Live from Wimbledon Day 6 - Eala lights up Centre Court

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1:56hello and welcome to the tennis podcast live from Wimbledon and presented by Barclays the official banking partner of Wimbledon happy 4th of July to everybody that celebrates happy birthday Pam Shriver happy birthday my niece Nina who one day will understand why I always miss her birthday and happy absolutely incredible day of tennis to everybody that loves tennis which I assume is everybody that is watching and listening right now the sort of day of sport that makes you feel

2:30David Law: truly alive David oh it's been one of the great days that I've had at Wimbledon ever right from the very first match that you and I watched together with Marta Kostjik and Emma Navarro, Catherine, right through the centre court programme that we sat through at the start there with Ejala against Svjantek. I know there will be a lot of Svjantek fans sad tonight, but just as a sort of spectacle and an occasion and a match and a story and everything, it had everything. And then all the way through the day, there hasn't been a dull moment and it's just been exhilarating from start to finish and I feel really lucky that this is a sport that I love and get to work in.

3:13Yeah, if Matt and David sound a little bit breathless right now

3:16Matt Roberts: it's because they have pretty much sprinted here from centre in number one courts. David, you were on court number one?

3:24David Law: I was, yeah.

3:25Matt Roberts: Matt was on centre watching Grigor Dimitrov get through against Berrettini? I was on both. Wow. I don't know you did that. If you were both there, should we start with what we've just seen on court number one? David, I know this is tough for you. Let's get it out the way early. Francis Tiafoe, David's pick for the final out in five sets. In the third round. Four hours and eight minutes. Look, one of mine lost in the first round. I got off very lightly that night. Alexander Bublik, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6. That was the 13-11 tiebreak that third set. 4-6, don't know how Francis Tiafoe came back from losing that 13-11 tiebreak.

4:02Matt Roberts: should get sort of a mini trophy for coming back and winning the next set I think but then ultimately losing the fifth set 6-3 in the fifth I know that's not how sport works he gets the was it worth all that effort exactly uh yeah nine set points for Tiafoe in that third set tie break I really do think it was extraordinary to come back from that and win the following set but ultimately for nothing. David, do you feel this is one that got away for your man Tiafoe?

4:33David Law: Yes and no. Yes and no. And I know that's not really a satisfactory answer. I think if you have nine set points in a third set when it's one set all, you have to regard it as one that got away from your own standpoint. But just as much as it was extraordinary that Tiafoe came back from that and won the fourth set, I think it's then extraordinary that Bublik came back and won the fifth set. And he deserves enormous credit for that. I do think Tiafoe will be spending his summer obviously working incredibly hard, hoping that the US Open will be the one that he can actually convert. But he'll be thinking that that's twice now.

5:17David Law: Twice that he should have beaten Matteo Arnaldi at the French Open. He should have beaten Alexander Bublik. He's a setup. He's got nine set points at one set all in the third set. And if he goes up two sets to one, I think he gets over the line. The issue is trying to do it against a guy like Bublik when it's two sets all and Bublik just goes into casino mode. I mean, the guy is so dangerous and he plays his own percentages his way of playing is to try to hit clean winners and and outrageously audacious shots for a game or two and then he just basically has a couple of games off and serves his way through to to win the match and and it's it's very clever it's very clear it must be enormously the unsettling for a guy like Tiafoe, but he had some points on his racket.

6:13David Law: Some of the set points in that incredible tie break in the third set, he had four hands that he either put wider in the net, and you just can't do that. And I mean, look, a big word that he would probably use to explain the importance of winning the big points is to be clutch. and he wasn't clutch in the French Open and he wasn't here. Bublik was and you've got to give him enormous credit for that. Yeah, we kind of were debating which Bublik was going to show up in this one, weren't we?

6:46Catherine Whitaker: And I know Tiafoe won that first set, but you could kind of tell early here that Bublik was into this match. Locked in. Absolutely. And it becomes a problem. Like, Bublik playing like that and with that attitude is a real issue for everyone. We've seen him when he plays a Yannick Sinner and he just very quickly has a, oh, I can't beat this guy and falls flat and it's really disappointing. We've seen him have real expectation on him coming into Wimbledon last year and he plays Munar in the first round, who was a tough draw at that time, but he was disappointing. But this kind of match is kind of the Bublik sweet spot and he was just a problem.

7:28Catherine Whitaker: I mean, 47 aces in the match and so many of them timely and yeah, as David's described, there were definitely set points that Tiafoe had in that third set that he will want back. But given he had nine of them, I'm not sure that that many were actually on his racket. Like it was probably three. So many of them, and Bublik slammed down serves and just ripped it from him. So absolutely, Tiafa will have regrets about that period. But nine kind of makes it sound like, you know, every single one he had a shot at. If he'd only lost three set points, it wouldn't feel quite as bad, maybe. And we have to credit Bublik there for ripping that from him at times.

8:12Catherine Whitaker: And yeah, his recovery in the fifth set was good. I thought Tiafa was a bit flat in that fifth set. And he missed a lot of just like rally ball backhands. I think one of the tough things for Tiafoe was that he lost that third set. That was one of the best sets he played. He was playing well at that time. He really was. He was really feeling it. Middle in the ball. So good. He just couldn't get over the line.

8:34David Law: Do you know, Public only broke him once in the entire match, and that was the one in the fifth set. He's up two sets to one, and yet he still hasn't broken the guy's serve. It was amazing, really. But a great example of how there are different ways to win tennis matches and to be playing the percentages your way. And he knows his game. And when he's locked in like that, really dangerous.

9:00Matt Roberts: Matt, I do not know how you managed to cover Dimitrov, Berrettini and Bublik, Tiafoe, given that they were happening simultaneously. But given that you did, tell us about Dimitrov beating Berrettini in five sets. it's Berrettini coming back, but not all the way back. Indeed. And Dimitrov was, you know, really good those first two sets, takes the two-set lead, and then kind of he realises that if he doesn't win it in three sets, he's going to be back in the situation where he was in a couple of nights ago and with the roof coming on. And you could feel him fear that. and the conversation he had with Denise, the tournament referee, at the end of the third set was kind of like, well, why can't we put the roof on while play is happening?

9:57Why do we need to have this break? And I'm going to get cold. And all of it that we kind of thought he'd got over because he had this situation just a couple of days ago. Not sure he's ever getting over it now. I think this was confirmation that he's never getting over it And it's always going to be a thing for him as long as he keeps being in that situation. Because last year was just so brutal. You can't really get over that.

10:21Catherine Whitaker: Anyway, he then loses that fourth set under the roof. And by this point, Berrettini is playing so well. He is finding the forehand. It's pinging off his strings. He's playing the points on his terms. and I actually thought Berrettini was going to come all the way back and win this in five. I was so impressed with his level at the end of that fourth and I got out there for the fifth and, well, what a reset from Dimitrov because he played the most spectacular return game to get the break and in these sorts of matches, one break is so often enough. Threaded a backhand pass down the line for that break of serve.

