Can anyone stop another Sinner-Alcaraz final?

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1:01David Law: Well, hello and welcome to the Tennis Podcast on a Friday night after the ATP Finals semifinals have just been complete. You are right. I am not Catherine Whittaker. Catherine Whittaker isn't here. There's only me and Matt Roberts. So what's going to happen is anybody's guess. Matt, how are you doing? i'm very well thank you and especially anyone's guests because it's friday night it's disco david so literally anything could happen that's right uh katherine actually we say disco david katherine's um sent us photos of what seems to be a quite elaborate wine tasting session so um yeah maybe for the best she's not with us i think she is still doing the youtube uploads so if you're watching this on youtube well done something's that could be fun yeah that could be i mean i'm almost looking forward to that um listen we've got uh we've got plenty to catch up on because we've had a full week of the atv finals now and we've got the semi-finals to come tomorrow so we're going to take the two groups in turn the bjorn ball group and the jimmy connor's group and um and we're going to look at the doubles we're going to throw ahead to the semi-finals which I'll give them to you right away because I dare say you know the scores and the results.

2:29David Law: It's going to feature, who'd have thought it, Yannick Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz in the two semifinals. Sinner is going to face somebody who he has so many great matches against in Alex Diminor but you never know. And we're going to get Carlos Alcaraz against Felix Ojialli-Assim And it's Oji Aliassim and his group, the Bjorn Borg group, that we're going to concentrate on first, because that's the one that has just been completed. And it's resulted in another win for Oji Aliassim against Alexander Zverev, 6-4, 7-6. so he finishes second in his group. Sinner had already guaranteed his place in the semis before he played against his opponent today in Ben Shelton, but he's gone 3-0.

3:23David Law: But that match tonight, Matt, that was a proper knockout match, straight knockout, that's the sort we like, and you could probably feel that in the nerves out there, would you say? Yes, this was neither player at their best, I would say. Quite far from it, in fact. And I would say Zverev was probably, felt like maybe the better player at the start of the match in the opening stages. But once Orjali Yassim got the crucial break in that first set, which was to win the first set, he broke to win it 6-4, I felt like Orjali Yassim became the better player for the rest of the match, but couldn't really take his chances.

4:08He kept getting either break point chances or sort of half chances, openings like Love 30. And he just couldn't quite put the hammer down and convert. And I think there were a lot of nerves there. And it looked for a little bit as well, like that second set tie break might slip away from Orgevier's team. And we could end up in a third set with neither player playing their best. And that would have been really nerve central, I think. but ultimately quite a familiar story I would say in terms of some plays for Orjali Asim that were effective for him you know going to the slice Zverev didn't really know what to do off that shot for much of the match often would sort of drop it short or hit it in the net and allow Orgelia seemed to take over with his forehand.

4:59Zverev was having a total hot or cold day at the net, and mostly cold. He dunked a lot of easy volleys into the net today. There were a couple of them he picked up off his toes that were like, wow. But there was just a lot of misses. He wasn't convincing up at the net, and I think Orgelia seemed to take advantage of that. And yeah, ultimately, Orgelia seemed kind of the bolder, bigger player on some of the key points today and just managed to squeak through even without his best tennis. And yeah, that was enough to get him through the group. And it's Ojaliasim who lost his opening match to Sinner but has bounced back well with a three-set win over Shelton and now this one over Zverev and sort of keeps up his good form that he sort of came into this event with.

5:51He was one of the form players coming in and I think he'll be pretty pleased he's managed to sort of capitalise on that and get through the group.

5:58David Law: Yeah, he's done well considering he looked physically impeded in the first match. I mean, he played a great set against Sinner, he lost it narrowly 7-5 and then seemed to hurt his calf. But he did say after that, as the matches went on, he said, look, it's not a problem. I mean, you wouldn't be surprised if you get some tightness, would you, at this stage of the season? I'm mightily impressed with him. And when I think back to the chat I had with him just before the US Open, if somebody had told us, I know he'd had a decent first half of the season. He'd won a lot of matches. He'd won some titles.

6:31David Law: But they weren't anything like what he's gone on to do. I really wouldn't have seen this coming. And so I find that very impressive. One thing that strikes me that we're able to do now, now that the group stages are complete, Obviously, we know the semifinals. We're going to build up to the semifinals. But we've also now seen the conclusion of several players' seasons. One of those being Zverev. Yes, he's still got the Davis Cup finals to come next week. But, I mean, we hear a lot of my takes about Alexander Zverev. And you know how unimpressed I've generally been with him throughout the year.

