US Open Day 13 - Will Djokovic ever win No.25, or is that it?

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1:18Matt Roberts: Hello and welcome to the tennis podcast on day 13 of the US Open. Unlucky for some, Definitely felt unlucky for us when we were being woken up by drilling at 9am this morning after getting to bed at 5. Thank you, New York City. But people bounce back. Yes. And here we are in our favourite media garden on quite a clammy night in New York City. It is shortly after 11pm and the men's singles final line-up is now set. and you'll be shocked, I tell you, shocked to hear that it's going to be the best two players in the world. Yannick Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz tussling for the final major title of the season come Sunday.

2:04Matt Roberts: The final was set up today by a straight sets victory for Carlos Alcaraz over Novak Djokovic and a four-set win for Yannick Sinner over Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime. That match having finished on the Arthrasch Stadium just behind us here. Only moments ago, the crowds are streaming away as we speak. Let's start with the match that everybody thought, maybe even assumed, would be the match of the day. Carlos Alcaraz beating Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-6, 6-2 to reach a second US Open final. David, how far was this from the match we hoped it would be?

2:44David Law: Yeah, I think it was quite far. I don't think it was the highest quality match at all. I actually think it was the worst performance that Carlos Alcraz has put in all week. That's not really surprising because it takes two players to produce a performance. And the things that Novak Djokovic is able to do are things that nobody else Carlos Alcraz played are able to do. That having said, the very moment that Al Kraz came out onto the court and began the knock-up, I'm watching from my commentary box window right at the top of the stadium, and I'm watching him hit repeatedly long as he's trying to warm up his forehand in particular.

3:27David Law: The forehand kept going about 7 to 10 feet long. And I'm thinking, that's a bit weird, because none of Djokovic's were going long. and I thought, OK, that suggests to me that he just hasn't got much feel. But I'm also mindful of, you know, it's just a knock-up and then they'll get cracking and so on. But as the match got underway, even though he broke early on and actually it felt like he really could have run away with that opening set and he was hitting big shots into safe areas of the court well, he didn't seem to me to have any feel. He kept on hitting drop shots that were going halfway up the net or too long and therefore for Djokovic to track down.

4:07David Law: Djokovic, meanwhile, just seemed unable to kind of move with the same degree of fluidity and freedom that certainly we've been used to in being able to do when they played in the Olympics last year or when they played at the Australian Open at the start of this year, even though he was injured in that. He always looked as though, God, this is hard work for me. And he kind of marked our card, really, in the press conferences that led up to this match, I think. I don't think Alcaraz ever really truly found his touch in quite the way that I think he's been doing all week and I actually suspect he will do again in the final but I think playing Djokovic freaks him out and I think it always has and I think it always will and he was on edge and it was about getting through it bottom line is he won in straight sets and that's a good day's work for Carlos Alcaraz

4:58Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, I think ever since their first meeting at a Grand Slam when Alcaraz had those cramps at the French Open to one degree or another I think it's been clear that part of Novak Djokovic has kind of taken up residence in Carlos Alcaraz's head and we've seen that in numerous meetings of theirs and often Djokovic has been able to get the better of him all the times they'd played on a hard court before this one. And I think we saw that today, not because of the quality of Novak Djokovic's tennis. There were times in that second set where he played pretty well, I thought, and had he been playing someone other than Carlos Alcaraz, he might have been made to look better today, Novak Djokovic.

5:46Catherine Whitaker: But just the sheer fact that he's Novak Djokovic, I think does still freak Carlos Alcaraz out a little bit. He basically said as much in the press conference. you know you're playing the guy who's achieved all of that and Alcaraz was just as David described there just didn't have his feel didn't have his usual control of the ball I thought he was making bad decisions like he kept trying to go back behind Djokovic rather than just ripping the ball into the open space and if he kept doing that Djokovic couldn't catch up with it because he was slow he didn't really have it in his movement today Djokovic because of this accumulation of matches.

6:25Catherine Whitaker: So because of all that, the first two sets were reasonably competitive. In fact, Djokovic went up a break in the second set right at the start of it. But Djokovic was not the dangerous player that he was against Alcaraz in Australia, for example. He wasn't timing the ball as sweetly. He wasn't moving as well. And therefore, Alcaraz didn't have to play as well to get back into it. And it was kind of a nothing match, actually. I was hyped for it because there was just that sense of what if Novak Djokovic can do it again against Carlos Alcarez? And that didn't happen, but equally we didn't really see the heights of Carlos Alcarez either.

7:15Catherine Whitaker: So it did fall a little bit flat to me, really, this one.

7:19Matt Roberts: Yeah, I agree with both of you that this was by far Carlos Sankaraz's least good performance of the tournament. But nothing about it really. I wasn't worried about him in the way that I have been when he's played Djokovic previously. I didn't feel like this was him just not showing up or freaking out to the extent that he just wasn't himself out there. absolutely his touch wasn't there and that is a tell isn't it for nerves but I didn't have my heart in my mouth when he went to hit ground strokes which at times with Carlos Alcaraz I have done and certainly against Novak Djokovic I just felt like the tone for this match was set by how early in it Novak Djokovic looked old and tired like everybody was expecting him to struggle if it went long and became physical but murmurs started going around the press room sort of first half of the first set few games in about Djokovic just so clearly looking old you know everything about this draw was as favorable as it could have been for Djokovic maximum rest time before this match the two days off Alcaraz the preferred of the two semi-final opponents out of Alcaraz and Siné.

8:44Matt Roberts: He had the extra day off right at the start of the tournament as well and he looked so far off it physically in the first set that it just felt like oh well how can this possibly be a match? Like Alcaraz is playing at 60 % and Djokovic is giving 110 and they're about the same same level even when Djokovic went three love up in the second set didn't feel like jeopardy to me personally it looked like Djokovic was hanging on and trying to pull rabbits out of hats and honestly like he didn't really deep down believe this time like he was trying his heart out and trying to convince himself he believed but as Vicky said on his group chat it wasn't reaching his eyes like I just didn't believe him this time

9:38David Law: yeah I think he was he was searching all the way through the match and and I still wonder what would have happened had he managed to snag that second set for both of them because if If he'd have won that, I don't think Alcruz was too far away from really freaking himself out as it went along the way he did in Australia. But he kept to the right side. I felt like there was a professionalism about him, that he knew he wasn't playing that well and he wasn't feeling it that much. So he was going to big spaces in most of the rallies. I don't think he was taking quite the chances that he has in the past.

