Speaker 1: Welcome everybody to the Renee Stubs Tennis podcast. This is
Speaker 1: an unusual one. I'm doing it from the grounds of
Speaker 1: the Usta Billy Jan King National Tennis Center because well,
Speaker 1: I never leave here, so I've decided to pull in
Speaker 1: the person that I know who's also hasn't left the
Speaker 1: grounds and it's pretty much had left sleep than me,
Speaker 1: and that's Pam Shiverer. Pam, thanks for joining me today.
Speaker 1: We're going to recap the first week as best as
Speaker 1: we can.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: No, it's certainly a short night sleep last night, but
Speaker 3: we both were looking forward to the Muhova Paolini match,
Speaker 3: which we just called, and you were smoked to get
Speaker 3: me while my energy is still up.
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah.
Speaker 1: So anyway, let's get a little bit of recap. I mean,
Speaker 1: this first week of the US Open has been pretty tremendous.
Speaker 1: We had so many big upsets on the men's side.
Speaker 1: Something we didn't expect to see is both Novak Djokovic
Speaker 1: and Alcaraz out of the tournament with two huge upsets,
Speaker 1: one of course from vander down Sloop. That was probably
Speaker 1: more of a surprise for me just the way it
Speaker 1: happened against Alcarez, and obviously Alexi Popper and what he
Speaker 1: was able to do against Novak Chokovich was impressive, but
Speaker 1: Novac certainly didn't look his best. How much do you think, Pam,
Speaker 1: that was a little bit also of the Olympic fatigue
Speaker 1: factive for the guys playing best of five here is
Speaker 1: a little different from the women coming backing up from
Speaker 1: the Olympics playing best of three. Yeah.
Speaker 3: I think obviously it had an effect. We knew this
Speaker 3: summer for the players playing, and really, what is the
Speaker 3: fifth major every Olympic four years, It was going to
Speaker 3: be a lot because of the surface transition, clay grass,
Speaker 3: clay hardcourt. To do all that in Mike, a seven
Speaker 3: eight week span is a lot to ask physically, mentally, emotionally.
Speaker 3: And I think you're right. The main difference is because
Speaker 3: the women medalists from the singles really played great tennis.
Speaker 3: At the oment, two of the three are still in
Speaker 3: it with Siontek and Jang, and I think the three
Speaker 3: out of five set format is the reason why.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I do. I think that. Look Also, Alchiis was
Speaker 1: losing his shit in Cincinnati, so you knew that his
Speaker 1: I don't know, just his capacity to deal with the
Speaker 1: stress and the pressure of the US Open was going
Speaker 1: to be tough, and I think that loss really stung him.
Speaker 1: At the Olympics in his wonder Pam how much like Djokovic,
Speaker 1: his energy levels were as well, because that was, as
Speaker 1: he said, the greatest moment of his tennis career winning
Speaker 1: the gold medal, which is pretty remarkable considering what he's
Speaker 1: done in his tennis career. It's unbelievable. But also kudos
Speaker 1: to the guys that got the wins, because you still
Speaker 1: have to win the match. Something that's a real positive,
Speaker 1: you know, in this tournament so far, is just the
Speaker 1: success of the Americans, particularly the American men. Were used
Speaker 1: to the American women still being latent tournaments like the
Speaker 1: likes of Cocoa Goth and Jess Bagool or etc. But
Speaker 1: to see what Taylor and Tommy and Francis are doing
Speaker 1: in this tournament and Brandon Nakashima who lost yesterday, but gee,
Speaker 1: you've got to be if you're Americans tennis, got to
Speaker 1: be pretty pumped about what you're seeing.
Speaker 3: Now we've I've seen them this summer be ranked all
Speaker 3: in a bunch right in the sort of the bottom
Speaker 3: end end of the top ten, and the first few
Speaker 3: spots of like eleven, twelve, thirteen, they're pushing each other.
Speaker 3: They have that sort of friendly rivalry where they're sort
Speaker 3: of using the energy of the group to push forward.
Speaker 3: I think they're sick and tired, the men of hearing
Speaker 3: how many years it's been since Andy Roddick won a
Speaker 3: major on the US male side. That's two thousand and
Speaker 3: three US Open. And I think all the men that
Speaker 3: are still in it from the US I mean, Paul
Speaker 3: has the toughest assignment, needless say, because by the time,
Speaker 3: you know, he played center tonight. But I think Tiafo
Speaker 3: and Taylor Fritz who knows, we could see an all
Speaker 3: American semi final.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I actually said that the other day. I looked
Speaker 1: at the draw and I thought, oh my god, like,
Speaker 1: we really could have two American men in the semifinals.
