Live from Wimbledon - Player media protest gathers pace

0:10Hello and welcome to the Tennis Podcast live from Wimbledon presented by Barclays, the official banking partner of Wimbledon. Today has been media day here at SW19. Our bandwidth has been, well speaking for myself, completely maxed out. It has been grossly over-simulating in kind of the most fun possible way. Hopping from room to room, trying to make the most of the precious few minutes that the players, the top players, have offered up for pre-tournament media because that has kind of been the lead story of the day here today. As we heard a couple of days ago, the protest action that started in Paris at the French Open a few weeks ago has continued here at Wimbledon and is set to continue throughout the first week of the tournament.

0:57This is the top players or most of the top players, more on that to come, led by high profile sports administrator Larry Scott. They're all limiting their time spent with the media in order to impact the Grand Slams and their high paying rights holders in particularly. and here that would be the BBC and ESPN most prominently, to impact them in hopes of negotiating a higher share of revenues in player prize money as well as improved player welfare. A reminder that Wimbledon announced a 20 % increase in prize money for this year, their highest ever year-on-year increase, but as a percentage of overall revenues, it falls short of the 16 % that the players were targeting.

1:43It's 14.4%, I believe, at the moment. So they were targeting 16 % for this year with a long-term goal of achieving 22 % of tournament revenues going into player prize money. And that would be in line with what the tours are able to offer. Matt, you probably attended the most top player press conferences today in the beautiful air-conditioned media theatre here. How big a feature was this protest in how the day unfolded? On the one hand, I would say quite a big feature. I was in several press conferences today that were pretty much cut short by the players themselves. They were timing them. I'm talking about Yannick Sinner, Rina Sabalenka, Coco Goff, Jessica Pergula.

2:36these were all players who yeah just were kind of in and out of the press conference room not like really short but maybe a little bit shorter than usual and keeping an eye on it and and they and they left um so it's definitely a feature and there were definitely a lot of questions about about the action that the players were taking so a feature in that sense as well but i must say similarly to Paris not a massive feature I don't think in terms of like big player quotes and headlines to come out of it because quite frankly none of them really said anything of significant weight in terms of really explaining in more detail what it is they're kind of looking for here you know sinner kind of set the tone early he was he was first in at just after 11 o 'clock this morning and he was asked to think about it three times and he engaged the first time in which he he answered well it's not about the money and then checked himself and said it's not all about the money and that was leading on to them being asked about welfare issues which which the players say is a big part of this and he shut that question down he said now is not the time to talk about that and then he was asked a third time about it and he said I think we've done I think we're done talking about it and I just left with this feeling of if you're going to protest like on the one hand absolutely the protest is limiting the media that they're doing that is the protest in itself it's maybe that more than the words they say but I just think it's a tremendous opportunity for them to get their point across to explain what it is they really want to put some pressure on the slams that way as well as with meetings get the message out there and i just can't help but come out of all these press conferences and think you've missed a bit of an opportunity there to talk about this and get people maybe understanding you more and on your side because i think they do have a bit of a sort of optic pr problem particularly this one because the the change you know because of the rise that that wimbledon has given so it was just sort of lacking in in that sense of sort of i'll tell you what it was lacking katherine and you know how i feel about things that are lacking yeah i share a lot of your feelings i think david a few days ago when we were discussing this when it first was announced or first came out that this protest would be continuing at wimbledon and we were all quite surprised by that and i imagine wimbledon were as well you said well look if they don't care about optics if they don't care about the PR of it, then this seems like a good plan.

5:17I'm a bit confused about where they stand, like how they feel about the PR in the optics, because shutting down questioning exactly as Matt's described makes me think they don't care about that. And that's fine if they're prepared to sort of bear the brunt of potentially negative press, that's on them fair enough. But then some things they say like Yannick Sinner saying it's not about the money you know that's sort of an awareness of how it looks to be multi-millionaires protesting about not not getting more money right that's a sort of awareness of the awkwardness of that and other things as well I'll come on to talk about them make me think that actually they do want to have their cake and eat it here and don't want to be perceived in that way but also do want to take this action and and make a play for for more money?

