Live from Wimbledon - Who's been handed a nightmare draw?

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1:46Matt Roberts: hello and welcome to the tennis podcast live from wimbledon a glorious sunny day at wimbledon for the first time in 2025 we are so back in our incredible position here on the broadcast roof overlooking the green, green grass of court number 18 there. We've got Centre Court over there. We've got number one court behind us. We've got Henman Hill over in the distance. All of it absolutely pristine in anticipation of everything kicking off in less than three days' time. If you don't know, I'm Catherine Whittaker. Alongside me are David Law and Matt Roberts together. We are The Tennis Podcast, and we are here daily for the next 17 days through the Wimbledon fortnight talking about this incredible tournament and if you're looking over here and wondering why Matt Roberts is wearing such a snazzy outfit it's in celebration of the fact that today is draw day not just any draw the draw you know I love all draws but the Wimbledon

2:53Catherine Whitaker: draw is the best of the lot and it lived up to expectations today i think i had the afterglow of our live show in london last night when i arrived on site at 9am this morning not the

3:06Matt Roberts: afterglow of bruce springsteen releasing 80 songs that happened on the stroke of midnight as we're in the taxi home it's been a big 24 hours for matt it was all incredibly overwhelming we've

3:17Catherine Whitaker: kitted out in this new Wimbledon merch. Brilliant. What a day.

3:22Matt Roberts: It's one of those days where Matt is so happy, like, you can't help but rub off on you. It's like being in the presence of Carlos Alcaraz. That's right. I'll take that. No, it's true. It's true. I mean, you were here. Catherine and I hadn't even left the apartment and you were already posting selfies of yourself right here. That's about eight hours ago, nine hours ago. and yeah I mean it is that kind of day but there was a little bit of concern about the draw as to as to whether it all function as well as you would want because last year didn't and I mean because I mean look they carried the thing out as we like it to be carried out and I mean actually I feel like they even went up a notch this time it felt even more a bit dramatic a bit more one at a time names and nothing went wrong right I mean it was it was clockwork it's like one of those gigs concerts when the musician just comes out and sits down at the piano or grabs the guitar and just starts playing we've got this we don't need faff here yeah it's all killer no filler

4:26Catherine Whitaker: yeah there's no rugby player to interview halfway through the draw looking at you it's just straight into it this is the draw um i was particularly lucky today because at the end of the draw i i got to hold the the bag that they the purse the velvet um i don't know if this is an

4:52Matt Roberts: implement that has a name it's like a it's like a miniature tennis racket it's a tennis racket shape it's sort of like a saucepan a wooden saucepan and in lieu of a saucepan in lieu of the bit where you would put your stir fry there is a there's a velvet bag secured by these beautiful studs and that is where the the names from the draw go into and it is like something from a mystical magical world it's it's got such a sense of occasion and grandeur and matt got to hold it

5:27Catherine Whitaker: i got to hold it i felt incredibly powerful i also got to hold the box where they keep all the chips and that is kept shut by a World War II soldier's belt. Incredible. It's really heavy. The chips are heavy.

5:44Matt Roberts: We're slowly moving towards Matt just doing the draw. Denise Parnell needs to watch out. If ever we lose Matt from the tennis podcast, it'll be because somebody at Wimbledon has decided to involve Matt Roberts in the draw.

5:57Catherine Whitaker: It was just brilliant.

5:59Matt Roberts: Yeah, you could do a lot worse than involving Matt Roberts in the draw. Let's talk about the actual draw, the names that came out of the hat, or the implement that we don't have a name for. The source. The headlines, the stories. I want to start, I think, with the men's draw. What we have here is projected quarterfinals that look like this, and this is according to seedings. Obviously, these won't happen, but this is what the seedings say that we will see in the last eight. Lorenzo Muzetti against top seed Yannick Sinner, Jack Draper against Novak Djokovic, Taylor Fritz against Alexander Zverev, and Holger Runa against Carlos Alcaraz.

6:44Matt Roberts: Now, obviously, top two seeds, Sinner and Alcaraz, they deserve a lot of our attention and they will get it, but I think it's with the Draper-Djokovic quarter, David, that we need to start here. That's where everybody's attention went, isn't it? You know, one thing you don't get at this draw usually is a lot of audible sounds from the congregated media. Normally it's just, we're there to watch and then go away. And usually it's the domain of the French Open for the ooh, and the ooh-la-la, you know, all that sort of thing. There weren't any ooh-la-las, sadly. But there were a lot of noises in the room and a lot of them centred around that section, particularly for Jack Draper.

7:29I think that the moment that it became apparent that Alexander Bublik was a third-round opponent for Jack Draper if they both get there, that's the one that everybody was waiting for. Where is Bublik going to land? He's going to land against a high seed, and it was Jack Draper. And, you know, I've got Charlie Eccleshef and the Athletic on one side. I've got Pam Shriver on my other side. and I mean like the audible sounds increased a lot. They mostly came from Pam didn't they? Pam had comments about everything. It was actually very interesting to sit next to Pam during the draw as well because she's looking at it from an ESPN television perspective and she was making notes and sending notes back to the production team at ESPN with her takes on what this draw meant.

8:19You know a little bit like what we're doing now and a lot of it centred around what's happening with the Americans, what might be good first rounds, but Draper is still a feature of attention for America and I think particularly given his seeding, particularly because Bublik came out as a potential round three, particularly because Djokovic is lurking as well.

8:41Matt Roberts: Do you think it's because he won Indian Wells that Draper... I mean, obviously he's fourth seed, he's going to be talked about regardless of his cut through, but do you think he does seem to be having particular cut through in the US I suppose the US Open semi-final in New Wales he's done a lot in America All those things add up but it's also because we're here He's the man I mean okay we may all be concentrating really on Alcraz versus Sinner with Novak Djokovic lurking around those are probably our main concentration points but it is a big deal having a British player as a top five seed at Wimbledon I mean, it's not many times over the years that that's happened.

9:19You know, you're thinking of Andy Murray, Tim Henman. I don't know. Did Johanna Conte ever got that high? But it's a big deal. And I think that because he got those names, the whole room was aware of it and talking about it.

9:34Catherine Whitaker: And it's the kind of draw that makes you realise that Jack Draper was absolutely right when he played down the significance of securing that top four seeding during Queen's. when he's never been beyond the second round here. He might have to face Marin Cilic here in the second round, who, look, is not the force he once was, but grass is probably his best surface. It'd be dangerous, even at this stage in his career. And then you get into the list of names where, quite frankly, even thinking about the semifinals right now for Jack Draper is ridiculous because he's probably going to have to go through Bublik in the third round, maybe Jakub Mensik in the fourth round and most likely Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals and that is just a murderous row really of informed players who all of them would have a big big chance of beating Jack Draper

10:27Matt Roberts: Second slam in a row that Matt has said murderous row about somebody's draw, I love it Can we make this a new feature? Who has Matt's murderous row? If you were a British tabloid headline writer would you call this a nightmare draw for Jack Draper? I think so, yeah. And I mean, we'll come on to talk about the women's draw as well. From a British perspective, this is not a good draw. You know, like, there are a number of good players from Great Britain in this draw, many of whom the hope would be from a home perspective that one or two of them will make a deep run. Now, Jack Draper would be right at the top of that list, given his top five ranking, but there are others.

