Will Serena play singles at Wimbledon?

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1:24Matt Roberts: Hello and welcome to the Tennis Podcast, coming to you on a sunny Thursday evening here in London. I've managed to squeeze in tonight's pod between Harry Styles concerts, which I know is very dedicated and professional of me. We are all three of us juggling an absolutely monumental volume of sports watching at the moment. It's a heroic effort from all of us. David, you had four screens on the go earlier, possibly five. Yeah, and that was pre-football. The World Cup hadn't even started at that point. That was me just trying to watch three lots of tennis because I was watching Queen's, Halle and Berlin.

2:07I had nowhere for Nottingham to go because I did also want to keep an eye on the US Open golf. So now the World Cup started as well, with Bosnia playing at the moment, I'm a bit struggling now and I've got to do this podcast. So, you know, one of the screens had to go.

2:26Matt Roberts: Yeah, our struggle is real at the moment, folks. There's a lot to take in. The good news tonight, though, David, is we are not on our own because Matt is back. He's not quite in one piece, but he is at least not in Chicago anymore. Welcome, Matt.

2:49Catherine Whitaker: Thank you. Good to be back.

2:51Matt Roberts: What has Illinois done to you?

2:54Catherine Whitaker: I am wiped out, guys. You know that day at a slam when I just crash and hit the wall? I felt like that this entire week. You know what that looks like. Yeah. But I had a good time.

3:08Matt Roberts: Who would have thought that a trip to America in between slams and all the attendant jet lag. Who would have thought that would be a bad idea?

3:19Catherine Whitaker: I know, I know. I experienced my first ever tornado warning. That was quite something. Was only a warning. But there was one, I think, like 30 miles away.

3:34Matt Roberts: Not the tornado warning. Was the trip good?

3:36Catherine Whitaker: It was a great trip. Thank you. Yes. Saw a good amount of Chicago. Shout out Matt Fatterman for his Chicago recommendations. Had some deep dish pizza. Went on the boat tour. Art Institute. Watched game five of the NBA finals. I did all the things. And had a great time at the wedding as well.

4:01Matt Roberts: Okay. Well done, Matt. Please recover for next week. We need a Roberts reset.

4:07Catherine Whitaker: We do.

4:10Matt Roberts: it's uh it's very nice to have you back Matt um and there is a lot to talk about uh and before we talk about the tennis four events going on this week and we are going to talk about that and the results that we've seen so far and look ahead to what might happen over the weekend we are going to start with the wildcard announcements from Wimbledon this week which were for a lot of reasons and maybe one big reason more hotly anticipated than ever before. I don't know, Matt, if you listened to our podcast from Sunday, but wildcard drama is on the rise, right? It's right up there with puking and hindrance.

4:56Yeah, I think it might be top of all of them, perhaps.

5:03Catherine Whitaker: I was thinking about this. I think because we've just been in this era as well haven't we where like so many so many players have been retiring and needing wild cards to get into tournaments for send-offs i feel like that's been a theme of tennis for what feels like forever but certainly the last few years and that has then taken spots away from other people and and now of course with your movement katherine you know we're questioning the very existence of wildcards so I agree with you definitely on the rise.

5:36Matt Roberts: It's been a really great bit of timing for getting an existential wildcard debate off the ground. I've really been helped out by circumstances here. Let's start with the women's and the one big reason there was a lot of attention on the wildcard announcements this week and the announcement that we still don't know if Serena Williams is going to play singles at Wimbledon. What we do know is that Maja Kvelinska will be. She has been granted a singles main draw wildcard along with the British players Harriet Dart, Alicia Dudeney, Hannah Klugman, Mika Stoyslav Savjevic, Katie Swan and Mimi Zhu with one wildcard still to be announced.

6:31Matt Roberts: Serena Williams and Venus Williams have received a doubles wildcard, which is fun and great and I think not at all unexpected. Serena said in her press conference in Berlin this week that it was her daughter that had suggested the idea of her and Venus playing doubles together as if that was sort of a novel light bulb moment they've won the six titles together um do you think david and matt david i'll come to you first do you think that final singles wild card is going to serena williams you know it shows how good she is at building drama and anticipation doesn't it that I sit here and I go back and forwards about what I think she's going to do and and I still haven't really confidently made up my mind I mean I I listened to her conversation with Ben Rothenberg and Berlin he he did a very good job I thought of asking the the important questions to her and be very being very direct and just and she she kind of played with him because that's what she does you know she sort of played with him and and didn't say yes and didn't say no she tried to turn it around to him and said you know do you think you know what do you think and i don't know i i think she is at the very least tempted and certainly going to play singles in the future i believe she will play singles in the future um and i think she may have already decided no but is finding it entertaining that is a possibility um she may not know even yet or but you'll be leaving it until the absolute very last second or she may know and she just wants to make sure she doesn't sort of so do i think she will get one about 10 minutes before we recorded i decided no i thought she would not play and then when you start to do the intro i changed my mind maybe the question is or the more answerable question is is that final wild card being held for her if she decides she wants it is do you do you sense or is your hunch matt that that is the situation here yes i think so it's not unusual is it for wild cards to come out in stages they do they do often

9:08Catherine Whitaker: do this release a bunch and then release some others so that in itself wasn't unusual but i mean if serena williams says she'd like the final wild card i can't see who else it's going to above her so in that sense i i think it's there for her if she wants it um she's already at wimbledon isn't she she was she was training there today it seems like a very long run-in if you're just playing doubles and your and your doubles partner is not there because venus is in bad Homburg right like what's she going to be doing for for all this time I mean I think generally she wants court time doesn't she and that all the time she can spend hitting balls I think we even saw that in her second match back the one that she played with Mukova I thought she already looked sharper than she had done in her first match with Mboko at Queens like everything is gonna help her and accelerate the form that she's in.

10:12But yeah, I don't know.

10:14Catherine Whitaker: I've got to sneak... I've thought that she wouldn't. Actually, I've gone the other way. I've thought that she wouldn't play singles at Wimbledon. But given that wild card's still there, given she's already at Wimbledon, I'm starting to go the other way and think that she will. I'm not sure it's the right decision, but it's definitely the fun decision. And I do sort of hope it happens. yeah do you that's interesting i'm i'm really torn because like there's a big part of me that

10:47Matt Roberts: just like always wants the drama and the story and like that's just a heck it's a heck of a story isn't it and it will be an occasion and a moment and drama and i just my heart always wants that Imagine the draw. Yeah, that would be fun. But I mean, I just don't think she can be competitive in singles. I do think, you know, father time is the one thing nobody can defeat. I think it is too late. I think with an incredibly kind draw, with a bit of luck on her side, the way Martina Novatova had in 2004, she could maybe get a win, especially with the element of the aura. I could see people shitting themselves, definitely.

