Aus Open Day 4 - Where does this loss leave Raducanu?

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1:26Matt Roberts: Well, hello and welcome to the Tennis Podcast, coming to you on day four of the Australian Open from what I'm now going to call our regular haunt, the Creator Lounge. Comfy seats, good lumber support, good Wi-Fi, and crucially, it is indoors because it is bloody cold and wet tonight in Melbourne. And further evidence of Matt being sensible, he's the only one of us that has a waterproof jacket.

1:55Catherine Whitaker: I do take my Wimbledon merch everywhere, as my friends and family will know. You thought that through, didn't you? Yeah.

2:03Matt Roberts: Very envious. I'm wearing shorts. It's not appropriately dressed. Matches are still ongoing in various different forms. Jasmine Paolini is in a state of suspendu. The noise you can hear is bangers being played into the Kia Arena, trying to keep the crowd there while they wait for the resumption of Paolini against Freck, which has been called off, I think, for the second time due to rain.

2:30Catherine Whitaker: And it's now moving to the John Kane Arena to finish off under a roof. Close the roofs. Absolutely. Thank goodness for the roofs.

2:39Matt Roberts: It's what we always say. Thank goodness for the roofs. And there's still a whole Priscilla Hon to come on the Rod Laver Arena.

2:46Catherine Whitaker: She's just walked out onto the Rod Laver Arena.

2:48Matt Roberts: Priscilla Hon and Eva Jovic. And frankly, if we were truly diligent tennis podcasters, we'd be waiting for the result of that match. Because, spoiler alert for part three, sensation of the day is a bit of a tough scene today. There's a lot on the line for Priscilla Hon here. But look, we'll give you out-of-date score updates as the match progresses. It's on the big screen.

3:12David Law: How many games does she need to win?

3:15Matt Roberts: Oh, she needs to win this. Well, again, spoiler alert for part three, we've got someone that came as close to winning without winning as you can get. That was a long time ago, but I'm just about remembering. So we've got someone that we can hand it to an extremist. Which I think is very sensational. It's very sensation-y, it is. But let's face it, if Priscilla Hon wins, she's got it.

3:41Catherine Whitaker: Agreed. Yeah.

3:42Matt Roberts: No pressure, Priscilla. Right, let's take ourselves back to a time when the sun was shining, the balls were popping. It was actually a beautiful day until this happened, wasn't it? It was, you know, sort of 25 degrees, sunny, bit of breeze, absolutely lovely. Perfect conditions for Carlos Alcaraz. And it turns out, Yannick Kampfmann for a set and a bit. He loved it. I mean the set of his life in in the first against Alcaraz playing pretty well yeah in the words of Alcaraz afterwards he was hitting bombs at me and and I think that that is is accurate I think probably it simplifies the approach for a guy like Anferman who's a big strapping guy who's got power you've just got to go for everything clearly and and see if you can inflict damage and maybe maybe just discomfort Alcraz a bit and I think he did and I don't think Alcraz is at his convincing best yet I think he's searching I think he's playing fine and look it was straight sets he there were lots of good things I think his base level is decent but he doesn't have that authority at the moment that he had in New York that's what sets it apart in fact I've never seen that authority here in in australia to this point i mean look i've never seen the new york level anywhere so it's it's a high bar you're measuring him against and he may just be working his way into the tournament and it was fine like i say there was a lot of good stuff in there but hanfman did make him a little uncomfortable out there yeah i thought hanfman was brilliant

5:18Catherine Whitaker: i've seen him play well against djokovic before you know really trying to impose his his big game He's a tall guy, he's a strapping guy, and he's really got some firepower, and he used it. He was targeting the Alcaraz forehand, and I think Alcaraz was maybe getting involved in maybe a few too many of those forehand-to-forehand exchanges early on. But Hanfman was executing his game plan brilliantly, and what I liked about Alcaraz is that he did respond and step up when he needed to, not to let it drag into a potential fourth set or anything like that. So, yeah, it was a really good match. This was the longest three-set match that Alcraz has ever played at a Grand Slam.

6:02Catherine Whitaker: You know, like, that tells you that, yes, OK, it was straight sets. He was pushed today. He was made to work hard. And, yeah, I really wanted to give Hanfman credit there because we say so often, you know, like, Alcraz and Sinner are so far ahead of everyone else that sometimes these matches can just sort of drift on and go by. and we don't really have a huge reason to necessarily really get your teeth into it. But I was gripped in this first set because Hanfman was playing that well. And yeah, full credit to him.

6:33Matt Roberts: Alcaraz was asked in his first question in the press conference to assess his own performance today. And he said, well, when I left the court, I didn't think I'd played particularly well. But then my team told me I played really well. So I'm going to believe them. and I just it's such a weird thing with Alcoraz press conferences at the moment, with Alcoraz anything at the moment because my overall impression was that he was pretty subdued in press today but

7:01Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, I mean I do think today the flatness in the press was most likely due to the train crash that there's been in Spain and he was asked a lot about that in the Spanish portion of the press conference

7:13Matt Roberts: So he would have anticipated that coming I expect so.

7:17Catherine Whitaker: I think he wrote on the camera a tribute as well. Did he? That's good stuff. I mean, there's three days of national mourning in Spain at the moment. I think 40 people have died. And I suspect, you know, he's obviously, I suspect, down about that and also aware that questions will be coming. And, yeah, I think, you know, it's one of the reminders, isn't it? The bubble of a grand slam. And yet the outside world can get in. And I'm sure he would have been feeling that today.

7:44Matt Roberts: Yeah, that's a very important point. he has Mute next. Is that going to be horrible for Mute? It's a tricky one to really get a sense of because you don't really know what sort of state Mute is going to turn up in. I mean, he's not looked fully fit at times in this tournament. He went and sat down today against Michael Zhang, but then he came back and he played some good stuff and he kind of wore his opponent down in the end. an opponent who's just not used to this kind of tennis really at this stage he plays college tennis really is what he plays most of the time he's going to be in David's fantasy team before you know it but Mute what he is doing is he's continually stepping up in the last year and a bit now this isn't just this comedy character that he always used to be he's now a proper player still it's a very different thing playing against Alcras, isn't it?

8:46And I'm interested to see how he gets on on a big stage against him. I assume they'll put that on a level arena, or if not, they'd put it on the second court. Either one, big stage, crowds getting introduced to Moutet for the very first time. In theory, I think he's going to love that, but then I still have that match against Djokovic in my mind when he just was so flat and not really there. and I think too respectful. But in this, if Alcraz comes out playing well, he may just crush him. He may just be able to physically impose himself in that way with his game as well. But equally, he might make it fun and might make it a little...

9:27You can end up getting Alcraz into one of those matches where you're seeing who's got the better trick shots, like Damir Jumher does whenever he plays against him.

