Open Era Gold: Our Favourite Matches of 2022

As we continue our look back at 2022 we arrive at some our of favourite matches. For once, Simon has not included a Musetti match (or has he??) but has turned his attention to a different teenage phenom. Devang and Simon also give the eyes emoji to the Ostrava!!! Final between Iga Swiatek and Barbora Krejcikova. Come on you know an Ostrava!!! Match had to be in here somewhere… 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
What's going on Open Air listeners? This is Devang de Sai.
Simon and I are off once again this week, so
we're going to look back at something we recorded in
twenty twenty two. It was our favorite matches from that year.
Why did I choose this week to do this episode? Well,
I figured it included some of the people we've been

(00:21):
talking about a lot this year, including Lorenzu Massetti and
Barbara Krachikova and Igishfiantek. So why not highlight what we
thought a couple of years ago, also to see what
has happened since then, to see if we were onto
anything in terms of long term trends. I have a
feeling we were not, but we tried, and that is

(00:43):
the beauty of Open Era. Simon and I will be
back next week with a fresh episode, but enjoy this
look back at the twenty twenty two season on Open Era.

Speaker 2 (01:06):
Hello, and welcome to the Open Era podcast. Mind he
was debying Decide. I'm joined as always by mister Simon
Bush Old Bush. We continue to wrap up twenty twenty two.
I was remarking the weather in Toronto is getting quite squirrely,
and you just had to mention that it's twenty degrees
in Barcelona, where you currently are. I hate you.

Speaker 3 (01:26):
Well, there's one way to enjoy the Christmas period is
by going away and getting some much needed sunshine. It
was absolutely mandatory. I think I was going to spend
any time in Britain. I got to do the British
thing and get the hell away from them.

Speaker 2 (01:40):
You did your own Brexit. You did it the proper,
the proper Brexit, and that means individually leaving the UK
and Spain this time of year pretty majestic. I am jealous, sir,
and it's a good thing that you are in Spain
because we're going to do a whistle stop tour of

(02:03):
our favorite matches this year. As we continue to count down,
the day is still twenty twenty three, a ton of
stuff to choose from Bush and we are assuredly going
to miss some things that people will probably be like,
how did you miss this? Or are you insane? But
it's a long year and that is my main defense.
There are a lot of good matches.

Speaker 3 (02:21):
Well yeah, and it's about how we define best matches.
Good matches I think their own personal favorite matches to
be honest, or matches which stayed with us, because if
we're actually doing an objective, quantitative or qualitative list of,
you know, the best matches of twenty twenty two, then
maybe these ones would appear on it. But in general,
I think these are just matches which have stayed with us.

(02:42):
So I think that's kind of what we wanted to
tackle today on today's show, which is that I have one,
you have one, and then I think we try and
have both picks as in the sense that we both
have one that we should probably talk about together. Sound good.

Speaker 2 (02:57):
It does. I'm curious how you what was your criteria
for selecting these matches, because I went through I love
going on the wiki the year and like the tour,
so like if it was last year twenty twenty one
WTA Tour and going through every tournament and seeing the
draws and seeing what I remember or what clicked in,

(03:19):
and that kind of is what led me to select
the matches I did. But I'm imagining yours is might
be more an emotional appeal, less than sorting through Wikipedia pages.

Speaker 3 (03:29):
What are you implying with that?

Speaker 2 (03:34):
I don't know, to be honest, but whatever you are,
however you are taking it, That's kind of where I
was taking it.

Speaker 3 (03:41):
I operate on vibes alone on this podcast. You've known
it for a long time. There's never any actual analysis
that's done on this show, and nor should that be. So, Yes,
you're probably right emotional appeal and you know, I think
long time listeners at this show know that I'm a
big fan of storylines, big fan of narratives, and I
think that's where I ended up making my decision on
this particular match that I've chosen because it was narrative central.

(04:03):
There was all sorts of things going into this one,
and like, I'm quite excited to talk about it because
we didn't talk about Carlos akeras in our year und
awards show. He got the short shift that he not
he didn't get any awards from us.

Speaker 2 (04:16):
He didn't. I think he officially got the most Improved
Player from the ATP the other day, but Jesus, we
neglected him. I think we talked about him a few
times though, and it's not like we haven't talked about
him a lot throughout the year. That being said, Bush,
I think this is a great choice for your pick.
And I will say at the time, I was in
Las Vegas for a bachelor party and you can imagine

(04:37):
the shenanigans that possibly go on at at a function
like that. But to get an entire group of lads
they say to stop the chicanery and watch a tennis
match is pretty rare outside of the tennis obsess but
that's what happened for this match. We all stopped what
we were doing. There is a TV outside by the

(04:59):
pool picturesque, and we all settled in for Novak Djokovic
versus Carlos Alcaraz a Madrid.

Speaker 3 (05:05):
Could you describe said laddish behavior to me?

Speaker 2 (05:09):
Okay, so we are all washed now, we're all in
our thirties plus, so there is way less. It's quite
chill actually, but I there's events, you know, golfing and
go karting, there's things to do, and yet this tennis
match was one of the highlights of the trip for me,
which says a lot.

Speaker 3 (05:30):
It's it's a mark of how committed you are to
the sport and to the podcast that despite being the
middle of a lad's holiday, you still manage to catch
up with the ascending star that was karlas Akaraz against
the fading star that is Novak Jokovic. Question mark No,
that's far too harsh, I.

Speaker 2 (05:46):
Will say, But as well, this was a great glimpse
into how hard it is to find stuff on American TV,
or find tennis on American TV. It was quite a mission,
and it involved multiple streams and multiple ad blockers, but
we found a way.

Speaker 3 (05:59):
So I'm going to set this up in the only
way I know how, which is by a massive amount
of thievery and theft. To go and take Steve Tignall's
headlines from the following article written about this match. The
semi final between cakrlas Aker as a Novak Djokovic in
Madrid was the most anticipated first meeting of the ATP season.
Okay check so far. I think that's relatively uncontroversial, although

(06:24):
we can get into that in a second. It pitted
the current number one player versus the teenager who most
people believe will occupy that spot at some point, possibly
very soon. It featured the defending Roland Garrison champion versus
one of the top two tier contenders for that throwne
in twenty twenty two. It was a chance for the
young player to show that he could be a worthy
successor to Djokovic and Rafa Nadal by becoming the first

(06:46):
person to beat them back to back on clay in
front of his home fans to boot, I think that
in a nutshell is why this was so interesting. One
of the first points that I was going to ask
you about this is that first sentence accurate. Was this
more antisipated than Karlis Acaraz's match up against Rafael Nadal?

Speaker 2 (07:05):
That's a great question, I guess. I guess in a
way it was because the doll was dispatched the way
he was, and it was maybe a chance for us
to be not overly critical. But ask, okay, can you
follow it up? Can you do it again against the
other best player in the world.

