Day 1 part 1 Queen's

Good afternoon. We are here in the heart of West London, at the Queen's

club. A wonderful sporting venue which hosts the prestigious

tournament with a proud history. It is seen as the perfect start tore

the main course, Wimbledon, which is now just two weeks away. With 25 of

the last 27 Wimbledon champions having played here, you can

understand why. This year's field at the AEGON

Championships is one of the strongest ever. The stars are out

this week, as they aim to lift this fabulous, famous trophy.

# Good times # Oh,

What a line up. We should be enjoying some terrific tennis here

this afternoon. After all it is the middle of June. Summer is here. It

should be. Sadly, we've had rain and more is forecast throughout the day.

No play here until at least 1. 30pm. This is such a popular tournament

for the spectators and players. It has grown and grown. There's more

prize money, more strength and debt. We have four past champions and

Grand Slam champions in the draws. Half an hour until the first players

step on to court. This is what we can look forward to. First on court

will be Richard Gasquet, the number four seed, who was Wimbledon

semi-finalist last year, up against Steve Johnson.

Daniel Evans against Paul-Henry Mathieu, the experienced French man.

Grigor Dimitrov against Janko Tipsarevic and Marin Cilic, another

former champion up against Feliciano Lopez. They may have a bit of a wait

for that fourth match. We said there'll be a few showers,

but we have plenty to talk about. Two people who love to give their

views, Andrew and John. We can talk about Sharapova's drug ban and the

new star of the women's game and the news we heard a day or so ago about

Lendl joining Andy Murray. That was a surprise. Andy spoke to ourry

yesterday. You don't half keep a good secret,

don't you? It came about quick, to be honest after the French, you

know, the last few months, obviously since then I have been winning a lot

of matches. My team is very strong. Jamie, who I started to work with

this year, we have been getting on great and it came up after the

French and everything has happened very, very quickly. I didn't have to

keep it a secret for long. You have to tell me what he said on the

telephone. He is a tough negotiator. Did he hit you hard? We have spoken

a lot over the past couple of years. And we spoke on the phone, in the

evening and he spoke to my team A couple of my team who have been

there the whole time and who he has worked with before, just to gauge

where I was at, what my motivation was like and how I had been training

and stuff. We spoke on the phone for 40 minutes or so. We said great, let

me sleep on it and he messaged me yesterday and said, let's do it. How

long do you anticipate this for? Is there a set time? Is it inofate and

carry on? I would -- indefinite and carry on? I would like for it to go

on as long as possible. The most important thing first is with the

rest of my team when we get together here that everyone gets on. You

know, that him and Jamie are seeing things the same way. Take it from

there. The plan is obviously to have the strongest team I can to help me

achieve my goals. He can help with that, I am sure. I have got to say,

this is great news. It is what everyone was talking about. He was

so successful under Lendl before. When you look back and when Andy

beat Djokovic, what has happened since then, Andy has played very

well, but Djokovic has had an amazing rise. What has been the

difference? Is he working harder than Andy? I don't think so. Has he

changed his game? Maybe he's got a bit aggressive, but so has Andy. Is

Lendl the missing ingredient? There was a difference with Andy when he

had him. His concentration was better, his mind was not wandering

in the matches like it does when he's had other coaches. For me, I

have been waiting for this. This could be the missing ingredient. He

has to beat Djokovic. It comes down to there are lots of other good

players, let's face it Andy has not figured Djokovic out. No-one has.

Lendl back in his camp - it is a great signing and at the right time

of the year to do it. And the strength of Lendl, Murray has huge

respect for him as a player and a champion. You need someone in your

corner who has done that and been there and gives you that extra edge

It is sensible authority that he brings. The first two matches at the

French Open when Andy, he ended up making the final. He's incredibly

high-level performer. I don't think there's a more eminent British

sports person right now. He looks up and there sees Lendl raising an

eyebrow. He will not mess about so much like he did against Bjorn, in

the French Open. He went five sets in his first two matches. That is

unlikely to have happened. I am not saying that right at the end of the

tournament that made any difference. These sort of lapses, if Lendl sees

that he will say to Andy why it happened and why it must not again.

In that way, there is respect, authority. There is gravitas from

Lendl. It is fantastic. It is brave of Andy to do that again. Once

something is over, to reignite it is a positive move. I was amazed

yesterday, also to be with Andy at the moment, arriving in a wet car

park this morning as well - very relaxed. New dad, playing great.

Only one thing is on his mind and agree with John Lloyd, Djokovic. It

is on everybody's mind. Rafa has got this - the wrist problem. Federer

has got a bad back. There's no-one else in their class. Even Wawrinka,

I don't see him in the same class as those two guys. It will be

fascinating. We could have Lendl verses McEnroe.

A great appointment. Mac is here. He's here at Queen's. You don't want

to miss diswhat has been brought to Andy's game. If you look at the

record - it is the Again that is Djokovic. Let's not

take anything away from Mauresmo. She has added to his game and made

him come forward more. It was a successful relationship to a certain

extent obviously. But the thing about with these top player t great

players, that I have a thirst for Grand Slam titles. It drives them.

Yes, these are all very important tournaments. Other ones mean a lot.

Under Lendl he won two. There is something missing. They are looking

for an edge these top players. Look at the coaches. Stanislas Wawrinka -

they are looking for an edge and Lendl can bring that.

Jamie brought a lot to Murray's game in the fact that having lost to

dodge and then beating him in Rome, changed up the service, the way he

was serving, serving more to the Djokovic forehand. In the first set

of that handle Murray served really well and dominated Djokovic. It was

only when the serve went off that Djokovic took control. When you are

serving to Djokovic, you know you have to hit the lines. You have know

you have to hit the boxes. You know you have to have the exact patterns

otherwise he will munch you up. What a great honour. I said to him

yesterday, congratulations. He's taken his man to the French Open

final. What this comes down to is not the coaches, it is the player

and the willingness to change. Murray could have taken it at any

time in his career the easy way out. For the first time he didn't expect

to get top 100 and be a professional forever. Then top 100, then top 50,

then top 10. He could have said stop at any time, I am satisfied. Even at

29 and with these wonderful changes in his life - becoming a dad and all

that stuff and the rewards of the Davis Cup and French Open, he wants

more. I love that. That is superb. It is such a positive move. It comes

from the player himself. He wants it. That is the biggest message this

sends out. Let's salute what Murray has done - OK two Grand Slam titles.

It is wonderful. He's been in ten Grand Slam finals. That is immense.

It is staggering. He's a great, great player. Particularly in this

era when you think about Federer, Djokovic and Nadal. Exactly. Look

who he has come up against. It is phenomenal. Andy, his thirst remains

high. He has three, four good years, they may be peak years, perhaps.

With hiring Lendl Grand Slams are what drives him. Winning all these

finals and ranking number two. He wants to be number one in the world.

He wants to win more Grand Slams. That is what drives him. That is why

they wake up to train an extra three hours. He has appointed someone to

do that. It is the mental side which may be the difference between him

and Djokovic. He has found a winning formula against Djokovic. He did

knit Rome and in that first set. It is doing it over five sets. That is

the problem. Djokovic doesn't have those dips. And Murray and I think

what you alluded to, Andy in the first two rounds at the French,

sometimes when he plays the long matches where he goes off mentally a

little bit. When you come up in the finals against Djokovic, you have to

have plenty in the tank. Sometimes he loses it with the early rounds

when he goes off a little bit. Lendl will cut that out. When you play

Djokovic you have to be 100%. Not one thing can be below 100%. He

keeps that focus for five or six hours, however much it S Andy, at

times, some sets he has beaten Djokovic and you say, why can't he

keep it up? Well you try and do it for five hours. That is the

difference! And you know it is such a physical battle against Djokovic.

