US Open Day 11 - Tennis has a new World No.1

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1:37Matt Roberts: Well, hello and welcome to the Tennis Podcast coming to you from New York on day 11 of the US Open. A day that has felt like one big hangover after the 3.30am finish from the night or rather the morning before. Thank you for all the well wishes that have been sent my way over the last 24 hours. They are much appreciated. I'm also very grateful to Matt and David for covering for me on what was an extraordinary night last night. I've been struggling with a bad cold and an even worse case of FOMO, but I am bouncing back.

2:15Catherine Whitaker: Good to have you back.

2:16Matt Roberts: Or bouncing back as much as the tennis schedule will allow. Matt, your post-Shelton Alcaraz stubble is causing quite the stir in our DMs. Is it really?

2:29Catherine Whitaker: Gosh, well, it wasn't something I was intending really, but it feels reflective of the tournament.

2:36Matt Roberts: Indeed. Arthur Ashe Stadium was dormant for less than eight hours before matches resumed this morning. So it's still got about twice as much sleep as David and Matt.

2:47Catherine Whitaker: It was sunrise when we went to bed. Such a bad moment.

2:52Matt Roberts: What are we all doing?

2:54Catherine Whitaker: Comical stuff.

2:55Matt Roberts: When play did resume, it did so with the two remaining women's quarterfinals, starting with Elena Rabatkinner and qualifier Jung Chinwen, a match which saw Rabatkinner not only reach a first ever US Open semifinal, but also become or schedule herself to become on Monday the brand new world number one. Talk us through the match, David.

3:21David Law: Yeah, this was a real kind of mind over matter achievement, I think, and an internal battle that she was fighting because she was tight. Understandably so. You kind of marked the card that you thought that might be a factor in this match, how nervous she might get trying to get over the line and seal this achievement, this enormous milestone in her career. and in the first set total opposite of what we've seen from jung ching when in in a couple of these sets recently she started well she was hitting the more cleanly of the two she just looked the more decisive of the two and she won that first set and and rebakina was irritable she was she needed to vent she said afterwards and she went over to support team it looked pretty kind of anxiety inducing the whole exchange between her and her coaching team and she just said afterwards i needed to vent and it and and she said i was getting reminded of what the what the tactics were from before the match um because she just looked like she she couldn't really play freely at all and it did the trip because she came back out in the second set and she was a completely different player she rushed out into a 4-1 lead and there was just a conviction about her shot making.

4:46David Law: I didn't think Jun-Chin Wen played terribly in the second set, but she did leave the court at the end of the first set and the commentators were wondering whether that might have been a mistake. Commentary team involving Mary Carrillo, who started the match at 11.30, having finished the night before match at 3.33am, which sounds crazy.

5:09Matt Roberts: She was on four straight Arthur Ashe Stadium matches, all of which went the distance. 14

5:15David Law: sets yeah in total so uh that happened one out for mary um but uh yeah rebeckina i i feel like this was a huge achievement for her because not only was she playing an excellent opponent who who was playing some of the best tennis i've seen from her at this tournament that she's had this great run in rebeckina got better as the finish line approached and when you consider what was the line I think that that takes some doing um so yeah she she really just took over the match and and I didn't really feel as though she was going to lose it once she got hold of it

5:53Catherine Whitaker: yeah although Jung was very close right at the end wasn't she she had a break point well to go five three up and Rebecca was kind of a sitting duck up up at the net and Jung Jung missed the pass there on break point and Rabatkinna held, broke, served it out emphatically. It was tense for a moment there for Rabatkinna, but yeah, she looked much more like the player that she had been in the previous round in the second and third sets of this one. And yeah, it's a big moment, I think, for Rabatkinna to get to world number one and break this grip that Sabalenka and Sviontek have had on that ranking since Ash Barty retired.

6:37Catherine Whitaker: You know, it's been four and a half years with only two players getting it. And now Rabatkinner gets there, it kind of signals that we're in a bit of a different era now. And she's the second oldest player, I think, on the women's side to get to number one for the first time after Angelique Kerber. And it's funny, I still don't really think of Rabatkinner as a sort of veteran player, really, even though she has been around for quite a long time it still feels like she's got a lot of her career ahead of her how old is she 26 27 i think yeah which i guess you know shows that i guess a lot of the women maybe have their peaks earlier than than the men as well um but yeah like really didn't seem like well it felt like in the spring she had a real chance to get to world number one and she lost her form.

7:30Catherine Whitaker: But coming into this US Open, she obviously hadn't been in the brilliant form and she had the injury, but wow, she's put a great US Open together for kind of the first time in her career, really, getting to this stage. And it feels appropriate, I think, that Rebecca has a moment as the world number one after the 12 months that she's put together.

7:57Matt Roberts: Yeah, it's so wild that this has turned out to be by far and away her most successful ever US Open. Like she'd never been past the fourth round here before. She's coming in with no form and with what looked like an extremely serious injury. And she's put together by far her best result and could very well go on to win the title. And she's definitely leaving with the world number one. it's pretty extraordinary and world number one itself it's funny isn't it because as an achievement Sabalenka I'm quite sure she doesn't want to lose the world number one but it is undoubtedly more important to her that she defends this US Open title the choice for her between retaining world number one and winning another Grand Slam is very easy but if you haven't been to world number one number four, it is a huge thing and potentially a bigger deal than a Grand Slam.

8:58David Law: Yeah, it's interesting. I'd always thought, and we've discussed it in the past, how it feels like Sabalenka really loved being world number one. She embraced it. She sort of seemed to elevate her game. She's now sort of definitely messaging that the US Open, the title is a bigger deal to her than lose. But I think that there was a bit of acceptance that actually it's out of her hands now. I don't think she likes things that she can't control. So I think she was sort of washing her hands a bit of it in a way to kind of be able to accept it. But I do think it'll make her all the more motivated, Sabalenka, to try to win this title, to try to beat Rebecca in her.

