Alcaraz woos Paris, WTA Finals off to a flyer

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1:13Well, hello and welcome to the Tennis Podcast. It is Monday the 9th of November. We are all here. We have a lot to talk about. The Paris Masters has just been completed and a maiden title there for Carlos Alcaraz, as the WTA finals is underway in Indian Wells. We've got Yannick Sinner releasing emotional videos left, right and centre about Darren Cahill. We have a lot to get into on today's show. Matt Roberts is here. Matt, have you figured out yet what you would have done had you been at the net with a floating Carlos Alcaraz shot coming to your backhand as Taylor Fritz was a few days ago? the big question on everyone's lips is what would you have done well given my performance in the one point slam i probably would have just dumped it in the net would definitely have been you know the answer there but what i would have tried to have done perhaps a different question um and i'm looking forward to getting into that the i feel like rarely has one point provoked so much discourse And that is kind of the Carlos Alcaraz effect, I think.

2:27You know, like he put Fritz in such a position there that, you know, left him with so many options. Maybe none of them were good. And maybe the Taylor Fritz not having a backhand volley effect. I tell you what, though, I have seen an angle. We're getting into this already. I've seen an angle from side on where volleying was not an option. But volleying was not an option because Taylor Fritz didn't close the net because he knows that volleying is a bad option for him. Yes, but I think, honestly, he would have had to have closed the net so quickly and so Federer-like to have been able to get that with a volley.

3:07It dipped so close to the net. It did. And we were all victims of the court view, weren't we? Because the fixed camera shot did make it seem like Taylor Fritz was a lot closer to the net than he actually was and perhaps did him a disservice. OK, well, that's a little preview of what's to come later in the show. David Law is here. He's back in the land of the living, folks. David, very good to see your face. How are you doing? I'm getting there. I'm getting there. I had to pull out of Tennis Relift on Friday, which is a blow, but it does mean that we get to do it this week when I'm fully fit. And I'm very much looking forward to that.

3:47And we'll be looking back at tour finals. And given that this one has just started, the WTA finals with such a bang, I'm particularly looking forward to that. It is James Hansen's fault of the athletic, isn't it, that everybody's gone so deep and granular about this point. But actually, he has really unearthed a conversation point that has fascinated so many people. What would you do, I think, was the headline of his article in The Athletic about this scenario. And, yeah, it got everybody thinking. And my mind just goes back to the Labour Cup and Carlos Alcruz trying to advise players what to do if he were them, you know, and forgetting that, you know, nobody else has his skill set.

4:38Yeah, the answer is B, Carlos Alcaraz and not Taylor Fritz in that moment, of course. OK, let's get into it. Carlos Alcaraz's run to the title in Paris, which included that quarterfinal win over Taylor Fritz, one of the matches of the week, probably one of the matches of the year, quite frankly, on the ATP Tour, then cleaned up Kasper Rude in the semifinals and took care of Ben Shelton, 7-6, 6-5 in the final. Matt, you get the joy, the privilege, the honour, first of all, to describe Carlos Alcaraz's run to this title. Well, I think that the moment that will live with me will be that Fritz match.

5:25You know, I think as Alcaraz has made this comeback from injury, he'd done a lot of the things on the checklist, right? He had looked pretty good when he first came back. Then he'd turn that into winning a title. Then he'd turn that into that amazing performance against Alex Dimonor in the final the other week. And, you know, it was like, is Alcaraz back? He's pretty much there now. The one thing he hadn't done yet was that completely freak of nature win where he just comes up with absolute magic in the biggest moment and escapes from a situation. We've seen him do it so many times in his career, but the one time he had been tested like that in this comeback was against Ben Shelton at the US Open, and he came out on the wrong side of it that day.

6:15I think just not having enough tennis in his legs, not having felt pressure moments recently enough. He was just ever so slightly off his absolute best then. but this time when he needed it he pulled off absolute magic in that in that comeback against Taylor Fritz and that is a really tough matchup I think for Alcaraz in those conditions with Fritz serving as he was with Fritz playing as he was with everything on the line him desperately trying to make Turin you know there was kind of more on the line for Fritz in that match than there was for Alcaraz and Fritz was playing brilliantly and it took Carlos Alcaraz doing things that only he can do to make the comeback there and there were just moments from that match that will stay with me I think in particular the match point save of course as well but I think the game before that when when he saved a match point in that game and he held and in particular he hit this he hit this drop shot on the run at full pelt from his backhand side to close that game and he was smiling afterwards fritz was smiling afterwards the ball kids were smiling afterwards the crowd was in this absolute frenzy and there's just no one else that can do that to a match to a crowd to a tournament that is what carlos alcaraz brings to tennis that's what we missed for so much this year and I'm so so happy that he's that he's back doing that and then of course he he goes on and wins the match and wins the title as well with a couple of you know straight sets victories but some tight moments especially in the final against Ben Shelton but it it was it was a week that like only Alcaraz can can pull off I think is kind of how I end up feeling about it yeah Scott Barkley the excellent, irreverent, common Twitter presence and diehard Andy Murray fan on Twitter said that it's a sort of moment that makes you...

8:24You look at Al Kraz and you feel proud to be a tennis fan. You feel proud that he's ours.

8:33And so many of the moments that will really live in my soul this year from tennis are, well, Alcaraz beaming down the tunnel, beaming while walking down the tunnel after his defeat to Ben Shelton at the US Open. Alcaraz throughout the fifth set of that match against Alexander Zverev, the semi-final against Alexander Zverev at the Australian Open, sitting in the chair at the change of ends, having basically had a power shutdown for two sets. He's still down in the scoreline and yet he's sitting there beaming, gesticulating to the crowd, fist pumping, saying, don't worry, I'm still in this. And again, in this match against Taylor Fritz, he's pulled off that worldy shot, save match point in that game, Matt.

9:19But he's still a breakdown and he's still about to face one of the world's best servers coming out to serve for the match. And he's just sitting there beaming. He's just absolutely beaming the opportunity that in a few moments time, he's going to get to stand up again and play some more tennis and maybe pull off something like what he just pulled off and made him feel amazing and made the crowd feel amazing. And you look over at the other side of the net and Taylor Fritz is beaming too. Like that is the Carlos Alcaraz effect, David. Well, yeah. I mean, in Fritz's case, it was kind of just a mixture of disbelief and just comedy.

10:03comedy value that because i think fritz had played one of the best points of his life just there he'd hit a running forehand cross court that pete sampras would have been proud of that got alcaraz scrambling to his right he then played an inside out backhand that actually wrong-footed alcaraz it was very clever didn't quite maybe have the court penetration that a sweeping cross-court backhand might have done but it wrong-footed alcaraz that gets him into the net Alcraz lifts a lob over the backhand side, which is a really tricky shot for a guy like Fritz, who isn't really Mr. Hands. And yet he takes one step backwards and he kind of feathers this backhand overhead half-paced.

