Day 1 part 1

:00:33. > :00:41.Good afternoon. We are here in the heart of West London, at the Queen's

:00:42. > :00:44.club. A wonderful sporting venue which hosts the prestigious

:00:45. > :00:48.tournament with a proud history. It is seen as the perfect start tore

:00:49. > :00:52.the main course, Wimbledon, which is now just two weeks away. With 25 of

:00:53. > :00:55.the last 27 Wimbledon champions having played here, you can

:00:56. > :00:58.understand why. This year's field at the AEGON

:00:59. > :01:04.Championships is one of the strongest ever. The stars are out

:01:05. > :01:08.this week, as they aim to lift this fabulous, famous trophy.

:01:09. > :01:20.# Good times # Oh,

:01:21. > :02:32.What a line up. We should be enjoying some terrific tennis here

:02:33. > :02:37.this afternoon. After all it is the middle of June. Summer is here. It

:02:38. > :02:42.should be. Sadly, we've had rain and more is forecast throughout the day.

:02:43. > :02:46.No play here until at least 1. 30pm. This is such a popular tournament

:02:47. > :02:52.for the spectators and players. It has grown and grown. There's more

:02:53. > :02:59.prize money, more strength and debt. We have four past champions and

:03:00. > :03:03.Grand Slam champions in the draws. Half an hour until the first players

:03:04. > :03:09.step on to court. This is what we can look forward to. First on court

:03:10. > :03:14.will be Richard Gasquet, the number four seed, who was Wimbledon

:03:15. > :03:17.semi-finalist last year, up against Steve Johnson.

:03:18. > :03:23.Daniel Evans against Paul-Henry Mathieu, the experienced French man.

:03:24. > :03:26.Grigor Dimitrov against Janko Tipsarevic and Marin Cilic, another

:03:27. > :03:29.former champion up against Feliciano Lopez. They may have a bit of a wait

:03:30. > :03:37.for that fourth match. We said there'll be a few showers,

:03:38. > :03:43.but we have plenty to talk about. Two people who love to give their

:03:44. > :03:49.views, Andrew and John. We can talk about Sharapova's drug ban and the

:03:50. > :03:56.new star of the women's game and the news we heard a day or so ago about

:03:57. > :03:59.Lendl joining Andy Murray. That was a surprise. Andy spoke to ourry

:04:00. > :04:06.yesterday. You don't half keep a good secret,

:04:07. > :04:13.don't you? It came about quick, to be honest after the French, you

:04:14. > :04:22.know, the last few months, obviously since then I have been winning a lot

:04:23. > :04:27.of matches. My team is very strong. Jamie, who I started to work with

:04:28. > :04:31.this year, we have been getting on great and it came up after the

:04:32. > :04:36.French and everything has happened very, very quickly. I didn't have to

:04:37. > :04:42.keep it a secret for long. You have to tell me what he said on the

:04:43. > :04:54.telephone. He is a tough negotiator. Did he hit you hard? We have spoken

:04:55. > :04:59.a lot over the past couple of years. And we spoke on the phone, in the

:05:00. > :05:03.evening and he spoke to my team A couple of my team who have been

:05:04. > :05:07.there the whole time and who he has worked with before, just to gauge

:05:08. > :05:12.where I was at, what my motivation was like and how I had been training

:05:13. > :05:18.and stuff. We spoke on the phone for 40 minutes or so. We said great, let

:05:19. > :05:23.me sleep on it and he messaged me yesterday and said, let's do it. How

:05:24. > :05:30.long do you anticipate this for? Is there a set time? Is it inofate and

:05:31. > :05:34.carry on? I would -- indefinite and carry on? I would like for it to go

:05:35. > :05:38.on as long as possible. The most important thing first is with the

:05:39. > :05:44.rest of my team when we get together here that everyone gets on. You

:05:45. > :05:55.know, that him and Jamie are seeing things the same way. Take it from

:05:56. > :05:58.there. The plan is obviously to have the strongest team I can to help me

:05:59. > :06:03.achieve my goals. He can help with that, I am sure. I have got to say,

:06:04. > :06:09.this is great news. It is what everyone was talking about. He was

:06:10. > :06:14.so successful under Lendl before. When you look back and when Andy

:06:15. > :06:18.beat Djokovic, what has happened since then, Andy has played very

:06:19. > :06:22.well, but Djokovic has had an amazing rise. What has been the

:06:23. > :06:27.difference? Is he working harder than Andy? I don't think so. Has he

:06:28. > :06:33.changed his game? Maybe he's got a bit aggressive, but so has Andy. Is

:06:34. > :06:37.Lendl the missing ingredient? There was a difference with Andy when he

:06:38. > :06:41.had him. His concentration was better, his mind was not wandering

:06:42. > :06:45.in the matches like it does when he's had other coaches. For me, I

:06:46. > :06:49.have been waiting for this. This could be the missing ingredient. He

:06:50. > :06:54.has to beat Djokovic. It comes down to there are lots of other good

:06:55. > :06:59.players, let's face it Andy has not figured Djokovic out. No-one has.

:07:00. > :07:04.Lendl back in his camp - it is a great signing and at the right time

:07:05. > :07:08.of the year to do it. And the strength of Lendl, Murray has huge

:07:09. > :07:12.respect for him as a player and a champion. You need someone in your

:07:13. > :07:16.corner who has done that and been there and gives you that extra edge

:07:17. > :07:20.It is sensible authority that he brings. The first two matches at the

:07:21. > :07:26.French Open when Andy, he ended up making the final. He's incredibly

:07:27. > :07:32.high-level performer. I don't think there's a more eminent British

:07:33. > :07:36.sports person right now. He looks up and there sees Lendl raising an

:07:37. > :07:40.eyebrow. He will not mess about so much like he did against Bjorn, in

:07:41. > :07:44.the French Open. He went five sets in his first two matches. That is

:07:45. > :07:49.unlikely to have happened. I am not saying that right at the end of the

:07:50. > :07:54.tournament that made any difference. These sort of lapses, if Lendl sees

:07:55. > :07:58.that he will say to Andy why it happened and why it must not again.

:07:59. > :08:04.In that way, there is respect, authority. There is gravitas from

:08:05. > :08:09.Lendl. It is fantastic. It is brave of Andy to do that again. Once

:08:10. > :08:14.something is over, to reignite it is a positive move. I was amazed

:08:15. > :08:19.yesterday, also to be with Andy at the moment, arriving in a wet car

:08:20. > :08:24.park this morning as well - very relaxed. New dad, playing great.

:08:25. > :08:29.Only one thing is on his mind and agree with John Lloyd, Djokovic. It

:08:30. > :08:34.is on everybody's mind. Rafa has got this - the wrist problem. Federer

:08:35. > :08:39.has got a bad back. There's no-one else in their class. Even Wawrinka,

:08:40. > :08:47.I don't see him in the same class as those two guys. It will be

:08:48. > :08:54.fascinating. We could have Lendl verses McEnroe.

:08:55. > :09:04.A great appointment. Mac is here. He's here at Queen's. You don't want

:09:05. > :09:06.to miss diswhat has been brought to Andy's game. If you look at the

:09:07. > :09:20.record - it is the Again that is Djokovic. Let's not

:09:21. > :09:24.take anything away from Mauresmo. She has added to his game and made

:09:25. > :09:28.him come forward more. It was a successful relationship to a certain

:09:29. > :09:33.extent obviously. But the thing about with these top player t great

:09:34. > :09:36.players, that I have a thirst for Grand Slam titles. It drives them.

:09:37. > :09:47.Yes, these are all very important tournaments. Other ones mean a lot.

:09:48. > :09:50.Under Lendl he won two. There is something missing. They are looking

:09:51. > :09:58.for an edge these top players. Look at the coaches. Stanislas Wawrinka -

:09:59. > :10:04.they are looking for an edge and Lendl can bring that.

:10:05. > :10:07.Jamie brought a lot to Murray's game in the fact that having lost to

:10:08. > :10:10.dodge and then beating him in Rome, changed up the service, the way he

:10:11. > :10:14.was serving, serving more to the Djokovic forehand. In the first set

:10:15. > :10:18.of that handle Murray served really well and dominated Djokovic. It was

:10:19. > :10:21.only when the serve went off that Djokovic took control. When you are

:10:22. > :10:26.serving to Djokovic, you know you have to hit the lines. You have know

:10:27. > :10:31.you have to hit the boxes. You know you have to have the exact patterns

:10:32. > :10:35.otherwise he will munch you up. What a great honour. I said to him

:10:36. > :10:39.yesterday, congratulations. He's taken his man to the French Open

:10:40. > :10:43.final. What this comes down to is not the coaches, it is the player

:10:44. > :10:46.and the willingness to change. Murray could have taken it at any

:10:47. > :10:52.time in his career the easy way out. For the first time he didn't expect

:10:53. > :10:58.to get top 100 and be a professional forever. Then top 100, then top 50,

:10:59. > :11:03.then top 10. He could have said stop at any time, I am satisfied. Even at

:11:04. > :11:08.29 and with these wonderful changes in his life - becoming a dad and all

:11:09. > :11:12.that stuff and the rewards of the Davis Cup and French Open, he wants

:11:13. > :11:16.more. I love that. That is superb. It is such a positive move. It comes

:11:17. > :11:21.from the player himself. He wants it. That is the biggest message this

:11:22. > :11:27.sends out. Let's salute what Murray has done - OK two Grand Slam titles.

:11:28. > :11:31.It is wonderful. He's been in ten Grand Slam finals. That is immense.

:11:32. > :11:36.It is staggering. He's a great, great player. Particularly in this

:11:37. > :11:40.era when you think about Federer, Djokovic and Nadal. Exactly. Look

:11:41. > :11:47.who he has come up against. It is phenomenal. Andy, his thirst remains

:11:48. > :11:52.high. He has three, four good years, they may be peak years, perhaps.

:11:53. > :11:56.With hiring Lendl Grand Slams are what drives him. Winning all these

:11:57. > :12:00.finals and ranking number two. He wants to be number one in the world.

:12:01. > :12:05.He wants to win more Grand Slams. That is what drives him. That is why

:12:06. > :12:10.they wake up to train an extra three hours. He has appointed someone to

:12:11. > :12:14.do that. It is the mental side which may be the difference between him

:12:15. > :12:17.and Djokovic. He has found a winning formula against Djokovic. He did

:12:18. > :12:21.knit Rome and in that first set. It is doing it over five sets. That is

:12:22. > :12:27.the problem. Djokovic doesn't have those dips. And Murray and I think

:12:28. > :12:31.what you alluded to, Andy in the first two rounds at the French,

:12:32. > :12:35.sometimes when he plays the long matches where he goes off mentally a

:12:36. > :12:39.little bit. When you come up in the finals against Djokovic, you have to

:12:40. > :12:44.have plenty in the tank. Sometimes he loses it with the early rounds

:12:45. > :12:48.when he goes off a little bit. Lendl will cut that out. When you play

:12:49. > :12:53.Djokovic you have to be 100%. Not one thing can be below 100%. He

:12:54. > :12:57.keeps that focus for five or six hours, however much it S Andy, at

:12:58. > :13:01.times, some sets he has beaten Djokovic and you say, why can't he

:13:02. > :13:06.keep it up? Well you try and do it for five hours. That is the

:13:07. > :13:09.difference! And you know it is such a physical battle against Djokovic.

:13:10. > :13:13.This is going to be a bit of a physical and mental battle here,

:13:14. > :13:17.isn't it? It will be showery for the next few days. That is not easy for

:13:18. > :13:21.the players. You have to be in right mind set. Totally. They are here

:13:22. > :13:26.because it is a great tournament. It stands alone. We alluded to

:13:27. > :13:30.Wimbledon in two weeks. The players want to win this as well. There are

:13:31. > :13:33.not many arenas with the big clubhouse and the big open stand and

:13:34. > :13:37.that sense of occasion playing in London brings. They want to play

:13:38. > :13:41.here. I get nervous the first two or three days at Queen's watching the

:13:42. > :13:45.players move. They are playing on surfaces where they put the foot

:13:46. > :13:49.down. On clay they know how to control the slide. This surface, the

:13:50. > :13:55.first two or three days, a lot of juice in the top surface. Very, very

:13:56. > :13:58.hard underneath as well. Just, please, you know, caution the way

:13:59. > :14:04.you move. It is hard enough getting up to the studio, let alone chasing

:14:05. > :14:07.behind the baseline here on the outside edges of the court. I hope

:14:08. > :14:09.when they get out they are careful. Talking of Murray, the defending

:14:10. > :14:23.champion, not an easy opening. He won the tournament this week. He

:14:24. > :14:28.is coming here with amazing confidence. He is number one in

:14:29. > :14:35.double or has he lost that ranking? I think Andy told me he lost it back

:14:36. > :14:38.to Jamie. Mahut is a dangerous player. Look at how solid that draw

:14:39. > :14:49.is. Daniel Evans, are you kidding me?