9:49David Law: And actually, she's probably going to enjoy having the chance to hunt again. But, yeah, for Rebecca now, I mean, I don't know how long she'll stay at world number one. I don't necessarily think she's the same kind of personality in that way. But she absolutely deserves to be there.

10:09Matt Roberts: She's got a lot to defend from the end of the year, hasn't she? Because at the end of last year, she went on a huge push to qualify for the finals. kind of played everywhere, had some good results. So she has got a lot to defend. There's every chance that Sabalenka can get the world number one position back. And you're right, if they end up playing in the final, I think that will be a huge motivator for Sabalenka to prove a point. So, yeah, there could be a bit of a tussle towards the end of the year as to whether Rabakina holds on to it. Do you think it annoys or is annoying Sabalenka that she got to 99 straight weeks as number one?

10:49Matt Roberts: It's like a batsman getting out on 99, isn't it? It would annoy me.

10:53Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, it would annoy me too. And I feel like losing streaks must just be annoying because, you know, you've just got to start again. You just can't pick it back up. And yes, that would annoy me. But what a run she's had. There was a period in Sabalenka's career where I never would have seen that amount of consistency coming. And she has really set the bar for consistency on the WTA Tour, across surfaces, across a year, across tournaments. She's just been a constant threat. And I think she maybe hasn't racked up the number of Grand Sam titles that her dominance perhaps merits. But four still have a lot.

11:44Catherine Whitaker: She could get to five still this week. That's a very nice total. And there's potentially more still to come in her career. But I think when I look back on Sabalenka's time as world number one, And it will be that feeling of her being the bar on the WTA tour and just constantly there. And there's been that thing recently of players who've beaten her but then haven't necessarily gone on to win the tournament because it just feels like it takes such an effort to actually beat Irina Sabalenka. She's been that for so long and it's been a heck of a run. But yes, I do think she might have liked one more week to get to 100 straight.

12:21Matt Roberts: Just in terms of Jung, quickly, she'll pop up back inside the world's top 60 now, close to the top 50, which is a huge leap for her in terms of getting into tournaments. She can play whatever tournament she likes now, basically, which hasn't been the case for a while. She's been relying on wild cards and in the case of this US Open playing qualifying. So she's got the platform now to build on. Is the tennis there for her to get back where she was? In a year's time, do you think she'll be a top 10 player?

12:54David Law: I think if she doesn't have setbacks injury-wise, I absolutely think the game is there. What we've seen this last 10 days is a reminder of just how good she is. I think she's definitely good enough to be in the top 10 again. She needs a good run. She needs a good run of form and fitness. I think she could even end up better than she was before because I think the time out has just given a reason to think and just consider life without tennis. And I mean, the appetite that she's practicing with, she doesn't seem like she needs anything else in her life much more other than just to try to maximize her tennis.

13:38David Law: I think this has really focused her attention, not that she wasn't dedicated before, but I still feel like there's room for growth in her game too.

13:47Matt Roberts: Back into the top 10, do you think, Matt?

13:49Catherine Whitaker: Yes, I think so. Look, it's a pretty stacked top 10 at the moment, and there's even players outside of that, as well as Jung, who I think you could make a case, can feel like top 10 players. So it's not just a total given, but I think the ceiling of her game is top 10. There might be some who get into the top 10 more on consistency than Jung and doing it week in, week out. But I think Jung's peaks will be high. You know, we've seen that already in her career with a with a major final and an Olympic gold medal when she's been at her best. She's been able to get to the latter stages of big tournaments.

14:26Catherine Whitaker: And I definitely see that in her future if she can stay healthy. I think the one area and she knows it. She talks about it in the press conference this tournament. She has to get that serve more consistent. You know, like I just don't think she can be going through tournaments serving at 40 percent first serves in like it's really effective so when it works when it works this was a problem before the injury too it was she's always

14:56Matt Roberts: had one of the lowest first serve percent one of the highest win rates on first serve but lowest

15:01Catherine Whitaker: percentage in yeah and it just feels like that that balance is is not quite right with the serve But she's working on it, and if she can get that a bit better, then I definitely see top ten and big titles in her future. It's been great having her back this tournament.

15:20Matt Roberts: The in-and-out background noise you can hear, by the way, is our air conditioning unit, which is the Carlos Alcaraz of air conditioning units. It has a set or two off, and then it springs back to life. We did turn it off before recording, but it's got a life of its own. It's got a life of its own tonight. So there we go. So we're back in the during the first match of the day. That was dramatic enough. Enter Coco Gough and Mira Andreva, David.

15:50David Law: Yeah, this was a really stressful match on both sides of the net for different reasons. I mean, Andreva started very well and seemed to be maybe more consistent than I'm used to her being. and it's something she actually ended up lamenting in the press conference afterwards. Gough was really struggling today. She just couldn't seem to get anything going. She looked like she got the same cold that has taken you out, Catherine. I mean, you know, there were murmurs.

16:19Matt Roberts: She had it first, David. I'm not the super spreader.

16:22David Law: She did because it was mentioned in her previous match, which was before Catherine showed any symptoms whatsoever. Thank you, David. But I mean, she really did look a bit under the weather. and I don't know it must be a really tough situation to be in when you're on the Arthrash Stadium court and you know everybody wants you to win and she spoke glowingly about the crowd afterwards but she also reminded about years ago how she used to almost carry the hopes and expectations of people with her and make her feel as though she was letting people down. I don't think she was going through that necessarily here but there is this look in her face as if time is running out oh my god it's all i'm not going to be able to do it this time you know she's so good at rescuing victory from the jaws of defeat and there she was a set down it was stressful all the way through the second set and she said the moment she won the second set she thought she was going to win she thought she'd got the third set and and draver was talking about she wished she'd maybe taken a few more risks um in the match it's it's a difficult one isn't it because you've just got these two players.

