Monte Carlo - Was Sinner’s statement win a game-changer?

16:56Matt Roberts:There's a reason they weren't in Monte Carlo and that's that, you know, trying to challenge, trying to get to the level of Alcaraz and Sinner is fucking up their bodies, right? Absolutely. I'm not

17:08Catherine Whitaker:saying any of these guys are close to Alcaraz and Sinner, but I'm saying they're also sort of in my mind within a match not like further away than Zverev just because they're different in the rankings. The rankings to me are not that helpful at the moment really, other than Sinner and Alcaraz are clearly number two and then there's just this big this big pool of other players and Zverev's leading it because of his consistency and he deserves credit for that but in terms of actually being closest to Sinner and Alcaraz it's it's it's tough to say who that really is right now

17:39David Law:I'd also draw a distinction between Sinner and Alcaraz in terms of Zverev because Zverev served for the match against Alcaraz at the Australian Open um he's not getting anywhere near Sinner right now. It's eight in a row. He's 7-6 down against Alcraz. I do feel like it's different. Styles make matches, don't they?

18:02Catherine Whitaker:By the way, just to go back to the match, we haven't talked about the wind.

18:08Matt Roberts:It's because I hate it, Matt. It made me feel really anxious. I find, look, I'm planning to have a rant about indoor tennis later in this podcast, so I I can't go in too hard on the wind and the outdoor conditions in the Monte Carlo final.

18:25David Law:Looking forward to seeing how you get around this one.

18:27Matt Roberts:But it just makes me, I think maybe it's projection because of how much I hate playing tennis in the wind. But it just, it makes me really anxious. I think it made them anxious. Right. Yeah, like it just, it all felt so edgy, didn't it? And I don't mind a bit of edge. it kind of upped the stakes but like I was just sort of I was clenched I was clenched for 90

18:54Catherine Whitaker:minutes yeah I I did really enjoy it um you know like I know they're capable of absolutely brilliant tennis I've seen it so I found it an interesting dynamic on this match an interesting element that like oh throw in the wind so did Andy Murray who couldn't stop tweeting yeah I love it when Murray he just goes months without appearing on Twitter and then suddenly pops up with analysis.

19:19Matt Roberts:Everyone's got to hear his wind takes. He was a great wind player, Andy Murray, wasn't he?

19:23Catherine Whitaker:And I think he was making that point. Absolutely. With his tweet, he was like, when you play in the wind, you have to adjust and play with more margin and whoever figures that out first will be the one who wins, as if to say, I'd have figured it out by now. What are these two doing? And the thing is, it was a scrappy match. There was a lot more errors than we're used to seeing. There were absolutely highs in it. And I think other players in the wind, it probably would have been an even messier match. And everyone was talking about the errors and Sinner immediately said afterwards, oh, I think it was a really high level.

19:59Catherine Whitaker:He has a way of just sort of disarming you and sort of taking away your narrative about something Yannick Sinner. I really do enjoy that. But I suppose my overall take on the wind was like, if you told me going into it, it's going to be a windy final. I would have thought that that would favour Alcaraz, actually. And I know he's the one who's given the quote before about the windy and not liking it. But I just think his game, his natural game, with his movement, with his spins, with his changes of heights and all that sort of thing, to me, is more set up to play in the wind than Yannick Sinner.

20:34Catherine Whitaker:So I was so impressed it was actually Sinner who got a handle on those conditions, I think, the best. He wasn't serving well at the start of the match, Yannick Sinner, and I think Alcaraz will regret not taking advantage of that in that first set when Sinner's serve was down. But as soon as he got in the tiebreak, he made all his first serves, which was an impressive stepping up from Sinner. And then in that second set, the way he pinned Alcaraz in the backhand corner was so notable.

21:01Matt Roberts:He got a lot of errors from that backhand, didn't he? A lot. He was hitting long on it a lot.

21:05Catherine Whitaker:Made me think maybe he'd been watching Thomas Martín extra vary because that also happened to Alcaraz against Echeverry. But like, yeah, I was just impressed with the way Sinner handled those conditions and ended up sort of really racing through the finish, having been a breakdown in that second set. Yeah, he pinned Alcaraz in the backhand corner, either with backhand exchanges or by running round and hitting his forehand to that side. Like it was good stuff from Sinner. And I think that was another element where I just thought, oh okay he's he's shown me something a little bit different there like being able to to handle those conditions the better of the two of them i would say there was um a stat presented by nick

21:49David Law:lester in commentary that sinner was hitting more than 60 percent of shots on his forehand side versus normally 49 percent so he's he's upped he'd upped his use of the forehand more than 10 percent in this match um and and i find that just an interesting adjustment you know maybe maybe some more of the traffic was going into the forehand but i think that he had decided he was gonna pull the trigger more more often and use that that side

22:23Matt Roberts:should you talk about valentine vachero for a moment just in case mccleroy is listening yes absolutely what a moment that was I mean great I mean just look we know Rory McIlroy loves tennis right didn't he fly directly from a golf tournament to the US Open last year he popped up at the US Open I mean he's no stranger to a private jet is Rory McIlroy if we've learned anything about him this week, it is that. So it was no huge shock to hear him shouting out the tennis. But then he started reeling off the names of the players that he was going to be watching the following morning ahead of his third round at the Masters with a five-shot lead.

23:10Matt Roberts:And, you know, he says, he says, Sinor and Zverev, and then he says, Algoraz and Vashiro. And you just imagine a year ago being told that Rory McIlroy ahead of defending his master's title, he'll be shouting out Valentin Vachero. He's up to 17 in the rankings, is Vachero. Is that a true reflection of how good Valentin Vachero is, David? Like, is he going to stay there? Or maybe even kick on and get higher? Or are there still question marks over him because it was one weird week in Shanghai and it was Monte Carlo's home tournament where he was pretty much more motivated than Carlos Alcaraz going for the career slam.

24:01Matt Roberts:Has he killed off the asterisks or do they remain?

24:07David Law:No, I don't think he's killed them off because he hasn't actually done a full circuit at this level yet. I mean, I'm quite interested to see what circuit two looks like. You know, this time next year, I'll be curious to see where he is. Have you got Aslan Karatsev kicking around in the back of your mind? Maybe. But listen, I think he's better than certainly some people do. I think he's a good, I think he's got game. And I think he's got swagger. I love the way he carries himself around a court. He looks like he's coming out of the tunnel, going to a boxing match, you know, like he's ready to rumble.

