US Open Day 7 - Gauff, Jovic rescue bad day for USA

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1:09Matt Roberts: Hello and welcome to the Tennis Podcast coming to you from Flushing Meadows on what has so far been a chaotic day here at the US Open at 6pm or just past 6pm as we come to you here in part one of the show we'll be back to cover the night session matches in parts two and three but in the day session alone we've had an absolute glut of stories already today a raft of shocks and frankly a pretty disastrous set of results for the host nation Coco Gough aside that is this is not David the opening to Labour Day weekend that the USTA and ESPN had in mind.

1:48David Law: No, and I did not see this coming at all. As I've said throughout, I was expecting all-American finals on both men's and women's draws. That's still not impossible, but certainly in the case of Taylor Fritz, I expected he would be one of those that would be going all the way. And, you know, it's difficult to know exactly what's happened today, but it doesn't feel entirely coincidental that they're all sort of following one another out of the tournament. There feels to be a stress level out there at the moment and just a heartbreaking day for them all. I mean, three big names and seeing them in the press conferences was a tough scene.

2:29Matt Roberts: Yeah, absolutely. On the men's side, Taylor Fritz, the biggest of the lot, lost to Argentine Francisco Sarundolo from two sets to love and a break-up, did Taylor Fritz. 36, 4663, 64, 64. In his own words, I don't know how I let that happen. He was devastated in press after this defeat. Taylor Fritz, as you'd expect, this is going to be a very tough one for him to get over. Matt, how do you think he let that happen?

3:08Catherine Whitaker: well it was interesting actually listening to Jim Currier in commentary who was very much stressing that even though he was two sets up he never really felt like Fritz was playing his best tennis today and in those first two sets Sarundolo had a lot of looks at the Fritz serve he was getting into his service games and not taking his chances and he builds that lead Fritz he goes up a break and you're thinking okay even if even if he's not at his best it's a it's a really good win to get through a match like that when you when you haven't got your best tennis and it was looking like it was going to be another straight sets win not too many miles in the legs it was all set up for him but you know i kind of tuned into the match at that point to be honest and i i never saw taylor fritz looking convincing in the way that we thought he had been and he had been in the first couple of rounds here.

4:06Catherine Whitaker: He said that he felt like he was hitting his ground strokes pretty well on the big moments in the first couple of sets, but then he felt like he lost that. And that was certainly what was happening in those latter stages. His forehand can get quite spinny Taylor Fritz when he's not feeling it. And he looked quite stressed on the court. I think he He knew that his game wasn't really there today, and Sarundolo upped his level. And there was a lot of exchanges where Sarundolo was, like, hanging behind the baseline, which is exactly where he wants to be. Give him time on the ball, give him the ability to unleash on his ground strokes, and he becomes quite a dangerous player.

4:49Catherine Whitaker: And, yeah, like, it felt like a slow, slowly just getting away from Taylor Fritz. It was like he just couldn't override it, and Surundalo got a setback. Then he got another setback, and we were into a fifth. And even then, I thought Fritz might pull it together and win it, and he had Love 40 on Surundalo's serve deep in that fifth set. And credit to Surundalo in that game. He came up with some big serves and some big hitting, but as soon as Surundalo held that game, you knew that Fritz's next service game was going to be tough, and so it proved. He threw in some errors and the match was suddenly gone away from him.

5:30Catherine Whitaker: And, oh, it was brutal. You know, he's had a very tough loss at the US Open here before in the first round to Brandon Holt four years ago, someone he's just way better than. I think this might be an even tougher one to stomach considering, you know, the opportunity, capital T, capital O, that we've been talking about. And now he's four years on in his career as well. and it seemed set up for him and I think he thought it was set up for him to go really deep in this tournament and he's let it go.

6:03Matt Roberts: It was so shocking given the tennis that we've seen so far from Taylor Fritz. He's barely been losing games up until this point. Hadn't had his serve broken, I don't think, and there he is two sets and a break up. It looked like, OK, it was a scratchier performance than we've seen in his earlier two matches, but it all looked very pedestrian, quite frankly, and to see it turn like that was so discombobulating, really, and it looked like Taylor Fritz was discombobulated too, and this is a guy that doesn't have the top level that Carlos Alcraz and Yannick Sinner has, but he's tenacious and he's a stubborn competitor, isn't he?

6:48Matt Roberts: and I still, right until the end, was expecting him to find a way somehow through this, the way we've seen Alexander Zverev do for the past couple of matches. You know, it's a cliche, but winning ugly isn't a skill. It is a skill and it's an essential skill, usually for winning majors. Okay, Carlos Alcaraz here last year played a pretty much perfect seven matches, but that's totally the exception, even for Carlos Alcaraz. Usually he's playing some bad matches on Roach's major titles. The Sami elongated drama. Exactly. And to see Taylor Fritz just not have that today was a sad sight, really, David.

7:30David Law: Yeah, I'm with you. I thought right until the end, even when he had Surundalo a game away from the match, I thought, I still think it'll turn because I think Fritz will do enough to make Sarundolo think and get nervous and then start missing. And that did happen to some degree. There was a Love 30 game in there and he was hitting a couple of really wild ones was Sarundolo. But then Fritz would hand it back to him with a couple of wild ones of his own. That's where you're really shocked. The spinniness that Matt refers to is something that's come along in the last couple of years. I think when Fritz gets tight, he reverts to that.

8:11David Law: and it keeps the ball in and he serves that good that he can usually get away with it. But, yeah, I mean, sometimes his game doesn't look that much different when he's on top form to when he's not. But he became vulnerable as it was going on and I just suspect that somewhere in the back of his mind was a bit of panic. You know when sometimes he gets really irate, doesn't he, and he gets very upset on the court, angry, and I think in the back of his mind was just this realisation that, oh shit, you know, this is my chance. This is one of the big ones. You know, he's already had a really good career, Taylor Fritz.

