French Open Day 2 - Svitolina, Ruud survive scares

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1:14Matt Roberts: Hello and welcome to the Tennis Podcast on day two of the French Open. Part one of the show today coming to you from Court Philippe Chatrier. We are up in the press seats overlooking what is currently a completely empty court. We are making the most of intentionally blank today. We found a use for it. When life gives you lemons, and those lemons are Adrian Manorino and Hugo and Bear, we make lemonade. It is, look, we'll get the weather chat out of the way nice and early here. We'll do it up front because we don't want to spend the whole show banging on about it again today. but it is bloody hot, folks.

1:54Matt Roberts: Hotter than yesterday, even. It is gone 7pm here as we record part one, and it is still suffocating heat, unless you're somewhere like we are, with a breeze and a good amount of shade. I think at least the first hour or so of this night session tonight is going to be hot and sweaty. It continues to be a major feature of this tournament.

2:17David Law: Yeah, well, we were talking about when we might be able to record part one today, and Catherine and myself on our way in saw the weather forecast and 7pm I thought, oh, you know, temperature will be starting to drop by then. 30 degrees. So, you know, that didn't sound ideal. And, I mean, look, it is tough for these players in the heat of the day when they're playing any of these matches and there are so few courts without shade and you look into the crowds and you know where the sun is because if the sun's on the seats, there's nobody in them. And I feel for people with tickets in that respect.

2:55David Law: I mean, it's a lovely place to be here. The tennis has been great. But, you know, this is a little too much for people to really enjoy it.

3:03Matt Roberts: I've just realised, by the way, that this is the first time I've been in this spot since the end of the men's final.

3:09David Law: Wow.

3:10Matt Roberts: Last year. Last time I was looking over this court, Carlos Alcaraz was on it elated, and Yannick Sinner was on it less than elated.

3:19Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, I had that experience last night. Went from Alcaraz Sina to Mpeshi Perikar.

3:25Matt Roberts: And Djokovic. Yeah, Djokovic was there too. Look, we'll be back in parts two and three later in the show to talk about all of the late evening and night session action tonight and to look ahead to tomorrow and to award Musquitaire of the day, most crucially. But let's start now with a match that we had all circled on today's schedule. A real sort of indie favourite. Maybe a bit of a niche tennis thing, the head-to-head between Alina Svitolina and Anna Bondar. It's not something that's necessarily getting the casuals in, but if you know, you know.

4:05Catherine Whitaker: The casuals are missing out, as always.

4:08Matt Roberts: This was always destined to be the match of the day, and I think there's still somewhere today to go. But if something better than Svitolina against Bondar is going to happen today, then it's going to be blooming good because this was everything we wanted it to be. Svitolina winning in the end in a deciding set tiebreak. 3-6, 6-1, 7-6. It was everything, Matt.

4:36Catherine Whitaker: It was. And I think my big takeaway from it is that it's OK to have an Anna Bondar problem. Like, I've been probably making fun of that a little bit, that Svitolina had this weird quirk of not having beaten Anna Bondar in their last two matches and having lost four sets in a row to her, and then five when she went down a set today. But actually, credit to Bondar, because I properly focused on what she does well as a tennis player today and discovered that I could understand suddenly as I watched this match why she'd caused Svitolina those problems. I'm interested in David's take on this because he was in the press seats.

5:21Catherine Whitaker: But from my vantage point, what I really enjoyed about Bondar's game was the variety on display. And I don't mean that in terms of what you automatically think of, I think, with variety, which is like maybe loads of slice or serve volley, all that kind of stuff. It wasn't that, but it was kind of no two rallies, no two balls the same. I think she does a good job of taking Svitolina out of her rhythm and her hitting patterns, particularly with the loopy backhand. That was an absolute nightmare for Svitolina all match. sudden injections of pace down the line quite a lot of drop shots as well and pulling the trigger on the forehand she's got a big wind up big tape back on the forehand but on the clay she's got time she can use it and it was a really good performance and Svitolina I thought was in big trouble in this match I was watching it thinking she could go out or she could get through it and go on to win the tournament and that is the beauty of the women's draw you get matches like that and she battled through.

6:27Catherine Whitaker: She had to work so hard. I thought she'd got it done and then Bondar had this incredible surge at the end of the third and then in the end it went to a final set tie break and Svitolina won it. I think with her legs, I think she had more left physically than Bondar by the end, which considering the effort level she had to go through to win Rome as well is quite something. Her mental resilience, her fortitude is astonishing right now, Svitolina. It always has been, but particularly right now. And yeah, love this match. Can't wait to hear your two takes on it as well.

7:01Matt Roberts: She went reverse one-point slam, didn't she, Anna Bonda? I think she won nine points in a row at the back end of that deciding set. I mean, talk about afterburners. Like, she surged like the best of them. She was unplayable for two and a half games. but I think that cost her anything in the tank for the tie break, didn't it? She just suddenly, very evidently, evidently had no legs at all going into the deciding set tie break. It was very dramatic indeed. Loved the little moment where Andrew Bettles had to hold up his hand, hold up both his hands to indicate to Svitolina that it was a 10-point tie break.

7:43Matt Roberts: Just a little reminder. and look I too was very impressed and taken with Anna Bondar today and yes it absolutely is okay to have an Anna Bondar problem but it is weird that she has an Anna Bondar problem I went through Anna Bondar's results for this year and the average ranking of player that she's beating is 108 in the world and that includes number seven ranked Alina Svitolina that she beat in Madrid You know, Svitolina is dragging that average ranking up considerably. You know, apart from Elina Svitolina, the highest ranked player she's beaten this year is Magdalena Frech, who was 38 in the world at the time.

8:26Matt Roberts: This is a particular peculiar problem that Svitolina has. And in that context, an enormous win today, David.

8:34David Law: Yeah, and interestingly, it is a problem that Svitolina pretty much refutes that she has, which was quite funny in the press conference. because, I mean, she wasn't denying that this was a really tough match, but she sort of had reasons, you might say excuses, for why she'd lost the previous two matches. You know, she sort of said there was stuff going on in that US Open match, and she said, I was just terrible in that Madrid match. And I know that sounds like she's taken things away from Bondar, because then she went on to elaborate. Look, she hits down the lines. She hits the lines. and it's tough.

