American Men Surge at the US Open, Alcaraz v Shelton Blockbuster Looms & Women’s Heavyweights Hold Firm
The US Open is into the business end, and the American men are making serious noise in New York.
Chris and Adam break down the runs of Tiafoe, Michelsen, Shelton and Tien, including whether Shelton can finally get past Carlos Alcaraz in what shapes as a blockbuster quarter-final.
Alcaraz has dropped just one set and barely been tested, but does that make him the man to beat, or is Shelton about to expose where his level really sits after four months away?
We also look at Zverev’s path through the top half, Tien’s chances of making a deep run, and whether the early five-set battles could eventually catch up with the German.
On the women’s side, the top seeds continue to hold firm. We preview Rybakina v Osaka, Swiatek v Zheng, Gauff v Jovic and Sabalenka v Noskova before giving our updated men’s and women’s title picks.
Plus, the usual chance for our predictions to age horribly over the next 48 hours.
You gotta earn your serves.
Transcript
Welcome back to the Talk and Tennis Podcast. Chris here, and I'm joined by Adam for this one. And since the last episode, the U.S. open has really started to take shape.
On the men's side, we've had some big names disappear. Fritz is out, Gaboli, Medvedev, all gone. At the same time, the Americans are absolutely firing.
Tiafa was through, Mickelson is through, and Shelton is still alive. Leona Tien has made a serious run as well. So suddenly the home contingent is becoming one of the biggest stories of the tournament.
Then the there's Carlos Alcaraz. He came into New York with plenty of question marks after the wrist injury, and I put my hand up.
I expected a bit of rust, some cobwebs, maybe a couple of awkward early rounds. Instead, he's basically cruised through the tournament so far. So the question now is pretty simple. Is Alcaraz the favorite to win the US Open?
And if he is, who actually stops him? Then on the women's side, it's almost a complete opposite story to the men. The big seeds are still standing.
The favorites are getting through, and while that might have made the opening week a little more predictable, it means we're now getting some seriously good second week matchups. Adam, welcome back, mate. How. How have you been?
Speaker B:I have been fantastic, Chris. I've been enjoying the tennis the last couple of weeks. It's been some fascinating viewing.
I do have a confession, though, that I want to bring forward to you. I know you don't know this. I haven't told anybody about this. I'm the person who's been smoking weed behind Court 21 at the US Open.
So I'd like to apologize to Aryna Sabalenka and all the players that I've distracted over the last week. I've got a mild addiction that I'm.
Speaker A:Just trying to shake.
Speaker B:So I thought by hiding out in the backcourts of the U.S. open, I could hide away. But I've been busted, so I'd like to apologize to everybody.
Speaker A:So you mean to tell me when I texted you earlier in the week and asked if you want to do a podcast, you said you were busy. This is what you were busy for?
Speaker B:Yeah, I was busy at the tennis so I could be ready for this podcast. Plus, I was a little high. I'm in no condition to be recording a podcast. I'm a little bit high.
Speaker A:Adam, we're unhinged that this is when you'd be at your absolute best. Next time.
Speaker B:Chris, these podcasts take too long already. You don't need me going on super slow. Mo to you could listen to me at double speed and I reckon it would still be too slow if I'm high.
Speaker A:Well, we thank you. Our listeners thank you for your confession. It says a lot about your character, but please seek help.
Speaker B:I shall.
Speaker A:Thank you, Adam. We're going to start with the American men and on the bench side because one of the biggest stories of the tournament has been the Americans.
And it's not necessarily the names we expected. We got Fritz, Paul, Nakashima. They're all gone. But somehow the American presence in this short still feels stronger than ever.
Let's start with Alex Mikkelsen. I don't think many people had Mickelson making a Grand Slam quarterfinal here.
He came into the tournament unseated, took out Brandon Nakashima earlier in the week, and now he's backed up by beating Echeveria in straight sets to reach his first major quarterfinal. Now he gets Francis Tiafo.
So regardless of what happens there, the Americans are guaranteed at least one semi finalist, and that's a massive result for American men's tennis. And Tiafa absolutely deserves to be there.
