French Open Media Day - A boycott of sorts, but did it work?

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1:17Matt Roberts: Hello and welcome to Paris and daily podcast number two of 18 from Roland Garros 2026. Today is or was Media Day, although perhaps that needs a rebrand this time around given how today unfolded. In fact today was almost the day that Matt had to go to player press conferences wearing sunglasses and oh how I wish that today had been that day, Matt.

1:43Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, in the words of someone who won this tournament 14 times, I did a disaster this morning and spent half an hour on my hands and knees looking for my glasses. first thing this morning. With help. With help from both of you. Shout out Catherine who found said glasses. Yeah, it was a bad start to the day. There's no two ways around it. In your laundry. Yeah, I don't know how they ended up there.

2:10Matt Roberts: Yeah, the morning started with me reaching through Matt's dirty laundry from yesterday. But glasses were found. What a treat.

2:17Catherine Whitaker: I've gone mad before the tournament even started. I also had a bad moment later in the day when I got blanked by a fellow Fulham fan.

2:25Matt Roberts: That was my favourite moment of the day. Matt strolling down the parade outside Philippe Chetre, spotting a man in a Fulham show and shouting, up the whites and getting completely blanked. I don't know what came over me. You took a risk, Matt. You put something on the line. I did. Your dignity. You lost it. But if you're not prepared to risk anything, then maybe you'll never gain anything.

2:49Catherine Whitaker: I see what you did there.

2:50David Law: It's like doing the...

2:54Matt Roberts: And no one going with you. Yeah. Oh. The jingles of the French Open. Now, if you listened to yesterday's show or have read anything coming out of the French Open over the last 48 hours, you will know that the talk of the town going into today was the planned player protest over prize money as a proportion of Grand Slam revenue. This was the top players led by Big Dog administrator Larry Scott pledging to do only their obligated 15 minutes of pre-tournament media and not a minute longer. That is a reflection of the 15 % of Roland Garros revenue that is allocated to prize money currently compared to 22 % at tour events and significantly higher percentages in other sports, notably US team sports.

3:44Matt Roberts: We went into the day today pretty confused about what the actual protest would look like and how it would impact the day. There hadn't been any official public communications from this body of players led by Larry Scott. So we were flying a bit blind. And what became very clear over the course of the day and very quickly, quite frankly, is that this action was only on the part of the very top players, the lower ranked players, Even the mid-ranked players ranged from oblivious about this protest to nonplussed about the protest to passively supportive of the protest, albeit not participating in it themselves.

4:26Matt Roberts: All the action, or what action there was, and we'll come on to that, came from the players coming through the main press conference room with one exception, and that was Novak Djokovic. he made clear that he wasn't participating in the 15-minute protests and hadn't been involved in any of the discussions leading up to it, which is in keeping with his position on this Larry Scott-led movement up to this point. I'm not sure that Novak Djokovic and Larry Scott are bedfellows necessarily. In terms of the rest, though, Sinner, Sabalenka, Goff, Sviontek, Andreeva, Pegula, Fritz, Zverev, Medvedev, They were all on the 15-minute clock with their press commitments today, which honestly didn't impact us all that much.

5:12Matt Roberts: The press conferences didn't feel massively curtailed. It's the broadcast commitments that I think were most heavily impacted. So maybe the whole thing felt different and less toothless on the broadcast side of things. It is possible that TNT, for example, are up in arms right now and furious with the FFT over this and that they're not getting part of what should be delivered to them in their contracts. But from our perspective, it was fairly normal today. The players were obviously asked about the protest in their press conferences and there was clear, coordinated messaging, the tone of which had definitely shifted a little since Rome.

5:55Matt Roberts: This time around, there was a clear keenness to put the message out there that this is about lower ranked players and fighting for their rights in terms of prize money and pension provisions. In the words of Sabalenka, this isn't about me. As well, Naboan, I have to stand up and fight for those lower ranked players. Matt, how did today's protests stack up against what you were expecting?

6:23Catherine Whitaker: well I guess the point is as you said at the start we didn't really know fully what to expect it had all been a little bit confusing over the over the past couple of days how would it operate who would actually take part who wouldn't so honestly I did come into it with kind of an open mind but I think the one thing I was anticipating was that because they had unified in this quite impressive way and quite quickly, I thought they would at least talk about the topic with some real passion and thrust, those who did talk about it and were asked about it. You know, I thought they'd be angry. I thought they'd really have points that they wanted to make about why they were doing this.

7:09Matt Roberts: Because it was laid on a plate for them, wasn't it? We all went in there and asked them about their cause.

7:15Catherine Whitaker: Totally. This was their chance for, they knew that question was coming, they could have prepared something, and I think to some degree they did have something prepared. As you said, they were talking a lot about the lower-ranked players, that seemed to be the message that everyone was putting out there. But it was all quite low-key, and no one really spoke about it with much passion, I suppose. And that leads me to question just how much time and energy are they going to keep putting into this going forward. I suppose I was surprised by that and maybe a little bit surprised that some of the lower-ranked players or the players outside of the top ten didn't go with it either.

7:58Catherine Whitaker: I asked Pagula about that division and she was basically talking about it had been easy to organise the top ten, asking people not to do any extra media and people were already on board with that and they've already got their communication going, fine, easy. But actually getting that message across to more players I think is going to be a lot more challenging and Pagula did talk about that in terms of the next step. But I thought maybe some of those players would, of their own accord, join in and sort of take part as well. But there didn't really seem to be a lot of that. I suppose I wasn't necessarily expecting massive headlines or anything explosive, but I was expecting just a bit more energy behind the whole thing, considering that they had unified in this way and taken this action.

8:49Matt Roberts: Yeah. Again, like, it could have felt quite different on the broadcast side of things. I'm conscious of that. But from our perspective, it was giving damp squib, wasn't it, big time?

8:58David Law: Yeah. I do feel like when we put in our requests for tennis podcast meets, which is something we do at Evergrande Slam, for Friends of the Tennis Podcast to try to have short conversations with players, often that we don't know personally very well or that are new on the scene, we would normally get a third yeses, maybe even a half of them yeses, and we put 12 requests in and we had one yes. So I did wonder at that stage, okay, is this specifically about the 15-minute boycott, if you like, the limit that they're putting on the time? But it didn't feel as coordinated as that, really. We got one, yes, which we were happy to have, but then one of the players that came in to speak was Ethan Quinn, who did a small huddle, and then he gave me a lovely 10-minute interview, which you'll be able to hear if you're a friend of the tennis podcast.

