Monte Carlo - What on earth was Daniil Medvedev doing?

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1:27David Law: well hello and welcome to the tennis podcast and valentine vachero has just written the words what's going on on the lens of the camera after reaching the quarterfinals and i dare say if he'd have been asked the question a year ago where do you think you'll be a year from now he probably would have wondered what on earth's going on but he's into the quarter finals in Monte Carlo and he is one of a few people we have to talk about on this special midweek show here of the Tennis Podcast with me David Law and Matt Roberts and no Catherine Whittaker who is on a night out which is absolutely fine but this is a special show Matt we're going to do a few more of these and mainly because there's just too much going on some weeks to cover it all in the one show.

2:19David Law: And actually it feels like a really good time to be doing this because that was indeed quite a scene. Yeah, what's going on feels like the definitive Valentin Vachero question really, doesn't it? Like we all knew him from this tournament. You know, he was always in the draw in Monte Carlo, not doing an awful lot. and then suddenly has that run in Shanghai and he's backing it up really, really well, I have to say. And two nights in a row, we've had late night Vachero scenes in Monte Carlo and he's whipping the crowd up and playing with such intensity. And yeah, it's been a really good time. Yeah.

3:05David Law: And in fact, it's a really good tournament every year, this one, isn't it, Monte Carlo? I think. And what's nice, I mean, we're going to be talking about all the players that have reached the quarterfinals. They'll all be played tomorrow. We're going to be talking about the Linz tournament, which is now played on indoor clay for the first time. And that also feels like a good development. I don't know. Suddenly this week, I always get the one frustration for me about Monte Carlo is that it is men only. And now, a little bit like next week when we have Stuttgart and Barcelona owner on on the women's side and the men's side you you feel like you've actually got a really good tournament to talk about i know it's not as high level and it's not as many top players but it feels a bit more complete to me this this week how do you feel about that i think i'm holding judgment on that until we see lintz without lily tagger because i i do feel like lily tagger might be carrying lintz and our enjoyment of lintz so far i don't know but that's my i think that's fair that that's my hunch i have really enjoyed it but i've enjoyed it because of her and you know the scenes and and the crowd support that she's getting but i don't know like i would love for them to do with monte carlo what they've done with queens you know and make it a men and women event but i don't think the venue is big enough to be able to hold both at the same time over the same week so hold them in back-to-back weeks i think that would be fantastic you know like i often get asked like why i like tennis so much and i i often talk about sort of just how pleasing it is on the senses do you know what i mean like i love the sights and the sounds of it and sometimes that's hard to justify when you know it's being played in a sort of car park in the middle of the night and no one's watching it but i feel like monte carlo is the event i will point to in terms of those sights and sounds being so stimulating and pleasing to watch and yeah it's been it's been like that all week i do love it yeah well more on valentine vachero a little bit later more on the uh lily tagger open as well uh later in the pod um this is a as i said a two pod week um three if you count uh the one we did for friends of the tennis podcast last night which uh which is our monthly live q a on youtube for friends of the tennis podcast subscribers if you want to listen or watch uh listen to or watch that uh you can if you're not a friend already go to tennis.supportingcast.fm and you can become a friend and get access to all of our bonus content like live Q &As and Tennis Relived.

5:59David Law: We've got another one of those coming up soon. I did an interview for it today. We'll announce the details of that very soon. I'm looking forward to that one. But we've got to start with Monte Carlo, Matt, in some detail because, you know, we have only had three or four days, but it feels like already, A, lots and lots has happened, and yet B, a little bit like with the Masters Golf, which you and I are also watching, there's kind of a leaderboard, a packed leaderboard feel to the quarterfinals. You know, all the big names are still there, and we're left with a Friday that is going to be absolute must viewing, isn't it?

6:41David Law: And yet even before we come on to talk about Alcaraz and Sinner and Zverev and all the players that are going to feature in that, we've got to start with Daniel Mevredev, who didn't win a single game in the tournament. I mean, it's hard to believe that the guy we watched play outlandishly good tennis in Indian Wells and made me feel as though he was going to win the find against Sinner, he ended up losing it in two close tie-break sets. But he was playing vintage Medvedev tennis as well as I could imagine him playing. And it took everything Sinner had got to beat him. for that guy to lose six love, six love to Matteo Berrettini yesterday.

7:30David Law: And it was the talk of tennis. It was the talk of a lot of the sporting world. I was having lots of people I don't often hear from about tennis asking me about this moment. My son said, what happened to Medvedev? He doesn't usually sort of ask questions like that unless I happen to have it on. But it had been across all his weird and wonderful feeds. that he sort of follows. But, you know, the reason is because he didn't win a game and he smashed his racket in a more spectacular fashion than anybody I've seen smash it this year. And, in fact, maybe more spectacular than I've seen anybody ever.

8:13It's right up there anyway. Top five most extraordinary racket smashes. But what happened to him from your perspective? Was Matteo Berrettini incredible or was Daniel Medvedev appalling? Sorry to Matteo Berrettini, but I feel confident that the answer is Medvedev was appalling. I mean, talk about like biggest discrepancy between the top level of someone we've seen recently and the bottom level. Because as you said, he looked so good in Indian Wells. and he's looked good at various points this season, you know, Brisbane, Dubai, albeit I do think we've noted in quick conditions. He's been helped by the conditions when he's played well this year and obviously we know that Klay is his least favourite surface and time of year.

