AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2026 DAY 11: Sinner vs Shelton Analysis, Musetti’s Injury & More

Summary

Served with Andy Roddick

Episode: AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2026 DAY 11: Sinner vs Shelton Analysis, Musetti’s Injury & More

Date: January 28, 2026

Host: Andy Roddick
Co-Hosts: Mike, Sean, and periodic mentions of Jon Wertheim (JW)

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Overview

This episode dives into Day 11 of the 2026 Australian Open, focusing on Jannik Sinner vs. Ben Shelton, Musetti’s injury that impacted the Djokovic match, analysis of key women’s matches, and the ongoing Whoop wearable controversy. The episode is characteristically candid and playful, with Roddick providing both expert insight and irreverent storytelling, alongside his co-hosts.

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Episode Highlights & Discussion Points

1. Dinner Story: Roddick Eats a Towel by Mistake

(00:52 - 07:16)

• Context: Before jumping into tennis, Roddick opens with a laugh-out-loud story about attending an elite Michelin-star meal in Charlotte.
• He accidentally eats what he believed was a “marshmallow” placed beside his plate, which turned out to be a compressed hand towel.
• Roddick: “I did something, and I was mortified by my own actions. Okay. It was like I wanted to crawl away from Earth.” (01:13)
• Brooke (his wife) and dinner companions watch in horror as he puts the towel in his mouth.
• Roddick: “In Andy’s defense, the person bringing them around…she goes, don’t eat this. It’s a hand towel. I wish she would have said that to me.” (04:26)
• The incident becomes a running joke for the rest of the episode.

2. Women’s Quarterfinals Recap & Analysis

Sabalenka vs. Jovic

(07:42 - 09:55)

• Sabalenka played her best tennis of the tournament, overmatching the still-rising Jovic.
• “Sabalenka is the best player in the world for a reason…She’s a physical freight train, like, and you’re standing on the tracks.” (08:03, Roddick)
• Roddick stresses not to judge Jovic harshly; being beaten by Sabalenka is a learning experience, not a referendum.
• Personal anecdote about facing Andre Agassi at 17 – draws a parallel to Jovic’s position.

Pegula vs. Anisimova

(09:55 - 10:57)

• Straightforward win for Pegula, who looked confident while Anisimova seemed anxious.
• Notable stat: Pegula now 30–3 vs. Americans since 2023.
• “That’s a massive stat. We have the best players in the world.” (10:52, Roddick)

Rybakina vs. Swiatek

(11:04 - 12:01)

• Swiatek produced uncharacteristically high unforced errors—10 winners, 25 errors.
• Roddick praises Rybakina’s confidence against top players, notes the “pick-em” nature of their matchup.

Semifinal Projections

(12:01 - 15:58)

• Discussion of tight scheduling and player turnaround; Roddick downplays its impact.
• Peers into head-to-heads: Sabalenka vs. Svitolina, and Pegula vs. Rybakina.
• Sabalenka favored due to form and matchup; Rybakina’s serve called out as a differentiator.

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3. Musetti’s Injury & Djokovic’s Reaction

(15:58 - 19:40)

• Musetti injured his right leg, ending a promising match despite dominating early play.
• Roddick emphasizes that even Djokovic felt awkward winning under these circumstances.
• “I don’t know what to say except I feel really sorry for him. He was the far better player. I was on my way home tonight. That’s it.” (15:58, Djokovic per B)
• Roddick discusses the frustration and empathy for players suffering injuries at big moments.

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4. Assessing Novak Djokovic’s Form Heading into Semis

(19:40 - 20:51)

• Concerns raised over Novak’s “less-than-dominant” recent sets heading into Sinner match.
• “Novak’s played two sets where he got outplayed by his own admission in the last week going into Sinner. I don’t know if that’s a great thing.” (17:00, Roddick)
• Acknowledges Djokovic’s legendary ability to reset.

Memorable Quote:

• “Bet against the greats at your own peril.” (19:49, Roddick)
• Also: “Don’t eat the towel.” (19:45, in-joke callback)

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5. Sinner vs. Shelton: Deep Dive into Tactics and Matchup

(21:12 - 28:01)

• Roddick breaks down why Sinner is a tough matchup for Shelton.
• Key stat: Shelton only won 41% of second serve points vs. Sinner, much lower than his usual average.
• Should Shelton continue coming out firing with his big serves, or play for rhythm and accuracy?
• Analogy with baseball’s fastball to set up off-speed pitches.
• “Personally, I’d have a hard time leaving a lot in the tank ramping it up against Sinner.” (23:28, Roddick)
• On facing similar tactical nightmares in his own career, especially as a big server against elite returners.

Notable Quotes:

• “There are certain times in certain matchups that I felt lost, and I certainly wasn’t going to go in and say that.” (27:39, Roddick)
• “Problems are easy. Solutions against the best on earth are a lot harder. That’s the breaks, Mike.” (28:01, Roddick)

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6. Favorite Delivery of the Day: Djokovic’s Press Conference Moment

(29:05 - 33:01)

• Sean presents Novak’s increasingly iconic “chaser” response to a press question regarding the shift from chasing Federer/Nadal to chasing Sinner/Alcaraz.
• Novak: “So I’m always the chaser and I’m never being chased. In the meantime, you won 24 Grand Slam…” (29:44, cited by Sean/B)
• Roddick jokes about bad media questions and Novak’s self-awareness.
• “If you won 24 Grand Slams, I hope you’d want some respect.” (31:53, C)
• General agreement that Novak’s handling was “the perfect delivery.”

