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Catherine, David and Matt catch up on the biggest talking points so far at Indian Wells.
Part one (00:00 - 12:00). We start by picking up where we left off last week with an update on how tennis players escaped the United Arab Emirates as the conflict in the Middle East escalated.
Part two (12:01 - 38:35). Men’s draw. Joao Fonseca is having a big week and now faces Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz remains the man to beat, Luciano Darderi accidentally called a hindrance on himself and lost the match, Arthur Fils and Jack Draper are continuing to impress on return, and what to make of Novak Djokovic?
Part three (38:36 - 1:16:53) Women’s draw. A rare injury scare for Coco Gauff, Amanda Anisimova’s demolition of Emma Raducanu, excitement ahead of Naomi Osaka and Aryna Sabalenka’s first meeting since 2018, and Iga Swiatek’s recurring second set drop off. There’s also chat about the Eisenhower Cup exhibition and some predictions for the rest of the tournament.
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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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