US Open Day 4 - Is Alcaraz already in title form?

17:19Matt Roberts:And he didn't just lose to Yun Chao Kete Bu. He got absolutely thrashed. 6-2, 6-1, 6-1 in an hour and 48 minutes. There was a rain delay midway through the third set. I think a lot of people thought that Hodder would have a chat with his dad or have a chat with himself in the mirror and he'd come out. Maybe it would have been too late to rescue the match, but he'd come out a different player. He came out just as anemic and poor and erratic as he had been for the whole match. This was, I mean, it's an alarming result. It's an even more alarming performance. This was really shocking, Matt.

18:02Catherine Whitaker:It was, yes. I did not have this on upset watch at all. You know, he was meant to be playing Kokanakis. He withdrew. He gets the lucky loser. in Boo and I just thought okay we'll probably see the destructive Hodah that we've seen quite a lot recently but very early on it was clear that he was struggling to find his range and find his game he kept changing his rackets and changing his string tension presumably and getting a different one which is always a sign that you know not comfortable with their game a lot going on in the head the commentators thought that he changed his racket five times and there were there were a set in and halfway through the second set.

18:46Catherine Whitaker:I mean, it was chaos, really.

18:48David Law:I've barely ever heard of that.

18:50Catherine Whitaker:No, it was wild to see. And you could see why he wanted to change, because he was just making errors all over the place. Really just had no feel on the ball, no timing. Boo did really well and played a nice match and sprinkled in quite a lot of variety, took the ball early, kind of took apart Hodder's second serve in a way that we've seen Hodder take apart so many serves himself. He played a nice match and his energy was really good and there was never really a moment where I thought the moment was going to get to Boo and he was going to freeze and let Hodder in. So he did well but it was also just the look on Hodder.

19:31Catherine Whitaker:To me he looked ill or he looked just like he was suffering in the heat or the humidity.

19:39Matt Roberts:But it's sort of vacant, didn't it? He did.

19:41Catherine Whitaker:It was bizarre. And look, he has said that wasn't the case in the press conference. He said he was fine physically. But just the impression you got watching was that something was up. But it was a bizarre experience, actually.

19:58Matt Roberts:Yeah, one of quite a few very one-sided matches today. Maybe the real contest of today is who had the most awkward press conference. and Raphael Hodder is definitely a contender, David.

20:11David Law:Yeah, I was really taken aback by that, to be honest with you. I mean, I was taken aback by the performance. The press conference and the on-court performance were kind of similar in terms of just being completely unsatisfactory. And listen, he's a young lad. He's 19. I cut him some slack for that. I don't know why he played like he did today and one of the frustrations is that he had a chance to tell us why he played like that and give us some context and he chose not to for whatever reason. He just said he was better than me. And he was answering like that. When you asked him what happened out there today, he just said he was better than me.

20:56David Law:Okay, in what way was he? It was really impossible.

20:59Matt Roberts:It was adversarial from the off.

21:00David Law:Yeah, he was just being almost obstructive in the way he was answering. And I don't know whether he has been told to behave like that or whether he's been told, just give your opponent credit and don't say anything if you're really upset. Maybe these things, I don't know. I've seen things like that with players before, but I really don't think he helped the situation by being like that. I think you've got to be professional. And I've heard plenty of interviews with Hodder where, you know, he's really good at just trotting out the things he needs to say and making it a decent experience so that everybody gets the job done.

21:45David Law:And he didn't today. And look, maybe he was just really upset. I can understand that. Maybe he was ill. All of these things are possible, but it's very frustrating to just not know.

21:57Matt Roberts:Yeah, absolutely. so Yunchaketebu surprisingly through to a grand slam second round for the first time in his life a few other men's results to whiz you through Daniel Medvedev 6-1 6-3, 7-5 for him over Sebastian Gorsny the draws opening up a little bit he hasn't dropped a set and he hasn't been broken, he's got Arta Rindeknesh next, Matt Roberts is Daniel Medvedev a dormant volcano?

22:29David Law:No. Okay, I'm confused. Why would he not be? He's won this tournament before.

22:38Matt Roberts:Is it Dormant or is it Volcano? It's Dormant that I'm worried about. You don't think he's been Dormant?

22:42Catherine Whitaker:Dormant to me suggests that he might win the tournament. You know, like you've still got that in you. And I just don't think he does.

22:53Matt Roberts:No.

22:53David Law:That's interesting.

22:56Matt Roberts:Fair enough. Yeah.

