Alvin Owusu (00:00.884)
And welcome to another episode of the Best of Three Podcast. I'm Alvin. That's Tori. And Linda Noskova is your 2026 Ladies Wimbledon champion. She took out Carolina Mujova just about, they wrapped up about thirty minutes ago. by the score of six two, five seven, six three. TH, are you entertained?

Torrey (00:22.604)
Are you entertained? Very much so. very, very, very solid tennis. I was very impressed with the quality. really impressed with the dogged determination of Mohova in that second. Stared down the barrel of all those break points, match points, and so on. I mean, just and and even her own, you know, points to hold that that didn't come to fruition that she finally did it. and then

Alvin Owusu (00:40.749)
Match points. Yeah.

Torrey (00:49.077)
just battled back and steamrolled, you know, those last two games in the second. And it was just that to me really showed me how steely her resolve was. But bottom line, entertained a hundred percent. impressed, a thousand percent. I mean, it was y you know what happens, Alvin, in these kind of matches. And I we don't need to talk about last year's unfortunate final, but well I I I for context, right? For context, right? I'm just saying it was, you know, Amanda had such a great two week

Alvin Owusu (01:09.612)
I think we have to. I mean i it's it it's it's relevant. Yeah.

Torrey (01:17.886)
run there and had a phenomenal semi match and obviously threw up a couple of goose eggs in the final and you know when you get the non one and two seeds in a final is what I is the point I'm trying to make 'cause no one this this isn't a script we're going off of. This is all live live action. You know, yee yee. You know, this is a a hundred percent. You're in this moment where they haven't been there. They haven't been there enough. They haven't been there. This was you know, this was

Alvin Owusu (01:27.15)
Mm-hmm.

Alvin Owusu (01:37.24)
Tell tell that to the men's side of the of the the tournament.

Torrey (01:47.261)
Linda's second time on that court. I want to speak on more on that on that a little bit later. But that is something that breeds situations for a big upside, a big landslide the other direction. Because you just the moment can tend to overwhelm you a little bit. And I was really, really happy that you know both of them are former doubles partners, perhaps current double partners. Well, we'll see. But yeah, I know they want I know won the bronze together, and I'm pretty sure they won the bronze.

Alvin Owusu (02:11.566)
Well they played in the Olympics together and they lost they no, I think did they win or they lose it? Okay, okay.

Torrey (02:17.129)
But my point being knew each other. Obviously there's a little bit of an age difference, but still played a lot together, the friends. there was it was just good to see that that level of familiarity was there so that the tennis shone through and I was really, really impressed with the level, especially with it not being one and two playing each other, 'cause that has oftentimes, Alvin, led to a very a very shaky final

Even after a phenomenal two weeks, right, it it is led to a a very shaky final. And you know, at today we were one hundred percent they overdelivered today.

Alvin Owusu (02:51.916)
Yeah. I I wanna go back and make sure that we that we kind of nail that like, you know, juxtaposed to last year's final, right? You have well Iga, like she's been in a b a lot of not her first woman in final, but she had been in a a lot of Grand Slam finals before, right? She was ready to roll. Amanda was obviously a little shook by the moment and could never really recover. in this instance to your point about, you know, them b having a prior relationship, right? They know each other, they both came out

to center court for the first time before the double before the semifinals, because they neither one of them had hit on the court before. So they they hit on the court together. They to they took pictures on the court together and then they both played fantastic semifinal matches. So I think and then they played each other, right? So coming into that final, it's like I was I was thinking I don't think either one of them's gonna choke. I think they're both gonna just show up because all of the things that you would think would get to a person, a lot of them anyways, have been normalized.

Torrey (03:30.185)
Right.

Torrey (03:34.887)
then play the top. Right. Right.

Alvin Owusu (03:51.795)
there's and there's n no Grand Slam champion on the other side of the net. they're doing it for all the Czechia. Like, I mean, Czech the I mean next time the they play this tournament, I feel like when the champions come back, the women are gonna need their own damn row. Like it's it's just it's starting to add up. And it was so cool to see all of the former champions there, Czech and non Czech. really and I think they all showed up because it's one of those not only a big occasion in a women's final, but like

Torrey (03:51.815)
Right.

Torrey (03:56.678)
Right. Yep.

Torrey (04:05.402)
Yeah. Right, right, right.

Torrey (04:11.173)
Right.

Torrey (04:17.199)
Yeah, historic historic moment, wasn't it? Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (04:19.116)
Yeah, this this felt like it this felt like it mattered. And I think, yeah, I think, you know, from a standpoint of like how that match got started, like Linda was you know, she was ready set go from like from the moment they walked on the court. And, you know, we talked about this before we started, you know, hitting record. Like both women played relatively well. I mean, Linda played exceptionally well for the the vast majority of the match, but Carolina did not play poorly.

Torrey (04:46.737)
No, God no.

Alvin Owusu (04:47.938)
To your to your point, I'll let you kind of expound on this, but we talk about rock, paper, scissors, right? D and game styles and like if if ever someone's rock is going to take the racket out of your hand holding scissors, this was this was it.

Torrey (04:52.761)
Right. Right.

Torrey (05:02.469)
Right. That's right. That's right. And it was and it was a very classic matchup in that sense, which was why it was so fun to see Mohova dig her heels in and use a bit of rock back, right? To be able to get back to said scissors. And I think that's part of what I'm getting at, Alvin, is you saw so many different levels of it. I don't really think Moho I don't think noskova bum

Bungled that 5'3 down. She just had a very determined Carolina that was not going away. And she just stayed in. She matched them. were there a few errant forehands here? Sure, but there was also a lot of bigger shots. Perhaps some of Carolina's biggest shots of the tournament came at those times. You never saw her get to use her dropper or her or her, you know, coming in with the nice depth feathered volley.