9:06My expectations of Medvedev were not that high going into this Klay court season, even after the good start to the season he'd had. But I did not expect this. I mean, this was just terrible. Just like the crash out of all crash outs. The racket smash was pretty comical, really. The way that the crowd were goading him and doing the, ooh, hey, when he was smashing the racket. And he just lost his head so early in this one. He had a break point in the first game, didn't take it. and when he went five love down he was sarcastically fist pumping over to his team and like that's such a telltale sign for med for dev that he's probably about to kind of spin out of control personally i prefer it if he's taking it out on his racket than we often see and he takes it out on an umpire or something like that it's kind of ugly and you and you don't really like that and you can't really justify it i was watching this and i you know i was on the one hand feeling for him he was having a horrible day he couldn't find the court three winners to 27 unforced errors in this match but on the other I was kind of finding it quite funny because because there was that sort of comical element to it and the racket smash and once it got to you know a set and a break you were kind of thinking well the double bagel is definitely on here and you know Berrettini did well he didn't make the errors he played solidly but this was i think pretty much all about how

10:43David Law: how bad medvedev was yeah the the comedy elements to it i mean there were a number of elements that made it feel like that one was when he was six love one love down and he won the first point of the of the eighth game and um thomas shahansen who's his coach who's in the corner there trying really hard to sort of help him find a way into the match, help him get his mind in the right place. You know, he said, that's the way. Move the feet now. Stay there. You know, like he didn't want him to back up. Use the feet now. Okay. He lost the next three points. And he just couldn't put the ball in the court reliably at all.

11:28David Law: He just couldn't play properly. And when he did smash this racket, I mean, one of them, I mean, I think there were about seven smashes in total in the one racket sequence. The first one was him throwing it into the backboard, which always makes me wince because, you know, I'm always expecting a ball kid to just appear out of nowhere and just get it in the leg or something. So there's a recklessness to that sort of thing. But then when the crowd started to get involved, you got the sense that he was in on the joke almost. He knows how terrible he's playing. He knows how kind of ridiculous it all is that a top player would be playing like this and losing like this.

12:19David Law: And he sort of went with the joke. And I almost got the sense that he was thinking, I'd rather lose Love and Love now because it's at least funny. you know or at least ridiculous once you got to a certain point i mean it was um i mean when you you say you said you found it funny and i mean there was a moment where after the last smash the the racket was in so many pieces he was able to sort of just manipulate it into a shape that it fit into the little sort of letterbox entry to the bin and he was just able to just pop it in the bin in pieces no trouble at all i mean i know some people think crikey somebody could have used that racket you know there's lots of people who don't have a racket um you know not a great look all this sort of thing so usually i don't i don't mind too much racket smashes and this one i really did find funny and it was i mean it was it was amused it amused me i didn't have any problem with it at all and like you i i just don't like the going at umpires where it's not their fault you know it's and they're human beings they're there to do a job you're playing like a an idiot you're you know get over it mate um i mean i thought it was all a bit pathetic but i also thought you know this is a guy who's just lost he's just lost he's not not just not lost the match he's lost his mind he's lost his way completely there's no way back here um and yet I would back him probably to rebound okay I mean I think the bigger problem is clay you know he need he can play on it can't he I mean he's won he's was it Rome he's won it's a proper clay court tournament how on earth is he losing like this but I still think that you know I don't think this is just going to keep happening necessarily no nor do i and i think in in some ways he can probably just write this off as a terrible day and probably not think too deeply about it and know that he's gonna play better the next time he steps on the court i mean this was you know this was a like historically bad performance like it wasn't sort of any kind of trend or anything was a total outlier he just could not play like He couldn't serve.

14:43He only won, I think, nine points on serve all match. His first serve percentage was so low. Yeah, I think he just writes this off, moves on. And as I said, I'm not expecting him to win events on clay. I'm not really expecting him to be in the semis of these Masters 1000s or slams on clay. I expect him to win some matches. And I think he'll probably do that. I think he's probably got quite used to in the last year or so of having a dip and then having to come back and play better. And Madrid, in those faster conditions at altitude, I think will suit him more. And if he gets a decent draw, then I would back him to at least win a match or certainly a game.

15:38David Law: so so to this point um Matteo Berrettini had won was it 16 games at 16 because his previous opponent had retired fall of town um but his Monte Carlo Open didn't last too much longer because he then ran into Joel Fonseca today um and lost 6-3 6-2 and Fonseca now into the quarter of finals having beaten um Diallo the Canadian uh Artur Indiknesh and then Berrettini and he's we we've seen him play well on clay before in South America okay he didn't win the French Open as I said he would last year but I've come back again with another go at it and I've put him I've made a big play for him in my fantasy team trading in Taylor Fritz uh to to Reggie and and And I've got Joao Fonseca.

16:34David Law: And here he is in the quarterfinals. But he's starting to look the property on this surface, I think, that maybe we were looking towards a year ago. I mean, I still think he's got a long way to go. But these are good strides in Monte Carlo. Yeah, big time. I think it's, first of all, good to see him looking healthy. You know, that's still on my mind every time I watch him, considering the injury he had at the start of the season and he strung, as you said, three wins together there. I sort of picked this match up in the second set today. I was watching Zverev-Bergs, but as is often the case at these events, I was drawn to the noise I could hear from the other courts, you know, and like the Italian tennis boon has been such a boost to Monte Carlo as well, you know, like pretty much on the border there and that you get such good atmospheres at all the Italian matches.

