US Open Semi-Finals: Shelton Stuns Alcaraz, Tiafoe Survives & Zverev Eyes the Title

Speaker A: 00:00:27

Welcome back to the Talking Tennis Podcast.

It feels like it has been an absolute lifetime since this man has been sitting alongside me in the Talk and tennis recording studio.

He survived Fiji, he survived the local Fijian women.

Most importantly, he's made it back in time for the pointy end of the U.S. open.

Adrian, my friend, welcome back.

How are you feeling after the trip?

And more importantly, did you actually manage to watch any tennis while you were away?

Speaker B: 00:00:55

Thanks, Chris.

It is an absolute pleasure to be back.

And you're right, it does feel like an absolute lifetime ago since I've been sitting here in your company.

What's happened in the world of tennis.

And yeah, managed to still watch, watch a bit, which is good.

But like I said, more importantly, managed to make my way out of Fiji without an std.

So that's a win.

Speaker A: 00:01:23

That is a fair accomplishment, my friend.

Few can achieve that.

But I'm glad to have you back in one piece and everything's in shape.

You've picked a decent time to come back because the quarterfinals have given us plenty.

Ben Shelton has knocked out defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in an extraordinary five setter that finished at 3:33 in the morning.

Francis Yaffo somehow came back from the dead.

And against Alex Mickelson, Alexander Zverev suddenly looks like the bloke we expected to see when this tournament started.

And somehow, after being belted by Bernard Atomic six weeks ago, Karen Kachanov is standing in a Grand Slam semi final.

Then on the women's side, order has been restored.

Grand Slam Since Wimbledon in: 2009

Sabalenka Rabakina, Pegula Gauff.

So let's start with the match that everyone is talking about.

Shelton defeats Alcaraz.

Shelton has just produced the biggest win of his career.

-: 1676

28 Minutes, I should say.

And as I said before, finishing at 3.33am, its latest finish in US Open history.

And this wasn't just significant because it was Alcaraz, because Shelton came into the match 0 and 17 against top three plays.

He had never beaten Alcaraz and now he's beaten the defending champion in a fifth set tie break on Arthur Ashe

Speaker A: 00:03:01

Stadium.

But watching that match, one thing really stood out to me, particularly was that second set because I thought Carlos became incredibly erratic.

He won the opening set, but instead of settling into the match, there were periods where it Felt like he became impatient.

He was going for broke when the shots weren't on.

He was almost trying to manufacture the spectacular rather than allowing the spectacular to happen naturally.

The perfect example for me was that jumping Sampras style smash.

For me, that was a bit of a turning point.

It didn't need to happen.

He didn't need to jump and go for it because he cooked it long.

And what happened shortly after, well, we know what happened.

But Carlos Alcarazo, obviously, he can make those shots.

That's part of what makes him so entertaining.

But there is a difference between improvisation and recklessness.

And for portions of that match, I thought he crossed that line.

It was strange because after winning the first set, you would have thought he'd be the player who settled down.

Instead, Shelton won nine consecutive games across the second and third sets.

You don't normally see anyone take control of Alcaraz like that for such an extended stretch.

The other thing that really caught my attention was Shelton himself.

For Shelton's standards, I thought he was remarkably reserved for large portions of the match.

Normally we've got the grunting, the massive come on, the celebrations, the crowd interactions.

Sometimes it almost feels like part of his strategy is to make sure the bloke at the other end knows exactly how much he is enjoying enjoying himself.

Against Carlos, I felt there was less of it, and I wondered whether there was almost too much respect there, really.

Maybe you don't want to wake up Alcaraz.

Maybe you don't want to give him that emotional spark because Carlos, well, he's another player who feeds off that atmosphere.

Whatever the explanation is, Shelton remained remarkably composed.

And when the match reached its biggest moments, he didn't shrink.

That's probably the biggest takeaway for me.

We've known for years that Ben Shelton has the weapons to be anyone.

We've seen the serve, we've seen the forehand, and we've seen the athleticism.

The question was whether he could put all of it together against one of the absolute elite players across five sets.

And we have our answer.

Adrian, what did you make of Alcarazza tournament and obviously the way it finished against Shelton.

Speaker B: 00:05:23

Nice crizzie.

That was.

That was a great wrap up.

Not much to add on that.

We all know how spectacular that match was and it will be talked about in for eons.

But I just wanted to instead talk about the impact that Carlos has on just the game of tennis.

I think.

I think the U.S. open has reminded me just how much tennis missed Carlos.

I think obviously we missed him because he's one of the best players in the world.

But I think it's more than the results in the Grand Slams.

We've missed the way he plays the game, the explosiveness, drop shots, ridiculous defense improvisation, like you never quite know what you're going to get when Carlos is on the tennis court.

I think you highlighted that while Chrissy with the.

The erratic second set.

Since when does he lose 6:1 in a set and get beaten in nine consecutive games is just ridiculous.

Yeah, but we've missed.

His personality gets the crowd involved.

He feeds off the atmosphere, he celebrates, he smiles, he looks like he's generally having fun playing tennis.