10:20David Law: and he kind of made it physical. He knew what was going on down the other end and he made it physical. That's a really good professional play. But at the same time, I could see the potential for it becoming messy for him and then maybe Djokovic gets the crowd and gets the adrenaline.

10:40Matt Roberts: But the thing is he did get the crowd and the adrenaline in that second set and it wasn't enough.

10:45David Law: But he didn't win the set. That's the thing.

10:47Matt Roberts: But he had it there too. He was a break-up. He's three love up. The crowd are going for him. He's loving it. He's riling them up. And that wasn't enough. Alcaraz wasn't playing well. He was in his head. None of it was enough.

11:03David Law: No, no, it wasn't in the end. You're right.

11:04Matt Roberts: So he's in this utterly bizarre nether zone, Djokovic, of being so clearly the third best player in the world. That is all four major semi-finals. but he hasn't won a set in any of them. And most of it's been quite uncompetitive. Obviously, Australia, he retired. Paris was competitive, but straight sets. And these other two haven't really been competitive.

11:32David Law: It is really weird, isn't it? How much Taylor Fritz and Alexander Zverev and all these others feel?

11:39Matt Roberts: There's so many layers to this, how it reflects on the rest of men's tennis. What Djokovic is supposed to do, because you can't walk away from a career when you're reliably reaching Grand Slam semi-finals and you're so clearly the third best player in the world. And yet I totally understand why that's not enough for him, not enough to get him out of bed every day and do what he has to do to his body to get himself in this position. What a strange place he's in.

12:11Catherine Whitaker: It's bizarre. I've never experienced anything like this in my time following the sport, I don't think. You say it's not enough for him, though. It strikes me that he's slightly shifted what he's getting meaning out of. Because all of his career and all of our analysis has always been Novak Djokovic is in it to win. And he was kind of saying today in the press conference that he's accepted that he's not going to beat Sinan Alcarez over the best of five, particularly at the latter stages of tournament where he's built up little niggles and injuries and he's just not going in with five best of five set matches in his legs.

12:59Catherine Whitaker: he's not going into matches against them at 100 % and we saw that at Wimbledon and we saw it today he just can't give his all and it ends up being pretty one-sided against him but he seemed to be suggesting that he's getting quite a lot of meaning out of doing what he's doing to the rest of the tour and getting some love from the crowd and getting appreciation look it wasn't on the level that it was in Paris today but I think he took something from it. And the problem there, though, I think, is that it's more likely that the others catch up to him.

13:40David Law: But he's not going to get better, is he?

13:41Catherine Whitaker: Or he falls back to them, perhaps is a better way of putting it, than he catches up to Sinnoh and Alkraa. So I don't actually think there's that long that he's going to be in this nether zone. I think he's going to come back to the Fritzes, and the Zverevs and the Drapers and the Mosetti, you know, that group of players who are so clearly currently just below him. I don't know how much longer he's going to be in a state where he can get through to the semifinals of every single Grand Slam. I think he's going to have to adjust his goals maybe away from the Grand Slams. And that's a weird thing to say.

14:19Catherine Whitaker: He wants to keep playing the Grand Slams.

14:21David Law: He intimated that though, didn't he? Yeah.

14:22Catherine Whitaker: He suggested it. He was talking about best of three and the tour, and maybe that's where he can get some wins over Sinu and Alcarez and maybe pick up some titles as well.

14:32Matt Roberts: Yeah, I thought this was a huge shift in his press conference, actually. This is the guy that has made it extremely clear that he gives zero shits about any of tennis apart from the Grand Slams, and I totally get that at his stage of life and career. He's only been playing those other events for the last few years as means to an end, the end being hoped for success at Grand Slams.

15:02Catherine Whitaker: And he's taken different approaches before each slam this year. You know, US Open, he comes in not having played. He still ends up physically compromised at the end. Australian Open, he played a warm-up event a couple of weeks before, still ended up physically compromised. Paris, he played the week before, still ended up... OK, he was probably the strongest in Paris, actually. That was probably his best major this year. But none of the approaches to the rest of the tour has worked for his Grand Slam.

15:31Matt Roberts: Yeah, that's such a good point. And I think we all assume that once he reached this realisation or point at which he thought 25 is impossible, that that would be it. What's sustaining him is the belief that just maybe that's possible. where he pretty much said today, I don't think it is possible. While Yannick Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are still there, he said, I can't beat them over best of five sets. And he started talking, exactly as you said, Matt, about... He said, I'm not giving up on majors. He said he intends to play them all last year, but he basically said the love of the crowd is enough.

16:16and that's an interesting one because he's getting well no he's getting the love of the crowd because

16:22Matt Roberts: he's I'm sure I'll get hate for this but he's you know statistically the greatest male tennis player of all time and he deserves it he deserves the appreciation but he's also getting it because

16:36David Law: he looks old and because he is old and he is old and he's an underdog and all the things we've been talking about all year with him like it's a weird tension there between he's going out there

16:48Matt Roberts: and trying his hardest and he wants to win but actually it's being so far away from from winning that's getting in the love that actually might be what he wants more than the win and that's that is fascinating you've said it all along David but it is it is fascinating if he's choosing that validation and that love, if that can fill the gap of winning that's quite something

17:17David Law: It's temporary as you said and I do think there's a pretty good chance that 2026 ends up being his last and I could imagine him deciding to try to play them all if he feels able I've said a long time, lap of honour soak up the love but also maybe play some best of three set tournaments, get some more titles if he can. Maybe he can break that record. What are the numbers?

17:45Matt Roberts: Well, I came away from the press conference today thinking that will be his goal. It's 109, isn't it, the record?

17:54Catherine Whitaker: I don't think he's going to get that. But he can strive to get that. I think he can beat Federer's. I don't think he can beat... Is that enough?

18:02Matt Roberts: Federer's 103?

18:04Catherine Whitaker: Yeah. I think that would be quite nice for him. How many has he got to win?

18:06Matt Roberts: Do you think it's enough to get one over on Federer for him?

18:09Catherine Whitaker: Nine more titles for Djokovic, I think, is a crazy number.

18:13Matt Roberts: He's the third best player in the world, though. If he picks right...

18:16Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, I know, but... You'd have to literally avoid Sinner. He says all this about best of three. He says it, and I do believe him, because I believe that's where he thinks he might be able to get the odd win over Alcaraz and Sinner. You know, he's putting his losses down to physicality. when push comes to shove, I'm just not sure he is all that into playing best of three tournaments. Like, a lot of them are over two weeks. He's made his case pretty clear that he doesn't really fancy playing those. I think he can pick some off and potentially get over Federer's number. What's he on now? He's on 100, right?

