Madrid - Can Rafael Jodar fill the Alcaraz void?

33:36And he ended up, despite cramping in the third set, taking him apart to eventually after two incredibly tight-fought sets, 7-6, 4-6, 6-1. This match was absolutely crackling. I mean, there was huge anticipation. I was pumped for this. The internet was pumped for this. Tennis fans everywhere were pumped for this. And yet still, Matt, when I tuned in to watch the coin toss for this, having got myself some refreshments after the Rabakina Jung match, I was really taken aback by how crackling the atmosphere and what was inside the Kaha Magica. It takes quite a lot to get that big metal box pumping.

34:26and to get the acoustics feeling right and to get it feeling like a proper night session the way that Arthur Ashe does or you know even the main stadium at Indian Wells does for a crackling night session this felt like that and the first two sets of it were absolutely electrifying like I always have quite a lot of anxiety about matches that are so anticipated especially when they've never played before and I'm a bit like yeah it looks great on paper but we just don't know how these games match up together it could be a total flop and it was the opposite of that for two sets it exceeded all of my expectations it was breathless I could not take my eyes off it it was you know it was a sort of tennis that makes you throw out takes like who needs Sincaraz anyway Carlos Alcaraz Who?

35:22Is that the pod title today? Yeah, like, honestly, seeing these two meet for the first time is such a fun stage to watch them at. You know, there's no real baggage there for them. They're both explosive, powerful hitters, and they play with that sort of youthful exuberance and going after the ball like that. And, you know, I think you see that when young players play each other. It's a fun stage of their careers to meet. Like some of the weaknesses haven't been sort of ironed out yet. There's still some sort of vulnerability there. But basically they're going after the ball in a really fun way.

36:06And I was laughing at the audacity of some of the shot making from both of them, really, in those first two sets. And Hoda, I like the way he used the crowd. Like he obviously the crowd wasn't fully with him because Fonseca had an enormous amount of support there. But he used what he had. But in a quite composed way, he's he's not he's not Alcaraz in that he's, you know, smiling and sort of telling them to come with him and that sort of thing. but he was definitely getting them involved in a way that I hadn't really seen from him before. I think he sensed the occasion last night, Hoda, and kind of rose to it and stepped up to it while remaining composed.

36:55And then was composed in that third set when he was cramping. And I think Fonseca played a terrible third set, if I'm being honest, like a real collapse from him. Having won the second, he had the momentum and he had an opponent who was struggling. and unfortunately he he stops he stopped actually hitting winners but he was just hitting a load of unforced errors but he also wasn't in lockdown mode he wasn't working the point he wasn't making Hoda move or making him doubt really it was a really a poor third set I thought from Fonseca and we saw a big racket smash from him as well didn't we when he lost his serve at the start of it.

37:39Yeah, I mean, look, I love this match. Can I, just to offer a tiny bit of cool on the fire, can I offer you some slight skepticism from your friend of mine, Matt Futterman? Of course, he had a slightly different take on this match than everyone else. Well, he is in Madrid, isn't he? He was in the stadium, and we should preface this by saying He was operating on three hours of sleep on a plane and had gone straight to the magic box. But, you know, fair play, Matt. He wanted to be there for that night session. So he was. And he was not quite as taken with either of these two's games as maybe we were watching on the TV.

38:24And he was talking. He said, what I didn't see tonight, I didn't see either player use tactics to flip a point. he said think of the discipline that a nadal or a djokovic even a sinner even to some extent alcaraz in terms of knowing what shot to use at the right time had at that young age and i think that is that is something that i'm certainly seeing with fonseca a little bit i don't feel like i've seen enough of hoddard to necessarily to necessarily say that but i think we can get very lulled in by shot making I think is basically is basically the point there and actually kind of when we've seen Fonseca play a sort of Zverev as he did recently for example you know he had an injection Fonseca that was amazing but Zverev's sort of steadiness and understanding of when to lock down his game kind of as you're saying there Catherine that is something I think both of these guys are going to have to develop but they're obviously so young and they can develop it it's just that we have seen some real greats have that trait at a young age and yeah I think it was it was a great watch I don't want to be down on it but I think it was a good point from that yeah and it does kind of tie in with a with a thought I was having while watching that you kind of also made as well, like how symptomatic of youth that match felt and how most of Hodah's performances feel right now.

