Indian Wells - The story so far

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Hello and welcome to the tennis podcast.

It is Monday the 9th of March.

Tennis paradise is paradising in your mouth is well underway.

Matt Roberts is in a bad mood about football.

How you doing, Matt?

Oh, thank you for asking, but I really don't want to talk about it.

I'm just going to bring the mood down.

I hope when I woke up this morning that I'd be feeling better,

I literally was immediately conscious and immediately remembering that we fucked up the entire season yesterday.

So yeah, not good.

I wish I didn't care as much, but I do and it's ruined my day and weekend.

I don't want to talk about it.

I'll only bring the mood down is a far more polite version of what Matt Roberts said in our WhatsApp group to David yesterday,

which is my highlight of the weekend when David bless him, center, center message about the football moments after the final whistle.

Yeah, I've got to learn to keep my mouth shut and not not ask about Marco Silva's team selection decisions,

because Matt was not happy with them nor being asked about them.

Do you think what we have done today is set a record for the fastest need ever for an explicit tag on this show?

Well, they're Matt Roberts.

Well, they've got through both starting him off.

I actually cannot.

I'm going dark.

Those were Matt's response.

I did feel bad.

I've only witnessed Matt being rude like twice in my life and it's just such a highlight.

Matt, sorry to continue this out of me, but I feel like we should start part one of today's show by kind of picking up from where we were last week.

There were a number of situations that have developed over the course of the past week, some serious, some less serious.

Let's start with the draw ceremony.

The last week's show with much excitement and anticipation about Indian Wells treating a draw with the apparent reverence and seriousness and sense of occasion which it deserves.

You stayed up late to watch the draw or to get social media updates about the draw.

Mark's out of ten and general review, please.

I went with four out of ten and most of those marks were for effort.

I do want to say that I do take that seriously and I do, therefore, you know, still put Indian Wells above most tournaments.

Most tournaments getting zero out of ten for their draw to be clear.

But it was unfortunately a reminder that even when tennis puts on draws, they don't really know how to do them in a captivating way.

Too much fath, Catherine.

Far too much fath, interviews, needless breakdown of the draw as it's happening live.

No, let the draw speak for itself.

We just need the names.

Who is playing each other? That is the drama.

Don't suck all of that out by doing ridiculous interviews and asking Bianca and Drescu who her celebrity crushes midway through the draw.

And then don't display it poorly on TV either so that you can't follow it properly.

These are basic things that they got very, very wrong despite trying.

Okay.

So point to effort is the verdict and that is the ultimate in damning with faint praise.

You had the opportunity to use expletives there, but given that we've already gone explicit tag on this show, thanks to you.

And you managed to manage not to.

The draw was nowhere near as bad as full of them.

Okay.

Okay, they're really damning with faint praise.

Right.

So that's the much anticipated draw review.

The other situation that we were updating you on in last week's show was surrounding the Middle East.

Obviously, you'll all know what's been going on in the Middle East at the time of recording last week.

So fairly fresh.

Iran had began firing retaliatory missiles at US bases in Qatar, Q8 Bahrain and the crucially from a tennis point of view,

the UAE following the initial American and Israeli strikes on Tehran on Saturday morning and Dubai's airport was damaged and its airspace closed.

Obviously, events have escalated significantly over the course of the past week in terms of the tennis situation.

A number of players and ATP staff were stranded in Dubai unable to get out.

Players unable to get to Indian Wells, including Daniel Medvedev, who has talked about the journey.

He ended up going on before eventually somehow managing to get to Indian Wells, where he's played in one match.

He spoke with a journalist Sophia Tartakova for Bolshe.

He said, we arrived in Amman by car.

Someone was lucky to get there in four hours and 30.

Someone drove for nine hours. We drove for seven hours.

A little wrinkle in his tail was that our driver couldn't find his passport.

He said, so I think he actually, once they got to the border, they actually had to go back for the driver to get his passport.

He said, we were the only ones who crossed the border, turned around and came back to the UAE.

He found his passport in the parking lot and we drove to Amman, stayed there for the night.

The next day we flew to Istanbul, spent the night in a hotel and then flew to Los Angeles.

He said, if you tell all the details, then of course it's unusual.

You feel like you're in a Hollywood movie.

Very pleased to see and hear that he and I think all the other players and staff that were stranded in the UAE have now managed to make it out one way or another.

But the other situation that started developing at the start of last week was that there were two ATP Challenger events taking place in the UAE in the city of Fajira.

Now they did eventually end up being cancelled but they did begin in earnest.

It was a bit like the doubles final that we discussed on last week's show where we couldn't quite believe our eyes that they were going ahead with it.

Well the same happened with these Challenger events.

Three matches were in progress when play was stopped at the first of these two events on Tuesday with footage of the match.

You might have seen it between Hayati, Matsuoka and Daniel Osterpenko of showing the players, umpire and ball kids rushing to leave the court after they were told to get inside the building.

Please, an incredibly dystopian scene if you've seen it.

UAE authorities later said that Shrapnel landed at the Fajira oil terminal around eight miles from the tennis country club in Fajira where the event was taking place.

And now the athletic did quite a lot of reporting, fantastic reporting on this situation.

And it was on earth that the ATP tour told players following the cancellation of these events,

uh, told the players that were signed up to play at them that it would quote potentially be organizing a charter flight out of the region for five thousand euros per passenger.

That, um, was in an email that was seen by the athletic and reported on by the athletic.

The flight was said to be leaving at three p.m. local time on Thursday from musket to a man, which is a three hour drive for Fajira from Fajira and would have required a board crossing.

There was then a second email, um, that the athletic also had sight of sent just under two hours later.

It said it was not directly organizing a flight.

And would instead explore quote available travel options with third party providers.

Then on Wednesday afternoon, the ATP announced that they would be covering costs for all the players to get home.

Now, whether that would have happened, were it not for this reporting and the the outrage that that came from it.

Um, I think people couldn't, couldn't quite believe the communications that the, the players were receiving out in Fajira.

No, but, um, eventually, uh, eventually David, the right thing was done by the ATP.

Yeah, that was, uh, that required a pretty swift 10 bright turn from, from them because that first email was, was not good.

That did not come across well at all.

Um, and it's, it's all well and good saying.

The safety of, of our players is priority, but you've got to back that up with, with actions and, and that's what happened in the end.

So, you know, well done to them in the end.

