What’s happened post Wimbledon?

21 Jul 2025 · 1 h 18 min · 33 chapters

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In short

Post-Wimbledon tennis roundup and what’s next, plus a preview of upcoming events (Washington ATP/WTA 500, Kitzbühel, Umag, Prague) and discussion of schedule-related fatigue and withdrawals. They also tease bigger off-court stories for next week.

Guests

Matt Roberts (co-host). David Law is mentioned as absent (recovering/resting in Portugal). No other guests appear in this episode.

Key claims

  • Wimbledon-to-Canada gap is too short (now ~14 days), contributing to withdrawals and weaker fields.
  • ATP/WTA 1000 events are being devalued when top players pull out; Canada and Cincinnati becoming 10-day events may worsen this.
  • Lois Boisson’s Hamburg win suggests she’s a genuine clay-court specialist.
  • Denis Shapovalov’s Los Cabos title “means nothing” in terms of rankings/trajectory—just a good week.

Notable examples

  • Hamburg (WTA 250): Lois Boisson def. Anna Bondar.
  • Iași (WTA): Irina-Camelia Begu def. Jil Teichman.
  • Los Cabos (ATP): Denis Shapovalov wins.
  • Båstad (ATP): Alexander Bublik wins; Luciano Darderi wins in Borås; Hotman Cup: Canada (Andreescu/Auger-Eliassime) win.
  • Withdrawals: Sabalenka (Montreal), Alcaraz/Sinner/Djokovic/Draper (Toronto). Jung-Chin Wen has right elbow surgery.

Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.

Chapters

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Post-Wimbledon Tennis Events Overview

0:45 to 2:06

Recap of upcoming tennis events and their significance post-Wimbledon.

“But this time we've decided to make it available to everybody because, well, it's a lot of work that Vicky puts into these.”

WTA 250 in Hamburg: Lois Boisson's Victory

2:06 to 6:27

Discussion on the WTA 250 event in Hamburg and Lois Boisson's performance.

“We've got a combined ATP and WTA 500 event in Washington where the draws look really fun, actually.”

Irina Camelia-Begu's Success in Eias

6:27 to 9:03

Overview of Irina Camelia-Begu winning in Eias and analysis of her performance.

“And I especially wish her well because I hope she gets to lift another trophy in her career.”

Denis Shapovalov's Title Win in Los Cabos

9:03 to 10:28

Discussion on Denis Shapovalov's victory in Los Cabos and its implications.

“So congratulations, Arena Camellia-Begu and IAS.”

Alexander Bublik's Unpredictable Performances

10:28 to 12:15

Commentary on Alexander Bublik's recent title win and performance trends.

“Bublik, I mean, his last three tournaments, two titles and a round one exit.”

Emerging Talents and Unique Trophies

12:15 to 14:00

Discussion on new talents in tennis like Luciano Darderi and quirky trophies.

“I think he's definitely in the Kitsbiel draw.”

Exploring Jesper de Jong's TikTok

14:00 to 15:01

Discover the unique hotel setup at Borstedt and its appeal to players.

“And I'm now starting to understand why more and more players flock to Borschtad after Wimbledon.”

Hotman Cup Highlights and Player Updates

15:01 to 17:31

Recap of the Hotman Cup and notable player performances.

“Like I went to Norwich to see the Killers a couple of years ago and stayed in a Holiday Inn there that was part of Carrow Road.”

Withdrawal News from Canada

17:31 to 19:07

Discussing player withdrawals and the impact on upcoming events.

“Jung-Chin Wen has had surgery on her right elbow.”

Concerns Over Tennis Event Scheduling

19:07 to 21:35

Analyzing the challenges with current tennis scheduling and player fatigue.

“It does not fit in the amount of time that we have to make these events as long as we've made them.”
Show all 33 chapters

Upcoming Tennis Events and Player Lineups

21:35 to 23:14

Previewing the upcoming tournaments and notable player participation.

“David cited an ankle injury for this week, a fake ankle injury.”

Looking Ahead to Future Discussions

23:14 to 24:05

Previewing topics and news for the next episode.

“And we will also get into some of the bigger news stories as well involving Bill Ackman and the Newport Hall of Fame tournament over there.”

Press Conference Highlights

28:00 to 29:23

Discussion on memorable moments from recent press conferences involving players.

“I think my favourite part of the Bocelli stuff was when he said congrats to him and his team.”

Strawberry Conversations

29:23 to 30:29

A light-hearted conversation about asking players quirky questions.

“She came in clutching one of these strawberries.”

Mixed Doubles and Match Expectations

30:29 to 32:26

Analyzing the dynamics of mixed doubles pairings and player expectations.

“He was asked about, you know, what he thinks the atmosphere might be, you know, being thrust into that occasion in his first Wimbledon match.”

Match Predictions and Player Performances

32:26 to 36:10

Predicting outcomes of matches and discussing player forms and potential.

“Is there anyone that thinks, like, you know...”

Strawberry Naming Contest

36:10 to 38:31

A humorous segment involving naming a strawberry with listener submissions.

“And look, I said if she gets past Julia Putin's saver in the first round, she's going to the semi-finals.”

Wimbledon Upsets and Player Updates

38:31 to 41:25

Reviewing recent player upsets and discussing the challenges faced by competitors.

“I was just thinking, I can just imagine it doesn't matter when that is, where it is, you two are going to be courtside, aren't you?”

Wimbledon Tension and Predictions

42:00 to 43:59

Hosts discuss the excitement and unpredictability of Wimbledon and predictions about players.

“Matt was quoted as people earlier, wasn't he, on BBC Radio?”

Meaningless Lead-Up Events

44:00 to 46:00

Discussion on the perceived lack of relevance of lead-up events to Wimbledon.

“Should we just go straight into Wimbledon the day after Roland Garros?”

Emotions in Grand Slam Matches

46:01 to 48:20

Exploring the emotional connections formed during Grand Slam matches and a specific anecdote.

“Trying to analyse anything on a tennis podcast.”

Spectator Experience and Matches

48:21 to 50:19

The atmosphere of the crowd and notable match highlights from Wimbledon.

“I have fuel for the funfire, the Cameron Norrie funfire.”

Match Nerves and Anticipation

50:20 to 51:44

Hosts share their nerves for upcoming matches and the overall mood around the tournament.

“Speaking of crowds, we have one over there, Hardy tennis fans.”

Food Talk and Cultural Differences

51:45 to 55:39

Hosts engage in a light-hearted discussion about odd food combinations related to tennis culture.

“I wish they'd put John McEnroe on my chair.”

Player Highlights and Records

55:40 to 56:00

Discussion on player performances and records set during the tournament.

“at a Champions Tour event in Chengdu I witnessed I love it when Chengdu Champions Tour events come up John McEnroe be served a pizza with strawberries on it.”

The Wimbledon Buzz and Player Insights

56:00 to 59:04

Discussion about player performances and excitement surrounding Wimbledon.

“I kind of like, I didn't know she could...”

Humorous Moments and Hair Dye Bets

59:04 to 1:02:11

Light-hearted banter about hair dye bets related to players’ performances.

“He was having an existential crisis about 200 metres away.”

Tournament Controversies and Reactions

1:02:11 to 1:06:38

Analyzing controversies and player reactions during the tournament.

“Well, there's no point in me asking who's going to win because you're going to say Sabalenka and Alcaraz.”

Food and Fun at the Tournament

1:06:38 to 1:10:00

Discussion of food, including the infamous strawberry pasta, and lively interactions.

“You know, somebody who just follows the sport and isn't involved with it the way we are.”

Taste Test Reactions

1:10:00 to 1:11:20

The hosts share their thoughts on a unique dish while enjoying snacks.

“Made by official medic of the tennis podcast, Felicity.”

Reflections on Players' Work Ethic

1:11:20 to 1:14:24

Discussion on the hard work and sacrifices made by professional tennis players.

