Djokovic feels the love, and the pain

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1:53Matt Roberts: Hello and welcome to the Tennis Podcast, a midweek pod today to bring you up to date with events in China and Japan. And it feels like quite a lot has happened since we last recorded on Monday. So let's get straight into it, starting with the two ATP finals that were inexplicably played on a Tuesday. David, we are two for two with predictions made in the last show because Daniel Medvedev did beat Andrei Rublev in Hangzhou and Alejandro Davidovich Fikina did beat Hubert Hercac in Chengdu. Matt, you picked a very unfortunate time to go positive on Hubert Hercac for the first time in your life. Yeah, I got lulled in by how good he was against Denis Shapovalov, of all people, and read too much into that.

2:48And he did not replicate that form in the final. And I owe Davidovich Vekina an apology, because not only did I predict that he would lose, I also said that I thought it would be a bit of a choke fest. And that was true only of Hubert Hercats, who had four set points in that second set. one of them a volley that he should have made and taken it to a third but he missed it and actually it was Davidovic Fikina who was much tougher in those big moments and nice to be able to say that you know like he was the guy who lost his first five ATP finals he has now won a couple in a row this one and Majorca earlier in the season And for him to have done all that after being ditched by his coach, Mariano Puerta, in the middle of the French Open is quite something and must also feel great for him, I think.

3:46So I think everyone wanted good news for Andro Davidic Fakino after all those losses in finals and that coach story. And injury aside, it's happening for him.

3:56Matt Roberts: Where is Mariano Puerta now? Have we been tracking his movements? because he posted on Instagram that he was on a very nice looking business class flight out of Paris, away from his client, Alejandro Davidovic-Vikina. Haven't kept up with his movement since then. Might check in. I'll let you know on the next pod. Do you think he'll ever get a coaching gig again? Probably. I mean, these blokes are Teflon, aren't they? Right. And I mean, one of the things I remember Davidovich Fikina saying when all that happened was that he later found out that he'd done this before. So how many times do you need to do it to not be hired?

4:42Clearly one is not enough, maybe two. So who knows? So, yeah, very nice win for him. Of course, tennis being tennis, he is now out of the next tournament that he's played, Davidovich Fikina. Her catch has actually gone from Chengdu over to Beijing and has made the quarterfinals. So they've had different paths since that final. But I think, you know, you would sign probably for winning the final. And as for Medvedev, I mean, the main thing to say in that final was just how good his serving was. 23 aces from Medvedev in two sets in that match. And, you know, that has been a shot that has been in decline for some time, I would say.

5:27I feel like it's a continuation of kind of the Medvedev story this season, where he's played his best tennis, where he's been really helped by the quick surface. We saw that at the start of the year in Brisbane and in Dubai. And it was definitely true again there in Hangzhou. And yeah, it's big for Medvedev because he's on the cusp of ATP finals qualification. I remember at the start of the season or end of last year, we were talking what would be a good 2026 for Medvedev. And I think we all thought getting back into the ATP finals would be a real goal for him. And for him to potentially do that without many slam results to show for, you know, his slam season hasn't been as bad as Feast.

6:12There's been fewer losses to Benjamin Bonzi. well I was going to kind of compare it to Art of Feast in that they've had similar they've had similar seasons in that most of their results have come from the tour whereas Medvedev obviously had a couple of fourth round runs at slams so it's a bit different because Feast has you know barely done anything at all at the slams but I feel like the slams are where you form kind of the biggest opinion of a player like Medvedev at this stage in his career and from that sense it's felt like a bit of a bit of a disappointing season because he's had opportunities there's been there's been moments where you thought okay can really take advantage of this and that just hasn't happened but his tour results have actually been quite good three titles obviously that run at indian wells a good a good run in rome as well and that win there put him about 500 points ahead of hodd who's in who's ninth in the race he's currently eighth medvedev and very much

7:10Matt Roberts: not in form. Right. We'll come on to that in a moment. But I think I'd rather be in Medvedev's, far rather be in Medvedev's position than Khodar. Yeah, I think better form, more points on the board and an opportunity this week to increase that lead as well. So yeah, I think an important week for Medvedev actually. Put himself in contention to go on a nightmare tour, which is really what every player ranked outside the world's sort of top five is really aiming for right now.

7:42David Law: He's good at playing a lot of different tournaments and winning them all though, isn't he? So that suits him down to the grass.

7:47Matt Roberts: I think he'll thrive in a nightmare tour scenario, David. I really do. Okay, staying with the ATP, two 500 events already underway this week. We have Beijing, which is concurrent with a women's event, but the women's event is a 1 ,000. The men's is a 500. So the structure and the length of them are different. And we also have the ATP 500 standalone in Tokyo. And they're both good fields, Beijing and Tokyo. I think they both are tournaments with quite big budgets in terms of appearance fees. So they do tend to get good player fields for 500 level events. And really the kind of the standout storyline kind of across, if you're taking the two events together, is the Labour Cup hangover, or the Labour Cup curse, whatever you want to call it.

8:41Matt Roberts: It's eight losses and four wins for players that played in the Labour Cup, which is logically probably no surprise. They finished in London on Sunday. They're required to play in either Tokyo or Beijing on Tuesday. I think it's a pretty bonkers thing to try and pull off. So here is the casualty list of Labour cuppers. We have Lerna Tien, who's been beaten by the aforementioned Hubert Hercatch, 6-4 in the third in Beijing. Flavio Caboli, in a shock to absolutely nobody, was beaten by Roman Cefiulin in straight sets in Beijing. Ignacio Busse, yes, he was at the Labour Cup. He was beaten by Conte Alisse, 6-1, 7-6 in Beijing.

9:28Matt Roberts: And then over in Tokyo, Rafael Hodder beaten by Adolfo Vallejo, 6-1, 6-3. Taylor Fritz beaten by Jammer Mouna, 6 '7", 6 '4", 6 '3". Arthur Ferry beaten by Jaim Farrier, 6 '4", 3 '6", 6 '4". They're still a good week for Arthur Ferry because he seems to have enjoyed a meeting with Tom Cruise in very bizarre crossover content news. Does that count as a good week? I don't know. Probably not for me, but maybe for Arthur Ferry. He looked like he was enjoying it. Kasper Rude, beaten by Luciano Darderi in straight sets in Tokyo. And also Brandon Nakashima, beaten by Ugo Mbair, 6-3, 6-2. So who has defied the Labour Cup curse?

10:15Matt Roberts: Carlos Alcaraz, of course. He beat Alex Mickelson, 7-6, 4-6, 6-1. Alexander Zverev scraped through against Cameron Norrie, 7-6, 6-4 in Beijing. Tokyo is where Alcaraz is playing. Francisco Disco Sarundolo beat Bertik van der Zanskulp 6-3 in the third in Beijing. And Alex de Mino beat Mariano Navone 7-6, 6-2 in Beijing as well. And then we had fellow Lever Cupers, Mensik and Bublik, facing off in Beijing. And Mensik won that one. Again, no surprise to anybody that watched Bublik in the Lever Cup because he was dreadful there. and add on a 14-hour flight and a load of jet lag onto that. Horrific.

11:06And yet he still played better than he did at the Labour Cup. Yeah.

