Aus Open Day 10 - What happened to Coco Gauff?

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1:16Matt Roberts: Well, hello and welcome to the tennis podcast on day 10 of the Australian Open, also known as inferno day temperatures hit 46 degrees celsius here earlier before mercifully cooling off a couple of hours ago it's also been all abilities day at the ao today which is really tough timing because it's a great initiative that they do here but unfortunately the crowds were obviously thin because it was basically unbearable to be outside during daylight hours today but they still went ahead with most of the planned activities a lot of them for kids they had a temporary tattoo station that we missed out on David I'm sure you're gutted about that Dylan Alcott who's a household name and a big star here he was very involved with various different things as part of All Abilities Day and there was a Paris standing tennis showcase as well which is a really cool thing unfortunately because of the weather forecast the wheelchair tennis events which are scheduled to get underway today, don't get underway until tomorrow.

2:22Matt Roberts: And I would say if you have tickets to Melbourne Park over the next five days, or if you are in Melbourne and don't have tickets, get yourself a grounds pass and come and check out the wheelchair tennis. Those events are well worth watching. They get good crowds here in Australia. I think there'll be a vibe and they deserve that support. So yeah, it's a cool thing that they do here and it was just a shame that the timing worked out as it did. But speaking of tennis showcases, David, Carlos Alcaraz and poor old Alex de Manor. 7-6, 6-2, 6-1 for Alcaraz tonight. It felt like an exhibition. It felt like a Carlos Alcaraz testimonial testimonial and this was against someone who's going to be a top five player next week this was an absolutely unreal level from the world number one and a pretty harrowing experience for

3:25David Law: for australia's number one alex de minore and it took de minore to remind me remind us in the press conference just now of the exhibition match they played on the eve of this tournament here which was the first time we'd seen Carlos Sourcraft play all year because he didn't play any warm-up events because I'd asked him you know you've played him several times did you were even were you even surprised by how high his level was and he said to be honest that exhibition he was freakishly good in it and it felt the same tonight and and I mean look I I saw the first three games of this match from in our media center because I wanted to attend the Alina Svisalina and Koko Kof press conferences.

4:10David Law: So I joined a little bit later. I joined right at the end of the first set in the stadium in our press seat. But I saw the first three games. I don't think it's possible to play better tennis than Carlos Alcruz played for those first three games. He still startles me with what he's able to do. And I always come back to that line from Millie, your brother's partner's line about how he is like a superhero discovering his powers and I just always think that is so perfect to describe what you're witnessing when he's playing I then went to one of these press conferences, came back it was three games all and it was juice on Alcaraz's serve and I'm thinking what on earth has just happened how has he gone from that level to this and that was really the Rocky spell of the whole match I'll let you fill me in on what actually happened then.

5:05David Law: But when I got in the stadium, he just wrapped up the first set. And then he lost three games in the next two sets. And this is with Alex de Menor playing out of his mind, to my eyes. Now, he's not making every shot. He's making some errors because, in his words, he's playing out of his skin. He's going for shots that he wouldn't normally go for. I felt like he was rehearsing those shots in the previous two rounds against Francis Tiafoe and Alexander Bublik, and they were coming off, and he comfortably beat them. But Alcras just sort of just said, great, let's do it then. Let's throw down, you and me, and if you're going to do this, throw your biggest stuff at me.

5:45David Law: I've got something even bigger to send back.

5:47Matt Roberts: That was such a great line from Diminol, wasn't it? In what was generally quite a haunting press conference, I feel like I'm still recovering from it. It only ended about 15 minutes ago. He said, throughout the whole match, I was playing out of my comfort zone, and out of my skin. And he described Alcaraz as freakishly good. And, you know, so often, 99.9 % of the time with tennis matches, we're talking about what a mental sport it is and all the intangibles and how so often it's just not actually about forehands and backhands. It's about so much more than that. This felt like it was just about tennis and one player having access to powers that the other player doesn't and probably never will have, no matter how hard he tries his heart out.

6:40Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, I mean, we said it a couple of nights ago, didn't we, when we saw Alex Dimonor beat Francis Tiafoe and Alexander Bublik in such a dominant fashion. If you didn't know the bigger picture of men's tennis, you would think, well, how's there someone that can beat this guy easily? And obviously, mostly there, I was thinking of Yannick Sinner because of the head-to-head that Sinner has absolutely dominated against Alex Dimonor. Now, obviously, Carlos Alcaraz had beaten Dimonor previously as well, but not as many times as Sinner. And I really did think that Alcaraz would have a bit more trouble against Dimonor tonight, and that Dimonor would have a bit more of a chance against Alcaraz than he normally does against Sinner.

7:30Catherine Whitaker: But it just wasn't the case. OK, the first set was very fun. And, you know, both of these two are pretty much the best players in the world at resetting the point. You think the ball's past them and it's not. And they're able to use their speed and their athleticism to start the point again and say, OK, well, that would have been a winner against someone else, but you're going to have to do that again against me. They can both do that. And Dumonor was doing that himself, even in that first set. It was remarkable to watch the athleticism and the crowd were into it. But from the moment the match started, it did feel like the match was totally on Alcaraz's racket.

8:11Catherine Whitaker: As David's described, those first three games were a joke. And Alcaraz said it in his on-court interview, didn't he? He said, I'd hit like eight winners in the first two games. I was playing so well. He was counting. You know, and then he did get impatient, you know, and he went for several.

8:28Matt Roberts: Impatient.

8:29Catherine Whitaker: Yes.

8:29Matt Roberts: It took me a while to realize what word he was saying there.

8:33Catherine Whitaker: By the way, his English has, I mean.

8:36Matt Roberts: Improved more than his tennis somehow. It might have improved at a faster rate than his tennis.

8:39Catherine Whitaker: It is remarkable. But, yeah, he got impatient and he made four backhand errors in one game and gave the break back. But that was really the only poor little spell in the match that he had. Otherwise, it was outrageously good. Off both wings, coming forward, soaking up anything that Dimonor had, throwing it back at him. His serve got better as the match went on. His serve wasn't brilliant in the first set. But, oh, I mean, just an outrageous level tonight from Alcarez. And that's now two matches in a row where we've said that. and he's starting to think that he's in close to US Open form.

9:23Matt Roberts: Yes, that was a lovely little exchange with Charlie Eccleshire in Alcaraz's press conference, who asked the same question that he'd asked him after his previous victory over Tommy Paul, which was a clear step up from Alcaraz, and tonight was yet another one of those, a big one. And Charlie said, I'll ask you again, like, how would you compare this form to the US Open? And he really thought about it. And you could see he gets a bit misty eyed just thinking about how well he played at the US Open. He went, no, I think the US Open was better. And then he paused and the huge Alcaraz grin spread across his face and the whole room just sort of felt a little bit warmer.

