Live from Wimbledon Day 14 - Sinner’s revenge

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1:16Matt Roberts: Hello and welcome to the Tennis Podcast live from Wimbledon one last time for 2025. It is of course Day 14 of the championships, and we have just watched Yannick Sinner be crowned champion here for the first time, beating rival Carlos Alcaraz in four sets, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, in three hours and seven minutes. I'm Catherine Mitaker. I'm, of course, joined by David Law and Matt Roberts to digest and reflect. How are we feeling?

1:50David Law: Pretty good. Yeah, pretty good. I mean, it wasn't the match that we had in Paris. Certainly wasn't the drama and the climax in quite the same way. But I think that we did mark the card, really, that that is unlikely to keep happening. I mean, that is probably going to be the occasional occurrence. But it was still a good match. And it was a great win for Yannick Sinner. I mean, really impressive, I think, particularly given what it followed and particularly given some of the similarities that he had to face down in that fourth set and try not to get drawn in again to actually get over the line.

2:32David Law: I think it's absolutely massive for him. Really big.

2:36Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, every set score being 6-4 feels like so mundane compared to what we had in Paris. Yeah, where's the drama? But, you know, that's the match Yannick Sinner wanted, right? He was outplaying Carlos Alcaraz for much of the match in Paris, but couldn't close. And Alcaraz did ridiculous, unstoppable Alcaraz things to turn that match around. And, you know, we talked a lot about the potential scar tissue for Yannick Sinner coming off Paris. But I did kind of think he could tell himself he was the better player for much of the match in Paris. He could have won it in straight sets. He should have won it in four sets.

3:20Catherine Whitaker: And today, even though he goes a set down, he played such clinical, brilliant tennis, just needing one set and just needing one break in the next three sets to win. And he was he was so impressive today.

3:33Matt Roberts: Should we talk through the story of the match a little bit set by set? David, I know you commentated sets two and four, but you had that extraordinary position on the court, at court level, watching these two incredible athletes from that amazing vantage point. And Matt, you were behind James Norton, so everyone had good seats.

3:53Catherine Whitaker: And Niall Horan.

3:54Matt Roberts: Well, they weren't together.

3:56Catherine Whitaker: They weren't together, no. James Norton was two rows in front of me, and Niall Horan was two rows in front of him. But I was most interested in Tom Kearney to my right.

4:04Matt Roberts: You were with Tom Kearney?

4:06Catherine Whitaker: He was quite a way away, but I saw him.

4:08Matt Roberts: How close was I to Tom Kearney?

4:10Catherine Whitaker: Quite close. Slightly worrying that it was the first day of Fulham training today and Tom Kearney was drinking Pimms at Wimbledon. Don't know what that says about his new contract situation. But anyway, I was pleased to be near him.

4:22Matt Roberts: OK, do you have takes about the final? Were you too distracted by Tom Kearney? Now I've got some. OK, let's go.

4:28Catherine Whitaker: Well, look, Sinner got the early break, didn't he? And, again, came out playing really well. I felt like he was doing some of those things that we talked about in the preview in terms of being able to rush Alcaraz. But then he lost his way a bit at the end of the set. I think he was a little bit stunned by just how Alcaraz raised his game to win that first set. David Uppert, he's suddenly become unplayable, Alcaraz. And there were a couple of moments, most notably, of course, the set point. I mean, I don't think you can hit a forehand better than what Yannick Sinner did up the line. and yet Alcaraz, at full stretch behind him, dug it out for a winner.

5:10Catherine Whitaker: And yeah, that moment, I could imagine Yannick Sinner maybe was a little bit freaked and shaken by it. Like, oh God, he's doing it again. He's pulled off a miracle shot to sort of steal this set. But kind of that was the biggest Alcaraz moment that we got in the match. We didn't get that many after that. The way Sinnoh just broke right at the start of the second set was such a telling thing about their rivalry. Alcaraz is making all this incredible noise happen and pulling off in a miracle shot. And yet, the very next game, Sinnoh just unflappable comes out and breaks serve. And that's the crucial break in the second set.

5:56Matt Roberts: And you're thinking that's just the next chapter in many, many chapters. But actually, that was not it in terms of a competitive match, but that set the tone for how the rest of the match played out.

6:09David Law: Yeah, the only similarity, really, Alcaraz-wise to Paris was what he did to turn that first set around. He's 4-2 down. The first thing I was looking out for is, what's his serve going to be like? You know, we've done a lot of talking about serve by Alcaraz and thought first game of the match, he served well. Then he started to lose it. And actually, if you look at that service percentage, first serve percentage in for the match, it's not high enough. It's nowhere near high enough. I mean, it was dipping, too. I mean, in the third set, I think he was at sort of 40 percent in throughout the match.

6:44David Law: He's just over 50 percent. But from 4-2 down, I mean, I remember him holding serve for 4-3 and just hitting the ball as hard as he possibly could, as though he was trying to just get himself going. ignite something, ignite the magic and he did it, he actually achieved that he got the engine going and suddenly I think Charlie Eccleshire in The Athletic described it in his match report as supersonic level which even Sinner doesn't have and he reels off four games in a row maybe Sinner's got one or two regrets but I think mainly that is just Alcras bending a set towards him which he has no real right to win otherwise but the thing is he still has this lower floor than Sinner has.

7:33David Law: And to come out at the start of set number two and be broken the way he was is very Carlos Alcraz. And I've thought all along, you're not going to get away with this forever. You can't keep this high-wire act up and always come through. It's incredible the way he's done it as many times as he has. And he can do it against most players, and his floor is good enough to beat the vast majority of players. But let's not forget, he pushed his luck against Fabio Fanini. You know, he loses sets against players way below Sinner's level. And then as the match was going on, he just didn't look quite himself.

8:12David Law: And he looked grumpy. By the time I took over in set number four, he looked grumpy about everything. And, you know, all the parallels were there to talk about how he's on the back foot. He's two sets to one down. He's a breakdown. down when's that moment going to come that he does it again that's an assumption that isn't fair really in in a professional sport to not prepare really to either of them but it's it's inevitable that you make it and sinner did wobble a bit once twice but he he slammed the door shut and he was

8:44Catherine Whitaker: good for that win yet it's kind of reassuring in a way sinner winning this in four because it sort of reaffirms my belief that Paris was exceptional and absurd and freakish and kind of out of this world like he cannot Alcaraz be expected to do that every time it was ridiculous what he pulled off in Paris and actually you know we kind of ended up in that situation again Sinner two sets to one up up a break and I feel like if they played that match over and over again it's going to look more like this one than the Paris one you know like nine times out of ten it's going to look like this one Sinner is going to close it and like yes Alcarez has been capable of pulling off that kind of magic at times but to do it against this Sinner is feels like a possibly once in a career thing that he did in in Paris and and today he just couldn't quite do it he was more subdued I think the fact that in Paris also he'd won that third set so he had a bit of momentum the crowd There was a frenzied atmosphere in Paris.

9:48Matt Roberts: He didn't get that frenzy until the end of the fourth set. Right at the end. And there was some frenzy, but it was too late. And Siner had, felt like Siner had overcome his mental, not even a wobble, but just if Paris fleetingly passed through his mind, he'd sort of traversed that. And he felt solid by that point.

