Aus Open Day 9 - Can Showtime Shelton shock Sinner?

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1:26Matt Roberts: Hello and welcome to the Tennis Podcast coming to you tonight on day nine of the Australian Open from Tennis Podcast Towers, Melbourne, which is where we will probably be for the next 24 hours or so, quite honestly, because the forecast for tomorrow is predicting highs of 46 degrees Celsius, which is 115 Fahrenheit. height buckle up folks uh that is unequivocally don't leave the house weather so it's a very good job we have a comfortable sofa which is where you find us right now after frankly another day that hasn't delivered on the drama that we've been promising which means another hour of promising you that the good stuff is coming soon we hope i mean there's there's a case for leading the show with Roberts against Briggs.

2:21Oh, that wasn't the good stuff.

2:24Matt Roberts: It was competitive though. It was. Yeah. Yeah, it was. I mean, we didn't actually score, but we did play points in preparation for the media one point slam, which is coming up in a few days. Maybe we can. God, I'm excited. Maybe we can lead that show with that. No, that's women's semifinals night. That's going to be an amazing day. It's coming. the good stuff is coming i think i've taught you well matt robbins i found it very odd like at the same time i've been searching stats on tournaments where so many seeds get to this sort of stage of the event and you would immediately think oh well if you've got all the seeds you're going to get competitive matches and then like a day later i'm researching tournaments where all the matches are ending in straight sets.

3:18Like it's really, really bizarre what's happening at this tournament.

3:21Matt Roberts: Yeah. And just to underline how unusual the situation that we've got is, this is the first time in the open era that the top six seeds have reached the quarterfinals in both the men's and the women's draws. That means, David, that nothing, even in your deep, deep well of tennis

3:44Matt Roberts: memories has happened like this before it has to get good doesn't it yes i mean this is the thing

3:52David Law: because of the the nature of the last couple of days the lineup on paper feels like we've been pitting really good player against really good player like at the top end or at least you know as good as it can get in those sections. And yet they've kind of all been, I don't want to say duds, but they haven't been dramatic.

4:14Matt Roberts: Some of them have been duds.

4:15David Law: No, some of them have, but I don't want to take away from players that have played really well and just been too good for the other player. But as spectacles, as things to really get your teeth into and feel your heart beating fast about, there hasn't been a lot of that.

4:29Matt Roberts: Well, I watched some of Briggs versus Roberts and my heart was beating moderately fast. When I started filming for content purposes, they both immediately tensed up. It was really funny.

4:41David Law: Their hearts were beating fast. They got tight. My heart was beating fast on the sofa watching the Seahawks.

4:47Matt Roberts: The pressure of 50 ,000 Instagram followers watching you play. Yeah. It's not as bad as when you film a golf swing. I have more confidence in my tennis swing. both fall apart under the bright lights of Instagram not on Thursday though I'm going to make a sign we've got we've got big plans for the media media one point slam big plans to ramp up the pressure on Matt's young shoulders it's going to be it's going to be great and if the tennis in the main Australian Open continues to be crap then we've got the media one point slam to talk about on Thursday folks that's a banker and I did decide to channel Joanna Garland and serve if I get the opportunity that's what I learned from my hit with Briggs hopefully other media members aren't listening to this and realizing my tactics yeah I think you

5:41David Law: might have slightly cocked that up to be honest Matt you know revealing your tactics on a podcast I'm bluffing.

5:50Matt Roberts: Our other tactic is that David's going to heckle the opposition.

5:53David Law: Well, that's definitely happening.

5:56Matt Roberts: I'm going to be there with an Andreva-esque sign. Senor Roberts. Yeah. I'm open to suggestions about what else to put on the sign. My plan is to try and buy some sort of craft materials over the next couple of days, but tomorrow it's going to be too hot to leave the flat. So that's going to have to be a Wednesday job. In terms of today, where to start? Should we start with the defending champion going out of the women's draw today? 6-3, 6-4 for Jessica Bagula over Madison Keyes. Incidentally, just in the women's side of things, it's the first time that the top six seeds have reached the quarterfinals of a slam for the first time since the 1998 US Open.

6:44Matt Roberts: It hasn't happened in the open era combined across men and women, but women alone, it hasn't happened since 1998. And, you know, Pagula was, to my eye, the same as she's been throughout this tournament. Excellent, solid, dependable, deceptively hard hitting, plenty of depth. Keys just never got going. She never got the couple of moments where it looked like she was getting those big swings and bringing them to bear and starting to play the match on her terms. But they never translated into a proper surge, David, like we saw last year.

7:28David Law: No, and not like when they played at the US Open a couple of years ago. And in the words of Jessica Pegula that day, I got waxed out there today. You know, just didn't have a play on the ball. And because that's what Keyes can do to you. she can make players like Pagula a little bit just there really to be teed off on but all the way through this tournament Pagula has looked convincing actually I mean I think maybe I've I've done her a disservice in that description because I think she is she is becoming more aggressive she is taking matters into her own hands more she's never going to have the destructive power of madison keys but not many not many do but she certainly has more bite on her shots and she sort of takes the initiative earlier she's also got that incredible defensive skill of being able to read shots and and get them back into play and yeah it was interesting that keys is the defending champion she's the more illustrious name in many ways and yet i think most people thought pagula would win i'm not sure what what the odds would have been for this match but i I think most people felt that Pagula looked the more convincing of the two.

8:39Matt Roberts: Yeah, it didn't feel like an upset, did it? The head-to-head was one-all going in. And yet, I don't think it even felt like an upset to Madison Keyes, really. I mean, obviously, they're good friends and podcast co-hosts. And I'm sure that helps with accepting the defeat. But I also think, I really don't think Madison Keyes had any real expectations of herself defending this title. I think she's done a decent job. It's, you know, she's avoided humiliation to use the David Law predictions scale. At least one of us has then. And she's lost to an excellent player who she wishes well in the tournament and is happy to see progress.

