US Open Day 1 - Did Medvedev go too far this time?

13:42Catherine Whitaker:Kasudit Samrej, the world number 418. And that was long. That was five sets. That's the only Grand Slam match he's won this year.

13:52David Law:Wow. He looks completely lost. In those first couple of sets, I thought, you know, I thought we were making too big a deal about the fact that he lost a match to Benjamin Bonzi and that he would assert his hard court prowess, former champion. And, you know, at some point he would arrest this. But I use the words anemic to describe the first couple of sets there. And it's just I watch it and I think, well, how did you used to win matches? Because I seem to remember you hitting the ball kind of like this. but nobody else could handle it. And now they can. But there's just no conviction to him, really.

14:37David Law:He's just sort of there.

14:39Matt Roberts:He's going to drop out of the world's top 20 exactly how far outside of the world's top 20. Don't quite yet know. It depends what people do around him, but he's definitely going to drop out of the world's top 20. And, like, of course, he absolutely does not feel like a top 20 player at the moment. like not even close and I did like I don't know he to the moment is a is a very powerful thing but he looked like somebody that you know if you if you were called for a press conference could do something crazy like retire on the spot and then maybe retract it but he looked like he was capable of anything in that emotional state tonight i thought so yeah i felt for him i felt for bonzi i felt for greg i felt for everybody but i did have fun and i don't know if that makes me a bad person uh let's move over to the arthur ash stadium and and the match the story the man that we thought we'd be leading with tonight, Darth Djokovic in his all black night session outfit, beating Lerner Tien 617662 to get his US Open campaign underway.

16:01Matt Roberts:Sounds pretty straightforward, doesn't it? I mean, it was anything but it was actually an incredibly weird match, this one. I thought we watched the second set, Matt, in the stadium, and that was definitely the weirdest set of the three. So maybe we have an overly inflated sense of how weird this match was. But I thought it was pretty strange.

16:27Catherine Whitaker:Yeah, because in the first set, Djokovic was totally superior and really good, I thought. I was sort of formulating a take about how often we're talking about how sort of diminished Djokovic is these days and what his limitations are because we're comparing him to Sinner and Alcaraz. And yet here he was coming out, having not played for, you know, six weeks or so, playing someone literally half his age and just dishing out a beat down in the first set. And I was kind of like, well, that is still remarkable that he's kind of still able to do that. But then in the second set, well, he looked double Tien's age, didn't he?

17:12Catherine Whitaker:He looked old in that second set. The physical problems that he was having after long rallies, Tien did a good job of being able to extend the rallies finally. But Djokovic lost the cleanliness of strike that he had in the first set and suddenly he was having to play these longer rallies. and he was just looking completely gassed at the end of them. And I know that maybe some people will listen to this, maybe having not watched the match and think, well, that sounds like a very Novak Djokovic thing, you know, to play a slightly dramatic set in which he had to save a set point, in which he did here and he did so with an ace.

17:50Catherine Whitaker:And they might think, well, how much trouble was he actually in? You know, he's ended up winning in straight sets. This all sounds very classic Novak Djokovic. My take was being in the stadium, Djokovic looked totally there for the taking. I thought he looked bothered by his foot. He had some blisters on that foot. He looked out of gas. He looked just generally sort of a bit joyless on the court. I think Tien did some things well in terms of extending the rallies, as I said. I think he'll be gutted, Tien, that he didn't win that second set. That was right there for him. And I think maybe a little, you know, maybe it'd be a good learning experience for him.

18:33Catherine Whitaker:And he is still young and he's not been in that situation very often. But I think a lot of players would have taken that second set against Djokovic today. And then it would have been interesting because he immediately went down a break at the start of the third as well. He wasn't playing very well. He just looked totally unconvincing.

18:51Matt Roberts:Yeah. I mean, how much trouble was Djokovic in? And I mean, it turns out not much, but only I think because, well, my feeling, I was quite disappointed in Lerner Tien tonight. Maybe it's just a case of him not being quite as far along the development curve as we thought. He is still incredibly young and there is obviously talent there. But I thought he would sort of handle the whole situation a little bit better. And obviously it's a lot. Arthur Ashe Stadium, New York, crowd, Djokovic, you know, Djokovic looking there for the taking. That is a lot to mentally handle. And yet I'm not sure he did a particularly great job overall tonight.

19:38Matt Roberts:Some interesting, well, some pretty startling quotes from Djokovic after the match. First of all, he said, yes, I did have a blister, but that was not the main issue of what was going on with him. He said, I was really surprised how bad I was feeling in the second set physically. Good thing is I have two days off now, but it is slightly a concern. I don't have any injury or anything. I just struggled a lot to stay in longer exchanges and recover after points.