17:30David Law: You've got these worldy backhands and then these clearly under-par forehands by comparison that they often try to kind of protect with a slice forehand or a loop or something like that. And it was just, it was almost like Andreva was trying to wait out the clock. She was trying to get rid of the games quickly enough before Goff ignited and she ignited just in time.

17:57Matt Roberts: Matt all I could think about during this match was the semi-final that Coco Goff played against Karolina Mukova at Wimbledon and the press conference that Coco Goff gave after that match because obviously Goff had that match point which she flobbed quite frankly and I think everybody was expecting her to come into the press conference and be devastated and disconsolate and ruin the missed chance and she had this you know she was obviously sad and doesn't but she had this incredibly philosophical perspective and she said, even walking off the court, I was like, that was a lot of fun. Every champion has this in their career.

18:38Matt Roberts: It'll make it sweeter the next time I win a match like this. It was almost like she was writing the script to come back and do it and overturn the outcome at the very next ground slam.

18:52Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, so wise from Coco Gauff. And it's interesting how many, obviously, greats of the game we've had retire recently, and a lot of them mention missing that feeling of competition. And you just get the feeling that Coco Goff is someone who, in the moment, is realising just how cool it is that she gets to compete for a living. She loves it.

19:16Matt Roberts: She'd be the Carlos Alcarez walking down the corridor with a big grin on her face.

19:20Catherine Whitaker: Right. I mean, that's one of the defining images of the tournament, isn't it? and Alcruz saying afterwards, oh, I lost, but it was great to be back. It was great to be competing again. I think it just sort of made everyone who was rooting for Carlos Alcruz last night feel better, the fact that he was feeling good about it. And look, Coco Gauff has obviously been very hurt by losses in the past. I'm not saying that she hasn't been, but you always get the feeling that she's just appreciating the competition. And yeah, today, I mean, I think what was concerning is that it was the return of the familiar Coco Goff woes, you know, the serve.

20:01Catherine Whitaker: A lot of double faults today and the forehand. A lot of tentative play and a lot of errors off that wing. And she had 40 unforced errors in the first two sets combined here. And this match, honestly, in the second set, was like a race to the bottom. and Hannah put on the barge, drag her to hell with you, Coco. Drag her to whatever nether circle of the underworld your game is currently mired in. And that was kind of what was happening because Gough was still not good in the second set. She was competing hard but had no game. But Andreeva fell into the trap of just exchanging passive forehands with her.

20:48Catherine Whitaker: You know, like Andreeva is a player who has a lot of layers, a lot of texture to her game, and yet she was using none of it. She was just trading forehands and almost waiting for Goff to break down, and it was a struggle. But still, Andreeva had a couple of match points in that second set tie break, couldn't take them. Goff did up the aggression a little bit on those match points, tried to come forward and then yeah as as soon as goth won that second set you definitely felt like she became the big favorite and honestly andreva lost the plot in the third set i mean there was there was a i don't even know if it was a it was a was it a smash attempt was it a volley

21:30Matt Roberts: attempt i'm actually watching a replay of it right now and there is there is no word for what this shot was it doesn't exist i mean it exists like in park tennis maybe yeah that's true not even

21:41Catherine Whitaker: club level it doesn't exist in pro tennis this shot that she attempted it was so bad it it led to a break a serve and then she smashed her racket down at the change of ends and i think it hit another racket which then flew up and almost almost hit a cameraman it was it was a it was a bad moment for andreva and a real shame to to see her like that um and goff ended up really cleaning up her game in that final set and ended up with 71 of first serves in in that final set no double faults and only two unforced errors compared to 40 as i said in the previous two sets so she she definitely found her game as this as this match went on albeit there wasn't a lot of resistance by the end from andreva because she'd lost her head so much but what an ordeal of a match and one that goth just had to had to survive an advance and the thing about goth is that she can then suddenly play better in the next round she might she might not she might come out again with not much game but i also wouldn't be surprised if we suddenly see her playing better in the semis tomorrow.

22:56Catherine Whitaker: Interestingly, the two day session matches she's played this tournament have actually been her weaker performances, I would say, against Bookshare and this one. She's been more convincing in the night session, maybe for the first time for her at the US Open. I don't quite know if that would be true, but I feel like in the past she's played some decent day sessions here. But yeah, like an example of a match not necessarily having to be high quality, but can also be really compelling.

23:30Matt Roberts: Yeah, well, you know I love a hot mess of a match. Like, as long as it descends into hot mess.

23:35Catherine Whitaker: Exactly.

23:35Matt Roberts: If it's just bad, it's bad. If it's Vera van der Zandt's call, terrible. But I quite enjoyed this. This kind of matches my guilty pleasure. It's funny, I'm so used to being on alert for this kind of performance from Coco Goff. Like this is not an unusual Grand Slam experience watching Coco Goff play a match like this. I just haven't been alert for it at this Grand Slam because she's been so convincing coming in. I've just felt more comfortable in her form, but it always comes back to Matt's Coco Goff mantra. She's never as high as you think and she's never as low as you think.

24:21David Law: Do you want me to react to that? Yeah, because basically she doesn't tend to just go through a tournament and dominate people and win it. She finds ways a lot of the time. And when you think she's done, she'll rescue it. And that's really what we're talking about.

24:41Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, which is exactly why she might flip it and be great tomorrow because she's also never as low as you think. You have to remember that part too.

