2026 US OPEN RECAP DAY 7: Jovic vs Eala , Fritz & Keys Fall, & Osaka Advances

I have my dream job, but even dream jobs have not so dreamy parts. That's where ServiceNow's AI Specialist come in. They don't just tell you what to do about your busy work, they actually do it. That way your team can focus on what matters. To learn how to put AI to work for people, visit ServiceNow.com. All right, well welcome, a quick serve brought to you by ServiceNow. We are in the Cadillac studio again, Escalade IQ. Yes. I didn't know if you knew this, you heard me say it. But this model is equipped with AKG Studio Reference Sound System with Dolby Atmos. Wait, what? Say it again? Yeah, yeah, yeah. AKG Studio Reference Sound System with Dolby Atmos. That's what I thought you said. You know what else it has? Tell me, all of you seen this? The front seats in this model have massaging settings. So this whole time Rob has just been driving us getting his Lumbar massaged. This is L5. Yeah, I'm like, no wonder he wanted this gig. He's like, it's fine. He's like, I'll stay up to two o'clock in the morning and he wakes up and he has perfect rotation. Right, Rob? It's very true. It's very true. It's very true. I kind of want that. I know. What's that? I know. I want that. I want that. I want that. There was tennis. Yes. There was. Great tennis. Yeah. There was, I guess, let's start. I think probably the match in the tournament so far, either side, Yovic, Yellow. You did not want to see anyone lose? No. This match. For so many reasons that we'll go into, Yovic played great. Plus 16 winners to air ratio, 43, 27 winners to airs. Yala was up above in the positives. It's not often that you're in the positives, winners to airs, especially when there's not a lot of like free points won on serve, which there certainly wasn't in this match. I think you said 17 breaks. This is a match that you circled at the beginning of the tournament. You said, let this happen for so many reasons. Then obviously the fandom is fantastic, two of the sport's brightest stars. Two, I know they're young, but they're adults in the room. They are fantastic. The way they compose themselves, Alex, Yala, I can't imagine her heartbreak with losing this match to Yovic and if you have an Yovic wins in a tight three-setter, walking across the court to embrace her friend right afterwards, I mean, willing to the real estate of Yovic after she had won was just fantastic. I thought the tennis was fantastic. I thought the drama was fantastic because those are often different things which sometimes get treated with the same lens. Yeah. Right. Just if it's dramatic a long people say it's great. It's not always the case. This was a high quality match, three hours, physical, no free points. Fans were into it, cheering for the person, but doing it with class. Yeah. Yala's fan base is obviously massive, it's obviously loyal and I'm sorry, they're so respectful. They are. I wanted to see it like in person in the big arena tonight and I was sitting up top for the first set and a half and it was just everything about this match was why we loved tennis. Yovic came to the ESPN set right afterwards, she's always just has like a perfect tone. She's very serious about her craft, like very head down, I'm not emotional, I'm here to do a job, like wise beyond her years, you know, expressed, you know, she had empathy for her friend, you know, spoke glowingly about Alex Yala. A lot of women's tennis is in great hands for the foreseeable future with these two. I thought it was really, really interesting when she came on the ESPN desk. She talked about, you know, people ask her about her emotions and why she doesn't show a lot of emotions. She showed, she released that emotion at the end, but she said she plays her best, she found that she plays her best tennis when she's even. Well, she goes, and so I think someone said, like you say you're not emotional because she goes, "I'm emotional, I just normally don't show emotion." Yeah. And I was like, "Oh, that's a very. " Yeah, that's like a very clear, smart thing. There is a difference between the two. Yeah. Anyways, I thought, like listen, that was a match. They put it on Ash, no top 10 players, no grand sem champions, and it showed out for tennis. I thought it was fantastic. I hated that there had to be a loser in that one, and Evie Yovic, for the effort, gets to play Kogogoff in the next round. Like that match-up, who straight sets today, but I think she played better in the first two rounds. Okay. Kogog is doing, and we did a breakdown of it with graphics on ESPN. She's doing a really good job of, she comes out today, forehand is not firing the way it should be, missing a little bit, and you're going, "Okay, we've seen some of these matches where she has to negotiate through it." She started kind of, she was running around it, hitting backhand, she's developed a really good slice