Live from Wimbledon Day 2 - Serena shines, but Maya prevails

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1:26Matt Roberts: Hello and welcome to the tennis podcast live from Wimbledon and presented by Barclays, the official banking partner of Wimbledon. We are here in our position on the broadcast roof overlooking the grounds of SW19 as fans stream out from day two of the championships another absolutely breathless day here at Wimbledon and one that no matter what the result and I'm sure you're all aware of it it will go down in history because it is the day that 23 time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams made her Wimbledon comeback at the age of 44 and everybody here whether they were in centre court or on the hill or here on the broadcast roof setting up a live stream while it was happening everybody here I think felt like they were a part of it despite the fact that we have just watched Serena Williams be defeated 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 by 20 year old Australian Maya Joint we're giving her sensation of the day for the rest of time for the rest of time potentially she saved match point did Serena in the second set tie break to take it into a third set give give everyone in the grounds I think what they wanted which was as much of this match as they could possibly get Matt you were in centre court in the press seats for all of this from the hugely anticipated moment of Serena's walk on right up until that incredibly charming my joint interview at the end tell us about the experience i'll never forget it it was very very special you know like we've been waiting for this all day the match finally arrives and i just had this feeling of how surreal it all felt you know like in a way it was like oh we have done this before it's serena williams playing playing a tennis match but it also just felt like oh we've never done it this way before and it's never felt like this and you know there were so many things through the match that were familiar you know the walking around the other side of the net after the very first game I was like we're back and then rocking on her back leg and firing that serve that incredible serve of hers seeing Venus watching her in the box you know all these things were familiar but they were a little just a little bit more special I think tonight because we'd not seen them for four years um but I think what most struck me was how quickly it felt like a normal tennis match yeah I think actually I had been excited for this but nervous about it I didn't know what it was going to look like and I thought it might be very very nervy and not great quality

4:23Catherine Whitaker: on both sides of the net to be honest I mean we have to hold our hands up here we have massively underestimated my joint over the last few days and i think she might have shocked me more actually than serena tonight i mean both i thought the quality and the standard generally was higher than i was expecting on both sides of the net and that put me at ease quite quickly i thought okay this is a tennis match this is not just a show and it's it's actually i can get my into this i can think about this from a tennis perspective and why the points are being won and i enjoyed that element of feeling comfortable with it as a match quickly um and yeah look serena did some incredible serena things finding the serve when she was match point down in that second set tie break even going up a break at the start of the third and getting everyone dreaming and thinking that maybe she might be able to win it but my joint wow the her performance today her poise her level blew me away and I just think it's kind of it's kind of unfair but I think this match will probably end up being like the lasting impression that so many people will end up having of my joint like it will be who knows what career she'll have but it will be hard for her to create her own story that's bigger than the part she's playing in Serena's here and yet she delivered and I think people will remember how well she played and yeah, I kind of left it feeling pretty uplifted to be honest by the whole thing.

5:58I loved it. I don't know whether everyone had the same take. We haven't even had a chance to talk about it. We've literally just come up here and done the show but I had a very special time.

6:07Matt Roberts: Yeah, I really enjoyed it too and I'm kind of conscious that probably nobody's come here tonight for my joint takes but I have lots. I mostly have my joint takes here. Like I do have Serena takes. because I'm sure you two have a bunch, but I love Maya Joint. I really love Maya Joint. And she had a poison chalice tonight. It was like she lost the tennis lottery on Friday when that draw was made. She was selected to be a sacrificial lamb, kind of Hunger Games style. Yeah, it was like her name was drawn as a tribute in the Hunger Games. Absolutely. She was a tribute tonight. and not that is not to fail to recognize her level of talent she's been on the backhand list I feel like we have given backhand right yeah she showed why given props to her talent before but like yes we do owe my joint an apology but also like look at her record this year she was even asked about it in her on-court interview wasn't she and those things are very light and and jolly it was it was a great question actually from Rishi Passat like where has this come from because you've had a horrible year and 13 losses or something like that 13 out of 14 yeah but and look she she she made it so abundantly clear in that interview that this wasn't a case of her not feeling as nervous as we all expected her to feel or not feeling the serena williams aura in the way that we all anticipated she felt all of those things she said that she's completely blacked out the warm-up she's got no memory of that she said she barely slept last night she i can tell her about the warm-up because i watched the warm-up more closely than i've ever watched the warm-up before and she was returning serena's serve you know and standing on and taking it on and hitting hitting good returns and i thought okay i'm sad for her that she doesn't remember that but yeah she didn't sleep last night she said her legs felt totally like jelly and the early stages were in out of body experience and she she was under pressure in that opening service game and I think we were all like oh here we go and then she holds and then you're like okay this could be a tennis match now and not just a case of it being about the occasion um I'm glad it developed into a competitive tennis match I you know I was living for it when Serena took it into that into that third set and I think there are a lot of Serena takes to be had but But I want to watch more Maya Joint.

8:42Matt Roberts: I love her. You can. Yeah, I really love her. I'm so taken with her tonight.

8:50David Law: Yeah, she did an incredible job. And she looked and sounded more nervous in the interview than she did on the court. I take her at her word about how nervous she was feeling. But you didn't know that on the court at all. Because actually this was a really high level from the start. I thought in the first game, Serena did go up 15-40, and she was hitting the ball well kind of immediately, and certainly well enough, you know. And I did think, oh, is this where she breaks and we get the nerves? Nope, joint held. I thought when Serena went up 2-1 in the third set with that break of serve, I thought, okay, this could collapse for joint.

9:32David Law: You know, it would be totally understandable if it did, and it didn't. She just got it back on level terms, and then that enabled her to get the better of it physically, and the age gap, the vast age gap, came into play, I think, there. But I was really impressed with Serena's level, all the way through. There were some moments where if Joined hit a cross-court forehand, and it was well-struck, Serena just kind of took one step and then thought, OK, I'm not reaching that. and she would just not bother. There were a few times that happened and I thought probably she's A, being realistic about what she can get to and what she can't and B, she's probably trying to conserve so that she can last the course if she needs to.

10:18David Law: But there were also several rallies of sort of 15, 16 strokes where she's trading with a player who's 25 years her junior and doing a good job of it. I thought she was levelling the ball, just really timing it very well that that was a concern of mine as well that she just wouldn't look like the same player at the same time she was 6-3-2 love down in this match and that could easily have ended up 6-2-6-1 and I think if that had happened I would have felt a bit hollow at the end of it for her you know because I wanted her to get out of this whatever it is she wants and I don't know whether this is enough, whether she ever wants to come back, but she did herself proud, Serena Williams, I think, and she can go away with everybody remembering just how great she was, you know, and even at the age of 44, she can look still a decent version of it.

11:20It was the kind of performance that made me think a lot of times, oh, I wish she played a warm-up. you know like I felt like she just wasn't really sharp you know there were some moments where she would be applying pressure to the joint serve and then she would miss some returns in in a bit of a flurry or she'd a lot of times when she really attempted to pull the trigger she maybe missed I felt like she'd been like she looked like she'd been doing a lot of hitting over the last few few months but not a lot of points like I didn't feel like she was constructing the play in a way that we know she can and she started to a little bit but there wasn't like a great use of angles today it was a lot of it was like yeah deep through the court but joint was handling that really well she was absorbing the pace hitting with great depth to sort of strangle serena a little bit on the baseline and generally like i felt like joint was pretty comfortable in the matchup whereas i i felt like if serena had maybe if this was her third or fourth match singles back rather than first in four years at this age maybe Serena might have been able to to win this one because I agree like she was way better than I thought

12:34Catherine Whitaker: she was going to be like I she was rushed at times her reactions maybe looked a bit slower she wasn't always running for the ball as David said of course that was there but not as dramatically as I expected it to be. I thought she'd be more exposed by the movement. But yeah, I thought it was a pretty even match for most of it. And ultimately, it did feel like Serena ran out of gas. And again, I think, OK, obviously, the main thing there is her age. But I just also think a few more matches in the legs might have helped and been the difference maker here.

