Washington - Fernandez and De Minaur collect titles as Venus Williams shines again

34:34And he said the reason he's much better is because he moved to Monaco, which, like, think what you want about Monte Carlo. Paying taxes was what was holding him back. That was part of it. The other part of it was he was like, yeah, I get to play with Yannick Sinner every week. Like, I get to practice with these guys. And it's funny because, like, we think of it as, like, well, yeah, of course, like, do your job seriously. And he was basically like, yeah, I was living in Malaga, hitting with my friends and it was nice. He was like, he's like, well, God, these guys really work. And so he sort of like is in, you know, now he's hanging around the Monte Carlo Country Club and hitting with Medvedev and Zverev and all these other players who are, and Sinner and all these other players who are the top players in the world.

35:28And he's just like practicing differently. And I think it's time. I think the next step is to start wearing socks that are the same color. You know, I think he's so talented and has such incredible strokes and is, like, so beautiful a tennis player to watch. And, like, he has everything. Like, you know, usually when you say, like, oh, you know, like when Djokovic is telling Sitsipas you're going to win many of these Grand Slams, like, he doesn't actually think Sitsipas is going to win many of these Grand Slams. But I think when Diminar is telling David Chikina, like, you're too good not to win one of these, like, I think he's pretty, I think that's genuinely how people think about him.

36:11Like, they think he's a great player, but he's just the guy who will hit an underarm serve on match point. He's the guy who keeps coming back to the socks again, which I think goes along with, like, the quirky guy who wears a black sock and a white sock. Like, don't be quirky. Don't hit the underarm serve on match point. Like, be great, be who you are. And like, you know, like, it's, it's something that like a lot of people in all walks of life go to and they're sort of like in their 20s, and they're not quite ready to be an adult and they don't really know how to behave in the workplace. but like at some point you sort of settle down and you'd be like and you sort of sort of start acting like a grown-up and like you know i think like he's getting there and you know i i use the socks as a metaphor but like i think he's made great strides and just gotta make that next step well how great to have such a easily rectifiable thing to get you over the line.

37:16Sometimes it's that way though. Sometimes it is that simple of like, you know, you stop wearing ripped clothes to the office and like you start taking yourself a little more seriously and other people take you more seriously and it becomes like a virtuous cycle. And like he's practicing with good players now and showing up in the weight room and like he's doing all these he's doing all these correct things so i think he takes the odd socks seriously like i think that's become you know it's it's something that is his thing it's his it's kind of his style i'm i'm in on the odd socks i like the davidovich vikino odd socks and i think he's gonna win a title one day in his odd socks and he's gonna he's gonna show that he can he can do it I think you're absolutely right about like the steps to practice with better players more and all of that I think he's done a lot of that work and I think that I think the day is going to come I agree with you Catherine about the scar tissue building and but I do think that he is so good and he does seem to be he does seem to be getting better actually that I do think a title is going to come for him um but i did also think of all those tennis relives when alex de minore was was saying that and and and wince a little bit but like i i like i think that's right like players rate him i remember when when we spoke to medvedev at indian wells medvedev put him on his on his men's backhand list didn't he he was one of the first names that that came to mind for medvedev with that shot and david's always talking about his his great ball strike and how that that shot just flies off his strings and he seems to have it under control a lot more but yeah trying to trying to close these tournaments is tough and it goes to show like no small feat for Alex de Manor to have 10 of these right like a player with Davidovic Fakina's talent is struggling to get one and Alex de Manor's got 10 like absolutely yeah it's a great point in Umag Luciano Darderi has done the double which of Borstad and Gestad did he win which way round was it he won Borstad he won Borstad and Bublik won Gestad and has also done the double by winning Kitzbühel so Bublik and Darderi mopping up in the post Wimbledon men's clay court swing that has Matt Futterman sort of softly shaking his head in a way that I very much approve of.

40:09Yeah, well done them. Well done me for signing Bublik to my fantasy team at just the right time. Apparently he's not playing Toronto Bublik. He's kind of prioritised these points over... we've now got an eye roll to go with the head shake would you like to add a comment to your body language matt i mean like i'm all for i'm all for players like being able to play tournaments to not have to and not have to travel as much because like travel is exhausting and if you're a european player like you know do you want to come you know coming over to america for two months is it's a lot like and I know they've been in Europe for since April but like you know they also have to go to the Australia Middle East sunshine double first three months which is no fun so it's fine but like clay court like clay court season ends with the last ball of Roland Garros like just do that tennis and like and then let's move on and then clay can and like appear in the odd home and away Davis cup thing.