:14:50. > :14:53.Daniel Evans! Dimitrov, an interesting one. Two years ago the

:14:54. > :14:58.champion. Now losing first round at the French. Can he refind his form.

:14:59. > :15:00.That is the top half and this is the bottom half.

:15:01. > :15:08.Wawrinka - it is unbelievable against Verdasco. I mean talk about

:15:09. > :15:19.tough openers. Qualifying is not over yet. 15 foot between them...

:15:20. > :15:24.Isn't it lovely to have him back? With Cilic and Mratin's as well,

:15:25. > :15:25.there are few who have the Grand Slams. They have made themselves

:15:26. > :15:41.part of this wonderful rather. That's a dangerous first round.

:15:42. > :15:44.Johnny must be thinking, I would have liked a little bit easier first

:15:45. > :15:48.round for the person I'm working with to sort of get his feet on the

:15:49. > :15:54.grass going. That's a tough first round. Matt has been a big fan of

:15:55. > :15:58.Raonic, though, in the serve, particularly this serve. He's here

:15:59. > :16:03.for the grass court season and he says he can help Raonic. He says

:16:04. > :16:07.he's one of the six that can win Wimbledon. We will see. It's moving

:16:08. > :16:12.along. They're hoping to get play under way in 15 minutes. I turned

:16:13. > :16:17.around to have a look at the clock and sadly behind it is a big, black

:16:18. > :16:20.cloud. Let's hoping it's moving in a totally different direction than

:16:21. > :16:24.coming here. A lot of activity on Centre Court. Hopefully, we'll get

:16:25. > :16:28.play under way in just a moment. First on court is Richard Gasquet

:16:29. > :16:32.against Steve Johnson. That is what we're looking forward to. So about

:16:33. > :16:36.another 15 minutes. Now we're going to talk a little bit about

:16:37. > :16:41.Sharapova, who was given a two-year drugs ban. A little bit about the

:16:42. > :16:45.story of her - she burst on to the scene as a 17-year-old winning

:16:46. > :16:50.Wimbledon, and then a year later her father took her to Moscow to see a

:16:51. > :16:53.doctor where he prescribed 30 different medications and

:16:54. > :17:00.supplements for her to take. She stopped working with the doctor in

:17:01. > :17:03.2012 but carried on taking three of them including Meldonium that was

:17:04. > :17:07.banneded from the beginning of the year. She's going to go to appeal,

:17:08. > :17:13.but she has been give and two-year ban. This is the story so far. Start

:17:14. > :17:18.with the news that Maria Sharapova has been banned from tennis for two

:17:19. > :17:23.years after testing positive for the banned drug. I did fail the test,

:17:24. > :17:28.and I take full responsibility for it. Some people thought it was going

:17:29. > :17:33.to be less than that. But I think that's - you know, that's about

:17:34. > :17:39.right. I mean, you know, I spoke a lot about it in March. I talked a

:17:40. > :17:44.lot about it, you know, in sport, if you are taking performance-enhancing

:17:45. > :17:49.drugs, you deserve to be punished and suspended. It's then up to the

:17:50. > :17:54.governing bodies and the courts and the lawyers to, you know, to work

:17:55. > :17:59.out how long that suspension is. It's not for me to decide that. I

:18:00. > :18:03.was obviously very surprised. That was my first, you know, my first

:18:04. > :18:08.feeling. I sort of couldn't believe it. At the same time, I feel as if

:18:09. > :18:13.I'm the type of guy that, you know, I don't really like having, you

:18:14. > :18:16.know, I think drugs and doping in sport is not acceptable, and I stand

:18:17. > :18:21.very clear on it, but at the same time I was just really surprised.

:18:22. > :18:25.You know, it's not my job to decide how long she gets or when she comes

:18:26. > :18:29.back, so yeah... I am not really informed on the case. I don't know

:18:30. > :18:35.any details, but the only thing I know is she has a great head on her

:18:36. > :18:40.shoulders. She - I'm sure she handles the situation the best way

:18:41. > :18:44.you can. It's not easy for an athlete to be away for so long. The

:18:45. > :18:49.only thing I can do is wish her all the best. For Marieia, she was at

:18:50. > :18:54.the top of the game, and you know, I don't know the details of her case.

:18:55. > :18:58.I don't know what is going on, and I'm just really hoping for her that

:18:59. > :19:01.she's going to be able to bounce back from that and to get back to

:19:02. > :19:06.tennis as soon as possible. You know, I think it's fair, and you

:19:07. > :19:10.know, if you want to keep as clean a sport as possible, you know, when

:19:11. > :19:16.people do violate and break the rules, they - you know, they need to

:19:17. > :19:20.be punished. It's very difficult. It's a big story, this, and it's a

:19:21. > :19:25.difficult story to understand because this drug was not banned

:19:26. > :19:30.until January the 1st this year, and she just claimed she didn't realise

:19:31. > :19:34.it, and yet they are saying - she was saying she was sent an e-mail,

:19:35. > :19:38.but it was her agent that was supposed to be telling her what was

:19:39. > :19:41.banned and he hadn't checked. She's saying it was unintentional, but the

:19:42. > :19:46.bottom line is are you responsible for what you put in your own body?

:19:47. > :19:51.That is absolutely the bottom line. The integrity of the sport is

:19:52. > :19:54.everything here. Did she have a performance-enhancing drug in her

:19:55. > :19:58.system? She did. How it got there is secondary. I'm sorry. If it's

:19:59. > :20:03.intentional or unintentional is immaterial. What we're watching is a

:20:04. > :20:07.sport on TV. The 7,000 people have all paid Dom in, no matter what

:20:08. > :20:11.sport it is, you have people sitting at home. They need to know what

:20:12. > :20:14.they're watching is clean. Otherwise, we won't have any of this

:20:15. > :20:17.and just have a drug-fuelled tournament and have a tournament

:20:18. > :20:23.where nobody is on drugs. In fact, let's do that at the Olympics. You

:20:24. > :20:28.want to see someone run 300 metres in eight seconds then die? It's in

:20:29. > :20:33.your system. Whether it got there intentionally or not has nothing to

:20:34. > :20:37.do with it. Don't tell me somebody worth 20-30 million a year in

:20:38. > :20:43.commercial endorsements a year alone plus prize money, don't tell me you

:20:44. > :20:48.had no oversight on that. Your team had no oversight? Max Eisenberg from

:20:49. > :20:52.IMG representing her, the team around - there has been some very,

:20:53. > :20:55.very big mistakes made, but now I'm afraid you have to pay the price

:20:56. > :21:00.because we need know what we're watching is clean. The only way she

:21:01. > :21:04.can appeal is on the harshness of the sentence. I understand the ITF

:21:05. > :21:08.were pushing for a four-year ban which would have ended her career.

:21:09. > :21:12.She can come back now in January unless the Court of Arbitration for

:21:13. > :21:17.Sport lessen it, in which case she'd come back quicker, but as it stands,

:21:18. > :21:22.it will be January 2018 when she can return. There will still be some

:21:23. > :21:27.tennis her system if she wants it, but the point is and Andy Murray has

:21:28. > :21:31.been superb on this a well - very strong and happy to come out and say

:21:32. > :21:36.it needs to be clean. What medical purpose could you have for using

:21:37. > :21:40.that? Do you believe that or not? I am allowing a little crack of light.

:21:41. > :21:44.We can debate it. Take a close look at what that drug and what it does

:21:45. > :21:48.for you and ask yourself whether you want to be taking that for ten years

:21:49. > :21:52.and whether you should have been. I don't believe it and I am glad she

:21:53. > :21:57.got the ban. It's a sad story, but you have to pay the price. She

:21:58. > :21:59.admitted taking it five times at the Australian Open, six times during

:22:00. > :22:02.Wimbledon last year. It's interesting, when you have a drugs

:22:03. > :22:07.test you have to fill in a drugs form. She hadn't told her team. The

:22:08. > :22:12.only people who knew she was taking it was herself, her manager, her

:22:13. > :22:17.agent and her father, so not her doctor or nutritionist or physio. On

:22:18. > :22:23.the players' form, she has to fill out a form and say what she's taking

:22:24. > :22:26.and sign it. Never once - and she was tested many times in the last

:22:27. > :22:30.two years has she mentioned this drug. She is claiming she only put

:22:31. > :22:33.down the medication she takes on a daily basis. There is a lot of

:22:34. > :22:38.suspicious stuff there with a lot of the quotes she said. She said in the

:22:39. > :22:41.interview she takings full responsibility for her actions.

:22:42. > :22:43.Correct, you have to do that Andy Murray said the same thing. If

:22:44. > :22:46.you're caught doing that and something happens, you have to take

:22:47. > :22:51.full responsibility. The ban is correct. It sends a message out as

:22:52. > :22:55.well, by the way, that when the drug authorities come after a superstar

:22:56. > :22:59.like this and don't try to push it away, it sends a message out to

:23:00. > :23:02.everybody else. I agree totally - Andy said you have to have the

:23:03. > :23:05.reputation of a clean sport. I believe tennis is by and large, and

:23:06. > :23:10.when something happens like this, you have to go for it and the full

:23:11. > :23:13.penalty has to happen. Let's get further reaction to this story with

:23:14. > :23:16.John. With me on the balcony overlooking

:23:17. > :23:19.the court, which is clean and looking like we're going to have

:23:20. > :23:22.players on it very, very shortly, Barry and Mike, two of the most

:23:23. > :23:25.esteemed members of the press room who have been writing about this

:23:26. > :23:29.Sharapovaication for the last few months. How much is this a benchmark

:23:30. > :23:34.for how seriously the tennis authorities are taking what is

:23:35. > :23:39.perceived to be perhaps a drugs problem within the sport? I think

:23:40. > :23:42.it's a very firm benchmark. They see there are two major problems to

:23:43. > :23:46.tennis at the moment. The drug threat and the gambling threat, and

:23:47. > :23:55.this is a massive line being drawn in the sand on how far the - they're

:23:56. > :23:59.prepared to go. Maria Sharapova is arguably the biggest name in women's

:24:00. > :24:03.tennis and that they have not been afraid in banning her because they

:24:04. > :24:07.want to make a stance. There are a lot of financial imperatives here,

:24:08. > :24:11.of course, and the women's game would love to have her back because

:24:12. > :24:15.they need the Sharapova-Williams rivalry, everything like that how

:24:16. > :24:18.much do you - is there the cynicism in the journalistic brain of yours

:24:19. > :24:22.that says, it's two years, but actually on appeal they'll knock it

:24:23. > :24:26.down to one? I would think - I mean, the maximum term is four years. She

:24:27. > :24:30.actually got two years. Given the fact that we know that the drug was

:24:31. > :24:33.in her system and she hasn't denied that I don't really see how much

:24:34. > :24:38.further they can actually knock it down. I was speaking to someone who

:24:39. > :24:42.knows a bit more about this - the person who has been involved in the

:24:43. > :24:45.appeals process. His view was it actually couldn't go down a great

:24:46. > :24:49.deal further, further to what Barry said. I think tennis has actually

:24:50. > :24:52.come out of this reasonably well because the rap on tennis has been

:24:53. > :24:58.to sort of sweep it under the carpet a bit like we have seen in golf on a

:24:59. > :25:03.few occasions. They have caught a very big fish and someone who as you

:25:04. > :25:07.say her absence from the tour is pretty damaging to the game let

:25:08. > :25:10.alone herself. We're having the players out in a couple of moments'

:25:11. > :25:14.time axe slight delay for whatever reason. In terms of the line in the

:25:15. > :25:20.sand having been drawn, though, how much do you think bagging a fish as

:25:21. > :25:25.large as Sharapova really is - a lot of people in the locking room are

:25:26. > :25:28.going to be saying, whatever I was tempted to take, don't even think

:25:29. > :25:32.about it? Absolutely. That is the message that has been given out very

:25:33. > :25:39.firmly. They all got tested at the Australian Open, so it just goes to

:25:40. > :25:42.show that Sharapova was the only one taking Mel dofics nium playing at

:25:43. > :25:48.the Australian Open, but the message is very, very plain in glaring, big

:25:49. > :25:53.letters - don't do it. Do you think across the board that tennis now,

:25:54. > :25:57.having made this stand, if you like, that the sporting public at large an

:25:58. > :26:01.are going to view the sport differently? Andrew Castle was

:26:02. > :26:07.saying a few moments ago we have to believe what we see on the court.

