[theme music playing]
[Prakash] The magnificent sport
of tennis will take center stage
in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this week
as the fiercest gladiators
in the sport go all-in
in the most high-stakes format
and for the world's biggest prize.
-Six kings, one throne. Who will it be?
-[music concludes]
[tense music playing]
[crowd cheering]
[music concludes]
-[upbeat music playing]
-[Prakash] The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,
where the biggest stars in tennis
will compete
for the biggest prize in the sport.
Last year, it was Jannik Sinner
who reigned supreme
as he was crowned Six Kings Slam champion.
In the final, he defeated
his greatest rival in Carlos Alcaraz
-as the two titans continued…
-[crowd cheering]
…their battle for supremacy.
Twenty-four-time Grand Slam champ
Novak Djokovic will return.
This year they are joined by three more
of the biggest names in the tennis world
as they all compete
for a winner's treasure
-of six million dollars.
-[music concludes]
[theme music playing]
[Prakash] We now take a look
at the men competing this week.
Thirty-four Grand Slams
-and 63 Masters 1000s between them.
-[music concludes]
[Prakash] They all know what it is to play
for the biggest titles in the world
and all understand pressure is a privilege
and one they must embrace with open arms.
We are live on Netflix
all across the globe,
ladies and gentlemen.
We welcome you now
inside the magnificent ANB Arena.
I'm Prakash Amritraj, and this
is the Six Kings Slam presented by Aramco.
His Excellency has brought
only the very best
from around the world here
for Riyadh season.
The best entertainers,
the best influencers,
and the best athletes all across sport.
But tonight, the light will shine bright
on tennis here in the kingdom.
Alongside me
will be some brilliant tennis minds.
-[chuckles]
-To my left, my guy,
former Number Four in the world
and owner of perhaps
some of the crispest volleys
I've ever seen in the game.
-That's what I like to hear.
-Mr. Tim Henman
and former World Number 12,
little master of the slice and dice.
I want to talk about that
-for the second match tonight.
-I like that.
Feliciano López.
Gentlemen, I'm feeling good.
I'm caffeinated.
The energy here is absolutely palpable.
-How are we going? Are we ready to rock?
-Absolutely. I mean,
anytime the best go against the best
in any sport, I'm excited.
But when you look at the lineup here,
it is absolutely blockbuster
inside this phenomenal stadium
that's filling up all the time.
-So, I'm ready to get going.
-Feli, are you ready to bring the noise?
-This is a big few days here.
-[chuckles]
-I'm ready for that. I mean…
-[laughs]
…it can't get any better
than that, seriously.
I mean, I was lucky enough
to call the matches last year.
I was home, calling the matches,
and I thought maybe one year
I'd have the chance to live the event,
you know, firsthand.
I'm… I'm here now sharing this, you know,
three days of wonderful tennis
with you guys.
-So, I can't wait for the action to start.
-[Prakash] Well, listen,
it's an absolute pleasure and delight
to be alongside you here.
It's a very interesting format.
We, of course, only have six players,
but they are the best of the best.
So, when they take each other on,
it's virtually a Grand Slam final.
Tim, there's no room
to work your way into the event.
[Tim] Absolutely not. We've been blessed
with so many great rivalries in our sport.
And when we see these players
normally play,
it's in the latter stages
of the Grand Slams
after they've played five or six matches.
But right now, they have to come in
and be ready to hit the ground running.
They've got to be ready
to play their best tennis.
There's no easing through the gears
to get up to top speed.
They've got to be ready and raring to go,
and I'm sure they will be.
They… they certainly will be.
You just took a look at the format there.
The winners of today's matches
will take on Carlos Alcaraz
and Novak Djokovic, respectively,
in the semifinals tomorrow.
Feli, Jannik Sinner was the one
who came away with the trophy last year.
He was the king.
Does he have a shot to come away
as the king the second time around?
[Feliciano] Well, he has the potential
to… to replicate that thing, you know,
I think, that's for sure.
But I'm a bit, you know,
concerned about his physicality
you know, after his retirement
in… in Shanghai,
when he was forced
to retire in that match.
So, also at this stage
of the year, you know,
the energy, you know, tends to drop a bit
in almost all the players. So--
But I think he has the potential,
the skills and the will to--
Not going to be supporting
your boy Alcaraz?
Of course I'm going
to be supporting my boy.
He's playing both sides, Tim.
-He just wants to stay on the fence.
-No, no, no, no. I go with my flag.
-[laughs]
-That's the only one.
Well, listen, there could be
a possible fighter there,
Sinner and Alcaraz.
But as you saw on the order of play,
Jannik Sinner
will be the second match up tonight.
But first up,
we've got a blockbuster for you guys.
It is the world number three taking
on the world number four.
They have a history with each other.
They've played quite numerous times.
And we've had some classics tonight.
This one could be another classic
in the making.
[upbeat music playing]
[Zverev] It's nice. It's special.
It almost feels like, you know,
the World Tour Finals lineup a little bit.
It's really cool to be a part of it.
It's great to be here and have the chance
to compete against the five other
best players in the world
and, you know, be a part of the season.
You have to do it here
from the first match onwards
'cause you're playing, you know,
top five, top six players straight away.
So, yeah, we'll see…
we'll see how that works out.
[Fritz] Recently, I feel
like I'm playing pretty well.
Pretty much just the whole second half
of the year, and in Tokyo as well,
I was playing Laver Cup, Tokyo.
I was playing good tennis,
so I'm… I'm pretty happy
with where my game's at right now.
[Zverev]
Tennis is a… is a confidence sport.
You need confidence, you need,
kind of, good matches in the bag.
You need good training sessions as well.
You need to feel like you're prepared.
We've played a lot. It's been…
it's been really close a lot of times.
I think I've just been able to kind of
come out on top in a lot of the…
the tight situations I've played.
I've played really well against him
in the big moments of the match,
so hopefully… hopefully that continues.
[Zverev]
He's beaten me a few times in a row now.
He's somebody that I think
likes to play against me.
He's obviously somebody that I think
in the last 12 months has improved so much
and is now, you know, very constantly
in the top five in the world
and, you know,
going deep in big events, so.
He's a great player,
but I think everybody here is.
-[interviewer] Do you want to be king?
-Of course, everybody does. [chuckles]
Yeah, of course, of course. [chuckles]
That's why I came here.
[music concludes]
A great look there at both of these
tremendously accomplished champions.
And it's now our pleasure to welcome
our other member of our team,
court reporter,
former silver medalist at the Olympics,
-pretty impressive stuff, Laura Robson.
-[Tim laughing]
-[Prakash] Laura, great to see you.
-I'm so happy to be here.
I mean, you guys have brought the energy.
I'm just trying to match your levels here.
I'm glad you said caffeinated
because I've had a couple coffees myself.
I think it's going to be a good night.
That's my kind of partner.
That's what I'm talking about.
Laura, you've been roaming
around the court
over the last couple of days,
seeing the practices,
some perhaps practicing more than others.
Taylor Fritz, Sascha Zverev,
how are they lining up
to be able to perform tonight?
Yeah, part of my role
as the courtside reporter
is to get as much inside information
as I possibly can.
Taylor Fritz played really well
in practice yesterday, I have to say.
He's enjoying these conditions, mentioned
how much the court is bouncing up,
the fact that he can take the ball on.
And, of course,
he's coming in with that confidence
of leading the head-to-head, winning
the last six matches against Zverev.
And just something about that matchup
is something that he really enjoys.
It seems like he thrives
in that competitive, you know, nature,
the fact that he's now got
sky-high confidence
given how well he played
at Laver Cup as well.
So, yeah, if I had to lean either way,
I'm getting my predictions in early.
I think I'm going to go for the American.
[Prakash] You know what?
I respect that. She got it in
before the other two gentlemen
could get their picks in.
-[Laura] You can't copy me now.
-[Tim laughing]
[Prakash] Laura, as you mentioned,
it was a victory
for Taylor Fritz at Laver Cup.
Bit of a slower court there,
and he did very well.
Tim, you were on the other side
of it, vice-captain.
The losing side, you were going to say.
Oh, Tim, I was trying to be nice!
I was trying to be nice.
But Taylor Fritz, he seemed
like he took it to a different level
with that win over Alcaraz.
-Do you foresee him continuing that level?
-Yeah, I do.
And, you know, we talk about
that confidence, building momentum
on the match score.
And when you're out there
against, you know,
two of the best players in the world
and you beat them in straight sets
in Alcaraz and Zverev,
I mean, he is full of confidence.
He's great on a hard court.
He can take the ball early.
He can generate off both wings.
He can take it down the line
when he wants to.
And then you reflect on that head-to-head.
It's significantly in Fritz's favor.
He's won the last six.
So you just asked the question,
"Can Zverev come up
with something different…
-[Prakash] Yeah.
-…to try and turn the tables?"
Zverev has had five wins
over Fritz in the past.
Feli, you're a man
who had a massive serve on tour.
Sascha's game largely built
around that huge first serve,
gets a high percentage in as well.
What does he need to do around that serve
to really pose a threat today?
I think he needs to be more aggressive
on the plus one,
on the first shot after his serve.
With a serve like his,
I think he should be more aggressive.
He should take more
on that forehand, I think,
especially where it's been his weakness,
you know, in over--
Throughout his career, I think, so I think
he has to be more aggressive
but in order to be more aggressive
he needs to be more-- He needs
to change his position on the court.
He needs to be a bit closer
to the baseline
because he's a player that used to play
a little bit far from the baseline.
He's… he's very good at,
you know, defending,
but I think he needs to do more
if he wants to win against Taylor.
[Laura] Surely if you lose six in a row,
you're like, "I'm going to come out
with something different."
[Tim] Can't play the same way.
The odds are in his favor.
He's got to change something up.
Tim, you and I
had a little bit of a chat before.
One of the coolest things about this event
is a lot of the rivalries in tennis,
we're going to get to see them
go straight up head-to-head in this event.
Sascha and Taylor,
they have an interesting rivalry.
They played a brilliant five-setter
at Wimbledon last year.
How do you feel this rivalry
is playing out and why it's so exciting?
Yeah, I mean, they…
they're similar types of games.
You don't see them finishing
the point too often at the net,
but they've both got massive serves.
They both hit the ball,
you know, very aggressively
from the back of the court.
But as Feli said,
I feel like Fritz is the type of guy
that's going to go up
and try and win the match.
But sometimes, Zverev, now where he's,
you know, his court position,
he's getting too far behind the baseline,
it's almost like he's playing not to lose.
And Fritz is too good a player.
He's got to go out there,
embrace the responsibility
of playing aggressively,
taking the ball on.
And… and, you know,
with his weapons, he can do that.
But will he be brave enough to take
those risks to then come out with the win?
At this level,
everything is just the smallest margins
between all the players and the rivalries.
Laura, as they go into this match,
that mental aspect for Sascha,
what does that self-talk need to be like
when you've lost the last six?
Well, he just needs to tell himself
to do something different,
play out of his comfort zone
as these guys have been mentioning
and get up on the baseline and at least,
you know, give your opponent
something different to look at.
I think that's the most important thing.
Don't just try
and play the same way each time.
And Zverev has that type of,
in a good way,
arrogance that he believes
that he can win
and I think he's gonna need that belief.
I tell you what,
that's something all these players need
and let's take a look at both these guys
who certainly don't lack
in the confidence department.
[exciting music playing]
Alexander Zverev.
Taylor Fritz.
[Zverev] World number three.
[Fritz] World number four.
Twenty-four career titles.
The highest ranked American.
[Zverev] Over five hundred wins.
[Fritz] Ten career titles.
[Zverev] Olympic gold medalist.
[Fritz] Labor Cup winner.
[both] I want to be King.
[music concludes]
[announcer] This is Riyadh season,
the Six Kings Slam broadcast
to the world on Netflix.
Six great players,
three nights of play in a sold-out arena.
Saudi Arabia knows how to put a show on.
Six kings, yes, but only one crown.
[thrilling music playing]
[orchestral sting playing]
[ball thuds]
[crowd claps]
[crowd claps]
[crowd claps]
[crowd claps]
[crowd claps rhythmically]
[water splashes]
[exciting orchestral music playing]
[electricity crackles]
[Riyadh Season symbol whirring]
[whooshes, electricity crackles]
-[music concludes]
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
["Levels" playing]
[announcer] Ladies and gentlemen,
the moment we've all been waiting for,
the return of the six kings to Riyadh.
The players are ready.
Please welcome Taylor Fritz,
the 27-year-old United States number one,
a ten-time champion on the ATP Tour,
a finalist at the US Open. Taylor Fritz.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[announcer] And now,
introducing Sascha Zverev.
He's the world number three,
a 24-time tour winner,
a three-time Grand Slam finalist,
an Olympic gold medalist.
A big Riyadh welcome please,
for Sascha Zverev.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
["Seven Nation Army" playing]
[music concludes]
-All right, good to see you.
-You all right?
Good, you?
Okay, uh,
we have live ELC and video review.
Okay, any questions, anything?
For the towels, please,
there's some green tape
on one of the boxes,
so you take the one with the green tape,
we take the one without the tape.
Okay, all right,
what would you like to call it?
-Heads.
-Heads?
[coin clinking]
Heads, your call.
-[Zverev speaks indistinctly]
-You serve?
-Receive.
-Receive, okay.
Stay, and take a photo this way please.
Okay, thank you.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Receive. He's serving.
[announcer] So,
ladies and gentlemen, to the left,
Taylor Fritz, 27 years of age, six foot
five inches tall, that's a meter and…
[Prakash] There you have it.
World number three
taking on world number four
here in Riyadh.
Start is gonna be a huge factor.
Laura, as you take a look at both players,
the return might be the bigger factor
because they both
end up doing serving quite well.
Is it a matter of putting
a lot of ba*ls into play,
or, as Feli talked about, trying to get
a little more aggressive for Sascha?
Yeah, when you look
at Sascha's first serve percentage,
it's abnormally high
when you compare it to the rest of,
uh, the top of the men's players.
But I think it just
gives Fritz the opportunity
to do something different on the return,
maybe take a little bit
more of a step back
so that he can have a bit more of a swing.
We mentioned how bouncy the court is.
But I think when you compare their games
shot for shot,
you have to give Fritz the edge
on the forehand side in particular.
He feels like he can dominate off
that shot when he opens up
with his backhand line. So I think
that's something to be aware of.
Who's opening up the lines
early on in the rallies?
[Prakash] The general consensus
seems to be
that Sascha has to do something different.
-[Feliciano] Yeah.
-[Prakash] So,
what would you like to see, Feli?
Would you like him
to come in on a few seconds,
perhaps serve and volley a little bit?
Why not? Why not? Serve and volley,
I think it's a good choice, I think,
you know,
especially when you have that serve.
It's a huge weapon.
I think he's not taking enough advantage
of that serve that he has.
I said before that the plus one,
the shot after the serve
must be more aggressive, I think.
But in order to do it, he has to be more--
He has to change his position
on the court, you know.
He has to go a little bit more,
make a step in and go more for the shots.
That's one thing. And they have--
[Laura] Feli's trying to keep the serve
and volley alive.
-He's trying to keep it going.
-[Prakash laughing] I'm not mad at you.
[Feliciano]
You know my preferences, Laura.
[Prakash] I think we could use
a little bit more
serve and volley on the court.
Right now, we're largely
seeking it from Carlos,
but I think Sinner's starting
to work a little bit of that
into his game as well.
[Feliciano] I think his net game
has improved significantly
in the last year and a half.
I was-- I had the chance to have
a nice conversation with his coach,
with Simone, and he told me
that this is one of the things
that they were trying
to encourage Jannik to do,
to go more to the net,
because when you have such great
weapons, you know, from the baseline,
you can go to the net
and you can finish the point quite easily,
because you're not gonna have
a very difficult volley, you know.
So I think this is one of the things
that he has improved
in the last year and a half,
apart from, you know,
so many others, of course.
[Prakash] Someone who's improved their
net game quite a bit is Taylor Fritz.
He's not afraid
to use the forehand drop shot,
work his way into the net,
and he seems just
more comfortable up there.
He seems to feel that he's closing the gap
between himself, Alcaraz, Sinner.
He did defeat Alcaraz in Laver Cup.
Do you feel Taylor is making strides
even in the last 12 months?
[Laura] Absolutely.
Yeah, you know, as Feli mentioned,
those two guys
at the very top are setting the bar
and everyone else is trying
to play catch-up.
So if Carlos can serve and volley, well,
then everyone else
has to add that to their game.
Otherwise, he's just got too many options
on the court.
So I think, you know, they're recognizing,
"Okay, I need those 5% gains
week in, week out."
I need to do something different.
And for Taylor, he's added the drop shot
on his forehand side.
We see that a lot more often,
considering how far back
other players are standing now.
So I think just the ability
to try something new
is something that he's you know,
really committed to
over the last 12 months in particular.
I agree. He seems to be very committed
to do something different
and to close that gap.
I think out of the top ten players, Laura,
I don't know if you agree or not,
he's the one who has improved the most
in the last year and a half.
He's a gamer though.
-He is the most competitive guy out there.
-He is such a competitor.
I absolutely love to see it,
and it's shown
in the last several matches.
There was a big one that turned it around
in their head-to-head
last year at Wimbledon.
Two sets to love down,
Taylor was able to come back
and get that victory,
and since then,
sort of been a runaway train.
But shifting energy
a little bit to Zverev here,
he's played well in the big events.
He won the Paris Indoors event last year.
He beat Alcaraz in Australia
earlier this year.
Struggled with form throughout the year.
How important do you think
this event is for him?
[Feliciano] It is very important,
especially considering
how much he has to defend
after this tournament.
He won Paris, he made semis in Turin.
He was a finalist
at the Australian Open in January.
So there's a lot of, you know,
a lot at stake for him, you know,
over the next three or four months.
So I think it's important for him to…
to play good here
in order to succeed, you know, after.
[Prakash] Well, listen, two players
at the very top of the game.
Cannot wait to see
how the beginning goes down.
Let's get up to our booth now
with Mark Petchey and Tim Henman.
Feli, you're gonna join them soon.
Mark, it's gonna be a big one.