9:39Matt Roberts: I worry from a Mute perspective that he needs to feel like he's the trickshot guy on the court and not the number two trickshot guy. Do you remember when Barami and Leconte used to play on the Champions Tour? And it just didn't work.

9:57David Law: I don't think that'll stop Moutet trying to be number one in that particular type of manner. It'll be interesting. Because I think he's going to have to do that. I don't think... His best game is unsettling opponents whether it's through attitude or more specifically with a variety of game that you don't see every day. And I think if they've got any sense, his team, they'll be letting him know that Alcaraz sometimes gets embroiled in these matches where you get a bit self-indulgent and you end up having too much fun. And that can take his mind off the ball.

10:35Matt Roberts: Daniel Mabrev on the John Kane Arena today today had a bit of a scenic route against definitively agricultural content alice how much trouble was he in david i thought he was in quite a bit actually when you look at the score line in on paper it's six seven and then three straight sets but it but it was actually a different feel for the first hour and a half to that because alice actually played a very similar match to what we saw from hanfman every time the ball was there to be hit he absolutely clubbed it and he was really going after balls, I think, really trying to finish rallies. If he had a ball there to hit, he wasn't trying to wear Medvedev down, he was trying to finish rallies.

11:19And he was doing it with a lot of success. He had several set-point chances in that first set. He was by far the better player in a set. He only just about won 7-6, and he had to save a set point in the tie-break as well. But Medvedev had that on his own serve. He had a, I think it was 7-6 or something like that, and serving and he lost the next three points you know it was and and when he sat down i did think oh this is interesting because this is exactly what happens when medvedev has played against benjamin bonsi in the last well however long it seems to be whenever he plays him and sure enough they came out in the second set and medvedev was broken again and so he's he's a breakdown at one point he was 7-6, 2-1 and 40 love down and he broke from there and that was the turning point of the whole match.

12:12Elise had I think a little bit of a concentration let down in that 40 love game because he really should have found a way to get, he was on top, he was in total charge Medvedev was complaining to Thomas Johansson who was saying you know send your rackets off to get him strung a bit tighter then if if if they're if because the ball was going all over the place at that point trampling in off the strings long all sorts of things um and but it seemed to get him back in the room evadev and then he he imposed himself but the the game that you know i'd spoken to hansen about of getting to the net he was doing it but he was fluffing volleys left right and center but he got himself back the difference is he got himself back on kilter there were no dramas in the end you know he won the next three sets and I think that that has to be viewed

13:03Catherine Whitaker: as real progress yeah I agree I think it's impossible to say but I just feel like 2025 Medvedev certainly through to the US Open finds a way to lose this match rather than finding a way to win it you know like he didn't have his best game and last year that was leading into melting down and losing the plot, quite frankly, in a lot of matches. And today it went the other way. Like he, as David said, that critical game where he got the break back, he ended up hitting a brilliant backhand passing shot in that game to clinch the break back. Fantastic moment. And from there he was just, he was locked in and it suddenly felt like, oh, Medvedev, in terms of you just knew that Elise was going to have to keep up a good level for a long time in order to beat him.

13:54Catherine Whitaker: And that was always one of the challenges of playing Medford Evon. That disappeared a bit last year. He lost his age in a lot of these matches, but he had it today. It wasn't like his top level, as David said. He is still searching for that. And in fact, in his on-court interview afterwards, he said, I was playing better in Brisbane. He said he was preferring the speed of the courts there. He felt like he's still missing something on his shots here compared to Brisbane. He's less able, I think, to do the damage that he wants to do. But he also said that he's had that feeling before and you can build into a tournament and find it through a tournament.

14:36Catherine Whitaker: So, frankly, for Medvedev, I know that, like, we've all just put him through to the quarterfinals or semifinals or final. But actually, like, for him, he needs to get used to navigating these early stages of Grand Slams again. I know he's so experienced at doing that, but not recently. So anything that he's capable of doing in these first few rounds is a positive for him. And he's got another tricky one, actually, in the third round, hasn't he, against Marajan.

15:06David Law: Yeah, who's playing well. I mean, that's now Rindy Knesh and Majacek. He's beaten in straight sets today. And it's interesting. I mean, he's a flat ball hitter. very powerful and good touch as well although i did look up there their head to head he hasn't actually won a set against medvedev so far so and that's five five sets they've played against one another so you know medvedev may well lean on that alexander zverev set up another third round

15:36Matt Roberts: meeting with the last brit standing cameron norrie today uh zverev we've just watched over on the John Kane Arena get the better of Alexander Muller. 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. And Cameron Norrie came through Emilio Nava in four sets. He had to come back and play, what, three or four points after a rain delay in the four-set tiebreak?

16:02Catherine Whitaker: Yes, it was a very poorly timed rain delay all around the grounds, obviously. but particularly for Cameron Norrie in that fourth set tie break, trying to close it out. He'd just got the mini break and he was 4-3 up, came back and he was serving and actually very impressively hit two big serves to get himself to two match points. Nava saved the first two and then Norrie won the final one when Nava made an error. And honestly, the scenes out there on court seven, I think it was, which is very near the bar. there's a there's a sort of walkway where people where people gather i mean it was like a football match it was it was just chants were going back and forth between one side of the court and the other there were a couple of navar guys but there was about a hundred nori guys that little corner of the ground is where the wild stuff happens it is i think yeah and um you know even more so because everyone had had a chance to go and get a drink during this rain delay.

17:08Catherine Whitaker: It was heightened.

17:09Matt Roberts: It was like, oh, you've spent three hours watching a Cameron Norrie match. Have a break. Go and get a beer. We'll all come back in half an hour.

17:18Catherine Whitaker: And Anki Othavon came onto the court at the end to do the interview with Cameron Norrie for TNT, which was basically just a sing-along with the crowd. Were you singing along, Matt? I was not singing. I was observing. I was enjoying. No, it was great. And honestly, this was a really good match. like really high level and just classic Cameron Norrie. Like he loves those sorts of outside courts, getting his teeth into a match, real intensity to it. And actually the crowd, unfortunately, during the rain delay, obviously thinned massively. You know, it was packed out there for the three hours that preceded it.

17:53Catherine Whitaker: People loving it. And yeah, just a really fun time actually. And yeah, Norrie obviously now plays Verev, as you say.

18:01Matt Roberts: And unfortunately for Norrie, that match against Zverev won't be in conditions anything like that, will they? That match will be probably on one of the main two courts, maybe on John Kane, and that all plays into Zverev's hands, I think. John Kane, maybe he could get a bit of rowdy British support, Cam Norey. But Zverev's just had an outing on John Kane this evening. And OK, he dropped the second set. But Muller's a good player and Zverev played well to beat him.

