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for the ones who get it

1:00

done. Hi,

1:02

this is Billy Jane King. This

1:04

is Marian Bartori. This is Bianca

1:06

Andrescu. I'm Matt Villander. This is

1:09

Mary Carillo. This is Pam Shriver. This

1:11

is Janic Noah, and you're listening to

1:13

the tennis podcast. Well,

1:25

hello and welcome to the

1:27

tennis podcast on day 12

1:29

of the Australian Open where

1:32

you find us in interview

1:34

room 2, actually, a very

1:36

much quiet and abandoned interview

1:39

room 2. It is 2.17am

1:41

and we don't care for

1:43

once we don't care because

1:45

we have just watched or

1:48

finished watching a couple of

1:50

hours ago the match of

1:52

the tournament a two hour

1:55

36 minute deciding set high

1:57

break win for Madison Keys

1:59

saving match point along the

2:02

way to reach a second

2:04

Grand Slam final and her

2:06

first here in Australia, all

2:09

of it, just a few

2:11

weeks before her 30th birthday.

2:13

It was... A thriller, five,

2:16

seven, six, one, seven, six,

2:18

ten, eight in the deciding

2:20

set tie break. That tie

2:23

break beginning at three minutes

2:25

to midnight, moments after Aegis

2:27

Viontek failed to serve out

2:30

the match at six five.

2:32

Madison Keys choked and won

2:34

anyway, and Matt Roberts lost

2:37

his mind a little bit.

2:40

Yeah, it's going to be tough

2:43

to do this podcast because I've

2:45

actually been speechless for the past

2:47

couple of hours I think I

2:49

think Madison Keys actually said it

2:51

best when she just wrote oh

2:53

my god on the camera That's

2:56

that's kind of how I've been

2:58

feeling she talked about blacking out

3:00

during the match and I was

3:02

I was relating to that as

3:04

well. Oh it just had just

3:06

had everything didn't it? I mean

3:08

particularly the final set. You know,

3:11

stakes, drama, high quality, momentum swings,

3:13

not knowing who's going to win

3:15

it right until the final second.

3:17

I was just on the edge

3:19

of my seat. I was struggling

3:21

to breathe. It was just phenomenal.

3:23

I absolutely loved it. Women's semi-final

3:26

night at the Major's remains. the

3:28

best ticket in town like you

3:30

know the way you get two

3:32

high stakes back to back best

3:34

to three set matches after another

3:36

it's just phenomenal. There was a

3:38

moment in that deciding set tie

3:41

break where Matt let out a

3:43

noise the like of which has

3:45

never been heard in a press

3:47

box before you. And the exact

3:49

moment I'm not going to make

3:51

the noise because I can't but

3:54

I can tell you the moment

3:56

it was the Aegis Fiantec Voli

3:58

off huge forehand passing shop from

4:00

Madison Keys like just a reflex

4:02

volley to go up eight seven

4:04

and that moment enters in to

4:06

the tennis hall of fame of

4:09

a player winning an amazing point

4:11

and then not winning another point

4:13

in the match and actually losing

4:15

it. Like I couldn't believe how

4:17

well Madison Keys responded to that.

4:19

She hit two big serves after

4:21

that to go up match point

4:24

herself. It just felt like such

4:26

a moment, fiancé, hitting that volley.

4:28

She stole the point. It was

4:30

unbelievable. And yet Key's still composed

4:32

herself to win the match after.

4:34

Just, oh, I was so shook.

4:36

And David's just been glowing, buzzing.

4:39

Yeah, I have and I've gone

4:41

on a bit of a journey

4:43

because... I was buzzing after the

4:45

first semi-final because of the prospect

4:47

of Sabalenko Svientek. I've got to

4:49

be honest with you, I was

4:52

really relishing the idea that we're

4:54

going to get the two top-ranked

4:56

players in the world who've had

4:58

these incredible matches all year long

5:00

and finally they're going to meet

5:02

in a grand slam final. And

5:04

I think at that point if

5:07

you told me it's not going

5:09

to happen, I'd have thought that

5:11

was a bit of a bummer.

5:13

I'd have been a bit gutted

5:15

gutted and I couldn't feel more

5:17

differently. at the end of the

5:19

match to that. And that is

5:22

down to Madison Key's play. It's

5:24

down to her as a human

5:26

being. I feel like I've had

5:28

a number of occasions where I've

5:30

been in press conferences with her

5:32

over the last 18 months where

5:34

she's made me really feel things

5:37

and really feels sad for her

5:39

and melancholy about what's happened to

5:41

her over the last 10 years

5:43

as she's gone from sort of...

5:45

18 years of age with all

5:47

this potential and all these people

5:50

saying what she's going to become

5:52

and that clearly having affected her

5:54

as she's gone along and found

5:56

that it's not possible to do

5:58

all the things that everybody said.

6:00

she would go and do and

6:02

yet still try to build a

6:05

career anyway. And then we got

6:07

to today and she just did

6:09

everything that she's always wanted to

6:11

do on a tennis court. She

6:13

was the best version of herself.

6:15

When she hits the ball... I

6:18

have a visceral reaction. It makes

6:21

something shake in my bones, how

6:23

hard she hits the ball, the

6:25

sound it makes, the gasps from

6:27

people around you. I mean, Matt

6:29

was two seats along from me

6:31

in that deciding set. And I

6:33

could see you sort of jumping

6:36

out of your seat like backwards

6:38

when she would hit the ball.

6:40

You would sort of involuntarily just

6:42

jump like somebody just shocked you

6:44

all as if a mouse had

6:46

walked up. Yeah, you can sit

6:48

next to him next time. You

6:51

know, that's the thing. Some people's

6:53

power doesn't go with them as

6:55

the years progress and hers has.

6:57

Unfortunately, she's never had the control

6:59

to go with it. But, you

7:01

know, we'll talk about Sabalenka later,

7:03

but she's the one player that's

7:06

shaken Sabalenka to her shoes in

7:08

a tennis match. And today... everything

7:10

was coming out of the center

7:12

of that racket. She was playing

7:14

sort of eagleshvantec-like form that we've

7:16

seen all week long in terms

7:18

of cleanliness of the hitting, but

7:21

she's got that power that is

7:23

just otherworldly, but she married that

7:25

with such bravery and focus and

7:27

guts and mental strength, you know,

7:29

and she... bloody well-deserved that win

7:31

today. I felt really sorry for

7:33

Eegisfontec obviously after the match but

7:36

there was a moment when I

7:38

think I lent over to you

7:40

Catherine when I when I was

7:42

I knew Madison Keys was about

7:44

to lose because there were just

7:46

a couple of points going against

7:48

her and I just said I

7:51

think she went match point down

7:53

and I said I feel so

7:55

sorry. for Madison Keys because I'll

7:57

never forget the semi-final when she

7:59

should have beaten arena Sabalan, the

8:01

US Open and didn't, and how

8:03

sad she was. And I thought,

8:06

oh God, we're going to have

8:08

another one of those press conferences.

8:10

And she changed the story. I

8:12

love it. Which honestly, I didn't

8:14

think she had it in her

8:16

to do that because when you

8:18

leaned over to me and said,

8:20

I think she's gone. I think

8:23

in that moment she had gone.

8:25

You know, that actually... that wasn't

8:27

the game in the third set

8:29

when she got broken it was

8:31

she she'd had break points on

8:33

the she went on tech serve

8:35

at 3 4 she fails to

8:38

take those and then she goes

8:40

love 40 down on her own

8:42

serve at this point she had

8:44

hit six unforced errors in a

8:46

row like six bad ballooning unforced

8:48

areas in her own that's when

8:50

you said David I think she's

8:53

gone I'd written that down at

8:55

that exact point and and she

8:57

had you know this was this

8:59

was this was a victory for

9:01

the strength in vulnerability like she

9:03

is as vulnerable as it comes

9:05

as I said you know the

9:08

Mary Carillo line this was the

9:10

ultimate in choking and winning anyway

9:12

because she had choked in that

9:14

moment six unforced errors in a

9:16

row and she kept coming. She

9:18

actually held that game from Love

9:20

40 extraordinarily and then the next

9:23

service game she goes down to

9:25

Love 40 again, saves two of

9:27

them and then the dam eventually

9:29

bursts on the third and that's

9:31

when Shuntec finds herself serving for

9:33

the match at 6.5. She has

9:35

a match point, she double faults.