9:23Matt Roberts: Like, I don't know if Madison Keyes would have signed for it at the start of the tournament, but I don't think she'll be, I think she'll be pretty sanguine about that defeat and she already seemed it in the immediate aftermath, didn't she? Yeah, it feels like par, I would say, for Madison Keyes, reaching the fourth round here. And that stat about there being six, well, the top six seeds into the quarters of a women's singles major for the first time since the 1998 US Open, like, that is kind of the problem there for Madison Keyes, right? Like there's, we talk about this sort of consistency era that the WTA is in, and there's a lot of big names at the top who are regularly performing at the big events.

10:09And last year at the Australian Open, Madison Keyes managed to run through a lot of them to be able to win the title. But that always felt like a bit of a one-off title run in terms of its brilliance. Like it was staggeringly good. And she was going to have to do something similar again if she wanted to win it, because there's a group now of players who are, you know, getting to the latter stages of slams all the time, really consistent. It's very, very hard to win majors at the moment on the WTA Tour because there's just a group of them and we've got all of them really making the latter stages here.

10:45And yeah, I think Keys crucially looked a lot better at this tournament and has done at the start of this year than she did at the back end of last year when I think she was pretty burnt out and injured and now she feels ready to go again in 2026. But really it was over, this match for Keyes, as soon as the forfeit was Pergoula wearing a Chiefs jersey because that was never going to happen. She was never going to allow that to happen.

11:16Matt Roberts: That forfeit seemed a lot worse than the Keyes one. It didn't seem to be a balanced deal. No, I agree. Keyes has just got to eat some apple pie or something. Apple pie with cheese on. Like, cheese and sweet stuff goes. Like, you serve grapes with cheese. Like, that's fine. That's fine. But Jessica Bergula can't wear a Chiefs jersey. No.

11:41David Law: You're not going to wear a Brentford one, are you? Absolutely not. If you lose the one-point slam, you will be. No, I won't.

11:50Matt Roberts: It's all right. He's going to win the one-point slam. We're fine. We are fine. in terms of that group you mentioned consistently reaching the latter stages of slams so many of them are American and okay we've got a surprise one doing it this time in Ivi Jovic but you've got Jessica Pagula Amanda Onisimova Coco Goff of course and Ivi Jovic and that makes it 50 % Americans in the women's quarterfinal lineup which is pretty amazing and it's another American next for Jessica Pegula. It's a Mandarin. It's I'm over. She beat Wong Jin Yu 7664 on what the stadium announcer called while we were in there, the People's Arena.

12:36Matt Roberts: Well, Matt Roberts and I are not the people. I've got Catherine on board now. It is bad. It's absolutely fucked up my back, the John Kane Arena. The seats are uncomfortable. There's a weird sort of hum. There was some aggro in the media seats. There was a weird sort of...

12:58David Law: Hold on, you should have been loving it then.

12:59Matt Roberts: There was a weird perspex screen. In fact, there were two perspex screens between us and the court.

13:07David Law: Yeah, why did they have those? I wondered that last year.

13:11Matt Roberts: I think because it's not a tennis arena.

13:14David Law: Right.

13:16Matt Roberts: Anyway, I enjoyed watching Amanda and Isamova. Was it worth two sweaty hours on the John Kane Arena? Borderline. I was relieved there wasn't a third set, put it that way. But she had opportunities, Matt, to maybe get this one done more quickly. It felt like the second set was going to be a slam dunk for Amanda Inisimova. In fact, when they were playing Twist and Shout at the change of ends and doing the twister cam. Is that what they call it? Where they put the camera on people in the crowd and get them to do the twist.

13:56Matt Roberts: Whilst blasting out twist and shout, which is an absolute banger. Between the verse and the chorus in the song, the announcer came through and said, Ladies and gentlemen, Wong is now receiving a medical timeout. And then the chorus. It was surreal. The chorus came in. so yeah Wong was a little hampered in the second set and her challenge looked to have really waned it felt like it felt like one to just get through for both Amanda Onisimova and for us Matt It was quite an unusual Amanda Onisimova match because the first set ended up in a tie break and there had been no breaks of serve and for any regular watchers of Amanda Anisimova, they will know that her serve can sometimes be a little vulnerable and her return game is usually absolutely elite and dangerous.

14:56And yet what was happening here was that Anisimova was cruising through her service games pretty much, but getting quite angsty and stressed and overhitting on the return. Like she was trying to force it, I think, in a way that she probably didn't really need to because she did have the advantage in the matchup with just her bigger game. But as long as that nervous energy existed in that first set, it felt tense. And Wong played well and could well have won that first set tie break, to be honest. But came up with a bit of a dumb approach on the set point. She had a short ball, Wong, and sliced it straight to the Inisimovah backhand rather than the forehand.

15:44And Anissimova had just missed the running forehand on the previous point. You've just got to go to the forehand on that one. But of course, Anissimova perfectly hit the backhand pass cross-court, took the first set, and then they exchanged breaks at the start of the second set. And then Anissimova got another one and then held for the rest of the match. And actually her serve down the stretch, Anissimova, was excellent. And she talked in press about how she has been working on it and trying to get more speed on it, more power. She thinks she's already got the precision, but she said today was the day that it really felt like it clicked for her.

16:22Matt Roberts: Which could be a big deal. Definitely. I mean, if she can have a serve that's clicking in the latter stages, that could be the thing that gets her over the line in this major compared to her two finals at the end of last season, where I think, OK, the Wimbledon final was a bit of an anomaly, but it certainly let her down in the US Open final, that shot. And she's going to need it against the best players and the best returners. So, yeah, overall, I would say it was a good performance from Anisimova and in quite gruelling conditions. It wasn't really extreme, but I think the heat index was hovering in the three-point something, pushing up to four during that match.

17:09They weren't a million miles away from stopping. It was...

17:12Matt Roberts: Matt said, what's that whirring sound? It was my neck fan. I was ready to blame the John Kane arena, but actually it was Catherine sitting next to me. No, it was another good performance from her. And that improved serving could be critical for her to try and keep that up in two days' time because it's Bagula next and she's got this really poor record against Pagula. Pagula has been a problem for her. Handcuffs her from what I've seen in the past. Yeah, I mean, they haven't played since the Canada final of 2024 and they also played in Charleston that year. And look, obviously, Anissimova is a different player, a different person since those matches.