18:32David Law: Yeah, I think he is in good form, Zverev. After that terrible first set he played against Diallo, he's now played, well, five out of the next six sets very well. and I mean the one that he lost against Muller was really Muller playing out of his skin I mean he he is a heck of a ball striker and but it took him a set and three love down before I think he got the rust out of his system after going five sets with Alexey Popper in the other night and then he just got his teeth into it he started to play better from the baseline he actually won five games in a row in that second set Muller and that was that made it interesting really and it was a bit of a test to see well what does verev do now because he's had that that situation where he's bullying an opponent who stood up to him like that leveled up at once at all but verev didn't take any backward steps he actually was very assertive he was playing big man's tennis out there you know sometimes that's the the criticism i've certainly had from him that he that he shrinks in those situations at times well he wasn't today i i mean the the the expected quarterfinal is him and medvedev on paper from here he's playing better than medvedev it's so far over the course of these two matches typically when medvedev plays him he kind of scrambles him um so obviously a fair way to go there there's nori still to get through for zveria who had a very tough match against him a couple two or three years ago here potentially well it's it's either going to be Rublev or Sarundolo after that and both of those players are can be tough as well but I think I think Zverev's playing well yeah Sarundolo was great today wasn't he absolutely

20:17Matt Roberts: crushed Demir Jumho he plays Rublev next but yeah Zverev does seem to I mean he does peak at the

20:26Catherine Whitaker: right times yes I mean David watched that more closely than I did but I I was struck by the same thing you know like hitting through the ball in a way that you don't always see and not letting the match come to him but but taking it on and if he's doing all of those things and if he gets his serve you know fully firing like he's you know that's the sort of tennis that people look at and think that could win a grand slam but he just so rarely brings it in the latter stages of the grand slams but yeah he's he's right where he wants to be right now and Medvedev yeah he's he's got a build it's up to him to find the form and and learner tn is still lurking in his section as well like both of them have got players who've beaten them before and been threats to them in their sections it's quite delicious actually that isn't it and actually like that's the theme of this tournament so far so few upsets we have barely had any you know like we've got so many of the top seeds still here um like in the both the women's and the men's and therefore what you want is for the big matchups to happen you don't really want to sort of lose a couple in the next couple of rounds because otherwise you haven't really got the fun of the early upsets but we want the payoff now of the big matches and the matches that we know are intriguing and Medvedev-TN is jumping out to me ever since the draw was made that was possible and I thought right I want to see it and TN's looking looking really good as well.

21:54Matt Roberts: Four sets for him today against Alexander Shevchenko, but in the three sets that he won, he only lost three games.

22:02Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, and I must say the latter half of this match was massively compromised because Shevchenko could barely move. There's been quite a lot of that. To be quite honest, there has been a lot of that. See previous discussions about scheduling and the calendar and five sets, you know, it's all wrapped up in that and the lack of the long off-season. but I did like what I saw from Tien in the bits where it was more of a match I think he probably should have won the second set he sort of lost his way a little bit there but got over it well

22:36Matt Roberts: He's got Borges next who ended the dreams of a potential sensation of the day more on that later so we've got a Nuno Borges and a Fabian Marajan standing in the way of Medvedev Tien in the fourth round Alex de Menor weathered a little bit of a storm tonight against Hamad Majedovic it certainly felt like a storm when he lost the first set on the tie break but I was a bit alarmed, David at how quickly and violently Majedovic faded in this match he seemed to go reverse one point slam he seemed to go from winning that first set to just not being a threat at all in the space of a few games

23:21David Law: Yeah, and I think that that is the story of his career so far as a pro, because he burst on the scene winning those next-gen finals. He beat Art of Fiesel on the way there. He really looked the business, and it has taken time for him to even get to where he is right now. I remember speaking to him for tennis podcast meets at Roland Garros last year, and he was accepting that. He said, I am not where I thought I would be right now. I thought I'd be further along than this. And he was building. He was trying to work it all out. And actually, the day after I spoke to him, he retired during a match due to injury.

24:01There's been a lot of that. He's often struggled in conditions if it's hot. He's a big guy. He's carrying a lot of sort of muscle around with him. You know, I don't think it's the easiest thing in the world sometimes. I think he's had injuries, but he's explosive. He's like a boxer with a punch. he's one of those sort of guys a sort of knockout artist type player and that's what he brought to

24:26David Law: Rodleev Arena and I think he got the locals worried because if there's one thing Dimon doesn't have it's that he doesn't have he's he's kind of absolutely maxing out his game and he has put some power and assertiveness into it but if you if you connect you can bully him still and that's what Majedovic did he also marries that with a very nice drop shot which the difference is though he massively overplays it and he particularly overplays it when he's starting to bail out and get tired and get ground down and and I think some of the ones he threw in in the latter three sets of that match were just ridiculous I mean they're not going to come off and um there were there were proper bailouts and and and Dimonor showed what a what a pro he is what a great mover he is and eventually he just outlasted him.

25:17Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, it felt like one of those where, okay, he lost the first set, Dimonor, but it had gone the 7-6 and he's thinking, I can do that five more times. Can you? And he emphatically couldn't.

25:31Matt Roberts: He couldn't do that one more time.

25:32Catherine Whitaker: Right, yeah. I was impressed by how composed Dimonor stayed there because there was a slightly eerie feeling on Rod Laver when he just wasn't getting into any of Mujedovic's service games. They didn't have any spark to go off, you know, because he was just rolling through them, Mujedovic, in that first set. But I felt like, from a Dimonor perspective, he always had that under control, really, I think, given the five-set format.

25:59Matt Roberts: Looking like it's going to be Francis Tiafoe for Dimonor in round three. Although when I wrote that into the agenda, Tiafoe's two sets to Lavar, and it looks like he's about to go two sets to one with Francisco Comissania. So we'll keep you posted. Still likely to be Tiafoe. He's got a good head-to-head against Tiafoe, Dumanor. It sort of sounds tricky on paper, but I think I would really back Dumanor there personally. I do think a potential worry for him though Is Alexander Bublik Who would be his fourth round opponent Another comfortable Muss and fuss free straight sets victory For Bublik, David

26:41David Law: Do you know both of those two potential opponents Are matches I'd like to see on Rod Laverina Against Diminor I think if you're going to see the best of Tiafoe If you're going to see the best of Bublik it's gonna be in front of a big crowd um but but you're right i mean that this wasn't a big crowd this was him against martin fucivich not a big name somebody's expected to to beat who when public was asked about him in the little gathering i attended a few nights ago was very respectful about fucivich as somebody who's played for years and years but he was clearly unworried by him in as much as if there's a business-likeness to him as far as Bublik's ever going to go.