7:12David Law: I mean, I find it astonishing that he's still at the ranking he's at. Obviously, the ranking doesn't lie, but he's lost to so many players. How do you assess it? And what do you expect for the year to come? Because I felt like that was a really regressive performance tonight. The manner in which his forehand just deserted him by the end of the match. It sort of started off well, and he was being aggressive. And he was going forward a bit. but nowhere near enough in my opinion but by the end he looked lost to me but I'm curious to know what you think well firstly the people definitely enjoy your Zverev takes so you should definitely give your takes as well uh but look I I've agreed with you all year long really um I think he's going to be in for a bit of a shock next year if he doesn't come close to defending those Australian Open points that are really you know bolstering his ranking right now he's got what over a thousand points on his ranking is that Australian Open final and take those away and he's in with the pack you know he is in with the pack who are a long way behind Alcaraz and Sinner and that's the way I see it right now you know there's that stat doing the rounds isn't there that Zverev is closer in points to the world number a thousand than he is to the world number two and he's the world number three and it's really illustrative of the gap between them but I I do think that gap has increased over the year you know like start of the season he obviously reached that Australian Open final he got he got absolutely taken apart in it and it felt then like the gap was big the gap feels bigger now I would say and Zverev feels much more in a group with the likes of Orjali Asim and Dimonor and Mazzetti and you know a couple of other players who are maybe injured like a Jack Draper you know he's in that in that category and going down I would say whereas a lot of those are on the way up looking to pass Zverev and all of the same things we've always thought about his game have been evident this year to an even starker degree, I would say.

9:41You know, not bold in the big moments, not taking on the forehand and being outplayed by a lot of players. And I know he's talked a lot about having some injuries this season and how that, he feels, has sort of impeded him this season. And maybe that is the case. But I do think the general trend for him has been just sort of down for a little while now. And I don't really see many attempts to course correct. You know, if I think back a year ago, he was talking in the right way in terms of, I need to try and be more aggressive against the big players. But he's never put it into action. And we've had a lot of data now and evidence to suggest that he's not really going to.

10:28And, you know, in the right conditions, when his serve is working, he remains, you know, a very difficult player to beat. And I think, you know, that will probably always be the case. But those things don't often come together. And he's not really been a massive, massive threat for much of this season, I would say. Would kind of be where I am with it. And I think probably similar for you.

10:58David Law: Yeah, interestingly, watching Ogierly Asim felt a bit like watching Zverev against Taylor Fritz tonight. I.e., this feels repeatable. This could become another problem player for him. And you can see on Felix's face that he kind of knows what he needs to do to beat him. And he didn't even play that well tonight. To my mind, if I'm Zverev in his camp, I'm thinking of Elina Svitolina. or I'm thinking of, you know, you want to go further about Mary Jo Fernandes. These are the sort of players who overhauled their standard game to become more aggressive. I do think from what people with way more knowledge than me would say is that he's technically deficient in terms of being able to actually do those things.

11:47Yeah, that doesn't necessarily work for him.

11:51David Law: But I think the bigger problem is that in his DNA, he just moves backwards. If somebody stands up to him, like any old bully, stand up to them, they just shrink. And that happens a lot with him. So I agree with you. I think it would be a big surprise to me if he were to defend those points in Australia. And we could be looking at another Medvedev really next year in terms of ranking drop-off. Maybe not to that extent, but still, I think we might have seen the best of him, really. But we'll see how it goes.

12:32David Law: The way Felix is playing, it's going to be interesting. We'll preview his semi-final in part three. But Yannick Sinner is going to be his opponent. He's come through 3-0. he actually probably looked at his weakest maybe against Zverev I'd say that was when Zverev played well and made a lot of the fact that he had most of the break points but I find from a Zverev perspective Matt that it might be even more encouraging that he was able to win that with his serve by just fighting off break points finding first serves and then winning the big points because if he can do that and maybe he's not on top i mean how how are you going to beat him then because you know his standard game is better than everybody bar one player who on his day might be better some days might be worse but the rest of them what chance do they got i found uh zverev's comment about sinner's serve in that match again a classic zverev comment like almost like whining a little bit about the fact that Sinner made first serves on break points as though it was I don't know lucky or something it's kind of like when when someone says oh you only won because you've got a good goalkeeper it's like well having a good goalkeeper is a perfectly legitimate thing to have like that's baked into squad building and like for Sinner it's like it's like yeah I'm gonna find my first serve on the biggest points and you're gonna have to deal with that like sinner time and time again is stepping up in those biggest moments in in a way that's very evident and yeah he has been impressive sinner even i would say without really his absolute best because he hasn't needed it he just looks in total control at the moment i've really enjoyed his body language um after he's hit some of these drop shots like he's he's he's he's become quite comfortable now playing the forehand drop shot it's a shot that he is using frequently and efficiently and effectively and i think he's pleased with himself there's this sometimes there's a little smirk there's a little see that i can do that and what i am really hoping for is obviously sinner alcaraz and whether he can deploy it against alcaraz against that movement you know the guy who we know that is in his head when he's hitting these drop shots you know it's all he doesn't need them to beat Shelton for instance but it's a good time for him to practice them and I think he's used that shot really effectively through the group stages and I mean the stats right now are a joke really in terms of what Sin is putting together at this tournament just not even dropping sets in it in back-to-back years so far and he's now on 29 wins in a row on indoor hard courts which equals one of Federer's streaks.