Um, and I mean, I think, I think it is fair to say that these sort of things, it's, it's, it's really tough to, to, to, to know what to do.

I think sometimes in authority and, and, and that's that kind of thing.

But they've, that has got to be at least planned for to some degree and, and then acted upon and, and they did look, they, they got it done in the end.

Um, and that's, you know, mercifully for tennis.

That is the sports stint in the Middle East over and done with until, until, well, until the, uh, WTA finals in, uh, react scheduled for, for later in the years.

It later in the year, a lot of other sports are confronting a, what on earth do we do about our upcoming Middle East and event situation?

I think Formula One has got some serious decisions on its hands, but, uh, tennis at least doesn't need to, to confront that for the time being.

But, um, relieved that, uh, everybody seems safe, albeit potentially quite traumatized by the situation.

So, I think it's a bit pathetic had a, um, an interview with Harry, Harry, Harry, Harry of our or the, uh, the finished doubles player who was involved in the, the doubles final with his partner, Henry Patton, in Dubai on Saturday.

It's an incredible read, and yeah, as you might expect, he's very, very affected by

what he went through, and he and Henry Patton have withdrawn from Indian Wells, and we wish

them well, absolutely.

And that is it for part one, we'll be back in part to talk about the tennis.

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Welcome back to part two of today's tennis podcast where it's time to talk about the tennis.

Let's start with the men and what we've seen so far in Indian Wells and let's start

David with Joel Fonseca because he's been having a tough time recently in the tennis

discourse.

He's been getting a bit of a battering for being frankly over hyped as an Ian look.

His results recently have not been great.

He's been recovering from the latest flare up at this chronic back injury that we know

he has and it's taken him a bit of time to find his feet back on the tour.

But my goodness me in Indian Wells so far this week he has found those feet and he looks

to me like somebody playing maybe with a little bit of a point to prove.

Hmm, over hyped you say.

Come straight to me.

I can't argue with that.

Look, I do think when you first slap eyes on the way he hits his forehand, it is one

of the most show-stopping, jaw-dropping sights in the sport and I think I certainly did

get carried away with that shot.

I still, I'm still awestruck by it but I think that the assumption became oh, when he

can knock somebody off the court he can do it to everybody and nobody's going to find

any solution to that and the truth is you need more than that and I think and it is a

lot.

It is a lot of hype and it's also wonderful, wonderful attention from his home supporters

and they travel in their numbers and they make such a fuss that you just, you get swept

up by it.

I'll stop giving excuses for why I said he would win the French Open now last year.

But look, he did look in the last couple of matches and particularly in this one against

Tommy Paul, he looked like there was a lot more thought and strategy and kind of

nuance to his game than I've been used to.

There were still absolutely devastating forehand blows but there were rallies where he would

just loop one on the forehand rally, slice with the back hand, drop shots, you know, there

was a lot more going into the rallies that he was constructing against a very, very

good player who look, I don't think Tommy Paul was at his best, I don't know whether

Tommy Paul was 100% fit, also I don't know whether it was well fun, second was 100%

fit.

He did have a medical time out at the end of the first set but 6263 against Tommy Paul in

Indian Wells.

That is a score line to be taken seriously and to watch him, he looked a different kind

of level and package of player than he certainly has for most of the last year and this is

following up a match against Karen Hatchinov which I didn't see all of it, I saw the highlights

after you drew my attention Catherine to his second set tie break and look he was on

the cusp of defeat, wasn't he, he was a set down, he's into a tie break and yet he won.

So again, I think even that fact is a good sign.

Save match points in that tie break against Hatchinov and it's be very clutch, you know,

Hatchinov was playing well and you don't get a lot of chances when he's playing well,

you've got to play your best when the chips are down and when it counts and he really

did and that's the sort of win that one that can make you feel a bit bulletproof, he's

probably going to need to feel a bit bulletproof because he has got Yannick Sinner next but

I am very intrigued by that upcoming match and I give him Sinner a good kit.

In fact, Nike seemed to have, I don't know, it was like, it was like they were saving

their best for Indian Wells, there's some good Nike stuff happening, I don't know whether

they've hit the panic button and up to their game but I think the lead times on these

kits are so long that it can't be that but Alcras has got his orange, Sinner's got his

baby pink which really suits him, Asak has got a neon leopard print, I like what I'm

seeing and I'm really pumped Matt for Sinner against Fonseca. I've no idea when it's happening

because I still, I just can't get my head around the cadence of these early rounds in

Indian Wells, like I just, yeah, it's like, right, great, tomorrow, brilliant, excited

I think there's been a sort of over correction with Fonseca, right? It feels like probably

we everyone went too big on Fonseca to begin with but I feel like too many people have

gone too far the other way and have just written him off as this over hyped ball-batcher now

and I have felt a bit sorry for him actually because he's actually been, he's sort of been

called out a little bit, hasn't he? By players, I mean, Jockovic called him out this

week in terms of the amount of hype he's received. Zverev did it in Australia without actually

naming him but it was sort of obvious who he was talking about but you know, there was

a reason that that hype existed and okay, maybe it was Overkill and maybe he's not going

to be the, you know, reliable third guy to Sinner and Alcras, maybe he still will be, we

don't know, players do develop at different rates and you know, when Sinner was Fonseca's

age, I think anyone was really talking about him in quite the same terms that they are

now in terms of the consistent year round brilliant threat that he's become so maybe it's

just going to take Fonseca a bit of time but there's no denying that the top level he

has with the weapons that he has is electrifyingly good and we've seen it in flashes and I agree

with David that what I liked about the match against Paul was the element of control that

he also seemed to have to his game and little bits of variety in there as well. So yeah,

really good week for Fonseca and I'm pleased and I'm intrigued by that match against Sinner.

As you know, first time seeing them come up against each other, I've been impressed with Sinner

as well this week. He seems to have found his forehand a little bit more, I think he's

not quite sort of exploding on it but he's not making the errors that he was making on

it in Doha and he also got a good kit. Well, yeah, I can't argue with that. It suits him,

doesn't it? It really does, it's a really good thing. Yeah, yeah. And he's also to me,

it seemed like he'd slightly cut out the some of the variety a little bit more. It just

seemed like he'd streamlined his game yesterday watching him against Shapa Valov. So I think

Sinner's pretty, pretty big favourite in that one but I will also be there on Tuesday after

and just saying that again, Tuesday. I appreciate it. If you've seen the video of him emerging

from the supermarket with the toilet rolls and signing autographs. No, who's him? Sinner.

