Yes, We Still Have a Podcast

00:00:15
Speaker 1: Yo, are you gonna be doing this walking around?

00:00:18
Speaker 2: I'm gonna be getting of course, I'm working by from guy doing it. Fucking yeah, I'm gonna go through this spitting at ten thirty and I just dropped off. Let me get by this guy, hold up.

00:00:28
Speaker 3: Mean the sides and sounds and sounds of New York great listen weird if anything, our pod family, our massive fanship, our global audience has.

00:00:41
Speaker 1: Been clamoring noise for this. So hopefully despite the noise, they will be satisfied with this our first podcast and what feels like years, when's the last time we record a podcast? Too long ago? We apologize just life has been busy.

00:00:53
Speaker 2: Life has been busy for both of us. Between you hosting sixty eight different racket house events in New York City, I mean it was we had it all going on.

00:01:05
Speaker 1: We had a Fela racket house with Yonix and Aperol Sprits. We did at a La cost event. We did a a event you and I, but mostly you launched Ambush Tennis with Billy Jean King with Addie Das. You were on Good Morning America, we were on The Today Show. You hosted a daily news live program and covered ESPN for the better part of three weeks doing pre match interviews, postmatch interviews, on court interviews, desk interviews. I mean, Renee Stubbs, I feel like you were ESPN at the US Open between the two of us. Was there a stone left unturned? Was there a person left uninterviewed? Was there somebody who didn't get to party with us? Because if you didn't, I don't know, you blew it because we were just everywhere. I feel like this has been just a NonStop chaotic This is like Super Bowl plus Oscar season plus the World Cup plus uh the Olympics.

00:01:57
Speaker 2: Well that was a lot. Yes, well basically I do feel like it was Olympics plus another Olympics plus your straight Open US. But I mean, look, I love it. This is my favorite time of the year when it comes to like covering tennis. It's manic, It's crazy. I was hosting my show in the Collie's week, so it was a lot of work. But you know what, I freaking love it and I love every bit of it. And it's fine and I'm surviving and I survived and we're moving on. And what a great tournament we had. Oh my god, Like seriously, can we talk about the ends of the spectrum with the winners of the women's and the winner of the men's, Like, we've literally got the greatest player of all time. I mean, he just sealed the deal. No matter what you think about Novak, if you love him, if you hate him, this guy is unbelievable. Thirty six years of age, he's like everyone's like, oh, he looks tired, Like in the final, like he looks guessed, he looks gassed, Incnati. Oh he's done. He's getting too old for this is you know, you know, it's it's father time is starting to catch up to him. What he makes his twenty year olds and twenty five year olds and twenty seven year olds looked like they've never worked out in there long. I mean, it's unbelievable how resilient this guy is, no matter what in at the fact that after a couple of years going back, you know, not playing because of the vaccine status and nadiadiada, and he comes back and when you're so open and beats the guy that stopped him from getting you know, the Calendar Grand Slam, which would have really solidified him as the greatest tennis player I've ever seen, and then he takes that guy out in three sets yesterday. I mean I thought medi was going to give him a match. I actually sort of said on air that I thought Madevedev would win. And the reason I thought that was because, look, he'd beaten him last He beatn him, last time he played him. He beat him in the last time in the finals that you were sopen. I thought that Medevedev had been tested throughout the tournament. I mean, beating Alcaraz was phenomenal, how well he played. But I don't know, maybe Novak with the fresher legis went out and said, you're not You're not doing it today, not in five sets, not over me anymore.

00:03:59
Speaker 1: I think it was incredible. I think for me what sort of explained it helped explain the Medvedev final performance is just like he felt like he had already played the match of his life against Corolitos.

00:04:11
Speaker 2: The match for four, you know, very true, and I think you know, physically that was probably as taxing as you get beating you know, Alcaraz in the best of five sets, and that match was just absolutely phenomenal. I mean, Medvedev's tennis and that match was unreal. It's like you couldn't get the ball past him and his passing ability, Like you know, when Alcoraz comes in against a lot of these guys, we're just not able to pass him. Like Medvedev is he's twenty feet behind the baseline, can still find an angle, particularly on his back end, you know, where he can slap that thing cross court and get a hard angle on it. And that's where he, I think where he got the better of Alchariz the other day. He was just better under like pressure from Alcaraz coming in, whereas Novak. Novak's patience level is like off the charts. He just waits and waits and waits and doesn't panic. He doesn't get too overawed by the situation, clearly because he's forty seventh I think, forty seventh Grand Slam final. I mean, that's fucking insane, insane. There are players that have had great careers that have not played in forty seven Grand slamsy jazz period.

