US Open Day 14 - Sabalenka’s fitting finale to 2025

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1:22Jannik Sinner: Hello and welcome to the Tennis Podcast coming to you on another stormy night in New York City. It is 8.30 in the evening when the media restaurant, due to some seriously inclement weather swirling around us here in Flushing Meadows, New York, Matt Roberts very own pathetic fallacy how you doing Matt I'm okay I'm okay thank you yes my my mood was a bit like the weather at times today unsettled should we say but I'm okay people bounce back we bounce back the bit lives we go into 2026 we ride again she's reached back to that Grand Slam finals you don't have to have blonde hair we're okay we are okay and we've all just come from the winning press conference of arena savilenka chugging on champagne dressed in a in the silver lame jacket and generally being an all-around vibe that we're going to try and channel in this podcast david yes she looked like she's about to go into the night good luck to her she deserves to the jacket does look waterproof so she's equipped better equipped than me yeah pretty nervous about the jog for the bus at this point we've got an hour yeah there could be some good content coming on instagram tonight do give us a follow right let's talk about the final arena sabalenka beating amanda anisimova 6-3 7-6 a fourth Grand Slam for Sabalenka and the first woman to win back-to-back titles here in New York since Serena Williams in 2014.

3:06Jannik Sinner: This has been a hard title to defend. Of course, Irina Sabalenka has done it. Yeah, and I think that that's one of the two narratives of struggle that she's managed to overcome and defeat today she carries weight of expectation and and pressure extremely well I know there have been moments in her career where things have got the better of her and twice this year in grandstand finals although I do think they were very very different Madison Keys kind of rips that match out of her grasp and then the occasion and the Coco Goff ability to to sort of turn things in her favour by making things scrappy amongst the wind, well, you know, those things went against her.

3:53And sometimes she doesn't handle it, but she always comes back for more. This is what I love about Irina Sabalenka. She doesn't shrink. She doesn't go away. She messed... Yeah, you could say she messed up at the French Open and said some regrettable things that were unsporting. But I think that that's still very human, what she did there. And she came back out, she sort of swallowed it, and apologised to Coco Goff, has been unflinching in her apologies ever since about that and saying it'll never happen again. And I did wonder whether that might take some sort of edge off her competitiveness, or not a bit of it.

4:33And tonight, you know, she had to stare down an opponent who'd beaten her only a couple of months ago in a big semi-final again at Wimbledon. She had to withstand the 24 ,000 crowd. She always plays Americans here in the latter stages. And she also had to withstand a fight back, a roaring fight back when the match looked won. And the fact that she still won, I have such admiration for her. Yeah, me too. And look, Hannah on the barge called her kind of the main character of this Grand Slam season, which I think was a great expression. She's just played so many of the big matches. She's been there, present at so many of the big moments, but hadn't been able to be the one lifting the trophy until today.

5:23And it does feel fitting that Irina Sabalenka ends the 2025 season with a Grand Slam title. She's the world number one. She's so consistent at the Slams. And she's obviously put in the work. I found it interesting hearing her compare that Australian Open experience where she said she just wanted to move on and forget about it, where she said after the Roland Garros final, she decided she needed to look at what went wrong, and she realised she did have the wrong mindset. And if ever there was going to be a test of whether that had worked, it was today for all the reasons David said. crowds, opponent coming back at her, serving for the match, not closing it, right there and then, in her own words, I was really close to losing control, but she didn't.

6:12She absolutely held it together, and I thought played a really good match, actually, from start to finish. Just the level was really, really high, and, yeah, it feels right, in a way, that we're talking about Irina Sabalenka as a Grand Slam champion this season.

6:31Jannik Sinner: Yeah, this match was so close. It was teetering on the edge of following the same script as the two other Grand Slam finals that she's played this season, in particular the French Open final against Coco Gauff. And she told us that were it not for an epiphany, she had in Mykonos, another great advert for the great party reset, post-Rolongaros it doesn't have to be Ibiza folks it can be Mykonos she said I was in Mykonos reading my book enjoying the view and I had this kind of moment of realisation she said I had been expecting everything in these Grand Slam finals to go my way and I'd found myself shocked when my opponents fought and when my opponents made it difficult for me and put me in difficult positions and didn't just kind of lie down and she said look I know that's stupid but like that was how I was going into these Grand Slam finals and when she missed that smash in the latter stages of the second set and she ended up being broken back by Enesimova, five all, ends up in the tie break, the tide could have turned then had it not been for that moment in Mykonos when she found a way to accept that not everything is on her racket.

7:57And in that sense, I actually think the match-up today in this Grandstand final was helpful in a sense because it was not all on her racket today. Amanda Nisimova in that first set hit 28 combined winners and unforced errors. Sabalenka hit seven which is absolutely extraordinary normally when Sabalenka's playing she is the one racking up the winners racking up the unforced errors and I've often talked about it how it's a great thing to have a match on your racket but it is stress inducing if you're not quite playing your best you constantly have to keep going for it was today in this matchup I think she sensed Anissim over at times was hitting those absolutely glorious shots that we know she can but she was also missing quite a bit and is some over and sabalenka was contained she was controlled she was aggressive when she needed to be and interesting hearing and is some over talked about how rushed she still felt even though she was you know kind of the one in control of of a lot of the rallies sabalenka was still putting her under pressure so i think it was helpful in that sense from a mindset point of view that everything wasn't on her in this in this match and then she also had that extraordinary tiebreak record to fall back on you know talk about it being fitting that she ends this grandstand year with a grandstand title well how fitting that she does it with a tiebreak which has been extraordinary was it 19 in a row now she's won she only lost one tiebreak all season i think she now holds the standalone record across men and women for most tie breaks won.

