Matipa Ruzive: Hi everybody and welcome back to the Everyone Watches Women's Tennis podcast. A podcast that is solely focused on the women's game. I should know that off the bat. Hi everyone and welcome back to Everyone Watches Women's Tennis podcast. A podcast that is solely focused on the women's game, giving you regular updates about what's going on with WTA Tour both on and off the court. Hi guys, I'm back. It's crazy that that intro says regular updates when I've been gone for a good two months or something. So mad. Mad for me. No excuses. Yeah. Sorry. I'm very sorry. That didn't come off sincere, but I'm sincerely sorry for anyone that looks forward to these episodes or anyone that's supporting or encouraging me in any way. So I do, do truly apologize, but this episode is... It's been a while, it's been a while. So I just thought why not do a catch up episode, recapping what's going on the tour so far, looking at the tournaments played, winners, runners up, just looking at the players who's done well, who's looking to have a good year, who really needs to have a good time at the French Open, all of that. And then I'll also just give some thoughts on the most recent final that was played in Rome with Svitolina and... Cocoa Gauff and then also just my thoughts at the moment about the French Open about the players and how I see them going and then I think I end it like that because there's so much to talk about but I don't want to keep you here forever because I'm back so I'm gonna be talking talking your ear off for a long time yeah So let's get into it. So let's get into it. Before I go on, I've got my, I feel like in a podcast, you have to have the. You have to have the microphone visible and that's why I have it there. I also don't want to be holding it up because it messes up the audio. It's too close. So I've got it right here. So hopefully it catches everything really well and I'm trying to figure out the best position for it. Mind you, this is my first podcast episode where I've recorded myself so I'm a bit uncomfortable if you can't tell and it's a bit new for me. But... We'll see how it goes, see if people like it. Yeah, so as I said, we're gonna be... Okay so as I said this episode will be a bit of everything kind of a recap of how the year is going so far so I thought the best place to start will be with the rankings is specifically top 10 and then some other marquee or important rankings that I think you guys should be caught up on. So I am going to be looking at my phone for a second even though I know the top 10 pretty well in my head but I'll just confirm. So first of all we've got Aryna Sabalenka World number one, then Elina Rybakina, world number two, then world number three is Iga Swiatek world number four, Coco Gauff then number five we've got Jessica Pegula then Amanda Enesimova at world number six, then at world number seven we've got Elina Svitolina, world number eight we've got Mirra Andreeva, at number nine we've got Victoria Mboko, and then rounding off the top 10 is Karolina Muchova Then moving from that, I've got some just some key players as well that are just outside the top 10. So we've got Belinda Bencic, who was in the top 10 and then has like jumped out. So there's not that much distance. And then also Linda Nosková. She's been knocking on the door of top 10 for a little bit now. I think she just needs a really big performance. in a slam or at least win like a thousand tournament and she'll jump right in there. Then another person who's just outside they've been pushed out because they didn't they didn't regain those points that they earned in the past year which is Jasmine Paolini. And then some other players that I think are pretty key is Marta Kostyuk who is But the way she's playing and performing, she is looking that top 10 in the eye and I think she's coming for it. And then as well as Naomi Osaka at world number 16 Kostyuk is at world number 15 But yeah, I just thought that was kind of important just to know the landscape. And then... Besides the landscape, we've also got players that are in the top 100, but the, guess, higher end of the rankings. And it was actually their top 100 debut this year. So I just think they need a shout out and their names that you should know as well for the future. So we've got Australian Talia Gibson. ⁓ I'm not sure what her current ranking is, but when I wrote this script, she was number 58. Then we've got Sarah Bannister. from Chichia then we've got Nicola Batonkova then we've got And then next we've got the big movers. They're not ranked in the top 20 or anything but they are ranked in the top 100 and actually made their top 100 debut so they deserve a shout out and I think they're also very important names for you to know for the future. So first we've got Talia Gibson, world number 58. Then we've got Sara Bejlek at world number 35. Then Nikola Bartunkova 93. Then we've got Daria