AO Day Five Recap: The Cold Water

00:00:09
Speaker 1: Oh, we're starting.

00:00:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, this is what we do.

00:00:11
Speaker 3: Oh okay, Yeah, you're throwing me in the cold water? Are Germans done like cold water? They're like trying me in the cold water?

00:00:18
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's not an expression sort of.

00:00:20
Speaker 2: Yeah. Anyway, Hi everybody, I hope you're as tired as I am, because what the fuck? Medvedev finished at what time?

00:00:29
Speaker 1: Through forty six am?

00:00:31
Speaker 2: Three forty six am. I did not watch till the end. I can just promise you that, but I was up till about two watching it. He won the third set. I said, I can't do it anymore. I went to bed because I was at the court's late calling as a ranker. The matches finished yesterday. What a day of tennis. I'm sorry. That is one of the arguably one of the most unbelievable days of Grand Slam tennis ever.

00:00:55
Speaker 3: The day yesterday had more incredible matches then all of the last three Slams together.

00:01:03
Speaker 2: You said that to me last night.

00:01:04
Speaker 1: I swear I looked it up yesterday again.

00:01:07
Speaker 3: I remember your open was okay, but I remember the French and wimbleed not having that many great matches. You had a few, but over the course of a fortnight right. Yesterday it was if you had Rod Labor tickets. Oh today, it.

00:01:21
Speaker 1: Didn't matter whether it was day or night session.

00:01:24
Speaker 2: I mean literally, you literally saw some of the greatest comebacks matches. All right, let's start with Egon Tech before we get to the match that we need to all talk about. But eger On Tech, I mean, which we thought was probably gonna be the match where we're going to talk about down four one up. First of all, opposite and a break and a break yep, and then just went a little bit la la land.

00:01:46
Speaker 1: But you will love this.

00:01:48
Speaker 2: You were caught sight for this night.

00:01:49
Speaker 3: I was caught sight and you will love this because I thought of you because you have a really good instinct, and so does Chanda Ruben for that matter, because I was calling that match with her. You have a really good instinct for one point that can turn the match around. And it was six to six ' four one all, and she had two break points and a routine second serve backhand return that she missed, but not like with intention, she just didn't go for it and she didn't play it safe and she missed it.

00:02:20
Speaker 1: And Shanda and that moment said, oh that's.

00:02:21
Speaker 3: A strange return miss and I was thinking of you, because I feel like you're oftentimes the one that goes like, oh, that's a strange miss.

00:02:29
Speaker 1: And all of a sudden, the whole match turned around.

00:02:31
Speaker 3: It just seemed like I saw Danielle Collins look up and it seemed like she gained hope and it was like she saw the world number one is fallible. What is this?

00:02:41
Speaker 1: I've never seen that? And IgA just.

00:02:43
Speaker 3: Seemed rattled and Diane Danielle, Diane, Diane, Diana.

00:02:49
Speaker 1: Well and Danielle went on.

00:02:51
Speaker 3: Danielle Collins, that is Danielle Collins went on a streak of the next five games of tennis.

00:02:56
Speaker 1: That I have never seen before. That was incredible.

00:02:59
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean that's the thing about Danielle. She can produce stuff like that, and she's got that personality and she's got that like just in your face and the crowd. It was just incredible what she was doing. And interestingly, you did a great postmatch interview with Eager. She said to you, I just had to in the end realize that it's not possible. Is it possible for somebody to keep playing tennis like that?

00:03:21
Speaker 1: You know?

00:03:22
Speaker 2: And she got down four one two breaks of serve her second serve is so vulnerable that that was just not good, just sitting in the middle of the box, just getting handed to her by Colins in the end.

00:03:35
Speaker 3: Well, and the problem is she has that kick right, which can be effective against most players, and that's why she's also really good on Claire because it jumps a bit higher. However, she seems to have problems against players with great backhands who are tall. Danielle Collins, Rebeccna Sablenka that kick and she has a lot of trouble changing that to the forehand or into the body with a bit of slize.

