Arthur Fery's Dream Run, De Minaur's Emotional Exit & More | 2026 Wimbledon Day 8 Recap

Summary

Served with Andy Roddick – Wimbledon 2026 Day 8 Recap

Episode: Arthur Fery's Dream Run, De Minaur's Emotional Exit & More
Date: July 7, 2026
Host: Andy Roddick (not present in transcript), with Jon Wertheim, Mike, & Sean
Podcast Network: Served Media Network

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Main Theme & Purpose

Day 8 of Wimbledon 2026 delivered the highest drama yet, blending breakthrough performances, emotional highs and lows, and fascinating tennis narratives. The team recaps a day marked by Arthur Fery’s fairy-tale quarterfinal run, Alex De Minaur’s raw post-match honesty, tactical evolutions in the women’s game, and key milestones for top contenders like Taylor Fritz and Alexander Zverev.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Jasmine Paolini’s Grit and Joy

• Overcoming Adversity: Paolini, a former Roland Garros finalist, was described as nearly out in round one but clawed back and now finds herself in the elite eight.
• Emotions in Tennis:
  • Jon Wertheim (03:13): “This is one of the great virtues of sports, right? You find a little Hot Pocket, turn a match around, suddenly you have momentum, you have confidence. And here she is back in week two.”
  • Paolini’s quote, paraphrased: “Sometimes you hate this sport, sometimes you love this sport, but that’s what you sign up for.”

2. Alex Eala’s Impact and the Filipino Tennis Craze

• Community and Context: Reports of arena watch parties in the Philippines and massive enthusiasm for Eala, even as Paolini advanced.

3. Women’s Draw: Variety and Athleticism Triumph

• Shift in Style: Both hosts emphasize how athleticism and tactical diversity now trump raw power on the women’s side.

  • Sean (05:54): “The days of bashing are just not cutting it… Look how often they get to net… A lot of variety, a lot of athleticism.”

• Marta Kostyuk: A streaking, top-five-level player since April; praised for covering ground and mental growth.

• Linda Noskova vs. Madison Keys:

  • Notable for: Noskova’s net play (14 points at net), comfort on grass, and unique background (raised in a forest, fiercely independent).
  • Sean (07:01): “She’s probably the one people know the least about… But that won’t be the case for long.”

• Elise Mertens’ Happy Warrior Persona:

  • Known as tennis’ “human ATM” for her steady results and love of the sport.
  • Mike (10:47): “It’s nice to see someone who almost feels like they still have that innocence about participation.”

4. Men’s Side: Caboli Stuns, De Minaur’s Emotional Fallout

• Luciano Darderi “Kaboli”

  • Praised for shot tolerance, adaptability, and composure against De Minaur.
  • Upcoming quarter vs. Arthur Fery offers wild-card drama.

• Alex De Minaur’s Emotional Press Conference

  • After a heartbreaking loss, De Minaur delivers a vulnerable and honest self-assessment:

    • Sean quoting De Minaur (12:00): “I think one of us went out to win the match and the other went out not to lose. And it’s pretty self-explanatory who it was. It breaks me inside… It’s truly gut wrenching.”
    • Mike (13:08): “It was, yeah. He missed a couple second server turns… It was the same second serve over and over… I would have bet my house where he was going with his second.”

  • Analysis touches on the grind of tennis life, the unforgiving nature of Slams, and how players are judged by their numbers over time rather than individual heartbreaks.

  • Mike (16:35): “Tennis players care. They don’t have contract years where they care. They have every year where they care.”

  • Sean (17:03): “You get four chances to win big prizes… The flip side is, Andreva wins Roland Garros, she’s on top of the world … three weeks later, she’s checking a racket, saying, I hate tennis and leaving the court in tears. The sport does not give you a lot of chance to rest on laurels and take victory laps.”

• Caboli’s House Hunt

  • Amusing aside where Caboli mentions not having booked Wimbledon accommodation long enough, so he’s looking for a house—despite half a million in prize money (18:53).

5. Taylor Fritz’s Clinical Win and Zverev’s Rising Threat

• Fritz vs. Bublik

  • Fritz dominates “the chaos machine” Bublik, posting one of the stats of the Championships:

    • 47 winners, 8 unforced errors (+39 differential) in just 3 sets (22:01).
    • 23 aces to Bublik’s 13.
    • Mike (22:11): “I’m impressed. This is what top players do. They take tricky matchups and they make them routine.”

