US Open - How did Alcaraz look on Mixed Doubles return?

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1:15Matt Roberts: Hello and welcome to the Tennis Podcast coming to you for the first time in 2026 from New York City. David has been up for 25 hours and counting. Matt is still reeling from whatever it was Flavio Caballi did earlier on this evening. More on that later. I am incandescent with the fact that I've just watched a stage be built before my very eyes at midnight for a ceremony with absolutely nobody in the stands stop building stages. But we are here and we are pumped and we are high on tennis. The singles gets underway on Sunday. The qualifying finishes up tomorrow. But tonight, the spotlight has been on the mixed doubles and official Grand Slam tournament TM.

2:10Matt Roberts: Revamped last year and eliciting much controversy, particularly among doubles specialists and doubles purists. and returning this year with much anticipation and a few tweaks here and there as well, mostly to give slightly more opportunities to the doubles specialists. But ironically, the title was won by Karolina Mukova and Jakub Mensik, two players that have won a total of zero doubles titles in their careers before tonight. A victory for Mensik and Mukova and for matching kits. David.

2:49David Law: Yes, it's kind of the first thing that I noticed really when I saw these two come out is just how perfectly matched they were. And also I think they're very nice kits, the sort of pink shirt and I don't know what colour you'd call the skirt and shorts. Sort of maroon? Yeah. Maroon, sort of silky, almost like boxer style.

3:10Matt Roberts: So it's certainly material.

3:12David Law: Yes, I'm certainly a big fan.

3:14Matt Roberts: Oh, and David matching bomber jackets on display here.

3:17David Law: We're just seeing that as they get ready for their presentation. They look like they've really got together and spoken to their... They formed a band right now. They've got the same kit sponsor, haven't they? And it sounds like they've worked this out, so this is how they're going to come. And they looked the part, and my word, did they play well too, you know, with some incredible comebacks. And, yeah, and I actually, I love the fact that, unlike last year, I thought the coolest thing about last year was that the doubles team just crashed the party and went and sent all the singles stars home and kind of ruined everything for the organizers in a way that got everybody on board in improving it for doubles players this time and making it more of an opportunity for them.

4:06David Law: And yet it's the singles players who ended up duffing them all up, which I kind of, I loved that as well. I think it was really cool.

4:14Matt Roberts: Yeah, look, we've got a sample size of two of this revamped mixed doubles Grand Slam. So we're inevitably going to do loads of comparisons of this year to last year. And I think it was very, very different this year in good ways and bad. Do you agree, Matt?

4:32Catherine Whitaker: Yes, I do, really. I find myself feeling a lot less existential about it this year. You know, it's now just something that happens, the US Open mixed doubles event. And, you know, I think on this very show in these same seats last year, we had a strong debate about the format and the players that are in it and the qualification process. And I kind of just let all of that wash over me a bit more this year and just accepted it for what it is. And yet it did have a different vibe to last year. I think Mukova and Menchik are worthy winners. To me, they were the most competent pair that I saw, right from matching their outfits and taking it that seriously down to their game.

5:18Catherine Whitaker: Menchik with his big serve, Mukova, lovely touch up at the net, as we know she has. They dovetailed really nicely. And yet, you know, one of their toughest matches was against the double specialists early on in the draw when they needed a match tiebreak to beat Arevalo and Kristina Modenovic. And I think there was a world here where those doubles specialists did make their way through. And I'm not sure we can draw big conclusions about, oh, singles players are better than doubles players just from this tournament. I think a lot of those matches were very close. The margins were tight. And this time it was the singles players who came out on top.

6:00Catherine Whitaker: And I do think last year's tournament had more of an edge to it because of Irani and Ravasori and everything they stood for. We only really saw that briefly this year with Sini Arkova giving her a line about how, oh, I still have to play the qualities now.

6:16Matt Roberts: And Henry Patton a bit as well. With Sini Arkova. I think, especially because he's, you know, generally become a bit of a spokesman, hasn't he, for the sport of doubles. But yeah, Sini Arcova posted the audio on her Instagram of her own mic drop moment of sass, which is pretty epic. But I mean, maybe this is a really Tennessee take. And truthfully, this event really isn't for the tennis fans, is it? And I don't necessarily have a problem with that. There's going to be a tournament. for a couple of weeks here that is more for the tennis fans. I still want, if it's going to be an official Grand Slam tournament TM, I still want it to have competitive integrity, not to be too boring about it, but the details beyond that don't trouble me too much.

