US Open Day 11 - Tennis has a new World No.1

0:00Well, hello and welcome to the tennis podcast coming to you from New York on day 11 of the US Open a day. That is felt like one big hangover after the 3 30 AM finish from the night or rather the morning before. Thank you for all the well wishes that have been sent my way over the last 24 hours. They are much appreciated and also very grateful to Matt and David for covering for me and what was an extraordinary night last night. I've been struggling with a bad cold and an even worse case of FOMO, but I am bouncing back. Good to have you back. Or bouncing back as much as the tennis schedule will allow Matt, your post-Chelten Alcaraz double is causing quite the stir in our in our

1:00DMs. Is it really? Gosh, well, it wasn't something I was intending really, but it feels reflective of the tournament. Indeed. Arthur Aestadian was dormant for less than eight hours before Matt just resumed this morning. So it's still good about twice as much sleep as David and Matt. It was sunrise when we went to bed such a bad moment. What are we all doing? Comical stuff. When play did resume, it did so with the two remaining women's quarterfinals starting with a Lena Rabatkiner and qualifier Jun Chenwen a match which saw Rabatkiner not only reach a first ever US Open semi final but also become or schedule herself to become on Monday, the brand new World No. 1. Talk us through the match David. Yeah, this was a real kind of mind over matter achievement, I think, and an internal battle that she was fighting

2:04because she was tight. Understandably so, you kind of marked the card that you thought that might be a factor in this match. How nervous you might get trying to get over the line of and and see all this achievement. There's enormous milestone in her career. And in the first set, total opposite of what we've seen from Jun Chenwen in a couple of these sets recently, she started well. She was hitting the more cleanly of the two. She just looked the more decisive of the two and she won that first set and Rabatkiner was irritable. She was she needed to vent, she said afterwards and she went over to her support team. It looked pretty kind of anxiety-induced in the whole exchange between her and her coaching team and she just said afterwards, I needed to vent and and she said I was getting reminded of what the tactics were from before the match because she just looked like she she couldn't really play freely at all and it did the

3:09trick because she came back out in the second set and she was a completely different player. She rushed out into a four-one lead and there was just a conviction about her shop making. I didn't think Jun Chenwen played terribly in the second set but she did leave the court at the end of the first set and the commentators were wondering whether that might have been a mistake. Commentary team involving Mary Carrillo who started the match at 1130 having finished the night before match at 333 AM which sounds crazy. She was on four straight Arthur Ash stadium matches all of which went the distance 14 sets in total. So that happened to pull one out for Mary. But yeah, Rabatkiner, I feel like this was a huge achievement for her because not only was she playing an excellent opponent who was playing some of the best tennis I've seen from her, this tournament that she's had this great run in. Rabatkiner got better as the finish line

4:10approached and when you consider what was on the line I think that that takes some doing. So yeah, she really just took over the match and I didn't really feel as though she was going to lose it once she got hold of it. Yeah although Jun was very close right at the end wasn't she? She had a break point. Well to go 5-3 up and Rabatkiner was kind of a sitting dark up at the net and Jun missed a pass there on on break point and Rabatkiner held, broke, served it out emphatically. It was tense for a moment there for Rabatkiner but yeah, she looked much more like the player that she had been in the previous round in the second and third sets of this one and yeah it's a big moment I think for Rabatkiner to get to world number one and break this grip that Sabalanku and Shiontech have had on that ranking since Ash Barthie retarded. It's been four and a half years with

5:11only two players getting it and now Rabatkiner gets there. It kind of signals that we're in a bit of a different era now and she's the second oldest player I think on the women's side to get to number one for the first time after Angelique Kerber and it's funny I still don't really think of Rabatkiner as a sort of veteran player really but even though she has been around for quite a long time it still feels like she's got a lot of her career ahead of her. How old is she 26? 27 I think yeah which I guess you know shows that I guess a lot of the women maybe have their peaks earlier than the men as well but yeah like really didn't seem like well it felt like in the spring she had a real chance to get to world number one and she she lost her form but coming into this US Open she obviously hadn't been in the brilliant form and she had the injury but wow she's put a great US Open together for kind of the first time in in her career really getting to this stage and

6:17it feels it feels appropriate I think that Rabatkiner has a has a moment as the world number one after after the 12 months that she's put together. Yeah it's so wild that this has turned out to be both far and away her most successful ever US Open like she'd never been past the fourth round in the before she's she's coming in with no form and with what look like an extremely serious injury and she's put together by far her best result and and could very well go on to win the title and she's definitely leaving leaving with the world number one it's it's pretty extraordinary and world number one itself is it's funny isn't it because as an achievement it's Sabelinka I'm I'm quite sure I'm sure she doesn't want to leave the world number one but it is undoubtedly more important to her that she defends this US Open title choice for her between retaining world number one and winning another Grand Slam is very easy but if you haven't been to