15:44Federer also had a streak of 33 and Djokovic had a streak of 35 but he's up with them in terms of this run of form that we're seeing right now and he is doing that thing in terms of what they always did which was just being able to keep the rest of the top 10 guys just at arm's length and just kind of cruise through, have plenty in the tank for what he's going to need if he has to face Alcaraz. I've noticed also he's been doing some interviews for Spanish TV in Spanish, I think, for the first time. Sin, I think he's sort of just sort of feeling himself a little bit at the moment. I've enjoyed seeing that as well.

16:23Yeah, he's in a great place. he's looked very very good as you'd expect

16:31David Law: it's interesting to me how he's able to just keep his focus I mean we've always remarked upon his focus but today was a dead rubber and he's not even dropped a set against Shelton who's obviously come out swinging and has played some decent stuff this week I know he didn't win a match but he really should have won a set against Zverev, he was 6-3 up in the tie-break against Zverev in the second set of that one he was up against Shelton sorry, he was up against Felix Ogi Aliasim as well, he was a set-up there, and he's got Sinner to a tie-break in this one, but Sinner wins the match in straight sets despite not needing to I mean, that is something else and this streak that he's building against Shelton now is just it's becoming pretty outrageous yeah i think shelton from memory shelton beat him in shanghai a couple of years ago like literally right after post puke sinner in beijing i think it was the next tournament and sinner was just out of gas and shelton won their first meeting but since then Sinners won eight in a row and now 19 sets in a row and a lot of them as you say David have looked like this in terms of just on the scoreboard you think that's quite a close match you know there's a tie break in there I think Sinner only won nine more points in the entire match like it's not it's not a huge disparity and yet it's a huge disparity now in their head-to-head and the general feel of that rivalry if you can if you can call it that like sinner is winning the big moments winning all the key points and sets and yeah i don't know maybe we'll throw this question to you david like if we're assessing a player's season now that they've all finished you know shelton that was his last match like where are we with ben shelton because there have been times when I thought he was making a case for being kind of best of the refs kind of thing, you know, in terms of his slam consistency.

18:46And he finally got that Masters 1000 title, didn't he? But actually his record against the top players is not great. And I think he has been a little bit exposed this week, it's felt to me.

19:02David Law: Yeah, I think it's a really good year, the fact that he's got to this tournament. he's qualified and I remember him pushing Alcaraz at the French Open I thought he was impressive there he obviously won the one that Senna and Alcaraz didn't attend, the 1000 in Canada there so great stuff, well done and in America in the hard courts yes, I think he did kind of look like the next one at that level around with Fritz, you know, obviously, but maybe the coming man he felt at that time. But I also feel like that that was in slightly artificially inflated because it was in America, because of the benefits I think he gets from playing in front of a US crowd and the buzz he gets and so forth.

19:55David Law: And I think the hype he ends up getting is probably not quite in line with the level he's producing. I think he gets a bit better every year. That's a good sign. I think his work ethic is there. I think his dad really knows what he's doing and they've got a good thing going there. But I don't see him as the next one. I feel like, had Draper been fit all year, he's way ahead of him, I think, still. I think, like I've said before, I think Art of East would be ahead of him if he was fit. These are just my opinions. There's many that might disagree, but I think there are some limitations still there.

20:37David Law: He's got incredible strengths, but he does have weaknesses. And I don't think those players at the top have weaknesses. And so I think he's still got improvements that he will make. I think he will get better. But I also think there's a limit to how much better he'll get, personally, just because I'm not convinced the limitations can be totally overcome. so um you know i suppose the big sort of gutting moment for him of his season still is that shoulder injury yeah at the u.s open we didn't quite get to see you know what his full potential was at that tournament when he was probably in his best form of the season with the momentum behind him you know you kind of is you know there's a little asterisk next to that one i suppose in in terms of, you know, just would love to see him back in that situation, in form, in New York, and kind of see what he can do.

21:34But I do sort of ultimately agree with you.

