Billionaire's Challenge

00:00:17
Speaker 1: Ah, right, look at us, Hey, Caitlin, how's it going. Welcome to the Renee Stubstinners podcast. I'm upstate and it's rainy, and we have to start every podcast by talking about the weather.

00:00:28
Speaker 2: I think. So that's got to be a good portion of our audience that is amateur meteorolitis.

00:00:34
Speaker 1: They're just as excited as I am about the weather. Let's face it, h Caitlin. We've had a lot of tennis feed played over the last week, and the w TA finals were culminated with the win from Elena Rabarkina. Do we want to get started when right there? Or would you like to? It's I feel like I'm looking at you and I feel like you're you're wanting to talk about something else.

00:01:00
Speaker 2: Probably no, No, I want to talk about this. I thought it was unbelievable how good Elena Rabacchiina played in the entirety of the tour finals. I mean, she came into this tournament looking good, she left looking unbeatable, and Arena Sabilinka did not play badly. And so I am torn between wanting to talk about Elena Rokina winning the entirety of the tournament and taking hone a five million dollar plus check, and also wanting to talk about the fact that Elena Rabacchina wouldn't take a picture with the WTA CEO portrait archer and the runner up Arena Sablanca over what I assume is some beef because of the whole Bukhov thing. So we don't have to talk about that second thing. But I whenever I think about it, that's the thing that I'm also thinking about, not just the tennis.

00:01:54
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was a little controversial, that's for sure. She was certainly putting her in or line in the sand with that lack of photo with the CEO from the w t A. Yeah, I mean, and and I felt sorry for Sablenco, who standing together going what's happening?

00:02:14
Speaker 2: Yeah, what's going on? It's like I lost, I'm pissed, and.

00:02:17
Speaker 1: But I'm taking this photo. Where are you?

00:02:19
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm in the photo. Get over here. I just you know, I know Rebakina was sort of asked about it at press conference, but like they're really.

00:02:27
Speaker 1: Did She's saying that press conference.

00:02:28
Speaker 2: I I was like, well, we did, you know, she didn't really address it, and the press Core letter go it was like, you know, we had an opportunity to discuss it, and it wasn't discussed, And so I'm doing my job and she's doing her job, which somebody then would say, okay, well, what do you what's the message it sends at the end of the season at the most important tournament that the WTA runs to snub, it's CEO, like, where are you know? Just I get that this is uncomfortable stuff, but like in any other sport, these would be pretty common follow up questions at a press conference, And the fact that the WTA brings influencers to come cover this thing and not journalists is what you get. You don't get like the real story you get.

00:03:09
Speaker 1: So you as you, as a real journalist, like somebody who really does this for a living, who's who's worked at some of the biggest newspapers magazines in the world, what would you have done in that situation being in that press conference.

00:03:23
Speaker 2: I think she was making a massive statement. She would tell you she's making a massive statement, and then you get her on the record explaining the statement, and you don't say okay when she says, well, she knows what she did.

00:03:37
Speaker 1: You get her on the record, you said, because you broke up there you would get.

00:03:41
Speaker 2: Her on the right say hey, listen, I get that you don't necessarily want to talk about this, but in front of all the assembled cameras, in front of all the assembled brass, and in front of all of the audience globally watching your victorious, incredible victory, you made a statement. Talk about it, talk about why, and kind of you have to have follow up questions like if you ever watched a political press conference, if you've ever watched a conference a press conference in another sport like these are pretty basic tenants and just like tennis doesn't have it, it's crazy to me that we just let so much of this stuff go. And maybe also you ask Porscha Archer about her and get her on the record and ask her, you know, because I know the WTA has probably done a lot of internal soul searching and also some handringing about this, because you know, without wanting to add any speculation to it, it seems like it's a tough situation. You know, if you see and hear something about a player needing help, but that player herself doesn't seem to need or want help, then what do you do. You know, there's concerns for workplace. There's concerns for other people who are around this whole situation, But at the end of the day, she's being coached by who she she says she wants to be coached by, and she's winning.

00:04:47
Speaker 1: So you know, well, I mean, doing what she did was certainly not taking it out of the spotlight. So you're continuing to keep it in the spotlight, and you're continuing to have generalists like yourself, for example, who would sit in a press conference like that or anybody else frankly ask those questions. And so if you're trying to, like.