This is going to be a bit of a physical and mental battle here,

isn't it? It will be showery for the next few days. That is not easy for

the players. You have to be in right mind set. Totally. They are here

because it is a great tournament. It stands alone. We alluded to

Wimbledon in two weeks. The players want to win this as well. There are

not many arenas with the big clubhouse and the big open stand and

that sense of occasion playing in London brings. They want to play

here. I get nervous the first two or three days at Queen's watching the

players move. They are playing on surfaces where they put the foot

down. On clay they know how to control the slide. This surface, the

first two or three days, a lot of juice in the top surface. Very, very

hard underneath as well. Just, please, you know, caution the way

you move. It is hard enough getting up to the studio, let alone chasing

behind the baseline here on the outside edges of the court. I hope

when they get out they are careful. Talking of Murray, the defending

champion, not an easy opening. He won the tournament this week. He

is coming here with amazing confidence. He is number one in

double or has he lost that ranking? I think Andy told me he lost it back

to Jamie. Mahut is a dangerous player. Look at how solid that draw

is. Daniel Evans, are you kidding me?

Daniel Evans! Dimitrov, an interesting one. Two years ago the

champion. Now losing first round at the French. Can he refind his form.

That is the top half and this is the bottom half.

Wawrinka - it is unbelievable against Verdasco. I mean talk about

tough openers. Qualifying is not over yet. 15 foot between them...

Isn't it lovely to have him back? With Cilic and Mratin's as well,

there are few who have the Grand Slams. They have made themselves

part of this wonderful rather. That's a dangerous first round.

Johnny must be thinking, I would have liked a little bit easier first

round for the person I'm working with to sort of get his feet on the

grass going. That's a tough first round. Matt has been a big fan of

Raonic, though, in the serve, particularly this serve. He's here

for the grass court season and he says he can help Raonic. He says

he's one of the six that can win Wimbledon. We will see. It's moving

along. They're hoping to get play under way in 15 minutes. I turned

around to have a look at the clock and sadly behind it is a big, black

cloud. Let's hoping it's moving in a totally different direction than

coming here. A lot of activity on Centre Court. Hopefully, we'll get

play under way in just a moment. First on court is Richard Gasquet

against Steve Johnson. That is what we're looking forward to. So about

another 15 minutes. Now we're going to talk a little bit about

Sharapova, who was given a two-year drugs ban. A little bit about the

story of her - she burst on to the scene as a 17-year-old winning

Wimbledon, and then a year later her father took her to Moscow to see a

doctor where he prescribed 30 different medications and

supplements for her to take. She stopped working with the doctor in

2012 but carried on taking three of them including Meldonium that was

banneded from the beginning of the year. She's going to go to appeal,

but she has been give and two-year ban. This is the story so far. Start

with the news that Maria Sharapova has been banned from tennis for two

years after testing positive for the banned drug. I did fail the test,

and I take full responsibility for it. Some people thought it was going

to be less than that. But I think that's - you know, that's about

right. I mean, you know, I spoke a lot about it in March. I talked a

lot about it, you know, in sport, if you are taking performance-enhancing

drugs, you deserve to be punished and suspended. It's then up to the

governing bodies and the courts and the lawyers to, you know, to work

out how long that suspension is. It's not for me to decide that. I

was obviously very surprised. That was my first, you know, my first

feeling. I sort of couldn't believe it. At the same time, I feel as if

I'm the type of guy that, you know, I don't really like having, you

know, I think drugs and doping in sport is not acceptable, and I stand

very clear on it, but at the same time I was just really surprised.

You know, it's not my job to decide how long she gets or when she comes

back, so yeah... I am not really informed on the case. I don't know

any details, but the only thing I know is she has a great head on her

shoulders. She - I'm sure she handles the situation the best way

you can. It's not easy for an athlete to be away for so long. The

only thing I can do is wish her all the best. For Marieia, she was at

the top of the game, and you know, I don't know the details of her case.

I don't know what is going on, and I'm just really hoping for her that

she's going to be able to bounce back from that and to get back to

tennis as soon as possible. You know, I think it's fair, and you

know, if you want to keep as clean a sport as possible, you know, when

people do violate and break the rules, they - you know, they need to

be punished. It's very difficult. It's a big story, this, and it's a

difficult story to understand because this drug was not banned

until January the 1st this year, and she just claimed she didn't realise

it, and yet they are saying - she was saying she was sent an e-mail,

but it was her agent that was supposed to be telling her what was

banned and he hadn't checked. She's saying it was unintentional, but the

bottom line is are you responsible for what you put in your own body?

That is absolutely the bottom line. The integrity of the sport is

everything here. Did she have a performance-enhancing drug in her

system? She did. How it got there is secondary. I'm sorry. If it's

intentional or unintentional is immaterial. What we're watching is a

sport on TV. The 7,000 people have all paid Dom in, no matter what

sport it is, you have people sitting at home. They need to know what

they're watching is clean. Otherwise, we won't have any of this

and just have a drug-fuelled tournament and have a tournament

where nobody is on drugs. In fact, let's do that at the Olympics. You

want to see someone run 300 metres in eight seconds then die? It's in

your system. Whether it got there intentionally or not has nothing to

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

commercial endorsements a year alone plus prize money, don't tell me you

had no oversight on that. Your team had no oversight? Max Eisenberg from

IMG representing her, the team around - there has been some very,

very big mistakes made, but now I'm afraid you have to pay the price

because we need know what we're watching is clean. The only way she

can appeal is on the harshness of the sentence. I understand the ITF

were pushing for a four-year ban which would have ended her career.

She can come back now in January unless the Court of Arbitration for

Sport lessen it, in which case she'd come back quicker, but as it stands,

it will be January 2018 when she can return. There will still be some

tennis her system if she wants it, but the point is and Andy Murray has

been superb on this a well - very strong and happy to come out and say

it needs to be clean. What medical purpose could you have for using

that? Do you believe that or not? I am allowing a little crack of light.

We can debate it. Take a close look at what that drug and what it does

for you and ask yourself whether you want to be taking that for ten years

and whether you should have been. I don't believe it and I am glad she

got the ban. It's a sad story, but you have to pay the price. She

admitted taking it five times at the Australian Open, six times during

Wimbledon last year. It's interesting, when you have a drugs

test you have to fill in a drugs form. She hadn't told her team. The

only people who knew she was taking it was herself, her manager, her

agent and her father, so not her doctor or nutritionist or physio. On

the players' form, she has to fill out a form and say what she's taking

and sign it. Never once - and she was tested many times in the last

two years has she mentioned this drug. She is claiming she only put

down the medication she takes on a daily basis. There is a lot of

suspicious stuff there with a lot of the quotes she said. She said in the

interview she takings full responsibility for her actions.

Correct, you have to do that Andy Murray said the same thing. If

you're caught doing that and something happens, you have to take

full responsibility. The ban is correct. It sends a message out as

well, by the way, that when the drug authorities come after a superstar

like this and don't try to push it away, it sends a message out to

everybody else. I agree totally - Andy said you have to have the

reputation of a clean sport. I believe tennis is by and large, and

when something happens like this, you have to go for it and the full

penalty has to happen. Let's get further reaction to this story with

John. With me on the balcony overlooking

the court, which is clean and looking like we're going to have

players on it very, very shortly, Barry and Mike, two of the most

esteemed members of the press room who have been writing about this

Sharapovaication for the last few months. How much is this a benchmark

for how seriously the tennis authorities are taking what is

perceived to be perhaps a drugs problem within the sport? I think

it's a very firm benchmark. They see there are two major problems to

tennis at the moment. The drug threat and the gambling threat, and

this is a massive line being drawn in the sand on how far the - they're

prepared to go. Maria Sharapova is arguably the biggest name in women's

tennis and that they have not been afraid in banning her because they

want to make a stance. There are a lot of financial imperatives here,

of course, and the women's game would love to have her back because

they need the Sharapova-Williams rivalry, everything like that how

much do you - is there the cynicism in the journalistic brain of yours

that says, it's two years, but actually on appeal they'll knock it

down to one? I would think - I mean, the maximum term is four years. She

actually got two years. Given the fact that we know that the drug was

in her system and she hasn't denied that I don't really see how much

further they can actually knock it down. I was speaking to someone who

knows a bit more about this - the person who has been involved in the

appeals process. His view was it actually couldn't go down a great

deal further, further to what Barry said. I think tennis has actually

come out of this reasonably well because the rap on tennis has been

to sort of sweep it under the carpet a bit like we have seen in golf on a

few occasions. They have caught a very big fish and someone who as you

say her absence from the tour is pretty damaging to the game let

alone herself. We're having the players out in a couple of moments'

time axe slight delay for whatever reason. In terms of the line in the

sand having been drawn, though, how much do you think bagging a fish as

large as Sharapova really is - a lot of people in the locking room are

going to be saying, whatever I was tempted to take, don't even think

about it? Absolutely. That is the message that has been given out very

firmly. They all got tested at the Australian Open, so it just goes to

show that Sharapova was the only one taking Mel dofics nium playing at

the Australian Open, but the message is very, very plain in glaring, big

letters - don't do it. Do you think across the board that tennis now,

having made this stand, if you like, that the sporting public at large an

are going to view the sport differently? Andrew Castle was

saying a few moments ago we have to believe what we see on the court.