Speaker 3 (07:25):
I think that's probably fair. Also, I guess, just to
be fair to that article, it was talking about first
ever meetings, and we saw how well Karlis Karaz's first
meeting with Rafa Nadal when it was not pleasant, not
a pleasant experience for the young man from Murcia. Anyway,
let's talk about this match because like the backdrop against
it is that. Obviously, Acaras has had an incredible season
to this point. He won his first Master sidle in Miami.

(07:48):
He made the semi finals in Indian Wells, but going
into this Madrid og and he had one hell of
a draw. And I remember I was talking about on
this show actually of just how what a gauntlet it
would have to be for him to go through and
actually take this title, just given the surface and given
the home crowd, and just given as well, how formidable
the opponents that he would have to be along the

(08:08):
way would be. So he opens this tournament in certainly
not blazing style, but he has to see off blash
lass Villi, which comes with its own problems in its
own right. Then he has to play killer cam Norri,
which he sees him off in three very tight sets,
and you're not going to get anything easy against cam Norri.

(08:29):
And then you get that quarter final match up against
Raffiy Nadal, which if we're talking about storylines and headlines,
the Dolls won everything at this tournament. He owns it
in so many ways, and then to have this young
Spaniard come up against him. I guess one of your
memories of that quarter final, because I could have easily
picked that match as a Match of the Year because
are the own storylines that went into that. But the
I can talk about why I picked the Jokovic one instead,

(08:51):
But let's just give a couple of minutes to that
quarter final, because in its own right, it was spectacular.

Speaker 2 (08:56):
Yeah, I think I just remember expecting algaz to fade
in that third set, like I truly thought that he
was cooked, and after Nadal convincingly took the second set,
and also I think wrestled some of the crowd support
back because I think that maybe the most fascinating aspect
of these two matches back to back is Federer gone,
Nadal Djokovic, maybe Djokovic less so. And I know there's

(09:19):
some places where he's not overly loved, but for the
most part, they have the majority of fans behind them,
and I think that is something that I mean, in
Novak's case, maybe is not a positive thing because he
seems to thrive off anti support. But it was jarring
to me to see Nadal play second fiddle for that
opening set and to see Nadal push back and kind
of reassert himself as the man quote unquote. I expected

(09:43):
that they're set to follow a similar script to their
first meeting and it didn't. And I saw something from
Malkarraz that day that maybe it confirmed for me, and
I think we said that this at the time as
well pushed it confirmed for us that a major was
coming sooner than later, and no stage was too big
for him even at this age, even at this early
juncture in his career.

Speaker 3 (10:04):
I think the reason that I wanted to circle this
tournament specifically is because I think this is the moment
that he arrived. Everyone's going to circle that Grand Slam
and say, you know, this is the crowning achievement, world
number one and all that sort of stuff, But this
is a tournament that really said to me that he
was capable of being the best in the world, just
given the way that he handled his business against just
elite level players, like the route that he had to

(10:25):
get to the final, who he had to be, and
then just the utterly and completely comical way that he
dispatched Alexander's Verev in the final is one that will
come onto it in a second, I think. I guess
I'll ask the other question. If people look back at
this year for Carlos Sakerez, do you think the memory

(10:46):
they're going to have is of that US Open win
or do you think it's going to be of these
two matches in a row. Because to do this in
a way that very few players have done. Almost like
the list is tiny, isn't It's like four players or something.
That I've actually managed to beat these two in a
row at a master's or elite level competition, and to
do that at nineteen is just an astonishing achievement.

Speaker 2 (11:07):
Yeah, it's a good question. I maybe it's because of
who he played in the US that that will resonate
as much going forward, even though it should probably And
I mean the Cinner match itself was an all time classic,
but it ended at like five in the morning, so
I don't know how many people were watching that live
at the point. It sounds weird to say this, but

(11:30):
like I feel like the general spotlight of the tennis
world and beyond would seek out that Madrid tournament more
than the US Open when it's all said and done,
And Sinner and Francis Tiaffo and Casperu did their best
to make that US Open run memorable, but I will
still look to Matrid as maybe the defining moment for

(11:52):
Carlos this year.

Speaker 3 (11:54):
Agreed entirely, And I think one of the things that
stands out for me in both of these matches going
back to back is just the expectation that we've seen
over the year of having a young player come up
play against these two you know, phenom just these horrible
figures who loom over our sport in the way that
they do. And you've seen so many players fade or

(12:17):
like they've had good first sets and they've had good
opening matches against either of these dudes, and they've just faded.
And I think it's important that we kind of circle
here is that in the biggest moments in both with
these matches, he didn't fade. He still went for his shots,
and he's still hung in there in ways that we
haven't seen from other players who are at the top
of the sport. I think the only person that I

(12:38):
could say that actually rivals Carlos al Karaz for ability
to hang with these two dudes. It's probably dominic team
in the modern version of the game, and we've seen
how it basically took team's entire physical being.

Speaker 2 (12:55):
Entire being. Yeah, it's funny you mentioned to you because
he's one of those guys that has beaten Rafa Novak
at the same tournament. But in terms of back to
back days, can you name the list of people who
have beaten them oh.

Speaker 3 (13:09):
I assume Feeder has done it.

Speaker 2 (13:10):
Federer has twenty ten ATP finals. The other three are
hilarious and you might be able to get them, but
they're pre twenty ten.

Speaker 3 (13:18):
So Alvandian is obviously one of them. Yes, Madrid, of course,
two other players. It's gonna be some random dude, isn't it.
Maybe did Schwartzman do it? Think with someone like that.

Speaker 1 (13:32):
You did not.

Speaker 2 (13:34):
It's an American and a Russian. Maybe Danny Maphidev did
it pre twenty ten? The original the original Russian post Keffeldakov,
if that is the hint at all.

Speaker 3 (13:44):
The original Russian? Who am I missing here?

Speaker 2 (13:50):
The balld assassin flattest backhand in the world, of.

Speaker 3 (13:54):
Course, Andre Agassi, I'm kidding.

Speaker 2 (13:58):
It's Daddy Denko's Nikolai Damdenko in Shanghai two thousand and nine.
And then a rod the visored one Andy Roddick in
Dubai two thousand and eight. And let's be fair here,
those guys were not nearly at the peak of their
powers then, but still hilarious. Was to look back on
that is.

Speaker 3 (14:18):
A really amazing list. I did not know that Andy
Roig did that. That is actually quite funny, I should
go back and watch that tournament. Maybe I should have
picked that for my Maybe we should do that as
a look back at some point. A rod as due.
So let's chat about this one, because we can't mention
this match without mentioning the other narrative, of course, is
that Novak Djokovic has played very, very few tournaments coming
into this. He's fresh off winning the Serbia over in

(14:41):
Serbian Open in Belgrade in his home tournament, but that's
kind of it, like he's not done a whole lot
else in this tournament in this year for obvious reasons
self inflicted wounds. So I think that's one of the
other narratives going into this matchup is just how is
Novakjoovic going to look after so much time off? And
let's be honest, he definitely had COVID around this time

(15:03):
as well, with the aftermath of long Covid just given
his staring at the floor and staring into the nether
regions of the world blankly between sets that was happening
around this period of time, and that is another huge
part of this matchup that we can't ignore death, No,
we can.

