US Open Day 5 - Stress, tears and turmoil can’t stop Coco Gauff

31:48It staggers me that more tennis players don't play in sunglasses. No, me too. It staggers me. And there's an awful lot of retinal damage that I see in ageing tennis players. Yeah. It's an under-talked-about issue. It's not for now, but, you know, maybe a friend's show. That's not really enticing people to become a friend, is it? Laura Siegmund. She can't stop winning. Round three of another slam. Anastasia Zakharova, her victim today, 6-4, 6-2. She's got Alexandreva now, which I kind of think is a bit of a dream match-up for her. I'm seriously fascinated by that conflict. Yeah, and the winner of that plays Shvontek or Kalinskaya.

32:37Intriguing section. All very intriguing. I want to see Shvontek Siegmund. Yeah, I do as well. Diane Parry won a match that gives Mukova-Kastea a run for its money in terms of match of the day, deciding set tiebreak for her over Renata Zarizua. Of course, Madison Keyes is conqueror. both David and Amelie Maresmo were watching. Yes, we were. I certainly was anyway. And yes, reports that she was in the crowd. Amelie Maresmo, I did see her around. Yeah, finished post 7pm. Yeah, I saw her around earlier on and I did think... Unbelievable. You're sure you can stay up this late for a women's match? But look, it was the most incredible atmosphere and we've said that a lot about matches in the first four or five days here.

33:25so many players from nations that don't have a huge number of tennis players have had big moments this tournament indonesia the philippines um now here we are with mexico and and i was actually standing next to the arthur stadium and heard this roar and i was with a couple of people at time we were thinking well where has that come from the hardly any hardly any the matches have left because it was the end of the day session suddenly realized it was just little court five over there which had got thousands just packed in and many hundreds also just sort of standing on stairways and and standing on hedges and looking over fences in order to get a look at this match and poor old diane parry she basically had amelie maresmo and about four other people cheering for her because the rest of them were cheering the player from Mexico.

34:24Si se puede, they were saying. Which is, yes, you can. Yeah. Something like that. And it was magical, really. And she fought her heart out. They went into a tie break. She went 8-4 down in the Champions tie break, the match tie break. Got it back to 8-7. And fair play to Diane Parry. I've seen her really tighten and crumble in some of those moments in the past. And she held it together. Even though there was one aging rally, she managed to win it to get to 9-7 and then got over the line. And I thought, fair play. And it was also great to see Zarazua's reaction at the end where she's clearly disappointed.

35:08But she's also realizing that she's going to remember this moment probably for the rest of her career. no matter what. He plays Marta Kostiuk for a place in the second week, and the winner of that face is the winner of Nozkova Mukova. So lots of opportunity out there. Last women's result to bring you, I wanted to mention that Venus Williams and Leila Fernandez won their opening doubles match as wild cards, and they beat the sixth seed, Mila Kitschenok and Ellen Perez, 6-3, sorry, 7-6, 6-3. I'm here for it. Oh, it was great. It was great. Venus described Fernandez as her best ever partner aside from Serena.

35:54And Fernandez loved that comment. I'm thinking, how many she had? Yeah, it was just really good vibes. And Venus said we matched each other's competitive energy. Like they were down in that first set. And Venus was like, I don't want a partner who's giving up on a set just because we're down in it. let's come back and try and win it. And they did. It was really fun. Fernandez doesn't give up on anything, does she? Absolutely not. And just finally, in doubles news today, Yelena Ostapenko and Barbora Krojcikova lost their opening match. And after a long delay, word eventually filtered down that Yelena Ostapenko, despite being requested to come and speak to the media, would not be coming to press due to illness.

36:41she has also deleted her final instagram story from yesterday the one which explicitly referenced the accusations of racism she hasn't said anything further on instagram i think that sort of sequence of events kind of speaks for itself one person who did speak on it today though and and lots of lots of different players were asked about it including naomi osaka and there was kind of a little pause before she answered the question I sense kind of deciding do I do I pull the trigger here and she she did in an extremely gentle measured way but with her economical use of language she did pull the trigger and she said it's one of the worst things this is a reference of course to what Yelena Ostopenko had to say to Taylor Townsend after their match yesterday accusing her of having no class and having no education.

