If if if

At this point, who is going to be able to make it through this meat grinder of a season? Do the the tour finals still matter no matter how many friends they lose, or people they leave dead and bloodied and dying along the way? Plus: No matter who REALLY started the conspiracy theories about courts getting slower (looking at you, Roger), you can count on Alex Zverev to whine about it. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:17):
Good Mike, good eye Mite.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
Oh yeah, welcome to my apartment.

Speaker 3 (00:21):
Welcome to the Renice of Sennes podcasts, everybody out there.
Beautiful weather here in New York. How do you feel
about that?

Speaker 2 (00:28):
I love it. I was in shorts all weekend after
a brief sojourn up to New England for a couple
of days. I got to play the Longwood Cricket Club.
My friend's tory, Katie Connie, we've had a grass court
doubles match. If you go up to the Longwood Cricket Club,
one of America's preeminent grass court tennis clubs outside of Boston, beautiful,
and you ask for Magnus, the Swedish guy who is

(00:50):
the head. Not Normal, not Norman, but Magnus.

Speaker 4 (00:54):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (00:54):
He will, if you're lucky, as he did for me,
take you behind the scenes to the oldest indoor tennis
court in America that Longwood has across the street from
the beautiful grass courts, and he'll show you the shrine
he built to Vetus Carolinas. He built a shrine to
this guy. Wow, I mean that's he's kind of even Lithuanian.
He's just into it. He has QR codes, he bought

(01:15):
old magazines off of eBay we could read them, designed
a special jacket that a lot of the members were in.
Vitas Caroletitis Tribute. I'm going to send him a painting. Wow,
Wonderfuary Carolina knows that if she doesn't, we'll connect them.
We'll have to shed them to go because she probably
has some you know, childhood together and in Queens, New York,

(01:38):
she probably has some Vetus artifacts.

Speaker 1 (01:40):
Yeah. Probably.

Speaker 2 (01:41):
It was amazing. He was like, hey, you I remember
you from when you came up last time. Can I
show you something? And I was like, were you.

Speaker 1 (01:46):
Like, where are we going? No? Were you slightly worried?

Speaker 2 (01:49):
Nah? No, he had just had two hips replaced. He
felt like murdered I would be able to win a race.

Speaker 3 (01:56):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:56):
It was so nice. It was really lovely. And then
I went up to the USTA's New England section in
New Hampshire, played some tennis with my friend who runs
ust in New England, Lindsey Killer, and left with a
backs full of local goodies.

Speaker 3 (02:08):
Just so everybody knows, Caitlin plays more tennis than I
have played.

Speaker 1 (02:11):
In five years.

Speaker 3 (02:12):
All right, now, for sure, you one hundred percent have
played more tennis in the last seven months, eight months,
nine ms this year, You've played more tennis this year
than I've played in a good five years.

Speaker 2 (02:21):
You're probably right, and listen for me. Sure, occasionally I'll
play tournaments and keeps core, but for the most part,
it's the friends we make along the way, true, you know.

Speaker 3 (02:29):
Anyway, all right, well, let's get into the tennis because
it's been it's been so interesting this week.

Speaker 1 (02:33):
It's for so many reasons.

Speaker 2 (02:35):
Speaking of the friends we're making along the way, it
seems like people are leaving bardies dead and blooded and
buried along the way in China right now.

Speaker 1 (02:44):
How many times have we talked about this through the years.

Speaker 3 (02:47):
I mean, this is not just a phenomenon of twenty
twenty five.

Speaker 2 (02:51):
This is a The tennis season is too last, is
an ongoing thing. The tennis season is a meat grinder,
and come September October, everyone's bodies are giving up.

Speaker 3 (03:02):
Yeah, I mean, the only people that are really invested
in this time of the year other people trying to
make the WTA and ITP finals. The ones that are
I mean, look, I'm not saying I'm not saying that
players are are playing and they don't care about winning
and losing. What I mean is the ones that are
trying to make the WTA finals and ITP finals are
like so vested in doing really well here because they

(03:22):
need to to get into the finals.

Speaker 1 (03:24):
That's great. It's an enormous amount of money, right.

Speaker 2 (03:26):
If they get in, it's a huge bonus. And obviously
you only get the top eight players for each of
those tournaments, plus one or two alternates, and if you
even show up, you have a giant purse. So for me,
I get why somebody who maybe is not close to
getting in shuts it down because it has been you know,
it's nuts, and the preseason for twenty twenty six is

(03:48):
going to begin in November or at the very latest.

Speaker 1 (03:52):
December for a lot of these players.

Speaker 2 (03:53):
So they really just it is a profoundly, profoundly difficult
stretch of time they have to be on. And it's
funny because a lot of the players who are doing
well right now are players who either didn't have good
beginnings of the season or who maybe were injured and
sat out and they could come back fresh just now
to kind of make it an end of the year run.

(04:14):
It's not great because, like we've talked, about before. These
are amazingly interesting cities, they're amazingly interesting matchups, and it's
just the quality of the jars and the caliber of
the play is not always as high as it should
be because of this.

Speaker 3 (04:27):
Yeah, and also, look, you have to understand once the
US Open is over, it's sort of like it's like
it's it is a grind towards the end of the year.
And you know, some of these players, let's you know,
I'm going to bring it up again. You know a
lot of these guys played Labor Cup. You know, that's
an entire week out of their schedule that they could
be taking off. Right, So again and listen, I'm not

(04:47):
opposed to Labour Cup. I'm not opposed to any of
these exhibition style things. I'm not opposed to I think,
get your bag, get make all the money making tennis,
you know, interesting and fun and new concepts and all
that sort of stuff. The issue is it adds an
extra week onto schedules that where they could be taking
time off. So then then they're falling apart when they're
going to play regular tournaments. It's like, well, what are

(05:10):
we trying to support In the end, are we trying
to support the tour, is the tour making sure that
they're taking care of us monetarily. You know, I can
make you know, a quarter of a million dollars, a
half a million dollars or a million dollars depending on
who you are, to play Labor Cup. And yet for
me to win Shanghai or you know, Beijing or whatever is.

Speaker 1 (05:30):
Eight hundred thousand, let's say.

Speaker 3 (05:32):
But you know, I'm putting in all the work I have,
the stress I got to go to China do blah
blah blah, oh the things. It's kind of like after
the US Open. The only people that are going to
really get something out of winning a tournament of the
ones or doing well in a tournament the ones that
are going to make the ATP and WTA finals. But
then they're adding an extra especially the guys with Labor Cup,
they're adding an complete week onto their schedule to play that.

