US Open Day 1 - Did Medvedev go too far this time?

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1:16Matt Roberts: Hello and welcome to the Tennis Podcast, coming to you from Tennis Podcast Towers, New York, on day one of the US Open, a day that has ended in extraordinary fashion with Daniel Medvedev, who else, creating absolute chaos on Louis Armstrong Stadium in only the way that he and a New York crowd can combine to do. We have just watched him beaten in five sets for the second slam in a row by his bogeyman, Benjamin Bonzi, the Frenchman, over three hours and 45 minutes, a match finishing at nearly one o 'clock in the morning, which is where we are right now. And Matt, David, even by Daniel Medvedev in New York standards, what we've seen over the last couple of hours is absolutely wild.

2:15yeah it's probably saying something that i think this is the most wild daniel medvedev

2:22Catherine Whitaker: scenes on armstrong that we've ever seen but there are other contenders it's not a it's not a dead cert for this one but i think this is the wildest it was i mean absolutely insane i'm i'm sort of grateful for it because i was really you know we were walking home and And Medvedev was losing. And I was thinking, I don't have that many more Medvedev takes. Like, I feel like we've seen this match before, him losing to Benjamin Bonzi. We've seen him struggling at slams now and on tour generally for quite a long time. What are we going to say about Daniil Medvedev that's new and fresh and interesting for listeners?

3:05Catherine Whitaker: Well, then everything that's just happened over the last hour happened. And we have plenty to say. And I say I'm sort of grateful because that feels like giving him credit. And I don't really want to do that because I actually think some of this was really pretty despicable from Medvedev tonight. But by the way, my first day as a cameraman on Armstrong went really well.

3:37Matt Roberts: yes a uh a reference there to the moment that made everything kick off so benjamin bonzi is leading two sets to love and he is serving for the match at five four in the second set and he gets himself to match point it's advantage bonzi and at this moment uh an unnamed but very much face everywhere, well certainly now anywhere, anyway, photographer decides to make his way very obtrusively and very noticeably physically onto the court, onto the court of Louis Armstrong Stadium. And this of course causes a disruption. Benjamin Bonte at this point has hit his first serve at the point that the the photographer comes onto court there's then this disruption and umpire who's the umpire matt greg allensworth it could only be umpire greg allensworth awards him two first serves gives him his first serve back because of the break between points which i think we can all agree is the break between serve which is that's in the rule books That's what you'd expect.

4:50Matt Roberts: And yet, of course, Daniel Medvedev is unhappy, unhappy about this. And there then ensues a, count them, six minute delay, a six minute delay while Daniel Medvedev tells Greg Allensworth what he thinks of him via some quotes from Riley Apulka, which is a bit of a tough scene and whips the New York crowd, David into a feral frenzy

5:27David Law: Yeah, this one I didn't enjoy very much this outburst from Medvedev so often we come away from the US Open or have these moments with Medvedev which feel sort of iconic this just felt a bit no, I don't like this This feels like he was trying to make it happen because he was playing like crap. And it was an anemic first two sets. And he's getting beaten at one of the lowest ebbs of his career, certainly since he became a leading player. And he seized on this moment. And he just whipped up a frenzy. The crowd went with him. and I found it all quite uncomfortable really watching it and I felt really sorry for Greg Allensworth who made the right call I think and I felt really sorry for Benjamin Bonsie who was frankly beating him comfortably and suddenly is in this position where the crowd are just not allowing him to serve I mean some people might say well he should have just served with all that noise going on But even when he eventually did serve, he would throw the ball up and they would try to put him off mid-throw.

6:48David Law: And I think Medvedev lost it really tonight. I think he just lost control. I don't think that was just choreography or humour. That was him absolutely on the edge and over the edge. He did play better afterwards. He did play better, yeah. I mean, look, it played into his hands. And there were bits of him showing heart signs to the crowd, which brought back memories of years ago. And the way it did seem to ignite some of his tennis. And he played more like the player we remember. But I do feel like the right man won. And then the scene at the end where he's smashing his racket in a quite unhinged manner while sitting on his chair.

7:37David Law: I'm glad I wasn't in his vicinity at that point, I have to say.

7:42Matt Roberts: Yeah, I don't disagree that lots of Medvedev's behaviour tonight was despicable. Like, the way he talked to Greg Allensworth, not OK. Yeah, absolutely not OK. I felt tremendous sympathy for Benjamin Bonzi, and yet I did also fucking love it. like is this not what the US Open's all about? Like I have space in my heart for all of those emotions, I think. And yeah, I really felt for Medvedev at the end there as abominably as he behaved at moments. I haven't got any problem with the whipping up the crowd. That's what I'm coming to New York for, Daniel Medvedev whipping up a crowd. It's the stuff towards the umpire that I particularly take issue with.

8:37Matt Roberts: And I hope that, I don't know if he'll do press. It's one o 'clock in the morning. I don't know who's still there. I would hope that he would own that and be ashamed of it in the way that he has done in the past. I don't know if that's the case as things stand at the moment. But the whipping up the crowd? A bit, maybe. I'm pretty here for it.

8:58David Law: But six minutes of it to try to put your opponent off.

9:02Matt Roberts: But isn't that, isn't that, I don't think Greg Allensworth did anything wrong tonight, but isn't that for the umpire to intervene? And actually there were, Mavrev was trying to stop them at points in that six minutes.

9:17Catherine Whitaker: I mean, he'd absolutely caused it. Yes. And he had made them like that. Yes, he did try to calm them down. And I think for a minute or two, it was quite funny. It became really obnoxious. And he did try to stop them, but there was no stopping them at that point. Like, they'd just completely gone. They'd just completely run with this thing. Yeah, it was feral.

9:45Matt Roberts: And it was obnoxious. And yet I still loved it.

9:50Catherine Whitaker: And maybe Greg Allensworth could have been stronger, but I think anything he would have said at that point would have just sort of escalated it even further. Look, I don't really think Greg Allensworth had much of a chance there. I mean, yes, I sort of loved it as well.