24:52Matt Roberts: Yeah, I wasn't necessarily not expecting this to be a tight competitive match. I just wasn't expecting the gremlins to return as they did today on the serve and the forehand. It was a very, you know, ghosts coming from the attic to haunt you, reminding you that they are still there performance. But then on the flip side, they're still there, but you won anyway. she said she went to the restroom and she was thinking about Francis Tiafoe when she was in the loo and that was what helped her to victory Coco Gough

25:25David Law: the comebacks of yesterday not just Tiafoe generally she said when Shelton was playing she was asleep because if she'd tried to even stay up for any of that she would have just got drawn in and that would have been her night and maybe her match gone but yeah I mean she's very close to Tiafoe she said he's always a great ally really including for just women's players generally she said which was nice to hear but yeah I think inspired yesterday and I dare say he'll be inspired in a couple of days time by her and that's nice that's a nice thought

26:07Matt Roberts: absolutely okay we will look ahead to the two women's semi-finals in part three and when we come back in part two in just a moment we will talk about the two men's quarter finals from today but just before we head into part two folks we want to share a word and a very special offer from our sponsors this us open at steve fergals international tennis tours the premium hospitality and experience provider now if the miami open is on your tennis bucket list then Steve Fergals can sort you out with the trip of your dreams in March 2027. And frankly, if it's not on your bucket list, then it should be.

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29:02David Law: of the ingredients. Shop back-to-school must-haves at Whole Foods Market, in-store or online.

29:12Matt Roberts: Welcome back to part two of today's tennis podcast, where we have now two, and let's get out ahead of this, two quite frankly disappointing men's quarterfinals to talk about. Let's start with Alexander Zverev beating Bortik van der Zanschel 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 in the night session match. This was... What was it, David?

29:36David Law: It was terrible, really. I mean, as a match, as a contest, it wasn't really anything much. I think we have to remember that Bortik van der Zanschel played for five hours and 13 minutes in his previous round, and that's two back-to-back five setters he played. he's also you know he's not as experienced at doing this as as other players so i think you can you can give him a bit of a pass for for not maybe playing his best tennis in this in this one but i think where he will maybe have some regrets and and some disappointment is that zverev was not playing well today and he won in straight sets and yet he came out hitting a lot of double faults really getting exasperated talking to his support team and with his arms out wide as if so why can't i serve you know this is a guy who can often get upwards of 75 first serves in and it just it just didn't look under his control he was also kind of patting the ball over because he didn't really have much feel and i'm and i did think if an opponent of a higher level or somebody who's in more form or fresher was on this court right now I'm not sure Zverev would come out of this if he played if he carried on playing like this now there's no guarantee that he wouldn't have maybe raised his level if he's playing somebody more dangerous but this was back to the first couple of rounds form where he sort of scraped through in five sets and nearly lost whereas the two previous rounds against Tabilo and Darderi he'd improved so it wasn't a great spectacle it was one of those where the the umpire james kiathong was repeatedly asking the crowd to stop having their conversations because there were 20 odd thousand in and i think they were bored i don't think they were particularly into this match it wasn't very fun it wasn't very interesting it was the the total opposite of last night where everybody's just totally concentrated on the action on the court, there wasn't much to get your teeth into.

31:46Yeah.

31:47Catherine Whitaker: It was like the first half of the day was so compelling and the second half could have been an email and this match would have been, you know, one line in that email. It was really poor. And honestly, I did not have high expectations for it. Like as soon as someone plays two, five set matches in a row, as Burtick, Renézanne, Hulp has done, I'm not expecting much from them in their next round unless they're really used to doing it and they're a top level player. But for someone like Burtick, it just felt like that was going to take the wind out of his sails really. And he didn't have much today.

32:27Catherine Whitaker: And look, Zverev was, as David has described, really not very good. he's just very good at doing just enough to win and staying just a little bit ahead of his opponent and the thing about Zverev is that for so long in his career that that wasn't enough to win him a Grand Slam you know he needed to he could get through to the latter stages of Grand Slams by doing that but then in in those latter stages he would need to raise it when he came up against a Djokovic or an Alcaraz or a Sinner and there were isolated cases of him doing that but he couldn't do it enough to win a slam he's found himself in two slams this year where all those guys have gone and he's been he's been the guy left and he kind of won Roland Garros by doing enough and getting through to the finish line and no one was able to go with him and that's to me that's the defining question remaining in this men's draw like Zverev is going to bring a certain level I think and it's going to be up to tiafo or hashanov or shelton to raise it and to just get a little bit above alexander zverev and it's it's a tough thing to do but if if one of them can do it the title's

33:42Matt Roberts: there for them this ball bouncing is very curious isn't it that that's very it's doing because Because, you know, we were expecting a totally freed up Zverev after winning, finally getting the Grand Slam monkey off his back in Paris and winning that title. And we did see that at Wimbledon. Totally free. I thought he played better at Wimbledon than in Paris. That was by far the best version of Zverev we've ever seen. He's always been a ball bouncer, but I didn't notice anything at Wimbledon that was different to his usual. He has a, by his standards, poor US hardcourt season. He comes in here. ESPN did a graphic tonight.

34:24Matt Roberts: They had assigned somebody to calculate roughly how many times he had bounced the ball based on how many serves.

34:33Catherine Whitaker: He was on like 2 ,000 or something for the match.

34:36Matt Roberts: They were assuming an average of 18 times before each serve. And they worked out how many points he played, etc. And they're flashing the graphic up on the TV. like he's he's gone from 0 to 100 with this he it's happening against players for whom he shouldn't be finding them stressful particularly I know tennis any grand slam tennis is stressful but he's had a comfy draw and he's looking

35:08David Law: it's looking like he's got the yips David yeah and the funny thing is it does translate into some double faults today but there are other matches where his first serve percentage is still high he's still serving pretty i mean i think it's pretty extraordinary that he's not serving more double faults when he's having such a long gap between first and second serves because of all the ball bouncing that doesn't strike me as something that would give you great rhythm and And rhythm is important to the serve. So I'm not sure how much of a problem it actually is. I do think he should be getting done for time occasionally by these umpires.

