September 1, 2025 • 22 mins
Rennae and Caitlin jam on a post-Naomi Osaka/Coco Gauff recap minutes after the one-sided match, weigh in—whether you like it or not—on the Taylor Townsend/Jelena Ostapenko fracas and set up a showdown between our men's faves (and respective countrymen) Felix Auger Aliassime and Alex DeMinaur.
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
This episode of the Rare Stub Sennas podcast is by
to You Babe A one. You one is Slum Stevens.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
First serve of the day, Major Winds start in the
morning with Age you one.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
All Right, Hi, everybody, welcome to the Renee of Tennis podcast.
We are coming to you live, live and in person,
literally at the US Open. We are sitting in the
media area and we're going to pump out a great
podcast and we have just seen a match that we
all hoped to see, but we hope to see a
better match rough It was Coco and Naomi. But before
(00:50):
we get to that, let's talk a little bit about
what's happened pretty much in the week.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
The women's side. Let's start with that.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
Can I just talk about the Taylor Townsend match yesterday?
Oh yeah, I was caught side for that. It was
brutal to watch someone lose a match up eight match points.
We have talked about like what Janick Sinner when losing
the French Open having three match points, and obviously it's different.
It's the finals, right and there was a little bit
more on the line, but still for someone like Taylor
(01:17):
to win that match and would have been humongous. But
I have to say she didn't play a bad point.
She really did not play a bad point on any
of the match points. And Barbara Kujikova came up with
two of the most unbelievable shots. The back end volly
down the lineelieving of a batcan down the line, the
back end online hit the outside of the line, and
the back end volley was world class.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Those eight match points, to me, you can see a
compilation of them on the internet all over the place,
some of the finest points. Brave hitting, bold hitting, moving
into the net.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
I don't think other than two arrant groundies that Taylor
missed that she made a single mistake. Ye that was
Barbera Kajukiva. Ice called yeah, composure and cleeping her cool.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
My three ceats, Composure, clarity, and commitment we're on display
in that particular tiebreak. It was Unbelieva was like, what
a thirty minute tiebreak? It was just unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
I do want to talk a little bit about Taylor
Towns and since she's somebody who's no stranger to the
racket audience, she came to a lot of our events.
She has she has for the last couple of years.
We've been following her career for a really long time. Obviously,
you know, you can go back and listen to reams
and reams of archival episodes where we talk about her journey,
her getting denied by the USTA, her triumph, parenthood, all
the stuff for Taylor Townsend.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
This this sort.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Of felt like, you know, obviously she had a first
rounder against Simona Hallup that she won in front of
a pack Louie Armstrong many years ago.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
She's had these big moments. This felt like an accumulation
of big moments.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
It wasn't just about the cudic of the match, it
was about the match prior, and it was about her
entirety of you know, her presence here.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
I feel she maybe made a major breakthrough.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
Well, you know, I did notice before her matches that
I she the only place she has a winning singles,
you know, whence.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
The losses is at the US Open. Amazing.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
So she was like two and five somewhere, like five
and eight somewhere, and at the US Open, I think
she was ten and nine or ten and eight. So
that just shows you how much she loves playing here
at the US Open, how much she loves the courts
here all the things, and I think the crowd do
get her through a lot of matches, and the fact
that I don't even know if they count qualifying in that,
and so you know, all the times that she probably
(03:24):
had play colleagues and gotten through.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
But anyway, it was awesome.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
Do we want to go back a little bit and
mix up with a little situation with Ostapenko and what
happened there?
Speaker 1 (03:31):
I mean, yeah, that was just ridiculous.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Now that the Astapenco news has bullitted around the world,
Now that she's issued an apology and a social media
post with people of color in a sort of we
call that CYA in the biz, cover your ass, she
is attempting very much.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
To do some CYA reputation repair.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
I have to say, in many of the years that
I've spent watching a letter Aspenko, I have never seen
her apologize to anyone anywhere, under any circumstance. So the
fact that she wrote a long Instagram notes message was
pretty wow sucking.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Yeah, look, you know, I'm not gonna sit here as
a white woman and trying to, you know, describe what
it must feel like and pretend that I have any idea.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
But you know that word of saying you're uneducated really.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Feels very feels coded. It's coded and very you know, yeah,
it's coded. Now whether Ostapenko meant it that way because
she was talking about tennis etiquette, that's what she says,
what happened with the net cord that you didn't apologize, Well,
Taylor actually hit a winner after that. It wasn't she
didn't win the point on the net cord. She won
the point by hitting a chip lob winner over her head.
(04:44):
And then also saying about the warm up. Everybody knows
that Taylor warms up at the net. Now, is it normal? No,
it's far from normal.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Would I do that? And I was a certain volley.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
No, But everyone knows that that's Taylor's sing. So you
just have to accept that sott educated because it's not
a tennis educated or etiquette thing. Is just that you
can't you can't, you can't move around that this is dumb.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
I have to say, this is the first time, like
I said, I've ever seen Alanapo give an inch. She
doesn't give too many inches. No, she's not somebody who does.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Doesn't give a.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Mirror either, And the fact that for you Americans, a
centime is smaller than an inch much less.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Now Leapinko is bananas and I kind of knew, as
did a lot of us, like helmets on for this match.
