Monte Carlo - What on earth was Daniil Medvedev doing?

0:10Well, hello and welcome to the tennis podcast and Valentin Vacherot has just written the words, what's going on, on the lens of the camera after reaching the quarterfinals. And I dare say if he'd have been asked the question a year ago, where do you think you'll be a year from now? He probably would have wondered what on earth's going on. But he's into the quarterfinals in Monte Carlo. And he is one of a few people we have to talk about on this special midweek show here of the Tennis Podcast with me, David Law and Matt Roberts. And no Catherine Whittaker, who is on a night out, which is absolutely fine.

0:53but this is a special show Matt you know we're going to do a few more of these and mainly because there's just too much going on some weeks to cover it all in the one show and actually it feels like a really good time to be doing this because that was indeed quite a scene yeah what's going on feels like the definitive Valentine Vachero question really doesn't it Like we all knew him from this tournament. You know, he was always in the drawer in Monte Carlo, not doing an awful lot. And then suddenly has that run in Shanghai and is backing it up really, really well, I have to say. And two nights in a row, we've had late night Vachero scenes in Monte Carlo.

1:39And he's whipping the crowd up and playing with such intensity. And yeah, it's been it's been a really good time. Yeah, and in fact, it's a really good tournament every year, this one, isn't it, Monte Carlo? I think. And what's nice, I mean, we're going to be talking about all the players that have reached the quarterfinals. They'll all be played tomorrow. We're going to be talking about the Linz tournament, which is now played on indoor clay for the first time. And that also feels like a good development. I don't know. Suddenly this week, I always get the one frustration for me about Monte Carlo is that it is men only.

2:20And now, a little bit like next week when we have Stuttgart and Barcelona on the women's side and the men's side, you feel like you've actually got a really good tournament to talk about. I know it's not as high a level and it's not as many top players, but it feels a bit more complete to me this week. How do you feel about that? I think I'm holding judgment on that until we see Lince without Lily Tagger because I do feel like Lily Tagger might be carrying Lince and our enjoyment of Lince so far. I don't know, but that's my... I think that's fair. That's my hunch. I have really enjoyed it, but I've enjoyed it because of her and the scenes and the crowd support that she's getting.

3:09But I don't know. I would love for them to do with Monte Carlo what they've done with Queens. you know and make it a men and women event but i don't think the venue is big enough to be able to hold both at the same time over the same week so hold them in back-to-back weeks i think that would be fantastic you know like i often get asked like why i like tennis so much and i i often talk about sort of just how pleasing it is on the senses do you know what i mean like i love the sights and the sounds of it and sometimes that's hard to justify when you know it's being played in a sort of car park in the middle of the night and no one's watching it but I feel like Monte Carlo is the event I will point to in terms of those sights and sounds being so stimulating and pleasing to watch and yeah it's been it's been like that all week I do love it yeah well more More on Valentin Vashro a little bit later.

4:08More on the Lily Tagger Open as well later in the pod. This is, as I said, a two-pod week. Three if you count the one we did for Friends of the Tennis Podcast last night, which is our monthly live Q &A on YouTube for Friends of the Tennis Podcast subscribers. If you want to listen to or watch that, you can. If you're not a friend already, go to tennis.supportingcast.fm and you can become a friend and get access to all of our bonus content like live Q &As and Tennis Relived. We've got another one of those coming up soon. I did an interview for it today. We'll announce the details of that very soon.

4:48I'm looking forward to that one. But we've got to start with Monte Carlo, Matt, in some detail because, you know, we have only had three or four days, but it feels like already A, lots and lots has happened and yet B, a little bit like with the Masters Golf, which you and I are also watching, there's kind of a leaderboard, a packed leaderboard feel to the quarterfinals. You know, all the big names are still there. And we're left with a Friday that is going to be absolute must viewing, isn't it? And yet, even before we come on to talk about Alcaraz and Sinner and Zverev and all the players that are going to feature in that we got to start with Daniel Medvedev who didn't win a single game in the tournament I mean it's it's it's hard to believe that the guy we watched play outlandishly good tennis in Indian Wells and made me feel as though he was going to win the find against Sinner he ended up losing it in two close tie-break sets but he was playing vintage Medvedev tennis as well as I could imagine him playing and it took everything Sinner had got to beat him for that guy to lose six love six love to Matteo Berrettini yesterday and and it was the talk of tennis it was the talk of a lot of the sporting world I was having lots of people I don't often hear from about tennis asking me about this moment my son and said, what happened to Medvedev?