10:10David Law: It did take one of the most boring matches of the tournament day into something that we're leading the show with. Right, absolutely. But it just went too far. That's where I am with it. Does it mean... But the right man still, as you said, the right man still won in the end.

10:28Catherine Whitaker: The thing is, though, you say that Medvedev played better. He did briefly, but he lost to a guy who could barely move and was rolling in serves. He's still not playing well at all. Yeah, I mean, Medvedev is still rubbish. And that moment at the end, I think, was potentially him having that realisation that he often has in the press conference in real time. It was almost like he was looking back on the match and reflecting and embarrassed about everything that had happened. He didn't even leave the court before the on-court interview with Bonzi happened. That was pretty remarkable.

11:02Matt Roberts: I'm not sure I've ever really, I'm sure I have seen that, but I can't think of any examples of a beaten player, especially a player beaten in those sort of circumstances, just remaining on the court. And the interview didn't happen quickly. Bonzi was sitting there on his phone. that, you know, Paul Blair Henley, who did a tremendous job as always, was gently trying to make him notice the fact that she was there waiting to do the interview. He's texting away. Goodness knows what those messages read. And he eventually gets up to do the interview, at which point Medvedev is still on the court. At this point, he's just about finished smashing his racket to smithereens, but he's just looking despairingly into the middle distance and kind of at himself, I think.

11:50Matt Roberts: And then there was this unreal moment of, I think, dramatic irony from Benjamin Bonzi in said interview where, you know, he's asked about the crowd. Obviously, you can't not ask about the crowd. And he said, thanks to all the ones who are booing. Thank you for the energy. And I don't think that was a deliberate reference to Daniel Medvedev from 2019. I think that was totally accidental and just utterly poetic in a way that he, maybe someone's pointed out to him by now, but that he had no idea about at the time. That's what I think anyway. I mean, if he, if it was deliberate, then maybe that's even more poetic.

12:34David Law: I thought it was deliberate at the time, but that his delivery of it was, was not very good. And therefore nobody picked up on it in the crowd or, or, or anything like that. but maybe it was just completely separate.

12:49Catherine Whitaker: How aware of his Daniel Medvedev lore is he? We don't know this about danger in biology.

12:57Matt Roberts: Probably less than we are.

12:59David Law: We know it so well, we only have to hear those words.

13:01Matt Roberts: I'll tell you what, he's given us a lot of new gifts tonight, Medvedev. Yeah, because his body language is just so comedic.

13:12Catherine Whitaker: You know, the way he was doing his hearts, the way he ran over to Allensworth, the way he was sitting down on the chair, all of that was extremely funny.

13:21Matt Roberts: Even the way he seemed to get hand cramp at the end of the match. And there was a lot of flopping his racket hand around, which became a thing in the crowd.

13:31Catherine Whitaker: They were using it as a celebration.

13:33Matt Roberts: Yeah, I mean, I'm going to start using that as a celebration, flopping my hand around. Yeah, there was a meanness to it in moments. I guess I just, there's something about it, which is just something about the atmosphere, not necessarily all the particulars of what he was doing, but the atmosphere that he created, I was generally here for because it's just so US open. And if it's going to be happening in the middle of the night, let's make it feral.

14:10Catherine Whitaker: I suppose on reflection, Daniel Medvedev, Armstrong, Greg Allensworth.

14:15Matt Roberts: Yeah, we should have known.

14:16Catherine Whitaker: We should have known this was going to be crazy.

14:21Matt Roberts: As you said, David, the right man absolutely won. Daniel Medvedev has won one Grand Slam match in 2025.

14:31Catherine Whitaker: He's in a hole. And a prize, if anyone can remember his name, the player that he beat.

14:36Matt Roberts: It was in Paris.

14:38Catherine Whitaker: It was in Australia.

14:39Matt Roberts: Oh, so before the TN match. Was that a second round TN?

14:43Catherine Whitaker: Yeah.

14:44Matt Roberts: Oh, my gosh. It was that absolute random.

14:48Catherine Whitaker: Kasidit Samrej, the world number 418. Oh, my. And that was long. That was five sets. That's the only Grand Slam match he's won this year.

14:58David Law: Wow. He looks completely lost. In those first couple of sets, I thought, you know, I thought we were making too big a deal about the fact that he lost a match to Benjamin Bonzi and that he would assert his hard-court prowess, former champion. And, you know, at some point he would arrest this. But, well, I use the words anemic to describe the first couple of sets there. And it's just, I watch it and I think, well, how did you used to win matches? Because I seem to remember you hitting the ball kind of like this, but nobody else could handle it. Now they can. But there's just no conviction to him, really.

15:43David Law: He's just sort of there.

15:46Matt Roberts: He's going to drop out of the world's top 20 exactly how far outside of the world's top 20. Don't quite yet know. It depends what people do around him, but he's definitely going to drop out of the world's top 20. And, like, of course, he absolutely does not feel like a top 20 player at the moment. like not even close and I did like I don't know he to the moment is a is a very powerful thing but he looked like somebody that you know if you if you were called for a press conference could do something crazy like retire on the spot and then maybe retract it but he looked like he was capable of anything in that emotional state tonight, I thought.

16:32So, yeah, I felt for him.

16:35Matt Roberts: I felt for Bonzi. I felt for Greg. I felt for everybody, but I did have fun. And I don't know if that makes me a bad person. Let's move over to the Arthur Ashe Stadium and the match, the story, the man that we thought we'd be leading with tonight, Darth Djokovic in his all-black night session outfit, beating Lernotian 6-1, 7-6, 6-2 to get his US Open campaign underway. Sounds pretty straightforward, doesn't it? I mean, it was anything but. It was actually an incredibly weird match, this one. I thought we watched the second set, Matt, in the stadium, and that was definitely the weirdest set of the three.

17:23So maybe we have an overly inflated sense of how weird this match was.