9:14David Law: She's a really tough player but I don't think that really does Bondar credit for what tactically she ends up doing or certainly in the evidence of what I saw she did today because I didn't see those two previous matches. My first real response to this draw was you in the draw, Matt when you suddenly realised she'd got Bondar and you were just ecstatic because this was an opportunity to see this quirk unfold before our eyes. And this was the first time I've ever seen Bondi in person in my life. And it was towards the end of the first set when I arrived. She just held for 5-3, got into the seats there and sort of watched the whole of the second set and then came back for the third.

10:02David Law: But in the immediate throes of the time, I was in the press seats, I just wrote down that there's a different sound to the way Bondar hits the ball when she really goes after it. A different sound even to the one that Svitolina has. There's a real thundercrack to it. And that is what you get from being in the stadium with her. And it's not all the time. I mean, Catherine and I watched Diana Estremskrona. You were in the seats today. Who's going for everything, no matter where it is on the court? That's not what Bondar's doing. She's throwing in this variety of shapes and speeds, and then suddenly she...

10:40David Law: And I'd love to know, is it instinct that makes you decide now is the time to pull the trigger, or is it strategic? But it worked really, really well today. Won that first set. I was fascinated, is there going to be anxiety for Svitolina, who's lost five sets in a row at this point. There were two really long games early in the second set, and they could have gone either way. Svitolina won them and ended up racing away with that set 6-1 third set she goes a breakdown 3-1 and you know I went back to the seats at that point thinking okay we could have the upset on here and by the time I got into the seats it was an immediate break back and then Svitolina went 5-3 up in that sense so she's got the job done and as Catherine said suddenly Bondar just decided to go for broke she's 5-3 down, Svitolina's serving for it and Svitolina won Bondar won 8 points in a row to win the next 2 games and go 5-5 up with Svitolina serving Svitolina then won the next 9 points in a row and it was in that game that she was serving to take it into a tie break that I just I watched one rally and was watching Bondar sort of lurching around trying to reach the ball and she couldn't run She just had legs totally gone by all that effort to get to 6-5.

12:05David Law: And she only won three more points in the match. She won three out of the next 17 points. And that's a huge credit to Zvitalina for staying mentally tough and physically tough. And she said something at the end of her press conference that will stay with me, which I think sums up the reinvention of her game and her game this year. She said, if you play safe in those situations, that's not what champions do. and I thought, there you are. There's a player who's not prepared to just be a top 10 player anymore. She wants to win one of the big ones and she knows how to do it. It might not lead to it because there are so many other good players around but that's the key.

12:47David Law: She gets it.

12:49Matt Roberts: Love that.

12:50Catherine Whitaker: Me too. Are we concerned about Svitolina physically? No. No?

12:55David Law: I'm not. I mean, she got stronger in those last couple of games in the tiebreak. She looked like she could have played another three sets today. Honestly. Are you?

13:07Catherine Whitaker: A little, if the three setters keep piling up. I think she needs to start winning more efficiently again. I think she will. It's absolutely no... It's understandable that she needed to go three sets to win Rome. She was playing the very best players in the world. It wasn't like she could get off the court quickly, and now she's had this tough match. You know, but hot conditions, she's played a lot of tennis in the last couple of weeks. I do think that she's going to need everything she has to try and win this title. I do think winning efficiently in the next few rounds is important for Svitolina.

13:41Matt Roberts: Also, the emotional expenditure of being Gail Monfils' wife in this French Open scenario. Incidentally, the thwack sounds you can hear in the background are those of Guillaume Monfils, who is hitting on Philippe Chattrier ahead of his match tonight against Hugo Gaston. Very amusingly, he quite clearly went to the hitting partner desk and said, I'd like a short lefty, please.

14:08Catherine Whitaker: Yes, although I would say that is where the similarities with Hugo Gaston end. I haven't seen this guy hit a troll shot yet.

14:15Matt Roberts: I doubt there are many short lefties available and there aren't many tennis players that play like Hugo Gaston. So yeah, could be Guelman Fils' last practice on Châtelet. Find out in part two. Let's stay with women's results from the day session today. Amanda Enissimova followed Sussalina onto Longlen. Bit of rust at the start for her against Sarah Rakitamanja Rajana. But we were all out there for set two of this, and I was pretty impressed with her by the end of things. Yeah, she

14:50Catherine Whitaker: She went down a break right at the start and there was a dispute over a line call and the French fans were getting on her back a little bit. And there was a part of me that thought, oh, OK, this could be a tricky assignment here.

15:07Matt Roberts: Americans against French players on long length. I like it. It's a good combo.

15:14Catherine Whitaker: Playing the role of Taylor Fritz, Amanda Nisimov. Exactly. But she just really upped it from that moment onward, stamped her authority on it and, yeah, shook off that rust and actually, I thought, hit the ball really, really sweetly. I mean, as you would expect for the rest of the match. It was a good match-up. The leftiness into the Anisimova backhand, the strike zone, like everything was angled as Anisimova would want, really, I would say. But I thought she looked better in this match, like an early round at a slam than she did at any point really in Australia where her matches were, even the comfortable ones, were quite stressful.

15:54Catherine Whitaker: She seemed a lot more relaxed and I do think coming in to this tournament pressures off a little bit in terms of her own expectations, I think the outside expectations as well. It feels like she's back in that place she was in last summer really where she's in good form and she's hopeful rather than sort of expectant. And I think that's a good place for her to be in. And she's fresh and she's in a good part of the draw. There's not a load of big names there.

16:28Matt Roberts: That's a lot of ticks in the optimism box for Matt Roberts. And to be honest, the only thing that ever stops her from hitting the ball sweetly is not being in the right position to, right? if Amanda Rensimova has a ball in her hitting zone, she's going to hit it sweetly because that's kind of the only way she knows how to hit a tennis ball. And in her on-court interview after the match, she was asked about the frustration of this period of injury and kind of not being able to compete. And she said, well, I've basically had three off-seasons with Shadi Soleimani, the fitness trainer, who's clearly had a massive impact since they started working together a year ago.

17:09Matt Roberts: I thought, oh, yeah, really like the sound of that for you, Amanda. So, yeah, I feel optimistic too.

17:16Catherine Whitaker: And I feel like she was moving well. I mean, yeah, not fully tested, more to come, obviously, but good signs. Just for a little bit of balance, I do think broken three times, you know, is a little bit of an area of concern, considering that we all probably would have circled the serve as something that certainly has held her back a little bit, I would say, over the past year or so, and she had to really dig out another holder serve as well. She was kind of on pretty constant pressure on serve through most of this match, and that'll probably need to clean up.