How much of it is that the tennis is prepared to confront whatever the

issues may be? It's a fair statement. Tennis is a rich sport.

There are some wealthy athletes that are rightly well rewarded. I still

feel they could put more resources into it. Whether you read - the

Grand Slams - for example, we just had the French Open. It was 32

million euros, the prize money there. Wimbledon, it escapes me but

it's even more than that. The sort of reasonably accurate guesstimate

is they're putting about ?3 million, if that, per year into drug testing.

I'd like to see that grow a little bit, because, you know, Andrew is

right. You have got to believe in what you're seeing on the court is

clean. If I was a player - really we mustn't forget this is about

protecting clean players as much as anything. If I was a player I would

be thinking, well, if I have to forgo a fraction of my prize money

to ensure that the person competing against me was doing it on a level

playing field that it seems to me like a decent bargain. Good stuff.

Thank you very much to you. And a quick word to Steven Pharaoh, the

tournament director who is here. Obviously, a frustrating start, but

semi-blue skies now. How are you feeling about the prospects of the

week ahead? I am feeling great. It's the first day of the Queens. It's

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

a few frustrated with the weather certainly earlier in the week, but

we're going to get the tennis under way shortly. We're positive.

Contingency plans. We have a whole week, John, so at the minute

everything will go ahead as planned. We're optimistic. Good stuff. We

share your optimism. Thank you very much. Back to you.

Thank you, John. Just as we hear, the players are making their way on

to court. That is good news. I am not sure what blue skies John was

looking at. It's very dark and grey from our vantage point in the

studio, but great news for the spectators the players are on court,

Richard Gasquet against Steve Johnson. That's what we're looking

forward to, and Richard Gasquet, Wimbledon semifinalist last year,

quarter-finalist he was at the French Open and always a very, very

tough, experienced player up against Steve Johnson. He's always

dangerous, can be dangerous. He's making his debut here, has big

serve. Let's hope we get plenty of play. There will be a short pause

before they get play under way here because the tournament organisers

have decided there will be a minute's silence to remember those

who lost their lives in the horrific shooting in Orlando, Florida two

days ago, so we're going to pause here and I'll hand over to the

tournament announcer. Ladies and gentlemen, before we start play for

the day, could we please ask you to stand and observe a minute's silence

for the victims of yesterday's shootings in Orlando? Thank you,

ladies and gentlemen. Everybody here remembering the sad

loss of life in Orlando, Florida. At the championship, the first day and

Gasquet against Johnson is our starter. Then it is Daniel Evans,

who comes in as a wildcard against Paul-Henry Mathieu. We have two

former champions here. Dimitrov against Janko Tipsarevic, and Marin

Cilic will face Feliciano Lopez. Plenty of dark skies around I have a

feeling it will be one of those days, a little bit of on/off tennis.

You wanted one more comment about Maria Sharapova. Just reacting to

what John, Barry and Mike said and the order of play - there are two

people under different circumstances who have suffered drug bans with

different outcomes in the end and whether or not tennis is doing

enough. It is not just down to tennis, you know? I am concerned

that sponsors are staying with people who are doping.

You know, and some of the sponsors staying with Maria Sharapova and

some of the reasons they are giving about their partnership going

forward I find it unbelievable. It is all very well saying tennis

should put more money towards drug testing and that is right. The

athlete's biological passport is superb, taking drug readings over

time - that is good. Sponsors ought to pay for some of this as well.

They are benefit from the athletic performance and the endorsements

they have with these people. Do you want to work with clean or doping

athletes? I don't like it. I will not bother naming any of them. I

will not name but one of the sponsors said she's a wonderful role

model. This is what they are saying after they have give p her a

two-year ban and she's admitted taking it. This is a drug,

meldonium, let's face it, it improves your met tabbism and

stamina. It is performance enhancing. Through enhanced blood

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

a victory for Bolt because we all know that Justin had been done twice

for doping. Look, I support clean athletes. What is the answer then?

The athlete's biological passport is great. A lot more out of competition

testing. There has to be discipline. Andy has done great and a number

have done great by saying, this is the way it has to be. They have to

lead and the authorities have to follow. In ten years' time f we

allow people to escape, or if there is cover-up anywhere, talking about

the golf and all the rest of it, the integrity of the sport is

everything. We don't already believe politicians very much. People are

going to church less and less. You have to believe in what you are

watching. I read that Wimbledon will have a

committee meeting to see whether she may be stripped of the membership,

which she got an honorary membership for the tournament. Wimbledon are

really cracking down on the drugs issue. There'll be more blood and

urine testing than any year before. You would expect them to protect

their brand, to protect the integrity of the brand. It has to

take place on the ATP. When somebody rocks up at 7am and knocks on the

door of where you said you will be and you are not there r and if you

do it three times, you are done. . It is considered a positive. I will

not take accusations from people outside the sport that tennis is not

at least aware of this problem and actively moving in the right

direction. The biological passport is the big deal and the blood

readings. Tennis has to be vigilant, otherwise we are not sitting here

enjoying the game knowing what we are seeing is true and honest. At

the moment we are seeing Richard Gasquet against Steve Johnson. We

know a lot about Gasquet. We have seen him over the years. He is a

wonderful player on all surfaces. He loves the grass. I would like to

know more about Steve Johnson. What do you know about Steve? He's a

very, very good player. Very workman liek. He's done his -- workman-like.

He's done through the college system. Solid. Not very easy for

Richard Gasquet to play in the first round. Looking quickly back at

Richard Gasquet, who has got that beautiful one-handed backhand, it is

interesting to watch him at the French Open and how well he played

there and he comes up against Murray and played a fantastic first set.

Everybody on the tour, other than Djokovic, they cannot keep with Andy

Murray because he's so good and makes you play so many balls and

then Gasquet fell apart. That is the sort of standard, it is the

benchmark that Murray and top players lay out there. Johnson is a

good player. He will not be scared of Richard Gasquet. This is not an

easy first round. He is dangerous, he has a serve, he has got some

weapons and that. It is about consistency. For Steve? Completely.

Indoors and on a grass court eventually he can be very effective.

He's much bigger and stronger than what he looks like. When he takes

his position up at the net we will see how well he moves on the grass.

If he gets to the net in an effective position, he will be tough

to get the ball past. Certainly a player you can imagine winning three

or four rounds of Wimbledon. Because it is the ATP 500. These first round

matches you don't ease your way in. It is one of many matches where you

can imagine these conditions are a leveller and Johnson doesn't need

much help either. She a good player. The conditions are cold, the court

will be wet. It is slippery out there. You have to get your rhythm

on the grass and that is really tricky. As I hear, there are a few

spots of rain coming down. I don't know what we will be doing in a

moment. Do these first matches on grass, they are very, very tricky,

aren't they? They are so important. It is such a big event and you want

some matches under your belt going into Wimbledon. It is a prestigious

event. Everybody is cautious. You have a good week's weather like last

week and all of a sudden the rain comes out and makes the court damp.

You are always unsure about the first couple of days out here on the

grass. I think Steve Johnson... He's had enough. The umbrellas are coming

up. This is one surface you cannot mess about with. At the French Open

they can get away with it on the clay. On grass you cannot play if it

is at all wet. It is too dangerous, the surface. They video to get the

covers on quick -- they have to get the covers on quickly. In France

they know the rain helps the clay. That is not the case here and this

will... I think we knew it would be one of these days. In fact, I think,

the first three days are not going to be that good. Having looked at

the forecast we are in for a number of showers. That will be tricky. A

lot of the players are playing doubles and singles here. They want

as much practise on the grass as possible and the matches will back

up. They will be down at the National Tennis Centre hitting

volleys and overhead because they will play indoors, stretching out

and all that stuff. It takes a completely different mentality. To

go from clay to grass is difficult enough, let alone clay to wet grass.