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24:23David Law: Well, welcome back to the Tennis Podcast. And we'll start with Carlos Alcaraz, who's guaranteed himself the year-end world number one ranking. Matt's going 3-0. It was a rather more eventful journey than it was for Yannick Sinner. Not hugely surprising. But the fact is he won all three matches. he's got that number one ranking and boy did that mean a lot to him he had the the number one trophy today presented to him and that really meant something to him I thought yeah definitely um and I thought that was potentially a bit of a trap match for him last night against Mazzetti given that he didn't need to win it to get through the group there was the pressure of knowing if he won it he would secure number one and he was against Mazzetti who we're going to talk about with momentum and feeling and the crowd behind him I think I think there was a Carlos Alcres of old that would have struggled in those sort of circumstances but I think I think we did see some of the growth that he's that he's taken on this year and he was yeah he was he was impressive and it does mean a lot to him I think you know I think he I think he really respects and knows how good Yannick Sinner is and therefore knows what an achievement it is to finish ahead of him you know even if Yannick Sinner misses a few months of this season as he did I think that only adds to it I think Alcres would have thought well I have you know I've got to finish the year number one if I've played a full season and he hasn't and yeah I've been pretty impressed with him considering that But, you know, he's not really had a very good record at this tournament, generally, this time of year.

26:11I think this is definitely the best he's looked at the ATP finals in his career. And I'm going to throw this one back at you, David. You said early that you felt like you'd be able to tell what kind of form Al Karaz is in. And that opening match against Dimonor took us in a couple of different directions. Like he started off blisteringly good, then totally lost his way in that first set and then was incredibly good again in the second set. And I felt like you came out of that feeling pretty good about Carlos Alcaraz and how he's playing this week.

26:48David Law: Yeah, it's not been like the US Open, I'll be honest. I thought it might be when we saw the first five games against De Menor. I thought, OK, he looks bang on it here. And then we saw him lose his way a bit. And it was a bit more like sort of, I don't know, French Open. Carlos Alcres, which he still won. But you know what I mean? The US Open level was a different thing altogether. And look, there have been lost set against Taylor Fritz. And I think we should come on to that. I mean, I'll give you my prediction about Carlos Alcres in part three when we do the semifinal. wait david's been david's been teasing that he's that he's got a theory about these semi-finals but he went he went to say what it is yeah but we aren't always that up on the the atp finals and the year-end events generally i mean they cannot can sometimes be a bit lackluster and lacking drama and lacking players being at their best and yet there was a day in the early stages of this tournament when well mid midway through when taylor fritz took it to carlos alcaraz and i wasn't able to watch the whole match i watched the highlights later but you and katherine were so into this so into weight the way fritz was playing and i mean he won the first set on a tie break he was keeping it close all the way through in the second set in fact he was piling the pressure on early on i remember there was a a really long alcaraz service game wasn't there and he was just piling it on and not quite managing to to win the match and then eventually Alcaraz turned it around and won that was the day that uh we'll go on we'll talk a little bit about Lorenzo Mazzetti in a while that was the day that Mazzetti got his win as well so it was all happening that day it was a brilliant day of tennis and actually the tournament as a whole I think has been a good one this time but tell us about that match with Taylor Fritz why why that was so good it really is one of the best matches i've ever seen taylor fritz play and i suppose you know you can take that one way and say well isn't that just a total encapsulation of the problem right because he because he still lost and these were in conditions which i would say suit him more than most of the slams you know these indoor conditions i think would suit fritz over an alcaraz um and that's right that is the challenge because he can still play that well and ultimately what it can do is force alcaraz to reach a level that he doesn't have and just inspire brilliance from alcaraz and that is kind of what ended up happening i think also what ended up happening was that it took so much effort for Taylor Fritz to be playing at that level that inevitably had a couple of lulls, be it of just form or energy or sort of mental locked-in-ness.

30:04Because it takes so much to challenge Alcraz for three hours like that. And that was all that happened. A couple of poor games and the match was gone. But I do want to focus on what he did well because he was superb, really, really good. Alcarez played a sloppy tie break in that first set. But otherwise, this was Fritz really like toe-to-toe with Alcarez, outplaying him, really going after his shots. And that game you mentioned, the 15-minute game that it took Alcarez to hold serve, what impressed me the most was Taylor Fritz's service game straight after. I thought this is the moment everything changes.

30:49Al Kraz has had a 15-minute hold. I bet he breaks in the next game. Fritz held in 60 seconds. Like, what a baller move. And then just, like, threw the balls down the other end of the court and was like, go on then, you'll serve again. And it was like the presence and the energy of him was like, I belong here. I really felt like he thought that he belonged. And I was so impressed with him. so impressed um and obviously ended up impressed with Alcraz for managing to to turn it around and yeah I don't know how to come out of that match you know do you end up feeling more positive about Taylor Fritz because you've seen something from him that you haven't really seen before I

31:35David Law: think you have to I think you have to to me he's he's he's Mr. Reliable he's proved himself over the last five years. I think he's been the American number one for the last five years. I think he's sealed that again. Yeah. And he... But that's not enough for him. He's got more ambition than that. He wants to beat these guys. I don't think when it really matters that he probably will because he's just not quite... He's not as good as them. They are generational players that he's trying to beat. Sinner, Alcras, there was Djokovic. he's a really really top level player is fritz apart from those guys and and the fact that he rolled through his service game in 60 seconds doesn't actually surprise me because he does that a lot he's just got he knows his marks that he has to hit he doesn't faff about he just gets the job done so often he just wins matches just gets the job done but then he runs into these players and he doesn't look a threat.