9:54David Law: So it wasn't... And I share your view that a lot of the low-ranked players, they knew it was going on, but they weren't giving out as if they'd been contacted and asked to stick to 15 minutes or that there was some diktat and this is the way it is.

10:11Matt Roberts: Or even just a memo of messaging like, this is happening. It's great that the top players are making this stand. I back their cause. It's cool, you know, like happy to get involved in the future however I can. I don't know, like some of the players almost sort of bristled at being asked about it. I mean, the day you started, Lois Boisson was first on the list and she couldn't distance herself from it quickly enough. What do you make of the fact, David, that those lower-ranked players clearly aren't a part of this movement yet anyway, especially given that the top-ranked players are claiming that they're doing all this to act on the behalf of their lower-ranked colleagues?

10:56I mean, I question how genuine that is.

11:00Matt Roberts: I think all other things being equal, they would like the income distribution to be better and more people to be able to make a living from tennis, but I don't necessarily believe that these multimillionaires that live in tax havens really desperately care about income redistribution, but that is what they're saying and there is definitely a strong case to be made there and yet the people that they're making it for are kind of oblivious or worse.

11:34David Law: Yeah, I mean, from that perspective, I think the biggest problem is it's really, really difficult to get a message out there to that many people and get people on board. It's easy with 10 top men in the world and 10 top women in the world. There's not many people to talk to. And you can come together, make some decisions and have far-reaching impacts with only a few conversations. Larry Scott being involved, I said it last night, him being involved makes me feel that it has legs because he's a great operator. And I think to have got to this stage, I actually think this has been effective in terms of creating the questions that we've all been asking.

12:14David Law: That has worked. Having the 15 minutes as a sort of signal of the 15 % is clever. It's worked. But then to go and pivot into the, no, no, this is actually about the lower rank players. OK, well, I don't believe that that is your main message. That's something you think is going to land better in some ways. But your main point, and it is a very valid one, is that you feel like your players overall are getting too small a percentage of the revenue versus what other sports get. That is your main message, and it has been throughout. it's just that you're a bit concerned that it sounds like multi-millionaires asking for more millions of dollars um so i think stick to the original point but they i think that it's it's very early in this process they've done well to get to this point it's just that it's it's now showing it's it's fraying a little because they can't coordinate that many people that quickly And to me, the fact, I know it had been sort of out there and journalists that were in Rome seemed very aware that Novak Djokovic wasn't going to be part of this.

13:22David Law: That really did jar with me. I was taken aback by somebody who effectively invented the Professional Tennis Players Association because he was so disappointed with how the tour were fighting the players' causes. And he was the figurehead and the main person driving the players' movement. and he has been pretty selfless, I think, over the years in terms of using energy and time to do that. For him not to be part of this really does stand out like a mile to me.

13:55Matt Roberts: How big a problem is it for the movement? We seem to be calling it a movement now. Quarantan Moutet called it a movement, didn't he? Well, I think... And said he's not part of it.

14:05David Law: I think it's a problem in as much as it makes untrue the claim that it's the top ten men and the top ten women, for a start. Well, hold on, the most famous bloke in the world. And the most powerful. And who's three in the world.

14:16Matt Roberts: He is still the most powerful, active tennis player, isn't he?

14:21Catherine Whitaker: And it's still a little unclear to me why he's not part of it. You know, I know you mentioned the Larry Scott situation. But, yeah, like, he is supportive of them. He's supportive of what they're trying to do. I suppose he's just not supported the way they've gone about it here.

14:41Matt Roberts: I think the Larry Scott thing might be a big part of it. Because, I mean, clearly without Larry Scott, this wouldn't be getting anywhere, would it? I mean, all of the players are saying, I'm up for following it, but I'm not leading it.

15:03David Law: Yeah, they're all happy that there's somebody to do the groundwork, the dirty work, the legwork, you know, and that's what it does require. and that's what the Professional Tennis Players Association tried to do on a certain level. They just became so unwieldy. I mean, I think they've had success in terms of these lawsuits that they've filed and in terms of disrupting things in that regard. But I don't think they've landed anything like the PR message that has been landed in the last couple of days in terms of getting questions asked in press conferences out of a Grand Slam. This is on the agenda as a result of these players actions and this group's pursuit led by Larry Scott but it doesn't feel as impactful as I expected it to feel at the moment but I also think it's step one in a number of steps I'm just curious to see where it goes I did find Taylor Fritz quite compelling on it he was very keen you asked him about are you prepared to boycott one of these Grand Slams if that's where we get to and you don't get what you want and he said, look, I don't want to start throwing the B word around, but at the same time, if we're not getting the response we want, then it's a conversation we're going to need to have.

16:19David Law: I found that very interesting.

16:20Matt Roberts: I just think, I did too, and he was very measured and reasonable in how he talked about it and I appreciated his openness. I just think there's a real, I don't know, you can tell these people don't know, you know, don't hear about, aren't in touch with what's going on on the streets with what a strike or a protest really looks like. You have to be prepared to say the B word and throw it around in order to prevent the B word not having to happen, right? That's what you do. You say, I'm prepared to do this. And that threat is what hopefully prevents you having to do that Because your negotiating partner thinks, oh, shit, we can't have that happen.

17:09David Law: But like Taylor Fritz said, only if you're actually prepared to do it. Irina Sabalenka said it the other day, and everybody rolled their eyes as if to say, sure.

17:19Matt Roberts: And if they're not prepared to even say it, it just feels so toothless.

17:26Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, like it feels so far like this has been effective in terms of raising awareness and probably putting a little bit of pressure on the French Open through not speaking to the rights holders. But when they were asked about, OK, would you sacrifice anything for yourself? You know, it was Tomani Carriol of The Guardian who was kind of asking all of the top players this. Would you be prepared to sacrifice something even as relatively small as doing no media commitments and taking a fine, potentially, from the tournament, they were all suddenly a little bit less sure of themselves and thinking, oh, well, hang on a minute, like, we're not, it was kind of a here, we're not sort of here to really ruffle Feathers vibes, you know, we don't want to, I think Medford ever even said it, we don't want to upset anyone.

18:21Matt Roberts: Yeah, and there was even the media, even us, you know, who we quite often think they don't give two hoots what we think of them today. They were all... Love talking to you guys. talking to you. We need to feel disrespecting. It was great, but it was real like, I don't know, you've got to be prepared to piss us off. You're going to have to piss someone off, probably,

18:40Catherine Whitaker: here, to get what you really want, I think, down the line. And maybe if this does keep happening and they keep not getting anywhere with the discussions, maybe they will start to get a bit angrier. And maybe this really is step one of very many. But, yeah, it just didn't It didn't feel like a protest or a movement at all, did it? In the room, the energy wasn't that.