20:09David Law:I mean, that's age, isn't it? Well, it's age, and it's in keeping with the theme that he touched upon after the loss against Sinner, about how he's surprised about how he's not able to kind of keep it up. Almost halfway through the tournament, he was saying, he starts to run low on gas. I think the other thing, I mean, I've said for a long time, one day surely he's just going to get old before our eyes. But the other thing is he just hasn't played since Wimbledon. And I think not exercising those competitive muscles and emotions and reactions, that is not ideal when you come into a Grand Slam tournament.

20:54David Law:I mean, yes, he's made a thing of not playing between the French Open and Wimbledon, but not between Wimbledon and the US Open. I mean, who does that unless they're properly injured? Nobody's ever done that. I don't remember Federer, Nadal, any of them doing that. And so maybe it shouldn't be a surprise that he comes out and plays beautifully for a bit and then kind of hits a bit of a wall because he's just not used to it. And yet he says he was surprised. Yeah, I know. But I think he's maybe being, can I even say, a little bit naive to say that for somebody who's been around for 20 years doing this.

21:38David Law:But he's never taken a break quite like that before. I think he's probably going to get better as the tournament goes on as long as he stays in it in that regard because he'll have to build up some matches along the way if he's doing so. But I think it's left him a bit open, really, coming in without any matches whatsoever, even though I understand why he's done it.

22:04Matt Roberts:Zachary Sveider next, another American, 22-year-old from La Jolla, where I surfed briefly before discovering it was quite a sharky spot. Oh, goodness. Although it is a very popular surf spot, so I'm sure it's fine, everyone. But, I mean, that's on paper the kind-ish draw that it sounds like he's going to need, Matt.

22:35Catherine Whitaker:yeah i'd say so and as he said two days off so he can recover from this you'd think that he'd be able to get through that next one you know even if he's not 100 and then it's about building as as david's described i am in my mind slightly plotting a very american heavy route through this draw for Novak Djokovic. There's two Americans in his first two rounds and there's potentially Mickelson, Tiafoe and Fritz rounds three to five as well. They could all just be these slightly big heightened occasions. Yeah, I think it's... Look, I didn't think at the start of this tournament that Novak Djokovic was going to win it, but I really was thinking he'd get through to the semis and you know you can definitely read too much into round one but i've paused for thought for that now because i think if he is anything like this in future rounds some of those guys in his path probably would be able to take care of that especially as you know they'll all have seen

23:52Matt Roberts:everyone have seen this like every every time something like this happens those quotes all of it, it adds up and it just scrubs away, chips away at that Locker-Rumora, doesn't it?

24:06David Law:Gives them a bit of hope, doesn't it?

24:07Matt Roberts:Yeah, I know there's still 24 grand slams worth of Locker-Rumora, but it's not nothing.

24:12David Law:I wonder whether it might end up changing the way opponents play against him and think, maybe I just need to extend this as long as possible and take him into deep waters.

24:24Catherine Whitaker:Well, that's what you were saying Fritz needs to do if they were to meet in the quarters anyway.

24:28David Law:Yeah, I definitely think players like him and Tiafoe, players that are really accomplished and in their prime, they should bring physicality into it, I think.

24:39Matt Roberts:No sign of Monica Seles tonight. Maybe the negotiations are still ongoing. Rory McIlroy was in situ watching, though, which was pretty wild. Three hours after finishing up on the course in Atlanta. just an unmissable Novak Djokovic first round US Open match that he had to get straight on a private jet to be in place for

25:05Catherine Whitaker:that was it the US Open is not going anywhere Rory

25:10Matt Roberts:presumably Rory McIlroy can go to whatever session of the US Open he likes

25:14David Law:haven't you got tomorrow off don't golfers do it on Thursday through Sunday yeah

25:19Matt Roberts:it was crazy seeing him in the crowd anyway lovely Ben Shelton opened up the arthur ash stadium today he beat busa are we going with busa that's certainly what the commentators were going with great i feel validated he beat busa 6-3 6-2 6-4 david yeah

25:42David Law:it wasn't perfect from shelton i i think he i i sensed a little bit of anxiety as he came out onto the court with the kind of spotlight on him and the expectation this is this is the first year that he's felt like he's carrying it as the main guy i i feel anyway and and i think he relishes that but i also think it was it slightly made him anxious when he came out of the court it took him a while to sort of break and and and but once he was into the match you you felt him grow before your eyes and really embody that role and and listening to Jim Currier in commentary was interesting talking about the the the Shelton forehand and how it's developed and and it's and moved away a little bit from the the Rafael Nadal like follow through with the big whip and the big brush up the back of the ball into a more aggressive through the ball following the path of the stroke with a follow-through which he believes is making him a lot more dangerous particularly on a fast surface like this and I thought that was a that was an interesting insight from a man like Courier I I I just I mean there was some real highlight moments and this was not an opponent that you would expect to cause him trouble but he did brush him aside once he got into the games that really mattered, you know.

