Rennae & Petko Live US Open Draw Show

Our favorite New Yorkers (who don't sound like it) break down the men's and women's draws and discuss the perils of natural deodorant live from the Seaport Racquet Club.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:12):
All right, here we go. Hi, everybody, Welcome to the
Renee Stubs Tennis Podcast. We are coming to you live
from the Seaport in New York City, and I'm joined
by the one and only Andrea Pekovich.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Thank you very much. I'm very glad to be here.
And for those of you who have met me in
person and thought what is the smell? Renee Stubs has
recommended the worst the odorant of all the odorants in
the world. And now if there is a center of
desperation in the air, it's me.

Speaker 1 (00:40):
You can buy another one, you know that, right. Actually,
in fact, Caitlin Tomplin Thompson, who normally does a podcast
with me as well, is here and she needed deodorant
and guess what, I had an extra run on my back,
so I gave it to her. So thank god. So
if anyone smells it to you, all right, let's get
to more important things. Let's get to the US Open,
which is starting in two days, yes, Sunday, Sunday. How

(01:05):
do you feel about it starting on Sunday?

Speaker 2 (01:07):
I feel good about it. I think the tennis as
a sport has difficulties because we have so many matches.

Speaker 1 (01:14):
We have to play through the week.

Speaker 2 (01:16):
So I think the more we can play on the
weekends and for people who have actual jobs, not like
you and Mi Rena, to come out and watch the action,
I think that is important. So I do think if
we can get more matches on the weekends, I think
that's great for everybody, and for the kids who have
to go to school. Maybe I don't know how school
started yet.

Speaker 1 (01:34):
Yeah, you stole that from me because I said that
last night. I think it's great because Sunday you can
bring your kids, right, people have to work Monday Tuesday
through the week most of the time, so I think
starting on Sunday is actually a really good idea because
also after Labor Day in the US, a lot of
kids clearly go back to school. So I think it's
an opportunity to bring kids one more time to the US.
So and so I like it, and I think it's
good and it does give players a little bit more

(01:56):
rest and we like that. All right, So let's get
into it. We're going to start with the men, just
because men, Okay, we prefer to talk about the women more,
but we do have a lot of great matches coming up,
and of course let's start with the Anix sinner because
I feel like he has a pretty good draw. We
know that he had a virus coming into the US Open.

(02:17):
We saw what happened in Cincinnati. We didn't get a
chance to talk about that, but those ten day events,
just real quick on that. What do you think of
the ten day events? Because I know a lot of
our listeners aren't so happy about those ten day events.

Speaker 2 (02:29):
Well, I mean we just talked about the weekends and
how tennis is already in a difficult spot. We're having
to start on a Monday and Tuesday and playing from
eleven am to nine pm, and then to have voluntarily
a final on a Thursday and then on a Monday, respectively.
Speaking about Montreal, Toronto and then Cincinnati. I think it's

(02:51):
just shooting your own self into the foot, and it's.

Speaker 1 (02:55):
To the foot. How do you say it? In the foot?
In the foot? Okay, I am German? Still, yeah, I
know it's okay. We like you anyway. You said something
funny yesterday about Zara, but I'm going to leave it
off the podcast about being German. But listen, I think
that it's terrible. I think it's shooting itself in this
foot as well. Weekend. So when you play finals, that's

(03:17):
when you get the most audience. Sunday, most people are
sitting at home watching their sports, their favorite sports, so
that be football or basketball or tennis, and everyone's at
home watching. No one's going to watch a final at
three o'clock in the afternoon on a Monday Tuesday a
winds Well.

Speaker 2 (03:31):
Just imagine if jan Nick Sinner has had not been sick,
if he had been healthy, and him and Carlos al
Karaz played an epic final like they did at the
French Open. Obviously in a best of three format, not
in a best of five. Three people would have watched.

Speaker 1 (03:46):
Yeah, maybe five. A couple of people would have maybe
skipped work. But I did love the fact that Janick
Sinner said, I'm really sorry for everybody. I swear it
half the reason why you played because people pay a
lot of money to come to watch a final and
he's like, I'm really sorry. I know a lot of
you probably missed work to watch this final. So for me, yeah,
we got to get rid of that. We've got to
do a better job. And that's up to the ADP

(04:08):
and WTA, because they're the ones that wanted that. They
want to give their players more time to recover from
a Masters and WTA one thousand. Guess what don't have it,
don't have the ten day events and don't have them
back to back. You know how I feel? Back back
to back one thousands, I think it's done. It dilutes
the sport. But anyway, let's get to the US Open.
More importantly, Janick looks pretty good his draw, but he

(04:29):
has Alex Popraham possibly in the second round, and that
might be his first big test because Poper. And as
we know, I did really well at the US Open
last year beating Novak Djokovic.

Speaker 2 (04:37):
Yeah, and he loves the hard cores. He played really
really well in Toronto again. But Janick sinner. It's funny.
I in Germany. I have a podcast with Boris Becker,
and I spoke to him yesterday about the draw and
I Janick Center in the semifinals of Cincinnati against Trance
at month.

Speaker 1 (04:55):
I hope I'm pronouncing the correctly.

Speaker 2 (04:57):
Was so hell with like red dots around his eyes
that I said to Jesse right there, my boyfriend. I
said to him, I don't think they should allow ginger
Man to play in this heat. And I felt very
politically incorrect about that.

Speaker 1 (05:13):
Wait a minute.

Speaker 2 (05:14):
That's why I bring up Boris Becker because he said
it himself. He said, you know how hard it was
for me to play in this heat. Cincinnati was my
least favorite tournament. The heat and then paired with the
with the humidity, it was brutal for me. I couldn't
recover from my matches. I needed a week to be
okay again. And I'm glad he said it so I

(05:35):
can put it in his mouth. But he says he
took the words.

Speaker 1 (05:38):
Out of his mouth yes, and put them in your mouth,
and now everybody knows it. Yes.

Speaker 2 (05:42):
So I said it in the privacy of my home,
but Boris said it publicly, so now I feel very
confident about saying it.

Speaker 1 (05:49):
Also, you feel vindicated, is what you're saying. Kind of yep, Well,
thankfully for Yanik, it's not going to be that hot.
I think you was open. All these players have been
playing in the hottest conditions over the summer, particularly in Washington,
particularly in Cincinnati, and even Canada was on certain days,
So they're going to come here and be like this
is nothing. But I feel like his section of the

(06:09):
draw is pretty good until possibly the quarter finals. If
your guy, Jack Draper, I know you love Jack. Do
you love Jack?

Speaker 2 (06:17):
I love Jack, but I am a little bit worried
about him. And the reason I say that, I don't
know how much you saw the mixed doubles I called both.

Speaker 1 (06:25):
I saw all of the mixed doubles.

