Ponchos and Carota Boys

00:00:00
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, sez up the stuff.

00:00:03
Speaker 2: You look.

00:00:16
Speaker 1: All right, guys, don't be shocked. Don't fall over your chairs or out of your chairs or over your chairs, depending on if you're standing or sitting. But we have another podcast out, yes, one last week, one this week.

00:00:29
Speaker 2: Can you believe it. We're back.

00:00:30
Speaker 1: We're back.

00:00:31
Speaker 2: We're back, baby, We're back. Well, also, we have microphones.

00:00:34
Speaker 1: So we do have microphones, so I hope you guys appreciate because we know some of the issues that you guys have with us is the sound. And I don't blume you because I do listen to podcasts myself and I appreciate the quality of sound coming from those podcasts.

00:00:46
Speaker 2: Yeah, well so that's where. So it is the ATP Tour Finals. We spent a lot of time talking about the WTA Tour Finals. This is, by all accounts, a more professional, oh endeavor you think it's interno knew in advance they were going to be there. They're playing indoors, they're not dealing with weather, and honestly, so far the tournament has been scimillating.

00:01:07
Speaker 1: It's been great, great, but that's what happens when you play indoors. Helps Caitlin you don't have to worry about rain, you don't have to worry about literal hurricane winds, which is what they had to deal with in Cancun. And so they've got great crowds, you have quality tennis, you have great crowds because they've known about this for a long time. So all these people in Europe who can jump on a chunnel or a train, I mean, we've all been to Europe. We know how great it is to get around. It's like, oh, I want to go to Italy today. Okay, I'm just going to jump on the train and seven hours later I'm in Turin.

00:01:40
Speaker 2: How great.

00:01:41
Speaker 1: So you know, people are making this a destination week. They know that they're going to get quality tennis from start to finish. They know they're not gonna have to worry about wind and rain and elements and crap. And you know, it made for crappy tennis in Cancun because of that. And it wasn't the player's fault. They were trying their best. I mean quite frankly, I thought the quality of tennis was amazing considering the conditions.

00:02:01
Speaker 2: Yeah, but here, at least wind affects both players. We can at least, you know, sort of say no, no one player had an advantage or a different disadvantage. But moving to the indoors obviously has been great. Before we'd start talking about the tennis, which has been incredible. I just want to give a shout out to some of the outfits that the men were ahead of the tournament.

00:02:18
Speaker 1: Are you taking over Andrea Petkovic's listen fashion corresponding only?

00:02:21
Speaker 2: I'm just keeping her seat warm only until she gets back, because nobody can talk about fashion the way that Andrea Pakkovich can talk about fashion. But I have to say, the Letterman jackets that Carlos, Alkaaz and Novak were wearing were very cute. They wore them with jeans.

00:02:36
Speaker 1: Okay, So did they get those? Is that why they were wearing them?

00:02:39
Speaker 2: Like? You mean, did they earn them at A four? So you as Letterman, so you actually.

00:02:43
Speaker 1: Liked those jackets on the both of them?

00:02:45
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I thought it was sort of silly that they both showed up in that.

00:02:47
Speaker 1: Yeah. Did don't you think that? Do you think that that was a complete coincidence?

00:02:51
Speaker 2: Do you think I think it's more of a considence than the idea of them calling each other and saying should we wear magic jackets?

00:02:57
Speaker 1: I mean it was I don't know. For me, when I saw it, I thought, what the fuck jackets?

00:03:03
Speaker 2: Well, also one was blue and Lacoste and one was red and Nike. They obviously don't have the same sponsor. And the fact that they are sort of facing off in kind of eighties movie style, you know, rival gang where it's cool. I thought it was cool, but nobody it.

00:03:19
Speaker 1: Was like it was like it was like Grace was re invented.

00:03:22
Speaker 2: At I don't know, but it was a Jets in the Sharks, which is more West Side story, but it was, yeah, it was like rival gangs.

00:03:28
Speaker 1: Yeah, but it was so so my question to you is that you think that they actually were in their room and said I'm gonna wear that today and they both walked out with letamon jackets on What are the fucking chances of that happening.

00:03:40
Speaker 2: Given the fact that letterman jackets are kind of a look more than they coordinated. Do you think the number uh, you know, the number one and number I just we called each other and said let's map.