27:10David Law:And, yeah, he looks in a good place, Shelton.

27:14Matt Roberts:How did Fritz look over on Armstrong, beat Emilio Navas, 7-5, 6-2, 6-3? Was out there in the first set, I thought, a lot longer than I expected. It was quite a grind in the opening set. Had a pop at tennis's shadow problem, just for you, Matt?

27:36Catherine Whitaker:Yes, he's requesting Armstrong instead of Ash because of the Ash shadow during the day. The underlying sort of unspoken bit there being that he sort of knows he's not going to get Ash at night necessarily. Yeah.

27:53Matt Roberts:There's a joke in there about throwing shade. It's just too late or early for me to formulate it.

28:01David Law:He was quite straightforward about last year's run. And he said, because of that, I've got more control over the time of day if I ask for Armstrong. He says, as it happens, I didn't get anything to ask for today. Because he didn't want to play first and he didn't want to play on Sunday. But in that first set, Nava was explosive, that guy. It's just that at the end of the set, when it really mattered, he was being explosive off shots. You really shouldn't try to be explosive off. And then it all capitulated. so Fritz through

28:33Matt Roberts:Shelton through Jakob Mensik beats Nicholas Jarry is he one of actions Wimbledon Jarry he's not no no Thomas Mahatch the best player in the world did win though and Arta Rindeknes just squeaked over the line to beat the tennis podcast meets curse allegations for us thank you Arta

28:57Catherine Whitaker:and Alejandro Davidovic Fakina won at 11am

29:01Matt Roberts:Yes, it can be done. Turns out he can do it. It's a real blow. Did you think he was a little bit annoyed that that sort of a blow to his agenda?

29:09Catherine Whitaker:I mean, he won that day that he complained about it, didn't he? He also won at 11 a.m. I think it actually might suit him brilliantly. He won this one in less than 90 minutes. It was efficient.

29:21Matt Roberts:Okay, those are all the notable men's results from day one. We'll move on to the women in part two. before that though we would like to take a moment to tell you about steve fergel's international tennis tours the premium tennis travel and experience provider steve fergel's international tennis tours will next year celebrate 50 years of ranging dream tennis travel experiences for tennis fans and that includes the australian open in january the next grand slam can you believe it Steve Fergal along with On Location can get you closer than ever sorting out the best VIP category one seats for you behind the baseline in the shade.

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30:49Matt Roberts:Welcome back to part two, where we move on to the women's matches we saw today on day one of the US Open Arena Sabalenka, the first women's match on Arthur Ashe, the defending champion, of course, 7-5, 6-1 against Rebecca Masarova.

31:06David Law:are over david yeah i i saw this and uh sabalenka came out in a shimmering silver jacket that uh she explained in her press conference afterwards that she's put a lot of time into with the the clothing sponsor because she really wanted to come out and and wear something that she felt good in as though she was going out on a big occasion and um and her tennis kind of fell flat at the start she was she was sort of broken early on and it took her a little while there was there was some tense moments really for it today against Maserova and I and I did think you know I wonder whether she wonder whether she's going to just struggle a little bit to get going because obviously she's she's had a recent loss in Cincinnati you know and we're sort of waiting to see whether she's going to come good at a grand slam this year and actually win one but she got herself back on track and I think it's as accomplished and as experienced as these players are the first round they're often still nervous and and she looked a bit nervous but and Masarova is is quite a dangerous ball striker herself but yeah got the job done

32:21Matt Roberts:and I think probably nervous about facing a New York crowd yeah for the first time since you know the french open final incident and an aftermath like it was absolutely fine um and i i expected it to be absolutely fine i'm sure she hoped it to be absolutely fine but you don't you don't know until it happens um and i'm sure there was some some nerves and anxiety there uh over on armstrong at the same time or a little bit before because of course armstrong starts starts before Ash. Emma Raducanu won her first US Open match since lifting the trophy here in 2021. She beat Ina Shibahara emphatically 6-1, 6-2 in 62 minutes and immediately hit the practice court afterwards.

33:12Matt Roberts:I don't know how far this run goes for Emma Raducanu. We'll talk about her next round opponent in a moment because that's interesting in itself. There is Elena Rabatkin likely lurking in the third round. It'd be a tough task to beat her. But I do know this is a different Emirat Akanu to any Emirat Akanu we've seen at the US Open. I include 2021 Emirat Akanu in that.

