US Open Day 11 - Tennis has a new World No.1

17:24Catherine Whitaker:Yeah, so wise from Coco Gauff. And it's interesting how many, obviously, greats of the game we've had retire recently, and a lot of them mention missing that feeling of competition. And you just get the feeling that Coco Goff is someone who, in the moment, is realising just how cool it is that she gets to compete for a living. She loves it.

17:48Matt Roberts:She'd be the Carlos Alcarez walking down the corridor with a big grin on her face.

17:52Catherine Whitaker:Right. I mean, that's one of the defining images of the tournament, isn't it? and Alcarez saying afterwards, oh, I lost, but it was great to be back. It was great to be competing again. I think it just sort of made everyone who was rooting for Carlos Alcarez last night feel better. The fact that he was feeling good about it. And look, Coco Goff has obviously been very hurt by losses in the past. I'm not saying that she hasn't been, but you always get the feeling that she's just appreciating the competition. And yeah, today, I mean, I think what was concerning is that it was the return of the familiar Coco Goff woes, you know, the serve, a lot of double faults today, and the forehand, a lot of tentative play and a lot of errors off that wing.

18:41Catherine Whitaker:And she had 40 unforced errors in the first two sets combined here. And this match, honestly, in the second set was like a race to the bottom. and Hannah put on the barge, drag her to hell with you, Coco. Drag her to whatever nether circle of the underworld your game is currently mired in. And that was kind of what was happening because Gough was still not good in the second set. She was competing hard but had no game. But Andreeva fell into the trap of just exchanging passive forehands with her. You know, like Andreeva is a player who has a lot of layers, a lot of texture to her game, and yet she was using none of it.

19:28Catherine Whitaker:She was just trading forehands and almost waiting for Goff to break down, and it was a struggle. But still, Andreeva had a couple of match points in that second set tie break, couldn't take them. Goff did up the aggression a little bit on those match points, tried to come forward and then yeah as as soon as goff won that second set you definitely felt like she became the big favorite and honestly andreva lost the plot in the third set i mean there was there was a i don't even know if it was a it was a was it a smash attempt was it a volley

20:02Matt Roberts:attempt i'm actually watching a replay of it right now and there is there is no word for what this shot was it doesn't exist i mean it exists like in park tennis maybe yeah that's true not even

20:14Catherine Whitaker:club level it doesn't exist in pro tennis this shot that she attempted it was so bad it it led to a breaker serve and then she smashed her racket down at the change of ends and i think it hit another racket which then flew up and almost almost hit a cameraman it was it was a it was a bad moment for andreva and a real shame to to see her like that um and goff ended up really cleaning up her game in that final set and ended up with 71 of first serves in in that final set no double faults and only two unforced errors compared to 40 as i said in the previous two sets so she she definitely found her game as this as this match went on albeit there wasn't a lot of resistance by the end from Andreva because she'd lost her head so much but what an ordeal of a match and one that Goff just had to had to survive an advance and the thing about Goff is that she can then suddenly play better in the next round she might she might not she might come out again with not much game but I also wouldn't be surprised if we suddenly see her playing better in the semis tomorrow.

21:29Catherine Whitaker:Interestingly, the two day session matches she's played this tournament have actually been her weaker performances, I would say, against Bookshare and this one. She's been more convincing in the night session, maybe for the first time for her at the US Open. I don't quite know if that would be true, but I feel like in the past she's played some decent day sessions here. But yeah, like an example of a match not necessarily having to be high quality, but can also be really compelling.

22:02Matt Roberts:Yeah, well, you know I love a hot mess of a match.

22:05Catherine Whitaker:Like, as long as it descends into hot mess. Exactly.

22:08Matt Roberts:If it's just bad, it's bad. If it's Vera van der Zanskiel, terrible. But I quite enjoyed this. This kind of matches my guilty pleasure. It's funny, I'm so used to being on alert for this kind of performance from Coco Goff. Like this is not an unusual Grand Slam experience watching Coco Goff play a match like this. I just haven't been alert for it at this Grand Slam because she's been so convincing coming in. I've just felt more comfortable in her form, but it always comes back to Matt's Coco Goff mantra. She's never as high as you think and she's never as low as you think.