:26:08. > :26:10.How much of it is that the tennis is prepared to confront whatever the

:26:11. > :26:15.issues may be? It's a fair statement. Tennis is a rich sport.

:26:16. > :26:18.There are some wealthy athletes that are rightly well rewarded. I still

:26:19. > :26:22.feel they could put more resources into it. Whether you read - the

:26:23. > :26:24.Grand Slams - for example, we just had the French Open. It was 32

:26:25. > :26:31.million euros, the prize money there. Wimbledon, it escapes me but

:26:32. > :26:37.it's even more than that. The sort of reasonably accurate guesstimate

:26:38. > :26:42.is they're putting about ?3 million, if that, per year into drug testing.

:26:43. > :26:46.I'd like to see that grow a little bit, because, you know, Andrew is

:26:47. > :26:50.right. You have got to believe in what you're seeing on the court is

:26:51. > :26:53.clean. If I was a player - really we mustn't forget this is about

:26:54. > :26:57.protecting clean players as much as anything. If I was a player I would

:26:58. > :27:01.be thinking, well, if I have to forgo a fraction of my prize money

:27:02. > :27:05.to ensure that the person competing against me was doing it on a level

:27:06. > :27:11.playing field that it seems to me like a decent bargain. Good stuff.

:27:12. > :27:15.Thank you very much to you. And a quick word to Steven Pharaoh, the

:27:16. > :27:19.tournament director who is here. Obviously, a frustrating start, but

:27:20. > :27:22.semi-blue skies now. How are you feeling about the prospects of the

:27:23. > :27:26.week ahead? I am feeling great. It's the first day of the Queens. It's

:27:27. > :27:30.the best day of the year. We're very excited. Obviously, there ab may be

:27:31. > :27:34.a few frustrated with the weather certainly earlier in the week, but

:27:35. > :27:38.we're going to get the tennis under way shortly. We're positive.

:27:39. > :27:42.Contingency plans. We have a whole week, John, so at the minute

:27:43. > :27:47.everything will go ahead as planned. We're optimistic. Good stuff. We

:27:48. > :27:51.share your optimism. Thank you very much. Back to you.

:27:52. > :27:54.Thank you, John. Just as we hear, the players are making their way on

:27:55. > :27:58.to court. That is good news. I am not sure what blue skies John was

:27:59. > :28:03.looking at. It's very dark and grey from our vantage point in the

:28:04. > :28:06.studio, but great news for the spectators the players are on court,

:28:07. > :28:13.Richard Gasquet against Steve Johnson. That's what we're looking

:28:14. > :28:15.forward to, and Richard Gasquet, Wimbledon semifinalist last year,

:28:16. > :28:20.quarter-finalist he was at the French Open and always a very, very

:28:21. > :28:24.tough, experienced player up against Steve Johnson. He's always

:28:25. > :28:28.dangerous, can be dangerous. He's making his debut here, has big

:28:29. > :28:32.serve. Let's hope we get plenty of play. There will be a short pause

:28:33. > :28:36.before they get play under way here because the tournament organisers

:28:37. > :28:41.have decided there will be a minute's silence to remember those

:28:42. > :28:45.who lost their lives in the horrific shooting in Orlando, Florida two

:28:46. > :28:50.days ago, so we're going to pause here and I'll hand over to the

:28:51. > :28:55.tournament announcer. Ladies and gentlemen, before we start play for

:28:56. > :29:00.the day, could we please ask you to stand and observe a minute's silence

:29:01. > :29:01.for the victims of yesterday's shootings in Orlando? Thank you,

:29:02. > :30:24.ladies and gentlemen. Everybody here remembering the sad

:30:25. > :30:27.loss of life in Orlando, Florida. At the championship, the first day and

:30:28. > :30:32.Gasquet against Johnson is our starter. Then it is Daniel Evans,

:30:33. > :30:36.who comes in as a wildcard against Paul-Henry Mathieu. We have two

:30:37. > :30:41.former champions here. Dimitrov against Janko Tipsarevic, and Marin

:30:42. > :30:44.Cilic will face Feliciano Lopez. Plenty of dark skies around I have a

:30:45. > :30:51.feeling it will be one of those days, a little bit of on/off tennis.

:30:52. > :30:59.You wanted one more comment about Maria Sharapova. Just reacting to

:31:00. > :31:02.what John, Barry and Mike said and the order of play - there are two

:31:03. > :31:06.people under different circumstances who have suffered drug bans with

:31:07. > :31:10.different outcomes in the end and whether or not tennis is doing

:31:11. > :31:13.enough. It is not just down to tennis, you know? I am concerned

:31:14. > :31:17.that sponsors are staying with people who are doping.

:31:18. > :31:20.You know, and some of the sponsors staying with Maria Sharapova and

:31:21. > :31:23.some of the reasons they are giving about their partnership going

:31:24. > :31:28.forward I find it unbelievable. It is all very well saying tennis

:31:29. > :31:34.should put more money towards drug testing and that is right. The

:31:35. > :31:38.athlete's biological passport is superb, taking drug readings over

:31:39. > :31:44.time - that is good. Sponsors ought to pay for some of this as well.

:31:45. > :31:47.They are benefit from the athletic performance and the endorsements

:31:48. > :31:51.they have with these people. Do you want to work with clean or doping

:31:52. > :31:55.athletes? I don't like it. I will not bother naming any of them. I

:31:56. > :31:58.will not name but one of the sponsors said she's a wonderful role

:31:59. > :32:03.model. This is what they are saying after they have give p her a

:32:04. > :32:08.two-year ban and she's admitted taking it. This is a drug,

:32:09. > :32:13.meldonium, let's face it, it improves your met tabbism and

:32:14. > :32:25.stamina. It is performance enhancing. Through enhanced blood

:32:26. > :32:32.flow. Justin Gatland is a role model as well, is he? We were wishing for

:32:33. > :32:37.a victory for Bolt because we all know that Justin had been done twice

:32:38. > :32:42.for doping. Look, I support clean athletes. What is the answer then?

:32:43. > :32:50.The athlete's biological passport is great. A lot more out of competition

:32:51. > :32:54.testing. There has to be discipline. Andy has done great and a number

:32:55. > :32:57.have done great by saying, this is the way it has to be. They have to

:32:58. > :33:04.lead and the authorities have to follow. In ten years' time f we

:33:05. > :33:08.allow people to escape, or if there is cover-up anywhere, talking about

:33:09. > :33:12.the golf and all the rest of it, the integrity of the sport is

:33:13. > :33:15.everything. We don't already believe politicians very much. People are

:33:16. > :33:17.going to church less and less. You have to believe in what you are

:33:18. > :33:25.watching. I read that Wimbledon will have a

:33:26. > :33:28.committee meeting to see whether she may be stripped of the membership,

:33:29. > :33:33.which she got an honorary membership for the tournament. Wimbledon are

:33:34. > :33:38.really cracking down on the drugs issue. There'll be more blood and

:33:39. > :33:46.urine testing than any year before. You would expect them to protect

:33:47. > :33:52.their brand, to protect the integrity of the brand. It has to

:33:53. > :33:56.take place on the ATP. When somebody rocks up at 7am and knocks on the

:33:57. > :34:00.door of where you said you will be and you are not there r and if you

:34:01. > :34:05.do it three times, you are done. . It is considered a positive. I will

:34:06. > :34:08.not take accusations from people outside the sport that tennis is not

:34:09. > :34:11.at least aware of this problem and actively moving in the right

:34:12. > :34:16.direction. The biological passport is the big deal and the blood

:34:17. > :34:20.readings. Tennis has to be vigilant, otherwise we are not sitting here

:34:21. > :34:25.enjoying the game knowing what we are seeing is true and honest. At

:34:26. > :34:28.the moment we are seeing Richard Gasquet against Steve Johnson. We

:34:29. > :34:34.know a lot about Gasquet. We have seen him over the years. He is a

:34:35. > :34:39.wonderful player on all surfaces. He loves the grass. I would like to

:34:40. > :34:43.know more about Steve Johnson. What do you know about Steve? He's a

:34:44. > :34:50.very, very good player. Very workman liek. He's done his -- workman-like.

:34:51. > :34:55.He's done through the college system. Solid. Not very easy for

:34:56. > :35:01.Richard Gasquet to play in the first round. Looking quickly back at

:35:02. > :35:03.Richard Gasquet, who has got that beautiful one-handed backhand, it is

:35:04. > :35:09.interesting to watch him at the French Open and how well he played

:35:10. > :35:13.there and he comes up against Murray and played a fantastic first set.

:35:14. > :35:16.Everybody on the tour, other than Djokovic, they cannot keep with Andy

:35:17. > :35:21.Murray because he's so good and makes you play so many balls and

:35:22. > :35:24.then Gasquet fell apart. That is the sort of standard, it is the

:35:25. > :35:28.benchmark that Murray and top players lay out there. Johnson is a

:35:29. > :35:32.good player. He will not be scared of Richard Gasquet. This is not an

:35:33. > :35:36.easy first round. He is dangerous, he has a serve, he has got some

:35:37. > :35:42.weapons and that. It is about consistency. For Steve? Completely.

:35:43. > :35:46.Indoors and on a grass court eventually he can be very effective.

:35:47. > :35:49.He's much bigger and stronger than what he looks like. When he takes

:35:50. > :35:54.his position up at the net we will see how well he moves on the grass.

:35:55. > :35:58.If he gets to the net in an effective position, he will be tough

:35:59. > :36:03.to get the ball past. Certainly a player you can imagine winning three

:36:04. > :36:09.or four rounds of Wimbledon. Because it is the ATP 500. These first round

:36:10. > :36:13.matches you don't ease your way in. It is one of many matches where you

:36:14. > :36:19.can imagine these conditions are a leveller and Johnson doesn't need

:36:20. > :36:23.much help either. She a good player. The conditions are cold, the court

:36:24. > :36:27.will be wet. It is slippery out there. You have to get your rhythm

:36:28. > :36:31.on the grass and that is really tricky. As I hear, there are a few

:36:32. > :36:34.spots of rain coming down. I don't know what we will be doing in a

:36:35. > :36:37.moment. Do these first matches on grass, they are very, very tricky,

:36:38. > :36:42.aren't they? They are so important. It is such a big event and you want

:36:43. > :36:47.some matches under your belt going into Wimbledon. It is a prestigious

:36:48. > :36:51.event. Everybody is cautious. You have a good week's weather like last

:36:52. > :36:54.week and all of a sudden the rain comes out and makes the court damp.

:36:55. > :36:59.You are always unsure about the first couple of days out here on the

:37:00. > :37:04.grass. I think Steve Johnson... He's had enough. The umbrellas are coming

:37:05. > :37:08.up. This is one surface you cannot mess about with. At the French Open

:37:09. > :37:13.they can get away with it on the clay. On grass you cannot play if it

:37:14. > :37:18.is at all wet. It is too dangerous, the surface. They video to get the

:37:19. > :37:21.covers on quick -- they have to get the covers on quickly. In France

:37:22. > :37:25.they know the rain helps the clay. That is not the case here and this

:37:26. > :37:29.will... I think we knew it would be one of these days. In fact, I think,

:37:30. > :37:33.the first three days are not going to be that good. Having looked at

:37:34. > :37:38.the forecast we are in for a number of showers. That will be tricky. A

:37:39. > :37:41.lot of the players are playing doubles and singles here. They want

:37:42. > :37:47.as much practise on the grass as possible and the matches will back

:37:48. > :37:51.up. They will be down at the National Tennis Centre hitting

:37:52. > :37:55.volleys and overhead because they will play indoors, stretching out

:37:56. > :37:59.and all that stuff. It takes a completely different mentality. To

:38:00. > :38:04.go from clay to grass is difficult enough, let alone clay to wet grass.

