Will Serena play singles at Wimbledon?

35:56I don't think much would have had to have changed. She was brilliant in that first set, Goff, like so good. And she had break point at the start of the second set. And I was, you know, I actually switched match. I started watching Haller. I thought, OK, Goff's got this under control. And then suddenly it turned and I came back to the match. And Badossa was a completely different player. You know, the one that has caused Goff big problems in the past in that matchup, you know, with her big, powerful ground strokes off both wings. And she looked brilliant, really. And, yeah, I think for Goff, that's four grass court losses in a row now.

36:33The end of 2024, two last year, one this year. It's definitely her weakest surface. But I don't know. I did also think there were some encouraging signs for her, the way she was going after her serve. She was in double-digit aces, Goff, in this match, and she was trying to use it as a bit more of a weapon again. Okay, it led to some double faults as well, that those were up, I think there were seven in the match. But still, the ratio was positive there, and the intent was good, I thought. And as I said, the first set, she was excellent, but did lose her way, and Bedosa really took over. So I guess I'm trying not to sort of just panic from a Kovia-Goth perspective and think, oh, we've lost on grass to Bedossa, who hasn't won a match in ages.

37:19I think, look, it wasn't great, but there were some OK signs in there as well. And it's just like the problem is for her on grass, I think she's so much more susceptible to tough draws. As we saw last year, she gets a strength and just gets hit off the court at Wimbledon. And I think those danger matches are much more in abundance for her on grass. So, yeah, I don't have high hopes going into Wimbledon. David, it's a good job we've got Matt back because I think it's time to have a dormant volcano discussion about Madison Keys. Yeah. And yet I feel like she is just a permanently dormant volcano and has been for her whole career.

38:07An extinct volcano. That's just, I mean. Other than the odd eruption. Right. Well, that is, you've just described a dormant volcano, David. No, but I tend to feel like we sort of call them one on the understanding that they're about to erupt. Like Krachykova is in dormant volcano mood, et cetera. I don't think that Madison Keyes is almost like the OG of this description I don't know I mean I didn't come up with it Matt but that's my feeling because once she erupts she's the most devastating force in the game but she's been like that since she was 18 she always has been yeah and therefore no debate required ok let's have some adjudication on this Matt yeah do you know i i think we're in the i think we're saying the same thing like she is a dormant volcano the question is is she rumbling is she about to erupt yes is that the question or is is there another is the question like like at some point she will just be extinct right when she retires yeah well no i mean no i'm not willing to declare her extinct Well, David, you thought she might have been extinct this year.

39:37Well, I definitely feel as though... In terms of eruptions. Yeah, I said at the end of last year that I thought she was going to have a big dip and that she wouldn't make the WTO finals or be in the top 10. And I still think that. And I think in terms of a dormant volcano capable of, you know, Australian open type eruptions, that is its own form of extinction.

40:06Extinction sounds like a very dramatic word, but I'm confined to the geography lingo of volcanoes, you understand. So I guess that's the question, right? Like, are there still eruptions in the bag for Madison Keys? Because she definitely has been dormant. I suppose then we come to the question of what counts as an eruption well is it for someone you know is it for someone who set the bar in terms of like she's shown she's capable of winning a major is that an eruption I think I think a semi-final it needs to be a semi-final I think that's you tell me definitely possible and it's definitely possible because well again in her uh on court interview afterwards she was she was talking about her relationship with grass and she was like well I've always loved it it just hasn't always loved me but I've always felt good on grass and comfortable on grass and I always expect to play well on grass I just I just sometimes don't I just think she's dangerous I think she's really underperformed at Wimbledon over the years.

41:18I mean, there was the, in recent years, there was the Paolini match, wasn't there, where she got injured. And I really, you know, that was after, that was after the shift had happened, I think, for Keys. The mental shift, she'd just started being coached by Fratangelo, hadn't she? And yeah, I think I feel for her on that one. But prior to that, I definitely think she makes sense as a grass quarter to me yeah i commentated on her when she was 19 winning eastbourne and beating angelique kerber in the final and i thought wow anything it's all on the table immediately for her um i remember martin and avasalo was commentating with me for that and she was just totally won over by her on grass as well in particular.

