US Open Day 12 - Anisimova vs. Sabalenka - repeat or revenge?

0:10Hello and welcome to the tennis podcast on what was day 12 of the US Open but is now somewhere very deep in the twilight zone. It is 3am. We are back at Tennis Podcast Towers, New York, trying desperately to process what we witnessed on the Arthur Ashe Stadium tonight. In short, two mesmerising victories. One for the world number one, Irina Sabalenka, and one for the eighth seed, Amanda Anisimova. the evening's entertainment finishing just shy of one o 'clock in the morning when a roll of thunder echoed around the Arthur Ashe Stadium just as Amanda Onisimova was clinching her victory, her dramatic comeback victory over Naomi Osaka.

1:01It made the moment feel almost biblical in its heft and even more so for me once I turned to Matt Roberts and witnessed a face of pure rapture. What an intro. I can't believe we're here again. Back to back Grand Slam finals from Amanda Nisamova. What a night. I mean, we talk about women's semi-final night at the US Open, don't we, being one of the very best tickets in town and it's actually quite rare that both matches go three sets. Both matches have such quality, such drama. It's a very, very special evening. And yeah, get me to the hair salon. Yeah, it's so special that even the ever magnanimous David Law, whose prediction went down in flames tonight, can appreciate and enjoy it and look back on it, I think, fondly.

2:04Oh, it was fantastic. It was amazing. And actually, that roll of thunder was really quite comical. And it was all I could do to stifle the laughter inside. Because it was such a surreal situation. You know, multiple match points coming and going for the first time, really seeing obvious nerves for Amanda Aronissimova, who had played, well, we'll come on to it, some of the most explosive tennis I've ever seen. and suddenly on her heels a little bit trying to just get over the line the way you have to do. It's very rarely easy. But yeah, given her journey and your journey, how could I possibly be anything but pleased for you both?

2:52It's so hard. Who on this earth can deny Matt Roberts joy? And by extension, deny us joy because my God, do I want to go to that hair salon. On Saturday evening. And it's a city that never sleeps, so I feel sure we can find a sort of late night. I'm not sure what sort of establishment it'll be, Matt, but I feel like we'll be able to find somewhere. That'll be all the more amusing. If it's some dodgy place. My thoughts, exactly. We can all get tattoos while we're there. Oh, there's an idea. Who knows what could happen. That's what I was going to do if I start going. Not anymore. There was some suggestion of head shaving, David, sort of Alcaraz-style head shaving.

3:32I wanted David to dress up as a LeBubu. Right, okay. That would have been good. I could have done all three. In celebration of learning what a LeBubu is. Well, sadly it won't happen now. Every cloud, David. Let's get into the match. The most surreal of matches in so many ways. 6-7, 7-6, 6-3, Franissa Mova, over Naomi Osaka. And let's be honest, like lots of this felt a little bit strange, kind of always enthralling. Like you couldn't take your eyes off it, but it was it was bitty for long periods, particularly those that were the first set and a half. Really, it felt it felt bitty. It felt a little bit odd.

4:17I felt like I mean, first of all, it started late because the first match was was was a thriller, went three sets. then there was a ceremony and look it was a venus williams related ceremony so i didn't hate it quite as much as i usually hate them but there just wasn't space for it in the schedule like lovely ceremony for venus williams it felt a lot like a retirement ceremony they sort of ran a retirement vt for her when she's not retiring but like there wasn't space for it there there was not space if you want to do that and i support them doing it you know make space in the schedule start do advertise the ceremony at 6 30 matches to start at seven lovely ceremony for venus williams at 6 30 lots of people would have shown up for that anyway the match started late the crowd thinned out after the first match a lot of people would have felt like we've had our evenings entertainment a storm is forecast suddenly they're rolling out a red carpet I'm out of here you know we've got work to go to tomorrow so the crowd thinned out a little bit and it was also I felt crowd wise a little bit strange because they weren't quite sure who to cheer for I felt like Osaka had the edge tonight but they didn't want to go too hard for Osaka because that was cheering against the American like it just felt a little bit odd for a long time this match I thought yes and from an Anissimova perspective she started really poorly you know she won the first two points but then she lost 11 points in a row and went down a break and really looked sluggish I thought you know wasn't moving with the same explosive nature that she was against Fiontech and frankly she just didn't have her range on her shots she was hitting long a lot and very quickly I felt like the the sort of pattern the battleground for this match developed which was that Anissimova had the far greater potency of strike and greater penetration through the court I was really struck by how much more she had than Asaka you know we talked yesterday about these two players being players that can hurt you off both wings and and some of the best ball strikers from the back of the court in the world, which they absolutely are.