17:30Matt Roberts: But I thought it was pretty strange.

17:33Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, because in the first set, Djokovic was totally superior and really good, I thought. I was sort of formulating a take about how often we're talking about how sort of diminished Djokovic is these days and what his limitations are because we're comparing him to cinema now caraz and yet here he was coming out having not played for you know six weeks or so playing someone literally half his age and just dishing out a beat down in the first set and I was kind of like well that is still remarkable that he's kind of still able to do that but then in the second set well he looked double Tien's age, didn't he?

18:18Catherine Whitaker: He looked old in that second set. The physical problems that he was having after long rallies, Tien did a good job of being able to extend the rallies finally, but Djokovic lost the cleanliness of strike that he had in the first set and suddenly he was having to play these longer rallies and he was just looking completely gassed at the end of them. And I know that maybe some people will listen to this maybe having not watched the match and think, well, that sounds like a very Novak Djokovic thing, you know, to play a slightly dramatic set in which he had to save a set point, in which he did here, and he did so with an ace.

18:56Catherine Whitaker: And they might think, well, how much trouble was he actually in? You know, he's ended up winning in straight sets. This all sounds very classic Novak Djokovic. My take was being in the stadium, Djokovic looked totally there for the taking. I thought he looked bothered by his foot. He had some blisters on that foot. He looked out of gas. He looked just generally sort of joyless on the court. Like, I think Tien did some things well in terms of extending the rallies, as I said. I think he'll be gutted, Tien, that he didn't win that second set. That was right there for him. And I think maybe a little, you know, maybe it'll be a good learning experience for him.

19:39Catherine Whitaker: and he is still young and he's not been in that situation very often. But I think a lot of players would have taken that second set against Djokovic today. And then it would have been interesting because he immediately went down a break at the start of the third as well. He wasn't playing very well. He just looked totally unconvincing.

19:57Matt Roberts: Yeah. I mean, how much trouble was Djokovic in? I mean, it turns out not much, but only, I think, because, well, my feeling, I was quite disappointed in Lerner-Tian tonight. And maybe it's just a case of him not being quite as far along the development curve as we thought. He is still incredibly young and there is obviously talent there. But I thought he would sort of handle the whole situation a little bit better. And obviously it's a lot. Arthur Ashe Stadium, New York, crowd, Djokovic. you know Djokovic looking there for the taking that is a lot to to mentally handle and yet I'm not sure he did a particularly great job overall tonight some interesting well some pretty startling quotes from Djokovic after the match he said he said first of all he said yes I did have a blister but that was not that was not the main issue of what was going on with him he said i was really surprised how bad i was feeling in the second set physically good thing is i have two days off now but it is slightly a concern i don't have any injury or anything i just struggled a lot to stay in longer exchanges and recover after points i mean that's age isn't

21:17David Law: it well it's age but it's and it's and it's in keeping with the theme that he touched upon after the loss against Sinner about how he's surprised about how he's not able to kind of keep it up. Almost halfway through the tournament, he was saying, he starts to run low on gas. I think the other thing, I mean, I've said for a long time, one day surely he's just going to get old before our eyes. But the other thing is he just hasn't played since Wimbledon. And I think not exercising those competitive muscles and emotions and reactions, that is not ideal when you come into a Grand Slam tournament. I mean, yes, he's made a thing of not playing between the French Open and Wimbledon, but not between Wimbledon and the US Open.

22:10David Law: I mean, who does that unless they're properly injured? Nobody's ever done that. I don't remember Federer, Nadal, any of them doing that. And so maybe it shouldn't be a surprise that he comes out and plays beautifully for a bit and then kind of hits a bit of a wall because he's just not used to it. And yet he says he was surprised. Yeah, I know. But I think he's maybe being, can I even say, a little bit naive to say that for somebody who's been around for 20 years doing this. But he's never taken a break quite like that before. I think he's probably going to get better as the tournament goes on as long as he stays in it in that regard because he'll have to build up some matches along the way if he's doing so.

22:59David Law: But I think it's left him a bit open, really, coming in without any matches whatsoever, even though I understand why he's done it.

23:10Matt Roberts: Zachary Sveider next. Next, another American, 22-year-old from La Jolla, where I surfed briefly before discovering it was quite a sharky spot.

23:21David Law: Oh, goodness.

23:23Matt Roberts: Although it is a very popular surf spot, so I'm sure it's fine, everyone. But, I mean, that's on paper the kind-ish draw that it sounds like he's going to need, Matt.

23:42Catherine Whitaker: yeah i'd say so and as he said two days off so he can recover from this you'd think that he'd be able to get through that next one you know even if he's not 100 and then it's about building as as david's described i am in my mind slightly plotting a very american heavy route through this draw for Novak Djokovic. There's two Americans in his first two rounds and there's potentially Mickelson, Tiafoe and Fritz rounds three to five as well. They could all just be these slightly big heightened occasions. Yeah, I think it's... Look, I didn't think at the start of this tournament that Novak Djokovic was going to win it, but I really was thinking he'd get through to the semis and you know you can definitely read too much into round one but i've paused for thought for that now because i think if he is anything like this in future rounds some of those guys in his path probably would be able to take care of that especially as you know they'll all have seen

24:59Matt Roberts: everyone have seen this like every every time something like this happens those quotes all of it, it adds up and it just scrubs away, chips away at that Lockeroo Mora, doesn't it?

25:12David Law: Gives them a bit of hope, doesn't it?

25:13Matt Roberts: Yeah, I know there's still 24 Grand Slams worth of Lockeroo Mora, but it's not nothing.

25:19David Law: I wonder whether it might end up changing the way opponents play against him and think, maybe I just need to extend this as long as possible and take him into deep waters.

25:30Catherine Whitaker: Well, that's what you were saying Fritz needs to do if they were to meet in the quarters anyway.

