Live from Wimbledon Day 7 - Alcaraz accelerates into quarters, can anyone stop him?

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1:16Matt Roberts: Hello and welcome to the Tennis Podcast live from Wimbledon on day seven of the championships as the sun sets over SW19, but not on all of our hopes and dreams because, folks, we are now officially three wins away from Matt Roberts dying his hair blonde.

1:37Catherine Whitaker: We're over halfway. It is on. It is so on. It's so on. Look, things were looking tough there for a little while in that third set. but Amanda Onisimova came back, beat Linda Noskova. I've hot-footed it from court one. And let me tell you, the vibes of this podcast would have been very different had things not turned around. But here we are. I feel alive.

2:06Matt Roberts: Yeah, there was a moment there when Amanda Onisimova was a breakdown in the third set. I was quite concerned about this podcast. Matt wasn't here. He was having an existential crisis about 200 metres away.

2:19David Law: He'd gone very quiet.

2:20Matt Roberts: Yeah. Yeah, content was not being said.

2:22Catherine Whitaker: Imagine if I'd just been a no-show for the live show. If I'd just gone home.

2:27David Law: Would have been quite fitting in a way, wouldn't it?

2:31Matt Roberts: But David told me he believed. Three all in the third set. I said, Matt's not here. You don't need to save his mental health.

2:40David Law: I was definitely trying to do the pep talk.

2:42Matt Roberts: Do you actually think she's going to win?

2:44David Law: Yeah, well, I did think so, because fundamentally I think she's a more complete player. It's a little bit like when Carlos Alcres gets in trouble against players who he's better than, but he's not playing better than at that moment. I always back the player who's got the potential. And listen, Linda Noskova is a good and dangerous player, but I feel like she is pretty much a one-hit player. She was really good today, actually. I thought she showed maybe more than that. but I think Amanda Nisimova is one of the more complete players on the tour the big weakness is relatively speaking the movement compared to some other players you know, a Coco Goff, I mean, whose isn't but I think that that does stand out for Nisimova but the fact that she's got such artillery on both forehand and backhand and she can volley and she's got to serve now she's fighting I just thought, who do I think is the better player here at 3-all?

3:44David Law: well Anisimova.

3:46Catherine Whitaker: And this was not the Dalma Galfi match. This was a high quality match. I thought the first set Anisimova was absolutely breathtaking really. She was having to fight through some service games. She had to save some break points. She was love 30 down a few times but she was doing that. And on the return she was just putting the ball deep, rushing Noskova, hitting winners. It was just a really, really good performance. She seemed pretty serene. And I put on the barge, seven more sets like that, and, you know, we're going blonde. And then credit to Noskova, because she really upped her serve in the rest of this match, really, particularly in the second set.

4:34Catherine Whitaker: Much higher first serve percentage. It was tougher then for Nisimova to get into those games. And Nisimova just had a couple of little dips. She did get the break back eventually, but then immediately gave it away again right at the end of the second set. And Noskova won it. And Noskova carried that through and went up a break in the third. And at that point, you could just see how desperately Anissima overwanted it. You know, she was, again, we kind of went back to the stress, which we've seen all tournament. And she was sort of, sometimes I was thinking, wow, she's channeling this really well.

5:09Catherine Whitaker: You can see the fight. You can see the desire. But there were a couple of occasions where it kind of spilled over. She got a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct for smashing her racket into the ground. She yelled, shut up, I think, someone in her team. But, you know, I don't think it was at me. But equally, you know, she was I think she probably needed to let let those feelings out. But she was on the edge. She really was. But then she had a surge. She won 11 points in a row through the middle portion of the final set and kind of took over again. And I agree with David. When they're both playing their best games, I do think Anissimova's got even more.

5:51As sweet a ball striker as Nuskva is, as dangerous as she is off both wings, I just believe in Amanda Anissimova's level being better than that.

6:02Catherine Whitaker: and what a finish. The huge backhand and then the gentle wrong-footing backhand winner was...

6:10David Law: From a ball that just sort of seemed to hang in the air forever, you must have thought time had stood still. And so many players would have run round that

6:17Catherine Whitaker: and taken it on the forehand or tried to hit a smash or something. She let it come down and just gently rolled the backhand into the space. It was nice.

6:27Matt Roberts: In my search for content last night after the big blonde pledge, I was trying to pinpoint when exactly it was Anisimova went from blonde to brunette. Anyway, I ended up down in Anisimova YouTube rabbit hole. I'm sure you've been there.

6:44David Law: Just a few times.

6:46Matt Roberts: And I ended up just watching a few points of her matches from last year and from sort of six months ago and before, trying to pinpoint exactly when it was that she took the big brunette plunge. And I couldn't... When something's incremental, it's sometimes hard to notice the difference and how big the change is. Her movement is so much improved. It's never going to be the foundation block of her game, but it needs to not be the massive, exposable weakness that it used to be. And I feel like she's there. like it's extraordinary the change she's made in that department.

7:27David Law: A heck of a change and it's only a year ago that we were at qualifying when she lost in the final round of qualifying there against Avalice was it? You know no disgrace in that she's a good player but it was really quite jarring to see Amanda Inissim over in qualifying and unable to get out of it and to see her a year on in the top 15 in the world and now in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon and well looking like a contender for the title quite honestly my guy you know she might not win the thing but she's a contender she's absolutely capable yeah she is to me she is I think if she won it from here I wouldn't be surprised she's beaten Sabalenka several times she's hitting the sweet ball I still she's she's not the she's about That third favourite to me.

8:18David Law: I would put Sabalenka, Anishviontek ahead of her. Maybe Andreeva actually as well. But maybe they would be about equal. But there's a little pack behind Sabalenka. But at the same time, the ceiling of Anishviontek is so compelling. I don't even think we've seen it yet. I don't think we've seen how good she can be. I think she could just destroy somebody if she gets it all right. I thought Noskova did very well to stop that happening today.

8:44Catherine Whitaker: And I think the point is, as you say, just every area of her game, small improvements leading to quite a big overall difference. You know, like the forehand has got a lot better as well. She used to sometimes struggle with the strike on that side, but she's a lot more confident on that wing now. The movement, as you say, the general physicality. I think she's lasting up, standing up to the kind of rigours of the tour better. there was a little moment today where she sort of stretched out her back a little bit but but she but she seemed fine um the serve I still think she can get more out of that uh the return she actually did it well in the first set today just like shipping some returns back just to get herself in rallies and I think that is something that can still improve she can do more of that she doesn't need to necessarily hit a winner straight away as long as she makes the ball get in a rally like she's going to be good because she's got so much strength off both wings and yeah I think we have to we have to give a lot of credit as well to the to the team that she's had now for a year you know working with Rick Vleeshowers for about a year now and I think you know having that stability has been really important having having people around her that she's sort of comfortable traveling with on the tour to make tour life easier just sort of everything seems to have come together and yeah I think this is absolutely as David said you know qualifying last year now in the quarterfinals like this is this is big this is back where she belongs and it's and it's off the back of a season of real consistency and and obviously that tremendous high with the title in in Doha so it's not it's not out of the blue this and she's taken advantage of the draw, which I did think was good right from the start.

10:37Catherine Whitaker: And here she is in the quarterfinals with a chance.