00:05:07
Speaker 2: Statement, then you don't do anything and you pretend like everything's hunky dory.

00:05:12
Speaker 1: Yeah, so yeah, which is not happening because that's what the statement was. The last basically jester you did of the tour of the year five.

00:05:21
Speaker 2: The end note of the WTA Tour this year is the world number one's crying and also standing with the CEO by yourself.

00:05:32
Speaker 1: Not wanting to do that. I mean, let me tell you, I have not lost in massive singles finals, but I've certainly lost a lot of major doubles finals. And the first thing I want to do is take my shit and get off the court. There's no There's just never a time where I'm like, you know what, I'm happy to be here as a loser. I want to take my photo, I want to talk to the people. There's never one time I've done that. And you know I'll be the first to say, you know, the one thing about losing in doubles is I can look at my doubles partner and say, you can talk.

00:05:59
Speaker 2: Oh that's great. Actually, did you often ask your partners? Yeah?

00:06:02
Speaker 1: I say, I can't do it. I can't stand these people that I just lost to the chances of me being nice to them right now is pretty much zero.

00:06:09
Speaker 2: So off that, beautiful. You're a bigger.

00:06:11
Speaker 1: Person than me. You can do this. I will not. I refuse. I'm just kidding. I mean I have done it before. I've lost her friends in finals and like a crudgingly have to say something nice about them. But no, but it is a nightmare. I mean. We've seen some epic runner up situations, none like the French Open when Martina hing has decided to just leave the court and had to literally be coherse back as Naomi Osaka in Canada to come back to the presentation.

00:06:37
Speaker 2: Victoria and Boca.

00:06:38
Speaker 1: Yeah, you got to come back to the presentation anyway. I will say, though, Arena Sablanca, another fantastic year, finishes world number one. It's been a long time since gone back to back, since somebody has done that as well number one. But having said that, I would venture to say that she would say it was a great year, but it wasn't the year that she would have hope for. And that's an amazing thing to say when you reach as many finals as she has, as you've like pinnacle of world number one two years in a row, like the consistency that she had this year was outrageously good. But having only won one essentially one major title, the US Open, I would say that she would say that this year was a little bit of a failure. And I mean that in the nicest way, like because you know, because she's been so good and consistently the best player all year and making all the finals that she did, I think she would be highly disappointed that she lost in the finals of the Train Open, that she lost in the semi finals of Wimbledon, that she lost the final of the French Open, and then she lost to WTA final. I think that for her is that someone who's that dominant would be very disappointed that they didn't get more major titles under their belt this year. And she sort of deserved it, but in the end, give you know when you don't deserve it.

00:07:52
Speaker 2: It is a testament to how good her year is that making three major finals and we're ranked number one, Like that's still a great showing one thing that this sort of just the reason is the question for me is is it surface dependent or is Elena Rabakiin is ceiling actually somehow higher than Arena Sablanca's ceiling.

00:08:10
Speaker 1: Oh that's a good question. I think that. Look, Rabackiin has had situations where she has just absolutely smoked Sabolanka. Look at that final in Brisbane a couple of years ago. I mean Sablanca barely won a game, and then two weeks later Sabalanca winds, they stray and open. So I just think Sablanca's upside is always really solid, really good all the time. Like, you know, she's not losing in first round, she's getting to sam she's getting to finals. Rabackin is losing to sort of random people at certain times because I think when her her a game is on, she's almost unbeatable, and it comes down to the serf and she is the first player since Carolina Plishkova who did it like five years ago, that's served over five hundred aces in a year, which you know, think about that, that's like three free games of every set that she's serving pretty much. So if the serve is on and indoors, she is by far the most aggressive big hitting player. Look, if it had gone three sets, would it could have been a different story. Yes, But if if if, as we know, doesn't exist, so so you know, yeah, Rebekna at her best, her back end is as good as you get, her serve is as big as you get. It's whether the forehand is successfully going down the line. And early on in the match, Lindsay Davenport actually said, look, if that's happening and she's hitting that fourne down the line with consistency, then she's unbeatable. And we saw that, and indoors, she pretty much took care of everybody in this tournament and you know, walked away with a big, fat five and a half million dollar check.

