Alvin Owusu (00:00.678)
And welcome to another edition of the Best of Three Podcast. I'm Alvin, that's Tori, and Tori, the semifinals are set. We we got through today the the bottom half of the draw with Arthur Ferry, Arthur Ferry taking out Kaboli and Zverev taking out Fritz on the women's side. We had Noskova taking out Mertens, Kossac taking out Paolini. We're gonna kind of bounce around some of those matches. won't we won't take up too much time today. We'll keep this short and sweet because we got a we got a big weekend of some big tennis in front of us.

Torrey (00:29.557)
Alvin Owusu (00:30.508)
But this Arthur Ferry situation has I mean it it has taken over, right? And I can only imagine what it's like being in in GB right now, like with this this kid from Wimbledon, right? I think mom's a member of the club. he obviously did some time at Stanford, came on the tour, now he's he wild card and wild card made good. before we kind of get into you know what I saw or what we saw in today's match.

Torrey (00:34.079)
Yeah.

Torrey (00:40.059)
no doubt.

Yep, yep.

Torrey (00:53.578)
Yup. Yup.

Alvin Owusu (00:59.372)
You said you had some you you've got some some Intel some Intel of Mr Mr Ferry.

Torrey (01:02.75)
I got some intel.

So as you know Alvin, I'm coaching one of the intense tennis teams. One of my players is from France. So, you know, as I always say around these times, the players start doing well, everybody starts claiming parts of this player's journey or they start kind of name dropping where this player was and when, you know, remember when type deals. Number one, my French player says the parents are French.

Alvin Owusu (01:09.602)
Mm-hmm.

Torrey (01:31.508)
Although Mr. Arthur Ferry was I guess raised for the bulk of his... Right. So, Fabrice Martin, shout out to Fabrice, what up fam? Wants to make sure that the world knows that the kid was born in France. That's number one. So that's first. That's where his feel comes from. And then one of the other players who played high at Texas A shout out to Noah Schachter, said he just played by man Mr. Ferry not six to eight months ago in a Challenger.

Alvin Owusu (01:36.014)
Born in France. Yeah, born in France and then they moved. Yeah, yeah.

Alvin Owusu (01:46.36)
Ha ha ha.

Torrey (02:00.583)
you know, not long back. Shaq played one at Texas A top SEC school, and obviously Mr. Ferri played at Stanford. So I haven't reached out to Paul, to Goldie yet to find out, to get the haps on the craps, but it was, this is almost like a Valentine Vashro situation to Noah. Valentine, who also played at A right? Right before he took his nice run.

you know toward the end of last year and started going forward so it was really fun talking to these guys about a guy they know who they played all right and obviously see him do what he's doing and while they were very well they were very you know I'm gonna say copious with their praise for Arthur's backhand they were also you know obviously he could not be playing better tennis at a better time at this time in his home court quote-unquote with the with the English crowd behind him and so it's a

That's the intel. The other thing to keep in mind, Alvin, we've said this before, the tour has gotten so deep that you've got a guy that, let's face it, for two or three years ago, you would have known him as a college standout, right? Not as a Wimbledon semi-finalists. And I think it's important for the viewer, fan, watcher of this podcast to understand you are literally a break, literally, away.

Alvin Owusu (03:08.876)
Yeah. Yeah.

Torrey (03:25.137)
And by break, mean a big break, a breakthrough and so on from playing with the top hundred. If you're outside the top hundred, if you're inside or close, I want to say we looked him up today. I think he was 118 or 116 going in the turn right, going in. So he's obviously he has a good chance of cracking top 40 for not mistaken. Just off this tournament alone. And, you know, obviously should he win it, which is a much larger ask. He has a chance of being like top, maybe 14. I think those numbers we looked at. So which is stupid when you think about it. But just think about

Alvin Owusu (03:26.414)
Mm-hmm.

Alvin Owusu (03:35.916)
Yeah, something like that. Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (03:42.552)
Yeah, yeah.

Torrey (03:54.693)
bettering your ranking by more than 100 spots, possibly. You know, when you were outside the tournament needing a wild card to get into the event. with that said, just realize the tennis you're watching, should, a lot of our viewers and fans and listeners go to watch a tournament. This is why you don't sleep on the Clawleys. This is why you don't sleep on day one on the outside courts. You could be watching the next player who's about to make a big jump, right?

Arthur Ferry style. So in the last year, Shanghai, it's one of the tournaments indoors with Valentin Vachero. These guys are that good. Don't just look at the number and say, oh, this guy's not that good. Don't look at the seating. This is why, and I'm so glad that we have stories like this. We just saw this with Lois Boisson. And Semmy's the French last year. We just saw him with Maya. So let's go in the French a month ago. So these players are right there.