And you made a good point about Shelton being a bit more reserved, possibly than normal.

Whereas there were moments where Alcaraz would hit a great shot, quickly turned to the crowd trying to pipe him up, which the crowd would get on board because his Alcaraz, even though he's playing against an American, so he has that ability.

Doesn't matter where he's playing, he's got the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand.

I think the most telling point came after the loss.

He just lost the four and a half hour battle.

He'd been physically pushed the absolute limit and yet he's walking off with a big smile on his face.

Most players, they'll be absolutely devastated, but Carlos is almost happy to be back doing what he loves and it really shone in the way that he played.

I think that's what tennis has missed.

I think we've missed the player, but we've also missed the joy that he brings to the sport.

And he's one of those rare athletes where you can be watching him and thinking, I've got no idea who's going to win this point, but I've got to know and I've got to see what happens next.

So after four months without him, it's just great to have him back.

And I think he walked off with a big smile on his face because, yeah, he, he wasn't there to be able to defend his crown.

But he's been out of the game for four and a half months and I, you could just see he was just wrapped to be back and playing top tier tennis against a great opponent.

So, yeah, credit where credit's due.

Shelton took advantage, played an unbelievable match, but, oh, it's just amazing to have Carlos back.

Speaker A: 00:08:06

It is.

And we've missed him.

We've missed him dearly.

And you're right, he was smiling even throughout those, throughout that match where he had unforced errors and even after that smash that I alluded to earlier, he had a nice chuckle with his camp about it because he knew he shouldn't have done it.

It was a big point.

I believe he got broken in that game and that's when the downfall started.

But it looks like to me, Carlos was a man out there at the US Open.

Like you said, just glad to be back, glad to be on the court and enjoying what he loves to do, which is play tennis.

And he radiates sunshine, he brings the crowd in.

He.

He's just an awesome personality to have.

So it, It's a bit of a different thing to see when a player loses a match and they're still smiling, got a bit of a grin on their face.

And the fact it was Carlos in the way it happened, well, I think it just speaks volumes about who he is as well and sort of guess where to next for him as well.

And it's only, only upwards, you would think.

Speaker B: 00:09:17

I think on that point, you know, it's Carlos and everyone already recognizes how much of a champion he is.

But I think everyone loves his joy for the game and you don't see that a lot in a lot of players.

You don't.

Their love for the game doesn't really shine through watches very of match.

Does his love for the game shine through his tennis?

No.

Case in point, after the match, there was a. Kevin Hart was doing an Instagram story, walking down, down the stairs in the stadium, trying to exit, and he's doing his Instagram stories like he's leaving the stadium.

It was like 4am he's just talking about what a great match.

It was like, you know, obviously talking up Shelton, a fellow American.

But what.

Who else would also then just say amazing things about the opponent that their fellow American has just beaten?

Not many people would.

As in.

Well, they would, but because it's Alcaraz, they feel compelled to like, he acknowledged what a champion Alcaraz is and I think he's one of those players you just can't, you can't hate him.

Speaker A: 00:10:25

Yeah.

Speaker B: 00:10:26

Like he goes for those unbelievable shots.

He, whatever doesn't come off, he'll, he'll have a chuckle, have a smile and yeah, walk it off.

And it's.

You can't help but not love the bloke.

And yeah, it's, it's, it's really good.

Speaker A: 00:10:41

It's.

I could talk about this for hours and I know we've got a lot to get to, but yeah, look, I mean, Carlos being a champion and it's pretty Hard not to like him for the things that he does on the court, but just genuinely a really good athlete, obviously.

But the way he goes about his tennis as well.

Yeah, as I said, hard not to love the bloke.

But there was another interesting Alcaraz conversation that came out of this tournament, and Tommy Paul spoke pretty openly after playing him about how Carlos's game has evolved.

And one example was the backhand slice.

Paul basically said that earlier in Carlos's career, you could play that cross court backhand slice, and Carlos would often just play another backhand.

Now Carlos is looking to run around it and turn that ball into a forehand.

Paul's point was that unless you hit the slice extremely well, you're basically just giving Alcaraz the opportunity to dictate the next shot.

He also talked about how much to return and second serve have approved age.

What caught your eye from Paul's comments?

Speaker B: 00:11:49

I loved it.

I absolutely loved it.

I think what fascinated me was actually how unusual it is to hear professional player talk that openly about another player's game.

Now, these guys aren't generally interested in giving away tactical information.

We get that.

And yes, to a professional player, what Paul said is still fairly broad, but I'm sure there are much more detailed conversations happening between players and coaches that they're never going to put into a press conference.

But even something as simple as saying, we don't really want to slice cross court anymore because he'll run around and attack it, you're publicly explaining how you view him, so you're giving Carlos another little piece of information about how you're preparing for him.

And we've seen players avoid this before.

Coco Gauff has been asked tactical questions in press conferences and just effectively said, I'm, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna tell you.

So I can understand why.

At the same time, for us mere mortals, I love hearing this stuff because it gives you a tiny insight into what professional players are actually looking at.

Andy Roddick has spoken about something similar, albeit after retirement, when discussing playing the Big Three.

