Indian Wells & The Future of US Tennis

00:00:16
Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to the Renee Subs Tennis Podcast. I know it's been a while, but we apologize for that. But we are back. We are back with Avengeance. Is it Avengeance.

00:00:24
Speaker 2: We couldn't be happy to be back. We're in a beautiful place. We have beautiful tennis to watch, we have tons of world news to discuss, and as always, tennis is great in the mix of everything. Yeah.

00:00:36
Speaker 1: I mean, we've got players stranded in Dubai. We had a situation in Mexico not that long ago that just proved to you. It's also another reason when people say to me, Caitlin, stick to tennis, I say, why sport is involved in the world's politics.

00:00:53
Speaker 2: Yeah. As much as we might want for sport to be separate from politics, it's not. The world is big. The world is also where tennis takes place. It's not just one country, it's not just one region. It's one of the strengths of tennis. It's amazing about tennis. We had a reporter who went to Doha and then Dubai. He's still stuck there, he can't get out, and he wrote a postcard for us about getting notifications on his phone hours after the announcement that Daniel Medvedev would win the tournament in a walkover tallan Greek spoor, saying that bombs were on their way and everyone should take shelter. So you know, I didn't that happen in the doubles. It happened during the doubles match, and he was there at the stadium. He wrote a postcard for us from the tournament. You can go read it at racketmag dot com. So for us, like one of the great things about tennis is that it features all these amazing places, all these amazing players traveling the world, in some cases not traveling the world because some of them have gotten stuck. We're still not sure exactly where some of the players are. And the tournament here in Indian Walls is about to start, so we have lots to discuss. But also it just underscores tennis is part of the world and politics for better, if we're serve part of the world, than those two things are inextricable.

00:02:04
Speaker 1: You know. To take us off the subject a little bit of the politics in the world, Caitlin, I would like to let everybody know that one of the greatest things in the history of my life happened today. Now I know it has nothing to do with tennis, but I don't give a shit because I'm going to tell you this story. So we are staying at the beautiful Sense in Brancho Mirage, not far from the tennis courts. It is a gorgeous setting for tennis, for golf, for accommodations, whatever. If you ever get a chance to stay here, it's not cheap.

00:02:36
Speaker 2: Well we should say, why are we staying here?

00:02:38
Speaker 1: Well, you tell us why we're staying here.

00:02:40
Speaker 2: We are doing a racket retreat. We partnered with a company called Blue Air that makes amazing technology air filtrations, sleep aging, and we are taking near and dear friends, some folks with media, some of our favorite players to this beautiful place to have a retreat. So you and I have been able to kind of luxuriate in this amazing property for the last two days. And you know tomorrow we're going to do a clinic with Jess Beguiler. But this place truly is one of the most exceptional places I've ever seen. Yeah, a racket retreat is after a good stirda.

00:03:10
Speaker 1: It was the listen if you want to do a record retreat, every single time or anywhere like this. I'm in Caitlin. Just a little update on a couple of things that we haven't talked about because we've had a little break. Craig Tailor Tyler took the USTA job. There were murmurs. Everybody still in you. It was like the it was like the worst kept secret in tennis. But from my standpoint as an Australian and somebody who knows Craig very well and obviously someone who's seen the absolute massive improvements at the Australian Open through the last since nineteen eighty eight when they first moved to it was Flinders Park originally and then I went to Melbourne Park eventually, and it's turned into a festival. It's turned into one of the great tennis events in the world, if not, you know, the greatest. It really, to me is probably the best Grand Slam because of everything that happens there, the bands, the stuff for kids. It's like it's really truly a festival. And that's what Craig wanted to do. He wanted to turn it into one of the biggest sporting events in the world and he's done that. I think he doubled the amount of people that go to the USTRAI and open something like six hundred and fifty thousand. When he started, it was well over like one point three million through the gates. So he's done in a tremendous job. It's going to be very much different at the USTA because he has to deal with a lot more politics, I think, And the reason I say that is because the Australian government and particularly the Victorian government really really really supported Craig and gave him sort of what he wanted in a lot of ways to expand the facilities, expand the footprint in Melbourne and the USTA have to fight New York. They have to fight the city. They have to get a lot of different things. So it's going to be interesting to me how he manages that relationship with the City of New York. And you know the politics of the USTA and New York. So what are your thoughts on Craig taking this job.

00:04:56
Speaker 2: I think they couldn't have gotten a better and more experienced person who really understands what it needs to be, which is not just a tennis tournament but a festival. And I think with your point towards working with the city, I mean the city. And I say this being married to somebody who works for the City of New York. The city's already beending over backwards to give them a lot of free land. What they actually need is to make large parts of their organization redundant. He needs to slash and burn. He needs to go in there and replace entire departments. He needs to go in there and elevate some of the really fantastic leaders who are waiting in the wings, because there are some in the building. I think he needs to start over with the communications department, the partnerships department. They just need to really really ramp up and elevate what they're up to. I think what actually is going to help them a lot is by radically rethinking where a lot of the staff works and lives. Having a massive footprint in Orlando might be good for player development. I think it's really tough to get good talent there, and I think they have struggled because they have all these satellite offices, and again, it's just too big, it's too unwieldy. And I think he's the person to do it. And I think you really have to drag them, kicking and screaming into the future, not just the present, the future. The US Open canon should be leading the way. But it's got a facility that's underwhelming, to say the least. It's got programming that's underwhelming, to say the least. It makes money hand or fist, but it's also really a recipient of just how incredible tennis is, and I would argue that they are leaving a lot of money on the table. So to me, I love the fact that he has done all these amazing things in Australia because I think it shows that he has vision and the ability to get a lot of people to the table and make hard choices and bold choices, and so I hope that's what he does.

