Live from Wimbledon - Player media protest gathers pace

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1:29Matt Roberts: Hello and welcome to the Tennis Podcast live from Wimbledon presented by Barclays, the official banking partner of Wimbledon. Today has been media day here at SW19. Our bandwidth has been, well speaking for myself, completely maxed out. It has been grossly over simulating in kind of the most fun possible way. hopping from room to room trying to make the most of the precious few minutes that the players the top players have offered up for pre-tournament media because that has kind of been the lead story of the day here today as we heard a couple of days ago the protest action that started in Paris at the French Open a few weeks ago has continued here at Wimbledon and is set to continue throughout the first week of the tournament this is the top players or most of the top players More on that to come.

2:21Matt Roberts: Led by high-profile sports administrator Larry Scott. They're all limiting their time spent with the media in order to impact the Grand Slams and their high-paying rights holders, in particular, and here that would be the BBC and ESPN most prominently, to impact them in hopes of negotiating a higher share of revenues in player prize money as well as improved player welfare. a reminder that Wimbledon announced a 20 % increase in prize money for this year, their highest ever year-on-year increase. But as a percentage of overall revenues, it falls short of the 16 % that the players were targeting.

3:03Matt Roberts: It's 14.4%, I believe, at the moment. So they were targeting 16 % for this year with a long-term goal of achieving 22 % of tournament revenues going into player prize money. and that would be in line with what the tours are able to offer. Matt, you probably attended the most top player press conferences today in the beautiful air-conditioned media theatre here. How big a feature was this protest in how the day unfolded?

3:36Catherine Whitaker: On the one hand, I would say quite a big feature. I was in several press conferences today that were pretty much cut short by the players themselves. They were timing them. I'm talking about Yannick Sinner, Rina Sabalenka, Coco Goff, Jessica Pergoula. These were all players who, yeah, just were kind of in and out of the press conference room. Not like really short, but maybe a little bit shorter than usual and keeping an eye on it. And they left. So it was definitely a feature and there were definitely a lot of questions about the action that the players were taking. so a feature in that sense as well but I must say similarly to Paris not a massive feature I don't think in terms of like big player quotes and headlines to come out of it because quite frankly none of them really said anything of significant weight in terms of really explaining in more detail what it is they're kind of looking for here you know sinner kind of set the tone early he was he was first in at just after 11 o 'clock this morning and he was asked to think about it three times and he engaged the first time in which he he answered well it's not about the money and then checked himself and said it's not all about the money and that was leading on to them being asked about welfare issues which which the players say is a big part of this and he shut that question down he said now is not the time to talk about that and then he was asked a third time about it and he said i think we've done i think we're done talking about it and i just left with this feeling of if you're going to protest like on the one hand absolutely the protest is limiting the media that they're doing that is the protest in itself it's maybe that more than the words they say but i just think it's a tremendous opportunity for them to get their point to cross to explain what it is they really want to put some pressure on the slams that way as well as with meetings get the message out there and i just can't help but come out of all these press conferences and think you've missed a bit of an opportunity there to talk about this and get people maybe understanding you more and on your side because i think they do have a bit of a sort of optic pr problem particularly this one because the the change you know because of the rise that that Wimbledon has given.

6:05Catherine Whitaker: So it was just sort of lacking in that sense of sort of, I'll tell you what it was lacking, Catherine, oomph.

6:11Matt Roberts: And you know how I feel about things that are lacking oomph, yeah. I share a lot of your feelings. I think, David, a few days ago when we were discussing this, when it first was announced or first came out that this protest would be continuing at Wimbledon, and we were all quite surprised by that, and I imagine Wimbledon were as well, you said, well, look, if they don't care about optics, if they don't care about the PR of it, then this seems like a good plan. I'm a bit confused about where they stand, like how they feel about the PR in the optics, because shutting down questioning, exactly as Matt's described, makes me think they don't care about that.

6:50Matt Roberts: And that's fine if they're prepared to sort of bear the brunt of potentially negative press, that's on them fair enough. But then some things they say, like Yannick Sinner saying it's not about the money, you know that's sort of an awareness of how it looks to be multi-millionaires protesting about not not getting more money right that's a sort of awareness of the awkwardness of that and and other things as well I'll come on to talk about them make me think that actually they do want to have their cake and eat it here and don't want to be perceived in that way but also do want to take this action and and make a play for for more money I do think in the case to somebody like Yannick Sinner, who I do think thinks, I don't need more money, really.

7:35It's not about money in terms of I needing more in my pocket. It's about a fair share for players generally. And I do think he's thinking lower down the pecking order of people who do need more. And I think generally with somebody like him, he just thinks it's wrong. He thinks it's wrong that players are not getting a certain amount. you can have your own view about whether that is or not my instinctive reaction is it's a bit rich to to make your protest by using the media by curtailing the media and then not being prepared to talk about it to the media i just sort of think well which is it which which is it here do you want to do you want to sort of make this protest and tell us about it or do you want to just kind of have this half and half and and i found that i found that a bit rude to be honest that and that makes me think that well yeah they just don't care they don't really care about that that element of it and yeah if that ends up getting them what they want fine if if they're not bothered about what people think about how it comes across but i i think i agree with you missed opportunity I also think, hold on, we're just trying to understand your position here, telling us that it's not the right time and place.

8:58Well, you're holding the protest during Wimbledon, mate. So you're making it this time and place, aren't you?

9:06Matt Roberts: Yeah, I had quite an awkward exchange with Ben Shelton in his press conference because he had been asked about the protest that he was participating in and he was sort of giving all the reasons for it. Again, kind of listing like it's not just about the money. He was going big on the player welfare side of things. And he threw in at the end of his answer a reference to the prevalence of injury at the moment. Young, exciting players being sidelined long term with injury. And I thought, yeah, that's a cause we can all get behind and we all care about and want to find solutions for. I don't quite know what all the solutions are, but I wanted to know, like, what's the link in his mind and the player's mind between this protest and what you think you can achieve to solve that problem so I said like what what solutions you like but I asked him exactly that and he he said well I think I've answered that question in a really like why you ask me that kind of kind of way he said you know player council you know I said about being on player council and then I wanted to follow up with okay but what decisions would you like to have input into or what what decision making areas would you like to have input into on those player councils that you'd hope to set up and he clearly just wasn't interested in it shut it down moved on and I don't know just it feels confused to me I'm wary of you know we're a bit biased because we're bearing the brunt of this a bit, right?