“The thing is, though, served by Alcaraz, a little bit boring.”

Highlights from the Wimbledon Championships

1:14:24 to 1:16:47

Recap of key moments and performances from the Wimbledon tournament.

“together they weren't together no but i was most interested in tom kearney to my right you were with tom kearney he was quite a way away but i saw him how close was i to tom Quite close.”

Cameron Norrie's Unique Attributes

1:16:47 to 1:17:37

A humorous take on Cameron Norrie's physical attributes and performance.

“The doctor told you you had a very big pair of...”
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Transcript

Automatic transcript. May contain errors.

0:10Well, hello and welcome to the Tennis Podcast. It is Monday the 21st of July. We are a week on from Wimbledon. We've done our best attempts at rest and recuperation. In fact, David Law is still doing his best attempts at rest and recuperation in Portugal, no less. So I'm joined by Matt Roberts and we're trying to remember how to podcast Matt hopefully successfully if if you're hearing this then Matt and I have been successful yeah it was this equivalent show last year where we ended up without microphones or something after Wimwood and last year so I do feel like we're already beating the last year versions of us which is kind of all we can hope to do really isn't it yeah hashtag growth here we are speaking into microphones well done us professional podcasters um the majority of this show is uh going to be a work of art put together by our very own vicky spreadbury uh she puts together audio montages of our grand slam dailies after every grand slam and now this is usually just for friends of the Tennis Podcast.

1:25But this time we've decided to make it available to everybody because, well, it's a lot of work that Vicky puts into these. They're very special and we want everybody to get a taste of it. So the majority of the show is going to be that. But we don't want to leave you hanging. There have been six important events happening in the tennis world this week, of course. So we're going to do a quick little recap just so everybody feels kind of up to speed. And then we will be returning a week from now with a proper deep dive on some important stories that have taken place in the tennis world over the last couple of weeks.

2:05And, of course, talking about the tennis that's due to take place this week. We've got a combined ATP and WTA 500 event in Washington where the draws look really fun, actually. And of course, there's Kitschbull as well, because what is a post Wimbledon period without Kitschbull, Matt? Although what is Kitschbull without Dominic Thiem? Oh, how sad. We're about to find out what Kitschbull is without Dominic Thiem, aren't we? But I must say, Washington, though, like if you're a fan of one week events and you're a fan of combined events, there's very, very few of those now. And Washington stands out in the calendar.

2:44like I don't know if people are ready for this much good tennis so soon after Wimbledon but Washington is it it's a great field looking forward to it I actually feel surprisingly ready it always I mean I guess it's because you know I love tennis and it's my livelihood but I do surprise myself with how quickly I'm I'm ready to watch non-stop tennis after a Grand Slam Yeah, we always give it the big, oh, tennis needs to have three or four months off. And then like two weeks without tennis. And we're like, where's the goddamn tennis? Yeah, I make it such an agenda of mine to campaign for a longer off season, whilst also deep down knowing that I would potentially sink into a deep depression if there ever were a longer off season.

3:37I wouldn't cope well at all. Anyway, let's talk about tennis that's happened this week, because no fewer than six events, of course. Let's start in Hamburg with the WTA 250 there. All 250 events this week, plus the Hopman Cup, randomly happening in mid-July these days. Hamburg, I think, is the most intriguing one of these because it has been won by Lois Boisson. Not a one-hit wonder, Matt. Certified a minimum two-hit wonder. beat Anna Bondar in the final. Yeah, honestly, like really pleased to see this result because, you know, I think like everyone, while the French Open run was happening, there was definitely a big part of my brain thinking this might be the only time that we properly see Lois Boisson.

4:33And as fun as that was, you know, I just thought it might be isolated to this year's Roland Garros. But actually, I think what she's shown here in an event, look, without the strongest field in the world. But I think she's shown that what she is, I think, is a clay court specialist. I mean, with her forehand, the heavy reps that she gets on that ball, I think she is going to be a nightmare for players on clay. And that's quite fun that France, with their home slam on clay, have got a home player who seems to be a specialist on the surface. They haven't had many title winners in the last few years, generally France.

5:15I think Caroline Garcia a few years ago was the last French player to win a WTA title. So this is big for them. And I'm pleased for Lois Boisson that she is backing up Roland Garros, even by doing this. I feel like she's kind of backed up what she did there. And yeah, post-deodorant gate boisson is a very, very powerful thing, as it turns out. Yeah, I mean, it's interesting. Female WTA clay court specialist is an interesting genre of tennis player because it's so much less possible to make a living pretty much just on clay on the WTA tour than on the ATP tour. It is almost possible, not quite, but almost possible to play exclusively on clay on the ATP tour.

6:08There are these sort of sub-swings of clay court events in South America and this one happening in Europe after Wimbledon. But the WTA has far, far fewer clay court events. So she's hamstrung in that way. I mean, WTA has fewer events generally. So, yeah, I wish her very well. And I especially wish her well because I hope she gets to lift another trophy in her career. I was just going to say, did you see the trophy? And can you explain to me what on earth it was? Well, it looked to me like a shipping container. Someone on Instagram told me they think it's a shipping container. I think for sponsor reasons.

6:58But why would it be a shipping container? I think the sponsor might be in that genre. Were they sponsored by Met Nesk? You know, the brand that all shipping containers have written on the side of them. Was that the sponsor? Surely not. There was definitely a sponsor on the trophy, if you can call it a trophy. It's poor. I think sponsors need to keep out of trophies. Me too. Me too. Yeah. Okay. I hope Lois Poisson gets another trophy. On to yes. Now I'm informed by my dad and I hope we don't get added by lots of Romanians. I hope we're getting this right. But my dad has spent a lot of time in Romania over the years that you don't pronounce the I on the end.

7:49Lots of Romanian names and places have a silent I on the end. So I'm going to go with Eias. Won by a Romanian. Maybe Irina Camellia-Begu can tell us whether I'm pronouncing it right. She beat Jill Teichman in the final. Teichman, the lone non-Romanian in the semi-final line-up. Cracking week for Irina Camellia-Begu. Good to see Jill Teichman back in the final because where on earth has she been? Yeah, I was quite high on Jill Teichman a few years ago. not quite as high as David, who had her as his shooting star. And, well, she fell out the sky, really, didn't she? She shot in the wrong direction.

8:34Rather than shot, yeah. But I was with David. I really liked Jill Teichman as a player a couple of years ago. She's a better player than her ranking suggests. Yeah. So much better. And she's gritty. I like the way she competes in matches. I'm obviously mostly thinking about her Billie Jean King Cup career, where she's been a valuable part of that Swiss team over the years. So, yeah, hopefully she can get it back. So congratulations, Arena Camellia-Begu and IAS. Over in Los Cabos, Denis Shapovalov has, of course, won the title. It means nothing. We're not going to get drawn in. It's probably good that this has happened in a week where David's not here and we can't get drawn into the speculation about what it all means for Denis Shapovalov.

9:26I'm very pleased for him. This means nothing. Oh, no, no, no. I mean, it's good for him. Lovely. It's his second time to the year, of course. He won one earlier in the year. And we did spend quite a long time talking about whether that one might mean anything. Yeah, I don't think at the time I thought that meant anything either. But it was easier to believe it did because of the calibre of player that he was beating there. Here in this week straight after Wimbledon, I don't think he beat a top 50 player to win the title. He didn't drop a set, which is great. And, you know, I'm sure that everyone there enjoyed watching Denis Shapovalov.

10:10Like he's still incredibly exciting to watch. and when it all clicks, it's fantastic, as it has done this week. But no, I will not be drawn into what does this mean for Denis Shapovalov. Just good for him. Good for him. Well done, Denis. In Stade, Kaspar Rood did not win the title. Is it time to retire for Kaspar Rood? Who can say? We'll find out after Kitschbühel. I assume he's playing Kitschbühel. Why wouldn't he be playing Kitschbühel? Alexander Bublik won the title I know this because I just transferred him into my fantasy team in the nick of time he beat the lesser spotted Sarundalo in the final Juan Manuel no longer the punchline of Sarundalo brother jokes Matt and he of course conqueror of Kasparud and Rud really let that one go he was three love double break up I think in the third set and didn't close.

