Indian Wells - Sincaraz, Sabatek finals incoming?

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Well, hello and welcome to the tennis podcast. Our midweek tennis podcast updating you on all

things Indian Wells and a lot of things Indian Wells have happened in the last three days. I feel

like I've got memes to last a lifetime just from the last few days of Indian Wells action.

Matt Roberts, are you over for Lums FA Cup defeat to Southampton? Is that something that's

happened in the last three days? Time has helped. Southampton drawing our snorkel in the next round

has helped a little bit as well. And Indian Wells has helped. It's taken my mind off it. I

felt like I've watched so much tennis over the past three or four days, like really racking up

the hours just six till late kind of thing here in the UK. And that has been the joy actually.

Some of them actions haven't lived up to expectations, but some of them have exceeded expectations.

And there's just so many interesting names and stories in this draw. I've had a great time.

Yes, is the short answer to your question? I am feeling a lot better.

We don't talk about football with David anymore, but still good news about those Seahawks, David. You'll

always have the Seahawks. Yeah, but I have a few shoots of optimism that are sprouting,

and I feel like Westman-Majal being are going to be okay, and it's all going to start on Saturday

with a win against Hall, because we deserve to win last night against Southampton, and I feel it's coming.

David Law in optimism, shocker. All is right with the world. And all is right with our agenda,

because Matt has done the Lord's work here. After my multiple catastrophes and Monday show,

Matt has laid out what days, all of the remaining matches are happening. Thank you so much,

Matt, for saving my professionalism. So today is Thursday. It is Thursday morning UK time,

as we record all the quarterfinals on both the men's and the women's side take place today.

Then we have the women's semi-finals on Friday, the men's semi-finals on Saturday,

and both finals on Sunday. Matt Roberts, thank you for your service. So we're going to start with

the men, and that is because we're going to start with the reason that I'm a little bit sleep-deprived

on today's show for the best of reasons, because I work up at about 2 a.m., went to the Lou.

Thought, I'll just have a look at, I'll just check in on the tennis. I'll just see what's

happening in India well. See where the draper against Jockovich is living up to expectations.

And of course, several hours later, I had had the time of my life watching Jack Draper beat

Novak Jockovich in a deciding set tie break. I didn't see every point of it. There were definitely

moments where I snoozed, and then was awoken by a commentator shrieking at something absolutely

thrilling that was happening. I know you two have both caught up this morning. David, this is going

to be a contender, I think, at the end of the season for tour match of the year.

Yeah, it was really, really good, and it was really interesting as well, because we haven't really

seen this iteration of Jack Draper against this, well, against Novak Jockovich. You know, we've

seen very young Jack Draper against Jockovich. And also, we have the added element of Draper coming

back from this incredibly long layoff, which is it's hard to believe really now when we think of

at the time we spent with Jack Draper a lot of time in November, and he was so bereft and so sort

of frustrated and trying to be patient. And then he comes out into a match like this, this sort

of cauldron, and I'm blinking at what I'm watching that he's able to play this sort of level

of tennis. And I think he was blinking in the flood lights out there, almost pinch me. Is this

really happening? Am I on a stadium court where I won this title a year ago, playing the great Novak

Jockovich, who he is often saying is his idol, or the guy he respects the most, the guy he

thinks is the best, and he's playing him and he's toe to toe, and this was proper Novak Jockovich.

Okay, maybe this isn't grand slam Novak Jockovich, because one of the great balancing acts that

Jockovich is having to pull off these days is, it doesn't want to play very often, and that

means that when he comes to tournaments like this, there's a freshness and a sheen and excitement

about him. But he's also not got matched toughness and kind of that sort of energy level that you

can last, and that's what Draper was putting him under in this match. He beat him in a kind of way

that Alkraz beat Jockovich in the Australian Open Final. Jockovich was the better player in the first

set. He was hitting so cleanly, and you can tell with Jockovich in his body language which version

you're getting, and he came out ready and excited and determined to hit cleanly and hurt early,

and Draper just kept him out there long enough, and eventually took his legs. I think that that's

what won him the match, and I don't think either of them really leave this tournament no matter

what now, as long as Jack Draper doesn't get injured again, I think both of them will leave this

tournament feeling that it was quite a good experience. It was a great match.

Yeah, we met post-Pute Jockovich in that deciding set, or I met him at about three o'clock in the morning.

It was a very surreal time. He was clutching at his sternum Jockovich.

He was, yeah, I agree with you, I think he took his legs in the end, but there were a number of

moments in this match where I didn't think that Jack Draper's competitive teeth would be sharp

enough at this stage of his comeback. I think he was serving three, four juice in the second set,

having lost the first, and I thought, hmm, it might be a bit early for him to withstand

the storm of pressure moments like this against the greatest male player of all time down the

other end, a deciding set tie break, losing the break that he had in the deciding set, getting

pegged back and ending up in that deciding set tie break. The sharpness in the pressure moments is

what usually takes longest to come back and what you can't cheat on a comeback, because it's

what you can't replicate on the practice court. You can't replicate it at the National Tennis Centre

down the road in Rahampton. I was pretty blown away, Matt, by how Jack Draper handled those moments

in particular. Yeah, and therefore you feel like this match is just going to do him the world of

good as well, because, you know, even watching him the round before against Surundalo, I think we

all watched that first set and were like, wow, Jack Draper is looking good, he's looking dangerous

again with his ball striking, and then he won it in two sets, but he said afterwards that he wasn't

happy with the way that he played in the second set, and I was kind of thinking that is the struggle

of coming back from injury, right, because you can tell yourself all the time you've got to keep

your expectations in check, and you've got to take the little wins along the way, and yet he's

got these competitive juices, and he knows where he was a year ago, and he's a little bit disappointed

in his level, but he's not quite there again, and that balancing act, I think, is really difficult

for players on their comeback from a long injury like this, and yet to get this moment, to fight

through so many tight moments against Novak Djokovic on that stage, as I said, I just think that he's

going to do wonders for his confidence. It might be difficult today coming back the next day against

Medvedev, he hasn't done that before, like recently, having to come back after a very long match and

play again the next day, and Medvedev's looking good, but you can still leave this tournament with a

big win, even if he loses to Medvedev today, I think, Jack Draper. How is that a thing? It's a flip

in two-week long event, and you still got players coming back from a marathon three-setter less than

24 hours later, having to play again. There is enough time in this event that that shouldn't have

to happen, but there we go. Yeah, at least Medvedev's in the same boat, but obviously, having played a

very different type of match. And I just wanted to shout out the rally, the one that is going viral

on the internet, because as David said, I think that was a perfect encapsulation of the way Jack

Draper played this match to try and sap the energy out of Novak Jokovic. I think three drop shots in

that one rally, just made Jokovic come forward and back, forward and back, and it was also an

encapsulation of why I think this tournament would also end up as kind of a win for Novak Jokovic,

because people will remember that rally, and they'll be like, remember the tennis that know that

Jokovic was playing when he was pushing 39 years old, and the movement that he was displaying?