11:06And actually, when you go through the draw, there aren't many good ones from a British perspective. and look that's interesting from a sort of intrigue perspective but yes from a media perspective of the locals here the chances are they may get to the second Monday and kind of not have any players left.

11:27Matt Roberts: Flipping this section of the draw on its head a bit obviously we've been mostly talking about it from a Draper perspective looking at it from a Djokovic perspective it's not great for him either is it? Like, he was going to be in one of Sinner or Alcaraz's half. He would have preferred Alcaraz's. He's in Sinner's half. He's in Jack Draper's quarter. OK, he'd probably be the favourite for that match if it happened. But that could end up being a bubolic match, which I don't think Djokovic would relish. There's players he would prefer to have there. Is this pretty suboptimal for Novak Djokovic as well?

12:05Do you know, I don't know. I'm fascinated to hear what you think. Because to me, I think he's looking at this draw and thinking, I mean, I don't think he's as presumptuous as this, but I don't think there's anybody that concerns him in that quarter. You don't think Bublik worries him a bit? He's so far away. You know, the chances are Bublik may not turn up and actually get that far. I think he'd be worried about Sinner, of course. Like, if he gets to the semifinals, it's going to be somebody amazing, pretty much guaranteed for him. And I just feel like he will back himself to get to that semi-final spot.

12:44And frankly, so would I.

12:45Matt Roberts: It is going to be someone amazing. But don't you think there's quite a big difference for Djokovic between it being Sinner and being Alcaraz? Or am I over-egging that?

12:55Catherine Whitaker: No, I think I agree with you. I think that he would rather have had Alcaraz and had him in maybe the quarterfinals. Sinner's so reliable in terms of getting there and we know that Alcaraz is on his own in the other half he's a big, big favourite to come through there I'm looking at this draw thinking if Novak Djokovic is going to win this he's going to have to go through them both and he's going to have to go through Alcaraz in the final which I think is the hardest way for him to have to beat Alcaraz so I definitely think it's tough for Novak Djokovic from that perspective but I do expect him to get to the semis here I do look at that section and think, does Alexander Bublik, if he gets there, turn up against Novak Djokovic?

13:41Catherine Whitaker: Like in the way that he would turn up against other players, is he able to do the things that he can do against Novak Djokovic? I'm not so sure about that. And if he played Draper, I kind of think he'd have too much experience and know-how on that occasion to be able to beat him as well. So I am looking at this thinking it's pretty good for Djokovic to get to that latter stage. But in terms of if he gets there, having to go through Sinner and Alcaraz in that order feels like a massive task.

14:10Matt Roberts: Incidentally, I was searching for photos of Jack Draper the other day for professional purposes, I should say. And on Getty. And there were some... I'm so glad we're live right now. There were some pictures of him on the practice court receiving some not great-looking treatment. I don't know. It's media day tomorrow. He'll come through the press conference room. We'll get the chance to ask him about all of this, and not just us, obviously, but get a sense of how he's feeling, how the tonsillitis is doing. It just feels all a bit not quite right for Jack Draper. You know, like in some ways it very much is.

14:58Matt Roberts: He's having the time of his life. He's number four in the world. He's the Indian Wells champion. He's coming into Wimbledon as the top ranked Brit. It just, I don't know, rather than riding a wave, it feels like the wave is just ebbing a bit at the wrong time. Well, he's had a great run. He's had a great run of fitness overall for the last six months, probably for the first time in his career. And so, you know, it has been riding a wave until recently. and winning the Indian Wells and getting to the final Madrid and looking like a threat everywhere he goes on all the surfaces. But you're right.

15:35The fact that he's had tonsillitis bothers me in itself. If he has had treatment, I want to know about it as well, like you. And I think that you can't overlook the fact that this guy still hasn't reached the third round of this tournament yet. And it is a big deal and a lot to deal with for him to try to get used to playing in front of this crowd and being the man, being the man to carry all the burden. He's talking like he wants it, and I don't doubt that for a second, but I also think that that can just creep up on you and be a strain. And the only way he will overcome that is by doing it. I think you can do a certain amount of preparation for it.

16:16You can put yourself in the best physical shape that you possibly can be in. you can put yourself in the best kind of mental shape and maybe try to preempt some scenarios with a psychologist or, you know, I love how open he is about his own mental health and the sort of anxiety he sometimes feels in life. I love him for that. You know, I think it's such a healthy message. You know, you look at him and he looks like a kind of Greek god, doesn't he, in terms of his physique. And people would wonder whether he's such a nice bloke and everybody like it. You'd wonder, has he got a worry in the world?

16:50And yet he lets you in that he has and that things bother him. And I love that. But in terms of actually getting the results that he wants and that people are going to inevitably expect from him, given he's a false seed, I think that's a big ask. And I don't think anybody should be hard on him if it doesn't happen this time. Because I think it will happen eventually.

17:11Matt Roberts: What do you think of Yannick Sinner's draw?

17:13Catherine Whitaker: I think it looks very comfy in the first few rounds he's got his compatriot Lucanardi in the first round

17:22Matt Roberts: I think that could be an absolute beat down he is talented Lucanardi and he's been tearing it up on the Challenger Tour I'm told but yeah I don't think now is the moment I know he's beaten Novak Djokovic at Indian Wells

17:40Catherine Whitaker: I foresee straight sets

17:42Matt Roberts: Yeah, I mean, Lorenzo Mazzetti once beat Luca Nardi, love and love, didn't he?

17:45Catherine Whitaker: And celebrated like he'd won Roland Garros. Which makes me wonder whether there's beef between those two. The first seed that Sinner could run into is Denis Shapovalov. And again, maybe you can pick up the conversation we've just had about Nardi. He is talented, but I just can't see Shapovalov hurting Sinner, certainly over the best of five sets, the form that Shapovalov's been in since he had that good run earlier in the year has not been good.

18:15Matt Roberts: Shapovalov, I've heard, has planned his wedding for US Open Finals weekend, which, good luck to him. Like, that's lovely. He seems really happy. They seem a lovely couple. But it does, that is a signal of who Denis Shapovalov is now as a tennis player compared to five years ago when, you know, we were talking about him. the way we talk about... Help me name a tennis player. We were certainly hyping the guy up. You know, Yekud Menchik, say, or... I mean, Jack Draper's moved to a height that Denis Shapovalov's never appeared, but we were hyping Denis Shapovalov and his potential. Anyway, have a lovely wedding.