00:03:57
Speaker 1: So she keeps playing that kick serf that sits.

00:04:00
Speaker 3: Up and it's just being punished by these type of players.

00:04:03
Speaker 2: Happy days for players with great backhands. And daniel Collins has one of the great back ends of all time. So but anyway, she found a way. She called her way back in because daniel Collins, all of a sudden at four one just couldn't hit a ball in the court either.

00:04:16
Speaker 3: Yes, and we had an really interesting stat actually, so from in the third set up until the third set, so Danielle Collins four six, one all, and until winning the second set and being up for one, her average speed per hour was her average speed on the forehand side English is a tough fourhand back end, or just this was the forehand because back end is always, always hard, always hard. On the forehand was seventy five miles per hour, and when she was up for one, it dropped to fifty eight.

00:04:47
Speaker 1: Miles per hour. Wow, that is an insane stat That is ten miles.

00:04:51
Speaker 2: Apartments called choking.

00:04:54
Speaker 1: I said it.

00:04:54
Speaker 2: I didn't think that is cold, getting tight as a drum and trying to just make the shot as opposed to going for the shot, which is what gets you up for one in the third without question, because the only way that you beat eager syon tech is to push your back, particularly on the forehand, and if you don't push your back, she will control the point every single time. And her backhand was great yesterday. It was almost like she was looking for back ends or her forehand.

00:05:18
Speaker 3: We talked about right after the match, which was interesting, yeah, which is yeah, I mean, you had a really good point about this actually, because I was like, it's so strange that you guys not taking forehands from the middle, because that is why it's so hard to play. Her great movers against EGA have problems because you can see when you you know, when you set up for a forehand, you close your shoulder and you can tell where it's going to go.

00:05:40
Speaker 1: And yesterday Ego was taking backhands from the middle and I asked you, and you're.

00:05:43
Speaker 3: Like, well, on the fast surface, she just doesn't feel comfortable.

00:05:47
Speaker 1: Can you explain technically why that is on this surface.

00:05:50
Speaker 2: I think when she got tight yesterday, I think right towards the end she was. She's more willing and happy to take back ends in some respect because she has the left hand and the second hand to help her cover the ball right and so whereas if she covers it too much on the forehand, it actually goes in the nat and if she doesn't hit out on it, it'll fly on her. So I think on the backhand side she feels like she can as you know, as a two hander. I mean, I don't understand because I was a one hander, but I would imagine for a two hander, you guys feel like you can swing a little more with your two hand and use your left hand to cover the ball and control it. But oh my god, she bounced back after losing those two match points, particularly the match point where she had an overhead and she had swinging volleys and she was just you could tell she was just shitting herself. But you got to give a credit. She dug deep. Now for me, is that the match that turns it around for her and lets her think all right, because she's had an unbelievably tough draw. She's played a former winner here in Sophia Kennon, a former finalist here in Daniel Collins. Both of them are feisty, both of them hit the ball big and good.

00:06:52
Speaker 1: And both with great backhands.

00:06:54
Speaker 2: They and she got through those matches. So I got to think that that's going to do a tremendous amount of confidence going through this tournament now, because for me, it's got to feel like she's playing with house money now having won that match yesterday. So let's get to the other women's match.

00:07:08
Speaker 3: Oh my god, let's just first mention it that Carlos al Karaz played a really good match, also very entertaining match as we are used from him against Sonigo, who's playing really well this Yeah, I have to say so fun. He has a great intensity. I first saw him in that row match against Novak Djokovic when he won the second set tigh break, and the Italian crowd was going absolutely insane, and I was like, man, this kid is really good, and by kid I mean a grown ass man.

00:07:36
Speaker 2: Yeah he is, but he was beaten by then as man who's also kind of a kid, and then walks under the court. Rebarkina and Linkova one hour later then expected, so.