13:08Matt Roberts: Yeah, I agree with all of that. I do think there are players out there who would exploit the movement better than my job. I was actually interested that that really wasn't her game plan today. She was really comfortable with handling the Serena pace and the pace of ball is absolutely there. I mean, I kind of never had doubts about her ability to hit the ball. We always have that joke, don't we, about us lot, journalists. We've all done it. We go and watch practice sessions of players who are coming back or have been out for a long time or, you know, we used to do it with Andy Murray when his sort of retirement circus was going on and the report is oh they're hitting the ball well like these guys they can always they'll they you know they could have one foot in the grave if a ball is in front of them in the hitting zone they will be hitting the ball well John McEnroe I guarantee is still hitting the ball well it is a different the question is can you do it when there's someone down the other end trying to get the ball as far out of your hitting zone as possible and that kind of wasn't my joints tactic no barely like hit a drop shot yeah exactly and through the match as you say Serena was occasion there were occasional cross courts where Serena gave up on them but joint wasn't doing that all that much and I do I think there are players out there but then I also think Serena can get better because this is this is her first match back I'm just so hungry for more data points like i want to sit here and do so much more analysis and speculate about what now is she going to play the us open is she going to play you're going to play a whole summer now so that she does have more matches under her belt when she goes into the next grand slam and i just i don't i just don't know i haven't got a clue no but i i want to know and I know everybody watching and listening wants to know.

15:06Matt Roberts: And she hasn't come into press yet. Maybe she'll be an open book when she does, but I suspect not. I suspect that we'll still feel pretty in the dark after that. And she may not know really yet.

15:19David Law: We still don't know that. But I kind of feel like, I think she's going to play this mixed doubles, I would have thought, at the US Open.

15:29David Law: And I think she will probably want to play another US Open. I would have thought if she's got, if she's worked this hard to get, I mean, look how ready she looked. It's pretty extraordinary, really, to go from not playing in four years, having another baby, and then at 44, getting yourself in that condition. It's incredible. So I wouldn't have thought, and also that level of timing, and I realized that, yes, players can hit tennis balls well, but she played a decent match today against a top 100 player. I don't know what joint's ranking is just at the moment, but, I mean, you know, she's in the draw on her ranking.

16:10David Law: And, yeah, I'd be very surprised if she didn't want to play the US Open.

16:15Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, me too. I believe there have been some reports that, you know, she has been talking to the USTA, and I think she'll play the US Open. I do. Imagine that. But I don't... Like, last time she played the US Open, that was the loudest I've ever heard a tennis stadium. Like, I can imagine what it's going to be like. Imagine what it's going to be like this time. I mean, incredible.

16:41Matt Roberts: And you mean singles at the US Open, not just the mixed doubles? Yeah, I think so. And do you think...

16:45David Law: She'll probably play all three.

16:47Matt Roberts: Do you think she will therefore play a warm-up so that she's not coming in cold like she did here? I think she'll play Cincinnati. Yeah, probably.

16:57David Law: Amazing. and I hope so because I think that gives her the best shot at being able to win a match and maybe win two matches you know like that but that doesn't feel impossible that a bit of a warm-up you know like even even this match today just to zone in on it again she missed a backhand for a 3-1 lead in the in the final set and as she hit it she kind of screamed and Chris Clary was sitting a couple of seats to my left a long time journalist who covered all of Sweeney Williams's career he said I've heard that sound a few times before you know and like oh just in that moment if she'd made that shot and gone up 3-1 she might even have been able to win this one but like the kind of air went out of the balloon after that like she was close and I just think that a bit a bit more preparation and also maybe maybe hardcourt will be more comfortable for her as well like maybe some of the reason she wasn't going for all the balls was a slight fear of the grass i don't know would be understandable wouldn't it would be totally understandable her footing was better

18:07Matt Roberts: than half the players i saw today yeah yeah i i hope if she's going to play us open i really want her to play a warm-up I want her to I want her to be all in on this comeback it's up to her how she does it she's not doing it to please me but I would like to you know like coming here playing a first singles match in four years at the age of 44 in the first round at Wimbledon that's not how you do a comeback if it was anybody else it's hilarious if it was a 24 year old we'd be like let's not let's not even 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 see, warmer now it's perfection exactly that's my case in point I don't want to freak you out Matt but Matthew has started zooming in very tight on your face when you do that I expect nothing less from Matthew now you'll be self conscious yes if she's going to do this comeback I really I want her to give herself the best chance give us the most data points to try and figure out what's going on here and what's possible and what's probable and just I think she's going to do those things.

19:38Matt Roberts: Yeah, I think I do too. And it's exciting. And we still have doubles to come. Yes. I don't know how closely you could see Venus. Did you have the monitor? I guess you were watching Warrinka Berrettini on your laptop, but the reaction shots of Venus were a real... I mean, I'm sure there are memes happening, but she doesn't often... She doesn't give much, does she, Venus? But she was giving more, I think, than she... usually does tonight. It was a real...

20:09David Law: Pride off the scale.

20:10Matt Roberts: Yeah, it was a real vibe. So, Alexandre Ayala, who I'm sure was watching very closely tonight, now faces Maya Joint in round two and not Serena Williams. And I tell you what, that's a lovely match.

20:25David Law: Yeah. Well, that was the match that got me into the Maya Joint backhand. That was... After that match in the Eastbourne final last year, it was an epic final set, tiebreak, epic. that was when I put my joint on the backhand list. And joint won that day.

20:41Matt Roberts: You've said my joint and backhand list in the same sentences. So this is, I'm just picking up on that thread. And this is by no means a suggestion. It's merely a question. Were you having any thoughts? About putting her back on immediately? No, but she's well and truly still on the watch list and has probably jumped a few spots in the watch list.

21:09David Law: There are five players on it. There are always five players on it. Yeah, and Emmanuel Nisimovna now sits above it. So, Festivative of the Six. Yeah. Just remind us who's on it. Oh, that's always a challenge. Can I remember my up-to-date list? Coco Goff, Belinda Bencic, Mir Andreeva, Elena Rabatkinner, and... Emma Raducane? Mboko? No, Victoria Mboko. Okay, is anybody vulnerable?

21:35Matt Roberts: who's the most vulnerable he he does bump people off for for maternity he's done that in the past and which with the caveat that you will get your spot back as soon as you're back on tour i mean mboko is seemingly long-term injured but i can't he's ruthless about this that would be

21:53David Law: harsh yes i've chucked in that jock of it she's dead no i can't do that to mboko okay but you

22:01Matt Roberts: could do it to Belinda Bencic due to maternity leave that was to free up a spot for someone else that was a that was a kind move she wasn't off the backhand list she was just temporarily removed so that someone else could get a go okay yeah okay should we talk about the other women's center court match of the day because that was a well that was a dramatic one as well Iguer Shviontek 6-1 2-6 6-3 over Taylor Townsend she's finally won a third set Iga Shvantec she's finally got the train back on the tracks after it derailed in the second set and in points of the third set as well and that train really really was derailed quite badly so this is one this is the conundrum of where do you weigh the fact that there was a derailment against the fact that she she righted the ship mixed metaphors big time I think you get what i'm saying and there was the hugely emotional reaction from her at the end she won this match and she sat down at her chair as taylor townsome was leaving the court and she sobbed

23:11David Law: into her towel yeah i'm going to take a glasses half full approach to this um genuinely i think she did incredibly well today because it's clearly been weighing heavily She reminded us in the press conference that she opened the Centre Court Order of Play the year after Ash Barty won because Barty retired. And I'd totally forgotten that. But she did say that this was different. This had a different feeling. I am supposed to be here having won the title. And she clearly built that up in her mind. I totally understand that. And she was nervous. She was tight. She actually faced several break points in the first service game of the match that she had and saved them.

