May 27, 2025 • 8 mins
The French Open is underway at Roland Garros in Paris.
And there's aleready been some upsets! Some fo the top-seeded players are out already.
Tennis commentator Craig Gabriel is there, and he gave D'Arcy Waldegrave an update on Sportstalk.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the sports Talk podcast with Dancy Wildergrave
from News Talk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Tennis, French open up and running in Paris, What an
event it is and a man on the spot as
is Craig Gabriel. He joins us. Now, good evening, good morning, Craig.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
Does he good to be with you, bonchaur And yeah, look,
we've had a little bit of a fee weather, but
a couple of the mornings have been absolutely picture perfect.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
So what are we expecting. We've already had a couple
of shakes, but you'd expect that right in Paris, you're
going to have top seeds or seeds that maybe should
be top. They stumble, they fall over because it is
a unique place to play tennis.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Yeah, and look in the Americans, as a couple of
big name Americans stumbled yesterday over here in my time.
They don't they don't travel well, you know, and and
they find it difficult getting used to Europe. So we
lost the number nine set on the women's side, Emma Navarro,
and not only did we lose it, she got blistered,
(01:12):
blasted and thumped on the court sixty one six love.
And they're not long after the men's number four seed,
Taylor Fritz, the US Open finalist, goes crashing out in
four sets, six to one in that fourth set. So
you know, there have been a couple of, as I said,
big upsets, But the fancied ones yesterday did get through Egosriantek,
(01:35):
the defending champion Janick Sinner on the last, and the
late night match Carlos Alcaraz Caspar would So you know,
it's still a lot of the usual suspects advanced when it.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Comes to this particular Grand Slam, and you look at
the lead and event, how instrumental is form in the
lead and events, all the clay events that have been played.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Look, they do play a big part in this. And
you know when you get somebody like Arena Saberlenka doing
pretty well in the lead ups, just BEINGI last year's finalist,
winning Italy and the Italian Open and becoming the first
Italian woman to do so in absolute yongks, those sort
of things do carry a fair bit of weight, and
(02:19):
we'll see as the tournament progresses. But what I was
going to say is that the clay in Paris and
the conditions in Paris are also quite different to the
conditions and a lot of the other play court events.
Leading in Rome tends to be a bit heavier. Monte Carlo.
You're right on the coast, so you're affected by some
of those conditions over there. Madrid is an altitude, so
(02:43):
things are quicker. So if you get what you see,
what I mean, they're quite while there may be the
same sort of basic surface, the conditions do vary quite
dramatically from one clay court event to the other, but
still getting matches on the red dirt does carry weight.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
So the ability for players to be able to adjust
at the drop of a hat to what even the
conditions are doing, because I'm presuming it will change from
from tournament to tournament, depending on what year it is,
the conditions around. You've got to be really nimble to
get make clay work for you, Craig.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
You've got to be able to adapt, you know, at
a whim. You know, because you know it happens in
most tournaments. You don't necessarily get two hard court tournaments
the same, yeah, grass from one event to another, bounces
are different, et cetera, et cetera. So you know, it's
such a mental game. You've got to be fixed mentally
(03:40):
and strong mentally to be able to adapt all that
as well, in addition to the physical side and the
technical side, et cetera. So it's not just a case
of going out on court and hitting balls across the
net and seeing who's who's going to come out the strongest.
There's so many other factors that have to be considered
going into any match these days.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Always favorite so always players at the top of their
game who people look toward. What about the wild cards,
players that have come through the line last few months
that might cause an upset, that might be finding the
rhythm at the key moment. Can you identify an your
then for us, Craig.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
You know, I want to see how some of the
French guys go because they get massive support. There's one
French guy in particular who I've got a lot of
time for love watching him play. I think he's got
a wonderful game. He's young, he's rising. His name's Arthur
Feast and you know he's only nineteen. I'll just turn twenty,
so it's still incredibly young. He's in the same age
(04:35):
bracket as Janick Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz and he's started
to get a bit more attention. He had a good
win yesterday over at Clay Carter and Nicholas Jerry. So
Arthur Feast is a name that I watch out for
because I like his style and I like the way
he plays, yes, so he would be one for me
that would would stand out. I mean just me and
(04:59):
Paulini has had such an amazing twelve months and coming
to have that, having that confidence of winning her home championship,
I think could carry a lot of weight for her.
I'm not putting Eager Schweiontech as the lead favorites this year,
even though she's a defending champ and one at four times.
(05:19):
I'm not discounting her by any means when I say that,
But her form has been so iffy for her that
you know there is a risk on her side of things.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Early casualties predicting anything there, Craig, because it does happen.