8:52David Law: He's had a career in excess of what I ever expected he would have several years ago, but he's so ravenous to top it off with a Grand Slam title, to be the American that does that. and Yannick Sinner's his biggest problem of all. His half of the draw... Djokovic too. Yeah, Djokovic, not here. His half of the draw has Zverev in it, who he's got a good record against, apart from that Wimbledon match of recent times, and the rest of that half of the draw has just fallen apart. It was so good for Taylor Fritz. And then if you get into a semi and then maybe a final, you could be facing a Carlos Alcraz that hasn't played for five months, Or you could be playing somebody else.

9:35David Law: What an opportunity. And it was written all over his face, Catherine. I wasn't in the room, but I watched the video and watched his eyes looking down as he delivered these lines about, I don't know how I let that get away. And, you know, I'm going to have to go and get it. I just don't need to not talk to anybody about this for a couple of days. You know, there's no sort of let's debrief and go over this. He's going to suffer for a couple of days, I'm afraid to say. I really feel sorry for Taylor Fritz.

10:09Matt Roberts: Because tennis players are control freaks, aren't they? I'm sure all athletes are. It's tiny margins at the top of the game. They're all about doing every possible thing within their control that will maximise their chances at the biggest tournaments. But there is always a certain amount that is outside of their control. And I'm sure that's absolutely maddening for them. So when the things outside of your control align to your benefit and you let yourself down with the stuff that is within your control, I just... That takes some getting over. Especially for someone like Taylor Fritz, who I don't think he does the...

10:54Matt Roberts: I don't think he does the mantras and the sort of self-hypnosis that a lot of tennis players do to try and make it all bearable and palatable. The stuff that Alex de Menor was telling me the other day, and I hope that does make it more bearable for him, but I don't think Taylor Fritz deals in that stuff. I think he beats himself up and forces himself to confront it all. And maybe that's better for him in the long run. Maybe the exposure therapy will help him get over it more quickly, but I think there's going to be a rough time, at the very least, in the short term. And Fritz against Caballi, the scheduled fourth-round match, becomes Francisco Sarundolo against young Belgian Alexander Blocks, because Blocks got the better of Caballi in four sets, six-seven, six-three, six-love, six-three.

11:52Matt Roberts: an incredible exchange between Caballi and blocks at the net that Caballi was asked about in the press conference well not an incredible exchange, a very normal exchange in tennis terms he was asked about it in the press conference afterwards Caballi and he said oh I just told him well done you were great I'll be cheering for you in the next round but I didn't realise at that stage that Taylor Fritz had lost and now I'll be cheering for Francisco because we're mates he did not because well, he didn't state any anti-Taylor Fritz sentiment. But yeah, I mean, look, Blox was fantastic today and we did circle this as danger for Caballi, but he said, today my energy was lower than the other days.

12:35Matt Roberts: I felt more tight and more tired. And Matt, I thought he looked pretty tight and tired in his previous two matches.

12:42Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, it has felt a little bit like Caballi's been on borrowed time since those first couple of sets he played against Comissagne and he was so flat and he did really well to turn that one around and win it. But, you know, I think all of us coming in here were expecting a bit of an energy fade at some point from Caballi. I mean, it's been a year that he's never had before, you know, reaching a slam final, backing that up with a quarterfinal, then a good run in Cincinnati as well. Like, he's just played a lot more and been exposed to a lot more draining moments mentally and emotionally than he has done previously, I think.

13:22Catherine Whitaker: He really struggled in the middle of this match. In the third set, he lost it 6-love and only won 4 points. Blocks won 24 out of 28 points in that set. It's so one-sided and Caballi trudged off court and looked totally lifeless and listless. Did well, I thought, to get some energy back in the fourth set. and for a 15 or 20 minute period there in that fourth set, this match was absolutely electric. Kabbali was bringing it. He was whipping up the crowd and it was interesting, Colin Fleming in commentary said, this is brilliant from Kabbali, he's doing really well, but he's not going to win this match on emotion alone.

14:04Catherine Whitaker: He needs to raise his level to what Blox is doing and he just couldn't really do that because Blox was seriously good. He stood up to Kabbali and everything that he was bringing, and he wasn't intimidated by the crowd, who was very much for Kabbali in this one. He really backs himself, Alexander Blocks. And look, if it wasn't for Rafael Khoda, Blocks would very much be in the conversation for biggest rise of the year and best kind of newcomer on tour. He's, you know, people compare him to Milos Raonic, don't they, because of the way he looks. and I feel a bit sorry for him that that is the comparison that everyone is immediately coming out with because it's not...

14:49Matt Roberts: Well, now I feel sorry for Milos Raonic. Right.

14:52Catherine Whitaker: Like, you'd do well to have a career like Milos Raonic. You had in terms of best results. He had good results, but I don't think anyone was really, like, moved or inspired.

15:02Matt Roberts: No one's out there going, I want to be the next Milos Raonic. Right.

15:06Catherine Whitaker: And that's not what you want as a young player, you know. Everyone wants to be excited about you when you're a young player. And I feel like Blox hasn't had that. But, God, he was exciting in that fourth set. And he's got a massive serve. He can do real damage with his forehand. And he was definitely the better player today. And Caballi was full of praise for him in the press conference, wasn't he? He said, I don't think we've realised how good this guy is. And Caballi certainly felt that force today.

15:38Matt Roberts: Yeah, it's a great point about how much more we'd be talking about him probably if it weren't for Rafa Hodder, who seems to have kind of moved the goalposts on what a breakthrough for a young player looks like in 2026. So two shocks there. OK, Blox-Kabali not as seismic as Taylor Fritz's defeat, but still two surprising results. Sarangelo to face Blox for a place in the US Open quarterfinals. quarterfinals. We've had shocks in the women's draw as well already today. Let's talk about last year's finalist, Amanda Anisimova, beaten handily today, 6-2, 7-5 by Anastasia Potopova, who is having a breakout year in 2026, but not so much on the US hardcourts.