19:08Matt Roberts: Certainly not to Quarantan Mutay, anyway. OK, that's it for part one. We'll be back in part two to hear what the players had to say about the tennis. And about AI.

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22:38Matt Roberts: Welcome back to part two of today's tennis podcast. Let's talk about what the players did say outside of boycott chat in their 15-minute time slots. Irina Sabalenka, the world number one, says she's 100 % fit after the lower back injury that she struggled with in Rome the last time that we saw her. She said she was a bit worried about it. It took a bit of time. At first, in her initial answer, she said, I'm feeling good. I'm feeling ready. And I sort of pressed her on that. I said, are you 100 % fit? And she said, yeah, she answered that very straightforwardly. You know, things can change over the course of a tournament when things get stress tested.

23:23Matt Roberts: But right now, she's 100 % fit. And that is obviously huge for Rina Sabalenka.

23:30David Law: Yeah, yeah, if that's the case. And I watched her practice today with Jungxin Wen and my word, were they going for it? there was such alpha energy on that court as they just took full swings at one another. And look, I know practice is difficult to read much into in terms of a player's relative fitness, but I got the sense they were playing some points out there and I didn't see anything that made me think, oh dear, she's pulled up there or I'm a little concerned about her there. Whereas a little bit later, Catherine, we watched Cal Monfils and he looked astray. He was absolutely cooked. I mean, he did have his...

24:11Matt Roberts: I didn't watch Gale and Friends. I don't know how much physical exertion was involved, but he looked fucked.

24:17David Law: He might have taken a bit out of himself last night. He was bent double, huffing. Oh, God. We were a bit concerned. I mean, sometimes he does look like that mid-match. You have a sort of second and third wind and win. So, fingers crossed for Gale against Hugo Gaston. But, yeah, Sabalenka looked ready to go. and said as much.

24:41Matt Roberts: Yeah, it was good to hear. I'm kind of fascinated by Sabalenka at this tournament and I don't want that fitness concern to be a factor, obviously. I mean, you know, injury is just far too big a part of the conversation at the moment. So that was a relief to hear. But Iga Svontek in really good spirits, I thought, in the press conference room. She was just before, just after Sabalenka, certainly in that busy part of the day.

25:10Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, and she's in that space where she's constantly being asked to prepare, to compare how she feels now compared to before, you know, and I think it's maybe sort of easy for us to just draw a straight line down and say, well, before you were winning everything and now you're not, you must feel very different and all that kind of thing. And I think maybe for these players, it's not quite as simple as that, but she did say that coming out of Rome last year was a real low point. You know, like she said that to one of them was like a cold shower and she felt bad about her game and then she comes to Roland Garros and all the pressure is on her.

25:50Catherine Whitaker: And look, by most people's standards, she had a pretty good Roland Garros last year reaching the semifinals. It was by no means a disaster. It's just by her standards, it's kind of trophy or nothing, isn't it? and certainly that's what Sabalenka always talks about and I'm sure Svantec feels the same, especially here. She wants that trophy. But she was sounding like she definitely took a lot from Rome. She said, I played easy matches. I also played matches where I had to play under pressure and I think that was helpful for her. The thing is, the question I really want to ask is the question I'm not going to ask because she's one of those ones who doesn't like to know her draw or look at her draw and it feels a little bit like there's an iceberg that she doesn't know about, you know, and everyone's tiptoeing it around it.

26:38Matt Roberts: She's Leonardo DiCaprio. Yeah.

26:41Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, and Ostefenko's there, and I'm not going to mention that in her press conference. And we know that she knows about it.

26:47Matt Roberts: Yeah.

26:48Catherine Whitaker: She's got it pinned up on her door.

26:51Matt Roberts: Yeah, that's so true. Coco Goff, my favourite line from her press conference was that she knew her double fault average in Rome, which was four per match, and she was like, I'm all right with that. That's really good for me. I can handle that. Yeah,

27:07Catherine Whitaker: she also had a funny bit as soon as she came in, she was into the press conference room literally straight after Daniel Medvedev. They must have passed each other in the hallway and she moved the chair that he'd been sitting on because he was like, that's too sweaty.

27:23Matt Roberts: God, it is sweaty in that room. And they all walk into it wearing hoodies and I'm like, that's a mistake. And then at the end of her press conference,

27:31Catherine Whitaker: And she stood up and was like, oh, I've also left a sweat mark. Sorry to Neil.

27:38Matt Roberts: I mean, she always seems good, I think, in those scenarios. Gough, she handles the media as well as anybody, I think. And she genuinely does respect us, I think, and value it as part of her job, I think, and sort of understands the ecosystem of the sport in a way that not everybody does. But she really did seem, you know, considering she's coming here as defending champion, I thought she seemed in a really good headspace. That Rome run is massive for her, I think, because she did the same in Rome as she did last year, coming in here, and she ended up winning the title. And her tennis might be in a better place because she's averaging only four double-folds a match at the moment.

28:25And also, everybody's aware of the weather forecast.

28:30Matt Roberts: That's another big thing. Players were bringing that up unsolicited in press today. They're preparing for a very specific set of conditions, which is 35 degrees is forecast for middle of next week at the moment. And I think Coco Gauff is rubbing her hands together in glee at the prospect of that.

28:54David Law: Yeah, she has a track record, proven track record of playing well in the heat, loves it, plays in Miami all the time. And yeah, she'll be absolutely ready to go in this tournament. I found it interesting her talking about how hard she's working on trying to sort of stay positive and optimistic, you know, and not getting down on herself. And I sometimes watch her and think, crikey, considering all you've done in the sport, it's hard to hear that you feel the way you do about it. But I think that just shows you just what a tough sport it is. And maybe the more you've done, the higher the bar is that you're measuring yourself against, right?

29:39Matt Roberts: Yeah.

29:39David Law: I mean, look, I said yesterday I'm really looking forward to seeing her play Taylor Townsend. but I feel like if she can get into this tournament with those temperatures and with her track record as well, you know, and with this surface, this surface suits her down to the ground. I think she's going to be a pretty formidable player. Well, I felt all the seeds, the top seeds were going through in this draw and I actually feel probably more strongly about it because of this weather.

30:08Matt Roberts: Matt, we didn't get to speak to Amanda Enesimova herself today. I'm not quite sure why she didn't come to the main press conference room. We don't know if she was participating in the media protest or not. I don't think so, judging by the list of stuff that she'd agreed to do that we get through on the WhatsApp group, but I can't say for sure. She did speak to Matt Futterman for a one-on-one that I'm sure will be coming your way in the Athletics sometime soon. Matt bustled over to Matt Roberts that is bustled over to Matt Futterman immediately after this interview and said please give me reasons to be cheerful and you came away from that conversation looking quite cheerful so are we encouraged?

