Day 11 Wimbledon Recap w/ x30 Grand Slam Champion, Gordon Reid

Episode 298: Day 11 Wimbledon Recap w/ x30 Grand Slam Champion, Gordon Reid

 

DISCLAIMER: Please note we use a transcription service, so there may be some errors in the following transcript for the episode. If you can, refer to the audio for the exact quotations.

 

Dan Kiernan(00:00)

Hey guys and a big welcome to day 11 at Control the Controllables live at Wimbledon brought to you by Novellus. And yeah, here we are again, another day we're through now to the finals on the women's singles and men's doubles side. The semi-finals tomorrow of men's singles and women's doubles, mixed doubles is just finished. I'm slightly late because of that. I just wanted to watch and...

 

The emotions actually of the speeches at the end. a big shout out to Arevalo and Ostapenko. Arevalo, I mean, he's just like, if you want to watch one tennis play in the world, watch Arevalo. He epitomizes unconditional effort and attitude. And he's just had his little boy on court. You see the emotion, you know, of them winning, of them winning that event. And Osteppenko has won the singles at French Open. And once again, just shows what just the best sport in the world that we have.

 

And also the meritocracy on it because you're getting into the tournament on your own right, you know, and there's a space for doubles, there's a space for mixed doubles and a big, big well done to those guys. We, as ever, will have the major moments brought to you by SotoTennis Academy of the Day. I kind of jumped ahead with one there, but it's just happened live just now. So I wanted to get that one out there. We'll then have our tennis athlete player of the day.

 

We're then a little bit different tonight. We're going to go with Dear Dan next, and then we'll bring in our special guest on the evening, which is going to be Gordon Reid, Gordon Reid is first ever Wimbledon wheelchair winner, at Wimbledon back in 2016.

 

Dan Kiernan (01:46)

He went through today with Alfie Hewett into the wheelchair final of Double Samara, which will be on court number one. So a real privilege to have Gordon on tonight. But to get started, let's start off with our major moments of the day and….

 

way better to start than than checkmate I guess. You know the first ever all-Czech Wimbledon women's singles final in the open era. The first all-country major final at Wimbledon since the Williams Sisters back in 2017 also a guaranteed first time Grand Slam champion. It's the 10th different women's Wimbledon champion in the last 10 years and it's the third Czech women's Wimbledon champion in four years.

 

We had Vondrousova winning in 23, we Krejcikova winning in 2024, and we are gonna have either Karolina Muchova or we're gonna have Linda Nosková as our champions on Saturday. I don't think many people would have picked it at the start. You know, we've been saying for years Muchova is one of the best, if not top three player in the world, but can she stay healthy?

 

You know, she didn't have a head-to-head record to be proud of against Coco Gauff. It wasn't a great matchup, is what everyone thought, but she started on fire today. 6-2 first set, and then Coco Gauff doing what she does, you know, she clawed her way back, won the second set 6-1, and then there was an absolute epic third set. And if you had the privilege of watching that and that tiebreak, both players felt the nerves, both players had their opportunities.

 

Coco Gauff had her match point at 9-8 in the tiebreak, had a forehand, went for the drop shot, a little bit of a brain fart. Nerves do get the best better of people, even these best players in the world. We then had a 10-9 point where Karolina Muchova came forward, knocked a forehand volley away, we thought, and then she slipped, and then Coco passed to Ten all, and then Coco slipped a little bit at Ten all. Muchova played a great point, and then finally the match finished 12.10.

 

Two hours, 35 minutes. And yeah, absolutely fantastic. This season, you don't want to be losing the first set to McCall, but that's 28 and she is on the year when she wins the first set. She's 11 and one on grass. She won bad Homborg last week. And it is the first time that Cocoa Gauff’s ever lost a match having had match point in a pro career. So really, really interesting final.

 

You know, if we take Muchova, she took Krejcikova out. She took out four time major champion, Naomi Osaka and then Coco Gauff. So she's been beating all the major champions and now she has her fellow country woman, younger fellow country woman. It's hard to believe Linda Nosková is only 21 years old. You know, only turned 21. We've been talking about it for years. She doesn't quite get the same hype as Marta Kostyuk had over the last few weeks, you know, and she's actually younger than her.