9:38

to go break point down it

9:40

sorry she double fault at break

9:42

point down to concede that game

9:44

and take it into a tie

9:46

break and then in that tie

9:48

break Madison Keys is is behind

9:50

the whole way she can't Matt

9:53

kept saying Shvantec can't take a

9:55

decisive lead she can't take a

9:57

three-point lead and Madison Keys can't

9:59

can't get level and it's As

10:01

soon as Keys did get level,

10:03

she took over in that tie

10:05

break. She won't take, didn't win

10:08

another point. But to do that

10:10

from that position of ultimate frailty,

10:12

from it from it being gone,

10:14

I find absolutely breathtaking. I've done

10:16

a one-point slam with Madison Keys

10:18

because I haven't I haven't always

10:20

just been into it. I've always

10:23

appreciated that she's an interesting and

10:25

really likable. person that's been on

10:27

a real journey with a game

10:29

and I've always felt for her

10:31

but I just haven't connected certainly

10:33

in the way that you have

10:35

David and I've felt guilty about

10:38

that but Because I know that

10:40

there's lots to lots to like,

10:42

but sometimes it's just chemistry, isn't

10:44

it, with what you like and

10:46

what you don't. But I went

10:48

full one-point slam with Madison Keys

10:50

tonight. And yeah, if you told

10:52

me at the start of the

10:55

night, Madison Keys is going to

10:57

ruin the Shiontec Sabelink, a final

10:59

party, and you're going to be

11:01

thrilled about it. Or anything other

11:03

than being bummed out about it.

11:05

I wouldn't have believed you, but

11:07

here I'm high on it all.

11:10

Me too. I feel very similarly

11:12

to that and I think this

11:14

will be a match that Kind

11:17

of profoundly changes the way I

11:19

think about Madison Keys. I like

11:21

I will always think of this

11:23

match now when thinking back on

11:25

Madison Keys's career Whereas I think

11:27

in the past I would have

11:30

thought first and foremost about the

11:32

near misses and look she might

11:34

not win the title here She

11:36

might not she's playing the best

11:38

hardcore player in the world one

11:40

of the best has been You

11:42

know in in the sports history

11:44

in terms of what San Balenca

11:46

is doing with reaching repetitive major

11:48

finals on a hardcore is extraordinary.

11:51

But she will always have this

11:53

match Madison Keys, you know, she

11:55

will always have this one where

11:57

she played the fearless tennis that

11:59

she wanted to play, where she...

12:01

was she was on the ropes

12:03

and there were times where she

12:05

could have gone away and she

12:07

kept coming back and she did

12:09

make some mistakes yes those those

12:12

unforced errors to go from break

12:14

point up to three break points

12:16

down and then there was also

12:18

the the ill-advised drop shot to

12:20

lose her serve at five all

12:22

you know I was just thinking

12:24

oh it's midnight in Melbourne it's

12:26

not time to be cute Madison

12:28

just hit the ball that's what's

12:30

got you there and yet She

12:32

did do that, she on text

12:35

told that point and then she

12:37

she steals herself and she breaks

12:39

again like she just kept passing

12:41

the test over and over again

12:43

and I found I found her

12:45

press conference absolutely extraordinary the way

12:47

she was I think the thing

12:49

that struck me the most was

12:51

what she was talking about how

12:53

she's become willing to change and

12:56

she said that for so long

12:58

She was just doing things in

13:00

a certain way and getting really

13:02

really close and things were good

13:04

enough that they were close but...

13:07

She said she became a little

13:09

too rigid and in the last

13:11

year she's she's sort of freed

13:13

up and opened her mind to

13:15

trying things a little bit differently

13:17

and We saw the fruits of

13:19

that today like with this new

13:21

racket that she's playing with with

13:23

this new mindset that she's got

13:25

on court like she was really

13:27

Interesting on playing one point at

13:29

a time like she forgot that

13:31

Aegis Fionte had had a match

13:33

point like I don't know whether

13:35

that's that she was so in

13:38

the moment or so out of

13:40

the moment. I'm not quite sure

13:42

where it is, but it was

13:44

the right mindset for her to

13:46

have, to not be thinking big

13:48

picture about the score, be thinking

13:50

about one point at a time

13:52

and keep playing her tennis. And

13:54

these were things that she just

13:56

didn't used to be able to

13:58

do, and she's brought it all

14:00

together against Ego Sfiontec, and she's

14:02

also held up physically. Like I

14:04

always worried about that with Madison

14:06

Keys as well, but... she's seven

14:08

of her last 11 matches have

14:11

been three setters and she's kept

14:13

bringing it she's playing with that

14:15

strapping on her leg but it

14:17

doesn't seem to be affecting her

14:19

she's she's had four top ten

14:21

wins I think this year already

14:23

like it is extraordinary what she's

14:25

doing and yeah I was absolutely

14:27

thrilled for Madison Keys I must

14:29

say yeah she's playing with a

14:31

new racket this season that's one

14:33

of the things that she she

14:35

wasn't too proud or setting her

14:37

ways to change in the off-season

14:39

and she did it not knowing

14:41

necessarily that it would yield results

14:44

but just kind of yeah from

14:46

a position of humbleness and throwing

14:48

everything up in the air and

14:50

feeling like let's give this a

14:52

go so me and Madison Keys

14:54

are both in our yonix eras

14:56

No need to know how mine

14:58

is going. Play tennis for the

15:00

first time this morning in three

15:02

years. But David had a glorious

15:04

lob on a match point which

15:06

is available on our Instagram. That's

15:08

all you need to know about

15:10

our tennis session today. I think

15:12

you could also add that I

15:14

brought in our opponents with a

15:17

lovely little slice dink and then

15:19

lobbed them and then did a

15:21

pretty iconic celebration. Yeah, there have

15:23

been two big wins today guys.

15:25

I did the finger to the

15:27

temple. Yeah, and I felt really

15:29

good about it. Truly iconic and

15:31

then David had his game described

15:33

a seeball, hitball. Yeah, by the

15:35

opponent, the vanquished opponents. Anyway, we

15:37

digress a new racket for Madison

15:39

Keys with Yonex and she talked

15:41

to you David in the in

15:43

the press conference. You worded this

15:45

question incredibly delicately because going in

15:47

with question one, after you know,

15:50

the best victory possibly of Madison

15:52

Keys' career when she's just described

15:54

herself as like so in the

15:56

moment of happiness like she's she's

15:58

floating on a clown. David goes

16:00

straight into the question about the

16:02

US. open semi-final loss and exactly

16:04

how heartbreaking that was but you

16:06

put it so perfectly that it

16:08

actually resulted in a

16:10

really lovely exchange between you two

16:13

and she talked about the

16:15

after effects of that and how

16:17

Devastating it obviously was emotionally.

16:20

She was in control of

16:22

that match against Marina Sabalenca

16:24

in New York. Ended up

16:26

losing in a deciding set

16:28

tie break that day. Obviously

16:30

emotionally... devastating and had

16:32

a lasting impact but she talked

16:35

about how it made her go

16:37

into her shell as a tennis

16:39

player and take a step back

16:41

in terms of risk-taking on the

16:43

biggest points and she said that

16:46

felt horrible because she felt like

16:48

she was leaving the court with

16:50

regrets and she described today's approach

16:52

to continuing to take risks even

16:54

when you've hit six unforced errors

16:57

in a row. Keep coming. She

16:59

described... that approach is freeing for

17:01

her and that's what it looked.

17:03

It looked like she was unshackled

17:05

out there David. Yeah and I

17:07

think that's why when we got

17:09

to eight all in the tie break

17:12

having thought all the way through that

17:14

Schvienteck would win and that includes at

17:16

the start of the tie break I

17:19

thought Schviente would win. And when we

17:21

got to eight all Charlie

17:23

Eccleshire of the athletic was sitting

17:25

next to me and he said

17:27

who's going to win. And

17:30

I just found myself saying,

17:32

keys. And the reason, the reason

17:34

is twofold. One, keys hadn't

17:36

gone away. She didn't collapse.