18:04But I do think there is something in the match-up that is difficult for her against Pagula. I think, you know, Pagula has a natural slice serve, which will be harder for Anissimov to get on top of than some of the kick serves she's just played. And Pagula, as David says, is very good at absorbing pace coming at her, I think. And she's able to stay very low to the ground, Pagula. And she's got good hands to be able to deal with pace coming at her. She's also happy throwing in short balls and slices and getting Anissimov overmoving. I think it is a really tough match-up for Anissimova, but not an insurmountable one, like one that if she does play really well, I do think she can win.

18:48But Pagula is just a tough out. So she's going to have to watch those stress levels, I think.

18:57David Law: Do you think that Pagula is the favourite on paper? It's a good question. because normally I do take head-to-head really into account for those sorts of things. But I would say Anissa Mova is the slight favourite because I just think form and the fact that those matches weren't against 2025, 2026 Anissa Mova. She's so different, isn't she? The movement is so different now for Anissa Mova. And generally the way she carries herself as a player and believes in herself, I think. And she's been around the circuit now in multiple Grand Slam finals and sees herself as that player, I think. But just, yeah, I mean, when I say handcuffs are pretty gulish, I think the depth of stroke with flatness makes it more difficult to tee off on, in a way, for Inesimova.

19:55David Law: So I think, look, that could be the one. That could be an absolute belter. It's a ball striking joy, that match.

20:04Matt Roberts: And speaking of which, the other quarterfinal... Catherine's not allowing herself to get hyped. Well, look, I am. I've just... I've been burnt before. I've been burnt, yeah, two days in a row. Well, a whole tournament in a row, quite frankly. I never run out of energy. The peak with Joanna Garland.

20:23David Law: I always come back for more, even after I've had a body blow.

20:27Matt Roberts: Well, the other quarterfinal set up today on the women's side, Elena Rabakina against Iga Svantec. Rabakina was sublime against Elisa Mertens. I mean, the head-to-head going in was 6-1, so now 7-1. It was 6-1, 6-3 in an hour and 17 minutes. And this was another example of it being all about levels, David, because we've seen Mertens brush other players aside and be one of the form players of the season so far. and she just looked helpless against Rabakina today.

21:02David Law: Yeah, you can get taken in by these things, can't you, if you don't remember what the match-up looks like and what Rabakina's level looks like when it's really required and when she's playing at her peak. I think with her, she's a play you can kind of go through a few rounds without really watching how she's got there. You just look at the scores, they've gone by serenely. You look at Mertens and actually her scorelines looked different to what we've been used to. She was beating people comfortably and she'd been on a good run. And yeah, she just runs into Rebecca and she can't cope with that power.

21:41David Law: And her ground strokes and shots generally don't seem to have much effect on a player like Rebecca.

21:50Matt Roberts: Yeah, and now we really get to test the level of Elena Rabakina in this tournament and the level of Iga Shontek because, look, the Madison English story has been a lovely one this tournament. but it felt very inevitable that it came to an abrupt halt tonight. Six love, 6-3 for her against Iger Schvontek. She celebrated winning her first game like she'd won Wimbledon. And she's got this lovely disposition about her madness in England. She was taking it all in. You know, she knows she's had the most wonderful experience and the prize money that she's won by reaching the fourth round will be able to sustain her as a tennis player now for the next few years and give her a real slingshot to discover how good a player she can be, which is fantastic.

22:51Matt Roberts: But, I mean, totally outclassed today by Iga Svantec, who was clearly pissed off about not getting the day session match that she requested. We knew she'd requested day session today because Jim Currier disclosed that on the Tennis Channel this morning, which is very interesting. He said, hey, do you want an insight into some behind the scenes scheduling stuff? And everyone went, yeah, that sounds fun. And he said there was a really big sort of good natured, but quite a head to head between Channel 9, who wanted the Australian to play to headline the night session and between Igor Shiontek who really wanted the day session.

23:35Matt Roberts: We don't really know why because this can't have been a match that she was particularly worried about and she's going to have to play night session from now on. It feels like getting in that kind of groove would be good for her But either way, we know she wanted to play in the day session. And after the win in about an hour and 10 minutes, she made quite a chippy comment about it in the on-court interview. She was asked what she was going to do with her day off. And she said, well, I don't have that much time because the tournament seems to want me to play at night time. You know, she was clearly on her mind.

24:21Matt Roberts: so I don't know what's going on there

24:25David Law: I do think these players should just play when they're scheduled and shouldn't be putting requests in at all I just don't believe in any of it Yeah

24:37Matt Roberts: even Novak Djokovic?

24:39David Law: Yeah I don't think it should be I mean they should do it but the tournament should be turning around and saying we want this then you play when you're told

24:49Matt Roberts: yeah look I agree but it's just never going to happen is it

24:55David Law: interesting that Darren Cahill said that Yannick Sinner was quite happy to have played anywhere he didn't put any requests in yeah they

25:07Matt Roberts: he disclosed and he did one of those little interviews during the warm-up I think of Yannick Sinner's match on the second court this evening he was scheduled not before 6pm on the second court But Darren Cahill said that when the Djokovic match was effectively cancelled, when Jakub Menchik pulled out, that they offered Sinner the opportunity for his match to be the one that moved over. And Sinner said, no, that's fine. I'm happy with where I am on the second court. Let's just stick with the plan. So enter Ben Sholton and Kasparud. More on them later. But Shontek Rabatkinah, should we just give that a bit of hype?

25:48David Law: That was a match here a few years ago, wasn't it? And Rybakkena won. It's become a very interesting head-to-head, I think, Svante against Rybakkena, because there was definitely a period, 2023, 2024, when I would probably have said Rybakkena is the most dangerous opponent for Igor Svante, besides Ostopenko, obviously. But, you know, in terms of...