18:55Matt Roberts: Lovely stuff. Look, I think the biggest Sinner-related thing today

19:00Catherine Whitaker: was actually nothing to do with the draw. Big time. It was the news that dropped just after that, reported by the Italian press, that he's part of company with his fitness trainer and physiotherapist Marco Panicce and Ulysses Badia, which is, you know, quite a significant thing, especially to happen on the eve of a Grand Sam tournament. You know, the timing of it is certainly jolting. It really felt odd, so we obviously haven't had a chance to hear from Sinner yet, and hopefully we'll be able to ask him about it in press tomorrow. But that was the Sinner news that rocked me a bit today, not the draw.

19:42Catherine Whitaker: I think the draw he can absolutely handle. There's nothing in there that makes me really worried about Yannick Sinner, but that news did shock me a bit.

19:51Matt Roberts: Yeah, for a guy that's so controlled and meticulous and unchaotic, something like that happening on the eve of a Grand Slam is out of character isn't it? and look maybe it happened a while ago and the news has only just broken we saw it broken by Sky Sky Italia but still

20:11Catherine Whitaker: but I'm pretty sure they were in Halle

20:13Matt Roberts: yeah they were I feel like there has to be a story there something's happened here and maybe he won't tell us what's happened maybe it'll be a Novak Djokovic Andy Murray situation where they all talk about their deepening friendship. But something's happened there, and that's not ideal. No, we weren't expecting to be speaking about that. The fact that we are tells you that there's a story and we've got to find out what it is. It does add a bit of extra intrigue, doesn't it? Because frankly, I look at that Yannick sitting in a drawer and I just think, I don't think I'm going to be too fussed about quite a lot of those matches that he ends up playing before he faces most likely, I don't know, maybe Ben Shelton or Lorenzo Mazzetti in that section?

20:59Ben Shelton is a disappointment on grass, isn't he?

21:03Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, look, he's had a rough spell. I think he's lost his last three matches coming into Wimbledon this year. He played Sinner here last year. And look, often when he's played Sinner or Alkraza or Djokovic, he's had moments, he's had set points in a lot of sets and often not been able to take them. I think getting to the quarterfinals would be quite a run for Shelton here I think there are players that I would probably expect to come through that section other than Shelton Mazzetti obviously comes in with an injury he hasn't played since that French Open semi-final he's been here, he's been hitting on the grass he actually hit with Jack Draper on number one court a few days ago I believe and I'd be more interested to see Mazzetti, Sinner on grass maybe than any other surface to be honest Mazzetti's a wonderful clay court player but actually just match up wise I think that would have been pretty okay for Sinner on that surface but Mazzetti showed here at Wimbledon Narsity, he's a great grass court player as well.

22:03Matt Roberts: He's a lovely player on grass isn't he, I hope he's fit Me too, desperately. He will elevate this tournament if he's there He's actually somebody you'd go out to watch regardless of who he's playing particularly if he happened not to be on the biggest show court you could get up close maybe I mean if anybody's going to Wimbledon I'd seek

22:21Catherine Whitaker: that out to watch that game ground level yeah totally so Tommy Paul is also in the Yannick Sinner section obviously Queen's champion last year like he can definitely play on grass but I don't look at that match and think big upset potential I think could be a tough match for Sinner but I just back him to come through it he's been so good at beating those sorts of players over the last 18 months or so so yeah those are my those are my Sinner thoughts.

22:50Matt Roberts: So everyone thinks Sinner Djokovic is happening in the semis?

22:54Catherine Whitaker: I do yeah me too and everyone thinks Sinner's winning it maybe not. I think yes I would think that at this stage I'm not 100 % sure that I'll think it on the eve of it I think you know I'd reserve the right to change my mind based on how it's going. I remember the year that Alcaraz won this thing, there was a point when he'd beaten I remember he played Berrettini and I was really high on the chances of Berrettini taking out Alcaraz based on how Berrettini had beaten Zverev in the round before. Suddenly Alcaraz provided a level that we hadn't seen yet. On grass at all I don't think. Certainly not at Wimbledon.

23:31Then I think he beat Holger Roona and he beat Daniel Medvedev. Going into that final I just thought actually this feels so much closer now than I would have thought at the start of the tournament. I feel like Djokovic has got that ability to start making you a believer. Going through the gears.

23:49Catherine Whitaker: Yeah.

23:51Matt Roberts: Yeah, you have the right to change your mind, David. There it is. I'm giving it to you. Okay, so that's the top half of the draw. Let's look at the bottom half of the draw. That's obviously where we find Carlos Alcaraz as the second seed. He would be scheduled to meet Holger Runa in the quarterfinals. Runa being a top eight seed surprised me today. Where are those points coming from? I mean, I guess winning Barcelona, but I don't think of him as a top eight player in the world at the moment. I mean, his top level competes with them for sure, but he's finding it all too rarely. So Alcaraz scheduled to face Runa in the quarters.

24:29Matt Roberts: It's a good draw for Alcaraz, isn't it? The whole thing is, what did you call Sinner's draw? Comfy? Like what's comfier than comfy?

24:38Catherine Whitaker: Alcaraz's draw is a dream I think the seeds closest to him are Felix Orgeli Asim Stefano Sitspas and Andre Rublev there's a world where those players became what we thought they were going to become and that's a really difficult draw but they all feel like yesterday's men really and I think Alcaraz takes care of all of them extremely comfortably especially on this surface. Even Holger Runa, who I wouldn't say yet is yesterday's man, but isn't really a threat to Carlos Alcruz.

25:19Matt Roberts: He's tomorrow's yesterday's man, isn't he? He still looks immature on the tennis court. The way he lost to Roberto Bautista-Gü at Queen's the other week. I mean, that was so poor, that performance. Look, I'm a Holgerunna believer and that really, that's tested me, that performance.

25:38Catherine Whitaker: I think the toughest name in Alcaraz's quarter for him is Francis Tiafoe, if Tiafoe is playing like his best. Like we saw the way he pushed him here last year. He's taken him to five sets at, you know, a couple of slams. He's able to rush Alcaraz, I think, in a way that some players aren't. but for Francis Tiafoe to get to that match he's got to win four rounds here and that feels like a tall order he might have to go through the Queen's finalist Yuri Lehechka who you would also have to say is a little bit tricky for Alcaraz but generally I'm looking at this and thinking that all the other big names that we've been talking about heading into this Wimbledon are in the other half and this is just a land of a land of real opportunity for Carlos Alcaraz to just make his way through.

26:30Catherine Whitaker: And look, maybe that's the trap.

26:33Matt Roberts: Yeah, is it a land of Bertic van der Zandt's corpse?

26:36Catherine Whitaker: Right. Like, maybe if he's not heightened... Is this a lads, it's Tottenham?

26:41Matt Roberts: Too many lads, it's Tottenham. You can't afford to be thinking like that. No, he absolutely can't. He can't be having our sort of chat. Going back to Charlie Alcaraz. Charlie Alcaraz. He'll be pleased with that. Charlie Eccleshare's theory about Carlos Alcaraz, which is that no matter how dreamy he looked at Queen's, no matter what shape he's in and how young he is and how he's physically bounced back, there will come a match where the last month will catch up with him somehow and he'll be flat. He's more likely to be flat against some of these names than he is if he had a public to focus his mind in his section.