23:59David Law: And then I got into the stadium about that point. And honestly, it was a very uneventful first set because Townsend suddenly lost her game completely for the rest of that first set. And Chantet looked pretty good, I felt. And it was a dramatic turnaround. I mean, the next four games, Townsend won. You know, we were talking about it the other day. that is a tough draw to face when you are defending your title and you've got this ceremonial element to coming out and opening the day's play and opening the tournament's play in the women's draw. And you're playing somebody who loves it, who's got Naomi Osaka supporting her in her player box, who's strutting around the court, clearly enjoying being the centre of attention and being able to show off how good she is because Townsend is good, different.

24:46David Law: and coming at her and serving and volleying sometimes. And to get into a real scrap like that in a third set and win, I think I totally understand the emotion. I didn't quite realise that things were as bad as that for her in third sets. That had slightly passed me by.

25:07Matt Roberts: I'm not entirely sure it was all about the match. I mean, we'll never know exactly what it was all about. It's probably impossible to say, you know, whenever any well speak for myself whenever I'm crying like I'm never just crying about one thing I'm bringing all my baggage to the party but I love it for her

25:26David Law: expunging it all she overcame it on the day and in the moment and I would be hopeful for her that that might help release her a little because she's already done it now she's won that match and now it can a little bit like you were saying about the Serena a joint match it became a normal tennis match maybe now this becomes a normal tennis tournament for Shvantec it needs to if she's going to go far there was quite a lot of

25:59Matt Roberts: het up interactions amid her box throughout the match particularly between Francis Francisco Roy her coach and Dario Abramovich her psychologist I did see them high five at the end the whole team high-fived amongst themselves when she won but then Francisco Roig left the box on his own didn't look back and wait for the others they were all there he had left on his own like it just it's not giving harmonious and settled at the moment and Shontek I think is somebody that needs harmonious and settled and quiet and I don't know what's going on but I sense I just

26:42David Law: sense it's turbulent you know whenever we saw Roy with Raducanu he talks a lot he is a lot I think

26:52Matt Roberts: and and she's she's a lot as well she she talks a lot and probably her perspective is I'm the one that's been here for however many years it you know her her role is very wide-ranging it's not as simple as just psychologist anymore from his perspective who's probably like i'm the coach you do your psychology leave the coaching to me yeah like i can imagine where tension is likely to come from and they weren't sat next to each other in the box so for them to communicate you know there's quite a lot of sort of gesturing going on and and you know right up to the point where the point was about to start and they were still sort of communicating in that way and yeah I mean Shiontek sort of spoke about a tough couple of weeks in her on-call interview and talked about just happy that she was here and not everything had gone as she wanted I was I was a little concerned about about that kind of language that

27:52Catherine Whitaker: that she was using I I sort of just hope everything's okay really in the in the camp um look I do think she did well in the in the very closing stages because she she went up a break and immediately lost it in that in that final set but then ended the match strongly I thought with a with a really nice run of points there was a fantastic uh constructed point where she brought Townsend into the into the net and whipped her forehand past her it was a clinching point really but up to that point it was nervy and the and the serve was an issue again you know like yeah so many double faults and they and they're and they're coming in clusters a little bit and And you can feel them.

28:33Catherine Whitaker: You can sense when they're about to happen. So that is definitely something that gives me cause for concern in terms of her game and the tension. I still think she's not fully trusting the technique on the serve. So that's an issue. And still the pattern of a little bit of pressure. At the start of the second set, Townsend won this incredibly fun point. Did a drop shot lob. And Ego even hit a tweener, which was a really great one. But Townsend won the point, got the break. And it was just that little bit of pressure seemed to just linger for Svjantek. And she lost, as David said, several games in a row after that point.

29:09Catherine Whitaker: And that is not the Ike Svjantek that we used to see. The great front runner, the one who would get the first set and keep it going. These things keep happening. She gets pegged back. So I thought she recovered really well right at the end of the match. And I hope she absolutely can draw a line under this unique experience of defending on centre court and get into the tournament. But I just have concerns because, frankly, it feels bigger than just this Wimbledon. These are things we've been seeing for quite a long time now with Igor Sfjantek, even outside of playing as the defending champion at Wimbledon.

29:48Catherine Whitaker: And she's got a tough draw as well. you know, there's just a lot of people around in her section. I suppose Serena's gone now in terms of the big name there and that event.

29:59Matt Roberts: But Eala is a problem for her.

30:01Catherine Whitaker: Exactly. And, you know, she's got Pliske of her next. OK, I would expect Svantec to win that and exploit the movement there. But as a player who's won a lot of matches on the grass this year and, you know, big flat hitter of the ball, it's just tricky.

30:18Matt Roberts: Anissa Mova the woman she beat in last year's final sorry to bring that up Matt very comfortable today against Lina Giorceska the qualifier I saw bits of this I saw the final score, I saw you after the match where obviously you were out on court too watching I said Anissa Mova looked great and you were like yes she did but I'm not sure what we learned today she wasn't, all due respect, not hugely tested will likely know a lot more after round two when she faces Sophia Kenin, which am I right in saying you are a bit worried about? Well, you just never know a Kenin, do you? She's won a Grand Slam title.

30:57She's reached another final. You know there is level there that... Beaten Coco Goff here in the first round.

31:04Matt Roberts: Yes. I mean, most of the time, the level's not there. But every once in a while, it pops up. And I could see her trying to turn that into a bit of a scrap, trying to just, I don't know, exploit some frustration that I think is still there in Anisimov's game.

31:23Catherine Whitaker: Even this very comfortable win today, there were little moments where Anisimov was getting a little bit frustrated. But she played well. I thought generally Golceska's serve was a bit of a nightmare for her. She had an Arta Rindeknesh-style ball toss so far in front. that felt like she was chasing it all the time. But a lot of the time it was then just going in the net. Those ball tosses make me really anxious, the really far in front ones. I've got one of those. Yeah. I don't know where I want to do it. I'll go, no, it's over there. That's why they bounce before the net, David. Yeah, that's right.

31:59I always expect a foot fault call to come with those. And like it didn't. You know, I think she knew what she was doing, obviously. But I don't know.

32:07Catherine Whitaker: And the first serve percentage was low. it just gave Anisimova an opportunity to get into a lot of her service games and yeah look she played well a lot of good ball striking but I think much kind of what I expected really much much bigger tests to come.

32:22Matt Roberts: Madison Keyes lurking as a potential round three opponent for Anisimova. I don't think she'll have been particularly cowed by watching the Keyes performance from today 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 over Kayla Day who has beaten Madison Keyes before but I watched quite a lot of this we watched some of it from up here because it was on court 18 just behind us and I was like Keyleth should not be able to hurt Madison Keyes like this really ought to be straightforward for Madison Keyes but it was one of those Matt where and you you always make this point really well where players like Keyes like Sabalenka like Rabatkin are these these big hitters where matches are always entirely on their racket the pressure of that is a lot no matter who's down the other end especially if it's a a Kayla Day who's doing the equivalent of a low block you know not making not making any mistakes like the pressure of oh god I've got to make it happen again have I I've got to do the thing again I just did the thing I've got to do it oh god I want to lie down and Madison Keyes looked like she wanted to lie down to me today, she was grouchy it all looked quite hard work and I think it was impressive that she found a way through this it was very gritty but she didn't have a lot of fun I don't think Yeah, not to compare myself to Madison Keyes but when I play Cameron Matthew I think the match is on my racket and yet he doesn't miss he just won't miss he'll just make an extra ball and extra ball and drive you mad because go on Matthew I don't I don't have perfect timing I can't I can hit a good shot I can't do it again necessarily I need an unforced error occasionally good one that should be it yeah I need an unforced error to come occasionally but it's just it's just not he's just gonna loop it back and loop it back and then he's gonna play a double-handed shot out of nowhere you know like this is this is the experience that I felt like I could relate to today to some degree because you just you just want something from your opponent and day to her

34:28Catherine Whitaker: credit was not giving her that and you know it was what it was kind of what zarazua did to to keys at the u.s open last year when keys was playing a lot worse that day there was so many more unforced errors and zarazua is a more awkward player i would say than day but day's lefty she was consistent she just asked a lot of questions and there were yeah there were moments where i think a lot of People thought Keyes would lose this one today. So the fact that she's got through it is important because, yeah, it wasn't one of those days where everything was coming off the strings pure and it was just winners galore.

