US Open - How did Alcaraz look on Mixed Doubles return?

0:10Hello and welcome to the tennis podcast coming to you for the first time in 2026 from New York City. David has been up for 25 hours and counting. Matt is still reading from whatever it was Flavio Cabolli. did earlier on this evening. More on that later. I am incandescent with the fact that I've just watched a stage be built before my very eyes at midnight for a ceremony with absolutely nobody in the stands stop building stages. But we are here and we are pumped and we are high on tennis. The singles gets underway on Sunday. The qualifying finishes up tomorrow. But tonight, the spotlight has been on the Mixed Doubles, an official Grand Slam tournament, TM.

1:05Revamped last year and eliciting much controversy, particularly among doubles specialists and doubles purists, and returning this year with much anticipation and a few tweaks here and there as well, mostly to give slightly more opportunities to the doubles specialists. But ironically, the title was won by Karolina Mukova and Jakub Mensik, two players that have won a total of zero doubles titles in their careers before tonight. A victory for Mensik and Mukova and for matching kits. David? Yes, it's kind of the first thing that I noticed, really, when I saw these two come out is just how perfectly matched they were.

1:53and also I think they're very nice kits, the sort of pink shirt and I don't know what colour you'd call the skirt and shorts. Sort of maroon? Yeah. Maroon, sort of silky, almost like boxer style. Certainly material. Yes, I'm certainly a big fan. Oh, and David matching bomber jackets on display here. Yes, we've just seen that as they get ready for their presentation. They look like they've really got together and spoken to their... Or formed a band. Right now. they've got the same kit sponsor haven't they and it sounds like they've worked this out so this is how they're going to come and they look the part and my word did they play well too you know with some incredible comebacks and um yeah and it i i actually i love the fact that unlike last year i thought the coolest thing about last year was that the doubles team just crashed the party and went and sent all the singles stars home and kind of ruined everything for the organizers in a way that got everybody on board in improving it for doubles players this time and making it more of an opportunity for them.

3:01And yet it's the singles players who ended up duffing them all up, which I kind of, I loved that as well. I think it was really cool. Yeah, look, we've got a sample size of two of this revamped mixed doubles Grand Slam. So we're inevitably going to do loads of comparisons of this year to last year. And I think it was very, very different this year in good ways and bad. Do you agree, Matt? Yes, I do, really. I find myself feeling a lot less existential about it this year. You know, it's now just something that happens, the US Open mixed doubles event. And, you know, I think on this very show, in these same seats last year, we had a strong debate about the format and the players that are in it and the qualification process.

3:50And I kind of just let all of that wash over me a bit more this year and just accepted it for what it is. And yet it did have a different vibe to last year. I think Mukova and Mensik are worthy winners. To me, they were the most competent pair that I saw, right from matching their outfits and taking it that seriously down to their game. Mensik with his big serve. Mukova, lovely touch up at the net, as we know she has. They dovetailed really nicely. And yet, you know, one of their toughest matches was against the doubles specialists early on in the draw when they needed a match tie break to beat Arevalo and Kristina Modenovic.

4:37And I think there was a world here where those doubles specialists did make their way through. And I'm not sure we can draw big conclusions about, oh, singles players are better than doubles players just from this tournament. I think a lot of those matches were very close. The margins were tight. And this time it was the singles players who came out on top. And I do think last year's tournament had more of an edge to it because of Irani and Ravasuri and everything they stood for. We only really saw that briefly this year with Sini Arkova giving her a line about how, oh, I still have to pay the qualities now.

5:11And Henry Patton a bit as well, I think. Especially because he's, you know, generally become a bit of a spokesman, hasn't he, for the sportive doubles. But yeah, Siniarkov did the, posted the audio on her Instagram of her own mic drop moment of sass, which is pretty epic. Yeah. But I mean, I, maybe this is a really Tennessee take and truthfully, this event really isn't for the tennis fans, is it and I don't necessarily have a have a problem with that some there's going to be a tournament for a couple of weeks here that is more for the tennis fans I still want if it's going to be an official Grand Slam tournament TM I still want it to have competitive integrity not to be too boring about it but like the details beyond that don't don't trouble me too much but I I missed David having a doubles team involved tonight to give the tournament that edge and that spice.