00:03:51
Speaker 1: Hell no, but that like the coincidence, I.

00:03:53
Speaker 2: Mean, what people can respond to us in the comments about whether they think it's less likely that they collaborated on their look or that it was a coincidence.

00:04:01
Speaker 1: I thought it was funny because it was like Novak is like thirty seven or thirty six or whatever the hell he is, you know, in his letterman jacket. Okay, fine, And then you've got the nineteen year old who actually should be in a letterman jacket. He's a teens, twenty year old or whatever he is. And thought it was funny. It's like, oh, dad's taking his son out to a little game.

00:04:18
Speaker 2: Looked like they were gonna play catch in the art. The other person and the person I thought, who has been serving looks you know, I'm gonna say it just don't even know.

00:04:26
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, superst he looked amazing. Oh my god, really.

00:04:32
Speaker 2: Seen as Tizzy Pass and the Laurel piano, beautiful high end fabric panto. No, oh my god, he's ten out of ten. It was twelve out of ten.

00:04:41
Speaker 1: Oh my god. I saw you a real remarks, I don't know, on some Instagram posts or something, maybe SATP and you were like this is I'm here for this? I'm like what no.

00:04:52
Speaker 2: No. I love when people take a swing and also he always takes a swing. He always takes a swing. Look, he looked great in that Montclair Adidas collab a couple of weeks ago.

00:05:01
Speaker 1: But he looks like he literally looked like he was walking down the streets of Jerusalem.

00:05:06
Speaker 2: So what I think that's cool? I mean, don't you think it's cooler than like Holgarruna showing up in his sweats?

00:05:11
Speaker 1: Well, yeah, I mean I didn't. Yeah, but he wasn't any sweet.

00:05:14
Speaker 2: He was wearing like a Nike like he was wearing his tennis shoes tournaments as a kid. And you see the dorks wearing like who don't own jeans or like they'll wear jeans with their on court tennis shoes, and you think, oh, that's sad because they don't have any kind of other shoe that they can't not wear their court shoe out socially. That's what Holgaruna looks like.

00:05:33
Speaker 1: That's true. I know that.

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Speaker 2: You know what I mean?

00:05:34
Speaker 1: You know that look like you wore your tennis shoes out they could clay on them.

00:05:38
Speaker 2: What a nerd? Yeah, of it have looked fine, But he looked very neutral. You know. The less generally said about Alex pairv the better. His hairs are looking very long and gross.

00:05:48
Speaker 1: I don't understand why he's doing that with his hair. Well, he's got the stringiest, it's great, worst, like really thin hair, and I think he's like trying to hang onto every single strand of it. I don't think he's And then he pulls it back. I mean it actually, I have to say, it looks better when it's pulled back in the pony, but when it's out, it just looks terrible. In my opinion, I.

00:06:07
Speaker 2: Just want to say, hats off Novak, hats off Carlos, and especially big ponchos off to our man of Nazareth Stefana who pulled out of the tournament but won the tournament before it even started.

00:06:22
Speaker 1: As far as you are concerned.

00:06:24
Speaker 2: In my opinion. So now we can talk about the tennis. Now that we've had the fashion for rounding. It's been some amazing tennis. We are talking on Wednesday, midway through the tournament, the day after Carlos, sorry, after Novak, Djokovic and Jannick Center played probably one of the best matches of all time.

00:06:42
Speaker 1: Well, calmed down on that. In the there's been a lot of great match I actually say, I think a lot of people thought that Runa Djokovic match was a little more interesting, but that also was seven to six and the third incredible match. I mean, those guys just go out. I mean, Runa really does play him well. And I think it's good for the sport that we're having these players get so close to Novak on you know, the young players like Runa and of course the Sinner beating him. You know in the next match. It's great that these young guys are stepping up against the greatest player of all time and actually pushing him either to the very very brink or beating him. And you know, look, this has been happening for a couple of years now. I'man Runa beat him last year, and I believe in what the Paris finals or one of those indoor tournament's finals, and and but in best of five, that's when that's when the rubber meets the road, right with Novak, I mean, you you can beat him, like, for example, yes, getting that two sets to one victory over him yesterday. Imagine you're playing a Grand Slam and then all of a sudden, you're like, fuck, I got to another one of these sets and which they're all capable of doing. But it's the mindset of like, can I win another set, whereas Novak's probably sitting back if this was a if that match was the best of five, going, Okay, great job.

