Live from Wimbledon Day 2 - Huge names gone, what’s going on?

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1:12Zheng Qinwen: Hello and welcome to the tennis podcast live from another absolutely breathless chaotic day at Wimbledon. If you're joining us live just after watching Novak Djokovic escape with a four set win, then thank goodness he didn't lose because honestly there just isn't room in the agenda for another upset the agenda is full Novak because over the last two days Wimbledon 2025

1:42Coco Gauff: has equaled the grand slam record for the most seeds ever to lose in round one of a major it has been absolute decimation here over the last 48 hours and we're here in this incredible spot overlooking the grounds where people are now pouring out of centre court and leaving for the night matt's announcement i'm sure will be made shortly the temperature is finally cooled to something approaching bearable we're here to try and digest everything that's happened here on day two of the championships matt are you okay it feels like quite a big day for stats

2:19Jessica Pegula: it has been a big day we thought yesterday was a big day and we turns out we hadn't seen anything yet because today decimation is the word it has been truly wild yes we've we've equaled that all

2:33Dayana Yastremska: time slam record for most seeds men and women combined to lose with with 23 seeds losing in the first round there's still one who hasn't finished brandon nakashima is uh two sets the

2:46Jessica Pegula: agenda the agenda is full brandon the agenda is closed yeah he's coming back tomorrow so we could

2:53Dayana Yastremska: beat that record and we have equaled the men's only record with 13 seeds going out in the first round that is a Wimbledon men's record so yeah absolutely wild stuff here in it and look they're not just seeds like there's been some big big names and contenders losing today as well

3:16Jessica Pegula: Hands will be closing in around 15 minutes Please make your way to the exit gates Make sure you take all your belongings with you We hope you've enjoyed your day here at Wimbledon We have a pleasant and safe journey home Thank you

3:35Zheng Qinwen: I can name you some people that haven't enjoyed their day here at Wimbledon Alexander Zverev, Coco Goff Jessica Pergula, Zhang Chinwen, Lorenzo Mazzetti and that's adding to the ones that lost yesterday David, it's quite a lot to take in

3:51Iga Swiatek: It is, it is because it started so early as well I mean we were here at the start of the day and it was already bubbling Remember when Catherine, you and I were looking at the order of play yesterday trying to work out what 11 o 'clock match should we watch and we went through them and we were like there's nothing obvious, is there? We were looking a little bit at Tatiana Maria. She ended up losing as well, as a footnote. And then we happened upon Jessica Begula, and I just didn't see that coming. And then, this can't be real, but it feels like they're infectious, like it's contagious, like one leads to another, and it's a dominoes effect.

4:35Iga Swiatek: Look, what I do know is players watch matches backstage. They're in the locker room. I've been there myself, in person, watching players crowd around a TV, watching a big name go out. And you can often get multiples. And I think that they are aware of it and they get more anxious. And then other players who are doing the upsets, they get more brave, really. and they go for it more.

5:07Coco Gauff: I think that's a really good point and I think Pagula losing early this morning probably really put the frighteners up some people because she's the consistent one, isn't she? She's not necessarily the one that you think is going to go on and win it but she's not the one that's going to lose in round one.

5:22Iga Swiatek: She was in the mix. Honestly, she gave the best pre-tournament press conference of anybody in terms of making you feel that she's a contender and then we've been to her post-match interview and it's just like, she's just suddenly looked shocked.

5:41Coco Gauff: Four of the top ten seeds gone in both draws. In the women's, we've lost Gough, Bedosa, Pegula and Jung, amongst all the other seeds, but those are the top four seeds that have gone in. In the men's, today we lost Zverev, we lost Medvedev, we lost Runa and we lost Musetti. Things have gone bad to worse for Runa after his defeat yesterday.

6:01Zheng Qinwen: Clay magazine of today reported that he's been forced to cease and desist with his broken racket side hustle.

6:09Iga Swiatek: So this is him selling broken rackets for several thousand pounds.

6:14Zheng Qinwen: For many thousands of pounds. He's been flogging his broken rackets on this new marketplace that he's launched with his sister. A percentage go to charity. His quote objects were removed from the marketplace this morning. Oh goodness. And Babalat said we're in conversation with your agents. so watch this space for news on that anyway awkward but yeah like i mean rune is a footnote in this list really isn't he we're talking we're talking serious names here obviously goth leading the way yeah goth losing is massive

6:53Dayana Yastremska: absolutely massive I absolutely had her in the mix to win this title because she's just won the most recent Grand Slam and she's one of the best players in the world I don't think I actually thought she would win the title I thought it was always going to be a tough turnaround coming off winning Roland Garros it struck me that her two major wins have been like the two totally different majors to win in terms of what you do next you know after the US Open you've actually got a little bit of time to take it in and celebrate after the French Open you've got no time to do that and Gough said in her pre-tournament press that she is one of those people who's always got her eye on the next thing and I think getting that balance right of what to do after winning Roland Garros to give yourself the best chance of winning Wimbledon she's kind of said it if she wins Roland Garros again she probably will do things a bit differently and I was telling I was telling anyone who would listen today that I had a feeling about your stremska being a problem particularly with that match looking like it was going to be indoors and it ended up being indoors

8:01Coco Gauff: I can back that up this is not just a man trying to regain his his credibility after a big busted pergula prediction I can vouch for the fact that Matt saw this danger early doors for Goff it just

8:15Dayana Yastremska: seem problematic. Look, Pam Shriver at the draw said it.

8:19Coco Gauff: Not to be confused with Jam Shriver.

8:22Jessica Pegula: Pam Shriver said at the draw, Jastremska ranked 42 in the world, you know,

8:27Dayana Yastremska: not that far out of the seeding positions. Pam felt like Jastremska was one of the toughest possible opponents for Coco Goff first up because of the game start, the big hitting, the power on this surface to be able to rush Goff. The fact that she's had a run in a major before Jastremska and also I don't think she's that sort of intimidated going up against Coco Gauff. She plays the same way kind of whoever she's playing against and with that match being under the roof as it was, it just allowed Jastrams to kind of tee off and hit and honestly she got tight trying to serve out the first set but otherwise this was actually a pretty one-sided match.

9:13Dayana Yastremska: In the first set, Jostramske hit nine winners off the ground to one from Goff. And that kind of pattern carried on in the second set as well. In the second set, I think Goff was rushing a lot, not taking her time. A lot of double faults, a lot of missed forehands and backhands. When Goff's missing backhands like she was today, you know that she's kind of flustered and in a pretty bad position. And Jostramske was striking the ball cleanly, with authority, with confidence. and she totally outplayed Goff really from start to finish.

9:46Zheng Qinwen: I was on fire was what she said in her on-court interview afterwards.

9:51Dayana Yastremska: Yeah, she's right. And that has totally changed the complexion of that women's draw. You know, there's now an absolutely wide open section in there. We're going to get someone that we weren't expecting getting pretty deep in this tournament now.

10:08Zheng Qinwen: we went to a press conference David Kerkigoff

10:11Coco Gauff: she was very upset but very philosophical wasn't she but it was interesting that stuff that Matt's picked up on about her saying she's learnt a lot about how to process a Grand Slam win within a tennis season which is I think it's one of the most brutal things about tennis that you're expected just to move on straight away and I know that's a double-edged sword if you lose you get to move on as well and get it to put it behind you. There's a new opportunity to win the next week. But if you, you know, I know Goff has got ambitions of winning, well, she says 10 plus majors, doesn't she? But for a lot of players, winning a major, winning two majors is the moment of your life.

10:57Coco Gauff: Yeah. And you're pretty much expected to forget it a week later and turn your attention to a completely different challenge.

11:06Iga Swiatek: Yeah, it reminds you just how extraordinary it is that anybody could win both Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same year. To have just three weeks between them. And it used to be two weeks. How did Borg do it sort of five times? And Nadal's done it, Federer's done it, and Alkraus has done it. And many others. I mean, Steffi Graf, Martina Laferotilova. But it is really interesting watching Coco Goff go through it in real time, learn this process. And she definitely knows that something needs to change. I don't completely think she knows what needs to change yet. She did say, I played Berlin. Maybe I needed to play more and get more matches.

11:53Iga Swiatek: But I don't like playing the week before tournaments, before Grand Slam tournaments. So I think that's going to be a process for her to have to work out. But she was, she became tearful at the end of the press conference because, I mean, it means so much to her. And she said my team are at pains to say to me, don't be so hard on yourself. You know, you can lose, you can. That is part of the sport and it's tough. I love her for it. I love how much it means to her. and I don't worry about Coco Goff's tears in the slightest. It's healthy. I remember her crying in multiple Grand Slam press conferences and it's so healthy and she'll go away and she'll end up better.

