What's happened post Wimbledon?

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1:18Matt Roberts: Well, hello and welcome to the Tennis Podcast. It is Monday the 21st of July. We are a week on from Wimbledon we've done our best attempts at rest and recuperation in fact David Law is still doing his best attempts at rest and recuperation in Portugal no less so I'm joined by Matt Roberts and we're trying to remember how to podcast Matt hopefully successfully if if you're hearing this

1:44Catherine Whitaker: then Matt and I have been successful yeah it was this equivalent show last year where we ended up without microphones or something after Wimwood and last year. So I do feel like we're already beating the last year versions of us, which is kind of all we can hope to do really, isn't it?

2:06Matt Roberts: Yeah, hashtag growth. Here we are speaking into microphones. Well done us professional podcasters. The majority of this show is going to be a work of art put together by our very own Vicky Spreadbury. she puts together audio montages of our Grand Slam dailies after every Grand Slam. Now this is usually just for Friends of the Tennis Podcast but this time we've decided to make it available to everybody because well it's a lot of work that Vicky puts into these. They're very special and we want everybody to get a taste of it. So the majority of this show is going to be that but we don't want to leave you hanging.

2:50Matt Roberts: There have been six important events happening in the tennis world this week, of course. So we're going to do a quick little recap just so everybody feels kind of up to speed. And then we will be returning a week from now with a proper deep dive on some important stories that have taken place in the tennis world over the last couple of weeks. And, of course, talking about the tennis that's due to take place this week. we got a combined ATP and WTA 500 event in Washington where the draws look really fun, actually. And of course, there's Kitschbull as well, because what is a post-Wimbledon period without Kitschbull, Matt?

3:29Matt Roberts: Although what is Kitschbull without Dominic Thiem?

3:32Catherine Whitaker: Oh, how sad.

3:34Matt Roberts: We're about to find out what Kitschbull is without Dominic Thiem, aren't we?

3:37Catherine Whitaker: But I must say, Washington, though, like if you're a fan of one-week events and you're a fan of combined events, there's very very few of those now and washington stands out in the calendar like i don't know if people are ready for this much good tennis so soon after wimbledon but washington is it it's a great

3:59Matt Roberts: field looking forward to it i actually feel surprisingly ready it always i mean i guess it's because you know I love tennis and it's my livelihood but I do surprise myself with how quickly I'm I'm ready to watch non-stop tennis after a grand slam yeah we always give it the

4:22Catherine Whitaker: big oh tennis needs to have three or four months off and then like two two weeks without tennis

4:28Matt Roberts: and we're like where's the goddamn tennis yeah I I make it such a an agenda of mine to campaign for a longer off season, whilst also deep down knowing that I would potentially sink into a deep depression if there ever were a longer off season, I wouldn't cope well at all. Anyway, let's talk about tennis that's happened this week, because no fewer than six events, of course. Let's start in Hamburg with the WTA 250 there, all 250 events this week, plus the Hockman Cup randomly happening in mid-July these days. Hamburg, I think, is the most intriguing one of these because it has been won by Lois Boisson.

5:12Matt Roberts: Not a one-hit wonder, Matt. Certified a minimum two-hit wonder. Beat Anna Bondar in the final.

5:22Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, honestly, like, really pleased to see this result because, you know, I think like everyone, while the French Open run was happening, there was definitely a big part of my brain thinking this might be the only time that we properly see Lois Boisson. And as fun as that was, you know, I just thought it might be isolated to this year's Roland Garros. But actually, I think what she's shown here in an event, look, without the strongest field in the world, but I think she's shown that what she is, I think, is a clay court specialist. I mean, with her forehand, the heavy reps that she gets on that ball, I think she is going to be a nightmare for players on clay.

6:07Catherine Whitaker: And that's quite fun that France, with their home slam on clay, have got a home player who seems to be a specialist on the surface. They haven't had many title winners in the last few years, generally France. I think Caroline Garcia a few years ago was the last French player to win a WTA title. So this is big for them. And I'm pleased for Lois Boisson that she is backing up Roland Garros, even by doing this. I feel like she's kind of backed up what she did there. And yeah, post-deodorant gate Boisson is a very, very powerful thing, as it turns out.

6:50Matt Roberts: Yeah, I mean, it's interesting. female WCA clay court specialists is an interesting genre of tennis player because it's so much less possible to make a living pretty much just on clay on the WCA tour than on the ATP tour it is almost possible not quite but almost possible to play exclusively on clay on on the ATP tour there There are these sort of sub swings of clay court events in South America and this one happening in Europe after Wimbledon. But the WTA has far, far fewer clay court events. So she's hamstrung in that way. I mean, WTA has fewer events generally. So, yeah, I wish her very well.

7:42Catherine Whitaker: And I especially wish her well because I hope she gets to lift another trophy in her career.

7:49Matt Roberts: I was just going to say, did you see the trophy? And can you explain to me what on earth it was?

7:55Catherine Whitaker: Well, it looked to me like a shipping container. Someone on Instagram told me they think it's a shipping container. I think for sponsor reasons.

8:05Matt Roberts: But why would it be a shipping container?

8:07Catherine Whitaker: I think the sponsor might be in that.

8:09Matt Roberts: Were they sponsored by Met Nesk? You know, the brand that all shipping containers have written on the side of them. Was that the sponsor? Surely not.

8:21Catherine Whitaker: There was definitely a sponsor on the trophy, if you can call it a trophy. It's poor.

8:30Matt Roberts: I think sponsors need to keep out of trophies.

8:32Catherine Whitaker: Me too. Me too. Yeah.

8:36Matt Roberts: OK. I hope Lois Poisson gets another trophy. On to IAS. Now I'm informed by my dad, and I hope we don't get added by lots of Romanians. I hope we're getting this right, but my dad has spent a lot of time in Romania over the years that you don't pronounce the I on the end. Lots of Romanian names and places have a silent I on the end. So I'm going to go with IAS. One by a Romanian. Maybe Irina Camellia-Begu can tell us whether I'm pronouncing it right. She beat Jill Teichman in the final. Teichman, the lone non-Romanian in the semi-final line-up. Cracking week for Irina Camellia-Begu. Good to see Jill Teichman back in the final because where on earth has she been?

9:28Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, I was quite high on Jill Teichman a few years ago. Not quite as high as David, who had her as his shooting star. And, well, she fell out the sky, really, didn't she? She shot in the wrong direction. Rather than shot, yeah. But I was with David. I really liked Jill Teichman as a player a couple of years ago.

9:49Matt Roberts: She's a better player than her ranking suggests. Yeah. So much better. And she's so gritty.

9:57Catherine Whitaker: I like the way she competes in matches. I'm obviously mostly thinking about her Billie Jean King Cup career, where she's been a valuable part of that Swiss team over the years. So, yeah, hopefully she can get it back.

10:10Matt Roberts: So congratulations, Irina Camelia Begu and IAS. Over in Los Cabos, Denis Shapovalov has, of course, won the title. It means nothing. We're not going to get drawn in. It's probably good that this has happened in a week where David's not here and we can't get drawn into the speculation about what it all means for Denis Shapovalov. I'm very pleased for him. This means nothing.

10:38Catherine Whitaker: Oh, no, no, no. I mean, it's good for him. Lovely. It's his second title of the year, of course. He won one earlier in the year.

10:48Matt Roberts: And we did spend quite a long time talking about whether that one might mean anything.

10:52Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, I don't think at the time I thought that meant anything either. but it was easier to believe it did because of the calibre of player that he was beating there. Here in this week straight after Wimbledon, I don't think he beat a top 50 player to win the title. He didn't drop a set, which is great. And I'm sure that everyone there enjoyed watching Denis Shapovalov. He's still incredibly exciting to watch and when it all clicks, it's fantastic as it has done this week. But no, I will not be drawn into what does this mean for Denis Shapovalov? Just good for him.