9:38It was beating Andy Roddick's record and he was in the stadium to see that record fall. Like, unbelievable what Sabalenka did. And as Anisimova was coming back at her and had played a very good second set tie break herself in the semi-final, Anisimova, against Osaka, OK, we can talk about that tie break from an Anisimova perspective and there were one or two things I'm sure she would want back and could have done differently. But Sabalenka just stepped up, didn't let losing serve when she was serving for it become a big thing and closed out the match. And yeah, a really impressive mindset performance because I've always kind of thought that game in full flow is the world number one game.

10:27Like, how do you stop it? The power, the movement, the athleticism, she's got everything. now she's added some variety as well but there's just been this thing holding her back in some Grand Slam finals not all of them but some of them not a moment of that today she was pretty exceptional I thought in this match as she was in the semi-final as well against Pagula there was a similar thing in terms of stepping up when it when it really counted

10:54Jannik Sinner: there was there was I mean look there were a lot of interesting lines from Amanda Anisimova in her post-match press conference and on the court today, and we'll talk about all of them, but one of them in the press conference where she was incredibly open despite being so clearly devastated, more devastated, certainly more obviously devastated than even after the Wimbledon final, which was interesting. But she said, I wish I'd been more aggressive today. I'm interested in both your takes on that, because I didn't think, like, I'm struggling to imagine and how she could have been more aggressive, really.

11:32I view it as, this may not be what she means, but actually if I'm to understand where she might be coming from, I feel like it's aggressive the way Sabalenka is, i.e. going out to win the title, not just hit the ball. I mean, she hit the ball incredibly hard at times, but there was a sort of a mental ferociousness about Sabalenka. She wasn't fighting herself. Like, sometimes she does. Sometimes she fights with herself and fights with her box. And we've seen how that's unraveled once in a while. Here, it was channeled into winning. Whereas I felt like, unless I'm over, you could feel the frustration quite early on.

12:16And she was fighting herself. and I think sort of being aggressive, being more aggressive would be to be more positive with your intent. I think that that's a significant area of improvement for her that she needs to find because even two nights ago when she beat Osaka, I thought this is a risky game she's playing, the way she's going for her shots. It was incredible to watch. One of the most devastating examples of power hitting I've ever seen and she and she basically took out Osaka with that but it was it was a real roll of the dice what she was doing and I kind of feel like there is another version to her that could have won that match and could have won then today's match whereas just all out hitting the ball as hard as you can and looking like you're absolutely on the edge of your nerves all the time and you you're almost she it was almost like if she didn't win it in four shots she wasn't going to win it because the moment they started to go long she was a step behind the ball and she was spraying it 20 yards long if she couldn't if she couldn't finish it maybe a more Sabalenka like version

13:30Jannik Sinner: that's it 2025 Sabalenka because you go back and watch Sabalenka five years ago and she was on that edge wasn't she she was just go for it if it doesn't go in oh dear precisely and I think it's I think it's there I think this is about learning she's learning how to be she's already become a great player and she's just got otherworldly talent and she's found out I mean look at the start of this year she was nowhere she's figured out how to reach Grand Sun Finals now now she's got to figure out how to win them and just and I just I see a student there the way she the way she had that Wimbledon experience and was prepared to go back into the video to watch herself suffer that tells me you've got a student who's going to learn do you think that's what she meant when she said I think I didn't fight hard enough for my dreams today which was the most crushing line that she delivered in the ceremony yeah that was a devastating line because it didn't match up at all with what I'd seen out there fighting back from going down an early break and again you might start thinking oh god is this going to happen again in a grand slam final but she dug in she got the set first set back on serve and she did the same twice in the second set getting it back on serve she actually played her best tennis i think when she was down in the score today in a samova which is sometimes easier to do that i think that would be a kind of learning for her like she needs to try and bring that tennis when she's ahead and stamp her authority on a match a little bit um i think the word that came to mind is i felt like in the middle of this match she had a real drop in intensity i think she came out fired up hitting the ball so well even in the first couple of games she didn't win there were really good signs that this was not the wimbledon final she was making plays hitting winners she then got that first set level as i said but then there just seems to be a drop in intensity which carried on into the second set a bit and i guess what i'm talking about there is kind of i think what what david's talking about as well in terms of she wasn't like projecting this positive image to sabalenka that she was there to fight like i think or the crowd she didn't use them and she never really does that's not that's not a natural thing for anisimova to use them i don't think but maybe there could have been a bit more than that and I think things were bothering her today.

16:07Clearly, with the roof and the lights, she was really struggling on the serve and there was quite a lot of untimely double faults. Her percentage wasn't great. We've talked about how her serve has been improving. Today was a bit of a regression on that front. I never felt like she had an easy hold of serve in her. It was always just a little bit of a struggle and you could tell by how annoyed she still was about it in the press conference hours later that, like, clearly there was no chance of her overcoming that in the match. She said, you know, it bothered her. She wasn't expecting it. And I think she was never quite able to snap out of that.

16:49And that would be another thing that maybe she can improve going forward. Like, you've got to be able to let those things go, I think.

16:56Jannik Sinner: The Osaka match was under the roof, though, wasn't it? But she particularly talked about it as being... in the day under the roof. I think it's just something to do with what you see when you look up there because they close all the shutters at the top and it's white. Yes. She was just losing the ball. I think she was just losing the ball. And it's probably something that if she plays out there again, she'll know to expect it. And I think it was the shock factor, wasn't it, that threw her off? I could imagine in future years she might come in early one morning when it's raining and have a go just to try it out so i so i i definitely take the sort of aggression point in terms of i think she was imposing herself on samvelenka with her tennis but maybe just not with her body language and that that's my that's my read on it because tennis-wise, I thought she was pretty much as aggressive as you can be, the way she was going after the ball.

