Serena’s Wimbledon singles comeback is ON

34:28It was almost like he lost his belief at the end because Arnaldo was getting to everything. This week, I've watched a lot of Tiafo. I watched him play Oji Aliassim in a real sort of duke-em-out match from the baseline, and Oji Aliassim was playing well and had three match points. um but it was won by tf on a tie break 14 12. it's brilliant brilliant contest then they played in the semi-finals tiafo and altmeyer and he absolutely destroyed altmeyer in a way that i i don't really associate with tiafo as being this real efficient winner but to to use one of your expressions catherine this was faff free tennis or what he was doing today was as well he he kind of at the uh the french opening against arnaldi kind of got himself ahead by putting away the drop shots and just playing toe-to-toe tennis because arnaldi was too quick um in this match it was like it was like he was embodying what john mackenow talks about when he talks about how he used to play tennis i i'm not going to give you the same ball twice fritz is a player who loves to get into a rhythm and if you get him in a rhythm like he had against Alexander Zverev in the in the previous match the semi-finals he's so tough to put away you've got to you've got to either knock him off the court which is really really tough to do probably people like Sinner can do it or you've just got to you've got to kind of make him malfunction a bit and I think that's what what Tiafoe did today he was hitting so cleanly from the baseline his serve as destructive but then you know he'll hit a big forehand cross court inside out then he hit a real knifed backhand slice deep that Fritz sort of has to dig out then he gives him the off-pace shot with the backhand to bring him forwards and just completely would discombobulate him um I think some of it was Fritz probably being a bit out of gas as well because he'd had long matches against Shelton and Zverev but I give all the credit to Tiafoe and he looked like a proper I mean it's it's sort of you know a 2026 grass court or it's not the classical grass court specialist but he looks a specialist on the surface he looks like a nightmare on the surface to me and I feel like he eyeballed this chance at the French Open with Alcaraz out and with Sinner out now obviously he's got sinner in this draw and if he gets the wrong part of the draw and ends up playing sinner he's probably going to lose because sin is just better and there are some other players that again have really good head-to-heads against tfo people like zverev but i actually backs tfo to be if he can stay fit and just keep this mindset i think he could be i I think he could be in the mix at Wimbledon.

37:27I really do. I feel like he looks fantastic right now on the surface. And I don't find other people overwhelmingly convincing. Even Sinner, simply because the last time we saw him, he was nearly carried off the court and he hasn't played since. And he is, look, he's going to go in as a heavy favourite. Of course he is. but he hasn't played any event. Don't know what he's going to look like. There's no Al Kraz. Don't know what Djokovic will turn up like. Tiafoe, to me, feels like a really good shout this year to cause mayhem. If we were doing a sweepstake, I'm very into sweepstakes because I'm doing well in our World Cup sweepstakes.

38:14If we were doing a sweepstake for Wimbledon, David, who would you rather draw from the hat? Taylor Fritz or Francis Tiafoe? I'd probably rather have TFO. I've just got a really good feeling about him at the moment. Wow. Based on what I saw. I've just, I mean, look, I've probably been taken in by him once or twice before. Although, you know, he got to the semis of the US Open the last time I felt like this. But he just feels convincing to me. I mean, he's 28. He looks really motivated. He looks, yeah, it's... I think he's very aware of, you know, I'm 28 now. That's it. I feel like that. I've squandered chances.

38:56I remember him saying at Wimbledon either two years ago or three, I think two years ago. It might have even been in the Losing to Clowns press conference because I was in that one. And I remember him saying it's this one and it's US Open. He said, I care about the other two majors, but Wimbledon and US Open are different to me. Every time they come around, it's like, okay, this is what I'm playing for right here. And I think 28, you think, I've only got so many Wimbledons and US Opens in my prime left. So I'm not sure I'd take him over Fritz, but I like it. Who would you take, Matt? I would take Fritz, I think.

39:41I think actually the two people I came out of this week feeling the best about heading into Wimbledon relative to where they were, didn't actually win the titles that they were playing in. And that was Fritz and Pagula. I think they had the biggest, to me, moments. You know, for Fritz, it was getting back to where he was, you know, doing his thing again and getting a win finally over Shelton, which was huge. And then showing that he's still the guy that can beat Zverev. And David watched this final more closely than me. But I think that match again over five sets at Wimbledon, deep in a major when Tiafoe's probably got a lot of matches in his legs as well.

40:28I don't know. I just feel like I'm giving the slight edge to Fritz there. But basically, I would take whoever, if one of them, I would take whoever's not in the center half, you know. And like Alcaraz not being there is huge for both of these players. Tiafoe has lost to Alcaraz at Wimbledon a couple of times, was very close to beating him. He's shown a great level on grass before. He was rushing Alcaraz in an incredible way in that match a couple of years ago. And then, of course, Fritz lost to him in the semis last year. So, like, Alcaraz being there is big for both of them. It's also big for Paul, who had a good week in Queens.

41:10Big for all these American guys, you know. Paul's lost to Alcaraz at Wimbledon. But Sinner is still there. so I'm still taking the I'm still taking the people who are not in Sinner's half because it's more likely that Sinner I think finds his groove finds his form and finds his level than what happened to him at the French Open happens again it's a possibility it's opened my mind to it when it's just Sinner everything feels a little bit shakier the foundations of that draw that It feels like something could happen and it definitely could. But I just think Sinner was, Sinner's very, very good and very, very good at Wimbledon and on grass.

