Tatjana Maria, Queen of Queen's - could 70's tennis win Wimbledon?

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1:16Matt Roberts: Hello and welcome to the Tennis Podcast on this fine, fine Monday morning in London and Solihull, respectively. The grass court season is well underway. way we've experienced the whiplash transition from red to green and we are raring to go to talk about the first week of the grass court season although I say that David Law is wearing a Roland Garros

1:41David Law: t-shirt and that's not changing because every season is Roland Garros season in my household I'll have you know in fact I bought this t-shirt for all members of my family just so that I get to see it more and uh i love all the grand slams but not equally wow okay i've been saying exactly

2:01Matt Roberts: the opposite to that on a recent promo that a client has paid us for okay i think it's i think

2:08David Law: it started to affect me and now i'm just sort of trotting it out but changing the meaning um matt

2:15Matt Roberts: How does Carlos Alcaraz look more over Roland Garros and recovered than we do? How is that possible? Is it that we all need to go to Ibiza after Paris every year? Is that what we need to be considering?

2:30Catherine Whitaker: He got it out of his system, didn't he? With a fun night in Ibiza, then some more days in Ibiza, hanging out with his mates. We've had a fun time too, doing shows on Tennis Channel, but a different kind of fun, I would say.

2:47Matt Roberts: yes I would say so too yes he claimed he only had one night out in Ibiza didn't he he went just to chill it's what Ibiza is known for folks we will talk about Carlos Alcaraz plenty later on in the show when we look ahead to the second week of Queens the ATP week of Queens but we must start with the return of women's tennis to the Queens Club for the first time in 52 years. 1973, the last WTA champion at the Queen's Club was crowned, and that was Olga Morozova. And she has been the reigning champion for 52 years, and she was actually invited to be a part of the process of designing the new WTA trophy for the HSBC Championships at the Queen's Club, which was a really lovely touch.

3:38Matt Roberts: And they invited a few WTA players from that era in the early 70s to be at Queen's at the start of the week and really invite the history into this new tournament, which I think has been really, really well done. and haven't they ended up with the most perfect and poetic champion in Tatiana Maria, a champion at 500 level for the first time, her second grass court title at the age of 37 and David, the ultimate throwback tennis player. In 1973, she'd have, well, I mean, who knows, but she'd have been crushing it, that's for sure.

4:25David Law: She'd have just been one of the pack and it would have been perfect. She'd have fit right in and you could transport members of the 60s and 70s into this era and said, there's Tatiana Maria and we would have believed it. But the thing is, I think if you'd have told the organisers a week ago, your champion is going to be Tatiana Maria, I think you'd have got a bit of a sort of, oh, really? and I think that I would...

4:53Matt Roberts: Like the Sam Query year when you were media director.

4:55David Law: Yeah. No offence, Sam.

4:58Matt Roberts: I think some offence, Sam. You know, you were... When you're paying huge appearance fees for Rafael Nadal, you're not doing that because you want Sam Query to be your champion, are you? That is true. Let's be honest.

5:12David Law: And either side of him were victories for Andy Murray, which had a certain different level of interest, let's say, from outside the grounds. And inside the grounds, actually, but there we are. And I honestly think that if you'd have told me it would be Tatiana Maria a week ago, I would have slightly been a bit bummed out by it because they've got Jung Chin-Wen, they've got Madison Keyes, they've got Elena Rabakina, they've got Emma Adekanu, that got, frankly, all the players that Tatiana Maria beat to win this title, you would have put ahead of her in terms of people that you would have thought you would want on the roll of honour.

5:56David Law: And we would all have been wrong. I think now, looking back, I would rather have Tatiana Maria as the champion of this tournament than any of them because she made me feel so wonderful throughout the week with her brand of tennis, with her story of being 37 and sort of having had a really rough time coming in on a nine-match beaten run, you know, of being defeated at each match. And now suddenly playing Leila Fernandes, Karolina Mukova, Elena Rabakina, Madison Keyes, and then Amanda Anissimova, and qualifying, and beating the lot. And beating them with a brand of tennis that you just don't see.

6:38David Law: And I loved every minute of it. She slices almost entirely on the forehand. There was one rally, I watched it back this morning, Catherine, where she actually hit a topspin backhand down the line, got a low volley from Manissimova, then hit a topspin forehand at her feet, like normal players do. And it was so outlandish to us in commentary because we had not seen that in three days. We had not seen her hit that combination of that two-shot combo at all. everything was sliced drifted forehands onto the baseline same on the backhand occasional chip and charges it really was 60s 70s tennis and it was joyous I loved every minute of it we got to speak to her in our tennis channel show afterwards and I'm just so happy for her and I'm really I love the story I love that that is how the return to queens of women's tennis unfolded

7:36Matt Roberts: and Matt this is look it is out of nowhere in terms of you know I don't think any of us have been thinking about Tatiana Maria in recent weeks and months and she'd been on that nine match losing streak she was nowhere but she is a Wimbledon semi-finalist you know we know she can do serious damage on grass we know she's a player that nobody wants to see next to their name in a draw or that was the case before this week and now she's a player that everyone is going to be looking out for in the Wimbledon draw. I feel like she's the name in that Wimbledon draw that I'm most on tender hooks to see where she comes out.

8:15Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, yet another reason to be excited for the Wimbledon draw, which is excellent. What I find really interesting is that, you know, she had this nine-match losing streak, this 12-set losing streak. Well, one of those matches and two of those sets were on grass. She lost in Birmingham at the 125K event the week before Queens to Valentina Reiser of Switzerland, world number 229. Can't wait to see her. Yeah, what's her secret?

8:53Matt Roberts: This is like when you read out the list of players that Lois Boisson had lost to, none of which we'd heard.

8:59Catherine Whitaker: And then one of them ended up being the junior champion. Yeah, perhaps this can be a new segment. Matt reads out a list of names that we don't know. Which one of them turns out to be an amazing player? So I guess what I'm saying is that it's not like she immediately gets on grass and becomes one of the very best players in the world. Her game on grass has had moments in her career of being not very effective. You know, she has only reached the third round of Wimbledon twice in her whole career. And one of them was on that run to the semifinal three years ago. But then there are these occasions like that run to the Wimbledon semis and like this week where everything comes together.

