Grigor Dimitrov, Iga Swiatek, and Wimbledon’s Test of Complete Tennis

Wimbledon is beginning to separate players who can solve matches with a full toolkit from players still trying to impose baseline patterns on grass. Alvin and Torrey frame the third round around that tension, using Grigor Dimitrov as the clearest example of why slice, touch, forward movement, serving patterns, and tactical variety still matter at the All England Club.

The episode also examines Iga Swiatek’s loss to Alex Eala as a question of tactical identity rather than talent. Swiatek’s grass-court challenges are discussed through forehand uncertainty, indecision, and a lack of consistent forward pressure, while Eala’s timing and backhand quality are credited as real match-winning tools.

From there, the conversation widens to Aryna Sabalenka’s consistency in a volatile women’s field, Amanda Anisimova’s loss to Madison Keys, and the depth of the men’s tour. Dimitrov, Safiullin, Bublik, Fritz, Struff, Davidovich Fokina, and Djokovic all become part of a broader argument: Wimbledon still rewards players who know how to play grass, not just players with the biggest games.

Transcript

Alvin Owusu (00:00.776)
And welcome to another edition of the best three podcasts. I'm Alvin. That's Tori. It is we just finished up round three of the US not the US Open. Jesus. Well it's w it's Wimbledon. Yeah, seriously, almost. just just finished up just finished up round three of Wimbledon. and you know, Tori, we we saw each other in person yesterday. That was that was fun. always good to to see you and and spend some time on the court, and that was good.

Torrey (00:08.797)
Haha, almost. The London, by way of London edition.

Torrey (00:20.785)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (00:26.67)
And ironically, some of the things that we that we worked on yesterday. my my my rickety backhand slice needed a little bit of fine tuning. so great to see it show up on TV over the last few days thro throughout the tournament. really impressed with we'll we'll we'll come around to the the men's side. I think we're gonna start on the women's side first, but the I I w I'm gonna tee you up here. I'm having it I'm really enjoying this tournament. I'm enjoying the players with tools.

Torrey (00:40.998)
Yeah. Yeah.

Torrey (00:48.09)
Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (00:56.418)
being able to express those tools. the all court, I think you you you coined this before we got on. The the all court player and the all the all court game style is really showing up on the grass courts this week. what have you been impressed with? And we can even let's let's start on the women's side because I think that match with with Iga and Alex this morning was a was an interesting one. maybe a little bit not related to the the all court

Torrey (00:58.887)
Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (01:25.718)
the all court vein of things, but I do want to start there because it was a really it was a really interesting interesting match.

Torrey (01:30.193)
Yeah.

Torrey (01:35.633)
Number one, Alex Yala's backhand is much improved. It used to be the weaker link, the weaker wing for sure. I almost felt like Eaglet went so much to it that Alex's backhand got better through the match. mean, it litters a classic case of pound the opponent's backhand and unfortunately the opponent's backhand gets cleaner through the rest of the match. It just gets grooved. By the end of the match, she had a backhand as clean as...

Alvin Owusu (01:58.796)
Gets grooved. Just groove me out.

Torrey (02:05.388)
Amanda Nisamova, she was hitting off the back foot. She was going down the line. She was going inside out. She was going just pounding back hands. But anyway, I thought she out Eega'd Eega. She took returns early. She was coming forward. I felt like Eega had a good game plan to hurt her off that side. But out past the first set, really about past the first half of the first set, I didn't feel like she had the finish that she wanted. And maybe she fell shy a couple points that I didn't see but

She did not continue to keep her foot on the gas. I Alex kind of stole the breaker a little bit, but after that, I thought it was all Alex to the point of before all court game, not as much all court. And I really feel like that's a missing link in Eagis game. She's got very good hands around the net. She moves very, very well. I think she moves a little better than Alex to be honest. I would have liked to have seen a little more all court game from Ms. Cianitek, especially with as much shape as she gets on the ball.

She doesn't mind banging, but she also doesn't mind shape. And if she could have ran Alex a few more times and gotten that floater, she could take that next floater with a step up, got him behind it, knocked the volley off. I still feel like she's playing hardcore tennis on grass. And I feel like when she's playing on clay, she's almost a little too passive compared to what she did before. I think her strokes look better. I think everything she's doing looks better. I just not sure. You know, I said this about Coco. I don't feel like.

Everything is in sync yet, but I feel like things have improved. So I'm with you. I'm not I'm certainly not down on Eega. I just feel like her her matchup was tough. Obviously Alex being lefty. I did not think that Alex Alex did not play like Alex normally plays and that probably threw Eega off and I didn't feel like Eega countered and then took it another level. She didn't see her one and raise her one with the tools that Alex with the tool excuse me that Eega hasn't heard us both.

Alvin Owusu (03:54.453)
Right, right.

Alvin Owusu (03:59.188)
I mean she almost she almost I mean after that first set tiebreaker, which was a fantastic tiebreaker, Iga you could still tell that she was a little just a little gun shy and a little unsure with what to do with that forehand. you could see she was thinking about it a lot. And y you that's we don't we wanna be thinking about what to do on the tennis court, not how to do it. And we're starting to think about how am I going to make forehands. I think the same thing kinda happened to Amanda Anna Samova in the in the in the next match on that.

Torrey (04:26.83)
100%.

Alvin Owusu (04:28.651)
Same court, I believe. it was almost the same thing. Like when you're thinking about technical issues and you're thinking about how to produce a stroke, it's you're in a you're in a bad place. And so after that tight first set tiebreaker, you see like it get kind of glitched and went down four like quickly. like she was searching for something. And then by the time she was able to get it together and get competitive in that second set, it was a little you know, a little too little, too late. Yeah, yeah.

Torrey (04:42.744)
Yeah, right. Sure.

Torrey (04:49.376)
It was over. And uncharacteristic errors. mean, she wasn't even missing, she wasn't missing her go-to shot or step-up ball. She was missing routine forehand, you know, not a ton, but enough. And then the very next point she'd come back, she'd clean her clock with a couple of good ones and hit a ball inside and you're like, okay, she's fine. And then out of nowhere. So that wreaks of indecision to me. And when I see those kinds of things, I just say to myself, you know, maybe not as clear in mind as she may needs to be. Hemmin made a couple of good points about being clear, being.

having good clarity of mind. I thought that was a good point he made and I completely agree with him. When you get to those stages, you want to have clarity and you want to have very good targets and kind of know what you're doing. And I didn't think unless she had that today and unfortunate because we've seen her win this time of just last year. And it was unfortunate to see her not play her best tennis, you know, again, not trying to lose, but it was a good day for Alex Yala.

Alvin Owusu (05:43.906)
Yeah, and especially I mean, the last thing I'll not to harp on the forehand, but like there were some instances in which like you can see that she is purposely adding shape, like staying with with shape, but then when she gets inside of the court, there's a there's a little indecisiveness around now it's time to sh change the swing path, which is with an extreme grip, it's gonna be a little harder for her to, you know, take something shoulder height anyways and drive it straight through the court. But she did have some instances where like she had one. I can't remember what the score is, it might have been her set point.