35:50David Law: I haven't even gotten warned once yet.

35:52Matt Roberts: It's because ball bouncing is technically part of the motion.

35:55David Law: Right.

35:55Matt Roberts: I mean, I don't think it should be. But technically you can't get done for the time violation because you've started your motion.

36:03David Law: I think it's ridiculous. and I think people are getting it's making people in the crowd switch off and just disconnect with the action because it's all taking so long and your opponent has got to time when to kind of do a split step and be ready for their return I just think it's a horrible introduction into his game because he didn't used to do this Djokovic did it a lot Marin Cilic did it this is just makes him a turnoff really i think in terms of excitement levels i mean i i've never found him a great watch personally other than i find him interesting when he's playing against alcaraz say um but that's about it i think sometimes those matches can be can be good and i admire i admire what he's able to do in terms of winning matches i mean And the way he survives and the way he comes back from impossible-looking positions, it is amazing what a fighter he is and what a kind of competitor he is.

37:08David Law: But this is... I do think that this is making him play more stodgy tennis, generally. And yet here he is still in the semifinals. I think we...

37:20Catherine Whitaker: Look, we're not on site, clearly. But it's the first time that he's actually going to do a proper press conference tonight. You know, he's been finishing so late. He's been in the hallway at some ungodly hour of the morning every single round. But now he actually has to do a press conference, be interesting to see whether anyone does ask about him.

37:42Matt Roberts: Speak to the media, which I hate.

37:43Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, which he hates doing, doing his on-court interview. He said he hates doing it. Charming. And I think now we've got an interesting question as well, like whether he gets out of this playing the night match. Because it's the first time he hasn't finished really late. Normally, the way they do the schedule for the men's semifinals, he would play the second one. Normally, it would be that side of the draw that's played second would play the second semifinal. But there is precedent when it was an All-American semifinal a couple of years ago with Fritz and Tiafoe. They moved that to the night session.

38:19Catherine Whitaker: I suspect they will, you know, the ESPN will want Shelton, Tiafoe in a couple of days' time in the night session, I would have thought. and maybe it would be good for Zverev to have a day session match before the final, which is at two o 'clock on Sunday. Now, it perhaps puts him at a bit more risk of losing the semi-final if he has to get out of the rhythm that he's been in and suddenly play in the day. He said in that on-court interview that he was hating doing that he's felt jet-lagged this tournament the whole time because of that start that he had. So there's no doubt that it would be tricky for him, I think to suddenly play a day match in the semis, but then it might have some benefit for him down the road.

39:03Catherine Whitaker: So I think that scheduling on Friday is going to be very, very interesting to see what they do.

39:10Matt Roberts: Lots of speculation about it. Most people seem to think they will switch it up because of that precedent that you said. I don't know whether that's something that the players would have any say in. I suspect not, but it could go either way for Zverev in terms of his preference. As you say, perhaps a risk for the semi, but a benefit for the final. The semi, incidentally, will be against Karen Hashanov. He beat Alexander Blocks today by retirement. 6-2, 7-5 and 3-2 was the score when Blocks retired. I'll let Blocks explain it to you in his own words. He said, today my body just gave up. My rib was hurting, my leg was hurting, and then a blocked nerve in my back in the second set, and I wasn't able to move after that.

39:54Matt Roberts: I was waiting for him to break me. So we won't linger too long on analysing that semi-final. It's the third major semi for Hashanov. He entered the tournament ranked 50 in the world. That's his lowest ranking since 2017. He had a losing record for the season, 16 wins, 18 losses, and he hadn't won a match since Wimbledon.

40:20David Law: And here he is. Yeah, and one of those was a challenger between Wimbledon and the USA. But I did think he was very good against Leonard Tien. I think he's generally playing well now, you know, and he's hitting out and he's often going down the line with his backhand, which I think is quite an important shot for him to be able to hit and expand the court a little bit. The thing with him, I mean, look, it's a real shame about blocks because I think blocks has got game. and if he'd have been fully fit, that would have been quite a tussle. And, you know, there has to be a question mark over how much of an obstacle blocks his body is going to be in his career.

41:05David Law: Now, I know his French Open one was an accident. He fell over the top all in at the back of the court. This, though, feels like his body's kind of broken down as he's gone along here. But still, Khashanov has dealt with it and just gone and got the job done. Him now playing against Zverev in the semifinals, I just think if the two of them had played today, I think they'd still be out there duking it out. I think that would have gone well into the night. And I think that Khashanov could have beaten Zverev tonight the way Zverev was playing. No guarantee that Zverev plays like that, of course, in a couple of days' time.

41:41Matt Roberts: Of everybody left in the tournament, Khashanov's the one with the best head-to-head against Zverev.

41:47Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, he's got three wins against him, I think, hasn't he? some of those were a long time ago, but one of them was last year in Canada, I believe, in three sets there. And look, he's a guy who actually, he's been a little bit as very light, I would say, through his career. He's done a lot of winning by being very, very consistent and relentless. And I've always thought, why are you not making more of your stature and your size and the power at your disposal? I mean, the first time we ever saw Karen Hashanov, well, certainly the first time I ever saw him, was when he played that amazing match here against Rafael Nadal in 2018, a very close four-set match.