42:12And so it's been a surprise really to me that she hasn't had more results on it. And yeah, it's still, look, she's somebody I think it is in there for her to perform again like she did at the Australian Open. I still wouldn't, I wouldn't have the confidence to like pick that at all. But I didn't pick it for the Australian Open because it's once in a blue moon, isn't it? Yeah. I was very impressed with the finish today against Mukova. She served for the match and got broken. And then, you know, you think Madison Keyes, you're mostly thinking huge ball striking, aren't you? But it was actually the touch that got her over the line here.

42:59She came up with a brilliant like forehand squash shot kind of thing to break serve. And then the match point was a lovely deft, deft little shot cross court off the backhand. And, you know, doing that against Mukova was really quite the flex, I thought. Yeah, she... I think she's rumbling. Rumbling's a good addition to the match. And by the way, I totally agree on Krejcikova. I think we might be... I think the whole drawer might end up sleeping on Kraychikova. If she's fit and she's just stringing winds together, my God, she could do damage. I have climbed a volcano that was rumbling. I could hear it rumbling while I was there.

43:51Yeah, tell us more. In La Réunion, Piton de la Fournaise. yeah it was like it was hissing like a dragon was it hot and it actually erupted like the year like it was an it was a maybe it was just an active volcano i think it erupted the year after i was there anyway they certainly closed it they closed it while we were there because there was lava flow So, yeah. They're able to predict these things more accurately than Keyes' eruptions. Yeah. I think, generally. Wow. Sabalenka, Bartonkova, top of the draw. Is this, I mean, this is a stacked quarterfinal lineup. Is this Sabalenka's to lose? Like, how confident do you feel in, like, Sabalenka being the favourite from here, based on what you've seen so far?

44:56I think Barton Kovar's tricky. Well, she's a player I'm excited about because of her style. We've had a number of these this year. That's what I've really loved about 2026 is her and Olenakova and now Valinska, you know, just more recently. Just players who just come out with a really daring brand of tennis that is just not straight out of the machine of how you play tennis anymore, you know. But I still expect Sabalenka to win, absolutely, you know. But I do find Sabalenka really interesting on grass and I find her really interesting coming off the back of the French Open. You know, she's got something to prove again.

45:48And I feel like Wimbledon is huge for her after that shock defeat, the manner of that defeat. And I think I do feel like with her on grass, she needs a bit of runway. You know, a good week in Berlin would be a big deal for her. You know, winning this event would be big going into Wimbledon just to settle everything down and give her those foundations. Yeah, I think she'll win it. what do you think I mean she has to be the favourite from here right I just yeah I think she's the favourite I don't feel that confident don't know Matt what do you think yeah same really I think at this stage I'd take the field I think there's enough good names in there.

46:49Pagula, she always talks about liking German grass, doesn't she? She's won Berlin before, she's won Bad Homburg and then she gets over to Britain and hasn't quite been able to do it at Wimbledon. Svitilinas look very convincing in the other half of the draw. Look, Sam Belenka is definitely the favourite. She talked about working with a psychologist and she's seeing a psychologist after that French Open performance and I think she's doing a lot of searching and trying to figure that out but yeah I agree with I agree with David really like Sabalenka is fascinating coming into Wimbledon if we go through another season where she hasn't won either of the non-hardcourt slams you know it just it sort of feels like how much is she truly like progressing and I know she is in that she's you know been so good on the tour and everything but majors is the most important currency and I think she's desperate to get one of these non-hard court slams and for her not to have even reached the Wimbledon final feels like an underperformance.

47:53I know there's been injury, I know there was a year she couldn't play there are circumstances there but I think it's massive for Sabalenka this Wimbledon Incidentally, Marketa von Drosheva who is the defending champion in Berlin, that was an eruption when she popped out of nowhere and won Berlin last year. She's not defending her title. She is eligible to play at the moment, but she's choosing not to. She's expecting, or we are all expecting a decision in her anti-doping case to come next week ahead of Wimbledon. The case centres on her refusing entry to a doping control officer in December of last year.

48:36She claims that protocol wasn't wasn't followed. So that is something we are expecting news of in the coming week. If she doesn't receive a ban, she would in theory be eligible to play Wimbledon. She is currently, she's on the entry list and eligible to play. But as I say, she hasn't been playing recently and we haven't heard from her. So we will keep you posted on the Marquette of Androshova situation next week. Piton de la Fournay, by the way, is the world's most active volcano. And I did know that. I have climbed the world's most active volcano while it was rumbling. Is that one Krashikova?