00:09:42
Speaker 2: There was a minute, and I think for me it was moments after the first set against Jessica Pegoula, who was Victoria isn't that first set, but then just absolutely the tides turned. You know, the score was four and four in that second and third set in the semist was four and three, but it didn't feel close. It felt like Poogila got out to a great start. She played well, she was seeing the ball, she was dictating points, and then all of a sudden, Rebeckena kind of, I don't know, relaxed her shoulders a little bit or just kind of like figured dialed in the right equation for Jess Poogogla, and it didn't feel like they were on the same playing field after that.

00:10:20
Speaker 1: That first said, yeah, you can tell that Jess was going after the forehand and really trying to attack that because that's where the mistakes will come a little more often. I think one thing that she did didn't do enough, Jess was to get it yes to the forehand, to the forehand, but then get it to the back end. You can't just keep going there because once Rebeken a very similar to Coco, once the forehand doesn't start making errors, then that's where you kind of fall into a little bit of a trap going there too much and you almost play them into not and then once they start not missing their forehand, their confidence level goes so sky high because they're like, oh, my weakest shot is super good today, and so everything else relaxes. The serve relaxes, the backhand's unbelievable. She's moving really great as well. I thought Rebarkkna was moving well. And I think she's been struggling this year with a bit of an Achilles tendon issue because we've seen her, you know, with that taping in that sort of ankle Achilles area, and I didn't see that at all in the WTA finals. She was dealing with a little bit of strapping on her right shoulder for the serf, but other than that, I thought she was moving really well. And you just wonder how much of that Achilles has been bothering her for like a year or two. I remember she sort of heard it going into this strain Open a couple of years ago when she lots that epic tie break to blinkover, and that was when she beat Sabalanca and that easy final in Brisbane and then went to the strain Open after going to play Adelaide, and I remember pet Co and I talked to that about that and We're like, why would you go to Adelaide like you just won Brisbane, go to the strain Open and prepare as the favorite to win these Strain Open, then went to Adelaide and heard her achilles and then really struggled in that tournament and lost to Blinkov. So I just wonder if the movement also because she looked really good with the movement. So again big hitter, great server, getting the ball back in the court. One more ball back in the court. She just waits for the easy one and then boom, hits a winner. That's she was just too good.

00:12:02
Speaker 2: Too good. I do want to just touch on that other semifinal because I actually thought both semifinals and the the WTA Tour finals were quite good Anisimova. Really, I thought for a second, especially in that first set, she had three break points, she didn't convert on any of them, she ended up losing the set. Then she came back in the second and I thought, oh, now she's kind of it's clicking for her. You can see she's just she's getting closer and closer and closer on Seblanka. That backhand is elite and her I think the thing that you could kind of ding her for but is also the most improved is just as a competitor, she's getting there. She's less negative, which is not to say that she's still a little too negative for my taste. Like I would love for her to just be a little bit more positive because she's got so many upsides. You know, it doesn't seem like she's missing balls because she's making bad choices. It's just you know, she's playing great players. So for me, like I see her climbing that hill, and I thought actually between the two semis, even though they both went three sets, Anisimova to me, felt closer to the final, if that makes sense.

00:13:07
Speaker 1: Yeah, yes, other than closer to than Pagola did.

00:13:11
Speaker 2: Yeah, her she was closer on subling. I thought that was a winnable match, whereas for Jessica, after the first set, it just felt like, oh okay, this was she just delayed the inevitable. Yeah that makes sense.

00:13:21
Speaker 1: Yeah, totally. I think that Amanda Gosh, I tell you going into next year, she I already said it. I said it on the Potter Cup Warder like a month ago, that I really do think she's going to win a Slam next year, major title I think she can win these Strain Open. She's done really well there in the past. She beat Sablenka there in the past and make the semi finals, I believe. So it's a really good surface for her. I say look out for her because I think all the experience that she had this year of losing in that devastating final Wimbledon and then correcting everything and not losing now to iager she on take the two times that she's played her now after that, it's pretty extraordinary. So I think that she goes into next year as the player that I really think is going to break through and just whether or not we're going to have three or four different winners of Slams again next year, because this year was crazy again on the women's side, and they're so good. They're all so good on a certain date. I mean, Maddi keyes arguably, without question, was the best player in Australia.