00:05:21
Speaker 1: Yeah, a good point, Yeah.

00:05:23
Speaker 2: This guy. I mean. John McEnroe said that in our green room when we were discussing Novak. He said, most people don't even play forty seven Grand slams. Let alone be in forty seven finals. I mean, his numbers are just incredible. And you know, no matter how what, he's very polarizing in a lot of ways to a lot of people, but for me, as as a former pro and somebody who's watched this game for a really long time, you just have to marvel at his ability to just never quit. And he's relentless, you know what I mean. I think Roger and Ratha are definitely personified wanting to win a LT and do it, but it's obsessive to Nova and you can see it. You know that he wants to he wants to put the numbers up because he knows he's not going to be as popular worldwide as Roger and Ratha plan. I think I'm right in saying that, And that's just the fact is that I think he wants to put the numbers up so much that, yes, they may be more popular than me, but I will always be the greatest and I will always have the numbers over them, and he doesn't care. And I admire him for that, you know, I admire him for not wanting to be the favorite, not wanting to be the one that everyone loves. He tries, but it's just this is not in his nature, because that's just not his nature. But you have to give the guy unbelievable credit for putting in the work man at that age, to put in the work to be able to handle these guys in best of five sets. It's just he's you know, he's a credit to sport in that way he raises the bar. I mean, I asked the question to both players they walk them on the final what they admired about one another? And you know what, they're respected, because I just thought it was over those prematch questions because they're so redundant, because I'm not going to answer them. So how am I going to get something and listen something out of these guys that actually feels better? And I thought when I asked him, how much they respect one another? And you know what, they gave great answers, particularly Medvedev. I mean he was just like I admire him for coming through his you know, his background and his where he grew up and what he's gone through, and I admire that about him. I was like, wow, that's a really earnest answer. I mean, the thing about Medvedev, I love the guy. He's so earnest.

00:07:37
Speaker 1: Well, actually that was kind of kind of lead to one of my questions, which is, you know, we put him on a cover a couple of years ago just because he's so quirky. I mean, obviously his tennis is nuts in a totally kind of We've talked about it at length, how unorthodox, everything from his technique to his stance to his return position. You know, but what is the personality? Like, I hope and I still haven't seen ample evidence, although you guys on a ESPN talked about this to a degree. How why isn't he being more embraced for being such a character. Do you think he's because people don't quite get how much of a funny troll he is, Like he's to me, he should be, like he should be what we talk about when we talk about nicurious, because he actually, like is emotionally committed to the sport and he's committed to fitness, and he's also a troll and funny and a rebel, you know what I mean. Like, why doesn't he have a higher profile do you think in the media, because God knows, we've dried.

00:08:31
Speaker 2: Well, I don't know. I mean, I think because he so doesn't seek the spotlight. Does that make sense? Like he doesn't he doesn't necessarily want to go on Good Morning America or the Today Show, or he doesn't want to go on the cover of me. I think he went on the cover of yours because he knows it's quirky and awesome, and it's part of that, it's part of the you know, the mistike of like his character, you know what I mean. Right, So it's like, I don't know, it's it's a good question. It's probably a question for m but I think it's along those lines. I actually don't think he relishes being super popular and super well loved. And I mean, I don't know, I really I really like him a lot as a person and a player, and he's he's energetic, and he's you know, magnanimous in a lot of ways. And I love the fact that there's like three people in his box, you know, and his wife is sitting up there don't give fuck.

00:09:23
Speaker 1: Now, you know what I mean?

00:09:24
Speaker 2: Yeah, not done up, not in some fancy outfit. She's like in sweats with her hair pull back, like I'm a mom, Like I can't deal with this, you know what I mean. Like, I don't know, I just it's great. And then you've got Novack's box, which is packed to the girls with superstars and whatever. Everyone has their thing, right, everyone has something that makes them get up in the morning and go work their ass off. And I was one of the questions I asked at Novak, you know, how proud are you of the fact that you woke up this morning and you're in another You're forty seventh Grandstone final. It's just insane, you know, And He's like, yeah, I'm proud of what I've done in my career basically, and I keep throwing striving for it. And you know, I got to give the guy an unbelievable and that's the credit because what he's done for the sport in elevating how good these guys have to be is pretty spectacular and you'll never see it again. If you look at twenty four Grand Slams, there's just no way, no way.