10:37Matt Roberts: We're going to be a bit put out by it. I mean, we're not bearing the brunt as much as the broadcasters who are paying a lot of money for the rights to cover this event and aren't getting what they would view as part of what they paid for. And it does make sense to hurt those rights holders. But I don't know, I just left feeling sort of a bit confused about the whole thing.

11:03Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, and on the issue of the council and having discussions, I believe Wimbledon suggested setting up a council to discuss these very issues at the start of the year and that wasn't taken up by the players. Wimbledon has extended the arm in that sense and the players haven't wanted that. They've preferred to go this route. Yeah, and there was a perfect moment right at the start of Jessica Pergoula's press conference. kind of summed up the whole thing in terms of not really knowing fully what's going on here. And the moderator said, right, Jessica is one of the players limiting her media activity today.

11:50Catherine Whitaker: And at that exact moment, the moderator's Siri on her phone went, I'm sorry, I don't understand.

12:00Catherine Whitaker: Charlie who was sat next to him he just quipped yeah neither do we it was yeah it was pretty perfect

12:06Matt Roberts: there was an interesting moment in Alex de Manor's press conference where he he was asked whether he was participating in the protest today and he said generally I'm in it and I support it and I participated in Paris but I'm choosing to opt out specifically here at Wimbledon in recognition of the fact that I think the 20 % uplift was a was a good good offer and I didn't feel it appropriate to react in the way that was being being proposed so he was not ruling himself out of future future action sort of in it big picture but didn't want to be in it here it's an interesting one isn't it because I think in isolation it is a good rise in in money it's just that if they have stated goals which they do which are about revenue share in addition to the other things welfare and etc but i mentioned it the other day it's not just about a wimbledon or a us open putting their hands in their pockets this year and giving them a nice healthy prize increase prize money increase it's also about the fact that they want to get it up every single year until 2030 until they have 22 percent of the prize money not just 16 percent overall that's this year they want they want to keep doing this and and i think probably the other players are saying well if we all just say this is fine thanks thanks very much there's no incentive to actually take those additional steps i think the grand slams would say well those just aren't realistic you know you're talking about money that the event makes.

13:49We have expenditure if we want to make this tournament what it is. And that's where the head-to-head lies.

13:57Matt Roberts: A tough situation right now for the US Open, because Wimbledon have gone big, and it still hasn't been enough. Not even to prevent a protest. I mean, they've escalated here, let alone just sort of continued what they're doing from Paris. So, like, presumably if the US Open don't match what Wimbledon have done at least we could be seeing further escalation yeah I'd be surprised really unless the US Open really came to the table and decided like you know what we're gonna show everybody how big we are by making a an even more meaningful lift I think that there probably will be further action because I think that this This has made this group's position, this group of players' position clear that this...

14:50Rylan Garros wasn't a one-time only thing. Even though there's been a very, very good response, relatively speaking, it isn't what they wanted and they're not going to accept. Just saying thank you very much. So I'd be surprised if there isn't further action.

15:06Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, me too. I think that was a feature of Pagula's press conference, throwing it forward to the US Open and she made the point that they've had in a way the advantage of seeing what's gone before, they've got the information, they can probably make the most informed decision in terms of what they do with their prize money and obviously there's the Craig Tiley element as well with the US Open now and Jessica Pagula made the point, Craig generally is very good to the players and has been for many years at the Australian Open. Yeah, look, I think we're maybe sounding quite sort of as though we're against the players here or down on it.

15:51Catherine Whitaker: I think they are making, I think they've got a lot of good points here. If only they could make them. It's just, I'd love to hear them a bit more. And I think, I genuinely think the frustration for me is I really think there's important stuff to be discussed in terms of welfare. and they say welfare and then don't expand on what that is and what that means and I think that's so important that they get that message out there that they're like I'm no Larry Scott but like that would be a next step that I think that this this group could take that they're clearly having these meetings with with the slams and talking about it but they're not seeing any movement in that sense well then get your message out properly through the media and and put pressure on that way Like, don't just say welfare, say exactly what it is that you want to see, like they've got with this number with the revenue percentage.

16:46Catherine Whitaker: That's a specific. OK, you might not agree with it.

16:49Matt Roberts: These are goal orientated people, aren't they?

16:51Catherine Whitaker: You might not agree with that number, but at least it's clear.

16:55Matt Roberts: And they can say, well, you've offered 14.4 % and that's close, but it's no cigar, Wimbledon. We've got a goal. You haven't hit that goal. On we go. whereas the welfare staff and that's an easier pr sell isn't it because it's not millionaires asking for more millions and they sort of recognize that because they asked they were pushing the welfare line today but with very little substance behind it they were just saying the words player welfare um and then when pressed on it just sort of going don't ask me about that It's not the time and place for that. Can't wait to do this show again in New York in a few weeks' time.

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19:54Matt Roberts: Okay, let's talk about what we've seen and heard today from a tennis perspective, starting, shall we, with our defending champions. Matt, you said Yannick Sinner was in first to the press conference room due to the aforementioned air conditioner delivery. I was unable to attend this one.

20:12Catherine Whitaker: tell us all about it well i mean there wasn't a huge amount to report um it was as i said quite a short press conference i think the main headline is again he was asked about the tests that he's done you know in terms of post french open everyone like it's so interesting how like that is now the sinner talking point right like everyone is focused on that and he says that they were more sort of general health tests they came back good and he's made these he's made these changes to the way he's preparing um i believe he said in in italian that he's he's focusing on doing longer sessions and sort of taking fewer breaks so he's out in the heat for longer exposing himself to it for longer um but he did make the point that you cannot simulate and practice what you feel in a match with tension yeah and you know i think that's a that's an important point because I do think stress is a big part of it with him.

21:15Catherine Whitaker: So, look, currently there's a huge black cloud over us which feels like a sort of reminder that the weather is about to change.