22:58Catherine Whitaker:Maybe I'm wrong But I've just seen so many Medvedev matches this year Where he's been awful

23:04Matt Roberts:That's what I mean But he also had that spell post-Australia Where he was suddenly really good Which is the telltale sign of a dormant volcano And he might Look, it's been a kind draw so far But we've seen it this year Him suddenly find some form And then lose it again just as quickly But these are the defining features of a dormant volcano

23:28Catherine Whitaker:which is which is honestly I do think of the dormant volcano theory is more of a WTA thing

23:36Matt Roberts:yeah but I'm you know I'm I'm expanding your horizons I know I get that I'm just I'm trying

23:41Catherine Whitaker:to figure out in real time why I'm struggling to apply it more to the ATP I just it's not a concept that we really have so much in the ATP because I think there's just there's that there's less that feeling of someone can just be kind of totally in the abyss and then suddenly play really well and remind you of their level. I just think that happens a bit less on the ATP and it's generally been gate kept by just like a smaller group of people like Sinnoh and Alcaraz and the big three. So I haven't ever applied that concept to the ATP and I've just watched that Carlos Alcaraz play like that and I think bloody hell it's going to have to be some eruption from Daniel Medvedev.

24:27Catherine Whitaker:But I do take the point that he did play very well this year. Okay. Will you monitor volcanic activity?

24:35Matt Roberts:I will. Okay.

24:36Catherine Whitaker:What I will say is that that is a piece of work clash, isn't it? Yeah. It's a little piece of work section

24:43Matt Roberts:of the draw, actually. I can't wait for that.

24:45David Law:I want to be courtside for that.

24:48Matt Roberts:It's fun. Francis Tiafoe pretty comfortable some moments of jeopardy against Sakamoto, talented player, thought he navigated this really well Tiafoe 637675 Hayley Baptiste in the crowd good to see Hayley Baptiste enjoying some tennis

25:04David Law:she was shouted out in the post-match interview as well and he was asked Hayley Baptiste is here and he just goes I don't know anybody called Hayley Baptiste and then he goes Then he was really kind about her. And it was just nice to see her smiling. And she's had such a horror injury. And it's probably quite a long process to get back from. But yeah, good that she gets out here and has some vibes.

25:36Matt Roberts:Low-key shock. Brandon Nakashima losing out in straight sets. I say low-key because Alex Mickelson is a really good player and probably should be seeded. Yeah. You know, having to face him in a second round, that is a really rough draw, but still straight sets for Mickelson over Nakashima after the summer that Nakashima's had. There's a question mark for me about whether Nakashima is a player that has another gear for slams.

26:06David Law:I agree with you. I think that's fair. And also, maybe he has expended a lot over the last couple of months. And Mickelson, you're right. I mean, to me, he's got a really high top level and he should be absolutely seeded. He should be top 20, that guy. And I remember watching him against Hodder at the French Open and he should have beaten him. He was really outplaying him. I really like his game. So, yeah, it's... And yet, I didn't pick it. I didn't put that on the predictions. I had the chance yesterday. I think you get so used to someone like Nakashima winning once they start, once they've had a run like that.

26:53David Law:And it's hard to kind of talk your way out of it.

26:56Catherine Whitaker:Yeah, it's funny how quickly your opinion of someone can change. I saw Gil Gross say this today, that like two months ago, Mickelson over Nakashima, you wouldn't have thought, oh, that's a huge upset. You know, you kind of think of them as fairly similar, really. But Nakashima has had a really great summer and it felt like maybe he'd gone to another level. But maybe it's not entirely that. Maybe he was just in a really rich vein of form, in a good period with his new coach, making the absolute most of that new partnership, you know, absolutely playing well and maybe improving as a player for the long term.

27:36Catherine Whitaker:but as you say these slams slams are different i think today has been a good a good revelation of that that these slams are still different things and actually this tournament really with feast hoda nakashima three guys who i think have really done so well on the tour this year but have got to learn to play grand slams and lift their level uh and manage five sets all that kind of stuff and I think this tournament so far has been a little reminder about that on the men's side as yeah as all of those results have shown.

28:11Matt Roberts:Yeah really well put and just finally on the men's side shout out Ignacio Busse who won Winston-Salem at the weekend and has come in here and run 6-1 in the fifth today over Marcus Girone to make it through to round two.

