US Open Day 2 - Kerber’s Reign Over; Meet Her Conqueror, Naomi Osaka; Federer Through, Just; Rain Ruins The Rest

The weather wrecked the vast majority of the scheduled matches at the US Open on Tuesday, but the roof on Arthur Ashe stadium enabled Japanese player Naomi Osaka to trounce defending champion Angelique Kerber, and Roger Federer to squeeze through in five against Francis Tiafoe.

The Tennis Podcast team dodged the showers to reflect on a miserable 12 months for Kerber in which the role of World No.1 and defending Grand Slam champion has not always sat well.

We meet her conqueror, 19-year-old Japanese player Naomi Osaka in an interview conducted by presenter David Law for BBC 5 Live. A player quite happy to answer left-field questions, she tells a knock-knock joke on air, explains why she gets nervous about running into people she ‘follows’ on Twitter, and how she reacted when she met her idol Serena Williams in the locker-room. 

Law and Catherine Whitaker reflect on the form of Rafael Nadal, who won through in straight sets, but endured a tough, testing first set against Dusan Lijovic.

And a strange, five-set win for Federer over young American Frances Tiafoe is covered. Is Federer really fully fit?

A new edition of The Tennis Podcast will be available to download after play every day during the US Open. Presented by broadcasters Catherine Whitaker (Eurosport, BBC 5 Live) and David Law (BBC 5 Live, BT Sport), it is produced weekly throughout the year, and daily at the Grand Slam tournaments, in association with Telegraph Sport and Eurosport. 

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