33:43Catherine Whitaker:Yes, absolutely. Different, I think, is the right word. I don't think it's necessarily a better Emirat Akanu than the one in 2021. You know, I think that was the best tennis that Emerita Khan who's ever played. But the tennis she's playing now is the closest it's been to that since then, for sure. And it's also, I think the difference is that I'm expecting her now to play well. You know, like in... Feels like a flaw, this just, doesn't it? Yes, exactly. Even in 2021, it was all this tremendous surprise. You know, she got on this obviously incredible run of form, but, you know, I still wasn't really expecting it to happen.

34:26Catherine Whitaker:And there have been a lot of times, you know, in the four years since where you're just sort of hoping that she can get through matches or maybe be able to find some form. You know, whereas now it's very much like I think Emeril O 'Khanu is going to bring a sort of top 20 level to the court. pretty sure of that now. Most times I see her play and this has probably been going back for a few months now, really. And she absolutely hit the ground running in her first match here. She was striking the ball with really a lot of conviction. Just looks so assured out there. It was the sort of matchup that I thought would favour her.

35:12Catherine Whitaker:And actually, Shibahara coughed up a lot of errors. I suspect that's probably why Raducanu hit the practice court because she didn't have to finish off that many points. She didn't have to be really sharp today because Shibahara really didn't play particularly well. But Raducanu did what she had to do well and that's just become a thing now. It's not been, you know, her losses recently haven't about been her playing badly. It's about her running into really good opponents, whether it be Sabalenka or Nisimova who've kind of had a power advantage or hit her off the court, but you're still just expecting Raducanu to play well.

35:53Catherine Whitaker:And I absolutely expect that to continue this tournament.

35:59Matt Roberts:And in the next round, she might need it to continue because she plays Matt's new favourite, a woman he became briefly obsessed with between the hours of about 2.30 and 3.30 this afternoon. Have you heard about Janice? He was saying. and I am of course talking about Janice Chen.

36:19Catherine Whitaker:Very unexpected viewing on day one of a slam, you know, and there's always a good amount going on and I didn't have Janice Chen against Veronica Kudamatova on my list of matches that I knew I would be watching today and yet there I was.

36:36Matt Roberts:And yet, tell us about Janice. Janice Chen, the first Indonesian player to win a singles match at a Grand Slam in 22 years.

36:49Catherine Whitaker:Yes, and our colleagues at The Athletic, Charlie Acoachet, Matt Futterman, James Hansen, the editor there, have been tracking Janice for a little while because they see her on a similar trajectory to Lois Boisson, Victoria Mboko, and that trajectory being just winning so many matches at ITF level. And the question therefore being, can she start bringing it to the tour? So, you know, they've been tracking that. I think she's won, you know, something like 95 of her last 105 matches, you know, at the ITF level, you know, the rung below the WTA tour. But just, you know, all those sorts of players talk about it.

37:39Catherine Whitaker:winning winning is winning and it gives you confidence and you and you do build something through that that sheer amount of of winning that she's been doing and she comes in here she qualifies and then she has a go at a seed early on and it's it's kuda matova who is obviously a very good player and has been in good form recently but you do always feel like she's a little bit vulnerable at the slams she rarely plays her best she's she's probably one of the better seeds to draw I would say and Chen absolutely took advantage of her she's got she's got that Ash Barty thing of heavy topspin forehand set up by a slice backhand so it's a different look you know she's giving players something they're not used to now I'm not saying she's as good as it as ash barty was who sort of perfected it and became number one in the world and a major champion with that but it's still something that players on the wta tour don't see all that much and it was extremely extremely effective today she she probably should have won it in straight set she she was a setup a breakup love 40 up triple break point to go up a double break and she inexplicably tried to hit a slice backhand pass rather than just nudging the ball up the line everything sort of spiraled a little bit from there and she lost that second set so to regroup and get it back in the third was what actually impressed me the most here and yeah just a very very fun player cool to see someone from indonesia as well having having that kind of success and yeah it's a very interesting match against emirada khanu now i I think it's going to be a test for Adekarni.

39:29Catherine Whitaker:She won't know a lot about Chen. She's going to have to find out and problem solve. And, you know, I sort of back her to do it. But I think she would have been expecting to play Kudamatova, who's more of a known quantity. So just very, very interesting little section of the draw there.

39:46Matt Roberts:And it's absolutely not an accident that her game resembles Ash Barty. She was asked about that comparison in her press conference today. She said, Ash Barty is my role model. And I set out to try and copy her. So she's chuffed a bit with people noticing the similarities in their games. She's an interesting young woman. Went to Pepperdine University, graduated with a degree in sociology, was apparently a very good doubles player while she was there. And sort of people kind of assumed she would have a career in doubles, but she wanted to give it a go in singles as well. And that seems to have been a very good idea.