27:25David Law: He's never going to admit to that, but he knows how to turn up now most of the time. And when he does, he's got the beating of people like that. And I think in the past he might have lost to them because he didn't turn up. So he's an interesting little sort of wild card that's just been thrown into the Australian Open in a way. Yeah, big time.

27:47Matt Roberts: it's such a very next for Bublik you'd expect him to to come through that on the basis of form I would yeah Tommy Paul has set up a meeting with Alejandro Davidovich Fikina fun third round meeting this one and Alejandro Davidovich Fikina delivered value for money today I think beating Riley Apelka in five sets during the course of which he cursed USA douchebags

28:15David Law: okay what set that off I wonder

28:19Matt Roberts: there were chants of USA USA

28:22David Law: okay

28:23Matt Roberts: and he said it in Spanish yeah I did see the umpire come out of his chair and go up to some spectators in the front row and have a word and then came back to his chair this was on the request of Davidovic Fikina I think and then the umpire said over the microphone please be fair to both players to the crowd. There was a lot of that chest, BT, USA stuff, which, you know, I'm sure is harmless, but isn't for everyone. I can vouch for that. Okay. That's fun though, isn't it? Paul against Davidovic Vakina. Very fun. That's very Matt Roberts coded.

29:03David Law: Repeat of a year ago. Yeah. When Davidovic Vakina was out on his last legs, he just played two five setters, and he lost one, one and one.

29:11Catherine Whitaker: Yeah. But like in theory, if they're both fit which I think they are shot makers good movers great athletes both a little bit flaky as well at times like there'll be chances coming and going I think like I think that'll be a really

29:28Matt Roberts: good watch yeah same okay that's it for part one join us in part two when we'll talk about the women's draw in the matches that we've seen today but first of course an important word from our sponsors of this episode and every episode of the tennis podcast throughout the Australian Open. It is, of course, Steve Fergal's International Tennis Tours, the premium hospitality and experience provider. And of course, Steve Fergal's International Tennis Tours is also an official provider of ticket and travel packages for David Roland Garros 2026. Steve Fergels offer tennis fans a trusted way to experience one of the sport's most iconic tournaments in Paris.

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34:36Matt Roberts: or maybe there's not much to say about Irina Sabalenka. Is this a kind of situation like we had with Yannick Sinner yesterday? Similarly, yeah. Sabalenka was Sabalenka. She's so good that we don't learn much about her from these kind of matches. All due respect to her opponent today, they were playing different sports.

34:58David Law: There are a lot of parallels, I think, to draw between Sabalenka and Sinner generally over the last couple of years. They don't lose matches here in Australia, do they? And not very often. And they actually look more of a threat here than anywhere. And they're both great everywhere. But, yeah, she is just taking care of business and steps up, deals out her game. And it feels so reliable. You know, you might beat her, but you absolutely have to beat her. And in these early rounds, yeah, she doesn't look in trouble at all.

35:35Matt Roberts: It's Anastasia Potopova for her next, the world number 54 from Russia. A lot of people might have expecting that to be Emma Raducanu. Certainly that was the seeded third round matchup that we circled when the draw came out. Well, I'm afraid no chance of that. Potopova beat Raducanu today 7-6, 6-2 in a, look, I can't dress this up. I commentated this match. It was pretty horrible. I don't think Sabalenka will be quaking in her boots about Potapova on the basis of this match, quite frankly, because Emma Raducanu was a shadow of herself. Honestly, it was a really dispiriting performance. It was poor quality in the first set.

36:23Matt Roberts: And then by midway through the second set, I think Raducanu had pretty much given up on things. and I went to a press conference afterwards and she was, you know, very, very dejected exactly as I was expecting and I was very interested in what she might say about her set-up, about her coaching situation because there's clearly unsettlement there. She's got Francisco Roig, obviously she's been working with him for what, about seven months now, which for Emma Raducanu in the approach that we know she has to coaches is a fairly long stint. And when I was in Perth and Team GB were there, I was hearing pretty positive things about the way their partnership was going.

37:15Matt Roberts: I observed them in the player lounge quite a few times and he seemed to be sort of gelling with the team and with Tim Henman really well. And it seemed like a decent vibe to me, but there was just that one moment in the match that Raducanu played against Maria Sakharie where Roig had been telling her there was the Roig-Henman double act wasn't there during that match the coaching double act where they were sort of inputting lots of information Tim was mostly vibe based Roig was telling her to put shape on the ball and there was one point at the start of the second set where she seemed to say I don't want to hear anything more about putting shape on the ball just pipe down and let me do my thing and she started just swinging and hitting freely and she played a great set now she went she ended up losing that match she faded physically in the third set but it made me think well that's not a good sign for whatever you're working on with your coach that you've played your best tennis when you've explicitly ignored what he's had to tell you but then the vibe seemed to be good everybody's sort of saying oh you know things are positive from the camp but then then you watch this performance matt and you see the radhikaru forehand which she told us about before the tournament what she's been trying to do and and not to do with that forehand and it was a catastrophe today like whatever they've been trying to do it's so patently not the right thing to do lengthening that swing making it loopier Every expert that I've spoken to says in 2026, you don't lengthen swings.

39:01Matt Roberts: You shorten swings if you possibly can. And I mean, she looked like she didn't have a forehand today. It was disastrous. Like, it's rare you see such a tangible change in a player as a result of working with a particular coach. and for it to be so catastrophic. Like, I don't think there's any way to dress it up. And I think Emma Raducanu sees it that way too on the basis of what she said in the press conference afterwards.

39:39Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, what you sometimes see is players using a different technique as a kind of stopgap measure en route to something better that they're working on. and there's a plan and there's a recognition that, OK, I'm going to have to take a step back now in order to take some steps forward. That is pretty common. But that's not what this is. This is, OK, I know that their preparation over the off-season has been extremely cut back and hampered by the fact that she wasn't able to hit for quite a long time, all of that. And she spoke well about that and provided important context and perspective of why it's not a disaster.

40:22Catherine Whitaker: but what it does strike me as is extremely careless to have allowed this to happen to the forehand which has never been her best shot but is now noticeably worse than what it was and to come into a grand slam tournament with that kind of preparation just doesn't just doesn't feel right plus the way she's talking about her identity as a player and saying that she wants to get back to hitting the ball big and taking it on and rather than playing with variety now i happen to think that she shouldn't be abandoning the variety altogether i think she's maybe playing with the wrong type of variety she's mostly playing with shape you know and different pace on the ball i think she could really use her slice more and use that kind of variety and and mix the game up in other ways.