Against yeah, most players, you get yourself into a neutral rally and you think, good, I'm in the point.

But against the Big Three, it was different.

Your neutral is, is not neutral.

If you're neutral against them, then you're slowly losing.

So mentally you're constantly being told, create something, take time away, find an angle attack before they attack you.

And that must be absolutely exhausting.

So maybe Paul's openness also says something about where Alcaraz currently sits in the Sport, you know, you're not hiding the fact that Carlos Alcaraz has a pretty good forehand.

You know, the secret is already out with that.

I also think he probably wouldn't make those comments about someone who is kind of on par with his level.

I think it's pretty safe saying that about Alcaraz because Alcaraz is a cut above.

And, you know, for you, Chrissy, you know, I, for one, I love this open approach and providing more insightful look into the tactics of a professional matchup.

But for you, are you surprised it doesn't happen more often?

Would you like for players to be more open like that and maybe do you think there's a capacity for there to be more opportunities for pros to be more open in talking about tactics like this?

Speaker A: 00:14:20

I do.

As a tennis enthusiast and someone who's played the game for a large portion of their life, I'd love to hear the insights of professional players to see how they prepare for a game as well.

But I think for a player as well, there's two things that you need to, you know, think about when preparing for a match.

It's what you can do to improve your own game, such as your own shots.

You know, if it's like your forehand, for example, you know, you're trying to hit forehand, cross caller down the line, do you need to hit a bit more flatter?

Do you need to use more topspin, more depth, more mid court, whatever it might be.

So those are things that you can control.

It's your own technique within your shot selection and the shots itself.

So that's probably going on through a player's mindset constantly as well, especially when things break down, such as forehand, backhand, serve, especially as well.

It's interesting for a game, though.

I mean, when you're coming up against a player that you've probably played multiple times, no doubt they'd have the strategy that or they've even watched plenty of tapes of the player playing before just to see, you know, identify patterns in player movement or what they like or don't like to do.

Obviously, I've never played professional tennis before, but I feel as if, though when you step onto a court and you're in the match and you're mid rally, I feel like you might have an idea or a couple ideas about to direct the ball or how to set up a point, especially at the start of a point, if you're on serve or returning, you know, where you sort of want to start the point.

But when you're Mid rally, or if you're at that neutral level within a point or sort of who bites first, who goes for it.

I feel like all, all tactics might be out the window.

And it's just like whatever you go with is like it's in the moment sort of thing.

And it's like a.

Who dares, wins.

Because tennis is a lot about neutral, a defense and attack.

Who's going to be the first to initiate?

So it's very split second within the rallies.

No, rallies might go for two, three seconds.

That can go for 20, 30 seconds or anywhere in between.

So, yeah, it's an interesting one.

You know, I would love to think, yeah, how does a player respond and what are they actually thinking midpoint as well?

Do they just refer.

Revert back to default?

You know, think about what their coaches have said and what they've practiced about, you know, where to place balls.

Obviously, with Carlos, you know, damaging forehand, it's very easy to say, I'll just hit to the backhand, but I think it needs to be a bit more nuanced and complex than just hit to the back end as well.

You need to.

So you need to have a few options, I think.

Yeah, like, like you said that obviously Tommy Paul is, well, Alcaraz is a cut above the rest.

And, you know, Paul is probably conceding the fact that, you know, he's probably not going to have many opportunities to beat Carlos and is just recognizing the fact that, yeah, he's a cut above and he's pretty candid in the fact that how he prepares and what he looks for in Carlos's game.

And he probably wouldn't be the same with players, players that are on a similar level to him.

Do I think that there's an opportunity?

Yeah, sure, there's an opportunity, but it's to your own detriment, I think, as well.

And it's a risk that.

Look, you could run that risk as well, or you can keep your cards close to your chest.

It's.

It's entirely up to you.

But I think the viewers and the lovers of tennis probably understand why they wouldn't be so open in wanting to answer that question.

Speaker B: 00:18:14

I think, yeah, there was a year or two ago, I can't remember what it was.

Taylor Fritz spoke pretty openly about a facet of his game in tactically and what he worked on in, like a specific moment of play.

I can't remember off the top of my head, but I remember him talking about tactically something specific about his game.

And I remember at the time Thinking, oh, like similar to this, that's different.

Not many players come out openly and say that and like you said, it's to their detriment to talk about that.

But it was definitely unique to hear him mention that again, he's.

Well, I don't know, has it been to his detriment or not?

Who knows?

Yeah, but yeah, it's just, it's, it's like we said before, it's great to hear regardless.

Speaker A: 00:19:06

It's very easy for a player just to speak about their own game.

At the end of the day they can easily just say, you know, what worked for them, what didn't work and you know, what they need to do better for next time.

Certain parts of, you know, forehand, backhand, serve, you know, get to the net more, whatever it might be.

But to go another level and then discuss, you know, did I carry out the strategy and tactics of what was pre planned again?

Yeah, you don't hear that and I, I wouldn't imagine that we'd be hearing a lot more of it.