12:42Iga Swiatek: I mean, if she hadn't have got upset, I didn't feel like asking a question after that because at that point I just thought, OK, she needs to just get out of here now. I am curious as to whether maybe she should take a little bit of a break Ibiza? Well yeah or something just to kind of because she isn't that really she says like you said she's always looking at the next thing and I think sometimes you might just need to switch it all off and go and do something else

13:10Coco Gauff: I also think in particular for her with winning the French Open the one that has the least gap between it and the next slam she is American and she's an enormous star in America there were demands for her media-wise that I don't think there would be for anybody else in the sport to go back to the States and do press that you could only do by going back to the States. All the morning shows, you know, big deal stuff. Crossover stuff. I'm not judging her for that you can't really turn down. And it's a big deal for tennis. It's great to see tennis getting exposure on shows like that. but that's different to how it would be for pretty much anybody else, I think.

13:56Jessica Pegula: I mean, even Igor Shontek, who is a massive deal in Poland,

14:00Dayana Yastremska: her answer to your question in press the other day about... It's just a photo shoot. It's just one or two days.

14:07Jessica Pegula: I still don't... I'm not fully sure that is the full picture.

14:10Iga Swiatek: But it is...

14:11Jessica Pegula: But it's totally different to what Goff's just been through.

14:13Iga Swiatek: We've seen it. She is the biggest star in the sport, really. Head of Alcarazan Sena. Koda Goff is the most important player in tennis right now in terms of profile. And she carries it incredibly well. Yeah, it was a lot. And she's young. She's getting used to it as she goes.

14:33Dayana Yastremska: And just to sort of talk about this little section that Goff has vacated now, one of these players will be in the quarterfinals. Kasikina, Begu, Staruk Dupseva, Samsonova, Kenin Boutas Monero Zakarova or Yastremska there's eight names there obviously Kenin Kenin to me is jumping out I want to shout out Ben Olsen on the Bargs who came up with this fantastic post I thought he said in an attempt to predict a surprise always a fool's errand in the women's tournament I went looking for patterns among the last four Wimbledon champions since the year that Wimbledon wasn't held three of the four had reached a run on Gareth's final in the last five years, Rebecca the exception, and none of the four had gone beyond round four Wimbledon before the year they won it.

15:25Dayana Yastremska: Turns out the only player who fits both criteria this year is Sophia Kenin, and she's in that very open section.

15:35Zheng Qinwen: Who is this genius? This is Ben Olsen. And not us.

15:39Jessica Pegula: We will put up another chair for you tomorrow, Ben. Like, yeah, fantastic. Love that. and honestly

15:47Iga Swiatek: quite a run down of names there isn't it

15:49Dayana Yastremska: what a land of opportunity you are looking at that section and look Jastremska has shown tonight what she's capable of Samsonova is extremely capable of just sort of hitting her way through as well Kasachina's crafty Kenan's got good experience like there are there are names there but it's extremely extremely open now in that in that very bottom bit of the women's draw as is the other

16:13Coco Gauff: quarter in that

16:15Zheng Qinwen: bottom half because it's been vacated by third seed and mixy jessica pagula or ex mixy the third seed we thought this was going to be the lead story at the start of the day she was thrashed

16:29Coco Gauff: with jessica pagula 6-2 6-3 by italy's elizabetta cotiareto she she just like coco goff gave such a grown-up press conference after this did uh did pagula as she as she always does she gave so much credit to Cotteretto who was excellent today absolutely excellent played a tactical master class and executed it at the highest possible level and she was really upset big early she was gutted but she was also very very philosophical about it like she she thinks she could have served better her knee wasn't quite 100 % but that's been the case all year it was no worse than last week when she won Bad Homburg.

17:15Coco Gauff: She was not at all claiming that that's why she lost today. But again, she talked about how hard it is to get the preparation and the schedule right ahead of Wimbledon because of how short the grass court season is. It's the most specialised surface and it's the one you have the least time to adjust to. It's wild, really. And it's really inconvenient to have success in the first week of the grass court season because then it's kind of difficult to go on and play the next week and that leaves you in the position of having to play the week before, which is an ideal. Pagula said it's not ideal to play the week before, but you want reps.

17:55Coco Gauff: And if you don't have success in that prime week, the men's Queen week, the women's Berlin week, then you're a little bit screwed. if you're not doing an Alcaraz, Ibiza, Queen's, Break, slash practice week, Wimbledon, then you're doing it wrong.

18:15Iga Swiatek: And even he ends up running around against a 38-year-old who hasn't won in 10 matches for five hours. But she did say, I mean, she wasn't being chippy. She was sort of asked about her preparation, whether maybe this will make her reconsider how to do it, having won this title and come here and lost in the first range. So, I mean, what am I supposed to do? Just come here without any matches? And look, it's definitely a consideration. You could try that. But you can see the type of player she is. I think her and Fritz are quite similar as athletes and competitors and they want to play. They need repetition.

18:55Iga Swiatek: They need to be able to groove their game. But it is different here. and the backdrop looks different and the crowds are different and the opponents are going to be different. There's a lot more of them. You could end up against all sorts of styles and Cacciareti does have a specific kind of style, which is not necessarily what she's been playing against all week. Like you say, the one-sidedness of it was really quite arresting. I wasn't expecting that at all.

19:28Jessica Pegula: Yeah, the one-sidedness and the fact that Pagula didn't really do anything to try and get her opponent, Cocciareto, out of her rhythm.

19:41Dayana Yastremska: You know, like the whole match kind of looked the same, which was Cocciareto really playing in a way that, you know, is her natural game, but taking it to an extreme. really taking the ball early, hitting the ball flat off both wings, taking advantage of Pagula's poorer serving day.

19:59Jessica Pegula: And honestly, Pagula had some slightly slumped shoulders to begin with. It looked like she thought, oh God, you are playing so well here. Stop it. Stop doing that. And there was a key game in the second set, Pagula serving three all. Thank you, David. You're welcome. serving through all just really long game

20:21Dayana Yastremska: and back and forth, Coccioreto eventually broke. And that kind of turned out to be the match, really. Look, I think maybe Pagula could have tried some, you know, a bit more variety out there. But I have to say, Coccioreto was extremely impressive in this. And she'd lost to Pagula two years ago at Wimbledon in straight sets. And it absolutely flipped that score on its head today. And yeah, I wasn't expecting to have so much, as you said earlier, jeopardy right at the start of the day. I didn't start watching this match. I started by watching Tatiana Maria. And then Pagula went down a break. And I was like, I better watch this.

21:05And she just stayed pretty sluggish through the whole thing, really.

21:09Coco Gauff: And before you know it, Pagula Maria second round has become Cotiretto volley nets. and that pretty much sums up the day, doesn't it? And just to kind of finish off the narrative of how hard it is to get the preparation right, that's with Tatiana Maria losing to Katie Volunets and Pagoula's loss, that's the Bad Homburg and the Queen's champions gone. And we've also lost the Eastbourne champion, Maya Joint and finalist, Alexandre Ayala today. And we lost the Nottingham champion, McCartney Kessler yesterday, albeit to the Berlin champion Marketa Vondroshova, but still, like, these are not coincidences.

21:50Jessica Pegula: No, and more on that in the newsletter.

21:54Coco Gauff: Ooh. Great plug. It's free. The link to subscribe is in the show notes. Matt has stats always, and they are excellent. Should we stay with the subject of seeds losing and move on to the next one?

22:09Jessica Pegula: That is our only subject.

22:10Coco Gauff: Jun Jin Wen. Then lost to Katerina Siniarkova. Now, just to get this straight, Jung is actually in the top half of the draw. This match was cancelled yesterday because of the chaos yesterday carried over to today. So this opens up a section in the top half of the draw, the section that Matt is calling the Anisimova section, of course.

22:29Iga Swiatek: It's getting exciting there.

22:31Coco Gauff: Siniarkova beating Jung. 7-5, 4-6, 6-1. It's her third round one loss in a row here for Jung. So not out of character, but it did feel like something had changed a bit for Jung this year on grass but maybe not.

22:48Jessica Pegula: Yeah, well she spoke at Queen's, didn't she,

22:50Dayana Yastremska: about how she's keen to be able to play well on this surface and she had some good wins there. She had a good battle with Anissam over there. It looked like her game was, as you said, if not ready to make a big impression at Wimbledon, ready to do better than she had done previously.

23:09Jessica Pegula: I think Sinyakova was a kind of sneaky, tricky draw there.