10:08Matt Roberts: And he goes, but it's pretty close. And then he went, I'll let you be the judge. and look I think I think the thing about the US Open was that it was from the first match right that's what was different about it that he was just totally locked in and consistent and at his peak pretty much throughout the tournament I don't think it was that oh we've never seen Alcaraz play tennis at this level before we'd seen it in matches and in strings of matches but from start to finish in a grand slam And I still don't think whether he goes on to win the title or not, we've seen that here. You know, he was it was interesting that Dimino referenced that exhibition match they played before the tournament.

10:53Matt Roberts: And Alcaraz having been freakishly good in that because Alcaraz was talking about how disappointed he was in his own level after his first match. And he said his team had to give him a big talking to about how disappointed he was in his level, talking to about being patient. And that's obviously something he's really working on, being more patient and not having the ups and downs in a match, which is clearly working.

11:25Catherine Whitaker: There were also real moments of lightness about him today where he just broke out into a smile. And obviously that was easy to do because he was playing so well. But I liked seeing that. You know, like there have been times, particularly here at the Australian Open, actually. And, you know, the significance of this is feels quite minor because of everything else he's done in his career. And this is now the first time he's reached the semifinals of the Australian Open. I think it was the first time he'd beaten top 10 player at the Australian Open even. Like he hadn't played his best stuff here prior to this year, but he just seemed very, very relaxed and jovial.

12:08Catherine Whitaker: And I think that balance right now is absolutely right. Like he's totally locked in with his game, but there's a likeness to his being and his mind out there. And that, I think, is the secret Alcaraz weapon, really. Like he needs to be loose, but he needs to be in control of his game. And sometimes he's loose and wayward, but at the moment he's absolutely in the perfect place, I think.

12:41Matt Roberts: And David, you've got a working theory about that. I've got a few, haven't I, really? But I like this one. Is it a hair theory? I like this one.

12:49David Law: No, look, the hair one is why he's close to his level. Right, and not at. Yeah. So, you know, get the skinhead over the next couple of days, Carlos, and you'll be right there. No, I've kind of got two theories going on at the moment and either one of them could be right or neither one could be right. But here's the theory. I mean, obviously, I've already given the one theory, which is he arrives at the semifinals. He ends up in a brawl in a battle. I thought it was going to be against Anil Medvedev. He looks over and one-card for error is not there and he doesn't play the way he normally does and he loses.

13:24David Law: That's my one working theory. Could happen in the final. The other one, and if you think back to when the announcement first came of the separation with Ferreira, that really took me aback at the time and made me doubt him. And I still have little doubts because we haven't seen him in those matches yet. But I always thought in the long run though, and Matt Futterman alluded to this, this could be a good thing. He's separated himself from the father figure on the tennis court and he's having to take total ownership of his own game, make his own decisions, be the boss, and that might empower him going forwards.

14:07David Law: I think it's possible that it's empowered him now and that he has been released. I don't mean to sound as though that's thrown shade at Ferreira in any way. He's done an incredible job. But there was a reliance, I think, at moments. Don't think, and we haven't seen him stressed yet, so we'll see what happens if he gets stressed. But that jovial nature, I mean, I do think he tried a few shots today that were a little bit overindulgent. You know, there were a couple of sort of drop shots and then a rolled pass that Dimonor was just too fast for and he put them away. And I think he could have put them away in a different way.

14:46David Law: But the majority of it was just as good as I can imagine tennis being. and I just wonder whether the growing up phase has just happened overnight almost.

15:01Matt Roberts: And he's not worried about being told off by a parents type figure. Yeah, yeah.

15:08David Law: And yet he's mature enough not to do stupid stuff. And if you listen to him in that press conference, I found it such an interesting press conference, both his analysis of Dimonor and him saying how much he was missing because he can't actually play like he's trying to play, really. He's trying to play. It was almost like he was saying, he's trying to play like us. And he meant Djokovic, Sinner and himself. He wasn't trying to throw shade, but he was trying to say, but, you know, that's not in his comfort zone and he starts to miss. The other thing that really struck me was how much pride he spoke about in terms of his concentration, how hard he's worked at trying to stay concentrated.

15:53David Law: And I think that's a brilliant thing for him to realise he needs to be able to do. And to my mind, I think he might have just matured another level by having separated from Ferreira. In which case, my theory, my working theory from pre-tournament is completely wrong, and I'm completely happy to acknowledge that. And maybe the other one will be right.

16:14Matt Roberts: it's very clever to have two completely opposing theories on the go isn't it listen i'm not going

16:20David Law: to claim any credit for either one but i think that they're both possible and and i'm just fascinated to see whether either of them ends up being right not and i won't take any credit for that because i mean anybody could come up with that shit but but i sort of i'm looking at a I'm thinking about the maturing process of young people and I've always been fascinated with it because it happened a bit late for me and I ended up being a duffer for a while and Carlos Alcres has never been a duffer but I think he's going to get better. I don't think he's at max level yet and I think we might be seeing the next stage of it here.

17:01David Law: We'll find out.

17:02Matt Roberts: Just quickly on Alex de Menor. He's someone that's never been a duffer. like he's been dialed in, maximising it. That's been his identity his whole career. He hasn't had to have any kind of reckoning about who he is as a tennis player. That's been his whole identity, giving his all, ringing everything. I mean, I think nine games was him ringing everything out of this match. Okay, his unforced error count will look bad, but that's because he was doing things that you have to try and do when you're taking on Carlos Alcaraz. he was as sad and bereft and haunted as I've ever seen him by some distance in that that press conference this one clearly hurts um do you think this will leave a mark like he you know he was asked a question about kind of what now like how do you pick yourself up from this and he said well you just have to keep going that's all there is but it felt to me like I I was watching someone paint a picture of men's tennis at the moment.

18:09Matt Roberts: These broken men just killing themselves to try and give themselves a shot at these superheroes that are in a different stratosphere to them.

18:21David Law: I think it's a very similar feel to the Tommy Paul situation we had a couple of nights ago. Diminor's better than Tommy Paul. He's closer in many ways. um Taylor Fritz another one you know they don't lack for effort I've got huge admiration for them but they are looking at a level that they cannot reach but the hope for them is that they keep on going and they keep on adding and maybe one day those two players are not around for whatever reason at one of these big tournaments we've seen it before um we were talking with Charlie Eccleshire of The Athletic about he has his comparison of Diminor to Tim Henman trying to win Wimbledon and Henman twice ran into the great Pete Sampras in the in the semi-finals and lost and then one year a young lad called Roger Federer came along and knocked Pete Sampras out and Tim Henman was better than a 19 year old Roger Federer on a grass court and he beat him and he knocked him out.

19:28David Law: And he didn't win Wimbledon. Suddenly the opportunity was there and he didn't win Wimbledon because he didn't beat the next guy. And Goran Ivanishovich beat him in five sets and won Wimbledon. Pat Rafter was trying to win Wimbledon. One day that might happen for an Alex Diminor and he might be able to be the one to take the chance. That's what I'd be saying to him or at least I don't suppose you can say it quite like that but that's what you've got to be aware of.