10:41Matt Roberts: Look, I agree she has a chance. She's not in my mix. I would be surprised if she won it from here. The world number one is her scheduled semifinal opponent. I know Laura Siegmund is saying hi to me right now somewhere. Always. But the world number one is playing really well and is her semifinal opponent. So, yeah, that for me prevents her from being in the mix. I would be surprised if she beat Sabalenka. Not to pour anything on the funfire, but she certainly has a chance, certainly, and I'm very, very excited for that chance. In fact, a friend of mine, Julia, who did our hair and makeup for the photo shoot we had recently, she's a professional hair and makeup artist, She contacted me to say today that she is available next Saturday to professionally dye Matt's hair.

11:38Catherine Whitaker: It's great that no one's getting ahead of themselves. We love Julia.

11:44Matt Roberts: It's all just extremely excellent. Let's talk. Let's try and not get ahead of ourselves here and talk about Amanda Anisimova's quarterfinal opponent, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and about how Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova reached this Wimbledon quarterfinal her second Wimbledon quarterfinal and first since 2016 she beat Sonne Cartel today the first match on centre court 7-6, 6-4 and look first and foremost I thought she was mostly awesome there were a couple of moments where she fell apart and you realise what the gap is between her ceiling and her floor she is one of those players where when it's bad it looks very bad but it's good at the moment and her good is very very good yeah she i can only imagine how sweet

12:34David Law: the ball striking is going to be between her and an isomova because pavlo chengava strikes a a beautifully sounding ball when it when it comes off the racket it makes a lovely thunderclap sound and it was hurting Cartel and yet Cartel's ability to sort of retaliate with her very different ball shape and arc the way she spins it and whips over it and around it that was causing her trouble too and it was a really good contest this and I think it was one of those where they both leave the court should be feeling good about themselves because Cartel played a good match and gives herself something to build on And Pavla Cienkova has just rolled back the years there.

13:18David Law: And, I mean, she gives a great press conference. She's very sarcastic, and it's quite funny at her own expense, talking about how she always used to think she was rubbish on grass. And so this is all a very nice surprise. But, yeah, she was excellent. Excellent today. I've thought a couple of times over her career that maybe she'll just one day call it a day out of the blue, really, because if it doesn't go well for her, and then she'll occasionally just throw in a reminder like this of how capable she is. Really good performance.

13:49Matt Roberts: Yeah, I was reading a piece about her on the WTA website this week and she said, it feels almost yesterday that I was the youngest on tour. And I remember speaking to her agent at the time who was really bigging her up to me and saying she's the top-ranked teenager in the world. That was like her brand for a while though when she was breaking through. She's the best for her age group. and she said I was taking everything for granted at that stage of my career every match I was winning I was like just another match won third round of a slam this is spelt P-Triple-F-T I'm not editorialising there she said I was not appreciating anything because it was coming too easy but I've started to appreciate every match and every moment a few months ago I couldn't even practice she said and then you think maybe you'll never have this moment again and she's talking there about the fact that she was diagnosed with Lyme disease just after the Australian Open this year where she reached the quarterfinal and she's had these periods of huge fatigue.

14:50Matt Roberts: She said it's made her feel neurotic and irritated. She said, I constantly had headaches, especially in my right temple. It was pressing on my head all the time, brain fog. She said, I'd start to practice and couldn't even see clearly sometimes. Heart rate was going up and it would just hit me like a train. I never thought it would be such a nasty disease. She thinks she contracted it last year, but there can be an incubation period. There's some detail in the article about ticks that I don't think anybody particularly needs me to go into. But it's been incredibly tough for her since Australia.

15:24And I think I looked at her in the drawer and I thought, well, I haven't seen Pavlyuchenkova's name pop up much recently.

15:30Matt Roberts: She can't be in much form. And it's so easy to do that, isn't it, when there's 128 players in the draw. There just isn't bandwidth. There isn't enough bandwidth for all of them and their stories and the depth of the sport and how good all these players are. But, you know, once you start getting to the business end like this, you can narrow in a bit. And, gosh, there's stories like this everywhere. And it's incredible, the turnaround she's had. She said she had to take a week off before Eastbourne. That's two weeks ago because she was that tired. And she was, like, finding the balance between when it's a tired, where it's still okay to push and you should push through it or whether it's a sort of tired where you just need to be in bed.

16:13Matt Roberts: How are you supposed to know that?

16:15David Law: Sounds incredibly similar to long COVID.

16:17Matt Roberts: Yeah.

16:18David Law: Really what you're describing there and I don't have to do, I have that and I don't have to perform international sport. Extraordinary.

16:30Matt Roberts: Yeah, an incredible story really for Pavlyuchenkova. Do you want to know who the other quarter finalists were or do you want to guess who they were last time she was in the last eight here in 2016? This really kind of sets the scene for how long it's been.

16:46David Law: Serena?

16:47Matt Roberts: Safe guess, yeah, that's one.

16:50David Law: Kerber?

16:51Matt Roberts: Two. Venus? Oh, now Matthew trips in. Yes, Matthew, Venus Williams is what? I thought he didn't like quizzes. Quote, I don't like the pressure. Serena, Kerber, Venus when you keep losing

17:08David Law: Azarenka? no

17:13Matt Roberts: did she back up? no

17:17Catherine Whitaker: you're going to have to tell us

17:18Matt Roberts: we've got Halep, we've got Sibulkova we've got Vesnina and we've got Yaroslava Shredova

17:25David Law: I was not expecting those last three goodness

17:29Matt Roberts: so there you go incredible achievement from Pavlyuchenkova Right.

17:34Catherine Whitaker: And I feel like she's had this incredible sort of career in terms of longevity and consistency. Wasn't she ranked in the top 50, I think, for about 14 straight years? Never fell out of it. And those quarterfinals that she reached, she's now reached 10 Grand Slam quarterfinals, never been ranked in the top 10, and yet has this enormous period of consistency. But as you said, it's not like three would come at once. and it was like she's suddenly in form. They've really spread out. At all the majors, I think she's reached quarterfinals, particularly in Australia where she's been really successful.

18:12Catherine Whitaker: And yeah, the start of the year, she played great against Sabalenka in Australia. She really pushed her there. And for her to then have this Lyme disease after that and still get back to another Grand Sam quarterfinal this year, I'm just full of admiration for her. And that Eastbourne run, I think, was important for her. Finding some form, she got to the semis there, because she played Jung, didn't she, in the first round of Roland Garros. And I remember thinking, well, that might be a tough match for Jung Shin Wen. But, you know, she clearly wasn't quite ready for that tournament, but found form on the grass and has carried it on.

18:53She is a hell of a ball striker.

18:57Catherine Whitaker: I haven't watched her live that often, to be honest, seeing it today. Early on against Kartel, I thought she might just completely hit her off the court when she went up a break. Her ability to time the ball is remarkable, really. I thought Kartel did well to even get a footing in the match and start yanking her around and giving her different looks. and it became a really, really fun contest. But Pavlyuchenkova just had these moments of sort of overwhelming her with her game.

19:34Matt Roberts: We should talk about the controversy. Four all in the first set. Pavlyuchenkova is serving. It's been a tight service game. She's at advantage.

19:43David Law: Ladies and gentlemen,

19:45Catherine Whitaker: the grounds will be closing in around 15 minutes. Please make your way to the exit gate and make sure you take all your belongings with you. We hope you've enjoyed your day here at Wimbledon.

19:59Matt Roberts: I think we have.

19:59Catherine Whitaker: Wish you a pleasant and safe journey home. Thank you.