Speaker 1: And can you remember the last time that happened, Well,
Speaker 1: probably in the.
Speaker 3: Era of the sampras Agasy courier chang, you know, certainly
Speaker 3: it happened a lot in the Connors back and row.
Speaker 2: I'm trying to think over the other type.
Speaker 1: Mars out of Europe, and we haven't slept enough to
Speaker 1: worry about that. But yeah, I mean, this is an
Speaker 1: amazing opportunity for these guys, and I don't know, you
Speaker 1: just think, you know, the changing in the guard of
Speaker 1: Novak's still around. He's not going anywhere for now, but
Speaker 1: you know, father time catches up with everyone, and you
Speaker 1: just think he didn't look fresh, and we know what
Speaker 1: he's been that through. But he's only made two finals
Speaker 1: this year, Pam. I mean one he won at the
Speaker 1: Olympics and the other one was Wimbledon. But for him
Speaker 1: not to win a major in the year is you
Speaker 1: just start to think how much more does he have
Speaker 1: mentally and physically in his body. And these guys are
Speaker 1: so good and so young and so hungry, and now
Speaker 1: they actually believe they can beat him, and that's, as
Speaker 1: you know, is half the battle.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Novak certainly seems to have lost a little bit
Speaker 3: of that giant aura that he had that would sort
Speaker 3: of make him start with a two love lead in
Speaker 3: each set. But you know, obviously the French Open, the
Speaker 3: injury to the knee, the surgery, the surgery on the meniscus.
Speaker 3: But when you think about how he was you just
Speaker 3: mentioned just one tournament went on the year, and that
Speaker 3: was the Olympics. Yeah, well, I mean there was not
Speaker 3: an ATV Tour tournament win. He got the finals of
Speaker 3: the semi finals of the Australian Open. That was probably
Speaker 3: foreshadowing his year when he couldn't fire at the caliber
Speaker 3: that he usually does in a semi final of major,
Speaker 3: losing the center and you know, the injury, and then
Speaker 3: obviously he just put all in to do the one
Speaker 3: thing the sport he had not done, which is an
Speaker 3: Olympic gold medal. And I don't think there was enough
Speaker 3: time for even him to reset. He didn't play Canada
Speaker 3: or Cincinnati, didn't play a warm up tournament, but I
Speaker 3: don't think he's been able to reset and establish his
Speaker 3: next big goal. Is it to get to twenty five
Speaker 3: singles majors? Is it to you know, he's got to
Speaker 3: have something I think to push him.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree, And you just wonder how much because really,
Speaker 1: the only thing that he has on his resume that
Speaker 1: he you know, to just arguably say greatest player of
Speaker 1: all time, not just man a woman, but greatest players
Speaker 1: to get twenty five Grand slams. If he does that,
Speaker 1: then forget about it. But I don't know, at some point,
Speaker 1: it's it just gets tiring to have to wake up
Speaker 1: every day and be great and win every match, and
Speaker 1: his kids are growing up, and you just wonder how
Speaker 1: much he's got left in the tank. But we'll certainly
Speaker 1: know because if he does it, he's going to probably
Speaker 1: do it in Australia because that's where his best results
Speaker 1: have come. And I'm glad that truck that takes all
Speaker 1: the poop and stuff away from the US Open has
Speaker 1: finally stopped happening in the background outside our beautiful ESPN
Speaker 1: bus here on site. But anyway, but I want to
Speaker 1: just touch upon Francis Tiafo what he was able to
Speaker 1: do the other day against reversing the lost to Ben Shelton.
Speaker 1: I think you could see in his face, Pam that
Speaker 1: it was kind of like he was not giving in
Speaker 1: in that match, and I think that boy that could
Speaker 1: turn around his career again. We know how well he
Speaker 1: played in Cincinnati, so that certainly got his confidence up.
Speaker 1: But what he did last night, even against Popera, and
Speaker 1: he just didn't panic. He played great. You got to think,
Speaker 1: I mean, does he have it in him to win
Speaker 1: this tournament?
Speaker 2: Yeah? I think he does.
Speaker 3: Plays Demitrof next to play the winner of Fritz Zverev.
Speaker 3: I think tis learned so much from a semi final
Speaker 3: run of two years ago and he became even more
Speaker 3: of a star. And I think he probably knows that
Speaker 3: sometimes he needs to say no and kind of keep
Speaker 3: into his lane and notice sponsorship and things like that. Yeah,
Speaker 3: stay in his hula hoop a little bit more because
Speaker 3: he's yeah, like stay within the hula a little expression.