32:36David Law: That happens a lot. So the fact that he looked a threat in this match, to me, should give him massive encouragement because he clearly, and listening to him afterwards, he clearly decided he was just going to take it on all the time. He wasn't going to settle into his reliable patterns and then get beaten by a better player. He was going to try to unsettle Alcaraz. And clearly he achieved that, at least. I'd be encouraged by that. yes i i i think you're right um i think he gave an interesting answer in the press conference didn't he in a little exchange he had with charlie aquashare actually who's out there for the athletic and i think you know fritz is quite a sort of analytical guy i think he does look at the sort of the big picture of the sport and i think maybe a couple of years ago he thought right I'm trending up here I'm improving Nadal's gone Djokovic can't go on forever could be my time you know I think he really thought that if he keeps making the improvements he would probably win a major and I think he has kept making those improvements he is he's a better player now than he was a few years ago he's not one of these ones who's just stagnated he's kept getting better but he said we're now in a big two era and he i don't think he saw that coming you know i think he knew that alcaraz was brilliant but i think he's the fact that alcaraz and sinner have just shut everyone else out i think has maybe spooked fritz a little bit you know and he's done all that he can and he can and he will continue to but it just might not be enough and i almost think in this moment we saw another little him being spooked because i think he thought that that might be enough to beat alcaraz he doesn't get the win and then he was pretty flat in the next match you know like ultimately that's the thing with fritz here he's it's such a weird group this the way it's played out like fritz has got a win in his first match impressed me maybe more than he sort of ever has in his second match but he's not come through the group because he's ended up putting in a bit of a lackluster display against a very very good dimanore who we must talk about but you kind of think you just want him to go again after that alcaraz and just prove that okay even if i lost that i'm still the i'm still the next best guy in this group but i can understand i suppose this is just how hard that is after he's given it all against alcaraz it is tough to go again and I think he found that we have seen him have a couple like that this year you think back to him losing to Gael Monfils at the Australian Open that I mean Gael was fantastic that day but it shouldn't happen really for a player of his level I think the other thing just to bear in mind is I thought I found the the tennis tv have got all the press conferences on the youtube channel and i listened to them all the other morning and fritz was talking quite worryingly i thought about tendinitis in his knees and saying that he now can't play consecutive days without quite a lot of pain like really being impeded and not being able to quite push off and i guess be as explosive as he wants to be um and and it sounds as i mean he says look why would I do anything dramatic when I can still play like that against Salkraz, even though I've got this pain?

36:20David Law: So that's the way he's looking at it. But that's not ideal, is it? Really, he says the only way you can solve it really is by having time off and kind of realigning and rebuilding and all that sort of stuff. And, well, at least, you know, now the season is over. So hopefully, I hope for his sake that that gets sorted out. but he does pound those knees I mean you know you think he he does although he wins points sufficiently in a way he's got his patterns it's physically demanding still you know he plays a lot of hardcore tennis he plays a lot of tennis generally you know and I just wonder whether we're going to see more of this with players like him who've just been so reliable I mean Zverev's been banging on about how many injuries he's had this year you know these guys have got quite a few miles on the clock so um i am interested to see whether he can go again fritz because as you say it's one thing having the trying to improve your top level so that you can get that win that you're so searching for against the top couple but what if you sort of lose your floor a bit because you're physically impeded or because you're mentally fried or it's it's It's a tough sport.

37:36David Law: You mentioned Alex de Minor, and on the subject of being a bit fried, what a week he's had. I mean, he lost his first two matches, and in his words, he was as low as he's ever been on a tennis court and after a match, after his second match, wasn't it, was that the one against Mazzetti? He was devastated, and he was so candid in his press conference about how upset he felt and how just fed up of losing big matches. He's had a really good year. He's in the HB Finals. He's done so many good things. He has spoken openly about his mental health and feeling burnt out earlier this year, and I kind of feel like this was another manifestation of that.

38:24David Law: Thank goodness he then was able to follow it with an absolutely massive win against Taylor Fritz when it was his turn to do what Fritz did against Al Graz and just take it to an opponent and just wrestle it from him, play beyond his normal comfort zone almost, but then just get the ecstasy of achievements. I mean, it sounded like he'd already made peace with himself because he'd played on his own terms, but you won't find much of a contrast like that in the space of a couple of days in the players' press conferences. yeah tennis is just such a crazy sport isn't it like you can be you can be stuck in one place for so long you know whether it be a certain ranking or in dimanore's case like unable to get a top 10 win as he as he would he'd really struggled for one hadn't he recently and that's kind of what he was talking about you know sort of almost questioning his own status in the sport you know Like, do I belong here?