:38:05. > :38:07.Half an hour a day, the possibility. The movements are totally different

:38:08. > :38:16.on a grass court and the rallies are very, very different. Andy Murray

:38:17. > :38:21.told me actually that... This manage has to earn his money. The covers

:38:22. > :38:24.are going on. As you can see the umbrellas are going up around the

:38:25. > :38:28.stands here. Covers are going on. Players will go back to the locker

:38:29. > :38:33.room and we will carry on talking for a little bit. That is the way it

:38:34. > :38:38.will be for some time. As I said, the dark clouds are all the way

:38:39. > :38:40.around. We are going to see the ground staff getting another

:38:41. > :38:45.workout. They have been doing this all day long. The covers were on

:38:46. > :38:48.when I came here, they were on, off again. It will be very, very

:38:49. > :38:52.difficult. You feel for the spectators as well. It is such a

:38:53. > :38:56.wonderful tournament. They love to get a ticket here. The hospitality

:38:57. > :39:00.at the back is fantastic. There is plenty to eat and drink. Arriving

:39:01. > :39:06.through the car park and the back at the TV compound and you go from what

:39:07. > :39:10.TV compounds are, which are nasty places, full of metal and scanners

:39:11. > :39:15.and all the rest of it, straight from there into a champagne bar. I

:39:16. > :39:19.found a new door to arrive at. The indoor courts normally here there is

:39:20. > :39:24.a fantastic champagne bar. They have a place to go. I could have easily

:39:25. > :39:29.spent half an hour there. I would have just had a couple. It is

:39:30. > :39:33.difficult. He employs 25 staff here. Less obviously over the course of

:39:34. > :39:37.the year. The growing conditions this year for the grass were

:39:38. > :39:44.perfect. The rain they had in Paris helped the grass very much. He's

:39:45. > :39:49.having a laugh, Kimpton. Not now! This is made the play hazardous for

:39:50. > :39:52.the players over the first few days. It is worrying for all those

:39:53. > :39:56.watching, because a little slip here and an injury you don't have a big

:39:57. > :40:02.recovery time - Wimbledon is two weeks away. It is risky. There is a

:40:03. > :40:06.balance and I must say British spectators, I suppose because we are

:40:07. > :40:13.used to this, be but that I are a patient lot here. Patriotic. They

:40:14. > :40:17.want to see tennis, but they know their tennis, and they know grass is

:40:18. > :40:22.not a surface you can mess about with. The organisers want to help

:40:23. > :40:28.spectators, they want tennis out here. This is a surface you cannot

:40:29. > :40:33.mess about with. It is like landing on concrete as well. This court is

:40:34. > :40:40.the hardest courtvy ever fallen on myself. It is different from

:40:41. > :40:44.Wimbledon. A very different feel. Somebody said it was slow to me

:40:45. > :40:49.yesterday. I interviewed all the players. Really? In the old days...

:40:50. > :40:56.And higher bouncing. People would serve and it would end up around

:40:57. > :41:05.your throat. Mind you I played Fouget here. A difficult day for

:41:06. > :41:09.everything. We have talked about Ivan Lendl, who is back in Murray's

:41:10. > :41:14.corner. Let's talk more about the super coaches, because not everyone

:41:15. > :41:19.agrees with them. I listened to Jim and he said, what do they bring? Is

:41:20. > :41:24.that what he said? He's not a big fan. Maybe he has not been asked.

:41:25. > :41:34.Maybe he didn't get the invitation. He is a super coach. He does the

:41:35. > :41:41.American Davis Cup team. And John McEnroe got the call - do you like

:41:42. > :41:47.that match-up? I love that match-up. You have someone... Raonic does not

:41:48. > :41:53.say much. Not much personality on the court, now he's dealing the

:41:54. > :42:01.person with the most personality. He can talk under water, John McEnroe.

:42:02. > :42:05.I thought about their pre-match talks, will Raonic say a word. You

:42:06. > :42:12.are used to coaches, Ivan Lendl with his dark glasses on. No expression.

:42:13. > :42:17.Most don't say a word. How will Mac stay there still? I can see him

:42:18. > :42:28.pulling what hair he's got left out of his head. We will have to put on

:42:29. > :42:36.a microphone. He has said I will not be like Lendl, I will not sit there

:42:37. > :42:40.question letly. With -- quietly. With Mac he sees things a second or

:42:41. > :42:45.two ahead of most people. He is a genius. There are no ifs and buts

:42:46. > :42:49.about it. It will be interesting to see if he can translate that to

:42:50. > :42:55.where a normal person can get it without going too far. I know it is

:42:56. > :43:04.strange, when I was 17, I went to be coached for a while with Lou Hoad,

:43:05. > :43:09.he said, no you take it like this. He said, no, just like this. I said,

:43:10. > :43:15.OK. It was difficult for him to relate to someone as bad as me in

:43:16. > :43:18.comparison with him. There's sort of a fine dividing line between

:43:19. > :43:22.coaches. You cannot put too much information in. There is a timing

:43:23. > :43:26.about it. The difference is with these top players and I disagree

:43:27. > :43:29.with Jim on this, I believe these days, there's such a small

:43:30. > :43:33.difference between the top players and they are looking for an edge,

:43:34. > :43:37.the night before matches, these great players, even the great ones

:43:38. > :43:42.get nervous. They worry about certain aspects... You need to. When

:43:43. > :43:48.you have a player who has been in your corner and might say something

:43:49. > :43:55.small, if you get in this situation this is what you do... This and this

:43:56. > :43:59.is what I do... The players out here, how many times have you heard

:44:00. > :44:08.players say, I could so been a protection the. -- I could have been

:44:09. > :44:13.a professional... The marginal improvements they look to make. You

:44:14. > :44:17.change a grip, you feel your forehand is letting you down. These

:44:18. > :44:20.guys will work on it for six or eight months before they are

:44:21. > :44:25.comfortable enough to go out there and it is engrained in the system.

:44:26. > :44:28.Tiny little margins. If it is a tiny margin up here which is making the

:44:29. > :44:41.difference, like John is saying, that is worth the salary plus.

:44:42. > :44:47.Whether it might be something slightly technical, it's worth

:44:48. > :44:58.having them onboard. I know what he's saying to Raonic - you're

:44:59. > :45:03.six-and-a-half foot tall. You have a wingspan like huge. Get your timing

:45:04. > :45:09.right but go forward. Nobody ever moved forward and hit more volleys

:45:10. > :45:12.than John McEnroe. Also, Raonic is one of those that we have been

:45:13. > :45:17.talking about. It's only for three weeks, isn't it? But we'll see.

:45:18. > :45:21.Raonic is one. Players we have been talking about for going forward. He

:45:22. > :45:27.has been the next best big thing we have been talking about - the one

:45:28. > :45:31.that is likely to challenge the top four right - of the game. As you can

:45:32. > :45:35.see, semifinal and Wimbledon and at the Australian Open. He's got all

:45:36. > :45:41.the weapons, hasn't he? There's little Galle gap here amongst the

:45:42. > :45:48.top which we have talked about - the big - the super four, and then you

:45:49. > :45:52.look at it now - you look at Nadal as being so many injuries. Is he

:45:53. > :45:55.going to get back to his best. There are questions there. Roger Federer

:45:56. > :46:00.is getting injuries, first time really in his career. There is a gap

:46:01. > :46:08.there. You have Wawrinka. You have Murray and obviously Djokovic.

:46:09. > :46:13.Nishikori. And Raonic. They're threatened. They're not far away

:46:14. > :46:18.from winning a Grand Slam. There is gaps there. You still have Djokovic

:46:19. > :46:21.and Murray but at least the gap is getting a little bit smaller now.

:46:22. > :46:27.There is a chance for these boys to push right up there now. If you look

:46:28. > :46:31.at the top ten, Djokovic, how far ahead is he at number one? He has

:46:32. > :46:36.double the points of anybody else. It's ridiculous. If we can look at

:46:37. > :46:41.the top ten of the rankings, as I said, he's way up in front. Murray

:46:42. > :46:51.behind. He's a long way ahead of Federer if you look at the points.

:46:52. > :46:55.Unbelievable. 16,950 versus 8,915 is at the top of the game. He is

:46:56. > :47:01.three-and-a-half Grand Slam wins ahead. It's an outrage. I don't know

:47:02. > :47:04.how he manages to maintain the consistency and hunger, so he's

:47:05. > :47:09.right at the top but what you're talking about, people moving up,

:47:10. > :47:14.Raonic is one of those guys. If McEnroe can make it a bit nastier

:47:15. > :47:30.that is something that's going to help him, but Dom Dominic is one.

:47:31. > :47:34.People we're talking about. Looking at that, John McEnroe says there are

:47:35. > :47:40.six people he thinks can win Wimbledon. Rafa is not there. Who is

:47:41. > :47:47.he not including above Milos, because he says him. Top three,

:47:48. > :47:57.obviously, then he's talking Stan. He's talk Nishikori. I don't think

:47:58. > :48:06.Stan can win Wimbledon with his elbow. Says he! Milos has a chance.

:48:07. > :48:10.On the first practise here McEnroe said, OK, I'll get your hitting

:48:11. > :48:16.partner on, and Max says no, I'm going to hit, and on he went, three

:48:17. > :48:20.lauf hours he was out there hitting nonstop, 57 years old,

:48:21. > :48:24.three-and-a-half hours. He played - I think Milos told me he played 18

:48:25. > :48:28.hours the first few days or something, was on court 18 hours

:48:29. > :48:34.with him. Just serve at him. I want Raonic to serve as hard as he

:48:35. > :48:38.possibly can, 150mph right at John. John will hand it back and make it

:48:39. > :48:42.happen. He still hits the ball well enough. For me, he played the

:48:43. > :48:47.greatest match I have ever seen not in terms of great to watch because

:48:48. > :48:52.it was - he demolished Ivan Lendl, but when he beat Ivan Lendl in the

:48:53. > :48:55.finals of the US Open, I was sitting courtside right behind him. I could

:48:56. > :48:58.see everything, and he was taking his first serve on the rise and

:48:59. > :49:06.coming in. I can't remember the exact score but I believe it was

:49:07. > :49:09.something like 6-3, 6-3, 6-4. He had a big serve and McEnroe was taking

:49:10. > :49:13.the first serve on the rise and coming in behind it. It was a

:49:14. > :49:17.monstrous performance and I thought on this day, no-one ever could have

:49:18. > :49:22.beaten him. He was unbelievable. I was thinking some of the things he

:49:23. > :49:28.might be showing Raonic, just the hands. I'm sure Raonic is sometimes

:49:29. > :49:33.just looking going, wow! He arrived in '77, and produced that straight

:49:34. > :49:37.away at the age of 17, that innate understanding of where to stand,

:49:38. > :49:41.where to be to make the view from the other end so difficult. I

:49:42. > :49:46.mean... It's instinct, isn't it? It is. When it comes to playing at the

:49:47. > :49:51.Albert Hall which is a great, great honour - you hit reflex volleys with

:49:52. > :49:55.John even now. It's just a joke. The ball keeps coming back and it

:49:56. > :50:03.doesn't look like he's taken the racket back at all. It just pings

:50:04. > :50:06.off. You bring this and the fittieth, ugliest temper of all time

:50:07. > :50:11.to Raonic, there is no question that's going to help him. He says

:50:12. > :50:19.why are you being so nice to your opponent? Somebody annoys you in the

:50:20. > :50:24.crowd - react, Milos! The two semifinals, he was within himself.