Speaker 2 (15:23):
And it's interesting looking back that Novak seemed like he
was going to cruise to win this match, like he
was down early in the first set but took that
over and even in the second set, he had plenty
of chances to end it before a third set even began.
But usually you see Nadal and Djokovic's opponents maybe not wilt,

(15:46):
but their coffin certainly does and their shot making suffers
as a result. And I think the most fascinating aspect
of this match and the Doll matches. Al KaAZ is
a fine margin player. He goes for big shots, but
he reined it in several times throughout to keep himself
in points and keep himself in dicey situations like for

(16:06):
someone who fell behind on his serve as much as
he did against Djokovic, to fight back and to make
it to the tie break in the third set, exceptional stuff.

Speaker 3 (16:15):
I think that third set is one of the best
sets of the whole season, just everything that happened in it,
and I think it's testament to the fighting qualities and Djokovic.
Carlos Akraz forced six breakpoint opportunities in that third set,
and Djokovic saved every single one of them. Do you
want to take a guess. I don't think you have
this in front of you. How many winners and unforced
errors do you think the power of them hit during

(16:35):
the course of this match. Let's go with Djokovic first,
because that's a much easier It's a much lower number
to guess here.

Speaker 2 (16:42):
I want to say twenty.

Speaker 3 (16:44):
So he hit twenty three winners and twenty four unforced errors,
so actually relatively high for a dude that doesn't tend
to be Let's say two adventurous in his shot making. Now,
Karlitos winners, how many do you think it.

Speaker 2 (16:58):
Is just from memory alone? I want to say like sixty,
but I think forty forty issue.

Speaker 3 (17:05):
So fifty one winners.

Speaker 2 (17:06):
Jesus right, the forehand man. The forehand was an absolute
weapon and sometimes a liability. But I mentioned reining it in.
There is times in that match where you felt like
he was going for broke baby too much, and when
you were yelling at the screen to stop doing that.
He did. Then for a young player, it is just

(17:26):
so rare.

Speaker 3 (17:28):
I believe he hit thirty seven winners on his forehand side,
which is pretty ridiculous over the course of a three
set match. He also had fifty unforced errors. So if
we're looking at this objectively, he hit more winners than
nonforced errors. Therefore, keep doing what you're doing, Kid, No
issue was there at all.

Speaker 2 (17:44):
It's exactly true, exactly true. I do have the numbers
in front of me now, and I mean the backhand wing.
Where do you dead out with Carlos on that because
I think staying in backhanded backhand rallies with Joko, which
was also a huge huge factor in this match.

Speaker 3 (18:02):
I mean, he just has to stay neutral throughout his career,
doesn't it. It doesn't need to be a weapon just
given he has the biggest foehand on tour. Maybe is
that fair at least one of them in the top five,
right of just ability to shot, make to find winners
from ridiculous angles, and just to end points when he
wants to. And I think as long as he is
backhand remains a net positive. And to be honest, like,

(18:25):
you don't get to world number one, you don't hang
in rallies with Novak Djokovic with a subpar backhand, like
I think there's still a room to grow on that wing.
But the fact that he's able to do what he
does and has done so far in his career illustrates
that it's more than just like neutral. It's a very
very good shot already.

Speaker 2 (18:41):
Truly, and again, I think it's one thing to say
it's neutral against your rank and file two her opponents.
It's another thing to stay neutral against Novak freaking Djokovic,
and I mean Novak. I think he had nine winners
on his backhand in this match, even over three sets.

(19:02):
It's slow for him.

Speaker 3 (19:02):
I feel like, indeed, so so Akaraz comes out of
the winner. The final score of the match is six
seven seven five seven six. It's really really damn close,
and even to get over the line. There's times in
this that you just feel like Jokovic has too much
He's just like had too much experience to see it
out and just to see Akara's answer the bell the

(19:23):
way that he did numerous times, and that if you're
if you're looking for an illustration of why he is
the world number one now and why everyone's so excited
about him for the rest of his career, just watch
his forehand throughout this match. It is a gun. It
is such a weapon. It is just astonishing to watch
the way that he's able to produce power from the
positions that he's in and he's a phenomenal athlete. It's

(19:46):
it's a it's a great match to watch and I'm
I'm happy to pick it as my favorite of the
year because it's so damn cool to see someone come
along and do this to both of these dudes. The
way that he did one.

Speaker 2 (19:56):
Hundred percent, and I, like you said, like Novad probably
not at one hundred percent, and he gave. You don't
see him giving away the amount of free points he did,
and that third set and especially the breaker, like missing
long on a backhand is not something you're used to
seeing from him. But on the acareas side, like he
served extremely well in the third set. He was a
phenomenal at net at that point. As Tigdore notes, he

(20:18):
was ten and two in tie breakers. He gets better
when it gets tighter. Again, He's nineteen years old, man,
he's nineteen. It's just what a moment. And I felt
like the crowd was special, the atmosphere was special. It
felt like a signature, a signature win, and a time

(20:39):
that we will look back on many years down the
road as a significant moment in men's tennis. For sure.

Speaker 3 (20:46):
Let's just close very briefly by saying it was hilarious
watching the final. It was just absolutely to watch a
player be so out of his depth and to be
I think, to walk on a court wholeheartedly believing, in
the case of Alexanders Verev, that he could beat this kid,
stick his chest out and then just get absolutely pumpled

(21:09):
in side of an hour and a half. It was
incredibly entertaining and cathartic.

Speaker 2 (21:14):
I was extremely worried that after beating the Doll and
Djokovic Savera I would win this tournament. How much did
al Chrest have left in the tank? Would he be
comfortable resting on his laurels after getting these two huge
wins and maybe succumbing to time on court and everything else.
But no, it was a pummeling. It was a justified pummeling.

(21:36):
It was something that I think we all love to see.
And the new king had arrived in Madrid a special
moment in men's tennis. As I mentioned, when we come
back after the break, we go back to the ATP
one more time, We're going to hit the WTA in
our final section for a bunch of matches, because frankly,
I think the WTA was the more exciting tour this year,

(21:57):
but I'm going to take us back to Australia in
part two coming up next. Welcome back to the Open
Era podcast doing our year end roundup. We've given out awards,

(22:22):
We've sang the praises of IGAs Friantech. We're now looking
back at our favorite matches of the year. Simon rightfully
choosing Carlos Zakrez defeating Novak Djokovic in Madrid as his choice.
For my choice, Bush, I'm going back to Australia, the
Australian Open, which I think suffers from being so early
in the year that it's often forgotten and its importance

(22:46):
is taken for granted. I don't know if you feel
the same way as I do, but I intentionally, I
think go back to January and February and camb through
it to see what actually happened, because, like I said,
a ton of matches happened throughout the year and it's
easy for the beginning of the season to maybe get
lost in the mud.