00:14:13
Speaker 2: You know it.

00:14:14
Speaker 1: Adelaide goes to Melbourne, plays off her face and then you look at Coco, how solid she was at the French and then getting that unbelievable win in the finals, and the Eager played unbelievable at Wimbledon, and then again. Of course, Sablanca is just the player to beat at the US Open, So are we going to have that again next year? And as Amanda Anisimova going to come and surprise us and break through finally in one of those big matches. And I think, after what she's done this year, the lessons that she would have learned in these big tournaments, I think is going to help her win a major next year. And just lastly, on Amanda, to play your first WTA finals, it's a very different feeling, and I said it on the part a couple of weeks ago, it does take a bit getting used to. It's like playing for your country for the first time. It's kind of feels a little weird. I think the fact that she came so close to making the finals is really imp to me for the first time of playing the w taar finals. So who are we going to have in the top of eight again next year? I see all of these players getting back there again, except maybe mirror Andreva. We'll see what she can do next year. She has a lot of points to defend at the start of the year. But I certainly look at these young players like Mumbocco, like Amanda, like Andreva, and then you've got the stalwarts like Eager, Sablanca, Rebarkina, all these players that just in Coco, that just keep showing up every week.

00:15:28
Speaker 2: Yeah, and winning. I do think everyone always gets so mad at me on the internet when I I to talk about.

00:15:33
Speaker 1: Eager, Yes they do. So can you like be nice?

00:15:36
Speaker 2: I'm always nice? I'm just I feel like I oh, honestly, I have said so many positive things about her this year, and I think kind of my question for you is, and I truly was thrilled the chew on Wimbledon. It was really happy to see her so happy and playing so well, and like, truly that was one of my favorite moments of the year. I mean it, like I love when the matches are unexpected.

00:16:02
Speaker 1: Well, it's unpredictable, and you like really do.

00:16:04
Speaker 2: And I just like when people can can kind of break through something. And I think she didn't expect to win Wimbledon and just not for sure seeing how the fashion in which she wanted was so exhilarating and great. I do I do wonder because to your point about you know, Amanda Nisimova and experience, you know, how much of it for EA is just it is so hard for her to beat these players on an indoor hardcourt. Yeah, that's most of it, right, I mean, I really want to find a fault in the way she showed up or played. She's always intense, she's always prepared, you know. Sometimes she looks a little shakier with like sort of internal stuff than other times. But it's not like her game goes to shit. It's just this doesn't seem like it's ever going to be much like it wasn't ever Rafa's surface, right, Like this just isn't what they're built for.

00:16:50
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, look, she played, you know, she won the first set against Rabacchina'm playing great, but Rabacchina. You know, as you said, her a level is on that particular surface is going to be slightly better than eagers just because of the serve. She's winning so many free points on serve and egs not getting the free point on serf. So I think that she can get better in that department, or she can get a few more free points on a serve. And she's tall, it's not like she's like Jasmine Paulini size. She's like five ten and strong and a strong athletic tennis player. So I think she can get a little bit better in that department and get the and also vary her serve. She gets at predictability with the kickserve, and then players like Rebaquin and Sabalanca who are tall, that's not out of their hitting zone, so that is actually a bad serve to hit to them. So she has to sort of work on that department, and I think she does, then she can win on a fastest service. Having said that, she did win Wimbledon, but Weldon it's not as quick. It's just not the ball grabs on the grass differently than what it did fifteen twenty years ago. Now having said on that, though, I actually think she's a really good shot to win the Austrain Open, because look what happened last year. I mean, she came one point, she had a match more against Maddie Keyes, who was by far the best player in the in the in the month of the tournament. It was in the month of January. She was so close to being in the final. And now is she going to beat Sablanca in the final? I don't know, but you have to think going in there, you got to think that she's pretty comfortable of playing on those courts in Melbourne. Now, I think she's got to feel really good about going in there, as does Sablanca, as does Rebarkina, as does Eager, as does Maddie. I mean, the defending champion always feels good going the strain and open. But and then you've got Amanda Anisimova. I mean, it's just the women's is so deep and so fun and so unpredictable. And I know, Kateline, you love that.

