Live from Wimbledon Day 1 - Wild, wonderful start, but what was up with Alcaraz?

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1:07Matt Roberts: Hello and welcome to the Tennis Podcast live from Wimbledon. It is day one of the championships. It is just about to tick over to 11pm and it is still about 30 degrees out here. I'm still utterly overstimulated from what has been a chaotic feast of drama today at SW19. It's been pretty much the dream start to a grand slam today, hopefully setting the tone for what's to come over the next 14 days. It has been totally breathless for the last 12 hours and more. so maybe, maybe that's why I need a Breathe Right nasal strip, Matt Roberts.

1:50Catherine Whitaker: Or maybe it's because Nicholas Jarry, oh my God, in around 15 minutes, please make your way to the exit gates and make sure you take all your belongings with you. We hope you've enjoyed your day here at Wimbledon and wish you a pleasant and safe journey home. Thank you.

2:13Matt Roberts: I thought I was overstimulated. Matt, there is so much Matt-coded stuff happening in this podcast. As you were, Matt. Back to your other bit.

2:24Catherine Whitaker: This is what happens when you commit to a bit. And actually, I have to shout out David, my guy, because I actually forgot my nasal strips. Maybe because I, in my subconscious, didn't think that Nicholas Jarry was going to beat Holger Runa. But he made the comeback in five sets, and David legs it to Wimbledon Town Centre to go and pick up some nasal strips. And here we are.

2:48Matt Roberts: And here we are.

2:49David Law: You're subconscious. I mean, I think you're very much in your front of consciousness.

2:55Matt Roberts: Gosh, I thought I was overstimulated before and now we've got a Breathe Right Nasal Strips bit happening simultaneously with the announcements. Crazy. It's an awful lot. We haven't even touched upon Amanda Ranisimova. What are you wearing in her honour this evening? in honour of her double bagel.

3:12Catherine Whitaker: Wearing? Drinking, I think you mean.

3:16Matt Roberts: All that will be talked about, folks, and a whole lot more. But let's start, shall we, David, with the two-time defending champion, the heavy favourite for the title this fortnight on the men's side, Carlos Alcaraz, and his oh-so-scenic route to victory over Fabio Fanini in five dramatic and bizarre sets to open centre court today.

3:43David Law: Yeah, I think you've summed it up perfectly. I don't feel as though I am qualified to give proper analysis to this match because I don't think it is actually possible to give real analysis. It was an absolute mess from start to finish from a Carlos Alcaraz perspective. The only good news for him is that he's still in the tournament because that was a disastrous performance in terms of quality, for the most part, by his standards. You know, that is not what I was expecting in the slightest. I thought he would... I've been saying it for weeks. I thought this is a new Carlos Alcaraz and that he would come out and show us his new maturity and his Yannick Sinner-like efficiency that he's trying to attain.

4:27David Law: And listen, I'm not... I know that probably sounds all quite harsh, And I actually find the fact that he described his nerves and he really was very open about how nervous he was. And that now makes total sense to me, what we witness today. And I was looking back a year ago when he made his first appearance as the defending champion and he had a very close match against a guy, I think Mark Lyell, who is now ranked 167 in the world at a career-high ranking. He has not gone very far, and yet two of those sets were 7-6, 7-5, and Alcaraz talked about his nerves. So maybe I didn't factor that in enough, the human nature of what he was trying to do.

5:13David Law: But the thing is, he's still in the tournament. And also, it was nice to see Fanini play some of his hits, I suppose. I mean, my word, he can't move like he used to, but he can still do stuff with the racket, can't he?

5:26Matt Roberts: Yeah, and I always think the fact that he can't move like he used to, which is a very graceful understatement, David. I almost think that discombobulated Alcaraz. We've seen him play badly against a hampered opponent, albeit a 24-grand slam winning one in Novak Djokovic earlier this year. But Fabio Fennini was so clear. I mean, look, if the ball is there, he can still hit a great tennis ball. Like, unbelievable hand skills, unbelievable ball striking. he'll be able to do that on his deathbed I think if there's a tennis ball just there to be hit he just can't get to them anywhere near like he used to so you're watching it thinking well just hit the ball away from him Carlos get him moving and he just couldn't seem to do that and I think part of the issue Matt is that he didn't trust his touch and his feel today and touch and feel is one of the things that goes when you're tight and when you're nervous

6:26Catherine Whitaker: yeah absolutely I look David said he didn't he didn't factor that in when thinking about this match I I definitely didn't in in hindsight I should have let you finish your question yesterday when I dismissed the chance of Fabio Fanini I just saw no way that this match was going to look like the one we saw on Centre Court today. He was halfway to Vincent Spadia's losing streak, Fabio Fanini. He hasn't won a match since October. He's now lost 11 in a row at tour level. Like, this was almost my foregone conclusion moment. It was potentially extremely, extremely embarrassing. I think it probably still is quite embarrassing.

7:14Matt Roberts: I think it still is because actually you don't know what the end of my sentence was. I wasn't going to ask if Fanini can win. I was going to ask if Fanini could make it interesting

7:22Catherine Whitaker: I didn't think you were going to ask if he could win I thought you were going to ask if he could make it interesting

7:25Matt Roberts: and you thought that was too ludicrous a question to finish yeah I did

7:28Catherine Whitaker: I genuinely did I thought that this would be so straightforward for Carlos Alcares and I think obviously didn't factor in the nerves that he would be feeling I think he's also this is going to sound like an odd thing to say I think he's like a little bit in awe of Fanini like I think he really like kind of likes him and vibes with him on the practice court and maybe backstage as well. And it just didn't feel like himself out there. And he played his kind of tennis, doesn't he? Yeah, and he got dragged into the sort of match that Finini wanted to play, which wasn't one that was exposing his movement now.

8:03Catherine Whitaker: It was one where he could still use his hand skills and his racket skills. And yeah, he was in huge bother there, Alcaraz, today, especially with the heat as well. You know, like we saw that really hot day at Queen's when he struggled against Munar. He struggled again today in the heat. I mean, look, everyone, I think, pretty much did today. So, look, there was just couldn't have been more different to what I thought. The only way I could have been more wrong is if somehow Fanini had managed to win it.

8:33Matt Roberts: And I think that being in awe of Fanini, which really struck and surprised me as well, I think that prevented him, and credit to Alcaraz for this, from really explaining how much he was feeling it out there. That's why I asked him the questions about nerves in press, because I thought he was really feeling it physically today, whether it was an illness, whether it was stress-related. It doesn't matter. You know, thinking about how Jack Draper's stress manifested so badly in the heat in the US Open, and where does stress and anxiety end and heat stroke begin? Like, who knows? And it doesn't matter.

9:11Matt Roberts: I thought there was a point in the fourth set at a sit-down where he was sort of making a vomiting gesture towards his box. I could be wrong about that, but that's what it looked like to me. And he looked spacey for the whole match to me. He looked spaced out and he was getting the ice towel every sit down. So, yeah, whatever you want to call it, he clearly wasn't physically all there today, but he was very, very aware that this was Fabio Fanini's last ever Wimbledon match and didn't want to be the guy that comes into the press conference and says, yeah, he made it fun but I wasn't myself today.

9:56Matt Roberts: So he really played down his performance and made it all about how well Fanini played but then when I asked him about the nerves, he said, yeah, I was extremely nervous and said the fact that he'd done this once before, opened up centre court as the defending champion, didn't help him at all today. He said it was like the first time.

10:18David Law: It's quite instructive, wasn't it? And the way it manifested itself to me, apart from the lack of feel he had, and I mean, he was unable to hit rally balls at times. They were going off 45-degree angles out of court.

10:33Matt Roberts: Honestly, David, the end of that fourth set was some of the worst tennis I've ever seen from a professional tennis player. It was extraordinarily bad.