35:04Catherine Whitaker: It was a struggle for her.

35:06Matt Roberts: How similar was the story for Elena Rabakina on number one court against Lois Boisson? 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 in this one. I mean, a 1-6 set against Lois Boisson on grass when you're Elena Rabakina,

35:20David Law: That is quite jarring, isn't it? In which Boissel had a medical timeout in that set and didn't seem fit, really, for this match.

35:29Matt Roberts: I think Rabatkinah might have given up on that second set a little bit and thought, I'll reset for the third. The thing is, I've just seen so many moments, well, matches recently where Rabatkinah looks in control and then it goes wrong and she loses her ability to keep the ball in court, quite frankly. and the errors stack up, and that's what was happening here again. Okay, Boisson did do well and applied some pressure,

35:57Catherine Whitaker: but mostly it just really seemed like Rebacuna went off the boil. I actually think she was in quite a lot of trouble in this match, Rebacuna. Even in the third, she had to save break points in multiple games at the start of it.

36:11Matt Roberts: Was it the forehand leaking errors? Yes, but all shots, really, to be honest. The reason I say I think she was in trouble is because we've seen matches where she hasn't got it back.

36:23Catherine Whitaker: And she's never rediscovered the range on her shots. But she did in this one, just about. Got through it. But, yeah, not convincing. You know, there were moments where she makes it look so easy. You just think, well, that's the tennis that went on that incredible win streak last season. Like that penalty last night. It was like, oh. That's a penalty.

36:44Matt Roberts: Yeah. Why haven't they all been doing that? Why are they blazing over the bar doing a silly run-up? Just do that. You know, it's like Rebecca was doing too many silly run-ups. But finally she put it, yeah, she got it together. But yeah, again, like, I was expecting her to win this more convincingly.

37:04Catherine Whitaker: And it just casts a bit of doubt, I think, over the future matches.

37:09Matt Roberts: I'll tell you what I'm most shocked by today. Alina Svitolina losing to countrywoman Darius Niger. 7-5, 6-2. Straight sets. Okay, a tight one in the first. I must confess, I didn't see this. I was very shocked by the result. I had Svitolina reaching the final here, not with any great confidence, but I felt like it was going to be a slightly surprising set of results, this tournament, and I was sort of picking which surprise it might be.

37:38David Law: And there weren't that many obvious other candidates, really, from that half.

37:41Matt Roberts: No, and she's been so bankable at the biggest events this year, Svitolina, but it does seem, on the basis of what she said in press afterwards, that she might have just hit a wall here. She said she didn't feel 100 % sharp for some reason. She didn't say injured, she said just sharp, just sort of flat and not at the races. She sounded exhausted to me. And this does happen with Svitolina. is she well she's usually against anna bond right she's she's played a lot of tennis because she's done a lot of winning the more winning you do the more matches you're playing and she always on she shut her season down early last year didn't she because she hit the wall and it happened quite dramatically and it she knows she knows where her limits are i think and it felt like she hit them today and sneager is a bit of a nightmare oh yeah i'll say she might be on this surface she might be a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine daria sneager what why is that

38:42Catherine Whitaker: well i don't want to speak for katherine it's very unorthodox yes that's the word like no one hits a forehand like that i mean it's so bizarre it's so it's so flat right you know so flat and on this surface it stays low, skips through. I bet Matthew loves Sneger. No, doesn't know who she is. Matthew, you would love Darius Sneger. We'll send him out there for our next match.

39:08David Law: He's going to be our courtside correspondent. And then we want a verdict on the show. The thing is,

39:18Catherine Whitaker: what was odd to me was Fittilina was four live up in the first set and actually I I wasn't watching it at that stage. I only got eyes on it when I've been tracking the score. I thought, okay, Svitolina's fine. There's so much going on. You come back and suddenly Sneger's 5-4 up.

39:34Matt Roberts: A bit like Pigouli yesterday.

39:35Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, very similar. But Svitolina was never able to get it back. And in the chunk I watched, yeah, she's exhausted, I think describes it well. She did withdraw from the tournament last week, didn't she? I think there was some mention of a bit of hip trouble as well. so there could be a bit of an injury issue there too. But yeah, this one really caught me out because like you, it just didn't look like the Spitalina we've seen this year. She's been so reliable. And Snega really did do well.

40:07Matt Roberts: A couple of other women's results today to pick out. Marta Kostiuk won easily against Nadia Podoroska. Emma Navarro won not at all easier against Paola Bedossa, 7-5 in the third. A real thriller there for Navarro who...

40:21Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, Bedossa served for that.

40:23Matt Roberts: Yeah, it's tough, isn't it? You know, she's just not been in that situation a whole lot in the last few years, Paolo Bedossa. But keep an eye on Emma Navarro. This tournament is my extremely vague prediction. I've been burned by Alina Svitolina. That's as far as I'm prepared to go now. Jasmine Paolini, Matt. we went into this one with Robin Montgomery feeling very torn because it's Jasmine Paolini like you have to be so hard of heart to want her to lose and to want her to be unhappy like the world is a better place when Jasmine Paolini is happy but Robin Montgomery is so exciting and I love her tennis and the prospect of her going on a run here at Wimbledon was really exciting so it's like I'm into this match but I've also got that weird feeling of not wanting either of them to lose it.

41:15Matt Roberts: And full disclosure, by the end of it, my feelings sort of revealed themselves like a magic eye. And I so wanted Jasmine Paolini to win. Because she had a match point. She didn't take it in that game. And I thought, oh my God, if she loses it now, she's losing a heartbreaker from match point up. And I just cannot bear that for Jasmine Paolini. She needs this. Robin Montgomery will have her time Paulini needs this and she got it Matt it was a heck of a fight yes because she lost the first set

41:51Catherine Whitaker: six love and there was a big part of me that thought oh this could be awkward this could be really really sad seeing Paulini lose like this and actually Montgomery went in as the favourite you know in terms of the betting odds you know which maybe is you know placing too much emphasis on form it's always a debate isn't it form versus experience kind of thing in a match like this and montgomery had the form but paolini does have the experience and i was just so impressed with the way she she fought back from that from that six love loss stayed positive just fought like kind of only she can really and yes when she had this i mean it's such a long time ago i'm struggling to remember the precise details but what i've got written down here is what a hold from paolini at four all in the third and that game was going back and forth and it seemed like a pivotal game but then in the next game paolini had the match point as you said and not only did she not take it she totally should have taken it because she montgomery had played a pretty poor drop shot and paolini was up to it quickly got two hands on the back can ripped it cross court but that's exactly where montgomery was standing and montgomery had good hands at the net to block it back for a winner but really paolini could have just guided up the line into the open court and that would have been the match so when she didn't take that and when montgomery held you know like i just thought oh no like paolini could could really go here but again she just stayed stayed positive got the win got the vibes going out on on court 12 lots of big cries of Forza and yeah like you I was torn and then remembered we're Paolini people and was very happy for her.

43:42David Law: Can I ask why are you excited about Montgomery's game? What is it about it?