Because she didn't get on the front foot enough to do so until she countered back with said skills. And I just feel like it was just a very good tactical matchup going back and forth. And we didn't really see her use some of that until it was late in the second, after she countered first. And I think that's a big that's a big thing for players out there who like to change it up, you know, man have a few different shots, a little lot of variety, a lot of an all court player kind of a background.

You've got to be able to counter rock before you can use your scissors. And I think that was just the point I was getting at.

Alvin Owusu (06:34.583)
I wanted to I wanted to touch on that later, but let's just do it now, right? we talk a lot about A game versus B game. And I would say like, you know, using the rock and the scissors here, it's a fantastic, you know, fan fantastic allegory, but analogy, yeah. that I think the rock is very it's very straightforward, right? Very Linonoskova. and I would say that's her A game, right? She's gonna she's gonna pound the first serve, she's gonna set up big ground strokes. She she that that is a big that's a big woman. She's five ten. Five ten strong

Torrey (06:48.003)
Sure. Analogy. Yeah, yeah. Sure.

Torrey (06:53.346)
Yep. Yep. Yep.

Alvin Owusu (07:04.289)
going through people with a little side of a a little side of touch, right? Just just enough to to finish points off. where Carolina is known for her for her touch and her feel. that is her A game, the scissors, if you will. but I think that for Carolina, for her to be successful and maybe make that next step of like and the next step for her is like could consistently showing up in the final weekend of Grand Slams, right? Like if she's healthy, which seems like she is

Torrey (07:18.2)
Yeah. Sure.

Alvin Owusu (07:33.698)
her game is there, but like how does she start to impact players like that from the like from the jump? I think it's just what you said. she her her A game shines better when her B game of driving through the court to set s to set up the touch is i is the way to go. And I noticed that I guess they met on they said on the broadcast about her coach was telling her to start to square up the stance a little bit more when she had the opportunity. I wanted

give you, can you, can you kind of talk us through like what does that mean? how do you how do you manage that? How do you create opportunities for that?

Torrey (08:10.327)
Sure. Sure. Number one, let me put out great point, great reporting on courtside reporting from Chris Eubanks. I know he's a friend of the pod and been here. Excellent I'm gonna say insights from him in general, let alone obviously good feedback from him who was there courtside listening to what the camp was speaking to both players. what what it comes down to, Alvin, is time. So

Rocks best the hard-hitting, aggressive baseline, bringing pace, bringing high tempo. That style, their biggest benefit is taking away time. Okay, there simply isn't time to do much else, right? When they go through you, hit that big shot, starting off usually with a big serve, and follow up with a big ground stroke, you are literally reeling.

From impact of serve, counter with hopefully counter with return, and then they got a pretty good first strike. So it's a very potent way to play. If I am a player that likes to feel the ball, block the ball, roll the ball, I'm still giving time back to said big hitter. And if big hitter can nail that ball, now you've got more time taken away. So let's think of it in terms of time difference or differential. I hit a ball that goes through you.

You block a ball back. You'll get a little bit extra time. But I've got even more time to drill you one more time. And provided I can do that, I've taken away all your time. It went from taking away a lot of it, taking away all of it. And at that point, if I can continue that, that will be the way this match goes. So now you, as the counterer or the slasher, or the all court player, has to now decide, okay, this is a losing proposition.

I now have to bang back just to get my time and technically speaking, take away yours, right? So that I can start to work the magic that I know that I can do. And that's what we saw today, especially late in that second, in that second set.

Alvin Owusu (10:28.065)
To interject there and I'm just gonna just keep you going. But the I think there's a there's a caveat with the slice though. The slice is one of those shots where if you hit it as a block as a as a almost like a fend it off kind of block, you are then giving the other person more time, right? That ball's gonna hit the ground, it's going to sit up, and now they have even if we're zooming in on more time, they have more time to create the shot, right? If you if you hit the slice well and it stays low and it moves through the court.

Torrey (10:41.053)
Sure.

Time hundred percent.

Even more time.

Right, right.

Yes.

Alvin Owusu (10:57.783)
quickly it now takes time away from the other person. Yeah, because now you don't have as much time to create that shro that stroke production. So, keep going though. I didn't mean to knock you off.

Torrey (11:01.157)
Especially on the grass.

Torrey (11:07.763)
But but you need to do that. That was a perfect segue when you have time to hit it. So it goes back to the same thing. It comes back to time. It's actually in the Mohova type game plan. Good backhand slice, run around forehand. Why? It buys you a little bit of an extra second of time, and now you can pull inside out, inside in, and have that, you know, the what I call the

Alvin Owusu (11:12.094)
When you have time.

Torrey (11:30.972)
The the wonderful Bermuda Triangle because now you got that inside corner shot and you're pretty much going open quarter inside in. And at that point you hold a lot of the cards. But you can't do that if you don't have time. So that's what I thought Carolina did a great job of ripping the ball back, hitting hard back through the middle. She is a pretty good backhand herself. You know, we we forget how good her backhand is because she's she slices so well, got a darn good backhand. And then she had the ability to throw in said drop shot, throw in said redirect, and then of course.