28:26David Law:Amazing atmosphere out there Catherine because that one's right outside our press room, that court that they were playing on, and so many Peruvian flags and people just totally engrossed in what he was doing and obviously a lot of American fans too. And that's the sweet spot, isn't it? When you get a player like Busse who's got maybe slightly outsized enthusiasm from a crowd and then you've got a local and they went hammer and tong those two and yeah, I like Boussey. I think he's a good watch, he is.

29:03Matt Roberts:Yeah, representing the gingers in Yannick Sinner's absence. Go on, Ignacio. Okay, that is it for part one. We'll be back in part two to talk about the women's tournament. Welcome back to part two of today's tennis podcast. Time to talk about the women's matches that we've seen today. A mixture of first and second round matches. We finally got round one completed at 7.29pm on day four of the tournament with Eva Jovic beating Magdalena Frech 7-5, 6-3. She'll have to come back tomorrow. Jovic to play catch-up. But she's young. She can handle that.

29:39David Law:Super fit, isn't she?

29:41Matt Roberts:Absolutely. No major upsets on the women's side of things today. In fact, a lot of the top players were very comfortable indeed. Irina Sabalenka 6-1, 6-1 in 53 minutes over Polina Iachenko. Not an awful lot to say about the match here. Kind of a total mismatch in terms of power and game and weapons. But a continuation of the theme that we've been talking about with Sabalenka in the press conference afterwards. A more extreme example even today of her being incredibly tense and combative and taking well-intentioned questions I think in a in a very defensive defensive way and this is after a 53 minute win I just I just think I'm I'm banging the same drum continually here but the picture gets darker and darker I think for what Irina Sabalenka's state of mind is and yet she's still she's still winning comfortably so far it's interesting isn't it because I think there are

30:51David Law:some players out there they almost convince you more with their tennis when they're a bit off in the press conference room i remember andy murray was you know journalistic colleagues of of ours that have covered him for decades you know i think of the late great mike dixon he would say he's got his game face on today and that would mean he's his normally kind of convivial talkative character and curious personality gives way to somebody who's who's not any of those things really and is is just very straight-faced and and just there to do the job um i think i've there are others like that and then you feel as though they get an edge almost when they're on the tennis court playing that's not really her that's we she she may not be the greatest quote in the world but she's always been a bit of a vibe in the press conference room.

31:45David Law:She sort of always bounces in and looks like she wants to be there. Like she sort of almost enjoys the little joust and slightly teasing journalists and having a bit of fun. None of that at the moment. And look, you may well think, well, yeah, she's not there to make songs and jokes. She's there for business and frankly she hasn't been playing very well. But she does look on edge, including in the matches. And I don't quite know where you draw that line as to whether that's going to end up being beneficial to her or whether actually eventually that'll catch up to her when it gets really stressful in the matches.

32:26Matt Roberts:Yeah, absolutely. There's a potential matchup with Taylor Townsend, either Taylor Townsend or Diana Schneider in round four, which is where things I think get interesting for Rina Sabalenka.

32:39Catherine Whitaker:That's the round I'm looking at with all due respect, hopefully, to Rakimova, who she has in the next round, who's done really well, I think, to back up the win over Krejcikovo and get to the Sabalenka match. But I do think both Townsend and Schneider present awkwardness. You know, Townsend, you've got the crowd element, which could be a lot for Sabalenka. Also the game, you know, she's front foot player, Taylor Townsend. She'll try and make life difficult in that way for Sabalenka. And then Schneider is the one that Sabalenka fell apart against at Roland Garros, of course. And there could be some scar tissue there.

33:19Catherine Whitaker:And she's a good retriever, Schneider, when she's playing well. She can be a bit awkward and tricky in that sense. Plus, she's got a real puncture of her own. So I agree with you. I think probably Sabalenka gets through the next round OK. but the test of, I mean, it's not really even a theory because we've seen her struggling for a while now. The test of kind of the press conference demeanour and also the form I think is going to come in the second week and it might come like hard and quickly for her because I think it's been pretty straightforward so far but I think that does all shift in the second week.

33:58Matt Roberts:It was interesting during the Coco Goff match yesterday during quite a lull period during that, the World Feeder commentators, which was Mary Carrillo, Andrea Petkovic and Lindsay Davenport, which is just the most joyful listening experience. They ended up chatting about Sabalenka and kicking around. What is going on with her? What has changed since the Sunshine Double, which she, of course, won both legs of? And Andrea Petkovic had kind of two theories on the go.

34:31Catherine Whitaker:Very David of her.

34:32Matt Roberts:Very David. But they're compatible. It's not a hedge. They're not competing theories.