:50:25. > :50:31.You have to get out of yourself and embrace that moment. He'll go out in

:50:32. > :50:35.the first round now and McEnroe! Kgyrios, absolutely. McEnroe was

:50:36. > :50:40.asked about coaching because he hasn't coached a lot. He had a brief

:50:41. > :50:46.spell with Boris Becker. I love that It was brief! And McEnroe was asked

:50:47. > :50:52.about it and what went wrong. Mac said he didn't listen to a word I

:50:53. > :50:56.said. Good for Boris. Let's face it, Boris is just doing wonders with

:50:57. > :51:00.Djokovic. You can understand now why Boris wasn't going to turn down

:51:01. > :51:04.Novak Djokovic. Because you did wonder - he has a great portfolio of

:51:05. > :51:09.work going around the place being Boris. He's a great brand and enjoys

:51:10. > :51:13.the work he does. There was a lot of social to it, and you know what? He

:51:14. > :51:16.just said, no, no, no. Novak Djokovic comes knocking on the door,

:51:17. > :51:19.you have to put everything else down and go ahead and do that. The

:51:20. > :51:23.rewards have been extraordinary to. Hold all four Slams at the same

:51:24. > :51:26.time... It was interesting with Novak and Boris, when that happened

:51:27. > :51:30.everyone was saying, I am not sure about that, but he hired Boris

:51:31. > :51:34.because he had been struggling mentally in the finals of the grand

:51:35. > :51:37.slams, and he changed it around. That's why the Jim Courier comment -

:51:38. > :51:41.I think Jim is great and very knowledgeable. I don't get what he's

:51:42. > :51:45.saying there because for me, that was a perfect example. Of course

:51:46. > :51:48.Novak has to hit the balls. No-one is saying that it's the player's

:51:49. > :51:53.responsibility when it comes down to it but why did that happen? Boris

:51:54. > :51:57.must have had a great help there because he was struggling mentally

:51:58. > :52:01.in finals. Now he plays them in first round, he's so comfortable.

:52:02. > :52:06.Maybe Jim was just talking nonsense in a rain break to the French. Oh,

:52:07. > :52:11.the super-coach, it's just a sort of - Yeah. Well, he's with us, isn't

:52:12. > :52:20.he, at Wimbledon? Yes, we'll ask him, day one. I'll ask him! Milos,

:52:21. > :52:24.we look at this tournament here, talk about Andy Murray but actually

:52:25. > :52:27.there are four British players in the draw, Dan Evans we know,

:52:28. > :52:33.hopefully, weather-permitting, will be on court later. Five there are -

:52:34. > :52:37.Kyle Edmund is in the draw and also Aljaz Bedene, who still hasn't won

:52:38. > :52:41.his appeal about representing Britain in the Davis Cup, but he's

:52:42. > :52:44.lived in this country for many, many years, and a good addition to the

:52:45. > :52:48.British - I asked him why he came over. He said, look, I love it here.

:52:49. > :52:52.The facilities are great, and I love the people. He's making his home

:52:53. > :52:56.here and everything else, but because he played three matches -

:52:57. > :53:01.dead matches I think each one of them for Slovenia, when he was

:53:02. > :53:05.younger, it mean he is can't play under new ITF eligibility rules, you

:53:06. > :53:08.can't represent your new country. So they appealed. In fact, the

:53:09. > :53:14.tournament director here is also a lawyer for the LTA. He has been the

:53:15. > :53:18.one who has been fantastically supporting him throughout this whole

:53:19. > :53:22.process, but I am afraid it has failed. Now they have to work out

:53:23. > :53:27.what he wants to do next. These British number two but can't play

:53:28. > :53:31.the Davis Cup. They play changed the process during him becoming British,

:53:32. > :53:37.so it's a tough gig for him. It's court he's playing pretty well.

:53:38. > :53:40.Third round just recently and Djokovic got beaten quite

:53:41. > :53:45.comfortably there but the third round of a Grand Slam is - Good

:53:46. > :53:48.player, hard worker. It obviously would be a huge edition to the Davis

:53:49. > :53:52.Cup for Great Britain. You could say we don't need him because we have

:53:53. > :53:55.just won it but we will need him and he will be a tremendous backup when

:53:56. > :54:01.Andy doesn't play in some of these matches. It's a great pity he's not

:54:02. > :54:04.playing. It's Serbia the week after Wimbledon and Djokovic-Murray, do

:54:05. > :54:08.you think both will play? Andy Murray wants to play. It's all

:54:09. > :54:12.subject to reassessment after Wimbledon... And readjustment

:54:13. > :54:18.because it's a clay court going from the grass. Then Rio and if US Open.

:54:19. > :54:22.It's a very busy summer and it starts right here. Summer did, you

:54:23. > :54:26.say? If it would start! Andy is definitely going to play. I keep

:54:27. > :54:29.hearing that Novak Djokovic is not going to play or doesn't want to

:54:30. > :54:33.play or whatever - I have no information on that He hasn't said

:54:34. > :54:37.anything. There's lot of speculation he doesn't want to play. I think it

:54:38. > :54:41.will depend what both of them do at Wimbledon. Play each other on the

:54:42. > :54:47.Sunday... A week later. That's what we want. Indeed we do. What we want

:54:48. > :54:51.is any tennis at the moment! Because we're still waiting for the clouds

:54:52. > :54:56.to clear away and for play to get back on. We have seen one wonderful

:54:57. > :55:00.warm-up so far. That was good. Let's hope we'll have some more, so we're

:55:01. > :55:06.hoping we will get some play very soon, and the order of play, if we

:55:07. > :55:10.get it, but as you can see, they're inflating the tent at the moment.

:55:11. > :55:16.That is not good news. It's Gasquet against Johnson. We have already

:55:17. > :55:21.seen them on court and Dan Evans against Paul-Henri Mathieu.

:55:22. > :55:27.We haven't got any tennis for you today, so we're going to look back

:55:28. > :55:32.to last year's final. It featured Andy Murray against a big-serving

:55:33. > :55:35.Kevin Anderson, and we can join the match at the start, and I think

:55:36. > :56:44.these two were probably in the box for it.

:56:45. > :57:22.Trouble with a slow-moving bee. He did well not to swipe at one.

:57:23. > :57:28.He's keeping a close look on whether that bee is finding that very white

:57:29. > :57:36.shirt attractive or not. It's not there. Somebody tell him.

:57:37. > :57:43.Was he just buying time to make sure that bee wasn't... I think he was!

:57:44. > :58:17.It's miles out. Your story about Jack Nicklaus and

:58:18. > :58:23.what does he know about preparing a grass tennis court? That did make me

:58:24. > :58:28.laugh. I tell you what knows about grass - Graeme. He's prepared this

:58:29. > :58:32.court here, such is the detail. The difference is that the grass here is

:58:33. > :58:35.seven millimetres. At Wimbledon it's 8. They cut it down. For the

:58:36. > :58:42.duration of the tournament, it will go down a little bit. The bee likes

:58:43. > :58:45.it here. And there are three vertical lines going down the court

:58:46. > :58:49.in the tram lines where he's mowed it, and there is nine between the

:58:50. > :58:53.sideline and the middle, then nine more, then three in the other tram

:58:54. > :58:57.line, and Wimbledon slightly different in that as well, so that

:58:58. > :58:58.is the level of detail required to prepare a court like this. It's

:58:59. > :59:14.beautiful. It's a fast and high-bouncing grass

:59:15. > :59:17.court. It suits Kevin Anderson's second serve as much as his first.

:59:18. > :59:24.His second serve has been kicking up. Look at Murray dancing around,

:59:25. > :00:01.changing the view. So Anderson can't settle.

:00:02. > :00:06.Didn't bend the point but it's just throwing that message out - I am

:00:07. > :00:10.here. I am ready. I'm going to make your best shots. I am going to get

:00:11. > :00:21.them back at you, have to hit another ball.

:00:22. > :00:31.It's a first ace. A first for Kevin Anderson. 97 aces for the

:00:32. > :00:35.tournament. He's been remarkable this week. Served one against Simon

:00:36. > :01:13.in the semifinal, 141 miles an hour. Bathed in sunshine. Second semifinal

:01:14. > :01:18.and the first, actually, on Saturday, affected by the rain. Andy

:01:19. > :01:21.Murray polished off his semifinal against Viktor tried to give this

:01:22. > :01:26.morning and had to play a set in three games. A nice warm up.

:01:27. > :01:45.Shouldn't have taken anything out of him.

:01:46. > :01:59.From that end, the son is a real issue. Shadows.

:02:00. > :02:08.I think Anderson is going to attack that second serve. His direction has

:02:09. > :02:13.to be better. He hit that one pretty hard down the middle. I think he's

:02:14. > :02:17.got to go more for the lines and force the issue on the first strike.

:02:18. > :02:19.Hitting at heart does not do much good if it goes down the middle. --

:02:20. > :02:45.hitting it hard. The wind is right to left as we are

:02:46. > :02:46.looking down the court there. Actually, it's just changed around

:02:47. > :03:27.now. From the south-west. Just an intelligent point from

:03:28. > :03:33.Anderson. Big ground strokes. A very good slice approach shot. A little

:03:34. > :03:39.slip. Not too much problem. Hip flexor. He has got to heat pads,

:03:40. > :03:58.certainly some support roughly in that region.

:03:59. > :04:06.That's what you like to see with Murray. Second serve, 96 miles an

:04:07. > :04:12.hour. So often receive those in 70s and 80s. He knew that Anderson was a

:04:13. > :04:16.threat and he had the courage to go for it. He's got to keep doing it.

:04:17. > :04:57.That's matchplay. Very good serve. A little skirmish there at 30-30.

:04:58. > :05:02.Murray has come through it to take a macro-21 lead. It was his fourth

:05:03. > :05:47.final here at the Queen's Club. They are going well, 2-1.

:05:48. > :05:53.How do tennis players get anything done in life if they are wiping

:05:54. > :05:59.their face with a towel after every 16 seconds of movement, this treat

:06:00. > :06:06.asks. And why does it take so long to start a tennis match? Five

:06:07. > :06:10.minutes is the warm up. I think there will be moves in the next two

:06:11. > :06:17.years to get that down to three minutes but actually, to enforce it,

:06:18. > :06:25.as well. Jonas Bjorkman, former Wimbledon semifinalist. Superb

:06:26. > :07:14.return it says. -- returner of serve. Coaching Andy Murray.

:07:15. > :07:21.Being forced to change direction, Murray. Anderson wants to get the

:07:22. > :07:29.first strike in. Look how far inside the baseline he is. This will please

:07:30. > :07:48.his coat. This is the game plan. -- coach.

:07:49. > :07:59.So good from Murray. What a fabulous return of serve that was. He did

:08:00. > :08:07.exactly... There is the coach there, Kevin Anderson. A very good coach.

:08:08. > :08:08.He knows his stuff. Done a good job with Kevin Anderson, that's for

:08:09. > :09:20.sure. That is absolutely brilliant. He is

:09:21. > :09:25.the one who has taken charge of the Anderson serve. You can see there,

:09:26. > :09:29.Kevin Anderson hits it half-volley and then just cracks that backhand

:09:30. > :09:36.crosscourt, not giving his opponent a chance to breathe. Such a short,

:09:37. > :09:40.short backswing. Marvellous rotation. A couple of break points

:09:41. > :09:42.early on for Anderson to face. He's not going to hold back on this first

:09:43. > :09:59.serve, is he? Yeah. That's 141 miles an hour.

:10:00. > :10:04.First serve. Murray has somehow got a racket on it and made Anderson

:10:05. > :10:09.played the ball and there is the reward. Make your opponent play an

:10:10. > :10:15.extra ball. That is a very fine example of that. 141. That would

:10:16. > :10:19.knock most people's racket out of their hand. And

:10:20. > :11:46.Anderson will be amazed that came back. He is off and running.

:11:47. > :12:00.Ambitious. That was a 3-130 love shot. That was not a 30-30 shocked.

:12:01. > :12:26.He so confident right now he thinks he can get shots even like that.

:12:27. > :12:36.It was going to be a double handed backhand drive until that moment.

:12:37. > :13:07.Anderson on his heels at the back. This is a quality display so far.