30:54Catherine Whitaker: Yes I think so I think Matt is just holding fire on his story until she's definitely playing the tournament but yeah hopefully you'll be able to read something in The Athletic in a few days But, yeah, the line I like that Matt has given me permission to say on the podcast is that she has the bandage for her wrist on the left wrist. It's the left wrist that's affected. And she apparently said to Matt that it's kind of OK because she doesn't need to work on her backhand anyway. Kind of a flex there.

31:29Matt Roberts: I love that.

31:30Catherine Whitaker: She knows that that shot doesn't need work. And she's still been able to hit forehands and the serve.

31:36Matt Roberts: Which is what she needs to work on. This could be the best thing that's ever happened to her. Forced to only hit forehands and serves in practice.

31:43David Law: So it's best in this and over ever.

31:45Matt Roberts: Well, it is. She's back to being out of the spotlight a bit and expectations being lowered. First time for quite a long time for her.

31:55Catherine Whitaker: And I think she definitely felt that at the start of the year, that her profile in the sport had shifted and there was more pressure and more expectation, both from the outside and I'm sure from herself as well. And yeah, I think she was close to being able to play in Rome but just not quite ready and hopefully here ready and hopefully feeling good.

32:19Matt Roberts: And we like her draw.

32:21Catherine Whitaker: We do indeed. Is Pegula anywhere near her?

32:27Matt Roberts: I don't think she is.

32:29Catherine Whitaker: A potential semi-final. Right, OK.

32:32Matt Roberts: A ways to go.

32:33Catherine Whitaker: We have a way to go before worrying about that head-to-head.

32:35David Law: Particularly given I've said the top four seeds are going to be there.

32:39Matt Roberts: I feel like the last WTA player we should touch upon from today's press conferences is Emma Raducanu. Not necessarily because we expect her to be kind of relevant as a factor at this tournament, but I found it a really, really interesting and revealing press conference with her. You know, she's played one match in recent months, last week in Strasbourg, and she was competitive but lost out to Diane Parry. She's been struggling with lingering post-viral illness. She's had a really rough few weeks and months, and I was expecting a potentially quite downbeat Emirata Karnou for that reason. There's been reports that she's been coughing quite a lot still in practice.

33:23Matt Roberts: She's obviously not completely over this lingering viral illness. But, and look, I know I'm very aware that the last time we talked about Emma Raducanu in depth on the podcast, it was after she'd given a very upbeat press conference in Rome and then pulled out of the tournament half an hour later. We were talking about that with Charlie Eccleshire. So I say all of this with a note of caution, but it felt like a huge vibe and mindset shift from Emma Raducanu to me today, David.

33:53David Law: yeah and I have to say this is kind of what I was getting at when I felt that Andrew Richardson the man that did coach her when she won the US Open and whose vibe I'm just familiar with would be a really good choice for her now I know it's very early days I have no idea what the results turned up like but I can imagine one of the challenges she's had and she made it really clear when she was asked about that she was asked a great question by Elena Crooks which is one I had in my mind as well if if I'd have ended up having a chance to ask a question which would have been do you have in hindsight any regrets that you did break with Andrew Richardson straight

34:36Matt Roberts: after that US Open win and I held my breath a bit when she asked that question it was a great question I don't think I would have been brave enough to ask it um but she wasn't defensive at

34:47David Law: all no she wasn't and and and i kind of got the sense that the answer was yes yes without saying yes specifically because the gist was it was such a blur i was so young so my world was turned upside down basically is what she said and i and i honestly she didn't know which way she was looking next and it's not surprising is it it's it's not but it is the first time i've heard her talk about

35:17Matt Roberts: that period of her life in that way with that level of reflection that doesn't that doesn't mean she hasn't been doing that privately for a long time I don't know but it's certainly the first time I've heard her talk in that way about it publicly yeah she she said that it it's taken

35:31David Law: the process that she's gone through in order to get where she is and I I get it I really do get it but I I do feel in hindsight he he he's a good fit for her just as a guy I mean I just I know what she's getting with him, and she knows what she's getting with him. You could hear the confidence she has in him as a human being and as a coach.

35:57Matt Roberts: Authenticity was a word she used, wasn't it? It's not about him.

36:01David Law: No, and it's not a buzzword that she's used now. I really understand it. I don't know Andrew Richardson well, but I was around him a lot when he was a player, or at least I was around him enough to get a feel for the kind of person he is, and I've heard interviews with him, I thought this is not a guy who's just looking to try to make a quick buck or a load of publicity out of Emma Raducanu. That is not him. And I think she feels probably safe when he's around in that regard because I think that not everybody is like that. And inevitably, and we've heard the stalker stories, and with the amount of fame she's had and the amount of sewage she has to deal with online, You know, how could you really trust very easily at all?

36:47David Law: And I just hope that that's what she gets. Hope she gets this settled life. She said, we've already agreed to be a team until the end of the year. That already feels quite long term for Amarela Karner, relatively speaking.

37:01Matt Roberts: She's never done that before. She's certainly never, again, spoken about that publicly. She said consistency is what's needed.

37:09David Law: Yeah. And I think a lot of people would be saying, well, yeah, I could have told you that years ago.

37:13Matt Roberts: And she said even if the results don't happen, she said that's what's critical. Like, we've agreed to do this and committed to a process regardless of results.

37:22David Law: Yeah, I really... Look, I'm a hopeless optimist. You know I am. That's me in life. But I've always believed in her and I've always felt sad that she's had disruptions along the way. And I can't tell you my belief in her hasn't been shaken by things that have gone along, but I don't think I've ever been more hopeful for her than I am now because I think that this is the right move.

37:50Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, totally. I agree with both of you. I thought the line that really jumped out to me was when she said that Andrew Richardson knew her well before she was famous and before she'd done anything. And, you know, she knows from that time that he always just had her best interests at heart, really. And I think because of that period, just after the US Open win, when she was pulled from one direction to another, this way and that, there would have been a lot of people there trying to take advantage or boost their own selves because of her. And, yeah, she knows that, as David said, she knows that's not Andrew Richardson.

38:30Catherine Whitaker: And, yeah, seemed settled, seemed happy. yeah it was a really uplifting press conference actually and the vibe between her and the journalist present was was really nice there's you know cracking a lot of jokes there was a mix-up about what room she was going to be in and and and she took that all really well straight at the start and you just it just got off to such a good start it was really really buzzing actually after that press conference for her and i still i still will be like even if she loses in the first round she's got a tough match here solana sierra you can't you can't just automatically link it to the result that we're going to see at this year's French Open.