19:59Matt Roberts: And I think that is eventually, I think this one will hurt for a while, eventually that's how Alex Dumont will come out of this and I back him more than any of the others to take that grain of hope and run with it. But my God, it must be hard to lift that extra weight in the gym and spend that extra 10 minutes on the practice court when you know almost certainly it's for nothing.

20:25David Law: Well, certainly if those guys are playing and they're fully fit because they're going to also be trying to lift that extra weight and they're not losing anything. They're getting better.

20:35Matt Roberts: And just the mentality of having to hope that one of them injures themselves or gets another doping ban or something. Or somebody else. Or Goran Ivojevic comes back.

20:50David Law: Maybe you just catch them on a bad day. I don't know what a bad day looks like in their Grand Slam world anymore, but that can happen.

21:00Matt Roberts: Yeah, I know. I know. Life comes at you fast. One minute, it's 12 in a row. The next minute, it's Bertrand van der Zanschelp.

21:08David Law: That's very well said.

21:11Matt Roberts: It just feels like the Bertrand van der Zanschelp days were quite a long time ago for Alcaraz. Days, yeah. Day, right. But the day when we were like, gosh, that could happen, And that Alcaraz could show up any time. Like, I don't feel that way about him anymore.

21:26David Law: No, and don't forget, he lost to Danim Medvedev at the US Open. He lost to Alessandro Zverev at the French Open. He lost to Alessandro Zverev here at the Australian Open. It's not like it's never happened. It just hasn't happened to this version of Carlos Alcaraz recently. And I can't see it. But that's what, if you're the pack, I think that's what you've got to be hanging on to.

21:47Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, I mean, look, you were in the de Manor press conference I wasn't I don't know how much Alex de Manor is viewing his career through a Carlos Alcarez, Yannick Sinner lens like I I think obviously that's his ultimate goal is to win the Australian Open or win a Grand Slam and he knows that you know he's not stupid he knows the reality is if he's going to do that he's likely going to have to beat one of these two maybe both of them and it's an incredibly tough task but i i don't know if he's the sort of character that is constantly thinking like that and being beaten down by that i do think he's i agree that he isn't generally i think he is tonight i think he is tonight but i think as the as you know time I think will help him sort of process that and I do think he is the sort of guy who is who knows that almost everyone on tour would kill for his career and that he can be satisfied because he is wringing everything out of himself and as long as he's doing that ultimately he he can take comfort from that like obviously it stings in the moment and And would he, you know, would he trade not getting better, but being able to win a slam because something happens to Alcaraz and Sinner?

23:23Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, probably. But I don't know. I have some, I have this feeling about Dimonor that he's going to be okay. That he's going to be okay.

23:35Matt Roberts: Okay. I need to hear that after that press conference because it was tough.

23:39David Law: I agree with you. I agree. He's going to be, in his life, he's going to be just fine. because he will have no regrets at the end of his career. He will have given everything. Same way as Leighton Hewitt did and Andy Roddick did. They had Roger Federer to contend with. That was just one of those things. And they still had great careers. I know they won the Grand Slams that Dimonor craves. But, no, he's a credit to himself. He's a brilliant player and a great competitor. And, you know, who knows? Maybe there is still something else, another level in his career at some point.

24:12Catherine Whitaker: And it's also not, he's also not like so good that you feel like he would have won slams in other eras. Do you know what I mean? Like, I think he's a very, very good player, but I'm not sure there'd be any era of men's tennis where you would necessarily go, right, Alex Dimon or guaranteed Grand Slam champion. And it's just because Alcres and Sinner are so good that he's not.

24:41David Law: I think he's become a better player than I ever expected him to. Me too.

24:45Catherine Whitaker: Absolutely. He's so good. And it's also only really here. The fact that he comes from a Grand Slam nation, I think really does pile that pressure on, that outside pressure. I think if he wasn't Australian, I don't think there'd be quite the same sort of noise around him as a possible Grand Slam champion I just think he's a total maximiser and there's just some guys who are better than him

25:27Matt Roberts: Yeah, and I agree with you I think he's the type of character for whom that will be enough I guess it's just the control freak in me that's like, I would find that so hard to know there's nothing that I can do to possibly be as good as them, ever. No matter what I do, I'll never be as good. I'd be like, okay, let's get a pizza then. It's not worth trying.

25:58David Law: It's a good job he's not you then.

26:01Matt Roberts: Do you know what I mean? It's just different personality types. It is, isn't it?

26:05Catherine Whitaker: Yeah. I think he's the type, well, I'll be as good as I can be.

26:08Matt Roberts: Yeah. That's the better type. I'll work on it. Okay. Alcaraz, as we've alluded to, will face Alexander Zverev in his first Australian Open semifinals. Zverev having beaten Lerner Tien, who gave us a little bit of jeopardy today. Can I hear it for some jeopardy? Woo. Just a little bit.

26:31Catherine Whitaker: I've got a great stat from...

26:34Matt Roberts: About total lack of jeopardy.

26:36Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, from Sharko.

26:38Matt Roberts: Oh, yeah.

26:39Catherine Whitaker: Greg Sharko, the legend that is. I was just having a little chat with him.

26:43David Law: Is this better than your newsletter stat again?

26:46Catherine Whitaker: It might be, actually. Sign up for the newsletter, folks. When was the last five-set match? When was the last fifth set on the Rod Laver Arena?

26:58Matt Roberts: Well, I know there haven't been any this year. I've got an awful feeling there weren't any last year.

27:03Catherine Whitaker: There was one last year.

27:05Matt Roberts: Was it something terrible?

27:06Catherine Whitaker: It was Medvedev, Kasadit, Samreg in the first round. Oh dear. Wow. Isn't that wild? Yeah.

27:17David Law: It's absolutely wild. Just imagine how good the Sinner Alcaraz final can be. Yeah.

27:24Matt Roberts: Wow. In the words of Carlos Alcaraz, previewing his semi-final against Alexander Zverev, he said, If he wants to beat me, he has to sweat a lot. Great line. Great line. Yeah. So Zverev beating TN 6-3, 6-7, 6-1, 7-6. and the main jeopardy here came obviously after Tien levelled the match up at a set-all after a stunning performance in the second set tie-break and it really felt like it was game on and then that got sucked away so quickly in that third set.

28:04David Law: Yeah, huge credit to Zverev for that because it would have been so easy for him to panic. He's played a really good first set. He's kind of kept Lerner Tien, who's got this left-handed, lacerating forehand, and he's got everything really from the baseline, and he showed it against Medvedev, and he kept him at bay in that first set, the Medvedev, and he was serving brilliantly all match, and really that's what kept him in charge of this thing, because I think he was taken about by how good Tien is from the baseline. Second set, it's nip and tuck. Tien's serving first this time, and Zverev's having to withstand the scoreboard pressure.