7:23world number one before it is a huge thing and potentially a bigger deal than a than a Grand Slam. Yeah it's interesting you know I'd always thought and we've discussed it in the past how it feels like Sabelinka really loved being world number one you know she embraced it she sort of seemed to elevate her game she she's now sort of definitely messaging that the US Open the title is a bigger deal to her than who's but I think that there was a bit of acceptance that actually it's out of her hands now I that I don't think she likes things that she can't control so I think she was sort of washing her hands a little bit in a way to kind of be able to accept it and but I do think it'll make her all the more motivated Sabelinka to try to try to win this title to try to beat Rebecca and her and actually she's probably going to enjoy having the chance to

8:25hunt again but yeah for for Rebecca and I mean I don't know how long she'll stay at world number one I don't necessarily think she's the same kind of personality in that way but she absolutely deserves to be there she's got a lot to defend from the end of the year hasn't she because she at the end of last year she went on a huge push to qualify for the finals kind of played everywhere had some good results so she has got a lot to defend there's every chance that Sabelinka can get the world number one position back and you're right if they end up playing in the final I think that will be a huge motivator for Sabelinka to prove a point but so yeah they could could be a bit of a tussle towards the end of the year as to whether Rebecca and her holds onto it do you think it annoys or is annoying Sabelinka that she got to 99 straight weeks as number one it's like a batsman getting out on 99 isn't it it would annoy me yeah it would annoy me too and

9:28I feel like losing streaks must just be annoying because you know you've just got to start again you just can't you just can't pick it back up and yes that that would annoy me but what a run she's had you know like there was death there was a period in Sabelinka's career where I never would have seen that amount of consistency coming and she has really set the bar for consistency on on the WTA tour across across surfaces across a year across tournaments she's just been a constant threat you know and I think she maybe hasn't wrapped up the number of grand sam titles that that her dominance perhaps merits but you know four still have a lot she could get to five still this week that's a very nice total and there's potentially more still to come in her career but I think when I look back on Sabelinka's time as world number one it will be that feeling of

10:29her being the bar on the on the WTA tour and just constantly there and there's been that thing recently of players who've beaten her but then haven't necessarily gone on to win the tournament because it just feels like it takes such an effort to actually beat arena Sabelinka she's been that for so long and it's been a heck of a run but yes I do think she might have liked one more week to get to a hundred straight just in terms of Jung quickly she'll pop up back inside the world's top 16 now close to the to the top 50 which is a huge leap for her in terms of getting into tournaments she she can play whatever tournament she likes now basically which hasn't in the case for a while she's been relying on on wild cards and in the case of this US Open Play and qualifying so she's got the platform now to build on is is the tennis there for her to get back where she was in in a years time do you think she'll be a top 10 player I think if she doesn't have setbacks

11:29injury wise I absolutely think the game is there what we've seen this last 10 days is a reminder of just how good she is I think she's she's definitely good enough to be in the top 10 again she did she needs a good run she needs a good run of form and fitness I think she could even end up better than she was before because I think the time out has just given her a reason to think and and just consider life without tennis and and the I mean the appetite that she's she's practice in which she doesn't seem like she needs anything else in her life much more other than just to try to maximize her tennis I think this has really focused her attention not that she wasn't dedicated before but I still feel like there's room for growth in her game too um back into the top 10 do you think Matt yes I think so look it's a pretty stacked top 10 at the moment and there's even players outside of that as well as Jung who I think you could make a case can feel like top 10

12:33players so it's not just a total given but I think the ceiling of her game is is top 10 you know there might be some who get into the top 10 more and consistency than Jung and doing it week and week out what I think Jung's peaks will will be high you know we've seen that already in her career with a with a major final and an Olympic gold medal when she's been at her best she's been able to get to the latter stage of big tournaments and I definitely see that in her future if if she can stay healthy I think the one area and she knows it she talked about it in the press conference this tournament she has to get that serve more consistent you know like I just don't think she can be going through tournaments serving at 40% for serves in like it's really effective so it works well and to be honest this was a problem before the injury too it was it was always have one of the lowest first serve percent one of the highest win rates on first serve but lowest percentage in

13:35yeah and it just feels like that that balance is is not quite right with the serve but she's working on it and if you can get that a bit better then I you know I definitely see top 10 and and big titles in her future it's been great having her back this tournament the the in and out background noise you can hear by the way as our air conditioning unit which is the it's the colos alchra as of air conditioning units it has a set or two off and then it it springs back tonight we did turn it off before recording but it's it's got a life of its own tonight so there we go so we're back in a jug the first match of the day that was dramatic enough enter cocoa goff and mirror and rava David yeah this was a really stressful match on on both sides of the net for different reasons I mean and rava started very well and seemed to be maybe more consistent than I'm used to her being