25:34David Law: Yeah, I definitely think players like him and tfo players that are really accomplished and in their prime they should they

25:42Matt Roberts: should bring physicality into it i think yeah no sign of monica selesh tonight maybe the negotiations are still ongoing rory mcelroy was was in situ watching though which was pretty wild three hours after finishing up on the course in atlanta just an unmissable novak jogovich first round us open match they had to get straight on a private jet to be in place for yeah that was it like the us open is not going anywhere rory yeah presumably rory mcelroy can go to whatever session of the us open he likes and haven't you got tomorrow off

26:21David Law: Don't golfers do it on Thursday through Sunday?

26:24Matt Roberts: Yeah. It was crazy seeing him in the crowd. Anyway, lovely. Ben Shelton opened up the Arthur Ashe Stadium today. He beat Boussa. Are we going with Boussa?

26:39David Law: That's certainly what the commentators were going with. Great.

26:42Matt Roberts: I feel validated. He beat Boussa. 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, David.

26:48David Law: Yeah. It wasn't perfect from Shelton. And I think he, I sensed a little bit of anxiety as he came out onto the court with the kind of spotlight on him and the expectation. This is the first year that he's felt like he's carrying it as the main guy, I feel anyway. And I think he relishes that. But I also think it was, it slightly made him anxious when he came out onto the court. It took him a while to sort of break. But once he was into the match, you felt him grow before your eyes and really embody that role. And listening to Jim Currier in commentary was interesting, talking about the Shelton forehand and how it's developed and it's moved away a little bit from the Rafael Nadal-like follow-through with the big whip and the big brush up the back of the ball into a more aggressive through the ball, following the path of the stroke with a follow through, which he believes is making him a lot more dangerous, particularly on a fast surface like this.

27:57David Law: And I thought that was an interesting insight from a man like Courier. I just, there was some real highlight moments. I mean, this was not an opponent that you would expect to cause him trouble, but he did brush him aside once he got into the games that really mattered, you know, and yeah, he looks in a good place, Shelton.

28:20Matt Roberts: How did Fritz look over on Armstrong? Beat Emilio Navas, 7-5, 6-2, 6-3. Was out there in the first set, I thought, a lot longer than I expected. It was quite a grind in the opening set. Had a pop at tennis's shadow problem, just for you, Matt?

28:42Catherine Whitaker: yes he's uh requesting armstrong instead of ash because of the the ash shadow during the day the underlying sort of unspoken bit there being that he's sort of knows he's not going to get ash at night necessarily yeah so there's a joke in there about throwing shade it's just

29:02Matt Roberts: too late or early and actually actually formulate it was quite straightforward about last year's

29:09David Law: run that he said because of that I I've got more control over the time of day if I got if I asked for Armstrong he says as it happens I didn't get any anything gas for today but because he didn't want to play first and he didn't want to play on Sunday but and I mean in that first set Navarro was he's explosive that guy it's just that at the end of the set when it really mattered he was being explosive off shots you really shouldn't try to be explosive off and then it all capitulated so Fritz through

29:39Matt Roberts: Shelton through Jakob Mensik beats Nicholas Jarry is he one of actions Wimbledon Jarry

29:47Catherine Whitaker: he's not no no Thomas Mahatch

29:50Matt Roberts: the best player in the world did win though and Arta Rindeknes just squeaked over the line to beat the tennis podcast meets curse allegations for us thank you Arta

30:03Catherine Whitaker: and Alejandro Davidovic Fakina won at 11am

30:08Matt Roberts: yes it can be done he can do it it's a real blow did you think he was a little bit annoyed that

30:14Catherine Whitaker: sort of a blow to his agenda i mean he won that day that he complained about it didn't he he also won at 11 a.m i think it actually might suit him brilliantly he won this one in less than 90 minutes

30:24Matt Roberts: it was efficient okay those are all the notable men's results from day one we'll move today's

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33:03Matt Roberts: On to the women in part two. Welcome back to part two, where we move on to the women's matches we saw today on day one of the US Open. Irina Sabalenka, the first women's match on Arthur Ashe, the defending champion, of course, 7-5, 6-1 against Rebecca Masarova. David?

33:27David Law: Yeah, I saw this and Sabalenka came out in a shimmering silver jacket that she explained in her press conference afterwards that she's put a lot of time into with the clothing sponsor because she really wanted to come out and wear something that she felt good in as though she was going out on a big occasion. And her tennis kind of fell flat at the start. She was sort of broken early on, and it took her a little while. There were some tense moments, really, for her today against Maserova. And I did think, you know, I wonder whether she's going to just struggle a little bit to get going because, obviously, she's had a recent loss in Cincinnati, you know, and we're sort of waiting to see whether she's going to come good at a Grand Slam this year and actually win one.

34:20David Law: But she got herself back on track. And I think it's as accomplished and as experienced as these players are, the first round they're often still nervous. And she looked a bit nervous. And Masarova is quite a dangerous ball striker herself. But, yeah, got the job done.

34:40Matt Roberts: And I think probably nervous about facing a New York crowd for the first time since, you know, the French Open final incident and an aftermath. Like it was absolutely fine. And I expected it to be absolutely fine. I'm sure she hoped it to be absolutely fine, but you don't you don't know until it happens. And I'm sure there was some some nerves and anxiety there. Over on Armstrong at the same time, or a little bit before, because of course Armstrong starts before Ash, Emma Raducanu won her first US Open match since lifting the trophy here in 2021. She beat Ina Shibahara emphatically 6-1, 6-2 in 62 minutes and immediately hit the practice courts afterwards.

35:31Matt Roberts: afterwards. I don't know how far this run goes for Amir Adekanu. We'll talk about her next round opponent in a moment because that's interesting in itself. There is Elena Rabakina likely lurking in the third round. It'd be a tough task to beat her, but I do know this is a different Amir Adekanu to any Amir Adekanu we've seen at the US Open. I include 2021 Amir Adekanu in that.