18:03You're not going to be able to dominate every rally against Sabalenka, but she dominated a lot of them.

18:10Jannik Sinner: She was asked by Charlie Eccleshire in the press conference, Anna Samova, about how she was, how she felt physically today after all the tennis she had in her legs. I think that was all of our greatest concerns for Anna Samova ahead of this match and she said look I was I was fine physically and that's something I'm proud of and I've been working really hard on treating Grand Slams as a marathon like knowing you can't just reach the summit reach one mini summit and then say yay me because there's another summit another summit to come she said it was nerves she said that what she was disappointed about in herself today was the extent to which she felt nerves and my I didn't get to follow up on my question but because I'd asked her about that that crushing quote that she gave on court and she started talking about the nerves that she experienced and I wanted to ask were they the same as Wimbledon because I can imagine that would be disappointing like I don't think you would expect not to feel nerves I think everybody would feel nerves ahead of a grand slam final no matter how many times you've done it but I can imagine expecting it to be less and be perhaps being shocked yeah that it wasn't it's finals at grand slams are so different to anything else you can experience in tennis and you know she's come out here she's won all these matches to get to this stage but particularly if you're not the very biggest names you're playing on smaller courts there's not all this razzmatazz you haven't got this focus on just this small window of time that could change your life it's not easy to do it and and and i think most players probably need to have a couple of goes and i think if she if there's one thing she kind of didn't fight hard enough for and i really don't think that that's fair terminology i think she lost the battle with her own anxiety and and and i'm not criticizing but her team I was commentating so I could hear a lot of the interactions they were trying so hard to get her to stop just being doomsday about everything you know they were trying they were trying really hard to get her to just no no concentrate don't worry about that I know you can't see the ball stop talking about that you know they were desperately trying to she was spiralling and and tail spinning and i understand it it's a lot easier in a way to accept defeat to those things and she was she was having that battle and she was trying to get something and she did i felt like she she got she got going but it was too late and a u.s open final is so goddamn different to a wimbledon final matt were matt and i were up there in the press seats just as the countdown was starting for the players to come onto court, speculating idly about which variety of Grand Sam final we would find more anxiety-inducing, the silence of Wimbledon and the lack of...

21:19Jannik Sinner: You're not even announced onto court. Those doors just open at the back of centre court and you're walking out. Whereas here, there's a countdown, there's a... DJ. There's a DJ, there's somebody playing, not the national anthem tonight it was America the Beautiful

21:39Jannik Sinner: you know there's a big VT there's all the nonsense and like trying to translate the Wimbledon experience into tonight's experience must have felt like sort of trying to translate a foreign language that you don't quite understand she's going to be so much better for it though in the end Right, she's had the two polar experiences now. She's experienced all ends of the spectrum. So she's going to be fine in Australia, is what we're saying. I think the beauty for her is she's a threat on every surface. Her game translates. Can I just make a mention of the game that Sabalenka played, I think at 5-6 in that second set, which I do believe is one of the best games of the year because she's just lost three in a row.

22:27She's 5-3, serving for it at 5-4, loses a serve, 5-6 down. And knowing, I guess, maybe knowing you've got that tie-break record helps to focus the mind if I could just get to a tie-break. But still, the crowd's going crazy. You've been made to sit down by Enesimova at 5-6. And you come out and hold. I think that is big time.

22:54Jannik Sinner: Yeah, she's badass, isn't she? Marina Sabalenka. but not in an impenetrable way in a feels the fear and does it anyway way yeah exactly she lets you know exactly what she's feeling at any one time just this tournament she's given us all manner of incredible gifts that I've saved on my phone she lets you know and then she says bring it on anyway which is pretty incredible so it's at fourth slam they're all on hard courts what now for Irina Savalenka? And we've had this conversation before because you know when she's won hard court titles at slams before it's felt like okay well the next thing to do is trying to win the French Open and trying to win Wimbledon and look she was extremely close to winning the French Open this year if you'd said to her you'll beat Igor's Fiontech, she probably thought, well, I'll have a French Open.

24:01I'll have a French Open.

24:03Jannik Sinner: Great. I'll book my celebratory dinner now. And, you know, Wimbledon, she got beaten by Nissamova. So I still think that's it, right? Like, obviously, she's going to keep being a threat of these hardcore majors. But if she, like, to fully take her into a whole new category of player, I think it's still about doing it on the other surfaces. And I think she's capable. I've always thought she's going to win Wimbledon because of, frankly, the game that she has. I just think there's going to be a time when she just all comes together there. Yeah, our Fantasy League friend Drew said in our group chat at the end of this match that he'd love to do a sort of sliding doors analysis of the two Wimbledons that Sabalenka had to miss.

25:02Jannik Sinner: One through the ban of Russian and Belarusian players and one through that shoulder injury. Like, I mean, we'll never know. It's totally hypothetical speculation, but she feels like a Wimbledon champion in weighting, doesn't she, with that game? And she hasn't had that many bites at the cherry in her prime. and hearing the way she's she's talking like she's still producing like 2.0 3.0 4.0 versions of herself all the time the way she talked about how she worked with a psychologist for a long time and she got a lot from that and she thinks that's a really positive thing that she would recommend but then she also said that it got to the point where she realized she was using that psychologist as a shield for accountability.

