July 14, 2025 • 34 mins
No we will NOT be talking about any foolishness (male) that happened during the culmination of grass court season (looking at you Ackman, Bill and Kyrgios, Nicholas) and instead we will celebrate what needs celebrating: 2025 Singles Champions Iga Swiatek and Jannik Sinner, whose feet were fleet, shoulders relaxed and strike zones aided by sun-hardened courts. A look back at some glorious also rans from both draws with special shout outs to the spectacular tournament for Amanda Anisimova and the Sliding Doors tragedy of Grigor Dmitrov.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:13):
Anyway, this is the Renee Stubs Tennis podcast, and I
am Renee Stubs. It's a little jet lagged, a little tied.
It's been a tough week, Caitlin. As anybody that follows
the pod knows what happened to my mum. So it's
a it's been a tough week. But I tell you what,
it's good to see your friend. We're talking to each
other on zoom. Caitlyn Thompson in New York City. Caitlan, Wow,
(00:33):
what a great one woman. Oh my goodness. We had
some great matches throughout those that you know, one final
was amazing, the other one not so much. But let's
get into it all.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
I can't wait to get into it all. I really
appreciated the fact that I feel like there were a
lot of new watchers of this year because everyone was
talking about how chaotic it was. They're like, oh, this
woman is so chaotic, got all of these seeds, and
it's like, have you not ever seen like this happens
every year? This is this is carnage, you know. Obviously,
it was great to get the on the scene report
(01:04):
from you and our friend Andrea Petkovich after the first
week talking about some of those crazy upsets. Why maybe
Coco losing early was not a crazy upset. Just you know,
this is part of it, right, Like grass is the
most unpredictable surface and we get a lot of you know,
interesting results. That's said to have Cinner and Alcoraz in
the final on the men's side was something that a
lot of people, probably before the tournament would have said,
(01:26):
that's probably going to be the final. And it was
to see Good in the final not the craziest thing.
She was, after all, coming in a five time grandsime
winner and somebody who you know was used to being
in grandson finals maybe just not this one. Amanda nisi Mova, Yes,
a little bit unexpected, but anybody who had seen her
play a Queen's and know what she's capable of, was
not the craziest thing to imagine. But before we get
(01:49):
to the finals, about which I suspect we have plenty
to say, anything strike you in the run up to
the last couple of matches, I would love to spend
a little bit of time talking about Gregordan Mitro playing
yen X, who maybe was a lot bit of a
sliding doors moment. You know, one timeline goes one way.
The other timeline goes another way. Obviously, we can talk
(02:10):
a little bit about Arena Sabalanka, who I think a
lot of people thought would win this tournament losing to
Nisov and the semis. You know, I'd love to get
before we get into those last matches that we just
watched Saturday and Sunday on the singles, what were your
thoughts about some of the more notable second week tournament
tournament matches.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Well, I mean talk about sliding doors moment. You're so right, right,
I mean the you know, the thing that changed in
the universe in that match. Now, do we know that
Gregor Dimitrov was going to win in three sets and
four sets and five sets? We don't know, right, Do
we think that Cine might have come back, We don't know.
The bottom line is he was down two sets of
love on grass, and we know how well Gregor Demetrov
(02:49):
has played through the years on grass, and also Yanix
Sina hadn't really he made the semis up Wimbledon, but
you know, I hadn't really, I guess been super you know,
good on grass, you could and Grego was very good
on grass. So to see that happened, Oh, my god.
I mean, he tore it off the sternum bone. His
(03:10):
muscle tore off the sternum bone. Actually spoke to him
a couple of days ago on text, just to you know,
we've been friends for a long time, and I just said,
I cannot believe that that injury happened. I've had strained
my peck in the past, but to tear it off
the sternum that is wild.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
It sounds like it's such a serious injury that he
is technically slated to be back for the US Open,
But it's sort of hard to imagine that he's going
to be back for the US Open. I mean, that
was a profoundly upsetting thing to watch, especially if you're
a Grugo Demetro fan who's kind of been waiting for
his big moment for years and years and years. Obviously,
the guys on a lot of tournaments, he's never really
(03:47):
had a lot of Grand Slam success, much less, you know,
gotten himself to a final to even be in contention
for a title. But you know, a longtime player, favorite,
a long time considered like super nice guy. Nobody watching
him can deny that he plays the game at an
elite beautiful flavor, and this seemed like his moment he
was rolling on the Yenix Center. Who you know, it
(04:09):
didn't look like he was playing terrible, but Grego Treatrov
had all the answers and Yenix sitter had none. Looking
after the fact that Yanix Center lifts this trophy at
the end of the tournament when he was really not
in that match, is yeah, again a little bit of
a sliding doors moment for a lot of people who
were kind of watching watching what happened totally.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
When he ended up getting through that match and I
knew that he was playing Novak, I thought part of
him has to feel a huge such a relief that
it's almost like he feels like now as opposed to
all the pressure to win the tournament or to do
well on grass, it's almost like it sort of released
him to be like you're kind of like you're kind
(04:55):
of lucky still be in some ways, so just like
play fleet freely, like don't play with with any sort
of tightness. And that's what he looked like in the semis.
I mean, obviously Novak was a little hampered, but Yanik
was unbelievable in that match, and I think he's just
released so much pressure on him getting through that match
with Greg Goldher. It was kind of like, I feel
lucky to be here still, so fuck it right, just
(05:17):
play now. And that's exactly how he played the semis
and the finals. I mean, you the Tennessee played in
those two matches at some of the best ti I've
ever seen at Wimbledon one.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
I mean, he looked locked into a degree that he
hasn't looked basically outside of a hardcourt ever, which is
not to say he's not capable of that level. But
the focus he seemed to find, as you suggests, might
have been because he felt freed by relief and just
you know, uh, the ability to put that match behind
(05:51):
him with Demitrov. Let's before we talk about the aucrast final,
let's talk a little bit about the semifinal from Novak Djokovic,
which a lot of people, you know, I don't love
like dwelling on retirement talk, and I think that's like
not always the most interesting way to frame somebody's uh,
you know, performance in a Slam. Certainly not when we
have information that suggests that it was his you know,
no Vak Jovich Djokovic's last Wimbledon. But I think a
(06:13):
lot of people you included, thought, okay, well, if he's
going to get another title on at a Slam, it's
probably going to happen at Wimbledon. That's the one's most likely.
And also it tends to favor the aged because it's
a little faster in the points to last is long,
and if you're you know, on the on the wrong
side of thirty five heading into forty, like you know,
you can potentially, you know, playing attacking style of tennis
(06:36):
that shortens points and and maybe gets you, uh, you know,
gets you out of out of matches quicker than the
five side grind you know on clay. So anyway, this
is a long way of saying, what do you think
about Novak Djokovic?
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Yeah, that was a really long life asking me that question.
But just kidding, listen, I think that I don't know,
I'm not in his brain, and this is the greatest
playerable time, so where I don't you know, I don't
pretend to think that he's not capable of doing, you know,
great things still because that's who he is. But at
(07:09):
some point father time catches up with you, and the
amount of injuries that you've actually had in tournaments now,
whether it be slipping over or you know, various injuries
through the last couple of years. It's like, it's kind
of what happens when you get injured. When you're older,
you tend to get injured a little bit more, and
you tend to break down here and you tend to
break down there. And that's starting to really be a factor.
(07:30):
And not only that you're playing against you know, Yannick
Sinner and colors Alcarez, who have arguably taken what you've
done for the last twenty something years and possibly even
elevated it. And the reason they've elevated it is because
they've had to elevate it to beat the like the
likes of a Rafa Nada and then of course even
more so a bat Djokovic. So I just think at
(07:53):
some point you start going just they're just a little
bit better than me, now, you know what I mean.