6:21I did miss that tonight. Yeah, I think I agree with that from a, it's quite an insular tennis perspective as somebody who just was a bit wound up about them doing this with the format a year ago anyway, but actually ultimately accepted that it was really good. but that element of it does make it better. I mean look, tonight I definitely noticed a difference with not having the biggest stars. You know, last night the tournament did it. It had Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz. More about them later but you know, there was a difference there. These are really good players. I went out into the stadium for Andreeva and Rublev against Menchik and Mukova.

7:10And honestly, I mean, it was a reminder to me about how everybody just has their own conversation in the Arthra Stadium, regardless of what match is going on, really. And it was just this din, you know, and there happened to be a tennis match going on at the same time. And the place was packed. I mean, listen, don't get me wrong, the place was full. But then towards the end of the match, when Rublev and Andreva started to mount a comeback, the crowd suddenly decided, these are our guys. These are our guys, and they were really loving those two. And then they got on top, and they looked like they were going to win.

7:50And people really got into that. I don't know, there's something quite lovable about them, I think, both Rublev and Andreva, when you see them in person. have you seen the very awkward sort of endearingly awkward quotes from the two of them about the crush that Mir Andreeva unnecessarily confessed to having on Andrei Ryblev as a kid which I'm sure made Ryblev feel a hundred years he must have wanted to say I'm next gen I'll have you know imagine like I wanted to say he's standing right there but it was lovely it was really really lovely and he was typically sort of self-deprecating to a fault about it like you're not that bad Andre like you are crush worthy um yeah he was like oh I'm so I'm sure she just felt sorry for me it was it was it was textbook mixed doubles like endearing awkward vibes between a pair yeah yeah yeah she like praised his hair yeah she was asked what was it about him that made you have a crush on him she was like I don't know probably his hair but like they lost you know a sort of really dramatic match where they had match points and Draver had an easy put away and they didn't take it and Rublev had missed her forehand on set point in the first set and I was just thinking about how different that experience would be if they were on the singles court losing that match.

9:24It was just nice to see them still playing a competitive match but also it not feeling like the weight of the world is on top of them and they were happy in each other's company. In the moment they did tighten. Yes, absolutely. And it was proper nerves that kind of cost them because they were 9-7 up in that tie break And as you say, I mean, Androva was right on top of the net with that volley and just fluffed it. And then the whole thing got taken over thereafter. But once it was over, big hug, it's okay. You know, whereas, like you say, you could just imagine how bad they would have been feeling on their own.

10:06I do think there was a world actually tonight where there was real edge and stakes to it. And that's if the two losers of the semifinals had actually met in the final. We would have had Svitolina coming up against two Russian players, you know, in Andreeva and Rublev. You know, we were a couple of match tie breaks away from that happening tonight. And they're being a very different feel to what we're seeing now in this trophy ceremony where Mukova and Menshik are having laughs with Kabali and Bengshik. Bengtšić, that actually would have given the matches some real weight, I think. I'll tell you who definitely seems to consider this an official Grand Theftslam tournament TM, and that is Sven Grunewald, who is grinning and he's filming this like it's his daughter's wedding.

10:58He looks just absolutely, he could not be prouder of Karolina Mukova right now. He's very into this. Here they are lifting the trophy in a matching shiny maroon jackets. I've actually just seen some quotes that Ben Rothenberg posted specifically about those outfits and the colour thereof. Apparently, it does seem like Karolina Mukherjee is very much the leader of this team. I'd read some quotes yesterday about how he had approached her quite early on in the season about wanting to play together. And she'd said, well, you'll have to get your ranking up. because it's on a combined ranking and I'm doing my bit.

11:43You're going to have to do better. And then he reached the French Open semifinal and they were like, okay, we're... This can work. This can work. So that was sweet. And then apparently the outfits definitely were a concerted effort and Menchik said it's definitely one of the most important things to look good on the court. and they decided on the pink tops. They had a choice of outfits, I presume, that their kit sponsor presented them with. And they decided on pink tops with maroon shorts. But that was following some initial confusion because Menshik says he didn't know what maroon was. Mugum said, I was like, let's take the maroon shorts.