24:48David Law:And I love that about him. He doesn't put limits on himself. He goes out thinking he's got a real punch's chance against anybody. And he's got the game to back it up. He's got true power, true physicality. I do think his forehand is a little vulnerable. I think you can get to it and it can break down. But his backhand is rock solid. And he doesn't sort of throw in duffer weeks. I feel like he wins a couple of matches most weeks since the Shanghai results. You know, it's not like he went out in the first round of the Australian Open. It took Ben Shelton to knock him out in a few rounds in. And he looks good on hard.

25:34David Law:He looks good on clay. I do think that Monte Carlo would have jet-propelled him a bit because of the environment and the atmosphere. And he clearly loves it. You know, I still think back to the press comments you gave. I was one of three people in the room when he'd just lost to Ben Shelton because nobody needed to speak to him anymore, really, for that tournament. And he was really gutted that he wasn't going to get to sample the 43 degrees Celsius day in a couple of days' time that Shelton would get to handle. He's a physical beast, isn't he? Yeah, he loves it.

26:12Matt Roberts:His physicality and athleticism is pretty amazing.

26:16Catherine Whitaker:And the thing is, there's different ways to be a top 20 player, right? And they're both deserving. You can be the week-in, week-out guy who is constantly showing up and getting to third, fourth rounds, quarterfinals and building a really impressive, consistent base. And that's pretty impressive in itself. Or you can do it the way Valentin Vachero has done it, which is popping up occasionally. And as David said, he's not like absolutely crashing out when he's not having his moments, but he's not doing a lot. And then suddenly he's doing something huge, whether it be semifinals here or winning in Shanghai.

26:54Catherine Whitaker:These are massive results. And that can get you into the top 20 as well. And that's an effective way to do things as well. Have a bit of a sting to you and a bit of a level raise. And I think he's got that. And I think to your point, Catherine, about his physicality, When the conditions are slow and heavy, I think he's dangerous because he's not getting exhausted and fatigued in those sorts of conditions. It's pretty remarkable. The surge he had against Alex Dimonor was amazing in that third set. And he's got the power to hit through those sorts of conditions, as David's described. And, you know, that can be a real weapon for him.

27:34Catherine Whitaker:He can use that physicality and that power. So, yeah, how good is he? I don't know, but I do know what my eyes have seen in Shanghai and Monte Carlo. And he's caused good players a lot of problems. And he's done it repeatedly now.

27:52Matt Roberts:Make me a Vachero French Open prediction. What round will he get to? Fourth? David?

28:02David Law:Yeah, I think it depends who he faces to some degree, where he is. Of course. I don't, he doesn't seem to run out of gas, you know. He seems a bit of a diesel, to be honest, as though he can just keep going. And like he rides, his...

28:18Matt Roberts:Is there a word on the tip of your tongue? Agricultural.

28:22David Law:He's, within matches, he is a little like these runs of form, you know. And that's how he beat Dimonor. If you remember in the second set of Dimonor, when Dimonor was coming back and he'd gone flat. I said he just, you know, the first set has given him a chance to have an adrenaline rush in the third set. And he could still be dangerous. And that's kind of what happened. And I feel like best of five sets allows him to almost take a set off, you know, and then just go and destroy you in the fourth set. So, yeah, I think that's about right, Matt. I think third or fourth round, I could definitely see him get into that.

28:58His game stands up.

29:00David Law:And I think he will worry opponents because he comes out looking like he wants to have a scrap. And I wouldn't want to play him.

29:09Matt Roberts:Will the Parisians, how do the French feel about monogasques?

29:14David Law:I think they'll get right into him.

29:17Matt Roberts:If Vachero's on a long length, will he be supported like one of their own? He won't get the Marseillaise?

29:23David Law:No, but I think people, I don't exactly know the answer to the question as to how they will view his nationality. I think they will go with it, but I think they will go with him as well because I think he's right up their street. If he plays a French guy, I'll be interested to see what happens. If he plays Rinderknecht in bloody Paris, I'm looking forward to that.

29:50Catherine Whitaker:I'll tell you what, Catherine, he has done enough to keep being included in agendas. Remember at the start of the year, I kept saying, oh and Vachero's in the draw

30:01Matt Roberts:yep

30:01Catherine Whitaker:I'm going to keep doing that

30:03Matt Roberts:and I know that's because you find Vachero a bit funny but he's now also justifying it on the basis of his status not just the fact that you find him a bit funny

30:12Catherine Whitaker:absolutely that's a great combination

30:14David Law:but you also feel like he's got potential though don't you I feel like is when you see him you think oh bit of a wild card bit of a you wouldn't want to be playing him

30:23Catherine Whitaker:exactly yeah

30:27Matt Roberts:absolutely The doubles in Monte Carlo was won by the German team of Kevin Kravitz and Tim Putz. Seven of the top eight seeded teams made the quarterfinals. It was Kravitz and Putz who beat Matej Pavic and Marcelo Arevalo 10-8 in the deciding set match tiebreak. So an exciting final for the doubles. That is it for part one. We'll be back in part two to talk about the WTA event in Linz. Welcome back to part two of today's tennis podcast. And we have to go back to calling the WTA Linz 500 event the Lux Ladies Open or whatever it's officially called, rather than the Lily Tagger Open because the Tagger fun ended at the hands of Anastasia Potopova.

31:22Matt Roberts:She beat her 7-6, 6-6 love. And then Potopova went on to be defeated by Mira Andreva in the final. Andreva winning 1-6, 6-4, 6-3. It was fun while it lasted, the Lily Tagger Open though, wasn't it, David?

31:41David Law:yeah well yeah yes it was i mean she i could watch her anywhere obviously watching her in austria is is elevated because they really do love her you know and she just gets them going but as we saw over the remaining event remaining days we had the answer so i feel like matt nice question as to well will it still feel buzzy after she's gone out or if she's not playing and and it did and i mean And it was really quite extraordinary to see how well they took to Anastasia Potapova, who only kind of switched nationality allegiance in the last few months. And they got right behind her. And frankly, it was pretty full for virtually all the matches.