Torrey (06:02.187)
Bye.

Torrey (06:06.89)
Sure. Sure.

Alvin Owusu (06:13.759)
in that breaker where she had one shoulder high, open court, and just hit it thin, gave Alex no time to get to, and I think Alex had a dipper cross court passer and it's like, you gotta have that one. You did all the hard work. but that's that's the I mean, we've got a six time Grand Champ champion here who is still tinkering with her game, trying to find the new version, new best version of herself at the age of, I think she's twenty four, maybe. So like it's

Torrey (06:14.996)
Right.

Torrey (06:21.695)
Yep. Right.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Torrey (06:38.473)
Still figuring.

Alvin Owusu (06:41.889)
Okay, cool. She's she's got some time. but yeah, it's I think that that matches

Torrey (06:46.665)
Not worried about it at all. Yeah, not worried about it at all. was, it was uncharacteristic of her. And then again, I thought a little bit of a healthy dose of some indecision in there as well. But again, and I felt like Alex played the right way by playing, taking things early, not giving Ega a lot of time. As I said, I felt like she out Eged Ega today. So that was kind of good, good tactics, good coaching on the Ayala camp.

Alvin Owusu (07:06.455)
Mm-hmm.

Alvin Owusu (07:12.449)
Okay. kind of just switching it here a little bit, you said you're not worried about you're not worried about Iga kinda moving over to the American side. Are you concerned at all about Amanda Ansimova and where she is right now?

Torrey (07:26.939)
If I'm being very honest with my fanhood and aside, right, you know, I love Madney, some of her and JPEG and a others are my, my old, my tried and true. I love their styles. I love their stories. I've known them both since they were, since they were very young. So I've watched them watch their careers, you know, kind of right in front of me.

If I'm being very honest, I felt like she overachieved a bit last year. So am I happy to see that return to orbit a little bit? Yes. Because I don't know if I saw her. Do I think she'll win a Grand Slam? I do. Do I think she was ready to do it right now? Not necessarily. However, I'm happy to see her. I think the loss makes her hungry, kind of gets her back where she needs to be. And she lost to Madison Keys, who's just a, in some cases, I feel.

just a little taller, a little bit of a harder, maybe the same height, but very, if anything, has a bigger serve than she does. And if you're gonna lose to anybody, lose to a player who plays the same way as you, maybe a tad bit better in certain instances. I certainly think Maddie serves just a tad better. And if she's on her game, I was actually impressed that Amanda came back when she played Sophia Cannon around before.

Alvin Owusu (08:49.013)
Yeah. Yeah.

Torrey (08:49.313)
I've seen her go out in matches like that Alvin and just throw the towel in and I was really impressed with her just gritting that match out. She did a similar match in round of 16 of US Open last year where I thought she just gutted out and won a really gritty third. So when I see her doing things like that I know mentally she's where she needs to be. Just needs to sort out a few things. She looks fitter. She looks like she's hitting the ball better on both sides back and still there almost.

Miss firing a little bit which to me if that's if that's her issues is miss firing up a little bit or hitting a ball a little too big little too That's a timing thing. That's day to day with big hitters I don't worry about that stuff at all because I know when they get it together It's it's like absolute magic and so I don't worry about it I love seeing the fight if if you tell me a bad tournament for her to mind you she got finals last year But that was kind of overachieving if you tell me a bad round as her getting a fourth round You know round of 16 and losing to a former Grand Slam champ herself. No, I'm not worried about

battle.

Alvin Owusu (09:46.049)
Yeah, I mean, round of thirty-two, that's a little bit that's a little more concerning. I'm not concerning, but like he lost to a Grand Slam champion. Like that's that's granted, there are a lot of them in the draw, but Madison looks I would say the biggest difference between the two of them in that match is like one player looks a little more calm with with adversity right now. Like Madison didn't get a great start in that match, but she is acquired. I mean, she's six probably good six years, seven years older than Amanda, has seen some things.

Torrey (09:49.861)
EEEEH

Torrey (10:07.342)
Sure.

Torrey (10:13.07)
Right. Yep.

Alvin Owusu (10:15.032)
has gone through some things and has come out on top of the grand same title. But like w she came out of the came out of the gates a little shaky by her own right and was able to weather the storm stayed composed, whereas Amanda was a little like you see her chirping back and forth with her box a lot, which is a thing I think for her own sake needs to probably bring that down a notch. you see it every match. Like she is visibly when she's frustrated, it's very visible.

Torrey (10:24.376)
Yup, right.

Alvin Owusu (10:43.68)
it's a it's always a dialogue with her and her box and I'm not gonna say petulant, it's just like save the energy to for for where you need it, right? You need to fix those things, like handle the problems at hand, not like necessarily complaining about your forehand to your box in the middle of a match on Citter Court at Wimbledon. Right.

Torrey (10:55.62)
I'm sorry.

Torrey (10:59.812)
Yeah, right in the of a match when it ain't gonna work. And it kind of begs the question, know, I know she had a coaching change earlier this year. It kind of begs the question of, you know, is that was that coaching change? You know, is that is everything right in that situation? You know, and again, we all know sometimes the every play can be emotional. Sometimes women can be a bit more emotional.

In a situation like that, there's a ton of points coming off, right? So there's extra stress, you know, for everybody. I mean, we saw Mira, you know, darn near launch a racket at the umpire. So I'm just saying, and she had a classic moment, you know, cussing out the crowd or whatever she was doing to me. Well, so again, same situation, a lot of points to defend, little bit of pressure, you know what mean? you know, hey, people...

Alvin Owusu (11:27.136)
Yeah. Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (11:33.772)
That was a that was a pretty good that was a pretty good toss. That was a pretty good toss.

Torrey (11:50.062)
You're gonna be yourself in a moment like that. You're gonna react in a way that you may not even think you're reacting. I'm not at all worried about Amanda. certainly not worried about Mira when it happened. I was actually kind of happy to see a little emotion from her. Three, four, five, whatever. I don't know many terms it was. While she didn't defend and had an early exit out of Indian Wells, she comes in and her first major, kind of came out of nowhere. So it's one those things where

You know, as Denzel said in one of his characters, take the crookeds with the straights. You know what mean? And it is what it is. I just feel like I don't, I didn't, I feel like she got beat. I didn't feel like she lost. I guess is what I'm trying to say. And I think that's what I'm trying to say as far as Maddie. Maybe I was a round off, but, and it was to Maddie Keith. It's not like, you know, if you told me she had lost Elizabetho Cochoretto, y'all been like, ooh, you know, those kinds of players that are just gonna.

Alvin Owusu (12:24.652)
Sure, sure.

Alvin Owusu (12:31.148)
That's fair. No, that's I think that's fair. That's accurate. Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (12:45.097)
Right.