27:21And being too loose, which you can sometimes see. Whenever I see him racing all over the court in the first three games and doing a tweener and putting his finger to his ear, I kind of think, actually, that's not it, really, at this stage of the match. You're supposed to just be dealing with these people. But the only one that I would really worry for him against is Tiafa in that section of the draw.

27:48Matt Roberts: Was it here a year ago that Tiafoe gave his I've been losing to clowns line? I think so, yeah. Because the list of clowns has really got a lot longer than last year. I mean, he still puts in... Recently, he's put in a few performances that have made me think, oh, you know, it's still there. That run at the French Open was decent. He was good there. But then he lost to Dan Evans last week, didn't he? And Dan Evans can play on the surface, But even so, there's a massive difference with Tiafoe between his ceiling and his floor. That's always been the case. When he plays his best stuff, he is genuinely a threat to Carlos Alcraz.

28:29And yet he can lose to pretty much any bloke in this draw.

28:32Matt Roberts: And he's, again, I think it was that same press conference here last year where he basically told us Wimbledon in the US Open is what he plays tennis for, right? So judge me by this. So I will be looking out for Tiafoe.

28:46Catherine Whitaker: And look, that is sort of putting the pressure on himself to perform at those two events. But you would have to say that these events have also brought out some of his best tennis over the years. You know, that run to US Open semis that he's had and the performance here against Alcarez. Like, he can bring it. It's just kind of impossible to predict it at this stage because it just feels so far away right now.

29:09Matt Roberts: Last section to look at from the men's draw, the third quarter, the Fritz Zverev quarter. this is a bit of a nightmare for Alexander Zverev I think a murderer's row if you like

29:22Catherine Whitaker: right I mean three of the names that we always talk about as players who know how to beat Alexander Zverev are Taylor Fritz Daniil Medvedev and Francisco Sarundolo and they were I think the three other first seeds to come out in that section and they're in Alexander Zverev's section Look, I think Surundolo is far less of a threat on the grass than he is on hard and on clay. So maybe you can take him out of it. But Medvedev has found a bit of form and beat Zverev last week. And Taylor Fritz, we know, loves playing Alexander Zverev. So comfortable in that matchup. So, look, the way the draws come out, Zverev wouldn't have to go through both Medvedev and Fritz.

30:13Catherine Whitaker: it would only be one of them but the chances of him having to go through at least one of them feels quite high to me I think either Fritz or Medvedev probably will get to the quarter-finals here and that's if Zverev makes it there because grass is not his favourite surface by any stretch of the imagination he's got the very fun Artur Indeknes in the first round and he's dangerous he can play on grass it took Carlos Alcaraz to break his serve at Queen's last year. No one else, last week, sorry. No one else did. And if he swings and he has a fun time, he can be dangerous. But I probably would expect Zverev to get through over the best of five sets.

30:54Catherine Whitaker: But absolutely, there's a lot of names here that Zverev wouldn't want to see in his section, I think.

31:00Matt Roberts: And on the flip side, that's a good draw for Taylor Fritz, who's had a rough period battling through injury. He's still going in Eastbourne, isn't he? and obviously won the title in Stuttgart or Halle? Somewhere in Germany. Stuttgart. Stuttgart, yeah. Bublik won Halle. Beatingsveriv in the final, yeah, of course. I do question this schedule that he plays. I know he likes to play a lot of tennis, right? But to come into the grass court season, play Stuttgart, great. Won the title, brilliant. Lost first round in Queens. and then to play again in Eastbourne, to play all the weeks and to be busy now over this weekend.

31:44I mean, great if he wins Eastbourne. Then to be playing Mpeshi Perikard, who I know he's not had a very good year, certainly not a very good couple of months, and he's got this massive serve, etc. But I'm not trying to work out, does this help Fritz to come in and play Mpeshi Perikard and have kind of got his eye in generally, having played a load of matches? or is it that you turn up, your backdrop is completely different here to what it's been in Eastbourne. You haven't had many reps of practice. I mean, we're seeing guys practice on the show courts here, aren't we, right now? And getting used to the surroundings, he could get mugged by him in the first round.

32:21You know, you could just get caught out. And I'm really interested to see. I wouldn't be doing it that way if I were him.

32:28Matt Roberts: Yeah, the playing schedule of Taylor Fritz is interesting, isn't it? I know Andy Roddick has really defended it and said, look that is what he is comfortable with that's what works for him but and I accept that you know he's a grown-up he's been around a long enough time that he can make his own decisions obviously but is that what works for him because that's what he's always done you know that doesn't mean that's the only thing that could ever work for him if he took himself out of his comfort zone and tried new things and maybe there would be a bump in the road to start with maybe it would be one step back to take two steps forward.

33:06Matt Roberts: I don't know, but it can't be a total accident that Grand Slam champions don't do it like that. They don't tend to play, unless in exceptional circumstances, they don't play the week before a slam. They certainly don't play all three weeks of grass leading up to Wimbledon.

33:24Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, I guess in this specific circumstance, okay, he wins Stuttgart, he then goes to queens and as you said he loses so early there if he's a guy who likes matches which we know he is because he lost early at queens he's then suddenly like two weeks without a match coming into wimbledon so it's that trade-off like two weeks without a match and you lost your most recent match or you get you get a week off kind of in the middle and then you back load the schedule and play and play a load in eastbourne as he has done and yes you risk fatigue but he's he is match tight now. I feel like maybe if he'd had a run at Queen's as well, he would have pulled out of Eastbourne.

34:04Matt Roberts: And it's so difficult on grass, isn't it, with a three-week... Basically, you need to do what Carlos Alcaraz does, don't you? Ibiza, win Queen's practice week, Wimbledon. Just be ridiculously down.

34:18Catherine Whitaker: Definitely easier for Carlos Alcaraz.

34:20Matt Roberts: But not everybody's in control of the winning and the losing in the way that Carlos Alcaraz is. I feel like all of my advice to tennis players is why not go on a trip to a beaver works for carlos alcaraz um okay that is it for the men's draw today's show is brought to you by vanguard to all the financial advisors listening let's talk about bonds for a minute capturing value in fixed income is not easy bond markets are massive murky and let's be real lots of firms throw a couple of flashy fans your way and call it a day but not Vanguard. Vanguard bonds are institutional quality and that isn't just a tagline it's a commitment to your clients it means top grade products across the board.

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36:51Matt Roberts: On to the women's draw. They actually do the women's draw first, don't they? So there we were all settled in. It was like, bang, we're into it. Names are coming out of hats. Irina Sabalenka's name is there. And she's got a tough draw, Sabalenka. Let's just go through the projected quarterfinals by seedings for the women. We've got Sabalenka against Keys. We've got Jasmine Paolini, last year's finalist, of course, against Jung Chin Wen. We've got Jessica Pagula against Mira Andreeva. And we have Igor Sviontek against Coco Gough. So we'll look at the bottom half separately. Let's start with Sabalenka, top seed, top of the draw.