And there's there's absolutely no one out there that's an
expert that'll be like, oh, that's that's awful. No, that's
that's genetics, that's life, that's getting older, and that's these
young twenty two twenty three year old guys that are stronger,
a little bit quicker, hit the ball a little bit harder,
(08:15):
are just better than you now. And that's not doesn't
have any slate on what you've clearly achieved in your
career as the greatest player of all time.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
No. I mean, I think if anything, you know, as
your results start to decline, as your body starts to
sort of as you suggest, like you know, be be
hampered by persistent stuff that it keeps crapping up. You know,
there's a lot of ways to call it a day.
And I think, you know, we've seen everything from you know,
(08:44):
stephie Graff winning a title, the last one, you know,
and then just saying well the next day, like that
was it.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
You missed it by well actually no, she she actually
defaulted a match and said that's it, peace out. I'm
the French finals of Wimbledon, like the second round of
something in San Diego, got hurt in the match and default,
you know, gave her any trasia, you know, walkover in
the match with her hands and never played again.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
I was like what Yeah, and then become Venus Williams,
who technically is still unretired. I mean, she just took
a wild card to the tournament you're going to next
the City Open in DC. Like Venus Williams, does she
still play professional tennis? Like the answer is kind of
like whenever she wants to, you know, which is cool
Williams like, she's incredible. She was like one of my
(09:29):
childhood heroes, even though there was a tame age. But
I think for me, the the Novak Djokovic, you know,
retirement talk until he retires, you know, it's all just speculative,
but it does definitely feel like the page has been turned,
which I think was equivocally to take the correct take
on what It's not only this tournament, but did the
French Open. You know, a lot of what's been happening
(09:51):
really in the last like eighteen months on the tour
has now been like okay, well now we're in the
era of Carlos Operas in the X Center.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Yeah, I mean, listen. I think that he's so of
hinted that the last Grand Slam will be austray and Open,
and I think the reason for that is that's been
his most successful, winning at nine times, so I think
that it's not a bad way for him to go
out if he decides to. It's clearly been the best
place for him to win a Grand Slam. If he
can get to twenty five, that's probably where he's going
(10:18):
to do it. I thought that he is best chance
was also at Wimbledon, so that's now slipped away. But
I think that he probably almost feels like he not
ows it's kind of Australia has been so your curl
in his life, right, He's had such successes, He's had
so many, you know, very dramatic moments in his life
where he was treated very unpoorly by the Australian government.
(10:38):
So it's an interesting dichotomy. But I think that that's
where he wants to finish his career and I think
that probably will be his last Grand Slam. But anyway,
aside from that, we'll just finish off the guys because
we've been talking about them. I mean, Taylor Fritz. Got
to give the guy a lot of credit. He really
(10:59):
is pushing and pushing and pushing. There's a few things
that he just has to raise his level on. And
when you see the tennis that we saw in the final,
you just see the little, little tiny things that just
are the difference maker. When he is playing against Sinner,
at the US Open and then Carlos Alcroz at Wimbledon,
and so but I want to give Kurdos to Taylor
because my god, did he fight through so many long
(11:20):
matches and incredible matches and it was just keep going,
keep going, because you're so close. But these two guys
are just exceptional. It's kind of like, you know, Andy
Roddick trying to win a tournament. It's like this guy
Federer and Nadahal and all these guys get getting in
front of him. So, but what awesome tournament, but just
not quite good enough against al Chist.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Yeah, I do want to I want to double down
on that a little bit, just because I think Taylor
Fritz kind of reminds me of like an Andy Murray
tape where it's like, Okay, you're in this era of
two exceptionally gifted, exceptionally talented multag and you won a
lot of Grand slams, and you want a lot of
Grand slams. He won Wimbledon twice and he won two
gold medals. You know, but I and I think, and
(12:02):
it was open and the tour finals, I mean, listen,
and Andy Murray had an enviable career and is one
of the greatest of all time in an era where
the two and then three of the other greatest were
also just absolutely dominant. So the fact that he got
in there at all was amazing. If anything, that should
be an inspiration to Taylor Fritz, which is to say,
you know, I feel like this guy has come unbelievably
(12:25):
far and optimizing his talents, optimizing his mental strength, optimizing
his weapons, Let's see how much further he can get.
And I hope that that's a challenge, not an insult
to say, Like he's clearly made incredible strides, there's still
considerable distance. And I think that Alcarez Final, even though
(12:46):
it was four sets and some of those sets went
to tiebreaks, oh it wasn't. It didn't feel. It didn't
feel like Taylor Fritz was in control of that match.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
It wasn't big enough. No, no, no, no, he wasn't.
He wasn't. But let's talk about the final, because, as
you know, I am still in Australia. I'm coming back
to New York on Thursday, but I am watching tennis
like I used to watch tennis when I was a child,
which is at two o'clock and three o'clock in the morning. Okay,
So I got up to watch the women's going to
(13:15):
not lie. It was kind of nice if it was
quick because I was very tired. But the next night
I'm sitting up the match that's a one okay, one am,
and I'm thinking, okay, I'm going to watch a set.
I'm going to see how I feel about watching it.
If I want to stay up, it's going to be
a real commitment, right. So this first set, I'm like
that set point that Carlos reaches out to slice that
(13:39):
back end into the open court after Yanicksinn hit one
of the greatest foehands on the run I've ever seen,
was I was like, how the f did I go
to bed and not watch the rest of this match?
Speaker 2 (13:50):
Okay?
Speaker 1 (13:51):
So I sit there and again it gets to five
to four and the second yannicks Inner plays one of
the sickest games I've seen to win that game to
win the second set, and I'm like, how can I
do to sleep? It was just like it just kept
getting better and better and better. And I said it
in a tweet a couple of days previous. The hot
weather and it was so hot in London this year,
(14:12):
like super hot. I knew a straightaway when I saw
the conditions through those two weeks, I knew that it
was a real chance for Yanick, and I knew that
it was a better chance for Eager. And the hot conditions,
no doubt helped Yannick's game his bigger more, he's super more.
He's a little bit more aggressive, particularly on the forehand.
And the serve, the serve was the factor and the
(14:34):
second serve was a huge factor and that's the difference.
And I think the harder conditions helped be time today.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Can you just expand on that a little bit. I'm
just thinking of all the all the tennis fanatics, but
amateur prognostic here, as I spent the weekend with who
listened to this podcast, who watched and sat with Jaza Geeb?
You know at that at the that's final. But what
exactly is it besides you know, he can be more
aggressive on the surf, What exactly is it about the harder,
(15:03):
faster court that a harder maybe bounce your court that
helps the anccenter and maybe get yards towards Egan and
Yannik as opposed to Carlos and other women.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
Yeah, so the small little things like if it's a
bit the grass is a little bit softer, means it's
a little bit more dew right through the two weeks,
maybe a bit of rain, you know, and it's kind
of grassier, and it's just softer right when it's when
you get a lot of when you get a lot
of sun, it just gets harder and harder and harder. Right,
So the ball is going to hit the grass and
it's going to bounce up a little bit higher. So
(15:35):
for someone like Yannick, who's a lot taller than Carlos,
the ball's going into his heading zone a lot better.
It's going right into that area where he can really
smack it. And the slice from Carlos is not going
to be as an effective shot because that also is
not going to sort of die, and his drop shots
aren't going to just die on the grass. They're going
to actually bounce up. There's little tiny factors like that
(15:57):
that do make a difference with someone like Yannick, who
there can sort of take advantage of his bigger ball
striking because the ball's not being as affected by the
different conditions that a grassier, softer court would be for Carlos.