6:28You know, he doesn't usually sort of ask questions like that unless I happen to have it on. But, you know, it had been across all his weird and wonderful feeds that he sort of follows. But, you know, the reason is because he didn't win a game and he smashed his racket in a more spectacular fashion than anybody I've seen smash it this year. and in fact maybe more spectacular than I've seen anybody ever. He's right up there anyway, top five most extraordinary racket smashes. But what happened to him from your perspective? Was Matteo Berrettini incredible or was Daniel Medvedev appalling? Sorry to Matteo Berrettini, but I feel confident that the answer is Medvedev was appalling.

7:19I mean talk about like biggest discrepancy between the top level of someone we've seen recently and the bottom level because as you said he looked he looked so good in Indian Wells and he's looked good at various points this season you know Brisbane Dubai albeit I do think we've noted in quick conditions he's been helped by the conditions when he's played well this year and obviously we know that clay is his least favourite surface and time of year my expectations of medvedev were not that high going into this clay court season even even after the good start to the season he'd had but i did not expect this i mean this was just just terrible just like the crash out of all crash outs um the the racket smash was pretty comical really the the way that the crowd were were goading him and doing the when he was smashing the racket.

8:21And he just lost his head so early in this one. He had a break point in the first game, didn't take it. And when he went five love down, he was sarcastically fist pumping over to his team. And that's such a telltale sign for Medvedev that he's probably about to kind of spin out of control. Personally, I prefer it if he's taking it out on his racket than we often see and he takes it out on an umpire or something like that it's kind of ugly and you and you don't really like that and you can't really justify it i was watching this and i you know i was on the one hand feeling for him he was having a horrible day he couldn't find the court three winners to 27 unforced errors in this match but on the other i was kind of finding it quite funny because because there was that sort of comical element to it and the racket smash and once it got to you know a set and a break you were kind of thinking well the double bagel is definitely on here and you know berrettini did well he didn't make the errors he played solidly but this was i think pretty much all about how how bad medvedev was yeah the the comedy elements to it i mean there were a number of elements that made it feel like that one was when he was six love one love down and he won the first point of the of the eighth game and um Thomas Johansson who's his coach who's in the corner there trying really hard to sort of help him find a way into the match help him get his mind in the right place you know he he said that's the way move the feet now stay there you know like he didn't want him to back use the feet now okay he lost the next three points you know and he just could he just couldn't put the ball in the court reliably at all he just couldn't play properly and when he when he did smash this racket i mean one one of them i mean i think there were about seven smashes in total in the one racket sequence uh the first one was him throwing it into the backboard which always makes me wince because you know I'm always expecting a ball kid to just appear out of nowhere and just get it in the leg or something um so there's a recklessness to to that sort of thing but then when when the crowd started to get involved you got the sense that he was he was in on the joke almost you know he knows how how terrible he's playing he knows how kind of ridiculous it all is that a top player would be playing like this and losing like this and he he sort of went with the joke and i almost got the sense that he was thinking i i'd rather lose love love and love now because it's at least funny you know or at least ridiculous once you got to a certain point i mean it was um i mean when you you say you said you found it funny and i mean there was a moment where after the last smash the the racket was in so many pieces he was able to sort of just manipulate it into a shape that it fit into the little sort of letterbox entry to the bin and he was just able to just pop it in the bin in pieces no trouble at all i mean i know some people think crikey somebody could have used that racket you You know, there's lots of people who don't have a racket, you know, not a great look, all this sort of thing.