40:29Matt Roberts:And she is a peer of Alexandra Ayala, obviously from different country. Ayala from the Philippines, but from a similar part of the world. And they cross paths a lot, it sounds like, while they were coming up through the ranks. So it's incredible to see the parallels today of Janice Chen winning and also Alexandra Ayala winning in really quite extraordinary fashion over Clara Towson on grandstand court today on her fifth match point. We were certain these would be the scenes of the day on grandstand. How could that be beaten? Enter Daniel Medvedev.

41:15David Law:And yet I still think they were really the scenes of the day. I think that it's impossible not to lead with Medvedev because it's just only just happened and it was utter chaos. But when I think back to today, I think I'll remember Ayala and that atmosphere more personally because I found that all so uplifting. I mean, that was an extraordinary match in itself, wasn't it? Just a showdown between two players who you could imagine meeting much later in the tournament in years to come. And it was 5-1 in the third set to Towson, and it looks all done. And Ayala turned that around, and then it goes into, well, there's a pretty dramatic scene with an umpire argument there about whether a replay was going to be shown because a volley was hit away by Ayala that Towson said was hit when it was the other side of the net.

42:15David Law:And anyway, that kicked off a bit, went into the most wonderful tiebreaker. I just loved the tiebreak. That was an 8-4 lead for Ayala and then brought back to 8-all and it was just to and fro. But I mean, that's me talking from watching on a screen and loving every minute of it. But the scenes, the actual atmosphere in that stadium, there wasn't a seat spare, was there?

42:43Catherine Whitaker:No, it was literally standing room only on grandstand. And grandstand is a big court. You know, there's, I don't know, about 8 ,000 or so on grandstand. And yet people, myself included, were having to stand right at the top of the upper ring just to get a glimpse of this. You know, it's obviously a big Filipino community in New York and it felt like so many of them were on grandstand. It was truly wild, wild scenes. I thought I'd missed my opportunity to get a taste of this match because it looked like, as David said, with Towson 5-1 up, it looked like it was going to sort of fizzle out and Towson would end up winning it quite straightforwardly.

43:30Matt Roberts:You talked me out of going to the court. You said, well, there's not enough. You won't get there in time.

43:36Catherine Whitaker:So I went to watch Mahatch, who was on call five, and I had grandstand FOMO because I could hear that this comeback was happening from Ayala. So I thought, well, I've got to go. And as I said, I didn't really know if I'd get a good viewing point, but I worked my way up to the top and, you know, stood behind a few rows of people but managed to manage to get a glimpse of it and I think I think a lot of people watching this match felt like at times the atmosphere across the line I think there was a lot of cheering of Towson double faults and making noise between her first and second serves you know it was definitely on the edge when I was there it wasn't like that it was more joyous it was more just eruptions of noise for a Allah and look Towson definitely let the crowd and the occasion and the comeback just bother her you know she was in kind of a bad mood the whole match she looked like she turned it around and then they are the study mounting the comeback whipping up the crowd and it just all got to Towson again I think we saw a bit of but of sort of competitive immaturity there perhaps from Towson whereas Ayala was just on this high and as David said the quality of that final set tie break was outrageous.

45:03Catherine Whitaker:Towson by that point had got her game under control a little bit again. She was playing with a bit more safety in her shots but the way Ayala changes direction is just incredible to watch. It catches you out. You're not expecting these shots to go where they go be it a backhand down the line or a sudden drop shot just the disguise and and the timing of her shots is is formidable and as you said it took her five match points and a lot of them were brilliantly saved by Towson just absolutely thrilling I would urge anyone to go back and watch this final set tie break if they didn't see it it was absolute joy and scenes on on grandstand and yeah very very special for Ayala who who have had a big moment in the juniors and in in in the slams is now making history in the You know in the professional slams as the as you said is the first Philippine player to win a slam match just like amazing and actually I was in the In the little corridor in the media center when when she came back in I don't know who she was embracing But she embraced someone and just sort of fell into their arms and said fucking hell

46:21Matt Roberts:I love that. And Coleman Wong was out there supporting her and she was out there supporting him and he qualified a couple of days ago. They are both friends from the Rafael Nadal Academy. They both came through the Rafael Nadal Academy, didn't they? So big moments for the Nadal Academy that I've just mentioned three times. Our mate Dave will love that. He's a big Nadal Academy guy. He's also a product of the Nadal Academy. while Ayala was doing that on needing five match points on grandstand to win through her match simultaneously there was another deciding set tie break happening in a match between Olga Danilovic and Muyuka Uchijima which I you know wouldn't necessarily always mention a match between Olga Danilovic and Muyuka Uchijima doesn't necessarily feel consequential in terms of the wider tournament but Olga Danilovic lost this in the deciding set tie break after having seven match points in three different games she twice had three consecutive match points moika uchijima did a double alcaraz and then an extra match point on top um and danilovich was just broken by the end and double faulted to to concede the match it was and you know what she's like she's i mean she looks pretty displeased even when things are going her way um so yeah she looked absolutely well she looked pissed off she just looks so pissed off as you would um yeah three love 40 twice to come back match points unbelievable from me or Ichijima.