6:44But it was notable to me, frankly, the quality of Anissimova's strike was so much cleaner and purer than Asalka's tonight, and she was able to knock her back and get on top in rallies. However, she didn't have her range, as I said, so what ended up happening was an awful lot of Anissimova misses and unforced errors in the first half of this match. And that was coupled with Osaka doing some of the things that have been really notable about her run here. In particular, I thought her movement was absolutely outstanding. Once again, getting behind the ball, defending in rallies. And I couldn't quite tell whether Osaka was not hitting through the ball because of nerves, because of the fact that she couldn't, because Anissimova's ball was so big, or as a tactic to let Anissimova miss a little bit, you know, like be contained yourself and let Anissimova miss.

7:43I never really figured that out for the match, to be honest. I'm still not entirely sure I have a clear picture of what happened there. But yes, there was just this stress, this tension to Anissimova in this match, which she's spoken about in her press conference. We haven't been to that press conference. We decided we needed to get the media bus. We decided we needed to be not stranded at Flushing Meadows all night. Well, exactly. Hoping for an Uber that might never come. Yeah, so we got the bus, we've read the transcripts, and she is talking about stress that she felt and feeling like the match was going to slip away from her for a lot of this because she didn't quite have her game, really, because of nerves and stress.

8:30And you could feel that. You could see it on her face. You could feel it in her shots. But she kept digging deep. She kept fighting. And as the match went on, end of that second set and the third set in particular, I felt like she freed up and she started hitting just the most incredible shots. And this is over. She started moving better and we saw the absolute best of her. But she had to find it tonight. It wasn't there from the start. and that's kind of what made it so, so fascinating. On the Osaka of it all, what Matt's touched upon there, the resistance to being aggressive, there were moments where she went for it and Thomas Witkowowski was encouraging that at times.

9:18David, you watched a lot of this on the screen where you had access to what the coaches were saying, which is really useful. But we went to a press conference, we watched the whole match. I'm still at a bit of a loss why she looked quite so contrasting to Anisimova in terms of approach and in terms of power and ball strike out there. It did really surprise me how defensive a player she ended up looking. Yeah, I wasn't entirely sure in the moment what the tactics were and I'm still not entirely sure. I did find it very interesting when it was put to her that she and Anissimova are quite similar and what is it like to play somebody who's an aggressive baseline like yourself.

10:04And she didn't agree with that assessment. She said we're total opposites. I actually am often watching my opponent and trying to block the ball back. And I think I see that. It's that get behind the ball and redirect it, especially when you've got that sort of power coming at you. but I think what I was seeing in the first set is somebody who was trying to get a high percentage of first serves in hit a lot of unreturnables which she did make very few unforced errors I think she got her first 11 returns of the match in that off the first serve that was a stat that came up whereas Anissa Mova got three out of the first nine in and that's why you ended up with that break in the first set.