It's sort of hard to imagine that there wasn't like
more of an adult supervision kind.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Of situation happening. But I think Taylor Townsend could not
have handled it better.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
What an incredibly gracious, thoughtful and she's fiery. Taylor is
famously fiery, So the fact that she was like, you
need to learn how to lose better, I thought that
was the that was possible thing to say, Just incredible.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
She's a mom, she knows how to talk down to
a younger audience and that's more imature for a more
immature person. And that's what she did beautifully in that.
And you know what Taylor does. She used it her
advantage in getting the crowd and the public behind her
and they almost pulled her through an incredible upset again
yesterday against Krijikova.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
And Critica, like I said, credit to her.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Not only did she fend off those match points, but
also she played a very poised, thoughtful match, and I
thought her post match.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Interview fantastic, very very very elegant. Yes, she's always been
She's always been great. She's a great She's always been great.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
I do want to talk about last night as well
with Rebakna and Vondrousova. Okay, so I have to tell
you I was so happy to see Marqueta Vondrosova win
that match and be doing so well. And why do
you ask, because this is somebody who wins Wimbledon, who
has a terrible injury not long after that, then comes
back from that terrible injury and is playing great and
(06:51):
gets another terrible injury. And so to see her, we
know what she's capable of. She's a Wimbledon champion, she's
a major champion. We saw her serve unbelievably last night.
Barkina was serving lights out in this tournament. So for
her to actually match it on the serving front, because
that's what it came down to. And you know a
lot of people think Fondressa is not a big server,
(07:13):
Well guess what she proved that she is under big
time circumstances last night.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Came up with some huge, huge serving, the serving and
then the plus one.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Yeah, like a lot of the combos of that match
were really really notable, which is kind of similar to
the way but she won Wimbledon, which is just like
Serf plus one amazing returning by Rebeccna. She didn't get
a bunch to work with and then she'd just be
able to position herself really well. I thought from a
technical perspective, she played the match really well, and I
kind of favored Rebeccna.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
For this match. I would say most wasted with a.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Lot of momentum, obviously with kind of the better preparation
or maybe certainly better kind of well more matches under
a belt.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Yeah, here's the thing, though, I did see Rabeckna. She
did have that knee strapping yesterday. And the one of
the things about Rebecken, she's been struggling, I feel like,
with this Achilles thing and then last night with the knee,
and even when she won the second set, if you
go back and look at the tape, she kind of
like walked a little gingerly and it was a little
weird after the after the match, after the set point
to win the second set. So I don't know if
(08:07):
she's she was one hundred percent, But having said that,
for me, I'm so happy you saw how happy Vondrespa
was when she won that match with the tears, with
the interview with James Blake, and it was just really
nice to see someone that is so deservedly in a
latter part of a Grand Slam again and it just
makes me really happy because she's a great kid. And yeah,
(08:28):
I was super super happy to see that. Jessica Gooler him, well, look,
she was out. You know when we talked about Americans
that could do well, you know, just didn't come in
here playing really great tennis.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
And she was the first to admit it.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
One of the first questions we asked her at ESPN
when she came after winning her first round, and she said, look,
I'm aware I don't have the tennis under my belt.
I come in here a little bit unknown, not playing
as well as I did last year, and so I'm
fighting myself a little bit. But she's now starting to
really feel more comfortable. And after winning and getting through
to the final here last year, that's when you going, hey,
(09:00):
I can do this again. I maybe I can get
deeper in this tournament, maybe I can get the wins
that I need.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
And she's definitely doing that. I watched her practice this.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Morning, and I was really impressed because it seems like
she is she is dialing in, she's getting better match
to match, and I think especially when you come in
with that form, you know, that doesn't always happen.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Sometimes you pick up.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
An injury, you walk a little more mincingly across the baseline.
You know, it's shrder to shake off late nights or
rough battles.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
And I think Kagoula is dialing in. Yes, she feel
like she's really a threat, you know. And she she's.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
Always talked about how she didn't she didn't really feel
the ball that well, and the ball with a sudden this,
and she's very technical with the rackets and the stringing
and all that sort of stuff. But I think now
she's now that she's got a couple of matches under
a BELTI and playing well, she goes, oh, yeah, that's right.
I'm using the same equipment, I'm playing at the same place,
and I'm using the same ball. Oh that's right, I
can make the final. Okay, So look it only gets tougher.
(09:50):
But she does play ker Jikova, and they play similar
in a lot of way where they kind of hold
the ball on their strings and then it is like
an absolute like sling. So you think about a sling shot,
how it goes in, you pull it back and then
you're ping you let it go. That's how they both
hit the ball. So they hold the ball in their
string and then it freaking rifles off their.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
Rackets like so hard. So it that to me.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
I think that match, if they both play their best,
it's going to be a great match.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
So excited about that. One of the matches that we
started off talking about that we were hoping would be
a great match is the match we just watched on
Arthur Ash which ended up being a little bit of
a nothing burger in Ameo Soaker versus Cocoa Gap. Coco
has not looked good. She looked anxious. She's talked about it,
which I really respect. You know, that's okay. Obviously she's
just now hired a new Serve coach. We talked a
(10:38):
little bit about that. What were your takeaways from the match.