forehand that she uses almost like most people use a slice backhand, right? So she's kind of flipped the script on it, and it almost comes off as like a lefty. There's this strong backhand, and then, on the other side, she's hitting this chip. She's sometimes punching a little forehand and coming in, using the play that she took from Wimbledon. The serve feels extremely stable. I thought she looked good. I don't think it was as good a tennis as her first two rounds against Sonmez and Badosa, but it'll be fantastic. I'm curious to see the matchup with golf and Yovic, just because it's going to be completely different than Yovic and Yala, who basically just stood in the middle of the court and went toe-to-toe, and just threw haymakers at each other for three hours. Thanks for listening to "Served," we will be right back. Guys, we're about to hit the best part of the year. The North American hard court swing. D.C. Montreal, Cincinnati, some of my best moments on tour happen in these beautiful cities. And serve too. That was our first live show. We did the brewery. >> Sonder brewery. >> Sonder brewery. >> Sonder brewery. Sonder was outside the tournament. >> We stunned people showed up. Anyways, these places and fans made me feel right at home. Now that I'm retired, I get to experience the action as a fan, taking in the matches with my friends and family and finding the perfect place to do it, regardless of where in the world we are. And whether it's for the next tour stop, the next Grand Slam or next year, fans like me will be looking for a place to say that provides exactly what they're looking for. So check this out. You can list your space on Airbnb, give the fans that home away from home, and even make some extra money while you're at it. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at Airbnb.com/host. Alright, back to the show. Golf will be a little bit different. She's obviously placed for the back. She plays with different spins. If she doesn't stick one and she's in the back end, she's going to be able to burn her a little bit more. Yala plays inside the court, but that also means if you hit a great ball line, you can kind of beat her to the spot with that one. Naomi Osaka fought. It was a set, it was a breakdown of the third set against Elise Merton's really fought. So she gets a rebuke in the next, who came through Potapova upset Anna Samova today. This Samova great player, maybe not the form from last year, of all the press conferences and we'll get to a couple more that were just heart-wrenching. She seemed upbeat. She's like, "I can take some positives. I'll be better for next year. There's a lot of foot forward too." Yeah, she'll fall out of the top 10 with this sauce. Definitely. But I don't think it's necessarily complete out of the top 10. Go back to the drawing board. Betty Keys, the match was tough to watch. You could feel it getting away from her. And then the press conference afterwards, one, she's so raw, authentic, honest, said, "I'm just scared." Sometimes it's tough. Recently, it's been really tough. It's impossible to watch. I don't know if anyone saw it, but it's possible to watch her press conference and say these small athletes don't actually care. They make money or they do this or they do that. She cares deeply, like almost too much. Can you kind of explain in a little bit more detail, obviously. She's playing well and then she's up 5-0 and the third. Yes, sorry. I got kind of ahead of myself. Betty was up 5-0 and the third against Queenwyn Zhang and kind of just fell apart. You can see the closest she had to finish line. She said in a press conference, she was having a hard time even making swings. The first round was a dramatic close. She saved five match points in the second round. This one she just let it get away and I think it was, she said, "Scared, nerves, something." Also, the thing that it does is, and there's a lot of this narrative around Sasha Veriv right now, that if you win, if you win a slam, basically everything's free and easy for the rest of your life. Pressors of tennis don't exist and I think it on the macro view when you're 60 looking back at your career, people will remember that you want a slam, but. It doesn't mean that the tennis ball knows you want to slam and you still don't have to hit it in a certain way. Like there's still going to be a struggle. It doesn't just make all of your struggles disappear, right? I mean, the quote that she had was, I feel like I got off on a really good lead and then I just got really scared. I felt like I couldn't swing. Tennis just feels really hard right now. I feel like that kind of took over a deep, yeah. Did you ever have a feeling like that and what was kind of, it's the end of the year, right? So at least there's some time, but what's the reset year? Yeah, I mean, it's hard. I remember '06, the beginning of the year. I dropped out of the