49:23No, I think Sabalenka is the world number one is the world's most active volcano, right? If you're just erupting all the time, that's just winning stuff. it's the dormancy that's the yeah you're getting carried away with the volcano of it David yeah yeah I like it though let's see let's continue to develop the volcano genre of analogy just before we move on to the men and part three we got the WTA 250 in Nottingham this week the quarterfinal lineup up there is Karolina Pliskova against Talia Gibson. What's her volcano status? Well, you tell me, Matt.

50:11She's not extinct, is she? In my mind, she was extinct, but she's not. She's like top 30 in the race this year. And winning matches galore and loves the grass. She's someone's nightmare in the Wimbledon draw, isn't she? Yeah. She's not rumbling. I think she's... She's hissing. I think she's dormant. Hissing sounds really scary. I remember it was scary. I remember it sounding like a dragon. I'll ask you again, was it hot underfoot? Yeah, when you got near the top it was, yeah. You could feel the heat. God. You could see the recent lava flows. I'm not going up one.

51:01So Pliskova against Gibson to take on the winner of Marie Buzkova and Tatiana Maria. Is she a grass court? No, no. I was going to say a grass volcano, but no. Jessica Boutesman. That's just Edmund Hill. That's just Edmund Hill, isn't it?

51:29Jessica Bothas-Monero against Emma Navarro and Anne Lee against Victoria Goljubic Emma Raducanu did end up withdrawing incidentally David and I were speculating about whether she would and I think we both thought that that would most likely be the most sensible thing and she did end up doing that who are you both picking for the title from here in Nottingham? I think I might be going Pliskova, you know.

51:59See you on Sunday for a dormant volcano discussion about Karolina Pliskova. How do you think she'd get on against Tatiana Maria? Oh, I'd quite like to see it. A lot of bending down low, which is not Pliskova's favourite thing to do, is it? I'm going for Maria. I always think of her as the most upright tennis player I've ever seen. Yeah. That's a good point. That is a nightmare if Tatiana Maria can get there. Who are you going for, Matt? David's going Maria. Yeah, I think I might go Maria, you know. I think she's got a little bit of a, you know, I think she feels like she's got a bit of a chip on her shoulder, a bit of a point to prove after the Queen's snub.

52:45Yeah. It does make for dangerous players, doesn't it? I think Navarro in the final as well. Okay. Yeah, fun. Great. Okay, that's it for part two. Join us in part three, where we will head to Queen's and Halle to talk about the men. Welcome back to part three of today's tennis podcast. Let's start in London at Queen's and the ATP 500 event there. The quarterfinals are as follows. Alex Dominoor, the top seed, will take on Brandon Nakashima. Arthur Ferry, the British player, will take on Francisco Sarundolo. Alejandro Davidovic Fikina will face Tommy Paul. And Rinki Hijikata will face either Hamad Majedovic or Ugo Umber.

53:34What have we seen, David? What's taking your fancy this week at Queen's? Or who has taken your fancy? Other than Kurentan Moutet, who I'm dying to talk about, but is out of the tournament. So we should probably start. We'll keep this part short so we can get on to that. But Dimonor, I've been pleased the way he has just underlined his top seeding so far. I mean, he played Denis Shapovalov in the most recent round and he took care of him pretty handily. I mean, Shapovalov scraped through a tie break against Jack Pennington-Jones in the previous round in the third set and hit some spectacular shots.

54:17But it did strike me how these are two players that kind of came up together, Shapovalov and Dimonor. And Dimonor just looks so much more accomplished as a player. You know what he is. He is the packaged top 10 player that Denis Shapovalov has never been. And Shapovalov plays amazingly spectacular shots, but he's been doing that for 10 years. And yes, he got to Wimbledon semi-final, but I just feel as though Dimonor is kind of what he could have been or what he was supposed to be. I know they're very different, but just in terms of when they came through together. Arthur Ferry, I needed an Arthur F.