26:15Matt Roberts: More on her later too, by the way. in terms of you know the just the game style and the the smooth big hitting of Rebecca you know we just saw it cause Fiontech problems and what's interesting is that actually since Fiontech has started working with Wim Fassett her head-to-heads against a lot of the other top players have got a little bit worse she's become a little bit more vulnerable against her fellow top players but actually the Rabatkinah head-to-head has totally turned around and she's really started beating Rabatkinah quite consistently across surfaces and I do feel like against Rabatkinah we've seen slightly less of the just hitting and hitting from Svantec it feels like she's committed more to the counter-punching and the and the ability to stay in rallies and only only really attack when she needs to it just feels like she's got the blend of her game really good really right against Rebecca you know when they played recently um she has to play well but she has done and I I don't know as I said like a couple of years ago I might well have made Rebecca in a favorite against Svantec on a on a hardcore like this but the way it's turned and the way Svantec sort of look generally this tournament I think I would probably have Svantec as the favorite but she does need to serve well you know like that's that is a big element for her in that in that matchup and she has done recently um but she needs to keep doing that i think that's going to be an absolutely key key shot you cannot allow Rebecca to get on top of that so long as it's three sets

28:02David Law: i don't mind three sets of anything please or two belting sets yeah i do feel like we're owed

28:10Matt Roberts: some three setters though. I'm collecting my debts.

28:15David Law: One day, one day we're just going to have a day full of them and then it will be four in the morning and we'll be like, oh, it's too late.

28:24Matt Roberts: Yeah, it'll be Thursday after the one point slam. Right, that's it for part one. Join us in part two when we'll talk about the men's crap matches.

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30:50Matt Roberts: Welcome back to part two of today's tennis podcast where we have just three men's matches to talk about, of course, because Novak Djokovic and Jakub Mensik was cancelled after Mensik guttingly had to pull out ahead of that match. Shall we start with Lorenzo Mazzetti beating Taylor Fritz? 6-2, 7-5, 6-4. Every time I looked at this match, I thought Taylor Fritz didn't look physically fit. I think he's a heck of a competitor. I mean, I think that generally, but it was underlined today by the fact that he even managed to make this as close as it was. And yet it wasn't particularly close. This is Lorenzo Mazzetti's first hard-court win over Taylor Fritz.

31:43Matt Roberts: And that feels like a real milestone kind of for them both in very opposite ways.

31:51David Law: Yeah, I think that's fair. Because I think Mazzetti has made real gains in recent months. I think he was very proud of himself that he's come in with a new, more aggressive, assertive approach, using his forehand more, stepping onto the baseline more and not retreating so much. And he deserves to feel like that because it's not easy to beat a guy like Fritz, even if he is impeded, and he clearly was. But at the same time, I mean, Taylor Fritz was a pretty depressing sight today. and I've got endless respect for him as well because he is a real fighter. But he came in his press comments afterwards.

32:34David Law: We knew he's had tendinitis in his knee for months and he's been trying to work with that and figure it out and stop feeling pain all the time. I mean, he seems to just be playing tennis all the time with pain or having to dampen it with painkillers. but he also made it pretty clear in previous rounds that he was dealing with something else and he didn't want to go into details with it and once he was out of the tournament he did give us details and it was his oblique it was his sort of abdominal area that he'd he'd got some tape on and he'd been struggling with that recently as well he's had that before um I mean that's too much that's too much at a grand slam to be trying to cope with um so the upshot is i think lorenzo mazzetti gives himself a crack at novak jokovic now and i'm really interested to see whether whether he can take another step you know because this is a guy that's been around for years i remember when we first saw him here winning the juniors and how won over we were just by his style and and what he looked like as when he hit the tennis ball and and then when he came on the tour it was exciting but you know he's now gone from that to to to being a real factor um and and looking like there's there's more than just decoration of a tennis tournament but for fritz it's he's he's got a he's got a stop until this is right in my opinion yeah just just rounding

34:10Matt Roberts: off the the taylor fritz of it all i mean it seems so obvious that he's got to stop and yet I mean, you asked him directly, David, and he was talking about trying to get fit in time to go to Dallas.

34:23David Law: Yeah, which is next month and is, you know, a lower level tournament. It's a good tournament. I respect he's committed to it and he wants to play it and he wants to play a lot of tournaments. I get it.

34:37Matt Roberts: But he wants to win Grand Slams.

34:38David Law: You can't have everything. If you're feeling like that, you've... I mean I just said to him look Jack Draper are to feast they've taken six seven months off they don't want to and it sounds like their issues are more dramatic than his are but has he would he consider just not playing the sport until he stops feeling pain and till he stops feeling impeded and he did say that that had been the plan coming into this year that he'd he didn't he didn't want to play like this anymore and then it crept up on him again and then you're like left with a decision do i play the australian open or don't i and the view was that he could continue to rehab what it what the problem was on his knees whilst playing the tournament and that that would work but he said look it's it has flared up again i've had pain and and it's all it's clearly horrible i mean he looked so down um i i hope i i hope he stops until it's right it is pretty crazy with

35:40Matt Roberts: chronic things like that and chronic pain how you can lose sight of how much pain you're in how how impossible it is to judge how much pain you're in it's only once the pain is alleviated that you go my god what a what a fool i was to think i was okay and it it does sound and look to me like he's in that clouded zone, which is tough to see. Lorenzo Mazzetti, Matt, just picking up on everything David said about him, number three in the live rankings right now. It's up for grabs, Lorenzo. Yes, and isn't there a line that unless Vero reaches the final, the winner of Mazzetti, Djokovic, will be ranked number three at the end of this tournament?

36:32which does really show you the strides and the gains like you say that Mazzetti has made like for him to even be in that conversation you would not have thought that a year ago but part of that evolution and that growth for him has been evolving his game on the hard courts and making himself dangerous all year round rather than just through the clay court swing or through the grass court swing like you've got to be good on hard courts if you're going to get up to number three in the world these days and part of that has been the serve he's he's been serving a lot better having changed the technique on that i think he's grown into that shot uh and the mindset you know the going out there with a with an intent to to hurt with that forehand which is i believe one of the very, very best in the world.