32:29David Law:So great atmosphere in Linz. I think it looked like a really good venue. I liked it. And I know you hate indoor tennis. I really felt like this worked and was a successful event. But I was also really enthused that Mirandreva managed to navigate it and figure out a way to underline her top seeding, but also win a match that she was getting absolutely smashed off the court in and figure out a way back and not lose at the end, which she's been doing so often.

33:09Matt Roberts:She could easily have lost that final, couldn't she, Mira Androva? And Anastasia Potapova, that is not the same player that I saw playing the most god-awful match against Emma Raducanu at the Australian Open. I commentated that match and she was better than Raducanu, but that was a low bar, let me tell you. It was quite a windy match, in fairness to them, but by God, the standard was terrible. So this Anastasia Potapova, completely different proposition altogether. I know you two discussed and debated in the show on Thursday about whether the Austrian crowd would treat Potapova as one of their own the way they had Lily Taggart.

33:51Matt Roberts:I was, maybe this is naive of me, I was pretty shocked by the extent to which they did treat her as one of their own. She was playing the Gazprom event less than six months ago. Yeah. Like, let's have some scruples, folks.

34:11David Law:I think about four people in the arena. No one knows that.

34:14Catherine Whitaker:No one knows that, I think.

34:17Matt Roberts:They just saw the Austrian flag and they're still missing Dominic Thiem, so they're desperate. We all are.

34:26Catherine Whitaker:Well, ATP fantasy is for you, Catherine. and he's back in a big way.

34:33Matt Roberts:Oh, that announcement looked like a hostage video, didn't it? Anyway.

34:38Catherine Whitaker:The thing about Potopova is that she was a different player to that Raducanu match like two days later when she played Sabalenka and really actually pushed her. Like she is kind of that player who can, I think, just go in and out of form. And even in this match, she was kind of a couple of different players. because in the first set, she was honestly so good. Like, indoor clay is a really dangerous surface to play a big hitter on because they have a bit more time on the ball and no elements and they can just tee off and they can hit through the court. And that's what she was doing. She was just overwhelming Andreeva, destroying Andreeva's second serve, riding this wave of crowd support that she was receiving.

35:29Catherine Whitaker:and honestly looked like she could win that final easily. Like it could have been a blowout. Credit to Andreeva because this was just exactly the sort of scenario that I thought could push all of her buttons, you know, against the players, taking the racket out of her hand, against a home crowd in a final. Like we've seen these sorts of things. A match she probably thinks she should win. Like we've seen these scenarios cause Andreeva to lose her composure. quite a lot recently and she didn't she she kept it together and actually in the third set it was Potopova who totally lost her composure and by that point Alcaraz Sinner had started so I was double screening but I was my eyes kept being drawn to lintz because every time I looked at it Potopova was doing some kind of expression of woe and sort of oh why is this happening to me what is going on and like she was the one sort of losing her composure a little bit and there was a moment where she she lost serve potopova with just the most just the most awful double-handed volley shout out to uh jane my friend jane who was at our wrexham live show and we and we asked people in the audience what their tennis bugbears are and she said people hitting double-handed backhand volleys I always remember that and this was a perfect example of that like she just didn't know what she was doing up there and it dumped in the net got broken she did actually get the break back but then that was impressive for Andreva because she then maintained her composure right she was up a break in the third loses it and I thought oh my goodness we could see a real Andreva spiral here but she didn't and that was impressive to me and I think she needed a week like that interesting that Conchita Martinez was not was not in Linz not for any breakup reasons Andreva was asked about it and said yeah she sort of joked she said oh we've just been getting on each other's nerves so much we needed a break from each other but then she was like no I just told her she needs to have a week off she needs to go home sometimes and this is a good week I'm going to go to Linz anyway and she'll rejoin me in Stuttgart but I think I don't know I'm not saying that she kept her composure because Conchita Martinez was not there.

37:51Catherine Whitaker:But in a way, I think it was a useful experience for Andreva to not have her there and to have to do it herself.

38:00Matt Roberts:We used to talk about this with Alcaraz in Ferrero, didn't we? The sort of the crutch.

38:05Catherine Whitaker:Right. And I think she'll be looking to try and bring that kind of energy that she was directing towards her box when Martinez is there as well. You know, like we've seen her occasionally just lose it with Conchita Martinez and there was that match where Martinez briefly left the box before coming back. It's not been a great little period for the sort of encore experience. Might just help them

38:31Matt Roberts:kind of break that cycle. That's what I'm thinking. Felt like they were in a bit.

38:35Catherine Whitaker:Yeah. Yeah. And so, good signs, I hope.

38:40Matt Roberts:Yeah. Just since I mentioned Ferraro, by the way, David, your prediction of Ferraro being a talker and his side of the story, however reliable it might be coming out. One of your best ever predictions, because barely a day goes by that I don't read or hear some quotes from Juan Carlos Ferreiro about the Alcaraz break-up.

39:05David Law:When he was a player, I would never have believed that, because he never said a word as a player. And now, I always think back to, was it three years ago when we were in Indian Wells and I launched loitering on the lawn and he was only too happy to have a chat and tell me that Alcaraz was only at 60 % of what he could be.

39:30Matt Roberts:Yeah, if he comes back to tennis, he's doing golf, isn't he? I don't know why I'm questioning that. I absolutely know he's doing golf because I know a lot about what is in the mind of Juan Carlos Ferreira at the moment. If he ever comes back to tennis, just wander up to him with your iPhone recorder open and he'll tell you anything. Anything else we want to mention from Lintz? The doubles is one of the top seeds. So on a Casteyer and Zhang Shuai, and just on Casteyer, incidentally, she is just five places now off her career high ranking in both singles and doubles. She's 36 years of age, her final year on tour.

40:21Matt Roberts:So she's 26 now in singles and 40 in doubles. And it's just incredible. Her sort of tenacity still as a tennis player is really quite a sight. I am worried, David, I'm on alert for this being a fake retirement. I think, you know, I'm worried she's going to have all these big send-offs and then go, you know what, I'm still here.