00:18:41
Speaker 2: I love that absolutely right.

00:18:43
Speaker 1: He doesn't as a tennis fan who doesn't. I mean, predictable is boring.

00:18:47
Speaker 2: Princtable is boring, which is why if I may transition may to the men, I'm really helping. I'm hoping against soap that some unpredictable results come out of Turin. Now, I do have to brag a little bit because I am usually certainly told whenever I'm wrong.

00:19:16
Speaker 1: But you were right when.

00:19:18
Speaker 2: I said it was not inconceivable that Novak Djokovic would pull out of d ATP Tour finals. And both are guys, Lorenzo Mussetti and Felix Okay.

00:19:28
Speaker 1: So to Mike Okay, I need to defend myself in this situation, Okay, because you did make.

00:19:33
Speaker 2: Well, it's crazy. It's a crazy thing that happened.

00:19:35
Speaker 1: No, but I can tell you why, because I didn't know that he owned this tournament and his brother ran the tournament in Greece, and that he lives now in Athens. I had no idea. I just thought he was going to play a random Athens tournament and get some matches before the ATV finals, right, which would make sense, would it not. What I didn't know is that his brother and his company owned this tournament, so of course they wanted to be incredibly successful. Which it was the.

00:20:04
Speaker 2: Same license that used to be played in Serbia exactly.

00:20:08
Speaker 1: But I did not know this cap So of course, now that I know that it was his tournament, of course, I now know that he wanted to be successful, and to be successful you need all the best players in there, not just yourself. And it made out out to be the best final. It was MASSETI. We were going to be talking about it all week. Oh is Massti gonna win? Is he going to make the ATV finals? This is so stressful for him? YadA, YadA, YadA. Meanwhile, he didn't needed he didn't even need to play because Novak had zero intention of playing the ATV finals. But he's no dummy because he knows the attention that tournament got based on the fact that Mussetti needed to play and needed to win it, and needed to win the final just made it a little extra spicy to be at that tournament and to watch that tournament. Because no offense to Novak, because it was great to see him when one hundred and one and the match was incredible and he's diving around the court like he's twenty two years of age trying to win this match. But what I did, I would not have cared, no offense. I would not really have cared about who won Athens. Do you know what I'm saying?

00:21:11
Speaker 2: No, I have to say if I'm Lorenzo Musseti.

00:21:15
Speaker 1: Pest Yeah, because of course he goes today and loses six three six for to Taylor Fritz, who's been into WRIN practicing and having a nice little time, probably about three days off after his last tournament, and goes there feeling fresh as a daisy, and Musserti, on the other hand, is flying. Now people will be like, well, if Moserti had won, I'm like, it doesn't matter. He didn't need to play the tournament. He didn't need to play six matches stressed out of his mind to go and play the tournament into Ren. He could have just gone to Turin and prepared and played Taylor Fritz. Instead, he's like on one leg after three hour final, getting on a plane and having go to Durin. So yeah, as kind of like.

00:21:55
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would be No, it was not terribly cool. Hard you imagine Lorenzo Messetti goes back to Greece to like do a solid for definitely not family after this because he got totally screwed over and again, keep in mind, had no Vak Djokovic not pulled out, Lorenz Mussetti would not have gotten in.

00:22:15
Speaker 1: Massetti would not have no, of course not, he would not have gotten in because he lost fun. He need to wear the tournament.

00:22:20
Speaker 2: He had to win the tournament. So Felix O j Aliasim looks like a genius here and again he could have not look like a genius. Totally Massetti won and you Novak not gone it.

00:22:29
Speaker 1: Can you imagine if Mossetti had won, right, and then Faa is like, ah shit, get me on a plane, I'm leaving. I'm going to Canada. And they are all a sudden's like, well now.

00:22:38
Speaker 2: You're back a tournament. Yeah, yes, I.