11:41Matt Roberts: And I could see Serena being incredible for a 44, nearly 45-year-old. I think she's going to be incredible. I just think that, yeah, I think it's too late. and you know I will get a kick out of seeing her play I think a lot of the benefits of her coming back you know the attention and the publicity on the sport and the representation you know that she always brings will get that from her playing doubles like I think that'll be really fun and I think you know 44 is no big deal at all in doubles really let alone for people that good like doubles I think brilliant singles I think is just such a different kettle of fish yeah I I do agree generally I don't really

12:34Catherine Whitaker: have any anxiety about the doubles I think that is just all positive and all great and I can't wait to see her partner Venus the anxiety I most have I think with the singles is actually just I'd be worried about injury you know when you when you haven't played on grass for a while and you haven't played singles in a while and it'd be her first match back and she got injured at Wimbledon a few years ago as well. Like we see people go down on the grass and I would just worry about it a bit from that standpoint. I think I'd be a bit clenched the entire time she's sort of moving across the baseline, I suppose.

13:13Catherine Whitaker: But I agree with you that I wouldn't have any hopes or expectations for like a really deep run. For me, it would be about the occasion of one or two matches. But in this whole wildcard debate, to me, it comes down to what most enhances the tournament in terms of who should get a wildcard and who shouldn't. And I think Sweeney Williams, to me, makes that draw more interesting if she's in it next Friday ahead of whoever else could be in it at this stage. So that's why I kind of want to see it. But I do agree about the general anxiety.

13:56Matt Roberts: So existentially, that's what you... If you were Mr. Wildcard and they brought you in to every tournament to decide who gets the wildcards, I mean, I would hate you.

14:11Matt Roberts: Please don't rebrand as Mr. Wildcard. That would be a problem in our relationship. um but it that would be the basis on which you would be awarding them that's what you like to see them being used for yeah and i realize that's a difficult thing to measure

14:29Catherine Whitaker: and i realized that a lot of these tournaments have other in other interests there whether it be at the other slams the reciprocal wild cards or for british tennis events like you were talking about on on the pod the other day trying to enhance british tennis i i realized that these these form part of the wildcard decisions as well but for me the most important thing is making the tournament more interesting you'd go hollywood

15:02Matt Roberts: yeah within reason but then what if like you know tom hanks asked for a wildcard that would be interesting but

15:11Catherine Whitaker: yeah but he's not he's not registered in the doping pool is he okay

15:19Matt Roberts: David I'm using an extreme silly example well I think Serena is about as extreme

15:24Catherine Whitaker: as you get right Serena is about as extreme as you get retired years ago hasn't played for ages I mean he's pure like Venus yeah and I think some of the scenes that Venus is matches over the last year or so have in my opinion justified those wild cards in terms of the crowds that have come out to see her and okay she hasn't been particularly competitive recently but she did get a win last year and she had she's had some good matches like to me that's that's a big part of it of course balancing like trying to help out young players as well and honor former champions this is all part of it but i think that does form part of the interest of of wild cards Young players are interesting.

16:07Catherine Whitaker: Former champions are going to be interesting to people. And trying to get that balance right would be how I think wild cards should be handed out.

16:18Matt Roberts: A lot of attention on the men's wild cards as well. Not quite the sort of big Hollywood moment of whether Serena Williams would be on the list. But the men's is where we've got a lot of these retiring greats or certainly retiring, very popular players. Gregor Dimitrov, no sign of him retiring, but has had an absolutely horrific 12 months since he had to retire from his match against Yannick Sinner at Wimbledon last year with that rib injury, I think it was, wasn't it? Pectoral. Pectoral, yeah, sort of torso. and Wimbledon have awarded Grigor Dimitrov a wildcard, as we all hoped and expected they might.

17:02Matt Roberts: Slightly more surprising, I think, is Stan Rorinka being awarded a wildcard. I know it's his final Wimbledon, but he's never really done anything of note at Wimbledon, so I don't think that one was a gimme. Nothing for Guillermo Fis, so he won't be playing Wimbledon one last time. Nothing for Matteo Berrettini, although I do think he is very likely to make the cut. He only needs one or two. He's in now. He's in. OK, fine. That's a problem solved, I think, Berrettini getting in on his ranking. And nothing for Nick Kyrgios, former finalist. He's got a doubles wildcard only. And nothing, David, for Dan Evans, who is hoping to play one last Wimbledon, having announced his upcoming retirement in the last week.

17:50Matt Roberts: There are a lot of British players receiving wildcards. You've got Arthur Ferry, Jack Pennington-Jones, Felix Gill, Toby Samuel and Henry Wendell-Ken, who's a new one on me. I saw him play at Queen's earlier this week. It's, well, it's provoked a lot of opinion. Dan Evans in particular not receiving a wildcard, David. Obviously, yesterday or two days ago, we dropped your fantastic interview with Dan Evans. At the time that that was recorded, he didn't know whether he'd be receiving a Wimbledon wildcard or any wildcard this grass court season. And it turns out he hasn't. He'll be in qualifying, hoping to get a berth in the main draw.

18:37Matt Roberts: But this is another decision that really spotlights. OK, what are these for? what what are wild cards for yeah it's definitely shaken my kind of faith in them and the process behind them i mean because look i accept that it is subjective and uh somebody has to make a decision somebody's going to get them somebody isn't but i think I think it's just spectacularly tone deaf to not give Dan Evans a wild card when he's not going to play anymore. You know, he's very popular in the UK on the most part. He's made some bad errors of judgment in his career, but he's come back from them, had a really good representation of Great Britain and was brilliant alongside Andy Murray.

19:34and he's calling time on his career and what you know i i feel like if you were if all of the others were an absolute shoo-in and i can see some of them they're all right but i think given six is it six british players wild cards i mean and they're all on the men's side yeah you could Yeah, you could make a case, I guess, but at his expense. And look, I'll come back to it again. Why are we creating this culture of players just getting this hand out at this young age? Toughen them up. Stick them in qualifying. Let them come through. Fight it out. Earn their place in the draw. You know, I think they've made a mistake.

20:24Yeah.

20:25Matt Roberts: Yeah, I know there's a lot of suggestion that, you know, wild cards are to give opportunities to young players. But a lot of these players are not that young. And OK, a lot of them have been through the US college system. So, you know, 23, they might be 23, but still in the early days of their professional career. But on the women's side, you've got 27-year-old Katie Swan, who I think is receiving her seventh wild card. you've got 29 year old Harriet Dart who has got in on her ranking before but has also had a number of wild cards like I just don't understand how choices like that fit in with the argument of not giving one to Dan Evans I suppose who has done considerably more for Great Britain over the course of his career also the devastating news for david that no wild card for oliver tarvit so tarvit times on the back burner he's better in qualies like last year coming through making waves they're all better off in the bloody time at roehampton yeah that's where they should be get them some you know they're more they're going to face lower ranked players for goodness sake get get some momentum and get in the draw and like him win a round and actually perform pretty well against Carlos Alcaraz he's gonna get a heck of a crowd and a and a lot of support isn't he around Hampton Dan Evans however far he might go but yeah I think he's gonna have a good good send-off there if that's what it ends up being and maybe that's more fitting for Dan Evans anyway I don't know but But I think biased as we might be, we all hope he qualifies, don't we?

22:15Yeah,

22:16Catherine Whitaker: absolutely. I mean, I guess they're going to say he's going to get a send-off moment at Wimbledon because they've given him a doubles wild card. I mean, I don't think that's the same. And I definitely think he...

22:31Matt Roberts: It's not Gale and friends, is it?

22:35Catherine Whitaker: Nothing's Gale and friends. I think he was definitely worthy of a singles wildcard. Especially when, as you said, you've got eight. It's not like they're really short of them.