Snigur at 98. Then we've got Lily Tagger 91 and the rankings have probably changed a little bit since I wrote this script but they've all debuted in the top 100 this year so massive achievement and then looking at the teens that are in the top 100 currently we've got the highest ranked teenager being Mirra Andreeva probably could have guessed at world number eight and then coming in very close behind is Victoria Mboko at world number nine then Iva Jovic at world number 16, then Tereza Valentova. and then, Teresa of Alentowa, and then lastly, we've got Lily Tagga. So that's that on the rankings. I don't have too much else to say about them. Then going on to the tournaments that we've had so far this year, again, this is a recap, so I wanna bring you up to speed about where we're at, cause... What a lot of people don't realize is tennis is all year round. Like it is constant week in week out there's a tournament being played. So of course you hear about the big ones, the majors. But then there's also the thousand tournaments which you probably hear about. But then there's the in-betweens, the 500s and the 250 level tournaments that you can sometimes miss. So I'm just gonna quickly go through them for you. So we'll start with at the beginning of the year. So Brisbane International. So defending champion was Aryna Sabalenka. made it back to the final again beating Marta Kostyuk 6-4 6-3 then at the Auckland Classic the winner was Elina Svitolina who beat Xin Yu Wang and that was 6-3 7-6 then at the Hobart International Elisabetta Cocciaretto won that 6-4 6-4 against Iva Jović then at the Adelaide International Mirra Andreeva beat Victoria Mboko 6-3 6-1 then at the Australian Open we had Elena Rybakina beating Aryna Sabalenka 4 6 6 4 then at the ⁓ Open or Cluj-Napoca ⁓ had Sorana Cirstea ⁓ home ⁓ home tournament beating Emma Raducanu 6 love 6 2 then ⁓ Abu Dhabi we had qualifier Sara Bejlek beating ⁓ seeded number two Ekaterina Alexandrova 7661. Then in Ostrava, Katie Boulter beat Tamara Korpatsch 576261. Then in Qatar, at the Qatar Open, Karolina Mukhova beat Victoria Mboko 6475. Then Dubai Open we had Jessica Pegula beating Elina Svitolina 6-2, 6-4. Then at the Merida Open in Mexico, had Cristina Busca beating Magdalena Frech 6-1, 4-6, 6-4. Then in Austin, Texas, Peyton Stearns beat Taylor Townsend 7-6, 7-5. Then Indian Wells, had Aryna Sabalenka beating Elena Rybakina 3-6, 6-3, 7-6. Then she won back-to-back the Sunshine Double where she beat Coco Gauff in Miami 6-2 4-6 6-3. Then starting the clay season, we had Jessica Pegula, who was also the defending champion, beating Yulia Starodubtseva 6-2 6-2. Then in Bogota, we had Marie Buscova beating Pana Udvardy 6-7 6-2 6-2. Then in Linz, had Mirra Andreeva beating Anastasia Potopova. That was 1-6, 6-4, 6-3. Then in Stuttgart, Elena Rybakina beat Karolina Muchova 7-5, 6-1. Then in Rouen Marta Kostyuk beat Veronica Podrez, 6-3, 6-4. Then in Madrid, Marta Kostyuk as well, back-to-back titles. ⁓ She's also on a big winning streak. Andreeva 6-3-7-5 and then most recently we had Elina Svitolina beating Coco Gauff in Rome and that score line was what was that score line sorry that score line was 6-4 6-7 6-2 And that's where we're at with the tournaments this year. So as I was going through them, I was just making note of how well certain people have done this year. So best performers so far in the year. We've got most finals with Aryna Sabalenka making four finals and then winning three out of those finals. So she has the most titles this year so far. Then next we have Elena Rybakina who has been in three finals and has won two that. And has won two titles as well as Marta Kostrych who's been in three finals and has won two titles as well Then Jessica Pegula has been in two finals and has won two titles and Mirra Andreeva has been in two finals and ⁓ sorry She's been in three finals and has won two titles And I'm trying to think if anyone else I'm missing who is kind of stands out Let's have a look see. No, not necessarily. We've got muchova She's been in two finals. She's won one. ⁓ some people have been in a couple of finals and won one or some people just been in one final and won the tournament. ⁓ then. ⁓ That's kind of like the balance at the moment. And then we've also got some people who have, which I think is just Coco, who's played, ⁓ no, Coco and Victoria Mboko have played in two finals this year and they haven't yet to win something. So that's, it sucks for them, I think right now, but it's promising in terms of the rest of the year and the rest of the season and the fact that they can get themselves into finals anyway. Yeah. then Then moving on to some changes that we've had on... Then moving on to some changes that we've had on tour specifically and mainly and basically only. Well, there are other things that happened, but the ones that I'm focusing on right now are some coaching changes. So we'll start with, I