Half an hour a day, the possibility. The movements are totally different

on a grass court and the rallies are very, very different. Andy Murray

told me actually that... This manage has to earn his money. The covers

are going on. As you can see the umbrellas are going up around the

stands here. Covers are going on. Players will go back to the locker

room and we will carry on talking for a little bit. That is the way it

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

around. We are going to see the ground staff getting another

workout. They have been doing this all day long. The covers were on

when I came here, they were on, off again. It will be very, very

difficult. You feel for the spectators as well. It is such a

wonderful tournament. They love to get a ticket here. The hospitality

at the back is fantastic. There is plenty to eat and drink. Arriving

through the car park and the back at the TV compound and you go from what

TV compounds are, which are nasty places, full of metal and scanners

and all the rest of it, straight from there into a champagne bar. I

found a new door to arrive at. The indoor courts normally here there is

a fantastic champagne bar. They have a place to go. I could have easily

spent half an hour there. I would have just had a couple. It is

difficult. He employs 25 staff here. Less obviously over the course of

the year. The growing conditions this year for the grass were

perfect. The rain they had in Paris helped the grass very much. He's

having a laugh, Kimpton. Not now! This is made the play hazardous for

the players over the first few days. It is worrying for all those

watching, because a little slip here and an injury you don't have a big

recovery time - Wimbledon is two weeks away. It is risky. There is a

balance and I must say British spectators, I suppose because we are

used to this, be but that I are a patient lot here. Patriotic. They

want to see tennis, but they know their tennis, and they know grass is

not a surface you can mess about with. The organisers want to help

spectators, they want tennis out here. This is a surface you cannot

mess about with. It is like landing on concrete as well. This court is

the hardest courtvy ever fallen on myself. It is different from

Wimbledon. A very different feel. Somebody said it was slow to me

yesterday. I interviewed all the players. Really? In the old days...

And higher bouncing. People would serve and it would end up around

your throat. Mind you I played Fouget here. A difficult day for

everything. We have talked about Ivan Lendl, who is back in Murray's

corner. Let's talk more about the super coaches, because not everyone

agrees with them. I listened to Jim and he said, what do they bring? Is

that what he said? He's not a big fan. Maybe he has not been asked.

Maybe he didn't get the invitation. He is a super coach. He does the

American Davis Cup team. And John McEnroe got the call - do you like

that match-up? I love that match-up. You have someone... Raonic does not

say much. Not much personality on the court, now he's dealing the

person with the most personality. He can talk under water, John McEnroe.

I thought about their pre-match talks, will Raonic say a word. You

are used to coaches, Ivan Lendl with his dark glasses on. No expression.

Most don't say a word. How will Mac stay there still? I can see him

pulling what hair he's got left out of his head. We will have to put on

a microphone. He has said I will not be like Lendl, I will not sit there

question letly. With -- quietly. With Mac he sees things a second or

two ahead of most people. He is a genius. There are no ifs and buts

about it. It will be interesting to see if he can translate that to

where a normal person can get it without going too far. I know it is

strange, when I was 17, I went to be coached for a while with Lou Hoad,

he said, no you take it like this. He said, no, just like this. I said,

OK. It was difficult for him to relate to someone as bad as me in

comparison with him. There's sort of a fine dividing line between

coaches. You cannot put too much information in. There is a timing

about it. The difference is with these top players and I disagree

with Jim on this, I believe these days, there's such a small

difference between the top players and they are looking for an edge,

the night before matches, these great players, even the great ones

get nervous. They worry about certain aspects... You need to. When

you have a player who has been in your corner and might say something

small, if you get in this situation this is what you do... This and this

is what I do... The players out here, how many times have you heard

players say, I could so been a protection the. -- I could have been

a professional... The marginal improvements they look to make. You

change a grip, you feel your forehand is letting you down. These

guys will work on it for six or eight months before they are

comfortable enough to go out there and it is engrained in the system.

Tiny little margins. If it is a tiny margin up here which is making the

difference, like John is saying, that is worth the salary plus.

Whether it might be something slightly technical, it's worth

having them onboard. I know what he's saying to Raonic - you're

six-and-a-half foot tall. You have a wingspan like huge. Get your timing

right but go forward. Nobody ever moved forward and hit more volleys

than John McEnroe. Also, Raonic is one of those that we have been

talking about. It's only for three weeks, isn't it? But we'll see.

Raonic is one. Players we have been talking about for going forward. He

has been the next best big thing we have been talking about - the one

that is likely to challenge the top four right - of the game. As you can

see, semifinal and Wimbledon and at the Australian Open. He's got all

the weapons, hasn't he? There's little Galle gap here amongst the

top which we have talked about - the big - the super four, and then you

look at it now - you look at Nadal as being so many injuries. Is he

going to get back to his best. There are questions there. Roger Federer

is getting injuries, first time really in his career. There is a gap

there. You have Wawrinka. You have Murray and obviously Djokovic.

Nishikori. And Raonic. They're threatened. They're not far away

from winning a Grand Slam. There is gaps there. You still have Djokovic

and Murray but at least the gap is getting a little bit smaller now.

There is a chance for these boys to push right up there now. If you look

at the top ten, Djokovic, how far ahead is he at number one? He has

double the points of anybody else. It's ridiculous. If we can look at

the top ten of the rankings, as I said, he's way up in front. Murray

behind. He's a long way ahead of Federer if you look at the points.

Unbelievable. 16,950 versus 8,915 is at the top of the game. He is

three-and-a-half Grand Slam wins ahead. It's an outrage. I don't know

how he manages to maintain the consistency and hunger, so he's

right at the top but what you're talking about, people moving up,

Raonic is one of those guys. If McEnroe can make it a bit nastier

that is something that's going to help him, but Dom Dominic is one.

People we're talking about. Looking at that, John McEnroe says there are

six people he thinks can win Wimbledon. Rafa is not there. Who is

he not including above Milos, because he says him. Top three,

obviously, then he's talking Stan. He's talk Nishikori. I don't think

Stan can win Wimbledon with his elbow. Says he! Milos has a chance.

On the first practise here McEnroe said, OK, I'll get your hitting

partner on, and Max says no, I'm going to hit, and on he went, three

lauf hours he was out there hitting nonstop, 57 years old,

three-and-a-half hours. He played - I think Milos told me he played 18

hours the first few days or something, was on court 18 hours

with him. Just serve at him. I want Raonic to serve as hard as he

possibly can, 150mph right at John. John will hand it back and make it

happen. He still hits the ball well enough. For me, he played the

greatest match I have ever seen not in terms of great to watch because

it was - he demolished Ivan Lendl, but when he beat Ivan Lendl in the

finals of the US Open, I was sitting courtside right behind him. I could

see everything, and he was taking his first serve on the rise and

coming in. I can't remember the exact score but I believe it was

something like 6-3, 6-3, 6-4. He had a big serve and McEnroe was taking

the first serve on the rise and coming in behind it. It was a

monstrous performance and I thought on this day, no-one ever could have

beaten him. He was unbelievable. I was thinking some of the things he

might be showing Raonic, just the hands. I'm sure Raonic is sometimes

just looking going, wow! He arrived in '77, and produced that straight

away at the age of 17, that innate understanding of where to stand,

where to be to make the view from the other end so difficult. I

mean... It's instinct, isn't it? It is. When it comes to playing at the

Albert Hall which is a great, great honour - you hit reflex volleys with

John even now. It's just a joke. The ball keeps coming back and it

doesn't look like he's taken the racket back at all. It just pings

off. You bring this and the fittieth, ugliest temper of all time

to Raonic, there is no question that's going to help him. He says

why are you being so nice to your opponent? Somebody annoys you in the

crowd - react, Milos! The two semifinals, he was within himself.