I don't care. Linda is as fast as she is. She's not as as strong and as as athletic she is. She's not as fast. So now we've got now she was able to kind of, you know, use the use the dropper and whatnot. There was a couple of couple of bad droppers back from Linda on a couple of those balls. Look like a look like a attack of the finger. But that just shows you that that's also one of the of the of the drawbacks of rock. You you have that as your main option, right? She's

She's from the arena Sabalenka school. You know, she's she's going through you. Maybe not, at least not yet, all the feel and all of the depth touch and whatnot with some of the other side with the other side of the the racket. So bottom line, it's about time, Alvin. And I feel like that was what we saw today. It was really a battle for for time, it was a battle for core position. I thought I thought it went back and forth a few different ways. Both were trying to counter and match what they were doing. And I I I just that's why we were

treated to such a good match because it was such a good contrast of styles.

Alvin Owusu (12:59.851)
Yeah. And I want to add about the backhand, like, you know, we talked about this in the match with Carolina versus Coco, how Coco was trying to pick on the backhand. I think it's very I think it's very poignant in that when the ball is coming, Carolina's backhand is is sh very, very solid when it's coming through the slot at a fairly predictable trajectory, right? Like the ball that Linonoskova hits is actually a little bit easier to square up.

for for someone who's very, you know, very strong left hand dominant on that backhand, right? difficult more difficult with Coco's ball because it's coming in, especially off the forehand side when Coco goes forehand heavy down the line up and high to the backhand, that's that one's a little harder to firm up as it's moving up and through the strike zone and you're trying to cover it with the with that left hand. Like it's so it's it's very it's a very nuanced difference, but I think people show up here for the nuanced differences.

Torrey (13:28.111)
Sure.

Torrey (13:32.805)
Sure, sure.

Torrey (13:39.951)
Sure. Right. Right.

Torrey (13:48.025)
No, no.

Torrey (13:55.514)
Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (13:56.479)
And you know, another point about like, you know, we were looking at these kind things. Being five ten puts a lot of balls like right in your slot. It's almost like the Goldilocks height for a a female tennis player. Yeah. like you're not gonna get balls aren't gonna get up and over your shoulders, but you're still you're not too tall to not be able to handle the low balls. she can still like Linda was able to she showed a few different times, she was still able to get down, drop that bat that left leg,

Torrey (14:09.996)
But ladies, sure. Sure.

Alvin Owusu (14:26.418)
and and hit the two-handed backhand off the off the dirt when she needed to. but I thought that was you know I'm gonna kinda go back to the the macro of the match if you will right I I personally see every match as a just envisioned tug of war, right? We we start we start from the beginning, there's no tension, and then at the same time we both start pulling, right? And in every match, at some point, generally every good match, the match starts to what I call notch in, right? And that is when both

both players are pulling at the same amount. You can think of tug of war, you can think of arm wrestling, it's when nothing's nothing's moving, right? We've we've kind of sussed out the swings and now nothing we've we've kind of hit equilibrium and nothing's moving. Okay.

Torrey (15:03.095)
Right. Sure. Right. Right. It it's a dynamic sta stasis. It's a bunch of micro moves and but but but looks like it's not moving.

Alvin Owusu (15:12.382)
Yes, yes. And so but in bunch of micro I mean, hell, for the first hour and ten minutes of this match, it was it was one way traffic moving that way. And but at not even not even the five two game in the second set. It was I think it was the three one game where and I might be a little off of the score, but Carolina had started to get into one of Linda's return serve games. Like she got into it a little bit.

Torrey (15:20.811)
One way three, hundred percent, hundred percent.

Torrey (15:39.65)
Yeah. Yep. Yep. Right. Right. Right. She fent she fended off two or three break points to your point. Yeah. Yep. Yep.

Alvin Owusu (15:42.155)
Linda won the game. I think she went up four one after that, but she got into one. And she was Yeah, she made she she she got her first break points. She Linda fought off a few of them. but at that point you could start to see, okay, she's in the match. We're we're starting to we're not we're not back to even, but we're getting a little closer to to neutral here. And it started to pull, it started to pull like five two, five three, five four. you know, and

Torrey (16:04.352)
Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (16:12.084)
And then Linda got she got tight, right? And because she's human. Like, I had a buddy text me like, she's she's tight right here. The b both layers look tight. I'm like, Yeah, no shit. It's it's the it's the Wimbledon final. Like, we're tight and we're just watching. Of course

Torrey (16:14.101)
Right. Sure. Yeah.

Torrey (16:23.221)
Got that right. You'd be tight in the first round, you know what I mean, let alone the final, you know what I mean? Yes sir, yes sir. For a level six.

Alvin Owusu (16:28.938)
We've been tight at we've been tight at Hudlow, Tennis Center, okay? So let's let's for a third round of the backdraw. Let's not let's not get it twisted. Right, exactly. Exactly. Like come on, we are and that's the again, I always come back to this. That's the human nature, the human part of of tennis that is so beautiful and makes it unique. but I think and very relatable. but I to my point was I think if you start to look forward like what happens to Leninoskova after this.

Torrey (16:44.576)
Yep. And and relatable.

Alvin Owusu (16:57.524)
Right. There are probably there were probably a few different scenarios that could have happened, but I think the two that were most likely at that point in time, which was she wins that match two and two or two and four. Yeah, it's great. But then her losing the opportunity, regrouping, and then getting right back to business in that third set, I'm like, that is some growth right there. She she she she is going to I am so excited for what happens to her after this tournament.

Torrey (17:13.482)
Right.

Torrey (17:16.96)
Yeah.