17:33And of course you get good atmospheres at Fonseca matches. So Fonseca-Berrettini, I don't know why I didn't start with that match, to be honest. Like obviously that was kind of going to be the more sort of compelling one from an atmosphere perspective. But I was impressed with Fonseca. You know, they sort of traded breaks at the start of that second set. Berrettini had an awful forehand miss to go a break down 2-3. but Fonseca just like kept his foot on the gas and like finished it off really impressively and I think when you have that much power at your disposal like he does on clay and you have time on the ball it's kind of easier to unleash that power it's harder to be rushed and even the opponents knowing that he's got all that much power I think they naturally sort of back off a little bit against him and he ends up with a lot more space to use in the court I think His game does make a lot of sense on this surface, but I do think it's going to be very interesting seeing him play against Zverev tomorrow because today against Berrettini, he had quite an easy strategy of kicking the serve into the Berrettini backhand return and knowing that he's going to get kind of a mid-court ball to attack off and he can then dictate.

18:50That kicker into Zverev's backhand return isn't going to, I don't think, give him such an easy ball as it did against Berrettini. It's going to be harder for him to just set up the rallies that he wants, I think. I don't by any means think Zverev's playing all that well in Monte Carlo so far. And it's always a test for a player. Can they put Zverev away? But yeah, I think it's exciting that he's got that test. We've seen him play Sinner. We've seen him play Alcarez. And now we see him play Zverev. This is all just good, I think, for the Fonseca experience and growth.

19:31David Law: Yeah, I agree with that because this is the first year he's played those guys. And he's never played Zverev before. Zverev having beaten Christian Green in his opening match from four love down in the deciding set and five two down as well. And I mean, Green had qualified for this tournament. He'd won a very handy first round against Matteo Arnaldi. And he was playing really well. He was rolling back the years, quite honestly. And he's beaten Zverev before and he was causing him all sorts of trouble. Actually, I would say he was causing him the sort of trouble that should give Fonseca some hope.

20:15David Law: Because the damage was coming from the forehand side from Green. albeit he was doing most of it with a cross-court forehand into the Zverev forehand and Zverev wasn't enjoying the way that ball was jumping up at his forehand. And like you said, I don't think he's found his real timing yet. He was much better today against Sisu Bergz although I thought Bergz was disappointing after a brilliant performance against Andrei Rublev to get there. I was expecting a lot from Bergz today and he couldn't tie him a forehand all day. Yeah, and I realised that we were so close to a Gareen-Bergs match, which was the one in the Davis Cup last year that caused all that controversy when Berg sort of barged into Gareen accidentally.

21:12I was kind of rooting for that to happen. and yeah Gaurin I think definitely should have won that won that match he got very tight and started shanking the ball and yeah Zverev worked his way back in it but Zverev has said before hasn't he that he does feel like clay is the surface that takes him the longest to get going on you know I think that was part of the reason why he played in South America last year to try and get up to speed on the clay so that he'd sort of hit the ground running on the European clay it didn't work at all It was a disaster. He lost a lot in South America. I think he ended up sort of putting too much load on his back and he was then sort of injured through that period and it just didn't work.

21:55And he's obviously abandoned that strategy this year. But if you look at his record on clay over the years, he does take a little while to get going. I think he is right there. He's never had a great record in Monte Carlo. But by the time Rome and Roland Garros and Madrid come around, He's normally hit his stride a bit more on this surface, but I do think he's there for the taking at the moment. I mean, we say that a lot about Zverev and actually being able to beat him is difficult. He does grind his way through a lot of these matches. So it's going to be a real test for Fonseca. But I do think if we see Zverev playing like he has so far, I do think Fonseca can do it.

22:38David Law: That's going to be fascinating. That's the first matchup tomorrow, as we come to you on Thursday. And the winner of Fonseca and Zverev will face the winner of Yannick Sinner and Felix Ogiali-Assim. That's the second match that's on in the quarterfinals. Sinner, who's been on this incredible run, having won the Sunshine Double, and he'd won 37 sets in a row, finally lost one because at a Masters tournament that is because he lost the second set against Thomas Mahatch on a tie break very nearly turned it around having been 5-2 down and managed to win that one as well but didn't get it seemed to feel a little unwell in the second set sin and not exactly something we're a stranger to really with him but But, you know, he's into the quarterfinals.

23:35David Law: How have you sort of taken in his first couple of matches on clay so far, Yannick Senna? It's a strange one today. Like he was really good to start and Mahatsh was flat and disappointing from the start. It was one of those performances. Like I still fall into the trap. I still get a little bit excited every time I see him on the order of play. and you know I think oh what if the jumping forehand goes in today and what if the the wrong shot selection comes off today you know that that's always there he hit one didn't he hit one jumping forehand that that Yannick Sinner had to jump over on the baseline yeah and look he was so bad to start I think he dragged Sinner down with him in that in that second set and then Sinner yeah he said he started feeling dizzy uh he also said he started feeling a bit sick but he He wasn't worried about that.

24:31It was the dizziness that he was worried about. And he took some pills for that. He seemed to be clutching his back a little bit as well. And yeah, 5-2 down, double break and ailing really. And you're thinking, okay, maybe there's a match here. Of course, Mahatsh was pretty shambolic when trying to serve out that second set twice. He came up with just awful shot making, but then really got it together in the tie break and played a great tiebreaker, ripped it from Sinner. But I still didn't actually think Mahatch was going to go on and win it because, as you said, we're quite used to seeing Sinner in those situations.