17:39

She kept striking that ball.

17:41

And it was really flying.

17:43

And the second reason was,

17:45

Fiontec had had enough chances

17:48

to win it. And she hadn't.

17:50

And I just sort of thought,

17:52

well, if she hasn't won it

17:54

by now, I'm not confident that

17:56

she's going to win it. And it's

17:59

just just just. hunch. I think it

18:01

could easily have gone the other

18:03

way. But I just think that's

18:05

it's the best win of Madison

18:07

Key's career to me. And I

18:09

think she's got a chance. Real

18:11

chance. I do too. And we'll...

18:13

We'll come on to that, we'll

18:15

talk about it a little bit

18:17

today, we'll save some preview in

18:19

the tank for tomorrow, the final

18:21

obviously be on Saturday, we've got

18:23

a whole arena, Sabalenca and Paolo

18:25

Bedossa match to talk about as

18:27

well. I feel like we should

18:29

we should touch a bit more

18:31

on egues fiance, who took her

18:33

time coming to press, was clearly

18:36

devastated by this defeat and I

18:38

very much understand that to lose

18:40

a match, I mean to lose

18:42

any match of this nature from

18:44

match point up. clearly devastating to

18:46

lose this match having been in

18:48

such supreme form must be really

18:50

tough to take you must just

18:52

think well what do I need

18:54

to do I'm never going to

18:56

be playing better than this like

18:58

it's hard to imagine better tennis

19:00

for me goshion tech than she's

19:02

played in the five matches leading

19:04

up to this and yet it

19:06

hasn't been enough even to get

19:08

her to the final that must

19:10

be a very very strange place

19:12

for her to be even though

19:14

she knows that that is basically

19:16

down to Madison Keys I asked

19:18

her whether she felt the match

19:20

was on her racket today and

19:22

she kind of said no. Matt?

19:24

She said 50-50 didn't she? Which

19:26

is no really because it's not

19:28

yes. Which were a match where

19:31

you've had match point and you've

19:33

served for it to come away

19:35

feeling like that wasn't on my

19:37

racket is interesting. Yeah and look

19:39

I think it was clear very

19:41

early in this match that Madison

19:43

Keys could cause her problems that

19:45

her other opponents couldn't, you know,

19:47

just with the level of power

19:49

that that keys possesses. She came

19:51

out, landed some big shots, broke

19:53

Ego Shveon Tech straight away, Shveon

19:55

Tech got it back. keys broke

19:57

straight away again. Like, you know,

19:59

Shveon Tech, who I'd been saying

20:01

on the, on the pod the

20:03

other night, hadn't had her serve

20:05

broken for four rounds, suddenly had

20:07

her serve broken in her first

20:09

two service games. Like, it was

20:11

just clear from the start that

20:13

this was a different match. And

20:15

I think it's hard for Ego

20:17

Shveon Tech to fully ever settle

20:19

in a match like that when

20:21

she knows that so much power

20:23

is down the other end of

20:26

the court. And I actually thought

20:28

Ege Shve Shion Tech played really

20:30

well today with the exception of

20:32

the second set. I think the

20:34

second set she went away. She

20:36

talked in her press conference about

20:38

how she stopped moving. It went

20:40

fast. It went so quickly that

20:42

second set and she just let

20:44

it get away from her and

20:46

you know keys played a great

20:48

set but there wasn't the resistance

20:50

from Shveon Tech and we found

20:52

ourselves at one set all and

20:54

Shveon Tech had had to serve

20:56

broken seven times in this match

20:58

and I think if there was

21:00

an area. It did strike me

21:02

that the second serve was extremely

21:04

vulnerable today. Keys was really attacking

21:06

it well and I think that's

21:08

a big area that Shfield Tech

21:10

does need to improve in these

21:12

sorts of match-ups because I actually

21:14

thought in a lot of the

21:16

rallies we saw quite a lot

21:19

of the improvement that Shfield Tech's

21:21

made in terms of playing big

21:23

hitters. She was defending for her

21:25

life. She was defending brilliantly brilliantly.

21:27

Yes, there were errors, but there

21:29

was also a lot of... great

21:31

tennis from Egoesfry on Tetdown, the

21:33

stretch there. And she came up

21:35

against an elite ball striker in

21:37

the form of her life, indoors,

21:39

let's not forget the majority of

21:41

this match was played indoors and

21:43

I think that was big. You

21:45

know, it started raining at 3-2

21:47

as it had done in the

21:49

first semi-final actually, there was a

21:51

sort of spooky symmetry to them.

21:53

And... They were definitely, definitely better

21:55

conditions for Madison Keys. And yet,

21:57

Egersfiontek still ended up with a

21:59

match point against an opponent playing

22:01

that. well. Like, I don't see

22:03

this as a huge, huge, like,

22:05

crisis for Aegis Fiontec. Like, I

22:07

think, I think there will be

22:09

moments that I'm sure she will,

22:11

think she could have done better,

22:14

but she was up against someone

22:16

playing the match of her life,

22:18

and she contributed, she made a

22:20

contribution to it being so good

22:22

because she played well too, and

22:24

I'm sure there'll be immense disappointment

22:26

for the reasons you've. you've stated

22:28

and we saw that you know

22:30

she clearly is very upset by

22:32

it but I don't know sometimes

22:34

tennis is is like that like

22:36

she stole one at Roland Garos

22:38

last year against against Naomi Osaka

22:40

I felt like the match was

22:42

following a very similar trajectory the

22:44

scores in the sets were very

22:46

very similar she stole that one

22:48

she goes on to win the

22:50

title she can't quite get this

22:52

one over the line and she

22:54

loses in the semis like tennis

22:56

is tennis is like that sometimes

22:58

we can read probably too much

23:00

into these into these matches like

23:02

it was it really was just

23:04

one or two points truly yeah

23:06

that that's that's great analysis and

23:09

you know I think the only

23:11

sort of specific thing that Sean

23:13

Tech could put her finger on

23:15

that she regretted about her own

23:17

performance tonight was this of wasn't

23:19

it I mean her numbers are

23:21

actually quite good on serve 70%

23:23

for serves but didn't get a

23:25

lot of free cheap cheap points

23:27

on it. Madison Keys, it felt

23:29

like Keys had a handle on

23:31

that serve. No aces tonight and

23:33

you know a couple of really

23:35

ill-timed double faults, you know, most

23:37

notably to lose serve at 6.5

23:39

and take it into a deciding

23:41

set tie break. I want to

23:43

I want to relive it. I

23:45

want to do Keys von tech

23:47

relived straight away. I have to

23:49

say I'd like to watch it

23:51

back. The press comments I attended

23:53

with arena Sabala. was right in

23:55

the middle of this match. And

23:57

so I missed the end part

23:59

of the first set and I

24:02

missed it. And then I came

24:04

out and it's full of love.

24:06

And I came down to you

24:08

both and I said, what has

24:10

happened there? And you just said,

24:12

Keys is just in the zone.

24:14

And she's just hitting the living

24:16

daylights out of the ball. And

24:18

I want to know what that

24:20

felt like. I want to see

24:22

what that looked like. The way

24:24

Shrantek has played this tournament, I

24:26

mean I've seen that before, I

24:28

always think of the Ostapenko match

24:30

at the US Open and I

24:32

kind of thought these are the

24:34

tactics that I think Keys should

24:36

employ, but to actually string it

24:38

together with her type of game,

24:40

with the lack of margin really

24:42

within it, you know, there's not

24:44

the natural spin that some of

24:46

the other players have. I just

24:48

want to experience that just because

24:50

that's the Madison Keys I always

24:52

thought we were going to get.