20:04Matt Roberts: I saw Johnny Perkins leaving earlier. I thought, don't you have an announcement today?

20:09David Law: Which makes you wonder whether it is live, doesn't it? Given how similar he makes it every time.

20:16Matt Roberts: This is like those people that think the Strictly Results show is live. It's not?

20:21David Law: It's not.

20:24Matt Roberts: some iconic contributions David was doing a dad joke there but I think Matthew is genuinely finding this out live on the pod we'll chat afterwards Matthew we've got a controversy to talk about for all first

20:37Catherine Whitaker: Matthew down as a strictly walker to be honest

20:39Matt Roberts: I'm trying to concentrate here he's never piped up this much before he claims to be claims to be camera shy right electric line calling drama for all in the first set Pavlyuchenkova serving having its advantage. Sane Cartel hits a backhand that is very clearly long for all to see, and the replay proved that that is the case, and the umpire immediately, this is Nico Hellworth, stops play, no call comes, I should say. He stops play and announces that they need to check that the electric line calling system was working for that call. Several minutes pass by, it's all very, you know, you think you've scored a goal at the football.

21:22Matt Roberts: and then there's a period of sort of suspended animation where you're checking. A few minutes go by, and then eventually it's announced by Nico Hellworth that the electric line calling system hadn't been working, and that they will replay the point, not give the point to Pavlyuchenkova, but replay the point. Pavlyuchenkova loses that point, and not immediately, but after a few further points, she ends up losing that game. and at the sit down she's obviously not happy and she accuses the umpire of stealing the game and favouring cartel because she's a local her words not mine um she she softened on that a little bit in her press conference but didn't didn't moonwalk away

22:06David Law: from that sentiment entirely i would say she made it clear that basically she's delighted to have won the match and therefore she's not as pissed off as she would have been had she lost but she still said she thinks there was favoritism towards the local. And that to me is maybe an understandable reaction in the moment.

22:30Catherine Whitaker: Like, you know, the heat of the moment. She really got screwed over there. It was a really bad moment for electronic line calling. I think she should have massively rode back on those comments in the press conference afterwards.

22:47Matt Roberts: It sort of misses the point really because there is a debate about electronic line calling and this has exposed something about electronic line calling that sort of, I agree with you, I think claiming any kind of favouritism doesn't stand up.

23:03Catherine Whitaker: It's nonsense and it's not helpful.

23:05Matt Roberts: It's all a bit Benedict Tarango isn't it? we have a statement an interesting statement from the all england club on this following the pavly chenkov versus cartel match we've had the opportunity to undertake further investigation including speaking to the players the chair umpire hawkeye operators and review official they say it is now clear that the live electronic line calling system which was working optimally was deactivated in error on part of the server's side of the court for one game by those operating the system. In that time, there were three calls not picked up by live ELC on the affected part of the court.

23:46Matt Roberts: Two of these were called by the chair umpire, who was not made aware that the system had been deactivated. Following the third, the chair umpire stopped the match and consulted with the review official, who I guess is like the VAR, and it was determined that the points should be replayed. The chair umpire followed the established process. We have apologised to the players involved, they say. We continue to have full confidence in the accuracy of the ball tracking technology. The live ELC system relies on the Hawkeye operators, the review official and the technology to work in harmony. This didn't happen.

24:20Matt Roberts: In this instance, there was a human error and as a consequence, we have fully reviewed our processes and made the appropriate changes. so I guess it comes down on I mean I think how you feel about this will largely be divided down the lines of whether you agree with electronic line calling and that does divide opinion big time I mean the fact is it's very similar to football isn't it like there is the technology isn't perfect you're accepting you're accepting kind of consistent unbiased technological margin for error over human error and that's that's that's the deal um and some people like that deal and some people don't i think yeah and look there was

25:10Catherine Whitaker: that human error involved here um i think i think my issue is it with it would be that There was a very similar instance a few months ago in a match between Fritz and Nakashima where the exact same thing happened. The system failed and you heard that stop, stop, which people thought at the time was the umpire. It wasn't. It's the system when it's kind of not been set properly. It's quite dystopian, isn't it? It is. It's not the umpire saying that. And look, the protocol there is that the points replayed. So absolutely everything was followed. I think what the frustration was here was that everyone can so clearly see so quickly that the ball was out.

25:57Catherine Whitaker: You know, it was not ambiguous at all. It was very easy on the replay. You feel like if there needs to be some sort of backup technology used, and in that case it would just be a simple replay, that might not always solve everything because it could be incredibly tight, but on this occasion it would have solved it instantly. And the umpire needs to have the authority to be able to intervene there. And obviously the umpire cannot overrule a Hawkeye call, but there was no Hawkeye call made. So I think the umpire should have the authority to intervene, be guided by someone who's seen the replay and told.

26:35Catherine Whitaker: That is very clearly out. It just seemed like there's a step in the protocol that's missing. There's an element where you could review it another way if the actual line... Common sense still. Totally.

26:48Matt Roberts: They have said that they will continue to review, continually review the processes. So I do wonder if that will be added. I mean, it's probably unfair to use VAR as a comparison because that's got its issues. But they have been through a process of... Whereas at first it was, we've got VAR now, the computers are in charge. There has been a slight rowing back in re-empowering of human officials, hasn't there, in football in response to issues and criticism. So, yeah, I'm not saying football should necessarily be the template to follow, but I do wonder if.

27:28David Law: And that's the thing. I think we've got to be OK with that. If you're going to bring a system in like this, it is not going to be perfect from day one. and either in terms of its administration or its protocols and I think that this is where they just have to hold their hands up and say you know what there is a missing link there we need to we need to complete it um I mean I I think they'll probably figure it out so that this hardly ever happens where there's this this error in the first place but you know there has to be the capacity to

28:03Matt Roberts: just make a common sense decision i mean sonic hattel's been catching strays from some quarters hasn't she but for not intervening and saying hang on a second you should have the point that was my backhand was very clearly out she says she couldn't see the the where the ball landed because the net sort of the angle that she was looking at it she's too short she's too short that's what she

28:25David Law: said and and therefore the net tape was in in the view of her of where the ball was landing and i I mean, I believe that to be the case.

28:36Matt Roberts: Look, personally, I'm prepared to take her word on that, and I've kind of got no reason to give her the benefit of the doubt. It's also one of those things where you're wedded to the split-second decision that you make. Let's say she could see that it was out. She might, ten seconds later, have thought, yeah, I probably should have given her the point. But you can't go back on it. You have to stick with what you choose in the moment.

29:00David Law: She said it felt good off my racket. and I don't know where it landed but it felt good and that made me think, okay, fine.

29:12Matt Roberts: Yeah, look, a heck of a run from Sonny Cartel at Wimbledon and I kind of back her to not necessarily reach fourth round at every slam or anything but use this as a building block.

29:25Catherine Whitaker: There's a game there.

29:26Matt Roberts: Yeah.

29:26Catherine Whitaker: And it was an amazing atmosphere in Centre Court when she was playing really well in that first set. When she went from two love down to three two up, there was an incredible forehand pass that she hit at one stage. It was kind of spine-tingling reaction. It was different to the Emerita-Carnu vibe. Because you're so aware when you're watching Emerita-Carnu on Centre Court that everyone knows who Emerita-Carnu is. and I think everyone is thinking about how good she can be with Emerita Cano and getting excited about it. Sonny Cartel, I think a lot of people on centre court wouldn't have known who she was, but were cheering for the Brit and there was probably this sort of thing with British sporting fans where you're kind of, maybe you're always kind of expecting the worst and hoping for the best.