One percent. How

Torrey (17:25.597)
Right. Look Carolina did her a favor, you know, by by making it be that much harder to earn and she was tested and and able to come through to your point, that was actually better than a straight set victory where I I played well, you know, and as opposed to I fought, I adjusted, I had to persevere. And I think that's the to your point, that's good that's gonna s

you know, suit her well, both players, but it's gonna suit her very well going forward. And it's gonna also let Carolina know that she was that she was literally right there. Where if she had gotten beaten down two and two, you know, I I played bad, I didn't have a good serving day, I I gotta handle how to play harder hitters better. No, no. Well both players benefited from said contest a as it got as tough as it did.

Alvin Owusu (18:11.06)
And some of that is true though. She d she does need to play harder hitters a little bit better. But I but but I think she will. I feel like the adjustment that she made in the second set is i i that's proof of concept of like I can be a better version of myself if I come out with a little more we'll call it traditional a game, bring the hammer a little more. and it it to set up exactly.

Torrey (18:14.878)
Right. But both both things are true. Yeah.

Torrey (18:34.962)
Right. To set up to set up my to set up my scalpel. Hundred percent.

Alvin Owusu (18:39.89)
Exactly. you can't always bring a knife to a gunfight, if you will. i one thing I I wanna make sure that we, you know, we don't have to go on and on about this. It was a fantastic final. women's tennis is in a very, very healthy place right now. And to that point, I think we can't overlook how young Linda is. Like Linda's Linda's twenty one, right? And her her cohort is, you know, on the high side, you've got the Coco Golfs of the world, right? Coco's twenty two.

Torrey (18:43.131)
Got that right.

Torrey (18:52.594)
Yeah.

Torrey (18:57.063)
Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (19:07.582)
You've got our Wimbledon Assembly finalist, Diana Schneider. She's twenty two. Right. but in that nineteen to twenty-one range, you've got, you know, Mirror's nineteen. Victoria Mbokos nineteen, Eva Yovich is eighteen, Alex Alexandria Ayala is twenty-one. So like you have this like and then there's a little bit of a like a little bit of a gap between, you know, there's not many twenty-three year olds, twenty-four year olds out there, and then twenty-five and up is kind of where it's at. But I say that to say all these women are in the top

Torrey (19:07.644)
Yep.

Torrey (19:11.719)
Yep. Yep.

Torrey (19:25.798)
Yeah.

Torrey (19:33.446)
Sure.

Alvin Owusu (19:37.11)
thirty, maybe in top in the I mean top twenty five by the end of this tournament in the world, that crop is coming. That crop is coming. So I ask you, based on what you saw over this fortnight on the women's side, particularly with these particularly with Linda, how does this project as we start to look at the second half, second half of the season here?

Torrey (19:38.18)
Right.

Torrey (19:41.605)
Right.

Torrey (19:45.114)
Yeah.

Torrey (19:51.024)
Yep, yep.

Torrey (19:56.996)
Man. You know what, Alvin, that first of all, they're coming. I mean, and Linda's here. I mean, that there's no question. We talked about this before. I told you I thought she was about a she's a little bit ahead of schedule. I certainly thought she'd be a top ten player within by year's end. I didn't necessarily see it coming this quickly. And I definitely didn't see her beating the winning a title this early. Quite frankly, I didn't see Mira doing it either, and much as I'm a big fan of Mira Andreva. So my point is is some things have happened, right?

And that has sped that up. Now that she's here, I could see Linda Noskova getting to top five by the end of the year very easily. And quite frankly, I think she's a threat for US Open because of what's happening. I also think there's a there's so much

So much tectonic activity right now within the top five that the three, four, five, six, seven, right, in that range, are now, in my opinion, very on very shaky ground because of the upward momentum, right, of the Linda Noskovas that are coming through and that whole generation that she's a part of. There's also the age factor. You know, Carolina Mahova is 29. You know, she'll be 30 in August. So you've got.

Her, you've got Arena, you know, you've got Spitalina, you've got Badoza, you've got all this JPEG, right? That are all at or nearing at past or nearing 30, that are getting a little longer in the tooth, and now you've got these others coming. So is it safe to say while these players will continue to be solid for the next year to 18 months for sure?

Alvin Owusu (21:24.693)
Gola

Torrey (21:42.655)
you're now seeing what was gonna be what I kind of thought was gonna be a nice a nice gradual progression, a possible retirement here, a a bowing out here and there. And then they would they would fill in, they would backfill very quickly. Now you're seeing them elbow out, like, hey, while you're over there figuring it out, let me let me grab this trophy real quick because seems like you're still thinking about it. I wouldn't mind taking that myself. And now you're seeing them

push these others out, how that factors in with the rest is gonna be fun to see. These players aren't going to be aren't going to go quietly. At the same time, we're in for some nice fireworks for one through twenty, especially one through twelve, you know, ish for that, you know, for the for the quarterfinal slash runs going forward. And we're gonna see a lot of good tennis, Alvin, earlier, I see it's great tennis already. We're gonna see those kind of matches earlier in round of 16 matches, quarter final matches, of course.

semis and finals and numerically speaking, we we always talk about this, that player that is now dropping a little bit is now numerically gonna have to face that seed that much earlier. And that's gonna lead for some very, very tough matchups very early on. And it's it's gonna be great for tennis.

Alvin Owusu (22:59.059)
In the in the words of the great Southern philosopher Christopher Bridges, aka ludicrous, I think the quote is MOV, get out the way. Right? and it's and it you know, to your point about the the ladies who are getting, you know, at near or at or right above thirty, it is not about, you know, they're not they're not their games aren't dropping, right? You see, I mean I mean you obviously, you know, you saw Jessica and and Coco's fantastic match in the quarterfinals, right? Like and at

Torrey (23:03.736)
That's right. Get out the way. That's right.