11:03The joint, as Mary Carello would call it, on centre court just went mad for him. I think they were torn. They like both of these guys. Both of their stories are incredible and so much sort of injury,

11:17Catherine Whitaker: heartbreak in their careers. You want it for both of them. But I think in that moment when Dimitrov hit that backhand down the line to get it, it was kind of like all of centre court went with him and were like, OK, let's try and get Grigor over the line now. And he was very good in the last few games, served incredibly well and didn't really give Berrettini much of a chance. and in his on-court interview afterwards he was talking about how he felt good physically as the match went on and how he found his groove and yeah he he even used the words I would never know when referring to to last year and that opportunity that got taken from him with the injury and now here he is back getting another shot and trying to find out what he could have done in that draw he kind of gets to find out now because here he is through to the fourth round.

12:07Matt Roberts: Did the fact that he was taken to five sets tonight and stood up to it physically very well seemed pretty fresh at the end quite frankly. Did that build your confidence at all in his body and his physicality? Because two nights ago we were in a very similar situation with Grigor having won and we were all daring to dream for him right. we were doing the you never know thing and you were the voice of reason saying we cannot trust his body and the same goes for Matteo Berrettini and look I'm not saying you'd want your mortgage on Grigor Dimitrov's body holding together but has tonight built your feeling of trust in it and you're feeling maybe that this this run could could really be something this fortnight at Wimbledon I don't know it's tough to say it has when he's got an extra five sets in his legs like you know uh but I was impressed with how he was feeling at the end he did look totally fine um I think the I think the draw is the most helpful thing right like does it pretty good it looks pretty good for him I know there's there's still a lot of good players in this in this half but But no one he can't beat, I would say.

13:26David Law: I think the bigger point is he should beat Arthur Ferry, as good as Ferry was today. And we'll discuss his match and his really significant achievement. But he should win that. And if he can win it comfortably, efficiently, he could preserve a bit of energy.

13:46Matt Roberts: And then it's the winner of Duminor and Caballi, which both of those guys would be the favourite, I think, whoever it is, but it's not Yannick Sinner, is it? You'd give him a chance.

13:57David Law: I would... Look, I know this is throwing it ahead a lot, but I would make Dimitrov the favourite against Kabbaldi on grass, personally. I think his know-how on the surface should make him the favourite. I think Dimino is a different matter. He's tantalising. He's starting to believe, David. when did I ever know but believe in all the way

14:21Matt Roberts: I think is the question rather than quarter finals semi-finals that's not that's not a fanciful thing to be discussing now I don't think but semi-finals, finals

14:38David Law: yeah I mean I think like I said I think Dimonor would be the favourite against Dimitrov that's what I'm feeling right now and I think Fritz or Zverev would be the favourite against him as well but you never know

14:53Matt Roberts: does it feel at all similar to the Goran year?

14:58David Law: no no it doesn't but it might a few other people have to lose first right? you know I'm not when I was watching Goran go through he went through an extraordinary draw of people to win that title. I'm trying to remember exactly who he beat, but I remember he beat him Moyer and Safin and Roddick and Henman and Rafter. It was just incredible what he did. But he didn't have to beat Sampras? No, he didn't. And I don't really think after the third round, I'm thinking Goran's going to win Wimbledon. Yeah, okay. So... Tune in to future episodes, folks. There's time, folks, for him to... He'd need Sinner to go out, right?

15:50For it to feel different, and probably Djokovic as well. Oh, you know, I think... Listen, we're talking about the final, surely, here.

15:57Catherine Whitaker: Well, of course, and you're talking about winning it. Yes. I'm talking about all of it. I'm having all the fun with the Grigel Dimitrov story. It's a good job we don't get ahead of ourselves on this show, is it?

16:07Matt Roberts: Look, so Dimitrov to play Arthur Ferry, and Bublik to play Taylor Fritz. We will talk about those two later on in the show. I just realised it's all wildcard clash. Catherine, tough, tough fourth round for you. It's fine, I'm comfortable with my position. You're not into Dimitri at all, are you? Get out of this door. Because of bloody wildcards. I think two things can be true. I think I... He shouldn't be here. but I can enjoy the fact that if there are going to be wild cards I've never supported one

16:44David Law: more than that one yeah I'm going to message Goran after this and say Catherine didn't think you should have a wild card in 2001 those are the types of wild cards I can get on board with oh god okay right let's go back in time shall we and take you to Centre Court and the first

17:04Matt Roberts: match of the day and a quite extraordinary story and one that makes it very difficult to avoid cliches like a star is born and that sort of thing because look this is a star we all already knew about but it's different when you do a thing against a defending champion on the most famous court in the world and that is what Alexandra Eala did today 7-6-6-2 against the defending champion Iga Svantec becoming the first Filipina the first player from the Philippines to reach reach the second week of a slam and she said for me this is everything but she also said just because I'm emotional doesn't mean that I'm satisfied which is what I love to hear she said next round let's go and she said of the support that she receives from everybody in the Philippines And I've heard that there are already watch parties planned for two days time and her round of 16 match.

18:05Matt Roberts: She said, we're all in this together. And David, we were out there on Centre Court watching this match. And yes, look, the representation of a previously unrepresented nation and region in this sport will always be a huge story with Alexandra Ayala. and the support she receives will always be a feature of her matches. But actually, just because of how it works here, there weren't that many Filipino flags waving. There wasn't that much. It was actually probably the least partisan support she's walked out to in a couple of years, quite frankly, since people really became aware of Alexandra Ayala.

18:50Matt Roberts: Most of the fans that she had out there on Centre Court today were people that she won over with her tennis and her performance because it was that good and that electrifying.

19:02David Law: And her personality. She made that crowd fall in love with her today. She has that ability. She has something truly special, magnetic. She makes you feel all the feelings when she's playing the sports because she's clearly into it so much and she loves it and she's playing fearlessly, really. She goes for it. And there she is playing the defending champion on centre court. You know, she had to save a set point in that first set. I mean, I think Shantuck will have regrets that she put a backhand return in the net from a 79-mile-an-hour serves on set points. But when Ayala had her chances, she didn't take them all, but she just kept on going for it.

19:50David Law: and she's a lefty and she's going after that forehand relentlessly. She dares to dream on a tennis court. And the moment that she went 9-8 up with the sort of fearless hitting that she likes to do in tyre break, I mean, there was the most incredible roar. And then she asked for more. She asked for more noise. And people are going just wild in that stadium. And she had them in the palm of her hand. I mean, and I think a lot of people in that stadium maybe didn't know that much about her. You know, there's a lot of people that come to Wimbledon not necessarily knowing players that aren't the big names, but they will have left remembering Alexandra Ayala.

20:39You know, it's just a wonderful performance from her.

20:44David Law: And she doesn't put any limitations on herself. She will see no reason why she can't go and keep going. Do you see any reason why she can't? No. No, she's got a great game for grass. She's dangerous. I do think she's playing Jasmine Paulini next, and I tell you, she's playing well. And you're going to have two just wonderful personalities on the court against one another. But if you go and knock out the defending champion, and it happens to be Igor Shvante, you need to be taken seriously. She was on that stage, and she owned the place.

21:18Catherine Whitaker: I think she's better than I realised.

21:21Matt Roberts: I had the same thought.