[Mark] Thank you, Prakash.
Yup, it's showtime in Saudi.
What an incredible welcome
from Saudi Arabia,
where for the next
three magical Arabian nights,
you are simply gonna get
the best of the best.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Fifteen-love.
[Mark] Best tennis players in the world
brought to you by the greatest
streaming platform on the planet.
The American number one up and running.
[line umpire] Fault!
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Mark] And these players, legends
already, legacies assured…
-[chair umpire] Fifteen-all.
-…assume their global rivalries
here in Saudi Arabia
in what is the highest quality
condensed knockout draw in the world.
There are no easy passages through
at any stage.
And Tim Henman,
who's made his way up here.
There's not been an easy time
for Zverev against Fritz.
How does the German
turn this franchise around?
[Tim] Yeah, that's right.
He's gotta come up
with something a little bit different.
Just playing from four
or five feet behind the baseline
is not gonna cut it against Fritz
with his dominant baseline display.
-[crowd applauding]
-[Tim] In the last couple of years,
-Zverev has had very little…
-[chair umpire] Forty-15.
[Tim] …to show from this matchup.
And with his weapons,
we talked about his serve,
we talked about how aggressive he can be
from the back of the court,
but he's got to look
to take the bull by the horns,
get up to the baseline,
take the ball on.
Feels as if Fritz has been beating him
at his own game.
-[crowd applauding]
-[Mark] Taylor, the best record on tour
in terms of first-serve points
won this season.
And somewhat surprisingly
against somebody like Zverev,
that actually escalates even higher
in the previous five matches
that they've played.
It's been a big problem for Sascha
to return this first serve
of the American.
And another example of that
as Fritz gets up and running.
And it's been a great second part
of the season for the American.
The opening start
was a little labored in 2025 for Fritz.
Seventeen wins, ten losses,
but subsequent
to the start of June, Tim, 33 wins
and nine losses only
and a couple of titles in there.
[Tim] Yeah, absolutely.
Played very well on the grass
and you're kind of expecting Fritz
when he moves on to those hard courts
to produce the results.
That's what we've seen,
and I saw it firsthand at Laver Cup,
how well he played beating Alcaraz
-and Zverev straight sets.
-[chair umpire] Alexander Zverev to serve.
[Tim] This is a confident man
and I feel like
this is an important service game
for Zverev just to settle himself down.
[line umpire] Fault!
-[line umpire] Out.
-[crowd applauding]
[Mark] Sascha with 24 titles,
he's now 28 years of age.
Just the one this year, at home
on the clay courts of Munich.
Three times he's been in a slam final,
twice just a set away from it.
[line umpire] Fault.
-[Mark] Beautiful.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Fifteen-all.
[Tim] Certainly a short swing
on this forehand side from Fritz
but he's able to generate
almost power with a flick of that wrist,
the racket head acceleration,
getting the topspin, the dip
[Mark] So good.
A little change-up from Sascha
trying to protect his first serve,
which looks just a little underpowered
at the start of this contest.
[Tim] Yeah, we talked about trying to do
something different, and…
I think it was the right play,
but I think Zverev will be disappointed
he didn't get a little more penetration
on that backhand volley.
-Down 15-30.
-[line umpire] Fault.
-[crowd applauding]
-[Mark] I tell you what,
he has done a great job
against guys that serve big,
over six foot, four,
in the last couple of seasons,
Taylor, he's barely lost a match.
He has been up on the baseline,
and that time he drove through it.
But a lot of times, Tim,
he's been utilizing the block
behind the big first serve.
[Tim] And I think he utilized
the shorter swing on that forehand side.
Gives himself a break.
A couple of break point opportunities.
-[crowd applauding]
-[chair umpire] Game, Fritz.
[Mark] Good start for the American,
continuing where he left off
against Zverev in past meetings.
It's been a sluggish year overall.
Been a lot of tried, sort of, changes
for Zverev in terms of the racket.
He's still trying to change rackets
and different models
in terms of that Laver cup recently.
He just hasn't been able to find a call.
Started the season
with a totally different racket
in terms of the setup,
same make, down in Australia,
which worked out quite nicely
until Sinner got hold of him
in that championship match.
Then went down to South America
to try and try it out on the clay courts.
That did not work out as he hoped, and…
Tim, he's not really come back
to any sort of form
since that trip to South America.
[Tim] Not for a player of his level.
You know, was so close in Australia,
as you said,
but I think suffered mentally
after that Grand Slam final loss.
-Struggled with confidence.
-[chair umpire] Thirty-love.
[Tim] And I think looking up
the other end of the court,
you see a player just
full of confidence taking the ball on.
Aggressive at every opportunity.
-This is one-way traffic.
-[Mark] Yeah.
That's certainly just validation of just
how good his first serve has been in 2025.
The best in terms of picking up points.
Sinner, who we'll see later,
the best in terms of picking up
service games on the tour.
[crowd applauding]
[chair umpire] Forty-fifteen.
[Mark] And here is world number four,
finished last season
inside the world's top four.
First time an American man had done that
since James Blake back in 2006.
He will have a third straight season
of over 50 wins on the tour.
[crowd applauding]
[Mark] And the last American man to have
done that was Andy Roddick
back in 2003, 2004, and 2005.
So it's been a while,
as we see Sascha's father.
[chair umpire] Game, Fritz.
A couple of nice aces
in that game from the American king.
And he takes a very quick three-love lead
as Feliciano Lopez has made his way
up to the commentary box.
Welcome, Feli. Good start for Taylor,
continuing the trend that
he's had over Sascha in recent times.
[Tim] Very good.
[Feliciano] Matches
that he's won against Zverev
and seems to be a bit
of the same thing today.
[Mark] Feli, in your career,
when you got a bit
of a psychological block
against somebody, what did you try
and do to get back out of it?
Did you go look at strategy?
Did you look at your own game?
What was it?
[Feliciano] Normally,
when you have a terrible head-to-head
against someone,
it's because of the matchup.
You know, sometimes I used to have three
or four players that I hate playing,
you know, and for some reason,
I never found a way to change,
you know, to turn this,
you know, matchup around.
And, you know,
it's about doing something different.
Of course,
it's a big challenge for him, you know,
because out of the last six
or seven matches they played,
he didn't find a way
to do it differently.
Maybe today is the day, I don't know.
But it's a difficult thing to do
when you face someone
that you have
such a terrible head-to-head.
[Tim] That's an ominous start.
[Mark] That's a really beautiful looking
shot off the weaker wing of Zverev.
[chair umpire] Fifteen-love.
[Tim] Yeah, had time
to set up on that forehand,
but you see
where the contact point is.
Big backhand down the line,
gets the defensive reply.
He's up on the baseline.
Impressive strike.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Thirty-love.
[Tim] When you're two meters tall
and you've got those weapons,
you just want to see Zverev use them.
Stepping in, early ball,
driving it down the line.
Doesn't look like there's risk there,
but it's aggressive.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Feliciano] I think it's fair to say
that he has the ability and the skills
to be more aggressive,
but he's been playing very defensive
for his whole career, so…
-But--
-[Tim] Harder to change as you get older.
[Feliciano] Yeah.
-[line umpire] Out!
-[chair umpire] Game, Zverev.
[Mark] And hard when you've been so close.
He served for the US Open back in 2020.
He was obviously a set away
against Alcaraz at the French Open.
He was one match away
before he obviously got
injured significantly at Roland-Garros
against Rafa in that match
from being world number one.
It's hard, isn't it,
for somebody that's been that close
to greatness to change,
substantially, their style, Tim.
[Tim] Yeah, absolutely and…
Zverev's someone that's been
on tour for 11 years, as you say.
You look at the titles he's won,
seven Masters, 1000s,
he's been in three slam finals,
he's a great player.
However, when you look
at his opposition now,
the way that Alcaraz
and Sinner have improved…
he's got to make those adjustments,
otherwise it's very difficult
to see him beating one of those
in a major over best-of-five-sets.
[line umpire] Fault!
[Mark] That's been one
of the keys to the success for Fritz
against Zverev, is how quickly
he's changed backhand line, Feli.
[Feliciano] Yeah, they tend to be
playing cross-court all the time,
backhand to backhand,
and I think that the one
who's going for the line first, I think,
it's going to be a huge advantage.
He's been probably
the most improved player
out of the top ten players lately,
I think, Taylor Fritz.
His movement on the court,
his consistency from the back
of the court as well.
[chair umpire] Forty-love.
[Mark] Talking of consistency,
he is hitting targets, as one
of his coaches, Paul Annacone,
would say, with his first
serve, alongside Michael Russell.
What a great duo they've been.
Which has become kind of the standard
out on the men's tour,
is having a couple of coaches.
[crowd gasps]
Downtown, Zverev only finds the net
as Fritz finds himself four-one ahead.
[chair umpire] Four games to one.
[Mark] So, the work ethic out on tour,
Zverev, that a few have matched
but none have exceeded.
It hasn't been around hard work
that has been the limiting factor for him
not to get across the threshold.
[Tim] No, definitely not.
And I think this is a situation
where he obviously gives 100 percent
to everything he does.
So, he can't work harder,
but I think he can work smarter.
I think he's got to look to really
reinvent his game a little bit,
as we see the facility here in Riyadh.
Absolutely phenomenal.
[Mark] At the ANB Arena,
used to be called The Venue,
and what a venue it is.
Lit up tonight,
absolutely spectacular show
prior to the start of this,
and how that's changed in tennis
over the years, from just two players
walking out onto court,
to the entertainment value
we got tonight, Feli.
-[Feliciano] Unbelievable. I mean-- Huh?
-[Mark] I mean, that was something.
[Mark] That was something
we watched tonight.
[Feliciano] Yeah, that was
an amazing atmosphere they put in here,
an amazing event.
It's really a privilege and an honor
to be here, you know?
[Mark] Sixth season for the Riyadh season
and the second time of the Six Kings Slam.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[Feliciano] Going back to Zverev.
-[chair umpire] Fifteen-love.
[Feliciano] I think you should take
the example of Roger, Rafa and Novak,
that even though they were
the best players in the game
and the greatest,
they always have the will to improve,
to keep improving their games
throughout their careers.
-It's…
-[line umpire] Fault!
[Feliciano] It's for me what they…
It's a great example
for Sascha or other players
that were very close,
but they didn't get the big trophies yet.
[Tim] Yeah, that's where I think,
going back to…
Sascha's 28,
he's been on the tour
for such a long time,
it's like his game is a little bit stale.
He's got to reinvent different aspects,
and he has the ability to do that.
But I think to work on new aspects
and try different things,
it's not always easy.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Mark] There's also somebody, of course,
Taylor, as we know,
that obviously believes wholeheartedly
in the way that he wants to play,
but he has been more than willing
to entertain the improvements
that Michael Russell
and Paul Annacone have suggested to him.
-[line umpire] Fault!
-[Mark] Hasn't taken them all on board,
but he has taken a significant number,
particularly using the forehand
very quickly and big in a rally.
The forehand drop shot is something
that has improved out-of-sight.
And, Tim, his net play at Lever Cup
against Sascha was super impressive.
[Tim] It was, and he's not
the most naturally gifted player.
He doesn't have a great feel
for the ball necessarily,
but he's worked hard.
He's used that drop shot.
He's able to finish
a few more points at the net.
[line umpire] Out!
[Feliciano] Also,
his movement on the court
is quite impressive now compared
to three years ago
when he was trying to reach the top,
the lead of the game.
Now he moves very well.
[Tim] Doesn't always look like
he's on balance,
-but he gets into the corners.
-[Feliciano] Exactly.
But he gets into the corners. Yeah.
He finds a way to get there.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[chair umpire] Game, Zverev.
-[Mark] Fabulous entertainment.
[Tim] Talk about Fritz
using the drop shot. It was Zverev.
Played the drop shot
and clever control on the lob.
[Mark] Fritz taking the tweener.
Zverev doing a good job keeping himself
in touch in this first set.
Can he break back?
[chair umpire] Fifteen-love.
[Mark] Hadn't really set the point up
to use the drop shot
and then didn't have the execution.
Perhaps an example of how Fritz…
Zverev, rather, is not so comfortable
in those backhand cross-court exchanges.
[crowd applauding]
[Tim] He perhaps just went a little early
down the line there.
That ball, as you can see
from that beautiful camera angle,
was pretty low.
It was tough to get it over
the higher part of the net.
[line umpire] Fault!
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Feliciano] Good defense now
from Zverev there.
[chair umpire] Fifteen-thirty.
[Feliciano] I see a lot
of similarities in their games,
but probably the forehand
is what makes the difference.
[Mark] Taylor's perhaps one big limitation
at the back of the court
in trying to change things up,
particularly against
some of the better players
that he has to play in the shape
of Sinner and Alcaraz
is the lack of a slice backhand.
Historically, the lowest percentage
of any player
inside the world's top 50
in terms of using that slice backhand.
His last resort.
-Wow.
-[Feliciano] Oh!
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Tim] And that was a change-up
we did not expect to see.
Zverev going to the chip
and charge on the second serve.
Got a bit of help from the net cord.
He's moving in.
Nothing Fritz could do about that.
[Mark] Opportunity to get back
on serve here for Zverev.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Mark] Nailed in the T serve beautifully
in these opening service games
of the American.
There's another one on the deuce side.
[crowd member] Go, Sascha!
[Tim] Big point, big serve.
It's a familiar pattern from Fritz.
Needs another one here.
[Feliciano] Wow. [exhaling]
Seems to be easy to hit that
down-the-line backhand, but… [chuckling]
-[Mark] Wow.
-[Feliciano] Oh, my God.
[Mark] Huge serve.
Cuts down the angle.
Places the backhand right on the line.
[line umpire] Out!
[Feliciano] He waited, I think,
a lot to get to the net, huh?
Should have taken that volley higher
over the net.
[Tim] Maybe could have
played the drive volley
-if he was a bit quicker.
-[Feliciano] Yeah.
[crowd applauding]
[Mark] Third chance to get back on serve.
[chair umpire] Out.
-[Mark] And a third time.
-[chair umpire] Deuce.
It's a raise with a powerful
one-two from Fritz.
[Feliciano] He's very good at that,
Fritz, huh?
Taking advantage
of the plus one shot after his serve,
using his forehand very smartly.
[Tim] He's got quite an extreme grip
on the forehand side,
but he's still able to flatten it out
to really get the ball going
through the court.
Fl*ttening that one out as well.
[Mark] The perfect diagonal dagger
out wide there from Fritz,
under pressure on serve,
saves the break points
and puts himself a nice game away
from the opening set after 22 minutes.
The first match of the Six Kings Slam here
in Saudi Arabia.
[announcer] Hope you're enjoying this
first match at this Six Kings Slam.
It is "#SixKingsSlam" if you would want to
use social media and drive some traffic,
we would very much appreciate that.
[Mark] "#SixKingsSlam"
is where you can go
and catch a lot of the news
around this event
that has certainly created
a lot of interest here in Riyadh.
Riyadh, it…
It's kind of an iteration of "rawda",
which means "gardens" in Arabic.
And this was, of course,
a very small oasis
in a previous life before,
obviously, the metropolis
that we now see that is Riyadh.
Forty percent of the population
here are expats,
and it has continued to grow and grow.
Zverev with the new ba*ls,
trailing two-five in the opening set.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Tim] If he was as proficient, Feli,
on the forehand side
as he is on the backhand
with the plus one,
well, there probably would have
been a Grand Slam title already for him
as his dad quickly re-grips the racket.
[Mark chuckling]
[crowd applauding]
[chair umpire] Thirty-love.
[Tim] Using those new ba*ls,
it's a good advantage.
Up on the baseline
to flatten out those backhands.
[chair umpire] Thirty-fifteen.
Thirty-all.
[Mark] It's an interesting surface,
isn't it?
Watching the guy's practice coming in,
the slice seems to stay very low,
but it's got a lot
of bounce upwards, Feli.
[Feliciano] It's weird because
it seems to be bouncy
when they serve that kick,
but very low when they go with the slice.
So it's a bit weird, no?
[Feliciano] I think they will have to make
a lot of adjustments
because that kind of goal,
I don't see it quite often on the tour.
[Mark] Yeah, and I guess he biggest
adjustment they're going to have to decide
is second serve return position, isn't it?
How early you take it inside the baseline
to take it on the rise,
or do you go back and let the air
come out of the ball
and hit it from deeper?
[Tim] Yeah, and I think when you're tall,
as both these players are,
you want to use that perhaps
shortest shot in the rally,
the second serve,
it's inside the service box, to get up
on the baseline and take it on.
[chair umpire] Fifteen-love.
[Tim] Doesn't matter
where you're standing for that one.
[Mark] Yeah, and having given him
a heavy diet of serves through the T,
he just slips one out wide,
and of course,
Sascha's not waiting for it. It was also,
I have to say, perfectly placed.
Couldn't have walked it
around the net and placed it any better.
[line umpire] Fault!
[Tim] Too good.
[chair umpire] Thirty-love.
[Tim] Again it wasn't the worst return
in the world from Zverev.
Staying down
on the backhand side, open stance.
Clean winner from behind the baseline.
[Feliciano] Signature shot for him, huh?
-Down the line backhand.
-[line umpire] Fault.
[Mark] Unquestionably.
[Mark] Just a mini bit of resistance
from Zverev in this opening set
where he nearly got himself back on serve
in Fritz's previous service game.
Other than that, the American has been
hugely dominant in this department.
And deservingly so, with three set points.
[crowd clapping]
[Mark] That one pierces the defenses
of Zverev for a final time
in the opener
and the American takes it 6-3.
And a match that clearly
he feels is played now
these days on his terms
after six consecutive wins.
[Tim] Yeah, absolutely. I heard some
of his team talking at the Lever Cup
and he feels very comfortable
in these baseline exchanges.
He's so solid on both wings.
He knows that if he can get
into that Zverev forehand,
he can exploit some opportunities.
And, you know,
with the confidence that he's had
from six wins in a row, he's looking
to continue that trend tonight.
[Feliciano] I think Sascha
was winning a lot of matches
due to the inconsistency
of his opponents at times.