So yeah, I mean when they do say it, it's our ears perk up because we're not accustomed to hearing it.

But I don't think, yeah, I don't think it's something that we'll probably get more of in the future as well.

I want to talk about Tiafo and how he has risen from the date because it was a ridiculous five setter.

From one five setter to another, Francis Tiafa looked absolutely cooked against Mickelson.

Mickelson took the first two sets, 7 5, 6, 3 and got himself within touching distance of his first Grand Slam semi final.

Tiafa somehow dragged the third set back.

He took it 75 and won the fourth 63 and eventually survived the match tiebreak to win at 76 in the fifth.

And mind you, I do want to say that Mickelson was serving for it at 5:4 in the, in the third set, I remember I was, I woke up, checked the scores, I'm like, oh, Tiafa is going to serve this one out.

Went about my morning routine, showered, got ready for work and then got to work.

And then all of a sudden they're playing, they're in the fifth set and I'm like, I don't believe it.

Francis, you magnificent beast.

What if he's done it?

Like he's, he's gonna do it anyway.

4 Hours and 38 minutes, 2 sets down, right on the edge of elimination.

Somehow Francis Yarfo is into the third U. S. Open semi final and what I Liked about the match was that Mikkelsen didn't lose because the occasion frightened him for long periods.

He was the better player.

He attacked Tiafo's second serve, came forward intelligently, and put Francis under enormous pressure.

But Tiafo's relationship with this tournament is becoming a bit ridiculous now.

There are players who seem to find another gear at particular tournaments, and the U.S. open is absolutely that tournament for Francis.

Even when the match looked gone, he found a way to convince himself it wasn't.

And then he had that embrace at the net afterwards.

Jesus, that hit me in the fields, man, that extended hug.

And you just.

You knew Mickelson was in the Hurt Locker then and.

Bloody, bloody hell.

And if you haven't read my article on X already, there was a time to do it, because you just don't get that at the.

At the end of three setters or best of threes.

You just get them at Grand Slams, best of fives.

And for anyone that wants to take it that away from us, well, I wish you ill health.

I don't.

But just don't take away five setters, please.

Speaker B: 00:22:09

Anyway,.

Speaker A: 00:22:11

Mikkelsen was understandably devastated, and Francis knew exactly what had just happened.

There was no massive celebration in his face, just genuine respect between two Americans who had thrown absolutely everything at each other.

Adrian, were you surprised CFO found a way back into that match?

Speaker B: 00:22:30

There was a point there.

I said one point changed the entire match.

You mentioned it.

Mikkelsen was serving for it.

And then four and a half hours later, Tiafo is in the semi final.

It was a turning point.

I think you touched on this.

What really stood out was the emotional Mickelson afterwards, Tiafo immediately embracing him.

It was just a reminder of how cruel tennis can be.

One guy just pulled off an incredible comeback, and the other was literally minutes away from the biggest win of his career.

And it's just the duality of tennis, and that's what it's all about.

Gives me goosebumps just thinking about it.

Another thing I'd like to say is just I'm slowly coming around to liking Francis.

Tiafo.

Yeah, I thought I'd say it's just years ago, I remember distinctly we were at the.

We were at an Aussie Open, you and I, without.

With our other mate and.

And Tiafo rocks up in this colorful gear.

Big showman.

I think the Breakpoint Series was out.

Was just out.

And it was, yeah, kind of all flashy.

Big mouth.

I thought, ah, just get out of here.

But I know it seems like this series Kind of turns it around as being a bit more down to earth.

Like I get the theatrics and that's, that's needed, like you need that in the game.

Alcaraz is also theatric in the way he plays, but he's just a bit more human.

Yeah, just respectful, I guess, lately.

And I'm just really enjoying it, that embrace.

You could see he was exhausted.

He put his top up.

I don't feel he was putting his top up to like celebrate like a soccer player.

It was just like exhaustion but immediately recognizing, oh shit, my mate, like, because they're mates, my mates over there, we've just gone through bloody war, immediately runs to embrace.

And yeah, like you said, we've spoken about it, but it's just, it was, it was, that was, it was a. Pulls at your heartstrings, that one.

And yeah, it's just great to see.

Speaker A: 00:24:34

Yeah.

And look, for a long time I, I wasn't a fan of Francis, not from a personality perspective, but I just didn't understand, like I, I didn't rate him as a player.

I just didn't think he had many weapons and he's just gotten better and better and his ranking has climbed and he's going get deeper in a tournament and he's, he's turned the corner for me as well.

So I think it just for his persistence and his determination, you know, he hasn't become irrelevant at any stage as well.

So big foe, you know, love the bloke now.

He's been, he's been, he's been a frequent in my ATP fantasy, man.

I, I do owe him an apology because I, I was tossing up between him and Nakashima who to put in, I put in Nakashima just out of pure, pure recency bias.

I.

And so I apologize to Francis but I don't think Francis will mind.

He's got bigger, bigger fish on his plate.

Yeah.

So now wish big foe all the best and yeah, he's doing, he's doing his Americans proud at the minute.

Speaker B: 00:25:42

And what a semi final this sets up.