00:07:55
Speaker 2: I've got all the time and way to go. This guy cannot keep this level up against me, exactly, and I'm only gonna get It.

00:08:00
Speaker 1: Was one of the better matches from Novak, like his positive to negative hitting winners to unforced erras were like much.

00:08:06
Speaker 2: I mean it should be said. I mean Novak's just been on an absolute terror.

00:08:09
Speaker 1: Yeah. It was nineteen match wins streak.

00:08:11
Speaker 2: Sineteen match win streak. He hasn't really lost any major. Yeah, I mean he's just he's from the summer on, he's just been indestructible.

00:08:19
Speaker 1: I mean, I would say, arguably this is probably one of his best years ever.

00:08:22
Speaker 2: Green agreed, unbelievable.

00:08:24
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, the year that he went for the Calendar Grand Slam, he lost in finals of the US Open, well, technically he lost in the finals of Wimbledon. That was his only lost in a major this year. I mean that is crazy stuff crazy, It's crazy.

00:08:35
Speaker 2: And the match at Wimbledon that he last took a hercule o, my god, unbelievable effort. I think kind of got Carlos Alkaraz like kind of out of the rest of the season, not in terms of this performance, but certainly in terms of, like, once you've climbed the mountain, how do you stay there? Yeah? Agree, which is actually why I thought Carlos Alcoraz today beating rubelevin streets like kind of kept him sort of back in it.

00:08:56
Speaker 1: Yeah.

00:08:57
Speaker 2: He's had a lot to say about the speed of the courts. He's had a lot to say about the differential of balls, which is all probably true, but nobody's you know, Novak's not complaining about those things, and it's also true for him.

00:09:06
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know what I mean.

00:09:07
Speaker 2: Well, I thought it was really there.

00:09:09
Speaker 1: I actually thought it was really interesting because Medvedev. I find Medvedev to be I love Danil. I think he's great, you know, and I think he's very open and honest with his answers with his commentary. I mean, can we talk about him flipping the crowd off, embarrass and then him saying what I was just looking at my finger, I was just looking at I'm like, oh my god, dude, we all saw it. You were like, it was like that game as you're a kid, where you're like, hey, kid, look at my fist in, you know, and then you start rolling your hand like you're reeling in a fish and then you flick the finger up. That was kind of like what he was doing leaving the court. And look, the preezing crowds can be very parochial, let's put it that way, and not exactly your best friend if you decide to piss him off. I've been on the other side of that. I mean, I've been on the same side as Danil Medvedev, so I know what it feels like. Clearly not as many people as he was getting ripped by. And I mean he saw what happened with Novak, I mean him just like him, also being upset with the crowds in Paris. I mean they're they're fickle, and if you decide to piss off a Parisian crowd or French crowd, particularly in Paris, Yeah, they will ride you until you go down, like had and that's what happened.

00:10:19
Speaker 2: They are and interestingly, and you see this at the French Open certainly, but also Bersie. They will ride you and wear you down until you start losing, and then all of a sudden they'll start cheering for you because they just like being involved, you know what I mean. They like the dynamics. Like I watched a Quarantine Motet match earlier this year at the French Open, and they were and it was two French guys, so the crowd was really confused and confused, and basically they would get on one's case or support the other until the dynamic shifted, at which point then they wanted to support the underdog, and Quarantine Motet got applauded, bowed, got in a fight, and rankled the Parisian crowd all in one like three six, And you were just kind of like, who, who are they rooting for him? Are they rooting against him? They'd love to hate him, do they hate to love him? It's unclear. Yeah, but I do think there's something about Paris And also didn't have a metavtive to your point, there is almost nobody else in tennis I can think of that is so sure of themselves that they just absolutely dg. A f can flip off, a crowd can joke it off.

00:11:23
Speaker 1: Well, I mean I would put Novak in that Novak's not flipping the crowd off, but he's he's doing the opposite. He's egging them on, like he's like, bring it, bring it, bring it that and that that match, in particular in Paris, when he started egging the crowd on when he lost his serve, he didn't lose a point after he did that, he did, he lost. He broke serve to love and then he served the match out to love. I was like, this fucking guy is I think the.