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7. Wearable Tech Controversy: Whoop Device Ban at the Australian Open

(33:20 - 37:21)

• Sinner and Alcaraz were made to remove Whoop devices, even though permitted by the ATP/WTA rules.
• Tennis Australia gave vague explanations citing “ongoing discussions” but no strict reason.
• Roddick questions the logic: “Having players understand what’s going on in their own bodies, shouldn’t that be the point?” (36:04)
• Noted that brand ambassadors like Sabalenka also affected; CEO of Whoop called the ban “ridiculous.”

Notable Quotes:

• “Data is not steroids.” (36:12, Whoop CEO, read by B)

• Comparison drawn to the infamous Kanye/Taylor Swift VMAs moment: “This is ultimately good for Whoop...best thing that happened to her, brutal in the moment… album sales went like 6x because of the controversy.” (36:53, Roddick)

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Key Timestamps

• 00:52 – 07:16: Roddick’s towel-eating story
• 07:42 – 12:01: Women’s quarterfinal recaps: Sabalenka/Jovic, Pegula/Anisimova, Rybakina/Swiatek
• 12:01 – 15:58: Women's semifinal previews, Svitolina vs. Sabalenka, Pegula vs. Rybakina
• 15:58 – 19:40: Musetti’s injury and Djokovic’s post-match reaction
• 19:40 – 21:12: Assessing Djokovic’s semifinal prospects
• 21:12 – 28:01: Jannik Sinner vs. Ben Shelton tactical analysis
• 29:05 – 33:01: Djokovic’s witty press conference response, media Q&A discussion
• 33:20 – 37:21: Whoop device ban controversy

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Tone, Style & Final Thoughts

• Tone is witty, conversational, and self-deprecating, with expert-level insight and frequent playful banter.
• The show balances technical tennis analysis with lighthearted stories and humor—making it accessible to both hardcore tennis followers and casual fans.
• Notable for calling out both media and tournament authorities with frank, sometimes irreverent, commentary.

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Memorable Quotes (with Attribution & Timestamps)

• “I did something, and I was mortified by my own actions. Okay. It was like I wanted to crawl away from Earth.”
  — Andy Roddick (01:13)

• “Sabalenka is the best player in the world for a reason…She’s a physical freight train, like, and you’re standing on the tracks.”
  — Andy Roddick (08:03)

• “Problems are easy. Solutions against the best on earth are a lot harder. That’s the breaks, Mike.”
  — Andy Roddick (28:01)

• “Bet against the greats at your own peril.”
  — Andy Roddick (19:49)

• “If you won 24 Grand Slams, I hope you’d want some respect.”
  — Sean (31:53)

• “Data is not steroids.”
  — Whoop CEO, read by Mike (36:12)

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Conclusion

This episode offers a masterclass of both comic relief and in-depth tennis commentary, expertly parsing on-court events and off-court dilemmas at the Australian Open. Whether you’re looking for tactical breakdowns, candid opinions, or just a good story about an ex-champion biting into a napkin, this delivers a full-serve.

Transcript

[A]

AI is only as powerful as the platform it's built into. That's why it's no surprise that more than 85% of the Fortune 500 use the ServiceNow AI platform. While other platforms duct tape tools together, ServiceNow seamlessly unifies people, data workflows, and AI connecting every corner of your business. And with AI agents working together autonomously, anyone in any department can focus on the work that matters Most. Learn how ServiceNow puts AI to work for [e-mail] Foreign. Welcome to Quick Serve, brought to you by ServiceNow. If you want to do us a solid and subscribe, subscribe. Something we didn't get into enough yesterday was. What?

[B]

Trying to brush by something. I really want to talk about.

[A]

What?

[B]

Last night, we went to a wonderful dinner. We went to a wonderful dinner. John, you would have loved this place. There's a. There's a Michelin star restaurant here in Charlotte called the Count. Okay.

[A]

I'll say it.

[B]

It's called the counter.

[A]

You have to go through it. Okay, so this is great. I just rubbed my eyes like I look like death because.

[B]

Yeah, this is. This is great.

[A]

This is not great for us. Sean. I did something. I don't get embarrassed by much. I don't generally care too much. Like, it's all fine. Yeah, I did something, and I was mortified by my own actions. Okay. It was like I wanted to crawl away from Earth.

[B]

Yeah. And so did Brooke.

[C]

The possible scenarios that are flying through my head.

[A]

It was bad. So, okay, so we go. There's like this really, really cool chef named Sam Hart who won a Michelin star Charlotte massive first one. The whole thing. He was doing a dinner where you paid too much money and a lot of it goes to a nonprofit to help food insecurity in West Charlotte. He kept calling it the ball. Yeah, Maybe we can look up the name of it and plug it at the end. But he was doing. Co hosting a dinner with Sean King, who is a chef from high. So Uchi is my favorite sushi place on earth. It's from Austin, where I used to live and, you know, still have a foundation, and I'm there all the time. They did. It was like the Avengers coming together for a meal.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Right. And so our friends bought a bunch of seats. And it's one of those places where I said when we went in, like, they could put pepper on a Timberland boot and I would eat it. Like, I just.