10:47I tell you, there's some of the greatest players of all time that have been very happy with that backhand cross-court overhead that Fritz hit there. He hit the line with it near the service line. He takes Alkraus into the photographer's pit, really, in terms of just getting to the ball. And then Alkraus comes up with like an angle that's in line with the net almost to come up with a drop shot winner. And you just look at it and you think, well, that is not possible for any other player in the world, I don't think. And the big difference... Can you think of anybody else? I mean, look, I've seen some miraculous gets from players like Nadal, you know, and Djokovic.

11:34They've reached things that have made my jaw drop in a similar way. I think to have the touch on the end of it is probably the difference maker. They might have done it, in Nadal's case, with a sort of banana shot around the net post or something on that run out to his left. jokovic would have done his sort of splayed legs and hit a back and winner down the line or something but to come up with a feather like drop shot cross court that nobody even thinks of doing that that's just silly to try and attempt that and that's what he did and that's what he pulled off but i think what what separates him from anybody else that i've ever seen is he's the guy who's able to enjoy it in the moment not just enjoy that he's won the point and that that's kept his hopes alive or given him a chance to, like literally just the visceral experience of enjoying the tennis shot and the moment.

12:28You know, you think of our interview with Andy Murray a year ago when he just said, I just wish I could have enjoyed it a bit more. How many miraculous shots did Andy Murray pull off over the years? And you know, you got the sense that he was, it was all part of the bloody-minded quest to win and stay in it. And I respected him and admired him so much. That is far more relatable than what Alcaraz is doing right now. Because how can you be this desperate to win? And also like, isn't this bloody great? I'm just having such a great time. I've never seen anybody else like that. Yeah, no one's doing it like him.

13:05I think I had underestimated or completely overlooked. I had wondered how much he would fancy it in Paris this week. Having won in Vienna last week, it's a 1 ,000. Okay, it's an old school 1 ,000 condensed into a week, but there was some slight grumblings at the start of the week about how different the conditions were to Vienna. They'd sped up the court in Paris this week, and I just thought maybe he's not going to be, maybe he's going to be the Shanghai Alcaraz that we got after he won the 500 title in Tokyo. But I had not thought about the Paris factor. Well, A, the fact that Paris is a vibe.

13:53Paris indoors is a vibe. As much as indoor tennis doesn't really do it for me, I really do enjoy that tournament. Like the crowds, the atmosphere, it's electric. It's a really, really awesome vibe. But Alcaraz has been on the worst side of that, hasn't he? The last time we kind of saw old Alcaraz, I feel like, was when he was having that harrowing experience to Hugo Gaston, losing from, what was the situation, Matt? He was five. Wasn't he like five love up or something? Five love up or something, ended up losing to this tidal wave from, well I'm not sure anyone's ever described Hugo Gaston as a tidal wave before but with carried by the crowd singing La Marseillaise that's what it felt like to Carlos Alcraz and he ended up leaving the court in tears and I feel like that was the end of his season and that was the last time we saw that version of Carlos Alcraz and he came out the next season and he looked like a man built to cope with moments like that.

15:00He's been the famous Carlos Alcarez ever since. Exactly, exactly. But I hadn't thought about the fact that he hasn't had the chance to play in Paris this year, that this week for him, and he said this a lot in his interviews, particularly towards the end of the week, is it looked increasingly like he was on a march to the title. This was his make-up week for missing Roland Garros. That was how he felt about it, Matt. Yeah, absolutely. He was very quick to talk about the connection he felt with the crowd. And, you know, I think, you know, I've not really seen a place that Alcaraz doesn't have a connection with the crowd, but particularly Paris.

15:42And, you know, I remember being gutted, obviously, when Alcaraz pulled out of the French Open and feeling like we weren't going to get the crowd recognizing that the last time he played on this court, he played one of the best matches anyone's ever seen in the sports history and pulled off something so special. And he got a little bit of that this week in the indoor tournament in Paris instead, which, yeah, was great. I think the other thing that is coming to mind is that it's quite interesting to me that Alcaraz has won the events in this post-US Open period that Sinner was winning last year.

16:20Vienna, Paris. And, you know, I do think this is also part of the season where obviously Alcaraz didn't want to be injured, but that enforced break he had, he is so much fresher than everyone else. He's so much more capable of being able to enjoy all of these things because he's full of energy. He's buzzing. He's pleased to be back. he's improving every week and he's feeling really good. Everyone else pretty much is hanging on or making Turin the absolute goal, you know. And the little parallel... Hallucinating the Maldives. And of course, the little parallel there is that last year, Sinner had an enforced break as well.

16:59And that was obviously different. But, you know, he had three months off in the season. He obviously didn't want to be on the sidelines. But I do think it has allowed them to have a bit more energy at the end of the season. Obviously, when they're at their best, they're better than everyone else as well. And that's a big part of the reason why they're winning these titles. But even if you think of it, you know, Shanghai, Alejandro Davidovic Fakina won that event. And he had a period off in the season as well when he was injured. I do think we are seeing players who are a bit fresher and have a bit more in the tank really thriving at this time of the year.

17:35It's happened a little bit on the women's tour as well, with Sonny Cartel having a great run. That is a factor here. And Alcaraz is just in such a great place to be able to enjoy everything right now. There's no sense of burnout. There's no sense of he's played too much. He's back. He's improving. His serve was better again this week, I thought. And it's set up now for the two biggest events he's probably got left of this season with the ATP finals, of course, for himself, and then the Davis Cup finals that he talked about even at the start of the year before the injury as being one of his big goals.

18:14So lots still to come for Carlos Alcarez, which is exciting for him and exciting for us. Just before we mention Ben Shelton in the finals, a final word on Taylor Fritz. That was a binary situation for him in that Alcarez match, David, win it, which he was one point away from doing and he qualifies for Turin and lose it and he fails to qualify for Turin. He's still going to go. He's going to be the first alternate. Flavio Caballi remains a question mark. There's a good chance he'll still play. But he was playing like a man whose whole year was on the line last week in Paris. And honestly, I'm not just talking about the Alcaraz match where I was so impressed with him, regardless of whether he should have done something different on that much debated point.

19:01I'm talking about other performances that week as well in particular his victory over Arthur Feese in the round before that, round of 16, wasn't it? Which was pretty much flawless, quite frankly. I was a bit disappointed in Feese but even if a better version of Feese had turned up I'm not sure what answers he would have had against that version of Taylor Fritz. I never thought we were going to see a sort of steep drop-off from Taylor Fritz, you know, his bloody mindedness, his tenacity. I thought he was going to hang around sort of thereabouts in the game for a long time. But honestly, if you'd gone to my head, I would have thought we'd seen the best of Taylor Fritz.