11:12Matt Roberts: Look, it's pretty obvious, isn't it, David? This isn't a coincidence. Of course, that's a bonkers thing to try and do. Once again, tennis doesn't fit into its own calendar.

11:25David Law: Yeah. Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure I've gone through this thought process before after a Labour Cup, and it was probably the last one that was in Europe. I'd actually be quite interested whether anybody can be bothered to crunch the numbers on the last few years. I don't know. I am tempted because I definitely think you would see the trend. It's just too much. it's too much to ask the human body to do i think really to go from europe to asia to play within a couple of days and expect to be at your your top level i mean look at look at guys like francis tiaffo who's been a sort of laver cup regular who didn't play this time art of feast didn't play this time you know we'll talk about them later they were fantastic today i haven't seen anybody who played the laver cup play at that level really these two came in prepared and they looked fresh and ready to go.

12:20David Law: You know, it's just one of those things. If you're going to have this schedule, you're going to get this sort of lacklustre set of performances, I think.

12:29Matt Roberts: How much sympathy do we have? Because these are 500 events. These are not mandatory. I mean, as we've been hearing, even mandatory events aren't really mandatory anymore because certainly the top players are just going to take the punishment or the deductions to their bonus pool or whatever it is and not play if it doesn't feel like the right thing for them to do. But technically, they don't have to be playing these tournaments. I do believe they are tournaments with, as I said, big budgets for appearance fees. But I don't know how deep down the field that stretches. I mean, for example, Art of Feast clearly isn't getting an appearance fee because he found himself in...

13:11Matt Roberts: I think he is. Is he? But why was he in qualifying then?

13:14David Law: Because he messed up and forgot to enter.

13:17Matt Roberts: So he took the cheque but forgot to put his name down.

13:23David Law: What would have happened had he not qualified and therefore that have had no value out of his presence whatsoever? I'm not sure. But yeah, I think it went down as far as him. So that's a bit of a cock up, isn't it? Not to enter. But as I said at the time, if he wins the qualifying matches, he'll be all the more dangerous. And here he is.

13:43Matt Roberts: so basically they're they're doing this to themselves most of them because they're getting

13:48David Law: an appearance fee yeah i mean look they're 500s they're good tournaments they lead into shanghai which is a 1000 it's a swing if you're going to go over there all these sort of things but look i mean there's no question the money like which one do you play do you play beijing do you play tokyo a lot of the time it's like well who's offering me the most that's what tends to happen with these with these level of tournaments when you've got a choice. And, I mean, as you say, it doesn't necessarily stretch all the way down the draw. It's a select few half a dozen players.

14:18Matt Roberts: I'm not sure Brandon Nakashima is… No.

14:22David Law: No, I'm not sure either. Getting a check? I think there are several you could point at and you'd think, no, he's not getting anything. But there's many who are and it's forever been that way. It used to be a lot. I mean, although nobody's publicising these amounts, I mean, it used to be a lot more frowned upon than it is now. You know, there used to be a real sort of disgust at the way this went on, I think. Now it's just much more accepted, I think. the other thing you can do is is make friends at Lever Cup across across the partisan boundary of of Europe and world like like Flavio Caballi and Ignacio Busse and you can you can go out in your first singles match and then you can also team up in the doubles at your new tournament and you can go out of that as well which is exactly what they've done oh Flavio

15:24Matt Roberts: So that's not what the Hulk would have done, is it? Should we talk about kind of results from these two tournaments outside of Labour Cup things? Should we talk about Carlos Alcaraz? I think we all watched his match against Alex Mickelson. Quite a bizarre match, I thought, his opener. I mean, well, certainly a very bizarre second set, but some wonderful Alcaraz Peaks, a great crowd. Poor old Alex Mickelson looked pretty dejected by the end. But yeah, I had fun watching Carlos Alcaraz stop the presses, Matt. Yeah, I think the first set of this match was up there, maybe not quite as high level as Fiesta-Tiafo that David mentioned earlier, but a really compelling opening set between these two.

16:26And Mickelson really showing just how good he is and coming forward a lot and able to cause Alcaraz a lot of problems and Alcaraz having to try and solve those problems. It was it was genuinely a brilliant set. And for that to come so early in the tournament, you know, like really did show the strength of this field before obviously everyone, everyone lost. but it turned and actually I think that has been a bit of a theme of Alcaraz's recent matches certainly against Shelton at the US Open we saw him suddenly drop off if you want to read into Lever Cup you could say that he did drop off a little bit in the second set there against Fritz as well and it happened again here he went down an early break he almost went down a double break he then actually got the set back on track and went up 4-2 in the second set and you thought, okay, he's going to win this in straight sets.

17:19And then he went off again and lost the set and then flipped the switch again and turned it around and won the third quite easily. It is reminding me of Alcaraz. It's like he's come back from 2024. He just hasn't quite come back with the total match management that he absolutely perfected through 2025 and the start of this season, which is I'm sure to be expected I think he just needs more matches doesn't he but it's a lot more up and down and he's getting himself in trouble and then pulling himself out of it which was such an Alcaraz trait for such a long time it's just that the Alcaraz we got most used to seeing most recently was was doing a lot less of that but you know I think I think there are some good signs he He talked afterwards about how he found actually the transition from indoors to outdoors to be really hard, not only in terms of the match, but the fact that he had to be practicing indoors, obviously at Lever Cup.

18:24And then again in Tokyo. Tokyo is going through an extraordinary period of rain at the moment where they've had over 30 consecutive days of rain. And I think a lot of the players have had to be practicing indoors. and Alcaraz said that it was very different suddenly when he got into the match and he felt like the balls were heavy and he couldn't play aggressively and he did have to adapt to that. So that's another adaptation that you've got to make very, very quickly coming from the Lever Cup. So it all feeds in, I think, to why this was not the most consistent performance but I think a good sign for him as he continues to make this comeback.

19:04Matt Roberts: So Artifis talked about the same thing after his win that you mentioned over Francis Tiafoe today about having to practice outdoors and then, sorry, practice indoors and then come and play outdoors. He actually practiced, warmed up for the match against his coach, Goran Ivanovic, who's out there in Tokyo with him. David, I think is going to be out there for the whole Asian swing. He was asked by Candy Reid, who's doing the interviews for the ATP this week. Why did you warm up with Goran, a lefty, when you were playing a righty? And he said, well, I've never lost after warming up with Goran. So that's a good feather for Goran to have in his cap.

19:46Matt Roberts: As you said, this was such a high-level match. I guess no surprise that Fises played himself into a real groove after accidentally having to come through qualifying.

19:58David Law: Yeah, well, I've been saying for years that players who enter qualifying do themselves a favour. Now, strictly speaking, you can't do that if your ranking is high enough. You've got to play the bloody tournament. And you've got to start, you know, often with a bye. OK, not this tournament, but you often do. And I think it puts you on the back foot. I mean, obviously, there's a risk you might lose in qualifying. And Art of Feast lost his first set of the tournament 6-2 to Martin Dahl in that first round of qualifying. Then he won the next two, 6-1, 6-1. Lost a set in his second round one. Won the third set, 6-1.