42:34Catherine Whitaker: And he was kind of electric that night. And there have been very few occasions since then where I've thought Karen Hashanov is electric. I've admired him for his consistency, but he's not been a player with big weapons on the court. And I just think it's going to be a real battle of attrition against Zverev. You know, a lot of drawn-out, long rallies. They'll both be trying to use serves to sort of back up their game and prop it up. But, yeah, like, I do think that's tricky for Zverev, as David says, if he's in anything close to the form he was in today. Hashinov will really test him.

43:15Matt Roberts: Did you know that Karen Hashinov's brother-in-law is Ilya Ivashka?

43:22Catherine Whitaker: I did not.

43:24Matt Roberts: Their wives are twin sisters. Right. Can you tell I've been on Karen Hashinov's Wikipedia?

43:30Catherine Whitaker: Still learning new things about Karen Hashinov in 2026. Absolutely.

43:35Matt Roberts: There you go. On that bombshell, that's it for part two. We'll be back in part three to preview the women's semifinals. 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 Fortune 500 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.

44:39David Law: water alone. Whether you're exercising, playing outside, or simply surviving a summer heat wave, it's an easy way to stay hydrated. Shop now at liquidiv.com. Liquid IV, hydration that goes wherever life takes you.

44:56Matt Roberts: Welcome back to part three of today's tennis podcast, where we turn our attention now to the best session in tennis, US Open Women's Semi-Finals night. Both matches played in the night session from 7pm. And this time around, it is the top four women's seeds that will play in the semifinals for the first time since 1975 here and for the first time at any Grand Slam since Wimbledon in 2009. It's a really cool lineup. 7pm, Irina Sabalenka against Jessica Bagula. That is followed by Coco Goff against Elena Rabakina. Sabalenka-Pegula playing here for the third year in a row. Obviously, it was the final two years ago, one in two tight sets by Sabalenka.

45:42Matt Roberts: Last year, it was a semi-final, one also by Sabalenka, but in three tight sets that time. Will this be Jessica Pegula's time, David?

45:54David Law: I'm going to say yes. I'm going to say yes for her to reach the final. Wow. I picked Pegula against Goff at the outset of the tournament. I'm going to stick with that I sort of I do feel like Sabalenka has improved and I think that was a huge win for her against Noshka in the previous round I do feel as though Pekuda's looked a bit tense and frustrated, exasperated with her game but I think that that will go away now that she's got to this stage she knows Sabalenka is the favourite for this match I think that will settle her down I think she will elevate her kind of competitiveness and not get so frustrated with herself in this match.

46:40David Law: Whether that's enough is another matter because Sabalenka has won their two matches at the US Open in the last two years, albeit them both being pretty close. I just think... I don't think Sabalenka's convincing enough for me. And Pegula, yeah, I see her getting there. Matt?

47:01Catherine Whitaker: look it's a tough one for me this i'm not going to lie because i've obviously said pagula is going to win the title and yet when i look at the four semi-finalists and if i'm sort of power ranking them both in terms of pedigree she's obviously fourth there because she's the only one without a grand slam title and form i also think she's in fourth based on how she's played this took this tournament i think sabalenka against noskova was better than pagula has been at any point this tournament i think goff has played at a higher level apart from today and i think the back can has played at a higher level so to actually then make the case that pagula can can do this it feels like something's really going to have to to change the thing is though i i do give a lot of weight to what David's saying there in terms of I like, I quite like this matchup for Pagula.

47:59Catherine Whitaker: I know that she's lost the last two here against Sabalenka. She's been the roadblock. But Pagula has played really well in those matches and Sabalenka has had to be at her absolute best to get through her. She's beaten Sabalenka this year. She's pushed her to three sets in a lot of their most recent meetings. She knows that she can have success against her. And if she's going to win this, I think it is going to be as David says. And Pagula is going to be a bit more relaxed because she's maybe not the favourite. Number one's gone. And she can just concentrate on her game and knowing that she can deal with Sabalenka's pace.

48:47Catherine Whitaker: And she can handcuff Sabalenka a bit with her depth and her ball strike. she is going to have to serve better than she has done. Her serve has been really a problem all tournament, and I've kept expecting it to get better, and it hasn't. And she's going to have to step that up. But let's not bail on the prediction now. She's in this situation. Part of the reason I thought Pagula might be primed to win the US Open this year was because I was expecting Irina Sabalenka to have a monster year and not have much left come the US Open. Then I reworked the theory and thought, well, Pagula can win the US Open because Sabalenka's out of form and she won't be the usual obstacle that she is.

49:32Catherine Whitaker: But now here we are. She hasn't had a monster year. She's played an amazing quarterfinal against Noskova and none of these things are true. And yet I'm still having to cling to my prediction. That's the bad situation I found myself in, but let's go with it.

49:44Matt Roberts: It's very like modern day of you to have a core belief that you're prepared to apply as much cognitive dissonance as required to in order to keep it true. Exactly.

49:57David Law: Very good. It's what I live on.

50:01Matt Roberts: I mean, it feels like nonsense for us all to predict Pagula because, objectively, Irina Sabalenka is the favourite in this match, but I think Pagula too.

50:09Catherine Whitaker: Do you as well? Wow.

50:11Matt Roberts: Well, I've been convinced all the way through that Irina Sabalenka is not winning this US Open, and I'm prepared to look stupid on Saturday if the defending champion and, well, she's world number one until Monday, isn't she? Current world number one. Sabalenka is standing there with the trophy. But it just doesn't feel like a tournament she's going to win to me, so I'm going to stick with it. And I like the match-up too. I agree with everything both of you have said, and I just feel Pergoula in this one.

50:42Catherine Whitaker: If Sabalenka plays at the level she did against Noskova... do you think she'll win?

50:52David Law: I don't think everything is done in isolation, though, is it?