It's one of those things that, you know, he said it as well, didn't he? He sort of, he won that

battle, but it sacked his energy. It gave him a love for the next few moments, and he ended up

losing server bit later in the set. He thinks it sort of cost him in the match, that rally Jokovic,

but it will be the sort of rally that will be added on to his highlights package at the end of

his career, and sort of add to his legend in that way, and, you know, I think for him,

that's part of why he's still going at Indian Wells, and showing that he can do that against

these young guys, and yeah, it was a match where Jokovic showed slightly lacking in clutchness,

actually, in that final set tie, right, you know, he let it slip, but he still displayed a lot of

his qualities, and what he can still do. I was super impressed. It was so fun that match.

Mervadov next for Draper, who's, he's in some form, David. He's Daniel Mervadov.

He's fantastic at the moment, Mervadov. You know, this is a real surprise to me when I think back

to what we saw in Australia, how stodgy he looked in Australia. I mean, he was good in Brisbane,

wasn't he? One title, but what we saw in Australia, I was like, okay, well, this is the bloke

from last year, and I just, the real guy is gone. And I don't know whether we can see this, this

may just be a good period, but he was brilliant last week when he won the title in Dubai, and I think

that obviously got overtaken by world events, and the fact that the final didn't happen, but

they had the presentation on court when the war is just starting. But he's come out here, and he's

just dismissing people with so little trouble, and this is a win against Alex Mikkelsen, who he

has beaten every time. But I saw Mikkelsen beat Taylor Fritz the other night, and I realized Fritz

is not going through the best of times, but Fritz couldn't just couldn't hit winners. He just

couldn't get the ball by him. Mervadov's hitting winners easily at the moment, and I mean,

I think the thing is, I tend to think of Mervadov as a guy who's got a certain game, and that's

that, and that it doesn't have great punch to it as such. He's either metronomic, and he wins,

or he doesn't, and it a lot depends on the serve, then. He was reminding us with the performances,

and with the way he went about it, that actually, if he's confident, he's an aggressive player,

and that's what he was. He was super aggressive, and he's like losing handfuls of games in

matches at the moment. I do suspect this might be a step too far for Draper tonight to rebound

24 hours later, and I think he's going to have to hit big, and he's probably going to have to

allow the drop shots just to stop himself from getting in Mervadov type rallies, but this

version of Mervadov is a problem. It feels like we've come a long way with Mervadov Indian

Wells, you know, it wasn't that long ago, he was talking about, oh no, this isn't a hardcore,

I'm a hardcore specialist, I know what a hardcore is, and now he's like, oh, it's really fast

core, and I'm enjoying it, and it's suiting me, and then his face absolutely lit up when he got

asked to talk about the balls and the press conference. Well, I would like to say, I think he's

bang right about the balls. They played totally differently after two games, I'd say, and you can

see they do look different, I really think he's bang right about the balls. But what I enjoyed

most was his comment when he said, well, I explained very well the other week about the head balls

and how they're not round. He said, I don't love these balls either, but they are better than the

other ones. It's just, that's what you want from Mervadov. It's kind of like, yeah, it's kind of

like you can tell, like David's saying, you can tell early, like what form Jokovic is in, by the way,

like the balls pinging off his forehand. You can kind of tell with Mervadov by his comments and his

demeanor and his mood, which generally kind of what tennis you're going to get, and whether he's

going to spiral and melt down, but he's really looking sharp this week, and it's good to see,

actually, just around out the know at Jokovic 2026 Indian Wells story, some hindrance drama. I'm

telling you, it's on the rise, potentially a steep rise. He was playing doubles this week with

Stefano Sitzapas, and they ended up playing the like La Kuzinard, Rindiknesh and Vashiro. Tell us

all about the hindrance drama, Matt. We should have a new just official segment, Matt's hindrance

drama. Yeah, it was this rally that unfolded, and I think it was Sitzapas, who was about to hit a

smash, and Rindiknesh down the other end, was waving his racket around as though to try and

distract him and put him off, like fans behind the goal when someone's taking a penalty,

and Jokovic spotted this and immediately called it out and said that he wanted the video review.

I don't think the umpire had seen it, and the umpire gave a slightly sort of sassy announcement

to the crowd. He said, I'm going to have a look at the video and see if Rindiknesh has somehow

distracted Sitzapas and Jokovic, and a little look on Rindiknesh's face, like he knew he'd been

caught in the act by Jokovic, she was hilarious, and I think the umpire was right. I think that was

hindrance, I think. Oh, I think he was definitely trying to distract him. I thought it was really

embarrassing from Rindiknesh. He has, I think he's got a bit of a rep, Rindiknesh, I don't

think he's someone that gets the benefit of the doubt necessarily. Yeah, I thought it was pretty

dastardly. He really, yeah, he really got found out. So thank you. They did end up winning the

cousins, and then they beat, I think they beat Rube Leven action off maybe, and now into the semis.

Yeah, yeah, it's a good story, isn't it? And thank you, Novak Jokovic, for all that you've

brought to Indian Wells 2026, hindrance drama included. Let's talk about Carlos Alcaraz,

which one of you, which one of you wants to try and put into words the tennis that we saw from

Carlos Alcaraz against poor old Casper Rude yesterday, 6176, setting up a quarter final against

Cameron Norrie. Good luck, Cam is what I have to say about that, David. I think you're going to

say good like David trying to put into words. Well, yeah, good luck to both. Well, I mean,

actually, I think the first thing to say is well done, Casper Rude, for getting that second set

to 7.6, because what we saw for the first set was a joke from Alcaraz. I mean, we've got to the

point where we're talking about mevatives confidence that I don't think I've ever seen Alcaraz look

as in control of a tennis ball as years at the moment. It's not just the power, it's not just

the speed around the court, it's not just the athleticism, the crazy gets and the touch and the

soft hands and on all the things that we rightly get very excited about with Carlos Alcaraz,

along with the fact that he's also a serial champion, he's doing it all at the same time and he's

doing it seemingly on requirements. It's turn the tap on and it's there and he just looks

he looks awesome at the moment. I don't think I've ever seen him look more at ease with his game

and certain of what's going to come off his racket and I mean he does make these

emphatic straight sets wins fun you know and Rude is just sometimes just laughing at what he's

what he's up against and like I say bloody good effort to not just disintegrate. I mean if you

remember that match he played against Sinner last year when it was a similarly kind of one-sided

match but the score line was was was much tougher on on Rude that day well this time he managed to

make a scrapper that second and yet it never felt remotely end out. I mean you're quite right of

course good luck Cam Norrie because I think if Alcaraz plays his best and it's it's it's good night

but he has beaten him a couple of times has Norrie including last year in Paris so he's he is playing

some seriously good ball himself Norrie but if you're talking about the two players playing well

at the same time then one of them is going to win in straight sets and that blokes Carlos Alcaraz.