20:33David Law: You know, then he's into his groove. Wins comfortably in the first round. This was just fantastic, this level. Tiafoe, it's great to see that he hasn't just tailed away after that disappointment of the US Open. He has made his mantra for the year to clock in every single day. that's the deal he's made with his coaching team and that is coming across in the way he's playing he is standing toe to toe he is prepared to play 20 shot rallies i mean there was i think third or fourth game of the match he played two 20 to 25 shot rallies with feats and they they split them they won one each and he was right there and and i'm watching this i'm thinking i just think for you to win if feats is playing like this you probably need to inject some variety as well which he started to do but he just I mean Feast was serving so well and he was so locked in and he's so physical that even this version of Tiafoe just could not quite stay with Feast then in the second set I'm waiting for Feast to have his customary crash out when he just for some reason loses his concentration despite winning love service game after love service game and he and he went down 15 40 in the in this i think seventh or eighth game of the second set and he played two fantastic points to kind of see off those danger moments then there was a 35 stroke rally that tiafo won late in that set and you're thinking okay well if that isn't going to get him over the line into a third set nothing will but actually although he won the point and it was brilliant it hurt tiafo more than it hurt feese it wore wore tiafo out i think and i mean look he's super fit but feese is a physical marvel to be honest in terms of just what he's able to do i think out there um he he has got a heck of a tank and and he just he just kind of strong-armed himself over the line this is the third winner of threes out against tiafo and this was tiafo pretty much at his best and i think that'd be hard to take for tiafo i i watched this and thought that's the best performance i've seen from fees all year you know he's nine in the world he's got himself to nine in the world seventh in the race and he's won one grand slam match all year it's pretty extraordinary isn't it um message Goran he said that he'd said to Feast that is the best you've played all year you know that's what he wants to see from him and it's quite interesting now Feast plays against Valentin Vachero who had a really long three-set win over Stefanos Tsitsipas and one of the things that Feast is really really good at is going cross-court backhand exchanges He's really strong with that.

23:33David Law: Vashara has a great backhand. So this is the moment we're going to find out whether the stuff that Goran's been working on with Feast, which is to go down the line on the backhand more, is he prepared to do it? Because, you know, Goran says, it doesn't matter how good your backhand is, if people are leaning left because they know that's coming, you've got to be able to pull the trigger the other way. So it's quite an interesting sort of work in progress to see Fises' development. But these are massive, massive steps, I think.

24:10Matt Roberts: And if he keeps on going in Tokyo, he will likely move up a place or two in the race because he's only 105 points behind Francis Tiafoe in sixth at the moment. And obviously Francis Tiafoe can make no further gains. Flavio Caballi has crashed out of singles and doubles. He's a couple of hundred points ahead. But like, you know, all the way up to Carlos Alcaraz in fourth place, it's pretty tight there. And yeah, fifth down to eighth is really, really tight in the race. And then you're into Hodda, Fritz, Djokovic. Although if he qualified, would he play? I would be surprised personally. Alex de Menor looks ready to go on a nightmare tour to me.

24:59Matt Roberts: Jakob Mensik as well, still in Beijing, those two. And I think it would be interesting if we get Alcaraz's feast in the final in a few days' time. I think we will. I think we will as well, looking at the draw. And I think that's really interesting from a feast standpoint, especially against this Alcaraz. You know, like the one, this isn't the Alcaraz that absolutely smoked him in Doha earlier in the year. You know, like this, this is a more in and out Alcaraz. I think there's a bit of a chance there for Feast. And it would be, it'd be a real boost for him. I think if he could, you know, really push Alcaraz or even beat him.

25:44But I think that's the, that's the storyline I sort of most want from, from Tokyo over the next few days. I think that, that collision course to come off. And honestly, with the way the draw has opened up, I think certainly Alcarez should be getting to the final and Fies if he can keep up that level as well.

26:05Matt Roberts: Lorenzo Mazzetti not in the draw. That was a real shame to see. I was relieved that it wasn't a recurrence of a previous injury. It's a new injury for Lorenzo Mazzetti. He does seem to be one of these players that sort of ticking off every body part one by one. The latest is a finger injury that he sustained in practice. So get well soon, Lorenzo. And the final storyline from Tokyo that we've seen so far, probably the biggest, in fact, certainly in terms of the tournament locally, but more than that as well, the retirement of Kei Nishikori. Lost to Francis Tiafoe in his final match. The atmosphere was extraordinary.

26:52Matt Roberts: I think, you know, it was evidence that it's the right time for Kei Nishikori to be retiring. It was very emotional afterwards. I, you know, I don't I don't love sort of retirement tours and sort of ceremonial style uncompetitive goodbyes. But I'm he's been so injury ravaged Nishikori. I'm glad he got to feel a little bit like he was going out on his own terms, David.

27:25David Law: Yeah, I actually thought this was a lovely match for him to sign off with because Tiafoe played very well, as we've been talking about. He got chanced Nishikori to play some of his signature shots once in a while and Tiafa remarked upon how he adopted one of Nishikori's signature shots, the jumping backhand because of Nishikori. And he's great, Tiafa. We saw it with Mickelson at the US Open. He understands the moment. And the moment of victory, he just sort of kind of handed it over to Nishikori and he was orchestrating people to just throw their love in his direction and was quite happy to take a back step.

28:11David Law: and he understood it all. And the tournament had got their sort of big display on the backboard ready to say, you know, thank you, Kay. And his family and his friends were all there and it was very emotional. He was bowing in the direction of his team and he was, yeah, tearful and lauded to the rafters by an absolutely packed crowd. I thought it was beautiful, really. and I am glad that he's signing off as you say because it was a bit like some of the stuff we saw with Dominic Thiem where he could play but he just didn't have the it's almost like a boxer who loses their punch resistance you know you just realize they can't take a punch anymore or in this instance they can't quite sustain a rallying anymore like they used to be able to and at that point you've got to go You've got to just not make yourself suffer that.

29:13Matt Roberts: Okay, well, obvious segue there from Tokyo to Beijing, turning our attention to Novak Djokovic. 39-year-old Novak Djokovic, who has strung together back-to-back wins. He's beaten Nuno Borges. We've just watched him beat Bu Yunxiao Kete. Poor Bu Yunxiao Kete. He qualifies for the US Open. He smokes Rafael Hodder in the result of his career. He thinks, I'm coming into the Asian swing, my home tournaments in the best form I've been in for years. I'm going to have the crowd behind me. It's going to be great. Comes up against Novak Djokovic, crowd all cheering for Djokovic. I mean, I felt so sorry for him.

30:01Matt Roberts: This is Djokovic's first time playing Beijing since 2015. and they have missed him. My God, they are in a frenzy for Novak Djokovic over there. Poor Bujanshauketi, David, was just a passenger in this match in front of his home fans.

30:21David Law: It was lovely, actually. I mean, he got a good reception and he got cheered when he hit good shots, but the love was for Djokovic. I mean, it was overwhelming, really. I mean, I can't, it was like the Beatles had turned up, you know, the way he was greeted. And yeah, I mean, I can understand why he wanted to go back and why he loves it there so much. And he's unbeaten at the tournament. And the difference is he's still got that defiance. He's still got that kind of fighter's instinct and chance. He looks vulnerable every time he plays now, pretty much Novak Djokovic. I can't think of a match he's played when he hasn't had a medical timeout.