00:11:44
Speaker 2: Only difference, because you're right, they both handle hostile crowd energy really well.

00:11:48
Speaker 1: I think the difference that wants it.

00:11:51
Speaker 2: Madaniel can ignore it, it doesn't care and thinks it's funny. Novak loves it and it fuels him. So I actually think he does care. He does actually like it, and it gives him another reason to find another gear, which is just I say.

00:12:04
Speaker 1: Down deep inside, he doesn't like it, but he knows now that it's like his fuel to get him that he needs he can to win like he needs he needs a he needs a situation now where it fuels him to like fight and be stay in a match and like find the enthusiasm and the energy to get through a match and he needs that to fuel him, and he does it. I mean, he didn't lose a point after that situation, and I thought, oh my god, I can't believe he's doing this. He's actually like getting the crowd to get more angry, and he didn't lose a point and he won the match and then he won the tournament. It didn't happen yesterday because in Turin he was again sort of doing the same thing. He was like egging the crowd on and he was like, you know, come on, come at me. And I'm like, ah, this crowd might be a little different because you are actually in Italy playing an Italian.

00:12:54
Speaker 2: He's not only in Italy playing an Italian, he's in northern Italy playing in northern Italian. That's right. A lot of things can get you know, a little provincial to your point. Yeah, and like jhnic Center, there's a really cute video of him going around the internet right now doing incredible slalom skiing.

00:13:07
Speaker 1: Oh mate, the guy can ski like crazy.

00:13:10
Speaker 2: Here. He was like the under twelve national champion.

00:13:12
Speaker 1: You've seen the video with Lindsay Vaughn when they go skiing together. That's unreal.

00:13:15
Speaker 2: It also is why he's so good at staying low on his grounds because he has such incredible leg strength. But just thinking about how this guy conducted himself and really played an amazing match. The boys have to be really happy with.

00:13:28
Speaker 1: The Corta boys. I had the Corota Boys on my on my TV show.

00:13:31
Speaker 2: How did you find interacting with the court to boys? Great?

00:13:33
Speaker 1: They were funny, they were great, they were I mean, things like that are so great for the sport because they just add a little extra spice to any sort of match and filming them and as a TV person, it's just like there they are, the Corota Boys, and then they're everywhere. Now do these guys have jobs? I'm just kidding. They do. I asked them that question and they do have regular jobs. But anyway, but back to that match though, it was just great quality. You know, Novak just forces you. As I said, Novak probably play one of the cleanest matches he's played all year and lost the match, and that doesn't happen very often. Yannick was just a little bit better. A couple of great returns of serve on some big points, particularly when he served out wide. Novak likes to serve that first serve out wide on the first court, and with the length that Sinner has, particularly on the forehand, he can just smack a winner, and he did that a couple of times on some really big points yesterday. So I mean overall. You know, somebody wrote on Twitter yesterday they were like, it sucks to play Novak and beat him in a round robin knowing you might have to play him again to win the tournament. It's so classic and so then the pressure is on you again. But it's going to be interesting to see who comes out of that group now for sure, because Sinner plays Runa. Now Runa is one and one, Novak is one and one. The Carrot Top is two and a zero having won his two matches, but he's still not guaranteed to getting through. It's depending on what happens with him and Runa. For example, if we're in a win since eight sets, okay, so he's now one two matches, so he's two and one. Now it's going to be back on the count back. It was big that that center one in straight sets against No bad. Yes, oh sorry, no, he won in three sets. So now it's going to come back a lot on count back, depending on what happens. No back now plays herby her cutch because Steph sits and passes out. Can we talk about Paul Steph sits the pass before we get to them.

00:15:22
Speaker 2: You know, I love talking about status at.