Sinner, yeah, yeah. No. He seems to have done the impossible which is going to a supermarket

to buy one specific thing and only come out with that one specific thing. He just had

it. He's there. There's people asking for his autograph in the parking lot of the grocery

store and he's just got a nine pack of blue roll under his arm. How do you not get seduced

by, you know, the stuff they put near the till that's there just to seduce you or, you know,

come out with a punitive olives that you don't need. Who does that? I mean, of course,

of course, the answer is Yannick Sinner. It's just somehow very Yannick Sinner, isn't it,

that he went, he needed lee roll. He went to get lee roll. He came out with lee roll.

Fafry, Catherine. Right up your arm. Fafry. Learn a TN, beat an ill Ben Shulton in three

sets. I feel sorry for Ben Shulton because he's being treated as kind of patient zero for

this, this apparent lurgey that seems to be going round Indian Wells. I keep seeing speculation

that maybe other players are ill and it's being described as maybe as they, maybe they've

got what Ben Shulton's got. And I'm not quite sure what Ben Shulton does have, but he, he

wasn't right, Matt, against Learner TN. That's safe to say. No, and he also wasn't right against

a pelker couple of days before, but he managed to get through that one. But it's such an odd experience

watching a subdued Ben Shulton, you know, it really makes you realise how fired up he normally

is and the energy normally brings to the core. All of that had just gone and he was very

laboured in both matches. He was sort of clutching his side a bit as well and he just, he didn't

look well at all. And actually, I think he made a, he made a real go of this one against TN, managed

to push it much, much closer than I thought he would, but eventually, eventually sort of didn't

quite have it in him in that third set. And it's been, it's been good to see TN, you know, he gets

a lot of support in Indian Wells and and it's, it's, it's nice for him to sort of be going on

this, on this little run, but it was, it was tough watch for Shulton. I, I really felt for him.

He's got a, Alejandro Dividuic Vakina next to beat Jacob Menshik. David, you watched Alexander's

Vera last night beat Brandon Akashima, albeit somewhat unconvincingly, kind of look like

is Vera of Evold rather than the, there's Vera of the, well, he's been telling us he wants to be

now in terms of the, the way he wants to play, particularly in the big moments.

Yeah, it was very interesting. It was an interesting match. It was quite similar to the match

he played against Miamik Hetzmanovich a couple of weeks ago in, in Ecopolko, where he's faced

somebody who strikes the ball very well and is serving well and the score is close. And on that

occasion, he lost on this occasion, he won, but I think it's, it's, it's, it's not, it's not easy

to play the sort of aggressive tennis he wants when it's windy in Indian Wales and when the

probably the court doesn't, it doesn't fly through the court in quite the same way.

And he ended up reverting to type, really. And maybe you've just got to do that. Maybe you've

got to accept that you can't always win it the way you want. And he did hit some, some bigger balls

at the end, but I think you're seeing a problem that he always runs into eventually. He, he'll find

somebody using really good form who just can kind of handle his game and make him, make him keep

playing balls and, and put in pressure on him. And honestly, Nakashima, I think, should have won

this match. Really, he was, he, he, he should have won the first set. He had five break points in it,

um, to, which, which Zverev didn't have. Um, but Zverev is very good at just sticking around and

not, not losing matches when it's close. He wins most of them. And Nakashima, I think, doesn't. And

I did sense at the end when the Shokens that Zverev was kind of explaining it away at the net by

saying how well Nakashima had played. I saw, I slightly damning with faint praise, isn't it? You,

you're complimenting the guy you've just beaten. And I think it, it, it helps you deal with the fact

that you haven't played as well as you want it to because I don't think he was that good. Um, he's

going to have to really raise his game. Given the players he's coming up against next. I mean,

I think Francis Tiafo next to who looks in really good form. Yeah, absolutely manhandled Flavio Caboli.

Um, revenge for the, uh, for the Echo Polko final and confirmation that Matt's take, of course,

was right. We're going to have to ride the highs and lows with Flavio. Um, Carlos Alcoraz, Matt,

you've written here in the agenda. Alcoraz looked sharp in his 6263 win over Dimitrov. I thought he

looked devastating. Like it was one of those performances where I was like, I hope the rest of

men's tennis and the locker room aren't watching this because it would make you want to just retire

on the spot quite frankly, pack up and go home. There's no point. That was how I felt about that

performance. Yeah, maybe you're right. Maybe my Alcoraz expectations are too high and now I'm

underselling Alcoraz. Um, yeah, he was great and like particularly good because it was really

windy conditions that night wasn't it? And he, he, I know he's talked a lot in the past about

not liking the windy, but actually he is, he is well set up to, to play in those conditions. His

footwork being so precise, the speed in the ads to the ball, he's got good hands. So if the ball

just moves on him at the last moment, he can adjust to that. And I think now he's, he's really

got the temperament as well, to play in the wind, you know, with the fewer ups and downs that he

has in matches and sort of joy that he's bringing to the court all the time. He can, he can handle

if something's a little bit frustrating. Yeah, he was, he was great. Um, and as you said, the kits

great. He's got the sort of mullet adjacent hair. I don't love the mullet, but I do love the kit.

Yeah, I quite like the hair. Yeah, I think it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's like a caboli.

Yeah, in a bit, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's young men's 2026 hair.

It's only a matter of time before your son's asking for it. Oh, he's, he had one that was a bit

similar to that yesterday. Oh, he's already done the mullet. I mean, at least it's tied it up a bit.

So, um, you know, gotta take what you can at this age.

Poor old grigal dimmature of David, I, I don't think you played badly. You just

did not know what to hit it, or you did know what to hit him. It was 12 in a row, Carlos Alcoraz

that had, that I was watching his match thinking, god, 12 in a row doesn't feel, doesn't feel

that silly. Um, great. We're conpoly guys together. No, we're 12 in a row guys.

Look, I do think Dimitrov is realistic enough. I really think he knows tennis to know

that he could have done nothing in that match to really change things. Sometimes people

just are on it. And if Carlos Alcress is on it, he has a level that nobody else has. And

Dimitrov was laughing at it. I mean, he was gallows here, really. And it was at the net

just, wow, you're playing too good. So yeah, I think that's a great challenge for players

on one level until they then run into it and realise their incremental gains are not going

to be able to touch this guy if he's playing like that. But maybe he won't play like that

against you is the hope. Now, that Djokovic had to come from a set down against Camille

Mayershack. Matt, what do we make of this? God, what a big question. Yeah, I feel like...