23:14Dayana Yastremska: I hadn't actually quite processed how tricky it was until it started, this match. And then I was like, well, Sinyakova really can cause problems here. She's comfortable on the grass, big flat hits, comfortable hitting a slice as well. And she's also kind of can go toe-to-toe with Jung for intensity. She's up for a battle, Sinyakova. and she absolutely relished this one. She was kind of outplaying Zhang, maybe could have won it in straight sets, had a break point at 3-4 in the second set, having already won the first set, did Siniarkova. Zhang battled brilliantly to win the second set, really, really good, up to level, took it to a third and I was expecting a tight one in the third set, to be honest, but Siniarkova just took over and was just absolutely in the zone in this one.

24:12Dayana Yastremska: Jung mentioned her first serve percentage. It was actually, I think, slightly better than she thought. She thought it was down in the sort of 30s. I think it was up around like 50%, but that's still not sort of good enough. But it's also not atypical for her.

24:28Coco Gauff: Yeah, I mean, her average for the year so far is in the low 50s. And that's around where she was today. That's a problem for her generally.

24:34Dayana Yastremska: It is, because her first serve can be really effective, but if you're not getting it in, it's not much point having an effective first serve. You've got to be able to find it. So that's a massive area of her game that I think can improve. And yeah, I didn't really have her as a huge factor at the latter end of this tournament, but it's still a shock to me to see her go out like this, even if that was a tricky match. She gave a quote which kind of summed up a lot of these seeds' experiences,

25:09Coco Gauff: I think, over the last two days. She said, if I could just have found a way through that match, I feel like I would have got better and better through the tournament. The fact that this match was tough doesn't necessarily mean... Had I found a way through it, it wouldn't have necessarily meant anything for the tournament. I just happened to lose this, and I now don't have the chance to get better throughout the tournament. and that's tennis but it's also grass tennis isn't it?

25:37Iga Swiatek: Yeah it is and I think that it's really struck me watching tennis the last two days how specific grass court tennis is. I've kind of moved away from the idea that grass court tennis is a particular set of skills because of the demise of serve and volley. It doesn't look quite as pronounced as it used to, the difference. But when you actually watch them have to crouch and stroke a ball and guide a ball and redirect it rather than just tee off, when they're putting their feet underneath them or they're sliding into a ball and it's all these full swings all the time, the better players so often are just shorter swings and just using the wrist a little bit and the forearm and redirecting and the ones that can do it, wow, they stand out.

26:35Coco Gauff: So maybe the exception today is Igor Sviontek.

26:38Iga Swiatek: Yeah, I think so.

26:40Coco Gauff: Beat Polina Kudomitova 7-5, 6-1. A couple of moments of jeopardy in the first set, but I am impressed with Igor Sviontek so far this tournament. I think, I feel like I can see, this could be confirmation bias because my theory is that she should be more relaxed flying under the radar and I've been concerned about her stress for a while now but I feel like I can see her shoulders just lower than they usually are. I've seen footage from her on the practice courts just searching on Getty Images for photos of her. It looks like there's a strain in her face to me and I was impressed with her tennis today.

27:21Coco Gauff: I still think the wind-up on the forehand, that shot doesn't look like a grass court shot. But she does it comfortable in the movement and at ease in a way that I don't think I've seen before. She doesn't look nervous that she's going to fall over or do herself some damage to me.

27:41Dayana Yastremska: I thought she served well today, which is absolutely key, because if she doesn't, opponents can really put her on the back foot. it's something we've seen opponents do to her on clay and hardcourt this year and those are the surfaces where traditionally she has moved better so I think the serve is going to be crucial for Svante and she did that thing that Zhang and Pagula wasn't able to do had a slightly tight match here that first set was close but she got through it maybe without her best stuff and then kind of raced ahead and like she's alive in this draw the sort of tricky thing for her is that she is in a section which is holding up so far you know Collins is still there potentially in the third round and Rabakina in the fourth round and I'm still looking at those matches and thinking that they're big tests for Igor's Fiont on grass

28:32Coco Gauff: they both won comfortably today didn't they Rabakina lost just three games she really really cruised as did Mira Andreeva she beat Maya Sharif 3-3 has Lucia Bronzetti next Rybakina has Sakari next. Shontek has Katie McNally next. Let's talk a bit about the women's defending champion, Barbora Krejcikova. Opened centre court today against the Eastbourne finalist, Alexandra Ayala. And Ayala was the bookies' favourite ahead of this. And look, I can understand why.

29:07Iga Swiatek: We said so last night that we probably made her favourite ourselves.

29:10Coco Gauff: Krejcikova has barely played matches since Wimbledon last year. she's had this chronic back injury and the things she's been saying about that injury have not been very reassuring. And then she also sustained this thigh injury in Eastbourne last week. She was an unknown quantity at best coming into this whereas Ayala had this incredible week in Eastbourne last week. And I thought this was so impressive from Krojikovic and quite heartening. I'm a big Ayala fan, I should say. I love her tennis. I made a very subtle suggestion about the backhand list and unveiled some very thinly veiled anti-lefty bias in Matt's backhand list criteria.

29:59Jessica Pegula: No, there hasn't. And I'm being accused of bias. Well, you had your hands up to it earlier.

30:07Zheng Qinwen: Anyway.

30:08Jessica Pegula: I'm not prepared to go there.

30:10Zheng Qinwen: Not tonight. On a slower news day. The agenda's twofold.

30:15Jessica Pegula: Maybe we can get into it on another day while I need to build my defence.

30:19Coco Gauff: Anyway, I might not be the connoisseur that Matt is, but I love the Eala backhand. It is lovely. I love her game, but I was so pleased for Barbora Krejcikova today, David.

30:31Iga Swiatek: Who has a lovely backhand of her own, doesn't she? She just has this swish to it. Because she uses that yellow framed racket that I always think of as like a lightsaber in Star Wars. I love seeing her hit that stroke. And I'm just really pleased for her that she's managed. I didn't want either of these to lose. I wanted them both to have the chance to advance for different reasons, really. The defending champion, I always think it's quite sad when they go out in the first round. I felt for Von Drusseva last year when she lost to Balthas Minera. and in the case of Iala she's just really exciting she's just such a lovely addition to the to the circuit and from a different part of the world that tennis has had in in large parts anyway but that is tough stuff from Krzykova to come out after what she's had going on knowing that she'd be 90 odd in the world if she'd have lost this match come out and and be on the back foot as well and then find a way to win the match.

31:38Iga Swiatek: That's really cool.

31:40Coco Gauff: And I don't know if this is a ridiculous thing to say, but she's in a good section of the draw. Caroline Dollarhyde next. I know there's good sections of the draw everywhere. The draw is a good section. But she's not in the Shiontech section, which is looking like the toughest one at the moment.

32:01Dayana Yastremska: And I was reminded today, watching Krejcikova, perhaps slightly having just watched Pagula, I don't mean to throw shade at Pagula there, but how well Krejcikova does adjust in matches. She is able to, I think, figure opponents out and mix up her game. And I would say when she gets her teeth into a match, she's very, very hard to stop because she's suddenly thinking really clearly and she's figured out the tactical plan. And, like, therefore, Craig Sheikover matches can sometimes have, like, maybe an odd start to them because she's not quite figured it out. And then it can just feel like she's almost unstoppable.

32:43Dayana Yastremska: And, look, it wasn't quite that extreme today because I still don't think she is 100 % fit. I do think there's going to come a point here where that probably catches up with her. But she did start to take advantage of the Ejala serve a lot more.

32:57Iga Swiatek: which you're always saying people need to be able to do

33:00Dayana Yastremska: it's a real weakness

33:01Coco Gauff: she has to beef it up she does remarkably well considering it shows you how good the rest of her game is

33:07Dayana Yastremska: and it's going to be interesting to see there's going to be a bit of a race on I think Ayala to improve that serve and the others to figure out how to take advantage of it I'm not sure which is going to come first but Craig Chicova did really start to dominate it and yeah she's got so many layers to her game she's not blessed with enormous power her and yet she doesn't feel underpowered her depth and her precision on her shots makes life really awkward for players and yeah I was I was really pleased for her actually that she got that moment of you know winning as the defending champion on on centre court opening up the Tuesday's play and yeah look as I said I probably think there's a limit on how far she can go here just because of her health, really.

33:56Dayana Yastremska: But, yeah, I would think she could probably get past Dolla Hyde in the next round.

34:02Coco Gauff: Hayley Baptiste won today, which was a much-needed boost for the Tennis Podcast meets Curse. I say halfway through, have we got a curse?

34:10Zheng Qinwen: And she plays Victoria Mboko in round two.

34:15Jessica Pegula: The Tennis Podcast meets Derby.

34:18Coco Gauff: Yeah, exactly.

34:19Jessica Pegula: Roland Garros against Wimbledon.