39:58And like, if you've got youth, use it, channel it, of course, like use it while you can, kids. Like if you're just swinging freely and going for everything and they're going in, do that while you can it is not sustainable it made me think of Emma Raducanu in her press conference after she lost a terrible match at the Australian Open earlier this year and the writing was on the wall for her coaching relationship with Francisco Roig and she said I want to get back to playing how I did when I was younger and playing the way that won me the US Open And I thought, I totally understand why you want that.

40:45And of course you want that. And that seems logical. But I don't think that's possible because that way of playing was only possible because you were 18 and unseeded and, you know, coming through qualifying. And I'm not saying she can't find a version of that again. but I don't think she'll ever find that way of playing again, just going for every single return without a care in the world. You know, if we could all capture that element of youthfulness, then, you know, we'd have figured out all the ills of the world, wouldn't we? We'd have it all sorted. So I do, like, I don't think there's any problem now with him playing that way, Hoda, but it doesn't necessarily think, oh, he's going to be a Grand Slams champion in the future, because I don't think this style of tennis is actually going to be what wins him Grand Slams if he does, if that makes sense.

41:46Are we a real downer? Are we a piss on the bonfire? I do have a slightly different view of him, based on what I've seen. um my biggest question mark over him is physical uh just at the moment he i've seen him against art of feasts um kind of overpowering feasts and then eventually just being embroiled in a physical battle that feasts won it was like a tug of war to come into my territory you know and i know feasts is young but he's already now that he's got over the back let's let's hope um but there's a he's he already feels like a fully grown man who's who's ready to to just take on anybody physically hoda is so sinewy he is he's rake thin uh which is fine you know that's his build but i also think he will grow into that frame a bit more as time goes on he needs to build stamina i don't think i don't think his legs are ready for five sets yet really like i i that's my sense i've seen it a couple of times now but in terms of the way they weren't ready for three sets last night David I mean he was in trouble and Fonseca did not exploit that at all you know he was not being subtle about it he was flapping away to his team saying get me electrolytes and pickle juice and that may be nerves and an energy exposed used up emotionally you know he was very he did get like when he did he's very quiet in between points and then suddenly there's an explosion of emotion when he's had a had a big moment and look you know like you say he's playing in madrid the noise was incredible you know he's building up to it but in terms of his actual game i feel like his power is produced seemingly with such little exertion.

43:50I don't feel as though it's unsustainable. I feel that this is his game and that he is not winging away at the ball. And I would draw a direct contrast to his opponent here because Fonseca slashes at the ball and you know when he's going for four anchors of the sound he makes as he hits it. You know, it's a different sound to his rally ball. Hodder's rally ball is knocking lumps out of people. This is what gets me. It's the sheer weight of shots without him going for clean winners. And he sometimes even hits clean winners when he does that. So I think he is a massive problem for people in terms of his actual game.

44:31The fact that he knocked Dimonor off the court for the last four games, I think that that is more illuminating than beating Fonseca. um i just i just think that there are players and i'd probably put zverev in this camp zverev i think if he plays him will put away this idea of wanting to take people out with his first strike and he'll say i'm going to play 30 straight rallies with you and do what i used to do and eventually i'll take your legs away um but for a while i could imagine hoddard knocking knocking winners galore past him early on you know it's just i'm just looking into the future i think this kid is an extraordinary hitter just just his his just forehand and backhand strike without trying to pull the trigger and yet he's yeah and it's it's when you look at him you think well where is this power coming from it's time and and the x factor you know that that the composure that you know there is a look in his eye i trust him yes and you know absolutely no question mark on the fang front for i love the fact that he only has his dad in the box there's nobody else there he doesn't have an agent i mean he will soon but he doesn't have an agent at the moment i think they've got somebody that's sort of helping them out because obviously things must have got chaotic very quickly somebody that his dad knows but you know how how wonderful is that let's enjoy this moment in time while we can.