18:58Catherine Whitaker: 100, right, so three behind. But I remember when Federer got to 103 and I was presenting for Amazon at the time and we did a big feature on it. I think it must have been Indian Wells time, 2018, 2019, something like that.

19:18Matt Roberts: And I remember all of the pundits predicting that he would break Conor's record. And of course, you know, that's recency bias and you don't know what's lurking around the corner and all the rest of it. I'm not going in on them for predicting that, but that felt achievable for him at the time. You know, I'm looking at the ATP calendar here. I can pick out some events for Novak Djokovic.

19:37Catherine Whitaker: Well, he's picked out Athens, which was actually news to me that that's on the calendar. He's got Athens on the books.

19:44Matt Roberts: I'm backing him there. Montpellier, end of January.

19:49Catherine Whitaker: he's not going to Montpellier

19:51David Law: if he sets that as his goal I just can't believe he cares enough

19:56Matt Roberts: Bucharest

19:56David Law: I don't think he cares I could imagine him wanting to get ahead of Federer I'm sure he'd love that but I don't think he's already won 24 majors he's won more Masters 1000s than anybody ever has he's been world number one for longer than anybody ever has

20:14Matt Roberts: Almaty

20:17David Law: I just think he's got an opportunity here to kind of go out on his terms in 2026 I just think a year-long goodbye tour

20:26Matt Roberts: just being sustained by the crowd cheering for him is a long time

20:31David Law: I don't think he would just be there because I think he would be competitive he talked about today the second set he enjoyed competing with Alcaraz and pushing him and I just think it becomes a little easier if you set yourself an end point where you can just throw yourself at it, know that you haven't got to do it the next year and talk to your kids, tell them, no, I'm not here this week, but you can come with me and we'll go for it and have a great time.

20:59Catherine Whitaker: It is interesting how we've come full circle on Djokovic, isn't it? When he came through for so long, he was number three. And then he pushed through that, overtook Federer, overtook Nadal, had a period where he was just on his own as the man. You know, that 2023 season, I know Alcaraz was pushing him and beat him in a Wimbledon final, but finally it was like Federer's gone, Nadal was injured, it was his time, and now at the end of his career, he's back to being three again. He's going to bookend his career with third wheeling.

21:39David Law: He even said I'm used to this. God, it is fascinating, isn't it?

21:46Matt Roberts: I mean, he's lost in straight sets today, and here we are, can't stop talking about him.

21:50Catherine Whitaker: And the other thing as well that I picked up today is that his tiebreak record, he's got a negative tiebreak record for the season, and he's got a really poor tiebreak record in the majors, three and eight now. You know, and you think, you know, last few years that's been his calling card, you know, That element has declined as well. I think he's not quite the guy in the big moments that he was. OK, he is in the first few rounds, but even today he's got the level to get it to a second set tie break. But then Alcarez took over and we've seen Sinner do similar to him as well. I think there's also the injury question.

22:40Catherine Whitaker: I know he's fit enough to play these slams and then suddenly he's running into physical issues in the semifinals, but what if he gets a more serious injury? If he wants to chase titles, he's going to have to play more. That risk increases.

22:59David Law: He could easily have a Federer moment where actually something goes and that's that. The age he is, particularly.

23:05Matt Roberts: What about Carlos Alcaraz here? How much does this performance today shake your confidence in this new professional, dialed in, consistent, reliable Carlos Alcaraz?

23:22David Law: I did think he would perform better than he did today, and it seems a bit harsh given he's just won in straight sets. I thought he would play better, but now that he hasn't, and given what I was noticing about the lack of feel, and given who he was against, I'm not that surprised actually in hindsight. So it doesn't shake it because I think that he now wipes that slate clean. There's a slightly different pressure because it's Sinner next and the last time he bled him, he lost to him. I personally think he will be ravenous and he has been all tournament long and I think now he's managed to take care of Djokovic, which is the real one that's to me more in his head.

24:05David Law: I think now he can come out and be free. And also, like I said, he got the job done. Even though he's going to have bad days, players have bad days. Sin has had a couple this tournament, relatively speaking, and he's still got the job done. That's what sets these players apart now to maybe what they were doing in the past. Certainly Alcaraz, when in the past he would lose to players like Medvedev. and he would obviously Bottic last year but there have been others and doesn't feel like those sort of things are happening at all and are going to happen so I feel very bullish about him Matt?

24:47Catherine Whitaker: I think similar to David I think I can put today's performance down to the Djokovic factor I think throwing it forward to Sinner which I know I'm sure we'll do in more depth later and tomorrow as well. But just on this specific point, it's funny because I think the narrative over the last year or so has been Alcrest shows up against Yannick Sinner. He had that streak of winning a load of matches against him. I do think Sinner's outplayed him in two Grand Slam finals this summer. Now, Alcrest sprinkled stardust on that Roland Garros final and won it back. and pulled off an absolute miracle there and ended up winning it.

25:34Catherine Whitaker: He's capable of doing that. But it did seem in the Wimbledon final, and I know Hanna is very big on this, it did seem like maybe Sinner was a little bit again in Alcaraz's head then, you know, when Alcaraz was talking about, I can't beat him from the baseline, I can't beat him from the baseline. That was very visible and obvious during that Wimbledon final. But I don't think he has the same freak out against Sinner that he's had against Djokovic. I think he's going to show up. I think he's going to bring it. I think he's going to play well. And I'm not thinking that he loses to Sinner because he has a really bad day and he doesn't have feel and his mind's going all over the place.

26:15Catherine Whitaker: If he loses, I think it will be because Sinner outplays him rather than because he doesn't show up. But I've actually shifted my feel on the final a little bit as this tournament's gone on. I was Sinner at the start of the tournament. have started to go towards Alcaraz and today hasn't actually shaken that feeling.

26:36Matt Roberts: Does that have anything to do with Alcaraz disclosing that he's got big hair plans for the scenario where he wins this title? Haven't we all, Carlos? Well, exactly. It's just that we have the same hair plans. Well, see, this is it. So he disclosed in press today that... So I think the question he was asked was, will you keep the hair? If you win the US Open. And the answer was, oh, no, I've got something new planned for the hair if I win the US Open. And everybody was sort of looking at him like, there's nowhere to go from here, Carlos. What is a wig? Like, what are we doing? And then Matt pointed out, colour.

27:21Matt Roberts: Bleach is where you can go from here because Matt's obviously got bleach on the brain.