00:10:18
Speaker 1: I don't know. If we make the Australian open like a sixteen drug and let locals only play it, maybe that'll like Mark a Courts record, Maybe that'll uh, that'll help cook the books a little bit. But I do think the level just talking about the men generally, the level was not good enough by far at this tournament, Like he had absolutely no trouble with Ben Shelton, He had absolutely no trouble with Medvedev to me, honestly, And I don't know that Tommy Paul wins, but the fact that Tommy Paul kind of didn't seize his moment and beat Ben Shelton, because I think he would have beaten Tiafo and he could have kind of made a real run at this tournament. I think Tommy Paul is the person we should be talking to and looking at as being like, oh man, where is that guy? Because this was actually kind of his time to shine, especially after the last couple of months he's had. What do you think that men? In general? I thought the level was quite poorer honestly.

00:11:13
Speaker 2: Well, I won't say poor, because I know how good these guys are and the tennis that I want. I mean, even a Zvera of that match was just ridiculous. I mean, the guys they were hitting the ball so hard, so big, like, and they're having twenty ball rallies and that they make it look I don't I think that people understand how unbelievable they make this tennis.

00:11:34
Speaker 1: Look.

00:11:35
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, Shriantek and Ostapenko, like they were hitting the ball so hard and I was like, I mean, Eager couldn't even catch up with the ball. And you've got Sablenka smashing the ball against Maddy Keys. I mean, they were hitting the ball as hard as Novak Jokovic. We did them. We did this the real stats with the oh yeah, there was only one person that hit the ball harder than Madison Keys. And I think sabaal Anka was fourth in the tournament. Maddie was second in the tournament.

00:12:01
Speaker 1: Men and women. Wow, all the players wow.

00:12:04
Speaker 2: So you know, these players are elevating the game so much that they're making it look like you know, when you watch it on TV, it looks like ping pong. It's not ping pong. They are running from side to side, up and back, round about, up and down. It's just the athleticism now, and the ball striking of these players is outrageous.

00:12:21
Speaker 1: It's so good.

00:12:23
Speaker 2: And you know, me, I was a mediocre singles player, you know, and I can literally look at this tennis and just I can. I'm blown away by it. That's why I feel very privileged to be caught side watching these tennis players do what they do, because it's just unreal, you know. Anyway, can we get to Coco? I mean, what a freaking story.

00:12:42
Speaker 1: This is what a great outcome for tennis?

00:12:44
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, what are your thoughts on this?

00:12:48
Speaker 1: I thought, more than anything else, the thing I want to say is, what a great outcome for tennis. What a great champion we have in Coco. What a Greek human we have in Coco. What a great future we have in Coco. What a great advocate for sport and culture and politics and just everything. Coco. So for me, the outcome is really great. My issue is that the final was lost, not really one. And again, you can point to Coco's incredible defense. You can point to her incredible speed, you can point to her incredible athleticism, how she hung around. All of that's true, not to take anything away from her, It's just it was personally triggering being the person who tries to hit winners to watch someone try to hit winners and hit so many unforese errors. Fun fact, on Friday, I got invited by our friends at Rolex to play in the pro am tournament. You don't know this, but I got invited to play in the pro am tournament with mostly bankers and then a pro and so the first match I played, I was four and one that day, and the first match I played was against Brad Gilbert and a banker from BZIL. I was playing with your guy Mark Woodford and Mark Woodford and I were playing attacking tennis and Brad Gilbert just kept playing defense and he played great defense, and point started getting on me. He was like, Caitlin, why are you trying to hit winners? Why are you trying to end the point? I was like, because Brad, I would rather lose pretty than win ugly. And I said that to him because it's true. But it got me thinking about how my relationship with defense and offense feels very personal. I want offense to always beat defense. And what Coco proves, what Novak proves now twenty four times, is that great defense beats great offense. It doesn't happen all the ways and it's not a total one way street. But my thoughts on the final were I always root for offense, and so I am thrilled with the outcome. I'm thrilled with that incredible human being who we now have to count among the collection of tennis players who has won a Grand Slam. But for me personally, that match was just very It did me harm.