Speaker 2 (05:52):
It's interesting because two of the guys have played Labor
Cup famously this year because they've played against each other. Taylors,
who beat Carlos Alcaraz at the Labor Cup, are now
two of the folks who have suffered in this age.
Just went a little bit obviously Carlos right after we
recorded our Yeah, literally two hours after we recorded out
Weeks he pulled out of you know, the incoming Shun

(06:15):
High Masters, and then Taylor Fritz, we saw who played
and went and put up as much of an effort
as he could, lost to Giovanni Peshi pair of card
in what was the latter's finest one of the season.
He hasn't had a good season and is obviously trying
to finish on a high note. But Taylor Fritz even
said after the match, like he wrote a lengthy note
like I am cooked, I am tired, my body, my mind.

(06:37):
I've been pushing so hard for so long. Yes, he
chose to play labor Cup and got a pretty penny
for it. No, no shade, but that was part of
the Yeah.

Speaker 1 (06:43):
But that's that's exactly what I told.

Speaker 2 (06:45):
What you're saying, you know, And I don't think he's
going to shut down a season because obviously he is
going to be in the top eight and he will
qualify probably if he hasn't already for the ATP finals.
But it is, you know, he needs a mini break
just to be able to get back on some solid
footing and feel refreshed.

Speaker 1 (07:01):
I think these players should learn something from Serena Williams.
I mean honestly, like.

Speaker 3 (07:05):
She would shut her season down the last like five
ten years, I'd say five seven years of her career.
It didn't even play the WTA finals. Now I'm not
I'm not being a proponent of that, because we should
have the best players playing out WTA and a TP finals.

Speaker 1 (07:18):
That's the whole point of them.

Speaker 3 (07:19):
They're the biggest tournaments outside of the of the majors.

Speaker 2 (07:22):
Well, I think they're supposed to be.

Speaker 1 (07:24):
You are correct.

Speaker 2 (07:25):
I don't know that actually the players think that they
are correct.

Speaker 3 (07:28):
Listen, I made many, many, many, many many WTAF finals
in doubles and it was a combination of a great
year and I loved it.

Speaker 1 (07:34):
And you know, it does feel good to be there.

Speaker 2 (07:36):
It does feel good to be You just ask you
a question kind of provocatively on this nowe because.

Speaker 3 (07:40):
I'm not as playing doubles. It wasn't as taxing and physically.

Speaker 2 (07:43):
And listen, no, she had to doubles that are My
question is more, you played the wt finals. You have
a rolelax that you won, that you got for anticipating. Actually,
that's cool, and you pleaded it Madison Square Garden, which
is one of the world's most sort of premium, pre

(08:04):
eminent sporting venues, and you played it indoors in New York.
Do you think, and this is again no shade to
where this tournament is, just how maybe it has been
diminished by the Slams and other things that feel more premium.
Has it, in your mind gone down in importance.

Speaker 3 (08:24):
I think that once it left Madison Square Garden it
felt a little bit like, oh God, you know where
we're going. Then it went to the Staples Center in
LA and then it's sort of like it was a
bit strange as well, but it was obviously a huge,
amazing venue. And then we started sort of, you know,
throwing it around everywhere, and I think it lost its
I think it should find a permanent home somewhere in

(08:46):
the world and really make it.

Speaker 1 (08:47):
That's the stop, I guess the point. I mean, we
went literally like literally.

Speaker 3 (08:51):
Caitlyn went La, we went Munich, we went Madrid, we
went Doha, we went.

Speaker 1 (08:58):
Singapore, Singapore. Then we went to z to Loom.

Speaker 2 (09:01):
Or whatever in Mexican and then it was yeah, it
was and so now it's in read the point I'm
making is actually different, which is it's less about where
it is, although I think you're making a good point
that it should be someplace at least with consistency.

Speaker 1 (09:15):
And I don't know how long read has it.

Speaker 2 (09:17):
I think for a couple more years, but more just
when I was coming up, the Gold Medal, the Rome Open,
the Canadian Open, other things besides the Slams were in
a greater part of the sport's consciousness. It has felt
and I think that there is a lot of viewership number,

(09:37):
ticket sales number, and you sort of certainly anecdotal evidence
to kind of support like the Slams have kind of
pulled far, far ahead of everything else in the sport,
including the finals. And so I'm not even saying where
it is held matters, although I think it probably does
to a tremendous amount, but rather does it feel necessary

(09:57):
even in the light of the Slams being overshadowing so
much more of the tournament.

Speaker 1 (10:02):
You ask me if we should have it?

Speaker 2 (10:05):
No, I'm just saying, does it matter?

Speaker 1 (10:07):
Yeah, it matters?

Speaker 2 (10:08):
Okay, fine, let men player, If you.

Speaker 3 (10:10):
Win the WT finals, it's it's certainly a big notch
on your belt. I would say you would put it
up there with an Indian Wells, a little bit maybe
even ahead of an Indian Wells, but certainly on an Indian.

Speaker 2 (10:19):
That was going to be my question. Yeah, would you
rather win Indian Wells or would you rather win the
tour finals? From a monetary perspective, I'd rather win the.

Speaker 3 (10:26):
Wtfom you'd rather, Yeah, I mean, it's nice to know that,
you know, I won x amount.

Speaker 2 (10:32):
Actually, when it was in Dallas Fort Worth, which was
another random place of the WT finals was in the
last couple of years, Carolyn Garcia won it, and it's
like the number one thing in her CV. It's not
the fact that she won a couple of double s
Grand Slams, in the fact that she won the I'm
not trying to shit on it. My question is just
more like, you know, what is it for and does
it matter? And I think part of the answer to
that would be a truncated season where it feels a

(10:54):
little bit more connected to what happens and not just
the people left standing.

Speaker 3 (10:57):
Yeah, what I would like to see is then figure
out a way to finish the season in October right
where they have a full November, whether it be a
full November off and then they can start working. And
no one's going to take a full month off. No
tennis play is going to do that. The maximum time
they'll take off is two weeks physically, just because it's
really hard.

Speaker 1 (11:17):
To get back in shape. And anyone who's been sick
I can understand that.

Speaker 3 (11:20):
But you're not only only trying to get back in shape,
but you're trying to get it back in shape to
be able to go into Australia and deal with the.

Speaker 1 (11:26):
Heat and deal with four or five hours on a
town squad.

Speaker 3 (11:29):
So I would like to see them try and shut
it down there and maybe figure out a way to
have a team event like a WTAF finals certainly, and
then the week after that have their Billy Jean Kin
Cup immediately after that and make it the coumbination of
a team event, and then we're done by like November
first for example, at the latest mid November. But I

(11:52):
don't know how you do that when China is offering
so much money.

Speaker 2 (11:55):
But again I want to reframe it. I don't think
it's China. I think it's all of the events combined.
I don't think you just lop off the end. If
the end is not what you like. I think you
find some stuff in the middle that doesn't feel necessary.
There is a and then trunk and then truncate it exactly,
and maybe that means regionally swapping some things around. But
you know again, I think from late December to November

(12:18):
is too long, and there's some real weak spots in
the calendar that feel inessential.