40:53David Law:that he's a tourney style what makes me think that it isn't that is that she keeps on saying

40:59Matt Roberts:this is my last year every time so did danielle collins um well it's it is quite interesting i remember her coming on the scene as a 21 year old and i think she's she's she's a way better

41:14David Law:player than when she was 21 in the world i think she would absolutely take that player to the cleaners um but you know i i also think maybe maybe it's maybe it's tiring the tour and and and if you can if you can know when it's time to leave the party as dan evans once told me uh you need to know um i think that that's a good decision for her um but yeah blimey she still looks like she could upset a few top players before the end of the season

41:48Catherine Whitaker:just final word from me on lintz because i feel like david was more was more optimistic about lintz on our on our pod on thursday and i i was the one saying hang on a minute is it all lily tagger but i i i shifted a bit to to david's side i do think it it looked good like to me it's so important how it comes across on the telly and that that main core is not too big so it was it It was packed out. And it also lets in light. You get in the matches earlier in the day, you get little sort of shadows being cast on the court, but not annoying ones, like just little shafts of light that don't make it feel as sort of dark and dingy as some indoor events can.

42:28Catherine Whitaker:And the crowds were showing up. And like the camera angle on that main court, I think is perfect. That is exactly where I would want the sort of camera angle for most tennis matches for me to watch. Not too high, not too low. like really really good I thought personally and I did have a good time watching Lids this week I do think it's improved as an event for this change to indoor and putting indoor clay I mean and and putting it just before Stuttgart I do think it it worked and if if they keep getting Lily Taggo as well and hopefully she grows into the player we all hope she will like there's a there's someone who's going to constantly give that event energy.

43:09Catherine Whitaker:So, yeah, I was really buoyed to see and have such a good time watching Linz this week.

43:18Matt Roberts:I agree with all of that. I think it was a really successful event. They've done a great job. It all looked really good. I just find it really tough watching indoor clay at this time of year, especially when you've got the direct contrast of the beauty of Monte Carlo. and then I can just feel my soul shrivel as we head indoors. I just, like, I don't like indoor sport, really. So, you know, this is very much a me thing. It's an entirely subjective take. But I just, I know you debated on Thursday about, Matt, I know you said you don't like indoor clay, you know, is it's tough seeing clay indoors um but look i find it i i find it easier to stomach the indoor tennis at the end of the year because it's like well unless we're going to play in the southern hemisphere which ps i would support um then it kind of has to be indoor right because the the northern hemisphere is is wet and cold but at this time of the year like we could be outside being inside when we could be outside not in Linz I find no well then don't I kind of think of the tennis tour as like following the sun around like so let's position our events let's design our I would design a calendar around I think it would be a shame to lose that

44:54David Law:atmosphere personally but each to their own I liked it

44:58Matt Roberts:I think there's a way of having it and there's a way of keeping atmospheres and having things outside, I think. And so much of the women's clay court season is indoor. Yeah. It's not as good. No. It's not as good. They've done a brilliant job of it, but come on, it is not as good when you switch from Monte Carlo to indoor clay. It's just not as good.

45:27Catherine Whitaker:I do agree with that. And it definitely, I always think the only real sort of women's clay court event that feels like a proper precursor to Roland Garros is Rome. Because you've got Linz and Stuttgart indoors. You've got Madrid, which, OK, the men have as well. But that never feels particularly sort of.

45:48Matt Roberts:Feels indoors. Yeah. And it's at altitude.

45:51Catherine Whitaker:It's just a very particular set of conditions. whereas the men have Monte Carlo, they have Barcelona, which really do feel like those really authentic European outdoor clay court events. I would love the WTA to mirror the men's clay court swing more, but in isolation, I did enjoy Linz this week. Yeah. Yeah. Me too. I enjoyed it.

46:20Matt Roberts:Lily Taggart, incidentally, inside the world's top 100, be good if she could make the French Open main draw, wouldn't it?

46:28Catherine Whitaker:I think the cut-off was this week, so I think she has, you know. So she's done it. I think so, yeah.

46:34Matt Roberts:Well, that's cool.

46:35Catherine Whitaker:Yeah, and her round one this week in Rouen, I cannot wait. She is playing Ola Nikova. Like, two of the players I've most enjoyed discovering and watching this year. give me moon balls and a one-handed backhand. Like, yes, please.

46:55Matt Roberts:Matt's into a one-handed backhand. Check this out. Yes, it's unusual for you, Matt. Very unusual. Not since the golly bitch days. And those feel a while ago. You dropped her like a hot potato, didn't you? After I sent Owen Slott of the Times

47:13Catherine Whitaker:to go and watch her at Wimbledon and she won like one game.

47:17David Law:just quickly is she on the watch list Lily Taggart for the backhand list

47:22Catherine Whitaker:yes absolutely

47:26David Law:how big is the watch list and what's the waiting time

47:29Matt Roberts:he doesn't put a limit no the watch list is pretty

47:33Catherine Whitaker:big

47:34Matt Roberts:it's all of the WTA because he's just watching all of the WTA

47:41Matt Roberts:let's take a little tour as much as I would like not to because there's some pretty harrowing stuff in here for Bianca and Rescue fans. Let's take a little tour of the Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers that took place over this weekend. Let's start down under on the John Kane Arena where extraordinarily Great Britain went away and I was with Anki Othovong pretty much immediately after the draw came out for these Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers and her face when she found out that it was an away tie in Australia. Like, it's just a nightmare, isn't it, for a captain? And a nightmare because you know you're not going to be able to get your strongest team.

48:25Matt Roberts:And she didn't get her strongest team. No Katie Bolter, no Emma Raducanu, no problem for GB. They beat Australia 3-0 to qualify for the Billie Jean King Cup finals. We had the world number 275, Mika Stoisavlyovic, 17 years old, the 2024 US Open junior champion, somebody that's been talked about as a real hope and prospect, but very much for the future of British tennis. She beat Talia Gibson, desperately trying to regain sensation status. Talia Gibson got beaten by a 17 year old. Succeeding, by the way. 7-6, 7-5. Then we had the world number 173, Harriet Dart. Remember her? She beat Kim Birrell, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.

49:23Matt Roberts:And then Dart and Jodie Burridge teamed up to win the doubles, 6-3, 6-4, over Ellen Perez and Storm Hunter. Each one of those individual results is a massive, unexpected upset. the combination of the three of them is pretty unreal for Team GB, David, what they've just pulled off there. That's hijacking.