34:38Catherine Whitaker:That's where you're going wrong, Pekovic.

34:39David Law:Have we U-turned this into let's have a go at David's reserve takes?

34:44Matt Roberts:Her two theories were, well, number one, she said in an interview in Toronto, she saw Sabalenka had said she was trying to go back to basics with her game, which she interpreted as news less variety, which Petkovic said and I agree with seems like a strange ploy given it was the expansion of her toolkit that I think got her to the top of the game the sort of move away from just being a ball basher which I'm not sure she ever was just a ball basher but she certainly has become way less of one than she was at the start of her career So that struck an alarm bell for Petkovic. But she also said she traces it back to the five match points that she had against Hayley Baptiste in Madrid and lost.

35:34Matt Roberts:She said top players do not lose from match point up, let alone five match points up very often. And she said she said I did it quite a lot in my career, but it's different for world number ones to to have that experience. And she thinks that was very derailing for her. and certainly the timeline tracks for Sabalenka. That is where the results really started to tailspin by her high standards. I'm sure it's a mix of all sorts of different things, some of which we don't know about, but those are certainly two good theories that have been given credit by some of the best voices in the sport. I mentioned Taylor Townsend.

36:20Matt Roberts:And they're 48 minutes for her in the Battle of the Taylors against Taylor Preston. That was the quickest win of the day. There were some contenders for that, though. 56 minutes for Jessica Bagula over Sophia Kennan, 6-3, 6-1. So three minutes longer than Sabalenka was on court. It was quite sad, actually, seeing that be such a mismatch. You know, Sophia Kennan, a Grand Slam champion, not that long ago, you know.

36:49David Law:Well, absolutely. If you think that Kennan not only won a Grand Slam title, but then reached a final of another shortly afterwards, she is not a factor in tournaments like this anymore, really. She won a round, but when she comes up against the vast majority of players that are in the top 10 or 20, she just doesn't really get close anymore. And it just seems all quite sad to watch her at the moment. and I don't know. I don't know what the deal is, whether it's just game-wise, whether she's unhappy in terms of how things are going with her life. I don't know, but it's a recurring theme, isn't it?

37:40Yeah, absolutely.

37:41Matt Roberts:That was a tough watch, really. But Pagula really going well in this tournament and, you know, as always, she gets asked about the tough stuff in press conferences because she can handle it. And she was asked about the USTA's CalShe sponsorship that we spoke about on the show a couple of days ago. And she pointed out the irony and the hypocrisy of players being banned from having betting sponsorships or any association with betting companies and yet tournaments, tours, other outlets getting into bed with them. She said players can't do anything off a betting sponsorship, but tournaments profit from it.

38:27Matt Roberts:We get a lot of negativity, we being the players, from bettors. We get a lot of hate on social media. So it's tough seeing them as sponsors. Good for her for putting her neck on the line. Yeah, I couldn't agree more. Speaking up. Karolina Mukova, 58 minutes for her. 6-1, 6-love against Katie Bolter. Just a total mismatch. Bolton didn't hold serve in this match. Muković just with so much more game than most players on tour, quite frankly. But it was very exposed in this matchup.

39:05David Law:Yeah, it was one of those where the moment you saw it on the order of play, we were kind of talking about it off the podcast. Just, oh, that could be one-sided. Just because of, well, the form we've seen from Muković anyway this year, but the kind of way she plays, the sort of horrible position she can put Bolter in. And Bolter can be an effective ball striker with a heavy strike against somebody who gives her the sort of ball she wants. And the fact is, Mukova doesn't do that. She slides it around, she loops it up, she does all the things. And, well, it was terribly one-sided.

39:46Matt Roberts:in terms of other round one matches that had to be resumed and finished today paula bedossa coming back to complete her victory over daria kasikina 6-1 6-4 which means that it will be bedossa to play coco goff tomorrow night on the arthur ash stadium she's got a good record against coco goff does bedossa this is interesting yeah well she's the one who said very openly a few

40:14Catherine Whitaker:years ago didn't she yeah i just hit it to goff's forehand you know and like relentlessly do that and create those exchanges i do think goff's forehand has got a lot better since pelossa voiced that and that's what everyone in the in the locker room was thinking i'm sure that was the playbook going round it probably still is quite high up on the strategy list to to test that out against Coco Gauff. But I don't know. I find Paola Berlosa a tricky player to assess where she's at, really, because we know she's battling this chronic back injury and she doesn't play all that often, you know, going deep in events.