36:02Catherine Whitaker: Yes, absolutely. Different, I think, is the right word. I don't think it's necessarily a better Emre Adekanu than the one in 2021. You know, I think that was the best tennis that Emre Adekanu's ever played. But the tennis she's playing now is the closest it's been to that since then, for sure. And it's also, I think the difference is that I'm expecting her now to play well. you know like in feels like a flaw this yes isn't it exactly even in 2021 it was all this tremendous surprise you know we she got on this obviously incredible run of form but you know i still wasn't really expecting it to happen and there's been a lot of times you know in the four years since where you're just sort of hoping that she can get through matches or maybe be able to find some form, you know.

36:58Catherine Whitaker: Whereas now, it's very much like, I think Emery Alcane is going to bring a sort of top 20 level to the court. Pretty sure of that now. Most times I see her play, and this has probably been going back for a few months now, really. And she absolutely hit the ground running in her first match here. she was striking the ball with really a lot of conviction just looks so assured out there it was the sort of matchup that i thought would would favor her and actually shibahara coughed up a lot of errors i suspect that's probably why radhikhanu hit the practice court because she didn't have to finish off that many points she didn't she didn't have to be really sharp today because shibahara really didn't play particularly well.

37:48But Raducanu did what she had to do well,

37:52Catherine Whitaker: and that's just become a thing now. It's not been... Her losses recently haven't about been her playing badly. It's about her running into really good opponents, whether it be Sabalenka or Nisimova, who've kind of had a power advantage or hit her off the court. But you're still just expecting Raducanu to play well, And I absolutely expect that to continue this tournament.

38:18Matt Roberts: And in the next round, she might need it to continue because she plays Matt's new favourite, a woman he became briefly obsessed with between the hours of about 2.30 and 3.30 this afternoon. Have you heard about Janice? He was saying. And I am, of course, talking about Janice Chen.

38:38Catherine Whitaker: Very unexpected viewing on day one of a slam, And there's always a good amount going on. And I didn't have Janice Chen against Veronica Kudamatova on my list of matches that I knew I would be watching today. And yet, there I was.

38:55Matt Roberts: And yet, tell us about Janice. Janice Chen, the first Indonesian player to win a singles match at a Grand Slam in 22 years.

39:07Catherine Whitaker: Yes, and our colleagues at The Athletic, Charlie Acrochet, Matt Futterman, James Hansen, the editor there, have been tracking Janice for a little while because they see her on a similar trajectory to Lois Boisson, Victoria Mboko. And that trajectory being just winning so many matches at ICF level. and the question therefore being can she start bringing it to the tour so you know they've been tracking that i think she's won you know something like 95 of her last 105 matches you know at the itf level you know the rung below the wta tour but just you know all those sorts of players talk about it winning winning is winning and it gives you confidence and you and you do build something through that that sheer amount of of winning that she's been doing and she comes in here she qualifies and then she has a go at a seed early on and it's it's kuda matova who is obviously a very good player and has been in good form recently but you do always feel like she's a little bit vulnerable at the slams she she rarely plays her best she's she's probably one of the better seeds to draw I would say and Chen absolutely took advantage of her she's got she's got that Ash Barty thing of heavy topspin forehand set up by a slice backhand so it's a different look you know she's giving players something they're not used to now I'm not saying she's as good as it as Ash Barty was who sort of perfected it and became number one in the world and a major champion with that but it's still something that players on the WTA tour don't see all that much and it was extremely extremely effective today she she probably should have won it in straight sets she she was a setup a breakup love 40 up triple break point to go up a double break and she inexplicably tried to hit a slice backhand pass rather than just nudging the ball up the line everything sort of spiraled a little bit from there and she lost that second set so to regroup and get it back in the third was what actually impressed me the most here um and yeah just a very very fun player cool to see someone from indonesia as well having having that kind of success and yeah it's a very interesting match against emma adikani now i think it's going to be a test for adikani she won't know a lot about Chen she's going to have to find out and problem solve and you know I sort of back her to do it but I think she would have been expecting to play Kudamatova who's more of a known quantity so just very very interesting little section of the draw there.

42:06Matt Roberts: And it's absolutely not an accident that her game resembles Ash Barty she was asked about that comparison in her press conference today she said ash party is my role model and i set out to try and copy her so she's chuffed a bit with people noticing the similarities in in their games she's she's an interesting young woman went to pepperdine university graduated with a degree in sociology was apparently a very good doubles player while she was there and sort of people kind of assumed she would have a career in in doubles but she wanted to give it a go in in singles as well and and that seems to have been been a very good idea and um she is a a peer of alexandra ayala obviously from different country ayala from the philippines but from a similar part of the world and they cross paths a lot it sounds like while they were coming up through the ranks so it's incredible to see the parallels today of Janice Chen winning and also Alexandra Ayala winning in really quite extraordinary fashion over Clara Towson on grandstand court today on her fifth match point.

43:25Matt Roberts: We were certain these would be the scenes of the day on grandstand. How could that be beaten? Enter Daniel Medvedev.

43:34David Law: And yet I still think they were really the scenes of the day. I think that it's impossible not to lead with Medvedev because it's just only just happened and it was utter chaos. But when I think back to today, I think I'll remember Ayala and that atmosphere more personally because I found that all so uplifting. I mean, that was an extraordinary match in itself, wasn't it? Just a showdown between two players who you could imagine meeting much later in the tournament in years to come. and it was 5-1 in the third set to Towson and it looks all done and Ayala turned that around and then it goes into well there's a pretty dramatic scene with an umpire argument there about whether a replay was going to be shown because a volley was hit away by Ayala that Towson said was hit when it was the other side of the net and anyway that kicked off a bit went into the most wonderful tiebreak.

44:40David Law: I just loved the tiebreak. That was an 8-4 lead for Ayala and then brought back to 8-all and it was just to and fro. But I mean, that's me talking from watching on a screen and loving every minute of it. But the scenes, the actual atmosphere in that stadium, there wasn't a seat spare, was there?