Torrey (23:20.79)
No, God no.

Torrey (23:25.783)
Shoot, yeah. They they're just getting caught. They're they're getting they're they're getting overtaken. That that's that's what I'm saying. It's it's the and they've held the level so high. I I've spoken loquaciously on JPEG being the litmus test for five, and she's been that and still is. Now people are matching said level and saying, Hey, Jess, appreciate you. That was exactly what I needed. And now shifting.

Alvin Owusu (23:27.893)
They're just getting caught. That's it. They they're just getting caught. They're just it

Torrey (23:50.931)
shifting and now they're moving forward. So in that sixth and seventh gear that most players don't have that they now have, quite frankly, thanks to said type of players like JPEGs, like Carolina, Carolina Mojovas and so on. Naomi Osaka's not quite that old, but still the old the clearly of the elder group than this group we're talking about. So again, it's only gonna continue to get better for for for tennis. And as I say, it's not they they're not gonna go quietly, but it's gonna mean there's there there's gonna be some there's gonna be four

I'm gonna say this weirdly, there's gonna look like four semifinals in the round of 16, is what's what's what you're gonna end up kind of getting out of these situations. You're gonna get that one, like even this tournament here. You had two or three that were a couple of blowout, a couple upsets, and which is always you know, always gonna be there. But then you had some matches that you're like, wow, you know, Naomi beating Sabolinka, pretty good match outfit. I mean, that was a pretty good serving display. And we you forget Naomi's won four slams, right?

On paper, her and Sal Balink are pretty even. You know what I mean? Even though there's some age difference in between them, they might actually be closer than age than I think. But my point as far as when they were, when they were when they won their slams. And now you're seeing they might be the same age. I'm trying to say I was just thinking about that. Wait, they might be pretty close the same age. To my point. Now you've got that level coming through, and you're like, but and that wasn't a semi? You know what I mean? Like in your mind, you're like, whoa. And that's you know, Coco and JPEG. These matches, we've seen them for a while.

Alvin Owusu (25:02.475)
They're the they're the same age. They're the same age.

Torrey (25:21.468)
This is only going to keep happening. And it's going to be you know, it's only gonna continue to just compound interest style, it's just gonna continue to get more and more strength in these other matches, and so you're gonna start seeing some great tennis going going forward, or much, much earlier, classic type matchups earlier, and now that's gonna really dictate the level of fitness and the quality.

And what I really hope happens is that the tours start realizing how tough this is and they really make some changes so we can see this kind of good tennis time in and time out. Because to me, the volume will start really taking its toll because there aren't there aren't any more easy matches or easy rounds or or or walkthroughs or the first few rounds or aren't that aren't that competitive? No, no, no, buddy. First rounds on are going to be competitive. And it's only good

Alvin Owusu (26:11.645)
It's it's legit it's legit twenty deep right now. Like it's li it's legit I mean, maybe let's call it maybe seventeen. I mean, you know, Paulini's right around seventeen right now. I'm not saying that she's the cutoff or anything, but like you have players like, you know, Madison, while she, you know, obviously the Australian Open last year was her high point. She's always a perennial quarter finalist, she's always there, like catch the right matchup, she could pop and make a semi or final at any given event. and then you have like players like you know, Emanuaro who's

Torrey (26:15.637)
for sure.

Alvin Owusu (26:41.077)
You know, ha took a step back being away from the tour last year, but then K is now moving her way back up, playing some good tennis. She's outside the top twenty. She looks like she's coming right back for it. but there's a exactly, yeah, exactly. So when you start to think about with the news that we got that WTA Finals is leaving Riyadh, coming to the States, it's gonna be in Indian Wells, I think this year. like as of in November, they're gonna play that tournament here. Like, who's gonna be there? I don't know.

Torrey (26:48.071)
Right. Got that right. Point forward top ten.

Alvin Owusu (27:07.893)
I don't know. Like, I mean, we keep getting new Grand Slam champions. this is what now eight in a row, different winners of the of the last eight Grand Slams. So it's it's and women's tennis is so good right now. It is so good. And I think because of your the point you made earlier about we get these matchups of true that really, really matter. There are true stakes like round of sixteen on. Like at the it like when they hit round of sixteen

Torrey (27:15.809)
Yeah.

Torrey (27:21.435)
Right.

Torrey (27:34.043)
Yeah. Right.

Alvin Owusu (27:37.535)
It's like get your popcorn. It's 'cause it's like any one of these ladies remaining could win this tournament. yeah. Yeah, we'll we'll mess around and do it. We'll mess around and do it.

Torrey (27:43.809)
Right.

Right. I mean, you you got that in that matchup you're talking about, you got a former Wimbledon champion Eva Sciantec that could be facing a higher seat. You've got and we're not even talking about Marquetta Vandrosova who hadn't been who hadn't been back to due to due to health and and getting getting her she just won it two years ago. Well, no but to my point, she's we're not even talking about those in recent memory. We're not we're not talking about Babs. Babbs is still a very good tennis player. She's not out of it and

Alvin Owusu (27:58.603)
That's true.

Alvin Owusu (28:04.042)
Well she ain't coming. She ain't gonna she ain't gonna be back for a while.

Alvin Owusu (28:11.012)
sure, sure, sure. Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (28:16.887)
yeah.