22:51Matt Roberts: A few other bits and bobs of Wimbledon news, all kind of non-matches happening this week news. Lorenzo Mazzetti has confirmed that he is out of Wimbledon with the injury he sustained in Rome that also kept him out of Roland Garros. He says the recovery is going well, but he hasn't yet started a full athletic training programme. I can't stop thinking about the fact that he went and he carried on in that match in Rome. Like, maybe that doesn't have anything to do with the severity of this injury or maybe we'll never know, but it definitely didn't help, did it? And like the look in his eye in that post-match interview afterwards when he basically told Richard Connolly, I'm completely fucked here for my next match.

23:44Matt Roberts: Yeah, it's he's a real loss for this. Well, generally, but he's a loss for the grass court season. As is Carlos Alcaraz, obviously, there are some slightly more positive signs coming out of planet Alcaraz. The size of the wrist support he's been wearing has been slowly reducing week on week. And he's down now to just a sort of wristband type thing. And there are reports that he's going for a scan next week. And we've seen more footage on Instagram of him playing tennis left-handed in a backwards baseball cap, David. He couldn't be further from the buzz cut look that you like. he's got it i don't know what it is he looks like his dad he's going to emerge from this injury layoff catherine with an unreal single-handed left-handed backhand and forehand reinvent himself as a as a left-hander well as established i'm here for the drama in the occasion and i would very much enjoy that

24:55Catherine Whitaker: you can tell how desperate we are for our crowds we're just we're just scrolling his insta dump for crumbs of comfort and good news all tennis fans we need it we need it yeah uh do we all see

25:12Matt Roberts: yannick sinner at mondo du plantis mondo du plantis's wedding looking absolutely trashed

25:17Catherine Whitaker: that was fun yes being uh being helped out by being mondo's dad i think uh yes i i saw that was released and then it was deleted and then all the official nice like vogue pictures of the wedding were were released i think that one of sinner got uh got leaked a bit didn't it It was good energy. I only saw the Vogue ones. That's a shame.

25:45Matt Roberts: It's quite a flex, isn't it, to not play. Don't worry, David. The internet doesn't forget.

25:49Catherine Whitaker: We'll find you.

25:50Matt Roberts: We'll find it for you. It's quite a flex, isn't it, to not play a warm-up event. You know, while everyone else is doing that, you're getting trashed at a celebrity wedding. Good for him.

26:03Catherine Whitaker: Caspar Roods got married.

26:06Matt Roberts: Again? He was already married.

26:11Matt Roberts: was he yeah he's just finding new reasons to not pay attention to tennis around the grass court season he's going to get married at this time every year new ceremony uh yeah i think they'd had a they'd had a small ceremony and this was like the big one any other any other wedding news no well that was like the wedding i went to in chicago actually Oh, yeah, they were already married too. And like Dua Lipa and Callum Turner, that's what all the cool kids are doing. Yeah. Right, David's looking increasingly confused. That's it for part one. We'll be back in part two to talk about tennis, David. Don't worry.

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29:24Matt Roberts: Welcome back to part two of today's tennis podcast. Time to talk about tennis. Let's start in Berlin and the WTA 500 tournament happening there, which has a fantastic field. It is, I mean, And Queen's gets a really good field. I'd say that's in second position in the kind of women's Wimbledon premium list of warm-up events. But Berlin is just always box office. And it's a fantastic quarterfinal line-up. It's going to be Irina Sabalenka against Nikola Bartonkova. She seems to be happening again after her breakthrough in Australia and then kind of struggling to back that up a bit right after I put her in my fantasy team.

30:10Matt Roberts: But now she seems to be happening. She's beaten Aliza Mertens and Deanna Schneider this week. So an interesting matchup with Sabalenka for her. Jessica Bagula against Madison Keyes in the second quarterfinal. Keyes has beaten Karolina Mukova today. We've got Linda Nozkova against Paola Bedossa, who beat Coco Goff. to get there and was incredibly emotional after that win. And we've got Alina Svitolina against Alexandra Ayala, who beat Elena Rabakina today, 7-5, 6-4. I feel like that's where we should start. I think you both watched some or all of this. I missed all of it and was really shook by this result because I watched Ayala play last week and lose first round and she looked so all at sea on the grass.

31:14Matt Roberts: I just watched her and thought, oh, this doesn't make sense at all. Maybe she'll learn, but this is just not a grass court player at all. And here she is today beating a Wimbledon champion. tell me what happened well I mean I I only saw highlights I'll let Matt fill in some of the gaps but I I did see that she she was heavily behind in the first set and then she won six of the last seven games of the first set to to win it and she was she was just middling the serve of of Rebecca you know just time after time she's returning this thing with the most unnerving timing and accuracy and just putting Rebecca on the back foot because of her hand-eye coordination, it seemed to me.

32:05She also has that ability to get down incredibly low and just absorb. And she just plays the sport with such verve and fun. I say fun once she got to grips with it. I mean, it wasn't much fun at the start. But Matt, I think she really shocked Rebecca with her return.

32:28Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, it was the return that stood out to me as well. Like she said afterwards to Andrea Petkovic in the encore interview that her approach on the return and generally is to give herself grace while also being brave. which I thought was such a great line kind of I'm going to miss some but I've got to go for it and I think what stood out to me was that often Ayala will look a little bit underpowered but actually I think on on the grass when she was taking the ball early like that she was actually being helped by the surface there and rushing Rebecca Kinnah so much it was it was incredible and the other thing is that she protected her own serve really well you know like that is obviously her weakest shot but she won close to 60 percent of points behind her second serve whereas Rabatkin was down at 37 percent you know Ayala was destructive on the return and Rabatkin wasn't able to be destructive herself and Ayala kept her first serve percentage high and once she got a foothold in it as David said once she weathered that early storm from Rabatkin she was she was brilliant and there were also little moments where it could have gone for her in the second set she She was up 3-1.

33:46Catherine Whitaker: She had triple break point. Felt like a massive moment. If she could win that game, she was probably just going to win the match. But Rebecca kind of held from Love 40 down. And I thought maybe that might shift the momentum, but it didn't. And even when she was serving out the match, she was 15-30 down and it could have got away from her then. And she held firm. So I was loving this win. I do think the results she had last week, using to Jovic was perhaps explained by the fact that she got on the grass early she played the 125 in Birmingham like right at the end of the French Open and and won that tournament and had a load of matches under her belt there so probably then gets to Queen's and you know is probably a bit tired I suppose and maybe not quite at her best maybe I had a false Yes, I suppose that might explain that performance.

34:43Catherine Whitaker: But I must say, as much as this was brilliant from Ayala, it was another performance from Rabatkinner that leaves you a bit puzzled when you're watching it. You know, like she's in such control of this match and then suddenly gets put under a little bit of pressure and the unforced errors just start piling up and she's not hitting her forehand well at all. at the moment. I mean, I didn't see her match against Bolta at Queen's, but when I think about the loss she took at the French Open to Stardewsseva, this one to Eala, you know, these are players that really, I think, Rabatkin should be beating and was beating for a really consistent period of time, but just seems to be in a little slump at the moment and her form is ragged again.