 

You know, and she took her out with real not really not a lot of fuss today. Six, six, four, 10 and one on the grass court season. She won the 500 title in Berlin, with Jessica Pegula in the final. So two informed players that got matches under their belt on the grass going into the event, which is very interesting. And she actually leads the WTA tour on grass over the last two seasons, winning 18 matches. So grass court seemed to suit her.

 

It's a first career Grand Slam semi-final, certainly a first career semi-final win and a first career Grand Slam final. yeah, Beat Marta Kostyuk, who was absolutely one of the informed players, had won 21 out of her last 22 matches, dating back to April 14th. And Kostyuk won earlier in the year in Madrid. So well done to Linda Nosková, who is also our tennis athlete…

 

player of the day and I don't think anyone can blame our producer for picking that player of the day today, 21 years old. You know, she said after the match, I was a little nervous before the match, usually when it's really, really important for me, I put in a little bit of pressure on myself and that's when I play my best. Anyone watches Nosková play? It does look kind of effortless. She plays doubles every week. I see her a lot. I've scouted her a lot.

 

And you kind of think that she bothered, you know, but she is, and it's just, part of her vibe. And she's, she's an incredible tennis player and putting together a great career. don't know what she goes to in the rankings, but I know she was number nine before, before the event and making a real claim as is Marta Kostyuk to be on the top eight WTA finals at the end of the year. Which also hot news this week has moved to Palm Springs. It's been announced to not going to Riyadh…

 

with the issues of the world right now in that part of that region of the world. It has been moved to Indian Wells in November. So maybe we'll see both of those players and maybe we'll see Muchova as well. We'll certainly see whoever wins the final on Saturday. So let us know what you think on that. Switching our attention then to the doubles, we've talked about the mixed doubles, the doubles, Marcelo Arevalo, who's won the mixed doubles, he's also...

 

the form partnership on the men's side right now, himself and Pavic. You know, I think a team that just were quite brilliant for so long, but hadn't won a tournament up until Queen's since May of 2025. And I think people are starting to think maybe they're going to split up. I did hear rumors this week that they might be anyway, but they certainly are the informed team and we have a repeat of the Queen's final…

 

as we have Arevalo and Pavic against Patten and Heliövaara and they took care of business. Now he said he was going to be late but this man is the first man to be on time. Gordon Reid a big welcome, how you doing?

 

Gordon Reid  (07:51)

Thank you mate, cheers. Yeah, was not sure if I was going to finish up the media there on time, but I've made it, I've made it.

 

Dan Kiernan (07:57)

This is the you're the smoothest media guy that we've had the last 11 weeks. People have been fumbling around with links and you've come in first and foremost to big congrats. Playing on court one today with Alfie moving through into tomorrow's final. Tell us a little bit about that today.

 

Gordon Reid  (08:15)

Yeah, thank you. Yeah, I mean, first of all, amazing to play on court one again. And, you know, we've had a couple of matches there the last few years and, you know, it's always an amazing experience to play in front of that home crowd on there. But yeah, it was a tricky match today. 

 

The guys brought a good level first set and we were sort of trailing the whole way through until the four-all game where we just got our noses in front. And then think once we got that first set in the bag, we managed to relax and dictate a little bit more of the points. So, yeah, happy to get it done and not too much drama and straight sets.

 

Dan Kiernan (08:51)

The crowd on Court 1 will be excited tomorrow that you made it through. We know how that Court 1 crowd loves your finals. It tends to just take over the whole of Wimbledon when you and Alfie are playing a final on there.

 

Gordon Reid  (09:04)

Yeah, well the doubles final is actually Saturday morning. So,

 

Dan Kiernan (09:08)

How's it?

 

Gordon Reid (09:09)

Yeah, yeah, so I think it's 11 o'clock on court one Saturday morning. So,

 

Dan Kiernan  (09:13)

Okay.

 

Gordon Reid  (09:14)

Yeah, so I'll have a little day of practice tomorrow. Alfie's got his singles semi-final tomorrow and then we'll be ready to go on Saturday.

 

Dan Kiernan (09:23)

So that'll be the hot ticket. Now, Gordon, when I start to read through what you've achieved, it's quite incredible. And that would take about 15 minutes just reading through what you've achieved over the last few years. Well—

 

Gordon Reid  (09:36)

Nobody wants to hear that.