00:07:48
Speaker 3: They already have only two matches in the day session to not have that the ninth session starts late.

00:07:56
Speaker 2: And it does, and we had a rain break, yes, but it was only for about maybe twenty minutes. So the fact that it went till about eight o'clock into the night session and then the night session went on late cut to hoping. I'm sure the tournament that Rebarkina was just going to smack blinkovers but and we would be back on the schedule and not too bad.

00:08:18
Speaker 1: That's one hundred percent what they were thinking. I mean, I don't know, but you just have to write.

00:08:23
Speaker 3: If you're the tournament director and the commentary, one hundred percent, you're thinking, this is an hour and five minutes and then we're on to schedule.

00:08:30
Speaker 2: We won't be too late. Well no, no, no, the women just decide to play the three set match of a lifetime, concluded by the longest tie break in the history of Grand Slam tennis, twenty to twenty ten match points for blinkover six match points for Rebarkina. It was I was calling the match. You were calling the match for the World feet I was calling the match for ESPN, and I've I've had the pleasure of, you know, watching a lot of tennis as of you. I've had a lot of pleasure to call matches as have you. Now, I have never sat through a more up and down situation in my life on a commentary booth. I mean, Chris Fowler and I were just there was three or four points would go by in the tiebreak, and we wouldn't say anything.

00:09:18
Speaker 3: We too, We were almost silent for the entire tiebreak because we.

00:09:23
Speaker 1: Were muting ourselves. We were dying. We were standing up.

00:09:26
Speaker 3: You are in the low booth, you are right behind the court, but we are on the top. So we were standing leaning over the window. We can open the window. We had opened the window open. I was on my knees. I had my hands over the head.

00:09:38
Speaker 1: I didn't know whether I was crying or throwing up the nurse.

00:09:41
Speaker 3: I could barely breathe. I could just Laura Robson, who was court sat, I could just.

00:09:46
Speaker 1: Go, oh my god, oh my god, with that British posh accent.

00:09:50
Speaker 3: It was absolutely we were just looking at She kept looking up at the box right raising her hand, going.

00:09:55
Speaker 1: Like what is happening? It was really the insanity.

00:10:00
Speaker 3: It's just if you have the time, if you have thirty five minutes, because this is how long this table, you'll find it. Please go on YouTube, find this tae break and watch it in the entirety, because this is maybe the most insane thing I at least have witnessed in the last sixteen years I was on tour.

00:10:16
Speaker 2: I mean, Blinkova goes to serve for the match. I mean, first of all, Rebakna coming back, she was down a set and a break comes back. When's the second set, you think, okay, it's overrated, momentum is going to swing now, she's going to play well, which she did. She was playing well. Blinkover clearly got nervous with a set and a break situation, so you think she's not gonna be able to handle them, you know, and then she comes out looks great in the third, and then Blinkova just turns out and says, no, no, no, no, I'm not giving.

00:10:42
Speaker 1: This match to you.

00:10:43
Speaker 2: Plays unbelievable serves for the match of five four, plays the most ridiculously bad game at five four, like all of a sudden, a different human being entered Blinkov's body. She thought she was serving. Bollier comes into that Missus seat swinging back and Vollie. Then she comes in on game point and it's like she's like Roger Federer, or she's like trying to play like me, like, h I can't play from the base, like get me to the net, like runs in on this like most ridiculous missusist back and Roger Federer, but Roger Featherer on crystal math. Yes, exactly, good one. She literally I was like I was thinking in my brain where she was doing. It's like, where is she going? What is she doing? And she hits the worst volley to lose the game, and Chris Faale and I just looked at each other and he's like, is that it is that considered a brain fart? And I was like, ah, yeah, I mean and then you think, Okay, she's never going to recover from that, right, No, No, she breaks serve because the Rebarkina was definitely not her best, was missing and feeling the pressure, and then you think, okay, she can no way, she's going to serve it out again. Well, she gets a match point, gets another match point, doesn't win to Rabarkee, hits winner after winner, and you're just like, oh my god, this is insane, goes into the tyereak. You're like, there's no waveing, Covid is gonna win now, right, and then she gets down in the tiebreak and you think, okay, you know, Rebeking is gonna win. I'm looking up at her coaching box, you know, rebark in his coaching box, and Vukech is like that the whole time. He's just like talking the whole time. I'm like, oh my god, I would die if it was my coach, because I was like, how many things are you going to tell me in the space of three minutes, you.