10:41David Law: It was basically a tank at the end as well because he knew he was too far behind. Once he went 5-2 down, that last game was, OK, I'd better get ready for the fifth set because I always win those. And sure enough, he did.

10:53Catherine Whitaker: Some amazing stat padding for his record today. He's now 14-1 in those five sets.

10:59David Law: The other thing that I noticed is it was like his legs didn't belong to him in the first few sets. In fact, all of it.

11:07Matt Roberts: Matt really noticed this and has a theory.

11:09David Law: His spacing wasn't right. You know, his footwork adjacent to the ball, he was often in the wrong position.

11:15Matt Roberts: Look, I think part of it was that he just didn't know where Fanini's ball was going, did he? Again, I think that's partly because he was so spaced out, but he just seemed totally befuddled by Fanini. And he does have great disguise on his shots, but also Matt has a theory that I think is good.

11:33Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, and look, I don't want to be the guy that says, oh no the ATP players had to play on grass at Queen's that had already been used by the women but I think it is an interesting point that he hadn't played a match on that fresh grass this year and the footing is very different when it's when it's like that and look he sort of played centre court in a bit the other day didn't he he has hit on there but it's very different in an actual match and I just think maybe that that played a little part there like perhaps he just wasn't fully sure of his footing because it's the fresh grass. It's been a year since he played on that surface like that, plus with the nerves, plus with how he feels about Fanini.

12:16Catherine Whitaker: All of these factors seem to combine today. I can't believe we were in that match for four and a half hours today.

12:28David Law: Four and a half hours.

12:29Catherine Whitaker: It's absolutely crazy to me.

12:31David Law: Just imagine if somebody had told you that last night.

12:34Catherine Whitaker: There was laughter when Fabio Fanini's name came out as the final name in the draw. People were like, oh God, Fanini, yeah.

12:42David Law: I had genuinely forgotten he was in the draw until then. Yeah.

12:47Matt Roberts: Do you treat this match totally in isolation? Does it change how you feel at all about Carlos Alcaraz at this tournament?

12:56Catherine Whitaker: It doesn't for me.

12:58Matt Roberts: Other than that he shouldn't prepare for Grand Slam matches by playing golf with Andy Murray. yeah that's that's clear how many do you think Andy Murray is just every night sending out you know 25 texts do you want to play golf tomorrow to tennis players and thinking one of them will bite one of them won't mind spending their off day playing around with me yeah look

13:23David Law: Fanini might be the closest guy to beating Alcaraz here no it's I know what you mean because he He might have got it out of his system now. Or, I mean, like last year, because I went and looked at the results, and actually, you know, he's won in straight sets in the first round, but it's 7-6, 7-5, 6-3, something like that. He wins his second round more comfortably, but it's still not, you know, it's not an emphatic performance. Third round is the Tiafoe escape. And then he was okay, more or less, you know. so I don't think it's necessarily out of the system completely the only thing that changes my mind I still think the guy is going to win this title this fortnight the only thing that changes my view I hope is for next time that when he plays this tournament if he's won it again and he defends and he plays the opening match I'd like to think I'll be a bit more ready for the nerves to strike next time because I don't think that's going away

14:25Catherine Whitaker: necessarily. And actually, Fennini himself, his analysis pre-match of this was far better than mine. He said, it's the best time to play him in the first round. You know, like that is when he's probably going to be the most vulnerable and that showed today. I have to think that he plays a lot better than this. Look, the serve was bad. Bad. Like nowhere near what we saw at Queen. There is so much

14:50Matt Roberts: Algaraz serve bot analysis which is so painfully out of date already.

14:56Catherine Whitaker: And bad straight away. He was having to save great points at the start of this match today straight away. And there was just so many moments where like, okay, then he managed to win the first set and I thought, okay, he's going to be fine now. And then he gets pegged back and then he wins the third and then he gets pegged back. It was just one of those performances that I think he just needed to get it out of his system. I have to think, given the tennis we've seen him play in the last month or so. I'm not worried really about his form. I do think this was a bit of a one-off.

15:31Matt Roberts: I know he's got a pretty checkered CV, Fabio Fanini, hasn't he? But just in terms of his tennis, which has been sublime at the highest peaks of his career, and some of those have been here. David, you and I watched the match he played against Andy Murray here in 2017. Obviously, we now know that was a quite physically compromised Andy Murray, but it was still an awesome Fabio Fanini that gave the Centre Court crowd something incredibly fun that day. So, yeah, it was nice to see him go out showing who he was, not being a total shadow of himself.

16:07David Law: Yeah, I agree. And because he's a great watch when he's on. I mean, he can wind you up as a bloke. I think he's a difficult character, to put it mildly. but when I think of him just sort of strutting around the court the way he does, looking as though he sort of owns the place and then the ball happens to come to him and he'll just do something genius with it and some of the performances over the years the demolition of Andy Murray in Davis Cup in Naples a guy who didn't lose Davis Cup matches Fanini took him apart a good Andy Murray his comeback from two sets to love down against Rafael Nadal I mean who does that at the US Open it was the US Open wasn't it the one you mentioned that we saw I remember being Wimbledon and Murray was sort of scrambling all over the court just trying to get the balls back turn rallies around and he just struts about just sticks another one in the corner and now he'll hit a little under underhand drop shots you know and it's just it's so cool the way he plays tennis I think his behaviour at times in his career has been anything but cool but he's a good tennis player.

17:20Matt Roberts: Alcaraz has Oliver Tarvit next who played and won his first ever tour level match today and when asked about the prospect of facing Carlos Alcaraz in the next round and at this point it could have been Fabio Fanini and it really could have been Fabio Fanini he said, I'm quietly confident I can win against anyone and that was in response to an Alcaraz question.

17:49David Law: I suppose we don't like it when they just say, oh, I'm just really happy to be there. Yeah, I know.

17:53Matt Roberts: I sort of love it, but I also think I'm worried for you. I'm worried about how those quotes are going to look. He's an interesting guy. He gave a great press conference. It was one of those where there was such a, it smelled of fresh paint, that press conference. It was so obvious he'd never done anything. like that before and was enjoying it because it was all new and people wanted to speak to him and ask him questions how great is that you know there was no jadedness at all I did I do worry from a bit about some of his quotes and how they could be taken out of context or curtailed to be painted a certain way I hope that they're reported responsibly because he was talking about so he clarified the the prize money situation because obviously he's still an amateur he intends to return to um university of san diego he was glowing about university of san diego loves it basically didn't advert for it um and he no amount of prize money i don't think unless he wins the title is going to change his mind about that but he clarified that the situation is that he's not allowed to make more than ten thousand dollars profit for the year so by reaching the second round here he's earned 99 000 pounds so basically he needs to find about 82 and a half thousand pounds worth of expenses what's allowable and and counting sounds fun if he beats colis alcaraz but let's assume it's 82 and a half thousand um and he he was talking about that he was like he didn't say, look I'm going to have to fiddle the system and fiddle my numbers and stuff and find some expenses but you went, tennis is an expensive sport I'm sure I can work it out somehow but accountants were probably breathing in sharp breaths hearing what he had to say he's an interesting guy and he talked a lot about the changes to the NCAA sponsorship rules which means that athletes can now receive sponsorship.

20:09Matt Roberts: I know that was something that was really big for athletes at the Olympics. For example, the gymnasts at the Olympics were able to compete more easily and go through the college path. He's really interesting. I think he's going to lose to Carlos Alcaraz, and those quotes aren't going to age very well, but I love it. Best of luck to him. So that was happening on Centre Court for four and a half hours. Let's head to court number two and Daniel Medvedev losing in the first round to Benjamin Bonzi. Four sets, 7-6, 3-6, 7-6, 6-2. Benjamin Bonzi came into this Wimbledon having lost all the main draw matches he's played on grass this season.