35:33Catherine Whitaker: You know, like she was so secure at the start of the season and the end of last season, now it's back to much more in and out and you don't quite know what's coming off the racket at any given moment it could be a blistering winner or it could be a quite dramatic poor unforced error and she just seems to have lost that balance on court and yeah I would say that's a bit of a concern for her she's made a real target at this grass court season hasn't she she's playing all three weeks in the lead up to Wimbledon I imagine she's got one eye on trying to get to world number one as well potentially as well and yeah it's just it's not quite what's not happened for at all in these in these first two events so that's surprising to me because i kind of had rebatkin on grass really pinned as kind of my favorite i think going into wimbledon and as david as david said on the pod the other day like slams are different and i'm sure she's trying to peek at that event and and she may well be better there but there's just a chunk of form now across a couple of surfaces in a few weeks that is a little bit concerning I think for Rebecca nothing that she can't get back but I don't know it's she's just not the sure thing that she was a few months ago

36:47Matt Roberts: the uh the Bedossa win over Gough that I that I mentioned earlier I I got very emotional seeing her her on-court interview after this win I hadn't quite clocked that it was in Berlin I mean she she gets injured everywhere, doesn't she? She manages, you know, she manages this chronic back injury. She's having injections several times a year just to be able to be a tennis, professional tennis player of any kind. But it was in Berlin last year that she got her latest sort of bad injury. And yeah, for her to have this, look, I know Gough on grass, it's not a match made in heaven, But, you know, Paola Badosa hadn't won a match since Charleston prior to this.

37:34Matt Roberts: You know, she'd gone all of that clay court season without winning a professional tennis match. And she said in her interview afterwards, I finally saw myself on the court again. and then she goes into the post-match press conference post-match press conference and just absolutely puts Stefanos Tsitsipas in the the boyfriend bin in the boyfriend bin did you see those quotes David? Ben Rothenberg reported them didn't he? they were quite something she said so punchy she said um she said oh the headline's gonna be bedossa says sit to pass is a shit bag or something and ben sort of tries to follow up tries to reassure her like no don't worry i'm not doing that gotcha journalism and she

38:36Catherine Whitaker: sort of intercepts and goes no no that that would be accurate he he deserves it is what she said

38:46Matt Roberts: I love it and we had Sabalenka weighing in and saying that yeah I sent her a voice message about 10 seconds after the breakup saying you're free well done so yeah like I she has survived Stefanos sits a pass and she is trying to survive this physical situation that basically makes it close to impossible for her to be a professional tennis player. She's just trying to make it work. And I think that's that's pretty incredible, really. Yeah.

39:26Catherine Whitaker: And she found a really good level in this match in those last couple of sets. I mean, we could be talking here about a straight sets Goff win. I don't think much would have had to have changed. She was brilliant in that first set, Goff, like so good. And she had break point at the start of the second set. And I was, you know, I actually switched match. I started watching Haller. I thought, OK, Goff's got this under control. And then suddenly it turned and I came back to the match. And Badossa was a completely different player. You know, the one that has caused Goff big problems in the past in that matchup, you know, with her big, powerful ground strokes off both wings.

40:04Catherine Whitaker: And she looked brilliant, really. And, yeah, I think for Goff, that's four grass court losses in a row now. The end of 2024, two last year, one this year. It's definitely her weakest surface. But I don't know. I did also think there were some encouraging signs for her, the way she was going after her serve. She was in double-digit aces, Goff, in this match, and she was trying to use it as a bit more of a weapon again. Okay, it led to some double faults as well, that those were up, I think there were seven in the match. But still, the ratio was positive there, and the intent was good, I thought.

40:44Catherine Whitaker: And as I said, the first set, she was excellent, but did lose her way, and Bedosa really took over. So I guess I'm trying not to sort of just panic from a Kovia-Goth perspective and think, oh, you've lost on grass to Bedossa, who hasn't won a match in ages. I think, look, it wasn't great, but there were some OK signs in there as well. And it's just like the problem is for her on grass, I think she's so much more susceptible to tough draws. As we saw last year, she gets a just strength and just gets hit off the court at Wimbledon. And I think those danger matches are much more in abundance for her on grass.

41:24Catherine Whitaker: So, yeah, I don't have high hopes going into Wimbledon.

41:27Matt Roberts: David, it's a good job we've got Matt back because I think it's time to have a dormant volcano discussion about Madison Keys. Yeah. And yet I feel like she is just a permanently dormant volcano and has been for her whole career. An extinct volcano. That's just, I mean. Other than the odd eruption. Right. Well, that is, you've just described a dormant volcano, David. No, but I tend to feel like we sort of call them one on the understanding that they're about to erupt. Like Krachikova is in dormant volcano mood, etc. I don't think that, I just think that Madison Keyes is almost like the OG of this description.

42:22I don't know, I mean, I didn't come up with it, Matt, but that's my feeling, because once she erupts, she's the most devastating force in the game. So hang on, are you saying she is? But she's been like that since she was 18.

42:35Matt Roberts: She always has been. Yeah, absolutely. And therefore no debate required. Okay, let's have some adjudication on this, Matt.

42:43Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, do you know, I think we're saying the same thing. Like, she is a dormant volcano. The question is, is she rumbling? Is she about to erupt, I suppose? Is that the question? Or is there another, is the question, like,

43:00Matt Roberts: like at some point she will just be extinct, right? When she retires, yeah. Well, no, I mean.

43:07Catherine Whitaker: No, I'm not willing to declare her extinct.

43:11Matt Roberts: Well, David, you thought she might have been extinct this year. Well, I definitely feel as though... In terms of eruptions. Yeah, I said at the end of last year that I thought she was going to have a big dip and that she wouldn't make the WTO finals or be in the top 10. And I still think that. And I think in terms of a dormant volcano capable of, you know, Australian open type eruptions, that is its own form of extinction.

43:46Matt Roberts: Extinction sounds like a very dramatic word, but I'm confined to the geography lingo of volcanoes, you understand. So I guess that's the question, right? Are there still eruptions in the bag for Madison Keys? Because she definitely has been dormant.

44:06Catherine Whitaker: i suppose then we come to the question of what counts as an eruption well is it for someone today you know is it for someone who set the bar in terms of like she's shown she's capable of winning a major is that i think i think a semi-final it needs to be

44:24Matt Roberts: a semi-final i think that's you tell me definitely possible and it's definitely possible because

44:32Catherine Whitaker: well again in her uh on court interview afterwards she was she was talking about her relationship with grass and she was like well i've always loved it it just hasn't always loved me but i've always felt good on grass and comfortable on grass and i always expect to play well on grass i just i just sometimes don't i just think she's dangerous i think she's really underperformed at wimbledon

44:56Matt Roberts: over the years. I mean, there was the, in recent years, there was the Paolini match, wasn't there, where she got injured and I really, you know, that was after the shift had happened, I think, for Keys. The mental shift, she'd just started being coached by Fratangelo, hadn't she? And yeah, I think I feel for her on that one. But prior to that, I definitely think she makes sense. is a grass quarter to me. Yeah, I commentated on her when she was 19, winning Eastbourne and beating Anjali Kerber in the final. And I thought, wow, anything. It's all on the table immediately for her. I remember Martina Navarro was commentating with me for that.