00:14:44
Speaker 2: Well, Listen, I know that you love Arena Sabalanca, and I think it's because she loved her crazy and you love that she goes after it and all that sort of stuff. I think that the crowd facta was absolutely a part of this match, and there's no doubt about it. And I think Arena, actually, of all the players, I thought she could handle because she loves the fight and the atmosphere very much like Novak does. But I think even for her, it was too much Like I know as a player what it's like, not in the closest realm of playing in front of twenty thousand people, but I have played in front of very raucous crowds, whether it be in Spain Fed Cup whatever. You know, as soon as you're you know you're going to maybe miss a shot, and you know the crowd is going to go absolutely bonkers when you miss it, and it's very anxiety provoking and it often makes you miss a lot of shots because you're like they're going to yell and scream. So I think that was part of the factor.

00:15:34
Speaker 1: Yeah, it gets it, but I just want to focus.

00:15:37
Speaker 2: And you know me, I like to focus on the positive. I just I'm so overwhelmed. Yes, you can talk about all the what Arena had to deal with and all the opponents of Coco, but can we talk about the fact that Coco is the one that walked into this tournament being spoken about for the very first time of being a real favorite of a ground slam. You know, we've talked about her being possibly possibly, could she win possibly, but all of us pundits sort of knew that the way that her forehand was operating, maybe even her second serve, that she was going to come up against the Sabalanka or as Shiantech or you know, rebarking all these plays that hit big that probably when it comes to quarter semis and finals, which is where she's fallen short a couple of times, are always going to go after that shot and probably take advantage of it, and they're just too good to sort of, you know, give in to the moment. But what she handled with the pressure on her shoulders actually winning tournaments, coming in and then handling that moment for two weeks every single match, I mean, her toughest match was a first round against Siegeman who and she was really pressed there because she was under so much pressure from the very beginning of this tournament, very much like Serena in a little bit different ways. Everybody thinks Serena was supposed to win everything, but the fact that Coco had for the first time real pressure on her shoulder to actually come out and win the tournament and the fact that she did it and her one hand was great the whole tournament. She had some whoopsie daisies every now and again in the matches, but that's going to happen. That's just technique wise. She's going to have those moments. But the fact that I think Brad has helped to win ugly in some respects of getting the forehand in the court and using your speed, and her backhand is so everyone's back.

00:17:14
Speaker 1: So it's also her serf. Her serve is so much better first serve free points. What a weapon it is now. And to be honest, I was one of the I don't want to say I was a hater because I admire and love her, just her game style isn't doesn't happen to be one of my favorites, but I did not give her a chance, and everybody else you certainly, but other friends of ours were like, no, no, no, she can win this. And I was like, no way, and I was wrong. And she called me personally out in her speech. I mean, maybe not me personally, because I hope I was never dousing her flame, but like she, I didn't think she could do it, and she did, and she did it with tenacity and an improvement mindset, especially on that as you said, that forehand. And I think, really the serve.

00:17:54
Speaker 2: I think what I want to stress to people is watching her matches over the last month, watching her in Washington, watch her in Canada at Cincinnati, Sorry, and then watching her at the US Open. What I saw immediately, particularly in Washington because I was courtside for every single match, is that she wasn't making errors on the forehand. She was hitting through it, she was getting it deep, and once she sort of understood what she needed to do, I was like, oh my god, this girl's going to be unbeatable because her backhand. You see players pick on the forehand, pick on the forehand right, hit it to the foot and then they're like you can see their anxiety building because they're like, wait, she's not making a mistake. Wait, she's not hitting it short. Oh my god, she's not missing it. Okay, bang, I'm going to go to a backhand to open up the court again. And then they go to a back end. She runs over there and hits a frigging ball at one hundred miles an hour back at them and they're like, oh shit, I'm got to go back to the forehand, and oh my god, she's not missing that. So you see this anxiety growing in her opponents right when they're used to getting mistakes on that and the mistakes weren't coming on the forehand. And then where do you go. You can't go to her backhand. It's so good, she hits it so well, and she does like to come in and so there's this constant pressure now from Coco, and on top of it, you have to hit five unbelievable winners to win.

00:19:02
Speaker 1: The point because my events is unreal.