9:46Catherine Whitaker: And she absolutely perfects that old school throwback grass court game that David has described there. And I think what she did this week that impressed me particularly was marry that up with a serve that I've never seen from her before. Like Tatiana Maria serve bot, I wrote on one of our agendas at one point this week. You know, just something I never would have expected. And yet, time after time, her serve was getting her out of small holes that she might be in or helping her confidently beat a list of illustrious names as she did to win this title. And it was incredibly impressive to watch her use her game because, yes, it was the same sorts of things that were working in all of her matches against these big hitters, but also in slightly different ways.

10:38Catherine Whitaker: Like against Madison Keyes, it was really the short slice, bringing Keyes in and making her uncomfortable. Against Anissimova, it was a bit of that, but it was also left and right, getting Anissimova moving. so she's very very canny with how she uses the tools at her disposal and yeah i think it was really really special to have her crown as the champion you know this returning event which automatically became the third biggest wta only event on tour you know in its first year back more than 50 000 through the gates the stands were packed all week which was just brilliant to see that's behind only Charleston and the Canadian Open, which have a long history of hosting these women's only tournaments.

11:25Catherine Whitaker: So brilliant for Queen's to have the women back and brilliant to have a champion for whom it's the biggest moment, most special moment of their career. You know, she will always have fond memories of this and have a special connection with the tournament. And I think that's really, really special. But I also think that enough of the top players got a taste of it, enjoyed it, and have now seen it in the calendar. And I'm sure that even though it's just off the back of the French Open, I feel pretty confident that they're going to keep getting strong fields there. Because it's just such a special place to play tennis, isn't it?

12:06Matt Roberts: I don't think the players that played Tatiana Maria this week will have had fond memories, though. I mean, there's losing and then there's losing to Tatiana Maria on grass. Like it looked sort of traumatising for the likes of Elena Rabatkin and Madison Keyes and Amanda Anisimova just because of their style of play and how she exposed them, made them look limited. And I don't mean that as a criticism. Like, I understand how modern tennis players wouldn't have a game optimized to deal with a Tatiana Maria. Like, there are no Tatiana Marias. That is not generally a good use of your time on the practice court to make sure you're equipped to deal with players like Tatiana Maria.

12:54Matt Roberts: Because she is one of a kind. But she did kind of pull all their pants down out there, didn't she? Like, she really exposed them.

13:04David Law: yeah I and I wasn't expecting that I thought yeah she can she can make life difficult but I thought they'd figure it out all three of them each one of them I picked to beat Tatiana Maria quite happy to say that won't be any surprise to tennis podcast listeners that I got got that wrong but the manner in which she did I think is a little alarming for them and does tell you that actually there is vulnerability there with game style. There aren't many players that could expose it. I definitely think that if I'm on Stubur or players of, I say players of that ilk, I can't really think of any others.

13:44Matt Roberts: Or Mukova, although she seems a shadow of herself. She's struggling.

13:49Catherine Whitaker: But she came the closest to beating Maria. She did. She was two points away from beating her. She's got the hand, she's got the slice. she could cope with what Tatiana Maria was throwing at her.

14:01David Law: I thought they would handle it better. But then when I watched it happen to Rabacchina first, it did make me think, oh, OK, actually, this is like, I know this might sound incredibly mean, a little bit rude even, but it was like a robot just malfunctioning with Rabacchina. She's got a way that she's expecting the ball to come, and she's got a way to react to it. And suddenly it was coming short. Now, normally you don't, unless you're hitting an outright drop shot, and these weren't outright drop shots, normally you don't want to leave the ball short to an Elena Rabakina because she's just going to come in and smack a winner.

14:40David Law: Well, these were coming in with such vicious underspin and often with no pace on them that Rabakina was just lurching forwards and trying to lift it off the turf and hitting the net. Time after time after time. Sometimes putting it long. Madison Key's the same. I did think Commander Inissimova would handle it better than the other two. I thought she is maybe a more natural player, somebody who can do more things. But it's like they all got lured into the trap and then suddenly thought, oh, I better do to her what she's doing to me. And I saw a couple of forehand slices and suddenly Maria got them where she wanted them.

15:24David Law: and uh and then occasionally if they left one short she'd just be in at the net and i did think though with all of them why are they not at the net more and what what it seemed to me was they'd go up there they'd have one bad experience where they're either lobbed or they dump worse if they dump an overhead or a forehand volley in the net it would make them think oh well that doesn't work then. That's how it came across anyway.

15:51Matt Roberts: But Madison Keyes tried to come into the net a fair bit, particularly as her match on Saturday against Tatiana Maria, the semi-final was, it was played in very windy conditions, wasn't it? That didn't help her cause at all, but the vicious underspin that it was coming at her with made what would usually appear to be an easy put-away volley. They're just not used to judging that spin and they were missing what looked from the outside like incredibly easy volleys because they're just not used to dealing with that. Yeah, it was a fascinating run and style of play

16:33Catherine Whitaker: to end up being victorious off the back of the discussion which dominated the end of the French Open about what is an unforced error and how much of what you're doing wrong on court is caused by you versus what's caused by your opponent, which obviously was the big talking point post-Gof Sabalenka in the women's final at Ronan Garros. And my sense was that even without the hands and without the slice necessarily, all of Keyes, Rebecca and Anissimova do possess the skills to be able to beat Tatiana Maria, like even on a grass court. I firmly believe that. There were moments in these matches where they did have the right game plan and they were winning points quite straightforwardly and easily, but they weren't able to execute it for the whole match because their brains were so scrambled by what was coming down the other end.

17:39Catherine Whitaker: So exactly as you say, there were moments where you thought, oh they should be putting that volley away or they should be finishing that point off here being more clinical more efficient more ruthless but they weren't able to because of the the web that tatiana maria had spun and the state that she'd put them in with her general slice and dice game and throwing something at them that they're not used to seeing she forced them a lot of the time to come out of their comfort zone which is something that all the best players in the world do they say if you if you're going to beat me you're going to have to come out of your comfort zone or you're going to have to execute that at a hundred percent and they couldn't do it because they were frustrated because you know the wind i think in madison keys's case was a factor like all of these elements so as much as i was watching it and i was with david one after another i predicted all of these players to beat her because i just thought they've got more game one of them we'll figure it out but i i probably underestimated that element of how much tatiana maria's game was affecting them sort of mentally i suppose as much as anything and how it was blocking them from from playing their best tennis so basically i just end up feeling like fair play tatiana maria because she's absolutely done a job on all of those big, powerful, informed hitters.