28:43David Law: They get into that tie-break, Zverev gets the mini-break, and you think, OK, that's the way he's serving, that's probably that. Suddenly, Lerner-Tien puts together, I think, maybe three or four points in a row at the end of that tie-break that were, I mean, they weren't too far off Elkaraz level in terms of just taking the play away and just making us jump out of our seats and gasp. and for Zverev to sit down at one set all at that point and not completely have a meltdown I think tells you what a good place he must be in he's talked a lot about how he's not physically feeling pain this this tournament whereas he was all all the last year niggles and not feeling great and he just comes out and he just beats him 6-1 in the next set and look there's a mental letdown I think or an emotional letdown from Tien at that point which I'm no doubt he'll learn from but I think Zverev is playing as well as I've ever seen him play at this tournament I think maybe a couple of years ago when he beat Alcaraz and should have beaten Medvedev when he was two sets to love up I think that was a similar level but this is better

29:50Matt Roberts: than he was a year ago when he reached the final in my view 24 aces today 72 percent first serves in winning 76 % of those points and winning 65 % of points on the second serve. Now, I think some of that was a TN, some of those stats were TN specific. That kick second serve was a problem for TN today. But those serving stats for Zverev are fearsome.

30:19Catherine Whitaker: That's one of the best serving performances in recent memory for me. Like this was so good from him because it was also he was coming up with big serves when he needed them. You know, like his serve was there in the important moments. I think when he was break point down, he would find a big serve, you know, and just being able to keep Tien at bay that way. Because from the baseline, there was very little between them. and Zverev actually, as David said, was really heaping praise on Tien's baseline game and I think he was a bit surprised by just how good it was. He shouted out Michael Chang, didn't he, for the work that those two have clearly done together and we talked a lot the other day about the leftiness of Tien and whether that would be this massive problem for him against Zverev And look, I think there are elements in the matchup against a lefty where Zverev is really comfortable.

31:23Catherine Whitaker: But I didn't feel like that was the reason Zverev won today. I didn't think he won because Tien's a lefty and it's a huge matchup problem. Tien from the baseline has ways to get out of some of the patterns that other lefties get stuck in against Zverev. Because he's so good at distributing the ball and negating Zverev's strengths in the rallies. But he lost to ATN because of Zverev's serve. And the gap between their two serves, I truly believe that. This was just an astonishing display of serving from Zverev. Like every single time he needed a good serve, he found it. And it's so hard to play against that.

32:03Catherine Whitaker: I think the indoor conditions probably helped Zverev a little bit with the serve and with his game generally. He said he loves those conditions when it's like that. But I thought TN played pretty well today. And there was just this huge one-shot difference between them. And not many players would have made up that gap. It was very impressive from Zverev.

32:30Matt Roberts: And look, if Zverev serves like that, and I think that's a big if, personally. I think the likelihood is he'll serve well, because he does. For somebody with the size of serve he has, his percentage is generally extremely high. But Alcaraz, serving stats don't happen in a vacuum. It's about who's down the other end of the court and what they're doing. I'd be surprised if he had quite as good a serving day just because of the pressure that Alcaraz puts on you is just different to anybody else. But if he does have anywhere close to that, David, he does have a... Having said that Alcaraz and Sin are in a different stratosphere, a serve that good, like it was today, as Matt's described, gives him a chance.

33:16David Law: Well, it can keep you in a set and it can build scoreboard pressure. And we saw Alcaraz have a 10, 15-minute letdown today, where he lost three games in a row and almost lost four games in a row. if he does that against Zverev and if Zverev's playing serving like this, that's the set right there and that's kind of what happened two years ago let's not forget how terrible Alcraz was for the first two sets of that match, but Zverev was serving like he was today he was just hitting the spots and he was ace after ace and that then emboldened his baseline game to go after it, I think I think it's finally the penny has finally dropped with Zverev that first shot after the serve and earlier in the rally he's got to pull the trigger he's got to go for it and maybe there's a little bit of the Alex Diminor about the way he'll view it I may as well just roll the dice because playing within myself isn't going to get it done against this guy

34:16Catherine Whitaker: that's it I think that is the question ahead of that semi-final can Zverev actually in practice be a bit more aggressive and not resort to standing several feet behind the baseline and doing the stuff that can get him through rounds at majors, but will not beat an Alcaraz or a Sinner or a Djokovic. He has to impose himself. And there have just been very few occasions over his career where he's actually been able to do that in the very biggest matches against his biggest rivals. And if he serves like that, he'll have the foundation to do it because he will get the balls that he can attack. But I don't know.

35:09Catherine Whitaker: I'm not convinced that he will. I think that's pretty entrenched.

35:14Matt Roberts: It's when you're under the highest pressure that you're most likely to revert to type, right? And there's no higher pressure than Alcaraz or Sinner. But it'll be interesting. If he can serve like that, we might get some jeopardy.

35:27Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, I think that's... Yeah, I do think so.

35:30Matt Roberts: Yeah. OK, well, that'll be the day session match on Friday, right? Guaranteed to be scheduled that way because this side of the draw, get the extra day off relative to the side of the draw that we'll play tomorrow. We'll look ahead to that order of play in part three. And in part two, we're going to talk about a huge upset and a shocking result for Coco Gauff.

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37:21David Law: AT &T Business is the reliable provider built for that exact brand of hustle, so you can stay focused on the work that builds your legacy. Powered by AT &T Business. Built to work. Get AT &T Business at business.att.com. One second, you're enjoying your day off. The next, your phone buzzes. A window's been broken at home. You're miles away.

37:44Matt Roberts: In one second, everything can change. That's why ADT's professionally installed security systems monitor your home 24-7. They're backed by the most company-operated monitoring systems in the industry, so you're always supported during an emergency. When every second counts, count on ADT. Visit ADT.com to learn more. Welcome back to part two of today's tennis podcast, where it's now close to 1 a.m. and the leaf blowers are out. You know it's a late pod when there's leaf blower. sound effects in the background so apologies for that uh it feels a long time ago doesn't it that Coco Goff was out there losing 6-1 6-2 in 58 minutes to Alina Svitolina who was awesome tonight and will be given her flowers but this was an alarming shocking defeat for Coco Goff was it not

38:42Catherine Whitaker: oh I know that we're always on a bit of alert for what Coco Goff might show up you know we talked about it at the United Cup that was in the same tournament we had the Boutas Monero performance and the Igor Sviontek performance that inconsistency is there a poorer performance does, you know, feel around the corner sometimes. But I did not expect this. I mean, she could not really play today. Like, it was that bad. She actually started OK. She did get broken in the first game, and the serve was a bit of an issue from the start. But she broke back in the next game, and there was a 26-shot rally, and she was looking pretty secure from the baseline.

39:37Catherine Whitaker: And, you know, I thought we were going to be in for, OK, maybe one of those days where she's not at her best, but where she's able to dig in and fight and scrap and maybe up her level as the match went on and cause her opponent to malfunction. I thought we were going to be in for the full Coco Goff experience after those first couple of games. And I was excited about it. I thought, OK, this is going to be our close match because these two are looking evenly matched in the first couple of games. But then it... Life really does come at you fast. It went so wrong.

40:14Matt Roberts: And so quickly. So quickly. It was just over.