Yeah can I shout out the shot that Alcaraz hit in this match which was he'd hit a drop shot Rude

chased it down and Alcaraz had stayed back on the baseline and Rude chased it down and hit it

quite deep and what Alcaraz did in that moment I've watched it over 10 times I think and I just

cannot believe it every time he hits a it's a drive volley lob from the baseline I've never seen

anyone do that before like the the cross court drive volley you know conventional drive volley was

on and yet he came up with a shot without any hesitation it just seemed natural to him to do

something that I've never seen anyone else do before it was staggeringly good and he's got the

control on the ball that David's describing that he hit it so high the lob went so high and yet

just landed an arc perfectly dipping so Rude had no chance it was a joke what he was doing

particularly in the first set injections of pace lob drop shots angled volleys stop volleys

it was like he could do whatever he wanted with the tennis ball I mean and then he he turned it

on again in the second set tie break just to the same extreme it was it was a joy to watch he

he played a thriller against Otto Rindikanesh in the previous round incredible week for Rindikanesh

David into the the double semi-final with his cousin and compared to Roger Federer by Carlos Alcaraz

incredible incredible after Rindikanesh not incredible he was he was fantastic in that match I mean

yeah basically Alcaraz pulling out the old Serena Williams line they always do this against me

and they kind of have been doing it against him though yeah I mean I do think players are

aware that they're up against somebody you can just do things that nobody else can and the crowd

go with it and I think players get a little bit excited themselves and realise well my normal

game's not going to cut it let's just go for broke and they get it they get a little bit

influenced by what's going on down the other end I mean Rindikanesh has played Alcaraz hard

before he's taken him to multiple sets before he's got a game that can cause Alcaraz problems

because the service big the touch is good he goes for his shots gets him a bit off balance

and he you know he was a set up he was a break up here this this was tense for a bit for

for Alcaraz I did wonder whether he you know it might be just one of those matches that he

he doesn't pull out pull the rabbit out of the hat in increasingly he's not needed to do that

but at the same time the moment he was back on level terms in the second set it was over

and that's that's one of the big differences now I don't feel like there are multiple

chapters still to come in a match like that it's once once the tide has turned that's it it's turned

hmm I think there's also something to do with I don't know like the style Alcaraz plays I think

I think opponents feel like they've got a chance against him because he doesn't he doesn't

sort of strangle you in a way that like a jokavitch at his peak would do or a nadal at his peak

even even sinner you know like the sort of relentless hitting deep and putting you side to side

he ends up in a lot of fun rallies and shot-making rallies and the opponents feel like they're

pulling off great things it's just Alcaraz with his foot speed and his hand skills is going to

get there and do something that no one else can do to it so I don't know it's there's something

in that I think Alcaraz is is right there in terms of people are sort of peaking against them but

I don't know I think it's I think it's to his benefit because I think that that match against

Rinda Kinesh really sharpened him up you know and by by the third set he was playing kind of how

he started the rude match like it was so good and and now he's just he's just in that form and

he can he can keep it going better than he used to be able to do in tournaments.

So Alcaraz or Nori to face the winner of Draper and Mervedev that's the top half of the

men's draw bottom half the men's draw we've got Artafis against Alexander's very of the winner

of that to face the winner Evianic Sinner against Lerna Tien a match that I'm very excited about.

We should probably talk about Sinner's victory over Joel Fonseca 7-6 7-6 and absolutely electrifying

match I know you you both watched lots of this unfortunately it was happening in the middle of

the night our time I saw I kept seeing the the the stat going around and look at I take all of

these player rating things with a little bit of a pinch of salt but apparently Joel Fonseca scored

the highest player rating for a player that ended up losing the match that the that the player

rating system has ever seen now make of that what you will take all the salt you you would like

to take with that but that stat is also reflective of what we saw in that match David which was

an awesome Joel Fonseca that had to bring out the best in Yanic Sinner in order for Sinner to win it.

Yeah it was really good this I don't know how much we will end up reading into it down the line

in terms of progression for for Fonseca but it's first time I've watched a full match of his

for a while especially against a big a top player and and he struck me at the start of it a little

bit like how Yanic Sinner struck me when we were in Inium Wells three years ago in person when

which is when I started just referencing Sinner's height every 10 minutes and and here Fonseca

stood at the net for the photo with Sinner and I looked at him and thought wow he's grown a bit you

know he's he looked doesn't look like he did a year ago he looks he looks like a man he looks like

he's kind of just grown into his bodies filled out of bed he's taller he's got co-tanger shoulders

he just looks like he's ready physically a bit more here to to to take on a guy who's suddenly not

not taller than him not much anyway three centimeters between them and and the way he played

we touched on it the other day it's he's got the combinations right now the balance right between

the all-out power but he but there's there's there's a point behind it it's not just thrashing at the

ball which I do think he got into doing a little bit when he was getting on the back foot in matches

he would suddenly just be hitting out and and and I thought well this isn't really going anywhere for

you because you're missing too many well you got himself to mini-break up in both tie-break sets

in get into the tie-break he's he's leading the first set tie-break six three and he didn't win

the set you know that was uh that there's there are some lessons in there for Fonseca I think about

what guys like Sinner are able to do to just keep you keep you close and then take over and then

he led the second set tie-break as well and and that was good going I thought from from Fonseca

because Sinner did actually whole serve for the match and Fonseca broke back to take it into that

tie-break and I thought real strides been shown by Fonseca here and yet Sinner with the answers it

it felt like the balance of where these two are in the career and what the potential is for the

future that scoreline seven six seven six just kind of told you and and I think that this is a this

is another good news match for both players is he playing with a bit more shape on the forehand

Matt Yannick Sinner to your eye in a kind of you know preparing for the clay court season kind of

away yeah possibly I think I think that would be fair to say I think what struck me in this match

was that you could see that Sinner is capable of being the absorber you know like so much of the

time I think of Sinner is likely going to be the biggest hitter on the court off both wings because

you know he's so good at that but actually Fonseca's got a ball speed that is higher than Sinner's

I mean there was an extraordinary stat that that flashed up on the coverage that Fonseca's average

average on the forehand is 11 miles per hour higher than the rest of the top 50 on the ATP tour

or certainly it was in that first set he was averaging 90 miles an hour which is 11 miles an hour more

than the rest of the top 50 but that's absurd that is absolutely freakish and yet what Sinner was

able to do was absorb that pace I felt really well and that's that's where I think Sinner is still

quite a bit ahead of Fonseca with his movement and his leg strength and the ability to move side

to side and I think some of that probably does come out a little bit as more shape on the ball

rather than just like slashing at it um he also had his I'm going to use the word again he was

clutch again Sinner you know like that that was the defining feature of his match against Jokovic

at the Australian Open how that had gone and I know the pressure is different playing in a grand

Sam Semifano against Jokovic but in this one even before he fell the three set points down in

the tie break he paid a lovely half volley to not fall four set points down and he he brought his

level up when Fonseca had those set points so that was a really really good signs from Sinner and

yet I did feel like it was a kind of proof of concept match for Fonseca right like he does have

the weapons and hitting the ball that hard with that control and adding in a bit of variety is

going to her top players and Sinner had to be somewhere close to his best to be able to live with it

and I always take Indian Wells a little bit of a pinch of soul anyway because of the conditions

and I think particularly at night I think it was when it's dead and slower I think it was easier

for Fonseca to control the ball you know like I've heard Andy Rodic talk about Indian Wells in the

day and it's like a bouncy ball and the ball is just bouncing all over the place and I think at night

it just allowed Fonseca to control it a little bit more but I was again as David said impress

with both like coming out of that match and just super fun to see them meet for the first time

and now we have an image of what that match up looks like and yeah it was it was great.