20:56Matt Roberts: He's played three warm-up events. He's lost first round in all of them. He won two qualifying matches in Halle, but he has lost to Brandon Holt, Konta Elyse and Yurila Hetschka. You know, like we all think Medvedev is on the decline and vulnerable generally, but I'm not sure anybody looked at Benjamin Bonzi and thought he's going to be the guy. And yet most of Medvedev's post-match analysis here was that Benjamin Bonzi is incredible and played out of his mind and there was nothing that he could do, which was weird.

21:35Catherine Whitaker: Yes, it was a very odd Medvedev press conference, I thought. Like, really interesting, as always, but I must say I didn't agree with a lot of what he was saying. I thought he actually sounded a little bit deluded about the state of his game and his form right now. He seemed quite annoyed at Benjamin Bonzi for playing like that. He said that he watched him play in Haller, was it? And thought he was rubbish. He said he could barely make a ball in the court. And yet he plays like this against me. He said if he plays like this, he'll definitely make the fourth round here because I've looked at the draw and I've seen the names.

22:19Matt Roberts: Which is a tough scene for Jordan Thompson, Arta Ferry and Luciano Darderi.

22:26Catherine Whitaker: But he said, but I don't think he will. like this like he seems to think that he sort of chose it personally against him today um and he kept referring to Haller as though like everything's fine because he played well in Haller and look he did play well there he he understands his assignment when he plays Alexander Zverev doesn't he like he's got such a good record against him he he beat him there and he got to the final and look he played well and I as you said I thought that he would be vulnerable in this tournament but I didn't think he would lose first round I think I actually might have good drawed Benjamin Bonzi yesterday I think I might have used those words but if he looks at the big picture his game has been in decline for quite some time and he actually did really well in the slams last year he won 18 matches at the slams last year and that kept him up in the rankings because his tour form was way down on what it had been this year the slams have been a disaster he's won one match at the slams and that was against Kasidit Samrej the world number 418 and he needed

23:38Matt Roberts: five sets he was in a right old pickle in that match that is his only grand slam win this year

23:44Catherine Whitaker: Otherwise, he's lost three matches. He's just been way off his best for some time, I think. And saying that everything's okay because of Haller...

23:58Matt Roberts: Yeah, he mentioned Haller...

24:00Catherine Whitaker: Doesn't feel like the right picture.

24:01Matt Roberts: ...in pretty much every single answer in this press conference. He said, I would be panicking if it weren't for Haller. So many times.

24:09Catherine Whitaker: It reminds me of when Fulham...

24:10David Law: Is he aware he's out of Wimbledon?

24:12Catherine Whitaker: it reminds me of when Fulham beat Swansea on the final day of a Premier League season and we ended up finishing 12th and it was kind of like, that's alright, 12th but actually we'd lost our last seven matches and we were in terminal decline and we got relegated the next season but the Swansea win covered it all up and he's like treating Haller as though, okay, things are fine they're not fine and if he's right and he's saying that he didn't play badly and there's not much that he could do, if that's right analysis then that's a problem. Because not being able to do much has become his problem.

24:48Matt Roberts: He talked about, you know, look, when players peak against you and they don't miss a ball, there's nothing you can do. But I wanted to know, like, there used to be something you could do against guys like that. Like, do you feel more vulnerable to guys peaking against you and having their best day and you not being able to impose yourself on them and prevent them from doing it? And he kind of said, well, I did until haller. I got haller'd again. Yeah, look, it was really interesting. It was an interesting snapshot into his mindset. And I know delusion, a healthy level of delusion, is a very essential ingredient to being a tennis player, selective memory.

25:32But this did seem a little bit bananas today.

25:37Matt Roberts: and there was a really revealing line. He said, to make a winner against him today, I had to make like three great shots into the corners. And I felt like that is what you used to do, Daniil. You've never had point-ending power. You used to be able to just hit shots into the corners, ping-pong it, work the ball, have incredible rally tolerance. And do that, keep hitting. And impose yourself. And impose it with his serve in particular.

26:07David Law: And I mean, I think the thing is, it sounds quite like Alexander Zverev, really, doesn't it? It's sort of, yes, you can keep saying this, but actually the results are telling us that this is happening rather too much for it to be a coincidence. And there are a lot of Benjamin Bonzes around, and better. So if you can't beat him, even if he is peaking, you do have a problem.

26:32Matt Roberts: and simultaneously while this match was happening, while Medvedev was heading out on court two, we had Stefanos sit to pass a fellow kind of OG class of next gen was, well for a while he was losing and then he ended up retiring against qualifier Valentin Royer over on court 12 he received treatment on his back he retired at two sets to love down it was a it was a really bleak scene out there for Stefanos. It's a shame, isn't it?

27:05Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, and look, the back injury I think has actually maybe been a slightly under-talked about part of Tsitsipas' struggles over the last couple of years and I'm perhaps guilty of that. I have definitely focused on the lack of big improvements in his game but I do think the back injury has taken its toll. What I would say is that he's just kept playing so much. I don't think he's necessarily managed the back injury all that well. And he had treatment on it the other week. It obviously completely hampered him today, which is just horrible to see. And yeah, I think it's probably affected his serve over the years as well.

27:48Catherine Whitaker: It's a big problem. And yeah, there were some quotes that he gave pre-tournament about how he feels like he's wasted time. he said he should have hired Ivanovic years ago he feels like he's wasted time in his career and that's quite a brutal quote but it's kind of what we've been observing really isn't it? Yeah

28:13Matt Roberts: So that's Medvedev out, that's Sittapass out what other seeds lost today Matt?

28:21Catherine Whitaker: The eighth seed?

28:23Matt Roberts: Should we talk about that?

28:25Catherine Whitaker: same scene as Iga Stiontec as you pointed out

28:29Matt Roberts: Nicholas Jarry came from two sets to love down to beat poor old Holger Runa just collateral damage in Matt Roberts bit 4-6 4-6 7-5 6-3 6-4 in three hours 34 minutes Matt he's good he is

28:50Catherine Whitaker: and he said that he was playing well didn't he I gave you that quote yesterday said I'm not in a bad moment I'm playing well and I was like okay but look he did come through qualifying without without dropping a set and look he goes two sets of love down here you know the first set looked like it was going to be a blowout but he got some momentum back but Runa won it it's quite a tight second set and Runa won it and then the match totally flips and Nicholas Jerry wins it in in five his first ever I think it's his first ever win in a fifth set and it's his first top 10 win at a slam so big big moments for him and look honestly I have rode back on the Nicholas Jerry bit I hold my hands up I've tried to distance myself from

29:40David Law: Nicholas Jerry is good because he's done nothing for a year yeah you know our takes are allowed to evolve and he's had a bad time though hasn't he has he has he really has he's had a lot of

29:51Catherine Whitaker: struggles with his health and and yet there i was in 35 degrees in the sun he was out there folks committed to the bit for the fifth set yeah and honestly the fifth set was fun runa was was pressing to start with jerry was holding on to his serve and then jerry got a break point he had a Drop shot, Runa hit a nice response, and Jerry hit a diving volley winner over to his forehand side to get the break, and then he served it out, again with some really impressive big serving. There was a fun atmosphere on court three, a lot of Chilean fans, a lot of Danish fans as well. I think the Runa knee was a problem.

30:33Catherine Whitaker: He had that taped up in this match, and he said it's been bothering him, and he said it affected him on his serve and his backhand in particular. couldn't get as low, couldn't push off as he would like. So there's definitely a story there too. But yeah, what a moment for Nicholas Jarry.

30:54Matt Roberts: Shall I read to you how Holger Runa saw Nicholas Jarry's moment?

31:00Catherine Whitaker: Yep.

31:01Matt Roberts: He said, if I play normal, I'm beating him nine times out of ten. With all respect for Nicholas Jarry, obviously today didn't make it a lot easier with my knee injury. but yeah, it was not great.

31:15Catherine Whitaker: Holger Runa cannot play normal nine times out of ten. That's his problem.