39:06Catherine Whitaker: She's been not playing for quite a while. Probably underdog in this match. I would say so. Yeah, I think so. As you said, this is a process now.

39:14Matt Roberts: Yeah, I was very uplifted by it. I'm glad you two had the same feeling coming out of that room. In terms of the men, Yannick Sinner, I mean, it was mostly boycott, or not boycott, protest chat with Yannick Sinner, wasn't it? I mean, not... Obviously, we were on a clock, but not one question about the career slam. And we didn't talk about it yesterday, did we, with the draw? Like, it's something to do with how heavy a favourite he is, isn't it? That that isn't the story. It's not... The quest isn't the story in the way that it was for Alcaraz at the Australian Open, say. Like, it will become the story as we expect it to come into view as the tournament goes along.

40:01Matt Roberts: And if he does it, you know, that'll be the headline, of course. But it's not right now. It's not even much in the conversation right now, which is a little peculiar.

40:12David Law: Yeah, and it feels a little bit unfair. But he is doing it off the back of Alcaraz doing it. He's doing it with Alcaraz not being here and lots of other talk going on. And I agree, as the tournament goes on, that will increasingly come into view because it's such a big deal to him. I mean, it would be his first run in Garo's title. It would complete the set. There'd be loads at stake, and it would be interesting to see how the nerves end up materialising, if they do at all.

40:44Matt Roberts: And a big deal to tennis. Two players doing it in back-to-back slams is wild. No one's ever done it in the same year before. That's right.

40:54Catherine Whitaker: We've not had two completed career slams in the same season, in the whole of tennis history. And tennis history is pretty long.

41:02David Law: The answer I found most interesting was, would you have pulled out if it wasn't Rome the other week?

41:09Matt Roberts: That was another yes. There wasn't a yes.

41:12David Law: Yeah, and because he said, look, it's not straightforward. Rome is incredibly important to me, but you also have to bear in mind that with the length of these Masters 1000 tournaments, had I not played that, and if you go out early in Madrid, I mean, obviously you didn't, you won the thing, but if you pull out of something, you can be not playing matches for weeks. And it's that trade-off between I feel physically fresh because I've had my feet up or I've just been on the practice court versus I've played loads and loads of matches, so I'm matched tough, but now I'm knackered. And you're trying to strike that balance.

41:48David Law: I mean, I back him to be raring to go.

41:52Catherine Whitaker: I was thinking about that in terms of Mukova yesterday. She hasn't won a match for over a month. She had that great start to the clay court season, reaching the final in Stuttgart, and she pulled out of Madrid because she wanted to recover from Stuttgart, and then she lost first round in Rome. And suddenly it's like, well, what form are you in? And that is something now that Sinner, I thought, made that point really well with the calendar. I do back him to navigate his way through. I think the main two things for Sinner, to me, are the pressure of the career slam and how that will come even more into focus, and the weather.

42:34Catherine Whitaker: As you said, expecting a pretty consistent spell of weather in the 30 degrees Celsius getting up to 35. I just think he will be able to play the night session card. Right.

42:48Matt Roberts: I mean, I think he's going to be able to call whatever shots he likes in this draw, especially given how it's landed with Djokovic on the other side. Like, my understanding is this isn't far from official. I think he's going to be given a Tuesday start. You know, obviously, he only arrived yesterday, went home for a couple of days. I'm pretty sure he'll play his first match on Tuesday, giving him as much rest time after Rome. I think if he wants to play night session, he plays night session.

43:17Catherine Whitaker: Like, I'm not sure he'll play it every round.

43:19Matt Roberts: Right.

43:22Catherine Whitaker: But a lot of them. I think a lot of them.

43:24Matt Roberts: And he can deploy. Yeah. They can probably say to him, we can give you three or four, and he'll look at the forecast and, you know.

43:34David Law: Yeah, I think so.

43:36Matt Roberts: Play the night session card when he most needs it.

43:38David Law: And that's the thing. You can, I mean, I wouldn't have thought he'd get more than two or three in the early rounds, personally, but then once you get to a certain point, you've got a decent chance of being on it anyway because there's not many rounds left. Yeah.

43:54Matt Roberts: Isn't it, I mean, it is scheduled to be so hot, it's still going to be hot at night. I mean, not the humidity, which will be a relief.

44:02Catherine Whitaker: And not the blazing sunshine.

44:04Matt Roberts: Yeah. But, I mean, the forecast is it's going to be the hottest French Open ever. I mean, mid-30s in May is bonkers. It's way hotter than I thought it would be.

44:14Catherine Whitaker: I really didn't think we would be having this conversation.

44:18David Law: This could be a factor that we weren't really anticipating, that we joked about as being one of the things that could stop Yannick Sinner because we didn't expect it to be this hot. And so it'll be interesting to see whether it is.

44:33Matt Roberts: Remember last year when I was panic ordering trousers? I need to throw away my trousers this year.

44:38David Law: Yeah, they didn't arrive, did they?

44:39Matt Roberts: They didn't. But they did get a refund. Don't get your violins out for me.

44:44David Law: Now she's throwing them out the window.

44:46Matt Roberts: Novak Djokovic, folks, he was not on a 15-minute time limit. He was giving his usual very long answers to questions, meandering, took us on a real journey with all of his answers. He wasn't particularly reassuring about his fitness for five-set tennis, was he? But I tried to engage Matt in a bit of chit-chat after the Djokovic press conference. And Matt said, I'm not reading anything into anything he said about that.

45:18Catherine Whitaker: Well, I just think because if I did really read into that, then I would be a bit concerned for him. Yeah, I am a bit concerned for him. And maybe I should be. Maybe I'm not being, you know, analytical enough there. Maybe I'm just brushing it off too much. But I just remember in Australia being... I was trying to pick up on his body language and I remember coming out of that press conference thinking, I'm really not sure he's really sort of present and here and up for this Australian Open.

45:54David Law: The pre-tournament one.

45:55Catherine Whitaker: Yes, and I couldn't have been more wrong. Like, it was as up for a Grand Slam as he'd been and he was in a long time. And I just think that, you know, he talked about how he really wasn't ready at all in Rome, but he felt like he just needed to get a match in, because otherwise it would have been so long.

46:10David Law: He even said, I just needed to hear the umpires read the score while I was out there.

46:14Matt Roberts: And interesting, he was referencing there the injury that he'd got earlier in the season. and he wasn't talking about the watery shits that he... That sort of most obviously seemed to be troubling him in Rome.