7:16Matt Roberts: But I missed, David, having a doubles team involved tonight to give the tournament that edge and that spice. I did miss that tonight.

7:28David Law: Yeah, I think I agree with that from a, it's quite an insular tennis perspective as somebody who just was a bit wound up about them doing this with the format a year ago anyway, but actually ultimately accepted that it was really good. But that element of it does make it better. I mean, look, tonight I definitely noticed a difference with not having the biggest stars. You know, last night the tournament did it. It had Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz. More about them later. But, you know, there was a difference there. These are really good players. I went out into the stadium for Andreeva and Rublev against Menchik and Mukova.

8:15David Law: And honestly, I mean, it was a reminder to me about how everybody just has their own conversation in the Arthras stadium, regardless of what match is going on really and and it was just this din you know and the happened to be a tennis match going on at the same time and the place was packed I mean listen don't get me wrong the place was full um but then towards the end of the match when Rublev and Andreeva started to mount a comeback the crowd suddenly decided these are our guys these are our guys and they were really loving those two and and then they got on top and they look like they're going to win and people really got into that um i don't know there's something quite lovable about them i think both roblev and andreva when you see them in person um but have

9:05Matt Roberts: you seen the the very awkward sort of endearingly awkward quotes from the two of them about the crush that Mira Andreva unnecessarily confessed to having on Andre Rublev as a kid, which I'm sure made Rublev feel a hundred years, he must have wanted to say I'm next gen, I'll have you know imagine like I wanted to say he's standing right there you know, but it was lovely it was really, really lovely and he was typically sort of self-deprecating to a fault about it, like you're not that bad Andre like you are crush worthy um yeah he was like oh I'm so I'm sure she just felt sorry for me it was it was it was textbook mixed doubles like endearing awkward

9:54Catherine Whitaker: vibes between a a pair yeah yeah yeah she like praised his hair that's lovely yeah she was asked

10:02Matt Roberts: what was it about him that made you have a crush on him she was like I don't know probably his hair

10:08Catherine Whitaker: but like they lost you know a sort of really dramatic match where they had match points and and Draver had an easy put away and they didn't take it and Rublev had missed her forehand on set point in the first set and I was just thinking about how different that experience would be if they were on the singles court losing that match it was it was just nice to see them still playing a competitive match, but also it not feeling like the weight of the world is on top of them. And they were happy in each other's company.

10:41David Law: In the moment, they did tighten. Yes, absolutely. And it was proper nerves that kind of cost them because they were 9-7 up in that tie break. And as you say, I mean, Androva was right on top of the net with that volley and just fluffed it. And then the whole thing got taken over thereafter. after but once it was over big hug it's okay you know whereas like you say you could just imagine how bad they would have been feeling on their own and i do think there was a world actually

11:13Catherine Whitaker: tonight where there was real edge and stakes to it and that's if if the two losers of the semi-finals had actually met in the final we would have had svitolina coming up against two Russian players you know in Andreeva and Rublev you know that we were a couple of match tie breaks away from that happening tonight and there being a very different feel to what we're seeing now in this trophy ceremony where Mukovo and Menshik are having laughs with Kabali and Benchik like that that actually would have given the matches some real weight I think.

11:50Matt Roberts: I'll tell you he definitely seems to consider this an official Grand Slam Tournament TM and that is Sven Grunewald who is grinning and he's filming this like it's his daughter's wedding he looks just absolutely could not be prouder of Karolina Mukova right now he's he's very into this here they are lifting the trophy and they're matching shiny maroon jackets I've actually just seen some quotes that Ben Rothenberg posted specifically about those outfits and the colour thereof. Apparently, it does seem like Karolina Mukherjee is very much the leader of this team. I'd read some quotes yesterday about how he had approached her quite early on in the season about wanting to play together.

12:38Matt Roberts: And she'd said, well, you have to get your ranking up because it's on a combined ranking and I'm doing my bit. You're going to have to do better. and then he reached the French Open semi-final and they were like okay this can work this can work so that was sweet and then apparently the outfits definitely were a concerted effort and Mensik said it's definitely one of the most important things to look good on the court and they decided on the pink tops they had the choice of outfits I presume that their kit sponsor presented them with and they decided on pink tops with maroon shorts. But that was following some initial confusion because Menshik says he didn't know what maroon was.