21:23Catherine Whitaker: We've obviously known about her for a while and seen her talent and been aware of it, but, God, the way she packaged her game today was so impressive. It was interesting how Svantec actually talked about how the serve being slow, she actually found difficult to return. And there is such an element here of it's not only a good game, it's an awkward game. don't see it a lot and i think i think she can use that to her advantage the leftiness the fact that the serve isn't all that big but she backs it up so well she takes the ball early she keeps coming she's a threat of forehand and backhand like it's it's all there and the and she's intense you know she plays plays such you know intense tennis and doesn't let it go and scraps and fights like it's it's a it's a really hard thing to come up against and yeah I I felt like when she beat Svantec last year I sort of thought that was mostly Svantec playing quite badly this time I actually thought that first set was so high quality absolutely you know like I you know there's obviously stuff to be concerned about for Svantec but this was by no means like a bad Svantec performance at the start of this match and for the first set.

22:46Catherine Whitaker: I thought she did a lot of things quite well and Ejala went toe-to-toe with her and that was not what I was expecting. I thought if Ejala were to win this, Svantec would have to be really off it in a way that we have seen quite a lot this year but I didn't feel like that was the story of this match to be honest. I think Svantec really had a poor start to the second set and dropped serve very quickly a couple of times and that was disappointing for her. And then even she got one of the breaks back and then immediately just sort of gave it up again. And that resistance wasn't quite there. But yeah, I thought basically she was outplayed by Eala.

23:24Catherine Whitaker: And I wasn't really expecting that, even though I gave Eala a big chance in this one. She was very critical of herself, Chante, for how she dealt with Eala's serve, which she kept on calling slow. and which was she you know she wasn't trying to disrespect it she was trying to say look just because it's slow doesn't mean it's easy but you know her serve is is very very attackable

23:51Matt Roberts: and Iala did a fantastic job of that I mean that return performance today was stunning absolutely stunning and and I didn't realize she could hit the ball that hard I know it's because she seems to be a master of absorbing power. I didn't know she had the strength to do that. She was very rarely getting pushed behind the baseline.

24:14David Law: I think it works well on the grass. Definitely. Her hit, you know, versus the top spin of Svantec, who, by the way, fluffed a couple of dry follies. Really shanked a couple. There are some things in the Svantec game that are just unrecognisable from the player a few years ago.

24:36Matt Roberts: And while on the one hand, we were both in her press conference, David, while on the one hand it's nice to hear her sort of clearly trying not to beat herself up too hard over this. You don't want that. I worried that she'd be a state, quite frankly. I think so much of her, I mean, her ranking, for one thing, she's going to drop out of the top 10 after this for the first time since May 2021. But I think a lot of her self-esteem as a tennis player was propped up by having the Wimbledon in her bag because she hasn't really been Igor Shvontek since winning Wimbledon here last year. But for that full 12-month cycle of not playing that well, she's been Wimbledon champion and she's had that.

25:25Matt Roberts: now she doesn't so I did worry about her press conference today and was sort of on one hand relieved that she was saying the right things in terms of processing the the defeat and taking it on the chin but on the other hand it was kind of sad hearing her so resigned to defeats like this and resigned to her place in the tennis world and talking about not having any rights to any right to expect more of herself like it's all still there for igor shvantek she's still so young and she seems she's she seems lost quite frankly it's quite quite a thing to see and hear somebody sound so world weary of the sport a little or of her own performances when she's that age but then

26:15David Law: you're talking about somebody who's had many years of success real top level dominance and i suppose anything that's comparable to that doesn't feel great really um and and like you say lost is a good word really because she's searching she's searching for whatever it was and she's she's sensibly trying to distill it down into process and in terms of what she can control i understand that i think it's probably the right thing to do i'm just not entirely sure that the methods are the right ones the people may be not the right ones i don't know i'm not i'm not qualified to say for sure of course not but i mean what we do know is the results aren't coming i wanted to share a message that we received from our editor jib in the philippines I've been dying to talk about Jib all day.

27:11Who wasn't into tennis at all when he started editing the tennis podcast. Definitely was thinking, what is this nonsense that I'm having to listen to every night now? He plays tennis. He sure does. He was playing tennis today. He travelled three hours to play tennis today.

27:28Matt Roberts: Jib's tennis journey is incredible. And at the same time he's going on this tennis journey, Alexander Ayala is emerging as a force in the tennis world and the biggest superstar in the Philippines. The country's going on a tennis journey with Jib. It cannot be more perfect and we love Jib so much and he bought a subscription to some sort of streaming service this afternoon so that he could watch Ayala in a parking lot. he had it up on his phone and the second he got up this the live stream a group of kids emerged around him like the pied piper which was so perfect because the commentator literally after

28:14Catherine Whitaker: the match had finished said and there will be lots of little girls and little boys watching in the philippines and we were like yes we've got a photo of them watching over jib's

28:25Matt Roberts: shoulder it was magical yeah really magical and we're very lucky to have that sort of window onto the onto the world of what's happening over there and jib sent this message to us earlier and i asked if he would mind us sharing it and he said no absolutely go ahead he said with all the fucked up things happening in our country right now alex's win tonight on center court even for a moment makes being filipino something to be proud of i'm so happy to see people i know who have different political stances different religions living in different walks of life sharing one singular thing tonight and that is that's the beauty of sport isn't it and i'm so glad jib is experiencing that and i'm so glad alexandre is bringing that to so many people in in a part of the world that hasn't had that before it's so powerful and so brilliant and i know we always say it but the way she handles it is absolutely magnetic sort of the way she handles everything is absolutely magnetic i've never seen anyone really tread the line of being respectful and humble whilst also being totally fearless and feeling like they're born to be here and not having any imposter syndrome at all like that's a fine line to tread and she's she's just on it right on that line and it's perfection it's like the whole i'm thrilled but i'm not satisfied thing which is the perfect state of mind and in terms of leaning into playing for something bigger than herself like what a special moment that she then

30:09Catherine Whitaker: meets billy jean king today at wimbledon and and i think that happened quite organically yeah and that was lovely and wonderful to see and and i just had a chat with the bbc floor manager

30:21Matt Roberts: that was floor managing at the time that that happened and i said she did know who billy jean king was and everything right because she's 21 like they don't all and she absolutely did and was thrilled to bits to be meeting her which is love that wonderful i could talk about alexandra eala all night david a word on jasmine paulini her next opponent you were watching her defeat of maria sacchari on the screen while we were on center court watching alexandra eala 6162 in 66

30:58David Law: minutes yeah i sort of turned this one on she went full of up in about 15 minutes and i thought well that's not like a scoreline I've seen from Jasmine Paolini so far this year and I was wondering whether you know sometimes Zachary can can really make scorelines like that happen when she has a bad day so I wanted to turn it on but this was look I'm sure Zachary had a bad day but Paolini was was like the Paolini a couple of years ago and it was just joyous to watch you know there was a conviction about her there was there was a spring in her step the body language was back you know the positivity was there I mean I think these things all go hand in hand don't they you of course you feel more positive when you're playing like that but maybe as well the the game comes from the positivity as well it's they're probably impossible to separate then I went to her press conference afterwards and I asked her you know you've not had the best of times the last couple supplements how does it feel and when did it change you know what were you going through at the time when when it when results weren't there she said i had doubts i had a lot of doubts you know i mean she'd had some physical problems but but but just generally she didn't and she said

32:14Matt Roberts: those doubts stopped me from expressing myself on the court yeah which i thought was a a great

32:20David Law: explanation of how it all becomes a vicious circle and i think it's that much more meaningful to her it's it's a little bit like which what i was saying with fiontech is you you must just get used to your your reality being i win i play well of course i do because why wouldn't i you know um and suddenly you might stop playing well and winning and it must be really disconcerting and i think probably that's happened to paulini because one of the one of the things of the joke of underestimating jasmine paulini is because i expect kept expecting her not to be able to produce it after a while and she kept on doing it and it was it was amazing to witness and then finally she did hit the wall and for whatever reason the injuries the the self-doubt but yeah there's a there's a player who's bouncing again there now and the thought of her playing against Ayala is is really something to to cherish I hope they both have a good day like I hope they both play well I don't want to see a one-sided match in which one of them really struggles have you got any

33:23Catherine Whitaker: physical concerns about Ayala? There was a little sign of it maybe towards the end of the match. She's got big, heavy strapping on her leg.