19:46And I'm now wondering that because, okay, this was a very particular set of circumstances, but I thought I saw the best Taylor Fritz I've ever seen last week in Paris. yeah i he did look as good as i've ever seen him as well um and i think that this the condition suited him down to the ground and i and i think that i really underestimated the importance of those conditions the speed of that that court i mean i'm the idiot who said the art of feast would win the title and then about four hours later he lost to taylor fritz anderley um but i think and I think part of that was just underestimating how important the speed of that court is.

20:26And Feast struggled with that. You know, he was hurried throughout that match against Fritz, partly because of the conditions, partly because Fritz just played so blooming well. You know, everything was just rammed down his throat. And he's got such consistency. If you just want to go backhand to backhand with that guy, you know, good luck to you, because he's just going to keep finding the length on his ground strokes. I think I think the other there's a couple of things really about Fritz one is he makes the the race to Turin feel big because it clearly mattered so much to him you know he he wanted it so much and he made you feel like it mattered and and then I cared more um which which I like about him he he really he's a great advert for sort of caring I think within tennis players I'm not saying that every i mean everybody cares but you know he just he really does let you know um what what he's going through um the the other thing is i think what he has not been able to do for a long time is play without significant niggling pain and that kind of chronic feeling almost with the knees that that i can't re i'm sort of getting by i'm making do i'm i can't make gains with my game because i'm always having to manage a situation and i think he just got to a point at the end of this year where finally things weren't hurting and suddenly he could play freely i mean i am still mindful that he played two matches where he very nearly lost to alex mulchan and and benjamin bonzi and any any many he's he's the one who made me realize that the folly of my prediction because the difference in court speed of those three courts he said if i'd have played feast on the court i played bonzi on i think he might have won because it was so slow um which suddenly made me realize but you know i just think that that we keep was it It wasn't an entirely different venue like Vienna.

22:33Those other courts were at least on site. That's right, yeah. But, I mean, it is interesting, isn't it, how different they can be. But, you know, we keep coming back to that dog-awful performance he put in at the US Open when he was winning and then he lost, you know, and it was such a shock to see it like that. That's an insult to dogs, David. It is. I'm afraid I use that sort of expression too often, given the dog lovers we all are. um but i i feel like i do feel like taylor fritz has kind of blown it at a few grand slams i i think back to the the australian open against gail monfils and i don't want to take anything away from monfils because he played really well that day but i'm sorry you're supposed to beat that guy who was it he lost to the u.s open i can't even remember sir and alone he should have beaten him you know he was he was way better the player uh overall you know he's a more complete player and uh but i still feel like he knows that he's got it in him i mean he's kind of beefed himself up a bit hasn't he over the last six or eight months and and i think he's walking with a little bit more of a bit more of a swagger about him in terms of his body language but he needs the knees to play ball and i think some of that's probably on him to to just manage himself and all those sort of things but if he could put this together at a grand slam i'd be very interested to see where it could take him i think it is the most taylor fritz thing that has ever happened that he has missed out on qualification for 2026 turin by literally a point if he wins though one of those match points against Alcaraz he's in.

24:18So instead of like thinking, okay, Maldives time, he has decided to go to Stockholm where the 2027 race begins now. And he's like, okay, if I can bank 250 points now. I cannot believe he's doing that. Is that true? Yeah. He is, as of recording, he is still in the draw in Stockholm and those points count for next year's race. So, you know, good luck to him, I suppose. Will Taylor-Fritz, boosted by these whatever points he's going to gather in Stockholm this week, apparently, will Taylor-Fritz make the finals next year? Putting you both on the spot here. Oh, I mean, I'm going to say absolutely yes.

25:11That's on the understanding that he has a decent run with fitness. I think he's and I realise that that is a bit of a question mark but I think he's more than good enough I mean I think he's pushing top five personally at his best level I don't think there's been a drop off in his game Matt I think I might say yes without the absolutely I don't feel as confident as David on that I think part of that is because of, you know, there's been a few players this year, obviously, who've been missing for injury. And I think if, you know, I think, you know, if Mazzetti plays a full season, can he finish above Fritz?

25:59And, you know, it's obviously a much bigger if, but what about Jack Draper next year? And there's just a few players like that that I think next year could be even more of a dogfight. Sorry to use that expression again. I mean, you're saying that with the caveats about his fitness or because you just think that he's not as good as some of these others? Just on the fitness caveats, I think the knee issue isn't going to go away, right? It's a chronic thing. So I think that's not really an unknown, is it? I'm kind of baking that in. Yeah, I feel like we've got a price in knee issues with Taylor Fritz.

26:39I think I agree with you, David. I mean, like if Fritz is at his, like Fritz in his perfect conditions, fully fit, I think is kind of top five. But I'm wary of being a little bit deceived by these conditions in Paris. I remember last year at the ATP finals, he also played a great match against Carlos Alcarez. And that was indoors. And, you know, then the rest of the season happens and he doesn't look quite as close to those top players. I do think he will qualify, but I don't feel totally confident because of the fact that his injuries are there. And also just there are, you know, there are other players that I think might be a bit stronger next season, I suppose.

27:27But I could see him finishing seventh or eighth for sure. It's unfortunate for him how, you know, this season was an opportunity, wasn't it? If you told him how this season was going to pan out with Al Karaz and Sinner, he'd have fancied it because his record against Zverev was so good. Well, he flopped against Zverev at Wimbledon and the knees weren't good there. And he couldn't get to the Zverev match at the US Open because he shat the bed against one-man, Márquez Surundale. No, it was Francisco Surundale. Was it?

28:06Sorry.

28:09uh i well yeah francisco it's been a confusing anyway there we go okay that's your taylor fritz portion uh david the luke van ashe apology tour starts here oh yeah i forgot that yeah so um i've already had to own it about the feast prediction and yes i mean look i haven't been luke van ashe's biggest fan over the last several years I know he's only 22. I've just never understood what the fuss was, honestly. And I've always said, I'm not sure there is much of a fuss. There is in France. Oh, my word. You know, they drop everything when he takes to the court. You know, I love my journalistic colleagues, but blimey, stop talking about Luca Van Asche is what I was thinking.

28:58Well, okay. All right. He's bloody good. I was impressed in Paris. He was superb. and um and i i mean he's just got he's so fast and he's got an incredible backhand and and he can really hit his serve you know it's he's just got a lot more game potential than i than i probably realized and i think i think that the important thing is he's actually brought it and put it on on a tour level now and it stood up that's the thing you know you might be a really good junior you might be able to beat people when everybody's teenagers and whatever, but to then go and transfer that against adults is a different matter, and not everybody does.

29:43And this is kind of this last few weeks, really. It's not just this week, because he'd had some results as well recently, but this particular week he really showed that his game stands up, actually, when it's at full tilt. And again, that may also be conditions based. You know, I think he's helped by the speed, but all credit to him. He too is en route to Stockholm because, so he phoned in, this was reported by Eric Salio of RMC in France. He phoned and did a live interview with them from the airport in Paris. is he was en route to Stockholm to withdraw in person. Obviously withdrawing after having, you know, gone an awful lot further in Paris than he was expecting to.