41:53And I feel like we shouldn't forget all that just because of one very hot day in Paris, you know? So yeah, it comes down to the draw. I'm taking whoever's on the other side, but I think both of them had huge weeks and enhance their position going into Wimbledon. Tell you what, Yannick Sinner is pleased that Wimbledon moved back a week, isn't he? Because it's going to be 40 degrees Celsius here for a couple of days this week. And that would be, well, on recent evidence, catastrophic for Yannick Sinner. Alexander Zverev lost to Taylor Fritz as expected I guess given their head to head he's won seven in a row against Fritz now if you count the Labour Cup no need to debate that now but there you go there's the caveat if you want it even without the Labour Cup it's an overwhelming head to head at this point why can't Alexander Zverev beat taylor fritz david well i do i do think the history plays a part and the fact that he he hasn't beaten him for ages and fritz is so solid fritz fritz just bands down the hatches on his backhand he serves well he's got it you know there's not there aren't many places for zveriv to go and actually zveriv probably needs this new version of himself to beat Fritz, i.e.

43:26the big hitting I'm going to take the ball on guy because just rallying with Fritz isn't going to get it done. It might do, but Fritz just doesn't really go away. I think the main thing is that I don't think Zverev was really that well in this match. He didn't look well. I don't know whether it's injury, whether it's illness. He said he had problems with his blood sugar, didn't he? He said his back also locked up, but those two things weren't unrelated it didn't it didn't look well yeah and and yet he still won the first set and now i also think fritz isn't quite where he was i mean i think it's important to say that to him and he's working his way back um but i think stylistically it is a problem for zverev and he is a bit in his head you know and it's not i'm not surprised i did kind of think that maybe this would be the ones very did win because he's just won the french open you know and he's flying on confidence and maybe the shackles are off etc etc but you know he's probably a bit wiped out generally um and and so i don't read too much into it in all honesty but i do think wimbledon might come too soon for zverev in terms of being at his absolute freshest and best i mean he has just won a grand slam for the first time in his life you know that is quite a moment if I threw Ben Shelton into that sweepstake both of you big time Ben always shows up at slams apart from the last one who would you take sticking with Tiafoe David

45:00yeah yeah it'd be similar I mean I do think I mean I'm slightly worried about how much Shelton's played like he was creaking a bit in that match against Fritz I mean, brilliant effort to get it as close as he did. But he looked like his knee was hurting. He looked exhausted. I'm saying, how much do you want to play before Wimbledon? I mean, look, he's got a week off, right? So he should be fine. And he's looking more convincing on the surface. I just, look, I miss Carlos Alcaraz like everybody does. Anybody who's watched this guy play wants to see him play. but I do find myself fascinated about what it what it does to everybody else's outlook and horizon um and Shelton's on that list you know he's another one him and Tiafa they missed their boat at the the French Open and yet they've still got a bit of an opening here if they fall in the right half of the draw you know and it's um it's uh it's interesting to me it's pretty impressive bounce backs, I think, from both of them.

46:05And also Sarundolo. You know, Sarundolo squandered an incredible opportunity at the French Open, lost to Schweider, didn't he? And, you know, he's come back and won the biggest title of his career. These guys, they've responded well, it's now they just get another shot at a slam and whether they can deal with that moment better if they face it again. Just before we move on to talk about that, Sarundolo's victory at Queen's. The doubles in Haller was won by Albano Olivetti and Theo Arribage. 7664. New name on me, that one. Over Daniel Altmaier and Joel Fonseca who reached the final. And just before we move on from Haller, a word for the shadow.

46:51Can't let another 51 weeks pass without mentioning just the most egregious shadow in tennis. Matt, any any further comment oh no it's terrible isn't it like they've got it's the roof isn't it they've got the roof in hallow and it casts this very odd shadow onto the court there's lines everywhere yeah it's it's a bad one it's a really bad one for two hours every day it's unwatchable and no one seems to think that's a problem Your product is unwatchable. Anyway, on to Queen's, where there is no roof. They would love a roof, but the upside of that is no shadow. The title was won by Francisco Disco Sarundolo, as he is known at the Labour Cup.

47:44He beat Tommy Paul in the final 6-7, 6-4, 6-3. What a week for Francisco Sarundolo. As Matt said, the bounce back from the French Open, winning a grass court title, doing it over Tommy Poole, who again, similar to Haller, I think Poole was a fairly strong favourite going into this final, won the title before a couple of years ago. And his first week, David, his first week working with new coach Nicholas Massoud. I mean, it's dreamland stuff for Sarindolo. And he went straight from sort of practising on clay and then practicing on hard court and then he ends up on the grass. You know, just because of circumstances, he didn't have a chance to get on grass.

48:30Well, it did him the world of good, it seems. I mean, the first time I sort of watched any of Sarundalo this week, he was 6-2 love-up at the time against Jenson Brooks, being absolutely flying. I'm thinking, oh, he's making serene work of this draw. Well, every other match was epic and hard work. I mean, in semifinals, He was set down against Brandon Akashima, fought back to beat him, did the same against Tommy Paul. I mean, it is actually interesting. I would have certainly made Paul the favorite for this on grass, you know, because of the surface and because Paul had won the tournament, you know, a couple of years ago.