45:45And she was just totally won over by her on grass as well, in particular. And so it's been a surprise, really, to me that she hasn't had more results on it. And yeah, it's still... She's somebody I think it is in there for her to perform again like she did at the Australian Open. I still wouldn't... I wouldn't have the confidence to pick that at all. But I didn't pick it for the Australian Open because it's once in a blue moon, isn't it? Yeah.

46:23Catherine Whitaker: I was very impressed with the finish today against Mukova. She served for the match and got broken. And then, you know, you think Madison Keyes, you're mostly thinking huge ball striking, aren't you? But it was actually the touch that got her over the line here. She came up with a brilliant, like, forehand squash shot kind of thing to break serve. And then the match point was a lovely, deft little shot cross-court off the backhand. and you know doing that against Mukovo was really quite the flex I thought yeah she I think she's rumbling rumbling's a good addition and by the way I totally agree on Krejcikovo I think we might be I think the whole draw might end up sleeping on Krejcikovo if she's fit and she's just stringing wins together

47:19Matt Roberts: my god she could do damage i am i have climbed a volcano that was rumbling that you could hear it rumbling while i was yeah tell us what um in la reunion piton de la fournaise yeah it was like it was hissing like a dragon was it hot and it actually erupted like the year like it was an it was a maybe it was just an active volcano i think it erupted the year after i was there anyway there you go wow they they certainly closed it they closed it while we were there because there was lava flow yeah they're able to predict these things more accurately than

48:11Catherine Whitaker: Keys' eruptions. Yeah. I think, generally. Wow.

48:20Matt Roberts: Sabalenka, Bartonkova, top of the draw. Is this, I mean, this is a stacked quarterfinal lineup. Is this Sabalenka's to lose? Like, how confident do you feel in, like, Sabalenka being the favourite from here, based on what you've seen so far? I think Bartonkova's tricky. Well, she's a player I'm excited about because of her style. We've had a number of these this year. That's what I've really loved about 2026 is her and Olenakova and now Valinska, you know, just more recently. Just players who just come out with a really daring brand of tennis that is just not straight out of the machine of how you play tennis anymore, you know.

49:12but I'd still expect Sabalenka to win, absolutely. But I do find Sabalenka really interesting on grass, and I find her really interesting coming off the back of the French Open. You know, she's got something to prove again. And I feel like Wimbledon is huge for her after that shock defeat, the manner of that defeat. and I think I do feel like with her on grass she needs a bit of runway you know a good week in Berlin would be a big deal for her you know winning this event would be big going into Wimbledon just to settle everything down and give her those foundations yeah I think she'll win it what do you think?

50:04I mean

50:05Matt Roberts: She has to be the favourite from here, right? I just... Yeah, I think she's the favourite. I don't feel that confident. Don't know. Matt, what do you think?

50:19Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, same, really. I think at this stage I'd take the field. I think there's enough good names in there. Pagula, she always talks about liking German grass, doesn't she? She's won Berlin before. she's won bad Homburg and then she gets over to Britain and hasn't quite been able to do it at Wimbledon. Svitilinas look very convincing in the other half of the draw. Look, Sabalenka is definitely the favourite. She talked about working with a psychologist and she's seeing a psychologist after that French Open performance. And I think she's doing a lot of searching and trying to figure that out. But yeah, I agree with David really.

50:59Catherine Whitaker: Like Sabalenka is fascinating coming into Wimbledon. If we go through another season where she hasn't won either of the non-hardcourt slams, it sort of feels like how much is she truly progressing? And I know she is in that she's been so good on the tour and everything, but majors is the most important currency. And I think she's desperate to get one of these non-hardcourt slams. and for her not to have even reached the Wimbledon final feels like an underperformance. I know there's been injury. I know there was a year she couldn't play. There are circumstances there, but I think it's massive for Sabalenka, this Wimbledon.

51:42Matt Roberts: Incidentally, Marketa von Drosheva, who is the defending champion in Berlin, that was an eruption when she popped out of nowhere and won Berlin last year. She's not defending her title. She is eligible to play at the moment, but she's choosing not to. She's expecting, or we are all expecting a decision in her anti-doping case to come next week ahead of Wimbledon. The case centres on her refusing entry to a doping control officer in December of last year. She claims that protocol wasn't followed. So that is something we are expecting news of. in the coming week. If she doesn't receive a ban, she would in theory be eligible to play Wimbledon.

52:30Matt Roberts: She is currently, she's on the entry list and eligible to play. But as I say, she hasn't been playing recently and we haven't heard from her. So we will keep you posted on the Marquette of Ondroshova situation next week. Piton de la Fournay, by the way, is the world's most active volcano. And I did know that. I have climbed the world's most active volcano while it was rumbling. Is that one Krasikov? No, I think Sabalenka is the world number one is the world's most active volcano, right? If you're just erupting all the time, that's just winning stuff. It's the dormancy that's the...

53:14Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, you're getting carried away with the volcano of it, David.

53:17Matt Roberts: Yeah. Yeah. I like it though. Let's see. Let's continue to develop the volcano genre of analogy. Just before we move on to the men and part three, we got the WTA 250 in Nottingham this week. The quarterfinal lineup there is Karolina Pliskova against Talia Gibson.

53:43Catherine Whitaker: What's her volcano status?

53:46Matt Roberts: Well, you tell me, Matt. I, I, in my mind she was extinct, but she's not.

53:54Catherine Whitaker: She's like top 30 in the race this year and winning matches galore and loves the grass.

54:02Matt Roberts: She's someone's nightmare in the Wimbledon draw, isn't she? Yeah.

54:06Catherine Whitaker: She's not, she's not rumbling. I think she's, I think she's, she's hissing. I think she's dormant. Hissing sounds really scary.

54:17Matt Roberts: I remember it was scary. remember it sounding like a dragon I'll ask you again was it hot underfoot? Yeah, when you got near the top it was you could feel the heat you could see the recent lava flows I'm not going up one

54:41Matt Roberts: So Pliskova against Gibson to take on the winner of Marie Buzkova and Tatiana Maria. Is she a grass court? No, no. I was going to say a grass volcano, but no. Jessica Bothas-Monero. That's just Herman Hill, isn't it?

55:09Matt Roberts: Jessica Bothas-Monero against Emma Navarro and Anne Lee against Victoria Goljubic. Emma Raducanu did end up withdrawing incidentally David and I were speculating about whether she would and I think we both thought that that would most likely be the most sensible thing and she did end up doing that who are you both picking for the title from here in Nottingham I think I might be going Pliskova you know

55:39Matt Roberts: see you on Sunday for a dormant volcano discussion about Karolina Pliskova

55:45Catherine Whitaker: how do you think she'd get on against Tatiana Maria

55:50Matt Roberts: oh I quite like to see it

55:53Catherine Whitaker: a lot of bending down low which is not Pliskova's favourite thing to do is it I'm going for Maria I always think of her as the most upright tennis player I've ever seen

56:03Matt Roberts: yeah that's a good point that is a nightmare if Tatiana Maria can get there who are you going for Matt David's going Maria

56:10Catherine Whitaker: yeah I think I might go Maria you know I think she's got a little bit of a you know I think she feels like she's got a bit of a chip on her shoulder a bit of a point to prove after the Queen's snub yeah

56:25Matt Roberts: I think Navarro in the final as well okay yeah fun great okay that's it for part 2 join us in part 3 where we will head to Queen's and Hala to talk about the men AI is only as powerful as the platform it's built into. That's why it's no surprise that more than 85 % of the 14500 use the ServiceNow AI platform. While other platforms duct tape tools together, ServiceNow seamlessly unifies people, data, workflows, and AI, connecting every corner of your business. And with AI agents working together autonomously, anyone in any department can focus on the work that matters most. Learn how ServiceNow puts AI to work for people at servicenow.com.