11:55Usually I don't mind too much racket smashes. And this one I really did find funny. And it was, I mean, it was, it was amusing. It amused me. I didn't have any problem with it at all. And like you, I just don't like the going at umpires where it's not their fault, you know. And they're human beings. They're there to do a job. You're playing like an idiot. You're, you know, get over it, mate. I mean, I thought it was all a bit pathetic, but I also thought, you know, this is a guy who's just lost. He's just lost. Not just not lost the match. He's lost his mind. He's lost his way completely. There's no way back here.

12:32And yet I would back him probably to rebound. Okay. I mean, I think the bigger problem is clay. You know, he can play on it, can't he? I mean, he's won. Is it Rome he'd won? He's won. it's a proper clay court tournament how on earth is he losing like this but I still think that you know I don't think this is just going to keep happening necessarily no nor do I and I think in in some ways he can probably just write this off as a terrible day and probably not think too deeply about it and know that he's gonna play better the next time he steps on the court i mean this was you know this was a like historically bad performance like it wasn't sort of any kind of trend or anything was a total outlier he just could not play like he couldn't serve anyone i think nine points on serve all match his first serve percentage was so low um yeah i think he i think he just writes this off moves on and as i said i'm not expecting him to win events on clay I'm not really expecting him to be in the semis of these of these masters 1000s or slams on clay I expect him to win some matches and I think he'll probably do that you know I think he's I think he's probably got quite used to in the last year or so of having a dip and then having having to come back and and play better and Madrid's in those faster conditions altitude I think will suit him more and if he gets a decent draw then I would back him to at least win a match or certainly a game

14:22So to this point Matteo Berrettini had won was it 16 games at 16 because his previous opponent had retired fall of town but his Monte Carlo Open didn't last too much longer because he then ran into Joao Fonseca today and lost 6-3, 6-2 and Fonseca now into the quarterfinals having beaten Diallo, the Canadian Artur Rindeknes and then Berrettini and he's we've seen him play well on clay before in South America okay, he didn't win the French Open as I said he would last year but I've come back again with another go at it and I've made a big play for him in my fantasy team trading in Taylor Fritz to Reggie and I've got Joao Fonseca and here he is in the quarterfinals but he's starting to look the property on this surface I think that maybe we were looking towards a year ago I mean I still think he's got a long way to go but these are good strides in Monte Carlo.

15:39Yeah, big time. I think it's, first of all, good to see him looking healthy. That's still on my mind every time I watch him considering the injury he had at the start of the season and he's strung, as you said, three wins together there. I sort of picked this match up in the second set today. I was watching Zverev-Bergs but as is often the case at these events, I was drawn to the noise I could hear from the other courts, you know, and like the Italian tennis boon has been such a boost to Monte Carlo as well, you know, like pretty much on the border there. And you get such good atmospheres at all the Italian matches.

16:17And of course, you get good atmospheres at Fonseca matches. So Fonseca Berrettini, I don't know why I didn't start with that match, to be honest. Like, obviously, that was that was kind of going to be the more sort of compelling one from an atmosphere perspective. But I was impressed with Fonseca. You know, they sort of traded breaks at the start of that second set. Berrettini had an awful forehand miss to go a break down 2-3. But Fonseca just, like, kept his foot on the gas and, like, finished it off really impressively. And I think when you have that much power at your disposal, like he does on clay, and you have time on the ball, it's kind of easier to unleash that power.

16:56It's harder to be rushed. and even the opponents knowing that he's got all that much power, I think they naturally sort of back off a little bit against him and he ends up with a lot more space to use in the court. I think his game does make a lot of sense on this surface, but I do think it's going to be very interesting seeing him play against Zverev tomorrow because today against Berrettini, he had quite an easy strategy of kicking the serve into the Berrettini backhand return and knowing that he's going to get kind of a mid-court ball to attack off and he can then dictate. That kicker into Zverev's backhand return isn't going to, I don't think, give him such an easy ball as it did against Berrettini.