  • Fritz’s evolving mental game is praised (“finds calm, goes inward”), and his dominant head-to-head over Zverev highlighted.

• Alexander Zverev’s Grass Breakthrough

  • Zverev’s apparent new maturity after his French Open run; rolling through Lehecka for his first Wimbledon quarterfinal and top-20 win here.
  • Mike (23:58): “He’s stepping in and hitting his forehand… 137 [mph] consistently at a 70% clip. That plays on any surface.”

6. Arthur Fery’s Dream Run & College Tennis Debate

• Fairy-Tale Story:

  • As a local wild card, Fery beats Grigor Dimitrov in five sets to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals.
  • Mike (24:46): “Fuck me, he’s tough, man… Back to back, five set, fifth set breakers… That guy’s built like a brick shithouse.”

• Dimitrov’s Mixed Emotions:

  • A match that “stings,” but a sense of pride in his comeback year after injuries.
  • Sean paraphrasing Dimitrov: “A lot of emotions. Proud of where I was versus a year ago… I still have good tennis in me.”

• Fery’s Authentic Reaction:

  • Mike (26:38): Describes Fery’s instant reaction after clinching victory:
    • “He looks… and he goes, ‘what the fuck?’ … It was a great moment.”

• Local Kid Makes Good:

  • Played high school tennis in Wimbledon, went to Stanford, and is now in a Wimbledon quarterfinal.
  • His mother played doubles at the French Open.

• College Tennis Conversation:

  • College development is praised as more competitive than ever and a legitimate last step before turning pro.
  • Mike (27:56): “If you succeed in college tennis, you will have a job in tennis right now, like that is a fact.”

7. Stat of the Day: No Unseeded Women in the Quarters

• Historical Perspective:
  • For the first time since 2007, all quarterfinalists in the women’s draw are seeded.
  • Mike (29:36): “The year 2007… was the year last time that there were no unseeded women in the quarterfinals…”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Jasmine Paolini’s honest assessment (03:13):
  “Sometimes you hate this sport, sometimes you love this sport, but that’s what you sign up for.”
• De Minaur’s raw self-critique (12:00):
  “I think one of us went out to win the match and the other went out not to lose… It breaks me inside.”
• Mike on Arthur Fery (24:46):
  “Fuck me, he’s tough, man. He was good today… That guy’s built like a brick shithouse.”
• Arthur Fery with the instant classic reaction after match point (26:38):
  “What the fuck!”

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Important Segment Timestamps

• [03:13] Jasmine Paolini’s resurgence & Paolini/Eala match
• [05:54] Evolution of the women’s game: variety & athleticism
• [07:01] Linda Noskova’s breakthrough & personal background
• [10:47] Elise Mertens: the happy, trivia-rich “human ATM” of tennis
• [12:00] Alex De Minaur’s post-match heartbreak & analysis
• [18:53] Kaboli’s housing problem anecdote
• [22:01] Taylor Fritz’s statistically dominant win
• [23:58] Zverev’s new confidence and Wimbledon progress
• [24:46] Arthur Fery’s dramatic victory over Dimitrov, instant classic celebration
• [26:38] Fery’s “what the fuck?” at court-side, family, and background
• [27:56] Praise for college tennis as an elite training ground
• [29:36] Stat of the day: all women’s quarterfinalists seeded (first since 2007)

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Tone and Style

The episode is fast-paced, irreverent, and insider-friendly—mixing expertise with humor and candid assessments. Mike, Sean, and Jon blend serious tennis analysis with banter, colorful language, and behind-the-scenes context for a fresh, enjoyable recap.

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Summary for Non-Listeners

This episode offers an illuminating and entertaining summary of Wimbledon’s Day 8: highlighting the joy and pain of pro tennis, focusing on breakthrough runs and shifting playing styles, and capturing the humanity and humor behind the sport. From Arthur Fery’s dream week and heartfelt winner’s celebration, to Alex De Minaur’s soul-baring disappointment, listeners are treated to the real highs and lows of the pro tennis grind—plus big-picture observations on the current state of both men’s and women’s tennis. The show also pokes fun at itself and the players, making for a rich, memorable recap perfect for both tennis fans and newcomers.

Transcript

[Mike]

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[Sean]

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[Mike]

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[Sean]

8. 8. Recap. We're more than halfway home.