Speaker 3 (12:23):
And then if players want to play exhibitions, they can
do that.

Speaker 1 (12:26):
That's their body, that's on them.

Speaker 2 (12:28):
So just while we're on the topic, before we get
onto other things. Cinner, this is widespread. Al Karaz pulls out.
He's probably still going to play the finals. Sinner loses
with cramps. He's probably still going to play the finals.
Taylor Fritz goes down to Perry Card looking like he's
the most tired man in the world. Still going to
play the finals. Darry Kazakina has shut her season down,

(12:49):
she's done. Novak Djokovic is out there pukan on court
like it's yeah, it's it's widespread. And Darry Kazakina, as
she always does, said something really thoughtful about just like
this has been a year for her. She's made a
nationality change. She's now representing Australia. There's just you know,
again the mental stuff and the off court stuff that
goes along with the un quart stuff.

Speaker 1 (13:09):
You know.

Speaker 2 (13:10):
And again I think this is widespread. It's happening at
all levels of the game, and whether the players are
really open about sharing, as Daria Kazakina was, because that's
kind of her vibe, whether players are just like yo,
I am, he's now, like it's happening everywhere.

Speaker 1 (13:26):
Sometimes I.

Speaker 3 (13:28):
Also like to do a wait and see, right, because
you don't know, right, You don't know at the end
of the year and then what happens at the start
of next year, right, So you could say all these
things like, for example, let's see sabal Anca. Sabalinka is like,
I'm not playing there, I'm not going to Beijing. I'm
taking more time to get myself ready for Wuhan and
then to eventually get myself ready to the WTA finals
and looking at that schedule, probably going to be the

(13:50):
best schedule. She probably will win, but Muhan, I'll certainly
go deep in Muhan. She loves playing there, she wins
that tournament a lot, and then we'll get herself ready
to go and play the WTAF finals. That seems to
me like the best schedule, right, Igershiontek went and played
early in Asia, she played Korea, and then she's played

(14:10):
in China, so we'll see, right, she hasn't had the
success maybe that she wanted to have in China thus far.

Speaker 1 (14:18):
Sure, a Korea, she wins a tournament.

Speaker 3 (14:20):
But you know, but but when you are used to
winning a lot like she has been over the last
few months, it's like, Okay, now she's playing in.

Speaker 1 (14:28):
Mouhan, how's that going to go?

Speaker 3 (14:30):
And then how will she go at the WTAF finals?
And I guess if she wins the WTAF finals and
you're idea, right, and so you don't, I don't. I
do like to have a wait and see like period
of time at the end of the season and then
obviously looking at the start of the season. But I
think if it was my play, I would be along
the lines of taking a little bit more time off

(14:51):
to get them fresh. But then when you take the
time off, Caitlin, it is hard to get back and
you match the form and people are like, what do
you mean you're practicing all the time. It's very different
to playing matches, to playing even practice set.

Speaker 2 (15:00):
Even I can say at at your level, no, But
like people who played you know, college town, like you're
matched off or you're not. And if you're not matched up,
it doesn't matter how much practice.

Speaker 1 (15:11):
Yeah, there is not.

Speaker 2 (15:12):
No substitute of just being day in and day out
in matches. And I think if you're out of that vibe, well,
you know another person who I think you and I
have talked about a lot who lost to anis Himova
in a very one sided affair, who I think we
could say probably should have put the rackets down. But again,
if she does amazing again and wins the WT finals,

(15:34):
which she's more than capable of doing, yeah we're talking about,
of course, goes off like you know, and again it's hindsight.
It's always twenty twenty right.

Speaker 3 (15:42):
Well, again that's the situation, Like, Okay, is it the
right thing to do?

Speaker 1 (15:45):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (15:46):
I well everybody knows. I've said it several times in
the pod. I would have shut it down for the
season and really tried to work on those technical floors.

Speaker 2 (15:54):
So I think there's a couple of things that play here.
Number One, Rea Sablanca has played close to, if not
at her highest level, pretty recently, so there's a little
rest versus breast thing there. Ye Yugosh Fiantek similarly has
played very high level, especially like you know, winning Wimbledon,
and I would seem you know, obviously Cincinnati and winning Cincinnati,

(16:16):
like she's they're poised to do well, and it's more
just like okay, well what surface or what you know,
how many days am I nursing any injuries? Cocoa GoF
it's a little different, which is there's technique issues and
she has the team in place now to address them.

Speaker 3 (16:33):
She has Gavin was not in China, you know, the
newby By mechanical coach. But the thing that the thing
that I've said about Cocoa is how much can you
take emotionally?

Speaker 4 (16:48):
Right?

Speaker 1 (16:49):
So she scrapes through the matches.

Speaker 3 (16:52):
In China, she was not winning them easily, you know,
you know, battling in three sets and then gets i
mean just crushed by it, just crush. But that type
of a player like Anasamova is going to crush your weaknesses.
They're going to crush your forehand, and they're going to
crush your second serve, and they're going to put you
under a lot of pressure. And someone like Amanda is
so confident right now that she looks at playing Coco

(17:15):
as an opportunity because she gets the balls to hit
she wants, right, She's not being pressed by someone like
a Sabalanca moving, you know, hitting the ball back as
hard as her like she was at the US Open,
and then she's on the back foot, and then she's
having to then defend. She's not really defending against Coco
unless Coco is serving unbelievable and crushing backhands. She's not

(17:36):
really defending. She's the one that's always in the in
the positive and attacking. And so it's not like co
Coke can just say, you know, fuck it, I'm going
to hit my forehand flatter and harder today. That's not
going to happen with the technique and with the grip.
And that's why she does well on clay. That grip
and that technique is is I wouldn't say great, but
it's it's much better on clay.

Speaker 1 (17:57):
It's optimized for clay.

Speaker 3 (17:58):
Right, So and now if she Amanda anisim over on clay,
that is a match that I want to see because
you're going to have someone belting the ball, hitting the
ball well.

Speaker 1 (18:07):
She plays well on clay.

Speaker 3 (18:08):
Amanda probably could have even won the French Open when
she lost to Ash Party that year.

Speaker 1 (18:12):
That's right when Ash won it.

Speaker 3 (18:14):
And I'm like, but on hard court, you're going to
struggle against players hit the ball that flattened hard. So
you know at some point Coco is going to be like,
I don't know. It has to start taking a mental
toll on you, right, So that's why I was like,
just shut it down.

Speaker 1 (18:30):
Who cares?

Speaker 3 (18:30):
Like, go and practice somewhere when no one's say, paying
attention and work on those technique flaws?

Speaker 2 (18:35):
Can I say? Just as a parallel and this is
actually in support of your you know your we can
see Heinsa's twenty twenty viewpoint. It's like the last time
we were talking about this about Coco was right before
the French Open. You know, we're like, man, I don't know,
maybe take a break, and then she goes out and
wins the French Open. Yeah, so you know, but since then,

(18:56):
Caitlin has been a major struggle. It hasn't looked the
way you would want.