Speaker 3: But anyway, I think, you know, we know guys mature
Speaker 3: tend to mature a little bit later. But I do
Speaker 3: think you mentioned that Shelton match that was huge because
Speaker 3: he lost in the quarters that was last year to Shelton.
Speaker 3: That was very painful loss. That's when Shelton kind of
Speaker 3: did the hang up the phone game and.
Speaker 1: He wasn't really the same player after that loss.
Speaker 2: No, he wasn't.
Speaker 3: But I think Cincinnati was huge. I think the decision
Speaker 3: for Francis not to play the Olympics. Obviously, Washington, d C.
Speaker 3: Which is where he grew up, that was an important
Speaker 3: tour stop. I think Francis getting on the hard courts,
Speaker 3: getting his teeth sunk into this segment of the circuit
Speaker 3: is why he has a chance to win this US Open.
Speaker 3: From two SATs to one down against Shulton, we saw
Speaker 3: the best of Francis.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's true. But you got to give credit then
Speaker 1: to Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz because they both played
Speaker 1: the Olympics right deep to the end. They've got a
Speaker 1: silver medal in the doubles there, so what they've been
Speaker 1: able to do has been impressive. Of Course, we've already
Speaker 1: mentioned the guys that won medals at the Olympics have
Speaker 1: not done well in the singles medals, So all credit
Speaker 1: to Taylor and to Tommy Paul forgetting to where they've
Speaker 1: gotten to at the US Open with that short bit
Speaker 1: of rest as well. So it's just been an impressive
Speaker 1: tournament from the American guys. And you have to think,
Speaker 1: I don't know, with the losses to al Karaz and
Speaker 1: to Djokovic, does it give that impotence to the guys
Speaker 1: that have been knocking on the door a little bit
Speaker 1: to say why not me? And could this be the time?
Speaker 1: Clearly we know Sinner's the one to beat in this
Speaker 1: tournament now, and it's been pretty remarkable considering what he's
Speaker 1: gone through emotionally over the last couple of weeks that
Speaker 1: he's playing as well. As ears, but he will be
Speaker 1: tested tonight against Tommy Paul for sure.
Speaker 3: Yeah, as we're talking now and recording this part, it
Speaker 3: was almost two weeks since the news just spread so
Speaker 3: quickly about what happened to Janick Center in March, when
Speaker 3: two tests came up positive for a banned substance, and
Speaker 3: he immediately went into the process of challenging it.
Speaker 2: He could immediately.
Speaker 3: Explain how it got into a system in three different
Speaker 3: groups confirmed that that was most likely the case. Lost
Speaker 3: his first set at this tournament, and he looked.
Speaker 1: Like a ghost. He looked like he'd seen a ghist
Speaker 1: in that fast set, like he was not himself.
Speaker 2: Yeah, to Mackenzie McDonald.
Speaker 3: But then since then his sets have been six two
Speaker 3: six one six two sixty four six love six two
Speaker 3: six one six four six two. So you think he's
Speaker 3: playing well, Yeah, I think he is now, and I think,
Speaker 3: you know, there must be an unbelievable relief. I mean,
Speaker 3: he had known he had been dealing with this since
Speaker 3: a month early April. Yeah, we just found out when
Speaker 3: the news broke two weeks agost. We were all stunned.
Speaker 3: But I do think he's starting to show the relief
Speaker 3: that the worst is over for him on this process.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, exactly. Anyway, let's get a little bit to
Speaker 1: the women before we wrap this little pot up and
Speaker 1: get back to work here at the US Open. And
Speaker 1: Pam has a nap, but Coco's lost yesterday. Let's just
Speaker 1: dive into that one because it's fresh in our minds.
Speaker 1: I just want to give so much credit to Emminavarro
Speaker 1: because that was a really, really first It was an
Speaker 1: incredibly entertaining match, but it was a great match with
Speaker 1: Emma Navarro considering up a set and four to three,
Speaker 1: was it thirty love or forty love? Thirty love for
Speaker 1: sure on her serve, and then the wheels fell off
Speaker 1: a little bit and Coco played great to win that
Speaker 1: second set, and you thought, okay, train's back on the track,
Speaker 1: definitely playing better golf. But the unfortunately for Coco, nineteen
Speaker 1: double faults. Pam, you and I were both consider our
Speaker 1: serves to be one of our strengths. I cannot imagine
Speaker 1: double faulting nineteen times and feeling good about where my
Speaker 1: serve was at and the anxiety I think that that
Speaker 1: gives her on all aspects of her game. It has
Speaker 1: to affecting her what is happening.