6:08I do think in the case of somebody like Yannick Sinner who I do think he thinks I don't need more money really it's it's not about money in terms of I needing more in my pocket it's about a fair share for players generally and I do think he's thinking lower down the pecking order of people who do need more and I think generally with somebody like him he He just thinks it's wrong. He thinks it's wrong that players are not getting a certain amount. You can have your own view about whether that is or not. My instinctive reaction is it's a bit rich to make your protest by using the media, by curtailing the media, and then not being prepared to talk about it to the media.

6:55I just sort of think, well, which is it? Which is it here? Do you want to sort of make this protest and tell us about it? Or do you want to just kind of have this half and half? And I find that a bit rude, to be honest. And that makes me think that, well, yeah, they just don't care. They don't really care about that element of it. And, yeah, if that ends up getting them what they want, fine. If they're not bothered about what people think about how it comes across. But I think I agree with you. missed opportunity i also think hold on we're just trying to understand your position here telling us that it's not the right time and place well you're holding the protest during wimbledon mate so you're making it this time and place aren't you yeah i had quite an awkward exchange with ben shelton in his press conference because he had been asked about the protest that he was participating in and he was sort of giving all the reasons for it again kind of listing like it's not just about the money he was going big on the player welfare side of things and he threw in at the end of his answer a reference to the prevalence of injury at the moment young exciting players being sidelined long term with injury and I thought yeah look that's a cause we can all get behind and we all care about and want to find solutions for I don't quite know what all the solutions are but I wanted to know like what's the link in his mind and the player's mind between this protest and what you think you can achieve to solve that problem so I said like what what solutions you like but I asked him exactly that and he he said well I think I've answered that question in a really like why you ask me that kind of kind of way he said you know player council you know I said about being on player council and then I wanted to follow up with okay but what decisions would you like to have input into or what decision-making areas would you like to have input into on those player councils that you'd hoped to set up?

9:02And he clearly just wasn't interested in it, shut it down, moved on. And I don't know, it feels confused to me. I'm wary of, you know, we're a bit biased because we're bearing the brunt of this a bit, right? We're going to be a bit put out by it. I mean, we're not bearing the brunt as much as the broadcasters who are paying a lot of money for the rights to cover this event and aren't getting what they would view as part of what they paid for. And it does make sense to hurt those rights holders. But I don't know, I just I just left feeling sort of a bit confused about the whole thing. Yeah, and on the issue of the council and having discussions, I believe Wimbledon suggested setting up a council to discuss these very issues at the start of the year.

9:56And that wasn't taken up by the players. Wimbledon has extended the arm in that sense and the players haven't wanted that. They prefer to go this route. yeah and so there was a perfect moment in well right at the start of Jessica Pagula's press conference the kind of kind of summed up the whole thing in terms of not really knowing fully what's going on here and the moderator said right Jessica is Jessica is one of the players limiting her media activity today and at that exact moment the moderator's Siri on her on her phone went i'm sorry i don't understand charlie was that next time he just quipped yeah neither do we it was yeah it was pretty perfect there was an interesting moment in alex de manor's press conference yeah where he he was asked whether he was participating in the protest today and he said generally I'm in it and I support it and I participated in Paris but I'm choosing to opt out specifically here at Wimbledon in recognition of the fact that I think the 20 % uplift was a was a good good offer and I didn't feel it appropriate to react in the way that was being being proposed so he was not ruling himself out of future future action sort of in it big picture but didn't want to be in it here it's an interesting one isn't it because i think in isolation it is a good rise in in money it's just that if they have stated goals which they do which are about revenue share in addition to the other things welfare and etc but i mentioned it the other day it's not just about a wimbledon or a us open putting their hands in their pockets this year and giving them a nice healthy prize increase price money increase it's also about the fact that they want to get it up every single year until 2030 until they have 22 percent of the prize money not just 16 percent overall that's this year they want they want to keep doing this and and i think probably the other players are saying well if we all just say this is fine thanks thanks very much there's no incentive to actually take those additional steps i think the grand slams would say well those just aren't realistic you know you're talking about money that the that the event makes we have expenditure if we want to make this tournament what it is um and that's that's where the the head-to-head lies a tough situation right now for the u.s open because wimbledon have have gone big and it still hasn't been enough not even to prevent a protest i mean they've escalated here let alone just sort of continued what they're doing from paris so like presumably if the u.s open don't match what wimbledon have done at least we we could be seeing further escalation yeah i'd be surprised really unless the u.s open really came to the table and decided like you know what we're gonna show everybody how big we are by making an even more meaningful lift, I think that there probably will be further action because I think that this has made this group's position, this group of players' position clear that Roland Garros wasn't a one-time only thing, even though there's been a very, very good response, relatively speaking, it isn't what they wanted and they're not going to accept.