24:54

10-11 years ago as a sort

24:57

of multiple ground-sum champion. It's just

24:59

not something she's been able to

25:01

put together, but blummin' heck, it's

25:03

fun when it happens. I mean,

25:05

not if you're an eagles fan,

25:07

and I know there are a

25:09

lot of you listening and it'll

25:11

be devastated that she's lost and,

25:13

you know, credits her for coming

25:15

in at 2am and talking to

25:17

us in the media, you know,

25:19

she handled that incredibly well and

25:21

she'll come again, you know, she

25:23

didn't do it. She didn't do

25:25

it. she didn't let herself down

25:27

today it was a it was

25:29

on the knife edge. Eegis Shonto

25:31

fans are doing okay. She's having

25:33

a pretty good career. It's like

25:35

our our friend who shall remain

25:37

nameless the Man United fan who

25:39

got the violins out and said

25:41

it's just it's just really hard

25:43

for me because we want everything

25:45

when I was growing up. The

25:47

last the last few years have

25:50

been really hard. It was a

25:52

tough crowd for that wasn't it

25:54

a full and fan in a

25:56

Reading fan? Anyway, we have other

25:58

matches to talk about. I just

26:00

want to talk about that all

26:02

evening. Do you have any... more

26:04

takes can we spin this out

26:06

any longer? No. Matt remains speechless.

26:08

Just give us 24 hours maybe

26:10

we'll have some more. Honestly Matt

26:12

for the sort of 15 minute

26:14

after Martha of that match was

26:16

it was pretty extraordinary wasn't it

26:18

you were in a sort of...

26:21

I was profoundly impacted by it.

26:23

He was profoundly impacted. We got

26:25

stopped by some podcast fans and

26:27

Matt just sort of smiled at

26:30

them and was unable to talk.

26:32

Usually really good with the fans.

26:34

I think they got the Matt

26:37

Roberts experience despite lack of conversation.

26:39

Right, that's it for part one.

26:41

We'll be back in part two

26:43

to talk about the other of

26:46

the night's semi-finals. Come

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now, just relax. back to

28:31

part two of the tennis podcast,

28:34

where in just a moment we'll

28:36

talk about how Arena Sabalenca

28:38

made her way through to

28:41

a third consecutive Australian open

28:43

final work. First, a word

28:46

from our sponsors who are

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29:21

We've loved our time here

29:23

in Melbourne particularly tonight. But

29:25

there is a part of

29:27

us that's already thinking about

29:29

the next Grand Slam in

29:31

Paris. David is dreaming of

29:33

watching French players on court

29:35

Suzanne Longlin. That's bracing

29:38

himself for cues in the

29:40

media restaurant. Do you know, I

29:42

think about the French open pretty

29:44

much every week of my life now

29:46

that I've been. It's always in the back

29:48

of my mind, but I get to

29:50

go back there again. And it's just,

29:52

I just love it. I think about

29:54

it too, but mostly I'm wondering if

29:56

the lift will be working in our

29:59

apartment this year. that is occupying a

30:01

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head to tours, four tennis.com, four

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out. Don't worry David, he doesn't

30:40

listen to this podcast. I'm not

30:42

sure he knows what a podcast

30:44

is. Anyway, he asked us all

30:47

if we were players when we

30:49

were checking in last year. He's

30:51

not listening to the television. Not

30:53

my first time being asked if

30:55

I'm a tennis player. I don't

30:57

know if you're seeing me today.

31:00

Right. Sorry, speaking of promoting an

31:02

event, there was an absolutely hilarious

31:04

moment earlier, where Hannah had just

31:06

written in the chat that the

31:08

tennis podcast is where the glass

31:10

half empty and the glass half

31:13

full people meet. And then we

31:15

met someone who said that... David

31:17

had inspired them to go to

31:19

Ronald Garos and Catherine had made

31:21

them not want to go to

31:23

the US Open. I just thought

31:26

it was so perfect. She said

31:28

I'd made too much of the

31:30

humidity. But the facts are the

31:32

facts it's really humid. It's still

31:34

a wonderful event to go to

31:36

and I would highly recommend it

31:39

to anybody but just don't expect

31:41

to have many good hair days.

31:43

And last year it wasn't humid

31:45

at all. No, as I told

31:47

her. Yeah. Thanks for that Matt.

31:50

I just so enjoyed that. And

31:52

we didn't have a chance to

31:54

discuss it in the moment, so

31:56

I thought I'd bring it up

31:58

now. Because you were mute at

32:00

the time. Yes, probably. Yeah, right.

32:03

Arena Sabalenca beat Powell Obidosa 6462.

32:05

It feels like a long time

32:07

ago now. The first few games

32:09

of this match were excellent. And

32:11

honestly, Palabidosa played a good match

32:13

here throughout, but Arena Sabalenca hit.

32:16

32 winners in 18 games. That

32:18

is only four fewer than Madison

32:20

Keys, who played lights out tennis

32:22

for most of three sets. 32

32:24

winners in 18 games. It was

32:26

breathtaking from Sabalenca. Yeah, it was.

32:29

I was commentating this match, which

32:31

means I'm court level right at

32:33

the back of the court, behind

32:35

a pane of glass, looking at

32:37

the players about, I don't know,

32:39

10 meters away from me. to

32:42

get an idea of what Sabalan

32:44

career is capable of, that is

32:46

the vantage point where I've learned

32:48

the most this week. I've watched

32:50

a lot of her, but I

32:53

don't think I've done that many

32:55

matches where I've seen her from

32:57

that vantage point. I mean, look,

32:59

she started really raggedly. She, even

33:01

in the warm-up, I know we

33:03

try not to read too much

33:06

into these things, but... They weren't

33:08

even looking at each other, they

33:10

were hitting winners and volleys away,

33:12

they weren't trying to warm each

33:14

other up, and she hadn't really

33:16

got any timing at all. And

33:19

she finds herself too love, 40

33:21

love down on Bouda's servant, but

33:23

usa has come out well. She's

33:25

doing everything that I think she

33:27

hoped to come out and do,

33:29

she's middle in the ball, she's

33:32

hurting Sabalanca, she's retaliating against Sabalanga,

33:34

and Sabalanka is missing. big time.

33:36

She's put in balls halfway up

33:38

the net. She's put in balls

33:40

wide of the tram lines. It's

33:43

a it's a mess of a

33:45

virtually three games. And two Love

33:47

Forty Love, but Oster has a

33:49

forehand which she goes cross-caught with

33:51

and I'm watching it go from

33:53

my vantage point from behind her.

33:56

and it's lupy, she's got all

33:58

of her top spin on it

34:00

and it misses that sideline by

34:02

an inch and she loses that

34:04

game and Sabalanka sort of scraps

34:06

it out and gets it to

34:09

2-1. and then just takes over.

34:11

And it's not like, what really

34:13

interests me is it's not like

34:15

the Madison Keys power. It's not

34:17

the sort of blistering through the

34:19

court all the time, take your

34:22

breath away power. She takes your

34:24

breath away in a different way.

34:26

She comes up with angles that

34:28

you're thinking, how can you throw

34:30

your whole body into a ball

34:32

and hit it that hard and

34:35

get that sort of angle? And

34:37

it's because of the control she's

34:39

putting on it back on, you

34:41

know, this isn't even risky... with

34:43

a forehand. And then she's hitting

34:46

slice back hands, throwing them in,

34:48

tactically. She's got guile, she's got

34:50

touch. This woman is such a

34:52

great tennis player. It's not just,

34:54

people reduce Arena Sabalan could of

34:56

power. And I'm sure I've done

34:59

it over the years. She's so

35:01

much more than that. And she

35:03

just, she left... Palabodos is speechless

35:05

really I spoke to her I

35:07

went to her press comments and

35:09

I said to her you know

35:12

when you came out and you

35:14

I'm trying to get a sense

35:16

of what it's like to face

35:18

this woman and and have to

35:20

face this sort of tennis how

35:22

well did you think you played

35:25

and she said I honestly I

35:27

couldn't do anything I mean I

35:29

played okay I played fine but

35:31

then after the first handful of

35:33

games you know forget about it

35:35

And she said, if she plays

35:38

like that, she lifts the trophy.

35:40

Simple, us. And what gets me

35:42

is, Arena Savalinka has not always

35:44

been this tennis player. You know,

35:46

she used to be someone who

35:49

really struggled at Slams. You know,

35:51

go back four or five years

35:53

and her slam record was not

35:55

marrying up with her tour record.

35:57

She used to not get into...