Speaker 3: Well, I think two shots are causing a lot of anxiety.
Speaker 3: It's both the serve and the forehand and when you
Speaker 3: have two such important shots that can break down, and
Speaker 3: everybody in the locker room, every coach, everybody knows it.
Speaker 3: And there you obviously can't target the serve, but you
Speaker 3: can certainly target the forehand side. And you can sort
Speaker 3: of see by some of the stress this summer that
Speaker 3: Coco's displayed, whether he's at Wimbledon, when she also lost
Speaker 3: to Novarro at the Olympics, when Donna Veketch got the
Speaker 3: better of Cocoa Golf, and really she was defending all
Speaker 3: these points this summer on the hard courts, didn't look
Speaker 3: herself and had the pressure of trying to defend this title,
Speaker 3: but she didn't have the game to do it. However,
Speaker 3: we know Coco Golf has won a lot of tough
Speaker 3: matches not with her a game, and it looked like
Speaker 3: maybe that was going to be the case yesterday, but
Speaker 3: then Navarro was able to capitalize on the mistakes and
Speaker 3: be the better of the two.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I just feel like, you know, if you're going
Speaker 1: to teach demeanor and composure on the tennis goll It.
Speaker 1: We thought Coco was one of the best of that.
Speaker 1: That's being challenged little bit over the last couple of
Speaker 1: months with some of the demonstrative behavior we've seen sort
Speaker 1: of at her coaching box and things, And that's what
Speaker 1: happens when you're in a bit of stress. You sort
Speaker 1: of look to help and you're not quite got the
Speaker 1: answers yourself. But Emma Navarro, on the other hand, I mean,
Speaker 1: she just like, if I want someone to play poker
Speaker 1: for me, you're in girl. Like her attitude, her composure,
Speaker 1: her willingness to look at things like I feel like
Speaker 1: with a glass half full or rose colored glasses all
Speaker 1: the time, is so bloody impressive on the tennis court,
Speaker 1: and she stepped up in the end and won that match.
Speaker 3: You know, I really have enjoyed watching Navarro's rise. Donaveca's
Speaker 3: the player of Coach Ramas two years, actually played Navarro
Speaker 3: in the second round of Mono Ray March a year
Speaker 3: and a half ago, and Navarro was just beginning to
Speaker 3: make her move. Dona beaterr fairly comfortably scorelne wise, but
Speaker 3: during the match, I'm like, oh my goodness, I knew
Speaker 3: the backhand was really good the forehand was getting stronger,
Speaker 3: the movement, the athleticism, and she's just become a great
Speaker 3: hard worker. I think her coach Peter and Emma are
Speaker 3: one of the best coach player tandems out there. I
Speaker 3: love the fact they made a two year contract with
Speaker 3: each other that was up just a little while ago,
Speaker 3: and it was like, we're renewing because this is going
Speaker 3: really well. On Navarro, who knows what her ceiling is
Speaker 3: because she is proving a little bit like Pagoula. Maybe
Speaker 3: you don't see it necessarily in the juniors that she's
Speaker 3: going to be like a top tenor, but I think
Speaker 3: Navarro is definitely has a chance to win a major
Speaker 3: and be a consistent member of the top ten.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, consistent member of the top ten foreshore. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, just like we just called the Pegoula, sorry,
Speaker 1: the Pawelini Mukhova match, and both of those players that
Speaker 1: have been in the top ten. Paolini is there now.
Speaker 1: I suspect that Macova will probably move back in there
Speaker 1: at some point if she stays injury free. But Emma
Speaker 1: Navarro is a very similar player. You know, all court
Speaker 1: player can come forward, you know, great top spin on
Speaker 1: the forehand, and then you've got that beautiful backhand that
Speaker 1: can go anywhere, cross caught down the line so easily.
Speaker 1: She can slice very good serve, so not a lot
Speaker 1: of weaknesses, and that's really the key. And I think
Speaker 1: that's what happened in the end yesterday with Coca, is
Speaker 1: that Coco's weaknesses you can see, Emma's you don't really see.
Speaker 1: So you know, there's a little bit of work for
Speaker 1: Coco to do in the not the off season, because
Speaker 1: she's still got to play in the fall. But certainly, look,
Speaker 1: she's twenty years of age. The improvement is still possible.