13:31Matt Roberts: Mukherjee said, I was like, let's take the maroon shorts. And he's like, what is maroon? I'm like, okay, that's going to be a problem. It's all very US Open mixed doubles, isn't it? But in an endearing way. Speaking of the weird but endearing, Matt, the people can wait no longer. Tell everyone about what Flavio did.

13:59Catherine Whitaker: Yes, at the end of the first set of his semi-final tonight, it was Kaboli and Bencic up against Jem's life. and Monfils had just had a situation where he was taking Svitolina's shots. You know, the classic mixed doubles scenario that we see, a real test of the man's ego. They see this rally developing and they just cannot help but get involved in a way that actually does not serve the purpose they think they're serving. And he made a right mess of it, Monfils, and overhit and put his head in his hands. he knew what he'd done and so that was the warning sign Kabbali did not see that warning sign he thought yeah I like a bit of that getting involved in a rally I don't need to get involved in and tried to poach tried to steal a shot you know and he ran all the way over the other side of the court at the net he was now just in front of his partner Bencic and missed the ball and then had to get out of the way but in getting out of the way he ended up in the line of fire of benkish's backhand and got hit by benkish's backhand as he was trying to get out of the way having made such a mess of it um that gave jem's life monfils and smitalina set point and it was caballi's turn to serve and he double faulted on that set point and it was honestly like the worst sequence of points you could imagine from Caballi.

15:34Catherine Whitaker: But it did seem that he knew he'd messed up. And for the rest of the match...

15:39Matt Roberts: I think he always knows he's messed up.

15:41Catherine Whitaker: For the rest of the match, it was like he took it upon himself in a much more disciplined way to make up for it. And, you know, if we're doing tennis analysis, I think actually Svitolina was far too... She was far too content to just rally with Bencic in this match. She needed to keep Caballi honest. and sometimes hit it to him and make it so he couldn't just poach and keep him on his toes a bit more. I think Svitolina didn't have her best day in this one. She missed a lot of volleys as well. But Kabbali and Benchic really turned that round. I feel like if we're awarding it's not a crime to be locked in prizes, which I think we should always for this event in honour of Jack Graper last year.

16:25Catherine Whitaker: To me, Kabbali and Benchic get it for their, you know, Because they won that thing in Indian Wells earlier the year. I think they've really...

16:33Matt Roberts: They knew Fritz Rabakina.

16:35Catherine Whitaker: But with a bit more fun than Fritz. A lot more fun than Fritz and Rabakina. But I think they really rated themselves as a pair. And I think Kabali was pretty...

16:44Matt Roberts: I mean, Bencic is a heck of a doubles player. And mixed doubles players. I've seen a lot of her at United Cup playing mixed. Yeah. She's really good.

16:53Catherine Whitaker: And look, Kabali is aware he's not Federer. He said, in this life and the next one, I am not Roger. and Belinda is having to now play with Flavio. But they really did work. There was an intensity to them and they won the second set in the final very easily and had the momentum going into the match tie-break but Menchik and Muka took it from them. But yeah, I did enjoy their vibes.

17:18Matt Roberts: I'm happy to give them that award.

17:21David Law: Can we give an award to Gael Monfils for that rally that he did? I think it was yesterday when he ran off the court to retrieve a ball.

17:31Matt Roberts: Generational, David, they'll be saying. Do you know what?

17:34David Law: I would actually call that generational. I mean, not only is he from another generation because he's 40-odd, he's retrieving a ball like he used to when he was 19. I mean, it was just absurd what he did, sliding into the corner, almost into the corridor, and then getting it back into the court, and then doing that sort of, Alina, can you just move over there so I can make room for my finishing shot with the forehand down the line?

18:03Matt Roberts: It's very, like, revealing of character, the mixed doubles, isn't it? Like, everybody's just sort of... It's like everyone's career in microcosm. When you were describing Caballi there and sort of being a doofus and then spending the rest of the match making up for it, swinging from one extreme to the other, that's...

18:21Catherine Whitaker: That's our Flavio.