49:50David Law:Yes, I agree. It's an amazing achievement. I watched the highlights of all three of those matches last night and I was really taken aback by Stoja Soflovich's power. you know the number of winners she was hitting against you know the the the last player that i was really taken aback by the power of which was talia gibson um you know seven six seven like a hot potato it's it's like when i said i was into jennifer brady and then she ran into and suddenly i was like no no i'm at talson now um but i do like a clean ball striker who just is able to just generate this power from not very much seemingly um and and yeah and then i haven't seen harriet dark play like that i don't think ever um she was fantastic and she was brilliant in the in the doubles as well um it was just a a wonderful team performance you know it was it didn't look the biggest crowd on the first day it was much better on the second day I thought um but wow to go in in there into the John Kane arena like that and just and just produce three performances I mean I dare say if you're from an Australian vantage point you you perhaps point into your own team not not producing what you you expected they would but I think this is a British victory rather than an Australian failure that's how I would I would look at it and I think all credit to that team yeah British victory for the ages really yeah normally sort of

51:38Catherine Whitaker:waking up to the British sporting results overnight in Australia is is only only doom and gloom it was like a real like what has just happened two days in a row and I think I think that doubles win is unbelievable you know like that that is a hell of a pair like Perez and Hunter really good doubles players and like if they'd won that I think their favorites Australia like in the in the reverse singles like having you know having the momentum like like it could have been a sort of really valiant oh we put up a great fight GB we you know we took the lead but we ended up losing but to go finish it off the second day I think is amazing a hell of an effort from from the whole team from Anne as well to sort of galvanize them like that and um yeah it's gonna be interesting you know now the team selection for the finals is gonna be interesting right because on paper you'd pick a totally different team for the finals um if everyone is available um but then you know there's there's probably something to be said for trying to reward some of the players who got you there that's going to be an interesting balancing act for Anki Othavong the captain come September

52:50Matt Roberts:I certainly think there's a strong argument regardless of what you do with the singles for keeping Dart and Burrage for the sake of that doubles team because I know Anne has been desperate to find a strong reliable doubles team, that's what's been missing, that's what's cost them in Billie Jean King Cup finals past so yeah very interesting, good good problem to have for Anne but quite a problem some big decisions

53:18David Law:I would bring in probably Katie Bolter for Katie Swan I think and leave the rest the same and I think I think you'd leave Raducanu out really even if she doesn't want to play

53:31Catherine Whitaker:I think I would try and bring Cartel I think yeah

53:37David Law:probably but I don't know who you'd drop what about Hannah

53:41Matt Roberts:Klugman why doesn't she

53:44Catherine Whitaker:Look at the strength and depth of British tennis An embarrassment of riches My God

53:50Matt Roberts:No USA at the Billie Jean King Cup finals They were beaten by Belgium Kind of a tough weekend for Team USA Tough tie for Eva Jovic She lost to both the world number 94 Hannah van der Winkle And the world number 194 Grit Minnen Both of those losses in straight sets And then you had McCartney Kessler, who had to retire Hurt against Elisa Mertens. So Belgium will be at the finals, but no Team USA.

54:20Catherine Whitaker:By the way, if you said that Mertens would only get one point for Belgium this weekend, to me that would have been almost impossible to see a path to Belgium victory, right? Like for them to have two wins there from people other than Mertens is pretty remarkable. And I think that does buy in, I think, to what we often say where like, OK, you know, that was pretty much Belgium's A team. But they were they were desperate to win. It was a big event for them. They're at home. And yes, on paper, USA had the stronger team, but it was their C or D team. And there's just less buy in into the event from that nation compared to Belgium, for example.

55:05Catherine Whitaker:and Belgium end up getting the win. Like, yeah, pretty remarkable that Mertens didn't do the heavy lifting there.

55:15Matt Roberts:Who needs Mertens when you've got Hannah van der Winkle? Czechia beat Switzerland in a great tie, 3-2. They won in the deciding match. Belinda Bencic won a three-set singles and a doubles to put Switzerland 2-1 up. But then Linda Noskova saved match and tie points. to beat Bencic and send it into a decider. That decider was between the aforementioned Victoria Golubic and Marie Buskova. And it was Buskova that came out on top. What a little run of four Marie Buskova is in, by the way, having won a title last week.

55:52Catherine Whitaker:And what an amazing tie this was. Like, so compelling. Interesting that in the doubles, so that middle match, Heinz Gunther, the Swiss captain used his two singles players. So it was one all after the first day and he used his two singles players and they got the win, but it took a lot out of them. It was a long match and then they then had to come back and play the two reverse singles as it turned out. Whereas the Czechs with their sort of bigger team didn't use their singles players in the doubles. They used Vondroshova and Valantova and that left Noskova and Buskova a bit fresher, I think, than Benchik and Golubic.

56:35Catherine Whitaker:And I think maybe something like that could have ended up sort of making the difference. Because Benchik spent almost eight hours on court over the two days. She almost got them the win. As you said, she had those points to win the tie. But Noskova, my goodness, she stepped up on those match points. The first one hit a backhand winner down the line. The second one, she comes in and Benchik has a look at a forehand pass but doesn't make it. and the third match point that Noskova saved was a big serve and a forehand winner. Like Benchik said afterwards, when you've got the match points, you want to go for it, but then if you miss, you think, oh, I should have made them play.

57:13Catherine Whitaker:And Benchik took the trying to make her play approach, whereas Noskova just took the be bold, be brave, go for it match point down and it paid off. And Noskova in those sorts of indoor conditions like that with those flat hits is such a dangerous player. And that is a hell of a win because Bencic, we've always said it throughout her career, she's kind of her best self playing in Billie Jean King Cup or playing in Swiss colours. And for Noskova to take her out and then set up the tie for Buskova to win, hell of an effort from Czechia. And yeah, good to see them back at the finals, really.

57:50Matt Roberts:Two-time defending champions Italy beat Japan 3-0, Ukraine beat Poland 3-0 and Spain beat Slovenia 3-1. So Spain, Ukraine and Italy will all be at the Billie Jean King Cup finals, as will Kazakhstan, who beat Canada 3-1. And that was after Bianca Andreescu spent more than five hours on court over the course of two losses in one day. and you might have seen the clip doing the rounds on social media of what happened on her match point against her in her singles match against Yulia Putin-Sever which went to a deciding set tie break. She shanked a second serve to double fault at 4-6 down in the deciding set tie break.