Speaker 3 (19:00):
No, I see, I disagree in some respects because going
into the French Open, she beat Eager, she on tech
on rome clay, which Eager had dominated on and so
I'm like.

Speaker 1 (19:10):
Is it is? Should she No?

Speaker 3 (19:13):
I think I think when I said she should shut
it down? Was I just really felt after the US Open, all.

Speaker 2 (19:18):
Right, So let's spend a little bit of time talking
about a son of a what two Grand Smam finals,
unbelievable major when lived in the Tropian Beijing she this
is awesome, Like we were.

Speaker 1 (19:32):
I'm so happy for her.

Speaker 2 (19:33):
We were gobsmacked, I think to see her respond the
way she did, especially after.

Speaker 3 (19:40):
You know, learned she has told me that she would
do the pod, so hopefully we can get her on here.
Let's you know, all our listeners please tag Amanda and
say please Amanda. She was a little busy last week,
but and the time change is such a nightmare. But
I'm dying to just ask her. I have so many
questions I want to talk to her about and ask her.

(20:00):
And you know, we are friends, so it's you know,
I'm so happy for her after what she's gone through
with you know, losing her father to you know, having
a mental break away from tennis for eight months and
nine months or whatever it was, and you know, a
young kid to make that decision, and it's the same
when Ash Party made that decision, like they made those decisions.

Speaker 1 (20:20):
Based on how they felt.

Speaker 3 (20:21):
That's true, and that to me is such a great
lesson for young players out there that are struggling. You know,
Coco is a player that fights through.

Speaker 1 (20:31):
It emotionally and mentally and all the things.

Speaker 3 (20:33):
And I have so much respect for Cocoke because she
puts herself on the line. Like people have no idea
how hard it is to go out there and have
to you are exposed. It's like, I'm sure everyone's had
a dream where they've been naked, like walking down a
hallway or something that like can't get back into their
house or something. I don't know, I've had those dreams
and you're just like, ah, what would you do.

Speaker 1 (20:53):
I feel like Coco.

Speaker 3 (20:54):
Goes out into like Arthur ash Stadium, and we saw,
we saw it when she broke down, Like imagine having
to go out there. You feel like you're literally niked
every time and you're like, can someone just give me
some clothes?

Speaker 2 (21:03):
The vulnerability is profound. I also want to say to
your point about the courage to walk away. You know
you might think, oh, well, these guys have a lot
of money. They have success if they want to take
a break, like, it's not like they're going to. But
I will say, like a lot of the things that
I've learned that go on behind the scenes with agents
and brand responsibilities, like they are not trying to let

(21:24):
you off any hooks, like your time is the.

Speaker 1 (21:27):
Agents only make money when you're making money.

Speaker 2 (21:30):
You have to have a firm sense of self to
be able to say, actually, no, that's not good for me.
And hopefully you know, you work with people who will
listen and respect you. But a lot of the players
are kind of I think, especially if they're not as successful,
like they really do, get kind of pushed around by
by the people on their teams who only make money
if they make money. And so it is an active

(21:51):
courage a lot of times to have, just as you're saying,
it's an active courage to go out when you're maybe
feeling exposed the way that Coco has, you know, with
the pressure that's on her. I think it's also very
courageous to be able to be like, I know myself,
I know the flak I'm going to get from my
brand and my agent and my team, and they're not going.

Speaker 1 (22:11):
To like this.

Speaker 2 (22:11):
But I need to do it and I need it,
and I.

Speaker 3 (22:13):
Think, you know, I remember when Ashbarty told me she
was stopping. It was at this it was literally at Wimbledon.
I believe she just made the finals of doubles. She
was like seventeen. She'd made like four doubles finals in
a major, which was incredible at that age. Maybe she
was eighteen at this point, maybe nineteen. Whenever she stopped
the first time, you guys can google it, but but

(22:33):
I remember her telling me, Yeah, I'm gonna, I'm gonna,
I'm stopping.

Speaker 1 (22:38):
I was like, what.

Speaker 3 (22:38):
I don't remember the words, whether it's I'm quitting or
I'm stopping or I'm retiring or.

Speaker 1 (22:42):
I'm going away. And I was like what.

Speaker 3 (22:46):
Like she had made probably like six hundred and seven
hundred thousand dollars that year, and I remember thinking, what, like,
you're just starting to make money and like getting yourself
going in your career, Like why would you stop right now?

Speaker 1 (22:57):
Like what?

Speaker 3 (22:58):
I couldn't believe it, But you know what, she took
two years away or whatever it was that she took
away from the sport and came back and dominated when
she was playing, And I'm like the courage to do that,
to walk away, and the courage for Amanda to walk away.
I don't think people understand when someone does that, they
need that.

Speaker 1 (23:15):
I mean, that is a huge.

Speaker 3 (23:17):
Call for someone at that age making that money, as
you said, to say, yeah, I'm going to walk away,
because at eighteen nineteen you might think, oh, I can
come back and make that money. But there's no guarantees.
There's no guarantees that you're going to be healthy. Sure,
there's no guarantees that this sport is not going to change.

Speaker 2 (23:31):
And how many Grand Slam champions who've stepped away from
the game only to come back and be like, you
know what, I'm going to come back. It's a little harder, yeah,
the second.

Speaker 1 (23:40):
It's a little hard.

Speaker 3 (23:40):
I mean, I think the time to do it is
when you're young and you're struggling, clearly, But listen on Amanda.
Just Wow, what an amazing run she's had. She's now
made her first WTA finals, which is awesome, and I
believe it's her first year, and I just I'm just
I'm like a mum, I'm like so proud of her

(24:01):
for going through what she's gone through. And she's just
a great kid and we'll command of the part, Amanda
and come onto the pod. And and also can I say,
after losing that Love and Love final at Wimbledon, like
to come back and bounce back the way she has
Kudo's man.

Speaker 2 (24:24):
So if somebody else kind of only up to wing
you wanted to mention, we've we've talked a little bit
about Daniel medvedev crisis. I do, and now maybe the
crisis is beginning to pass.

Speaker 1 (24:36):
Listen.

Speaker 3 (24:36):
I don't think anything where Daniel Medvedev has passed. I
think it's just in that little box over there, that
little Pandora's box. It just sort of sits over there
in the corner. It's like like you know those things
where you wind up and the.

Speaker 1 (24:49):
Clown comes out. And he was like, no, no, put
it back.

Speaker 2 (24:52):
In the box.

Speaker 3 (24:53):
But I think with him, we've gotten to a point
that he's finally changed coaches.

Speaker 1 (24:59):
And again nothing against this old.

Speaker 3 (25:00):
Coach danil finally changes coaches and nothing against his old coach,
but I think that he needed a change.