11:32Matt Roberts: Good for him. Well done, Denis. In Stade, Kaspar Rude did not win the title. Is it time to retire for Kaspar Rude? Who can say? We'll find out after Kitschbjell. I assume he's playing Kitschbjell. Why wouldn't he be playing Kitschbjell? Alexander Bublik won the title. I know this because I just transferred him into my fantasy team in the nick of time. He beat the lesser spotted Sarundolo in the final. Juan Manuel, no longer the punchline of Sarundolo brother jokes, Matt.

12:10Catherine Whitaker: And he, of course, conqueror of Kasparud. And Rud really let that one go. He was three love, double breakup, I think, in the third set and didn't close. um public i mean his last three tournaments two titles and around one exit i mean this is the most public run that you can get including of course a win over the pretty much unstoppable world number one in there as well and look he's just he's tilted the balance slightly isn't he's still public and yet he's just making the the title runs and the good bits a little bit more common he's still having the you know the the early losses but it's great that he is becoming a little bit more relevant I think it's his first title on clay he's now won a title on every surface and I was kind of shocked that it was his first title on clay to be honest because I think the unpredictability of his game works really really well on on that surface is such a such a huge weapon for him and yeah he's been a super fun player over the last few months public so nice to see him carrying that on i think he's in the he's definitely in the kitzbühel he's top seed in kitzbühel yeah so he's going for the he's coming for rood's he's the new rood yeah well

13:35Matt Roberts: When it was a treble, what was the third one?

13:39Catherine Whitaker: I think Borschtad used to be in a different week.

13:43Matt Roberts: Yes, it did.

13:44Catherine Whitaker: I think it was Gestad, Borschtad and Kitzbühel one after the other.

13:49Matt Roberts: And is Gestad the one where Federer was given Juliet the cow?

13:53Catherine Whitaker: That's right. Yeah.

13:54Matt Roberts: But that was a Federer-specific gift. Not all Gestad champions get a cow.

14:01Catherine Whitaker: I believe that's right. Yeah. Yeah, it was a sort of, wasn't it his homecoming event after winning Wimbledon for the first time, I believe.

14:13Matt Roberts: Okay, one off cow. Gestade also had a different trophy.

14:19Catherine Whitaker: I quite liked the one in Gestade. Did you see this? It was a, I think it's the one they always have. It was a sort of stone, like a sort of mountain shape representing the Alps. I think that's cool, a trophy that reflects the region rather than a sponsor. Absolutely. I was in on the Gestade quirky trophy.

14:41Matt Roberts: In Borstad, now the same week as Gestade, as you say, Luciano Darderi beat Jesper de Jong in the final. Further evidence that there are Italians coming out of everyone's ears.

14:54Catherine Whitaker: Yep, he is now in the top 50. he has now won three career titles which is more than Mazzetti which is which is rather you know sort of stops you in your tracks that yeah I mean Mazzetti definitely needs to close some more tournaments and he's obviously had bigger success generally but like yeah three three tall ever titles is is no joke Daldieri is very very good especially on on clay and the guy beat in the final Jesper de Jong I came across his TikTok earlier this year earlier this week sorry and did you know this

15:36Matt Roberts: during your week up, during your detox from tennis just browsing Jesper de Jong's TikTok did you know this about

15:42Catherine Whitaker: Borstedt, the hotel is part of the stadium so he did a sort of leaving his room, getting to the stadium and literally he goes out of his hotel room door, walks down a corridor, turns a corner and he's in like the stands on the main stadium court. And I'm now starting to understand why more and more players flock to Borschtad after Wimbledon. Because total lack of faff. Total lack of faff. It would be your dream. And actually it was flipping cool. I loved it.

16:17Matt Roberts: Like I went to Norwich to see the Killers a couple of years ago and stayed in a Holiday Inn there that was part of Carrow Road. Great. Really convenient. You could see them sound checking from our hotel room.

16:39Catherine Whitaker: Oh, very good. Yeah.

16:41Matt Roberts: Yeah. Very good.

16:42Catherine Whitaker: It's still surprising to me that the Killers were playing Norwich.

16:46Matt Roberts: It was surprising to them as well, it seemed to me.

16:49Catherine Whitaker: Yeah. They like treat England as the place where they're most popular, don't they?

16:57Matt Roberts: They pronounced it Norwich, which I enjoyed. Well, they would. The Hotman Cup has been won by Canada. Bianca Andreescu has a title match. The comeback is on. Hope is restored.

17:16Catherine Whitaker: Just as I've drafted her into my fantasy team.

17:18Matt Roberts: Yes, but do you get points for this? Do they get points for this? No. No. But it's nice. I'm pleased with them. She and Felix Auger-Eliassime beat a very annoyed Flavio Caballi in the final. Yeah, he was pumped up, wasn't he?

17:38Catherine Whitaker: Yeah. Because Andrescu had beaten Bronzetti very easily and then Caballi had come back to beat Auger-Eliassime. This was taking place in Puglia in Italy. They'd managed to turn the Hotman Cup into a vibe as well, have the Italians. And yeah, Kabbali got that good win against Ogiali Asimi. He was pumped up, but then Canada managed to close it in the mixed doubles. I'm pleased the Hotman Cup exists and that there's that little part of Italy that this week got to enjoy it. And there were big crowds. There really were people enjoying it. I personally didn't really have the bandwidth to find out how to watch it, but I enjoyed watching the highlights.

18:26Matt Roberts: If you watched the Hopman Cup successfully, please let us know how you did that. At us on Instagram. So that's it for tennis this week. We did have a few bits and bobs of news. Jung Chin-wen has had surgery on her right elbow. she's joined the gang of tennis players posting the thumbs up hospital bed post-surgery photo which was quite a tough sight to see so we wish her well on her recovery and we've had a lot of withdrawals from Canada a lot of withdrawals from Canada particularly on the men's side I mean on the women's side Sabalenka has pulled out of Montreal The women's will be in Montreal this year and the men's in Toronto.

19:15Matt Roberts: And on the men's side, Marker are reporting that Carlos Alcaraz is going to miss it. I mean, he seems to be doing Ibiza, but in Spain, having a lovely time. Good luck to him. Sinner and Djokovic also out of Toronto. Look, it's no great surprise, is it? But yeah, Jack Draper is pulled out too. I mean, it's a decimated field and it's now a 10-day event. And it just feels I mean, and I don't think that's accidental, by the way, that that Canada and Cincinnati have become 10 day events. I do think that is more likely to lead to these kind of pull outs. But it's a tough scene, isn't it? I find myself more pumped for Washington this week for all the reasons you described earlier than for Canada, the the bigger event in in a week's time.

20:07Catherine Whitaker: yeah honestly my my reaction to these withdrawals was well of course like if you're if you're going deep at Ronon Garros and you're going deep at Wimbledon as as these players have you need some rest somewhere and there used to be there used to be three weeks used to be four weeks really between the end of Wimbledon and the start of Canada. Since Wimbledon got moved back a week, it's been pretty like three-week gap. But now it's two weeks, 14 days from the end of Wimbledon to the start of Canada. And it's just too much. Something's got to give. And honestly, the sport should be looking at the schedule and seeing that Cincinnati starts the day that Canada ends.