He stayed true to what he's been doing in New York for years and knocked out Daniel Medvedev in straight sets. 7 6, 647 6. Medvedev had won six of their previous seven meetings, so that's a proper scalp for Tiafo.
And I think there's something about Tiafo at the US Open. We've seen it before. Feeds off the crowd, feeds off the occasion, and suddenly he's got Nicholson between him and another US Open semi final.
Then you've got Ben Shelton, and Shelton made pretty light work of Sitzerpass today. That Tsitsipass resurgence we spoke about earlier in the tournament comes to an end. Shel keeps building confidence.
What I find interesting with Shelton is that much like Alcaraz, he hasn't really had that moment yet. We think the tournament has probably tested him. He's had difficult periods in matches. Her catch pushed him.
Shepavalov took a set off him, but he's never really looked like he's been on the brink. And now we get the blockbuster. Shelton against Alcaraz.
Arthur Ashe, American crowd, Two of the biggest athletes and biggest personalities left in the draw. That is going to be an absolute cracker. The problem for Shelton is the head to head. Alcaraz is three love against him.
Shelton has taken just one set across those three matches, although their last meeting at Roland Garros was reasonably competitive. Alcaraz won that in four.
But I think this is probably the best version of Shelton that Alcaraz has faced and it might also be the best possible circumstance for Shelton to finally get him. But home slam, home crowd, he's playing with confidence.
And Alcaraz is still coming back from that wrist injury, even though you wouldn't know it from watching him. So Adam, is it now or never for Ben Shelton to beat Carlos Alcaraz?
Because if you can't get him here in New York with the crowd behind him and probably playing some of the best tennis of his career, when does he.
Speaker B:It's a good question. It's a hell of an opportunity for Ben Charlton. Pre tournament I'm not surprised that Alcaraz has gotten this far.
I thought pre tournament he'd get through the first few rounds, but my question mark was always going to be on his conditioning. It's his first tournament in four months. He hasn't played for a while. I just thought maybe the conditioning wouldn't be there.
But he's kind of proved me wrong there because he's been, he's been unstoppable. He hasn't really been pushed. He had a pretty soft draw to begin with.
He had an Aldi and Buble with a sort of season, he's area that he was meant to play that ended up happening. Both those guys fell. Tommy Paul was the highest season player that he obviously just beats today.
So pre tournament I thought maybe there'd be a chance that Alcaraz would get this far, but maybe the conditioning wouldn't be there for him. But I'm slowly moving away from that assessment. Alcaraz has only dropped the one set to Faria so far.
But look, like you said, home tournament for Shelton, it's a really big opportunity here. You'd still think Alcaraz is maybe not underdone, but maybe not at his absolute tippity top best. Shelton's had the tougher matches.
I don't know if that's good or bad for Shelton because I think he's had a lot more taken out of him. But then at the same time he's been tested a lot more. Look at the guy Shelton's had to beat to to get here.
He's had to play Griggs ball, UBI Her, Cash Shapovalov. He's played five sets. I think it is where he's had. He's either, it's either been a 75 or 76 set.
So not only is he playing more than three sets, but he's playing long sets as well. So does that mean he's tired? Does that mean he's in better condition for a long, potentially a long match with Alcaraz? I don't know.
. He won pretty convincingly.:But looking at the numbers, I don't know if sits pass wasn't 100% or not because he only served two aces for the day. Sits a pass and he'd recorded. I think I've got 14, 15 and 12 in his first three matches. So maybe it's. It's a pass was a little underdone there.
But to be honest, mate, I am torn because my initial thesis is kind of playing out as I thought.
I thought Alcaraz would get through the first few rounds, but I thought he maybe be challenged a little bit more then potentially it would all catch up to him, potentially changing my tune a little bit now. And maybe, I don't know. Alcaraz is just firming to me more and more as a favorite, I think as the tournaments progressed.
I know you're a little bit skeptical, Chris. Pre tournament with Alcaraz. I think I put him in my fantasy team.
Speaker A:I remember.