50:56Catherine Whitaker: Because Pagula's level will affect Sabalenka's level. But in the same way that Noskova's level affected Sabalenka's level, right? Like, Noskova was really playing well in the middle portion of that match and causing Sabalenka to not be in charge of it, and yet she rose to it and upped her level and look like herself in a lot of moments. Like that, as a Pagula predictor, that would be my concern, that Sabalenka comes out of that Noskova match full of confidence again and playing better.

51:32David Law: I think Pagula plays big points better than Noskova did. I mean, that first set ended with a 7-1 tiebreak. Now, I realise that Sabalenka's brilliant at tiebreaks, but I just feel like Pagula plays big points very well. She's very experienced. And look, there are loads of reasons to pick Zawalenka, but I'm picking Pagula.

51:57Matt Roberts: I think for me, I just think Pagula will get her stressed in a way that we haven't seen her. I think she's been right on the edge all tournament. She's been fraught and it's been there to be tested. And I still think she's trying to perform this high-wire act of keeping a lid on her emotions, but also needing her emotions as a weapon. And I think Pagula can test that in a way we haven't seen yet, potentially cause a bit of an implosion, which, you know, we have seen it. I mean, French Open was kind of the most notable one this year, wasn't it? Six love final set against Diana Schneider.

52:45Catherine Whitaker: And then against Pagula in Berlin. Well, exactly.

52:48Matt Roberts: Six love final set there too. So, yeah, look, the logical pick, of course, is Samalenka. But I just feel Pagula here. Kuka Goff against Elena Rabakina. Won all head to head. Their last match was in Toronto just a few weeks ago. It went in Rabakina's favour, 6-2 in the third. It was tight. It was competitive. it's a nice looking match up this what's your feeling about it Matt very hard to say because

53:20Catherine Whitaker: of the Coco Gauff we saw today that that's put a lot of doubt in my mind you know like I think if if Gauff had looked more convincing I would have backed Gauff quite strongly I think but I do think if she shows up with the game she had today I think Rebecca Ibiza in a way that Andreva didn't. As much as Coco Gauff deserves an enormous amount of credit for staying in the match and competing today and, you know, those words, winning ugly, you could probably apply to this one. I think if she plays like that against Rebacca, she'll just get totally knocked off the court and it actually wouldn't be close at all.

54:03Catherine Whitaker: I think Rebacca is far less likely to get stressed out in the way that Andreva did, and she's also got her serve that she can rely on. And, yeah, so I think if Coco Gauff plays like that, Rebecca can have wins in straight sets. However, what I'm expecting is Gauff to be better than she was today. I think that can be a match that she's hopefully just got out of her system. And I could... I think I'm going to go Gauff. I think I'm going to go golf with the crowd with the night session with the form she's been in apart from in that match we've been convinced by Coco Goff for a while now for a reason and I'm just I guess not going to let one match totally throw me off my general feeling on golf which is that she's playing well so I'll go with golf David?

55:04David Law: Yeah very little to add to Matt in terms of reasoning because I'm also going golf and I also think that today if they'd played each other Rebecca is winning that match but similarly to with Pagula I think that that is out of golf system now and she is in this tournament in the sharp end the the bit that all eyes are on and the whole crowd is just going to be rooting for her and I think it elevates her. I don't think Rebecca will be falling apart. I don't think she will be necessarily really badly adversely affected by the crowd and that sort of thing. She might come out and be world number one and be the best version of her we've ever seen, which would be an interesting development.

55:51David Law: But I still think that Gough will drag her into the trenches, make it a struggle, make it a scrap and she's the best in the world at that.

56:02Matt Roberts: I think it helps Gough and Pegula that world number one is off the table.

56:07David Law: Perhaps

56:08Matt Roberts: particularly Pegula but I do think that just being done and dusted now helps everybody else that was involved in that mini side soap opera. I can't wait for these two semi-finals. I think Gough. I think Gough. Did I go Gough Pegula at the start? Did we all go to Vlopagula at the start? I think we did, yeah. And look, we've got Savalinka and Rabatkinner there

56:41Catherine Whitaker: that we're predicting to lose. They're both objectively the favourites, probably. I think probably. And they've played Australian Open finals against each other. There's no real reason to me why they couldn't play a US Open final against each other. They've been very, very good hard-court players. But I guess you've got to take into account the staging and the occasion and everything that comes with that on Women's Semi-Final Night at the US Open. Also, maybe there'll be a thing if... Maybe there'll be a bit of a snowball effect. If Pagula does manage to win the first one, you get the crowd up and everything, and then they're hyped for the American in the second one as well.

57:25Catherine Whitaker: These things can have an influence on the night, I suppose, which is hard for us to call right now.

57:31Matt Roberts: No bad scenarios in terms of finals though. Oh, it's brilliant. It's a great place to be, really is. Cannot wait. Hello to Leo, our US Open mascot, whose photo gave me such a boost today. It is Leo in a Superman cape. Me and my brother, well, my brother and I had Superman and Supergirl capes when we were little. And yeah, had a very soft spot for Superman. the Christopher Reeve edition and this is lovely stuff it's a dog and it's a superman cape and it's a tennis ball it's all my favourite things today Leo the caption reads today Leo is in his superman cape and so impressed by all the superhuman feats he's witnessed at this US Open and he is of course referring to your 6am podcast I'm sure

58:25Catherine Whitaker: I will take that because it honestly did feel It felt a bit like a superhuman feat.

58:31Matt Roberts: What time did you get back to the flat last night?

58:34Catherine Whitaker: Well, we went to bed just before seven.

58:37Matt Roberts: Bloody hell.

58:38Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, we had some toast, didn't we? Yeah, David made some toast.