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57:56Matt Roberts: Welcome back to part three of today's Tennis Podcast. Let's start in London at Queen's and the ATP500 event there. The quarterfinals are as follows. Alex Duminor, the top seed, will take on Brandon Nakashima. Arthur Ferry, the British player, will take on Francisco Sarundolo. Alejandro Davidovic Fikina will face Tommy Paul. And Rinki Hijikata will face either Hamad Majedovic or Ugo Umber. What have we seen, David? What's taking your fancy this week at Queen's? Or who has taken your fancy? Other than Kurentan Moutet, who I'm dying to talk about, but is out of the tournament. So we should probably start with...

58:46Matt Roberts: We'll keep this part short so we can get on to that. But Dimonor, I've been pleased the way he has just underlined his top seeding so far. I mean, he played Denis Shapovalov in the most recent round. and he took care of him pretty handily. I mean, Shapovalov scraped through a tie break against Jack Pennington-Jones in the previous round in the third set and hit some spectacular shots. But it did strike me how these are two players that kind of came up together, Shapovalov and Dimonor. And Dimonor just looks so much more accomplished as a player. You know what he is. He is the packaged top 10 player.

59:30that Denis Shapovalov has never been. And Shapovalov plays amazingly spectacular shots, but he's been doing that for 10 years. And yes, he got to a more than semi-final, but I just feel as though Dimonor is kind of what he could have been or what he was supposed to be. I know they're very different, but just in terms of when they came through together. Arthur Ferry, I needed an Arthur F. So, you know, it's nice to be able to just transfer my attentions over. And he's a bit French. Yeah, and I saw him play against Mippet-Everick at Wimbledon. He's not a big guy. He's sort of physically quite short, but he packs a punch.

1:00:17I mean, he hits a really sweet ball from the baseline. You know, he's got real weight of shots. and I think he's the best of this group at the moment at least, British wild cards he's getting a wild card into Wimbledon he's the one that I think is absolutely bang on deserves it he's come into this draw and he won an all British match against Toby Samuel in the first round really, really easily but then he backed it up he won the second round as well so I feel like that's really important Sarundolo absolutely destroyed Jenson Brooksby he was like 6-2-2-up at one stage and ended up being 6-4 in the second set and he's now I think coached by Nicholas Massoud is Sarundolo so that's an interesting combination but yeah I still think the most likely scenario here is that you get Dimonor and Paul in the final.

1:01:21Tommy Paul, who's playing Alejandro Davidovic-Fakina, who plays some nice grass court tennis. But they are the standout players, really, I think.

1:01:30Catherine Whitaker: Paul Davidovic-Fakina has been a bizarre match-up. Their last five sets have all been 6-1 to Tommy Paul. And seven of the last eight sets that Paul has won against Davidovic-Fakina have been 6-1 or 6-love. because in my head that match is great. Do you know what I mean? Like two great athletes, shot makers, moving each other side to side. They both like grass. Yeah. I mean, so their recent matches have been in Australia and actually Davidovic Fikino ended up retiring this year against Paul after those first two sets. But yeah, I was reminded today watching Paul against Burtick van der Zenskel, just how much I like watching him on the grass.

1:02:16Catherine Whitaker: he's so happy coming forward Paul and he's on a bit of a winning streak at Queen's isn't he because he didn't defend his title last year he was injured so he's actually I think won seven matches in a row at Queen's now and yeah I would love a De Manor Paul final I think that would be that would be to be honest as good as Queen's can really get I think with the with the field it's got Do we all see

1:02:44Matt Roberts: Bertic's Tweener Lobb. Yeah, that was a wow moment. He is random, isn't he, Bertic? He's so random. You love him. Yeah, because he's so not the Tweener Lobb guy, but he is. You know, like when Shapovalov did his diving volley and that went all viral. Like, yeah, that's what Shapovalov exists for. You know, that's the point of him. I mean, no one. And, you know, he gave it the, you know, Bertic barely even noticed that he had hit the shot of the week.

1:03:30Matt Roberts: Looked bemused by everyone's excitement about it. Let's talk about Quarantan Moutet. And let's apologise to your mum in advance, David. There's really no getting around talking about Quarantan Mouti without saying the word fuck because he's given us no choice. He said fuck in an interview, in his on-court interview after his first round win over Giovanni and Pesci Perikar. Great win, by the way. and then he was urged not to say fuck because that's a problem on the BBC or presumably lots of broadcast networks in the middle of the day by the interviewer Jenny Drummond who I thought handled it very well and then he proceeded to say fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck many times.

1:04:23Matt Roberts: People are clutching all the pearls about this. I mean, I'm not an unbiased judge of this because I love swearing and I really enjoyed it. And I just think everyone needs to get a life. But, you know, I understand people with kids watching or whatever, but... It was funny. I mean I'm sorry it was funny it was well timed it was I I mean I did feel a bit for Jenny Drummond in the moment because you know that not everybody's going to handle that one well and she I agree with you I think she really did and she just got the tone right and slightly gently ticked him off in the in a slightly amused way um and then he did it again but his timing was so good i thought and the manner he did it just did not care and he was having a laugh he was having a laugh and i mean look i don't want a load of copycats because no the joke's been done now it wouldn't be funny again and don't you do it again quarantine because you've done it now it was funny the first time it's one of those i don't think he will i think he is quite cool Mute?

1:05:44Matt Roberts: Yeah. Like if it was Shapovalov, he would do it again. I've definitely seen some people say something almost accidentally funny in the past, get a laugh and then do it again. Yeah. But, no, naming no names. But Mute is not one of those and actually I think he was very, very funny and all power to him. And I did read that there was a possibility that you could get fined for something like that if he gets fined it would be an absolute fucking outrage okay david sent a video of it to not only to our tennis podcast group the three of us but also to the world cup sweepstake group that we've got going with both his kids and a number of his nieces and nephews in which was iconic behavior uh yeah that's how much david enjoyed they all enjoyed it

1:06:44Catherine Whitaker: can you imagine the um can you imagine the reaction of that of that woman that was it indian wells earlier in the season when andreva left the court swearing and then they and then they zoomed in on that woman who was who had totally lost her mind literally i was picturing like just like a balcony of people at Queen's doing that. Do you know what I mean?

1:07:10Matt Roberts: I've forgotten about that woman. She was iconic. Have we made a note of her to make sure she comes up in the quiz? Yes, she needs to be coming up in the end of your quiz.

1:07:19Catherine Whitaker: I think about her a lot, Catherine, don't worry.

1:07:23Matt Roberts: Let's head to... Who are you picking for Queen's at this stage? Let's stick with that. I'm going to go Dimonor. Matt?