Was that as big a victory as it seemed or
was that kind of easy pickings for an amet.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
I mean, unfortunately it sort of went the way I
thought it was going to go.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
I think Naomi's playing great.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
I think Thomas Witkowski has done a terrific job in
coaching her. He's the type of personality that is not
fun to be around. He's just a boring dude. And
I say that not to give him shit. It's to
say he's not the type of guy that's going to
come up with some you know, shenanigans to make you happy,
or like go and buy you a little la boo
boo doll, or like look at too much analytics. He's
(11:11):
just going to make you practice really hard. He's going
to make everything simple, and he's going to make you
understand that you have to focus on every point.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Well, considering what he's dealing with Naomi, I cannot talk
about these lab boobos.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
I refuse. Yeah, do you think I'm talking about la boobos?
But I feel like that's just with the doctor order. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
I think that he is about business and about hitting
tennis balls and about hitting tennis balls the right way.
And you know he's not He's just not a fluff guy, right,
He's not a fluff guy. And Naomi has all her
fluff with her clothes and the laboo boo and all
the stuff that she does. But in the end, she
wants to win, and she's not real happy when she loses.
And I think that this guy is all about focusing
(11:50):
on making her a better tennis player and making her
realize what she does really really well. And one of
the biggest things that she was not doing well over
the last like I would say six months are coming back,
is she wasn't moving that well. And he's all about
working hard on the tennis court. And I think that
the more and more she wins quick as she's getting
on the court, the more comfortable she is. And the
(12:10):
opposite for Coco's not comfortable. She's fighting demons, she's fighting
her serve, she's fighting her aforehand. You know, Gavin's come
in to try and do his best to kind of
correct some of the stuff, but that's impossible to do
in a week. It's impossible, especially when they're real egregious
like her grips and her technique is really really tough
to change in a week.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Like will this be like Australian Open, will be seeing
this or do you think sooner?
Speaker 3 (12:34):
Like as I listen, we've talked about this. I already
said this on the podcast. I think she should take
the entire rest of the year off, the whole rest
of the year off and break every single thing down.
Because today we saw a more complete tennis player in
Naomi Osaka.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
She has a more complete serve. She has a better.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Grip on her I don't mean grip as in the
actual grip, but like a grip on her groundstrokes's forehand,
her backhand. She knows what she's doing. She sees a
short ball, she knows where she's going with it. Like
with the way Coco is sometimes it's like she doesn't
know whether to go high with the loopy or the four.
I mean match point was it just a basic forehand
in the middle of the net. So it's like Naomi
(13:17):
is a more complete tennis player right now.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
She's playing better.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
Coco cannot use just her speed on the court when
you're playing against someone that's going to hit you from
side to side and not really miss and hit it
really well and hard. And so can I tell you something,
Naomi when she gets to the quarters doesn't lose.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
She does not lose hysterically.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
She's eight and no eight and o I believe or
something like crazy. So so not she can't be eight no,
because she doesn't have that many Grand Slams, but she
doesn't lose a quarterfinals. So when she gets the quarter finals,
I think she's like eight no or something crazy. But
she's gonna be hard to beat. Naomi Osaka is gonna
be hard to beat. Who to win this years Open?
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Who else can? Who else? Is dangerous? We talked a lot.
Of course, Eagas played um leave all today.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
She should just dealt with Alexandrova, who can be a
yeah nuisance.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
Yeah, No, Eager is just I think went through. And
the thing with the ego is she struggled a little
bit in the first couple of rounds, didn't dropped a
set in the second round, was down five to two,
I believe, in the next match, and then came back
and won that match reasonably, comfortably, comfortably and straight. But
she's kind of battled and today was just like, oh yeah, guys,
(14:25):
remember when I get to the second week, speaking of
getting to the final, she never loses. So I think
I think Eager, you know, is down there lurking. She'll
play the winner of an Anisimova and Hadaj Maya, who
played later today.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Hopefully that's a good match. Amanda.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
Certainly we know how well she can do when she
gets deep in the tournament. She's kind of fighting her
own demons out in the court. She's a little bit
moody up and down. But I mean, overall the women's draw.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
The women have been delivering other than pretty great. The men.
I feel.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
Here and there, there's been some good matches, but I've
can kind of a second.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
Let me do it for you because I know how
excited you are.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
I'm so excited that Felix, as your elie seem a
won his match today. And not only did he win it,
he won it in three straight sets. Zeilan looking unbelievable
against Rublev, who's been playing pretty well in this tournament.
I have to say, I'm in a little bit of shock,
and the guys up in the green are getting I'm
getting said he's the third best.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
Player in the draw right.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
Now, behind of course and of course Carlos, but like this,
this is what we've been I would not put him
ahead of Novak, sorry, but anyway, I would put him
forth best.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
But what a what a what a triumphant turn of
events Zev.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
That match broke something open in Felix.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
I feel just the aggression the controlled poys We've seen
how good his physicality is. He's obviously won a lot
of indoor hardcore matches, but this to me was like
an amazing turning point. I saw something in an assertiveness
out of him that I had never seen, at least
not at this confidence, in this level.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
I don't know, he's just found some confidence. It's so
great to see. A match is going to be interesting.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
M Swagger.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
One match is going to be interesting tonight is Yanick
Sinner and Bublick. Now, Bublick has actually got a couple
of wins over Yanick, and he is no pushover. He's
playing unbelieve, he's serving out of his mind. It's going
to be really interesting to see.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
How that match turns out tonight.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
And then obviously we've got Carlitos we can talk about,
who has not really been pushed much. Obviously, we are
now getting to the business end of things where none
of these matches get easier.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
No, well then I'm supposed to get easier.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
But my guy Alex Demonoll looks good and I did
predict that he might make his.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
First semi final here you're so open and if he does.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
You heard it here first, Well, actually I said it
I said it like a week ago.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
I did predict that. I think he can get to
the semis.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
The big question for me is Novak and Taylor. Taylor,
I believe is oh and ten against Novak. And I
thought this morning we were kind of talking about this
at ESPN. I thought, if Taylor's gonna put up and
shut up about like wanting to actually take the next
set at the moment, this will be the moment because
if he can conjure up the mentality and game to
(17:16):
beat Novak, who's playing very well. If you can beat
Novak here and reverse that to ten, can that give
him enough confidence to go why not the rest?