20:59Catherine Whitaker: the finals respectively are on a Thursday and a Monday and they should be looking at that and just thinking well this doesn't work it does not fit in the amount of time that we have to make these events as long as we've made them like we have to change it I think Canada is the one that certainly on the men's side we've seen some more sort of surprising winners and finalists over the last few years anyway haven't we? There have been weaker fields there generally and it seems to just be going more and more in that direction. Yeah, brutal. And obviously for Jung and Jack Draper, it's sort of injury related.

21:38Catherine Whitaker: So I really just hope that they can recover as quickly as possible.

21:43Matt Roberts: Yeah, and it starts to, from the ATP's perspective and the WTA's, but I think more so the ATP's, they're suffering even more with pull-outs. it devalues the 1000 brand. You know, you're going to have a field that week that does not feel like a 1000. You know, these events are supposedly mandatory. Well, that feels like it's been made a slight mockery of. I don't know if Jack Draper's injury is legit. I kind of hope not. And I think it's ridiculous that they have to create reasons for withdrawals. he's saying it's an arm injury isn't he?

22:26Catherine Whitaker: And I think given he's already pulled out of Cincinnati as well, that to me suggests that there probably is something going on there but yes and look fatigue absolutely should be a legitimate reason to be able to pull out

22:39Matt Roberts: I need a rest Yeah David cited an ankle injury for this week, a fake ankle injury sustained while golfing in Portugal OK, so as Matt said, Washington combined ATP and 500 event lasting one week, one week only. Make the most of it. ATP field includes Taylor Fritz, Lorenzo Mazzetti, Holger Runa, accompanied by mentor Andre Agassi. That's something we'll be getting into in next week's pod. Ben Shelton, Andre Rubler, Francis Tiafoe, Alex Diminor, Daniel Medvedev and Flavio Caboli. And the WTA field includes Jessica Pagula, Emma Navarro, Elena Rabatkinner, Naomi Osaka, Emma Raducanu and wildcard Venus Williams.

23:33Matt Roberts: Plus, Emma Raducanu and Elena Rabatkinner are playing doubles together. And Venus Williams is playing doubles too. She's playing with Hayley Baptiste. which is super fun. There is, of course, the ATP event in Kitschbill, Bublik, the top seed. And there's a very tennis podcast-coded round one match of Boetik van der Zandtschulp against Nicolas Jarry in Kitschbill. We'll be, perhaps not watching every ball of that, but we'll certainly be paying attention to it. And there's also UMAG. And there's a WTA event in Prague with a draw of 32, of which 11 of the players are Czech. Extraordinary. So we'll be back in a week's time to talk about all of that with the Athletics, Matt Futterman, and we will also get into some of the bigger news stories as well involving Bill Ackman and the Newport Hall of Fame tournament over there.

24:30Matt Roberts: Don't worry, we've been following all of that closely. Have read Bill Ackman's extensive tweet many times to try and get a handle on what on earth he's talking about, other than the fact that he blames his poor performance on Jack Sock not letting him have the juice side. But yeah, we'll be getting into all of that with Matt Futterman as well. And of course, the four-year doping ban that has been handed out to Britain's Tara Moore. Lots to talk about there as well. First and last time, Tara Moore and Bill Ackman have featured in the same sentence, I think. maybe not the last time maybe next week will be the last time so all that to look forward to in a week's time hope you enjoy the tennis this week if you're ready to dip your toe back in the water we certainly are um for now though we are going to leave you with this incredible Wimbledon montage put together by the wonderful Vicky Spreadbury here it is

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26:43Matt Roberts: Hello and welcome to the Tennis Podcast, live from Wimbledon. A glorious sunny day at Wimbledon for the first time in 2025. We are so back.

26:59Catherine Whitaker: You know I love all draws, but the Wimbledon draw is the best of the lot and it lived up to expectations today. I think I had the afterglow of our live show in London last night when I arrived on site at 9am this morning.

27:16Matt Roberts: Not the afterglow of Bruce Springsteen releasing 80 songs.

27:19Catherine Whitaker: That happened on the stroke of midnight as we were in the taxi home.

27:23Matt Roberts: It's been a big 24 hours for Matt Roberts.

27:24Catherine Whitaker: It was all incredibly overwhelming. We've been kitted out in this new Wimbledon merch. Brilliant. What a day.

27:34Matt Roberts: It's like one of those gigs, concerts, when the musician just comes out and sits down at the piano. We've got this. We don't need faff here. Yeah. It's all killer, no filler.

27:45Catherine Whitaker: Yeah.

27:47Matt Roberts: it's sort of like a saucepan a wooden saucepan and in lieu of a saucepan in lieu of the bit where you would put your stir fry there is a there's a velvet bag secured by these beautiful studs

28:04Catherine Whitaker: and matt got to hold it i got to hold it i felt incredibly powerful i also got to hold the box where they keep all the chips and that is kept shut by a World War II soldier's belt. Incredible.

28:20Matt Roberts: We're slowly moving towards Matt just doing the draw. Denise Parnell needs to watch out. If ever we lose Matt from the tennis podcast, it'll be because somebody at Wimbledon has decided to involve Matt Roberts in the draw. Incidentally, I was searching for photos of Jack Draper the other day for professional purposes.

28:46Catherine Whitaker: even even holger runa who i wouldn't say yet is yesterday's man but isn't really a threat to tomorrow's yesterday's man

28:57Matt Roberts: was it here a year ago that tiafo gave his i've been losing to clowns line i think yes so yeah Because the list of clowns has really got a lot longer.

29:14Catherine Whitaker: I'm going to say it live on air right now. I think if Amanda Nissanova beats Julia Putin's saver, she's reaching the semis. I mean, you thought he was pumped on draw day. Imagine what he'd be like on semis on that last day.

29:29Matt Roberts: What do you think about that prediction, David? It's ridiculous. I can't believe Matt's gone for a more outlandish prediction than David. Because I know I complained about it being freezing cold and raining all the way through Wimbledon last year. And now we've got a situation where it's going to be 35 degrees on Monday. And if I complain about that as well, then I'll be giving the Brits a bad name. I mean, it was quite a wild press conference generally, wasn't it, from Yannick Sinner for such an un-wild man. I say on Wildman, topics of conversation included his partnership with Emma Navarro. More on that in a moment.

30:08Matt Roberts: His partnership with Gucci. His partnership with Andrea, I've written Bocelli. That sort of person. Bocelli. That's the love child of Simone Bocelli and Andrea Bocelli.

30:26Catherine Whitaker: I think my favourite part of the Bocelli stuff was when he said congrats to him and his team.

30:33Matt Roberts: I've written that. That's what was distracting me when I started talking about Simone Bocelli accidentally. He started talking about Andrea Bocelli.

30:41Catherine Whitaker: It was so funny.

30:46Matt Roberts: It is now incredibly clear to us and I think to everybody that the US Open picked these mixed doubles pairings. Yannick Sinner had never spoken to Emma Navarro until yesterday.

31:03Catherine Whitaker: Yeah.

31:03Matt Roberts: Yeah.

31:05Catherine Whitaker: Andy Murray's golf-obsessed. And he'll play with anybody who's up for it. Yeah, give him a call, David. I think he wants good partners. Not me.

31:17Matt Roberts: You're pretty good, David. And you forgot your clubs.

31:20Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, I don't need to get my clubs in. It would be embarrassing to turn up to golf with Andy Murray, not having any clumps.

31:25Matt Roberts: David is a specialist at getting out of the bunker. That is true. I've seen it with my own eyes. Just being on your left foot, right? Yeah, so Andy, if it's just you and me in the bunker, I fancy my chances. That's getting clipped up. Okay, Matt, as you were.

31:42Catherine Whitaker: Well, as he was leaving the press conference, a journalist just shouted at him, who won the goal? And he said, Andy, but I let him win.