10:07Catherine Whitaker: And I think in the third set, Alcraz was, as David said, really not serving well. and Sinner kept getting chances or half chances on his serve. He had break points right at the start, he got to 30 all a couple of times and I did think if Alcarez could just somehow push through that third set where I thought he was by far the second best, but if he could just somehow get through it then maybe he could have a boost but Sinner just capitalised right at the end of that third set. His backhand down the line was an absolute killer shot all match. number of times he caught Alquaz out with that or changed the dynamic of a rally with that shot was really notable and yeah once and also you know the third set's big because then it means he doesn't have to win in five right you know so I think he settled a little bit even more after winning that third set I think that's maybe why there was some frustration for him at the end of the first because he probably should have won that first set or maybe because he certainly could have done and suddenly it's like oh god like now I can't make a mistake because if I do I'm gonna I have to try and beat this guy in five.

11:10Catherine Whitaker: And as well as I'm playing, I'm not Matteo Berrettini. The odds go in Alcaraz's favour. So I think we did see Sinner a little bit more frustrated than we normally see him right at the end of that first set. He did seem affected by it. But the way he put it behind him was impressive. So impressive. I thought he was awesome.

11:30Matt Roberts: On reflection, like, of course, Carlos Alcaraz didn't win Wimbledon. He almost lost to Fabio Fanini.

11:37David Law: Who then retired immediately.

11:39Matt Roberts: Yeah, we failed to cover the big Fanini retirement. I didn't realise that that wasn't his retirement. But anyway, he has made it official now. Yeah, like, does Alcaraz need this loss to Sinner? Bigger picture.

11:56David Law: It's a very interesting question because Hannah Wilkes, who works with us, put in our group and on the barge that Alcaraz is lacking focus in this match. the focus that he normally has against Yannick Sinner because he has to have it if he's going to be competitive. And maybe the reason he's lacking it is because he's won the last, what, five in a row? And maybe it's difficult to feel quite so threatened and quite so focused and quite so worried when you keep beating this guy. That may be it. May not be it. I can't know. But I've always felt that that head-to-head was actually not really reflective reflective of what I was seeing.

12:39David Law: I mean, he did keep winning those matches, but some of the times it didn't feel like he should have been winning them. I mean, it's incredible that he turned them around. The Roam one, Sinner's only just back from being out for a long time and frankly should have won the first set of it. There's loads of occasions when I think really Sinner should have won.

13:03David Law: So maybe this will make Alcraz go and rebuild a little more. I say rebuild. He's got an amazing game, but maybe he's going to have to look at his game and try to figure out, why was my first serve percentage so low, relatively? Why is Sinner more consistent than me? He doesn't have these Fanini-type matches. I know he had the Dimitrov one, but those are not comparable. Dimitrov was playing out of his mind that day and is considerably younger than Fabio Fanini. but it's very rare that you see I can't think of too many performances from Sinner where you think why Sinner playing like this Alcruz does that a lot

13:45Matt Roberts: I mean the last one of those I remember from Sinner was here against Novak Djokovic in that match that's about three years ago isn't it where I felt like wow where is this Yannick Sinner that we've been hyping and he just didn't have a forehand that day and it really rocked me and my conviction that Yannick Sinner absolutely had it That was not a take that aged well. Turned out, folks, he did absolutely have it. But yeah, I don't think he's played that way since. And it's hard to... Obviously, anything can happen. This is total recency bias, but it's really hard to see him doing that, given the character that he is and how we've seen him deal with things that would derail any other player.

14:32Matt Roberts: like it's like he's on a conveyor belt and people are throwing things at him yeah we've had like

14:37Catherine Whitaker: all the things we've had just like whatever we've had like two slams in the last 12 months where sinners had like appointment press conferences on the eve of the tournament because some big news has broken you know in in the u.s open last year it was obviously his positive test coming to he won the tournament here it was getting rid of his physical team he won the tournament like these are things that you would expect to to shake players or certainly like to to lead to some sort of tangible difference or you know reduction in quality but and in australia he was waiting to

15:20Matt Roberts: hear the date of his um hearing right wasn't he yeah and i think that date came out immediately pretty soon after the Australian Open. Like, he won there.

15:30Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, like, it is remarkable. And, yeah, look, I think I'm with David, really, in that the Alcarez recent wins over Sinner were a bit misleading, you know? Like, because of the manner that he did it, it made it, you know, it wasn't as big a gap between them as the 5-0 in those matches made it seem. and also the conditions, you know, like a lot of those in slow conditions. Rome, Roland Garros, Indian Wells, where I think Alcraz has learned against Sinner to do a much better job of mixing up the type of rallies that you get. You know, remember at Indian Wells when he started looping the ball and he's able to do that on clay as well, just a bit more naturally.

16:15Catherine Whitaker: He's able to use his incredible athleticism to just extend these rallies and do that kind of thing today. I know Alcaraz is great on grass, it's a great surface for him, but I felt like we were back to Sinner being able to rush Alcaraz a lot, you know, like off the ground or off the return. And the strides that Sinner's made on grass, really, really underrated, I think, because, you know, last year he got ill here, didn't he, against Medvedev. And, you know, he had that bit of a no-show against Djokovic a couple of years ago. but he was great through this tournament. I know there was the Dimitrov match.

16:57Catherine Whitaker: I really think that was heavily elbow impacted. I know Dimitrov played great and he really did and I know Sinner is not going to want to blame it on his elbow in those circumstances where Dimitrov's had to retire. It would have been pretty classless if Sinner said, I was only two sets of love down because my elbow was hurting. He wasn't going to do that. but he was just, he was clearly impacted in that match and throughout the rest of the tournament seeing him against Shelton, seeing him against Djokovic like no let-ups whatsoever in a way that Alcarez was occasionally having them and yeah, I just think those conditions today with it being fast really, really exacerbated some of the parts of their head-to-head and made it look like a lot of their old matches before poor Alcarez really did figure out changing up the sort of tempo of their alleys a lot.

17:52Matt Roberts: Zinna didn't have his absolute best serving day today, but I feel like it was still a good demonstration of just how much he's revolutionised that shot because it wasn't his best serving day and it was still such a weapon and such a clear difference between him and Carlos Alcaraz. There's no point in changing your serve and doing things to it if it lets you down when you most need it. And it's still a work in progress for Carlos Alcárez. I'm not saying this is a failed project. We have done many shows with the words Carlos Alcárez servbot in the title. Like, I'm not, this isn't revisionist history, but, like, it has worked for Yannick Sinner and that is a risk and a change that he made and deserves credit for.

18:42David Law: Yeah, and you shouldn't be having a drop-off in first serve percentage in the type of which Alcaraz had, you know, say, from Wimbledon final a year ago. He should be getting over 60 % in, and he's getting around 50%. It's not going to get the job done against this guy. Not against an amazing returner like Sinner, who was going for it. That was what really struck me, is that I kept referring to how Alcaraz, Alcras in this position will go for it. But actually Sinner was also going for it and I don't think he was going to leave himself any regrets. And you're absolutely right. He can rely on his serve.

19:25David Law: That's the difference. Alcras can have incredible serving days but he can't rely on it in the same way. He doesn't actually know what is going to happen from day to day, I don't think, in the same way.

19:36Matt Roberts: And perhaps the fact that he knows deep down that he can't rely on it and there's a risk that it'll desert him when he most needs it. makes it more likely to happen. If that's anywhere in his brain, that's a problem. I don't think Yannick Sinner is going into matches like this thinking, I wonder how I'll serve.