 

Dan Kiernan (09:38)

—I think they do and they should and everyone should and does know, but I believe 30 Grand Slams we could start jumping into, but I wanna jump into one specific one. And we talk about it, I was speaking to Mark Bullock earlier today as well.

 

You know, I know that you have played a massive role in bringing wheelchair tennis to Wimbledon. You know, if we go back, I believe 2005, they did have doubles events that started, but the inaugural, the first event, 2016, where they had singles was a special year. I remember the court, 17, actually, where they played your final which is no longer there. 

 

You can get a cup of coffee there now and you can get a bottle of water. It's that little court in the little dip now, isn't it? And you were the first ever singles champion at Wimbledon in a sport that's growing all the time. Wimbledon seems to have been the place where that's really, really pushed on. And you're certainly going to go down in history on that. Take me back to that moment, one, of having the event at Wimbledon and for it to start kind of getting the visibility that it deserves and then two for you to come out on top as the Wimbledon champion.

 

Gordon Reid  (10:50)

Yeah,

 

well, mean, just to play singles here was a dream come true. You know, it was something that we didn't know if it would ever happen because the chairs and the movement for us is as much tougher on grass as a surface. know, there was there wasn't that much chat of whether our singles would ever be introduced at Wimbledon.

 

Yeah, obviously we found out we were going to be playing here 2016 and you know, was perfect timing for me really because I'd won my first singles Grand Slam at the Australian Open that year that felt like a big weight off my shoulder and I then went on to make singles final at the French Open that year and then, you know, came here and feeling confident and yeah, with all the home crowd and playing on the grass, which I love playing on, yeah, everything just came together and...

 

Yeah, one of my best moments in my career.

 

Dan Kiernan (11:41)

And how do you prepare for a match like that? Where do you feel the weight of a match like that? The fact that it is Wimbledon, it is the first ever singles wheelchair final that's been played at Wimbledon. You know, I guess there's that extra weight of expectation, the extra weight that you're carrying. How do you then prepare for a final?

 

Gordon Reid  (12:02)

Yeah, I think try not to think about that side of it too much because like you say, it can be a heavy weight and a big distraction. But I think luckily for me, you know, I was playing two matches on the Saturday the day before. We had the doubles final and the singles semi-final. You know, me and Alfie won the doubles on the Saturday. So, you know, that was a busy day. So not too much time to stop and think about what was going to happen the day after. And…

 

yeah, I guess like any player before a big match, you just try and stick to your routines and processes that you know work and help you and keep you settled. And yeah, was no different for that match really.

 

Dan Kiernan(12:41)

And in terms of wheelchair tennis itself, over the last 10 years since then, how do you feel it has developed? it developed how you'd like to? Is it getting the professionalized outlook that you want it to have? It certainly seems to me, certainly like I'm a big fan. know, I'm now, there's a lot more household names it feels. It feels like we're talking. understand the rivalries that are happening. 

 

It's in the kind of tennis speak a bit more from someone who's been a big part of that, how has that been from your standpoint and maybe what can be done even better to push it forward even more?

 

Gordon Reid (13:23)

Yeah, think you're spot on really. I mean, you know, obviously, first and foremost, like we need to try and produce good tennis and entertaining tennis because that's how we're going to get more people watching the sport and interested in the sport. So, you know, that's our responsibility and we're doing everything we can to, you know, to improve our tennis ability and performances to make that happen.

 

 But then, yeah, you've obviously got the other side of it where, you know, like in any sport and tennis, especially those storylines, those characters and getting to know the players themselves and what they're like and interest in them, you know, that builds more eyes on the sport and, you know, gains more traction.

 

 So, yeah, I think that's something that's being done much, better than 10, 15 years ago. think Wimbledon's a great example of that. The difference between, like you say, me being on court 17 and nobody really knowing it was happening to, you now it's like a fixture that's on people's tickets when they're buying a—

 

Dan Kiernan (14:31)

Mm-hmm.

 

Gordon Reid  (14:32)

—court one ticket for the Saturday and Sunday. It's actually on the schedule that it's going to be wheelchair matches that you're buying a ticket to go and watch. So I think that's a huge step forward for us.