25:51Jannik Sinner: She said, I was expecting her to fix me, which is, I think, a very common psychologist therapy pitfall. But for her to realise that and realise, right, OK, I'm going to take what I've done with that psychologist but take accountability for myself, very impressive, and you can see the fruits of it, from on the court to off the court with the Coco Gauff hoo-ha in Paris. She does own stuff. Yeah, she does. Yeah, I've got a lot of time for her. I think she doesn't want to leave anything on the table at all. I don't think she's... She's one of those athletes that's never going to be satisfied until she realises, okay, I just don't have it anymore, one day.

26:47Jannik Sinner: Well, did you see the quotes from an interview she did ahead of the US Open about seeing herself taking a maternity break during her playing career? She said, I want to have a long playing career, but I don't want to wait necessarily until retirement to have children. So I do wonder if there's sort of a, even though she's still, I mean, was she 27? Yep. There is a sense of urgency about her, isn't there? And I wonder if that's a kind of, you know, part of the strategy. And I think she is aware that this is her prime. And I think that's why this year has been bittersweet, really, because she feels like she should probably have three of these things right now.

27:33And it was a lovely moment seeing her fall to her knees the way she did. the weight of it all suddenly came out what she'd been trying to hold up the sort of the psychological element of just having missed out twice having kind of become public enemy number one after the french open and and had to really look inwardly at that and then rebuild her get her sort of hope and game and and get to this point again and it withstand it all and then it all just came crashing out in emotion at that moment. But I think that not every year might be like this. She might not play as well as this and win two of them or three of them.

28:18I think she was a little bit unfortunate to not actually end up with more given how dominant she's been, how consistent she's been. So maybe the best is still to come. I certainly think the fact that she hasn't won it on play and grass yet means that her appetite is going to be all the more intense in the future on anisimova how because full disclosure after the the wimbledon run

28:47Jannik Sinner: i was so prepared to ride the wave with you both about this is just the start she's going to reach more finals she is going to win one and i was very persuaded by your confidence in that and went with it I'm not sure I really felt it in my gut but I do now I really do how do you two feel about Amanda Enesimoba's Grand Slam winning prospects now I mean fitness permitting I'd be amazed if she didn't win a Grand Slam title with that game how it can work on all the surfaces and how how much of an adult she is in terms of dealing with situations like this that she doesn't just deflect and just sort of write things off it's accountability again yeah it's accountability i i i didn't know that was what she was like i didn't know her very well until she reached these finals and then you hear more from her and you actually i mean that i still can't quite get over what she what she told us about the the shvante um watching the video the night before i think it's incredible so i'm i feel very bullish for her i just think that game i think she's going to get better too she just needs to maintain good fitness because i think her movement will improve still further i think her her her handling of the moment will improve well she employed this sort of backroom staff, what, in the spring of this year?

30:17Jannik Sinner: These are early days. Yeah, she's been with her coach Vleeshowers for about a year now, but in terms of the backroom staff and Shidi, I think, isn't it, who's been so instrumental, yes. That's been in the last six months or so. And that's the thing, I think, yes, we've known about Amanda Nissimova for a long time, even though she's still only 24 years old. But this is the first year where everything's in place for her to be a Grand Slam contender. You know, like, I think the one thing she had in place before was the top level. You know, the game has always been dangerous against the best players.

31:06But you're not a Grand Slam contender just because you've got that top level once in a while. You know, there's a lot of players who can probably lay claim to that.

31:18Jannik Sinner: It's the floor and ceiling thing, isn't it? Right. She's raised the floor and she's more comfortable on tour now after her break from the sport. She's got a great team in place who I think really understand her and are tailoring her training specifically around her. Her movement's improved. she's working on her forehand and her serve which have you know which can be great but can also break down a little bit the mentality is so much improved and there's still work to do we've talked about not getting so down on herself in in the matches and but as i said this is the first year where all of those things have been in place.

32:07And I don't see a reason why she's not going to continue to be this person and this player for a few more years. So therefore I think she remains a Grand Sam contender in the years to come.

32:20Jannik Sinner: On all surfaces? Clay would be the one where I think she's dangerous on Clay. I do. I think she can play on Clay. but I think it's harder for her to impose her game quite so much and some of the weaknesses, like the movement, are exposed a little bit more on that surface. But she's still dangerous. She still reached the Roland Garros semi-final back in 2019 and she pushed Sabalenka this year on the clay too. So I suppose what I'm saying here is we've had a couple of other players recently Ons Jabir, Jasmine Paolini reach multiple grandstand finals and you kind of come out of them thinking okay, can they keep this up?

33:08All that kind of thing. I do think Anissimov is better placed than them. Paolini was much later in her career and also it felt like she was absolutely peaking to do those things. Jabir

33:27I suppose Jabir is a little bit different because she reached that third one and that did feel like a massive, massive chance it's after the third one where things have changed but Furnissimova just feels like she's not hanging on to that level that she's shown these couple of months that feels like this is her level now and actually there may be more to come there may be more to come and I think you talked about Grandstand Finals being so different from other matches that you play. It was interesting hearing her just say the word finals generally. She didn't say Grandstand finals in terms of nerves.

34:04She's not won that many titles. She's won three titles in her whole career. And a couple of those were three set wins in finals against players that she's a lot better than.

34:16Jannik Sinner: Do you think she could do with just winning, getting the winning feeling? I think so. Cleaning up, going to Almaty. I don't know if there is a WGA event in Almaty, but insert Almaty-esque tournament here. Lintz! That is what I'm saying. Monastir! I just think a bit more experience of playing big matches, finals, stuff on the line. I know she won Doha earlier this year, but she didn't really show up in the Queen's final. I know it was Tatiana Maria and none of the big hitters were showing up against her. Another one who scrambled her brain there. Scrambled her brain. Good point. You know, I think I've seen her get out of a lot of matches this year when she has been stressed.