49:09But the head-to-head did give me pause for thought. It was one of those sort of head-to-heads that I was sort of surprised to hear about when it actually came through. He was 5-2 up against Paul. This made it 6-2, this win. I don't quite understand that head-to-head. I mean, when I've watched the match today, I started to realise a little bit of the value of that forehand. You know, the sort of good all-round player with a great backhand versus the guy with the absolute blockbuster forehand who's able to just bully things with it. and um and it is a curious one but but that now makes a bit more sense to me i think i mean that this was the longest final that queens has had in in the in in the men's event and uh the longest match they've had you know it was it it it wasn't exactly blockbuster names i don't feel like they're good really good players but it's not like when they've had alcrash in the final and and uh Leighton Hewitt and Andy Roddick and all those sort of people winning it but as a as an actual tennis match people were letting me know that don't normally watch tennis that they were watching this and they were absolutely engrossed like my mom my mom immediately messaged me after the match to say what a wonderful match she thought it was you know um and it was it was really dramatic stuff and I love it when I mean look we've got a really tight association with queens because we worked there all three of us for many many years and i love to see the tournament meaning that much to the two players in the final and you saw sir under low it was just it's like all of his it was like his best moment of his career and it was brilliant to see and he really deserved it and his dad was there to watch him win having boarded a plane for the first time in his life fear of flying but um he wanted to be there to see his son hopefully lift the trophy and he was so an amazing little uh cherry on the top of that story vicky's putting photos in the in the youtube and they're gonna make me cry so lovely really really lovely scenes for sir angelo after that win um still as you say a great week for tommy paul i was gonna say yeah I was just on just one more thing on Sarundalo like it was such a shock to me that he'd won a grass court tournament before and actually beaten Paul in the final at Eastbourne in 2023 I had no recollection of that whatsoever but interesting that like he'd lost six matches in a row on grass coming into this week you know like that's that's more what I thought his record was on this surface you know um but he's had these two runs at eastbourne a few years ago and now at queen's where he can really put it together and string it together and i think he does have a game with that forehand that can do damage on on any surface really if he's if he's not getting in his own way gets in his own way a lot so it gets very tight and we saw that even in this match the thing is tommy paul got really tight as well and therefore that it was a ropey compelling compelling end for the match.

52:31You know, it took so many match points. Who is tighter here? Yeah. I don't, I'd never trust the Tommy Paul forehand in those pressure situations. And again, it got, it got pretty, got pretty clunky. But yeah, it's, it's, yeah, as you said, the biggest, the biggest tournament of his, the biggest title of his career so far. And very impressive. But I do agree that Tommy Paul also had a nice week. Yeah. Good week for him. Less good for Alex De Menor. He ended up losing to Brandon Nakashima in the quarterfinals. He looks so burnt out to me, De Menor. I know it was Queen's last year when he lost early and talked about being burnt out then.

53:11And he does bounce back well. He always shows up for Australia and that part of the season, no matter what the preceding weeks, months and year has been like, he always shows up for that. but yeah, he looks utterly frazzled to me and it felt similar to his loss in Paris. So I think a bit of a tough time for Alex de Menor. Last dispatch from Queen's, a follow-up to what we discussed on our last show, David, involving Corentin Moutet and his foul-mouthed outburst, albeit intended to be a funny one, in his on-court interview at Queen's after beating Giovanni Mpeshi Perikar in the first round, we now know that Korentan Mute has received a fine of$40 ,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct.

54:10For reference, that is the same amount that Alexander Zverev was fined for his violent attack on the umpire's chair in Acapulco a few years ago. In fact, that was two separate fines of 20 ,000. So as a singular fine, this is right up there. On the scale of fines, this is one of the higher ones available. He is going to be appealing it. My George fell to the floor, David, when I saw that he was fined his whole prize money for the week, pretty much. I mean, I think if he'd been fined a few thousand dollars, slap on the wrist, fine. I get it, you know, that I am not offended remotely by swearing.

54:54I think I love swearing. I found it funny. But I get that some people are and those are the rules and fine, slap him on the wrist. But to treat it like it's a graver offence than things we see all the time that are genuinely threatening and aggressive or reckless is bonkers to me. talk about a sport with its priorities in the wrong place. Yeah, I just think it's ridiculous. Just, first of all, it was really funny. I thought it was hilarious. And I sort of wanted to give him a pat on the back for putting the tournament on the map in a quiet week. And I thought the, you know, the only person that I would have worried about.

55:46Not find him. I mean, he would have come off and I'd have said that was funny. Don't do it again. But that was funny. Can I just speak up on something Cara has said in the chat and also that I've heard other people say was that they think it was really disrespectful to Jenny Drummond, the interviewer, who, as we said on the show last time, handled it brilliantly. I don't want to speak for Jenny and how she experienced it, but I have done that job. and I'm also pretty sensitive to you know men putting women in difficult positions generally but also in in situations like that I didn't read it that way at all and I don't think that's how I would have experienced it in the moment I think I would have I think I would have found it funny and gone along with it with a twinkle in my eye and I don't think there was anything

56:44I think he was trying to be funny. Yeah, and you said it perfectly, the twinkle in the eye. That's what he had. Are we not able to have a twinkle in the eye? And look, the only person I worried about or might have worried about in that scenario really was Jenny asking the questions and being put on the spot. but she showed how good she is I think at doing that job by reacting to it and handling it and that is part of the job you know being able you don't see it very often because there are a lot of people doing those jobs that aren't very good at it and aren't very nimble and aren't you know they go there with their questions lined up and they ask them and they don't react to what the player says they can't handle curveballs but that's how it should look that's how those interviews should look when curveballs come come their way she dealt with it really well no one was harmed it was all fine i'd have had no problem with the with the tours or the tournament coming out with a statement and saying look we've we're not going to fine him or okay we're going to find him two thousand dollars which is a special special procedure whatever just to make it clear you're not you're not allowed to do that right so don't do it again Don't copy, all right?