Torrey (28:17.648)
To my point that we're we're getting players that are that

I'm gonna say that distant, that closely distant relevant that are coming back, that you still have to go through in that in that 30 to tw to 15 space on the WTA rankings. So they're not easy to beat. And you still have to deal, and every one of those that's won a slam has while they've may not have had the same dominance that we've come to expect, that is not because they're not as good. It's just because the other 16 are as good.

Alvin Owusu (28:50.878)
Yeah. And you start looking at a player like like Jiang Ken Win, right? Who was two time slam finalist, one time, two time, and has gotten injured and she's now that she's back, she's having you know, a tough go at like, you know, building some consistent results here, which is gonna numerically be a struggle for her, if she doesn't start getting like getting things together here in in quick order. But then also she I mean, she took Rebecca to three sets in in the Middle East in one of those events.

Right after we're back in a won the Australian open. So it's like the level is there. The pedigree is there. She just needs to she's just another example of another player who will bust your head on any given any given Saturday. Any given Saturday. Yeah, it is fun to see. before we get out of here, we didn't get a chance to talk yesterday after after Novak versus Center. So if you are if you're just here for the WTA talk, we'll see you on the next one.

Torrey (29:23.99)
my no no question. No question.

Torrey (29:31.97)
Yep. Yep. It's fun to see.

Torrey (29:45.133)
Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (29:50.101)
Switch gears. So Yannick beat Novak fairly comprehensively, right? after the Australian Open, you know, classic that we got, we got a more standard what we've been used to seeing over the last f few of their matchups. did you what do you what did you take from that? I know it wasn't a very you know it's a hard match to get into on on the surface, but what do you what do you take from all of it?

Torrey (29:59.682)
Hundred percent.

Torrey (30:11.084)
Yeah. It it was I I really think s I I personally think something happened to Novak there in the middle thinks something ha he was finishing points a little too quickly. almost seemed like he was trying to get out of there. I think something happened. He pulled something, tweaked something. Different different talk show and it's not for me to speculate, but just saying the way that it w it went away the way it did, it led me to believe something physically was alien because he was in control of that match album up until about three all in that first set.

I called a I called a an errant drop shot and I said, Ooh, that's a tough miss for a guy who's in control of a match because he didn't even get the chance to see how center played the drop shot slash what it and that ended up being the ma the the game he got broken and then that ended up giving I actually thought center about second half of that first set on started getting his his feet fully in

On solid ground. I don't think he was there yet. And I really think Novak was having his way with him, you know, up until that point in time. I say that to say that match helped propel Yannick Center into, and I don't think he was playing that good a tennis coming into it. Even though he played a decent match around before, I just don't think he's playing Yankee Center.

level ten that we've that we've come to expect. And I felt like the match yesterday gave them a little bit of confidence. Think that okay, maybe it's not level 10, but it's level eight and a half, and I can win a little eight and a half with most people. And I can still get to nine or ten tomorrow against against Sasha. So that's what I saw. And I was actually the the Zvera fan in me was hoping that it would go five and there'd be a death of a thousand cuts between the two of them.

So we could get to a to potentially give Zverev a little bit of a fighting chance, but unfortunately it was the match was pretty straightforward. and and so therefore Yannick to me it was the was the benefactor of the match's brevity. And I think that's really what we're what we're coming to come down to. It should be a heck of a match tomorrow though.

Alvin Owusu (32:09.79)
Yeah, I think there's like kind of two things to take away from the maybe a few things to take away, but one is you know, Yannick even people can win Grand Slams without playing their best tennis all the way through, right? Carlos has done it. the countless of players have done it, and especially someone like Yannick Center who has probably the best serve on tour, and we talk about big serves and big servers. He has a big serve and is a big server. Like he there's all the other things in his game are also obviously remarkable.

Torrey (32:20.747)
Sure.

Torrey (32:32.511)
Right.

Torrey (32:35.968)
Sure.

Alvin Owusu (32:39.774)
But I think that the one standout like that that standout tool is like I mean that guy's I mean, when he makes sixty five percent of his first serves and wins eighty eight percent of those points, like that's that's nuts. That's crazy. Those are crazy numbers. So tough to break. What

Torrey (32:43.307)
Sure.

Torrey (32:53.966)
The numbers at at times he was in he was in the mid seventies, you know. So stupid.

Alvin Owusu (32:58.29)
Yeah. I yeah, and and the one thing about Novak that I've noticed is that the obviously age is the it's the thing. It's front and center, right? It it it it pushes a lot of what he can not do anymore. recovery between matches is always gonna be one. I Novak is obviously at a point now and I think I I define a player's prime as like when you're I guess when you're starting, right, your your physical your physical

Torrey (33:11.754)
Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (33:28.234)
peak is gonna you're gonna go up. Or sorry, your physical's up here, your mental's down here, and at some point they cross, and when they cross, that's when you start to hit your peak, right? And players like Novak or athletes like Tom Brady and and and LeBron James have done such a great job of staying physically fit to f while their mental capabilities are increasing, they're staving off the decrease of the the physical drop off.

Torrey (33:35.902)
Right.

Torrey (33:49.694)
Rise. They're they're decreasing less rapidly as others due to their physical condition and body.

Alvin Owusu (33:55.74)
Right. It's still happening, but the it's it's a it's a rate it's a rate thing we're talking about here. But what I've what I've noticed with Novak is like plain and simple, he's lost his fastball. Right? He he he can't get as many free points as he used to be able to. I think the other thing that really jumps off the paper is the it's the second serve. His second serve, players are able to get a hold of it. Like really get a hold of it. And y players are able to get into rallies with him.