think the biggest one and more significant, which happened ⁓ back in March after Indian Wells and Miami. And that was, excuse me. and that was Iga Sviantec and Wim Fisette going their separate ways. And Wim was her coach from October 2024 to March 2026. And they won three titles together. That was Wimbledon last year, Cincinnati last year, and Korea Open last year. So they had, it's funny. I think. They had a good year, they were successful. But the way we talk about Iga, and knowing her at her best, it wasn't that. And I think Iga changed, has changed as a player. And I don't know if that's Wim Fisette's fault, but I don't think he improved too much. And I think that Wimbledon win, The Wimbledon win worked because of how she plays now. She's become, at some points, at some points, a ball basher. And that can work on the grass, right? So it makes sense why she won Wimbledon. I also think she had an easy draw, but that can work on Wimbledon. But in everything else that she has always been super good at or super, yeah, super good at, super successful at. She hasn't been doing it anymore. But that's maybe that's too much on on but I don't know if that has anything to do with Wim but it's your play style so it kind of has to do with your coach but I think those changes were already happening before Wim was her coach if that makes sense. But he didn't yeah I don't know he's really nice guy I really like him though I think he brought a sense of calm in her box considering her sports psychologist whom I have mad mad beef with. Personally and a lot of people tennis fans, I think agree with me, but Let's not get into that anyway. So Yeah, she has get her and win for set haven't been I'm no longer coaching partnership and she's moved on to Francisco Roy who has coached a few players on the ATP and then also coached Emma Raducanu before like a short period on the WTA then second player who broke up with their coach around the same time as well. So was all coaching breakups was Amanda Anisimova ⁓ ⁓ how do you pronounce his name? ⁓ Howes? ⁓ we'll just say that. Vliss Howes ⁓ ⁓ in 2026. ⁓ it's interesting ⁓ that one because, I mean, it's been her coach for a while, especially since she came back from ⁓ time off. ⁓ they were really, really successful ⁓ They were very successful together last year especially when she won, when she first won her biggest title to date and then she made two slam finals back to back. But I guess there comes a time with a coach, especially after the performance at the Australian Open, mentally she just seemed not there. especially in the match that she lost. So I don't know, I think maybe a new change, especially because he's brought her so far. Sometimes you need someone who can bring you so far and then you need a different person to take you up that final, final level, final step. So that could be that for Amanda. And I hope whatever her new coach is, it works out. Because with the WTA Tour in the past, it's it's happened a lot where players have, they have, it's happened a lot where players have switched coaches and it's disrupted their rhythm and disrupted their career for like a year or two. So definitely hope that doesn't happen to Amanda. ⁓ And ⁓ with Amanda, it hasn't been confirmed. She hasn't confirmed who her new coach is, but she was seen. ⁓ training with Torben Belz who coached Kerber when she won Australian Open, US Open in 2016. So that seems like a good appointment but it's not yet confirmed. The next player is Victoria Mboko and she has wired, she has wired, she has hired Wim Fisette as her coach on a trial basis and this is I mean, obviously I don't know the reasons, but I think it's due to her former coach, now former coach anyway, Natalie tells that getting a new role with Tennis Canada and a more expanded role, so she can't work as my, And then the next player who's had a coaching change is Victoria Mboko and she's actually trialing with Wim Fisette who we just spoke about. ⁓ on a trial basis. And I think a main reason for Victoria looking for a new coach is that her now former coach, Natalie Tauziat got a bigger, more substantial role with Tennis Canada. So she wouldn't be able to coach her anymore. And I think it's great to look at Wim. He's like coached quite a few champions from Clijsters Azarenka, Osaka, Iga. So. It's a good appointment. I don't have too many opinions on that, honestly. And then last but not least is Emma Raducanu another coaching change. And this is an interesting one because she's returned to Andrew Richardson, who is the person that coached her during her US Open title run. And it's funny because right after the US Open Title Run, she fired him because she wanted a new perspective for someone who's been on the WTA tour for a long time. But it's good to see. her going back to someone she's known for a long time and feels comfortable with. And I just hope that this can create a path of stability for