30:21Catherine Whitaker: And that is kind of the atmosphere that there was. It was like a lovely surprise whenever she came up with something brilliant, while also recognising that she's a bloody good player now, and I think is going to be just a solid tour player. I think she says that she has difficulty playing these sorts of players like Pavlyuchenko, who are big hitters, and there are a lot of them on the tour. There's a lot of players who just strike a clean ball, and I think we'll be able to just sort of overpower her and overhit her. but you know we've seen that she's figured out ways to to cause them trouble as well and it's just going to be interesting to see whether she can keep doing that or whether the tour sort of learns her game a little bit as well um but no i think she's been a great great like addition to this fun opening week at wimbledon having a a homegrown player go on a run like that impressed with her with her style and her game and yeah she's been great so pavly chenkova against

31:19Matt Roberts: Anis Amova, the winner to face the winner of Irina Sabalenka against Laura Siegmund. Let's talk about Sabalenka. 6-4, 7-6 for her over Elisa Mertens in a ridiculously high quality match. Unreal this was.

31:35Catherine Whitaker: This was so good. I think this is the best match in terms of quality that I've seen this tournament. Wow. From start to finish. I thought Mertens was brilliant. And Mertens, who is a very, very good player, someone who's reached the semi-final of a slam, I thought she played well, and yet she lost in straight sets, which tells you how well Sabalenka played. Mertens was doing things you would expect, which was using a slice, occasionally taking pace off, trying to put the ball in awkward spots, really fighting, getting her teeth into the match. All things you expect from Elise Mertens. but also doing some things that frankly I hadn't seen her do before or certainly to this level.

32:24Catherine Whitaker: Injecting pace suddenly, taking the ball up the line really early in rallies and just causing Sabalenka to have to give all that she had in order to win it. And that is all you can really do as a player, isn't it? Give your absolute best and Mertens unequivocally did that today. Sabalenka sort of started well, got pegged back, managed to win the first set and then was down in the second set and then came back really, really strong but still needed a tie-break. And I think we need to start talking a lot more about Irina Sabalenka's tie-break record. If this was Novak Djokovic, we'd be talking about how he's sort of reinvented tennis in terms of like you get him to a tie-break and he's won the thing.

33:09well Sapolenka's now won 14 tie breaks in a row it was Alexandra back in the Middle East swing

33:16Catherine Whitaker: that managed to that managed to win a tie break against her but 14 in a row when the stakes are the highest she's doing it and I think maybe the reason maybe the reason it hasn't caught our attention so much is that when Djokovic kind of does it there's a very specific mode that he went into when he had that streak of winning tie breaks that kind of lockdown mode there was a look in his eye I'm not sensing that necessarily from Sabalenka it's not like she suddenly changes her game style or anything but she's just stepping up in these big moments and it's it's a hell of a record she's got right now and yeah it's been a big part of why she's been able to kind of dominate

34:00Matt Roberts: on the tour this season and now she faces the oh so unique challenge of Laura Siegmund because Siegmund beat Solana Sierra 6-3, 6-2, despite not showing up for the match. Made her wait five minutes, did she?

34:17Catherine Whitaker: Something like that.

34:19Matt Roberts: Yeah.

34:21Catherine Whitaker: She's probably like, I've got plenty of time. It's 15, you're allowed.

34:24David Law: Did she get in trouble for that?

34:26Catherine Whitaker: No. No.

34:29Matt Roberts: Look, she was awesome today. It was... She was carving her up. It was old-school grass court tennis, but with a real edge and a real injection and aggression as well. It was such smart tennis. She is such a canny, brilliant player, so intense. And as she pointed out in her press conference afterwards, this is the first match where she hasn't been the heavy underdog. This was a very different psychological look for her, but she's got a psychology degree. like psychology is where she thrives she's never been passed around to here before and I wonder if she's 37 years old the oldest woman left in in the women's draw she she was asked today about the fact that she's never been passed around to here before and she said look I'm I really like clay and usually by the time the grass court season comes around I've played a lot because I put a lot into the clay court season I've never really invested the time on grass and like by the time I feel I'm finding my feet it's over and I do wonder if now she's discovering age 37 that she really can play on grass if oh what could have been but I don't get the impression she's actually the sort of person that thinks that way at all she's just glad it's happening now Charlie Eccleshare I know is working on a piece it might already be up but a piece on you know the psychological warfare and games that players like Laura Siegmund engage in within the confines of the rules and he asked her about it in in press today and she insisted that she's not doing anything explicitly aimed at pissing off the opponent or disrupting them she said I do the things that work for me and that I've always done and what it is is I don't I don't care how the opponent feels about them, rather than specifically wanting to annoy them.

36:32Matt Roberts: I just don't care. I don't care who's on the other side of the net. I don't care how they feel about what I'm doing. I'm doing me. And that is the case whether I'm facing Irina Sabalenka or the world number 101 Solana Sierra. And I do think that is going to be critical for her against Sabalenka, and it is always critical when she causes problems for top players, in that she's not deferential at all. She doesn't pay them extra respect because of who she is. She's not thinking about them at all. Laura Siegmund is thinking about Laura Siegmund and what is going to best help her win. And look, I don't think she's going to beat Sabalenka, but I think she's going to make her have a horrible time.

37:17David Law: A really horrible time. I mean, I don't know whether I believe her or not. I mean, it doesn't matter, does it? And there's no way of me proving one way or another. I tell you what, I remember for many, many years, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic making their opponents wait forever as they went through their routines and the ball bouncing for Djokovic and all this nonsense from Nadal. Look, it's what he needed to do to be ready, right? Some players didn't like it, who he was up against, and he didn't care. It's in the rules. he needs to get himself ready and actually I think maybe maybe we should approach Laura Siegman the same way, it's just that Laura Siegman does do other stuff too

38:04Matt Roberts: oh yeah she does not just that she does, I mean she does disrupt her opponent's service rhythm a lot and sometimes she gets warnings for it or she'll get point penalties for it and that is not within the rules you're supposed to play at the service pace well she would say but I get punished I did the crime I served the time but she does do that and that is not within the rules I think I know you think I should be a Siegmund person I do I get that there is so much that I do really like about her and I respect her endlessly it's the time that she takes it's the pace at which she plays the sport that is a big thing for me I'm really drawn to players that play quickly.

38:52Matt Roberts: Watching Fonseca live the other day, I suddenly realised he's like that between points. I'm not getting distracted because there's no faff. There's an awful lot of faff with Laura Siegmund. There's the ball bouncing and you think, okay, that's done. We've got that out the way. We're ready to serve. And then she holds this position for about 40 seconds. It's like a wind-up, isn't it?

39:15David Law: It's like, get on with it.

39:17Matt Roberts: Yeah. Yeah, it's, I find it, I find it really, we've got lives to lead, Laura.

39:23Catherine Whitaker: And it was particularly when you were commentating on her, right? Yeah. That was the, that was, I mean, I know you don't like faff anyway, but like that was a real, it seemed like that was a real turning point at the start of the year. I'd not heard you mention Siegmund all that much before this year, before she sort of did it personally to you commentating.

39:43Matt Roberts: Yeah, when I'm on my deathbed, I will be ruining the hours that Laura Siegmund took from me. Definitely.