35:06But they've just not been in finals. She is capable of doing it. It's just the final thing is difficult. So the more experience she gets, I do think will be helpful for her. And she's going to be, what, four in the world, I think, on Monday. on Monday, like, she's going to be seeded at all the events for the foreseeable future, like, she's going to be able to work her way into tournaments, so I really, really do think the outlook is extremely positive for Anissa Mova.

35:37Jannik Sinner: The other thing is, she's got a taste for it now, and I found it really notable tonight how, as sad as it was, because she was obviously in a devastated mental state, but the number of times she used the phrase my childhood dream my childhood dream to win one of these and I feel like I haven't heard her talk about that for quite a long time and I feel like it was a real admission to us and to herself of how much she wants this because I do think there was a period there very understandably it coincided with a terrible period in her personal life, her father dying,

36:24Jannik Sinner: experiencing mental health problems and lack of drive for being on tour. But there certainly was a period where it looked like she kind of put that childhood dream in a box and like, I'm going through the motions here because it's what I know and I kind of maybe even owe it to my talent to do this and give it a go. but is my heart really in it? Well, I felt like she's put her heart and soul into this now. And she's prepared to put that on the line and be hurt, you know, because that's what putting yourself out there potentially means. But, yeah, good on her for doing it. Just finally on Sabalenka, I feel like I'm going to ask this question, this terrible question, which you can probably see coming.

37:14Jannik Sinner: I'll do it every time she wins a slam. because I'm sure she's going to win more. I'm going to ask you what her final Grand Slam total is going to be come the end of her career. I think she can double what she's got now. So eight? Yes. Yeah, I had seven or eight in mind. Interesting. I think a lot of people would think that's maybe quite low. Maybe, yeah. She could get to seven next year. if she has a really good year. You've had four different champions this year. That's it. There's just so many players who are capable of winning slams. I mean, if Anissimov is going to win one, as I think she will, and then I look around and I think, well, surely Sviantec's going to win some.

38:02Coco Goff has won a couple. I would have thought she'll probably get another one. And Draver's coming. Yeah. Rebacaner still has that game, and Sabalenka could run into Rebacaner, and we know she doesn't love that. there's so many out there that are dangerous and champions in waiting I think eight's a good number, I do I think she's got a big enough window as well to get that many Will she do the career slam? Right now I would say no I'm not entirely convinced I think she's capable of winning them all but I don't know whether she will actually do it because it's difficult. It's bloody difficult.

38:47Jannik Sinner: Will there be a better opportunity than the one she had at the French this year, I guess is the big question. I certainly think she'll win one of those two. She'll be on a quest. I'd be very surprised if she doesn't end up with a natural surface Grand Slam title. I do love a quest for a career slam. Okay, well, I'll keep asking you that question every time she wins a major title. That is it for part one. Join us in part two when we talk about some other results from today. And of course, we'll be looking ahead to tomorrow, the final day of action at this year's US Open. Today's show is brought to you by Vanguard.

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41:51Jannik Sinner: Welcome back to part two of the tennis podcast where we have some other results to wrap up from the penultimate day of action here at Flushy Meadows. Let's start with the men's doubles final. Won in dramatic fashion by Marcel Grenoilles and Horatio Zabios, beating Joe Salisbury and Neil Skubsky, 367675, in the first match of the day on the Arthrash Stadium, saving three match points along the way, David. Oh, Catherine, I heard an interview with Joe Salisbury. Oh, dear. I mean, listen, congratulations to Grenoilles and Zabios. Take nothing away from them at all. but working on a British radio station you get to hear the British player interviews and his voice and he said we'll probably have to give ourselves a few days before we watch this one back and debrief where it went wrong but we'll have to do it eventually but I think we're going to have to give it a few days I just your heart breaks for players in that position somebody's got to win somebody's got to lose but my word that's a tough way to lose And it's the second slam final of the season that they've lost to Granoia Zabaios.

43:04Jannik Sinner: They beat them in the French Open final as well, which wasn't quite as heartbreaking, but it was a bit heartbreaking. It was another close one. So incredible year for Granoia Zabaios, their second slam of the season. Their first US Open title, they reached the final here back in 2019 in one of their first tournaments together. I remember at the time they were kind of trying it out. They weren't sure if this was going to be a partnership that lasts. And six years later, here they are. That's really good going for a doubles team. There was a very sweet Carlos Alcaraz behind-the-scenes bit of footage reacting to their win, wasn't there?

43:45He was into it. Of course he was into it. He surprised me. Gave it the double fist pump and bam-offs when they won. Obviously, his fellow Davis Cup teammate, Marcel Grano, yes. I love tennis players watching tennis. It always delivers. And our crowds watching tennis, of course, delivers.

44:07Jannik Sinner: It's such underploughed turf. Oh, massively. In a sport, in a world that is desperately seeking content and content ideas all the time, Tennis players watching tennis is just such an easy win. Feed it into my veins. Speaking of which, Takedo Oda beat Gustav Fernandez 6-2, 3-6, 7-6. Another crazy dramatic match to win the men's wheelchair singles title, completing the Golden Slam at the age of 19. it must be so tough and demoralizing for all other men's wheelchair tennis players right now to just be looking at this guy that feels pretty unbeatable in a sport where you can have tremendous longevity if you want it like if he stays motivated it's pretty mind-boggling to think what he might be able to achieve and he looks pretty damn motivated yeah he's got natural charisma he he already has an awesome game and yeah 19 it's just extraordinary um and and look he's he's probably going to start to go away from the others as well i mean at the moment he's still having these battles like against fernandez he's often having three set battles with alfa hewitt but he they're giving away so many years to him he's going to get better and they're going to get older it's just the way of the world but yeah what a star and this match is like number one on my list of I need to go back and watch it we didn't see it but I know that he saved a four championship points I think towards the end came back Hannah was watching it said it was absolutely incredible like maybe one of the matches of the tournament so yeah it's Absolutely, we will need to re-watch this one.