31:54At the end of my interview with Matteo Berrettini, so I've had lovely six or seven minutes with him, and then, you know, your press is getting clipped up as well.

32:06Matt Roberts: David, Matt, I think you both went to the press conference of his scheduled third-round opponent, Alexander Bublik. I didn't have the guts to do that because I find him terrifying.

32:20Matt Roberts: some other moments from goss press conference she came in clutching one of these strawberries she did indeed and i had a moat i had a rush of blood to the head you thought david law asked yannick sinner about carrots if david can ask yannick sinner about carrots then i can ask coco goff about a strawberry so matt you need to ask a player about fruit and veg at the us open

32:48Catherine Whitaker: so we were like

32:50Matt Roberts: Matt said we've got to go in yeah

32:53Catherine Whitaker: and thank goodness we did I couldn't be more proud

32:56Matt Roberts: because it was fantastic yeah we had a we had a 10 minute 2-on-1 with Marquesa that can go in the montage

33:05very happy were you logged in into the tennis podcast yeah

33:08Matt Roberts: so you're getting Matt's recommendations yeah I'm getting all of Matt's and there's some over content you have to be careful but I count I'm on

33:19Catherine Whitaker: i join onto the backhand list you go do you know the live chat already knows who you're bumping off

33:25Matt Roberts: there is a lot of anna bogdan sympathy happening on the live chat right now

33:33Matt Roberts: she was gate crashed by francis tiafo and there was a um a throwaway question from her as she was walking out how do you feel about having him as your mixed doubles partner and she just eye rolled which was sensational he was asked about you know what he thinks the atmosphere might be

33:56Catherine Whitaker: you know being thrust into that occasion in his first Wimbledon match will there be a big you know big support for the you know for the Brit there and he said it's tough to be louder than the Brazilians. And it was very big, she's never seen my pace energy.

34:14Matt Roberts: That's what I want from Taylor Fritz in mixed doubles.

34:17Catherine Whitaker: He described himself as a mixed doubles specialist. Go on, Taylor. He cited his United Cup record with Coco Gauff, the fact that he's won the, quote, Indian Wells thing with Rabatkinner, who he's partnering at the US Open. and he said he is going to be extremely competitive at the US Open.

34:40Matt Roberts: Oh, I absolutely believe that. I saw him at the United Cup with Coco Goff. He was a nightmare. Is there anyone that thinks, like, you know... No. No.

34:57Catherine Whitaker: I don't think he's won a... I don't think he's won a main draw match on the tour. I'm just here to ask the questions. And I'm here to answer them.

35:04Matt Roberts: But, you know, an inspired by the setting in the moment for NeNe? No.

35:13Matt Roberts: But somebody asked a few minutes ago, do you think any of the top ten seeds in either the men's or the women's draws are likely to have a first round exit?

35:24Catherine Whitaker: I wouldn't say likely. No one's draw is hugely jumping out to me. out to me. I think vulnerable seeds would be a Mazzetti. I mean Bedos' ninth

35:36Matt Roberts: seed and we've called that a kind of 50-50 tomorrow against Bolter.

35:40Catherine Whitaker: Medvedev is the ninth seed. Look, I think he's got a pretty good draw against Bonzi. Actually, he's quite a good grass court player, Medvedev. I'm always just on a bit of alert for Medvedev these days.

35:52Matt Roberts: Runa is being...

35:53Catherine Whitaker: There's a lot of people saying Runa here,

35:56Matt Roberts: Matt. Yeah, good for them They could just be big Matt Roberts fans That have boarded the Jarry hype train A bit too much later than that though Because Matt

36:11Catherine Whitaker: Because we're not before 9.30 No, because Wimbledon has a curfew Oh sorry, yes I forgot my thing Is this all because of Bruce? Yes I'm now anti-curfews

36:30Matt Roberts: so that would have been mean that ian heard the incident where i got attacked by a bee live on the pod and david used it for content i mean that now you'd be proud of me back then you weren't totally breathless for the last 12 hours and more so maybe maybe that's why i need a Breathe Right Nasal Strip, Matt Roberts.

36:58Catherine Whitaker: Or maybe it's because Nicholas Jarry, oh my God, in around 15 minutes, please make your way to the exit gates.

37:10Matt Roberts: I thought I was overstimulated. Matt, there is so much Matt-coded stuff happening in this podcast. I thought I was overstimulated before and now we've got a Breathe Right Nasal Strips bit happening simultaneously with the announcements. Crazy. It's an awful lot. We haven't even touched upon Amanda Rennes-Amova. What are you wearing in her honour this evening, in honour of her double bagel? Wearing?

37:39Catherine Whitaker: Drinking, I think you mean.

37:44Catherine Whitaker: This was almost my foregone conclusion moment. It was potentially extremely, extremely embarrassing. I think it probably still is quite embarrassing.

37:53Matt Roberts: I think it still is because actually you don't know what the end of my sentence was. I wasn't going to ask if Fanini can win. I was going to ask if Fanini could make it interesting.

38:01Catherine Whitaker: I didn't think you were going to ask if he could win. I thought you were going to ask if he could make it interesting.

38:05Matt Roberts: And you thought that was too ludicrous a question to finish. Yeah, I did. I genuinely did.

38:12Matt Roberts: Nicholas Jarry came from two sets to love down to beat poor old Holger Runa and just collateral damage in Matt Roberts' bits. How many nose strips in the packet?

38:27Catherine Whitaker: 30. Should be all right. He can win like 12 slams in a row.

38:35Matt Roberts: Let's start with the first match of the day and the first thing that Matt saw at this year's Wimbledon 2025, which was Jelena Ostapenko hitting a foot fault serve. Called, of course, electronically.

38:52Catherine Whitaker: It was just so perfect. You know that Ostapenko does not trust that machine. And it's the first time having it at Wimbledon and it just comes for Ostapenko on the first point. It was poetic. It really was.

39:13Catherine Whitaker: And look, I said if she gets past Yulia Putinsaver in the first round, she's going to the semifinals. Stand by it. I think she's in such a great section of the draw. Hold on, you said she was going to win the title there four hours ago. In the excitement of the double bagel, I got carried away.

39:32Matt Roberts: It was double bagel and David had just appeared with the pack of nose strips. Yeah, things were going well.

39:42Matt Roberts: I've promised a very important strawberry-related announcement. And this strawberry needs a name. and we had many, many excellent submissions. But can we honestly say that any was more excellent than that suggested by Daniel on the barge, which is... Drumroll, please. I can't do it with one hand. Jam Shriver.

40:10Matt Roberts: A special mention, though, and I'm really sorry, I don't know who suggested this. Adam. Adam H. Adam H you absolute genius who came up with dida de fruit

40:25Matt Roberts: if you're joining us live just after watching Novak Djokovic escape with a four set win then thank goodness he didn't lose because honestly there just isn't room in the agenda for another upset the agenda is full Novak we hope you've enjoyed your day here at Wimbledon we have

40:47Catherine Whitaker: A pleasant and safe journey home. Thank you.

40:53Matt Roberts: I can name you some people that haven't enjoyed their day here at Wimbledon. Alexander Zverev, Coco Goff, Jessica Pergula, Jung Chin Wen, Lorenzo Mazzetti. And that's adding to the ones that lost yesterday. Things have gone bad to worse for Runa after his defeat yesterday. Clay magazine of today reported that he's been forced to cease and desist with his broken racket side hustle. So this is him selling broken rackets for several thousand pounds. For many thousands of pounds. He's been flogging his broken rackets on this new marketplace that he's launched with his sister. A percentage going to charity.

41:32Matt Roberts: His, quote, objects were removed from the marketplace this morning. Oh, goodness. And Babalat said, we're in conversation with your agents.