17:42It's going to be harder for him to just set up the rallies that he wants, I think. I don't by any means think Zverev's playing all that well in Monte Carlo so far. And it's always a test for a player. can they put Zverev away? But yeah, I think it's exciting that he's got that test. We've seen him play Sinner, we've seen him play Alcarez and now we see him play Zverev. This is all just good, I think, for the Fonseca experience and growth. Yeah, I agree with that because this is the first year he's played those guys and he's never played Zverev before. Zverev having beaten Christian Green in his opening match from 4-0 down in the deciding set and 5-2 down as well and I mean, Green had qualified for this tournament he'd won a very handy first round against Matteo Inaldi and he was playing really well, he was rolling back the years, quite honestly and he's beaten Zverev before and he was causing him all sorts of trouble.

18:53Actually, I would say he was causing him the sort of trouble that should give Fonseca some hope because the damage was coming from the forehand side, from Green, albeit he was doing most of it with a cross-court forehand into the Zverev forehand and Zverev wasn't enjoying the way that ball was jumping up at his forehand. And like you said, I don't think he's found his real timing yet. He was much better today against Sisu Berg's. although I thought Bergs was disappointing after a brilliant performance against Andrei Rublev to get there. I was expecting a lot from Bergs today and he couldn't tie him a forehand all day.

19:34Yeah, and I realised that we were so close to a Gareen-Bergs match, which was the one in the Davis Cup last year that caused all that controversy when Berg sort of barged into Gareen accidentally. I was kind of rooting for that to happen. And yeah, Gareen, I think, definitely should have won that match. He got very tight and started shanking the ball. And yeah, Zverev worked his way back in it. But Zverev has said before, hasn't he, that he does feel like clay is the surface that takes him the longest to get going on. I think that was part of the reason why he played in South America last year, to try and get up to speed on the clay so that he'd sort of hit the ground running on the European clay.

20:27It didn't work at all. It was a disaster. He lost a lot in South America. I think he ended up sort of putting too much load on his back and he was then sort of injured through that period and it just didn't work. and he's obviously abandoned that strategy this year. But if you look at his record on clay over the years, he does take a little while to get going. I think he is right there. He's never had a great record in Monte Carlo, but by the time Rome and Roland Garros and Madrid come around, he's normally hit his stride a bit more on this surface. But I do think he's there for the taking at the moment.

21:03I mean, we say that a lot about Zverev and actually being able to beat him is difficult. he does grind his way through a lot of these matches. So it's going to be a real test for Fonseca. But I do think if we see Zverev playing like he has so far, I do think Fonseca can do it. That's going to be fascinating. That's the first matchup tomorrow as we come to you on Thursday. And the winner of Fonseca and Zverev will face the winner of Yannick Sinner and Felix Ogiali Asim. That's the second match that's on in the quarterfinals. Sinner, who's been on this incredible run, having won the Sunshine Double, and he'd won 37 sets in a row, finally lost one at a Masters tournament, that is, because he lost the second set against Thomas Mahatch on a tiebreak.

22:00He very nearly turned it around, having been 5-2 down, and managed to win that one as well. but didn't get it. Seemed to feel a little unwell in the second set Sinner. Not exactly something we're a stranger to, really, with him. But, you know, he's into the quarterfinals. How have you sort of taken in his first couple of matches on clay so far, Yannick Sinner? It's a strange one today. Like, he was really good to start and Mahatsh was flat and disappointing from the start. It was one of those performances. Like, I still fall into the trap. I still get a little bit excited every time I see him on the order of play.

22:44And, you know, I think, oh, what if the jumping forehand goes in today? And what if the wrong shot selection comes off today? You know, that's always there. He hit one, didn't he? He hit one jump in forehand that Yannick Sinner had to jump over on the baseline. Yeah. And look, it was so bad to start. I think he dragged Sinner down with him in that second set. And then Sinner, yeah, he said he started feeling dizzy. He also said he started feeling a bit sick, but he wasn't worried about that. It was the dizziness that he was worried about. And he took some pills for that. He seemed to be clutching his back a little bit as well.

23:23And yeah, 5-2 down, double break. an ailing really, and you're thinking, okay, maybe there's a match here. Of course, Mahatsch was pretty shambolic when trying to serve out that second set twice. He came up with just awful shot making, but then really got it together in the tie break and played a great tie break. He ripped it from Sinner, but I still didn't actually think Mahatsch was going to go on and win it because, as you said, we're quite used to seeing Sinner in those situations. He handles them well. He stays calm, you know, when he's not quite feeling his best. And I thought he served a lot better in that final set and kept Mahatch at arm's length.