41:03Catherine Whitaker:And yet when I do watch her, I do think the level's still pretty good a lot of the time. Today, she only had the one game to win, but it was an epic game. Needed nine match points to get over the line against Kasachina. I do feel pretty... I feel okay for Goff in that. I don't know, maybe I'm writing Berasa off too much, but I just have a lot of faith in Goff at the moment. But there is a world where the match starts and you You think, wow, OK, this does look like a matchup where Bedossa can have some success. So I'm very intrigued by it. I'm just pretty confident for Goff, I suppose.

41:48Matt Roberts:Is Bedossa a dormant volcano?

41:50Catherine Whitaker:No.

41:51David Law:Was it Bedossa? Did she beat her at the Australian Open? Yes. I recall. And the thing is, where maybe she differs to some of the players who might target the Goff forehand is, Barossa has a really good forehand. It's heavy. It's very top spun. But it's done so with weight of shot as well. So I can see why that pattern works for her. But she has to be bang on it to pull it off. Because I don't think Goff's going to allow that to happen as often. And I think she's probably going to redirect high loopy balls down onto the backhand side if she starts getting targeted. But no, absolutely fascinated to watch.

42:41Matt Roberts:Marta Kostiuk, 6 '1", 7 '5", comfortable for her against Sloane Stephens. Some great dog action in this match. Yeah. Yeah. Just, you know, she's got two great dogs. They featured a lot in the coverage of the match. That's good directing. Well done, everyone. Lina Svitolina 6-2, 6-7, 6-4 over Maya Joint match. Matt, you were screening this whilst watching Carlos Alcaraz.

43:08Catherine Whitaker:Yes, I think it's one of those matches where I come out feeling quite good about both players, really. It feels like Maya Joint is playing much closer to her top level. Honestly, one match against Serena Williams seems to have done her the world of good. the whole world writing her off us included thinking oh no she's going to be an absolute nervous wreck in that one and she actually performed so well and it it's good to see her bringing a better level again since then um and did really well to grab the second set of this one against Svitolina and was a double breakdown in the third got it back to a single break and was really fighting hard and you know it's just Svitolina's three set record is unbelievable so strong you always kind of back her in those situations and and she came through and yeah Kostiuk as well I was I was impressed with she's she's so upset proof now Kostiuk that I was looking the last time she lost to someone ranked lower than her was Elsa Giacomo at the Australian Open you know since then it's taken very good performances there's this stat going around that kind of since the spring.

44:20Catherine Whitaker:When she's lost, she's either lost to someone who's gone on to win the tournament. So that was potentially tricky against Tone Stevens because Stevens has been gathering a little bit of momentum and played her tough the other week, two very tight sets. But she did well to get through this one in straight sets. and yeah, good to have Kostya as a force, I think. I suppose part of me is thinking, is she going to hit the wall at some stage? Because kind of what we said about Hodder, she's just played so much, and Nakashima, so much more tennis than she usually does because she's been going so deep in all these tournaments.

44:59Catherine Whitaker:But, you know, it still seems to be there, the energy.

45:03Matt Roberts:Last women's result that I wanted to touch upon from today, it was another round one resumption. David, you went out to watch the conclusion of this. Tatiana Maria beating Jelena Ostapenko 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.

45:18David Law:Yeah, I barely saw Jelena Ostapenko win a point in the three or four games that I watched. She was just having her brain scrambled by Tatiana Maria's type of tennis. And she, you know, I think Ostapenko has to be in the right frame of mind to deal with that. And if you haven't seen Tatiana Maria before, what she's doing is she's slicing her forehands and her backhands, keeping the ball incredibly low, just absorbing the power of this huge hitter, Osterpengar, who just wants to have normal balls to hit the living daylights out of. She doesn't want them scraping along the ground and having to scoop them up.

46:02David Law:And she just kept on hitting the net and turning extravagantly around to her mother and as if to say, why didn't that work then? Why did you tell me to do it this way? I mean, I am just reading body language here, but it was, she didn't have a chance the way she was approaching it all. And you just knew that Maria was thinking, oh, this is what I wanted, so I'll just carry on annoying you, shall I? And yeah, I mean, it was a heavy, heavy defeat in the end.