top 10. I was like struggling to win matches. I lost to this skinny 18-year-old at Wimbledon, named Murray. You know, and I thought it was done. And then, you know, my last coach, Larry Stifanki, had a saying, and I think it's true. It's never as good as you think, and it's never as bad as you think. Right, like if you win a tournament, you're going to lose again. If you can't find any form, it's there somewhere. We're just going to have to like, you know, use a bit more of our shovel to find it. Yeah, it's, it was just hard to watch. She cares so much. Someone else who's kind of heirs on caring so much is Igas Fiatek, but she has control over a game right now, winning six and six against Buskeba. Yeah, and it was the opposite of a lot of her matches in the last couple of years where, when it's tight, maybe it doesn't go her way or maybe she doesn't go auto-ega. Like, she's done in the past, winning six lambs. She played it OK during the sets and then really played well during the break, or so maybe a little bit of an offset there. I went off on a tangent on the ESPN that I just basically sang. Because like, Ega, I feel like a lot of times, especially for the American audience. The only time we talk about her is if she's in a final, or if she gets upset. And that sucks. Like, I went through the laundry list, and I don't know if I've written here, but of people, she has more slams than share povo than Clisters, than Davenport, than Jim Courier. She's equal with Ed Bergen Becker. She's one off of McEnroe. That's absurd. You know, and Carlos and, you know, a couple of Venus, Henan, two off of Aguisee Connors. Like, it's just we need to like pay her more respect. She's deserved it. She's earned it. And she's playing great coming into this tournament. I understand the conversation revolves around the four women that are in the hunt for the number one world ranking. That doesn't mean she's not part of this tournament. Like, we're still playing in US Open. We're not just playing the number one Olympics, you know? I mean, she plays Quinlan next, right? And then after that, she'll take on the winner of Osaka, and then, you know, we're rocking him. There's a world where Ega could stop Rybakana from getting the number one ranking. That's what I'm in the quarter. That's what I was getting at. Yeah, they would show down in the quarters if that's what ends up happening. And she looks great today. We caught a little bit of her match in person. And she looked great. The other side of the Maddie match, Quinlan. I mean, you're talking about someone who is so famous in her country. He's one of Olympic gold and gone deep in majors and was a top five player for a couple of years. No ego went through Qualies. Seven straight wins qualified. And as now kind of back, had some arm issues came back to early, came back again. No protected ranking props to her. Yeah, she did, she did a great job. Mira gets through two and six. She is moving on. I know we'll talk about her more as this tournament progresses. Oh, can you, I'm sorry. I forgot. I forgot something. Yes. Who did I pick for my eight sleeve? I couldn't remember. Someone asked me. I was like, who was your eight sleeve sleeve sleeve pick? OK, who was it? And it was a Belgian kid named Blocks. That's right. And yeah. And he won. Yeah, we got it right. Yeah, you got it right. Yeah, he woke up. OK, good. Yeah, he woke up. He was sleeping and he woke up. Well, that's nice. Yeah. Yeah, mine didn't. But I still scored Michael Jackson. Thanks for listening to "Served." We will be right back. 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Do you have a start of the day? Do, do, do, do, do. Yeah, so J.A.B. Michael Zhang. And J.A. is just the second men's singles lucky loser to reach the fourth round at the US Open. J.A.B. J.A.B. Do you, do you have a guess at who the first person was? Also French. OK, who would have was it? Oh, it's recent? It's, yeah, recent-ish, 2022. Mootette. Nice. Yeah! Corte, Mootette, and J.A.B. So if you don't know where to hit, J.A.B, J.A.B. We did a lot of Googling to make sure we're saying it, right? I think we're saying it, right. J.A.B, J.A.B. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Everyone in the back say, "J.A.B. Little John." All right, we get it. Sorry. God, I've just been killing jokes in the Cadillac studio. Like, I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just crying. I don't mean killing it, like, isn't like good jokes. I mean, like you're beating them to death literally until they die. Karen Hatchenoff gets through, loves the extended format, plays great, and majors. Vin Diesel beats your boy. I know, Z-Zoo. Mr. Transmografer in the back talks to me about it. You love Z-Zoo. He's the best. Dude, he was high five in the sideline. It was, I mean, he's a vibe. His energy is unmatched. Vin Diesel is a sliver. Vin Diesel's. Vin Diesel's skull, but obviously, we're