:13:08. > :13:16.Amazing how in control of proceedings Andy Murray is. 70

:13:17. > :13:20.minutes, he's got the break. He wants to put every shot at the

:13:21. > :13:28.moment. The agency really arrived in his game in his match against Giles

:13:29. > :13:31.Muller the other night. Into a tie-break, Muller playing superbly

:13:32. > :13:35.and Murray understood the situation and really got going. There's only

:13:36. > :13:39.been one guy in this tournament, I have to be honest, he has looked the

:13:40. > :13:46.winner for quite some time. I wonder if it comes across on TV as much as

:13:47. > :13:50.in real life. He's the man. He is the man and his playing

:13:51. > :13:54.scintillating tennis. He got Murray on the run at the start and then can

:13:55. > :13:59.recover so well. What he's doing is, he looks out here like he's got

:14:00. > :14:03.plenty of time on his shot. He doesn't look like he's ever really

:14:04. > :14:07.rushed. He is going up against the man who's coming at him with 140

:14:08. > :14:13.mile an hour service, and yet he still looks like he's got 20 of time

:14:14. > :14:17.and that's just someone in fantastic form, reading the ball, seeing it

:14:18. > :14:22.early, just so confident in the way he plays. The only thing that could

:14:23. > :14:23.make him lose this match at the moment is if he loses concentration,

:14:24. > :14:34.it seems like. Mariella Frostrup having a little

:14:35. > :14:55.watch. It's a great event, this. Very much part of the social

:14:56. > :15:09.calendar. As Scott this week, as well. -- as

:15:10. > :15:44.Kelsey in the dark glasses there. That's Kevin Anderson's wife, mum

:15:45. > :16:03.Barbara on the left. Now, that is number 100 for the

:16:04. > :16:08.tournament. Amazing. A hundred! Mind you, Isner served that in one match

:16:09. > :16:16.against Mahut. I don't think I have served that in in my whole life.

:16:17. > :16:28.It's unbelievable, 100! Karlovic served 45 the other day beating berd

:16:29. > :16:32.itch before losing to Federer. What Djokovic does and Murray, they get

:16:33. > :16:53.them back, make them play an extra ball, these big servers.

:16:54. > :17:00.It's the big east stand here. That'll still be here for Davis Cup

:17:01. > :17:11.tie, the quarter-final versus France, July the 17 to the 19th.

:17:12. > :17:26.We'll be back here as well on the Beat.

:17:27. > :17:32.I'll tell you what else is going on that Davis Cup weekend - because of

:17:33. > :17:39.the schedule of the tennis moving a little bit, it's the 144th Open -

:17:40. > :17:43.the 60th Open Championship golf from St Andrews that the BBC will have

:17:44. > :17:48.covered. Shame nobody will be watching that because they'll be

:17:49. > :18:20.with us on the tennis! Good luck to you, Rory MacEl-Roy.

:18:21. > :18:29.And what a week for Kevin Anderson, obviously, a big occasion in his

:18:30. > :18:32.career. He's certainly earned it. When you think back, John, I don't

:18:33. > :18:37.know whether we were doing the match or not - seems like a long time ago

:18:38. > :18:41.- the beginning of the week he was playing Lleyton Hewitt, a man who

:18:42. > :18:43.has won the Queen's Club championships, the Aegon

:18:44. > :18:49.Championships, four occasions, but this was his last trip. Anderson had

:18:50. > :18:54.to break serve to to stay with it. Match point down, wasn't he? That's

:18:55. > :19:04.right. Unbelievable. That's the value of just sticking around. I

:19:05. > :19:07.think right now his coach will be thinking, OK, well, he's doing the

:19:08. > :19:11.right things. He's just coming up against someone who is just playing

:19:12. > :19:16.out of his mind, as Andy Murray is. Kevin Anderson is at 71% first

:19:17. > :19:21.serves and can't really ask for much more than that he's playing well,

:19:22. > :19:26.but he's got this constant barrage of returns and nasty shots that are

:19:27. > :19:30.coming at him in awkward places, and it's difficult to play Murray when

:19:31. > :19:34.he's in this type of form. He has to keep believing in himself. It's only

:19:35. > :19:36.one break. It can change quickly in tennis, as we know, so it's a long

:19:37. > :19:52.way to go yet. Look how far back he is there. He

:19:53. > :19:57.takes one big step in then a split. He's also moving left to right,

:19:58. > :19:59.changing Anderson's view like a goalkeeper receiving a penalty and

:20:00. > :20:15.dancing all over the show. New tennis ball shooting through the

:20:16. > :20:17.court. They'll still be quite new when Murray serves for a set in the

:20:18. > :20:33.next game, perhaps. That's only two tennis balls used,

:20:34. > :20:35.and there are six. That's right. Two of them are going to be new for Andy

:20:36. > :21:17.in the next game. Oh, yes. That's frightened someone.

:21:18. > :21:23.Into the second or third row there. What a service game. Excellent work,

:21:24. > :21:27.excellent work. Just four tennis balls used, so Murray will have a

:21:28. > :21:37.good look at the tennis balls now as he as much as for it, because

:21:38. > :23:28.they're still new. -- as he serves for it.

:23:29. > :23:34.That's a great point. It's a pity it was at 40 -love down. That's the

:23:35. > :23:36.problem. He needs to be playing those in the first part of the game

:23:37. > :24:03.somehow. It's not that easy. Looked like it might have been wide

:24:04. > :24:07.from Andy Murray, but just less than half an hour played here at Queen's

:24:08. > :24:11.Club. It's 6-3 to Murray, a second break of serve and things moving on

:24:12. > :24:15.an in a similar fashion to the way they played at Wimbledon in the

:24:16. > :24:19.fourth round last year. Need to see the blue sky from the final last

:24:20. > :24:23.year, and this is the scene at the moment - a little bit of blue sky

:24:24. > :24:27.around the Queen's Club right now, and that's certainly very promising.

:24:28. > :24:31.I won't give you the result of last year's final because somehow I have

:24:32. > :24:35.a feeling we may be revisiting that match because there are more showers

:24:36. > :24:39.forecast later in the day, but we'll keep that up our sleeve, but at the

:24:40. > :24:42.moment we can look forward to this opening day of the Aegon

:24:43. > :24:45.Championship, four matches scheduled, although you get a

:24:46. > :24:50.feeling that possibly the fourth one will not get on. But Richard

:24:51. > :24:53.Gasquet, Steve Johnson, they have already been on the court. They have

:24:54. > :24:56.almost completed the warm-up before the rain came down, so they'll be in

:24:57. > :25:01.the locker room and getting ready once again because I have a feeling

:25:02. > :25:04.that maybe in about 15 or 20 minutes, weather permitting, they

:25:05. > :25:08.could be out again, then Shaun Evans of Great Britain up against

:25:09. > :25:14.Paul-Henri Mathieu and Grigor Dimitrov, former champion up against

:25:15. > :25:19.Janco Tipsarevic from Serbia. Then Feliciano Lopez - this match may not

:25:20. > :25:22.get on but he's making his 11th straight appearance here at the

:25:23. > :25:26.Queen's Club against Marin Cilic, who is making his ninth appearance

:25:27. > :25:30.here at Queens. That is what we're looking for. We're hearing the

:25:31. > :25:33.players will be called from the locker room in about eight minutes.

:25:34. > :25:38.It's a wonderful tournament, isn't it? We have talked about it's a

:25:39. > :25:41.500th - there is more prize money and points. There is so much more

:25:42. > :25:46.for the players now, isn't there? I think it's made it more exciting for

:25:47. > :25:51.spectators too now because without the byes there were before, the draw

:25:52. > :25:55.is compressed. Look at the rounds you have here. Sometimes at Queen's

:25:56. > :25:59.Club, the first couple of days haven't been that many interesting

:26:00. > :26:04.first rounds but already now there could be upsets. There are big

:26:05. > :26:08.matchups - Lopez-Marin Cilic. These are matches that could have been in

:26:09. > :26:12.the semifinals in previous years, so it's an exciting draw, and players

:26:13. > :26:16.are so desperate to get matches under their belt. They love this

:26:17. > :26:20.tournament, and sometimes you can even ignite your form, someone like

:26:21. > :26:24.Dimitrov, who is at a bad period, loves this surface, loves this

:26:25. > :26:27.tournament. Who knows - if he has a good run here, maybe at Wimbledon

:26:28. > :26:31.he'll be a threat. Also, it's wonderful, you know, as I said, for

:26:32. > :26:35.the spectators to come here. They get so close to the players and for

:26:36. > :26:37.the players it's about gaining confidence on this surface just

:26:38. > :26:41.prior to Wimbledon. It is an important event. It is. And the

:26:42. > :26:45.players love this event. The spectators love it. As you say,

:26:46. > :26:48.close into the crowd. The crowd are close into the players. Players

:26:49. > :26:51.sometimes love these more intimate stadiums sometimes more than the

:26:52. > :26:54.bigger ones. You feel like they're right in the action there and

:26:55. > :26:58.players love that kind of atmosphere. They know the courts are

:26:59. > :27:02.perfect, which they are every year, and they have indoor facilities if

:27:03. > :27:06.it rains. They're all taken care of. They're close to their hotels.

:27:07. > :27:09.Everything is perfectly run here for preparation for Wimbledon, but this

:27:10. > :27:14.is a big tournament now in its own right, so the players love it here.

:27:15. > :27:19.Also, as we look around, and as I am turning around, I hate to say, but

:27:20. > :27:22.behind those blue clouds are some horrible clouds, just behind our

:27:23. > :27:27.camera picture at the moment, but you have to remain hopeful, and you

:27:28. > :27:30.look at the forecast and the tournament director was just saying,

:27:31. > :27:34.hold on. This is only the first gay, you know what? If he doesn't get

:27:35. > :27:39.much play - and qualifying still hasn't finished - they are going to

:27:40. > :27:42.have to make some big changes to try to get this tournament finished in

:27:43. > :27:46.time. Exactly. You have quite a few of the players that are good on

:27:47. > :27:50.grass that are good on the doubles as well. They have to fit in matches

:27:51. > :27:53.as well. In tournaments it's always the most important the first couple

:27:54. > :27:57.of days. If you get ahead of the draw, then you're OK, but this year,

:27:58. > :28:00.unfortunately, the weather doesn't look like it's going to happen that

:28:01. > :28:06.way, so it's rough. But they'll get through it. They always do. They

:28:07. > :28:10.always find a way at Queens somehow, even with bad weather. Blimey. How

:28:11. > :28:14.they're going to do it - I am delighted to say that the Davis Cup

:28:15. > :28:17.captain is with us, Leon Smith. What's this weather? What are they

:28:18. > :28:23.going to do? Look, just had about three weeks in Paris of exactly the

:28:24. > :28:27.same. I was told to come to London, catch some sun ray, but it's not

:28:28. > :28:30.happening. As John said, they somehow always find a way, always

:28:31. > :28:34.find way to finish the tournament. Fingers crossed. It's not ideal

:28:35. > :28:37.preparation for the players. They're coming from the clay. They have had

:28:38. > :28:42.a week of getting their feet used to the grass, even though they had a

:28:43. > :28:47.few showers last week as well, but this court surface being new, wet,

:28:48. > :28:50.it's not ideal to start out. No, we actually saw some similar situations

:28:51. > :28:54.last year, and the first day is slippy at the back. It is. And the

:28:55. > :28:58.first couple of matches, you see a lot of players slipping, moving at

:28:59. > :29:01.the back, especially when they're defending deeper behind the

:29:02. > :29:04.baseline, but I think even last week they didn't get a huge amount of

:29:05. > :29:08.grass court play. There was a lot of indoor sessions with weather and the

:29:09. > :29:12.courts not being quite ready, so people are desperate to get some

:29:13. > :29:15.court time, not just the match time but getting used to the movement

:29:16. > :29:19.which is so different to the clay, so a few challenges for the players,

:29:20. > :29:23.especially in the early rounds. I have to say, congratulations it is

:29:24. > :29:28.now Leon Smith OBE? Is it not? It is. Surprised, humbled at the same

:29:29. > :29:32.time. Rightly so. I mean, Davis Cup - that was one of the greatest

:29:33. > :29:36.achievements in British tennis. We were all saying that last year,

:29:37. > :29:38.weren't we, John? Yeah. It was fantastic. What have you got,

:29:39. > :29:51.Lloydy? I have an OBE. It was so nice also for Jamie Murray

:29:52. > :29:54.for all the hard work, he was in your team, and the hard work you did

:29:55. > :29:58.in the doubles but also been number one in the world, number one again

:29:59. > :30:02.winning Grand Slams, it's lovely he's been honoured as well. What a

:30:03. > :30:07.story he is. It's amazing when you think about it. A few years ago, he

:30:08. > :30:12.was literally thinking, where am I going with my career? Suddenly, he

:30:13. > :30:15.had one of those moments where he thought, you know what, I have

:30:16. > :30:20.obviously got something to give to the profession, I've got this

:30:21. > :30:25.ability, and he just went about dedicating himself, got back in with

:30:26. > :30:29.the specialist doubles coach, took a travelling coach from Scotland, Alan

:30:30. > :30:33.MacDonald, who travels every week with him, fitness and nutrition was

:30:34. > :30:38.done and he applied himself. Look at the results. It's a wonderful story,

:30:39. > :30:44.if you persevere, you can do well. He had such a great partnership with

:30:45. > :30:49.John Peers, and then Lewis said no, what are you doing? He goes with

:30:50. > :30:57.Bruno Suarez and look what happened. I suppose it's about finding the

:30:58. > :31:01.right partnership, which match as well? And also personalities. These

:31:02. > :31:07.guys spend so much time together. Who was your practice partner, your

:31:08. > :31:10.doubles partner? Every single time. Eventually, it can just get a little

:31:11. > :31:17.bit too much, especially with the highs and lows. It's quite stressful

:31:18. > :31:26.for the player to get over. They did a great job and I think both of them

:31:27. > :31:29.are in good situations now. Jamie, he's proved the decision was

:31:30. > :31:35.correct. He moved with Bruno, as people know, he's typical resilient,

:31:36. > :31:41.Mr cool and calm, very relaxed on the court and that's working well

:31:42. > :31:49.for Jamie. We watched him, the Australian Open, very emotional for

:31:50. > :31:53.Jamie. There were times there where he looked like he was floundering,

:31:54. > :31:57.he wasn't sure, his game had dropped, he was nervous when he was

:31:58. > :32:01.playing, couldn't find the right combination. I was thinking, I don't

:32:02. > :32:05.know if he's going to be around for much longer and he suddenly clicked.