21:23Matt Roberts: Every time I look over at David, he is looking towards the sky. I saw a massive sort of cracking lightning down here. There's nothing we can do about it now.

21:32Catherine Whitaker: But the point is the weather's changing. I don't think this is going to be like a huge talking point, certainly for the first week of this tournament. The forecast is suggesting that the heat dome is potentially returning and week two could be pretty warm. So I guess just watch this space. It might come up at some point. There might be a moment in this tournament with Sinner where we're talking about this again. I suspect he will have learnt from Paris and won't be requesting first on. That didn't work out to it. No, I suspect he's going to want end of day kind of stuff for his matches. I think the point is he's learning.

22:09Catherine Whitaker: he knew it was a big thing which happened in Paris he doesn't want it to happen again and it's going to be just interesting whether that weather does play a factor Catherine and I don't care now that we've got our air conditioner

22:23Matt Roberts: suffer away Yannick we're not in the same boat anymore Yigish Fiontek the women's defending champion of course she was one of the last into the press conference room today David you and I went to that But how did you interpret the various things that she was saying, specifically sort of about... Well, she sort of led me there, really. My question to her was about, you know, she's defended Grand Sam titles before, but she had hinted in the answer to the first question that this is really different. Defending here is really different. And obviously she hasn't had the experience yet of Tuesday and walking out at 1.30 as the defending champion on centre court.

23:10Matt Roberts: And that is unique. But she's had the experience of knowing about that. She's known when and where she would play her first match for a year now. It's a great tradition. It is. It's really cool. But in terms of the pressure it loads on, I'm not sure that's what Iga Shvantec needs right now. I think that's a valid point. She came across talking about it very well, I thought. I thought she sounds really excited about it and really looking forward to it. She's really proud. She came across as really... Walking through the gates here was a reminder of what she achieved last year. She said it was always sort of my dream.

23:56In fact, it wasn't even a dream. you know I wouldn't it sounded like she didn't had not even allowed herself to dream that that could happen really so they that that was wonderful for her a year ago and I think she's coming in here just full of gratitude really that that was what she did at the same time she tried to say but now it's about this year it's about what I can do at this tournament and yeah that is a that is a big thing that you don't get at other tournaments but what you talk about two days before the event happens or three days before it actually happens to walking out there and facing a taylor townsend who's just going to come at you um i don't think it's guaranteed that she handles that well i i mean i i don't i hope she does i hope she can settle quickly i think on balance I would back her to do that but it's it's an extraordinary way to start a tennis tournament and to to be doing it against a player who's not going to give you a lot of rhythm and who's kind of come out to try to beat you you know obviously everybody tries to come out to win but I think Townsend comes out believing she will win and that's different so yeah it's it's possible that that she ends up kind of tightening on that stage in that situation.

25:20But I would imagine she won't or not long enough to lose.

25:24Matt Roberts: She was very keen to make the point of like, just because I won Wimbledon last year, like I haven't just cracked grass and this is, I'm suddenly a grass quarter. Like I made it work last year and I played some great tennis and whatever, but it's not like that hasn't changed the whole complexion of my relationship with grass. And look, I think that is the truth. But I think it's also something that is important for her to believe and to get it. It's all pressure relievers, isn't it, really? The same as she talked about that Bad Homburg didn't go that well and she didn't get the rhythm there that she was hoping to get and that she obviously got last year coming in to Wimbledon.

26:06Matt Roberts: It's kind of like, yeah, I won here last year and that is nothing but good. but it doesn't mean I'm going to come back and win here every year. Paris was the most head-on I've ever seen her accept a loss in a press conference with us as the media and say, I do have a bit of a problem, you know, with anxiety, with feeling stressed out on a tennis court. It's something I think we've long suspected. It's totally normal, but it's also something that she'd managed to keep at bay, certainly at the French Open for these long periods of time and the big question is whether she's going to be able to get over that for the future future Grand Slams this is the first Grand Slam since then so now we find out um is she able to sort of take it in a stride it was interesting to hear her talking about having spent her whole career as somebody who has a a psychologist who works with her on that side of the sport and tries and she understands the importance of it but i think that's an ongoing thing it is now raining which is an extraordinary development just it's spitting yes we're fine we're absolutely fine i think we're okay to be

27:21Catherine Whitaker: denial about it yeah we're fine for the moment yeah i just on um on shiontech like not having like fully cracked grass i do think it's quite interesting the line about i think if you look at the last 10 Wimbledons, the only player on the women's side who's won it twice in that time is Serena Williams. Like, since Serena kind of stopped dominating, no one has, like, fully cracked grass on the women's side. Okay, we've had consistent players, you know, people who regularly are in the latter stages, but maybe, but, like, no one's dominated this tournament. So, like, Shiontek would absolutely absolutely not be alone if she if she has a bit of a worse Wimbledon here like that has been the story of this surface on the on the women's side for a long time now yeah and it's important again like that's a pressure reliever isn't it like if you don't defend this title if it doesn't go well

28:22Matt Roberts: you're not alone it's it's tough it's tough to do on the subject of um working with a psychologist by the way that was probably the biggest takeaway from Sabalenka's press conference today yes we

28:34Catherine Whitaker: knew uh that she'd seen a psychologist after the French Open but she said today it was actually someone she'd worked with before uh and and went back to them because uh she said that she just felt that was kind of the thing to do rather than having to sort of start again with with someone I was kind of surprised that she stopped work you know sort of taking a break there I kind of thought maybe it might be something that that what once she started with that and presumably it had quite

29:03Matt Roberts: a lot of do you know when when that's like because i know she worked with a psychologist before she got gavin mcmillan the biomechanist that's now working with coco goff in to help with her serve and gavin mcmillan came in and said this isn't a psychological problem this is a technical problem you don't need to worry about that like i'll fix it technically um so i don't know i don't know if it's that psychologist but i mean her serves fine now so it is now raining a little bit more folks so we're just monitoring the situation matthew isn't panicking at all about his extremely expensive equipment in the rain uh nothing to see here folks uh novak yeah matthew's fine he's got an umbrella look at him go uh novak jokovic we were in the jokovic press conference first question was about AI was it?