19:12Matt Roberts: Yeah, and they definitely feel like they've had a job done on them, don't they? Like Madison Keyes' face after two points was just, oh, for goodness sake. I actually thought kind of mentally and emotionally there were a couple of moments where she looked like she wanted out of there. But I was the most impressed with Amanda Anisimova, really, of those three big hitters that were having frustrating days at the office. I mean, by the end, her brain was thoroughly scrambled. But I do think this was a week of tremendous progress, Matt, for Amanda Anisimova. I know we've seen her play great tennis before.

19:53Matt Roberts: I'm not forgetting that run to the title in Doha. That was a bigger week. She won a 1 ,000 level title. That was huge for her. But I saw defensive skills from her this week that felt to me developed even further from what we were seeing earlier in the season. And I saw a real grit from her that I'm not sure I've ever seen before. I don't necessarily associate Amanda Enesimova with grit and defiance, but I really felt like she was desperate to win this title. And I loved to see that from her.

20:31Catherine Whitaker: And she needed it in the very first round. I got back from Paris on Monday and got back to my flat and it aligned perfectly with her starting against Jodie Burridge. And I put it on and I thought, oh, dear, Amanda Nisimova is about as ready for the grass court season as I am. Because she's lost the first set and she's playing a Brit and the grass is, you know, So the grass is very fresh and slippery on the first day of a tournament. And she looked a bit uneasy on it. I just thought, she's probably going to lose here. But she dug in there, was really resilient, came through it. Then had a couple of matches where she just absolutely crushed her opponents.

21:14Catherine Whitaker: Sonny Cartel and Emma Navarro just sort of hit them off the court.

21:18Matt Roberts: She was so good against Navarro. I know she loves that matchup. I think she's 4-0 against her, which is an interesting head-to-head. but gosh she was good I was blown away by that performance and then the match which impressed me

21:30Catherine Whitaker: most was the Jun-Chin Wen match in the semi-finals because she'd lost to her twice before and it was a match where we saw a lot of her different traits you know we saw the first set the brilliant tennis that she's capable of where she was striking the ball so cleanly pinning returns down at Jung's feet and just taking over. But then in the second half of the match, we had to see the resilience because she lost her form a little bit. Jung picked it up and it became a real battle. And the resilience, the tenacity, and some of those defensive skills that you mentioned have all just gone up a few percent, I think, in the last year.

22:13Catherine Whitaker: And that generally just makes the overall package that much better and more dangerous, which is why she's now at a career high ranking and is displaying a little bit more consistency. This is the third semi-final she's reached on the tour this year, which she's never done before in a season, and we're only halfway through the season. So really good signs for Nisimova, and as much as I thought she was going to win that final, I think to some degree you can just put it down to that very singular Tatiana Maria test, which she didn't pass in that final, you know absolutely but I don't I don't necessarily take more from that than I'd take from the rest of the week I think the rest of the week is sort of more representative of the tour in a way and and she did brilliantly in those matches so yes definitely a really good week for Nisimova and and she gave a great speech as well after the evening really good she did yeah and it must help

23:12Matt Roberts: her to look around and see the other players that got Tatiana Mariad this week who I you know I'm which certain are forming some kind of support group. Genuinely, you must go, OK, well, you know, Rabatkin is a Wimbledon champion and Madison Keys is the reigning Australian Open champion and they didn't even get as close as I did. So let's just chalk this up to an anomaly. A couple of other things from Queen's Week to pick up on. You mentioned the Jung-Anisimova semifinal from Saturday there. Well, there was an incident in that match and Jung Chin-wen's previous match against Emma Raducanu, an incident that we are calling shoonanigans.

23:57Matt Roberts: Thank you, the barge, for this incredible word. At crucial moments in both matches on her opponent's serve, Jung Chin-wen took a brief timeout, which is allowed during the rules to change shoes because her shoes were apparently broken. And there is provision within the rules that if your shoes break, you can change them no matter what the situation in the match, no matter who is serving. So entirely within the rules, it got the crowd a little bit on her back in both matches. I mean, if she'd done this in Paris, she would have had things thrown at her, I think. And if she'd done it against a French player in Paris, like she did it against Emma Raducanu in London.

24:45Matt Roberts: Honestly, I don't think she'd be able to return to Paris. Like, it would have been so bad. And after the first time, I thought, that's not ideal timing. But, you know, I gave her the benefit of the doubt. And Raducanu was asked about it in a press conference. And I think that's exactly what she said as well. She said the timing wasn't ideal. And Raducanu did go on to have her serve broken. in that game where the shunanigans occurred. She said not ideal timing in quite a pointed way, but left it there, you know. And then it happens again, though. On her opponent's serve, two points, Matt, after a sit-down against Amanda Anisimova.

25:30Matt Roberts: And it's at that point that it's hard not to raise an eyebrow, isn't it? Yeah.

25:37Catherine Whitaker: It happening two matches in a row in the same circumstances on her opponent's serve makes you feel like it was deliberate in some way to try and throw her opponent off. I think we've all defended Jung Shin Wen quite a lot in the past. You know, there have been some accusations against her which have felt like either really baseless in terms of that one that Emma Navarro said last year or frankly, just not all that important. Like, you know, like what we heard about how people don't like the fact that she hits winners in the warm up. I kind of just think, get over yourself really about that. But something like this, I didn't love it.

26:26Catherine Whitaker: I really didn't. it felt to me like she was trying to disrupt her opponent in a way that yes might be okay within the laws as as you've described like but certainly not in the spirit of them and as you said the fact it was two points after a changeover i just don't think that her shoes went from playable to unplayable within that time and it was in the third set she had a you know she was trying to break the Anissimova serve and in the moment it did work you know because she won the next three points after that after changing the shoes and look it's it's a moment within a match I'm not saying it necessarily would have been the ultimate determining factor and Anissimova did end up holding that game and going on to win the match so it's not like it massively altered altered the whole thing but it's i don't think she wants to get a reputation as someone who uses those sorts of dark arts to try and gain an advantage and that's what it felt like because it happened in consecutive matches i didn't think too much of it after the first one because she was slipping a lot and maybe there maybe there was something vastly wrong with her shoes that we couldn't see and it was quite early in the match it was at a it was at a less pivotal moment in the match but when it happened again that the next day on her opponent's serve that was crossing a line for me and yeah i think she'd be advised to to stop it david your your take on shunanigans other than it's a great

28:08David Law: name it's a good good name uh look i'll it's very short and sweet i just agree with matt i i think he summed it up perfectly there i yeah stop doing that i suppose she might say i don't care what

28:23Matt Roberts: people think it's within the rules you know she's made it very clear she's a you know you say i i agree with you matt i wouldn't want to get a reputation for somebody that uses dark art maybe she doesn't give any hoots.