58:41Matt Roberts: You had breakfast before going to bed. That's right. Is that our latest one? I say, oh, as if I was a part of it. Was that our latest one since the Andy Murray Australian Open night?

58:53Catherine Whitaker: Yeah. Yeah, I think so.

58:55Matt Roberts: when I had a red wine at 6am.

58:59David Law: That's right.

59:01Matt Roberts: Oh, the things this sport does to us. Thank you, Leo, for that lovely boost that you gave us today. Hello to our mascots, Bodhi, Maisie and Roger. Hello to our top folks and executive producers, Greg, Chris and Jeff. We are part of the Athletic Podcast Network. And before you go, if you're an NFL fan, you're probably doing what David has been doing throughout this podcast, which is double screening with the Seahawks.

59:26David Law: They've just won, by the way.

59:27Matt Roberts: Have they? Heroic comeback. I thought you looked distracted. 10-0 down.

59:31Catherine Whitaker: Oh, I knew David was distracted, but I'm glad it's good news for you.

59:35Matt Roberts: So if you're an NFL fan like David, then The Athletic has something really exciting for you starting. Well, it's already started, hasn't it? Yeah. Because the NFL season has started. The Athletic Live presented by Google Gemini. It's a brand new YouTube watch along on NFL game days featuring the biggest and the best beat reporters that The Athletic has to offer. You can even become part of the show in the interactive chat on YouTube. It all starts from September the 8th, which is yesterday. So it's underway now. It's on NFL game days and the YouTube channel is The Athletic Live. So do check that out if you fancy it.

1:00:14Matt Roberts: We're going to have some shout outs, Matt.

1:00:16Catherine Whitaker: I've had these in the agenda for days.

1:00:19Matt Roberts: Do you know, I'd forgotten all about the existence of shout-outs. I was surprised to find it there in the agenda.

1:00:26Catherine Whitaker: Yes, we are. We're pre-midnight, and that's my shout-out curfew. So here we go with Katie and Paula Wilson from Alabama.

1:00:36Matt Roberts: Hooray! Hello, Katie and Paula.

1:00:39Catherine Whitaker: Hi. And Katie has got this shout-out for her mum, Paula, who first introduced her to the pod.

1:00:45David Law: Oh, that's excellent work, Paula. You know how much I like people introducing their family and friends.

1:00:52Matt Roberts: Yeah, mother-daughter, that's lovely.

1:00:53Catherine Whitaker: That's very good. Katie says, we like to talk about tennis, talk about the pod, and go to tournaments together. This year we went to Charleston for the first time, and it was great. At the risk of going on a bit too long, Katie says, I have a Greg Allensworth story. Oh, I mean, you can absolutely... We've definitely got time for that. Katie says, I was recently in Montreal during the Canada Open, and right when I arrived and emerged from the train station, I saw none other than Greg Allensworth crossing the street. In the wild. I immediately texted my mum, Paula, to tell her. And we both laughed at the level of tennis fandom we had reached.

1:01:28Catherine Whitaker: And then we both said Matt would be proud. Love the pod. Thanks for keeping us entertained.

1:01:34Matt Roberts: I'm looking at Matt's face right now and I can confirm he is proud. Absolutely. Their surname being Wilson has reminded me of the slight situation that Karen Hashanov is in with Wilson, because I think we talked a couple of days ago, didn't we, about how he changed his racket before this tournament. But Wilson have made him the face of their new racket. Yes, the Defier, I think it's called. Which is the one that he had been playing with, obviously didn't enjoy, and he's gone back to his old racket, the Blade.

1:02:06David Law: So he's defied them.

1:02:07Matt Roberts: He's the face of the new one, which he is. That is a bit awkward, isn't it? It's pretty awkward, yeah. I mean, at least the one he's gone back to is still a Wilson, but still. Anyway, there you go. Thank you, Paulette and Katie, for giving me an opportunity to air my Wilson story.

1:02:25Catherine Whitaker: And finally, we have Jules Burner from Southfields, but now living in Portugal. Hello, Jules. Hi, Jules. And Jules grew up near Wimbledon Park and her grandma's house was at the top of Church Road. Oh, yeah. So as children, they would recreate matches in the back garden and they would even have Robinson squash bottles by their chairs for the change of ends. And they could hear the applause from the Wimbledon grounds in the summer. And Roger Federer became their idol because he rented the house next door to her grandma in his early years coming to Wimbledon.

1:03:03Matt Roberts: A house at the top of Church Road is just about as prime as real estate gets in southwest London. So cool. What a grandma to have. That's really cool. Southfield's just down the road from me. Yeah. And Portugal. David's a very big fan of Portugal.

1:03:21David Law: Absolutely. Yeah. Love it. Annual event.

1:03:25Matt Roberts: And Matt has become a Benfica fan.

1:03:28Catherine Whitaker: Yes. Marco Silva, João Polinha.

1:03:31Matt Roberts: The band back together. In search of wins, Matt has become a Benfica fan. They're absolutely flying. I'm somewhat surprised that isn't painful for you. It's a bittersweet sort of feeling.

1:03:43Catherine Whitaker: But I have no hard feelings against Marco Silva whatsoever. Even if he has left you to drop like a stone.

1:03:55Matt Roberts: It's been a tough 24 hours for Matt, David. He didn't need that.

1:03:59David Law: It's only three games in.

1:04:00Matt Roberts: Check out our DMs, Matt, and the messages about your stubble.

1:04:03Catherine Whitaker: Well, my mum said it looked okay. So maybe I will check the Instagram DMs.

1:04:11Matt Roberts: Folks, we will be back tomorrow, of course, with our Day 12 tennis podcast. We still have four more of these to come right the way through until the end of the US Open. We are part of the Athletic Podcast Network. Thank you for listening. We'll speak to you tomorrow.

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