37:33Matt Roberts: I think this is extremely tough for Sabalenka. this route through to the latter stages, Matt?

37:40Catherine Whitaker: I do too. Look, she starts against Carson Brandstein, who may well be a name that a lot of people don't know, a name I'm not particularly familiar with myself, I must say, but coming out of qualifying was one of the most intriguing names to me in the draw, and she landed there to face the top seed, Sabalenka. Intriguing because she was the one who beat Lois Boisson in the first round of qualifying. She then backed it up by beating Bianca Andreescu. They're quite friendly, apparently, Andreescu and Brandstein. And then she backed it up again by winning her final round of qualifying and getting through.

38:16Catherine Whitaker: And she talks a big game. You know, she talks about feeling like she's never really been outplayed in her life. And I was speaking to a few people at our live show last night who were at qualifying. And they were like, she's got a big, powerful weapon there. Likes to hit her forehand. And I get the feeling she can really go in and out of matches. But when she's on, she's dangerous. So I'm just, look, I'm not expecting her to beat Irina Sabalenka. I'm absolutely not. But it's intriguing to me, that match. However, there are then some names that I think really are dangerous for Sabalenka. Potential third round against Marketa Vondrosheva.

38:57Catherine Whitaker: Or McCartney-Kessler. I think Vondrosheva would probably be tougher of those two. beat her in Berlin, has a game that can just mess her up more than Kessler can. Also, Lina Svitolina is lurking in the fourth round, playing so well this year, really reliable. You feel like she'll probably get there. And then Madison Keyes in the quarterfinal, who personally I think is right up there with the favourites to win this title. So I look at that, and if all of those matches come off, and look, they may well not, but if she did have to play all of these players one after the other, that's a massive test for Sabalenka.

39:35David? I love it. I love this section of the draw. This was the first section of the draw that we had at the official draw this morning and it just felt like it got off with a bang. Everybody was really pumped and there were a lot of noises coming out of this section as well particularly because of Vondrosovar I feel like. Everybody knows, they might not have the name Dormant Volcano for it that Matt has invented but everybody knows this is the woman who two years ago went and won the thing. And nobody had been talking about her going in. She hasn't won a title since, and then she goes and wins one last week.

40:12And it was a reminder, and everybody knows she could knock out any single player in this draw, and that includes Sabalenka. And suddenly she's in there against a seed. I mean, Pam again next to me was like, oh, no, an American seed has got Von Troce.

40:28Matt Roberts: So it's Kessler Von Dresch of a round one, isn't it? Yeah, that's the first round. Who won in Nottingham last week. Yeah, and who likes the surface and is good on it and has a really competitive attitude. She's always in there. It's a bit like when we watch Peyton Stern, you think, here's somebody who's just showing up every single point and giving it to you. It's college energy. Yeah, it's college energy. And Carson Brandstein, she's another player that's been through the college system, college in Texas. And the other thing, Catherine, was that the winner of that was to play Raducanu or Zhu from Great Britain.

41:06So again, the room is just full of the intrigue over all this. But from a Sabalenka perspective, the names you've reeled off there, the fact that it could be Evandro Sovere in the third round, the fact that it is quite an interesting first round just generally, because not that many people know about Carson Brunstein, but she's been doing stuff to get here. and then you've got these potential fourth round and quarter final matches before you even start talking about a semi-final I like that I want to see Sabalenka I love Sabalenka as a champion I love the fact that she's going out there to show everybody that she's the one and there are lots of obstacles in a way and I want to see her try to navigate that

41:49Matt Roberts: She practiced with Coco Goff today Irina Sabalenka on Centre Court Matt?

41:55Catherine Whitaker: Yes that's right and they hired the only person you could possibly hire to do the interview and the chat with them as they were hitting the Pamela Howard Shriver and Straight off the back of our live show with us last night so she was primed. She was warmed up Exactly. Very warm indeed and And she asked them, you know, the questions that you would want asked, you know, given that off the back of that Roland Garros final, when Sabalenka gave those comments, you know, really, really throwing quite a lot of shade at Coco Gauff, quite frankly, in terms of that performance in that Roland Garros final.

42:39Catherine Whitaker: Pam kind of went there and and and asked how they are and Pam absolutely 100 % thinks that there's absolutely no problem between them like they've practiced together before they're practicing together now they had a bit of jokey back and forth between them about the whole situation which I think is going to be going up on the official Wimbledon channels people will be able to watch the the exchanges that they had and you know fair play really i think i think maybe the message that sabalinka's sent goff has just cleared any and i could any air that there was

43:15Matt Roberts: totally checks out with what we know about coco goff doesn't it you can totally imagine her going she's apologized it's fine i get it we're all human i'm a grown-up let's move on yeah i'd be holding that grudge for 25 years but coco's a bigger person than me yeah yeah so really interesting yeah okay and i think i think that's actually quite big for sabalenka mentally because those it took her it took her a few days didn't it she initially did the notes app the notes app kind of diffusing statement of like she acknowledged it she acknowledged it wasn't you know didn't quite go far enough but at least it was something and then she went to berlin and gave those quotes to eurosport germany and they really work and try weren't they she totally owned it and i can imagine it actually has troubled her quite a bit the fact of it the the fact of the unsportsmanlike comments but also how they were received you know i saw a lot of um uh chat show clips of coco goff doing the rounds in the US at the high-profile chat shows, and they were all asking her about the unsporting things that her opponent had to say about her after the final, and people really dragging Sabalenka for that.

44:35Matt Roberts: So I can imagine that probably has affected her, and it's quite big emotionally for that to feel properly put to bed. And yeah, Coco Goff, what a grown-up. How can she be the most mature tennis player on tour at 21? Absolutely outrageous. So that is the top quarter of the draw. The second quarter is the Paulini-Zhung quarter that I think Matt might want to call the Anisimova quarter.

45:07Catherine Whitaker: With the caveat that, of course, therefore I am underestimating Jasmine Paulini, which we must never do, especially in these seats.

45:16Matt Roberts: You did it to me in the Wimbledon draw, Matt.

45:19Catherine Whitaker: I did.

45:21Matt Roberts: You said the word semi-final. So don't you go claiming not to underestimate Jasmine Paolini.

45:27Catherine Whitaker: I'm going to say it live on air right now. I think if Amanda Nissanova beats Yulia Putin's saver, she's reaching the semis. I like this draw for her. I think there's a lot of players there who maybe aren't in the best form or they're players against whom she can really take the initiative. And, you know, Jungxin Wen, as we know, is in this quarter. Well, she's finally got a win over Jungxin Wen. And it was on grass. It was only a couple of weeks ago. Look, that would be a tough match if it were to happen. But, yeah, the problem, however, is Yulia Pustin-Sever.

46:04Matt Roberts: I was going to say, how big an if is the if in your prediction? Massive. I think it's massive because Pustin-Sever has beaten Yigis Vyontek here.