They are literally right there and you're doing yourself this service by sleeping on them and by only going to the top court, only watching the quote unquote bold and bracketed number players on your schedule when you go to the players program.

Alvin Owusu (05:07.02)
Yeah. Yeah, and it's it's interesting, right? Like we you mentioned Valentine Bachero, right? He's the I think he's an obvious example. Miss Volinska is also a really I think probably a better example because Valentin was so far back in the rankings that he, you know, qualified into that event and th like last minute like got into qualities for that event and then qualified and then made a run, which and then

Torrey (05:30.988)
Okay.

Alvin Owusu (05:34.584)
You know, and then he's been on the he's been on the tour and more or less backing up that level of play for the last you know, seven, eight months since then. Maya, I think, is a better maybe as a closer comp because of the kind of the ranking range. been like, you know, Arthur's a little earlier in his career than Maya is by by by a little bit. But I would I I say there's nothing about this run that you saw coming. Like I want to go back to like when

Torrey (05:39.321)
percent.

Torrey (05:55.81)
Sure. Yep.

Torrey (06:01.697)
No, 100%.

Alvin Owusu (06:02.849)
when when Chris She Banks made his quarterfinal run at Wimbledon three years ago, four years ago? I can't remember the exact year. But he did have like he had a really good spring as well from Miami, finishing up on the on the Sunshine Swing. He did well there and then obviously did well on grass, won Mallorca before coming in. So like you could kind of and he had been floating in that one hundred range for a few years. but then something

Torrey (06:06.35)
Yep.

Torrey (06:25.336)
Yep. Yep. As players often do. Right? That's what I'm saying.

Alvin Owusu (06:29.663)
Right. Like that's a range you can you can't get you can be like some players are like can get stuck there because it's hard to get from like that one twenty to ninety range into like automatic because like the the challenger circuit is is built for you gotta like dominate the challenger circuit to get yourself firmly onto the tour. But in an instance like this where you almost get to like when you when someone makes a deep run like this, the amount of points that they collect, they effectively lay their path for the next twelve months.

Torrey (06:45.815)
Right. Right.

Alvin Owusu (06:59.403)
It's like, okay, you've got yourself a a golden ticket to life on the tour. You know your direct entry into every grand slam, every Masters 1000, hell, if he if he gets high enough, he'll be seated with no points to defend for the next for the for twelve months, which the same thing Valentin Bachero wa has benefited from. And then it's like, okay, can you can you back it up? And I remember Chris

Torrey (07:02.796)
Yeah. Willy Wonka.

Torrey (07:14.476)
for 12 months.

Torrey (07:25.056)
Right? While you're playing with the house money. Yep.

Alvin Owusu (07:28.193)
While you're playing with the house money, and I remember Chris said like his instance was he his game did not travel across all surfaces. So the clay court season was always gonna be dicey for him. the difference between him and Valentin Vascherow that Vashro's game will travel. Big serve, obviously big from the backcourt, like he can he can take that anywhere. I think

Torrey (07:48.364)
Yup, and good returns. And to your point, I want to just chime in, but set up from a phenomenal tournament that he now has the option of playing downhill for the better part of, let's just say nine months, right? Because at some point you got to kind of ramp up for that season that you probably did well in, to your point. But know that these players that were between 150, give or take, that are just a stone's throw away from making it main draw.

are just as good as some of the players that are in the main draw. Just a little bit of love, just a little bit of confidence, and we can't say enough for what difference a nice run and a few wins of confidence gives you. I mean, this player was 118, Alvin, not 98, not 88, not 78. 118, or I may be giving him 116. Right, not in.

the main draw off direct ranking. needed a wild card. So shout out to LTA for giving him one. And number two, this player was playing college tennis at Stanford. Clearly a good player. It just helps me to help. And I tell players all the time, the level is so close. It's so close. we just can't, we sometimes look at the top one or two, we look at the Novak's ovation, who we've been blessed to.

Alvin Owusu (09:02.253)
It's so close. It's it's so close, yeah.

Torrey (09:11.262)
be able to see and watch and we know that level is there. That's another talk show. However, don't think that these players who are there, who aren't just a big, just a small break, and funny what difference a win makes, Alvin. I'm so happy for Arthur and there's been so many Arthur. Do you realize, Alvin, that Ferry who played at Stanford, Fernley who played at TCU, obviously Cam Norrie as well, you've got.

know, while the LTA's done a phenomenal job getting these guys out there, that's three GBRs right there that played American college NCAA tennis. And so you gotta, we talked with us with Bobby Reynolds on the show here, how many of these guys have played, it's a truly, college tennis does not get the credit it deserves for being the training ground, the breeding ground. No doubt, those that know, no.