43:50Matt Roberts: It's a good blend I think if she's got a lot of basics but it's I think there's a creativity and an imagination there I think she's she does the unexpected quite a lot of the time what about you Matt? Yeah agreed I think

44:08Catherine Whitaker: well she's a lefty so that immediately adds kind of a different dynamic to her match and she's got pretty big nice serve, forehand is very good that's her weapon and it makes a lot of sense on the grass I think she really likes this surface and yeah she's just a player who I'm excited about for the American hardcourt swing and summer as well, doesn't really feel like she's had a huge go at that yet in her young career but maybe this will be the one where she can really make herself a feature throughout that swing

44:46Matt Roberts: See also Tyra Grant David who we trooped out to court number three to watch beat Katie Bolter very handily quite frankly she qualified to Tyra Grant she's an 18 year old Italian player daughter of a former basketball player Tyrone Grant who American but relocated to Italy to play basketball so she has American and Italian citizenship plays for Italy speaks with incredible poise and charisma her game is impressive she could be a star David I'm a bit concerned about the ball toss which goes all the way to the moon but apart from that I have no concerns about her game

45:32David Law: Very nice timing because Bolter hits a pretty heavy ball and look she's not at her best at the moment she missed the Nottingham tournament it's been a tough few weeks really for Katie Bolter but even she was fighting hard and even when she did hit a few big shots Grant just has this ability to just turn it back on her with timing It's great to see She has a real court awareness I feel And a real pocket of Italian sport out there It was quite an atmos A lot of noise coming from the Italian supporters I do love the cry of Forza Yeah

46:12Matt Roberts: It's a goodie isn't it A little Czech round up Don't know how long this feature is going to last But Karolina Pliskova won today as you said Matt now plays Igor Shvantech she beat fellow Czech Teresa Valantova and Linda Norskova won today eyes on her as well in this bottom half of the draw and I think the last result to pick up on from the women's results today in fact a women's and a men's result both Queen's champions lost Donna Vekic and Francisco Sarundolo Vekic lost to Astrid-Lin Kruger and Sarundolo lost to Jaume Mouna. It's straight sets. Yeah, I mean, that's rough, isn't it? Yeah, look, I mean, on Vekic, I didn't see this one.

46:58I was tracking scores. She served for it at least once, I think possibly twice. I'm not sure. She definitely served for it once at the end of the second set. And Kruger had qualified, is, you know, comfortable on this surface.

47:11Catherine Whitaker: Again, she's another one. Big, big server, big flat hitter. That was a rough round one for both players, I think, quite honestly. But Surundolo, I mean, if you told me a year ago that Jaume Munar had beaten Francisco Surundolo in straight sets at Wimbledon, I would have been like, sure, of course. Did you not see Munar against South Brass at Queen's? It makes total sense. I think Munar might be inexplicable. And of course, Munar beat the Haller champion last year. He beat Bublik at Wimbledon. You know, like he was playing brilliantly last year. He just hasn't been playing all that well recently.

47:46the thing about this result though is I think it just makes it kind of more surprising that Surundalo won Queen's I did think Gil Gross made a very good point that ATP Queen's now is a bit of a weird tournament because it's played on week two grass yeah you know it's played on worn in grass and as we know that plays very differently to fresh grass and on the fresh grass it skids through more, it bounces lower Queens was also incredibly hot and I just think those conditions and the way the court was playing maybe suited Sir Undelo and explain

48:23Catherine Whitaker: why it's an outlier, that run in his recent grass court results where I think prior to that, Queens, he'd lost five or six matches in a row on grass, I know a few years ago he had results on grass, but recently he hadn't been and Queens came so out of left field, but I think that was quite a good explanation and he did play well, but yeah, he's been he's been caught here by by Munar.

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50:55Let's start part two by talking about Taylor Fritz, shall we? I'm not sure how many takes. I wasn't expecting you to say that. No? Should we start with Ben Shelton? Well, no. You're steering this ship. As I was saying it, I started regretting it. It's only because that's the order that I wrote it in, but I wrote it before Shelton had lost.

51:14David Law: Yes, but also, Shelton didn't come out in a full suit, did he? Yeah, I mean, my notes from Fritz are Fritz Blazer versus Lajovic 636463.

51:28Yeah.

51:30David Law: Should we just talk about the Blazer? I mean, that was the notable thing about this match, to be quite honest. He played Taylor Fritz tennis to win straight six, right? Yeah. But he walked out onto the court for the first time in his entire life in a cream blazer and cream trousers, looking like a 2007 Roger Federer. And he had a silk scarf as well. He delivered an incredible line in the press conference about the scarf. Just to give you a little rundown of how... I heard a couple of people suggesting that maybe this had been Taylor Fritz's idea to wear this thing, to wear this clobber. But it turns out, no.

52:10David Law: This was Boss's idea. They'd come to him with this. And he was like, OK, then. He clearly wasn't sure. He says, I'm a seriously low-key guy. I didn't really want to be that guy that walks out of the court wearing this and then go and lose first round. it'd be so embarrassing he was saying that that full line and then he was asked about the scarf that he was wearing and he goes yeah that was a game time decision clearly wasn't intended to wear that and uh and thought oh they've given me i'm supposed to wear all right okay okay um he said he said look i think it fits oh it's okay he said the main thing I said, he said the only thing I said to them because they kind of made it clear that they wanted me to wear this and basically you've got to do what your sponsor says is the gist of it.

53:06David Law: He says the only thing I insisted on, because he was asked whether he was involved in it. He said, no. No, that's their bag you know. But he said the only thing I insisted on is that I could take the trousers off easily. So he had that Velcro thing going on or whatever it is. Whip them off like those stripper trousers. Do you know as much as I hated the blazer and I do, I hate the blazer wearing here, like I'm into fashion in tennis, I'm all here for that but I think what I love about the way Naomi Osaka does it is it's creative and it's avant-garde and it's pushing the envelope like the blazer just feels like posh person cosplay you know, stop doing blazers with the men it's always just blazers there's definitely a lot of people I've walked past on the way back from centre court wearing very similar blazers.

53:59Right. And, you know, I don't know, each to their own, fine. But as much as I hated the blazer, the comments about the blazer afterwards from Fritz, the way he's owned it and talked about it, I might be a Fritz guy, you know.

54:19David Law: Well, you are a Fritz guy, Catherine. You've been in Denar for a couple of days. It's very clear. But it's a very... Molly dumped Fritz. It's multiple layers of irony that it's a blazer that I hate that might have brought me on this journey to finally admitting that I'm a Fritz guy. So is he going to wear it for every match? Yeah, that's it now. Has he confirmed that? He's all in, yeah. He says, that's it now. This is my life now. I'm a Fritz guy. He's a blazer guy. Okay. I'm really glad we led with that. Should we talk about Ben Shelton losing? A lot less fun for him to Otto Vertinen. Lots of finish line gags to be had here that I saw doing the rounds on Twitter towards the latter stages of this match because Otto Vertinen is a Finnish player.

55:06Matt knows all about him from Davis Cup. You first brought him to our attention a few years ago and have always signposted. I feel like David and I are like low-key Vertinen guys. Big time. We've been waiting for him to happen. How many times have you watched him and thought, this guy can play? Yeah. Why is he ranked 104 in the world or whatever it is?

55:27David Law: Well, why? I don't get it. I'm sure there are injuries and all the rest of it, but there are also just inexplicable losses of tennis matches and form. Yeah, and I do think he has a game that works very well on this surface and I think well on fast courts and indoor courts and quite a lot of the tour is not played in those sorts of conditions. And I say that because he's got a good serve and he just hits the ball so flat off both wings. Again, another one that Cameron Matthew would very much enjoy watching, I think. Does he know who Otto Versen is? Yes, I think he does. Just about. He's a Brooksby guy.

56:12Yeah. His ability to just create pace off barely a backswing is extraordinary. His timing is so good. And yeah, he'd won matches in qualifying here. And shout out to the Athletics tennis editor, James Hansen. Because I came in this morning, sat down at our desk. And I was like, which match are you really thinking about today? And what have you got on upset watch? And he was like, hmm, Wertonen over Shelton. And the reason is that he's picked up on this pattern that Shelton has in that James describes it as very high variance matches that he plays. Like he plays matches that end up going to very tight sets or tight final stages.

57:00And a lot of the time Shelton does come through them, but it doesn't feel very sustainable. You know, it's kind of it's kind of a bit like the golfer who's just holding all the putts from 30 feet. but he was like, well, it would actually be better if you were a bit close to the hole a bit more and a bit more secure, whereas Shelton is playing this high-wire act, basically,

57:22Catherine Whitaker: and I think James just felt like that wasn't sustainable and it was going to run out eventually. And a player like Werternen, who Shelton was going to struggle to break because Shelton has a very poor return of serve and Werternen has a good serve, we were probably going to end up in tie-breaks and tight moments, and that's exactly what happened. This one ended up in a final set tie break to 10 points. And the thing is, Shelton had a lead in that final set tie break. He was 8-5 up and lost it from that position with his serve. And I was watching a bit of this afterwards with Pam Shriver. And Pam said that she noticed that in those moments, Shelton was going body serve rather than for the corners and the lines.