Speaker B:And you kind of scoffed at me going, that's a bit ballsy. But it's been a pretty, pretty good bet in the end because he looks like he's in cruise control.
Would you say he's the favorite right now for the tournament, Alcaraz, particularly if he can get through Shelton, who if you look at the draw, they're probably the two best players that are left in the tournament right now. And unfortunately for them both, they're going to be playing off in a quarterfinal match. Do you see Alcaraz as the favorite right now?
Because I'm, I'm kind of leaning that way at the moment, which I didn't think I would be at the start of the tournament?
Speaker A:Yeah, I mean, it's a fair assessment and I think if Alcaraz gets past Shelton, then for me the title does become his to lose. I'm not saying you can just hand in the trophy at that point because there are still very good players left in the draw.
But Shelton feels like the first opponent who can really ask him a different question is. Serving has been huge. He's playing with confidence, as I've said, and he's got the crowd behind him, but.
And that's something Carlos hasn't really had to deal with yet. He's been cruising.
He's only got the One set, as you said to Faria, But I still don't think we fully know how close he is to his absolute best because of the quality of. He. The quality of opponent hasn't forced us to find out, but Shelton's gonna tell us a lot about Al Kharazium in terms of his conditionings up there.
Because you think on Shelton's day he's going to push Carlos into at least a tie break or there's going to be a 75 or 76 somewhere in, you'd think in over three sets.
So, look, if Carlos gets through the match, especially if he does it reasonably comfortably, then I'd be looking at the rest of the draw thinking who can actually present a big problem. And then Tiafo, we know he's been playing well and what he can do in New York, but I still take Alcaraz comfortably in that matchup.
And then obviously you got Zverev potentially waiting from the other half and is very. Gets himself all the way to the final. Then, yes, he's got the serve and experience to.
To make that difficult, but we've already seen him spend more than 10 hours on court. So right now I actually think Shelton might be the most dangerous player left for Alcaraz.
Not necessarily the best player left, but it's the most dangerous matchup.
If Carlos walks through that test and still looks fresh afterwards, then, yeah, I think everyone else in that draw is probably looking at him as the man they have to beat, so. And considering I came into this tournament expecting Russ and cobwebs from him, I definitely didn't expect to be saying that this early.
And yeah, just a credit to. But like you said, he's had the softer draw as well and I'd like.
I thought he would have been tested a bit more by now, but Sheldon's the guy that's going to. He's going to be his biggest test. So it's. It's going to be a firecracker, that one.
Speaker B:It's an intriguing battle and it's more because of their journeys and how they got here. Shelton has had to do it a lot harder. But that's because his opponents have been a lot better than what Alcaraz has had to face so far.
So it's going to be an interesting test. It's a couple of tight sets at the start and they go 7 5, 7 6.
You just wonder how Alcaraz is going to be feeling once he gets into that potentially fourth set, maybe even a fifth set. Shelton's been there and done that this tournament. Does he have enough gas in the tank? Don't know. We'll see.
It'll be interesting to see how it plays out. Does Alcarez have the conditioning? Because he hasn't really been tested. It's kind of good and bad at the same time for both of them. Shelton's just.
Sheldon's had the hardest run of anybody to date.
Speaker A:Yes. And it's a double edged sword like you said.
I mean, he's a bit more used to the fact now of playing those tighter sets as well, those crunch time moments in tennis matches. So he's had that exposure recently. Just because Carlos hasn't recently doesn't mean he's a stranger to it. He's a champion of the game.
He knows the big moments. So there's both big advantages for them and disadvantages. But it's, it's just a test for Shelton as well.
If he, if he wants to take his game to another level, then you playing Alcaraz now is the perfect opportunity.
When he's gone through a bit easier and he doesn't really know how his wrist is going to hold up or his body's going to hold up if you push him to a certain limit. But it's going to be a big one. Adam, we're going to go to the top half the draw. And there is one man I wanted to touch on and it's learned. Tien.
I thought he was exceptional against Jakob Mansik and that was a proper five set battle. And what impressed me the most was his endurance. Metzik had all that easy power, but Tien was prepared to stay in those long rallies.