37:37She said it's one of the worst things you can say to a black tennis player in a majority white sport if I think it's ill-timing and the worst person you could ever set it to. And I don't know if Yelena Ostapenko knows the history of it in America. That is it for part one. We'll be back in part two to talk about the men. Before that though, we want you to imagine a trip to tennis paradise. Okay. Yes, of course. I'm talking about Indian Wells folks and the BMP Paribas Open. As the official tennis package provider of the tournament, our long-time sponsors, Steve Fogel's International Tennis Tours, can get you there in style, closer than ever to the action.

38:24You can choose from 10 different types of accommodation, from three-star hotels to five-star resorts. There are all types of tickets to choose from. You can get a VIP guest credential. One of Naomi Osaka's Le Boo Boo's has got a credential. So maybe they're just giving them out. But not VIP ones. No. You can also get access to the Fergal Lounge, a hospitality suite inside the main stadium at Indian Wells. Full bar, snacks, refreshments, all the good things. A bit like Matt's situation right now. with his iPad in front of him in a sort of sea of his Faya yoghurt and a little glass of rose. I highly recommend it.

39:05We've been there as well, haven't we? Book your trip to Tennis Paradise in Indian Wells in March. To find out more, go to toursfortennis.com forward slash podcast. Your trip awaits. Matt's taking a little sip of rose just to toast your trip. Welcome back to part two of the Tennis Podcast. On day five of the US Open, and we turn our attention now to the men's event, and we should probably start with Yannick Sinner. 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 over Alexey Popperin today probably counts as a tough test for Yannick Sinner. I watched midway through the second set of this match. Alexey Popperin put together one of the most impressive rallies I've seen this tournament.

39:5131 strokes going toe to toe with Yannick Sinner he threw every shot he'd got at him and he actually outlasted Sinner in this rally and Sinner at the end of it as the crowd were going wild put his hands on his knees and he just sort of heaved for a while as he was trying to regain his breath and his composure and I thought hello, this is interesting this had sent Sinner set in 3-2 up but break point down suddenly the door is ajar And you've got Wayne Ferreira in the Alexi Popperin coaching team. You're hearing him say, right, here's your chance, Alexi. You've set it up. Let's go. And Popperin's getting himself pumped up.

40:31He lost the next three points to lose the game and go 4-2 down. He then got broken to love. So he's 5-2 down. Then he didn't win another point in the set. And now he won one. He won one in the final game of the set. And I don't say that to disparage Alexi Popperin. But actually, at the moment that Sinner kind of looked finished for the set, it was the other way around. It was that point that I think just broke Popper in. That's what it took to really hurt Sinner. And the way Sinner just gathered himself and just did it all again. I mean, the guy is a machine. And it takes something else to beat him.

41:13So, yeah, it was a match where I thought there was potential threat. there was threat of some degree because he's a big shot maker, Popperin, but he was made to look like a pea shooter, really, by comparison to what Sin had got. I know that Hannah wrote a brilliant column after Wimbledon when she was talking about, you know, her experience of watching Sin alive and how she felt like, you know, the sort of Djokovic comparisons had maybe been slightly overplayed and it was a really brilliant column. That quality, though, is such a Djokovic quality. Like, how often would Djokovic lose a great point and then just win all the next points to render that one pointless?

42:01You know, and, like, you end up almost leaving with a greater impression of the opponent because he's the one who's done this crazy thing and pulled it off. But Djokovic, or today, Sinner, just, like, absolutely slammed the door shut. and I went out and watched the first set of this one in the stadium. He was unbelievable, Sinner. Like, so uncomplicatedly brilliant. Like, every return was going back deep on Popperin's backhand and then Sinner was just taking over from there. And Sinner spoke about how he didn't serve quite so well today but he just felt like he was just absolutely crushing it off the ground and that's absolutely what it felt like.

42:46There was one moment where Popperin ran around a second serve and leathered a forehand return. I thought, wow, Sinner just flicked it for a winner. And it was, you know, everything we said yesterday about Alcaraz, I think we're probably quick to use words like phenomenal, dazzling, amazing about Carlos Alcaraz. Some of the stuff Sinner was doing today was quieter, but just as impressive, just as high a level of tennis. It's staggering to watch him like that. And he's now on this little streak, isn't he, in terms of trying to correct some head-to-heads. Because we talked about the Felix Rochelle last year.