41:28And then it's like, and then it's awesome. Like, oh no, we're going to put the Spanish, we're going to put the Americans on clay. And, you know, it's like, that's where clay should be the rest of the year. Not in July, after Wimbledon. So you can mop up some points and sneak your way. I don't know. It just feels kind of icky. So congratulations to Luciana Darderi and Alexander Bublik on your icky wins in Umag and Kitsfuel, respectively. And to Marie Buskova, who won the title in Prague. She won the Chekhov in the final beat, Linda Nozkova. That's it for part one. Join us in part two for news. And there's a lot of it.

42:18welcome back to part two of the tennis podcast where we turn our attention now to news from the past well mostly the past week but also some bits of bobs of news from the week before as well that we haven't yet had a chance to touch upon let's start with Yannick Sinner rehiring Umberto Ferrara the fitness trainer of course who was implicated in the incident that led to his doping ban, his being massaged with steroid cream that led to him testing positive. Quote, Umberto has played an important role in Yannick's development to date and his return reflects a renewed focus on continuity and performance at the highest level.

43:03The decision has been made in alignment with Yannick's management team as part of ongoing preparations for upcoming tournaments, including the Cincinnati Open and the US Open. Now, just to remind you of the timeline, obviously, the incident, the offending massage took place in Indian Wells last year. Yannick Sinner found out about the positive test a few weeks later. We found out about it almost exactly a year ago. It was the day after he won the title in Cincinnati that it became public. That was a week out from the US Open. And it wasn't until that time that it became public that Yannick Sinner made the decision to part ways with Umberto Ferrara.

43:46He then, of course, hired Novak Djokovic's old fitness training team. He dispatched with them after Haller recently. So now he's rehired Umberto Ferrara. it's more Yannick Sinner backstage chaos for the most unchaotic tennis player there is what next from Yannick Sinner this was really really unexpected to me Matt and I don't honestly don't know what to make of it at all massively unexpected and yes pretty strange optics right like I don't really know why you would you would bring it all up again um obviously Ferrara is adamant that he told uh Naldi to use the spray for personal use and personal use only and Ferrara says that he warned Naldi so it seems to be that like Naldi is is the one who's Naldi is under the bus right um and you know sinner presumably believes that and trusts that and has forgiven ferrara for his part in it and and kind of wants to move on with him in his career i suppose i kind of look at it as kind of like is that is ferrara really that good that like there aren't other fitness trainers that you could potentially work with that that don't have all of this sort of backstory and baggage.

45:27And look, it seems like this year he's been in really good physical condition with the team that he got rid of after Haller. Like, I think there's been a noticeable improvement, actually, in Sinner's physical condition on court. He looks less bothered by the hip a lot of the time. And he's lasting, you know, think of the tennis he played after five and a half hours against Alcarez at the French Open. And like, I've been less worried about his sort of physical condition. And I'm not saying that he didn't do important work with Ferrara in his career. And he obviously thinks that Ferrara is an important person and he's moving forward with him.

46:02I found that the expression reflecting a renewed focus on continuity and performance at the highest level, slightly odd. Like, what has Yannick Sinner been focusing on, if not performance at the highest level for the last 18 months? It really didn't seem like he needed a renewed focus there, but he obviously did need a fitness trainer. You can get through a tournament, as he showed at Wimbledon, as he showed at the US Open last year, without one, but he needs one. I'm just very surprised that he's gone in this direction, going back to someone who, you know, certainly played some part in really, like, damaging Sinner's reputation and potentially costing a big part of his career.

46:49Like, it's just a massive surprise to me. And it's going to be interesting to hear Sinner, like, talk about it as he will in his press conferences rather than just with this statement from his team. Yeah, look, Matt, there's no doubt that optically this is a weird one, right? Like, there will be eyebrows will be raised at this. No, I actually 100 % disagree with both of you. Like, I don't understand why he fired him in the first place. Like, I never understood it. I thought that was, I thought that optically was bad. But the fact is that he did. I know. And I think that was like a, and I think that was a mistake.

47:31And that was like, like if I think that like actually contradicted in some ways, the story he told and the story he wanted us all to believe and the story that the ITIA believed and that ultimately WADA by giving him, you know, a slap on the wrist, basically believed too, which is that this was a mistake. This was like an honest mistake by people who were kind of stupid and should have known better. And by firing them initially, I thought he made it seem like there was something dirty about them, that he was trying to distance himself from people who had. And this is if you believe that the cream was not covering up for something else, which is what all the scientists believe, which is what the tribunals have accepted.

48:28So, like, you know, if you're Nick Kyrgios, if you're Denis Shapovalov, if you're maybe he's backtracked or something. I don't know. I can't keep it. I can't keep I can't keep everybody's like complaints on Twitter about this and, you know, bitterness about this straight. But like there are people in the world who will never accept and will always think that there was Shady and that he was. And yes, it seems like he was given some pretty good treatment in terms of like process and speed and stuff like that. But having said that, like everything that's read, everything that's official is like that this was a dumb, honest mistake.