41:18Catherine Whitaker: I don't think Emerita Karno should abandon variety, because quite frankly, I think she's going to realise that there are players who hit the ball an awful lot harder than her, even if she's going for it more, and that is not going to have the success that it had a few years ago at the US Open when she played the best tennis she's ever played, and in those conditions, it just really worked. She was taking the ball early. I just don't think she's going to be able to necessarily do that again. So I think she does need to keep the variety in her game, not abandon it completely. But clearly there's a bit of a crisis of identity of what she is as a tennis player and seems to be some disagreement with the coach there.

41:58Catherine Whitaker: It's not sounding good. I'm not talking about personal relationships. I've got absolutely no reason to feel like a personal relationship is broken down. But they don't seem to be on the same page necessarily. and that's that's a bit of a worry I would have thought honestly I would be shocked if we don't

42:20Matt Roberts: get an announcement about Francisco Roig soon and on the basis of what I've seen and heard like I'm kind of hoping for that like it's clearly it's clearly not right for the the kind of tennis player that Emma Adekani wants to be and tennis is about expressing it's such a human sport I think it's about expressing your identity on the court. And I think that's why, one of the reasons why there's so much struggle for players that have success so young before they know what their identity is as a person. I mean, I think what it takes to be a professional tennis player kind of prevents you from figuring out who you are as a person.

43:03That's a whole other thing. But she talked about wanting to get back

43:11Matt Roberts: to the way she used to play and basically hating the way she's been playing tennis recently. And it's very tangibly the input of Francisco Roig, I think, who wants her to play kind of a more clay court game. And it makes sense that that would be the kind of tennis that he wants to see. But it's clearly not right for Amaradokanu. And it's just a bit bizarre to me that this has been one of her longer coaching relationships. She's given this one more time than some of the others. yeah it was very it was dispiriting today um and i yeah i i hope i hope to see her in a better place in all regards soon and yeah i would i would watch this space for what you might have to watch very hard i'm sure you'll hear about it everywhere but i would expect uh an announcement from that camp um winner of that round three match incidentally between sabalenka and potopova plays the winner of Mboko against Towson.

44:15David Law: Oh, hello. When's that on?

44:19Matt Roberts: Well, two days from now, when Matt's parents are here.

44:23Catherine Whitaker: Yes. They are anxious about what they might see. What tickets have they got? Day session, second call. Lovely, lovely pair of tickets. They'll have a great time. Don't feel sorry for them.

44:37Matt Roberts: Matt's dad thinks he might have a Cameron Norrie curse.

44:40Catherine Whitaker: he did say not come halfway around the world to see Gary Norris okay

44:49Matt Roberts: but yeah they might see Mboko Towson which would be incredible it would yeah yeah who do you think Sabalenka would rather wins that

44:58David Law: that's a good question because I don't recall her playing Mboko maybe they have but I don't remember that much and the unknown of Mboko and the potential of Mboko is has the potential to make her a little bit anxious. I don't think San Blanco goes into any match feeling anxious initially because she just expects to dominate. But I think in terms of when you get out there and see somebody move in the way Mboku can and counterattacking with her backhand in particular and being forceful with the forehand, that is a match I would love to see. At the same time, she has a history against Towson and it's not all good.

45:38David Law: you know that Towson has got to her in the past with her own power I think she'd probably prefer Towson though because she'd probably prefer to just stand and duke it out interesting I was going to say I think she'd prefer Mboko really interesting why is that because that the power

45:55Catherine Whitaker: issue yeah I do think Towson is one of the few who whose power does worry her a bit I think I think she'd beat both of them to be quite honest I don't actually think she'd be that bothered but Just thinking about the matchup. Come on, hype it up, Matt. Just thinking about the matchup.

46:12Matt Roberts: Carlsen's a bit more Anis Movery. Yeah, and a bit more keys last year in the final.

46:17Catherine Whitaker: Okay, she's not as good as those players. I don't know, I just think Mboko's such a work in progress still. And there's more weaknesses maybe that I think Sabalinka could exploit. But yeah, it's a very good third round match, that one.

46:34David Law: Who do you think she will play against? who do you think will win that?

46:40Catherine Whitaker: I've not seen Towson this tournament, I'll be honest. I don't actually have any sense of what form she's in whatsoever.

46:47Matt Roberts: 7-5 in the third against Kudmatova today. It's a real marathon.

46:51Catherine Whitaker: Right.

46:53Matt Roberts: I'll go and Boca. The Giacomo fun has ended. Didn't watch a ball. Wasn't that fun today? I turned that on and they were shaking hands. I know. It was such a disappointment. It was 6-1, 6-2 or something like that.

47:04Catherine Whitaker: Before I'd even really registered that it was happening, it was over.

47:09Matt Roberts: Yeah, I saw one screenshot for this match, and Giacomo was bent double over the hoardings at the side.

47:16Catherine Whitaker: Yeah. It didn't look fun.

47:18Matt Roberts: So, well played Julia Putin's saver. She now plays Zenip Sonmez, who backed up her round one win. She's through to round three for the first time. It's her second, third round at a slam. so she'd already become the first Turkish player to reach round three of a slam but she's done it again and that's brilliant.

47:39David Law: And the scenes Catherine I turned it on for the scenes at the end and honestly it makes you just feel good to see the number of fans, the number of flags the outpouring of emotion and how much it means to her too you know this is a great news story for for the sport, really, in the early stages of a Grand Slam.

48:03Matt Roberts: Yeah, I don't think Yulia Putin's saviour is going to enjoy those scenes all that much.

48:09David Law: That could get a bit tasty, couldn't it? I think. I hope so. You know, her against the fans. It could be fun, that.

48:16Catherine Whitaker: Yes, how do you say, vamos a la playa in Turkish?

48:21Matt Roberts: Coco Goff today, 2-2 against Olga Danilovic. Matt, you said she was awesome.

48:26Catherine Whitaker: She was, yes. I don't know whether it's a new segment, but we talked yesterday about most convincing player and gave that to Ben Shelton. And I'd probably have a tie with this one today between Goff and Andreeva. I thought both of them were brilliant. And Goff against Danilovic just gave her nothing. She was miserly Coco Goff. Like just no errors. Just said to Olga Danilovic, come on then, try and hit through me and my movement. And also I'm going to move you around. It was just a complete performance from Goff. Like we so often, I think naturally we focus a lot on the Coco Goff serve, but I was thinking today about the Coco Goff return.

49:07Catherine Whitaker: And like, yes, you can get into the Coco Goff service games often, but you're also very often on the back foot on your own serve. And she's just applying pressure constantly. And I think it must just be such a nightmare to play. and these are her favourite conditions, aren't they? Day sessions, sun beating down. Yeah, I thought she was excellent today.