[B]

It's so good.

[A]

I said, when you get to that level of quality with a chef, that's that good? I said, even the stuff that you don't like is good. Yeah. Like, you could not like a certain thing. Like, we had uni. I'm not an uni person. Mike's wife Rose is a big ooni person.

[B]

She would crush it.

[A]

But you eat it, and you don't even think about it. Like, it's not as if there's gonna be a bad bite. It's just gonna be really interesting. And so we're ripping it there. It's this tasting menu. We're having a little bit of this, a little bit of that. They're explaining all of the dishes. It's like. It's like theater seating around a counter. Yeah, they're just ripping rap music.

[B]

It was great playlist.

[A]

It was the best. Right? And so I'm talking with our friend Durham, and we're talking about. We're probably talking about, like, politics, and we're. We're like, I'm engaged. Right? And we had just had this amuse boosh. Shut up. So you're. We're going to get to the part where you can be uppity. Just savior. Amuse booshing for a second. So I'm kind of looking to my left and my plates just generally a little bit to my right. Over talking kind of across. Brooke is there. And we're talking, and we had just finished this. Like, it was like a cleanser.

[B]

Amuse bush.

[A]

God, you just such a. Yeah, you're such a douchebag.

[B]

So.

[A]

A little fruit little thing. Eat a little bit now, eat a little bit later. They give instructions with everything. It's like, yeah, I'm fully in, you know, anything they put in front of me, I'm just. Yes, out, done.

[B]

It's so good.

[C]

Oh, no.

[A]

So. So I finished. I look to my right, I'm like, talking, talking, talking. Look to my right. And I'm like, oh, my God, this looks sick. It's like a. It's like a marshmallow. Just a little plain. Like, it's a little. It's like a little. It's like this big. It looks like. I'm like, oh, this is curated marshmallow. Anything in my mouth. Anything in my mouth. In my mouth. Brooke goes, you just ate the hand towel.

[B]

This thing looked like a little. Like, it looked like a little marshmallow. And in Andy's defense, In Andy's defense, the person bringing them around, she literally looked at me. I was the first person to get it. She goes, don't eat this. It's a hand towel.

[A]

I wish she Would have said that to me. Oh, my God. So for those of you on YouTube, here's what's going to happen. I'm going to show you what happened from here. Okay. I have a little piece of paper that's about the size of the marshmallow.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

I'm holding it. That's exactly what it looked like.

[B]

Yeah, it was rolled up even tighter than that.

[A]

And it's one of those towels where once it gets water, it expands. Really cool thing. So it's not like a big towel. It was like a little thing and it was sitting there. I was like, it's right on the side of my plate where a napkin towel would be, I guess. So I just fired it, and it's in my mouth for a girl, right? And Brooke goes. Brooke goes. She goes. She goes, you just ate the towel. You just ate the towel. And oh, my God, everyone, this is like high level. You know, it's one of the things where the chefs are watching you eat. I go. I go, okay, don't look up for five seconds. And then when you do, tell me who saw it. Look up. And she goes, I know someone saw it. I don't know who. Maybe he's over the left. So I just went, okay. And so I just went like. And I just kind of put it into my back into my hands. And then I was like. I just. My panic move was I just wiped my hands to where. Because at that point, my mind went to, like, the story of. Did you see the guy who ate the towel? Yeah.

[B]

And.

[A]

And then I wanted someone to be like, no, I saw him. Like, I actually saw him wiping his hands down excessively.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

I'd rather be the person that wipes his hands down too much. And it's weird. So I'm hoping that would override.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

The story about me eating it.

[B]

No, I need to get this security footage.

[C]

Oh, my God.

[A]

I was so.

[B]

Said she was going to. She was going to write to Sam today and see if we could get it.

[A]

Oh, God, it was. It was so bad. And then the only thing was that I, like, my first one was wasn't to, like, spit out go. Like, it was to, like, okay, what's the situation? I'm in trouble.

[B]

At least you still have the rest of your amuse bush.

[A]

There was nothing to cleanse. No, it was a. It was. It was the only point in the entire mirror where there was a desert of no food in front of me. Like, it was the only. Only thing there. So. Yeah.

[C]

Oh, my God.

[A]

I ate a. I Ate a towel napkin at a fancy dinner.

[C]

I do like how the towel just sat in your mouth.

[A]

It was just there for a second, and then it was kind of like in the.

[B]

Like I discussed.

[A]

And that was just like. We had, like, 10 friends there, like five couples. And it was just like a ripple effect. You could see it down the line. Everyone going to say to fucking towel.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

So good.

[A]

Say the towel.

[B]

Well, the three nonprofits, but the one you're referring to about food insecurities is. It's actually called the bulb.

[A]

The wet bulb.

[B]

The wet bulb.

[A]

It's not the bulb. It's called the bulb. It's really cool.

[B]

Go to counterclt.com. you can scroll down to the bottom. They have three 501Cs. They're really cool. They do a great job.

[A]

The towels taste great also. Yeah.

[B]

Anyways, thanks for that.

[A]

Yeah, that's great.

[B]

Thank you.

[A]

Can I. Can I. I'm glad you did that. Tennis. You want to, like, actually talk about tennis? Anything else or.