28:35David Law: There are players that feel like that. I mean, I've spoken to players who've said that they've just instigated a conversation with the umpire that they didn't need in order to disrupt an opponent's rhythm. I think that happens all the time. And this is just another extension of that.

28:56Matt Roberts: Not a great moment for Nike, is it? I don't know how much Nike are paying her, But I imagine it's quite a handsome sum. Last thing to touch upon, I think, from WTA Queen's Week. David's going to hate me here. Bolter Karnou. You're right. Which is, of course, the team name for Emera Adekarnou and Katie Bolter, who played doubles together. They won a match. They lost a match. This isn't, you know, headline news necessarily. But I was just really pleased to see it. I know Anne-Giothafong has been imploring the British women to play more doubles because, frankly, not having a good enough doubles team or a well-oiled doubles team is probably the reason they didn't make it to the Billie Jean King Cup finals last year.

29:48Matt Roberts: And she's been desperate for them to try and play more doubles. And honestly, I enjoyed so much seeing Emma Adekanu look happy and relaxed and in female company on a tennis court, like there was something just so healthy and uplifting about it. And she wrote on the camera, didn't she? Emerita Canu, long live Bolta Canu. So maybe a hint that they plan to play together at Wimbledon, David, and you're going to have to put up with that nickname for quite a while longer.

30:22David Law: Yeah, I'd be happy to see them play doubles. I can just tune out the nickname. but I don't think they're going to do it somehow. I mean, Radhika has already pulled out of the tournament she was due to play this week and was feeling her back in the singles and I think it's a good idea for her to play more doubles long run generally. I think she needs to find a way to become more robust in a tennis tournament generally. She's managed to kind of keep her fitness throughout the season a lot more but she does seem to get niggles and twinges and maybe it's just bad luck but you could do without that but i think going into a grand slam and she did have a the whole thing last year with andy murray um i'd be surprised candy yeah yeah great i'd be surprised if they ended up playing doubles at wimbledon really but i think it will happen again in the summer or later on in the year okay well that's David pissing on that bonfire

31:27Matt Roberts: um I I agree with you though I am I'm worried about that back issue for Amiradokani um because it's recurring it's it sounds like a chronic issue um and yeah chronic back pain chronic back injury really raises red flags for me. I mean, look at Paola Bedosa. And she was definitely in a lot of discomfort in her quarterfinal match, wasn't it, on Friday of last week. So, or was it Thursday? Anyway, her match against Jung Chin Wen is the one I'm talking about with where there were shoe nanigans. Right, that's it from the WTA event at Queen's. We're going to take you around other events that happened this past week on grass.

32:20Matt Roberts: And we're going to be looking ahead to next week on grass in the 280P 500 at Queen's and in Halle and the WTA 500 event in Berlin and the 250 in Nottingham. Just before we do that, a public service announcement about our live show on June the 26th. So that is a week on Thursday now at Shoreditch Town Hall in London. Tickets are still available. We've sold more than 500, which is incredibly overwhelming and exciting. But there are a few tickets still available if you would like to come. We'll put the link in our show notes or you can search for us on Eventbrite or I'll put the link on our Instagram as well.

33:08Matt Roberts: Matt it is going to be a very very fun night you usually sneakily keep something up your sleeve for a live show that you don't even tell me and David about you know the London last year was well London last year was a little backhand list announcement wasn't it you had a little reveal

33:28Catherine Whitaker: oh yes no you're right okay that's put the pressure on must have something up my sleeve

33:36Matt Roberts: I feel like you had something in New York as well. I'm trying to big up the evening here, Matt.

33:41Catherine Whitaker: I did have something in New York, but it wasn't a particularly fun thing to include in a promo. What was it? It was the Vukov-Rabakina split that I'd read about just before we went on stage. Well, it was still big news. And it was a good talking point, wasn't it?

34:01Matt Roberts: And Pam was there in New York and Mary was there.

34:04Catherine Whitaker: Yeah. basically whether or not i have anything up my sleeve is going to be a great night

34:12Matt Roberts: i've got i've got billy jean up my sleeve yeah she's coming i've provided her i've provided her pet insurance documents to the venue she's confirmed uh folks it really is going to be a fun night so if you'd like to join us tickets are 30 quid and it's going to be brilliant it's such a cool venue. So yeah, the link for that is in our show notes. That's it for part one. Join us in part two. Hello, folks. This is Catherine from the Tennis Podcast. Now, creatine, as you very well may know, is one of the most researched and effective supplements available. But you've also probably noticed that the category has exploded and most of the many brands out there have focused on flavors, formats and marketing instead of actually making the creatine itself better.

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37:25Matt Roberts: Welcome back to part two of the Tennis Podcast now, where we head to Zogenbosch and the WTA 250 there. And Matt Roberts reporting for us on Elisa Mertens saving, wait for it, folks, 11 match points in the semifinal against Ekaterina Alexandrovich. She then went on to win the title. She beat Elena Gabriel Rusa 6-3, 7-6 in the final. her 10th career title but this is all about the semi-final and Elisa Mertens has somehow managed to put Carlos Alcaraz in the shade here Matt.