00:12:18
Speaker 1: Know what I mean?

00:12:19
Speaker 2: And then Blinkova fights a way back, gets a match. I mean, it was just non stop. I just kept thinking, okay, now it's over, right, we.

00:12:28
Speaker 3: Have to talk about the one match point set eighteen seventeen by Blinkova eighteen seventeen.

00:12:35
Speaker 1: I thought five times, this is it. This is ever Rebecca.

00:12:38
Speaker 3: I played the perfect point perfect. She didn't do anything wrong. But and I said that on the car. I said it before the match even started. I said, you will witness somebody that does the sport with the most amount respect for the sport I've ever seen. Blinkova is limited in her ability. She's not very fast, she has a little bit stiffness in her technique.

00:13:00
Speaker 1: But she will fight, she will scramble. She worgs hat. She changed her complete forehand.

00:13:05
Speaker 3: She had a huge swing with a different grip and people it was very attackable.

00:13:09
Speaker 1: She changed her complete forehand because she saw this impossible. She changed herself. She used to serve one hundred and fifty five k's an hour.

00:13:16
Speaker 3: Yesterday she was matching Rebeccenha in the first set and a half on surf steads. So it just comes to show you. And I was really happy. And I love Rebecca and I love her name, but I was But she will bounce back. She's a champion. She showed glimpses of it yesterday. She's a champion. She plays so good under pressure. But Blinko, I was so happy that life rewards these people.

00:13:36
Speaker 1: She's just a good she's just good people.

00:13:39
Speaker 3: She's my good person, and she respects the sports. She always behaves so well. And I don't know if you told the story on the on the pot before, but I think it's really pertinent to her character and what kind of woman she is.

00:13:52
Speaker 1: The thing that you told.

00:13:53
Speaker 3: Me yesterday in Cincinnati when Sam stows her and I don't know who she was she played when they beat her them.

00:14:00
Speaker 2: Yeah, she was down, just a little quick story linkover was upper set and I think like five to one with her partner against Sam and Shway and Samusuay ended up coming back and winning the match, and they got really tired the opposition. But our girls played good to come back. But sitting on the bike after the match and I said, oh sorry, and and she's like, oh it's okay, really good luck, best of luck. In the next match they played really well.

00:14:25
Speaker 1: Blah blah.

00:14:26
Speaker 2: I was like, oh my god, I would have walked her back to the hotel if I lost that and hopefully got hit by a car on the highway.

00:14:32
Speaker 1: Seeing five.

00:14:34
Speaker 2: No, she was so kind, so nice, it was unbelievable. So as you said, what an incredible that point at eighteen seventeen when she hit back like two or three squash shot four hands, like snatched them back into the court with the slice and it allowed her to get into the point back and then hits a winner. I mean, it was just I mean you can tell from us. I mean, I'm so friggin tired right now, and I it just took me back to that moment and I just can't believe what I witnessed. And then for rebacken a miss back and on that point was actually kind of shocking.

00:15:05
Speaker 3: Because there was the one like, as you call it, brain fart, because all the other match points, Yeah, she does get still a little bit tight. On the forehand, it's much better, but she like that's all normal, But that backend, that's her money shot, right, she never misses that.

00:15:18
Speaker 1: That's maybe the one thing where you're like, oh, but it's strange.