22:54David Law:Do you want me to react to that? I mean, yeah, because basically she doesn't tend to just go through a tournament and dominate people and win it. She finds ways a lot of the time. And when you think she's done, she'll rescue it. And that's really what we're talking about.

23:14Catherine Whitaker:Yeah, which is exactly why she might flip it and be great tomorrow. because she's also never as low as you think. You have to remember that part too.

23:24Matt Roberts:Yeah, I wasn't necessarily not expecting this to be a tight competitive match. I just wasn't expecting the gremlins to return as they did today on the serve and the forehand. It was a very, you know, ghosts coming from the attic to haunt you, reminding you that they are still there performance. But then on the flip side, they're still there, but you won anyway. she said she went to the restroom and she was thinking about Francis Tiafoe when she was in the loo and that was what helped her to victory Coco Gough

23:57David Law:the comebacks of yesterday she said she was asleep she said when Shelton was playing she was asleep because if she'd tried to even stay up for any of that she would have just got drawn in and that would have been her night and maybe her match gone but yeah I mean she's very close to Tiafoe she said he's always a great ally really including for just women's players generally she said which was nice to hear but yeah I think inspired yesterday and I dare say he'll be inspired in a couple of days time by her and that's nice that's a nice thought

24:39Matt Roberts:absolutely okay we will look ahead to the two women's semi-finals in part three and when we come back in part two in just a moment we will talk about the two men's quarter finals from today but just before we move on to part two folks a word from our sponsors at Steve Fergels International Tennis Tours the premium hospitality and experience provider well done everyone Steve Fergels can sort you out with your dream trip to the Miami Open from March the 14th to the 28th next year. We are always saying that combined men's and women's events are the best kind of events. And Miami is one of the biggest outside of the slams.

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26:05Matt Roberts:Welcome back to part two of today's tennis podcast, where we have now two, and let's get out ahead of this, two quite frankly disappointing men's quarterfinals to talk about. Let's start with Alexander Zverev beating Bortik van der Zanskulp, 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 in the night session match. This was, what was it, David?

26:28David Law:It was terrible, really. I mean, as a match, as a contest, it wasn't really anything much. i think we have to remember that baltik van der zenshoek played for five hours and 13 minutes in his previous round and that's two back-to-back five setters he played he's also you know he's not as as experienced at doing this as as other players so i think you can you can give him a bit of a pass for for not maybe playing his best tennis in this in this one but i think where he will maybe have some regrets and and some disappointment is that Zverev was not playing well today and he won in straight sets and yet he came out hitting a lot of double faults really getting exasperated talking to his support team and with his arms out wide as if so why can't I serve you know this is a guy who can often get upwards of 75 percent first serves in and it just he just didn't look under his control he was also kind of patting the ball over because he didn't really have much feel and i'm and i did think if if an opponent of a higher level or somebody who's in more form or fresher was on this court right now i'm not sure zverev would come out of this if you play if he carried on playing like this now there's no guarantee that he wouldn't have maybe raised his level if he's playing somebody more dangerous but this was back to the first couple of rounds form where he sort of scraped through in five sets and nearly lost whereas the two previous rounds against Tabilo and Darderi he'd improved so it wasn't a great spectacle it was one of those where the the umpire James Kearthong was repeatedly asking the crowd to stop having their conversations because there were 20 odd thousand in and I think they were bored i don't think they were particularly into this match it wasn't very fun it wasn't very interesting it was the the total opposite of last night where everybody's just totally concentrated on on the action on the court there wasn't much to get your teeth into yeah it was like the first