16:24Matt Roberts: The breakout kind of came earlier in the season. I'm not sure anybody was circling her for a deep run at this US Open and I think this one's a shock because of the performance, Matt, from Anisimova. She's been playing good tennis recently, better tennis than Anastasia Potopova and she was really poor today. It was an error fest.

16:48Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, and also I think the match-up, like it's not the kind of match-up that you look at for Anisimova and think, oh, that's going to cause her a lot of problems. You know, it's not Diane and Parry in France with the sliced backhand and the crowd on her back. And, you know, all the alarm bells were ringing. Like, that is going to probably stress Amanda Anissimova out and mess her up. And that's what happened. This one is much more like, well, if Anissimova's on her game, she's better at that version of tennis, even than 2026 Potopovo, who's having her best year, as you said. But she just wasn't.

17:24Catherine Whitaker: She just wasn't on her game today. and it's one of those ones where you think maybe if she takes some of her six break points in the second game of the match, maybe it can be different, but she didn't. She lost the first set very handily and then the second set was one of those where Potipova kept getting a lead and Nisimova kept breaking back and Potipova even served for the match and Nisimova broke back with a great game and you thought, OK, finally things are clicking, but then she just immediately lost serve again. and there was no consistency to her play. And Potapova did a really good job of absorbing the power that Anissimova had and drawing some of those errors, I think.

18:04Catherine Whitaker: And, yeah, deserved to win.

18:07Matt Roberts: She confirmed in her press conference afterwards that there's no panic, as gutted as she was, there's no panic here. She was asked about whether she would be continuing to work with Rick Vlizhowitz, who she did part ways with, her coach, earlier in the season and explained earlier this tournament that she maybe not specifically regretted that, but regretted the way that it happened. It sounded like it was a bit of a knee-jerk decision and she said, oh, no, no, we're continuing to work together. This result has absolutely no bearing on that, which I was very pleased to hear that, as emotional as she was.

18:45Matt Roberts: also emotional following defeat today, Madison Keyes, who lost to Zhang Xinwen, the reigning Olympic champion who won that Olympic gold medal two years ago on the clay of Roland Garros in Paris and has had a brutal time since then, had elbow surgery in September of 2025, was on the sidelines for a very long time. and actually she was, before that she was not herself because she was trying not to have to have the surgery. She was trying other methods of battling through this injury, eventually felt there was no other option but to have this surgery to remove a floating fragment of bone in her elbow.

19:29Matt Roberts: It's been a long way back, a long, long way back and in many ways I think she hit rock bottom with that way back by having to play qualifying for the US Open and it was, she told us a couple of days ago, that was a humbling experience for her. And she's come in here, she's won three matches in qualifying. She's now won three matches in the main draw, here's Zheng Chinwen. And look, two years ago, that wouldn't have been a shock at all. But this year, it is a shock. And the way she did it today, a tremendous shock. 1-6, 7-6, 7-5. Jung was five love and match point down in the deciding set. You don't see comebacks from that position very often, David.

20:19David Law: No, I mean, I can probably think of four or five in my lifetime that I can really pinpoint. It's so unusual, particularly at Grand Slams, particularly against a player of the pedigree of Madison Keys. You know, this is a Grand Slam champion who in the previous round had managed to mount her own feet of escapology to get out of a very difficult situation in the third set. And she looked so happy after that, you know. And then suddenly here she is and she's suffering what her opponent in the previous round suffered, except this was way, way worse. and I mean look it's possible to experience as an onlooker two different things at the same time.

21:03David Law: Happiness for Jung Chin Wen for all the reasons you've just outlined and the struggle she's been having and the sadness of not being able to do what she wanted to do and now suddenly she's here in the last 16 out of nowhere and then you've got Madison Keyes who gave a press conference after this match that is one of the most heart wrenching press conferences I've witnessed. It took me back sort of two or three years to the US Open when she lost against Serena Sabalenka in the latter stages when she was winning that match comfortably. She'd obviously been crying a lot before this press conference.

21:40David Law: I mean, basically, she said, I just got scared. She said, at five love down, I got scared. Sorry, five love up, I got scared. and I couldn't remember, I didn't know how to play tennis anymore. My arm got heavy and she said, I'm going to have to make changes. And she wouldn't elaborate on what exactly those changes were, but she said it's been coming for a while and it sounded pretty serious the way she was talking there, Catherine. I mean, this was somebody who was in a terribly dark place after this match and understandably so. I hope she feels different after 24, 48 hours, but that is somebody who looks like she's going to go away and have a really long think and look at what she's doing.

22:31Matt Roberts: She said, I just felt like it was a much bigger deal than just playing a tennis match all of a sudden, which is exactly the mindset she worked so hard to drag herself out of a couple of years ago and which ultimately resulted in her winning the Australian Open. a little bit out of nowhere a couple of years ago. So as devastating as it was to see her in this state at the end of the match and in the press conference, I'm comforted by the fact that she has the tools and the mechanisms and the awareness of what's required to find her way to a better mental state. That's not to say that it's not easy, but I feel like we see a lot of tennis players that don't realise how unhappy they are.

23:25Matt Roberts: Don't realise what a bad spot they're in with their relationship with the sport. And I feel like Madison Keys is pretty tuned into, or very, very tuned into that. And that means feeling the feelings of how bad it is. And I'm sure it feels really, really, really bad right now. but I do back her to find a way out of it.

23:49David Law: Yeah, so do I. I did think at the start of this year that she could struggle this year and I think the stories of herself and Amanda Onisanova perhaps have something in common in that they've just had their best ever year and following that is very difficult. you've constantly got this this sort of thing around your neck of you've got to defend these points and you had this result last year oh no you've not done as well as that you're past it you're a failure

24:24Matt Roberts: you're worse than a past version of yourself I mean it's it's a brutal existence having to constantly compare yourself being forced to compare yourself to a past version

24:35David Law: of you and Anissimova was very keen to say look when somebody said, maybe now the pressure's off you now that you've lost this match. She says, what, you think I might be relieved that I've lost this match? And of course she wasn't going to accept that. But actually, maybe in order to have a reboot and to feel better going forwards, maybe the clean slate does help. And I can't be sure that these are the reasons they have been struggling, but it stands to reason that that could be the case.