31:08David Law: He looks like he's suffering in most matches these days, but he's still winning a hell of a lot of them.

31:16Matt Roberts: When I search his name on the Getty Images database, David, about 50 % of the pictures are him on his haunches or hunched over using his racket as a walking stick or lying down taking a medical timeout. It really tells a story, the array of pictures you get. I think so.

31:37David Law: I think most matches I watch him and I think, why are you doing this to yourself? This looks so miserable. And then he'll come out the other side in a lot of them and you think, well, okay, that's why. I get it. You still can. You still want to. I mean, all power to you. but I hope he I just hope he can get enough of the good moments and know when the right time is look that's up to him to decide isn't it but there's still a flicker there there's still a flame there and he clearly wants to see if he can find a way to come through whatever the most recent health issues are so that he could find that magic again that he found in Australia briefly I would imagine And obviously he's got his eyes on the Olympics and so forth.

32:29David Law: But, oh dear, every match feels like a bit of a saga. He's being helped out as well, as much as it might not look like it.

32:37Matt Roberts: But he's being helped out by the weather in Beijing, which is pretty cold, I think, or relatively cold. I mean, we've seen very hot and humid conditions in Beijing and in Shanghai in recent years. And obviously he's told us we don't know the details of this health condition he's got, but it's aggravated by exactly that sort of weather. So that's technically a bit of a win for Djokovic, but he's likely got Zverev next. Zverev faces Jerry Shang. That's not a given. Shang's a flashy, fast racket arm gunslinger of a player, but obviously Zverev very much the favourite there. So, I don't know, that'll be a side.

33:26Matt Roberts: If Djokovic faces Verev, saga, that's got saga written all over it. I think one of the best recent, I don't know, pod jargon that has been invented is David talking about elongated drama at the start of the US Open. It was just so perfect to describe kind of everything that Novak Djokovic goes through on a court. I mean, he's just incapable of playing a short match. I mean, it's extraordinary. And this one went against the conventional wisdom for me in that he got better as the match went on. I do think now that once you see him sucking in the air and having the medical time out, you sort of think, OK, he might get through this somehow, but I don't think he's going to suddenly start playing a lot better.

34:21But he actually did in this one.

34:22Matt Roberts: He looked so ropey in the first set, didn't he? Yeah, and Boo was really good. Boo was, I think, shocked him with how good he was. I've been telling you, Matt, he's a good player. Right. I was telling you last year I very much dropped him like a hot potato this year

34:40David Law: Hold on to it Catherine You can get sort of the deferred credit But yeah I thought Djokovic was really good on return again and started hitting his forehand bigger as the match went on but yes I do think Zverev who it will likely be that's a whole different it's a whole different ball game I've got Djokovic winning that. I mean, I've got Djokovic winning the tournament, as you know, but I just think that's exactly the sort of match that Djokovic... I don't think it's a choice. I think it's just an instinct. It's like I could just imagine him going, without thinking about it, right, this is where I come alive.

35:25Matt Roberts: I agree with you, David. I just think increasingly now his body stops him, even when he's in that. frame of mind like there are there are some laws of physics that he can't defy but we'll see and and i i think it's you know zverev knows that this is his chance for number one as well like you know we talk about why the players are putting themselves through that short turnaround from labour cup to this like he's i think he's going to play as much as he possibly can, trying to accumulate as many points as he can, like he will be very motivated to win that match as well. And, you know, I think that's interesting.

36:10You don't often get like such a sort of big consequential match like that in the quarterfinal of a 500 in early October. But it does feel for both of them like there's quite a lot on the line there if it happens.

36:25Matt Roberts: Yeah, Yannick Sinner on 11 ,000 points, but not accumulating any at the moment. That's accounting for the 500 that are coming off this week because he won Beijing last year. So that's already priced in. Alexander Zverev on 9 ,630. So if Yannick Sinner gets fit and starts playing again, that's a proper tussle. if Yannick Sinner remains on the sidelines it feels like a procession really for Zverev barring injury to get to number one given how many points there still are available well yeah I mean Zverev's about 800 ahead in the race and the race becomes the ranking at the end of the year and if you know if Sinner doesn't get any more then Zverev's going to be number one Last couple of bits and bobs from Beijing.

37:21Matt Roberts: Karen Hashinov continuing his US Open form. He beat Felix Auger-Eliassime comfortably 6-3, 6-3. And he beat Alex Molchan. So he's trucking along there. And just on Felix Auger-Eliassime, we had the news broken by Tom Kershaw in The Times this week that Felix Orgeliasim is to be coached by Ivan Lubacic, David, the man of many jobs.

37:47David Law: Yes, yeah, it's an interesting one, isn't it? And I've been in touch with Lubacic today, who has confirmed that, yes, he's doing this job and he will continue working with the French Tennis Federation, albeit not in the full-time sort of role that he was previously working on, the performance of the very top players, male players. this is to consult with the president uh to kind of as a sort of special advisory role for gil mauriton so exactly what that involves i don't know i get the sense just from seeing things on social media that this hasn't gone down brilliantly with some of the french media this idea did you see that clip as well david i really enjoyed that of the of the french radio show saying they're taking us for fools yes that sounds fun don't seem delighted about him coaching a canadian tennis player whilst also working for the french tennis federation to be honest

38:44Matt Roberts: i get that yeah i think he's pretty lucky i mean look good luck to him if it's you know if his two employers are up are up for it then okay with it then fine but yeah i i see the issue yeah

39:02David Law: yeah and look i mean i i know even pretty well i've got i i've got a lot of time for him a lot of sort of um i think he's a very smart guy and i think he can bring a lot to a lot of these but i am fascinated to see what he can bring to felix ogiel yassim who has already hit heights that i thought were probably beyond him a couple of years ago you know what he's done in the last year getting to four in the world and um you know really pushing some of the best in the world getting to semi-finals of grand slams and but but this is a serious appointment you know i think it's absolutely the right thing to do to to kind of just turn that stone over for himself you know and i i sort of asked lubic you know how many weeks are you gonna do on the road you know he's got a he's got a sort of 15 year old an 18 year old his 18 year old son by the way lubicic is is in um uh Vanderbilt University in Nashville on a as a tennis player um and he's he's taller than Lubitsch already you know and he's sort of um a promising young player I don't know whether he intends to turn pro at the end of it all but you know it's I suspect in a way Lubitsch has got to a point of his life where he can travel a bit more but you know he said no no it's not about weeks for me i i do the job it's as simple as that so um he he seems really locked in to that role

40:27Matt Roberts: just to say i don't want to do even even lubritch out of any work but i i am available to offer advice to gil mauriton for free what's your advice i'll wait by the phone gil to be fair we've been doing that he's just yeah he's just not been listening absolutely no money needs to change hands what are your top three we know what they are pretty yeah don't get into it now i really hope for uh orgelia seems uh case that he's he's not he's not hired another coach where there's going to be an example where the coach actually is going to be rooting for the other person yeah you know like like if after if he's playing artifice in a really big match like where does lubich sit that was actually we're gonna be in that scenario again my i think my favorite bit from ill-fated netflix series breakpoint seeing the behind the scenes of that yeah uh felix playing nadal at roland garros with uncle tony on his team and just how how catastrophic a situation that was.