58:01But we're not going to go any further because this was funny and it was basically harmless. Let's just move on and talk about something important. Unsportsmanlike conduct is a... Joke. ...is quite a tag to put on it, isn't it? The doubles at Queen's was won by Marcelo Aravalo and Matej Pavic, the fourth seeds. They beat Henry Patton and Harry Heliovaro 6-2, 6-3 in the final. The women's events this week, what a week in Berlin. They had a stacked field. They had an awesome quarterfinal line-up. The title ended up being won by Linda Noskova, who beat Jessica Baguda 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in the final, a final that was delayed by several hours today due to very dramatic storms in Germany, which caused damage to the venue's electrical and power systems as well as flooding on site.

59:00They did well to get this match played at all, quite frankly. And Linda Nozkova will make her top 10 debut tomorrow as a result of winning this title. Matt has been hyping Nozkova for a while. Not loudly. I'm not sure it's necessarily anything that you found a big audience for yet. But I do know that you have always... I told... I was asked for a big prediction for 2026 and I panicked and went, uh, Noskova. Noskova to do... Was it Noskova to win Berlin? No, I actually think it was top 10. Ah, there you go. I've teed you up for some gloating, Matt. Off you go. She's really good. She's a really good player, Noskova.

59:51She's got so many ways to hurt you, I think. I feel like this match was a real match, Noskova-Pagula against people with underrated hands. I think we think of Noskova and Pagula as big hitters, and fundamentally they are, but both of them have hands, and I think that's why they're good on grass. They can deal with balls coming at them low. They're comfortable hitting a slice. you know like and Noskov has also got one of the most damaging first serves on on the WTA tour like it's a real weapon that shot her percentage is not always brilliant but the effectiveness of it is always there and it was particularly particularly good in this one and yeah I think this has been coming I think she's been building and I think grass really suits her it's Czech season isn't it grass court season they always pop up we got we got Buscova as well winning a title you know it all it all makes sense um yeah she's got it she's a good combination of of touch and power Noscova and you know she had that breakout win a few years ago over Svantec at the Australian Open and I remember then thinking okay I don't I don't think this is a player who's going to absolutely like dominate the sport but i think is really dangerous and you know she's had she's had difficulty in her in her life as well and she's only 21 i think she's lost she's lost her her mother uh very young and i think that's been a sort of difficult thing for her to navigate but i feel like in the last nine months or so she's really gone up a level and is is dangerous to a lot of players and you know even before this she beat Ayala who was having like a career week beating Rabatkin and Svitolina like Noskova isn't as big a name as those two but is a still a really really big challenge and I think as we go into this Wimbledon where the favourites there's a lot of uncertainty around them you know Sabalenka, Rabatkin, Stjantek hasn't played since the The French Open hasn't been in great form.

1:02:02Like Noskova is primed in my book to take advantage of that potentially. I'm not saying, I'm not predicting Noskova to win Wimbledon to be clear. But I would be tempted by the mix for Noskova. I think she's that level of dangerous, you know? And I think Wimbledon could be, you know, it's been won by Kraychikova and Vondroshova. and you know Rebecca Noe back in 2022 wasn't quite the you know like those sorts of players on the fringes of the mix have actually been the ones who have pushed through and won Wimbledon recently you know so it feels like a Wimbledon where somebody like Nozkova could end up winning it doesn't it a lot of people are talking about this Wimbledon in those terms it's just whether it is Nozkova or if it's well I also think Pagula's in that conversation Pagula right Right.

1:02:57Let's talk about Pagula. I mean, she has reached a Grand Slam final. She's a, you know, main in the top 10 and top five, different bracket. But this does seem to be slightly different territory for Jessica Pagula. She beat Irina Sabalenka in the semifinal 6-4, 6-7, 6-love. OK, didn't back it up and win the final. But my God, how good was she in that semifinal to beat Sabalenka? Unbelievable. so good that six love set is nothing like the Schneider six love set it's there's a I think there's a concern there for Sabalenka I definitely think you can't write that off totally as as all Pagula because I think Sabalenka at her best still finds a way to get into that set but Pagula was awesome and it's so interesting what she says about I mentioned it on the pod the other day German grass versus British grass and Wimbledon.

1:03:58I just think it's interesting how she's changed up her schedule this time, right? When she's played Berlin in the past, she's often then gone to play Eastbourne. And, you know, that's potentially eaten into her Wimbledon prep as well. This time she played Berlin. She's done her thing there. She got to the final. She's been really impressive. And now she gets a week practicing at Wimbledon. And the thing she talks about is the difference is that Wimbledon, that two-week event, they have to cut the grass a little bit differently. They've got to last, the grass, and it stays longer for maybe a little bit longer.

1:04:33There's more grass on it, and it is slower than Berlin, and it also stays really low. And she's been caught out by those things in the past, she was saying in her press conference. I think this is a good time now for her to try and get used to that a little bit more and finds the form that she's shown at other grass courts events at Wimbledon for the first time and as she does she's categorically in the mix because her level is up there with the very best in the world it has been all year maybe not the clay court swing but all year she's been so good the problem the slight issue is that she has a very small tendency to just lay an egg sometimes and just come out a bit flat, you know, in a way that, in a way that like Sabalenka doesn't do.

1:05:23And you trust Sabalenka to get through the first week and be firing on all cylinders. Pagoula's had a few now at slams that have really just caught you out. Coccioretto, Birol, Burrell, you know, like these are losses she's taken at slams. Boisson, even. you know, and she needs to cut those out. But the form, the form is magnificent. Like her ability to nullify returns and big serves with her hands. She's aggressive off both wings. She can go line off forehand and backhand. She can get the ball shooting through low. She's a very underrated mover, I think. Her hands are good. It's all there for her.