11:16Bublik, I mean, his last three tournaments, two titles and a round one exit. I mean, this is the most Bublik run that you can get, including, of course, a win over the pretty much unstoppable world number one in there as well. And look, he's just, he's tilted the balance slightly, isn't he? He's still Bublik and yet he's just making the, the title runs and the good bits a little bit more common he's still having the you know the the early losses but it's great that he is becoming a little bit more relevant I think it's his first title on clay he's now won a title on every surface and I was kind of shocked that it was his first title on clay to be honest because I think the unpredictability of his game works really, really well on that surface.

12:07It's such a huge weapon for him. And yeah, he's been a super fun player over the last few months, Bublik. So nice to see him carrying that on. I think he's definitely in the Kitsbiel draw. He's top seed in Kitsbiel. Yeah, so he's coming for Roode's double. He's the new Roode. Yeah. When it was a treble, what was the third one? I think Borschtad used to be in a different week, didn't it? Yes, it did. I think it was Gestad, Borschtad and Kitzbühel one after the other. And is Gestad the one where Federer was given Juliet the cow? That's right, yeah. But that was a Federer-specific gift. Not all Gestad champions get a cow.

12:53I believe that's right, yeah. It was a sort of... Wasn't it his homecoming event after winning Wimbledon for the first time? I believe. Yeah. Okay, one-off cow. Gestade also had a different trophy. I quite liked the one in Gestade. Did you see this? I think it's the one they always have. It was a sort of stone, like a sort of mountain shape representing the Alps. I think that's cool. a trophy that reflects the region rather than a sponsor. Absolutely. I was in on the Gestade quirky trophy. In Borstad, now the same week as Gestade, as you say, Luciano Darderi beat Jesper de Jong in the final. Further evidence that there are Italians coming out of everyone's ears.

13:47Yeah, he is now in the top 50. he has now won three career titles which is more than Mazzetti which is which is rather you know sort of stops you in your tracks that yeah I mean Mazzetti definitely needs to close some more tournaments and he's obviously had bigger success generally but like yeah three three tall ever titles is is no joke Darderi is very very good especially on on clay and the guy beat in the final Jesper de Jong I came across his TikTok earlier this year earlier this week sorry and did you know this during your week up, during your detox from tennis just browsing Jesper de Jong's TikTok did you know this about Borstedt, the hotel is part of the stadium so he did a sort of leaving his room, getting to the stadium and literally he goes out of his hotel room door, walks down a corridor, turns a corner and he's in like the stands on the main stadium court.

14:55And I'm now starting to understand why more and more players flock to Borschtad after Wimbledon. Because total lack of faff. Total lack of faff. It would be your dream. And actually it was flipping cool. I loved it. Like I went to Norwich to see the Killers a couple of years ago and stayed in a Holiday Inn there that was part of Carrow Road. Great. Really convenient. You could see them sound checking from our hotel room. Oh, very good. Yeah. Yeah. Very good. It's still surprising to me that the Killers were playing Norwich. It was surprising to them as well, it seemed to me. Yeah. They like treat England as the place where they're most popular, don't they?

15:50They pronounced it Norwich, which I enjoyed. Well, they would. The Hotman Cup has been won by Canada. Bianca Andreescu has a title match. The comeback is on. Just as I've drafted her into my fantasy team. Yes, but do you get points for this? Do they get points for this? No. No. But it's nice. I'm pleased for them. She and Felix Auger-Eliassime beat a very annoyed Flavio Caballi in the final. Yeah, he was pumped up, wasn't he? Yeah. Because Andrescu had beaten Bronzetti very easily and then Caballi had come back to beat Auger-Eliassime. This was taking place in Puglia in Italy. They'd managed to turn the Hotman Cup into a vibe as well, have the Italians.

16:49And yeah, Caballi got that good win against Orge Aliasimi. He was pumped up, but then Canada managed to close it in the mixed doubles. I'm pleased the Hotman Cup exists and that, you know, there's that little part of Italy that this week got to enjoy it. And there were big crowds, you know, There really were people enjoying it. I personally didn't really have the bandwidth to find out sort of how to watch it, but I enjoyed watching the highlights. If you watched the Hotman Cup successfully, please let us know how you did that. At us on Instagram. So that's it for tennis this week. We did have a few bits and bobs of news.

17:32Jung-Chin Wen has had surgery on her right elbow. she's joined the gang of tennis players posting the thumbs up hospital bed post-surgery photo which was quite a tough sight to see so we wish her well on her recovery and we've had a lot of withdrawals from Canada a lot of withdrawals from Canada particularly on the men's side I mean on the women's side Sabalenka has pulled out of Montreal The women's will be in Montreal this year and the men's in Toronto. And on the men's side, Marker are reporting that Carlos Alcaraz is going to miss it. I mean, he seems to be doing Ibiza, but in Spain, having a lovely time.

18:19Good luck to him. Sinner and Djokovic also out of Toronto. Look, it's no great surprise, is it? But yeah, Jack Draper is pulled out too. I mean, it's a decimated field and it's now a 10-day event. And it just feels I mean, and I don't think that's accidental, by the way, that that Canada and Cincinnati have become 10 day events. I do think that is more likely to lead to these kind of pull outs. But it's a tough scene, isn't it? I find myself more pumped for Washington this week for all the reasons you described earlier than for Canada, the the bigger event in in a week's time. yeah honestly my my reaction to these withdrawals was well of course like if you're if you're going deep at Ronon Garros and you're going deep at Wimbledon as as these players have you need some rest somewhere and there used to be there used to be three weeks used to be four weeks really between the end of Wimbledon and and the start of Canada since since Wimbledon got moved back a week it's it's it's been pretty like three week gap but now it's two weeks 14 days from the from the end of Wimbledon to the to the start of Canada and it's just too much something's got to give and honestly the sport should be looking at the schedule and seeing that Cincinnati starts the day that Canada ends the finals respectively are on a Thursday and a Monday and they should be looking at that and just thinking, well, this doesn't work.

19:59It does not fit in the amount of time that we have to make these events as long as we've made them. Like we have to change it. I think Canada is the one that, certainly on the men's side, we've seen some more sort of surprising winners and finalists over the last few years anyway, haven't we? There have been weaker fields there generally and it seems to just be going more and more in that direction. yeah brutal and obviously for Jung and Jack Draper it's sort of injury related so I really just hope that they can they can recover as quickly as possible yeah and it's you know it starts to from the ATP's perspective and the WTA's but I think more so the ATP's they're suffering even more with pull-outs it devalues the 1000 brand you know you're gonna to have a field that week that does not feel like a 1 ,000.

20:58You know, these events are supposedly mandatory. Well, that feels like it's been made a slight mockery of. I don't know if Jack Draper's injury is legit. I kind of hope not. And I think it's ridiculous that they have to create reasons for withdrawals. He's saying it's an arm injury, isn't he? And I think given he's already pulled out of Cincinnati as well, That to me suggests that there probably is something going on there. But yes, like, and look, fatigue absolutely should be a legitimate reason to be able to pull out of something. I need a rest. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. David cited an ankle injury for this week, a fake ankle injury.

21:41Sustained while golfing in Portugal. Okay. So as Matt said, Washington combined ATP and 500 event lasting one week, one week only. Make the most of it. ATP field includes Taylor Fritz, Lorenzo Mazzetti, Holger Runa, accompanied by mentor Andre Agassi. That's something we'll be getting into in next week's pod. Ben Shelton, Andre Rubler, Francis Tiafo, Alex Diminor, Daniel Medvedev and Flavio Caballi. And the WTA field includes Jessica Pagula, Emma Navarro, Elena Rabatkin, Naomi Osaka, Emma Raducanu and wildcard Venus Williams. Plus, Emma Raducanu and Elena Rabatkin are playing doubles together.