35:59

into the latter stages of Slams

36:02

and now she's so consistent. She

36:04

used to have huge problems with

36:06

her serve. You know, a few

36:08

years ago here she was hitting

36:10

double figures of double faults every

36:12

match and she's worked with the

36:15

biomechanist to sort that serve out

36:17

and that's an absolute weapon that

36:19

serve. You know, once the roof

36:21

went on today in this match,

36:23

Parabelsa did not touch the arena

36:25

sampling because she was just... impenetrable

36:28

behind it. She didn't used to

36:30

have sly shots. She's incorporated them

36:32

into her game. She didn't used

36:34

to create these angles on the

36:36

court. That's become such a weapon

36:39

for her. She can do it

36:41

off the forehand and off the

36:43

backhand, the short. the short angles

36:45

with top spin and power. It's

36:47

a shot that I don't think

36:49

anyone else in the game really

36:52

hit, certainly not as well as

36:54

Arena Sabalanca and it is a

36:56

big difference maker for her against

36:58

other players with power that she's

37:00

also got the safety built in

37:02

with the spin and the angles

37:05

that she can generate. And yeah,

37:07

like to go from such a

37:09

messy first couple of games, as

37:11

you said, to the performance she

37:13

ended up. producing was absolutely awesome.

37:15

Like, honestly, I did say to

37:18

Catherine, like, the writing felt like

37:20

it was on the wall for

37:22

Badossa when this was too old,

37:24

and Sabalenka had been playing pretty

37:26

horribly. Like, I just thought, Sabalenka's

37:28

starting to get it together now,

37:31

and I'm not sure how Badossa

37:33

lives with this. Like, she needed

37:35

to be further ahead after that

37:37

bad start from, from Sabalenka, and

37:39

as soon as Sabalenka got into

37:42

her own... there was no stopping

37:44

her, she was absolutely awesome. And

37:46

I think David, the point you

37:48

made there about it being sort

37:50

of so easy for us all

37:52

to reduce Arina Sabalinka to just

37:55

her power and the fact that

37:57

she's so much... more than that

37:59

is evidenced by the answers she

38:01

gave you in the press conference

38:03

because you were in Sabalenca's press

38:05

conference and I think realized at

38:08

the end of it that everyone

38:10

had done that press conference and

38:12

asked their questions assuming that the

38:14

final was going to be against

38:17

Ege Shiontec, which is, look, which

38:19

is something that happens all the

38:21

time and journalistically, you know, if you

38:23

ask one of those two-way questions and

38:25

give me a line on either or

38:28

opponent, you end up getting just a

38:30

really bland quote about how they're both

38:32

great players. So I really do get

38:34

why that would have been the case,

38:36

but David Law comes in and thinks

38:39

no one's asked her about Madison Keys

38:41

here. And you asked her about that

38:43

US Open. semi-final and tell us

38:45

what she said. Well I asked her about

38:47

that because, partly because as you say,

38:49

I mean I was as guilty as

38:51

anybody, the first thing I did, I

38:53

asked the first question of the press

38:56

conference as well, which was I know

38:58

they're playing each other now, but if

39:00

you had the choice, would you like

39:02

to play Igishvian Tech for the sake

39:04

of this rivalry? And she sort of

39:06

said yeah, why not? And she kind

39:08

of, and then she went into saying,

39:10

an answer about both plays. So it didn't

39:12

really embrace that, but it was followed up

39:15

by a lot of people with different angles

39:17

on the rivalry, which I completely understand. That

39:19

was the narrative of that point, at that

39:21

point. We didn't know what Madison Keys would

39:23

go on to do and how she would

39:26

go on to make us feel. But when

39:28

we got towards the end of it, that's

39:30

when she won the first set seven five,

39:32

and I suddenly thought, okay, well she hasn't

39:34

actually won this match, what if, what if

39:36

we end up we end up with a... with

39:38

her in the final and we haven't

39:41

asked anything. So, and that match

39:43

has stayed with me, as you can

39:45

probably tell from how I put it

39:47

to Madison Keys. I think about it

39:49

quite a bit whenever I see Keys

39:52

now. And what I remember from it

39:54

was not only how upset Keys was

39:56

at the end of it, and in

39:58

the aftermath, it was... sitting in the

40:01

seats there, we were watching inside

40:03

the stadium for that match. And

40:05

I just remember looking at Sabalenka

40:07

unable to impose herself on Madison

40:09

Keys. Keys was getting the better

40:11

of it. She was the more

40:13

powerful woman. She was the one

40:16

hitting the searing drives that weren't

40:18

coming back. And so I just

40:20

asked Sabalenka, what do you remember

40:22

about that day? And she said,

40:24

I remember kind of not being

40:26

in control. and I just reached

40:28

a point where the only thing

40:30

I could do was make as

40:32

many balls as possible. That's what

40:35

I tried to achieve, is to

40:37

get as many balls in play,

40:39

because I couldn't do anything else.

40:41

I think she didn't feel like

40:43

she was playing very well, and

40:45

obviously Keyes was playing exceptionally well.

40:47

And she turned it around, you

40:49

know, and she showed another side

40:51

to herself. She showed the fight,

40:53

the competitor in her. and her

40:56

ability to innovate and improvise and

40:58

react. And so, yeah, I think

41:00

Keys is probably, because I said,

41:02

have you ever felt like that

41:04

against anybody else? I followed up

41:06

with that and, you know, where

41:08

it's taken away from you and

41:10

she said, well, no. She says,

41:12

I don't really have anything else

41:15

to add, you've kind of summed

41:17

it up, that it was the

41:19

one match where I felt it

41:21

was out of my hands. It'll

41:24

be a sixth meeting between Sabalenca

41:26

and Keys on Saturday in the

41:29

final. Sabalenca leads the head-to-head four

41:31

and one. Keys' one victory came

41:33

on grass in Berlin in 2021,

41:35

but obviously it was incredibly close

41:38

in that US open match in

41:40

2023. The final will feature the

41:42

champions of... the two biggest lead

41:44

in events, Brisbane and Adelaide, which

41:46

is interesting, and also interesting the

41:49

answer that Madison Keys gave to

41:51

Charlie Eccleshire asking her about Sabalenca's

41:53

game, she said she's been trying

41:55

to emulate Sabalenca in terms of

41:58

the way she keeps going for

42:00

it on big points and never

42:02

backs down. It was interesting that,

42:04

wasn't it? Because she could have

42:07

been describing herself tonight. You know,

42:09

when she said, what I admire

42:11

about Sabalenca is her fearlessness and

42:13

how she always goes for it

42:16

no matter the score. I just

42:18

thought, well, that's just what you've

42:20

just done. Like, it was to

42:22

a T, a description of what

42:24

Madison Keys produced tonight. And look,

42:27

Keys has got this big gap

42:29

between first grandstand final and second

42:31

grandstand final. I think she's actually

42:33

now got the biggest gap in

42:36

the open era for women. I

42:38

think Emily Moresmo had it before

42:40

and now Madison Keys has got

42:42

it. And she's just a totally

42:45

different person now. And I thought

42:47

it was interesting the answer she

42:49

gave right at the end to

42:51

Howard Fenrich of... saying how she

42:54

was so consumed with nerves in

42:56

that US Open final against Sloan

42:58

Stevens in 2017, they said she

43:00

was so consumed she couldn't even

43:02

play. But she's learned not to

43:05

not to try and not be

43:07

nervous, but try and accept the

43:09

nerves and play with them. Like

43:11

know that it's going to be

43:14

uncomfortable at times on Saturday against

43:16

Sabalenca. She's going to be in

43:18

stressful situations. being able to accept

43:20

them and and and play play

43:23

through them is is what she

43:25

thinks will try and make the

43:27

difference to her performance in 2017

43:29

like that's that's an absolutely fascinating

43:32

element and she's got a she's

43:34

got a big experience gap there

43:36

because Sama Lanka has has shown

43:38

up now repeatedly in in big

43:40

big grandson finals so keys is

43:43

you know she is going to

43:45

have to settle quickly I think

43:47

because Sabalanka you expect will. All

43:49

of the data suggests... Sabalenca, of

43:52

course, Sabalenca, but there's a bit

43:54

in my head saying, Keys has

43:56

got a chance here. I just

43:58

feel like Keys has got a

44:01

chance. And, you know, we'll do

44:03

more preview on this tomorrow and

44:05

I'll try to find some sort

44:07

of empirical evidence to back up

44:10

my feeling that she just has

44:12

a chance. Well, I think that

44:14

US Open's semi-final is your evidence.