 

Wimbledon's been a driving force with a lot of that and they're setting a great example. And yeah, we always want to try and move things forward even more. I think we've got some big things we can improve, style in our own tour and the wheelchair only events that we play around the calendar. But you know, the ITF are working hard on that and hopefully we can keep moving forward with some of those events as well.

 

Dan Kiernan  (15:06)

And to switch gears a little bit, Gordon, as much as I'd love to have you on for the next hour, you've got a tournament to win and prepare for as much as anything else. Your media commitments are, I would imagine, pretty big, certainly around the big events. I see you appearing on many different adverts and it be your Scottish good looks that get you on there.

 

Gordon Reid  (15:26)

I'm not going to

 

Dan Kiernan (15:33)

It's even coming on and doing this during the tournament, which I'm very grateful for. There's a young British player that's kind of come out of nowhere this week, you know, who has a semi-final in the men's singles tomorrow against Alexander Zverev. And, you know, all of a sudden going from kind of zero to hero, you know, in the nicest possible way. What's your advice for Arthur and how to handle the kind of newfound fame and...

 

you know, all of the kind of media commitments and everything that comes with that.

 

Gordon Reid  (16:05)

Mean, I don't think, not sure he needs any advice from me at the moment. He's on absolute fire at the moment and it's amazing to see. I think the thing for me that's been the most impressive about Arthur's, you know, sort of 10 days or so here so far is that

 

When he's in those moments and on the biggest stages in world tennis, just looks... He doesn't look out of place at all. He looks really comfortable and composed. Obviously, we don't know what's going on inside his head. It might be totally different story, but he's stepped up to the plate big time in those moments. Amazing to see. I wish him all the best, for his semi. I guess when it comes to media stuff, it's going to be on a completely different scale and level than I've ever experienced.

 

I think for me the most important thing is to listen to the people that you trust around you that have been there through the journey and make sure you take their advice and do the things that they think are right for you. Just to make sure that the tennis always takes the priority and not to get too carried away with all the chats around it.

 

Dan Kiernan (17:15)

Great advice. Are you ready for our quick fire round? Our Wimbledon quick fire round?

 

Gordon Reid  (17:21)

Right, let's go.

 

Dan Kiernan (17:21)

Let's see what I'm being thrown here with questions. Let's see

 

Gordon Reid  (17:24)

Thanks.

 

Dan Kiernan (17:25)

What's your best Wimbledon memory as a fan?

 

Gordon Reid (17:29)

As a fan, I was a player that year but that moment I was a fan. I actually got tickets to be courtside for Andy's first singles win. I was

 

Dan Kiernan (17:39)

Did you?

 

Gordon Reid (17:40)

actually in the corner, finished, I was just playing doubles that year, I'd lost and earlier in the week I'd managed to get sent the court tickets. So being courtside with my old coach, Karen Ross, and watching him lift the trophy.

 

Dan Kiernan  (17:53)

Any tears?

 

Gordon Reid  (17:55)

I think from Karen actually, yeah. mean, she

 

Dan Kiernan  (17:56)

Hahaha.

 

Gordon Reid  (17:57)

Knew Andy from a young boy. yeah, no, that was amazing. yeah, just to see him do the lap of honour with the trophy and everything and be so close to the court was, yeah, that was amazing for me.

 

Dan Kiernan (18:11)

You think Scottish tennis is capital, when we take the women's final is more Czechs, these bloody Czechs are just coming, fair play to them, but they're coming from everywhere. The women's singles final is, I think that's three or four years now, we'll be won by Czech women. And we've got two in the final.

 

Gordon Reid  (18:28)

Thank

 

Dan Keirnan (18:29)

Have Scottish tellers capitalised on Andy Murray and on yourself?

 

Gordon Reid (18:29)

you.

 

Dan Kiernan (18:34)

you know, and Jamie, you know, there was a big moment. Why aren't we seeing more more Scottish players in the final like the Czechs?

 

Gordon Reid (18:41)

Yeah, mean, wish it was that easy, I suppose. Just having somebody from that country, you know, be there and win it doesn't guarantee anything in the future, I suppose. But yeah, I mean, maybe not really my area of expertise, but, know, we've got some great Scottish players that are playing at the moment. Obviously, you've got Cam, you've got Jacob.