[Mike]

It's been so many days.

[Sean]

For you it has.

[Mike]

Do what they said. For you it has. You hear that voice? That is the sultry tone of producer Mike. Yeah. Techie Sean over in the corner chuckling like Beavis. Jw.

[Sean]

He said sultry. He said sultry.

[Mike]

Yeah. No one under. Do you know Beavis? About how arch techiean.

[Sean]

I was gonna say. I don't think so.

[Mike]

Oh, my God. Oh, my TP for your mom, everyone.

[Sean]

All right. Holy cow.

[Mike]

We have so much work to do. Sorry, sorry. I really thrown this. This me up. Are you serious?

[Sean]

You familiar with. Do you know Bluey? Yeah, I know Bluey. I'm thinking like what's predating?

[Mike]

What child? Of course he knows Blue.

[Sean]

He's a child, but didn't predate him. Okay.

[Mike]

All right.

[Sean]

Here we go.

[Mike]

Dude, go watch. I introduced this is derailed quickly. Yeah, we'll get to tennis.

[Sean]

All right.

[Mike]

All right. I did watch Beavis and Butthead highlights with my son Hank. He said, I am from Titicaca. No one's listening anyways. There was tennis at Wimbledon. Sorry, decorum. Wimbledon venue. Focus. On a serious note, where did Paolini come from? I Mean, she is awesome. She's one of my favorite players. I love watching her. There might not be a better smile in all of tennis. And couldn't find anything. Down a set for two and an ad to Robin Montgomery first round.

[Sean]

Great. There's a lesson there, isn't there?

[Mike]

Tell me, tell me, why is John Wertheim.

[Sean]

She. You know, we are talking about a former finalist here, so. And a Roland Garros finalist. Finalist. Rough year. I mean, she's barely playing 500 ball coming in. And you're right, but she was down a set in a break in her first round match. And you're thinking, good. And then we talk about this fairly often. This is one of the great virtues of sports, right? You find a little. Find a little Hot Pocket, turn a match around, suddenly you have momentum, you have confidence. And here she is back in week two. She said, I don't know if you saw afterwards, I mean, she. That irrepressible, like, cantaloupe smile. I mean, the biggest smile in tennis. And she basically said, sometimes you hate this sport, sometimes you love this sport, but that's what you sign up for. And yeah, here. Here she is. You know, a week ago, this would have been a devastating loss. You would have been deep outside the top 10. And now here she is back in the elite eight.

[Mike]

Techie Sean JW just said, hot Pocket. Do you know what Hot Pockets are? I do know what Hot Pockets are. Thank God I do. I'm a little. She looked great. Great run for Alex Yala. Part of me was hoping for just pandemonium in the Philippines. And also I have a lot of time for pallini. Playing great tennis. It always makes me happy.

[Sean]

Someone was sending me all of the invitations to the watch parties. We're not talking about someone's basement either. These are like arenas offering free popcorn to watch a fourth round match at Wimbledon. It's awesome. If you are Ayala's agent, I'm setting up exhibitions all December throughout the Philippines. But no, this was a fun match. And Paolini, a lot of variety, a lot of sort of. Did you watch any of this? I mean, she was really courageous. There were a lot of sort of very sort of bold charges to the net and sort of go for broke shots. And she did not play. She was not overpowered by any stretch. And that's good win for her. Marta Kostiek, I believe. Is that right? Marta Kostik. Next.

[Mike]

That's it.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Kostyak look great. Also, I will say you mentioned the exhibitions. Don't you know that players aren't allowed to make money on their own time.

[Sean]

Yeah, exactly.

[Mike]

Yeah. Get out of here. It's frowned upon in these parts. Costa beat Ashton Krueger. Qualifier, has a. Had a great run. Costic. If you look at her stats from April onwards, top five player. Oh, top five. I mean, maybe the best, like one. Madrid has barely lost on clay. Semi's here. I mean, outside of like delivering a slam title, I mean, I don't know that it gets much better. She is an insanely good athlete.

[Sean]

Here's a theme for the women's draw and for that matter for tonight. Good athlete variety. The days of bashing are just not cutting it. And look at the stats of the winners today. Look how often they get to net you. You can look at the slicing, you can look at how they're not reliant necessarily. I mean, serving well helps, but nobody's winning on a dominating serve alone. A lot of variety, a lot of athleticism. Kashik, remember what she said to us when we had her on, I don't know, six weeks ago? She needs to be better to herself. She's giving herself a lot of reasons to be complimentary. I don't think this was a remarkable win, but she did what she had to do. She was very happy afterwards. And now, second major in a row, she is at the business end.