46:16Catherine Whitaker: she relishes opportunities to kind of get under people's skin and mess up the narrative mess up the narrative, throw them off their game and Anissa Mova can get quite down on herself she can get quite sort of annoyed with an opponent

46:31Matt Roberts: she also can get drawn into aggro there was no Draver aggro in Miami

46:36Catherine Whitaker: yeah, and look, she ended up playing really well in that match sometimes that can be a good thing for Anissa Mova

46:41Matt Roberts: but Putin's save is already in a feud at the moment with Roya Sakharie. Yeah.

46:46Catherine Whitaker: She's ready for another one.

46:48Matt Roberts: Excellent. OK, so do you...

46:50Catherine Whitaker: Look...

46:51Matt Roberts: So it's round one loss or semi-final?

46:54Catherine Whitaker: Yeah. But I'm going to go semi-final. Of course I am.

46:58Matt Roberts: So who's Paolini losing to?

47:02Catherine Whitaker: Anissa Mova. I mean, you thought he was pumped on draw day. Imagine what he'd be like on semi-finals day.

47:11Matt Roberts: What do you think about that prediction, David? It's ridiculous. I can't believe Matt's gone for a more outlandish prediction than David. You wouldn't get me underestimating Jasmine Powell, are you? Certainly not on this bench. No. Not again. You know, I don't feel strongly like you do, that if Enesimova wins that match that she's in the semis. I don't feel like there's enough evidence of her winning enough. You know, I love watching her play. I mean, she's one of my favourite watchers. I love the backhand as much as anybody except you.

47:45Catherine Whitaker: look I absolutely take that point she has been to a Grand Slam semi-final before but it was a very long time ago back in 2019 we haven't seen stringing wins together like that at a slam but she has been doing it on tour a lot more, she's reached three semi-finals this season, she won a title which I think involved winning six matches in a row this is a high seeding I think exactly yeah she's at her career high ranking there is a difference to Anissa Mova this year and I'm banking on that making the difference the people in this lower part though this lower quarter

48:25Matt Roberts: of the top half so the second quarter look it's open isn't it there is an opportunity there I mean Jung is there she could play a Sarker round two I feel like you're writing a few too many off there a minute but um he's not writing off he's just believing thank you i couldn't possibly have said that any better okay let's move on to the bottom half i actually want to start with the the very bottom the fourth quarter the eager shantek coco goff quarter now in a few minutes time we'll talk about the events that are happening last this week and the fact that eager shantek is into a first grass court final and I realised whilst watching the draw today that I'm suddenly like we're in a really, in fact I realised a little bit last night at the live show we're in totally new territory with Iga Svantec I've barely heard her name mentioned this time, look this time last year nobody was expecting her to win Wimbledon, she's always had a lot to prove on grass I think I might, I said she would did you?

49:31I think I've said Iga Svantec will win Wimbledon at least three times, and I've said she'll win several of the Grand Slams that she didn't.

49:41Matt Roberts: Doesn't look great for me at the moment. She's had patches in her career where you look at her and you think, how could she ever lose? Yeah, I see her win. This is what happens. We come here and she's just won Roland Garros every time. And I just think, well, why would she not be able to carry this forward? And then she runs into Elisa Cornell or she runs into Elena Svitolina or last year it was Julia Putinsaver. But you're right, I'm not thinking about her in those terms now. I wonder what impact that'll have on her and I wonder if maybe it'll be a positive one.

50:11Catherine Whitaker: I think it could well be. I said this at the live show last night. She's either come into a slam over the last three years as strong favourite to win it or as kind of the most intriguing name in terms of can she figure this out and show the level that we know she has. Here she comes in genuinely under the radar with an eight next to her name. It's so weird seeing that.

50:34Matt Roberts: She's the same seeding as Holger Runa. That's a blow, isn't it?

50:39Catherine Whitaker: Incredible. But the problem is her draw. Because, look, a potential third round opponent is Danielle Collins. And that's tricky for her, I think. Potential fourth round opponent for her is Elena Rybakina. And that's a big problem, I think, especially on this surface. I, as much, as great as Fiontech is, and as much as I'm a bit of a believer in that, being under the radar, maybe helping her, and she's not coming in off, you know, winning Roland Garros this time, and she's won some matches on the grass this week. That match-up on this surface, I find it hard to look at her draw beyond that, quite frankly.

51:22Catherine Whitaker: I think she could play well and lose to Rabakina.

51:25Matt Roberts: Will Rabakina get there? She seems unreliable at the moment. Would that be fair?

51:32Catherine Whitaker: Yes, that would be fair. Her sort of biggest obstacle is probably Clara Towson. David. I just always feel like those words go together. I don't think Rebecca is going to have a problem getting there, personally. I know why you say that. It makes sense, given the record she's had. I think we're going to get Svantec against Rebecca now. I want to see that. Absolutely. Again, same with Sabalenka. I think that there is, from just a sort of experience perspective and an event, this is a great draw. Spectacles everywhere.

52:08Matt Roberts: Koko Goff, the second seed, starts against Diania Stremska. Was it Madrid they played? One of the worst matches of the whole year.

52:18Catherine Whitaker: Just awful. They've played three times, all of them on clay, and Goff's won every time. but yes they played in Madrid just a month you know a couple of months ago

52:28Matt Roberts: and then they played in Paris

52:30Catherine Whitaker: and it was in Madrid Jastrzemski won the first set six left like absolutely wild and the thing I would say there is Madrid with those faster conditions like that was a problem for Coco Goff and it was her first match in the tournament you know like it's going to be here and Jastrzemski's had a decent run

52:49Matt Roberts: in Eastbourne this week she's got matches

52:52Catherine Whitaker: and Pam was saying today you know Vekic played Jastrzemska last year was a tough out very tough out when she's when she's playing well we know how dangerous she is the thing is for her to keep it up against Coco Goff just feels very difficult so I do back Goff to get through it but there are absolutely names that Goff would have I think rather seen than Jastrzemska big flatheader of the ball when you know she's not had that much time on the grass coming off the Roland Garros win and then there are other big flat hitters of the ball in there as well and and the the one i'm really looking at is sophia kenning who herself has a has an interesting first round match against taylor townsend but if kenning were to get through to the third round you know she's beaten koko goff on these courts like i think i think that's a bit tricky for goff i do yeah absolutely

53:48Matt Roberts: I agree. Azarenka incidentally, I know she's in pretty rough form. Do you see the double no-look handshake with Shvontek the other day? Where neither of them were both looking in the opposite direction.

54:03Catherine Whitaker: You must show me that clip. I think there were words exchanged with the umpire in that match as well.

54:07Matt Roberts: There is no love lost there at all. Okay, so that is the bottom quarter of the draw. Now looking at the top of the bottom half, so the third quarter. this is where we find Jessica Bergula who's into the final in Bad Homburg, she will face Igor Shiontek, this is where we find Mira Andreeva, it is also where we find Queen's champion Tatiana Maria a potential second round opponent for Jessica Bergula thoughts and feelings, everyone I just hope we see that match but I don't feel that confident that it happens because because I don't know what Tatiana Maria is going to be like here. She lost in the first round last week.