Torrey (12:45.601)
Counter punch her to death and just time your ball and you got to figure some things out playing differently I'd be like a little more concerning if you told me she lost to you know qualify like okay She went away with the player that she knows well like a Sophia Cannon or Katie Mcdowell type like gosh she should Ashton Krueger. I'd be like she should you Peyton Stearns, know, McClain, McClain, Kessler I'd be like she should have the fortitude to come back and make some adjustments against a player like that You know what mean, but against Maddie

I mean, what's she gonna do, hit bigger? mean, I had someone, you know, you're so much. Yes, she did. Right. And if you're not feeling your game, defending Maddie is very tough. I mean, that is a very tough, you got to, you better have both weapons and an extra weapon on standby if Maddie's on, you know what mean? So, and that's just how you, that's why Maddie's as tough to play as she is. And when she's on, buddy, it's Maddie's match to lose.

Alvin Owusu (13:14.858)
Right. And Maddie Maddie Maddie got it together, started playing better, and that's a that's tough to deal with. like Maddie

Alvin Owusu (13:39.403)
Yeah, I'm gonna I'm gonna say no more words about Madison Keys and where she where she stands in this tournament right now. We're gonna we're gonna go forward. I mean we can we can look at the rest of the like the American women right now or you know per per the usual and there's always a new one here or there. looking really strong. We've got a handful of them in the in the fourth round. JPEG's playing against Iviovich. I think that's that's tomorrow morning, so by the time anyone hears this, that could have already happened. I

Torrey (13:41.759)
Nah, Farrell, I know, I know, hear you, I hear you. We can move on to JPEG if you want. I'm with you though.

Torrey (13:57.918)
Yeah.

Torrey (14:04.436)
Bye.

Alvin Owusu (14:08.564)
Yeah, Benchinch, Benchich, Coco was playing against Benchich. there there's god there's so many so many good matches. But Ashley Kruger, right? Ashlyn was someone I was pretty high on last year and then I, you know, kind of not not saying I gave up on her, but I was less high, with her gonna what I say was her inability to kind of make that next jump or make that that run into the you know, become a a stalwart in the top fifty.

Torrey (14:19.796)
Yeah.

Torrey (14:36.873)
Sure.

Alvin Owusu (14:37.478)
She was outside of the top one hundred, I believe, so she had to qualify into this event and qualify plus three runs in a row. Now she is rolling and it's it almost makes sense. Like in an ideal world, like her game style, big forehead, big serve, like could she put it together? Is there a surface that would reward her for like all those tools? And we are we are we are here. Like a dry a dry week one at Wimbledon is the is is what you get. And I just I you know.

Torrey (14:58.462)
Wimpy it is. Wimpy it is. Yeah. Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (15:06.548)
She's got a tough matchup coming up. I believe she's playing against t yeah, Marta and Marta's playing well right now. So's Ashland.

Torrey (15:11.271)
Marta, Marta Costier. Yeah. But so is Ashlyn. And you know what, Alvin, I'll say this. I'll say this. And this is something that I, and you and I talked about this at length.

We both know that the tour does not, it does not go in linear order. You know what I mean? There's not, hey, I'm playing well, I'm putting in work, I deserve, no, no, no, So is everybody else, right? It's gonna be who's playing well at that moment, who's gonna make the adjustments, who's gonna really capitalize on some early mistakes and really just play, let's face it, play a little bit more shrewd than the other person. Not necessarily play better, but just.

make less mistakes early and give the other person a little less ammunition to work against you. The tour has gotten so deep. We've talked about it numerous times on this podcast, both sides, right? But that also affects a person's trajectory. You cannot get to said destination, right? When you're swimming upstream with the salmon, so to speak, and the salmon, and it's three times as.

as it used to be. And so when I see a breakout match or tournament in a sense like this, you know, with the Q besides Ashlyn's name, I'm like, and she's going this deep. I'm saying you what that tells me. She's getting some matches. She's finding her footing. And quite frankly, that's a good thing for her to take to the next tournament. You know what I mean? And I, and I liked that, you know, I've met her and McLean and who was it? Payton Stearns. They all kind of hit that same, well, Navarro a little bit.

Alvin Owusu (16:47.179)
McCartney. McCartney. McCartney. McCartney. McLean's Yeah. Brother, yeah.

Torrey (16:49.665)
That's the McLean McLean's the older brother always always since they were kids and juniors I used to get confused. Sorry McLean if you out there watching and and and go Gators to the to McLean but McCartney who's just up who was just one treat over here and I want to say Rome or or what's the other little town outside of I want to say it was either Rome George or the other one there what they were from long story the Kessels good family great tennis family saw both kids grow up, you know, I'll play a lot of tennis and juniors they McCartney Ashland Peyton

Alvin Owusu (16:55.904)
Yeah.

Torrey (17:19.279)
they all came out at around the same time. And I felt like it was a bumper crop of college players moving through the tour, doing some nice things. And each of them has taken their own route to get to where they are. But I always felt, obviously Ashley's being one of the taller of the three or four of them and had the biggest serve. I just felt like she had some of the best weapons, a la Jen Brady of that crew. And I just always felt like if she got it together, got that serve going, got the forehand going and really shored up some things to play.

little more because you're gonna need a backhand at the end of the day. I felt like she always had the goods if she just put it together. I'm really happy to see her seeing some success. Nothing improves your game Alvin like success and a little bit of confidence. mean you just you just can't I mean the same everything else. You with little confidence you are playing unbelievably different you know and I think we've seen that with lot of players that we're probably gonna talk about later on this on this show.

Alvin Owusu (18:02.815)
Yeah, yeah.

Alvin Owusu (18:16.999)
yeah, so they right there with you with that with that crop of Americans. one in particular, Eva Yovich. So Eva, like obviously she's kind of shot out of the canon this year. And when we watched her at the Australian Open, I think my takeaway, and we might have shared the same thought, was like that, like she's gonna need to add a little bit of pop. Yes, she she's young, but that game style should travel well. Like clean on both sides, like you don't no real technical deficiencies.

Torrey (18:26.873)
Sure.

Alvin Owusu (18:46.249)
She's fearless. She will go after the second serve return, which is almost becoming table stakes in the women's game right now. Like everyone is everyone is like halfway up up the no man's land, like going going full ham on second serve returns. and she was doing it against Sabalenka in in Melbourne. So when you when you come off again a run like she had there, like you said, nothing the best the best teacher is sometimes caught is is confidence in winning. And now you're seeing her, she was able to perform on on clay. She's now carrying it forward.

Torrey (18:51.352)
100%.

Torrey (18:57.879)
Unsaid.

Torrey (19:05.026)
Yup.

Alvin Owusu (19:16.799)
athletes tend to do well on grass, right? It's either you got it's one of two things, right? Either you got a lot of a lot of firepower or you're a fantastic mover. And if you have both, you can win Wimbledon. It's it's fun. but she is yeah she's she is doing it her way and she's but she's still extremely effective. I've seen this match with her and Pagula on different surfaces now. It's gonna be really interesting to see it on grass. it changes things a bit

Torrey (19:19.074)
Yep.