33:31Matt Roberts: She does, yeah, and she was sort of just tapping at her thighs a bit to get them going. I didn't think her level of play dropped at all, but it wasn't tested by Shontek down the stretch. I think another reason why Shontek kind of let it get away today, like there was a question there to be asked of Ayala that Shontek kind of threw away the opportunity to ask. Yes, I think it's a question. It's not a massive concern, but a question for sure. But I think she's had the strapping on right the way through the tournament. It looks alarming, but it hasn't hampered her thus far.

34:09David Law: There's also a question about navigating a Grand Slam tournament because she hasn't done this before to this level, to this far. So we'll find out.

34:18Catherine Whitaker: And always say it, but backing up a big moment like that, It's hard, very hard to go again after that. I mean, that had the feel of, yeah, like final scenes in terms of the intensity of it.

34:34David Law: When she won the first set, you know the image that went through my mind. When she hit the, she won the point and at several set points threw her arms into the air and walked towards her team. I thought of Andy Murray winning the 2013 Wimbledon when he walked shaking his fists, you know, and threw his hat off.

34:50Matt Roberts: reacted to the end of the first set like the match was over. Shontek devastated, marching towards her chair, threw her racket in her bag, and then walked off the courts kind of shouting at herself and then at her box. And yeah, Ayala with the arms in the air, celebration directed at her box. It was like, I can't believe there's more. That was one set in the third round. God! And all the while that that was happening, over on number one court, which is where Matt was, Elena Rabatkinner, the former champion here, was being taken out by an absolute masterclass from Elisa Mertens, 7-6-6-1. Again, David was somehow watching this on one of our many screens.

35:32Matt Roberts: He described it as a beatdown for Mertens. Second set was. Yeah, I mean, in the early stages here, there was no real sign that this was going to be a big upset. You know, like Rabatkinner was the one creating the chances. Mertens was hanging on a bit in the early stages but then actually Mertens twice managed to get a break in the first set and immediately got pegged back

35:56Catherine Whitaker: and we found ourselves in a tie break and Rebecca is ahead in that tie break and I was thinking okay it's been a little bit of a wayward set or certainly latter half of the set but she's going to get through it she'll be fine she always beats Mertens she was 7-1 in the head-to-head you know like it's been a good matchup for her but then the things we've started seeing from Rabatkinow in the last few months start happening and one error leads to another and you know wayward forehands forehands in the net double folds even in the tie break and Mertens pinches that first set and then absolutely David's right races through the second set as soon as she got the break Mertens she was pretty comfortable in this one she played well Mertens I want to say that like there were a couple of points back to back towards the end where for once Rebecca actually was like constructing a point quite nicely rather than just going for broke on the ball and missing but Mertens was in her backhand corner defending and chipping with the slice throwing up the moon ball every type of defensive shot you can come up with Mertens had it and causing Rebecca problems and then turning that defence into attack and winning it and he thought wow that's like it's a brilliant point then she did it again on the very next point and finished it with her own great backhand and it was really good for Mertens for someone who has had this ceiling really on her game and on how far she progresses in slams normally this is a really big deal for her to to beat Rebecca but you know it was tough from a Rebecca perspective because that that consistency that she had from the end of our season through to kind of the sunshine double of this season has gone I mean completely gone she she now is vulnerable every time she steps on court for this kind of thing happening where the game just kind of deserts her and she deteriorates and the it's it's tough to watch because for someone so good it becomes so error strewn and yeah Mertens took advantage of that she was asked in the on-court interview how the nerves were after the final game when she was trying to serve it out and there was a she was very tight trying to serve it out Mertens there were there were double faults there were misses but she had such a big lead I never really thought she was in trouble but she was asked for the nerves and she was like well I think you could see that the nerves were pretty bad.

38:29David watching that final game jested at the screen and said one of them can't play tennis and one's having a nervous breakdown. She was going through turmoil wasn't she? Totally understandably. But no a heck of a win and honestly like such a weird feeling. I don't know whether you had this as well but like we lost Rebecca Nesviontek from the draw back to back in a very quick succession and those are those are huge defeats you know but I wasn't that confident about either of them this tournament you know like it feels like the draws changed massively and I think it has

39:08Catherine Whitaker: because you have to respect the fact that they're former champions and they've won multiple majors they were the they were the big names in this half but at the same time it wasn't it wasn't it didn't quite feel like it had the same effect on the draws it might have done in previous years which Fiontek and Rebac are going out

39:25David Law: Rebecca hadn't been in a quarter-final, I don't think, since Stuttgart. Certainly hadn't been winning. She'd lost up earlier everywhere in the grass court season. I chose her for my final because I couldn't see obvious alternatives in that half the draw. And to me, well, the pedigree's there. To me, she's got the most perfect game for grass of anybody in women's tennis. And she looked like a bit of a ghost, I'm afraid. out there and in the press conference too i mean it's you know what what do you do i said to uh what what do you think has has happened between that great start to the year and then this this fall off she says if i knew that i'd have done something about it wouldn't i basically and i totally understand that it's it's must must be horrible to just feel lost it's a brutal sport

40:17Matt Roberts: isn't it six months less than six months after winning a slam you can look completely lost it's tough out there she plays Marie Buskova next does Elisa Merton she beat Lyudmila Samsonova 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 also happening this match well in fact this match seemed to be happening while most other things were happening because it went on forever incredible win for Buskova who has come into this Wimbledon with form this is not out of the blue her reaching this round of 16 She saved 15 out of 16 break points in the second and third sets. Nails from Buzkova. Yeah, and Hannah was watching this one and described it as a masterclass in weaponised defence of how to win by bringing a bag of knives to a gunfight.

41:08Because, you know, like Sonsoniva has power and can just overwhelm you and Buzkova doesn't have that. She has to dig in and she does that so well.

41:19Catherine Whitaker: and Hannah said the story of this wasn't Samsonova imploding and hitting unforced errors as she can. It was Buzkova getting everything back, putting it in awkward places and actively tormenting Samsonova was how Hannah described it and went love 40 down when serving for the match and then won five points in a row to get out of it. Yeah, it sounded like she played the big points just so much better.

41:44Matt Roberts: So Eala Paolini and Samsonova Buzkova. more matches in both the men's and the women's from today to talk about. Pam is in the chat. Pam is here live, everyone. Happy birthday, Pam! Wish Pam a very happy birthday. We love you, Pam.