49:31Matt Roberts: Hayley Baptiste next for Coco Gough. Alina Svitolina was very comfortable today. She set up a meeting with Diana Schneider in the third round, which will be awkward because Schneider, of course, a Russian player, played in the Gazprom event at the end of last year. We'll tell you more about how Schneider booked her place in round three. In part three of today's show, Mira Andreva, love and four for her against Maria Zachary, continuing to look like she's playing tennis on a slightly different plane to everybody else. And of course, winning this first set, six love makes it back to back six love sets because that's how she ended the match against Donna Vekic.

50:16Matt Roberts: And I feel like there were two wins in this for Mira Andreva. there was the fact that she sort of net played brilliantly like she's obviously in fantastic form and feeling confident but also the fact that she did have a a period of peril in the second set when the crowd really got on her back the the enormous greek community here in melbourne And Zachary was having a terrible time. She was in peak underdog mode. And Andreeva gave the Greek fans something to get their teeth into. And they ran with it. And they were really going for it. And Andreeva was in an extremely miniature version of the situation she was in in Paris with Lois Boisson.

51:04Matt Roberts: Obviously, nothing quite like that. Maybe nothing will ever be quite like that again. but and I asked her and Drava about this in the press conference afterwards like did you specifically make a concerted effort to deal with it differently today to learn from moments like that from from last year and it was it was a resounding yes she talked about techniques I didn't get a chance to ask her specific techniques maybe maybe in a future press conference but like I think coming through a situation like that and proving that she's learned from what she went through in Paris last year is sort of just as big a win as how well she's played.

51:54Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, I would agree with that. look it was definitely not at all like Paris because A she was playing well she was playing really well today so in control of her game she was also playing someone who I think fed into her game style Zachary likes to put pace on the ball and Andreia can just manoeuvre that around my lasting image of that first set will be Andreeva standing still, basically, in the middle of the court and just constructing points and moving Maria Sakari all over the place. She just had the ball on a string. So game style-wise, whereas Boisson was always messing Andreeva up and giving her no pace and giving her a moon ball and suddenly giving her loads of pace.

52:44Catherine Whitaker: It was just a nightmare. And the crowd was nowhere near as bad as Roland Garros. But what I thought was interesting is that 6-love is such an interesting scoreline. Like, we've heard Taylor Fritz talk about this sometimes winning a set six love can actually work to your disadvantage because it does get the crowd more on side with the person who's lost it it does maybe let the person who's lost it swing away a little bit and it especially if that person is Maria Zachary right who loves being down in the score she suddenly starts playing better and she did so situationally Andrava did have quite a lot to deal with here in terms of her temperament because Zachary did start playing better.

53:28Catherine Whitaker: The crowd did start getting much more on her side and against Andrava. So there was a lot going on and she dealt with it all brilliantly. There was not a moment where I thought she was going to lose her way. She was doing little things like after winning the first point of a game saying, come on, you know, just like just like putting it out there that she was present and in that game and ready to win it. just applying little bits of pressure that way I thought was a very mature performance, very controlled. Obviously she hit her backhand like a dream. The forehand's got a little bit more punch on it I think increasingly.

54:04Catherine Whitaker: She's serving a lot bigger than she was this time last year. It's all coming together for Andre but this was a great performance and she said didn't she in the press conference that she knew in the warm-up today. She was like, I knew I was playing well.

54:22Matt Roberts: I was so good in the warm-up. And I think she meant not just warm-up on court, the hits earlier in the day. She was like, I've never played that well in a warm-up.

54:31Catherine Whitaker: Which I love that.

54:32Matt Roberts: She's a gift. She's got Elena Gabriela Rusa next, who, again, spoiled some sensation hopes. Karolina Mukova, bit of a thriller, against Alicia Parks, 6-4 in the third. This was Suspondue at 4-2, Deuce in the third set. There was a hindrance drama for Mukova?

54:54Catherine Whitaker: There was. I went out for the deciding set of this one on a very cold and very windy 1573 arena. And look, my expectations of Parks in those conditions are low, right? I think of her as someone much preferring indoor conditions where everything is controlled and she can hit the ball flat and hard. And actually, I thought she had started in this match playing really well and kept on playing really well. It was a good quality match, this one. But yes, Mukova got an early break in that third set and then serving at 2-1, Mukova hit what she thought was a winner mid-rally and celebrated it mid-rally, only for Parks to get it back.

55:43Catherine Whitaker: Mukova did a whole, come on, mid-rally. And the umpire, Fair Play, called it straight away and called it correctly. It was a very clear hindrance, and Mukova knew it. You know, like, she didn't object at all. She realized what she'd done in the moment, but it did add some real drama because suddenly it's like, well, you've got to come through this game now because if you end up losing the game because you've celebrated mid-rally, that could be a real momentum swinger, you know, how these things work. And embarrassing. And embarrassing. But honestly, like, as good as Parks was, she hit so many balls in the net.

56:25Catherine Whitaker: Like, she hits no margin for error, and it's a flat hit, and against the mook of a slice, which stays so low, she didn't seem to be compensating for that quite enough. I don't want to be harsh on parts, because I think she's really played well this tournament, dealing with Ayala, pushing Mukovo. I think this has actually been a big step forward for her, because her results have not really matched up with that talent level that I think she does possess. But she was good today, but Mukovo was better. And great still to have Mukovo in the tournament and looking as sharp as she is.

57:04Matt Roberts: Jasmine Paolini is at match point against Magdalena Freck. Looks like she's going to make it through to round three. She awaits the winner of Priscilla Hon and Eva Jovic. More on that 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 14.500 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.

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58:25Matt Roberts: Welcome back to part three of today's tennis podcast, where we have a sensation of the day dilemma on our hands. can I first go through with you what my proposals are for people that aren't in the running by all means let's write a few off Isla Tomlianovic lost in straight sets to Elena Gabriela Rusa not in the running yep sorry Isla Storm Hunter the lovely Storm Hunter I'm afraid lost in straight sets to Hayley Baptiste not in the running no doesn't sound how many games did she get Not enough. Not enough.

59:00David Law: OK.

59:00Matt Roberts: No. Gone. Storm Hunter gone.

59:04Catherine Whitaker: Afraid so.

59:05Matt Roberts: Tomo. The Australian Open is just too woke for Tomo. He lost in four sets to Nuno Borges. Out of the running. Won a set. I'm afraid in... Clubhouse leader.

59:20Catherine Whitaker: No, gone.

59:21Matt Roberts: No, gone.

59:23Catherine Whitaker: Have a nice flight home.

59:25Matt Roberts: so what we're left with folks is priscilla hon who is fighting back fighting unfortunately fighting back oh she has just lost her break and posing a real problem for us uh she's lost the first set 6-1 to ivy jovic it is 2-1 hon in the second set as we come to you so we've got that and we've got Talia Gibson having three match points against Diana Schneider.

59:53David Law: Oh, I think, yeah, Talia Gibson, definitely. I was watching that earlier. She was good.