54:50She's not won that many matches at Wimbledon overall, even though she's got to the semifinals. But I really hope it does happen, because I'm fascinated to see, particularly given Pegula got knocked out by Lois Poisson at the French Open, I think there is potential to cause her trouble with that.

55:11Matt Roberts: and also thinking about the match she lost to Vondroshova here bless you David the match she lost to Vondroshova here and the way that she kind of disrupted her and junked her up

55:22Catherine Whitaker: yeah look I don't know if that was the reason she lost that match that she was in control of it there was a roof situation I actually think Pagula generally it was why the Boisson match was such a surprise to me because I do think Pagula's hands and sort of slice is actually extremely underrated. I think she can handle that if she's in the right mindset. She wasn't in the right mindset against Boisson. It was a whole scene with the crowd. It won't be like that here against Tatiana Maria if they were to face. But look, she's coming off a week playing a lot of matches, quick turnaround to come here.

56:02Catherine Whitaker: It's not ideal. It's absolutely not ideal for Pagoula.

56:06Matt Roberts: Round one matches of note in this section. And Barbara Krejcikova, the defending champion, will open against Alexandra Ayala. More on her in a moment. Petra Kvitova, of course, playing in her last Wimbledon, the two-time former champion. She will open against Emma Navarro, which I think helps the tournament out with scheduling of that match. That can have a big court, maybe centre court. I certainly wouldn't be complaining. You know, I would be really pleased to see that. But I hope it's certainly one of the two.

56:37Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, I mean, of course, that is on Tuesday. Yeah, and that's the day when we know that Krejcikova will be on centre court, opening it up on the Tuesday. So that, you know, maybe they will, and I absolutely wouldn't complain either, but that would be putting Petra Kvita on centre court over Igor Sviontek or Coco Goff. I think maybe the fact that Krejcikova has to be on centre court there makes that scheduling a little bit harder for the tournament there. That's true. But, you know, I agree with you that it should get a big court. Certainly one of the top three, I think.

57:14Matt Roberts: It's the Jack Draper and Novak Djokovic day as well, isn't it? Obviously with Wimbledon, because we know the men's defending champion opens Monday and the women's opens Tuesday. As soon as the draw is done, you know who is playing on what day. So it'll be the men's bottom half playing on Monday and the top half playing Tuesday. and the reverse of that with the women. So, oh, there is a lot to look forward to.

57:40Catherine Whitaker: And the only other sort of match in this little section that I would give a nod to is Karolina Mukhova against Wang Jinyu, who played so well in Berlin. And actually, all of the sort of tricky checks, Mukhova, Vondroshova, Prechikova. They're all in that section. Well, they've all got tough first rounds, I think. Like, you know, Vondroshova's got Kessler, Krecikova in that section's got Ayala, and Mukova's got Wang Jin Yu. Like, that, I think, you know, the Czechs have done so well here, obviously, over the years. And they're all great players. They're all comfortable on this surface. But they've all been just dealt a tough hand there.

58:18Catherine Whitaker: That was just something that sort of jumped out to me from the draw.

58:31can't stop talking about. On game days, we watch the biggest matchups live alongside the Athletic's most tapped-in reporters. Or come hang on an off night for an inside look at how headlines happen. We want you dropping questions in the chat, and we'll bring answers straight from the source. The Athletic Live is presented by Google Gemini. Subscribe now on YouTube.

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59:28Matt Roberts: OK, I feel like we should turn our attention just a little bit to what's been happening this week and the events that have been happening this week. We've got the 500-level event happening in Bad Homburg where Iger Svjontek is into the final, her first grass-court final. She beat Jasmine Paolini today, 6-1, 6-3. She's beaten Katerina Alexandrovich. She's beaten Victoria Azarenka all in straight sets. She'll now play Jessica Bagula, who about an hour ago beat Linda Nozkova in three sets. This result and just the whole situation around Shontek that we've just discussed, it's really, really intriguing me in terms of Shontek and Wimbledon.

1:00:12Yeah, because I wonder whether she's playing without pressure to some degree. for the first time in a long time here. I mean, I think many times she's come in here actually just playing exhausted, hitting the wall against Elisa Corne on court number one over there. We were there for that. And she suddenly just couldn't play anymore, really. She'd had enough tennis. She was on that incredible run. And what was it, 30-odd matches, and that was the end point. And I think that that's kind of happened two or three years in a row. Plus, you know, she wins Roland Garros and then she doesn't really play much in between, if at all.

1:00:55So I love the fact that she's actually playing this week and that she's reached a final. I think that's really cool. And I hope it means something different for her.

1:01:06Matt Roberts: Pagula's a real test, isn't she? I feel like we'll know even more after tomorrow and that final against Pagula. in Eastbourne on the WTA side of things we've got a fascinating final I know we've got a busy day tomorrow with various different interviews and press conferences but I'm going to make sure I'm able to watch this WTA final between 20 year old Alexandra Ayala and 19 year old Maya Joint Ayala is the first Filipina player in history to reach a WTA final she came through qualies in Wimbledon qualies in Nottingham last week She's drawn Barbora Krejcikova in round one here. So she knows she's playing Tuesday.

1:01:47Matt Roberts: She knows she's opening centre court on Tuesday. This is going to be the youngest title match, this final, in Eastbourne in combined age terms since 1981 when 18-year-old Tracey Austin triumphed over 16-year-old Andrea Jaeger. Going back to my childhood here. This is the first year I ever watched Wimbledon. She, Alexandra Ayala, flat hitting lefty. It makes sense, doesn't it? Oh, for sure. Ayala on a grass court.

1:02:19Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, absolutely. Look, it's a constant source of fascination to me how she makes the serve work because it's really not a great serve. I'm always expecting players to be able to kind of dominate it. But if she can protect it, which she does seem to have ways to do, her ability to, as you say, hit flat off both wings, take the ball early, take the ball up the line. She's a real problem. And look, we've seen lefties do well on grass and at Wimbledon over the years. That, I think, is a small advantage that she has as well. And she's up against someone on the backhand watch list in Maya Joint.

1:02:58Matt Roberts: You don't feel peer pressured into that decision because a lot of people message you about Maya Joint and the backhand list. And usually that turns you off a player.

1:03:08Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, I don't give in to peer pressure when it comes to the backhand list. Absolutely not. Everything else, yeah.

1:03:15Matt Roberts: She's got their own merit.

1:03:16Catherine Whitaker: Absolutely, it's a hell of a shot. Yeah.

1:03:19Matt Roberts: That's a fun final, isn't it? It is. I love these, yeah. 20 years old, 19 years old. Joint's already won a title. She won a clay court title, didn't she, in Rabat just five weeks ago. So, yeah, I think Australia are right to be excited about my joint. In the ATP final in Eastbourne, we've got semifinals between Taylor Fritz and Alejandro Davidovich for Kina, bouncing back from his wedding. Well, it's Davidovich for Kina. And we've got Ugo Mbair against Jenson Brooksby. Again, Brooksby makes sense to me on grass. He got handily taken care of by Jack Draper at Queen's last week. But Ugo and Bear and Brooksby, that's a nice grass court matchup, isn't it?