31:21Matt Roberts: Yeah.

31:22Catherine Whitaker: Like, yes, he's probably right but play normal then.

31:28Matt Roberts: No notes. Learn a TN next for Nicholas Jarry.

31:32David Law: That's a good match.

31:33Matt Roberts: Isn't it?

31:34David Law: You know, I mean, it's going to be a comical sort of photo at the net between them because, I mean, Nicholas Jarry is a good foot taller than him. But left-hander Lerner Tien, I think he's a lovely player to watch.

31:48Matt Roberts: He was convincing today, Tien, against Nishesh Basavredi, who's a good friend of his, pretty much exactly the same age, come up through the same system in the US. And look, that's a fairly good draw. Basavredi is very inexperienced, particularly on grass. But so is Lerner Tien. and I thought he impressed today and well I know where Matt Roberts is going to be in a couple of days time how many nose strips in the packet?

32:16Catherine Whitaker: 30 so he can win like 12 slams in a row

32:22Matt Roberts: right back over now to court number one and Joel Fonseca's first ever Wimbledon victory David he beat Jacob Fairney 6-4, 6-1, 7-6 and you commentated on this.

32:37David Law: Yeah, I did. And if you hadn't seen it and you just hear that result, you probably think, whoa, I bet Fonseca was awesome and, you know, had the afterburners on the forehand and showed us just how exciting he's going to be in the future. There were a few moments like that. But, I mean, in all honesty, he needed to do so little, really, to beat Fernie today. I felt really sorry for Fernie. I don't know whether he's dealing with any issues physically with his right arm. I mean, he got that sleeve on, that compression sleeve. I remember at Queen's when he said he'd served a load of double faults in the second set of his loss there.

33:18David Law: And he did reference kind of stress, tension as being something he's wondering whether that's the problem. And he came out today in his first service game and he served two immediate double faults on his serve. he served over 10 in the match he served three double faults to lose his serve like on separate occasions he lost his serve on a double fault and and it was one of those where after 18 minutes it's two games all after an hour and five minutes it's six four six one you know it was just it was horrible for him and I mean Fonseca played played well and certainly gave moments in the match where you realised his talent.

34:05David Law: And in the third set, I've got to give Fernley credit for kind of keeping that close and getting it to tiebreak. And then he's leading the tiebreak 5-2, Fernley, and then he lost the next five points to lose the match. And the thing is, again, it's not like Fonseca played out of his mind. At 5-2, a double fault from Fernley. And then you know that's in his head then. And then he loses the next point. And it's just, it was a tough scene for him, really. And the crowd there trying to lift him. But still, it was a nice moment to be there on the day that Fonseca played on court number one and clearly loved it.

34:44And has sort of made his Wimbledon bow, really.

34:48David Law: And I could say I was there, because I think he will be an important player in the future.

34:54Matt Roberts: Brooksby next for Fonseca.

34:56David Law: Yeah, I think that could be tricky for him.

34:58Matt Roberts: The cameraman Matthew did a sound effect at that.

35:03David Law: Difficult to interpret. Brooksby's a Matthew kind of player, I think. Flat backhand, isn't it? With the flat hits. Yeah, I can see that working for Matthew. Shout out Matthew, by the way.

35:14Matt Roberts: Shout out Matthew. He's back. You didn't see Matt, but he did an incredible zoom in on your nose a few minutes ago.

35:19Catherine Whitaker: I sensed that was happening by the giggle.

35:23Matt Roberts: You held very still. It was good stuff.

35:27Catherine Whitaker: Just on Brooksby, he beat Greeksport today, like both of them coming off finals at the weekend. Greeksport obviously won his and Brooksby lost his. So I think it was kind of a tough draw for both that. But yeah, quite an impressive win. Brooksby's built into this grass court season. I remember seeing him play Jack Draper in the first round of Queens and thinking, well, that's a bit tricky. Actually, it wasn't. It wasn't really ready yet. But he's got a lot of wins since then. And yeah, that is not easy for Fonseca.

36:00Matt Roberts: Last couple of men's matches to touch upon are ones that we don't know the results of yet because they've been called off due to, Matt, your favourite thing.

36:11Catherine Whitaker: The curfew. Well, was Fritz. Well, I suppose big picture, yes, Fritz against Mpeshi Perikar was called off due to curfew. But I think they should have kept playing.

36:23Matt Roberts: There was 40 minutes left. They made the call that they were unlikely to finish a set, so they shouldn't start one. And yes, all the previous sets in the match, it was two sets all. Fritz having fought back from two sets of love down is a thriller out there. The remaining crowd were not happy about it being called off. All the previous sets had gone longer than that amount of time, so I get it. But Fritz was frustrated, wasn't he? Because he was asked what his preference was, and he stated, I want to continue. and then they called it off anyway and he was like well why'd you ask me then which is exactly the response i would have given in that moment yeah confirmed yeah it was a good match though i thought this it got it was supposed to be on court number two matches on court number two went so long got got moved to court one um and i thought in fact we we spoke to a cameraman didn't we that was that was working on court number one and found out he had this bonus match to cover and thought it would be a bit of a serving snooze fest.

37:26Matt Roberts: And look, there were a lot of aces. There were a lot of unreturned serves. And yet somehow this was quite a thriller.

37:33David Law: In the moments that mattered, it was truly dramatic. And in Taylor Fritz, how he stayed together mentally after the first two sets, I don't know. I was walking past the TV when it was in the tie break and he was 6 '5 up in it. And I thought, oh, I'll just stop and watch this set point for Fritz, watch him close out the set and he locks into this rally and he's just deciding to keep This is the first set. This is the first set and he just thinks I'm going to keep this rally going and he's playing like a war and Pesci Pericard plays another kind of percentage tennis which is I'm going to go for everything and if it goes in then I win, if I don't I lose and he's going for broke and eventually he saves that set point and then goes and wins the set and you can see the look on Fritz's face how on earth did I not win that point Second set, he stays with him, gets into a tie-break.

38:25David Law: He has five set points in it. 6-2, Fritz's lead in that second set tie-break. And he doesn't win the set. I mean, and he sits down. How he's not just completely going bananas and losing his ability to focus, I don't know. Because Pesci Pericard, yeah, he doesn't care. He just swings. and if he connects, I mean, imagine the pressure, your two sets to love down against this guy who just keeps on serving, going through games in a minute and five seconds, knowing that if he can get to a tiebreak and keep it close and get one great point or maybe a net chord, he's won the match. And fair play to Fritz.

39:08David Law: He knuckles down and he just starts working his way back into it.

39:12Matt Roberts: And kind of righted that wrong from the second set in the fourth set because he went two mini-breaks down against Pesci Perikar, who is, you know, well, you said, didn't you? You said it's over. And I agreed with you at that point. Like, two mini-breaks and a tie-break against that guy, it felt over.

39:31Catherine Whitaker: Oh, it did, yeah. And Pesci Perikar serving 5-2, just, you know, two aces away from winning it. And he got it back, Fritz. And look, he said in his press conference the other day, the problem this season is he's not been playing the big points well. and look you could maybe say that that trend continued at the start of this match but God he played those points well like there was a great return down low and Pesci Perica's toes he didn't hit a very good volley there was a fantastic forehand winner up the line as he was falling backwards and look when he won it he just let out this huge roar didn't he and I understand why he wanted to keep playing like he had the momentum there I think it's going to be another test of him.

40:18Catherine Whitaker: I'm really impressed that he's passed the test of coming back from two sets of love down against this nightmare opponent to get it back to two all. But it's another test tomorrow to now overcome the frustration of... He was clearly annoyed there at the end. Overcome that frustration and come back tomorrow.

40:35Matt Roberts: It's going to take him so long to get to sleep, isn't it, tonight? He must be so adrenalised right now.

40:41Catherine Whitaker: And it was a nightmare for him playing that under the roof against Mpeche Pericardt. He becomes another prospect altogether when there's no conditions.