58:04Catherine Whitaker: As a kind of a sign that he might be feeling pretty tight with his serve and not confident with it. because otherwise why wouldn't you go for the lines because that could just end the point there and then. And Shelton kind of confirmed that in the press conference. And yeah, it's a tough loss for him because he's been the guy who was reliably, OK, not having big wins in slams. He wasn't doing anything like incredible, but he was getting to the quarters or so and then running into a Sino on Alcaraz. he's now had two slams in a row where that was not going to happen because Sinan and Alcabas were not in his section or not here or out of the tournament and he hasn't been able to do the thing he's always been able to do which is beat the people he should beat at the slams and get to that match and it's an odd season he's having because he's won three titles and yet he's also really underperformed in a lot of the big events and it just feels like for the first time he's kind of plateaued a bit I feel like he's ever since we sort of learned about Ben Shelton, it's been all up and up.

59:10And it just feels like at the last few months that, that has, that has just slowed down a bit and people have figured him out, I think to an extent. And yeah,

59:21Catherine Whitaker: it's going to be interesting to see where he goes, where he goes from here going into, you know, the time of year that is his time, you know, hard again, American hardcore summer.

59:30Matt Roberts: But a time when Carlos Alcaraz may well be back and he's, So... He's two big dogs to contend with. These were the opportunities. He might get another one at the US Open. He might get some down the line but he knows how big this opportunity was to lose in the first round.

59:48David Law: Second round and first round French Open in Wimbledon. He said that this is one of the worst losses of his career in terms of just how hard. He said that he paid huge credit to Wersen and he said I was having to go for broke because he was playing so well. I was having to really try to take it from him. But clearly this hurts big time because he knows the opportunity. And I'm always so impressed, just one last point on Wertham, when the favourite for a match is struggling, but wins the third set to go two sets to one up, as Shelton did here, wins the tie, but I thought, OK, that's probably going to be it now.

1:00:31He's been tested, he's been pushed, but he's got through the storm and he's probably going to be okay. But Wertham came back at him and just hit him with more flat ground strokes and big serves and was like, well, I'm going to stay here. You're going to have to try and do that again. I thought it was one thing to play brilliant tennis.

1:00:51Catherine Whitaker: It's another to keep doing it for such a long time as Wertham did in this match. I've never seen him sustain that level before. It was impressive.

1:01:01Matt Roberts: Maybe the comp there is with Alexander Zverev and Alexander Blox. He needed four sets, Zverev, to beat Blox. Lost the second one on a tie break, but then came back and took the next two. Much to report here, David?

1:01:14David Law: Yeah, I think there was, actually, because, first of all, I've got to say I've been pretty down on Alexander Blox since his run in Madrid, when he really impressed with his win over Kasparud. and then he ran into Zverev and he played him twice in a couple of weeks in Madrid and Rome and he didn't win a set he had 1-7-5 the others were just not competitive and I thought I'm not really sure what we're looking at here I don't really know what sort of player he is he looks like a Nicholas Jarry or something you know, some tall guy How is Jarry catching strays? Well, you know, good player, but not exciting, not explosive.

1:02:02David Law: And I'm sort of watching him play Zverev, and I'm thinking, he looks like he's his younger brother or something, and he doesn't want to step out of line. Because I think they get along. And Zverev's using a bit of that now. And fair play to him, so he should. I'm the guy who's been around here forever. I'll be nice to you, but just remember your place, all right? that's how it's tended to be and suddenly in this match in the second set first set's Verov 6-4 second set suddenly blocks came out of his shell and I started to see what the fuss was about and in the tie break he just started ripping winners even though Zverev serving 80 % first serves in he was handling it he was middling it and he won that tie break fair and square brilliant tie break second set tie break but third set tie break gets to another one takes a mini break in the tie break against Alexander Zverev with blocks his serve he's 3-2 up and he hits back-to-back double faults you can't do that and he lost that tie break that is like Nicholas Jarry yeah then he had a chance in the fourth set as well when something similar happens very of a break up and then he hit back-to-back double faults and handed the break back another tie break and then very of a one that one really easily.

1:03:22David Law: I think Blocks just sort of ran out of gas really in that fourth. But I think it was encouraging from him. I mean, bear in mind as well, this is a guy who had that horrible ankle sprain at the French Open after winning the first round. He tripped on the cover at the back of the court and he was out. He hasn't played a match since, so this was his first match back. So I think Blocks did well. I think Zverev definitely looks a bit different. He's carrying himself with a bit of authority and a bit of swagger and self-belief as a champion at this level um it will still be and look his draw now is kind for the next three rounds i don't see anybody causing him any trouble until he faces well it should be taylor fritz um or francis tiafo you know depending on who comes through that section of the draw i think the tougher draw with for him would be fritz um but As we know, I think Tiafoe's coming through.

1:04:21David Law: But anyway, we'll see. But yeah, I think Zverev's never been beyond the fourth round here. It's extraordinary to think, but that's the fact. Certainly, look, already everybody in this half of the draw was thinking, I'm not in Yannick Sinner's half. Yeah. Wicked.

1:04:35Matt Roberts: For sure. And now that Shelton's gone, you know, eyes are, it's French Open all over again, isn't it? In this half of the draw, eyes lighting up, opportunity knocking at doors. And once again, Matteo Berrettini doing his very best to answer those doors. Four tie-break sets tonight, giving Stan Morinke the send-off that he wanted, I think, on the number one court. Happening at the same time is the Serena match on centre. David and I wandered over to the hill while Matt was in centre court. We wandered over the hill to get a flavour of the atmos of the Serena match on the hill. and it was actually quite, not empty, but we were spectering it to be standing room only and we twigged that they'd opened up Court 1 and they'd let everyone from the hill go in.

1:05:24Matt Roberts: Of course, the hill's right next to Court 1. And it was buzzing. It was absolutely buzzing and it was close to full in there and that was a great thing to do. And okay, he didn't win at Ravinka, but he had his moment. He had a great match. He had an epic tie break in the second set. I know, Matt, you're probably quite annoyed about this match because there's a stat that is dangling in front of yours and Robert McNichols knows. And this this match looked like it might give you that stat. And then it snatched it away.

1:05:57Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, there's never been a five tie break match. And actually, extraordinary to think there's never been one.

1:06:04David Law: I mean, I suppose there haven't been that many years, but has there been four tie-breaks and then a fifth set that's gone on and on and on? I don't... I wonder. No, I don't think so. And I think we've not had one at the US Open when they've had a final set tie-break, you know, in the fifth for a long time. So no Grand Slums ever had it? No. And I was watching it. I was on watch for it earlier with Mpeshi Perikar-Hanfman. They'd split tie-breaks. I thought, oh, we're in business here. No one's breaking serve in this one. Matt doesn't want a good match. He just wants a statistical anomaly. He went from 100 % invested, it's my whole personality, in Mpeshi Perikar, Hanfman, to these two men are dead to me in a split second.

1:06:52Somebody's broken and they've invested up. Mpeshi Perikar just turned into a sort of normal player who loses serve after that and got broken a handful of times and Hanfman won sets three and four easily. But yes, this one... They'll have a word with Greg, I think, about that. Disappointing. Not sure how long he'll be the man to have a word with. First round loss at Wimbledon.

1:07:12David Law: Maybe Pesher-Berry Garb wasn't fit or something. But otherwise, I don't know what excuse she'd come up with from there. But yeah, this one, I mean, I feel like Wawrinka, we've noticed this year, is struggling on return a lot.

1:07:26Catherine Whitaker: OK, they've both got big serves, but also, like, neither are the great returners. That's maybe part of why we ended up in this situation with the four tie breaks. Second set tie break, yeah, 18-16 to Berrettini. Vibes, vibes, vibes.