37:25And combine that with his natural talents and a bit more belief in himself, which I think he built up through last season. And suddenly he's a very, very dangerous player. I also think he's a lot more mature as a person and he's having to be this tournament as well, isn't he? Because his very long-time coach, Simone Tartarini, is not here. He's had to fly home because of a family emergency, I think. And the same also for his physio. He has two key team members down this tournament, is Mazzetti. He has got Jose Perlas in the coaching box, someone he brought on during the off-season and is working with.

38:11So he has got a coach here. But, you know, I mean, for Mazzetti to play a match without Tartarini is something that he's never really done. You know, they've been together for a very, very long time. And it just feels like he's able now as a person to cope with something like that much better. And look, Novak Djokovic has dominated their head to head, but they have had a lot of good matches. You know, a couple of them at Roland Garros, of course, when Mazzetti has really pushed Djokovic to five sets. And then most recently, their match in Athens at the back end of last year on a hard court was really one of the best matches of the ATP season, I would say.

39:00Both of them brought a great level to that. and Mazzetti talked about needing to win the match rather than play the match I don't know I feel like in the past against Djokovic and against some big names he's had slightly happy to be there energy and I think he's aware that he needs to not have that and show some fangs and I believe he'll get chances against Djokovic. I do. I do think his game and his movement, his physicality can hurt this version of Novak Djokovic. But can he, can he, does he trust himself in the big moments? And I think if he, if he gets a bit of a setback, he needs to keep going with the game that is eventually going to get him through.

39:53Like he can't, can't resort to being passive just because maybe being aggressive doesn't get him the first set. Something like that. I could see, that mindset being tested by Novak Djokovic and I'm not sure I fully trust it but it's going to be a big test of it and I can't wait for it like the rallies in that are going to be wonderful

40:14Matt Roberts: Are you promising that it's going to be good? Is that what you're doing?

40:19David Law: The thing is I think you could appreciate that match even if it isn't five sets or four sets I think individual rallies i mean personally i will i can imagine being bewitched by just watching them strike the ball and move each other around because some players have got that i felt like that would mazzetti and mazac the other day um but if it's knife edge nail biting stuff you're after it is yeah i it is i think sitting here right now my prediction would be jokovic in four and I think I could see them maybe splitting the first two and the third being a real humdinger. At this point, I'll sign for that.

41:07Matt Roberts: I just want to feel some adrenaline pumping through my veins. Is it too much to ask for in week two of a Grand Slam? It's not, no, but... We're going to appreciate it. It's coming.

41:21David Law: I mean, unless one of them, I mean, unless Mazzetti shows up and just doesn't really compete properly, which I don't think will happen. I think he will. I think he'll play well. Whether it's enough is another matter. I think I'm going to enjoy it anyway.

41:38Matt Roberts: Yeah, I'm sure it will be beautiful. But adrenaline is what I'm after. I didn't get it from Yannick Sinner against Luciano Darderi. This was a weird match. 6-1-6-3-7-6 for Yannick Sinner, who came out, by the way, in white socks, white shorts and white cap. I think he's taken matters with Nike into his own hands. And I respect that.

42:11David Law: It's a bit like a football manager who picks three goalkeepers and puts on the bench when he doesn't feel like he's being given the right transfers.

42:22Matt Roberts: yeah I don't know whether they're officially part of his kit or whether he dug the white stuff out of his training kit but it looks a lot better still broadly like ugly but slightly slightly mitigated by not having the weird the weird shorts this this was so weird what a weird tennis player Luciano Darderi is he was having a really bizarre crash out at the end of the second set as if he was surprised by the opposition that he was facing and then he took his hat off and post hat Darderi started hitting the crap out of the ball obviously still lost the set sort of flaked out. He had a bunch of break points right at the end of the set that would have left him serving for it.

43:17Matt Roberts: Didn't take them and then obviously got broken and that was that. I know I should have found this match fun. I didn't find it that fun because the result just felt so inevitable. There were no real stakes or tension, which, you know, if it's not obvious, is what I'm craving just at the moment. But I think there will have been people out there that had a fun time watching this. There's a meme going around of the cartoon avatar version of Luciano Darderi. You know, that's something they do on the Australian Open YouTube channel, doing something really weird sort of from the end of the second set.

44:04Matt Roberts: and it very much is a sort of representation of Luciano Darderi's contribution to the order of play today, which was bizarre.

44:18David Law: Yeah, I don't think I looked up from my laptop really while I was writing the newsletter for the first two sets because there was nothing going on. Then suddenly the third set got fun. It was fun, yeah. Hitting the crap out of the ball is absolutely right. he upped his forehand speed from 130 kilometers per hour to 150. Like, just finding 20 kilometers per hour on average.

44:47Matt Roberts: But where was that for the first two sets? Yeah, I mean, look, you could argue he played this match backwards, right? You've got to come out playing like that. It's not much good being two sets to love down and then doing that. That's just giving yourself such a mountain to climb. Body language suggested he got to the end of the second set and he was like, oh, I'm going to have to play better than this, am I? That's a surprise. Here's that extra 20 miles per hour on my forehand that I've been keeping in reserve. Well, you're already two sets to love down to Yannick Sinner. What have you been doing?

45:24Yeah, I mean, the problem is you saw what happened to his forehand in the tie break when he went to love up. and he's committing to still hitting that forehand huge. And it went off. And there was one that just ballooned in the air as he shanked it. It's unsustainable. You can't keep that up. You can only do that for a portion of the match. And that's the power of Yannick Sinner, the power of the best players in the world. They make you go out of your comfort zone to be able to beat them. and I don't know, I'm pleased that Darderi tried it. I agree with you. I think it would have been more effective if he'd come out playing like that and tried to rock Yannick Sinner, who I thought was actually a very good performance today.

46:14I thought he was absolutely sublime in large portions of this match, but could there have been some doubt or uncertainty or vulnerability if he'd been rocked at the start, given what happened to him in the previous match? It was still very hot when he took to the court today. But no, Darderi saved all the fun for the end when he was already two sets of love down.