43:26He's seen one. He'd had some wins against pre-2023 acceleration Sinner. Poporin was the same. He'd beaten Sinner. and now he's got Denis Shapovalov, who's also beaten a past version of him. And it just feels like all these guys are coming up against him and being like, oh, I've stayed more or less the same. And Sinner has just zoomed past me. He's gone into Galatia. And I really think Denis Shapovalov is about to have the same experience that Poparin and Orjali Asim have just had. Yeah, when Yannick Sinner was asked about Denis Shapovalov in his post-match press conference today, when he was asked vis -à-vis the head-to-head what was tough about Denis' game, he said, well, he's unpredictable.

44:21I'll say. Yeah. Over to Armstrong and the place that Matt started his day, Lorenzo Mazzetti and David Goffin. I watched so many Italians today. Comfortable in the end for Mazzetti, 6-4, 6-love, 6-2, but Goffin did at least prove that it's possible to generate break points on the Mazzetti serve, proving Matt's doubters wrong. My haters. Yeah. Yes. Yeah, they're out there. Dan Evans is one of them. I've upset portions of France and Dan Evans.

44:59Some of France is with you, though. You've had some support from the French media here. I have. And I've had it out with Dan. That's continuing. But no, I mean, David Goffin, yeah, he had breakpoints in all three of Lorenzo Mazzetti's first service games. And actually, the first set of this was close. And arguably, Goffin was the better player. You know, Mazzetti was really having to struggle in his service games. But he got through them. I kind of like against Mpeci Perica, once he got ahead, he opened up and he freed up and he hit some absolutely astonishing shots. There was just the most incredible backhand down the line early in the second set, kind of off one foot, falling away.

45:43Just absolutely awesome from Mazzetti. He lost his last match against David Goffin on a hard court in Shanghai last year. So, you know, David Goff ran in the year 2025 to make round three of a slam where he's never been further than that on a hard court slam. Like it was a decent draw from Mazzetti, but I thought he played well. And he talked in his post-match interview about how he is trying to be more aggressive and trying to use that forehand as a weapon. It's just that in the matches I've seen so far, he hasn't really come on to court being able to do that. It's taken grinding it out and getting the lead somehow to be able to allow him to sort of free up and play like that.

46:26I think he needs to start a match like that if he's really going to make progress. But yeah, you know, a nice win. And he now gets his good friend Flavio Caballi in the next round. Yes. What is this match going to be like? because generally I don't like it when friends play one another. No, they were last seen at Kings Island water park. I'm worried about the display of fangs that we'll see in this match. I'm not worried about the display of tennis and style. Flavio Caballi, incidentally, today, just an absolutely incredible match. He beat Jenson Brooksby in four hours, 31 minutes, in a deciding set tie break, a match that Matt watched, as did two men wearing orange pretend I'm a carrot t-shirts.

47:18Yeah, they've won the US Open. And they were sitting right behind Caballi in the front row of Court 17. So they were constantly on camera and Getty Images picked them out. It was really, really fun. Yannick Sinner was playing at the same time. And they obviously didn't have Ash tickets. Or maybe they did. And maybe they just chose to go and watch Fabio Caballi. They wanted Cabali. Ten sets in two matches. Yeah. And look, I did watch a lot of this. I had a lovely time. I rarely go out and watch that much of a best of five set match early in a slam because there's just so much else going on. But I do love those media seats on 17 down so low.

48:00He's so immersed in it. And I had the afternoon sun just hitting me. I just had a great time. We're actually beneath the court, aren't we? Our head is basically court level and the rest of our body is below the court. Yeah, it's a pretty stunning position to get a certain perspective on the match. And look, really fun to see Jenson Brooks be back and playing well again and playing in front of this home crowd who were going with him. They were pretty, well, obnoxious at times, I would say. But, you know, it was a good atmosphere out there on court 17. I felt that Caballi always had more game. you know always felt like he had the injection of pace you know Brooksby he doesn't really swing he just pats the ball on the backhand and just bunts it around but can put you in some really awkward spots he uses angles well but Caballi I thought he was going to win this in four but he lost his way in the fourth set and allowed Brooksby back in but when he was going after the forehand and when he was taking charge of rallies he was the one who I always thought was going to win it but he had these match points in the fifth set and Brooksby saved them in the most remarkable fashion.