30:34Because if you don't, if you withdraw, having not travelled to the tournament, you're subject to fines. So he was flying to Stockholm to withdraw from the tournament. Now, I understand why that rule exists and I support the sort of reasoning behind that, but you've got to make the rule nuanced enough to prevent unnecessary flights to Stockholm in these times of climate crisis, surely. Like, that seems absolutely bananas. I feel like we should touch upon Ben Shelton. I mean, obviously a good week for him, having reached the final. do you expect him to carry that form into the ATP finals in Turin Matt like did you learn anything about Ben Shelton this week that you didn't already know how do you feel about him right now I do expect him to carry that form into Turin I think he's one of the most dangerous players there I would say especially in these conditions with that serve of his I think he was found wanting a little bit in a few moments of that final against Alcaraz.

31:52You know, they sort of traded mini breaks in the first set tie break and then he really let it go, that first set tie break. He over hit his forehand a little bit and he's up a break in the second set and can't close from there. But I was still quite impressed with him. I still think he's quite awkward for Carlos Alcaraz to play And I think Alcaraz made some good adjustments from the US Open match. He went back on his second serve return and stayed there. And, you know, I remember in New York, Shelton was really mixing up his serve. And Alcaraz never really kind of got to grips with how to return that shot.

32:32But I thought Alcaraz did a lot better this time. But, yeah, I was generally still quite impressed with Shelton in this one. I felt like Alcaraz was having to come up with great passing shots at times. He pulled off an amazing final game to clinch that break, did Alcaraz. And, you know, obviously Alcaraz is the favourite going into Turin. I think I would probably put Zverev next, just considering the amount of winning that he's done. But honestly, I do think Shelton after that is probably the guy I'm looking at the most. I think he hasn't obviously played that well since the US Open other than this week, but he also hasn't played that much.

33:12I think there's a kind of freshness to him. So, yeah, I think generally I was quite impressed. And, you know, he's obviously, you know, I think he's buoyed by the fact that he knows that he's got one Carlos Ferreira coming next year. And he's excited about that. And it's given him a real spark. So, yeah, obviously good week for Ben Shelton. And I just find it hard to be critical of guys when they lose to Carlos Alcaraz. It was the same in the big three era. I know obviously you can do all you can and you can push them. And obviously he will have some regrets about his performance. But he did what he needed to do in Paris.

33:52He beat the people he should beat. He got to the final. He made it competitive. I think that's a good week for Ben Shelton, personally. He'll be third seed in Turin. The draw will be made on Thursday. The field is Alcaraz, Zverev, Shelton, Medvedev, Caballi, Fiest, Tiafoe and Hodard sneaking in in eighth place as a result of Taylor Fritz's defeat to Carlos Alcaraz in that quarterfinal. The doubles title in Paris was won by the French pairing of Conte-Alice and Pierre-Hugues Herbert. They beat Christian Harrison and Neil Skubsky 7-6, 6-7, 10-8 in a thrilling final. Good crowd for that as well, as you'd expect with a French pair.

34:43I saw some very emotional Pierre Rouguer-Bear material on social media. So lovely stuff for the doubles final. OK, that's it for part one. We'll be back in part two to turn our attention to Indian Wells and the WTA finals. Heading into the holiday season, eating out every night adds up fast. But don't worry, because Home Chef can be a lifesaver. It's restaurant quality meals at home and for way less than a night out with none of the planning, shopping or meal prep. Home Chef just makes cooking so simple. Fresh food delivered, easy recipes to follow and meals that actually taste great. And it's perfect for busy schedules.

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37:32Wait, oh, what did we get in? Sandy and the dogs. Oh, I can't forget the dogs. Know what doesn't need math? Simplicity Plan from Verizon. One plan, one price. Just$30 a line per month for you or the whole family. The holidays are complicated. Shopping our best deals and switching to Verizon is simple. For new customers,$30 per line includes auto pay and switch discount. Additional taxes fees and terms apply.

37:57Okay, welcome back to part two of today's tennis podcast, where we head now to Indian Wells and our one-off WTA finals being held in the California desert for one year only. Just before we get into the tennis and the outfits, let's tidy up a bit of business from our last podcast. Obviously, we had Hot Mic Gate with Jessica Pagula, where she was caught on a, inadvertently on a hot mic on the practice court, calling Mira Andreva a diva, questioning the coaching of Conchita Martinez and sort of accidentally doing a drive-by on her good friend Coco Goff and her game, which was worse in all areas, in her opinion, than the Mira Andreva.

38:41Well, very shortly after we recorded our last podcast, the WTA did issue a statement on this incident. They said they take full responsibility for failing to inform our players and their teams that microphones in place to give fans a live stream of the players practice were active on the courts at the WTA finals. We sincerely apologise for failing to meet our responsibility to ensure players and coaches were properly informed. And WTA Chair Valerie Camillo added, I want to specifically apologise to Jessica Pergula and to Mark Knowles, her coach that was involved in the incident. What happened was regrettable and unacceptable.

39:21Jess is one of WTA's best advocates and biggest stars. She does not deserve this distraction. Good statement, unequivocal, needed to happen. Well done. Mira Andreva has made light of the incident on Instagram. it seems like there has been no harm done. Okay, the tennis got underway yesterday with a first match, first singles match involving Linda Nozkova and Marta Kostje. Kostje coming in as the first alternate to replace the world number one Elena Rabachner that withdrew from the field on Saturday with a viral illness. There was a video circulating of a media day interview that Elena Rabachner did that she had to curtail halfway through because she was dizzy and she looked, you know, she was so clearly unwell.

40:17So, you know, wishing wishing her a speedy recovery. But it's not getting around the fact that it's a it's a massive bummer not to have the world number one in this field. Yeah, I was really, really gutted about that. I think when the best player in the world is in the field, it raises everyone's game, right? Everyone's trying to match her level and see if they can get a big win over her and she's trying to fend everyone off. And the season she's had, she's totally deserving of being the world number one. She's been the best player and this was a chance to test that level against the other best players.

40:59It's such a shame. And yeah, not having her, honestly, not having Svantec, you know, feels a little bit odd as well. These are two of the biggest names in the sport over the last few years. And they're not there. And honestly, you know, I really, obviously, I missed Rabatkinner. And then I watched that opening match and I couldn't help but think, oh, what if Rabatkinner were here? You know, I'm sure Kostiuk was trying her absolute best. She's obviously not necessarily expecting to play. She's not as sharp. She's had a bit of an injury herself over the last few months. But honestly, that opening match was, it was a little, it was a tough watch.