28:40Catherine Whitaker:half of the day was so compelling and the second half could have been an email and this match this match would have been you know one line in that email it was it was really poor and honestly i did not have high expectations for it like as soon as someone plays two five set matches in a row as both it ran as an hope has done i'm not expecting much from them in their next round unless they're really used to doing it and they're a top level player but for someone like Boer ticket just felt like that was going to take the wind out of his sails really and he didn't have much today and look Zverev was as David has described really not very good he's just very good at doing just enough to win and staying just a little bit ahead of his opponent and the thing about Zverev is that for so long in his career that that wasn't enough to win him a grand slam you know he needed to he could get through to the latter stages of grand slams by doing that but then in in those latter stages he would need to raise it when he came up against a Djokovic or an Alcaraz or a Sinner and there were isolated cases of him doing that but he couldn't do it enough to win a slam he's found himself in two slams this year where all those guys have gone and he's been he's been the guy left and he kind of won Roland Garros by doing enough and getting through to the finish line and no one was able to go with him and that's to me that's the defining question remaining in this men's draw like Zverev is going to bring a certain level I think and it's going to be up to Tiafoe or Hashanov or Shelton to raise it and to just get a little bit above Alexander Zverev and it's a tough thing to do but if one of them can do it the titles they're for them.

30:35Matt Roberts:This ball bouncing is very curious, isn't it? That Zverev's doing. Because we were expecting a totally freed up Zverev after winning finally getting the Grand Slam monkey off his back in Paris and winning that title. And we did see that at Wimbledon. Totally free. I thought he played better at Wimbledon than in Paris. That was by far the best version of Zverev we've ever seen. He's always been a ball bouncer, but I didn't notice anything at Wimbledon that was different to his usual. He has a, by his standards, poor US hardcourt season. He comes in here. ESPN did a graphic tonight. They had assigned somebody to calculate roughly how many times he had bounced the ball based on how many serves.

31:25Catherine Whitaker:He was on like 2 ,000 or something for the match.

31:28Matt Roberts:They were assuming an average of 18 times before each serve and they worked out how many points he played, et cetera, and they're flashing the graphic up on the TV. Like, he's gone from 0 to 100 with this. It's happening against players for whom he shouldn't be finding them stressful, particularly I know tennis, any grand slam tennis is stressful, but he's had a comfy draw and he's looking like he's got the yips, David.

32:03David Law:Yeah, and the funny thing is it does translate into some double faults today, but there are other matches where his first serve percentage is still high. He's still serving pretty, I mean, I think it's pretty extraordinary that he's not serving more double faults when he's having such a long gap between first and second serves because of all the ball bouncing. That doesn't strike me as something that would give you great rhythm and and and rhythm is important to the serve so i i i'm not sure how much of a problem it actually is i do think he should be getting done for time occasionally by these umpires i i don't i have no didn't get one warned once yet because ball bouncing is technically part of the

32:47Matt Roberts:motion right i mean i don't think it should be but i mean you know but technically you you can't get done for the time violation because you've started your motion i just i think it's ridiculous

32:58David Law:and i think people are getting it's it's making people in the crowd switch off and just disconnect with the action because it's all taking so long and your opponent has got to time when to kind of do a split step and be ready for their their return i just think it's it's a horrible um introduction into his game because he didn't used to do this um jokovic did it a lot marion did it this is just makes him a turn off really i think in terms of excitement levels i mean i i've never found him a great watch personally other than i find him interesting when he's playing against alcaraz say um but that's about it i think sometimes those matches can be can be good and i admire i admire what he's able to do in terms of winning matches i mean the way he survives and the way he comes back from impossible looking positions it is amazing what a fighter he is and what a kind of competitor he is but this is i do think that this is making him play more stodgy tennis generally um and yet here he is still in the semi-finals i think we look we're

34:14Catherine Whitaker:not on site, clearly, but it's the first time that he's actually going to do a proper press conference tonight. You know, he's been finishing so late, he's been in the hallway at some ungodly hour of the morning every single round, but now he actually has to do a press conference, be interesting to see whether anyone does ask about him.

