Peng Shuai and a line in the sand; Davis Cup semis set; Jo Konta retires
The Tennis Podcast
David Law
4.5 • 2.6K Ratings
🗓️ 3 December 2021
⏱️ 49 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Catherine, David and Matt begin this episode by discussing the WTA’s decision to suspend tournaments in China as Peng Shuai’s situation remains unresolved. What sort of message does it send? And what’s been the response of the ATP and the ITF?
Onto the Davis Cup Finals, we cover how Serbia and the Russian Tennis Federation booked their spots in the last four, including heroics from Mikhail Kukushkin for Kazakhstan, impressive displays from Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev, and a nervy performance from Andrey Rublev.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, this is Billie Jean King. This is Mary and Bartoli. I'm Matt Vellander. This is Mary Carillo. |
| 0:05.3 | This is Yannick Noah and you're listening to the tennis podcast. |
| 0:19.5 | So the semi-final lineup is set in Madrid at the Davis Cup finals. It'll be Serbia |
| 0:26.6 | against Croatia and it'll be Russia against Germany. That after Serbia defeated Kazakhstan |
| 0:33.9 | in the deciding third doubles, rubber. That was quite the thriller. Russia versus Sweden was less so |
| 0:42.1 | Russia defeated Sweden in two. Rubbers, one of them quite exciting. It has to be said, but it didn't |
| 0:47.6 | go down to the decisive doubles. Much of the disappointment of 44 year-old Robert Lynch did, who |
| 0:53.4 | was waiting on the sidelines to have his last hurrah. His last hurrah will now be in the bar somewhere |
| 1:00.8 | in Madrid. But that'll be your semi-final lineup at the Davis Cup finals. We'll be talking about those |
| 1:09.8 | two quarter finals in a moment and looking ahead to the semis. But first, there is a big story |
| 1:17.3 | in tennis or the latest development in what's been a very big story in tennis. One that's |
| 1:22.2 | transcended tennis, transcended sport even. I had a BBC news alert about it yesterday. |
| 1:30.5 | And it's the latest statement from Steve Simon, the WTA chairman and CEO, regarding the situation |
| 1:38.0 | with Pung Shui, who still has not been heard from directly by the WTA or by anyone outside of |
| 1:48.6 | the Chinese authorities, it would seem. And Steve Simon has said that |
| 1:55.9 | Chinese officials have been provided the opportunity to cease their censorship |
| 2:00.8 | of Pung and the Pung Shui situation in China, verifiably prove that Pung is free and able to |
| 2:07.5 | speak without interference or intimidation and investigate the allegation of sexual assault |
| 2:12.0 | in a full, fair and transparent manner. Unfortunately, the leadership in China has not |
| 2:16.8 | addressed this very serious issue in any credible way. While we now know where Pung is, I have |
| 2:23.6 | serious doubts that she is free, safe and not subject to censorship, coercion or intimidation. |
| 2:30.1 | The WTA has been clear on what is needed here and we repeat our call for a full and transparent |
... |
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