10:45And I think she was trying to play a clean match with very few unforced errors and probably move Anissimova, which is an obvious tactic for somebody whose strength is not movement. And I think that she thought that that would get the job done. And let's be honest, on the scoreboard, it very nearly did. She won the first set. She came very close in the second set. And yet I still didn't think we were seeing anything like the best of her. Towards the end of the second set, we were we were messaging back and forth and saying actually not enjoying this very much this is not the classic that we thought it'd be it's close on the scoreboard it sounds like a classic seven six six seven it didn't feel like one watching it it was it was nerve-ridden it was angst-ridden and whilst the shot making of Anissa Mova was absolutely breathtaking I thought for the first set in half it was quite panicky and desperate almost as though she was just trying to hit winners that are not sustainable that's what I was watching I was watching something thinking I think Osaka's going to win this in straight sets because this isn't sustainable and I think she was doing that because the movement wasn't there for that period of the match the way it had been yesterday against Fiontech she was pulling the trigger Osaka's talked about that hasn't she about how with her improved fitness she's making better decisions on the call I felt probably like Anna Simova was pulling the trigger earlier than was ideal because she knew she was a step slower than she was yesterday because of that stress and there was also this pattern that kept emerging for Anna Simova where she would break and then just get broken straight back it happened for the first time she managed to break serve like so she couldn't she couldn't keep it up you know if she did find a nice a nice pattern it just disappeared as quickly as it came and that was a lot of credit to Osaka digging in and you could tell Osaka making such a big effort as well with the body language again it was a it was a frustrating match for both players you know it wasn't it wasn't one where it was easy to give the positive body language and Anissimova I think found it particularly difficult at times but Osaka was really trying but just neither of them could just quite get in their flow and I think that that stat of Anissimova getting broken back so often kind of told a really big story there but once we got to the end of the second set it suddenly became the match that I think we hoped for it became dramatic it became epic and then suddenly you had a player just take it away in Anissimova the shot she hit in that tie break I'd have to watch them back to believe what I was seeing and there were some some absolutely incredible stats coming through from the the tv broadcast where we had mary carillo chanda rubin and andrea petkovic and they'd got stats on the anissa merva backhand which obviously we we constantly talk about but they've got statistical evidence to back this up that her average backhand speed for the tournament was 77 miles per hour and that that is the fastest in the tournament man or woman and that the next one is Sinner at 76 and below that is Alcaraz at 73 and Sabalenka's at 71 so she's hitting average speed of 77 miles per hour get that on a t-shirt Matt it's unreal it's extraordinary and in this match itself she was hitting the height she was at average 76 miles per hour to Osaka 61 you know this is the differential and I did feel and I think we saw Osaka try to correct this as it went on she didn't go for it enough she didn't go I know it seems like a massive power differential and I think there is a power differential to some degree because I don't I don't think any well you see the stats there nobody hits the ball as hard as this woman is hitting the ball but I don't think Osaka was meeting fire with fire I think her tactic might have been a little different but mainly i think she was shocked even though we watched back the highlights of 2022 australian open and matt does that every day david it was a great watch we just joined in this time we joined it was as though i'd edited the highlights yeah because it's mostly just anissimo over hitting winners but a soccer played well on that and a soccer had talked then about how fast the ball is coming through at you i think three years on she was shocked again i think even though she knew that it was still a shock to the system and a very good point made by andrea petkovic in the commentary early on is that she just hasn't played any player remotely like that in this tournament she's played daria kasikina you know a nice slow balling spinny player she's played karolina mukova who's all style um she just hasn't played that type of player koka goff is not a power hitter like anisimova or sabalenka or rabakina so the ball i think just took her by surprise and she was getting forced back and and becoming a little defensive and yet she's still nearly one and i think a lot of that is just how nerve-wracking it all was i wrote down towards the end of the second set because i really didn't think it was ending in two um and this i'm over is kind of the better player stroke wise but asaka's head and movement are going to win this and and the fact that and this i'm over stopped that happening is a testament to just how incredible a shot making was 50 winners from that racket tonight and and there was there was so much that she was dealing with that just even a few weeks ago I feel like would have would have derailed Anisimova or would have risked derailing Anisimova and she's kind of confirmed this in the press conference by talking about how different a player she feels even since Wimbledon she says it I feel like the last few weeks it's been a different feeling I feel like when I was at Wimbledon every single match was kind of a surprise to me I was shocked with every match that I won but here I feel like I believe in myself and I feel like that manifests in well just I mean the very fact that she she won this match we didn't believe did we not even Matt but we all thought even when I think it was on serve sort of two thirds of the way through the second set we all thought it just felt like it was ending in two and somehow she turned that chip around and the crowd were cheering against her she did not have the crowd tonight an American in a semi-final of the US Open.

17:31And okay, it's Naomi Osaka. She's an exception. It's not personal, etc. But, you know, we've seen how a crowd can get to a player, you know, in Naomi Osaka in Montreal. Like, that could very easily get to somebody. The speed with which Naomi Osaka was playing. Alisson Mova was being rushed getting into the return position. There were actually quite a few times when she held up Osaka inadvertently just because Osaka was wanting to play so quickly. It was kind of remarkable. Matt kept on remarking on it in the first set and we couldn't quite tell whether we were just sort of more dialed into it tonight or whether she was deliberately maybe deploying that as a tactic.