46:11Jannik Sinner: Yeah, in our defence, we were petting Matt Futterman's dog at the time. We were. Ziggy and Bagels. What a dog. What a bagel. In the women's wheelchair singles final, Yui Kimiji continues her career resurgence. She beat Xiaohui Li. Love 6 came back from losing a 6-love first set. It's Love 6, 6-1, 6-3 to win her third US Open title. She won her first back in 2014. It's been an extraordinary year for Yui Kimiji. It's her 11th major singles title overall. She's still just missing Wimbledon for that career slam, so she's on a quest. And she was involved in the coin toss for the women's singles final this evening, which was lovely.

47:01Jannik Sinner: slightly less lovely or slightly less well-timed was the presentation they did of Takeda Oda and Niels Vink Niels Vink having won the quad wheelchair singles final beating countryman Sam Schroeder 6-1, 7-5 in the final they presented Takeda Oda and Niels Vink to the crowd on the Arthur Ashe Stadium lovely, lovely thing to do they did it at the change of ends at 4-3 in the first set of the women's singles final it's just not the time is it it was absolutely insane did that hold things up no no but because it was so rushed and weird like there was literally a countdown on them you have a countdown on the change of ends like they were it was right off you go now maybe they've listened too hard to me saying there isn't time in the day to do everything.

47:56Jannik Sinner: So they're like, okay, we'll do it all at the same time then. We're going to slot things into every sit down. I know we sound like Goldilocks but this was not the solution. This was not it. But congratulations to Niels Vink, his third Grand Slam of the season, seventh major singles title overall in his second US Open. The Juniors, talent spotting corner. the men's was won, or the boys rather, was won by a 16-year-old Bulgarian with an excellent name, Ivan Ivanov. Oh, we've got another Bulgarian to start off the career with. In fact, David, we have two. It was an all-Bulgarian boys' final. That's where the tennis podcast started all those years ago.

48:41Jannik Sinner: Ivanov beat Alexander Vasilev. And it adds to his boys' Wimbledon title. and that is the same double that Grigor Dimitrov did back in 2008. Unfortunately, David, we are now old enough and we have been podcasting long enough that we are seeing the Grigor Dimitrov legacy. It'll be Grigor Dimitrov relived before you know it. It's been in the pipeline for ages. So you might look at that and think, oh, this guy's the next Grigor Dimitrov because he's on the same trajectory, but also doing that Wimbledon US Open boys double was Philippe Pellibo, who I know nothing else about. I vaguely remember that name.

49:24Jannik Sinner: As a much-typed junior, probably. Yes. The girls' singles title was won by 17-year-old Belgian Jeline Van Droom. She beat the Swede Liam Nilsen in the final. Great name. yeah every time I see it on the app I think it's Van Damme J Van Damme Jean Claude indeed yeah so those are your names to look out for in the future and that's our new Grigor Dimitrov David to get irrational about excellent we need those right that's it for part 2 join us in part 3 when we'll look ahead to tomorrow the final day of action from the 2025 US Open 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.

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51:30Jannik Sinner: Welcome back to part three of the tennis podcast on day 14 of the US Open. let's look ahead to tomorrow's order of play there is only one match on it it is Yannick Sinner, the top seed the defending champion against Carlos Alcaraz, the second seed and 2022 champion here what are the battlegrounds what's it going to take to win who is going to win and also can I point out that when I went to look up the order of play on the US Open website, I found an article about Carlos Alcaraz with the title From Bald to Blooming, which I'm obsessed with. It is quite funny if you put side by side the day we first saw the shaved head and now.

52:23It's grown a lot, folks. And I think we said at the time, he's going to look great in the final. He's going to look good when he's holding the trophy.

52:32Jannik Sinner: So is he going to be holding the trophy? Well, I think he will be. The battlegrounds you talk about, I think the first thing to say is, is Yannick Sinner going to be fully fit? I know he said it's nothing much, I'm going to be fine, it's not going to be a factor. I hope that's true.

52:55But I haven't been entirely convinced about his physicality over the last few weeks, because obviously it was an illness that he retired from the Cincinnati final with. Certainly, when you look at the two of them, Arkraus looks like the one who is in pristine condition and absolutely bursting out of his shoes to get going. Not that Sinner isn't up for it, he is. But I wonder whether he's a little concerned about something. if not then he will do what he does he will he will be slashing balls down the wings and and trying to rush Alcaraz the way he's successfully done in big matches before I mean he he was very very close in 2022 to beat Alcaraz here and it was another one of those French Open final types where Alcraz just sort of bench reality his way with mystical powers that only he possesses, and he only possesses them every so often.

54:01The rest of the time, he's just a general wizard. But I have been more convinced by the Alcraz game this tournament than ever before. And I think, fitness permitting, I think we're in for another great final. Four or five sets, but I do think Alcraz comes out on top. Do you think Alcraz can come out on top without doing the mind-bending, reality-defying things?

54:36Jannik Sinner: Without doing what he did in Paris? I do. You think that's the difference? That's where I feel differently about it. There's more authority about the way he's playing right now. For his sake, I'd like to see him play a little bit more like he did in the first five rounds rather than the sixth round where I feel like it wasn't quite there. The authority and the conviction behind the strokes and the clear thinking wasn't quite there yesterday. And yet he still won in straight sets. I sort of think he might just put it all together tomorrow. And I've said four or five sets. It might even be three because I think he's...

55:14Really? Yeah, just because...