-:He's got Karen catch up next and that's obviously not easy, but you'd expect him to get through that and he'll play the winner out of blocks. And Serendulo, you're certainly looking, you're suddenly looking at a very realistic path to US Open semifinal for a 20 year old.
The crazy thing about all of this is that the Americans are almost getting in each other's way. Mickelson, Tiafo are already guaranteed to knock out one another.
As I mentioned earlier, Charlton Alcaraz sitting in front of them and all of these guys are living in the same bottom half of the draw. If you're American, you almost wish you could pick one or two of them up and move them into the other half.
e most at the U.S. open since:And now we're at a stage where the question isn't really whether the Americans are having a good tournament, it's whether one of them can actually finish the job. Adam, I know you were bearish on Zverev pre tournament. Do you expect we see a Tien Zverev semifinal?
And if not, who do you see playing for a spot in the final from that top half?
Speaker B:Slim pickings in the top half of the draw. Chris, when you're going through who is left, it's hard not to think you're going to have a lunaticen versus sphere of semi final.
But I think what this tournament has taught us so far is nothing is predictable and nothing is ever what it seems.
Svera has been so close to be out early in this tournament, which to be honest wouldn't have been a big shock to me because he's been pretty unimpressive this whole tournament. I've been bearish on him pretty much most of this hardcore swing season because he's been pretty underwhelming, particularly for a top seed.
I mean you look at the run he's had so far and you compare that to Ben Charlton who we just spoke about. I mean he's had much easier players to face than what Scholten's had to face.
Senigo Halas and Tabilo nowhere near the same level of the guys that Shelton's had to play. But look, Zverev's here, he's got through, he's a fight hard, he's had a couple of late night finishes.
I, I wouldn't be putting a lot of confidence points on Zverev right now to be, to be making a semi final. But she's looking at who's left with gr. With Mr. Body, your favorites, Chris Hatchenov, Serendulo blocks.
There's very slim pickings with with guys there you'd look at and go yeah, I think one of these guys could get through and make a final.
But in saying that historically you look at some of the guys that have being finalist here in years gone by, a lot of sort of one hit wonders who had been finals and Casper Rude was a finalist here once which is yep, for a non clay event that's pretty impressive. If you told me there's going to be five Americans at this stage, I would have been very happy with Taylor Fritz as my fantasy captain.
But unbelievable. Absolutely screwed me over. He should be playing Blocks next.
Speaker A:Not.
Speaker B:Not Serendulo. I feel like this top half is very open. I want to lean towards learner 10.
But as we've seen these youngsters, sometimes we saw it with Hollow, we saw it with fees. Sometimes it just doesn't work out for them in these Grand Slam events. So if I had to pick anything, I would pick a team's very semi final.
But I'm doing that with very minimal confidence points. It wouldn't, Wouldn't surprise me if someone like Van der Zentshulpool or Blocks got through, to be perfectly honest.
Wouldn't shock me in the slightest. It would shock me if someone like Mickelson got to a final, but not any of those guys because this half has just been horrendous.
I think Zvera has been very underwhelming and it's just been a lost opportunity for a number of guys here. Fritz who I spoke about, or Alex Flavio Caboli, Alex Demenor who have spoken about ad nauseam on this podcast.
Massive lost opportunity for one of those guys to. To make a Grand Slam final here. That's my take from the top half because there's nobody out here that's screaming at me other than learner Tien.
But my only hesitation would be that he's quite young. You know, he's only really been on the tour not very long. So you don't see it often with these youngsters coming in and making a Grand Slam final.
Speaker A:Yeah, I mean, just looking at that top half alone, it looks like I'm looking at a 500 event just at the names.
Speaker B:It's an ATP 500 event.
Speaker A:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker B:In Germany with Zverev there.
Speaker A:Yeah. And look, I reckon it'll be a wonder story how we'll. We'll be talking about it.
I reckon Zero will be playing in the final and we'll be talking about how we shouldn't have even been there with the long matches he had to play in his opening two rounds. But we'll get to our.
Speaker B:Who do you think is going to.