Speaker A: 00:25:45

It does, it does.

And we are going to get to it in a moment, but I do want to talk about another man and that is the top seed.

So meanwhile, everyone else is apparently trying to give us heart attacks.

Alexander Zverev has finally decided to make life much easier for himself.

He has beat botic van der Slop 2, 5, 1.

And it was, wasn't necessarily flawless.

There were still some serving issues, including five double faults and the second set became competitive.

But Compared with what we saw from Zerev early in the tournament, this was night and day.

Grabbed the second set and basically ran away with the third.

And I think that's the interesting part.

Observe's tournament early on he openly admitted he wasn't playing particularly well.

We could see it, he had long matches, he was grinding.

But he's improved almost round by round.

finals of all four majors in: 2026

He won Roland Garros, reached the Wimbledon final and he's only, and he's the only Grand Slam champion left in the men's draw.

So suddenly, who have gone from wondering whether all those early five setters would catch up with him to looking at this short and thinking, hang on, wait a minute.

Is very now the favorite to win U.S. open.

Adrian, are you buying into Zverev now?

Speaker B: 00:27:06

No, and I'll tell you why.

Because we're going to have an American in the final.

It's guaranteed.

Speaker A: 00:27:14

Yep.

Speaker B: 00:27:15

And between Big Foe and Ben Shelton, those Americans, they're so hot right now.

With Adrian without that line.

No, and I'm sorry, but, sorry, Zverev, but you just can't.

You're not getting past those, either of those blokes in that absolute scintillating hot form that they're in right now.

So I'm not buying it.

Having said that, it was impressive because Botic came in with all the momentum.

He came in after a five hour comeback against Ghia.

But Zverev, doing what Zverev does, as he does in Grand Slams, just gets the job done.

Took the match away from him.

It wasn't at his absolute best.

We've seen that, you mentioned it, five double faults.

But once he got through that tie second set, I think he just ran away with it.

I think the biggest story is his consistency.

He's now made semifinals at all four majors, which you've said.

And I saw a stat.

He's only the ninth player in history on the men's to do that.

So he's joined some pretty fair company.

There was the top four, including Andy Murray.

Then there was your man Tony Roach, our man Rocket Rod.

Who else was there?

I can't remember who else was in that, but he's joined some elite company there.

So.

, Sinner, Sinner was there in: 2025

Speaker A: 00:28:50

Yeah.

Speaker B: 00:28:50

So it's, yeah, credit to him.

He's.

He's doing what needs to be done.

But I'm not buying it.

The Americans are just too hot.

Speaker A: 00:28:57

What will he have to do for you to change Your tune on zver.

Speaker B: 00:29:03

I don't know.

Speaker A: 00:29:03

You must have been hanging out with Adam too, too long, because you.

You both have been too bearish on him, and I just.

All right, he didn't have the greatest lead up in the American swing, so be it.

You can't write him off.

Speaker B: 00:29:18

I just.

I just take things personally.

And if I don't like the bloke, you've seen it with my hatred for Cam Norrie, it's.

It's unwarranted, and it just gets the better of me.

And I'm not making any apologies for that.

I don't care.

He's case in point a reason why I just don't like it.

I think it was after his match, he was complaining to the chair umpire that someone stole his racket.

I did see this.

Speaker A: 00:29:43

Yes.

Yep.

Speaker B: 00:29:44

What an imbecile.

I left it there.

And umpire's like, check your bag.

Like a teacher, like a mum.

An annoyed mum.

Did you look here?

Did you look in your bag?

The most obvious fucking place he looks in his bag.

It's there.

Oh, idiot.

And then he's having a good old laugh.

Yeah.

He wonders why no one likes him and I don't like him, and I just can't get past that.

I'm sorry.

I'm not going to apologize for it.

Speaker A: 00:30:18

No, no, I'm not.

Certainly not asking you to apologize.

It's.

It's definitely unwarranted.

It's unjustified.

Speaker B: 00:30:27

And that's what I do best.

I hold grudges.

And it's going to take a hefty amount to turn that around.

Speaker A: 00:30:35

Well, each to their own.

And he's going to have to win.

Speaker B: 00:30:37

A fucking Nobel Peace Prize for me to turn around.

Speaker A: 00:30:44

Well, if they will grant him one, I'll be very interested to see what it's for.

Adrian, there's another man I want to talk about, and it's big Karen.

Now, we need to talk about this bloke because I'm going to take everyone back.

d gets comprehensively beaten: 6264

Yes, Lord Tomic.

Our Bernie Tomic.

You Fast forward roughly six weeks, and Kachnov is in the semifinals of the U.S. open.

Could you just imagine if Bernie Tomic was in the semifinals of the U.S. open instead of Kachenov?

Speaker B: 00:31:33

Look, don't you disrespect Lord Tomic like that, all right?

I'm not going to hear it.

Look, I don't want to get in.

Speaker A: 00:31:38

Your bad side, all right?

Bad things will happen anyway.

Catching off, his quarterfinal wasn't completed because Alexander the Blocks eventually had to retire.