45:02Catherine Whitaker: No, it was literally standing room only on on grandstand and grandstand is a big court. You know, there's, I don't know, about eight thousand or so on grandstand. And yet people, myself included, were having to stand right at the top of the of the upper ring just to just to get a glimpse of this. You know, it's obviously a big Filipino community in New York. And it felt like so many of them were on grandstand. It was truly wild, wild scenes. I thought I'd missed my opportunity to get a taste of this match because it looked like, as David said, with Towson 5-1 up, it looked like it was going to sort of fizzle out and Towson would end up winning it quite straightforwardly.

45:49Matt Roberts: You talked me out of going to the court. You said, well, there's not enough left. You won't get there in time.

45:55Catherine Whitaker: So I went to watch Mahatch, who was on court five, and I had grandstand FOMO because I could hear that this comeback was happening from Ayala. So I thought, well, I've got to go. And as I said, I didn't really know if I'd get a good viewing point, but I worked my way up to the top and stood behind a few rows of people but managed to get a glimpse of it. And I think a lot of people watching this match felt like at times the atmosphere crossed the line. I think there was a lot of cheering of Towson double faults and making noise between her first and second serves. You know, it was definitely on the edge.

46:38Catherine Whitaker: When I was there, it wasn't like that. It was more joyous. It was more just eruptions of noise for Ayala. And look, Towson definitely let the crowd and the occasion and the comeback just bother her. You know, she was in kind of a bad mood the whole match. She looked like she'd turned it around and then Ayala started mounting the comeback, whipping up the crowd, and it just all got to Towson again. I think we saw a bit of competitive immaturity there, perhaps, from Towson, whereas Ayala was just on this high. And as David said, the quality of that final set tiebreak was outrageous. Towson, by that point, had got her game under control a little bit again.

47:25Catherine Whitaker: She was playing with a bit more safety in her shots. But the way Eala changes direction is just incredible to watch. It catches you out. You're not expecting these shots to go where they go, be it a backhand down the line or a sudden drop shot. Just the disguise and the timing of her shots is formidable. And as you said, it took her five match points, and a lot of them were brilliantly saved by Towson. Just absolutely thrilling. I would urge anyone to go back and watch this final set tiebreak if they didn't see it. It was absolute joy and scenes on grandstand and, yeah, very, very special for Ayala, who had a big moment in the juniors, in the slams, is now making history in the professional slams, slams as the as you said as the first Philippine player to win a slam match just like amazing and actually I was in the in the little corridor in the media center when when she came back in I don't know who she was embracing but she embraced someone and just sort of fell into their arms and said fucking hell I love that and Coleman Wong was out there supporting her and she was out there

48:44Matt Roberts: supporting him and he qualified a couple of days ago they are both friends from the rafael nadal academy they both came through the rafael nadal academy didn't they so big moments for for the nadal academy that i've just mentioned three times um i made dave will love that he's also a product of the nadal academy uh while ayala was was was doing that on needing five match points on grandstand to win through her match simultaneously there was another deciding set tie break happening in a match between Olga Danilovic and Muyuka Uchijima which I you know wouldn't necessarily always mention a match between Olga Danilovic and Muyuka Uchijima doesn't necessarily feel consequential in terms of the the wider tournament but Olga Danilovic lost this in the deciding set tie break after having seven match points in three different games she twice had three consecutive match points Mojiko Uchijima did a double Alcaraz and then an extra match point on top and Danilovic was just broken by the end and double faulted to concede the match and you know what she's like she looks pretty displeased even when things are going her way so yeah she looked absolutely she looked pissed off she just looked so pissed off as you would yeah love 40 twice to come back match points unbelievable from Iker Uchijima

50:25Catherine Whitaker: and one of those was on her serve wasn't it three match points and one was on return

50:31Matt Roberts: she did it every which way she saved every type of match point

50:35Catherine Whitaker: Full bases covered.

50:37Matt Roberts: Yeah, absolutely. Jessica Begula, a fairly straightforward winner in the end. The final match of the day on Arthur Ashe today. She beat Maya Sharif, 6-6, 6-4, reeled off five games in a row from 4-1 down in the second set. Just a golf in quality and in level between these two. Jasmine Paolini, a comfortable winner as well. We shall never overlook Jasmine Paolini. not here on this podcast. Any other notable results from day one?

51:12Catherine Whitaker: I mean, I don't know how sort of notable it is really, but I had a great time this morning watching McCartney Kessler beat Magda Lynette. You did. That was a really good battle, this one.

51:24Matt Roberts: Occasionally it was distracting you from Fulham. It was occasionally, yeah. Matt started his Grand Slam by mostly watching football but also McCartney Kessler I simply have nothing to say to that

51:39Catherine Whitaker: other than that is true and I don't regret it especially the equaliser the equaliser was absolutely worth it but this was a great battle I hadn't quite realised how tricky McCartney McCartney Kessler's draw is when I picked her out yesterday to be a potential surprise package.

51:59Matt Roberts: Nor did Charlie when he picked out Ethan Quinn.

52:02Catherine Whitaker: Gone already. Well, Kessler had the tricky Lynette. Absolute battle. Loads of breaks. You know, she just wouldn't go away, Lynette. But the sort of match that you think if you can get through for Kessler, maybe you can sort of build from there. And I looked at her draw and she now plays Marketa Vondroshova in the second round, who, you know, definitely, definitely tricky. And then it's Jasmine Paolini, I think, in the third round. So it's an absolutely brutal draw. But that was a really good match and a really good win. The only other one I would mention is... Well, Vondroshova. Vondroshova. Yeah, you watched a bit more of that than I did, I think.

52:44Matt Roberts: Yeah, I watched the period where she was bad, but she won in the end. So she can't have been bad for all of it. But classic Vondroshova.

52:51Catherine Whitaker: And then the other one, just the name to pick out, is Valantova.

52:55Matt Roberts: Oh, yes.