just Vin Diesel. I think we should promote Vin Diesel. Dardery wins. And that's the action. I think the biggest story of the day outside of the Yovic Yala match, obviously, Taylor Fritz loses. Rough. There's no way around it. I don't know that you can sugarcoat it. It's a brutal loss for Taylor Fritz. Third on the betting odds for the betting favorites to win the title. Finalist here a couple years ago was striping the ball the first couple rounds. Odd misses, Adam had a Surrendelow. He's got Surrendelow. You got Surrendelow. Surrendelow, bracket. He just. Surrendelow. Yeah. I should be on Salar or Surrendelow if I just take it against him. It's going to be gut wrenching for Fritz. It's going to be a long look in the mirror. You heard him afterwards. He goes, I don't even want to see or talk to anyone for-- I don't even know how long. Yeah. You know, when it wasn't going right, I don't know if the solution is learning to mix in a plan B. He's one of the best in the world. He's just going toe-to-toe. But just got outworked. Missed some forehands today. But when he missed it, it was like a significant miss. It was by five feet or, you know, flew a couple. Last one to get broken in the fifth set. Just mid-court ball off the lead cord seemed to be enshrined and everything and just buried it. Just missed it. So I know this American streak. And I know it weighs heavy on all the guys. And it's a real thing. I mean, they get asked about all the time and that stinks. But he would tell you, if he wants to make that step and win a major, he has to get through matches like this. Yeah. You know? We'll see-- he's very good at getting up off the canvas. So we will see Taylor Fritz back again, but disappointing loss for Taylor. [BLANK_AUDIO] - What else you got? - Well, we have our typically be doing our redraw, but JW is not joining us 'cause he's been doing morning hours. - That's what you like. - We're like ships pet, I saw him for the first time yesterday. - I still haven't seen him. We've talked on the phone every day, but I still haven't even seen him. We've been like in the same area. - Yeah. - You know, I think your bracket is in desperate need of a redraw, as is everyone else's, but you still have your finalists alive. - Both of them in Zverev and Carlisth. - Zverev? - Yeah, both Sausage Verve and Carlisth, you serve. - All right, well, John, John, on the other hand, had Fritz and Fees. So he is in desperate need of a redraw. - So he's officially, he is officially cooked. Yes, he will be a Sausage breakfast for sure. - Yeah. All right, well, thanks to Cadillac. The official vehicle of US Open. - It's just fun. - This is, I mean, this is great. This is great. Do you have any eight-sleeper picks for the upcoming schedule? - For tomorrow. - For tomorrow. - I don't, I don't want a force one. I looked at the schedule and I don't have like one of these. I will say, Learner TN is, I don't know the scores are right now. What's it with Mensheek? - It's six, three, one, six, two, what do we in the third? - It's two all in the third. - Two all in the third right now. He is really good. It will surprise me zero if he makes a big run at a slam. - Yeah. - Maybe it's here. His shot distribution is fantastic. He will be a sleeper pick in the future. What I don't want to do is just name a pick because I have to, you know, I blocked it out to me yesterday a little bit. Did I mention that already? - Yeah. - I did. - Okay. - But, I'm telling you, H-sleep pod. - I mean, the wall. - It came up here, but Brooks, that's nice. First time in the pod. - Yeah, yeah. - First time in the pod. - First time in the pod, it was, it was, it was fantastic. - Oh look, a little cooling situation. - We just pulled up to the hotel. That woman knew how to use that door. - Oh, that door, last night. We are at the hotel. We were across the street. Our studio was, we were to say we just parked our studio. - Yeah, we just parked our studio. But here Rob just parked our studio. But here we are. - The door over there forever. We always had that door. - The door over there. - That woman used it perfectly. She went to it and opened it and walked through it. It was flawless. - I mean, he, I think trying to get in that door was like anyone else trying to crawl across the mojave. Like it was, it was like, what are these doors? - He's still there. - Are these always existing? - He's like, I've been in here for a hundred years. - He was weird 'cause it was apparently his first day on Earth, but he was also like 48. So I don't know. Thanks to kind of like official vehicle of the US Open. It's a quick serve brought to you by ServiceNow. ServiceNow? - ServiceNow. - This is quick serve brought to you by ServiceNow. Bye. - I have my dream job. But even dream jobs have not so dreamy parts. They don't just tell you what to do about your busy work. They actually do it. (upbeat music) (audience cheering)