40:17Catherine Whitaker: It was over. It was within a flash. It was 1-6, love 3 for Coco Goff. And she won 10 % of points behind her second serve in that opening set. She hit two winners and 14 unforced errors in that opening set. She finished with three winners and 26 unforced errors. Like, she was so bad today. Like, had no feel off either wing. The backhand was bad. The forehand was bad. She actually, in the second set, just totally started rolling her serve in. So to avoid hitting second serve. So it meant that, OK, she wasn't double faulting, but her serve was not a weapon at all. It was just a point starter. And this is someone whose serve, OK, has never been the most consistent shot, but it has at points in her career been a weapon for her.

41:13Catherine Whitaker: But right now she was just having to resort to get it in. And her team were telling her to literally just hit down the middle of the court because anything else was a danger of making an error. She was under pressure from Svitolina, who I think absolutely sensed her opportunity and her chance and played really well and aggressive and with real intensity. And that made it extra hard for Coco Gauff as well. But honestly, it was a disaster. And what started out as just a couple of issues on the serve in the early couple of games, as Chanda Rubin said in the commentary, seeped into the rest of her game and it was a horror show.

42:02Catherine Whitaker: It was so tough to watch.

42:05Matt Roberts: I couldn't believe how flat she was. That was extremely strange to me for the game's ultimate competitor in a Grand Slam quarterfinal. I found that really bizarre. she was very distracted by not having the right string tension available. You know, she, just like everybody does, comes onto court with this enormous racket bag full of rackets strung at all different tensions. Well, she didn't have any of the tensions that she wanted out there. I don't know whether that's someone messing up. I don't know whether that's an oversight. I just don't.

42:40Catherine Whitaker: You should have talked it down in the presser, didn't she, in terms of it being a potential mistake from anyone in the team.

42:48David Law: Yeah, she was keen to sort of defend herself, really, that she hadn't misjudged anything, albeit the conditions are a little different because she wasn't used to playing...

43:00Matt Roberts: It was her first night session match, wasn't it? And it was under the roof. Under the roof, so it is different.

43:06David Law: But, I mean, the gist of it was she was just trying something. She wanted... It wasn't working the way it was going, so she sent some off to try to get some other options. But the main thing that came out of the press conference was that she just didn't understand what had happened and why. And she needs to get to the bottom of it. Because we're so used to her being this incredible problem solver and somebody who digs in. And she referenced that United Cup match and it's happened here again. And she just didn't have any answers. And I think as the match was going on, And the body language I saw was, I can't play.

43:44David Law: I can't play. I don't know what to do. And it must be a horrible, horrible feeling. Imagine the thing you're best at in the world you suddenly can't do when you need to do it most. What a horrible feeling.

43:56Matt Roberts: You could see how scrambled her eggs were by the second. I mean, well, you could see it by about the second game. But it compounded, didn't it? It got worse and worse and worse. and there was one of the weirdest shots I've ever seen from Coco Goff midway through that second set.

44:16Catherine Whitaker: So weird. Like, I'm still a bit stunned, actually, at what happened. Describe. Svitolina hit a ball that hit the net cord and it was one of those net cords that wasn't a dead net cord but also didn't sit up. It was right in that region where suddenly Goff was having to sprint after it to try and track it down and with her foot speed it was very possible that she could track it down and she set off for it as she normally would and within a couple of feet from the ball she switched her racket from her right hand to her left hand and tried to play it left-handed and dumped it straight into the net it was completely inexplicable i have absolutely no idea why you would try to play that shot left-handed rather than just hit a little bunt on the backhand side like she did the hard bit she got there yeah and then try to hit it with her wrong hand like it it was it was bizarre and as you say totally illustrative i think of the of the just scrambled nature of her mind and brain at that time.

45:33Matt Roberts: I thought she did a really great job, Svitolina, not only of, as you say, playing a very tight game from the baseline and keeping up her intensity really well. And that's not easy to do when there's something weird happening down the other end of the court, which is creating an uneasy feeling in the crowd. The vibes were odd, and yet Alina Svitolina just created her own little vibe bubble, which I think must be very difficult to do. But what she also did was play quickly to really emphasise that feeling of it just being a runaway train for Coco Golf going in the wrong direction. I thought that was very clever from Svitolina.

46:15Catherine Whitaker: Yes, I agree. And she found, I think they said, about an extra eight or nine kilometres per hour on her forehand today compared to the rest of the tournament. and just that constant feeling of trying to rush Coco Goff, I think, was present in the way she was playing and how she was going about her game. Don't give Coco Goff a second to get out of this because Coco Goff is the one player who... I was watching that match thinking, well, she's got no game. Surely she's going to lose this. But there was something in the back of my mind saying, well, if anyone can turn this around and if anyone can win from here, it is Coco Goff.

46:55Catherine Whitaker: and I'm sure her opponents feel that too and I'm sure Svitolina must have been aware of that and Koko Goff did hold in that second set, finally. And then the next service game, you just felt like there was a little bit of pressure there for Svitolina because, you know, Koko Goff had been playing so badly and yet there was only one break in the second set at that point. If Goff broke back, suddenly you're back on serve and does Svitolina start doubting? but she just didn't allow Coco Goff to find her game. I do think the overall take on this match was Coco Goff's performance, but as she said, it doesn't happen in isolation.

47:41Catherine Whitaker: You are, you know, your form is caused by your opponent, and Svitolina did play well, as she has done all tournament and all year, and she does deserve a lot of credit for that.

47:55Matt Roberts: She had a very violent racket smash backstage. Coco Gauff, seven smashes of her racket, taking out that frustration. And suddenly she was asked about in press because it was caught on camera. They've got these CCTV-style cameras everywhere here and they throw up brilliant content. I'm lapping up these clips online. But I also have in the back of my mind, like I shouldn't be allowed to enjoy this like this is like is this okay I am going to enjoy it if I'm being given it but not entirely sure this is okay and Coco Goff did say like I thought I was somewhere without cameras I tried to get somewhere without cameras like it was a controlled thing like I wanted to take out some frustration I wanted to do it away from prying eyes so that I didn't take it out on my team and it was shown live on TV and we saw it with Sabalenka didn't me after the US Open final when Coco Gauff beat her and it again like that's that's a fascinating insight for us into where Coco Gauff was and it's a picture that paints a real story but I think we probably shouldn't have been allowed to see that and it does feel intrusive.

49:11David Law: She really was not happy about that at all in that press conference in fact that was that I've been in a lot of press conferences with Coco Goff when she's lost tough matches and she's often been emotional, tearful. This one, she was hugely frustrated and pretty angry, I think, with her performance and desperate to find out what happened. But actually the thing she was most steely about was wanting to complain or at least have a conversation with the tournament about this surveillance and this feeling that the only place she's going to be able to go to have any privacy whatsoever is the locker room.