25:05Matt Roberts: It was an unreal effort by Jung, though. This is a woman that two days ago, after her second round victory, told us that the thing that she struggled with most since her comeback is competition and being competitive, feeling competitive, getting those juices flowing. And that is never required more than when you're love five down in a deciding set, convincing yourself that you still have a chance. And she said, I just told myself, you don't want to go out on a six-love set. And she wins that 5-1 game, and that makes Madison Keyes tighten up. And OK, she was given an assist by what happened to Madison Keyes in that deciding set.

25:54Matt Roberts: But that was also helped along by what Jung was doing and the pressure she was applying and how she rose to the occasion. It was a tremendous effort from Jung.

26:08Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, it really was. There was a strange arc to the match because Jung came out really playing poorly, didn't have her range, wasn't serving well.

26:18David Law: 29 % first serves in in the first half.

26:21Matt Roberts: It's a real no-show. I think she was really shocked by Madison Keyes as an opponent. They've played before pre-injury, but she said, I just hadn't played anybody that hit the ball like her in a really long time, and I think she was rocked on her heels by it.

26:38Catherine Whitaker: And, you know, there was a point in this match where I was thinking, wow, Madison Key's liberated after saving all those match points and playing really well, and I think she could have won it in straight sets. So credit to Jung for hanging in there in that second set and managing to take it. And then I was expecting, actually, the third set to be nip and tuck and really close, and that just didn't happen at all with Keys building that lead. You just thought it was over, and, yeah, it was a case of two things happening at the same time. Keys definitely struggled a lot and was missing repeatedly and by quite big margins, but Jung was steely and did that thing that she's done in every match and end up finding her game and finding her range and taking over with her shots.

27:30Catherine Whitaker: And, yeah, there's real momentum behind Jung at the moment.

27:37Matt Roberts: And now we get Jung against Chiantek, which a couple of years ago was one of my very favourite WTA match-ups. I have missed this rivalry.

27:49Catherine Whitaker: It feels like a seminal moment in the career of Igor Chiantek, like that loss that she took to Jung Shin Wen at the Olympics in the semifinals. You know, like there's been a lot happening in Iga Sviante's world over the last couple of years and why she's not been as dominant to force as she was leading up to that point. But it feels like you can start things there in terms of things going a bit wrong for Sviante. You know, like, and I think mostly that was the Olympics. It didn't really matter who the opponent was, but just losing at the Olympics at Roland Garros, it was always going to be a tough one for her to stomach.

28:30Catherine Whitaker: But there were just so few players that you thought actually could beat Igor Svantec at that point on clay at Roland Garros. And Jung did it. And it's real shame what's happened to Jung since then and not being able to build on it. But here she is getting it back, getting the fire back.

28:50Matt Roberts: I cannot wait for young Svantec. It was a scratchy day for Svantec today.

28:56Catherine Whitaker: It was a really interesting match against Buzkova, actually, because Buzkova is an opponent who I think has improved a lot this year. She's always been in that kind of awkward, tricky category, but you always expect the best players to actually beat her. And Svantec generally has handled her pretty well. But, wow, if we're talking about this new version of Igor Svantec under Francisco Roig, this was it. There was absolutely zero, what we call, ball bashing, where she just hits out and hits out and keeps going for her shots. There was almost too much patience for you, Svantec. You kind of wanted her to pull the trigger a little bit more, perhaps, or certainly I did, because she was just getting involved in these very long, extended rallies against Buzkova, and that's kind of what Buzkova wants.

29:45Catherine Whitaker: and it felt a lot like Buzkova was the one bossing Sviontek around and I think one reason for that was Sviontek's serve. She didn't really have much going on that shot today. She wasn't winning many free points so it was creating a lot of these games where she was in tussles but I really liked Sviontek's... As I said, she was maybe a little bit too patient. She could have gone for a little bit more but generally that is what I want to see from Sviontek. I think it's better to have this kind of match because she's going to be so hard to beat if she's keeping the ball in the court. Because she's hitting it pretty relentlessly with topspin.

30:23Catherine Whitaker: She's moving well. And OK, she might not cut through opponents like she was in the past, but she's not going to beat herself. And we've seen that a little bit. So whether she can find a bit more aggression, a bit more width on her shots and a better serve remains to be seen. I think she'll need all of that later in the tournament against the best players. But this was, I think, a good performance for the Froig, the Francisco Roig era of, like, raising her floor a little bit.

30:54David Law: Short-handed, Froig.

30:56Matt Roberts: A lot of what you said strikes me, Matt, could also be applicable to Coco Gough today. One of her scratchier days, 6-3, 6-4 over Christina Bookshire, the second match on the Arthur Ashe Stadium today. She said in her post-match interview on the court, she said, well, my weapons, my attacking weapons weren't really with me today. So I had to rely on my defence. It's like, oh, we've got the best defence in the world, possibly, that women's tennis has ever seen. So, well, you're going to be fine then, aren't you? Like, what a thing to fall back on.

31:32Catherine Whitaker: Yeah. And look, I didn't see all of this match. But in the opening stages, Bookshare was on top and had a break. and at 3-2, Bookshare serving, she played, well, first of all, she had a lovely serve volley. I was like, okay, Christina, haven't seen that before. And then she won one of the best points I've seen all tournament, coming to the net, really long rally, she ended up winning it, and you're thinking, wow, Bookshare is on fire. She lost the game. That's kind of what Coco Goff draws out of opponents. You can play all of this great tennis, but Goff's going to be there point after point. and doing it consistently enough to beat her is so hard.