17:51Matt Roberts: David, you watched Igor Shvontek deliver the expected drubbing of a child in the first match of the day on Chateaille today, one and two over Emerson Jones. Was there anything unexpected in this match?

18:04David Law: No, I don't think so. I would say, I haven't heard from Emerson Jones, I haven't read transcripts from her or anything, but just watching it, it's not as bad as it sounds, 6-1, 6-2, inasmuch as she's clearly very good. And she broke Schwantech twice for the first of those two games. And she did it by stepping onto the Schwantech serve and absolutely thwacking these backhands away. I mean, she really does have a sweet backhand. You should have a look at that. Yeah, all right. I'm telling you. But, you know, it is a junior game. You still look at it. You can see the transition she's trying to make.

18:47David Law: She's 17, and yet she looks quite a young 17. She doesn't look like some of the players coming on the scene as 17-year-olds who look like Mboko. I know she's a little older, but she didn't look like a junior at any stage since I've seen her over the last year. so I would say Svantec is kind of the worst nightmare for a young player like that who's hitting a good hitting good balls hitting hitting well but just up against somebody so world-class such a great mover so difficult with the top spins it's a little bit like when players might play a decent match against Nadal here and just win a winner three or four games in the match Against Federer, we've seen that so many times over the years.

19:33David Law: So I hope Jones isn't too upset, but Schwantek should leave that court thinking, yeah, the game's where it needs to be at the moment.

19:43Matt Roberts: It's tough for Emerson Jones because she's had a few wild cards now because she's from a Grand Slam nation, a Grand Slam nation that has a reciprocal arrangement with Roland Garros, and she's a former top junior player, so she's had these wild cards and she's had really tough draws. She played Rabakna last year at the Australian Open. She played Mboko this year at the Australian Open and Jean-Tecq here this year. And, of course, that's great big stage experience for her, but they're also bruising tennis experiences, aren't they?

20:14David Law: It'd be very easy, wouldn't it, to take losses like that and be affected by them in a really negative way. We've seen it with players like Donald Jung in the past. There have been other young women in the past. and you can do it too early. You know, you can pull the trigger with these sort of things too early. I hope that she's able to rationalise that, look, had she got a better draw today, she might have either had a close scoreline or a win.

20:39Matt Roberts: Rabatkin are incidentally serene today against Veronica Ariyevich. Two and two for her in the second match of the day on Chattier. Paolini, Jasmine Paolini. What have you gone and done again, David?

20:51David Law: I might have underestimated her.

20:52Matt Roberts: She has gone beaten Diana Yastrzemska, 7-6, 6-3 in the first match of the day on Simone Mathieu today. Shades of the Paulini of old, Matt.

21:06Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, it was a very much, I'm going to use a cliche here, but a match of two halves. And the first half was up to 5-3, 30 all in the opening set. And that was a lead that Yastrzemska had. She was two points away, Jastrzemska, from taking this opening set. And honestly, I feel like this match was, the first half was an example of why Jastrzemska would be a really tempting prospect to want to coach and work with, because there's so much potential there. And for the first time watching her, I thought, she looks a proper player. She's not just thrashing at the ball. She's actually got a game plan here.

21:49Catherine Whitaker: She's got some shape on her shot. She's really picking the right moment to pull the trigger. She's serving well, which has been an issue for her. I thought Paolini was in big trouble in this match, to be honest, because Jastrzemska looked in control of it. But I think at that point, two points away from the opening set, is when the real test comes. And I think some of those old habits for Jastrzemska kicked in at that moment. and maybe she got a bit anxious of the scoreline and of what was in front of her, but she went back to playing the way that I think of her as playing, really, and going for the line when you just don't need to go for the line.

22:30Catherine Whitaker: You know, your own power is big enough and good enough. And I do want to credit Paolini as well, because I thought she stayed calm under that early barrage from Jastrzemska and then grew into this one. And she didn't really have her forehand to begin with, but found it. And that loopy forehand was causing Jastrzemska a lot of problems on the backhand side. It was like tempting Jastrzemska into going for the shots that she really shouldn't have been going for. And she just couldn't help herself. And the backhand errors piled up for Jastrzemska. But yeah, I thought Paolini turned it around really nicely and was the better player over the course of the match.

23:07Catherine Whitaker: And that's a big win. And she talked about in press feeling a little bit freer. You know, like she'd put a lot of expectation on herself. Obviously, she was defending Rome. I think she just seems in a slightly better place. I still think she's a little bit vulnerable to having what happened to her in that start of the match today. I think other players can do that to her. But I really hope we get a Paolini run here. She's not playing the doubles. She's quite big, isn't it? Irani's actually playing with Lily Taggart in the doubles. I wonder whether that's coming back through Schiavone potentially, coaching tagger but yeah

23:49Matt Roberts: matchmaker Schiavone indeed

23:53Catherine Whitaker: good to have Paolini still in the draw

23:55Matt Roberts: yes, exactly Jill Teichman do you remember her, David's shooting star from about five years ago

24:03David Law: yeah, you know

24:05Matt Roberts: she shot a little bit today David

24:08David Law: she did, she won a match

24:09Matt Roberts: she's in Roland Garros round two She beat Lidmila Samsonova four and four. Look, in your defence, David, I do not know why Joel Teichman has not had better results over the past few years. I remember seeing her play, Victoria Azarenka, here probably three years ago now on Courts Among Mathieu, and it was an awesome match. I think Azarenka won it in the end, if I remember, but either of them could have won it, and she was breathtaking. She loves a crowd. She loves a fight. She's got so many attributes, particularly on clay, and she has disappeared off the face of the planet. She's really stitched you up with that prediction.

24:50David Law: I would like to just remind everybody that I was asked for two shooting stars and I gave Jill Teichman and Donna Vekic, who had the season of her life.

24:59Matt Roberts: Yeah, he covered his bases. It wasn't his first rodeo.

25:04David Law: Why did we get onto that anyway at the time? Where did shooting stars come from or something?