Now, when he's facing someone like Fritz,
he seems to be very comfortable
with exchanging the ball
from the back of the court.
I think he needs to bring
something different to this match.
[Mark] And when you look at these numbers,
I was talking about the fact
that his actual first serve points won,
for Fritz, goes up against Zverev,
who you would think with his wingspan
could chisel into that number,
but he averages
around 78% on two
of first serve points won.
But you can see he's up
into the 80s once again,
which he has been in his previous
five matches against the German,
as high as 88% in some of the matches.
Zverev really struggles to get any kind
of traction on the return games
against Fritz.
And again,
you flip it to the other side, Tim.
Obviously, high first serve percentage
for Zverev, in fact,
the best on tour,
but he doesn't back it up
by winning as many points,
so should he double down
with his first serve?
He can't serve much bigger
because he's got
the fastest average on tour.
What else can he do?
[Tim] Yeah, that's right.
It really is a challenge for him,
and Fritz is, time and again,
coming up all the answers.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Tim] Fritz does such a good job
of neutralizing the serve.
And when they get
into just the baseline exchanges,
Fritz is dominant. So, this is where…
Zverev has to look to try and get on top
in the first couple of strikes
in the rally.
[line umpire] Fault!
[Feliciano] Very high bounce
in that second serve from Sascha.
[chair umpire] Thirty-love.
[Feliciano] Having a hard time
to find the position on the court
to return that serve.
Taylor Fritz.
[line umpire] Out.
[Mark] Good travel in behind
that one though.
[chair umpire] Could you get
that ball, please?
[line umpire] Out.
[chair umpire] Game, Zverev.
First game, second set.
[Mark] Nice, clean start for Zverev
at the start of the second set.
Obviously, stark contrast
to what happened in the opener
where he trailed very quickly.
Three-love. Question is, what can he do?
Was open for a mini comeback
at the start of that.
In the middle of that second set
as, once again, we drift outside.
It's just a great show inside as we saw
prior to the start of this match,
but also as you can see outside with
many of the fans
taking in their surroundings.
[Tim] Yeah, an important early hold
that for Zverev,
as you said, Petch, in the first set.
Fritz was off and running.
[line umpire] Fault!
[Tim] Now it's the challenge for Zverev
whether he can put
some early pressure on,
try and get a love-15, a 15-30.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Love-15.
[Feliciano] We were talking before,
before the match,
a lot about the exchange, you know,
backhand to backhand of these guys.
And the one who's willing to watch
for the down the line, you know,
is going to take advantage of that.
And this is the proof of that.
He was brave enough to go for that shot.
[Tim] Here, second serve, love-15.
I think this is where Zverev needs
to take a risk.
[crowd applauding]
[chair umpire] Fifteen-all.
[Tim] And again, such
a good quality opponent.
For me, that's just too passive
from Zverev.
He's got to take the ball on,
try and play that rally on his terms.
If he misses when he's being aggressive,
then so be it.
But just a nothing point.
[line umpire] Fault!
[line umpire] Out!
[Feliciano] I have
the feeling, guys, that…
[chair umpire] Fifteen-30.
[Feliciano] …he's been
an unbelievable player, Zverev,
but we haven't seen his best version yet.
He's been three times in the finals,
in the major,
he's won multiple Masters, thousands,
but I don't think we've seen
the best Zverev yet.
[line umpire] Out!
[chair umpire] Thirty-all.
[Tim] And therefore,
to see the best Zverev in the future,
surely he has to make changes.
[Feliciano] Yeah, he needs to make
some adjustments, that's for sure.
Especially when the gap between
Carlos and Sinner
with the rest of the players
is getting bigger and bigger.
[line umpire] Fault!
[Mark] Just need to watch
from this camera angle.
Now it's down low.
That's Zverev really guessing where
the Fritz first serve's going.
[line umpire] Out!
[Mark] And that's, again, a good visual
of the problems that he has
at times from playing so deep.
He was actually reaching forward
to try and hit that backhand
because he was so far behind
the baseline,
he doesn't recognize when it's short.
[Tim] Yeah, and he's two meters tall,
so that's a long way
to bend for that low ball.
He's got to recognize when he gets
the opportunity to move up the court.
[line umpire] Fault.
[crowd applauding]
-[Mark] That…
-[chair umpire] Game, Fritz.
…brings the stocks down
to play for Taylor Fritz
that he worked so hard
on back in the lab, away from the cameras,
and he has produced another
absolute dagger for Zverev.
He has hit that one
straight down the pipe.
[Mark] Just having a little chat
with Wolfgang Oswald,
his physio that has traveled
with him here to Riyadh.
[Feliciano] Michael Russell is not here.
[Mark] He is not.
[line umpire] Out!
[Mark] Although having gone on
what Prakash has said
about the gyms here in Riyadh,
I think Michael Russell will be
disappointed that he didn't turn out
because he is a guy that likes
to spend a bit of time in them
alongside Prakash.
It's interesting you talk to him
a little bit about Taylor's
very sort of extreme grip
on the forehand side.
He has one of the lighter rackets.
In fact, it's a trend in men's tennis.
We've gone from obviously wooden rackets,
very heavy, tended to be
quite heavy swing weight,
even when we went
to the kind of modern technology.
He has a very light racket, barely
around 300 grams strung.
And with that extreme grip,
if he had a heavy racket,
it'd be very difficult to get
the racket face in the right place.
And he has tried to go
to a slightly heavier racket,
but it hasn't worked out for him.
[Mark] No, that's right, Tim.
And with that light racket
on that return of serve at love-15,
he was able to get the ball back in play,
because he could flick
the racket head through.
And then when he does get time,
generates enormous racket head speed,
spin, control on the ball.
[chair umpire] 15-40.
[Tim] Just relentless pressure
from Fritz,
giving Zverev no breathing room.
Good first serve to save one break point
but two more to come.
[line umpire] Fault.
[Mark] Zverev trying
to target that forehand
and it is certainly the big separator
between these two.
[line umpire] Out!
[Mark] Just shoves that one a little long.
[Feliciano] Yeah,
he's the one now missing.
With the exchange backhand to backhand.
Probably the first time
in this match that this is happening.
[Mark] That was a tentative
conservative forehand
and tamely falls into the net
and Zverev falls behind
as he did in the opener by a break
pretty early on in the set
as Taylor takes control.
And one of the things about that forehand
that has allowed him
to take control is that not only
has he been the one that's been able
to get it into play
a little bit more often,
but his strength, Tim, is actually
out-muscling Zverev's strength,
which is the backhand side
when you look at the placement.
[Tim] Yeah, that's right.
I think we'll all look at this graphic
and say that's somewhat surprising
because normally he's working
over the Zverev forehand,
but today he's gone into the backhand
and he's still dominated proceedings.
And I think that emphasizes how
well Fritz is hitting his forehand.
He's up on the baseline.
He's flatting it out.
He's taking time away from Zverev.
and it's Fritz that's coming up
with all the solutions.
Zverev looks like he could be
staring his seventh consecutive defeat
in the face right now.
[Mark] That was
a big number, Feli, 139 Ks.
That's 86 miles an hour for those
that work in those kind of numbers.
I mean, anything
above 85 is a huge number.
That's his average
for this for this match so far.
[Mark] That's two
of Tim's forehands combined.
[Tim and Feliciano laugh]
-[Tim] Downwind.
-[Feliciano] Two of Tim and Feli combined.
[laughs]
[Tim] Certainly aggressive hitting.
[chair umpire] Love-15.
[Mark] I think… also one of the things
that's pretty interesting
in terms of stroke production, Feli,
you look at Jannik
and you look at Carlos in terms of how
they are producing
their backhands these days
they are dropping the racket head
right down and just taking it away,
very compact, low.
Because the pace of the game
is just changing out of sight,
-and actually…
-[line umpire] Out!
[Mark] …when you watch
Zverev's forehand these days
and you look at how high the tip
of the racket goes away,
for him to have to take
that arc to get down
with the ball coming at 86 miles an hour,
it's not easy.
[Feliciano] No, it's not easy, especially
nowadays they play so fast,
so you need to swing a little bit lower
in order to accommodate better
when you are under pressure.
I think Sinner has changed his backhand.
I was talking to Simone in New York.
about that and he told me
that they changed a little bit.
His backhand. And he started
to swing a little bit lower.
I think that gives him
a little bit more time
when he's under pressure,
on the run, especially.
And, yeah, nowadays
they play so fast, Mark,
and you need to find a way
to accommodate to that pace.
[Mark exhales] How's that camera angle?
[Tim] That lower camera angle emphasizes.
You really can see how much kick,
how much work,
Fritz is getting off the court.
Let's not forget,
Zverev is two meters tall.
Look where he's having to make contact,
way above head height.
Nothing he could do.
-[line umpire] Out.
-[chair umpire] Game, Fritz.
[Mark] Nice little look at what we were
talking about on the graphic,
in animation,
then you get to see it in real life.
The quick forehand but obviously out
to the backhand side.
And the one thing about the kind of 2D
that you get on the animation,
you don't get to see the angle there,
you've got to see the angle
to see how Zverev was desperately
trying to catch up to it.
[Tim] Fritz in complete control.
Zverev's just got to try and hang in
in this second set and hope perhaps
that Fritz's level drops,
but he's a confident player right now.
[chair umpire] Fifteen-love.
Thirteen-love.
[crowd applauding]
-[line umpire] Out!
-[crowd applauding]
[Feliciano] This is what he needs to do,
Tim, a little bit more aggressive
on the first shot after his serve.
[Tim] Absolutely,
and that's what he's capable of,
Fl*ttening out that backhand,
taking it early.
[Feliciano] Wow.
-[chair umpire] Game, Fritz.
-[crowd cheering]
[Feliciano] Beautiful touch there.
[chair umpire] Fritz leads
three games to two.
[Mark] And he does have
that ability, doesn't he?
But obviously, again,
it goes back to the point
that you guys
have been making the whole time.
So much of it becomes about real estate.
You can only utilize, kind of,
these types of shots
if you're in the right place
to employ them.
[Tim] Yeah, absolutely.
And Zverev was just behind
the service line there
and controlled
the half volley beautifully,
feathering it over the net.
Doesn't feel like he's had too many
love-service games tonight,
but keeping himself in touch…
in this second set.
[Mark] You two are both, uh,
fine exponents of that particular shot.
Is that a shot that you used
to practice, actually, physically,
like go out there
and practice the half volley,
or was that something that you,
uh, it just happened in practice
and therefore
you were just used to hitting it?
[Tim] I think the reality is if you're,
uh, you know, a serve and volleyer,
you're looking to get in
a lot closer than Zverev was.
-He was behind the service line.
-[crowd cheering]
[Tim] So, if you're inside
the service line,
then hopefully you're gonna be volleying
because that's an easier shot.
That half volley
was an extremely high tariff.
[Feliciano] Uh, I started practicing
this shot with Francisco Roig. Yeah.
[Mark] Yep.
[Feliciano] He's coaching
Emma Raducanu now for…
-for the people who don't know him yet.
-[crowd applauding]
[Feliciano] And, uh, and, of course,
-the more you come to the line…
-[chair umpire] Fifteen-love.
[Feliciano] …the more opportunities
you have to hit that kind of shots
and, uh, to improve them as well.
-[line umpire] Out!
-[crowd applauding]
-[Tim] When you're trying to break back…
-[chair umpire] Thirty-love.
[Tim] …get into the match,
looking for a couple of second serves,
but this is where Fritz is so efficient,
hitting the corners.
Thirty-love, nice, comfortable…
cushion within this service game.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Mark] Uh, probably a little closer
to the line than he, uh, meant it to be,
-but still a good outcome for it.
-[chair umpire] Forty-love.
[Mark] Taylor just wanting, uh,
a choice of another ball here.
-Not leaving anything to chance.
-[speaks indistinctly]
[Mark] It's Ramos from Portugal
in the chair for Six Kings Slam.
All six matches will be officiated by him.
[line umpire] Out!
[Mark] That's the, uh, career golden slam
in the chair as well.
All, uh, men's Grand Slam finals done,
all four, plus the Olympics
and the Davis Cup, actually.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Mark] A little bit of nice deception
at the end of the long run for Zverev.
[Feliciano] He's done some
difficult ones, Carlos, huh?
[Mark] He has indeed.
[Feliciano laughs]
The one that comes to my mind…
it's the one, uh, where Serena,
she was faulted at the finals in New York.
[line umpire] Fault!
[Mark] I had a few tricky ones.
Osaka. That and New York, and then…
a nice one with Nick Kyrgios
at the, uh, Roland-Garros, but I guess
if you're an umpire, you probably have
one of those in your time.
[Feliciano] Yeah.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[Mark] Yeah, up and down…
-could not have measured that better.
-[chair umpire] Game, Fritz.
[Mark] And a little kiss
as it went through
-for good measure.
-[chair umpire] Fritz leads.
Four games to two.
[Mark] Uh, can you see Zverev having
a move on the lateral away from him?
And that has just created space
for this shot. A lot of wrist work
-at the end of that swing.
-[Feliciano] Wow.
A lot of wrist work, yeah.
[line umpire] Out
[Mark] It'd be fair to say
for those avid watchers of Zverev…
-[chair umpire] Fifteen-love.
-…it's been a little bit tame
in the first serve velocity department.
And he's down about 20 Ks.
um, in terms of his season average,
which is certainly hampering his chances.
[Tim smacks lips] Yeah, certainly seen him
sort of shaking out that shoulder
a little bit.
Doesn't look totally comfortable
going after the serve.
[crowd applauding]
[chair umpire] Thirty-love.
[line umpire] Out!
[crowd applauding]
[chair umpire] Thirty-15.
[Tim] Players get quite comfortable
sliding on these types of courts,
but this one seems very grippy.
[Feliciano] Very grippy
and very dangerous, especially today.
[crowd applauding, cheering]
[Feliciano] Probably after the first two
or three matches on that court,
it would be more easy to slide.
-[Tim] A little bit smoother.
-[Feliciano] Yeah.
[Tim] Less abrasive.
-[crowd applauding, cheering]
-[Tim] Beautifully done.
[chair umpire] Game, Zverev.
New ba*ls, please.
[Tim] Zverev recognized
he didn't need to get
-that forehand volley early.
-[chair umpire] Six games to three.
[Mark] Yeah, he's trying to stalk him
through this second set.
He's done a better job of it
in the second compared to the first.
As his dad, uh, hands him a new stick,
maybe bring him a new little bit of luck.
And I suppose
that's another part of it, isn't it?
He has tried different coaches
over the years, Zverev,
to try and find the key
to unlock that Grand Slam door.
Uh, Juan Carlos Ferrero, of course,
is here working with Carlos Alcaraz,
who the winner of this match will play,
he's worked with Ivan Lendl briefly.
He's obviously worked
with Boris Becker for a little bit,
and is certainly still a mentor for him.
And then coaches are there to stop you,
really, from marking your homework,
uh, 'cause, you know, you might not
always get the grades you want
from a… a coach, Tim, as you well know.
You've had, uh, a few in your time.
It's much harder, isn't it,
when it's a parent there
that is doing the marking?
[Tim smacks lips] Yeah, that's right.
And… and I think when, uh,
-we've spoken a little bit…
-[chair umpire] Time.
[Tim] …about trying to reinvent the wheel,
then that's where I think you need, uh,
you know, a fresh voice
and… and someone that's, you know,
has kind of been out there
and seen it and done it.
And… and his father
is a great supporting figure.
But, uh, I do think that Zverev needs
to make some changes.
[Feliciano] And also, I think
he was looking for coaches
-that make him work hard.
-[Mark] Yes.
[Feliciano] And he's already
a hard worker.
He needs someone, you know,
that make him play differently…
-[Mark] Yeah.
-[Feliciano] …that has the ability to add
different elements into his game.
[crowd applauding]
[chair umpire] Fifteen-love.
[Tim] Again, the efficiency from Fritz.
First point's always an important point.
You're up a set and a break.
You don't wanna let your opponent back in.
Big first serve, big forehand.
Getting up the court, dictating play.
[line umpire] Fault.
[Tim] That serve didn't miss by much.
[line umpire] Out!
[Feliciano] That's a huge kick serve, Tim.
[Tim] That's what we talked about,
the abrasive surface.
The ball is really biting
and moving off the court.
Fifty-one minutes. Fritz is in a hurry.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair-umpire] Forty-love.
[Mark] It's actually just a little guilty
of ball watching here,
thinking that Fritz was gonna connect
with this ball a little bit better
and just slot it into the space.
Had he been moving,
that would have been a fairly simple pass.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Game, Fritz.
-[Mark] Once again…
-[chair umpire] Fritz leads
-five games to three.
-[Mark] No real threat
on the second serve there, Fritz,
so he can just toss it in out wide.
Let the court do a lot of the work
to use the action on the ball
and you could see where Zverev
was trying to connect with it.
Maybe just one of the grommets
where the strings go into is broken off
and gone inside the racket.
You could he-- Well, you couldn't hear it,
but you could see
Fritz shaking his racket.
Obviously a little bit of a rattle inside.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Fifteen-love.
[crowd members chanting]
Sascha! [clapping]
[crowd applauding]
[chair umpire] Fifteen-love.
[crowd members chanting] Sascha!
[Feliciano] Crowd trying to make
the match longer.
[crowd members chanting]
Sascha! [clapping]
[Feliciano] Showing
some support to the German.
-[line umpire] Out!
-[Mark] And he responds.
[chair umpire] Thirty-15.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Forty-15.
[Mark] We'll see a lot of that, you feel,
over the next few nights. Feli, that's…
[Feliciano] We've seen
a lot of that serve.
Both… both of the players,
they've been using that kick serve
very effectively.
-[crowd applauding]
-[chair umpire] Game, Zverev.
[Mark] Zverev timing things out
very nicely
in the ninth game of the second set,
but, uh, it's now or never
as the sands of time…
start running out for the German.
[upbeat music playing]
[Mark] The only thing that Fritz
looks a little bit, uh, distracted by
and uncomfortable by, as you can see him
there as he's waving his racket.
There's something, uh,
not entirely right with it,
but there hasn't been too much wrong
in terms of the connection
when he has been able to hit the ball.