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44:19Matt Roberts: Okay, Madison Keys, Amanda Anisimova on the 4th of July, 2nd on Centre Court. Amanda Anisimova returning to that court for the first time since her double bagel in the final here last year. Matt, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 for Madison Keys and perhaps a scoreline that makes it sound closer than it was? Yes, perhaps. Look, I do think Anissimova deserved to win the first set. It was actually, it caught me by surprise, the first set, because I've watched her previous two matches and she's not been playing well. We talked about it and she said that actually that was the reason she was nervous going back to centre court.

45:00Catherine Whitaker: it wasn't anything to do with last year's final it was the fact that she wasn't playing that well and she knew it and she was worried about showing up on centre court with not much form but the first set okay it was a slow start but the the game she played to to win the first set was really good and as I said it caught me by surprise I wasn't expecting it but she was definitely the better player at the end of that first set doing the things we know she can do really well but But from that point onwards, yeah, 6-2, 6-3 for Keys is absolutely a fair reflection of this match. Keys was more in control of her game, I would say, quite frankly.

45:42Catherine Whitaker: Anissa Mova has lost her forehand completely.

45:47Matt Roberts: And she knows it.

45:48Catherine Whitaker: She knows it. And unfortunately, she was very upset in the press conference and talked a lot about how she's been putting in the work. But she just can't find her game at the moment. And she talked about how she feels like she's playing at sort of 1-2-5 level rather than Wimbledon level. And how it's not enjoyable out there on the court when you're playing like that. And even during the match, you could hear every time she missed the forehand, she would turn to the box. and I think she was picked up by saying I've tried 20 different forehands and it's just not working and it as I said it feels like she's tried to change the take back make it make it look to me it looks bigger I imagine she's trying to get a bit more shape on the ball and make it a bit more reliable but unfortunately the total opposite has happened and every time she goes hit a forehand at the moment she's really not confident with it and making a lot of errors and And then that then seeps into the rest of the game as well.

46:49Catherine Whitaker: And yeah, it's tough right now, to be honest. And honestly, it kind of feels better that Madison Keyes goes on in this draw, if you know what I mean.

47:03Matt Roberts: She absolutely knew her tennis wasn't in the place to have a run here. Totally not. I think she's upset about where her game is at more than losing today, right? Yeah. and it does sound like she's going to do some serious soul searching now I wouldn't be surprised if she makes a coaching change and as I know she hasn't been with Sebastian Sachs very long and I'm generally sort of not in favour of chopping and changing too quickly and not giving coaches a chance but it doesn't look great does it it might just not be not be the right fit yeah she said I need to go home I need to take some time and figure out how I can fix this so I really hope she does ahead of the US hard courts but there's just not much time is there?

47:52Catherine Whitaker: No and she said she also said hopefully everything will click but it's hard to see that coming right now you know like it was a tough press conference this one.

48:02David Law: It's like you were saying earlier what a brutal sport this is I mean it's wonderful we've had the best day we weren't losing out there you know It must be a hard feeling. Well, David, you did lose two of your final picks today. Yeah, but one of the beauties of you never know is you can confidently say stuff's going to happen, but you never know. By the way, that was Madison Keyes' first match on centre court. Unbelievable.

48:29Catherine Whitaker: And she said that she had been offered by Laura Robson, who she's very friendly with in the past, to like go on Centrecore and have a bit of a tour of it and make the walk and all that kind of stuff and she said no I don't want to do that I only want to do that oh yeah I wouldn't want to do

48:46Matt Roberts: that either that's a bit like do you want to sit at the kids table at a wedding you can come but

48:53David Law: you'll be on your own at the kids table I'd love to be on that imagine the fun there that's the best table but i found it interesting that like she wanted to experience it playing there you know

49:08Catherine Whitaker: and i think that was you know she said that was maybe part of the reason for her slightly slower start in this one adjusting to those surroundings but she is playing better than anissa mova right now she looks a lot more in control of her game and reminders in this one of just how dangerous she can be and she broke serve in the final set with an amazing backhand up the line she looks to be moving well I think and she's she's just getting enough of her big shots in to to sort of make the difference in these matches at the moment and look she now plays Noskova who is the highest seed remaining in the bottom half of the draw and the one within in form you know having having just won a title and has a very, very dangerous grass court player.

49:55Catherine Whitaker: But honestly, like Keys and Isimova coming just after Svontek-Rabatkin, it felt big. It felt like these are two players with real pedigree in this bottom half of the draw. And there's not, there's a lot of good players. We've got 14 seeds left in the draw, which is the most in the fourth round of Wimbledon since 2007. And that's part of why those losses for Svontek and Rabatkin are not impacting things as much. which has a lot of good players left. It doesn't feel like anything's blown wide open. But Keyes-Noskova, to me, is a huge match.

50:30Matt Roberts: Do you think the finalist is coming from that match, most likely? I think I do, yeah.

50:36Catherine Whitaker: I think in terms of, like, Noskova's game really suits the grass, and Keyes, it does suit the grass, and she's got the Grand Slam experience. I think that's a huge match.

50:49Matt Roberts: the last round of 16 match set up today is Marta Kostiuk against Ashlyn Kruger this was the first match of the day Kostiuk's win over Navarro on court number 262-4661 she was awesome Kostiuk I wasn't expecting new Kostiuk to also exist on the grass in this way and I was so wrong about that. It's like what you were saying with Kabali a couple of days ago, the athleticism enables her to translate her game to this surface, especially with this confidence that she's playing with right now. She looks a real force.

51:35David Law: Yeah, you watch her playing, you think, why has this never worked before? Because it looks perfect for the grass, really. She's got these sort of scything strokes as it is. I mean, we've seen her go after the ball this year, all the way through. Hardcourt to the start of the year in Australia, just before she got that injury, got to the final, I think, in Brisbane. Then she's had these incredible results on play and winning Madrid, reaching the semis of Ron and Garros. And then suddenly now, here she is on this court and you're thinking, well, yeah, she's just carrying on where she left off. And yet, being in the press conference with her, was really instructive about how many doubts she's had on this surface.

52:18David Law: She said, before this tournament, I was terrible on this surface in practice. I was terrible. I couldn't win a practice set against anybody. She said, I played a practice set against Serena and lost it. I played a practice set against Jessica Pegula. I lost it. And she says, I turned around to my coach, Sandra, and I said, look me in the eye and tell me am I suited for this surface because I don't I'm I'm not sure and she says Sandra said yes you are she said okay I'll believe you she went away and I said so what is it you're doing out there and that's kind of working she says not really thinking not really worrying just she said enjoying and she actually said that um even if she'd lost today she was sort of looking forward to next year because she's figured it out and i said well what is it you figured out she says that i can do it she says i don't really know how to explain it but i just know what to do now on the surface and i've never known before i enjoyed that you mentioned richard kraycheck in your question you know we've got richard kraycheck relift that we've Just done.