32:12Catherine Whitaker: And, yeah, my friend Matthew, who's a very big Coco Goff fan, said she normally has one bad match a tournament and if that was it, then she's in a pretty good spot and maybe this wasn't the worst round to have it in against an opponent who is playing well, but she knows she can rely on that defence against Butcher.

32:32David Law: It did occur to me that she probably, Coco Goff, knew of some of these other results that were going on with american players and you start to think oh my word they're all going to go like dominoes here um and just just all fall over and of course she's such a strong mental player that i just in the end i trust her to to find find the answers and it was interesting that even when you know this is somebody who wasn't having her best service day and yet she was averaging 110 miles an hour on her first serve it shows you that the the the bar is raised as to what she expects on that shot absolutely and look we'll talk more

33:14Matt Roberts: about koko goff in part two once we know who she faces in the fourth round because iala and jovic is still to come they're kicking off on the arthur ash stadium in about 15 minutes from now probably about 25, 30 minutes from now if we're including FAF in our schedule. So we'll be back in part two to talk about that and the rest of the tennis that we're going to see for the rest of the evening, probably through until 3am.

33:40David Law: Because that's what we do.

33:41Matt Roberts: So we'll make a date to see you then, folks. But just before we hit you with part two, folks, a word from our sponsors at Steve Fergal's International Tennis Tours, the premium hospitality and experience provider. and Steve Fergels can sort you out with your dream trip to the Miami Open in March. Combined men's and women's events are always the best kind and Miami is one of the biggest outside of the Sams. Plus, it's in one of the US's most vibrant cities, something which is really reflected in the tournament site, which has a festival vibe about it. So if that sounds good and you want to tick the Magic City off your tennis bucket list, you should definitely do it with Steve Fogles.

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35:49Matt Roberts: Welcome back to part two of today's Day 7 Tennis Podcast from the US Open, where since we came to you in part one, we have experienced an absolutely electric few hours of Grand Slam Tennis, one of those spells where the magic feels contagious and everywhere you look, special, memorable things are happening. I will remember that period for a long time.

36:18Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, it was one of those nights where at various points I was out on Armstrong, then I was out on Ash, and then I was like, I need to get to the screen because there's too much happening and I need to keep across all four matches at once. And yeah, you would look up and every single match was, you know, the point was like 30 all or break point. It was like all these big points happening at once. The tennis was brilliant, I thought, in all the matches we were watching. Just an absolute humdinger of a night session. Yeah.

36:53David Law: One of the great ones. One of those where, after I'd seen the first set in a bit of Alex Iala's match in the stadium, just wanted to get, as you said, back to the screens. And we were talking about going and seeing one of the other matches, is Baltic van der Zenshoep, because, you know, we've got a certain interest in him, particularly you, and we thought it would be quite funny to go and just watch that court side in these incredible press seats on court 17. But we couldn't get away from the screens, which you can divide into four and see all four matches at the same time. I was standing up. I couldn't sit down.

37:31David Law: I felt like I'd got an electric current going through me, really, watching each one of them, and all of them just producing incredible moments and stories.

37:42Matt Roberts: We left off part one talking about Coco Goff. We now know who she will play in round number four and it will be fellow American 18-year-old Eva Jovic. She came through that match with Iala. 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, as high-quality a contest as I have seen this US Open.

38:04David Law: Yeah, I think that's right. particularly in sets two and three. The first set was there were a lot of breaks of serve, and, in fact, Jovic went up two breaks, and Iala got them both back, and they were just exchanging them like that, but they didn't hit the heights in certainly Iala. She was sort of very patchy. Jovic does an incredible job of sort of absorbing pace. She is such a great athlete and competitor, and she's just strategically very clever. But then it just sort of descended into this toe-to-toe battle. I say descended, it kind of ascended into it because it was just so dramatic. You know, each one of them trying to knock lumps out of the other.

38:53David Law: And they're best friends, you know, they're great friends. And the shot-making was audacious. The movement was incredible. The crowd were just totally absorbed in it. And it was a capacity crowd. I mean, you're looking at more than three hours of battle. And I can't think of a part of the court that wasn't used, whether it was drop shots or angled spearing drives or lobs. Everything was on show. It's just one of the great matches, really, certainly at this tournament.

39:22Catherine Whitaker: There was no faff, Catherine. No, I know. You know, there was absolutely nothing apart from the tennis that was doing the talking. Do you know what I mean? like they're so evenly matched that they both got enough power but not overwhelming power and they were having to just throw themselves into the ball to try and get it past each other I think they know each other's games well there was a lot of times where I felt like Iala was reading where Jovic was going to go and you're thinking, God, Jovic, put it away but I think Iala was just anticipating it so well and the rallies were therefore really extended I was a bit worried about the match at the end of the second set when Jovic had the trainer out and had quite a long consultation about that and did seem to be struggling at that point and went down a break in the third but she came on so strong for the comeback that I stopped thinking about that as the match went on and Jovic had a match point and didn't take it and you thought maybe Arla could still win it from there but it was an absolute treat.

40:34Catherine Whitaker: I'm desperate to see these two play many more matches on this kind of stage.

40:40Matt Roberts: I know it feels lazy to jump to the Djokovic comparisons with Jovic because she's got Serbian and Croatian heritage, doesn't she? She spends a lot of time there and we know she has had a lot of input from Novak Djokovic. She's sort of mentored her a bit and given her spots of advice with her game. But, I mean, you can see it in the game. the way she plays so precisely to a line and length. Like, that is so Djokovic-ian. But in her steel. I mean, Djokovic shouldn't have that at 18. No. It's pretty extraordinary, her steel and her poise and her composure. I know there was one moment of fluster on the first match point where she made a very uncharacteristic error.

41:27Matt Roberts: but then immediately regrouped. It was unreal for an 18-year-old. And it's also remarkable how little I think about or we talk about her age.