38:04Catherine Whitaker: Yeah I see your three match points saved and I raise you 11 absolutely wild scenes there in the semi-finals. I went back and watched all 11 match points because honestly this match only came to my attention after the match points had been saved and then I tuned in and watched the third set which by the way Alexandra went to break up in that third set as well after having all those match points but ended up losing it but yes I went back to watch all 11 match points 10 of them were on Mertens's serve across four five and five six but Alexandra did have one on her own serve in the tie break that they eventually ended up in in that second set and well a very tough scene for alexandreva on those match points to be quite honest i've written a brief description of what happened on it on every one of the match points oh yes please number one all 11 yeah it won't take long because there's a theme to all of them number one alexandreva goes long with a defensive backhand number two alexandreva misses a backhand return long number three she hits a forehand long number four merton's brilliant backhand winner down the line number five backhand long from alexandreva as but as merton's did a nice defensive scramble number six forehand return long number seven return in the net number eight return in the net number nine backhand long number 10 forehand long and number 11 the one on her serve backhand wide just an absolutely brutal brutal sequence of points yeah I don't really know what to say really like a horrible joke yeah yeah how many were unforced I think four five and six Mertens played well the rest of them I think were bad errors from alexander obviously you know with with the moment and as the pressure piled up the errors sort of become more understandable i suppose but merton's actually has history of saving multiple match points she's done it seven seven different times since the start of 2020 you know so she's pretty regular in terms of like winning from these crazy positions she's she doesn't give it to you she's a

40:49Matt Roberts: very tough person to beat but she's she's quite fangy mertens yeah sort of unexpectedly

40:57Catherine Whitaker: but the only um there may well be other examples it's quite hard to find sort of clear-cut stats on this sort of thing on the wta tour compared to the atp but svetlana kuznetsova i know saved 11 in madrid in 2001 but that was the that was the other one that I could find that matches this like it's absolutely bonkers saving 11 match points and then going on to win the title is uh is is great for Mertens and she's now won a title on every surface this was her first grass court title her 10th overall and she's just very reliable in terms of like winning one or two of these sort of WTA 250 events per year which we can probably over a long period now yeah I think going back to about 2018 or so she's been picking up titles and we can probably downplay that you know and say like only a 250 but 10 titles is is a very good haul for elise

41:56David Law: merton that's as many as madison keys i think i mean different levels i'm sure but still

42:01Matt Roberts: absolutely yeah silverware is silverware uh in terms of the atp event in sogenbosch uh gabriel diallo a maiden title for him he beat zizu berg 75 76 in the final kind of confirmation that Diallo is is a player to watch and it makes sense to me that his game would make

42:24David Law: sense on grass yeah he's very tall he's he's not afraid to to to bring it tall person correspondent here butting in making sure I get to answer this it's incredible yeah Matt started and I thought No, I'm having this. Six foot eight and covers the net. I could be describing myself here. But, you know, he's got something about him that just, he's very comfortable to just take it from you, to just say, okay, well, this might not work, but it's going to be on my racket. You know, it's kind of like the anti-Alexander Zverev. It's the total opposite to how he'd play these sort of points. and I quite like that about Diallo.

43:14David Law: Don't expect it to be reliable. He could make a disaster of it all at times, but he's coming for you and I like that.

43:25Catherine Whitaker: He's got a totally different look to the last time I saw him. He's now got blonde hair and he's lost his leg sleeve that he was wearing throughout the clay court season. I actually didn't recognise him to begin with, but they're good friends Diallo and Zizou Bergz they're going to play doubles together at Wimbledon apparently and they were both going for their first ATP title here they're both I think of them as similar sorts of level really and they're both ranked in the 40s in the world they're both sort of gently on the rise playing some of the best stuff for their career and a really nice match point in this one where Diallo worked the point well and had a nice winner.

44:08Catherine Whitaker: It was a satisfying finish, a satisfying way to get your first ATP title. And yeah, he'd be awkward, I think, for a lot of players to get early at Wimbledon with that serve, which actually doesn't hit quite as many aces as you think he's going to, considering that he's so tall and he can really hit a big serve. But when it is firing, as David says, and when he is sort of redlining, He's dangerous.

44:39Matt Roberts: In Stuttgart, the ATP 250 event there, Taylor Fritz beat Alexander Zverev 6-3, 7-6 and 7-0 in that tie break to win the title. Feels like quite an important title for Taylor Fritz because relatively speaking, he has been struggling over the past few months. I know Klay, not his best surface, but he's been struggling physically and just not looked quite right. So a big win, I think, for Taylor Fritz and confirmation that Alexander Zverev has a Taylor Fritz problem. This is four straight wins, David, now for Taylor Fritz over Zverev and Matt's written five if you include Labour Cup, which we don't.

45:20But there you go.

45:22David Law: Normally I wouldn't actually, but I watched that match and you could tell they both, it mattered to them, I think, because it was each other. and Zverev wanted to try to break that little run. Yeah, and Zverev's quite happy to sort of include something if it works for him as a stat, I'm quite sure. Fritz, I think just, yeah, it's Zverev, I want to beat him. And watching them here in this one, I watched quite a lot of it and Fritz isn't worried by the game, Zverev, because his skill set kind of neutralizes Zverev. He's quite happy backhand to backhand. He backs himself on the return of serve, I think.

46:05David Law: And actually, I mean, Fritz had lost like single digit points, four points he lost on first serves in, in two sets. It's just crazy numbers. Zverev couldn't get near it. And I mean, he broke a serve in that first set. He could have broken his serve ahead of the tie-break. He had a match point there, or a break point, and he didn't take it. And you're thinking, OK, well, they're getting to a tie-break. This is going to be close. And, I mean, it was just, well, it tells you everything, doesn't it? 7-0. The thought of Alexander Zverev losing a tie-break 7-0. He'd actually won some big tie-breaks this week.

46:45David Law: He'd beaten Ben Shelton in two close sets in the semifinals. He'd had other situations like that. and you're thinking, okay, well maybe he's building something here. I think that that'll really knock him back again to lose to Fritz like this. There are one or two gaps that he could exploit at Wimbledon, I think, and the US Open. The fact that Art of Feast, for instance, is injured, I think is good for Zverev. The fact that, you know, I don't think, say, a Sarundolo always beats him, will feel like he could be able to do that on those faster surfaces. There might be a couple of openings for Zverev.

47:22David Law: to make some real progress in a draw. But eventually you're going to get to the semifinals or the quarterfinals, and you're going to end up with one or two of the guys that you just never beat. And Fritz has made himself one of those. I think Draper would be an option for Zverev because he's so good against left-handers, Zverev. But who knows? I don't think there's any... He's plugging away, but it's not trending right. And what you said about Fritz, I think, is bang on because these were the sort of matches that he was losing. OK, not against Varev, but he was losing close matches earlier this year in a way that he had got out of the habit of doing.

48:03David Law: So I think that he's looking like himself again, Fritz.