58:46Matt Roberts:And I just hope she has good people around her. Bianca Andreescu because, my goodness me, I can't imagine the despair of something like that. And she's in a tough patch anyway, isn't she? So yeah, it was a pretty tough watch. But incredible for Kazakhstan to do that and to do it without Elena Rabakina. And they will be at the Billie Jean King Cup finals in China later this year. OK, that is it for part two. We'll be back in part three to have a little look ahead to the coming week in tennis and maybe we'll do some predictions too. Welcome back to part three of today's tennis podcast. What do we have ahead this week in tennis?

59:36Matt Roberts:We have two ATP 500s, one in Munich, one in Barcelona. Barcelona has the stronger field, I would say. It has Carlos Alcaraz for starters. It has Jack Draper returning after skipping Monte Carlo. He has Thomas Martínez Chavere in round one. That's not easy. It has Alex de Mino, just briefly, momentarily forgot Andre Rublev's first name there. That's a sign of the times, isn't it? Andre Rublev and Thomas Mahatch. They're all in the top half. We have Lorenzo Mazzetti in the bottom half. He's got Martin Lander-Luthe in round one, which is fun. We've got Art of Feast. Cameron Norrie, who's got Stan Marenka in round one.

1:00:22Matt Roberts:And Rafael Hodar has Jaume Munar in round one. Have you seen Munar's slightly odd content for the Barcelona open social media channels?

1:00:34Catherine Whitaker:I did, yeah. I can't get a handle on Munar. I kind of enjoyed it.

1:00:39Matt Roberts:Yeah, I just don't, I don't know. I can't.

1:00:44Catherine Whitaker:I didn't have him down as like the guy putting his hand up to do the fun social media skit.

1:00:49Matt Roberts:Right. If that had been Flavio Caballi, I'd been like, sure. Yeah. This all checks out. I just wasn't expecting it from Munar. What do we think about Alcaraz playing Barcelona, by the way? I assume this means he's skipping Madrid.

1:01:05Catherine Whitaker:Well, he said in his press conference afterwards that he, you know, he still, it is his plan to play everything. I mean, I guess you would say that at this stage. You would say that. Is he in a tough spot, right?

1:01:18Matt Roberts:When I say skipping video, that's assuming he doesn't lose unexpectedly. That's assuming he either wins or makes the final of Barcelona.

1:01:26Catherine Whitaker:He's in a tough spot. On the one hand, great to have some events at home. But like, there's such pressure for him to play these events. I think and if you are going to skip events these are the ones you would skip the 500 in Barcelona it's just not worth as many points and Madrid because of what I just said in terms of it not being as good prep compared to Rome and yet he probably wants to play them in Spain everyone wants him to play Madrid

1:01:59Matt Roberts:they're both IMG events aren't they and he's an IMG client

1:02:04Catherine Whitaker:so I think it does depend on his results as you said if he wins Barcelona it wouldn't shock me if there's a pull out from Madrid you know say something sort of related to kind of along the lines of what Savalenka did with Stuttgart that wouldn't shock me but equally if he were to even lose a little bit earlier I think he will go to Madrid so I don't know as he said and as Matt Futterman said on the show a couple of weeks ago he has picked up injuries over the clay court swing and I think that's a big thing for him this year trying to manage manage his body in that way and make sure he doesn't pick up an injury I think that's that's sort of number one priority I would have thought right now

1:02:50Matt Roberts:It was Barcelona last year he got that adductor tweak wasn't it in the in the final in Munich the top half has the top seed Alexander Zverev. It has Francisco Sorundolo, Flavio Caboli, Zizou Burgs, Luciano Darderi and Burtic van der Zanschrup. He makes it to the agenda. I appreciate that, Matt. That was for you. Thank you. The bottom half has Ben Shelton, Joel Fonseca, Alexander Bublik, Artur Rindeknesh and Stefanos Sitzapas. He's hanging on in there being agenda worthy is Sitzapas.

1:03:30Catherine Whitaker:I almost wrote unseeded Tsitsipas but I think we probably knew that the maybe goes without saying now

1:03:37Matt Roberts:yeah the WTA has a 500 event in Stuttgart and a 250 event in Rouen in terms of Stuttgart as you said Matt Rina Sabalenka deciding to skip it I know you mentioned this on Thursday last week she she I thought she wanted the Porsche badly enough that She was prepared to play, even though it might not be the most prudent scheduling. But apparently not. She's bigger than the Porsche now. It turns out she's realised she's got enough money to just buy a Porsche. It's a 32 draw in Stuttgart, but there are buys for the top four seeds. Why? So only 28 players in the field. Rabachna and Shontek are in the top half and only need to win two matches to meet each other because of those buys, which is unreal, really.

1:04:34Matt Roberts:Rabachna could face Schneider in her first match and Paulini in her second. Shontek could face Laura Siegmund in her first match and the winner of Andreeva Ostapenko in her second. And then in the bottom half of the draw, The highest seeds with buys are Coco Goff and Alina Svitolina. So really strong field here, even without Irina Sabalenka. And then you've got Karolina Mukova and Ekaterina Alexandrova as the other two seeds down there. So our first chance to see the Rafa, the Nadal effect on Iga Svantec. All eyes on that. We will, of course, have to wait several days for it because of absolutely pointless buys.

1:05:21Catherine Whitaker:the schedule in Stuttgart today is a joke like it's a proper day of a tournament there's two singles matches on like what are we doing?

1:05:32Matt Roberts:it was last year that Sabalenka reached like the quarterfinals by winning one match or something and then they didn't play on the Friday because it was Good Friday and that's a law in Germany

1:05:44Catherine Whitaker:like come on guys yeah she only played at the weekend didn't she yeah like yeah like it's it is weird Stuttgart like it's stacked in so many ways but then with these buys there's only 28 players in the field as you said and then the qualifying isn't strong because you got players playing Billy Jean King cut players playing Linz players going to Rouen instead so you it's not a strong qualifying field so you've got like amazing players and then just a sprinkling of like real sort of randoms who've who've managed to qualify um but yeah you do you You do end up with the big match-ups typically in Stuttgart, which is exciting.