18:19And then there was a very bizarre moment where she received a time violation. hmm like the shot clock was barely starting for most of her points you know she was so quick and it to me it did feel like some kind of tactic to just keep the pressure on not giving her some over breaks you know bits of recovery but then out of the blue she suddenly ran the clock down in a saga and got a got a time violation it really did did surprise me and yeah I find it pretty extraordinary that Anissa Mova has gone from the level she had at the start of the match to the level she had at the end like that was kind of the worst version of herself right at the start you know sluggish as I said not really in control of the ball and by the end I know there were nerves in that final game and you know she double faulted on you know a crucial point at the end and it did seem like maybe Osaka was going to get it back but for most of that third set she's just had total control of the ball and what she was doing while also hitting the living daylights out of it and Osaka said that it was kind of amusing at times.

19:42Like, how is someone able to strike the ball like that? And I just don't think Anissa Mova of certainly a year ago, even back in the previous part of her career where she was reaching Grand Slam semi-final, and I just don't think she was able to turn matches like that. You know, you kind of knew what you were going to get in Anamandra Anissa Mova quickly. you know like you knew what you were going to get in one of her matches whether it was going to be oh she's got it today she's feeling it or she doesn't really have it today but that resilience that she's built up this year through so many matches and now she's got the belief of beating Sabalenka in a Grand Sam semi-final overcoming the double bagel demons against Fiontek it has created this player who's capable of of doing what she did today and David I know you were more across the exchanges that she was having with her team but I liked the sound of those as well when they were telling her stop stop complaining stop getting so down on yourself like she's Osaka's played a good return game there like you've got to accept that and lock back in that that dynamic seems seems like it's working as well with the team and yeah it's it's all come together and here we are sounds like they're not afraid of her they're not afraid to tell her the truth no i i think that's right that actually anissa mova reminded me a lot more of samalenka tonight both in terms of the way she went about playing because normally i think of a there's a more reactive player because she's got such smooth strokes she doesn't need to muscle the ball and go after you in quite the same way she can almost almost just retaliate and destroy you.

21:29This time she was trying to take the racket out of the hand of Osaka the way that Sabalenka does. But then she was also getting really wound up the way that Sabalenka does when it doesn't go in or when the scoreboard goes against her. And she was looking for a fight, really, with a support team. I mean, it's venting, isn't it? You understand it. They understand it. But they weren't having it. and they just wanted her mind to rick his her coach just just said stop trying to pick a fight with me you know focus on the next point stop complaining let's go get on with it you know it's kind of she's played a good game it's fine um and and look that's exactly what happened and and she went out and did the job and and i dare say she loves them to bits because they they're telling to know what she needs needs to hear properly even if it's not very nice in the moment for for for the best reasons and uh yeah i i i just can't think of too many players that have have gone for it quite that much over such a long period of time and kept on pulling it off it was vrinka like if you think about it the way he did it against djokovic in that french open final It was like Madison Keys-like, the way she just wrestled matches out of Svantec.

22:49It was Keys-Australian Open-like. And it's that sort of firepower we're talking about. What a night. Yeah. I just can't believe that losing in Grand Slam final, 6-0, 6-0 is probably going to end up being the making of her. you know there's a lot more to it than that but i really i really do think that we're seeing a woman that has turned that into a positive well there are another quickly more parallels with keys there aren't there really absolutely these are well-adjusted people with perspective on themselves and the sport and yeah I'm in awe of her it's the most incredible story continues to be um it's very very emotional a bit worried about the turnaround personally just because it's such a lot isn't it yeah and she spoke at Wimbledon didn't she I know that she's sort of in the weeks that have passed admitted to nerves a lot more in in the final there at Wimbledon being the big factor but at the time she spoke a lot about exhaustion that's the bit I'm worried about and that's the bit I'm worried about you know this is two matches in a row that have just taken a lot out of her I think I think maybe some of the reason for the slow start today was all the emotions of yesterday and overcoming Svante.

24:29Well, okay, she's got the day off, but it's going to be an incredibly late finish. She's going to be thrown out of her rhythm, and she had to dig, in her own words, so deep tonight. Like, somehow, some way, she's going to have to be able to find that again because Sabalenka was bloody good today, bloody impressive, and she's as determined to end this season with a major title, you know, like it's going to take all that Anissimova's got. And if she's diminished in any way, I think it's going to be very, very difficult. So that element is a big one, looking ahead to the final, I think. But then the fact that she's been through it before so recently helps massively.