Alvin Owusu (10:01.405)
I I don't know, coach. I don't know. I think it is. I think it's I think I I am hearing it on the broadcasts. It I think it's yeah.

Torrey (10:07.42)
But I'm saying it doesn't get some of the, it doesn't get the full credit deserves of how well these players have played and have ascended to high levels having played it. That's what I'm saying. And I just feel like at some point in the future, we'd love to see not only the colleges and the coaches that are at these colleges get the developmental credit for that transition pro, but also for the level itself to just get the props it deserves for these players going from here.

Alvin Owusu (10:19.585)
Well yeah.

Torrey (10:37.019)
to hear because that's all I want to make sure that everybody understands. they, what is the common nominator? College tests.

Alvin Owusu (10:45.665)
Well, let's la I don't wanna get too far ahead of ourselves here because like Arthur, like, he is not a different player than he was ten days ago, right? And his his his level we'll see. It is harder sometimes they say it's it's harder to get there than it is to stay there. Like if you can if you can get into the top, you know, eighty and you can consistently win, you know, a round or two at every tournament for the most part over the course of the year, you start to become a professional tennis player year in, year out, right? Like and so that's that is

Torrey (10:53.841)
For sure.

Alvin Owusu (11:15.543)
That's your job. Like as far as like what do I think Arthur Ferry is going to be like in the future? I mean, he is five nine, all right. So let's not get ahead of ourselves here. But but that doesn't

Torrey (11:24.87)
100 % but he did just beat down your boy Flavio Caboli in straights and the third I might add

Alvin Owusu (11:29.321)
Sure, sure. And I wanna I wanna talk about that because I I did on our last episode I did mention that that that was not gonna be an easy match for Flavio and and for the same Flavio and I think a lot of players will probably hit this level, right? At some point you're gonna have to go through somebody. And I think that is a separator between like really good and then the top of the game, especially on the men's side. Like you need you need to be able to w win

Torrey (11:55.942)
women too.

Alvin Owusu (11:58.345)
Yeah, well yeah. I mean, but like winning points on your I mean, we had this conversation about Coco yesterday, so like it's very much transferred forward. Like you need to be able to win points off your first serve and you need to be able to go plus one and dictate as well. So th with all that Kabali has done, and I c and I and I like him as a player. I think everyone likes him as a player, he

Torrey (12:03.494)
point.

Torrey (12:15.53)
Huge body of work, 100%. Semis of French, he's here he is again, quarters of Wimby. I mean, you can't see enough about the guy.

Alvin Owusu (12:24.353)
But he can hang with anyone because he's a good he's a phenomenal mover. he's got a live arm, he's great in the corners. But the thing, if you said that there's anything that's lacking, it's probably his ability to step up and go through someone when he needs to. And when you're dealing with someone like Arthur Ferry, who is as solid as a rock from the baseline, right, also moves quite well. Like I love seeing him hit those sliding, sliced forehands like he's playing Padel out there. Like it's I I love it. I love it.

Torrey (12:37.989)
Sure. Sure.

Torrey (12:51.629)
Yeah

Alvin Owusu (12:53.949)
and then also has the ability to I'm not gonna say defend his serve, but makes a high percentage of first serves with a d enough pop coming out of that frame, frame his size, not his not his tennis racket. I think he is playing with that new Wilson, the the Python the Python, I think they're calling it the red line or something like that. that bad boy drops soon. Like the I mean, I'm not a Wilson, I'm not a Wilson guy, I'm not a Wilson sponsor. I will be if they want me to be.

Torrey (13:13.776)
Look, interplug here. I hear that, I hear that. Yep, yep.

Alvin Owusu (13:22.081)
Wilson, I'm just I'm just I'll do it. I'm here. We're available. not a not a wide open, slide in my DMs. but yeah, he's he like with the home crowd behind him, I think and then also Arthur mentioned something that like because he beat Flavio in the first round of Australian Open, he had belief. And this is the funny thing about belief, coach. Flavio had d effectively diarrhea during the match and

At the Australian Open, right? On and off the court. Watery, Watery stole the whole deal. He was not himself. Doesn't matter. Arthur can't Arthur got the win. He comes away with the belief, and he apologized to nobody about it. Comes into this match and he was like, I I I've I've beaten you before. And now we're on my turf. We're in my hood. These are my people. And he laid he laid the stick down. Laid the stick down.

Torrey (13:50.688)
Right. Yup.

Yep. Bye.

Torrey (14:01.986)
That's right, that's right.

Torrey (14:07.296)
But I can do it again.

Right? That's right.

Alvin Owusu (14:15.968)
Dick down. And then the third set was like a was like an exhibition. Like diving all over, pick up the it was it was a joy. Yeah.