Torrey (34:00.242)
Right. It's happening.

Torrey (34:19.302)
Right. Right.

Alvin Owusu (34:25.009)
and stay there with him. He's gonna force you to like he's he's as steely as ever. He's not gonna miss. Right. And you saw that, I think that was on full display in the in the fifth set breaker against Felix. and that's usually enough. Like most players will blink. but I think

Torrey (34:26.535)
Right.

Torrey (34:30.696)
Right.

Torrey (34:34.632)
Yep. Yeah. Sure. fit said against Joel and in the French. I mean it was you know, he he's still able to produce that level of tennis, to your point.

Alvin Owusu (34:46.919)
Right. And it's gonna take the top of the top to to to knock him out, right? Joao played a fantastic match and and and brought enough heat to close that one out. And and then you saw in the quarterfinal, like Felix it was was not able to stay with him and as but f but Felix was right there. Like in a match where Felix might have lost in three or four sets years prior, generations a generation prior at this point, you can stay with him. I think he just can't hurt anymore. And it's it's gonna be tough sledding for

Torrey (35:01.352)
Right there.

Right.

Torrey (35:07.922)
Yeah.

Torrey (35:14.876)
Right.

Alvin Owusu (35:16.381)
I say the gap between the top two and him is growing. But he's still better than everyone else. Like it's that that gap might be shrinking too, but he's still he's still right there. Force him he's an

Torrey (35:21.168)
Sure, agree with that.

Yeah, right. And and and

Torrey (35:30.407)
still still still a little better and and and I'll qualify your point as much, right? Not not he can't hurt you. He can't hurt you as much. As often, as frequent, right? And so on and so forth. But I know exactly what you're saying. It was evident with that. It's also

Alvin Owusu (35:38.535)
As much.

Torrey (35:46.02)
you know, he's playing his replacement, right? And one of the who's who's now the best return in the game. So so here you're in this, you know, you're you got a little bit less pop on your second going up against the new version of you, you know, with the best returns in the game. So it's, you know, who learned off of your model that you put down for the last twenty some odd years. So I it's you know, it's difficult to see it. It's it's it's fun to watch on and when you really take a step back from it and look at 10,000 feet.

Alvin Owusu (35:49.351)
Yeah.

Torrey (36:14.5)
You appreciate that Novak's been around this long to help you appreciate the greatness that he is and that he's still relevant. Andy Roddick said it, you know, the this guy's still he's getting to finals and semis of slamps. You know what I mean? You you know, quit quit with all the well, he he's he's washed up and he should retire talk. You know what I mean? The guy is earning his way into, you know what I mean? And and I think that's a gr that's a great perspective to have on it. I I'm gonna say, Alvin, that I feel

Alvin Owusu (36:27.325)
Yeah. Yeah.

Torrey (36:45.177)
That the same thing is happening on the men's side as much as it's happening on women. While there's not a clear, as clear a line of demarcation as there is with the women in terms of the age, to your point, there was a that there's not as many 23, four, five-year-olds, or there's they're either 20 23 and but and below or they're 26 and above, right? But on the men, that there's a little more, they're a little more of a scatter plot. But in with the men,

I you're still seeing a ton of players on the younger side continuing to move the needle upwards that are just making everything waterfall out the other direction. And I just feel like that's what we're starting to see as well. Gotta keep mind, Alvin. Felix is just now what 25, you know, or or so years old. I mean he he's not old, you know, and and Felix is starting to play some great ball. You know, you gotta look at the older players are your

Alvin Owusu (37:35.251)
Yeah, he's young. He's young.

Torrey (37:44.056)
Taylor Fritz's. They're all your Sasha Zveres. They are your, you know, these the older Francis Tiasos. You know, that that's the older D menors, you know, but probably what, 27, 28? And I gotta think, and I know Tommy Paul's, you know, gotta be down here 30, if not, if not a little past. So that's where we're getting at. And so now you're seeing that next upstart. You know, you Yuri Leheshka's not that old. Mensek is not that old. What, 22? You know, Felix, 25, Avsi Zhuao.

And and and his and and Yodar and their cohort with blocks and others that are learner T and that whole group is 21 and below. So you've got a lot of young players coming up, man, that are that are again pushing through, similar to you know, Noskova and her cohort that are coming up that it's really making it fun to see. Lest we forget our missing inaction, former number one is twenty what three years old? Twenty-three years old. So my point is, you we and we can't forget about him in the conversation.

Alvin Owusu (38:20.189)
Yeah, yeah.

Alvin Owusu (38:36.329)
Twenty th he's twenty three, yeah.

Torrey (38:41.814)
Especially talking about level and age. So I'm just saying it's just something to the the real the the real what's the word I'm looking for? the real anomaly here is thirty-nine year old Novak Djokovic, how is he still up the same level? Just showed you how good the boy is. He's just the boy's just bad. I mean, he's just bad. And it makes you appreciate how good he was ten years ago when he was fitter, you know, and younger and was recovering to the level. He still can do it now.

you know, to Rodic's term, s playing part-time tennis, but paying playing part of the year. You know what I mean? So, buddy, if you if you told me I could get to a semi of a slam playing playing three tournaments a year, sign me up.

Alvin Owusu (39:23.793)
It's silly. When you say it out when you say it like out loud, it's like, how many tournaments how many tournaments has Novak played since the Australian Open last year? It's probably less than fifteen. And of those fifteen, he's made semifinals or better of I mean it's seven slams and which six of them he's made semis or better. So it's like, yeah, he's doing fine. w I mean one interesting thing there, like, and I'll we can move on to something else, but I was watching the the Rafa documentary.