41:37Like, you know, because Kostiuk really wasn't anywhere near her best. And Noskova did absolutely, absolutely fine what she needed to do to win it. But I was spending the whole match thinking, oh, I really wish Elena Ravakina were here for her and for me. But thankfully, we got the match afterwards. and it still felt like the opening day was a success because of that Goff-Pagula match. And I think initially I was a little bit like, oh, this is weird. The WTA final is happening at Indian Wells. I associate that tournament with obviously, or that venue with a different tournament. Does it feel like the WTA finals?

42:13Kostiuk's here, Rabatkin is not here. It was all a bit odd that first match. But then the second one has really got me into this tournament because I just enjoyed it so much. Yeah, had a great crowd, didn't it? They're playing the tournament on Stadium 2 in Indian Wells, which I'm sure was announced, but isn't something that I'd really clocked until the tournament actually got underway. So slightly smaller stadium, it's still a decent side. It's about 8 ,000 capacity. WTA reported that yesterday it was sold out. Obviously not every bum in every seat at the same time. But in the peaks of the second match, David, Coco Gauff beating Jessica Bagula 6-4, 6-7, 6-2.

42:55An absolute banger of a match. Most of those seats were taken for the majority of it. And it was a belter. It was exactly what you want from the WTA finals. Yeah, well put. There's a great article written by Matt Futterman and Ava Wallace in The Athletic interview with Valerie Camillo about their hopes for the WTA finals, how they're taking it to Charlotte and they're going to own it and they're going to build it and they want it to be the event in women's sports, you know, that everybody comes to. And I know this is only a sort of stopgap. This is to bridge between what was Saudi Arabia and into that event.

43:38And this was supposed to be in Saudi Arabia this year. And even in the first match, I couldn't help think, God, this is so much better than Saudi Arabia was. you know when it was just looked dark and and it looked quiet and it was a three and a half thousand seed stadium and there's hardly anybody in that you know and it just just felt wrong this place has vibes and that particular stadium i think was i think it's a better fit i think it's you you just you get you get a great atmosphere even even when it's not fully full um and i just loved it i i mean i i actually enjoyed watching the first match even though the quality wasn't that high there were a lot of double faults going on but i really enjoyed watching noskova um i thought she was excellent and and then when we got into it don't know that i i thought so yeah i thought so and maybe this time of year perhaps will will change how it suits certain players maybe the air is a little different looks lovely david well it was a bit of a boost really just to turn the telly on and get sunshine wasn't it i mean in the evening here i mean it's so dark and dreary at the moment in the uk fog everywhere i mean like and and really that's what it felt like when you turned on the tv in the saudi arabia version of this event it felt oh god it's bloody this time of year you know it doesn't feel like that when you turn on indian wells and see this um don't know what it'll look like next year but i i I back them to try to figure that out.

45:12The way they're talking, it just sounds like they get it. And then once Goff and Pagula came out, I mean, this felt big time. This felt like the final, really, between these two. I mean, obviously, the locals love these two, and it was just all around. And the players, they kind of love each other and the competition between each other, and they were absolutely going for each other, you know, just playing on the edge. And the match itself kind of had everything. And it was another classic Coco Goff sort of turning a second set around from a 5-1 deficit, nearly winning it, not winning it, and yet winning the match anyway, probably as a result of it.

45:56Because she just took so much out of Pagula along the way. I just loved the match. Coco Goff losing tie breaks and then coming back and winning the next set handily is a real thing she does. I mean, she was three love up in about 10 minutes, wasn't she, in that third set? But I just thought, you know, when we were doing our predictions for this thing and I was looking at how many weeks off, or at least weeks without tournaments these players had had, and thinking a month, a month to hone your game. You're going to find out what that can do for a player. And I feel like we really saw what it did for Coco Gauff.

46:31Her game looked secure. You know, I know it wasn't all the way through. You know, there were some ragged patches, and I don't think she's, like, fixed her forehand forever or fixed her serve forever, but she's really made some strides. It looked like, oh, okay, this is a game that has been thoroughly serviced, you know, and is now ready to go. I liked the way she was sort of running around her backhand to hit her forehand aggressively. You know, you don't always see that with her because she's got such a world-class backhand. um but yeah i i was super impressed and and and and it actually makes it very interesting for the group now just in terms of of what that means for pagula because pagula seems to be in the sort of form that i want to see her against noskova you know that that will be the third match won't it now um but yeah great group i think um and and and a shame because i do think you could tell that Kostjuk was the alternate in a way.

47:34You know, you often see a player come in and look a little bit... It's not easy to prepare to be an alternate. And she didn't look quite on it. And obviously she's not done this before. I don't hold it against her, but I've seen quite a lot of that. Can I just shout out Pagula's volleys? Oh, my word. So snappy, weren't they? There were so many that just took my breath away. Like they were like low down and she was getting such clean contact on them and such pace on them that even Coco Gough couldn't necessarily chase them down. They slightly fell off towards the end of the match. But I think that was just, you know, she'd had to fight so hard to get into that position.

48:19And as you said, all the work that Gough did, I think, took a lot out of Pagula in that deciding set. But there were so many occasions where I was so impressed with Pagula. And she made it her intent right at the start of the match. she came forward quite a lot and I just found it really compelling and of course Gough was was absolutely brilliant to be able to counter it and yeah there is an interesting dynamic in that group isn't there because you feel like you know probably trying to beat Kostiuk as convincingly as you can might be helpful for your game percentage or your set percentage if it comes to that and then you know if if Pagula faces Noskova when maybe Noskova is already through that might help Pagula you know So I think there's going to be interesting dynamics there.

49:02But like you, I can't wait for, well, to see Goff and Pagula against Noskova because I think they've all shown enough in their opening match that that's going to be really compelling. Yeah, Pagula looks to be in great form. It's just, yeah, rough for her that she came out on the wrong end of that match, capping off a rough week for Jessica Pagula. started with Hot Mike Gate, ended with a defeat to her good friend Coco Goff. And then in the middle of it all, she was photographed, dressed as an extra from Rivals, which brings us to the WTA iconic photo shoot. This has historically been a big part of the promo for the WTA finals.

49:49The iconic photo generally, they are group photos. There is one photo of all eight players, generally speaking, with a fun backdrop that tells the story of where they are in the world. Circulated far and wide. They're all glammed up like they're off to a party. Some are more successful than others. Some loathe, some people loathe the concept. Some people love it. This year, there was no group photo. Ben Rothenberg reported in his subset Bounces that the decision to do individual portraits rather than a group photo predated the confirmation that players representing both sides of the Ukraine invasion would be in the field of eight.

50:34Players had previously given the WTA feedback that they thought their time could be better used than having everyone go through a lengthy glam session, primarily to pose for a single group photo. Now, I believe that, but I also do believe that Alina Svitolina's likely inclusion in the field would have been a factor in them pre-empting that decision and knowing that Alina Svitolina wouldn't have wanted to participate in a group photo. So the statement continues. This time, the WTA hired the photographers, stylists and hair and makeup teams for a more wide ranging series of engagements on Wednesday in Indian Wells, including the individual indoor portraits shot by Anna Weber, outdoor vignette group photos shot by Clara Balsery, and interviews with Vogue, Glamour, TikTok and others.