55:02So, you know, it's nice to be able to just transfer my attentions over. And he's a bit French. Yeah, and I saw him play against... Stylish player, isn't he? at Wimbledon. He's not a big guy. He's sort of physically quite short, but he packs a punch. I mean, he hits a really sweet ball from the baseline. You know, he's got real weight of shots. And I think, you know, he's the best of this group of, at the moment at least, British wildcards. He's getting a wildcard into Wimbledon. He's the one that I think is absolutely bang on deserves it. You know, he's sort of, he's come into this draw and he won an all-British match against Toby Samuel in the first round really, really easily.

55:49But then he backed it up. You know, he won the second round as well. So I feel like that's really important. Sarundolo absolutely destroyed Jenson Brooksby. He was like 6-2-2-up at one stage. Ended up being 6-4 in the second set. And he's now, I think, coached by Nicholas Massoud, is Sarundolo. that's an interesting combination. But yeah, I still think the most likely scenario here is that you get Demenor and Paul in the final. Tommy Paul, who's playing Alejandro Davidovic Fikina, who plays some nice grass court tennis. But they are the standout players, really, I think. Paul Davidovic Fikina has been a bizarre matchup.

56:39their last five sets have all been 6-1 to Tommy Paul and seven of the last eight sets that Paul has won against Davidovich for Kina have been 6-1 or 6-love because in my head that match is great do you know what I mean? like two great athletes, shot makers moving each other side to side they both like grass yeah, I mean so their recent matches have been in Australia and actually Davidovic Fikino ended up retiring this year against Paul after those first two sets but yeah I was reminded today watching Paul against Boric van der Zanskiel just how much I like watching him on the grass so he's so happy coming forward Paul and he's on a bit of a winning streak at Queen's isn't he because he didn't defend his title last year he was injured so he's actually I think won seven matches in a row at Queen's now and yeah I would love or Paul final.

57:37I think that would be, to be honest, as good as Queen's can really get, I think, with the feel it's got. Did we all see Bertic's tweener lob? Yeah, that was a wow moment. He's random, isn't he, Bertic? He's so random. You love him. Yeah, because he's so not the tweener lob guy, but he is you know like when Shapovalov did his diving volley and that went all viral like yeah that's what Shapovalov exists for you know that's the point of him I mean no one and you know he gave it you know Bertic barely even noticed that he had hit the shot of the week

58:33look bemused by everyone's excitement about it uh let's talk about corentan mute uh and let's apologize to your mum in advance david there's really no getting around uh talking about corentan mute without saying the word fuck because he's given us no choice he said fuck in an interview in his on-court interview uh after his first round win over giovanni and peshi perry car Oh, great win, by the way. And then he was urged not to say fuck because that's a problem on the BBC or presumably lots of broadcast networks in the middle of the day by the interviewer Jenny Drummond, who I thought handled it very well.

59:20And then he proceeded to say fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck many times. people are clutching all the pearls about this. I mean, I'm not an unbiased judge of this because I love swearing and I really enjoyed it. And I just think everyone needs to get a life. But, you know, I understand people with kids watching or whatever, but it was funny I mean I'm sorry it was funny it was well timed it was I I mean I did feel a bit for Jenny Drummond in the moment because you know not everybody's going to handle that one well and she I agree with you I think she really did and she just got the tone right and slightly gently ticked him off in the in a slightly amused way um and then he did it again but his timing was so good I thought and the manner he did it just did not care and he was having a laugh he was having a laugh and I mean look I don't want a load of copycats because no the joke's been done now it wouldn't be funny again and don't you do it again Corintan because you've done it now it was funny the first time it's one of those I don't think he will I think he is quite cool Mute yeah like if it was Shapovalov he would do it again I've definitely seen some people say something almost accidentally funny in the past, get a laugh and then do it again but naming no names but Mute is not one of those and actually I think he was very very funny and all power to him and I did read that there was a possibility that you could get fined for something like that if he gets fined it would be an absolute fucking outrage David sent a video of it Not only to our tennis podcast group The three of us But also to the World Cup sweepstake group That we've got going With both his kids And a number of his nieces and nephews in Which was iconic behaviour Yeah, that's how much David enjoyed it They all enjoyed it can you imagine the um can you imagine the reaction of that of that woman at was it indian wells earlier in the season when andreva left the court swearing and then they and then they zoomed in on that woman who was who like totally lost her mind i was picturing like just like a balcony of people at queens doing that do you know what i mean I'd forgotten about that woman she was iconic have we made a note of her to make sure she comes up in the quiz yes she needs to be coming up in the end of your quiz I think about her a lot Catherine don't worry let's head to who are you picking for queens at this stage let's stick with that I'm going to go Dimonor Matt I think I might go Paul do you remember that match they played was it in the week before the French Open Catherine the one we were just going crazy about yes when we saw the highlights Tommy Paul just I don't know it was like he injected himself with something in the middle of the match with Carlos Alcaraz yeah that is a joke I'm not casting aspersions but it really was like yeah wild Alcaraz was getting really bored and he decided to possess Tommy Paul.