49:08But is it dumb enough to warrant a firing? okay but like raise your hand if you haven't done dumb things and okay but if i but there are consequences for that yeah if i employed somebody that did something dumb enough to get me banned for three three months because because i am ultimately responsible for their behavior that is i mean it's up to yannick sinner whether he considers that a fireable offense but he obviously did consider that a fireable offense or somebody told them to to consider that or if someone said it was worth it to consider it a fireable offense. And then, I don't know, I'm looking forward to speaking to him about it and finding out, like, exactly how he thought this through.

49:51But also, like, in the world of the rules, Barta Ferrara is allowed to continue to coach anyone. Sinner probably thinks he's the best. And he's like, I want the best guy. Like, you know, like I actually want the person who's best for me. Why should I let Matteo Bertini have that guy? Or like, why should I let someone else have that guy if like he's okay? And like, I worked with him and he did something stupid. And like I said, like people do, people do dumb shit. Like I've done dumb things that like, you know, I don't know that I've done anything that like should have gotten me fired. But like, you know, there's, there's things that maybe could have gone a different way and it would have come out worse.

50:48And, you know, and then maybe somebody would have said he would have should be fired. And I'm talking about like, you know, lifeguarding at a country club when I was 16 years old, you know, I'm not talking about like, you know, plagiarism or anything like that in my career. um so i'm just saying that like i don't know if the if the record shows that like this guy's clear like i believe in second chances i really do like you know you commit a crime you go to prison you come out like you should be able to get a job like you know and i agree with that i'm just surprised that sin has gone gone back there personally do we think there's any chance that And this is the reference to a renewed focus on continuity in this statement.

51:39Is there any chance this is linked in Sinner's mind to the fact that Darren Cahill isn't going to be available for the US Open? Darren Cahill isn't going to be at the US Open and he's seeking a comforting figure in the absence of Darren Cahill? I think he's thinking longer term than that. You know, he's got Simone as his sort of guy who's always there and I don't think it's linked to that. But, you know, that was another piece of Yannick Sinner news, wasn't it, that came out in the Italian press about Cahill not being at the US Open. There's obviously a lot of speculation at the moment. We don't really know what Cahill is going to be doing beyond this year.

52:33Wouldn't surprise me if he did continue working with Sinner beyond this year, even though at the start of the year it was kind of said that it would be his final year with him. Like all that uncertainty. Well, if Yannick Sinner is looking for a new coach come the end of 2025, Goran Ivanovic is once again available. His, quote, brief but intense spell with Stefano Sitsipas is over.

53:04But what do we have to say about this? We understand Tsitsipas is getting back together with his dad. I think after how Wimbledon went and the quotes that came out of Goran Ivanovic after Wimbledon, I don't think this is any tremendous surprise. I think the episode is a surprise. I think Goran Ivanovic signing up for this gig in the first place, given the known messiness around Sitsipas and his dad and that sort of situation and the recent getting his hands burnt that Ivanovic has sustained with his brief spell with Elena Rabatkinner. I'm surprised he signed up for this role in the first place, but I'm not surprised that it didn't last long and has crashed and burned.

53:58It's kind of sad as it makes me feel for Stefanos Tsitsipas. And it does make me intrigued about what Goran's going to do next because he wants to coach. He's taking these jobs because he wants to be out there. I think he's anxious about these bad episodes stacking up on his CV and I think he's desperate for another success. Maybe not a Novak Djokovic-style success. But, yeah, I think he'd be keen to get out there. But I also think it's, I don't know, this feels like a pretty critical move, who he coaches next. I probably would have fired Goran if he'd gone after me the way Goran went after Stefanos publicly.

54:48I mean, I think it was probably already over at that point. Yeah, that seems possibly possible as well. Although I remember speaking with... I mean, I think, where were we at the fancy place, Hurlingham? And I was just with like one other person speaking with Stephanos and he was still speaking pretty kindly about Gorin at that point and talking about learning stuff. And, you know, I don't know if it was already over at that point because I'd actually seen Stefanos like sitting at a picnic table at the All England Club during that qualifying week with his dad having a look like what was a pretty serious heart to heart.

55:38and my immediate thought was like, oh, this is where that's going. Okay. But also, yeah, not really a great look for Goran, who I realize is a friend of the tennis podcast, to be lighting up his former players like that. No, I think this is a regrettable episode for Goran and his coaching CV. I really do. I don't think the Elena Rabatkinner episode reflects badly on him at all. I think he worries that it does. And I think maybe that worry was part of why he accepted this role and was keen to jump back in quickly and prove himself. Yeah, which makes me, you know, his stock couldn't have been higher after coaching Novak Djokovic, could it?