25:10He handles them well. He stays calm, you know, when he's not quite feeling his best. And I thought he served a lot better in that final set and kept Mahatch at arm's length. And if it is just a slight illness thing, then, you know, I think he was kind of saying, well I'll hopefully feel better in my next match tomorrow so I think you'd have to say it's a good match for him to get through and yeah he would definitely be the favourite to come through that bottom half of the draw for me

25:45David Law: Oji Aliassime is a player that has beaten Sinner before but I mean Klay is clearly the least preferred surface for Oji Aliassime He got a win today over Kasper Root, who pulled his calf muscle, sadly, in the second set and retired whilst a set and two-all in the second. But, I mean, he was playing pretty well, Ogeliacin, wasn't he, to stay with Root up until that point. I think he went three-love down immediately, but then got it back and eventually took that first set. I'm still interested to see this match. Sometimes I'll watch Yannick Sinner matches, and I have to say, I did put this one on the list today of thinking, I mean, I just really struggle to see it being competitive.

26:31David Law: So fair play to Mahatstead, he actually won the second set, although perhaps it was due to the physical state of Sinner. But I am interested to see, I think Oji Aliasin provides at least a physical test. I think he's got that clear deficiency on the backhand versus a guy with a backhand like Sinner's. But he's got the movement, he's got a big forehand, he's got a big serve. I think it's another little tester just to see where Sinner is. At a tournament, I expect you to have these incremental tests because you're going through the rounds and you should be meeting the best players towards the end.

27:13and Sina Oji Aliassime as a quarterfinal is a good little marker I think but I'd be surprised if Oji Aliassime would have win this one would you? Yeah, me too they played a good match at the US Open that semifinal was pretty good last year Oji Aliassime brought it and did manage to get the forehand into play quite a lot and the backhand held up, I think. But yeah, I have the same concerns as you for him in that matchup. And I would expect Sinner to come through.

27:56David Law: So that's the bottom half of the draw. Fonseca Zverev and Sinner Ogieliasin. We're going to do predictions at the end of all this, folks. Of course we are. David's in charge. But first, absolutely. I haven't got Catherine to roll her eyes at me just trying to make polls out of everything goodness knows what and you know I miss Catherine so I'm going to make it up to myself by just throwing loads of predictions around Alcaraz is also through but like Sinner he lost a set today to Carlos Alcaraz against Thomas Etcheverry which you know you would not have seen that coming after the first set would you because he was absolutely majestic against such a very i watched i watched all of this and he looked absolutely bang on it in the first set and yet if you think of carlos alcaraz it's i've seen this match so many times i've seen him come bursting out of the blocks and you think he's he's the best player i've ever seen and then the second set, he's 4-1 down.

29:04And you're like, how have you ended up in this position? And I'm like, Echeverry hasn't really been that involved. And yet he finds himself leading the second set. He ends up edging it in the end because Alcaraz left himself too much to do despite making a bit of a comeback. Got himself back on track in the third. Won it fairly convincingly. Six games to three. I didn't hear anything about any ill health or concerns of that type from Carlos Alcrest. Maybe you'll tell me different. But to me, this was not an unfamiliar sight either for Carlos Alcrest and these sort of events. No, I agree. I mean, he went through a spell last year, didn't he?

29:52I mean, even the start of this year where he did put that sort of set behind him a little bit. You know, he was super consistent through matches. But, you know, we do seem to be back to the full Alcaraz experience with these sort of lapses in a set. And, you know, I think, you know, Echeverry is a really good clay quarter, isn't he? Solid. You know, Catherine said the other day, all these Argentinians come out on the clay. And he's one of them. You know, he is tough. And I think he broke down the Alcaraz backhand, really, in that second set. You know, the stats flashed up that Alcaraz had hit so many errors off that wing.

30:35I think it was 16 at one point in the sort of latter stage of that second set compared to just a couple, Frecciaveri. And it was interesting having the audio on the back and forth between Alcaraz and his coaching team. And, you know, Alcaraz, I think of him as like the belief guy, you know, like when he was asked about how he still managed to beat Zverev in Australia when he was cramping. He was like, well, I just believed that I would win. And that seems to sort of always be there. And yet, you know, picking up on this microphone today, he was really talking about a loss of confidence and he was having to be reassured a lot by his camp.

31:12They were like, you're making mistakes. You're going to make mistakes, but you've got to just keep trying things and trust yourself and it will come. It was a really good sort of reassuring message, I think. and yeah he battled hard to get an early break in that third set didn't he and you could see really celebrated that pretty pretty hard I think he knew that that was important just to just to get off to a good start in that in that third set in the way that he hadn't in the second and yeah I don't know like is this a is this a it's kind of the question we've been having all year is this like good for the field or bad for the field is this a good day for the field that sinner lost the set and looked a bit vulnerable and alcaraz hit 24 unforced errors in a second set and looked a bit vulnerable or is it a bad day because those things happened and yet they still won and you kind of always thought they would still win like it takes so much for someone to be able to beat one of them and you know even with all those things going on they came through

32:16David Law: yeah i think it's a it's a bad thing because i don't think they're gonna get any worse right i think they're gonna get better um but anyway al kraz is through he will now face alexander who who had a pretty handy win today against uh yuri lehetka um and and this is interesting isn't it because uh have they ever played each other i don't remember no i don't think so i heard i heard our crazes uh post-match interview and he was saying they've they've sort of practiced together quite a lot but not but not played and he was like let's see who has the best drop shot yeah yeah that that yeah it is their first meeting i mean it is that is fascinating and i wonder whether public might be able to draw him into one of those matches that al crass sometimes gets himself involved in where he just can't help but try to find out who's got the better swag and touch at the net you know and and when actually he probably just needs to put the hammer down and not get involved in all that stuff yeah and but it also to me feels like kind of a big match for Bublik, like he needs to show up in one of these.