30:00Matt Roberts: it was about AI he sort of took a deep breath

30:03Catherine Whitaker: and was like oh okay

30:04Matt Roberts: first question was about AI and how he handles it and screens technology generally from a parenting perspective

30:12Catherine Whitaker: I think you'd actually be very interested in that David seek out the transcript have a look

30:17Matt Roberts: but yeah after that when we talked about other things I mean my main takeaway from it was God this is so different to Paris Oh yeah For Djokovic Yeah Like he might have fancied it a bit in Paris Because of the draw Because he was in the other side of the draw to Sinner And Alcaraz wasn't there And you know then obviously He had a sweet sweet 24 hours When Sinner was out of the tournament And it looked like it was his to lose But even given all that It was still Paris And that's still Look he's a great clay court player But it's different here

30:54Catherine Whitaker: yeah and he told us in Paris he said I've not had the ideal preparation I've been injured I've not had the match time the court time he talked about how he had that feeling of needing to get matches done quickly and it was going to drain drain his energy reserves if he didn't he was up front about that here he said this is different and he said I wanted to peek at Wimbledon anyway and he said he feels like he has had much better preparation in the few weeks since since Paris yeah he was pretty bullish and convincing.

31:26Matt Roberts: He was convincing, wasn't he? Good time for me to have drafted him into my fantasy team then. David did the most extraordinary bit of fantasy business earlier today. I couldn't believe it when this dropped in the WhatsApp group. Mboko out. Djokovic in. Nothing personal, Mboko. You're just not playing the tournament because you're injured. And I'd already saved points because I'd ditched Joao Fonseca and brought in Oliver Tarvit. And that was a big point saving. I bet it was I used my budget to go and get myself a Novak Djokovic yeah he's quite good I can only bow to that that's extraordinary work yeah he really had me believing not quite that he'll beat Yannick Sinner but I think he'll get there and he's in the same half as Sinner for a semi-final it would be a semi-final yeah right Alex Dimenor was pretty interesting wasn't he talking about his own form he's the fifth seed here Alex de Menor and yet what's the gist?

32:28Matt Roberts: All of the questions in his press conference were about how terrible his years been and how terrible his form is and like and I asked him about that it sort of went a bit meta halfway through the press conference and I was like you're the fifth seed of Islam I think for the first time and here you are fielding questions about how crap things are going for you and he was like Yeah, I know, but that's because of me. And like, I've been saying, I don't like the way I feel. I don't feel like myself. I'm taking losses that aren't me. It's not necessarily the results. It's been like how the results have felt.

33:05And it's clear he's trying to zoom out from that, Matt,

33:09Matt Roberts: and look at the facts of things, which are, he's the fifth seed. You know, there's lots to be positive about. I still am not totally convinced that will translate into great results yet. I'm pleased from a sort of mental health perspective that he was talking like that. But I did think he seemed totally exhausted.

33:32Catherine Whitaker: Yes, I felt similarly. He seemed very self-aware to me. He was very reflective about the last year. Because it was here a year ago where he came in talking about burnout. And how that had got to him.

33:45Matt Roberts: And he referenced that, didn't he?

33:46Catherine Whitaker: He referenced that and he said that last year he was really fixating on points and ranking and all that kind of stuff. And he said that just got to him. This year he's tried to have a different approach. He thinks probably a healthier one. But his form hasn't been great for a little while now. But he did say grass is good for him. He feels like he can reset easily on this surface this time of year. he's already won quite a few matches on this surface leading in to Wimbledon this year already and he backs himself I think on this surface and he said what he's what he's trying to do is exactly as you said not be so hard on himself and realize that he can even if he you know he has a good run here he could leave the tournament with a career high ranking he could get his best ever result at a major and know that these things are ahead of him still and he can still achieve stuff even if he feels that his form hasn't been hasn't been great so i kind of i kind of came out of it sort of long term quite encouraged for alex dimanore in terms of like he's aware of how he's feeling and what he needs to do to make himself get out of those ruts but i think he sort of might still be in a rut at the moment and this is the window and this exactly which is this is when Alcaraz isn't here.

35:10Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, and he's not in Sinner's side of the draw. Right. And I actually spoke in an interview you'll be able to hear on Tennis Podcast Meets with Tommy Paul. And one of the questions I asked is, you know, how aware are you these days when you train and think about Grand Slams that the one guy you keep running into, you play brilliantly against at Grand Slams but keep losing to is Carlos Alcaraz and he's not here. And he was very quick to say, well, yeah, I mean, I see why you're asking that, but I'm in the bad side. He didn't say the bad side, but he said, I'm in Sinner's half, which was a very good way to kind of diffuse that.

35:51And also, I mean, he does have to take it one match at a time, no matter how boring that might be. But if you were Dim and Or in the other half, and all the others that are in that other half, I mean, it is such an opportunity. And what a terrible time for Dim and Or to be kind of hitting the wall. sort of a feel for him really.

36:10Matt Roberts: Very different approach to draws, Tommy Paul, than Barbora Krejcikova, who Matt and I interviewed for Tennis Podcast Meets and didn't want to know her first round draw. What? Adrian Manorino style? Yeah, we asked her about it at length actually. Wow. It was really interesting.

36:29Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, because I've heard of players not wanting to know their draw as the tournament progresses. Yeah, not wanting to look ahead. not wanting to look ahead but not wanting but doing that but also not wanting to know your first round yeah it's very very interesting yeah i also may or may not have asked about

36:48Matt Roberts: dormant volcanoes matt explained the concept of dormant volcanoes to a dormant volcano can't wait

36:54Catherine Whitaker: to find out how she took being called one well i said how did that go katherine went fine which

37:01Matt Roberts: wasn't totally reassuring no but i think the what we were worried about was tremendously awkward yeah right i was trying to reassure you that yeah it wasn't that no no i don't think she's now going around going oh this this guy was talking about me being a dormant volcano she hasn't got the badge yet no she hasn't got a t-shirt no but we're the first step on that journey uh who else did we speak to today you spoke to jessica pagouli you went big on Pegula yesterday.

37:30Catherine Whitaker: Yeah. Still feeling good. Yeah? Yeah. She said in her first answer, she said everything I needed to hear, that the prep week's gone well. Yeah. And this new approach she's taken, she thinks it's going to pay off.