1:03:15Yeah, truly. Okay, now let's head to Haller. And the other ATP 500 tournament happening this week, the quarterfinals there, look thus. Alexander Zverev to take on Raphael Collignon, a rematch of Ben Shelton against Taylor Fritz, which of course was the final just a few days ago in Stuttgart. Then Daniel Altmaier against Daniel Medvedev and the winner of that to take on the winner of Francis Tiafoe against Félix Auger-Aliassime. Tiafoe having beaten Flavio Caboli in his opening match. I'm not sure there's been any result less surprising to me all year than Flavio Caboli losing his first match after the French Open final.

1:03:59Yeah. I mean, it's a tough draw, isn't it? Tiafoe's a good player and very good on grass, but it could probably have been... What player am I going to throw under the bus here? It could probably have been Henry Wendell Ken and he'd have lost it. Is that his name, Henry? He was on a run. Yeah, I mean, yes, it's like everybody's doing what they're supposed to do. Alexander Zverev just comes out and just methodically goes and beats a couple of people, you know after winning the friendship Cavali just doesn't really turn up so yep yeah everyone's being on brand including probably be brilliant next week well hope so for the sake of my fantasy team uh Shelton Fritz fascinated yeah he could he could do with revenge Fritz couldn't he Fritz really needs a win over Shelton He's lost his last three against him.

1:05:04And the only one he won was in 2023. And obviously this is the year where he's had the time off with the knee problem and he's rested it up. And I think it's, look, I mean, it's okay to lose to Ben Shelton. He's a bloody dangerous and good player. But Fritz is not going to take kindly to this. You know, like he's got a lot of professional pride. He will want to be getting him back. It's not just about getting wins. he'll want to get a win against him I think and prove to himself that he's back yes he's bloody stubborn Fritz isn't he yes I'm going to say he will how about that I think he might too three results Shelton's way in the last 12 months against him but no I'm going to go Fritz what do you two think so you agree Catherine what do you think I think the stubbornness of Fritz I think he's like exactly as you've described I think he knows, like, I need this one.

1:06:02And it's not like he hasn't been getting close in their matches. It doesn't seem like a total match-up problem to me. No, it's big points. He's been just losing the odd break of serve at the wrong time. Yeah. And then it would likely be Fritz Zverev in the semis if Zverev overcomes Collignon, which is a fascinating match-up because Fritz has his number or has had his number. Whereas Zverev has Shelton's number. It's an interesting little triangle there. Shelton always beats Fritz. Fritz always beats Zverev and Zverev always beats Shelton. Shelton could do with having a pop at Zverev in this sort of circumstances where Zverev might not be totally head in the game, although he's at the quarterfinal.

1:06:55fascinating yeah yeah that is really interesting um and medvedev medvedev could do with a could do with a well it's already a deep run but an even deeper run yeah shelton today i watched him against uh ethan quinn and he really lost his way in in the match he lost the second set went down a break at the start of the third but then he just like went for everything just went for broke on like every shot and there were quite a lot of errors in there but there was so many spectacular winners and it kind of reminded me that he's capable of that I think he's done a great job Shelton of really like developing some of the edges of his game in that now he can go toe-to-toe from the baseline with a lot of players he can rally he can go into a sort of secure mode but i think to to peak to truly like reach the absolute peak of the sport and take down the big names i think he needs to play more like he played in those final stages which was just going for it playing on his terms letting the arm fly serving big ripping winners like that's the brand of tennis i think is going to be most dangerous against the very best players in the world it's the most high risk and it might lead i think it's been probably the right thing for him not to play that way all the time and build his ranking but i think it was it was good that he's got that in him it's just it's one thing doing it against ethan quinn and it's another trying to do it against a sinner or you know the other top players um but i do agree that fritz is going to be hungry for this and might might take this one and get some revenge there So who you got winning the tournament then?