49:13The first match point saved from Brooksby in this match, I would urge everyone to look that up. Absolutely stunning rally and winner from Brooksby. It ended up in a fifth set tie break and having saved those match points, it was a case of Brooksby having worked his way back, but could he come all the way back? And, you know, I think it's hard when you've saved match points and suddenly feels like you might be able to win it just like the pressure shifts again and caballi caballi freed up and played a phenomenal tie break there was one forehand down the line that he absolutely smoked for a winner um and now he comes through to play mozzetti and i'm pleased because i wanted to see that match like just two guys just such great shot makers i'm a little bit concerned about your feelings on this match as well.

50:05Might all be a bit nice. Yeah, but I think they both know it's an opportunity. And look, Mazzetti's talked about being desperate to get to Turin this year. And I think, you know, he knows that it's a genuine chance here. He's into this tournament for the first time on a hard court, you know, in this little period of the season. And Mazzetti did once beat an Italian child, love and love. Yes, Luca Nardi. I think they'll go for it. I think they will. Who has more fang? Mazzetti's got more fang, hasn't he? Oh, I don't know. I don't know about that. Yeah, you think Caballi's got fangs? I think Caballi's developing it.

50:40He's so young and new to this. You forget. When I see him play Zverev and I saw him play Djokovic, I doubt those things, Catherine. I really think that... But isn't that the test? Yes. That's the litmus test for fang. But I think he's developing it. Okay. I do think that that's possible. I think it's in him. I think winning these five-set matches, it's not ideal. He should be more efficient than that against these players. I think he's better than them. But at the same time, he's still won them. And it doesn't seem as though it's detracted from him physically. I don't think he's going to come out against Mazzetti and be feeling the effects of those two five-set matches.

51:20He looks super fit and strong and ready to go. And I just think he's learning as he goes, and he's getting more and more dangerous. OK, I will reserve my judgment. I'm going Cabali to win it. David's such a Cabali believer. Love it. He was also a Karen Hashanov believer, though, after Tennis Podcast meets. And he lost from 5-2 up in the fifth today to, and I quote David Law here, the man with all the consonants in his name. I'm still waiting for the Kamil Mayer-Chak-Thomas-Mahak-Schmach. Right. The commentators are going to struggle. Yeah, another one that went to the deciding set tie-break, won by Marshaq's 10-5.

52:03Kasanov had five match points, David. Yeah, five match points. I didn't know that. Three of them in one game when he was serving for it. And then at that point, because I was in the media centre with Catherine, it was 5-2 and I'd given up on this match. Suddenly, there's a break back and it looks like it's going to go into the tie-break. And I just bolted out of the media centre over to the court, same court that Ostapenko and Townsend were on, so I knew where to stand to get a good vantage point. When I got there, it looked like the tie-break wasn't going to happen because suddenly Hatchinov's 6-5 up and Majacek's trying to get into this tie-break and he's facing match points again at this point.

52:45Majacek manages to get into the tie-break and he really took over at that point. I was surprised by Hatchinov letting that go, But it actually felt, watching the tiebreak, that Majacic doesn't really allow you much chance. He goes for it. And it will be Majacic against Leandro Reedy for a place in the second week of this slam. Who also had a long win today, didn't he? Yeah, the world number 435. He has been a lot higher than that. He's been kind of on the brink of the world's top 100. but he's currently 435 in the world. Beat Francisco Sarundolo today from two sets to love down. Riedi against Meierschak for a place in the second week.

53:32And I really was brought to press today for the Swiss media. I wasn't there in the press conference, but I saw the Swiss media coming away from it. And they were going, oh, he was really nice, which was obviously lovely, but also indicative of the fact that not even the Swiss media really know Leandro Reedy. And that is a huge opportunity. What a weird tournament Francisco Sarundolo had, by the way. He won from two sets of love down in the first round. He lost from two sets of love up today. Yeah, and his win from two sets of love down was the first time he'd ever done that.