Speaker 2 (06:27):
Okay, good, So I called two of Team Dragoula's matches,
which is Pagoula and Draper, and in the last one
I get to Igaciantek and Caspar Rude. He was running
around his forehands to play backhands and he I think
because he passed after Wimbledon until just now because he
had problems with it with his left arms. I'm a

(06:49):
little bit worried about him in terms of health. I
hope it was just that day and I come from it.

Speaker 1 (06:54):
Look at you coming with the scoop. I don't know
if it's a scoop.

Speaker 2 (06:58):
I just noticed and then I thought it was just
me and Jimmy Arias came after the match. I mean,
he was like, was Jake running around his forehand? So
it was two that notice, which is.

Speaker 1 (07:07):
His best shot. Yeah, it's unusual that'd be like Sam
Stows are running around her forehand back.

Speaker 2 (07:13):
Are you running around your forehead? It was different. Are
you running around your backhand to play? For Okay, all right,
that would be so weird. We don't need to tell people.

Speaker 1 (07:20):
No, it would be like me running from the net
back to the baseline. That's what it'd be like. I
don't mind playing. Yeah, anyway, we'll won't get into that.
On the section of the draw below that, I did
point out a couple of interesting first rounds in that section,
and one of them was Perry Patchika against Mussetti. So
we're going to sort of highlight some of the one

(07:42):
first rounds that we think might be a little interesting.
But I think I think that one might be interesting.

Speaker 2 (07:48):
Then what might be interesting, particularly because Lorenzo and Mozzetti,
he too has been having problems with his elbow ever
since that retirement at the French Open, and he has
not been playing well. He has not won a match
in a while. In general, the quicker, hardcorets of the
Americans wing have been really hard for him in the
past already. So playing somebody and the same goes for

(08:09):
Karlos al Karaz we will talk about it later. I
think playing somebody that doesn't give you any rhythm whatsoever
is really hard in the first rounds of a major
tournament when you're already coming in with some nerves. The
men have the best of five formats, so you have
a bit more time compared to the women. But I
do think that you could put a slight upset alert
next to Mozetti's name.

Speaker 1 (08:30):
Yeah, I agree, I agree with that. Down the bottom
of the drawer is Sweev rube Lev, Karen Hutchenoff, and
Alex Dimeno. I feel like those players. I've already highlighted
them in my fourth round. The question will be if
Steph sister Pass can get through around because he has
Mulla in the first round. I don't think that's particularly
easy down that section of the draw. But who do

(08:50):
you see getting through that section of the draw And
ken Zverev make it through to the semis because he has.

Speaker 2 (08:55):
Not looked good over the summer at all, well, I
think you will make the semis. I think the people
in his section are people that he generally likes to
play where it was, whether it's a Andrei Rublev or
even a Karen Katchenough even even though he lost to
him in Toronto, deminor he has I think one hundred
to one head to head against Alex Deminor, and the

(09:17):
one time he did lose was in the United Cup.
So I do think that the players that have been
drawn into a section are although I will say he
has a possible third round with Gayle Montfisz, and if
Gayle montfist can play as well as he did at
the Australian Open, who knows what he can do. I
would never underestimate Guile. He loves New York, he loves

(09:39):
the atmosphere.

Speaker 1 (09:40):
I did love the little mixed doubles with him in
Switzerlina last night playing Koboli and Panetta was a lot
of fun.

Speaker 2 (09:47):
Oh and just one thing. If Jack Draper does play,
and if he makes it through through the third round,
I think he will have a really tough ask against
Gabriel Diallo, who I followed this year and who I
very much like in terms of how he plays. A
very aggressive player, fantastic serve and he really gave Janick
Sinner a run for his money and Cincinnati second set

(10:08):
was seven six, had had two set points. Actually, Janick
Sinner returned incredible of the first serve. I don't know
if you remember that so I think Gabriel Diallo could
be a tough one, although he has Damchumo in the
first round, so not easy. But if that's a third
round clash, that's a match I would go out to see.

Speaker 1 (10:24):
You heard it here first, get your bets on right now. Okay,
So we're going to flip it over Novak Djokovic. We
haven't seen him since Wimbledon. Why do you think that's happening.
I mean, we know that he's emphasized the Grand Slams
and the major titles and that's all he's really interested in.
But you know, at some point, I don't care who
you are, how great you are, you have to play matches,

(10:45):
and particularly coming into a best of five. Physically. We
know he can withstand that. But we've talked about this.
He can't withstand it seems seven matches best of five
because something happens. He's strain open, he got injured. You know,
clearly Sinner and Alcareza getting the best of him in
the latter parts of these major tournaments. What do you
think the reason is? And he is a tough first

(11:06):
round in learner Tien who has the best ability of
beating top players. I don't know what it is with
his game, but he just comes out plays the best
tennis against the top seeds and you'll have the American
people on his side. Learner ten So it's not an
easy first round, and learn has had some good results
over the summer. But what is it about not playing
until now after Wimbledon for Novak?

Speaker 2 (11:28):
I think it's a couple of things. I think one
of the things is the heat and humidity. In the
tournaments we just mentioned, Washington, Toronto, Cincinnati tend to be
very hot, very humid. Novak never had a great time
with that, and since he's gotten older, it's even worse.
I had the same thing. I don't know how it
is for other people. I used to love when it
was hot and humid. I knew this was my time

(11:50):
to shine. I turned thirty two, all of that was
gone through the window.

Speaker 1 (11:53):
And then all of a sudden it was time to shine.
With a lot of sweat and a lot of it
is literally time to shine. Yeah, that's what I mean.
Bring out the powder. So you think it's just based
on playing in the heat, it's just not.

Speaker 2 (12:05):
That's the one thing, and then the other thing. What
just when you ask me that it made me think too,
back to his press conference in Wimbledon, where he said,
you know, lately, it feels like I come into the
semifinals with one leg missing, one eye missing, and then
I meet somebody like Sinner or al Karaz in the
semis and I'm half half alive, and they are fresh

(12:25):
as a daisy. Basically, he said it in different words. Obviously,
don't quote me on that, but that's what he said.
He always feels like he's already been through half a
war and they look very fresh. And I think he's
trying to contain that energy by not playing to possibly
not have that feeling when he meets the best in
the world in the semifinals, which are Al Koraz and
Cinner right now, I.

Speaker 1 (12:45):
Mean it's called being thirty seven thirty eight and being
twenty two twenty one. I mean, that's just a fact.
You got that much.

Speaker 2 (12:53):
And speaking about Leerner Tian, I think that he plays
very similar to Novak Djokovic, actually very good in changing directions,
high percentage tennis, high tennis IQ. He doesn't have as
good of a serf as Novak Djokovic, and I think
this could possibly be the best and worst job for
Novak at the same time, he will have to play

(13:13):
well to beat the learner, and if he does, I
think he will be right away in the tournament and
will have arrived in the tournament because he will.

Speaker 1 (13:21):
Have to he can.

Speaker 2 (13:22):
You know how he sometimes struggles in the first few
rounds until he finds his form, and I don't think
he can do that against Learner.