1:08:45It's tough, isn't it? Because, ooh. I don't trust Medvedev, but I just think the fact he's in the other half might help him a little bit. Is he a dormant volcano? Is he rumbling? I mean, I don't think we have the vocabulary for what Medvedev's been doing this year.

1:09:16David, who have you got winning Haller from here? This is tough, I think, isn't it? Yeah. Who do you think is coming through that bottom half of the draw into the final? Altmaier, Medvedev, Tiafri, Felix. I think we're going to get a Medvedev-Fritz final and Fritz is going to win it all and really put himself back on the map. that'd be very interesting yeah what do Fritz Medvedev matches look like attritional yeah hard work for everyone involved yeah it just sort of struck me today that like we are going into another slam without Alcaraz and I know that's just struck you I know we've been acutely aware of that for a while But like we were just like we were just talking about this incredible opportunity that the French Open was.

1:10:14And it's it's just not impossible that. Wimbledon ends up being a big opportunity, certainly on a half of the draw. I mean, there's a big heat wave in the works. Right. And just like Fritz, Fritz would be primed. Yeah. To try and take advantage of that. If we're talking about like the way Zverev won the French Open was taking advantage of that space that opened up. Fritz has been that guy for a while as well. You know, he's had the edge over Zverev in the matchup. But he's just been injured for a while and not been able to play his best. And I think if he can get himself back in the conversation with a title in Halle and feel good going into Wimbledon and then get on the right side of the draw, you know like he could go really far so i think it's i think it's massive actually what happens in hallow over the over the next few days for a lot because i would i would also put medvedev in that conversation and zverev still and shelton even like a felix on grass i think is a different different prospect to what he is on clay you know um even tiafo okay you've just named everybody apart from Daniel Altmaier.

1:11:34Talking of Altmaier, he's playing doubles with Fonseca and they're taking on Kaboli and Shelton in the semis. Yes, Kaboli and Shelton have been a real vibe. That has been fun. And it doesn't surprise me that they get on. Fonseca's not a grass quarter, is he, David? Not yet, anyway. The manner I realised he was playing the other day, he was four love down against Yannick Hanfman. I've been about 10 minutes. Yeah, it's a work in progress. It's a tough surface. OK, that is it. We will be back on Monday, though, to do an autopsy on all of those predictions that I've just demanded from us all. I am very keen to get on to the topic of our mascot for today's show.

1:12:25Imagine my joy when I checked in on the agenda earlier on today to discover that today's mascot is Maggie, the returning Maggie, a Bernese mountain dog. Maggie is owned by Elizabeth Desmond. She's a nine-year-old Bernese mountain dog. Her interests are going for coffee, i.e. getting treats and lots of rubs in cafes, sleeping, going to the beach. and her hidden talent is jumping fences with Elizabeth's Wellington boot in her mouth. Which is, I mean, that sounds like the sort of thing that my Instagram algorithm serves me on a daily basis. Would you like to see this Bernese mountain dog jumping a fence with a welly in her mouth?

1:13:07Yes, I would. Thank you very much. Elizabeth says she's actually not a tennis fan as my exclamations wake her. And that is also a dog thing that I can very much relate to. She is wonderful, Maggie. What a regal, beautiful, cuddlable dog I'm looking at right now. So Maggie, thank you for being our mascot for today's show. We have our mascots. I have Bodhi relying on Nicola Bartonkova for points this week. it's not the best place to be but here we are David has Maisie riding high at the top of the table still I'm more invested in the World Cup sweepstake now it turns out that it turns out that competitions that are entirely luck based and require no actual selections on my part they're what I'm good at no skill involved yeah you've got England haven't you Catherine I've got all my teams have got points in their opening games yeah I've got England I feel pretty good about having England after last night not to mention Cap Verde sorry to bring that up Spanish Matt but that's an unexpected point get my Spanish passport and I can't even beat Cap Verde and everyone's thrilled about it.

1:14:42And I'm like, I'm literally supporting Spain now.