Speaker 1 (25:09):
And I've said this about other.

Speaker 2 (25:10):
People and they said it, both of them.

Speaker 1 (25:12):
Yeah, I mean he needed a change.

Speaker 3 (25:14):
And Thomas Johansen is Swedish, very fun guy, but very
serious guy in a lot of ways as well. So
he is like the perfect combination. I think for dinner,
he's not gonna listen to and carry on and you know,
gibber jabber around. He's going to get to a point
and he's going to move on and he's going to
work hard. And Thomas is such a such a great

(25:35):
player himself and won the Australian Open, and he knows
how to do it and he knows what it takes.
And I think he was a perfect, perfect coach for
him to have. And Thomas has coached a lot of
really good players in his coaching career and has done
really good things the players that he's worked with, so
I think this was a perfect, perfect, perfect coaching situation
for him to have. And you kind of see it
in the way he's playing. He's just a little bit

(25:56):
more aggressive. It looks like he's moving better, and you
know he's serving better, and you know, his fight today
was exceptional. I mean he hit this one running fourhand
down the line in the second set tiebreak, so basically
sort of help him win the match, and I'm happy
for him. We need Danil Madvedev to be doing well
because he's such a character and he's such a great player,

(26:18):
and I just love the guy. I've got a soft
spot for him, and I just I want him to
come back and do better. And I think he's got
some demons. I think losing that match to Rafi on
Nadal out two sets to love at the estray and
open still must just eat at his like, you know,
what do you say, crawl like just something in his craw.
And I think he's lost some tough matches over the

(26:40):
last couple years, and I think that one to Rafa
still is like.

Speaker 2 (26:45):
I think to your point, the for me, the you know, look,
we're talking about men's town of specifically, we love Center,
we love Alcarez. Maybe on certain days we love one
of them more than the other or love their outfit.
But they're great, they're great of the game. They're good.
But it can't just be them. It cannot be just them.
And I think when we want to reduce I got

(27:05):
annoyed when we used to do this with you know,
Rafa and Roger. I got annoyed when it became Rafa
and Nole, Like I don't like boring, repetitive storylines. And yes,
even though there's so many more matches that are going
to be amazing and magical between those two guys. The
tour is better when you have all of this soup

(27:25):
of interesting people. That's why the women's so soet and
that's why the women to me have largely been interesting.
But if it ever got to a place where it
was just you know, one or two names, like it
gets a little bit boring, like, well, who's going to
play Steffi Graff in the final? Like I don't know
who's Like then all of a sudden, Monica Slis, You're
like whoa, Okay, whoa? And Roger and gabarteah, Like it
gets more interesting than more names. And so I'm going

(27:47):
to use this the.

Speaker 1 (27:47):
Nice way of tennis and two thousands.

Speaker 2 (27:49):
Of unbelievable I mean early two thousands. It's like, yeah, murderers,
wrote Jenny caperraty ingus like absolute you know, rusas rockstars.
What I loved about the announcement that accompanied guyel Montfeese's
decision to play his last on tour was that the

(28:11):
Three Musketeers, the other Frenchmen that he grew up playing with,
made a wonderful tribute to him. And of course this
included my personal favorite Joe Wilfrid Sanga, who was found
on a golf course learning the news and decided he
was going to get back in the action. There was
a shout of Reshard Gasque watching TV and finding out
the announcement that Gayle montfies and they sort of hinted

(28:33):
at the fact that on Guyle Montfeese's last year on tour,
they would be part of the celebration. And I think
there's something really wonderful about that. Yes, of course it
helps if you're French and you know the fact that
these guys were vaunted is going to be the next
sort of generation of French stars, none of whom ended
up winning a Slam, although Joe Wilfrid came closest in
the Australian Open what was that like two thousand and
eight nine, But just this idea that this was a cohort,

(28:57):
these guys came up together. They're going to see their
most fun, most personality driven and one of the most
beloved players on tour and on feast. Obviously he's Mary Delenispelino,
so maybe he'll stick around the tour while she's still playing.
But they're going to send him off in proper style,
because these more than their wins and losses, these are
people who kind of shared something. Yeah, and I think
for me that uh, that outpouring of love that accompanied

(29:19):
guy on Monfis's announcement is exciting for those of us
who want to see him one play one more time,
or go deep one more time, or do a three
sixty overhead unnecessarily one more time, or twenty more times
if that's the particular shot. But just this idea that
like this sport is really only as good as the group.

Speaker 1 (29:35):
That comes up.

Speaker 2 (29:36):
It's not just about one name.

Speaker 3 (29:37):
Yeah, of course, I mean, you know, mini rivalries and
rivalries are great. Speaking of rivalries, we did talk about
Medvedev and Verev, that Medvedev was losing to the janitors,
but then well looky here, mister alex Zverev made some
headlines this week after his comments about he feels like

(29:59):
the town directors are keeping the court slow because it's
better for Carlos and Yannick. Now, I have so many
things to say about this, as you can imagine, Katelin,
because we texted each other immediately, I may this happened,
but we want to start by saying that we think
that this also came from a rog Actually, yes, Roger,

(30:21):
let's let's tell people that who didn't see this correct,
so we have always started.

Speaker 4 (30:26):
Don't worry, we will get to alex Verev and all
of that. Alex peak, alex Verev like all of this
because it is but you know, credit where it's due
or not doing this case is Roger Federer, when he
was the Labor Cup was asked about court speeds and
decided to make kind of a big statement and a
bit of a conspiracy theory and that those aren't my words,

(30:47):
those are actually the words that you can find in
today's Athletic talking about how he was the one who
thought maybe there was some fiddling.

Speaker 2 (30:54):
Around with court speeds. Now, this kind of read a
little bit to me as like kind of some Sarah grapes.
To be honest, I'm not you know, look, Io belove it.
We all love his game, blah blah.

Speaker 1 (31:02):
Blah, like whatever, it's fine. I have two sides to this.

Speaker 2 (31:05):
But it did feel like, oh, okay, that's a little
like I like when it gets a little caddy, and
it felt kind of a little bit caddy.

Speaker 1 (31:11):
Yeah, he said it.

Speaker 2 (31:12):
Maybe it's true, maybe it's not. I don't think it is.

Speaker 3 (31:14):
So he started by saying that he feels like the
courts are getting very homogenized, right, which is true, Which
is true a lot.

Speaker 1 (31:22):
I've talked about this lit The grass has gotten.

Speaker 3 (31:24):
Slower, Wimbledon has changed a tremendous amount. Okay, I can
tell you that for us the track you've won still
play on. It's a completely different court. And everybody that
played twenty thirty years ago, every time they hit it,
it's like, oh my god, it's like a hard court.

Speaker 1 (31:38):
Now it's ridiculous. Okay, So that is a fact.