1:04:07Matt Roberts: But, I mean, Fritz is kind of an Eastbourne specialist, isn't he? Yeah, he's going for his fourth. Yeah, rocks up there, wins the title. And over in Mallorca, David, Quarantan Moutet is in the semifinals. What time? Don't know.

1:04:24Catherine Whitaker: I think possibly now.

1:04:25Matt Roberts: But I think possibly we are live on air during Quarantan Moutet against Alex Mickelson. Confirmed.

1:04:31Catherine Whitaker: He's setting a break up. Good lad.

1:04:33Matt Roberts: It's bad news for your interview request because I don't think he's going to be available to speak to you tomorrow. Well, it'll still stand the next day. You'll be available whenever quarantine's done winning. He will face, well, if he wins, he will face Talon Greekspor. Actually, I had my pronunciation of Greeks. No, Greekspor I'm doing right. I did get some pointers on my Dutch pronunciation last night at the live show from a Dutch listener. But that didn't go down well. No, it did. She was lovely about it. On which Dutch to play it? She said, you do so well with van der Zanschulp, I wouldn't want you to let yourself down with the other names.

1:05:11Matt Roberts: Dieder der Gucht, rather than Gucht. It's O rather than U and Anik van Gucht.

1:05:18Catherine Whitaker: Oh, very good.

1:05:21Matt Roberts: So there we go. Talon Greek's poor rather than... Poor rather than poor. Oh, I'm not going to be able to pull this off.

1:05:29Catherine Whitaker: I think you were saying it right anyway.

1:05:30Matt Roberts: I was doing Greeks pour, right? Yeah. But Enique van Koot and Dieder de Koot. I've made some adjustments there. I'm learning and growing. So Greeks pour into the final, potentially to face Quarantine Mute, pending an Alex Mickelson fight back. Media Day, as we've alluded to, is tomorrow. We've had a number of interview requests accepted already, David. I've got big news here. Yeah. you're having a chat with Beatriz Adagmaia tomorrow oh great that's excellent news many weeks in the making I requested Beatriz in this all makes it sound like she's just been you know, I don't want to speak to him but at Roland Garros I requested her and then I think there were so many interview requests, you know there's a lot of Brazilian media that follow the Brazilian players and so I didn't get to speak to her on media day in Roland Garros And then they said, but she's already said yes if she wins the first round.

1:06:30If she didn't win the first round. So that one didn't happen.

1:06:34Matt Roberts: This acceptance is not results dependent, David. So yeah, having a chat with Beatrice at Adjomaya tomorrow. We're going to do another Tennis Podcast Meets. We're all going to speak to various different players. We're also going to go to all the big press conferences, ask questions in there, bring you all the news. We will be back tomorrow and Sunday with our last two preview shows at 7pm live. They'll also be available as podcasts, of course, as normal, but we will be live on YouTube Saturday and Sunday at 7pm and then from Monday onwards throughout the championships. We will be not before 9.30pm local time here in the UK.

1:07:10Matt Roberts: We will come on air very soon after the last show court match finishes, but it is guaranteed not to be before 9.30pm. So you can be on alert from 9.30pm, but don't worry, you can relax from that point onwards. I think it's fair to say that we're pumped about Wimbledon 2025. Just a bit. I'm not going to complain about the weather because I know I complained about it being freezing cold and raining all the way through Wimbledon last year. And now we've got a situation where it's going to be 35 degrees on Monday. And if I complain about that as well, then I'll be giving the Brits a bad name. But please cut me some slack if I'm a sweaty mess on Monday's show.

1:07:53Matt Roberts: No, we are thrilled to be here. We're thrilled to be in this incredible position and it's going to be a great fortnight. Hello to Phoebe, my mascot. I've just seen Priyanka pop up in the chat and say Phoebe says hi. So I say hi right back, Priyanka. Hello to Maisie, David's mascot. And hello to Roger with his big, lovely paws. David's mascot, of course. Hello to Greg, Chris and Jeff, our executive producers and all around top folks. Matt we have some shout outs

1:08:24Catherine Whitaker: We do, we have two shout outs tonight, the first for Sally-Anne Dunn from Tunbridge Wells

1:08:31Matt Roberts: Hello Sally-Anne

1:08:34Catherine Whitaker: And Sally says she loved attending the live show just before Wimbledon last year and at the time of writing her shout out she was hoping that there would be another one this year so hopefully Sally-Anne was there last night And Sally-Anne Dunn What if she wasn't? Like Katie Dunn, a British player.

1:08:54Matt Roberts: Very good, yes. From about sort of 10 years ago. I think she's still playing. Does she still play? I think so. Maybe he's in the draw. I don't think so. Sally-Anne, if you came last night, I hope you had a nice time. And if you didn't, that's fine too. No pressure. There were a few of those, oh, he or she's in the draw moments today.

1:09:18Catherine Whitaker: but not involving Katie Dunn.

1:09:21Matt Roberts: Yeah, definitely involving other British players though. I learned what Jack Pennington-Jones looks like today at the Wimbledon draw. What a treat.

1:09:28Catherine Whitaker: And then the final name to come out of the draw was Fabio Fanini drawn against Carlos Alcraz.

1:09:34Matt Roberts: That was the closest to an ooh-la-la. Yeah, everyone just laughed. Most of it was laughter. Yeah, I saw Fanini earlier actually. He looked pretty relaxed about his draw. Final Wimbledon, isn't he? This is it for him. Yeah, well he'll get centre court as well. Yeah.

1:09:47Catherine Whitaker: guaranteed and our second and final shout out tonight is actually a bark out because it's from it's from presenter mascot Maisie oh yeah go on Maisie to her owner Christy and Maisie says for taking such good care of me including daily walks regular feedings and a tasty chew bone plus I get to sit with Christy on her recliner to watch matches on a daily Basins. I'm proud to be David Law's mascot and I enjoy hearing my name at the end of every podcast show. So do I.

1:10:27Matt Roberts: Maisie's got such a good head tilt on her.

1:10:29Catherine Whitaker: And I believe for those watching live on the YouTube, they're seeing Maisie right now. I am distracted by Maisie right now. Shout out Vicky for running the ones and twos on the live show.

1:10:40Matt Roberts: Absolutely. Shout out Vicky, shout out Jake. Thank you to everybody that's helping us throughout these live shows. I love being live. It's great. It's awesome. I love it. Thank you to everybody that joins in the live chat. We're going to have that running throughout this fortnight, folks. We're going to be back tomorrow at 7pm UK time to talk about everybody that we've spoken to in the press conference room just through there. We are proudly part of the Athletic Podcast Network. Thank you for listening today and we hope to see you tomorrow. Bye for now.

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