12:29And he's like, what is maroon? I'm like, okay, that's going to be a problem. it's all very US Open mixed doubles isn't it but in a in an endearing way uh speaking of the weird but endearing Matt the people can wait no longer uh tell everyone about what Flavio did yes at the end of the first set of his semi-final tonight it was uh Kaboli and Bencic up against Jem's life. And Monfils had just had a situation where he was taking Svitolina's shots. You know, the classic mixed doubles scenario that we see, a real test of the man's ego. They see this rally developing and they just cannot help but get involved in a way that actually does not serve the purpose they think they're serving.

13:30and he made a right mess of it Monfils and overhit and put his head in his hands he knew what he'd done and so that was the warning sign Kabbali did not see that warning sign he thought yeah I like a bit of that getting involved in a rally I don't need to get involved in and tried to poach tried to steal a shot you know and he ran all the way over the other side of the court at the net he was now just in front of of his partner bencic and missed the ball and then had to get out of the way but in getting out of the way he ended up in the line of fire of bencic's backhand and got hit by bencic's backhand as he was trying to get out of the way having made such a mess of it um that gave jem's life monfils and smitalina set point and it was caballi's turn to serve and he double-faulted on that set point.

14:24And it was honestly like the worst sequence of points you could imagine from Cavalli. But it did seem that he knew he'd messed up. And for the rest of the match... I think he always knows he's messed up. For the rest of the match, it was like he took it upon himself in a much more disciplined way to make up for it. And, you know, if we're doing tennis analysis, I think actually Svitolina was far too, she was far too content to just rally with Benchic in this match. She needed to keep Kabaly honest and sometimes hit it to him and make it so he couldn't just poach and keep him on his toes a bit more.

15:04I think Svitolina didn't have her best day in this one. She missed a lot of volleys as well. But Kabaly and Benchic really turned that round. I feel like if we're awarding it's not a crime to be locked in prize, which I think we should always for this event in honour of Jack Draper last year. To me, Kabaly and Bencic get it for their, you know, because they won that thing in Indian Wells earlier the year. I think they've really... They're the new Fritz Rabakina. But with a bit more fun than Fritz. A lot more fun than Fritz and Rabakina. But I think they really rated themselves as a pair. And I think Kabaly was pretty...

15:39I mean, Bencic is a heck of a doubles player. And mixed doubles players. I've seen a lot of her at United Cup playing mixed. Yeah, she's really good. And look, Caballi is aware he's not Federer. He said, in this life and the next one, I am not Roger. And Belinda is having to now play with Flavio. But they really did work. There was an intensity to them. And they won the second set in the final very easily and had the momentum going into the match tie-break. But Menchik and Mukovo took it from them. But yeah, I did enjoy their vibes. I'm happy to give them that award. Can we give an award to Gail Monfils for that rally that he did?

16:20I think it was yesterday when he ran off the court to retrieve a ball. Generational, David, they'll be saying. Do you know what? I would actually call that generational. I mean, not only is he from another generation because he's 40-odd, he's retrieving a ball like he used to when he was 19. I mean, it was just absurd what he did, sliding into the corner, almost into the corridor, and then getting it back into the court, and then doing that sort of, Alina, can you just move over there so I can make room for my finishing shot with the forehand down the line? It's very, like, revealing of character, the mixed doubles, isn't it?

17:02Like, everybody's just sort of, it's like everyone's career in microcosm. And when you were describing Caballi there and sort of being a doofus and then spending the rest of the match making up for it, swinging from one extreme to the other, that's our Flavio. Fritz playing with Jessica Pegula this tournament, they were awful. Did not go well. I thought they were the favourites, really, on paper. And probably Taylor Fritz did too. Maybe Fritz took it too seriously. They got smoked by Schneider Rude. 4-2-4-1. I think they get the probably never spoke before yesterday award. Schneider and Rude. Yes, I agree.

17:51Yeah, and they just came out and asked. Potentially Serena and Alcaraz as well. But at least that would be understandable, given he's half her age, literally half her age, and they've probably never met before. should we talk about the Alcaraz of it all or the Serena in Alcaraz of it all it was fun wasn't it well it lasted we did get two matches out of them it was a bit weird which was one more than I was expecting absolutely me too I thought they were brilliant in that first they were really good Serena especially I mean Serena she was locked in if she's up for it there's lots of potential for her as a doubles player I think I don't draw any conclusions on it in terms of singles.