46:33Catherine Whitaker:Yeah, it was those sorts of players, of course, that Maria beat in succession on her way to her biggest ever title at Queen's. You know, big hitters who don't want the ball down low. She's very good in those situations. There is something amusing to me about Ostapenko kind of being trapped in a Tatiana Maria match for 24 hours because this one carried over from yesterday, just like thinking about slices coming at her. and, you know, like, presumably there was some kind of strategy meeting last night or maybe this morning after, you know, they got some data of the match and being like, OK, what can I do differently?

47:12Catherine Whitaker:And the answer is nothing. Like, I've got one way of playing and it's an absolute disaster against this ball that's coming at me. I could just imagine there was a lot of thoughts going around in Ostevenko's head for a long time. I'm probably relieved to be out of it.

47:26Matt Roberts:You think she's having strategy meetings?

47:28Catherine Whitaker:I'd hope so.

47:32Matt Roberts:OK, that is it for part two. We'll be back in part three to look ahead to tomorrow's order of play and just to discuss some interesting press conference quotes that have just come in from Carlos Alcaraz. Welcome back to part three of today's tennis podcast. We have a day five order of play to talk through in just a moment. But before we do that, just having a look through the Carlos Alcaraz press conference that's just come in in the last few minutes. He came into press following his victory about half an hour ago. And the last question was about something we were discussing earlier in the show, how tired a lot of players look at this stage of the season and how different he looks because he's had this four and a half, five month period off, albeit not by choice.

48:19Matt Roberts:And he has said that even though he said, obviously, I didn't want to have this break because of injury, but in the future, I'm going to take some breaks, some long breaks, he says. maybe not four months but one month two months missing some tournaments because it's impossible to play them all he said i think they're adding more tournaments in in they're making us they're making us play more tournaments he says you can say no you can keep one or two you can decide your calendar but there are some masters 1000 some grand slams and we've been we've been out playing 40 weeks if we have to play every mandatory tournament that the atp require us to play it's impossible, he says.

49:03Matt Roberts:And we're seeing a lot of players getting injured, a lot of players getting tired. If they don't do anything about it, we're going to see even more in the future. But for me, taking this break because of injury, it wasn't good. But what I'm going to say is that I'm going to be taking some breaks and missing some tournaments in the future, for sure. And obviously, on one hand, that's such a shame that we're going to be missing Carlos Alcaraz at big tournaments, not Grand Slams, but some big tournaments in the future. We've seen what tennis looks like without Carlos Alcraz over the last five months, and it's a lot less good.

49:38Matt Roberts:But big picture, I'm relieved to hear that from Carlos Alcraz because, as he has said, it is so obvious that it is not sustainable to play the sport how the authorities are trying... The authorities is a bit extreme. How the administrators, the ATP, are trying to require its players to play it. Carlos Alcaraz has just said it's impossible. Surely, surely there will be a response from the ATP, David.

50:11David Law:Well, we addressed this a few weeks ago, didn't we? And we got given a statement and we were told, as Carlos has said there that players can make scheduling decisions and not play certain events that is a nonsense that you are encouraging that as a way around this dog's dinner of a format you've put together you just shouldn't have to to make those compromises to your schedule you need to make them work these things um but look from a carlos our crowds perspective i i i say all power to you and whether there will be changes and there will be a response catherine i just think it's going to take a while because they've got too tied up into too much of this with the longer masters 1000s i do think there will be a change but it'll probably be a two or three years down the track.

51:11Matt Roberts:I'd just love in the interim to hear an acknowledgement that there's a problem here and that something needs to change. You've got your biggest star saying that. Acknowledge it. Reassure the fans that we see there's a problem. We don't want to see our players getting injured. We're going to try and reverse this trend and sort it out.

51:34David Law:There's no sign of it yet. And if you think of the number of players that have spoken out and expressed their concerns, the only thing we've been getting is the statement. The statement that, you know, yes, the health of players is paramount, etc., etc. This was something they all voted on and agreed with, or at least, you know, put through. And there are all these financial benefits that the players are enjoying. the bonus pool etc etc and you know you can't legislate for every injury that that might have you know these are the things that they say but look privately I think that the pressure will continue to mount if people like Carlos Alcrest say these things and more importantly take long breaks.

52:28Matt Roberts:We'll see. Right, tomorrow's schedule, starting on Arthur Ashe Stadium at 11.30am with Naomi Osaka against Katerina Siniarkova. I know you think this could be tricky for Osaka, Matt.