00:15:24
Speaker 1: All times, speaking our crowd's doing. Yeah, come on, tennis fans, you got to be better than this. You've got to be better than this. When a guy has fought his incomplete ass off all year, and we know how much he fought his ass off to get into these finals, because the last couple of months has been rudle for him, like the ups and downs. He gets in the biggest tournament of the year outside of a Grand Slam, plays his first match losers, and then he goes out and he's down to one and pulls out because of his wrist injury. Now, I've had a rist injury, and I saw the little manipulation that the physio was doing to him. I was like, oh, no, wait, no chance, this is bad. You can't hit a tennis ball. Yeah, what do you want him to do? Go out there and like bust his tendon and never be able to play tennis again. I mean, that's the risk you take when you fuck your wrist up. Just ask Riley Opelk. I mean, the guy's taken two years to come back on tour. I mean, and you're booing him, like, what the hell?

00:16:35
Speaker 2: Come on?

00:16:35
Speaker 1: I know you've paid a lot of money for the tickets, and I get it, and it's very disappointing. But it's like if a singer's up there and you've just paid one thousand dollars and their voice goes out on them, they can't keep singing, do you want.

00:16:47
Speaker 2: Them to be irreparably damaged for the rest of their career. It is a bummer, but not cool. Booing when somebody has some kind of you know, physical scoming ailment, injury, etc. Is a bummer. Else, Like, the nice thing about the finals is you're gonna get incredible matches. You're gonna get It's not.

00:17:04
Speaker 1: Like, yeah, they had a replacement match. I put her hair cutch and Taylor.

00:17:07
Speaker 2: Herbie haircutch right on the court.

00:17:09
Speaker 1: Yep.

00:17:09
Speaker 2: So you know, I guess I get that. It's a bummer. Look, nobody would be more bummed than me. Stuff. Tizzy Paz is perhaps biggest fan outside of Paula Budosa way, but yeah, booing booing for a player who cannot continue.

00:17:21
Speaker 1: That's not cool?

00:17:22
Speaker 2: Is that?

00:17:22
Speaker 1: Come on?

00:17:22
Speaker 2: Okay, last question about Sinner and then we should move on to some of the other events. I have very little faith that Sinner is going to win this whole thing. I think it's probably still Novak, although he can. My question is more Sinner had a great year year before last. He had a bit of an up and down year this year, great effort to get to the finals, obviously, great match against Novak, kind of peaking into he won a.

00:17:45
Speaker 1: Bunch of tournaments. Is year. Give the guy a break.

00:17:47
Speaker 2: But I think a lot of us are sort of waiting, like when is he going to have his Grand Slam breakthrough? And I wonder, yeah, that sort of question that sort of follows him around whenever you see somebody who's capable of putting in a performance like he did. What the what's the ceiling?

00:18:02
Speaker 1: Oh? Grand Slam? I think I tweeted well, two things I tweeted in the last couple of days about jenis in No. One was methinks he's going to be very tough to beat this week, and that was after he won his first match. And currently I would say that that's looking pretty good because now he's too, and oh, I think he's going to be great on this court. I think he's going to be very, very, very hard to beat on this court because he has a hometown advantage. The court suits him, and I think he's adapted really well to it, and I think he's had enough time. And him pulling out of the tournament the week before, I actually helped him because I think he went straight to Turin. He had a bit of a break, you know, physically after he pulled out after that stupid scheduling in Paris, and so I think he comes in here actually quite fresh and really good, and I think that he's going to be very hard to beat because of those reasons. Fresh, fresher than a lot of the players, with a lot of really good confidence behind him, after winning a huge tournament and beating medvedevn a final that he hadn't beaten, you know, I mean, there's a lot on the line now he's beaten Novak, So I think his ceiling is I actually think he's going to be the player to beat at this tournament. And I also think that he is on schedule to win a Grand Slam next year. And you know, somebody wrote me to oh, that's a big statement. He's four in the world and you know he's one of the Yeah, okay, dude. He's never made a final of a Grand Slam and he's only made one semi final and that was at Wimbledon where he was up two sets to love, remember against Novak. So it's like it's you know, you people that sit at home and like, oh, big big statement, stubs. I was like, listen, guys, over five sets to make a final of a Grand Slam is really bloody hard. To win one is even harder. And you know, just our Steph Jess Begoula, who's never reached gotten past a quarterfinal. It's mentally very hard. And he's a lot younger, and I get it, and he, you know, he is certainly on track to we all know, get to a final Grand Slam. That's easy to guess, but it's another thing to win one. And it's it's a big step.

00:20:02
Speaker 2: For any point, it feels like the steps get further, yes, apart, it gets they get higher.