14:36and and it's something she actually ended up lamenting in the press comments afterwards goff was was really struggling today she she just couldn't seem to get anything going she looked like she got the same cold that has taken you out Catherine I mean she you know there was there were moments she had it first David I'm not the super sprue though she did because it was mentioned in her previous match which was before Catherine showed any symptoms what's what thank you David but I mean she really did look a bit under the weather and I don't know it must be it must be a really tough situation to be in when you're on the arthrash stadium court and you know everybody wants you to win and she spoke glowingly about the crowd afterwards but she also reminded about years ago how she used to almost carry the hopes and expectations of people with her and and make her feel as though she was letting people down I don't think she was going through that necessarily here but there is this look in her face as if time is running out oh my god it's all I'm not going to be able to do it this time you know she's so good at rescuing victory from

15:40the jaws of defeat and there she was a set down it was stressful all the way through the second set and she said the moment she won the second set she thought she was going to win she thought she'd got the third set and and Draver was talking about she wished she'd maybe taken a few more risks in the match it's it's a difficult one isn't it because you've got you've just got these two players you've got these worldy backhands and then these clearly under par four hands by comparison that they often try to kind of protect with a slice forehand or a loop or something like that and and it was just it was almost like you was and Draver was trying to wait out the clock she was trying to get get rid of the games quickly enough before Gough ignited and she ignited just in time Matt all I could think about during this match was the semi-final that Coco Gough played against Caroline Amuk of her at Wimbledon and the press conference that Coco Gough gave after that match

16:43because obviously Gough had that match point which she flubbed quite frankly and I think everybody was expecting her to come into the press conference and be devastated and discontolate and rowing the Miss Chans and she had this you know she was obviously sad and disappointed but she had this incredibly philosophical perspective and she said even walking off the court I was like that was a lot of fun every champion has this in their career it'll make it sweeter the next time I win a match like this it was almost like she was writing the script to come back and do it and overturn the outcome at the very next Grand Slam yeah so why is from Coco Gough and it's interesting how like how many obviously greats of the game we've had retire recently and a lot of the mention missing that feeling of competition and and you just get the feeling that Coco Gough is someone who in the moment is realising just how cool it is that she gets to compete for a living

17:47like she loves it she'd be the Carlos Alcarez walking down the corridor with a big grin on her face right I mean that that's one of the defining images of the tournament isn't it and Alcarez saying afterwards oh I lost but it was great to be back it was great to be competing again I think it just sort of made everyone who was rooting for Carlos Alcarez last night feel better the fact that he was feeling good about it and look Coco Gough has obviously been very hurt by losses in the past I'm not saying that she hasn't been but you always get the feeling that she's just appreciating the competition and yeah today I mean I think I think what was concerning is that it was the return of the familiar Coco Gough woes you know the serve a lot of double faults today and the forehand a lot of tentative play and a lot of errors off that wing and should 40 unforced errors in the first two sets combined here and this match honestly in the second set it was like a race to the bottom

18:49and Hannah put on the barge drag her to hell with you Coco drag her to whatever never circle of the underworld your game is currently mired in and that was kind of what was happening because Gough was not still not good in the second set she was competing hard but had no game but and Draver fell into the fell into the trap of just exchanging passive forehands with her you know like and Draver is a game is a player who has a lot of layers a lot of texture to her game and yet she was using none of it she was just trading forehands and almost waiting for Gough to break down and it was it was a struggle but still and and Draver had a couple of match points in that second set tie break couldn't take them Gough did up the aggression a little bit on those match points tried to come forward and then yeah as as soon as Gough won that second set you definitely felt that she became

19:51the big favourite and honestly and Draver lost the plot in the third set I mean there was there was a I don't even know if it was a it was it was it a smash attempt was it a volley attempt it I'm actually watching a replay of it right now and there is there is no word for what this shot was it doesn't exist I mean it exists like in carcass maybe yeah that's true it doesn't take a lot of it doesn't exist in pro tennis the shot that she attempted it was so bad it it led to a break a serve and then she smashed her racket down at the change of ends and I think it had another racket which then flew up and almost almost hit a camera man it was it was a it was a bad moment for and Draver and a real shame to to see her like that and Gough ended up really cleaning up her game in that final set and ended up with 71% of first serves in in that final set no double faults and only two unforced errors compared to 40 as I said in the previous two sets so she

20:55she definitely found her game as this as this match went on albeit there wasn't a lot of resistance by the end from and Draver because she lost her head so much but what an ordeal of a match and one that Gough just had to had to survive an advance and the thing about Gough is that she can then suddenly play better in the next round she might she might not she might come out again with not much game but I also wouldn't be surprised if we suddenly see her playing better in the semis tomorrow interestingly the two two-day session matches she's played this tournament have actually been her weaker performances I would say against Bookshare and and this one she's been more convincing in the night session maybe maybe for the first time for her at the at the US Open I don't I don't quite know if that would be true but I I feel like in the past she's she's she's played some decent day sessions here but yeah like an example of a match not necessarily having