And so I think that was a huge factor. And
the same thing for Eager. The ball is you know,
(16:17):
jumping on her second serve, it's bouncing a bit higher,
gives her a little bit more time on the forehand
and the back end. Frankly, but they just suited both
of their games so much more than Amanda. I mean
suited Amanda too, but she was just overcome with nerves.
But we'll get to that. But for someone like Yannick,
the ball is coming up higher and he's sitting zone
and he can be way aggressive with it. That's what
(16:37):
he was today.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
Yeah, clearly. I mean I think for a lot of us,
you know, slate poisons toward Carlos Alchoras, although you know,
new insult intended toward Danic center, like the usual magic
was not able to be conjured. You know, maybe ball
set up or drop shots lingered. You know, it looked
like his tools were not as readily accessible, and he
(17:00):
looked a lot of you know, out of sorts. Obviously,
the highest levels that were cheap in the match were
unbelievably high. And I saw an analysis that said, and
I think this is generally true, but you know, I'm
curious if you agree with that. You know, Carlos Alcaraz's
highest level is higher than Yannix, but his lowest level
is way lower. And so even though Yannick Centers is
(17:22):
in that band reliably, you know, that's just like such
an interesting, interesting contrast. And I think that was true
in the match, Like Carlos had incredible peaks, but a
lot of it was he wasn't able to I think
some in some of his gradest moments, which you know,
again credits to Yanick center for for forcing him out
of his favorite you know, sort of shots and patterns.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
I saw that tweet. I think it was from Chris Clary,
and I think I agree to a certain extent that
his the Alchoriz is low is definitely lower than Yanix,
There's no question about that. I would disagree that the
high is not as high as Alcoriz's because I think Yanik,
when he hits the ball big, his ability to brush
(18:04):
the ball and hit into corners is incredible. Does he
have the flare of Alcrez. No, But you can't really
say that that top level is as good as Alcrez,
So I disagree with that.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
But I think the difference Claire, So maybe that's what.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
Yeah, Yeah, I think for me, it's like if Yannick
said his A plus, I mean, he can be Pallos
at his A plus, There's no question about that, particularly
on a court like today that was a little bit
bouncy here and a little bit faster, and he served better.
That's what it came down to. I mean, even the
game when he held to go at five to three
in the second set and he was down fifteen forty,
(18:41):
he went huge on the second serve to the forehand side,
like one p thirty on a second serve out wide,
and that really caught Carlos off. And the same thing,
I believe in the next one. So for me, it
was like he was more aggressive on the second serve
and he was willing to take the chances that he
maybe didn't take it.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Yeah, I think that, you know, kind of contextualizes this.
I mean, the last seven Slams have now been worn
by Alcaraz and center and so not to get prognostication game,
but I think those of us going into this year
ni looking at I mean, I'm not even gonna like
(19:21):
wager guests on like the final number one. All this
said and done, and these guys are you know, at
the very ends of their careers, counting their Slam titles.
But I think, like looking at to is open, I
think before this year you and I have talked about
and I think most people would agree. Okay, Alcoraz has
the edge at least right now on natural surfaces and
Sinner's got the edge on on the Australian. I have
(19:41):
to say I think Center has the edge going into
the US as.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Well, no question, no question. Hardcore is as we know,
he's best surface, and he has the footing, the balls
bouncing up very similar to today, and so it without
question is his best surface. Tallas is the more natural mover.
We talked about it before the French Open and Wimbledon,
and I think that's that's why he was the favorite
for both again, is because he's such a great natural
(20:07):
move And it's interesting that Janick whent one on grass
and Carlos won on clay, and you would probably say
that maybe it should have been flipped right, but that
just shows you that they're both becoming so good on
all surfaces. But I do think that Janick has the
edge on the hard courts. So it's it's just going
to be a beautiful race between the two of them.
It's just like it's very similar to Rufa and Roger.
(20:31):
Rufa was going to wear a lot of clay and
Roger was going to win a lot of grass, and
it was who could pinch the couple of hard courts
against each other, and who could pinch maybe a French
or maybe a Wimbledon. So that's what it's getting to
now with Yanick and with Gullis, and I am so
year for it.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
Sam. I mean, I also want to give the edge
to Yanick center because he was wearing a collar, so
we saw a colored shirt in the final and I
think that might have been the difference maker. The top
button was buttoned, so you know, we're looking at minute details,
but really like it doesn't come down to much.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
Well, one thing I do want to say in stress
before we get to the women's what an incredible two
men we have at the top of the men's game.
Dear Lloyd. That speech that jani'sinner gave after the French Open,
we talked about it was extraordinary. I've never felt worse
for a tennis player than I did that day when
Yanick lost that match, having three match points and serving
(21:25):
for the title and all the things, and I thought,
what a gracious speech he got off there, particularly after
the one the day before, which wasn't so gracious from
a little bil Russian. But Yannick gets up there after
and he's so exemplary in this speech and congratulates Carlos
and his team and thanks his team for getting to
(21:48):
the final, and it was a great effort. It was
just like it was the most amazing speech. And I
just feel like when we saw the speeches from the
two of them yesterday after women that he was like, oh,
thank god, you two are going to save men's tennis
for twenty years. This is awesome.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
It's true. And it was looking real dicey there with
the Sandwich generation of you know, Medvedev, who I love,
but you know he's mercurial, mercurial, it's Verev, you know,
which you know, the less said about the better dommy team,
who's you know already in the ranks that they're retired,
and Tisipas, who you know, is sort of out on
(22:25):
a great spiritual walk about at the moment, and so
like for me, just like this idea that these guys
have come along and like just in time, it's sort
of reminiscent of before, you know, before fetter and adults
started winning everything, there was a real crisis in men's tennants,
basically post agacy, like between two thousand and like two
thousand and five or so, like who's going to take
it up? The women were overshadowing them, you know. It
(22:46):
was really like, oh wow. And that's certainly the feeling
that I think a lot of us have had the
last couple of years, where it's like, oh, well, the
women's game, it's like, actually much more interesting, And here's
come along these two guys in the early twenties and like,
let's see what happens for the thint twenty years.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
It's so hard to it against either of them. And
I loved him. It is a little bit more like
he was like, come on, crowd, give me some love,
giving me some love a little bit today. I just
love that they're both so different. They're so different, but
they are two of the nicest guys you will ever
ever ever meet. So I don't want to.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
I don't want to put any negative note in here,
but do you want to address the fact that Nick
Curious tweeted an asterisk? I have no, no, I.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
Don't want to even talk about that. I don't need
to give that time.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
Great, she's reclaiming her time, folks, I.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
Am reclaiming my time. Let's talk about the ladies.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
Claiming your time. To talk about the ladies. Where to start?
Speaker 1 (24:15):
Let's start with how incredible tournament Amanda Anissa overhad Okay
before we get to the final, to have achieved what
she's achieved after taking a mental breakaway from sport after
the loss of her father at such a young age,
who was her mentor her coach, and having lost a
parent in the last week and a bit, I'll tell
you what to do it at that age. Incredible that
(24:37):
she's been able to even come back and be the
person that she is and she is a really really
sweet girl and to come back after having that break
and to get herself into these positions is awesome. She's
one of WT one thousand this year. She's had a
great year so far. And to beat Sabalanka in that
semi final and get through the matches that she did,
(24:58):
zudos dude finals of Queens look Out. She's back and
she's in the top ten and that's where she deserves
to be because she's that good.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
And you know, like I was saying in the in
the beginning moments of the show today, you know, if
anybody started to play at Queen's which was the tournament
immediately preceding womenon where she gets to the finals and
went down to Taitana Maria who was summoning like true grass,
you know, excellence. This is somebody who had was very
(25:28):
comfortable on the surface and had gone through a murderer's
row of really great players on her way to the finals.