[Feliciano] His ball striking today
was superb…
throughout the match.
It's been like this for the last two
or three years, I mean.
Very few players,
I think, that have the ability
to beat Taylor Fritz
from the back of the court.
I think only two of them…
Alcaraz and Sinner
are the only ones so far.
The rest of the guys, they're having
a hard time playing Taylor Fritz.
-[chair umpire] Time.
-[song concludes]
[Mark] Some more magical shots outside
from the drone that they have,
and I'm sure
as a tournament director yourself,
Feli, you're getting some ideas
about what you can take home
-from this, uh, superb event.
-[Feliciano chuckles]
Yeah, I'm taking my notes.
[Mark] He's gonna get
another A+ you feel,
the American against Zverev,
looking for his seventh straight win.
-[crowd applauding]
-[chair umpire] Fifteen-love.
[line umpire] Fault!
[crowd applauding]
[chair umpire] Fifteen-all.
[Mark] First one he's missed,
maybe just a little distracted
by the finishing line
that is now firmly in his horizon.
-[crowd gasping, applauding]
-[Feliciano] Wow.
-I wasn't expecting that mistake now.
-[chair umpire] Fifteen-30.
[crowd cheering]
[Mark] And the door just opening
a little bit here again
for Zverev in a set for the comeback.
Can he walk through it this time?
[line umpire] Fault!
-[line umpire] Out!
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Thirty-all.
[line umpire] Fault!
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Mark] He's increased the pace
on that forehand side
throughout the course of this second set.
He's up at 88 miles an hour,
just too much for Zverev to handle.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Mark] And another firecracker
into that fallible side of the German
and it brings up match point
for the American.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[chair umpire] Game, set, match.
[Mark] Taylor too good for Sascha.
-And he'll have another tilt at Carlos.
-[chair umpire] Six-three. Six-four.
[Mark] Straight forward, straight sets.
And straight through to the semifinals
for the number one American.
[Feliciano] It seems to be easy
for him to beat Zverev
-for the seventh time in a row.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Feliciano] It's fair to say
that he was the best player out there.
Seems to be very comfortable…
[announcer] We'll see Sascha in action
later on in the tournament, Zverev.
[Feliciano] …serving great
hitting the targets
on the serve, going for the back…
For the forehand, sorry,
after the-- After he served
very efficiently.
It's gonna be a different story
tomorrow, I think.
[Mark] Yeah, but a little bit
of an advantage for him
-to clearly have played…
-[crowd cheering]
…on this particular surface
ahead of the match with Carlos.
It does look a little bit different
as we see Sascha leave the arena.
[upbeat music playing]
[Mark] And he has…
big, big ambitions at the back end
of this season as…
Taylor… ties things up
with a final ace and…
the American who has made his way
through to the semifinals
to take on Carlos Alcaraz,
Novak Djokovic already there as well.
And Zverev unable to find the answers
to stop the American at the moment.
We'll have a chat with Andrew Castle.
-So, it's victory for Taylor Fritz there.
-[upbeat music concludes]
You, uh, had to work hard
at the end to put him away.
-He's a competitor.
-Yeah, uh,
it's tough sometimes when you're having
kind of like routine holds,
like you're holding pretty easily,
and then it kind of gets to serving
out the match, and it's like
you get a little, uh,
I don't know, a little tight.
I got a little tight on a couple of shots,
but I was able to, uh,
just serve it-- Serve it out in the end.
How's the, uh--
How's the court and how's Riyadh?
-What's that?
-How is-- How is the court?
How's the pace of the court
and how's Riyadh, the city?
Yeah, I mean, the court,
it seems like it's playing pretty fast,
for-- Especially for, uh, an indoor court.
I can't believe how high it's, uh,
it's bouncing.
I felt like both of our serves
were bouncing each-- [chuckles]
Over each other's heads at times.
So, it's, uh, definitely more bouncy
than I expected.
It definitely feels like
there's a bit of altitude.
It's definitely… It's playing fast.
I expected to have more, uh,
rallies tonight, but…
And so far, I mean, Riyadh's been great.
The reception and the… the hospitality…
-since I've been here has been amazing.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
Well, look…
this event, in its second year,
is already a great success
and it's great to see you here.
Things aren't gonna get any easier …
-[laughs]
-…for you. What's it like
to play Carlos Alcaraz at tennis?
It's… it's very physical.
It's tough, you know.
I know I have to be playing
my absolute best to hang with Carlos.
And, uh, yeah, he makes you--
He makes you fight really hard
just to, uh, you know, keep up
with the level that he's playing.
[Andrew] And how would you assess
your year?
Has it been a good year for you?
You started at four,
you're… you're four now.
I mean, semifinal,
quarterfinal at Grand Slam level.
So consistent.
Yeah, I would say it's… it's pretty good.
I think if you-- If you told me
I'd be where I'm at now,
maybe like halfway through the season,
I'd be-- I'd be so happy with it
because I dealt with some injuries
in the beginning of the year.
Um, had some… some periods
coming back from the intro.
I wasn't playing my best.
So, this second half of the year
for me has been, uh, has been amazing.
So, I just hope I can finish strong
and keep it going into next year.
[Andrew] Taylor Fritz,
thank you very much indeed.
If we could just ask you
to sign some ba*ls
and, uh, hit them up into the crowd.
-Thank you very much indeed.
-[young fan] Taylor!
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[young fan] Taylor!
[Prakash] Well, absolutely brilliant stuff
there from Taylor Fritz.
Tim enjoyed the call,
but it never really seemed
like Taylor was in any kind
of danger throughout the match,
-very in control all the way through.
-[Tim] Yeah, 100%.
I mean, he really stamped his authority
from the word "go."
-He got a break of serve…
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
…in Zverev's first service game,
and he just looks so confident
in every area of his game.
He's hitting his spots on his serve.
When the ball did come back,
he was able to step in…
-[crowd cheering]
-[Tim] …be aggressive off both wings.
He was taking the ball down the line
over the high part of the net,
but keeping the unforced error count
very, very low.
So, uh,
another clinical performance by Fritz.
[Prakash] Laura, I'm always such a big fan
of the intangibles in a match,
especially at this level.
Taylor seemed to be carrying
with stronger body length,
and Zverev perhaps a little bit down.
That plays into these matches, doesn't it?
[Laura] For sure.
It felt like at the start of the match,
Zverev was quite flat physically.
You know,
the lack of footwork around the ball.
I know he was stretching out the shoulder.
It looked like a little bit
on his playing arm,
which was clearly affecting
his forehand pace
and the weight of shot
that that changes for Fritz.
And in his positioning, he was right
up the court from the word "go."
So it just felt like he applied
the same sort of tactics
like we've seen from him
in the last six matches.
And as he mentioned, using the altitude,
using that effectiveness
and playing great tennis.
[Prakash] There he is,
The man, T, well done out there.
Listen, it's not easy to step
on a court for the first time,
especially with these tricky
sort of conditions here,
you execute it so well.
Yeah, it's…
it's different than you'd expect
for an indoor court.
It's bouncing, like, incredibly high
which, you know,
indoor's pretty low bouncing normally.
Uh… I felt like it was so tough
on the second serve,
like, kind of bouncing over
each other's head.
It's fast as well.
There's definitely some altitude here.
So, it's just… Yeah, it's tough
to get conditions to play,
and we don't really get to practice
on the court much beforehand.
-Take us into a key point in the match.
-["Don't Stop The Music" playing]
First set, four-two.
You were down 50 and 40.
You were down a couple of break points,
and you pulled out some exceptional shots
when you needed it,
especially after the serve.
Yeah, I mean, I think…
I don't know, I just… Yeah. [chuckling]
Yeah, I mean, that one, it's just…
Luckily he didn't make me hit a volley.
He leaned the other way.
[Laura] It looked
like so much muscle memory for you
that you applied the same sort of tactics.
[Fritz] Yeah, I mean,
that was a big risk on that shot.
I think that wasn't like the easiest shot,
but I went for it.
And then this one,
I hit this one a little nervy,
to be honest. I got lucky.
I could have let it go a little bit more.
But, yeah, I mean, a big serve
backed up by an aggressive shot.
[Tim] Yeah, and you look at here,
stepping up into the court,
dominating from the baseline.
And when you reflect, playing Zverev,
that's your seventh
consecutive victory against him.
What has been the secret
against such a top player?
[Fritz] I mean, I think in the past,
it's just we've had a lot
of really close matches
that could go either way.
And I felt like I've always
kind of just been able to…
just…
get it in the tight situations.
I've played the tight moments
maybe just a bit better.
I think today, I mean, uh…
I think he was struggling
a bit with his serve
and he wasn't putting
a lot on his forehand,
so I'm not sure what… You know, today…
But, I mean, again, still,
I was able to get the big points
in this match as well.
But, yeah, in the past it's just been…
not as one-sided as it feels
for as many as I've won in a row.
I think it's just
I've come out of some close ones.
[Laura] When you play freely like today,
what do you feel
is the biggest improvement in your game
over the last 12 months or so?
We've seen the addition of the drop shot
on your forehand,
but when you're playing
with such confidence, you know,
what do you feel, like, stands out
as the biggest improvement?
I mean, I think
when I'm playing my best tennis,
what really sticks out
is just the aggression on my forehand,
and I'm not scared to really pull
the forehand on a big point,
an important point.
That's for sure.
Like, when I'm playing well,
I'm letting the forehand go.
Listen, extremely impressive stuff,
especially first match here.
You'll take this momentum
into the next one tomorrow against Carlos.
Keep it going and continue playing well.
-Thank you.
-Well done.
[Prakash] Taylor Fritz getting it done
in straight sets,
very impressive fashion
as he moves into the match
against Carlos tomorrow.
That one that he got against Carlos
-against you in Laver Cup.
-[chuckles]
-That's gonna be in his head.
-[chuckles]
He keeps bringing it up,
keeps bringing it up.
But, no,
when he's playing tennis like that,
it's going to be a tough match
for anyone.
So, you know, Alcaraz is going
to have to come up with the goods.
-[chuckles]
-[crowd cheering]
But Taylor's got a lot of fans over here.
We are off and running here
with the Six Kings Slam,
celebrating Riyadh Season, of course,
and this was our opening match
of the evening.
Taylor Fritz dominating from start
to finish, down a few break points,
but he was able to get it through
without dropping serve all the way.
Tough one for Sascha Zverev,
but it'll be Taylor Fritz that moves on
to take on Carlos Alcaraz
in the semifinals.
Six Kings Slam continuing
to do what Riyadh Season does,
which is bringing together sport,
entertainment, and culture.
What a beautiful success
Riyadh Season has been.
♪ …Mama-say, mama-sa, ma-ma-ko-ssa ♪
♪ Mama-say, mama-sa, ma-ma-ko-ssa ♪
♪ Mama-say, mama-sa, ma-ma-ko-ssa ♪
♪ Mama-say, mama-sa, ma-ma-ko-ssa ♪
♪ Mama-say, mama-sa, ma-ma-ko-ssa ♪
♪ Mama-say, mama-sa, ma-ma-ko-ssa ♪
♪ Mama-say, mama-sa, ma-ma-ko-ssa ♪
♪ Mama-say, mama-sa, ma-ma-ko-ssa ♪
♪ Mama-say, mama-sa, ma-ma-ko-ssa ♪
-♪ Please don't stop the music ♪
-[song concludes]
[announcer] Welcome
to the World Championships
of Try Not To React.
-First to 50 wins.
-[tense music playing]
Stop. They literally have everything.
[grunts]
It's so tense.
-[screams]
-[energetic music playing]
[narrator] Points to KSI.
[KSI] No, ain't no way. I'm out.
[Speed] Loser!
Try not to fumble at Beast Land.
-Whoo!
-[imitates bark]
[announcer] KSI wins.
Now it's your turn.
-Our turn?
-[chuckles]
Oh, the Riyadh Season!
[upbeat music playing]
[music concludes]
Well, they got it all going
on here in Riyadh Season.
We got IShow Speed, we got MrBeast,
all the biggest influencers in the world.
-Dave Chappelle was just here.
-["Mr. Brightside" playing]
They're not missing a beat, Tim.
No, it's amazing,
providing so many opportunities
for the fans to come out
and watch so many different genres
and to have, you know,
the best players in the world
for this second year
of the Six Kings Slam.
To see this facility, the technology,
the atmosphere, it's absolutely brilliant.
So, it's fantastic to be up and running.
I thought you were going to say,
now they've got Tim Henman here.
-[laughs]
-[laughs] Well, that was big.
-That's absolutely big stuff.
-Huge name.
Well, the opening match
certainly lived up to the billing.
It's only going to continue
getting better from here.
We will have the Aussie Open
and Wimbledon champion coming up next.
["Mr. Brightside" concludes]
-[soft music playing]
-[Tsitsipas] It's an honor.
I've been hearing about this competition
for a few years now
and I'm glad to be one of the players
competing in such a big event.
It's amazing that I will get to play
against the best players in the world.
I think this is what it is all about.
Also fight for something huge,
something big,
something that tennis hasn't seen before.
It helped to play also last year,
so you know a little bit
how the atmosphere is and everything.
I have a very tough draw too,
so let's see what's coming,
but I'm very looking forward to it.
[Tsitsipas] Obviously Jannik Sinner
would be the ultimate challenge
'cause he one of the best players
in the world right now.
He's the fittest,
he's the fastest, he's the strongest.
[Sinner] I mean, Stefanos,
when he's on the peak,
he's playing very, very high level.
You know, incredibly talented player,
one-handed backhand,
which is great for the sport.
There are not so many left.
It's great that he's one of these players.
He's a very elegant player,
and a huge serve.
So let's see what's coming, but it's going
to be for sure a very tough one.
I've beaten him before,
which probably shows that,
you know, I have the game to win,
but it's all going to be
of how am I going to piece it together
in order
to execute it in the proper manner.
I'm someone who loves to play, you know.
The bigger the match is, the better it is,
so I'm looking forward to it.
-[interviewer] Do you want to be king?
-I absolutely do want to be king.
[chuckles] Yes, why not?
Everyone wants to be that.
[soft music concludes]
["Mr. Brightside" resumes]
Well, I tell you, these are two
of the most fun guys to watch out there.
Laura, it's a big head-to-head advantage
for Stefanos Tsitsipas.
This is a man
who's won three Monte Carlo titles.
He's won the ATP finals.
He's won some big stuff.
Make the case for him
to be able to pull off
this upset against Jannik Sinner.
I think the key aspect when you look
at the head-to-head
is when those matches were.
And the head-to-head
all of a sudden drastically changes
when you get to when Sinner
really stepped it up at the end of 2023.
He was like a different player overnight,
went on this incredible run,
and he kind of hasn't stopped since then.
And so I thought it would
be really interesting, post US Open,
to see what kind of Jannik Sinner
we have out there on the court,
because he was a little bit overwhelmed
in that US Open final.
He saw the changes that Alcaraz had made,
and then all of a sudden he thought,
"I've got to go back
to the drawing board."
And I love that they bring
that out of each other.
But I think in this kind of matchup,
when he's got the ability
to really test it, to pass
on his backhand, that one-hander,
it's going to be a stretch
for the Greek player.
[Prakash] So, let's talk
about that one-handed.
-He is holding the flag for you, Tim.
-[Tim laughing]
[Prakash] And the one-handers out there,
you don't see that many of them,
but when Tsitsipas is striking it,
it's very good.
[Laura] Tim wishes
he had that topspin back up.
[Prakash and Tim laughing]
[Laura] And you
and the other slice, come on.
[Prakash] He could take a page
out of your book with the slice.
-Perhaps use that variety today.
-[Tim] Yeah, that's right.
I mean, his slice is not really a shot
that he's that comfortable.
And I think when we reflect
on what Taylor Fritz
was talking about, the conditions,
how high the ball is getting up.
And that's something I think
that Tsitsipas struggles with
on the backhand side
when it gets big on him.
You know, he doesn't really get
over the top of the ball
if he leaves
it in the middle of the court
then we certainly know,
with Sinner's firepower on both wings,
he's going to take advantage,
so, you know, likewise,
I think Tsitsipas has got to go out there
and play with the freedom
of going for his shots.
He's not just gonna beat Sinner
playing passively
against one of the best
ball strikers out there,
so, you know,
live by the sword, die by the sword,
he's got to go for his shots and believe
because he's beaten him before,
maybe he can beat him again.
There you have it.
Swing away with that massive forehand
and that massive serve that Stefanos has.
But I tell you one thing,
neither of these two guys
are going to go easy.
[upbeat music playing]
Jannik Sinner.
Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Wimbledon Champion.
Three-time Monte Carlo Champion.
[Sinner] Davis Cup winner.
[Tsitsipas] Defending Champion in Dubai.
[Sinner] Defending Tour Finals Champion.
[Tsitsipas] The best male player
that Greece has ever had.
[Sinner] Australian Open champion.
♪ We are, we are… ♪
[both] I want to be king.
[song concludes]
[announcer] Ladies and gentlemen,
this is Riyadh Season.
It's the Six Kings Slam,
broadcast live by Netflix to the world.
Six great players, three nights of action,
a sellout arena.
Six kings, yes, but only one crown.
[tense music playing]
[bricks clattering]
[dramatic musical sting plays]
[tense music rises]
[two claps ring out]
[crowd claps]
[crowd claps]
[crowd claps]
[crowd claps]
[crowd claps]
-[crowd claps rhythmically]
-[roaring sound building]
[crowd cheering, clapping]
[rumbling]
[epic music playing]
[electrical static crackling]
[electrical current buzzing]
[Riyadh Season symbol whirring]
[epic music rises]
[cards shuffling]
[lightning cracks]
[epic music crescendos]
[music concludes]
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[announcer] The players
for our second match this evening
are ready.
From Greece, Stefanos Tsitsipas!
["Intro" playing]
[announcer] He's a two-time
Grand Slam finalist,
a former world number three.
He has legions of fans across the globe.
Please welcome
the 27-year-old Stefanos Tsitsipas.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[announcer] And from Italy…
["Intro" fades]
[announcer] Jannik Sinner!