Speaker 3 (31:41):
Now, is that better or west of the matches the
tournament argue a little bit of both. It's it does
become great entertaining points and et cetera. Back in the
eighties early nineties, it was big service, and that's part
of the issue. And I think why they decided to
change it. They started freaking out because iveness Imitch and
Pete Sampras and you know, Richard and Richard Kreiche, all

(32:03):
these big service and they felt like it was getting
homogenized and boring because it.

Speaker 1 (32:07):
Was big service. Right, So now everybody's a big server.
So the difference is they.

Speaker 3 (32:12):
All play really well from the back of the court,
but they've lost that ability to move forward. And the
ones that do really well are the ones that do
they still forward. So I think that tennis has just
gotten much better. I think players are so much better
off from the back of the court. I think that
they've realized that, yes, the courts are getting slower, and
they need to be really good from the back of
the court. But I would argue that players that do
come into the net and are very good at the

(32:34):
net actually the difference makers in the way you win
these match. Knows he has to come in. Of course,
Carlos knows he has to be able to come in.
These guys they have the drop shot. They're trying to
change the way that they play to get points. And
we've seen a lot this week in Shanghai where the
drop shot has really been effective because the court is

(32:55):
quite slow, so it's kind of playing almost like a
clay court where guys are so far behind the court
that you just go book and you hit that drop
shot round. It does really well. That's what Rinda Kinesh
did against Sarah really really well to beat him today
or yesterday. But the thing that I do agree with
Roger in one sense, I and you, You and I
have talked about we would like to see courts are

(33:16):
a bit faster. At the end of the year, it
was usually indoors, supreme fast as right, and that supported
people that played attacking tennis and came in. Now I
would like to see that come back. And I don't
disagree with Alex on that, and I don't disagree.

Speaker 1 (33:31):
With on Roger.

Speaker 3 (33:32):
But here's my butt because she knew it was coming.
Is z vera fucking joking he of our people if
he thinks that they're doing it to help Carlos and Yannick.
Here's a good example. He's tray and Open played medium
this year. Whatever Yannick quincid Okay, Zverev gets smoked in

(33:54):
the final. Okay, Then Wimbledon rolls, the French Open rolls around.
Same has been the same for one hundred years. Guess
who wins it? Carlos match points to Cinner, both of
them in the final. Zverev, where were you, Wimbledon? It's grass?

Speaker 1 (34:08):
You know who wins it?

Speaker 3 (34:09):
Yar Nick Sinner? It's grass? Okay, is it slower, sure,
but it's still grass. And then this us open, which
is notoriously medium to fast. Who wins it, Carlos Achariz.
It's like, dude, these guys went on every surface. If
you put them indoors, on a slow court, on a

(34:30):
molasses court, on a goddamn ice rink, they're going to win.
They're the guys that are going to win. You know
why because they can adapt. Because both of them can
flatten out the ball. Both of them serve unbelievable, both
of them can come into the net, both of them
can slice. Both of them have perfect foehands, perfect back ends,
with no weakness. They don't have a weakness. Carlos doesn't

(34:50):
have a funky fourhand. Who has a funky fourhandv So
it's like, dude, you should appreciate the fact that it's
a slow court on top of it it he loses
to Rinder Kanish and you're not. Rinder Kanesh is no
for serving and volleying and coming into the net. Now
he doesn't serve volley all the time, but he comes
in a lot. This is a guy that tacks the
net a lot and has a little bit of a

(35:12):
dodgy forehands. Okay, so we're talking dodgy fourhand on dodgy
four hen who won rinderkanessh you know why he had
more variety. He chipped the forehand, he chipped the drop shots,
he chipped his back end, he came into the net,
he served in volley from time to time. Dude, he
had more variety than you. And the court is yes,
it's slow, clearly, but he.

Speaker 1 (35:31):
Utilized all the tricks in the bag to beat you.

Speaker 3 (35:35):
And you you fucked up. You came in on the
wrong approach, shots, you your forehand went south when it
mattered you. Like what stop making excuses?

Speaker 2 (35:45):
Well that's actually what it is, right, yes, Like so
Federer starts this whole thing where yes, the courts have
gotten slower.

Speaker 3 (35:54):
And Roger Federer won every on every.

Speaker 2 (35:56):
Sur every surface, and his whole like hinting at a conspiracy,
like is this help Carlos and Yannick lol Zverev. Where
this gets so hilarious is Ale sparaff notoriously really over
I think, And he's somebody who uh his best services

(36:16):
play and when the match gets tight, this guy is
hitting like eighty mile an hour serves, which on the
pro tour is laughably slow.

Speaker 1 (36:23):
So for me, and he's just seeing full hunts under pressure.

Speaker 2 (36:26):
Well there you said it so a lot of times
and and you know you and I read John Warthimes
column which is great and Sports illustrated. It's like one
of the last good like kind of regularly occurring columns
that are not on sub sack. But he talks about
and a lot of One of the themes that comes
up a lot is alex Pairv is like the greatest
player not to win a Slam. And I think from

(36:47):
a technical standpoint or from a disagree with that, from
a like he's wracked up other titles and so he's
been in position kind of standpoint maybe. But I think
one thing that is never acknowledged, which is the major
problem with alex Verev, which is present here, is and
he's a coward. He plays like a coward. He can't

(37:08):
muster the right attacking strategy because he doesn't have guts.
He has no guts. And it doesn't matter even if
he fixed his dodgy forehand, even if he started hitting
a serve more than eighty miles an hour the second
the points get tight, I don't believe it he has
it in him. I don't think he has the guts
to play tennis aggressively enough when it matters against the players,

(37:29):
when it matters when you talk about you know, Alcaraz's cohones,
Corrasson and Cavesa. He's missing at least two of those.
And let me say, I don't know how you coach
that into alex feraff so him the irony if he
him talking about how yet this is another excuse as

(37:49):
to why he alex Verev couldn't get past and he
loses to render connection. It's like, have several.

Speaker 1 (37:53):
Seats there, several seats.

Speaker 3 (37:56):
It just makes me love. It's like he digs himself
into such holes. It's like, dude, you have if I
was coaching him or and I don't know if they
do this or say this, but I'll be like, we
need to have a talk. You need to stop saying
things publicly, you know, like he's like I'm going to
win the French or whatever it was, and it's like, oh,
you know, now he's bitching about the court surfaces.

Speaker 1 (38:17):
It's like, do better be better?

Speaker 2 (38:22):
There's no ownership, which is that's what I'm relating to.
The cowardice like he But it's the same as everything
is an excuse. Nothing is a sense of ownership. I
didn't play well. I executed the wrong strategy. I didn't
come in, I went faced with points, chose to hit
it back to the middle and hit serves under eighty
miles an hour because I was scared.

Speaker 1 (38:40):
Of missing them.