Can Tian, can Tian, Sinner be fun? Tian Alejandro Davidavitch for Keena was fun let me tell you

that was another one I stuck on in the middle of the night and cost me a bit of sleep.

Yeah it was yeah fun fun is the best possible word to describe that it's certainly the latter stages

of that match and went to a deciding set tie break which which obviously should feel like

absolute peak jeopardy in tennis and yet it felt like the opposite of that because by that point

Alejandro Davidavitch for Keena had had match points and Alejandro Davidavitch for Keena unfortunately

is becoming the losing from match point up guy I just I just had this very strong feeling in the

pit of my stomach that this is going to be another one and lo and behold lo and behold it was

so Tian Sinner can that be fun? I remember them playing towards the end of last year and it was

quite one sided for Sinner but I did feel like a big difference was the surf right it's not

it's not a new point but I do think Tian's got a different approach on the surf this year he's

trying to get more out of it okay he's making some more double faults but he's trying to

up his wind percentage on first serve up his ace percentage and I do think that's the right play

it's high risk it might not come off but I think it's the right play and I do remember thinking

from the baseline Tian Tian Tian can hang with pretty much everyone he's so good at redirecting the ball

and what is interesting to me now I feel like the ATP is having a real moment like I feel like we

really were a bit down on the state of the ATP last year but actually feasts and draper coming back

we're going to talk more about feasts but then coming back in the fold and being at this level so

quickly has invigorated everything I think plus you've got Tian you've got Fonseca doing

shame what he did men's it beat sinner a couple of weeks ago and now Tian gets a shot at him

like it just feels like there's a little bit of momentum behind the pack you know like three is

still very much up for grabs but it's finally feeling like there's guys gunning for it rather than

oh it's just going to be no at Yokovic you know what I mean like I just feel like in this last

month or so there's been there's been a nice shift from some of the other guys on the ATP tour

and we might still end up with a sinner our quest final and that will be absolutely fine by me

because we've had fun along the way and that's kind of that's kind of what I'm looking for in

these tournaments sustained fun and I just just feel like there's a group now who are bringing it

and they're young and they're hungry and they've got interesting games yeah I've really been

quite high on the ATP in the last few weeks or so and they're plates that haven't accumulated

sort of soul destroying baggage against alcohol as a sinner yet in the way that you know

your citzer passes have and years verives have like they they could they very well could do over

the course of the next couple of years but at the moment it feels like they do step onto the court

to face those guys feeling like oh yeah back myself here I could I could have a go at this

um yeah I agree it's amazing how quickly things can change can't it and I think we were

we didn't we wanted to sort of be cautious about how hyped we were for these feasts and draper

comebacks because you know to to um to protect ourselves from hurt and disappointment um but that

means that we've been really pleasantly surprised by it it's yeah it invigorated will reinvigorated

is a great way of putting it feels like we're in a good spot just now so sinner and TN the winner

of that David to face the winner of our to feasts against Alexander's verive he he is so back

is our to feasts yeah honestly I I'm not usually the the one to hold myself back about getting excited

for fear of getting hurt I'm not usually that guy but with I at a feasts and Jack draper I

I am in shock that they are at this level this quickly it is it is as though they have not had a

a seven eight nine month layoff which both have had for very serious injuries they don't seem to

think about those injuries when you're watching them they don't seem at least so far and I really

am touching wood saying this they don't appear to be having any ill effects after these matches

that they're winning and if anything certainly feasts I think he he looks a better player than when

he left because he's made a couple of little technical tweaks he certainly seems to have shortened

his forehand take back there's a there's an interview with him by Charlie Ecclesher in the athletic

that I encourage you to go and have a read of which in which Arthur is talking about that change

and just how generally his come back is going but you know he got to the final a couple of

weeks ago got smoked by Alcras and the final in Doha no no great surprise there at all but to come

out here and and win comfortably in his first couple of matches and then play Ojali Asim in the

manner that I sort of when I think of those two players this is what that match looks like

Ojali Asim with a big serve and a big forehand and great movement and a backhand that is just

asking to be picked on and and feasts his backhand cross court is so superior and his inside out

forehand now is so reliable that he was just finding that backhand of of Ojali Asim like how

Palabadossa was was finding the forehand of Coco Gough at the other year it was it was almost cruel

the way he was just picking on it and knowing that he was going to get errors from it and yet

you end up in a situation where he's set in a break up he's serving at four three fees the match

is won in terms of patterns and strategy and Ojali Asim really having no answers

and yet he breaks back takes it into a tie break and leads the tie break five love now some of

that credit for that needs to go to Ojali Asim he did come up with a couple of good shots to take

the play away but most of it is just the thing I've been watching feasts do for the last three years

which is just loses concentration loses focus start blaming other people or other circumstances

around the court and and really being in danger of actually losing the set and then maybe losing the

match but love five Danny gave this fantastic interview to tennis TV afterwards where he said you

know I went over to my my coaching team and Goran even is which not there by the way in America he's

he's kind of come back for the for the clay court season but he's been a regular sort of text

contact with the team and with with Arter after matches but goes over to Ivan his coach

this week and he's complaining and he's moaning and and they just just stopped complaining

just focus on one point at a time and he was like he was like you didn't want to hear initially

and then he said I thought to myself maybe I will then maybe I am complaining too much

it takes one point to time comes back from love five down to win the tie break by just going

back to what he was doing before and and that's really is is what I see between these two players

I think feasts has a higher ceiling than Ojali Asim does I even know he's only ever been ranked 14

in the world so far and then Ojali Asim has been ranked very highly in the top 10 I think that's

where he's going the the interesting thing is I'm I'm still waiting and I was feeling this about

draper last night is this too early you went you mentioned it earlier on matter is this too early

to sort of be able to to to dig out a win against a top player at this stage and you come back

and I and I wonder whether although I think feasts matches up very well against Verive in a way

that Teafo really didn't and Teafo's got this one nine record against Verive because he can't

hang with him from the baseline feasts can and he's one beating him twice and I I think him at his best

will be beatings Verive but I'm not sure that he's quite there yet you know it's it's so early

was that a prediction I think Verive will win this match because I think that

it's just a little too early for for feasts but then I probably would have said that about

Djokovic and draper last night so you know I certainly think that feasts is capable of beating

as Verive and if you place to his best level today I think he will beat him but I just think

you'll probably have one or two many mental lapses at this stage but go on or get his teeth in

that will change okay well we won't get too far down the predictions road because a lot of

people will be listening to this already knowing the outcome of at least some of these matches

because all these quarterfinals to be played today including the women's quarterfinals and we'll