Like that was incredibly well deserved in terms of her.
You know, her was obviously semi final against Sabolenka, who
I think again a lot of us thought was her
(25:49):
tournament to capture, especially after having lost to like very
tough in the in the preceding two slams, one to
Madison Keys that sam is the Australian, the other to
Coco in the finals of the French But you know, yeah,
let's maybe start there.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
But see, the thing is Sabalanca is, look, you have
to pick her everywhere she goes, because she's been so
consistently good at the Grand Slams as well. But I
just I don't feel like she moves well enough on grass,
and you have to be able to move. Listen, she
has the weapon. So yes, you can hit anyone off
the court and not move that well. There's been a
(26:30):
couple of won the tournament and that's the case. But
if you look traditionally at the winners of Wimbledon in
women's singles, they're very athletic, very athletic, and so if
you're not serving someone off the court and crushing every
single ball, which so Abalanka can do, you've still got
to be able to manage the footwork and you've got
to manage those little things. And if she gets a
(26:52):
bit off balance on grass, you can see it a
lot more than you can on a hard court, for example,
where she can just push off and be so much
more aggressive, and clay she might get a little bit
more time to get somewhere right. So I think on grushy,
just to me, she still looks uncomfortable moving on it,
and maybe that might be the difference, you know, with
(27:12):
her winning the tournament or not. If you look at
eger the way that Eager moves great on every surface, right,
it was just a matter of her being able to
you know, adjust with the forehand and you know, be
more aggressive with the serve. Which was clearly a positive
thing for her through this tournament. Her serving stats were
through the roof such good serving and that won or
a lot of matches and won them very easily. But
(27:33):
the heart of the court, the drier, the conditions, she
was always going to help her as well. And I
could see that through the week, and I thought she's
going to be the one look out.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
Yeah. And I think also, you know, maybe having had
a rough kind of similar to what you were saying
about Center and demitrav like maybe having a rough eighteen
months where she didn't win a single tailor much as
her grandson Taylor, where she was really kind of in
the wilderness herself, sort of trying to figure out what
was going on, coming into a tournament that pretty much
nobody thought she was gonna have a chance in much
(28:04):
less win and then just being freed of pressure, free
to sort of focus on the things that she does
well helped a little bit by the hardness of the
court and the bounce. Yeah, it was like sort of
I would like to see this version of Ega more
where she doesn't look pained, she doesn't look stressed, she
doesn't look anxious, she doesn't look upset and she's just
moving well and playing free. I you know, I had
(28:26):
the chance to watch her when she was like really
really young, when she won the French Open Girls, and
I think that same year she won the Wimbledon Girls.
So you know, obviously like she can win on grass,
but she smiled on the court, and I just want
to sort of take a moment and say, like, what
a nice thing it was to see. And it was
really nice to see her dancing in the pictures with
NNIX Center or the Wimbledon ball. You know, like there
(28:47):
is something to the joyousness of release and relief, and
you know, I want to say that I like this
version of ego because it doesn't feel like you're watching
somebody play a pained way and it feels like, you know,
it was it was sort of it was a nice
thing to do. I mean, obviously when you're not being
pushed very hard, which she wasn't in her last two matches,
(29:09):
because not only did that Anissimova match go real fast,
the match she played before with Benchic, who's no slouch
like Belinda Benchich is you know, an elite player, She's
a gold medal in her closet, Like she went through
some incredibly tough matches to get to the to the Semis,
and you know, she didn't make much of a stand
against Ega either, So it wasn't so much Anisimova collapsing
(29:30):
in the final, although I definitely think the nerves and
the pressure got to her undoubtedly, but Eaga's level in
those last two matches was pretty unreal if if she
also pretty much blanked Benchitch at least in one of
those sets.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
Yeah, I mean, listen, didn't somebody who beat Caroline to
police show over in the finals that royan oh and
one two with one of the biggest serves in the world,
and she played to get to the final, Like you know,
I know, rhyme's not like Wimbledon, but it's it's still
she can beat some of the best players in the
world like oh and one. There's a reason why we
like call it the Eagers. She onto you know, bake,
It's like it's like that's what she does when she's on.
(30:03):
It's like, look out. She's the most similar person and personality,
not playing style obviously, but just personality as Steffi Graff.
It's just like head down, momentum doesn't stop. You do
not take anything for granted, and you just keep going right.
And so that's the similarity for me with Steffy, with
Eager Shantek. But listen, even in the final, she didn't
(30:25):
waiver at all. She just kept doing the right thing.
And look, it's clear that Amanda was completely frozen in
the final. She was probably spent from when the semi
final came out in that match and just you know,
depleted and then also incredibly nervous. You could tell that
her movement was she wasn't the same mover. It was
like Eager would go and hear to ball and she
would just start moving to one side. There was no
(30:48):
sense of balance on the court. And I just thought, oh,
she's just she's just frozen. And it happens. It happens,
and she was exhausted and so she, without question will
learn from this and it will make her at a player.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
Yeah, and I think the idea for me that you know,
there's anything other than just like, let's applaud this girl
for what she's been through and how she as you
said at the top of the podcast, like you know,
you know what it is to lose a parent, especially
at a young age, that she did, like you know,
she's she's been, she's had a she's had a lot
of life, and I think for me, the idea that
(31:20):
she's back here at the highest levels of the game,
where I think a lot of us knew she always deserved.
To me, is a really lovely a lovely thing. Now
are we done talking about the women and any other
random observations.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
I just she congrats to IgA. Was just awesome to
watch and I knew she could play well on grass
and she trusted herself and she did it.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
So congrets to her. What are we doing that, Yolene asked,
the Pinko didn't win Wimbledon along with chaseu Way uh
and then women's final. Uh, you know, at least a
pretends uh coming back, you know again just minor minor
quibbles here here and there. I thought Wimbledon this year
was amazing. I do have to ask you because there
(32:04):
was a, you know, a lot of talk, especially after
the tn T rights acquisition of the French Open. There's
a lot of talk in this country anyway about some
of the commentary and the ways that you know, tennis
can and should keep improving. Now, without wanting to put
you on any kind of hot seat. What was it
(32:25):
like for you watching Wimbledon from the from the broadcast?
Obviously you're in Australia, but like, what was it like
watching as a as a fan as opposed to being there?
Calling it sucks?
Speaker 1 (32:40):
I'd rather much rather be there, much rather be calling
it you're writing it. There's nothing like watching tennis live.
Watching it on TV is great, but you cannot get
the sense of how hard people hit the ball, you
feel the energy. So no, being being at Wimbledon is
you know, one of the great things that I still
get to do, and so you know, it's always it's
(33:03):
always great to be a part of the coverage, but yeah,
I want to be there on site.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
All right. Well, the update from over here is I've
just completed a successful edition of wimbled Down. My friend
Don has a birthday celebration grass court tennis tournament at
her home every year called wimbled Down. So, Claire, my
wife and I just won Wimbledon. So I didn't know
you were talking about champion today, but you are.
Speaker 1 (33:30):
Did not did not know?
Speaker 2 (33:31):
Yeah, I'm up you center, I'm a two time wimbled
Down champion. Let's just be clear about the pronunciation. Her
name is okay, and then then I'm going to grass
Court Nationals later today in Philadelphia. We'll see what happens.