56:35It felt like he could pretty much have his pick of players that needed a coach and were willing to to agree to his terms in terms of, you know, number of weeks and and pay, which I assume is, you know, I assume he's one of the pricier coaches out there. But as is Darren Cahill, which is probably my guess is, which my guess may be at the heart of the mystery around how much further, how much longer they'll be together. Hmm. Interesting. OK. But yeah, I. That's just a gap. I mean, but I always think I mean, I think everything's about money. So, you know, I just generally because it generally is.

57:18So is Naomi Osaka split with Patrick Muratogli then about money? I mean, it might be about her not making her not making the money that she thinks she should or getting the results. This was announced yesterday via social media, as things are. She said lots of warm things about Patrick Moratoglu, but that is the end of their relationship. She lost out to Emma Raducanu in Washington last week. She's lost, isn't she, Matt? Naomi Osaka is lost right now. Yeah, and when she hired Patrick Moratoglu in the first place, looking at the recent Patrick Morotoglu history, I was always worried about sort of where it might end up, that coaching relationship.

58:09You know, if you look at sort of where he left Holger Runa and where he left Simona Hallett, it's probably in a worse place than where he found them. And yet I did think that there might be an initial jolt and an initial impact. And I think the sort of real shame for Osaka is that in that period, in those first few tournaments she had with Morotoglu, she got injured didn't she you know she had to retire against Goff at the back end the last year she had to retire in that Auckland final this year where she debatably lost to Towson and then she had to retire at the Australian Open and I actually think she was playing really good tennis then early in this partnership but she was having to retire and she was injured and then as it's gone on well in her words the results haven't been resulting and there's just been a lot of red flags really over the last few months you know that statement from Moratoglu about no stars in in women's tennis like you're literally working with Naomi Osaka and that press conference in Paris where Osaka spoke about you know not wanting to let him down and how he used to work with the greatest of all time and now he's seeing that performance after her loss to bedossa like that was a red flag of not a healthy player coach relationship and then even at wimbledon when david had that exchange for the soccer in the press conference and she was like yeah i didn't know he'd said that but i do see some stuff that he says when i'm scrolling and like it just it just wasn't really sounding good and the results haven't haven't been good over the last over the last few months and and yeah lost is kind of a a good way to put it really and that very often leads to a coaching change so i'm not i'm not surprised by by this one to be honest

1:00:05likewise more u.s open mixed doubles pairings were announced this past week if anything things have got weirder. So confirmed, we have Emma Navarro, Yannick Sinner, I'm Afraid Matt, Holger Runa and Amanda Anisimova does seem to be confirmed. Igor Shiontek and Kasper Rude, Lena Rabachner and Taylor Fritz, Jasmine Paolini, Lorenzo Mazzetti, Jessica Bergula, Tommy Paul, Mira Androva, Daniel Medvedev, Madison Keyes and Francis Tiafo. Those partnerships, those pairs are confirmed based on their combined rankings. Now, I should point out that, as we detailed last week, things get weird now in the tennis schedule, and the final of Cincinnati is on a Monday, and the final of Cincinnati is three weeks today, and the US Open mixed doubles starts three weeks tomorrow.

1:01:06There are going to be withdrawals, players reaching the final in Cincinnati, and a lot of players on that list would be favoured to reach the semis and or finals of Cincinnati. They're not going to be rushing to New York to make sure they reach the start line for the mixed doubles is my prediction. So look, those are the confirmed teams for now. But I think there are going to be withdrawals. We have some more doubles players that have entered the fray. We've got some interesting partnerships. We have Gabby Dabrowski, the Canadian double specialist partnering with Felix Auger-Aliassime. And we have the two doubles number ones.

1:01:49I feel like combining to kind of try and make a statement here. I love this. Marcelo Arevalo and Katerina Siniarkova. I'm really interested about what the US Open do with those two and whether they get in. And we also have Sue Weishay and Jan, it's Jan, isn't it? Jan Zielinski. I get him confused with Jan Zalesny, the javelin thrower of the 90s. No, Jan Zielinski. We also have Donna Vekic and Hubert Hercatch. And we have Venus Williams and Rylea Pelka. We have Katie Bolter and Alex de Minoer. And we have, I think, the weirdest of the bunch, Karolina Mukova and Andrei Rublev. Yeah, it's great. It's great to see the organizers of the US.

1:02:48of the, it's great to see like Eric Boudirac and Stacey Alistair squirm in this situation. Yeah, and Sinaiago and Aravalo really have caused a squirm there, I think. I think that's a really fun question that they have posed. It's, I mean, it's perfect in terms of like, and I don't know, I have no idea what they're what they're going to do. But if I had to bet, I would think they would let in the defending champions and then everyone else is just going to be like a bright lights name. So the defending champions, that would be Irani and Vavasori. You think they'll be the only doubles specialist team?