19:53Catherine Whitaker: No. Well, you have to say, I said it in the previous show, he had served poorly against Alcres recently. You know, he'd been down...

20:00Matt Roberts: Didn't serve well in Paris.

20:01Catherine Whitaker: No, he'd been down in the low 50s for a serve percentage, and he got that up today, which was big for him. Actually, Alcres didn't do a very good job of returning the second serve, to be honest, especially early in the match. I also thought Sinner kind of sprinkled in a nice bit of variety as well. Alcraz had early success with the drop shot. He made Sinner lose his footing a couple of times. But actually, as the match went on, the Alcraz drop shot really didn't work today. And he either missed them quite a lot in the net or Sinner was up to it and read them. And actually, Sinner threw in one or two successfully.

20:38Catherine Whitaker: He had a couple of nice points up at the net as well. I think, again, that's a part of his game which has improved and made him the all-surface, all-conquering player that he is.

20:51Matt Roberts: Just thinking about how grouchy and grumpy Carlos Alcaraz got today and thinking about Charlie Eccleshire's very early call that he's not going to win this Wimbledon and at some point Paris will catch up with him. Was the well just a little dry today in terms of the depth he needed to dig to to even have a chance? It still might not have been enough against Yannickson given how good he was. But, you know, in Paris, we watched it back last night, David, or some highlights because we had to get some sleep. But, you know, even two sets to love down at two sets of one down, you know, holds of serve.

21:39Matt Roberts: He was so pumped up. He was showing his team and the crowd at every moment, I'm still in this.

21:46David Law: Yeah.

21:47Matt Roberts: I need you with me. I've got this. Just give it to me and I'll give it back.

21:51David Law: Yeah.

21:52Matt Roberts: Just felt to me like he didn't quite have that today.

21:56David Law: No, it was very different. And actually, if you think back, Maybe what's happened is that that has come earlier in the year this year because he's just had this extraordinary run. A lot of tennis matches, a Grand Slam title run, a quick trip to Ibiza, back for Queens, win that.

22:14Matt Roberts: Don't come for Ibiza, David.

22:16David Law: Well, you know, the evidence is there.

22:17Matt Roberts: He'd have lost to Fanini if it wasn't for Ibiza.

22:19David Law: Might have to think about Ibiza next year. Anyway, you know, and he's gone to the final here.

22:24Matt Roberts: You've gone all Giancarlo Ferreiro and what's he called? Agent man. Yeah, Edouard Molina. Yeah.

22:31David Law: But I think of a year ago when he won this title and then went straight to the Olympics. And, I mean, look, he did brilliantly. He got to the final and he very nearly won the gold medal. And then he hit the wall. Yeah, then he hit the wall. Then the racket smashing started in America. Where was that? Montreal or Toronto or Cincinnati? I can't remember. And, I mean, that was such a violent... I've had enough of all of this racket smash and an early loss. And then he goes and loses to Bottic, you know, in quick-fire terms, and he doesn't look himself at all. There was a bit of that there today, body language-wise.

23:11David Law: Like, you know, he's trying his hardest, but he was grouchy, and we're not really used to that, but he's a human being. And I think the only time he smiled in the whole match was about the last five minutes when he held on to his serve and he sat down and you thought, oh my word, he might still do this.

23:28Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, there was that game with Sinner serving at 4-3 where I've written down here the game before the chance of Si se puede started and Alcres got to 15-40 in that game and I've written, oh my God, is it happening again? Alcres smiled after a great backhand. He was right in front of the press seats. He just looked up and he smiled and people rose to their feet.

23:51Matt Roberts: Smiling at Tom Kearney.

23:53Catherine Whitaker: As you would. And look, it was only a moment, though, because Sinner snuffed it out. But that was all, like, in Paris, it's what he needed, a moment, and he capitalised on it here. He just didn't quite have it. He was more subdued. I think he was a bit sluggish.

24:12Matt Roberts: A couple of times when he sort of bashed at his legs, weren't they? Like, come on.

24:16David Law: Apparently he was heard, and it was translated, that he said to his box, he's better than me today. He's better than me.

24:23Catherine Whitaker: And look, on the flip side, Sinners had three months off.

24:26Matt Roberts: Yeah.

24:27Catherine Whitaker: You know, in February, March, April or yeah, it was that period, wasn't it? So like he is fresher, no doubt about it. And I'm sure he would absolutely much rather have not been banned during that period. But if that's, you know, the margins are so small between these two. And I do think a little bit of extra gas in the tank in this second half of the season might end up proving a bit of a difference maker. I'm not saying that's the reason the match was won today, but, you know, he seemed fresh. And also, like, he wins so efficiently all the time. You know, like, there's that whole thing of him not winning these matches over three hours 50, but...

25:12David Law: He's not in those sorts of matches.

25:15Catherine Whitaker: It's sort of a redundant stat until we keep seeing him in those sorts of matches.

25:21Matt Roberts: David's already sort of killed the Dimitrov element here but come on we have to have a word for Grigor Dimitrov sure

25:30David Law: I think I might have killed it

25:32Matt Roberts: the weirdness of that element of all of this

25:35David Law: but that could have been a total sliding doors moment for this entire tournament amazing to think really

25:40Matt Roberts: do we get Grigor like a little trophy a mini one just this big fine

25:46David Law: I think he can feel bloody proud of himself for what he did that day, Gregor.

25:53Matt Roberts: From his hospital bed.

25:54David Law: Yeah.

25:57Catherine Whitaker: It's definitely a sliding doors moment. When the story of this Wimbledon is written, when there's a Wimbledon 2025 relived.

26:07Matt Roberts: That'll be a big moment.

26:09Catherine Whitaker: Big moment. Big moment.

26:10David Law: At the very least he's got to go all the way. He's got to go five sets to win that and then still play a bunch of other people.

26:16Matt Roberts: Yeah.

26:17David Law: No, I think... And he might have beaten them all, but I wouldn't have... I still think he probably was going to win that match because he's that good, and Grigor's not won that many of those sort of matches, but we'll never know that. It was two sets to love and two all. I mean, it was not... It was not a given that Sinner's coming back from that.

26:39Matt Roberts: Okay, I will look into mini Wimbledon trophies. They sell the key ring ones in the shop, don't they? maybe just one of those for Grigol so there's name etched on it so we now have these two players in this extraordinary rivalry that's still in its very early days and both of them are now one slam away from the career slam Yannick Sinner needs a French Open Carlos Alcaraz needs an Australian Open obviously Carlos Alcaraz will get a shot sooner than Yannick Sinner but he also seems further off he's never got past the quarter-finals in Australia whereas Yannick Sinner obviously was one point away from winning the French this year.

27:18Catherine Whitaker: He's one point away from holding all four at once, Yannick Sinner. And I know it doesn't work like that because the pressure would have been different coming here to Wimbledon if he was trying to win all four in a row and hold all four. But it's crazy to think about so early in his career being that close to winning all four.

27:39Matt Roberts: Who's going to do it first?

27:44Catherine Whitaker: it's interesting isn't it Alcaraz gets to have the first go but I don't know I think Sinner's closer to winning the French Open than Alcaraz is to beating Sinner on a hard call for example.

27:58Matt Roberts: What if I throw Svantec in there? Which of those three will get their first? Obviously she'll have her shot at the same time as Alcaraz in Australia.