00:22:41
Speaker 1: Mean listen, there's gonna be listen, there's gonna be people out there that say, well, too bad. You know, he did what he did. It was business and if you can't win the tournament, all that sort of stuff. But man or man next mm hmm. And it would have been anyone, if it had been anyone, if it'd been Yan Nick or whoever. It's not. This is not about Novak. It's just like, Man, you knew you weren't playing. You should have just you should have just pulled out every day. I'm not sure if I'm going to go. You had no intention, you wanted your tournament to be successful in Athens, and you did, and it was awesome and the crowds were unreal. And you've got one hundred and one titles, which is just insane. How good that is he is now. The only thing he doesn't have now on all the records is the Jimmy Connors record, which I believe is what one hundred and nine. I don't know. I'm guessing. I know you're going to look it up, because that's what you do, because you've got your computer on, but it's the one thing he doesn't have that. And of course the twenty five beating Margaret Court. So hey, listen, you when your last tournament the year, feel pretty good about yourself going to Melbourne's.

00:23:42
Speaker 2: Sure, yeah, yeah, yeah, I love it. I love the drama it was, especially because I feel and I fear that there might not be that much drama coming out of Turin. No hope there is. But like I said, hard to imagine this isn't a march to inevitability between our two guys. Water Butch happens to absolutely love and eat alive every single hardcore tournament, especially when they are inside.

00:24:07
Speaker 1: Yeah, our boy Jannick Center, well he's playing tonight as we do this pod. He is not quite on court yet. Of course, Taylor Fritz just beat Lorenzo Messetti, as I said, in straight sets. And yesterday Alcazjue very comfortably in his in his match, and Benny Shells went down to Alex Zverev. Did you see any of that match?

00:24:30
Speaker 2: I didn't want to match. I'm a Benny Shells fan. I think probably the less set about alex Erev the better.

00:24:37
Speaker 1: But what happened I don't know, I be honest, like he hasn't played very much. He has not been playing that wells Verev has been playing fairly well. I just think he was a little more solid, and that's what it comes down to Zverev. I mean, listen, in the second set could have gone a different way. Eight six in the tiebreak, could have definitely gone to three sets, and then it would have been interesting. But again, being the eighty finals is you know, is a new thing. So as I said with Amanda Anisimova, they're playing the first atp finals or WTA finals is very different. It feels different, it feels special, so you don't feel like your normal self going in there. So I think, look, could he improve from the match against Vera, absolutely, but now he has to beat Alcorest. He plays pretty well against Alcarest. He doesn't give him a lot of you know, bawls to hit, goes after everything. But then again Alex Vera demonol as well, so that's in his section. He still could potentially get through, but.

00:25:31
Speaker 2: It's hard to imagine him beating Carlos Alcorrez. But I actually like his odds, as you said, against Alcaraz, better than I like them against Alex Perev because they're both sort of shot makers, and I feel like they both kind of get up for the moment, whereas, like one thing that Zverev does very well is he's very solid everywhere, and unless he's really under the gun emotionally and gives himself an opportunity to choke, which I've never seen him not take, he can handle everything that Ben Shelton is throwing at him kind of no problem. And so I actually think there's a chance that he could take the fight to Carlos Acraaz, And I actually really like his odds against de Minar, who just to me, I know you love him, and I know he's a great Australian and a lovely chap and all that, but he just looks a little second tier.

00:26:11
Speaker 1: Well he's not second tier. He just doesn't have the power, you know. And indoors, you're playing against these guys with big serves that are attacking, that are being just super aggressive, and Alex sort of relies on you making errors and these guys aren't those guys, right, Alex beats everybody ranked underneath him because he's just so much better and more solid, and he refuses to make a dumb error, you know what I mean. But these guys above him, like Alex, like Carlos, like Yannick, they just they play like him. They just have more power, they have more shots to play on the big occasions when the forehands there to hit a winner on they can actually do it. Was Alex, he kind of relies on you to make the error, and against these top players, that's not going to happen, particularly now. But listen, I think that one of the things that Ben also finds when he plays against Vera is when he serves that wide surf, for example, it takes that lefty, it goes right into Zevera his backhand. He's tall, he can sort of get the ball back a little bit easier than someone like let's say Alex, who's not as tall, or even Carlos's not as tall. So we'll see how he responds back in his next level matches. But certainly it looks like more than likely we're going to see you never know, Al Chirez Sinner, but I can guarantee you Sin that's going to be in the final. He's just playing too well. One thing we did did mention is that Darren k Hill certainly. Still the question mark is he going to be back next year? Keeps getting asked every week, particularly when he wins Paris and he's standing there in the photo and just keeps getting asked that question. Which journalists do, is Darren K Hill going to be back next year?