Speaker 1 (13:28):
In the I mean Cam Norri, sab Quarter, Alex Michelson,
they're all in that section of the draw of Francis Tiafo, Holgaruna.
That's all his section to the round of the fourth round.
So it's not easy. He's gonna have a lot of Americans,
clearly with Francis Tiafo and maybe Holgaruna and certainly Alex
Michelson or sab Quarter. If seb Quarter beats Cam Norri,

(13:50):
that's a first round that had a popcorn match.

Speaker 2 (13:52):
So just as a maybe as a as a thought
from Boris because what he said about Novak's jack section.
Boris Becker obviously coached Novak for a few years and
he said he likes this section for Novak because what
Novak hates most in the early rounds of Grand Slams
is playing the big servers and the guys who don't

(14:13):
play longer points, because he feels like against the guys
who like to play rallies, he will find his rhythm eventually,
Whereas if he had somebody like Riley or Pelka or
Gabriel Diallo early on, that would make him really nervous
and stressed out. That's how it's been when Boris was
coaching him.

Speaker 1 (14:30):
That's really good knowledge. If he gets to the quarter finals,
he'll probably play Taylor Fritz, who we know made the
finals here last year. So Taylor big served. But by
the time it gets the quarters, you're saying that Novak
will be locked in. But do you see who do
you see coming through that? Because Taylor's going to have
the crowd on his side. He plays really well here
at the US Open, and I think that that might

(14:50):
be a tough section for Novak to get through.

Speaker 2 (14:52):
I think so too. I think Taylor Fruits will play
amazing tennis, will be in the form of his life
and losing three tight sets to Novak chok witch.

Speaker 1 (15:02):
Because that's what happened that has he ever beaten him?
I don't know. I don't think so.

Speaker 2 (15:06):
I think he has like a ten oh, we have
Kaitlyn Thompson, who you couldn't figure out how to put
three mics into the computer.

Speaker 1 (15:14):
So well, I will look it up. I'll let us
know although she smells great. She smells great now that
I gave her my dear odorant, which by the way,
it was brand new, which, by the way, you hate.
So you can give her the three that you bought.

Speaker 2 (15:25):
Okay, you can have all, because smartly I bought a
three pack of the older end. I had never tried that.
Rennee recommended to me so many mistakes.

Speaker 1 (15:36):
You shouldn't listen to me.

Speaker 2 (15:37):
Okay, here it is ten zero had to have Djokovic.

Speaker 1 (15:40):
Fritz Oh, okay, well, then Novak Djokovic is making the
semis is what you're saying anyway.

Speaker 2 (15:45):
Saying Taylor will play great and be in the form
of his life and losing three days.

Speaker 1 (15:49):
Can you look up the last time they play for us?
While I'm getting to this, but listen down the bottom
half of the drawer. Ben Shelton and a lot of
people are talking about who's going to be the American
to get through and break through to win a Grand Slam.
And I've said for a year or so now that
The one person I see doing that is possibly Ben. Yes,
I put Taylor in there as well, but I just
feel like Taylor, he does everything so well. He just

(16:13):
he needs to add that extra going to the net.
You know how I feel about this, because that's what
Yannick does, That's what Carlos does. They able to get
into the net and finish the points, whereas Taylor just
has that It's like he's allergic to the net, and
so I think that stops him. Whereas Ben has such
big weapons. He has the serve, he has the forehands,
he loves running and just charging the net and things,

(16:35):
and he has the hutzpa, like he actually believes that
he can beat these guys. When in Canada was huge.
It is best of three, it's not best of five.
But I see Ben getting through there and possibly playing
Carlos Alkaraz, although Carlos plays Riley and Pelker Frost round there.

Speaker 2 (16:51):
That's a nightmare, that is an absolute nightmare. I do
see it the same way as you. I think we
will have hopefully a shelt Maw karrask final. I think
that would be amazing. I loved seeing Ben so you
remember we talked before washing then I said to you,
I think Ben is going to win washing DC, and
then he won Toronto just a week.

Speaker 1 (17:10):
You were wrong. You were just wrong.

Speaker 2 (17:11):
I got the form right, I got the week wrong. Okay,
I'm still amazing and I just want to but there's
something about it. The reason I said it is not
because I It just came to my mind. The reason
I said it, I called the match between him and
Yannick Sinner and Wimbledon, and even though he lost them
three sets, there was something different about him. He was
able to hang in the longer rallies. It didn't feel

(17:33):
like he needed to end the point in the first
two or three shots for him to be able to
beat those guys. And I think that has been the
problem in the past, that if he didn't serve well,
that if he didn't return well, it was kind of
already over. And that's not the case anymore. Although I
will say he was very tired. He came from Toronto,
it was hot, it was humid. In the match against Verev,

(17:54):
he reverted right back to the old bench Shelton we
have seen in the past few years. I think it
was just a day off because he was so tired
and physically. I don't think we will see that here,
but that's just something to keep in mind. That's the
Ben Sheldon of the past when he just came on tour,
and the Ben Sheldon in Toronto. I mean the way
he played against Alex Deminor and Tailor Fritz and Quarters
and Semi's he was the better man from the baseline.

Speaker 1 (18:16):
Well, I think the improvement of his backhand is outstanding.
That's the difference. And it's kind of how I felt
when Coco won the US Open her forehand for that
period of time over the summer, winning Washington, winning Cincinnati.
Her forehand was so solid it wasn't making errors. And
I feel like with Ben, if he's not making errors
on the backhand, he is so dangerous because there's nowhere

(18:40):
to go. Yeah, you can see them trying to get
it away from his forehand because his forehand is so big.
It's like panicking, right. And So I think with Ben,
if he can control the backhand, if he can keep
the ball in the court, get the ball deep on
the back end, then literally the world is his oyster.

Speaker 2 (18:56):
So I have a question to you about Ben Shelton.
Did you see as much as in Toronto?

Speaker 1 (19:01):
Yes? So there was.

Speaker 2 (19:03):
They had a microphone in the player's box and you
could hear Brian Shelton, his dad and coach continuously telling
him where to serve and Ben doing the exact opposite.

Speaker 1 (19:15):
But remember match point, he said you go, if you go,
it was one or the other. He's like, if you go, Tea,
you're going to hit an ace and he got up
there and he hit it out white. I was like, well, clearly.

Speaker 2 (19:26):
But my question to you is do you think he's
no yeah. Do you think they have a code where
Brian says serve wide and in case somebody hears it,
he does the other the opposite thing. Or is he
just spiting him dead because he can.

Speaker 1 (19:39):
If I'm taking a guess, he just doesn't care what
his dad says.

Speaker 2 (19:42):
Or sometimes I will say that because sometimes people ask
me like, are you not sick and tired of Juan
Carlos Ferrero constantly coaching Carlos Alcaraz And I always say, guys,
Ather ash Rod Labor, those chords were Carlos normally plays.

Speaker 1 (19:57):
I thought you were about to talk about after rash
and Rod Labe. If you're talking the.