18:39I think that's misguided. I did briefly during the first match. She looks better than she did at Wimbledon. I think she's made a mistake. She was serving extremely well, Serena. Unlike Carlos Alcaraz, who double-faulted on the first point. But he was so nervous, particularly at the start. But I think throughout, and I do... look, I really have no idea what this US Open is going to look like for him singles-wise. But if it is going to look in any way positive, I do think having played this mixed doubles and got... I think he'll be nervous for his first round singles match still, big time. But I think this will take the edge off a bit.

19:20Having had this experience, he's got some of it out of his system, definitely. Because he was so nervous. I mean there's also the Serena element he was definitely terrified of her yeah he was definitely like what am I going to say to her what are we going to talk about there was a great moment where he was shown laughing and kind of fooling around and then she sort of ran up to him and it looked like she was saying is there any chance you could just sort of concentrate and he just thought yes Serena no problem at all Serena I mean I don't know whether that's actually what was happening but that was the vibe it was giving off but I do think this would have done him the world a good just to have got out there and I mean he said I haven't been in front of a crowd for a long time and we saw it a little bit I actually believed Roger Federer the other night when he played Andy Roddick in this sort of exhibition match that he was a bit nervous because he just hasn't done this it's a kind of muscle you haven't used in all this time and Alcaraz obviously hasn't plus there's the unknown of the arm.

20:29I mean, and again, in terms of reading things into singles based on what you've watched in a mixed doubles over the best of, you know, four, well, first of five, four games, whatever it is, he looked good to me. He looked like Carlos Alcraz. You know, I didn't notice anything where he's holding back. He looked like he was hitting out. I think some people I think his serve speeds were a bit down but I mean all sorts of reasons why that could be both sinister and totally benign and innocuous he wasn't dollying it in but I don't think they were necessarily what he was serving in Australia for example you just can't read anything really into it other than And this is probably good for him that he's got out there and he's experienced it.

21:27And now let's see. But you're right. It's very easy to watch it and think, oh, it looks pretty good, doesn't it? You know? Yeah. But it's so different. Yeah. I draw nothing, really, from what we saw in terms of how it's going to lead to when he plays singles. Mostly I was just delighted to see him again. You know, there was this one point in the first match they played where Alcaraz sort of hit a diving volley at the net and retrieved it. And then Serena hit an incredible backhand angle. And then Alcaraz had another good volley to help them win it. And it was just like... The grin. Only Alcaraz can make a point like that.

22:12Matt said, well, that's the best tennis point since April. That's having such a good time. I was like, oh, Carlos, thank goodness, you're back. But yeah, I draw no conclusions about the form he's in and we'll have to see. I also draw no conclusions from the practice sets that he's playing, you know? Which there are very confused reports about. Absolutely. But, you know, I was watching the... Except Merida's in the mix suddenly. Because he's just thrashed out, guys. Yeah, Merida's on for the career slam. I was watching the Rafa Nadal doc recently, and there's a big thing on that about his last role on Garros, and I'd forgotten, but all the talk leading into the first day of the tournament was how well Nadal had been practising, and he'd been winning all his practice sets.

23:06He'd beaten Holger Runa in a practice set, and this was a great sign. Obviously, he was kind of screwed over by the draw he got. He ended up getting Zverev, Ben Alcaraz has got the protection of still being a very high seed, that something like that's not going to happen to him. But also, it was quite obvious as soon as the actual match started that this wasn't Nadal just suddenly back and rolling back the years. No, he was confronted with the reality of his situation. I think you only get that in a proper match situation that Alcaraz is going to have in a few days. But yeah, it was a fun experience.

23:44and it looked like he had fun as well, like on the court. It was nice to see him just getting joy from tennis again. And yeah, I was so impressed with Serena's level. She was kind of carrying them at times. She was walloping returns. Yeah, it was great to see. By the way, what a weird year for Erin Routliff. She has played Serena Williams three times. she's played in she's been involved in most of the matches that serena williams has played it's wild um she and i'm not sure if she and lloyd glasspool are going to be teaming up again or talking but they didn't talk during the match it was a really i mean look that's a tough experience isn't it being thrown into the the alcaraz serena show but there are lots of different ways of responding to that and i'm I'm not sure theirs was the most conducive to, what evidently wasn't the most conducive to success.