34:34Matt Roberts:Speak to the media, which I hate. Yeah, which he hates doing, doing his

34:38Catherine Whitaker:encore interview, he said he hates doing it. Charming. And I think now we've an interesting question as well like whether he gets out of this playing playing the night match because it's the first time he hasn't finished really late normally the way they do the schedule for the men's semi-finals he he would play the second one normally it would be that that side of the draw that's played second would play the second semi-final but there is precedent when it was a all-american semi-final a couple years ago with uh fritz and tiafo they moved that to the night session I suspect they will you know the ESPN will want Shelton Tiafoe in a couple of days time in the night session I would have thought and maybe maybe it would be good for Zverev to have a day session match before the final which is at two o 'clock on Sunday now it perhaps puts him at a bit more risk of losing the semi-final if he has to get out of the rhythm that he's been in and suddenly play in the day he he said in that on-court interview that he was hating doing that he's felt jet lagged this tournament the whole time because of that start that he had so there's no doubt that it would be tricky for him i think to to suddenly play a day match in the semis but then it might have some benefit for him down the road so i think that scheduling on friday is going to be very very interesting to see what they do lots of speculation

36:03Matt Roberts:about it most people seem to think they will switch it up yeah because of that precedent that you said um i don't know whether that's something that the players would have any say in i suspect not but it but it could go either way for zverev in terms of his preference as you say perhaps a risk for the semi but a benefit for the final the semi incidentally will be against uh karen hashinov he beat alexander blocks today by retirement 6275 and 32 was the score when blocks retired. I'll let Blocks explain it to you in his own words. He said, today, my body just gave up. My rib was hurting. My leg was hurting.

36:41Matt Roberts:And then a blocked nerve in my back in the second set. And I wasn't able to move after that. I was waiting for him to break me. So we won't linger too long on analyzing that semifinal. It's a third major semi for Hashanov. he entered the tournament ranked 50 in the world that's his lowest ranked ranking since 2017 he had a losing record for the season 16 wins 18 losses and he hadn't won a match since

37:11David Law:Wimbledon and here he is yeah and one of those was a challenger between Wimbledon and the USA but I did think he was very good against Leonard Tien I think he he's generally playing well now you know and he's hitting out and he's he's often going down the line with his backhand which I I think he's quite an important shot for him to be able to hit and expand the court a little bit. The thing with him, I mean, look, it's a real shame about Blocks because I think Blocks has got game. And if he'd have been fully fit, that would have been quite a tussle. And, you know, there has to be a question mark over how much of an obstacle Blocks' body is going to be in his career.

37:57David Law:Now, I know his French Open one was an accident. He fell over the top all in at the back of the court. This, though, feels like his body's kind of broken down as he's gone along here. But still, Khachanov has dealt with it and just gone and got the job done. Him now playing against Zverev in the semifinals, I just think if the two of them had played today, I think they'd still be out there duking it out. I think that would have gone well into the night. And I think that Khachanov could have beaten Zverev tonight the way Zverev was playing. No guarantee that Zverev plays like that, of course, in a couple of days' time.

38:34Matt Roberts:Of everybody left in the tournament, Khashanov's the one with the best head-to-head against Zverev.

38:39Catherine Whitaker:Yeah, he's got three wins against him, I think, hasn't he? Some of those were a long time ago, but one of them was last year in Canada, I believe, in three sets there. And look, he's a guy who actually... he's been a little bit Zverev Light, I would say, through his career. He's done a lot of winning by being very, very consistent and relentless. And I've always thought, why are you not making more of your stature and your size and the power at your disposal? I mean, the first time we ever saw Karin Hashanov, well, certainly the first time I ever saw him, was when he played that amazing match here against Rafael Nadal in 2018, a very close four-set match and he was he was kind of electric that night and there's been there's been very few occasions since then where i've thought karen hashanov is electric i've admired him for his consistency but he's not been a player with with big weapons on the court and i just think it's going to be a real battle of attrition against zverev you know a lot of drawn out long rallies they'll both be trying to use serves to to sort of back up their game and prop it up but yeah like i do think that's tricky for zverev as as david says if he's in anything close to the form he was in today hashenov will will really test him did you know that karen hashenov's brother-in-law is ilia ivashka i did not their wives are twin sisters

40:19Matt Roberts:right can you tell i've been on karen hashanov's wikipedia still learning new things about karen hashanov in 2026 absolutely there you go on that bombshell that's it for part two we'll be back in part three to preview the women's semi-finals welcome back to part three of today's tennis podcast where we turn our attention now to the best session in tennis us open women's semi-finals night both matches played in the night session from 7 p.m and this time around it is the top four women's seeds that will play in the semi-final so the first time since 1975 here and for the first time at any grand slam since wimbledon in 2009 it's a really cool lineup 7 p.m arena sabalenka against jessica begula that is followed by coco goff against elena rabatkin Sabalenka-Pegula playing here for the third year in a row.