Torrey (19:22.764)
Yup. Right. That's right. Yup.

Torrey (19:42.615)
And I would say just a tiny bit, again, I'm biased, but just a tiny bit, it aids, it's in favor of JPEG. But if this match were last week, it would favor JPEG more. It doesn't favor her as much if Evelyn can get her footing now that the grass isn't so slick. And so to me, the fourth round versus, say, third round or even, I'll see, quarters, you know, that becomes the grounds more firm.

It's a little easier to move on, not great, still grass, but still it becomes, if she's this far, she knows how to move on the stuff. And so that's, I'm more concerned, I'm not concerned because it's a great, it'll be a great match either way, but I'm more concerned for a JPEG the later it goes just because of the movement. And should she not be able to, she, JPEG, not be able to play in front or play downhill, you know, to keep Eva on the move, it could be a, it could.

the tables could turn in a match like this. I expect the veteran to come forward a little more, play some different things, play a little smarter knowing that she's played on this tournament for the last 10, 12 years. It'd be great to see her tactically make those kind of adjustments. And I know the people in the camp, Marklin and Mark... Oh, let's forget Marklin. Marklin is the one I know. Mark...

Alvin Owusu (21:01.663)
Look at

Alvin Owusu (21:06.271)
Knowles, nulls. Knowles. Nollsy, yeah.

Torrey (21:07.111)
Noles thank you. I'm always forgetting about Nolesy. They coming in, I know they're going to have it coming forward. Got two of the better volleyers right there and Noles is obviously top of the world himself in Dubs. But I know they're going to have it coming forward. So I'm just saying that to me is what a lot of the players to me haven't showed me enough of. And again, that to me will be the secret sauce.

Alvin Owusu (21:28.425)
Yeah. that that the top half of the women's draw right now, which is gonna be playing tomorrow morning, it's it's rough. It's awesome. The the the Czech corner's gonna be popping tomorrow morning. Muhova versus Kujikafa. That's gonna be a fun, fun, fun, fun match. Like that's the one I'm circling. I mean actually all four of these women's matches tomorrow are gonna be great. Sebalenka versus Osaka. Naomi is just kind of quietly beating the crap out of everyone she plays right now. She is just

Torrey (21:31.935)
Woo, rough bro, rough that top half.

Torrey (21:39.86)
Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (21:57.321)
ticking through this draw the same way that she ticked through the warm up event before she pulled out in the final two weeks ago a week ago two weeks ago whatever it was I don't know what that means for her match against Sabalinka. They've played on I think they've played on clay and hard this year and now playing again on grass. I I don't know. I don't know. I have nothing I have nothing to to say about the particular matchup itself, but

Torrey (22:02.42)
Sure.

Torrey (22:14.024)
Right.

Torrey (22:22.164)
Yeah, it'll be a fun match. Going in, are sharp. Is it an opportunity for a Naomi? 100%. I was just looking at it, Alvin. think I'm going to go my easy math. I'm going to say plus 10 grand slams earned on the top half plus one earned on the bottom half.

Alvin Owusu (22:42.174)
You're pretty close. It's ele it's eleven. It's eleven up top. yeah

Torrey (22:45.331)
11, 11 and 1. Right. And I was thinking I was pretty close. I was like, didn't, I always forget how many Sabalinka has. Babs is 1-1.

Alvin Owusu (22:53.032)
Babs has it's more than that. Sorry, Babs has two. It's Sabalinka's got four, Naomi's got four, eight, that's that's two. Yeah, ten, twelve, and then one for

Torrey (22:56.052)
Babs has two, that's lick of four, Naomi four, obviously golf two, right? So.

Torrey (23:06.374)
One for Matty.

Madison Keys. I'm just saying so there you are. don't think NOSKA was one one yet. So my point is but just saying that's how much depth that you have in the tops in the top section. I mean obviously you know you got obviously Ciontek who just got just got beat and Rebecca obviously who got beat by at least today. my point being it still would have been higher. It still would have been more. I don't know.

Alvin Owusu (23:10.767)
download. Yeah yeah yeah. Yeah it's it's

Alvin Owusu (23:35.646)
Right.

Torrey (23:37.54)
Ego6 may have come up, may have kinda evened it out. Either way, my point being.

Alvin Owusu (23:40.308)
Well, let me let me ask you about that. you mentioned Rebecca because you you saw you watched that match. I didn't catch that match this morning. I was d deterred, but what where what what did you see in that match? What's going on with Miss Rebecca right now?

Torrey (23:53.669)
You know what, Alvin, the only other time I've seen a player kinda come a little bit unglued like this was when I've seen my main man, Mr. Redhead himself, kinda faint a little bit. I don't know if it was elements. I'm not sure if, just kinda, it looked like physically to me. And they didn't say a lot about it, but to me, there was just some shots. She was very uncharacteristically missing and.

Clearly it was in the daytime. Obviously, like all Macs are gonna be daytime at Wimbledon in that sense, but I just feel like the heat of the day got to her. She was trying to end points too quickly. She kept trying to trust the darn cross-court backhand, kept going back behind, at least got a pretty good backhand herself. I just felt like for whatever reason, she missed pulling the trigger a few times down the line, going early. So she was in this weird mix between finishing...

Pulling the trigger and missed and then trying to be overly conservative and grind out on the other side. There was no real middle in that second set. She just didn't feel, from what I'm seeing, she didn't look as confident with her game plan and with the tools at her disposal. And I just felt like Mertens just did a good job of basically outstating her on all those long points.

She allowed her to go for the, pull the trigger and then miss. And how many times have we seen Elena back and I just go through you with ball number four and just, it's not even a rally. The only difference was she missed that ball for today. And then she went ball 10 cross court on the backhand, almost so predictable. It was almost tough to watch because you're like, go for it again. It's there, it's wide open. But she was almost second guessing herself in between the heat and second guessing herself to me. looked like she was.

a shell of herself a little bit and hey hats off to Elise Mertens who pulled off the epic win but it was not the classic striking you know dictating play a land or back and we've come to know and love

Alvin Owusu (25:57.195)
Okay, that's fair. All right. It's it's kind of all right, we we've talked about this before, like as far as like what does dominance look like at the top of the women's game right now. And it's like no one's no one's jumping off the paper like I'm playing really well right now. Everyone's kind of just getting through. Like even you know, we didn't we didn't talk much about Coco, but like Coco's just getting through matches. She's just getting through matches. which is the most the most important thing is to win the tennis match, right? This is not practice. This is this is this is where we pay the bills, so winning the match is what's important.

Torrey (26:10.735)
No. Right.

Torrey (26:18.287)
Just getting through. Just getting through.

Sure. Sure.

Alvin Owusu (26:26.334)
So be damned how you get through it. But no one is no one is screaming like exuding confidence right now, sort of like Naomi Osaka, but I just don't I just don't know how how much further that goes and I don't know what that looks like against World Number One, who's actually playing pretty well right now. She looked pretty clean against Astapenko today.