13:42Just saying thank you very much. so I'd be surprised if there isn't further action yeah me too I think that was a feature of Pagula's press conference throwing it forward to the US Open and she made the point that they've had in a way the advantage of seeing what's gone before they've got the information they can probably make the most informed decision in terms of what they do with their prize money and obviously there's the Craig Tiley element as well with the US Open now and Jessica Pagula made the point. Craig generally is very good to the players and has been for many years at the Australian Open.

14:24Yeah, look, I think we're maybe sounding quite sort of as though we're against the players here or down on it. I think they are making... I think they've got a lot of good points here. If only they could make them. It's just... Yeah, I agree. I'd love to hear them a bit more. And I think I genuinely think the frustration for me is I really think there's important stuff to be discussed in terms of welfare. And they say welfare and then don't expand on what that is and what that means. And I think that's so important that they get that message out there. Like I'm no Larry Scott, but like that would be a next step that I think that this this group could take.

15:06that they're clearly having these meetings with the slams and talking about it, but they're not seeing any movement in that sense. Well, then get your message out properly through the media and put pressure on that way. Like, don't just say welfare. Say exactly what it is that you want to see. Like they've got with this number with the revenue percentage. That's a specific. Okay, you might not agree with it. These are goal-orientated people, aren't they? Right. You might not agree with that number, but at least it's clear. And they can say, well, you've offered 14.4 % and that's close, but it's no cigar, Wimbledon.

15:41We've got a goal. You haven't hit that goal. On we go. Whereas the welfare stuff, and that's an easier PR sell, isn't it? Because it's not millionaires asking for more millions. And they sort of recognize that because they were pushing the welfare line today, but with very little substance behind it. They were just saying the words player welfare. and then when pressed on it just sort of going don't ask me about that it's not it's not the time and place for that can't wait to do this show again in New York in a few weeks time okay let's talk about what we've seen and heard today from a tennis perspective starting shall we with our defending champions Matt you said Yannick Sinner was in first to the press conference room due to the aforementioned air conditioner delivery.

16:34I was unable to attend this one. Tell us all about it. Well, I mean, there wasn't a huge amount to report. It was, as I said, quite a short press conference. I think the main headline is, again, he was asked about the tests that he's done, you know, in terms of post-French Open. It's so interesting how that is now the Sinner talking point, right? like everyone is focused on that and he says that they were more sort of general health tests they came back good and he's made these he's made these changes to the way he's preparing um i believe he said in in italian that he's he's focusing on doing longer sessions and sort of taking fewer breaks so he's out in the heat for longer exposing himself to it for longer um but he did make the point that you cannot simulate and practice what you feel in a match with tension yeah and you know i think that's a that's an important point because i do think stress is a is a big part of it with him so but it's currently there's a huge black cloud over us which which which feels like a sort of reminder that the weather is about to change every time i look over at david he is looking towards the sky i saw a massive sort of cracking we're already live there's nothing we can do about it now no but the point is the weather's changing i don't think this is going to be like a huge talking point certainly for the first week of this tournament the the forecast is suggesting that the the heat dome is potentially returning and week two could be pretty warm so i guess just watch this space like it might come up at some point there might be a moment in this tournament with sinner where we're talking about this again i suspect he will have learned from paris and won't be requesting first on you know i suspect that didn't work out to no i suspect he's going to want end of day kind of stuff for his matches i think the point is he's learning he knew it was a big thing which happened in paris he doesn't want it to happen again and it it's going to be just interesting whether that whether that weather does play a factor katherine and i don't care now that we've got our air conditioner yeah suffer away we're not in the same boat anymore uh igish fiontek the women's defending champion of course she was one of the last into the press conference room today uh david you and i went to that how did you interpret the the various things that that she was saying specifically sort of about well she sort of led me there really my question to her was about you know she's defended Grand Sam titles before but she had hinted in the answer to the first question that this is really different defending here is really different and obviously she hasn't had the experience yet of Tuesday and walking out at 1.30 as the defending champion on on centre court and that is unique but she's had the experience of knowing about that and knowing you know she's known when and where she would play her first match for a year it's a great tradition it is, it's really cool but I in terms of sort of the pressure it loads on I'm not sure that's what Iguish Fiontech needs right now I think it's a valid point she came across talking about it very well I thought I thought she sounds really excited about it and really looking forward to it she she's really proud she felt she came across as really walking through the gates here was a reminder of what she achieved last year and that she said it was always sort of my dream it wasn't in fact it wasn't even a dream you know I wouldn't it sounded like she didn't had not even allowed herself to dream that that could happen really so they that that was wonderful for her a year ago and I think she's coming in here just full of gratitude really that that was what she did at the same time she tried to say but now it's about this year it's about what I can do at this tournament and yeah that is a that is a big thing that you don't get at other tournaments but what you talk about two days before the event happens or three days before it actually happens to walking out there and facing a Taylor Townsend who's just going to come at you.