Speaker 1 (33:44):
All right, We'll get that chip and charge out because
that fourhand of yours that's not so good on the grass.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
I want to take any slander. You haven't seen my
fourhead in about two years, so anyway, that's the slander.
Speaker 1 (33:55):
Hey guys, yeah you too, Thanks for joining us. Guys,
see you next week.
Speaker 2 (34:01):
Baye
Anyway, this is the Renee Stubs Tennis podcast, and I
am Renee Stubs. It's a little jet lagged, a little tied.
It's been a tough week, Caitlin. As anybody that follows
the pod knows what happened to my mum. So it's
a it's been a tough week. But I tell you what,
it's good to see your friend. We're talking to each
other on zoom. Caitlyn Thompson in New York City. Caitlan, Wow,
(00:33):
what a great one woman. Oh my goodness. We had
some great matches throughout those that you know, one final
was amazing, the other one not so much. But let's
get into it all.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
I can't wait to get into it all. I really
appreciated the fact that I feel like there were a
lot of new watchers of this year because everyone was
talking about how chaotic it was. They're like, oh, this
woman is so chaotic, got all of these seeds, and
it's like, have you not ever seen like this happens
every year? This is this is carnage, you know. Obviously,
it was great to get the on the scene report
(01:04):
from you and our friend Andrea Petkovich after the first
week talking about some of those crazy upsets. Why maybe
Coco losing early was not a crazy upset. Just you know,
this is part of it, right, Like grass is the
most unpredictable surface and we get a lot of you know,
interesting results. That's said to have Cinner and Alcoraz in
the final on the men's side was something that a
lot of people, probably before the tournament would have said,
(01:26):
that's probably going to be the final. And it was
to see Good in the final not the craziest thing.
She was, after all, coming in a five time grandsime
winner and somebody who you know was used to being
in grandson finals maybe just not this one. Amanda nisi Mova, Yes,
a little bit unexpected, but anybody who had seen her
play a Queen's and know what she's capable of, was
not the craziest thing to imagine. But before we get
(01:49):
to the finals, about which I suspect we have plenty
to say, anything strike you in the run up to
the last couple of matches, I would love to spend
a little bit of time talking about Gregordan Mitro playing
yen X, who maybe was a lot bit of a
sliding doors moment. You know, one timeline goes one way.
The other timeline goes another way. Obviously, we can talk
(02:10):
a little bit about Arena Sabalanka, who I think a
lot of people thought would win this tournament losing to
Nisov and the semis. You know, I'd love to get
before we get into those last matches that we just
watched Saturday and Sunday on the singles, what were your
thoughts about some of the more notable second week tournament
tournament matches.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Well, I mean talk about sliding doors moment. You're so right, right,
I mean the you know, the thing that changed in
the universe in that match. Now, do we know that
Gregor Dimitrov was going to win in three sets and
four sets and five sets? We don't know, right, Do
we think that Cine might have come back, We don't know.
The bottom line is he was down two sets of
love on grass, and we know how well Gregor Demetrov
(02:49):
has played through the years on grass, and also Yanix
Sina hadn't really he made the semis up Wimbledon, but
you know, I hadn't really, I guess been super you know,
good on grass, you could and Grego was very good
on grass. So to see that happened, Oh, my god.
I mean, he tore it off the sternum bone. His
(03:10):
muscle tore off the sternum bone. Actually spoke to him
a couple of days ago on text, just to you know,
we've been friends for a long time, and I just said,
I cannot believe that that injury happened. I've had strained
my peck in the past, but to tear it off
the sternum that is wild.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
It sounds like it's such a serious injury that he
is technically slated to be back for the US Open,
But it's sort of hard to imagine that he's going
to be back for the US Open. I mean, that
was a profoundly upsetting thing to watch, especially if you're
a Grugo Demetro fan who's kind of been waiting for
his big moment for years and years and years. Obviously,
the guys on a lot of tournaments, he's never really
(03:47):
had a lot of Grand Slam success, much less, you know,
gotten himself to a final to even be in contention
for a title. But you know, a longtime player, favorite,
a long time considered like super nice guy. Nobody watching
him can deny that he plays the game at an
elite beautiful flavor, and this seemed like his moment he
was rolling on the Yenix Center. Who you know, it
(04:09):
didn't look like he was playing terrible, but Grego Treatrov
had all the answers and Yenix sitter had none. Looking
after the fact that Yanix Center lifts this trophy at
the end of the tournament when he was really not
in that match, is yeah, again a little bit of
a sliding doors moment for a lot of people who
were kind of watching watching what happened totally.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
When he ended up getting through that match and I
knew that he was playing Novak, I thought part of
him has to feel a huge such a relief that
it's almost like he feels like now as opposed to
all the pressure to win the tournament or to do
well on grass, it's almost like it sort of released
him to be like you're kind of like you're kind
(04:55):
of lucky still be in some ways, so just like
play fleet freely, like don't play with with any sort
of tightness. And that's what he looked like in the semis.
I mean, obviously Novak was a little hampered, but Yanik
was unbelievable in that match, and I think he's just
released so much pressure on him getting through that match
with Greg Goldher. It was kind of like, I feel
lucky to be here still, so fuck it right, just
(05:17):
play now. And that's exactly how he played the semis
and the finals. I mean, you the Tennessee played in
those two matches at some of the best ti I've
ever seen at Wimbledon one.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
I mean, he looked locked into a degree that he
hasn't looked basically outside of a hardcourt ever, which is
not to say he's not capable of that level. But
the focus he seemed to find, as you suggests, might
have been because he felt freed by relief and just
you know, uh, the ability to put that match behind
(05:51):
him with Demitrov. Let's before we talk about the aucrast final,
let's talk a little bit about the semifinal from Novak Djokovic,
which a lot of people, you know, I don't love
like dwelling on retirement talk, and I think that's like
not always the most interesting way to frame somebody's uh,
you know, performance in a Slam. Certainly not when we
have information that suggests that it was his you know,
no Vak Jovich Djokovic's last Wimbledon. But I think a
(06:13):
lot of people you included, thought, okay, well, if he's
going to get another title on at a Slam, it's
probably going to happen at Wimbledon. That's the one's most likely.
And also it tends to favor the aged because it's
a little faster in the points to last is long,
and if you're you know, on the on the wrong
side of thirty five heading into forty, like you know,
you can potentially, you know, playing attacking style of tennis
(06:36):
that shortens points and and maybe gets you, uh, you know,
gets you out of out of matches quicker than the
five side grind you know on clay. So anyway, this
is a long way of saying, what do you think
about Novak Djokovic?
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Yeah, that was a really long life asking me that question.
But just kidding, listen, I think that I don't know,
I'm not in his brain, and this is the greatest
playerable time, so where I don't you know, I don't
pretend to think that he's not capable of doing, you know,
great things still because that's who he is. But at
(07:09):
some point father time catches up with you, and the
amount of injuries that you've actually had in tournaments now,
whether it be slipping over or you know, various injuries
through the last couple of years. It's like, it's kind
of what happens when you get injured. When you're older,
you tend to get injured a little bit more, and
you tend to break down here and you tend to
break down there. And that's starting to really be a factor.
(07:30):
And not only that you're playing against you know, Yannick
Sinner and colors Alcarez, who have arguably taken what you've
done for the last twenty something years and possibly even
elevated it. And the reason they've elevated it is because
they've had to elevate it to beat the like the
likes of a Rafa Nada and then of course even
more so a bat Djokovic. So I just think at
(07:53):
some point you start going just they're just a little
bit better than me, now, you know what I mean.