46:35Matt Roberts: And now Yannick Sinner faces Ben Shelton, who, just to give us a little bit of fun today, lost the first set. 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 over Kasper Rood in the final match of the day on the Rod Laver arena. He fancies himself in this quarterfinal against Yannick Sinner. I mean, I think he always fancies himself, Ben Shelton. But it's good, you know, talking about our concerns for Lorenzo Mazzetti facing Novak Djokovic and the lack of real deep down, in your core, in your veins, do you believe? are questioning that when he takes to the court against somebody like Djokovic. You don't worry about that with Ben Shelton.

47:32Matt Roberts: And, you know, I feel like tennis levels might hold him back from beating Yannick Sinner, but that's not going to.

47:40David Law: He's certainly going to give himself as big a chance as he possibly can by going out there and swinging, rolling the dice, going after his shots. I think he's really confident at the moment. I think there's a bit more security about his ground straights. I think he kind of knows what's coming off the strings more than he ever has. I still think that... I don't think we've seen the best Yannick Sinner at this tournament yet. And the problem with facing him is that he can suddenly make you realise, oh, crikey, that works against these guys. It doesn't work against this guy. But, look, Rude has been playing good tennis.

48:21David Law: I think he played quite a lot of good tennis tonight he also put in some bad double faults and and threw in some poor points when it really mattered but what you said there Catherine about the fact that Rude won that first set that's the first disappointment that Shelton's had in this tournament because he's been imperious up until then and that could that could have derailed him because he he was a bit off in that first set his serve wasn't working quite right he's on the roddler arena it's different um and he regrouped and he found the form that he's been displaying the rest of the tournament he he's he's developed an incredible forehand when he's pushed out wide and he he's just slapping this ball but with control and he kind of rescued a couple of points with that he hit some good backhands he hit some good volleys he was he was incredible at the net tonight, like the success rate was very high.

49:16David Law: I don't exactly know what his best tactic is playing against Yannick Sinner. I'm fascinated as to what they hook up to try to achieve what they want. But I find myself thinking it'll be closer than last year's semi. I think he can make a fight of it. But, you know, there's a difference between that and winning. yeah I've been impressed with Shelton this tournament I think it's really notable and impressive just how consistent he is at the majors I think I don't know I feel like against most of the field Shelton has an advantage over best of five you know he tends to make matches physical and I think he can improve as they go on I think we saw that tonight I think he backs himself over best of five against the very best in the field.

50:14I think against a Yannick Sinner or against a Carlos Alcarez, against the very best, I don't know if he's quite able to make best of five the advantage that it is for him against the rest of the field. Because he's got to sustain such a level for so long and not have lapses. lapses, you know, and I just think over those, over the longer format, you know, it's an obvious point that the better player tends to, tends to come out on top and I don't know, like if he can, if he can make it physical, if he can really push Sinner to the, to the sort of four hour mark, maybe that is his best route, but I, I just don't know if he can get it there, you know, like he was good tonight, Shelton, but he did need those poor games from Rude to break through, all of them really that Shelton won the decisive games and those sets Ruud played a big part in it with those untimely double faults his forehand went off I just don't think Sinner's going to do that and that might mean you end up in tie breaks or one or two perhaps but again I'm always backing Sinner to just sort of come up with the good so I'm being impressed with Shelton but I've not necessarily seen anything that makes me think that that match is going to be massively different.

51:36I agree, it could be a bit closer, but it still feels to me like there's a gap there.

51:46Matt Roberts: Just quickly, finally, on Sinner. He is one of three players that we've seen. There may have been others, but we've seen him, Carlos Alcaraz, and Irina Sabalenka all being asked to remove their fitness trackers, They're wearable health tech watches that they've come onto the court wearing. They've been asked to remove them at the coin toss. And this has been picked up on. And it's become a bigger and bigger story. A lot of people have been doing some digging into it. And in fact, Whoop, who is one manufacturer of these health tracker devices, they've picked up on it. and they've been tweeting and releasing statements on social media today.

52:35Matt Roberts: Whoop founder Will Ahmed described the Alcoraz decision as ridiculous, saying, let the athletes measure their bodies. Wearables provide meaningful insight into workload recovery, injury prevention and clinical evaluation. That is from Dr. Robbie Sicker, medical director at the PTPA. they're starting to get involved in this as well. Now, the ATP and the WTA have approved the use of wearable health tech. They've got a list of approved manufacturers and suppliers and all the big ones are on there. It is the Grand Slams who have unilaterally decided to ban this. and it does seem that they are acting as one and wanting to act as one there's a there's a BBC article that I'm reading that suggests that the Australian Open would like to approve the use of wearable tech but it's it's sort of reaching a unified decision with the other slams that is the problem I found that a bit bizarre because they're all happy to make their own decisions on things when it when it suits them again pick yourself up and move yourself to October that's the thing that you can do I'm sure you can approve the use of wearable health tech um it seems pretty bizarre that this isn't this isn't permitted something that is so obviously um well a just normal uh in the year 2026 and secondarily um so obviously beneficial to the athletes who you know are managing they're going to be managing a 45 degree day tomorrow playing stressful stressful competitive matches those are conditions that you can't recreate in practice the the data that you would get from playing those matches would be invaluable I'm sure it has been suggested and this hasn't been confirmed by any of the tournaments but suggested that it's the reason for the ban at the moment from the Grand Slams is that the the data ownership the data generated by the health tech and the commercialization of that data is is what's at issue and until it's kind of been determined who owns the data whether it can be commercialized and monetized in some way they They kind of don't want to give it up for nothing if there's some potential value there, I think, seems to be the situation.

55:19Matt Roberts: And there's obviously also the potential for partnership deals with manufacturers. But it does, it feels so backward to be seeing this, to be seeing elite athletes going out there with things. I mean, I'm wearing one right now. I'm wearing a very primitive version of what Carlos Alcaraz and Yannickson are wearing. But it's just a weird look for tennis to be actively discouraging this.