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welcome back to part two of today's tennis podcast where once again we have a women's draw

where it feels like we're on a collision course to a final between egushiontech and arena

sabbelenco and every time seemingly it feels like we're on that collision course

something historically gets in the way is that going to happen this time David

I always get stuck with this because and I always end up either writing off Jessica Pagula or

Elena Rebecca and then I exactly what to do exactly that yeah because look I I do I do believe in

the shiontech's game as being overall the second best just behind sabbelenco now Rebecca

and her fans would very understandably question that given some of the some recent results I do

think in these conditions on this sort of surface where it's gritty and it's high bouncing and

I do think it suits shiontech down to the ground it really takes her ball and does stuff with it

that some of the other players can't really match so look I think we are going to end up getting

that that final but I've certainly said that before I would say though on shiontech generally I

I think this has been one of the better tournaments so far for the balance that she's trying to

find and the not just trying to blast away through opponents but have a plan B or at least have

different kind of tones to her game and and that the flight she's got on the forehand it feels

like I talked about the control that Alcras seems to have office strings at the moment that's

what's been there for for shiontech as well she has a bit more time I think maybe because of the

of the surface in Indian Wales as opposed to say Miami next week but yeah I'd be very encouraged

on her behalf and and well Savalanca just looks like Savalanca and is another great I think

endorsement for the break she's had of missing some tournaments everybody everybody this is the

best of the two-week tournaments that aren't the ground slams because everybody is looking fresh

and ready and up for it I mean it seems to just sort of air away as the as the fatigue comes in

and there's the boredom sets in a too many long events like this but this one just works because

everybody's new to it is it an endorsement of the break or is it an endorsement of getting a

cute new puppy who can say egoschwiontech I thought looked fantastic against Carolina Mukover

yesterday I mean the the scoreline speaks for itself 626 love this you know quite disappointing

in terms of a competitive match I really didn't think Mukover looked herself at all I thought

yeah she she looked she looked sluggish and a bit out of it and you know undoubtedly way way

off her peak but equally she does have an egoschwiontech problem does does Carolina Mukover

be it from a shiontech perspective this match I don't know what you thought it felt like to me a

bit of a like a a blueprint for for what the whim for set project has been trying to achieve now

that doesn't mean the project is complete and she's she's doing it and she's going to do it every

match and it's going to be successful because frankly she was never under any pressure against

Carolina Mukover that I want to see her do it when she's under extreme pressure but for sure this

felt like very encouraging signs for for that whim for set project which she's she's really stuck

with and through through quite a lot of questioning of whether that relationship ought to continue

definitely yeah and what I liked about it was how patient she was but also aggressive you know

as as David talked about hitting with the margin with with the with the spin on the forehand and

and those forehands that you know you think are maybe going to go long and then they just dip at

the last minute and she's got so much clearance over the net so much safety built into them

and yet the opponent can't do that much off them because she's whipping them and they're bouncing

up at them so that was really impressive she was also I think attacking the Mukover second serve

really really nicely redirecting the ball off her backhand particularly well it was a really

nice performance from Shiontech as you said how much of an acid test is it right because the

conditions favor her and the opponent favors her I think come up against a different opponent

in trickier conditions and that's where we've kind of seen her have the most issues but she's

also sometimes just sort of inexplicably gone off in in matches as as I talked about the other day

and that didn't happen at all she was just ruthless in this one and that was the Ego Shiontech

we all know and love and and have have seen dominate this sport so that was really impressive I

also thought was interesting that she said afterwards that Mukover's pretty much the only player

the only WTA player that she watches and she said so therefore I know her game and I was kind of

thinking why don't you watch some other players then and she was really talking about it as though

she was really comfortable in the match up because she knows her and she is famously someone who

does give the tactics away to her team yeah she outsources all of it doesn't she outsources all of it

maybe that has worked for her but I do sometimes think that there should be a slightly higher level

of tactical acumen there to her because she is a smart person she's a smart tennis player and we

don't always see that but we did against Mukover she knows how to play her yeah I maybe I'm

reading too much into that but it was it was it was something that did strike me I feel like

watch more WTA tennis should be your should be your sort of homework here Ega Shiontech

she's she's got Svitilina next which is a a match up that would be very easy to dismiss

on the basis of what we saw yesterday from from Ega Shiontech but to quote Matt Roberts in our

WhatsApp chat I'm going to quote you to you Matt 2026 Svitilina is no joke

I stand by it I mean she's she's been so good this year and I think probably the only match that

sort of stands out in a in a way where you would talk about her limitations would be the Australian

Open against Sabalenko but to focus on that I think would be to detract from the seasons she's

had generally where she's been winning so many matches battling hard beating top players

playing this more aggressive style than she used to play she's a problem for pretty much

everyone and you know Shiontech has dominated their head to head but they've often had tight sets

and I do think Svitilina will ask some of those questions that that you're talking about

there Catherine she'll put Svitilina under pressure and then it'll be a question of whether

Svitilina can respond to it I think she probably will but you you cannot just brush Svitilina

aside especially this year she's she's playing so well Svitilina one via retirement over

Catarina Siniakiver in the previous round and on the subject of Siniakiver in her previous round

before that she was caught in the crossfire quite frankly well no headline she's

gone the biggest single wins of her career well done Catarina Siniakiver secondary to that she got

caught in the crossfire of Mira and Draver's latest meltdown quite possibly her most dramatic yet

Matt I mean really quite extraordinary scenes at the end of at the end of this in Indian Wales

yeah it was bubbling away the whole match you know she got an awkward game

Siniakiver a lot of slice forehand sudden flat back hands and you know she's just a crafty player

she's has her own battles I think with sort of keeping everything in check on court

but she was causing and Draver problems and Draver was not at her best and she was also injured

Siniakiver you know the fact that she retired against Svitilina so the tells you that she was not

moving well particularly in the second set which ended up stealing on a tie break and that I

think just was too much for Andraver to be able to cope with I think she thought she should be

winning this match comfortably and yet she wasn't she was in a tussle and she kind of dismissed

her team they came back but there was a there was a moment where she took our tanners and the team

left and they weren't there at the start of the third set they were there by the end of the match

again and then the end was just like you talked about memes gathering I mean I mean cinematic

scenes at the end with the with the racket slam from Andraver when she lost then a handshake

booing from the crowd because Andraver has slammed her racket away Siniakiver slumping in her

chair exhausted pretty much in tears I think probably knowing that okay she scored this huge win

but how much of herself has she had to give there and then Andraver leaving the court

mowling off at the crowd and then the the camera person and the director chef's kiss to them

for capturing this scene where you get Andraver mowling off and leaving the court and then

zooming in on this woman in the crowd gasping at Andraver and clutching her balls scandalized

the fact that Andraver had dared to be rude she was yeah she just could not cope with this

it was hilarious absolutely hilarious scenes but sort of unfortunately underneath all of that

there is there is the more serious and more troubling I think aspect of this being a continued

pattern for Andraver I've barely seen her lose a match over the last nine months or so where

this hasn't defined it in some way where there's been some sort of spiral whether it be with the

way she's playing whether it be with her box whether it be with the crowd whatever it is it feels like

she's really struggling mindset wise mental wise on on court right now and I don't know I think you

it's kind of like the Marco Silva question at full them like there's been there's been so much

good done by Marco Silva and yet people are starting to question it and I feel like there's

been so much good done by Comchita Martinez but I do think you've reached the point now where you have

to question that relationship and I don't want the answer in either situation by the way Marco