28:07Catherine Whitaker: Maybe I'd go

28:07David Law: Svantec I think I would go Alcaraz I think he'll regroup I hope he has a sensible off season whatever that is Ibiza? something just to recharge and come out firing in Australia what do you mean by sensible? well not playing a load of exhibitions in the middle of goodness knows where I don't know what all that's about they're all doing that I know but I think it's stupid

28:39Catherine Whitaker: he's got enough money He played, what, Madison Square Garden last year? Was that at the end of the season?

28:43David Law: He played in Charlotte against Francis Tiafoe. He plays in the Middle East and stuff like that. I just think, just rest up and make sure you're ready to go in Australia.

28:56Catherine Whitaker: He hasn't really figured out his start of the season, has he? He doesn't play United Cup. No, he doesn't play anything. He goes in without playing anything. and maybe needs to look at that.

29:11David Law: It's really close though. I think all three of those great champions are just fascinating stories for the first two Grand Slams of next year. And I mean, for the next one too, there are so many good storylines and players and they're all going to make these little tweaks here and there. And I mean, in that regard, when you said earlier, Catherine, is this kind of what Alcraz needs maybe to send him away to get him even better. Maybe it is. Maybe just continually winning. I don't know what that does to his mindset. It can go different ways, can't it? We come into this one thinking, well, he's never lost a Grand Sun final, so of course he's not going to lose.

29:55David Law: Well, he has now. Anything can happen. And it doesn't mean he's not a great, great champion, but it's what I love about it. They've got to keep making these little tweaks.

30:07Matt Roberts: There were a lot of people I spoke to ahead of today's match who I asked how they felt it would go, who they wanted to win, and a lot of them said, look, I don't really mind. Last year I was supporting Alcaraz, but I just love this rivalry so much, and the best thing for the rivalry is Sinner winning today. So I want Sinner. Sinner winning is the better thing for tennis. Does that feel accurate to you right now?

30:37David Law: Not to me, really. I don't think it would have made any difference, personally. What do you think? I can see why from the outside people would think that,

30:48Catherine Whitaker: because five in a row feels like Alcraz has got huge dominance over this rivalry. I think, as we've talked about, the five I know felt a little bit misleading. it never felt like Sinner had a match-up problem but I think you know I think it's interesting swinging it back in terms of like what it means for Wimbledon going forward because I had been thinking Alcaraz at Wimbledon could rack up some serious numbers and he might still I thought he was ahead of Sinner on grass until like I started thinking about it and actually thinking about the match-up on grass that we sort of saw today and then just before the final I was like actually Sinner on this fast court I think that favours him in the matchup but previously I've been thinking Alcaraz with his variety and with his record here in the last couple of years I thought like Wimbledon was his turf

31:42David Law: 2-0 now

31:43Catherine Whitaker: right for Sinner here so it sort of feels like that's an interesting narrative shift in the rivalry which I find interesting Alcaraz obviously got the edge at the moment at Roland Garros having won their last couple there so look as I said before we're still so early in this in this rivalry we really are like we could be talking about this for the next five ten years you know and so therefore I don't I don't I wouldn't put such a premium on today's result however it went I feel like the rivalry was enough

32:18Matt Roberts: in the balance yeah I was watching another episode of Gods of Tennis the BBC documentary series about the 70s and 80s halcyon days of tennis and rivalries. You took so much telly.

32:31David Law: We had a great time.

32:34Matt Roberts: You were real. Episode 3 was about Martina Vatilova and Chrissie Evert and there was just so much to cover there in an hour long show. It was like almost a decade's worth of Grandstand finals that they just couldn't even cover because there's just so much of it. In the scheme of things health permitting, this could end up being a blip you know I doubt the French Open will but whatever like probably we're not even going to remember every individual twist and turn of every individual Grand Slam match that they play because there should be tons of this to come which is an incredible place to be the other little wrinkle sort of really throwing this rivalry forward and throwing Yannick Sinha forward is that Darren Cahill intends to step down as his coach at the end of this year.

33:27David Law: It was referenced in our commentary on BBC Radio, Pat Cass suggested that it might not be, actually, that he might not be categoric about stopping. He's done a Daniel Collins. And that he would certainly, at the very least, not want to be doing it the way he is, but maybe he might do a bit of it. so that'll be interesting to find out I mean I certainly maybe it is it but that was definitely the suggestion

34:00Matt Roberts: it's the travel I think isn't it it's not that I mean I think it's a dream isn't it their relationship he just doesn't want to be on the road but he seems a very

34:13Matt Roberts: not codependent charge Yannick Sinner I could imagine he could cope with Darren Cahill being more remote than he currently is. Yeah.

34:23David Law: That three-person... I mean, considering all the instability that Sinner has had in his team, that three-person team of himself, Beniozzi and Cahill, has been solid. And they all seem to understand each other and the wavelength and what they need from each other.

34:44Matt Roberts: He's proven he can do it without the Carotta boys. Bit of a blow for them, isn't it?

34:50Catherine Whitaker: I think he'd already proven that. Had he? Yeah. I think there's been a blow for them for a while. His success without them. Big win for the fox. Was it?

35:00Matt Roberts: Well, you know, no carrots about, were there? No, there was a carrot. I saw a carrot. There was a woman. She wasn't dressed as a carrot because she's got self-respect, presumably.

35:09Jannik Sinner: But she had a big carrot teddy. It looked like one of Billie Jean's toys, but big. I don't know if you saw it but I didn't see any foxes about No, never have

35:23Matt Roberts: But anyway And Yannick's in his mum I think both his parents were there actually His dad had the day off work He was working wasn't he during the French Open final So Yannick's

35:35Catherine Whitaker: His mum went Nice to see his mum In Paris

35:38Matt Roberts: I wish they'd edited her out of the highlights of the French Open final that we watched because I find her face traumatising. Yeah, it was nice to see her looking...

35:49David Law: I mean, we only saw her at the end of the match. It was okay by then. So she was probably going through it during the match. But no, you know, it was a nice scene.

35:58Matt Roberts: What now? US Open. What happens there?

36:02Catherine Whitaker: I was talking about this with Matthew, actually. And, you know, it's like, what's the chances of getting a repeat of this? And, like, what are Yannick Sinner's chances of getting to the final? Unless injury happens or something, it feels like 90%, 95%. It just feels that sure. Alcaraz, less than that. But I still feel like, who's going to beat him? Unless he beats himself. Which is more likely than Sinner beating himself. But, I don't know, they're just so far ahead of everyone else at the moment. and it's so hard to go into these slams predicting something else. So if we didn't see a repeat in New York, it would be more shocking to me than if we did.

36:52Matt Roberts: It was another match, not quite to the extent of the French Open final, but it was another match that emphasised how big the gap is between them and everybody else, right?

37:03David Law: Yes, I think so. The rankings tell you that, and the sheer number of times they keep leaving everybody in their wake. I'm not as convinced about it happening in New York for the same reason that Federer and Nadal never did. I know that they have met in New York, but all the focus was on the fact that they ended up meeting in New York, really, that time. Three years ago, they weren't doing anything anywhere else yet when that happened. but it's just that

37:36Catherine Whitaker: a lot of the times they were stopped by Djokovic or by Murray or Del Potro I'm not really seeing that guy at the moment

37:45David Law: I definitely think Draper I do think Draper is a factor on hard course I think that Alcaraz has got a lot of proving to do in this swing coming up

37:59Matt Roberts: and maybe this will give him the motivation he needs.