40:50Matt Roberts: And now there's the question of whether they close the roof just for the resumption of that match, which we presume they usually slot it in second on, don't they, on the same court. I hope they don't close the roof. They have done that before, very famously, in the Nadal-Djokovic semifinal of 29... 18. 18. and the same will be the case for the Alexander Zverev-Otto-Rindeknes match which comes back tomorrow poised at a set all Zverev having saved two set points which would have had him go two sets to love down

41:28David Law: and I tell you what, it has been a heck of a day for Alexander Zverev it could have been even better obviously he's got to win this match for it to factor in but when you looked at his draw and we were talking about Mateo Berrettini as a potential third-round opponent. We were talking about Francisco Sarundolo, who always beats him. OK, maybe not on grass, but he's always beaten him in the past. Taylor Fritz in his half of the draw, who always beats him. Daniel Medvedev, who always beats him. I mean, three of those are not there anymore. Fritz is in a fifth set. Carlos Alcaraz at one stage looked like he was going out of the tournament.

42:04David Law: You know, it was looking great for Alexander Zverev. and then Arta Rindeknes comes along and just nabs the first set off him, despite the fact that Zverev was really the dominant player all the way to the tie-break. He had loads of break points, couldn't take any of them. Rindeknes hanging on, then he goes 6-1 up in the tie-break. Imagine how frustrating that is for Zverev, and yet he's great at sort of hanging on. And he did it again. He let out a huge roar when he goes one set all. They come back tomorrow. I mean, the managing of these five set matches for these top players, when there's a big hitter like Pesci Perikar, like Rindiknesh, who has got a big serve.

42:46David Law: It's fascinating watching them try to work their way through it. But yeah, if Zverev can get himself out of that, he may suddenly have a route through this draw that looks a heck of a lot easier than he was used to.

42:59Matt Roberts: Obviously, we'll bring you the results of those tomorrow. Today's show is brought to you by Vanguard. To all the financial advisors listening, let's talk about bonds for a minute. Capturing value in fixed income is not easy. Bond markets are massive, murky and let's be real, lots of firms throw a couple of flashy fans your way and call it a day. But not Vanguard. Vanguard bonds are institutional quality and that isn't just a tagline. It's a commitment to your clients. It means top grade products across the board. Lots of firms love to highlight their star portfolio managers like it's all about that one brilliant mind making the magic happen.

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45:25Matt Roberts: In terms of the women's today, it's quite difficult to know where to start. There's not one big standout story today on the women's side. So let's start with the first match of the day and the first thing that Matt saw at this year's Wimbledon 2025, which was Yelena Ostapenko hitting a foot fault.

45:49Catherine Whitaker: serve uh called of course electronically yeah like it was just so perfect you know that Ostopenko does not trust that machine and it's the first time having it at Wimbledon and it just comes for Ostopenko on the first point it was it was poetic it really was and it set the tone for her for the match it did I mean look she actually started this match really well she went she went 5-2 up, I believe, in the first set.

46:17Matt Roberts: This is against Sonny Cartel, the British player.

46:21Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, exactly. And they'd met in Eastbourne, and Ostopenko had won in straight sets. And honestly, I thought, she's going to be fine here, Ostopenko. Then Molly McKell, our friend and colleague, joined me in the press seats on court three, and she was telling me that she was considering, you know she'd been talking to editors and things and she was considering writing a story on potential British bloodbath at Wimbledon today you know given the number of tough draws that they had and it was like we had this conversation and suddenly things things turned around and suddenly Sonny Cartel was causing Ostopenko a lot of problems of her own I was sitting just across from Cartel's coaching corner and and her coach was constantly shouting intention in tension and I kind of took that to mean you've got to be able to get on top of some of these rallies against Ostopenko easier said than done because of her flat hits and her ability to just take the racket out of your hand but Cartel gradually did it really really well she said she often struggles against the big hitters but actually I thought she seemed quite set up to play them she's got quite a nice slice on both sides she's comfortable chipping the ball back into awkward spots defending and she also started to sort of pack a punch in this match.

47:43Catherine Whitaker: Her forehand is a heavy shot. She was wrong-footing Ostapenko a lot. There's a lot of moments where Ostapenko was flat-footed and she won that first set, Cartel, winning five games in a row. Like, really, really impressive. Nice, again, nice crowd on court three. Ostapenko then wins the second set and I'm thinking, OK, we're kind of back on track here for her. but then a really poor final set from Ostapenko borderline tank at times I think here towards the end certainly or certainly in the middle bit of that of that third set to just let it completely run away from her I think she went five love down and in the end it's an absolutely fantastic win for Sonny Cartel and I think she played on court three maybe last year got a win was pleased to be back there and she's got a nice game she really does heavy forehand as I said and a lot of drop shots and drop shot returns she used well exposing the Ostapenko movement and in the end a really comfortable final set for Cartel 6-2

48:50Matt Roberts: fantastic win for her and it kind of set the tone for Brits for the day against expectations it ended up being a brilliant day for the Brits. Was it seven wins? I think seven wins in the end. I was not expecting that. Katie Bolter being the last of them and perhaps the biggest win over the ninth seed. Paolo Bedosa, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4. She was over there about 45 minutes ago, wasn't she? Doing an interview with Five Live. Clearly just absolutely buzzing. That is her fourth top ten victory. Of course, there are echoes of the victory she had over Karolina Plushkova on centre court. That was back in 2022 and she said memories of that helped her yeah today yeah i'm i commentated on on that match um on the tv that time and and that was her first big breakthrough moment um at wimbledon and

49:46David Law: and this when when it was lined up when when the draw was made i i said sort of 50 50 is what i thought i obviously but us as top level you know this is a form of world number two i think um in So, of course, her highest level would be higher than Casey Bolter's, but the surface, I think, suits Bolter. And she came out absolutely going for it on the forehand and won that first set comfortably. Martina Navratilova was commentating on it and was really impressed with the way she was going about it. Got pegged back into a set all. And then the key thing was when it was really tight, sort of three games all, deciding set, once again, Bolta stepped up and just started to trust that her game could do damage.

50:35David Law: And I think that that told her in the end. And she kind of drew errors from Bedosa and was a worthy winner, I thought.

50:45Matt Roberts: Yeah, I agree. Look, she has a good draw. She plays a lucky loser next Solana Sierra, the Argentine player, the world number 101. one but if we're making the comparisons back to 2022 and the plishkova win when she was riding high she ended up losing to harmony tan in the next round in a really disappointing performance so i do do feel like there's danger there she still has something something to prove that you can it's one thing getting the big win isn't it it's another thing carrying it on now i do

51:19David Law: you think she will this time and some some types of players cause her trouble i think but i i also think probably experience accumulated since then that may help yeah i i back it to do it i just

51:32Matt Roberts: don't think it's a given you know i really remember that harmony tan performance and she she was flat and it was a it was a strange one so um yeah it will be interesting staying with the brits for a moment because there's so many of them that won today emirati canu comfortable in the end against Mimi Zhu 6-3, 6-3. Look, her body wasn't really under too much stress in this match. There didn't seem to be any issues with the back, which was great to see. I don't think that necessarily means the back is fine, big picture, but it was great to see this not being a physical struggle for her today. She now plays Marketa Vondroshova in round two.

52:16Matt Roberts: Vondroshova having taken out the 32nd seed, McCartney-Kessler 6-1, 7-6. Is Marquetta Vondroshova going to win Wimbledon?

52:26David Law: I mean, you wouldn't put it past her, would you? No. Barely possible.

52:32Matt Roberts: She led 6-1, 5-1 against Kessler today. Couldn't be more Marquetta Vondroshova, could it? And then something happened.