46:29Catherine Whitaker: Yeah.

46:30Matt Roberts: I don't know that it was specifically that. That's now our byword for stomach issues, to be clear.

46:36David Law: That's an official medical condition.

46:41Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, so I think he went into Rome expecting to lose early there, but it does sound like, and he said, the body has recovered well and responded well in the 10 days since. But still, you put all the pieces together and you think, well, 39 years old as he turned today, hasn't played much, has been carrying an injury. It doesn't scream he's ready to contend for this Grand Sam title, but you contrast that with everything we know about Novak Djokovic and a whole career's worth of proving that he is always a contender at these tournaments, and I'm just leaning more on that side that he'll figure it out I suppose, again, it wouldn't shock me if he's not physically ready here but I'm certainly not going to write him off

47:29David Law: Particularly because he was good here last year, and don't forget I asked him the question after the Cine Match, could this be the last time we see you here, and he says yeah and obviously that, as he also said, that's always going to be the case because the agey, but he was really good last year he beat alexander zverev who's good you know who's good on clay and who's a top two or three in the world and and then he for him to do what he did in australia i just make think you just have to dismiss all the things that he's that he's saying in terms of fitness because i don't think he knows he doesn't know what's what he's going to pull up like one day to the next but his a his potential is to go all the way i found his answer about uh alcaraz

48:19Catherine Whitaker: not being in the draw and whether that changes things for him quite interesting and obviously obviously he is never going to want to sort of disrespect carlos alcaraz with his answer there but my instinct when i've seen carlos alcaraz out of roland garras out of wimbledon is Novak Djokovic sitting up a little bit more and really thinking, OK, this is my chance. But actually, when I think about it, I do think the answer he gave today is how he feels, which is, you know, maybe it's a little bit helpful if they're not in the draw, but really it's all about me. And if I'm fit and ready, I believe I can still beat them.

49:00Catherine Whitaker: And he said that I've proved that. And he has proved that in back-to-back Australian Opens with a win over Alcres and a win over Sinner. and of course it's helpful for Alcaraz not to be here it's helpful for Novat Djokovic but he he is the one guy we talk a lot about players not carrying belief onto court he is the one guy who does still I think have that belief if he's physically able and a lot of the Grand Slams over the past few years he's he's not been and maybe he's not here either but when he is as deluded as it might be, I believe him when he says he still thinks he can beat them both and probably he still thinks back to back he might be able to pull it out.

49:41Matt Roberts: I agree with you, but I do think Australia is quite a big part of him feeling like that. I don't think he felt like that after losing to Alcaraz at the US Open. I think he had a real crisis of feeling like, I need these two not to be there. And then he did what he did in Australia, and he's back to his default setting of, but I'm Novak Djokovic.

50:06Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, I'd agree with that.

50:09Matt Roberts: More positive fitness news from Alexander Zverev, who gave quite a detailed rundown of the back injury that's been troubling him for the last 18 months. He said he struggled with it on and off to varying degrees for most of last year. Then at the end of last year, he went to see, in his words, a very famous doctor.

50:32Catherine Whitaker: He did name the doctor. He did. It's just I didn't catch it.

50:36Matt Roberts: No.

50:36Catherine Whitaker: It was a German name.

50:37Matt Roberts: Do you think you would have known? Like, how well do you know famous German doctors?

50:41Catherine Whitaker: I would not have known.

50:42Matt Roberts: No. Anyway, sorry for not giving the doctor credit. Look up the transcript. Famous German doctor. As we're over time.

50:52Matt Roberts: And he got two treatments on his back, he said, and he said it was like a miracle. His back was fantastic for three months, he said, at the start of the season. And then in Munich, he said it was, didn't he? He started to feel it again, and that's affected, he says, his results over the past few weeks. He went back to see this doctor after losing in Rome. He's had the same two treatments again, and he now feels amazing. I didn't get to ask my follow-up question, which would have been, what were these treatments? Please give me a detailed medical description. so I can use them. What are his rates?

51:31Matt Roberts: Yeah, exactly. In fact, I should have got the doctor's name, shouldn't I?

51:35Catherine Whitaker: Transcript.

51:36Matt Roberts: Yeah. I mean, it sounds fantastic for Zverev.

51:42David Law: Yeah, he certainly sounded upbeat, and he hasn't always sounded upbeat in press conferences in the last couple of months in terms of his physical fitness. But I still think it's one thing to feel better after having a couple of weeks off, because he was playing so often. I mean, he played the whole Sunshine double, comes back out and plays Monte Carlo, Munich, Madrid and Rome. He was done by Rome. I mean, he got nothing left in the tank when Darderi beat him. I mean, fair play Darderi. But, you know, that was not a guy in that state that was going to win this tournament. So he needed a refresh and that's what he's got now.

52:21David Law: So that's quite good for him. He said that losing in Rome actually helped me to freshen up for this and obviously get this treatment. But seven matches, best of five. If he has some gruelling ones, I don't think there's a guarantee that that back is in great shape. So, you know, let's see. That bottom half of the draw remains fascinating.

52:44Matt Roberts: Taylor Fritz is in it. Sounds like he's had quite the reality check regarding his ongoing knee injury, David.

52:55David Law: Yeah, he said that we've had this ongoing with him as well in press conferences about are you going to take a break? He's got this knee tendinitis. He would insist that his trainers, physios had told him that you can continue to rehab that problem whilst playing. And he said, you know, I'd have a day of a match of not having any pain and then have a couple of days before my next match and then feel pain. and he just kept on playing and he just kept on insisting that he could do that and he said I finally got to the point where my team said to me well you can go to Monte Carlo but if you do we're not going to be with you because you need a break and you need to treat this properly and I have to say I think that that has been the case for the best part of a year that he's needed to just get off the treadmill of this tour and sort this problem out if he possibly can And I don't know whether it's enough time, whether he's been able to do it.

53:53David Law: But I think he's had a problem disengaging from this circuit. And he said the problem is when the events are going on, you've got FOMO, basically. You're thinking, well, I think I might be able to compete, so I want to compete. So he said as a result of that, he's just had to try to ignore the tennis the last couple of months. He's aware of what Yannick Sinner's done, but that's it. so I think he faces a building back into form and fitness but I also think he's the sort of bloke that once he gets one if he could get one or two best of five set matches won under his bowels and he didn't feel pain I think he could quite quickly get his level back personally.

54:36Matt Roberts: But he's fitter than he's ever been, he's following a strict diet plan for the first time

54:41David Law: in his life, he's lost 12

54:43Matt Roberts: to 13 pounds, I don't know where from He's lifting heavier than ever before. It's giving post-breakup.