52:41Catherine Whitaker:Potentially, yeah, I just, I think Siniarkova's a good player. She did beat Osaka at a slam, it was a long time ago, but that has happened. No, I do think Osaka will win, I just I think I had really thought Osaka's draw was very comfortable and then I saw this and was like oh Sydney Arca can pop up sometimes and be a bit awkward and she's pretty tenacious and she's got she hits flat ball can be and Osaka wasn't great in her first round you know so she's going to have to find rhythm and form quickly I think but I do think she'll win she was very nervous

53:20David Law:in the saga, she said, after her first match, just really overcome with nerves at times, tend to feel like after the first one's out of the way, a lot of these players settle down.

53:32Matt Roberts:It's been such a feature, hasn't it? Nerves and players talking about those nerves. Taylor Fritz against Mattia Bellucci, second on the Arthrasch Stadium in the day. Tomorrow at night, we start with Paola Bedossa against Coco Goff, followed by Alexander Zverev against Conte Alisse. We had the stat doing the rounds today that no man has ever won a Grand Slam after spending as long on court as he did in his first round. Is that right?

53:59Catherine Whitaker:In the 21st century, that stat was. I think probably because match times is not the data to go all the way back, but there is from the 21st century. Yeah, shout out Je C 'est et Mat for that one. They found that.

54:14Matt Roberts:Over on Louis Armstrong Stadium tomorrow, we open with Felix Auger-Liasim against Karen Hashanov. And second on is Alexandra Iala against Alexandra Olenikova. I like the making Armstrong, the Iala court.

54:30David Law:Oh, me too. And I'm just so fascinated to see what the Iala fans make of the ball trajectory of Olenikova. Because they get incredibly excited whenever there's a net exchange. And when somebody chases down a drop shot, that's my experience so far. With Olenakova, the ball trajectory is so unusual that, yeah, I think there could be a lot of oohs and ahs going around.

55:00Catherine Whitaker:She beat Iala earlier in the season, did Olenakova. I don't think she's quite in that vein of form at the moment. She had a tough summer, I think, Olenakova. And I think Iala has made a lot of strides, as we talked about very quickly.

55:16Matt Roberts:Night session on Armstrong tomorrow opens with Gail Monfils against Lerner TN. That's where the show is. Well, I suppose it's clattering with Coco Goff and Paolo Bedossa, isn't it? That's going to be a good double screen situation. Fun day tomorrow, yeah. Yeah, it is fun. And second on Elena Rabatkin against Jessica Boethos-Monero. A real interesting one, that, because the movement is going to be tested. It is going to be tested.

55:38David Law:Yeah, it's... I haven't done my prediction in the newsletter for tomorrow, or at least finalised it. I've sort of put things in and then crossed them out, Matt, while you were not looking. Because I really think there's an argument that Rabakena is there for the taking with this injury if she's playing against the right sort of opponent.

56:04Catherine Whitaker:You said the other day you were above doing that, David, picking on Rabakena to lose for predictions points.

56:11David Law:That was then. This is now.

56:14Catherine Whitaker:Competition's got serious.

56:15David Law:Not even Sloane Stephens won me some points this time. I'm on zero, David.

56:20Matt Roberts:Does that make you feel better? It does, yeah. Grandstand tomorrow. Good luck, Nadia Podoroska. I think she might struggle against Yigis Vyantek. That feels like a bit of a mismatch to me, but we will see. Second on, if you're at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre tomorrow and you want to find Matt Roberts, second on grandstand for Lily Taggart against Amanda Anisimova. How about that?

56:43Catherine Whitaker:Yeah, look, I will be there. I have to say I am a little bit annoyed about the potential clash with...

56:49Matt Roberts:Iala Ronnikova.

56:51Catherine Whitaker:Well, and Sweeney Mazzetti on the Stadium 17. I just like those seats to watch Mazzetti. You're not going to get that vantage point all that often. You're going to ditch Anissimova. No, no, no. I think Svantec's going to wrap things up quickly, as Catherine said. I'm going to watch Anissimova tagger and then probably catch the end of Mazzetti-Sweeney on 17.

57:13Matt Roberts:Matt is also inexplicably excited about Alex de Minoer against Burtick van der Zanschel tomorrow

57:19Catherine Whitaker:Hang on a minute, I've been hyping that up for you

57:22Matt Roberts:But you've mentioned it to me a lot today and I've been, I'm like yeah sure I feel like it's you that's really into that

57:31Catherine Whitaker:I am a bit into it but I've been into it on kind of your behalf I've mentioned it to you because I thought you would be into it

57:38Matt Roberts:Because you're the Burtick guy I'm a little bit into it

57:42Catherine Whitaker:I think that's a reasonable upset watch there.