53:34David Law: So we did 1996 Relief. So I did. I quoted a... I don't know how familiar she is with Richard Krychek, given the look on her face at the time. But I did say, you know, he won the title, but, you know, several years he said, I don't know how to move on the surface. And he went and won it. So, you know. Imagine if she goes and wins it and then quotes Richard Krychek in her own speech. I do like Marta Kostiuk, though. like in the you know there's one of the little room two press conferences where there's only three rows of seats and she's just so engaging and so prepared to take on any question look you in the eye and give you an answer really nice and you know the thing about Kostiuk is I you know

54:16Catherine Whitaker: I hadn't really thought about her coming into this Wimbledon I'd had the same thoughts that you had sounds like the same thoughts Kostiuk was having about the grass but new Kostiuk is constantly doing things that I'm not expecting her to do. Like, I didn't think I'd ever be putting her in a Grand Slam mix, and I did. I didn't think I'd see her sort of deal with pressure moments as she has done over the past few months so well. And frankly, you know, she'd never beaten Emma Navarro before. She was 0-4 in that head-to-head, and she's overturned that as well in this one. And that's the place she's in now, doing new things.

54:53Catherine Whitaker: and I probably should have been more on that. This is different, Kostiuk, and her game can suit this surface. And look, Navarro, I don't know what happened to her second serve return today, like so bad, like every time she would get a second serve return, she just really fumbled it. And I think it's going to be interesting to see that tested a bit more because I still think that second serve is a little weak for Kostiuk. but her athleticism her willingness to go after the ball so good and so suitable for this surface and confidence as well, she's just got a lot of it at the moment.

55:29Matt Roberts: So Ashlyn Kruger, Marta Kostchik, Jasmir Paolini, Alex Ayala, Madison Keyes, Linda Nozkova, Marie Bozkova, Elisa Mertens pick your finalist

55:42I think I'm going to go Keyes David do you want the list again yes please Kruger Kostiuk Paulini Eala Keyes Nozkova Buskova Mertens I'm going Eala wow I think the world might explode if Alex Eala reaches a Wimbledon final you never know Okay, a few more men's results from today to touch upon. Alex de Minot and Flavio Caboli have set up a round of 16 match. De Minot, four sets over Zachary Schweider. Flavio Caboli, five sets over Karen Hashanov. Lost the first one, six love. Overheard in the media centre at the end of this set from somebody sitting a couple of rows over from us. What is Flavio doing?

56:43It was the question on everyone's lips. It was the question he was asked in the on-court interview after this match. Do you know what the answer was? I do.

56:52David Law: Well, he started by saying it was a bit early. Yes, and I thought, this is Flavio. But then he went on to say, well, to paraphrase, watery shits.

57:05He is the face of IBS in tennis, by the sounds of things. He said, I felt some strange feeling on my stomach, but when I came back from the bathroom, I was okay. And we have a new... There was... Made a mistake with the machine, which was I had some problems with the food. It sounded like he'd eaten at the wrong time. Yeah. I mean, it's amateur hours. That is amateur hours. I don't know. Grand Slam tennis, it's a bit like that, though, isn't it?

57:36David Law: We have that. When do you eat? It's not easy. I feel for you, Flavio. By the way, what was Flavio doing? That is a sentence that I hear so much... Reusable, isn't it? ...during his match. Like, you kept saying, what is Flavio doing on the floor all the time? He was every time... Again, every time I looked up, he was on the floor. A lot of the time doing utterly spectacular things. I mean, Court 2 loved him today.

58:04Matt Roberts: He said it was like a Davis Cup. And partly because there were a lot of Italians, but a bit like Centre Court with Ayala, a whole lot of non-Italians came along for the ride with Caballi. And he did this surfboard celebration thing afterwards, which Matt thought was a sort of nod to riding the waves. And it turned out actually it was a Brazilian football thing and it was some kind of bet with his coach.

58:30Catherine Whitaker: Yes, I think it's what Cunha, the Brazilian striker, does as his celebration. player but it is right you do have to ride the waves yes you do he's asked in his press conference about the 11 plus hours that he spent on court three three three rounds he says i'm the arnaldy of wimbledon that was great i think he said of the wimbledon he is a gift oh i love it the thing

58:57David Law: is both i feel like both he and kostrick in a way they're just sort of slightly deliriously going about Wimbledon because they're too exhausted to try and do it sensibly. Yes. So they're just going for it and having a laugh. And give it much thought. Yeah. And just, yeah. They're just swinging and freewheeling. They put the heart and soul into it and they're just sort of what is going on.

59:17Matt Roberts: Yeah, absolutely. Dimonor Cabali. Matt, they haven't played for two and a half years. So, and Cabali in particular, very different player than he was two and a half years ago.

59:27Catherine Whitaker: That is my kind of match. Like, there's just like, how do you hit a winner in that? they're both so fast and such good athletes and i really think that could be brilliant i mean i do think caballi's got quite a lot of tennis in his legs here hasn't he you know he's played he's said he feels really fresh though yeah um and i would hope at this stage of the tournament he's still got like another another long match in him i think it would be later in the tournament you'd really worry about that. Dumanor today was tested in that second set by Schweider, and I was quite taken by the way everyone's talking about Schweider.

1:00:07Catherine Whitaker: I feel like the players really rate him. I've heard Ben Shelton describe him as one of the best ball strikers he's faced. Dumanor repeated that today and said he's got one of the best running forehands on tour, and there were a few of those. There was some drama at the end of the second set where Schweider thought he'd won it, but he ran into the net and touched the net before the ball had bounced twice after hitting a winner. So he didn't get it, but he eventually managed to win that second set and Dimonor recovered well. And he was feeling the vibes on his court, saying it feels like an Aussie court that he's been on.

1:00:43Catherine Whitaker: And, you know, I think Dimonor is pretty popular here as well. I think Dimonor against Caballi is... It's a good time. It's a good time, yeah. I would make Dimonor the slight favourite I do think I do think I do think Caballi's vibes are better right now you know as we've talked about than anyone potentially and Dimonor is having Alexei Arlo a run for her money Dimonor is having a little bit of problems in that respect but I don't know he's got a lot of nous on the surface depends when Caballi decides to eat before the match potentially nine points he won in that opening set He did a full mention.

1:01:25Speaking of vibes, David and Matthew behind the camera. Arthur Ferry, 2675267676, back from the brink on several occasions against Zizou Berg's four hours and 39 minutes.

1:01:42Matt Roberts: He books himself a spot in the second week of Wimbledon, keeping British hopes alive. Matthew was out there for every single minute of this with his notebook he didn't even go to the loop I said to Matt how are we going to get all of Matthew's takes in the show because he was out there for the whole thing making notes and Matt said there weren't that many takes I think we'll manage it quality over quantity right Matthew yeah was it worth your time Matthew yes oh Matthew was buzzing he loved it he had a great time yeah he came back and we went to have went to have dinner and we finished dinner he was like right i need to go to the toilet i have not been to the toilet he said it creeps up on you doesn't it you forget about it when you're out there and then suddenly you're like i haven't been to the toilet for five hours and i sat down with matthew and went through his notebook and all his all of his diligent notes and they were diligent it was it was very very good um things to things to pick out Matthew loves Ferry's belief self-belief because he needed that in this match even when he was down and he was seriously down in this one he was 4-1 double break down in the fourth Ferry three nosebleeds down yes that is an issue for him and he was 4-1 down again only a single break this time but in the fifth but every time he just let Berg's know that he was still there still in this match not willing to give it up.