Torrey (14:19.011)
Yeah.

He literally could miss. mean, he literally, but he picked up that half, that let court and that let for it, die, flick open court with Flavio in the back corner watching it. I'm like, you gotta be kidding me. I'll raise you one. No doubt.

Alvin Owusu (14:27.008)
The LED cord dive.

Alvin Owusu (14:33.44)
He was like like all right, Yala, I I see you one and I'll raise you one. I don't know, hers was actually pretty dope too. but yeah, it was a it was a lot of fun. and you know, his run has been like any miracle run or run you don't see coming. There have been some fortuitous bounces, like that match against Zizou Berggs. Like Zizu, like Zizou did that to himself. Like multiple opportunities to close that match out and gave it away. I would say he he really showed me something against Grigor, like

Torrey (14:50.634)
Sure.

Torrey (14:54.485)
Yeah. Sure. Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (15:03.286)
first time on center court and then like got himself in the situation and rose to the occasion. and then today was a it was like an announcement. And I say an announcement as we, you know, look forward to the the next match. We'll talk a little about the Zverev fit first match. I he hasn't seen someone serve as big as Zverev is going to serve. That's I mean that's that's that's real deal. That's real deal. He's not the French Open finalist. He's the French Open champ.

Torrey (15:25.056)
Thank you. Thank you.

Torrey (15:31.583)
Right. He's also 6'6", I'd say 6'7", and bringing it from a different altitude than he's used to. in fact, one of the players even mentioned that to me. Not sure if he can handle that big of a serve. You know, he tends to struggle with big servers, especially guys that serve big. And Svereb serves as big as anybody. So with that tall, lanky, know, 6'7", which by the way was the difference to me in the Taylor Fritz match, was

Alvin Owusu (15:32.972)
Right.

Alvin Owusu (15:38.645)
Yes.

Torrey (16:00.864)
Sasha served big today. He looked courageous. He looked like he was taking his chances. I don't want to get to him until you're to move on, but to me, that's going to spell trouble for Mr. Arthur Ferri.

Alvin Owusu (16:11.924)
Yeah, and I I I think it's a good place to a good place to move on. I will say, I did hear an interview that Taylor Fritz gave and they were asking him about Arthur Ferry. This was probably four days ago, five days ago. And he was like, I know Arthur really well. They spent an entire week training together before HTP finals two years ago. And Taylor was like, Yeah, he beat me every single set we played. Like the guy's tough. Like I it's it's he's like, I I've been kind of keeping my eye on him, expecting him to make a jump at some point. and

Torrey (16:29.407)
Mmm.

Alvin Owusu (16:41.074)
I mean this is a full on long jump, but but he's here now. You apologize to nobody for that.

Torrey (16:44.147)
Number seven. But a jump all the same. And I just thought it was, again, I just have to say it again. It's just phenomenal, the work that this young man put in. Heck of a tournament. Great for the English crowd there. All England Club as well as the LTA. Just an awesome thing. We talk about the American drought. It was a drought before Murray, right? Murray actually wasn't too far off the Tim Hinman, you know, reign.

Alvin Owusu (16:57.922)
yeah.

Torrey (17:13.006)
And now to have this young man come up, Cam had a nice little tournament last year, was last year, before, but he had a nice little run. think Fernley, right, right, was that two, was that two wimmies ago?

Alvin Owusu (17:20.48)
The bicycle the whole bicycle thing where he was bicycling from his house to to women. it might have been l was it last year? Yeah, yeah, I think so.

Torrey (17:28.318)
I thought last year you got to the quarters around 16 and a half. My point being, and now to have a guy into the semis, I mean, that's just huge. And for England to be one of the oldest of all the, or the oldest, I think, for all the tournaments, you just gotta love for the All England Tennis Club. It's just great. It's just absolute poetic justice for all that it is and all that it ain't. And I'm just happy for them. And hey, again, shout out to my boy Paul Goldstein.

Stanford's finest out there and all the rest of the guys that who played him in college tennis because you can kind of as he rises each one of those players you know has has a nice moment the sun too and you're like I'll play that guy and and and that's that's fun that's tennis right there Alvin oh play that guy in the third round and such and such that that's oh be in the red game oh that's

Alvin Owusu (18:12.628)
No, the more the the more fun is the the indirect win game. We're like, I'm taking I'll take up my indirect win over over over Grigor somehow.

Torrey (18:20.028)
Oh my God, is it not? But that's also part of the stuff that binds us as tennis players. And that's the cool part. you know you wouldn't have done the same body work that he did in this tournament, but it just puts you in that moment. Oh, I coached that guy. Oh, I had that guy. He did a camp with me. Oh, I played on my team when I was a freshman. That's the cool part of tennis is it just connects all of us. And as I say, that's what makes us tennis players.