41:16Matt Roberts:Obviously, it was the final two years ago, one in two tight sets by Sabalenka. Last year, it was a semi-final, one also by Sabalenka, but in three tight sets that time. Will this be Jessica Pegula's time, David?

41:33David Law:I'm going to say yes. I'm going to say yes for her to reach the final. Wow. I picked Pegula against Goff at the outset of the tournament. I'm going to stick with that. I do feel like Sabalenka has improved, and I think that was a huge win for her against Noshka in the previous round. I do feel as though Pekuda's looked a bit tense and frustrated, exasperated with her game. But I think that that will go away now that she's got to this stage. She knows Sabalenka is the favourite for this match. I think that will settle her down. I think she will elevate her kind of competitiveness and not get so frustrated with herself in this match.

42:19David Law:Whether that's enough is another matter because Sabalenka has won their two matches at the US Open in the last two years, albeit them both being pretty close. I just think... I don't think Sabalenka's convincing enough for me. And Pegula, yeah, I see her getting there. Matt?

42:40Catherine Whitaker:look it's a tough one for me this i'm not going to lie because i've obviously said pagula is going to win the title and yet when i look at the four semi-finalists and if i'm sort of power ranking them both in terms of pedigree she's obviously fourth there because she's the only one without a grand slam title and form i also think she's in fourth based on how she's played this took this tournament i think sabalenka against noskova was better than pagula has been at any point this tournament i think goff has played at a higher level apart from today and i think the back can has played at a higher level so to actually then make the case that pagula can can do this it feels like something's really going to have to to change the thing is though i i do give a lot of weight to what David's saying there in terms of I like, I quite like this matchup for Pagula.

43:38Catherine Whitaker:I know that she's lost the last two here against Sabalenka. She's been the roadblock. But Pagula has played really well in those matches and Sabalenka has had to be at her absolute best to get through her. She's beaten Sabalenka this year. She's pushed her to three sets in a lot of their most recent meetings. She knows that she can have success against her. And if she's going to win this, I think it is going to be as David says. And Pagula is going to be a bit more relaxed because she's maybe not the favourite. Number one's gone. And she can just concentrate on her game and knowing that she can deal with Sabalenka's pace.

44:26Catherine Whitaker:And she can handcuff Sabalenka a bit with her depth and her ball strike. she is going to have to serve better than she has done. Her serve has been really a problem all tournament, and I've kept expecting it to get better, and it hasn't. And she's going to have to step that up. But let's not bail on the prediction now. She's in this situation. Part of the reason I thought Pagula might be primed to win the US Open this year was because I was expecting Irina Sabalenka to have a monster year and not have much left come the US Open. Then I reworked the theory and thought, well, Pagula can win the US Open because Sabalenka's out of form and she won't be the usual obstacle that she is.

45:11Catherine Whitaker:But now here we are. She hasn't had a monster year. She's played an amazing quarterfinal against Noskova and none of these things are true. And yet I'm still having to cling to my prediction. That's the bad situation I found myself in, but let's go with it.

45:23Matt Roberts:It's very like modern day of you to have a core belief that you're prepared to apply as much cognitive dissonance as required to in order to keep it true. Exactly.

45:36David Law:Very good. It's what I live on.

45:40Matt Roberts:I mean, it feels like nonsense for us all to predict Pagula because objectively, Irina Sabalenka is the favourite in this match, but I think Pagula too.

45:48Catherine Whitaker:Do you as well? Wow.