24:47I do, if we're sort of deciding what bits of Alcaraz, scraps of Alcaraz information and evidence we're prepared to read into, I'm slightly worried about the fact that he didn't practice today. He's had four and a half months off. I don't think he needs days off from practice. could be very wrong about that. He is on the schedule tomorrow. Yeah. At least. But yes, I thought that was a bit odd. Yeah. Any other dispatches from the mixed doubles? Anything else we'd like to touch upon? Shout out to Siniarkova for acing Djokovic on Matchpoint. They were... That must have felt good. I mean, not Sinaiakova and Patton.

25:39I think they were a cool story. But Djokovic and Savalenka going out first up, I think, for the tournament was a blow. Look, let's be real. The tournament wanted one of those... I think the tournament wanted and maybe even needed, not that it's been a failure, but it definitely hasn't been what they were hoping for tonight. let's be honest there was reports that you know the dynamic ticket pricing they have here tickets were going quite cheap this morning with the with the lineup that they they had this evening and look for tennis fans is a pretty pretty good lineup but not for casuals like casuals wanted sabalenka djokovic serena alcaraz or pagula fritz yeah i think like they needed they needed one of those in the lineup and they didn't get that and for me like I would I would have loved seeing one of them tonight too I I'm a vibes based sports fan really and they would have brought added vibe but as we've established if it's going to be an official Grand Slam tournament TM you've got to have some integrity to it and that's that's the price you pay isn't it you can't just manufacture your dream lineup and i hope i hope that they just take this on the chin and they're like that's that's how it goes sometimes um and they don't tweak the format to try and make it more likely that's the teams that you want to go through do go through i hope it they're hoping yeah i think they've more or less got it about right now with the because they have this qualifying tournament for the doubles players to take part in to earn spots in this main draw and i think that that works it gives an extra amount of tennis um it gives opportunity and you could you can then end up with more there were more teams in this in this time from from the doubles world and i think that was really good i do feel as though they i mean they relied on frankly a couple of people well one well into her 40s and Novak Djokovic you know pushing 40 because there was no golf there were a few other people not playing in it which I think would be a little bit of a concern for them yeah they could do with a few other the sort of big stars with longevity left in the tank being invested it seems pretty clear that Coco Goff's not bothered Yannick Sinner okay he was supposed to play last year but this year he was never going to play knee knee or not I know Tiafoe was going to play wasn't he but reached the final in Cincinnati but he's always going to prioritise singles I don't know I do feel like no Shelton no Feast yeah exactly they could do with one or two of those who's getting into this and building a bit of a relationship with the event, I think.

28:57But look, it wasn't as good as last year for me, but that's okay. Not all Grand Sum events are the same. There's going to be good years and there's going to be bad years. And obviously... It was fine. We had the novelty factor last year. That was so big, I think. Yeah. But I also, you know, it really was cool to see Serena and Alphard. You know, if somebody had told us a year ago that that would be happening, we would have been blown away, wouldn't we? It was weird that that was day session, wasn't it? It was just sort of optically, like, this is so, so obviously should be under some lights and have a big intro, and it was still really cool, but, yeah.

29:39Maybe they'll be back. Serena will be back, and we'll talk about that, and, well, the wild card found down the back of the sofa in part two. Welcome back to part two of today's tennis podcast, the first of 19 daily tennis podcasts from the US Open from this point onwards. David is too tired to hear that stat right now. Hold on, it was 22 the other day. Well, it was 22, three days ago. That was the maths that I just did live in my head. Right, yes. And of course, that included the Friends show from yesterday. About the redraw, which is up now, if you want to have a listen. Up now for Friends of the Pod.

30:24Yeah, David, when did you last... What time did you wake up UK time this morning? 4.45 a.m., which... So that's... I've been up 24 hours now, haven't I? Yeah, 25 hours. Yeah. I feel great. I'm worried that you've gone too far with staying up and you're now, because it's now 5.30am in the UK and that's not far off David Law awake, up and Adam pumped about the day time. And I've also got to be up really early for tomorrow because we're live on stage at the US Open. Yes. So, what time's that? Yeah, indeed. It's 1pm, David. Thank you very much for asking. 1pm on the main stage. A lot of people will be listening to this after 1pm on Thursday.

31:14So please just hit the fast forward 45 seconds button. But if you're not, and it's not too late to make decisions about what to do with your day, do come down. And you're also in the New York area. I think if you're not, the ship is probably sailed. Imagine if people flew in for the wrong day. But do come down. We're on the main stage. And it's going to rain. It's free. It is going to rain. Well, actually. No, maybe not. The chances of rain have diminished considerably since this morning when we were all very doomful about the weather forecast. It's going to be lovely, folks. The cast of Chicago, I'm sure, will, you know, the show must go on.