22:31And Venus Williams is playing doubles too. She's playing with Hayley Baptiste, which is super fun. There is, of course, the ATP event in Kitschbill, Bublik, the top seed. And there's a very tennis podcast coded round one match of Burtick van der Zandtschulp against Nicolas Jarry in Kitschbill. We'll be perhaps not watching every ball of that, but we'll certainly be paying attention to it. And there's also UMAG and there's a WTA event in Prague with a draw of 32 of which 11 of the players are Czech. Extraordinary. So we'll be back in a week's time to talk about all of that with the Athletics, Matt Futterman.

23:14And we will also get into some of the bigger news stories as well involving Bill Ackman and the Newport Hall of Fame tournament over there. Don't worry, we've been following all of that closely. Have read Bill Ackman's extensive tweet many times to try and get a handle on what on earth he's talking about, other than the fact that he blames his poor performance on Jack Sock not letting him have the juice side. but yeah we'll be getting into all of that with Matt Futterman as well and of course the four year doping ban that has been handed out to Britain's Tara Moore, lots to talk about there as well first and last time Tara Moore and Bill Ackman have featured in the same sentence I think, maybe not the last time, maybe next week will be the last time, so all that to look forward to in a week's time, hope you enjoy the tennis this week if you're ready to dip your toe back in the water.

24:10We certainly are. For now, though, we are going to leave you with this incredible Wimbledon montage put together by the wonderful Vicky Spreadbury. Here it is. Hello and welcome to the Tennis Podcast, live from Wimbledon, a glorious sunny day at Wimbledon for the first time in 2025. We are so back.

24:39You know I love all draws, but the Wimbledon draw is the best of the lot, and it lived up to expectations today. I think I had the afterglow of our live show in London last night when I arrived on site at 9am this morning. Not the afterglow of Bruce Springsteen releasing 80 songs. That happened on the stroke of midnight as we were in the taxi home. It's been a big 24 hours for Matt Roberts. It was all incredibly overwhelming. We've been kitted out in this new Wimbledon merch. Brilliant. What a day.

25:14It's like one of those gigs, concerts, when the musician just comes out and sits down at the piano. We've got this. We don't need faff here. Yeah. It's all killer, no filler. Yeah. It's sort of like a saucepan, a wooden saucepan, and in lieu of a saucepan, in lieu of the bit where you would put your stir fry. There is a velvet bag secured by these beautiful studs and Matt got to hold it. I got to hold it. I felt incredibly powerful. I also got to hold the box where they keep all the chips and that is kept shut by a World War II soldier's belt. Incredible. We're slowly moving towards Matt just doing the draw.

26:03Denise Parnell needs to watch out.

26:06Vicki Spreadbury:If ever we lose Matt from the tennis podcast, it'll be because somebody at Wimbledon has decided to involve Matt Roberts in the draw. Incidentally, I was searching for photos of Jack Draper the other day for professional purposes.

26:27Even Horga Runa, who I wouldn't say yet is yesterday's man, but isn't really a threat to Carlos Alcruz. He's tomorrow's yesterday's man, isn't he? Was it here a year ago that Tiafoe gave his I've been losing to clowns line? I think so, yeah. Because the list of clowns has really got a lot longer.

26:54I'm going to say it live on air right now. I think if Amanda Nissanova beats Julia Putin's saver, she's reaching the semis.

27:02Vicki Spreadbury:I mean, you thought he was pumped on draw day. Imagine what he'd be like on semis on that next day. What do you think about that prediction, David? Ridiculous. I can't believe Matt's gone for a more outlandish prediction than David. Because I know I complained about it being freezing cold and raining all the way through Wimbledon last year. And now we've got a situation where it's going to be 35 degrees on Monday. and if I complain about that as well, then I'll be giving the Brits a bad name. I mean, it was quite a wild press conference generally, wasn't it, from the Yannick Sinner for such an un-wild man.

27:41I say un-wild man. Topics of conversation included his partnership with Emma Navarro. More on that in a moment. His partnership with Gucci. His partnership with Andrea... I've written Bolelli. That sort of person. Simone Bocelli. That's the love child of Simone Bocelli and Andrea Bocelli.

28:06I think my favourite part of the Bocelli stuff was when he said congrats to him and his team. I've written that. That's what was distracting me when I started talking about Simone Bocelli accidentally. He started talking about Andrea Bocelli. Had he lost a Grand Slam final? Yeah, it was so funny.

28:27It is now incredibly clear to us, and I think to everybody, that the US Open picked these mixed doubles pairings. Yannick Sinner had never spoken to Emma Navarro until yesterday. Yeah. Yeah.

28:46Vicki Spreadbury:Andy Murray's gold from Sest. And he'll play with anybody, is that for it? Yeah, give him a call, David. I think he wants good partners. Not me. and you forgot you forgot your clubs that's more of a problem it would be embarrassing to turn up to golf with Andy Murray not having any clubs David is a specialist at getting out of a bunker that is true I've seen it with my own eyes it's been on your left foot right so Andy if it's just you and me in the bunker I fancy my chances that's getting clipped up ok Matt as you were

29:22well as he was leaving the press conference a journalist just shouted at him who won the goal and he said Andy but I let him win

Read the full transcript

29:34Vicki Spreadbury:At the end of my interview with Matteo Berrettini so I've had lovely six or seven minutes with him and then you know your press getting clipped up as well

29:46David, Matt I think you both went to the press conference of his scheduled third round opponent Alexander Bublik I didn't have the guts to do that because I find him terrifying

30:01Some other moments from Goff's press conference. She came in clutching one of these strawberries.

30:07Vicki Spreadbury:She did indeed. And I had a rush of blood to the head. You thought David Law asked Yannick Sinner about carrots? If David can ask Yannick Sinner about carrots, then I can ask Coco Goff about a strawberry. So Matt, you need to ask a player about fruit and veg at the US Open.

30:29so we were like Matt said we've got to go in yeah and thank goodness we did I couldn't be more proud because it was fantastic yeah we had a we had a 10 minute 2-1-1 with Marquesa Vondrosha that can go in the montage

30:46very happy you logged in into the tennis podcast yeah so you're getting Matt's recommendations yeah I'm getting all of Matt's and there's some over content you have to be careful but I count I'm on

30:59Maya Join on to the backhand list you go do you know the live chat already knows who you're bumping off there is a lot of Anna Bogdan sympathy happening on the live chat right now

31:14she was gatecrashed by Francis Tiafoe that was a nice exchange it was and there was a throwaway question from her as she was walking out how do you feel about having him as your mixed doubles partner and she just eye-rolled, which was sensational. He was asked about, you know, what he thinks the atmosphere might be, you know, being thrust into that occasion in his first Wimbledon match. Will there be a big, you know, big support for the Brit there? And he said, it's tough to be louder than the Brazilians. And it was very big, she's never seen my pace energy. That's what I want from Taylor Fritz in mixed doubles He described himself as a mixed doubles specialist

32:01Vicki Spreadbury:Go on Taylor He cited his United Cup record with Coco Gauff The fact that he's won the quote Indian Wells thing with Rubakina Who he's partnering at the US Open And he said he is going to be extremely competitive at the US Open Oh, I absolutely believe that I saw him at the United Cup with Coco Goff. He was a nightmare. Is there anyone that thinks, like, you know... No. No.

32:37I don't think he's won a... I don't think he's won a main draw match on the tour. I'm just here to ask the questions. And I'm here to answer them. But, you know, an inspired by the setting and the moment for Nini... No. No.