00:27:38
Speaker 2: The question is you are the only person who's really right.

00:27:41
Speaker 1: I think it's one of the most interesting stories. Again, I know it's one of the interesting stories.

00:27:47
Speaker 2: He'll watch, Kay, He'll watch.

00:27:49
Speaker 1: Exactly Killer K Hill, watch anything else so that you would like to discuss this week, my friend, that there's been brewing on your mind.

00:27:59
Speaker 2: I'm very curiously intent to watch what happens with a lot of this tour merging news. I also think it's phenomenally interesting that the Saudis now do not want to exercise their option to renew the next gen in Jetta, but instead they're getting their Masters one thousand, which needs to find a data in the calendar. So, like, who knows. I like the things that are kind of operating at an organizational level because it feels like that's where the future of the sport is going. And that's something I care a lot about, and you know, and part of it is because I don't know the technical part of the game certainly as well as you do, but I know what I like to watch, and the tennis itself is such a good product that it kind of takes care of itself. The part that I feel more invested in is the future of the leagues and the organizing bodies, because I don't feel like they're in good shape and I don't necessarily know that they're headed towards good stuff, and I feel like if there's any way I or Racket or anybody I know can be helpful in that way, like I care about it a lot. So that's what I'm watching. Where are all these off season organizational moves taking place? Which is why like we're baking a snubbing Archer is. Yes, it's a story and it's about her and her coach, and it's about the tours, but it's also about like where is the power and what signals dies that send and how do governing bodies reckon with their players and organizational stuff like having rules in place and protecting athletes but also you know, making sure nobody's I don't know, there's there's interesting stuff there.

00:29:38
Speaker 1: It show feels like a little bit of a shit show, doesn't it. Really? No one sort of is like fully in charge of tennis bodies. You know, the may just have so much pull and they are clearly fighting against the Saudis. In this situation, the Saudis are just buying so much. I mean it, I talked about it last week. It does disappoint me when you see the WTAF finals, and yes, they're winning an enormous amount of money, but to see the crowds, like it's like, it's that stadium is for five thousand people, Like what are we doing? You know, what what are we doing? This is our best of our best. And when you're playing an US Open final in front of eighteen thousand people, the Ustrain Open in front of fifteen thousand people, Wimbledon in front of fifteen sixteen thousand people, and the friendship, and then you're playing our WTAO finals with the best players in the world and they can barely fill that five thousand dollars five thousand stadium seating because it's in Saudi Arabia. It's like, I don't know, I just it's kind of like the WNBA now, like you know, with this league going to Saudias as well, it's like I get it, all the money there, but it just it just feels I don't know.

00:30:45
Speaker 2: Does it feel different than China.

00:30:52
Speaker 1: Yeah, it feels a little bit different to China. And I get you could go on about the human rights in China are just as bad as Sally's, but I don't think so. I don't know. I mean, you're a smartest person that may you tell me what you think about this.

00:31:07
Speaker 2: I mean, we've talked about this so many times. I I don't know that we The best part of tennis is that it touches all these amazing places. And I agree with people like Billy Jean King who say it says you have to be in the room and you have to engage. I also think, you know, there are choices that I would love to see our leadership making differently, and that goes for a lot of this. Yeah, I also think that there are very limited and you know, you talk to your friends and my friends in private equity and investing. They're not shying away from hotspots in the world at all. They don't care. And it's disheartening and it's frustrating, but it's also sort of true, and so it makes a lot of us who do care think, Okay, if we are going to engage and we are going to use our platforms to what end and which conversations feel like the ones to be worth having? Because I don't. I don't agree with you that the crowds are the problem. I don't think that that's actually your problem with it. I think your problem is much much bigger.