39:49Catherine Whitaker: Yeah.

39:51Matt Roberts: But I do have such respect for her. I really do.

39:55Catherine Whitaker: Yeah. And there's definitely parts of her game which can disrupt. For example, an Arena Sabalenka, you know, the slice forehands and the drop shots and all that kind of thing. I just I just kind of always think that a player like that might also just get absolutely taken apart by Savalenka I think there's a chance that that match is not close at all

40:22Matt Roberts: Oh it could be 1-2 very easily Yeah I do think she's got a chance there's a bigger chance that it's 1-2 Yeah

40:31Catherine Whitaker: I think I'd agree with that Yeah

40:35Matt Roberts: I am pumped for it though I really am

40:38David Law: She's a great addition to the lineup isn't she? It's because of the potential you don't know what's going to happen and most of Wimbledon has never seen her before

40:46Matt Roberts: and the fact you know she's not going to freeze she might get taken apart she might get obliterated by the power but she's not going to freeze she's going to walk out onto centre court and bring the intensity and the energy and you yeah

40:59Catherine Whitaker: that's what you want

41:00Matt Roberts: that's what you want there'll be a sense of occasion to this match you won't be thinking oh god is this sort of delicate

41:07David Law: player gonna get in a freeze yeah she's just gonna stomp around she is she's gonna stomp and

41:13Matt Roberts: she's gonna hold that service position for as long as she damn well likes and then when she

41:17David Law: wins a point she's gonna be like right in your face and walk off like that that's our laura

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43:04Matt Roberts: Right, the men's matches that we've seen today. Let's start with Alcaraz. Tell me about Alcaraz.

43:12Catherine Whitaker: Didn't see a ball. That's got to be the first time. Yeah, literally.

43:17Matt Roberts: Dropped the first set to Andre Roblev. 6-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. I thought Alcaraz was awesome today. and I thought his reaction to dropping that first set was very interesting because Rublev played excellent tennis in that opening set.

43:33David Law: For Rublev, Reid Mertens. Yeah. It looked like a Sinner-Alkaraz match.

43:38Matt Roberts: He was playing like Yannick Sinner, that kind of tennis. Pinpoint accuracy, blistering, darting balls from the baseline, coping with Alkaraz's pace. It was a great set of tennis.

43:51Catherine Whitaker: This was all coming through in the chat. You know, there's a lot of messages back and forth from everyone. I felt like I was missing the all-time great Rublev performance. For a set, you were.

44:03Matt Roberts: He was brilliant.

44:04Catherine Whitaker: I haven't seen him play that well.

44:05Matt Roberts: And he'd led by a break in that set, got pegged back, and he was a mini-breakdown in the tyre break and still held it together to win the set. You didn't think this was a mentally frail Andre Rublev out there. But Alcraz's reaction after losing that first set was really interesting because he didn't look worried at all. And I think that's because he knew he was playing well. And he knows if he's playing well, he's going to win. In a best of five set match, he's going to win if he's playing well. He wasn't worried about how he was playing. And he knows it doesn't matter really how well world number 14, I think, Andre Robloff is playing fundamentally.

44:45Matt Roberts: Because he really was playing well today, I thought, David.

44:49David Law: Yeah, once he'd got himself going, I agree. and it was a slightly slow start, but it was also a lightning-fast Rublev start. He was connecting from the first ball, and there were some points that really took my breath away because Alcaraz would... And I'm thinking of the third set as well because they've levelled, and then suddenly Alcaraz is starting to really nail the ball, and you're waiting for that to just overwhelm Rublev, and there were a couple of points where Rublev actually managed to turn it around in the rally, and counterattack. And I've not really seen that before. Usually he's first strike tennis and he either pushes you back and dominates or he loses the point.

45:32David Law: And so this was a new level. He kept his composure well, I thought, really well. He did properly go, as Catherine was saying, it was toe-to-toe sinner-like tennis, really, from Rublev. And then there was... My family were in the crowd today. They've never been to Wimbledon, my kids. And this was their exposure to Carlos Alcaraz. And the final point they saw was when he got the decisive break in the third set. And it was the most astonishing point. I mean, even seasoned Alcoraz watchers like us and people around us, you know, we're not supposed to show emotion in the press box. You don't applaud.

46:09David Law: That's one of the things you don't do. And we didn't applaud, but you literally jumped out your seat because you couldn't believe what you'd seen. He's going side to side. He's getting pushed all over the place. by Rublev, he comes up with an incredible backhand cross-court, which Rublev manages to meet and match and go down the line with his own backhand. It's a clean winner until this blur comes out of nowhere and slaps this forehand winner cross-court and the place just erupted. And honestly, I just thought, OK, well, the match is over. The match is over. I think Rublev did too. And there's no coming back from that.

46:44David Law: It's what he does when he suddenly finds whatever it is that he's got, when he's pushed to find it.

46:52Matt Roberts: I think Ryblev played him into form. Yeah. And it is that kind of ping-pong tennis which can do that. He gives you a lot of rhythm, Andre Ryblev. He also occasionally just injects bludgeoning power, a bit like Carlos Alcaraz can, and obviously that puts a dead hole in the rally a lot of the time, but he also does give you rhythm, and I feel like that was exactly the match that Alcraz wanted. He also served well today. 22 aces, 67 % first serves in. He's exactly where he wants to be.

47:24David Law: Best serving performance I've ever seen from Rublev. 77 % first serves in versus 64 % the rest of the tournament. Still didn't win.

47:34Catherine Whitaker: And Alcraz only faced four great points in the whole match. I mean, he faced like four great points in the first game or something against Fanini and Tarv it had looks as well.

47:44Matt Roberts: It was different gravy tonight. Big time. But he might need to up at another level in the next round when he faces Britain's last hope, Cameron Norrie who took down Nicholas Jarry. 6-3, 7-6 6-7, 6-7 6-3. He came back, Matt did Jarry, but not all the way back. And the breathe right nasal strips are in the bin.

48:11David Law: literally in the vent

48:14Catherine Whitaker: no actually it was just for content I'm not going to throw away you know 30 perfectly good breathe right nasal strips there'll be another run

48:25Matt Roberts: talk us through the match a little bit and the Jari come back and the aggro

48:32Catherine Whitaker: yeah the aggro it was very odd aggro wasn't it

48:36Matt Roberts: I thought it was quite lame aggro

48:37Catherine Whitaker: I thought it was yeah Nicholas Jari went down two sets to love against Norrie here, having lost the second set on a tie break. And then he just started having a word with the umpire. It was one of those where kind of they were doing their change of end stuff that they do on the TV and they were showing the stats and all that kind of thing. Norrie had gone off court. And then they sort of picked up the argument halfway through it. So it was quite hard to tell exactly what the issue was. and also because I'm not sure there actually was an issue. He seemed to be annoyed at the ball bouncing that Cameron Norrie was doing and the time that he was taking in between his first and second serve and the fact that he was taking longer and changing the rhythm before big points and important points.

49:27Catherine Whitaker: And Jarry was kind of saying, is there anything you can do as an umpire or do I just have to, he used the phrase, suck it up? is what he's doing against the rules, against the code or not. And the umpire was just kind of like, nothing I can do. Kind of a bit like all of us, like what are you talking about? And it was just strange, but I think it was indicative of the fact that he was frustrated because he was two sets of love down. He then actually came back and won the next two sets. He saved a match point in the third set in the tie break. And he just entered that mode that he got in against Runa, that he got in against Fonseca, where suddenly he starts timing the ball so sweetly, going after the ball, and he becomes an absolute nightmare to have to face when he's got that serve going as well.