45:50Matt Roberts:Well, I've been convinced all the way through that Irina Sabalenka is not winning this US Open and I'm prepared to look stupid on Saturday if the defending champion and, well, she's world number one until Monday, isn't she? Current world number one. Sabalenka is standing there with the trophy. But it just doesn't feel like a tournament she's going to win to me, so I'm going to stick with it. And I like the match-up too. I agree with everything both of you have said, and I just feel Pegula in this one.

46:21Catherine Whitaker:If Sabalenka plays at the level she did against Noskova... do you think she'll win?

46:31David Law:I don't think everything is done in isolation, though, is it?

46:35Catherine Whitaker:Because Pagula's level will affect Sabalenka's level. But in the same way that Noskova's level affected Sabalenka's level, right? Like, Noskova was really playing well in the middle portion of that match and causing Sabalenka to not be in charge of it, and yet she rose to it and upped her level and looked like herself in a lot of moments. Like that, as a Pagula predictor, that would be my concern, that Sabalenka comes out of that Noskova match full of confidence again and playing better.

47:11David Law:I think Pagula plays big points better than Noskova did. I mean, that first set ended with a 7-1 tiebreak. Now, I realise that Sabalenka's brilliant at tiebreaks, but I just feel like Pegula plays big points very well. She's very experienced. And look, there are loads of reasons to pick Salalenka, but I'm picking Pegula.

47:36Matt Roberts:I think for me, I just think Pegula will get her stressed in a way that we haven't seen her. I think she's been right on the edge all tournament. she's been fraught and it's been there to be tested. And I still think she's trying to perform this high wire act of keeping a lid on her emotions, but also needing her emotions as a weapon. And I think Pegula can test that in a way we haven't seen yet, potentially cause a bit of an implosion, which, you know, we have seen it. I mean, French Open was kind of the most notable one this year, wasn't it? Sixth love final set against Deanna Schneider.

48:24Catherine Whitaker:And then against Pagoula in Berlin. Well, exactly.

48:27Matt Roberts:Sixth love final set there too. So, yeah, look, the logical pick, of course, is Samalenka. But I just feel Pagoula here. Coco Goff against Elena Rabakina. Won all head to head. Their last match was in Toronto just a few weeks ago. It went in Rabakkin's favour, 6-2 in the third. It was tight. It was competitive. It's a nice-looking match-up, this. What's your feeling about it, Matt?

48:57Catherine Whitaker:Very hard to say because of the Coco Gauff we saw today. That's put a lot of doubt in my mind, you know? I think if Gauff had looked more convincing, I would have backed Gauff quite strongly, I think. but I do think if she shows up with the game she had today I think Rebecca Nebiza in a way that Andreva didn't as much as Coco Goff deserves an enormous amount of credit for staying in the match and competing today and you know those words winning ugly you could probably apply to this one I think if she plays like that against Rebecca Nebiza she'll just get totally knocked off the court and it actually wouldn't be close at all I think Rebecca is far less likely to get stressed out in the way that Andreva did.

49:50Catherine Whitaker:And she's also got her serve that she can rely on. And yeah, so I think if Coco Goff plays like that, Rebecca wins in straight sets. However, what I'm expecting is Goff to be better than she was today. I think that can be a match that she's hopefully just got out of her system. and I could...

50:14David Law:I think I'm going to go golf.

50:15Catherine Whitaker:I think I'm going to go golf with the crowd, with the night session, with the form she's been in, apart from in that match. We've been convinced by Coco Gauff for a while now for a reason, and I'm just, I guess, not going to let one match totally throw me off my general feeling on Gauff, which is that she's playing well. So I'll go with Goff. David?

50:43David Law:Yeah, very little to add to Matt in terms of reasoning because I'm also going Goff. And I also think that today, if they'd played each other, Rebecca is winning that match. But similarly to with Pagula, I think that that is out of Goff's system now. And she is in this tournament in the sharp end, the bit that all eyes are on. And the whole crowd is just going to be rooting for her. And I think it elevates her. I don't think Rebecca will be falling apart. I don't think she will be necessarily really badly adversely affected by the crowd and that sort of thing. She might come out and be world number one and be the best version of her we've ever seen, which would be an interesting development.