25:17Yeah, I think so. I mean, just the way she was talking in press, You know, she's, she's, she said, I've deleted everything from my phone. I've quietened all, all of the, all of the messages. I'm locking in. I know it's a tight turnaround. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm going to be in it this time. I'm going to be in it. So we'll see. We will see. We need to talk about Sabalenka. We will do that in part two. before that though we want to take a quick moment to throw forward to next year for anybody thinking of taking a big tennis trip in 2026 we certainly are a few of them there is no one better to organize a tennis themed trip of a lifetime for you than steve fergel's international tennis tours who of course have been a a long-time partner and supporter of our show they can provide packages at all the world's biggest and most fun tennis events including one of our absolute favorites probably david's number one favorite roland garros yeah i can confirm that now after all these years of not going it's it's the one it is the one for so many people it is such a special event and whether you want a single session ticket or an all singing all dancing travel package steve Fergals have you covered at one of the most beautiful and electrifying events on the sporting calendar.

26:50If you want to book a trip to Roland Garros in 2026 with Steve Fergals, they can sort out VIP hospitality, category one tickets, plus an optional add-on to really make it a trip of a lifetime. Wait for this, a cruise down the Danube from Budapest to Georgiou. Yes, please. If that sounds good and you want to check out what Steve Fergals have to offer, just head to tours4tennis.com forward slash podcast to find out more and book your trip. Welcome back to part two of the tennis podcast, where it's now after three o 'clock in the morning. How are we doing? Great. Pumped. Great and pumped. Me too.

27:32Do we think Irina Sabalenka is asleep? I hope so. She beat Jessica Pagula in a thriller. 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, two hours and five minutes. This one moves along at a clip as well. It really was a scintillating match, the first match of the night, of course. And it is Arena Sabalenka that reaches a third consecutive US Open final and a sixth consecutive hard-court major final. Yeah, I enjoyed this match a lot more, personally. and I think it was a higher quality all the way through, much cleaner match, a lot fewer errors, less anxiety on both sides of the net, I thought, and actually just a really interesting kind of narrative behind it all because obviously they'd played in the final a year ago and Pegula had led in the sets and it was really close, but there were two sets, 7-5, 7-5.

28:37this time she goes 4-2 down and it really feels as though wow Savalinka's power is just is just too much and then she just threw in a terrible game Savalinka awful loads of errors gets broken back Begula wins four games in a row to win that set 6-4 and it was it was just really interesting to watch her go ahead in this match and to think that wow you know she she could be about to take out the world number one if and I wonder whether Sabalenka having had a walk over in the previous round maybe he's coming a bit undercooked here into this match whereas Pagula is just just timing the ball beautifully and then in both sets two and three Pagula just went an immediate breakdown and and that was her problem she just she was playing really well Sabalenka was a little in and out in terms of the shots but when she really needed to step on it she just she just got what she needed yeah I mean I feel like this match came down to one loose Pagula service game at the start of the third set I don't think she lost a point on serve after that she lost four points in that game to lose serve didn't lose a point on serve for the rest of the set, whereas she was constantly putting pressure on the Arena Sabalenka serve.

30:00I know that's reductive to say that it came down to that one game and tennis just isn't as binary as that, but this felt kind of as close to isolating it down to one game as you possibly can, really. Charlie Eccleshire from The Athletic said that Sabalenka's performance in that third set was like watching vintage Pete Sampras because he would sort of just not give away games, but he wasn't winning points on loads of return games, but he'd get one and then he'd serve it out. Have you got a sort of human Google alert set up for when somebody you know references Pete Sampras? Absolutely. I'm there in a second.

30:38It's very often Charlie Eccles. We bond over Pete Sampras. Well, I think Pagula absolutely perfectly summed this up by posting a picture of herself drinking what I think is a honey juice with the caption, when you lost four points on serve in the third, but you lost the match. Right. You know? Come on, we know a honey juice when we see one. That's a honey juice. I see the melon balls. Hand carved, those. Have you seen the video? I've not. Every single melon ball is hand carved. That's why they cost$24. Get a machine to do it. Reduce the price. she also came into the press conference with a lollipop which I think was again something to just try to cheer herself up so look I thought Pagula did a brilliant job in that first set of passing I mean Sabalenka found herself at the net quite a lot and Pagula was whipping passing shots past her she also did a brilliant job of just redirecting the Sabalenka pace and absorbing it She was hitting the ball sweetly, Pagula, really high quality.