44:16

She hurt her that day. And

44:18

if she plays like she did

44:21

tonight, like she did tonight, she

44:23

did tonight. Absolutely, she's got a

44:25

chance. I still make Sabalanka the

44:27

favourite, but Sabalanka hasn't always been

44:30

convincing this tournament. This has not

44:32

been the same player who won

44:34

the tournament last year. She was

44:36

that player from about three games

44:39

in tonight. She was very, very

44:41

similar to the 2024 Australian Open

44:43

Sabalanka. But there's no guarantee, is

44:45

there, that somebody comes out the

44:48

next day like that? No. I

44:50

mean... I think overall Sabalenka is

44:52

a better player now than when

44:54

she won the tournament last year

44:56

for some of those elements. We

44:59

just talked about how much more

45:01

well-rounded and complete she is, but

45:03

she just hasn't been in the

45:05

red-hot form for the entire tournament

45:08

in the way that she was

45:10

last year, but she was tonight.

45:12

But I absolutely think Kease has

45:14

got a chance. I do. You

45:17

don't produce that performance and then...

45:19

say, oh, well, that player's got

45:21

no chance in the final. That

45:23

level was... It feels different... It

45:26

feels different to last year, doesn't

45:28

it? Where I think in my

45:30

heart of hearts, didn't really believe

45:32

Jung-Chimwin had a chance in that

45:34

final. Absolutely. And I know that

45:37

was Jung-Chimwin's first final in it,

45:39

and it came somewhat out of

45:41

the blue. you know, not that

45:43

she wasn't predicted to reach Grandson

45:46

finals in her career, but the

45:48

timing of it was very out

45:50

of the blue. I know that's

45:52

not necessarily an equivalence, but it

45:55

was a heavy favorite against on

45:57

paper a heavy underdog. Yeah. And

45:59

look at the time, Jungshim, when

46:01

the highest ranked player she beat

46:04

to get to the final was

46:06

Katie Bolter. And Madison Keyes has

46:08

just beat the Negroes Fiontec and

46:10

she's beaten Elena Rebecca know in

46:12

this tournament. Like, it's different, I

46:15

think, I agree. Okay, well we'll

46:17

chat about it a bit more

46:19

tomorrow. We have men semi-finals to

46:21

look ahead to. We'll do that

46:24

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for the ones who get it

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done. Welcome

48:03

back to part three of

48:05

the tennis podcast where we'll

48:07

have a look at tomorrow's

48:09

order of play in just

48:11

a moment, but first a

48:13

bit of news that landed

48:15

during the final set of

48:17

the keys Schiontec match unbelievably

48:19

and and due to the

48:21

timing of the the press

48:24

release landing you know we

48:26

don't really have the opportunity

48:28

to do a deep dive

48:30

on this but we will

48:32

in due course and and

48:34

look the headline news is

48:36

that the Billy Gene King

48:38

Cup is to be held

48:40

in Shenzhen China for the

48:42

next three years now you

48:44

might remember that Shenzhen did

48:46

have a contract to host

48:49

the WTA finals for 10

48:51

years but that effectively ended

48:53

when Steve Simon, the CEO

48:55

of the WTA, announced that

48:57

the WTA would be suspending

48:59

activity in China at the

49:01

end of 2021. It was

49:03

the organization was taking a

49:05

stand in response to the

49:07

disappearance and subsequent silencing of

49:09

Pung Shui, Doha player after

49:12

she made allegations of sexual

49:14

assault against the Chinese government

49:16

official now. The athletic today

49:18

reported on this news and

49:20

said that David Hagerty, president

49:22

of the ITF, has apparently

49:24

spoken to Punjab a couple

49:26

of times and he is

49:28

sufficiently assured of her safety

49:30

for those conversations, but no

49:32

specific evidence of that has

49:34

been provided. And Pung has

49:37

still not been seen or

49:39

heard from outside of... controlled

49:41

conditions since all of this

49:43

happened. So that is the

49:45

situation. It's not a tremendous

49:47

surprise, I don't think. It

49:49

has been kind of rumoured

49:51

for a while and we

49:53

know financially the Billy Jean

49:55

King Cup is in a

49:57

tough spot and we know

50:00

that money... yeah we know

50:02

money doesn't always come from

50:04

uncomplicated places so give us

50:06

a bit of time to

50:08

kind of get our heads

50:10

together and we'll we'll cover

50:12

that in more detail in

50:14

in due course but that

50:16

is the news that has

50:18

landed today in terms of

50:20

tomorrow or should I say

50:23

later on this morning because

50:25

it is three minutes past

50:27

three in the morning folks

50:29

and play gets underway on

50:31

the Rod Leyva arena tomorrow

50:33

at midday with the mixed

50:35

doubles final. And folks, potentially

50:37

for one day only, tomorrow

50:39

we will have the return

50:41

of sensation of the day

50:43

because it's an all-Australian mixed

50:45

doubles final. And it's a

50:48

first all-Australian mixed doubles final

50:50

since 1967. The last Australian

50:52

champions were in 2013, that

50:54

was Matt Ebden and Jamilla

50:56

Guy De Sover. And it's

50:58

the second appearance in the

51:00

mixed doubles final for... John

51:02

Patrick Smith, now 35 years

51:04

old, six years after his

51:06

appearance with Astra Sharma. So

51:08

there you go. Sensation of

51:11

the Day is on the

51:13

line tomorrow, first up on

51:15

the Rodlaver Arena. Kimbural, it

51:17

is John Pat, as he

51:19

rebranded as J Smith, because

51:21

he was J.P. Smith, but

51:23

he's now coming up with

51:25

J. Anyway, there you go.

51:27

Kimbural. Jay Smith, Olivia Gideki

51:29

and John Peers in that

51:31

final. And then it is

51:34

the men's singles semi-final, up

51:36

for 2.30, is Novakjokovich against

51:38

Alexander Zverov. And then the

51:40

night session from 7.30, Janic

51:42

Sinner against Ben Shelton. We

51:44

will talk about those in

51:46

just a moment's time, but

51:48

just want to whizzy through

51:50

other matches tomorrow. The women's

51:52

doubles semi-finals semi-finals semi-finals are

51:54

on the second court tomorrow

51:56

from midday. Tomorrow from midday.

51:59

Unicineacovett and Taylor Townsend, take

52:01

on Mira Andreva. and Dana

52:03

Schneider, first up, that sounds

52:05

super fun to me. And

52:07

the second semi-final is Shea

52:09

Suway and Yelena Ostapenco taking

52:11

on Gabby Dobrowski, whose story

52:13

we will cover and it has,

52:16

you know, kind of been

52:18

on our longer range agenda

52:20

to cover for a while.

52:22

She and her partner Erin

52:24

Routliff taking on Shea and

52:27

Ostapenco tomorrow. Elsewhere. There are

52:29

legends matches the legends cup

52:31

continues not sure what stage

52:33

they're at but you know

52:35

might have some some aging

52:37

contenders for Sensation of the

52:40

Day over the weekend. But

52:42

we do have the wheelchair,

52:44

the various wheelchair doubles finals

52:46

tomorrow. We have the quad

52:48

wheelchair doubles final which features

52:51

Guy Sasson and Neil's Vink

52:53

taking on Andy Lapthorn and

52:55

Sam Schroeder in the men's

52:57

wheelchair doubles final. You have

52:59

the top seeds, Alfie Hewitt

53:01

and Gordon Reed taking on

53:04

the Spaniard Daniel Kavashi. He's

53:06

a new name to me and

53:08

I hope I'm pronouncing it right,

53:10

Kava Zashi. He is Spanish and

53:13

his partner is 54 year old

53:15

Frenchman Stefan Uday. Wow. 54. And then

53:17

you have the Women's Wheelchair doubles

53:20

final which features three Chinese players

53:22

and a Japanese play. You have

53:24

the Chinese-Japanese team, Jiu and Tanaka

53:27

taking on Li and Wang, the

53:29

all-Chinese pairing in that final. So

53:31

we'll bring you those results tomorrow.