33:34Like, do you know what I mean? Like he's had that match against Dimonor where suddenly like spotlights on him. He had that match against Sinner at the French last year. Okay, these are tough opponents in big matches in slams. But I think everyone is looking at that tomorrow, that quarter final thinking, okay, that could be exciting. That could be a show. And I just think Bublik has not quite brought it in some of these matches recently against the best players since he's really had his rise. He's become consistent and he is a threat on all surfaces. But I don't know, he's laid some eggs. And I just want to see him show something tomorrow, I think, in that match-up.

34:17David Law: He does that thing when he plays Sinner. I know he has beaten Sinner, but he's also done that thing occasionally of getting behind and then almost bailing out mentally and giving himself an out, giving himself an excuse. by saying this guy's an alien, he's AI. You know, I can't face this guy. I'm a normal person. I can't play this guy. And I don't actually expect him to do that against Alcrest. It's a bit of a different match-up, isn't it? It is. Sinner is just so relentless. And Alcrest, he can be, but he can also be a little indulgent or a little bit erratic. So it'll be very interesting to see who ends up coming through with Alcaraz and Bublik.

35:06And the winner of that one will face either Valentin Vashiro, who we have just seen in pretty chaotic scenes under the lights late on beating Hubert Herkacz. I mean, Vashro's going to face Dimino. And if Vashro's got anything left after the last two matches he's had in Monte Carlo, I'll be impressed because emotionally he just, he's so on the edge, isn't he, at the moment? I mean, he's putting every bit of sweat and energy and emotion into winning these matches in front of his home crowd and the royalty in the stands and he's got all his family there, it feels like, and all of his team. I mean, he makes you feel things even if you've never seen him before.

36:00You can't fail to feel things when you watch Van Azen Vashiro because he looks like it means everything to him and it can't possibly go right and he's still going to throw his body to the dogs in an effort to try. And then he'll blow it and he'll hit a smash straight back to Hubert Urkacz. And then his girlfriend will just say the F word under her breath. And it's just so obvious what's happening. And then he wins and then he's on his knees and his arms are aloft. And he's a great addition, I think, to the circuit, to the tour. And I'm impressed that he's still at this stage of this tournament that means so much to him.

36:47quarterfinals in his kind of follow-up season to the breakout after that Shanghai win um it's impressive but do you I don't know do you think he's gonna have enough left to face Dimon or well I mean that you know that was such a defining feature of his run in Shanghai the number of long matches he won and you know remember Shanghai last year was this incredibly hot, gruelling tournament, wasn't it? People were falling by the wayside and Vachero just kept going. But I suppose he would have had days off probably between matches, certainly between some of them in that longer format here. It's the relentlessness of having to come back the next day and, as you said, the emotional energy of it all as well.

37:35And kind of in these one-week Masters events, which, again, another great aspect of Monte Carlo, you do get like stuck in the schedule slot that you're in you know like so he's now on late every day because that's the slot he's in and it does mean that the crowd has thinned out a bit you know i think as you were saying it gets gets pretty chilly in monte carlo in the in the evenings it takes a sort of at this time of year it takes a hardy or slightly crazy tennis fan to kind of still be there in their seats after so many hours. And then that just creates this atmosphere of Bedlam. And he has leaned into that.

38:15And I think in his first match against Majaczak, there was a lot of people there in nose strips. And then in his last two matches, he's had this sort of young group of fans all wearing Monaco football shirts supporting him. And he's been whipping them up and getting them to make a lot of noise. And it has just created this kind of frenzy in his matches. and he's leaned into that, but you do feel like it must be taking quite a lot out of him and draining him. And yeah, to then have to play kind of, you know, the roadrunner, De Menor, who you know is going to be a physical test. You know, if we're making predictions at this stage, I'm probably going, I'm probably going De Menor, even though Klay is not his favourite surface.

39:01But yeah, it's been really fun watching Vachero and I'm glad that he's having this moment at his home tournament, the one that he said he would love to win it kind of above everything else. I am a bit worried about Mazzetti though, who he beat in the previous round. I feel like he's on another nightmare tour, David. I feel like he's come into this clay court season. I mean, he must be defending the second most amount of points after Alcaraz. And yet he's got no matches and no form. And I think he feels the pressure of trying to defend all those points. I almost feel like he needs to go and play.

39:45David Law: He ran up last year, wasn't he? And he reached the semis in Madrid and Rome and Roland Garros. He's got so many points to defend. I almost feel like he needs to drop down a level and play a 250 or 500 and try and get some wins. because he's such a confidence player, Mazzetti. He needs to be sharp and he's not at the moment and Vachero really exploited that. I desperately hope for his sake he's not thinking about points though. Yeah, but I think he might be. I feel like when I'm watching him, I feel like there's a burden on him. To me, he should be accepting, last year was last year, let's just see what I can do this year on its own merits.

40:32And like you said, I think dropping down a level or playing as many as he can in the next couple of weeks would be to his benefit, just to build some match toughness in the legs and to get some rhythm going. I think the thing with him, though, he's so comfortable on the surface generally and he's so good at it that I do think he can build his way into this clay court season still. as long as he's physically okay. I hope he can. Dimonor, by the way, a winner over Cameron Norrie in the previous round and then Alexander Blocks, the young Belgian qualifier who he beat 7-5, 7-6 today, did Alex Dimonor.