34:21Coco Gauff: Mboko, incidentally, came in as a lucky loser at pretty last minute for Anna Potapova. And she comes in and she beats Magdalena Frech in two straight sets. That's impressive from Mboko. And Baptiste came from a set down to beat Serana Castella, who's a tough out on, well, anywhere really, but on grass. And I am pumped for Baptiste against Mboko.

34:45Iga Swiatek: I was just thinking, I can just imagine it doesn't matter when that is, where it is, you two are going to be courtside aren't you?

34:52Coco Gauff: Yes because it's going to be a temperature at which I can actually go outside from now on.

34:57Iga Swiatek: You didn't leave the press room all day did you?

34:59Zheng Qinwen: No. I found the four seconds between the press room and the cafe quite challenging. But it's a lovely temperature now. And the last story to mention from

35:11Coco Gauff: the women's draw today I think is the end of Petra Kvitova's Wimbledon career. She lost on court number one to Emma Navarro, 6-3, 6-1. Not a hugely competitive match.

35:23Zheng Qinwen: I know there was a moment where she went a break-up at the start of the first set and people were getting quite excited.

35:30Dayana Yastremska: People.

35:31Zheng Qinwen: Yeah. Matt Roberts was getting quite excited. Hannah was getting quite excited as well. And look, it would have been lovely, but it also would have been, I think,

35:41Coco Gauff: pretty improbable given the form that she's shown since her comeback. but I thought it was really well handled by the tournament that moment and by Emma Navarro, who was quite happy to let Petra Kvitova have the spotlight and the microphone and do that interview where she spoke so beautifully. And I get the feeling, and I know you don't know until you step onto the other side of the divide, but I get the feeling she's going to be OK in retirement.

36:12Iga Swiatek: She certainly seems ready. she seems like she doesn't want this anymore now and I mean I don't think there's a more popular player in the locker room than Petra I've never heard a bad word about her from any player and there's true warmth from her contemporaries and her colleagues really within the locker room and rivals but if you want aggro she's not your player but she's so likeable and what a player when she was in full flight.

36:46Coco Gauff: Not aggro, but intensity, David. She had big time intensity.

36:50Iga Swiatek: Absolutely, and when she would get on a roll here that year, I mean what was it, 11 years ago, the last time she won it, beating Eugenie Bouchard in the final who now plays pickleball. I'm not trying to throw shade. I think you are. I think you just did. But look, she He was having an incredible year, Bouchard, and they get to the final. And I remember thinking, this should be good. And it was so one-sided. The manner in which Kvitova outplayed her. I don't think Bouchard has ever recovered from that. It may not be cause and effect. She's carrying the baggage onto the pickleball. I've certainly never seen her be a contender at all.

37:34Iga Swiatek: And that was one of the most one-sided finals I've seen. And it was just because Kvitova just was awesome.

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39:49Zheng Qinwen: Now, on to the men's draw, where the chaos continues.

39:53Coco Gauff: In fact, the biggest chaos that we begin with is chaos for which we had a cliffhanger late last night. So as we came on air last night, Alexander Zverev had just won the second set to level things up against Arta Rindekanesh. They come back second on centre court today to resume this match. I don't know how you felt, but I wasn't giving Arta Rindekanesh all that much chance today. At the start of the resumption, there were various points in this match that I wasn't giving Arta Rindekanesh much chance. I owe him a huge apology because he ended up winning 7-6, 6-7, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3. coming back from the disappointment of losing that fourth set on the tiebreak to win the fifth 6-3 against Alexander Zverev.

40:48Coco Gauff: Absolutely extraordinary from Rinderkinesh. I owe him so many apologies because I saw his alley shuffle against Yannick Sinner on Chaturier. I saw him having those five games of fun and I thought, yeah, I thought he was a bit of an unserious figure of fun type guy. Combined with his Roland Garros situation the year before where he took a two set lead, did a high knees celebration and then had to retire due to a self-inflicted celebration related injury. Like he'd just become a slightly comical figure in my mind.

41:24Jessica Pegula: Yeah. All his Taylor Fritz aggro.

41:27Coco Gauff: Have a safe flight home. Like it was all just excellent silliness. And he could not have been more serious over those five sets today. It was proper stuff.

41:39Jessica Pegula: And David and I were discussing this and we were kind of theorising that he's a more serious player on grass.

41:45Iga Swiatek: Yeah, well, he's the example that I think of of the last two days when I talk about a real grass court player. He's a different level altogether. And he's shown it against Alcraz at Queen's, just looking like he can compete with the guy. And Zverev, frankly, isn't that. He looks like he has an elevated game on clay, and it's also very good on a hard court. But on grass, he just doesn't have the feel and the skills that you need at all. And he didn't break Rene Kinesi's serve once in five sets. And I only remember one Grand Slam match where a player who didn't break serve won the match, and that was Michael Shtick against Stefan Edberg in 1991 and he beat him in, he won three tie breaks and he lost one set 6-4 so the one bloke who had his serve broken won the match and in this instance that looked like it could be about to happen and actually Rineknes broke Zverev's serve three times it's not for the want of chances Zverev had nine break points and didn't take any of them and mostly I put that down to Rineknes He got 15-40 down quite a lot in the last two sets and then just served his way out of trouble or went for a forehand and nailed it.

43:08Iga Swiatek: He was the bold player. I mean, how many times have we said this about Alexander Zverev matches? He doesn't play bold tennis. And I know that Andy Roddick is quite outspoken saying, well, you know, you can't just stand in on the baseline if you haven't got the technique to do that. And I take that point. but it's not about just where you position yourself on the court it's about the fact that he doesn't want to take chances he wants the other player to miss ultimately and huge credits to Rinderkneš for stepping up when he was clearly very, very nervous the one moment when Zverev did show a real roll of the dice was in the four set tie break at five points all second serve and he hit a 136 mile an hour ace when Rinder Kinesh was standing inside the baseline expecting a roll.

43:58Iga Swiatek: But I think it was bold in a way, but it was also desperate. It was also, I don't want to have to play a point. You can't criticise him for that. That got him out of trouble and it won him the set. But all the way through, Rinder Kinesh was really the better player. And that's as simple as that.

44:23Jessica Pegula: I also think there's something to be said for this match being broken up into two chunks. Like, how often do we see Zverev get through best-of-five-set matches because of his steadiness over a long period of time? He's able to do that longer than most players in the world. A lot of players outplay him within the course of those five sets, but they don't necessarily beat him. A lot of them don't. Most don't, because Zverev's steady and level and doesn't kind of give it to you. And he asks you to keep coming up with it over a long period of time. I kind of think having it broken down into two different chunks here did help win the Konex.

45:08Jessica Pegula: Like yesterday, he could have taken a two-set to Lovlea, he didn't. But then it was like, OK, well, I'll come back the next day and now it's the best of three-set match.

45:15Iga Swiatek: And he was 3-1 up within about ten minutes. Straight away.

45:18Jessica Pegula: And he could kind of keep it going for the amount of time that he needed to. over two sections. I think that was helpful for Rinderkinesh,

45:25Dayana Yastremska: even though I did kind of agree with you that coming back the next day, you just sort of instinctively favour the higher-ranked player and all that kind of thing. But I think Rinderkinesh managed this match in the way that it was really well,

45:39Jessica Pegula: and he had enough good tennis in him over the two sections to be able to get the job done.

45:45Coco Gauff: We're only three rounds away from the big Rinderkinesh-Taylor Fritz rematch at Wimbledon.

45:50Jessica Pegula: Oh, please. I'd love it. So fun.

45:54Zheng Qinwen: Is Rindekunesh still in the doubles?

45:57Jessica Pegula: Who could say?

45:58Zheng Qinwen: If he is, he needs to stay in the doubles long enough that if he's wished a safe flight home at the net, he can say, I'm still in the doubles. Because that's the best exchange ever. And look, I'm going to read out a list of names

46:12Jessica Pegula: like I read out from the women's draw. One of these players will be in the quarterfinals.

46:18Dayana Yastremska: Nuno Borges, Billy Harris, Shintaro Mokshizuki, Karen Hachinov, Kamil Majachak, Ethan Quinn, Christian Gareen and Arta Rindekanesh. Obviously, Karen Hachinov stands out there in terms of his record in slams.

46:34Zheng Qinwen: Might count against him at this Wimbledon.

46:37Dayana Yastremska: Right. And then you've got Taylor Fritz. Obviously, we'll come to him. But then, obviously, he's a big name in this section. But then after that, you've got Diallo, van der Zanskul, Davidovic Fakina, Feri, Darderi, Thompson, Bonzi.

46:52Zheng Qinwen: You know he's jumping out at me, don't you?

46:53Dayana Yastremska: I do.

46:55Jessica Pegula: The marvel.