51:31Sarah Sonson, the chief brand officer of WTA Ventures, told Bounces that the new strategy was to maximise the time of having players for a few hours in order to get more from this moment. Each player, Swanson said, was given power to decide on her look. Which is a bit of a throwing under the bus. Like, it was your fault you looked like this. Which, frankly, look, I'm sure there are people out there saying, well, I quite liked it. But I think this is the most replies we've ever had on Instagram over the last few days. People have opinions about this photo shoot. So they released a carousel on Instagram of the eight individual portraits of the eight players.

52:21Honestly, Matt, I was expecting a follow up post saying, joke, here are the actual photos. That is how startled I was when I first saw this set of portraits. I could not believe my eyes. Yeah, I think this is probably the first time I'm going to say this, but I think my official position is the same as Julia Poutin's savers, which she was quick to get into the comments and she was like, in case anyone wanted my opinion, Chanel could do better. And this is the thing, like these were high... Look, David, I'm not going to come to you on anything because I don't want to put you on the spot, but please feel to chime in with any of your thoughts whenever you like, okay?

53:12These were high fashion looks taken straight from the runway. There were lots of side-by-side circulating of these exact outfits down to the shoes on catwalks and runways and then on the player. and therein is exactly you know conceptually doing high fashion I've got no issue no issue with that good idea the problem is taking it wholesale from a catwalk model and putting it on a tennis player without any accounting for their vibe their individual style their body shape like it just looked like the clothes were wearing them rather than them wearing the clothes and I just don't understand because that is that is literally not styling just taking a look that someone else has created and throwing it on a different body is that's just not it's the opposite of styling and then there's the the backdrop looks like they're in a marquee of a naff wedding i found that really odd and they're using the they've got a plinth with the trophy on and some sort of cheap sad looking flowers that they've put in the trophy why have they done that yeah very odd i think the i think the bts shots are better in that sense because it does you don't have the background backdrop you don't have the the cheap flowers and there's a bit more of human interaction yeah shout out clara balsary uh who did these uh outdoor vignette group photos They were still wearing the outfits, but they'd been styled a bit.

54:53Like Jessica Pergula had taken off one of the 18 layers that she was wearing in the portrait photo. And it just clearly just styled it a bit and it looked a bit more lived in. And, you know, the photos were still, the outfits were still a bit weird, but they were, it felt styled and cool. and I thought she, I thought they did well with those vignette photos, definitely. But I just, I will never get over that Jessica Bigula look. Or the Mia Androva Chanel one. This is a teenager. You dressed her like a Republican first lady.

55:41It's extraordinary. I bet Rebecca wishes she'd withdrawn before she had to wear a tweed jacket-y thing, which again would look great on someone and I'm sure looked great on the catwalk it was taken from, but come on. Yeah, and I did think some of the doubles ones were better and then Kiki Medinovich was like, well luckily I still had a decent outfit in my suitcase and I refused to to take part in the styling and so I just put that on and I was like oh okay and then she was like I stand for glam and elegance yeah that was an incredible tweet yeah some of them were some of them were better weren't they definitely um yeah anything anything further to add from anyone i think the only other thing i will say is that i've still seen a lot of people online giving svitolina hate for this as though this is as though this is her fault because they've not done a you know the usual group photo and those people can absolutely fuck off quite frankly i i think this was like I actually think it was a good idea from the WTA to do something like this and I'm I personally don't feel like I need a group photo every year I think something a little bit different sometimes is is a good thing but but to place any kind of blame on Svitolina for for this and it's just outrageous and I I continue to feel very sorry for Svitolina about the sort of online hate that she just gets for sort of everything.

57:34Yeah, a great move from the WTA to anticipate this situation, to not put Svitolina in a difficult position, the concept of the individual portraits, that's all absolutely fine. That's good stuff. After that. The only thing I'm just really curious about is I'd like to know really how the players feel about it, you know whether they did go happily and along with it or whether they did have a say or whether they did just think oh this is what we're supposed to do and i will do it because i'd like to do what i'm what i'm told i also wonder how many of them maybe felt differently after they'd seen the photos well yeah and but but if you didn't like it then then watch you know what i mean it's it's you're in a tricky position and and i just i just i'm curious i mean look the reason i don't get involved in the conversation about how i just don't feel like i i i mean i i don't know i haven't got any opinions because i just i i think coca goff looked cool but what do i know um so i don't really i don't really i don't really get involved but i also don't know i sometimes wonder well what do we want I know you don't like the glammed up sort of group photo so an individual one's maybe not the worst idea but I don't I really because the players qualify and then they just get presented with this what if just one person or one or two of them really hated it really hated the concept of it they're in a really tricky position I mean there was that one year when all the qualifiers dressed in white and she found that dressed in red.

59:19Yeah, she didn't get the, she literally didn't get the memo, I don't think. Yeah, and then I read that actually they were allowed to dress in other stuff, but I think that they were happy to dress in the white. But then it's like you've got this one person who looks, I mean, really quite cool, I thought, suddenly in red, like a pretty alpha moment. But I don't know. I don't really know what they should do. I don't feel qualified to know. But I would love to know what players, like if you were to go back, if you did a tennis relived about the photos and interviewed players from 10 years ago, you did this.

59:58Did you have to do it? What did you think of it? How do you look back on it now? What do you think they should have done? I'd be very interested to know.

1:00:10Yeah. OK, anything further to add on anything there before we move on? No, OK. The doubles got underway yesterday. Saru Rani and Jasmine Paolini, they were the last to qualify and they upset the top seeds. Katerina Siniarkova, no, second seeds, aren't they? Siniarkova and Townsend. It's Defani, the top seeds, but they upset Siniarkova and Townsend 10-8 in the match tie break in the opening match. And we had Christina Bookshare and Nicole Melicar Martinez beating Ellen Perez and Demi Schurz in a far more one-sided second doubles match of the day. Six love, six four. Okay, that is it for part two.

1:00:55We'll be back in part three to talk about everything else. Verizon knows that holiday math can be complicated. Okay, let's see. We got the four kids, four gifts each, six teacher gifts. Wait, oh, what did we get in? Sandy. And the dogs. Oh, I can't forget the dogs. Know what doesn't need math? Simplicity Plan from Verizon. One plan, one price. Just$30 a line per month for you or the whole family. The holidays are complicated. Shopping our best deals and switching to Verizon is simple. For new customers,$30 per line includes auto pay and switch discount. Additional taxes fees and terms apply. Thumbtack presents Uncertainty Strikes.