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Yeah? Right? And so I don't feel like the kind
of he could be on the ascension.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Novak obviously always incredibly tough, but it does feel pretty
mrkedly that he's a little bit on the decline, and
it seems obvious in watching him play a little bit.
I think to me, that's like, this could be the
moment that Sling shouts Taylor enter the next level.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
Well, as I said, if he does, I think that's
got to give him a tremendous It kind of feels
like the way Sinner beat Novak at Wimbledon where he
just smoked him. I no, Novak was a bit injured,
but it kind of I felt when he beat Novak
that easy, it had to have given him so much
confidence to actually beat Carlos in the final of Wimbledon.
And I feel like with Taylor, if he can beat
Novak in this situation, it might actually give him enough
(18:09):
impetus to think, can I get.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
Back to the final again.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
I don't know if he can beat Carlos and see
how back to back to win the tournament, but I
have to think that it's gonna get It'll give him
a ton of confidence if he can beat Nova.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
One thing, and we've talked a lot about the American
men on the internet. Obviously everyone's been following Ben and
his injury. I see Francis, which.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
Can I tell you how sad I was to see
what happened? Rude man. You know, Francis is obviously having
an off year.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Timmy Paul battled two within an inch of his life
and just got bublicked, certainly in that you know, third
and fourth set. But really, Taylor, Fritz is the one
who's like put his head down and continue to just
continue showing up and I think for me that would
be an amazing turn of events.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
Now I know, are we done talking about the men?
Speaker 3 (18:53):
Well, I just want to say now, looking at the draw,
Alex Dmanoll plays FAA, so one of them is gonna
make a senn.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Are we gonna be able to handle that together? We'll
be fine, We'll still talk. I like that. I feel
like I did predict.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
That Alex was gonna make the semi, so I might
be reading a little bit harder for him.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
So I look good. It's all about me, Well, it
is all about you. This is the show's named.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
Even though I love FAA, it would be in the
end my ego matters more.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
That's the poor for this episode. That's it, Okay, the
most fun thing that I'm seeing. I'm about to go
watch it. You and I are both Can we talk
about the Venas Ball of the Century Williams Venus Williams
and country Woman Williams and my country woman, Layla Annie Fernandez?
Speaker 1 (19:35):
What you just nailed the middle names? I did. And
it's my confirmation name, you know, and it's my mother's name. Well,
there you go. So first of all, it's awesome.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
Second of all, I don't know if you follow Serena
on TikTok.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
But she did a hilarious TikTok where.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
She did a video of them winning the other day
and then put and was like all fake happy and
then was like not happy about it.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
So I don't know seeing your f I'm doubles partner
win a bunch of matches, are they well?
Speaker 3 (20:02):
I mean, I will say, as you know, coaching seren
A couple of years ago here at the US soap
and playing doubles with Venus on Arthur Ash, Venus did
not play great. Yes, she did not see her best.
She was a little bit. I was like, I think
it's time. And now all of a sudden she's found
this resurgence hitting the ball unbelievable. She almost beat Mukhova,
who's still in the tournament. Like, and you know, Venus
(20:25):
plays unbelievable in doubles, and Serena's like, what WTF where.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
Was this four years ago? We's got to be pissed off,
like we could have won the doubles yet played a
little better.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
And exactly, well, that's the most fun, delayful thing. And
I'm mostly excited, not only because I get to cheer
on my Countrywomen and Venus Avenue Williams, but also what
is she gonna wear?
Speaker 1 (20:44):
Well, we don't know.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
I love that out the gifts out there gifts And
in the first round people were probably like, she looks
like she's playing at Wimboleland, and I would have been like, no,
pay attention, She's doing the O to out THEA gifts.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
That's where they need to listen to this podcast so
they can get the levels upon levels. It's shall we
uh go check out that amazing doubles match and check
in before the end of the week, because I think
we gotta just maybe come back in with one more
podcast before the finals.
Speaker 3 (21:09):
Oh yeah, we'll definitely be doing that. Let's hope Venus
and Layla win. They're playing great. Taylor's a good little
doubles player, has made a final of her Grand Slam
before with Taylor Townsend, who is also Taylor still in
the doubles with sneak Kova, uh and her. We'll be
talking a lot about their that match with Kujikova yesterday
because we know that Sinney Kova and Kujika play doubles
(21:29):
for a long time, so I can imagine the stories
that they'll be telling each other today.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
I sometimes I do wish I spook check me too,
or Russian or both.