46:05Reminds me of early Mike Tyson used to walk out of the locker room wearing just black shorts, no socks and black shoes. He didn't have a robe, he didn't have a team, he didn't have any music, he just walked to the ring when he was 18 and just went and knocked people out. I kind of like that sort of throwback sort of basic, Let's not make a fuss about it. Let's just go and do it. We are a Vitka Priva and a Kam Norrie away from Hodar Sinner, which would be a quarterfinal. Are we going to get that? And is it going to be good if we do get it? Or is Sinner going to give him a schooling? I would slightly worry about Hodar's legs that deep into the tournament at this stage.

47:00he's got you know one more match and then Yannick Sinner I think we I think we think we will get it I think he's probably got one more win in him he's got a day off today hasn't he so I think that's helpful but yeah like and he is in the Sinner mold like we do say that about Sinner as well where does this power come from you know which is interesting to have a to have a guy in that mold and look I'm not down on Holla I think he's fantastic but I do think it's an interesting point that like we assume he's going to make those physical developments right but they're not easy to make and I think he does have to make them because you know he needs the extra power in the legs he needs the endurance and I think all of that would help him with being able to have the rally tolerance and stick in rallies, you know, and add some of that sort of layers to his game.

47:58But it's a big development to have to make. It's just not a guarantee that it happens. But I really hope it does because I agree with both of you. That strike on the ball is just something else. And it was like a kind of, I kind of felt like for Fonseca, it must have been like, you know, there's always a bigger fish kind of situation, right? Where like they brought up that graphic of the ground stroke speed. And I've never seen Fonseca not be top of that in terms of like average ground stroke speed through a match. Even when he played Sinner the other week, he was top of that. But Hodder was ahead of him, you know, and that must have been a bit of a shock, I think, for Fonseca.

48:36And maybe that explains some of why he didn't, he sort of went away in this match. And he's still young as well. And we shouldn't, we shouldn't sort of totally write him off. But it's a fascinating situation to be in. But I suspect, to answer your question, Catherine, I suspect at the moment Sinner is far too well-rounded and too good a mover and too good an absorption of a lot of that heat that can come from Hodder's racket as well. And I think he would beat him probably in straight sets. But I do want to see it. Yannick Sinner keen to let the world know that he doesn't need dating apps. That's the viral Yannick Sinner moment from Madrid so far.

49:15He's always keen to let people know his relationship status, isn't he? Do you remember that? There is no girl in the press conference. Yeah. I mean, there definitely was a girl, but yeah.

49:30So Sinner against Norrie. Norrie's coming for Sinner. Oh, just finally on Rodar. It does look like he's too good. He's going to get himself seeded for the French Open, which is extraordinary in itself, but it does take a bit of the orangery fun away, doesn't it? Waiting to see where Hodog... I mean, it'll still be fun to see where he comes out in the draw because he'd be a low seed and he'd still be scheduled to play one of the high seeds in round three. But it's, yeah, slightly less fun, isn't it? So, yeah, Cam Norrie is coming for Yannickson. I do like his attitude, Cam Norrie. You know, in these matches where he's heavy underdog, He says, I'm coming for you.

50:15I'm not going to be afraid. I might lose, but I'm not going to be afraid. So Nori Sinner to face the winner of Chodar Kapriva. The winner of that section to face the winner of the Echeverry-Fis-Lehechka-Muzetti section. So we have a potential Fis-Muzetti rematch in the quarterfinals if Muzetti can come through Lehechka and Fis-Echeverry. good signs for Muzzetti, I would say, David. He was one of those where in our emergency pod on Friday, we were like, he should be a name that we're looking to, you know, in terms of if he falls in the bottom half of the draw, potentially coming through all the way to the final, except that he's coming back from injury and his form and confidence isn't, or hasn't been where he's wanted it to be.