1:03:18And look, Berg's Berg's played poorly in those positions when he was leading. A lot of double faults. Lost his game, lost his way. There was a bit of there was a bit of sort of I think a moment that Berg's might regret where he goes over to the umpire towards the end of this match and has a bit of a moan about the fact that Ferry has not apologised for a neck cord. but not only that it was a net cord that helped Bergs it was a net cord where the ball sat up for Bergs to hit a forehand winner and he missed it he complained to the umpire yes I tell you what he told tales on the other guy he said it was not very sporting oh get a life

1:04:03Matt Roberts: I think he is on notice in my fantasy team for that that is pearl clutching that I cannot tolerate the thing is I think get a grip I think he's just lost his head in the moment and he's basically choked away these leads he was really nice to ferry afterwards he wasn't chippy about it at all i think it was a moment of madness in okay in a in a fifth set that he will i think he'll probably regret he's got a great dog he does

1:04:36David Law: and he's usually a good laugh he's hanging in there for the moment i love zizi bergs i know i I was really disappointed in that moment. I didn't think he was that guy. But I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. And Ferry, by the way, did an excellent eye roll when he heard that that was said by Burge.

1:04:53Matt Roberts: This is Ferry that put earplugs in when someone else was doing some pearl-clutching nonsense. He always puts earplugs in. That's his thing. So it's not just when people are doing nonsense? No, no, he always does it. It's just particularly handy when people are doing nonsense. Because the risk of nonsense is so high. Yeah. david leon smith the british davis cup captain head of men's tennis at the lta was watching arthur ferry from this very bench yep you sidled up to him had a chat makes me sound really really dodgy okay some loitering i mean it's all true let's be honest now the entirety of the lta performance

1:05:31David Law: staff was was stood right here looking over this fence for well the full four and a half hours and And when it was levelled up at two sets all, I mean, I had not really had a chance to watch this match. And I wanted to get some idea of how it had gone the way it had. Because what had happened is Ferri had got off to a terrible start and lost the first set 6-2 in no time at all. Then he found his game. And this same thing happened in the first round against Damir Jumma. You know, he was setting a breakdown and he came back and he found his way into it. And this happened again. and then he had another terrible dip, lost the third set heavily in this match and then found his way coming back again.

1:06:13David Law: And I was just curious from Leon what had happened to Arthur, whether he'd had like an energy low or whether he'd come out a bit tight and nervous and how he'd got himself back into it, having not seen much of the match. and Leon was just going over there to fill up four different water bottles for the people he was standing with. Because, you know, I mean, it was seriously hot up here, standing, looking over there for so long. And he said, to be honest, Berg's, apart from when he really needed to, Berg's, he said, played some of the best tennis he's ever seen Berg's play for the first, you know, set and third set.

1:06:56David Law: And he said he should have already won this match. the way he was playing he just he doesn't know how he kind of let it go he said Arthur did an incredible job at hanging in and and played really well you know he said that is this is the best I've seen Ferry play and we were four sets in at that point you know and and he said look win or lose it doesn't really matter now in terms of the long term because Arthur has been exposed to this and he's got himself to two sets all and he's kept himself afloat in a dogfight. He says, I don't know how much he's got left. We'll just find out. And within minutes, Ferry was 4-1 down.

1:07:40David Law: And he looked like he'd gone, to be honest. And then it just sort of happened again. I mean, Ferry's good at using the crowd. He really got the crowd going with him. And I mean, they didn't need much encouraging, but it was a brilliant atmosphere out here. I think there's only 800 people can get on this court, but they were really making some noise. And it was bothering Berg's, as you were saying. He just kind of lost it. He blew it, I'm afraid, for him. But huge, huge credit to Arthur Ferry. I've always liked his game. And of all the young British players coming through that are trying to break through, he's the one that I look at and think, there's real talent there.

1:08:18David Law: I mean, he's not a big guy, but he makes the most of what he's got. I have one more Matthew line for you. A pledge. And it feels fitting on the day that Amanda Nisimova goes out. To quote Matthew, if he wins Wimbledon, I will dye my hair blonde. Matthew always wears a hat. I don't know what's going on under there. Not blonde hair. I've known him for 20 years. He's never had it blonde, so I'm excited. But it could be a shaved head. that could be a fake out come on Arthur have you got hair under there Matthew promise ok at the moment he's wearing a hat and a hoodie yeah that is his live show look yeah it might be because he's already had a had a hair dying disaster and looking to cover it up ok we'll keep you to your word here on the tennis podcast Matthew now people are torn about fairy Dimitro

1:09:17Matt Roberts: Taylor Fritz four sets for him against Lorenzo Sonigo the blazer was back he finally didn't get asked about it in a post-match press conference uh he is through to face public in the next round he did uh say i think it was in the on court that like he's so superstitious so as soon as he won in the first match with it he was like well of course i was going to keep wearing it after that like he's now he's now so in it because he keeps winning with it he's yeah he's an interesting guy isn't I asked him about whether he was, how he feels now about the decision not to play Eastbourne, which he revealed after his last round, his team had to sort of intervene and tell him not to play.

1:09:59Matt Roberts: He had wanted to play. And I think he's still thinking about the Eastbourne that got away, you know, which is sort of lovely. Like he has such genuine affection for that tournament. And he said at the time that he pulled out, he was aware of how many other top players had pulled out. and he was aware of how much it would devastate the draw and he didn't want to do that to them. And that's really lovely. But also, you've got a chance at winning Wimbledon maybe here. That's certainly how he should be thinking. You've got to be ruthless and selfish. But yeah, he definitely wasn't like, oh, I'm so glad now that I'm playing like this and in this shape that I pulled out of Eastbourne.

1:10:35He was like, oh, Eastbourne.

1:10:38David Law: By the way, I love Lorenzo Sonigo as an opponent for a big player. He creates vibes and matches. And Fritz did really well to get over the line in a fourth set. I mean, I think he still would have won it in five. But, you know, he saved himself a set there because he was really under the gun in that tie break. I thought it was going to go wrong for him and he was going to have to go into the fifth. But he turned it around.

1:11:03Catherine Whitaker: And he was so pleased with himself coming up with those big shots and the big moments. He was like, that's when tennis is at its most fun. and like I feel like everyone got out of this match what they should get out of it but Sonago is a perfect opening week slam guy for everyone on the court to just have a great time he'll hit great winners he'll get the crowd going he'll get into it but Fritz has got well title ambitions quite frankly and getting out of that in four rather than five is is big.

1:11:34Matt Roberts: Alexander Zverev comfortable today, 6-2, 7-6, 6-4 against Marcus Girone. A messier performance from him, but not too troubled. Just a level difference between him and Girone. He plays Yurila Hetchka now, who needed four sets to beat Jaume Munar. And that means that the round of 16 line-up in this bottom half of the draw on the men's side, we have Alexander Zverev, this is bottom to top, Yuri Lehechka, Alexander Bublik, Taylor Fritz, Arthur Ferry, Grigor Dimitrov, Flavio Cabali and Alex Diminor. Pick your finalist.

1:12:15Catherine Whitaker: I'm going to stick with Fritz.

1:12:18Matt Roberts: Yeah, I'm going Fritz too. You've moved on from Tiafoe very quickly, David. I mean, I haven't really got much choice.