52:40David Law: Yeah, I mean, I saw that score while I was out getting Matt nose strips. and I got back and it's in a time break and I'm like I'm sure she was winning that comfortably and then I looked at this they've got quite a good feature on the Wimbledon website where you can actually look point by point game by game

53:03Matt Roberts: they also have an upset alert graphic which I really like I think it's a bit controversial isn't it and I'm sure they could get in hot water with what counts as an upset but I really like it.

53:16David Law: But, you know, if you looked at it, it just was 6-1, 5-1, 5-2, 5-3, 5-4, 5-5, 5-6. And then she gets it into a tie break, Von Drossova, and then she just cruised to victory. I mean, if you were McCartney Kessler, you'd be fuming. She, you know, she's an upbeat player who was really giving it some, you know, as she goes into that tie break and then suddenly she's just snuffed out with the rest of it.

53:44Matt Roberts: it's interesting Vondroshova Radikani because Vondroshova I was reminded today was one of the players that Radikani beat on her breakthrough run here to the fourth round in 2021 and Radikani talked about that a lot today she said that was a real turning point for me here and that I think Marketa Vondroshova is going to win this match because I think she might be winning Wimbledon who can say but I do wonder if just in the same way that the memories for Katie Bolter of stepping out onto centre court against a big seed that she's not necessarily expected to beat, I do wonder if Raducanu can harvest some of the same kind of muscle memory against Von Drosheva On court one today, opening court one today, Irina Sabalenka against Carson Brandstein, apparently that's the correct pronunciation, the Canadian qualifier that people were really hyping, us included or certainly we were happy to quote other people that had seen more of her play hyping her and it's fair to say David that Sabalenka poured water on the Brandstein fire

55:00David Law: It was interesting because I watched this I was in the BBC green room with Naomi Cavaday who'd watched quite a lot of Brandstein in qualifying and said, frankly, she was the best player in qualifying by some distance. She had those two wins over Boisson and Andreescu, which, you know, even on just name level, that's impressive. But tennis-wise, it was there to match. And she's tall. She hits the ball incredibly hard. But honestly, she looked so nervous when she came out. or at least, even if it wasn't nerves, it was that kind of discombobulated look as though the legs don't belong to you. And obviously you're playing Sabalenka, it's very difficult to get any rhythm and you've got so little time to get used to it.

55:53David Law: Never done it before. Suddenly she's five love down in about 20 minutes, you know, and you're really thinking, oh goodness, this could be over in another 20 minutes. and then she did the thing when she won her first game to go 5-1 where she threw her arms into the air, crowd loved it and that was a moment and I always think that can go one of two ways, that can either really settle you down and I think it did with her or maybe it shows you don't feel you're that competitive but I think for her it was just, oh goodness, thank goodness I'm on the board. second set it was really close you know she was hanging with her all the way through that set and there's definitely a game there that has a future I think if she can get on this sort of stage more often Sabalenka wise I thought that was a good start you know that's not a nice draw a qualifier who's regarded by people who've watched as the best one in qualifying and particularly given all the stuff Sabalenka's had going on, first Grand Slam match since the fallout with Coco Goff, she looked fine.

57:05Matt Roberts: Yeah. Yeah, I agree. I thought this was a good news performance for Irina Sabalenka. Madison Keyes. Two hours, 41 minutes today against Elena Gabriela Rusa. 6-7, 7-5, 7-5 there was puking there was drama there was all sorts going on in this match over on court number 2 and maybe we should have seen this coming Matt because they played a very similar match in Melbourne earlier this year where of course Madison Keys ended up going on to win the title yeah

57:47Catherine Whitaker: when Madison Keys beats Roosa 7-5 in the third set watch out it's an identical score is it? identical final set score and look so many of their sets have been tight they've only played the two times both this year at the Slams but so many tight sets there's something about Roosa's game that Keyes seems to find really bothersome and today it was I don't know it almost didn't feel that much about the tennis. It was just such a dramatic match. Rusa was under the weather, to put it mildly, for the whole thing, really. As you said, she did puke at the back of the court. She was clutching her stomach a lot.

58:34Catherine Whitaker: She just generally looked extremely unwell, to be honest, in this heat as well. And yet she pushed Madison Keyes all the way. And yet it was one of those matches with just things that you don't normally see. Like Rusa hit an underarm serve. I don't think she's a regular underarm server Keys hit a serve that was almost and bear with me here was almost a lob drop shot winner of a serve she framed it it went miles up into the air caught the win dropped and just landed long with Roosa sort of scrambling to try and retrieve it It was absolutely hilarious. And then there was a point towards the end of the match, which was a crucial point.

59:23Catherine Whitaker: It helped Roussa get back on serve as Keyes was serving it out, where Roussa scrambled to the defensive shot and it landed on Keyes' side and came back over the net. And Keyes ended up trying to get it and fell over the net, you know, sort of went over the net. And so things like that just sort of kept happening. It was absolutely wild. All the while, obviously, Roussa's not feeling well. And I sort of did always think Keys would win, but I don't know why I felt that, because she was a set down, she was constantly in trouble in this match. She tried to serve out both the second and third set of 5-4, got broken back both times.

1:00:02Catherine Whitaker: It was an ordeal, this match. It really was. It was over two and a half hours, but Keys got through it. Somehow, someway, she got through. And now she's got, I think, a tricky match next as well. Olga Danilovic. That's right, Danilovic.

1:00:20Matt Roberts: Yeah, buckle up.

1:00:22Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, tough, tough, tough draw for Keyes there.

1:00:26Matt Roberts: Jasmine Paolini needed to bring it from a set and a breakdown against Anastasia Sevastova today. She didn't look right to me. She looked pale.

1:00:37David Law: You said that the other day, didn't you?

1:00:39Matt Roberts: Yeah, and look, it wasn't based on much. I don't necessarily think that's my amazing reading of Jasmine Paolini. It was based on sort of a two-minute snapshot of a press conference, but she definitely didn't look right in the match today. I don't know what's going on. She looked like she was struggling in the heat, but she's Italian, so I would expect her to be all right with it.

1:00:59David Law: I've never seen her look like that before.

1:01:00Matt Roberts: No, no, nor have I. And she really was in trouble in this match, David.

1:01:06David Law: Yeah, yeah, she did. And look, this is against a player who, at her best, was a very, very good player, but Anastasia Sevastova has not been a tennis player for years.

1:01:17Matt Roberts: She's retired twice since then.

1:01:19David Law: And huge credit to her for making such a good show today and she's a lovely player, you know, she's difficult. She's got hands and she slices the ball around and on this surface maybe that was difficult for Paolini to get used to especially if she's not feeling well. but usually Jasmine Paolini would be different to this and again the good news though is she got out of it and by the end she looked a little bit more like herself

1:01:52Matt Roberts: She did yeah and she's got Camilla Rakim of her necks which you'd say is a good draw again I'm saying good draw in the same sentence as Jasmine Paolini but look how I said Sevastova was a good draw I think you did actually I did say that. There's no such thing as a good draw. The depth is such that there's nobody that you can get away with not showing up against, is there? So, yeah. I hope she finds herself. We're getting there, Matt. We're getting there. In fact, should we go there? Should we go to court 15? Yeah. Double bagel for Amanda and this Samova.

1:02:30Catherine Whitaker: First time in her career getting a double bagel. I didn't think she was a double bagel person. person. She's always got a poor service game in her. And look, I said if she gets past Julia Putinsaver in the first round, she's going to the semi-finals. Stand by it. I think she's in such a great section of the draw.

1:02:55David Law: Hold on, you said she was going to win the title

1:02:57Catherine Whitaker: four hours ago. In the excitement of the double bagel, I got carried away. It was double bagel

1:03:03Matt Roberts: and David had just appeared with the pack of nose strips. He was having a moment.