1:14:49Hello to Roger, Matt's mascot. Hello to our top folks and executive producers, Greg, Chris and Jeff. Matt's back, so so are shout outs. Let's have them, Matt. We have Laura from Athens, Georgia in the US. Hello, Laura. Laura? I didn't know there was an Athens, Georgia. Laura says, like, Robson and Catherine's favourite, Siegmund. I can't believe how much a part of my, like, podcast identity Laura Siegmund has ended up becoming. I know I only have myself to blame. I wonder how many seasons she's got left. She's 38 now. Oh, she's going to hang around, David.

1:15:35She'll hang around. be asking for wild cards and be annoyed when she doesn't get them I mean at the very least I think she'll kick around in doubles for forever

1:15:51Laura thank you for making me think about Laura Siegmund just always living rent free in my mind we also have Emily Price from North East Victoria Australia Hey, Emily, hi. North East Victoria, okay. That's very vague. We know a lot of places in Victoria because of all the trophies that were named after places in Victoria during COVID. Gippsland? Gippsland. It's always Gippsland. We know others, but it's always Gippsland. The only one I remember is Catherine saying in that accent. The Yarra River Valley classic or something? Was there a Great Ocean Road classic? The Murray something? The Murray River.

1:16:43It was Murray River, yeah.

1:16:50Yeah, I think we might be out. Yeah, then it was just like Adelaide 2. And Melbourne 2. There was a Melbourne 1 and 2 as well, wasn't there? oh covid uh emily says last year my dream came true and i went to wimbledon with my high school bff and tennis bestie nat it was to celebrate our 50th birthdays after many years of wishing for it talking about it and then actually planning and saving for it when we walked through the gates It felt truly magical. It simply is the best. That is wonderful, Emily. I can't wait to go now. I'm so glad you did that. That's really special. Thank you. Yeah, that'll be us next week.

1:17:43It will. I'm going tomorrow, in fact. Yeah, I'm getting my shark ninja chill pill fired up. Have you seen the weather forecast? Yeah, it's giving Paris all over again. Me and Yannick Sin are having the same feelings of panic about the weather forecast. Oh, no. Sin is going to be all hot and bothered again. But also me, David. I'm going to be hot and bothered again. Yeah, but you can go inside. You can't. Matt, what are you going to do in the Wimbledon Library? I am going to research or finish researching 1996 Wimbledon, put the finishing touches on that relived show that we have coming up after your incredible interviews that you've been doing.

1:18:38Oh, David on fire. I have spoken this week at length to Malavere Washington and to Richard Krychek, the men's singles finalists of 1996. And I loved every minute of talking to them. So I think a lot of you are going to enjoy those. Yeah, I'm really excited about that show. We've decided David's interviews are so good. We don't need to track down the streaker. That's how good they are. Also, we've drawn a total bunk.

1:19:18Yeah. Okay. Brilliant. One more shout out. One more for Matt Schwartz from Scotch Plains, New Jersey. Oh. Right, Matt? Well, we love a Matt. I'm wearing my Springsteen T-shirt. And New Jersey is where England are going to win the World Cup for me. Absolutely. And Schwartz, like the surname of Pete Sampras and Marcelo Rios' former agent, Jeff Schwartz. That's incredible, David. Wow. Did you know him? Is he a nice guy? Yes and no. I did know him and he wasn't a nice guy.

1:20:07he was terrifying like most agents

1:20:14absolutely incredible uh mark emily and laura thank you ever so much for being so i really should

1:20:26and Matt by the way says I hope to meet you all in Flushing this year as I attend the US Open for the 30th consecutive year wow that's good going that is unreal Matt's been going since he turned 8 I don't want to fact check Matt but what about Covid

1:20:52Sorry to keep bringing up COVID Well 30th consecutive He was allowed to go to Yeah okay I'm not invalidating the streak Sounds like you are Don't want to fact check it But I'm going to fact check it Okay I've got your name wrong He's thrilled with his streak And you've come along called him Mark and shat all over his wonderful fact.

1:21:26Mark. Matt. Matt.

1:21:33I'm so sorry. I love all Matt's and that is a wonderful streak and you shouldn't listen to anything my nonsense 10 o 'clock at night heatwave brain is saying. Matt, Emily and Laura thank you ever so much for being friends of the Tennis Podcast we are part of the Athletic Podcast Network and we'll be back with our next show on Monday thanks for listening we'll speak to you then