You have to get out of yourself and embrace that moment. He'll go out in

the first round now and McEnroe! Kgyrios, absolutely. McEnroe was

asked about coaching because he hasn't coached a lot. He had a brief

spell with Boris Becker. I love that It was brief! And McEnroe was asked

about it and what went wrong. Mac said he didn't listen to a word I

said. Good for Boris. Let's face it, Boris is just doing wonders with

Djokovic. You can understand now why Boris wasn't going to turn down

Novak Djokovic. Because you did wonder - he has a great portfolio of

work going around the place being Boris. He's a great brand and enjoys

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

just said, no, no, no. Novak Djokovic comes knocking on the door,

you have to put everything else down and go ahead and do that. The

rewards have been extraordinary to. Hold all four Slams at the same

time... It was interesting with Novak and Boris, when that happened

everyone was saying, I am not sure about that, but he hired Boris

because he had been struggling mentally in the finals of the grand

slams, and he changed it around. That's why the Jim Courier comment -

I think Jim is great and very knowledgeable. I don't get what he's

saying there because for me, that was a perfect example. Of course

Novak has to hit the balls. No-one is saying that it's the player's

responsibility when it comes down to it but why did that happen? Boris

must have had a great help there because he was struggling mentally

in finals. Now he plays them in first round, he's so comfortable.

Maybe Jim was just talking nonsense in a rain break to the French. Oh,

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

he, at Wimbledon? Yes, we'll ask him, day one. I'll ask him! Milos,

we look at this tournament here, talk about Andy Murray but actually

there are four British players in the draw, Dan Evans we know,

hopefully, weather-permitting, will be on court later. Five there are -

Kyle Edmund is in the draw and also Aljaz Bedene, who still hasn't won

his appeal about representing Britain in the Davis Cup, but he's

lived in this country for many, many years, and a good addition to the

British - I asked him why he came over. He said, look, I love it here.

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

here and everything else, but because he played three matches -

dead matches I think each one of them for Slovenia, when he was

younger, it mean he is can't play under new ITF eligibility rules, you

can't represent your new country. So they appealed. In fact, the

tournament director here is also a lawyer for the LTA. He has been the

one who has been fantastically supporting him throughout this whole

process, but I am afraid it has failed. Now they have to work out

what he wants to do next. These British number two but can't play

the Davis Cup. They play changed the process during him becoming British,

so it's a tough gig for him. It's court he's playing pretty well.

Third round just recently and Djokovic got beaten quite

comfortably there but the third round of a Grand Slam is - Good

player, hard worker. It obviously would be a huge edition to the Davis

Cup for Great Britain. You could say we don't need him because we have

just won it but we will need him and he will be a tremendous backup when

Andy doesn't play in some of these matches. It's a great pity he's not

playing. It's Serbia the week after Wimbledon and Djokovic-Murray, do

you think both will play? Andy Murray wants to play. It's all

subject to reassessment after Wimbledon... And readjustment

because it's a clay court going from the grass. Then Rio and if US Open.

It's a very busy summer and it starts right here. Summer did, you

say? If it would start! Andy is definitely going to play. I keep

hearing that Novak Djokovic is not going to play or doesn't want to

play or whatever - I have no information on that He hasn't said

anything. There's lot of speculation he doesn't want to play. I think it

will depend what both of them do at Wimbledon. Play each other on the

Sunday... A week later. That's what we want. Indeed we do. What we want

is any tennis at the moment! Because we're still waiting for the clouds

to clear away and for play to get back on. We have seen one wonderful

warm-up so far. That was good. Let's hope we'll have some more, so we're

hoping we will get some play very soon, and the order of play, if we

get it, but as you can see, they're inflating the tent at the moment.

That is not good news. It's Gasquet against Johnson. We have already

seen them on court and Dan Evans against Paul-Henri Mathieu.

We haven't got any tennis for you today, so we're going to look back

to last year's final. It featured Andy Murray against a big-serving

Kevin Anderson, and we can join the match at the start, and I think

these two were probably in the box for it.

Trouble with a slow-moving bee. He did well not to swipe at one.

He's keeping a close look on whether that bee is finding that very white

shirt attractive or not. It's not there. Somebody tell him.

Was he just buying time to make sure that bee wasn't... I think he was!

It's miles out. Your story about Jack Nicklaus and

what does he know about preparing a grass tennis court? That did make me

laugh. I tell you what knows about grass - Graeme. He's prepared this

court here, such is the detail. The difference is that the grass here is

seven millimetres. At Wimbledon it's 8. They cut it down. For the

duration of the tournament, it will go down a little bit. The bee likes

it here. And there are three vertical lines going down the court

in the tram lines where he's mowed it, and there is nine between the

sideline and the middle, then nine more, then three in the other tram

line, and Wimbledon slightly different in that as well, so that

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

beautiful. It's a fast and high-bouncing grass

court. It suits Kevin Anderson's second serve as much as his first.

His second serve has been kicking up. Look at Murray dancing around,

changing the view. So Anderson can't settle.

Didn't bend the point but it's just throwing that message out - I am

here. I am ready. I'm going to make your best shots. I am going to get

them back at you, have to hit another ball.

It's a first ace. A first for Kevin Anderson. 97 aces for the

tournament. He's been remarkable this week. Served one against Simon

in the semifinal, 141 miles an hour. Bathed in sunshine. Second semifinal

and the first, actually, on Saturday, affected by the rain. Andy

Murray polished off his semifinal against Viktor tried to give this

morning and had to play a set in three games. A nice warm up.

Shouldn't have taken anything out of him.

From that end, the son is a real issue. Shadows.

I think Anderson is going to attack that second serve. His direction has

to be better. He hit that one pretty hard down the middle. I think he's

got to go more for the lines and force the issue on the first strike.

Hitting at heart does not do much good if it goes down the middle. --

hitting it hard. The wind is right to left as we are

looking down the court there. Actually, it's just changed around

now. From the south-west. Just an intelligent point from

Anderson. Big ground strokes. A very good slice approach shot. A little

slip. Not too much problem. Hip flexor. He has got to heat pads,

certainly some support roughly in that region.

That's what you like to see with Murray. Second serve, 96 miles an

hour. So often receive those in 70s and 80s. He knew that Anderson was a

threat and he had the courage to go for it. He's got to keep doing it.

That's matchplay. Very good serve. A little skirmish there at 30-30.

Murray has come through it to take a macro-21 lead. It was his fourth

final here at the Queen's Club. They are going well, 2-1.

How do tennis players get anything done in life if they are wiping

their face with a towel after every 16 seconds of movement, this treat

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

minutes is the warm up. I think there will be moves in the next two

years to get that down to three minutes but actually, to enforce it,

as well. Jonas Bjorkman, former Wimbledon semifinalist. Superb

return it says. -- returner of serve. Coaching Andy Murray.

Being forced to change direction, Murray. Anderson wants to get the

first strike in. Look how far inside the baseline he is. This will please

his coat. This is the game plan. -- coach.

So good from Murray. What a fabulous return of serve that was. He did

exactly... There is the coach there, Kevin Anderson. A very good coach.

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

sure. That is absolutely brilliant. He is

the one who has taken charge of the Anderson serve. You can see there,

Kevin Anderson hits it half-volley and then just cracks that backhand

crosscourt, not giving his opponent a chance to breathe. Such a short,

short backswing. Marvellous rotation. A couple of break points

early on for Anderson to face. He's not going to hold back on this first

serve, is he? Yeah. That's 141 miles an hour.

First serve. Murray has somehow got a racket on it and made Anderson

played the ball and there is the reward. Make your opponent play an

extra ball. That is a very fine example of that. 141. That would

knock most people's racket out of their hand. And

Anderson will be amazed that came back. He is off and running.

Ambitious. That was a 3-130 love shot. That was not a 30-30 shocked.

He so confident right now he thinks he can get shots even like that.

It was going to be a double handed backhand drive until that moment.

Anderson on his heels at the back. This is a quality display so far.

Amazing how in control of proceedings Andy Murray is. 70

minutes, he's got the break. He wants to put every shot at the

moment. The agency really arrived in his game in his match against Giles

Muller the other night. Into a tie-break, Muller playing superbly

and Murray understood the situation and really got going. There's only

been one guy in this tournament, I have to be honest, he has looked the

winner for quite some time. I wonder if it comes across on TV as much as

in real life. He's the man. He is the man and his playing

scintillating tennis. He got Murray on the run at the start and then can

recover so well. What he's doing is, he looks out here like he's got

plenty of time on his shot. He doesn't look like he's ever really

rushed. He is going up against the man who's coming at him with 140

mile an hour service, and yet he still looks like he's got 20 of time

and that's just someone in fantastic form, reading the ball, seeing it

early, just so confident in the way he plays. The only thing that could

make him lose this match at the moment is if he loses concentration,

it seems like. Mariella Frostrup having a little

watch. It's a great event, this. Very much part of the social

calendar. As Scott this week, as well. -- as

Kelsey in the dark glasses there. That's Kevin Anderson's wife, mum

Barbara on the left. Now, that is number 100 for the

tournament. Amazing. A hundred! Mind you, Isner served that in one match

against Mahut. I don't think I have served that in in my whole life.