Speaker 3 (23:03):
I wonder whether or not it's true as well that
we do get more high quality matches at the Australian Open,
just given them as the first tournament of the year,
and you've had a bit more of a chance for
people to rest as well, like people have taken the
opportunity to take whatever this tiny offseason we have in
tennis un Let's be honest, a lot of players just
they phone it in after the final major in the

(23:25):
US Open at the back end of the year, and
I think that has that means that you get a
ton of really good stuff at the start of the calendar,
and it's I think it's our favorite Grand Slam for
a reason is because she gets so much good stuff
in that two week period, you really do.

Speaker 2 (23:39):
And I wonder as well if the tennis took a
backseat this time because the Novak debacle and felt like
the side show kind of took over everything. But I'm
picking Rafael Nadal beating Daniel Medvedev in the final as
my my ATP match of the year. I feel like
this is such as sliding Doris moment Simon that it

(24:01):
has to be remembered as such. It features Rafa Nadal
at a tournament in which he's had success, but more
often than not some crushing defeats and to the point
so where I found the discourse surrounding Rafa a bit
hilarious throughout the tournament. A you had the Nole fans

(24:22):
claiming this is not real, this is fake because Novak's
not here. How can this be a true match of
the best in the in the world if the number
one player isn't there. But also it was extremely hard
for him at several points, including against Dennis Shapovalov in
the quarterfinals. Like, I fully believe that he would lose

(24:44):
several times in this tournament. And it's not just against
the likes of a Chapo or a Barantine, but maybe
even Karen Kashanoff. Like it just it felt like this
was a special moment in time for one of the
best to ever play the game and to be come
the fourth man after Emerson, Labor and Novak to achieve

(25:04):
the double careers Grand Slam. It was the way he
did it. I think that will go down in the
books for me, is a truly special moment.

Speaker 3 (25:13):
Well. One thing that we also have to acknowledge here
he was going for twenty one. I mean, if you
want to talk about narratives and storylines, it was going
against history as well, not just going against Danny Medvedev.
It was him cementing himself as the greatest player of
all time. Question mark the Grand Slam count? Yeah, like,

(25:35):
and it's one of those things that it's easy for
us to look back now and think it sort of
seems so quaint, just given where the number that these
two dudes are probably going to end up with, that
that mark to get over the twenty to the twenty first,
I don't think. I think growing up, we never thought
we'd see a player hit twenty, and then we saw

(25:56):
three players do it, and then we never thought we'd
see players get over twenty. I know we've seen two
players do it, and I think that's just testament to
how good they are. They keep rewriting the record books
because this was not an easy tournament for him in
any capacity, and he, much like Alcoraz in the previous
segment we're talking about, kept answering the bell. He looked
down and out so many times in this tournament and

(26:16):
still managed to find a way to win it.

Speaker 2 (26:19):
Well, consider this Bush And this was covered in a
wonderful recap article in the Guardian by too Many Carriole,
who we've mentioned several times on this show, exceptional tennis writer,
but coming into the tournament, Simon. He hadn't played in
six months because of that foot injury. He had COVID
in December, in which a bad case of COVID. It's

(26:40):
bad enough that it felt like a lot of things
are in doubt. In terms of January, he was the
sixth seed. He's thirty five years old. Just it begs relief.
And I think the other thing is Daniel Medvedev was
the best player in the world at that moment. This
is your reigning US Open winner. He looked better at
this tournament than he did there.

Speaker 4 (26:58):
I thought.

Speaker 2 (26:59):
I thought it was one of the best performances to
that point two sets into the final that I had
seen at a major in a long time, which makes
what happens next even more unthinkable.

Speaker 3 (27:11):
It was shaping up to be a crushing much in
the way that Danny Medvedev saw up Novadjokovic in that
US Open final in straight sets. You really thought we
were going to watch the same thing here in a
cementing of a world number one ranking, of the dude,
of the man of the ascension to the top of
the sport, and to continue his dominance of the field

(27:34):
and the way that he had didn't work out that way,
and there was signs, I think during the course of
this tournament that maybe he was beginning to crack. And
I know we're reading something into this, but lest we forget,
of course, this is the tournament of the Danny Medvedev
Stefanos Sissi pass, continuation of the fight in the semi
final as well, where the infamous small cat episode happened.

(27:57):
In the rant that Davedev had with the umpire. It
wasn't all smooth sailing for him either, And I don't know,
maybe I'm beating too much into this to say that
you could sort of see signs that he was fallible
and then actually turned out to be very very true.
In this match.

Speaker 2 (28:15):
Considered, Rafa probably should have won the second set tiebreak.
He was not five to three serving. He was serving
for this as sorry at five to three, and then
in the tie break as well at five three he
was leading. But in the third set, the doll serving
down two three at love forty, you thought that was it.
Absolutely thought that was it. And I think that's when
you had the crowd player role. Medvedev's I'm not going

(28:39):
to say temper but ability to be rattled come into play,
and you had the doll sees on all of these
things and produce some of the classic vintage Rafa stuff
we know standing on top of the baseline at times
backhands outmashing Medvedev, who's just exceptional on that wing, is well.

(29:01):
We talk about Roger being a wonderful front runner and
how well he plays when he's confident, confident and comfortable.
I feel like Rafa down and out is one of
those things in this sport that is unparalleled, because I
think Novak has a bit of this as well, and
you never feel really feel safe no matter what the
score is against him. But when Nevedev goes up two

(29:25):
sets to love, and we've seen Rafa struggle throughout this
tournament fitness wise and health wise, even then, it didn't
seem out of the realm of possibility that he could
come back and win this match. And I look at
the Chapo match, and I also look at Medvedev being
pushed as far as he did by Felix age Alias
seem in the quarterfinals as maybe a harbinger as well,
that he was fallible, and even though he did have

(29:47):
a two set to love lead, it wasn't exactly perfect
and not being perfect against a doll as a recipe
for a loss, frankly, because I love forty. In that
third set, Bush, how do you not win that game?
What happens there? And I guess what happens is you're
against a titan who who figured out a way just
to get enough to be the guy that was going

(30:09):
to be number one.

Speaker 3 (30:10):
It's pressure points, right, It's pressure points and the ability
to convert and get across the across the line in
those situations. And I think it is one of the
things that is maybe difficult for defensive counterpunching players is
when you're on pressure points and you're not oftentimes going
for winners, you're waiting for your opponent to miss or
you're trying to put them into a position where you're

(30:31):
forcing an error from them. It's sometimes hard. You know,
you're not quite It's not the same as going for broke,
is it. That's not your game and that's certainly not
Danny Memfidev's game as well. So in those moments you
you potentially could say it's it's harder for him to
get across the line in those situations. One point that
we should make about this as well, it's just the
shit bloody length of this match start to finish the YouTube.