21:57to be high quality but can also be really competitive yeah well you know I love a hot mess yeah over a match like as long as it descends into hot mess if it's just bad yeah if it's bad if it's very of Zander's at vandes and school yeah terrible but I I quite enjoyed this this kind of matches my guilty pleasure it's funny I'm so used to being on alert for this kind of performance from Cocoa like this is not an unusual Grand Slam experience watching Cocoa Goff play a match like this I just haven't been alert for it at this Grand Slam because she's been so convincing coming in I've just felt more comfortable in her form but it always comes back to Matt's Cocoa Goff Mantra she's never as high as you think and she's never as low as you think do you want me to react to that yeah because basically she she doesn't tend to just go through a tournament and

23:01dominate people and win it she finds ways a lot of the time and when you think she's done she'll rescue it and that that's really what we're talking about yeah which is it which is exactly why she might flip it and be great tomorrow because she's because she's also never as low as you think you have to remember that part too yeah it wasn't I wasn't necessarily not expecting this to be a tight competitive match I just wasn't expecting the the gremlins to return as they did today on the the serve and the forehand it was a very you know ghosts coming from the attic to haunt you reminding you that they are still there performance but then on the flip side they're still there but you won anyway she said she went to the restroom and she was thinking about Frances Tiafo when she was in the Lou and that was what helped her to victory Cocoa Goff yeah that cut the comeback of yesterday and she said she was a sleep no just Tiafo generally yeah she said when

24:04Shelton was playing she was asleep because if she'd if she'd have tried to even stay up for any of that she would have just got drawn in and that would have been her night and maybe her her match gone but yeah the Tia I mean she's very close to Tiafo she said he's always a great ally really including for just women's players generally she she said which was nice to hear but yeah I think inspired yesterday and I'd dare say he'll be inspired in a couple of days time by her and that's that's nice that's a nice thought absolutely okay we will look ahead to the two women semi finals in part three and when we come back in part two in just a moment we will talk about the two men's quarter finals from today but just before we head into part two folks we want to share a word and a very special offer from our sponsors this US open at Steve Vogel's International tennis tours the premium hospitality and experience provider now if the Miami open is on your tennis bucket list

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26:10of this two quite frankly disappointing men's quarterfinals to talk about let's start with Alexander's very beating Bautic and Vandes Anskolp 6-2 7-5 6-1 in the night session match this was what was it David? It was terrible really I mean as a match as a contest it wasn't really anything much I think we have to remember that Bautic Vandes Anskolp played for 5,013 minutes in his previous round and that's two back to back five set as he played he's also you know he's not as experienced at doing this as other players so I think you can you can give him a bit of a pass for not maybe playing his best tennis in this in this one but I think where he will maybe have some regrets and some disappointment is that Zvarov was not playing well today and he won in straight sets and yet he came out hitting a lot of double faults really getting exasperated talking to his support team

27:16and with his arms out wide as if so why can't I serve you know this is a guy who can often get upwards of 75% first serves in and it just it just didn't look under his control he was also kind of patting the ball over because he didn't really have much feel and I did think if an opponent of a higher level or somebody who's in more form or fresher was on this court right now I'm not sure Zvarov would come out of this if you play if he carried on playing like this now there's no guarantee that he wouldn't have maybe raised his level if he's playing somebody more dangerous but this was back to the first couple rounds form where he sort of scraped through in five sets and nearly lost whereas the two previous rounds against Tabillo and Darderry he'd he'd improved so it wasn't a great spectacle it was one of those where the the umpire James Kiyothong was repeatedly asking the crowd to stop having their conversations because there were 20 or 1000 in

28:19and I think they were bored I don't think they were particularly into this match it wasn't very fun it wasn't very interesting it was the total opposite of last night where everybody's just totally concentrated on the action on the court there wasn't much to get your teeth into yeah it was like the first half of the day was so compelling and the second half could have been an email and this match this match would have been you know one line in that email it was it was really poor and honestly I did not have high expectations for it like as soon as someone plays two five set matches in a row as Burtic Van der Zahn's hall was done I'm not expecting much from them in their next round unless they're really used to doing it and they were top level player but for someone like Burtic it just felt like that was going to take the win now to his sales really and he didn't have much today and look Zaryl was David has described really not very good

29:24he's just very good at doing just enough to win and staying just a little bit ahead of his opponent and the thing about Zaryl is that for so long in his career that that wasn't enough to win in McGrand slam you know he needed to he could get through to the latter stages of Grand Slams by doing that but then in in those latter stages he would need to raise it when he came up against a Djokovic or an Al-Korea as a or a sinner and there were isolated cases of him doing that but he couldn't do it enough to win a slam he's found himself in two slams this year where all those guys have gone and he's been he's been the guy left and he he kind of one role on Garros by doing enough and getting through to the finish line and no one was able to go with him and that's to me that's the defining question remaining in this men's draw like Zaryl is going to bring a certain level I think and it's going to be up to Tiafo or Hashanov or Sheldon to raise it and to just get a little bit above Alexander's Rare and it's it's a tough thing to do