00:20:07
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's not.

00:20:07
Speaker 2: It's like a box jump. That's true.

00:20:10
Speaker 1: That's a good point.

00:20:11
Speaker 2: It seems like that's the case. And people, you know, even people like me who maybe have played some tournaments or play some competitive stuff, Like I think it's there's no comparison to the level that jumps the pressure that jumps.

00:20:23
Speaker 1: The semi to a final to winning just on super for sure, you know what I mean, Like, Oh, Maria Sakari, like it's a it's a big step to contempt to make that.

00:20:31
Speaker 2: Now, Felix Jlia seem you know, like, yeah, who's look at him? Finally broke through. That actually is sort of a segue because we have done an uncharacteristic thing here, which is talk about men for nearly twenty minutes. Which let's give ourselves a hand because usually people who listen to this podcast know that we tend to subject the men to the back house.

00:20:51
Speaker 1: We do what we want to do, which is we would prefer to highlight women's tennis, right.

00:20:56
Speaker 2: Because everybody else is busy highlighting men's tennis.

00:20:58
Speaker 1: Yeah, but we have to highlight them tennis because it's going on this week and it's very good. Can I just before we get to that, though, before we move on, is to say how great the court looks, how everything looks, and this is how the WTA finals should look.

00:21:12
Speaker 2: Well, the WTA Finals does not yet have the tournament scheduled.

00:21:17
Speaker 1: For next year. Which are we getting to that now?

00:21:19
Speaker 2: We were just going to glance at it because they have definitely been the recipient of a lot of grief.

00:21:24
Speaker 1: From us throughout the year, deservedly so.

00:21:27
Speaker 2: And what I appreciate and why I think we do not have to touch on it is to my great optimism, a lot of other people in the space tennis people but also like larger media, have sort of started asking questions about, hey, like is this sustainable? Is this viable? Can you actually run a tour like this? After having the second event two years in a row? That is a shambles? And my hope is not that people lose their livelihoods and get punished. It's just more like, these women deserve better, the fans deserve better, and we have a whole you know, basically eleven and a half months now to figure out what's going to happen next year. And I think because so many other people are asking the hard questions. Now. There was a piece in the New York Times. There's a piece of The Athletic, there were a piece of Washington Post, there was a piece you know, all over social atpa Is in the Guardian, so great, keep asking questions because we don't want to be the only people asking or complaining the whole time. And now you guys can all sort of hold these guys to the standard that they should be and we can all collectively applaud them when they meet it, assuming they can. But I did want to mention because we were talking about Felix a little bit. The Canadian women can a great Billy Jean King Cup in a great city, Sevilla, Spain. Looked like it was decently well attended and had a lot of amazing matches. But I have to say, coming to this tournament knowing that Italy defending a former champion, the Czechs defending champion, the murderer's row of some of these teams, you know, not the strongest American field, but still one with Sloan and Sophia Kennon and Daniel Collins and Venders and Grand Slam finalists.

00:23:09
Speaker 1: Yeah, that it was.

00:23:10
Speaker 2: Canada that came through.

00:23:13
Speaker 1: Look at you, Look at you. You're beside yourself.

00:23:15
Speaker 2: Oh.

00:23:15
Speaker 1: I love when your Canadian roots come out.

00:23:18
Speaker 2: It's they still infrequently come out because we have so many things.

00:23:21
Speaker 1: I got to give props.

00:23:23
Speaker 2: Just an incredible effort.

00:23:24
Speaker 1: But that's what happens when you have a you know, you know, it's lightning in a bottle sometimes, and that was what it was. And I'm going to give so much praise to Leila Fernandez, Like she's been through hell and back in the last couple of years after making the finals the US Open and all the expectation on her shoulders and great kid works her ass off, like really really really works hard, and you know, it's been an up and down a couple of years. And to see her out there and be the MVP of the Canadian team in singles and doubles it undefeated on the singles and doubles.

00:23:55
Speaker 2: Like undefeated in singles, undefeated in doubles and hits a backhand passing shot winner to win the clinch. Ye gets to throw her racket up in the air and be sworn by her Canadian teammates, Like I'm really happy that she got to have that moment. And that team format just really lends itself to tennis, having these rare but really wonderful moments where you feel like you're bigger, you're part of something bigger than you.