Torrey (26:43.898)
And, right, and you know, like I do Alvin, we change the whole narrative when we're talking about a former Grand Slam champ, especially a four time Grand Slam champ. Doesn't matter what happened, what is, what isn't. Heck, even Serena will find her way to a good situation, give her enough time. The issue I have is there are so many of these others that are not there yet. And,

The bottom half is wide open, be honest. I Maddie Keys to me has the, it's clearly the driver's seat for experience, but you know, there are so many of these others that I feel have not done it yet that I just feel like, you know, it makes Irina Sabalinka look better when you realize her consistency, comparative to her peers, right? You know, it makes me, it makes you really appreciate her body of work because given the current, right?

Alvin Owusu (27:29.736)
Right. No, no, yes it's

Torrey (27:38.526)
And I gotta give a late, of course, deserved shout out to Serena. It really helps you appreciate Serena, Sharapova, and others in post-hints because they were able to keep that level of play tournament in, tournament out. Now I'm not here to say the tour's not deeper now. I've said multiple times. I'm not here to say that those same wins that those ladies played against, there may not be the Serena Williams.

finishes off her opponent in 47 minutes type matches these days. Everybody's gotten a lot better. But I will also say, comparative to her own era, it makes you really appreciate Irina Sabalenka for her ability to be consistently near the top, albeit with falling short, as we may like to think, she is still the hunted. And she still finds herself relevant in most tournaments. I say most, 99 % of them. And here she is yet again.

in the fray when the defending champ did not do so for the last couple of tournaments. So I really feel like I really give her a lot of credit for they have had their runs. She has still done better than some of the defending champs have done in that follow-up year. So to me that also speaks to her consistency. And to me you can't not speak to the dominance.

without that category of consistency, at least today, with the depth of the game and with her results always being pretty solid.

Alvin Owusu (29:09.642)
Let me push this question to you. Given the year that she's had so far, right? I think she's won to three three titles. I believe she won the warm up to the Australian Open, final the Australian Open, wins the Sunshine Double, and then has kind of been in the woods a little bit, on the our natural surfaces. Fourth round, Wimbledon determined that she's never won. She's never even made the final here. Does she need this match tomorrow?

Torrey (29:30.237)
Yup. Yup.

Torrey (29:35.497)
Oh, she needs this tournament. Does she need the match tomorrow for sure? I think for her own sake, um, much like Eagle last year, right? Hadn't one, this is the one she had won or had done, had really gone that far. And I do, I think that she, Arena needs this month, 1000%. And I think, I think it's, it's shaping up to be that kind of a tournament for Arena. She's going to do it the hard way. You know what I mean? She's got to go through literally every other former Grand Slam champ along the way. And I think that's.

That's classic arena sabalinka. you know, I think she's, if anybody can do it, it's her. She's got the game to do it, got the mindset to do it. I almost, Alvin, would feel more pressure if it was flipped. If she had to just go through and I think her own mind would get to her a little bit if she had the other side of the draw and go through it. Like almost think it was hers to lose. You know what I Now, she, like the French Open. my God.

Alvin Owusu (30:26.57)
Well, like the front like the French Open, she had a pretty good she had a great draw at the French open I mean she's the number one seed. She's always gonna have a great draw, but like sh this particular draw, like she's gonna ha she could potentially go through four time Grand Slam champ Nayama Osaka, then have to go through two time Grand Slam champ Barbora Korchikova, and then have to go through two time Grand Slam champ Coco Goff, who has her number. Like it's a it's she's got a she's got a a nutty week two ahead of her. Like she's got work to do. on a surface that she's never won.

Torrey (30:52.817)
Right, right. And if she does all that, she possibly play Maddie Keys in the finals. you're in this, I mean, you're just absolutely, there is literally, it's a gauntlet right now. It is an absolute, she has to run the gauntlet right now. And again, and I think that actually bodes well. I know it sounds crazy. It bodes well for her because each match is its own challenge. And I feel like she plays her best when she's a kind of corner like that. And personally, it's gonna provide for some great tennis.

Alvin Owusu (31:21.598)
Yeah. I I'm not so I'm not so, you know, this is not me like trying to do reverse jinx or anything, but Madison's match against Linda Noskova is going to be tough. Linda, I I I rate Linda extremely high. I feel like she's quietly I said this in our year in preview year in review, I believe, or maybe it was a season preview. Like when you give me someone who th who is that young, I think she's twenty or so. She's twenty one. Yeah, and has consistently halved her ranking each year over the last

Torrey (31:31.046)
I'm sorry.

Torrey (31:44.295)
21,

Alvin Owusu (31:50.058)
four years and now she's inside the top ten. She wanna warm up event coming in here. that's that's pointing the right direction. That's like signs of like future top five, like future Grand Slam winner. Like it's a and she's she's getting through some tough matches. She had a tough, tough one match tiebreaker that she won today in the third. but yeah, I think either one of those ladies coming out of that match is gonna feel really good about where they sit. last thing before we jump over to the men's side, Coco Golf, Belinda Bencic.

Torrey (32:18.363)
Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (32:19.325)
That is a this is a really good opportunity, I think, for Coco to make the next step on grass court because someone like Belinda Benchich is kinda like Paula Bedosa, is kinda like Naomi Osaka. Like she will she will put that forehand to the to the to the rails and make right, yeah. It's it it it's it's got that that kind of like recipe of like this could be a tough one.

Torrey (32:39.886)
and has a good backing on herself to match up.

Alvin Owusu (32:49.629)
But cocoa serves well.

Torrey (32:51.823)
Serving well, hitting well off the forehand wing. It's gonna be a good match. This is actually the match I'm looking the most forward to just because of the quality, obviously Eva and JPEG. But I'm most looking forward to this one here for that reason. And obviously, all these matches, mean, that's not really a bad fourth round. So many go.

Alvin Owusu (33:10.209)
So many good matches. This is the this is like this is laid out to be a really nice I mean, even Buska and Mertons, like creepy creep Mertons on there creeping.

Torrey (33:18.348)
No doubt, no doubt. Y'all and Jasmine, it's gonna be a phenomenal. Now you really see it, they've played similar styles in a way, obviously left to righty, but both take the return mat early and go forward. So again, it's just this one, you hate to see some of the seeds go out, but this is an action packed fourth round coming up.

Alvin Owusu (33:21.373)
J Pal

Alvin Owusu (33:36.734)
Yeah. For sure. For sure. All right. Let's let's go over to the men's side 'cause this is I think while the matchups are intriguing on the women's side right now and the story that's start starting to come together I think is collectively really impressive. I think on the men's side, the the thing that I've been most taken by over the last two rounds is like like I mentioned in the open, the the guys that can play on grass are really showing like opening up the

Torrey (33:47.406)
Right.