30:29but if if one of them can do it the titles there for them this ball bouncing is very curious isn't it that that's where I was doing because you know we were expecting a totally freed up's vera of after winning finally getting the grandson monkey off his back in Paris and winning that title and we did see that a Wimbledon totally I thought he'd played better at Wimbledon than in than in Paris that was by far the best version of his vera of we've ever seen he's he's he's always been a ball-bouncer but I didn't notice anything at Wimbledon that was different to his usual he has a by his standards poor US hard court season he comes in here he has been did a graphic tonight they had they had assigned somebody to calculate roughly how many times he had bounced the ball based on how many serve I think they were like 2000 for the match assuming an average of 18 times before each serve and they worked out how many points he'd played etc and

31:34they're flashing the the graphic up on the TV like he's he's gone from north to a hundred with this he it's happening against players for whom he shouldn't be finding them stressful particularly I know tennis any grandson tennis is stressful but he's had a comfy draw and he's looking looking like he's got the yips David yeah and the funnily is it does translate into some double faults today but there are other matches where his first serve percentage is still high he's still serving pretty I mean I think it's pretty extraordinary that he's not serving more double faults when he's having such a long gap between first and second serves because of all the ball bouncing that doesn't strike me as something that would give you great rhythm and and rhythm is important to the serve so I'm not sure how much of a problem in actually is I do

32:37think he should be getting done for time occasionally by these umpires I don't I have no him get one warned once yeah because ball bouncing is technically part of the motion right I mean I don't think it should be but technically you you can't get done for the time violation because you've started your motion I just I think it's ridiculous and I think people are getting it's it's making people in the crowd switch off and just disconnect with the action because it's all taken so long and your opponent has got to time when to kind of do a split step and be ready for their their return I just think it's it's a horrible um introduction into his game because he didn't use to do this um the jokovic did it a lot manchurch did it this is just makes him eternal really I think in terms of excitement levels I mean I I've never found him a great watch personally other than I find him interesting when he's playing against alchemy but that's about it

33:42I think sometimes those matches can be can be good and I admire I admire what he's able to do in terms of winning matches I mean the way survives and the way he comes back from impossible looking positions it's it is amazing what a fighter he is and what a kind of competitor he is but this is I do think that this is making him play more stodgy tennis generally um and yet here he is still in the semi-finals I think we look we're not on site clearly but it's the first time that he's actually going to do a proper press conference tonight you know like he's been finishing so late he's been in the hallway at some ungodly hour of the morning every single round but but now he actually get has to do a press conference be interesting to see whether anyone does ask about him to the media which I hate yeah which he hates doing doing his encore interview he said he hates doing it charming um and I think now we've got an interesting question as well like whether he gets

34:45out of this playing playing the night match because it's the first time he hasn't finished really late normally the way they do the schedule for the men's semi-finals he would play the second one normally it would be that that side of the draw that's played second would play the second semi-final but there is precedent when it was a all-american semi-final a couple years ago with Fritz and Tiafah they move that to the night session I suspect they will you know the ESPN will want Shelton Tiafah in a couple of days time in the night session I would have thought and maybe it would be good for Zvariv to have a day session match before the final which is at two o'clock on Sunday now it perhaps puts him at a bit more risk of losing the semi-final if he has to get out of the rhythm that he's been in and suddenly play in the day he said in that uncle interview that he was hating doing that he's felt jet lagged this tournament the whole time because of that start that he had so there's no doubt that it would be tricky for him I think to suddenly play a day match in the semis but then it

35:52might have some benefit for him down the road so I think that scheduling on Friday is going to be very very interesting to see what they do. Lots of speculation about it most people seem to think they will switch it up because of that precedent that you said I don't know whether that's something that the players would have any say in suspect not but it could go either way for Zvariv in terms of his preference as you say perhaps a risk for the semi but a benefit for the final. The semi incident he will be against Karen Hashanov he be Alexander Blocks today by retirement 1675 and 32 was the score when Blocks retired I'll let Blocks explain it to you in his own words he said today my body just gave up my rib was hurting my leg was hurting and then a bloctin nerve in my back in the second set and I wasn't able to move after that I was waiting for him to break me so we won't linger too long on analyzing that semi-final it's a third.