The reigning Australian Open
and Wimbledon Champion,
a dominant force over the last
two years at the very highest level.
Recently world number one,
now world number two.
Please welcome your defending
Six Kings Slam Champion,
Jannik Sinner!
[crowd cheering, applauding]
["Power" playing]
♪ …The clock's ticking
I just count the hours ♪
♪ Stop tripping
I'm tripping off the power… ♪
["Power" concludes]
["People Watching" playing]
♪ And I'll hold you in my heart
'Til the day I die ♪
♪ I people-watch on the way back home
Everybody's on the treadmill, runnin' ♪
♪ Under the billboards, out of the heat ♪
♪ Somebody's darling's
On the street tonight ♪
♪ Oh, I can't stop runnin' ♪
♪ I see the whole town fall… ♪
Good to see you. All right?
So we have live ELC
and video review, huh? Okay.
We have live ELC and video review.
Okay. Any questions?
For the towels,
can you take green for the towels?
-There's a little bit of green tape.
-Yes.
For the towels, there's green tape.
It takes green tape.
You take the one without any tape.
Okay. Would you like to call it?
-Head, tails?
-Heads. Heads.
-Heads?
-Heads, yeah.
Heads.
Tails, your call. Thank you.
-[Sinner] I'll receive.
-Thanks very much.
-You receive?
-[Sinner] Yeah.
He receives. Okay, have a good match.
Uh, photo, photo, photo, photo, sorry.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[inaudible]
[chair umpire] One second. Good.
[announcer] To the right of the chair,
wearing shocking pink,
Stefanos Tsitsipas, from Greece…
[Prakash] Absolutely electric openings
to the matches here in Riyadh.
Laura, I wanna start with Jannik Sinner,
who has just been otherworldly
over the last couple of years.
He doesn't seem to have a weakness,
but if we break down the basics,
what does he do so well?
[Laura] Where do you start?
Honestly, he does everything well.
That is the tough spot,
that there's no weaknesses.
And we could bang on about his strengths
and how much he's improved,
especially physically
over the last 18 months or so.
He's getting stronger and stronger.
And, I think, in terms of speed,
he's actually really underrated
when he's moving around the court.
But I think what players find so tough
about matching up against him
is you don't know where to go.
You don't know what shot to try and attack
because he doesn't break down in any area.
So, yeah, that's the toughest spot.
It's trying to create a game plan
for one of the best
ball strikers in the world,
if not the best.
I think it's hard to compare the two
when you come up with Carlos Alcaraz
because they're
a different kind of ball striker.
One's more of a shot maker
and one is just incredibly consistent.
[Prakash]
Well, you've painted a brilliant picture--
[Laura] I know, I've sold it there.
My job's done.
[Prakash] Well, listen,
it means it's very difficult
to be able to penetrate the defenses,
but, Tim, at Wimbledon,
we saw Grigor Dimitrov,
before he tragically got hurt.
have a tremendous amount of success
with variety, power.
-How can Stef learn from that playbook?
-Yeah, absolutely.
I thought Dimitrov did such a good job
for sort of two and a half sets
until he got injured, as you said.
And it was.
It was using the variety
of being aggressive,
but then, sometimes using
the slice backhand to keep the ball low,
but then also
to get Sinner moving forwards
and backwards,
as when he's moving side to side,
in and out of the forehand corner
and the backhand corner,
his ball striking
is absolutely phenomenal.
But, having said that,
when he has to move forwards
on the backhand side,
if he has to take one hand off the racket
and play the slice,
that is where
he's a little bit more vulnerable.
We question whether, you know,
having been able to feel this surface,
that it's so grippy, it's very abrasive,
whether you can keep the ball, you know,
very low off the slice backhand.
Is that one of Tsitsipas' strengths?
But he has to try
and bring that variation, mix it up.
If he just plays
with a consistent pattern,
that is playing into Sinner's hands.
[Laura]
But we've just heard from Taylor Fritz
how high the ball is bouncing
when you get that top spin.
Surely that's a nightmare
for Tsitsipas in this scenario,
the fact that he's gonna be playing
all his back hands above his shoulder.
[Tim] Yeah, that's right. I mean, it is.
So, how is he gonna counteract that?
He's either gotta get
his forehand into play,
or he's gotta try
and take the ball a little bit earlier,
you know, and use the slice
before the ball gets big on him
with that heavy topspin.
But I think,
when you're talking about this,
it does seem like
it's going to be a challenging matchup
for the Greek player.
It is, but listen,
he has had some tremendous wins.
He has beaten Jannik Sinner six times.
He's won some
of the biggest events in the world,
and surprisingly,
he shines on the slower courts.
His last win over Jannik Sinner
was on the clay of Monte Carlo,
where you do have a bit more time
to be able to strike both ba*ls.
We get a good look
at the head-to-head there,
dominated by Tsitsipas, but as Laura said,
the majority of those victories
coming in the past.
Jannik Sinner has been
a bit of a different story.
On the serve,
more free points
were leaning towards the Italian.
I would say so, yeah.
I think the first serve percentage
is probably gonna be key
for Tsitsipas if he can keep that high
and just not be attacked already
on that first strike,
because once you're on the defense
in the rally against Sinner,
it's so tough to try and turn that around.
It's so tough to sort of convert
from a defensive position
if he's on the stretch.
So, yeah, I would say
first serve percentage
is gonna be more key than anything else.
Try something new.
I feel like that's the theme of today.
-Try something new.
-[Prakash] I like it.
He's got the tools and he has that power
where you can pierce
just about anyone out there.
Tim, you know what it is
to have beaten the best in the world,
the Lleyton Hewitt's,
the Pete Sampras', at your time.
When you are playing
the best in the world,
like a Jannik Sinner,
what kind of mental pressure is that?
[Tim] Yeah, I think it's very important
that you really focus on the things
that you can control,
and that's your game style,
the way that you want to play.
Make sure you focus on playing the ball.
It's not necessarily about the opponent
up the other end.
You're gonna respect them. Obviously,
it's one of the best players in the world,
but you've gotta go out there
with a clear game plan, a strategy,
the way that you want to implement
and have an impact on the match.
And as you say,
Tsitsipas has beaten Sinner
six times in the past.
He has got belief
that he can get the job done.
Can he get it done tonight?
We'll just have to wait and see.
[Prakash] Well, Laura,
I'm gonna keep this theme going
because in our opening segment,
you jumped out and you picked a winner.
So, second match now.
I'm gonna have you pick a winner as well.
[Laura] I'm gonna dive straight back in
with Jannik Sinner.
[Prakash] "Straight back in"? Okay.
You heard it here.
Laura Robson going for a 2-0 over here.
Petch, back up to you.
[Mark] Prakash, thanks very much.
Yeah, another one
that's had a tough year, Tsitsipas,
looking to try
and turn his own franchise around.
He's got a good record against Sinner.
Great idea from Tim,
using the slice backhand,
but I have to be honest,
I don't think Stef's backhand slice
is anywhere near Grigor's, Feli.
[Feliciano]
No, it's anywhere near Grigor's.
Grigor has one of the best in the game.
It is true that this is
the only aspect of Sinner's game
that it's a little bit vulnerable,
because he's known as the best
ball striker in the world, I think.
I agree with him.
I think Carlos is a great ball striker
with more variation in his game,
but, yeah.
[umpire] Fault!
Out!
[Tim] Jannik already catching
that ball on the rise.
Very nice. He's positioned himself well,
hasn't he, Feli? He's been watching.
[Feliciano] The moment
you see Jannik taking the ball
early on the return, it's difficult,
you know, for anyone…
to be handling that, you know,
pace and speed
that he puts on every single ball.
[umpire] Fault.
[Mark] So, important for Stef to have
a high first serve percentage tonight.
[Feliciano] Of course.
-[umpire] Out.
-[crowd applauding]
[Tim]
Held hostage in his backhand side there.
You're going to see a lot of that
from Sinner tonight.
[Feliciano] Yeah.
Even though he won that point,
this is not a good sign
to hit so many backhands in a row
against Sinner.
[Tim] Stef's mom and dad.
[Feliciano]
He needs to stay away of that exchange.
[umpire] Fault.
[Mark] Apostolos,
back in the driving seat.
Of course, brief hiatus at times
in the last couple of years,
but particularly with Goran Ivanišević,
didn't last long.
[umpire] Out.
[Tim] And once again,
look at how often tonight, Sinner,
particularly off the second serve return,
finds Tsitsipas' one-handed backhand.
It's a very,
very simple game plan for the Italian.
[Feliciano chuckles]
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[Feliciano] Doesn't look good, Mark.
[Mark] No, but it looked good from
an anticipation point of view from Sinner.
He is one of the highest IQ players
out there.
Been fortunate enough to sort of be back
on the tour a little bit this year.
And he is somebody
that everybody respects
in terms of the homework
that he does himself
and how much he watches other players.
The information he'll give to them
is incredible on both tours, by the way,
not just on the men's.
[crowd cheers]
[Tim]
That is Tsitsipas at his absolute best.
[announcer] Thirty-40.
[Feliciano] This is what he does great.
First forehand after the serve
is what he does very efficiently normally.
[umpire] Out.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[Mark] He's got away with it.
[Feliciano] Feet got stuck.
He was trying to slide,
reaching that drop shot,
and his foot got stuck a little bit.
[Tim] Yeah, he normally would be sliding,
but we've seen in practice
that he's not finding it that easy
to slide on this surface.
[Feliciano] Yeah, it's very grippy
at the moment, the court.
That's why.
[umpire] Fault.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Feliciano] Again,
finding this one-handed backhand
off the return is not a good sign
for Tsitsipas.
[Mark] Yeah, it sounds counterintuitive,
but there's a lot of opportunity
for him, you feel,
to serve T on the outside
to get the forehand back through
the middle of the court from Sinner
to at least get his forehand into play.
Okay, you can argue
that it's his better shot.
Problem is, if he doesn't absolutely fire
the forehand straight away,
that's what happens center
with the second shot of the rally.
One of the best
at redirecting down the line,
snags an early break,
and Tim Henman has made his way.
I can't believe Prakash talked about
those couple of players
that you had a good head-to-head record,
and bring up Roger Federer.
I mean, you were 6-1 against Roger
when he was, what?
Seventeen? Eighteen?
-[Tim] Twelve, I think--
-[Mark] Not in the world, his age.
-[Tim] Yeah.
-[Mark] His age.
[Tim] He brings up Lleyton Hewitt,
I think it was Pete Sampras.
-[Mark] That's right.
-[Tim] Beat them about,
-two in 20, I think. But, anyway.
-[Feliciano chuckles]
[Mark] Finished 7-6 against Roger though.
Very, very credible effort.
And this man here, of course,
last season, well,
the third best ever hardcourt record.
Fifty-five match wins,
just the three losses.
Fed had the best two ever seasons
on a hardcourt,
back in 2005, and 2006.
-[umpire] Out.
-[Mark] Anyone remember his one loss
in the 50 and one season?
-[Feliciano] No.
-[Mark] Safin in Australia.
[Feliciano] Oh, it's true.
[Mark] Dropped the fewest number of games
did Jannik in Turin last year
on his way to being the best of the best.
Thirty-three.
That eclipsed McEnroe's record
of 34 games dropped when he won it.
[crowd applauding]
[announcer] Fifteen-all.
[Tim] Tsitsipas looking to use
the slice there
but not really getting the penetration,
and then Sinner really whipped
that forehand back into the backhand side.
[Feliciano]
He's been working a lot on that shot
but he cannot get the ball low enough.
[Tim] Why? You both had one-handers.
You both had one-handers.
Why can he not hit
a better slice backhand?
[Feliciano] I think his technique
is not the best, I would say.
-[umpire] Out.
-[Feliciano] He's been--
He's been really working on that shot
because I played some doubles with him…
and I saw him practicing
that shot in particular,
-many times with his dad.
-[umpire] Out.
-[announcer] Fifteen-30.
-[crowd applauding]
[Feliciano] Not finding the way
to keep the ball low enough to…
[Tim] And I think in this day
and age with the court surfaces,
with the ba*ls
getting a little bit fluffier
because the players
use so much spin,
you've got to have even more penetration
on the slice backhand to keep it low.
If it floats, it sits there,
you're going to be in trouble.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[umpire] Fifteen-40.
[Tim] Credit where credit's due.
Tsitsipas backed his backhand there.
Stayed in the rally.
The unforced error from Sinner.
[Mark] Big opportunity here for Tsitsipas
to pull up alongside Sinner
quickly in this opening set.
Not allow the Italian
too much breathing room.
[umpire] Out.
[Mark] Interesting to see what sort
of serve we get on the outside,
because as you talked about,
Tim, obviously in terms
of the build-up to this match,
the kick serve looks so good
in the previous match.
[Tim] Yeah, that's right.
Whether he would think about using
that on the first serve,
only time will tell. But this one
was 209 kilometers an hour
right onto the T.
[umpire] Thirty-40.
[Tim] I think with that type of firepower,
he's going to go for it again.
[crowd gasps]
[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[Mark] Meticulously done by Sinner.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Feliciano] Very well played now,
cutting from the serve.
Dictating play with his forehand.
[Tim] We talk
about Tsitsipas' slice backhand.
One of the other elements
that he really struggles with
is that block return.
It's one of these players that's always
trying to hit over the return.
And if your opponent
is serving 212 kilometers an hour,
that previous one,
just the block, short swing,
use the pace, get it back in play.
[umpire] Advantage, Sinner.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Mark] Heavy traffic being directed
into that one hander
of Tsitsipas is going
to get a stern test tonight.
Yes, the off-base kicker.
[Tim] That's the one you were
talking about, Petchey.
Beautifully ex*cuted.
-[umpire] Sinner leads 2 games to none.
-[Mark] Sure, up the court,
getting the width.
[Tim] Another string to his bow.
[Mark] Well, they… as he is coach,
alongside Darren Kerr,
they have been a formidable partnership
out there on the tour.
Ninth best season of all time
for Yannick last year
in terms of overall wins as well.
-Seventy-three match wins, six losses.
-[umpire] Fault.
[umpire] Fifteen-love.
Fault.
Get that ball, please.
-[Feliciano] Wow.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[Feliciano] Great ball strike…
-[umpire] Fifteen-all.
[Feliciano] …from Sinner
with his forehand.
Of the return already being aggressive.
Finding his opponent's backhand.
It's not a good sign, as I said before.
The more backhand he hits
in a row,
Tsitsipas, the less chances,
I think, to win this match.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Mark] Is it technique, on his backhand,
that he struggles with, or is it the grip?
-[umpire] Fifteen-30.
-[Tim] I think a little bit of both.
If you watch,
he almost leads with his elbow.
Instead of turning his shoulder,
his elbow's almost
in front on the top spin,
and then it's almost
like he's hitting across the ball.
He doesn't get a particularly good strike,
and I think, again,
you look at his shot placement
in the rally against Sinner,
it has to be so accurate.
Anything dropped short
in the middle of the court,
Sinner's just stepping
in and crushing it.
[umpire] Out.
[umpire] Thirty-all.
[Mark] A tough time
against top teners in recent years.
Since the start of 2023,
Steph's picked up just four wins
against top teners,
three of those coming on his run
through to the title in Monte Carlo
-on the clay in 2024.
-[Sinner grunts]
[Mark] His only hardcore win
in that particular period
was against Vera in the Paris Masters.
[umpire] Fault.
[Mark] When you consider
he was 29 wins and 40 losses
-prior to that, it is a sharp drop off…
-[umpire] Thirty-40.
[Mark] …for Tsitsipas,
against the game's elite.
He has been looking for solutions
this season.
Of course, uh, played with
a different racket in Dubai,
picking up that particular title.
[umpire] Deuce.
[Mark] On a very respectable eight wins
and eight losses
against top teners in 2022.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Tim] You can't defend against that,
Feli, can you?
-[announcer] Advantage Sinner.
-[Feliciano] No chance.
No chance.
[Tim] On that occasion, it wasn't one
of the worst backhands
that Tsitsipas has hit.
A little bit short.
-Just taking advantage of.
-[Feliciano] Little short, yeah.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[Mark] World class.
[umpire] Deuce.
[Tim] You just get the feeling there's
no cheap points for Tsitsipas.
Big first serve.
He's still got
to make the aggressive forehand.
On this occasion, gets in nice and close,
nudges off that backhand volley.
Desperate to get a game on the board.
-[Feliciano] Wow.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[Tim] Different league.
-[Mark] Out of this world.
The movement.
[Feliciano] I was going to say that.
The movement side to side from Sinner,
it's out of this world, honestly.
Because we've seen great movers, you know,
over the last years, but this side
to side movement from Sinner.
[Tim] And maintaining his balance
and the ball striking.
[Feliciano] And the pace on the run
that he's able to generate.
It's impressive.
-[Tim] Very impressive.
-[Feliciano chuckles]
[umpire] Fault.
-[Tim] Oh, he's having a good look…
-[umpire] Game, Sinner.
[Tim] …at the racket there.
He wasn't quite sure what came off it,
but it was good enough
to see him secure a three-love lead
in this opening set.
[umpire] Sinner leads.
[Tim] And he thought it would be
a little bit of an onslaught,
but it has been a juggernaut from Yannick
to start this opening set.
And it has been, obviously, the one area
that we knew he would target,
and that's the backhand of Tsitsipas
and a few ba*ls heading that way.
[Tim] Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, it was clear that Sinner was going
to look to take advantage.
So three quarters of these shots
from Sinner going into the backhand side,
just going in one
in ten into the forehand side.
So, obvious where Sinner
is targeting this attack
and three-love double break.
-It's certainly proving effective.
-["Nobody to Love" playing in the stadium]
[Mark] Feli, it must be mentioned
that he has tried the racket
that he did in Dubai that kind
of worked out for him nicely.
He then went on to the clay,
didn't like it as much.
Um, uh… Ended up trying his old racket
when he went back to Rome,
the Wilson Blade.
He then went on to the grass with Goran.
He tried twelve different rackets.
I know you've been with him and he's tried
different string setups as well.
He's been-- So, he actually caused him
a bit of an arm injury
on the clay changing rackets
as much as that.