Alvin Owusu (34:04.121)
You when a chef like opens up their tools on the on the mat and just rolls it out. Yeah. Like, and you know, leader leader of that class is probably like Grigor, 'cause I mean we just watched his match, but two matches in a row, that that that sliced backhand is just like just lawn mower, just cutting up the grass, putting putting players like him and Beratini, like they go about it in very different ways, but they both know exactly what they're trying to do on grass and they both do it pretty well.

Torrey (34:19.341)
Man.

Torrey (34:25.44)
Right. Yep. Yep.

Alvin Owusu (34:30.899)
So I really, I was literally looking forward to that match. I'm so glad it delivered. Hell, we got five sets. It was, it was a lot, a lot of fun with Gregor being able to step up and take it. But if we take a step back, right, we've got some of the, you know, our we got some of the regular customers here. I think all of our top six seeds are still in the tournament, which is seven seeds. God bless. Eight of eight of the nine top seeds, eight of nine of the ten top seeds. It's it's it's like they they've shown up.

Torrey (34:35.042)
Yeah.

Torrey (34:50.56)
Yeah, pretty rare.

Torrey (34:58.614)
Yep. Yep.

Alvin Owusu (34:59.761)
Like the seeds have showed up. We're getting down to it. hell Felix is look good, but let's let's let me give it back to you.

Torrey (35:04.034)
Yeah, only Mehdi. think only Mehdi is only Mehdi and Mehdi and Ben, who didn't make the cut. No, 100%.

Alvin Owusu (35:08.578)
Medium bin. Medium bin.

Alvin Owusu (35:14.505)
But I'll give it I'll give it to you. What's what have you been over the last few rounds, what have you been impressed by? What's struck you? What's what's what's got you kind of tingling right now?

Torrey (35:22.465)
I watched the Sefulin and Andrey Ubalev match first round. And I remember about both of them are Russian and I've seen Sefulin play off and on for, know, tough for off and on for four or five years now. I didn't realize he had such good net skills. He came through the next round, right? And I saw and I said, huh, you got to watch this Sefulin. He's starting to play quality didn't by the way. And I'm just watching him his continued run and what I've been most

I'm going to say impressed with he played to boy Botic, Van Schuip, Van de, Van de Zanschlupp, right. The next round. then.

Alvin Owusu (35:57.704)
B V Z, yep.

Someone told me someone told me someone told me that B V Z is an appropriate nickname for him, so I'm gonna go B V Z B V Z from here on out. Yeah.

Torrey (36:05.377)
BvZ, well that'd be a much easier one for me. I always struggle with his name. Played him. And then of course he played Yao. And I'm not telling you Alvin, Yao didn't play terrible. He didn't play great, didn't play terrible. You could tell Yao thought it was gonna be maybe a matchup from the baseline and kind of find his footing and then come forward. Nope. Fulham before he even had a chance was already at the net. Anytime he saw him in the outer third, he was looking to come forward.

Alvin Owusu (36:15.39)
No, he didn't.

Torrey (36:34.268)
knocked off a bunch of play. It's almost like him and Grigor had a little practice session ahead of time and both put their heads together because he's coming forward as much as Grigor is. that to me, we talked about this in the opening about having the skills to come forward and having the savvy to be able to do it well. That's what I'm watching. And so he, again, he's played three extra matches more than most, which is great for him because that means he really understands the grass and how it's playing, but also understands he knows what he's doing well.

and he to me is the

He's the rabbit in the sense of the Greyhounds of he's playing the right style for this tournament right now. Does he have the best game all around? Probably not when you look at all the players involved, but is he playing the right way? And has he done? You don't out hit Andrei Rublev, right? You don't out hit Yael Fonseca, you know, and he's doing it without having to. He's coming forward. He knows when to come forward. He's moving around enough. He's jamming you, middle third, taking you out wide, outer third.

running you one more time, sneak in, boom, got it. Rinse and repeat. And I just feel like that's the style that's winning. And when I see that happen a lot over time, not just Mr. Safulin, but anybody who plays like that is going to continue to, in my opinion, have some success on the grass.

Alvin Owusu (37:55.923)
Yeah. unfortunately for Mr. Safulin, he's going to be playing against Mr. Novak Djokovic, who also knows how to Mr Mr. Experience. Mr. Experience. He's never taken a set off Novak. He's owing three lifetime and Novak's won this tournament a billion times. and looking like he wants to make it a billion and one. So I'm gonna you know, we'll we'll enjoy it for what it is.

Torrey (38:01.849)
Mr. Experience. Right.

Torrey (38:17.119)
How many matches? How many matches has he won? Did he tie February 105 or what is it? 105. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. Freaking Novak. Well, Roman and Novak go.

Alvin Owusu (38:21.168)
Hundred five. Hundred and five. Yeah.

Is it a hundred hundred and five grand s is it a hundred and five grand slam match? No, there's gotta be more than that. But no.

Torrey (38:30.682)
I think it's Wimby matches. I'm pretty sure. Yeah, well you gotta play one seven, bro. you do.

Alvin Owusu (38:32.466)
When we matches Jesus, really?

No, the number the number is one hundred five. I but I'm requi I was like I was like, what is that number? It's a hundred and five wins at Wimbledon, that's right. Blessed. Blessed. That's a lot.

Torrey (38:44.432)
Well, he won because he won Fed won how many?

Alvin Owusu (38:47.4)
S I think I think Novak's tied with him at seven.

Torrey (38:51.292)
Right, my point, and so you do seven to seven, so that didn't include all years he didn't win and still got pretty far. So you played the tournament, played the tournament almost 20 years. Right. That's how the match is. Exactly.

Alvin Owusu (38:56.411)
Sure, yeah.

Alvin Owusu (39:00.336)
Actually, twenty times, yeah, twenty times, five a year, like yeah, that's about that's on average, that's right. Hundred matches. That's right. That's that's how you get there. You play for a while and you always make the quarters. so that's it. That that's it. yeah, so it's

Torrey (39:17.18)
It'll be a good match for Roman and for Novak, but to your point, I think that's the recipe. You're seeing all the players who are doing well are doing it. quite frankly, again, solid matches all the way through. missing some of people that you would hope that you would see, right? You're missing Hodari and Fonseca both, but again, those guys are gonna continue to learn and get better. And again, I will go back to earlier statement, the depth is the key.

And it's not that we are disappointed with who hasn't made it this far. It's that the depth is showing through everybody from, you know, Shroof, Leonard to Herkatz to, you know, we don't even have to speak to, you know, Davides Forkina, Sepulon, all these, what we, what you would call journeymen, you know, what the, the commentators would call journeymen, I call proven veterans, right? These guys are showing, hey, we know how to play on the, we know how to play on the grass.

Just watch this and I feel like that's what's really shown. That's what's really piqued my interest being the all-court player and the one-handed backhand that I am. I always love Wimbledon for that reason and it's good to see the oneys, the old school having a mo.