(30:58):
The YouTube video for this match is five hours and
forty one minutes long, and that's without any of the
pre roll or anything. This thing lasted for bloody ever.

Speaker 2 (31:09):
It crashed our producer Dylan's computer when he tried to
download it for the sound. That's all you need to know.
Just a slog an, utter, utter slog And my question
as well, Bush, because I in my research for this show,
I was doing some best of lists and looking at
how often time is a factor in that, and like

(31:29):
the length of a match is usually underlined as why
that match is so special, which I don't always agree with.
And I think there's just some long slogs that don't
include necessarily great tennis, but a tactical battle that truly
results in some long, grinding rallies. I think you feel similar,

(31:51):
like does an equal good?

Speaker 3 (31:52):
I completely agree with you. I feel like I'm a
broken record when it comes to this stuff as well,
is that, yes, length does not equal quality. I would
much rather have a short match where both players are
at the top of the game. I don't know, man,
it's one that you're going to find a bunch of
different opinions within the sport and people who watch it
as well. Is like, yes, physicality is an element to
the game, and you want to reward people that have

(32:14):
put in a lot of work when it comes to
stamina and strength. I just don't think that should be
the overriding thing that occurs that separates players in our sport.
I think it's much more of a game of skill
than it is a game of insurance. And I will
die with that opinion, even though I'm sure a lot
of people disagree with it.

Speaker 2 (32:32):
Yeah, and maybe it's a product of my attention span
as well, but I think when I was younger, I
did associate length with greatness and if something with five
hours had to be good. But as I got older,
I chose not to forget some terrible four sets in
which maybe it was six or four, but it took
an hour and a half because both players were exceeding

(32:54):
the time clock and getting as much out of the
umpire's grace or lack of enforcing the rules as they could.
But this match doesn't fall that way for me for
obvious reasons. I think the narrative and the storyline is
just huge. No one had ever come back from two
sets down in the final to win at the Australia

(33:16):
Open Simon, which I thought was a bit astounding in hindsight,
but that's what makes us so special. Like I, Rafa,
I don't know what your expectations were for him coming
into this year, but you I think you did call
him going back to number one. Sorry, that was your
your bold claim. I don't know how you safely said
that after he was bedridden with code and had a

(33:36):
foot that was barely hanging on. It was an amazing
pick by you. But consider this, Medvedev wins this tournament.
I'm not saying Vladimir pun doesn't invade Ukraine afterwards based
on this, because that would be that would be. But
what does his year look like? Because this was, by
most accounts a last year for Danny, and I wonder

(33:59):
if he wins this match match, what does that mean
last year on court? Sorry, I think off the court
he had a kid and everything is great. But on
the court, if he wins this Slam, he's got two
in a row, all the momentum in the world. He
looks not invincible, but he's just beaten Novak and Raffa
and back to back finals at a Slam, like, how
much more impressive can you get? On the inverse? Rafa
loses this match, maybe in straight sets. He had a

(34:21):
good tournament, but clearly maybe there's something lacking that he's
had in the past that Australia serves us once again
as boogeyman. Is he has confident heading into Roland Garrels.
Is he has dominant or the raffa of old of
that tournament. Maybe not. It's just so many things to
think about of how this match could have gone at
two three love forty and yet six four six, four

(34:44):
seven five later, five hours and twenty four minutes later,
twenty first Grand Slam later, we have another iconic raff
in the doll moment, and I think the crowd pop
on match point set at all, but.

Speaker 4 (34:56):
It brings up three championship points. Please, it's the miracle him.

Speaker 3 (35:21):
Well, thank you very much for taking the opportunity to
remind everyone that I did actually predict him getting back
to or number one and when he go down slammers
in twenty twenty two did it's not even like broken
clock situation. I was actually really confident in this one.
It's one of those things I should have put money on.
I felt it wasn't even a wild prediction. It was
me thinking it was genuinely gonna happen, because I didn't

(35:42):
think that he was gonna end his career in the
way that he had been bedridden with COVID and his
body falling apart. I really genuinely felt like he had
one more, really big run in him and really wanted
to cement himself as getting you know, twenty one twenty
two and separating and giving himself some separate to the
top of that list. I don't think I can say

(36:04):
that as confidently in twenty twenty three that's the case.

Speaker 4 (36:09):
Yikes.

Speaker 3 (36:10):
I mean, the.

Speaker 2 (36:12):
Interesting part is that injuries continued to be a story
for Rafa throughout the year, and when he played he
was quite good. But when he played was the question.
And that's why I think twenty twenty three is gonna
be a big question mark for him and where he's at,
I mean, he's playing. He took six weeks off after Wimbledon,

(36:33):
had to leave Oblan obviously after aggravating his abdominal injury
against Taylor Fritz us Open. It's hard to believe or
hard to imagine him coming back to the heights he
once achieved. But God, I've said that eight thousand times
about this guy, Like, eventually we'll just stop doubting and
say he is. He is unlike anyone we've ever seen

(36:58):
in this sport and as an athlete ist, well, he's
one of the few people that I've ever witnessed believing
in himself to the point where it's just it's not magical,
but it feels like wizard like bush Like it feels
like someone is kath this aura. It's like magical realism
come to life, where Rafa is like this, this figure

(37:18):
that finds a way in the most just fantastic of fashions.
Is I'm not I am on the record, I'm not
a huge I wasn't a huge Rapha guy ever, really,
and seeing him in his later years grind and do
things the hard way and push himself to the extent

(37:40):
that at his personal well being at some times, it's
what's that mindset? Like I would love to have a
time to get into his brain to figure out what's
going on, because it's just you don't see that, Simon,
you really don't.

Speaker 3 (37:53):
I wish I could love anything as much as Rafa
Nadal loves tennis. He is, like I think that's the
part that I find truly inspirational, is his genuine love
and commitment to this one thing. Like he's you've done everything, dude,
Like you have nothing left to prove, You have nothing
left approve ten years ago, and you still continue to
go out there and have to do the things necessary.

(38:14):
And that comes I think from a real either sense
of love of the sport or a real sense that
you don't have anything else going on in your life.
And I choose to believe it's probably the first one
rather than the second one, Grafaa.

Speaker 2 (38:25):
And the year obviously he wins in Paris, which again
just underreal.

Speaker 3 (38:34):
That doesn't just win in Paris, just absolutely annihilates the
field again, really I mean that.