37:45Matt Roberts: Okay. That's all we need to know?

37:47Catherine Whitaker: I think so, yeah. I mean, it was quite a short press conference and a lot of it was about the protest action. But yeah, this new approach of getting on the Wimbledon grass, she's banking on that to be the difference maker.

38:01Matt Roberts: David, tell us about Grigor Dimitrov's press conference while I take a picture of Matthew filming the show underneath the Wimbledon umbrella. With pleasure. Grigor, well, he was in fine spirits. And, I mean, you would not believe, really, that this guy had just spent the last year thinking about being two sets up against Yannick Sinner and pulling a pectoral muscle the way he did. But he said, you know, I've kind of had to let it go because I can't do anything about it. He said it was, I did, he was asked, when you think about that day when you were two sets up, how did you feel at the time before the injury?

38:47He said, oh, I felt so great. You know, I felt, I loved it.

38:51Matt Roberts: didn't he in tennis podcast meets in australia flow state yeah and he repeated that here but he just says you know when i still look back on it fondly even though what happened happened um and he's it's kind of bittersweet i think um but he also said i still think it's in me i still think he's got you hasn't he of course i've got it i reckon i've rubbed off on him because I believe in him. I mean, he just, the problem is he's had such a rough year. He hasn't been able to get anything going. He was asked about whether Dublin made a difference. He played this challenger in Dublin, tiny tournament by his standards.

39:32He said it was brilliant for me. He said I played six matches in 10 days and I haven't done that in such a long time.

39:38Matt Roberts: He went and won a couple of matches in Mallorca last week off the back of that, didn't he? So he was bullish, but he needs to, he needs to get some rhythm going, some form going. It's not easy. Folks, it is now raining to the point of, I'm going to shut the laptop for preservation purposes. Are we OK to fly blind for the rest of the show? I'd say so.

40:00Catherine Whitaker: David always flies blind. OK. I've got no notes.

40:04Matt Roberts: Coco Gauff press conference.

40:07Catherine Whitaker: Yes, I thought the most interesting sort of tennis line from that was about her serve and how she said that she actually felt like she regretted in Paris not going after it more, not going after the first serve more. It was very notable that throughout the whole clay court season, really, the serve was a point starter. She wasn't going for it in a bid to just make more serves, I think, as she tries to overcome the serving issues that she's had. But notably last week on the grass, I said it on the show, I really thought she was going for it more. She hit some more doubles, but she hit 12 aces, I think, on the grass.

40:46Catherine Whitaker: And she said that's going to be her strategy. I think she knows, especially on this surface, she needs that shot as a weapon. But interesting how she thought that even on the clay, she did have some regrets about not taking that approach. So, yeah, it's always one of the most interesting things with Coco Gauff, that shot, and, yeah, something to look out for in her matches, how much she goes after it.

41:10Matt Roberts: Yeah, she's very self-aware about herself as a grass court player. She was like, look, I know this surface has been no friend to me, but she was also like, I have had some tough draws here, which is very true, isn't it?

41:26Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, yeah. And there was a funny little bit at the end of her press conference when she was asked about her first round opponent, Tamara Korpach, and she was asked whether she remembered playing her before and whether she would seek out footage of that match to sort of prep for this one. And she said, yeah, I probably will seek out footage, but I don't remember when it was. When was it? And the journalist said, actually, you lost to her en route to your first title. And I thought, hang on a minute, that doesn't sound right. And then she was like, oh, yes, I lost to her in qualies in Linz and I got in as a lucky loser.

42:04Catherine Whitaker: He was like, that was in 2019. Yeah, I won't bother watching that.

42:08Matt Roberts: Also, is footage of Linz Qualies from 2019 available? Who knows? Mira Andreva, I mean, not loads from Mira Andreva's press conference other than she seems like so happy. I asked her whether she would like Wimbledon to just be a couple of weeks further away so she can just enjoy being a French Open champion for a bit longer rather than having to get serious again. And she was like, yeah, in an ideal world, but it's fine. But the best line from it was she was asked about Serena, as obviously so many players were today. And she said, yeah, I was out in the practice court during the draw. And she was, I don't know whether she was live streaming it, but she was certainly paying close attention to it.

42:52And she said, I was looking behind my hands because I didn't want to draw Serena.

42:59Matt Roberts: And she said, trust me, no one wants to draw Serena. and then she sort of took about it and she was like okay I'll just speak for myself, I didn't want to draw Serena but she was like, trust me no one wanted to draw Serena I would also imagine there's a bit of her that would love to play her at some point I guess it might be different drawing her in the first round of Wimbledon and the first match of her comeback I guess, I think there'll always be a lot of attention for her however long this lasts but the first match, the first tournament is going to be So yeah, that was a good little moment.

43:32Matt Roberts: And actually, Alex de Menor was asked quite a lot about Maya Joint, wasn't he? Who he's played United Cup with. Obviously, Australian knows her well. The first question was, you know, you know Maya Joint well. How do you think she'll handle this occasion well? And he took a big intake of breath and was like, I'm not sure anyone would handle this occasion well. And it was a really honest answer. So he was like, look, he's got a lot of time and respect for my joint. He was really clear about that. But he was like, you can tell yourself all the things that you need to tell yourself till the cows come home.

44:08Matt Roberts: But it's just not as simple as that.

44:10Catherine Whitaker: Yeah. And to me, it was kind of like him trying to say, if she doesn't handle it well, that's OK. Yeah. You know, like no need to rip into her because, well, as Andreeva said, no one wanted that draw. Like it's a bit of a nightmare in a lot of ways. So yeah, I thought it was a good answer from Alex Dimonor. His press conference was maybe my favourite of the whole day.

44:36Matt Roberts: It was in room two and room two here is great, isn't it? Three rows, isn't it? That's all there is. Three rows. It's very intimate. It always just ends up conversational. Yeah. You don't have to raise your voice. You don't have to have a microphone. You're just having a chat. Yeah. Medvedev was in there. and Matt asked him a great question, I thought, about the French Open, where obviously he crashed and burned before any of the nonsense started happening and Matt asked, like, did you see that all unfolding and see Sinner go out and Djokovic go out and all the rest of the nonsense and think, I missed an opportunity here if only I hadn't lost to Adam Walton in the first round and his answer, in not so many words, was a categoric no.