54:51Catherine Whitaker: He's thirst trapping on Instagram. Yeah, exactly. What does that mean?

54:56Matt Roberts: We'll tell you after, David. Shirtless photos, don't we?

54:59Catherine Whitaker: Oh, OK. Which he was thrilled to be asked about. He was so thrilled. He was like, I'm glad you noticed. It was that kind of vibe. He'll have a Hulk tattoo next, like Flavio Caballi.

55:10Matt Roberts: Well, that's not gone brilliantly for him, has it? Daniel Medvedev Matt I missed Medvedev I was doing some good work for Tennis Podcast Meets or maybe some average work for Tennis Podcast Meets you be the judge how did we find Daniel today?

55:30Catherine Whitaker: well if you told me when he was losing six love six love to Matteo Berrettini at the start of this clay court season that he would you know the first words you would utter in his Roland Garros press conference were, I feel great. And I would believe him that I wouldn't have believed you. But I do believe him. I think he's really positive about where his game is right now. He was sort of lumping Rome and Madrid together and feeling like he played really good tennis at both of those tournaments. He said, look, Roland Garros doesn't always go very well for me. Hasn't been my best tournament. So I think he's aware that But I think he still feels like he's probably got something to prove at the majors as he's mounting this comeback in terms of being a genuine threat at the top of the game again.

56:22Catherine Whitaker: Like he hasn't, it's been a while since he had a really good run at a major, you know. And it is different to doing it on the tour. And I think he needs to get back to that. But I believed him when he said he was in a good place. So, yeah, kind of fascinating little section he's in, given that he's got kind of, you know, has he got a good draw or has he got a bad draw? He's kind of got a good draw in that I think he's got a pretty good run to go deep here in terms of quarters or semis, but he is in the Sinner half. So I think for him, semifinals would be a very good showing at Roland Garros, and he was asked about what it's like not having Alcaraz here, and he said, at the moment, I'm really not thinking about it.

57:07Catherine Whitaker: But if I get to that semi-final, he has seen the draw. He knows he's in Sinner's half. If I get to that semi-final, yes, I'll be thinking about it because suddenly it's like, OK, if I can win this match, the journey to win the tournament is maybe not as hard as it would be if Alcaraz is there. So I love how just aware he is and willing to engage in kind of the fun talking points. And it was good to have that Medvedev back.

57:33Matt Roberts: Absolutely. You had your first Jodar press conference experience.

57:38Catherine Whitaker: He was wearing the shirt I want to buy. Spain's away shirt for the World Cup. I tried to buy it the other day and to celebrate my Spanishness. Sold out.

57:48Matt Roberts: It's probably sold out because Jodar, the great Spanish hope now. Hoarding them all. Or advertising them. Did we learn anything about Jodar?

58:01David Law: He's quite self-assured. he speaks well he went he went to US college so his English is good he's likable he doesn't give much away he's he feels media trained to me he knows how to speak and be polite and give you an answer that you can use but without getting himself into any trouble turned around a couple of questions about the media boycott and that sort of thing and said that I just listened to my dad I ask him what I'm supposed to be doing, and he tells me, and the people that are around to look after us. But I was curious about the transition for him to best of five, because that is one of the big question marks about him at the moment.

58:47David Law: And he just seems to be relishing the process of it all, really. And I do think that that is a big question mark still. But I think he's going to cause some damage before that catches up with him. Because I think he's going to beat some people quite easily.

59:08Matt Roberts: Fascinating. He's a fun wild card in the draw, isn't he? Boy, do we need him. Yeah, yeah, we really do. And more on that coming up in part three. Just to say before we move on, we have been doing interviews for Tennis Podcast Meets today. David has been, my God, he's done some loitering today. The area did not know what hit it. Absolutely incredible work.

59:37Catherine Whitaker: I'm kind of always in awe at David, but never more so than on area day. The way you handle that is incredible.

59:44Matt Roberts: Yeah, the area here is an anxiety dream for Matt and I. I ventured into it for one, for Matt and me. Sorry, I could hear my dad chastising me for that poor grammar there. That one's for you, Dad. Yeah, I had to make one venture into the area today and I asked David to escort me there because I was so afraid. It is so intimidating. What's the problem with it? It's just teeming with people. it is it's um guarded by bouncers i'm not quite clear on what areas what bits of the area i'm allowed in which in which i'm not so i'm in constant fear of being bounced out of where i am and i don't want to be there anyway um it's unorganized chaos it's totally disorganized i

1:00:34Catherine Whitaker: need to know what time something's happening and is it just going to be me are there going to be other people there like i find all of that incredibly and david's like and you know we

1:00:44Matt Roberts: we only knew at the start of today because it was particularly chaotic one interview that we're going to be getting it was only because of david's incredible loitering we ended up with five you know suddenly david's in a sort of two-one-one with stephano sit to pass

1:01:01David Law: muscling the greek people out of the way yeah i also wrenched uh alexander blocks away from from about six Belgian people.

1:01:10Catherine Whitaker: We've been blacklisted by Belgian media.

1:01:13David Law: They did get to do their interview first. It's just that when I made it clear that I'd like to ask some questions in English, somebody intercepted the whole thing and stopped it.

1:01:22Matt Roberts: So, yeah, that's what we've been doing today. Hopefully more to come tomorrow as well. And then we will have our Roland Garros 2026 edition of The Tennis Podcast Meets, ready to go for friends of The Tennis Podcast. That's just one of the bonus episodes that we produce every year for Friends of the Pod. We do a review show after every Grand Slams. There'll be one a couple of days after this role on Garros. We do a history series called Tennis Relived where we cover eight different stories from the sport's recent, middle and distant past. All different kinds of stories that Matt pauses heart and soul into and David does brilliant interviews for and I just rock up and host them and learn things about the sport and it's all an absolute joy.

1:02:08Matt Roberts: And the most recent of those is about Pietrangeli, Nicola Pietrangeli, and it was an absolute pleasure to put that together. So that's up now for Friends of the Pod. We do monthly live Q &A shows. You also get access to The Barge, which is our community social media platform, and you get ad-free listening as well. So if that sounds good, you can become a friend of the Tennis Podcast by following the link that is always in our show notes. That is it for part two. We'll be back in part three with a bit more news. AI is only as powerful as the platform it's built into. That's why it's no surprise that more than 85 % of the 14500 use the ServiceNow AI platform.