Speaker 2 (38:39):
Then the Djokovic match in the quarters was for a
four setter. Again length is it everything quite quite special.
The zero match when one of those unhinged type breaks
ever in that first set, and then Zerah obviously shatters
his ankle, and then Kaspar Rude, who he's off brand
Rafa in some ways, and you could see that in

(39:00):
the final, the way he easily dusted him. He makes
a semi so Wimbledon, but he's hurt, and then at
the US Open he loses to Francis Tiafo in the
fourth round, clearly not at his peak. It's the story.
It's the story. The question mark I have for twenty
twenty three, among the many, is where he's going to
be at what's the what's the plan? How much is

(39:21):
he going to play? What's the goal majors? Obviously, but
he's a family man, he's got a he's a father.
Now what's what's that all going to mean for Ralph
next year? And maybe before we get to that, we
can just cherish how special that that Australian Open was
and and the reaction from his box I thought was
so so cool. It's I think he lost four consecutive

(39:44):
finals in the span of eight years at this tournament.
You could see the emotion pouring out. It was just
it was just really.

Speaker 3 (39:50):
Cool, I guess in closing from this match, and just
on Rafa and adel Our discord was very lively during
that French Open final, just purely on the basis that
I think we were quite sure this was going to
be it that we were quite sure that just given
how challenging it was at that part of the year,
the foot injury, just everything that all the noise that

(40:10):
were coming out of the camp from both Carlos Moyer,
from Uncle Tony, and from Rafanan himself, we were almost
certain that we were on the verge of hearing him
say like that's it. In that friendship. It was winif
speech like I've come back, I've done everything I needed
to and let's call it a day. Just given how
challenging it was with the foot, it didn't materialize, didn't

(40:32):
happen that way. He kept going, I have no idea
what next year is going to look like. And I
think that's absolutely fascinating from a narrative standpoint. Does this
dude have it again? Does he really have one more
run in him? Probably? And I think that's the biggest
testiment we can say to him, Well.

Speaker 2 (40:51):
I know this quote from the man himself. I give
it everything that I have inside. Believe me, I am
super super tired in our ways. I even can't celebrate,
but was the day to give everything?

Speaker 4 (41:02):
No.

Speaker 2 (41:02):
I enjoyed. I enjoyed the fight, I enjoyed the emotions
at the end of at the end, have this trophy
with me means everything, no, and it's the classic Ralph
asking the questions that we all love to answer. What
a player, what a moment? What a season for him?
That's my favorite match of the year. On the ATP side,
when we come back, we hit the WTA for a

(41:23):
bunch of matches that Sam and I really appreciated.

Speaker 3 (41:26):
Coming up next, Welcome back the Open Air podcast. It
is our favorite matches of twenty twenty two. We've both
taken turns going through our picks. Now it's time to

(41:48):
share some mutual love and we turn our attention to
the WTA. One word devang ostrava.

Speaker 2 (41:56):
Ostrava to be exclamation marks.

Speaker 3 (41:59):
Not one, not too but re excavation marks. This is
the best tournament of the year, and in a lot
of ways, I think it actually probably did produce the
best match of the year. It wasn't just the core,
it wasn't just the excamation marks. No, it was the
presence of Yugoshiontek and Barbara crachikovit playing out an all
time classic. In a match that Yugoshiontek plays this match

(42:22):
a million times, she probably wins this nine hundred, et cetera,
et cetera. I'm not going to finish that anuge because
I can't be bothered, but just saying that she almost
certainly should have won this, and it's kind of funny
that she didn't.

Speaker 2 (42:38):
Well consider a part of a Kreji Koba had won
in Estonia the week before beating An It can't a
bit the hometown kid there. She follows it up in
ostrav and I will say, you mentioned Bush after the USO.
When it gets a bit dicey on the tours and
you don't know what you're gonna see in terms of
like who's just turning up then who's still grinding out there?

(42:58):
This swing for the for like the end of September
towards the end of October was pretty incredible. Like I again,
this tour was just incredible entertainment, wonderful viewing from week
to week. But Talin and Ostrava and what Kritschikova was
able to do re announcing herself in the singles world

(43:19):
for some of us really special And yeah, I think
he got I don't think we should praise her for
turning up, but I feel like we should in some
ways because of the year she had and the fact
that she really didn't need to put it all on
the line once again. But it's easier said than then
when you're talking about high caliber athletes who have been
molded for this, and the fact that she wasn't able

(43:39):
to pull this out was one of the genuine shocks
of the season.

Speaker 3 (43:43):
I think, I just need to take the l on
this one, right, and he just stop being so ATP
centric in my mindset about who's phoning it in post
the US Open, because like, it's good eating on the
WTA side, and maybe this is just an ATP thing
that the tournaments and who shows up is just weaker
post the us Open. It is not the case on
the WTA side at all. And I mean, let's chat

(44:05):
about igust Frantek's run to the final here. She gets
Tom Lanovitch in the second round, then she gets Katie
McNally that's not an easy one, then gets Alexandrova, who
had a great season and ran incredibly close, and then
gets Barbara critchi Kova in the final, critch Covit, who's
not seeded here as well, just giving gift some testament
of the fact of how topsy turvy her year was,

(44:26):
especially not in doubles, definitely not in doubles like she
had a Bannie year in the doubles side, but in
singles like it has been a bit of a bit
of a struggling second season following her main Grand Slam
victory last year, Like this was this was just a
really fun and final because we're both just huge fans
of Kritchikov's game, just of how smooth she is around

(44:47):
the court and to see her go up against a
player as formidable and having the year that Eugust Fiantek did,
it just produced something absolute fire crackers of rallies and
just some incredible winners.

Speaker 2 (44:58):
Really did. It's funny we did the Egay episode last
week when we talked about how special this season was
and why it was so special, but the run to
the final and then giving it everything against Krasikovid's We're
lucky that she's at the top of the sport, in

(45:19):
the top of the game, and such an un amazing representative.
But I think the depth of the WTA is something
that it's so heavily underrated, and we're talking about it
more and we're obviously not the first people to mention that.

Speaker 4 (45:31):
But.

Speaker 2 (45:33):
There can be multiple tournaments going on in different parts
of the world that feature equally formidable draws, like at
this time in Tunisia, yet Alismurton's beating Alis Corney, but
a Jibur was there obviously at her hometown tournament, Like
it's just a special time.

Speaker 3 (45:52):
There's a ton of stuff that is worth pointing out
about this match as well, the length, and as we
mentioned in the last segment, length does not always equal
a good match, but I think it does here as
the longest match of Agasiontek's career. It's three hours and
sixteen minutes long. The first set. I think it might
have been the longest first set of any match on
the WTA side this year. I think it's seventy seventy
four minutes in length. Like there's a it's a long,

(46:15):
long first set, and it I think his testament to
the fighting spirits of both players to have it go
the way it did, Like Critic covers down five to
one in that first set and gets to five all
before Trianzai takes that first set. It just it lasts forever,
and that there's not a huge amount between the two

(46:35):
of them in this match at all. And if we
wanted to sort of circle one thing about what makes
the what's the special source for this match? Both players
are just such strong all court games, like they're happy
moving forward backward, side to side. They have a variety
of shots, they can hit winners on either side. They're
both adept with a drop shot. They're both extremely happier

(46:57):
the net, and I think just as a matchup, I'm
just more and happy to watch both of these play
again and again and again. And it's a bit of
a shame that we don't get more of these two
play against each other.