54:13Wild tournament. Andre Rublev trucking along. Four sets for him today over Tristan Boyer. And he now plays. Kind of continuing the theme that you talked about earlier, David, of players having success from less prominent parts of the world in terms of tennis legacy. Coleman Wong from Hong Kong became the first player from Hong Kong to win a Grand Slam match when he won his first round. Well, he's won two in a row now and counting. beat Adam Walton today 7-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 and he plays Andre Rublev in the third round did a bit of research into Coleman Wong he's on a five match winning streak including qualifying he must be feeling hot right now we all know that he trains at the Rafael Nadal Academy that he's very close with Alexandre Arlen they really support one another and they've kind of broken through at the same time He moved there at the age of 17.

55:14The favourite thing I learned about him from my little bit of research was that he started playing tennis by accident at the age of five. His older sister, Ilana, was meant to take a private lesson at Victoria Park, which is the home of the Hong Kong Open, the ATP tournament. I've been there. But Ilana fell ill. She's OK, I think. You know, she got a cold or something. and parents Bruce and Dora didn't want to waste the money that they'd already spent. So in steps Coleman and takes the tennis lesson for her and the rest is history. That's great. And he has got some of the best post-match celebrations of anybody on the tour.

55:57He's so overwhelmed by the emotion of what he's achieved and it's just written all over his face and he really lets you know. So it's a match point. Sitsapas, has he done it? He's not done it. Altmaier has fended it off. Sitsapas absolutely striped that return and Altmaier sort of blocked it and ended up drawing the error out of Sitsapas. How far away is ground stand from here? I mean, you can hear the roars. We will hear it. We will absolutely. It's a long way, isn't it? I think the listeners will hear it when that match finishes, no matter what happens, provided it's within the next 10 minutes or so.

56:36looks pretty destined for a match tie break. It's a good 100 metres away, isn't it? But we'll see. Alexander Zverev, straight sets for him over Jacob Fearnley. 4-4-4. A real, like, last gasp bit of inspiration from Jacob Fearnley in this match. He was clearly struggling with his right arm throughout the match. I think he's been struggling with his arm all summer and kind of playing through it. But, yeah, he got inspired at the end of this match and he got the crowd with him. He was a double breakdown, got one of them back, had break points to get the second one back. He was, he had Zverev looking a little bit stressed, actually.

57:12And at the net, Zverev said, where'd that come from, mate? Yeah, I thought that was a really shitty comment, to be honest. Because, yes, Fernie did play really well, actually. And 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 is not really the match that I was watching. I think he was trying to be funny but I thought, crikey, that's a bit disparaging really to this guy and I definitely don't think Zverev is playing in the first two rounds the way he was in Cincinnati he's reverted to type so far he's gone in his shell and he's winning matches on the back foot and surviving that isn't going to get it done in this tournament like I said, he should be getting to the semi-finals at least with his draw but he's going to have to play more aggressively than that.

58:02Felix Auger-Aliassime next for him, who you've become a believer in because of Tennis Podcast Meets. Yeah, we had our little chat. I had my little pep talk. It's one that fascinates me because they've played several times. Zverev has a handy lead in the head-to-head, but Auger-Aliassime has beaten him at Wimbledon. I know this is different, but what an opportunity for him to show how he's come on. I mean, he played Roman Cefiulian today, beat him in straight sets. It was a bit dicey in the third. He was a breakdown. Played the big points well in that second set. Absolutely. Look, he has got a fairly basic game.

58:46He's built around a serve and a forehand and movement. And look, I don't think he's going to get a whole lot better than that. but if those three are functioning well, he can win big matches. He's got to believe in them because he's got a chance in that match. Tommy Paul, I think, has won in the second night session. No. No, he's in a fourth set. He won the first two. The big roar you heard was for Nuno Borges. Was it? Yeah, I was shook as well. I didn't even fact check the roar. No. I just assumed that would be for Tommy Paul. Are the Arthrush Stadium getting into Nuno Borges as we speak? It would appear so.