41:38David Law: Yeah. It's happened so quickly, really, hasn't it? I mean, I think when she was announced onto the court, the reference point was two years ago she made her debut here and look what she's already become. And, you know, this isn't a player with just brutal power. She has to package an entire game in order to make inroads like this. And a lot of it is built around this mental strength and this incredible movement and this consistency. And as you say, Djokovic, it's a perfect description. Although game-wise, he was kind of a bit like that at that age, mentally he wasn't like that at all. She is a colossus already mentally on the circuit.

42:24David Law: and I think you only realise just how much she was sort of propping up in this match when it ended and you saw it all kind of disintegrate into emotion and she said, I don't get emotional very often but, you know, I feel really emotional right now and that's what this has meant to me.

42:45Matt Roberts: Yeah, that's exactly it, David. Just remarkable how quickly it's happened. I mean, I commentated on her at the Australian Open in January of last year, so just over 18 months ago, 19 months ago, and she got blown away by Lena Rabakina. It was adult against child. And you could see the talent of Jovic, absolutely, but she looked a long way away from being able to keep up with the big girls. And here she is, and it looks so normal. It doesn't look like she's having to redline her game in any way. Her technique is so compact and balanced. It just looks so sustainable, all of it, provided that back's okay.

43:33Matt Roberts: I back her to be able to keep up this level. I do wonder how her game will match up with Goff's, Matt.

43:41Catherine Whitaker: Yes, we saw them play earlier in the season and it was a three-set win for Goff on the clay. But now I think Goff's in better form than she was on the clay. She was really searching for her game still at that time. But, you know, obviously Goff's a very good clay quarter, and I think Jovic is still learning on that surface. So there's enough, I think, there in that matchup to suggest that Jovic can hurt Goff. I think what gets me is that Jovic is so good in those types of exchanges she had today against Iala, where it's back and forth, toe-to-toe. I think what Goff will do is try and mix up the heights a little bit more and maybe her court position a little bit more than what Ayala did to try and get out of just the quick back-and-forth exchanges and make it more about movement side-to-side, you know, and front and back, you know.

44:38Catherine Whitaker: I think Goff will try and make the match look a bit like that. And I just think, you know, as tough as Iala to beat, Goff is just that little bit extra hard to beat as well. So I would expect Goff to win still, despite how brilliant Jovic was tonight. I agree with you. That was some of the very highest quality tennis I've seen all tournament. But I just think Goff has an ability to cause people's level to drop a little bit sometimes. And I could see that happening. I do think Goff goes in as the favourite, but it's another... I mean, we knew whoever came out of that match, it was going to be very exciting against Coco Goff, and I think, you know, if it had been Ayala, there would have been the whole crowd element, there would have been just how many people are going to be watching this tennis match around the world, but with it being Jovic, there's a kind of different reason why it's really compelling as well.

45:34Matt Roberts: How are we already at the point where Coco Goff is playing players four years younger than her?

45:42David Law: Yes.

45:44Matt Roberts: How are we here? Bonkers stuff.

45:47David Law: One other factor, just to consider as well, is how physically ready Jovic might be. Three hours plus of battle and seemingly a set in a bit of being in some kind of discomfort. Maybe that was cramp induced or something like that and will wear off, but I got the sense that it was more than that. Yeah, absolutely.

46:10Matt Roberts: One to watch. Can't wait for it. Assuming she's fit, cannot wait for that match. Also cannot wait for the other match that was set up this evening that will be played on Monday between Nomi Osaka and Elena Rabakna. Rabakna has just got the better of Yara. Yulia, I've done it again. Got it wrong in a different way this time. Yulia, star of Dubseva, 7-6-6-3 in the last match of the night on grandstand. and Naomi Osaka coming through in rather more dramatic fashion on Armstrong over a Lisa Merton 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, a match that Naomi Osaka herself, in her post-match interview on Court with Blair Henley, was in utter disbelief, Matt, at having won.

47:00Matt Roberts: She kept on saying over and over, I can't believe I won this match. She said, I'm literally shocked that I won.

47:06Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, and she looked it. She was struggling to get words out in that interview at times. And, yeah, she said she put her heart, left her heart on the court tonight. And you wouldn't have thought that she'd be having to say these things after the first set and a bit of this one, which was fairly comfortable, really, for Osaka. You know, she wasn't in her absolute best form and Mertens was sticking around in games and threatening to get the break back at the end of the first set. But Osaka was in charge and you felt like she just had too much game. But we saw what has happened a few times this tournament where she can't just put her foot down on a lead and accelerate to the finish.

47:53Catherine Whitaker: There's bumps along the road and she lost the second set and ended up a breakdown in the third. and Mertens is such a good competitor and you don't want to end up in a match like that with Elise Mertens, it just becomes tricky. And then she had treatment herself, Osaka, for her calf, I think. I was pretty worried at that point. Me too, she was really stretching it out and she was struggling in the match at that point but my goodness, she came on strong. She surged. At the end, she really did. She needed a lot of match points to get through and it was still a battle right to the end. And she was down at five all and then ended up serving her way through that and then, you know, eventually ended up winning it.

48:42Catherine Whitaker: There was a jumping backhand winner cross-court towards the end, which I'd never seen Osaka do, let alone on a doggy calf. Just fantastic match. I don't think Osaka was quite at her best. She admitted that. but there was a period where her attitude was kind of poor and she actually apologised to little kids watching, saying that she wasn't happy with her behaviour. I think she was shuntering away at her box and Thomas Rick Karofsky was heard saying, I'm not your opponent. She is at one point. But she overcame that, you know, and by the end I thought she was really back on track and did have a really good attitude and she needed it.

49:27Catherine Whitaker: And yeah, that's a fascinating match in the next round now against Rabakina.

49:33Matt Roberts: Only played once before, and that was just a few weeks ago. It was this summer. Won by Rabakina in Toronto, 6-4 in the third.