[Mike]

Yeah, I mean, we say it wasn't like, but like getting the job done. Head down, four and four. When you're the favorite, like, solid. That's it. That's tennis. That's advancing in majors. Like, she. She's been fantastic. She covers some ground, too. She had one backhand pass where she went sideline to sideline hit on the. I mean, she's. She's impressive. I'm a big fan of hers. Naskova over keys. Surprising to you?

[Sean]

Yes and no. This was just one of these days where Maddie had trouble finding the court. But Naskova again, in keeping with our theme. So she won, 14 points at the net. She served well. She won. Match point was a drop shot. And then Maddie says, oh, yeah, she was like, dictating play. This is Maddie talking, dictating rallies. Serve well. 14 points, one at the net. It's going to be a good day. And, you know, this was one of these days where Matty just had some trouble finding the court. But all credit to Naskova. She told me she was another one of these Czech players, but not from a big city. She told me she was raised in the smallest town possible in a forest and had this sort of free range childhood that she thinks really helps her tennis. There were not a lot of. She had to be self sufficient so she was comfortable on grass, comfortable on Greeks. There you go. It's a sylvan. Yeah. Comfortable on the green stuff. And here she is. She's a nice player. I would say of all the top 10 players, male or female, she's probably the one people know the least. Least about.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Sean]

Would you agree?

[Mike]

I think so, yeah.

[Sean]

But that won't be the case for long. She also was very proud to show off. She got what, Sean? You know this. Now we're relying on youth. The. It's not the nose ring on the side, it's the, the septum piercing. Yeah.

[Mike]

The what? The septum piercing. The septum piercing. He says with confidence.

[Sean]

This is the only. Yeah, exactly. She got it. She said she got. I think she got. Said she's got it done. After Roland Garros. I think this might be a first. I'm not sure there's been another top player, especially Wimbledon with a septum.

[Mike]

Have you ever septum pierced PE Shan? Not yet.

[Sean]

It's coming.

[Mike]

If she wins.

[Sean]

It's coming. No, no.

[Mike]

I think Marissa would have something to say about that. It'd be good for cond. You get over it. Like you said, you, you p. You, you pierce the septum once. It's fine.

[Sean]

Vote in the comments.

[Mike]

If I should. Yeah, vote in the comments. You never go back. Yes. Is it click. Yes. Naskova in all seriousness, top ranked player in the bottom half of the draw left. So it's one of those ones where Maddie, frankly, Maddie's famous and Noskova is not. So people are like, oh, an upset. I'm like, that's not an upset. She won Berlin. She beat Yala and Pagula finals like this. That's not an upset. She has a world class elite backhand. Like great backhand. Switch directions, power, everything you'd want. She played a great match today. Elise Mertens, 4 and 4.

[Sean]

Yep. Another athletic, versatile player. Knows her. She. I'm putting her down as the. This is the happiest player in tennis. Give her a run for money. This is someone who says she just loves the sport. It's motivating. She'd play every day if she could. She played doubles. She was disappointed in doubles.

[Mike]

She didn't give us with.

[Sean]

With Savalena, one of majors won Wimbledon last year and she said she didn't. She was really upset because she was looking forward to playing every single day. This is someone who loves tennis.

[Mike]

North of age 30 I love that.

[Sean]

A Kim Kleisner's protege. And I know all about. I got all the fact that she's. She has a pet. Seriously, she's got a.

[Mike]

She does.

[Sean]

She raises.

[Mike]

She adults and rehabilitates pets.

[Sean]

Keep going. Yeah. Boom.

[Mike]

I don't know. That's all I got.

[Sean]

You're completely correct.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Sean]

She has quails in her backyard. Male and female lay different eggs. I didn't know that. Um, her sister flies for Pan for KLM commercial pilot. I. You want Elisa Mertens trivia. I'm. I'm your man. Um, but she was terrific today. One four and four. She's broken serve like 21 times in nine matches. Um.

[Mike]

Gotta be. Alex, I didn't see this heater coming

[Sean]

from you, but you see the Mertons.

[Mike]

This is fucking awesome.