 

And I was here playing in the doubles so you know we've got some great, some brilliant Scottish players on the tour and wheelchair yeah.

 

Dan Kiernan( (19:08)

and wheelchair tennis, wheelchair tennis.

 

Gordon Reid  (19:11)

yeah we don't we don't really have any coming through at the moment and you know I said just a couple of good conversations with Blaine Dodds who's

 

Dan Kiernan( (19:18)

Yep.

 

Gordon Reid  (19:19)

the top man at Tennis Scotland and he's saying that you know they're actively looking to sort of invest more in disability tennis and wheelchair tennis and try and create a better pathway.

 

Through for new players and try and find some more new players coming through. So hopefully I can be helping out with that in the near future and we get that next generation of wheelchair players coming from Scotland as well.

 

Dan Kiernan (19:44)

Finish this sentence, when I think of Wimbledon, I think of…

 

Gordon Reid  (19:51)

Drop shots.

 

Dan Kiernan (19:54)

Who would you most like to play on centre court? Past or present?

 

Gordon Reid  (20:01)

Think for me probably Shingo Kunieda. He's probably the legend of men's wheelchair tennis.

 

Dan Kiernan  (20:08)

Yep.

 

Gordon Reid  (20:09)

He was the number one for the majority of my career so he's retired now but yeah I'd love to have played him here in Centre Court.

 

Dan Kiernan (20:18)

And if you were to get to play on centre court, what song would you walk out to?

 

Gordon Reid (20:22)

Simply the best.

 

Dan Kiernan (20:23)

What is the single hardest shot to face on a grass court tennis, to face on a grass court in wheelchair tennis?

 

Gordon Reid  (20:31)

Probably a really fast, flat body surf because for us it's already difficult with a body surf because you can't just take a step out of the way to create space for the racket and obviously on the grass it's going to shoot through even quicker so probably that one.

 

Dan Kiernan (20:47)

Your favorite ever Wimbledon champion, champions, and why?

 

Gordon Reid (20:52)

Well, Roger was my hero growing up. Obviously before Andy was playing and then looked up to Andy a lot. It's a bit of a basic answer but I can't look past Roger.

 

Dan Kiernan (21:06)

I think any of us can. I walk past them and doing this in indoor tennis center, it's kind of my hangout area. As coaches, this is like a little, I shouldn't say two lounges, it's like a bit of a secret spot. Yeah, and I just love it here. It's like my own little little haven whenever I'm at Wimbledon. But I was walking down the corridor and I was like, I recognize that voice. And he was in, had a few people around him. And so I didn't wanna stop and...

 

and say anything or can I get a picture as much as I'd love to, you know, but it just was, and he certainly wasn't.

 

Gordon Reid (21:36)

He wasn't asking you for one?

 

Dan Kiernan (21:41)

I thought about asking him to come on and do nine, 10 PM, maybe Saturday night, you know, my last podcast. But even that, just him in the corridor, just the aura he's got, just the everything about him. He's just, yeah. So I don't blame you for saying it. What is your guilty pleasure?

 

Gordon Reid  (21:58)

Woof, guilty pleasure, and...

 

Probably I got a bit of a sweet tooth, so probably just a wee pack of sweeties now and again.

 

Dan Kiernan( (22:06)

What's your sweet tooth at Wimbledon?

 

Gordon Reid (22:10)

Well, I'm being a good boy at the moment this week. But I have had the strawberries and cream a couple of times. That's a Wimbledon classic, you can't go wrong with that.

 

Dan Kiernan( (22:18)

You can’it. And what's one thing you'd change about Wimbledon?

 

Gordon Reid (22:22)

Well, after today I would change the foot fault rule because I got another one today that was a mistake. I had two last–

 

Dan Kiernan( (22:28)

So tell me, explain that.

 

Gordon Reid (22:30)

–year on quote one as well in the semi-final and one today. Whereas it's a human that's actually on the line making the calls. But they're watching the video and they're pressing a button and they think it's the foot fault. But we've got the same rule in the chairs as somebody's on their feet.