27:26David Law: So imagine. Maybe he's an Amanda Anissimo lad as well.

27:31Matt Roberts: Imagine if Matt and Carlos take the plunge in the same weekend.

27:35David Law: Maybe he's got his own backhand list.

27:37Matt Roberts: Maybe he'll bring Victor out. Yeah, we can double up. Yeah. Another come and get me plea tonight's podcast. Victor the barber.

27:47Catherine Whitaker: I think we've got more chance with him.

27:50Matt Roberts: It's not going well with Bruce, folks. OK, well, I feel like we can't go much further down the Alcaraz road and kind of talking about the final and Matt and Carlos going blonde together before we talk about the second semi-final. So that's it for part one. We'll be back in part two to talk about Yannick Sinner and Felix Auger-Aliassime.

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30:45Matt Roberts: Welcome back to part two of the tennis podcast, where we turn our attention now to the second of the two men's singles semifinals that we saw under the lights on the Arthur Ashe Stadium tonight. And maybe we all owe Felix Auger-Aliassime a huge apology, because he might have helped to deliver the men's match of the tournament on the Arthur Ashe Stadium tonight. There have been great outside court matches, but I do think this is a contender, albeit not in a particularly crowded field, for the best men's match that Arthur Ashe has seen this fortnight. Beaten by Sinner, Auger Liasim, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

31:28Matt Roberts: And it was a great match, David.

31:30David Law: It was. It was everything that I have always wanted to see from Felix Auger Liasim in the past few years, since he was world number six and reaching the semifinals here four years ago and winning the Davis Cup and beating Yannick Sinner 6-1, 6-2 in that match in Madrid that I'm always thinking about because I just happened to see it. There was hardly anybody in the stadium. It was not on the main stadium court and I always remember seeing it and thinking well why on earth can't you do what he's doing? You're not that different. That's what I always feel like when I line the two of them up next to one another the same sort of height the same sort of movement a huge forehand both of them big serve okay miles better backhand that Sinner's got but why is Sinner so much better now than Felix Auger Liasim it's never really made sense to me and yet the results tell their own story one guy's competing for Grand Slam after Grand Slam and the other guy was 27 in the world I don't really know what happened to Ogeli Asim.

32:34David Law: But this fortnight, he has shown that actually, raw materials-wise, he has got it. He might not be as good as those two. He's not. Look, he's not. He's not as talented. He doesn't have the feel that they do. He doesn't have, I think, the mental strength that they have. And like I say, an inferior backhand, relatively speaking. But he's come into this tournament. He's beaten Zverev handily on the comeback from a set down. then he's backed that up which would have been very easy not to do and then he's come out today being I actually think quite competitive and has said he lost 6-1 in the first set and it would have been very very easy for him to just get dispirited by that and instead he came roaring back I think he had the crowd pretty mesmerized by his own movement his athleticism he let everything go he he saw his features relax I love the way that his face was just enjoying it You could see that he was loving the moment and the competition.

33:34David Law: And I don't understand why that wouldn't be repeatable in the future. This level of tennis from Felix Algiali Asim. I can't believe it's only two weeks ago that I had a chat with him about trying to get back to what he did three years ago and what's different. And here he is, he's done exactly that. And huge credit to him. He pushed Sinner today. I think he worried Sinner. I think something physically was going on with Sinner as well. He went for a medical timeout off court. He says that's not going to be a problem. But my word, was he pushed by Auger Lassim today?

34:11Matt Roberts: Do you agree, Matt, that this is the start of something for Felix Auger Lassim rather than a blip on the radar?

34:23Catherine Whitaker: I hope so. I guess I think so as well, because that level was so good. And as David said, not only beating Zverev, but backing it up by beating Rublev and Dominoor, I think showed a real steal to him. And then there have been... I think I've been a bigger doubter about his top level over the last couple of years. I've just wondered whether this tennis was in there. But my word, he was brilliant. really really good like great coming forward had a lot of success at the net tonight that forehand you know if it's doing that damage to sinner it can do damage to anyone i would say the backhand yes it's the weaker wing but it held up well enough he he put pressure on with the serve and he had some some swag to him he had the he had the crowd going you know like they were really into this i went out into the media seats about halfway through the match and he was roaring and playing with intent and conviction and the crowd went with him which was brilliant to see and the start of that fourth set was probably the the most fun i'd had watching a men's match on ash this tournament you know like he was bringing out the best in sinner because i have to give a give a shout out to a shot that Sinner played to save a break point in that fourth set where I think it's up there with Alcaraz's behind the back for men's shot of the tournament it wasn't as fun it wasn't as extravagant but it was equally mind-blowing because the ball was basically behind him and it It was on his baseline, and Augie Alessin had whacked a forehand down the line, and yet Sinner managed to just sort of bend down and hook it with two hands, the backhand, onto the opposite line, cross-court, like the outside of the line, and it was a clean winner to save the break point.

36:28David Law: Everybody was looking at it, including Augie Alessin, going, well, that's not in, is it?

36:31Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, how have you done that? Like, that is not possible. That was past you, and you've hit it for a winner. Like, what? It was extraordinary.

36:40David Law: I assumed it was a miss hit, and then you look at it, and it's come right out of the centre of the strings.

36:45Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, it was a joke. And there was a series of shots around that time in the match. They were both bringing it. I was having a lot of fun. Yeah, he was, to me, you know, you can kind of say, you can look at this, and it bears a similar sort of trajectory or resemblance to the Shapovalov match, you know, a few rounds before. To me...

37:07Matt Roberts: Something about those Canadians.

37:09Catherine Whitaker: To me, Orjali Asim was a more dangerous opponent today. I didn't trust Shapovalov. I actually thought Orjali Asim was going to keep bringing it and it would be up to Sinner to raise his level and I think he did in the crucial moments. I think he really stepped up, fended off break points and hit some spectacular shots down the stretch. But he was briefly really under threat today from Orjali Asim and you're right, I owe him an apology. I thought even if he brought his best, he wouldn't be able to hurt Sinner like he did.

37:43Matt Roberts: Same. So you both think the competitiveness of this match was all about Felix Orgelia's seam and not about a drop-off from Sinner? Are there any Sinner concerns?

37:56David Law: Oh, I think it is twofold. I don't think it's in isolation. And as I look over your shoulder there, Matt, at a huddle around, I think, Yannick Sinner.

38:08Matt Roberts: No, I think it's actually Simone Vagnossi.

38:10David Law: Oh, OK. Can't even see him. There are so many Italian journalists.

38:14Matt Roberts: I think they're using him to fill the time before Yannick Sinner comes to press.