45:21Matt Roberts: It didn't matter how much that draw fell apart, I was never going to do anything.

45:27Catherine Whitaker: Yeah. Remind me never to make any kind of prediction for Medvedev to do anything at the French Open.

45:35Matt Roberts: Yeah, absolutely. Because he doesn't believe that.

45:37Catherine Whitaker: Yeah. Yeah, I find that so interesting.

45:40Matt Roberts: I still think he could have done something at the French Open. If he had a better attitude, Daniil. Yeah. If he hadn't been scheduled first on, that was what really did it. Do I need to give him a bit of a pep talk? I think you do, David. Yeah. From memory, I had one more thing I wanted to mention from today's Media Day interviews, and that was Matthew going to Venus Williams. I don't think he did any important journalism while he was there.

46:07Catherine Whitaker: He had a great time, though.

46:08Matt Roberts: He had a great time.

46:10Catherine Whitaker: Matthew loves Venus Williams. Yeah.

46:13Matt Roberts: And he saw her, he heard she was announced towards the end of the day, Venus Williams is on her way to the press conference room, and I said, oh, you should go to that. and Matthew's little face said, can I?

46:24Catherine Whitaker: And I think my favourite moment from that press conference was when Venus was asked about the fact that she had said, oh, I don't know whether Serena's coming back, you know, a few months ago. And then she was asked about that and said, so did you know? And she just scoffed. I was like, of course I knew. she's a great scoffer she was also asked like how serena how serena looking in practice and she was like you could just go and walk to the practice courts and have a look at her yourself that'd be

47:02Matt Roberts: your best bet incredible i'm glad matthew had that experience uh there was one other thing from was it tarvit time oh two other things at the start of my day yeah two two press conferences is back-to-back first with Oliver Tarvit, who I think, yeah, did learn a couple of things about himself, having tried to recreate his Wimbledon form last year in fallen shorts, and he's back in this position again, and he said he feels like he would handle it better this time if he was able to do so. There was one funny line when I asked him about what's your calendar going to look like after Wimbledon, and he sort of said, well, there's this Nottingham 50k.

47:47It's actually in the second week of Wimbledon. So I suppose it kind of depends if I'm in the second week of Wimbledon. And he definitely wasn't trying to suggest that he was going to be. But the competitor in him couldn't accept categorically that he will be playing in Nottingham. And I did think fair enough.

48:06Matt Roberts: Like these players that book their weddings for the second week of Wimbledon. And then he was followed into room two, again the small one there, with Maja Kvalinska, which I really liked because she is so new to this stuff and she's honest about that. She walks in a little bit self-consciously and has actually said to us at one point, hopefully you'll all be nice to me. You know, after she'd spent several minutes being absolutely fascinating and very helpful in her answers and telling us most interestingly to me about what life has been like since she reached the French Urban Final. and she said, you know, she went straight on holiday as soon as that finished and she didn't touch a racket for sort of six days.

48:58Greece, I think she said. Yeah, was that right? Spiritual Ibiza. She just said, because I mean the thing is she walked in with, this is somebody who didn't have a clothing sponsor at the start of the French Open. She walked in with a Lacoste top. Now, I don't know whether she bought that but I suspect not. it had two other brand names on it so she's definitely her management team she said I trust them I don't have anything to do with it but I know they're going to the checks are coming in you know it's very she said I don't want to say which brands because I don't think it'd be appropriate at the moment but you know clearly she's had all sorts of business deals come her way as a result of reaching that French Open final and she's just she does strike you as somebody who's just trying to take it all in a stride so that she can continue to be a normal tennis player as best she can but it is it's it's been a life-changing month in her life

49:57Matt Roberts: okay laptops back up and running so i can confirm i can confirm for sure that that is it for our roundup for today's media day uh we do have a few more things to talk about some results from today and also to mark your card we do have some some big hitters coming through the press conference room tomorrow notably serena williams of course she wasn't going to come with the riffraff on main media day was she she you know yeah absolutely can i just say that was like

50:25Catherine Whitaker: we are abiding by our own roof policy there aren't we yeah we haven't we haven't proactively gone to our wet weather position we've plowed on with the show matthew and i talked about it Survive a little bit of rain.

50:40Matt Roberts: No harm, no foul.

50:41Catherine Whitaker: And here we are.

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51:59Matt Roberts: Okay, other results. all the pre-Wimbledon grass court tournaments wrapped up today or did they actually? When I wrote this agenda, Zizu, Berg, Zanugo and Bear were still reigned off. They are coming back tomorrow. Oh, wow. And they're playing each other in the first round in Wimbledon. Yep. Why don't they just play the one match? Honestly, I bet if they could, if they were offered the chance to sort of call that one a draw. or make the first round also the Eastbourne title winner take all would you sign for that? I think that would be really fun Matt asked me earlier because ZZ Bergs is playing for a first ever title would you rather win that Eastbourne final or win the first round Wimbledon match?

52:52oh that's tough

52:55Catherine Whitaker: I think if I'd never won a title before I'd want to get a title but if you're Rugo and Bear

52:59Matt Roberts: and you've won a title before multiple I think yeah I think I'd be hoping to make some progress in the world and draw yeah I agree I think it's different for the two of them

53:10Catherine Whitaker: you don't want to be Alejandro Davidovich Fikina no we'll get to him

53:13Matt Roberts: or past Alejandro Davidovich Fikina because Matt he's done it he's finally won a title I'm so pleased I am too I am too 7-6-6-3 over Ethan Quinn today in the Mallorca final, his first ever title in his sixth final, playing at home, of course. He's a Spaniard, first ever home champion for this tournament. Davidovic Fakina played four finals last year, lost them all. He had championship points in two of them. It has been an ordeal to the extent that the scar tissue he had accrued did make me wonder if that would always prevent him from getting over that line somehow. And he was setting a break up today and I thought, oh God, this is actually a nightmare for him.

54:03Catherine Whitaker: And the scar tissue that he'd accrued had, you know, you know it had spread to the locker room. I'm not going to name the player, but a player walked past us today.