Speaker 2 (20:00):
Courts, no courts, courts, no matter how much Juan Carlos speaks.
Eighty percent of that gets just lost in the ether
a courd I was down there with headphones next to
the court. All the players were miked up, and I
could barely understand what they were saying because it's so noisy,
there are so many people, And so I do think

(20:22):
sometimes for coaches, you've coached the best players in the world,
you know, it's a stressful situation. Also for the coach,
even though they might look very calm in the box,
they are stressed and sometimes the talking is just, you know,
like a way to also release some stress, even though
nothing comes to the player.

Speaker 1 (20:41):
I can give you two examples of that. One was
when Sam Start I was playing the US Open doubles
final and I said to her she did something that
I would hope she would do. And I said, oh,
did you hear me yell out X and Y and
she goes, I can't hear shit. I didn't hear anything.
I was like, no, wonder you want you couldn't hear
what I was saying. Secondly, there's an interview that I

(21:02):
did with Madison Keys, and I said, you know, I said,
you want walked over and you're talking to your husband,
who's your coach, and he's telling you stuff. What did
he say to you that helped get you through that section?
You know, that part of the match. And she looked,
she looked at me and in the mic to the
world said, stubbsy, I can't hear shit down here. And
I was like, oh god, we can't bleep you. First
of all, it's live television, but you can't. You're right,

(21:24):
you cannot hear anything. The only thing that gets through
is if they literally come all the way over and
look at you and you can scream at them, which
is why you'll see them go over there and hand signals.
It is the one court that is impossible, as you
know now doing court psychometry there, you literally can't hear
anything unless you have noise canceling headphones in because the
ambient noise in Arthur Ash Stadium is just ridiculously loud.

(21:48):
So all right, I do want to touch upon Medvedev.
What is going on other than he's losing his mind
on every occasion. He's lost his confidence, he's not playing well.
Clearly one of the best hard core players that we've
seen over the last ten years, but he can't win
a match right now.

Speaker 2 (22:05):
It's a really good question. I thought the longest time
thought it was his serf and not the way he's serving.
But I think because I heard him say a few
things in press conferences, I always thought he was having
troubles with either his lower back or his shoulder, because
he has sort of mentioned it, but he doesn't really
want to talk about it. And we had some stats
on Tennis Channel that has served dropped by ten miles

(22:28):
an hour on average compared to his best years, So
I did think that was part of it. But he
has picked it up again. I think he's serving a
bit better, but there are double faults in the most
important moments. He's going so big on second serves, which
he didn't used to do. Now he's going three hundred
miles an hour on second serve breakpoint. If he makes
it great, but if he doesn't, it's kind of over.

(22:48):
And I do think if you think back of Medvedev
when he won the US Open, he was always an
emotional guy, but he was sort of contained. You didn't
feel like he was on the verge of a break down.
You just felt like he had to release a little
bit of the tension that he feels on the inside.
Now you have the feeling if he does let it out,
he can't reel it back in.

Speaker 1 (23:08):
And that's a problem because I have always felt that.

Speaker 2 (23:11):
When you have an emotional outburst, it's really good if
it's for a short period of time, because you get
on adrenaline going and you feel like a rush. It's
like having a first cup coffee on empty stomach. You're
just like, oh, And that's how it is when you
get an emotional outburst. It's like you on a regular basis, Yes,
that's when I want to run naked around green Point.

(23:57):
But then if you spiral, if you continue to stuffy
about emotion, that's when you see players just go bad,
worse and worse and worse. And that's what I've seen
with Medbedev. It's not short emotional outbursts, it's him not
reeling it back in after it.

Speaker 1 (24:12):
I think also, I agree with you one hundred percent,
but like we'd like to do you and I, we'd
like to add layers. And I think the layer to
add on this with Medvedev is that I think he's
lost his confidence and so it's the bravado, it's maybe
the okay, you know, yeah, he can bring it back
or yeah, he's this good, but at some point it
affects you, and I think it's affecting him. It's kind

(24:34):
of like what we're seeing with Coco with the serve,
and we're going to get to that because that was
a new rink all we've seen over the last few
days with a new coach. But I think at some
point he's lost confidence and so I don't care. And
his game is predicated on not making mistakes and he does.
It's not like he can hit a lot of top
spin on the ball. His game is flat, barely over
the net, super deep into the court and so origins. Yeah,

(24:56):
and he's supposed to be solid and he's not any
of those right now, double fi all the things. So listen,
I love him. I know he's p curial, I know
he's out there. I know he's crazy, but he's fun
to watch. He's entertaining. So I kind of hope that
he can push through his toe.

Speaker 2 (25:12):
But he has a tough one because he's playing again.
Benjamin Bonzie, the French guy who beat him in Wimbledon,
and then MEDRIDV of course, said afterwards, if he played
like this every day, he would be top ten in
the world. Well, Bonzi is not top ten in the world,
he's not even seated, but he is playing Media dev
again in the first round. So I wonder maybe that
can be You know, sometimes when you lose your confidence

(25:34):
but you continue the work, one match can tip it
over for you. If you lose confidence and use quits
to work because you're like, oh, it doesn't bring anything,
it's not getting better. That's when you're in trouble, because
that's when the intensity drops and then you become worse
as a tennis.

Speaker 1 (25:50):
Well, I've seen him. I've seen him on the practice
court over the last couple of days, and believe me,
he's working his time. I believe that. Yes, one match
for all of you tennis fans out there that love
to watch drama, Oh my god, Jordan Thompson against our
friend quaranteene Moute. If you want to see drama and
you want to see two complete mental maniacs, this is

(26:15):
the match for you.

Speaker 2 (26:16):
Okay, to play Manarino or Greekspoor in the second round. Yeah,
so just just lock that section down and watch everything.

Speaker 1 (26:24):
You know it'll be on an outside court somewhere And
I know you guys, you know some people are complaining
of the price of tickets and all this sort of
stuff that will be and hopefully it's on like Caught
four or five, where there's all that drama that happens.
If you want to go watch anywhere at the US Open.
First of all, grand stand is fantastic because you can
get in there and watch anyone. But it's big. Go
and sit on the bleachers. Wear a hat because you're

(26:46):
gonna get a lot of sun. I hope the USTA
figures out a way to cover the people.

Speaker 2 (26:51):
The spectators also metal metal metal bands in like seven
thousand degree weathers.

Speaker 1 (26:59):
Thankfully not to be that hot, but it is going
to be sunny. So get a hat, get your sunscreen.
Go and watch Jordan Thompson and Mute. I promise you.
I promise you it'll be five sets and it will
be dramatic. And if it's not five sets, it'll be
three sets for Jordan Thompson and Mute will figure out
a way. Just a tank because that is to me
that no. Caitlin Thompson is saying no, no because she loves Mute.

Speaker 2 (27:21):
I also think Mote. I think Mate just sucks the
soul out of your buddy, and play tennis without your soul.