25:08Matt Roberts: Well, it was dropped as a concept soon afterwards. Teichman might be back, though. Watch this space. Last women's result to touch upon so far from today. Quite a tough scene, actually, for Jung Chin Wen. Obviously, the Olympic gold medalist from the Olympics that were held here at Roland Garros less than two years ago, she lost out in the opening round today. a 6-4-6 love to Maja Kwalinska, who is a Polish player of the same vintage, exactly the same age of Igor Svantec, very close friend of hers. They used to play doubles together in juniors. She's come through the qualifying, has Kwalinska, and she, well, in the words of our friend and colleague Itamar, she Olinikova'd Zheung Chinwen today.

25:57Matt Roberts: She says she's not quite a moonballer in the way that Olinikova is, But she said in terms of general topspin and sort of the way she sees a tennis court, she said there were a lot of comparisons to Olenakova. And Jung Chin-Wen did not have a good time out there today. I think there was a lot going on. There was her opponent being excellent and match tough in a very, very tricky way. There was a blister that Jung was struggling with on her foot she received treatment for at three love down in the second set but she also by her own admission in a very emotional press conference afterwards said the nerves and the pressure today didn't allow me to play the tennis that I want she said that losing in the first round was really really tough for me it takes some time to handle she also interestingly said that she she struggled with not having enough space on the court.

27:01Matt Roberts: I think it was court number... It was quite an outside court. Seven, I think. Yeah, court number seven, which has got a bit of a stand, but it's a small outside court, really. And she said that that kind of contributed to her inability to move backwards and deal with this heavy, heavy spin that Kulinska was throwing her way with these high-bouncing top-spin ground strokes.

27:29Catherine Whitaker: That was something Pam shouted out in her voice note from Rome, wasn't it? That she'd observed that, like, modern tennis, he needs more space behind the back of the court. Players are hitting with more spin than ever. And, like, you know, OK, don't have line judges at many events anymore, but here you do. They're kind of in the way or in danger. and that was happening a lot.

27:53Matt Roberts: There was quite a bad collision with a line judge for Jung today. I know Charlie Eccleshire was out there watching. He did a really useful write-up on this match. He was in the press conference and it does sound like it was really quite upsetting from a junction when perspective double-faulted on match point. And she also confirmed... I mean, we could all see something was going on with Pere Riba, Jung's coach. She was sat there and neck braced during this match, and she was asked about that in her press conference, and she said he was in a car accident about 10 days ago and suffered neck and back injuries.

28:30Matt Roberts: So, yeah, wish him well, and definitely wish Jing Chin Wen well, because I do think tennis is better when she's a factor in it, and today was definitely a tough ride for her. On to the men's matches so far today. Let's start with the farewell, or what turned out to be the farewell, of former champion Stan Rorinka. His French Open career is officially over. He lost out to Jesper de Jong, 6 '3", 3-6, 6 '3", 6 '4", over on Court Simon Mathieu. They did the full shebang for him. Amélie Maresmo was out, Gilles Moritain was out on the court. He had a video. He had all the big three in the video. He had the current big two, Yannick Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.

29:23Matt Roberts: He had Guillermo Fis in the video. Notable absence of Andy Murray. We'll try and get to the bottom of whether that was big four erasure or whether he refused.

29:32David Law: Well, no, I should say in the press conference, he used the words big four and he was including Andy Murray in that. He was very, very quick to sort of say the difference. and there are all these stats about how many more Grand Slam finals and semi-finals Andy Murray had reached than he did and how many more Masters series he'd won. And pick goals, of course. And look, Stan isn't so petty and insecure that he needs to insert himself into that. He actually said in the press comments, I've never worried about trying to make records. You know, I'm not that guy. I'm not going to be the best player ever.

30:17David Law: I'm not going to be world number one. But I wanted to get better all the time and, you know, ring out every drop. And that's why he says, that's why I've done this this long is I want these feelings. And I'm going to, you know, he clearly stated, you know, here of all places, he's going to miss those feelings.

30:35Matt Roberts: And that shouldn't be underestimated, should it? because imagine how many players with the same number of Grand Slams as Andy Murray

30:43David Law: would be chippy about even the concept of a Big Four

30:47Matt Roberts: that they weren't included in and would be constantly wanting to remind you that they've got the same Grand Slam tally. Yeah, he's very secure in his own skin.

30:57David Law: I mean, I actually asked him afterwards, because obviously we're reflecting on his career at each one of these events, and I said, I think a lot of people in this room, when they think of you here, will think of that final you won against an all-conquering Novak Djokovic at the time. And I asked, have you ever watched that match back and wondered about and thought about that level you achieved that day? And he said, I've watched bits of it. He says, I'm not going to watch three hours of that back. But he's clearly very proud. And he did say that the thing is, in the moment, you're not thinking, oh, I'm playing really well here.

31:35David Law: he says you're just trying to maximise all the time you're trying to get better for the next one and that's what he's always been isn't it, he's a workman like player, agricultural you could say he's that kind of guy isn't he he clocks in and clocks out and does his best and I think he is so far in excess achieved more than he and most people would have expected to when he first came on the scene he was not a prodigy at all He was exciting. I remember when I first saw him in Gestade, several years before that final that he won in the Australian Open, but he wasn't regarded as the next big thing at all.

32:17David Law: He never was.

32:18Catherine Whitaker: Given we're recording this on Court Philippe Chattrier I feel like I want to talk about my favourite Wawrinka probably memory ever really is a shot he hit in that match against Djokovic in the 2015 final unlike Stan I have watched it back many times and he slotted a backhand winner through the gap between the net post and the sponsor box that they have. It's probably, what is that, a couple of feet gap, and he hit a backhand winner through it, down the line. Top spin drive. Unbelievable shot. That's the one that when I shut my eyes and think of that final, that's the one I think of, and there were many, many similar backhand winners, and, yeah, what a presence he was at this tournament over the years.

33:11Matt Roberts: And the result today probably underlines that it is the right time for Stan Rorinka to step away. But he also had moments today. He was himself. And it was atmospheric. Jesper de Jong handled it all really, really well. And it was lovely. It was really, really lovely.

33:32David Law: And he also, by the way, I think Jesper de Jong did incredibly well to win that match with all that going on. Absolutely. once standard leveled it at once at all and he went away and won it in four. And that is not easy to do. You've got to have a lot of mental strength to handle all that.

33:48Matt Roberts: A slightly different vibe for Rafael Hodder who absolutely destroyed Alex Kovacevic. 6 '1", 6 'love", 6 '4", in an hour and 34 minutes. He heard our concerns about his body potentially not being able to stand up to best of five set tennis and he decided to make best of five set matches the length of best of three set matches. Problem solved, David.