And credit to Blocks because he's had a magnificent tournament and injuries just got the better of him or beer.

Katchanov was leading: 627532

But I don't want that retirement to completely overshadow Katchanov's tournament because he has earned this run.

He's beaten Felix, who was the number three seed.

final and his first since the: 2023

But now we arrive at the important question.

Can he beat Zverev?

Adrian, can he beat him?

Of course he can.

Speaker B: 00:32:33

He can.

And look, I'm just going to be honest here.

This top half is just absolute gutter trash gear.

Btic, Kachenov, Blocks all making quarters and semis.

Look, with all due respect, it's a disgrace to tennis and a disgrace to the top.

To the top 10 and 20 players who have dropped out early.

Shame on you.

Take.

You need to take a long hard look at yourselves.

Shame on you.

You useless.

Take a leaf out of the women's draw.

Pull your frickin heads in.

All right.

Where the top four seeds make the semifinals.

Just like the good old days when you had bloody the big three consistently making it.

Look, I'm all for diversity and not having the same bloke win all the time, but I'm sorry when you got bloody Kachanov losing to Lord Tomic.

Gearbotic blocks.

Come on.

That's just.

Yeah, and you saw it in the crowds too.

The crowds aren't there to watch him.

Did you see Empty?

Speaker A: 00:33:40

I didn't.

Speaker B: 00:33:41

The crowds weren't there to watch you either, so fuck you.

Speaker A: 00:33:47

I'm feeling another Alex Dimor rant is coming on.

I feel like bumbling under the surface.

Speaker B: 00:33:55

Honestly though, Kachanov has, he has the weapons and on his day he can beat anyone.

But how rare is that where he can put together a best of five and, and hold it and stay composed?

Yeah, we're seeing it in this tournament, which is, which is great.

I've got a soft spot for him because we've seen him at those Open in the flesh out in court 20, court 17 in the doldrums.

Yep, it was, I think it was: 2021

I think after Covid Yep.

And Russia had just invaded Ukraine and they sent all the Russians out to the doldrums and there he was, Kachinov, we saw him up, up close and personal.

Absolutely destroyed his opponent.

And yeah, he played really well.

But again, I got a soft sword for him.

I know he's capable and he definitely has the, the power and the game to make Zverev's life very difficult.

It's weather he can maintain that consistency and hold his composure.

We know Zverev can.

He's a grand slam winner now.

So to do that against verve is going to be very difficult.

But by all means, he definitely can and I hope he does.

But, yep, yeah, it's going to be very difficult.

Speaker A: 00:35:19

Well, I'll take you through their head to head and Zverev, well, look the head to head says Zverev, but maybe not as emphatically as you'd expect.

Zverev Lee's 63 overall.

The interesting detail is that all three Kachanov's victories have come on hard courts.

They haven't met on grass, and Zverev won their only clay meeting.

And there is actually some recent evidence for Karen.

last year, Kachanov beatsverev: 634676

And Zverev has certainly had had his share of convincing wins in this matchup as well.

comfortably in Cincinnati in: 2024

So stylistically I understand why Zverev starts favorite.

Obviously, he's the top seed.

They're both big men who want to dictate behind the serve and play powerful baseline tennis.

But I think Zverev does most of those things just a little bit better.

Serve is bigger, the backhand is more reliable, and over five sets, Verev has shown throughout the season that he's comfortable staying out there for as long as required.

Khachov's chance for me is making the physical early and trying to get into Zverev's head.

Don't let Zverev settle into a clean serving rhythm.

Make him play, make him feel like this is going to be in a long night.

Even some dirty tactics along the way.

If I break your shoe, break your shoelaces.

I don't know.

Change your rackets.

Steal his racket.

I don't care what you do.

Speaker B: 00:36:55

Russian spy.

Speaker A: 00:36:57

That's it.

Speaker B: 00:36:57

Steal those rackets.

Speaker A: 00:36:58

Sending a KGB spy.

The longer Karen hangs around, the more interesting it becomes.

Adrian, I know I've asked you but has Karen catch it up already played his final?

Speaker B: 00:37:11

Yes, we do like that.

Look, just ditto what I said before.

It's going to be hard and you mentioned it again.

It's that consistency I think very similar play styles.

Like you said, Sver just does every little thing slightly better which is going to be hard for Katrinov.

So he needs to do something to make a fight out of it, turn into a dog fight instead of that consistent match that that's Vero knows and love.

So yeah, what's he going to do?

How's he going to change and adapt and make it turn in his favorite?

I'm not sure but look he's gonna, they're familiar with the game, with each other's game and he'll.

I'm sure he'll think of something.

His, him and his coaches will try to come up with some form of strategy which we won't know about and hopefully he can execute it on the night and get into a final which would be, would be amazing.

Then that means we're guaranteed all new Grand Slam winner which I would love to see.

Speaker A: 00:38:16

Adrian, I want to take before we get to the women's, we need to talk about Shelton and Tiafo because this match the American crowd has been waiting for Ben Shelton against Tiafo.

en final since Arthur Ashe in: 1972

This isn't their first massive meeting in New York either.