Speaker 2 (47:08):
I went to the tennis tournament in Toronto this year
and I was just walking around the grounds and that's
that's often when you could probably see some of the
cooler stuff and some of the stuff that you won't
be able to watch on TV. But I was able
to see Kratzi Koba practicing. She was out there for
two and a half hours on like one of the
hottest days of the summer, and she was going to

(47:30):
play later. And we talk about Rafa loving tennis, this
woman loves the crap out of the escape bush. And
I was so interesting watching what she was practicing. And
there's consistency obviously, and hitting with her or hitting partner
and focusing on special shots, but the level of focus
she put into each rally. Once again, these people are exceptional,

(47:54):
Like it's it's really it's really marvel to watch them
at what working their craft up close. And that was
one of those pincht with story like, yeah, this is
why this person is not only one of the best
Devils players that we've seen in a recent time, but
she also is a Hello singles player that has achieved
some monumental things in that regard as well, who doesn't
get the same kind of respect I think for being

(48:15):
multifaceted the way she is.

Speaker 3 (48:17):
We get tears on both sides of the nets. At
the conclusion of this match, we get igast Frantec pledging
all of her prize money to Polish nonprofit for World
Mental Health Day. We get the funny quote of basically
Krazi Koba saying I'm really sorry for today, but I'm
really glad that I beat you. It's a great quote,
classic quote, a classic moment, and I think I would

(48:40):
give One of the things I think I've become more
attuned to and I give much more respect to is
just the solidity in someone's game. And I think you
get uses those words in her in her quote saying,
we didn't see a lot this season, but I'm happy
that you're coming back. You have such a solid you
have such solid ten, it's pretty amazing. We need more

(49:01):
players like you on the WTA. And I think that's
one thing that I've become much more. I give much
more respect to players like you know you, Roberto Batista
Raguz where it's just like, holy shit, this person is
difficult to be like. It's just so damn solid and
so damn tough. And I think Barbarakoziakovic falls in that

(49:21):
category because he's not going to get anything free. You're
not going to get anything easy from her, and that's
got to be just a nightmare to know that anytime
you step out on the court against it, you're not
going to have an easy ride. And yeah, we need
more players like her on tour.

Speaker 2 (49:35):
Well said the stat I read it was the first
final you go ahead lost in more than three years.

Speaker 3 (49:42):
That's right, Yeah, some ridiculous number in a row, right.
It's something.

Speaker 2 (49:47):
I mentioned Toronto. One of my favorites golf Sablenka in Toronto.
This is one of those ones.

Speaker 4 (49:52):
Though.

Speaker 2 (49:52):
That was a length thing. It was an absolute slog again,
really hard conditions. It's the longest match of Poco's career year,
I think against putin Seva. She went two hours to
fifty seven minutes in Rome in twenty twenty one. This
was three hours and eleven minutes. Not the first time
they needed a third set tie break to decide a
match between them. Coco Gov did not play super well

(50:16):
in this match, and it's weird possibly for me to
put this year as one of my favorites, because I
think it is that reason. Bush It's a youngster who
is destined for phenomenal things, for great things, doing it
the hard way, grinding it out when she doesn't have
her best tools at her disposal against a very game Sabolenka,

(50:36):
but also a melt downy Sabolenka who did not do
herself any favors when there was some chances to seize
the opportunity.

Speaker 3 (50:45):
Is there some element, maybe like a sneaky element, the
kind of similar players. Maybe that's I don't know, Maybe
I'm reading too much into this as well. I mean,
maybe GoF slightly less power, but they are GoF has
had had in moments to fall off and go off
the boil as well in matchups, and we'll wait and

(51:05):
see how that actually materializes. But like when these two
play against each other, you know you're going to get fireworks.
I mean their matchups so far have been fun. It's
not like they we've had bad matches between each other
at all. Like they played each other three times, and
all three times it's been just entertaining. This is a
good rivalry. I'm excited for this one moving forward because

(51:28):
you know, Sabaalanka's got a really big twenty twenty three
to look forward to, just given her performance at the
WCA finals, coming off a season where I think she
rightfully properly believed that she would have been a round
Slam champion. Just given the retirement of ash Bardy as well,
these two are going to be competing at the back
end of Grand Slams in twenty twenty three. So it's
kind of cool to look back at a match up

(51:48):
between the two of them, because I think we're going
to be seeing this and more louder stages in the
forthcoming season.

Speaker 2 (51:53):
The other thing that's that's bang on which the other
thing is sixered. I think this matches on the grandstand,
which I thought was interesting. It was intimate and interactive.
The sixth and ten seed maybe would have I thought
they would have gotten Center Court building, but a lot
of Canadian's still in the draw at that point and
it was relatively early in the tournament on Thursday, so
that maybe explains where they were placed. But it also

(52:16):
made for an electric atmosphere and as you can hear
from the way this one ended, it was pretty cool.

Speaker 4 (52:25):
The wiser again does the job. Boy, She's taken as
the distance on.

Speaker 2 (52:32):
This run to the quarterfinals, but the number.

Speaker 3 (52:34):
Six seed is asked and co coo gov takes her
place in the last day.

Speaker 4 (52:40):
After another herculean effort. She might well have won it
at least an hour earlier, but she milks.

Speaker 3 (52:48):
The applause after winning the final set tiebreaker as we
leave the comfines of Toronto and head back to the
Australian Open for a round three match up between Nami
Osaka and that needs to know a dev nebe Osaka
did play this season. She did, she did unbelieved and this.

Speaker 2 (53:08):
I think I've overused the phrase sliding doors on this show,
and I apologize, but I'm going to use it again
because it's our dang show and I can do that.
But holy hell, bush, what happens if Namiasaka doesn't squander
a bunch of match points in this match? What if
she doesn't waste to and wins this this third round
match after barely playing since the twenty twenty one French Open.

(53:33):
Because she didn't she didn't pull this off, she ends
up leaving the top eighty and it's a sign of
things to come. But not to get too hung up
on the aftermath. The match itself was riveting, absolutely riveting,
and it it lends into your Australian Open, maybe produces
the best tennis because everyone is fresh and everyone is
still willing to not willing, but everyone is still able

(53:54):
to put everything out there. And I mean, who the
hell knows what we're going to see for Naomi next year.
I think at this time we were a lot more optimistic.
I think I was in terms of what was to come,
but it felt like possibly this was a significant sign
of what was to come in many ways.