It's unbelievable, 100! Karlovic served 45 the other day beating berd

itch before losing to Federer. What Djokovic does and Murray, they get

them back, make them play an extra ball, these big servers.

It's the big east stand here. That'll still be here for Davis Cup

tie, the quarter-final versus France, July the 17 to the 19th.

We'll be back here as well on the Beat.

I'll tell you what else is going on that Davis Cup weekend - because of

the schedule of the tennis moving a little bit, it's the 144th Open -

the 60th Open Championship golf from St Andrews that the BBC will have

covered. Shame nobody will be watching that because they'll be

with us on the tennis! Good luck to you, Rory MacEl-Roy.

And what a week for Kevin Anderson, obviously, a big occasion in his

career. He's certainly earned it. When you think back, John, I don't

know whether we were doing the match or not - seems like a long time ago

- the beginning of the week he was playing Lleyton Hewitt, a man who

has won the Queen's Club championships, the Aegon

Championships, four occasions, but this was his last trip. Anderson had

to break serve to to stay with it. Match point down, wasn't he? That's

right. Unbelievable. That's the value of just sticking around. I

think right now his coach will be thinking, OK, well, he's doing the

right things. He's just coming up against someone who is just playing

out of his mind, as Andy Murray is. Kevin Anderson is at 71% first

serves and can't really ask for much more than that he's playing well,

but he's got this constant barrage of returns and nasty shots that are

coming at him in awkward places, and it's difficult to play Murray when

he's in this type of form. He has to keep believing in himself. It's only

one break. It can change quickly in tennis, as we know, so it's a long

way to go yet. Look how far back he is there. He

takes one big step in then a split. He's also moving left to right,

changing Anderson's view like a goalkeeper receiving a penalty and

dancing all over the show. New tennis ball shooting through the

court. They'll still be quite new when Murray serves for a set in the

next game, perhaps. That's only two tennis balls used,

and there are six. That's right. Two of them are going to be new for Andy

in the next game. Oh, yes. That's frightened someone.

Into the second or third row there. What a service game. Excellent work,

excellent work. Just four tennis balls used, so Murray will have a

good look at the tennis balls now as he as much as for it, because

they're still new. -- as he serves for it.

That's a great point. It's a pity it was at 40 -love down. That's the

problem. He needs to be playing those in the first part of the game

somehow. It's not that easy. Looked like it might have been wide

from Andy Murray, but just less than half an hour played here at Queen's

Club. It's 6-3 to Murray, a second break of serve and things moving on

an in a similar fashion to the way they played at Wimbledon in the

fourth round last year. Need to see the blue sky from the final last

year, and this is the scene at the moment - a little bit of blue sky

around the Queen's Club right now, and that's certainly very promising.

I won't give you the result of last year's final because somehow I have

a feeling we may be revisiting that match because there are more showers

forecast later in the day, but we'll keep that up our sleeve, but at the

moment we can look forward to this opening day of the Aegon

Championship, four matches scheduled, although you get a

feeling that possibly the fourth one will not get on. But Richard

Gasquet, Steve Johnson, they have already been on the court. They have

almost completed the warm-up before the rain came down, so they'll be in

the locker room and getting ready once again because I have a feeling

that maybe in about 15 or 20 minutes, weather permitting, they

could be out again, then Shaun Evans of Great Britain up against

Paul-Henri Mathieu and Grigor Dimitrov, former champion up against

Janco Tipsarevic from Serbia. Then Feliciano Lopez - this match may not

get on but he's making his 11th straight appearance here at the

Queen's Club against Marin Cilic, who is making his ninth appearance

here at Queens. That is what we're looking for. We're hearing the

players will be called from the locker room in about eight minutes.

It's a wonderful tournament, isn't it? We have talked about it's a

500th - there is more prize money and points. There is so much more

for the players now, isn't there? I think it's made it more exciting for

spectators too now because without the byes there were before, the draw

is compressed. Look at the rounds you have here. Sometimes at Queen's

Club, the first couple of days haven't been that many interesting

first rounds but already now there could be upsets. There are big

matchups - Lopez-Marin Cilic. These are matches that could have been in

the semifinals in previous years, so it's an exciting draw, and players

are so desperate to get matches under their belt. They love this

tournament, and sometimes you can even ignite your form, someone like

Dimitrov, who is at a bad period, loves this surface, loves this

tournament. Who knows - if he has a good run here, maybe at Wimbledon

he'll be a threat. Also, it's wonderful, you know, as I said, for

the spectators to come here. They get so close to the players and for

the players it's about gaining confidence on this surface just

prior to Wimbledon. It is an important event. It is. And the

players love this event. The spectators love it. As you say,

close into the crowd. The crowd are close into the players. Players

sometimes love these more intimate stadiums sometimes more than the

bigger ones. You feel like they're right in the action there and

players love that kind of atmosphere. They know the courts are

perfect, which they are every year, and they have indoor facilities if

it rains. They're all taken care of. They're close to their hotels.

Everything is perfectly run here for preparation for Wimbledon, but this

is a big tournament now in its own right, so the players love it here.

Also, as we look around, and as I am turning around, I hate to say, but

behind those blue clouds are some horrible clouds, just behind our

camera picture at the moment, but you have to remain hopeful, and you

look at the forecast and the tournament director was just saying,

hold on. This is only the first gay, you know what? If he doesn't get

much play - and qualifying still hasn't finished - they are going to

have to make some big changes to try to get this tournament finished in

time. Exactly. You have quite a few of the players that are good on

grass that are good on the doubles as well. They have to fit in matches

as well. In tournaments it's always the most important the first couple

of days. If you get ahead of the draw, then you're OK, but this year,

unfortunately, the weather doesn't look like it's going to happen that

way, so it's rough. But they'll get through it. They always do. They

always find a way at Queens somehow, even with bad weather. Blimey. How

they're going to do it - I am delighted to say that the Davis Cup

captain is with us, Leon Smith. What's this weather? What are they

going to do? Look, just had about three weeks in Paris of exactly the

same. I was told to come to London, catch some sun ray, but it's not

happening. As John said, they somehow always find a way, always

find way to finish the tournament. Fingers crossed. It's not ideal

preparation for the players. They're coming from the clay. They have had

a week of getting their feet used to the grass, even though they had a

few showers last week as well, but this court surface being new, wet,

it's not ideal to start out. No, we actually saw some similar situations

last year, and the first day is slippy at the back. It is. And the

first couple of matches, you see a lot of players slipping, moving at

the back, especially when they're defending deeper behind the

baseline, but I think even last week they didn't get a huge amount of

grass court play. There was a lot of indoor sessions with weather and the

courts not being quite ready, so people are desperate to get some

court time, not just the match time but getting used to the movement

which is so different to the clay, so a few challenges for the players,

especially in the early rounds. I have to say, congratulations it is

now Leon Smith OBE? Is it not? It is. Surprised, humbled at the same

time. Rightly so. I mean, Davis Cup - that was one of the greatest

achievements in British tennis. We were all saying that last year,

weren't we, John? Yeah. It was fantastic. What have you got,

Lloydy? I have an OBE. It was so nice also for Jamie Murray

for all the hard work, he was in your team, and the hard work you did

in the doubles but also been number one in the world, number one again

winning Grand Slams, it's lovely he's been honoured as well. What a

story he is. It's amazing when you think about it. A few years ago, he

was literally thinking, where am I going with my career? Suddenly, he

had one of those moments where he thought, you know what, I have

obviously got something to give to the profession, I've got this

ability, and he just went about dedicating himself, got back in with

the specialist doubles coach, took a travelling coach from Scotland, Alan

MacDonald, who travels every week with him, fitness and nutrition was

done and he applied himself. Look at the results. It's a wonderful story,

if you persevere, you can do well. He had such a great partnership with

John Peers, and then Lewis said no, what are you doing? He goes with

Bruno Suarez and look what happened. I suppose it's about finding the

right partnership, which match as well? And also personalities. These

guys spend so much time together. Who was your practice partner, your

doubles partner? Every single time. Eventually, it can just get a little

bit too much, especially with the highs and lows. It's quite stressful

for the player to get over. They did a great job and I think both of them

are in good situations now. Jamie, he's proved the decision was

correct. He moved with Bruno, as people know, he's typical resilient,

Mr cool and calm, very relaxed on the court and that's working well

for Jamie. We watched him, the Australian Open, very emotional for

Jamie. There were times there where he looked like he was floundering,

he wasn't sure, his game had dropped, he was nervous when he was

playing, couldn't find the right combination. I was thinking, I don't

know if he's going to be around for much longer and he suddenly clicked.