Silva or Comchita Martinez to be let's just get rid of them I think they've done too much good

work there's too much positive there but I do think there needs to be some kind of reckoning and

some kind of okay what we're doing isn't quite working in terms of taking us to that next level

and something needs to change I think in this because for a long time you could sort of put it

down to her age and you still count to a certain extent she is still young and for a long time

I think it's the trend isn't it it's the fact that it's not getting better it's getting worse

and I think end of last season I put a lot of it down to fatigue you know just felt but now

I'll start of the season when she's fresh it's still there and I don't really have the answers

but I just know watching that that something something does need to change I think soon

So Rindy Kinesh compared to Federer and Comchita Martinez compared to Marco Silva

big big big week so Shruntek to face Svitalina the winner of that to face the winner of

Pagula against Rebecca and I both of whom David is is writing off in no

in typical style no warning myself not to who are you writing off less out of Pagula and Rebecca

Well the thing is I still think either one of them could win this match and then go and end up

beating Shruntek because that does seem to be something that happens and it's my it but I do fall

into that trap and I'm really trying hard not to and yes I could still be doing it because I think

overall I would still put Shruntek through I don't think that either one of these players

necessarily players as well in Indian Wells or at least feels as convincing in Indian Wells as

maybe they do on the surfaces that there are a little more love abouncing and it's sort of in

the hitting zone more obvious. I'm on a second Rebecca is a former champion. Yes that's very true

I mean look she can win an anything can't she she they they if she's on she can win stuff doesn't

know I just I'm not as convinced by it as as I am on love abouncing courts generally but she's

also starting to play away into this tournament you know she had that rough one against Tayley

Baptiste then she beat Martha Kostik she's now beaten Sonny Cartel in you know in a match that

was ended in a retirement but she she was getting the hang getting on top of that Cartel by the way

very good tournament for her she beaten Madison Keys from a set down in the previous round the

British player I mean that that was an upset in its own right and she's been battling a back injury

all tournament apparently and and then it was finally a little too much for her in this one but

it's it's a fascinating little bit of the draw because the last couple Rebecca and

Rose Beaton Pagula Pagula has had wins against Rebecca and her as well she's she's the one that I

think that Pagula struggles to diffuse you know when she she's able to just sort of diffuse the

game of of any sum over and just drive a crazy it doesn't seem to stop Rebecca now she just hits

another one it's like okay you got that one back while I have this one and that's that's what

and she and her it never feels like her temperature rises in her head and she ends up getting

down on herself or exploding in the moment I would make Rebecca the favorite for it because I

think she ultimately is the better player of the two but like I say I'll be watching because I

don't know it's like I don't I don't feel that confident I don't feel eager to be on tech watching

Karen in the mook of her confidence of what what's going to happen I thought Pagula was fantastic

against Bengshik yesterday I hadn't quite realized the one-sided nature that head-to-head Bengshik

should never lost a set against Pagula in in four meetings and Pagula even in the world

feed interview she gave it she literally said nobody beats me five times in a row and she said

and she was right I'm a better player now than that last time we played you know a lot of those

meetings were you know I think it was a couple in 2021 and she said I've got more tools now Pagula

I use my slice better and I don't know she's had a little mindset change with Pagula I

always felt like I was focusing on her limitations and that was probably a me problem but I

always felt like I was thinking oh but she'll she'll reach her ceiling in a tournament I'm starting

to think about like the possibilities of her game more and seeing the seeing the weapons she's got

you know like this one got tight she served for the match in to win it easily in straight sets

got Pagback went to a tie break she just upped it a little bit and she gave a big reaction when

she won it like she knew that that was that was a big moment finally beating Bengshik I'm so

impressed and yeah yeah I I always underestimate Rebecca as well um so that's a yeah really

and really intriguing match as that's the bottom half of the draw Shrantek's Fittalina winner

to face Pagula or Rebecca in a top half of the draw we got Sabalenko against Emboco Sabalenko

handily beating Naomi Osaka in the previous round of match that we were really excited about

disappointed that it got put in the the vibe was death slot first on first on stadium one

I mean I thought this was just kind of an expose of the limitations of Naomi Osaka

that Sabalenko once had herself and has worked so hard to not have anymore and I don't

I that probably sounds harsh on Naomi Osaka the thing that she does she does brilliantly still

she's still one of the best ball strikers on tour but and I you know I understand where she hasn't

been able to to develop her game and add tools to it in the way that Sabalenko has you know the

period of time when Sabalenko was doing that with her game Naomi Osaka was on maternity leave

and before that she which she was having a mental health break from the sport and it does come

it does come a point in your career where it does make more sense to work on the things you've

already got rather than to to try and add to your game like I did where exactly that point in your

career is you know varies for everyone etc etc so I don't mean for it to sound harsh on

Osaka I more mean that the way Osaka was playing just underlined how extraordinary it is the way

Sabalenko is added to her toolkit she is so far from a ball basher is Sabalenko like she's she

looked like Karenina Mukover out there but a Karenina Mukover that can also bash the ball

better than anybody it was so good from Sabalenko yeah it was I was having having similar thoughts

because of course the last time they'd met was in 2018 and back then you you would have described

Sabalenko as a ball basher you know a very good one but no refinement whatsoever to her game she

was she was such an all on nothing player and you think about it now and I was thinking wow the

sports moved on since 2018 and then I was thinking no Sabalenko has moved the sport on you know

like she has she's made it so that you are now to be winning the biggest tournaments you

she's kind of the bar you've got you've got to clear her you know like people we've seen

win grand slams have often had to go through Sabalenko with it be golf or keys or you know

Rebecca herself and Sabalenko now is as you said an all court all court player the number of

times she was coming to the net in this match was was impressive and the slices she'll throw in

in defense it's just a shot that Asaka does not have yeah she was very impressive Sabalenko

and as you said the dimension that Asaka has still very dangerous and did cause problems in that

second set but then Sabalenko met all those moments really well and responded to the pressure

be it break points or just a bit of pressure on serve and serve to weigh out of them what Sabalenko

is looking for is that that kind of composure and that responding to pressure in some of these

grand sam finals that she's lost because I think game wise she's got more than everyone else right

now and she probably feels like she doesn't quite have the grand sam tally to sort of reflect that

but if she can get that that meeting the pressure moments right in the in the grand sam finals

that she had here she's pretty much unstoppable she's also got an excellent new dog

I would like to I mean I think Ash is already a Hall of Fame tennis dog she's a she's a

cavalier King Charles Spaniel I'm biased because Billie Jean is half cavalier King Charles Spaniel

but my god she's adorable she's yeah I mean she looks like a teddy bear she's just I don't think