1:03:32And then they'll lean in. And then they're just going to be like, no, this mixed doubles is we said we're trying to do something else and they're going to double down on Venus Williams. They're going to take the biggest stars they can get. Right now, Djokovic and Danilovic aren't in. Right, Alcaraz Raducanu aren't in. I suspect they will get a wild card. Right, exactly. But then, Matt, they also might have to withdraw if Alcaraz goes deep in Cincinnati or Raducanu. Yeah, I was thrilled that those doubles players entered as well because there is the possibility that this actually is interesting now with those pairs.

1:04:18I definitely think you could create with the wild cards a good field. I agree with Matt. I don't think they're going to do that. I think they're going to lean into the single stars who have entered but haven't made the cut because of ranking. and look the biggest problem for me is the format like it can only be a certain amount of interesting because of the format with it being fast four and sudden death deuce and you know all of that just takes the sting out of it for me anyway but i like the fact that the doubles players have said hang on a minute let's let's let's make them say no to us is is kind of what i like about it um yeah fun i was pleased to see that extended entry list yeah me too it's it's it's great i guess is they're going to say like yeah they're great doubles players they have their tournament yeah that's what that's what doubles is for mick this mixed doubles is something is something else the market something else but it's not an exhibition no one say the word the marketplace place has rejected the other form of mixed doubles.

1:05:30We want to do this thing with singles players, fast stuff. Although I will say, but in terms of fast stuff, when we were talking about swampy city open, there was a moment last week where I thought like, maybe they should play match tie breaks, third sets and singles at the city open because it's like, just because of how swampy it is. Just because it's how swampy it is. Would that be the worst thing in the world? Yes. Player hell. Yeah. Okay. I totally understand. I mean, I will say I much prefer two full sets and then a match tie break than fast four. Sudden death juice and fast four is the ingrigious offenses.

1:06:15Yeah. I don't think I want that. But in City Open, third set match tie break for people who are making them come back the day after day after day. But then you'd have to devise metrics for swampiness. Where do we draw the line? No, just do it for the whole tournament. No, but then other swampy tournaments. But what about other tournaments? Well, that's up to them. Washington is not alone in its swampiness. You haven't been to the city open yet. I'd put it up there. Yeah, I think it's probably the worst conditions. Did you see Alex Dimonor come on to court for the final, like carrying pairs of shoes that wouldn't fit in his bag because he knew that he was going to sweat through so many pairs during the course of a final.

1:07:02Like, yeah, it's bad. Like, it's the worst. Speaking as we have been as a theme throughout the show of world cards, let's talk about Bill Ackman. Now, this is a tennis story from a couple of weeks ago that got a lot of attention at the time. Bill Ackman, for anybody that doesn't know, is a billionaire head fund manager of some notoriety, particularly in the States. But I think he's pretty well known the world over as well. Huge tennis fan. And he played in the Hall of Fame Open in Newport, Rhode Island this year. A competitive ATP sanctioned event. A challenger event. He used to be a main tour event, downgraded to Challenger this year, but a sanctioned event nonetheless.

1:07:54He took a wild card into the doubles competition alongside Jack Sock, who is himself now a retired tennis player. Bill Ackman is 59 years old and pretty bad at tennis. Like they lost badly to Omar Jessica and Bernard Tomic. and Omar Jessica and Bernard Tomic were not playing at full pelt would be my assessment of the clips that I saw. The whole thing was, you know, in terms of competitive sport, an absolute joke. And it was followed up by a lengthy tweet by Blackman sort of blaming Jack Sock for not giving him the juice side, blaming his poor performance on Jack Sock for not giving him the juice side.

1:08:45And it was also followed up with an announcement that Bill Ackman would be giving a$10 million endowment to the International Tennis Hall of Fame. All lovely and above board, Matt Futterman. How icky is this whole episode for you? Well, the epilogue of that was they rejected that. that 10 million dollar donation that thing they didn't accept it and so he in trying to save face then gave that to the jtcc which is the uh which is a junior tennis champion center which is the the academy that produced tiafo and hailey baptiste it's the dc area thing so um that's just the epilogue to it but is your sense matt that um and call me a cynic here that that donation was rejected in response to the backlash and the publicity that this episode received do you think it was always going to be rejected or do you think there was a shift because it It like very much spoke to quid pro quo.

1:10:04And all of a sudden, International Times Hall of Fame is like, ooh, like, you know. I don't know. I don't think they had a big problem with the quid pro quo. It was the problem of all the attention towards the quid pro quo, which probably got them a little nervous. Also, you know, Bill Ackman, as you said, of some renown. He's like a big he's been a big Trump supporter. He's been a big, at least this go around in the election cycle. He's also been sort of at the forefront of cracking down on his alma mater, Harvard, on, you know, what he deems is them being too lenient towards, you know, people who are more sympathetic with Palestinians and Gaza and anti-Israel.