41:41Matt Roberts: Obviously, that didn't work.

41:43David Law: By the way, Lubitsch's son, Leonardo, single-handed backhand, guys. David, I know this because I saw that we now follow him on Instagram. Yep. I was like, oh, I didn't know about this guy and now we're following him on Instagram. That's right. I'll use Leo Lubitsch

42:07Matt Roberts: I will keep you posted on his progress and on the career path of Mariano Poeta that is it for part one we'll be back in part two to talk about the WTA event that is kicked off in Beijing Today's show is brought to you by Vanguard to all the financial advisors listening let's talk about bonds for a minute capturing value in fixed income is not easy Bond markets are massive, murky and let's be real, lots of firms throw a couple of flashy fans your way and call it a day. But not Vanguard. Vanguard bonds are institutional quality and that isn't just a tagline. It's a commitment to your clients. It means top grade products across the board.

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44:32Matt Roberts: Welcome back to part two of today's tennis podcast. Staying in Beijing, moving on to the WTA event there. A longer event because it's a 1000. So the final of this, Matt, is going to be played on... Sunday next week, I believe. Sunday next week. It's a long one, folks. Yeah, not much has happened in WTA Beijing so far, I would say. No, but we'll let you know what you need to know. Irina Sabalenka, she beat Renata Zarazua earlier on today. She now faces Nicola Barton-Cova. Not a whole ton to say from this match. I'm pretty interested, Matt, in how hungry and locked in an arena Sabalenka we're going to see for the remainder of the season.

45:25Matt Roberts: Is she in you're not going to like me when I'm angry, my world number one title's been taken, I haven't got a grand slam to my name, I've got a point to prove? Or is she like, screw 2026? I'll be back properly in 2027 and make my point then, you know? Yeah, interesting. My assumption was kind of the former. Like, I think she'll, if she's out there competing as she is, I think she's going to want to try and prove a point and finish the year as strongly as she possibly can, I think. She doesn't strike me as someone who's going to be saving herself for next year. She might be a bit over it, I suppose.

46:19Matt Roberts: It might not be a conscious decision, but just how much hunger really is there? I saw the pre-tournament interview. She's saying all the right things. I'm thrilled to be back in China. I had so much success here, and she has. I feel like the first really big results that Sabalenka had were her titles in Wuhan. But there's Hungary and there's Hungary. There's the proper fire in the belt. Of course, she's a competitor. She wants to win every time she takes to the court. I'm not suggesting she's completely checked out. But this is a sport of fine margins. I do just wonder if that edge is there, you know?

47:05Matt Roberts: Yeah. And I'm very interested to find out. Yeah. Poor Zarazua certainly got the full force of Zabalenga, I would say. That's a total mismatch, isn't it? Zarazua was like, I think she was serving first serve percentage 85 % through this match. and yet it was just having absolutely no impact. Sabalenka hit more winners than Zara 0-1 points in just a two-set beatdown. The next match is interesting. Barton Kovar was in the lead, wasn't she, against Sabalenka? She should have beaten her. Was that Berlin? She should have beaten her on the grass, yeah, and couldn't finish. She should have beaten her.

47:46Matt Roberts: That was a heck of a match this summer.

47:49David Law: Couldn't get more different opponents, could you, really? Barton Kover and Zarazua. I sort of, my feeling on Sabalenka generally is that she's one of the most naturally competitive people that I've seen, that when she gets out there, she just goes into this zone. And there's a bit of Djokovic about her as well that I think will love the ovations that she's getting there. If she gets received well as a star, she'll enjoy that. But I think what you lose is that little bit of resilience of kind of, if it's getting tough, can you be doing with it? Can you make yourself go into the trenches and just dig as deep?

48:33David Law: In fairness, though, we've seen that this season. She's not had that at times. Yeah, absolutely tough, I think. Even through moments where you wouldn't have questioned her motivation because it was a slap bang in the middle of the Grand Slam season. And it's just that has been a bit of a Sabalenka trait. Like, even if that happens, I don't know whether that's necessarily motivation, I suppose, is what I'm saying.

48:59Matt Roberts: Yeah, that's true. Like, if that starts happening, then, you know, it's impossible to conclusively diagnose what's going on. I'm not suggesting she's checked out. I just, I can imagine just being like, fuck 2026.

49:17David Law: You know? There have been a few times.

49:19Matt Roberts: This hasn't gone how I planned. Yeah. Naomi Osaka dropped the second set to Maria Timofave from Uzbekistan, a player that I commentated on at the Australian Open last year, I remember. She won a match against Elise Corne on the Kia Arena. I was really impressed with her. You know, she doesn't have the weapons. I wasn't thinking, oh, future Grand Slam champion here, but I'm just surprised I've barely heard about her since then. I'm surprised she hasn't made herself a solid top 50 player. And she played well today. Naomi Osaka was up and down from Osaka. There was a period of this match where she looked like she'd kind of completely checked out before really locking back in in the third set.

50:14but I'm pretty intrigued about Osaka Belek.

50:19Matt Roberts: Very, very much looking forward to that match, in fact, in the next round.

50:24David Law: That's a nice contrast in stars, isn't it? And Belek's somebody that's just kind of emerged, really, this year as a real threat and such a different type of player. And yeah, again, you get to find out how much desire there is for a player like Osaka, who's done it all in her career and is sort of still trying to achieve a lot and is now post-Grand Slams in this 2026 season. You know, how much more is left? But that in itself makes the year quite interesting to me, this type of part of the year. And yeah, matches like this where Bielik, I suspect, just loving it. You know, she just wants as many of these experiences as she can get.

51:15Matt Roberts: Anna's just experienced the Billie Jean King Cup victory and is kind of running on those vibes. Darius Sneger. I do like the occasional opportunity to talk about Darius Sneger. Unfortunately, it comes at the expense of Jasmine Paolini on this occasion. We never want Jasmine Paolini to be sad. 6-2 in the third the win for Sneger here who is I do like, she might be a guilty pleasure of mine Matt Darius Sneger Do you know I don't think we should feel guilty about it like she plays funky tennis and I am always going to champion that like she has some of the oddest technique especially on the forehand that you could ever have.

52:07She hits the ball so flat. And yet when she really gets in a groove, she can be quite dangerous. And she's had a good season. She's really risen up the rankings. And yeah, she flipped this one because Paolini should have won in straight sets. This was how I started my morning. I woke up and watched this match. And Paolini had 4-2 in the second set tie break and just couldn't close from there. And yeah, tough Paolini scenes in that final set. Every change of end, she was looking really sad and forlorn and questioning where her game is and was definitely beaten by the better player in that third set.