18:25Matt Roberts: Fritz playing with Jessica Pagula this tournament They were awful

18:29Catherine Whitaker: Did not go well I thought they were the favourites

18:33Matt Roberts: Really On paper And probably Taylor Fritz did too

18:38David Law: Maybe Fritz took it too seriously

18:40Catherine Whitaker: They got smoked by Schneider Rude

18:45Matt Roberts: 4-2-4-1 I think they get the Probably never spoke before yesterday award Schneider and Rude

18:53Catherine Whitaker: yes I agree

18:56Matt Roberts: yeah and they just came out

18:57Catherine Whitaker: and actually Serena and Alcaraz as well

19:01David Law: but at least that would be understandable given he's half her age literally half her age and they've probably never met before

19:12Matt Roberts: should we talk about the Alcaraz of it all or the Serena and Alcaraz of it all it was fun wasn't it well it lasted we did get two matches out of them. It was a bit weird. Which was one more

19:24Catherine Whitaker: than I was expecting.

19:25Matt Roberts: Absolutely me too. I thought they were

19:27David Law: brilliant in that first one.

19:28Matt Roberts: Yeah, they were. Serena especially. Yeah, she was locked in. If she's up for it, there's lots of potential for her as a doubles player, I think. I don't draw any conclusions on it in terms of singles. I think that's misguided. I did briefly during

19:46David Law: the first match. She looks better than she did at Wimbledon. I think she's made a mistake.

19:51Matt Roberts: Serving extremely well, Serena. Unlike Carlos Algoraz, who double-faulted on the first point. But he was so nervous, particularly at the start. But I think throughout, and I do... Look, I really have no idea what this US Open is going to look like for him singles-wise. But if it is going to look in any way positive, I do think having played this mixed doubles, I think he'll be nervous for his first-round singles match still. Big time. But I think this will take the edge off a bit, having had this experience. He's got some of it out of his system, definitely, because he was so nervous. I mean, there's also the Serena element.

20:35Matt Roberts: He was definitely terrified of her. Yeah. He was definitely like, what am I going to say to her? What are we going to talk about?

20:42David Law: There was a great moment where he was shown laughing and kind of fooling around, and then she sort of ran up to him, and it looked like she was saying, is there any chance you could just sort of concentrate and he just thought yes really no problem at all sorry no I mean I don't know whether that's actually what was happening but that was the vibe it was giving off but I do think this would have done him the world of good just to have got out there and I mean he said I haven't been in front of a crowd for a long time and we saw it a little bit I actually believed Roger Federer the other night when he played Andy Roddick in this sort of exhibition match, that he was a bit nervous because he just hasn't done this.

21:24David Law: You know, it's a kind of muscle you haven't used in all this time. And Alcaraz obviously hasn't, plus there's the unknown of the arm. I mean, and again, in terms of reading things into singles based on what you've watched in a mixed doubles over the best of, you know, four, well, first of five, four games, whatever it is. He looked good to me. He looked like Carlos Alcraz. You know, I didn't notice anything where he's holding back. He looked like he was hitting out. I think some people, I think his serve speeds were a bit down. Right.

22:05Matt Roberts: But, I mean, all sorts of reasons why that could be both sinister and totally benign and innocuous. They weren't sort of, he wasn't dollying it in, but I don't think they're necessarily what he was serving in Australia, for example.

22:22David Law: No, but you just can't read anything really into it other than this is probably good for him that he's got out there and he's experienced it and now let's see. But you're right, it's very easy to watch it and think, oh, he looks pretty good, doesn't he? Yeah. But it's so different.

22:42Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, I draw nothing really from what we saw in terms of how it's going to lead to when he plays singles. Mostly I was just delighted to see him again. There was this one point in the first match they played where Alcaraz sort of hit a diving volley at the net and retrieved it. And then Serena hit an incredible backhand angle and then Alcaraz had another good volley to help them win it. and it was just like... The grin. Only Alcaraz can make a point like that happen.

23:18Matt Roberts: Matt said, well, that's the best tennis point since April.

23:22Catherine Whitaker: That's having such a good time. I was like, oh, Carlos, thank goodness, you're back. But yeah, I draw no conclusions about the form he's in and we'll have to see. I also draw no conclusions from the practice sets that he's playing, you know?

23:37Matt Roberts: Which there are very confused reports about.

23:40Catherine Whitaker: Absolutely. But, you know, I was watching the...

23:43David Law: Except Merida's in the mix suddenly.

23:47Matt Roberts: Because he's just thrashed out. Yeah, Merida's on for the career slam.