24:05And if it is just a slight illness thing, then, you know, I think he was kind of saying, well, I'll hopefully feel better in my next match tomorrow. So I think, you know, you'd have to say it's a good match for him to get through. and yeah he would definitely be the favourite to come through that bottom half of the draw for me Ojeeli Asim is a player that has beaten Sinner before but I mean Klay is clearly the least preferred surface for Ojeeli Asim he got a win today over Kasparud who pulled his calf muscle sadly in the second set and retired whilst a set and two all in the second. But, I mean, he was playing pretty well, Augerius, and wasn't he to stay with Root up until that point?

24:55I think he went three love down immediately, but then got it back and eventually took that first set. I'm still interested to see this match. Sometimes I'll watch Yannick Sinner matches, and I have to say I did put this one on the list today of thinking, I mean, I just really struggle to see it being competitive. So fair play to match that he actually won the second set, although perhaps it was due to the physical state of Sinner. But I am interested to see. I think Oji Aliasin provides at least a physical test. You know, I think he's got that clear deficiency on the backhand versus a guy with a backhand like Sinner's.

25:36But, you know, he's got the movement. He's got a big forehand. He's got a big serve. I think it's another little tester just to see where Sinner is. I think all of, you know, at a tournament, I expect you to have these incremental tests because you're going through the rounds and you should be meeting the best players towards the end. And Sinner, Oji Aliassim as a quarterfinal is a good little marker, I think. But I'd be surprised if Oji Aliassim would have win this one. Would you? yeah me too um they played a good match the us open you know that that semi-final was was pretty good last year ojiali asim brought it um and did manage to get the forehand into play quite a lot and and the backhand held up i think but yeah i have the same concerns as you for him in that match up um and i would expect i would expect sinner to come through so that's the bottom half the draw fonseca zverev uh and sinner ogeliacin we're going to do predictions at the end of all this folks of course we are davidson charge but first absolutely i haven't got katherine to roll her eyes at me just trying to make polls out of everything and goodness knows what um and and I miss Catherine, so I'm going to make it up to myself by just throwing loads of predictions around.

27:11Alcaraz is also through, but like Sinnott, he lost a set today, De Carlos Alcaraz, against Thomas Etcheverry, which you would not have seen that coming after the first set, would you? Because he was absolutely majestic against Etcheverry. I watched all of this, and he looked absolutely bang on it in the first set. And yet, if you think of Carlos Alcraz, I've seen this match so many times. I've seen him come bursting out of the blocks. And you think he's the best player I've ever seen. And then in the second set, he's 4-1 down. And you're like, how have you ended up in this position? And I'm like, Echeverry hasn't really been that involved.

27:56and yet he finds himself leading the second set. He ends up edging it in the end because Alcraz left himself too much to do despite making a bit of a comeback. Got himself back on track in the third, won it fairly convincingly, six games to three. I didn't hear anything about any ill health or concerns of that type from Carlos Alcraz. Maybe you'll tell me different, But to me, this was not an unfamiliar sight either for Carlos Alcraz and these sort of events. No, I agree. I mean, he went through a spell last year, didn't he? I mean, even the start of this year where he did put that sort of set behind him a little bit.

28:42You know, he was super consistent through matches. but you know we do seem to be back to um to the full Alcaraz experience with we you know with these sort of lapses in in a set and you know I think you know Echeverry is really good clay quarter isn't he solid you know Catherine said the other day all these Argentinians come out on the clay and and he's one of them you know he is he is tough and I think he broke down the Alcaraz backhand really in that second set. You know, the stats flashed up that Alcaraz had hit so many errors off that wing. I think it was 16 at one point in the sort of latter stage of that second set compared to just a couple, Fretcher-Veri.