21:07I don't think it's guaranteed that she handles that well. I mean, I hope she does. I hope she can settle quickly. I think on balance I would back her to do that. But it's an extraordinary way to start a tennis tournament and to be doing it against a player who's not going to give you a lot of rhythm and who's kind of come out to try to beat you. You know, obviously everybody tries to come out to win, but I think Townsend comes out believing she will win. And that's different. So, yeah, it's possible that she ends up kind of tightening on that stage in that situation. But I would imagine she won't or not long enough to lose.

21:49She was very keen to make the point of like, just because I won Wimbledon last year, like I haven't just cracked grass. and this is I'm suddenly a grass quarter like I made it work last year and I played some great tennis and whatever but it's not like that hasn't changed the whole complexion of my relationship with grass and look I think that is the truth yeah um but I think it's also something that it's important for her to believe and to get it she it's all pressure relievers isn't it really the same as like she she talked about you know that bad Homburg didn't go that well and she didn't get the rhythm there that she was hoping to get and that she obviously got last year coming in to Wimbledon it's kind of like yeah I won here last year and that is that is nothing but good but it doesn't mean I'm going to come back and win here every year Paris was the most head-on I've ever seen her accept a loss in a press conference with with us as the media and say I do have a bit of a problem you know with anxiety with with not with feeling stressed out on a tennis court it's something I think we've long suspected it's totally normal but it's also something that she'd managed to keep at bay at the certainly at the French Open for these long periods of time and the big question is whether she's going to be able to get over that for the future future grand slams this is the first grand slam since then so now we find out um is she able to sort of take it in a stride it was interesting to hear her talking about having spent her whole career as somebody who has a a psychologist who works with her on that side of the sport and tries to and she understands the importance of it but i think that's an ongoing thing it is now raining which is an extraordinary development just it's spitting yeah we're fine we're absolutely fine I think we're okay to be in denial about it yeah we're fine for the moment I just on on Shiontech like not having like fully cracked grass I do think it's quite interesting the line about I think if you look at the last 10 Wimbledons the only player on the women's side who's won it twice in that time is Serena Williams like since Serena kind of stopped dominating no one has like fully cracked grass on the women's side okay we've had consistent players you know people who regularly are in the latter stages but maybe but like no one's dominated this tournament so like Shiontek would absolutely not be alone if she if she has a bit of a worse Wimbledon here like that has been the story of this surface on the women's side for a long time now.

24:39Yeah. And it's important, again, that's a pressure reliever, isn't it? Yeah. If you don't defend this title, if it doesn't go well, you're not alone. Totally. It's tough to do. On the subject of working with a psychologist, by the way, that was probably the biggest takeaway from Sabalenka's press conference today. Yes, we knew that she'd seen a psychologist after the French Open, but she said today it was actually someone she'd worked with before uh and and went back to them because uh she said that she just felt that was kind of the thing to do rather than having to sort of start again with with someone i was kind of surprised that she stopped work you know sort of taking a break there i i kind of thought maybe it might be something that that once she started with that and presumably it had quite a lot of do you know when when that's like because i know she worked with a psychologist before she got gavin mcmillan the biomechanist that's now working with coco goff in to help with her serve and gavin mcmillan came in and said this isn't a psychological problem this is a technical problem you don't need to worry about that like i'll fix it technically um so i don't know i don't know if it's that psychologist but i mean her serves fine now so it is now raining a little bit more folks so it's just we're just monitoring the situation Matthew isn't panicking at all about his extremely expensive equipment in the rain.