51:11but big strides so far, I would say, in Madrid. I think so. I saw him play Talon Grigswold yesterday and Grigswold played pretty well. But Mazzetti is building here. He was showing the full repertoire yesterday. I mean, it really is. If you just want to watch a tennis match for an experience of a player having all the shots and utilising them and when to use them. He is a joy to watch. He's an artist on the court. And actually I've got this little theory building that the injury might end up helping his hopes of doing well at Roland Garros because he can't peak too early. You know, last year he reached the final of Monte Carlo and then he got injured in that final.

52:11And we've seen that before from him. And he's been, frankly, written off, really, since the Australian Open because he just hasn't been able to play properly and he's not looked right and nobody's making any song and dance about him at the moment. Suddenly Alcraz is out, who's one of his biggest problems. When you think of match-ups, Alcraz just is always the guy that... I'm sure we've seen Sinner beat him very handily as well. But look, if he does end up in the other half of the draw to Sinner, I think he's got a real chance. Because as long as his body holds up, because he's building confidence right now, I don't necessarily expect him to go that far in Madrid.

52:55I think if he wins through these two next matches, I think he'll have done incredibly well. But I bet you when he gets to Rome, he's looking better than he is now. Rome's a better suit it's a it's more closely aligned with Roland Garros I think he is gonna be significant in the next month as long as he can just stay fit I can see the confidence building in him does all of that also apply to Art of Feas well yeah I mean look Feas is already there really I mean the truth is I don't think Feas has been great in Madrid I mean he should have lost in the first round really he was he was pretty fortunate to to beat Bousset um and then in the last round he beat Emilio Nava um who also caused him some troubles you know it was a first set tie break um he led 3-1 feast and then he got broken back it was a better performance from him but I think he finds the altitude and the kind of just he doesn't feel like he's got that much control over the ball he he's hitting long quite a lot um but the fact is he he's a winner he's he is a clutch player like he wins a lot of tie breaks and a lot of important matches where it looks like he's going to lose and i i remember i know we had a recent match with him and mazzetti in barcelona that that's a good reference point but i still don't think that's the real mazzetti yet but i always remember and it wasn't a match i saw but i remember matt futterman telling us about a match they played in India Wells last year that kind of made him feel glad to be alive.

54:28You know, it's one of those sort of final set tiebreak matches of two young players just playing, driving a crowd wild. And so that would be a very good little marker, I think, for them both. But I just, yeah, as sad as it is about Alcraz, I just think it makes all the other players a bit more interesting. And there are some interesting players jockeying and trying to build something in the next few weeks. Stefanos Tsitsipas seems to have found something out of somewhere. Look, it's only victories over Patrick Kipson and a pretty poor Alexander Bublik. But we're at a stage with Stefanos Tsitsipas where back-to-back wins is quite a big deal.

55:17He's got Daniel Merida for a place in the round of 16 later on today. We're going to have that to face Davidovic Fikina or Kasper Rude, another player who's got to be lighting up at the prospect of Carlos Alcaraz not being a role on Garros. Daniel Medvedev still in the draw. Was it in Madrid where Medvedev had his Illuminati moment? I think it was. It might have been. That is what I associate. What was that? He was questioning the... I think it was something to do with electronic line calling and the umpire referenced a they. He said they say it's fine or that, you know, the umpire referenced sort of powers that be in an oblique way and Medvedev said, who is they, the Illuminati?

56:16Yes. OK. So Medvedev, he plays Nikolai Budkov-Kia, who beat Denis Shapovalov, who got booed off the court after that performance. Flavio Gaboli is still going strong. Bottom of the draw, we've got Alexander Zverev, who loves Madrid, two-time former champion. And he faces Terence Atman later on today. Matt, tell us about Terence Atman's win over countrymen and fellow lefty Ugo Mbair in the previous round.