1:06:08And I do think she's going to have a big Wimbledon. I don't think she's going to flop like she did last year. I'm convinced by the change in approach. I like that. I like when players do something a bit different. They realise that they let an opportunity go and they've changed it up. And I think that's a smart move. Okay. Sweepstake then. Who would you rather have come out of the bag for you? Sabalenka or Pagula? I told you I'm into sweepstakes. Yeah. God, that's such a good question. I mean, I've still got to go Sabalenka. Yeah, you have to. But I actually think, yeah, because she is still the world number one for a reason.

1:06:47She is a perennial Grand Slam sort of lock, isn't she, really, to go deep in a Grand Slam. But I feel like Pagula, it's a little bit like how I feel about Tiafoe in the men's draw. and she's obviously got more authority really given her record. But that shooting through of the ball, the flat hit for Jessica Bagula, it should work on the surface. And I think you're absolutely right. Having a week where you just get ready and you come in and you concentrate on this tournament now, you've done your prep, don't just try and win everything in the lead-up. Just sort yourself out to be at your max. I think she's going to have a big win more than two.

1:07:39I really do. I could see her going to the final. That is a legacy pick for Sabalenka, though, isn't it? Because on the basis of recent evidence, she's a worry. She's a concern. I think it's very important to point out that the six love sets in those two defeats were very, very different. But it is still extremely rare for world number ones to lose six love sets. She's done it in back-to-back tournaments now. And the match before against Barton Kovar was arguably just as much of a worry. I know she got through it. Barton Kovar really tightened up in that. Barton Kovar tightened up massively. She was four love down in the second set with Sabalanga.

1:08:23And look, incredible fight from her. Incredible grit. She sensed and she knew that Barton Kovar was going to tense up and she did all the right things to kind of make it happen and prey upon it when it did happen. It was a heck of a match, actually. But she was let off the hook a bit. It was getting away from her very quickly. And you don't often see this from world number ones who have very recently been incredibly dominant. It does feel relatively like quite a rough patch for Sabalenka now. Yeah. Yeah, I am a bit concerned for her because I just, I wasn't really, I mean, not that you can't lose to Pagula because you can, but to lose like that, and I realise that is largely Pagula's excellence in that third set, but the fact that she got a set and four love down against Barton Kovar, I don't think that that should be overlooked either, really, in the analysis.

1:09:24I still end up feeling like a ground slam is different than you, and I think it must be quite hard to come back from the kind of blow, mental blow of what happened at Roland Garros and then be into these far smaller events. And I don't mean to disrespect those events, but she's a big stage player and she's, I think Wimbledon can get the good vibes back for her. If she could get into the tournament and start to feel herself, I feel like the just the sheer size of the event could have her feeling good again um but not going to be the main character though is she not for as long as Serena Williams is in the tournament I mean yeah I mean I I just I don't feel like I'd normally do going into a grand slam about either draw I just don't feel as sure of what's going to happen like I don't feel like As I said, I think Sinner is clearly the best player, but I have question marks about everybody in a way that I don't normally feel like that.

1:10:34Paris has made us question everything. We'll never be the same again. If Flavio Caballi can reach a Grand Slam final, then literally anything can happen. The thing about Savalenka, even as ragged as she's looked in a lot of her recent matches, I still, as you said, Catherine, legacy pick, I still trust her to get through the opening rounds because she's so good. She's upset proof in terms of those opening rounds at majors. She hasn't lost early in forever. But, you know, she hasn't, I don't think she's won a grass court title in her career, right? And like, okay, we've seen players then, you know, be in that position and win Wimbledon.

1:11:21but I've always thought grass makes sense for Sabalenka but I'm starting to think that maybe it's not maybe there's a reason that I'm not seeing as to why the game hasn't always translated to her having her best success on grass I do think even the layers she's added to her game over the past few years and we saw her serve and volleying a bit and I think that's a play for grass and everything and the touch shots, the drop shot I think it's all partly to do with these natural surfaces. The thing is, though, it's still all about attack, isn't it? It's still all about trying to play the points on her terms.

1:12:02It's just different terms to big striking from the baseline. And I just, in these big pressure matches, I do still have little concern about the fact that it's all on her terms always. like I just think players who are able to just absorb and soak up and say well go on then you beat me in this point then you make the play in those pressure situations I think that gets to Sabalenka that she doesn't really have that you know and sometimes she can come through it and she wins she wins Grand Sam titles but we see her involved in a lot more sort of stressful matches than you sort of think she should be in given how good she is.

1:12:48And I just think maybe that layer of her game is something that she could do with having, even on a grass court. And as much as she's developed her game, she hasn't maybe developed that. And that leads to the mentality issues that we've talked about. So it's, the women's draw is so interesting. As interesting as the men's is, and it really is, I agree with David, it's got a different feel to it. even with what I've said about Sinner because of the other half of the draw. The women's draw, it genuinely feels like the mix is around 10 going into this tournament. Like there's a lot, I think, who could do serious damage because the favourites are not as convincing at the moment.

1:13:38You know, that feels like the difference in the women's draw at the moment. in Nottingham the WTA 250 there was one by Marie Brzkova she took out all of our picks from the last show she took out Pliskova in the semi-finals and then she took out oh sorry other way around she took out Tatiana Maria in the quarter-finals she took out Pliskova in the semi-finals and then she beat Emma Navarro in the final great final there 7-6 4-6 6-2

1:14:11you've been nodding David like you had something to say so I left a pregnant pause for your Marie Buskova takes but I might have misinterpreted well I did I did watch uh I did watch some of her earlier on in the week and was really taken by just how good she looks on this surface now have I forgotten that she's really good on this surface blimey she reached a call a final at Wimbledon, didn't she, a few years ago? I remember her big water bottle was a thing, wasn't it? Is she sneaky good? Yes. I think she might be. She's sneaky good. I think she might be in that category. There were moments where Maria was trying to chip and charge and putting balls right on her baseline and just getting passed time after time.