49:42David Law: That was a good match. And it was one that Osaka should have won. I watched that and she had that on her racket. She was due to win that in straight sets and just couldn't quite put Rabakina away. and then it got away from her. And I think that floored her. I mean, I think that's why she pulled out of Cincinnati. I think she was so floored by that. She needed to kind of rest up and just feel enthused again as much as the physical elements. So, yeah, it'll be really interesting because we still have to watch Rebecca a little bit, don't we, even though she seems to be coming through these physical challenges.

50:21Matt Roberts: Yeah, there were a couple of moments tonight. It was a marathon first set against Dara of Dubsoe. A couple of moments, particularly moving forward to the net, where she maybe didn't look the most comfortable pushing off on that ankle. But, you know, this is a player that beat her at the French Open. By and large, she's looking pretty remarkably okay as Rebecca Knorr. And she's now two wins away from world number one. Two wins away. Regardless of what anyone else does, if she wins two more matches here, she becomes the world number one. so that's it for women's matches from today which brings us to the Bertic section

51:00Catherine Whitaker: I'm surprised she didn't lead with it to be honest they were strained of you Catherine

51:04Matt Roberts: Bertic van der Zanschelp ladies and gentlemen 3676 4676 63 in 4 hours and 29 minutes over poor old Zizi Berg so I've just walked past in the interview area looking utterly devastated Burtick, though, quote, really glad he won. Even gave the odd fist pump in the fifth set of this, didn't he?

51:30David Law: Yeah, we did not know what to do with ourselves when we saw that. Is this an imposter? Never seen him given one before. But, you know, if you're going to give a fist pump, it's after a fifth set epic in one of your best grand slams ever.

51:44Matt Roberts: Yeah, he has been to the quarterfinals here before 2021, I think. This, you know, has been his most successful slam. but as always with Burtick, this run is out of nowhere. Of course. And look, it wasn't always the highest level this match. It was in and out from both of them. I would say Berg's definitely fancied his chances of the comeback in the fifth set if his body language was anything to go by.

52:10Catherine Whitaker: Well, he hit a purple patch where everything he tried suddenly came off for a few games.

52:16David Law: Even when he was four-loved down. He was four-loved down. He did four-loved down. He won one point and he's sort of pointing at the core as if he owns the place. You love four. But anyway.

52:25Matt Roberts: It was a very funny fifth set. And Bertuc actually said in his on-court interview that he loves big courts and big vibes. I mean, tell your face, Bertuc. Actually, no, don't, because I love his weirdness. I really love it. And he will play Artur Gea in the fourth round, of the US Open. Zeya against Van der Zanskulp replacing the quarterfinals. Zeya, a lucky loser, got his clock cleaned by Nishes Basavaredi in the final round of qualifying. Basavaredi, I think, went out in the second round here. And here's lucky loser Zeya. First round. He lost to Schoelhatay. Crikey. That seems a long time ago.

53:12Matt Roberts: So lucky loser Zeya threw, obviously, his own five-set battle over Michael Zheng, the American over on grandstand. The last Frenchman standing after Benjamin Bonzi lost out to Karen Hashinov in the earlier on today, wasn't it? Hashinov imperious in that. Hashinov of old, they're saying.

53:37Catherine Whitaker: Unseeded Hashinov, very much like seeded Hashinov, really. Just sort of doing his thing, making quiet, good progress through the draw.

53:46Matt Roberts: Awaiting the winner of the match currently on court between Jakub Menchik and Lerner TM. Okay, that is it for part two. Now, in terms of part three of today's pod, if you are hearing this right now, it means that Alexander Zverev managed to win his third round match against Alejandro Tabilo without elongated drama for once. And therefore, we have taken the strategic decision not to wait till 3am to record part three for once. So, you'll be hearing our bright, sunny, pre-midnight voices looking ahead to tomorrow in just a moment's time. 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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55:24Matt Roberts: Welcome back to part three of today's tennis podcast. Let's look ahead to tomorrow, day eight of the U.S. Open. And it's a big, is tomorrow Labor Day? Is Monday Labor Day? Monday. It's Monday, but tomorrow is very much part of the Labor Day celebrations. Yeah. And that affects the order of play in a way that I hadn't accounted for when we talked about and we looked ahead to the Taylor Townsend against Arena Sabalenka match tomorrow because the day session is a bigger deal.

55:55David Law: That's right.

55:56Matt Roberts: I mean, generally at the weekends, but particularly Labor Day weekend. And I guess for that reason, they have put Sabalenka Townsend first up on the Arthur Ashe Stadium at 11.30am, followed by Tommy Paul against Carlos Alcaraz. Who's picking any upsets there on the Ashe Day session?

56:17David Law: No, I'm not picking an upset. It will be Sabalenka and Alcaraz for me.

56:22Matt Roberts: Matt?

56:24David Law: Yes, for me too. I kind of think maybe Townsend had a better shot if it was the night session.

56:31Catherine Whitaker: I don't know why I think that. Just a bit more chaos, potentially. That may well not end up being true, but I do think Sambalenka and Alcres will step it up and come through.

56:44Matt Roberts: Night session starting at 7pm, although it's actually always 7.20 because faff. Ben Shelton takes on Stefanos Tsitsipas first up, and then following that, a women's match, which is rough scheduling. I think Anna Kaninskaya against Emma Navarro, the last match of the day on Ash. Over on Armstrong, it opens with men's doubles. Harry Heliovaro and Henry Patton taking on Matteo Arnaldi and Jan-Leonard Struth. Then not before 12.30... It's a random pairing, isn't it? Totally random. Not before 12.30, the singles action starts with Marta Kostiuk against Wimbledon champion Linda Nozkova, then not before 3pm Daniel Medvedev against Francis Tiafoe and then that is followed by Jessica Pagula against Sarana Castella.