38:20David Law: I see. Well spotted. But what I noticed, the serves weren't going in. The serves. I didn't see the percentage, but it was not. 53 for the match.

38:29Catherine Whitaker: That's too low. And that has been a bit of an issue all tournament. It's been a bit of an issue this summer, actually, I would say, for Sinner. And when I look at Alcaraz and Sinner matching them up in the final, we know that they can both, you know, extend each other to their limits in rallies and all that kind of thing. And actually, maybe we've reached a phase with the matchup where they're both such good shot makers. because they're both such good movers, I think the serve is going to be an absolutely crucial element. And I think Alcaraz is serving better than Sinner right now. And he didn't at Wimbledon in the final there, did he?

39:09David Law: Exactly. He was way down.

39:10Catherine Whitaker: A big difference. And look, maybe we said that going into the Wimbledon final, that we expected the Alcaraz serve to help him and show up, and it didn't. And it may well not again on Sunday, but based on how they've been serving this tournament, and with that little ab issue that I know he's played down there, but it's in the back of my mind, and that would affect the serve, I think. That could be a difference maker, and I think Sino is going to want to get that percentage way up, 10 % up on where he currently is.

39:44Matt Roberts: If I was over there in the huddle with Simone Vagnossi, and I'm glad I'm not.

39:50Catherine Whitaker: As you're Italian. It's a lot of people. I hate huddles. Huddles. Oh, yeah, they freak me out. David loves them. I do.

39:57Matt Roberts: No woman would ever come up with the idea of a huddle. No. Because it's so favours. The bigger and taller and the more space you take up, the better you're going to do in a huddle. Anyway, if I were risking my life over there in that enormous huddle, I would be asking Simone Vagnossi what on earth's Yannick Sinner's obsession is with white towels. Yes. That would be my big journalistic question.

40:22David Law: There was a comical moment where he's sent for towels and they came back with a year's supply and they were all folded up.

40:30Matt Roberts: But these pristine white towels, because they had towels on the court, but they're the US Open towels, you know, which have the big logo on and stuff. He wanted, a bit like me from the hotel laundry, he wanted pristine white towels.

40:45David Law: Boy, did he get them.

40:46Matt Roberts: And he got them, but I didn't know he was such a pristine white towel fanatic. But now I do, and unfortunately I have missed the huddle, so I've missed the chance to ask.

40:57David Law: Yes.

40:57Matt Roberts: I think he's meticulous, isn't he?

40:59David Law: I think that is true. These are the things you miss if you're in the media seats. You say, Matt, we were watching on telly. Yes.

41:06Catherine Whitaker: I didn't have a clue what you were talking about. I've really missed out. I thought I had quite a good sense of the match, but I've missed out on the towels.

41:14Matt Roberts: But you miss Simone Vignosi stalking. He had to sort of stalk his way down to court level with this pile of towels.

41:22Catherine Whitaker: I'm sure the internet will help me out.

41:24Matt Roberts: Yeah, I think the internet's got you. That's the final of all four slams in 2025 for Yannick Sinner. That's pretty badass.

41:32David Law: And, you know, the fact that almost at the first time of asking in their real rivalry, Sinner and Alcaraz are playing each other in the final. When you think of the decade and a half that Nadal and Federer spent missing one another.

41:47Catherine Whitaker: And, yeah, this is it. This is uncharted territory. It's the first time in the Open era that three men, you know, we had the stat on the start of the tournament, didn't we, that three men have played three slams against each other in the same season. You know, none of the big three combinations managed it. Even, as you said, when Federer and Nadal had a grip on the sport, you know, they were so clearly one and two in 2005, six, seven, eight. They didn't manage it. You know, there was a deficiency for one of them. At that time, it was often Nadal here, wasn't it? Not getting to the US Open final.

42:28Catherine Whitaker: But so quickly, we've gone from a year ago, Alcaraz and Sinner hadn't played a grandstand final against each other. Now, they've played three in a row. It feels like, how are they not going to play all the grandstand finals against each other for the next five years? They won't. Things will happen. But it's so hard to see it right now.

42:47David Law: But it is interesting as well that because at the moment there isn't that third player, this could keep on happening. This could be Chris Everton, Martina Navratilova, this rivalry.

43:02Matt Roberts: That is incredible, isn't it? Just for Sinner individually, the final of all four slams in a year that he served a ban. I mean, maybe it's because, not in spite of, or putt not entirely because.

43:16Catherine Whitaker: but yeah it's been somewhat helpful for him to have but it is still the rest when he did have it remarkable yeah i mean the company's in is what leva federer djokovic and sinner on the men's side

43:30Matt Roberts: not even nadal okay well i mean you can give me early predictions for that final if you want but you don't have to and if you do give them you have the right you've got 24 hours to change your mind

43:45David Law: I'm going to give myself 24 hours to have a good think about it I mean I did pick Al Kraz at the start of the tournament and I do think he's been fantastic all the way through a little bit shakier today even though he won in straight since against the great Novak Djokovic but I'm just going to give myself 24 hours to have a think and watch some highlights of those great matches from the past maybe maybe we'll see that 2022 match here that i missed just like giri let's get it on so that we

44:20Matt Roberts: can absolutely yeah i don't i don't need any encouragement matt well i hinted at it that i've

44:31Catherine Whitaker: moved towards elkaraz over the course of this tournament i think given what i saw in their the Grandstand Finals and given the general hard court record that Sinner's had, I felt like Sinner was going to win this at the outset of this tournament. The serve, as I've talked about, is an element where I think Alcaraz's had the edge this tournament. I'm just a little bit more convinced by Alcaraz, I suppose. I just think he's playing closer to his absolute best maybe and uh as as david's been talking about you know given he lost the last one i think he's going to be desperate to win this one i just maybe the alcaraz magic is going to be back on sunday i suppose is kind of what i'm thinking at the at the moment that's where i'm at but maybe i'll maybe i'll have gone swung back to sinner in 24 hours time it's it's it's tight it's kind of this thing where you've got this real like six rounds of the men's draw feel like we know what's going to happen in terms of like Alcres and Sinner are going to be there like the big picture is not that fun at the moment but if you do get the payoff and you get Sinner and Alcres in the final it's like the most fun like it's on a knife edge we know they match up well it's this is the payoff worth

45:55Matt Roberts: Is that worth it for you?