31:54That's what they say, isn't it? They'll play through the rain. So will we. So do come down. And we'll be knocking around somewhere, even if we're not on the stage. Exactly, David. uh qualies finishes up tomorrow uh so we'll cover that and of course the draw the uh the main order of tomorrow in our show tomorrow that we'll record a rule we will record after our live show tomorrow that clear excellent uh there's some really cool storylines bubbling away in qualifying we've had two rounds completed the final round is all played tomorrow jing ching wen is into the final round of qualifying bianca andrescu has dropped just six games in two matches but i'm not getting carried away more math you have said that about 18 times joanna garland is through david and i went to watch joanna garland earlier um and it was a joy it was the highlight of my day so uplifting and if you want if you want to watch a game just one game in a tennis match which sums up stress and edginess and what it all means the final game in that match she's playing priscilla hon and playing different brands of tennis let's put it that way priscilla hon just she she was keyed into what was going on here and what she needed to do and and garland got herself to 40 love in this game she did brilliantly you know she's sort of serving it out no nerves we're all expecting nerves they're not coming and and and hon lifts one lob garland smashes it it goes just out okay it's only the one hon then starts slicing every forehand just floating it onto the baseline floating it floating it floating it and garland starts to miss and and this game went to juice it went to break back points it went to juice and it was just back and forth and she kept being three points away garland and she eventually wrestled herself over the line and just sort of crumpled didn't she she'd handled it so incredibly well and then you realize just what players are holding on to, nerves-wise.

34:18And Hon was just doing this masterful showing of how to just try to make your opponent choke. That's what she was... She didn't try and hit any winners. It really was like they were playing two different sports on the same court. It was, yeah, it was extraordinary. So Garland faces Fran Jones. That'd be cool. Going to try and watch some of that. Grigor Dimitrov faces Otto Vertinen. one of them's going to get into the main draw. Keanu Shikori's into the final round of qualifying. It's a really cool set of matches tomorrow. And he's got a fellow Japanese opponent. Oh, has he? Yeah, Sakamoto. Gosh, that's fun.

35:01I can feel the Japanese journalist writing the passing of the baton pieces as we speak. So we'll cover that tomorrow. Obviously, everything that's going on in... What have we got? winston-salem monterey uh there's another tournament this week isn't there is that it no the land is gone i mean the land is still there but the tournament i assume yeah i think there's a uh women's 125 right in philadelphia but tour events is monterey and winston-salem and there's the rohampton event where oliver tarvet is of course david was having a bit of time on the bus earlier he's won both of his matches so far this week folks Arthur Ferry's into quarterfinal yeah in Winston-Salem anyway we'll talk about all of this tomorrow folks tonight just a couple more bits and bobs to talk about in wildcard news you've probably heard Serena and Venus Williams have a wildcard into the women's doubles not a huge surprise but that is very cool I think everybody's yeah pleased to see that I mean especially given the way Serena plays yeah absolutely Venus has got herself a good partner there.

36:13And in other wildcard news, remember Stan Wawrinka? How did you describe, David, the decision not to award Stan Wawrinka a wildcard? Well, it's crap. You need to describe things as crap more often, David, because people are listening. And there's a U-turn happened. Yeah. Patrick Kipson, who got one of the late, late awarded wildcards. He wasn't in the first raft of wildcardies. He got his awarded, well, two or three days ago. It was the last couple, wasn't it, that were announced, and everybody was expecting one of them to be Stan Rinker, and in fact, it was Patrick Kipson. Well, he's developed an injury in that time, has now withdrawn.

36:58I'm being glib, of course. Who knows when he developed that injury? But anyway, I became aware of it in that time. and that freed up a wild card that has been awarded to Stan Rorinka after he liked our reel with David calling the decision crap. Yeah, I think he was going around on Instagram liking all the reels that were slagging off the decision and then he posted a lovely, sort of magnanimous, accepting, heartfelt post about how great New York's been to him and all that kind of thing. Didn't even mention that he hadn't been given a wild card. He took it very gracefully. What I want to know is if this wild card, well, there's a lot of things I want to know about how all this shook out.