Speaker 1 (27:28):
That's just how it is. Well, I promise you that
will be one of the best matches in the first round.
So go and find that, and.

Speaker 2 (27:34):
Rene and I will be there, and Caitlyn too if
she doesn't have to work off.

Speaker 1 (27:37):
Well, I will be there because I don't leave anywhere.
And if I have one friend text me when they
come to the US Open and say, hey, I'm coming
to the US Open. Are you here, I'm like, I
don't leave here. I'm like a tombstone out there for
two weeks. Okay, so let's get to.

Speaker 2 (27:50):
Either a tube or a tomb a tomb oh stone
Like yeah, reed, yeah, rap renee Very, we loved.

Speaker 1 (27:58):
You very much, Unshine. Okay, let's get to the ladies.

Speaker 2 (28:03):
Let's get to the real tennis.

Speaker 1 (28:04):
Hey, can I tell you I've been watching Arena Sabalanca
practice over the last couple of days. Yeah, and we've
talked about this, the matches she is losing and the
way she's playing over the last couple of weeks. She
doesn't miss by like a foot right, she misses in
the bottom of the net or in the fence. I've
never seen such a great player her margins for missing

(28:29):
are gigantic, you know, and like Serena would miss, it
would just be like a foot outside the line or
you know the great we're talking the greats, right, the
number one is even eager sometimes eager. The ball flies,
but it's rare. Sablenka in practice over the last couple days,
and I went and watched her indoors roof, closed Arthur
Ash Stadium, no variables, no sun. She'd have a mid

(28:50):
court foehand twenty feet long like that. That's so weird, right,
I don't understand how you can't. It's like she doesn't
feel the ball, but when she's hitting it amazing. Then
she can play six points where you're like where that
come from? Portchill Ace, you like three times in a
tie break. But the it's the ups and downs for
me with Sablenka that must as a coach, I would

(29:12):
be like absolutely, my sphincter would be so tight because
no ball is regular. And so I've been watching her
over the last couple of weeks and I'm concerned if
she's even going to get to the quarters the way
she's playing, and if she does, good luck. Yeah, Well,
she has a tough I think not in her Her

(29:33):
draw is by far the hardest. Yes, the very section
really really good players and not only good players, but
also inform good players.

Speaker 2 (29:42):
So we'll talk about that. But so Arena. Two things
about that. It reminds me of ash Bardi's coach who
talked about the bars and these bars are tough to
control trust in general, that's the one thing. And they
just fly on you. We've seen it in Montreal that
just you know, so many double from everyone, not only
from Coco, from everyone because they are tough to control.

Speaker 1 (30:03):
That's one thing.

Speaker 2 (30:04):
The other thing, arenas about another player who used to
do that was a beIN Aliziki who you know, when
she played well, could beat anybody in the world. She
beats Serena and Wimbledon. That's tough to do, and informs
Serena in Wimbledon. But when she missed, she missed by
twenty five feet. And the technique is similar in a way.
You know, the wind up there is so much going on,

(30:25):
so when they time it perfectly, not a single person
in the world can play it. But just the fraction
of a millimeter that is not in the sweet spot
goes off so far because the wind up. So I
think I don't know what you think. You're the technical
mastermind here, not me, the technical mastermind. Not that you said, asshole.
I was like, I didn't hear. I was like, mastermind,

(30:47):
thank you.

Speaker 1 (30:48):
I cannot work it out. It's like she does. It's
like she doesn't feel the ball on her strings. And
you know, everyone talked about Serena's a big hitter, blah
blah blah. Could roll the fourhand in, she could roll
the backend in and then she could go for it.
Serena could make ten twelve balls if you asked her to.
I don't feel like Arena understands it, and I think

(31:10):
there's two reasons for that. I think clearly Serena was
a way better mover around the court. She could run
down ten fifteen balls easy. I don't think Arena really
wants to do that. She's not a grinder. I just
I don't. It doesn't make sense to me. It doesn't
make sense to me that the best player in the
world misses by the margins, she misses and bottom of
the net and ten feet wide, and then she can

(31:32):
play three four games that you can't touch the ball.
I just as I said as her coach, and now
she's brought in Max Meerni and her technical coach, Gavin
McMillan has now gone to Coco, which is fascinating to me.
It doesn't make sense. I'm not saying that she's she's
second favorite to win the tournament, but I just I
don't know. It's a conundrum.

Speaker 2 (31:53):
Yeah, Well, Arena Savlenka, she has a touse Toufjo Towson
is in her part as in her part, both informed players.
There's Paulinianova exactly, so she has really had a bad
hand when it comes to Josh. She had a bad
hand already in Wimbledon, she could have possibly played Vonderusilla

(32:15):
in the third round, got Emma rad o'canno in staid,
so that hasn't been easy. I think it might be
the bass. I think it might be the bass. And
I do think what I've noticed with Arena and Lindsay
Devenport touched on it, which was really interesting, there is
a certain kind of nervousness around her, and Lindsay said
she thinks it's from her being by far the best

(32:35):
player in the world right now but not having won
a Slam. And I think the standards of a number
one player are just different. And if you are number
one and you haven't won a Slam, And just as
a reminder, seven five and the third at the Austrian
Open final, set up against Coco gov In, the French
Open final, set up against Amanda Nisimova in a break,

(32:56):
I think, in the Wimbledon semi final. So these are
opportunities missed, opportunities for Arena Sabalenka that have cast a
certain kind of nervousness and I think that paired for
a standard of a number one player. Obviously for me,
I would have had the best season of my life.
I had a season like Arena Sabalanca had this year.
But I think her standards are just different. And I

(33:17):
think you have to look at it through the lens
of a number one player, and Arena has big ambitions,
she wants to win the big titles. That pair that
nervousness paired with the light balls that are tough for
her to control. I think that's what you are seeing
right now, is my analysis of it.

Speaker 1 (33:32):
Yeah, as we said, we're not in a head, we
don't know, we're not having these conversations with her, but
we're trying to figure it out and as I said, Sabolenka,
if the seeds hold up, it's going to be Sabolenka, Towson,
Rubackina and Paulini and all of those players. All of
them are playing really well. And in the bottom half
that draw, I think jess for Gula actually has a
pretty good section of the draw. She has a lot

(33:54):
of points to the fan I see her. Possibly, let
me just add in the top half that draw with
those players that I talked about in Sabolenka. Also Amma
Radakanuk Drusova is also there.

Speaker 2 (34:05):
When Marketa has a good week or fortnite, we all
know what she can do. She's in the Paullini section,
so a lot I think that is alexandre Yala, who
plays Clara Tausen.