1:12:28okay sometimes you do know when you when they lose you know all right

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1:13:45Moving on to tomorrow, a whole new day of you never knows, David Just speaking of order of plays, by the way Venus and Serena Williams were on today's and then they weren't on today's.

1:13:56Matt Roberts: We had the news that announced via Serena Williams on her Instagram that her knee and the swelling in her knee that she had as a result of the singles match against Maya Joint the other night not recovered enough in time for her and Venus to be able to play their doubles match today. So they withdrew from the doubles. Looking at the pitches and the state that she was in, hard to believe that it was ever a conversation that that match might have been played today. But we got some extra fun out of it along the way. So get well soon, Serena. In terms of tomorrow's order of play, day seven, we embark upon the round of 16, folks.

1:14:35Matt Roberts: We start on centre court at 1.30pm with Roman Cefiulin against Novak Djokovic. Second on the women's match that has got the nod for centre court is Irina Sabalenka against Naomi Osaka. And third on, it is Yannick Sinner against Shintaro Mochizuki. Number one court tomorrow opens with another All-American clash between Jessica Pegula and Iva Jovic. Then it's Felix Auger-Aliassime against Alejandro Davidovic-Vukhina. And finally, on number one court tomorrow, Belinda Bencic taking on Coco Goff. And the remaining singles matches on number two court following a men's doubles third round match are Karolina Mukova against Barbora Krejcikova.

1:15:19Matt Roberts: Second on, and then Hubert Hercats against Jan-Leonard Struff. Do we see any upsets tomorrow?

1:15:30Probably. You don't want me to tell you what they will be, do you?

1:15:41Where did we come down on Benchic's golf?

1:15:43Catherine Whitaker: I mean, I think... I think that's pretty 50-50, really. It's tough to know what the upset is.

1:15:50Matt Roberts: I would pick Bencic, but I'm not sure I'd call Goff an upset.

1:15:54Catherine Whitaker: I'm going Goff.

1:15:56Matt Roberts: Yeah. Jovic might be an upset.

1:15:59Catherine Whitaker: Yes, I think if Jovic won, that would be an upset. Yeah.

1:16:03Matt Roberts: Davidovic for Kina, Sifulin, Osaka, Mochizuki. I think Mukova's the upset in Mukova-Karuchikova. To me, that really is 50-50, that one. Yeah? Yeah. and then her catch strif who on earth knows someone watch that and let us know please yeah there is there is a big temptation to just plop my way through the order of play via the

1:16:30Catherine Whitaker: women's matches tomorrow yeah and you can kind of do that the way they've spread them out i think

1:16:35Matt Roberts: i yeah and i think it'll be a case of not not watching the men's but sort of waiting until the men's yes gets your attention like like i actually think orgyalia seemed a village for Keener could get really interesting. I could imagine picking that up in the fourth set and that being great. Interested to see how Mokshizuki distracts Sinner. Yes. What's he going to wear? He could streak across centre court. Djokovic's... Richard Krejci... No, Richard... Melissa. 96 style. Right, yeah. It wasn't Richard Krejcik that did the streaking, but he was present for it. Indeed. is he in the royal box tomorrow maybe he'll be present for it again okay anyone fancying Osaka that's the one I sort of feel delusional about it and then she never does if you're not saying it David you know I'm just going to wait and see I'm all predictioned out fair enough David let's talk about Phoebe who is looking a bit hot, quite frankly.

1:17:51As the UK weather starts to get hot again, says Phoebe, or Priyanka maybe, the heat wave has already hit where Phoebe lives and they are sensibly staying indoors where it is cool. What a lovely girl. Lovely, lovely girl. I see some toys strewn about the place.

1:18:06Matt Roberts: Did we see Elisa Mertens appealing for a dog? I did indeed. In her on-court interview today? Yeah. Phoebe? she was asked got the call up she was asked what she would want to do on a day off and she reminded Annabelle Croft I don't have days off because I also play doubles so this is very much hypothetical but she was like what would I want to do in London on a day off I would just want to walk someone's dog aww she loves dogs she does yeah she's always surrounded by lots of dogs on on Instagram dad get Billie Jean in the car driver up to London. She'd get on famously with Billie Jean, wouldn't she?

1:18:47I want you to get into Mertens. I'm not not into Mertens. What's happening here? I just feel like Mertens is... I feel like you'd like Mertens. I think I'm a really appropriate amount into Mertens. Hello to Bodie, Maisie and Roger, our mascots. Hello to Greg, Chris and Geoff, our top folks and executive producers. Matt, let's have some shout-outs. We have Kim Ferguson from Glasgow. Hi, Kim. Hello, Kim. Hi, Kim Clijsters. Very good. Kim has been a listener since 2019. She's a proud corgi owner. Oh, well. Get the corgi to Elise Mertens. And Kim is taking her mum to Wimbledon this year. it will be her first time.

1:19:40And that will mean that Kim's mum is halfway to her fan slam and Kim will be three quarters of her way. Next stop, Flushing Meadows. What a wonderful thing to do

1:19:52Matt Roberts: to take your mum to Wimbledon for the first time. Kim Birrell. Yes. Go on, Kim. Kim Murray. Kim's everywhere. Thank you, Kim. We also have Lisa Toll. hello Lisa who says the only Lisa I know in pro tennis is Lisa Raymond yes you've helped us out there Lisa I was struggling for a moment

1:20:22Catherine Whitaker: and Lisa wants to share her shout out with her twin sister Laurie aww we know another

1:20:31Matt Roberts: set of twin listeners where one of them is Lisa Lisa and Jenny

1:20:36Catherine Whitaker: who were here yesterday yes

1:20:39Matt Roberts: I was so sure you were going to say Jenny there wow it's amazing so Laurie Laurie and Lisa

1:20:45Catherine Whitaker: yes and Lisa says not only do we share DNA we also share the love of the tennis podcast oh

1:20:52Matt Roberts: Federer was here yesterday wasn't he with his two sets of twins was he was he I didn't see him I think so Instagram suggested so or maybe he's just in London and is I've clearly got this wrong

1:21:07David Law: I saw his agent if that helps yesterday Federer's definitely kicking around the area maybe he hasn't actually been here to the tennis yet he's in town hang on

1:21:20Matt Roberts: we know he's coming to town because Matthew's doing some filming Matthew has to ditch Roger Federer at some point

1:21:24Catherine Whitaker: yeah that's next week Tuesday

1:21:27Matt Roberts: yeah so he's kicking around yeah yeah thank you Lisa the internet's suddenly like where's federer yeah look out for him in wimbledon i'm sure he's just hanging out we did see the federers minus roger hanging out in melbourne didn't we yes we did yeah so they do just hang out uh folks thank you all for listening we will be back tomorrow at the end of all of that fun well at the end of all that fun quite frankly not before 9 p.m uh at the close of play on the show courts we will let you know when we're going live on our instagram on our via our newsletter and if you hit that like and subscribe button on youtube then you can get an alert when we are going live if you'd like to become a friend of the tennis podcast or subscribe to the newsletter then the links are in the show notes thank you so much for listening we are part of the athletic podcast network thank you for joining us live if you did tonight on youtube and for joining in the chat.

1:22:26Matt Roberts: It is a joy to see it all. And Pam was in there and we love that. Happy birthday, Pam. We'll speak to you tomorrow, folks.

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