50:18Catherine Whitaker: I think he hit close to 50 aces today. He was up over 100 winners for the match. He was hitting a massive ball, and there were moments in the fourth set where each had break points and he was saving them. And it was good. It got exciting in that fourth set. And Jarry took it and headed to a fifth. And then absolutely credit Cameron Norrie for playing a great fifth set. The very first point he played wasn't a sort of remarkable one, but he won it and he just showed great body language. And he does a bit of the Andy Murray thing in terms of picking people out in the crowd, Cameron Norrie. very specific to try and get them on side.

51:02Catherine Whitaker: He is so comfortable on that court, on court one. Like, I know we joke about sort of Cameron Norrie being a vibe there, but he is, and he genuinely is the way the crowd go with him. I'm sure a lot of people don't like watching Cameron Norrie's tennis. It's not my favourite style of tennis either, and yet on court one, in those conditions, in a good fight, I can get swept up by it. He's a really, really good watch for the way he competes there. And, you know, he served really well today. Jarry did not break him, which says probably something about Nicholas Jarry as well. But four and a half hours, he didn't lose serve, did Cameron Norrie.

51:44Catherine Whitaker: And he was mentally strong. He played really, really well. And, yeah, he's through to the quarterfinals in a season where he's, you know, really had to battle his form and his confidence. But he's got it back now. for this grass court season. There was a, the kind of aggro continued a little bit at the end, but I'm not sure if it did really. I think it was one of those where Norrie won and fell on his back. And instead of like waiting for him at the net, Jarry started packing up his bag. Norrie then got up and went over and went over to Jarry. And Jarry just, I don't know what he said, but he clearly said something to him.

52:26Catherine Whitaker: I assume it was maybe maybe trying to put his point across about what the point was he was trying to make I'm not even sure Nari had been that aware of what was of what Jerry had been saying to the umpire because he was off court for most of it and like in the on court interview afterwards Annabelle Croft did a great job I think asking the question saying to Nari what happened there and Nari said you know what I just like the way he competed we had some words, two guys competing I liked all the Chilean fans

52:55Matt Roberts: Yeah, he didn't bite, did he?

52:57Catherine Whitaker: He didn't bite. And I'm not sure Norrie was annoyed with Jarry. I think Jarry was annoyed in the moment with Norrie. But I'm not sure it was quite the aggro that we maybe thought it was.

53:15Matt Roberts: I think the aggro died when Jarry tried to imitate what Norrie was doing to make a point, and he hit a double fault.

53:23Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, that was funny.

53:24Matt Roberts: It's pretty embarrassing, isn't it? that is not the way to do aggro. And he got booed off, call one, which is a tough way for that run to end.

53:32Catherine Whitaker: The boos were like typical of, is this aggro? Is this not aggro? Like they started the boos like when he was clearly having a word, but then they shook hands and like sort of daft each other up. Very Wimbledon booing. And it was kind of like, oh, well maybe we don't need to boo. Maybe they are fine.

53:49David Law: Jerry kept on trying to shake hands. Yeah, it was all, it was very, very weird. A lot of the time players misunderstand each other in those moments. A lot of the time they can't hear what each other's saying. There's loads of other noise.

54:01Matt Roberts: Basically crap aggro.

54:03Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, really lame.

54:05Matt Roberts: Yeah, I agree. Norrie against Alcaraz. There is just no way they can't beat this on centre court. I'm sorry for it, Taschenov. But Norrie, you're going on centre court.

54:16Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, quite right.

54:17Matt Roberts: Do you think that's a genuine problem in terms of... Would you rate his chances differently against Alcaraz if this were on court one versus centre?

54:25Catherine Whitaker: A little bit. I mean, 5 % more chance, something like that. I still think Alcaraz is an overwhelming favourite, especially given the way you've described him coming into form today. And kind of what we've seen is when he hits form, you know, like certainly at Queen's, once he found the form and he found the serve, he kept it going. but Norrie is the best version of himself on court one and that is going to need to be at his absolute best and hope Alcaraz has an off day to have a chance

54:58Matt Roberts: I do find it interesting that look I don't think it'll go to five sets to test this because I think Alcaraz is too good but Norrie always backs himself physically no matter how long the match he's got these horse lungs hasn't he these scuba divers lungs We all know so much about Cameron Norrie's lungs.

55:17Catherine Whitaker: That was another question in the interview. They got another area. Yeah, I didn't know. I knew where it was going because I know the story about the Cameron Norrie lungs. But I'm sure there were some people in that crowd thinking, where is this sentence going? The doctor told you you had a very big pair of...

55:34Catherine Whitaker: lungs.

55:39Catherine Whitaker: That's how it was phrased, yeah. I was like, we're going to be fine here. She's going to say lungs.

55:45David Law: She's going to say lungs.

55:47Catherine Whitaker: She did say lungs. She said lungs. But there are definitely people who are like, huh?

55:54Matt Roberts: Oh, Matt, I've got to carry on broadcasting now. We're live, for goodness sake. So Norrie and his horse lungs. Yep. His big pair of lungs. I do... I'm just going to... I might just abandon my serious point. I was going to say, I just think that, you know, obviously Al Karaz is so fortified by that five set record and it's it helps him in all matches not just ones that go to five sets I think it helps him when he's playing badly for a set in the middle and he goes he's like because he knows okay fine if I have to go to five like I'll still definitely win well exactly and I just wonder if that will be blunted ever so slightly against Norrie who always really backs himself in the distance

56:42David Law: I think we're now at the stage of the tournament where Carlos Alcraz's senses are heightened and he is out there to destroy he ain't there to faff about now and I do take your point Norrie's the sort of fella that you don't rest on your laurels with that sort of athlete and competitor against you it's about outplaying him now. I mean, look, I think Alcruz would still back himself if he went to the fifth set because why wouldn't you if you were him? But I think we're at a different stage now.

57:22Catherine Whitaker: I could definitely see it being a scenario where it's like, I've just said, Norrie didn't drop serve in four and a half hours against Nicholas Jarry. Like, he might drop his opening service against Carlos Alcruz or like his second and it'd be like, okay, this is different.

57:37Matt Roberts: now yeah yeah your big pair of lungs can't help you now cam uh let's talk about taylor fritz and karen hashanov difficult to say too much about fritz's match today his opponent jordan thompson clearly unfit retired trailing 613 love he'd won just 12 points in total um he's got a really yeah he's got a disc problem david it sounds it sounds like he probably shouldn't be playing and this could damage him long term to be honest astonishing that he got to the stage because this is he might

58:09David Law: have you know relapsed there but this was a problem coming into this tournament i saw todd woodbridge um just ahead of the match and asked him what he was doing today and he said he was covering that and he said you know but really it's amazing that thompson's got to this stage of the tournament because he's he's not fully fit and and he might need to take some time off you And that was before the match. So then he's retired, set in the half in, winning a few points. He's a good player, Jordan Thompson. But, yeah, I know Taylor Fritz will say he wouldn't want to win like that. And, of course, he wouldn't.

58:45David Law: But at least it helps freshen him up after all he's had the last few days.