1:07:34Catherine Whitaker: I think I might go Paul. Mm-hmm. Do you remember that match they played in, was it in the week before the French Open, Catherine, the one we were just going crazy about? Yes. When we saw the highlights. Tommy Paul just, I don't know,

1:07:53Matt Roberts: it was like he injected himself with something in the middle of the match. With Carlos Alcaraz. Yeah, that is a joke. I'm not casting aspersions, but it really was like yeah wild Algros was getting really bored and he decided to possess Tommy Paul truly okay now let's head to Halle and the other ATP 500 tournament happening this week the quarterfinals there look thus Alexander Zverev to take on Raphael Collignon a rematch of Ben Shelton against Taylor Fritz which of course was the final just a few days ago in Stuttgart. Then Daniel Altmaier against Daniel Medvedev and the winner of that to take on the winner of Francis Tiafoe against Félix Auger-Aliassime Tiafoe, having beaten Flavio Caballi in his opening match.

1:08:44Matt Roberts: I'm not sure there's been any result less surprising to me all year than Flavio Caballi losing his first match after the French Open final. Yeah. I mean, it's a tough draw, isn't it? Tiafoe's, you know, he's a good player and very good on grass. But it could probably have been... What player am I going to throw under the bus here? It could probably have been Henry Wendell Ken and he'd have lost it. Is that his name, Henry? He was on a run. Yeah, I mean, yes, it's like everybody's doing what they're supposed to do. Alexander Zverev just comes out and just methodically goes and beats a couple of people, you know, after winning the friendship.

1:09:35Cavali just doesn't really turn up. Yep.

1:09:41Matt Roberts: Everyone's being on brand, including... It'll probably be brilliant next week. Well, I hope so, for the sake of my fantasy team. Shelton Fritz. Fascinated. yeah he could he could do with revenge Fritz couldn't he Fritz really needs a win over Shelton he's lost his last three against him and the only one he won was in 2023 and and obviously this is the year when he's he's had the time off with the knee problem and he's rested it up and I think it's look I mean it's okay to lose to Ben Shelton he's a bloody dangerous and good player but Fritz is not going to take kindly to this you know like he's he's got a lot of professional pride.

1:10:22He will want to be getting him back. It's not just about getting wins. He'll want to get a win against him, I think, and prove to himself that he's back. Yes.

1:10:33Matt Roberts: He's bloody stubborn, Fritz, isn't he? Yes. I'm going to say he will. How about that? I mean, it's... I think he might too. It's like three results Shelton's way in the last 12 months against him. But no, I'm going to go Fritz. What do you two think? So you agree, Catherine. What do you think? I think the stubbornness of Fritz, I think he's like, exactly as you've described, I think he knows and needs this one. And it's not like he hasn't been getting close in their matches. It doesn't seem like a total match-up problem to me. No, it's big points. He's been just losing the odd break of serve at the wrong time.

1:11:11Matt Roberts: Yeah. And then it would likely be Fritz Zverev in the semis. if Zverev overcomes Collignon, which is a fascinating matchup because Fritz has his number or has had his number.

1:11:26Catherine Whitaker: Whereas Zverev has Shelton's number. It's an interesting little triangle there. Shelton always beats Fritz. Fritz always beats Zverev and Zverev always beats Shelton.

1:11:38Matt Roberts: Shelton could do with having a pop at Zverev in this sort of circumstances where Zverev might not be totally head in the game, although he would love to get a win over the final. It's fascinating. Yeah, that is really interesting. And Medvedev could do with a... Well, it's already a deep run, but an even deeper run.

1:12:04Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, Shelton today, I watched him against Ethan Quinn, and he really lost his way in the match. He lost the second set, went down a break at the start of the third. But then he just, like, went for everything. Just went for broke on, like, every shot. And there were quite a lot of errors in there, but there were so many spectacular winners. And it kind of reminded me that he's capable of that. I think he's done a great job, Shelton, of really, like, developing some of the edges of his game in that now he can go toe-to-toe from the baseline with a lot of players. He can rally, he can go into a sort of secure mode.

1:12:44Catherine Whitaker: But I think to peak, to truly reach the absolute peak of the sport and take down the big names, I think he needs to play more like he played in those final stages, which was just going for it, playing on his terms, letting the arm fly, serving big, ripping winners. That's the brand of tennis I think is going to be most dangerous against the very best players in the world. It's the most high risk and it might lead. I think it's been probably the right thing for him not to play that way all the time and build his ranking. But I think it was it was good that he's got that in him. It's just it's one thing doing it against Ethan Quinn and it's another trying to do it against a sinner or, you know, the other top players.

1:13:27Catherine Whitaker: But I do agree that Fritz is going to be hungry for this and might might take this one and get some revenge there.

1:13:37Matt Roberts: So who you got winning the tournament then?

1:13:42Matt Roberts: It's tough, isn't it?

1:13:45Catherine Whitaker: I don't trust Medvedev, but I just think the fact he's in the other half might help him a little bit.

1:13:52Matt Roberts: Is he a dormant volcano? Is he rumbling?

1:13:59Catherine Whitaker: I mean, I don't think we have the vocabulary for what Medvedev's been doing this year.

1:14:12Matt Roberts: David, who have you got winning Haller from here? This is tough, I think, isn't it? Yeah. Who do you think is coming through that bottom half of the draw into the final? Altmaier Medvedev, Tiafoe Felix. I think we're going to get a Medvedev-Fritz final and Fritz is going to win it all and really put himself back on the map. that'd be very interesting yeah what do fritz medvedev matches look like attritional hard work for everyone involved yeah yeah

1:14:53Catherine Whitaker: it just it just sort of struck me today that like we are going into another slam without alcaraz

1:15:01Matt Roberts: and i know that that's just been acute i know i i know we've been acutely aware of that for a

1:15:05Catherine Whitaker: while but like we were just like we were just talking about this incredible opportunity that the french open was and it's it's just not impossible that wimbledon ends up being a big opportunity certainly on a half of the draw i know i mean there's a big heat wave in the works right and just like fritz fritz would be primed yeah to try and take advantage of that if we're talking about like the way zverev won the french open was taking advantage of that space that opened up fritz has been that guy for a while as well you know he's had the he's had the edge over zverev in the matchup you see but he's just been injured for for a while and not been able to play his best and i think if he can get himself back in the conversation with a title in halla and feel good going into wimbledon and then get on the right side of the draw you know like he could go really far so I think it's I think it's massive actually what happens in Hallow over the over the next few days for a lot because I would I would also put Medvedev in that conversation and Zverev still and Shelton even like a Felix on grass I think is a different different prospect to what he is on clay you know um even Tiafoe okay you've just named everybody apart from Daniel Altmyer talking of Altmaier he's playing doubles with Fonseca and they're taking on Caboli and Shelton in the semis

1:16:37Matt Roberts: yes Caboli and Shelton have been a real vibe that has been fun and it doesn't surprise me that they they get on Fonseca's not a grass quarter is he David not yet anyway the man I realised he was playing the other day he was four love down against Yannick Hanfman in about 10 minutes. Yeah, it's a work in progress. It's a tough surface. Okay, that is it. We will be back on Monday, though, to do an autopsy on all of those predictions that I've just demanded from us all. I am very keen to get on to the topic of our mascot for today's show. Imagine my joy when I checked in on the agenda earlier on today to discover that today's mascot is Maggie, the returning Maggie, a Bernese mountain dog.