59:59Matt Roberts: She was, but she did lose and Priscilla Hon might still win. So our options are to give it to Talia Gibson and be prepared to eat humble pie and issue an apology to Priscilla Hon tomorrow. Defer Sensation of the Day till tomorrow and do two awards tomorrow. or just to give it to Priscilla Hon for being on the Rod Laver Arena? No, we're not doing that. OK, so which of the other two options would we like?

1:00:27David Law: I'd like to defer. I want to give two tomorrow because, you know, we've got to give Priscilla the chance here.

1:00:34Catherine Whitaker: Matt? That means we need two sensations to win tomorrow.

1:00:39Matt Roberts: No, no, because today's will be... The first one from tomorrow will either be Talia Gibson or Priscilla Hon.

1:00:45Catherine Whitaker: OK, so you are prepared to hand out. of the day for Gibson.

1:00:49Matt Roberts: Yeah.

1:00:51Catherine Whitaker: A day late. She's currently got it.

1:00:53David Law: It's like predictions points.

1:00:54Catherine Whitaker: Yeah. If they're rained off. Okay. Yeah, I can do that. Yeah, defer until tomorrow. I would say at the time of recording, she's got it.

1:01:03Matt Roberts: Talia Gibson.

1:01:04Catherine Whitaker: Yeah.

1:01:05Matt Roberts: What a heartbreak. I mean, she might need it.

1:01:08Catherine Whitaker: I would love for Hon to come back and grab it tomorrow.

1:01:12Matt Roberts: Yeah, okay. We need to defer, don't we?

1:01:14Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, we definitely do. You're right.

1:01:16Matt Roberts: Okay. Tune in tomorrow, folks. They already know. That's so true. Okay, I'm going to go through the order of play for tomorrow. And what I'm also going to do is over the course of this order of play, you're going to guess which match I'm commentating on tomorrow from my facial expressions, okay?

1:01:38Catherine Whitaker: This is a fun game.

1:01:40Matt Roberts: I'm game, yeah. I got the schedule through just before we started recording and I thought, I know. Okay, Rod Laver Arena starts with Jessica Bagula against McCartney Kessler. Yeah, you're not doing that much. Second on the Rod Laver Arena tomorrow and in the day session, which is interesting because we know Djokovic gets what he asks for here. Suspect that means he wants night session on Saturday when it's due to be incredibly hot.

1:02:07David Law: Yeah, that makes sense.

1:02:08Matt Roberts: Yeah, so he's got Francesco Maestrelli, the Italian qualifier in the day session. Tomorrow night session on Leiva is James Duckworth against Yannick Sinner. Go with God, James. And second up, we have Elena Rabakina against Bavara Gracheva. Over on the second court, we start with an all-Italian affair between Lorenzo Mazzetti and Lorenzo Sonnego. Second up, Katerina Siniarkova against Amanda Anisimovi. Are you feeling confident about that, Matt? I am, yes. Yeah, as you should be. Night Session. Naomi Osaka against Serana Kistea. And finally, Jaume Munar and Kasper Rude. Didn't they play last year?

1:02:51Catherine Whitaker: They did. First round, I believe. And wasn't it fun? Yes, we all went out to Rod Laver Arena. And then it decidedly got unfun. But before then, it had been great.

1:03:00David Law: We went in just in the wrong moments.

1:03:03Catherine Whitaker: But in hindsight, it was a sign of the new Munar. Yeah, it was.

1:03:08Matt Roberts: John Kane are in it tomorrow. Ashlyn Kruger against Madison Keyes. Second up is Dane Sweeney. He was on Channel 9 build-up this morning, and I quite like Dane Sweeney. He speaks really well.

1:03:20David Law: Yeah. I think he's... He's a nice chap, isn't he?

1:03:22Matt Roberts: I do think he's going to lose. Sorry, TJ, who spent a lot of time bigging up his chances.

1:03:27David Law: Who's he playing? Ben Shelton. Oh, yeah. He's going to lose. I mean, probably, isn't he? Because Shelton always does the business at these slabs.

1:03:35Matt Roberts: But he was talking about how, you know, that first round prize money is already going to change his life and hopefully his career. Good on him. Night session on John Kane is Marie Buskova taking on Igor Svontek and finally Vik Kapriva against Taylor Fritz. Kia Arena tomorrow Rinki Hijikata against Valentin Vashiro.

1:03:55Catherine Whitaker: Very David

1:03:56David Law: Coded. I nearly went for that in the predictions and then I backed her. For Rinki? Yes.

1:04:04Matt Roberts: Well I got burned by predicting Vashiro to lose. I know, I don't think there's enough

1:04:08David Law: sample size either way with Vachero.

1:04:10Matt Roberts: He's lost in the doubles. He was playing with Rindiknes, which was fun, but only very briefly. They got a tough draw and they lost today. Nozkova against Taylor Preston on the Kia Arena tomorrow, so a contender there for Sensation of the Day is going to be tough against Nozkova, though. I think she's an underrated threat. We have Arthur Geyer. What did we decide on? Jaya, I think it is. Thank you for your service. Arthur Jaya aiming to end the Stamron Rinka fun. That is third on Kia tomorrow. And then we have a big sensation situation finally on Kia. We have some doubles. It's Kyrgios and Hocanakis against Kubla and Polmans.

1:04:55Matt Roberts: That is four Australian wild cards all on the same court.

1:04:59David Law: Is there a point that we end up giving doubles teams sensation of the day when there's no singles left?

1:05:06Matt Roberts: Yeah, that point's probably coming quite soon because we've ruled Alex de Minoua ineligible. He's too good for the sensation of the day. 15-73 Arena tomorrow. You've got Paolo Bedossi. You've got Hubert Hercac against Ethan Quinn. We've got Elisa Mertens against Mouyuka Uchijima. And we have Denis Shapovalov against Marin Cilic.

1:05:25David Law: I nearly went for this in the predictions as well. But then I didn't know who to go for.

1:05:32Matt Roberts: ANZ Arena tomorrow. Oh, I know what you're commentating on. Starts with Karen Hashanov against Nishesh Basavaredi. A nice little appetizer.

1:05:40David Law: I've never seen you as excited about Karen Hashanov. Oh, you're not talking about him.

1:05:44Matt Roberts: No, that's the appetizer. Before, Madison Inglis, the potential sensation against Laurie Siegmund.

1:05:54David Law: So that's what you commentate on. That's the one, isn't it? It's the one. And that's what I've gone for in the predictions.

1:05:58Matt Roberts: Who have you predicted?

1:05:59David Law: Find out in the newsletter.

1:06:03Catherine Whitaker: I think you'll have fun.

1:06:05Matt Roberts: Do you?