38:03David Law: He's looked the last two years, the last three years, he's not, is it two, in 23 he lost to Medvedev, and in 24 he's lost to van der Zanschel. He just didn't look right in either of those matches, really. It wasn't like a worldy performance that's knocked him out. They were both very good.

38:24Matt Roberts: Excuse me, justice for Bertic over here, please.

38:28Catherine Whitaker: Bertic at this point is on our bingo card, isn't he? He comes up every episode. I try and make it so.

38:34David Law: The real Carlos Alcaraz beats him.

38:37Matt Roberts: Yes, Carlos Alcaraz is a better player than Bertic.

38:41David Law: And so he hasn't looked the same for three years. So he's got to figure that out. And that's what was always happening every summer, really, with, well, lots of summers with Nadal. Some summers occasionally with Djokovic. Neither one of them had as good a record at the US Open as they had elsewhere. It's tough. It's really tough to just keep on going. So how you make sure that Alcras comes into that fresh. I don't really have any doubts over Sinner. He doesn't seem to have these letdowns. So, yeah, I'm fascinated. The rest, though, can they close the gap?

39:23Matt Roberts: Because it feels like a lot of the rest are maximising. Taylor Fritz feels like he's maximising. Tommy Paul, Alex de Menor, Alexander Zverev feels like a bit of a busted flush. Good points, yeah. OK, Fonseca might be coming, but he's pretty unknown territory. Jack Draper, I'm still a believer, but he's a way off. But he's at least not maximising yet. There's still upside to come, you would think. But a lot of the rest feel like they're maxing out and the gap is huge.

39:57Catherine Whitaker: No, that's true. Yep. Yep. I don't disagree.

40:02Matt Roberts: So were we in a great state of affairs with men's tennis, with these two incredible athletes and this rivalry for a lifetime?

40:12David Law: At the moment, it is kind of like if they meet.

40:15Matt Roberts: Yeah.

40:18David Law: Because if you put one of them in the final against one of the others, at the moment it doesn't feel like it's going to be a great final at the moment.

40:27Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, and look, I'm not... You know, they are meeting, so I think we are in a good place. And as I said, we're early in this rivalry. I'm excited for many more. I think we are in a good place. But, yeah, like, you're kind of waiting for, I don't know, a Shelton or a Fies or a Fonseca, one of them, to kind of step up. and at the moment I see them as potentially being able to do it once, but I don't really see any of them at the moment. Fonseca a bit different because he's so much younger, but as like joining in terms of with the same level of consistency. Being Andy Murray. Right. Or even Djokovic, frankly.

41:12Catherine Whitaker: I know Djokovic ended up overtaking, but he was behind and then he overtook.

41:17Matt Roberts: I can't believe it took Matt to mention Art of Feast.

41:19Catherine Whitaker: I mean, for this summer that feels...

41:22David Law: I've been mentioning Artifis really strongly if he was fully fit. I hope he's been on bed rest for the past five weeks. He's probably not going to play again this year. Five weeks. Meaningfully.

41:32Catherine Whitaker: He posted today some back-in-the-gym photos. Did he?

41:37David Law: Just take it easy, Artifis. I'd love him to come back and be a force, but the worst thing of the lot would be if he came back too soon. Yeah. And wasn't right. Absolutely. What's going to happen with Novak Djokovic? I mean, fascinating questions.

41:55Matt Roberts: What is going to happen with Novak Djokovic? Does he play New York?

42:00Catherine Whitaker: We said in Serbian press that he thought he would be in optimal physical condition come New York, you know, in terms of the injury and everything. I think he is absolutely intending to play New York.

42:14Matt Roberts: Good news for all good Danilović. Very.

42:17David Law: I mean, I was questioning him for the Olympics, if you remember, a year ago. That aged well. Because he'd lost that final badly and et cetera, you know. And the same could be true of Alcaraz. They rebound so quickly, these people.

42:35Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, it's just, you know, given what we talked about on the show the other day and what we've seen this year, he feels as far off Sinu and Alcaraz as the other guy. He feels more likely to meet them. He feels more likely to be reliable to play them.

42:49Jannik Sinner: And he's going in the other direction.

42:52Catherine Whitaker: Yeah.

42:53Jannik Sinner: It feels, I mean, logically he must be.

42:56Catherine Whitaker: I think Djokovic now, I'm going to hype up the terrible US Open draw. He would want, I think, Alcarez, you know,

43:07Matt Roberts: he wants to be in Alcarez's half versus Sinners, I think, for sure.

43:12Catherine Whitaker: And he probably wants him early in the tournament. as early as possible. I don't know what his seeding will be. Imagine, I don't quite know, but let's say quarters, as early as he could get him. Because given what he talked about with his tank emptying, the later he plays in, I think the fewer matches he's got in his legs, the fewer chance of injury, the better for Djokovic. But then still trying to go on and win the tournament feels like such a big ask.

43:37Matt Roberts: Yeah. And maybe that's not enough. He did that in Australia, didn't he? He got one of them. He had that moment. Then didn't have any more.

43:46Jannik Sinner: I got the impression from here that... One last time.

43:51Catherine Whitaker: The grounds will be closing 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. It's nice that they don't change it for the final... or we hope you've enjoyed your tournament at Wimbledon. No.

44:18Matt Roberts: No. Day. Yeah, and they definitely could

44:20Jannik Sinner: because they definitely are there live. Definitely. Definitely. Yeah. Never goes off script. Incredible work, Johnny Perkins and Matt Roberts. I'm going to miss that tomorrow. Me too.

44:35Catherine Whitaker: It's gone so quickly.

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46:51Jannik Sinner: Let's talk about a few of the other important things that happened today. Before that men's singles final, Elisa Mertens and Veronica Kudomatova won the women's doubles. They beat Sue Wei Shea and Yelena Ostapenko, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. Mertens has won Grand Slam titles before, but this is Veronica Kudomatova's first. In fact, she was the only player on the court today that hadn't won a Grand Slam title before. So a huge moment from her and they did it from a breakdown in the third set. It looked like Ostapenko was Ostapenko-ing and they managed to turn that tide. and win a thrilling final and deny us the thought of Jelena Rostepenko being at the Wimbledon Ball tonight with Iga Sviontek.

47:37Catherine Whitaker: That's what I was thinking about.

47:39Jannik Sinner: The ultimate party pooper. You know she's annoyed about that.

47:43Catherine Whitaker: Oh God, yeah.

47:46Jannik Sinner: But they were great, Mertens and Kudomitova and it was a really great final and had great crowds, didn't it? The men's final yesterday had great crowds as well. on to some critical wheelchair tennis results today

48:02Matt Roberts: Takito Oda got the better of Alfie Hewitt once again in the wheelchair men's singles final 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, his second Wimbledon Oda I think he thought he had him, Alfie Hewitt, after that first set but you said it David when we were watching this together earlier He threw every punch he had, Alfie Hewitt, in those opening two sets. And they weren't enough. And he didn't have anything left to give. Whereas Takedo Oda just seems to have an endless tank.