52:55Catherine Whitaker: who James, again, James Hansen of The Athletic, has been big on Valantova ever since the French Open when he thought that she had a real shot of maybe... I can't remember the exact phrase he used. He didn't say beat Goff, but he said... He was careful, wasn't he? He said something like... Do damage. Do damage or push or...

53:15Matt Roberts: Take our breath away one more time. Right.

53:18Catherine Whitaker: These... Who'd ever do that? These were the sorts of things he was saying. Anyway, she's been another one who's just been doing a lot of... winning qualified in very dominant fashion even though she's already inside the top 100 she got a win today over bronzetti and she probably plays we're back in her in the second round you know she's very young valent over czech player takes the ball early and i mentioned that just because it's in that fun section with radhakanu and chen and we're back in her so valent over you can kind of add add to the mix of that of that little section which i'm immediately drawn to in the women's draw.

53:57Matt Roberts: Okay, that's it for part two. Join us in part three when we'll go through tomorrow's order of play. AI is only as powerful as the platform it's built into. That's why it's no surprise that more than 85 % of the 14500 use the ServiceNow AI platform. While other platforms duct tape tools together, ServiceNow seamlessly unifies people, data, workflows, and AI connecting every corner of your business. And with AI agents working together autonomously, anyone in any department can focus on the work that matters most. Learn how ServiceNow puts AI to work for people at servicenow.com.

54:38David Law: Hi, this is Kim and Penn Holderness from the Laugh Lines podcast. This episode is sponsored by Oli, your wellness partner for back to school and beyond. Back to school season is here.

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55:32Matt Roberts: Welcome back to part three of the Tennis Podcast. Just before we get into tomorrow's order of play, one of the players we'll be talking about on that order of play is Karolina Mukhova. and David has chatted to her in the lead up to this tournament as we all have chatted to a number of players for the latest edition of Tennis Podcast Meets where we take a few minutes to get to know and learn things about players that we are curious about and that we think you might be curious about. And that is up now for Friends of the Tennis Podcast. And here's just a little teaser of what we learned from Felix Auger-Eliassime, Fran Jones, Eva Lees, Karen Hashanov, Arta Rindeknesh and Karolina Mukova.

56:16David Law: I was looking back at your 2022 season. You were six in the world. You were winning Davis Cup. You were semi-finest here. Now you're 25. You're 27 in the world. What is different now compared to then? Me getting back there is not going to be done overnight. It's not because I'm 25 that all of a sudden I want to, you know,

56:36Matt Roberts: to want a magic pill and just click my fingers and I can start winning every match. What would have been the lowest moments? Yeah, the back end of last year. I had three consecutive retirements in events that I really enjoy in South America, on the clay where I feel at home as well. That was difficult to swallow and I needed some time to reflect after that. I took some time off and there was a lot of questioning for me as to where I wanted to go with my career and if I wanted to go somewhere with it. Does it motivate you extra to have success on the court? More success you have, bigger your platform, more people will hear you.

57:09Matt Roberts: Definitely. I wouldn't say that I'm success-driven. At the end of the day, when I go on court, I just do what I love, and everything else comes with it. But I also know that if you're a tennis player, you're not only playing tennis. There comes a lot of different stuff with it. And I know that a lot of other players have to fight a lot for their rights, and they don't have a platform like me. And this is why I always said, even when I didn't have the platform, as soon as I have it, I want to use it for topics I feel like I have to talk about, I want to talk about, and that's what I'm trying to do.

57:44Catherine Whitaker: We've seen some players of your age, your generation, have a bit of a dip recently. You've always been super consistent. Do you think that consistency is a little bit underrated?

57:55David Law: I would say, yeah, in a way that I am, let's say, consistent with certain levels, with the results, you know, but then maybe at one point, like I said, during those five years, I was missing this extra push, you know, to have a little bit bigger results in a bigger tournament to actually be top 10 and where I want to be. What does that mean, things that weren't quite right or straight in your head that are now?

58:19Catherine Whitaker: A lot of people are talking about mental aspects lately, these past years, and I was probably right into it, you know, I had to find new, you know, new goals, new reason. I've always played tennis for the passion of it for the love of tennis and you know this this passion and this love was a little bit uh

58:40David Law: you know smaller or everybody needs confidence don't they and everybody needs to feel fully fit and obviously fitness has been the big the big problem for you just the body breaking down how are you feeling physically right now i think now i feel pretty good i would call it pretty good

58:58Matt Roberts: I've been struggling with a left wrist injury the last few months but so far I'd say since Montreal, Cincinnati and now coming here I feel more and more confident in playing again my backhand

59:10David Law: and rely on that shot so I hope it will go this way and I'll be able to play fully this tournament

59:16Matt Roberts: So that's just a little taste there of the latest edition of the Tennis Podcast Meets that and all our editions so far are available for friends of the Tennis Podcast. If you'd like to become a friend, then the link is in our show notes to this show. And every show, in fact. Just before we get into tomorrow's order of play, the Daniel Medvedev press conference transcript has dropped. Lots to take in. He's referenced a potential end to his career and then backtracked on it and said, no, no, no, I wasn't talking about now. Just thought maybe this being the US Open would be a nice place to end my career when I do decide it's time.

59:59But a revelation there that, you know, it's somewhere in his mind.

1:00:04Matt Roberts: You know, ending his career is in his mind somewhere. It's all heat of the moment. There's no apology to Greg Allensworth. In fact, there's quite a lot of doubling down on what he clearly thinks of Greg Allensworth, which is a real shame. anything else you want to comment on from the transcript David

1:00:27David Law: well a lack of owning it really I mean he he says I did nothing wrong and and it's put to him well you delayed the match for six minutes and it was put to him that maybe you were trying to distract your opponent and he said no I did nothing wrong I didn't delay the match for six minutes the crowd did so he's just he's just refusing to accept that he really had any involvement in any of that but he doesn't shy away from his own form at the end he's asked about his form he says I'm just playing bad just as simple as that and and he does say I really want to try and put that right next

1:01:06Matt Roberts: year he's got a long way to go I thought and he does seem to know it yeah it's a it's it's a bleak picture right now for uh for daniel medvedev not going to be on another order of play at this year's us open this is what we have for you tomorrow day two of the tournament madison keys the six seed reigning australian open champion of course against the mexican renata zarizua first up on ash and second on after an 11 30 start which is interesting because it's usually midday on Ash. We don't quite know why they're doing that, but I fear there's going to be quite a lot of intentionally blank tomorrow.