And there's there's absolutely no one out there that's an
expert that'll be like, oh, that's that's awful. No, that's
that's genetics, that's life, that's getting older, and that's these
young twenty two twenty three year old guys that are stronger,
a little bit quicker, hit the ball a little bit harder,
(08:15):
are just better than you now. And that's not doesn't
have any slate on what you've clearly achieved in your
career as the greatest player of all time.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
No. I mean, I think if anything, you know, as
your results start to decline, as your body starts to
sort of as you suggest, like you know, be be
hampered by persistent stuff that it keeps crapping up. You know,
there's a lot of ways to call it a day.
And I think, you know, we've seen everything from you know,
(08:44):
stephie Graff winning a title, the last one, you know,
and then just saying well the next day, like that
was it.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
You missed it by well actually no, she she actually
defaulted a match and said that's it, peace out. I'm
the French finals of Wimbledon, like the second round of
something in San Diego, got hurt in the match and default,
you know, gave her any trasia, you know, walkover in
the match with her hands and never played again.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
I was like what Yeah, and then become Venus Williams,
who technically is still unretired. I mean, she just took
a wild card to the tournament you're going to next
the City Open in DC. Like Venus Williams, does she
still play professional tennis? Like the answer is kind of
like whenever she wants to, you know, which is cool
Williams like, she's incredible. She was like one of my
(09:29):
childhood heroes, even though there was a tame age. But
I think for me, the the Novak Djokovic, you know,
retirement talk until he retires, you know, it's all just speculative,
but it does definitely feel like the page has been turned,
which I think was equivocally to take the correct take
on what It's not only this tournament, but did the
French Open. You know, a lot of what's been happening
(09:51):
really in the last like eighteen months on the tour
has now been like okay, well now we're in the
era of Carlos Operas in the X Center.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Yeah, I mean, listen. I think that he's so of
hinted that the last Grand Slam will be austray and Open,
and I think the reason for that is that's been
his most successful, winning at nine times, so I think
that it's not a bad way for him to go
out if he decides to. It's clearly been the best
place for him to win a Grand Slam. If he
can get to twenty five, that's probably where he's going
(10:18):
to do it. I thought that he is best chance
was also at Wimbledon, so that's now slipped away. But
I think that he probably almost feels like he not
ows it's kind of Australia has been so your curl
in his life, right, He's had such successes, He's had
so many, you know, very dramatic moments in his life
where he was treated very unpoorly by the Australian government.
(10:38):
So it's an interesting dichotomy. But I think that that's
where he wants to finish his career and I think
that probably will be his last Grand Slam. But anyway,
aside from that, we'll just finish off the guys because
we've been talking about them. I mean, Taylor Fritz. Got
to give the guy a lot of credit. He really
(10:59):
is pushing and pushing and pushing. There's a few things
that he just has to raise his level on. And
when you see the tennis that we saw in the final,
you just see the little, little tiny things that just
are the difference maker. When he is playing against Sinner,
at the US Open and then Carlos Alcroz at Wimbledon,
and so but I want to give Kurdos to Taylor
because my god, did he fight through so many long
(11:20):
matches and incredible matches and it was just keep going,
keep going, because you're so close. But these two guys
are just exceptional. It's kind of like, you know, Andy
Roddick trying to win a tournament. It's like this guy
Federer and Nadahal and all these guys get getting in
front of him. So, but what awesome tournament, but just
not quite good enough against al Chist.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Yeah, I do want to I want to double down
on that a little bit, just because I think Taylor
Fritz kind of reminds me of like an Andy Murray
tape where it's like, Okay, you're in this era of
two exceptionally gifted, exceptionally talented multag and you won a
lot of Grand slams, and you want a lot of
Grand slams. He won Wimbledon twice and he won two
gold medals. You know, but I and I think, and
(12:02):
it was open and the tour finals, I mean, listen,
and Andy Murray had an enviable career and is one
of the greatest of all time in an era where
the two and then three of the other greatest were
also just absolutely dominant. So the fact that he got
in there at all was amazing. If anything, that should
be an inspiration to Taylor Fritz, which is to say,
you know, I feel like this guy has come unbelievably
(12:25):
far and optimizing his talents, optimizing his mental strength, optimizing
his weapons, Let's see how much further he can get.
And I hope that that's a challenge, not an insult
to say, Like he's clearly made incredible strides, there's still
considerable distance. And I think that Alcarez Final, even though
(12:46):
it was four sets and some of those sets went
to tiebreaks, oh it wasn't. It didn't feel. It didn't
feel like Taylor Fritz was in control of that match.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
It wasn't big enough. No, no, no, no, he wasn't.
He wasn't. But let's talk about the final, because, as
you know, I am still in Australia. I'm coming back
to New York on Thursday, but I am watching tennis
like I used to watch tennis when I was a child,
which is at two o'clock and three o'clock in the morning. Okay,
So I got up to watch the women's going to
(13:15):
not lie. It was kind of nice if it was
quick because I was very tired. But the next night
I'm sitting up the match that's a one okay, one am,
and I'm thinking, okay, I'm going to watch a set.
I'm going to see how I feel about watching it.
If I want to stay up, it's going to be
a real commitment, right. So this first set, I'm like
that set point that Carlos reaches out to slice that
(13:39):
back end into the open court after Yanicksinn hit one
of the greatest foehands on the run I've ever seen,
was I was like, how the f did I go
to bed and not watch the rest of this match?
Speaker 2 (13:50):
Okay?
Speaker 1 (13:51):
So I sit there and again it gets to five
to four and the second yannicks Inner plays one of
the sickest games I've seen to win that game to
win the second set, and I'm like, how can I
do to sleep? It was just like it just kept
getting better and better and better. And I said it
in a tweet a couple of days previous. The hot
weather and it was so hot in London this year,
(14:12):
like super hot. I knew a straightaway when I saw
the conditions through those two weeks, I knew that it
was a real chance for Yanick, and I knew that
it was a better chance for Eager. And the hot conditions,
no doubt helped Yannick's game his bigger more, he's super more.
He's a little bit more aggressive, particularly on the forehand.
And the serve, the serve was the factor and the
(14:34):
second serve was a huge factor and that's the difference.
And I think the harder conditions helped be time today.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Can you just expand on that a little bit. I'm
just thinking of all the all the tennis fanatics, but
amateur prognostic here, as I spent the weekend with who
listened to this podcast, who watched and sat with Jaza Geeb?
You know at that at the that's final. But what
exactly is it besides you know, he can be more
aggressive on the surf, What exactly is it about the harder,
(15:03):
faster court that a harder maybe bounce your court that
helps the anccenter and maybe get yards towards Egan and
Yannik as opposed to Carlos and other women.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
Yeah, so the small little things like if it's a
bit the grass is a little bit softer, means it's
a little bit more dew right through the two weeks,
maybe a bit of rain, you know, and it's kind
of grassier, and it's just softer right when it's when
you get a lot of when you get a lot
of sun, it just gets harder and harder and harder. Right,
So the ball is going to hit the grass and
it's going to bounce up a little bit higher. So
(15:35):
for someone like Yannick, who's a lot taller than Carlos,
the ball's going into his heading zone a lot better.
It's going right into that area where he can really
smack it. And the slice from Carlos is not going
to be as an effective shot because that also is
not going to sort of die, and his drop shots
aren't going to just die on the grass. They're going
to actually bounce up. There's little tiny factors like that
(15:57):
that do make a difference with someone like Yannick, who
there can sort of take advantage of his bigger ball
striking because the ball's not being as affected by the
different conditions that a grassier, softer court would be for Carlos.
And so I think that was a huge factor. And
the same thing for Eager. The ball is you know,
(16:17):
jumping on her second serve, it's bouncing a bit higher,
gives her a little bit more time on the forehand
and the back end. Frankly, but they just suited both
of their games so much more than Amanda. I mean
suited Amanda too, but she was just overcome with nerves.