34:15David Law: Yeah, an hour and 34 minutes, no trouble at all. Yeah, and actually the third set ended up becoming a bit dicey for him because he was a break-up 4-3 and he did have to save break-back points and you did wonder, well, if Kovacevic could extend this, will we see another side to Hodder? Because the thing with Hodder is, to me, I've said, I think he's going all the way to the semis here. And my feel about that is because he's just so destructive off both sides. He can hurt off any ball, and he's hurting off the first opportunity. But there are the question marks about if you can drag him into something physical or expose his inexperience.

35:02David Law: The applause you hear is for Guillaume Monfils departing the practice court right now, and he'll be back for the main event in a little while. But, yeah, Rafael Hodder, I think, is going to be on this court in a few days' time when the challenges get more significant and bigger named. But, of course, he doesn't have Taylor Fritz in the way now in round three. But that is a pretty astonishing arrival scoreline, isn't it?

35:29Matt Roberts: First two sets in less than an hour.

35:32Catherine Whitaker: It's unreal, yeah. And I've been really impressed with him over this clay court season for the way he's been really consistent, actually. Because it's the kind of game style where you think that might go in and out. But actually, he's always looking to just seek and destroy with the ball. And he doesn't yet appear to have had days where he's just not got feel or not got timing, and he's really wayward. He's lost matches, as we've talked about, mostly because of his legs giving out or up against a Yannick Sinner in Madrid. He's been so good against pretty much the field really on the ATP tour. I think he's the fourth favourite right now for this tournament with the oddsmakers.

36:19Catherine Whitaker: It doesn't feel totally outrageous if you were piling a power rankings list given what he's done to a lot of players. You'd probably have him around there. The question mark really is the legs. But as we said, win all your matches in 90 minutes and I back those legs. And yeah, Opta had a good stat that the last player to drop, sorry, the last man to drop fewer games in a first completed match at Roland Garros was Novak Djokovic in 2005, who only dropped three on his debut here against Ginepri. So that's the kind of company he's keeping with that first match here at Roland Garros.

36:58Matt Roberts: That's a tough stat for Robbie Gennepri, wasn't it? Because that's the same year that Djokovic made his Australian Open debut and that is clock cleaned by Marit Safin.

37:07Catherine Whitaker: He's a fast learner, Djokovic.

37:10Matt Roberts: Yeah, and Gennepri maybe not quite as good as Marit Safin.

37:13David Law: I think Gennepri was reaching the US Open semifinals around about then as well. So, you know, he was having the time of his life. Astonishing Gennepri recollection. Well done, Djokovic.

37:26Matt Roberts: Well done also to Matteo Berrettini. Perhaps not consequential for the tournament, but I do feel like just mentioning that he won a Grand Slam tennis match today because that hasn't been happening much. He's had a tough time, isn't he? I feel for Matteo Berrettini. He beat Martin Fuchovic in four sets. Jurila Hetschka lost today. Probably worth a mention, 12th seed.

37:48David Law: I wonder whether he's fully fit just because that seems so surprising, doesn't it?

37:52Matt Roberts: And by all accounts, he was awful.

37:54Catherine Whitaker: It was one of the worst returning performances I've seen. He didn't create a great point against Krenia Busta on clay. He's a good player, Krenia Busta, but he's not anywhere close to his peak. And he's never been one of the great servers on the tour. He's always going to give you opportunities. He does have a little bit of an underwhelming slam record, Le Hetschke, doesn't he? He's had those two quarterfinal runs, one in Australia, one last year at the US Open. but apart from that he's not really matched up with his tour form and he's on he's not far off reaching the top 10 Lehechka and I thought it could be on this summer you know but that's a real setback but a nice win for Krenja Busta.

38:37Matt Roberts: And you'll have Queen's final points to defend of course will Lehechka incidentally as David said Ugar Mofis has left Chattroet so his practice is over I was hoping we would see Ugo Gaston come out for practice and we could see who he had got as a hitting partner, having gone to the desk and said, I'd like a Guermain Fiste, please. But I think that Gaston practice might have happened before we got out here. Lots of matches still going on. Looks like Bousset and Rublev are headed for a fifth set. Caballi is still going against Pellegrino. Shelton is still going against Merida. We'll touch upon all of that in part two and of course bring you the results and analysis of the night session between Hugo Gaston and Gail Monfils and then we'll be back in part three to look ahead to tomorrow and award musketeer of the day so we will see you in part two.

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42:14Welcome back to part two of today's show on day two of the French Open. But the update is it's no longer day two of the French Open. It's now day three. We're back at Tennis Podcast Towers, Paris. It is half past midnight and we've just witnessed the sun setting very, very slowly on Gael Monfils' Roland Garros career. And we've had varying degrees of fun watching it. His five set defeat at the hands of fellow French wildcard Hugo Gaston and the ensuing ceremony. It's been, look, I think we all have huge amounts of affection for Gael Monfils, the tennis player and the person. but it's been a weird night, David.

42:58David Law: Yes, I mean, the match, you tend to think of five setters, particularly involving Galmon Fies, as just electric, epic nights because we've had so many of them, including sitting right here. We've watched several five-set classics from Galmon Fies in recent years in the early rounds of the French Open. This one wasn't one of them at all. none of the five sets were enjoyable particularly because they were all extremely one-sided to to one or the other they ended up in a fifth set Monfils had got nothing left and I mean he lost six love in about 20 minutes the ceremony at the end was longer than that and look fair play to him You know, he really, I think he's probably brought more joy just by his play and his sort of behavior on a tennis court than anyone in recent years.

44:00David Law: You know, he takes me back to Yannick Noah, the difference being that Noah did win this title. And I think that that's something that Monfils probably left on the table or at least left something a bit more on the table. But even so, he's achieved a lot and he's made a mark and there is enormous affection for him. You can see that with the way all the other players speak about him and I think fans around the world have enjoyed watching him. But, yeah, it's funny, you know, we had an exhibition night the other night, Gal and Friends, and it was a bit like that tonight, to be honest. that it wasn't like the previous five set matches we've seen him have in night sessions here at all, was it really?

44:50No, not at all. It felt very much like not a part of the French Open tennis tournament. And it kind of, you know, I don't always want to be the total downer, but it felt like, well, we sort of did the exhibition send off for Gail Monfils and that's lovely. Those sorts of things might not be my vibe, but they're lots of people's vibe. And he absolutely, you know, deserves that. And by all accounts, that was really successful and fun. Kind of felt like we didn't really need this.