Alvin Owusu (18:25.376)
Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (18:47.446)
Here, here. Zvere versus Fritz, right? Obviously, Taylor's own that matchup leading up to today. he did tweak the knee a little bit when he was down. He got got he got broken early, second service game, something like that. so he was already down a break, felt something in the knee go, and then he kind of just kind of was a little not necessarily overly hampered, but a little distracted, all things considered. so there's not I don't think there's a ton you can take away from

Torrey (18:53.584)
Yeah.

Torrey (18:57.349)
Yeah.

Torrey (19:10.651)
Sure.

Torrey (19:14.862)
Right.

Alvin Owusu (19:15.24)
what changed in the matchup or anything like that. What I what I do think is important is that Alexander Zverev came in, three sets played, three sets won, got himself on and off the court in a very efficient manner. And at this point this year, he's semifinal won, si minimum semifinaled Grand Slam. And we keep going back to this. This is what he does. He's the

Torrey (19:35.195)
into three. Only this year he's bettered the semi or final with his opposite performance. Let me tell you two things I saw today though Alvin. Regardless of Taylor's knee, and we know that knee was a little suspect from the break when Taylor's been hurt with that before. Alex served bigger today than he served in previous matchups against Taylor. Alex went down the line more.

than he's done in previous matchups before. And I just felt like for whatever reason, right, Taylor being dinged up and being upped up two sets, he started playing a little more free, whatever the post-Roland Garrow's bliss that he's still drafted, he's still riding, he looked like he's more aggressive. You and I have been, we've been chiding Mr. Zverev for too long to count. Before we started this podcast about how safe,

how conservative, how he won't just take the chance, right? And how he's always gonna be a perennial bridesmaid as a result. He's starting to take the chances. He's starting to be bold in those big moments. Regardless of what Taylor could or couldn't do today, he looked like that today. He looked like the better player. He looked like there was no head to head differential the other way. He looked like, and on grass, which is Taylor's surface. He looked like, yeah, I used to be that way, but not anymore.

And I just felt like I got it. can't say enough about the different style of play that Sasha's playing now versus before.

Alvin Owusu (21:07.295)
I mean he can if you're if you're six foot seven and you're serving seventy seven percent of your first serves in and winning seventy seven percent of your first serve points, you can play whatever style you want to play after that. Like I mean that's the me he's serving like like modern day Philippoosis to a certain extent. I'm being a little stretching it a little bit here, but yeah, like everything everything starts with the serve. I mean, this is the guy who used to have the yips. he's the double f a double fault machine some years ago and now he is like

Torrey (21:15.724)
You

Yeah. That's true. Yep.

Alvin Owusu (21:36.319)
He is like one of the most consistent and intimidating servers on tour. was also able to come into the net fifteen, fourteen, fifteen times. Like that's that's the that's what we're that's what we're looking for out of him, right? So

Torrey (21:45.336)
14, 14 times.

Well, and add one more stat. 72 % of second serve point one versus 33 on the other side. Taylor had him 78 % versus 77 on the first serve category. Taylor's got a big serve. But 72 to 33 % of points one on the second. And that to me shows you're still, you're not slowing the second serve speed down. You're still gonna be aggressive. To me, that's the stat if you're looking at a differential.

Alvin Owusu (21:53.951)
Yeah, that's big. That's big. That's big.

Alvin Owusu (22:12.683)
That's wild. That's that's wild.

Torrey (22:18.153)
somewhere that's the stat right there. Obviously, you know, as I look at the whole thing and obviously he's, you know, let's be honest, Taylor's got great returns, especially on grass. Dare I say Zverev has better returns overall and clearly as good on the grass. I thought he returned better today. Some of that could certainly be on the knee for Taylor. So clearly he gets the pass on that for what he's done historically over the body of his career. But I say it to say Zverev did what he had to do today.

just played very, very solid. And I think, I think he is going to, you know, of all the players that are in this draw, he's gonna say it. He's got the best chance. He's got the best chance. I'ma leave it there.

Alvin Owusu (22:55.317)
You don't have to do it. You don't have to do it. You don't have to do it. You don't have to do it. You don't have to say anything.

Okay. Wait, of all the players in the left in the draw of the four, he has the best chance to what? He's the he's your favorite to win the thing? Is this

Torrey (23:08.092)
When the thing.

Nope, I said he has the best chance.

Alvin Owusu (23:15.691)
Well that's okay, that's that's a that is a math that's a math problem because the the two the two best players, the people with the two the two favorites to win it are playing each other. So you kinda have to I see what you did there. I fine. That's fine. That's fine. I I don't I I hear you. Okay. Alright, we shall see. I think I I I do assume that I

Torrey (23:19.775)
Novak Djokovic.