Speaker A:Get through in a. I don't want to spoil.
Speaker B:I know you're going to give me your predictions. Who's coming out of this half, you think?
Speaker A:I think Zverev is coming out of this half.
Speaker B:It's hard not. It's hard not to pick Sveriv, but you. You got no confidence picking him.
Speaker A:Well, I wasn't bearish on Zverev as. As you were pre tournament, but I didn't think he'd be in the position he's in now in terms of match hours on court.
But look, he still won and he's through to the next stage. And so I, I just, he's obviously the best player in the top half, so I, I, I can't see him losing against Dadari.
He'll probably play Baltic in, in the quarters. He'll get through that and then his biggest test will come from who he plays in that semi final, which will probably, probably be blocks.
I don't think blocks is getting, I don't see it, I don't see it for learning tn. I just don't. I just feel like he has to work exceptionally hard to win matches than probably other players.
And it's just how his game, his game style is. It's very, very physical. I could put it probably akin to demon or. He's doing a lot of hustling, a lot of work on the court.
So I'd be amazed if Tien has the engine to get to the semi finals and face off, which probably be Zverab, in my opinion.
Speaker B:I know you're, you're a bit younger than Adrian and I, Chris, but he's coach Michael Chang. He's, he plays exactly like how Michael used to play. He was just a hustler on court and you think he had to work hard for every point.
And he's in the same mold as him, so he can do it well,.
Speaker A:Probably back then, but I don't know. I feel like tennis has changed, times have changed. So wish him all the best. Lovely young man.
Speaker B:But it's just, oh, we're big fans of him. We're big fans. Are you his first fan? I remember you were all over him late last year.
Speaker A:Yeah, look, I, I can't recall. I'm, I'm on a lot of players that I'm off him pretty quickly as well.
And for everyone listening, you can listen back to the early days of the episodes. In fact, don't do it because it sounds terrible, but yeah, I'll take your word for it.
Speaker B:Adam, before you go, before you go, $8 for Dadiri. Just, just, you know, if the Clutch tennis podcast guys are listening, just put that in your little multi. $8 For Dadiri if you want something.
Speaker A:Sneaky to beats Verev. Yeah, it's, it's, that's not happening. It's not happening. The dairy is no hardcore player. I don't even know what he's doing.
Thinking, what's he doing? What's he doing there? What's he doing in the fourth round,.
Speaker B:Didier, he beat one of the top Australian tennis players in the last round. Mate. Our favorite here, Dane Sweeney, a man's man, real man with the mo. It's to take him out.
Speaker A:All five, nine of Dane Sweeney he took out and straight sets. It's a. It's a commanding. It's a commanding victory for Luciano.
Adam, I want to move on now to the women because the big names are still here and it's been a tournament on the women's side dominated by the top seeds. Seven of the top eight are still in it and it's not just that they are still in it. Some of them have really been convincing.
Sabalenka has been wiping players off the court in a bit of a resurgence and taking swipes at pesky journalists off the court as well. Rybakner looks over her ankle problems and has come through her first three matches in straight sets.
Swiatek, Gough and Andreeva have all was pretty untravelled too. Not one of them has dropped a set. Even Linda Noskova has found some form since winning Wimbledon a few months back.
She came through a tough one against the 11th seed and one of your favorites and Marta Kostyuk in three tight sets.
Makova is the only top eight seat to fall so far in her first tournaments since back or back since Wimbledon, I should say, losing to Emma Navarro, who herself is now through to the quarterfinals.
Adam, bit of a change of pace here, but why don't you take us through tonight's matchups in well for the women's and give us your thoughts and predictions.
Speaker B:Sure. Yes. We've got four round of 16 matches taking place tonight to for the winners to move into the quarterfinals.
You got Mirror Andreva against Anastasia Potapova. It's good to see mirror and driver back into some form. She's been pretty ruthless. She absolutely destroyed Iveliz in her round three matchup.
