Live from Wimbledon - Day 4

Wimbledon has said goodbye and thank you to Andy Murray. Catherine, David and Matt react to his first round doubles defeat with Jamie, the return of Sue Barker, the touching ceremony that followed, and his press conference. There are reflections on his career and what he's meant to us, and the sport, over the years. Elsewhere, we react to a shock defeat for Jessica Pegula, another wild Grand Slam exit for Hubert Hurkacz, upset wins in the all-British matches on Court One, victories for Iga Swiatek and Novak Djokovic, and delicious aggro involving Arthur Rinderknech and Taylor Fritz.

[@omnoir]

Love these live broadcasts. Thanks for making the extra effort required.

[@jowoodward7528]

I’ve watched the bit where you discuss Rune being in the line up for Murray about 5 times now and every time it really makes me laugh - great stuff!

[@davidbrims5825]

It’s about questioning your own mortality, the passage of time, getting older. We’ve watched Andy Murray for 20 years, it’s a grieving process, there will never be another Andy Murray, his style of play is unique, very entertaining, those thrilling roller coaster rides and sheer bloody mindedness when he would come back from 2 sets down to win like the Richard Gasquets match in 2008. Tennis and Wimbledon will not be the same without him, it’ll be dull. 😢

[@kittmarie8285]

I 'm still emotional about Andy's post match tribute. I listened online to the post-match interview and it was still very touching. Your commentary is right on. Matt was a great description of how we related to the passing of time for each of us. Having Sue Barker there was a classic move. It took a long time for me to warm up to Andy; he always seemed a bit curmudgeonly. But when I heard the story that his and his brother's elementary school was attacked by a gunman, I had a change of attitude. He's still a little crunchy, but he has all my respect and admiration.

[@Chris_Q_Radebe]

You guys are such a joy to listen to.

[@taskview224]

Holger Rune & Andy played doubles together in Brisbane this year and Holger said it was a great privilege. I think Andy gets him. Maybe a future coach?

[@stickitupyourasteric]

5:19 Murray was a gate keeper to our collective memories so we are emotional as his end is also our end..

[@bhogal88]

Thank you for clearing that up! I was so confused about why they would boo her!! SUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

[@will74lsn]

yeah madness is the right word

[@davidbrims5825]

Remember before Andy Murray came on the scene in 2005, UK tennis players would go out in the first round. We had Jeremy Bates, Tim Henman, Greg Rusedski. They’re not Andy Murray, Murray was a force of nature.

[@jonathanb1406]

Bit harsh on Henman, he made the semi finals (and quarter finals four times) at Wimbledon in 98, 99, 01, 02, and reached the semi finals of the French and US Open in 2004. Sure, he wasn't Andy Murray, but then during Murray's career the only players better than him were the three greatest players of all time.

[@jess64792]

No mention of Kasatkina double bagelling British player Miyazaki?

[@stickitupyourasteric]

She is, was and will be a nothing so what's to commentate about..??

[@jess64792]

​​@@stickitupyourasteric What a weird, aggressive response for no reason. Did you like your own reply? lmao. The reason to mention her is because they mentioned basically every other seeded player's match today and a double bagel is a hell of a result no matter who it is. Also, they're literally The Tennis Podcast and talking about matches is kind of what they do here. Matt also has talked about having Kasatkina in his semi-final prediction, so why wouldn't they mention her win? She's top 10 in the world. If you think that's nothing, what the hell have you achieved in your life?

[@miketomlin6040]

@@jess64792 Tought to talk about every match and double bagel's tend to lack drama!

[@jess64792]

​@@miketomlin6040I don't expect them to talk about every match at all, but a double bagel is always notable. I can't imagine them not mentioning it if it was another player. She also has won her last three sets 6-0.

[@miketomlin6040]

@@jess64792 Perhaps they were sensitive to not further 'humiliating' the person who failed to win one game.

[@claireWitheford]

Love a bit of collective trauma bonding, with my tennis, thanks guys ❤ no one else in this house understands!

[@Jalleur14325]

Yes to me the most emotional moment was when the two brothers hugged. Big loss for tennis. I wonder whether Murray might consider doubles for a year or two, and then transition to coaching. Rune is clearly throwing his hat into the ring. Federers absence was bizarre, especially given the BBC showing images. Federer could have stood next to Novak and waved and not stolen the show.

[@tennissir1986]

Matt may be modeling Wimbledon merch - but I don’t expect he will turn up on an Armani runway 😀

[@tennissir1986]

Obviously this show is Brit centered understandably but Pegula losing was a bigger upset than Jack Draper.