23:52Catherine Whitaker: I was watching the Rafa Nadal doc recently and there's a big thing on that about his last role on Garros and I'd forgotten, but all the talk leading into the first day of the tournament was how well Nadal had been practicing and he'd been winning all his practice sets. He'd beaten Holger Runa in a practice set and this was a great sign. Obviously, he was kind of screwed over by the draw he got. He ended up getting Zverev and Alcruz has got the protection of still being a very high seed that something like that's not going to happen to him. But also, it was quite obvious as soon as the actual match started that this wasn't Nadal just suddenly back and rolling back the years.

24:35Catherine Whitaker: No, he was confronted with the reality of his situation. I think you only get that in a proper match situation that Alcaraz is going to have in a few days. But yeah, it was a fun experience. It looked like he had fun as well on the court. It was nice to see him just getting joy from tennis again. And yeah, I was so impressed with Serena's level. She was kind of carrying them at times.

25:04Matt Roberts: Yeah, she was walloping returns. Yeah

25:07Catherine Whitaker: It was great to see By the way What a weird year For Erin Routliff She has played Serena Williams Three times

25:17Matt Roberts: She's played She's been involved In most of the matches That Serena Williams Has played It's wild She and I'm not sure If she and Lloyd Glasspool Are going to be Teaming up again

25:28David Law: Or talking

25:30Matt Roberts: But they didn't talk During the match During this It was a really I mean look that's a tough experience isn't it being thrown into the Alcaraz Serena show but there are lots of different ways of responding to that and I'm not sure theirs was the most conducive to what evidently wasn't the most conducive to success I do if we're sort of deciding what bits of Alcaraz scraps of Alcaraz information and evidence we're prepared to read into. I'm slightly worried about the fact that he didn't practice today. He's had four and a half months off. I don't think he needs days off from practice. Could be very wrong about that.

26:16Catherine Whitaker: He is on the schedule tomorrow. Yeah. At least. But yes, I thought that was a bit odd. Yeah. Any other dispatches from the mixed doubles? Anything else we'd like to touch upon? Shout out to Siniarkova for acing Djokovic on match point.

26:39Matt Roberts: That must have felt good. I mean, not Siniarkova and Patton. I think they were a cool story. But Djokovic and Savalenka going out first up, I think, for the tournament was a blow. Look, let's be real. The tournament wanted one of those... I think the tournament wanted and maybe even needed, not that it's been a failure, but it definitely hasn't been what they were hoping for tonight. Let's be honest. There was reports that, you know, the dynamic ticket pricing they have here, tickets were going quite cheap this morning with the lineup that they had this evening. And look, for tennis fans, it was a pretty good lineup, but not for casuals.

27:27Matt Roberts: Like, casuals wanted Sabalenka, Djokovic, Serena Alcaraz or Pagula Fritz, I think. Like, they needed one of those in the line-up and they didn't get that. And for me, like, I would have loved seeing one of them tonight too. I'm a vibes-based sports fan, really, and they would have brought added vibe. But as we've established, if it's going to be an official Grand Slam tournament TM, you've got to have some integrity to it. and that's the price you pay, isn't it? You can't just manufacture your dream lineup and I hope that they just take this on the chin and are like, that's how it goes sometimes and they don't tweak the format to try and make it more likely that the teams that you want to go through do go through.

28:22Matt Roberts: I hope they're hoping.

28:22David Law: Yeah, I think they've more or less got it about right now. Because they have this qualifying tournament for the doubles players to take part in to earn spots in this main draw. And I think that that works. It gives an extra amount of tennis. It gives opportunity. And you can then end up with more. There were more teams in this time from the doubles world. And I think that was really good. I do feel as though they relied on, frankly, a couple of people, well, one well into her 40s and Novak Djokovic pushing 40 because there was no golf. There were a few other people not playing in it, which I think would be a little bit of a concern for them.

29:20Matt Roberts: Yeah they could do with a few other the sort of big stars with longevity left in the tank being invested it seems pretty clear that Coco Goff's not bothered. Yannick Sinner okay he was supposed to play last year but this year he was never going to play knee or not. I know Tiafoe was going to play wasn't he but reached the final in Cincinnati but he's always going to prioritise singles. I don't know. No Shelton, no Feast. Yeah, exactly. They could do with one or two of those getting into this and building a bit of a relationship with the event, I think. It wasn't as good as last year for me, but that's okay.

30:07Not all Grand Sum events are the same. There's going to be good years and there's going to be bad years. It was fine.

30:15David Law: We had the novelty factor last year.

30:18Catherine Whitaker: That was so big, I think.