Loving two. She's been absolutely on fire at the moment, so I think she's a dangerous player and it's good to see her back in form as well.
one of the locals. Animasova:But I'd lean towards Andreva just because she looks to have turned a little bit of a corner at the moment. So I'm picking on driver in three on that one. The next match, Eva Jovic against Coco Gauff. I caught most of the Jovic Iala match.
Speaker A:Was it yesterday?
Speaker B:Yes, it was yesterday. That was a hell of a match. Hell of a battle. She kind of bolded it, though. Chris, I'm not sure if you caught that last set, but Yala was up a break.
I think it was 4:2 from memory. Looked like she had it all. One looked like she was in control and just could not hold her nerve. Credit to Jovic because she just stuck in.
She just held in through that third set. She broke back and then was able to break again and take that third set, 7 5. So it was a hell of a battle for Eva. Really good young player.
I fancied Iyala in that one, but Jovic came through. But I think playing somebody the caliber of Coco Gauff is going to be a little bit of a step too far for young Eva.
So I'm picking Coco there to win, who, like you said, Chris, she hasn't dropped a set all tournament. Her toughest match came against Paula Badoza.
And Bedoza threw absolutely everything at Coco Gauff in their round two battle, and Gough was still able to take that 1, 6, 4, 7 6. So that's been her toughest battle today.
But the beauty with all the top seeds left on the women's side is that we're going to get some cracking around the 16 and quarterfinal matchups, which began really last night. So I'm picking golf there to set up a golf Andre. The quarterfinal and then the. The last two matches. You got IGA's Vontech against Zhang.
Did you catch that one? Chris Zhang and Madison Keys.
Speaker A:It was a comeback for the ages from what I saw. Madison Keys, five love up in their third season.
Speaker B:Five love.
Speaker A:Five love that. How would you be gonna hurt. That one is gonna stay in the memory bank for some time. And Zhang, Paul, well, made a miracle.
Made something happen out of nothing. And she got the chocolates.
Speaker B:It was. Yeah, you'd be pretty devastated if you were Madison Gays.
If Adrian was here, he would say Zhang played her final in that match because she gave everything she got. So by that theory, by the Adrian theory, I'm going with IGA Witek to come through. She's been pretty much in cruise control the whole tournament.
She did have a tough match. Her last. Her last matchup against Buskova, she wanted two tiebreakers, three and three. But Witek is.
Is in really good form and has been really, these last couple of months throughout this hardcourt swing. So I'm predicting her to Go through. She'll face the winner of oh are Chris's all time favorites, Elena Rbakina and Naomi Osaka.
Naomi Osaka, of course, dressed like a boxer on her wedding day. Interesting outfit, interesting take. But putting all that aside, she's actually had a decent tournament.
She had a couple of tough three set battles, but she is winning and she has, she's improved a lot sort of this back half of the year. Naomi Osaka. So I'm not surprised to see her this far.
Rebaken, as you said, Chris, it looks like she's shaken off some of those ankle issues, which is good to see. I'd be tipping Rebakener to win this one, but I think this will be a tough battle.
I can see this going to three sets, but I'll go with Rebakena just to edge Osaka in this one.
Rubakano looks like in really good form and I think if she does face igaontech in that quarterfinal, I think that's going to be a hell of a matchup because those two have had some epic battles already this hard court season. I think that's when you're gonna see sort of the women's.
The women's brackets really start to heat up once they all get to the quarterfinal stage, should all four of those women get through. So that should be very interesting. And then like you said, Sabalanka, I kind of rid her off pre tournament like I did Zverev.
I thought, I thought she's just been in terrible form. I thought she'd been spending too much time doing tick tock dances and, and all these other things. I would never ask her that.
Are you sure though, in a press.
Speaker A:Conference, were you not one of the journalists on the press media?
Speaker B:No.
Speaker A:Post match? No.
Speaker B:I thought Matt Fadiman, Matt Futterman, it was actually. It wasn't me.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker B:I would, I would never be disrespectful like Matt to go ask her directly, you know, just now that. Now that all, you know, I'll do it behind her back on this podcast. Of course, like any real man would.
I would just, I would just, you know, hang shit from, you know, how far away from America? 5,000 Kilometers. About 5,000 kilometers away and just hang on.