46:57Zheng Qinwen: Bertic van der Zanskul. Although the fact the drawer has opened up is a real problem for Bertic.

47:05Dayana Yastremska: So, yeah, I've read out, what, 16 names there. One of them is Taylor Fritz. He's obviously the big favourite to make the semis. but if it's not him, it's someone that no one would have expected.

47:17Coco Gauff: And I feel like we should talk about Taylor Fritz next, but just before we do that, David, you and I went to Alexander Zverev's press conference. He took a long time coming to press, a long time to even announce the time. I think it was more than two hours after the match finished, then it was suddenly Alexander Zverev's on his way. And he walked in and the moderator asked their very generic opening question, as they do, which I think is a good system, you know, talk us through the match today. And he said, he was asked your thoughts on the match today. And he said, I don't have any thoughts really.

47:48Coco Gauff: And at that point, don't know about you, but I was thinking, okay, it's going to be a 45 second jobby with a one paragraph transcription. And it ended up being anything but that.

48:01Iga Swiatek: Yeah. I'm not quite sure what triggered him to open himself up in the way that he did, but I've never seen Alexander Zverev like that in a press conference. And what he said was, I felt alone out there on the court. I felt alone and I felt lonely. And it's been happening a lot. And I mean, actually, if you look at the results themselves, I counted up, I think he's lost to 12 different players since he reached the Australian Open final. It's a lot of players. Some of them are people like Djokovic and Mazzetti, some of the top players, but it's also players like Lennartian and much, much lower-ranked players.

48:53Iga Swiatek: And Rindeknes here, there's a lot of players beating him. And he said, but it's not just on the court. I feel like that off the court as well. I feel lonely. I feel alone. I have no motivation when I'm waking up in the morning or when I go to bed at night, I'm not looking forward to the next day. And he said, I've got a month to sort that out before Toronto. And if I don't, I don't see how I'll improve. But, you know, he seemed in a really low place, to be honest. So, you know, it was put to him, maybe he should look into some therapy. And he said, I've never done that before in my life. and he sort of said it as though he thinks that's a weak thing to do or not something to be taken on by someone like him.

49:46Zheng Qinwen: Someone who shouts after losing the fourth set, fucking big balls, that's what I've got.

49:52Iga Swiatek: Is that what he said?

49:53Zheng Qinwen: Yes. Didn't age very well, did he? There was a hand gesture.

50:00Iga Swiatek: Anyway, I mean, he was saying that maybe I do need to look into that. so look I mean his tennis has been I've been banging on about it for months not good enough to compete at the top level and I don't care how many times he says I'm world number three and I'm third in the race you're playing nothing like that and again today he was beaten by a better player on the day so yeah I guess we'll have to wait and see what next I mean I actually asked him I said, I realise this is a very fresh loss to be thinking about the future, but, you know, it's not been going well, and you have in the past been coached by Ivan Lendl and by Juan Carlos Ferreiro.

50:46Iga Swiatek: Do you feel as part of the rebuilding process that you need to maybe look at somebody else? And he sort of said maybe, yeah, but until I actually get better in my own life, away from the court, then there's no point.

51:03Coco Gauff: Yeah, he said it's not a feeling on a tennis court, it's a life feeling. Difficult for me to find joy in life. Feel very, very alone. Something within me has to change. I've been through a lot of difficulties in the media. Never felt this empty before, he said, lacking joy. even when I'm winning it's not the feeling I used to get that was a very interesting line Taylor Fritz had to do what Taylor Fritz had to do what Alexander Zverev had to do and that was resume a match from the day before and he had to do it having been well very clearly annoyed that the match got called off when it did last night he had trailed two sets to love to Giovanni Pesci-Berry-Kar He came back to level it at two sets all.

51:52Coco Gauff: At that point, it was about 20 past 10. The players were asked, would you like to carry on, knowing that it might not be possible to finish the match within the curfew time of 11pm. Taylor Fritz said, yes, I'd like to carry on. Giovanni Pesci-Pericard said, no, I'd like to stop. And both players have to agree to carry on for them to have done so. And Fritz, well, as he's told us, he wanted to carry on. He doesn't bear any ill feeling towards Giovanni and Pesci Pericard for wanting to stop. He says, I totally get it. And judging by Fritz's quotes today, he was right to want to stop Pesci Pericard because Fritz was so bullish about how he felt last night.

52:34Coco Gauff: He was like, I wanted to carry on because I was so confident I would win from that point. And he said, look, I still felt confident when I came back today that I would win. I really backed myself. and it showed he took that fifth set by the scruff of the neck today.

52:52Dayana Yastremska: Fangs.

52:53Coco Gauff: Yeah, he's big time fangs, isn't he? I think this is a good win for him, you know.

52:58Iga Swiatek: I think that this puts him right where he needs to be now because he's been lacking for a while and lacking match toughness, really. He was losing tie breaks and stuff and I know he's been having niggles but I suddenly think that he could be right where he wants to be.

53:17Dayana Yastremska: Yeah, I was really impressed with him today. He played a fantastic final game to get the break, just to make sure he didn't need to come through a tie break where there's just no room for error there. He managed to break to win it. Pesci Perikard didn't really have his serve in that game, but Fritz made returns, and once he got in the rallies, he just made sure he won them. yeah like really really impressive it's his uh fourth comeback i saw from from two sets to love down and this kind of made me chuckle a little bit actually because there's kind of two things and i think taylor fritz really at the moment i'm kind of thinking that he's really good at and it is playing big servers he's got a good record against them and and his his comebacks from two sets to love down have been against Mpeshi Perikar and against Kevin Anderson, two of the big servers he's played and come back from two sets to love down against.

54:12Dayana Yastremska: He's also very good at beating Alexander Zverev and he's come back from two sets to love down against him. And finally, he's beaten Misha Zverev from two sets to love down, which I

54:22Jessica Pegula: thought was quite funny. He's added the extra Zverev brother in there. These are his things, beating Zverev and beating these big servers.

54:30Coco Gauff: He was asked about returning big serves today because I think he returned one of the fastest ever.

54:35Dayana Yastremska: It was the official fastest ever serve at Wimbledon.

54:39Coco Gauff: Right, from Pesci Pericard.

54:41Dayana Yastremska: 153 miles an hour.

54:42Jessica Pegula: That is quite fast.

54:43Coco Gauff: And he returned it and won the point.

54:44Jessica Pegula: Yeah, he sort of pushed his own agenda about how he thinks body serves are overrated. He said, I'm always telling my coaches body serves are overrated. and he said I proved it because Mpeshi Perikar hit 153 mile an hour serve right at me and I won the point and he did well he got it back he worked the rally and he won it

55:05Coco Gauff: he says he's sometimes better at returning quick serves because he doesn't have time to think he said things go wrong for me when I've got too much time to think

55:12Jessica Pegula: he's a very interesting analyst of the game and he does he does analyse in press conferences sometimes you can ask

55:22Dayana Yastremska: a player a technical or tactical question and you don't get much out of it. And I do understand that. But I love it when players do go deep on all that kind of thing. And to his credit, Fritz does. There is an interesting on Pesci Perikast stat.

55:35Coco Gauff: Yes. Is he the worst returner in the sport?

55:37Jessica Pegula: Well, potentially ever. It's terrible. So prior to this year, nobody had ever played

55:49Dayana Yastremska: a five-set match and not generated a break point.

55:55Jessica Pegula: And Pesci Perikar has done that twice this year. Once at the Australian Open and today and yesterday against Taylor Fritz. And look, I actually think he played the match he wanted to play.

56:11Dayana Yastremska: Like his game is to serve well, to take it to opponents, to get it to tie breaks. And he was 5-2 up, double mini break in that fourth set. It's hard to say he played this match in the wrong way. He played the match well, I think, on Pesci Pericard.

56:26Jessica Pegula: And actually, while I don't love that style of tennis, it is quite fun to have a guy like that just lurking in the drawer. It's just kind of a nightmare, quite fun. Yeah, I'm kind of in on Pesci Pericard. He's got this sort of... I was not expecting that. He's got this kind of club level backhand that he hits as well. And yet sometimes he absolutely rips it. I don't know. I'm kind of in. I think it's fun also to see players try and figure him out and work him out. And obviously most of them can.

57:04Iga Swiatek: I used to say this stuff about Maxime Cressy, Matt.

57:10Zheng Qinwen: Briefly. That was a shooting star. Sean Brightly That's why I'm questioning Matt's commitment

57:18Jessica Pegula: to it Yeah look I'm not saying I'm a big sort of wanting him to win everything but I like his presence in a draw

57:29Zheng Qinwen: That's very big of you This is the tournament Well no he's gone sorry

57:33Jessica Pegula: It was the tournament for you He walked past me the other day He is huge He is like huge

57:42Zheng Qinwen: If David's saying he's a big guy.