48:06Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, no one touched the Fritz serve all week. It's the third time he's won a grass court tournament without losing serve. Like, very impressive from him. um yes zverev doesn't doesn't do the things that you have to do against fritz he doesn't exploit the movement at all and fritz is very happy in those sort of metronomic back and forth rallies he's totally in his comfort zone there um there's an interesting thing happening with those sorts of ranking and seeding positions if we think about these various matchups that david's just talked about there at the moment fritz has now gone back up to number four in the world ahead of novak djokovic and jack draper which as it stands then fritz and zverev would be seated three and four wimbledon and actually couldn't meet until the final so actually sort of that would be good news for alexander zverev if they were on different sides of the draw that he would avoid one of the guys who always beats him and maybe bad news for taylor fritz like he wants to see Alexander Zverev in his section.

49:14Matt Roberts: So would Zverev be then hoping for, because we're assuming Djokovic isn't going to play before Wimbledon, so he'd be hoping for Draper to have a big week this week?

49:24Catherine Whitaker: The other thing that Fritz's title there does means that Djokovic is guaranteed not to be seeded in the top four at Wimbledon because he can't gain any more points. He's not playing again before Wimbledon. So Djokovic runs the risk there of drawing an Alcaraz or a Sinner in the quarterfinals. So that's going to be something to watch. But yes, Fritz or Draper could still be fourth seed Wimbledon. Of course, Fritz is playing queens as well and Draper's playing queens. So there's a lot to play for. And given what David's described there with the head-to-heads, I think it could potentially be sort of pivotal for that Wimbledon draw.

50:03Catherine Whitaker: This is all just me hyping up the Wimbledon draw, by the way. Yeah, go on, Matt.

50:07Matt Roberts: He's got an agenda and he's going to push it, folks. I love it. Okay, that's it for part two. We'll be back in part three to look ahead to this week. And there's a lot to look ahead to.

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51:15Matt Roberts: Welcome back to part three of the Tennis Podcast, where there are four events to look ahead to this week. Let's start with Queen's and the ATP event. They're kicking off in a couple of hours time, actually less than that, an hour's time. I mean the draw is so stacked it's a 32 draw no buys can we hear it for no buys please yes we have round one well we have Carlos Alcaraz and Jack Draper as the top two seeds so at the top and bottom of the draw and in terms of round ones we have Francis Tiafo against Dan Evans Jakub Menchik against former finalist Cam Norrie Jack Draper against Jenson Brooksby and Carlos Alcaraz against Alejandro de Villegas Davidovich Fikina.

52:02Matt Roberts: So Alcaraz is prepared for that match with a night out in Ibiza and Davidovich Fikina has prepared for it by getting married, which is lovely stuff, but potentially not the best preparation for playing Carlos Alcaraz, who we were informed live on Tennis Channel yesterday by our guest Naomi Brodie, was invited to Davidovich Fikina's wedding but declined because he was preparing to beat him in round one at Queen's, which is quite a flex, isn't it?

52:35David Law: It's a heck of a flex. And I don't think Davidovic Fikina was in the greatest form in the world anyway the last few weeks. But it is going to be fascinating to see them play against each other on grass because Davidovic Fikina, talent-wise, he hits such a gorgeous ball. you know maybe maybe it could cause him some trouble um and and i i do think it benefits our crowd that he's maybe not gone quite as big in in ibiza this time um you know i mean i obviously didn't do him any harm when he got to wimbledon but um i it does slightly worry me the thought of him going to ibiza and really letting loose and i mean i'm always quite relieved when i see bodyguards around him, put it that way.

53:20David Law: But, you know, it seemed like he just, yeah, he's growing. He's calming it down. He's having the one night. He's not having the freshest week. He's having the freshest night, which I like.

53:32Matt Roberts: One night plus the night out he had in Paris on Sunday, which looked fun. That's okay.

53:38David Law: Yeah, I'm all in on that one.

53:40Matt Roberts: I loved seeing, but, you know, both the Paris champions were 21 years old, Carlos Alcaraz and Coco Goff and they both went out and partied. Awesome. Great, you've got to enjoy these things you know. Tatiana Maria told us yesterday didn't she, that I said what's next for you, you know, are you going to Nottingham, what's your time like between now and Wimbledon? She said well I'm going to celebrate and good, you should, like tennis wants you not to because there's always the next thing but then What's the point in winning the next thing if you're never going to take time to celebrate your achievements?

54:20Matt Roberts: So I support Carlos Alcaraz having a good time in Ibiza. But he does look really fresh, doesn't he? I've seen some content from his media day yesterday where he's complimenting Trent Alexander-Arnold's Spanish. Which was impressive. I enjoyed that content. Which was very, very impressive. Yeah, agreed. Brooksby's a tough round one for Jack Draper

54:46Catherine Whitaker: yeah I think so it was pointed out to us on the barge that he lost to Oliver Crawford last week on grass but then taking my Tatiana Maria theory maybe week one on grass means nothing and he is going to be a tricky opponent I just think he's very he's very adept at making you uncomfortable Brooksby He's a very smart tennis player. And I just think Draper's going to have to be on that, on it straight away really here. There's also the whole thing of him having his first British grass court summer as the guy. And there's going to be a lot of pressure and expectation on him. I know, Catherine, you asked him about that in Paris and his answer actually talked quite a lot about vomit, which I wasn't expecting.

55:43Catherine Whitaker: But I think he was sort of trying to reassure people that he won't be vomiting all over Centre Court. He was basically like, I'm not going to puke again.

55:54Catherine Whitaker: But I think he was also trying to say that, you know, I think he recognises that it's going to be a lot, but I do think he feels ready to handle it and is excited about the idea of getting some home support. whereas he's played a lot of Australians in Australia and French players in France. I think he's seeing this as a sort of moment to embrace, which I think is probably the way to do it. But it could be a lot for him over the next month or so.

56:25Matt Roberts: You've also got Alex de Minoer, Ben Shelton, Taylor Fritz, as you said, Holger Runa, all in that draw. They have had some withdrawals, including Lorenzo Musetti and Tommy Paul, last year's champion. so that's a shame, but it's still an incredibly stacked draw. And in Halle, pretty great draw there too. Yannick Sinner is the defending champion, and obviously the top seed is the world number one. You've also got Zverev, Medvedev, Francisco Surundolo, Karen Hashanov, Alexander Bublik, and Felix Auger-Eliassime all in the field there in Halle. And you've got round ones of Hubert Hercatsch against Thomas Mahatsch, who's been posting some chaotic Instagram content recently.