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1:02:05Welcome back to part three of today's tennis podcast. We've had two WTA events this week while those in India miles have been gearing up for the finals. We've had a WTA 250 in Hong Kong, won by Claire Liu. She beat Alexi Arla 6-3, 6-love in the final. David has Claire Liu takes. well i i had claire lou interest and intrigue because she won this match and won this title i'd been following alex iala's route through and my word was it arduous you know she was having three set match after three set match and it was she looked like she's on fumes really the whole the whole week and in fact she has for the last few weeks this is a this has been a long run of tournaments for Alex Iala and I felt like she hit the wall here and turned on and she's sort of six four three love down and and then I watched the rest of it and watched Lou play some blinding tennis to sort of knock her off the court and then when she did her interview at the end I found it really quite moving you know she she just said you know I've waited a long time to win a title never won a WTA title before and and just how much it meant to her and I started to think she's been around for quite a while and and so I went and did a looked looked up a little bit about her history and and found a lot of interesting stuff and it was just a reminder to me how it takes a player sometimes to reach a final win a title for us to bother sort of looking into their story we had it with harriet dart the other week and she won her first title and and 2017 it's nine years ago claire lou was world number one junior and wimbledon junior champion and it's it's been hard going really transitioning and she the the highest she ever got to was 52 in the world she came into this tournament 102 in the world she's now back up to 69 so it's a massive moment but while i was looking her up i found her sub stack which is uh which is called finding clarity and uh and she said and the the the the kind of caption to it is um athlete is just my job description and and really she's talking about her life on the tour and that the challenges the mental challenges it provides and and tries to give an insight in that way and then And in her last two posts on it, one at the end of last year and one six months ago, the one at the end of last year was really deep and detailed and honest.

1:04:53And she talked about how she's been battling perfectionism all her career, trying to be this perfect player and get perfect results when you just have to do so much losing. And she talked about how she'd had a coach for eight years who'd kind of helped her deal with it all and enormous shielded her from the doubts and so forth. And then that coaching relationship ended last year. And she said it was just such a blow, really. And it sounds like there was a third party involved. I think it sounds like he went to another player. And she spent a lot of time looking for, well, getting other coaches temporarily and just ended up comparing them to the old one all the time and just found it really, really difficult.

1:05:51And then a most recent post talked about how she likes watching people fail. and she says I know that sounds terrible but what it what I mean is it makes me feel a bit better about the fact that you know you fail all the time as a tennis player and and it just makes me feel a little bit less alone um and she said you know I'm gonna she was clearly in total disbelief um after winning this title and she says I'm just gonna go home and I'm gonna spend a week in bed thinking about this and then I'm gonna get back to work and I just thought Claire Lou I don't think I've known much about you at all in the last 10 10 years except you're on a lot of draw sheets and you've you've had a lot of um moments where you've played somebody we might have been following and this is her moment and I'm really happy for her oh it's lovely stuff what other newsletters and sub stacks can you subscribe to David I'm sure there are loads out there Matt brought us the Sloane Stevens newsletter.

1:06:57Yep, I've got her covered. Actually, I don't know how true this is, but on the WTA website, the coach that finished after eight years says current player, Sloane Stevens. Oh, right. Substack walls. Okay, well, do keep monitoring the substacks, folks. the WTA Chennai event singles final here was delayed due to air quality which is a tough scene was eventually won by Magdalene she beat Janice Chen 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 in the final anyone with any takes on this? Matt you were patiently waiting for this final to take place did it eventually happen at 2 o 'clock in the morning or something ridiculous like that?

1:07:47Well no it happened at a very appropriate time in Chennai which was unfortunately an inappropriate time for me. But, you know, classic Magdalena. You know, if I had to sort of describe a Magdalena run to a title, I would say, well, she probably played, I don't know, the longest match of the season. Yep, she did that. She did that. Three hours, 33 minutes in her first match. She probably came from a set down a few times. Yep, she did that as well. Won her last three matches from a set down. and then probably she would have been a bit of an underdog and upset someone in the final. Yeah, Janice Chen was a defending champion, but along comes tricky Magdalene and grabs the title.

1:08:34We talked about last time how it was a bit of a tough scene, that tournament, and the crowds were not great. I think particularly as well coming back the next day for a final that's carried over. There wasn't a lot of people in the stadium. But yeah, nice win for Magdalenet. And she used the interview afterwards to give her thoughts to the people in Krakow, in the shooting in Poland who have been killed this week. And I'm sure that was on her mind as well, coming from Poland. So yeah, kind of a tough week in that sense, but good for her to get this title. Absolutely. And that event is the one that is moving to Manila next year in the Philippines, right?

1:09:22Yeah, fun. Some other news that we've had this week. Guillermo Fis has been announced as France's new Davis Cup captain. He takes over from Paul-Henri Mathieu. Look, it doesn't surprise me that Guillermo Fis is becoming a Davis Cup captain at some point in his career. Perhaps the timing surprises me a little bit. I don't know what this means for his career in wealth management, David. I desperately hope it means there is no longer going to be a career in wealth management because it hurts my soul to think that's what Guillermo Fis is going to be doing with his retirement. But I guess if it makes you happy, I don't know, maybe his new employers, I mean, they're not typically particularly understanding of side hustles, I don't think, investment banks, but maybe they'll make an exception for Gell-Mont-Fillis.

1:10:16I mean, I suppose in terms of output required for working on the Davis Cup, it's not enormously arduous. Don't you take a couple of weeks' holiday job time? Leon Smith's travel schedule would suggest that it requires an awful lot of international turning up in nice locations david he's also head of men's british tennis isn't he or something like that's a slightly different title um but yeah i mean i i mean i was perplexed when when that when it was revealed that gail was planning to get into wealth management i did think of all the people it's not that i don't think you might be brilliant at managing wealth but you're so bloody charismatic and easy to kind of relate to.

1:11:10Surely there's something more in life you could be doing. But listen, whatever floats your boat. And they've been a bit of a sleeping giant, really, in Davis Cup, haven't they, recently? I've been to so many Davis Cup finals and France just haven't been a feature. They made it last year and lost pretty meekly to Belgium. But, you know, you sort of think if anyone's going to be able to get a bit of buy-in and get people playing for them. Maybe it's Gaël Monfils. You know, he's absolutely revered by all the players and they all look up to him. So I hope that he's able to have that effect on the team.

1:11:49It feels to me like there's been a real hangover for France more than anybody else from the format change. They were so opposed to it. You know, Yannick Noah, so opposed to it. There was almost a sort of, you know, French may be known for their stubbornness and willing to cut off their noses to spite their faces. Yeah, it feels a bit like that to me from the last few years of the Davis Cup. So a change of, you know, no shade to Paul-Henri Mathieu, but like a whole regime change, maybe not a bad idea. Yeah. How much of the sort of paternal Yannick Sinner paying emotional tribute to Darren Cahill content have you both engaged with this week?

1:12:36Because there's been a lot of it. Yeah, I haven't yet watched the video where they're going through all the photos. I think that's a longer video that I haven't got around to that yet. but I've seen the teaser trailer for it and I've seen Sinner's video that he put out announcing that Cahill was departing.