1:11:03some of us would say there's this thing called free speech which is pretty important as well that's been a big issue so he's like definitely a lightning rod for a lot of very hot button issues in America that may have had that may also have had something to do with the International Tennis Hall of Fame board decision not to do that. You know, I guess what this brings up is like a very is another sort of much larger issue that goes across tennis, which is like, you know, where do you draw the line with tradeoffs if people are willing to give lots of money and want something in return for it. And like the best corollary I would draw to it is, you know, legacy admissions at prestigious and selective universities where, you know, rich people give tens of millions of dollars and put their name on a library.

1:12:12And, you know, they're arguably less than qualified children and grandchildren get to attend that university. And, you know, you can say, A, that's horrible. And why should they get that admission? But then there's people who argue who would say, you know, and I've heard people like who you would expect to take that side of it's horrible, who then say, yeah, it was a big deal. We let a couple of ding-dongs in and we get a new library or, you know, we get some more endowed professorships. So, like, we'll let the ding-dongs in. So like, yeah, we let we let Bill Ackman play a stupid doubles match and embarrass himself on there.

1:12:58And the JTCC ends up with 10 million dollars that they can, you know, give use to provide more access to kids playing tennis. And I'm not saying I advocate that position. I'm saying I could like argue both sides of it. And so, but at the same time, I think generally, like, it's pretty distasteful having a billionaire by his way into, you know, a tour or a challenger tour event that way. He's, the lack of not qualified to be playing, you know, the doubles at the 125 in Newport, clearly. Yeah, I thought the whole thing was pretty pathetic, really. I mean, he's also like massively funding the PTPA, isn't he?

1:13:45Which, you know, looks out for player interest and earning opportunities. And there he is taking up a spot in the draw that someone else could be using. And Jack Sock's spot as well could have gone to someone else. And yeah, I just think the tournament and the Hall of Fame kind of degraded itself really by allowing this to happen. And also like the ATP has a thing in its rule book about best efforts. And Bill Ackman, I think, was giving his best effort in that match. But no one else on the court was, you know, to make the scoreline it was. No. Professional tennis match. No.

1:14:33Other news this week. British tennis player Tara Moore has been given a four year doping ban. She had been cleared by an independent tribunal 18 months ago, but an appeal by the ITIA has been upheld by CAST, the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The ban starts immediately but will be reduced by the 19 months that Tara Moll was provisionally suspended for when the case first came to light. In May 2022, she tested positive for Nandrolone and Boldenone at a tournament in Bogota, Colombia. So it was in December of the following year, 2023, that an independent tribunal ruled that contaminated meat was the source of the positive test.

1:15:20and that Tara Moore bore no fault or negligence. She said that she suffered 19 months of lost time and emotional distress and her reputation had been damaged as a result. She returned to the tour in April 2024 and has mostly played on the ITF tour since then. But this case was taken to CAS by the ITIA. There was a hearing in March and the case has been upheld by CAS. the ITIA's case. She's received the subsequent ban and she will now not be free to play again until the start of the 2028 season. They said after reviewing the scientific and legal evidence, the majority of the cast panel considered that the player did not succeed in proving that the concentration of nandrolone in her sample was consistent with the ingestion of contaminated meat.

1:16:12The panel concluded that Ms Moore failed to establish that the ADRV, the anti-doping rule violation was not intentional. The appeal by the ITA is therefore upheld and the decision rendered by the independent tribunal is set aside.

1:16:30Look, it's grist to the mill for people, commentators, players that are outraged and upset and concerned about the inequality and handling of cases like this, whatever you think of the eventual verdict, the length of time the process has taken to reach this verdict, a case that bears some similarities to Yannick Sinner's case, which of course was settled relatively quickly and harmlessly, certainly relative to this. Now, I'm not saying they're the same case. It has been ruled by Cass that it's a very different situation and it's not a no fault or negligence case but certainly the the length of time this all has taken which has been a consistent complaint of tara moore's um does seem to shed light on a on a deep inequality in the situation the same inequality though that exists within the general justice system which is that the type of justice that you receive very much depends on the the the money and the power you have to throw behind your behind your defense but but nonetheless this is a uh it's been a it's been a sorry old tale from start to finish really matt yeah i think the big issue is the you know right now we're in a situation where there is just a very a great emphasis on the levels of you know the the levels of substance that are found in these tests that are taken at a certain time.

1:18:11And I think that's what the case largely turned on was that the level that was found in her blood was just not consistent with, you know, in their view and in their scientist's view and in the view of the majority of the cast panel with unintentional use or with a meat contamination. And, you know, whereas with Igish Vyantek and with Sinner, the levels in their blood was consistent with what they have determined to be unintentional use. And, you know, it's one of those things where like, if you believe in those numbers and you believe the scientists, then it's a completely justified decision. You know, but not everybody believes in those numbers and that idea.