41:17Such a tough competitor to Dimonor. And he hasn't had the best of times recently, so I'm pleased that he's picked it up and he's going well on the clay. So that leaves us with the quarterfinal line-up then Matt. It's punchy predictions time. We're going to go from the top of the draw to the bottom. Alcaraz Bublik who's winning? Alcaraz. Alcaraz as well for me. Vashro Dimonor. Dimonor. I agree. Fonseca Zverev. I'm going to go Fonseca. I'll say Zverev. Sina Ogieliusin. Sina. then we're going to have a final of well I I sort of cast some doubt over it the other day when we were talking are we going to get our first Alcres sinner of the season but I don't know looking at looking at this line up and those predictions I've made I am I'm going to go I'm going to row back on that and I'm going to go Alcres sinner me too and who's going to win gonna go out crass yeah same as i think the same okay uh well there we are that's monte carlo um we're going to talk about lynx in part two but that's the end of part one we'll be back with lynx chat and lily tagger in a minute today's show is brought to you by vanguard to all the financial advisors listening let's talk bonds for a minute capturing value in fixed income isn't easy Bond markets are massive, murky, and let's be real, lots of firms throw a couple of flashy funds your way and call it a day, but not Vanguard.

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45:07Welcome back to part two of the tennis podcast. and the tournament in Linz, which is a city I had the pleasure of visiting over the Christmas period. Absolutely beautiful city. Loved it there. And I didn't actually go to the tennis arena where they hold this event. I wish I had, but it was only down the road from the hotel I was staying in. It used to be played in the autumn, I think, didn't it, for a while. Indoors. It's kind of moved around a little bit. and now they've put a clay cord inside it. And I know that indoor clay is maybe not your favourite, Matt, but I have to say, I think as a setting, this looks like a good court in a good location.

45:55And I definitely prefer it to the indoor hard court surface and feel that I've seen previously. And it's got this relevance now because it's part of the clay cord season. and it's part of a swing leading to a grand slam i i'm personally in favor generally yeah i look i think i think i do agree with you there i think i if i'm ranking everything i'm like outdoor tends to be at the top but clay tends to be at the top so if you're going to have indoor if it's on clay i probably do prefer that to indoor hard um it's just it's just a bit weird to me you know having indoor clay but I don't mind it and as you said narratively it does make sense especially given that you know we do have a big WTA event on indoor clay coming up you know you've now got like a two week period where they're where they're on the indoor clay that wouldn't be like my preferred choice for how to start the clay court season for the women but if they're going to do it maybe make it like a little swing like they have um and yeah it's it's it's been good it's I think that main court looks good on the telly uh it's a nice it's a nice shot it's a nice camera angle uh and yeah as you said the lily tag are open i mean that that has been that has just been a joy to watch

47:19David Law: her a couple of matches so far this week well tell us about her she's 18 years of age um she's beaten parla badass and she's beaten ludmila samsonova today in some quite extraordinary scenes uh samson of her samson of her had eight set points in the second set of this match and i mean you're quite right this this tournament is energized by the fact that they have a home player to support and the place is just jumping with people and we don't we i haven't i must admit i didn't hang on to see the plishkova alexander of a match that followed which plishkova won in two handy sets um but i've seen a lot of lily tagger but i mean just just give for people that haven't come across her give us an idea of why we have been texting back and forth a lot about her over the last week it's the backhand isn't it david let's be honest let's be honest we are immediately drawn to the backhand and i i think even people that aren't weird about backcans like i am will be because we just don't see single-handed backhands that often on on the women's tour and she's got one and it's a pretty nice one you know um i've i first heard the name at last year's french open when she won the the girls singles there and you know we learned that she was coached by skiavoni as well which was just a really cool element you know one of the great single-handed backhands of the last 20 years or so on on the WTA tour a French Open champion herself like it was a cool it's just a cool fit as a as a coaching partnership and you know now we're now we're seeing her at this WTA event her home event as you say and it's just been like the first time I've properly watched her and you know I don't know what you think I think sort of mechanically the forehand to me looks a little bit like Mukava-esque.

49:22It's very wristy. She's got really wrist action on the forehand and she can create angle off that wing quite well and hit with quite a lot of spin. I think both ground strokes could be in danger of breaking down against big, heavy power. I know she managed Samsonova today but Samsonova was wayward for most of this match. I'd be really interested to see how these tagger ground strokes are going to hold up against you know there's a lot of big hitters on the WTA tour so that's going to be interesting to watch but she's young she can develop as you said she's 18 she's tall she's really tall and she's got a she's got a nice serve it was really effective for today particularly against Samsonova and I just I just really like her vibe like she's as I said that that partnership with Schiavone is cool Schiavone is I think looking seriously cool on the coaching sidelines in her glasses.

50:19I think of her as this fiery character when she played but she's very subdued on the court. I think she probably knows that maybe that's the energy that Taggart needs. There's another coach who's there with them also speaking in Italian to Taggart on the sidelines. And she's sort of taken the crowd with her on these matches. They've been journeys to get over the line. you know against Podossa she served for it twice and got broken and needed a second set tie break and again today against Samsonova she served for it got broken and then as you said this absolutely wild tie break where Samsonova kept getting set points and kept blowing it and Tagga herself needed four match points I think to finish it off so there's been drama even though they've been straight sets wins and yeah i've just really really enjoyed watching her just having my eyes open to this new player who has just a different game style you just don't see people play like that too much and what i'd forgotten is that potapova is now representing austria as well so that's who she plays in the quarterfinals and yeah there's two austrian flags next to each other but I have a feeling the crowd are going to be with Taggart in that one.

51:38David Law: Yeah, it's going to be interesting, isn't it, to see the vibe in that, whether anybody's confused at all or whether anybody's sort of decided they're going to try and equal out their support in some way. But I suspect you're right. And that's in the bottom half of the draw, Potov over against Tagga then the winner of that will face either Donna Vekic who's having a good week she actually had a walk over today but she had a good first round win Vekic plays against Karolina Pliskova so two players that have been around for a long time in the bottom half of the draw it is a decent draw isn't it the top seed in this tournament is Mira Andreeva and she's at the top of the draw there against Sarana Castella who's having such a good sort of swan song season and the winner of Andreva Kostea will face either Jelena Ostapenko or Elena Gabriela Russa.