48:07Catherine Whitaker:And one of those was on her serve, wasn't it? Three match points and one was on return.

48:12Matt Roberts:Yeah, she did it every which way. She saved every type of match point.

48:17Catherine Whitaker:All bases covered.

48:18Matt Roberts:Yeah, absolutely. Jessica Bagula, a fairly straightforward winner in the end, the final match of the day on Arthur Ashe today. She beat Maya Sharif, 6-6-4, reeled off five games in a row from 4-1 down in the second set. Just a golf in quality and in level between these two. Jasmine Paolini, a comfortable winner as well. We shall never overlook Jasmine Paolini. Not here on this podcast. Any other notable results from day one?

48:53Catherine Whitaker:I mean, I don't know how sort of notable it is really, but I had a great time this morning watching McCartney Kessler beat Magda Lynette. You did. That was a really good battle, this one.

49:05Matt Roberts:Occasionally it was distracting you from Fulham. It was occasionally, yeah. Matt started his Grand Slam by mostly watching football. But also McCartney Kessler.

49:17Catherine Whitaker:I simply have nothing to say to that other than that is true and I don't regret it. Especially the equaliser. Fulham's equaliser was absolutely worth it. But this was a great battle. I hadn't quite realised how tricky McCartney-Kessler's draw is when I picked her out yesterday to be a potential surprise package.

49:40Matt Roberts:Nor did Charlie when he picked out Ethan Quinn.

49:43Catherine Whitaker:Gone already. Well, Kessler had the tricky Lynette. Absolute battle, loads of breaks. She just wouldn't go away, Lynette. But the sort of match that you think if you can get through for Kessler, maybe you can sort of build from there. And I looked at her draw and she now plays Marketa Vondrosheva in the second round, who, you know, definitely, definitely tricky. And then it's Jasmine Paolini, I think, in the third round. So, like, it's an absolutely brutal draw. But that was a really good match and a really good win. The only other one I would mention is... Well, Vondrosheva. Vondrosheva. Yeah, you watched a bit more of that than I did, I think.

50:25Matt Roberts:Yeah, I watched the period where she was bad, but she won in the end, so she can't have been bad for all of it. But classic Von Drosheva.

50:32Catherine Whitaker:And then the other one, just the name to pick out, is Valantova.

50:36Matt Roberts:Oh, yes.

50:36Catherine Whitaker:Who James, again, James Hansen of The Athletic, has been big on Valantova ever since the French Open, when he thought that she had a real shot of maybe... I can't remember the exact phrase he used. He didn't say beat Goff, but he said... He was careful, wasn't he? He said something like... Do damage. Do damage or push or...

50:56Matt Roberts:Take our breath away one more time. Right. Yeah.

50:59Catherine Whitaker:Who'd ever do that? These were the sorts of things he was saying. Anyway, she's been another one who's just been doing a lot of winning, qualified in very dominant fashion, even though she's already inside the top 100. She got a win today over Bronzetti, and she probably plays Rabatkin in the second round. She's a very young Valantova, Czech player, takes the ball early. and I mention that just because it's in that fun section with Raducanu and Chen and we're back in a... So Val and Tove can kind of add to the mix of that little section which I'm immediately drawn to in the women's draw.

51:38Matt Roberts:OK, that's it for part two. Join us in part three when we'll go through tomorrow's order of play. Welcome back to part three of the Tennis Podcast where just before we get into tomorrow's order of play, one of the players we'll be talking about on that order of play is Karolina Mukova. And David has chatted to her in the lead up to this tournament as we all have chatted to a number of players for the latest edition of Tennis Podcast Meets, where we take a few minutes to get to know and learn things about players that we are curious about and that we think you might be curious about. And that is up now for Friends of the Tennis Podcast.

52:17Matt Roberts:And here's just a little teaser of what we learned from Felix Auger-Eliassime, Fran Jones, Eva Lees, Karen Hashanov, Arta Rindeknesh and Karolina Mukova. I was looking back at your 2022 season.