I don't even know, I don't know how to frame the question with Djokovic in India. Well,

I don't know. What's he hoping for in India? Well, is he there just to have a nice time?

It's kind of like none of it matters. Right. And yet given he's there, like we should

talk about him. Right. And it was a good recovery in this match because he started all over

the place. I mean, in the third set, he was sort of gagging and really struggling physically.

There's an incredibly long rally that ended up on the floor and sort of gasping for breath

after. Are they familiar? I know about Djokovic's experience that we've all witnessed in the

last couple of years where he has looked sort of a little bit short physically in some

matches. And then you even dare to write him off and he goes and beats Janik Sinner in

five sets in Australia and opens semi-final and pushes Carlos Alcarez. So, you know, what

does it all mean? I do think in this stage in his career and that he used to have a great

record in Indian Wells, didn't he? But he actually hasn't played very well there in quite a

while. And I do think some of the ways developed as a player now, obviously he can still play

well in Indian Wells. But I don't think it quite suits him quite so much. You know, like he

wants now to be able to get cheap points off the serve. And I know that the ace rate

does seem to be up a little bit in Indian Wells this year, but he also wants to get the

forehand skidding through. And the way it just bounces up, it just doesn't really quite

feel like it suits him to quite the same extent. But if he's in it and engaged and motivated,

then I'm sure he can figure all of that stuff out. And, you know, he's a good presence

to have in the draw and it's going to be interesting to see if he can navigate his

way through. But yeah, it wasn't. This was not the know about Djokovic, we saw at the

back end of the Australia note, but by the way, just on Djokovic here, I noticed he was

asked again about his proposed end date to his career. And he's once again talking about

the Olympics in three years time. I mean, he seems he's not afraid to put it out there

and say, look, I'd like to, I don't know whether I'll be able to, but I'd like to play

in it. So, wow. Yeah, this is with situation where sort of everybody's analyzing every

move he makes. Like, at one point, he, I think during a practice, he sort of knelt down

and did something profound looking like kissed the court or something or like, you know,

waved at people in a sort of poignant looking way. And it's like, oh, oh, this definitely

means he's there to say goodbye. And it's like, no, in every press conference, he's telling

us that he intends to play for another 2.5 years minimum. It's a, yeah, it's a slightly

mild situation, but compelling, compelling, as always, Jack Draper on his return to Indie

Miles as defending champion has a slightly better kit than what he had in, in Dubai. And

he, yeah, much better. I just don't love it. But we were at the, yeah, we're the four

efforts. I think it's better than that. Okay. He recovered from a set down to beat Roberto

Bautista Agu, which is a, it's a, he would have been nervous ahead of this, David, I think

Jack Draper. And I think that's a, that's a banana skin navigated for him. Yeah. But it's

a girl. I mean, I think he's extraordinary. Really? He's another one who's getting on

a bit. And, and yet he still is able to produce this metronomic tennis, a bit of a nightmare

to play against if you're a bit out of kind of rhythm of playing tennis matches. And Jack

Draper's played so little. And as you say, coming in as defending champion, he's, he would

have been excited, anxious, all those things. And, and that there is going to be this unknown

as to how his arm is going to react every time he plays. And, and he looked pretty good,

I thought, you know, it wasn't great, but it was, he got himself through it. And, and

I, he doesn't look at, say, as comfortable as Fees has on his return yet. But I think,

it, I think he would have absolutely taken this as long as he's pain free. That's all

that matters if he's able to get through matches because the rest of it should come. Fees

has been looking good, David, isn't he? Sure has. Sure has. I mean, he, it's hard to believe

that he's had the, the seriousness of injury that he's had, a stress fracture to the back.

Maybe it is just one of those injuries that if you do the right things with and you have

to rest it, they, they say. And I always remember Katie Bolter having it sort of six, seven

years ago and she's gone on to have a really good career without that seemingly being a

big problem for her. He doesn't look like he's thinking about any injury at all. And, and

that's, that's a, a win over Martin Furture Vitch that he's had there who, who played some

decent stuff and who beaten Lorenzo Mazzetti in the previous round. I realized Mazzetti's

far from his 100% and, and feeling his best at the moment. But with Fees, there just, there

looks like a real clarity of thought. A little bit like we were talking about with Fonseca,

you know, there's, there's just a, there's, there's not these moments where he gets excited

and suddenly goes off the rails because he's trying to hit the ball too hard. There's

a much more of a clear idea, I think, and I think partially would go and involved, it'll

all be not in, in America for this next month. But even, I think there's a maturity and

just a sort of confidence and, and I think he plays Felix Ojialia, same next, which is

a player he played against in his second, well, his first tournament back, actually, and

he got handily beaten. And, you know, Felix is, is playing really well this year. I still

think there are fitness question marks over him. I've watched him in a couple of matches

where he just looks like he's struggling with his knee or something, isn't quite right.

But that, that'll be interesting. It's another barometer, isn't it? As you try to measure

yourself how far along you'll come back, you are.

Hmm, yeah. Last men's match or if men's incident to talk about, what on earth mat happened

to Luciano Darderi at the end of his defeat to Rinky Hedgicata?

I'm so glad he comes to me on this. I didn't know this. This was very funny.

He's too much points down, is Darderi, and the decide against Hedgicata, and mid-rally

he's having to stretch for a forehand. He puts up, he puts up a defensive lob and stops

the point and asks for a hindrance, basically, to be called on his opponent. He seems to

think that Hedgicata had said, oh my god, mid-rally. Actually, what had happened is that someone

in the crowd had said something, and therefore the umpire was like, well all you've done

there is call a hindrance on yourself. You're the one who has stopped the rally and put

Hedgicata off by making a fuss out of this, therefore you're going to lose the point

and the match on this point. I've never seen that before. Tryna call hindrance on your

opponent, and the umpire was like, no, it was you who's caused the hindrance there,

and therefore this match is over, because it's match point. The umpire went through the

sort of process of checking the video review and was like, nope, I'm sticking by my decision,

and Darderi was absolutely furious about it. Yeah, wild scenes.

This is only anecdotal, but I really feel like hindrance drama is massively on the rise.

We've over-indexed on hindrance drama for 2026, right?