[B]

No, just tennis.

[A]

It was not me eating the towel was not a perfect delivery, I'll tell you that much right now.

[C]

So good.

[A]

Whoops. Before we get to the Once we're. Our quick serve went 41 minutes yesterday.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. It was not very quick.

[A]

No, it was like a longer served.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I didn't get to Jovic and Sabalenka as much as I wanted to.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Sabalenka is the best player in the world for a reason. We all have that match. If you're Jovic, where even if I think she's going to be top, top, top, top of the game. You all have that match where it's like, oh, there's. There are levels to this thing. And Sabaleka took that threat seriously. She was dialed like, that's the best she's played by far in the tournament. But, you know, how are you. She's a physical freight train, like, and you're standing on the tracks that. It's just tough.

[B]

It's like, welcome to the show, kid.

[A]

Yeah. I don't think anything different about Jovic than I did before that match. She's just 18. She's still developing, you know, physically, mentally, strategically, all of those things. When the number one player in the world plays great, they normally win handily. It's very simple. Right. And so now we also know, like, okay, if you don't have the firepower of Sabalenka, Jovic is going to be a real problem for you. If you have the firepower of a Sabalenka or you know, whoever else, and you can land them consistently, then she still has some work to do. That's it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Very simple. I don't change. I don't generally change my opinion in a massive way on a result. I put more stock in the month of Jovic than I do in the hour that she was playing Sabalenka and was just completely overmatched at this point in her career. Happens. I was 17. I played Andre twice in the first. The first two tournaments I ever won a match, and I ended up playing him when he was, like, number one in the world. It's like, oh, yeah, I'm a good prospect. This is different. Yeah, this is very different. But I don't think anything. I thought it was the best match Sabalinka has played. I. I think. I don't think Sabalinka played great in this tournament so far, and I think that was by far the best match that she played and looked like. Looked like Sabalenka. The two matches are pretty straightforward. Pula and a Samova. 2 and 6. Jess look great from the word go. Amanda looked uneasy. She looked like, just uncomfortable, panicked, trying to figure it out. It was like she was looking at her box. It was emoting in a. Almost like. I don't know what the word is. I don't want to be dramatic. Like, almost desperate. Like, it just seemed anxious out on the court. And Jess kind of seemed like the opposite. But remember way back when, like, two years ago, when the narrative was just constantly. Jess hasn't made it past the quarterfinals on a slam. That's not the case anymore. We like to talk about things when it's a weird stat. And now it's just like, we can get on with our day, but we need to acknowledge progress before we get on with our day.

[B]

Yeah. I saw. Jesse's great. I saw a stat from her. She is now 30 and 3 versus Americans since 2023.

[A]

Pegula.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I mean, that's. It's not as if there's not, like, great American players. I mean, Americans are winning everything. She's 30. 30 and three.

[B]

That's. That's what Megan from the newsletter sent me.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

30 and 3 versus Americans since 2023.

[A]

I mean, that's a massive stat. We have the best players in the world.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Wow. Holy crap. That's a big number. That's a massive. I would have been way off on that guess, by the way.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Rabakina beats Swiatek. You know, I felt like ego was kind of trying to find her way and she was forcing, you know, it feels like she was trying to get out of the rallies pretty quickly. 10 winners and a lot of that. You do a lot of things because you are. You respect your opponent, think you have to do things against them. 10 winners and 25 errors. If you tell anyone that that's the stat line for IGA coming out of the match. There's not a lot of takers on it being a win for her against, against Robbakkina. But Rabakina looks great. I mean, she's carried the momentum from last year. She is not scared to play the top players. There's no doubt about that. She is one of the top players. I don't think I had the stones to take her like JW did. JW had her winning. I had IGA safer bet, I guess. But in this, head to head, I mean, I said at the end of yesterday's show, I don't know. It's a pick them. I don't know.

[B]

What do you, what do you think about the turnaround? They're playing right away. They're in the late match.

[A]