Speaker 1 (34:15):
First. There are a lot, a lot of really good
players that have somehow all ended up in Sablenka's section. Yeah,
so she's going to be certainly tested. If she gets
through all of that, then look out, because she then
will start feeling like she can beat anybody. Yes, it's
the true down there part. As I said, Jesspa Gula,
maybe benchic getting through made the semis of Wemblon, but

(34:36):
hasn't played well in the summer, but her section of
the draw isn't bad. Sam Sonova, if she plays off
her face, can beat anyone, but also can lose to anyone.
Yestremskaes down there published in COVID. That's their first round.
But one person I want to talk about, particularly because
Caitlin's in the room and we have Canadian fans Victoria Mumboco. Yeah,

(34:58):
the North there in the house. Okay, Victoria Momboco. I
have to say this, what an amazing tournament that was.
She's such a great kid. Most Canadians are. And I'm
not saying that because you're in the room, but you
are the Commonwealth. Yeah, the Commonwealth. But she has an
unbelievably hard first round.

Speaker 2 (35:16):
Yea.

Speaker 1 (35:17):
She plays for Bora Kajikova, who has not Okay, we
know she hasn't had the year that she had previously
by winning Wimbledon. I did bump into Barbora in the
hallways of the US Open. I said, how you doing?
How's the body? She's a good much better, not one
hundred percent, but much better. So that will be an
interesting thing. She played well in Cincinnati. That's going to
be an interesting first round, more so because I know

(35:38):
there's pressure on Kadjikova because you're playing this young kid
and etc. But the amount of pressure Victoria Momboco is
going to face in that first round is wild. I
think there's only one player with more pressure, and that
would be Coco Gough. Honestly, Wimbocco. Every Canadian now thinks
she's going to win the US Open because she won
Canada and it's like, yeah, and she went it one day. Absolutely,

(36:02):
is she gonna win it this year? Doubtful because that's
a big ask for someone so young to beat this
many players in a row again, but also to beat
Kerjka first round, ker Jikaba first round. Can you imagine
the amount of reporters, cameras, expectations. She's probably done a
billion things since she won the Canadian Open. You how

(36:22):
would you advise someone so young to be able to
handle this pressure going into the US Open.

Speaker 2 (36:26):
Well, So, the great thing is I spoke to Natalie
Tozia yesterday, who was in her coaching team.

Speaker 1 (36:31):
She's working for the Canadian Tennis Federation. See this is
why you have us around. We get to the cruxity.

Speaker 2 (36:37):
Well, and Natalie said, what they will try to do here,
and what they did in Montreal is they will try
to take it match by match. And she said to me,
Victoria is really good for her young age and sort
of compartmentalizing things and being like, Okay, this is what
I have to do today, and I'll take care of
the press later. This is what I have to do today,
and I'll take care of the press later. So that's

(36:58):
something that Alie said to me. So I do think
that for such a young age, she has quite a
good setup and quite a good mind for that. The
other thing is, in the semifinal in Montreal, she fell
on her wrist and she did play the final and
she won, but it wasn't as nothing as she made
it seem. There was a little bit of a tear
inside and she did have to pass for eight days afterwards,

(37:19):
and it was swollen, so she had to wait before
she could practice again. And now my question to you
is do you think that it's an advantage that maybe
she could have settled and just like work through what
she has achieved and accomplished and maybe reset for the
US Open, or maybe now she has grown the pressure
in her head because she had time to think about it.

(37:39):
You know, I mean tough, it could go both ways.

Speaker 1 (37:41):
I think, honestly, only time will tell that is yeah,
I don't know. When you said it, I was like, oh,
it's good. She probably got away for those eight days
and just sort of like switched off and started worrying
about her wrist and not thinking about all this attention
and was locked into about her injury and all that
sort of stuff. But also the same time, you sort
of lose that hush that you have right that you've

(38:03):
just won a great tournament. Then you go out and
you win some more matches, and then you come into
the US Open and you just got all this tennis
under your belt and all the things, and then playing
a match is very different to practice. So I don't know.
I guess the only person that can answer that is
her and the results. If she plays well in that
first round, you're like, oh, well, it was the best
thing that could happen to her. And if she loses badly,

(38:25):
you're like, well, that sucked. So I don't know. And also,
she's playing a very accomplished, incredible player who can withstand
a lot of pressure, who's had to deal with that
in singles.

Speaker 2 (38:34):
And doubles and one problem I do see just strictly
tennis matchup wise, not talking about mentality and pressure and
so on. The way Naomi Osaka won the first set
against Victoria m Boco. Victoria and Boco was she stuck
in the forehand cross court rallies because she knew Naomi's
forehand is better than Victoria's forehand. It's not bad, but

(38:56):
Naomi's is just better, and she's stuck in those forehand
cross called rallies, and they did it over and over
again and giving.

Speaker 1 (39:03):
The game plan, giving away the game.

Speaker 2 (39:04):
Plan here, Well, what I want to say is Krichikova
has one of the best forehand cross courts in the world.
I don't think many people can withstand Barbora Krichikova in
the forehand cross court rallies. That's why you see a
lot of players trying to go quickly to her back ends,
so she has to run. And it's a whole thing
against Krechikova. She's so talented. I hated playing her. I

(39:26):
hate her for how.

Speaker 1 (39:28):
Good she is.

Speaker 2 (39:29):
She's a lovely person, but for how good she is,
it was an absolute nightmare. So right, just strictly speaking
about tennis matchup, this could be a tough fun for
Imboco if Krichikova is really disciplined about the forehand cross courts.

Speaker 1 (39:42):
I agree, and that you know, we talk about this
a lot on the podcast or in general on TV.
Is that tennis is. It's such an interesting sport because
you can play so well against certain people, but in
the end, it is a mats Matchhops do determine a
lot of things, and there are some players that really
struggle with hitting their fourhand down line. Remarking is one
of those gubby and you moved to Gruthe is one

(40:03):
of those players that used to be able to not
do that fourhand down the line. That well, there are
players out there. If you watch, if you are a
good coach as well, you will pick on certain things.
And that's just the case with Kujikaba. That foehand cross
god is so good and it is hard to change
it down the line you're going a higher part of
the net, etcetera, etcetera. Emma Navarro has really struggled. She

(40:25):
struggled it and she lost first round in Monterey trying
to get matches. Coming into the US Open. We've talked
about the sophomore year. Can she turn around here at
the US Open, I don't know. She plays your fun
one in the first round, that's not easy. She has
Jikaba or Momboco in that section. I feel like, I
don't know who's going to get through that second well.

Speaker 2 (40:44):
And in the second round she has Katie McNally, who
possibly if Katie gets through her first round. And I
thought Katie the way she came back. She's had the
wrist injury.

Speaker 1 (40:55):
Nice to see.

Speaker 2 (40:56):
Elbow injury, sorry elbow. She had to have to have
surgery on her elbow. That's one of the toughest surgeries
to go through. And she's had a comeback quicker than
I've seen from almost anybody within eight months. She's on
the verge of breaking into the top hundred already, has
won billions of challenger titles, I think three in a
row before coming into Montreal. She's the only player who

(41:17):
took a set of Eager Sciontek at Wimbledon. So she's
in quite a good form. And I think Katie could
maybe with a bit of help from the jar, could
go could go far.