59:26Maybe they just wanted more tennis. Winner of that plays Alexander Bublik, who ended the Tristan Schulhatay fun. And in fact, the Tristan Schulhatay fun was already over because the umpire today was boringly professional. He just said school cake. And knew how to pronounce Tristan school cake. Damien Dumassoir, I think it was. Right. Damn him. Bublik's quietly looking quite good, though. He's looking a lot better than I thought he would. It's awesome to me. Yeah, he seems to have just carried on the form that he had a few weeks ago. And, you know, he hasn't played on the hard courts. And yet, here he is, not worrying about the surface, just doing his thing.

1:00:07Do you think that rule was for Nuno Borges? It is quite difficult to discern. Which one's the one for Sitzapas and Altmaier? I think that might have been for Altmaier. He's got break point at five all in the fifth. Okay, right. That's it for part two. come back for part three and we should be able to get the sit to pass altmeyer result in and some soon to be out of date nuno borgias updates welcome back to part three of the tennis podcast where while matt watches the closing stages of stefano sit to pass in a fifth set against annual altmeyer i will whiz you through the order of play for tomorrow day six of the u.s open and Hopefully David can give some takes.

1:00:47It's a good tomorrow. It's good tomorrow. It's really good. Especially the women's matches. Yeah, we open on Arthur Ashe Stadium at 11.30am with Carlos Alcaraz against Luciano Darderi. Djokovic had the early spot, now Alcaraz has it. I must admit, that must be the earliest I've ever seen an Alcaraz play. I think he'll like it, though. He likes everything. Do you know what he doesn't like? How quickly his hair grows. Really? Yeah. Yeah, he said it makes him angry. I'm unable to appreciate a good haircut, he said. He said in a few days' time, you'll see a different hair.

1:01:28So that's first on Ash. Second on Ash is Jessica Pegula against Victoria Azarenka. Wow. I saw them play at the Australian Open a couple of, two or three years ago, and Azarenka won. Yeah, that was a real chance at the time, wasn't it, for Pegula to break her quarterfinal. problem that she had but i think she's a big favorite yeah at night session is novak djokovic against cameron norrie be interesting because you've got a feeling katherine i don't have a feeling i've got a desperation okay to for a hail mary to get some points gathering may have done a cameron norrie thing i surprised even myself it hasn't been sent yet she might change her mind um but Look, I stand by what I said the other day, yesterday.

1:02:18I think this is the chance for Djokovic to find some form, and he needs to. The deadline is there. The pressure is there. But I also think night session favours him now. He wants to be under the lights. And first matchup, that suits him down to the ground. I remember in the spring, he played Cameron Nury, didn't he, in a tournament before the French Open. It was a bit of a grind. It was two really tight sets and then eventually he came through. But then he played him at the French Open and he absolutely crushed him. I think he realised that he's got to just, as you said, David, let it fly a little bit against Cameron Norrie.

1:03:01He doesn't want to get involved in a gruelling physical battle against him. This is the one to try and just hit Norrie off the court. Second in the night session on Ash is Taylor Townsend against Mira Andrava. Second in the night session. I mean, that could be, even if that's straight sets, that's probably coming on post 10pm. Yeah. It could be coming on at midnight. I think the best hope for that match is that people have needed a few drinks to get through Djokovic's nari and they're loose and they're ready to bring an atmosphere for Andre for Townsend. You know what I'm saying? We might be doing that.

1:03:44Yeah, absolutely. But it does feel a bit hidden away. I thought that match would be on Armstrong. Me too. I thought that would be the 7pm slot on Armstrong. Yeah, me too. Armstrong starts tomorrow with Elena Rabacchner against Emma Raducanu. Again, feels like that could have had higher billing, but I know that British TV will have been really pushing to get Emma Raducanu in an early slot, and that does make total sense. Anyone, you've maybe done a Raducanu thing in the newsletter. Who could say? Sign up for the newsletter to find out. I do feel like Raducanu has been, you know, progressing and working her way to having a big win.

1:04:31Feels like the next step, doesn't it? It does feel like the next step. And I suppose it's a question of whether you think Rabatkin is going to be at her absolute best. Because I think if Rabatkin is at her absolute best, it's going to be tricky for Raducanu. But I don't know. I just think I've got a feeling for Raducanu tomorrow. Second on Armstrong day session is Ben Shelton against Adrian Manorino. Manorino, the only player that has brought me any points so far in the predictions competition. I thought about going back to the well tomorrow, but I thought, don't be silly, Catherine. And the night session on Armstrong...