45:58Catherine Whitaker: At the moment, yes. At the moment, we're young enough into this rivalry, you know, and we had Paris. I've still got the memories of Paris. How can I have watched that and say, oh, it's not worth it? Because that was literally one of the best things I've ever been at in my life. Like, it was extraordinary. And the prospect that it might happen again or something close to it might happen again, at this stage is enough for me. Ask me in a year's time if they've played. I will be doing just that, yeah. You know, if they've played all of them and I'm waiting for other guys to step up, you might start to tire of it.

46:37Catherine Whitaker: But right now, and also I look at these slams as a big picture and the women's draw offers so much of what the men's draw doesn't, you know, jeopardy throughout. and I can get a lot of pleasure from just that element of it. If I was only a watcher of men's tennis, sure, I might be a bit bored through two weeks, but I'm not.

47:02David Law: I do remember when I was very young that I used to find the rivalry of Everton-Navratilova and I only really saw Wimbledon, but I saw several finals in a row between the two of them. I used to find the tournament a bit boring until they would meet because they would beat everybody so one-sidedly. I mean, it was different to what we're seeing now. Right now, I mean, to me, it's up to the rest. I don't want these two to just fall over and then somebody else to come through or something like that. I want somebody else exciting to gatecrash. That's what you want long-term. Otherwise, let them get on with it.

47:47David Law: They're such a wonderfully diverse rivalry. They're so different to one another. They bring such unknown and unpredictability to what actually ends up happening when they do meet that I always feel like, well, OK, if there are no shocks and you end up with those two, chubbs are good.

48:09Catherine Whitaker: You feel differently, Catherine?

48:11Matt Roberts: I feel the same way as you, Matt, that because I'm seeing the sport, I take a holistic approach, to quote Amelie Maresmo, to the sport, and I've got men's and women's that I can get from the women's tournament what I'm lacking in almost all of the men's apart from the final, but just taking the men's in isolation. I love Cine Around Crowds it's absolutely nothing to do with me not loving that as much as as you two or or as much as anybody like I live for it but how many matches are there in a Grand Slam?

48:59David Law: quite a few it's a long way hundreds

49:04Matt Roberts: like it's a I don't think it's a great state of affairs at the moment the whole tournament being about one match. Grand Slam quarterfinals everywhere apart from Wimbledon. This is such a sort of enlightening, eye-opening moment when Matt pointed out this element of it all. They're the only singles match happening at the time that they are happening. There's nowhere else to look. If they're a dud, you kind of start watching them. And there's a lot of duds. Yeah.

49:38David Law: I still think that had he not suffered a stress fracture in his back, that Arta Feast would be edging his way to gatecrash in the party.

49:46Matt Roberts: But people are suffering that sort of injury because there's too much tennis.

49:49David Law: Yeah, definitely.

49:52Matt Roberts: And, you know, we're potentially... Yeah, that's a whole other discussion, but...

49:57David Law: Get well soon, Arta. Come on, get in there!

50:00Matt Roberts: Do you actually think that Arta could be the great gatecrasher?

50:03David Law: Yeah. I don't think he's as good as them yet. certainly not yet and may not be potentially but I actually just look at his physicality and his ground strokes and his serve and think wow he can live with them you know he's got the way the way he played Alcraz so close in Monte Carlo should have beaten him that day I know he got heavily beaten in Barcelona when they met shortly afterwards but just yeah I think that if he could get himself back fully fit and get back to where he was and then move on again I do think he could well that would be fun and very welcome I mean not all the time he's not going to suddenly start sharing the Grand Slams out with them but I think he could he could do a Del Potro or he could do a a Vavrinka

50:52Matt Roberts: okay would be here for that David you get another 24 hours before your prediction Matt you have the right to change your mind that's it for part two but do join us in part three for a few other results from day 13 and a look ahead to Matt's big day in New York tomorrow. 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.

51:40Matt Roberts: Learn how ServiceNow puts AI to work for people at servicenow.com.

51:47Catherine Whitaker: Hey guys, it's Joe. It's Kevin. And this is Nick Jonas from Hey Jonas. Do you remember growing up when it felt like every teacher had a favorite student? Everybody knew who it was. Well, I was homeschooled, so I like to think it was me. A class of one. Congratulations. But we're not here to talk about favorite students. We want to talk about a teacher's real favorite. Kleenex tissues. According to TeacherList, Kleenex is the number one facial tissue brand trusted by teachers. Kleenex ultra soft tissues are silky soft to help prevent skin irritation. And now you can take them anywhere with Kleenex Snap and Go.

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52:47Matt Roberts: Welcome back to part three of the Tennis Podcast, where just before we get on to our big predictions for tomorrow's women's singles final, a few other results from today here at Flushing Meadows The women's doubles title was won by the Canadian Kiwi duo of Gabby Dobrowski and Erin Routliff. 6-4, 6-4 over Katrina Siniarkova and Taylor Townsend. It's the second US Open doubles title they have won as a pair. An incredible journey they have been on. Obviously, Gabby Dobrowski in particular, having, you know, this time a year ago, she was undergoing treatment for cancer. This is the most wonderful, uplifting comeback story.

53:35Matt Roberts: And they are, in the words of Matt Roberts, quite a pair, Dabowski and Routliff. And Gabby Dabowski in particular, what a player.

53:45Catherine Whitaker: I've always thought she was good. She really is a brilliant doubles player. And I think these two complement each other really, really well. Routliff's got a bit of a funny serve, but quite a big serve. Dubrovsky's got great reactions at the net. Routelift's really solid at the net. They're just a really, really strong pair. And any doubles team that beats Siniarkova and partner, let alone Siniarkova and Townsend, you've got to be a very strong pair to beat them. I think this tournament was a lot for Taylor Townsend. I think, you know...

54:26Matt Roberts: Yeah, she came to press drinking her honey juice, didn't she?

54:29Catherine Whitaker: Right. Which I loved. Yeah. But I think maybe did point to... Just maybe ran out of gas a little bit. Like, it looked like this was going to be more one-sided. There were 6-4, 3-0 up, Dubrovski and Routliff, and then Townsend and Siniak have had a bit of a surge, got back into it. Great crowd on Ash, you know, really, really good to see that. but they just couldn't quite complete the comeback and Dabrowski and Routelift deserving winners I think.

54:59Matt Roberts: Townsend was incredibly generous about Dabrowski and Routelift but she also said the shadow was a problem for her today. She said the shadow made it hard to pick up the ball coming from certain directions and it was very quick adjustments that we had to make when we changed sides. Say it Taylor.

55:19David Law: Yeah.