31:48Sabalenka, I thought, did a great job at the start of the second sec, just changing it up a little bit, a bit of variety, threw in some drop shots, helped her get that early break, and kept her emotions in check, Sabalenka. You know, we've seen her play a lot of big matches this year, where stress has overtaken her, and her game has suddenly disappeared. I thought she was teetering at times tonight. It was on the edge, but she stepped up when she needed it, and none more so than in that third set. Because having got the break right at the start, what then happened was every single Sabalenka service game was just a mini battle within the overall battle.

32:31It was absolutely astonishing. At 2-1, 3-2, 4-3, and eventually then at 5-4, Pagula was applying so much pressure. she was just in every single return game putting returns back on the baseline and forcing Sabalenka to come up with her best stuff and she did she played world number one tennis when she was down Sabalenka, you know, whether it be with a huge backhand or a huge serve or whatever it was she just stepped up and I'm not sure Pagula did a lot wrong on those break points and on those mini chances in all those service games, Sapolenka just steadied herself and delivered in a way that a lot of times this year we've seen her not do that in the very biggest matches, but it was a reminder of when the full force of her tennis is on display, she's the best in the world.

33:30You know, she can overwhelm you with power, she's a brilliant mover, and when she brings it all together, it's kind of like what can the opponent do and that was my read on that final set because I thought Pagula was brilliant other than just that loose service game at the start but she did everything she possibly could to get back into it and Sabalenka just would not allow it it was so compelling so compelling this match just on the movement of Sabalenka we watched actually midway through the Anisimova match Matt wanted to provide evidence of the best forehand slice Anisimova had ever hit dropped a little YouTube link in the chat He did that just because I dared say that I'd seen the best forehand slice she's ever hit and within half a second he got evidence of why that wasn't the case.

34:27Not creepy at all to have that at your fingertips Matt, don't worry So he'd even got the time stamp So there we were sitting in the media seats and I was watching a highlights package of Asimova against Sabalenka from the from 2019 Australian Open and obviously I was watching out for this incredible forehand slice which was indeed incredible just sort of lofted and dipped into the sideline for a winner but But I was absolutely dumbstruck by how different as an athlete and a mover Sabalenka looked compared to then just the way she stalks around a tennis court now and looks so nimble is just worlds away from what she used to be.

35:16I know we're always saying it, but she's just so much more than a power hitter. And just on power hitting, it's almost become a bit of a cliche in tennis. You know, Pugula's deceptive power. She's more powerful than you think she is. You hear commentators say that a lot, and they're absolutely right. She is more powerful than people give her credit for generally. And I thought this was as good a piece of evidence for that as you'll ever see, because you have the barometer of power. You have the direct comparison to Irina Sabalenka. And, OK, she was kind of absorbing the Sabalenka power too, but she was pretty much matching her.

35:58And I think a lot of it with Sabalenka is the way she produces her power just sort of blinds people, A, to the other dimensions of her game, but also to how she doesn't totally sort of stand apart in women's tennis. And that really struck me tonight, watching from where we were watching, that, yeah, Pequila was kind of matching her stroke for stroke. She was using her against her and timing it back. Her timing was immense, wasn't it? A refusal to be pushed back from the baseline. Not many can do that, can really hold their ground on the baseline. That takes power and core strength, but also dexterity to make the micro adjustments.

36:50She's a lot more than people give her credit for, I think, Pagula. And that's one of the fascinating parts of the final matchup that we've got, because Anissa Mova can do that as well to Sabalenka. when David talks about Anissa Mova not necessarily going out there and completely sort of dominating players with her power, but sort of using it back on them and turning it back on them. That's what I think she does so well against Sabalenka. She uses Sabalenka's pace and injects her own into it, and Sabalenka is rocked by that. It's like an experiment to see what you can blow up. Right. I am fascinated by her tactical approach in the final in that regard.

37:39Does she go out and try to do what she did tonight and just seek and destroy? Or does she settle back into that belief that she can time it? And look, we've been talking a lot about the Sambalenka return, you know, maybe not quite being at its peak at the moment. And that is potentially something that you look at in that third set. that she played tonight against Pagula. I know she got the break at the start, and I know in that sense it kind of was classic Pete Sampras, get the break and then just hold. But she got nowhere near the Pagula serve for the rest of the set. She lost 16 points in a row on return, Sabalenka.