52:54Matt Roberts: Mir Andreeva lost the first set to Yuan Yui, but then won two six-love sets. She does kind of do this, Andreeva, doesn't she? that's a bit of a pattern she's developing yeah that's a very funny scoreline

53:14but I'm pleased it's like that way round you know like I sometimes feel like Andreeva can come out hot and lose it and never get it back as well but I do think she just sort of drew a line under that first set and kind of got her shit together and managed to race through two and three

53:33Matt Roberts: which is growth isn't it you know the ability to draw a line and reset is important in terms of maybe it's something she she has struggled with in the past unless you're in a one-point slam of course in which case lose the point and there's absolutely no no point in a reset because that is that is your day done uh and speaking of one-point slams do make sure you join us in part three

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54:58Matt Roberts: Welcome back to part three of today's tennis podcast. Plenty of news to bring you up to date with. Thank you, tennis. We've got some personal news and we've got some tennis news. We'll start with the bigger context news first. Carlos Alcaraz, Mr. Pushing the Agendas, Carlos Alcaraz, isn't on board with my best of three memo or certainly adjusting the formats of Grand Slam tennis, perhaps men's and women's Grand Slam tennis. He is very much a hardcore backer, a best of five still, despite what he's been saying in recent weeks about wanting the season and the calendar to be shortened and adjusted to make more allowance for player health and well-being and injury prevention.

55:49Matt Roberts: He doesn't want five-set tennis to be changed at all with that end in mind. It doesn't surprise me that he feels that way. I think men's tennis is incredibly institutionalised about best of five. And I think a lot of tennis is really institutionalised about it. Just look at the new CEO of Tennis Australia, the new Australian Open tournament director, put it out there in some quite kind of boat rocky quotes to start a new job with. he kind of said changing the format of the sport isn't off the table and the outcry was so huge that he had to immediately row back on that, didn't he, and sort of confirm that they wouldn't be changing the format.

56:43Matt Roberts: So it doesn't surprise me, David, that Alcaraz feels this way. Maybe I can get him on board with the anti-wildcard agenda.

56:55David Law: If anybody can. I still think, though, it would be fascinating to have an actual conversation with Carlos Alcres about it, to put to him the various thoughts and conversations we've all had about it. Because, you know, inevitably you get asked one question, what do you think about getting rid of five-set tennis? He's just probably going to trot out the old line about having loved five-set tennis or being so used to it and all the rest of it. I don't think it's necessarily engaging him in all the elements of that conversation. I mean, I do think saying you're in favour of five-set tennis staying is not necessarily like a bad take.

57:41No, I don't either. I think he's perfectly allowed to have that. And I do think actually he did make the point in his answer again. Like he was asked about five sets and he answered it and he made the point again about scheduling. And he didn't totally put the two together because it's in a press conference. He's not having that argument. But I do think he would probably understand the point that like if we can keep, I think what he was saying really is if we can keep five sets and change the scheduling, that's the ideal. And I think, you know, I think I can I could get on board with that. I think one of my biggest issues with five sets is that it feels really unsustainable with the way the calendar currently is and how much tennis everyone is.

58:33You're then asking them to up the load in the way that the sport's got more physical. We've not made any adjustments for that. You know, all of this kind of thing. People have heard our arguments loads of times. I think he was kind of getting there with his coin.

58:49Matt Roberts: But I also don't think, you know, he's not thinking about gender equality. No. Obviously. And sort of the analistic approach.

59:00David Law: And he probably hasn't been presented with, how about this is an idea or that is an idea. It's just very binary. It's like, do you think we should have it or not? Yeah, yeah.

59:13Matt Roberts: But you're right. I don't think it's a terrible take to believe in wanting to preserve five-set tennis. You're right. Thank you for saving me there from the haters, Matt. Appreciate you. we have had a calendar announcement from the WTA. In fact, we've had... Did you see the video of Valerie Camilo and Jessica Bagula? Of course it's Jessica Bagula.

59:47Who else? Roll her out.

59:50Matt Roberts: I thought it was a really good video. Kind of an explainer of what they're doing and why they're doing it. yeah totally and i i think you know i think a lot of people probably us included rolled their eyes at the at the name architecture council oh another council that was that was made at the start of the year but i i think this is an example of it of it really working and and working well there's clearly been good communication between the players and the tour on this and and they've made some you know they've made some changes to the calendar which i think unless you're sort of deep in the weeds of tennis you're not really going to think that much has changed but i think a couple of key things have changed for players and pagula in this video was really talking about wanting to have a more flexible schedule that was something that she kept talking about and it used to be that they that the wta players had to play six 500s they're now only going to have to play four and they're also going to be able to use the result of a 500 or a 250 on their ranking instead of a thousand so you know maybe that could mean they could they could skip a thousand and not be sort of punished for it it's not going to count to their rankings not going to be concerned about losing points so they also talked about how there's more to do in 2028 and maybe we'll see more changes to the calendar but i thought that That was a really good example of how sometimes the structure of the tours can work, where you've got the tournaments and the players in conversation with each other and they've come up with this hopefully improved system for the players next year.

1:01:38Matt Roberts: There's also going to be a 250 event in the Philippines in 2027, but that's going to be a vibe. Yes, that is, I think, going to be November 2021. Seven, I think it's just before the WTA finals. Like, imagine the pressure on Iala if she's qualified for the WTA finals. But of course she'd have to play in Manila. Yeah. Yeah. Exciting, I think. Yeah, really cool. And they confirmed that there will be equal prize money at all combined 1 ,000 events from 2027 from next year, which is the pledge that they made a couple of years ago, and they are on track to achieve that. We also had the news this week, today in fact, I think it was, that the Grand Slams, minus the Australian Open, crucially because they settled earlier on in the year, but the other Grand Slams are still locked in this lawsuit alongside the ATP and the WTA Tours being sued by the PTPA, the Professional Tennis Players Association, in an antitrust lawsuit.

1:02:53Matt Roberts: And the slams and the Tours have suffered a major blow after their motion to dismiss the lawsuit was rejected yesterday by the judge in New York. So the process will move on to the next stage. David, I don't know enough about the US legal process or about, well, no, leave it there. I don't know enough about the US legal process with cases like this really to speculate about where this might go or what the next stage is. But I am interested to see whether the USTA settle and break away as the Australian Open did, given that Craig Tiley, who was still head of Tennis Australia when Tennis Australia did settle, I'll be very interested to see if he takes the USTA, who he now has that role with, in the same direction.

1:03:48David Law: Yeah, very good point. That will be interesting. More good reporting from Tom Kirscher in The Times there to break that story. Yeah, it just, to me as a layperson and as a journalist, just generally I kind of roll my eyes at the idea of a sort of tennis organisation suing other tennis organisations. but maybe this is what they need to do to get meaningful change. I like really what Larry Scott's group has achieved without doing that. They've managed to get a player council at the Grand Slams. They've managed to get significant prize money increases. The players have now decided that that will do them in terms of prize money.

1:04:35David Law: But this is the way the PTPA has gone. And, yeah, it looks like it's going to keep going and dragging on. And I don't love it on the surface of things, but maybe just to get massive change, that's what you end up having to have. I just don't like it.

1:04:53Matt Roberts: Yeah, we'll add that to the list with Mariano Puerta's career and whatever Ivan Lubacic's son was called, things to keep you posted on. What was his name?

1:05:03David Law: Leonardo.