30:20David Law: But I also, you know, it really was cool to see Serena and Alphonse. You know, if somebody had told us a year ago that that would be happening this year, we would have been blown away, wouldn't we?

30:28Matt Roberts: It was weird that that was day session.

30:30David Law: Yeah.

30:31Matt Roberts: It was just sort of optically like this is so so obviously should be under some lights and have a big intro and it was still really cool, but yeah. Maybe they'll be back. Serena will be back and we'll talk about that and well the wild card found down the back of the sofa

30:53David Law: in part two but first we want to tell you that the tennis podcast the US Open is brought to you in association with Steve Fergill's International Tennis Tours the premium hospitality and experience provider if you want to go to have an incredible experience at the best tennis tournaments in the world Steve Fergill's have got you covered including at the WTA finals in November held for the first time at that wonderful tennis venue in Indian Wells, California. From the 8th to the 15th of November, you could be in brilliant seats watching the best eight women's singles players and doubles teams in the world with accommodation and hospitality all organised by the experts at Steve Fergal's International Tennis Tours.

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33:46Welcome back to part two of today's tennis podcast. The first of 19 daily tennis podcasts from the US Open from this point onwards. David is too tired to hear that stat right now.

34:02Matt Roberts: it was 22 the other day it was 22 three days ago that was the math that i just did live in my head

34:08David Law: right yes and of course that included the friends show from yesterday about the redraw which uh which is up now if you want to now for friends of the pod uh yet david when when did you last what time did you wake up uk time this morning 4 45 a.m which so that's i've been up 24 Four hours now, haven't I? Yeah, 25 hours. Yeah. I feel great. I'm worried that you've gone too far with staying up, because it's now 5.30 a.m. in the UK, and that's not far off David Law, awake, up and Adam, pumped about the day time. And I've also got to be up really early for tomorrow because we're live on stage at the US Open.

34:54David Law: Yes.

34:57Matt Roberts: So what time's that? Yeah, indeed. It's 1pm, David. Thank you very much for asking. 1pm on the main stage. A lot of people will be listening to this after 1pm on Thursday. So please just hit the fast forward 45 seconds button. But if you're not, and it's not too late to make decisions about what to do with your day, do come down. And you're also in the New York area. I think if you're not, the ship is probably sailed. Imagine if people flew in for the wrong day. But do come down. We're on the main stage. And it's going to rain. It's free. It is going to rain. Well, actually, the chances of rain have diminished considerably since this morning when we were all very doomful about the weather forecast.

35:41It's going to be lovely, folks. The cast of Chicago, I'm sure, will, you know, the show must go on. That's what they say, isn't it? They'll play through the rain. So will we. So do come down.

35:53David Law: And we'll be knocking around somewhere, even if we're not on the spot. Quallies finishes up tomorrow so we'll cover that and of course the draw the main order of tomorrow in our show tomorrow that we'll record after our live show tomorrow that clear? Excellent there's some really cool storylines bubbling away in qualifying we've had two rounds completed the final round is all played tomorrow Jingxin Wen is into the final round under qualifying Bianca Andreescu has dropped just six games in two matches but I'm not getting

36:33Catherine Whitaker: carried away more you have said that about 18 times Joanna Garland is through David and I went to watch Joanna Garland earlier um and it was a joy it was it was the highlight of my day so

36:49David Law: uplifting and if you want if you want to watch a game just one game in a tennis match which sums up stress and edginess and what it all means the final game in that match she's playing priscilla

37:03Matt Roberts: hon and playing different rounds of tennis let's put it that way priscilla hon just she she was

37:13David Law: keyed into what was going on here and what she needed to do and and garland got herself to 40 love in this game she did brilliantly you know she's sort of serving it out no nerves we're all expecting nerves they're not coming and and and on hon lifts one lob garland smashes it it goes just out okay it's only the one hon then starts slicing every forehand just floating it onto the baseline floating it floating it floating it and garland starts to miss and and this game went to juice it went to break back points it went to juice and it was just back and forth and she kept being three points away garland and she eventually wrestled herself over the line and just sort of crumpled didn't she she'd handled it so incredibly well and then you realize just what players are holding on to nerves wise and hon was just doing this masterful showing of how to just try to make make your opponent choke.

38:19David Law: That's what she was. She didn't try and hit any winners.