like a good one, two years for Emma. Cause she has sometimes has stability. It's like three months, three months here, three months here, and then it breaks down and then three months here, then it breaks down again. So hopefully this can be a sustained level of, ⁓ of stability. Yeah. Then moving on to the most recent tournament, I just thought I'd talk about it quickly, you know, look at some tennis, but not too much, ⁓ is the Rome final between Coco Gauff and Elina Svitolina. And as I mentioned before, Svitolina beat Coco in three sets. So the score was six four, six seven, six two. And hopefully these are succinct. Hopefully these are some succinct takeaways, but knowing me I will ramble because I always have a lot to say but First of all, I did not watch the final live due to like the time difference and the rain delay because the match was meant to start at 1 a.m. In Australia and I was watching the FA Cup final Chelsea versus Man City at 12 12 a.m. And that was fine because I like I can watch the match and then I can Finish the football match and then start watching the tennis on two screens but because of the rain delay the match didn't end up starting till like quarter past two and By that point I was tired I worked I watched like 15 minutes like the first few games and then I Couldn't continue on because then it would have disrupted the rest of my day So I didn't watch it live which I wish I had but sometimes you have to sacrifice. Because I sacrifice my sleep a lot. So sometimes I have to sacrifice tennis for my daily life. ⁓ So once I came back from church, I ended up watching the whole match beginning to end just to see what happened. And it's interesting because when I went to sleep, I had watched, as I said, a few games and Coco was up a break. And I went to sleep pretty confident that Coco was going to win the match. And I was like, ⁓ Coco, think she's got this. Because also Svitolina looked lethargic and tired. That's part of the reason. I think on a normal day. on a normal match I would feel differently if Fetalina had looked up to it when I was watching. And then I woke up and I checked the score and I was confused. I was confused and I was like, yep, therefore I definitely have to watch this because I am ⁓ mad confused. Anyway, so here are my thoughts. Again, I've got my book here so I have to look down, okay, my notes. It's so much easier recording when it's just a recording, you don't have my face. So I'm trying to... give eye contact, be engaged but also know what I'm talking about you know. Okay so starting off as I said Svitolina started slow and sluggish and Coco was on it she was very on it with her serve and her movement as she normally is but after watching the match she didn't do enough to stay on top and she didn't do enough to shut down that that first set. But in saying that, it's not just Coco, it's Svitolina. Although she was a bit slower and seemed a bit tired, she still always has that fight in her and she wasn't letting herself get broken, which this is what she did the entire tournament. She was like, nah, no one's breaking me. I might get in some difficult situations, but I'm not getting broken. And that's what happened with Coco. And... especially going into the final parts of into the final stages of the first first set because because Coco didn't put her stamp I guess on the match in the set and just push Svitolina aside, it then gave opportunity for Svitolina to find her way back into the match once she had warmed up and just seemed to get more energy. And then that's when Coco was faltering on her serve and forehand. So that was that with the first set. And then, like I said, yes, Svitolina grew into the match and took a while to warm up. She did take some time to warm up. I remember the commentator kept talking about the matches she had. matches that she had previously and how tired she was which of course she would be and I think I think the commentators were also surprised when she kind of switched on as well but yeah and And we've seen this new Svitolina who is like super aggressive as a player, a lot more aggressive. And she kind of strikes a really nice balance because she is, has become more aggressive, but she's maintained that, clean game. She still doesn't make. lot of unforced errors. Because sometimes I think the stats will say unforced error but in my opinion it's a forced error when sometimes your opponent can push you but anyway she was very very aggressive. And at the start of the game and I think throughout the game Coco's game plan seemed to be to bring Svitolina into long rallies and at first it worked because she was tired but eventually it wasn't working anymore especially considering that Svitolina was the more aggressive player of the two. I just think that game plan started to falter. And usually that's how Coco plays against a lot of players and that can frustrate them like the Sabalencas, the