Speaker 2 (38:40):
It's like, no put out to the metal bro, Like, yeah,
you're six foot seven. Why you're not serving one hundred
and twenty miles an hour as a second serve is
honestly baffling. And the second thing is like, technically you're
you're fit as a fiddle most of the time, Like
there's no excuse. It's between your ears and your heart.

Speaker 1 (38:59):
And and it's also a technique base.

Speaker 3 (39:00):
His forehand is a little funky and there's a certain things,
so you need to go and fix that. It's sort
of like it's it's We talked about it with Sablenka
when she lost the French Open, right and she went
in and did that debacle in the postmatch interview and
on the court, and you know said that, you know,
she played terrible and you know, basically Coco, you know.

Speaker 1 (39:20):
Got lucky kind of thing.

Speaker 3 (39:21):
She didn't play well, and I'm like, oh my god,
you are not actualized as a tennis player, and I
give her so much credit because she took that on
the chain. She did it and really changed that at
the US Open in particular, because she didn't handle it
well at Wemblin either, but she was You're not actualized
as a tennis player when you can't recognize why you
are losing, right, So she loses and we talked.

Speaker 1 (39:43):
We've talked about this a lot. She loses to Coco
in big matches.

Speaker 3 (39:47):
On the biggest stages like the US Open final and
like the French Open, because Coco runs her ball down
and gets it back in the court and makes it
uncomfortable and a little ugly. Sometimes chips aforehand, hits the
high look beforehand hasn't one of the best back ends
in the world comes into the net.

Speaker 1 (40:03):
She's such a good athlete.

Speaker 3 (40:04):
She makes Sablanca play one more ball that's right and
under pressure, just like Zverev in the biggest of moments
at the finals of a major, you have got to
have courage and you've got to go for it, something
Madison Keys did's so well at this stray and Open
this year. You've got to be the one that makes
it happen because when you play somebody in the final,
they're playing as well as you, if not better, that's right.

Speaker 1 (40:24):
So if you expect them to just go away.

Speaker 2 (40:28):
To give it to you, no, And so the dom
played not to lose, which is how he pleas the
minute things get taded and Sablanca's credit when she started
doing that as a pattern, she went to the drawing
board and got herself back in that alpha.

Speaker 3 (40:41):
Rale well and more so even more so at the
US Open. She was on the verge of losing her shit.
In that second set, she was teetering. Okay, because Amanda
started playing a little bit better. The crowd, we're getting
into it, and she knew, if I lose my shit
like I've done here before and like I did at
Wimbledon and like I did at the French I'm not
going to win this match.

Speaker 1 (41:00):
That's right, and it must it was.

Speaker 3 (41:02):
I would venture to say, I'm not in her head,
but the hardest fucking like twenty minutes of her life
of hanging on to her own self and her own
shit to not lose it. And she talked about it
after the match, and I'm like.

Speaker 1 (41:14):
Damn it. That's called learning.

Speaker 3 (41:16):
That's why you have won how many Grand slams now
and zvered I, on the other hand, walks off.

Speaker 1 (41:20):
The court and goes, oh, you know, these are the
reasons why?

Speaker 3 (41:23):
What were your reasons to lose?

Speaker 1 (41:24):
The Rindan kinnest today.

Speaker 3 (41:25):
You didn't have as much variety, You weren't as aggressive
as him all the things. And he had the courage
to do the right thing under.

Speaker 2 (41:32):
The patter words that are coming up, courage versus cowardice.

Speaker 3 (41:35):
Yeah, and being actualized as a person and as a player.
And that's why as a coach is going circling back
to as a coach, you go, what do you want
to do? Do you want to be better? Because if
you do, you've got to shut your mouth. You've got
to actually look at the reasons why you're losing. And
that's the things you have to change. Don't worry about
bitching about Carlos and Zverev, Carlos and Yanik getting preference

(42:00):
treatment on court surfaces.

Speaker 1 (42:01):
When dude, they win on every court.

Speaker 2 (42:03):
Surface, a court surface he went on going to be
on it, So tell you on up to did.

Speaker 3 (42:09):
You hear Rafael and Nadal bitch about you know the
fact that he couldn't win the US Open because it
was so much faster than the French of.

Speaker 2 (42:15):
Course, or when he beat it, when he beat Roger
Federer at Wimbledon, when it was still fast. You know,
he was doing his game.

Speaker 1 (42:21):
You know, he changed his.

Speaker 3 (42:22):
Strategy, started flattening out straight, started flattening out his foot,
He started standing up on the baseline, like go watch
him the first time he played Wimbledon comparative to the
time that he actually won it, and see the difference.
That is an actualized player, that is a great coaching
unit that says, if you want to win Wimbledon, so
this is what you have to do, and he said.

Speaker 2 (42:39):
Can get it.

Speaker 1 (42:40):
And look at Igo Jantek, same thing.

Speaker 3 (42:42):
She didn't think she could even win or even do
well at Wimbledon. I'm like, well, what did you do
to change that foot thinking? And that's the difference between
the greats and the wanna be greats. One of my
favorite that was about how you are feeling out there
because I'm feeling a little fight up.

Speaker 2 (42:59):
There's a I'm gonna end on this because it's one
of the hardest things I've ever heard an athlete say.
When he was asked about Nick curious, have you talked
about this on the podcast, so I don't know. It's
Rafa Google it Rufa is getting interviewed in a press
room by a British reporter and they're like, oh, you know,
if Nick Curious was healthy and if he had a

(43:20):
coach and if he played really well, like do you
think he could be? Like if one of if if
if if if doesn't exist? Exactly, Mic Drob, Mic drop
if doesn't exist.

Speaker 1 (43:33):
No, it doesn't, if doesn't exist.

Speaker 3 (43:35):
And I talk about this a lot if I ever
do a Ted talk, I'm always about you know, actions
obviously speak bloud in the words, but.

Speaker 1 (43:42):
It's like I always talk about the two.

Speaker 3 (43:45):
Forks in a road, and the road you often take
is the road that's the easiest because it's you're.

Speaker 1 (43:51):
Familiar with it. So his familiarity is making excuses.

Speaker 3 (43:55):
Or even today when he lost the first set, he
won the first set against Rinderkindish, he won the set
and he walked to the chair to Kothavon who was
in the chair and bitched about the Rolex sign behind.

Speaker 1 (44:08):
The court was too white. Now that could be true, Caitlin,
It could be a little bit.

Speaker 3 (44:12):
And I I've actually played in courts where it's like,
I can't really see the ball.

Speaker 1 (44:15):
You just won the first set.

Speaker 3 (44:17):
Why are you even worrying or thinking about that? Just
maybe get on with it, win the match, and then
say after the match, by the way, can we look
at the led screens?

Speaker 1 (44:26):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (44:26):
That why it is a little you know, can we
change it or.

Speaker 2 (44:29):
On court in between sets?

Speaker 3 (44:31):
After he won the first set. So's he's already pre
emptying an excuse, right.