1:19:06And I don't know enough about contaminated meat to know whether all pieces of contaminated meat are contaminated equally. Safe to say I don't know enough about contaminated meat either, Matt, to get lost in those weeds with you. Last bit of news. Well, last bit of news that Matt has put in the agenda, but I am going to insert an extra bullet point on the end here. But last bit of news from the agenda is that Anz Jaber has announced she's taking a step back from tennis. She said, for the past two years, I've been pushing myself so hard, fighting through injuries and facing many other challenges.

1:19:44But deep down, I haven't felt happy on court for some time now. Tennis is such a beautiful sport. But right now, I feel it's time to take a step back and finally put myself first to breathe, to heal and to rediscover the joy of simply living. and as somebody that interviewed Anz Jibber during Wimbledon for a Friends episode for one of our interviews in our Wimbledon edition of The Tennis Podcast Meets, as sad as that statement is, I was quite relieved to see it because she was somebody so clearly unhappy to a quite distressing extent to witness and hear really during Wimbledon. And so I'm glad she's making a change and striving for that happiness.

1:20:28And I hope one day she can find it on the court again. But if she doesn't, I hope she finds it somewhere. So it's sad that it's come to this, but I wish her well. I really, really wish her well. And just to end our news section on a positive note, I'm going to insert the bullet point that Andy Murray has hard-launched his new dog. quite right uh we knew about this we knew about this because he had mentioned it during one of his live shows and we had spies in the audience well no we just knew people that had been to them and they reported back to us amongst other things Andy Murray has a new dog but he he hadn't launched the dog publicly uh he has now done that on Instagram with photos but no name is reported and no breed has been reported either.

1:21:21So I'm left trying to diagnose the breed using my own dog breed diagnosis skills. I think maybe a flat coated retriever of some kind. At first I thought Cocker Spaniel, but I think it's a bit bigger than a Cocker Spaniel, especially as, look, it's hard because I don't know this dog's age. I don't know its name. I don't know its gender. I need more information, Andy. I'm very pleased for you and I'm pleased for the tennis dog crossover world, but please stop withholding the essential information. That's my. Well, soon your dog, Billy Jean and Andy's dog will be able to, you know, frolic in the new 30 acre park in Wimbledon.

1:22:06Yes. It's going to be building for you. So there you go. Maybe that's where you'll be able to get all of your information from. Fingers crossed. That's it for part two. join us in part three for a look ahead to this week in tennis in Canada. Welcome back to part three of the tennis podcast where we turn our attention to Canada and the WTA event which happens this year in Montreal and the ATP event which happens in Toronto. Of course they've both begun already. I can tell you that because I was up at two o 'clock in the morning watching Bianca Andreescu heartbreak. And it really was heartbreak.

1:22:50I mean, she won her match against Barbora Krejcikova, was playing incredibly well. It was a throwback. The crowd were behind her. She was come oning all over the place. I was getting lured in despite promising myself I wouldn't get lured in and get hopeful about Bianca Andreescu. But there I was, two o 'clock in the morning. I was all in. And she stands up to the line on match point and she rolls her ankle on match point. And all you hear is just agonising screams and wails. It was an absolutely horrifying sight and sound. There was a long break. She had her ankle taped up. She somehow finished the match.

1:23:34and I actually do wonder if Barbora Krejcikova, maybe not even consciously, deliberately, but on some level deliberately hit two unforced errors because unforced errors from Krejcikova really felt like the only way Andreescu was going to be winning that match. She could not move at all and Krejcikova was incredibly generous to her, immediately came over to her side of the court and was very, very concerned about her. So look, I don't know. Andreescu is, she's through to the next round. She's due to be facing Mirandreva, but she was sobbing in her post-match interview. It was a very, very tough scene.

1:24:16So, look, you don't know with ankle rolls, do you, until the next day? You don't really know what the lie of the land is. But it didn't look and sound good to me. So that's your Bianca Andreescu update. Marketa Vondroshova, Daniel Collins, they've already won in Montreal. We've got Vasek Pospisil playing his last match and Eugenie Bouchard playing her last match. I would say those two events are columns in the let's get rid of wild cards column, personally. But maybe the ticket buyers of Toronto and Montreal feel differently. Bouchard another pickleball player like the like the aforementioned Jack Sock yeah I think it was just one of the like with a situation where someone you get an alert on your phone that someone has died and you're sort of like were they not dead already okay it's when I saw Jeannie Bouchard was retiring I was sort of like Really?