29:25And it was interesting having the audio on the back and forth between Alcaraz and his coaching team. And, you know, Alcaraz, I think of him as like the belief guy, you know, like when he was asked about how he still managed to beat Zverev in Australia when he was cramping. It was like, well, I just believed that I would win. And that seems to sort of always be there. And yet, you know, picking up on this microphone today, he was really talking about a loss of confidence and he was having to be reassured a lot by his camp. They were like, you're making mistakes. You're going to make mistakes, but you've got to just keep trying things and trust yourself and it will come.

30:03It was a really good sort of reassuring message, I think. and yeah he battled hard to get an early break in that third set didn't he and you could see really celebrated that pretty pretty hard I think he knew that that was important just to just to get off to a good start in that in that third set in the way that he hadn't in the second and yeah I don't know like is this a is this a it's kind of the question we've been having all year is this like good for the field or bad for the field is this a good day for the field that Sinner lost the set and looked a bit vulnerable and Alcraz hit 24 unforced errors in a second set and looked a bit vulnerable or is it a bad day because those things happened and yet they still won and you kind of always thought they would still win like it takes so much for someone to be able to beat one of them and you know even with all those things going on they came through yeah i think it's a it's a bad thing because i don't think they're gonna get any worse right i think they're gonna get better um but anyway alcaraz is through he will now face alexander who who had a pretty handy win today against uh yuri lehetka um and and this is interesting isn't it because uh have they ever played each other i don't remember no i don't think so i heard i heard al kraz's uh post-match interview and he was saying they've they've sort of practiced together quite a lot but not but not played and he was like let's see who has the best drop shot yeah yeah that that yeah it is their first meeting i mean it is that is fascinating and i wonder whether Bublik might be able to draw him into one of those matches that Alcrast sometimes gets himself involved in where he just can't help but try to find out who's got the better swag and touch at the net you know and and when actually he probably just needs to put the hammer down and not get involved in all that stuff yeah and but it also to me feels like kind of a big match for Bublik like he needs to show up in one of these like do you know what I mean like he's had He had that match against Dimonor where suddenly spotlights on him.

32:24He had that match against Sinner at the French last year. OK, these are tough opponents in big matches in slams. But I think everyone is looking at that tomorrow, that quarter final, thinking, OK, that could be exciting. That could be a show. And I just think Bublik has not quite brought it in some of these matches recently against the best players since he's really had his rise. He's become consistent and he is a threat on all surfaces. But I don't know, he's laid some eggs. And I just want to see him show something tomorrow, I think, in that matchup. He does that thing when he plays Sinner. I know he has beaten Sinner, but he's also done that thing occasionally of getting behind and then almost bailing out mentally and giving himself an out, giving himself an excuse by saying this guy's an alien, he's AI, you know, I can't face this guy, I'm a normal person, I can't play this guy.

33:24And I don't actually expect him to do that against Alcrest. It's a bit of a different match-up, isn't it? It is. Sinner is just so relentless. And Alcrest, he can be, but he can also be a little indulgent or a little bit erratic. So it'll be very interesting to see who ends up coming through with Alcraz and Bublik. And the winner of that one will face either Valentin Vachero, who we have just seen in pretty chaotic scenes under the lights, late on beating Hubert Herkacz. I mean, Vachero's going to face Diminoor. And if Vachero's got anything left after the last two matches he's had, in Monte Carlo, I'll be impressed because emotionally, he's so on the edge, isn't he, at the moment?

34:22I mean, he's putting every bit of sweat and energy and emotion into winning these matches in front of his home crowd and the royalty in the stands and he's got all his family there, it feels like, and all of his team. and he makes you feel things even if you've never seen him before. You can't fail to feel things when you watch Van Azen Vachero because he looks like it means everything to him and it can't possibly go right and he's still going to throw his body to the dogs in an effort to try. And then he'll blow it and he'll hit a smash straight back to Hubert Urgach and then his girlfriend will just say the F word under her breath.