53:34

There's also juniors happening and various

53:36

other bits and bobs, all of

53:38

which we will cover over the

53:41

weekend. a word on the two

53:43

men's singles semi-finals. Let's talk about

53:46

Sinner Shelton quickly first because it

53:48

feels like the one where we're

53:50

least expecting a surprise. Head

53:52

to head here is four and one

53:54

in Yannick Sinner's favour. He's won the

53:57

last four as his sinner. Three of

53:59

those... were in 2024, Shelton's one

54:01

victory was in Shanghai in 2023,

54:03

76 in the third, so crucially

54:06

David he has beaten post-Puke Sinner.

54:08

Big. Hmm. Is he going to

54:10

tomorrow? I would be surprised. I

54:12

do think he can hurt Sinner,

54:14

I do think he can sort

54:16

of hang with Sinner and if

54:19

he could get tie breaks I

54:21

think we're in for an interesting

54:23

evening. I've loved what we've seen

54:25

from Shelton over the course of

54:27

this tournament. Right from the first

54:30

round when he beat Brandon Nakashima

54:32

which was not an easy draw

54:34

and I remember him saying in

54:36

our... loitering with law at the

54:38

start of the tournament when he

54:40

was talking about how he likes

54:43

a tough match up first up,

54:45

gets his eye in sort of

54:47

thing. And he's had quite a

54:49

difficult route through. He's had proper

54:51

matches all the way through, I

54:54

think. And I know he's not

54:56

faced anybody like this. This is

54:58

another level entirely. But there's an

55:00

understanding of his game. now that

55:02

there wasn't a year ago I

55:04

don't think I think it's been

55:07

gradually building he's he's realized he

55:09

can't be throwing in 144 mile

55:11

an hour serves every time he's

55:13

gonna blow his shoulder out and

55:15

people are gonna get used to

55:18

it all these sort of things

55:20

you just can't keep that up

55:22

for the five sets but imagine

55:24

knowing that that's in there I

55:26

think that's really big and he

55:28

can use his basic serve that

55:31

he swings about to try to

55:33

hold some hold enough service games

55:35

and and keep it close and

55:37

just his attitude he won't come

55:39

onto this court defeated I'm not

55:42

saying Alex Diminor did I don't

55:44

think he did I think he

55:46

came out really with ambition and

55:48

hoped for the best and wanted

55:50

to show what he got but

55:52

he just doesn't have anything to

55:55

hurt Sinner with if Sinner is

55:57

playing the way he normally does

55:59

I think Shelton does but I

56:01

still can't see him winning it

56:03

in the end. He's played big

56:05

moments very well, this tournament, Shelton,

56:08

but part of the problem is

56:10

Sinner plays big moments even better.

56:12

You know, so like, even if

56:14

he gets it to tie breaks,

56:16

I agree, like, you know, we'd

56:19

have a real match on our

56:21

hands, but, you know, Sinner's got

56:23

an incredible tie-break record recently. And

56:25

I think for Shelton was really

56:27

interesting hearing hearing him, you know

56:29

how one of the big developments

56:32

in his game is realizing that

56:34

you've got to be able to

56:36

get somewhere with your 70% level

56:38

you know but I think actually

56:40

a match like this is one

56:43

where he needs to be bringing

56:45

it doesn't he like he needs

56:47

to be firing on all cylinders

56:49

and making big plays on him

56:51

big points and just trying to

56:53

take charge but it feels like

56:56

a step too far. to me

56:58

for Shelton because Sin is just

57:00

so so good but I I'll

57:02

be interested to see Shelton's approach

57:04

you know whether he does go

57:07

for the big serve a little

57:09

bit more whether he does try

57:11

and come in a little bit

57:13

more and just try and disrupt

57:15

Sinner I think he's I think

57:17

he probably has to but I'm

57:20

still not sure it that it'll

57:22

be enough I bet Manderson Keys

57:24

will have inspired him tonight he

57:26

put it on his Instagram didn't

57:28

he did he been he'd been

57:31

watching and loving that. Because you

57:33

know there are parallels there. Power

57:35

against a great, they both feel

57:37

that they're great, so already these

57:39

two, and one of them lost

57:41

tonight. The

57:44

other men singles semi-final, the day

57:46

session semi-final, could that be crucial?

57:48

Novakjokovich and Alexander Zverov, head to

57:51

head here, is 8-4 in Jokovich's

57:53

favour. They've actually played very little

57:55

in recent years. Cincinnati 2020... three

57:58

was the last meeting. That was

58:00

won by Jokovich in straight sets.

58:02

Before that, they hadn't met since

58:05

2021. Two of those are four

58:07

victories have come at the ATP

58:09

finals, which is. you know, the

58:12

absolute peak's very-over of, isn't it?

58:14

One of them was at the

58:16

Tokyo Olympics and one was in

58:19

Rome in 2017. They've had one

58:21

hardcore meeting at a slam. That

58:23

was at the US Open in

58:26

2021 and it was very tight,

58:28

won by Jokovich in five sets.

58:30

Jokovich has only ever lost one

58:33

Australian Open semi-final or final and

58:35

that was here to Sinner last

58:37

year. And that was day session.

58:40

You know, they've changed the schedule

58:42

here at the Australian Open, where

58:44

the semi-finals used to be both

58:47

night session and Novakovich in a

58:49

night session at the Australian Open,

58:51

you know, in terms of like

58:54

when he's been peak Novakovich, I

58:56

can only think of Stanwovenka, who's

58:59

beaten him under those conditions. I

59:01

think Novakovich would have preferred night

59:03

session here, personally, but because of

59:06

the side of the draw, it's...

59:08

it's a day session match. That

59:10

being said, I think Zvarev likes

59:13

the night sessions too and he

59:15

was really quite poor actually against

59:17

Tommy Paul Alexander's very old. His

59:20

level was not good. If he

59:22

plays like that, he will lose.

59:24

I feel pretty confident, you know,

59:27

no about Jokovic won't be ending

59:29

those sets in the way that

59:31

that Tommy Paul did. I think

59:34

there's two levels of concern I

59:36

think for Jokovic. There's the... What

59:40

we've been talking about motivation and

59:42

will he be a little bit

59:45

flatter than he was against Carlos

59:47

Alcres? I think that is That's

59:49

a factor here It's not the

59:52

factor. I'm most worried about I'm

59:54

more worried about how he's going

59:57

to pull up physically personally You

59:59

know, I don't think he's practiced

1:00:01

in the last couple the days,

1:00:04

which he said would probably be

1:00:06

the case. But I think he's,

1:00:08

I think if he is physically

1:00:11

compromised, I think Zvara will be

1:00:13

prepared to go for a grinding

1:00:16

match in a way that Carlos

1:00:18

Alcraz wasn't in that quarter final.

1:00:20

But if he's okay, Jokoviction, he

1:00:23

can move, then I think he

1:00:25

can... I think he can come

1:00:28

through some possible flatness and he's

1:00:30

just a better, he's just a

1:00:32

way better tennis player than Alexander's

1:00:35

very of, so I am backing

1:00:37

Jokovic but maybe we'll get a

1:00:40

sense early if he's flat and

1:00:42

maybe we'll get a sense early

1:00:44

if he's injured and those are

1:00:47

big big factors. Hold to predict

1:00:49

isn't it because we're working with

1:00:52

imperfect information. on the Jokovich front

1:00:54

but I agree with you I

1:00:56

feel like we'll know pretty early

1:00:59

we'll get that information in. One

1:01:01

of the fair colleagues in the

1:01:04

press current room tonight while we

1:01:06

were waiting for Shiontec told me

1:01:08

what you've just mentioned there about

1:01:11

the fact that he hasn't practiced

1:01:13

today and that tomorrow he was

1:01:16

initially down to practice at 11

1:01:18

and then that got moved back

1:01:20

to one which as she mentioned

1:01:23

to me, he's cutting it quite

1:01:25

fine before a 2.30 start. It's

1:01:28

like me hitting snooze on the

1:01:30

alarm after one of our 5am

1:01:32

finishes. But I mean at the

1:01:35

same time this is no fat

1:01:37

chocolate. She's been there so many

1:01:40

times before and he only needs

1:01:42

a loosener I would have thought

1:01:44

really. just to get get himself

1:01:47

going. I don't think he needs

1:01:49

something intense, but I do wonder

1:01:52

about the kind of fitness, is

1:01:54

there a fitness test here of

1:01:56

some kind? Does he need to

1:01:59

have one of those or is

1:02:01

he assuming that? No, no, I'm

1:02:04

fine, but I'll just give myself

1:02:06

maximum rest. We'll find out. See

1:02:08

anyway? Okay, well, that's tomorrow. We

1:02:11

will talk about it tomorrow. We'll

1:02:13

be back with a podcast, presumably

1:02:16

at a similar time, because they

1:02:18

insist on starting these night sessions

1:02:20

later in the tournament at 730.