Yeah, I think you might be right. We have talked about it quite a lot.

Long may it continue, because it's perked right up. Yeah, yeah, so I do love a bit of hindrance

drama, and I also like, I do love the crowd getting involved. Obviously like,

shouting out mid-rally isn't great, but I just find it a tough scene sometimes when like

the crowd gets blamed for being excited about tennis. I sort of think that's what we want

from the sport. Obviously there's going to be some sort of individuals who are annoying,

but generally like crowd being excited, I think, good thing, and it has been,

did it have a blown Indian well similar to Under Stadium 2? Have you seen this?

Where they... Yeah, I wonder if they'll row back on this, because it's such a clear

misstep. It's so bad. Like, so he used to be able to get into stadium 2, which is the second

court at Indian well as a big court. And it's big. It's big. It's really big.

Sometimes I see it on the telly and I'm like, what is that? Is that a centre court?

And obviously, centre court is even more enormous.

But you used to be able to get into that court with a grounds pass, and it seems that now you can't.

And unfortunately, a lot of the matches on that stadium have been suffering clearly like

the thing to do if you're going to buy a stadium. If you're going to buy a stadium ticket,

you'll buy it for the main stadium. And yeah, just the crowds have been down on that court,

which is just from such an own goal, really.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. There have been some really, really tough scenes out there,

because they're also stacked in Indian well. Stadium 2 gets some awesome matches.

I mean, Stadium 4 gets awesome matches, but Stadium 2 is getting sort of

grand slam called a final level matches in these early rounds. And yeah, it's tough to see them

not have the crowd that they deserve. Okay, that's it for part two. We'll be back in part three

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Welcome back to part three. Today's tennis podcast. The women's matches that we've seen

so far in India. Well, let's start with Coco Gough and the incredibly rare sight of her

retiring last night against Alexandra Aayala, only the second retirement of her career.

She described it as a weird pain in her left arm that she was experiencing.

Obviously a great a great worry. I mean get you know worry for everybody it goes without saying,

but like Coco Gough's physicality and her physical robustness David

is such a huge pillar of her game and her identity as a tennis player.

I don't know it just it feels like the world is out of order seeing Coco Gough having to retire.

Yeah, I don't remember seeing that before. I don't remember seeing her retire before. I don't

really remember seeing her look bothered physically by something that often. Maybe there is

something that I'm just forgetting, but it was really jarring seeing her come to the net and

explain it to Alexandra Aayala and she got she got that sleeve on her forearm and and so

was obviously already experiencing some issue and and was just looked really worried about it.

You know this is a player she'd beaten handly a couple of weeks ago suddenly she's

winning a couple of games in the hole in you know out of ten and just looked oh I need to get off

the court and find out what's going on here because she was worried and yeah don't we don't

need that nobody does yeah fingers crossed for Coco Gough that's as much as we know at the moment

but we will keep he posted Matt let's let's continue the Matt Goodmude from hindrance drama

to an absolutely sublime performance from Amanda and Issa Mova 6161 against Emorada

Kanye late last night she was she was a steam train it was I mean that just must have felt

amazing for her to be hitting the ball like that and for you obviously yeah it was one of those

was wondering am I going to be able to make it to the end of this match you know it was pushing I think

maybe 11 gone 11 in the UK by the time it started the two matches before both gone to deciding sets

but I definitely had an hour still in me and that was that was all that was that was needed and look

I take I take no pleasure in seeing Emorada Kanye sort of beaten like that um but from a

Amanda and Issa Mova perspective it was an astonishingly good performance and so quickly

you knew oh she's playing well here she's hitting she's hitting the ball like a dream

just in the first game there was power and control coming off her racket and it was a absolute

demolition really I think we all remember the Radikanu and Issa Mova match from the Australian

Open last year where you know Radikanu really caused an Issa Mova a lot of problems and put

the ball in awkward spots but I think we're seeing in this match up you kind of see the progress

that Issa Mova has made since then and she beat her very handly in Canada last year and this

match looked a lot more like the Canada one than the Australian Open one just a huge discrepancy

in the ball striking and the power coming off off the strings it was it was all in Issa Mova really

she won 53 points to 21 she hit 21 winners to two she absolutely destroyed Radikanu's serve

and she served really well herself and Issa Mova only losing six points on serving the entire

match and you know I'd watched Radikanu in the previous round against Zacharova and she'd been

really good I thought was her best performance of the season she was convincing she was playing

with conviction hitting her shots going after her shots playing in the way that she's talked

about wanting to play and look I don't think and then she was at her best last night but it was

just an exact it was just a reminder of like you can't always do that against certain opponents

and it reminded me a little bit of Radikanu's match against Rebecca at the US Open last year

and I remember thinking oh Radikanu's looked quite good this tournament I think she might push

her back in her and then she can't she can't get the strike in like the the first strike is

just coming from down the other end and you know you sort of kind of want Radikanu to maybe mix

that's where you want her to sort of try and mix some things up and use the other parts of her

game because there are bigger and better hitters of a tennis ball than her she's not going to be

able to end out here and Issa Mova and she just couldn't but I do think as you say the main story

of this match was how brilliant Issa Mova was and just how her comfortable she seemed on court

and coming off the back of her opening set she played against Blinkerberg in this tournament

which was a mess just unforced error after unforced error and she lost it she's then played four

brilliant sets having having having dropped that initial one so yeah it's been it's been a very

good tournament so far for her but she's in a she's in a section of the draw that is absolutely

stacked because she now plays Unboko like first meeting between them cannot wait for that

and then the winner of that it might be Tuesday again Tuesday it's all happening on Tuesday

and then the winner of that will play the winner of Sabelenko Asaka like that section of the draw

is is just so good yes Sabelenko Asaka happening for the first time since

2018 yes please she's looking good I think and that us open match in 2018

yes the one for the fourth round the only set I think the deciding doors dropped on route to that

title and it really did feel like the winner of that could go on to win the times leaving when

it was happening and he just think of the different directions there careers have gone in and taken

since that moment and it had such different different trajectories to what is it for for

slam titles each um I can't wait for it she did good as Asaka hasn't she David yeah I was not

convinced you may remember a couple of months ago about Asaka's form coming into that Australian

open I I don't know there was something in her performances and even the way she was speaking

that she everything just felt a little bit off and I thought oh she doesn't seem like she's in the

good place she was heading into that US open last year that it feels different again this time