35:10And it's just so obvious what's happening. And then he wins. And then he's on his knees and his arms are aloft. And he's a great addition, I think, to the circuit, to the tour. And I'm impressed that he's still at this stage of this tournament that means so much to him. Quarterfinals in his kind of follow-up season to the breakout after that Shanghai win. it's impressive but do you I don't know, do you think he's going to have enough left to face Dimon? Well I mean that was such a defining feature of his run in Shanghai the number of long matches he won and you know remember Shanghai last year was this incredibly hot gruelling tournament wasn't it?

35:58People were falling by the wayside and Vashiro just kept going but I suppose you know he would have had days off but probably between matches certainly between some of them in that longer format here it's the the relentlessness of having to come back the next day and as you said the emotional energy of it all as well and kind of in these one week masters events which again another great aspect of monte carlo you do get like stuck in the schedule slot that you're in you know like so he's now on late every day because that's the slot he's in and it does mean that the crowd has thinned out a bit you know i think as you were saying it gets gets pretty chilly in monte carlo in the in the evenings it takes a sort of at this time of year it takes a hardy or slightly crazy tennis fan to kind of still be there in their seats after so many hours and then And that just creates this atmosphere of Bedlam.

36:56And he has leaned into that. And I think in his first match against Majerzsak, there was a lot of people there in nose strips. And in his last two matches, he's had this sort of young group of fans all wearing Monaco football shirts supporting him. And he's been whipping them up and getting them to make a lot of noise. And it has just created this kind of frenzy in his matches. And he's leaned into that. but you do feel like it must be taking quite a lot out of him and draining him and yeah to then have to play kind of you know the road runner de Manor who you know is going to be be a physical test you know if we're making predictions at this stage I'm probably going I'm probably going de Manor even though clay is is not his favorite surface um but yeah it's been it's been really fun watching Vachero uh and I'm glad that he's having this moment that is at his home tournament you know the one that you know he said he would you know he would love to win it kind of above above everything else um I am a bit worried about Mazzetti though who he who he beat in the previous round you know like I feel like I feel like he's on another nightmare tour David I feel like he's come into this clay court season i mean he must be defending the second most amount of points after alcaraz and he yet he's got no matches and no form and i think he feels the pressure of trying to defend all those points and i almost feel like he needs to go and run up last year wasn't he yeah yeah and he and he reached the semis uh in madrid and rome and roland garros he's got so many points to defend I almost feel like he needs to drop down a level and play a 250 or 500 and try and get some wins because he's such a confidence player Mazzetti he needs to be he needs to be sharp and he's not at the moment and Vachero really really exploited that I desperately hope for his sake he's not thinking about points though because yeah but I think he He might be.

39:04I feel like when I'm watching him, I feel like there's a burden on him. To me, he should be accepting, look, last year was last year. Let's just see what I can do this year on its own merits. And like you said, I think dropping down a level or playing as many as he can in the next couple of weeks would be to his benefit, just to build some match toughness in the legs and to get some rhythm going. Because, I mean, I think the thing with him, though, he's so comfortable on the surface generally and he's so good at it that I do think he can build his way into this clay court season still as long as he's physically okay I hope he can Dimonor by the way a winner over Cameron Norrie in the previous round and then Alexander Blocks the young Belgian qualifier who he beat 7-5 7-6 today did Alex Dimonor such a tough competitor to Diminor and he hasn't had the best of times recently so I'm pleased that he's picked it up and he's going well on the clay so that leaves us with the quarterfinal line-up then Matt it's punchy predictions time we're going to go from the top of the draw to the bottom Alcaraz Bublik, who's winning?

40:22Alcaraz Alcaraz as well for me Vashro Diminor Diminor I agree Fonseca Zverev I'm going to go Fonseca I'll say Zverev Sinner Ogeliacin Sinner and we're going to have a final of well I I sort of cast some doubt over it the other day when we were talking are we going to get our first Alcarez Sinner of the season but I don't know, looking at this line-up and those predictions I've made I'm going to row back on that and I'm going to go Elkraz, Sinner Me too, and who's going to win? Going to go Elkraz Yeah, same as Elkraz I think the same Okay, well there we are That's Monte Carlo We're going to talk about Linz in part 2 but that's the end of part 1 We'll be back with Linz Chat and Lily Tagger in a minute.