Torrey (23:37.876)
I just think number 25 is just, it's just ominously hanging in there. I'm like, I take it he might get it. He might get it. Yes, yes we will. Yes we will. Yep.

Alvin Owusu (23:42.024)
God bless. gosh. I think we'll have I think we'll have plenty of time to talk about that come Friday afternoon after that match is played. let's go over the women's side. my my not my dark horse, but you know I am I'm I'm pro I'm pro Checkia out here. And Lennon Oskova check down, check down, check down. which is inverse because it should be check up because yeah let's go check up because I'm a pro I'm a big fan of of Czech tennis.

Torrey (23:58.653)
Yeah, Check down. Is that correct? Check down. Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (24:11.795)
Lynn Noskova, I've been I've been singing her praises. and I can't remember the conversation you and I had, if it was b before we finished the podcast or after we finished the podcast, but I'm very high on her. I've mentioned this in a few different podcasts. When you see someone continue to half their ranking, you know, four years in a row, like it's it's all going the right direction for her. this is that opportunity for her. And I think I think today, today's match was a a bit of a coming-of-age match for her.

Torrey (24:31.933)
Yep. Yep.

Torrey (24:41.683)
Sure, I agree with that.

Alvin Owusu (24:42.427)
She she was in a match where she was and she's been the favorite to win all the matches she's played. you could toss up with the keys match, whatever, whatever. But on paper, she's a higher seeded player, higher ranked player in every match she's played up to this point. But now we get into a situation where like, snap, I'm in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon and I'm expected to win this match. And it got really hard for her to close the match. My girl was slicing forehands towards the back end of that match, like it was 1975. It was it was Yeah, and I was like, that's

Torrey (24:53.107)
Sure. Sure.

Torrey (24:59.611)
Right. Right.

Sure. Yeah, yeah. Toward the end, toward the end.

Alvin Owusu (25:12.095)
That's a real human tennis moment. Like the lights got a little bright. It's just

Torrey (25:13.971)
Yep, yep, and she's 21, you know, so it's not 27. This is the first time, not the fourth, fifth time. So I'm with you.

Alvin Owusu (25:21.385)
Right. And Elise Mertens will she will let you she's not gonna she's not gonna knock your head off. She's gonna let you cut your own head off. Yeah, and and she gave Linda plenty of opportunities to do that. And Linda tried really hard, but I was really impressed that she got through it when she was visibly nervous. She was visibly nervous and she got through it. I think you'd learn a lot from that. Probably more you probably take more away from that than you do if she went out there and

Torrey (25:26.131)
Right. Right. She won't be herself.

Torrey (25:32.823)
Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (25:50.909)
And busted her two and two.

Torrey (25:51.122)
Right, right and just played lights out because then you really can't put anything on that except for I played lights out. Right, I'm totally agreeing with you on that. But let's be honest, every time she had the chance, Alvin, she tattooed the ball like she normally does. Her backhand might be top three on the tour right now, period in the story. I mean, top three, period. Her foreign aid back.

Her serve is pretty good, but her forehand and backhand might be They might all be her forehand backhand might be 90 plus material backhand for sure And the ball the way that ball sounds that's that's been my only issue with Len Noskov has always been Mobility she hits the ball so big she's one of those classic Is her ball speed a little bit a little bigger than a foot speed and will that hurt her and especially on grass? And that's what I've been now if you tag it

Allah, Amanda Nisamova last year, Amanda Nisamova now. But to my point, you always have that tendency to hit yourself a little out of your coverage area. But when you connect, it's game over. So that's what, it's just a little bit of tennis version of Russian roulette, buddy. But if you hit it, there is nothing, and I do mean nothing, anyone can do to you. And that's just, you know.

That to me is also part of the mystery of the grass is if you take it and you make it, it's high risk, high reward.

Alvin Owusu (27:24.308)
Yeah, and I I wanna go back to this was probably twenty twenty three, twenty twenty four, maybe it was things twenty twenty four. Linda beat she beat Ega at the Australian Open. And that match was I'm not gonna say I mean, Ega was the number one seed in that tournament, I believe, and that match was a little bit of a turning point. Like Ega's kind of it's been a little it's been a little rough. Yeah, and and then and

Torrey (27:48.351)
He could start a downfall and Linda's and Linda's upstart. Yeah. Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (27:52.499)
Linda started started ascending and it was in that match when I was like, this girl this girl's sh this girl's good. Like and she moves better than you than you think. Like, because she right, yeah, yeah. I mean she she hits a she does hit a a fantastic ball. That's that's the that that part's obvious, but she also, like, even with everything I said about her being a little nervous today, she doesn't ever seem overwhelmed. Even in a s even in today's scenario

Torrey (28:10.927)
Oakland.