57:46Matt Roberts:Yeah, so do I. Bertic, the US Open, second round. Lives for it. I think that'll be a good... No, OK. She's warming to it now. I'm going to defend myself.

57:55Catherine Whitaker:I think that will be a good match.

57:58Matt Roberts:That's last on Grandstand. Before that, after Taggart and I'm over, is Tristan Schoolkate against Flavio Caballi.

58:04Catherine Whitaker:That's why you're not into Bertic.

58:08David Law:Dropped him like a hot potato.

58:09Matt Roberts:There is room in my heart for all these players. There's a bit less now I've discovered Martin Dahm Jr.

58:18David Law:He's elbowed a bit of fritz out of your heart.

58:23Matt Roberts:No, it's not zero sum. There's room for all, if you're good enough, or if you're fun enough. Stadium 17 tomorrow. Madison Keys opens up over there. Dane Sweeney against Lorenzo Mazzetti. Matt's juggling act of that clashing with Anisimova Tagga Mira Andreeva against Ava Lees that's a nice match, third on 17 tomorrow and Evie Jovic is back to take on Fran Jones who got her first main draw US Open win today over Magda Lynette after qualifying so very impressive stuff Court 5 tomorrow David is where you'll find the drop shot Dragonfly if you want to go and try and make that nickname happen

59:02David Law:That's Trunjoletti, by the way, if anybody...

59:05Catherine Whitaker:If anyone inexplicably doesn't know.

59:08Matt Roberts:How could they not know, David?

59:09David Law:He's coached by the actual dropshot dragon, folks. I mean, it couldn't get any better, could it?

59:15Matt Roberts:A few wins would help.

59:18David Law:Yeah, well, they would as well. The dropshot doesn't work so well in the hard court.

59:22Matt Roberts:He's got Alexander Blocks tomorrow. How are you feeling about that?

59:25David Law:Not good.

59:28Matt Roberts:Struff, Sarindolo, before that Francisco Sarindolo, I have to specify which Sarindolo these days. Zachary, Sarah, Dubt Saver. After that, we start with the doubles tomorrow, not Serena and Venus, but I imagine they will have to play on Friday, Serena and Venus. So it'll be very interesting to see what they do with the schedule then. Okay, I think that's it.

59:50Catherine Whitaker:Yeah, I was just going to say how interesting it's been to me so far that I think of slams a lot of the time as the first few days It's really the women's draw that has so many of the stories. And it feels like the women have traditionally owned the first week of slams for a long time. And then there was this period in the men's game where the men kind of owned the end because you had the rivalries and the matches you knew you were going to get. But sometimes there'd be less jeopardy in the first few days. To me, it feels like this tournament is absolutely the other way around. Like we've led with the men a lot and we've had reason to do that with the return of Alcaraz and we've had Hodder go out, Fisk go out, Nakashima have been in good form, he's gone out, Zverev was pushed.

1:00:37Catherine Whitaker:But what's bubbling up in the women's draw is like all the big names there, all looking pretty convincing and we're starting to get the orders of play now with those matchups that you just look at the draw and it's just absolutely stacked and I just feel like the tournament is probably going to shift in the next few days and it's going to be the women's matches that are just absolutely you know owning it

1:01:02Matt Roberts:consider my appetite wetted Matt that sounds great hello to Leo our US Open mascot who's very much enjoying Matt's stat in the newsletter good man Leo I haven't done one yet today

1:01:15Catherine Whitaker:God

1:01:15Matt Roberts:no pressure Matt but Leo is waiting for it the newsletter is excellent both for Matt's stats and for pictures of Leo and indeed for all sorts of other great content and it's daily during the US Open. Leo has done a newsletter promo for us here.

1:01:31David Law:What a hero.

1:01:32Matt Roberts:So if you're subscribed if you're not subscribed to it then frankly why not? Here is a picture of Leo lovingly gazing at Matt's stats. Love you Leo. 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 we go if you're an NFL fan And the Athletic has something really exciting starting next week. The Athletic Live, presented by Google Gemini, is a brand new YouTube watch-along on NFL game days featuring the biggest and best beat reporters the Athletic has to offer. You can even become part of the show in the interactive chat on YouTube.

1:02:13Matt Roberts:It all starts from September 8th. So do check that out if you're a fan of the NFL. No shout-outs today because we have got a bus to catch and it has just started raining. But we'll be back tomorrow, folks, daily throughout the US Open, as always. Thank you for listening. We'll speak to you then.