45:24David Law: Made worse by the fact that it was a French opponent, I think. Yes. You know, I think. Yes, definitely. Because it's more difficult. I mean, he's clearly close with Gaston. It was an odd atmosphere, really odd atmosphere. Even when Monfils is mounting this fight back, it felt a little bit flat. I have to say Yeah Yeah so it's kind of difficult to talk about as a as a competitive tennis match as part of as part of this tournament that we're here to cover but obviously Guillermo Fies as a tennis player we'll we'll miss him terribly he only needs one though and he has got two left so you never know God imagine

46:07Catherine Whitaker: no Matt's turned into me On every walk to and from Roland Garros, there is a point at which conversation lulls. David thinks and pauses for a few moments and he goes, God, just imagine if. And then says something totally improbable.

46:30David Law: But not impossible. But not crucially, not physically impossible. and he begs us to imagine a world in which that could happen, which is very David Law. I did enjoy the piece that Alina Svitolina wrote in Players' Tribune this week about Gaël Monfils. It was like a letter to their daughter Sky and there was a little passage in it where Svitolina was like, for some players you have to go into a long explanation about why they're great and why they're so good. But with your dad, you just need to watch one shot and you know instantly that this is a guy who made people feel things and did things that we'd never seen before on a tennis court.

47:19And I thought that was a really perfect encapsulation, actually, of what Monfils brought to this sport. He made a lot of people very, very happy with his tennis over the years. And that is a special quality to have. Yeah, she was feeling it, wasn't she, on the sidelines, poor Svitolina. I have to say, well, one of my favourite moments of the whole evening was the video tribute to Gelman Feast that had been recorded and suddenly up popped blonde Alcaraz. It's a problem, Alcaraz changing his haircut so often and so dramatically. It really dates something. You know exactly when it was. I think, I mean, it's obviously easy to say in hindsight, but you've got to pop a hat on Alcaraz for a video.

48:12You need to remain relatively timeless. That's a learning. My favourite moment was this. So you'd had this video and you'd had Federer and Nadal and Djokovic and then Gilles Simon pops up and Richard Gasquet and then Joe Wulfordong and it's like, oh, they're doing a musketeer thing, a new wave musketeer thing. Fine, whatever. Then the video ends. You think that's the end of proceedings. David's firing up the recorder for part two. Real life Gilles Simon appears from the ether. Out they come. The trio of Simon, Songer and Gasquet. It didn't quite hit like Federer, Djokovic and Mari backstage last year, did it?

49:03No, not quite. But anyway, I hope they have a very fun night out tonight wherever they're off to. And it sure has been fun watching Guillermo Fis here at Roland Garros over the years. And we'll get to watch him at Wimbledon and the US Open. He only needs one. Shockingly, that match wasn't the worst nonsense of the evening.

49:29that involved Caspar Rood and Roman Sifuelin what on earth happened on court Simone Mathieu a few hours ago Matt

49:44well Caspar Rood looked like he was going to win this match quite straightforwardly against Roman Sifuelin he was on his way to a straight sets victory, had double match point on the Sifulin serve at two sets of love up, had triple match point in the following game on his own serve. So five match points in total, didn't take any of those. And then suddenly and dramatically, the match turned into something absolutely wild in that Rude seemed to, well he's described it as heat stroke and feeling like a zombie on court with a headache and dizziness and unable to see the ball and he just became so pale all the color drained out of him and he was barely able to walk around for quite a while in this match and so fueling wins that third set and goes up five love in the fourth and it was kind of at this point that we were wrapping up part one and we were like right we've got to absolutely get eyes on this this is this is Kasper Rude this is a guy who could well make the final of this tournament looks like he might go out in round one and as soon as we got eyes on it I was thinking right this is going to be Kasper Rude going out and kind of the first thing I saw live was Roman Sifulin flat on his back receiving a medical timeout for his hip at five love up in the fourth set with Caspar Rude down the other end unable to walk around.

51:21So that was very, very bizarre quite frankly. I'm sorry. I think a bad move.

51:28David Law: What were you doing, Sifulin? Yeah, and unless he was unable to walk that was a dumb move because Rude was about to collapse. Yeah, you gave him A, time to recover and B, a psychological boost. Yeah, hope. Rebellions are built on hope. If I am Sifulin in that position looking at Rude like that. I am dancing around the court in front of him saying, how you doing Casper? I feel great.

51:59I'm serious. I don't think Roman is that guy even when he is feeling great though, is he? Apparently not. David, you remember

52:08David Law: that story from Jimmy Harris? Yes, Jimmy Harris, a former top five player in the world who who told us that great story about how he was feeling terrible in a match once. And he decided, I can't do this anymore. And he started to walk to the net because he was going to retire. And then he saw his opponent walk into the net looking just as bad. And he thought, oh, I'm not going to retire. And he started jumping around ready for the next point. And the other guy retired. Fantastic. It's not over till it's over. Yeah, I mean, look, maybe that hip injury was so bad that it was take the medical time out or it's done.

52:49But unless it was that scenario, it was a dumb-ass move. And, yeah, we trooped over to Simone Mathieu expecting sort of a fun, chaotic fifth set, and actually it was just bad. Yeah, it was terrible. It was boring and terrible. It was so boring. It was like tennis in slow motion. So Fulin couldn't move And by that point Rude had started feeling better That he was able to move and hit Much, much better than he had been doing And it was pretty one-sided But low quality It wasn't funny It wasn't weird It was weird, but it was just bad We could have been eating galettes That's what I was thinking the whole time It's one of the worst fifth sets I've ever seen In fact, I think it is the worst

53:39David Law: And we've just seen a six love in 20 minutes. And that one was totally worse. On a serious note with Caspar Rude, I mean, look, he's a fit, strong guy in his prime, but this is going to have taken a lot out of him. His canister is, you know, he's like people on teams on race across the world that spend a load of money on taxis on the first leg. Like he spent more canister than he wanted to in round one against Roman Sifulin and in two days' time when he comes back, the weather's going to be the same. And that was a late evening match that he was playing. So he wasn't in full sun. I mean, it was still incredibly hot, but it could be worse in a couple of days' time for him.