26:08Nothing to see here, folks. Umbrella's going up, isn't it? Novak, yeah, Matthew's fine. He's got an umbrella. Look at him go. Novak Djokovic. We were in the Djokovic press conference. First question was about AI. Was it? It was about AI. He sort of took a deep breath and was like, oh, OK. first question was about ai and how he handles it and screens technology generally from a parenting i think you'd actually be very interested in that david yeah seek out the transcript have a look uh but yeah after that when we talked about other things i mean my main takeaway from it was god this is so different to paris oh for jockovich yeah like he might have fancied it a bit in Paris because of the draw, because he was in the other side of the draw to Sinner and Alcaraz wasn't there.

27:02And, you know, then obviously he had a sweet, sweet 24 hours when Sinner was out of the tournament and it looked like it was his to lose. But even given all that, it was still Paris and that's still, look, he's a great clay court player, but it's different here. Yeah. And he told us in Paris, he said, I've not had the ideal preparation. I've been injured. I've not had the match time, the court time. He talked about how he had that feeling of needing to get matches done quickly and it was going to drain his energy reserves if he didn't. He was upfront about that. Here, he said, this is different.

27:38And he said, I wanted to peak at Wimbledon anyway. And he said he feels like he has had much better preparation in the few weeks since Paris. Yeah, he was pretty bullish and convincing. He was convincing, wasn't he? Good time for me to have drafted him into my fantasy team then. David did the most extraordinary bit of fantasy business earlier today. I can't believe it when it's dropped in the WhatsApp group. Mboko out, Djokovic in. Nothing personal, Mboko. You're just not playing the tournament because you're injured. Yeah. And I'd already saved points because I ditched Joao Fonseca and brought in Oliver Tarvit.

28:14And that was a big point saving. I'll bet it was. I used my budget to go and get myself a Novak Djokovic. Yeah. He's quite good. I can only bow to that. That's extraordinary work. Yeah, he really had me believing. Not quite that he'll beat Yannick Sinner, but I think he'll get there. And he's in the same half as Sinner for a semi-final place. It would be a semi-final. Alex de Menor was pretty interesting, wasn't he? Talking about his own form. He's the fifth seed here, Alex de Menor. And yet... What was the gist? All of the questions in his press conference were about how terrible his years been and how terrible his form is.

28:59And like, and I asked him about that. It sort of went a bit meta halfway through the press conference. And I was like, you're the fifth seed of Islam, I think, for the first time. And here you are fielding questions about how crap things are going for you. And he was like, yeah, I know. But that's because of me. And like, I've been saying I don't like the way I feel. I don't feel like myself. I'm taking losses that aren't me. It's not necessarily the results. It's been like how the results have felt. And it's clear he's trying to zoom out from that, Matt, and look at the facts of things which are he's the fifth seed.

29:38You know, there's lots to be positive about. I still am not totally convinced that will translate into great results yet. I'm pleased from a sort of mental health perspective that he was talking like that, but I did think he seemed totally exhausted. Yes, I felt similarly. He seemed very self-aware to me. He was very reflective about the last year because it was here a year ago where he came in talking about burnout and how that had got to him. And he referenced that, didn't he? reference there and he said that last year he was really fixating on points and ranking and all that kind of stuff and he said that just got to him.

30:22This year he's tried to have a different approach, he thinks probably a healthier one, but his form hasn't been great for a little while now, but he did say grass is good for him, he feels like he can reset easily on this surface this time of year he's already won quite a few matches on this surface leading in to Wimbledon this year already and he backs himself I think on this surface and he said what he's what he's trying to do is exactly as you said not be so hard on himself and realize that he can even if you know he has a good run here he could leave the tournament with a career high ranking he could get his best ever result at a major and know that these things are ahead of him still and he can still achieve stuff even if he feels that his form hasn't been hasn't been great so i kind of i kind of came out of it sort of long term quite encouraged for alex dimenor in terms of like he's aware of how he's feeling and what he needs to do to make himself get out of those ruts but i think he sort of might still be in a rut at the moment and this is the window and this exactly which is this is when Alcaraz isn't here yeah and he's not in Sinner's side of the draw right I mean and I actually spoke in an interview you'll be able to hear on Tennis Podcast Meets with Tommy Paul and one of the questions I asked is you know how how aware are you these days when you train and think about Grand Slams that the one guy you keep running into you play brilliantly against at grand slams but keep losing to his Carlos Alcraz and he's not here and he was very quick to say well yeah I mean I see why you're asking that but but I'm in the other I'm in the bad side he didn't say the bad side but he said I'm in Sinner's half you know and and which was a very good way to kind of diffuse that and also I mean he does have to take it for one match a time no matter how boring that might be but if you were Dimonor in the other half and all the others that in that other half.