Crane slame dinners. But if you got your eye on
on maybe some type fixes.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
Well, you know, the first couple of rounds of them
at any of the four majors is always dicey because
you've got one hundred and twenty eight players in the
singles draws and you've got some of these lesser named
players or I should lower rank players who see this
as their opportunity for their fifteen minutes of fame, and
(06:03):
how they are able to take to that. I mean,
there's there's a young, sorry Canadian player, a teenager. Her
name is Victoria Umboco, and she's getting a lot of
chatter in recent times and she came through the qualifying
rounds and won her first round over here, so you
know there's another name to keep an eye. And she's
(06:24):
not going to win the championship, but certainly somebody in
the future. And Mira Andreva is another one I wanted
to mention who could be quite a threat. I don't
think she'll win it this year. She could next year,
but there are people suggesting that she will be there
at the tail end of the tournament. But as far
as you know potential upsets is that we've seen a
(06:46):
couple already, so anything is possible. Anything can happen on
a given day depends on what side of the bed
some of these players get out of.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
And today, what are you looking toward? Key Max cups
for you both on the means and women's side of
the draw.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Well as far as New Zealand is concerned cam nari
on today. But what a match. I mean, this is
one of those profile matches for one of the first
couple of rounds. Yesterday we had Naomi Orsaka playing Pala
Badosha and Bodosha is the seeded one and beat Osaka
in three sets. So you know that's what I'm getting at.
And cam Nauri is going to be playing Daniel Medvedev today.
(07:25):
That's that's the first match. It will be at eleven
o'clock Paris time on Courte Simon Maciu. And I mentioned
mirror Andrebs. She's on the look. This isn't this could
be a potential upset. I'm not saying it will, but
there is be a potential in here. Alexander Zverev, you
know you're talking about leading events. He has been pretty poor. Yeah,
(07:47):
he won a minor clay court event, but his form
this year has been so up and down. And he
is playing in a young American named Lerna team. Now
some may recognize that name. He beat Daniel Medvedev in
the first round of this is Australian Open and has
really come along very very well since then, so look
out for that one.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Looking out for all of it. The insomniax in the
world love it and I go to bed way too late.
Craig at Gabriel, this won't be the last time we
pissed you. For the next two weeks, you enjoy yourself
over there and we'll catch up again soon.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Yes, absolutely, Darcia. Before I forget one other person, look
out and if you get a chance to watch him.
Jean Fonseca eighteen nineteen from Brazil plays who Bey Her
Catch Today.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Fan saka It's written down.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
For more from sports talk, listen live to News Talks
it'd be from seven pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the sports Talk podcast with Dancy Wildergrave
from News Talk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Tennis, French open up and running in Paris, What an
event it is and a man on the spot as
is Craig Gabriel. He joins us. Now, good evening, good morning, Craig.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
Does he good to be with you, bonchaur And yeah, look,
we've had a little bit of a fee weather, but
a couple of the mornings have been absolutely picture perfect.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
So what are we expecting. We've already had a couple
of shakes, but you'd expect that right in Paris, you're
going to have top seeds or seeds that maybe should
be top. They stumble, they fall over because it is
a unique place to play tennis.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Yeah, and look in the Americans, as a couple of
big name Americans stumbled yesterday over here in my time.
They don't they don't travel well, you know, and and
they find it difficult getting used to Europe. So we
lost the number nine set on the women's side, Emma Navarro,
and not only did we lose it, she got blistered,
(01:12):
blasted and thumped on the court sixty one six love.
And they're not long after the men's number four seed,
Taylor Fritz, the US Open finalist, goes crashing out in
four sets, six to one in that fourth set. So
you know, there have been a couple of, as I said,
big upsets, But the fancied ones yesterday did get through Egosriantek,
(01:35):
the defending champion Janick Sinner on the last, and the
late night match Carlos Alcaraz Caspar would So you know,
it's still a lot of the usual suspects advanced when it.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Comes to this particular Grand Slam, and you look at
the lead and event, how instrumental is form in the
lead and events, all the clay events that have been played.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Look, they do play a big part in this. And
you know when you get somebody like Arena Saberlenka doing
pretty well in the lead ups, just BEINGI last year's finalist,
winning Italy and the Italian Open and becoming the first
Italian woman to do so in absolute yongks, those sort
of things do carry a fair bit of weight, and
(02:19):
we'll see as the tournament progresses. But what I was
going to say is that the clay in Paris and
the conditions in Paris are also quite different to the
conditions and a lot of the other play court events.
Leading in Rome tends to be a bit heavier. Monte Carlo.