58:51Matt Roberts: Yeah, not like that. But a quick match definitely was what he needed. and he might need something in the tank to beat Karin Hashanov in the next round. He was awesome today. Look, I know Kamil Marshak for a place in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon. It's a good draw. But he was so, so good. It was like he knew when the rain was coming and he was playing to that deadline. 4-2 and 3. 44 winners to 21 unforced errors and 74 % first serves in. He was so good, Hashanov. the backhand, he was just hitting backhands down the line at will.

59:30David Law: And he probably got played in by that Nuno Borges match, you know.

59:34Matt Roberts: Absolutely.

59:34Catherine Whitaker: He's had two five-setters to get to this stage.

59:37Matt Roberts: He needed a quick one as well, probably.

59:39Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, exactly. And I think I had the same thought. Often when you watch Karen Hakchnov, there doesn't seem to be a great deal of urgency to him. Matches can go on for a long time, long drawn-out rallies. He's a big guy. I always thought he should be imposing himself more. He's got power to burn. And yet he does seem to get involved in a lot of grinding matches. But I did think today it was like he knew that he had two hours, maybe two and a half hours to try and get this done. And yeah, that urgency, that desire to just take charge, I think helped him. And I think he'd be wise to play like that a bit more, to be honest.

1:00:20Yeah, absolutely.

1:00:21Matt Roberts: just because you can win playing the longer way. It's a bit like Jack Draper, isn't it? It doesn't mean he should. Yeah, I think Fritz is going to have to be good to beat Khashanov. He's another one that just shows up in slams. You don't think about him the rest of the time, and then he just pops up. It's very Karin Khashanov to have been able to survive the seed carnage.

1:00:46Catherine Whitaker: He is reliable. He's reached quarterfinals and a semifinal, and he's done it on all the surfaces. They haven't actually played since 2020, these two. They last played in a competition which no longer exists at the ATP Cup. And actually, Hachinov owns a 2-0 head-to-head. But I think it will be interesting because, again, this might be unfair, but I kind of think of Karen Hachinov as being so steady over the last five years, but not getting loads better. I think Hachinov in 2020, not that different from Hachinov in 2025. Fritz in 2020 versus Fritz in 2025, a big difference. He moves a lot better, he serves a lot better, he goes off his forehand more, he's got a more top player mentality.

1:01:40Catherine Whitaker: and I have to think we're going to see that difference there. I think Action Off is always tough to beat but I do back for it to do it here.

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1:03:00Matt Roberts: Okay, the order of play for tomorrow. We enter, it's Sunday today, right? We enter week two tomorrow. It's happening. Did I say today was Manic Monday yesterday?

1:03:13David Law: No, you said that it had a feel of...

1:03:17Catherine Whitaker: I think you said the fourth round starts. Used to all be played on... Used to all be played on Manic Monday. Yeah.

1:03:26Matt Roberts: Right. OK, good. We're all straight on days of the week. Good place to be. Tomorrow, Monday, starts at 1.30 on Centre Court with Alex de Minoer against Novak Djokovic. David, you're going to be commentating on this. What percentage chance do you give Alex de Minoer?

1:03:47Catherine Whitaker: 20. Yeah, that seems fair. Novak Djokovic practising with a knee sleeve on today. 23. through.

1:03:59Matt Roberts: Second on Centre Court, Mira Andreva against Emma Navarro. Good match that I think. Stylish match. Andreva the favourite but 60-40? I could give

1:04:14Catherine Whitaker: her 65.

1:04:16Matt Roberts: Okay. Okay. What percentages are we giving Grig or Dimitrov against Yannick Sinner tomorrow?

1:04:26Ten.

1:04:28Matt Roberts: That's higher than I thought. Hannah said, and I quote, he's going to turn Grigor Dimitrov into paste. You lot.

1:04:37Catherine Whitaker: Honestly. Well, I think Sinner wins in straight sets.

1:04:41Matt Roberts: Yeah, me too.

1:04:44Catherine Whitaker: I don't.

1:04:46David Law: I think he wins in four sets. And he's not paste. He's a...

1:04:53Matt Roberts: He's a chunky puree. Correct. Yeah. Okay, I'd sign for that right now if I were Grigor. Court number one starts at 1pm. Like a guacamole. A chunky guacamole. Yeah.

1:05:10David Law: A big chutney.

1:05:11Matt Roberts: Yeah. Court number one starts 1pm with Aleksandrovic against Bencic. Who's the favourite for that?

1:05:19Catherine Whitaker: Good question. Maybe there isn't one.

1:05:23Matt Roberts: OK, 50-50, we'll call that. Second on, Ben Shelton against Lorenzo Sonogo. Matt's got a stat in the works for this.

1:05:32Catherine Whitaker: Yes, when it came to my attention, just as I was watching them set up that match yesterday, I just thought, well, they've played a lot. Actually, they've played at every slam this year. That must be rare. And I've put the ITF stats team to work. Tom and Joe, who are excellent. and they've delivered for me using their database. I'd love to have a database. That's your database. And they've come up with the answer. So that will be in the newsletter about sort of how uncommon it is for players to meet at the first three slams of the year. And also, you know, I'm going to hype up the US Open draw.

1:06:16Catherine Whitaker: Like, will they meet in New York and get the Canada slam? And I hate the US Open draw. We'll find out via PDF. Yeah. I hate the US Open draw, and yet I'm finding a reason to be excited weeks out from it. The reveal.

1:06:30Matt Roberts: The way to subscribe, we'll put the link to subscribe to the show, to the newsletter in our show notes, as always. Third on court number one tomorrow, Igor Shiontek against Clara Towson. Clara Towson doesn't think she's going to win. Do either of you.

1:06:45Catherine Whitaker: No. No. No. But I would give her much more chance than I would give Dimonor or Dimitrov.

1:06:54Matt Roberts: Yeah. 25-30?

1:06:57Catherine Whitaker: Around about there.

1:06:58Matt Roberts: Yeah. Court number two, Marin Cilic against Flavio Caballi, who we just strolled past earlier, David, outside the media centre. Which one? Caballi. Right. Which one of those two do you think was more likely to be standing around chatting, not looking like he had a Grand Slam fourth round to play the next day?

1:07:16David Law: I did not clock him at all I walked straight past him Catherine said Flavio Caballi I'm like where was he I didn't see him at all

1:07:25Matt Roberts: anyway well he looked relaxed

1:07:27David Law: I think this could be one of the matches of the day

1:07:29Catherine Whitaker: he absolutely took Cilic apart at the French Open I mean obviously different surface here and that absolutely favours Cilic for them to be playing on grass rather than clay I think yeah I'm looking forward to this one looking forward to this

1:07:45Matt Roberts: me too I'm back in Cilic

1:07:48Catherine Whitaker: I think I am too

1:07:50Matt Roberts: finally well finally in the singles on court two tomorrow Ludmilla Samsonova against Jessica Bouthas Manero I don't make Samsonova predictions no

1:07:59Catherine Whitaker: that's just a rule that I have in life

1:08:02Matt Roberts: I respect it just don't do it I won't ruin your excellent day by making you break your rule although I do reserve the right to do so in future rounds if she keeps winning no Because we will reach the point. She reaches the final. You refuse to preview that final.

1:08:18Catherine Whitaker: I'll preview it, but I'm not making a prediction.

1:08:20David Law: Even if she plays in Isomova, can she do that?

1:08:24Catherine Whitaker: Yep. She beat Isomova one and one the other week.

1:08:30Matt Roberts: Wasn't that the tank?