I watched this match against Camilla Asoria and yes she dropped the second set but I felt like

that was an aberration I felt like that was one dodgy game and then she didn't quite get back

on serve but the rest of it was honestly a demolition she was moving incredibly well she looked

in a great space sort of mentally out there just looked happier and excited to be out there and

and was hit in the ball a ton you know just crushing it now I do remember seeing the first round

that Radikanu played and thinking oh she's hitting the ball well and what you're facing can dictate

what you're able to do and and it's some over was just giving her a totally different ball to

Radikanu she couldn't handle it at all obviously Sabalinka's ball is going to be very different

different to Asoria so how Asaka adapts to that is going to be fascinating I still think that

to the the US Open match she played against in this time over where she looked even though she

almost won it she looked really shocked by how she wasn't really able to play it on her own racket

in the way she was used to because of the sheer weight of shock coming away so she's going to have

to be so light on her feet but actually think if she has a good day and can get into the match she

could win it you know I would I think you'd you'd make a Sabalinka the favourite if you'd got an

essence because of all the the last few years but this looked like Naomi Asaka to me

okay Jasmine Paulini has been winning tennis matches match which in 2026 is a headline because

she hasn't been I mean she's been doing it the hard way she's been

topping them out I think and it stays a pot of pover and I lit on the anavich two three set wins

and now she's got sensation Taliya Gibson who qualified and has beaten anli

Katerina Alexandra and Clara Towson it's been a tough old season for Jasmine Paulini

and she needed this big time yeah big time I mean she got few wins didn't she in in merida

but then but then was Paul against a bookshare wasn't she in that in that match and

here she's yeah I think I think I think you're right I think the nature of the wins has been

an important stuffing out some wins you know because she's probably still not at her best but

trying to just get over the line and build confidence that way I think I think has been helpful

and she is in the section of the draw that has opened up a bit with golf with golf going out

so there is an opportunity there for whoever I mean there's plenty of good players still

including Ayala herself who beat Paulini the other week and obviously you know it was

playing well against golf before golf retired so there's an opportunity I guess for Paulini but I

think everyone in that section will be thinking there's an opportunity as well but it is good to see

like I'm happier when Jasmine Paulini is winning tennis matches you just don't want the you don't

want to have cursed her with tennis podcast meet you don't want to be very important

very important that David didn't David didn't like cause the Jasmine Paulini like

surge by by the good draw thing and they don't need to end it by the tennis podcast meets curse

we can't have a sort of book ended tennis podcast Jasmine Paulini situation going on

David Elena Rebecca and I needed three sets against Hayley Baktice this is a really entertaining

match yeah three very different sets though you know it was never a question of them both playing

well at the same time I mean Rebecca had a really bad second set and lost it one side Italy but

Baktice is such a clever player she gets off balance a little more than I think a lot of players do

she was able to use the wind to her her benefit and I actually think Rebecca and I did well in

the end to come through this match but I don't quite know where she is form wise yet I don't know

how comfortable she is when it is windy you know she's I often think stick her stick

Rebecca and her indoors and how the heck do you beat her because these still conditions

enable her to just tee off and time the ball perfectly but that isn't the case in these conditions

you know Baktice feels like she's she's definitely still got more to to to come in a game I feel

like she'll have a higher ranking in the future than she has right now but you know in the end

you you saw why one of them is kind of a champion who's used to winning tight match she's I suppose

in the end yeah depending champion mirror and raver double bagled poor old salana seara

david antonia russet she knocked out jung chim when who's still very much on the the comeback trail

6 4 7 5 did you ever get a reply from goran about antonia russet I feel like we need to we need to

know some stuff about her she's she's popping up more and more yeah I don't I don't know whether

it's possible to sort of light up in a whatsapp message but I got the sense that goran was

lighting up talking about a fellon fallow creation doing doing good things on the tennis tour you

know and and he didn't seem particularly surprised he said she she's good but I think maybe I'm

surprised at the nature of some of the winds and and look that is a player coming coming back to

the sport who's probably not at the best of the moon but this isn't isolated isolated either

russet she's is just running into people that are top players who who've all got problems or she's

actually a better player than that and I think that's the truth I think she is a better player than

that good sort of solid based her game you know not my my wife's creation and she's her first

response when I tell her about a player like russet she's always she young you know she she

knew you know and and she kind of is new but she's not that young she's sort of she's not old but

she's sort of she's been around a little while and made her way through the through the rankings

and is is kind of certainly doing more than I think most people I I know thought she would have done

but sometimes people just get comfortable don't they at a level they get to they get into a

a draw like a debaure a doha and then get into an india wells and they realize oh my came isn't

is now out of out of its comfort zone here I can play

yeah want to watch for sure the WTA website says that russet was was a karate champion in Croatia

growing up she's quite fun yeah okay I haven't got anything else on that sort of thing

yeah but you're not thing to make up that wouldn't it yeah that would be absolutely wild

even for the WTA website Matt Eagish Viontech so bizarre match against Kayla Day six love

seven six what would we make of Eagish Viontech and and this match in general she got

me Maria Sakarenext as Shiontech probably on Tuesday nothing's today actually

honestly Shiontech is so fascinating to me right now and has been for a while to be honest

and it's second set I sort of really realized that it's second set to the Eagish Viontech

that are so compelling right now having a look at her record her two losses at the WTA finals

last year were both from a setup went wrong in the second set the United Cup if we remember

she had those horror second sets against Benchich which she lost six love and golf which she

could easily have lost six love before a little rally at the end in Australia she had that

strange second set against Cannon Skier and then she got blown out by Rebecca in the second set

and what makes it so interesting against Sakarene now is that it was against Sakarene in Doha

when she lost from a setup and that was the first time she lost at a 1000 event from a setup you

know that she is the great front runner of the WTA tour over the last few years Shiontech so it's

really odd to see things just going a bit wrong in the second set and I think part of it is

you know the way tennis matches work right like if you've lost the first set and suddenly you're

down in the score as an opponent I think opponents are freeing up a little bit maybe more in these

second sets and playing playing with fewer inhibitions and putting there for a bit more pressure

on Eagish Viontech that's certainly what happened here Kayla Day was just a totally different

player in that second set compared to the first one but then she found it difficult to actually

close it out and win it and Shiontech managed to rally from a real deficit in that second set

to still win in straight sets but something is something's different right because she used to