Speaker A:Sit behind your keyboard. Yep.
Speaker B:Yeah, I will be a keyboard warrior. That's why we don't do video anymore because I don't want her to see my face.
aid this, Chris, you just won:I just smashed somebody. What are you talking about? I don't know.
Speaker A:On a separate note, I'm gonna throw something at you. Pretty left field. But you mentioned outfits before and Osakas. Did you catch Taylor Townsend's outfit in her match against Sabalanka?
Speaker B:Oh, Chris, I only saw glimpses of this on my X page today. I haven't had a chance to take. I haven't had a chance to do a forensic analysis on it. I caught glimpses. It blew up on our X page.
So I'll say no, I don't have a lot to say about it. I did say it caused a bit of a stir. Is that fair to say or.
Speaker A:It did, yeah. It's always funny these describe it, Chris. It's just funny, these outfits because they just could remind you of something.
And for me it just looked like she was wearing a gilly outfit and as if she was going on a sniper mission and she's camouflaging herself or to conceal herself and she just. Too sparkly. It looks like something you would have seen from Call of Duty, Modern Warfare 2 in your sniper missions in campaign mode.
She looked like something like that. Yeah.
Speaker B:Reminds me of one of the James Bond missions back when GoldenEye 007 where he'd be out in the Siberian.
Speaker A:Yes, yes, yes.
Speaker B:And he'd be dressed in one of those things. That's exactly. I'm just having a look at it now. I'm getting a proper look at it. It's utterly ridiculous. It's why she lost four and three today.
Speaker A:And we have Osaka to thank. Thank her for this trend that she has started and by, I guess it doesn't look like anytime soon she's going to stop.
And I guess it gives us some good content we can talk about on our X page. But damn, they just look stupid.
Speaker B:It does. But like you said, it's. It's an easy repost there. And yeah, it's easy to make fun of.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Shout out to Linda Niskova as well, Chris, as you mentioned as well. She's had a good, good tournament as well. She'll face Sabalaika in that first quarterfinal.
Good win this morning against Martha Kostiak as well in three sets, who herself was having a really good tournament. So it's good to see the Wimbledon champion playing well and good to see seven of the eight seeds still in the tournament Unlike the lousy men.
Speaker A:Yeah, it wasn't a one hit wonder from the women a few tournaments ago. I think it was the last masters they played. So they are showing some consistency. The women. Adam, I want to get your final and winning predictions.
Start with the men. Who have you got? Who's making the final or the men?
Speaker B:Oh, look, the easy option is just to say Alcaraz and spare because it's the most likely option.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:You know, if Fritz was there, if Felix was there, if someone else was there, if Shelton was on the other side of the draw, I'd be saying it's going to be a Shelton Alcaraz final. I can't say that I'm going to pick Alcaraz reluctantly.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker B:And I'm just going to say fuck it. I'm just going to put Learner Tan in the final as well. It's going to be Michael Chang against Gustavo Quote in the final.
No, it's going to be Carlos Alcaraz against Luna Tien. I don't know. I'm picking TN just because Chris had no. Chris said he had no chance.
Speaker A:So we're not going to see our bot advantage Slope Mickelson final.
Speaker B:No, no, that's not happening. Good tournament by Mikkelsen as well. He beat Merida as well. Really impressive by him. Great tour. And Echeverri.
Speaker A:So no chance against Tiafo as well.
Speaker B:You think, you think Tiafo is going to win that shortly and then Tiafo is just cannon fodder for. For whoever he has to play.
Speaker A:I don't know. When these Americans play each other feels like it's a lot. It's so even.
It feels like when they play anyone else, they go in, as you know, red hot favorites most of the time. But when they play each other like Tiafo Shelton, I mean either of them could beat each other. I just feel like they're so evenly.
Speaker B:Tommy Paul. You throw Tommy Paul in there, they all just beat each other. Hey, Tiafo beat the hottest player on tour for 72 hours. Daniel Medvedev.
He was the hottest player on tour. If Adrian was here, he would say he was the hottest player on tour. Look like he turned a corner.