41:43Matt Roberts: should we stay with the subject of seeds losing and move on to the next one

41:48Catherine Whitaker: that is our only subject

41:55Matt Roberts: Hayley Baptiste won today which was a much needed boost for the tennis podcast meets curse I say halfway through have we got a curse and she plays Victoria Mboko in in round two

42:07Catherine Whitaker: A tennis podcast meets Derby.

42:14Matt Roberts: I am pumped for Baptiste against Inboko. I was just thinking, I can just imagine it doesn't matter when that is, where it is, you two are going to be courtside, aren't you? Yes, because it's going to be a temperature at which I can actually go outside from now on. You didn't leave the press room all day, did you? No. I found the four seconds between the press room and the cafe quite challenging.

42:39Catherine Whitaker: So prior to this year, nobody had ever played a five-set match and not generated a break point. And Pesci Perikar has done that twice this year.

42:58Matt Roberts: Let's end on a seed, a contender even, that didn't lose today. Congratulations to him, Novak Djokovic. beating Alexandra Muller 6-1, 6-7, 6-2 6-2, big moment for OnlyFans getting some promo on centre court today

43:18Catherine Whitaker: We played Medvedev here last year, I don't know whether that was on court one or centre, probably court one I know what that is now I don't know, because you're showing me OnlyFans, yeah

43:29Matt Roberts: That sounds weird I can't tell you about it

43:35Catherine Whitaker: We've still got camera Matthew to explain thirst raps to David that's a thing that's happening

43:47Matt Roberts: Kate Ebolter yeah she's sitting on on that bench yes where your bum is right now David Kate Ebolter's bum was earlier right it's where the drama keeps coming the seeds keep falling and taylor fritz continues to keep us up well past our bedtimes

44:13Catherine Whitaker: finished with a backhand winner literally right in front of me which was uh which was great

44:18Matt Roberts: she did that just for you yeah um matt was quoted as people earlier wasn't he on bbc radio Some people are saying she could win this tournament.

44:29Catherine Whitaker: Look, I've been called worse. I've been called a random on the internet, maybe. Oh, I'm getting excited and anxious in equal measure. Do you think she feels the same? It's like Fulham's FA Cup draw this year. I was like, oh my God, we've only got to beat Crystal Palace to get to Wembley and then we lost 3-0 at home. Like, feels a bit like that. Dalma Galfi in the third round to get to the second week. Down the Galfi is Crystal Palace.

45:01How you haven't got Raducanu on the backhand list anymore is beyond me. So, you know, that's just my...

45:09Catherine Whitaker: Wow, wasn't expecting to have beef with Davidson. Well, I mean, it was exceptional today. All the backhands on my list are exceptional. Right.

45:23Matt Roberts: today a lesson learned for me i broke the golden predictions rule i went i went near marquette of androshova don't do it don't do do you remember you almost did it in paris and i talked you out of it like a good friend you did and i didn't do that no that that actually could be a lot of fun more more fuel for the matt roberts funfire with Cameron Norrie. Is that what we're calling it? Yes. Matt Roberts funfire with Cameron Norrie. Yes.

45:58Matt Roberts: Lefties don't like playing other lefties. It's like when David meets other tall people. Yeah. Don't like that.

46:07Catherine Whitaker: And look, a lot of what we said at Queen's hasn't materialised. Alcaraz was a serve bot at Queen's. all the lead up tournaments have been pointless haven't they what was anyone what was happening over the last three weeks

46:23Matt Roberts: should we just go straight into Wimbledon the day after Roland Garros cut the hoo-ha

46:32Matt Roberts: I do hope Vertick stays in long enough for me to hear John McEnroe say his say his name again that has been my highlight of today look it's a tough pronunciation not everybody has my flair That's Cameron Matthews' favourite part of the tournament. Highlight of the tournament. It's going to take some beating. Van der Dan Schloop.

46:52Catherine Whitaker: Van der Dan Schloop, yeah. Yeah.

46:55Matt Roberts: I loved it so much.

47:01Matt Roberts: It's starting the show in daylight for the very first time this tournament. Thank you, Taylor Fritz, for not being on today's schedule. And that means, folks, that we have a crowd. A crowd of hardy folks.

47:16Catherine Whitaker: Thank you. Oh, not my best.

47:19Matt Roberts: That announcement effort was brought to you by PIMS.

47:26Matt Roberts: World number 192 went to the University of San Diego. Huge. If there's one winner from week one of Wimbledon, it's the University of San Diego. Sack the marketing department. Not needed. I don't want to discourage people from listening to our Grand Slam build-up and preview podcast, but Marin Cilic aside, the lead-up events seem to be more meaningless than ever before. They've had a bad year. August Holmgren lost in qualies of Nottingham. So it's a challenger event. He's lost in qualies of a challenger. 6-2, 6-4 to Hugo Blanchet. Oh, yeah. And now here he is beating the best player in the world in Wimbledon for the third round.

48:18Matt Roberts: Everything's meaningless. What are we doing? Trying to analyse anything on a tennis podcast.

48:27Catherine Whitaker: You know, having never watched August Holmgren before, having never heard of him before this tournament, suddenly you spend four hours 38 minutes watching him you get to sort of know his game and then you're getting all emotional as he's hugging his father at the end it's like that's kind of what grand slams are kind of all about the grand slam match and there's some people just standing about

48:52Matt Roberts: vaguely debating whether somebody can go and change their pants like what are we doing did you say i've heard rumors that he said what if i ship myself i think i mean i didn't hear that but he may well have said was it was that the energy he was giving absolutely okay yeah i think

49:11Catherine Whitaker: he was just desperate to let them go off and change his clothes he was like you want me to change in the tunnel what with a towel would you change there in front of all these people he definitely said that um and basically it turned out he changed in the tunnel no he was allowed to go to the bathroom as long as he didn't enter the toilet area what he'd already been he'd already done his quota of toilet breaks and he wanted to go to the bathroom to change but the umpire was like no you can't because you've already done your maximum number of toilet breaks and he was saying it's not a toilet break it's a clothes change break i haven't done that yet i'm allowed

49:44Matt Roberts: to do that so he was allowed to leave the court if he committed to not have any fluids leave his body. What if you've got the diarrhoea?

49:55Matt Roberts: Arta Rindeknesh will play again tomorrow. What even is Wimbledon 2025 without Arta Rindeknesh on the schedule? This is the story of the tournament so far. Five days in a row. Cameraman Matthews chuckling away to himself and I don't know whether it's because a fly just flew into my mouth or because you said flat backhand. He says both. I'm Shiontek. Are you trying to distract me with, is that a mosquito? Could we just deal with it?

50:27Catherine Whitaker: We are under siege.

50:30Matt Roberts: I know some of us seamlessly carry on broadcasting. Is it flying? I wasn't talking. Is it flying in today, just about to start? Because it's got that feel to it. Let's just press on, shall we?

50:49Catherine Whitaker: and thank you it is i'm trying to carry on as it as instructed i am declaring it an invasion right okay

51:00Matt Roberts: your backnut is swatting opponents aside i mean yeah her or lance davis of killer bee live removal do you think he does other insects

51:14Catherine Whitaker: No, but I would back it.

51:18Matt Roberts: I have fuel for the funfire. The Cameron Norrie funfire. Yeah. Guess who went to Ibiza post-Rolongaros other than Carlos Alcaraz.

51:34Catherine Whitaker: Cameron Norrie.

51:35Matt Roberts: Cameron Norrie. Apparently he came into press in a Pasha t-shirt and nobody noticed. Because you're just not on the lookout for that kind of thing with Cameron Lorry, are you?