1:03:10Catherine Whitaker: Gary had won. But look, I think our sort of read on this match changed a little bit afterwards, to be honest. I think at the time I noticed it. I noticed that when Anissimova went three-level up, some security men appeared on court and the umpire came down from his chair and had a word with them. I was actually watching on my phone while I was on Centre Court, watching Carlos Alcrest. I didn't get a really good sense of what had happened. And then the match carried on, so I didn't think it was necessarily a big deal. But we understand that Yulia Putinsaver requested for someone in the crowd to be taken away.

1:03:54Catherine Whitaker: She said that he was sort of being threatening to her. And she did seem very upset during this match. There was a couple of times when she was in tears, and that puts a whole different perspective on the match, really, and that's a very, very serious situation, one that a lot of female players in particular have to face and are facing and shouldn't have to face, and the tours and the tournaments are trying to do some things about it. but it's a hard thing to police as well and we don't want to see that at all and we're sorry for Julia Putin to say whether that happened and yeah, it sort of gives a bit of a fuller story and picture on this match I think and perhaps goes quite a long way to explaining why it was quite so one-sided

1:04:52Matt Roberts: and look, it was dealt with, she asked for him to be removed he was removed I think it was whoever it was that was complained about by Putin's favor was removed but it's about the big picture of tennis somehow I don't have the answers here but somehow just doing more to try and make players feel as safe as possible in a world where women basically aren't safe but yeah very very very tough situation and hope Yulia Putinsaver is OK. Just a few other women's results to touch upon. Naomi Osaka today beat Talia Gibson. She awaits the winner of Jung Chin Wen against Katarina Siniakova, a match that was postponed until tomorrow because it was very clear that it was never going to get played.

1:05:45Matt Roberts: So that'll be scheduled into a new re-jage order of play for tomorrow. Alina Svitolina was the first winner of the tournament. on court 18 behind us here, 6-3, 6-1, over Anna Bondar. And finally, I wanted to touch upon Ange Böhr, who retired today, trading by a set to Victoria Tomova on court number 14, a really small court, the one that's just outside the media centre. Look, she gathered a huge crowd, didn't she? Grounds pass holders that saw that the two-time former finalist was playing on a court accessible to anybody, but it was an incredibly grim scene, David. Yeah, harrowing.

1:06:29David Law: I went out there, actually, and honestly, I hadn't really twigged her that that was the court she was on. I walked out of the press room just because I thought, you know, it was around noon or one o 'clock, I thought, I'm just going to go walk around the grounds and try and soak up a little bit of the atmosphere, and it was so, so hot. one of the hottest days I've ever experienced here at Wimbledon and I thought I'm not going to get too far I'll probably just go and have a walk around for 10 minutes straight out the press room and I realised oh this is Ange Jabeau right now and I think she was 6 '5 up in the first set and even though it's a small court as you say the little gangway just behind the umpire's chair people were sort of six people deep And because of my height, I'm able to just look over all of their heads and watch this match.

1:07:22David Law: And so I'm going to stick around here. This is great. And the affection of the crowd was apparent in every sound you heard. Every point that Jabir won was just greeted with such happiness and excitement. And every point Timova won was greeted with virtual silence. and then Tomover wins that set and it was really grim it's a good word for it and then to find out that she retired I actually left at that point to find out she retired and then didn't attend media conference we got a notification that if anybody needed quotes from her that somebody would get them and it only goes on from your conversation with her a couple of days ago, Catherine, which was instructive at the time, as it turned out, and she's not in a good place, and physically it's just not happening for her, and it's so sad to see.

1:08:30Yeah, it is.

1:08:32Matt Roberts: Like, yeah, there's no way around it. It's quite upsetting, really, to think about Ernst Jaber and everything that she's bearing as a tennis player, the injuries that she suffered, feeling a shadow of her former self, feeling like the game's moved on past her. I know she really feels the burden and the upset of world events. That's something that she's talked about a lot. She sticks her neck out, doesn't she, to stand up for things that she believes in, which is incredible, but that comes with its own weight as well. And she did just seem like such a sad, burdened person when I spoke to her for Tennis Podcast Meets.

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1:11:29Matt Roberts: Breakneck segue here, folks. But we have an order of play for tomorrow to talk about. One that will have the to-be-completed matches now inserted into it. Just before we get into that, though, I've promised a very important strawberry-related announcement. I was of course inviting submissions for potential names for our Wimbledon mascot for 2025 obviously last year we had Jude named after Jude Bellingham lovely teddy bear who now sits on Matt's shelf among other soft furnishings and now we have this lovely strawberry available in the Wimbledon shop and this strawberry needs a name and we had many many excellent submissions but can we honestly say that any was more excellent than that suggested by Daniel on the barge, which is, drumroll please, I can't do it with one hand,

1:12:30Matt Roberts: Jam Shriver. It had to be, didn't it?

1:12:34David Law: Genius. It's just the best.

1:12:37Matt Roberts: Introducing Jam Shriver. It feels appropriate. Pam has a Wimbledon birthday every year, 4th of July, shares a birthday with my niece Nina who will be receiving this strawberry after she's done mascotting us at this Wimbledon. So it all feels very perfect. Just a special mention though and I'm really sorry, I don't know who suggested this. Adam.

1:13:00Catherine Whitaker: Adam H.

1:13:01Matt Roberts: Adam H, you absolute genius who came up with dee-dee-dee fruit.

1:13:09Matt Roberts: Because that deserved a moment. It did.

1:13:12Catherine Whitaker: Incredible.

1:13:12Matt Roberts: Well done Adam H, well done Daniel introducing Jam Shriver Right Jam Tomorrow's order of play folks, I'm just going to refresh the page because of course there will have been some changes in the last hour or so but of course we know that Centre Court will be opened up at 1.30 tomorrow or today, it is now 7 minutes past midnight by the women's defending champion Barbora Kraychikova 17th seed this This year, if she loses this match, she drops to around about 90 in the world because she's barely played since Wimbledon last year. Such has been her fight with injuries. It's been an incredibly tough 12 months and it's very difficult to know what to expect from her tomorrow other than a challenge, I think, against Alexandra Ayala who obviously reached the final in Eastbourne.

1:14:06I think the only question mark for her is how much she's emotionally recovered

1:14:11Matt Roberts: from that final because she cried for about 15 solid minutes on the court when she lost it from championship points up. But I can't believe I'm asking this, but is Krejcikova even the favourite for that match?

1:14:28Catherine Whitaker: It's kind of hard to make that case. Based on form, I would probably lean Ayala in that one.

1:14:41Matt Roberts: at the very least it's upset watch

1:14:43Catherine Whitaker: isn't it we saw today with Carlos Alcarez stepping out in that slot on centre court that can do things to players and as you said that was a physically gruelling final for Ayala in Eastbourne but mentally and emotionally too she had a lot of championship points there that would have been a really big moment for her she would have been desperate to win that title It's a very quick turnaround to come here and play such a big match on a big occasion. Yes, a really intriguing one, actually. I do have a slight nervousness watching Kraychikova, to be honest, given all the injury problems. In her recent comeback, I haven't really necessarily enjoyed watching her all that much just because I'm kind of worried.

1:15:32Catherine Whitaker: which he had to pull out of Eastbourne last week after a couple of very, very long wins. So, really tough to say what happens in that one, but I probably would lean Eala.

1:15:47Matt Roberts: Then, on centre court, we have the resumption of Otto Rindeknes against Alexander Zverev. That's been given a not-before-2.30 start time. Third on centre, it's Alexandra Muller against Novak Djokovic. and fourth on is Dianya Stremska against Coco Gough. So it could be a late one again tomorrow. And incidentally, obviously, you've got the extra to be completed men's match inserted in there. But we talked yesterday about today's order of play and worried that they'd missed an opportunity to put two women and one men's on centre because it was looking difficult, given how the halves of the draw worked out for them to put two women on centre tomorrow.