Speaker A:Well, for his standards recently he did. But yeah, Tiafo did it pretty tough in three tight sets. 7 6, 6, 4, 7 6. But to answer the original question, mine will be somewhat similar.
I'm going to say Alcaraz Zvera final. But I'm going to say Zvera beats Alcaraz in the final.
Speaker B:It's not happening. That's Ridiculous, apparently.
Speaker A:Ridiculous. So we'll have to bookmark this section of the pod and when it gets up, I'll leave it for you to repost all over Twitter.
Speaker B:And who would have thought at the start of the year if you had said at a sinna Alcaraz, Zverev, one of them is going to win two grand slams, you wouldn't have picked Zverev on that list. But he's every chance to do it.
Speaker A:Well, when it happens, it happens all at once. Maybe. So it happens in threes.
Speaker B:So get on him for the Australian Open.
Speaker A:Adam, how about the women? Yes. What's your prediction for the ladies?
Speaker B:The women. When I think I said pre tournament, it's going to be an all American final between Jess Pula and Coco Golf. And I'm just going to stick with that.
I've got no reason to change it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:I'd be leaning towards Sabalanka just because I feel like. I feel like Matt Futterman really pissed her off and now she's almost like you, Matt. I'm gonna really try, really try now and make it three in a row.
So that's, that's the danger. We can blame Futterman for that one. I'll stick with Pagula and golf. I picked it pre tournament.
I just think we've seen at this tournament the, the home crowd advantage for these American players on the men's side and on the women's side feel like it really does make a difference. So I'm just going to stick with them both to. To ride all the way. Goff's got a very hard run to the final.
Whether it gets to the final from that side is. Is will have earned their money. So my only fear would be for whoever does get through that. That could be a little bit.
Could be cannon folder for someone like Sabalanka, if she does get to the final, would be my only, my only fear. But I'm going to go with Pegula and Goff as my pre tournament pick.
Speaker A:Yeah, I said Pegula pre tournament. So I will stick with her all the way through and she will play. Geez, I want to say it's either fiance or bakana for me.
Speaker B:We know what I'm going to say.
Speaker A:Yeah. I'll actually say no. I can't. I can't back up against Rebaka. That's going to be Rebecca Rebakka Napagula final. Papagula will win.
I just think Coco, as great as she is and as fierce she is, like you said, she's had some tough matches and she's gonna have to get through on driver, so that's going to be. No, no tough ask as well. And that's just the quarterfinals. So, Adam, we're going to leave it there.
The next few days should answer most of the questions we've been throwing around tonight. You know, can Shelton actually be the first bloke to properly test Alcaraz?
Or does Vera finally pay the price for spending more than 10 hours on Courtney's first two rounds? Or does he somehow keep getting away with it? Can one of these Americans actually make a proper run at the title?
Or do they all just end up taking each other out before Alcaraz finishes the job? And on the women's side, which of these big names finally blinks first? Because so far, they've all been annoyingly satisfactory.
We've made our picks, which means now that every chance, at least for one of us to look like a dickhead in 48 hours. Adam, any final words? Any final words before we get out of here?
Speaker B:Chris and I have dropped some absolute golden nuggets this evening on this podcast. So stop being a freeloader if you're listening and subscribe to the podcast. Stop being a good for nothing freeloader and follow.
Subscribe to the podcast Spotify or Apple. That's all I have to say.
Speaker A:Yeah, you took my line. That's usually my call. Don't be a good for nothing freeloader. You haven't got it written down yet. Trademarked it. I've trademarked it.
It doesn't need to be written down. But yes, listeners, ditto to what Adam just said. I'm not going to repeat it. You all know where I stand with that.
Speaker B:Repeat it.
Speaker A:Okay, well, if you've enjoyed the coverage, follow the Talking Tennis podcast and Spotify or Apple podcast. Drop us a rating and follow us on X for plenty more throughout the U.S. open. Don't be a good for nothing freeloader. It's not what your mum wanted.
Thanks for listening and remember, you gotta earn your serves.