Speaker 1: But little Paula Medosa's really come back. Pam playing some
Speaker 1: great tennis and she won Washington d C which Coco
Speaker 1: did last year. And one of the things she said
Speaker 1: after she won, and we mentioned it last week on
Speaker 1: the podcast with Peco, she said, I finally figured out
Speaker 1: how to be an athlete again. And when you think
Speaker 1: about her back injury and all of that stuff, boy,
Speaker 1: oh boy, does she look bloody good now and she's
Speaker 1: hitting the ball really well.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you always like to see a comeback. She was
Speaker 3: number two in the world for a while, but it
Speaker 3: wasn't because of great results in majors. She'd only been
Speaker 3: to one quarter final of a major before, never a
Speaker 3: Sammy or a final, and she's looked great here now.
Speaker 3: She did have a match point against her when she
Speaker 3: was playing Rusa in the third round. And we know
Speaker 3: through the years how many times you kind of feel
Speaker 3: this sense of relief and you know, what do you
Speaker 3: call it? Like a second life and you play with
Speaker 3: great freedom, And I thought Bidosa did that in her
Speaker 3: fourth round match against one. Next up against Navarro, it's
Speaker 3: not a match that we've I don't even know if
Speaker 3: they've played.
Speaker 2: I don't recall them playing.
Speaker 3: I think Bidoza's forehand is one of the biggest weapons
Speaker 3: in women's tennis right now now that she's healthy again.
Speaker 3: The serve is the big question because that second serve
Speaker 3: and the toss can really go off when Bidosa's under stress.
Speaker 3: And let's face it, Navarro knows how to exploit when
Speaker 3: somebody had some vulnerability on the surf.
Speaker 1: Yeah, having said that, as you said, the first serve
Speaker 1: is beak, So it's a matter of confidence. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I maybe give a slight edge to Emma just because
Speaker 1: of what she's done over the last twelve months and
Speaker 1: the crowd is going to be a huge factor for her,
Speaker 1: so you just have to give her a slight edge.
Speaker 1: But if Badosa plays at her best, we know what
Speaker 1: she's capable of, So looking forward to that matchup. Unfortunately
Speaker 1: for you, Pammy was here till two fifteen am for
Speaker 1: Donna Vekch losing to Chinwan Jiung. Great match. It was
Speaker 1: such a shame it was on so late because I
Speaker 1: would say that that was possibly the best match I've
Speaker 1: seen on the women's side this year this tournament. Great
Speaker 1: hitting of the ball. You know, both were hitting more
Speaker 1: winners than unforced errors, and they were clocking the ball,
Speaker 1: so it's like they were hitting winner after winner after winner. Yes,
Speaker 1: there was some unforced errors, but in the end it
Speaker 1: was Jiang who got the edge in the three sets.
Speaker 1: I just think Donna ran out a bit of a
Speaker 1: gas in the third set, but Jang to play Zapalannka, now.
Speaker 3: Well, you know what was fun about this match is
Speaker 3: to have within a month a rematch of the gold
Speaker 3: medal match from Paris, which was a much more routine
Speaker 3: win for Juang, and to have such high quality. I
Speaker 3: mean the first set you had twelve straight holds. They
Speaker 3: only faced a couple of break points. The quality the
Speaker 3: serving and Donna was serving second, so the pressure on
Speaker 3: her late in that set was immense. I was really
Speaker 3: proud that Donna got at the tie break. Unfortunately, that
Speaker 3: was one of the moments of the match, was that
Speaker 3: Janga played a much better quality tie break. And it
Speaker 3: turns out winning the first set usually matters in most matches.
Speaker 3: But still did Donna come back and win the second set.
Speaker 3: And to see Donna here at the US Open sort
Speaker 3: of back up her results earlier in the summer when
Speaker 3: she got the finals of the Olympics Semis of Women
Speaker 3: and came within two points of the final, losing to Pallini.
Speaker 3: You know Donna's match point, She didn't get to match point,
Speaker 3: did not She was up eight to seven in the
Speaker 3: match tiebreak. But for Donna at this point, at twenty eight,
Speaker 3: we know the primes of careers. You can mature, you
Speaker 3: can learn new skills as far as mindset and how
Speaker 3: to just be mentally a little more resilient. And Donna's
Speaker 3: been open to learning some new skills to manage the
Speaker 3: mental side. Still she's always going to be emotional, but
Speaker 3: she's learned how to reset a lot better and not
Speaker 3: let the previous point affect the next point. So I
Speaker 3: see Donna's upside. Kind of one of the reasons why
Speaker 3: I was willing to join the team two years ago.
Speaker 3: I think her best years are ahead.