57:44Iga Swiatek: He's bigger than me. He's taller than me and he's certainly bigger than me. He's a strong lad. Yeah.

57:51Zheng Qinwen: Okay, I think that is the major upsets dealt with,

57:54Coco Gauff: unless we count Denis Shapovalov losing.

57:57Zheng Qinwen: But actually, no.

57:59Coco Gauff: I mean, the top 10 seed upsets are covered now. We do have other upsets. I mean, well, should we cover Denis Shapovalov losing?

58:11Jessica Pegula: yes I think we probably should

58:13Coco Gauff: he lost to someone today

58:16Zheng Qinwen: who Matt has only ever won one cross court match in his whole career and that was via retirement is this a new low for Denis Shapovalov

58:25Jessica Pegula: yeah I think it genuinely might be Mariano Navone who

58:31Dayana Yastremska: you know is a very very tough player to beat especially on a clay court like I think I'm right in saying that he was seeded at a slam before he'd ever played a slam, Navone, because he racked up so many wins on clay in particular.

58:48Iga Swiatek: What's an extraordinary stat.

58:50Dayana Yastremska: It's wild. I think that was at last year's French Open. He's really, really good on clay. He gets a lot of wins. But, yeah, he had only ever won one set on grass in his entire career. And it was against Sebastian Ofner. who then retired and gave him the win in the next one. And today he wins three against Denis Shapovalov.

59:18Zheng Qinwen: It's not good, is it?

59:19Dayana Yastremska: That is not good from Shapovalov.

59:21Zheng Qinwen: It's not good. So Shapovalov, another seed gone, as is Alexander Bublik. Honestly, all that hype. All that hype, all that time spent chatting to him for Tennis Podcast Meets.

59:36Coco Gauff: He lost to Jaume Munar, another one that Matt saw coming. 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6, 6-2. Bublik served for the match at 5-4 in the fifth set. This was a tough draw. Munar has... 5-4 in the fourth set. Sorry, 5-4 in the fourth set. He's been good all year, Munar. Let's face it. What has happened? There's a story there. What has happened to Jarom and Munar in 2025? We knew who Munar was. Kasper Rude, was it?

1:00:08Iga Swiatek: That match he played in Australia. Do you remember? That was a five-setter and you two went out for the fifth set and suddenly it was rubbish.

1:00:17Jessica Pegula: That happened. Yeah, and even before that, I think he'd done well in one of the lead-up events to the Australian Open.

1:00:22Dayana Yastremska: and honestly the match he played against Carlos Alcaraz at Queen's was why I thought he could beat Bublik because he was absolutely sensational against Alcaraz I know he lost and you end up sort of maybe not reading that much into it maybe you think well he played well but he ended up losing but his level was so so good in that match so good I just thought that he would be dangerous on another hot day It was the same conditions today as it was at Queen's when he played Alcaraz. And he had less of a problem in the conditions that Queen's and Alcaraz had. He seemed to enjoy them. And it was actually this match made me think of that comment that Bublik gave at the French Open when he said if he hadn't held that final game against Draper when he was serving for the match, he'd have lost the final set 6-2.

1:01:18Dayana Yastremska: And today he didn't hold that game when he was serving it out. he lost the set and he lost the final set 6-2 and it was kind of like when it when his when his sort of focus went it just went and he didn't really ever get it back he overplayed the drop shot massively in the final set wasn't wasn't really moving as as well as you know it was kind of yeah his attitude kind of dropped off in that final set but Munar pushed him and took him to that and pushed him to that level just kind of broke him a little bit and honestly the other reason I thought that he was vulnerable was because of his attitude in the press conference before the tournament I felt he was different I thought he was stressed today and it was that

1:02:06Jessica Pegula: was the sense I got from the press conference like he was he was eggy he was agey he was getting annoyed at people's questions and that to me was a kind of sign that okay like yes he's been in

1:02:19Dayana Yastremska: brilliant form and yes he can say nothing's different now but something was different people were genuinely talking him up and hyping him up and i think i think he felt that and munar was a really really tough first round given given how well he's been playing and that segues nicely

1:02:37Coco Gauff: into into jack draper i think who has also been saying look i'm i'm not focusing on the hype and the pressure in my mind nothing's nothing's different you know I'm focusing on the positive elements of of playing at home and the form I've been in and everything but something is different it is very different for Jack Draper and I know that Sebastian Buys is a good draw on grass and he fell over in in the first set I think it was and ended up retiring in this match but there was a world in which Jack Draper came out and froze or played badly or just got embroiled in something that he didn't need to and he was so good today so so good clinical professional focused dialed in look all of those caveats still stand Sebastian Byers hadn't been on grass until an exhibition match on Thursday it's a good draw and he did get that right knee injury that ended up causing him to retire in the third set but I still thought this this performance was a statement from Jack

1:03:47Iga Swiatek: Draper David yeah and and it coincides with Alexander Bublik no longer being a potential third round opponent which if you remember just a couple of days ago we were talking about this nightmare draw that Jack Draper had well suddenly it didn't look quite as nightmarish and also if he could just get going here the way he's played all year is fearsome he has a game that could do serious damage here at Wimbledon I tend to think in maybe a year or two but look the way this draw has fallen apart and if he does get going and play in the sort of tennis he played earlier in the year without any physical issues and without feeling too stressed, he could absolutely go ripping through this draw.

1:04:37Iga Swiatek: And I think there could be a moment where he just actually starts to enjoy this crowd and enjoy this being the guy. Yeah, I think you're right. I wonder whether today, I mean, look, as you say, Baez is a good draw. Maybe, though, you get comfortable by having a first round like that. Fascinated to find out.

1:04:59Dayana Yastremska: I completely agree that Bublik out of the way is good news for Draper. I still think Cilic, Munar, Mensic, as it could still be, is tricky. I think you've got to respect Cilic. He's won a challenger on the grass this year. He's reached this final. He's got experience here. At this stage in his career, I think Graz is definitely his strongest surface. Mouna, it feels tough to beat Bublik and Draper in the same tournament. I think maybe he's had his big win, possibly. Also, it could be Marajan. I was going to say. He's a bit tricky as well.

1:05:46Iga Swiatek: I fancy Marajan to take Mouna, to be honest.

1:05:48Dayana Yastremska: And then Mensik, we know, we're kind of learning about him a little bit in the same way we are these other younger players, but he's dangerous as well. I still think there's enough in this Jack Draper section that is tricky, even without Bublik. But a really good start for Jack Draper. Yeah, and he pointed out that Queen's, to him,

1:06:14Coco Gauff: and I've heard this before, plays really differently to Wimbledon. He said Queen's is a lot quicker and he prefers the conditions here. He also doesn't have tonsillitis anymore, which presumably is preferable. Yannick Sinner won very comfortably today against Luka Nardi, who's got a lot of progression to go in his game. His stroke production looks lovely, looks like a lovely player. Nardi, he just doesn't have the weaponry and the physicality yet. and he was totally outclassed by his countryman, Yannick Sinner, who was seen watching the end of the Munar Bublik match from the players' restaurant, which overlooks that court.

1:06:58Coco Gauff: That was fun that he was caught on camera doing that. So Sinner through comfortably, Draper through comfortably. Not so, though, Matt, for Lorenzo Musetti. A loss for him today to Nikolaus Baselashvili on court number two, turning into a bit of a throwback graveyard court for court number two. 62467561. He looks so sad out there today and so sad in press. He said, I know how to move, but today it felt like I'd never played on this surface before. It was just a bad performance.

1:07:39Dayana Yastremska: Yeah, I think he said it there, really. I braved the heat to go out and watch the first set of this one and straight away the word that I had in my head was tentative. He looked tentative and I couldn't quite tell whether it was the injury, whether it was just that he sustained at Roland Garrison and had kept him out of the grass court season or whether it was the virus and the illness that he said he had last week. And given his comments in press, I'm thinking maybe the latter. He talked about low energy, just not really feeling right. And he just didn't have it today, to be honest. And Basilashvili, on the other hand, had won, I think, four matches on grass this season, including three in qualifying here at Wimbledon.

1:08:30Dayana Yastremska: He was in form. And Mazzetti kind of tried to sort of slice him as much as possible. but actually Basilashvili, he's got lightning ball speed, Basilashvili. I mean, the ball pings off his strings and he really takes big, quick cuts at the ball and actually he can deal with slice quite well.

1:08:53Zheng Qinwen: He's a proper ball basher, isn't he? He is. He's not much thinking.