00:24:18
Speaker 1: That's what Fed Cup is I mean, it was one of the greatest joys of my career. Was constantly, always it was turning up in my green and gold to play for Australia. You know, I mean those weeks. For any player that has played Fed Cup or Davis Cup or Billy Jean king Cup and Davis Cup, I mean, they'll always talk about those memories. There's no I doubt there's a player that's playing on the professional tour or has retired that won't say that. For you know, those weeks at Davis Cup and Billy Jean King Cup aren't their favorite weeks of the year unless they absolutely hated their teammates and their captain.

00:24:50
Speaker 2: Are you speaking out of any specific example.

00:24:52
Speaker 1: No, no, no, no. Even on the trials and tribulations of some of my weeks at fed Cup with certain captains and certain coaches and maybe a couple.

00:25:00
Speaker 2: Of teammates, sure you like some people better.

00:25:03
Speaker 1: You know, I still had fun because my teammates, you know, I mean, we we just it was just the best. You know, it's the one thing missing in being a professional tennis players. It's an individual, very selfish sport. And so when you go to those weeks and often the successful teams are the really dynamically good teams, you know that really get along and try and help each other through and make it a team environment, and they're the doubles is as important as the singles and the singles players. You know, practice, you know with the doubles players, and it's just it's a nice environment. So I really give a lot of praise to everybody on the Canadian team. And how about the what is eighteen year old? This nineteen year old never hurt her in my life, and she comes out and wins this match in the finals. I mean that really was the clincher. Right for them to win that first match was unbelievable. I mean, Layla finished it off and Laila was the MVP of the of the week, there's no question about that, but unbelievable.

00:25:57
Speaker 2: No incredible effort. Nice to see Eugenie Bouch show in a tame environment and its team environment, just just incredible experience. Gabby Dabrowski just they had a really good team dynamic, and I think it speaks to what's so great about team sports, which is it takes everybody pulling in the same direction. So that for me is just really you know, trying to get my head around, you know. Heidi el Tobac, the captain.

00:26:22
Speaker 1: Yeah, Heidi, great job. Heidi.

00:26:23
Speaker 2: The unheralded eighteen year old Marina Stacusk because she kind of was the secret.

00:26:29
Speaker 1: Little engine, little secret sauce.

00:26:31
Speaker 2: Yeah, she's two hundred and sixty one in the world. She'd never beaten a top one hundred player before. She won three singles matches and beat Marquette Vandrosova like what.

00:26:41
Speaker 1: A yeah, and then also beat in the finals beat uh, what's the name lefty Italian?

00:26:46
Speaker 2: Uh, Marina Trevisan.

00:26:49
Speaker 1: Yeah, so she beats Trevisan. She beats from she likes playing against lefties, let's face it. But you know, it's amazing how some people step up in team environment. It's like this and obviously, look, this kid will see what she does now going forward. Just got to give her a ton of confidence, like beating players like that. Oho, my boat that just beat the Wimbledon champion, Thanks for coming. Who you know has been playing Billy Jenky Cup for years. But some people turn up a team events and there's some great players that have played team events like Davis Cup and Billy Jeane Cup and they suck like. There's some that just get too nervous. They don't they don't turn up like and I'm not going to throw anyone under the bus. There have been a few in the in the past that have not been great players based on that. At team environments, some that just are so good. I mean, there was an Austrian player back in my day, Petra, Oh my god, it's it's I can't remember it, but it'll happened. But this girl beat like Elayna Docketch, she beat Monica Sellis. Like, there was this one Austrian player that literally turned up at Village King Coup and couldn't lose. There's this lefty just only played well at fed Cup. It was like a juke between between me and LSA Ryman. We're like, this girl doesn't loose. Yeah, she plays fed Cup.

00:28:10
Speaker 2: It's like her superpower. Like Taylor Townsend and World Team Tennis or Exos, it's like she comes alive.

00:28:15
Speaker 1: Yeah, like team and virones bringing out the best in supplies and not in others. And this kid, why to go.