1:06:05Catherine Whitaker: It'll be a vibe. It'll be a vibe.

1:06:08Matt Roberts: It'll be perfect. And really, vibe is what I want above all else.

1:06:13Catherine Whitaker: There will be lots of moments where you're annoyed. Yep. As will thousands of other people be. And you'll get all the flashbacks to the Siegmund commentaries you were doing last year when you did about five in a month. But I think it'll be quite fun, that one.

1:06:31David Law: Siegmund's Catherine's guilty pleasure, really. Mm.

1:06:35Matt Roberts: she's so complicated for me though because there's so much that I like but it's all cancelled out by the FAF

1:06:47Matt Roberts: Mahachigan Sitsapas is third on A &Z tomorrow yeah that's going to be fun and Barton Kovar who took out Daria Kazikina last night after we finished recording I mean look she's a good player Barton Kovar but that's a tough pill to swallow for Kazakina here playing a home slam for the first time but Barton Kovac against Belinda Bencic that could be a late one on ANZ tomorrow you've got Baez against Darderi Ostopenko is on court 6 tomorrow the bar court someone's having fun with that Janice Chen against Karolina Pliskova David court 7 and that's where you'll also find Bertic, Bertic van der Zandtrop against Jerry Shang Okay, he'll have his

1:07:30David Law: orange clad fans with him

1:07:33Matt Roberts: I might go in disguise he's a hit but I won't because it'll clash with Laura Segment Frivirtova against Valantova last on court seven that is all happening tomorrow Peyton Stearns against Marcinko Anakalinskaya Wuyi Bing he's in your fantasy team Matt isn't he?

1:07:52Catherine Whitaker: he sure is

1:07:53Matt Roberts: he's got Elliot Spitseri I'm calling that a good draw Spitseri he's the chap who beats Fonseca

1:08:02David Law: yeah Yeah, so he's had a good Australian Open so far.

1:08:06Matt Roberts: Okay, that is all tomorrow. I'm sure you'll be with me, whatever time of the night it is for you, to watch Laura Siegmund against Madison Inglis. I'm talking to the listener there, not to you. I absolutely don't expect you to put yourself through Inglis against Siegmund. I'll be there. Thank you, David.

1:08:24Catherine Whitaker: I'll be watching Anissa Bova. Wish you luck.

1:08:29Matt Roberts: Do you know who will be with me? Gus. Always with us. Always staring into my soul. Bodie, my mascot, will be with me. Unless Bodie... Do you know what, Bodie? If you don't fancy Laura Segment, I give you a pass. Dogs are loyal, though, aren't they? They are. They are. Maisie, Roger, hello to you. Hello to our executive producers and all-around top folks, Greg, Chris and Geoff. Matt, should we have some shout-outs?

1:08:58Catherine Whitaker: we have Tristan Amy from Pennsylvania hello Tristan we know Tristan Tristan says surprisingly there are two I'm aware of both are spelled the same as myself Tristan Shawhatte naturally and Tristan Boyer

1:09:18Matt Roberts: yes who I saw in the one point slam qualifiers how did he get on? he I think came through the two qualifying rounds that I saw but then lost out in the further qualifying session the following morning. He certainly didn't make the final, did he? No. But I learned what he looked like, which is, you know, could be handy at some point in the future. But thank you, Tristan, for allowing us to think about Tristan Shulhate and to say that name. What a treat.

1:09:53Catherine Whitaker: We've also got Marianne Brooks.

1:09:55Matt Roberts: Hello, Marianne. Hi, Marianne.

1:09:57Catherine Whitaker: From Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

1:09:59Matt Roberts: Makes me think of the film Splash, Cape Cod.

1:10:02Catherine Whitaker: Yeah. And Marianne says, Thanks to your heartfelt tennis relived on Bud Collins, I learned of tennis player Marianne, same church, different pew, Marianne says, Marianne Eisel, who was defeated by 16-year-old Chris Evert at the 1971 US Open.

1:10:22Matt Roberts: Well, that's wonderful. Thank you, Marianne. And I'm very grateful for that because I was mentally struggling to think of a Marianne. So that's wonderful. Thank you.

1:10:34Catherine Whitaker: And finally, we have Pamela Hood. Hello, Pamela. Hi, Pamela. From near Glasgow. Right. And Pamela says, I came to Shoreditch for the live show last year. And loved every minute. What a legend.

1:10:48Matt Roberts: like Pamela Howard Shriver who came to visit us in the media workroom earlier and made our days and no I've driven myself down a cul-de-sac there Hood like the traitors I can't stop thinking about the traitors who'll be watching it soon

1:11:08David Law: there was a doubles player from Argentina called Mariana Hood so there you go I've almost gotten a Marianne and I've got a hood He's pulled it out of the bag. That is huge. Do you want to Google it to make sure it's real? Unbelievable. I'm pretty sure it is.

1:11:25Matt Roberts: Matt, if you could Google long enough for Eva Jovic to get over the finish line, she's now a break up in the second set, then we could just get the sensation of the day out of the way. But no.

1:11:36David Law: It's looking good for Gibson.

1:11:39Matt Roberts: It is looking good for Gibson. But it would be a hollow victory.

1:11:42Catherine Whitaker: It would. I would love to give it to a winner.

1:11:45Matt Roberts: Yeah, well.

1:11:46Catherine Whitaker: They need to pull their finger out then, don't they?

1:11:49Matt Roberts: does look like Francis Tiafoe is going to win after dropping that third set as well so I feel like nothing we've said is going to go horribly out of date and we are safe to get this show off the road our Australian Open Day 4 tennis podcast will be back with Day 5 tomorrow we are part of the Athletic Podcast Network thank you for listening we'll speak to you tomorrow

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1:12:53Get AT &T Business at business.att.com. This episode is sponsored by Michaels, your destination for all things birthday parties. We just had Lucky's first birthday, and it was so great to be able to go into Michaels and get everything. Of course, I knew they had craft supplies there, but I didn't realize how expansive their party supplies were. And Michaels really is where you can go to get everything for a party, whether you're planning a kid's birthday or even an adult celebration. They've got over 4 ,500 party supplies, more than 60 different themes, and prices starting at just 99 cents. Plus, they've recently lowered prices on hundreds of items.

1:13:28We found adorable decorations, balloons, everything we needed to pull the party together without making a bunch of different shopping trips. Plus, I always have a good time going to Michael's. I love shopping there. I could just browse the aisles forever. But if you're short on time, like I always seem to be, you can also get same-day delivery or buy online and pick up at the store. They even offer free helium inflation on select balloon styles, which is such a lifesaver, and it was for our party, truly. So if you've got a birthday coming up or just a celebration, remember, Michael's, everything to celebrate anything.

1:14:02Visit Michael's in-store or shop online now.