00:32:21
Speaker 1: I think it's honestly, it's a combination. It really is. Like I would like to see a stadium of ten thousand screaming fans going bonkers for an incredible match at the WTAF finals. I would, and I think the women deserve that after an entitally difficult, difficult year to get there, and it's a special moment. And I have played at Madison Square Garden. I played the WTAF finals there. I played the WTAF Finals at the Staples Center. I played at amazing arenas for the WTA Finals, where it was just packed and incredible. And these people love to see these women play each other every single match, and back in my day often it was like, you know, you're eliminated, But in this situation, you get to see all these great plays get playing against each other. So I would just like to see a better I would just like to see a better crowd. I mean, I don't think the players give a shit. They're going to make five million dollars and they prefer to make five million dollars in front of five thousand people or two million dollars in front of fifteen thousand. I don't know that's a question for them, but yeah, I mean, I assume what you're saying, and I agree with Billy Jean. I agree with Billy Or you know, Amanda Anisimova's agreed to come on at some point in the next month in the off season, and we'll ask her, because she's a perfect person that asks it's the first time. Would she have liked to have been somewhere like a Madison Square garden that had fifteen thousand people.

00:33:31
Speaker 2: But for a lot less money?

00:33:33
Speaker 1: Maybe, but for less money, that's a good question.

00:33:36
Speaker 2: You know. One thing I think maybe as is our way, or at least something that I think we both like to do, which is to sort of try to get into some of this stuff that's a little sticky, but also like solution. I really do think like if Bill Ackman can write a check and get himself onto a tennis court that he wasn't delivered to be on and buy swaths of you know, the amount of billionaires in this country.

00:34:01
Speaker 1: I tried to get Bill Gates to put it on. Let's go, come on.

00:34:05
Speaker 2: Like, I don't like it's not like folks who live in places or support places that we would imagine might be able to draw a bigger crowd don't have billionaires. Yeah, I don't think they're doing much to help the world.

00:34:21
Speaker 1: Okay, So we're doing two things here, right. We've asked for all the major titles to allow influences and people like that to which, by the way, which is build an idea. Yeah, put your content out let us.

00:34:34
Speaker 2: That's that's a great idea.

00:34:36
Speaker 1: Let's do that. So we've asked for that. And the next one is we're going after the billionaires to try and bring my major tennis.

00:34:42
Speaker 2: Call it the Billionaires Challenge, the Billionaires Challenge, Billionaire's Challenge. Who's going to be the first there? This is probably the only Joyce Carolotes quote that will be in a tennis podcast this week, but I read and I'm imagined. Yeah, if you've ever read any Joyce Carolotes, have.

00:35:01
Speaker 1: You, I have actually thank you.

00:35:02
Speaker 2: Ah great, I'm really happy.

00:35:04
Speaker 1: But are you going to bring in let's go, Let's go in our last minute of our podcast?

00:35:08
Speaker 2: Like Let's Go roasted Elon Musk on his own platform by saying, so curious that such a wealthy man never posts anything that he enjoys or is even aware of what virtually everyone else appreciates. Scenes from nature, a pet, dog or cat, praise for a movie, music, a book, pride in a friend or relatives, accomplishment, condolences for someone who've died, pleasure in sports, acclaim for a favorite team, references to history. In fact, he seems totally uneducated, uncultured. The poorest persons on Twitter may have access to more beauty and meaning in life than the most wealthy person in the world. Now I read that as what a sad thing. This really rich guy has no hobbies, he has no life life, He's got nothing. He's got all the money in.

00:35:50
Speaker 1: There, although I did he did have a massive boat out in like Sardinia a couple of years ago.

00:35:55
Speaker 2: All these billionaires they seem to maybe like boats. So listen, billionaires, now's your.

00:35:59
Speaker 1: Chance, there's your chance, make a difference.

00:36:01
Speaker 2: Don't only love your boat.

00:36:04
Speaker 1: Two things they should do. Write food checks to the really poor in this country that are losing snap and buy wemen's Towness event and put.

00:36:12
Speaker 2: A billionaire's challenge. Who's going to stallion challenge? Katelyn tennis lesson from Renee and.

00:36:18
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I'll give you a free tennis lesson anytime.

00:36:20
Speaker 2: I'm going to now do karaoke with the winner.

00:36:23
Speaker 1: Okay, great, all right, that's us for this week. Thanks. We're going to come back next week obviously and finish up with the Men's ATP Finals, the NITO ATP Finals, and of course and we're going to also get into everything with Austra and Open and all the other shenanigans and hopefully an Amanda Amasonova. That's the week's goore. All right, guys, thanks for joining us today. Caitlin's being real