But we'll get to that. But for someone like Yannick,
the ball is coming up higher and he's sitting zone
and he can be way aggressive with it. That's what
(16:37):
he was today.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
Yeah, clearly. I mean I think for a lot of us,
you know, slate poisons toward Carlos Alchoras, although you know,
new insult intended toward Danic center, like the usual magic
was not able to be conjured. You know, maybe ball
set up or drop shots lingered. You know, it looked
like his tools were not as readily accessible, and he
(17:00):
looked a lot of you know, out of sorts. Obviously,
the highest levels that were cheap in the match were
unbelievably high. And I saw an analysis that said, and
I think this is generally true, but you know, I'm
curious if you agree with that. You know, Carlos Alcaraz's
highest level is higher than Yannix, but his lowest level
is way lower. And so even though Yannick Centers is
(17:22):
in that band reliably, you know, that's just like such
an interesting, interesting contrast. And I think that was true
in the match, Like Carlos had incredible peaks, but a
lot of it was he wasn't able to I think
some in some of his gradest moments, which you know,
again credits to Yanick center for for forcing him out
of his favorite you know, sort of shots and patterns.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
I saw that tweet. I think it was from Chris Clary,
and I think I agree to a certain extent that
his the Alchoriz is low is definitely lower than Yanix,
There's no question about that. I would disagree that the
high is not as high as Alcoriz's because I think Yanik,
when he hits the ball big, his ability to brush
(18:04):
the ball and hit into corners is incredible. Does he
have the flare of Alcrez. No, But you can't really
say that that top level is as good as Alcrez,
So I disagree with that.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
But I think the difference Claire, So maybe that's what.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
Yeah, Yeah, I think for me, it's like if Yannick
said his A plus, I mean, he can be Pallos
at his A plus, There's no question about that, particularly
on a court like today that was a little bit
bouncy here and a little bit faster, and he served better.
That's what it came down to. I mean, even the
game when he held to go at five to three
in the second set and he was down fifteen forty,
(18:41):
he went huge on the second serve to the forehand side,
like one p thirty on a second serve out wide,
and that really caught Carlos off. And the same thing,
I believe in the next one. So for me, it
was like he was more aggressive on the second serve
and he was willing to take the chances that he
maybe didn't take it.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Yeah, I think that, you know, kind of contextualizes this.
I mean, the last seven Slams have now been worn
by Alcaraz and center and so not to get prognostication game,
but I think those of us going into this year
ni looking at I mean, I'm not even gonna like
(19:21):
wager guests on like the final number one. All this
said and done, and these guys are you know, at
the very ends of their careers, counting their Slam titles.
But I think, like looking at to is open, I
think before this year you and I have talked about
and I think most people would agree. Okay, Alcoraz has
the edge at least right now on natural surfaces and
Sinner's got the edge on on the Australian. I have
(19:41):
to say I think Center has the edge going into
the US as.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Well, no question, no question. Hardcore is as we know,
he's best surface, and he has the footing, the balls
bouncing up very similar to today, and so it without
question is his best surface. Tallas is the more natural mover.
We talked about it before the French Open and Wimbledon,
and I think that's that's why he was the favorite
for both again, is because he's such a great natural
(20:07):
move And it's interesting that Janick whent one on grass
and Carlos won on clay, and you would probably say
that maybe it should have been flipped right, but that
just shows you that they're both becoming so good on
all surfaces. But I do think that Janick has the
edge on the hard courts. So it's it's just going
to be a beautiful race between the two of them.
It's just like it's very similar to Rufa and Roger.
(20:31):
Rufa was going to wear a lot of clay and
Roger was going to win a lot of grass, and
it was who could pinch the couple of hard courts
against each other, and who could pinch maybe a French
or maybe a Wimbledon. So that's what it's getting to
now with Yanick and with Gullis, and I am so
year for it.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
Sam. I mean, I also want to give the edge
to Yanick center because he was wearing a collar, so
we saw a colored shirt in the final and I
think that might have been the difference maker. The top
button was buttoned, so you know, we're looking at minute details,
but really like it doesn't come down to much.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
Well, one thing I do want to say in stress
before we get to the women's what an incredible two
men we have at the top of the men's game.
Dear Lloyd. That speech that jani'sinner gave after the French Open,
we talked about it was extraordinary. I've never felt worse
for a tennis player than I did that day when
Yanick lost that match, having three match points and serving
(21:25):
for the title and all the things, and I thought,
what a gracious speech he got off there, particularly after
the one the day before, which wasn't so gracious from
a little bil Russian. But Yannick gets up there after
and he's so exemplary in this speech and congratulates Carlos
and his team and thanks his team for getting to
(21:48):
the final, and it was a great effort. It was
just like it was the most amazing speech. And I
just feel like when we saw the speeches from the
two of them yesterday after women that he was like, oh,
thank god, you two are going to save men's tennis
for twenty years. This is awesome.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
It's true. And it was looking real dicey there with
the Sandwich generation of you know, Medvedev, who I love,
but you know he's mercurial, mercurial, it's Verev, you know,
which you know, the less said about the better dommy team,
who's you know already in the ranks that they're retired,
and Tisipas, who you know, is sort of out on
(22:25):
a great spiritual walk about at the moment, and so
like for me, just like this idea that these guys
have come along and like just in time, it's sort
of reminiscent of before, you know, before fetter and adults
started winning everything, there was a real crisis in men's tennants,
basically post agacy, like between two thousand and like two
thousand and five or so, like who's going to take
it up? The women were overshadowing them, you know. It
(22:46):
was really like, oh wow. And that's certainly the feeling
that I think a lot of us have had the
last couple of years, where it's like, oh, well, the
women's game, it's like, actually much more interesting, And here's
come along these two guys in the early twenties and like,
let's see what happens for the thint twenty years.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
It's so hard to it against either of them. And
I loved him. It is a little bit more like
he was like, come on, crowd, give me some love,
giving me some love a little bit today. I just
love that they're both so different. They're so different, but
they are two of the nicest guys you will ever
ever ever meet. So I don't want to.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
I don't want to put any negative note in here,
but do you want to address the fact that Nick
Curious tweeted an asterisk? I have no, no, I.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
Don't want to even talk about that. I don't need
to give that time.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
Great, she's reclaiming her time, folks, I.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
Am reclaiming my time. Let's talk about the ladies.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
Claiming your time. To talk about the ladies. Where to start?
Speaker 1 (24:15):
Let's start with how incredible tournament Amanda Anissa overhad Okay
before we get to the final, to have achieved what
she's achieved after taking a mental breakaway from sport after
the loss of her father at such a young age,
who was her mentor her coach, and having lost a
parent in the last week and a bit, I'll tell
you what to do it at that age. Incredible that
(24:37):
she's been able to even come back and be the
person that she is and she is a really really
sweet girl and to come back after having that break
and to get herself into these positions is awesome. She's
one of WT one thousand this year. She's had a
great year so far. And to beat Sabalanka in that
semi final and get through the matches that she did,
(24:58):
zudos dude finals of Queens look Out. She's back and
she's in the top ten and that's where she deserves
to be because she's that good.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
And you know, like I was saying in the in
the beginning moments of the show today, you know, if
anybody started to play at Queen's which was the tournament
immediately preceding womenon where she gets to the finals and
went down to Taitana Maria who was summoning like true grass,
you know, excellence. This is somebody who had was very
(25:28):
comfortable on the surface and had gone through a murderer's
row of really great players on her way to the finals.