 

Where you can be over the line, but as long as you're not touching it before you contact the ball. So I think what happened was one of my wheels, like, hovered over the line and didn't…

 

Dan Kiernan((22:57)

And then you go backwards.

 

Gordon Reid  (23:00)

Well, yeah, then you sort of like swivel and then the wheel will move back—

 

Dan Kiernan( (23:04)

Okay.

 

Gordon Reid(23:04)

before you contact. And they've made a mistake and called a foot fault. Luckily, didn't change the outcome of the match today, but another moment it could, was 15-40 at 5-3,

 

5-1 in the second, yeah, got a big point. But I spoke with the referees and they've admitted it was a mistake, so hopefully they're more on it for the next one.

 

Dan Kiernan(23:27)

There you go, I like it, an insightful one as well. What would your best advice be to a young British wheelchair tennis player dreaming of playing at Wimbledon?

 

Gordon Reid (23:36)

I think the best advice is to enjoy what you're doing, enjoy every time you step on a tennis court. For me, important one as well is to listen to your coach, trust their advice and just be committed to the style that you want to play and the type of tennis you want to bring to the court.

 

Dan Kiernan((24:04)

Did you meet a young boy called Austin today?

 

Maybe not, maybe not. He's okay, there was,

 

Gordon Reid  (24:10)

Not sure today. Possibly another day. Yeah.

 

Dan Kiernan( (24:13)

Maybe yesterday, he's a young lad from Brighton area, sort of area. Yeah,

 

Gordon Reid  (24:17)

Yeah, I think I've met him before, yeah, but not today.

 

Dan Kiernan( (24:21)

Absolutely inspirational young lad. I did a coaching conference a couple of weeks ago, just outside of Eastbourne.

 

And where he trains and he came along and we had a half an hour chat and what a delightful young lad. I know he's kind of early stages of his tennis and he's kind of rebounded back from obviously very, very difficult situation losing both legs for like two or three years ago. He showed me a picture and he won't mind me saying this. I don't know if he's listening, but he won't mind me saying this, but it goes to Brighton matches.

 

They've kind of really taken to him and looked after him. And he's got a Brighton shirt and they said, what number do you want on your back? And he said, I want zero. And what do you want your name to be? He said, legs.

 

Gordon Reid (25:09)

I like it.

 

Dan Kiernan((25:16)

I mean, and it's just like for this 13, 14 year old lad, you know, to being dealt that hand and within like a very, we talked about my favorite quote being10 % of life's what happens to you, 90 % how you respond. There wasn't a better experience and inspiration than this young lad. He's, I've heard he's a skillful young boy. He's only been playing for about 10 months

But I know he was talking about how much he loves you. loves Gordon. Loves. you know. 

 

And he, had a, had a lovely chat and when I bumped, I just bumped into him, he saw me at Aorangi park and maybe it was yesterday and he told me he was going to be meeting you and Alfie in the afternoon and he was just, he was just made up genuinely. He's like inspired me almost more than anybody. So I'm going to be watching out for him. And if you do, you know, watch out for him, know that you're a, you're a massive–

 

Gordon Reid  (26:07)

yeah, watch my back. Coming from a ranking.

 

Dan Kiernan( (26:08)

–You're a massive inspiration. Yeah, well, I know, I've told them how to play against you. that's you might. And—

 

Gordon Reid (26:15)

Give them the tactics of it.

 

Dan Kiernan (26:18)

—last, last, last question. it's look, it's we had a joke in the corridor the other day. So I think I know the answer to this. It's not a good question to ask a Scotsman, but who's going to who's going to win the World Cup?

 

Gordon Reid (26:30)

They've got a very good chance, don't they? They've got a very good chance.

 

Dan Kiernan( (26:32)

Yeah.

 

Gordon Reid (26:36)

It's hard to call really. My tournament finished a long time ago. I think I'm going to say England are going to win it.

 

Dan Kiernan( (26:48)

Gordon Reid, you're a legend. Thank you so much for your time. Good luck and keep inspiring, keep going and getting those titles. Next time I speak to you, I want to be talking about 40, not 30 Grand Slams. Come on, mate, you can do better.

 

Gordon Reid  (27:01)

Yeah, I'll try my best,

 

Dan Kiernan( (27:02)

Good.