38:18And I don't think that she was holding easily enough or confidently enough to just be tanking those return games. I know she was desperately trying to win those points and just not managing it. Right, and that I think is a bit of a worry for Sabalenka going into the final. Because Anissimova, everyone is saying it, pretty much as dangerous a returner as you can possibly get. She is going to have looks at the Sabalenka serve. She's going to be hurting it with her own return. So Sabalenka needs to be getting into the Anissimova service games herself. And there will be times probably when Anissimova is not serving her best and Sabalenka will be able to get into them.

39:00But if Anisimova can get in the kind of serving rhythm that Pagula was in, like Sabalenka's going to have to step up on her return game. I know she was generally brilliant tonight and I thought she made a bit of a statement because she was really impressive. But that is an area where I think Anisimova going into this final will be feeling like she might be able to exploit. She has to serve whilst Abelenka, doesn't she? I mean, Anna Samova, she's just crushing second serves. Yeah, off both wings. There's nowhere to go. No, most people's stock second serve is into the backhand. You can't do that, so they mix it up.

39:45But then she's able to just shuffle around it and hit a big forehand as well. It's a problem. It's a big problem. It's a great final, isn't it? I know we were in a situation where we'd be saying that regardless of what was set up tonight. We were in a good position. There were no bad scenarios. It's all great. Whoever wins, it'll be a great story, a great champion. But I really am excited. Well, the good news is typically their matches are really good. Even the one-sided ones are really fascinating because you've got two really pure ball strikers. and they just match up well. I think it's a great sight.

40:28It's a little Sinner and Alcaraz-like, seeing these two incredibly imposing figures with such enormous power colliding. It's like a Marvel final. Do you think it's going to happen, Matt? I do. I mean, I thought it was at Wimbledon as well. You might have been in the early stages of a fever at that point. Thank you. We can introduce that onto the record. What's your excuse this time? Well, it's 3.30 in the morning. Look, I think the thing we just talked about, the recovery from this tonight, particularly for Anisimova, is going to be a lot. But I don't know. There is kind of more of a Madison Keyes feeling about this, right?

41:20She's just come through two incredibly tough matches. We were saying that about Keyes. Can she do it again in the final? Keyes had had previous experience, and Nisimova's now got previous experience, and I think that's all helpful. I think Nisimova's best tennis wins it. I don't think Sabalenka can do to Nisimova what Shviontek did on a grass court, and with her movement and with the angles and spin. It's a more straight up and down game. I also don't think Anna Samova's going to be paralysed the way she was at Wimbledon. Look, I'm not saying she's going to come out not feeling any nerves and tension and being free as a bird, but it's going to be a different player.

42:09And also, look, maybe Sabalenka comes out and plays an extraordinary match, but Sabalenka's not got the finals record that Svantec has. You know, like Sabalenka gives you games. She throws in a bad game or just lets you get a little bit of momentum, lets you settle, I think, in a way that Svantec just absolutely did not with her absolutely ruthless, brilliant performance in all of her Grand Slam finals, but particularly that one, of course. So just think the match-up is helpful. One more important question before we move on to look ahead to tomorrow. And there'll be more time to preview the women's final in tomorrow's show.

42:51But will Bruce come? We're doing our best. I don't quite know what that is. What is our best? We're sending texts to people with more influence. We're manifesting. Both spiritually and practically. We're hoping. I'm not sure our I think we're even more than three degrees of separation from Bruce he's so far away he has been to the US Open if anybody out there has any strings to pull it's the only way Saturday can get better they come from the same place this is why it should happen Freehold New Jersey I'm from Freehold New Jersey okay right gotcha yeah that's why he needs to be there it would be the coolest oh it would be awesome I mean it's not going to happen but it would be incredible if we can't get Bruce there will Jeremy Allen White come again probably he seems to have a season ticket fake Bruce yeah he's been four days in a row he cannot get enough look maybe they could come together they've got a film to promote Bruce has got an album to promote this is win-win it is Taylor Swift managed it last year exactly Please happen.

44:09She had to watch Taylor Fritz. Bruce could watch Amanda Rona Samova from Freehold, New Jersey. She didn't even know I was five years ago. You could play Jersey Girl. Oh. Okay. Everybody collectively manifest. That's it for part two. We'll be back in part three to look ahead to tomorrow's men's semifinals. Welcome back to part three of tonight's tennis podcast. I had the men's doubles semifinals today as well. The men's doubles final will be between Marcel Grenoilles and Horatio Zabias. They beat the unseeded American pairing, ended the run of Robert Cash and JJ Tracy. And Grenoilles Zabias will take on Joe Salisbury and Neil Skubsky.