32:26I mean, it is such an opportunity. And what a terrible time for Dimonor to be kind of hitting the wall, sort of. Yeah. I feel for him, really. Very different approach to draws, Tommy Paul, than Barbora Krejcikova, who Matt and I interviewed for Tennis Podcast Meets and didn't want to know her first round draw. What? Adrian Manorino's style? Yeah. We asked her about it at length, actually. Wow. It was really interesting. yeah because i've heard of i've heard of players not wanting to know their draw as the as the tournament yeah not wanting to look ahead not wanting to look ahead but not wanting but doing that but also not wanting to know your first round yeah it's very very interesting yeah i also may or may not have asked about dormant volcanoes matt explained the concept of dormant volcanoes to a dormant volcano can't wait to find out how she took being called one well i said how did that go and Kevin went, fine.

33:25Which wasn't totally reassuring. No, but I think what we were worried about was tremendously awkward, right? I was trying to reassure you that it was not... Yeah, it wasn't that, no. I don't think she's now going around going, oh, this guy was talking about me being a dormant volcano. She hasn't got the badge yet. No, she hasn't got a T-shirt. No, but we're the first step on that journey. Who else did we speak to today? You spoke to Jessica Pigouli. You went big on Pegula yesterday. Yeah. Still feeling good. Yeah? Yeah. She said in her first answer, she said everything I needed to hear, that the prep week's gone well.

34:03Yeah. And this new approach she's taken, she thinks it's going to pay off. Okay. That's all we need to know? I think so, yeah. I mean, it was quite a short press conference, and a lot of it was about the protest action. But yeah, this new approach of getting on the Wimbledon grass, she's banking on that to be the difference maker. David, tell us about Grigor Dimitrov's press conference while I take a picture of Matthew filming the show underneath the Wimbledon umbrella. With pleasure. Grigor, well, he was in fine spirits. and I mean you would not believe really that this guy had just spent the last year thinking about being two sets up against Yannick Sinner and pulling a pectoral muscle the way he did but he said you know I've kind of had to let it go because I can't do anything about it he said it he said it was I did he says when you he was asked when you think about that day when you were two sets up?

35:09How did you feel at the time before the injury? He said, oh, I felt so great. You know, I felt... He told me about it, didn't he, in Tennis Podcast Meets in Australia? Flow state. Flow state. Yeah, and he repeated that here, but he just says, you know, I still look back on it fondly, even though what happened happened. And it's kind of bittersweet, I think. But he also said, I still think it's in me. I still think I can do it. Oh, David, he's got you, hasn't he? Of course. I reckon I've rubbed off on him because I believe in him. I mean, the problem is he's had such a rough year. He hasn't been able to get anything going.

35:51He was asked about whether Dublin made a difference. He played this challenger in Dublin, tiny tournament by his standards. He said it was brilliant for me. He said I played six matches in ten days and I haven't done that in such a long time. He went and won a couple of matches in Mallorca last week off the back of that, didn't he? So he was bullish, but he needs to get some rhythm going, some form going. It's not easy. Folks, it is now raining to the point of, I'm going to shut the laptop for preservation purposes. Are we okay to fly blind for the rest of the show? I'd say so. David always flies blind.

36:26Okay. I've got no notes. Coco Gough press conference. Yes, I thought the most interesting sort of tennis line from that was about her serve and how she said that she actually felt like she regretted in Paris not going after it more, not going after the first serve more. It's very notable that throughout the whole clay court season, really, the serve was a point starter. She wasn't going for it in a bid to just make more serves, I think, as she tries to overcome the serving issues that she's had. But notably last week on the grass, I said it on the show, I really thought she was going for it more.