1:05:11Shelton will be all right. ...is Leila Fernandes against Arena Sabalenka. And second on is Jerome Kim, another unexpected Swiss player, against Taylor Fritz. Live news from Grandstand, Matt. Stefanos Tsitsipas is out. Altmaier has served it out and now they've had words at the net Altmaier is not happy with something Sitsapas has said there I think. Turned his back on him and walked off. And we have heard a bit of booing haven't we? We're a few moments behind on the feed goodness me. I know that Apostolos Sitsapas got a warning earlier in the match for coaching which is pretty good going given coaching's allowed.

1:05:59I don't know exactly exactly what he did but something out of line Apostolos it's just like it just shows he's just walking past Apostolos I manifested him which I think means that sad Stephanos is about to walk past us so let's all brace ourselves for that I think it just shows how you know look Altmaier's a very good player you can lose you can lose to Daniel Altmaier but I think it shows how sort of deeply embedded the Sitsapas problems are like he talked the other day about feeling revitalised and suddenly having all his confidence back but you just can't you just can't get back from the depth he's been in in one match I don't think no and listen he said that to me in the press comments and I felt like he was trying to manifest it into reality by saying it.

1:06:59And he was two sets to one up here, and he'd just won two sets, 6-1, 6-4, and he'd gone one love up in the fourth. I turned away to Catherine and said, oh, Sitsabas is really starting to fire here. Came back to the screen, ten minutes later, he's 4-1 down. And he kind of did that against Muller, didn't he? in the fourth set, he kind of thought he's going to close this easily and suddenly he's in a tie break. He shouldn't be losing from two sets to one up like that. Not the guy he used to be. No. Alrighty then, back to tomorrow's order of play. On grandstand, we have Yulia Hetchka against Collignon, the guy that beat Kasparudin.

1:07:41I've already forgotten his first name. It's Raphael. There we go. With a PH. Yes, the Belgian guy. Got a big game, actually, Collignon. He takes on Nahechka tomorrow. These are round three matches, of course. Second on Armstrong tomorrow. This is one of the ones. Jasmine Paolini against Marchetta Vondroshova. Can't wait. I've got this in the newsletter predictions, and I'm not going to tell you who. David's broken the... Well, what I consider to be the golden predictions rule, which is to never make Marchetta Vondroshova predictions. You did break it once too. You talked me out of it, I think.

1:08:21Oh, you're welcome. Whereas I've just stared it down and I've said, come on, then. Third on grandstand, Francis Tiafoe against Jan-Leonard Struff. And fourth on is Barbora Krejcikova against Emma Navarro. I'm very intrigued by that one. All French tie between Benjamin Bonzi and Arthur Rindeknesh, first on Stadium 17. Bookshare Mertens, obviously Mertens aiming to set up the big Sabalenka upset in round four. Priscilla Hahn against Anne Lee. If that actually happens, Hannah is going to have so much material to come out. If that actually happens, we're going to start putting money on Yulid Niemai to win when we win one day.

1:09:06No one's forgetting that prediction, Hannah. finally on 17 tomorrow Hugo Blanchet against Thomas Mahatch what else have we got tomorrow no comment my goodness me it's all doubles it's all doubles and who is Carrie Leeds and why am I what are these matches that's what I was talking about yesterday I find it really annoying that they put those on the official order of play it's like all the juniors and qualifying for juniors, and yet you see them on the order of playing, and you think, what are these matches? Oh, no. Yeah, boys qualifying singles round two. Yeah. That should be on a separate page at the website.

1:09:50Absolutely. Okay, I think that is all the headline stuff that you need to know about for tomorrow. How's Nuno Borges trucking along? Two all in the fourth with Tommy Paul. Folks, please forgive us that we're not going to drag out this podcast long enough to tell you whether Nuno Borges comes all the way back. But in the words of Matt Roberts, there's always another podcast. And there's Google. And there's Google. Yeah, that too. So, yeah, we'll let you know tomorrow if you can't bring yourself to Google what the result was before then. We have a mascot for today's episode. That mascot is Rusk.