51:30David Law:but I still think that Gough will drag her into the trenches, make it a struggle, make it a scrap and she's the best in the world at that.

51:41Matt Roberts:I think it helps Gough and Pagula that world number one is off the table. Yeah. Perhaps particularly Pagula but I do think that just being done and dusted now helps kind of everybody else that was involved in that mini side soap opera. I can't wait for these two semifinals I think I think Gough I think I think I went Gough did I go Gough Pagula at the start did we all go Gough Pagula at the start I think we did yeah

52:15Catherine Whitaker:and look we've got we've got Savalinka and Rabatkin there that we're predicting to lose and

52:24Matt Roberts:they're both objectively the favourites probably

52:27Catherine Whitaker:I think probably league just you know and they've played you know australian open finals against each other there's there's no real reason to me why they couldn't play a u.s open final against each other they've been very very good hard court players but i guess you've got to take into account the staging and the occasion and everything that comes with that on women's semi-final night at the u.s open and you know also like maybe there'll be a thing if maybe there'll be a bit of a snowball effect You know, like if Pagula does manage to win the first one, you get the crowd up and everything. And then they're hyped for the American in the second one as well.

53:04Catherine Whitaker:Like these things can have an influence on the night, I suppose, which is hard for us to call right now.

53:10Matt Roberts:No bad scenarios in terms of finals. Oh, it's brilliant. It's a great place to be. Really is. Cannot wait. Hello to Leo, our US Open mascot, whose photo gave me such a boost today. It is Leo in a Superman cape. Me and my brother, well, my brother and I had Superman and Supergirl capes when we were little. And yeah, I had a very soft spot for Superman. The Christopher Reeve edition. And this is lovely stuff. It's a dog and it's a Superman cape and it's a tennis ball. It's all my favourite things. Today, Leo, the caption reads, Today, Leo is in his Superman cape and so impressed by all the superhuman feats he's witnessed at this US Open.

53:57Matt Roberts:And he is, of course, referring to your 6am podcast, I'm sure.

54:04Catherine Whitaker:I would take that because it honestly did feel a bit like a superhuman feat.

54:10Matt Roberts:What time did you get back to the flat last night?

54:13Catherine Whitaker:Well, we went to bed just before seven.

54:16Matt Roberts:Bloody hell.

54:17Catherine Whitaker:Yeah, we had some toast, didn't we? Yeah, David made some toast.

54:20Matt Roberts:You had breakfast before going to bed. That's right. Is that our latest one? I say, oh, as if I was a part of it. Was that our latest one since the Andy Murray Australian Open night?

54:32Catherine Whitaker:Yeah. Yeah, I think so.

54:34Matt Roberts:When I had a red wine at 6am.

54:38David Law:That's right.

54:40Matt Roberts:Oh, the things this sport does to us. Thank you, Leo, for that lovely boost that you gave us today. Hello to our mascots, Bodie, Maisie and Roger. Hello to our top folks and executive producers, Greg, Chris and Jeff. We are part of the Athletic Podcast Network. And before you go, if you're an NFL fan, you're probably doing what David has been doing throughout this podcast, which is double screening with the Seahawks.

55:05David Law:They've just won, by the way.

55:06Matt Roberts:Have they? Heroic comeback. I thought you looked distracted. 10-0 down.

55:10Catherine Whitaker:Oh, I knew David was distracted, but I'm glad it's good news for you.

55:14Matt Roberts:So if you're an NFL fan like David, then the athletic has something really exciting for you starting well it's it's already started

55:22David Law:hasn't it because the NFL season have kicked it off has started the athletic live presented by

55:28Matt Roberts:google gemini it's a brand new youtube watch along on nfl game days featuring the biggest and the best beat reporters that the athletic has to offer you can even become part of the show in the interactive chat on youtube it all starts from september the 8th which is yesterday so it's underway now it's on nfl game days and the youtube channel is the athletic live so do check that out if you fancy it uh we're gonna have some shout outs matt i've had these in the agenda for days do you know i i'd forgotten all about the existence of shout outs i was surprised to find

56:03Catherine Whitaker:that they're in the agenda yes we are we're pre-midnight and that's my shout out curfew so So here we go with Katie and Paula Wilson from Alabama.