1:14:55And it was quite a shock, really, having seen her play at Queen's and people struggling to pass her like that. I'm pretty sure Wimbledon is Buscova's most successful slam by far. Round of 16 and a quarterfinal, Hannah says. That's good enough for me. Thanks, Hannah. Okay, that's it for part two. We'll be back in part three to look ahead to this week, this final week of grass before Wimbledon. Welcome back to part three of today's tennis podcast and a look ahead to this week where we start with Eastbourne and the return to competitive action, the long-awaited return of Jack Draper with coach Andy Murray in tow.

1:15:38We have been flooded with Murray Draper content this week. It has been everywhere. Murray is a glasses wearer now. He seems to be wearing his glasses more than you wear yours, David. Yeah, I go through periods of forgetting I'm supposed to wear them and then looking at my phone, like, sort of, you know, miles away from me and thinking, you know, I really should find those glasses. And then I don't. David Deville wears his glasses. Anyway, Andy Murray's blazing a trail for you. They've been practising at Wimbledon and at Eastbourne. They had a hit with Yannick Sinner. Jack Draper had a hit with Yannick Sinner.

1:16:23Andy Murray was present and his other coach, James Trotman. Yannick Senna also hit with Art of Feast, David. Did you see that? I did see that. Art of Feast on a tennis court, bombshell news. Are you trying to not get your hopes up? Yes, I'm trying to not get my hopes up. I am failing, but I am trying. Okay, how high are your hopes for Jack Draper and his comeback with Andy Murray? He says his knee is 100%. that's been the most recent injury that he's been rehabbing obviously there's this ongoing bone bruising issue with the with the arm um but his most recent I'm not I'm not very hopeful I read a good interview with Jack in the Times today with Tom Kershaw and he said you know it was kind of like judgment next year's Wimbledon and I think he's absolutely right I don't think it's fair to judge Jack Draper at this year's grass court season.

1:17:27He, I mean, look, good luck to him. You know, I just want to see him be a going concern again as a tennis player. That's the same as I feel for Arta Feast. You know, if you get results, like Feast's results were way over and above what I expected when he came back. And then I end up thinking, well, it wasn't worth it. You know, it wasn't worth the good result. I'd rather have had you get half the results but not be fit, but not be injured. So then should he have waited until next year's Wimbledon to hire Andy Murray then? No, no, I don't think so. I think he needs to establish some – and I don't think there's anything to lose.

1:18:05Andy Murray's not going to travel with him by the sounds of things anyway. So fine, dig into what he can give you. Feel good out on the court. Get some basics under your belt so that when you go in off to America, assuming you're fully fit, you'll remember all this stuff and you'll be in touch with you and then you'll be building towards next year. I think there's nothing to lose here at all by working with Andy Murray. Yes, there's a bit more heightened attention. He gets attention anyway. And like I said, I just think realistically, Draper is not going to do too much over the next few weeks.

1:18:41I hope he's fit. that's all I want yeah it still worries me that he didn't play Queens like if it was that touch and go that he needed an extra week to get fit that worries me but I hope I'm wrong he's got Brandon Nakashima in round one which is rough I think Taylor Fritz is the top seed in Eastbourne Surely he'll pull out. I don't trust him to pull out. He does like he's born, Fritz, and that's kind of his pre-Wimbledon routine, isn't it? But he's been back-to-back finals the last two weeks. He's got to pull out, hasn't he? Yeah. Like you, I'm not convinced. But I would feel better about his Wimbledon chances from the outside if he pulled out.

1:19:37It's just that the way he talks about it, He always talks about wanting to play, you know, a week before the slam. And he likes eSpawn and he wants to, he's missed so much. He wants to play like, you've got to trust him that he knows the right decision for him. I've probably doubted his decisions in the past. I'm not sure I do. I think he should pull out. I mean, he has admitted recently, he told us, didn't he, in Paris, that he had to be told by his team. he wanted to play Monterfale but I think that was injury related well you're going on your own that was injury related but his injury isn't going he's got tendonitis no I know but I think he seems in a lot better place with it than he was a few months ago when he was making that decision he looked a lot better a lot better physically on court this week it does sort of reveal that his default is just I always want to play yeah yeah kind of I don't know I love that he loves Eastbourne he loves everywhere he plays everywhere I'm not sure it's an Eastbourne thing come on Taylor learn from Jessica Bagula yeah but then the thing is he's used to semis at Wynwood last year didn't he yeah but imagine what he could have done if he didn't play Eastbourne yeah lost to Alcaraz back to back beat Nelkras and Silla back to back massive we'll never know will we but that's the real exciting door of men's pen Jean Fonseca is the second seed Ian Eastbourne possible second round with Matteo Arnaldi there who qualified for the main draw and Francisco Sarundolo is the third seed another one where he hasn't played as much as Fritz he hasn't played the back to back weeks already but surely a withdrawal risk for him there.

1:21:39The WTA is also in Eastbourne. It's a 500 for the WTA. Jasmine Paolini is the top seed. She has drawn in round one Tatiana Maria. Oh, Jasmine. So rough, isn't it? She can't catch a break. That's really tough. Madison Keyes is the second seed, and she's got Talia Gibson in round one. That's also pretty tough, I think. And the third seed is Laura Siegmund, warming up, preparing for her big Serena Williams match at Wimbledon. She's got Sara Bailik in round one. And the fourth seed is Barbara Krejcikova, who I'll be keeping an eye on this week. She's got Kim Birrell in round one. The WTA is also in Bad Homburg, a 500 event there where Iger Svjantek is the top seed.