[Sean]

You're tennis anthropic. Now that you get all these notes, the least I could do is give you some Elise Mertens trivia. Um, but here she is in the round of eight.

[Mike]

Sorry, let me recover from uppercut real quick.

[Sean]

Let me just stumble to my corner. You're writing me Elise Merton's biography after this.

[Mike]

I love it. That's fantastic. I. I think I once called her on our show the human ATM machine. Plays a lot of weeks, has a lot of results. Singles, doubles. Kind of echoing what you're saying. It's nice because rightfully so, players talk about how hard it is. It's nice to see someone who almost feels like they still have that innocence about participation. That's cool. I love that Kaboli. I was on that match today. That guy is a complete player. I was really impressed with his shot tolerance. Demon has one of the top five flattest back ends based on RPMs rotations per minute. And he was kind of bending down on one knee, staying there. Forehand doesn't need much time to prepare serve. Well, the guy just knows how to, like, navigate matches. He can finish it net. He can. I mean, start to finish. You know, obviously he was calling it, so watch the entire thing. And that guy's real. He also plays Arthur Ferry. He lost to Arthur Ferry first round of the Aussie Open.

[Sean]

That's right.

[Mike]

I heard.

[Sean]

Wow. Yeah. That was Sean. Yeah. This is our, you know, this is our Roland Garros finalist, too. So to turn it around and keep up this sort of stamina, I do want to. I do want to ask you, because I was really startled I brought, you know, this. This notebook is just decorative. I don't do shit with this. But I do have visual aids. And I want to read you Alex Diminor's post match. This was one of the most depressing things I've ever seen. I appreciate the bracing self candor. You called that match. So I don't know if you have thoughts on this breaking it down. I think one of us went out to win the match and the other went out not to lose. And it's pretty self explanatory who it was. It breaks me inside. That's the reality of it. Many, many hours get put into my craft and countless years to have moments like this and not step up to the plate. It's truly gut wrenching.

[Mike]

Wow.

[Sean]

He went on. You know he's going to take some time off. I feel like I'm drifting further away from my dreams. It's getting harder and harder. That's the reality.

[Mike]

Has he ever been seated higher in a slam?

[Sean]

No, this is, I think it's the highest he's ever been seated at 5. And I don't, I mean I, I sort of. You, you were on the match. Was it that dispiriting?

[Mike]

Yeah, it was, yeah. I mean he, I mean I talked about it. He missed a couple second server turns when he was break points. He made the same mistakes over and over on a second serve. Like I would have, I, I would have bet my house on where he was going with his second. Like I know he's talked about and let me just level set any opinions I have here with. It'd be hard for me to respect Demon more than I do.

[Sean]

Exactly.

[Mike]

All right. Like the guy always shows up lunch pail, hard hat. He has made a hell of a career. Right. So. And it was the same second serve over and over and over. It was 94 into the middle of the box. Caboli ended up figuring out that he could pretty much just run around it without much threat of anything else happening. You know those hours that are put in, no one can question that. I know. I've heard him talk about finding three miles an hour more on a first serve. I'd find three more options on the second serve if I'm him, like not a single time. If that's off, it's not by much. Did he go to the forehand on, on the deuce side? Not because it has to be the best option, because Kaboli has to react to the threat of the option. Right. And so I agree with him. And he was, you could sense his disappointment. This is probably his best service, you know, after the clay court season. I respect someone who takes it this hard who wants it this much, who is honest, self aware. Those are all attributes that I really, really respect. And I think he's right.

[Sean]

Wow. All right.

[Mike]

I think he's right. I think, you know, he's the higher seed. He's had the opportunity to play someone not ranked inside the top 100, who is a wild card in the quarters to make his first semi. If he wins that Right. Arthur Ferrier Dimitrov, at that point. No. Alcaraz Sinner Djokovic, in his half of the draw opportunity, it was knocking.

[Sean]

Right.

[Mike]

You know, I'm sure that has a disproportionate amount of value in his statements, but yeah, I, I, I, I think he missed an opportunity. I do. I mean, and sometimes we have to, like, call it like we see it. You know, you can simultaneously think the world of someone and also say, I think their analysis of themselves is, is probably accurate. You know, he'll, he'll get back on the horse. That's, that's, that's his nature. I, I think he's just an uber professional. Um, I, I hope that the long hours are also smart hours.

[Sean]

Right.