[@sandramahan2771]

Listening to Matt talk about Katie Boulders stubbornness made me think about Tsitsipas. Is it sheer stubbornness that makes him refuse coaching other than his father (family) and refusal to make real changes to his backhand?

[@tombudd7985]

Let’s GO BIBI andreescu first on court one tmmrw. Beat the lil one

[@mariabucciarelli1799]

the lil one is fire ;)!

[@tennissir1986]

Yes - there was a lot of vomit mentions in his speech. 😀

[@miketomlin6040]

Real shame Murray got injured in 2017, how many more Grand Slams might he have won? He was about 10th in Open Era records pre the injury. I wish he'd stopped in 2017 as stas wise he ended up about 20th due to playing when no longer able to at 100%,

[@Jalleur14325]

I think Murray got injured because of his playing style though. It was heavy on the body. Rafa too but somehow Rafa managed to push on through.

[@miketomlin6040]

@@Jalleur14325 I don't know. i recall he had a congenital knee issue which may have over time impacted his hips. My point here is when folks talk about Murray's achievements they tend to gloss over the fact these ended in 2017, and why.

[@ellencourtney7187]

So Andy’s injuries are a tragedy but Hubie’s are hysterically funny. Got it

[@agabasia5204]

yeah, it's quite disrespectful

[@rioollie]

Catherine, I've felt for years that Hurkacz is a 'head case'. Just weird, in many and various ways. In the match v Fils, he should have been given a yellow card (maybe red, finally) for countless/pointless dives, lol. Seriously, just odd.

[@Madferit91]

Roger not attending because he didn't want the attention is cap. He probably just couldn't be arsed. That's Roger. Bro spent all day at All England and probably watched 10 seconds of tennis. He was there for PR as usual. He's a walking brand at this point.

[@Jalleur14325]

It wasn't a good look I don't think. The BBC was showing lots of back stage images of him and yet he never appeared. I assumed they were waiting to bring him out to give Murray some flowers or something but it never happened.

[@ConradRuddy]

Why can't you just face reality that men's matches is always going to get priorty for scheduling on the showcourts at grand slams? They're not disrespecting women's tennis just because they're priortising the more lucrative product, which they should do. The casual tennis fan will have more of an interest in men's tennis at grand slams which is very important because they're the biggest occasions to grow the sport. Even at the french open which you were so outraged by, the only women's match that should've been scheduled for the night seesion was Osaka vs Swiatek instead of Sinner vs Gasquet. I'm a fan of women's tennis but the reality is that there is usually more headline matches in the men's draw than in the women's draw in the early rounds of grand slams.

[@jackdarby8904]

Couldn't agree more and very well said!!

[@piqo44]

ATP is for sure much better at promoting tennis than WTA.I'm not saying that with better promotion women's tennis would be same interesting as men's but that is the case also for sure. For casual tennis fan shorter and less predictable matches are more fun to watch.Take for example Duckworth vs De Minaur, De Minaur was big favourite and won 3:0 but after 3 tie breaks. Like in football, very often in tournaments you pray for quick goal for one team to make game more interesting especially at play-off stage like now in Euro 2024, similarly in ATP you want quick break to make game more entertaining to watch instead waiting most time for tie break. I'm talking about casual fans, tennis connoisseurs watch matches completely differently, but they constitute a small group of viewers.

[@Jalleur14325]

It's a chicken and egg though. When TV broadcasters started covering women's football, all of a sudden people started getting excited by it. The same would also be true of women's tennis. In fact, I often prefer women's matches - there are often brilliant rallies and it's not just about rockets.

[@ConradRuddy]

@Jalleur14325 Not sure about the comparison to women's football. I think the majority of the "excitement" and the interest in women's football comes from women, and a lot of that is forced and disingenuous. Women's tennis is a much more enjoyable sport to watch for a man than women's football is.

[@piqo44]

​@@Jalleur14325 Comparing women's tennis to women's football is not a good idea. Football is a team and contact sport, while tennis is an individual (if we're talking about singles) and non-contact sport. For that reason, men's football dominates women's football in every aspect, as the difference in physicality plays a key role here. In tennis, it's a different story. For casual fans, women's tennis can be more enjoyable to watch: longer rallies, slower tempo, and more balanced competition can lead to more unpredictable and exciting matches. If an ATP player outside the top 100 has a good serve, he can put up a fight against any top 10 player, and such matches usually conclude in tie-breaks.