Like that was incredibly well deserved in terms of her.
You know, her was obviously semi final against Sabolenka, who
I think again a lot of us thought was her
(25:49):
tournament to capture, especially after having lost to like very
tough in the in the preceding two slams, one to
Madison Keys that sam is the Australian, the other to
Coco in the finals of the French But you know, yeah,
let's maybe start there.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
But see, the thing is Sabalanca is, look, you have
to pick her everywhere she goes, because she's been so
consistently good at the Grand Slams as well. But I
just I don't feel like she moves well enough on grass,
and you have to be able to move. Listen, she
has the weapon. So yes, you can hit anyone off
the court and not move that well. There's been a
(26:30):
couple of won the tournament and that's the case. But
if you look traditionally at the winners of Wimbledon in
women's singles, they're very athletic, very athletic, and so if
you're not serving someone off the court and crushing every
single ball, which so Abalanka can do, you've still got
to be able to manage the footwork and you've got
to manage those little things. And if she gets a
(26:52):
bit off balance on grass, you can see it a
lot more than you can on a hard court, for example,
where she can just push off and be so much
more aggressive, and clay she might get a little bit
more time to get somewhere right. So I think on grushy,
just to me, she still looks uncomfortable moving on it,
and maybe that might be the difference, you know, with
(27:12):
her winning the tournament or not. If you look at
eger the way that Eager moves great on every surface, right,
it was just a matter of her being able to
you know, adjust with the forehand and you know, be
more aggressive with the serve. Which was clearly a positive
thing for her through this tournament. Her serving stats were
through the roof such good serving and that won or
a lot of matches and won them very easily. But
(27:33):
the heart of the court, the drier, the conditions, she
was always going to help her as well. And I
could see that through the week, and I thought she's
going to be the one look out.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
Yeah. And I think also, you know, maybe having had
a rough kind of similar to what you were saying
about Center and demitrav like maybe having a rough eighteen
months where she didn't win a single tailor much as
her grandson Taylor, where she was really kind of in
the wilderness herself, sort of trying to figure out what
was going on, coming into a tournament that pretty much
nobody thought she was gonna have a chance in much
(28:04):
less win and then just being freed of pressure, free
to sort of focus on the things that she does
well helped a little bit by the hardness of the
court and the bounce. Yeah, it was like sort of
I would like to see this version of Ega more
where she doesn't look pained, she doesn't look stressed, she
doesn't look anxious, she doesn't look upset and she's just
moving well and playing free. I you know, I had
(28:26):
the chance to watch her when she was like really
really young, when she won the French Open Girls, and
I think that same year she won the Wimbledon Girls.
So you know, obviously like she can win on grass,
but she smiled on the court, and I just want
to sort of take a moment and say, like, what
a nice thing it was to see. And it was
really nice to see her dancing in the pictures with
NNIX Center or the Wimbledon ball. You know, like there
(28:47):
is something to the joyousness of release and relief, and
you know, I want to say that I like this
version of ego because it doesn't feel like you're watching
somebody play a pained way and it feels like, you know,
it was it was sort of it was a nice
thing to do. I mean, obviously when you're not being
pushed very hard, which she wasn't in her last two matches,
(29:09):
because not only did that Anissimova match go real fast,
the match she played before with Benchic, who's no slouch
like Belinda Benchich is you know, an elite player, She's
a gold medal in her closet, Like she went through
some incredibly tough matches to get to the to the Semis,
and you know, she didn't make much of a stand
against Ega either, So it wasn't so much Anisimova collapsing
(29:30):
in the final, although I definitely think the nerves and
the pressure got to her undoubtedly, but Eaga's level in
those last two matches was pretty unreal if if she
also pretty much blanked Benchitch at least in one of
those sets.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
Yeah, I mean, listen, didn't somebody who beat Caroline to
police show over in the finals that royan oh and
one two with one of the biggest serves in the world,
and she played to get to the final, Like you know,
I know, rhyme's not like Wimbledon, but it's it's still
she can beat some of the best players in the
world like oh and one. There's a reason why we
like call it the Eagers. She onto you know, bake,
It's like it's like that's what she does when she's on.
(30:03):
It's like, look out. She's the most similar person and personality,
not playing style obviously, but just personality as Steffi Graff.
It's just like head down, momentum doesn't stop. You do
not take anything for granted, and you just keep going right.
And so that's the similarity for me with Steffy, with
Eager Shantek. But listen, even in the final, she didn't
(30:25):
waiver at all. She just kept doing the right thing.
And look, it's clear that Amanda was completely frozen in
the final. She was probably spent from when the semi
final came out in that match and just you know,
depleted and then also incredibly nervous. You could tell that
her movement was she wasn't the same mover. It was
like Eager would go and hear to ball and she
would just start moving to one side. There was no
(30:48):
sense of balance on the court. And I just thought, oh,
she's just she's just frozen. And it happens. It happens,
and she was exhausted and so she, without question will
learn from this and it will make her at a player.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
Yeah, and I think the idea for me that you know,
there's anything other than just like, let's applaud this girl
for what she's been through and how she as you
said at the top of the podcast, like you know,
you know what it is to lose a parent, especially
at a young age, that she did, like you know,
she's she's been, she's had a she's had a lot
of life, and I think for me, the idea that
(31:20):
she's back here at the highest levels of the game,
where I think a lot of us knew she always deserved.
To me, is a really lovely a lovely thing. Now
are we done talking about the women and any other
random observations.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
I just she congrats to IgA. Was just awesome to
watch and I knew she could play well on grass
and she trusted herself and she did it.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
So congrets to her. What are we doing that, Yolene asked,
the Pinko didn't win Wimbledon along with chaseu Way uh
and then women's final. Uh, you know, at least a
pretends uh coming back, you know again just minor minor
quibbles here here and there. I thought Wimbledon this year
was amazing. I do have to ask you because there
(32:04):
was a, you know, a lot of talk, especially after
the tn T rights acquisition of the French Open. There's
a lot of talk in this country anyway about some
of the commentary and the ways that you know, tennis
can and should keep improving. Now, without wanting to put
you on any kind of hot seat. What was it
(32:25):
like for you watching Wimbledon from the from the broadcast?
Obviously you're in Australia, but like, what was it like
watching as a as a fan as opposed to being there?
Calling it sucks?
Speaker 1 (32:40):
I'd rather much rather be there, much rather be calling
it you're writing it. There's nothing like watching tennis live.
Watching it on TV is great, but you cannot get
the sense of how hard people hit the ball, you
feel the energy. So no, being being at Wimbledon is
you know, one of the great things that I still
get to do, and so you know, it's always it's
(33:03):
always great to be a part of the coverage, but yeah,
I want to be there on site.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
All right. Well, the update from over here is I've
just completed a successful edition of wimbled Down. My friend
Don has a birthday celebration grass court tennis tournament at
her home every year called wimbled Down. So, Claire, my
wife and I just won Wimbledon. So I didn't know
you were talking about champion today, but you are.
Speaker 1 (33:30):
Did not did not know?
Speaker 2 (33:31):
Yeah, I'm up you center, I'm a two time wimbled
Down champion. Let's just be clear about the pronunciation. Her
name is okay, and then then I'm going to grass
Court Nationals later today in Philadelphia. We'll see what happens.
Speaker 1 (33:44):
All right, We'll get that chip and charge out because
that fourhand of yours that's not so good on the grass.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
I want to take any slander. You haven't seen my
fourhead in about two years, so anyway, that's the slander.
Speaker 1 (33:55):
Hey guys, yeah you too, Thanks for joining us. Guys,
see you next week.
Speaker 2 (34:01):
Baye
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