55:49David Law: Yeah, I wear one as I try to sort of deal with long COVID symptoms and things like that. I mean, there's all sorts of reasons health-wise why you would want to, particularly athletes at this sort of level, but anybody in the draw. This is affordable technology for all of them and something that could really help them understand their body during matches, after matches, etc. I don't see this as being a sustainable situation. I think eventually they've got to figure this out and allow it. I would understand if they're worried about if it was connected to some live database or something like that but as Yannick Sinner's saying no this is just for me to have information about my body after the match I think this should be allowed

56:44Matt Roberts: Absolutely, hear him Okay that is it for part two we'll be back in part three with everyone's favourite sensation of the day and a little cameo from Yelena Ostapenko and Laura Siegman. 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.

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58:15Matt Roberts: Welcome back to part three of today's tennis podcast, where I have two submissions for Sensations of the Day. I have Jason Kubler and Mark Polmans, who beat fellow Sensations, Lee To and James McCabe, 6-4, 6-4 to reach the men's doubles quarterfinals. And I have Kim Birrell and Talia Gibson, former winners of Sensations of the Day, who beat Guo Han Yu and Christina Medenovic, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, to reach the women's doubles quarterfinals. Now, I would like to make a case for Jason Kubler. Do it. Well, I commentated one of his matches the other day in the mixed doubles. He was playing with Madison Inglis, his fiancée, who, of course, played singles tonight against Igor Sviontek.

59:10Matt Roberts: And I hadn't realised what a horrific time with his physicality he had had. He was an incredibly talented young player. another one that was described as a future Rafael Nadal. And of course, you know, he has had results in singles. Fourth round, I think, at Wimbledon a few years ago. But basically, he discovered that he had a degenerative, severe degenerative knee issue. He's had seven surgeries on his knees. He was told by doctors that he couldn't play on any surface other than clay. for four years of his career he's been playing exclusively on clay and here he is I know he has won the Australian Open men's doubles title before with Rinki Hijikata so this isn't new territory but I just think that's a great story and there he was in the players box on Rod Laver Arena tonight supporting Maddy Inglis

1:00:17David Law: and he won that doubles with Rinki Hijikata when we didn't have sensation of the day so he didn't get his chance.

1:00:24Matt Roberts: A backdated sensation of the day.

1:00:27David Law: I think it's a good case you've made.

1:00:33Matt Roberts: Okay, Jason Kubler. This is tough on Mark Polman, his partner, isn't it? But there are a few chances. He gets it as well, no? I was just going to give it to Kubler. Mark Polman wasn't there in the players' box watching Matty Inglis. No, if it's doubles, it's a joint award, surely. I don't know anything about Mark Polman. That's enough that he's partnering Jason Kubler. OK, but Mark do know that you're riding on the coattails of Jason Kubler. Yeah, he's helped your man.

1:01:03David Law: He's helped the man that we've just bigged up.

1:01:05Matt Roberts: OK. Jason Kubler and to a lesser extent Mark Polman. You are our sensations of the day. Just while we're on the doubles, we should probably mention that the defending champions went out in the men's doubles today. Henry Patton and Helia Vara lost to the unseeded Czech pairing that the Czech radio guys that sit behind us were getting fantastically excited about this evening. Petr Noosa and Patrick Riekel, who quite honestly I hadn't heard of, wasn't aware of, but what an upset they pulled off this evening. Two straight sets over Patton and Helia Vara. And while we're on the doubles, would somebody like to describe what Yelena Ostapenko did to Laura Siegmund earlier today?

1:01:54David Law: Yelena Ostapenko hit a tennis ball at Laura Siegmund, sort of knee height, something like that, and it was volleyed back to Ostapenko, who then took a full-blooded two-handed backhand swing and smashed it into Laura Siegmund's face. I probably shouldn't laugh I am happy to say that Laura Sigmund appears to be absolutely fine

1:02:22Matt Roberts: She's confirmed she's fine, it's okay to laugh

1:02:25David Law: It's okay to laugh because it was very very funny given all the stuff that Sigmund has been doing to wind everybody up and because it came from Ostapenko who has There's some good gifs out there It was very amusing

1:02:42Matt Roberts: It was such a big swing at the ball It was a full pelt Oscar Dostapenko backhand at Laura Siegman's face. From really close. Yeah, at close range. And all's fair in doubles, isn't it? And I think Laura Siegman, you know, she gets that. And if she doesn't, she really should. But I think she gets that. It was an incredible moment. And it is out there widely on social media if you want to see it. And Shea and Ostapenko now face Taborowski, Stefani, David. Oh, our favourites.

1:03:19David Law: Yeah. That's good doubles. Yeah.

1:03:23Matt Roberts: OK, what have we got for you tomorrow? Day 10 of the Australian Open and all the singles is on one court from now on, folks. We've reached that stage. The Rod Laver Arena starting at 11.30am. Now, my weather app says that it's going to be 40 degrees by midday tomorrow. So I would not be surprised if all matches on the main show courts are played under the roof and play isn't suspended elsewhere. They are starting early elsewhere, I think, to try and get some play in. They've delayed the start of the wheelchair competition until Wednesday. It was supposed to start tomorrow, but won't be starting now until Wednesday.

1:04:08Matt Roberts: There won't be any play on the John Kane arena tomorrow, but they are leaving the John Kane Arena, the public areas of it, open to the public because it's air-conditioned. So that will be a kind of safe haven to go to, which is a smart move. But in terms of the Rod Laver Arena, 11.30am start with Arena Sabalenka against Ivo Jovic. Then not before 1.30 for Alexander Zverev against Lerna Tien. And that is the upset that people are picking in our newsletter predictions. If people are going for an upset, it does seem to be that one. I think it's hard not to have been completely taken in by TN's performance over Medvedev yesterday.

1:04:56Matt Roberts: Night session. And this is the surprise. we were all expecting Alcaraz and Dominoor, as demanded by Channel 9, to be the headline match at 7pm with the women shunted to the vibeless death slot. But, good on them, Coco Goff and Alina Svitolina starting the night session and Carlos Alcaraz and Alex Dominoor last up.