51:48Catherine Whitaker: Told you he's fun.

51:52Catherine Whitaker: I think we are winning Wimbledon. I was going to say that. Look at us. That's fair enough. We get to the final every year. It's brilliant.

52:01Matt Roberts: Yeah, flying ants aside, we are winning Wimbledon.

52:07Matt Roberts: David, you're on... What's that? That's not a fly man. It's the same as what it's always been, they're flying out. No, that is different. That's not, I'm not going anywhere near that one.

52:19Matt Roberts: Centre Court has just hosted a lock-in for 15 ,000 people, all watching world number one, Arina Sabalenka, beat Britain's Emma Raducanu 7675 in an absolute thriller to reach the round of 16. You know it's been a good night here when the BBC delays the news at 10, and that is exactly what has just happened. Speaking of crowds, we have one over there, Hardy Tennis fans.

52:51Matt Roberts: I think that's better than the crowd Emirati Karni got. Love that, thank you.

52:56Catherine Whitaker: To be fair, the crowd that Emirati Karni had didn't have bins to bang on.

53:02Matt Roberts: I've put in all caps in the agenda, we should have seen this coming.

53:10Catherine Whitaker: Her second serve, she had an absolute disaster off it. I was tracking this for the whole match because...

53:17Matt Roberts: Tracking? You were obsessed with it. Oh, she would scramble my eggs in about four points. I'd be done. I think Madison Keyes did an incredible job out there today, losing, what was it, 6-3, 6-3. Well done, well done, Matt Madison, and well done, Hannah, for coming up with this incredible turn of phrase for Laura Siegman, the unapologetically villainous face of grass-caught devilry.

53:52Matt Roberts: It's really difficult to know what was Matt's favourite moment of the day. It's starting to feel like the Matt Roberts slam, Wimbledon 2025.

54:04Catherine Whitaker: I got in this morning so early that I heard the fire alarm rehearsal.

54:15Matt Roberts: I wish they'd put John McEnroe on my chair, Rinder Kinesh.

54:23Matt Roberts: And the most incredible resumption of all time, I think. Ben Shelton, who was called off at 5-4 and serving in the third set last night needed 70 seconds to finish off Rinki Hidjakarta today 70 seconds, three aces and an unreturned serve I need 60 seconds, that's all I need let me have a go and they wouldn't give him that because, well, I guess they didn't trust that it would only take 60 seconds. I do think they should have let him have that service going. Turns out it took 70 seconds. But that was incredible, like how to prove a point by Ben Shelton.

55:10Catherine Whitaker: Yeah.

55:14Catherine Whitaker: Robert McNichol actually sent me that it was in 2012. There was a women's singles between Sara Arani and Coco Vanderway, which was abandoned for the day due to rain with Irani leading 6-1, 5-3 and advantage.

55:30Matt Roberts: Of course it's our Irani.

55:32Catherine Whitaker: And the following afternoon, Vanderway double-folding.

55:43Catherine Whitaker: It's actually quite uncomfortable. I don't really know how they play tennis in these for five hours. What's it meant to be doing? I think enhancing my performance.

55:56Matt Roberts: and one lovely daughty woman leaned over and said where's matt he's the only reason i'm here

56:08Matt Roberts: it's taken me this long into my life career and relationships with you to realize that my dad is called david and my brother's called Matt. It's wild, isn't it? Yeah. I'll speak to my therapist about it.

56:29Matt Roberts: No Taylor Fritz on today's schedule. So here we are in glorious daylight, a beautiful summer's night in SW19, a day with relatively few upsets, not no upsets because it's Wimbledon 2025.

56:46Catherine Whitaker: Got some big match nerves.

56:48Matt Roberts: I'm nervous for Matt, David. Yeah, it's big time tomorrow, isn't it?

56:53Catherine Whitaker: It's the Jarry Inesim over double. I mean, you may as well just take your tent after the show. Just go and get ready.

57:05Matt Roberts: We need to talk about pasta with strawberries. It's become a thing.

57:10Catherine Whitaker: Big time, quickly. Big time.

57:12Matt Roberts: It's the new Frankie the Cat.

57:15Catherine Whitaker: Oh, that's harsh.

57:20Matt Roberts: And look, I'm sure if I was brought up in a culture where this was a comforting dish, there's every chance I would enjoy it. I like to think of myself as an adventurous eater. But as somebody that has grown up somewhere where pasta with strawberries isn't so much of a thing, it does sound absolutely horrendous.

57:42Catherine Whitaker: And the next evolution of the story is all the journalists going and all the Italian players press conferences and asking them what they think.

57:50Matt Roberts: Everyone's upset that Paolini's out.

57:52Catherine Whitaker: Yeah.

57:53Matt Roberts: Flavio Caballi is going to get asked about this.

57:55Catherine Whitaker: Caballi, Sina, Sonago, pasta questions are coming at you in your next press conference.

58:02Matt Roberts: At a Champions Tour event in Chengdu, I witnessed...

58:06Catherine Whitaker: I love it when Chengdu Champions Tour events come up.

58:09Matt Roberts: I witnessed John McEnroe be served a pizza with strawberries on it. And he sent it back.

58:18Catherine Whitaker: I kind of had a Towson epiphany as well. I didn't know she could slice. Welcome to the club. But I didn't know you could slice.

58:25Matt Roberts: Oh, Matt, don't worry, she didn't either.

58:30Matt Roberts: Cameraman Matthew was just distracted by him tenderly placing a waterproof jacket over all the equipment. Could you tenderly place a waterproof jacket over us?

58:42Catherine Whitaker: Taylor Fritz, did you see this? Gave a funny answer the other day where, because he was still playing Eastbourne.

58:47Matt Roberts: Such main character energy, this tournament. He just, he's not even played today and he's coming up.

58:52Catherine Whitaker: I know, I know.

58:56Catherine Whitaker: Yannickson has dropped 17 games so far, which is the Open Era record for the fewest dropped en route to round 16 at Wimbledon by players who played three rounds rather than having a walkover.

59:11Matt Roberts: That feels like the perfect sort of scene setter for David to convince us that Grigor Dimitrov is going to be the man. The Italian media. I mean, are they OK? Like...

59:26Catherine Whitaker: Overworked, aren't they?

59:28Matt Roberts: It's absolutely ridiculous. Like, yes, of course, Sin is there. And Pallini loses early, and maybe they were thinking that's a shame, but at least a slightly easier life. Elisabetta Cotcioretto pops up and says hi. Lorenzo Sonogo, Flavio Caballi. There is no peace.

59:50Matt Roberts: I mean, obviously, we'll get a set.

59:52Catherine Whitaker: Andy Murray has intervened.

59:55Matt Roberts: Carlos Alcruz needs to stop using his off days to play golf with Andy Murray. Go away, Andy Murray.

1:00:05Matt Roberts: Yeah, I think it's time for Taylor Fritz to win in three without bleeding on the court. Yeah. I think it's time.

1:00:14Matt Roberts: What will you do if Amanda Anisimova reaches the Wimbledon quarterfinals? She's last on court one tomorrow against Lyndon Nozkova. You can hardly go and get her back end, can't you? I've been trying.

1:00:26Catherine Whitaker: You could dye your hair. I've been trying for 29 years.

1:00:29Matt Roberts: She's done that this year. I could.

1:00:31Catherine Whitaker: I could go blonde. Yeah. I would love that. If Amanda Anisimova wins Wimbledon, I'll go blonde. How about that? Oh, please happen.