Now you look at him and the drill I like is when he stands about one

inch from the net and they throw balls at him and the reflexes, I'm

thinking, I would be heading for the hills. You think, where they don't

get much use out of it? You watching in a big match and suddenly he pokes

that volley an inch from the net. These days they become specialists,

they change around these partnerships but there's some

amazing doubles out there. It's unfortunate we don't get to see more

it because when the spectators are here today, 80% of them only play

doubles. How much do we see on TV? Well, we do get a lot at Wimbledon.

Everybody loves it. And the Mixed Doubles, as well. He must have the

quickest and best hands in tennis at the net, doesn't it? I'm biased, but

I think he does. He is so fast. That drill you're talking about, they are

literally at the top of the net. You need an American football helmet on

to stand like this. It's taken time but for the doubles players, when

you take a top singles player, it changes the dynamics on the court.

We see that in the Davis Cup when Andy came into the team, just great

players with bigger weapons, so the doubles players are very savvy, so

they've taken this to another level because I had to combat the singles

players in some way. They're not going to outhit them on the ground

strokes so they've developed these unbelievable weapons of skill,

speed, anticipation, court position is another thing. I look at Suarez,

he knows exactly where to move at the moment. They have perfected it.

It's great the way Queen's do it. It's great seeing singles players

playing, it's quite difficult at Wimbledon because it's the best-of-5

sets but here, lots of singles players want to sneak in an extra

match on grass, which they could regret. It's great to see the

doubles styles contrasting against the singles players. We are hearing

the players have been called so hopefully they will come onto court,

but the clouds are looking ominous all around here so I'm not holding

out much hope but anyway, Jamie, talking about the confidence, do you

think possibly the victories he got in the Davis Cup and the support was

where he turned it around? I hope it played some part. I've listened to

some of his commentary afterwards and he contributed some of it

towards those moments because high those moments. Whether you are at

home or away, there's so much on it. Playing Davis Cup, it's the only

event where you can be at 0-0 and you win or lose the point and the

crowd go mental. Normally the crowd takes a bit of time to get into it

but every single point is huge, and I think, going through that, for

Jamie, it built a lot of confidence. Feeding off the respect his brother

was giving him, those moments made him feel a top international player

in his own right which gave them a lot of confidence to a out there.

Beforehand, he looked up at Andy as someone in a different flight path

from him. He's really feeling like he deserves to be there and he

absolutely does. Also losing finals helped him because by losing, he

started to understand what he needed to add to his game and I think, if

you look at his server speeds, for example, some of the top pairings,

there's normally a big server amongst them, so whilst his serve is

not big as a lefty, he's increased by eight miles an hour and it's made

a difference. He's improved in certain areas. I'm seeing shadows

out there at the moment. I can confidently predict we are going to

see some brothers at any moment because that is what it heading our

way and that looks even worse than what we had before. -- umbrellas.

Did they do the coin toss again? No, they can't do it again. A

five-minute warm up and is going through the routine again, well

done. This is Gasquet vs Johnson, on court from approximately one minute

and a half. This is awful, isn't it, to get ready, prepare for a match

and practice, inside, they've come out, what do you eat, how do you

prepare, how do you stay flexible? You've got to get yourself focused.

The players lounge is exceptional here. There's worse places to be

when it rains. They go the extra mile. No wonder it was voted

tournament of the year. They've even done some improvements on it this

year. There is a cinema on in there so when the footballers on, like it

is now, the Spanish contingent are in there watching football in this

big city cinema. It had a big face-lift for the there's new

wallpaper, flooring. The whole club has had a real renovation. It's

absolutely wonderful. What they want to see is some tennis. Richard

Gasquet comedy proved last year in... Many times, Wimbledon, getting

through was an awesome achievement. He was playing some serious tennis

last year and we played the Davis Cup quarterfinal immediately after

Wimbledon here, and I was for sure he was going to play. I thought will

have to prepare for him, and he ended up not playing. I was

absolutely delighted, he was playing that well, he's great to watch. He's

got the most beautiful single-handed backhand as we saw there. He can

generate so much power. He's got a funky forehand technique which is

quite unusual in the way he takes the racket back but, as many of the

French players have, the flare, the confidence, it's never coached out

of them at a young age. Their ability to be braver with their

shots. He's great to watch and his consistency level, regain, his

investment into its coaching team, he's obviously wanting to go the

extra mile. Is not lost his ambition. I love watching the French

players. If you could get a bonus point for greatest points, they

would be in the top five of winning slams. It seems to me, they don't

know the value of an ugly point. It's great to watch, but they don't

have enough bread-and-butter shots in their arsenal, if you know what I

mean. It's such a pity because I don't know, with Gasquet, on a big

point, you've got to do that, but I don't think he understands that. The

ball comes in and he wants to headed in a beautiful style. I like to

watch it. There is Sebastien grows on, who knows what he's doing. But

apart from telling how good he is, how do tactically work with Gael

Monfils? It must be tough. He's also maybe for that reason but others in

the corner as well. Someone who played in a clay court, likes the

extended rallies. Ugly. He's got more consistent. Just like everyone

else, coming to this generation, you've got to face Novak Djokovic

Mark Robins Andy Murray, Federer, Nadal. It's tough to get over those

guys. They're starting to serve now. Probably another 30 seconds to go

before the next shower comes through. Richard Gasquet was such a

prodigy. 14 years of age, tipped to be at the top, he's always trained

at Roland Garros and been a part of that. How big a deal was it to get

through to the last eight and have some success in your home Grand

Slams? The atmosphere was absolutely incredible in that match. There's no

doubt Andy was up against it. Richard Gasquet was on fire. He was

hitting it so hard, so cleanly. But it's tough for them because they are

crying out for a Grand Slam winner. They got so much depth. I was in the

player 's restaurant there talking to Jeremy Chardy, 30 in the world,

and he can't even go to the Olympics. He's number 30 in the

world though. Their depth is incredible but it's tough for

Gasquet because he's a great player. He's been talked about for so long

and there's no doubt he carries a lot of weight of expectation for a

number of years. I think he was the youngest player to get an ATP

first-round winner. Aged 15, I think he was at the time. I actually

think, like a lot of now, is playing into his 30s, he's probably more

comfortable with who he is, and I think, as I mentioned earlier, the

fact he is still investing heavily in his coaching team, he senses

there's more to come from him. Novak and Murray have set the bar so high,

you need these extra voices, because the game, they are taking it away

from them, particularly Novak Djokovic. Absolutely. Watching the

French Open final, Andy played such an amazing first set, but if we just

dipped slightly, you look at Novak Djokovic, he's not going to miss.

He's not going to miss the ball so everybody else is looking at that,

Andy included, and doing the right thing, investing in themselves,

looking at every area, the high-profile players are bringing in

a super coach, and I'm absolutely delighted Evander Rendell has come

back in, is great for Andy, so let's see how that one plays out. We are

about to have a match get started here so I'm not sure how long they

will be commentating for the deaths go to Andrew and Peter Fleming.

COMMENTATOR: We've seen some knocking up of the highest order so

far. We are going to play. Steve Johnson ready to play but the clouds

are at hanging over us. Steve Johnson, ready to serve. Let's play.