54:30He could be in trouble here, even though he came through today. I've never really thought about Rude in terms of how he copes with these sorts of weather conditions. It's not something I've thought that much about, but I think he did say that he suffered in Washington in the past. And, well, I've not been to Washington in July. I don't think it's as bad here as it is there, but, you know, it's... I bet they've got more air con.

55:01David Law: Yeah, but you don't play an air con, do you? Yeah, but you know there's escape. I'm struggling with this feeling of like there's no escape from this there's nowhere I can go I think it makes it worse when you go in we tried to go to a corner shop yesterday just to stand next to a fridge for a few moments the fridge was warm there's heat coming out of the fridge but yeah like I think he's in a bit of trouble if these conditions continue I agree with you because I don't think he likes them and that was, yeah, that took a lot out of him today. It's like the recovery is going to be important, I think.

55:40David Law: I wonder whether he might prepare a little differently, though, for the next one. Or not play Geneva. Well, that is a question mark. Go back in time. It certainly is a question mark. I do feel like unlike the other Race Across the World contestants in this draw, he has invested his money well and therefore has a bigger budget than most. So I think he probably has more in his canister. Does that work? It does. It does. Yeah, but I think he started with a lower budget because he spent some of it on a pre-holiday holiday in Geneva. It's weird, the Geneva thing, because I think I do agree that going to Geneva doesn't feel like the best for his Roland Garros prospects.

56:32But then I've been looking at his record. 2022, he made the semifinal in Rome, went to Geneva, reached the final here. 2023, semifinal in Rome, went to Geneva, final here. 2024, won Geneva after a poor Rome, admittedly, so that's a bit different that year, and then reached the semifinal at Roland Garros here. Like, he is used to going far Roland Garros after doing far in Rome, far in Geneva. But, I don't know, it just, it feels like maybe the sport's even more taxing than it used to be, even three years ago. And I've just, I feel like he needed the rest rather than the matches. But look, he knows his body better than I do.

57:21David Law: I'd love to have seen what he was like if he did have the week. Yeah, might have won those roll-on appearances. It's all looked and seemed a little frantic this week for him. A few other men's results from this evening. Flavio Caballi won fairly comfortably. He beat countryman Andrea Pellegrino. Andre Rublev got the better of the Hamburg champion Ignacio Busse. Four sets, looked like it was going five This one, Rublev did well to get it done in four If you have a few moments I do recommend you check out the Bousset set point At the end of set number two It is well worth a minute of your time It's very special indeed Matt, did you see that one?

58:11David Law: Can you give me a quick rundown? I did Well, it starts with a Rublev serve and volley What? Yeah, there you go. You're interested now already. I am, yeah. It's not that rare anymore. He is rebranding himself. He's talked quite a lot about this. And it's quite a good one. He hits a nice serve. He hits a decent volley. The serve throws Boussé out wide. The volley gets him running over to the other corner of the court, running to his forehand side. And Boussé just, he's not really in view when he hits this shot. a forehand pass up the line, kind of like a squash shot style, I think, with a sort of chopper grip.

58:55And he hits it for a win. It goes like an arrow. The crowd goes absolutely nuts and Boussé flings his racket towards the net in celebration and then gently apologizes for doing so. It's a special, special moment. There was a good atmosphere out there. It was good scenes. I think Boussé, as we suspected, probably didn't have a huge man in the tank after the title run last week. I'm not sure he would exchange those things at this stage of his career. It's still been a good time for Boussa generally this clay court season. Definitely. Tommy Paul, a winner over Rinki, Hidja Carter. Karolina Mukova looked like she was in a bit of trouble against Saharava, but won through in straight sets in the end.

59:38And Yelena Ostapenko won, which means we are now just a round away from Shvantec Ostapenko.

59:46David Law: It can't not happen now, surely. No. Let's hope not. Okay, that is it for part two. We'll be back in part three with a look ahead to tomorrow and, of course, the musketer of the day.

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1:01:12welcome back to part three of today's tennis podcast just before we look ahead to tuesday's order of play the very important business of musketeer of the day a few contenders on day two they've they've had a better time of things have the french all on the men's side uh only men's winners today and yesterday it's almost as if they prioritize men's tennis in france who who could say. So your contenders are, of course, Hugo Gaston who beat Guillaume Monfils, 6-love in the fifth set. You've also got Hugo Humbert who beat Adrien Manorino, 3-4-3. I would like to file a motion to discount any Frenchman that beat another Frenchman.

1:01:56David Law: Yeah, it's not the same, is it? No, it's not the same. Okay. Humbert Gaston, out. So your two real contenders are Luca Van Asch who beat Vilas Gorbas in four sets. David's not a Van Asch guy, I think. I mean, he's got work to do, put it that way. Well, he won a match today, David. He did all he could do today. And his competition for the real prize of the day is Arta Rindeknesh. Yeah, definitely him. He beat Yuri Rodionov in three straight sets, tie-breaking the first, but three sets on Longlen in the first match of the day. and the set point in set one was good. That was the highlight of the day for me.

1:02:42David Law: I didn't see the Boussey points, but Catherine and I watched the Rindiknesh set points together here. And the rally, I mean, honestly, Catherine couldn't have been less into this match, really, the way it was going, really. And we started this set point and Catherine seemed to be in a bit of a... To be clear, folks, Paulina Yastrzemski was on at the same time. That's what had my attention. Yeah, I was sort of holding the iPod in front of her face to make her watch this set point. And it was very much a sort of get this over with quickly then vibe. And Catherine went full one point slam by the end of this point, which seemed to last about 48 seconds.

1:03:26David Law: And the players were going left and right and front and back. It was the most incredible point. and it was ultimately finished with a Rinne Kinesh winner and a big grunt and a big sort of celebration crowd up and Catherine yelped with excitement. It was good. It was good. It really did get me going. Catherine basically, you basically held your breath during the rally, didn't you? Because it was one of those. He gave it the big one afterwards as well. It was, you know. Wow. Yeah. It was just one point, but I did enjoy it. Van Ash for Muscatea the day then? No, definitely Rindeknesh. No, it's going to Rindeknesh.

1:04:07Congratulations, Arta. Tomorrow's order of play. This is how it's looking. Obviously, day three of the three-day round one. So it's taken a while for these players to make it onto the order of play. But here we go. Arena Sabalenka against Jessica Bothas-Monero is first up on Philippe Châtrier. Obviously, I think everybody expecting Sabalenka to win, but also everybody thinking that's a pretty tough first round for Sabalenko. I don't think it would surprise anybody if it was two tight sets or, you know, maybe even three. Who knows? Same goes in terms of tough draw maybe in the second match of the day on Chateaune for Stefanos Tsitsipas against the Frenchman Alexandre Muller.