1:25:28What you've done? What? She was an active player? Yeah. Really? Nice. Nice. Yeah, very good. Montreal, we have two-time defending champion Jessica Pagula going for the three-peat. We've got no Sabalenka, and that means that Coco Goff is the top seed. Shontek is the second seed. The projected quarterfinals, according to the draw, are Goff against Paulini and Draver against Navarro. Anna Samova against Pagula and Keyes against Svantec. In Toronto, Matt, my surprise at being reminded that Alexey Poparin is the defending Canadian champion. The tennis world moves quickly, doesn't it? I did check with two different sources and can confirm that Alexey Poparin is the defending champion.

1:26:20I have so few memories of Alexey Poparin winning Canada last year. but well done to him. So we have Popperin defending his title. There's no Yannick Sinner, no Carlos Albright. I mean, he might defend it because... Right, nobody else is there. It's him and Vasek Pospisil. He's out. It's him and Facundo Bagnis. Oh, is that it? Pospisil's career has come to an official end. Okay, Facundo Bagnis or Alexey Popperin, pick your poison. No Jack Draper either. So projected quarterfinals, Osverev against Runa, Muzetti against Ruud, Tiafoe against Shelton and Rublev against Fritz. The finals are on Thursday, the 7th of August, of course.

1:27:07Why wouldn't they be on a Thursday? We'll be back with a show next Monday, the 4th of August with David. And then our review show of Toronto and Montreal following that final will be on Friday, the 8th of August. And as with all our post combined 1000 event shows, that one will be live on YouTube. So that'll be 8pm UK time on the evening of Friday, the 8th of August. You pumped about Canada, Matt? A Thursday final? They just don't think of our schedule, do they? When they cook up these tournaments. like we're having to do such a rejig but it's fine yeah it's fine we'll we're gonna podcast our way through it but it is awkward for us yeah look um am i excited about it look look actually the montreal draw is is pretty stacked there's no there's no sabalenka but most of the most of the other women are there so i'm excited for that um i like i like the montreal toronto you know getting two cities um it just used to be so good when you know it was a week i i do struggle to get that excited about it because i know there's a whole lot of nothing but yes i i will i will be excited at points i can i can promise you that yeah matt fotteman excitement levels i just want to be like the one who have been in the room when they were like going through the calendar and like trying to organize it and they came up with this and someone and they were like yeah this works right and like like they somehow like there's like was there not like was there not like a couple of people in the room who are like no no no this is the most fucked up thing in the world Like this works, this works in no shape or form.

1:29:12Like these are two big tournaments, one starting before the other one finishes like two days before. Like, where are we? This is so confusing. These are supposed to be the tentpole events of the summer. Like what what are we doing? And yeah, so it would have. I mean, if anything was the absurdity, pointed out the absurdity of the schedule's messed up, there's not enough days, this is stupid, here we are. Pretty excited then, I think, Matt. Yeah, this is stupid, here we are. Well done, Tennis. Matt? I would say I'm most excited. I mean, like, yeah, Montreal. I mean, any WTA event these days is stacked.

1:30:00I just think there are so many good players. And Washington was the perfect example. Zachary and Radicano, and the early was like, wow. That's a hard match. Osaka and Radicano early. There was a lot of early, hard matches. They're all stacked. And Toronto will be what it'll be. It'll be competitive. there'll be people trying really hard to win a lot of money and a good trophy right well i hope that's whetted everybody's appetite for the uh for the week ahead matt uh thank you for those those levels of uh of excitement um no no thank you very much for your contributions this week fascinating fascinating as always uh and we'll be seeing you in we fly to new york three weeks today during during the cincinnati final of course because tennis.

1:31:01So you will be here for the mixed doubles. Yeah. Oh, yeah. We don't miss any official Grand Slam event, Matt. You're going to bring your airline sick bag. Yes. Right. I love that in the graphics for the announcement, the US Open official graphics on Instagram, it actually says at the top, official Grand Slam event. I really feel like if you're having to point that out, a battle has been lost somewhere along the line. Yeah. And then they're going to point to this two packed stadiums of like screaming people and they're going to declare victory. It's going to be hard to argue with them. Yeah. Hello to our mascots.

1:31:52Hello to Phoebe, to Maisie and to Roger. Hello to Greg, Chris and Jeff, our top folks and executive producers. We are, of course, part of the Athletic Podcast Network. Check out Matt's work. Check out Charlie's work. Check out everything they have to offer in the Athletic. We will be back this week on Thursday for a live show for Friends of the Tennis Podcast. We'll be back on Monday, a week today, Monday the 4th of August, with a show as normal with David. And then we'll be back a week on Friday, Friday the 8th of August, with our Wrap of Canada. live on YouTube at 8pm UK time. Not complicated at all.

1:32:29Thank you, Tennis, for being oh so simple with your calendar. Thank you, Matt, for being on today's show. Thank you for listening. We'll speak to you soon.