It's two out of three sets. It's like every. Well, Robocan and Pigula are both making the same turn. Yeah, I don't think it matters. I don't think it's what they do every week. They play two out of three sets and they play multiple days in a row. Now the pressure sets are different, which is. Does have a toll mentally, which then has a toll physically. I don't think it's that big of a deal. At some point you have to reset the draw and you can't have short. You have to have the same amount of rest before the final. So you have to reset during the semis. That's. That's just the way it works. I don't think it has any effect on, on the rest of the tournament at all. I think, I don't think Saba, Link and Svitolina are sitting there saying we have a massive advantage because they played two sets of tennis yesterday. I don't, I don't think it matters. Sabalenka 5 and 1 against Svitolina. Svolina beater the second time they ever played. Sabalenka has reeled off four in a row. I said the other day, I think it's the best Svitolina's looked. The way she played against Koga, the way she's been playing for the first four weeks of the year. It's not as if she showed up in Australia and had a good match. She's been playing this way for three weeks. Fitter, moving better, hitting better. It's just a matter of. Against Coco, she was getting the first strike in 80% of the rallies. You know, Coco. Coco's ball was getting up a little bit. She was able to get on that second serve. I don't know that Svitolina is going to be able to get on the front foot against Sabalenka the way that she was against Coco. So I don't. I would guard against going, oh, she played great against Coco, therefore, she's going to play great against Sabalenka. Matchups matter, and we'll talk about a little bit later in the show with. With Sinner and Shelton, you've been playing as well as you want. The matchups matter, and they matter more when. Once you go up the register of skill, okay. And you have someone that can expose or impose themselves. Expose you or impose themselves on you. So I. I still like Sabalenka in that one, but still, what a story it would be if. If Spinolina made her first slam final. It would be. Be pretty great. Uh, Pula Rabakina, 3 and 3 overall. Rabakina won last year indoors and Saudi. I don't know how relevant that is to this tournament. And then they hadn't played. They played 2023. Pugula won once, Verbacci once, and then 2022. So there's not. For two top players, they haven't played a lot the last three years, you know, so this is kind of. I don't know how much stock you put in it. Like, they can both play. They both like the service. They're both playing well. I mean, I think the one thing that you can point to as a massive difference between the two is Rebakkina's first serve, right? She will get, you know, she'll have a 30 love lead, more service games without having to have done much work. I love Jess. I think Jess is fantastic. That stat that you had where she's 30 and three against Americans is, like, absurd. Last I checked, Rebakka is not American. I don't know. It's Robakin. It was pretty impressive against IGA to kind of have IGA all out of sorts to where she's taking a break after the first set and, like, kind of being a little petulant with our coaching box. Like, it almost looks like, what. I don't. What do I do? Like, it's not easy. And somebody's won six majors I think I like Rybakina there and then the old J Dub Andy showdown if it's Sabalenko in the final. But that's where I think. That's where I think that is. Next we go to. It sucks when someone's playing great, they're winning. Even if you're like the biggest Novak fan in the world, you don't feel great about Musetti being hurt. There's just, it's not. I mean you saw Novak, he's like, I, you didn't even want to talk. What do you think? He's like, I don't want anyone to talk. I just feel bad. I don't know, man.

[B]

Like, you know, he actually said, he said. I don't know what to say except I feel really sorry for him. He was the far better player. I was on my way home tonight. That's it?

[A]

Yeah, that's it. I don't know why we need to comment when Novak nailed it. Yeah. Sean, you were saying Musetti, he was kind of self diagnosing situation.

[C]

Yeah. So he had a quote, he said, I'm kind of secure that this is a tear. Unfortunately. I was just curious, I mean how did. He's not a doctor. Is that for an athlete? Is it pretty easy to tell when.

[B]

You'Ve got a tear? He's referring to something in his right leg. Right.

[A]

It's like an adductor hip, something situation high groin. He was like, I couldn't tape it, it was too high. Which is accurate. Yeah. I think you know, and also if you've. I don't know his injury history enough, I'm sure someone will google the out of this and say you should have known. But if it's something you've done before, I think you know also if like there's a familiarity with an injury like you know, like Osaka.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

In the AB injury, it's like she didn't like did it again. Yeah. You know, I think there's like a recurring. You kind of just know. He said he started feeling at the beginning of the second set, kind of played through from there. There's not much to say he was playing great. Do we analyze the two sets where he was playing great and then reverse course to Novak having to play center now? I don't know, seems like wasted breath a little bit. I don't know that we want a grandstand on it. Novak's played two sets where he got outplayed by his own admission in the last week going into center. I don't know that that's I don't know that that's a great thing. Like, it's weird because we need so much to go right in tennis. I'm sitting here a week ago saying, he just needs less time on court. He's gotten a lot less time on court. Yeah, but the time he has spent on court, you know, he got knocked around a little bit by. By Musetti. So I don't know what that does for him. Or is it just like, I don't know, I'm here, You know, it's not as if, I guess Novak having won 24 majors, which is still stupid to say out loud, like, it's absurd.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

If anyone can reset and just be like, well, we're here now. You know, Janik did a last year Wimbledon, you know, with Dimitrov, and that takes a certain skill set mentally, too. So I don't know. I think we focus more there than on. I just. You just hope that you hope it with Musetti, it's a. It's a month long, I'm out and not a three months, four months. At this point, you're just hoping for less tournaments missed. February's. There's important tournaments, but it's light. Ish. It's not as if you're leading up to a slam. It's not as if this happened at Wimbledon or at the French Open. Now you're looking down the barrel at Wimbledon three weeks later. So if you could choose where to have this, maybe you try to, you know, let's. Let's see if we can get back for, you know, the big run of Master Series events if you're Musetti. But it just. It just stinks. You know, you're staring down the barrel of Novak and then sinner. Tough to feel good about that prospect if you don't feel good physically.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, I don't know, but it's just disappointing. You don't want to see. You don't want to see it end like that. Novak, listen, I'm sure he's happy that he's still on the run for 25, but probably doesn't feel great about it. Anything can happen. Yeah. And I don't know, like, people like, oh, he's lucky. I'm like, I don't know this like, 20 years later. You get some breaks in a major. Like, I don't, you know, glad it's finally working out. Yeah. It's not as if he hasn't proven that he can win these things when he's not getting.

[B]

I know. Here we. Here we are. Like unsure. And it's like, what do you always say?

[A]

What's that?

[B]

Don't. Don't bet against.

[A]

Don't eat the towel.

[B]

But against the greats at your own peril.

[A]

Yeah. Bet against the greats at your own peril.

