Canada. Michael Shtick, who I've seen wondering about here. Did he shake your hand? Nobody said hello. But he's got a firm handshake when he does shake your hand.

1:04:10Catherine Whitaker:Michael says, my son played Diallo several times in Juniors. Wow. He's a very nice young man. His son? He's saying Diallo, but I suspect also his... Oh, yes, he says, as is my son, Andreas.

1:04:28Jannik Sinner:Lovely. Any more Michaels? Just one more Michael to throw in the... Chang. There you go.

1:04:32David Law:Yeah. He's probably having a tough time at the moment.

1:04:36Jannik Sinner:Isn't he still coach of Cana Shikori?

1:04:40David Law:That is probably true, isn't it?

1:04:43Jannik Sinner:For the time being, anyway. Michael, thank you.

1:04:48Catherine Whitaker:And finally, we have Kathy Kyles from New Jersey.

1:04:54Jannik Sinner:Oh, and there was a Bruce reference in today's show.

1:04:58Catherine Whitaker:There was.

1:04:59Jannik Sinner:Yeah.

1:04:59Catherine Whitaker:Yeah.

1:05:00Jannik Sinner:Perfect. Kathy with a C

1:05:01Catherine Whitaker:Kathy with a K and a Y

1:05:06Jannik Sinner:Same church different pew

1:05:07Catherine Whitaker:And Kathy says the highlight of attending the US Open last year was meeting David

1:05:13Jannik Sinner:and having a picture

1:05:14Catherine Whitaker:with him

1:05:15David Law:Oh Kathy Thank you very much Great name I really appreciate that Kathy Kyles How lovely

1:05:21Jannik Sinner:Excellent name And Kathy is Kathy's my real name actually Well no it's not Catherine's my real name but

1:05:28David Law:Like Kathy Rinaldi

1:05:29Jannik Sinner:When my mum came to the live show, she had to remind... You two were having different conversations. I don't know which way to go. Sorry. When my mum came to the live show, she had to keep reminding herself to introduce herself as Catherine's mum. Right, yeah. When actually she's never called me Catherine in her life. Yeah. But both Catherine and Cathy are good, as is Cathy Rinaldi. So I was right. I had a sudden brain freeze as to whether that was actually a correct name. Everyone on the chat is screaming Cathy Rinaldi and probably screaming at me to shut up. So let's call it a podcast. Thank you to Wimbledon for letting us sit here and be sad about Grigor Dimitrov for the last hour.

1:06:08Jannik Sinner:Thank you to The Athletic. We are proudly part of The Athletic Podcast Network. We'll, of course, be back tomorrow. Look across our socials, subscribe to our newsletter and do subscribe to our YouTube channel and you'll get alerts about when we're going live. But it will be at the end of play tomorrow. so yeah the best thing to do is to subscribe to the channel smash that like and subscribe button folks thank you ever so much for joining us tonight i know it's been a tough one but hopefully we've

1:06:37David Law:we've worked through this together yeah we actually did need that yeah yeah me too it's

1:06:43Jannik Sinner:it's helped and uh grigor we wish you well thank you for watching for listening hopefully we'll see you and speak to you tomorrow