1:22:29This is what she did last year for her Wimbledon preparations. so not wanting to change a winning game. She has a possible round two after a bye in round one against either Emma Navarro or Eva Lise. That's a tough opener either way for Svantec. Lise has played her tough before and Navarro is a fantastic grass court player. Miran Draver is the second seed. She's got a bye and then a round two against either Anne Lee or Ekaterina Alexandrova. And then you've also got Zhang Chin Wen, Naomi Osaka, Linda Nozkova, in theory, Karolina Mukova, Ivi Jovic, and Venus Williams in the draw, as well as Elisa Mertens and Alexandra Ayala, who play one another in round one.

1:23:17That is a stacked field for the week before a slam. It's crazy, isn't it? There's an ATP event in Mallorca, 250. Luciano Darderi is the top seed. He's got Yannick Hanfman in round two. Davidovic Fikina, the second seed. He plays the winner of Nick Kyrgios against Darren Walton in round two. Adam Walton. Francis. Oh, God. Darren Walton. Someone else we know. Darren Walton, Australian journalist. I'll tell you what, we would love to see it. He's Australian. Darren Walton, he played in the media one-point slam. He's a good player. He can play. Kyrgios is rubbish now. I'd give him a chance. It was a real upset when Darren Walton lost.

1:24:09Right. Less of an upset when Adam Walton lost.

1:24:18Francis Tiafoe is due to play in Mallorca. Surely not. That would be mad, wouldn't it? Oh, yeah, I would advise against that. Yeah, we'll see. But as of right now, he's due to play. You've got Stefano Sitsipas, Martin Lander-Luthe, Korentan Moutet trying to earn some money this grass court season. Grigor Dimitrov all in the draw. He's got Mark Polmans in round one. Dimitrov lost to Kiryan Jacquet in the Dublin Challenger last week. Good luck, Grigor. Good luck. Wimbledon qualifying begins tomorrow and yeah it's the men's tomorrow and then the women play Tuesday and then they combine for the rounds two and three Wednesday and Thursday I think is how they do it so Dan Evans is in action tomorrow I expect he will get a whole bunch of support expect it to be a great atmosphere and he takes on the Bolivian Juan Carlos Prado Angelo who qualified in Paris and is a very talented player but has no grass court experience.

1:25:27So are we calling that a good draw? I don't know, but good luck, Dan. I think it'd be a good story if he qualified, wouldn't it? That'd be for sure. Francisco Comissania is the top seed in the men's qualifying. You've also got David Goffin playing qualities. Darwin Blanche, the talented young American that we've been hearing about for years, even though he's still only about 16. Oliver Tarvit, David. It's Tarvit time in Roehampton. You'll be tuning in. And Henry Searle, the British player that Dan Evans is coaching and who won the Dublin Challenger that Grigor Dimitrov was playing last week. So, yeah, I mean, lots of other names as well, but those are just a few that I picked out.

1:26:16We will be doing a show from qualifying on Thursday or certainly about qualifying on Thursday. It is due to be 41 degrees on Thursday. So the location of that podcast recording is very much up in the air. There's only so much a Shark Ninja chill pill can do, folks. Brilliant a gadget as it is. Thank you very much, Shark Ninja. Every time you mention Thursday, it goes up another degree. Yeah, well, every time I check the forecast, David, it goes up another degree. It's horrifying. I'm terrified. Yeah, me too. So, yeah, that's our next regular show. And then from that show onwards, we're daily and we are live daily from Friday.

1:27:02Friday is draw day at Wimbledon. We will have our first live show from Wimbledon from our incredible position on the broadcast roof overlooking the grounds. Our first live show there will be Friday evening. exact time TBC probably early-ish evening, something like that we will make sure that you know exactly what time we're going live, how about that then we'll have another live show on Saturday after media day and then we'll have our general preview hype show on Sunday before daily live shows, not before 9.30pm from the grounds, live at Wimbledon Monday through to a week Sunday the full fortnight of the tennis.

1:27:43And if you can't wait till Thursday for our 40 degree qualifying show, then Friends of the Tennis Podcast will be getting our next edition of Tennis Relived on Tuesday. And it is, I mean, we haven't recorded it yet, but I know it's going to be an absolute belter. David has found a genuine treasure trove for this show. I'm so excited about it. Matt's done all his brilliant research in the library. He's found all the headlines from the tabloids about the streaker. It is 1996 Wimbledon that we're talking about and the Richard Krychek story and the finally played against Malavie Washington, which had the streaker that apparently Malavie Washington still gets asked about all the time.

1:28:30That's what we're focusing on. And David has done some incredible interviews and honestly struck gold. So it's going to be a great show. We're recording it on Tuesday and it'll be up the same day for Friends of the Tennis Podcast. If you'd like to become a friend of the pod, then the link is in our show notes, just above the link to get yourself a David T-shirt or a Matt T-shirt or a Catherine T-shirt coming soon. More on that to come. Stay across our socials, folks. We have a mascot for this show. and this mascot has a special place in my heart because she is called Bella and my old lovely Labrador was called Bella and Bella is nominated to be a mascot today by Ruth Dreisbach and Bella is a 16-year-old standard poodle from San Francisco loved by her sister, Ruth who is a long-time listener and their parents, Joyce and Susan Bella loves other dogs and humans and gets a lot of attention from both while out on her walks, often during which Ruth is listening to the pod and has to pause to tell everyone about Bella and how amazing she's doing for her age.