1:10:32I like that name. Rusk is owned by Katie. Rusk, oh my goodness, look at this picture. It's another big tongue, David. Oh yeah, I like that. It's another very big tongue. In a sea of lavender. It's a very beautiful picture. Rusk is a 12-year-old red Heeler boxer mix, or at least that's what the shelter told us, says Katie. He lives with me, his mum, in Austin, Texas. My sister Sarah picked him out after I begged her to let me adopt a dog. We were roommates at the time. That's lovely. We brought him home at eight weeks old on February the 13th, 2013, and he's been the best Valentine for the past 12 years.

1:11:09He was an excellent hiking companion for a decade, only slowing down in the last year. He loves getting long walks while I listen to the tennis podcast. He could not care less about my spare tennis balls and often gives me disdainful looks when I'm cheering or pacing during a particularly tense televised tennis match. He's perfected his judgmental look over the years. He loves a puppy, helping raise two of my best friend's puppies. That is truly adorable. As well as his doggy cousin over his many years. He insists on a peanut butter filled Kong every night. And will huff and stomp around if he believes you forgot or are late.

1:11:46Most of all, he's brought me such joy over these past 12 and a half years. On our many adventures and cuddles on the couch. That is absolutely lovely, Casey. You've basically described everything that having a dog is about. What an incredible companion. What a good boy. He's absolutely lovely. So thank you, Katie. Thank you, Rusk, for being our mascot for this episode. Hello, of course, to our mascots. I received Phoebe content today sliding into our DMs. Anything from Maisie? No. All right, Maisie, send me a picture. But it's always welcome, as is Roger content. the gauntlet has been laid down by Phoebe who, just a lovely picture of Phoebe arrived sort of midway through the first set of goth feckage when I most needed to pick me up, yeah, very welcome thank you Priyanka by the way, I've just discovered that the tete-a-tete at the net between Sitsipas and Altmaier was Sitsipas unhappy about an underarm serve that Altmaier did get in the bin, Stefanos no time for that Absolutely none.

1:12:55Come on. We have our top folks and executive producers, Greg, Chris and Jeff. Let's have some shout outs, Matt. We have Francis Wynne. Hello, Francis. Like TFO. Yeah. And Francis says, everyone calls me Fran. I have two small children, so don't get much time to watch the tennis these days. So the pod has been my lifeline since 2018. Oh, when Matt Roberts came on board. Just was searching for some Karen Hachinov takes. Fran liked Fran Jones. Yeah, very good. We like Fran Jones. We do. And we like Fran. We've also got Marty Betton. Hello, Marty. Right, Marty. Like Marty Mulligan. Yeah. we've had Marty before haven't we and I've said Marty McFly yeah and I reckon I've also said that Marty is an abbreviation of Martin that only exists in America like Brits just don't go for Marty do they it's too it's too it's too fun we're not like that Martin you've got to be Martin you've got to wear a tie

1:14:23like martin dam like martin dam and martin dam jr say marty dam would work do we know marty is is originally a yeah it's not for anything else really martha oh

1:14:41but i was enjoying all of that so much i didn't want to i didn't want to stop you in your flow Uh, Tennis Martha's. Let's go. I don't think, don't think this Marty was probably expecting a load of Martin Dam parallels. But we're on a bit of a roll there, so, you know. Martha. Marty, we will let you, I'm sure Pam will be in touch with some Tennis Martha's. Back in the Donovekich box tonight was Pam. Yes. Marty thank you and sorry for the Martin Dam Jr. content that you didn't want and finally we have Jessica Schaefer oh we know Jessica Schaefer we do Jessica is from New York and Jessica says 2025 has been a rough year in all things except tennis fandom and I'm so grateful to have the pod and the barge as a place of refuge.

1:15:41We love having you on the barge, Jessica. We do. Like Jessica Bagula. That's right. Who plays Victoria Azarenka tomorrow when we will be back with our Day 6 tennis podcast to wrap it all up. We are, of course, part of the Athletic Podcast Network. Nuno Borges is breakpoint up in the fourth. Who knows what could happen? We'll be back to tell you about it tomorrow. Thanks for listening. We'll speak to you then.