38:23Matt Roberts: It really was like they were playing two different sports on the same court. It was, yeah, it was extraordinary. So Garland faces Fran Jones. That'd be cool. Going to try and watch some of that. Grigor Dimitrov faces Otto Vertinen. One of them is going to get into the main draw. Keina Shikori is into the final round of qualifying. It's a really cool set of matches tomorrow.

38:46Catherine Whitaker: And he's got a fellow Japanese opponent. Oh, has he? Yeah, Sakamoto.

38:52Matt Roberts: Gosh, that's fun. There's, yes, I can feel the Japanese journalist writing the passing of the baton pieces as we speak. So we'll cover that tomorrow. Obviously, everything that's going on in, what have we got? Winston-Salem, Monterey. There's another tournament this week, isn't there? Is that it? No, the land is gone. I mean, the land is still there. but the tournament I assume yeah I think

39:19Catherine Whitaker: there's a women's 125 in Philadelphia but tour events is Monterrey and Winston-Salem

39:26David Law: and there's the Roehampton event where Oliver Tarvet is of course David was having

39:30Matt Roberts: a bit of Tarvet time on the bus earlier

39:32David Law: he's won both of his matches so far this week folks Arthur Ferry's into quarter final yeah in Winston-Salem anyway we'll talk about all of this tomorrow folks tonight just a couple more bits and bobs to talk about in wildcard news you've probably heard Serena and Venus Williams have a wildcard into the women's doubles not a huge surprise but that is very cool I think everybody's yeah pleased to see that I mean especially given the way Serena plays yeah absolutely Venus has got herself a good partner there and in other wildcard news Remember Stan Wawrinka?

40:10Matt Roberts: How did you describe, David, the decision not to award Stan Wawrinka a wildcard?

40:15David Law: Well, it's crap.

40:17Matt Roberts: You need to describe things as crap more often, David, because people are listening.

40:22David Law: And there's a U-turn happened. Yeah. Patrick Kipson, who got one of the late, late awarded wildcards. He wasn't in the first raft of wildcardies. Cardies he got his awarded well two or three days ago in the last couple wasn't it that were announced and everybody was expecting one of them to

40:44Matt Roberts: be Stan Rinker and in fact it was Patrick Kipson well he's developed an injury in that time has now withdrawn I'm being glib of course who knows when he developed that injury but anyway I became aware of it in that time and that freed up a wild card that has been awarded to Stan Rorinka after he liked our reel with David calling the decision crap.

41:14Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, I think he was going around on Instagram liking all the reels that were slagging off the decision and then he posted a lovely, sort of magnanimous, accepting, heartfelt post about how great New York's been to him and all that kind of thing.

41:32David Law: didn't even mention that he hadn't been given a wild card

41:35Catherine Whitaker: he took it very gracefully

41:37Matt Roberts: what I want to know is if this wild card well there's a lot of things I want to know about how all this shook out so much we need to know it's got Craig Tiley intervention written all over it hasn't it not that it wasn't his decision in the first place I've no idea but definitely feels like jiggery pokery has gone on to me

42:01David Law: with the right eventual outcome and all above board but but but sort of you know the understand but just a kind of do you know what we're getting a bit of a hammer in here and we probably should just get well as we've established david grand slam tournaments it turns out are allowed to do whatever they damn well like so they can definitely do this uh but yeah i i want to know whether the wildcard is conditioned, whether he's had to sign some sort of NDA. Not. Because he's going to be asked, you know,

42:33Matt Roberts: about how he felt. And of course we know because he's liked our reel. But will he let it all out, will he say, now that he's been given the wildcard?

42:49David Law: He's a fairly honest individual in my experience. So I'm looking forward to it. But he's also never been a great quote, really, has he? It's all been... He's done all his expressing through his tennis and through vibes and through feel. He's never been one where he felt like we must go to the Stan Rynker press conference. No, but he hasn't minded a sassy tweet in the past. And I think that's why he might have a slightly complicated relationship with Craig Tiley. Because he hasn't minded a sassy tweet in the past. in the past yeah you're right um so anyway all of which is to say we've ended up in a situation

43:31Matt Roberts: where stanmerinka suddenly now does have a wild card into the us open and and and becomes one of

43:37Catherine Whitaker: the names we're definitely looking at in the draw like there's a real there's a real disruptor element now to stanmerinka like if he draws one of the tournament favorites or the home players and goes and beats them, that is going to be quite something.

43:54David Law: Imagine if he drew Djokovic. Or Alcaraz, or... If he drew Djokovic, I mean, the history he's got with Djokovic. That would be quite fun.