1:08:31Catherine Whitaker: It was. It would be a blow if Isomova tanked the Wimbledon final.

1:08:38Matt Roberts: Has anybody ever won Wimbledon after tanking in their warm-up tournament? the tournament prior oh I think probably

1:08:46David Law: probably

1:08:46Matt Roberts: actually Nadal did didn't he I think really did he we definitely tanked at Queen's ones didn't we

1:08:52David Law: he definitely levelled up at once at all and his shoulder was hurting a bit more than than was worth pushing through I think right

1:09:02Matt Roberts: yeah yeah that was not

1:09:04Catherine Whitaker: what Anissam over did

1:09:09Matt Roberts: right folks that is your lot for today except to tell you about our very important mascot for today. Oh my goodness, look at Rocky. Rocky owned by Hinner. Rocky is returning for his three-peat as a mascot. I know this face. He's a seven-year-old collie cross. Not sure what he's crossed with, says Hinner, who Hinner adopted from the Dogs Trust. Excellent charity. Excellent, excellent charity. He enjoys food, laying in the sun and attempting to chase squirrels and cats when still attached to his lead. Although he is a nervous boy, he's very affectionate and has all the grace of a sack of potatoes.

1:09:50Matt Roberts: He regularly trips over his own legs, walks into things because he's not paying attention. You're describing me. And has not mastered how to plant his 20 kilos of body weight on your lap slowly so it doesn't feel like your legs have been crushed. What a good boy he is. He's another one of those dogs that is like definition of dog. Man's best friend right there is Rocky. I confessed to David the other day that I've never seen the Rocky movies. And we have scheduled in, at some point in the future, a team watch-along.

1:10:22David Law: Yeah.

1:10:23Matt Roberts: I'm very excited about that.

1:10:24Catherine Whitaker: Before or after the watch-along of Challengers with Pam.

1:10:28Matt Roberts: That's a priority.

1:10:30Catherine Whitaker: I'm not watching that.

1:10:35Matt Roberts: I talked about OnlyFans with Pam the other day.

1:10:37Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, discovered that Simon Briggs has an account.

1:10:40Matt Roberts: Yeah. Not, hang on. Not as a content creator.

1:10:45Catherine Whitaker: No, he was doing research. Doing research. Into a professional article.

1:10:50Matt Roberts: Yeah. Lots of athletes. About what? Lots of athletes are on OnlyFans. It's a thing. It's a very legit. I'm going to dig you and Briggs out of this hole now, Matt. It's a very legitimate line of research. He is not a content creator, to our knowledge. OK, thank you, Rocky. Hello to our mascots, Phoebe, Maisie and Roger. Hello to our top folks and executive producers, Greg, Chris and Jeff. Greg texted us on like a split second after Amanda Renesimov and hit that backhand for match point. He knows. He knows. We have some shout outs, Matt.

1:11:29Catherine Whitaker: We have Alex Rylance.

1:11:32Matt Roberts: Hello, Alex. Hi, Alex.

1:11:33Catherine Whitaker: Alex is from Bracknell, Berkshire.

1:11:36Matt Roberts: My neck of the woods. Yeah.

1:11:37David Law: Like Alex O 'Brien, the former American player who once played doubles alongside Todd Martin against Great Britain in the Birmingham Davis Cup tie of 1999.

1:11:48Catherine Whitaker: That was incredible.

1:11:49Matt Roberts: I was going to say like Alex Mickelson of In My Fantasy Team Letting Me Down Relentlessly Since Australia fame.

1:11:58David Law: yeah him

1:12:00Matt Roberts: Bracknell where I used to go five days a week to the ice rink there which now doesn't exist which is very sad thanks Alex very significant place in my life Bracknell so thank you Alex

1:12:16Catherine Whitaker: we've also got Catherine Higgins hello Catherine hi Catherine different pew, Catherine with a K

1:12:24Matt Roberts: Catherine with a K. But an E-R-I-N-E?

1:12:31Catherine Whitaker: No, an A-R-I-N-E. Ooh. Yeah. Sorry, I just... That took me longer to process than it should have done.

1:12:38Matt Roberts: Different side of the aisle. They're very much the same excellent church.

1:12:42Catherine Whitaker: Yeah.

1:12:44Matt Roberts: Catherine is a returning shout-out. We know Catherine, I think.

1:12:47Catherine Whitaker: And Vicky has found for us William Higgins, who twice reached the third round at the US Open. Wow.

1:12:55Matt Roberts: Do you know him, David? That's good.

1:12:57Catherine Whitaker: No. Billy, it says.

1:13:01David Law: I love it when they do our research for us.

1:13:03Matt Roberts: That is excellent. Thank you, Catherine. You obviously have an excellent name. Like Katie McNally, who's a Catherine, isn't she? But not a Catherine with a K.

1:13:12David Law: No, I see. Well, you're unique, Catherine.

1:13:18Matt Roberts: You're still awesome.

1:13:19David Law: You're a friend of the tennis podcast, and for that we say thanks.

1:13:23Catherine Whitaker: And we also say thanks to Ros van der Zwet Ros

1:13:30David Law: Alright Ros, like my mum Yes, absolutely

1:13:34Catherine Whitaker: And Ros is trying to get a fan slam of shout outs while at Grand Slams Oh that's cool, Ros So that's just epic

1:13:44Matt Roberts: Is she at Wimbledon right now?

1:13:48Catherine Whitaker: Probably not right now because the It's dark

1:13:52Matt Roberts: You announced that the gates were closing about 45 minutes ago.

1:13:55Catherine Whitaker: But I think probably at Wimbledon this tournament. Has been at Wimbledon this tournament. Vicky's done some great work scheduling the shout out for this tournament. And Ros says that her earliest memory of watching tennis was staying up late with her mum to watch the 1980 Wimbledon final between Yvonne Goulon-Cawley and Chris Evert. my mum passed away last year and I think of her and our shared love of tennis often I got so excited when Yvonne won and I've followed tennis ever since Ros says so nice Ros that's beautiful

1:14:33Matt Roberts: thank you very much uh thanks for being a friend of the pod it's obviously a wonderful name that is my mum's name so thank you uh thank you to Wimbledon for letting us sit here and talk about tennis every night in this incredible position which apparently you can get to within about 90 seconds from the press seats on court one, that's good to know isn't it?

1:14:56Catherine Whitaker: If you run

1:14:57David Law: If you're exuberant and euphoric It would have been a longer walk It would have been a trudge of about 8 minutes otherwise

1:15:05Matt Roberts: And thank you to The Athletic, we are of course proudly part of The Athletic Podcast Network and you should definitely check out Charlie's piece about Laura Siegmund being a master of the dark arts no matter what she said in her press conference today i will certainly be reading that with great interest folks if you'd like to become a friend of the pod get yourself a shout out an intro anything else get yourself access to all of our bonus episodes ad free listening as well access to the barge our safe community space to talk about tennis then the link is in our show notes as is the link to subscribe to the excellent newsletter that It features daily Matt Stats during Grand Slams.

1:15:42Matt Roberts: We'll be back tomorrow, not before 9.30. If you subscribe to our YouTube channel, then you can get an alert when we are going live or you can check us out on Instagram. We always post on there when we know what time we're live, but it is guaranteed not to be before 9.30 tomorrow. We can't wait. Thank you for listening or watching, however you have enjoyed this show. We hope you've enjoyed it. Bye for now.

1:16:36David Law: We'll be right back.

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