37:07She hit some more doubles, but she hit 12 aces, I think, on the grass. And she said that's going to be her strategy. I think she knows, especially on this surface, she needs that shot as a weapon. But interesting how she thought that even on the clay, she did have some regrets about not taking that approach. So, yeah, it's always one of the most interesting things with Coco Gauff, that shot. and yeah something to look out for in her matches how how much she goes after it yeah she she's very self-aware about herself as a grass court player she was like look i know i i know this surface has been no friend to me but she was also like i have had some tough draws here and which is very true isn't it um yeah yeah and there was a funny uh little bit at the end of her press conference when she was asked about her first round opponent tomorrow call patch and she was asked whether she remembered playing her before and whether she would seek out footage of that match to sort of prep for this one.

38:11And she said, yeah, I probably will seek out footage, but I don't remember when it was. When was it? And the journalist said, actually, you lost to her en route to your first title. And I thought, hang on a minute, that doesn't sound right. And then she was like, oh, yes, I lost to her in qualies in Linz and I got in as a lucky loser. He was like, that was in 2019. Yeah, I won't bother watching that. Also, is footage of Linz Qualies from 2019 available? Who knows? Mira Andreva, I mean, not loads from Mira Andreva's press conference other than she seems like so happy. I asked her whether she would like Wimbledon to just be a couple of weeks further away so she can just enjoy being a French Open champion for a bit longer rather than having to get serious again.

38:58And she was like, yeah, in an ideal world, but it's fine. But the best line from it was she was asked about Serena, as obviously so many players were today. And she said, yeah, I was out in the practice court during the draw. And she was, I don't know whether she was live streaming it, but she was certainly paying close attention to it. And she said, I was looking behind my hands because I didn't want to draw Serena. And she said, trust me, no one wants to draw Serena. and then she sort of took about it and she was like okay I'll just speak for myself, I didn't want to draw Serena but she was like, trust me no one wanted to draw Serena I would also imagine there's a bit of her that would love to play her at some point I guess it might be different drawing her in the first round of Wimbledon and the first match of her comeback I guess, I think there'll always be a lot of attention for her however long this lasts but the first match, the first tournament is going to be So yeah, that was a good little moment.

39:57And actually, Alex de Menor was asked quite a lot about Maya Joint, wasn't he? Who he's played United Cup with. Obviously, Australian knows her well. The first question was, you know, you know Maya Joint well. How do you think she'll handle this occasion well? And he took a big intake of breath and was like, I'm not sure anyone would handle this occasion well. And it was a really honest answer. So he was like, look, he's got a lot of time and respect for my joint. He was really clear about that. But he was like, you can tell yourself all the things that you need to tell yourself till the cows come home.

40:33But it's just not as simple as that. Yeah. And to me, it was it was kind of like him trying to say if she doesn't handle it well. Yeah, that's OK. Yeah. You know, like no need to rip into her because, well, as Andreeva said, no one wanted that draw. like it's a bit of a nightmare in a lot of ways. So yeah, I thought it was a good answer from Alex Dimonor. His press conference was maybe my favourite of the whole day. It was in room two and room two here is great, isn't it? Three rows, isn't it? Three rows, it's very intimate. It always just ends up conversational. Yeah, you don't have to raise your voice, you don't have to have a microphone, you're just having a chat.

41:15Yeah, Medvedev was in there and Matt asked him a great question, I thought, about the French Open, where obviously he crashed and burned before any of the nonsense started happening and Matt asked, like, did you see that all unfolding and see Sinner go out and Djokovic go out and all the rest of the nonsense and think, I missed an opportunity here, if only I hadn't lost to Adam Walton in the first round and his answer, in not so many words, was a categoric no. it didn't matter how much that draw fell apart i was never going to do anything yeah remind me never to make any kind of prediction for medvedev to do anything at the french open yeah absolutely because he doesn't believe yeah yeah i find that so interesting i still think he could have done something at the range of attitude daniel yeah if he hadn't been scheduled first on that was what really did it yes to give him a bit of a pep talk you do david yeah from memory i had one more thing i wanted to mention from today's media day interviews and that was matthew going to venus williams i don't think he did any important journalism while he was there he had a great time though he had a great time matthew loves venus williams yeah and he saw a he heard she was announced towards the end of the day venus williams is on her way to the press conference room and I said oh you should go to that and Matthew's little face said can I and I think my favorite moment from that press conference was when Venus was asked about the fact that she had said oh I don't know whether Serena's coming back you know a few months ago and she and then she was asked about that and said so did you know and she just scoffed I was like of course I knew she's a great scoffer she was also asked like how's Serena how's Serena looking in practice and she was like you could just go and walk to the practice courts and have a look at her yourself that'd be your best bet incredible I'm glad Matthew had that experience there was one other thing from was it Tarvit time?