1:07:41David Law: Oh, it was so amazing. It was a throwback of a match to when kind of service used to dominate but used to make dramatic matches because you'd have deep sets in the evening like this. Oh, it was so electric watching these two go at it. and they were relish in every moment, neither one giving an inch, and some pretty awesome shot-making as well. And, you know, they've both got that ability to connect with a crowd, haven't they, and just kind of steal the hearts. And yet there were two of them at the same time. And obviously Stan's finishing, and he couldn't quite hold on. You know, he very nearly did it.

1:08:24David Law: That's kind of been the story of his year, hasn't it? Reminding you exactly who he used to be, but then not quite having it at the end. And then just this lovely moment afterwards where Berrettini runs after him when he'd gone off the court and had his standing ovation. Suddenly Berrettini forgot that he wanted to give him the last towel on the court. So he did.

1:08:47Catherine Whitaker: It was lovely. It was really lovely. It kind of reminded me of when he went out of his way to send off Sue Barker when she was retiring from broadcasting. He just made sure he said, I know you're retiring and you had an amazing career. He's just a good man to have in those moments because he genuinely connects and feels the things people are feeling and he's also willing to say it and be vulnerable like that. And, yeah, it's really nice. But David wants him to go down in the next round. Who's he got, David? He's got Art of Feast in the next round. Who looked all right today. Well, I mean, I didn't even know who he'd got.

1:09:33David Law: That's how unconfident I was about Art of Feast having any sort of progress here. And I should say that's not with any insight. I haven't spoken to Goran about Feast since probably last week when I just wanted to check in on how he was getting on. and I assumed he was going to pull out of this tournament, honestly, after the French Open and having not played any grass court tournaments at all. And Goran said at the time, no, no, we've played three practice sessions on the grass. He's doing all right. He's going okay. I still thought there's probably quite a high chance that he plays half a set and withdraws.

1:10:12David Law: But he won in straight sets against Raphael Colonyon, who is a good player. you know when the first set seven five i remember him being four five and sort of love 30 down feast and then the next thing i know he's won it seven five he raced through the rest of it um and and he said afterwards i mean he didn't get asked specifically about the injury but he did say you know on grass you know my backhand works because that's flat and you need good movement and i move great uh which i thought was a very funny line um and yeah he just seemed upbeat so hopefully hopefully he'll be in good shape against Berrettini that straight sets grand slam win yeah first time he's ever had one

1:10:58Catherine Whitaker: you wouldn't have thought it would be this one amazing this is a lovely I really like this section of the draw actually it's a section that Shelton has lost in but there's eight guys here one of them is going to be a quarter finalist you've got Menshik Dimitrov of Berrettini Feast, Berg's Farrier, which, okay, is lesser names, but Berg's just the Eastbourne titleist. Farrier's having this sort of career best season. And then you've got Ferry, one of the few remaining Brits who's got a nice game after Ferry. Arthur Ferry. I've gone all French there. Well, he is half French, isn't he? Yeah. So I suspect his French family call him Arthur.

1:11:43Yeah.

1:11:43Catherine Whitaker: And anyway, he plays Vertinen. so I just really like I like all the players and like the games in that section it feels like someone is going to get through to the quarters and have a nice opportunity some nice matches there too Grigor Dimitrov won a Wimbledon match today go on Grigor no offence Dane Sweeney but again you'd have to be hard of heart not to be not to be pleased for Grigor Dimitrov there Zizu Berg you mentioned in that section he beat Ugo Mbair for the second time in three days He's beat him in the Eastbourne final, which was played on Sunday after being rained off on Saturday. Then they had to come back two days later and play round one of Wimbledon.

1:12:23Matt Roberts: And Buggs won them both. He needed five sets this time. But that's some effort from Zizou Buggs, who I still believe in his talent. But he hasn't had the season that I thought he would when I put him in my fantasy team at the start of the year. He's been a flop for me. Buck your ideas up, Zizou. So maybe he's coming good on the faith that I've invested in him.

1:12:46Catherine Whitaker: And Dimitrov in that section plays Mensik, who won a final set tie break against Toby Samuel, the Brit. And Mensik now has won all of his five setters this year. He's 4-0 in five sets for a guy who started his career 1-6 in five sets. He's really done well to flip that record around this season. This Undertaker nickname, we're going to make that take off. I'm up for it, yeah. A wrestling reference, of course. That's a great idea. Yeah? I'm not sure how into it he'll be.

1:13:20David Law: I'll suggest it and see what he thinks. I bet he'll love it. That's the important journalism that David is here to do. He's quite into him. Yannick Sinner, you're right with carrots. Yeah. Yakub Menshik, you're right with being called the Undertaker. I'm going to see if I can get that to him and see what he thinks. then I'm going to run. Brit Watch that was a big story yesterday. Not an all-timer of a day today but they did get some wins the home nation. Katie Swan got the first one on the board. Shout out Katie Swan. She beat Begu. Marina Camellia Begu. Arthur Ferry as we've mentioned he got a win.

1:14:01Jacob Fernley.

1:14:03David Law: These were two good comeback wins particularly Fernley but even Arthur Ferry was setting a breakdown against Amir Jumher, who's a player, really. Again, that's a good draw, really, for Ferry on paper. But I did think that was when it was going through the period where Katie Bolter had lost and several players were down. You just thought, this is a nightmare for Britain. And Ferry got it back on track and won straightforwardly in four sets in the end. But Jacob Fernley down two sets to love against Alex Mickelson. That is quite a comeback, to come back and win in five. And Jan Choinski got through as well.

1:14:43Yes. In three straight sets. How could I forget Jan Choinski? So how many round one Brit losses is it? How close to the record? You'll have to find out in the newsletter. Oh, Matt. Good tease. Okay. I genuinely don't know that wasn't a set-up. Matt had to jog here from centre court, barely caught his breath before we went on air, let alone had time to discuss a tease for the newsletter. Okay. The link to subscribe to the newsletter will be in our show notes. Let's have a look at tomorrow's. Or you can just go through and count them. Anyone listening, that's not fun, is it? No. And also, then you don't get the rest of the newsletter.

1:15:22So. You can count them, but you won't know the historical context. They'll be historical context.

1:15:27Catherine Whitaker: They'll be percentages. You get a mat stat every day in the newsletter. That is a sexy promo. The newsletter is the place for percentages. How did you find out about Catherine and my prediction triumph today? Oh, yeah, you two are buzzing. It's very much related to the Brits. It was so awkward because we got our big points haul from predicting a Tyra Grant victory, but that obviously meant a Katie Bolter loss, and we got stopped by some lovely tennis podcast fans, some British ones, leaving court three. David and I were absolutely buzzing with our 45 points on day two. David was talking about it.

1:16:01he was like, it's just good to get that foundation of some points in the bag on day two. So true. And it just gives you a cushion, doesn't it? You can push the boat out a bit on your other predictions on the next day. So we just... And then we get stopped by these lovely fans saying, God, that was a bummer about Katie Bolter, wasn't it? And David's having to contain the smirk. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But, you know. And it is a bummer about Katie Bolter, but we've had some predictions, humiliations in the past, and we're always trying to avoid that.

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1:17:47Okay, tomorrow's order of play. Round two action, day three action. centre court looks like this starting at 1.30 with Yannick Sinner against Nuno Borges second on surely the match of the day certainly on paper anyway Barbora Krojcikova against Mira Andrava lovely stuff yes I'm a I'm a little bit annoyed they've put the two women's matches in the football slot yeah hadn't actually thought about that angle but now I'm annoyed too

1:18:20Catherine Whitaker: both the women's matches on the main courts are second on which I'm going to bring my iPad tomorrow for additional screen purposes you say that but Yannick Sinder might win in an hour and a half tomorrow it's true it's true that would be helpful I still think the women's match will likely be going on when the football's on but it's hard it's it's like the football's slap bang in the middle of the day at five o 'clock some something was going to clash but I don't know I just sort of feel like they could have rearranged one of these order of players. The England game, yeah.