Speaker 3 (54:14):
I think there's also an element to this that we
were quote unquote robbed over the Ashley Party versus Naomi
Asaka match in the fourth round, which is what everyone
had circled on the draw when it came out that
we were going to get a meeting of these two heavyweights,
and it didn't materialize that way, and it's kind of
interesting looking back. Also, you mentioned the sliding doors, is
that that match may never happen again, even though you

(54:37):
think it definitely will. But two players that it's going
to be completely different elements of where they are in
their careers. One is literally retired, one is kind of retired,
I guess in some capacity. Man, what could have been
This match itself was all over the place, and it

(54:59):
was testament the fact that we had no idea what
Naomi Osaka was going to look like coming into this
tournament in general. Like I think all eyes were glued
on that first round match against the Sorry and against
Madison Brangle as well.

Speaker 4 (55:10):
Well.

Speaker 3 (55:10):
She looked pretty damn good, Like she looked back to
her best. She's won this title before, and you really
thought that she was gonna go on a run here,
like produce a magical run that we've seen in years past,
and then to get stopped the way that she did
by not just a game Anissa move, but a player
who had had a really good start of the season

(55:31):
and was a worthy worthy winner in this matchup so well.

Speaker 2 (55:34):
Said a few more that I have Bush Schwierzek Canepi
from that same Australian Open. I that was great. That
was great. Danielle Collins doing her thing and Stamp and
yougo in the semifinals. Was robbed us of a Birdie
Santech final in Australia, but full credit to Danielle for
for doing her thing. But that Knepie Santech quarterfinal was exceptional.

(55:57):
At the Saint Petersburg final, do you remember this one
Bush Contave Sachary Poor Maria zachary Man. But that was
a phenomenal match, and I think that Contuve had a
really tough year with a lot of illnesses and COVID
and changing your setup and this was I think the
peak for here in many ways. But that was an
absolutely special match that I remember Fondlee Casaquina, Shelby Rogers

(56:23):
and San Jose. I enjoyed a lot that. Finally, I
mean Daria Casakina pretty pretty special here for her in
many ways. And then weirdly, I think this match kind
of gets lost in the the Bermuda triangle that was
Wimbledon this year because there were no points awarded and
we had the band going on. But Rebakna Jabour final.

(56:48):
I don't know if the quality was that high, but
I felt maybe more nerves than I had felt in
some time watching a tennis match for once.

Speaker 3 (56:57):
I haven't watched that much back.

Speaker 2 (56:59):
It's tough, man, It's tough viewing because it feels like
it's it's just so meant to be about an hour in.

Speaker 3 (57:05):
Really really weird final, isn't it just all the things?
All the things you mentioned? Basically, I need to go
back and watch it again because by all accounts it
is a terrific final, like there's lots of good drama
in it. I feel so bad for Rons though she
will get there, right, surely she'll get there, I think so.

Speaker 2 (57:21):
I mean, these are the one of the things I
want to see in twenty twenty three is Maria Zachary
win a big final and I'll should work in a
Grand Slam. I think that's on the list for me.
In terms of hoping and getting ash Barty Triantech when
Barty inevitably comes back is another thing that I'm hoping for.

Speaker 3 (57:38):
You're still going on that, right, you still hold still
hoding for it.

Speaker 2 (57:42):
You do you have any more for you. Wrap up.

Speaker 3 (57:45):
Not at the top of my head. No, it's been
a good year though, like in terms of matches, and
the one point that I was going to make in
closing is I think the ATP has actually done a
really good job of this. They have alive. It's an
eight part summary of the best matches of twenty twenty
two on YouTube that you can just go back and
watch in a row where they've done a bunch of
the selections for you. It's a good watch if you

(58:05):
have the time and your slippers on by the fireplace
over the New Year's period, over Christmas. Some good tennis
in there, and I encourage you to watch it.

Speaker 2 (58:14):
I'm going to shout out two final ones Bush for
some Canadian content, some can con as they say in
this neck of the woods. Layla Fernandez Camilla SiO in
Monterey was a ridiculous final. Laielo took that six six
' four seven six. Camilla Sorio features in a lot

(58:35):
of these best matches of the year because of her
play style and and the way she produces just some
exceptional I don't want to say grit, but like just
exceptional tactics and ability and big moments to grind and
to figure out ways to compete. But that was a

(58:56):
great match. And I think Felix against Holger Rune to
end the year, which was in How Good Is My Memory,
which it was in Basil, a good field. Alcaaz was there,
Rba was there for Franco was there. But Holgarune would
end up beating Novak at the end of the year,
which is a big one for him. But feelings running
off these tournaments in a row, but also beating pulgaruone

(59:19):
in Switzerland was a big deal.

Speaker 3 (59:21):
Styles make fights, as they say in boxing, and I
think it's also true within the tennis world as well
at some point. And maybe this is a question that
we can leave off just on the basis of this
is an episode about our favorite matches of twenty twenty two.
Is there players who have styles that just make for
really really good matches? Because you remember you mentioned Camilla

(59:41):
or Sorry, and I completely agree with you. She just
has a play style which brings out the best and
her opponent. I wonder if there are the players like that,
and what makes what is the makeup for someone to
be just a just a fun watch In that regard,
it's a really good question. I'm curious to know the
answer that if our listeners have it.

Speaker 2 (59:59):
Another final shadow and this is mainly for Owen Owen
Lewis front of the show, but Sarah Crebas Tormo. It
probably has five or six of the Match of the
year Kwan Kennedy's in here as well for the player
to watch. But a year, what a season? Bush? Any
final closing thoughts As we wrap up this week's.

Speaker 3 (01:00:18):
Show, stood all again in twenty twenty three to have
more matches, more rapping and I'll comebacks, I'm sure and
another return to world number one. It's on the cards.
You have to hear first.

Speaker 2 (01:00:28):
Amazing. I'm excited for twenty twenty three, and not because
of the Netflix show that we've got some more details
the matchers. I'm sure we will be at the top
of a conversation in January. But yeah, it's it's Australia's
time very soon and we'll do it all again and
I can't wait to watch a smorgasboard of live tennis

(01:00:49):
in the near future. That'll be it for today's show. Reminder,
we are on Patreon dot com forward slash open Eras
Simon mentioned, our wonderful discord. So many wonderful moments in
there watching these matches together and crying and laughing and
yelling together. It's a wonderful place, its wonderful people. So
highly recommend you join us on Patreon, dot com, forward

(01:01:09):
slash open Air. You join us there, you get the
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(01:01:30):
so search them on YouTube. You can find our latest
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that means on Twitter anymore, but really cool. As always,
Thanks for the support me means a lot. I love
doing the show and getting to interact with all of
you throughout the year. For producer Dylan on the once

(01:01:53):
and Tuesa, And for Simon, thank you so much for
listening to Open Era. We'll talk to you soon.

Speaker 4 (01:02:00):
Gifted. Difficult to define the

Speaker 3 (01:02:09):
Definitely dis