Rebaikiners, those super aggressive like first strike tennis players. But with Svitolina, she's quite patient and she, not to the same level as Coco, but she's one of the best defenders and movers in the game. So she can entertain those long rallies and then paired with that aggression, she can then strike first before Coco does. But yeah, I think that's all I had to say. just think Svitolina came out on top because she was more aggressive one and her mental strength and self-belief is like amazing. It's second to none. I was saying that, I was saying something to my brother, I think, or my sister. Svitolina in the past, I feel as though she hasn't lost because of her self-belief or mental strength. She's actually lost on the tennis front, which is rare for top players. Usually they're like in terms of tennis and ability, they're the same and then someone is better mentally. But with her, it feels as though it's the other way around. Like mentally she's there, but tennis wise, there are some people that are just a little bit better than her. So yeah. And then Coco And then before I fully give the flowers that Svitolina deserves, I'll give some flowers to Coco as well. She's very mentally strong. And I think this tournament was, this tournament run and yeah, this tournament run was very necessary for her to gain some confidence before that title defense she has to do at the French Open. And. because after Madrid I was worried and Madrid she was sick so it's kind of hard to judge that title run but she's a player who she's a player that can work her way into a tournament play her way into a tournament but it's harder to do at a Grand Slam so I also think she is just like everyone but she's a big big player that thrives on confidence and this I think this tournament would have given her a lot of confidence, hopefully, hopefully. So we can see a really good and robust title, title challenge or title defense. Then as I, as deserved flowers to Svitolina. Her third drone title actually, she's won this title, she had won it two times before. So she, I guess, feels very comfortable there and on clay. And it's her biggest title as well since coming back from maternity leave. It's yeah, also her biggest title since coming back from maternity leave. So again, it's good to see that. That I guess she's back on that same path she was on before she. got married and had her child and this tournament win is crazy because she beat number two, three and four in that order to make it ⁓ to win the title. So it just shows that she's up there with the elites again which she has been for quite a few years now. ⁓ But I still think it's crazy that she's never made, not that she's never won a major, she's never even made a major final. She hasn't yet. And I think that could very well change very, very soon. And Clay is her best chance of beating those players that tend to overpower her. Because she can play really, really well. I think we saw her this run open. She was playing really, really well. She beat Mirra, she beat Coco, playing great. And then comes up against Sabalenka, who just essentially overpowers her. Even though she was playing this aggressive brand of tennis, which has been working so well everywhere else, it's just she's being overpowered. Obviously that's easier to do on hard court. So I think on play with her movement, this is her best chance with a good draw, even a difficult draw. I think she can manouevre her way out of it. So that's how I feel about ⁓ Svitolina. And just on the final overall, it was magnificent. It was some really, really high quality tennis from both players. They both dug really deep. They, I think, put it all on the table. I don't feel like anyone... ⁓ anyone necessarily lost the game. Because sometimes it's like, yeah, someone won, but someone lost the game. I didn't feel that way in this one. And I think it was just like a great advertisement for the WTA and where it's at at the moment. how, first of all, the top 100 is highly competitive, but there's also this like level of consistency that for the best players, have to play your best to beat them. But There are quite a few people that are good enough to beat them if they can, you know, take it up to them. But yeah, ⁓ and also the rallies, the rallies were insane because I was like, ladies, how are we still hitting the ball at this point? But that's all I have to say on that Rome final. It was a good tournament. ⁓ It's not my favorite clay tournament. My favorite is Madrid, but I didn't make an episode about that, so let me not talk about it. So that is that on the year to date and then looking forward looking into the future Let's just go through some of my thoughts about French Open. I Will not discuss the money thing. I might discuss that at a later date because I do have some opinions on it of course and What else do I not want to discuss? I think that's it, but I'm just quickly going to