They've played here in the: 2023

Overall, Shelton leads a rivalry 31 including their most recent meeting in Washington last year.

And there's another factor here I think is fascinating recovery.

Jaffa just played for 4 hours and 38 minutes.

Charlton played for 4 hours and 28 minutes but he didn't finish until 3:33 in the morning.

They've got recovery time but neither man arrives here fresh as a daisy.

So which one has more left?

From tennis perspective, Shelton probably comes in with the bigger weapon.

If he's serving like the way he did against Alcaraz, Francis is going to spend large portions of the match simply trying to stay attached to him.

But tiafa knows this court 3 US open semi finals in 5 years is not an accident.

And unlike Alcaraz, he's already beaten Shelton on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

This might be or this might End up being less about who plays the prettiest tennis and more about who manages the occasion.

One American is making the second US Open or sorry, I should say one American is making his second U.S. open semifinal.

The other seems to turn it.

The other seems to turn into a completely different human being whenever somebody puts a US Open sign behind him.

Adrian, which American are you going for?

Speaker B: 00:40:06

Oh, I really like both these lads and in terms of their form, I don't know how anyone can possibly pick.

If you can guarantee a pick, I'd say you're just talking shit.

I think the question is, has Shelton already played his final?

That's what I'm, that's what I'm thinking.

He's come up against.

Look, they both played five setters, they both played over four hours.

We get that.

But Shelton beat Alcaraz.

It's a bit of a difference.

Got a different ring to it than I beat Mickelson.

Yeah.

Albeit they're both long duration, great, you know, great fighting, but it just has a different ring to it and.

Yeah.

Has Shelton played his final?

I don't know.

That's the only thing I can go by.

Yeah.

Which is why I will pick Tiafo to make the final.

Yeah.

Just based on, just based on that.

Speaker A: 00:41:09

It's a hard thing to back up for Shelton.

A career defining win so late.

Late as probably he's ever played.

That's the latest U.S. open has ever seen.

Speaker B: 00:41:21

Yeah.

Speaker A: 00:41:21

So it's going to be hard for him to back that up.

And they're both evenly killed, I guess.

I mean in terms of skill wise as well.

They know each other's game inside out and yeah, it's going to be very hard for Shelton to.

I, I could still see him with every possibility and chance of, of defeating Tiafo, but it's gonna, he's gonna have to dig deep.

I feel, I feel like it could be a quick one as well, one sided but.

Or it's going to be interesting to see who, how they manage their, their recovery and, and just how they, I guess how they get themselves into the match as well.

For me, I, I'm going to say Tiafo as well.

I will join you.

Adrian.

I realize it's been 42 minutes we've been running this episode and we haven't really mentioned the women yet.

It's, it's, there's just been that much to get through but we'll talk a bit, a bit about Sablanca and Bergula and Sabalenka, well, she's two matches away from winning a third consecutive U.S. open title.

And standing in her way is a woman she knows very, very well, which is Pegula.

She leads their rivalry 9 4.

But here's what makes this interesting.

Pegula has won two of their last three.

She beat Sabulanka in Wuhan last year and then again in Berlin this year, where she took the third set with a nice bagel.

The problem is.

Well, the problem for Jess is where Sabine's biggest wins against her have happened.

2024 Final.

Sabulka wins.

2025 US Open semifinal.

Sri Lanka wins.

And now we are here again at Flushing Meadows.

So they've played a few times here at the US Open.

So Pegula has proven she can beat Sabalanka, just not at the US Open.

She hasn't.

Yeah, she hasn't proven she can beat her here when the stakes are at their highest.

I think Per Gula's game can irritate Sablanka because she takes the ball early, redirects pace very well, and could stop Ariana from having all day to set herself for those huge ground strokes.

But the margin is tiny.

If Jess gets passive and allows the ghoula to dictate the first two or three shots of a rally, it could disappear quickly.

And then you've got the New York crowd.

Jess is going to have everyone behind her.

Sablanca has obviously experienced that environment plenty of times before and hasn't exactly been frightened by it.

Adrian, can the American crowd finally drag Jess over the line against Sabulanka?

Speaker B: 00:44:04

It's.

Speaker A: 00:44:05

It's.

Speaker B: 00:44:06

It's such a tough one.

You mentioned it.

Jess obviously has the tools and the weaponry to take care of her, but you made some really good points.

Not at the US Open, where it matters most.

So that's the tough part.

The other interesting thing is, who would have thought Sabalenka would have made it this far, given her lead up in this hardcore season.

Given a hard time by the journalists at the start as well.

Um, but, yeah, just she came in in terrible form, and now she's just a couple wins away from defending her title, which, no, not many people would have picked.

Uh, Jess came in in some really good form as well.

So I really hope Jess does get over the line.

I just feel like Sabalenka has a mental edge over at the U.S. open.

Speaker A: 00:45:00

Yeah.

Speaker B: 00:45:00

And she's going to win again, unfortunately.

Speaker A: 00:45:04

Yeah, I'm in the same boat.