49:57David Law: I sort of, I mean, I do sympathise. I do sympathise. And I do think there is a big question mark over whether this is a bit too much. I would say though that I think everybody knows this is the deal so you you better make sure I think is the other argument maybe it just needs to be accepted because it is creating such great content it is creating insight and if you want to maybe you just can't do it, maybe you've got to go to the locker room maybe you've got to go back to your hotel maybe I'm being unfair and I'm sure if I was her I'd be angry and frustrated too but

50:44David Law: I'm not sure you can put it the toothpaste back in now

50:49Catherine Whitaker: yeah I thought she gave a great answer about why she smashed the racket I mean that was that was really powerful hearing her talk about how she knows that she it feels emotional in those moments and the last thing she wants to do is have an outburst at her team. And I'm sure that was why she wanted to get the racket smash done, get it out before she went back to the locker room and the privacy of the locker room where her team likely would have been. Because she said, I was trying my best out there. They're trying their best for me. Everyone is putting in a lot of work. No one deserves to be shouted at or have anger taken out on them after a moment like that.

51:31Catherine Whitaker: And she said, so I knew that the best thing to do was actually smash the racket, get it out of my system and then go and see my team. So I thought that was incredible perspective and tells you a lot about Coco Goff as a person, I think, and how much she respects the people around her. but yeah I very much see the dilemma here in terms of the surveillance in terms of content versus player privacy maybe there needs to be a private racket smashing area

52:07David Law: yes imagine that you just go in and there's the close

52:12Matt Roberts: the door if that happens before the media sleeping area that I've been pushing for many years I will be soundproof room where they can go in and just go ah can i go in there and scream on days when

52:28David Law: there are only crap matches daily daily visit uh on switalina she's she's the most amazing story

52:39Matt Roberts: isn't she i mean this is her first australian open semi-final it's her fourth major semi-final overall her second since maternity leave after that one at Wimbledon a while ago. She only got an incredibly abbreviated on-court interview after this match. Two questions. Two really nice questions. It was well done. And, you know, it's not Yelena Dokic's fault who was doing the interview. There was clearly a pressure to get that done quickly because the headline, the main show, Alex de Menor against Carlos Alcaraz was waiting to come onto the stage and look I understand that and I know how TV works trust me and I know an Australian is always going to be the headline act but this stuff matters now more than ever how viral, I haven't even looked online but how viral is the clip of Carlos Alcaraz doing his racket trick demo with Jim Currier going to go online.

53:42Matt Roberts: That's going to be amazing for our crowds and for the Australian Open and for men's tennis. Alina Svitolina and the WTA was denied any opportunity to have that kind of exposure this evening. And that makes me really sad. She earned that and she's been denied it and it shouldn't be allowed to happen.

54:06David Law: no and when I considered that the match lasted what 58 minutes I mean okay if it had been three hours and Alcraz and Dimino are trying to get on for court at 10 o 'clock for a best of five cent match I would get it but this was 58 minutes ask her four questions for god's sake do a proper interview it's not going to hurt you so Svitolina against Arena Sabalenka is going to be

54:36Matt Roberts: the semi-final in a couple of days time that because arena sabalenka in the first match of the day this really does feel a long time ago beat ivy jovic 6-3 6-love and we'll watch this one together at at the flat because it was too hot to be anywhere but uh the flat um and look my take on it was that three games feels really harsh for ivy jovic but entirely fair for arena Sabalenka.

55:06Catherine Whitaker: Yeah I think that's a good way of putting it that that opening set felt closer than 6-3 to me I think it was pushing an hour in in length it's just on its own that that first set and I thought Jovic played really well I thought she did quite a good job actually of of handling the Sabalenka game at times certainly it felt like she was able to handle it from the off better than Mboko had the previous round, another teenager. You know, I think she's just a bit more stable off both wings, Jovic. And she kept it pretty close. She saved a set point with a forehand on the run. She had breakback points.

55:51Catherine Whitaker: You know, it was a good set. It was really entertaining. But Sabalenka was awesome in it and even better, I think, in the second set. Her ratio of winners to unforced errors was remarkable. And in the end, she just totally overwhelmed Jovic in the match as a whole. And Jovic didn't quite have what Mboko had at the end of that match, which was the ability to actually hurt Sabalenka. She's still developing her game, as you would expect. But yeah, Sabalenka was, well, kind of in that flow state, really, that she was in in the previous round. and she started it today. There were great drop shots. There was slices to negate some of Jovic's nice moments.

56:43Catherine Whitaker: And then there was just the overwhelming, blistering power as well. It was so good. And I was really watching that thinking, well, this is the tennis to beat. Someone is going to have to go some to beat Irina Sabalenka here. We've talked about it. before but her record in Australia and I mean here but also in the lead-in tournaments as well is incredible and it has taken Madison Keyes and Elena Rabatkin in Brisbane playing pretty much out of their minds to be able to beat her in these conditions in the last few years and she's just laying down the level that everyone else in this tournament is going to have to

57:25Matt Roberts: to try and match and and even new alina svitalina post maternity leave svitalina this incredible aggressive force that she's rebanded but rebranded into that is not a madison keys or an alina rabatkin like she just doesn't have the type of game to hurt sabalenka like that it's a 5-1 head-to-head for sabalenka she has typically played her tough svitalina a lot of those have been tight sets or three setters. The one victory for Svitolina was in Strasbourg back in 2020. I'd be surprised if this was a beatdown like we saw today, but I would also be surprised if San Belenka doesn't win.

58:11David Law: Yeah, 6-3, 7-5, the most recent one. And then it was 7-5, 6-2 on a hard court in Cincinnati. The one really close one was the Italian Open in Rome, 7-6 in the third for Sabalenka. That's a year and a half ago. So there's been close sets, as you say, in all of them. And I was in Svisalina's press conference. She's aware of what she's up against. She's not deluding herself about how hard this is going to be. But she's also, I asked her whether she thought she's a better player now than the one that won the WTA finals sort of seven years, six, seven years ago. And she gave a long answer about how that player has led to this player.

59:03David Law: And there has been a clear movement of trying to be aggressive. And it's been successful. I think the problem is it still ends up on Sabalenka's racket. I think Svitolina could play really well and hit the shots and still not win. That's the tough thing. And we've seen that. Well, we've seen that a lot today.

59:26Catherine Whitaker: And I mean, there have been occasions where matches are on Irina Sabalenka's racket and that ends up being a very stressful experience for her down the stretch at majors. Now, a lot of the time, those occasions have been against Coco Gauff. And it's one of the fascinations of tennis that Alina Svitolina can beat Coco Gauff like that tonight, and yet I think it's good news for Rina Sabalenka that Coco Gauff has gone out. Like, I don't quite know how I reconcile those two things in my mind, but I do believe that.

1:00:02Matt Roberts: Yeah, like, I was thinking tonight, watching Coco Gauff, that if you just changed the rules and said, if this was around Robin, and Coco Gauff had put in that performance tonight against Svitolina and she was still coming back in two days' time to face Sabalenka, it wouldn't really affect what I saw tonight wouldn't really affect how I'd feel about her taking on Sabalenka in two days time. Yeah.