Alvin Owusu (28:22.174)
when she had ample of opportunities to, you know, kind of choke it away, if you will, she did not lose herself. She got through it. In the worst of times, she got through it. so that's that's that's kinda like, you know, as we as we progress, like she does a lot of things extremely well and continues to build on that package. so I I like I say that to say, when she comes into this match against Marta Koshic, who took out Jasmine Pellini today three and two, that is going to be a more

Torrey (28:41.613)
Yup. Yup.

Alvin Owusu (28:51.826)
traditional match. I'm really excited for that tennis match. It's gonna it's gonna be a full one. I mean, Marta Kosik. Okay. Back to back semifinals in Grand Slams. Cool. Cool. Yeah. There are the there are eight women who's who have made the semifinals in the in French Open in Wimbledon and she's she is the only one to she's the one. which is awesome. and she's like she's floating on the tennis court right now. Like

Torrey (28:53.57)
Yep.

Torrey (28:58.616)
Sure, sure.

Torrey (29:05.144)
That's a ball right now.

Torrey (29:12.184)
but it's not what it's.

Alvin Owusu (29:21.352)
Not only does she look completely in control of all of her weapons, she looks very calm about how she's going to perform on that stage. And she's playing on the biggest stages now. Like she I saw her at Flynn Feliche Chatrier. Well she it was a bad it was a bad day for her. But I think this was her first match on center court. Looked like she lived there.

Torrey (29:42.924)
Right. That match was a bad day for her, but the whole clay court season and even the French up until that point had been phenomenal tennis for Marnie Postier. And I think we're seeing her pick up where she left off in this tournament right now. Jasmine Palin did not play a bad match out of it. Her serves improved her all court game. came forward several times. She looked like Jasmine. She passed, she angled Jasmine. We all know how good of a returner and how good of a mover Jasmine is. She probably has some of the highest tennis IQ.

anybody out there mind you she may have to due to her due to her being a little challenged vertically but the girl can flat-out play it knows how to play you and it just seemed like Marta said okay I'm not going to get into the the counterpunch counterpunch games with you I know how good you are I'm just going to simply change direction early be clear be firm and be accurate

Alvin Owusu (30:36.212)
Mm-hmm.

Torrey (30:37.964)
And when I do so, I'm stretch you out on the court and then I'm gonna do it again because I know it's all grass, you're have a hard time doing it. And if I'm successful, you cannot hang at the pace I'm swinging. And to her credit, she was correct. The longer rallies, all favorite Jasmine. So what did Marta do? She kept the rally short, she attacked early, and she just got into this mode of, hey, you know what? When I'm being clear and I'm being confident about what I'm doing.

you're not going to get a chance to defend because I won't let you. And she got, she, just, she had big off the ground. She dictated play and that's what, that's more what I'm looking for. And to be frank, that's the same thing that Noskov did to, to, to Elise Mertens. You know, it was, she literally took the racket out of her hand on many, on many occasions. And that's why I was, what I was looking forward to seeing. And now she gets a chance to do it against Marta Kostiuk, right?

just like we have Cocoa Mahova on the top end. I feel like now the semis is complete. I don't feel like, you you mentioned it when you said about Noscava, was thinking about Mira in the French, right? She numerically was ahead of every player she played. She was the recipient of some people knocking out the ink in front of her. no fault of hers, she handled her part of the draw and Noscava has done the same.

Alvin Owusu (31:56.319)
Yeah, yeah. Nope.

Torrey (32:02.607)
Now we're in a situation where she now has to beat Kostya. She now has to beat the winner of Coco and Carolina. And now that to me would truly, you don't, I don't say it in a whimsical way, but as I've often said, Alvin, to be the man, have to beat the man. At some point you'd like to see her beat that person to truly validate that win, so to speak. And that's all I'm gonna say.

Alvin Owusu (32:30.162)
Yeah, and the that's that's a good point. on this on this match today with Koshik and Paulini, there was like the score was what score, three and two. And that that seems pretty comprehensive. But a couple there's there was some weird stuff in there. Like Jasmine Jasmine did throw in a lot of what were counted as unforced errors, right? Like she she was not as sharp as she has been in that moment before. And Marta

Torrey (32:40.361)
32.

Alvin Owusu (32:59.526)
Also, Marta got I think I'm gonna say she got away with it, but if if Jasmine had played a little bit better, Marta could have she could have found herself in some trouble because she didn't serve well. And this is the same thing that happened to her in the in the semifinals of the French Open as well. Like she didn't she didn't make a lot of first serves today, like something around 50% of first serves made, but won ninety percent of those points. So it's like if she gets the first serve in, she is she's playing the type of tennis that is i i it's hard to beat.