Alvin Owusu (40:29.638)
Yeah, guys who are able to flip the racket over, go continental, like off both sides. I mean, hell like that Davidovich Aquina will open up, hit that forehand, slice, and come down on you, and and really apply pressure. Like just guys who are willing to stay on the fore foot and move forward. It's been it's be it's really, really cool to watch. Like as much as we've seen the homogeneity within Men's Tennis over the last few years, most of it's from the baseline. You see the the tread patterns on grass changing over the over the course of time. you look back at even last year's final with

Torrey (40:39.341)
Right?

Alvin Owusu (40:59.43)
Cinner and Alcaraz and it's primarily being played from the baseline. But in this year's edition of the championships, you're seeing a lot of guys coming forward and being rewarded for it. so it's great to see. I think anyone who who appreciates grass court tennis, even myself who is not a not a lover of grass court tennis, but when it's done like this, I can appreciate the full expression of like, okay, there's other parts to tennis besides just hitting forehands and backhands.

Torrey (41:18.759)
Right.

Alvin Owusu (41:28.432)
It's i i it it's really cool to see.

Francis lost to Bublick today. And throughout that match, like and my takeaway was like when just a little bit in between gears when it came down to came down to like showtime for like these big points in these in the tiebreakers or when we're trying to serve out a set or like you know, that's just like when when he needed a point, it seemed like he was between options of how he was gonna get it. And that lack of I think just the I'm not

Torrey (41:36.845)
Yeah.

Torrey (41:45.74)
Yup. Yup.

Torrey (42:00.993)
I agree.

Alvin Owusu (42:03.24)
I'm not gonna call it lack of clarity, but just that little indecision is just enough to to come up th force you to come up indie handed against a guy who's gonna throw down dam near fifty aces in a match.

Torrey (42:13.696)
I would agree, but I would also push back. Bublik just served bigger to me in the fifth, really the third, the second, third and the fifth. Bublik stole that third set to me and the fact that he won the breaker. I was very impressed with Brands come back in the fourth, but when Bublik started serving and did not look back.

I mean, he knew he just knew if I just continue to hold serve got early break, he knew it was over. And I feel unfortunate. think I think, you know, Faux thought it was new was over as well. But to me, the difference with Bublik and with Francis was to serve. In my opinion, he was able to paint lines a little more, especially for all five sets of it. And unfortunately, Francis and that's not Francis game, is it? He's not he's not a big server. He's got a very good server for his size.

But, know, Bublik is, is Bublik six, three, four, six, five. So Bublik is a full on six, five, bringing the heat off from a slightly higher altitude. Just saying that I felt that was what, as I watched the majority of that match, that to me was the, what was the shot that going away was what made the difference to me.

Alvin Owusu (43:09.84)
Yeah. Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (43:27.9)
Yeah, and that's the that's an interesting part about Booblik in that, yeah, he's got the big gun, right? But he also has insane feel. Like we'll also follow that up with like a a sick drop shot, willing to come forward. has has has top spin dexterity, like has the ability to go banana on a passing shot. Like he's got all the tools. So it's just a matter of like, can he it can he stay out of his own way?

Torrey (43:36.608)
Yep.

Torrey (43:40.021)
Right?

Torrey (43:46.452)
Yep. Right. Right.

Alvin Owusu (43:53.868)
I I think a match coming up with with Taylor Fritz is actually the kind of the right temperature of match to where I think you can get you might get the best of both of those players in that match. That could be a that will be a fun one. But my point about Francis was like, yeah, by the time we got to the fifth set, we were I think w we had we had lost our opportunity here. it happened in the third set tiebreaker. That third set tiebreaker is like the condo specifically what I'm talking about, is like he had chances and just did not look comfortable like

Torrey (43:58.336)
Sure.

Torrey (44:03.638)
Yup.

Torrey (44:11.636)
Right, The third was the one. I agree.

Alvin Owusu (44:23.067)
What he needed to do was step up and bring the pressure and he just seemed a little apprehensive about doing that. And then Bublick would then I'll take the pr I'll do it then. I'll do it. I will. Right. And that's so that's kind of specifically where I am. I think what do we what does that mean? That doesn't probably doesn't mean anything. Like there are some matchups that, you know, over the course of best of five sets, like it's just not gonna give me a guy who's gonna get one at least one one serve that you won't touch per game, and then probably another service winner, like

Torrey (44:31.648)
Yeah, if you want I will, yeah. Yeah.

Torrey (44:43.988)
Yeah.

Alvin Owusu (44:51.953)
We're talking two free points every service game over the course of five sets. Yeah, you're probably not gonna beat it. That's that's math is gonna is gonna math there. do you

Torrey (44:56.168)
Yeah.

Right. You know what I'm looking up real quick Alvin? We did a pot on height and the difference of and I'm just looking at with about four exceptions so far. I'm looking up every and ironically a couple of matchups the sub six foot guys are playing each other but almost in every case with exception I think four if my math is correct.

Alvin Owusu (45:07.579)
Yes.

Torrey (45:27.162)
you are at and again I'm going to draw the line at Kaboli who's six feet but with the exception of Kaboli obviously who's playing Demon R of course who's also right at that you know five ten five eleven six feet range there are more six three plus players in this fourth round all the way through

Alvin Owusu (45:49.425)
Mm-hmm.

Torrey (45:52.82)
I mean from from center all the way down 6-3 center down to 6-6 really closer to 6-7 Zverev you know I mean and I mean every I mean Fritz, Bublik, you got Felix, Hurcats, Strouff I mean everybody is pretty tall in this fourth round obviously Shintaro's not not as tall obviously and you know we forget you know obviously

Alvin Owusu (46:19.72)
Artha Fairy's not tall either, so it's it's it's

Torrey (46:21.496)
Arthur Ferry's not tall, but again, and who's Ferry playing? Demetrope, also not very tall. So I'm just saying, it's kind of weird how this whole thing, know, Bublik and Fritz are about the same height. They're both about 6'5", you know what mean? Laheska's not as

Alvin Owusu (46:32.047)
Yeah. I mean Gri Grig Grigor is a sneaky s Grigor is a sneaky six three. Like just 'cause he moves well, he he's he's not a small guy. Like

Torrey (46:39.285)
He's not small, but to my point, there's four players. I think it's Shintaro, I think it's Di Manar and Kaboli are both right at six. It's Di Manar and David Ifes-Rakena and like two others and that's it. And that's it. Everybody at fairy, obviously not in every, so it's just funny. We were talking about this the other day and I'm just looking at all of them. And the few guys that didn't quite make it are also pretty tall. know what I mean? know, Mehdi's six five. You know what I mean? Ben's a full on six four. So even those guys,

Alvin Owusu (46:46.631)
And then Davidovich Shakina probably. I he's like five ten.

Torrey (47:08.869)
had they have made the dun equal to their seeding, we'd have had even more guys where that would have been that tall. So you're starting to see that average height starting to tick up a little bit. again, to me, that was the difference to me with the match with Fo and Bublik.

Alvin Owusu (47:29.073)
fair. Let me let me ask you this. Let me let me put this to you right now. Who do you feel confident about right now on the men's side? Like they are playing well. They're they're kind of like playing well right now. Who are your gimme give me three guys

Torrey (47:39.353)
And well, right now.