1:29:45Bella loves the beach and can often be found trotting down Stinson Beach with a tennis ball in her mouth. She's also a great tennis companion watcher, whether it's a random too long Masters event or in the middle of the night watching the Australian Open. Thanks for always putting it into context for us and talking about both the silly and the hard stuff. Ruth, I cannot tell you how thrilled I am to hear about poodle dogs aging very well and living a very happy life into old age. Nothing makes me happier than that. And she doesn't look a day over six, does Bella. What a beautiful girl. Standard poodles are always winning crofts.

1:30:28they're very just lovely dogs I think just great all rounders poodles, I'm biased but she's lovely Ruth thank you very much for submitting Bella to be the mascot for today's show hello to our mascots Bodhi, Maisie and Roger just hello anything to say for yourselves any points scored this week folks who's got Pagula Hang on, Pagula was on the shelf in the fantasy at the start of the year. Yeah, Reggie snapped up Pagula. Snapped her up. I have Noskova, though. Good business, that, for Reggie. I need some points. I've got a healthy lead, Maisie. Don't you worry. Yeah, David doesn't need ATP 500 points.

1:31:15No, I'm saving myself for the big stuff. He's Hollywood. Taking a couple of weeks off. David's the Serena of our fantasy league, doing it the Hollywood way. Who have I got? I'm not sure Flavio Caballi is going to bring it home for us, Bodhi, on the grass. Might need to play the long game there. It's always the long game with Flavio, isn't it? Hello to our top folks and executive producers, Greg, Chris and Jeff. Let's have some shout outs, Matt. We have Tracey Smith from Melbourne. Hello, Tracey. Tracey says, my partner Noel and I have had the absolute joy of meeting you at the Tennis Podcast live show in Melbourne and also this year at the Leslie Bowery statue.

1:32:04Oh, our meet and greet. That was fun. That was a lovely moment, wasn't it? Tracy and Noel. Oh, that's so nice. Thank you for coming to say hi, Tracy. Like Tracy Austin. Yeah. And Stan Smith. There we go. Perfect. Can't do better than that. belters both tracy thank you we also have sarah yeiser from washington dc hello sarah sarah says last year i mentioned during my shout out that i was selected to be a ball girl for the dc city open it was so fun and i had the opportunity to be on court with venus this year i was asked to come back. However, the tournament is happening around the same time my wife is due to give birth.

1:32:54So Sarah says, so unfortunately this year I will be missing the birth of my son. Just kidding. I can't wait to watch the US Open swing while holding him. Love the pod. Cheers. Oh, Sarah, you really got me there. Fantastic delivery from you, Matt. And so good that you got asked to come back because you're so good at it. Sarah you will have to name Your child after the winner Of this year's City Open Those are the rules are they? Just a suggestion Just for fun You know for our fun Maybe Maybe Al Kraus will make his Return in Washington

1:33:43I suppose I mean he might be Desperate to play might he He was at a Bad Bunny concert this week. It probably feels a bit soon. Yeah. It now looks like wearable tech. It's sort of shrunk down to the size of a sort of big bit of wearable tech, but it's definitely still a wrist support. Do you think he has to wear it in the shower?

1:34:11Yeah. It's really annoying when you have to wear things in the shower. Sometimes you have to put a plastic bag Around it Something to ask him when he does come back anyway We're finally in an Alcaraz press conference again Sarah, thank you Obligatory mention of Sarah Borwell And Sarah Gomer And finally Last but by no means least We have the one and only Barbara Law Hello mum Mum. I feel bad that I swore so much on this pod now. She doesn't feel bad, Mum. She loves swearing. I do, but I don't love upsetting Barbara. Would you like to know what your mum wrote, David? Oh, yes, please. I didn't know she'd ever written anything before.

1:35:04Barbara says, I only got interested in tennis when David did, really, and was more into skating, especially Torval and Dean. I went to see their last dance show. we went to Queens every year when David worked there and I loved it I'm not keen on the heat and I've watched a lot of the matches at Roland Garros on TV with the blinds clothes thinking about you all being up until three in the morning I don't know how you keep it up well done guys I listen to all the podcasts hey thanks mum so nice my biggest fan Barbara is taking Matt to the cleaners in the sweepstake Or hang on, no, has there been a points adjustment?

1:35:50Matt demanded a recount earlier I did have to do that Was that bad? Should I have just let it I thought David would definitely want a recount If he was in my position That was very Matt Roberts, I thought Asking for that Asking my 14-year-old to check his maths Only after I checked it myself to make sure I was right. And then I just gently suggested it in the group. Let's not lie, David. If it was you, you would be wanting a recount. I mean, I would have banned him from doing it in the future if he'd have messed that up on my account. Anyway, Barbara got big points with the Netherlands, I think, yesterday.

1:36:33Yes, absolutely. I'm very pleased for her. Barbara, that was lovely. Thank you. and thank you very much for i mean would we even be here without barbara because our very first show was recorded in barbara's dining room yeah well i mean we wouldn't be here without barbara because i wouldn't be

1:36:56barbara like wasn't there a barbara that you used to get confused with pam barbara potter yeah and pam was pam was outraged Pam was annoyed about that. Right. Well, I'm glad I've brought that up again. What a wonderful note to end today's show on. Thank you all for joining us live. If you did, for getting involved in the chat. If you did, however you joined us, thank you very much. If you are with us on YouTube, hit that like and subscribe button. And do join us for all the fun of the fair from Wimbledon, starting on Thursday and live from Friday daily, on site at Wimbledon, covering all the stories.

1:37:35And there are some big ones. It's shaping up to be a fun Wimbledon, folks. We are part of the Athletic Podcast Network. Thank you for listening and or watching. And we'll speak to you soon.