I've seen her with her paws on the ground yet unclear if she does walk or if she just gets carried

around but she's yeah she looks like she's on some sort of sedative all the time just sort of

flopping in people's arms she's she's absolutely adorable so we get another look at Sabalenko

and Boko in the next round and Boko demolishing our prediction match from the last podcast thank

you very much Victoria and Boko handly dismissed Amanda and it's him over six four six one this match

took place on stadium two in the night session and we mentioned in the previous podcast that

stadium two was getting extremely sparse crowds because of the change in ticketing policy for

2026 and particularly in the night session matches and it was so stark during and Boko and

it's him over okay not in terms of a competitive match it didn't quite live up to what we'd

hoped but that is a all star hot ticket match and it was empty it felt like they were trying to

create a physical metaphor for late stage capitalism with that match it was a really

dystopian grim scene and the athletic pursued the story and they got the following quote from

the tournament on that change to the ticketing policy to make stadium two unavailable to

grounds pass holders as it has been in previous years the tournament said as the tournament continues

to grow we are always evaluating opportunities to improve our programming and operations including

ticketing offerings and the fan experience in advance of this year's tournament we decided to

evolve ticket offerings in stadium two to change the upper bowl seat sales from general admission

to reserve ticketing like every decision we make we carefully evaluate it after each tournament's

conclusion and that analysis informs future policies I interpreted that David maybe this is

overly optimistic as a quiet admission that they won't be doing this again in the future they

might be evolving back to their previous policy they got in a sense there will be anyway

is that how you interpreted it too yeah yeah it's been a disaster it's been an embarrassment

I mean they you've ended up with an empty stadium for huge tennis matches I don't think that was

your plan and that's what's happened so well done change your back great yeah no notes yes it's

not going to take much careful evaluation to realize what a what a mess they've made of that I did

want to just say how well and Boko played and you know I was I was feeling really positive about

this and over I felt like she'd found the sort of equilibrium that she'd been missing at the start

of the season there was reading her press conference trend the script and she was talking about a

little you and the inspiration she's taken from her and watching her and realizing that she felt

like at the start of the season she's been putting too much pressure on herself and that was a

shift from last year and she needed to get back to kind of enjoying what she was doing and I

thought well that really marries up with this form that I've just suddenly seen against Blink

over and Radikarnu and just felt like she was moving in the right direction but I suppose this

match was kind of reminder that things are not always entirely you know a straight line with progress

you're going to have steps backwards and I think we did see a bit of a sort of second set crash

out again from an isomover and unfortunately for an isomover she's extremely funny when she's

angry and she sort of creates great memes as well there was that one the other day was she was

trying to stuff her racket in her racket bag after she lost and this time there was the one

where she was telling her team does it a zip it and she's sort of becoming the meme but you know

it's sort of relatable stuff but you know it is the thing that I think she needs to work on the most

but I just want to say how well umboko played and she's a bit of a shape shifter umboko you know

she can she can be the aggressor if she needs to she's got real punch on her shorts or like in

this match she can really like say okay you want to you want to go movement I'll I'll expose

your movement and the number of times she was exposing that element of an isomover's game and

getting her on the run and absorbing the pace and then packing a puncture self as sort of a line

line hitting winner she was great in this match and boko and real real control about her and

composure about her which was which was kind of lacking from an isomover um yeah a lesson for me

stop picking a man to an isomover for everything um and and there's nothing like like someone just

absolutely dunking on one of your faves to sort of realise how good they are and

I probably have been a little bit sleepy on just how good umboko is and I hope she comes out

against Malinka she feels like she's getting better every week she does and that's what makes

the sabbelenka match interesting right because we saw it a few weeks ago and there was a gap

but and boko did call some problems at the end of that match and if she can if she can start

how she finished in Melbourne it could be a great one but then you know sabbelenka can also just

raise it so yeah I can't I can't wait for that I can't tell you how thrilled I was to to hear

and Amanda and isomover talk about elisolue um I look I think every human being on the planet

can learn something from elisolue but there is so much in her story um and essence that tennis

players in particular I feel like could could learn or take something um so yeah it really really

made my heart sing to uh to see those quotes uh just finally on the women's side uh sabbelenka

against and boko the winner of that to take on linda noshkiver or taliya gibson i mean noshkiver

seems on a sort of quite underrated inevitable march towards the top 10 doesn't she i mean she

she kind of feels like a top 10 top 10 player to me in terms of her top top level six two six love

against uh aliexandre ala in the previous round taliya gibson has qualified and now one

three matches to make it through to the quarter finals her previous win uh previous round win

against jasmine palini and and look again headline here is taliya gibson water week water story

keeping sensation of the year alive is sensation of the day alive through until March we thank you

taliya gibson very well done um and again if this were if this were a kind of isolated result

for jasmine palini the story would absolutely be taliya gibson but the fact is that this defeat

is part of a really quite worrying trend for jasmine palini mat

yeah it is um you know we talked the other day about how she'd battle through some some three

three set matches earlier in the tournament i think against potapova and tom yanavitch

the truth was the game wasn't really there but she was at least coming through tight matches and

sometimes you feel like that's a way to build some confidence in this one she didn't look

bad to me she just looked ineffective you know and in the in the two year spell 2024 and 2025

which she was reaching slam finals winning row and qualifying for the wta finals you wouldn't

have described her game as ineffective you know she was so many times we were caught by how much

of a power player she's seen and stepping in and taking the ball early and changing the

changing the direction and all of that's just a gone a little bit the confidence has been sacked

away i i don't know what it is um you know she had a lot of coaching changes hadn't she when

so full an hour mark low peasant for a bit now this guide the nilo pizzer knows in iranis

in a more official capacity maybe there's just been a little bit too much disruption there i don't

know um she was hit off the court she was absolutely just hit off the court by talia gibson

who was in danger sort of unsensitling herself she you know she needs to be she needs to be careful

she's she she might be too good to be a sensation she's she's playing south out with how lean he's

gone back to being a good draw and talia gibson is is unsensitling herself what a world oh see

she is a big hitter off both wings she really does clock the ball it's quite impressive um

and yeah she just she just dominated especially that final set return winners

power off both wings really like what i saw from her but um yeah it it it is a tough scene for

partly and he's just now okay that is it for part two and i look ahead to the women's

quarterfinals and the the rest of the women's tournament we'll be back in part three

over the bit of calendar news from the ATP AI is only as powerful as the platform it's built into

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only in iOS mobile app. Welcome back to part 3 today's tennis podcast where we just wanted to

touch upon a story broken in the athletic today centering around the 10th ATP Masters 1000 event

the addition to the ATP Masters 1000 calendar which we know is going to be held in Saudi Arabia

that is the extent of what has been announced so far it is much rumored to be an event that will

take place in February after the Australian Open but that hasn't been formally announced now the

story that's been broken today by the athletic is about the ATP and about the Saudi Arabian

authorities and the ways in which they intend to make space for that 10th Masters 1000 event

David in the ATP calendar. Yeah this is some some seriously good reporting from Charlie Eccleshera