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, And it's just nice to see her back
Speaker 1: in a terrible knee injury a couple of years ago
Speaker 1: with surgery, and just you know, a couple of years ago,
Speaker 1: I had a conversation with her and said, what do
Speaker 1: you feel like you need to do? Because she was
Speaker 1: still hitting the ball so well. I coached against her
Speaker 1: a couple of times in doubles, and she said, stubbsy,
Speaker 1: I gotta lose weight. And you know, that was just
Speaker 1: such a frank and honest answer for Donna to give.
Speaker 1: You can cough, Pam, It's okay, you know, we can
Speaker 1: edit that out, but you know, it was just a
Speaker 1: nice thing for her to realize. Look, I just got
Speaker 1: to get fitter and faster and stronger. And I have
Speaker 1: to say, Pam, Wow, James Blake and I were both
Speaker 1: just so impressed with how well Donna was moving around
Speaker 1: the court yesterday and just making jiang play one extra
Speaker 1: great shot. And guess what, she did. Jiang was just
Speaker 1: a little bit better, a little bit more energetic at
Speaker 1: the beginning of the third set, and I think that
Speaker 1: made the world a difference. And you've got to give
Speaker 1: a lot of credit and the confidence that Jang possesses
Speaker 1: now after winning that gold medal. And listen, I gotta
Speaker 1: tell you, Pam, and I know this because of just
Speaker 1: connections with some Chinese players over the past. The Olympics
Speaker 1: means more to the Chinese than anything. So as big
Speaker 1: as star as Lena is in the in the in
Speaker 1: China after winning two slams, Qinuan, Jiang is bigger the
Speaker 1: gold medal. She said, Yes, people recognize me for what
Speaker 1: I've done in my tennis career. Tennis fans recognized me,
Speaker 1: but she said, when I went back to China, now
Speaker 1: everybody recognizes me. And that's how big that point is.
Speaker 1: But how do you see the Saboleanca metchup.
Speaker 3: Well, it's interesting because I think while we known that
Speaker 3: Sabolenka has been one of the power players of this generation,
Speaker 3: now we have Jiang entering the conversation because the power
Speaker 3: she possesses when the first serve is working well and
Speaker 3: the groundstrokes and I tell you another really impressive shot
Speaker 3: of Xang was the slice backhand when Jang was put
Speaker 3: on defense by Donna Vekich. She's going to be on
Speaker 3: defense at times, certainly against Sabolenka. That was like one
Speaker 3: of those unsung hero type shots. So I was really
Speaker 3: impressed by Jiang. She stands way back on the first serve,
Speaker 3: which I think is going to be interesting visual for Sabolenka.
Speaker 3: I looking forward to that match. Sometimes two power players
Speaker 3: facing off isn't all that pretty. But remember the Australian
Speaker 3: Open final less than two years ago between Remarka and
Speaker 3: Saballanka is one of the best matches.
Speaker 2: Of the year.
Speaker 1: And I think the Jang having played Saballanka in the
Speaker 1: finals of the Australian Open will help her in this match,
Speaker 1: because look, she's been there. She's now won an enormous
Speaker 1: title for herself in the Olympics, and I think her
Speaker 1: confidence is so much higher than it was earlier this year.
Speaker 1: I think it was a little bit of a oh
Speaker 1: who's this girl in the finals of the austray And Open,
Speaker 1: and Sabalanka was so comfortable out on rod Laver arena.
Speaker 1: She won the tournament the year before. She was like,
Speaker 1: this is my house kind of thing, Whereas I feel
Speaker 1: like Jang goes into this match with a lot more
Speaker 1: confidence on hard court, and she's going to have to
Speaker 1: play her best to beat Sablenka. But if Sabalanka is
Speaker 1: serving drops off a little bit, Jang is also serving huge.
Speaker 1: When she's getting the first survey and second service, still
Speaker 1: vulnerable and Donna took advantage of that last night, just
Speaker 1: not quite enough. We're sitting here watching Pegoula play against Schneider,
Speaker 1: So what are your thoughts in first of all, in
Speaker 1: this match that Jessica is winning pretty comfortable at five
Speaker 1: to two, but also she on Tech tonight against Samsonova.
Speaker 1: She has a winning record against Samsonova, but when Samsonova
Speaker 1: plays well, she can beat anybody. It wasn't Yaki against
Speaker 1: hadaj Maaya, and we just saw Makova beat Paulini. But
Speaker 1: your thoughts on this section of the draw, Pemmy.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, shion Tech won here two years ago, the
Speaker 3: only major she's won outside of rolling Garros. I thought
Speaker 3: her match against Pavlio Chenkova was her best yeat. I mean,
Speaker 3: Shibahara was a qualifier that Sfiontech beat easily, but I
Speaker 3: thought there was some stress, certainly in Fiontek's opening round,
Speaker 3: but seems to be settling in a little bit more.