1:05:04Matt Roberts: Leonardo, of course. We will keep you posted, folks. You might have seen this week an Instagram post from Emma Navarro, pretty incredible Instagram post, I thought, from Emma Navarro talking about her health challenges in recent years. She says those challenges began almost three years ago and they were heavily influenced by choices that she made early in her professional career. She said she was diagnosed a year ago with a condition called RED-S, Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport. And it means that your body doesn't receive enough energy to support the demands of physical activity and daily life.

1:05:49Matt Roberts: She also said she has a further diagnosis of Hashimoto's syndrome and of hypothyroidism. She talks about having for a very long time felt physically off, even when she was having the best results of her career on the court in 2023 and 2024. She said she was experiencing during that period very intense and out of character emotions and that she was hungry every hour of the day. She said she lost almost£20 throughout 2023 and then another£10 throughout the 2024 season. She said, I thought I was doing what athletes are supposed to do, getting lean to optimise performance. But she says what was actually happening was that she was overtraining, underfuelling and her immune system was breaking down.

1:06:41Matt Roberts: She describes getting repeatedly sick throughout 2024, developing rashes on her body and experiencing episodes of brain fog and extreme fatigue. and all of this was while she was having tremendous success on the court. She said the situation became more acute and unsustainable throughout 2025 and she describes the breaking point coming at the Billie Jean King Cup last year where we saw her in tears on the court. She describes being devastated to represent my country in this state of exhaustion and hunger and confusion. She said it was in November last year she got a full diagnosis of what was going on, which was that she'd been under fueling for years and that her body had been screaming at her for help, but that she had ignored it.

1:07:33Matt Roberts: She says over the last year she's gone all in on getting healthy, changing her diet, getting on the right medications. And she now for the first time in years feels herself again. She said she can now compete without it taking the life out of me. She concludes by saying that she's shutting down her 2026 season to focus on fine tuning her medications and fueling. And she says she finishes the post by saying, so, yeah, I gained weight this year, but I also gained my life back. I have enough energy to seize every day to train and compete as hard as I want to and to live a life outside of tennis. And I have learned that there is no weight on the scale or leanness in your limbs that is more valuable than your health and well-being.

1:08:23It was an incredibly powerful post.

1:08:30David Law: Important. Important in every way. I'm just, yeah, I'm pretty in awe that she felt able to do that. But I'm really grateful that she did.

1:08:44Matt Roberts: Yeah, I thought it was extraordinary actually from Erin Navarro. It struck me as something that it felt like she'd sort of had on the go in her notes app for months, adding to it or tweaking it every now and then maybe as like a form of catharsis. But look, we've all seen the trolls, haven't we? As disgusting and completely predictable and inevitable as they are. because this is a world where everyone feels entitled to an opinion about women's bodies. And in the social media age, there are multiple available platforms for the worst of us to express those opinions publicly, sadly. But I actually don't think this post was aimed at the trolls.

1:09:37It felt to me like this was aimed more at well-meaning

1:09:43Matt Roberts: but ultimately still hurtful and misguided people, perhaps even some people she knows as well as strangers who have appraised her body over the last year and drawn conclusions about her fitness and wellbeing purely on the basis of her size. Like hearing her debunk the myth that smaller and thinner necessarily equals fitter and healthier is such a powerful and important message that the world needs to hear, I think. And it was incredible to hear her communicate that. Like, just think about the compliment, you look well. Like, most times that I've received the compliment, you look well, which we all know is code for you look thinner than the last time I saw you, more often than not, I've not been particularly well or certainly not my most well.

1:10:39Matt Roberts: Like, it's devastating that it's so sad that Emma Navarro has felt that she needs to explain her size and her body. Like, the fact of that is awful. But I thank her for doing it. And I really do urge everyone to go and read that post in full and really absorb the message in it. because, trust me, like every woman you know lives with this burden and it's even worse for athletes because their bodies are their instruments or one of their instruments and I think that validates people's appraisals and criticisms, you know, and it's really no wonder that eating disorders are prevalent in women's tennis.

1:11:28Matt Roberts: It's not something that is talked about very much and I totally understand the reasons for that, but they are prevalent. And all of which I think is to say that I think we all wish Emma Navarro nothing but the best. And I really thank her for using her platform and exposing herself so vulnerably in order to communicate such an important message. It's really great stuff from her. Really wish her well. Our plans, folks. We have a pod next Tuesday after the Tokyo and Beijing finals, which leaves Monday free for team golf. Yeah. Very excited about that. Is it? No, it's not the first time.

1:12:17David Law: First time you've played.

1:12:19Matt Roberts: Yes, it's the first time I've brought the side down.

1:12:25David Law: No. I mean, you've come on those trips before and you've been...

1:12:29Matt Roberts: I've driven the buggy magnificently.

1:12:32David Law: Yes. But now you're swinging those clubs in anger alongside Matt and me. Can't wait.

1:12:39Matt Roberts: Yes. Yeah, Billie Jean is coming. There will be content galore. Very excited about that. Catherine keeps talking about our golf game as though, like, there's no floor, like, as though we've got a good floor. I promise you. Yeah, but it's a better floor than me. It's, you know, it's all relative.

1:12:59David Law: I've got video evidence, Catherine, of what we are capable of doing. Andy Murray has seen my floor. Yes.

1:13:10Matt Roberts: Yeah, I still, yeah, I'm nervous, but I'm nervous but excited. It's going to be fun. Pressure is a privilege. That's what I'm telling myself. No, it's going to be a pressure-free environment. I really hope so. But I mean the pressure I'm putting on myself to not be crap and ruin the experience for you two.

1:13:33David Law: We're going to have a great time.

1:13:36Matt Roberts: So Golf Monday, Podcast Tuesday. Then we have another podcast on Wednesday for Friends of the Pod. That'll be a Q &A show. It'll be live on YouTube. Get your questions in on The Barge if you'd like to contribute to that show. There's always so many brilliant questions on there, so do head to the barge if you've got a burning question to ask us for that show at 8pm on Wednesday, the 7th of October. Link in the show notes if you'd like to become a friend of the pod. And speaking of links in the show notes, would you like to come and support Matt in the One Point Slam in Wrexham on Monday, the 19th of October?

1:14:20Matt Roberts: If you're not available, don't worry, because it will be on the BBC iPlayer. Yeah, me and the traitors. It's tough to know what's going to be more watched. I can't. I've known about this for a while. I've been very excited about it. I didn't know until the newsletter went out yesterday that it was going to be on iPlayer. I found out about that on Tuesday. How did you feel about that?

1:14:56Sure. I mean, it can't go worse than the other one that wasn't on iPlayer. So, you know.

1:15:05David Law: If Catherine can play golf, Matt. Exactly. Well, we don't know if I can yet. You can. And Matt can enter this.

1:15:13Matt Roberts: We're road tripping to Wrexham for the day. Billie Jean is going to come. so it's no pressure but it is quite a long way to go for one point so just a couple of rounds It's a crazy long way to go for one point Yeah I mean please do win the thing but a couple of rounds would be good Well the winner gets £1 ,000 and entry with accommodation and travel this is all courtesy of Dave Corteen, the tournament promoter of the Wrexham Open, to the Australian Open one-point slam. So if I win Wrexham... Imagine!