36:55That's a major semi for Hashanov the entered the tournament ranked 50 in the world that's his lowest ranking since 2017 yeah the losing record for the season 16 months 18 losses and he hadn't won a match since Wimbledon and here he is. Yeah and one of those was a challenger between Wimbledon and the US side but I did think he was very good against Lernarty and I think he's generally playing well now you know and he's hitting out and he's often going down the line with his back hand which I think is quite an important shot for him to be able to hit and expand the court a little bit the thing with the thing with him I mean look it's a real shame about Blocks because I think Blocks has got game and if he'd have been fully fit that would have been quite a tussle and you know there has to be a question mark over how much of an obstacle Blocks his body is going to be in his career now I know his friendship and one was an accident he

37:58fell over the top all in at the back of the court this though feels like his body's kind of broken down as he's gone along here but still Hashanov has dealt with it and just gone and got the job done him now playing against Zverev in the semi-finals I just think if the two of them had played today I think they'd still be out there duking it out I think that would have gone well into the night and I think that Hashanov could have beaten Zverev tonight the way Zverev was playing no guarantee that Zverev plays like that of course in a couple of days time. Of everybody left in the tournament a Hashanov's the one with the best head to head against Zverev? Yeah he's got three wins against him I think Hasenny some of those were long time ago but one of them was last year in Canada I believe in in three sets there and look he's a guy who actually he's been a little bit Zverev light I would

38:58say through his career he's done a lot of winning by being very very consistent and relentless and I've always thought why are you not making more of your stature and your size and the power at your disposal I mean the first time we ever saw Karen Hashanov certainly the first time I ever saw him was when he played that amazing match here against my father Darl in 2018 a very close four-set match and he was he was kind of electric that night and there've been very few occasions since then where I've thought Karen Hashanov is electric I've admired him for his consistency but he's not been a player with with big weapons on the court and I just think it's going to be a real battle of attrition against Zverev you know a lot of draw now long rallies they'll both be trying to use serves to sort of back up their game and prop it up but yeah like I do think that's tricky for Zverev as David says if he's in anything close to the form he was in today Hachanov will

40:05will really test him did you know that Karen Hashanov's brother-in-law is Ilya Evashka I did not their wives are twin sisters right you tell I've been on Karen Hashanov's Wikipedia still learning new things about Karen Hashanov in 2026 absolutely there you go on that bombshell that's it for part two we'll be back in part three to preview the women's semi-finals welcome back to part three of today's tennis podcast where we turn our attention now to the best session in tennis us open women's semi-finals night both matches played in the night session from seven pm and this time around it is the top four women's seeds that will play in the semi-finals for the first time since 1975 here and for the first time at any Grand Slam since Wimbledon in 2009 it's a really cool line-up 7 pm arena Sabalenko against Jessica Bagoula that is followed by Coco Gough against Elena

41:11Rabatkin air Sabalenko Bagoula playing here for the third year in a row obviously it was the final two years ago one in two tight sets by Sabalenko last year it was a semi-final one also by Sabalenko but in three tight sets that time will this be Jessica Bagoula's time David I'm going to say yes I'm going to say yes for her to reach the final wow I picked Bagoula against Gough at the outset of the tournament I'm going to stick with that I sort of I do feel like Sabalenko is improved and I think that was a huge win for her against Noškour in the previous round I do feel as though Bagoula's looked a bit tense and and frustrated because that's brazen with her game but I think that that will go away now that she's got to this stage she knows Sabalenko is the favorite for this match I think that will settle her down I think she will elevate her her kind of

42:13competitiveness and and not get so frustrated with herself in this match whether that's enough is another matter because Sabalenko has won there two matches at the US Open in the last two years albeit them both being pretty close I just think I don't think Sabalenko's convincing enough for me and Bagoula yeah I see her getting there Matt look it's a tough one for me this I'm not going to lie because I've obviously said Bagoula is going to win the title and yet when I look at the four semi-finalists and if I'm sort of power ranking them both in terms of pedigree she's obviously fourth there because she's the only one without a grand samtai at all and form I also think she's in fourth based on how she's played this tournament I think Sabalenko against Noskiver was better than Bagoula has been at any point this tournament I think Goff has played at a higher level apart from today

43:16and I think the back can has played at a higher level so to actually then make the case that Bagoula can do this it feels like something's really going to have to change the thing is though I do give a lot of weight to what David's saying there in terms of I like quite like this match up for Bagoula and I know that she's lost the last two here against Sabalenko she's been the roadblock but Bagoula has played really well in those matches and Sabalenko's had to be at her absolute best to get through her she's beaten you know Sabalenko this year she's pushed into three sets and a lot of their most recent meetings she knows that she can have success against her and if she's going to win this I think it is going to be as David says and Bagoula is going to be a bit more relaxed because she's maybe not the favourite number one's gone

44:19and she can just concentrate on her game and knowing that she can deal with Sabalenko's pace and she can handcuff Sabalenko a bit with her death and her ball strike she is going to have to serve better than she has done her serve has been really a problem all tournament and I've kept expecting it to get better and it hasn't and she's going to have to step that up but let's not let's not bail on the prediction now she's in this situation part of the reason I thought Bagoula might be primed to win the US Open this year was because I was expecting a arena Sabalenko to have a monster year and not have much left come the US Open then I reworked the theory and thought well Bagoula can win the US Open because Sabalenko's out of form and she won't be the usual obstacle that she is but now here we are she hasn't had a monster year she's played an amazing quarterfinal against Noscover and none of these things are true and yet I'm still having to cling to my prediction that's the bad situation I found myself in but let's go with it