55:20Matt Roberts: The women's wheelchair doubles was won by the third-seeded Chinese pair of Zhao Weili and Ziyi Wang. They beat Dida de Routes and Zhu Zhenzhen, 6-4, 7-6. Any victory over Dida de Routes is very impressive. Although she's on the comeback trail, isn't she, from surgery de Routes? But very impressive for the Chinese pair. The men's wheelchair doubles title was won by Gustave Fernandez. and Tiquito Oda over Alfie Hewitt and Gordon Reid. 6-1, 2-6, 10-6. Poor old Alfie Hewitt just seeing Tiquito Oda at the other end of the court in these finals is just absolutely brutal for him, isn't it? And the quad wheelchair doubles final was won by Guy Sasson and Niels Vink, 6-1, 6-1, over the unseeded pairing of Chilean Francisco Keulef and Argentinian Gonzalo Enrique Lazzate.

56:20Matt Roberts: So an incredible tournament for that unseeded pair. But Sasson and Vink, the eventual champions tomorrow. We have arrived at day 14 of the US Open 2025. Saturday, the 6th of September, we start with the men's doubles final. Marcel Grenoilles and Horacio Zabias against Joe Salisbury and Neil Skubsky. and then, not before 4pm, the women's singles final. Irina Sabalenka or Amanda Anisimova. David, your prediction, please.

56:59David Law: Oh, dear, dear, dear. He's looking at me right now. I mean, look, I do love matches between these two over the rivalry. I enjoy the way that Sabalenka, she knows no other way than to bring it and attack an opponent but Anisimova is that rare player that can counter-attack and and actually deflect it and take make it worse for Sabalenka that she's attacking so absolutely fascinated by it I remember the match they played at the thing at the French open um and uh and and that was samalenka um despite a sort of brief period of of of response and resurgence from anisimova and then of course the wimbledon semi-final which uh i always felt that anisimova was going to get the better of that one i did feel that she when i remember i think i was commentating on it or i certainly watched all of it and she always felt like she was the better player in that match this one with all the the build-up that Anissa Mervis just had and the the long matches that have that I do think will have taken a little bit out of her and and so forth I think I think she'll still play it and push her really close and have her moments but I feel Sabalenka is going to get the job done in three

58:23Matt Roberts: Matt

58:26Catherine Whitaker: well obviously you know what I'm what I'm picking can I tell you the sort of things I'm thinking about yes exactly

58:33David Law: if you took the blonde hair out of it

58:35Catherine Whitaker: what would you really say now I think I think you could describe it and I was talking about this with Pam earlier as a little bit of a sort of baggage Grand Slam final you know like we've talked a lot about the remarkable job that Amanda Nisimova has done to come back from that double bagel in the Wimbledon final. Like, extraordinary that she's back in the very next Grand Slam final, that she's beaten the opponent, but, like, has... It's kind of like she's come back, but has she come all the way back? Because now we're going to see her in a Grand Slam final again. And I know it's not Wimbledon, I know it's not Svante, but she's got to meet that moment and respond to that moment again and that that is an element here I think she will but it's it's it's something that you could maybe say is in Sabalenka's favor going into it the flip side of that is that Sabalenka's got her own grandstand final baggage herself I would say I know she's won three of them but that whole thing of Sabalenka constantly playing on the edge and teetering, I think is heightened in these Grand Slam finals.

59:51Catherine Whitaker: And we've seen it here against Coco Gauff. We've seen it at the French Open against Coco Gauff. To a lesser extent, in Australia, I don't think it was because she played badly in that final. I think Madison Keyes ripped it from her. But I think Amanda Nisimova can rip it from her as well. So maybe that kind of evens it up. The biggest thing I think in Sabalenka's favour is the potential fatigue that Anissa Mova is going to be feeling physically, emotionally, mentally from the last few days. which I think have been an extraordinary effort to beat Chfiontech and then to come back and beat Osaka at one o 'clock in the morning last night.

1:00:44Catherine Whitaker: Is that going to take its toll? She talked about feeling exhausted in that Wimbledon final, off the back of the semi-final. Hopefully they've learnt as a team and they've got a different approach and all that kind of thing. And again, I'm banking on that happening because my pick is Amanda Nisimova in three sets. Savalinka's not lost in straight sets at a slam since the COVID US Open. She played over 100 matches at slams in that time and not lost in straight sets. She always wins a set. Now, you know, that stat will probably be broken at some point, but I don't really feel like it's going to be here.

1:01:26Catherine Whitaker: I think if Anissimo was going to do it, she's going to be giving every last drop of what she has in a third set. And I think those ground strokes are going to come up, come on strong and get her over the line. And she's going to win her first Grand Slam title. That's my prediction. My entirely rational, logical prediction.

1:01:54Matt Roberts: Matt's planning to get a haircut tomorrow morning can I disclose that to the people

1:02:00Catherine Whitaker: I was planning that but we've got a lovely bagels appointment

1:02:04Matt Roberts: yeah we've got a dog and bagels appointment

1:02:08Catherine Whitaker: all around Matt Futterman's and that's you know it's not we can't miss that we want to go to that the haircut would require getting up early We were woken up this morning by drilling, as you've described.

1:02:23Matt Roberts: Orgelia, seem extended our evening longer than okay.

1:02:25Catherine Whitaker: There's a lot of factors from when I had planned the haircut. So maybe we're just going to do it all in one go. Okay. But just to be clear. Haircut and then dye all in one go.

1:02:35David Law: So, absolutely categoric, if Amanda Onissimova wins the US Open, tomorrow night you are dyeing your hair blonde in tribute to the fact that Onissimova... Is not blonde. It's not long.

1:02:51Catherine Whitaker: It's on record. It's on a podcast. It's got to happen. It's been on record for a while. I'm not going to go back on it.

1:02:59Matt Roberts: I know where all the hair salons are in midtown Manhattan now after some Googling. It's going to be great. It's going to be so great. Wow. What's your prediction?

1:03:18Matt Roberts: I am genuinely leaning towards Anissa Mova I know I was at Wimbledon and that is well maybe not leaning towards but I gave her a good chance at Wimbledon I actually can't remember what I predicted but I certainly didn't predict Love and Love to Sabalenka

1:03:35Matt Roberts: but I just feel I feel so differently about Anissa Mova now in a way that makes me feel makes me realise how

1:03:48how much I didn't give enough weight

1:03:52Matt Roberts: to the sort of, you know, being the first Wimbledon final and recovery and exhaustion and all of that. I don't, I'm giving significantly less weight to all of that this time because she's been there and because of how positively she's channeled all those experiences and turned them into strength. All we've seen from Anissa Mova is evidence of how everything that she went through at Wimbledon has made her better and more resilient and more able to cope with these things. So yes, I do have a worry and a question mark about how late it went last night and how physical it was. You know, just the getting to bed late, like all jokes aside, we went through all of that and we're hoping to bounce back strong tomorrow but today's been tough and we don't have to run about right and we today's not sort of a crucial day in our preparations for a grand slam final so i'm not giving no weight to that i just think that having been through something so similar at wimbledon she she's going to find a way to metabolize all of that and i back her tennis

1:05:06David Law: Well, and she likes the Sabalenka ball.