57:08Matt Roberts: Not sure where his head is at. You've got Ugo Mbair, loves the grass court, does Mbair. He takes on Denis Shapovalov and Joel Fonseca against Flavio Caballi.

57:20David Law: No, I'm not picking Fonseca to win.

57:25Matt Roberts: Can he play on grass? Have we seen that before?

57:28Catherine Whitaker: Two in two days. he said he wants it to be his favourite surface didn't he Ronon Garros I think he's up for it

57:37David Law: battling my fantasy team members there so I'm going to have to be neutral

57:44Matt Roberts: in the WTA this week we have the 500 in Berlin now this might be the most stacked draw of the lot the top 6 in the world are all there including Mira and Draver You've got Sabalenka, Gough, Pagula and Paolini, who are the top four seeds. All of them have buys. But how's this for round one matches? Elena Rabakina against Jung Chin Wen. Round one. Great. Absurd. Diana Schneider against Donna Vekic. Round one. Marketa Vondroshova against Madison Keys. Amanda Anisimova against Bianca Andreescu. Naomi Osaka against Ludmilla Samsonova. Sonova, Marta Kostchuk against Emma Navarro and Paola Bedossa against Ava Lees.

58:30Matt Roberts: It's ridiculous. When's all this happening? Berlin.

58:33David Law: Can we stop recording? I want to go watch this.

58:36Matt Roberts: Sort of like today, David. Okay. Emma Adekani withdrew with that ongoing back injury, which is a shame. But yeah, I mean, that is an absolutely ridiculous draw. And it's great to see. Absolutely great to see. And there's also a WTA event in Nottingham this week, 250, where Tatiana Maria has drawn Petra Govitova in round one. Good luck, Petra. Another big hitter. Like, that's kind of a dream draw for Maria.

59:07David Law: Govitova will probably go and win one on one. So hurt, wouldn't it?

59:11Matt Roberts: Katie Bolt is the two-time defending champion there. She's got Lulu's son in round one that should be tough. You know, loves grass, quarter finalist at Wimbledon last year, but has had an awful season so far. Beatriz Hadajmaier is the top seed. She faces McCartney Kessler in round one. And you've got Clara Towson, Yulia Putin-Sever, Linda Noskova and Leila Fernandez in the draw. And you've also got Hannah Klugman, very talented British junior, who's making her WTA main draw debut there. And she has drawn Yulia Putin-Sever. We also had... Welcome to the WTA tour.

59:54Catherine Whitaker: She's next to Putin's saver and Siegmund in the drawer is Glutman. Originally I read it as she's playing Siegmund and I thought, oh God. And then I realised, oh no, she's playing Putin's saver and I thought, oh God.

1:00:08Matt Roberts: Stay a junior, Hannah. Enjoy it while you can.

1:00:11David Law: I want to see Putin's saver against Siegmund.

1:00:16Matt Roberts: I told you I've reached my Segment quota for the year. I'm done. Check back in in 2026, Laura. We had the Wimbledon pre-tournament press conference this past week. No sort of mic drop news apart from confirmation of electronic line calling at Wimbledon. And we did know that, but it still feels big, doesn't it, to have them fully confirm it. They've said they will have 80 match assistants, which is two for each match, two assigned to each match. And that's down from the total pool of 300 line judges as there would have been previously. So that's kind of a VAR situation, isn't it? Wimbledon Chief Executive Sally Bolton said that she thinks that this move was probably inevitable.

1:01:11Matt Roberts: And she's probably right about that, I think.

1:01:15David Law: Yeah. David? And she was sort of saying it couched in terms of line judges realising that and expecting it. And it is kind of sad in a way. And it's interesting to see Roland Garros just hanging on, refusing to yield. And obviously they've got the marks in the clay that they can point to as a reason for that. And I must admit, I did think Wimbledon would take longer than this in a way because they seemed so determined that it was important as a pathway for chair umpires, for instance, to have that training ahead of getting that job. and they've got these match assistants which they need because what happens if the technology goes down they've got to be able to have people that can come in and still call the lines but well you say you've got to but we have had episodes of that happening at big events where

1:02:14Matt Roberts: there haven't been assistants or line judges readily on hand it happened at Indian Wells didn't it and there was a long delay so I'm happy about that that they've thought about that

1:02:23David Law: element of it and and i hope that continues um and it there is a sadness to it i mean i think the thought that there's 220 people that would normally have a job at wimbledon and they're not going to now but that is life isn't it and that's that's progress inverted commas if if it does remove a human element from the court but it also reduces some of the faff and some of the clutter and challenges. My kids like the challenges, you know, they enjoyed that. But it does seem a bit pointless if you don't actually need to go through that whole process. So, no, I think overall it is the right call.

1:03:07Matt Roberts: You had me at reduced FAF, David. Prize money is going up by 7 % in total, by 7 % to a total of£53.5 million. That's double the prize money of 10 years ago. Singles champions will get£3 million. That's up 11.1%, the most of any Grand Slam, although the US Open is yet to be announced. So I do wonder if there'll be some sort of competitive inflation there. And defeated first-round players will get£66 ,000. we have had a year of huge inflation in the UK so that is just about in keeping with how much my morning coffee has gone up in price so good on them that's a decent paycheck isn't it 66 grand for round one of Wimbledon we're all available to receive wild cards this week we will be back on Tennis Channel from Thursday through to Sunday with our recap show at the end of play at Queen's.

1:04:18Matt Roberts: And then David and I will be doing commentary once again on the semifinals on Saturday and the finals on Sunday. I enjoyed it very much this week. First thing I said to David on air during our commentary on Saturday was how do you feel about commentating with me for the first time and the first words David said on air was fine.

1:04:42David Law: yeah i did i did feel fine about it i felt great

1:04:47Matt Roberts: maybe you didn't say great david you said fine i know that it's it's quite a triggering word

1:04:53David Law: isn't it my dad used to say fine to me and i used to react badly and he would always not not understand what the problem was so now i'm doing it maybe it's a dad thing

1:05:02Matt Roberts: fine is what I say passive aggressively in response to when people ask me how I am and I'm actually very much not fine

1:05:10David Law: I've noticed that too

1:05:11Matt Roberts: I'm fine

1:05:11David Law: yeah

1:05:12Matt Roberts: yeah so I took it badly but anyway it ended up alright didn't it more than alright I was going to say more than alright yes it's alright ended up fine yeah David Lawick and for friends we have a live show tomorrow night and it's a very special live show if you've enjoyed tales from the champions tour well this one is tales from queens and if possible david i think we collectively have even more tales from queens from your 25 years working there from my 15 years working there i think something like that and matt's at least five years working there maybe more like collectively we have tales to tell and we're going to tell them to friends of the tennis podcast tomorrow night that is at 8pm uk time live on youtube it'll also be available to watch afterwards on youtube non-live and of course it'll be available as a podcast as well if you'd like to become a friend of the pod then the link is in our show notes folks our mascot for today's show is a three pete mascot pray silence please for the wonderful Mel.