32:53But somebody asked a few minutes ago, do you think any of the top 10 seeds in either the men's or the women's draws are likely to have a first round exit? I wouldn't say likely. No one's draw is hugely jumping out to me. I think vulnerable seeds would be a Mazzetti. I mean, Bedos' ninth seed and we've called that a kind of 50-50 tomorrow against Bolton. Medvedev is the ninth seed. I think he's got a pretty good draw. He's got Bonzi, hasn't he? Yes, Bonzi. And actually, he's quite a good grass court player, Medvedev. I'm always just on a bit of alert for Medvedev these days. Runa is being... Against Nicholas Jarry.

33:34There's a lot of people saying Runa here, Matt. Yeah, good for them. They could just be big Matt Roberts fans that have boarded the Jarry hype train.

33:46I think too much later than that, though, because, Matt... because we're not before 9.30 no because Wimbledon has a curfew oh sorry yes I forgot my thing is this all because of Bruce yes I'm now anti-curfew so that would have been that Ian heard the incident where I got attacked by a bee live on the pod and David used it for content

34:18Vicki Spreadbury:I mean, now you'd be proud of me. Back then, you weren't.

34:28Totally breathless for the last 12 hours and more. So maybe, maybe that's why I need a Breathe Right nasal strip, Matt Roberts. Or maybe it's because Nicholas Jarry, oh my God, in around 15 minutes. Please make your way to the exit gate. I thought I was overstimulated. Matt, there is so much Matt-coded stuff happening in this podcast. I thought I was overstimulated before, and now we've got a Breathe Right Nasal Strips bit happening simultaneously with the announcements. Crazy. It's an awful lot. We haven't even touched upon Amanda Ranisimova. What are you wearing in her honour this evening, in honour of her double bagel.

35:18Wearing? Drinking, I think you mean.

35:25This was almost my foregone conclusion moment. It was potentially extremely, extremely embarrassing. I think it probably still is quite embarrassing. I think it still is because actually you don't know what the end of my sentence was. I wasn't going to ask if Vanini can win. I was going to ask if Vanini could make it interesting. I didn't think you were going to ask if he could win. I thought you were going to ask if he could make it interesting. And you thought that was too ludicrous a question to make. I did, I genuinely did.

35:52Nicholas Jarry came from two sets to love down to beat poor old Holger Runa, just collateral damage in Matt Roberts' bit. How many nose strips in the packet? 30. I was going to say, he can win like 12 slams in a row.

36:15let's start with the first match of the day and the first thing that that matt saw at this year's wimbledon 2025 which was jelena ostapenko um hitting a foot fault serve uh called of course electronically yeah like it was just so perfect you know that ostapenko does not trust that machine and it's the first time having it at Wimbledon and it just comes Rostopenko on the first point. It was poetic. It really was.

36:53And look, I said if she gets past Julia Putin's saver in the first round, she's going to the semi-finals. Stand by it. I think she's in such a great section of the draw. Hold on, you said she was going to win the title there. In the excitement of the double bagel, I got carried away. It was double bagel and David had just appeared with the pack of nose strips. Things were going well.

37:22I've promised a very important strawberry-related announcement. And this strawberry needs a name. And we had many, many excellent submissions. but can we honestly say that any was more excellent than that suggested by Daniel on the barge, which is... Drumroll, please. I can't do it with one hand. Jam Shriver.

37:51A special mention, though, and I'm really sorry, I don't know who suggested this. Adam. Adam H. Adam H., you absolute genius who came up with Deed-de-de-fruit.

38:05If you're joining us live just after watching Novak Djokovic escape with a four-set win, then thank goodness he didn't lose, because honestly there just isn't room in the agenda for another upset. The agenda is full, Novak. We hope you've enjoyed your day here at Wimbledon. We have a pleasant and safe journey home. Thank you. I can name you some people that haven't enjoyed their day here at Wimbledon Alexander Zverev, Coco Goff, Jessica Pergula, Jung Chinwen, Lorenzo Mazzetti and that's adding to the ones that lost yesterday Things have gone bad to worse for Runa after his defeat yesterday Clay Magazine of Today reported that he's been forced to cease and desist with his broken racket side hustle

38:59Vicki Spreadbury:so this is him selling broken rackets he's been selling several thousand many thousands of pounds he's been flogging his broken rackets on this new marketplace that he's launched with his sister a percentage going to charity his quote objects were removed from the marketplace this morning oh goodness and babalat said we're in conversation with your agents

39:23should we stay with the subject of seeds losing and move on to the next one that is our only subject

39:35Hayley Baptiste won today which was a much needed boost for the tennis podcast meets curse I say halfway through have we got a curse and she plays Victoria Mboko in in round two The tennis podcast meets Derby.

39:54I am pumped for Baptiste against Mboko.

39:56Vicki Spreadbury:I was just thinking, I can just imagine it doesn't matter when that is, where it is, you two are going to be courtside, aren't you? Yes, because it's going to be a temperature at which I can actually go outside from now on. You didn't leave the press room all day, did you? No. I found the four seconds between the press room and the cafe quite challenging.

40:19So prior to this year, nobody had ever played a five-set match and not generated a break point. And Pesci Perikar has done that twice this year.

40:39Let's end on a seed, a contender even, that didn't lose today. Congratulations to him, Novak Djokovic. beating Alexandra Muller 6-1, 6-7, 6-2 6-2, big moment for OnlyFans getting some promo on centre court today We played Medvedev here last year, I don't know whether that was on court one or centre, probably court one

41:04Vicki Spreadbury:I know what that is now I don't know, because you're showing me OnlyFans, yeah That sounds weird I can't tell you about it We've still got Cameron Matthew to explain thirst traps to David. That's a thing that's happening.

41:25Kate Ebolter?

41:29Vicki Spreadbury:Yeah, she's still in the toilet. Who was sitting on that bench? Yes, she was. Where your bum is right now, David, Kate Ebolter's bum was earlier. Right. It's where the drama keeps coming, the seeds keep falling, and Taylor Fritz continues to keep us up well past our bedtimes.

41:53Finished with a backhand winner literally right in front of me, which was great. She did that just for you. Matt was quoted as people earlier, wasn't he, on BBC Radio? Some people. Some people are saying she could win this tournament. Look, I've been called worse. I've been called a random on the internet, maybe. Oh, I'm getting excited and anxious in equal measure. Do you think she feels the same? It's like Fulham's FA Cup draw this year. I was like, oh my God, we've only got to beat Crystal Palace to get to Wembley and then we lost 3-0 at home. Like, feels a bit like that. Dalma Galfi in the third round to get to the second week.

42:36Vicki Spreadbury:Dalma Galfi is Crystal Palace.

42:41Vicki Spreadbury:How you haven't got Raducanu on the backhand list anymore is beyond me. So, you know, that's just my little... Wow, wasn't expecting to have beef with David tonight. I mean, it was exceptional today. All the backhands on my list are exceptional.

43:03Today, a lesson learned for me. I broke the golden predictions rule. You did? I went near Marketa von Drosheva. Don't do it. Don't do it. Do you remember you almost did it in Paris and I talked you out of it like a good friend? You did. And I didn't do that. No.

43:21Vicki Spreadbury:That actually could be a lot of fun. More fuel for the Matt Roberts funfire with Cameron Norrie. Is that what we're calling it? The Matt Roberts funfire with Cameron Norrie. Yes.

43:38Lefties don't like playing other lefties. It's like when David meets other tall people.

43:43Vicki Spreadbury:Yeah, don't like that. And look, a lot of what we said at Queen's hasn't materialised. Alcoa's was a serve bot at Queen's. All the lead-up tournaments have been pointless, haven't they? What was happening over the last three weeks? Should we just go straight into Wimbledon the day after Roland Garros? Cut the hoo-ha.

44:12I do hope Bertic stays in long enough for me to hear John McEnroe say his name again. That has been my highlight of today. Look, it's a tough pronunciation. Not everybody has my flair.