00:28:20
Speaker 2: It's a great job. Great job Team Canada. Ending on a positive note for the season, I was really thrilled that my Canadians were getting it done. You know, we don't have a lot of glory moments, I know, but how about that back to back Davis Cup last year, Davis Cup last year, Jan Kinkup, picking a great venue, picking a great city, indoors, having great teams, you.

00:28:41
Speaker 1: Know, hats off, hats off.

00:28:42
Speaker 2: Everybody had their little blue blazers. Afterwards.

00:28:45
Speaker 1: We'll see where it goes next year and what happens.

00:28:48
Speaker 2: Fingers crossed? All right, any parting shots that you want to sort of end on before we recoup next week? You'd mentioned something to me about our fellow podcasters that you wanted to sort of make a note of. Since we are you know.

00:29:00
Speaker 1: Well, do we want to speak about the fact that the WTA doesn't have a schedule fires yet? Okay? Can we just come on guys like it? Keep it moving, okay, keep it moving? All right? I'm loving this the Manning cast. Can I just say, watching football like the I don't know if you saw Eli Manning go through all his plays at the line, you know when they yell out dolphin, dolphin, dolphin, and you're like, what the fuck, it's all this big apple, big apple. And he went through the whole signal stuff. I said, can we do that for tennis? Can we have a manning cast for tennis?

00:29:29
Speaker 2: Like?

00:29:29
Speaker 1: I want to be a part of that. I want to I want to be able to like just be myself watching a tennis match and actually commentate one like that and not necessarily.

00:29:39
Speaker 2: Well, what's who's happening here?

00:29:41
Speaker 1: I know, I know?

00:29:42
Speaker 2: Well again give anyway.

00:29:44
Speaker 1: That And now, as far as podcasts concerned to fellow podcasters and tennis, some people that do them, they're just rude.

00:29:53
Speaker 2: You feel like there's a bunch of podcasters out there who are just taking shots. I mean, we've taken our fair share of shots, but I also like to think we've given priz.

00:29:59
Speaker 1: We don't give us. We don't give our fair share of charts on our fellow podcasters. This is not what we do, that's true. So you see, we go after the established that's what we do. Or we give shit to some players sometimes, but overall we're pretty positive about that sort of stuff. Anyway, listen, yeah, Oh, I do want to mention that the men's doubles has been really fun too at the ATP Finals. I love how they do the format they do a doubles match singles match doubles and singles, and a lot of people are there watching these great doubles matches with the guys. I just find men's doubles there's a lot of fun to watch. They're still playing like old school style tennis, you know, serving and vollying. Most of the most of the really great men's doubles players, it's still serving and vollying. It's one thing.

00:30:41
Speaker 2: Shout to Rohan and Matt Ebden, who will playing this morning.

00:30:46
Speaker 1: Serving and vollying, still doing the old school style. And as far as I'm concerned, doubles is still always going to be won by teams like that, because doubles is taking away time, it's taking away angles and the women's doubles these days. I mean, I don't want to shit on it, but like you know, serving and staying back and playing these rallies, and everyone's like, well, that's just how it is now. No, it's not. If you're still a great serving and volley or you can come into the net, that's the teams that win. The teams that win doubles still to this day are the ones that are most aggressive at the net. They play percentage doubles play and that's where you get it. And this, you know, serving and staying back and playing fifty ball rallies and doubles and just hitting lobs. It's so tough to watch these days. And you know, so if anyone's out there that wants to be really successful in doubles, and there's so much money to be made in doubles. I mean, the winner of the doubles Grand Sam is like three hundred and fifty thousand dollars each. I'm like, so, if you want to be successful in doubles, learn how to volley, learn how to serve and volley, and learn how to come into the net, because I'm telling you that's where the money is made. And some of these you know people that are still doing it and they're not even great volleys. So listen, get out there, get to the net, learn how to volley, because if you do that, you can make a lot of money playing doubles only all.

00:31:58
Speaker 2: Right, Well, anybody who listen to that advice and wins professional doubles titles, you are now in the hole. You have to pay Renee a fee for that piece of advice. All right, doubles, thank you for joining the ATP. We'll have another halfway through. Halfway through, we'll have another exciting we'll have another podcast out before too long, with microphones, because we love you guys and you deserve it.

00:32:18
Speaker 1: Listeners, We got microphones for you guys. That's right, all right, Ronny, thanks for listening. Bye bye,