1:00:25Catherine Whitaker: But I do expect Spitalina to play well and I would be very surprised if there's not at least one tight set there. Problem is, tight set might mean a tie break. And we know how Sabalenka steps up in those. She's got the defences even for a tight set. like it's such a tall order

1:00:47David Law: interested to see what the crowd's like

1:00:49Matt Roberts: yeah and of course there's that you know there's that element for Svitolina 20 % higher win rate against Russians and Belarusians than versus all opponents since the war started so that will be a factor, I expect Svitolina to show up and have that look in her eye I just expect it not to be not to be enough. Matt's promising me Jeopardy again. You tease Matt.

1:01:21David Law: Where's that coming from?

1:01:22Matt Roberts: Well you promised me one tight set one tight set that's what counts for Jeopardy at the 2026 Australian Open. Hang on, I promise

1:01:30Catherine Whitaker: I predicted

1:01:32Matt Roberts: I'm holding you to it Folks, do you know what never disappoints?

1:01:37Catherine Whitaker: Sensation of the day

1:01:38Matt Roberts: Sensation of the day and it's a good one today. We'll see you in part three AI is only as powerful as the platform it's built into. That's why it's no surprise that more than 85 % of the 14500 use the ServiceNow AI platform. While other platforms duct tape tools together, ServiceNow seamlessly unifies people, data, workflows and AI, connecting every corner of your business. And with AI agents working together autonomously, anyone in any department can focus on the work that matters most. Learn how ServiceNow puts AI to work for people at servicenow.com.

1:02:40David Law: Your business is only as strong as your connection. AT &T Business is the reliable provider built for that exact brand of hustle, so you can stay focused on the work that builds your legacy. Powered by AT &T Business. Built to work. Get AT &T Business at business.att.com.

1:03:01Matt Roberts: Welcome back to part three of today's tennis podcast, where we have a few contenders for sensation of the day? Well, in fact, what we have is some runners-up. We have Olivia Gadecki and John Pears, who beat Aleksandr Krunic and Matej Pavic in straight sets, the fifth seeds, to reach the semis of the mixed doubles. Well done, Gadecki and Pears. They've already won sensation of the day and they continue in the tournament, so they will have another chance. So they get a little runners-up rosette, as do Jason Kubler and Mark Polmans, yesterday's Sensations of the Day winners. They've won again today.

1:03:38Matt Roberts: They beat the 12-seeded French team to reach the men's doubles semifinals. But I'm afraid for Olivia Gadecki, John Pears, Jason Kubler and Mark Polman's Sensation of the Day was sewn up at 12.21 when a DM slid in from, if you'll remember a couple of days ago, the iconic Fred.

1:04:04Fred.

1:04:07Catherine Whitaker: I love Fred.

1:04:08Matt Roberts: I'm obsessed with Fred. Fred says, he said, thank you for championing my cause for Friday's Sensation of the Day, but the correct decision was made. He's okay with not having won it on Friday, but he's taken another big swing, David, and he has sent a BWS, BWS, which is an Australian brand of, they call them bottle shops here, don't they? Beer, wine and spirits, it's called. He has sent us a gift card for BWS. And I'm afraid it doesn't matter how hard you give me that look. Fred is winning sensation of the day.

1:04:50David Law: Have we stopped doing it as a combined decision?

1:04:54Catherine Whitaker: Well, if we are, it's 2-1, because I'm voting for Fred as well. I don't drink

1:04:59Matt Roberts: they do non-alcoholic beer at BWS

1:05:03David Law: and you can

1:05:05Matt Roberts: support our joy

1:05:07David Law: I was keen to make the claim for the lovely woman who gave me three dinners today

1:05:15Catherine Whitaker: but no no it's Fred it's Fred I thought Gadecki

1:05:22Matt Roberts: it's Fred we love you Fred tomorrow's order of play. Day 11 at the Australian Open. All the singles action on the Rod Laver Arena from 11.30am. Elena Rabakina against Iga Svjantek. Big, and look, we always get this because the women have to come back and play the next day. But it's a big get the women out of the way flavour. And it'll annoy me, but anyway, I'm not going to let it get in the way of how pumped I am about these matches. Rabakina against Svjantek, followed Goodbye, not before 1pm. Pagula against Anisimova. It's a big day for Matt. He's got to get shorts for the one-point slam as well.

1:06:04David Law: Hold on, when's that got to be fitted into the shirt shop?

1:06:07Matt Roberts: I know, but it feels quite important. Matt doesn't have any tennis shorts.

1:06:10Catherine Whitaker: I forgot my tennis shorts on this. In fact, I've just been wearing sort of other shorts that aren't specifically tennis shorts.

1:06:20David Law: You're not allowed to enter otherwise? Otherwise, or?

1:06:23Catherine Whitaker: No, but it's like, you know, when I win, I need to look good with the trophy. With the trophy. I need to be pleased with my outfit for the trophy.

1:06:31Matt Roberts: New Balance, Wilson, Nike. No, not Nike. New Balance, Wilson, Adidas. This is a come and get me plea to kit out the bottom half of Matt Roberts for the media one-point slam on Thursday.

1:06:45David Law: There might be a sensation of the day option up for grabs.

1:06:47Matt Roberts: Yes, absolutely.

1:06:50David Law: Very good.

1:06:51Matt Roberts: Yeah, absolutely. Night session tomorrow is Mazzetti. Sorry, not night session. There's a not before 2.30. So the third day session match is Lorenzo Mazzetti against Novak Djokovic. And then the night session is Ben Shelton against Yannick Sinner, followed by potential sensations of the day, Talia Gibson and Kim Birrell taking on Ina Shibahara and Vera Zvonareva in the year 2026. That's a women's doubles quarterfinal. do we foresee any upsets tomorrow upsets would be Rabakina

1:07:29Catherine Whitaker: she's the favourite Rabakina and that

1:07:32David Law: I don't buy that that took my interest for the newsletter predictions which you can sign up to

1:07:40Matt Roberts: she's not my favourite

1:07:42Catherine Whitaker: no I don't think she's mine either but I mean look it would be an upset, it's not an upset wouldn't it

1:07:51Matt Roberts: she's playing bloody well.

1:07:52Catherine Whitaker: Yeah.

1:07:54Matt Roberts: Pagula.

1:07:58David Law: Who do you think is going to win out of Svantec and Rebecca?

1:08:01Catherine Whitaker: You two. I'm going to go Svantec.

1:08:04Matt Roberts: Svantec.

1:08:05Catherine Whitaker: And I'm going to go Anisimova. But.

1:08:10David Law: I'm going to go those two as well.

1:08:12Matt Roberts: Muzetti would be the upset in the Muzetti-Djokovic match. No, that's not happening.

1:08:16Catherine Whitaker: Djokovic is going to win. And Scheldt. I've got a little feeling about that, which might be silly, but... Oh. It's silly, isn't it?

1:08:24Matt Roberts: You're grinning like Carlos Alcaraz when he said, but it's close.