Torrey (39:35.143)
yeah!

Alvin Owusu (39:53.649)
the that four part series on Netflix. very good. I recommend anyone watch it if you haven't watched already. I'm sure most of you have. but when during the Novak episode, it was very interesting hearing Rafa talk about like peak Novak in 2011. And it's like that was like peak one of Novak. One one, that was peak one. Two, that was fifteen years ago. And he's still here. He's still here.

Torrey (40:10.362)
Big one. Right.

Torrey (40:18.794)
Still here. He might might be on peak four right now. You know what I mean? Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (40:24.562)
this is this is I think this is a this is gonna be ri whenever he does, and I don't I'm I'm with you. Like he should stay he should stay as long as he wants because like you said, he's earning it. He's not getting wild cards into these events. He's showing up with his ranking, my record. Yeah, here, I'm I'm here, sign up, I'm seven now, cool. semi finals for me, check. All right, back to three now. And it's yeah, it's it's it's amazing. It's amazing. We're we're lucky, we should just keep enjoying it. kind of moving towards the men's final.

Torrey (40:32.904)
Percent.

Right. Right. Wild cars, walkovers, yeah.

Alvin Owusu (40:54.962)
We've got one versus two seed seed. Alexander Zverev like kind of just slowly putting together a career year, like semi-finals of Australia, winner of French Open, finals of front of finals or better of Wimbledon. Like he's he apologize to anybody for who he's playing or who he's not playing. But but I think with the way he is playing and his shoulders are nice and loose and open, chest is out, carrying himself like a grand slam champion, talking like a grand slam champion.

Torrey (41:12.776)
A hundred percent.

Torrey (41:18.876)
Yeah.

Torrey (41:23.259)
Nope. Nope.

Alvin Owusu (41:24.07)
He doesn't care what anyone has to say about how he did it. He did it and he's acting like he did it. I think this is his best chance to take center down.

Torrey (41:27.506)
Yeah.

Torrey (41:32.503)
100%. And he has does not have the notable vacancy in his trophy closet of haven't won a big one yet, which causes players to doubt. Now he's got that. And so in his own mind, that monkey's office back and he mentally knows he can and should be able to win another. And the fact that he's there again.

You know, I think this I think it's it's great chance. Personally, I think it's actually a better chance for him on the grass because of his serve, because of his height, because of all the things. Where I think in a in a more of a war of attrition, he's atta centers attached faster, and the hard court will let him be able to move a little quicker and get that stick and move on the grass, not so much. And I feel like, you know, he he served very well the other day against against Ferry and a and a point when Ferry could not have played better. Ferry played great in that first set.

He simply just he just withstood him and he outla and he let that little let that peak kinda go into a trickle and it says okay. But you know what? I'm 6'6 and some change. I got a big serve. You know, I got a nice back end. Perhaps you you understand that, but I am six six and some change and and I got a big serve. And that to me was the difference in that match. Ferry did not play bad tennis at all, had a phenomenal two weeks, but the serve was something he just could not fully.

answer or find answer to and that's I think that's been a saving grace Mrs. Vera but I thought it I think it'll be a good thing from tomorrow as well. So if it comes down to surf contest, we could find ourselves in a in a six four four six or seven five five seven, you know, situation going back and forth all the way through the fourth or the fifth. And because I think you know both players have that level of s of spot serving. I think that both and while you like that, you and you like you come to expect that for a center

You haven't always expected it from Zverev, but Zverev, as we all know, is no sleep he's no sleeper for longer matches. And the fact that he's playing on the grass with that serve and he's serving well now, he's got a good chance as anybody to beat center and claim that trophy.

Alvin Owusu (43:40.136)
I think so. I think I I think so. I'll we're gonna wrap it up. I'll leave you with this one thing, weird Wimbledon stuff that I I noticed. when you go on the Wimbledon website and or if you've ever been to the UK, right, obviously they they use kilometers, right? They use the metric system in a lot of places, kilometers per hour. they just randomly show miles per hour on the serve on the serve gun on court. It's very strange.

Torrey (43:55.225)
Yeah. Yeah.

Torrey (44:03.259)
But with everything else being metric, you're saying th that they show MPH?

Alvin Owusu (44:07.196)
Like what are we like what are we what are they what we like it's i I love it, right? I I'm gonna

Torrey (44:11.535)
Maybe the maker of that speed gun is American and maybe that's what it is, you think?

Alvin Owusu (44:15.334)
I mean, Rolex is the official timekeeper of the of Wimbledon and all the Grand Slams. But like French French Open uses kilometers. I mean

Torrey (44:19.993)
But but they but sure, but I'm saying is but they have the speed gun. That's it's just their board, isn't it? Isn't that just their Rolex board? Right.

Alvin Owusu (44:26.738)
I don't I mean it could be Dactronics for all I know. I don't know who makes the who actually makes the board, but I'm sure there's a setting for for for MPH versus versus kilometers per hour. Right. Yeah, I mean my my my Apple Watch can can do both. So I'm pretty sure I'm pretty sure they can as well. Just a little a little quirk I noticed. you know, but let let's put a pin in it. I'm Alvin. That's Tori. enjoy your men's final. I hope you enjoy that women's final. Best of three. We are out.

Torrey (44:34.938)
But there is on every other device in the world, right?

Right.

Torrey (44:46.905)
I like it. I like it.