56:53I mean, I'm not going to do this justice. So everyone just go and seek out the last probably 20 minutes of this match. But Atman was experiencing as bad cramps as you can possibly experience. He was on the floor, writhing around in pain, screaming out in that second set tie break, having won the first set. And still managed to win the set. Ugo and Bear played truly some of the worst tennis you can possibly play against an injured opponent. Like rule number one, make them play, make them move. and he didn't do either of those things. He coughed up errors. He didn't try any drop shots. He totally fell to pieces and yeah, there was a pretty cold handshake between the two of them.

57:53Obviously, they're both French. I get the feeling that Atman is a little separate. He's an outsider, I think, isn't he? Yeah, I think he's a sort of lone wolf, isn't he, a little bit. He sort of does his own thing, which I really like. I really like him and his personality. He's great in interviews. I really like watching him on court. he's pretty quirky yeah I'm sort of in on Terence Atman but yeah there was there was a pretty cold handshake between the two of them I think Umber's issue and Atman said this afterwards he understood Umber's frustration because you know he was definitely taking way more than 25 seconds between points you know and the umpire was not enforcing that I mean he was literally taking about a minute sometimes because he was on the floor I mean he couldn't he couldn't get up he couldn't move and that was very much also the uh issue that apparently jeremy shardy had um from from the um bare box the keep were reporting that he confronted the umpire uh backstage i think yes um alexandre ruba and apparently mohammed leani of course mohammed leani was involved he he apparently had to intervene and and um i don't know if break break anything up is the right word but just help calm things down maybe uh because yeah shardian and bear were crossed that those time violations were not were not being penalized but honestly like you've never seen a tennis player cramp like this like he could not move at all kind of got it together in like the last couple of points of the tie break.

59:32But it should have been over by then. The set should have been won by Umber. And yeah, that was a really, a really poor moment for Umber. So now he's got to come back and face Alexander Zverev, Terence Atman. From this point, I know it's trickier with the men because some of them are only at the round of 32 stage. But who do you think our two finalists will be from here. Shall I pencil you in for Yannick Sinner, both of you? Yeah, I think. Probably feel fairly comfortable about that. You're going to go Sinner and Zverev or tempted by Feath? I'm not convinced by Zverev. No, Feath is in the Sinner.

1:00:18So Mazzetti and Feath are both top half, aren't they? So, tough. Yeah. but then I can't look at anybody in that half the draw and think I'm absolutely confident in them would you take the field in that bottom half over Zverev maybe not a name but take the field I think I'd probably have a look at Kasparud I think as the defending champion I think he's somebody we often forget, really. Why are you looking at me, David? Probably all JL of Seam as well. Someone we forget who doesn't mind Madrid. And I think he's able to play, he's able to slightly play his game a bit more, I think, in Madrid than he is on other clay courts.

1:01:12So sort of serve him plus one forehand. He's able to, I wouldn't necessarily, he wouldn't necessarily be my pick, but I think we could overlook him. I just feel like if Kasparud could stay fit for the next six weeks I mean he must be thinking I mean I'm sure they have to not think this about the opportunity that's there like you can't really afford to get carried away but he's another guy Maybe you do think it Maybe you do He's just got such a good clay court game I don't know whether he's quite what he was because of the injuries he's getting except but I still think of two years ago when he won the first set against Verev at the French Open, like 6-2, and then he got ill.

1:01:55Remember, he had a bug and he was really unwell and he faded away. And I think he was going to win that match. And it just strikes me that all of these guys, this is the moment they've been waiting for. Yeah, and I personally, look, it'll vary a bit for different players and their personalities and their situations. But I actually think, you know, I know, I think they should be thinking like that. I know a healthy amount of delusion is necessary for tennis players, but I think the level of delusion that has been required for the likes of Caspar Rood, Felix Auger, Eliassime, Stefanos Sitzapas, to really believe that they can beat Yannick Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz potentially back-to-back

1:02:53is, well, it's in the not healthy amount of delusion category, like it's in the ludicrous category. So I think one of them being gone totally changes the complexion of the next few weeks for them and they should be looking at it as that kind of an opportunity. And it would also be really interesting whether, like, if one of them can take advantage and get to the final and let's say even beat Sinner, let's say something as dramatic as that happens, it'd be interesting whether that is enough to sort of then help them join that group when we're back to Sinu and Alcaraz both being sort of healthy.