1:16:02Matt Roberts: I'm so excited about this. My dad wants to come. Yeah, it's going to be fun. Oh, please. I haven't mentioned that yet. That would be great. My dad wants to come. I would like the pod fans to please show up and show out. There's an excellent Women's 100 event on in Wrexham as well. You don't just have to go to Wrexham for my one point. There's, you know, go and watch the excellent tennis there. It's£10, less than£10 for a ticket to the One Point Grand, it's called in Wrexham. One point grand. It's, yeah, it's a great ticket. And you get to watch professional tennis players up close. It's a great thing to do.

1:16:48Matt Roberts: And professional tennis players and Matt. Yes. And, quote, local, no, celebrity, no, wild cards. Yes, that is me. Local celebrity, wild cards. Another test of my wild card policy.

1:17:05David Law: Catherine wants Matt out.

1:17:08Matt Roberts: There is a general exemption for the one-point slam. Right. Because the whole point of it is...

1:17:17David Law: Pointless.

1:17:18Matt Roberts: Can a layperson beat... I don't know who it'll be, Matt. Katie Swan in one point.

1:17:28David Law: She in it. It's that sort of...

1:17:32Matt Roberts: It's that genre of Mimi Zhu. Yeah. exactly yeah that's the whole point i've got two coaching sessions in the diary with teach trez coming up okay good feel good about that mind you he was also in melbourne and that didn't that didn't help at all no no we need to you need to stop dwelling on melbourne get that right sports psychologist would you need to draw a line under that and reset matt it's like i keep talking about Marco Silva. It's over. Yeah. I've got to move on. Yeah, stop being a Benfica fan.

1:18:08David Law: What are you planning to do differently this time, Matt, strategically? My plan this time is to play in the right way. Like, I really don't want to slice my backhand. I want to hit a good topspin backhand, which I'm capable of.

1:18:25Matt Roberts: Madison Keyes, lose the right way. Exactly. She didn't lose. Yeah. So maybe I might have to take a hit in Wrexham. I might not win it. I don't want to get people's hopes up. Four hours there and four hours back. But if I'm going to play in the right way, then that bodes well for Australia as well, like Madison Keyes. Do you know what I mean? Okay.

1:18:46David Law: Yeah. I thought you were going to win this to be in Australia. Well, I'm assuming I'll get entry into the media at one point slam in Australia. Well, I'm not sure. I mean, after last time.

1:18:57Matt Roberts: Imagine if he ends up ditching the media one to play in the main one.

1:19:03David Law: Not sure there'll be an invitation to the media one. I'm so excited.

1:19:08Matt Roberts: Link in the show notes if you want to go to any days of the event. But the day of the One Point Grand is Monday the 19th of October. I will be there. Billie Jean will be there. Potentially Captain Whittaker will be there. He's on the boat at the moment, by the way. He's in Sicily, I think, or certainly on the waters surrounding Sicily. So happy holidays, Dad. We have a mascot for this episode. It is Rusk, owned by Katie. Rusk is a 13 and a half year old Texas shelter special. A little bit red heeler, a little bit shepherd, maybe some boxer or a bully breed. The perfect mix. My sister and roommate at the time picked him out after I begged her to let me get a puppy and we brought him home the week of Valentine's Day a little over 13 years ago.

1:20:02Matt Roberts: The very best Valentine I've ever had. Oh, that's so lovely. He has never had much interest in tennis balls or me watching tennis, as seen in the submitted picture, where he was begging for a walk during the fourth set of the 2022 French Open Nadal versus Djokovic quarterfinal. But he does care about walks and we are both grateful for the many long walks we've taken listening to the podcast. Oh, he's got one ear up and one ear down. I do like that. And he's got a lovely looking bed where he can lie with his back to the tennis. He looks like a loyal, loving boy. thank you Katie and thank you Rusk for being this week's tennis podcast mascot hello to our mascots hello Bodhi Maisie and Roger we've got a fantasy league transfer window next week David's looking to ship out Oliver Tarvit

1:21:03David Law: we've been here before second year in a row he's brought in precisely nothing

1:21:09Matt Roberts: David sent an email to the Lawn Tennis Association last week inquiring about why Oliver Tartham wasn't playing tennis. And then hastily scheduled a transfer window. So that's where we are.

1:21:28David Law: Minor injury, folks, don't worry. He's back in October.

1:21:32Matt Roberts: Yeah, but that won't be relevant to you by that point because we've had the transfer window.

1:21:36David Law: I'm still on the, you know, bandwagon.

1:21:41Matt Roberts: Hello, Todd Talk folks and executive producers Greg, Chris and Jeff. Let's have some shout outs, Matt. Don't worry, Catherine, no traps today. We have Sean Fitzpatrick from Suffolk. Right, Sean. Hello, Sean. I'm afraid to say anything. Sean says, I've been listening from the very beginning and love the tennis podcast.

1:22:07David Law: Oh, what a legend. 15 years. 1575 episodes. Sean, you legend.

1:22:17Matt Roberts: Once spent on a, I think one of my earliest memories is a family holiday in Sussex. No, hang on. Where was it? Suffolk. Suffolk. Yes, I meant Suffolk, but I said Sussex. I'm nervous. I'm tight because of what happened last time. I told you, no trash. I'm getting shout out tight. Oh, God. Yeah, Framlingham Castle we went to and we stayed in a place called Captain's Cottage which, you know, has aged very well with my dad now being a spiritual captain. Tennis Sean's. There have to be Sean's.

1:23:03Matt Roberts: Megan Shaughnessy.

1:23:06David Law: that is scraping a barrel for tenuousness oh i thought you're gonna say that's a triumph

1:23:12Matt Roberts: well your faces were coming up short i think sean's gonna accept and appreciate that thank you sean i think that is a that that is a creative thank you matt way of getting getting through that And finally, we have Nicholas Orrett.

1:23:35David Law: Hello, Nicholas. Who was born in... Like Le Penci. Like Eskode. Very good. He was born in Kent, but now lives in Bendigo, Australia.

1:23:46Matt Roberts: Oh, Bendigo. Was there a... No, there wasn't a Bendigo Open, was there? It wasn't one of the Great Ocean Road trophy. No. Why do I know Bendigo? I think we've had shout outs before from Bendigo. Because I think I might have once said Bendigo. Oh, yeah. Okay. That is a trio of Nicholas's that David has come up with. I feel like I've still got some more back there somewhere.

1:24:18David Law: Okay. Well, Nicholas says, I've been a listener since 2021. Haven't missed an episode. I attend the Australian Open every year with my mum, usually with a ground pass during the first week, although I went twice this year, getting a stadium ticket for the first time and watching the epic Alkarez-Zverev semi-final. Had a blast, Nicholas says.

1:24:40Matt Roberts: I bet you did, Nicholas. What a day. Nicholas didn't have to be there for the crap tournament up to that point. Just swanned in for the good bit.

1:24:54David Law: It's hard to believe how bad the tennis was until that day.

1:24:58Matt Roberts: It was such a duffer, wasn't it? And then the best day ever. Nicholas, thank you for letting us relive that. Nicholas and Sean, thank you for being friends of the Tennis Podcast. If you'd like to become a friend, the link is in our show notes. We are part of the Athletic Podcast Network. We'll be back on Tuesday. Thank you for listening and for watching. We'll see you then.

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1:26:24Thank you.