Torrey (47:43.636)
Grigor Dimitrov. Number one, he's just playing like he's on a mission. And I'm so happy for him because I felt like he was, nothing, one's fault, you know, but bad luck playing well right now. Number two, playing very well right now is my main man, Alexander Sasha Zverev. I feel like he is starting to take his confidence from that tournament. And it's not that he's playing so phenomenal. He's just playing very clean.

Alvin Owusu (48:12.871)
Clean. Very clean.

Torrey (48:13.295)
And it's just clean, his matches are clean. He's up to seeding and I just feel like there's less doubt in his game right now. If you had to give me a third person who I say, you might wanna watch out for. I gotta say, Yon Lennon Shroof. I mean, he's just playing some good ball right now. He's just playing like he should. He's a veteran. He's been coming forward. Obviously, I love to fool him, but I just don't know if he's.

He's going up against Novak and Novak is always a tall order. I have not been as impressed with, let me follow up with who I've not been impressed with. Yannick Center, not been as impressed with him. Kaboli is always a tough player. I have not been as impressed. don't feel like as good as his all-court game can be. I still feel like he still relies too much from the back of the court. And I don't, love Ferri. He's had a...

a wonderful Cinderella story up to this point. I'm not sure that he has the, if he has the overall game and the wherewithal to take down a, you know, a former top five, top three in Grigory Dimitrov. So those are three that I don't think, in my opinion right now, have much on paper to go past the current round they've achieved.

Alvin Owusu (49:37.266)
So ko Kaboli, the Kaboli is interesting. 'cause he's playing he's playing Demon, right? And that is a Demon is not traditionally that great on grass. And his serves not that big and and Kaboli returns quite well. I I that that match might be a toss up, but if so, I might lean a little bit towards Kaboli. And then if he were to play Grigor, I'm

Torrey (49:48.492)
Right, right.

Alvin Owusu (50:04.451)
I I I don't I that's also kind of a toss up. Like at that point now we're talking about the we're talking about the quarterfinals. Like when's the last time Gregor has played this many ma this many sets in this compressed amount of time? Like we're also starting to get into like he is thirty five thirty five, thirty thirty six, so like he's not it there there's some things that are starting to crank up here that like hell, we could end up with Alexander Bublick in the finals of of Wimbledon. That that could happen. It could happen. We could also we could also get Gregor in the finals. Like something like

Torrey (50:13.677)
Yep.

Torrey (50:18.369)
Yeah.

Torrey (50:28.301)
It could.

Alvin Owusu (50:33.457)
I don't know. It's it's it's I I I I'm I'm very happy, like as as sad as I am, I my buddy came over today and he's like, Hey, what where what's going on with with Alcaraz? He just like quit tennis. My my buddy is not a tennis fan. I like, No, he's he's hurt. He he's been hurt for the last two slams. I'm like and that reminds me, I just miss him. And like the non tennis fans who would turn on Wimbledon this time of year, Fourth of July in the States, like would expect to see Carlos Alcaraz around they're like, Where is he? He's just not here.

Torrey (50:35.137)
Yes.

Torrey (51:02.349)
Yep, yep.

Alvin Owusu (51:03.057)
But you know, he's hit he's hitting four hands now. It's been documented. Brace no brace. He's he's he's hitting four hands. It's we might he's gonna come back at some point. It's gonna be it's gonna be nice.

Torrey (51:06.669)
Good. Nice.

Torrey (51:13.451)
It would be great if we missed him, but in the meantime, I feel like the ATP is holding it down. You know what mean? It really has there. holding it down and I'm happy to see it. It's gonna be a... I still go back to the depth. It's the last thing I wanna say. I look at Shintaro, Mochizuki, and obviously, Sepulon, and Mr. Ferry. Well, Ferry was taking a wild card, but I...

you see these guys just still, they're still around, you know what I mean? In the fourth and just to me, it just continues to show you that the, I think the cuts usually around between 100 and 105 give or take, and all the wild cards and that and all everybody else. So the actual cuts about 105 in a 128 draw. So it shows me that the guy that is between 100 and 150 is really closer to, you know, capable of playing.

at or better than top 50 tennis, you know what I mean? On a given day. And that also tells me that the guys that are 50 to 25 are able to play top 10 tennis on a given day, depending on the right matchup. They're not that far away. I've always told my players, pro college, you know, junior, you're only a level behind this guy. That means on your best day, this average day, you're better than he is, right?

Now, the unfortunate part of that is on his good day and your good day, he's a little better than you. He's also better than you. So you really have to wait for that situation to swing in your favor. He is a little better than you for a reason. He is higher than you ranking wise and he's had a better body of work. But don't mistake the point. If he has an average day and you play very well that day, you, that's a winnable match. you...

Alvin Owusu (52:46.884)
And his average day and your average day, he's also better than you.

Torrey (53:09.704)
going sharp. So I say that to say I feel that's what's happening with the tour right now. We're getting these guys that are just coming in sharp. The guys are ready and they believe and we're continuing to see it and the matches these guys are just getting beat. The guys are losing. They just getting beat. Vertanen just beat Ben. mean it wasn't Ben in Playground. no, no. He just got beat and and there's a we talked about the previous one. have to go back into it again but I say it to say that

Alvin Owusu (53:24.902)
Yeah. Yep.

Torrey (53:37.692)
That's what we're seeing. These guys are not being blown away and they're not just, you know, they're not going away. You they're just, you're starting to see the entire tour raise a level, if not two, and they're catching that top level. You know, I think that's the biggest compliment that these bigger players, Carlos and Yannick in particular, they've raised the bar so strong and so far, but at some point the tour's gonna catch up. People are gonna continue adapting and figure out a way and they're doing it.

Alvin Owusu (54:03.728)
Yeah, yeah.

Yeah. yeah, I'm I I'm with you. And that's the we've seen it in other examples of like the plenty of guys who just get the opportunity. They get the opportunity and then they make the best of it because they can the the l the level is a lot deeper than the rankings, right? Like it it's that's kind of the case. The numbers are just n th they're kinda just numbers, like between

Torrey (54:11.642)
for sure.

Torrey (54:19.949)
100 %

Torrey (54:26.855)
You're seeing it in World Cup soccer, you're seeing it basketball, you're seeing it in almost every sport. They're just getting better, you know what mean? And year in, year out, they're just getting better. And at the end of the day, us the fans, we're the happy recipient, right? Because we're seeing better quality at every level. There are fewer blowouts, you know what I mean? If any at all.

Alvin Owusu (54:48.603)
Yep. And I think that as as a fan, we are blessed. Tomorrow is gonna be one of those days. I think it's gonna be really a lot of fun. It's gonna be special. fantastic order to play. So let's put a pen in it and then we will just we'll just get to the fourth round and then we'll check back in early next week. I'm Alvin. That's Tori, best of three, we are out.