Speaker 3 (21:37):
Actually, if there was one superpower that I would like,
it would be like to understand every language in the
world to right and speak it.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
I agree, Yes, yeah, I only speak of when I'm drunk,
and and well I'm not great.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
I'm speaking when I'm drunk, I speaking English and it
doesn't sound like English, so technically I do speak another
language anyway. All right, thanks for listening and the sites
and literally the sounds of the US open here from
the media room.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
Awesome, Hi bank
Speaker 2 (22:01):
B
This episode of the Rare Stub Sennas podcast is by
to You Babe A one. You one is Slum Stevens.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
First serve of the day, Major Winds start in the
morning with Age you one.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
All Right, Hi, everybody, welcome to the Renee of Tennis podcast.
We are coming to you live, live and in person,
literally at the US Open. We are sitting in the
media area and we're going to pump out a great
podcast and we have just seen a match that we
all hoped to see, but we hope to see a
better match rough It was Coco and Naomi. But before
(00:50):
we get to that, let's talk a little bit about
what's happened pretty much in the week.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
The women's side. Let's start with that.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
Can I just talk about the Taylor Townsend match yesterday?
Oh yeah, I was caught side for that. It was
brutal to watch someone lose a match up eight match points.
We have talked about like what Janick Sinner when losing
the French Open having three match points, and obviously it's different.
It's the finals, right and there was a little bit
more on the line, but still for someone like Taylor
(01:17):
to win that match and would have been humongous. But
I have to say she didn't play a bad point.
She really did not play a bad point on any
of the match points. And Barbara Kujikova came up with
two of the most unbelievable shots. The back end volly
down the lineelieving of a batcan down the line, the
back end online hit the outside of the line, and
the back end volley was world class.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Those eight match points, to me, you can see a
compilation of them on the internet all over the place,
some of the finest points. Brave hitting, bold hitting, moving
into the net.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
I don't think other than two arrant groundies that Taylor
missed that she made a single mistake. Ye that was
Barbera Kajukiva. Ice called yeah, composure and cleeping her cool.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
My three ceats, Composure, clarity, and commitment we're on display
in that particular tiebreak. It was Unbelieva was like, what
a thirty minute tiebreak? It was just unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
I do want to talk a little bit about Taylor
Towns and since she's somebody who's no stranger to the
racket audience, she came to a lot of our events.
She has she has for the last couple of years.
We've been following her career for a really long time. Obviously,
you know, you can go back and listen to reams
and reams of archival episodes where we talk about her journey,
her getting denied by the USTA, her triumph, parenthood, all
the stuff for Taylor Townsend.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
This this sort.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Of felt like, you know, obviously she had a first
rounder against Simona Hallup that she won in front of
a pack Louie Armstrong many years ago.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
She's had these big moments. This felt like an accumulation
of big moments.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
It wasn't just about the cudic of the match, it
was about the match prior, and it was about her
entirety of you know, her presence here.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
I feel she maybe made a major breakthrough.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
Well, you know, I did notice before her matches that
I she the only place she has a winning singles,
you know, whence.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
The losses is at the US Open. Amazing.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
So she was like two and five somewhere, like five
and eight somewhere, and at the US Open, I think
she was ten and nine or ten and eight. So
that just shows you how much she loves playing here
at the US Open, how much she loves the courts
here all the things, and I think the crowd do
get her through a lot of matches, and the fact
that I don't even know if they count qualifying in that,
and so you know, all the times that she probably
(03:24):
had play colleagues and gotten through.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
But anyway, it was awesome.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
Do we want to go back a little bit and
mix up with a little situation with Ostapenko and what
happened there?
Speaker 1 (03:31):
I mean, yeah, that was just ridiculous.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Now that the Astapenco news has bullitted around the world,
Now that she's issued an apology and a social media
post with people of color in a sort of we
call that CYA in the biz, cover your ass, she
is attempting very much.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
To do some CYA reputation repair.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
I have to say, in many of the years that
I've spent watching a letter Aspenko, I have never seen
her apologize to anyone anywhere, under any circumstance. So the
fact that she wrote a long Instagram notes message was
pretty wow sucking.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Yeah, look, you know, I'm not gonna sit here as
a white woman and trying to, you know, describe what
it must feel like and pretend that I have any idea.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
But you know that word of saying you're uneducated really.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Feels very feels coded. It's coded and very you know, yeah,
it's coded. Now whether Ostapenko meant it that way because
she was talking about tennis etiquette, that's what she says,
what happened with the net cord that you didn't apologize, Well,
Taylor actually hit a winner after that. It wasn't she
didn't win the point on the net cord. She won
the point by hitting a chip lob winner over her head.
(04:44):
And then also saying about the warm up. Everybody knows
that Taylor warms up at the net. Now, is it normal? No,
it's far from normal.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Would I do that? And I was a certain volley.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
No, But everyone knows that that's Taylor's sing. So you
just have to accept that sott educated because it's not
a tennis educated or etiquette thing. Is just that you
can't you can't, you can't move around that this is dumb.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
I have to say, this is the first time, like
I said, I've ever seen Alanapo give an inch. She
doesn't give too many inches. No, she's not somebody who does.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Doesn't give a.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Mirror either, And the fact that for you Americans, a
centime is smaller than an inch much less.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Now Leapinko is bananas and I kind of knew, as
did a lot of us, like helmets on for this match.
It's sort of hard to imagine that there wasn't like
more of an adult supervision kind.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Of situation happening. But I think Taylor Townsend could not
have handled it better.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
What an incredibly gracious, thoughtful and she's fiery. Taylor is
famously fiery, So the fact that she was like, you
need to learn how to lose better, I thought that
was the that was possible thing to say, Just incredible.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
She's a mom, she knows how to talk down to
a younger audience and that's more imature for a more
immature person. And that's what she did beautifully in that.