Matt Futterman and starts with the sentence a shopping spree designed to reshape the calendar

of the men's tennis tour is intensifying because as well as trying to make space for that Saudi Arabian

tournament that you reference they're also trying to sell it to the players as a calendar reshuffled

to make the the offseason longer and obviously they want they want more money and to be able to

put into players pockets as well and all the rest of it that comes with it so they're trying to

to do it in a manner that is acceptable to everybody now one of the ways they're doing it is

is by using the vast riches of Saudi Arabia in the the PIF fund that the sort of sports arm of

that by buying back sanctions of tournaments they Charlie and Matt are reporting that they've

already had offers accepted from the Chengdu open the Kong Kong open later in the year it's been

recently announced that Brussels is going to be moving to them the reporting is at least it's

going to move to the middle of the year and beyond grass and and then I think the bit the big

headline elements of this story and I do encourage you to go and read the whole thing because

it gives you the full background detail and all the all the various permutations but when

as ours and Acapulco in February which we've just had of course as part of South American and

Central American swing of tournaments that is so so popular with players and so well attended

they're also being offered vast sums to basically disappear or at least relocate exactly what will

end up happening we don't know but it the idea is to create that extra space it is going to cost

a fortune I mean in the athletics article it says hundreds of millions of dollars are going to be

spent because not everybody wants to sell apparently the tournaments in the Middle East to buy

Doha that didn't want to move that I want to move that I want to disappear so they're just

they're saying no thanks um so this is what's what we're left with most likely um and I mean

it's where do you fall do do you think well I I want the the circuit to have this longer off season

and to be fewer events and less cluttered okay well you can but you're going to have to accept

Saudi Arabia's money to do so and they get a place at the table and we've got a

mate room for them and they get you get masses of money but then you also don't get to have this

amazing atmosphere in South America at one or two tournaments or or in Acapulco it's you can't

have everything is the bottom line but you but they they are saying that they can get stuff done

and it's going to cost it leaves me with the same feeling I had when they when the WTA announced

WTA announced the maternity fund the the funds for which were being provided by the Saudi public

investment fund this sinister Faustian deal with the devil quite frankly so you can you can have

this brilliant thing that nobody could possibly argue with being a good thing uh but hey here's

where the money is coming from um and you can't have everything so do you want the money or not

like nobody's going to argue that the it's very very canny from them because nobody can argue that

shortening the calendar is uh is a bad thing and the players aren't certainly aren't going to

argue that um but yeah it comes at a it comes at both a very real cost in terms if you know the

decimation of the the South American swing is potentially tragic really for for men's tennis and

then obviously the sort of the moral cost of further intertwining yourself with with a state with

the human rights record that that Saudi Arabia has um of which our views are are extremely clear

bear it's um it's fantastic reporting as you say David from from Manchali in the athletic

and uh we will keep you updated as um as things progress and obviously there's the other element at

the moment of you know further entrenching yourself with the Middle East feels like

just not a brilliant thing to be to be doing on a practical level right now for uh for any sport

but obviously that that deal is is is already done for the ATP okay that is that is it for today's

show uh feels like feels like there's been a lot I feel like I need a bit of a lie down

a lot of good stuff a lot of really meaty stuff to get our teeth into um but yeah I need well

either a lie down or I need to stare at a dog for a while uh and luckily there is a dog available

for me to stare at and it's Goldie um I really love Goldie Goldie is an apricot miniature

poodle owned by Tracy um so if you put Goldie together with Ash arena sabilenca's new dog you get

Billy Jean oh what a joy um Goldie just turned 13 and she's big sister to our epileptic

bar loving are he is singing Labradoodle Gary absolutely obsessed with the Labradoodle called

Gary um Goldie is a vocalist too but not interested in classical music her insistent vocalisation

start about an hour before each meal time a high pitched warbling to let us know that she wouldn't

mind an early bird seating uh she has a friend called Ziggy who 12 years her junior gives go go

the run at which I assume is the nickname for Gold Goldie love that um Ziggy gives go go the run

around which she mostly grudgingly tolerates she joined our family at eight weeks old and has

licked away tears celebrated dozens of birthdays myriad graduations endured the horrible pain of

people going away to college she still tries to get inside suitcases when anyone is leaving

and pretty much continuously scavenged every trash bin for used tissues which she tears to bits

we love her so says Tracy um and she's absolutely gorgeous I'm biased because she's got a bit of the

Billy Jean about her but she's she's wonderful thank you Tracy and thank you Goldie uh hello to our

mascots Bodie Maisie and Roger hello to our top folks and executive producers Greg Chris and

Jeff let's have some shout outs Matt we have Ada Pesh in Zurich hello Ada we we know Ada and

Ada says I have a tortoise shell rescue cat called Fang and says I haven't met Roger Federer yet

but his parents have come to the opera house where I'm the concertmaster and I've met them

yes we know Ada's the Zurich concertmaster of course I love the I haven't met Roger Federer yet

and like the confidence of that yeah haven't met Bruce Springsteen yet Matt

absolutely um thank you Ada we've also got Barry Bob Row

hello Barry who is from Charlotte North Carolina that's an iconic name Barry and Barry

Barry says my wife Karen and I are huge fans of the pod we go to the US open every year and we

keep walking by the press area underneath Ash looking for a sighting of you all oh Barry

keep doing it you'll see eventually that is that is the right place to find us yeah if Matt can

meet Bruce Springsteen one day you can meet us no yeah yeah Ada's gonna meet Roger Federer you're

gonna meet us and Matt's gonna meet Bruce Springsteen these things are gonna happen yeah just just

walk by the media garden between sessions day and night and yes chances are we'll be

recording the call Barry Cowan yeah who's been commentating this week

I said that as if we might have more Barry's but I think I think we're one and done with Barry

Cowan there aren't we probably yeah yeah thank you Barry and finally we have a shout out from

Karen Wooster for her new daughter in law Mary Claire Fisher who's from Ann Arbor Michigan

and Karen writes Matt delivered a surprise birthday shoutout for my son Ryan at the 2024 live show

in New York I remember this Ryan and Mary Claire were married in December they spent their honeymoon

in New Zealand Tasmania and Australia and kept off their trip at the Australian Open where Mary

Claire completed the fan slam so cool wow well Ryan's chosen well hasn't he yeah well I'm Karen

agrees Karen says Mary Claire is a journalist hiker and has a cat named Charlie I couldn't be

happier she's a wonderful addition to our family what a lovely generous and kind thing to do

Karen's just gifting shout outs left right and center what a woman I love it so much Karen thank

you and welcome to the shout out family Mary Claire already having completed your fan slam

what whatever next that's absolutely lovely so thank you Karen and hello Mary Claire

so Mary Claire Karen Barry and Adda thank you very much indeed for being friends of the tennis

podcast of course if you'd like to become a friend of the pod get yourself a shout out an intro

all sorts of things and access to all of our bonus content ad free listening all that jazz the

link is in our show notes we are part of the athletic podcast network and we'll be back on Monday

with our Indian Wells review show and that show is live on YouTube at 8pm UK time if you'd like

to join us then thanks for listening we'll speak to you Monday

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