 

Gordon Reid  (27:02)

But no, thanks for having me on and thanks for all your support at Wheelchair Tennis as well. We appreciate it.

 

Dan Kiernan( (27:07)

Top man Gordon. Good luck. There we go guys. Gordon Reid. What an—

 

Gordon Reid (27:09)

Thank you. Cheers.

 

Dan Kiernan((27:11)

—absolute, absolute legend of the sport given his time to come and speak to us. So a massive, massive thank you to him. We were just finishing off before he came on talking about our player of the day, Linda Nosková, women's singles finalist on Saturday after winning 6-4, 6-4 today against Marduk Kostjuk. And our last…

 

segment of the day, just a couple of questions, trying to keep it to two a day. I know there's been a few more coming in, but two a day. We got one here from Peter Haley. Hi, Dan, how is the team feeling going into tomorrow's semi-final? And he's talking about Gaby Dabrowski, Luisa Stefani, who I'm coaching alongside the amazing Guy. And yeah, they're good. They're good. know, I think they're feeling great. Think they're…

 

very grateful for the opportunity of the playing on court one tomorrow at 1 p.m. You know the sun is shining in Wimbledon. They're both feeling fit and healthy, feeling good about their tennis and what better treat to have on a Friday afternoon than playing in court one at Wimbledon. Hopefully there'll be a great crowd out there and I think they're in a really, really nice place and I just hope they...

 

that they are able to go out there and enjoy, embrace whatever situations come their way. I have a lot of belief in them and I'm excited to watch a lot of good tennis and, you know, as our philosophy goes, just try and get a bit better. yeah, so please, anyone that's there, please keep, I want to hear you nice and loud cheering for Gaby Dabrowski, Luisa Stefani and all the kind messages that are coming through on that. Thank you very much.

 

And last question, it's a food question again. We've obviously talked a lot about strawberries and cream over the last 11 days. Susan Greenwood, what's been my favorite food item at Wimbledon this year, except strawberries and cream? It's the answer that's too obvious. What has the favorite food item at Wimbledon this year been? Do you know what? Give them a bit of a shout out. Sticks and Sushi.

 

in Wimbledon, it's not at Wimbledon. The girls, Gaby and Luisa, have both won vouchers at Queen's Club, so they've kindly treated us to that a couple of nights, and I must admit that was very nice. And I guess on the sushi thing theme, it's a bit of a tennis, the thing that tennis players that's become, or maybe not tennis players, but tennis tournaments, there's two things that are kind of everywhere nowadays, and I must admit I like them a lot.

 

Which is why I need to keep going to the gym a bit more, is the sushi. know, sushi is like staple diet for tennis players. Good carbs, good protein, you know, good snack, know, get it in here. And they do pretty good sushi here. And then the other one is oak berry, the acai balls. They're doing them this year. And that's something that I need to be careful on them because I think they're quite high in sugar, but they taste so good.

 

But they do have a bit of an insight. You're not normally I like in my own very I like to have a bit of peanut butter. But I don't know why I don't know whether it's like Wimbledon is the only place in the world that you can get a nut allergy. But they don't have peanut, not allowed peanut butter at Wimbledon because of people's nut allergies. Which that's not me downplaying a nut allergy. But obviously you can buy peanut butter in most places in the world and people just have to be obviously careful with the allergy. So it is missing…

 

the peanut butter and maybe the protein powder. It's not kind of the true oak berry that we get when we're in the States, but it is very good as well. So I think I'd say those two. I'm hoping that later in the week, it'll be the answer to that will be a Pimms. A Pimms or two that I'm hoping we're gonna finish when we finish the tournament. Win or lose, I'm sure we'll have a couple of Pimms and celebrate.

 

Everything that has happened over the last couple of weeks on the court and also off the court. And with the podcast, which is, you know, we've we've we've loved doing this every day and loved all of the fantastic responses. We have three more days to go. The aim is to try and bring you alive every day up until the end of the event. So it's a look out for tomorrow. We'll be talking about who our men's singles finalists and women's doubles finalists are.

 

Are we gonna have a British man in the final? Let's see. But until next time, I'm Dan Kiernan, we are Control the Controllables.