48:38David Law: Yeah, he needed to get him early. And when he wins the first set, 6-3 in 32 minutes, that was a short set for the finals these two play. And then the second one just became gruelling. And, yeah, the moment that Oda wins that, he's got a bit of the Alcaraz about him as well. Once he starts winning, he gets more dangerous because he gets gleeful, and he starts connecting with crowds and drawing energy from them. And, you know, Alfie, and this is in front of Alfie's crowd. You know, he was doing the finger-to-the-ear thing to Alfie's crowd. You know, great stuff. He's awesome. He's charisma-central to Kito Oda, isn't he?

49:21Catherine Whitaker: and the way he just turned it on in this match because in that first save he was making a lot of errors Oda, he really didn't have his game but he found a spark through the match which was incredible and I think it's such an interesting rivalry because it feels like Oda's got more game you know, like he can do more things there's an absolutely incredible backhand flick that he does, like you know the ball lands right by his wheels and he sort of turns and yet he flicks it back and then does turn so he's not facing the court flicks it back, half volleys it back he does it repeatedly so he's got all that talent and yet Hewitt's got so much grit and fight and I think a lot of players would probably be despondent playing Oda knowing that he's got so many shots but I don't know I think Hewitt really rises to the challenge of playing him and gives all that he's got.

50:23Catherine Whitaker: And I did think he could have won it in straight sets today, but he just looked absolutely gassed by the end, didn't he? There was an absolutely incredible rally that Hewitt won to save a championship point. I think it was the second or third championship point that Oda had. And you just see what it took out of Hewitt to live with Oda. He was awesome. And yeah, he's still a teenager, isn't he? He's still only 19, and yet he's just seemingly getting better and better.

50:51Matt Roberts: It's a brutal state of affairs for Alfie Hewitt, because, look, he's only 27, and yet he's got this nemesis in Taquito Oda, who just keeps getting the better of him, and he's close. But the bottom line is he's just not as good as Taquito Oda, and Oda's getting better, and maybe Alfie Hewitt can get better.

51:13Jannik Sinner: But it's going to be hard, isn't it? It's going to be hard to track with odours, improvements and more. And look, he's achieved so much in his career. He has the career slam. He doesn't have the career golden slam. I mean, I cannot. He's already one of the most intense competitors in the sport.

51:33David Law: Like, I cannot imagine how he's going to be when the LA Olympics comes around.

51:38Jannik Sinner: Like, he's going to, I imagine that is already just totally in his mind. that LA Olympics and avenging that defeat to Oda there. But I do, I feel like he's going to keep reaching finals and he's just going to keep coming up against Takedo Oda and I guess he's just got to keep believing that he can get the better of him. But Oda is, he's ridiculous.

52:02Matt Roberts: He's 19.

52:03Jannik Sinner: This is his sixth major singles title and now we have the fun once again in New York of him going for the career Golden Slam there at 19. yeah I'll be watching Niels Vink won the quad wheelchair singles title he beat Sam Schroeder his countryman and friend and rival in the final 6-3, 6-3 nailing himself on as the best in the world Sam Schroeder so congratulations to him big win for Frosted Tips

52:41David Law: we were so close it's not over it's not over can still happen in new york perhaps i put i popped the bleach

52:52Jannik Sinner: into my um toiletry bag for new york good work it's coming with me

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54:15Right.

54:17Jannik Sinner: Let's just take a moment to have a little look back on the tournament as a whole. Only a little one because we have a dedicated show for this. We do a review show after every Grand Slam a couple of days after the dust has settled. so we get the benefit of a bit of quiet reflection and a bit of sleep to help us with our quiet reflection. And we also get voice notes in from some incredible contributors that we're lucky enough to hear from in that show. And why are you waving at me, Matthew?

54:51Catherine Whitaker: We're live on air. Matthew wants to be one of them. Just pointing out that Matthew might be a voice note. Yes, I know that.

54:56Jannik Sinner: I asked you earlier in the fortnight.

54:59David Law: he's just chuffed to be regarded as one of them

55:03Jannik Sinner: nothing like having the camera operator waggle his fingers in front of the camera lens to get your attention while you're live broadcasting yes one of them might be from Matthew

55:14David Law: although maybe not now

55:19Jannik Sinner: where was I? we'll be recording that show on Wednesday and it'll be up for Friends of the Tennis Podcast but we can take a few moments now to quietly reflect without Matthew on the last two weeks. Your thoughts, your emotions, your highlights. And lowlights, maybe. I mean, the lowlights, Gregor Dimitrov, isn't it?

55:42Catherine Whitaker: Yeah.

55:43Jannik Sinner: Slash yesterday for you.

55:45Catherine Whitaker: Yeah. Yeah. Not wanting to take anything away from Svantec, who has actually been a real highlight. You know, seeing Igor Svantec back at her best and coming off Roland Garros and the clay season she'd had generally was honestly a surprise to me. I think it was also a surprise because she sort of did the work in the week just before Wimbledon, didn't she? Which is always like a week that just passes me by a little bit. But like when I saw that win she had over Alexandre, for example, in Bad Homburg, that was the first moment where I thought, hang on a minute,

56:19Matt Roberts: that's a result on grass that I wouldn't necessarily expect from Igor Svjantek.

56:24Catherine Whitaker: and she carried it through and she was absolutely incredible. Obviously, my highlight is Anissimova in the semi-final. We'll always have that moment. Just the most incredible, incredible win from her. And actually, I enjoyed the first few days very much. I enjoyed the chaos of it. I enjoyed not knowing what was going to happen, that sense of, oh my goodness, all these results are catching. who's going to be next like the drama of it all I thought was I thought was really compelling in those early days and then yet we still ended up with big names in the final as well and big talking points so I think it's been a great slam with a 6-love, 6-love and a Grigor Dimitrov mid-match retirement as exceptions but otherwise I think it's been a really good slam and very different to Roland Garros as well

57:22Matt Roberts: I think so too, I think this has been a really good slam

57:26Jannik Sinner: my lowlights were the devastating Grigor Dimitrov scenes and the devastating scene of you when you arrived yesterday and seeing how pale you were and knowing that we had to immediately send you on air but people bounced back here is evidence of just that, Matt Roberts so yeah seeing you look well today was a was a tournament highlight David what about you I mean

57:56David Law: I do think the weather was a highlight the fact that we've been able to sit here all fortnight long compared to a year ago when we were having to sit over there we did six in a row over there last year I mean under cover that was that was it just got you down after a bit yeah it did and so that didn't it was a fact I mean it was uncomfortable for some spectators and for some players maybe but generally it was just not a factor the weather over the course of the two weeks I loved those first few days it was such a buzz and to still end up with you know Sinner Alcaraz in the final I mean how cool is that yeah it was a great Wimbledon absolutely loved it I loved

58:39Matt Roberts: I think what round did Amanda Ernest Mova play Dalma Galfi was that third round?

58:44Catherine Whitaker: Third round yeah out on court three we'd gone up from 15 to 12 to 3.

58:49Matt Roberts: I loved going out there. You were sat in the public bid of the stands because you'd got there so early. You could take your pick of the seats. David and I arrived a bit later and sat in what we thought were the press seats. Actually, they weren't and we were ejected from them later. But anyway, that's an addendum

59:05Jannik Sinner: to the story. David getting grumpy with the steward and rightly so is not hard. It's a separate story. It takes a bit.