00:15:21
Speaker 3: Apparently, this is what I will say in a Rebuccina's defense. She was having trouble with her achilles or her lower calf. It was a little bit unclear, but we had a microphone and the coaches box and we could hear her physio at one time saying he's German, so I for me, it was the best thing ever coach creation fitness coach, creation physio German.

00:15:44
Speaker 1: I understood every single thing. So I was just translated everything that was.

00:15:49
Speaker 3: It was just it was just I mean, it was just lucky parents as Serbian. And he was saying, she has something on her We couldn't quite make it out, but they were. He was showing like basically the ankle or the achilles or something on the.

00:16:03
Speaker 2: How do you call this, Yeah, on the foot, on the heel, the hell, yes, the hell.

00:16:07
Speaker 3: So I will say that she was she was a bit bothered by something on her foot just in general.

00:16:13
Speaker 2: Yeah, well she was still moving pretty well, but you're right, you know, maybe something was well in her. But just to see a blinkovi like go to the ground and she ran over to her like coaches area after the match, would she never do? And also I was thinking, yeah, she was running, girl, you run over there. You just won the most incredible tie break in the.

00:16:34
Speaker 1: History of Grand Slams.

00:16:35
Speaker 2: And imagine if she had lost at ten match points. But you know what you said, she'll never recover from that then, And I said, you know what she would type of person would be like, well it was just meant to be. Yeah, not my day today, and you'd just be like, what, you had ten match points.

00:16:52
Speaker 1: You know what I mean.

00:16:52
Speaker 2: But she'd be like, no, no, she played good on those match points. Yeah, and you're like, oh, okay. I mean, she's just that tough person.

00:16:58
Speaker 3: And when I said this to Josh Eagle was my co commentator, and I said, I muted this, and I was like, if she loses this match, her career is over. My career would have been over. I would have never recovered. But let's I have it one more minute before I have to run. Yes, four hours, twenty three minutes three. At three we mentioned that they finished the match at three forty six am. He beat Emil Russavori, who's fucking good. Yeah, he's good, But anyway, that was humbling. I don't know how he's going to recover from that and be able to apply the next.

00:17:30
Speaker 1: Day because he is here to win the turn.

00:17:32
Speaker 3: Yeah, of course this has to be said, and you know, you have to be like for She said it in the Great un Caught interview with Laura afterwards. She said, this is the greatest day of my life. Oh, I know, And it's true for somebody like Medvedev, He's like, fuck, I want to win this turn.

00:17:49
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're right.

00:17:50
Speaker 3: I can't be out here for four and a half hours until four am in the morning.

00:17:55
Speaker 2: Having said that, blink Over has pretty good draw now that draw has completely opened up. But I want to give a shout out to Sloan Stevens. She took out Carsacini yesterday, so she's looking good. And mine pick for outside the top ten to do really well in this tournament is kinwin Chin and guess what, she's looking really good. She's in a section of the drawer that you can do some damage. Emma Navarro won again for the American audience back.

00:18:18
Speaker 1: There, but speaking like about Americans, Jess Pegoula is our the hell, Yeah, that was really strange.

00:18:23
Speaker 2: I didn't I'll be honest. I didn't see the match because I was working the greatest tie break in the history of the world. As we you, I don't know. I mean, I want to get back and watch the Bells play well.

00:18:33
Speaker 3: Clara Clara Burrow is a very talented French player.

00:18:38
Speaker 1: I know.

00:18:38
Speaker 3: I met Jess Pagoula at the airport we landed at the same time in Melbourne last.

00:18:43
Speaker 1: Week and she was struggling with a viral illness.

00:18:46
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's no question was it was something with the stomach and that costs you so much substance. And she played on the hot day. You know, if you she's probably been super dehydrated.

00:18:59
Speaker 2: And that's what I'm it down to. And I think it was it was so windy yesterday. Maybe just just the brain wasn't there, the body wasn't there, and she didn't respond. And yeah, a shocking loss for somebody who's so consistent.