And you know what Taylor does. She used it her
advantage in getting the crowd and the public behind her
and they almost pulled her through an incredible upset again
yesterday against Krijikova.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
And Critica, like I said, credit to her.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Not only did she fend off those match points, but
also she played a very poised, thoughtful match, and I
thought her post match.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Interview fantastic, very very very elegant. Yes, she's always been
She's always been great. She's a great She's always been great.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
I do want to talk about last night as well
with Rebakna and Vondrousova. Okay, so I have to tell
you I was so happy to see Marqueta Vondrosova win
that match and be doing so well. And why do
you ask, because this is somebody who wins Wimbledon, who
has a terrible injury not long after that, then comes
back from that terrible injury and is playing great and
(06:51):
gets another terrible injury. And so to see her, we
know what she's capable of. She's a Wimbledon champion, she's
a major champion. We saw her serve unbelievably last night.
Barkina was serving lights out in this tournament. So for
her to actually match it on the serving front, because
that's what it came down to. And you know a
lot of people think Fondressa is not a big server,
(07:13):
Well guess what she proved that she is under big
time circumstances last night.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Came up with some huge, huge serving, the serving and
then the plus one.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Yeah, like a lot of the combos of that match
were really really notable, which is kind of similar to
the way but she won Wimbledon, which is just like
Serf plus one amazing returning by Rebeccna. She didn't get
a bunch to work with and then she'd just be
able to position herself really well. I thought from a
technical perspective, she played the match really well, and I
kind of favored Rebeccna.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
For this match. I would say most wasted with a.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Lot of momentum, obviously with kind of the better preparation
or maybe certainly better kind of well more matches under
a belt.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Yeah, here's the thing, though, I did see Rabeckna. She
did have that knee strapping yesterday. And the one of
the things about Rebecken, she's been struggling, I feel like,
with this Achilles thing and then last night with the knee,
and even when she won the second set, if you
go back and look at the tape, she kind of
like walked a little gingerly and it was a little
weird after the after the match, after the set point
to win the second set. So I don't know if
(08:07):
she's she was one hundred percent, But having said that,
for me, I'm so happy you saw how happy Vondrespa
was when she won that match with the tears, with
the interview with James Blake, and it was just really
nice to see someone that is so deservedly in a
latter part of a Grand Slam again and it just
makes me really happy because she's a great kid. And yeah,
(08:28):
I was super super happy to see that. Jessica Gooler him, well, look,
she was out. You know when we talked about Americans
that could do well, you know, just didn't come in
here playing really great tennis.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
And she was the first to admit it.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
One of the first questions we asked her at ESPN
when she came after winning her first round, and she said, look,
I'm aware I don't have the tennis under my belt.
I come in here a little bit unknown, not playing
as well as I did last year, and so I'm
fighting myself a little bit. But she's now starting to
really feel more comfortable. And after winning and getting through
to the final here last year, that's when you going, hey,
(09:00):
I can do this again. I maybe I can get
deeper in this tournament, maybe I can get the wins
that I need.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
And she's definitely doing that. I watched her practice this.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Morning, and I was really impressed because it seems like
she is she is dialing in, she's getting better match
to match, and I think especially when you come in
with that form, you know, that doesn't always happen.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Sometimes you pick up.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
An injury, you walk a little more mincingly across the baseline.
You know, it's shrder to shake off late nights or
rough battles.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
And I think Kagoula is dialing in. Yes, she feel
like she's really a threat, you know. And she she's.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
Always talked about how she didn't she didn't really feel
the ball that well, and the ball with a sudden this,
and she's very technical with the rackets and the stringing
and all that sort of stuff. But I think now
she's now that she's got a couple of matches under
a BELTI and playing well, she goes, oh, yeah, that's right.
I'm using the same equipment, I'm playing at the same place,
and I'm using the same ball. Oh that's right, I
can make the final. Okay, So look it only gets tougher.
(09:50):
But she does play ker Jikova, and they play similar
in a lot of way where they kind of hold
the ball on their strings and then it is like
an absolute like sling. So you think about a sling shot,
how it goes in, you pull it back and then
you're ping you let it go. That's how they both
hit the ball. So they hold the ball in their
string and then it freaking rifles off their.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
Rackets like so hard. So it that to me.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
I think that match, if they both play their best,
it's going to be a great match.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
So excited about that. One of the matches that we
started off talking about that we were hoping would be
a great match is the match we just watched on
Arthur Ash which ended up being a little bit of
a nothing burger in Ameo Soaker versus Cocoa Gap. Coco
has not looked good. She looked anxious. She's talked about it,
which I really respect. You know, that's okay. Obviously she's
just now hired a new Serve coach. We talked a
(10:38):
little bit about that. What were your takeaways from the match.
Was that as big a victory as it seemed or
was that kind of easy pickings for an amet.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
I mean, unfortunately it sort of went the way I
thought it was going to go.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
I think Naomi's playing great.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
I think Thomas Witkowski has done a terrific job in
coaching her. He's the type of personality that is not
fun to be around. He's just a boring dude. And
I say that not to give him shit. It's to
say he's not the type of guy that's going to
come up with some you know, shenanigans to make you happy,
or like go and buy you a little la boo
boo doll, or like look at too much analytics. He's
(11:11):
just going to make you practice really hard. He's going
to make everything simple, and he's going to make you
understand that you have to focus on every point.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Well, considering what he's dealing with Naomi, I cannot talk
about these lab boobos.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
I refuse. Yeah, do you think I'm talking about la boobos?