1:06:22Catherine Whitaker:She's going to take footage of her practising and new elbow position on the serve. So that's going to be something to watch already tweaking.

1:06:33Matt Roberts:Will she be playing Nadal-style buggy whip forehand? We've seen some footage of him sort of demoing that to her, haven't we? Exciting, but probably have to wait to the weekend to see it. in Rouen the WTA 250 there Marta Kostrick is the top seed and Srona Kastea is the second seed you've also got Dara Kazikina Hayley Baptiste Janice Chen and that is where you will find the round one to end all round ones as Matt has put it Lily Taggart against Oleksandr Olinikova when is that going to be Matt?

1:07:12Catherine Whitaker:Maybe tomorrow I don't think it's today. So I'm guessing tomorrow.

1:07:17Matt Roberts:Is there any tennis today or is it just sort of the two matches in Stuttgart?

1:07:21Catherine Whitaker:I think Munich and Barcelona have got some proper matches today.

1:07:28Matt Roberts:That's good of them. Thank you. Okay, let's have some predictions for these tournaments. Everyone ready? I want winners and finalists, please, seeing as there's only four. so I hope you're paying attention to who's in what side of which draw, David. Barcelona, who's winning it? Who are they beating in the final? Matt.

1:07:54Catherine Whitaker:OK, I think let's play this one straight. Let's go Alcaraz to win. Let's not overthink Barcelona. Maybe Feast coming out of that bottom half. Good shout. I kind of want to say Mazzetti. I want to see Mazzetti find some form, but I think Landerluthay in round one is a bit of a nightmare for him.

1:08:17Matt Roberts:A bit worried about Mazzetti.

1:08:19Catherine Whitaker:Yeah. Let's go Fies. That'd be fun. That'd be a fun week.

1:08:24David Law:I would actually... I'm not going to say Fies. I'm going to say Alcraz is going to win it, but I'm going to say it's going to be... The finalists will be the winner of Munar and Hodah. Wow. Big.

1:08:38Catherine Whitaker:Am I allowed to do that? So who's that going to be? I was going to say, that is a massive prediction, but also not a prediction. Yeah, it's both a great, bold prediction and annoying.

1:08:48David Law:I'll go for Munar.

1:08:51Matt Roberts:Okay, Al Graz beating Munar. Like it. Okay, what about Munich? Winner and beaten finalist, please. David.

1:09:03David Law:Let me just get the drawer up.

1:09:09David Law:well Zverev's at the top of the draw isn't he so he usually won it last year

1:09:15Catherine Whitaker:since his last title isn't it I think he's won a title since

1:09:18David Law:yeah it was his only title all year last year but he does have Ketsmanovic in the first round who he lost to in Acapulco the other week and he's a good player but I'd still go for Zverev he should get to the final of that tournament really I think the bottom half of the draw I'm going to go for Fonseca so you're going to have a Zverev-Fonseca final and Zverev will win the title Matt

1:09:48Catherine Whitaker:let's go let's go Bublik

1:09:52Matt Roberts:but it's right there Matt

1:09:54Catherine Whitaker:let's go Zverev over Bublik in the final ok

1:09:59Matt Roberts:with Zverev to win? yeah

1:10:01Catherine Whitaker:Zverev over Bublik

1:10:04Matt Roberts:Okay, WTA, Stuttgart. What have we got, David?

1:10:11David Law:I think I'm going to have to go Rabakina in the top half of the draw because I just think indoors should suit her down to the ground. I know Igor Shvantec is in that section, but indoors I do think favours Rabakina.

1:10:30Matt Roberts:She's beaten Shvantec there before, hasn't she, Rabakina?

1:10:36David Law:I feel like in the final she is going to face I'll go Coco Goff

1:10:46Matt Roberts:and who's going to win

1:10:47David Law:and it's going to be Rebecca and who wins the title that ooh

1:10:57Catherine Whitaker:torn between not wanting to just choose the same and also thinking that makes such logical sense I'm going to go for Svijantek to win. When I look at her draw, it's feeling like a silly thing to do. But I'm going with the motivation, the bounce. I'm going Svijantek.

1:11:20Catherine Whitaker:Quite like Svitolina in that bottom half. Yeah, I'll go with that. Svijantek over Svitolina.

1:11:28Matt Roberts:Svijantek to beat Svitolina. Okay, what about Rouen? last of all, who's winning it? Who are they beating?

1:11:37David Law:It's going to be Marta Kostiuk, who's recently signed up for my team. So she's going to be propelled by that.

1:11:47Matt Roberts:David, have you just picked all the top seeds? Yes, you have.

1:11:50David Law:She's going to face Sarana Kosteja in the final. I see your game, David. Yeah, and I'm going to go Kosteja to win the title.

1:12:00Matt Roberts:Matt?

1:12:00Catherine Whitaker:yeah I think I would pick Castella there as well not sure who she's going to beat in the final

1:12:08Matt Roberts:making the un-retirement even more likely I don't know

1:12:17Catherine Whitaker:could be someone a bit random coming out of that top half

1:12:21Matt Roberts:are you tempted to go for Lily Tagger

1:12:25David Law:are you calling Lily Tagger a random

1:12:30Catherine Whitaker:I might do a Dave and say the winner of Lily Taggart, Ola Nikova. I don't know, maybe like an Anne Lee or something might have a good week in Rouen. Oh, OK. You know what I mean? Like it could be one of those weeks where it's someone a bit like, oh, they're in the final.

1:12:43Matt Roberts:David's picking the top two seats for everything and Matt's picking Anne Lee. That's a deep cut.

1:12:48Catherine Whitaker:Elsa Giacomo? No.

1:12:52Matt Roberts:Do you remember, Matt, mere months ago? Oh. when you said you were going to seek out every Elsa Giacomo match for the rest of time. Have you done that?

1:13:02Catherine Whitaker:I'm not sure I did say that, but I definitely had a good time watching her beat Kostiuk, actually, wasn't it, in Australia? Crazy match.

1:13:13Matt Roberts:I think there was some kind of pledge to... I think I said I would definitely watch her next match

1:13:19Catherine Whitaker:because it was against Putin's saver. And then I actually didn't watch that. and it was all over in about 45 minutes.