Yeah, throw out some thoughts. These are mainly predictions or just mainly ramblings I have about specific players. And again, it's like the top players, because they're so visible. But yeah, let's just get into it. So we'll start with my initial thought is, I don't know who the favorite is. I have not idea what the favorite is. Usually there's like a pool of favorites that I can guarantee one of the four or five will win. So that's usually like Iga, Coco, Sabalenka, Rybakina Jessica Pegula. That's my pool of favorites. But this year, those favorites are there, but they haven't performed as well as they normally do. And then there's also like a list of players that again is always there for me that... will do well, but it's extended because of how well some of these people have performed in the past few weeks. So I don't know who the favorite is. Usually I have like, okay, I do have a gut feeling about who I think will win, which is the same person that I mentioned in my preview of the entire year, and I'll probably mention it again when I go through this, but I'm not like confident. I'm not even confident some of these players will go far, which is rare because I look at them, I'm like, okay, yeah, I'll see you at the quarterfinals. But it's been a bit touch and go for a few there. Anyway, so we'll start with top of the rankings and top of the seeds. We've got Sabalenka. She has had a, she hasn't had a great clay season. It hasn't been up to her standards. First of all, after Miami. She didn't play Stuttgart, which she normally plays. She's still trying to get that Porsche. I think she should give it up. But she usually plays it, but she had an injury with her shoulder, which is the same shoulder that in 2024 had issues. And it really, you could see it in her serving. Anyway, so not a great start to the clay. Then she couldn't defend her Madrid title. And then she lost like very early on ⁓ at the Rome Open. after she, yeah, the... It hasn't been great, the start to the clay season. for someone like Sabalenka, clay is, guess, clay is her least comfortable and I think the one she's least confident on surface between clay and grass. But I think grass, anyway. So with Sabalenka, clay is probably her least favorite surface or maybe the one she's ⁓ least comfortable and confident on. She has been successful on it of course but it's not hardcourt let's just say it's not hardcourt. So she's someone who really needs to have a good prep and warm up before going into the French Open and that hasn't happened this year. So I don't really know like I'm Yeah, I'm a bit confused about what we're gonna see at the French Open. I don't doubt her because of how she's performed in Grand Slam for the past three years, but it's a bit... Yeah, we'll see. like to note, in those matches against that she lost to Baptiste and Cirstea she had chances. Like against Baptiste, she had seven match points, and then against Cirstea she broke back when Castella was serving for the match. but something seems a bit off with her serve. It's not as effective. And obviously this will not be as effective. It's not as effective on clay, but it's an issue that needs to be sorted out because you need to be winning games on your serve easily. And that wasn't happening. So not usual about Ms. Sabalanka. then next I've got, Eega. And for me Eega on clay is never a doubt and she's always a favorite especially at Ra'Lan. Especially at Roland Garros. She's always like top, top two, top three favorite Roland Garros despite her form anywhere else. So if she wins I won't be surprised. but and going into this she played not great in Madrid but that's because she was sick and then she played relatively well in Rome until she played Svetelina. And in that match, she just seemed uncomfortable, especially considering she didn't bulldoze or walk over Svetelina. And whenever she gets like back into a corner, she starts ball bashing. And then that's when, in my opinion, it all falls apart. So I think if she gets a comfortable draw, there's no, like I wouldn't be surprised if we see Iga in the final at all. And then moving on, I guess I'm just going by ranking. We've got Elena Rybakina I don't have a lot to say on Elena Like her losses in the past few weeks at the Rome. and at Madrid have looked like someone who like doesn't really care that much and has kind of given up. And I never like to accuse players of giving up. I just don't think I can find the right words to express it. So of course she hasn't given up, but the demeanor seems not fully there to put up a fight, but she also won in Stuttgart. So she plays well on clay, we know that, but I'm not too sure. I'm kind of excited to see. to see what will happen with Elina at French Open. Because she's gunning, since she won the Australian Open, she's gunning for a calendar slam. So who knows? ⁓ And then I already mentioned Coco. She had a good run in Rome, which