[Mike]

Um, Is he ever going to serve 140? No. Can you mix up pace and speed and placement on a second serve? Yes, you can. Can you mix up return position if you're not making any headway? Yes, you can. Uh, those are all things that are fixable. Um, you know, something I've taken away from this week. Like, you see people emotional in interviews. Tennis players care.

[Sean]

Yeah, yeah.

[Mike]

They don't, they don't have contract years where they, where they care. They have every year where they care. Right. There's no guaranteed salary. And yes, we make money to play a game. Like, you can't compare that to real life, but, you know, the, the, what it means to safely when he breaks down, what it means to Grigor coming back from that injury. These are like, these are kind of like real life stories wrapped up into these individual sport athletes.

[Sean]

I'll give you, I'll give you, like, adjacent to that. Something that I'm struck by is you get four chances to win big prizes. That's great. Right? It's not like we have a shitty season. We got to rebuild. Like, you get four, you know, eight weeks of the year devoted to majors. The flip side is, you know, Andreva wins Roland Garros, she's on top of the world in like, three weeks. Later, she's checking a racket, saying, I hate tennis and leaving the corn in tears. That might be an extreme example. But Rabbakina wins Australia. Great. She won a major. It should be. And then it's been really hard times for her in the past few weeks. This sport does not give you a lot of chance to sort of rest on laurels and take victory laps.

[Mike]

That's true. And with time, and I'm speaking, you know, from experience, Rybaccano, no one will ever take away Wimbledon. No one will ever take away the Australian Open and no one will ever remember what round she got to in the 2026 version of Wimbledon. We'll be like, I don't know, she lost early. Ish. Maybe something. So.

[Sean]

No, you're right. It gives and it takes, right? I mean, if Sinner wins this, nobody's droning on about the match against Serendo and Heat.

[Mike]

It was like a weird occurrence. But you get defined by the number. The numbers over like a decade, right? Not right, you know, in a two week span. And Andrea, you know, I like it when people care. I like it when they're pissed. I like it when it really hurts them inside it. I don't like it when players, like, I don't know, next time, like, I don't relate to that. I don't like it. The struggle is part of the beauty of the sport. Speaking of struggle, did you see Caboli's post match interview? Anyone in Bueller? Anyone?

[Sean]

No. No.

[Mike]

Anyone?

[Sean]

No. What happened?

[Mike]

He talked about how they didn't book their house for long enough and they have to find a house. And I felt guilty, guys. I felt guilty.

[Sean]

Why is that?

[Mike]

Why? Because I'm sitting in this beautiful home that I found on Airbnb and Kaboli might not have a bed tonight. He made half a million dollars today. But he doesn't have. He doesn't know. I have no idea if he's serious. But I will tell you, if you're in Wimbledon Village, he literally said, if you have a home in Wimbledon Village, let me know. Post your home on Airbnb. I mean, you might get a quick sale. Quick.

[Sean]

Exactly.

[Mike]

You know, he's good for it.

[Sean]

He's good for it.

[Mike]

If the person says, we'd like your home and then they say, grazia. That's Cavoli.

[Sean]

Exactly. Target that for Italian. Mike's right too. He's going to pass the credit check. I thought you were going to say you've got a spare bedroom. And if you're the Roland Garros finalist still in this tournament.

[Mike]

Yeah, no, I was thinking about that, but then I decided against it.

[Sean]

Lesson learned.

[Mike]

Fritz, look great yeah, Fritz look great. Bublik, the Chaos machine wasn't quite there.

[Sean]

All right, so let me. Let me ask you this from a common fan perspective. And the obvious answer is it's opponent dependent at some level. Bublek had 47 aces against Francis.

[Mike]

48.

[Sean]

48.

[Mike]

Yep.

[Sean]

Granted, it was a longer five set match. 13. I think Fritz had like twice as many aces. I think. I think Taylor had like 23 to 13. This match was, you know, I. Double digit time, minutes. I think it was. It was like an hour. 39. Yeah. Hour and a half.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Sean]

So Taylor's got to be thrilled. But I think a lot of people, including Francis, must be saying, dude, you were hitting all your spots. You had 48 aces against me and you had 20% of that total tonight. How do you explain that one?