1:06:25Matt Roberts: I recognise Mel. Mel has a bit of the Billie Jean about her. And Mel is owned by Patricia Connolly, who's a long time supporter of the pod. Mel is a three peak mascot. And Patricia says that's mostly because we love the tennis podcast so much. She says, as you may remember from past shout outs, though all allergic to dogs, we got mel eight years ago for a bribe to keep our daughter close a really smart tactic she promptly went to the west coast for college and is now in med school in dublin that's incredible though mel and i have a strong bond bond he'll take any warm body also i misgendered mel uh he will take a people do that to billy jean all the time so i hope i can be forgiven um though mel and i have a strong bond he'll take any warm body that is also relatable including his dad who always said he didn't want a dog and my 88 year old mum pictured who typically doesn't have time for dogs it's the most wonderful picture that your mum looks about 58 not 88 incredible um thanks for all the joy you bring to my life says patricia i haven't been able to convert most of my immediate family probably because i hype you guys too much but our oldest son owen who was born with a unique chromosome deletion and remains home with us because of his disability, has become a huge tennis fan and has tennis on regularly unless American football is on.

1:07:58Matt Roberts: If you ever find yourself at the City Open, we are regulars. That's Washington, isn't it? The City Open. Yes. I would like to find myself there one day, Patricia, with fans because it's hot.

1:08:16David Law: You mean the ones that blow a wind rather than tennis podcast fans?

1:08:20Matt Roberts: Yes. Or maybe both. If I met up with Patricia, I'd have both, wouldn't I? Mel is so very Billie Jean-like. He's wonderful. And that picture of him with your mum, Patricia, is everything. I love that so much. Your mum looks... God, I want to go to Ibiza with your mum. We have, of course, our mascots. Hello, Phoebe. Hello, Maisie. And hello, Roger. Hello to our top folks and executive producers, Greg, Chris and Jeff. And it's over to Matt for some grass court shout outs.

1:08:58Catherine Whitaker: We have Amy Graham. Hello, Amy. Hi, Amy. Amy is from Vancouver, Washington, about three hours south of Seattle. Yep.

1:09:14Matt Roberts: So that's Washington State, isn't it?

1:09:17David Law: Maybe a Seahawks fan. Very possibly.

1:09:21Matt Roberts: Tennis Amy's.

1:09:24Catherine Whitaker: Amy has come up with Amy Frazier.

1:09:27Matt Roberts: Oh, yes. Very good. I was struggling there.

1:09:33David Law: Very good.

1:09:34Matt Roberts: Tell us about Amy Frazier, David.

1:09:36David Law: I think 90s. Yes, 90s.

1:09:45David Law: fair skin i remember i think i'm gonna just google it because i've got a feeling she's got freckles so yes she has i knew it

1:10:02David Law: thank you amy she's five foot nine she reached a career high of 13 in the world she won eight titles in her career. So there you are.

1:10:11Matt Roberts: And she's got freckles.

1:10:13David Law: Yeah.

1:10:13Matt Roberts: Thank you, Amy. Let us know if you're a Seahawks fan.

1:10:18Catherine Whitaker: We've also got Carolyn Koo from Soma's New York.

1:10:24Matt Roberts: Hello, Carolyn.

1:10:26Catherine Whitaker: Hi, Carolyn. And Carolyn says, when Paul Harhouse mentioned Sheng Shalkin in the interview he did with you earlier this year, I was reminded that my father and I saw Sheng Shalkin lose twice at majors in 1998 at Roland Garros and the US Open. A la Matt Stats, I wonder if it's unusual for a spectator to see the same player lose at two majors in the same year. I reckon it probably is. I suspect it is quite unusual, Carolyn.

1:10:57Matt Roberts: That's good. Also, I just sort of love it when Sheng Shaokan comes up because he's so lost in time, isn't he? He was a top 10 player.

1:11:12David Law: Yeah, I love the way Paul Harha has said that he would say, oh, I've got to go for two hours of hell now when he would have to play a tennis match.

1:11:26Matt Roberts: Yeah. We're not going to be doing Sheng Shao can relive anytime soon, I don't think, are we?

1:11:32David Law: He's going to keep coming up by association, I think.

1:11:36Matt Roberts: Yes. Yeah. OK. Carolyn, thank you for reminding us that Sheng Shao can exist.

1:11:42Catherine Whitaker: And lastly, we have Jim Session from Australia. Hi, Jim. Hello, Jim. Jim says, I've run out of tennis stories, sadly, but just wanted to say thank you for your work ethic. I can't keep up with all your episodes, but I never, ever miss a tennis relived. they are golden

1:12:04Matt Roberts: oh oh Jim that's so nice

1:12:07David Law: and we've done a tennis relived on Jim Currier haven't we in yesteryear

1:12:13Matt Roberts: and Jimmy Connors so there we are Jim

1:12:19David Law: you knew that already because all you listen to is tennis relived and you might not be hearing this you might not be listening to this

1:12:26Matt Roberts: should we do should we redo Jim's shout out during the next Tennis Relived, which we're recording next week.

1:12:33Catherine Whitaker: To be discussed soon.

1:12:36Matt Roberts: To be soon, because of our great work ethic, as Jim referenced. Yeah, soon. Folks, we're back tomorrow for Friends of the Tennis Podcast. If you'd like to become a friend, the link is in our show notes. If you'd like to come and see us on the London stage on June the 26th, then the link to do that is in our show notes as well. This has been fun. We're back on Tennis Channel on Thursday through to Sunday. We're back with our normal weekly podcast next Monday. Thank you for listening. We'll speak to you then.

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1:13:56hear from the brilliant minds behind the talent strategies at IBM Siemens Energy, Transcom, and many more subscribe now so you never miss an episode the Talent Transformation Podcast redefining talent, one conversation at a time