39:27That kind of thing. I can't finish these matches off against players similar to my ranking. And then a couple of days later, he gets that win, playing, as you said, super aggressively, really good from him against Taylor Fritz. And then because Alcaraz beats Mazzetti, he qualifies for the semifinals. And he's gone from, in his words, one of the darkest places he's ever been in, after a tennis match through to the semi-finals of the ATP finals, which for Alex Dimonor is a great result. And I think, again, it's a funny group. You've got three people there who only won one match and lost two. So you're going to get one of them coming through even with a negative record.

40:15But it's Alex Dimonor. And it's just wild how those things can change in tennis, having been stuck for so long. things just can just sort of flip in a day and Alex Dimonor has experienced that because that was a brutal loss against Mazzetti I'm sure we're going to talk about it a lot from a Mazzetti perspective and mostly we've been viewing that from a Mazzetti perspective and most people have been viewing that from a Mazzetti perspective it's just such a compelling story but Dimonor let that go like that was a joke really it was a brutal loss from him and for him to turn it around a couple of days later i was i was very pleased for him because i have a lot of time for alex dimanore and his general approach to the sport

41:07David Law: and actually it feels in a way like everybody won in that scenario right in the end because Mazzetti only needed the one win you know he's had this run to get into this thing where he's just looked so sad and so depleted and so in desperate need of the Maldives and he's finally qualified because Novak Djokovic has let him in and he's just you know the remains of him almost have been taken to that court each day and I mean he's done his best and then suddenly he managed to pull it out, well, with some help from Dimonor, but what a match, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, to just get his hero's reaction from the crowd, chanting his name.

42:01David Law: I mean, it was very emotional, very sweet, and he went over to his family and his wife's crying and his family are all there, and it felt like he'd won the tournament. you know he'd won his one round robin match and now he's on his way home again you know but kind of doesn't matter does it because he had his moment and and now dimenor gets his moment in response yeah everyone won except taylor fritz in that group i think is is the conclusion unfortunately for taylor fritz it was magical those mazzetti scenes like genuinely like Like, I didn't know a round-robin match could move me that much. Like, genuinely.

42:48Like, as you said, the circumstances are so specific. That was why he's played every week since the US Open. That's why he was so desperate to get to Turin. And it was just amplified because you thought, OK, he has finally made it to Turin, thank goodness. But what a state he's in. He's depleted. He hasn't got his legs. Like, how can he compete with the best players in the world? And yet he was brilliant in that first set, really good against Dimonor. But then the leg started to go. Dimonor took over. He levels it up. He goes a break up in the third. And you're thinking, OK, this is going to just sort of maybe peter out for Mazzetti.

43:29But he found a spark. and when Mazzetti finds a spark in a tennis match he's he's the guy I say wow at the most at the moment apart from Carlos Alcaraz he's the guy who is conjuring up shots and creatively thinking of rallies and points in his head and putting them together in such a fascinating compelling way to watch and his changes of pace his changes of height his willingness to get the forehand into play in those closing stages just mesmerizing there was a point where they both fell on the floor afterwards a really really long point dimador won it with a smash and they both just fell backwards breathing heavily it was it was really cinematic and yeah eventually Mazzetti won it with you know you kind of want a great match to end on a great point and it did Mazzetti with a brilliant forehand passing shot and you'd called it David you said either way win or lose Mazzetti is going to be in tears at the end of this one and the ball had barely left his strings and he was in tears like it was it was unbelievable and he suddenly had all this energy He was beating his chest.

44:45He leapt over the barrier, jumped into his player box. And yeah, I said on our friend's show the other night, he went full Mondo Duplantis and just had an amazing moment and went over and kissed his girlfriend. And yeah, it was a special moment. I don't think he's going to be able to go to the Maldives, is he? Because his girlfriend is so heavily pregnant.

45:08David Law: Yeah. I don't suppose they'll be able to fly. I think she's expecting very soon. and he's pulled out of the Davis Cup. But you're right, he only needed the one, and he got it. And boy, did he get it in special, special circumstance. It was amazing. I'd like to make an early request to the draw gods for them to have a rematch in Melbourne in the quarterfinals. Oh, yes. I hope the draw gods are listening. Yeah, put it in Dimonor's backyard this time. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, we're going to look ahead and make a preview and predictions for the semifinals in part three and also have a look at the doubles.

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47:31David Law: welcome back to part three of the tennis podcast and as well as the singles the doubles has been flying along over the last few days i've been uh finding myself watching quite a lot of it i mean it's been quite intriguing and and interesting from a scoreline perspective a lot of the matches have felt quite similar to me you know the the men's doubles often does these days i'm i'm i'm mouth agape at how powerful and consistent they are, but serve does dominate a lot. And, you know, we've ended up with four doubles pairings that are seriously strong pairs. And I suspect we're going to get some really competitive semifinals as well.