52:32David Law:You were six in the world. You were winning Davis Cup. You were semi-finest here. Now you're 25. You're 27 in the world. What is different now compared to then? Me getting back there is not going to be done overnight. It's not because I'm 25 that all of a sudden I want to, you know,

52:49Matt Roberts:to want a magic pill and just click my fingers and they're going to start winning every match. What would have been the lowest moments? Yeah, the back end of last year. I had three consecutive retirements in events that I really enjoy in South America on the clay where I feel at home as well. That was difficult to swallow and I needed some time to reflect after that. I took some time off and there was a lot of questioning for me as to where I wanted to go with my career and if I wanted to go somewhere with it. Does it motivate you extra to have success on the court? More success you have, bigger your platform, more people will hear you?

53:22Matt Roberts:Definitely. I wouldn't say that I'm success-driven. At the end of the day, when I go on court, I just do what I love, and everything else comes with it. But I also know that if you're a tennis player, you're not only playing tennis. There comes a lot of different stuff with it. And I know that a lot of other players have to fight a lot for their rights, and they don't have a platform like me. and this is why I always said, even when I didn't have the platform, as soon as I have it, I want to use it for topics I feel like I have to talk about, I want to talk about and that's what I'm trying to do.

53:56Catherine Whitaker:We've seen some players of your age, your generation, have a bit of a dip recently. You've always been super consistent. Do you think that consistency is a little bit underrated?

54:07David Law:I would say, yeah, in a way that I am, let's say, consistent with certain levels, with the results, you know. But then maybe at one point, like I said, during those five years, I was missing this extra push, you know, to have a little bit bigger results in a bigger tournament to actually be top 10 and where I want to be. What does that mean, things that weren't quite right or straight in your head that are now?

54:31Catherine Whitaker:A lot of people are talking about mental aspects lately, these past years, and I was probably right into it. I had to find new goals, new reasons. I've always played tennis for the passion of it, for the love of tennis. And this passion and this love was a little bit smaller.

54:54David Law:Everybody needs confidence, don't they? And everybody needs to feel fully fit. and obviously fitness has been the big problem for you, just the body breaking down. How are you feeling physically right now? I think now I feel pretty good.

55:09Matt Roberts:I would call it pretty good. I've been struggling with a left wrist injury the last few months, but so far I'd say since like now Montreal, Cincinnati, and now coming here I feel more and more confident playing again my backhand and rely on that shot. So I hope it will go this way and I'll be able to play fully this tournament. So that's just a little taste there of the latest edition of the Tennis Podcast meets that. And all our editions so far are available for friends of the Tennis Podcast. If you'd like to become a friend, then the link is in our show notes to this show. And every show, in fact.

55:48Matt Roberts:just before we get into tomorrow's order of play the daniel medvedev press conference transcript has dropped um lots to take in he's referenced a potential end to his career and then backtracked on it and said no no no i wasn't talking about now uh just thought maybe this this being the us open would be a nice place to to end my career when i do decide it's time But a revelation there that, you know, it's somewhere in his mind, you know, ending his career is in his mind somewhere. It's all heat of the moment. There's no there's no apology to Greg Allensworth. In fact, there's there's quite a lot of doubling down on on what he clearly thinks of Greg Allensworth, which is which is a real shame.

56:36Matt Roberts:Anything else you want to comment on from the transcript, David? Well, a lack of owning it, really.

56:42David Law:I mean, he says I did nothing wrong. And it's put to him, well, you delayed the match for six minutes. And it was put to him that maybe you were trying to distract your opponent. And he said, no, I did nothing wrong. I didn't delay the match for six minutes. The crowd did. So he's just refusing to accept that he really had any involvement in any of that. But he doesn't shy away from his own form. At the end, he's asked about his form. He says, I'm just playing bad. Just as simple as that. And he does say, I really want to try and put that right next year. He's got a long way to go, I thought.

57:22Matt Roberts:And he does seem to know it. Yeah, it's a bleak picture right now for Daniel Medvedev. Not going to be on another order of play at this year's US Open. This is what we have for you tomorrow, day two of the tournament. Madison Keys, the sixth seed reigning Australian Open champion, of course, against the Mexican Renata Zarazua. First up on Ash and second on after an 11.30 start, which is interesting because it's usually midday on Ash. We don't quite know why they're doing that, but I fear there's going to be quite a lot of intentionally blank tomorrow. Our favourite matchup always. Second on is Francis Tiafoe against Yoshihito Nishioka.

58:08Matt Roberts:So an American double header in the day session and again in the night session, which starts with Venus Williams against Karolina Mukova and ends with Riley Apelka against Carlos Alcaraz. Could I have some predictions for those two matches, please? Punchy ones.

58:31Catherine Whitaker:Mukova in two Alcaraz in four

58:38David Law:I'm going to say Alcaraz in three and I'm not going to tell you my Venus and Mukova because it's in the newsletter Okay

58:46Matt Roberts:Do subscribe to the newsletter Link in the show notes Armstrong opens with Barbora Krejcikova against Victoria Mboko Yes, please I would ask you for a prediction on this, but it's tough because everything depends on Krojikova's fitness. Or does it? Maybe you think Mboko's winning it regardless of how fit Krojikova is. I'm going Mboko.