1:03:42Probably depends who it is. Is the level of tennis just lower? It probably just depends who it is, right. I mean, I do think the level of tennis is just... That's what I mean, really. Like, it's in terms of the delusion. Like, you can tell yourself it's about belief, and if I just believe that I can beat them, then I can. But I do think there is a fundamental... They are so much better at tennis than everybody else. if Casparu did those things I think that would be the crowning moment of his career I don't expect that to then start being repeated but if a guy like Hodder or Feast were to do it whose days their best days I think are ahead of them I think it could fast track them yeah Feast definitely I mean Hodder too I just don't think he will like best of five sets is such a and Mazzetti's an interesting one on that front.

1:04:39And I have thought that, like, the way someone might muscle in, it would be on a specific surface, potentially, you know, and sustaining it and keeping it up the whole year and living with Sino and Alcaraz across all the surfaces is feeling very tough for sort of anyone right now because they're so good and adaptable to all the surfaces. but you know someone who can absolutely peak and be their best on clay and I do think Feast and Mazzetti are kind of in that category I would say with the well certainly for Feast with the with the heavy forehand Gary Nathan wrote a piece this week about Feast sort of comparing him to team a little bit with that heavy forehand so yeah like look at us we're finding we're finding the positives in the get thee to the orangery in the Alcarazlis world

1:05:34We'll be back in part three to talk about a few bits and bobs of news, including the departure of the WTA's CEO, Portia Archer. Welcome back to part three of today's tennis podcast. Just before we get on to the pretty big bit of news from the WTA about Portia Archer intending to step down from her role as CEO of the WTA, an update on something we were discussing last week, Marketa Vondroshova's anti-doping case, which is ongoing at the moment. I said I would make inquiries with the ITIA about their policy on the gender of testers, and in particular testers that were sent to players' homes. And we have received a response from the ITIA.

1:06:29They've been very helpful. In fact, they listened to the pod and preemptively sent a response to my inquiry before I'd even had to reach out to them. So I really appreciate that. They said the gender of the tester always matches the player, whether they are tested at an event or out of competition at their home, hotel, etc. In terms of Vondrosheva's case, they said it's treated as any other doping case. The player will have every opportunity to put their side of the story and provide any supporting evidence. And the tribunal is independent of the ITIA. Four years is the maximum term of ban that Vondroshova could be subject to because it is a fundamental part of any testing programme in sport, in any sport, that you cannot refuse a test.

1:07:19If the consequence of that was a small sanction, then it would be open season for those who choose to dope to take a lesser sanction than if they tested positive. Of course, a panel will look at any mitigations and they will make the ultimate decision on the level of fault and therefore the appropriate sanction. You also mentioned resource, and this is something we are aware of. We do have some support available for players which we launched last year. And they've provided a link to details about that support. We can pop that in our show notes, perhaps. And he says that is there to assist players to look into contamination cases.

1:07:58And the spokesman also says we work with Sporting Chance, the organisation, so that players going through a process have someone to talk to about it. So a helpful response there from the ITIA. And any updates on the Vondroshova case, we will, of course, keep you posted. On to the WTA and some pretty big news from them this week. This from a WTA statement. Portia Archer has informed us of her decision to step down from her role as CEO, effective April 20th ahead of her contract renewal. We are working through a transition plan for the leadership of the WTA Tour and we'll share an update on this by mid-May.

1:08:45Portia has made important contributions to our tournaments, are players in the advancement of women's tennis. Among her achievements, she expanded into new markets, championed player-first initiatives, enhanced safeguarding standards, drove technological innovation, and worked tirelessly to strengthen the WTA's role in the broader tennis community. I suspect, David, that this is not unrelated to the situation that we've been talking about with Saudi Arabia. You know, they mention in the statement there, among her achievements, she expanded into new markets. Well, one of those was Saudi Arabia.