43:37oh two other things at the start of my day yeah two press conferences back to back first with oliver tarvit um who i think yeah did learn a couple of things about himself having tried to recreate his woman form last year in fallen shorts you know and he's back in this position again and and he said he feels like he would handle it better this time if he was if he was able to to do so there was one funny line when he was sort of I asked him about um you know what what's your calendar going to look like after Wimbledon and he sort of said well there's this um Nottingham 50k it's actually in the second week of Wimbledon so I suppose it kind of depends if I'm in the second week of Wimbledon and he definitely wasn't trying to suggest that he was going to be but he was the the competitor in him couldn't accept I like that categorically that he will be playing in nottingham you know and i did i did think fair enough you know i mean like these players that book their weddings yeah yeah he ain't doing that um and then i i he was followed into room two again the small one there with uh my akvalinska which i really liked because she is so new to this stuff and she's honest about that she's she's a she walks in a little bit self-consciously and is actually said to us at one point, hopefully you'll all be nice to me.

44:59You know, after she'd spent several minutes being absolutely fascinating and very helpful in her answers and telling us most interestingly to me about what life has been like since she reached the French Urban Final. And she said, you know, she went straight on holiday as soon as that finished and she didn't touch a racket for sort of six days. It'd be the... I can't remember what she went. Greece, I think she said. yeah was that right um but she just she just said because i mean the thing is she walked in with this is somebody who didn't have a clothing sponsor at the start of the french open she walked in with a lacoste top now i don't know whether she bought that but i suspect not um it had two other brand names on it um so she's definitely her management team she said i trust them i don't have anything to do with it but i know they're gonna the checks are coming they're gonna do that you know it's very she said i don't want to say which brands because i don't think it would be appropriate at the moment um but you know clearly she's had all sorts of business deals come her way as a result of reaching that french open final um and she's just she does strike you as somebody who's just trying to take it all in a stride so that she can continue to be a normal tennis player as best she can but it is it's it's been a life-changing month in her life okay laptops back up and running so i can confirm i can confirm for sure that that is it for our roundup for today's media day uh we do have a few more things to talk about some results from today and also to mark your card we do have some some big hitters coming through the press conference room tomorrow notably serena williams of course she wasn't going to come with the riffraff on main media day or she you know yeah absolutely can I just say that was like we are abiding by our own roof policy there aren't we yeah absolutely we haven't we haven't proactively gone to our wet weather position we've ploughed on with the show Matthew and I talked about it survived a little survived a little bit of rain no harm no foul and here we are absolutely outdoor tournament life goes on didn't lose our footing okay other results uh all the pre-wimbledon grass court tournaments wrapped up today or did they actually when i wrote this agenda zizu bergs and nugo and bear were still reigned off coming back tomorrow oh wow and they're playing each other in the first round yeah wimbledon yep why don't they just play the one match honestly I bet if they could if they were offered the chance to sort of call that one a draw or make the first round also the Eastbourne title winner take all would you sign for that that would be really fun Matt asked me earlier because ZZ Bergs is playing for a first ever title would you rather win that Eastbourne final or win the first round Wimbledon match?

48:08Oh, that's tough. I think if I'd never won a title before, I'd want to get a title. But if you're Ugo and Bear and you've won a title before, multiple, I think. Yeah, I think I'd be hoping to make some progress in the Wimbledon draw. Yeah, I agree. I think it's different for the two of them. You don't want to be Alejandro Davidovich Fikina. No. We'll get to him. Or past Alejandro Davidovich Fikina because, Matt. He's done it. He's finally won a title. I'm so pleased. I am too. I am too. 7-6-6-3 over Ethan Quinn today in the Mallorca final. His first ever title in his sixth final. Playing at home, of course, he's a Spaniard.

48:50First ever home champion for this tournament. Davidovic Fakina played four finals last year, lost them all. He had championship points in two of them. it has been it has been an ordeal to the extent that like the scar tissue he had accrued did make me wonder if that would would always prevent him from getting over that line somehow and he was setting a break up today and I thought oh god this is actually a nightmare for him and and the scar tissue that he'd accrued had you know you know it had spread to the locker room I'm not going to name the player, but a player walked past us today. He didn't name the player, I don't think he'd mind.