[Mike]

Taylor's a professional. Like he's a pro. All this talk about the Slams and the whole thing. He leans into that conversation and speaks very plainly about my life goal in this sport is to win a slam. No offense or buts, no qualifiers. Boom, that's it. I watched him get run out of the room against Sonico in the first set, who was playing like a psychopath, coming in on everything. It would have caused me panic. There was no panic in his game. He might get beat in this tournament, but it's not because he's kind of leaning away from a challenge. Right. Bublek breaks him early in this match, he breaks right back. He's starting to get that gene. Or maybe he's had it for a while. Maybe starting to get as a little dismissive. He kind of has that gene where something goes wrong. He kind of goes inward, find some calm. I'm impressed. This is what top players do. They take tricky matchups and they make them routine. How's this for a stat line? I think this is probably the best plus minus at Wimbledon this year.

[Sean]

What's up?

[Mike]

I'd bet you a dollar on it. 47 winners, eight unforced ears for Taylor Fritz in this match. Plus 39.

[Sean]

Pretty good.

[Mike]

In three sets he had 23 aces to Buck's 13. 23 aces in three sets is legit. Exactly. I'm. He's playing great.

[Sean]

And time of match. And now as we. Let's just get a little live update. What's.

[Mike]

What's the old Zver?

[Sean]

10 minutes until over Leshka. Two sets to love. And now they're on serve early in the third. And bear in mind that Taylor's beaten Zver seven times on the trot, including once Here.

[Mike]

And that streak started two years ago here. Hasn't been small matches.

[Sean]

Yeah, right.

[Mike]

Like just beat him. Just beat him in Holly. Beat him at the US Open after you beat him here. For some, like, matchups matter. And for some reason he likes that matchup. Maybe it's just because he can stay back in to back in with him. Maybe it's because he can hold serve. I don't know. But it's certainly not a matchup that he's going to shy away from. Zverev looks as confident as he's ever looked on grass. Now there is the levitating effect from Roland Garros. Right. I think there's like free. As free and easy as one can be until consequence might matter. He's playing well. You know, one of the few things that I actually got right and felt strongly about was Taylor making final out of that half. He's done nothing to make me think, like to run off of that opinion. But Zverev has made me think that he's way more in this thing than people have given him credit for.

[Sean]

Can this be right? That Zverev up two sets to love on Leheschka for what would be his first top 20 win here, first top

[Mike]

20 win here, first quarterfinal here.

[Sean]

Yeah. So stepped it up on the heels of Roland Garros, but boy, the track record, I don't think he'd been. Yeah, he hadn't been on the fourth round coming.

[Mike]

And he's stepping in and he's hitting his forehand and like you might not be comfortable on a surface. 137 consistently at a 70% clip. That plays on. That plays on kind of any surface.

[Sean]

Yeah, Right.

[Mike]

Anyway, so we'll see if we get that match up. The curfew is here in about 10 minutes. I don't know if they've stopped. Not already, but real time, he's rolling over Lehechka, which is a good win on grass, by the way. Lehacha made finals of Queens last year before losing to Carlos. Match of the day. Arthur Ferry, Grigor Dimitrov. Storylines crazy. I'm going to lay on the sword here. You ready?

[Sean]

Let's hear it.

[Mike]

I completely underestimated this guy.

[Sean]

Very.

[Mike]

Fuck me, he's tough, man. He was good today. I mean, crushing, rushing some second servers, playing defense on. I was impressed. Tough. Back to back, five set, fifth set breakers beat Bergs, who was in form. Fifth set breaker ran through that. Breaker beats Dimitrov. Dimitrov's story was fantastic. I gotta think this one stings and overall, looking back, pretty special memory on the heels of last year for you.

[Sean]

Just paraphrased his press conference. I mean, he basically said exactly that. This one's gonna sting. But big picture, a lot of emotions. Proud of where I was versus a year ago. And then also said sort of encouragingly, I still have good tennis in me. Like, I firmly believe I'll be back. I was doing Tennis channel stuff. I was following the score.

[Mike]

So two sets of one.

[Sean]

Did we drop up two sets of one on a break?

[Mike]

He was up a break two different times. I don't know this to be true. Maybe he said something in his press conference. I mean, tough four setter against Mensheek, five setter against Baratini. You've won six matches all year. Best of five format. Coming back from injury, I think I suspect the legs were giving a little bit. I don't know that to be true. Just eye test fairies were not. That guy's built like a brick shithouse. Like he is. I mean, he is, he is stable, I'll tell you that, right? He is. He is stable. I think Dimitrov, like, that was a big ask physically, you know, with not a lot of. Or not the match play that he's. He's used to. I think my favorite moment of the day, Fairy wins. Did you see what he said to his.