1:09:22It's been reported in the last couple of weeks that the WTA would have liked that arrangement, that deal, that contract for Riyadh to host the WTA finals to continue beyond the original contract of three years, so to continue beyond this year, but that Saudi Arabia aren't interested in that. That's a lot of chips that the WTA, led by Portia Archer, put on Saudi Arabia. You know, they sacrificed a lot for the benefits that they were receiving from that arrangement. And the fact that against their will, it's been, well, it's ending. I don't know. I suspect that that felt unsurvivable. I don't know.

1:10:13What's your reaction to this news? difficult to know really without hearing specifically from her um i i i see i definitely see the logic to the point you're making there um i think maybe the um the riyadh deal was able to bridge them financially until they were able to get a a blue chip sponsor which they have now in mercedes um and look you know i'm i'm ultimately happy that they're leaving saudi arabia and if they end up with with a place that's got a roaring crowd and hasn't got the human rights issues that Saudi Arabia has got then all good um difficult to it's such a short amount of time isn't it three years one cycle for a leader of that level that it's I find it difficult to to tell how much has been achieved really yes there was that move to Saudi Arabia they also she also led the uh the investigation into um Stefanovukov um which was then you know he he was suspended and then he was unsuspended um but it's it's it just feels like there's not enough time to follow much through and make really material change to me um but I don't know her reasons um so uh I guess we'll wait and see if she comes out with anything but but these are important positions to fill and i i want i want it to be a position filled by a woman and to sort of to have that leadership um i feel i feel like there's so much good about women's tennis right now both in terms of the field of players the fact that mercedes have come on board um this is a great opportunity now to drive the next era really um and I hope they make the right decision so you take the statement at face value that this was Paul Schroer's decision and the WTA would have liked her to continue yeah I mean listen I I don't know Paul Schroer I've not I haven't met her I don't know whether there might be some something in her life that means that this is difficult to continue so I I wouldn't want to speculate.

1:12:34But yeah, there are a number of things that it could be. OK, that is it for news for this edition of the Tennis Podcast. We have another show on Friday of this week. So if anything else pops up, we'll keep you posted. We'll be back to talk about Madrid, which will be at the semi-final stage by Friday, I think. So we'll talk about everything that's going to unfold over the next five days. we also have a live show on Sunday night so show on Friday and then the show after that will be live on Sunday night after the Madrid men's final that is scheduled for 8pm UK time unless it turns out to be an absolute epic and we we have to delay that but provisional planning and it it should be okay we should be safe uh 8 p.m uk time sunday night uh for kind of next week's monday pod if you like we will also be recording over the coming weeks our next two editions of tennis relived for friends of the tennis podcast our series where we uh tell stories from tennis's rich history and our Roland Garros issue of Tennis Relived is going to focus on Nicola Piotrangeli and our Wimbledon edition of Tennis Relived for this year is going to focus on the men's tournament in 1996 won to everybody's surprise most people's surprise by Richard Krejcik he beat Malavie Washington in a very surprising final surprising for a number of reasons not least and I know that this is what springs to mind for a lot of people when they think of the 1996 Wimbledon men's finals there was a streaker there was a streaker before that match and we would like to speak to that streaker for this edition of Tennis Relived for important journalistic reasons David, genuinely she was called, she is called Melissa Johnson.

1:14:48She was 23 in 1996, which would make her 53 now. She did do an interview with the Sun a couple of years ago, which makes me think that, you know, she's not, she's not desperately trying. She's not in a witness protection program. She's not desperately trying to distance herself from 1996. So this is a come and get me plea, folks, to Melissa Johnson.