[B]

But there are two greats.

[A]

I, I don't know that this does anything going into the center match besides Novak just having a fresh body. You know, if he, if he's down two sets and has to come back against Musetti, then we're probably talking about can his body hold up after a five setter against center.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Maybe the only way that he beat center is with Musetti getting hurt in the third. I don't know. We're stretching though, for a storyline there. Right. Like, sometimes it just sucks, you know, Good that. I mean, we're getting a Novak center matchup which is like, you know, it's all you want as a tennis fan. It's just you feel bad for the guy who is. And it's also you feel worse when the person's playing like the Dimitrov one hit harder last year Wimbledon, because he had earned the right to try to close that match out and get a win. Same with Musetti in this one. So it just doesn't feel great. But you know, men's, Men's semi set. Carlos Verav, Novak sinner. Either of you want to go out on a limb on those or chalk?

[B]

You know, I mean, it's 1, 2, 3, 4 for a reason. I don't know.

[A]

I still think it almost got crazy. It was almost 1, 2, 3, 5.

[B]

Oh, my gosh. How dare they.

[A]

You said before the show how dare they. Yeah, I think I like Sabalenka Rybakina and I like Carlos and Jannik.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, can we get in on.

[B]

The Jannik Shelton a little bit?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

A little bit more.

[A]

Yeah, I, Yeah, one. I kind of. I think Ben has to when he's served. And we've said this before, it's a broken record. But like when I'm watching the first couple of games and I, I would try to go through sinner before I started mixing it up.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Right. I think when you have that fastball, I think you have to throw it and see if someone can catch up to it.

[B]

You're saying that he should just come out the gate firing.

[A]

Well, the decision that someone. Well, the decision. And it's not easy, it's not obvious. Right. But like the decision that someone like a sinner makes is when Sheldon has to defend a serve against Yannick, he won 41% of second serve points. I'm not sure what his yearly total is or even in this tournament normally. Upper register of. Of 40. I'm guessing 48, 49, 50 on a good day, maybe even get 60% because his serve jumps everywhere. So we're talking about a differential against one player of like eight or nine percentage points on second serve points. One. So there's two. There's two lines of thought here. When, when you're going as a big server, it's okay, do I protect my second serve? Which is kind of what we've seen Coco do. She made 75% of her first serves against Fidolina and won 42%. If I'm off by a couple of percentage points, the general gist is correct. 142% of first serve points. So no aces. All right, that's one way to go where you're protecting your second serve. But is that going to win? I don't know that protecting your second serve with taking something off the first serve is going to win against Jannik. Now you may not get off to a good start. I don't know if you just could very easily be Ben going, yeah, I'm a rhythm server. I like to get into rhythm and then I find myself serving better. I don't know that we can't sit here and say we don't know those.

[B]

What do you mean by rhythm server? Like where he can feel confident that he's going to start to point out.

[A]

It's like an NBA player who. It's like Steph Curry knowing he can shoot from 26ft but going, you know what, it feels great when I hit an eight footer and then I shoot two free throws and then I'm in, I'm in, I'm in rhythm.

[B]

Got it.

[A]

Maybe that's the explanation in, you know, maybe it's just. We just don't want to, we want to minimize the amount of second serve points because that 41% number has been there over some version of that over the last however many matchups, which we've lost, you know, seven or eight in a row to, to center in this matchup. And some of them haven't been. They've been pretty straightforward. Right. I think straight sets last year, 6, 2 and 2. Here I want to say Wimbledon was straights. And then, you know, again. So, you know, this is. I don't think it's a secret. This is the matchup that I think bothers Ben the most, even more than, than Carlos as someone who could serve hard, I knew going in and listen, my record against, I can't defend bad matchups because I was, I maybe was the worst ever in a given matchup between top, top players. So like I'm going to throw myself on the fire. And also if I'm playing a Leighton Hewitt or you know, anyone who's a great returner, Andre and I have exactly one skill that's elite in its serving, I'm not going to take the most extreme version of that weapon out of play early. I don't think, you know, going in, I got to think sinners happy to see him, you know, hitting a couple kicks on first serves in the first game. Because as much as Ben wants that rhythm, I actually think Yannick wants, you know, the last thing what he wants is to get a swing on a couple. You know, even if he misses it and you fool him, he's still going to swing on it as opposed to like lunging and hitting aces and you know, maybe it's just a matter of I wanted to get my feet into it and that's a perfectly acceptable defense. Brian Shelton Ben's DAD it's like we, we talk about father co Brian Shelton made the fourth round of a major, he was 50 in the world. It's not like he's just, you know, some self anointed coach who's a parent which we see a lot on tour. Right. They know what they're doing. It's not as if they haven't thought of whatever your criticisms are. Personally I'd have a hard time leaving a lot in the tank when ramping it up against center. You know, he's going to handle the off pace stuff well because he's really good at that, you know, but there's only so much he can do on a 1:43. Now maybe it's just a matter of I don't want to defend, but there's two ways to look at that. He won. Ben won 69% of his first serve points. If you tell me that stat again, like the IGA 10 unforced airs 20 or sorry, 10 winners 25 on four stairs in her match and you just gave me that stat and I don't know the result, I'm going Eagle lost. If you're seeing 69% first serve points one, it's under 70% against center, you got to figure the second serve at best is probably like 47, 48. He's getting broken, right? So is it worth not serving as high a percentage but winning 82% of those first serve points. And that's the math that they have to figure out.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, he said, he said that, you know, failing to convert on his serve in the first set, you know, he missed his window in the match.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, you missed the first set of windows, but like, I think when Yannick starts seeing it and then you ha. Here, here's. Here it is. Okay, so if we have baseball fans, the way that you establish your off feed speed stuff is with what, Mike?