Both players will be little bit nervous. Uncertain of their footing,

even though they've had a bit of a knockout. It's a bit greasy

underfoot. There is that backhand we

highlighted. Beautiful one-handed from Gasquet. And the approach shot,

not penetrating enough or deep enough. Johnson wants to come to

net, he needs to do better in the lead up attempt.

Lovely pick-up. . Yeah, and that point is Steve Johnson in a

nutshell. The server puts the opponent out of edition followed up

by a forehand. He is all serve and forehand. Trying to evolve other

parts of his game. Clearly a nice drop volley there.

Glastonbury In the very first game, Gasquet is going to have a chance to

break the American's serve. Gasquet takes it, an early

breakthrough for the number four seed. Yeah, and Steve Johnson paying

the price for being just a little too predictable there because

Gasquet knows that players will attack his forehand more than his

terrific backhand. He can often camp in that corner, and - because

Johnson went cross-court, he left the down-the-line passing shot wide

open. Johnson working the Gasquet forehand

there. Overdoing the slice. That was the

right idea. But you can see because Johnson really can't penetrate the

court at all with the backhand, he's going to struggle to take control of

many of these back-court rallies. It does look bright on your television

screens, I'm sure, but dusk here. The weather is rumbling in from the

west. A series of showers today. Make what use we can of the gaps.

A shake of the head. The groundsman Graeme Kempton.

Gasquet just checking with the umpire.

That's more like it. That's the first time Johnson has attempted to

hit an aggressive backhand, and it paid dividends.

So Gasquet backs up that break, comfortable enough. He thinks there

are a few things to improve... Just a few spots of rain. Play on. Peter

Fleming, in the old days it was just play through the showers, slide

around a little bit, the days before health and safety. Johnson serving.

0-2. And lawyers! And player power. The umbrellas springs up - might be

the end of things here. Yes, it is done. The rain is a lot heavier now.

We have seen two cracking games. I hope you enjoyed that! Thanks for

tuning in. We shall be back. The showers are fleeting through today,

and there are big gaps between them, but it's a frustrating day for

everyone. And not the least the players. I suppose they have to go

and think about how to warm down, warm back up again, but of course,

everyone has paid to be here as well. It is a very, very frustrating

day, but we have seen some tennis. Richard Gasquet with that early

break, the number four seed, leads Steve Johnson 2-0. Five minutes of

play. Off go the players, off go the umbrellas. It's teeming down now.

Run! Run for cover. And we shall hopefully return when the players

return, and hopefully, it won't be too long.

So there we are. The covers will be ramped across, and here at Queen's

Club, it is a wet, miserable start to the tournament, but we shall play

- there we go. The winds picked up as well. It's a nasty squall that's

come in. But we will resume when things dry up again. Richard

Gasquet, if number four seed from France, 2-0 up on the American Steve

Johnson. Well, the wind picking up is possibly a good thing. It means

it may be blowing those really dark clouds ahead. It may be blowing a

few more in, but at the moment, it's looking a bit dull, a bit grey. What

is coming here? We heard this is going to go on all day, one shower

after another. I am afraid it is going to be one of those frustrating

days we have got used to in the tennis season here in the British

summer, but everyone - look - still enjoying themselves in this

tournament or trying to enjoy themselves under their umbrella, but

hopefully, we'll get some play very soon, and what a disappointing start

for the Aegon Championships here. But I'm pleased to say Leon Smith is

still with us. Andrew Castle has joined me as well. This is just

awful, isn't it? Andrew, I mean, they're going to have to try and

move something indoor, at least get the qualifying finished, do you

think? Yes, let's move the whole tournament indoors. I am sure that's

nice and easy including 7,000 seats. Some players bounce around the place

and I concur 100% with Leon about the players' lounge. We snuck in

despite having no equipment with us at all. But they bounce around the

dressing rooms and handle this in different ways. Nadal was big

bouncing around the dressing rooms. A lot of people sit around and talk

nonsense. I don't know what they do. But these days with Wi-Fi, you can

stay in communication with the whole world but yeah, difficult for the

players and spectators alike. This one feels a bit more permanent,

actually. It's certainly not look good. We were talking a little bit

about Andy before the match started and we got our two giesms tennis and

Ivan Lendl. It sort of caught everyone a bit by surprise, this,

did you know they were back in communication? No, not really.

You can sense that if Andy was looking for someone, he would be top

of the list. I mean, that was - I think that was pretty obvious. And

you could read his signals as well. He was asked a lot about it during

the French Open. It was obvious what he was admitting. If I wanted

someone, it would be Van. But I think it's great. It's good news for

him for a number of ring reasons. I was lucky enough to be close to him

when Ivan was around. He just brought this authority, sense of

direction, and a confidence for Andy that could be, obviously, the most

important thing is at the Slams, but also, I remember doing one preseason

in Miami where Ivan was taking it, and it was - you rise. There is no

messing around, on the court, these are the drills we're doing. This is

why we're doing it, everything very, very organised, and a clear thought

process, but you could see that Andy very much bought into it, you know,

really respectful, and Andy - look, he's going a really - he's got a

good radar for everything, and he's had to make a lot of choices with

his coaches in the past, and he normally gets it right, and he

normally improves under those situations. I have no doubt this

will help him, not that he need that muches help but he has a big hurdle

to go over and that's Djokovic. This will help. We have been talking

about that in the first hour of the programme, we were talking about

that but you know, as far as Lendl goes, it is so good that he has got

him in his corner before those major matches. Yeah, he looks up there and

cease somebody that won all of those major championships. He also sees

somebody that had to wait before that great success arrived. He is

one of those players that was a machine on the court except he's

not. Hose actually - he tries to be very funny. He's got a sense of

humour, Ivan, which is all his own thing, but as a player in the old

days he never used to let anybody in. I think Andy probably likes that

a little bit. There was a certain sort of hard exterior that the other

players didn't get through. He revelled in that "I want to hit

every player in the top ten" comment. He revelled in that very

macho out. There it just works and the one really big deal - and Leon

just said it - it's the word respect. It is as simple as that he

looks up there, and he doesn't want to annoy him. He wants to please

him, you know? And it's a difficult relationship, isn't it, between a

coach who is being paid is, an employee and the person out there on

the court needs to be pushed about. It's an odd relationship to have. On

the one hand he's paying me but on the other I have to tell him off if

he's a naughty boy. Very difficult. What the players have done,

particularly nof A and Andy is, the training - the fitness levels.

You're around Matt Little. I know he's put you through a lot of the

things he's put Andy through. It's brutal. It was. There was one I

think four, five weeks ago I thought that was me finished, obviously. It

was the closest near-death experience I have had. I was doing

the Versa Claimer. Oh! This was close. I was sitting there

afterwards thinking I am not sure what I am going to do now. I did the

right thing afterwards, did everything they were doing. Which is

equally as bad as the Versa Climber. Yeah, I had to wear socks. I was

mocked for that fair enough. And pants? Well - it's astonishing the

work they do, and if you go and see one of the weeks where it's away

from the competition, actually a physical week, then the amount of

time they're actually doing stuff that's for physical preparation,

it's unbelievable, the length of days and for any of the young

players that are fortunate - Andy is brilliant this way inviting in

whether it's Kyle Edmund or Jamie Baker - he's always allowed others

in to have a look, as long as they go on the journey with him, but it's

amazing to see how long he spends in a day. We're talking 9, 10, 11, 12

hours of stuff going on. Pilates, everything. Yeah, it's that

discipline. Andy and Novak have that over everybody else. People are

striving for it. That's what is allowing the players to extend their

career now. The thing that is difficult. When you're 17-19, your

mind is everywhere. You have to start before. You have to be a

specialist from the word go to build up these reserves of the physical

energy and mental stamina as well which is why the players are getting

older. They're getting far more training than they ever used to.

Training used to be hard, repetitive stuff. Now it's a far more 100%

being health. It's all-encompassing, and the diets are spectacular in

their precise nature as well, and it's difficult. If you're of a

certain mindset, you have to train it out in a military way and just

become just like that. It's a full commitment. What shall we do, go to

the gym or just go and have a cream bulleton? We're going to do

something! I can tell you, we are going to have to come off air now

because there is no prog prospect of tennis at the moment. We will be

back, of course, if there is some live tennis, certainly hoping there

It's home to a million people at any one time...

..consumes tens of millions of meals,