:32:06. > :32:10.Now you look at him and the drill I like is when he stands about one

:32:11. > :32:14.inch from the net and they throw balls at him and the reflexes, I'm

:32:15. > :32:21.thinking, I would be heading for the hills. You think, where they don't

:32:22. > :32:27.get much use out of it? You watching in a big match and suddenly he pokes

:32:28. > :32:32.that volley an inch from the net. These days they become specialists,

:32:33. > :32:35.they change around these partnerships but there's some

:32:36. > :32:39.amazing doubles out there. It's unfortunate we don't get to see more

:32:40. > :32:45.it because when the spectators are here today, 80% of them only play

:32:46. > :32:50.doubles. How much do we see on TV? Well, we do get a lot at Wimbledon.

:32:51. > :32:55.Everybody loves it. And the Mixed Doubles, as well. He must have the

:32:56. > :33:06.quickest and best hands in tennis at the net, doesn't it? I'm biased, but

:33:07. > :33:10.I think he does. He is so fast. That drill you're talking about, they are

:33:11. > :33:16.literally at the top of the net. You need an American football helmet on

:33:17. > :33:20.to stand like this. It's taken time but for the doubles players, when

:33:21. > :33:24.you take a top singles player, it changes the dynamics on the court.

:33:25. > :33:28.We see that in the Davis Cup when Andy came into the team, just great

:33:29. > :33:33.players with bigger weapons, so the doubles players are very savvy, so

:33:34. > :33:37.they've taken this to another level because I had to combat the singles

:33:38. > :33:42.players in some way. They're not going to outhit them on the ground

:33:43. > :33:46.strokes so they've developed these unbelievable weapons of skill,

:33:47. > :33:55.speed, anticipation, court position is another thing. I look at Suarez,

:33:56. > :34:00.he knows exactly where to move at the moment. They have perfected it.

:34:01. > :34:03.It's great the way Queen's do it. It's great seeing singles players

:34:04. > :34:08.playing, it's quite difficult at Wimbledon because it's the best-of-5

:34:09. > :34:13.sets but here, lots of singles players want to sneak in an extra

:34:14. > :34:17.match on grass, which they could regret. It's great to see the

:34:18. > :34:22.doubles styles contrasting against the singles players. We are hearing

:34:23. > :34:26.the players have been called so hopefully they will come onto court,

:34:27. > :34:32.but the clouds are looking ominous all around here so I'm not holding

:34:33. > :34:36.out much hope but anyway, Jamie, talking about the confidence, do you

:34:37. > :34:42.think possibly the victories he got in the Davis Cup and the support was

:34:43. > :34:46.where he turned it around? I hope it played some part. I've listened to

:34:47. > :34:49.some of his commentary afterwards and he contributed some of it

:34:50. > :34:56.towards those moments because high those moments. Whether you are at

:34:57. > :35:02.home or away, there's so much on it. Playing Davis Cup, it's the only

:35:03. > :35:07.event where you can be at 0-0 and you win or lose the point and the

:35:08. > :35:12.crowd go mental. Normally the crowd takes a bit of time to get into it

:35:13. > :35:17.but every single point is huge, and I think, going through that, for

:35:18. > :35:19.Jamie, it built a lot of confidence. Feeding off the respect his brother

:35:20. > :35:25.was giving him, those moments made him feel a top international player

:35:26. > :35:31.in his own right which gave them a lot of confidence to a out there.

:35:32. > :35:34.Beforehand, he looked up at Andy as someone in a different flight path

:35:35. > :35:40.from him. He's really feeling like he deserves to be there and he

:35:41. > :35:45.absolutely does. Also losing finals helped him because by losing, he

:35:46. > :35:50.started to understand what he needed to add to his game and I think, if

:35:51. > :35:54.you look at his server speeds, for example, some of the top pairings,

:35:55. > :36:01.there's normally a big server amongst them, so whilst his serve is

:36:02. > :36:04.not big as a lefty, he's increased by eight miles an hour and it's made

:36:05. > :36:11.a difference. He's improved in certain areas. I'm seeing shadows

:36:12. > :36:14.out there at the moment. I can confidently predict we are going to

:36:15. > :36:18.see some brothers at any moment because that is what it heading our

:36:19. > :36:26.way and that looks even worse than what we had before. -- umbrellas.

:36:27. > :36:31.Did they do the coin toss again? No, they can't do it again. A

:36:32. > :36:35.five-minute warm up and is going through the routine again, well

:36:36. > :36:42.done. This is Gasquet vs Johnson, on court from approximately one minute

:36:43. > :36:47.and a half. This is awful, isn't it, to get ready, prepare for a match

:36:48. > :36:53.and practice, inside, they've come out, what do you eat, how do you

:36:54. > :36:59.prepare, how do you stay flexible? You've got to get yourself focused.

:37:00. > :37:02.The players lounge is exceptional here. There's worse places to be

:37:03. > :37:08.when it rains. They go the extra mile. No wonder it was voted

:37:09. > :37:12.tournament of the year. They've even done some improvements on it this

:37:13. > :37:16.year. There is a cinema on in there so when the footballers on, like it

:37:17. > :37:24.is now, the Spanish contingent are in there watching football in this

:37:25. > :37:28.big city cinema. It had a big face-lift for the there's new

:37:29. > :37:32.wallpaper, flooring. The whole club has had a real renovation. It's

:37:33. > :37:41.absolutely wonderful. What they want to see is some tennis. Richard

:37:42. > :37:47.Gasquet comedy proved last year in... Many times, Wimbledon, getting

:37:48. > :37:51.through was an awesome achievement. He was playing some serious tennis

:37:52. > :37:55.last year and we played the Davis Cup quarterfinal immediately after

:37:56. > :37:59.Wimbledon here, and I was for sure he was going to play. I thought will

:38:00. > :38:04.have to prepare for him, and he ended up not playing. I was

:38:05. > :38:10.absolutely delighted, he was playing that well, he's great to watch. He's

:38:11. > :38:15.got the most beautiful single-handed backhand as we saw there. He can

:38:16. > :38:18.generate so much power. He's got a funky forehand technique which is

:38:19. > :38:24.quite unusual in the way he takes the racket back but, as many of the

:38:25. > :38:27.French players have, the flare, the confidence, it's never coached out

:38:28. > :38:32.of them at a young age. Their ability to be braver with their

:38:33. > :38:38.shots. He's great to watch and his consistency level, regain, his

:38:39. > :38:41.investment into its coaching team, he's obviously wanting to go the

:38:42. > :38:51.extra mile. Is not lost his ambition. I love watching the French

:38:52. > :38:54.players. If you could get a bonus point for greatest points, they

:38:55. > :39:00.would be in the top five of winning slams. It seems to me, they don't

:39:01. > :39:04.know the value of an ugly point. It's great to watch, but they don't

:39:05. > :39:08.have enough bread-and-butter shots in their arsenal, if you know what I

:39:09. > :39:15.mean. It's such a pity because I don't know, with Gasquet, on a big

:39:16. > :39:20.point, you've got to do that, but I don't think he understands that. The

:39:21. > :39:24.ball comes in and he wants to headed in a beautiful style. I like to

:39:25. > :39:31.watch it. There is Sebastien grows on, who knows what he's doing. But

:39:32. > :39:36.apart from telling how good he is, how do tactically work with Gael

:39:37. > :39:42.Monfils? It must be tough. He's also maybe for that reason but others in

:39:43. > :39:49.the corner as well. Someone who played in a clay court, likes the

:39:50. > :39:54.extended rallies. Ugly. He's got more consistent. Just like everyone

:39:55. > :39:57.else, coming to this generation, you've got to face Novak Djokovic

:39:58. > :40:05.Mark Robins Andy Murray, Federer, Nadal. It's tough to get over those

:40:06. > :40:09.guys. They're starting to serve now. Probably another 30 seconds to go

:40:10. > :40:16.before the next shower comes through. Richard Gasquet was such a

:40:17. > :40:20.prodigy. 14 years of age, tipped to be at the top, he's always trained

:40:21. > :40:25.at Roland Garros and been a part of that. How big a deal was it to get

:40:26. > :40:29.through to the last eight and have some success in your home Grand

:40:30. > :40:35.Slams? The atmosphere was absolutely incredible in that match. There's no

:40:36. > :40:43.doubt Andy was up against it. Richard Gasquet was on fire. He was

:40:44. > :40:48.hitting it so hard, so cleanly. But it's tough for them because they are

:40:49. > :40:55.crying out for a Grand Slam winner. They got so much depth. I was in the

:40:56. > :40:59.player 's restaurant there talking to Jeremy Chardy, 30 in the world,

:41:00. > :41:06.and he can't even go to the Olympics. He's number 30 in the

:41:07. > :41:09.world though. Their depth is incredible but it's tough for

:41:10. > :41:14.Gasquet because he's a great player. He's been talked about for so long

:41:15. > :41:20.and there's no doubt he carries a lot of weight of expectation for a

:41:21. > :41:24.number of years. I think he was the youngest player to get an ATP

:41:25. > :41:30.first-round winner. Aged 15, I think he was at the time. I actually

:41:31. > :41:33.think, like a lot of now, is playing into his 30s, he's probably more

:41:34. > :41:41.comfortable with who he is, and I think, as I mentioned earlier, the

:41:42. > :41:45.fact he is still investing heavily in his coaching team, he senses

:41:46. > :41:51.there's more to come from him. Novak and Murray have set the bar so high,

:41:52. > :41:54.you need these extra voices, because the game, they are taking it away

:41:55. > :42:00.from them, particularly Novak Djokovic. Absolutely. Watching the

:42:01. > :42:07.French Open final, Andy played such an amazing first set, but if we just

:42:08. > :42:13.dipped slightly, you look at Novak Djokovic, he's not going to miss.

:42:14. > :42:16.He's not going to miss the ball so everybody else is looking at that,

:42:17. > :42:19.Andy included, and doing the right thing, investing in themselves,

:42:20. > :42:26.looking at every area, the high-profile players are bringing in

:42:27. > :42:31.a super coach, and I'm absolutely delighted Evander Rendell has come

:42:32. > :42:36.back in, is great for Andy, so let's see how that one plays out. We are

:42:37. > :42:40.about to have a match get started here so I'm not sure how long they

:42:41. > :42:50.will be commentating for the deaths go to Andrew and Peter Fleming.

:42:51. > :42:56.COMMENTATOR: We've seen some knocking up of the highest order so

:42:57. > :43:02.far. We are going to play. Steve Johnson ready to play but the clouds

:43:03. > :43:40.are at hanging over us. Steve Johnson, ready to serve. Let's play.