1:16:28Matt Roberts: but they've done it and that's that's great to see which means that over on court number one we have the world number one Yannick Sinner against countryman Luca Nardi I think Nardi's going to get absolutely crushed but but excited for that I'm saying nothing

1:16:49Catherine Whitaker: after my Fabio Fanini right mishap

1:16:51Matt Roberts: then we have to be completed Taylor Fritz against Giovanni and Pesci Pericard bonus fifth set for everybody on court one tomorrow. Third on is the potentially final Wimbledon match of Petra Kvitova, two-time former champion, playing in her final Wimbledon under a wild card here. She takes on last year's quarter finalist Emma Navarro. And finally on court one tomorrow again, could be a late one, Jack Draper starts against Sebastian Baez. Over on court number two we have the Bad Homburg champion Jessica Bagula against Elisabetta Cotciareto So Lorenzo Mazzetti second on court two against Nikolaos Baselashvili.

1:17:33Igu Shviontek starts on two against Polina Kudomatova.

1:17:39Matt Roberts: And finally, Ben Shelton taking on Alex Boltz. On court three, the Brit Johanna's Monday taking on Tommy Paul. Jung Chin Wen against Katarina Siniarkova. The rescheduled match from today. That is not before 12.30 tomorrow on court number three. Mirandreva and Maya Sharif. Grigor Dimitrov plays over there and Elena Rabakina as well. So former champion Elena Rabakina on court number three. On court number 12, Clara Towson against Heather Watson. You've got a to-be-completed match involving Bertik van der Zanskulp. Two sets to love up is my Bertik. Dan Evans against Jay Clark, third on court 12. Guillaume Fies against Ugo Mbair and Sophia Kennen taking on Taylor Townsend.

1:18:30Matt Roberts: There are fun matches tomorrow. Meyer joined against Lyudmila Samsonova. I think one worth watching. That's second on court number 18. Jakub Menzik against Hugo Gaston is the last match on court number 18 tomorrow. A couple of more matches to be finished. One slotted in on court number four. We could be here late tomorrow. Oh, yeah. It could be another late one. We're not before 9.30. but we will come on just as we did today at the end of play on the show courts and it could be a very similar time to when we were on air today if you want to join us live on YouTube and that ended up being about, well, 11pm.

1:19:11Matt Roberts: We came on a couple of minutes before 11pm. The best thing to do if you don't want to miss us live is to like and subscribe and if you subscribe to our channel you will get a notification when we are going live. we have some important mascots we have our mascots of course but first we have a mascot for today's episode that mascot is Luna Luna is owned by Mario and Sue Lee Rivera they say Luna joined our family a little over a year ago and has already taken over Vicky's put a picture of Luna into the stream and now I'm really distracted by the face of a lovely dog She's very energetic. She's one years old and she's at Legotto Romagnolo, often referred to as an Italian water dog.

1:20:04Matt Roberts: I was worried there that it was a breed of dog. I didn't know, but I do know an Italian water dog. A few. She is right at home with the Rivera's in New Jersey. Yes, another listener from New Jersey, where she has access to a 0.5 acre yard plus two baseball fields behind the house to run around. Last but not least, she also has a pool, which she regularly jumps into during the summer. She's got better living arrangements than I do. Her favourite pastime is fetching tennis balls. Very apt. She can fetch tennis balls all day and will constantly be found in the house, dropping tennis balls at her feet in hopes of getting the next toss.

1:20:40Matt Roberts: When, brackets, if she settles down, she enjoys curling up with someone from the Rivera family on the couch. She's very bad with personal space. All the best dogs are. So Luna simply must be excellent. What a lovely dog. So thank you, Luna. And thank you to Marlo and Sue Lee Rivera. Thank you for making Luna our mascot today. We, of course, have our mascots, Phoebe, Maisie and Roger. Hello to you, Jam Shriver, new mascot for Wimbledon 2025. We have our top folks and executive producers, Greg, Chris and Jeff. And I think, Matt, we have some shout outs.

1:21:19Catherine Whitaker: we have Stefan in Switzerland

1:21:24Matt Roberts: just outside Zurich hello Stefan like Ed Berg

1:21:30David Law: who played his final Wimbledon in 1996 and I was here

1:21:36Matt Roberts: retired very young didn't he Ed Berg yeah pretty young yeah he was quite

1:21:40David Law: and players were when they retired you know back then but what a player serve a volleyer

1:21:48Matt Roberts: Like Stefan Djokovic.

1:21:50David Law: Yes. That's right. Their ex-son.

1:21:55Matt Roberts: Stefanos Sitsapas. And of course like Roger Federer, also from Switzerland. Yes. And backhand lister Belinda Bencic. I could go on. Do we know anything about Stefan?

1:22:09Catherine Whitaker: No, we don't. So thank you for this fella. He's a friend of the pod and he's a top bloke. we've also got Brendan McHale from Dublin

1:22:21Matt Roberts: hello Brendan I've struggled with Brendan's in the past

1:22:25Catherine Whitaker: McHale like Christina McHale

1:22:27Matt Roberts: yes thank you Matt

1:22:29Catherine Whitaker: and Brendan says my friend and I were such big Goran fans that even when Croatia played Ireland in Davis Cup Dublin 2000 I remember that we were presumably the only ones in the crowd secretly rooting for him against our own team. Shameless, but we desperately wanted him to gain confidence for Wimbledon. P.S. Thank God he finally did win the following year or neither of us would have ever recovered.

1:22:57Matt Roberts: Well, that shout out is a boost for Goran, who's had a tough day today.

1:23:00David Law: He needed that, Brendan, I'm telling you. I'll let him know.

1:23:04Matt Roberts: Brendan, thank you. I think David actually might let Goran know that. So there you go.

1:23:09Catherine Whitaker: No problem.

1:23:10Matt Roberts: Thank you, Brendan.

1:23:11Catherine Whitaker: And finally tonight we have Nina from the Netherlands but living in California.

1:23:20Matt Roberts: Hello Nina. Great name.

1:23:23David Law: Yeah, great name.

1:23:25Matt Roberts: Like Nina Stojanovic.

1:23:27David Law: Yes. Very good.

1:23:29Matt Roberts: Of being jilted by Novak Djokovic at the Olympics fame.

1:23:36Catherine Whitaker: What do we know about Nina? Nina has asked to shout out her friend Corey as well. She says she and I met nine years ago on the tennis court as opponents, but became friends after the match and have been ever since.

1:23:52Matt Roberts: That is lovely. Like Corey Coco Goff. Lovely stuff. Thank you. Thank you to all of our friends of the tennis podcast. If you'd like to become a friend of the tennis podcast, then the link is in our show notes. that gives you access to all of our bonus episodes, including the tennis podcast Meets, which was our interview episode from Wimbledon, which went up a couple of days ago. We do tons of bonus episodes throughout the year. You also get ad-free listening, access to the barge, our community non-toxic platform, which is a very special place. That's where you can find Hannah all day long if you've enjoyed being in the live chat today.

1:24:30Matt Roberts: So the link to become a friend is in our show notes. we love being live from Wimbledon thank you Wimbledon for letting us do this and thank you to The Athletic we are proudly part of The Athletic podcast network and folks we will be back tomorrow and honestly I hope it was hope it's going to be like today because I loved today it's been epic this has been one of the best starts to a Grand Slam that I can remember

1:24:58Catherine Whitaker: and it's the only sort of proper start that we have now you know with the Sunday starts none of that here it's just an avalanche of matches it feels different doesn't it? It does

1:25:11Matt Roberts: I don't hate the Sunday starts I get it but I the thing I hate most about it is how it waters down the matches and the names you get on the first day there have been some soft launches of Grand Slams recently.

1:25:28David Law: Today felt big time

1:25:29Matt Roberts: yeah it did it was awesome Can't wait to do it again tomorrow. We will be back here at the end of play. Hope you can join us. Do hit that like and subscribe button. Follow us on Instagram. Do all that stuff. We thank you for listening. And we'll see you and speak to you tomorrow.

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