45:22it's very like modern day of you to have a core belief that you're prepared to apply as much cognitive dissonance as required to in order to keep it true exactly I'm very good it's what I live I mean it feels like non-tourist all to predict Bagoula because objectively arena Sabalenko is the favorite in this match but I think Bagoula too dear as well wow well I've been convinced all the way through that arena Sabalenko is not winning this US Open and I'm prepared to look stupid on Saturday the defending champion and well she's well the more and until Monday isn't she current world number one Sabalenko is standing there with the trophy but I just it just doesn't feel like a tournament she's gonna win to me so I'm gonna gonna stick with it and I'd like the matchup two I agree with everything both of you have said and I just feel Bagoula in this one if Sabalenko plays at the level she did against Noscover do you think she'll win I don't think everything is

46:32done in isolation though is it because Bagoula's level will affect Sabalenko's level but in the same way that Noscover's level affected Sabalenko's level right like Noscover was really playing well in the middle portion of that match and causing Sabalenko to not be not being charged of it and yet she rose to it and up to level and looked like herself in a lot of moments like that as as a Bagoula predictor that would be my concern that Sabalenko comes out of that Noscover match full of confidence again and playing better I think Bagoula plays big points better than Noscover did I mean that first set ended with a 7-1 tie break now I realized that Sabalenko's brilliant tie breaks but I just feel like Bagoula plays big points very well she's very experienced and look there are loads of reasons to pick Sabalenko but I'm picking Bagoula I think for me I just

47:36think Bagoula will get her stressed in a way that we haven't seen I think I think she's been right on the edge all tournament she's been fraught and it's been there to be tested and I still think she's trying to perform this high wire act of keeping a lid on her emotions but also needing her emotions as a weapon and I think Bagoula can test that in a way we haven't seen yet potentially cause a bit of an implosion which you know we have seen it I mean French Open was kind of the most notable one this year wasn't it six love six love final set against Danish Nida and then against Bagoula in Berlin well exactly six love final set there too so yeah the logical pick of course is Sabalenko but I just feel Bagoula here yeah cook a goff against Elena Rebacchina one all head to head their last match was into Ronto just

48:43a few weeks ago it was went in Rebacchina's favour six two and the third it was tight it was competitive it's a nice looking match up this what's your feeling about it Matt very hard to say because of the coca goff we saw today that that's put a lot of doubt in my mind you know like I think if if goff would look more convincing I would have backed goff quite strongly I think but I do think if she shows up with the game she had today I think Rebacchina beats in a way that Andraeva didn't as as much as Coco goff deserves an enormous amount of credit for staying in the match and competing today and you know those words of winning ugly you could probably apply to this one I think if she plays like that against Rebacchina she'll just get totally knocked off the court and it actually wouldn't be close at all I think Rebacchina is far less likely to get

49:46stressed out in the way that Andraeva did and she's also got her serve that she can rely on and yeah so I think if Coco goff plays like that Rebacchina wins in straight sets however what I'm expecting is goff to be better than she was today I think that can be a match that she's hopefully just got out of her system and I could I think I'm going to go goff I think I'm going to go goff with the crowd with the night session with the with the form she's been in apart from in in that match we've been convinced by Coco goff for a while now for a reason and I'm just I guess not going to let one match totally throw me off my my general feeling on goff it which is that she's playing well so I'll go with goff David yeah very little to add to Matt in terms of reasoning because I'm also going goff and I also think that today if they'd played each other

50:51Rebacchina's winning that match but similarly to with Pagula I think that that is out of goff system now and she is in this tournament in the sharp end the the the the bit that all eyes are on and the whole crowd is just going to be rooting for her and I think it elevates her I don't think Rebacchina will be falling apart I don't think she will be necessarily really badly adversely affected by the the crowd and that sort of thing she might come out and be world number one and and be the best version of her we've ever seen which would be an interesting development but I still think that Gough will drag her into the trenches make it a struggle make it a scrap and she's the best in the world at that I think it helps goff and Pagula that world number one is off the table yeah perhaps particularly Pagula but I do think that just being done

51:51and dusted now helps kind of everybody else that was involved in that mini side soap opera I can't wait for these two reduce semi-finals I think I think Gough I think I think Gough yeah I went Gough should I go Gough Pagula at the start to be all good I think we did yeah and look we've got we've got Savilencom Rebacchina there that we're predicting to lose and they're both objectively the favour it's probably I think probably just you know and they've played you know Australian open finals against each other there's no real reason to me when they couldn't play a US open final against each other they've been very very good hard court players but I guess you've got to take into account the staging and the occasion and everything that comes with that on women's semi-final night at the US open and you know also like maybe there'll be a thing if