54:13Matt Roberts: He didn't name the player. I don't think he'd mind.

54:18Catherine Whitaker: Alexander Bublik walked past us today. looking at his phone I kind of loved it he was in the live scores of this final and he saw that Alejandro Davidovich Fakina was in that winning position and he said yeah now he's going to start shitting himself

54:39Matt Roberts: and I thought the same yeah

54:41Catherine Whitaker: it was the most normal thing in the world absolutely and his reaction was so interesting in the moment he won the match point shook hands with Ethan Quinn shook hands with the umpire and I thought wow surely that's not just going to be his reaction to winning this title he was kind of keeping it all in and then when he put his racket down he went back out into the middle of the court he just let out this huge roar like huge all of this pent up sadness frustration over the years he's finally finally done it

55:16Matt Roberts: bad news for Arinderkinesh who is now the highest ranked player not to have an ATP title. And now he's got to face Tarvit. So he ain't going to win Wimbledon. Bad Homburg wrapped up today and it was the first career grass court title for Karolina Mukova in difficult circumstances because her final opponent, Naomi Osaka, retired trailing 6-1, one love with a foot injury.

55:46Catherine Whitaker: yes I don't I don't think it happened in the match she said afterwards that she'd felt it earlier in the week but it was worse today and she had some treatment on it in that first set and yeah stopped early in the second set just a real shame

56:03Matt Roberts: it's her third retirement in a final Osaka

56:07Catherine Whitaker: another debatably lost

56:09Matt Roberts: yeah and I think all of them have been the tournaments before slams I don't know I think that might just be coincidence I think I might just be very bad luck but it's... So fed up of these injuries to, well to anybody but there's so many great fun players with stories and interest and they're just falling down everywhere Mukhaver a good example here by the way I know she had won one title before this year but it was a long time ago, pre-pandemic even and she'd got a bit of a monkey on her back about winning titles and she's won two this year now. She got over the line in Dubai winning that 1 ,000 and now she's got a second one.

56:52Matt Roberts: So floodgates open for Karolina Mukova. Wimbledon run incoming?

56:59Catherine Whitaker: I've got to think so. I mean, I said it yesterday. I think it's one of the most bizarre records in the sport, you know, like four first round losses at Wimbledon in a row and she's reached a slam final in that time, some semis in that time. Like, normally the issue is, and the fact she's played four Wimbledon's in a row, great. Normally that's the issue, getting on the court. She's been playing, she just hasn't been winning. I think the game suits the grass. I would love to see a Mukava run.

57:30Matt Roberts: Me too. Madison Keyes, run. She beat Tatiana Maria today in the Eastbourne final, 7-5, 6-4. Incredible record this. it means that she joins Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova as the only players to win Eastbourne three times or more. And of course, Eastbourne was where she won her first career title in 2014. It really means a lot to Madison Keyes to win that title. She had a real flex in the trophy ceremony where she picked up the trophy and went, oh, I forgot how heavy it was. Like, just a reminder, I've held this thing before. She's on a collision course with Amanda Rinis Amova. the third round that you were worried about anyway yeah

58:15Catherine Whitaker: still have yeah

58:19Matt Roberts: plays Kayla Day on Tuesday Anderson Key so she's got that extra day at least but she's erupting they are swift turnarounds though aren't they even if you haven't had your reign come along and delay your final it's a fine balance isn't it it's not easy to just come straight in I always think of Pegula last year you know suddenly you're on the court again and you've just got to find it I think it's easier going or theoretically going Eastbourne yeah but then Shontek last year was Bad Homburg finalist

58:52Catherine Whitaker: and I think Donna Vekic a couple of years ago I know you know she played the week before and really just kept it going yeah

58:59Matt Roberts: can go either way can't it yeah definitely yeah okay I think that's it in fact I know that's it because the laptop's back up and running I think the sun might be about to come out there's certainly some sun speckled clouds overhead England are playing in an hour we're okay we're okay for now until we've watched another two hours of turgid England

59:24Catherine Whitaker: better be better than the other night better be better than the other night

59:28Matt Roberts: we'll be back tomorrow folks at 7.30pm with our final Wimbledon preview show we're hoping to get Jamie Baker the Wimbledon tournament director on that show. We're pretty keen to get his thoughts on this protest today and the protest that will be continuing throughout the first week. He's pretty punchy, Jamie. I'm very interested to talk to him about it. So hoping to get him on the show tomorrow. And of course, we have more player press conferences to tell you about. We've got Taylor Fritz tomorrow, Jack Draper. Emma Raducanu is a TBD. She was supposed to come in today. She practised. It didn't go well.

1:00:05Matt Roberts: She lost four games in a row to Anna Kalinskaya before putting an abrupt end to that practice. She's due to come in tomorrow. Yeah, I imagine we'll probably have some memorandum car new news to report tomorrow. And of course, we're going to be speaking to Serena Williams. So lots to talk about on our final preview hype show tomorrow. And if you can't wait till then, we, as discussed, have our Wimbledon edition of Tennis Podcast Meets, which will be up tomorrow for Friends of the Pod. Matt and I spoke to Barbara Krojikova for 15 very entertaining minutes. David had a long chat with Katie McNally and did a whole lot of just incredible loitering today, David.

1:00:53So terrible, isn't it?

1:00:54Matt Roberts: Your best work. I think I haven't had a chance to listen to any of these interviews yet but the one I'm hanging on the most is Coritan Mute Yep, Coritan Mute and myself discussed his Queen's interview and his thoughts about it Can't wait, that'll be up tomorrow for Friends of the Tennis Podcast if you would like to become a friend and get access to that ad-free listening, you get the barge you get eight editions of Tennis Relived a year monthly live shows you get all sorts of stuff folks the link will be in our show notes to become a friend, it is mascot time I've prepared for this all day folks, no rain delay, no nothing can catch me out on the mascot portion of the show today, first and foremost Phoebe, here is Phoebe snuggled up on some sort of duvet type thing looking absolutely adorable and Priyanka says Phoebe is ready to listen to TTP Meets and find out more about the players.

1:01:59Matt Roberts: Yes Phoebe, Phoebe gets it. And I must say a huge hello to Bodhi. My mascot, Bodhi. We love Bodhi.