55:15Jannik Sinner: No man has ever won this title without dropping a set. I think it's possible and that's not to do any slight to Yannick Sinner and look, I think it's more likely to be four or five sets but I think I wouldn't rule out a real masterclass from start to finish from Alcaraz Certainly if Sinner isn't quite 100 % fit Yeah I mean, I know he was ill but even just the first game or so when he played him in Cincinnati and some people might say, well that's not of you can't even consider that but just just something about it's more about Alcraz it's not about Siné it's about what I'm looking at with Alcraz it's fascinating I think I've been very convinced by Alcraz as well I've I do feel like I've shifted to thinking that Alcraz is going to win tomorrow I suppose the Djokovic performance gave me slight pause for thought in In terms of how different is he.

56:19Because I kind of expected him to come out and be really convincing against Novak Djokovic. And he wasn't. So to suddenly expect him to come out and outplay Yannick Sinner on a hard court. It does feel like we're expecting there to be a jump, a difference there. Which we just haven't seen against Sinner yet. I think he's beaten him convincingly at Indian Wells. I don't read too much into that because of the conditions. I think they do play into Alcaraz's ability.

56:56Jannik Sinner: The clay court is hard courts, aren't they, Indian Wells? They play in his ability to change the shape of rallies. Dominic Thiem's consolation prize for not winning French Open. But I just think some of the wins, like a lot of the big wins that Alcaraz has had against Sinner, he has had to pull rabbits out of the hat like that Beijing one last year he just went nuclear in the tie break Roland Garros this year he did something ridiculous Rome was a bit different to me because Sinner first tournament back I don't read too much into that one US Open here all those years ago saved a match point came up with some dazzling stuff I just think he needs that magic against Yannick Sinner.

57:46And he has produced it a lot. My feeling is maybe this is the time where he can just outplay him and be really convincing. But I just don't know if there's that much evidence to suggest that that is going to happen. Yannick Sinner is so good, is capable of rushing Alcaraz. we saw what happened in the Wimbledon final when his serve was working for Sinner and that is a big battleground I think we talk about battlegrounds I think he's only been up above 60 % first serves in once, all tournaments

58:20Jannik Sinner: Sinner, Alcaraz has only been below 60 % once, so that to me, if I had to pick a battleground I would come back to the serve because I think they can both do dazzling things to each other off the ground and I'm leaning Alcaraz because of the serve. I think Sinner might not have a great serving day again. I think there's something up with that shot right now, and I think Alcreas can take advantage. But if Sinner does find the serve, I think Alcreas is going to have to come up with the magic. OK, from balls to battlegrounds, is that anything? It is now. OK, I will come back to you both for final, final predictions in just a moment.

59:06Jannik Sinner: You'll get them at the end, David. You'll get it at the end. Mine is that no better headline will be written than From Bald to Blooming. The other thing to mention about tomorrow's men's singles final is that President Trump will be attending. As reported by multiple outlets today, he will be a guest in the Rolex suite tomorrow. And that obviously comes with a lot of security implications. I think provisions have already been made. Bulletproof glass is being put into that suite, we understand. Yeah, there are an awful lot of implications for anyone that's going to be in the vicinity tomorrow, including us.

59:48Jannik Sinner: It also comes with implications for anyone involved in covering or broadcasting tomorrow's men's singles final, according to a leaked memo from the USTA that was first reported in Ben Rothenberg's substack, Bounces. the memo that went out to all rights holders read thus quote the president will be shown on the world feed and the Arthur Ashe court feed during the opening anthem ceremony we ask all broadcasters to refrain from showcasing any disruptions or reactions in response to the president's attendance in any capacity including electronic news gathering coverage Now, New York is a blue Democrat state.

1:00:35Jannik Sinner: It voted Democrat at the most recent election. There is a good deal, I think it's fair to say, of anti-Trump sentiment here. And it's safe to say that the expectation is that there will be boos and jeers and negative reaction when the president is presented to the crowd. There was significant negative reaction the last time he attended the US Open in 2015 when he was a candidate for president. It's expected that he will be shown on the coverage and the big screen within the stadium just once during the final. And that will be during the national anthem prior to the match, at which point there is usually a flypast, a military flypast.

1:01:21Jannik Sinner: Now, those are two, the anthem and fly pass, those are two pretty noisy events. So joining those two dots, there is a pretty clear effort here to quieten the anticipated negative reaction to the president. The USTA spokesperson, Brendan McIntyre, did tell The Athletic, quote, we regularly ask our broadcasters to refrain from showcasing off-court disruptions. so that's what will be happening tomorrow while the land of the free and the home of the brave is being sung out in the Arthur Ashe Stadium we will be there in the stadium and we will be able to report on the events of the match whatever happens now in terms of what is going to happen let's end with some last predictions Matt Roberts I will go Alcaraz in five Five David I will go Alcaraz in four

1:02:31Jannik Sinner: I'm going to go Alcaraz in four but there was a part of me that almost went Alcaraz in three because I think this ab issue is a little bit worse than Yannick Sinner is probably letting on. I don't think it's going to be an uncompetitive match. I don't think he's going to be a shadow of himself or anything, but I think the gap between these two is so narrow that any level of compromise is enough to significantly swing the pendulum. He didn't practice outside today. There may well have been a practice somewhere else away from the public eye, but there wasn't a public practice like Alcarez had today.

1:03:19I know that Simone and his team spoke on it and did the same thing that Yannick Sinner did and talked it down and said he had some discomfort but that it's gone away, it's nothing serious, he's calm. But yes, that is certainly an element going into this final. I just hope... I don't know, I always get a bit of a, you know, a real excitement, a real tingle whenever Sinu and Alcaraz meet, especially in a big match. I just, I have an anxiety about tomorrow, just generally, with everything you've just said there about Trump. Like, it could be a weird, uncomfortable day. Yeah. It's taking away from the match.