But I feel like that's just with the doctor order. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
I think that he is about business and about hitting
tennis balls and about hitting tennis balls the right way.
And you know he's not He's just not a fluff guy, right,
He's not a fluff guy. And Naomi has all her
fluff with her clothes and the laboo boo and all
the stuff that she does. But in the end, she
wants to win, and she's not real happy when she loses.
And I think that this guy is all about focusing
(11:50):
on making her a better tennis player and making her
realize what she does really really well. And one of
the biggest things that she was not doing well over
the last like I would say six months are coming back,
is she wasn't moving that well. And he's all about
working hard on the tennis court. And I think that
the more and more she wins quick as she's getting
on the court, the more comfortable she is. And the
(12:10):
opposite for Coco's not comfortable. She's fighting demons, she's fighting
her serve, she's fighting her aforehand. You know, Gavin's come
in to try and do his best to kind of
correct some of the stuff, but that's impossible to do
in a week. It's impossible, especially when they're real egregious
like her grips and her technique is really really tough
to change in a week.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Like will this be like Australian Open, will be seeing
this or do you think sooner?
Speaker 3 (12:34):
Like as I listen, we've talked about this. I already
said this on the podcast. I think she should take
the entire rest of the year off, the whole rest
of the year off and break every single thing down.
Because today we saw a more complete tennis player in
Naomi Osaka.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
She has a more complete serve. She has a better.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Grip on her I don't mean grip as in the
actual grip, but like a grip on her groundstrokes's forehand,
her backhand. She knows what she's doing. She sees a
short ball, she knows where she's going with it. Like
with the way Coco is sometimes it's like she doesn't
know whether to go high with the loopy or the four.
I mean match point was it just a basic forehand
in the middle of the net. So it's like Naomi
(13:17):
is a more complete tennis player right now.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
She's playing better.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
Coco cannot use just her speed on the court when
you're playing against someone that's going to hit you from
side to side and not really miss and hit it
really well and hard. And so can I tell you something,
Naomi when she gets to the quarters doesn't lose.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
She does not lose hysterically.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
She's eight and no eight and o I believe or
something like crazy. So so not she can't be eight no,
because she doesn't have that many Grand Slams, but she
doesn't lose a quarterfinals. So when she gets the quarter finals,
I think she's like eight no or something crazy. But
she's gonna be hard to beat. Naomi Osaka is gonna
be hard to beat. Who to win this years Open?
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Who else can? Who else? Is dangerous? We talked a lot.
Of course, Eagas played um leave all today.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
She should just dealt with Alexandrova, who can be a
yeah nuisance.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
Yeah, No, Eager is just I think went through. And
the thing with the ego is she struggled a little
bit in the first couple of rounds, didn't dropped a
set in the second round, was down five to two,
I believe, in the next match, and then came back
and won that match reasonably, comfortably, comfortably and straight. But
she's kind of battled and today was just like, oh yeah, guys,
(14:25):
remember when I get to the second week, speaking of
getting to the final, she never loses. So I think
I think Eager, you know, is down there lurking. She'll
play the winner of an Anisimova and Hadaj Maya, who
played later today.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Hopefully that's a good match. Amanda.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
Certainly we know how well she can do when she
gets deep in the tournament. She's kind of fighting her
own demons out in the court. She's a little bit
moody up and down. But I mean, overall the women's draw.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
The women have been delivering other than pretty great. The men.
I feel.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
Here and there, there's been some good matches, but I've
can kind of a second.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
Let me do it for you because I know how
excited you are.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
I'm so excited that Felix, as your elie seem a
won his match today. And not only did he win it,
he won it in three straight sets. Zeilan looking unbelievable
against Rublev, who's been playing pretty well in this tournament.
I have to say, I'm in a little bit of shock,
and the guys up in the green are getting I'm
getting said he's the third best.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
Player in the draw right.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
Now, behind of course and of course Carlos, but like this,
this is what we've been I would not put him
ahead of Novak, sorry, but anyway, I would put him
forth best.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
But what a what a what a triumphant turn of
events Zev.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
That match broke something open in Felix.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
I feel just the aggression the controlled poys We've seen
how good his physicality is. He's obviously won a lot
of indoor hardcore matches, but this to me was like
an amazing turning point. I saw something in an assertiveness
out of him that I had never seen, at least
not at this confidence, in this level.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
I don't know, he's just found some confidence. It's so
great to see. A match is going to be interesting.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
M Swagger.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
One match is going to be interesting tonight is Yanick
Sinner and Bublick. Now, Bublick has actually got a couple
of wins over Yanick, and he is no pushover. He's
playing unbelieve, he's serving out of his mind. It's going
to be really interesting to see.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
How that match turns out tonight.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
And then obviously we've got Carlitos we can talk about,
who has not really been pushed much. Obviously, we are
now getting to the business end of things where none
of these matches get easier.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
No, well then I'm supposed to get easier.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
But my guy Alex Demonoll looks good and I did
predict that he might make his.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
First semi final here you're so open and if he does.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
You heard it here first, Well, actually I said it
I said it like a week ago.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
I did predict that. I think he can get to
the semis.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
The big question for me is Novak and Taylor. Taylor,
I believe is oh and ten against Novak. And I
thought this morning we were kind of talking about this
at ESPN. I thought, if Taylor's gonna put up and
shut up about like wanting to actually take the next
set at the moment, this will be the moment because
if he can conjure up the mentality and game to
(17:16):
beat Novak, who's playing very well. If you can beat
Novak here and reverse that to ten, can that give
him enough confidence to go why not the rest?