1:08:28David Law: You're about to back Lorenzo Mazzetti against Novak Djokovic.

1:08:31Catherine Whitaker: I certainly am in the newsletter.

1:08:34Matt Roberts: Shelton, Sinner.

1:08:35Catherine Whitaker: Obviously, logically, I would go Djokovic. Sinner, yeah, I think.

1:08:41Matt Roberts: The second court tomorrow is all doubles, quarterfinals. You've got men's, women's mixed as well. Kia is a mixture of lots of different wheelchair events. You've got quad wheelchair singles, women's wheelchair singles, men's wheelchair singles. Alfie Hewitt, the top seed in the men's, is in action. Sam Schroeder in the quad. Yui Kimiji, the top seed in the women's. Takedo Oda is last on the Kia Arena tomorrow. Is he not the top seed? He's the second seed behind Alfa Hewitt.

1:09:17David Law: Wow.

1:09:17Matt Roberts: But I'd imagine the favourite. We'll check on that. Based on recent times. Yeah. And then you've also got the quad wheelchair doubles and the men's wheelchair doubles and I think the women's wheelchair doubles all starting tomorrow. There's legends. If Marcus Bagdatis and Tommy Haas taking on Leighton Hewitt and Pat Rafter is what floats your boat, then that's happening tomorrow as well. And we'll be back at the end of all of it with another tennis podcast. And with news of Matt Short's situation. We have an update from lovely mascot Gus. Gus says, while the tennis podcast crew is soaking up the sun in Melbourne, upstate New York is buried under snow and no one is happier about it than Gus.

1:10:06Matt Roberts: No matter how cold it gets, minus five degrees at the time of writing, Gus is constantly requesting access to the outdoors. Once released, events unfold in a very predictable order. Her snout is immediately plunged into the nearest patch of snow for a good sniff. The rest of her body soon follows in dramatic sliding motion as if she's trying to wriggle into it. This then evolves into a full 360 degree roll so that she's simultaneously in, under and entirely covered by snow. What a manoeuvre. she's wearing winter coats and she's very very happy in the snow covered photo of her that I am looking at Renee says mum being Australian means she has a natural aversion to quite this much winter but watching how much joy it brings Gus has completely changed her appreciation of the colder months there's a lesson in there somewhere embrace the season with enthusiasm and possibly a full body snow roll Words to live by, Renee.

1:11:05Matt Roberts: Thank you for that. Hello to Bodie, to Maisie and to Roger, always embracing the season that they're in with enthusiasm. Hello to Greg, Chris and Jeff. I'm sure they're doing the same. Our executive producers and all-around top folks. Matt, let's have some shout-outs.

1:11:23Catherine Whitaker: We have Kristin Brockmeyer.

1:11:26Matt Roberts: Hello, Kristin.

1:11:28Catherine Whitaker: Hi, Kristin. She is from Virginia, USA. and she says thank you for the joy you bring me oh Kristen oh

1:11:37Matt Roberts: thank you so much extremely lovely Kristen

1:11:43David Law: I ain't got nothing

1:11:46Matt Roberts: oh we got anything on Virginia this is Virginia Wade

1:11:50David Law: yeah well there you go yeah

1:11:54Matt Roberts: yeah it's Virginia Wade isn't it yeah Kristen please accept Virginia Wade at this late hour. Thank you very much.

1:12:03Catherine Whitaker: We've also got Blair Patterson from Manchester, but originally from Edinburgh.

1:12:09Matt Roberts: Hello, Blair.

1:12:10Catherine Whitaker: Hi, Blair. And Blair says he generally listens to the podcast when out walking Colin, our five-year-old fox red Labrador.

1:12:20Matt Roberts: Oh, like Pippin, my parents' fox red lab puppy. Colin. That's a fun dog name. It is, isn't it? I got a lovely photo of Pippin earlier. She's getting big. She's doing a Roger. Excellent. But she's gorgeous. Tennis Blairs. Well, there's Blair Henley.

1:12:40David Law: Yeah, the most excellent on-court interviewer. Yeah, she's brilliant at it. Superstar. And rumour has it she's in the one-point slam. Apparently she's quite good. I've got problems.

1:12:50Matt Roberts: I think she's a top seed.

1:12:51David Law: Can you get in the other half of the

1:12:52Catherine Whitaker: draw? I've seen her play.

1:12:54Matt Roberts: Will there be seedings?

1:12:57Catherine Whitaker: Don't think so. I'd be surprised This is my kind of draw Yes We'll all be using wooden rackets If you have your say

1:13:08Matt Roberts: Blair Henley, let's go with that I can't think of any other tennis Blairs Hope that's alright Blair And Colin, like Colin Fleming

1:13:15David Law: Yeah, he's also a top player Thank you Blair

1:13:19Catherine Whitaker: And finally we have Ali Who is in Iran

1:13:23Matt Roberts: Hello Ali

1:13:24Catherine Whitaker: Ali says I fell in love with tennis because of Chrissie Everett, stood in awe of Monica Selesh and was utterly spellbound by Roger Federer.

1:13:35David Law: Yeah, know how you feel, Ali.

1:13:37Matt Roberts: A lot of listeners will relate to that.

1:13:39David Law: Like Ali Nilly, the former umpire and supervisor on the ATB tour.

1:13:44Matt Roberts: I see him having lunch every day.

1:13:47David Law: Do you? Yeah.

1:13:48Matt Roberts: Do you not?

1:13:49David Law: I don't. No, I see John Blom every day.

1:13:53Matt Roberts: Yeah, we see a lot of the umpires. they all get their lunch in the media restaurant. They like a Red Bull, don't they?

1:13:59David Law: They need it. Stay alert. I would just... Would you not just drop off in that seat? I would.

1:14:08Matt Roberts: No, I'd be so aware of the cameras on me, I think. You know what I'm like.

1:14:13David Law: I can't sit still. Yeah, I do think it's the job for you. You would be a terrible umpire. I would. Yeah. you could draft me into fill in for toilet breaks well you know you do the rest of it

1:14:27Catherine Whitaker: I think I could be I'm quite good at sitting still for several hours at a time

1:14:33David Law: I'd start wanting to do the dishes and stuff you would yeah you'd get distracted

1:14:38Matt Roberts: I just don't want to drink Red Bull you don't have to it looks the rate they're knocking it back it looks an awful lot like you might have to Ali Blair and Kristen thank you ever so much for being friends of the tennis podcast you help us to be here covering this tournament at 1.26 in the morning with the sound of leaf blowers in the background inexplicably there's no leaves to blow but they're out there well actually no I'd rather they stopped but anyway there's nowhere else we'd rather be and we're very grateful to all of our friends of the tennis podcast and the wonderful community that they have created.

1:15:20Matt Roberts: So if you'd like to become a friend at the pod and join the fun, then the link, as always, is in our show notes. We are part of the Athletic Podcast Network, and we will be back to speak to you tomorrow. Thanks for listening. Speak to you then.

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