1:13:05Yeah, a lot of nice words. A lot of nice words. Delivered like AI. Bless him.

1:13:16I'd love to know if that was like the 15th take and they were like, okay, this is the best we're going to get from this read. Or whether they were like, okay, he's only going to do it once. We'll have to make the best of this. Anyway, the words were lovely. I do, look, I think, as we've discussed, I think Magnus Norman is a great choice and certainly the right personality type to come into this situation. And I'm sure he won't be remotely bothered by it. It is giving, you know, new girlfriend to a widow who's lost the love of his life, you know, coming in after this relationship that is getting all these tribute videos.

1:14:06Like, quite tough for Magnus Norman. It's like trying to follow Marco Silva at Fulham, you know. And how's that going, Matt? Well, mixed. Become a Benfica fan is how that's going.

1:14:27Wimbledon champions Harry Heliovar and Henry Patton confirmed as the year-end men's doubles number ones. Fantastic achievement for them. And they'll, of course, be in the finals line-up in Turin. Draw for that happening on Thursday of this week. Obviously, the WTA finals continue today. We've got the ATP 250 event in Stockholm happening this week. Taylor Fritz, Lorenzo Mazzetti, Kasper Rood, Cameron Norrie, Holger Runa, Ugo Ember, Alex Mickelson, all in the draw hoping to get a jump start on their 2027 points race total. We will be back on Saturday morning with our next show, which is after the group stages have completed in Indian Wells.

1:15:19So we'll be looking back on that, looking ahead to the semifinals and final. And of course, we'll have a draw from Turin by then as well, so we can preview the ATP finals. We also have our rescheduled tennis relived show on the tour finals coming this week for Friends of the Pod. Thank you for bearing with us, everybody. I don't think you'd have wanted a show recorded from David's bed on Friday. No, I think best for everybody that we postponed. I don't think I was in anecdote form, to be honest. Yeah, this show is quite contingent on David being on anecdote form. So, yeah, don't worry, folks. It'll be up later this week.

1:16:04I'm really looking forward to that one. We have a mascot for today's show and it's Mocha. Mocha's a returning mascot. I've seen Mocha before. Yes, a three-peat. Mocha is owned by Charlie Metzger who says, Hi TTP family. Hi Charlie. We met at the New York City live show last year. Gary Nathan is a college friend of mine and turned me on to the pod years ago. I remember Charlie. Does everyone else remember meeting Charlie? I've put you on the spot here. Just nod and say yes. Yeah, I do. Yeah. And we also saw him this year at Matt Futterman's book event. Yeah. Can't get enough of Charlie. Or Mocker.

1:16:44Mocker. Lovely guy. Lovely guy. A lawyer, I think, as I recall. Mocker is a returning TTP three-peat mascot who lives in New Jersey, Jersey City, New Jersey, with her parents, Kristen and Charlie. Mocker is a red Merle miniature Labradoodle who loves long walks, chasing tennis balls at her local dog park and on the beach and barking at the squirrels who live in the tree outside her apartment. Mokka's big news from the last year is that she made friends with another doodle named Pretzel who lives in her neighbourhood and goes to the same groomer. Pretzel is approximately 500 times Mokka's size.

1:17:24Mokka's parents think they would be perfect to star in a buddy comedy. Would watch Charlie. I've got a wonderful picture of Mokka here well disguised on the beach digging for a tennis ball I do love a doodle I mean obviously I'm biased but I do love a doodle thank you Charlie Mokka in the Danny DeVito role that's a buggy comedy yes and what's the name of the friend Pretzel in the Arnold Schwarzenegger role great great reference David thank you Charlie hopefully we'll see you again in 2027 keep up the run maybe early 90s twins how do we think twins has aged do you think they can still show it on the telly there have been one or two that I've watched from the 80s that I've like put on for the kids this is great kids you're going to love this and then 20 minutes in I've turned it off oh dear yeah short circuit two they can't show that on telly anymore let me tell you the kids turned around to me said dad can can they say that i'm like no they can't let's watch something else uh charlie uh hopefully see you in 2027 and hopefully mocha comes back as a four peter Love you, Mocha.

1:18:56Hello to our mascots, Bodie, Maisie and Roger. Hello to our top folks and executive producers, Greg, Chris and Jeff. Let's have some shout outs, Matt. We have Geraint from Southwark in London. Hello, Geraint. Geraint says he's been listening from the start. Great company at the gym. Gosh, that's a lot of listening, Geraint. Gaurant, there's a lot of people in the gym, right? Just how many of you let know what you're listening to and why they should? Because that is what I want from you in the years to come. All right? Good work.

1:19:41I was at a little soiree, I don't even know how to describe it, a little soiree thing on Friday night with absolutely nobody I knew. It was a friend of my dad's friend's wife. Long story. Anyway, you know, what do you do? And just the faces when they said it. And they politely say, oh, I have to look that up when I say, you know, I host the tennis podcast. And I'm like, look, if you don't like tennis, I really wouldn't. That's sweet of you to say. But if you don't like tennis, I really wouldn't bother. Like it's quite.

1:20:19Anyway Thank you Geraint And finally We have Mark Savitsky From Sydney Hello Mark And Mark has been listening since the 2017 French Open What happened there? Ostopenko Ostopenko I now want to know what we had to say about Ostopenko. I remember, I've got, I think my takes, I think you were more cautious and my takes aged badly. Oh, I definitely want to listen then. But it obviously didn't put Mark off. So thanks for that, Mark. I predicted Art of Feast would win Paris and three hours later he'd just be humiliated. I do love a same day predictions humiliation. those are my favourite ones what was I thinking didn't even give myself any shelf life for people to forget about Mark like Mark Knowles coach of Jessica Bagula who received an apology from the WTA this week he's from Sydney though so he'd probably prefer Philippuses or Woodford yes very good well there's three to choose from Mark I don't think we have Gerrits four to choose from and zero Geraint's.

1:21:46Yeah, sorry, Geraint. Actually, Geraint gave us a Geraint. Oh, yeah? Geraint Richards, a prominent Welsh tennis coach and former performance director who became the first Welsh person inducted into the World Tennis Wheelchair Hall of Champions in June 2026. Do you think Geraint Googled that or do you think he just has an encyclopedic knowledge of sort of what other Garant's are up to. I'm grateful. I don't care. We're very grateful, Garant. Thank you for being a friend of the pod. Thank you, Mark, as well. If you'd like to become a friend of the Tennis Podcast, the link is in our show notes. You'll get access to all of our bonus content, including that edition of Tennis Relive that is coming later this week.

1:22:33Ad-free listening, access to The Barge, our community platform, all that jazz. Folks, we will be back with our next show recorded bright and early on Saturday morning. How caffeinated will I be at 7.30 a.m.? There is only one way to find out. We will speak to you then, folks. We're part of the Athletic Podcast Network. Thank you for listening.

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