1:08:56Dayana Yastremska: No, but it's... He's a heck of a ball basher. But it's with spin. He puts top spin on those shots and he can handle the slice and it just ended up being an absolute nightmare for Mazzetti. He took advantage of a sort of dip from Basilashvili and managed to pinch the second set. And the third set was close. So maybe kind of what we were saying about like Pagulo and Jung, maybe there's a world where if he gets through this one, he starts feeling a bit better and he finds his form and he grows into this tournament. But he just didn't have it today. And Basilashvili really, really took advantage.

1:09:28Zheng Qinwen: And now he's got nine months on hard courts ahead of him, which is tough. tough for him

1:09:35Jessica Pegula: tough for my fantasy team yeah good

1:09:40Zheng Qinwen: let's end on a seed a contender even that didn't lose today congratulations to him Novak Djokovic beating Alexander Muller 6-1 6-7 6-2 6-2 big moment for OnlyFans getting some promo on centre court today yeah

1:09:59Jessica Pegula: we played Medvedev here last year I don't know whether that was on court one or center probably court one court one yeah i know what that is now i don't

1:10:07Coco Gauff: know because you're only fans yeah i haven't shown that sounds weird okay you told me about it

1:10:16Jessica Pegula: we've still got camera matthew to explain thirst traps to david that's a thing that's happening

1:10:26Zheng Qinwen: alexandra miller has an only fans sponsorship and i understand only fans are trying to sort of rebrand as a bit less sexy.

1:10:34Iga Swiatek: So I've heard, yeah.

1:10:36Zheng Qinwen: Anyway, Muller got the second set against Djokovic today. Djokovic having sort of sickness issues. He was seen by the doctor

1:10:46Coco Gauff: at the end of the second set. All the hits.

1:10:53Dayana Yastremska: Yeah, he said he went from feeling his absolute best to feeling his absolute worst for 45 minutes. and that 45-minute period was basically the period where he was trying to close out the second set. He had so many chances to go two sets to love up here. Muller, to his credit, showed excellent resilience and managed to win the second set tiebreak and then things were tight right at the start of the third. But then you could see Djokovic start feeling better again and he really outplayed Muller and kind of sprinted to the finish. And the sets that he won generally were pretty comfortable. There was just that sort of struggle in the second set.

1:11:38Dayana Yastremska: But it is extraordinary the way we've just had this big conversation about adapting to grass. And we use the word experience a lot around Novak Djokovic. and it's sometimes hard to know how that actually manifests itself tangibly. How does experience help? And I think one of the most obvious examples is Djokovic getting on a grass court every year. He plays one grass court tournament a year. He goes 50 weeks without playing on grass. In the last seven years he played Queen's in 2018. Since then he's only played Wimbledon. he gets on the grass it's like it's like he's downloaded in his in his in his brain everything that he needs to know about grass court tennis and he just he just clicks on it and he can do it in the first match he hit the ground running perfectly in this match as he was saying he was playing his he was feeling his absolute best there doesn't seem to be any kind of adjustment period required whatsoever he's he never feels vulnerable in the early stages of Wimbledon, despite the fact that he hasn't played on grass for 50 weeks.

1:12:55Dayana Yastremska: And that is such an advantage that he has over the rest of the tour. And it's just a prime example, I think, of where his experience makes all the difference to him at Wimbledon.

1:13:08Coco Gauff: Such a good point. And David, he plays Dan Evans next.

1:13:12Iga Swiatek: He does. He does. And Evans is pumped. yeah he beat jay clark today in three sets i mean that was that was a pretty good draw for him jay clark is not happy on grass really i was looking up you know jay clark's won 40 matches this year at lower levels um he spent a month in india in march and he won 18 of 20 matches then he went to italy and he won a bunch more but that their matches that you just get so few points for but that got him back from 250 in the world to about 195 in the world. It's a tough sport, this, when you're trying to make it work. But his favourite surface is clay. He comes to Wimbledon and it clearly doesn't really suit him.

1:14:00Iga Swiatek: He hasn't won any matches in the grass court season. And actually, Evans, you could see the win over Tiafa. You could see the win over Tommy Paul. He's found something. And that's why he got so emotional the other days because for months he hasn't had it. and he's felt, he's kind of felt like a bit of a loser, I think, and just sort of, it's horrible when you're having to question yourself and you think that your family's wondering what you're bothering for, and he knew that he'd got this match dangling there against Novak Djokovic where he can take on the best and have a moment at the age of 35 and play a 38-year-old who's won 24 majors, you know.

1:14:40Iga Swiatek: It's what it's all about, and so he'll go and... Give it a roll of the dice. You know, he has beaten Djokovic before. That was in Monte Carlo. It's a very different type of Novak Djokovic that you get at Wimbledon. But he's playing well enough to at least play respectably and kind of keep sets close, I think.

1:15:03Zheng Qinwen: Yeah. Could be a vibe that match, I think.

1:15:06Iga Swiatek: It could be a vibe, yeah. Hope I'm watching it. I'll be watching it.

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1:16:03Coco Gauff: right what are we going to be watching tomorrow Centre Court starts at 1.30 with Aruna Sabalenka against Marie Buzkova. Then it's Oliver Tarbet against Carlos Alcaraz. I just felt a raindrop.

1:16:18Iga Swiatek: I felt one too. And I'm quite sure it said no rain tonight. We press on.

1:16:25Coco Gauff: Rain or shine. Third on Centre Court tomorrow. Emma Raducanu against Marketa Vondroshova. It's a good Centre Court schedule tomorrow, I think. and that's a good culmination of it. Number one court starts with Cam Norrie at 1pm against Francis Tiafoe. That could be a long one, couldn't it? You could see them out there for a few hours. Then it is Katie Bolter against Solana Sierra, the Argentine lucky loser. And finally, it's Taylor Fritz back again for the third day in a row against a big server, Gabrielle Diallo of Canada. Number two court, there is, as Matt pointed out to me earlier, one seed playing on court number two tomorrow.

1:17:13Coco Gauff: Like, things are getting wild already. Olga Dinilevic starts against Madison Keys, who is the one seed playing on court number two. Nuno Borges against the Brit Billy Harris, second on. Naomi Osaka would have thought she might have been playing Jin Chin Wen, but actually she's playing Katerina Siniarkova. And finally, Artur Ferry, who's a great watch, David the Brit. I love watching him.

1:17:40Iga Swiatek: He's a short physical player. I mean, I think he's probably about Dan Evans' size, 5 '9". But he hits the ball a ton. He just has an incredible ball strike. And I saw him play Medvedev on court one a couple of years ago, commentating on it and we have this really close-up commentary box and he had Medvedev running left and right but you know he couldn't win the big points and he's he's he's been going through the college system so he's not he's he's got something there I like watching him

1:18:16Zheng Qinwen: David loves an Arthur F I do he's had to find a new one Luciano Darderi is the opponent for Rata Ferry tomorrow.

1:18:28Coco Gauff: Incidentally, the section of the draw that those two are in is so open that the Wimbledon app has this great thing where any player you can click on and it will show you their projected route to the final. And it obviously is programmed to kind of default to the highest possible... It assumes the top seeds are winning, right? So just like we do projected quarterfinals when the draw comes out. In this section, there aren't any. so whose draw was it that I was clicking on I think Benjamin Bonzi's perhaps to see his route through to the final because Daniel Medvedev was casually putting him in the fourth round yesterday and it said his projected fourth round opponent was Arthur Ferry the app is just putting him through to the fourth round he's the guy

1:19:16Iga Swiatek: who's the app got winning the tournament I think probably Carlos Alcaraz

1:19:21Coco Gauff: well actually no maybe Anik Sinner if it goes on seeding. I don't know whether seeding takes precedence over past form. We'll make inquiries. Court number three starts with Sonny Cartel against Victoria Tomova, then Andrej Rublev against Lloyd Harris. Third on Jasmine Paulini taking on Camilla Rakimova and then back for a third day in a row, Bertic van der Zandtschulp. He's got a seed, so he's got a chance.

1:19:46Iga Swiatek: The marvel.

1:19:47Coco Gauff: Alejandro Davidovic for Kina. He beat Matteo Arnaldi in three sets in the opening round. watch out for Burtick Court 12 opens with Fonseca against Brooksby yes please to that one Zarizua, Anisimova yes please Lehechka, Baluchi and Sasnovic Svitolina, that's the order of play on 12 it's a good order of play

1:20:08Iga Swiatek: the first matchups on tomorrow a few of them I thought

1:20:12Coco Gauff: oh that one will do

1:20:14Jessica Pegula: you haven't even got to Jarry Tien yet that's first up as well that is Court 15

1:20:21Coco Gauff: Yeah, that's a good... You're going to have to do a bit of scrolling there, don't you? Hashanov first up on 18, then Schneider against Parry, Orger Eliassime against Struff, and doubles starts tomorrow. So soon. I'm not ready. I'm not ready for any of it. I mean, today has been so chaotic, and so much happening, so many stories to cover, we haven't even been able to bring people the big Sitsidossa news.