44:25Vicki Spreadbury:That's Cameron Matthews' favourite part of the tournament. It's going to take some beating. Van der Dan Schloop. Van der Dan Schloop, yeah. Yeah. I loved it so much.

44:41It's starting the show in daylight for the very first time this tournament. Thank you, Taylor Fritz, for not being on today's schedule. And that means, folks, that we have a crowd, a crowd of hardy folks.

44:56Thank you. Oh, not my best. That announcement effort was brought to you by PIMS.

45:06world number 192 went to the university of san diego huge if there's one winner from week one of wimbledon it's the university of san diego sack the marketing department not needed i don't want to discourage people from listening to our grand slam build up and preview podcast but Marin Cilic aside the lead up events seem to be more meaningless than ever before they've had a bad year August Holmgren lost in qualies of Nottingham so it's a challenger event he's lost in qualies of a challenger 6-2, 6-4 to Hugo Blanchet oh yeah and now here he is beating the best player in the world in Wimbledon for the third round everything's meaningless What are we doing?

46:01Trying to analyse anything on a tennis podcast.

46:07You know, having never watched August Holmgren before, I mean, never heard of him before this tournament, suddenly you spend four hours, 38 minutes watching him. You get to sort of know his game and then you're getting all emotional as he's hugging his father at the end. It's like, that's kind of what Grand Slams are kind of all about. It's a Grand Slam match and there's some people just standing about vaguely debating whether somebody can go and change their pants. What are we doing? Did he say, I've heard rumours that he said what if I shit myself? I think, I mean, I didn't hear that but he may well have said that.

46:48Was that the energy he was giving? Absolutely. I think he was just desperate to let them go off and change his clothes. He was like, you want me to change in the tunnel? what with the towel would you change there in front of all these people he definitely said that um and basically it turned out he changed in the time no he was allowed to go to the bathroom as long as he didn't enter the toilet area what he'd already been he'd already done his quota of toilet breaks and he wanted to go to the bathroom to change but the umpire was like no you can't because you've already done your maximum number of toilet breaks and he was saying it's not a toilet break it's a clothes change break i haven't done that yet i'm allowed to do that so he was allowed to leave the court if he committed to not have any fluids leave his body.

47:30Vicki Spreadbury:What have you got for diarrhoea?

47:35Arta Rindeknesh will play again tomorrow. What even is Wimbledon 2025 without Arta Rindeknesh on the schedule?

47:43Vicki Spreadbury:This is the story of the tournament so far. Five days in a row. Cameraman Matthews chuckling away to himself and I don't know whether it's because a fly just flew into my mouth. Or because you said flat backhand. Both. He says both.

48:01Jontek, you're trying to distract me with, is that a mosquito? Could we just deal with it? We are under siege. I know some of us seamlessly carry on broadcasting. Is it flying?

48:14Vicki Spreadbury:I wasn't talking. Is it flying in today, just about to start? Because it's got that feel to it. let's just press on shall we

48:29and thank you it is I'm trying to carry on as it as instructed I am declaring it an invasion right okay

48:40Rabakna is swatting opponents aside I mean around here Yeah, her or Lance Davis of Killer Bee Live Removal. Do you think he does other insects? No, but I would back it. I have fuel for the funfire, the Cameron Norrie funfire. Yeah. Guess who went to Ibiza post-Rolongaros other than Carlos Alcaraz? Cameron Norrie. Cameron Norrie apparently he came into press in a Pasha t-shirt and nobody noticed because you're just not on the lookout for that kind of thing with Cameron Norrie are you told you he's fun

49:32I think we are winning Wimbledon

49:34Vicki Spreadbury:I was going to say that we get to the final every year it's brilliant flying ants aside we are winning Wimbledon hey david you're on them what's that so that's the same as what it's always been they're flying out that is not i'm not going anywhere near that one centre court has just hosted a lock-in for 15 000 people all watching world number one arena sabalenka beat britain's emir adekanu 7675 in an absolute thriller to reach the round of 16. You know it's been a good night here when the BBC delays the news at 10 and that is exactly what has just happened. Speaking of crowds, we have one over there, Hardy tennis fans.

50:31I think that's better than the crowd Emirati Karni got. Love that. Thank you. To be fair, the crowd that Emirati Karni had didn't have bins to bang on. I've put in all caps in the agenda we should have seen this coming her second serve she had an absolute disaster off it I was tracking this for the whole match because tracking? you were obsessed with it oh she would scramble my eggs in about four points I'd be done I think Madison Keyes did an incredible job out there today, losing 6-3, 6-3. Well done, well done, Madison, and well done, Hannah, for coming up with this incredible turn of phrase for Laura Siegman, the unapologetically villainous face of grass-caught devilry.

51:32It's really difficult to know what was Matt's favourite moment of the day. It's starting to feel like the Matt Roberts slam. Wimbledon 2025. I got in this morning so early that I heard the fire alarm rehearsal.

51:55I wish they'd put John McEnroe on my chair. Rinder Kanish.

52:03and the most incredible resumption of all time I think Ben Shelton who was called off at 5-4 and serving in the third set last night needed 70 seconds to finish off Rinki Hidjakarta today 70 seconds three aces and an unreturned serve I need 60 seconds. That's all I need. Let me have a go. And they wouldn't give him that because, well, I guess they didn't trust that it would only take 60 seconds.

52:42Vicki Spreadbury:I do think they should have let him have that service go. Turns out it took 70 seconds. But that was incredible, like how to prove a point by Ben Shelton. Yeah.

52:54Robert McNichol actually sent me that it was in 2012. there was women's singles between Sara Irani and Coco Vandewa which was abandoned for the day due to rain with Irani leading 6-1-5-3 and advantage of course it's Sara Irani and the following afternoon Vandewa double faulted

53:23it's actually quite uncomfortable I don't really know how they play tennis in these for five hours. What's it meant to be doing? I think enhancing my performance.

53:37And one lovely daughty woman leaned over and said, where's Matt? He's the only reason I'm here.

53:49it's taken me this long into my life career and relationships with you to realize that my dad is called David and my brother's called Matt it's wild isn't it yeah I'll speak to my therapist about it.

54:09There's no Taylor Fritz on today's schedule, so here we are in glorious daylight, a beautiful summer's night in SW19, a day with relatively few upsets, not no upsets, because it's Wimbledon 2025. Got some big match nerves. I'm nervous for Matt, David.

54:31Vicki Spreadbury:Yeah, it's big time tomorrow, isn't it? It's the Jarry and Isom over double. I mean, you may as well just take your tent after the show. Just go and get ready.

54:45We need to talk about pasta with strawberries. It's become a thing. Big time, quickly. Big time. It's the new Frankie the Cat. Oh, that's harsh.

55:01and look I'm sure if I was brought up in a culture where this was a comforting dish there's every chance I would enjoy it um I like to think of myself as an adventurous eater but as somebody that has grown up somewhere where pasta with strawberries isn't so much of a thing it does sound absolutely horrendous

55:22and the next the next evolution of the story is all the journalists going and all the Italian players press conferences and asking them what they think everyone's upset that Paolini's out yeah Flavio Caballi is going to get asked about this Caballi, Sina, Sonago pasta questions are coming at you in your next press conference at a Champions Tour event in Chengdu I witnessed I love it when Chengdu Champions Tour events come up John McEnroe be served a pizza with strawberries on it. And he sent it back.

55:58I kind of had a Towson epiphany as well. I kind of like, I didn't know she could... Welcome to the club. But I was like, I didn't know you could slice. Oh, Matt, don't worry, she didn't either.

56:10Cameraman Matthew is just distracted by him tenderly placing a waterproof jacket over all the equipment. could you tenderly place a waterproof jacket over us? Taylor Fritz, did you see this? Gave a funny answer the other day because he was still playing Eastbourne. Such main character energy, this tournament. He's not even played today. I know, I know.