59:12David Law:Yeah, mind you, I've got her in the semi, so I should go for it, shouldn't I?

59:18Catherine Whitaker:I would go Mboko as well. Let's think that she's still riding that wave.

59:23Matt Roberts:Jack Draper second on Armstrong against F Gomez Federico Gomez I believe from Argentina again all going to be about how fit Jack Draper is we're obviously we've got our doubts and concerns after what he said in press yesterday but we will see night session on Armstrong is Sebastian Ofner against Kasper Rude and second on Alicia Parks against Mira and Draver grandstand features Petra Kvitova in likely her final Grand Slam match, certainly her final Grand Slam tournament. She takes on Diem Parry. Joel Fonseca vibe second on Grand Slam tomorrow against Miriam Ketamanovic. That's probably the connoisseur's choice of the day.

1:00:10Matt Roberts:If we meet anybody on the tube tomorrow, Matt, that we make friends with and they ask us what outside court match they should go and watch, maybe we'll tell them Ketamanovic, Fonseca.

1:00:21Catherine Whitaker:We gave them good advice this morning. We told them to go and watch Ayala Towson.

1:00:26Matt Roberts:Yeah, our new best friends.

1:00:27Catherine Whitaker:That was good advice. And they were Fulham fans. One of them is a Fulham fan.

1:00:32Matt Roberts:Well, I think by extension. And they did say they were going to start listening to the tennis podcast. So hello to you. Hello. And we regret not getting your names, but it was a lovely way to start the day. I tell you what, third on grandstand tomorrow, also a good pick. Bertik van der Zanskulp against Holger Rune. Anything could happen. And finally on grandstand, Anna Bondar against Alina Svitolina. Rabatkinah is on court 17 tomorrow. First up there is Cameron Norrie against Sebastian Korda. Daria Kazekina on 17. Your new friend, you two, Karen Hashanov against Nishesh Basavaredi is the final match on 17.

1:01:13Matt Roberts:Dino Prismic against Andrei Rublev is the last match on court five. if that's where you can find Flavio Caballi as well. It does feel like there's just a... It didn't feel slow today, but it does feel like there's going to be that bit more happening tomorrow. It's going to feel like a round one Grand Slam day, I think.

1:01:32Catherine Whitaker:Yeah, there's a few more courts in play. Yeah, it's going to be good. We were sort of saved by a couple of huge atmospheres,

1:01:41David Law:weren't we, today? Yeah, exactly. By the way, I do really like the game of Zara Zua.

1:01:49Matt Roberts:Is that a prediction?

1:01:50Catherine Whitaker:No. I think Keyes is going to win. She's crafty.

1:01:57David Law:Oh.

1:01:57Catherine Whitaker:Yeah. Look forward to seeing. Watched her play on this one over at Wimbledon. Watched her play with Bakken the other day. She beat Putin's saver the other day. She pushed Osterpenko to three. I think she's improving. I think Keyes will have too much power and too much game. but I've always quite just enjoyed watching Zara Zua. Well, you can do that tomorrow. Yeah, it'd be a nice start to the day for those on Ash, I think.

1:02:20Matt Roberts:Looking forward to it. Looks like a good day tomorrow. We'll be back with another tennis podcast, of course. We have a mascot for this tennis podcast, a very special mascot, a mascot we know well, a mascot that I have held in my arms 50 weeks ago in Manhattan. It's Bruno. Bruno. Lovely Bruno. Bruno, of course, owned by Alyssa Lee, lovely Alyssa. Bruno was last year's US Open mascot. And Alyssa said, we had the honor of meeting the Tennis Podcast crew in person. I remember it well, Alyssa. While they were in town for the tournament, Bruno is as popular as Roger Federer in our Brooklyn neighborhood and is the only dog we know who has stickers of himself pasted up all over New York.

1:03:04Matt Roberts:I have some of those very stickers. In fact, I think I have some in my backpack right here. I occasionally find a rogue one. I'm like, oh, there's Bruno. He's a lovely boy, is Bruno. And he's a returning mascot and we love those. We love, dogs are all about loyalty, aren't they? So it's only fitting. So thank you, Alyssa, for bringing Bruno back during this year's US Open. He is a very, very good boy. And we're very grateful for all of your support. We of course have our mascots, Phoebe, Maisie and Roger. Hello to you. We have Greg, Chris and Jeff, our top folks and executive producers. And we are, of course, part of the Athletic Podcast Network.

1:03:48Matt Roberts:It's one down. It's 14 more to go. Thank you for listening. We will be back tomorrow.