48:19David Law: I mean, there are a lot of British players involved. There's five of them in total. So from a sort of British perspective, obviously, I'm quite pleased about that. This is the first time that one country's had that number reach the last four of the events since Australia did it in 1992. I mean, that's good going, isn't it? Cash and Glasspool have secured the year-end number one ranking as well. They're the first all-British team to achieve that. But you're left with a lineup, which is Simone Balelli and Andrea Vavasori against Harry Heliovaro and Henry Patton. And then we've got Joe Salisbury and Neil Skupski against Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool.

49:01David Law: I mean, even though they're all those Brits, I think the whole mixed doubles thing has just meant that I have quite a soft spot for Vavasori all the time these days, Matt. yeah I can get on board with that anyone who plays like that at the net defending the Sara Irani serve is is a hero really and the way he the way he took that on at the US Open was was superb and yeah that you know there is a nice sort of flavor to these semifinals with with all with you know like three teams with a with at least one britain and then the all italian team uh you know in their in their home tournament um yeah and tough tough to call i think from here but it often is in men's doubles right the margins the margins are thin in these matches yeah wouldn't if if you told me any one of those four teams was was the champion i wouldn't be surprised but Based on what I've seen, I mean, Heliovarra and Patton, I saw edged out by Salisbury and Skubski in the group stages, but they both qualified in the end.

50:16David Law: And these matches, they're on a knife edge so often. But, you know, I sort of think Vavasori, he's so used to these big match occasions now, and with the Italian crowd, I mean, it could be dramatic stuff. But then he's just still going. Yeah. It's cool. okay well yeah i'm gonna go for the italian pair to win it there you go i'm on the record now what about these singles semi-finals matt we've got yannick sinner against alex dimenor in the afternoon what's the record now is it 12-0 in the favor of sinner it is indeed is that the one you're making a a bold prediction on hold on and then we've got in the evening we've got carlos arcries against Felix Ogiali a seam.

51:03David Law: I actually think I could make a reasonably compelling argument for both of them being upsets. Here's my reason. Please make those arguments now. I am all ears. Okay. So I don't think that Sinner is at the top of his game, even though he hasn't lost a set. I don't think he's playing as well as I have seen him play. And I think that Alex Dimonor has got absolutely nothing to lose now. Nothing at all. And even Sinner said that. Sinner was interviewed. He said, he's got nothing to lose. I've got a lot to lose, which I thought you're both in the semifinals, mate. But, you know, he knows what it's like.

51:56David Law: and I just I think the last couple of times I've seen them play Dimonor has just made some incremental impressions in those matches he got a set in Beijing didn't he yeah he it's just felt like there are little things he's doing in in terms of rushing Sinner I mean it's difficult to rush Sinner because he's so fast and so balanced but he's just taken it on. I think we're going to see Dimonor try to do to Sinner what Fritz tried to do to Alcarus. And what, frankly, Dimonor managed to do to Fritz. I think the blueprint needs to be the same. Just go for it. Just go for it. And that in itself isn't enough.

52:45David Law: Sinner plays well, Sinner still wins. but you know he's not always going to be on not not to the very top of his ability and if he's a bit off i don't think i one of these days i think if dimanore keeps believing one of these days he's going to beat him i think because i don't think he's i don't think he's david ferrer against roger federer and i don't think he is that i think there's i think he comes at it with more to throw at the opponent um more ambition more possibilities more belief most of the time um i still think sinner will win obviously okay but i but i'm just and and you may say oh you're just you're having your cake and eating here which i am i'm still going to go for a sinner al-cries final because oh i thought you were doing something no no you'd be mad not to right you'd be mad not to for the tape david has built this up since before we started recording david david was giving it the whole you wait for my part three predictions i was thinking okay i can't wait and you're going i mean listen it's one thing to make the case for it it's another thing to actually say you think it's going to happen i don't think it's good i don't think he's ultimately going to win but i think he could i think he could win and i think he absolutely it could end up being a really much closer score than I think the assumption it's so easy yeah the assumption is like yeah Sinner's just going to kill Dimunor he always beats him right well I think that's a bit lazy really and I was struck by the Beijing match like you and like I was guilty of completely writing that match off before then I think I said it on the pod like I didn't really need to see Sinner Dimunor again I kind of knew knew how it went but But Dimonor did show something in that match.

54:43He was closer. He was really aggressive. And he is, as you said, I think the most compelling argument is hopefully some freeness and some lightness for Dimonor. Like, whereas the pressure is on Sinner. But I just can't make a strong case for Domenor, indoors, in Italy, in a week where he's already lost two matches, and Sinner hasn't lost a set. I just think, to me, that the most likely is Sinner in straights, but not a blowout. I tell you,

55:32David Law: that drop shot you talk about, Sinner wants to leave that alone. you don't want to be drop shot in that guy i think he doesn't need to hit it probably no you know so i think he probably will leave it alone i think if you do because you want to use your new toy um then i think you risk getting stung against a guy like deminor on the subject of our crowds and ojialia seem i think felix will as long as he's fit fully fit and there's no reason to think he won't be. I think he'll likely play pretty well. He'll do what he does. He'll hit good serves. He'll hit good forehands. He'll hit his better backhand.