56:37Yannickson has dropped 17 games so far which is the Open Era record for the fewest drops en route to round 16 at Wimbledon by players who played three rounds rather than having a walkover. That feels like the perfect sort of scene setter for David to convince us that Grigor Dimitrov is going to be the man. The Italian media, I mean, are they OK? Overworked, aren't they? It's absolutely ridiculous. Like, yes, of course, Sin is there. And Paulini loses early and maybe they were thinking that's a shame, but at least a slightly easier life. Elisabetta Cotciareto pops up and says hi. Lorenzo Sonogo, Flavio Caballi.

57:25There is no peace.

57:30I mean, obviously, we'll never get a set. Andy Murray has intervened. Carlos Ancres needs to stop using his off days to play golf with Andy Murray. Go away, Andy Murray.

57:45Yeah, I think it's time for Taylor Fritz to win in three without bleeding on the court. Yeah. I think it's time.

57:54What will you do if Amanda Anisimova reaches the Wimbledon quarterfinals? She's last on court one tomorrow against Lyndon Nozkova.

58:02Vicki Spreadbury:You can hardly go and get her backhand, can't you? I've been trying. You could dye your hair. I've been trying for 29 years. You could dye your hair. She's done that this year. I could. I could go blonde. Yeah. If Amanda Nissimo over wins Wimbledon I'll go blonde Please happen

58:25I'm so invested I was already invested Now I'm obsessed Tomorrow what I will do is keep my head There's more to come If she wins

58:40As the sun sets over SW19, but not on all of our hopes and dreams, because, folks, we are now officially three wins away from Matt Roberts dying his hair blonde.

58:56Yeah, there was a moment there when Amanda Renesimov was a breakdown in the third set. I was quite concerned about this podcast. Matt wasn't here. He was having an existential crisis about 200 metres away.

59:09Vicki Spreadbury:He'd gone very quiet. Yeah. Yeah, content was not being said. Imagine if I'd just been a no-show for the live show. If I'd just gone home. Would have been quite fitting in a way, wouldn't it? A friend of mine, Julia, who did our hair and makeup for the photo shoot we had recently, she's a professional hair and makeup artist. She contacted me to say today that she is available next Saturday to professionally dye Matt's hair. It's great that no one's getting ahead of themselves.

59:43I saw Johnny Perkins leaving earlier and I thought, don't you have an announcement today?

59:48Vicki Spreadbury:Which makes you wonder whether it is live, doesn't it? Given how similar he makes it every time. This is like those people that think the Strictly Results show is live. It's not? It's not. That's some iconic contributions from Matthew today. David was doing a dad joke there, but I think Matthew is genuinely finding this out live on the pod. We'll chat afterwards, Matthew. We've got a controversy to talk about. Because Siegmund beat Solana Sierra 6-3, 6-2, despite not showing up for the match. Made her wait five minutes, did she? Something like that. Yeah. She's probably like, I've got plenty of time.

1:00:31It's 15, you're allowed.

1:00:33Vicki Spreadbury:Did she get in trouble for that? No.

1:00:38there's an awful lot of faff with laura siegmund she is the ball bouncing and you think okay she's that's done we've got that out the way we're ready to serve and then she holds this position

1:00:49Vicki Spreadbury:for about 40 seconds it's like a wind-up isn't it it's like get on with it that's our laura came back matt did jerry but not all the way back and the breeze right breathe right nasal strips are in the bin literally in the bin they're not actually it was just for content i'm not going to throw away you know 30 perfectly good breathe right nasal strips there'll be another run i think the aggro died when jerry tried to imitate what he was doing to make a point and he hit a double fault basically crap aggro yeah yeah really lame yeah i agree Hannah said, and I quote, he's going to turn Grigor Dimitrov into paste.

1:01:41You lot, honestly. Well, I think Sinner wins in straight sets. Yeah, me too. I don't.

1:01:52Vicki Spreadbury:I think he wins in four sets. And he's not paste. He's a... He's a... He's a chunky puree. Correct. like a like a guacamole a chunky guacamole yeah a big chutney I talked about OnlyFans for Pam the other day yeah discovered that Simon Briggs has an account yeah not hang on for reasons not as a content creator no he was doing research with Arena Sabalenka against Laura Siegmund go with God Arena

1:02:34I don't know if I like this new percentage chance feature. Well, there's no point in me asking who's going to win because you're going to say Sabalenka and Alcaraz. What am I, an excitement rating meter to you? An accurate one. You're just going to say Sabalenka and Alcaraz. That's no fun for anyone. I'm not sure flailing over a percent is that fun.

1:02:53Vicki Spreadbury:You know, I'd say it's a 65-35 job for Fritz. OK, that's a man who understands the assignment. Matt? I understand, eggs don't like it

1:03:05even the use of the term annoying game in the question Savalenka was moonwalking away from that as awkwardly and quickly as she could. Irina, I'm going to say it for you and I fully believe that Laura Seaman will take this as a compliment, it is the most annoying game in tennis

1:03:28she left the court for 10 minutes i went to get a coffee at the end of the second set because i

1:03:33Vicki Spreadbury:absolutely knew yeah laura seagra was gonna leave for 10 minutes the most wholesome thing you'll ever possibly see other than reggie selfie with roger federer which i'm still looking at on an hourly basis uh mira andreva going out to support her coach Conchita Martinez with a beautiful, enormous, handmade sign. The sign reads, let's go, Senorita Topspin. You are golden. So we can, maybe we could do it not on a Samoa days. Or maybe you could just get over yourself. Yes, David.

1:04:19Shout out my friend Felicity. She has made the strawberry pasta. Oh. She said anyone who likes strawberries and who likes pasta is lying if they say it's gross or they're using bad yogurt. She says the quality of the yogurt and she's a far yay gal. Me too. Yeah. The quality of the yogurt is essential. She also went into quite some detail about letting the pasta cool. That seems important. She said, in conclusion, Poland's been hiding a great dish. and after all the hoo-ha of Murderers Row last week and seeds falling by the wayside left, right and centre we do seem to have actually ended up with an entirely predictable semi-final line-up in the men's tournament Tell that to Hugh Grant, David I'm not sure he found anything particularly mouth-watering today in fact he was asleep during the single most exciting point of period in Novak Djokovic against Flavio Caballi.

1:05:25Vicki Spreadbury:Matthew's struggling to contain that. Well, he's the ATP admin, isn't he? I don't quite know what that means. It's apparently hilarious. He gets to be a journalist, he was telling Tennis Channel yesterday and interviewed the other players. That's what he was saying. He says he wants to show people behind the scenes. he's done a lot of filming with the ATP over the last few years and Matthew does a lot of that and doesn't have a bad word to say about him he's got plenty of bad words to say about me but none about none about Flavio Gaboli Matthew should be ATP admin oh my god you get ATP admin cancelled

1:06:06squirrel a load more towels into her bag did you see that it was very funny the way she turned to the camera and gave it the shh. Another press conference where she didn't get asked about strawberry pasta. I'm trying to keep the story alive.

1:06:24Vicki Spreadbury:Well, where were you? Why didn't you ask? I've got nothing to ask. You fulfilled your quota of fruit-related questions for this tournament. My mum wrote that to me tonight. You know, somebody who just follows the sport and isn't involved with it the way we are. And she just said it seems most unfair that the women now have to play tomorrow. Yes, Barbara. Yes. David with the measured takes and Matt with the irrational hype. What universe am I in? It's like those body-swapping movies. Yeah. It's a Freaky Friday with David and Matt. But I caught sight of a dog on Matt's screen and, well, I couldn't resist having a look.

1:07:10and then I showed David. And then I stroked her nose on the screen.

1:07:17Vicki Spreadbury:Did do that. There's some fingerprints still there. An extraordinary day here at SW19. A day of angst, of beauty, of drama. And that is just Matt Roberts' internal monologue. What a day. What a match. The match of Amanda Nisimova's life. I want to go blonde. I've got my blondies here from Jackie in the crowd over there.