Speaker 1 (41:28):
Yeah, well, we'll see. I guess that's why they play
the mattress. I think Andreva, we'll see where she's at
emotionally and just physically.

Speaker 2 (41:34):
Now, what do you think is just the pressure of
having played so well in the beginning of the.

Speaker 1 (41:39):
I think so she's young, she's just learning how to
deal with the pressure every day all day. Anyway, let's
get to the other section of the draw before we
go for three hours on this podcast.

Speaker 2 (41:49):
But how long have we? Oh, Okay, we're still in
good time.

Speaker 1 (41:52):
Battye Keys. Do we think that she can book end
the year with a Grand Slam at the us Ope?
And we know how well she plays here the us
Ope and the court is perfect for her, the balls
are good for her. I feel she has a pretty
good section. She might play Costure in the third round,
who can play very good tennis, Mohova potentially Mohovah Venus

(42:15):
William's first round that is I guarantee you that's going
to be an.

Speaker 2 (42:19):
Arthur ash That's an ad session.

Speaker 1 (42:21):
I can guarantee. What do we think about Venus's chances
in that match? Before we get to Maddie, that's just
a rough first round for me.

Speaker 2 (42:30):
That's a rough first round. Honestly, Madison and Venus, I
would never put it past them anything. Because he asked
about Ken Madison win this tournament. I would always say
yes right away, and Ken Venus speak Curlina Mokhova, I
would also say yes right away. But obviously I think
the weather will help her. It's not going to be
as hot and humid as it can be during the
US Open. That's one thing. The other thing the crowd.

(42:54):
You can just see her passion for the game, her competitiveness.
That was really fun to watch and watching you see. However,
she lost to Fresh in Washington, and the way Fresh
beater is short slices, drop shots angles because that's when
Venus has to run. And who can do a better
drop shot slices opening up the angle than Carolina freakin Mukhova.

Speaker 1 (43:17):
Yeah, no one. The one thing about Venus in that match,
I think she just she looked tired. She was very tiny,
She looked tired. She played a couple of doubles matches.
I think this will be a little bit different. She'll
have so hot in Washington, so hot in Washington, so
I think that helped. Although she played at night, so
I can't really say that. But she did play a
couple of doubles matches that went the distance, So I

(43:38):
think that hurt her a little bit. In Washington. I
think it helped her get some matches before the singles,
but then it actually the combination of all the matches
started to physically get to her a little bit. So
we'll see it's a nightmare matchup for her in that
section of the draw at the top with Mattie Keys
is Coco. But if Naomi and Saka wins through and
Coco went through, they are going to play each other

(43:59):
in the fourth round. That to me is really interesting
because I think the one person and people that Coco
struggles against, the people that go after the return and
go after the forehand, and of course we know Naomi
is one of the best of that. Anaomi's playing pretty well,
super well. She's got a new coach on board with
Thomas Wickgorowski. I think that's going to be a real

(44:21):
test for Coco. I've seen her over the last three days.
You guys working with Gavin McMillan on this serve. We
know it's been the biggest achilles heel for her since
winning the franch You can get away with it on clay.
You can get away with hitting a crappy second serve
on clay because she can run the return down. She's
going to mentally break you down. She's going to physically

(44:41):
break you down. But on fast, hardcourt and grass, you
have to serve well. So this serve she has been
working on with Gavin for three days. We all saw
her if you were watching our coverage on Espien, hitting
serves are literally in the rain. And then yesterday before
the little exhibition thing they had last night, she was
on court and I swear all she did was serf.

(45:02):
He's clearly working on her technique. You know, he's working
on the elbow, he's working on the hand, he's working
on everything. You tell me, Pecko, you tell me how hard,
because you know you were always tinkering around with your serf.
How hard is it five days before the biggest tournament
for you in the world, the US Open, with all
the pressure on her shoulders, going into Arthur Ash where

(45:25):
she will literally play every match. Can you imagine playing
in front of twenty thousand people going Okay, what do
we work on? What do I do with my elbow?
What do I do with my I mean, oh my god,
Like the pressure on this kid being and having to
adjust the serve. I mean, are you nervous for her
because I am I mean, I was nervous for her
watching her serve last night in that exhibition. I am

(45:48):
not nervous at all.

Speaker 2 (45:49):
Okay, good does I call it? Both her matches in Montreal,
where she served twenty four double falls per match, That
is twenty one percent of surf she hit word double falls.
Twenty one percent of points she lost were through double faults.
Just let that seep in.

Speaker 1 (46:06):
No, i'd brotherly are mine? How much worse can I get?

Speaker 2 (46:09):
I would have brought in five coaches and think about
my elbows seventeen five times before. I'm not nervous for
her at all. The surf looks already much better. She
made every single serf yesterday and that exhibition, And that's
even harder in a way, because you only have ten
points to make your serf you can find your rhythm.

Speaker 1 (46:28):
You don't have time for that.

Speaker 2 (46:29):
John mcnroe is on the other side looking at you
with his mean eye, and you're like, oh my god,
so you better make your serf and she did. That's
more pressure than first shown on Arthur ash and a
night session facing John Freakin McEnroe on the other side.

Speaker 1 (46:41):
That is true in a lot of ways. You probably like,
come on, give me a break. It's an ex so
who cares. But you know you got to get the
serving because you know, in mentally you're thinking, if I
double fault hiring an exhibition with technically quote unquote no
pressure and I can't get the serve in, imagine what
it's like, what it really matters.

Speaker 2 (46:57):
And then the best was Andre Agasy double faulted in
her Yeah, so I was speaking about it joking jokingly
a little bit, but I do think that it couldn't
have gotten much worse than particularly in Montreal. It was
a lot better already in Cincinnati. She is such a
talented kid. She improves so quickly. We saw her win

(47:18):
Wuhan with changing her grip on the serf a week prior.
He can do anything. She's just I think people see
the things that break down on her when she's not
playing well and think, oh, she has so many holes
in her game. What they refuse to see is the
talent that this Coco Gough has in every single inch

(47:38):
of her body and how quickly she learns. And I
think that's an underestimated quality in tennis players. Yes, some
feel the ball nicely some can have a create a
tremendous amount of power, but how quickly you learn you
things is very much part of the game and one
of the best, and that was Novak Djokovic, and Coco
gov is not very far behind him in that department.

Speaker 1 (48:00):
Well, WHOA sorry about that. Well, I'll tell you one thing.
Coco has a heck of a draw to have to
get through to the semi finals, let alone the final.
I mean, if it goes according to what we think
at their.

Speaker 2 (48:14):
Best, the first few rounds are okay, the first.