00:19:05
Speaker 2: Oh my god, her speed. I know she was always quick, but I think her confidence now because she knows she's not missing her forehand, is even off the charts with her movement because she's like, you're not getting a ball past me and I'm going to frustrate you. And if you come in, I can flick the lab over your head, I can hit a passing shot. I am not afraid. And unlike this girl's transformation I saw it in Washington was unbelievable. And I give credit to Brad Gilbert Pierre Ribat, her coach that she brought on at Wimbledon, that both of them have actually made her believe in herself so much and they're no stopping her now.

00:19:36
Speaker 1: And honestly, my you know, Andrea was talking. I was sitting courtside with Andrea a little bit at the beginning of the tournament, and she was talking about, you know, the spacing that Peraiba really encouraged on the forehand and how the footwork has improved, which has gone you know, made her forehand essentially gone from a weakness to like at least neutral. And also I had this thought about Brad Gilbert, who now I have, you know, up close and personal beef with because that was the only match I lost. No, but I think to his credit, Brad Gilbert is such a strong personality and he's drawn so much attention that it actually has been a benefit to her because it's now not all on her, because he can sort of just take some of that noise a little bit and deal with it and get it off of her. And she has handled herself just unbelievably well and really for me the and I love your framing of the final and I won't make it about me and my personal preferences of game style, but just to emphasize, like the poise and the unbelievable tactical plan and meeting the moment, and we're all better for it. We're better for it having her. And listen, I love Seblanca. I will ride or die with Seblanca. I love the way she plays. And I hope you know this isn't too shattering a loss, because having an entire stadium, you know, cheering for your mistakes is brutal. It's brutal, as you said, and you've experienced it, and you know, I think the noise in ash on that day in particular probably rivaled some of the noise for Serena and another favorites that have come before.

00:21:07
Speaker 2: Coco walked on the court. I was like, oh my god, I haven't heard that scream since last year with Serena, and so this kid, as I just I know I'm using a lot of hyperbole here, but you can you will not meet a nicer kid, and I can call her kid. She's half my age, actually more than half my age.

00:21:26
Speaker 1: More than my team.

00:21:27
Speaker 2: She's nineteen. But her poise, her ability to be able to understand the moment, even on the trophy stand to say, Billy, thank you for this, for the three million dollar prize, money check that.

00:21:37
Speaker 1: She's getting for people pay Yeah.

00:21:39
Speaker 2: Everything about this this young woman. She praises Venus and Serena every time she speaks. She said, I wouldn't have been here without them. She's just a credit to our sport. I'm so happy that she had this success, and I hope that she keeps running with it because there's going to be no better top player in the world than Coco. So we've got all these maturations of all these different personalities with eager, being quiet and sort of a little bit introverted and a little bit anxious sometimes and but produce this incredible tennis. So you've got sabal Ancos just like would rip your face off if you give her an opportunity. But you'll a little smile when she fuck something up. You've got Coco who just is like the consummate professional and just the sweetest kid. So we've got some great characters at the top of the game. And obviously with the man Novak still ruling Alcarez biting at his heels and mentioned death, letting every know, don't forget about me. I'm still here. But I tell you that there were there were days that just As wasn't great, but overall, wow, like yeah, I'm I was just it was. It was very pleasing to be her amazing.

00:22:36
Speaker 1: And we should let you go because you're very busy because now you have some fashion week commitments and I'm going to try to uh wrap things up from our many, many, many engagements so that I can move on with my life. But I am thrilled to be back on the microphone with you. Thank you for making time. Thank you to our incredible audience for prodding, supporting, and being patient above all us with us, because we've been extraordinarily busy with which is great and a good good way to be. But obviously we like to do more of these rather than less, and we'll try to get back to you more regularly now that the Mayhem of the summer season and Rene doing two jobs and me doing two jobs and everybody busting' ass is maybe.

00:23:15
Speaker 2: A little calmer now on the fall.

00:23:17
Speaker 1: So appreciate you guys listening.

00:23:19
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, we do, and hey listen. Feel free to write us on Twitter, it'd be nice, because you know, God, I got some hate over the last few weeks because people are just so bored. But you know what I do now, Caitlin, I just block. Just look great, block good, look, look, look, I don't care. I'm not into the fight anymore. I say my opinions and I move on. So believe it or not, but I will bitch to you. But anyway, carry on, people. Thank you for hanging out, Thank you for waiting for this. I am literally sitting in a stairway doing this pod. I was walking the streets of New York and now I'm handing it over to your Thanks so much for listening, and we'll see you soon, babe. Th