1:15:18I'm desperate to track you down Melissa if you know if you are Melissa or if you know Melissa or you know someone who knows Melissa or you know someone who knows Melissa's dog walker please get in touch and let us know info at tennispodcast.net or you can get on the barge maybe we'll start a streaker thread on the barge who knows what could pop up on there message us on Instagram Melissa any way you like please get in touch I'd love to speak to you and hear about your experience of that 1996 men's final in the aftermath because we do important journalism here at the Tennis Podcast and we are nothing if not Us and the Sun Us and the Sun We are nothing if not completist in our approach to tennis relived So there it is I'll come and get me plea for Melissa Johnson.

1:16:19Folks, we have two mascots for this episode. It is Delilah and Jug, and they are owned by Caroline and Fran. Caroline writes, my wife Fran and I adopted both Delilah and Jug in 2019. This is the third year for Delilah, who's the Siamese cat. and the second year, oh no, sorry, third year for Delilah and first year for Jug, who's the American short hair cat. I'm looking at a picture of them both. One, I think it is Jug, is in a cardboard box and Delilah is looking a bit forlorn on the outside of the cardboard box. Jug prefers watching figure skating. Yes, Jug, but is supportive of his mum's tennis viewing.

1:17:09Delilah is happy to lounge around and shows tepid interest in television. They are adorable. Unclear from the photo whether they're friends. I'm going to choose to believe that they are. But you never know with cats. I had two cats growing up and they were not friends. One of them wanted to be. One of them didn't. And for a friendship to bloom, you've both got to be on the same page.

1:17:39They're lovely. I do like a Siamese cat. Jog is lovely too, but Delilah is a real beauty. You're both beautiful. I have no favourites. Thank you, Carolyn and Fran, for bringing Delilah and Jog to today's show. Hello to our mascots, Bodie, Maisie and Roger. Hello to our top folks and executive producers, Greg, Chris and Jeff. And Matt, let's have some shout outs. We have Michelle Dean from Newport Beach, California. And Michelle says, like Michelle, Larkshire de Brito. Oh, very good, Michelle. Good work, Michelle. Very good. And like Michelle, you that did the now famous interview with Sebastian Corder, where she accidentally asked him about having sex with Flavio Gabali.

1:18:41Which is iconic stuff.

1:18:48Her work also includes interviewing David on a big stage at Indian Wells. Remember it well. Hope you're doing well, Michelle. She didn't ask me about Flavio. what else do we know about our michelle our michelle has attended three of the four slams with wimbledon still to go however michelle did see olympic tennis at wimbledon gosh those tickets were hard to get michelle wow Wow, wonder who she saw. Let us know, Michelle. That's incredibly cool. Thank you, Michelle. We also have Emma Bowhill, who is from Terminfeckin, County Lowth, Ireland. Oh, Emma. You said that very deliberately, Matt. You really tested Matt there.

1:19:51yes I had to be careful not to do a Michelle Yew I thought that was happening which is a bit like how Emma Navarro plays tennis very deliberately nice I see what you did there David Emma says Emma says my family joined our local tennis club this year it has four clay courts and we're really enjoying playing and having lessons my nine-year-old is way better than me clay courts that's cool hmm tennis's classroom as yeah gorilla would say so no wonder your nine-year-old's better than you they've learned on a clay court that's really cool thank you emma and finally we have Judy Singleton from Rocky Hill, New Jersey.

1:20:50Judy! Hi Judy. Like Judy Dalton. Like Judy Dalton. And Judy has, says this year I will complete three quarters of the Fan Grand Slam. I go to the US Open every year. In 2014 I got tickets to the Wimbledon men's final between Federer and Djokovic from the overseas ballot. And this year, I got selected for Roland Garros tickets. Go on, Judy. So see you in Paris, Judy. And see you one day in Australia, hopefully, to complete that fan slam. But before that, we'll see you in Paris. That's incredibly cool. Judy, Michelle and Emma, thank you very much for being friends with the Tennis Podcast. If you'd like to become a friend, the link is in our show notes.

1:21:42We are part of the Athletic Podcast Network. Thank you for listening. We'll speak to you on Friday.