00:19:09
Speaker 1: So consistent.

00:19:10
Speaker 3: But if anybody has seen it, please let us know what happened to.

00:19:16
Speaker 1: The tennis experts that you follow.

00:19:18
Speaker 2: Yeah, tweeters at we have no idea.

00:19:21
Speaker 3: Now, I will leave the rest to you. There were so many on the men's side too. There were like three matches that.

00:19:27
Speaker 2: Casper rude Zverev got through as a ranker, got through last night as well in three sets.

00:19:33
Speaker 1: That's why.

00:19:35
Speaker 2: The drama, Oh man, I was unbelievable. The crowd, even though it was late, really late, the crowd over there was unbelievable, and of course Ostapenko was loving every second of it. Mis Kova good player.

00:19:47
Speaker 3: Very good player, one of the best back in but I mean honestly killed no and also a check player, young check player coming up on tour. You're like, oh, I wonder how she plays, and you see three primes and the like, Yeah, it's the best backhand in the world I've ever seen. What is up with this back and Carolina is the only exception.

00:20:06
Speaker 2: She just happens to serve the best fourhands and the best fourhand.

00:20:10
Speaker 3: But literally every other other check player is like as the best back end I've ever seen. I don't know what they put in the back end water.

00:20:18
Speaker 1: Over there, I don't know.

00:20:19
Speaker 2: But anyway, Gregor demetro'v got through against Kokanakas in an unbelievable atmosphere as well. He was looking he's looking really good, he wanted. He's in four sets, so that's uh, that's world class performing from Gregor Demetrov over the last few weeks. Tommy Paul looked great in four sets. He got through. He's gonna be tough to beat. Obviously made the Semis here last year, so he feels good here. Herbie Harcutch once again goes the distance. If it's three sets or five sets, it doesn't matter. That's what he likes to do. How much time can I spend on the court cam Norri is squeaking through. As I said, kid, when Jiang, I think is the one that's looking really good?

00:20:50
Speaker 1: Am I kano out?

00:20:51
Speaker 3: Yeah?

00:20:52
Speaker 1: Out.

00:20:52
Speaker 2: I don't know what was going on in the third shot she had the trainer out to like help with her pulse. And I don't know what's going on.

00:20:59
Speaker 1: But she was ill.

00:21:01
Speaker 3: Yeah, she said in her press conference that she was ill and she didn't.

00:21:04
Speaker 2: Want to And Alex Michelson, this young American guy who's doing really well. He took out Lahechka in four sets. He looked really, really good. He's a talent. Elena Fitzelina, she's flying a move it along, and so did Francis asa Ali. Seems so nice to see him when some matches at Grand Slam.

00:21:22
Speaker 1: I love that you just said, Francis.

00:21:24
Speaker 2: Francis Felix.

00:21:28
Speaker 3: Stabs has slept on average the last five days, maybe at max.

00:21:34
Speaker 2: Everyone at home is like, yeah, crime river stops you.

00:21:37
Speaker 3: I will let you take this to an end, bring us over the finish line.

00:21:41
Speaker 1: Girlfriend. I'm headed to tennis and I see you over there. Yeah, it was a pleasure. Thank you, my friend.

00:21:48
Speaker 2: And for people at home or listening to this wherever you are, all around the world. Thanks for joining us again. What was that day five or did it go into day six? I don't know. It feels like day forty eight for us who've had very late nights, including Petco. But guys, thanks for joining us today. Wow, what a day of tennis. Seriously one of the best at Grand Slam in the history of the Grands, I can't even speak in the history of Grand Slam play. Yesterday at the Strain Open goes down as one of the great days that I've ever experienced, not only as a commentator but as a tennis fan, and I hope you enjoyed it as well. Have fun today there's going to be some ripper matches as well. Jeers, bye y'all.