[Feliciano] I think it's difficult
when you start changing rackets
and strings and you can get
injured quite easily.
So it's not about changing rackets,
it's about, you know,
back to, you know, basics sometimes,
you know, and he seems
to be a little bit lost.
[Mark] You think he needs
some technical changes
on the backhand side?
[Feliciano] Probably he needs someone,
you know, more helpful
on the technical side, I think.
And also, I think he lost
his competitive spirit a little bit also,
throughout this year.
[umpire] Fifteen-love.
[Feliciano] The fact that he lost
so many matches, he lost his confidence.
[Tim] He's been a permanent fixture,
really, in the top ten,
and now his ranking's really
dropped off. It's…
It's not easy to stomach when
these youngsters are going past you.
[Mark] Yeah, and it's got to be harder
because it's not
because of hard work again.
It's because the tools in these guys' box
are just greater than yours.
So it's not just more hours
on court or more hours in the gym.
It's actually you've got
to become a more complete player.
Otherwise, you are not going to beat them
unless they have a bad off day.
-[Tim] A hundred percent.
-[Feliciano] Absolutely.
[umpire] Fault!
[umpire] Out.
[Tim] Good use of the kick serve.
And you've got to add to the fact
that if you've been around on tour
for many years,
whether you're playing
against the youngsters
or the older
more experienced players,
they understand your game.
They know the strengths
and weaknesses of Tsitsipas,
the areas
that he's vulnerable,
getting the heart ball high
on the backhand side
on that kick serve
needs to make improvements
-[umpire] Game, Sinner.
-[Mark] Okay, so we know it's coming.
Stef knows it's coming.
How do you counter it?
[Tim] Well, his core position,
he can either be a lot closer
to the baseline,
but then Sinner can be aware of that,
and then he goes fast into the body.
So it's a question of perhaps moving
when the ball is in the air,
so Sinner's committed
to a serve, and then you try
and cut down the angle. But…
he's got problems all
over the court so far tonight.
[umpire] Fault!
[Mark] I mean, it's the duality of attack
that these players have these days,
of both the backhand and forehand,
that's so problematic
for somebody like Stef.
[Feliciano] Yeah, the moment
you have a weakness in your game,
and you play Alcaraz
with Sinner, you're dead.
[Mark] He can be offensive
off both backhand and forehand equally.
Yeah.
-[Mark] Steph doesn't have that luxury.
-[Feliciano chuckles]
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Tim] And that's how good it's got
to be just to win one point.
[umpire] Fifteen-all.
[Tim] How the big first serve
comes back with interest,
fighting fire with fire
from the back of the court.
Going to the drop shot.
Very nicely ex*cuted.
[umpire] Fault.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Mark chuckles]
Look at the smile on his face.
Uh, he's not Nostradamus,
but he certainly knew the future there.
[Feliciano chuckles] He's not Nostradamus.
-[chuckling] Something similar.
-[Mark] Yeah.
He knew he had a crystal ball
and a tennis ball right on his strings.
Look at that.
It's a puppet show.
[umpire] Out.
[Mark] That's the only thing
that the topspin backhand
on the one-hander perhaps can do
is access a shorter part of the court
to try and pull Yannick off.
But there are huge limitations.
Is it a functionally extinct shot,
the one-hander? Who knows?
But certainly starting to feel
like that out on the men's tour
with the pace that's coming in,
particularly off the return,
but even in the rally situation.
Suboptimal.
[umpire] Fault.
[Mark] And it puts an awful lot
of pressure on the rest of your game
to produce the winners
that you need to.
[umpire] Fault.
[Mark] And then you have to gamble,
double down on the second serve,
coughs up the unforced error,
and it is a blemish-free start
to this opening five games
for the Italian.
Uh, Laura is courtside.
We're going to have to put police tape
around this court in a minute,
it's a bit of a crime scene.
[Laura chuckles] I mean,
it's a joke watching this guy play tennis.
Even from where you guys are up there,
I'm sure you can see the speed
that he's generating
off these ground strokes.
And a lot of it's been made of the, um,
you know, the court speed,
of the way it's bouncing.
And it's just playing right
into Sinner's hand.
Everything looks like it's
in the perfect position.
Everything looks like it's struck
in the sweet spot.
And I'm just, um, opposite Tsitsipas' camp
at the moment.
And they're just kind
of shaking their heads.
I'm not sure they really know what to say.
And what can you say if you're
on this side of the court right now?
It's like you're hoping
to wait for your chance.
You're hoping that he throws
in a few unforced errors.
But that's looking less and less likely
as this first set goes on.
["Red Alert" playing in the stadium]
[Mark] Yannick sitting very comfortably,
Laura, right now.
He's also so good, and in fact the best
in the world, at both disciplines.
He is the best returner
in terms of games won,
and he is the best holder
of serve as we look across Riyadh
with the kaleidoscope of colors
in this gorgeous city.
And it is
a picture-perfect performance so far
by the world number two,
Wimbledon champ, of course,
double Australian Open champion
now for the Italian.
And so far, no answers by Tsitsipas.
[umpire] Out.
Love-15.
[Feliciano] It's hard to believe
for me that the…
head-to-head is six-three for Stefanos.
If you look at, you know, how they play,
-the styles of playing, the match-up.
-[Mark] The matchup.
For me it's hard to believe.
It must have been something
that… [chuckles] …we don't know.
-[umpire] Out.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
[umpire] Love-30.
[crowd exclaiming, applauding]
[Mark] He's missed it
but it's still an advantage for Sinner
because it just throws something
else into the mix that obviously
Tsitsipas is going to have
to try and counter and be aware of
that the drop shot comes
that forces him closer to the baseline
and then, of course, with the big, flat,
fast hits that Sinner comes in with
you're suddenly rushed on the baseline.
Yeah, that is a class return.
Not a great serve in terms of placement
from Yannick missing his spots.
And talking about those particular speeds
they're coming in, uh,
at flamethrower speeds from Yannick,
look at that,
differential of fifteen k's on that
backhand side,
and seven on the forehand,
but this is a chance
for Tsitsipas to get his side
of the scoreboard moving
What are the odds on him getting his side
of the scoreboard moving, Feli?
-[Feliciano] At love-40, the odds?
-[Tim] I think he will.
[Feliciano] You think so?
-[Mark] Still feels 50-50 to me.
-[Tim] Yeah, I don't-- [chuckles]
-[Feliciano] Fifty-50, for now.
-[Tim] Two more breakpoint opportunities,
but I'm not sure I like his chances.
[umpire] Let.
-First serve.
-[crowd cheering]
[Tim] Stuck the landing there.
-[Tsitsipas exclaims]
-[crowd cheering]
[Feliciano] You might be right.
-Still one more drag point.
-[umpire] Thirty-40.
[Tim] Got into that rally,
and just a little bit central
with his shot placement Tsitsipas,
and making the unforced error,
he's feeling it out there.
Love these kind of little mini duels
in the match, isn't it?
Because Sinner could go
to the forehand here
just to change things up
even though he knows
that Stef can't hurt him.
Stef's juggling out wide
he's just shuffled out wide.
-[umpire] Out.
-[Tim] But he didn't give up the center.
And Feli's looking happy over there.
[Feliciano] I'm happy for him. [chuckles]
I'm happy for him.
It was so important,
it was crucial for him
to get the first game on the scoreboard.
Have you ever been double bageled
on a tennis court?
[Tim] Professionally, no.
-I lost in Juniors.
-[Feliciano] Okay.
-Under 12.
-[Feliciano chuckles]
-[Tim] It wasn't a good day.
-[Mark] Yeah, that counts.
[umpire] Let, first serve.
[Tim] He's figured out
a little bit of a plan.
He got a bit of a helping hand from Sinner
at the start of that last returning game.
How can he be a little more effective,
Feli, on his serve?
What can he throw into the mix here?
[Feliciano] I think he needs
to raise his percentage significantly.
Considering he's playing
the best returner in the game,
-which is Sinner.
-[umpire] Fifteen-love.
[Feliciano] You need to raise
your percentage of first serves.
[Tim] I don't know if he could use
the three-quarter kicker out wide
on the outside
and get Sinner off the court,
expect the one coming back cross-court
and sort of dance out there,
get out there, get his forehand into play.
-[Mark] That'll work.
-[Tim] Good one-two punch.
[umpire] Thirty-love.
[Feliciano] He needs
to do something with his serve
that gives him the chance
to hit the forehand right after that.
[umpire] Fault.
[crowd cheering]
[umpire] Thirty-15.
[Mark] It's the right move.
Got the opportunity to move forward.
It's a volley
that he would expect to make.
[Tim] I believe that the racket
he's currently playing with
is a prototype from Wilson.
It's not currently on the market,
that is looking to try
and get a little bit more power.
[crowd cheering]
[Tim] So, now there,
-[Mark] Yeah.
-[crowd cheering]
[Tim] And that had both power
and placement.
Irresistible combination from Tsitsipas
as he reels off a couple of games,
as he tries to recover.
[umpire] New ba*ls, please.
Sinner leads, five games to two.
[Feliciano] Trying to survive the storm.
[chuckles]
[Mark] Yeah,
I think it's safe to say that
Sinner's still going to come out on top
in this first set, but those two games
may just help Tsitsipas
settle down quicker in the second set
to try and keep his nose in front,
build a little bit of scoreboard pressure,
try and get a lead.
Still think clutching
at straws in this set.
[Tim] It's better than even he imagined.
Lovely reaction from Tsitsipas,
and a good reaction in terms
of one to the adversity
that he suffered
over the opening five games.
Huge growth in this part of the world.
October signals Riyadh Season
and sixth season for the sport
and entertainment world
to get together
in this part of the world.
And the second edition
of the Six Kings Slam.
Won last year by Sinner
as he tries to build
and create a desert dynasty.
-[umpire] Out!
-[crowd cheering]
[umpire] Love-15.
[Tim] Sinner has talked about wanting
to come forward a little bit more.
I think it was just a fraction ambitious
with the backhand volley.
[Feliciano] I think Darren and Simone,
they want him to come to the net
more and more.
That's one of the things
I think they're trying to…
convince Jannik to do.
[umpire] Fault.
Out.
Love-30.
[Prakash] Wasn't the best approach shot
from Tsitsipas, but on this occasion,
Sinner couldn't find the target
with a forehand pass,
and all of a sudden,
some more opportunities.
[Feliciano] Got to be distracted…
with the five-love lead.
[umpire] 15-30.
[Tim] Is that where you really see
the deficiency on the backhand return?
The face of the racket's
almost like sort of parallel
to the ground rather than kind of open.
[Feliciano]
It's parallel to the ground, yeah.
It's weird.
[Mark] He waits with the,
sort of, full forehand grip,
doesn't he, on the returner serve?
And then,
I guess, moving to the backhand,
he's got to make a big adjustment.
[crowd cheering]
[Mark] It's another player
that usually lie back in center and…
able to generate so much power.
He was behind
the baseline on that forehand,
but still able to hit the winner.
[crowd cheering]
-[Tim] Coaches can help…
-[umpire] Forty-30.
…but when you're a player
you've still got to put the keys
in the ignition and make things happen.
And Sinner has just reset beautifully
in this particular game,
hasn't he, on the last couple of points?
Not doing anything too flamboyant.
The basics.
And that's where the gold lies.
Set point.
[umpire] Fault.
Fault.
[Tim] I just wonder
whether he caught Stef,
Feli, moving
out of the corner of his eye.
[Feliciano] Yeah,
willing to take his
forehand off the return
and to put some pressure on Sinner.
So far, he hasn't found a way
to hit the proper backhand of the return.
He's been targeting that shot
all the time, Sinner, on his serve.
[umpire] Advantage Sinner.
[Mark] No holding back on that occasion.
First serve taking the drive volley
down the middle of the court.
-[umpire] Out.
-[announcer] Win of the first set, Sinner.
[Tim] Sinner seals the opening set.
There was a little more resistance
from Tsitsipas
towards the back end of it,
and he'll be a little wary
as they get underway
in a moment in the second set.
But the world number two
secures it nicely.
Tail of the tape will be coming up
in a moment.
That will probably
look like great reading for Tsitsipas,
although he is gonna have
to have some recency bias
when he looks at it,
because there were a few things
that he did well,
but he did get a little bit
of a helping hand.
Feli, what catches your eye there?
[Feliciano] First serve percentage
is very low from Stefanos.
I think he needs to raise
this first serve percentage,
otherwise it's going
to be very tough for him.
Apart from that…
[Prakash] Both players struggling
a little bit on second serve.
Twenty-nine percent points won for Sinner,
only 23 for Tsitsipas.
[Feliciano] Yeah.
He's won 74 of the points
with the first serve, Sinner.
So, that kind of compensates that.
[Tim] It's a good little look
in slow motion of the change, Feli,
you said on the backhand side.
We know that Jannik used
to take it up a lot higher.
He's just taken it
straight back into the slot.
Carlos has gone to a similar kind
of straight-arm back, hasn't he?
And they're staying low
with the ball coming through.
It does seem to make life a lot easier
for both of those two players.
They have more time.
[Feliciano] They have more time,
especially when they are on the run,
because nowadays they play so fast,
everyone, and especially
when they play each other,
Sinner and Carlos,
the speed when they go
into the rallies is unbelievable.
So, the shorter the swing is,
the easier when you are on the run.
That's a great
technical adjustment, Sinner.
This is what I like
from the tennis players
that they have the will
to improve all the time.
Although they are the best
by far in the game.
That's what I think, in my opinion,
makes a difference sometimes.
[umpire] Out!
[Feliciano] I think it's fair to say
that they are better tennis players.
-I'm talking about tennis in particular.
-[umpire] Thirty-love.
[Feliciano] Physically, they're probably…
the two… Out of the top ten,
they're probably the best,
but mentally and, you know…
They're also better.
They have always the will to improve,
so the combination makes it
very difficult for the others.
[crowd cheering]
[Feliciano] I don't think, of course,
that was a very difficult year for Stef,
but I don't think
he was a better player last year
than four or five years ago.
So, he hasn't had any element.
-You know.
-[Tim] If your game isn't improving…
-[Feliciano] That's my point.
-…you're going to get left behind.
[Feliciano] Yeah, that's my point.
[Tim] The standard is getting better
all the time.
-[crowd cheering]
-[umpire] Forty-15.
[umpire] Fault.
-[Tim] Such a skill that this man has.
-[umpire] Forty-30.
[Tim] Redirect with pace down the line
off virtually anything he can.
[umpire] Fault.
[Tim] He's attacking that first serve.
Moving into it.
-[umpire] Out.
-[Tim] And I think that's the one thing
that maybe Stef can do
a little bit better,
be a bit more accurate
with his first serve.
It doesn't feel as though he's tied
to the lines often enough.
[Prakash] No, that's right.
And when you've got the athletic ability
of Sinner, who's got long arms,
he's got a good reach,
you've got to make sure
that you're either tucking him up
into the body
or you're hitting your spots.
Otherwise, it will be into the hit zone.
[umpire] Out.
[Mark] And that was a good example
of how good Sinner is on the return,
because that was
a good first serve from Tsitsipas.
It was into the corner,
And still the point was neutralized
once Sinner had hit the return.
[umpire] Fault.
-Out. Game Sinner.
-[crowd cheering]
[Feliciano] He's been very erratic,
also, on his forehand,
which is normally his best weapon,
so not a good sign, obviously.
[Tim]
Isn't that the problem for him, though,
that he needs to do
so much heavy lifting for him
at this stage of his career
against somebody like Sinner,
that obviously he's got
to almost pull the pin out
immediately in the rally
and hit a great shot,
because if he hits
anything that's ordinary,
What's coming from the other end
of the court is extraordinary.
[Mark] It is.
And I think that's the predicament.
That's the challenge
for all these players,
except Alcaraz,
who's able to go toe to toe.
You've got to take risks.
You've got to any opportunity.
You've got to go full speed.
That's where the unforced errors
can creep in.
[umpire] Fifteen-love.
[Feliciano] It's so penetrating,
that ball, into his backhand,
into Stefanos backhand.
So, it's very difficult for him…
-[Tim] He's got no time.
-…to get away from that exchange.
[umpire] Fault.
[Mark] There again
on the backhand side.
[umpire] Thirty-love.
[Tim] It wasn't the best
second serve from Sinner,
but it's getting big on Tsitsipas.
He's not able
to get on top of this backhand.
He's late on it.
Ball sits in the middle of the court.
Sinner punishes him.
[umpire] Fault.
Thirteen-15.
[Prakash] Some of Tsitsipas'
best ball striking there,
and that's where it felt like he was able
to get on the front foot.
He was being proactive.
So much of the time, all players,
they have to react against Sinner
because he takes time away
from you with the pure pace
of his groundstrokes.
[umpire] Forty-15.
[Mark] Just having a little chuckle
to himself, Sinner there.
Again, getting so much width.
Tsitsipas couldn't reach it,
but look how far he is off the court.
[umpire] Game Sinner.
[Tim] It's going to turn that sharp,
it's going to need an indicator on it.
-[chuckles] It's dangerous.
-[umpire] Sinner leads, two games to none.
[Tim] Apostolos,
who, er, isn't normally quiet
on the side of the court,
is a little lost for words
at the moment in terms of advice
for his son out there.
[Feliciano] Seems to be speechless
a little bit. [chuckles]
[Tim] Set away from winning
Roland Garros in 2021, of course,
it's a pass against Djokovic.
He also lost his other Grand Slam final,
too, against the Australian Open.
And so it looks as though
he's getting a new stick out of the bag.
Of course, Jannik,
three championship points, Roland Garros
didn't get over the line against Alcaraz,
but how well he responded
in picking up the Wimbledon title.
Of course, had he won with the French,
and that, hypothetically,
had happened at Wimbledon,
he would have been holding
all four majors at the same time.
Scary accomplishment
that he was so close to achieving.
Backed up a Davis Cup title in 23 in 24.
The eighth time that's happened.
Davis Cup.
First time since the Czechia
did it back in 2013 and 14.
[umpire] Love-15.
[Mark] Of course, Tsitsipas,
who did play Davis Cup,
although has had a back problem,
pulled out of Shanghai
with a right leg problem.