1:20:50Jessica Pegula: they've unfollowed each other and deleted photos they have eternal sunshined one another

1:20:56Iga Swiatek: it's real it's big this time didn't they break up for about 24 hours last year yeah they did a

1:21:04Coco Gauff: brief unfollow but there was no erasure they have erased evidence of one another statement

1:21:09Iga Swiatek: out last time.

1:21:12Coco Gauff: They did.

1:21:12Iga Swiatek: And then they were back together.

1:21:14Coco Gauff: Yeah, but this time they've wiped all evidence of one another from their Instagram and Sit to Pass has posted some sort of trad wife

1:21:24Zheng Qinwen: anti-women everywhere content to his Instagram stories. It's a pretty tough scene. Tough scene for the US Open mixed doubles draw.

1:21:34Iga Swiatek: Because they're playing together.

1:21:36Zheng Qinwen: I suspect not anymore, David. Imagine if they did. this could be good news for Sara Arani and Andrea Vavasori good news

1:21:45Coco Gauff: well Mahatch and Sini Agha broke up before the Olympics supposedly and then reunited over their gold medal and then that story does have a sad ending yeah

1:21:57Jessica Pegula: and I suspect this one does too Mahatch I've never been clear

1:22:03Zheng Qinwen: no well you don't know what happened here but I do feel pretty confident in saying that is no more. Okay. We have a mascot.

1:22:14Iga Swiatek: Jim's life broke up once and then they got married.

1:22:17Zheng Qinwen: Yeah. There was no Tradwife content on Gaël Monfils. Yeah, David thinks Gaël Monfils is winning Wimbledon. Imagine.

1:22:25Iga Swiatek: Imagine if Gaël Monfils won Wimbledon.

1:22:28Zheng Qinwen: Well, you never know. He said that about Grigor Dimitrov earlier as well. It is that kind of tournament, maybe.

1:22:34Jessica Pegula: scenes on call 12 I think it was.

1:22:38Zheng Qinwen: Beaten bare didn't he? That's wild.

1:22:42Jessica Pegula: Like Gael Monfils beating the new French talent still doing it. He's having such a season Monfils. Told you.

1:22:52Zheng Qinwen: He only needs one. We have a mascot. That mascot is Barney.

1:23:00Coco Gauff: Hello to Barney. Barney is a 10 year old miniature schnauzer. Oh my god but it's a double mascot day. We have Barney, a 10-year-old mini schnauzer, and Ollie, a three-year-old having knees. What a combo. They are owned by Kate and Jeff Cochran. They say we've had both dogs since they were pups. And while I'd love for Catherine's sake to say they are the best of friends, oh, you're going to break my heart here, it's more like hero worship for Ollie, by Ollie for Barney, while Barney looks at us and frequently wonders

1:23:31Zheng Qinwen: why we felt the need to get another dog. they both love snuggling on the couch while we watch tennis and are big fans of chasing tennis balls although they prefer the squishy squeaky kind my goodness me this picture of them is absolutely incredible they're sort of they've got the same coloring but they're different breeds and they've got very different faces one has got a very sort of child-like face and one has a very like Gandalf-like face and both faces are absolutely excellent. Thank you, Barney. Thank you, Ollie. Thank you, Kate. Thank you, Jeff. Thank you to our mascot. Thank you, Phoebe, Maisie, Roger.

1:24:12Zheng Qinwen: Please send photos. We miss you.

1:24:15Coco Gauff: Hello to our top folks and executive producers Greg, Chris and Jeff. Over to Matt for some shout-outs.

1:24:22Jessica Pegula: And we start with our mascot owners, Kate and Jeff. They've doubled up.

1:24:29Petra Kvitova: It's very cool.

1:24:30Dayana Yastremska: Magnificent. Kate and Jeff are from Redmond, Washington in the US.

1:24:36Coco Gauff: Washington State, is that, I think? Yeah. I think so. Okay.

1:24:40Dayana Yastremska: And they've been listening to the pod for several years and say they're much better tennis watchers than players, which is incredibly relatable. And they have attended three of the four Grand Slams. And I think Roland Garros is the one that is missing. Go to Roland Garros.

1:24:58Coco Gauff: Kate and Jeff, see you in Roland Garros one day soon, I hope. I'm going to go Kate Ebolter.

1:25:09Iga Swiatek: Yeah, she's still in the tournament.

1:25:10Coco Gauff: Who was sitting on that bench. Yes, she was. Where your bum is right now, David, Kate Ebolter's bum was earlier.

1:25:17Iga Swiatek: Right.

1:25:18Coco Gauff: She was watching Alex de Menor, who was on Court 18 behind us. Yeah, she was struggling in the sun, I think. Also related. Did we ask her to move?

1:25:29Jessica Pegula: Because this is our bench. Matthew's been doing something incredible.

1:25:35Zheng Qinwen: And Jeff will go for Jeff Tarango, husband, former husband of Benedict. Yeah.

1:25:42Iga Swiatek: The iconic Benedict. I saw Jeff today and I told him about Tennis Relived, Wimbledon 1995, and I told him that we'd been watching the footage of his ex-wife. How did that go down? A bit of a... Talking about how she'd slapped Bruno Reba because Jeff can't. But I can! And it needed to happen. I told Jeff all this.

1:26:04Zheng Qinwen: And how did that go down?

1:26:05Iga Swiatek: He said that he was at the front of the room and he said he leaned over to Bill Babcock and he said, has this ever happened before?

1:26:19Zheng Qinwen: Wow. Are he and Benedict still in touch?

1:26:22Iga Swiatek: I don't think it ended great

1:26:26Zheng Qinwen: Geoff, Kate thank you very much we've also got Gail Nell from Madison hi Gail hello Gail Madison is the capital of Wisconsin and Madison like Madison Keyes

1:26:42Iga Swiatek: who's playing tomorrow

1:26:43Dayana Yastremska: very good work Gail went to the Miami Open this year was impressed with Raducanu and went to watch know about Djokovic practice so she could see Andy Murray, who's her all-time favourite.

1:26:56Zheng Qinwen: Gosh, you caught it while it lasted, Gail. You had to get in there quickly. Although not as quickly as we all anticipated. Gail, thank you very much. Any tennis Gails?

1:27:09Iga Swiatek: Thanks, Gail. Yes.

1:27:11Dayana Yastremska: Gail Monfils. Yes, true. That is the same church, different pew situation. Right. Gail is the name, I think, of that... I think this came up at the Australian Open. There's that woman who is, like, in her 70s or something. Oh, yeah. And plays on the senior tour.

1:27:35Jessica Pegula: I'm pretty sure it's, like, Gail... I want to say Falkenberg. Rings a bell.

1:27:42Zheng Qinwen: I'm monitoring... It is. It's Gail Falkenberg, the icon, says Michael Richier.

1:27:48Jessica Pegula: There we go.

1:27:49Zheng Qinwen: Gail Falkenberg the icon that is incredible Gail from Madison you too are an icon thank you

1:27:56Jessica Pegula: as is our final shout out it is Lynn Rasmussen oh come on Lynn utter legend we went we went early with icon I need I need a word more than icon yeah Lynn is from Minnesota and well she's just the best she's the absolute best yeah and she and she'd also like to give a shout out to her

1:28:21Dayana Yastremska: tennis pals Heidi Kitty and Brenda who this time last year were all here with her at Wimbledon fulfilling their dream of coming to Wimbledon for the first time and and Lynn was wearing a bespoke

1:28:36Coco Gauff: victim of Elena Rabatkin a t-shirt which was iconic yeah it's a predictions gag yeah yeah

1:28:43Dayana Yastremska: And they saw Alcaraz, Gough, Raducanu. They saw Andy Murray's farewell match as well. And they had a lot of champagne and Pimms.

1:28:54Jessica Pegula: I remember Lynn's friends being... Lynn, Lynn. They were fun. They were fun. They were a fun time.

1:29:00Zheng Qinwen: Lynn knows how to live. Lynn, we love you. Lynn, Kate, Jeff, Gail, thank you very much for your support.

1:29:07Coco Gauff: Thank you to Wimbledon for letting us do these shows right here in this incredible position where Katie Bolter's bum imprint still lingers. And thank you to The Athletic. We are proudly part of The Athletic Podcast Network. We will be back here tomorrow at the end of play, whenever that may be and whatever may have happened. Thank you for listening. Thank you for watching. Do smash that like and subscribe button if you're watching us on YouTube. And we will see you and speak to you tomorrow.

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