1:05:20David Law: Yeah, I think that's good scheduling from the organisers here to avoid a match potentially starting at goodness knows what time. You know, it could be midnight. I mean, if Dimonor and Alcraz play a really long match, you don't want a match starting that sort of time. So this is a good move because even if it's a really close match between Goff and Svitolina, OK, Alcraz and Dimonor may end up playing well beyond midnight, but at least they'll start at sort of 9.30 or something like that. I think it's a good order of play all round. You know, it's going to be interesting. I personally, I don't see Jovic being able to go with Sabalenka.

1:06:08David Law: I would make Zverev a favourite, even as convincing and exciting as Lerner-Tien was, but I don't think Tien's without a chance. I really think he does have a chance, but I think Zverev's playing very well too. So fascinated to see how Tien handles that occasion, how Zverev handles being the favourite on Rodlover Arena when he's played several matches on John Kane Arena. And then, yeah, the night session, I would make Halkaraz favourite and Coco Goff probably favourite, but Svisalina was excellent yesterday against Androva. So it's going to be tomorrow. It's going to be the good one, Catherine.

1:06:51Matt Roberts: Don't make promises. All I want from the night session is for is for nobody to be asked sort of well-meaning, but slightly depressing questions about sort of the old ball and chain marriage vibes and what somebody that's earned$26 million in their career, how they're going to use their husband's credit card to celebrate winning. That's all I want from tomorrow, as well as some adrenaline pumping. Matt, any predictions? It shouldn't be too much to ask, should it? Shouldn't be too much to ask, Matt. No. But do you see any upsets?

1:07:45Well, in the newsletter, I have gone TN. I think that is the most likely upset of the four. Closely followed, I suppose, by Svitolina Gough. I think Svitolina, I think she's unbeaten this year, isn't she? She has played really good tennis to start this season. I just don't really see how she beats Goff in a very clean way, you know, like blowing off the court sort of thing. I think she really has the weapons for that. And I back Coco Goff in a tussle. Normally it would back Svitolina in one of those, but Gough is the one I back the most. So I do see Gough coming through that. I'm really looking forward to Alcaraz Dimonor.

1:08:38Like I really do think that is going to be fun. But I do think Alcaraz's class will show and he'll have just too much ultimately for Dimonor. But I could see Tien Zverev going five and I could see Goff's Vitalina being three sets. Like, I think we might get some matches going down, if not quite to the wire, then to a decider tomorrow.

1:09:12Matt Roberts: I will sign for that right now. I will sign for that. Well, you'd think, Matt, you would think. And I think, as you said, most likely these matches are going to be indoors. so you know i don't love that obviously i'd much prefer the tennis to be happening outdoors but in these conditions get them indoors because it's going to be brutal and that i'm pleased that like i don't feel like the conditions are actually going to be too much at play tomorrow right i think it's going to be too extreme they're just going to take the conditions out of it and i prefer of that rather than what we saw the other day where you know it was it was quite a tough scene looking how distressed a lot of the players were yeah absolutely okay well we'll be indoors in air conditioning watching all of it uh we might brave it in in the evening very much very much tbc because it's serious stuff tomorrow uh so we're going to be careful We have lovely Gus, our mascot.

1:10:16Matt Roberts: I'm looking at a picture of Gus with her brother, Tumble. They might be holding hands. The photo cuts off. But I'm going to imagine that they're holding hands. And that's absolutely lovely. Hello, Gus. Hello, Bodhi, my mascot. We're in serious... Reggie territory. We're in Reggie territory. Yeah. I've had to pivot with my strategy. We are where we are, Bodhi. And swing for the fences. That's what I've always said. Things are going better for David and Maisie and Matt and Roger because they're more sensible than I am, apparently. Hello to Greg, Chris and Jeff, our executive producers and all around top folks.

1:11:00Matt Roberts: Matt, let's have some shout outs. We have Robin Hodge from Melbourne. Oh, hello, Robin. Hi, Robin. Robin with a Y. like well like my friend's daughter my friend's gorgeous baby and like Robin the Swedish recording artist that's where my mind went

1:11:26David Law: like Robin Soderling if he happened to spell his name differently for a day I think we can allow that

1:11:35Matt Roberts: I think Robin will allow that wasn't there a Robin Montgomery There still is.

1:11:44David Law: And I think that is the right spelling. Maybe. I don't know.

1:11:50Matt Roberts: Well, Robin. There's Robin Daniels.

1:11:53David Law: Of course. Who's a friend of ours. And who we've worked with for many years.

1:11:59Matt Roberts: Yeah, these are all... I think if you add all these together, I think we've done Robin proud. Absolutely. Thank you, Robin. we've also got Madhumita from New Delhi India hello Madhumita we know Madhumita we do big on the barge big on the barge that's right what a place Madhumita says I started watching tennis in the mid 1980s now we're talking most notably Wimbledon 1988 when Graf and Edberg won their titles oh yes

1:12:34David Law: Edberg's first to three titles I remember it well. That was the Steffi Graf Golden Grand Slam year. What a year.

1:12:45Matt Roberts: Thank you, Mad Umita. And finally, we have Kate Bradley. Hello, Kate. Hi, Kate. From Iowa City. And Kate says, I would love to dedicate my shout out to our lovely dog, Bogart, who we recently lost. He was an almost 12-year-old, 100-pound Greater Swiss mountain dog, a trusty companion over the years for long walks while listening to the pop. Oh, a lovely tribute. Thank you, Kate. I'm sorry to hear that, but that's lovely. I know of a Pyrenean mountain dog, but I've never known a Swiss mountain dog, but I hope to one day. Kate, Madhumita, Robin, thank you ever so much for your support of the Tennis Podcast.

1:13:42Matt Roberts: If you would like to become a friend of the pod, the link is in our show notes. We are part of the Athletic Podcast Network. Whether the tennis is good or not, we'll be back tomorrow. Please, please join us. Thank you for listening. We'll speak to you then.

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