1:02:23

Like, seven was fine. Seven was

1:02:25

already too late. What are we

1:02:28

doing? That's so true. It's 315.

1:02:30

It is 315 in the morning

1:02:32

and I still want to tell

1:02:35

you about B. This... I'm very

1:02:37

sad to say, as absolutely lovely

1:02:40

as this is from owner Jay

1:02:42

Judson, I'm sad to say this

1:02:44

is a posthumous tribute to B,

1:02:47

the mightiest of many Daxons. B

1:02:49

had a magnificent 17 years of

1:02:52

playing, running, exploring, loving, cuddling, eating

1:02:54

everything she could get her paws

1:02:56

on and generally being the boss

1:02:59

of everyone. Tennis Connection says Jay,

1:03:01

B's last road trip, would love

1:03:04

to know about all of B's

1:03:06

other road trips, sounds like a

1:03:08

regular thing. B's last road trip

1:03:11

was just before passing, was out

1:03:13

to Palm Springs for 2024 Indian

1:03:16

Well, she had a fantastic trip.

1:03:18

And Jay says thanks for all

1:03:20

the love and the memories B,

1:03:23

which gosh, at 3.17 in the

1:03:25

morning, really could make me cry.

1:03:28

I love a sausage dog. so

1:03:30

much and I got a bit

1:03:32

misty-eyed when the picture of B

1:03:35

popped into our WhatsApp this evening

1:03:37

what an absolutely gorgeous dog and

1:03:40

17 years is is a very

1:03:42

very good run obviously Billy Jean

1:03:44

is going to live forever but

1:03:47

in an alternate universe where she

1:03:49

is mortal I would sign for

1:03:51

for 17 right now so yeah

1:03:54

what a wonderful 17 years she

1:03:56

must have brought you Jay and

1:03:59

that is a gorgeous lovely tribute.

1:04:01

Thank you for choosing the tennis

1:04:03

podcast as a place to do

1:04:06

that. And if you'd like your

1:04:08

pet to be a mascot this

1:04:11

year you have about a week

1:04:13

to sign our pantries close at

1:04:15

the end of this month. Hello

1:04:18

to Phoebe! We got some Madison

1:04:20

Keys points today Phoebe! Hooroo! David

1:04:23

says hi to Maisey. Hi Maisey.

1:04:25

If only you got points David

1:04:27

for your own victories you and

1:04:30

Maise would be quidzen. I tell

1:04:32

you I deserve points. What did

1:04:35

I go for? Sama Lanka. So

1:04:37

a little trickle. Yeah. You and

1:04:39

I got a trickle again. I'll

1:04:42

take that. TBC is still TBC

1:04:44

for Matt. Hello to our top

1:04:47

folks and executive producers Greg, Chris

1:04:49

and Jeff and it's over to

1:04:51

Matt for shout for shout-outs. We

1:04:54

have Lisa Toll in New York.

1:04:56

Hello Lisa. And Lisa is an

1:04:59

identical twin. Lisa says, my sister

1:05:01

Laurie and I love to play,

1:05:03

watch and listen to all things

1:05:06

tennis related, especially this podcast. She's

1:05:08

a friend too. So this shout

1:05:11

out is also for her. And

1:05:13

do you know that actually... an

1:05:15

incredible shout out for today because

1:05:18

did you see that there were

1:05:20

identical twins on court today in

1:05:23

the juniors? Wow, yes. Playing sisters.

1:05:25

Yes. There were sisters playing another

1:05:27

pair of sisters but identical twins.

1:05:30

Now I know it is Kavachkavar,

1:05:32

the two Kavachkov sisters and the

1:05:35

two Penich Kova sisters but I

1:05:37

don't know which ones are the

1:05:39

twins but there you go. Absolute

1:05:42

scenes out on... the second court

1:05:44

earlier on today. I think it

1:05:47

was for that match. So there

1:05:49

you go Lisa, big day for

1:05:51

identical twins. Don't know if they

1:05:54

won though because I don't know

1:05:56

which ones they are. It was

1:05:59

the Americans that won. Talking most

1:06:01

yourselves Matt, I'm going to Google.

1:06:03

them. Shall I introduce our next

1:06:06

shout out? Yes. Do that. We

1:06:08

have Trisha Borga Suvari. Oh hello?

1:06:11

Whoa who is from Silicon Valley

1:06:13

California. Do you think Trisha works

1:06:15

in tech? It's

1:06:19

highly likely. It's a definite

1:06:21

possibility. And Trisha has been

1:06:23

an avid listener to the

1:06:26

pod since September 2015. Oh,

1:06:28

good work, Tricia, like that.

1:06:31

Trisha is a big Federer

1:06:33

fan, who she misses, but

1:06:36

also a big Janick Sinner

1:06:38

fan. So... Pretty decent transition.

1:06:40

Big weekend for Tricia. Nice

1:06:43

one. I don't think I've

1:06:45

got any Tricia's... from

1:06:48

the tennis world in my

1:06:50

mind. Patricia Maria Theague? Oh!

1:06:52

That's a good effort, that.

1:06:54

Very good. I can tell

1:06:56

you, it was the identical

1:06:58

twins that won. The Penichkova

1:07:00

sisters are the twins, and

1:07:03

they won. 5761, 119 in

1:07:05

the deciding set tie break.

1:07:07

Annica and Christina Penichkova. There

1:07:09

you go, Lisa. And also,

1:07:11

hello to Tricia Tricia. Good

1:07:13

work, and finally and I'm

1:07:15

sorry because I'm definitely going

1:07:17

to be pronouncing this name

1:07:20

incorrectly, but we have Evthymios

1:07:22

Caroleolios You've done better than

1:07:24

that's incredible. Is this a

1:07:26

Greek listener? I thought so

1:07:28

too, but from Rotterdam. Oh,

1:07:30

okay. Now maybe Greek living

1:07:32

in Rotterdam, but They say,

1:07:35

used to be a professional

1:07:37

tennis player for a short

1:07:39

period. A long time ago

1:07:41

I played with the likes

1:07:43

of Davy Gofa and Grigold

1:07:45

Dimitrov in the futures. Jursi

1:07:47

Jannovich! There's a name. Burtik

1:07:50

van der Zanzjahl? No! Wesley

1:07:52

cool off epic and was

1:07:54

and Evthymios says since the

1:07:56

age of eight was playing

1:07:58

against Wesley cool off actually

1:08:00

reached our first doubles futures

1:08:02

final together in 2009 wow

1:08:05

Evthymios what a ledge! I

1:08:07

really enjoy the tennis podcast

1:08:09

with its deep analysis of

1:08:11

the tennis matches British humor

1:08:13

and focus on the whole

1:08:15

journey as a tennis player

1:08:17

keep it up and from

1:08:19

Rotterdam home of the AB&M

1:08:22

Amro tournament in February which

1:08:24

is a great tournament. Which

1:08:26

Carnos Alcraz is supposed to

1:08:28

be playing this year. Oh

1:08:30

big they do get good

1:08:32

player fields don't they? Ethemios

1:08:34

I really hope we're getting

1:08:37

that that name right what

1:08:39

a name it is. Thank

1:08:41

you very much that's an

1:08:43

awesome shout-out. Thank you Trisha,

1:08:45

thank you Ethemios, thank you

1:08:47

Lisa, thank you to all

1:08:49

of our friends of the

1:08:52

tennis podcast. It's because of

1:08:54

you that we are here

1:08:56

at 3.22 in the morning

1:08:58

doing exactly what we love

1:09:00

doing and we'll be back

1:09:02

doing it tomorrow. Thanks for

1:09:04

listening, we'll speak to you

1:09:07

then. Come

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on down to Boost Mobile and turn your

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1:09:29

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