Speaker 3: IgA was pretty outspoken about the demands of this summer
Speaker 3: of twenty twenty four for top players who also wanted
Speaker 3: to play the Olympics. But now it seems like she's
Speaker 3: got her teeth in it. I think she'll be a
Speaker 3: little too consistent for sam Sonova. But if sam Sonova's
Speaker 3: a game, the power game is on, that's the kind
Speaker 3: of power that can up end Fiontech. So a little
Speaker 3: bit of a chance. And Pagoula is really interesting to
Speaker 3: me because she's had the block, the quarter final block,
Speaker 3: her whole career lasts so many times in major. She
Speaker 3: still has a bit of business to do to take
Speaker 3: out the talented lefty. But when will Pagoula have, you know,
Speaker 3: success getting the semis or the finances of a major.
Speaker 3: I don't think it's gonna happen here. But it made
Speaker 3: as far as was Niaki the benefit of probably the
Speaker 3: best draw on the tournament, it was Niyaki has the
Speaker 3: experience and the consistency to make good for that opportunity.
Speaker 3: Hadad maya lefty, I mean, that's kind of the best
Speaker 3: part of the drave you could choose to be in it.
Speaker 1: And I think that just to add to it with
Speaker 1: Hadaj Maya against w was Niaki, I think the lefty
Speaker 1: that helps Caroline because she likes to serve. The serve's
Speaker 1: going to go to her back end a lot more.
Speaker 1: We know that was Niyaki's got one of the best
Speaker 1: back ends of all time, so she'll appreciate that. And
Speaker 1: Handaj Maya they win the other night against Callen skuy
Speaker 1: We have to talk about the var a little bit.
Speaker 1: There was a bit of a mess up there. I
Speaker 1: was confused about it all and how it went down.
Speaker 1: Clearly they didn't give the umpire the best angle of
Speaker 1: the video, just for people at home to understand what happened.
Speaker 1: There certainly something that the USDA would have learned a
Speaker 1: lot from in the us Open officials about how to
Speaker 1: take your time, look at every single angle. If it
Speaker 1: takes an extra minute, get that extra video up to
Speaker 1: the umpire. But I also think I don't know about you, Pam,
Speaker 1: but I don't think the umpire should be the one
Speaker 1: making that decision. Do you think it should be done
Speaker 1: in house where they're looking at it on a massive,
Speaker 1: big television screen and getting all the angles.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think that there needs to be a VAR
Speaker 3: official that just tells the umpire here, we've looked at
Speaker 3: all the angles, here's the decision.
Speaker 1: But yeah, there's like a red light green light on
Speaker 1: the umpires year.
Speaker 3: You know, you talk about the US Open and the
Speaker 3: usta kind of learning some things and whether it's how
Speaker 3: to manage var better next year. But I think one
Speaker 3: of the big things I want is for something like
Speaker 3: what happened last night.
Speaker 2: I don't want matches.
Speaker 3: I don't want matches to end at two fifteen anymore.
Speaker 3: I think the fact that they start ash Labor Day weekend,
Speaker 3: when the matches are getting more competitive, they're going to
Speaker 3: be longer, they're going to be more five setters, four setters,
Speaker 3: three setters on the women's side, to start at noon
Speaker 3: instead of eleven o'clock. The way they start on Grandstand
Speaker 3: and Armstrong and all the other courts is a huge mistake.
Speaker 3: And seeing what the two of the last three nights
Speaker 3: that we've had all time late finishes, late starts. That's
Speaker 3: not something a brag about in our sport. It's something
Speaker 3: for us all to problem solve it and to fix
Speaker 3: because it's not good for athletes. Even the winner has
Speaker 3: less of a chance to recover because they've finished at
Speaker 3: two am. So it's got to change.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree. Starting at eleven is the absolute minimum
Speaker 1: that I think they can do. I mean, Francis, you know,
Speaker 1: went full four something else. I mean, it's just you
Speaker 1: can't predict, and women having to play off to the men,
Speaker 1: knowing the men could possibly play four or five hols
Speaker 1: is just not fair to the women.
Speaker 3: It's just not I made a play when I found
Speaker 3: out that the tentative schedule was for Donna to play
Speaker 3: last on ASH the match again Jang after Tiaffo coppran
Speaker 3: I made the record, asked that it be reconsidered, and
Speaker 3: I understood that it was much greater than me being
Speaker 3: able to switch it around. And I was told by
Speaker 3: the USTA that they have this equal thing where one
Speaker 3: night the women start on ASH and the next night
Speaker 3: the men, and they flip flop, so it's quote unquote equal.