59:12David Law: It takes a bit to get me in that mood. but okay right now you're being rude and out of order so no i'm not moving um maybe that's a better

59:23Jannik Sinner: story i don't know no what i was gonna say was us arriving and sitting down we we weren't sat anywhere near where matt was but sort of about 10 different people turning around and going well where's matt then one woman goes i'm only here for him where is he and every time i'm missing

59:38David Law: over here to hit a backhand winner Matt would be like this to us yeah I really enjoy the tennis

59:45Catherine Whitaker: podcast community heading to those Amanda Nisimovah matches Vicky if you're watching on the live

59:52Jannik Sinner: stream on YouTube has just done some absolutely extraordinary work there you are Matt yeah I was

1:00:00Catherine Whitaker: enjoying it more than I look like I'm enjoying it there but you were tense yeah well I was I was I with my mates who were chanting Anissimova songs.

1:00:09Jannik Sinner: That was actually a good situation for you because they were able to emote on your behalf.

1:00:14Catherine Whitaker: I remained professional. I didn't clap.

1:00:18Jannik Sinner: Yeah, you looked really professional in that photo. Arms folded. You'd never know what your internal monologue looked like. That was incredible from Vicky.

1:00:27Catherine Whitaker: It was a fun journey going up the courts for Anissimova all the way to the final.

1:00:33Jannik Sinner: Will she win a slam?

1:00:36Catherine Whitaker: I'm going to say yes I mean I think we're we're closer than we ever have been right you know like she's just beaten the world number one in the semi-final I know the final was a disaster but I think if she's in that position again she'll play better

1:00:53Jannik Sinner: I hope so I don't want her

1:00:56Catherine Whitaker: it's not a given it's not a tennis relief you'll win one of these I don't want to say that I just I just think she's hungry

1:01:05Jannik Sinner: yeah and losses can make you hungrier maybe that's what's happened today and yesterday Alfie Hewitt looked hungry yeah mind you so did taquito odour yeah and actually so did right folks we of course have our mascots some shout outs but we also have some thank yous if you'll bear with me for a moment um i would like to thank matthew despite his unprofessional interjection into the show earlier uh matthew is just the absolute greatest uh uh and i'm running i'm i'm i'm at a loss for words for how much we love matthew that is the extent to

1:01:53David Law: which he makes our tournament here at wimbledon one of david's diamonds who i spotted all those years ago.

1:02:00Jannik Sinner: David's trying to make David's diamonds happen. Yep. For like people that he's talent spotted.

1:02:07David Law: YouTube counts as well.

1:02:09Jannik Sinner: There's also a David's Duffers. Yeah. But the names on that list are to remain private. Shall not be shared.

1:02:15Catherine Whitaker: Yeah. Oh Matthew just makes our day. Every time we come up here.

1:02:21Jannik Sinner: Every single time.

1:02:22Catherine Whitaker: And we see him. He just lifts my spirits all the time. Yeah. We love Matthew.

1:02:28Jannik Sinner: Your favourite Matthew you take from the fortnight?

1:02:32Catherine Whitaker: Wimbledon's not for the people.

1:02:37Jannik Sinner: I was watching the latter stages of Anisimova Svjontek with him over there and he just kept shouting, hit it over the net! As if she wasn't trying to do that. But then he also did do really sweet little claps every time she won a point.

1:02:53Catherine Whitaker: Pros hitting the ball in the net. Matthew cannot stand that.

1:02:56Jannik Sinner: He thinks it's unprofessional. Matthew we love you I would also like to embarrass Hannah by saying she's wonderful too I know she hates it when I say this she's here in the live chat if you're in the live chat right now with Hannah please tell her how wonderful she is because she deserves to hear it no matter how much it makes her squirm she is absolutely incredible a wit a poet and somebody who just slams down the trolls in a way that I love so much my mum was here today and she was like Hannah doesn't have time for those trolls does she? She shuts them right down. Yes Hannah and the same absolutely goes for Vicky who we keep saying it but she has changed our lives this year and I keep having moments of thinking we used to do this without Vicky.

1:03:51Jannik Sinner: What were we thinking?

1:03:53Catherine Whitaker: I don't know how we did it and truth be told we we didn't do it as well. You know, like everything that you've, if you've been watching the live streams, Vicky bringing up the graphics, the photos, the banners, the comments, you know, all of that is Vicky. And she's just taken it on and made these live streams better. And yeah, Vicky, Hannah, we're so lucky to have them both.

1:04:20David Law: Two more David's diamonds?

1:04:23Jannik Sinner: You keep trying to make diamonds happen and I have to mention some duffers, David. they're out there they are out there um i would like to thank gorana our incredible designer who again has helped expand our offering and what we're able to do with the help of vicky and hannah as well everybody working as a team um just to create more output and better output and make everything look good and exciting well we think so anyway um it's been really really exciting and overwhelming for us and knowing that we have these incredible people that we can just rely on and go can you guys do that the answer is always yes and seeing them all work together gorona vicky hannah the next guy on my list um is really incredible and the next guy on my list is jib oh jib we love jib as well a guy that i've never met who might be my favorite person

1:05:28Catherine Whitaker: he's our editor he's our video editor he's been our audio editor in in the past but you know because we're doing these shows live we don't need to edit the audio unless we've done something catastrophic but thankfully you don't think we have but he's been making all our instagram reels and youtube shorts and we love jib he's he's got into tennis he's playing tennis now uh he was the The first match he ever watched live was yesterday's Wimbledon final.

1:05:55Jannik Sinner: Yeah. Don't be put off, Jib.

1:05:58Catherine Whitaker: No. And he's just always available.

1:06:01Jannik Sinner: Yeah.

1:06:02Catherine Whitaker: Which is incredible.

1:06:03Jannik Sinner: To quite a worrying extent, actually.

1:06:04Catherine Whitaker: Does he sleep? We don't know. We don't know. But, yeah, he's wonderful.

1:06:08Jannik Sinner: He's absolutely wonderful. And he's another one for the David's Diamonds list. Big time. Yeah. I mean, common strand. I think, hang on, do we officially include Garner in David's Diamonds? is that a bit more of a grey area

1:06:26Jannik Sinner: we'll ask Gorenna whether she's comfortable being included in David's Diamonds I would like to thank Pam Shriver for appearing on the pod for sending us texts, for coming to see us constantly and for just being the force of nature that she is and for giving us not giving us I mean the Wimbledon shop gave us Jam Shriver but Jam is called Jam Shriver because of Pam Shriver. So thank you for that. And thank you, of course, to Charlie, Matt and James from The Athletic, who it has been an absolute pleasure working with over the last couple of weeks. And obviously we've had Charlie and Matt on the show and that's been an absolute treat.

1:07:06Jannik Sinner: And thank you to The Athletic too. Generally, it's been our first Wimbledon working with them, being part of The Athletic Podcast Network. And that's been a joy. And yeah, these are exciting times, the tennis podcast. So thank you to The Athletic. thank you to Wimbledon perhaps most importantly thank you to Wimbledon

1:07:26David Law: giving us this place to do this it's amazing

1:07:29Jannik Sinner: it is absolutely amazing that we get to sit here every night and talk about this tournament and get the access and privilege and help that we do it's yeah we know how special it is we don't take it for granted and we are very very grateful for that and thank you to the Wimbledon shop as well for giving us our wardrobe for the next 12 months and more like my tie yeah there's a lot of compliments on your tie in here thanks yeah um i know lots of stuff is sold out because it's so nice um but lots of it is still available online um so it is definitely worth taking a look and uh the shop is open year round if you if you swing by if you're on wimbledon common which i am every day do say hi and then pop in to the Wimbledon shop.