1:07:47Unbelievable. Yeah, they were playing blondie. Yeah, iconic. When we sat down. So we were thinking maybe, maybe Matt could frost his tips for the final and then go the full blonde if she wins. Do you cosign? Sure, sure. I'll cosign. Frosted tips. You don't want to say that three times quickly.

1:08:15Today I had the Matt Roberts back and energy next to me. Every time I turned around I felt like, oh my God, everyone's looking at Matt, waiting for his reactions. The first rule of journalism is don't make the story about you. We've broken all of it. Here we are. Here we are. But do you have a scoop for us later on Djokovic's? Yes. Okay, Pam. Not a great one.

1:08:41Vicki Spreadbury:We'll take anything. Stick around for the mediocre reveal later.

1:08:50You know, make some really smart decisions about practice tomorrow and about saying no to requests. Make sure tomorrow, the day off between the... Hey, do you want to come and see someone get their hair dyed? I'll be back in L.A., sadly. No, I mean Amanda. Oh! I mean, you can come too.

1:09:09Vicki Spreadbury:Imagine that, Amanda Anissa Moe turned up for Matt's hair dye That would be good That would be great People have taught me about getting good content That would be good content Couple of days Do you know they've sold out of jams? Well I'm glad I got my one early Jackson potentially deprived though Well he's not getting this one Because we bring it together, both genders And having just come from the mixed final it's a gift and other sports are trying to imitate tennis yes pam yes pam yes pam

1:09:49i'm here to keep strawberry pasta alive oh wow i'm hungry really i have some all right i have some homemade strawberry pasta it's incredible work Let's pass it down. This is... Is this for all of us? This is macaron struscavkami. Oh, wow. Made by official medic of the tennis podcast, Felicity. I have forks.

1:10:14Vicki Spreadbury:Do we have to eat it now? I think... I'll have it. I mean, I'm going to have some now. I would like marks out of 10. I can give you a percentage. I would like a... Yes, please. I think it's horrible. I really don't like cold pasta. I'm not into that. Yeah, not for me. That is not nice. I mean, I'm not judging it from a sort of... Yeah, I don't want to yuck anyone's yum. You know, if you like it, good luck to you. Do you like it, Pam? Did you say Pam or Jam? Pam's cracking on. Pam's scoffing it. I'm starving. Do you want some more? Give Pam a blondie.

1:11:03it's a conundrum it is my best word i've ever used all my years on the podcast it's a conundrum you're right there did you get a bug i got a bug it's just it's in my ear no big deal um and i think it is very easy for us to go oh well these these guys are just brilliant aren't they like obviously they can do all this stuff but they can't just do it they just work incredibly hard at it whilst also fitting in forays into classical music i'm pretty sure that question got asked to holger another last year two years ago when he was going to play alcaraz yeah um and he genuinely did struggle he was like i'm really pleased with my game um should we ask again take Take his brain, Holger.

1:11:51Yeah. Take someone else's brain. Anyone's.

1:11:57The thing is, though, served by Alcaraz, a little bit boring. Tough day for me. I've just lost Hannah as a friend because I've put Kevin Anderson in the same sentence as Juan Martín del Potro. She is not happy. You deserve that. I do. Hello and welcome to the Tennis Podcast live from Wimbledon on day 13 of the Championships, the day of the women's singles final won by Iger Svjontek to claim her sixth major title in the most emphatic possible fashion. Six love, six love in 57 minutes.

1:12:43Vicki Spreadbury:She will have other moments I think she will reach other Grand Slam finals I really do You're telling me I should keep Matt brings his Breathe Right nasal strips to Grand Slams I should bring the blonde hair dye to every slam I should bring Matt I bought it it costs£3.49 Every Grand Slam that is going in your luggage So yeah to be clear we're extending the pledge to any slam. Oh, excellent. I was trying to get you to commit to that yesterday. I said to Matt, are you happy for your look to be dependent on a pack of dye that costs£3.49? He was like, yeah, OK. So I thought we'd hired a professional.

1:13:27I didn't tell you this because today's been an all-around low ebb, but she was actually, she became unavailable. It was going to be me. I read an interview with the two of them today. They're both Dutch. They're great friends. They've played a lot together as doubles teams. Vink said, I have a better haircut. We were recently in Turkey for the World Team Cup and went to the hairdresser together. Sam got his head shaved. I got blonde tips.

1:13:59Vicki Spreadbury:How much did the dye cost? Well, exactly. If we need any tips. So I'll be going to Niels Vink for advice. it is of course day 14 of the championships and we have just watched yannick sinner be crowned champion here for the first time beating rival carlos alcaraz you were behind james norton so everyone had good seats and nile horan well they they weren't together they weren't together no but i was most interested in tom kearney to my right you were with tom kearney he was quite a way away but i saw him how close was i to tom Quite close. Slightly worrying that it was the first day of Fulham training today and Tom Kearney was drinking Pimms at Wimbledon.

1:14:44On reflection, like, of course Carlos Alcaraz didn't win Wimbledon. He almost lost to Fabio Fanini.

1:14:54Vicki Spreadbury:A lot of tennis matches. A Grand Slam title run, a quick trip to Ibiza, back for Queen's, win that. Don't come for Ibiza, David. Well, you know, the evidence is there. He'd have lost to Fanini if it wasn't for Ibiza. He's proven he can do it without the Carotta boys. Bit of a blow for them, isn't it? I think he'd already proven that. Had he? Yeah. Big win for the fox. Was it? Well, you know, no carrots about, were there? No, there was a carrot. I saw a carrot. There was a woman, she wasn't dressed as a carrot because she's got self-respect, presumably, but she had a big carrot teddy. and wish you a pleasant and safe journey home.

1:15:38Thank you. It's nice that they don't change it for the final. Yeah. It's not, we hope you've enjoyed your tournament at Wimbledon. No. No. Day. Yeah, and they definitely could because they definitely are there live. Definitely. Definitely.

1:15:57And then he was taking pictures over here with members of the public, I think, just as he was about to leave and Reggie, who was behind a fence.

1:16:08Vicki Spreadbury:And the hedge. Yeah. Seized his opportunity, waited for the perfect moment and said, Roger, can I have a picture? It's the most iconic selfie you've ever seen. Yeah, it's unbelievable. And Federer went, oh, I don't know how. He said, sure, but I don't know how. And Reggie was like, I do. I do. and he repositioned and he got and the Federer's head just sticking up over this H with a beaming smile and then Reggie's got the best smile on his face it's going to go in our newsletter always backs himself physically no matter how long the match he's got these horse lungs hasn't he these scuba divers lungs we all know so much about Cameron Norrie's lungs that was another question in the encore interview they got another area I didn't know I knew where it was going because I know the story about the Cameron Norrie lungs, but I'm sure there were some people in that crowd thinking, where is this sentence going?

1:17:03The doctor told you you had a very big pair of... lungs.

1:17:15That's how it was phrased, yeah. I was like, we're going to be fine here. She's going to say lungs.

1:17:21Vicki Spreadbury:She's going to say lungs. She did say lungs. She said lungs. But there are definitely people who were like, huh? Oh Matt, I've got to carry on broadcasting now. We're live for goodness sake. So Norrie and his horse live.

From the publisher

David is away on holiday, but Catherine and Matt are here to wrap up the week’s results and talking points, before an audio montage of Wimbledon highlights. 

Part one - Catherine and Matt discuss the title winners from last week including Lois Boisson and Alexander Bublik, the spate of withdrawals from Canada, and the upcoming week in Washington which looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun. 

Part two (24m25s) - If you’re missing Wimbledon, then this will hopefully be just the thing for you. The wonderful Vicki Spreadbury has put together a montage of some of the lighter, funnier moments from the podcast during Wimbledon. 

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