Speaker 3: But guess what when it's three out of five sets
Speaker 3: on the men's side, it's not equal. It's not equal
Speaker 3: as far as time on the court exposure of men's tennis.
Speaker 3: It puts the women at a great disadvantage when there's
Speaker 3: a long men's match that's five sets versus a women's
Speaker 3: match that's three sets, so it is not equal and
Speaker 3: women should play first.
Speaker 1: I agree. No, I agree, and we had it forever.
Speaker 1: And of course, look, the guys do pay the penalty
Speaker 1: sometimes because you know, if they do play five sets,
Speaker 1: they are finishing at one or two o'clock in the morning.
Speaker 1: And we've had that happen here at the US Open.
Speaker 1: So I think the key is we got to figure
Speaker 1: out a way to start a little bit earlier, get
Speaker 1: the fans in and out. This is an enormous stadium.
Speaker 1: It's difficult to get everyone out and get everyone in.
Speaker 1: And we're talking twenty thousand spectators that come in. You
Speaker 1: see it find us at ESPN when they're all just
Speaker 1: standing there waiting to get into the into Arthur Ash Stadium.
Speaker 3: They do need to manage the between the shifts. It
Speaker 3: needs to be tightened up. They've got to somehow get
Speaker 3: the power, the work power in to get the stadium
Speaker 3: ready in like thirty to forty minutes. Yeah, not this
Speaker 3: hour hour and twenty.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think they're straight and open or it's a
Speaker 1: smaller stadium. Obviously, I think it's a maximum of forty
Speaker 1: five minutes I believe, to get everybody in and everybody
Speaker 1: back out. But look, you know the popularity of tennis
Speaker 1: is growing. We love that about our sport. We love
Speaker 1: that people are willing to pay a lot of money
Speaker 1: to come and watch the US Open. But if you
Speaker 1: are going to come out, you get your little grounds
Speaker 1: pass and get out to Armstrong Stadium because the matches
Speaker 1: out there. You can sit with a grounds pass up
Speaker 1: the tops. That court at Armstrong is probably the best
Speaker 1: court in tennis. The atmosphere is awesome. There's four matches
Speaker 1: on that court today and I think that's a day session,
Speaker 1: I believe. So that's the place to go. You get four, wait,
Speaker 1: four five matches on that call at one, two, three,
Speaker 1: four matches on Armstrong, all incredible matches. Drapa and Mahatsha
Speaker 1: playing there right now was Niyaki Hadaj Maya and then
Speaker 1: Dimna and Thompson. The Aussie's a gonna round it up.
Speaker 1: But anyway, listen, Pammy, thanks for joining me to do
Speaker 1: this today. We are on an unbelievably long, tight schedule,
Speaker 1: not on a lot of sleep, but God we love it,
Speaker 1: do we?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 3: And I just want to say, because I know I've
Speaker 3: just suggested USTA make some major changes on things, but
Speaker 3: I got to really admire how the USTA's kind of
Speaker 3: led the way as far as having a major that
Speaker 3: is not just about tennis. It's about the overall experience,
Speaker 3: both food wise entertainment. It's a festival and it is
Speaker 3: an event and an experience to go to, whether or
Speaker 3: not you're a hardcore tennis fan or a curious experiential
Speaker 3: person that wants to come to the US Open. I
Speaker 3: also want to give them kudos. I always will for
Speaker 3: the US Open that was played four years ago, the
Speaker 3: first major played during a global pandemic. No fans, they
Speaker 3: figured it out. Took a hit in the bottom line,
Speaker 3: but anyway, we can still keep evolving and improving so
Speaker 3: we have even a better product.
Speaker 1: I agree. And another added extra for all you people
Speaker 1: that do come out to the tennis if you're gonna
Speaker 1: get a Honeyduce, get it as a double double the vodka.
Speaker 1: It's much tastier. I think it's way too sweet. So
Speaker 1: that's my little tidbit for all of you people, including Serena,
Speaker 1: who had her first Honeydeuce apparently yesterday. It's nice to
Speaker 1: see her on the grounds yesterday looking relaxed and may
Speaker 1: I say, incredibly fit, to the point that I was like,
Speaker 1: are you coming back? But anyway, it's been a great week, Pam.
Speaker 1: We've enjoyed it. Thanks for joining me today, and everybody
Speaker 1: enjoyed the second week of the US Open.