1:05:08Matt Roberts: Yeah.

1:05:09David Law: She didn't, she'd never experienced the Svantec ball and she ended up hating it in that environment. She just could never get going at all. And she's not going to have those sort of balls to chase, I don't think, not the same time.

1:05:21Catherine Whitaker: It was a double unknown, wasn't it, in the Wimbledon final? It was the first Grand San final and first time facing Svantec. Now, Kate's first US Open final, but she's been in a Grand San final. She's faced Sabalenka, she's beaten her. Winning record. Right. There's just a lot more reason to believe. If you see what I did there.

1:05:42Matt Roberts: See what you've done there. What have you done there?

1:05:45Catherine Whitaker: I've named a Bruce Springsteen song. Have you?

1:05:51Matt Roberts: Hoping for glory days. Oh, my God.

1:05:56David Law: Even I've heard that one.

1:05:58Matt Roberts: On that note, hello to our mascots, Phoebe, Maisie and Roger. Hello to our top folks and executive producers, Greg, Chris and Jeff. Should we have some shout outs, Matt?

1:06:10Catherine Whitaker: Yes, I think we should, considering... We don't have a bus to run for. No, and we've been, you know, we haven't done shout outs for a few days. So let's bring them back. We have Sam Woodside from Christchurch, New Zealand. We know Sam.

1:06:25Matt Roberts: We know Sam.

1:06:26Catherine Whitaker: Right, Sam.

1:06:28Matt Roberts: We've met Sam in Melbourne.

1:06:30Catherine Whitaker: Yes, we have.

1:06:31Matt Roberts: Did Sam buy us drinks?

1:06:36maybe

1:06:37Matt Roberts: maybe thank you Sam if you did

1:06:39Catherine Whitaker: he certainly attended our Melbourne live show and he watched 10 minutes of the best player in the world with David on court 1573

1:06:48David Law: what an experience I remember Sam yeah he was wearing a tennis podcast t-shirt and Mahatch was playing against was it the Apelka match no it wasn't the Apelka match he was playing Sumit Nagal it was Sumit Nagal And I went and got... You went and sat with all the Sumi Nagal fans. Yes, I did. I got some amazing seats right on the front row with them. It was fun.

1:07:13Matt Roberts: It was fun. It's good on those medium-sized courts in Australia, isn't it? That is a great thing about Australia. Oh, Australia. Sam, thank you for whetting my appetite for the next Grand Slam.

1:07:26Catherine Whitaker: Cheers, Sam. We've also got Stephen Wright.

1:07:29Matt Roberts: Hello, Stephen.

1:07:30Catherine Whitaker: Hi, Stephen. Stephen completed the fan slam at the 2023 Australian Open finals. Stephen says, I saw the Avengers superhero matchup of Sabalenka-Rabatkinah.

1:07:44Matt Roberts: Wow. That was a heck of a mess.

1:07:46Catherine Whitaker: A great match. God, that was good. And Stephen also says, I will be first in line if and when Hannah writes an adventure novel. It would be so laugh out loud and not put downable.

1:07:58Matt Roberts: anything Hannah writes is laugh out loud and not put down a ball just seeing that we've got a whatsapp from Hannah my pulse races a bit like oh this is going to be good

1:08:09Catherine Whitaker: so true

1:08:11Matt Roberts: Stephen with a V or a PH?

1:08:14Catherine Whitaker: with a PH like my middle name like Matthew Stephen Matthew Harry Stephen

1:08:24Matt Roberts: I knew it was posh I just couldn't remember.

1:08:27Catherine Whitaker: It's definitely posh.

1:08:29Matt Roberts: Matthew, Harry, Stephen Roberts. There you go.

1:08:31David Law: Like Stephen Shaw, a British tennis player from the 80s.

1:08:35Matt Roberts: There we go. Thank you, Stephen.

1:08:39Catherine Whitaker: And finally, we have George Blomfeld from Brisbane.

1:08:44Matt Roberts: Hello, George.

1:08:47Catherine Whitaker: George says, my partner Eliza got me onto the tennis podcast. Well done, Eliza. we frequently have tennis battles where she usually beats me 6-3. What a specific school line.

1:09:00David Law: Single break, that's enough, serve it out.

1:09:04Matt Roberts: It's very Pete Sampras.

1:09:06Catherine Whitaker: Oh, and George says, I think she's met some of the crew at the Australian Open with her friend Maddie. I've met Eliza and Maddie, definitely. I think outside an Amanda and a Samova match, in fact. Well, chances are quite good. Yeah.

1:09:23Matt Roberts: OK, right.

1:09:27David Law: Tennis Georges.

1:09:28Matt Roberts: Yeah, if it's not clear, I'm struggling with... George Lofhagen.

1:09:32David Law: Oh, my word, Matt Roberts. It's going to be a good day tomorrow.

1:09:36Matt Roberts: Oh, my God, I've got another one. George Bastl.

1:09:39Catherine Whitaker: George Bastl. Very good.

1:09:40Matt Roberts: Ended the Wimbledon career of Pete Sampras.

1:09:43Catherine Whitaker: Yes. I probably should have come up with that before Lofhagen.

1:09:45Matt Roberts: I don't know.

1:09:46David Law: One of them's active.

1:09:51Matt Roberts: George and Eliza that's that's lovely stuff thank you love Brisbane thank you to all of our friends of the tennis podcast if you'd like to become a friend as always the link is in our show notes as is the link to subscribe to the newsletter get access to Matt's stat David made a slightly odd noise when he was reading your your stat in the draft newsletter sign up to the newsletter

1:10:15David Law: if you haven't already next to me Every day Matt comes up with a new stat. I mean, we produce like 100 newsletters a year and he always has a new stat. I don't know how.

1:10:25Matt Roberts: It is incredible stuff. Link in the show notes, folks. Folks, we are part of the Athletic Podcast Network. We'll be back tomorrow and you won't want to miss it. We'll speak to you then.

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