1:08:19Jannik Sinner: Folks, if you're worried about the post-Grand Slam Blues, as I mentioned, we have an episode of our Wimbledon review show coming, recording on Wednesday. That'll be up for Friends of the Tennis Podcast. We've got voice notes in the works. We love those shows. They're some of our absolute favourites. So if you want to become a friend of the Tennis Podcast, the link is in our show notes. you get access to that show all of our bonus shows there's an archive of how many david's

1:08:52David Law: oh uh our bonus shows yeah oh well over around 100 something like that and we're doing more all

1:08:59Jannik Sinner: the time we do uh eight relived shows a year we do the four grand slam review shows we do a monthly live show for friends often a q a episode that you can contribute to and ask us a question you also get access to the barge which is where you can hang out with Hannah all the time and Vicky too and just generally enjoy chat about tennis in a safe and friendly space you get all sorts of other stuff as well but ad free listening is another thing you get with friends at the tennis podcast so well worth taking a look you can join for starting from£6 a month the link as always is in our show notes and I'll pop it on Instagram as well Thank you to Phoebe, thank you to Maisie, thank you to Roger for being our mascots throughout this Wimbledon, throughout this year.

1:09:45Jannik Sinner: And the same goes to our top folks and executive producers, Greg, Chris and Jeff. Matt, do we have some final shout-outs?

1:09:53Catherine Whitaker: We sure do. We have Keturah.

1:09:56Jannik Sinner: Oh, Keturah.

1:09:58Catherine Whitaker: Hi, Keturah. We know Keturah, a long-time listener.

1:10:02Matt Roberts: Very long-time supporter.

1:10:04David Law: Who introduced us to pet mascot-dom.

1:10:08Matt Roberts: Yes.

1:10:09David Law: With Charlie the Ferret, our first ever mascot. And as brilliant as Goraner's modern latter-day design work is for us,

1:10:22Jannik Sinner: possibly her greatest ever triumph was designing logoed ferret wear.

1:10:29David Law: Yes, from Ferret Couture. An actual shop. Yeah.

1:10:34Jannik Sinner: A true moment of triumph for Goraner. And, yeah, it was a joy having Charlie as our first mascot. So, Kutura, thank you.

1:10:42Catherine Whitaker: We've also got Anna Piepsik. I think I'm, hope I'm saying that right. From Poland, Krakow in Poland.

1:10:49Jannik Sinner: Oh.

1:10:51Catherine Whitaker: And Anna says, hi, this is Anna of Anna and Ola. We had the chance to meet Catherine, David and Matt during last year's Wimbledon on Court One, right before the Igor Svontek match with Yulia Putinsaver. And we had our photo taken by Simon Briggs. I wore

1:11:08Jannik Sinner: what a tennis podcast encounter

1:11:09Catherine Whitaker: I wore Polish flag colours with the intention to bring luck and support but now I think about it in retrospective I'm of the opinion I bring Svantech bad luck having attended her matches twice at Wimbledon in 2022 to Corne and in 2024 to Putin's saver and Anna says I'm hopeful this shout out falls on Ola's 30th birthday which is the 14th of July so that's tomorrow so this is our closest show to that. Vicky's done some incredible work to make sure this shout out is in this episode and Anna says, Ola is the one who introduced me to the podcast during Roland Garros 2022 and we listened to you talk about Eager and Rafa's victories.

1:11:50Catherine Whitaker: Happy birthday, Ola to many more Wimbledons and other Grand Slams together and thank you Tennis Podcast you rock

1:11:58Jannik Sinner: That is wonderful Thanks Anna, you rock too. Thank you Anna like former backhand lister, Anna Bogdan

1:12:07yep

1:12:08Catherine Whitaker: although this is Anna with two N's

1:12:10Jannik Sinner: and former sinner person Anna Kalinskaya yep

1:12:18David Law: and Anna Ivanovich who I saw wandering around here earlier but that's one N as well Chakvatadzi was that two N's?

1:12:27Matt Roberts: very good Kornikova

1:12:30David Law: Smashnova that's a good text That is a good name, isn't it?

1:12:34Catherine Whitaker: That might be even better than Volley Nets.

1:12:38Jannik Sinner: Potato says, what about Anna Bogdan? We've mentioned Anna Bogdan.

1:12:41Catherine Whitaker: Yes, right, right. Anna Bogdan gets more airtime here

1:12:45Jannik Sinner: than in all of the rest of the media collectively combined. There's no justice required for Anna Bogdan.

1:12:53Catherine Whitaker: And final shout-out of the tournament is via Simon Briggs, the aforementioned Simon Briggs, and we have Darren and Laura, who are good friends of Simon's big pod listeners I believe they actually met on a tennis court, Darren and Laura Darren plays the club championships with Simon Laura is a translator they have a wonderful dog Stella, I'm looking at Stella who I think is on the screen right now if you're watching live and anyway they had a rough time did Darren and Laura, Laura was diagnosed with ovarian cancer lots of months of really rough treatment but very happily she's now been given the

1:13:38Jannik Sinner: all clear and they

1:13:40Catherine Whitaker: are engaged Darren and Laura so we via Simon wanted to give them a big big shout out

1:13:51Jannik Sinner: Darren and Laura hello that is glorious news on all fronts I hope Stella who I'm looking at now is going to be some sort of ring bearer at your wedding. I'm very into canine canine wedding involvement. Of course. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Like Laura Siegmund. Yep. And Darren Cahill.

1:14:18David Law: One last mention for Siegmund then. I've got

1:14:22Jannik Sinner: Bertic in, I've got Laura in.

1:14:24Catherine Whitaker: You didn't come up in your Wimbledon highlights and lowlights.

1:14:28David Law: Doesn't know where to put her. yeah bit like Buttit really yeah

1:14:34Jannik Sinner: so is that it for our shout outs that is

1:14:36Catherine Whitaker: yep is there anything

1:14:37Jannik Sinner: we can do to eke out more Wimbledon

1:14:41Catherine Whitaker: I'm afraid not that's it you'll probably be watching Gods of Tennis later I reckon that'll do it probably probably

1:14:48Jannik Sinner: folks I think that just leaves us to thank you for watching for listening however you've enjoyed the tennis podcast this fortnight we hope you've enjoyed the tennis podcast this fortnight without you

1:14:59David Law: it's just us having a chat which is also great but uh there'd be quite a lot of resource going

1:15:06Jannik Sinner: into it for for not a lot of return so we're very very grateful to you for for listening for participating in the way that you do for creating a a really wonderful special community it means so much to us when people pop up on the roof and come and see us and say hello and generally just an incredible vibe it's a very very special thing um and we don't take it for granted and we're very grateful for it and we're very grateful to you for listening uh and giving us a chance to do this and sit here and talk about the sport that we love so thank you we will be back in a week because that's tennis um david's going on holiday i'm going on holiday but don't don't worry we're here we have content coming your way uh the soonest of which is our wimbledon review show up for friends at the tennis podcast next week and the link to become a friend as i said is in our show notes that's it nothing to be said thank you for listening happy wimbledon 2025 hopefully we'll see you next year hi i'm nick co-host of the best one yet you optimize your workouts, your portfolios, and that rando startup idea that hit you in the middle of the shower.

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