56:15Matt Roberts:Hooray. Hello, Katie and Paula. Hi.

56:18Catherine Whitaker:And Katie has got this shout out for her mum, Paula, who first introduced her to the pod.

56:24David Law:Oh, that's excellent work, Paula. You know how much I like people introducing their family and friends.

56:31Matt Roberts:Yeah, mother, daughter, that's lovely.

56:32Catherine Whitaker:That's very good. Katie says, we like to talk about tennis, talk about the pod, and go to tournaments together. this year we went to Charleston for the first time and it was great. At the risk of going on a bit too long, Katie says, I have a Greg Allensworth story. Oh, I mean, you can absolutely... We've definitely got time for that. Katie says, I was recently in Montreal during the Canada Open and right when I arrived and emerged from the train station I saw none other than Greg Allensworth crossing the street. In the wild.

56:59Matt Roberts:I immediately texted my mum, Paula, to tell her.

57:04Catherine Whitaker:And we both laughed at the level of tennis fandom we had reached. And then we both said Matt would be proud. Love the pod. Thanks for keeping us entertained.

57:13Matt Roberts:I'm looking at Matt's face right now and I can confirm he is proud. Absolutely. Their surname being Wilson has reminded me of the slight situation that Karen Hashanov is in with Wilson because I think we talked a couple of days ago, didn't we, about how he changed his racket before this tournament. But Wilson have made him the face of their new racket Yes, the Defier, I think it's called. Which is the one that he had been playing with, obviously didn't enjoy, and he's gone back to his old racket, the Blade.

57:45David Law:So he's defied them.

57:46Matt Roberts:He's the face of the new one, which he is... That is a bit awkward, isn't it? It's pretty awkward, yeah. I mean, at least the one he's gone back to is still a Wilson, but still. Anyway, there you go. Thank you, Paulette and Katie, for giving me an opportunity to air my Wilson story.

58:04Catherine Whitaker:And finally, we have Jules Berner from Southfields, but now living in Portugal. Hello, Jules. Hi, Jules. And Jules grew up near Wimbledon Park, and her grandma's house was at the top of Church Road. Oh, yeah. So as children, they would recreate matches in the back garden, and they would even have Robinson squash bottles by their chairs for the change of ends. And they could hear the applause from the Wimbledon grounds in the summer, and Roger Federer became their idol because he rented the house next door to her grandma in his early years coming to Wimbledon.

58:42Matt Roberts:A house at the top of Church Road is just about as prime as real estate gets in southwest London. So cool. What a grandma to have. That's really cool. Southfield's just down the road from me. Yeah. And Portugal. David's a very big fan of Portugal.

59:00David Law:Absolutely. Yeah, love it. Annual event.

59:04Matt Roberts:And Matt has become a Benfica fan.

59:07Catherine Whitaker:Yes, Marco Silva, Chualpolina, the band back together.

59:11Matt Roberts:In search of wins, Matt has become a Benfica fan. They're absolutely flying. I'm somewhat surprised that isn't painful for you. It's a bittersweet sort of feeling.

59:22Catherine Whitaker:But I have no hard feelings against Marco Silva whatsoever. Even if he has left you to drop like a stone.

59:34Matt Roberts:It's been a tough 24 hours for Matt, David. He didn't need that.

59:38David Law:It's only three games in.

59:39Matt Roberts:Check out our DMs, Matt, and the messages about your stubble.

59:42Catherine Whitaker:Well, my mum said it looked okay. So maybe I will check the Instagram DMs.

59:49Matt Roberts:Folks, we will be back tomorrow, of course, with our Day 12 tennis podcast. We still have four more of these to come right the way through until the end of the US Open. and we are part of the Athletic Podcast Network. Thank you for listening. We'll speak to you tomorrow.