1:04:55A lot of people have gone for the Muller win in our predictions here and I can see why. He's hit to pass in no form at all, really. And obviously, Muller, he's a good player, Muller, and he'll have the crowd behind him. Third on Châtelet, Coco Gough against Taylor Townsend. And in the night session, Yannick Sinner against Clement Tabour, the world number 171 wildcard from France. Never heard of him.

1:05:29David Law: I suspect Sinner might win that Just incidentally and I know I've said this before sort of in anticipation but I think Monfils going out tonight is really big for Sinner that means I think Sinner gets night session from now on if he wants it I don't think he'd get one every night personally but I could be wrong I thought they wouldn't have men every night so you know Yeah, I could be wrong too. That is my suspicion, though. We will see. Longland tomorrow opens with Daniel Medvedev. The Medvedev return to Longland. I'm here for it. He's taking on Adam Walton, the Australian wildcard. Second on Longland tomorrow, yes, please, for Laura Siegmund against Naomi Osaka.

1:06:22Third on is Lois Boisson. She faces the 22nd seed, Anna Kananskaya. Not a big lover of clay, I don't think, Kananskaya, but who knows how fit Lois Boisson is. And last on Longland tomorrow is Auger Liasim against Daniel Altmaier. Mathieu has Moise Kwame, the young French wildcard, against Marin Cilic. We've got Corentin Moutet second up on Mathieu tomorrow. Hannah van der Winkle, the young Belgian, up against Madison Keyes, who is a fitness warrior, I think, is Madison Keyes. That's third on Mathieu. And then Jessica Bergula, the fifth seed, against Kim Birrell is last on. A few other matches to circle and draw your attention to.

1:07:10Court 14 tomorrow starts with Ivi Jovic against Alexandre Ayala. That's fun, I think. And second on is Thomas Forel, the French qualifier that is really getting pulses racing around here. I think this would be a fun one against Valentin Vachero, who we saw at dinner the other night. Alexander Bublik against Jan-Lynd Struff is third on that court. And last on is Mboko against Barton Kovar. Another yes, please. Good matches around the place tomorrow. Do we see any upsets?

1:07:50David Law: No, not really. Well, David's pumped. I'm looking forward to all of it. What about Matt? Any upsets? Well, I think there's a lot of contenders. I think Siegmund Asaka has got upset potential. Big time. I think she's going to have a horrible time, Naomi Asaka. And I think Muller over Sitsapass is very possible. I think Osaka's going to win. I think if I had to say, I would also pick Osaka. Same. Same, but upset potential. Felix against Altmaier. Altmaier can be... Altmaier is sometimes terrible. Yeah, but Felix has got a cramping issue. That's true. And these are crampy conditions. yeah yeah but all my yeah all my has big disparity between his best and his worst i would say yeah okay well we'll be back at the end of all of it to bring you our day three podcast let's say a big hello to bashir basking in the sunshine in this photo that i'm looking at the most photogenic cat I think on the face of the planet is Bashir, enjoying the heat more than I am.

1:09:17And yeah, definitely looking more poised and beautiful in the heat than I am at the moment. It's an absolute catastrophe. Hello to Bodhi, to Maisie and to Roger, our mascots for the year. Hello to our top folks and executive producers, Greg, Chris and Jeff. Let's have some shout outs, Matt. We have Fiona from Gloucestershire. Hi Fiona Hello Fiona Like Fiona Farrow that lost yesterday to Mira and Draver Fiona says My tennis watching highlights of 2025 Included Sitting on Wimbledon Centre Court On one of the hottest days of the year Watching Arta Rindeknesh Finally overcome Alexander Zverev We were there too Fiona Yeah we were It's good watching Arthur Muscatare of the day, Rinda Knessh Indeed, very fitting Very fitting, thank you Fiona We also have Felix and Sarah From Sydney, Australia Hello Felix and Sarah Like Ogielia Seam And like Sarah Rakatamanja Rajana Yes Beaten by Amanda Onisimova today On Longland Tian Tsoa is her full name, but she goes by Sarah, or Sarah in French, but she seems okay with Sarah, just like Yannick Sinner's okay with Carrot.

1:10:49David Law: I'm glad we clarified that. He is still trying to make Fox happen, though. Have you seen the social media content recently? There are T-shirts. Confirmed, still trying to make Fox happen. Never going to stop. But he's okay with carrots. Yeah. Thank you, Felix and Sarah. Final shout-out is for Pete Tubb from Kingston-upon-Thames. Oh. All right, Pete. Which is where I was born. That's where Matt was born. Like Pete Sampras. We were talking today about Pete Sampras at the French Open, weren't we? I was reminiscing on his back-to-back wins over Jim Currier and Sergio Baguera in 1996 to reach the semi-finals.

1:11:34David Law: You actually were a bit damning about Pete Sampras at the French Open. Well, he was a bit of a disappointment here. He had his chances. He wasn't good enough. Well, I was specifically asked by Matt if I could have anybody in history to just sort of parachute into this tournament on the men's side, who would it be? And they expected me to say Pete Sampras, and I said, no, you're all right. You said the opposite. Yeah, I said the opposite. I said Andre Agassi. 1990 version That's a good answer Good chat for the barge Actually, all you bargers out there Yeah I'd be interested to know What other people's answer to that would be Pete's still my favourite player from the past So don't worry about it And I've got a good line here from Pete He says Fun fact, I had a summer job In the Putney Exchange many years ago No way Which shop?

1:12:31Or was he the bouncer?

1:12:33David Law: I wonder whether he ever saw us recording in the aisle. Pete, we need way more detail. Let us know. Was it Waitrose? Was it Oliver Bonus? Was it Wilco?

1:12:48Was it Waterstones? Was it Superdrug?

1:12:53David Law: Come on. Okay, okay. Pete, get in touch. thank you for being a friend of the tennis podcast thank you felix thank you sarah thank you fiona we are part of the athletic podcast network how is it 1am how has that happened oh we got home for an early night it's always 1am at a grandstand we started this show at 7pm oh tennis what a sport we'll be back tomorrow with our day three tennis podcast thank you for listening. We'll speak to you then.

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