1:13:29Matt Roberts:Okay, in terms of our schedule this week, it's another two-pod week for most folk, some folk, the unprivileged folk, and it's a three-pod week for the privileged folk. You can be privileged folk if you'd like to be because we have another show on Thursday to update you on all things happening in those events that we just discussed. And we have our next edition of Tennis Relived recording and going out this week for Friends of the Tennis Podcast. And we are telling the history of the rankings. And let me tell you, it's a rollercoaster story. Yeah, I would not have imagined there was as much to the tapestry of the history of ATP and WTA rankings as there is, but it's really a fascinating tale, and we're going to be recording that on Wednesday, and that will be available for Friends of the Tennis podcast.

1:14:34Matt Roberts:So lots of good stuff there. If you'd like to become a friend of the pod, get access to that, all of our bonus content and everything else besides, then, of course, the link is in our show notes. Folks, I've been looking forward to this. We have a double mascot situation for today's show. And it is two mascots that have previously mascotted, but solo. And this time they've combined to mascot as a team. It is Billie Jean and Francis. What kind of rock star would call their dog Billie Jean? Well, the answer to that is Heather and Jodie. Heather and Jodie say you've met them on their own in previous years, but now witness their epic cuteness together.

1:15:18Matt Roberts:I'm witnessing Heather and Jodie and I'm enjoying. It's Billie Jean the dog and Frances the cat. Billie Jean is our lovely 11-year-old rescue pup. She loves nothing more than long, slow, sniff-filled walks through our beautiful Minneapolis neighbourhood while we listen to the tennis pod. Though Frances is the youngest member of our family, he is far and away the most confident with absolute boss energy. That is what I look for in a cat. Boss energy. As is evidenced by this pic of him invading the dog bed. Look at them in the same bed being friends. Jodie and Heather say the first few months of 2026 have been incredibly difficult in our community.

1:16:00Matt Roberts:But the love of our sweet critters and the joy we feel of listening to our friends David, Catherine and Matt have helped us find peace inside the fight. that's an incredibly lovely and quite moving thing to say Heather and Jodie and we're very honoured by that and honoured to have Billy, Jean and Francis as our mascot pairing for this week that's wonderful, I love it what a way to start the week hello to our mascots, hello Bodie David's Maisie, hello Maisie and hello Roger with your big paws. Hello to our top folks and executive producers, Greg, Chris and Jeff. And Matt, let's have some shout outs.

1:16:48Catherine Whitaker:We have Dana Froein from California. Hi, Dana.

1:16:56Matt Roberts:Hello, Dana. Billie Jean literally shouted you out there, Dana, right on cue.

1:17:02Catherine Whitaker:Dana says, I love your show and I'm tennis obsessed. My husband and I have one cat and her name is Frankie.

1:17:14Matt Roberts:Oh, Frankie the cat. Love that. Tennis Daners.

1:17:18David Law:There's that umpire I always mention from the 1991 US Open run of Jimmy Connors. I can't remember his surname now. It's too early. I think you've done well, David.

1:17:31Matt Roberts:I think you've done well there. We'll give you that. Wow.

1:17:34David Law:Also an ex-girlfriend of Pete Sampras. Dana.

1:17:41Matt Roberts:Not the umpire.

1:17:43David Law:No, two different people.

1:17:45Catherine Whitaker:One man, one woman.

1:17:51Matt Roberts:Dana. Thank you very much.

1:17:55Catherine Whitaker:We've also got Mindy Pozoff, who is a native New Yorker but lives in Philadelphia. Hi, Mindy.

1:18:07Matt Roberts:Matt, you have been to both those places.

1:18:09Catherine Whitaker:Yes. And Mindy says, I invite you to the Jersey Shore before or after the US Open.

1:18:17Matt Roberts:Oh, that's lovely. Matt Futterman's a big Jersey Shore guy and he sometimes sends us photos and it looks delightful.

1:18:25Catherine Whitaker:And Mindy actually... Booty, isn't it? Mindy actually mentions Matt Futterman saying, tell Catherine well Matt Fatterman may be right that a little sweat is sexy in March in Miami it's definitely not sexy in August in New York

1:18:44Matt Roberts:thank you Mindy I feel seen and validated I appreciate that

1:18:49Catherine Whitaker:and finally we have Ollie Ollie Anger Brettson Schooley I can definitely do a better job of pronouncing that Ollie

1:19:02Matt Roberts:off you go

1:19:03Catherine Whitaker:Anger Brettson Schooley there we go

1:19:06Matt Roberts:great Ollie

1:19:07Catherine Whitaker:well done and Ollie is from Maryland great so is that

1:19:14Matt Roberts:an American trio this week where was Dana from

1:19:18Catherine Whitaker:yes from California Billy Jean was barking

1:19:21Matt Roberts:when you said where Dana was from yeah California yeah

1:19:23David Law:isn't Maryland where

1:19:24Matt Roberts:so we've got mascots and shout outs all from all from the US Yeah, Pam's a Baltimore gal, like Francis Tiafoe and Hayley Baptiste. It's quite a very tennis-rich area.

1:19:44Catherine Whitaker:And Ollie says, my husband and I have been avid listeners since at least 2020. I've finally gotten my mum hooked as well, and we often listen while chasing our one-year-old son, Mark, around the house, while he is in turn chasing our Bernese mountain dog Roger and cat Stephanos. And Ollie's written, to be clear, we named the cat in 2020.

1:20:17Matt Roberts:Hang on a second.

1:20:18Catherine Whitaker:I know.

1:20:19Matt Roberts:So we now know two Bernese mountain dogs called Roger.

1:20:24Catherine Whitaker:Yeah, isn't that great?

1:20:25Matt Roberts:That's incredible. Yeah.

1:20:27Catherine Whitaker:God, I love a Bernese.

1:20:30Matt Roberts:Oli, a bit like Oli Nikova.

1:20:34Catherine Whitaker:Very good.

1:20:35Matt Roberts:Can we have that? Oli, Dana, Mindy, thank you ever so much for your support of the Tennis Podcast. If you'd like to get yourself a shout out, you can do that by becoming a friend at shout out level. Link in the show notes. We are part of the Athletic Podcast Network. Thank you for listening. We'll be back on Thursday and we'll speak to you then.

1:20:54David Law:Only Tarvat!