Torrey (33:09.723)
Yup. Right.

Torrey (33:28.775)
Playing downhill.

Alvin Owusu (33:28.82)
But if you can't make first serves, like you're doing it to yourself. and then, you know, even on aces and double faults, even on on winners and of force errors. So like that what does it matter? It doesn't matter. She she won the match, right? but I think if you're if you're her and I she's she's kind of like in this good place right now where she's she's ready to evaluate everything, right? She's gonna come into that match and go, I did well enough to win, but I'm not gonna get sucked into the to the score line. I c I could have played better.

I and I think I think she will play better. I think her second time at this stage, she will she will play better come tomorrow.

Torrey (33:58.907)
play better.

Torrey (34:06.038)
your point perhaps this was her lull and now she's coming back up and gonna play better. She had her lull in the semi of the French. You never know when that bad day is coming Alvin. You give me seven days. Give me seven days because it's seven matches in the grand plan. It should spread out over two weeks. You and I both know Alvin one day out of seven we're gonna play pretty good tennis.

Alvin Owusu (34:11.153)
Right. Same thing with Noskova.

Alvin Owusu (34:23.165)
Right. Yep.

Torrey (34:32.517)
The converse is also true. There's gonna be one day we play pretty awful. Can we get through the awful day to get back to our norm? We're not as good as our best day. We're not as bad as our worst day. We're usually somewhere in between. You hope that your best day doesn't come early, your worst day doesn't come at the end if you're playing well. At the same time, if you're playing the top seed, you hope your best day comes early, you can hang, you know what I'm saying? And that's all part of tennis, right? And that's why it's so hard to break through.

Having said that...

she got through that quote unquote kind of average to below average dip today in the serve and made the match fairly routine. I personally look at the match I thought the score was a little more I would say it was closer to a four and three four and four clearly straight sets. I thought Paolini played better when she was striking. Marta was able to shut it down to your point. Paolini didn't take advantage of Marta's not serving as well.

to any up the score and to break a few more times. But also I give credit to Marta for not allowing her to. And we know that Jasmine's not the type to out serve you off the court. mean, she's doing good to get her serve an extra six feet of depth into the box and not have you do a Jasmine on her, right? And because that's always been, know, I mean, when she played Egan, I played some of the players, the better, bigger, taller players just go through her a little more because they just can't hurt, she can't hurt them on the serve. She's not getting hurt.

near as much. Her transitions got so much better. All the doubles experience with her and Sara Rane has been really paying off. She's all over the court moving great. Her continental skills are just solid. So I really feel good about Jasmine. Well, but I say it to say, Marta had a lot to do with it being three and two, even on a not so stellar serving day.

Alvin Owusu (36:20.947)
That's fair. And like, you know, to your point about like over the course of this many matches, there are going to be some matches where you play great. There there's some matches where you play where you d don't play well. The goal is still the same as to win the match. And when when that when those shifts happen, like I mean, Jasmine could have been out in the first round of this tournament. Like she played a horrible first set against Rob Montgomery. She played a horrible half of a second set and then right at the ship and then and then continued to play impressive tennis. I think probably the match against Maria Seckery like probably her most

Torrey (36:30.276)
Yep. 100%.

Torrey (36:36.484)
Yep.

Torrey (36:44.802)
Right? Right?

Alvin Owusu (36:49.725)
complete tennis match and then also beat Alexandria after that. So today a little a little n maybe it was that like you know, not our worst day, but just not enough to overcome someone who was a little average on that day. and that's that's how it goes sometimes. but we've got some we've got our semifinals set on both sides. what is that? Kostchik versus Noskova?

Torrey (36:53.294)
What?

Torrey (37:04.878)
Yep, 100%.

Torrey (37:17.708)
Kostya, Nelskava, Golf and Lehova. You got the check up, you got a lot of check up and check down right now.

Alvin Owusu (37:20.411)
Mohova. We've got

Alvin Owusu (37:26.779)
And then on the on the men side we've got that that match tomorrow. I can't believe it's no it's not tomorrow, it's Friday. Novak versus Center. I don't think we'll we might not talk again before that. We might just wait till after. and then you've got Sasha Zverev against Arthur Ferry. Three of those things are quite obvious. One of those things is a spanner in the works. I tell you, I I took yours. I took yours and and and played it right up the middle.

Torrey (37:46.178)
This is spanner, literally a spanner, and the words touche, almond, too.

Alvin Owusu (37:55.252)
But I think that's a good that's a good place to put it in it. we've we've we've got enough for today. I'm Alvin. That's Tori. You guys enjoy your semifinals. We're out.