1:17:33Matt Roberts: Maggie is owned by Elizabeth Desmond. She's a nine-year-old Bernese mountain dog. Her interests are going for coffee, i.e. getting treats and lots of rubs in cafes, sleeping, going to the beach. And her hidden talent is jumping fences with Elizabeth's Wellington boot in her mouth, which is, I mean, that sounds like the sort of thing that my Instagram algorithm serves me on a daily basis. Would you like to see this Bernese mountain dog jumping a fence with a welly in her mouth? Yes, I would. Thank you very much. Elizabeth said she's actually not a tennis fan, as my exclamations wake her. And that is also a dog thing that I can very much relate to.

1:18:17Matt Roberts: She is wonderful, Maggie. What a regal, beautiful, cuddlable dog I'm looking at right now. So Maggie, thank you for being our mascot for today's show. We have our mascots. I have Bodhi relying on Nicola Bartonkova for points this week. It's not the best place to be, but here we are. David has Maisie riding high at the top of the table still I'm more invested in the World Cup sweepstake now it turns out that it turns out that competitions that are entirely luck based and require no actual selections on my part they're what I'm good at no skill involved yeah

1:19:11Catherine Whitaker: you've got England haven't you Catherine I've got

1:19:15Matt Roberts: all my teams have got points in their opening games yeah I've got England I feel pretty good about having England after last night not to mention Cap Verde sorry to bring that up Spanish Matt but that's an unexpected point

1:19:33Catherine Whitaker: get my Spanish passport and I can't even beat Cap Verde and everyone's thrilled about it and I'm like I'm supposed to be supporting Spain now

1:19:45Matt Roberts: Hello to Roger Matt's mascot Hello to our top folks and executive producers Greg, Chris and Jeff Matt's back so so are shout outs, let's have them Matt

1:19:59Catherine Whitaker: We have Laura from Athens Georgia in the US Hello Laura

1:20:06Matt Roberts: I didn't know there was an Athens Georgia Roger.

1:20:09Catherine Whitaker: Laura says like Robson and Catherine's favourite, Siegmund.

1:20:14Matt Roberts: I can't believe how much a part of my podcast identity, Laura Siegmund, has ended up becoming. I know I only have myself to blame. I don't know how many seasons she's got left. She's 38 now. Oh, she's going to hang around, David.

1:20:31Matt Roberts: She'll hang around. Be asking for wild cards and be annoyed when she doesn't get them. I mean, at the very least, I think she'll kick around in doubles for forever.

1:20:47Matt Roberts: Laura, thank you for making me think about Laura Siegmund. Just always living rent-free in my mind.

1:20:55Catherine Whitaker: We also have Emily Price from... Hello, Emily. North East Victoria, Australia. Hey, Emily, hi.

1:21:05Matt Roberts: North East Victoria, OK. that's very vague we know a lot of places in Victoria because of all the trophies that were named after places in Victoria during Covid Gippsland Gippsland it's always Gippsland

1:21:23Catherine Whitaker: we know others but it's always Gippsland the only one I remember Catherine saying the Yarra River Valley classic was there a Great Ocean Road

1:21:36Matt Roberts: classic The Murray something? The Murray River. It was Murray River, yeah. Yeah, I think we might be out.

1:21:49Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, then it was just like Adelaide 2.

1:21:54Matt Roberts: And Melbourne 2. There was a Melbourne 1 and 2 as well, wasn't there? Oh, COVID.

1:22:01Catherine Whitaker: Emily says, Last year, my dream came true and I went to Wimbledon with my high school BFF and tennis bestie, Nat. It was to celebrate our 50th birthdays after many years of wishing for it, talking about it, and then actually planning and saving for it. When we walked through the gates, it felt truly magical. It simply is the best.

1:22:27Matt Roberts: That is wonderful, Emily. I can't wait to go now. I'm so glad you did that. That's really special. Thank you. Yeah, that'll be us next week. It will.

1:22:40Catherine Whitaker: I'm going tomorrow, in fact.

1:22:43Matt Roberts: Yeah, I'm getting my shark ninja chill pill fired up. Have you seen the weather forecast?

1:22:52Catherine Whitaker: Yeah, it's giving Paris all over again.

1:22:55Matt Roberts: Me and Yannick Sin are having the same feelings of panic about the weather forecast. Oh no, Sinner's going to be all hot and bothered again. But also me, David. I'm going to be hot and bothered again. Yeah, but you can go inside. You can't. Matt, what are you going to do in the Wimbledon Library?

1:23:18Catherine Whitaker: I am going to research or finish researching 1996 Wimbledon. and put the finishing touches on that relived show that we have coming up after your incredible interviews that you've been doing. Oh, David's on fire. I have spoken this week at length to Malavere Washington and to Richard Krychek, the men's singles finalists of 1996, and I loved every minute of talking to them. So I think a lot of you are going to enjoy those.

1:23:56Matt Roberts: Yeah, I'm really excited about that show. We've decided David's interviews are so good, we don't need to track down the streaker. That's how good they are. Also, we've drawn a total bunk.

1:24:14Matt Roberts: Yeah, okay, brilliant. One more shout out?

1:24:18Catherine Whitaker: One more for Matt Schwartz from Scotch Plains, New Jersey.

1:24:24Matt Roberts: Oh. Well, we love a match.

1:24:29Catherine Whitaker: I'm wearing my Springsteen T-shirt.

1:24:31Matt Roberts: And New Jersey is where England are going to win the World Cup for me.

1:24:37Catherine Whitaker: Absolutely. And Schwartz, like the surname of Pete Sampras and Marcelo Rios' former agent, Jeff Schwartz. That's incredible, David.

1:24:50Matt Roberts: Wow. Did you know him? Is he a nice guy? Yes and no. I did know him and he wasn't an ice creamer.

1:25:04He was terrifying like most agents.

1:25:11Matt Roberts: Absolutely incredible. Mark, Emily and Laura, thank you ever so much for being so... I really shouldn't.

1:25:23Catherine Whitaker: and Matt by the way says I hope to meet you all in Flushing this year as I attend the US Open for the 30th consecutive year

1:25:34Matt Roberts: wow that's good going that is unreal Matt's been going since he turned eight and I don't want to I don't want to fact check Matt but what about COVID

1:25:49Catherine Whitaker: sorry to keep bringing up covid but well 30th consecutive i mean he was allowed to go yeah

1:25:57Matt Roberts: okay well i think we can allow that i'm not invalidating the streak i'm just sounds like you're off i don't want to fact check it but i'm going to fact check it

1:26:09Catherine Whitaker: okay i've got your name wrong i've got thrilled with his streak and you you've come along called him Mark and shat all over his wonderful fact.

1:26:22Matt Roberts: Mark, Matt.

1:26:28Matt Roberts: Matt, I'm so sorry. I love all Matt's. And that is a wonderful streak. And you shouldn't listen to anything my nonsense 10 o 'clock at night, heatwave brain is saying. Matt, Emily and Laura, thank you ever so much being friends of the tennis podcast. We are part of the Athletic Podcast Network and we'll be back with our next show on Monday. Thanks for listening. We'll speak to you then.

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