confidence is good going into Roland Garros. And even Coco, she said she has like a love-hate relationship with Clay. She... plays really well on it and that's where some of her best results have been. But it's still sometimes it's a struggle to like warm up to it. But I think she'll be fine. I think she'll make second week easily. I would be very surprised if she didn't. But I... do think she needs to be winning matches in a bit of a more, like an easier fashion instead of what she did in Rome where she was playing three sets all the time, unnecessary. And then at the start of my year, had Mirra, and then at the start of my predictions for the year, I had Mirra winning Roland Garros. And then I saw the way she crashed out, like, and how she lost at the Australian Open and then at Indian Wells. And I was like, okay, maybe that prediction was way off. And how she's performed honestly, it slams for the past year. But then coming into Klay, how I've seen her play, how I've seen, she's had her crash out moments, but also how I've seen her resolve and how she's put it back together. And I know she lost in Madrid to Kostyuk but Kostyuk was just on fire. I'm kind of feeling confident in my prediction again and when I the draw does change things sometimes but I'm backing her even when the draw comes I'm backing Mirra to take this one and And I think the reason I'm backing her to take this one is I've always thought her first slam will come on clay because clay is where she she was first introduced to us that's where she first stood out let's say to us so it would be I don't know a full circle full circle moment and with Mirra it seems that she would be more likely to win win a title or win a major if she has to play Iga Sabalenka-Rybakina back to back to back I'm not putting Coco there. That's a puzzle that she will need to solve one day. But she seems more likely yet to beat those players consecutively than she is to win the major playing back-to-back matches against people she's favorites against. Because I don't know, that's what's happened in the past year. When she's a favorite against someone going to the fourth round quarterfinals, just something switches off. So... Yeah, I don't know. I've got big hopes and high expectations for this, this tournament because it's time to buckle down. It's time to buckle down for Mirra in my opinion. And then there's that big pool of players I was talking about that have put themselves in the conversation and excuse me, that have put themselves. And then there's that big pool of players that I mentioned before that have put themselves in the conversation for Roland Garros. And some of it is based on past performances and some of it. and a lot of it actually is based on their most recent performances. So we've got the Muchova who's been in a final before and plays well on clay. We've got Svitolina, plays well on clay. Just won Rome is looking lethal. And then we've got Kostyuk who is like playing super, super well and is on a, how many, I don't know, like a 10 match winning streak, something like that. And then speaking about Kostya, I am so proud and happy to see that the form that she started the year with at the Brisbane International and then she got injured at the Australian Open. I'm so happy to see that that form has come back and she's maintaining it after coming back from that injury. ⁓ Yeah, it's like I I hate when a player is playing really really well and making great progress and then they get injured or something like that. So in this case she has come back from the injury and is playing at that same level. Then we've got some other players. What did I write down? ⁓ then I've got like Potipova, Cirstea Nosková. Obviously you'd be surprised if they won but you know don't count them out. Don't count anyone out. Yeah and then there are also some players that I don't think they have a chance at all. Like there's Jess, like Jess on the the clay she's good but she's not she's not Jess you know Jess on hardcourt so I don't that's Jessica Pegula by the way. So I don't think so. And there's just some other players. I'm like, ⁓ I'm not too sure. But when I do my in-depth French Open preview, which French Open's in a week, so that's coming very soon, then I think I'll really talk about that when I look at the draw as it, and then when I look at the draw and everything, that's when it can really be, I guess, predictable. I don't know, what am I trying to say? Anyway, that was all for this episode. Thank you so much for listening or watching and catching up with me. I do appreciate your support on everything on Instagram, Spotify. Apple Podcasts, whatever you listen to on. Thank you for your support. And please leave a review and five stars and follow my Instagram, which is EWWT Podcast. And then also subscribe to the YouTube channel, which is Everyone Watches Women's Tennis. Thank you guys for watching and have a lovely day. Bye.