1:00:45Matt Roberts: thank god i'm so invested i was already invested now i'm obsessed tomorrow what i will do is keep

1:00:53Catherine Whitaker: my head there's more to come if she wins

1:01:00Matt Roberts: as the sun sets over sw19 but not on all of our hopes and dreams because folks we are now officially three wins away from Matt Roberts dying his hair blonde.

1:01:16Matt Roberts: Yeah, there was a moment there when Amanda Renesimov was a breakdown in the third set. I was quite concerned about this podcast. Matt wasn't here. He was having an existential crisis about 200 metres away. He'd gone very quiet. Yeah, content was not being set.

1:01:32Catherine Whitaker: Imagine if I'd just been a no-show for the live show. If I'd just gone home. Would have been quite fitting in a way, wouldn't it?

1:01:41Matt Roberts: A friend of mine, Julia, who did our hair and makeup for the photo shoot we had recently, she's a professional hair and makeup artist. She contacted me to say today that she is available next Saturday to professionally dye Matt's hair.

1:01:57Catherine Whitaker: It's great that no one's getting ahead of themselves.

1:02:02Matt Roberts: I saw Johnny Perkins leaving earlier. I thought, don't you have an announcement to do? which makes you wonder whether it is live, doesn't it? Given how similar he makes it every time. This is like those people that think the Strictly Results show is live. It's not? It's not. That's an iconic contribution. David was doing a dad joke there, but I think Matthew is genuinely finding this out live on the pod. We'll chat afterwards, Matthew. We've got a controversy to talk about. because Siegmund beat Solana Sierra 6-3, 6-2 despite not showing up for the match made her wait five minutes, did she?

1:02:46Catherine Whitaker: something like that she's probably like, I've got plenty of time, it's 15, you're allowed did she get in trouble for that?

1:02:58Matt Roberts: there's an awful lot of faff with Laura Siegmund And there's the ball bouncing. And you think, OK, that's done. We've got that out the way. We're ready to serve. And then she holds this position for about 40 seconds. It's like a wind-up, isn't it? It's like, get on with it. That's our Laura.

1:03:18Matt Roberts: Came back, Matt. Did Jerry, but not all the way back. And the Breathe Right Nosal Strips are in the bin. Literally in the bin.

1:03:28Catherine Whitaker: No, actually, it was just for content. I'm not going to throw away, you know, 30 perfectly good breathe right nasal strips. There'll be another run.

1:03:40Matt Roberts: I think the aggro died when Jerry tried to imitate what Rory was doing to make a point and he hit a double fault. Basically crap aggro.

1:03:49Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, really lame.

1:03:52Matt Roberts: Yeah, I agree.

1:03:56Matt Roberts: Hannah said, and I quote, he's going to turn Grigor Dimitrov into paste. you lot honestly

1:04:03Catherine Whitaker: well I think Sinner wins in straight sets

1:04:06Matt Roberts: yeah me too I don't I think he wins in four sets and he's not paced he's a he's a he's a chunky puree correct like a like a guacamole a chunky guacamole yeah a big chutney I talked about OnlyFans for Pam the other day.

1:04:34Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, discovered that Simon Briggs has an account.

1:04:36Matt Roberts: Yeah. Not, hang on. Not as a content creator.

1:04:42Catherine Whitaker: No, he was doing research.

1:04:46Matt Roberts: With Arena Sabalenka against Laura Siegmund. Go with God, Arena.

1:04:53Catherine Whitaker: I don't know if I like this new percentage chance feature.

1:04:56Matt Roberts: Well, there's no point in me asking who's going to win because you're going to say Sabalenka and Alcoraz. What am I, an excitement rating?

1:05:00Catherine Whitaker: meter to you.

1:05:01Matt Roberts: An accurate one. You're just going to say Samlenka and Alcaraz. That's no fun for anyone.

1:05:08Catherine Whitaker: I'm not sure flailing over a percent is that fun. I'd say it's a 65-35 job for Fritz.

1:05:18Matt Roberts: Okay, that's a man that understands the assignment. Matt? I understand.

1:05:21Catherine Whitaker: I just don't like it.

1:05:25Matt Roberts: Even the use of the term annoying game in the question, Savalenka was moonwalking away from that as awkwardly and quickly as she could. Irina, I'm going to say it for you and I fully believe that Laura Seagman will take this as a compliment. It is the most annoying game in tennis.

1:05:48Matt Roberts: She left the court for 10 minutes. I went to get a coffee at the end of the second set because I absolutely knew Laura Seagman was going to leave for 10 minutes. The most wholesome thing you'll ever possibly see, other than Reggie's selfie with Roger Federer, which I'm still looking at on an hourly basis, Mira Andreva going out to support her coach Conchita Martinez with a beautiful, enormous handmade sign. The sign reads, let's go Senorita Topspin, you are golden.

1:06:27Catherine Whitaker: so we can maybe we could do it not on a samoa days or maybe you could just get over yourself

1:06:38Matt Roberts: shout out my friend felicity she has made the strawberry pasta oh she said anyone who likes strawberries and who likes pasta is lying if they say it's gross or they're using bad yogurt she says the quality of the yogurt and she's a far yay gal me too yeah uh the quality of the yogurt is essential she also went into quite some detail about letting the pasta cool that seems important uh she said in conclusion poland's been hiding a great dish and after all the hoo-ha of murderers row last week and feet seeds falling by the wayside left right and centre, we do seem to have actually ended up with an entirely predictable semi-final line-up in the men's tournament.

1:07:29Matt Roberts: Tell that to Hugh Grant, David. I'm not sure he found anything particularly mouth-watering today. In fact, he was asleep during the single most exciting point of a period in Novak Djokovic against Flavio Caboli. Matthew's struggling to contain that. Well, he's the ATP admin, isn't he? I don't quite know what that means. It's apparently hilarious. He gets to be a journalist, he was telling Tennis Channel yesterday, and interview the other players. That's what he was saying. He says he wants to show people behind the scenes. He's done a lot of filming with the ATP over the last few years, and Matthew does a lot of that, and doesn't have a bad word to say about him.

1:08:12Matt Roberts: He's got plenty of bad words to say about me, but none about Flavio Gaboli. Matthew should be ATP admin. Oh, my God. You get ATP admin cancelled.

1:08:26Matt Roberts: Squirrel a load more towels into her bag. Did you see that?

1:08:29Catherine Whitaker: It was very funny the way she turned to the camera and gave it the shh.

1:08:38Matt Roberts: Another press conference where she didn't get asked about strawberry pasta. I'm trying to keep the story alive. Well, where were you? Why didn't you ask? I've got nothing to ask.

1:08:50Catherine Whitaker: You fulfilled your quota of fruit-related questions for this tournament. My mum wrote that to me tonight. You know, somebody who just follows the sport and isn't involved with it the way we are. And she just said it seems most unfair that the women now have to play tomorrow.

1:09:06Matt Roberts: Yes, Barbara. Yes. David with the measured takes and Matt with the irrational hype. What universe am I in? it's like those body swapping movies yeah it's a freaky friday with david and matt but i caught sight of a dog on matt's screen and well i couldn't resist having a look and then i showed david and then and then i uh stroked her nose on the screen did do that the fingerprint's still there An extraordinary day here at SW19. A day of angst, of beauty, of drama. And that is just Matt Roberts' internal monologue.

1:09:53Catherine Whitaker: What a day. What a match. The match of Amanda Nisimova's life. I want to go blonde. I've got my blondies here from Jackie in the crowd over there.

1:10:06Catherine Whitaker: Unbelievable.

1:10:07Matt Roberts: Yeah, they were playing Blondie.

1:10:09Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, iconic. When we sat down.

1:10:13Matt Roberts: So we were thinking maybe, maybe Matt could frost his tips for the final and then go the full blonde if she wins. Do you cosign? Sure, sure. I'll cosign. Frosted tips. You don't want to say that three times quickly.