Shiontech just keep it up all the time and keep the foot on the gas and once she was ahead in a

match she was so hard to come back against these days could it be as we've talked about a lot you

know the serve being less reliable and leading to pressure that she's facing on serve and opponents

I think just I think the aura has been shipped away out a little bit as well and I think players

know now that there is an opportunity and they're not just beaten as soon as they start that second

set having lost the first so it's really interesting to follow and there's a lot of good tennis in

that match from Shiontech and she does like these conditions in Indian Wells and I would expect

her still to beat Zachary personally but yeah like there's a pattern developing I suppose is

what I'm saying and that's been interesting to observe and the thing for Zachary in this match

is suddenly there's a bit of expectation on her because she beat Shiontech last time around and

that really changes the the dynamic for her so I think I'd still back Shiontech but it's yes I

mean she's utterly compelling at the moment is eager Shiontech and there's a lot of fascinating

matches been set up on mostly Tuesday by the sounds of things but there must be some happening

today as well we've seen everybody play now at least once at this point with with a week to go

of Indian Wells who are you picking to win the titles well as yeah I mean algorithms

women's is hard women's is very hard but look let's grow it and just some over

there we go David that didn't buy you much time there to think did he oh this is it's going to

deliberate a bit longer it's difficult isn't it you're going outcries right yes I mean based on what

I've seen certainly sinner in our cries looks the best last in the draw also I have noticed the

forecast for the end of the tournament is very very hot like really hot you know put like over 90

Fahrenheit pushing a hundred and like you know if we if for example we were to get an

outcries sinner in those latter stages in those sorts of conditions you'd be sort of backing

outcries as well so that's that's a factor but obviously the main factor is just have good

outcries yeah yeah it's it's it's really difficult this um I I mean I think the sensible

thing to do is to go for Sabalanka but I'm actually I think I'm going to say I think it's going

to be the winner of Sabalanka in a saga because I think a saga could win you find a saga so hard

to resist I do I do I love that a big one is going to come her way at some point if she's

if she plays her best tennis and I felt she was getting towards it in September last year

I think she's getting towards it now it's the us open 2018 all over again the winner of a

saga sabalanka wins the title do you have a hunch Catherine well the last the last tennis I

watched was that and it's a mover performance and that looked I mean that looked absolutely

unplayable but also it looked like you know looked like sort of flow state you can't expect to

be turning up in a tennis court and playing like that you know that yeah and the match you play

once or twice a season isn't it but my god she looked good and that's interesting isn't it like

a saga sabalanka and this is over the players who talked about that all in that bit of the draw

together that I've talked about like I do think the other half seems a little bit more open like

you've got you've got Rebecca and then you've got she'll be on track yeah she should probably

be saying Rebecca and I shouldn't wait I mean it's she's all Pagula yeah although Pagula

makes your gender David well Pagula talks about not liking the Indian well's conditions yeah

I don't think it's so much but it wouldn't shock me if she managed to if she managed to

figure them out and win she beat Veckich didn't she in three sets having said that in the opening

set she was blinded by Veckich's diamonds good promo for the diamonds there for Veckich and

she take that what she's probably over the win yeah yeah I mean there's Andrava as well you know

defending champion she loves it there she like she's we know the tennis is good enough it's it's

all a kind of temperament question with with Andrava at the moment isn't it but

I should maybe I'll go for Anissa Mover just because recency bias the last two performances I watched

were Alcharez and Anissa Mover and I my thoughts streamed both of them where well no one can beat

this so let's go with that what can go wrong I can't believe it's taking me this long to mention

the Eisenhower Cup what is my apologies to the Eisenhower Cup it's the event that I imagine

it's probably a bit annoyed that it's been somewhat gizamped by us open mixed doubles because it used

to sort of one point slow yeah I guess so because it used to be you know the flag bearer for these

sort of novelty mixed pre event events and now it's just sort of a shit version of something that

happens as well but look it it is fun it is fun I'm being I'm being rude it is fun Taylor

Fritz friggin loves it the old couple vibes between him and Elaine are back and they were just

endlessly fascinating to me and they've they've defended their title and that's that's quite funny

yeah it is they beat Anissa Mover and TN oh I wasn't across this as you can tell

it was an Anissa Mover was supposed to play with rouble but he was detained in Dubai so she got

yeah potentially an upgrade and then the the interview at the end of the event it was Coco

doing the interview she she asked then a TN are you going to kind of partner with with Anissa Mover

again next year and he said I'm very proud of our efforts and then realized I think that that

sounded like a no and said now it's great to be partnered with with someone so good as an

Anissa Mover a champion like her she didn't have a bit of a disaster in that final Anissa Mover

it has to be said I did also like TN's ATP content video the other week when he was asked

for his his sort of watch what's your sort of dream in life you know he said not to have an

office job yes I saw that yeah tennis player in achieving that in being relatable

jocke initially they said what was your biggest fear was to have an office job

some people say in sharks but no that's like my my friend Manique in her GCSE French

oral her mind went a bit blank she she the role play she got was eating meals food food and drink

eating out and the first question was what food do you not like are there any foods you don't like

and her mind went blank and all she could remember was Vions which is meat so she said I don't

like meat and then she was asked what do you like to eat and obviously the only vocabulary at this

point she had been able to remember was was meat and she'd already ruled that out so she'd she'd

driven herself down a bit of a colder sack was that relevant who can say there was a

I didn't think there was going to be more to that story

was she ended up just saying Vions in answer to everything in answer to what she did like and

what she didn't like because it was the only vocabulary she could remember yeah she yeah she didn't

end up in a language's profession there was a there was that uncomfortable moment in the

trophy somewhere in the in the photo shoot bit after the trophy so many which has gone a bit viral

the couple of men involved with the tournament presenting Fritz and Rebecca with the trophy

and standing there to have photos taken and one of them has got his arm around Rebecca and her in a

I mean fairly innocuous way but but but you know just a bit too much and she eventually

removes it very very subtly from from her back and it's I mean it's the sort of thing that

women will watch and go oh yeah this this shit's happening all the time everywhere and good for her

for for doing something about it she she was asked about it by Charlie Echelcher in fact in

impress and she said not not a big deal nothing to see nothing to see here but um but we did see it

and there's bullshit so there we go happy International Women's Day to everybody

speaking of International Women's Day we recorded our latest edition of tennis relived on Friday