[umpire] Fault!
[Mark] He's gonna need to pull out
all the stops here,
Tsitsipas, just to stay competitive.
[crowd applauding]
[Tim] Relentless.
[Feliciano] Absolutely relentless.
-[chuckles]
-[umpire] Love-30.
[Feliciano] Doesn't give you anything.
He's not that type of player
who gives you, you know, a few,
unforced errors here and there
that eventually, you know,
give you a little bit of hope.
That's not the case with Sinner today.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[announcer] Fifteen-30.
-[line umpire] Out!
-[crowd applauding]
-[Tim] Just a little extravagant.
-[chair umpire] Thirty-all.
[Tim] Could have shaped that
down the line to the one-hander
and been in a pretty good position
still Sinner.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Prakash] Talked about bringing
more variation to his game.
[indistinct shouting]
[Prakash]
A little bit of luck off the net-cord.
Sits a pass. Mistimed the forehand.
-But lovely variety.
-[crowd chanting "Jannik Sinner"]
[Prakash] Just feathering the drop shot.
[Tim] Lovely little grip change
just prior to his strike in it.
[line umpire] Out!
-[chair umpire] Game, Sinner!
-[Tim] Just pushes you
right to the edges of the rectangle
with your own shots.
-And Sinner has a strong stranglehold…
-[chair umpire] Sinner leads.
…on this second set just
-as he did the first.
-[chair umpire] Three-nil.
[Tim] And a fast three games in a row
for the Italian.
[music playing]
[Tim] And Tsitsipas
is very much in his rear-view mirror.
And we did highlight earlier
about the speed.
We've been talking about it
obviously consistently.
The damage is being done fairly
through this
absolute sledgehammer of a forehand.
When you look at the majority of ba*ls
that are going
over a 130 kilometers an hour,
that is what Tsitsipas
is trying to defend against.
[Feliciano] Yeah, it's very difficult
for Tsitsipas to defend.
I think the most interesting thing
from Sinner's forehand
is his average speed, to me,
because Alcaraz has also very fast--
He can hit the ball very fast
also on the forehand,
but he can mix it up a little bit more
with the base,
and then all of a sudden
he hits the fastest one.
But Sinner has an average speed
constantly that is impressive,
and that puts his opponents
-always in a very difficult situation.
-[chair umpire] Time.
[Tim] And I think, historically,
when players have tried to up the pace
and hitting that type of speed,
that's when the unforced errors come.
But you watch Alcaraz,
-you watch Sinner…
-[crowd applauding]
…it still seems
like there's a margin for error.
It's not always millimeters over the net.
They have the spin to keep the control.
[Tim] Alcaraz doing a great job
at The US Open
and keeping the points
a little bit shorter with that variety
compared to what actually happened
on the grass at Wimbledon
where it was a little bit more
in Sinner's wheelhouse.
Sinner's serve, perhaps, in New York,
not quite as accurate as it needs to be.
[line umpire] Fault!
[Tim] Alcaraz's cross-court forehand
on the run that day
was spectacularly good.
[crowd applauding]
[chair umpire] Love-15.
[Feliciano] He showed some determination
in that match, Alcaraz,
like willing to be…
to be playing that match in his own terms.
But sometimes…
in his mind, I think
the matches when they play each other,
he feel a little bit dominated by Sinner.
And I think he stepped on the court
-on that particular match…
-[line umpire] Out!
-…knowing that…
-[crowd applauding]
…I'm gonna do my thing
and forget a little bit
about what's on the other side
of the of the net.
and it worked out really well.
-[Tim chuckles]
-[Feliciano] Yes, it did.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Fifteen-30.
[Tim] Maybe only time
Sinner has faltered in this match
was when he was up five-love
in the first set.
You felt that perhaps
he lost a little bit of concentration.
He's up three-love, double break here.
Couple of questionable shot selections.
The execution we've come to expect.
[line umpire] Fault!
Fault!
-[Feliciano] Again, you were right.
-[chair umpire] Fifteen-40.
[Feliciano] Another time, you were right.
[chuckles] He proved you're right.
[Tim] Don't pump his tires too much, Feli.
-[Feliciano chuckles]
-[Tim] I know it's a short event,
but it's still long enough to get painful.
-[crowd applauding]
-[Tim] Mum still believes.
Fist-bump there.
Two break points to get one break back.
[chair umpire] Let.
-First service.
-[crowd applauding]
[line umpire] Fault!
-Out!
-[crowd applauding]
[chair umpire] Game, Tsitsipas.
[Tim] Just a little bit
of a careless game really
from the Italian right from the start.
Not sure that that dropped…
-[chair umpire] Sinner leads.
-…any breadcrumbs in terms of a strategy
that this man can follow.
More just a little bit of an annoyance
for Sinner
as he was racing through this second set.
-[line umpire] Out!
-[crowd applauding]
[chair umpire] Fifteen-love.
[scattered applause]
[indistinct shouting]
[line umpire] Fault!
[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[Prakash] Yep, he's just got…
-[chair umpire] Fifteen-All.
…too many options in that situation.
Stef obviously loves
to play a lot of his tennis.
You can see
how he falls off his serve there
into the backhand side to cover that.
And the moment he stays
just a little bit off center,
Sinner's just exploiting it down the line.
So he actually has to play more
in the center of the court
than he normally does,
Stef, which allows Sinner
to find that backhand more often.
[crowd applauding]
[Tim] And you could see there
he wasn't even chasing to the side.
He was protecting his forehand.
-[line umpire] Out!
-[crowd applauding]
[chair umpire] Forty-15.
[Feliciano] You can tell
by the sound coming off Sinner's racket,
the difference on the pace…
compared to Stefanos racket.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Forty-30.
[crowd chanting]
[Tim] That's something that Alcaraz
has done to so many opponents this year,
the crush and rush off that side.
Maybe we're going to see
a little bit more of that from Sinner
in terms of what he's trying
to produce to…
increase his chances
in that particular rivalry.
[chair umpire] Let, first service.
[Tim] All the players out on the tour
are going to have to embrace the fact
that they're gonna have to
try and get better
to chase down the top two at the moment.
-[chair umpire] Game, Tsitsipas.
-[Tim] Couple of games to set things up
nicely here for Tsitsipas as he looks
to try and balance the scales.
[chair umpire] Sinner leads.
[Tim] A little bit of an earlier run
in the second set compared to the opener
where it was a little too late
to make a dash.
As we go back down to…
[music playing]
[Tim] Laura, I think is courtside…
-[chair umpire] Ladies and gentlemen…
-…as Stef moves to within a game.
Laura, have you seen anything
that has significantly changed?
[Laura] Unfortunately for Tsitsipas, no,
not much has changed, to be honest.
You know, I was almost expecting
a bigger reaction
when he was finally able to break serve
and feel a bit closer in this match.
It almost felt like we were struggling
to get to the hour mark
for a second there,
but he can sit down knowing that,
you know,
he's at least trying something different,
especially with the return position
on his backhand side.
We're seeing him one point go
a bit further back, one point step in,
and just at least, you know,
trial and error as this match goes on.
But it does definitely look
like Sinner has that extra gear to go to
-and just looks so comfortable out there.
-[chair umpire] Time!
[Laura] And it's nice for me
to see him enjoying this.
Down here courtside,
we're seeing a lot of smiles from him.
We're seeing him, you know,
go for a bit more, be a bit flashier,
which is not something
that you usually associate with Jannik.
So, yeah, just phenomenal tennis
from the Italian.
[scattered applause]
[Tim] Yep, it is wonderful to watch
somebody right at the top of their craft.
Meeting with Novak Djokovic potentially
if he gets through this tomorrow.
And a matchup that he's enjoyed
certainly the last five times.
He's won the last…
[chair umpire] Let, first service.
[Tim] Six out of seven?
-[Feliciano] Six out of seven, I think.
-[Tim] Yeah.
-[line umpire] Out!
-[crowd applauding]
[chair umpire] Love-15.
[Feliciano] He's made more mistakes
in the last two games than probably
during the whole match.
[Prakash] I thought you were gonna say
the last two months.
[commentators laughing]
[Feliciano] Last two years, you can say.
[line umpire] Fault!
-[Tsitsipas grunts]
-[crowd applauds]
[Prakash] With his backhand
he had a little opportunity there
to take a big cut on the return
and decided just to kind of coax it
back through the middle of the court.
It doesn't feel as though
that is a winning strategy.
Certainly the data so far generated
doesn't suggest that.
[Sinner grunts]
[crowd applauding]
[Prakash]
Sharp footwork there from Sinner.
[chair umpire] Thirty-15.
[Tim] Tsitsipas did well
to get the return back deep but…
Sinner with good preparation
rips the forehand down the line
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Forty-15.
[Tim] He's used that kicker out
wide in the ad box,
and that's what opens up
the big serve down the tee.
Tsitsipas will be wary, thinking,
I've got to protect my backhand.
Sinner brings the heat up the tee.
-[line umpire] Out!
-[chair umpire] Game, Sinner.
[Tim] Had a little bit of lull
with his first serve. Found it there.
And that generates a two-game cushion
once again for the Italian.
[chair umpire] Sinner leads
four games to two.
[Feliciano] Sinner talking to his box.
I wish I could hear what they're talking.
-[Feliciano groans]
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Love-15.
[Tim] Couldn't quite see but I think
there was a pretty big grin on his face
as he wandered across the baseline
towards his team there, Sinner.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Tim] Oh, it's showtime!
[Tim] Tsitsipas did so well
fairly on the forehand on the run
to get himself…
-[chair umpire] Love-30.
-…in position but this volley.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Feliciano] He did everything perfect
except that very poor execution,
that volley.
[Tim] And he knew
he was living on borrowed time
the moment he hit it.
[Feliciano] Yeah.
[Tim] It's better.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Tim] Cut the angle
on the singles line there, beautiful.
-[chair umpire] Fifteen-30.
-[Prakash] That is his calling card.
[Feliciano] What a terrible feeling
when you see the ball going over you
and you're nowhere near to
-to get it. [laughs]
-[Prakash] Never happened to me, Feli.
I don't know what you're talking about.
[Feliciano laughs]
[Feliciano] Ooh!
-[Tim] So good!
-[crowd cheering]
-[indistinct dialogue]
-[chair umpire] Thirty all.
-[crowd applauding]
-[indistinct shouting]
[Tim] You can't doubt
Tsitsipas' competitive spirit.
He's kept fighting.
-[crowd cheering]
-[Tim] He's been a golfing class.
But he's not going down without a fight.
[indistinct shouting]
[Feliciano] Making mom happy.
[crowd cheering]
-[chair umpire] Forty-30.
-[Tim] It's game over.
[Tim] And he's rocking Riyadh right now
is Tsitsipas.
Staying in Sinner's shadow at least.
[indistinct shouting]
[line umpire] Fault.
-[Sinner grunts]
-[crowd cheering]
[Tim] And when you've lodged someone
in the backhand corner
as often as he has in the match,
there is going to be an avenue
to success through the forehand,
especially when you can torque it
at the speeds that Jannik can.
So, my money's on inside-out forehand.
[crowd cheering]
-[chair umpire] Advantage, Tsitsipas.
-[Tim] Top quality ball striking
from Tsitsipas.
[Prakash] Nearly stepping in,
keeping Sinner on the run.
Moving forward,
putting the drive volley away
and getting the crowd involved.
Needs all the help he can get.
[indistinct shouting]
[line umpire] Fault.
[indistinct shouting]
[crowd groaning]
[chair umpire] Deuce.
[Prakash] Only been on court
an hour and seven minutes,
but it probably feels like three hours
and seven minutes for Tsitsipas.
No breathing space.
[Tim] He has not played downwind once.
It's into a strong headwind consistently.
[crowd cheering]
[Tim] A little extra on that backhand side
in this game in particular
[chair umpire] Advantage, Tsitsipas.
[Tim] He's sticking with that theme
he has thrown a little caution
to the wind of the one-hander.
-[crowd cheering]
-[chair umpire] Game, Tsitsipas.
[Tim]
Tantalizingly poised this second set.
Sinner can't break free.
[chair umpire]
Sinner leads four games to three.
[Tim] Tsitsipas, looks to hunt him down.
[Feliciano]
Talking about the one-handed backhands,
how many players we have now
inside the top hundred
with one-handed backhand?
-Very few players.
-[Prakash] Not many.
-[Feliciano] Less than ten?
-[Prakash] Musetti.
-[Feliciano] Yes.
-[Prakash] Shapovalov.
[Feliciano] Stefanos?
-[Prakash] Stefanos.
-[Tim] I'll get it for you.
[Prakash] You're meant to do the research
before you ask the question.
-[Feliciano] No, no, no.
-[Prakash] Then you look clever. [laughs]
-[Feliciano laughing]
-[Tim] Seven.
-[Feliciano] I said less than ten.
-[Prakash] Yeah.
-[Tim] Seven.
-[Feliciano] Wow. And so in--
[Prakash]
Dimitrov, we talked about him earlier.
-He had the good slice backhand.
-[Feliciano] Good slice.
-[Tim] Who are the others?
-[Prakash] Mpetshi, El Paso.
[Tim] Mpetshi Perricard, of course,
Altmaier, Kovacevic, Shapo, as you say,
and Musetti is the number one
one-handed on the tour.
Here we've got
a little bit of a medical timeout.
He has been suffering
from some back problems
throughout the course of this season,
Tsitsipas' shoulder as well,
and perhaps some of that contributing to--
Because of the changes in frames
that he's been trying at times.
He went through a period, guys,
before we circle back
to the one-handed backhand,
where he was talking openly
that he almost felt, that he should play
with two different frames,
one for the hard
and one for the clay courts,
feeling as though that,
you know, he needs to go into the weeds
to that degree.
That seems relatively extreme.
I mean, you've got players like Federer
in the past
that played
with a marginally heavier racket
until he went on to the grass.
But that was something
that he himself did.
[Tim] Yeah, on the one hand,
I like the idea of…
he's leaving no stone unturned.
He's prepared
to try these different things.
However, for me,
I don't think it is about the racket.
It's about trying
to make those small adjustments.
Trying to change your technique at the age
of 27, 28 is very, very difficult to do.
These habits are so ingrained.
But for me, you know,
looking to get that that shoulder turn,
not leading with the elbow so much,
I think that's kind of more the error
that I'd be focusing on,
I mean he's had great results
with you know the racket that he's used,
and perhaps, he does view Federer
as well if he can change racket
and get the benefit maybe I can as well,
but…
he's got his hands full out here
whatever weapon he's using.
[Prakash]
And, Feli, just circling back to that
is it the return of serve
that the one-handers struggle
with more these days
or is it in rally or ultimately both?
[Feliciano] I think the return,
I think it's a huge advantage
-for the two-handed backhand…
-[Prakash] Yeah.
…on the return,
but I think he needs to use
his one-handed backhand
more efficiently,
especially, on the return.
I think Tim said before,
he mentioned
that he should be blocking the ball more,
-putting the ball in play.
-[chair umpire] Fifteen-love.
[Tim] Yeah, there's a great example there,
the one-handed backhand
with extra topspin,
which, of course,
it comes with in general.
Ruud, obviously,
is the outlier in that regard
because of the spin he can get
on a two-hander.
But more often than not,
when you have that much spin,
-it goes short and sits…
-[Prakash] Yeah.
…invitingly out for the opponent.
The two-hander not only has more control,
but is a flatter hitter.
[Prakash]
Yeah, and when the ball's getting up high,
they can use their left hand.
They can really, you know,
flick over the top and get that control.
[chair umpire] Forty-love.
[Feliciano] Back to the so many frames
that he's been, you know, testing lately,
it's not the… it's not the arc
it's the archer.
-[chuckles]
-[Prakash] Yeah.
[Feliciano] So, I mean--
Especially,
when that racket he played before
has taken the lead of the game,
and then when he started losing.
[chair umpire] Sinner leads final…
[Feliciano] He was thinking
about changing rackets and strings and--
[Tim] It's a clean hold from Jannik, as…
he tries to get another win over this man
who does lead in the head-to-head,
but from the evidence that we've seen
within the rectangle tonight,
it is just outside of the court
that Tsitsipas leads,
but for how much longer, one wonders.
Still just those four top-ten wins
that he's had since the start
of the 2023 season.
And the gulf just seems
to be widening for Tsitsipas.
The longest medical timeout
that we had in the previous sit-down.
-[crowd cheering]
-[Mark] As you can see,
just watching him after he fell away
after that this time volley,
he is definitely laboring a little bit.
Perhaps that's the reason
he went to the serve and volley
to try and shorten the point, but Sinner,
acutely aware
of what was potentially coming.
-[line umpire] Out.
-[crowd applauding]
[chair umpire] And love-30.
[Prakash] And just to finish off
on that one-handed backhand patch
looking back gone back 20 years, 2005,
in the top 100,
there were 32 one-handed backhands.
-[Feliciano] It's crazy
-[Prakash] It's amazing.
-[chair umpire] Fifteen-30.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[line umpire] Out.
-[crowd applauding]
[chair umpire] Fifteen-40.
[crowd shouting indistinctly]
[crowd applauding]
[Prakash] Couple of match points.
[line umpire] Fault.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Tim] And after day one
of the Six Kings Slam,
six becomes four.
And what a four they are.
The top four players in the world
will tilt for a place
in the final tomorrow
as Sinner overwhelms Tsitsipas.
[Mark] Yeah,
it's another masterclass from Sinner.
The ball striking from point one
was just absolutely relentless.
[crowd applauding, cheering]
[Mark] And as we kind of expected,
he's just dominated proceedings.
He knows the matchup.
It fits his eye well against Tsitsipas.
And just for the loss of five games,
Sinner's through to the semifinals.
[Tim] Yep, and it is an enticing one,
and I'm sure Novak can't wait
to get on court once again with Sinner.
Obviously, he has had the other side
of things against the Italian
in their previous five meetings.
But if there's anyone
that is determined enough
and as diligent as possible
in terms of figuring out a solution,
particularly to him,
in a best of three situation
against Jannik,
has got to be more helpful,
-you would feel, for Novak.