1:02:09Catherine Whitaker: Yes, Bodhi.

1:02:10Matt Roberts: We do love Bodhi. Yeah, it's just tough being live. Hello to Maisie. Especially when it rains. Hello to Maisie and to Roger as well. Hello to our top folks and executive producers Greg, Chris and Jeff. Matt's got his laptop back open so I think we can do shout outs.

1:02:29Catherine Whitaker: And we start with Jessica Schaefer. Hi Jessica. Hello Jessica. In New York. Jessica says tennis references are very easy in the current age of Jessica's. Pegula.

1:02:43Matt Roberts: Pegula.

1:02:43Catherine Whitaker: Yep. Boutas Manero.

1:02:45Matt Roberts: Boutas Manero. She was being offered around the media area early. It's a really efficient system here on media day. Shout out Danny. Shout out Danny. Matt and I were just watching him operate earlier. Mesmerised.

1:03:02Catherine Whitaker: Every slam needs a Danny. He's a good lad he is. He's great.

1:03:06Matt Roberts: Yeah. He's got a career in the army. If he wants one.

1:03:11Catherine Whitaker: He's got an earpiece. He's proactive. He tells you when someone's coming. He reassures you if you're waiting. He marches in with a player

1:03:17Matt Roberts: in their entourage and says, Jessica Boothas Monero, anyone? I feel like our mate Dave. Yes, that's what I said to Catherine. Just fantastic stuff. He was trying to find some takers for Daniel Merida for a while. Who was it that... There was a slightly awkward... Anyone for...

1:03:38Catherine Whitaker: It was Ruth Azmanera. Oh, it was Ruth Azmanera. And what normally has happened is somebody's requested her and then that person hasn't turned up or can't be located because there's been a misunderstanding of timings or something and they're furiously trying to get them in the room, you know.

1:03:56Matt Roberts: There's a lot to juggle. Yeah, they do a good job of it, don't they? Yeah, brilliant. Yeah, yeah.

1:04:01Catherine Whitaker: And Jessica says, Thanks to you and the Barge for being my tennis friends. I've been listening since 2017. Oh, pre-mat.

1:04:11Matt Roberts: She's stuck with us. Pre-mat. Thank you, Jessica.

1:04:15Catherine Whitaker: That was my debut, 2017. My one US... So maybe she... My one US Open cameo.

1:04:22Matt Roberts: It's in the archive, folks. You had to wait over a year for any more goes at it. So, you know, he obviously didn't...

1:04:28Catherine Whitaker: That wasn't great. He didn't stop the show with his takes that day. We had to wait until Hatchinov winning Paris.

1:04:34Matt Roberts: Matt was on holiday and David stuck a microphone in his hand. It's good stuff. It's in the archive. Thank you, Jessica.

1:04:41Catherine Whitaker: And finally, we have Matt Poulin from Florida. Hello, Matt. Right, Matt. Matt says I'm a huge fan and I've been listening for over 10 years and I've been playing tennis for over 50 years since I started as a child in the 70s. That's so cool.

1:05:00Matt Roberts: They do say it's a sport for life, don't they? And it is true. It's true. Yeah, I was talking to one of our journalism colleagues today about starting your kids just playing tennis. and certainly we, my wife and I started our kids playing tennis because you just feel like if you can get that under your belt you can play it for such a long time. Yeah, and transition to pickleball when you're ready. Or not. Have you seen that there's either a movie or a series? I think it's on Apple TV. Yeah, I'm not watching that. It's about tennis versus pickleball. I think movie. Oh really? Does tennis win? I don't know.

1:05:42Matt Roberts: I've been busy, David. find out and then let me know if I was writing the script tennis would win but probably sport is the winner ok sport there you go I'm sure we're going to get messages tennis then we're going to get messages about that folks thank you Jessica thank you Matt I mean there's only one Matt I mean Matthew was a Matt but he had a rebrand and he's now a Matthew

1:06:10Catherine Whitaker: it's been quite a successful rebrand I think Yeah. And to prove he was a Matt, I said to him yesterday, what's your email address? Matt. Yeah. Yeah.

1:06:17Matt Roberts: No, because I'm sure... No one can hear you, Matthew.

1:06:22Catherine Whitaker: He's saying he shortens it because he's got a long surname.

1:06:25Matt Roberts: Yeah. So he shortens the first name and the... Whatever, Matthew. It's a rebrand. Just own it. It wasn't a rebrand. He was an OG Matthew. And then you two rebranded him Matt.

1:06:35Catherine Whitaker: No, he introduced himself to us as Matt.

1:06:38Matt Roberts: Yeah, correct.

1:06:39Catherine Whitaker: I wouldn't call you something you didn't want to be called.

1:06:43Matt Roberts: Yeah, we're not those people.

1:06:44Catherine Whitaker: I've never called him that.

1:06:51Solve this afterwards.

1:06:54Matt Roberts: No, Matthew's got to get to some sort of box park to watch the football. Yeah, time's running out.

1:07:00Catherine Whitaker: He's not coming to our box park. No, he's not. He's got a better offer. He's been invited several times. He's been offered squash and everything.

1:07:11Matt Roberts: oh Matthew thank you Jessica thank you Matt for being shout out friends of the tennis podcast we'll be back tomorrow folks 7.30 is the time for our final let's get hyped for Wimbledon show and then we will be back every day from Monday throughout the 14 days of the tournament not before 9pm keep across our socials hit that like and subscribe button on YouTube subscribe to the newsletter and you will always know when we are going live from Wimbledon. We are part of the Athletic Podcast Network. We will speak to you tomorrow.

1:07:51Matt Roberts: Hi all, this is Kim and Penn Holderness from Laugh Line. Summer is here, which means it's officially travel season. And when you're out there making plans, you need somewhere reliable to stay. That's why Best Western is such a solid option. This summer, get 1 ,000 bonus points and a chance to win 250 ,000 bonus points. So wherever you're headed, make it count with this limited time offer. Life's a trip. Make the most of it at bestwestern.com. No additional purchase necessary for sweeps. See bonus points, T's and C's and sweeps rules for details and visit bestwestern.com for complete terms and conditions.

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