52:51maybe there'll be a bit of a snowball effect you know like if if Pagula does manage to win the first one you get the crowd up and everything and then they're hyped for the American in the second one as well like these things can have an influence on on the night I suppose which is hard for us to call right now no bad scenarios in terms of finals that is brilliant it's a great place to be really is cannot wait hello to Leo our US Open mascot whose photo gave me such a boost today it is Leo in a Superman cape me and my brother well my brother and I had Superman and Supergirl capes when we were little and yeah very soft spot for Superman the Christopher Reeve edition and this is lovely stuff it's a dog and it's a Superman cape and it's a telescope all my favorite things today Leo the caption reads today Leo is in his Superman cape and so impressed by

53:53all the superhuman feats he's witnessed at this US Open and he is of course referring to your 6am podcast I'm sure I will take that because it honestly did feel of it felt a bit like a superhuman feet what time did you get back to the flat last night well we went to bed just before seven bloody yeah we had some toast didn't we yeah David made some toast yeah breakfast yeah before going to bed right is that our latest one I say oh as if I was a part of it um was that our latest one since the Andy Murray Australian Open night yeah yeah think so when I had a red wine at 6am that's right oh the things this sport does to us thank you Leo for that lovely boost that you gave us today hello to our mascots Bodey Maisy and Roger hello to our top folks and executive producers Greg Chris and Jeff we are part of the athletic podcast network and before you go if you're in an

54:56NFL fan you're probably doing what David has been doing throughout this podcast which is double screening with the seahawks just one by the way I've got a row it come back from you look distracted yeah I knew David was distracted but I'm glad it's good news yeah so if you're in an NFL fan like David then the athletic has something really exciting for you starting well it's it's already started doesn't it because the NFL champions have kicked it off it started the athletic live presented by Google Gemini it's a brand new YouTube watch along on NFL game days featuring the biggest and the best beat reporters that the athletic has to offer you can even become part of the show in the interactive chat on YouTube it all starts from September the 8th which is yesterday so it's underway now it's on NFL game days and the YouTube channel is the athletic live so do check that out if you fancy it we're going to have some shout out to Matt I've had these in the agenda for days do you know I I've forgotten all about the existence of shout outs I was surprised to find

56:02it there in the agenda yes we are we're we're we're pre-midnight and that's my shout out curfew so here we go with Katie and Paula Wilson from Alabama hello Katie and Paula hi and Katie has got this shout out for her mum Paula who first introduced her to the pod oh that's excellent worth Paula you know I'm a show like people introducing their family yeah mother Doolsa that's lovely that's very good uh Katie says we like to talk about tennis talk about the pod and go to tournaments together this year we went to Charleston for the first time and it was great at the risk of going on a bit too long Katie says I have a Greg Allen's worth story oh that I mean you can definitely go time for that Katie says I was recently in Montreal during the Canada open and right when I arrived and emerged from the train station I saw none other than Greg Allen's worth crossing the street I'm needed in the wild I immediately texted my mum Paul to tell her and we both laughed at the level

57:04of tennis fandom we had reached and then we both said Matt would be proud love the pod thanks for keeping us entertained I'm looking at Matt's face right now and I can confirm he is proud absolutely um their surname being Wilson has reminded me of the the the slight situation that Karen Hashanov is in with Wilson because I think we talked a couple of days ago didn't we about how he's he changed his racket before this tournament but Wilson have made him the face of their new racket yes the desire I think it's for which is the one that he had been playing with obviously didn't enjoy and he's gone back to his old racket the blade but he's defied them he's the face of the new one which he is well it's pretty awkward yeah I mean at least one these gone back to is still a Wilson but still anyway there you go thank you Paul and Katie for giving me an opportunity to to air my my Wilson story and finally we have Jules Berner from Southfields but now

58:08living in Portugal hello Jules right Jules and Jules grew up near Wimbledon Park and her grandma's house was at the top of church road oh yeah so as children they would recreate matches in the back garden and they would even have Robinson squash bottles by the chairs for the change of ends and they could hear the applause from the Wimbledon grounds in the summer and Roger Federer became their idol because he rented the house next door to her grandma in his early years coming to Wimbledon house at the top of church road is just about as prime as real estate gets in southwest London so so cool what a grandma to have that's really cool Southfields just down the road from me yeah and Portugal David's a very big fan of Portugal absolutely yeah love it and your events and Matt has become a Benfica fan yes Marco Silva Traumpellinia in search of wins

59:11yeah has become a Benfica fan flying I'm surprised that isn't painful for you it's a bittersweet feeling but I have no hard feeling against Marco Silva whatsoever even if he has left you to drop like a stone it's been a tough 24 hours from Matt David he did it's only three games him check out out our DMs Matt and the messages about your stubble well my mum said it looked okay so maybe I will check the Instagram DMs folks we will be back to morrow of course with our day 12 tennis podcast we still have four more of these to come right the way through until the end of the US open we are part of the athletic podcast network thank you for listening we'll speak to you tomorrow