You're right on the coast, so you're affected by some
of those conditions over there. Madrid is an altitude, so
(02:43):
things are quicker. So if you get what you see,
what I mean, they're quite while there may be the
same sort of basic surface, the conditions do vary quite
dramatically from one clay court event to the other, but
still getting matches on the red dirt does carry weight.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
So the ability for players to be able to adjust
at the drop of a hat to what even the
conditions are doing, because I'm presuming it will change from
from tournament to tournament, depending on what year it is,
the conditions around. You've got to be really nimble to
get make clay work for you, Craig.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
You've got to be able to adapt, you know, at
a whim. You know, because you know it happens in
most tournaments. You don't necessarily get two hard court tournaments
the same, yeah, grass from one event to another, bounces
are different, et cetera, et cetera. So you know, it's
such a mental game. You've got to be fixed mentally
(03:40):
and strong mentally to be able to adapt all that
as well, in addition to the physical side and the
technical side, et cetera. So it's not just a case
of going out on court and hitting balls across the
net and seeing who's who's going to come out the strongest.
There's so many other factors that have to be considered
going into any match these days.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Always favorite so always players at the top of their
game who people look toward. What about the wild cards,
players that have come through the line last few months
that might cause an upset, that might be finding the
rhythm at the key moment. Can you identify an your
then for us, Craig.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
You know, I want to see how some of the
French guys go because they get massive support. There's one
French guy in particular who I've got a lot of
time for love watching him play. I think he's got
a wonderful game. He's young, he's rising. His name's Arthur
Feast and you know he's only nineteen. I'll just turn twenty,
so it's still incredibly young. He's in the same age
(04:35):
bracket as Janick Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz and he's started
to get a bit more attention. He had a good
win yesterday over at Clay Carter and Nicholas Jerry. So
Arthur Feast is a name that I watch out for
because I like his style and I like the way
he plays, yes, so he would be one for me
that would would stand out. I mean just me and
(04:59):
Paulini has had such an amazing twelve months and coming
to have that, having that confidence of winning her home championship,
I think could carry a lot of weight for her.
I'm not putting Eager Schweiontech as the lead favorites this year,
even though she's a defending champ and one at four times.
(05:19):
I'm not discounting her by any means when I say that,
But her form has been so iffy for her that
you know there is a risk on her side of things.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Early casualties predicting anything there, Craig, because it does happen.
Crane slame dinners. But if you got your eye on
on maybe some type fixes.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
Well, you know, the first couple of rounds of them
at any of the four majors is always dicey because
you've got one hundred and twenty eight players in the
singles draws and you've got some of these lesser named
players or I should lower rank players who see this
as their opportunity for their fifteen minutes of fame, and
(06:03):
how they are able to take to that. I mean,
there's there's a young, sorry Canadian player, a teenager. Her
name is Victoria Umboco, and she's getting a lot of
chatter in recent times and she came through the qualifying
rounds and won her first round over here, so you
know there's another name to keep an eye. And she's
(06:24):
not going to win the championship, but certainly somebody in
the future. And Mira Andreva is another one I wanted
to mention who could be quite a threat. I don't
think she'll win it this year. She could next year,
but there are people suggesting that she will be there
at the tail end of the tournament. But as far
as you know potential upsets is that we've seen a
(06:46):
couple already, so anything is possible. Anything can happen on
a given day depends on what side of the bed
some of these players get out of.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
And today, what are you looking toward? Key Max cups
for you both on the means and women's side of
the draw.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Well as far as New Zealand is concerned cam nari
on today. But what a match. I mean, this is
one of those profile matches for one of the first
couple of rounds. Yesterday we had Naomi Orsaka playing Pala
Badosha and Bodosha is the seeded one and beat Osaka
in three sets. So you know that's what I'm getting at.
And cam Nauri is going to be playing Daniel Medvedev today.
(07:25):
That's that's the first match. It will be at eleven
o'clock Paris time on Courte Simon Maciu. And I mentioned
mirror Andrebs. She's on the look. This isn't this could
be a potential upset. I'm not saying it will, but
there is be a potential in here. Alexander Zverev, you
know you're talking about leading events. He has been pretty poor. Yeah,
(07:47):
he won a minor clay court event, but his form
this year has been so up and down. And he
is playing in a young American named Lerna team. Now
some may recognize that name. He beat Daniel Medvedev in
the first round of this is Australian Open and has
really come along very very well since then, so look
out for that one.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Looking out for all of it. The insomniax in the
world love it and I go to bed way too late.
Craig at Gabriel, this won't be the last time we
pissed you. For the next two weeks, you enjoy yourself
over there and we'll catch up again soon.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Yes, absolutely, Darcia. Before I forget one other person, look
out and if you get a chance to watch him.
Jean Fonseca eighteen nineteen from Brazil plays who Bey Her
Catch Today.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Fan saka It's written down.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
For more from sports talk, listen live to News Talks
it'd be from seven pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
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