44:03Matt Roberts: Gosh, that would be fun. I mean, he's not got much prep time, has he? No. Yesterday he found out.

44:13Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, but I mean, he might play Tuesday. Right. The first round goes on forever.

44:18Matt Roberts: And he is diesel.

44:19Catherine Whitaker: And he was playing in Cancun last week, wasn't he? He has been playing. That's good knowledge. Okay. Not playing this US Open is Joao Fonseca. Bit of a bummer. Not necessarily a great shock. Hasn't quite looked himself the last few weeks. Has played some good tennis in spurts, but has looked just not quite himself, I think, Joao Fonseca. He's withdrawn from this US Open. And what was the injury he's withdrawn with?

44:54David Law: Is it abdominal strain? Well, we wish him well. We want to see a fit and healthy Joao Fonseca.

45:04Matt Roberts: Played one of the matches of the year. Yeah. And still not good enough to be any of the best tennis match scenes since April.

45:16Catherine Whitaker: It was a regrettable in the moment comment.

45:19Matt Roberts: No, no, no regret. I get it. I enjoyed it. Folks, if you don't know, tomorrow is draw day. It's a tough day for Matt. It's complicated. US Open draw day for Matt. It is.

45:33Catherine Whitaker: Get ready for the PDFs, everyone. 12 o 'clock, refreshing the page. It'll be magic when you do see the draw eventually. No marching band for the PDF drop. Draw day is tomorrow. We will have our draw day show tomorrow. And if I haven't mentioned it, we are also doing a live show on the stage at 1pm right after Chicago. Then, yes, after that, we'll be doing the pod. Then we'll be back on Friday with our media day pod. We've also put our requests in for tennis podcast meets. Hopefully we've got some fun stuff in the works there. and somehow on Friday we are also driving to Newport, Rhode Island.

46:21Matt Roberts: And on that note, I'm going to send David to bed.

46:26David Law: Are we fitting all this in?

46:29Matt Roberts: Tomorrow, David, is the easy day. Oh, good. Yeah. Yeah. But it's going to be great. We are, it's, yeah, it really is. It really is going to be good. And all of that is going to be, I'm distracted now because I'm looking at the dog. What a dog. All of that is going to be supported by our US Open mascot. Drum roll, please. Revealing and announcing Leo. Like a little lion. He's wearing Tennis Podcast merch, David. It's more than my heart can take. This is Leo owned by Cara Lynch, who might be a super friend. Cara has been a guest editor. She's been a predictions entrant at Wimbledon this year. Yes.

47:17How did Cara do?

47:19Catherine Whitaker: Oh, well.

47:25Catherine Whitaker: I'll dig that out. I will give you an actual answer, but give me a moment. Okay. Well, I'll tell you about Leo while Matt brings up the receipts for the Wimbledon predictions competition. Leo is a six-year-old labradoodle who came into our lives, says Cara. during the uncertainty of the pandemic and from the very beginning filled our world with joy. He spent his puppy years in Hingham, Massachusetts and now calls Westchester County, New York home. Oh, Cara could come to the live show tomorrow. But wherever Leo goes quickly becomes his home because he has a gift for making friends with everyone he meets.

48:08He remains hopeful that he will see Fulham win the Premier League in his lifetime, perhaps this season, but urges the men to seize the day sooner

48:18Matt Roberts: rather than later.

48:21Catherine Whitaker: And I can tell you that Cara came in of A Fulham 14th at the Wimbledon predictions. That's very Fulham.

48:28Matt Roberts: And there's nothing wrong with that.

48:30Catherine Whitaker: Out of 17.

48:33David Law: What avoided relegation. Look, we'd signed for it. I love Leo so much. I can't wait to see daily photos of Leo. That's going to be wonderful. I can already tell he's soft and cuddly and likes being petted. And that's what dogs are on this planet for. I petted a dog earlier today. You did?

48:58Catherine Whitaker: An Australian? An Australian doodle. Yes.

49:02Matt Roberts: I really liked that dog. I tried so hard not to be weird about it but I did insist on petting the dog so welcome Leo, it is a pleasure to have you on our US Open journey we of course also have our mascots Bodhi, Maisie and Roger our top folks and executive producers Greg, Chris and Jeff shout outs will be back tomorrow because David's about to keel over we are part of the Athletic Podcast Network thank you for listening we'll speak to you tomorrow

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