[Sean]

What did he say? I heard like something he couldn't repeat

[Mike]

to the old way. Well, what did he say? So he wins. Hands go out to the side. He looks. It's like just a look of disbelief. Rackets on the ground and he looks at. He goes, what the fuck? Straight, clear as day. Like you could see it. See, I'm gonna try to cuss less on this podcast, but this was just a direct quote, right? This was just. This was just. It. It was a great moment. I thought he was really great. In the post match interview, this story about local kid makes quarterfinals as a wild card. Like he went to high school here, like in Wimbledon.

[Sean]

See all the things that we talk about, right? All the Claire's and all of the. He's probably had the Roddick sandwich at your joint.

[Mike]

That's my guy. I think his mom's a member of the. I think his mom's a member of the club. Is that true?

[Sean]

Is that right?

[Mike]

Yeah. She was a French tennis player. I believe she played in doubles in the French Open in the early 90s. That would track. He was born in France, right?

[Sean]

I think he came here when he was 2, but also went to Stanford and I'm thinking, how good is college tennis? You know, we're used to these. I mean, nice, nice player for Stanford. I mean, I think we sort of heard the name, but this was not like Michael zhang winning double NCAA titles. And here, here he is playing at age 23 to the second week of Wimbledon.

[Mike]

Yeah, the. The conversation, and this is for another day, but short versus a lot of opinions about college tennis and those foreigners taking our spots. I'm sorry, I don't want to fade away from competition. I don't want to not play Arthur Ferry for three years. College tennis has never been better. There's never been more ready pros. That means Americans, too. Ethan Quinn, Michael. I mean, spazier. Everyone. Like, everyone's better. It is the best training ground. If you succeed in college tennis, you will have a job in tennis. Right now, like that is a fact. I don't know that that has ever been the case like it is right now. And I think our players in the States are probably better for it also. Now, if we go down the line and you're the 85th best tennis program and your son doesn't make a college tennis team, you're welcome to life.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Like me, like, welcome to real life. You know, I don't know. And I, I seem to be in the extreme minority on this opinion. And I don't know I said what I said.

[Sean]

But also, I mean, whatever. We don't have to do this on a Wimbledon rap show. I think age is an issue that I think is legit. But that's not the case here. I mean, this is. This guy went to College. When the 18 year, 19 year olds go to college.

[Mike]

Yeah. I don't want you to have like five kids when you're playing for.

[Sean]

Exactly.

[Mike]

Davidson. But, like, you know, I've had enough

[Sean]

of your Davidson knocking. Let's see what else we got. That's. I mean, this was sort of an interesting.

[Mike]

I got one. I got one. And then we're gonna close out. Stat of the day.

[Sean]

Oh, what do you got? Yeah.

[Mike]

Brought to you by ServiceNow. 2007.

[Sean]

2007. Roger B. Rafa,

[Mike]

the year 2007. It is the year last time that there were no unseated women in the quarterfinals or. Sorry, last time. That there. Yeah, I said that right, didn't I? You said it correct.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Great.

[Sean]

Yeah. Before this. Before this.

[Mike]

Before this year, no unseated women left in the last eight. And that is. Runs counter to the last couple days of absolute carnage for seeds. For the top seeds.

[Sean]

Anyways, that's Good. So we're going to have our 10th winner in 10 years. But yes, every single player with a number next to their name, every player remaining had a number next to them.

[Mike]

That's it. This guy.

[Sean]

Look at him.

[Mike]

Look at that. Look at those.

[Sean]

That's a good stat.

[Mike]

Look at those brains in action.

[Sean]

Wait.

[Mike]

That's a good, fun one.

[Sean]

I like that stat.

[Mike]

Yeah. Good stat of the day.

[Sean]

Venus Williams, I believe, was a champion.

[Mike]

Venus.

[Sean]

You know I can. They can mispronounce it elsewhere. Venus Williams didn't. Venus Williams. Williams was your winner.

[Mike]

That was a good one. Why don't you walk us out of

[Sean]

this one, JW Brought to you by Service Now. Taylor Fritz had service now. We'll.

[Mike]

This is served.

[Sean]

We'll be back tomorrow. This is served. Good times. Enjoy the tennis.

[Mike]

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