Speaker 2 (44:36):
And I'm sure whatever it is about the people around
him and his family family, some coaches didn't stick around
long to coach him and have sort of publicly talked
about it. Whoever's in his corner, who's not saying, hey,
why are you carrying on like a pork chap? I
don't want to hear you speaking about ifs after the
match head down? But the eyes for tell you?

Speaker 1 (44:59):
Why work his family coaching?

Speaker 4 (45:01):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (45:01):
His dad now his dad is a tennis coach. His
mom's tennis coach. Like they know what they're talking about.

Speaker 1 (45:06):
They're not so clearly.

Speaker 2 (45:07):
His game is great, he's been a top time.

Speaker 1 (45:10):
And his brother was a great player.

Speaker 3 (45:11):
Like they've done an amazing job, but at some point
they're not going to be the ones that really lay
it down to you because you're also paying their bills.

Speaker 2 (45:18):
That's right, and also to be fair, when he has
had an outside voice in the mix, it hasn't lasted long, probably,
I'm guessing because they said some things that he didn't
want to hear. So maybe Alex Fair of the choice
is yours. You can keep talking about if, if, if,
or you can get to work.

Speaker 1 (45:33):
I know the name of this podcast.

Speaker 3 (45:35):
I've already and usually you come up with the podcast
names because you're a little bit more.

Speaker 2 (45:39):
I beat you to it. I thought of it ten minutes.

Speaker 3 (45:41):
But if if it's the great it's like practice.

Speaker 1 (45:44):
Are we talking about practice?

Speaker 3 (45:46):
It's like that is the greatest one in basketball history
and in tennis it's if if, if you finish. My
point is you pick a road. You pick the easy
one because it's familiar. Yeah, you don't go the one
road that's not familiar because you don't know what the
outcome may be. And if you do it, you do
the right thing, like all the right things. Like if
he doesn't make excuses and he works on his forehand.

Speaker 2 (46:08):
He doesn't know.

Speaker 3 (46:09):
If you don't win, then you're like, oh my god,
I'm just not good enough. I argue and say yeah,
but in twenty years time, when you look back, you
can say, oh, I went that hard way, so.

Speaker 2 (46:21):
Therefore left no stone and turn.

Speaker 1 (46:23):
So therefore my best was two in the world making
the finals of a Grand Slam. And guess what, that's
all good. That's there's nothing wrong with that.

Speaker 3 (46:31):
That's not no, it's great. That's your that is your
maximum capacity.

Speaker 1 (46:35):
It's great.

Speaker 2 (46:36):
It's not the greatest, but it's still great.

Speaker 3 (46:37):
But do you think anyone's looking at David Fair and
being like, loser, what a loser?

Speaker 1 (46:43):
Never won a Slam, didn't do it?

Speaker 3 (46:45):
No, that guy absolutely maximized. He's maximized his best.

Speaker 2 (46:50):
By the way, you want to know how much I'm
a pretty big David vid for air fan. When you
see that guy, he's tiny, he is handsome, he is smiling, yis.
He's surrounded by very attractive yis. He's doing finn His
conscience is clear. You want to know why, because he
left it all, left it all on the court. He

(47:11):
did his absolute best and he's living a great lefe Yeah,
in his lean, moisturize, nourished.

Speaker 3 (47:16):
Yeah, there's no he's like, let me added the w NBA.
No Kelsey Mitchell game one, literally could not finish the game,
had to be carried off the court, and later found
out that she basically was cramping so bad in her
whole body that she couldn't feel the legs and they
had to like carry off the court. And she said, well,
the one thing I'll know is that I can actually
say I left it all on the court, and that

(47:39):
is something that as an athlete and as a professional,
I need you to feel that you need that, and
I one regret I have is that I didn't do
it a little earlier, right, that I didn't go my
p's and q's and control my you know, my emotions
on the court early enough, and that I could have
been maybe a better singles player if I'd done that earlier.

Speaker 1 (48:00):
And then my injuries hurt me.

Speaker 3 (48:01):
But all the things, the only thing I have in
my the only thing you have in your life is regret. Right,
So I would say to anyone out there, like, don't
have regrets.

Speaker 1 (48:09):
And the two worst words in the English language are
if only.

Speaker 2 (48:13):
Yeah, yeah, I done this, which is why you don't
make excuses for me. I exceeded my talents. I was mediocre,
and I got to be decently good, and I was
not on a question in my mind that I could
have done better. I couldn't have. Yeah, and that feels good. Actually, yeah,
you know feels good is losing in my only professional

(48:33):
challenger match and under thirty seven minutes cool to say
that I did not really, that's it was not fun
to experience. But you did it and I did and
I was like, well, I guess that's my max, that's
I did it. I lost in the first round of
the Challengers. This is probably as good as I can do.
And I'm gonna keep trying as soon as i can
and then I'm gonna be downe.

Speaker 3 (48:51):
But yeah, no, wif can I tell you real quick
before you finish? And we all know what happened to
my mom sadly like three and a half, not that
long ago. Anyway, I was reading a letter that she
wrote to me and she emailed to me, and she
went through some of my stuff and I had to
do this like years and years ago, like about my childhood.
And I do say to everyone to do that, like
have your parents like tell you a lot about their

(49:13):
childhood so you can write it down and nowadays just
video it, right. But one of the things my mom says, oh,
you're such a little thing. I'm paraphracing because I can't
remember her beta, but she said essentially, yeah, you lost
to whoever from Wollongong when you were seven, and you've
lost pretty badly, but you never let her beat you again.

Speaker 1 (49:34):
And I was like, yeah, right, that's right. You know.

Speaker 3 (49:37):
So for everyone out there and Amanda anissam Ova, you
might lose.

Speaker 1 (49:41):
Oh no, And I went on a final.

Speaker 3 (49:42):
You can come back and continue to have the most
remarkable year by making a US Open final and by
winning yesterday or two days ago in Beijing. I hope
that she has now layered her brain because I talk
about scar tissue in the brain and all those things
that tata I call it on her brain is gone
from Wondolon. I think she has now gotten to a
point where she feels like she learns so much about

(50:04):
herself and what not to do on the tennis court
under duress.

Speaker 1 (50:08):
And I think the US Open.

Speaker 3 (50:09):
Was another added layer to that that she has learned
so much about herself in the last two or three years.
But there is no doubt in my mind next year.

Speaker 1 (50:18):
She will win a Grand Slam.

Speaker 3 (50:19):
Okay, And I think I said the same thing with
Yixinner years ago before he won a Slam, that he
would definitely win one next year. And I'm going to
go on the record and say Amanda Anasamova will win
a Grand Slam.

Speaker 2 (50:29):
Next year, no about it, if if if, thank you, nay, thanks,
Hi Sam, We'll see you next week.

Speaker 1 (50:36):
Back