:43:41. > :43:49.Both players will be little bit nervous. Uncertain of their footing,

:43:50. > :43:50.even though they've had a bit of a knockout. It's a bit greasy

:43:51. > :44:10.underfoot. There is that backhand we

:44:11. > :44:18.highlighted. Beautiful one-handed from Gasquet. And the approach shot,

:44:19. > :44:24.not penetrating enough or deep enough. Johnson wants to come to

:44:25. > :44:38.net, he needs to do better in the lead up attempt.

:44:39. > :44:50.Lovely pick-up. . Yeah, and that point is Steve Johnson in a

:44:51. > :44:54.nutshell. The server puts the opponent out of edition followed up

:44:55. > :44:59.by a forehand. He is all serve and forehand. Trying to evolve other

:45:00. > :45:17.parts of his game. Clearly a nice drop volley there.

:45:18. > :45:21.Glastonbury In the very first game, Gasquet is going to have a chance to

:45:22. > :46:11.break the American's serve. Gasquet takes it, an early

:46:12. > :46:23.breakthrough for the number four seed. Yeah, and Steve Johnson paying

:46:24. > :46:26.the price for being just a little too predictable there because

:46:27. > :46:31.Gasquet knows that players will attack his forehand more than his

:46:32. > :46:36.terrific backhand. He can often camp in that corner, and - because

:46:37. > :46:37.Johnson went cross-court, he left the down-the-line passing shot wide

:46:38. > :46:59.open. Johnson working the Gasquet forehand

:47:00. > :47:39.there. Overdoing the slice. That was the

:47:40. > :47:44.right idea. But you can see because Johnson really can't penetrate the

:47:45. > :47:48.court at all with the backhand, he's going to struggle to take control of

:47:49. > :47:51.many of these back-court rallies. It does look bright on your television

:47:52. > :48:23.screens, I'm sure, but dusk here. The weather is rumbling in from the

:48:24. > :48:46.west. A series of showers today. Make what use we can of the gaps.

:48:47. > :49:00.A shake of the head. The groundsman Graeme Kempton.

:49:01. > :49:13.Gasquet just checking with the umpire.

:49:14. > :49:20.That's more like it. That's the first time Johnson has attempted to

:49:21. > :49:42.hit an aggressive backhand, and it paid dividends.

:49:43. > :49:53.So Gasquet backs up that break, comfortable enough. He thinks there

:49:54. > :50:05.are a few things to improve... Just a few spots of rain. Play on. Peter

:50:06. > :50:09.Fleming, in the old days it was just play through the showers, slide

:50:10. > :50:11.around a little bit, the days before health and safety. Johnson serving.

:50:12. > :50:31.0-2. And lawyers! And player power. The umbrellas springs up - might be

:50:32. > :50:37.the end of things here. Yes, it is done. The rain is a lot heavier now.

:50:38. > :50:41.We have seen two cracking games. I hope you enjoyed that! Thanks for

:50:42. > :50:45.tuning in. We shall be back. The showers are fleeting through today,

:50:46. > :50:49.and there are big gaps between them, but it's a frustrating day for

:50:50. > :50:53.everyone. And not the least the players. I suppose they have to go

:50:54. > :50:56.and think about how to warm down, warm back up again, but of course,

:50:57. > :51:01.everyone has paid to be here as well. It is a very, very frustrating

:51:02. > :51:06.day, but we have seen some tennis. Richard Gasquet with that early

:51:07. > :51:13.break, the number four seed, leads Steve Johnson 2-0. Five minutes of

:51:14. > :51:19.play. Off go the players, off go the umbrellas. It's teeming down now.

:51:20. > :51:23.Run! Run for cover. And we shall hopefully return when the players

:51:24. > :51:29.return, and hopefully, it won't be too long.

:51:30. > :51:39.So there we are. The covers will be ramped across, and here at Queen's

:51:40. > :51:43.Club, it is a wet, miserable start to the tournament, but we shall play

:51:44. > :51:48.- there we go. The winds picked up as well. It's a nasty squall that's

:51:49. > :51:55.come in. But we will resume when things dry up again. Richard

:51:56. > :52:01.Gasquet, if number four seed from France, 2-0 up on the American Steve

:52:02. > :52:05.Johnson. Well, the wind picking up is possibly a good thing. It means

:52:06. > :52:10.it may be blowing those really dark clouds ahead. It may be blowing a

:52:11. > :52:14.few more in, but at the moment, it's looking a bit dull, a bit grey. What

:52:15. > :52:18.is coming here? We heard this is going to go on all day, one shower

:52:19. > :52:23.after another. I am afraid it is going to be one of those frustrating

:52:24. > :52:27.days we have got used to in the tennis season here in the British

:52:28. > :52:30.summer, but everyone - look - still enjoying themselves in this

:52:31. > :52:34.tournament or trying to enjoy themselves under their umbrella, but

:52:35. > :52:39.hopefully, we'll get some play very soon, and what a disappointing start

:52:40. > :52:43.for the Aegon Championships here. But I'm pleased to say Leon Smith is

:52:44. > :52:47.still with us. Andrew Castle has joined me as well. This is just

:52:48. > :52:52.awful, isn't it? Andrew, I mean, they're going to have to try and

:52:53. > :52:56.move something indoor, at least get the qualifying finished, do you

:52:57. > :53:01.think? Yes, let's move the whole tournament indoors. I am sure that's

:53:02. > :53:06.nice and easy including 7,000 seats. Some players bounce around the place

:53:07. > :53:11.and I concur 100% with Leon about the players' lounge. We snuck in

:53:12. > :53:16.despite having no equipment with us at all. But they bounce around the

:53:17. > :53:22.dressing rooms and handle this in different ways. Nadal was big

:53:23. > :53:26.bouncing around the dressing rooms. A lot of people sit around and talk

:53:27. > :53:29.nonsense. I don't know what they do. But these days with Wi-Fi, you can

:53:30. > :53:33.stay in communication with the whole world but yeah, difficult for the

:53:34. > :53:36.players and spectators alike. This one feels a bit more permanent,

:53:37. > :53:40.actually. It's certainly not look good. We were talking a little bit

:53:41. > :53:45.about Andy before the match started and we got our two giesms tennis and

:53:46. > :53:48.Ivan Lendl. It sort of caught everyone a bit by surprise, this,

:53:49. > :53:51.did you know they were back in communication? No, not really.

:53:52. > :53:58.You can sense that if Andy was looking for someone, he would be top

:53:59. > :54:02.of the list. I mean, that was - I think that was pretty obvious. And

:54:03. > :54:06.you could read his signals as well. He was asked a lot about it during

:54:07. > :54:09.the French Open. It was obvious what he was admitting. If I wanted

:54:10. > :54:14.someone, it would be Van. But I think it's great. It's good news for

:54:15. > :54:17.him for a number of ring reasons. I was lucky enough to be close to him

:54:18. > :54:21.when Ivan was around. He just brought this authority, sense of

:54:22. > :54:25.direction, and a confidence for Andy that could be, obviously, the most

:54:26. > :54:30.important thing is at the Slams, but also, I remember doing one preseason

:54:31. > :54:34.in Miami where Ivan was taking it, and it was - you rise. There is no

:54:35. > :54:38.messing around, on the court, these are the drills we're doing. This is

:54:39. > :54:42.why we're doing it, everything very, very organised, and a clear thought

:54:43. > :54:46.process, but you could see that Andy very much bought into it, you know,

:54:47. > :54:50.really respectful, and Andy - look, he's going a really - he's got a

:54:51. > :54:54.good radar for everything, and he's had to make a lot of choices with

:54:55. > :54:56.his coaches in the past, and he normally gets it right, and he

:54:57. > :55:00.normally improves under those situations. I have no doubt this

:55:01. > :55:07.will help him, not that he need that muches help but he has a big hurdle

:55:08. > :55:10.to go over and that's Djokovic. This will help. We have been talking

:55:11. > :55:13.about that in the first hour of the programme, we were talking about

:55:14. > :55:16.that but you know, as far as Lendl goes, it is so good that he has got

:55:17. > :55:19.him in his corner before those major matches. Yeah, he looks up there and

:55:20. > :55:23.cease somebody that won all of those major championships. He also sees

:55:24. > :55:27.somebody that had to wait before that great success arrived. He is

:55:28. > :55:30.one of those players that was a machine on the court except he's

:55:31. > :55:35.not. Hose actually - he tries to be very funny. He's got a sense of

:55:36. > :55:39.humour, Ivan, which is all his own thing, but as a player in the old

:55:40. > :55:42.days he never used to let anybody in. I think Andy probably likes that

:55:43. > :55:45.a little bit. There was a certain sort of hard exterior that the other

:55:46. > :55:49.players didn't get through. He revelled in that "I want to hit

:55:50. > :55:54.every player in the top ten" comment. He revelled in that very

:55:55. > :55:58.macho out. There it just works and the one really big deal - and Leon

:55:59. > :56:02.just said it - it's the word respect. It is as simple as that he

:56:03. > :56:06.looks up there, and he doesn't want to annoy him. He wants to please

:56:07. > :56:10.him, you know? And it's a difficult relationship, isn't it, between a

:56:11. > :56:14.coach who is being paid is, an employee and the person out there on

:56:15. > :56:19.the court needs to be pushed about. It's an odd relationship to have. On

:56:20. > :56:24.the one hand he's paying me but on the other I have to tell him off if

:56:25. > :56:28.he's a naughty boy. Very difficult. What the players have done,

:56:29. > :56:33.particularly nof A and Andy is, the training - the fitness levels.

:56:34. > :56:36.You're around Matt Little. I know he's put you through a lot of the

:56:37. > :56:40.things he's put Andy through. It's brutal. It was. There was one I

:56:41. > :56:43.think four, five weeks ago I thought that was me finished, obviously. It

:56:44. > :56:49.was the closest near-death experience I have had. I was doing

:56:50. > :56:53.the Versa Claimer. Oh! This was close. I was sitting there

:56:54. > :56:57.afterwards thinking I am not sure what I am going to do now. I did the

:56:58. > :57:03.right thing afterwards, did everything they were doing. Which is

:57:04. > :57:09.equally as bad as the Versa Climber. Yeah, I had to wear socks. I was

:57:10. > :57:15.mocked for that fair enough. And pants? Well - it's astonishing the

:57:16. > :57:19.work they do, and if you go and see one of the weeks where it's away

:57:20. > :57:25.from the competition, actually a physical week, then the amount of

:57:26. > :57:28.time they're actually doing stuff that's for physical preparation,

:57:29. > :57:32.it's unbelievable, the length of days and for any of the young

:57:33. > :57:37.players that are fortunate - Andy is brilliant this way inviting in

:57:38. > :57:41.whether it's Kyle Edmund or Jamie Baker - he's always allowed others

:57:42. > :57:45.in to have a look, as long as they go on the journey with him, but it's

:57:46. > :57:52.amazing to see how long he spends in a day. We're talking 9, 10, 11, 12

:57:53. > :57:57.hours of stuff going on. Pilates, everything. Yeah, it's that

:57:58. > :58:01.discipline. Andy and Novak have that over everybody else. People are

:58:02. > :58:05.striving for it. That's what is allowing the players to extend their

:58:06. > :58:11.career now. The thing that is difficult. When you're 17-19, your

:58:12. > :58:15.mind is everywhere. You have to start before. You have to be a

:58:16. > :58:19.specialist from the word go to build up these reserves of the physical

:58:20. > :58:23.energy and mental stamina as well which is why the players are getting

:58:24. > :58:27.older. They're getting far more training than they ever used to.

:58:28. > :58:33.Training used to be hard, repetitive stuff. Now it's a far more 100%

:58:34. > :58:37.being health. It's all-encompassing, and the diets are spectacular in

:58:38. > :58:40.their precise nature as well, and it's difficult. If you're of a

:58:41. > :58:43.certain mindset, you have to train it out in a military way and just

:58:44. > :58:48.become just like that. It's a full commitment. What shall we do, go to

:58:49. > :58:51.the gym or just go and have a cream bulleton? We're going to do

:58:52. > :58:56.something! I can tell you, we are going to have to come off air now

:58:57. > :59:00.because there is no prog prospect of tennis at the moment. We will be

:59:01. > :59:02.back, of course, if there is some live tennis, certainly hoping there

:59:03. > :59:06.It's home to a million people at any one time...

:59:07. > :59:09...consumes tens of millions of meals,