[B]

Fastball.

[A]

Fastball. So you have to set the table with that in order for the off speed stuff to work. Like, I was a big fan of throwing in off speed junk at certain point. Like against Layton, he would be on my first serve and on a big point, I'd throw in a 96 mile an hour serve and he'd be ahead of it. But that's because you had set the tone on, on what to look for. Like he had to look for the thing that you've shown. Right. Like if there's a pitcher and he's throwing 80% fastballs or 70% fastballs, his change up becomes better. And I think that's it. And this is just, it's. They're just gonna have to solve for it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And it's not great. There's not going to be a simple answer. He's going to walk into press and people are going to oversimplify. Well, what do you have to do different? It's like, fuck a lot.

[B]

I mean, he said, he said, he said, quote, I'm getting to the point now where I'm getting stopped by the toughest challenge in the game for the most part.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And I don't. And I do think that I'm close to bringing it all together, so at least there's positivity to take out of it. Yeah. They're. They have a plan. It seems like they're focusing on something, so maybe it'll come together and they'll go on a run.

[A]

I, I don't know what else you would say. Yeah, you know, I, There are certain times in certain matchups that I felt lost, and I certainly wasn't going to go in and say that.

[C]

But I.

[A]

Don'T think it can take away from what we've seen with progress from Ben. Like, he is better across the board and this one matchup is brutal.

[B]

Mm.

[A]

Right. And I think it shapes up the same every time. And you can know what the other person. The other thing is, like, you can know what the other person's gonna Do. That's one thing. And people like, well, they know, you know, center's gonna pin him in the back end corner. Okay, great. How do you get out of it? Like, everyone has the problems, but the solutions are the hard part. And that's why the players are out there trying to problem solve. Like, you think I didn't know that Fed was going to hit that short little chip to my backhand and say, you can't actually hurt me on this. So you're going to either have to shove that little shitty back end of yours back into the court, or you're going to have to come in on something wild where you might be hitting your first volley from 6 inches in front of the service line. Both are bad for you, right? But like, you're telling me, like, run around and hit a four. No, you can't run around short wide. Like, that's not a real thing. So, like, problems are easy. Solutions against the best on earth are a lot harder. That's the brakes, Mike.

[B]

That's the brakes.

[A]

That's it. Do you have. I keep waiting for you to jump in. Have you not.

[B]

Sean actually has a perfect delivery of the day.

[A]

I was just. I was like, do I end the show or are you going to do your thing?

[B]

Yeah, Sean, why don't you give us the perfect delivery of the day?

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

So, perfect delivery in Novex. Postmatch press conference. They.

[A]

He's in on it too now.

[B]

Of course he is.

[A]

God, why not? Okay, go.

[C]

Sorry, I mean, I.

[B]

Company man.

[C]

I got up early to watch the Ben Shelton center match, just in case. What, you watch it on ESPN Unlimited?

[A]

Actually. Congrats.

[B]

Congrats.

[A]

Look at you.

[C]

I appreciate you guys.

[A]

Look at you guys.

[B]

Make sure you cancel after the tour.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. Get out of there. No, they.

[C]

They were asking Zver about what it's like to play Carlos and center. And this is what, this is just the beginning of his answer, but I thought it was interesting.

[B]

Well, in the early part of your career, when you were chasing Roger and Rafa for titles, and now at the back end of your career, you're chasing Jannik and Carlos. I'm chasing Jannik and Carlos. In which sense, in terms of winning Grand Slam titles. Just right now. So I'm always the chaser and I'm never being chased. In the meantime, you won 24 Grand Slam. But I'm saying it's. Thanks. It's worth.

[A]

Worth saying that sometimes.

[B]

Right. Sorry. I should have no worries.

[A]

I mean, he's right. I mean, his point.

[B]

In the meantime, you want 20 more Grand Slams. Yeah.

[A]

In the meantime, just, oh, by the way.

[B]

I mean, shout out to whatever that reporter was. I get understand what you were trying to say.

[A]

I don't.

[B]

But. No, I understand it. I don't know if it was.

[A]

I don't know. But. But I think the. I think the. I don't think the part. It, like, I don't think Novak would argue with, oh, I'm. I'm. I'm chasing these two right now. Yeah, But I think his point was, okay, so if I was chasing these guys and now I'm chasing them. When did you skip over the decade where I was the only guy being chased? Like, what sucks is that, like, someone's going to play that and be like, oh, Novak was shitty with the reporter. And I'm going, I'm going, no, that's a shitty question. It's a shitty.

[B]

Well, that's. That's.

[A]

I wanted.

[C]

I was like, you wouldn't ask LeBron that question, even with where he's at.