52:38So, yeah, we'll keep a very close eye on that and I'll be fascinated to see who ends up coming through all of this. Yeah, I think, you know, the two, you know, probably the two standout players in that draw, I think, are meeting each other in the quarterfinals, you know, in terms of their form this season, Andreva and Kostea, as you said, like that that's a big match I think in that draw to come in the quarters and then I think indoor clay is a really good surface for Ostopenko you know like it takes out the elements so it sort of becomes more of a ball strikers uh court and conditions and then the clay we know she likes the clay she's got time on the ball she can wind up and she played a sort of interesting match against Ayala.

53:29She was 5-1 down, I think, in that second set and got it all the way back to 7-5, won six games in a row. She picked someone out in the crowd and took issue with them and said, well, why don't you come and play then? It was like classic Ostapenko aggro. But that was a good win against Ayala, I think. So yeah, as you said, it is a compelling draw, that one as well.

53:55David Law: so that's going on at the same time over the next few days as the Billie Jean King Cup matches as the teams vie for the the opportunity to to get to the finals in September late September where hosts China are already going to be seven ties to be played over the next couple of days but a lot of players not there a lot of a lot of sort of players lacking really particularly particularly i suppose from a britain perspective we're we're familiar with the fact that britain are going away to australia and there's no emma radicano there's no katie bolter and there's no sonny cartel either now um and talia gibson is the the standout player really isn't isn't she being played on the John Cain Arena there on the hard court.

54:52I'm actually having to go back to the John Cain Arena, David. No wonder they're all pulled out. What's it like, I wonder? So what stands out for you in these playoffs, Matt? Because I know you're a keen Billie Jean King Cup observer. Yeah, you're right. There's a lot of ties. like we got this sort of on paper versus what it is in reality you know like you like Kazakhstan Canada pops off the page you think oh great that must be we're back in a Mboko well no it's not uh Rebecca was was not nominated he wasn't was never part of the squad and Mboko withdrew withdrew late so it's like oh okay and then you've got like Italy Japan you think oh great paulini osaka well paulini's there but not osaka um you've explained all the people missing from great britain you think poland ukraine okay switzerland we just had that that was really interesting oh no but sviontek's not there that there's that feel to a lot of these ties you know maybe one team's got their strong team and one team doesn't um i think i think the two that really jump out for me are Belgium against USA you know it is by no means a full strength USA team and yet they have such strength in depth that they can field a sort of C or D team and it still looked pretty good on paper and they've got Jovic playing for the first time which I'm interested in it's on it's on red clay in Belgium that time we saw her do quite well on the green clay in Charleston last week but red clay is a you know different challenge with the movement I think and Hayley Baptiste is part of that squad as well for the US but they're coming up against Belgium who have Elise Mertens who's so reliable, good in singles and doubles I just think that's an interesting tie there's that kind of minnows versus giants feel to it not that Belgium are tennis minnows because they've had a lot of good players over the years and especially on the women's side but compared to the US I think they will feel like they can do a bit of giant killing there at home and then the other one is Switzerland-Czechia which is being played in Switzerland and this is probably the tie where you've got closest of the strongest teams I would say you've got Benchik playing for Switzerland who's obviously really helped carry them to that trophy in the past and Noskova is lining up for Czechia there's also Buzkova, Valantova, Vondroshova is in the squad so those are pretty full teams and I think that's a really compelling tie as well.

57:37And either of them going out is going to be kind of a big team missing from the finals.

57:45David Law: My eye turns to the tie between Slovenia and Spain in Porto Rojo, Slovenia because I covered a tie there about 23 years ago against the United States, and Venus Williams was playing in it. Martina Navratilova was in the doubles alongside Lisa Raymond. Oh, wow. And I think... I'm trying to remember. I think the captain might have been Billie Jean King at the time. But, yeah, it was an incredible occasion. Beautiful place, Portoroz, in Slovenia. And the other thing to note from the Billie Jean King Cup this weekend is that they had a change of format. So it's now mirroring the Davis Cup format, which means that the doubles is in the middle.

58:44So it's the first time, I think, in Billie Jean King Cup history, or Fed Cup as it used to be, that a live doubles is guaranteed. It's always been the fifth match in these sorts of ties in Billie Jean King Cup, but it's now the middle. So we've got two singles on day one everywhere and then day two is starting with the doubles. And I think that's a good move. You know, I think, you know, we love it when it's a decider. We know that. But I think to have a team competition and not have a guaranteed doubles match has always felt a bit weird to me. So getting that guaranteed and adding that extra dynamic into the tie, I think it's a good move.

59:24And aligning it with the Davis Cup as well, I think makes sense. So, yeah, it'll be interesting to see how that affects some of these ties. Yeah.

59:33David Law: Well, we'll be back on Monday to bring you up to date with all of these tournaments and, of course, the Billie Jean King Cup matches as well. And we'll be back in part three with a bit more news.

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1:01:07David Law: Welcome back to part three of the Tennis Podcast. and just a couple of little bits of news to cover before we sign off for this midweek edition of the show. One of them involving Irina Sabalenka and her not playing Stuttgart, Matt. When I initially heard that she wasn't going to play, my thought was, oh, well, maybe this is just an extension of her continuing to be a little careful, you know, and not play too many tournaments. And she's done that last summer. She did it in the Middle East swing, you know, having done so well. I sort of thought maybe the fact that she's won the Sunshine Double, she's thinking, look, I care about the Grand Slams ultimately now.