1:10:34Matt Roberts: today i had i had the matt roberts backhand energy next to me every time i turned around i felt like oh my god everyone's looking at matt waiting for his reactions um the first rule of journalism is don't make the story about you we've broken here we are here we are but do you have a scoop for us later on yes yes okay pat not a great one we'll take anything stick around for the mediocre reveal later

1:11:10you know make some really smart decisions about practice tomorrow and about saying no

1:11:14Matt Roberts: to requests make sure tomorrow the day off between hey do you want to come and see someone get their hair dyed I'll be back in LA sadly no I mean Amanda oh I mean you can come too Imagine that, Amanda Inissano turned up for Matt's hair dye That would be great People have taught me about getting good content That would be good content Do you know they've sold out of jams? Well I'm glad I got my one early Jackson potentially deprived though Well he's not getting this one Because we bring it together, both genders and having just come from the mixed final You know, it's a gift and other sports are trying to imitate tennis.

1:12:01Yes, Pam. Yes, Pam.

1:12:03Catherine Whitaker: Yes, Pam.

1:12:05Matt Roberts: Yes, Jim.

1:12:08Matt Roberts: I'm here to keep strawberry pasta alive. Oh, wow. I'm hungry. Really? I have some. All right. I have some homemade strawberry pasta.

1:12:18Catherine Whitaker: It's incredible work. Let's pass it down.

1:12:21Matt Roberts: This is... Is this for all of us? This is macaron struscavkami. made by official medic of the tennis podcast felicity i have forks do we have to eat it now i i think i mean i'm gonna have some now i would like marks out of 10 i would like i can give you a percentage i would like yes please

1:12:48Catherine Whitaker: i think it's horrible i really don't like cold pasta I'm not into that yeah not for me that is not nice I mean I'm not judging it from a sort of yeah don't want to yuck anyone's yum you know if you like it good luck to you do you like it Pam? did you say Pam or Jam? Pam's Pam's scoffing it I'm starving do you want some more? give Pam a blondie

1:13:22it's a conundrum it is my best word I've ever used all my years on the podcast it's a conundrum

1:13:31Matt Roberts: you're right there did you get a bug I got a bug it's just it's in my ear no big deal

1:13:39Matt Roberts: and I think it is very easy for us to go oh well these these guys are just brilliant aren't they like obviously they can do all this stuff but they can't just do it they just work incredibly hard at it whilst also fitting in forays into classical music i'm pretty sure that question

1:13:57Catherine Whitaker: got asked to holger another last year two years ago when he was going to play alcaraz yeah um and he genuinely did struggle he was like i'm really pleased with my game um should we ask again take

1:14:09Matt Roberts: Take his brain, Holger. Yeah. Take someone else's brain. Anyone's.

1:14:16Catherine Whitaker: The thing is, though, served by Alcaraz, a little bit boring.

1:14:25Matt Roberts: Tough day for me. I've just lost Hannah as a friend because I've put Kevin Anderson in the same sentence as Juan Martín Del Potro. She is not happy. You deserve that. I do. Hello and welcome to the Tennis Podcast live from Wimbledon on day 13 of the championships, the day of the women's singles final won by Iger Svjontek to claim her sixth major title in the most emphatic possible fashion. Six love, six love in 57 minutes.

1:15:02she will have other moments i think she will reach other grand slam finals i really do

1:15:07Matt Roberts: you're telling me i should keep like matt brings his breathe right nasal strips to grand slams i should bring the blonde hair dye to every slam i should bring matt i bought it it costs three pound 49 every grand slam that is going in your luggage yeah yeah so

1:15:25Catherine Whitaker: So, yeah, to be clear, we're extending the pledge to any slam. Oh, excellent. I was trying to get you to commit to that yesterday.

1:15:33Matt Roberts: I said to him, are you happy for your look to be dependent on a pack of dye that costs£3.49? He was like, yeah, OK.

1:15:42Catherine Whitaker: So I thought we'd hired a professional.

1:15:47Matt Roberts: I didn't tell you this because today's been an all-around low-ebb, but she was actually, she became unavailable. It was going to be me. I read an interview with the two of them today. They're both Dutch. They're great friends. They've played a lot together as doubles teams. Vink said, I have a better haircut. We were recently in Turkey for the World Team Cup and went to the hairdresser together. Sam got his head shaved. I got blonde tips. How much did the dye cost? Well, exactly. We need any tips. So I'll be going to Niels Vink for advice. it is of course day 14 of the championships and we have just watched yannick sinner be crowned champion here for the first time beating rival carlos alcaraz you were behind james norton so everyone had good seats and nile horan well they they weren't

1:16:44Catherine Whitaker: together they weren't together no but i was most interested in tom kearney to my right you were with tom kearney he was quite a way away but i saw him how close was i to tom

1:16:54Matt Roberts: Kearney?

1:16:55Catherine Whitaker: Quite close. Slightly worrying that it was the first day of Fulham training today and Tom Kearney was drinking Pimms at Wimbledon.

1:17:04Matt Roberts: On reflection, of course Carlos Alcaraz didn't win Wimbledon. He almost lost to Fabio Fanini.

1:17:14A lot of tennis matches. A Grand Slam title run, a quick trip to Ibiza, back for Queen's, win that.

1:17:21Matt Roberts: Don't come for Ibiza, David. Well, You know, the evidence is there. He'd have lost to Fanini if it wasn't for Ibiza. He's proven he can do it without the Carotta boys. Bit of a blow for them, isn't it? I think he'd already proven that. Had he? Yeah. Big win for the fox. Was it? Well, you know, no carrots about, were there? No, there was a carrot. I saw a carrot. There was a woman, she wasn't dressed as a carrot because she's got self-respect, presumably, but she had a big carrot teddy.

1:17:54Catherine Whitaker: and wish you a pleasant and safe journey home. Thank you. It's nice that they don't change it for the final. Yeah. It's not, we hope you've enjoyed your tournament at Wimbledon. No.

1:18:08Matt Roberts: No. Day. Yeah, and they definitely could because they definitely are there live. Definitely. Definitely.

1:18:16Catherine Whitaker: And then he was taking pictures over here with members of the public, I think, just as he was about to leave and Reggie, who was behind a fence. And the hedge. Yeah. Seized his opportunity, waited for the perfect moment and said,

1:18:34Matt Roberts: Roger, can I have a picture? It's the most iconic selfie you've ever seen.

1:18:40Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, it's unbelievable. And Federer went, oh, I don't know how. He said, sure, but I don't know how.

1:18:46Matt Roberts: And Reggie was like, I do. I do.

1:18:49Catherine Whitaker: and he repositioned and he got and Federer's head's just sticking up over this H with a beaming smile and then Reggie's got the best smile on his face

1:19:00Matt Roberts: it's going to go in our newsletter always backs himself physically no matter how long the match he's got these horse lungs hasn't he these scuba divers lungs we all know so much about Cameron Norrie's lungs

1:19:12Catherine Whitaker: that was another question in the encore interview they got another area yeah I didn't know I knew where it was going because I know the story about the Cameron Norrie lungs, but I'm sure there were some people in that crowd thinking, where is this sentence going? The doctor told you you had a very big pair of... Lungs.

1:19:34Catherine Whitaker: That's how it was phrased, yeah. I was like, we're going to be fine here. She's going to say lungs. She's going to say lungs. She did say lungs. She said lungs. There are definitely people who were like, huh?

1:19:49Matt Roberts: Oh, Matt, I've got to carry on broadcasting now. We're live, for goodness sake. So Norrie and his horse love.

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