57:32Matt Roberts: No official night session on Armstrong tomorrow, just a sequence of good-looking matches. Pagula on Armstrong for the first time. That'll be interesting because everybody says it does play a little bit differently. And then grandstand tomorrow is all doubles except for your guy, David, Alex Mickelson against Thomas Martin Echeverry. That is a not before 2.30.

57:59David Law: OK, I'll be keeping an eye out on that whilst I'm commentating on Al Karaz against Tommy Paul on BBC Radio. So that'll be good. I'll have my screens in front of me. I'll be across everything.

58:12Matt Roberts: We love screens. Matt, do you see any upsets anywhere tomorrow?

58:18Catherine Whitaker: I guess Kostiuk over Noskova would count as an upset I don't yeah go on then I'll go for that one I think the way Kostiuk you know like she lost her in the Wimbledon semi-final and we've you know we've already seen her get revenge on Andreva who she lost her in the Royal Garros semi-final I think those semi-final performances have have hurt Kostiuk a little bit the way she's played in those slam semi-finals not that the wimbledon one was terrible but i think she'll be she'll be keen for revenge and i think nosikov has been good this tournament i think already reaching round four is quite a good backing up of of wimbledon like low like low key it's nothing amazing but it's it's pretty good um but she was really pushed against and lee and i could i could see kostyuk beating her i suppose That feels pretty close to me, that one.

59:13Catherine Whitaker: Medvedev-Tiafoe, I guess Tiafoe winning would be the upset?

59:17Matt Roberts: I guess so. I mean, pre-tournament.

59:20Catherine Whitaker: Pre-tournament, you wouldn't have said so.

59:21Matt Roberts: You'd have said Medvedev.

59:22Catherine Whitaker: But then you've got the head-to-head is so in Medvedev's favour. That's a heck of an order of play on Armstrong, those two matches back-to-back. And then Pagula. I'm going to lean Medvedev, I think. but I was very impressed with Tiafoe the other night but I'm going to lean Medvedev when a head-to-head is that strong in someone's favour something's going on there feels like something's happening

59:46Matt Roberts: OK, well we'll be back tomorrow at the end of all of it to talk about it can't wait looking currently at a picture of Leo our US Open mascot who's of course celebrating Labour Day weekend Leo has a honey juice in front of him which I can only assume is a homemade one by Cara It's a good one. Leo's lovely owner. But I cannot tell you how faithful to the real honey juices that you buy here at Flushing Meadows this is. I mean, you would not know.

1:00:18Catherine Whitaker: No. It's either a homemade one or Leo is in our midst. Right, yeah. In which case...

1:00:23Matt Roberts: Absolutely.

1:00:23Catherine Whitaker: Why have we not been hanging out with Leo?

1:00:25Matt Roberts: Like, the melon balls are the perfect size. The colour... I mean, it's an official US Open Cup that has obviously come from Flushing Meadows, But honestly, I mean, these are like pro-quality photo shoots we're getting from Leo and Cara. So thank you very much, Leo. That looks like a very delicious honey juice. Hello to our mascots, Bodhi, Maisie and Roger. Hello to our top folks and executive producers, Greg, Chris and Jeff. Now, we were going to have the big return of shout outs tonight because it's incredibly pre-midnight. but we do have a bus to catch. What's the verdict, Matt?

1:01:09Catherine Whitaker: We could do two quick ones. Quick ones. We have Jane Bullman.

1:01:15Matt Roberts: Hello, Jane.

1:01:16Catherine Whitaker: Hey, Jane. Who is from New Jersey.

1:01:19Matt Roberts: Oh. We've got New Jersey stickers now. We do.

1:01:24Catherine Whitaker: Shout out Kelly and Marianne, who made those for us. I've got one on my laptop.

1:01:30Matt Roberts: Love them. They say TTP loves New Jersey. and...

1:01:34Catherine Whitaker: Accurate.

1:01:35Matt Roberts: No, they say New Jersey loves TTP, but TTP does love New Jersey. It's a mutual thing. It's a mutual thing. Yeah, it's all love. Thank you, Jane. Like Jane O'Donoghue?

1:01:45David Law: Yes. Very good, shall. Who occasionally coaches Emirado Cano, if my memory serves me correctly.

1:01:53Matt Roberts: Correct. Thank you, Jane.

1:01:56Catherine Whitaker: And finally, we have Kate Sale from Sydney.

1:02:00Matt Roberts: Hello, Kate. Hello, Kate. like sail on a boat you're on the boat Kate and Kate like Kate's always a bit of a problem for us isn't it we're good for Katie sometimes I mentioned my friend Kate that works for the ATP sometimes you mentioned Katie's.

1:02:22David Law: Yeah. Swan, Bolter.

1:02:25Matt Roberts: Yeah.

1:02:26David Law: All seems a bit unsatisfactory.

1:02:29Matt Roberts: I think Kate who works

1:02:30Catherine Whitaker: for the ATP deserves a shout out. Yeah. Yeah.

1:02:33Matt Roberts: Is it the same church thank you? Yeah, it is. Okay. Like my friend Kate that works for the ATP.

1:02:38David Law: I'm not saying you're unsatisfactory Kate who works for the ATP by the way.

1:02:44Matt Roberts: Kate, thank you very much for being a friend of the tennis podcast. Jane too. We are part of the Athletic Podcast network and just a quick note before we go a reminder that if you're an nfl fan the athletic has this really cool exciting thing starting next week it's the athletic live presented by google gemini and it's a brand new youtube watch along on nfl game days it features the biggest and the best beat reporters the athletic has to offer and you can even become part of the show in the interactive chat on youtube it all starts from september 8th and it sounds super cool if you're fan of the NFL.

1:03:21Matt Roberts: Thank you ever so much for listening. However you have enjoyed the pod tonight, we will be back tomorrow and we'll speak to you then.

1:03:49Matt Roberts: like grocery stores, on gas, and at restaurants. It pays to Discover. Terms apply. See discover.com slash five for details.

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