1:01:49Matt Roberts: Our favourite matchup always. Second on is Francis Tiafoe against Yoshihito Nishioka. So an American double header in the day session and again in the night session, which starts with Venus Williams against Karolina Mukova and ends with Rylia Pelka against Carlos Alcaraz. Could I have some predictions for those two matches, please? Punchy ones.

1:02:19Catherine Whitaker: Mukava in two, Alcaraz in four.

1:02:26David Law: I'm going to say Alcaraz in three, and I'm not going to tell you my Venus and Mukava because it's in the newsletter. Okay.

1:02:35Matt Roberts: Do subscribe to the newsletter. Link in the show notes. Armstrong opens with Barbora Krojikova against Victoria Mboko. Yes, please. I would ask you for a prediction on this, but it's tough because everything depends on Krojikova's fitness. Or does it? Maybe you think Mboko's winning it regardless of how fit Krojikova is. I'm going Mboko.

1:03:00David Law: Yeah, mind you, I've got her in the semi, so I should go for it, shouldn't I?

1:03:06Catherine Whitaker: I would go Mboko as well. let's let's think that she's still riding that wave Jack Draper second

1:03:13Matt Roberts: on Armstrong against F Gomez, Federico Gomez I believe from Argentina again all going to be about how fit Jack Draper is we're obviously we've got our doubts and concerns after what he said in press yesterday but we will see night session on Armstrong is Sebastian Ofner against Caspar Rude and second on Alicia Parks against Mira Andreeva. Grandstand features Petra Kvitova in likely her final Grandstand match, certainly her final Grandstand tournament. She takes on Diane Parry. Joel Fonseca vibes second on Grandstand tomorrow against Miramir Ketsamanovic. That's probably the connoisseur's choice of the day.

1:03:58Matt Roberts: If we meet anybody on the tube tomorrow, Matt, that we make friends with and they ask us what outside court match they should go and watch. Maybe we'll tell them Ketsamanovic, Fonseca.

1:04:09Catherine Whitaker: We gave them good advice this morning. We told them to go and watch Ayala Towson.

1:04:14Matt Roberts: Yeah, our new best friend.

1:04:15Catherine Whitaker: That was good advice. And they were Fulham fans. One of them is a Fulham fan.

1:04:20Matt Roberts: Well, I think by extension. And they did say that we're going to start listening to the tennis podcast. So hello to you. Hello. We regret not getting your names, but it was a lovely way to start the day. I tell you what, third on grandstand tomorrow, also a good pick. Bertik van der Zanskulp against Holger Runa. Anything could happen. And finally on grandstand, Anna Bondar against Alina Svitolina. Rabatkinah is on court 17 tomorrow. First up there is Cameron Norrie against Sebastian Korda. Daria Kazekina on 17. Your new friend, you two, Karen Hashanov against Nishesh Basavredi is the final match on 17.

1:05:01Matt Roberts: Dino Prismic against Andrei Rublev is the last match on court five. That's where you can find Flavio Caballi as well. It does feel like there's just a... It didn't feel slow today, but it does feel like there's going to be that bit more happening tomorrow. It's going to feel like a round one Grand Slam day, I think.

1:05:20Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, there's a few more courts in play. Yeah, it's going to be good.

1:05:24David Law: We were sort of saved by a couple of huge atmospheres, weren't we, today?

1:05:30Matt Roberts: Yeah, exactly. By the way, I do really like the game of Zara Zua. Is that a prediction?

1:05:38Catherine Whitaker: No I think I think you're gonna win she's crafty oh Yeah, I thought to see Watch the plan this I'm over at Wimbledon watch the play with back in her the other day She beat Putin's saver the other day. She pushed us to Penko to three think she's improving I think keys will have too much power and too much game, but I've always quite just enjoyed watching Zara Zua. Well, you can do that tomorrow. Yeah, it'd be a nice start to the day for those on Ash, I think.

1:06:08Matt Roberts: Looking forward to it. It looks like a good day tomorrow. We'll be back with another tennis podcast, of course. We have a mascot for this tennis podcast, a very special mascot, a mascot we know well, a mascot that I have held in my arms 50 weeks ago in Manhattan. It's Bruno. Bruno. Lovely Bruno. Bruno, of course, owned by Alyssa Lee. Lovely Alyssa. Bruno was last year's US Open mascot. And Alyssa said, we had the honor of meeting the Tennis Podcast crew in person. I remember it well, Alyssa. While they were in town for the tournament. Bruno is as popular as Roger Federer in our Brooklyn neighborhood.

1:06:46Matt Roberts: And is the only dog we know who has stickers of himself pasted up all over New York. I have some of those very stickers. in fact I think I have some in my backpack right here I occasionally find a rogue one I'm like oh there's Bruno he's a lovely boy is Bruno and he's a returning mascot and we love those dogs are all about loyalty aren't they so it's only fitting so thank you Alyssa for bringing Bruno back during this year's US Open he is a very very good boy and we're very grateful for all of your support We, of course, have our mascots, Phoebe, Maisie and Roger. Hello to you. We have Greg, Chris and Jeff, our top folks and executive producers.

1:07:31Matt Roberts: And we are, of course, part of the Athletic Podcast Network. It's one down. It's 14 more to go. Thank you for listening. We will be back tomorrow.

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1:08:47David Law: for back to school season. Shop Wayfair.com today.

1:08:51Matt Roberts: Wayfair, every style, every home.