1:18:54David Law: England against Congo. Right. Sit to pass Djokovic is the final match on centre tomorrow. Number one court starts with Irina Sabalenka against McCartney Kessler. Then it's Solana Sierra against Coco Gough in what we'll call the football slot. And finally, Dino Prismic. Dino Soaring, maybe, against third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime. and his new haircut. That's interesting, isn't it? Yeah, I'm interested to see that. Yeah. Number two court tomorrow opens with Naomi Osaka against Anastasia Gasanova. Following her onto number two court is the resumption of Flavio Caboli, who's two sets to one up on Mariano Novono overnight.

1:19:37Third on is Daniel Medvedev against Daniel Merida. Two Daniels. That can't happen very often. Is that in the newsletter? percentages on that Daniel versus Daniel loads of Daniels around yeah but not playing one another isn't it Daniil yeah well you know Daniil Taro Daniel Daniel Evans he's retiring it's not the same we had Alexander Alexander today didn't we we did but I'm specifically asking about Daniel and I obviously don't know the answer to that it's not in an image it's also not Daniel Daniel it's Daniil I understand that's fine. You making out like it happens all the time, David, less fine with that because I think you're gaslighting me about the prevalence of Daniels.

1:20:26I felt like I was being gaslighted about Medvedev's name. Well, that's the Russian... Yeah. It's like Petter and Peter, right?

1:20:36David Law: We're getting on so well today. Or Pierre. Pierre and Peter. Yeah, but would you say, oh, look, it's Pierre, Peter. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. Depends how slow a news day it was. If you've got a newsletter gap tomorrow, work out your Daniels. Tomorrow I'll look up Daniels. I just thought they'd be more interest in that. I wouldn't have, again, the beauty of live, wouldn't have gone with that if I... I enjoyed it. Didn't think they were coming with me. Jessica Begula follows the Daniels onto court two tomorrow against Soros Arubes Tormo. and then Rafael Jodar against Pablo Carreña Busta. A lot of Spaniards on court too.

1:21:19Is that tricky, Suarez Tormo? I've seen her be tricky on a class before. And on that court against Angelique Kerber. No, I think she'll clean her clock. I think I trust Pegula. I realised I totally overlooked that in the draw. I hadn't really registered that Suarez Tormo was there. I just sort of swept Pagoula through many rounds. It's 2026. I don't think she's the player she was. No, I don't think so either. She did take a break, didn't she, last year? And I think that was why she maybe wasn't in people's consciousness. She just wasn't playing.

1:21:56Catherine Whitaker: No, I think she'll probably be all right. To everyone in the live chat, I do realise that Daniel Medvedev and Daniel Merida, I realise they're pronounced differently. just like Mathieu and Matthew I do get that you know I'm a global citizen I thought you were going to say superstar give me a break people we're live here Tommy Paul is on court three tomorrow Karolina Mukhover my heart's not in this anymore Joel Fonseca against Jesper de Jong those both begin with J Belinda Bencic Court three. Leonard Tien against Martin Futrovic. Francis Tiafoe, David resuming two sets to one up against Terence Atman on court 12 tomorrow.

1:22:49He did, yeah. Barton Kovacini Archivo is on 12. That's not very good, isn't it? Ivi Jovic and Tatiana Maria is last on court 12. Good shout. Yeah. Jenson Brooksby, Matthew, first on court 18 tomorrow. Are you going to come in early for that? No, he's... He's just collapsed into laughter at the thought. At the mere prospect of that.

1:23:16David Law: Big Brooksby guy, if he's on at a decent time. Yeah, he's a bigger lion guy. OK, folks, let's get this show off the road. Not before we say hello to Phoebe, our wonderful mascot, who has apparently been watching our live shows and enjoying them by the looks of her expression. so thank you Phoebe I bet Phoebe would have gone with me on the Daniel thing yep Phoebe's loyal yeah exactly so thank you Phoebe hello to our mascots Bodie, Maisie and Roger hello to our top folks and executive producers Greg, Chris and Jeff let's have some shout outs it would be great if a Daniel came up wouldn't it we have three shout outs tonight the first is for Bethan Griffith from Ballum oh hi Bethan My neck of the woods.

1:24:08Yes. But, I mean, you know. Pretty close. South London, yeah. Hello, Bethan. A bit like Daniel and Daniil. Same ballpark. Thank you, Matthew. Again, same ballpark. What do we know about Bethan? Bethan says, I went to the Australian Open this year for the first time, so I'm now three quarters of the way to my career fan slam. Oh. Very cool. hoping to make it to the US Open next year to complete my slam. That would be fantastic. Completion of fan slams is a cool thing, but I also think it's cool to sort of have one still to go.

1:24:45David Law: I love it when people come up to us and just say, I'm on the third leg of the... Yeah, it's really cool. Bethany Matic-Sands. Does that count? Yes. I think we'll accept it, yeah. Is this a tennis player reference? Where did I hear... In the lawsuit. In the North. Between the warring PTPA factions that was widely reported a couple of days ago. Basically, Professional Tennis Players Association invented by Novak Djokovic. He then decided to leave it. And now it appears that sections of the membership are suing one another. I don't know why I'm laughing at that, But that's the gist. Well, we were looking for a way of getting that bit of news into the show at some point.

1:25:38So there it is. Thanks, David. You're welcome. Thank you, Bethan. We also have Blair Paterson, I'm not sure, from Edinburgh. Hello, Blair. Living in Manchester. Hi, Blair.

1:25:53Catherine Whitaker: And Blair says, I have many happy memories of listening to the tennis podcast walking my dog Colin. Fox Red Labrador Oh like Pippin Hello Pippin Yes and Colin Has previously been a pet mascot Like Colin from Accounts

1:26:15Sorry

1:26:20Colin from Accounts is a It's a comedy It's a sitcom and it's named, the dog in it is called Colin from Accounts. So that's the name of the show, but it's also the dog in the show.

1:26:36David Law: Gotcha. So it's a dog and this is also a dog called Colin. Right. We could also go for Colin Fleming. Yeah. Can I do my last shout out? Yeah. Go for it. It is for Greg Allensworth. No, it's not. He's not paid for this. But I want to shout him out. What do you mean he's not paid for this? I want to shout him out because I forgot to mention him in the show and we had a change the lady situation today. Demir Jumher asked for Greg Allensworth to be changed in that Arta Ferry Demir Jumher match. Jumher was going absolutely mad and the official Jake Garner had to come out and tell Jumher to pack it in.

1:27:28And I just felt like... It's always Greg, isn't it? It's always Greg. There's always Greg is at the scene of some drama. And I just felt like he deserved a mention on this show. And I forgot to mention him earlier, so I thought I'd put him in the shout-outs. I'll send you the invoice, Greg.

1:27:48Why do tennis players suddenly think being able to request a change of umpire mid-match is a thing? That's never been a thing. And Arta Ferry had earplugs in during the change of ends, and there was a lot of reporting that it was because Jumho was just going on and on and on. It turns out that actually he does have earplugs often. He puts them in at the change of ends to kind of zone out.

1:28:08Catherine Whitaker: But he did say that he thought Jumho was being ridiculous and constantly chuntering and trying to get involved, and he was quite happy to be in his own little bubble with the earplugs in. And, yeah, I suspect Greg probably wanted some earplugs as well. didn't love them well done greg well done greg we love you greg justice for greg allensworth okay so greg bethen and blair and blair like blair henley very good we love blair henley greg bethen and blair thank you ever so much for being friends of the tennis podcast if you'd like to become a friend of the pod and have that kind of nonsense talked about when your name comes up then the link to do that is in our show notes folks we are part of the athletic podcast network we have had fun tonight i think yeah sure have loads of fun yeah will i be wearing a silk scarf tomorrow who can say game day decision thank you for listening we will see you tomorrow

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1:30:00For those born to lead, such moments call for a vehicle of equal distinction. Dynamic by design, uncompromising in execution, the Range Rover Sport was engineered for those rare individuals who demand the world and possess the conviction to claim it. When your time to lead arrives, you need a vehicle that rises to meet it. The Range Rover Sport. Exclusive offers available now. Explore further at rangerover.com.