1:04:08Jannik Sinner: yeah and sport is a place of escapism for so many people it's a it's a it's a strange feeling for sure um shall we talk about today's mascot looking at that face i think we should yeah yeah and and this is perfect because luna today's mascot very closely resembles ziggy i was thinking that and ziggy is good dog we like ziggy we like ziggy and i bet we would like Luna, owned by Holmes and Maria Finch. Luna is a seven-year-old Havanese, which is what Ziggy is, who lives with Holmes and Maria, and her dog sister Maggie in Muncie, Indiana. I really hope I'm pronouncing that right. I think you've nailed it.

1:04:54Jannik Sinner: Thank you. Like Jasmine Paolini, Luna is quick to smile and full of energy. She loves playing fetch with her humans and taking walks with Holmes while he listens to the podcast. She can also often be found snuggling with her humans on the couch while they watch their favourite player, Carlos Alcaraz. Big day for Luna tomorrow. In this photo, she is sitting with Holmes' vintage Borg Pro rackets that he played with on his high school team in the early 80s. David, do those rackets look familiar? They're Doné. They do. That's a blast from the past. They're slightly early for even me, but yes, they are quite recognised.

1:05:34Jannik Sinner: yeah do that's a good photo it's it's dog it's tennis rackets it's good stuff thank you luna what a lovely dog um thank you holmes and maria as well for making luna today's mascot we of course have our mascots phoebe maizey and roger hello to you i've got a big chance of a mid-table finish this tournament and I'm clinging to that respectability. Same. None of us are getting higher than mid-table. Ambitious. Phoebe, Maisie, Roger, it's been a tough tournament. Hello to our top folks and executive producers Greg, Chris and Jeff. We salute you. Matt, let's have some shout-outs. We have Keith Rice.

1:06:24Hi, Keith.

1:06:25Jannik Sinner: Hello, Keith. Keith is an un-Tennessee name, isn't it? Yeah, I've got an uncle. who passed away a couple of years ago called Keith. It's a very uncle-y name, Keith, isn't it? Uncle Keith. Used to go to the football with me all my life. Bless him. Lovely. Keith hasn't added too much extra information about himself, just says simply, Alejandro Davidovic Fakina will win a major one day. Keith's a bold guy. Yeah, now Fakina's my kind of fella. Yeah. It's not grounded in reality, but it gets people talking. I wonder if this could become a fun shout out subsection, you know, just drop your random bold prediction.

1:07:16I do not hate that, Keith. I think I will enjoy that.

1:07:19Jannik Sinner: Keith, who thinks Alejandro Davidovich Fikina is winning a major one day. Love it, Keith. Thank you. we've also got diana diana spadafora yes i know diana diana is in our predictions yes competition this tournament probably kicking my ass diana is from canada and diana says i've never seen live tennis before but i have a special retirement savings account set up for this exact purpose i love that that is a superb idea diana i met what is retirement for if not that exactly i met a Turner's podcast listener today who has done the calendar fan slam this year that is wild isn't it lovely chat that is well I mean Diana might be on for the same thing go for it Diana and by extension shout out to the newsletter predictions group chat always a good vibe during these slams and this one's been very very fun lovely stuff thank you Diana very very um engages with the with us with our content on instagram a lot i appreciate that oh good thanks diana and speaking of engages with our content we have mark hillman oh yeah didn't you see mark this week i did i saw mark and i saw his son trenner oh right mark which was lovely uh Trenner is, Mark has two sons, I think, Emmett as well, who's now at university.

1:08:54So Trenner is his US Open companion now. And Mark says he'd like to dedicate this shout out to his wife, Abigail, who is not only the biggest Bruce Springsteen fan other than Matt, but she graciously supports my watching, playing and attending tennis events worldwide. She knows it's my happy place. how nice is that

1:09:17Jannik Sinner: sorry Abigail about the Springsteen no show today we did do our best I have just learnt from a Springsteen podcast I listened to that he was at a born to run 50th anniversary symposium by the Bruce Springsteen archives today so what you're saying is had he been available he would have been here and it would have made the difference that's what we're taking from that Okay That's lovely A shout out dedication is a lovely lovely thing And Mark has been a A staunch supporter Of ours for a long time we're very grateful So Mark, Keith and Diana Like Schneider Absolutely Very good And Mark like Philippousis Both tennis marks We decided there were no Tennis Keiths, didn't we?

1:10:13Jannik Sinner: I just don't think... I can't think I know. I just don't, yeah. But Alejandro de Vido Chiquina winning a major. Who needs Tennis Keiths when he got that prediction? Thank you all ever so much for your support of the Tennis Podcast. If you'd like to become a friend, the link is in our show notes. It gets you access to all of our bonus episodes, including the archive of bonus episodes. There's so much stuff on there. we'll be doing a US Open review show following this slam so it'll help you get through the post-Grand Slam blues. We'll be doing that in the coming days. We do monthly live shows on YouTube for Friends of the Tennis podcast.

1:10:51Jannik Sinner: We do eight annual editions of Tennis Relived that Matt puts his heart and soul into as well as the Wimbledon Library and the treasure trove of information that Matt has at his fingertips there. It gets you ad-free listening and it gets you access to the barge, which has been a joyful place this tournament. So that's what you get with being a friend of the Tennis Podcast. We'll pop the link in our show notes. Folks, there is one more day to go of the US Open 2025. 25. Let's get what counts for us as an incredibly early night and let's be at our best for tomorrow. Thanks for listening. We'll speak to you then.

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