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Yeah? Right? And so I don't feel like the kind
of he could be on the ascension.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Novak obviously always incredibly tough, but it does feel pretty
mrkedly that he's a little bit on the decline, and
it seems obvious in watching him play a little bit.
I think to me, that's like, this could be the
moment that Sling shouts Taylor enter the next level.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
Well, as I said, if he does, I think that's
got to give him a tremendous It kind of feels
like the way Sinner beat Novak at Wimbledon where he
just smoked him. I no, Novak was a bit injured,
but it kind of I felt when he beat Novak
that easy, it had to have given him so much
confidence to actually beat Carlos in the final of Wimbledon.
And I feel like with Taylor, if he can beat
Novak in this situation, it might actually give him enough
(18:09):
impetus to think, can I get.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
Back to the final again.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
I don't know if he can beat Carlos and see
how back to back to win the tournament, but I
have to think that it's gonna get It'll give him
a ton of confidence if he can beat Nova.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
One thing, and we've talked a lot about the American
men on the internet. Obviously everyone's been following Ben and
his injury. I see Francis, which.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
Can I tell you how sad I was to see
what happened? Rude man. You know, Francis is obviously having
an off year.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Timmy Paul battled two within an inch of his life
and just got bublicked, certainly in that you know, third
and fourth set. But really, Taylor, Fritz is the one
who's like put his head down and continue to just
continue showing up and I think for me that would
be an amazing turn of events.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
Now I know, are we done talking about the men?
Speaker 3 (18:53):
Well, I just want to say now, looking at the draw,
Alex Dmanoll plays FAA, so one of them is gonna
make a senn.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Are we gonna be able to handle that together? We'll
be fine, We'll still talk. I like that. I feel
like I did predict.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
That Alex was gonna make the semi, so I might
be reading a little bit harder for him.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
So I look good. It's all about me, Well, it
is all about you. This is the show's named.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
Even though I love FAA, it would be in the
end my ego matters more.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
That's the poor for this episode. That's it, Okay, the
most fun thing that I'm seeing. I'm about to go
watch it. You and I are both Can we talk
about the Venas Ball of the Century Williams Venus Williams
and country Woman Williams and my country woman, Layla Annie Fernandez?
Speaker 1 (19:35):
What you just nailed the middle names? I did. And
it's my confirmation name, you know, and it's my mother's name. Well,
there you go. So first of all, it's awesome.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
Second of all, I don't know if you follow Serena
on TikTok.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
But she did a hilarious TikTok where.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
She did a video of them winning the other day
and then put and was like all fake happy and
then was like not happy about it.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
So I don't know seeing your f I'm doubles partner
win a bunch of matches, are they well?
Speaker 3 (20:02):
I mean, I will say, as you know, coaching seren
A couple of years ago here at the US soap
and playing doubles with Venus on Arthur Ash, Venus did
not play great. Yes, she did not see her best.
She was a little bit. I was like, I think
it's time. And now all of a sudden she's found
this resurgence hitting the ball unbelievable. She almost beat Mukhova,
who's still in the tournament. Like, and you know, Venus
(20:25):
plays unbelievable in doubles, and Serena's like, what WTF where.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
Was this four years ago? We's got to be pissed off,
like we could have won the doubles yet played a
little better.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
And exactly, well, that's the most fun, delayful thing. And
I'm mostly excited, not only because I get to cheer
on my Countrywomen and Venus Avenue Williams, but also what
is she gonna wear?
Speaker 1 (20:44):
Well, we don't know.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
I love that out the gifts out there gifts And
in the first round people were probably like, she looks
like she's playing at Wimboleland, and I would have been like, no,
pay attention, She's doing the O to out THEA gifts.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
That's where they need to listen to this podcast so
they can get the levels upon levels. It's shall we
uh go check out that amazing doubles match and check
in before the end of the week, because I think
we gotta just maybe come back in with one more
podcast before the finals.
Speaker 3 (21:09):
Oh yeah, we'll definitely be doing that. Let's hope Venus
and Layla win. They're playing great. Taylor's a good little
doubles player, has made a final of her Grand Slam
before with Taylor Townsend, who is also Taylor still in
the doubles with sneak Kova, uh and her. We'll be
talking a lot about their that match with Kujikova yesterday
because we know that Sinney Kova and Kujika play doubles
(21:29):
for a long time, so I can imagine the stories
that they'll be telling each other today.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
I sometimes I do wish I spook check me too,
or Russian or both.
Speaker 3 (21:37):
Actually, if there was one superpower that I would like,
it would be like to understand every language in the
world to right and speak it.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
I agree, Yes, yeah, I only speak of when I'm drunk,
and and well I'm not great.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
I'm speaking when I'm drunk, I speaking English and it
doesn't sound like English, so technically I do speak another
language anyway. All right, thanks for listening and the sites
and literally the sounds of the US open here from
the media room.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
Awesome, Hi bank
Speaker 2 (22:01):
B
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