[A]

You can ask any question. It's like you. But, like, let's. Let's ask it. There's no time limit on asking a question. Right? So when you go, hey, at the beginning of your career, you were chasing these guys, and then you dominated, and now, similar to 18 years ago, you're chasing two guys again. What's the connective tissue? Are there any similarity or any similarities or does, like, a decade of ownership change the feeling? Are there any similarities between when you're chasing 20 years ago, which he was, and chasing now? Don't leave out fucking two decades.

[C]

It's a much better question.

[A]

Oh, my God. Like, that's the thing on Novak, but he's right to get shitty about it.

[C]

If you want 24 Grand Slams, I hope you'd want some respect.

[A]

Wait, was I ever chased? Oh, you won 24 slams in the meantime. Oh, minor detail.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Oh, just those things. Just those little things.

[A]

I mean, I'm sorry, that's as calm.

[B]

I. That's why his face is so good. It's just so, like.

[A]

Like someone. Someone's gonna say, like, he was salty. That's not salty. That's the least salty he could have been.

[B]

I love it. I love Novak. He cracks me up. Last thing we have is I. I do think we need.

[A]

Sorry. Imagine having. I'm not done.

[B]

Sorry.

[A]

Imagine having. Imagine having all day to think about one question you're going to ask in a press conference.

[B]

All day.

[A]

All day. It's not as if you're watching a match to Ask a question about a match all day leads to this moment, this one moment where you ask Novak this one thing and you skip it all. Oh, that was, that's a dumb. That's like, I guess Novak's delivery was perfect.

[B]

Oh, Novak's delivery was perfect.

[A]

Because I was like that. Like it's not the question.

[B]

No, it's always the athlete's perfect. The athlete's the perfect delivery.

[A]

We're like anti media.

[C]

The customer is always right.

[B]

Yeah, the customer is always right.

[A]

Kick it out of the player side. Do we have anything else, Mike?

[B]

We just had one topic we wanted to touch on, but I feel like John's going to dig into it a little bit more in the recap. But this, this stuff with the Whoop Whoop device that you know you've had Sinner and Carlos wear them and they were underneath sweatbands that they were forced to remove them. Sabalink in the first round was forced to remove it. She is actually a brand partner of Whoop. There is, there is nothing in the, in the ATP WTA bylaws that prevent people from wearing the Whoop, which have.

[A]

Separate rules than the Slams that have se rule.

[B]

So. So it is a permitted device. But they are being asked to remove it by the Australian. Has there been a reason they're saying all the Slams are going to be removing it?

[A]

Has there been a reason why they can't have it? Or are they just saying you can't have it?

[B]

There is. It says the Australian Open is involved in ongoing discussions and how this situation could change. Tournament organizers said in a statement. Some wearables provide athletes with an indication of internal load measures like the heart rate, which would give them a 360 degree view of the work they're doing and how their bodies respond. Tennis Australia said in a statement about the controversy the federation gave it. This is from a front office sports article. Federation added that it also gives information to players, blank quote. In terms of other data provided to athletes and their teams at the ao, players can monitor key external load measures such as distance covered, changes in direction, high accelerator, blah blah blah.

[A]

There's this bullshit.

[B]

So ultimately you know there, there isn't much in way of a reason why and I know John has kind of been tracking the story, no pun intended, but I know John's been tracking the story. He'll probably have a little bit more.

[A]

Info and insight in the recap episode. I mean without know like I was hoping that I was going to have like there was going to be a reason I was like oh, that makes sense before, like, if we're still trying to figure out is an advantage, can they receive messages? Can they, like, I don't know how this shit works, but it is weird to me. Here's. Here's where it seems a little off is we're happy to parade around player safety when it's beneficial and we'll say the roof and we have to defend it because player safety is of the utmost importance. Now, I don't really understand how players having more access to data about their own bodies. They can't change it. I mean, they can adjust. You can hydrate. But you already do that.

[B]

Mm.

[A]

You do a lot of things to bet. Like, so I don't know. Like, maybe there's a reason. And if there is, I will come on here and say I was. I learned something. But having players understand what's going on in their own bodies, shouldn't that be the point?

[B]

Like, to be safe?

[A]

Well, here's the thing. If we're going to do player safety, let's do player safety.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Also best thing that's ever happened for. Whoops.

[B]

Yeah. The CEO tweeted. Willamed tweeted. Ridiculous. Whoop is approved by the IT F for in match wear and possesses no safety risk. Let the athletes measure their bodies. Data is not steroids.

[A]

Yeah, he's right. I mean, he's is absolutely right. I don't know. We'll see what JW has. He normally knows more about this stuff than. Than we do. It seems weird. It's also like the most massive win for Whoop of all time. Like Australia screwing them over here is actually a net benefit. And remember when, like, back in the day when Taylor Swift won video of the year and Kanye came up and did this whole thing where he was kind of a douche nugget and. And like said Beyonce should have won.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And all it was was Taylor Swift. Taylor Swift. Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Kanye. This was like. I mean, she was obviously very, very established, but not like Taylor Swift we know now. Best thing that happened to her brutal in the moment. Like, no young woman should have to go through what she went through. And also, I guarantee you her album sales went like 6x because of the controversy. Like, this is. This is ultimately good for whoop. And I'm curious to hear what the defense is against it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Anything else?

[B]

That's it.

[A]

That's what we got. This has been quick served. Brought to you by ServiceNow. Don't eat napkin towels.