Matt would you like to tell the people give them a little tease or a little promo in ties in

ties everybody to listen to our Alice Marble relived episode yeah Alice Marble a fascinating

person so much mystery surrounding her life she's a sort of unreliable narrator of her own life

and there are there are a couple of extraordinary tales that she tells in her memoir that that we

got into with a wartime romance and a wartime spy saga and you know did those events happen

did they not happen what does it say about Alice Marble and the time that she felt like she needed

to say those events as though they as though they did happen we sort of got into all that as well

we talked about her career that saw her overcome about of real illness and then come back to the

sport and win major titles and be the dominant player before before the world the second world war

broke out and you know she wasn't sort of able to then go on winning winning the major titles because

because everything stopped just a kind of what could have been about her career as well

we talked about her important ally ship in the in the fight for social justice and breaking down

the color barrier in tennis she was a big supporter of Arthur Gibson and wrote a very powerful moving

letter which went a long way to helping Arthur Gibson be able to to play at the top of the sport

and we did all of that with Hannah Hannah Wilkes our our phenomenal writer and captain of the barge

and she she knows all about Alice Marble from having researched Eleanor Teach tenant who was

Alice Marble's coach and Hannah just brought a lot of incredible research and perspective on

that relationship and the boundaries that were crossed in it and the complicated sort of messy nature

of that sort of coaching relationship very relevant to a lot of what we talk about today in the

tennis world as well so so many different aspects of Alice Marble's story and it took us two hours

to talk about it all but yeah it's it's up now for friends and yeah it's a very very special show

it was a long program I apologise oh it's a long show so that's that's fitting

it's still shorter than our Andy Murray's near misses at the Australian Open show which

tells you something yeah that's the that's the depth and breadth of tennis relived 100 years apart

there we've got our two opening our two opening shows yeah I loved it and it is up now for friends

of the pod and if you'd like to become a friend of the pod get access to that and all of our bonus

content then the link of course is in our show notes folks I would like to introduce you to our

mascot for this episode it is Ludo Ludo is owned by Gail and this is what Gail tells us about

Ludo who is what a good boy Ludo is a seven-year-old black German shepherd living in Brooklyn

New York he loves long park walks hiking summers at the beach begging for cheese

and rearranging pillows to his liking that could be a description of me he adores tennis balls and

can even sniff them out he knows where the tennis courts are in our neighborhood and will inspect

the surrounding bushes until he finds a souvenir ball his favorite player is Yannick Sinner he has a

large toy carrot to show his support I think you'll find Gail that he ought to have a fox but he's

all right with carrots as David established at the French Open but he relates to Matteo Baratini

because of his devastating good looks barrel chest and tendency to carry an injury last summer

Ludo needed an emergency surgery and was in the hospital during the first few days of the US Open

I got the call that he was out of surgery and doing well while attending the mixed doubles to

distract myself I was quite literally sitting behind Shelton and Townsend while they were serving

so I will always associate the good vibes of the mixed doubles with Ludo's road to recovery

as well as the many many hours of Catherine David and Matte that have filled my ears on our walks

throughout the year that is a lovely description and tribute to a gorgeous dog what a good boy he is

very slobbery but we don't mind that hello and hello and thank you to Ludo and to Gail

hello to our mascots to Bodie we continue to ride that caboli wave Bodie to

Maisie and to Roger as well hello to our top folks and executive producers Greg, Chris and Jeff

and it's over to Matt for some shout outs and we start with Ian Farrand who is from Winchester

Hi Ian hello Ian Ian says I had a quick chat with Matt and Catherine when making my debut

spectating at Flushing Meadows last year and we shared some words about just how bad Madison

Keys had been yes that means she was bad yeah yeah I've forgotten that

Mr Zara Zua Ian says that got me halfway my podcast slam having previously spoken to you

on him and Hill a few years ago so he's trying to speak to us at all the slams which is and

Ian great idea all that okay that's new that's that's new terminology I love that a new concept

he says he couldn't find any of us in Paris two years ago so that's an excuse to return

good you don't need an excuse tennis Ian's

flanagan flanmania fantastic thank you Ian see you see you somewhere soon Paris or

Paris or Melbourne maybe we've also got Andrew who wants to also shout out his eight-year-old

uh Spoodle Cockapoo he's written Spoodle Slash Cockapoo who he calls Harry like Harry Hopperman he says

well I appreciate that effort a Spoodle Slash Cockapoo yes I'm a bit confused by the um

okay by that because a Spoodle there's a Spoodle which is a Springer and a Poodle

okay intriguing how many Spannules were involved in this creation and um Andrew says

Raffa and the Darl is our favorite player and we were lucky enough to grab last minute tickets to

the 2022 Australian open oh wow Andrew well I mean you've had the definitive Raffa and the Darl

experience I suppose they roll on Garros but I don't mean he gets better than the Miracle and Melbourne

Andrew Richardson incredible for former coach Emma Adikano too Emma Adikano

who knows wow very good David you on fire and finally we have Alison Heather who has got this

shout out for Philip Wong as a prize for winning their own 2025 tennis predictions competition

that's so cool they've been friends since journalism school 25 years ago they're from Toronto

Canada and Philip got Alison into tennis over six years ago and they talk incessantly about the

pod all the time Philip's hope is that Alison will join him doing the fan slam for years Alison's mum

Susan and Philip's sister Sandra would join them on a Google dot to predict the singles quarter

finals to winners of all the slams the thousands as well um sadly they lost Sandra in 2022 and Susan

in 2024 so this shout out also goes to them Sandra Wong and Susan Painter and Alison says now it's

the two of us left making predictions we miss them immensely but thank you to the tennis podcast

team for seeing us through these challenging times we gladly show you the real Toronto if you're

ever in town because the tournament venue up north is not a tall representative of what Toronto has

to offer so thank you for that Alison and Philip that's really really beautiful Alison like risk

and Philip like Colchriba very good yeah really lovely thank you Alison and Philip like Colchriba

folks we are part of the athletic podcast network it's a two podcast week because it's a combined

one thousand weeks so that means we'll be back on Thursday with our next show and then our

post in your well show will be live on YouTube on Monday at 8 p.m. UK time it'll also be

available to watch whenever you like after going up and be available to listen to a podcast as

normal but if you'd like to join us live on YouTube 8 p.m. UK time is when it'll be next Monday so

mark your card for that thank you for listening today and we'll speak to you again on Thursday

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