-["Ordinary" playing]
[Mark] Yeah, and we've heard
the players talk about the conditions.
Yes, it's bouncing up,
but it's pretty quick through the air.
You'd like to think
that Djokovic will be stepping in,
trying to shorten the points
and be the aggressor.
So it's such an exciting matchup.
♪ …Shatter me with your touch… ♪
[Tim] Yeah, Tsitsipas
with a little bit more homework to do
and a little bit more data
generated tonight
as he comes up second best against Jannik.
But as for the Italian,
after a disappointment in Shanghai,
looking supreme in Saudi Arabia,
and he's alongside Andy Castle.
Well, ladies and gentlemen,
that was a remarkable performance
from Jannik Sinner.
It's been a great year,
but you seem
in complete control of your game.
-Are you having a nice time?
-Yes.
Well, first of all,
it's great to be back here,
great to see people watching.
-So, thanks for--
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
Thanks for coming.
You know, first matches are never easy,
so I'm very happy
about today's performance.
It's a very unusual indoor court,
it's very bouncy,
at times it's very fast,
and the court slows down a little bit,
so it's many situations
we have to handle with,
but again, I'm very happy to be back here,
and let's see what's coming now,
-obviously tomorrow.
-[Andrew] I know,
you've got to play somebody
that you've beaten quite a lot
in the last few years.
Are you gonna be nice to Novak Djokovic?
[chuckles] Yeah,
we all hope that it's a good match.
No, this is all we hope for.
Of course,
we know each other very well now.
We played many, many times against.
So, it's great
to share the court again with Novak,
especially, here in front of you guys.
And we just try
to play the best possible tennis we can.
And then we see how it goes.
But mostly we are here to…
to… to enjoy, to bring, you know,
tennis here,
and all we hope is that you guys enjoy it.
So, that's why we are here,
and we try to play as good as we can.
Well, it was certainly
entertaining tonight.
I felt sorry for Stefanos. I mean,
you really did play very well today.
What a two years it's been for you
to win your Grand Slam championships
and Wimbledon, of course,
this year, the Australian Open.
Can you just give us all a word
on the rivalry
that you have now with Carlos?
He's a friend of yours,
but you are pushing each other
to new heights. It's wonderful to watch.
-What's it like to be in that rivalry?
-Yeah, it's quite interesting.
We have many dynamics, I would say,
you know, great--
We have a good friendship off the court.
Obviously, on court,
we try to play the best we can
and rivalry is all we need in this sport.
And we had great,
great rivalries in the past.
Now, we have new players coming up,
and, you know,
we try to push ourselves to the limit.
So, it's a very interesting dynamic,
and as I said, this sport needs rivalries.
It's great to have Novak still here
and competing,
playing the best tennis he can,
and it's great for the sport.
[Andrew] Well, that's for tomorrow night.
Congratulations tonight.
Rest well.
We look forward to seeing you tomorrow.
-Ladies and gentlemen, Jannik Sinner.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
[upbeat music playing]
[Prakash] What a special treat
that is going to be tomorrow.
Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic.
But first, we got to praise the way
that he played down there today.
It was absolutely exceptional.
Laura, it seems
there's inevitability with this game.
You can play some great tennis
at some point,
but eventually,
it's gonna start weighing on you.
[Laura]
It's the fact that there's no letdown.
You know,
if you're Tsitsipas in this situation,
you feel like maybe you have
a hint of an opening
and the door gets closed so quickly.
You maybe have a 15-30,
and it feels like a huge chance
all of a sudden,
but you almost then
put more pressure on yourself
to do something out of your comfort zone
because you know what's coming
on the next point from Sinner.
He just resets time and time again.
No matter what the scoreline is,
it's the same approach.
And it's just relentless.
You guys mentioned that word so much
in commentary today,
but that's exactly what we just saw.
[Feliciano] Yeah, the problem for Stefanos
is that if they play tomorrow,
it's gonna be the same, you know?
There's nothing he can do now
if he's not adding more elements
into his game to really create some,
you know, damage
on Sinner's game because, I mean,
I think he has fallen very short today.
I mean, honestly, he didn't have anything.
-Yeah, it was a tough ask.
-[indistinct chatter over PA]
Jannik, congratulations.
Exceptional tennis out there.
-He snuck up on you, Feli.
-[all chuckle]
He snuck up on you from behind.
-I don't want to interrupt, you know?
-[all chuckle]
He was just
saying really nice things about you.
I tell you, Jannik,
you're the most polite guy, I swear.
You were exceptional out there today.
Stefano's tried to really increase
the power in certain moments.
What were you trying to do,
especially, when you came out,
because you got off to such a good start?
Yeah, I mean, of course we know each other
now a little bit better, you know,
we played already many times,
of course, you know,
by time, you know,
we become better players
and we know each other's game
a little bit more,
so I knew a little bit also tactically,
how to prepare the match.
But generally, you know,
I just tried to stay quite aggressive,
especially, on the return games, you know,
I felt like I was serving very well
in the important moments,
and it is a very interesting situation
we have to deal with here on the court
because it's quite bouncy.
With new ba*ls it's quite fast
and it slows down with used ba*ls.
So, you have to adapt yourself,
and obviously, I'm very happy
to be through today.
And, yeah, so, I'm very happy.
You would have heard Feli maybe talking
about how relentless you were,
and we picked out a few points
with the analysis.
In particular,
how much you suffocate the baseline.
You know, your points, that plus one shot,
already inside the court straight away.
Is that kind of instinct for you,
or is that something
that you're reminding yourself
of all the time?
[Sinner] Well, both. You know, both.
I feel like, you know.
Especially,
when you feel good with the serve,
you try to mix it up a little bit more.
As I said, here it's very bouncy,
so for the one-handed backhand,
it's… it's not easy
to return with a good kicker.
So, yeah, you know, it's instinct,
but also, you know,
I'm trying to play with a good mindset,
-you know?
-[Laura] Are you, in that moment,
knowing that you want to get it
above his shoulder on the backhand?
[Sinner] Yeah, I mean both,
you know, it's--
You cannot play the whole match
in the same way
as, you know, being a tennis player.
You know, it's very, very--
You know, you have to be very brave
trying to mix up the dynamics
and also everything. So, yeah.
Yeah, well the red line there was where
you were hitting your plus one shot
-after the serve.
-Okay.
-So, it's pretty special.
-Okay. It's interesting.
Yeah, it's interesting
what technology can do now.
-[all chuckle]
-It's brilliant to see
how you suffocate the baseline
and take time away from your opponent.
Someone who's been doing that
for about two decades is Novak Djokovic.
No one has done that better,
but it's been so interesting to see
how you've changed the rivalry with him
over the last seven meetings.
You've been quite dominant,
but Novak has
a lot of tricks up his sleeve.
-[chuckles]
-Are you expecting some different things
-from him, tomorrow?
-I mean, of course. It's, first of all,
a huge honor to play again,
you know, against a legend like Novak.
And as I always say,
rivalries we need in the sport.
It's great to have him still here playing
in the highest level of our sport.
And it's a great role model,
you know, also,
because you look up to these guys,
you see, you know,
he's still hungry to win big titles
and that's why he still keeps playing.
So, it's great, and hopefully,
it's gonna be interesting tomorrow.
Out of so many matches
you played against Novak,
what do you think he's doing differently
in the last three or four matches
that you guys played?
Is he trying to shorten the points more
because he feels that if the points
are going a little bit longer,
he doesn't have the physicality
that he had before?
Oh, well, first of all,
indoor courts helps him.
You know, there's not the heat
which you have to handle with.
And also, best of three
is different than best of five.
This is also a factor,
but he is in incredible shape still.
You know? I mean,
you don't have to underrate that. And…
It is a mental game and mentally
he is one of the strongest
ever played this game, you know,
and you have to go through
this tough moments
and trying to play your best tennis
and I'm expecting a very,
very tough match tomorrow.
It's gonna be interesting to see
how I'm gonna respond also
because every day is different.
Today, I felt good tomorrow,
you never know, you know,
so let's see what's coming
but I'm extremely happy to be back here
in Saudi Arabia playing some great tennis
and… and I'm trying to…
Yeah, trying to play the best we can.
Jannik, listen, you're off
to a brilliant start to defend your title.
So sharp out there today.
-Enjoy the evening.
-I appreciate it.
-We'll see you tomorrow.
-Thank you.
-Thank you so much.
-I can take this for you.
-We'll let you get stretching.
-[crowd cheering]
-[crowd shouting indistinctly]
-Two grand slams this year.
Jannik Sinner playing beautiful tennis
and he was exceptional out there
against Stefanos Tsitsipas today.
It seems that he won't drop
below a certain level.
Yes, his high level is very high,
but his low level,
that's what makes him such
a great champion.
I love to hear him mention, you know,
"Tomorrow I might not feel so good."
I don't think we've seen many
not good days on the tennis court
from Jannik Sinner in the last two years,
it feels like.
So, you know, his base level is just that
much better than almost everyone else's
in the draw
and the fact that he can turn it on
when he's not feeling
physically comfortable at times.
We saw, you know,
how much he struggled in Shanghai,
but then a week later
he's playing like this
and it's like nothing ever happened.
[Feliciano] Absolutely agree.
On a bad day, he's able to beat anyone.
[Laura] I think any of us
would love one of his bad days.
[Prakash] Are you kidding me? Absolutely.
It's so fascinating because even
in matches where he's dominating,
we see him working on certain things,
trying new things.
From the variety perspective, Feli,
what were some of the things
you liked seeing him try today?
[Feliciano]
Going to the net a little bit more.
And I think this is actually something
that he's already trying.
I had a great conversation
with Simone in New York.
He told me that they're trying,
Darren and Simone, they're trying
to make Jannik be more aggressive,
trying to get him more at the net.
And… But of course, he's so humble.
He always had the will
to keep adding more elements
into his game, and this is one
of the things that makes him,
you know,
one of the best players in the world.
Scary thing.
Watch him improve, Carlos improve.
We're going to be blessed
with that rivalry for quite some time.
-We are already blessed. [laughs]
-We certainly are. We certainly are.
Jannik Sinner
taking out Stefanos Tsitsipas.
That was, of course,
our second match of the evening,
but we had some fireworks
in the first one as well
with the top American.
[crowd cheering]
[Tim] Beautifully done.
Nothing Fritz could do about that.
[Mark]
He has produced another absolute dagger.
Fabulous entertainment.
[Tim] Just relentless pressure from Fritz.
He's sparing no breathing room.
He is hitting
that one straight down the pipe.
[Mark] Taylor too good for Sascha
and straight through to the semi-finals
for the number one American.
[chair umpire] Six, three. Six, four.
Well, it was a one-sided affair
from the American,
didn't drop serve the whole time today.
He was very aggressive
from the baseline as well.
Feli, you mentioned
you think he's one of the strongest
in the world at the baseline.
There's not very
many people who can take him out.
I think so.
He's very efficient
at the plus one shot after his serve,
and he's been targeting,
you know, very well lately.
He's been very efficient in his serve
and the plus one shot.
And this is what makes him
a very tough opponent to beat, honestly.
From the back of the court,
he's very tough to beat.
Only Sinner and Alcara--
Alcaraz, sorry,
are the ones that are able to beat,
eventually, Fritz from the baseline.
But apart from them,
I don't think we can find many players
that we'll be able to beat him
from the back of the court.
In addition to the forehand and backhand
where he's so comfortable,
he's just got one of the most consistent
and massive serves out there.
He's able
to get such great accuracy on it.
It sets up his points so well.
Laura, as you take a closer look at this,
obviously, it doesn't use the body serve
very much,
but very accurate to the lines.
[Laura]
Why would you need to use the body serve
-when you can hit all four corners?
-[Prakash laughing]
[Laura] I mean, 89 percent of points won
we definitely saw
a slightly hampered Zverev today,
but you just see how many
of those ba*ls were unreturned as well.
But it's-- as Feli said,
the groundstroke afterwards,
the fact that he's so dominant
on that plus-one shot, is this what all
the best players are doing these days?
Is that they don't let up
when they have a dominant position
at the start of the rally,
they completely take control
and that was the perfect example there
of the spots that he can hit
with that first serve,
even when he takes a little bit
of pace off and it comes around
with a bit more slice and it gets
that extra width on the deuce side.
Yeah, he was very solid,
but it feels like, with Fritz,
he has that belief as well,
which sometimes it feels like
a lot of the other top players don't have
against Alcaraz and Sinner
but he actually steps up in big matches
He's a big match player.
When you look at his results, absolutely.
He certainly is a big match player.
That win recently over Alcaraz
will certainly help as well,
and increasing that percentage.
We saw what it did for Sascha Zverev,
having the highest first-term percentage
on tour,
what it did for him and his ranking,
getting to number three in the world.
So, Taylor Fritz
certainly on the right track.
Day one, almost in the books now,
but what an unbelievable day two
we have planned for you here
at the Six Kings Slam.
[upbeat music playing]
[crowd cheering, applauding]
Every time we talk about Novak Djokovic,
we seem to be more
and more amazed
about something new that he's done.
But Tim, to play as few tournaments
as he's done this year,
still make the semis
of all the four slams,
and virtually be the third
best player in the world by results,
that's absolutely astonishing.
It is. It's an unbelievable achievement.
And again,
it speaks volumes for his own expectations
because he wants more.
You know, with what he's achieved
in the Grand Slams, he's won 24.
He wants that 25th
and he's been knocking on that door.
It's taken the very best
these two youngsters
to really take him down.
Zverev got him in Australia,
but it shows his hunger,
desire, motivation,
determination
to keep producing the results.
And so to have the opportunity
of seeing him play tomorrow
is an absolute privilege.
But it feels
like this is the chance for him
to get one of these wins on the board
in a best of three situation
versus best of five,
where sometimes we've seen him
run out of gas physically.
We've seen a few niggles pop up
at the slams this year
when it's gone the distance.
But faster court,
best of three, maybe.
I mean, I want to give him credit
because, at 39 years old,
making semi-finals in all four slams,
this is absolutely incredible.
I mean,
just to see Novak playing another year,
for me, it's already a privilege.
I think the beautiful part about it is,
as well, Djokovic is trying to find,
what can I do
to beat the Sinners and Alcarazes?
So, to get this shot at Sinner tomorrow,
that's going to be quite astounding.
I think he's going to relish it as well.
You know, he's probably
watched Jannik's match tonight,
getting a game plan together.
They know each other so well,
as Jannik mentioned.
But I think every matchup is different
and they're always trying
to figure out a way to pass the other one,
to get through, because they're
both incredible groundstroke players.
So, it's about who has that extra edge.
And I thought it was interesting
when Andrew Castle
was announcing the eight players
at the beginning of the event,
the beginning of the day.
Djokovic's name got the biggest cheer.
And I think he's going to feel the love.
He's going
to feel that support from the crowd.
I think everybody wants
to see him go out there,
play the tennis that he's capable of.
He hasn't had to play five matches
to get here,
as he does in a Grand Slam
to get to the semifinals.
So, he's going to be fresh.
He's going to be ready.
He's going to be hungry.
And I believe he can pull off the upset.
[Prakash] Well, he certainly
has been relishing in all the fan love
that he's been getting
most recently in Shanghai,
where he made the semifinals.
Got a good look
at our order of play there.
It'll be Carlitos Alcaraz,
six-time Grand Slam champ,
taking on Taylor Fritz
in the opening match.
And then, of course, after that,
it'll be Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic.
Feli, that is about as good as it gets
in a lineup.
I can't wait for tomorrow, honestly.
And just to see Carlitos one more time
and Sinner and Djokovic,
it's already, you know,
it's something great for us as a…
you know, as a pundit here
commentating the matches.
But for everyone here,
it's going to be amazing as well.
Absolutely, and for all of us as fans,
this is something
that you just grab the popcorn and enjoy.
Tim, I just want you
to go a little bit further
on some of the stuff Laura and Feli
said about the surface,
where it may
give an opportunity for Djokovic
to pull a few tricks out.
What do you expect from him tomorrow?
I think he is capable.
He's brought a little bit more variation.
His slice backhand's improved
over the years.
He hits the spots very well on the serve.
He can use the kick on the second serve
and he's not scared
to finish the point of the net.
And I think he's got
to use all those strings to his bow
if he is going to come out on top.
Okay, we're going to get a quick look
at both these matches
from each of you.
We're, of course,
starting with someone who is 2-0
in her predictions.
Miss Robson, what do you like
for both matches tomorrow?
Well, actually,
Tim already threw out a prediction.
He's calling an upset already.
I'm definitely going for Alcaraz
in that first one.
Second one, I have to agree with Tim.
I'm thinking Novak Djokovic,
best of three, faster court, it suits him.
Okay, Feli, don't give me that look.
-What does that look like?
-He's looking nervous, isn't he?
I'm going to go with Sinner and Carlos
as well.
-[Prakash] Oh, sure.
-Not because I want to see another match
between them, because I really mean it.
Okay, well, that would be
a very exceptional final.
I'm going to go different than everyone
and pick the upset in both.
-Oh, wow.
-You're going American.
I see how it is.
Taylor Fritz getting another win
like he did at Laver Cup.
And I'm going to go with Novak Djokovic.
You're going to get the crowd involved.
It's going to be beautiful,
but I can't wait.
-What a beautiful day one.
-Absolutely.
-Loved it.
-Pleasure to be here.
-Can't wait for tomorrow.
-Thank you, guys.
Absolutely. Brilliant show today.
Stefanos Tsitsipas
going down to Jannik Sinner
and Sascha Zverev
going down to Taylor Fritz.
Our semi-finals
are set tomorrow in Riyadh.
Six Kings Slam
is off to an absolutely fantastic start.
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,
culture, entertainment and sport
all coming together for Tim,
Laura, Feli, myself, Mark
and the rest of our team here.
It's been a pleasure.
We'll see you tomorrow.
[energetic music playing]
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01x01 - Quarterfinals
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The world's top-ranked players take the court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for a star-studded tennis showcase with ultimate bragging rights on the line.
The world's top-ranked players take the court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for a star-studded tennis showcase with ultimate bragging rights on the line.