Speaker 1 (48:17):
Three rounds are okay. She definitely has you know, Crete
Minnan and then Haley Baptist or snee Kova be a
bit of a test. Then possibly Casakina. I don't think
that will be as much of a test because Caskina
really doesn't go after the ball. She'll make her play
a lot of balls, but that's kind of what Coco's
comfortable with doing. But then we start looking at Naomi
Osaka to possibly play Madison Keys or Mukhova, whoever gets

(48:41):
through that section, and then to play Eager. There's no
doubt in my mind Eagerson Tech is the is the
favorite to win the US Open. She's playing, so I
don't know what happened, but after she played, you know,
we talked about the match of the year, without question,
is still Eagerson Tech and Key's Australian Open semi final.

(49:02):
The final was fantastic, but the semifinal was outrageous. How
good the tennis was. You and I were sitting courtside,
so when we sit courtside, we see everything, and that
was the standard of tennis I have not seen, no,
I wouldn't say ever, but there was as close of
the greatest, one of the greatest matches I ever watched,
and I still think it's the match of the year.

(49:23):
Eager Eager could not have I don't think Eager could
have played better than that match and still lost it.
And I think losing that match having a match point,
I think that ruined her for like three months.

Speaker 2 (49:34):
I agree one hundred percent, and I think we talked
about it on the podcast. But for those who maybe
haven't listened, I went back and I checked all her
matches that are on public record, and Eager had never
lost ever in an official match having held the match point.
That had never happened to IGOs Fiontek. Maybe in juniors
when she was fourteen. Maybe she had lost the match,

(49:55):
but she had never held the match point and not
have finished the match. So this was a novelty for her,
and I agree with you. I think there was the
highest quality match. When I retired, I had many ups
and downs of being sad that I wasn't a tennis
player anymore and being happy. The happiest moment of my
retirement was seeing that match and just registering that I'm

(50:15):
not a tennis player anymore and I don't have to
play this kind of quality tennis, either against Madison or
Ego Sciontech. So I agree with you one hundred percent
of this.

Speaker 1 (50:26):
Yeah. So for me, I think it took her a
long time to get over that match. I think it
dented her somehow. And then we know what happened on
the clay courts. I mean she was getting beaten comfortably
on clay. She got lost to Coco easily in Rome.
I think it was lost in the French Open. It
was like, oh my god, if she can't win on clay,
imagine mentally what was going through her mind. If I

(50:47):
can't beat these people on clay, how am I going
to win a Grand Slam again? So I think she
kind of said, fuck it, you know whatever, I'm just
going to give it a go on grass. And she
still probably can't believe she won. Wimbled her. I've had
many conversations with her about Wimbledon, and I was like
trying to convince her that she could win it. She's like,
I don't know, I can't play on grass, blah blah.

(51:08):
She wins Wimbledon, she goes and she doesn't play. She
played okay in Canada and then played on a faster
court in Cincinnati. Unbelievable. That match against Rebuccina was unreal.
It was very competitive in the finalists Pallolini, I think
her confidence is back to where it was when she
was dominating at world number one, where she couldn't lose
a match there. What's thirty seven match win streak. I

(51:30):
think she's on that train again. And I don't see
anyone in her section of the drawer, and it's listen.
I don't want to I'm not trying to give other
players shit here, but the players in her section of
the draw there's no one in there unless they play
off their face. And she has a bad day that
she's not making the semi.

Speaker 2 (51:46):
Fine, well, Amanda Nissi will wow, was it so loud
all of a sudden, don't know maybe exactly what you said,
Amanda Neissimova and the quarter finals, if she gets through
her section, could be a player that plays off her face.
And if Ega does and have a great day, that
could be somebody. I think everyone is celebrating and creating

(52:06):
prayer circles that there is no Asta Penko in Nigasciontek
section off the draw. I think she's in the other half.
So that's great. But no, I agree with you one
hundred percent, and I do.

Speaker 1 (52:16):
Think that that.

Speaker 2 (52:19):
Actually I spoke to Wimfiseette in Cincinnati after she had
lost to Clara Towson in Montreal, and he said, you know,
just mentality wise, she was reverting a little bit back
to before Wimbledon, where she got really hard on herself
and everything needed to be perfect.

Speaker 1 (52:37):
Well because she won wimblet so she thought it was
a spost to win everything. Now, that's where the mentality
part is very That's why I think she's on the train,
because she understands what she needs to do now mentally,
physically and with her game. That's why I feel like
she's on that upper echelonta.

Speaker 2 (52:51):
But that's exactly what because I spoke to him on
the day before her first round in Cincinnati and he said,
our goal for Cincinnati is purely dead. That she accepts
that unforced errors can happen like she did and Wembledon,
that's our only goal for Cincinnati. And seeing her do
that so well and so quickly after only one tournament,

(53:12):
we did see emotional outbursts, but I think that was
what was really impressive to that.

Speaker 1 (53:17):
Oh my god, that's what we should have done better,
because I could never let anything go.

Speaker 2 (53:23):
I think I'm still holding a grudge against my forehand.

Speaker 1 (53:27):
I'm still holding a grudge against my forehand since it
was birthed. But anyway, so okay, so let's just wrap
it up here. Eager Sheiontech is my favorite. I think
some Darren Kyle actually thinks that Amanda Anissimova will be
right there at the end as well. And I said, Darren,
do you I hate to bring this up, but do
you remember when she didn't win a game against Eager

(53:47):
at Wimbledon. But I think it'll be different because she
would have learned so much from that experience. But listen.
My thoughts in the end to wrap this lovely live
podcast up is that I think that and Yannick Cina
are my two favorites. What about you.

Speaker 2 (54:03):
My two favorites are IgA and Carlos, just because I
don't know how Yanick will recover from you know, it's
a long year and I don't know the virus, how
much substance he has lost. That's the only reason I
think between Carlos and Yannick it's zero points zero one percent,
and so that's the only reason I put Carlos slightly ahead.
Have you, guys watched the Lavata advertising with Janick Cinna

(54:28):
on his Instagram?

Speaker 1 (54:29):
I have not. It's amazing.

Speaker 2 (54:30):
Please everyone go on your phones right now and lovaa.

Speaker 1 (54:34):
No Cappuccio and Lavasti is not a sponsor, so yeah,
go and watch it all right, guys, Well, thanks for
coming to the Seaport here in New York. You, Petko
and I are New Yorkers. We don't sound like it,
but we definitely live here. I live up in the
East Village and you live over in Brooklyn. So for
us to be able to do a live past podcast
in New York is always fun. Come down to the

(54:54):
seaport for everybody. The Racket magazine events staff and putting
on an awesome bent down here at the seaport. And
they're going to be here for two weeks, correct, Caitlin,
two weeks. And there is a court and for New Yorkers,
you know how it is to get a court. The
ball might take a couple of weird bounces, but trust me,
it's worth it. It's a beautiful view. Petko, thanks for

(55:15):
taking the ferry over to you take the ferry over.

Speaker 2 (55:17):
I took the bicycle, but I'm taking the ferry back.
Oh the bicycle. You rode on a city bike over here.
Electric bag okay.

Speaker 1 (55:24):
Lazy okay. Thanks everybody for Joey's today and we'll see you. Thanks. Bye,