I can only hope that Pugula wins as well, even though my head tells me that she's obviously got the wood over Pegula in being Sabalanka, she's obviously a champion on the women's side, but she's going to be a very tough opponent for Pugle.

I think it was anywhere else, I don't think, yeah, Pugola would probably have much of a chance, but the fact that it's in a big stage, American crowd behind her, that crowd just might get under Sabalanka skin.

It wouldn't shock me.

She can become quite irritable as well when things don't start going away.

So I've, I've said pre tournament and you know for the past two weeks that Bagula be getting herself into the final.

So I'm certainly not going to veer away from that prediction now.

Adrian.

It leads me to the next semifinal matchup between Rybakana and Gough.

And we've got my girl Alina.

She's officially going to become the world new, the new world number one.

e secured it by beating Zheng: 366164

And considering the uncertainty about whether she'd even be healthy enough to play this tournament after that injury scare in Cincinnati, it's pretty remarkable with the turnarounds.

But what I liked was her reaction to be to being to becoming the world number one.

In typical, brilliant, classic Rabakina style, she said the ranking obviously means a lot, but the main goal is winning tournaments and titles.

Her attitude was essentially that if you keep winning the big titles, the ranking takes care of itself.

And I couldn't agree more with her.

But unfortunately for her, she's now got an absolutely informed Coco Gauff standing in front of her.

And Gough looked gone against Adam's girl, Mira Andreva.

She lost the opening set six two, save two match points.

Speaker B: 00:46:52

My girl.

Thank you.

Speaker A: 00:46:53

Oh, maybe both of your girls.

I know Adam's got.

Oh, just he loves.

Speaker B: 00:46:59

Adam loves Benic.

Speaker A: 00:47:02

He loves too many.

He loves the oldies.

He loves the youngies.

Youngies.

No one in between.

Just each end of the spectrum he loves.

Anyway, thank you.

Thank you for correcting me.

Your girl as well.

Gough lost the opening set, 6 2.

She saved two match points in the second set tiebreaker, then took over the deciding set to win 6 2.

So you got two players arriving here with serious confidence and with their head to head.

It's only one.

Also, we don't have an enormous amount of data to work with there, but the most relevant meeting happened very recently.

Toronto semifinals just a few weeks ago.

Rebakkan a beak off: 576262

And stylistically I think that tells us plenty.

Rybakana Wants short points, big serve, flat ground strokes take time away from Coco and prevent her defensive skills from becoming a factor.

Coco's job is almost the opposite.

Get the return in play, extend rallies, make Alina hit another ball, use her movement and make this uncomfortable.

Because if Rybakina is serving well in getting the first strike inconsistently, Coco can end up defending the, or defending from the first ball of every rally.

But if Coco can turn it into a physical match and make Rebakka move repeatedly, then suddenly it becomes very different.

Adrian, who wins it?

Speaker B: 00:48:25

Oh, another very interesting matchup.

There's something that I noticed that was very interesting in the Andrea and Coco match.

Andreva, I think it was that really long rally.

It was like 30 point rally.

Andreva's tactic was hit to Coco's forehand.

She was not hitting to the backhand, just kept on going, hitting it to the forehand, to the forehand, to the forehand, kept on going.

Eventually, Coco was running around everywhere, mercilessly.

Eventually, Andreva hits it to Coco's backhand and then switched.

Coco just took over the point with one backhand, put Andreeva under pressure and then punished and then ended up winning the point.

So really interesting.

She's got, you mentioned it before, her defensive skills are unbelievable.

I, I also think that point, I, I, I come back to, because I feel like if Rybakina was in Andreeva's shoes, she would have punished Coco long before it got to that point.

Andreeva wasn't really doing a lot with hitting to her in those moments.

And I feel like Elena is a lot stronger and a lot more devastating from the baseline, and I think she'll make Coco's life hell.

So Coco's gonna have the crowd behind her, but the Ice Queen, we know how she operates.

It's not going to phase her.

And I think Rybakane gets through this in three.

Speaker A: 00:49:58

Yep.

Yeah.

The crowd won't be a factor at all for Robaka.

Will be a factor for Coco, obviously, in a positive way, but it's not going to affect Rubak in the slightest.

And everyone knows, all our listeners know who I'm going for.

And as I said, she's, she's winning this thing as well.

She's beating Pagula in the final.

And, but it's, it's going to be an intriguing matchup as well.

And it's, you'd hope it goes for three just for, just for tennis sake as well.

Yeah.

Adrian, it's been 51 minutes.

We're going to wrap it up there.

It's been a hell of an episode.

It's been a hell of a last couple of days for what the US Open has dished up for our listeners.

That'll do it.

For this edition of Talking Tennis.

We've got Shelton against Trfo, Zverev against Kachanov, Savalenka against Pegula, and the love of my life against Gough.

Four semifinals, four very different matchups.

Now we're only a couple of matches away from crowning our U.S. open champions.

Before we go, make sure you're following Talking Tennis on X and Spotify.

As I like to say, don't be a good for nothing freeloader.

It's not how your parents raised you.

We hope you enjoyed the pod.

Until next time.

As always, you got to earn your serves.