1:01:53But maybe there might be a bit more to it than that. I don't know. I had the same read on it as you. I mean, she's written in her post on Instagram that she picked up an injury after Miami and hasn't hasn't recovered in time. Now, there's absolutely no need necessarily for her to disclose what that injury is, but she didn't. You know, there was an unspecified injury. and I don't know I I read that as it's a sort of scheduling decision and she's said injury I look I I hope she's not injured I really do but she didn't seem like overly concerned or worried about it in the message so I sort of took it to mean it probably is a a scheduling thing and needing a bit more recovery from the sunshine double and yeah just sort of targeting the the really big events on the clay i know stuttgart's a big event but it's it's only a 500 but she's she always loses in the final there doesn't she she's lost three or four finals i think there um you know she sort of talked about being fed up of not being able to get the porsche despite definitely being able to afford a porsche um so yeah out of stuttgart which is a shame because i was really you know i was sort of chomping at the bit to see her on the clay uh but you know

1:03:23David Law: we'll have to wait till madrid i guess yeah it's i i wonder whether this is a little bit of a reaction to kind of being criticized by the the tournament director in dubai um i i won't tell the truth which is I want to have a bit of a rest and make sure I'm absolutely fresh for kind of bigger tournaments to come. I think it's okay for somebody who's just done the Sunshine Double to say that. Me too. As wonderful as the Stuttgart tournament is, there's nothing wrong with wanting to make sure you're fresh physically and mentally and emotionally ahead of big swings to come. You cannot play and win everything.

1:04:08You cannot. not you've got to if you if you're winning all the time you've got to put some gaps in your schedule if you're not winning all the time maybe you did put some more tournaments in that's the way that the calendar is and i and listen maybe she is injured but i just wonder and i and i think she is somebody even though she she bit back at that tournament director and said i may well not play that event again if they're going to talk to me i think i do think she's quite sensitive to to criticism like that you know the the we've heard her mention a lot of times she's not going to get herself in the position she was with post Rowan Garros again you know and and she hears things she follows things and and I just wonder I mean I don't know that for sure that's just my my suspicion but I think it's I I think it's really smart if she is deciding to remove tournaments from her calendar to be fresh and mentally and physically i think she's got a heck of a lot better chance of winning these big tournaments you know if i think of her removing what she did from her summer last year she went and won the us open she didn't play the middle east she went and won the sunshine double i tell you if she's being careful ahead of the french open and wimbledon just makes me feel more likely that she goes and wins those things so we shall see one player who is definitely planning to play an event that I'm a little bit surprised that he's playing this soon is Holger Rune and he's announced that he's going to play the Hamburg tournament which starts on the 16th of May now I'd be delighted if he's fully fit and able to play and doesn't have any adverse reaction and good for him He clearly loves the sport.

1:05:59He's working incredibly hard and he's making it very clear that he's putting in the work with a lot of the posts that he's put out. And he's made it very clear how desperately he misses the tour. I just hope, Matt, that he's not taking a chance here and rushing it back too soon. I can't know. But an Achilles rupture is such a serious injury that I hope he's not taking any chances. Yeah, I haven't got a lot to add, really. Far be it from me to, you know, to say that I know the state of his recovery. And, you know, I have to hope and trust that he has good people around him who are not pushing it too much and that he is ready.

1:06:47But, you know, it makes me a bit worried, you know, when he first did that injury. I remember a lot of experts saying US Open next year could be a good target for a return but the chance of him coming back for the clay and the grass just didn't seem right and it's going to be what, seven or eight months since he did that injury when he makes his return I just really hope that this isn't too much too soon, he doesn't end up sending himself further back but as I said I don't have any inside information on that just from the outside it just makes me a

1:07:29David Law: little a little concerned well good luck Holger it's a horrible injury he's had and you know we wish him well for sure and we will follow that with interest when it does eventually happen as we will follow the next few days of tennis with great anticipation as well because I think we're for a cracking end to these tournaments that are coming up. And we will be back with Catherine. Catherine will be rejoining us on Monday for the show to look back on Monte Carlo and Linz and the Billie Jean King Cup and ahead to whatever else is coming up in the clay court season as well. We have our mascots. Catherine has Bodie.

1:08:12I have Maisie, who I understand from owner Tom Tom was having the time of her life in Charleston recently. Of course, yeah. Big Charleston tournament fan. So hello, Maisie. Matt has his mascot, Roger. We have our top folks and executive producers and all-round great blokes, Greg, Chris, and Jeff. We are partnered with The Athletic and part of The Athletic Podcast Network. And do go and have a read of the stuff that's on The Athletic at the moment. It's so fascinating to read the depth of coverage that they have there and the features and the great angles. You know, we lap it up and I'm sure you will too.

1:08:59And Matt, we will be back in a few days time. So have a good couple of days watching tennis and enjoy all of that and rejoin us for the next tennis podcast. We'll see you then.

1:09:18As a small business owner, you're the CEO, the marketing team, and the customer service rep all at once. I was recently talking to a shop owner who told me their worst nightmare isn't a slow day, it's the vanishing act. It's that moment you're inches away from a deadline and the Wi-Fi just disappears. We've all felt that pit in our stomach when the connection flares up right when it matters most. Your business is only as strong as your connection. AT &T Business is the reliable provider built for that exact brand of hustle, so you can stay focused on the work that builds your legacy. Powered by AT &T Business.

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