56:15David Law: He'll move well. And I think the danger is Al Kraz has got number one now. That was the goal. Really. I mean, I know he'll say, well, no, winning the tournament's the goal and beating the Alex Senna's the goal. Of course they are. But you wanted number one. You've had that big... There could be a drop-off tomorrow. There could be a loss of focus and like a flatness to him. He has been way better this year on that score. He's been repeatable. He's been consistent. But I think against a guy who's just going to keep plodding along in the way that he does, winning his own serve, This is the sort of match where Al Krause could go a bit walkabout.

57:05David Law: I'm still picking it to be Cinerats because I just think, well, I mean, that's just, it's too persuasive to think that it won't be in the end. But I don't necessarily think I'll be sitting here tomorrow night having just thought, oh, well, that was all a bit boring.

57:27there was a part of me that wanted Mazzetti to beat Alcarez because then we would have got Alcarez-Sinno in the semis and Alcarez would have needed to win to finish the year number one like it would have been like number one on the line in that match and look then we obviously wouldn't have been able to get a Sinner-Alkaraz final, which sort of is the ultimate for the tournament, I suppose. But I sort of did like the idea of that being on the line for Alkaraz when he plays Sinner, because I do take your point about a potential drop for Alkaraz now that he has secured the year in number one. But he has been so good this year at not losing his focus.

58:23I could definitely see him having to come through a tie-break against Orgi Aliassime. I think sets could be close. But yeah, Sinai Alcaraz for me. And who's winning the tournament?

58:44I'm gonna go Sinner

58:50but you know Alcrest plays well against Sinner he really really does but I'm gonna go Sinner indoors ability to just rush him a little bit more yeah you

59:10David Law: I think the same I don't think in the end that I saw what I thought I was seeing at the start of that first match when I thought okay well it's that Carlos Aucaraz is it I pick him to beat Sinner basically every time if I see that version but I don't think it is that version maybe not indoors yet we've seen just one or two drop offs still so it's gonna be fun it's gonna be fun and you're right it has been a good ATP finals yeah we're down on it generally but I've actually really enjoyed this week yeah no it's been very good okay well we will be back in a couple of days time and we will be live on Sunday night 8 o 'clock UK time or well I mean that's assuming everything's done I think the final starts at 5 UK time so could be touch and go you know we'll keep you posted keep an eye on our YouTube channel that's where we'll be live and of course you'll be able to watch it via catch up and listen to it as a podcast as well Catherine will be back with us for that we may even get a bit of bonus Charlie Eccleshare we're trying Let's see if we can sort that out.

1:00:33David Law: He's on site at the moment in Shireen. So hopefully he'll be joining us for a little while. A huge happy birthday to Catherine's brother, Math, which is why Catherine's not here tonight, because she's celebrating with him. And yeah, we can't wait to have Catherine back with us, as well as Catherine's mascot, Phoebe, who's an ever-present. My mascot, Maisie. All right, Maisie. Matt's enormous mascot Roger we've also got our top folks and executive producers Greg, Chris and Jeff without whom we would not be able to produce the tennis podcast so a huge thank you to all of you and to just friends of the tennis podcast everywhere because frankly it is because of friends of the tennis podcast that we're able to do this just for a living it's amazing but yeah thank you to you all and And look, if you want to become a friend of the tennis podcast, it is worth it, we think.

1:01:30David Law: Eight editions of Tennis Relived every single year. We've just produced our latest one on the great Bud Collins, which we lovingly put together. We've produced another six already this year. There's still one to come. There's an archive of more than 100 friend shows now as bonus shows. Those include Q &As with us. We do one of those a month live on YouTube and available as podcasts as well. There's Hannah's brilliant column. She's a wonderful writer. She makes me think about the sport in a completely different way. We have The Barge, which is our online community that you can get involved in and watch matches together so that you've got some tennis company.

1:02:13David Law: That's what you get for becoming a friend of the Tennis Podcast and you help keep the show going. So do become one if you haven't already. And thank you to all of those that are. thank you also to the athletic our partners we're proud parts of the athletic podcast network and matt we will go and put our heads down because we've got a big day of semi-final action coming up tomorrow and no and no football to get in the way no fulham no albion it's a bit boring isn't it it's actually a relief a nice week off from all the stress we can't lose if we don't play no that's right that's right let's do that every week um okay well sleep well matt i'll speak to you tomorrow to uh to to natter about the uh the semi-finals and we'll we'll all come back together on sunday night to do it all live on youtube for now though we'll go to bed and we'll see you in a couple of days

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