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1:03:49Matt Roberts: Welcome back to part three of today's tennis podcast, where I'm afraid we have some slightly worrying reports surrounding Art of Feast. He hasn't or hadn't been seen in training since Rome where he retired injured with what looked like a... Certainly it looked like an injury that had scared him in the moment. He had a worrying look in his eye at the time. He wasn't on the press conference schedule for today. We haven't had the schedule through for tomorrow, so we don't know if he features on that. And he didn't feature in last night's Gale and Friends exhibition, which you probably would have expected him to.

1:04:30Matt Roberts: So all of those facts kind of started to form a bit of a concerning picture around Artifice. He did train today at 4pm over on the private practice courts at Jean Bois, just a couple of roads over from Roland Garros. And there were some French journalists over watching that and they said there were some more positive signs from Artifuse, but this was, Boal accounts, quite a light practice session, David. Like, the worries are not lifted here.

1:05:02David Law: No, and I saw that Rome match, and when I saw him pull up, fall of down, my heart was in my mouth for him because of the look in his eye. You know, this is a guy a year ago who played a match against Xiaomi Munar, an exhilarating match, and then we were worried about him and he did pull out the next day and then he barely picked up a racket. He played, what, two matches in eight months because of a stress fracture to the back. The comeback has been incredible, frankly, in the last few months. He hasn't shown any ill effects at all. But when that happened in Rome, I was worried. He then put out a tweet to say that I've had a scan, everything looks okay, I'm already in Rallenghoros or in Paris and I'm preparing for Rallenghoros.

1:05:46David Law: But as you say, Quentin Moinet, the French L 'Equipe journalist, tweeted that he hasn't been seen in Paris training at all in the last two weeks, which is a concern. Not being on the interview list today, not playing Gael Monfils and friends, all of these things make you worried. Today, yeah, I think that's encouraging. And I know that he is due to play on court Philippe Chatrier tomorrow, Saturday morning. practicing with Yuri Lehechka. So we'll find out, I guess, something more about what he looks like because that will be the first time we've clapped eyes on him. But it doesn't sound like ideal preparation for a Grand Slam that many people, myself including, are thinking, here's an outsider for the title.

1:06:36Matt Roberts: And whether he can sort of make it to the match court here or not, like longer term, the fact that this injury, this long-term, chronic-sounding injury is clearly still a problem, well, is kind of bigger picture, very, very worrying.

1:06:56David Law: Well, a year ago I said, obviously it's a shame that he's out of the French Open because he's my favourite player to watch and I love the vibe he's creating here, but actually I would take that if he has a viable career. and I still feel like that now. I'd give anything really reason for this guy to have a viable career and be able to produce what he's clearly capable of doing so. And, I mean, we're looking around and seeing a lot of people that we're feeling like that about at the moment and that's a tough scene. Yeah, it is. So fingers crossed for him. Absolutely.

1:07:40Matt Roberts: Fingers crossed and we will keep you posted. Now, unfortunately, we do need to end today's show on some really sad, sad news, certainly extremely so for us and our colleagues in the tennis media news that we received yesterday, which is that Howard Fendrick, the correspondent, the tennis reporter for the Associated Press, passed away late on Wednesday night after a short illness. He covered a number of sports. We obviously knew him from this one. He was a mainstay in Grand Slam and tall press conferences, but covered a number of sports. He was at the Winter Olympics in Milan in Cortina just a couple of months ago.

1:08:25Matt Roberts: He started working at the Associated Press back in 1994 and became their leading tennis writer in 2002 and has covered the sport in that role since then. He really was an outstanding journalist. And in the words of Simon Cambers, the co-president, along with Howard of the International Tennis Writers Association, he had an incredible work ethic and energy. He was never afraid to ask difficult questions, and he covered the sport with integrity and class. And his wife, Rosanna, said that she'd asked Simon to let everybody know that he had really enjoyed being part of the International Tennis Writers Association.

1:09:11Matt Roberts: And he had worked tirelessly in his three years in his role as co-president to improve the lots of us and our colleagues. The Associated Press ran an obituary today, which included comments from Roger Federer, who estimated that he had had more than 100 interactions with Howard over the decades. and he called him one of those constant and reassuring presences in the tennis world for many years. He started covering tennis in 2002, right around the time I was starting to have my breakthrough in the sport. And over time, he truly became part of the fabric of tennis. Tennis lost a wonderful journalist and a great person.

1:09:52Matt Roberts: And that's really, really classy of Federer to say that. and it's a sentiment that is echoed by us and all of our colleagues. It's really shocking and upsetting news and we're thinking of, well, all of our colleagues, but of course in particular Howard's friends, friends and family and Matt Koko-Gough and Jessica Pagula, who knew Howard well, they paid tribute to him at the start of their press conferences today, which was a really nice touch.

1:10:26Catherine Whitaker: They did, yeah. Much like a number of players did when Mike Dixon passed away in Melbourne a couple of years ago. They both had something they wanted to share. So the moderator just let them say that at the start of the press conference. And yeah, they both talked about how much they'll miss Howard and how he was someone they really enjoyed speaking to in press conferences. And yeah, I can really imagine why. He was always very curious, wasn't he, Howard? and when I think of him, I'll think of him asking his questions quite slowly but very methodically and he would always have a very specific angle on something and he would often ask questions that would certainly leave me thinking, oh, I wish I'd thought of that, I wish I'd asked that.

1:11:13Catherine Whitaker: And all in a very gentle, non-threatening, understanding manner as well. Yeah, it's a huge loss for the press room.

1:11:24David Law: Yeah, it is. He is somebody that I obviously knew throughout his entire time in the sport. And he walked that line brilliantly, I think, between being very human and also asking all the questions, never shying away from a story. And something in the obituary in the AP that really struck me was something said by Steve Wilson, who used to work for AP and was one of the editors there, that even if it was just a three-paragraph story, it had to be right. It had to be ironclad, he said. That's the sort of reporter he was. There was no bluster. There was no going after a line that might not have been checked just because it's a good yarn.

1:12:08David Law: He wanted to make sure what he was reporting was absolutely correct every time. And you could trust him. You respected him. We're younger journalists. I'm a similar age to him, but I liked the fact that when he was staying at a hotel a few doors down to us a couple of years ago, he would have time for you, he would have a conversation with you, he would make you feel welcome, and that was really valued. I had untold respect for him and really will miss him dearly.

1:12:44Matt Roberts: Yeah, it's a huge shock and a huge loss. So, yeah, we're thinking of everybody that loved and will miss Howard. And that is the note that we will end today's show on. We are part of the Athletic Podcast Network. Thank you for listening. We will be back tomorrow with our final Roland Garros preview show ahead of the tournament starting in earnest on Sunday. So thank you for listening. We'll speak to you tomorrow.

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