00:06:46
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, as I said, it is a little bit more politics when it comes to the USTA in New York, and so we'll see. I agree with you one hundred percent. If anyone's going to make big changes and swing for the fences, it will be him. And he has really nothing to lose in a lot of ways because he's done such an amazing job through his career and everything that he's done so and he's done such a phenomenal job at the Strain Open that I think he's probably going in knowing exactly. He's not a type of person that goes in with a one year plan. He's already you know, we met at the Strain Open as well, and he told all of us, you know, the Austrain Open has a three year plan already in place for the next three years. So I think that's another reason why he was probably like, I'm good to go. Now. You guys have the plan for three years, we have the footprint, go do it. I'm going to go do this. So I'm sure he thought about what he wanted to do with the USTA and he has like a five year plan in his brain already, at least i'd say five years. So listen, I'm pumped for it. Let's see what he does, because if he does anything like he did these Strain Open, the USTA and the US Open and all their fans and everyone's going to be real happy about it. Caitlin, I just want to say Cooboli wins Mexico beats Francis Tiafo in the final. Nice to see Francis in the final. Coboli's in the top ten, I believe now he's kicking butt. And also peyton Stones wins in Austin. Nice to see her Longhorns wins in her hometown. She plays great there all the time.

00:08:08
Speaker 2: Hard courts a lot of support. I have been into the belly of the Beast to play against the University of Texas, and when I tell you, the college fans were Banana's face paint, screaming, cheering. When we won like a couple of games, we felt lucky to be alive. So for me, the idea that she went down there, played a very very fired up Taylor Townsend in the final and just had really great tennis, really confident tennis, and just looked totally at ease. I mean, hanging out with Matthew McConaughey, local star and fan alright didn't hurt. So I think, you know, obviously she has a comfort level. But for me, Peyton Stearns plays really well when she gets fired up, and no better place to do that than in front of your home crowd.

00:08:50
Speaker 1: Obviously, it's funny you say that because Lisa Raymond when we played doubles together, because she was a Florida Gata and she played at Texas many times, and Lisa was one of the best college plays of all time. But whenever we'd have like a rowdy crowd or something on the tour and she, you know, people would be getting mad at us or whatever. Lisa would look at me and like, this is nothing. I played at Texas. I had beer thrown on me. I was like, what, So I totally get what you're saying. I don't because I didn't play there, But I understand that thought process. Just on medi even though he's stuck in Dubai and hopefully you know, they're all safe and sound, him and rub Lev and a couple of the double skies and it's crazy what's happening over there. But he wins the same tournament twice for the first time. He's twenty third tournament. You know, he's won twenty two tournaments, He's never won the same one twice. I mean, that is just bonkers. And the fact that he did it there you got to walk over in the final, so he's going to feel like he really didn't get it. It's not like this random thing. But I don't know. It's great. He's you know, new coaches this year. It's really turned him around. Look Out, Mattie's back.

00:09:52
Speaker 2: Mattie is back.

00:09:53
Speaker 1: And didn't I just say he won every match so easy, including the final with the walkover.

00:09:58
Speaker 2: Yes, certainly the easiest match was the one he didn't have to play. That said, Mehdi being back couldn't happen at a better time. I think we need some I say this with a lot of love, so I don't want to get any shit for this. Oh boy, we need some villainy. We need some excitement, We need some disruptors.

00:10:14
Speaker 1: It's been too.

00:10:14
Speaker 2: Easy for Yannick. Now Carlos looks like he's well out in front of the pack. So we need this like disruptive energy back. We need people who can push them. We need people who are maybe unorthodox, who don't give them a lot of rhythm. And danil Medvenev is that guy. It is crazy that he has not won a tournament more than one time except for now in Dubai. And I think it's kind of fitting because if anybody was going to be idiosyncratic and end up with a result that makes almost no sense, it was him. He's been what would you say, at least eighteen months, twenty four months just like out to lunch.

00:10:45
Speaker 1: Well, I mean we've talken, we've talken about it, we've spoken about it so much on this podcast as last year. I've never seen anyone breakdown as much as he did on the tennis square. I thought he was going to have a mental breakdown last year. Like literally, I told you I hugged him in Washington because I was like, dude, you're there's something going on. But you know, look, he had a couple of kids. Now, I'm sure there's a lot on his mind. I'm sure he's missing being home. You know, his family can't travel with him as much, and I'm sure he misses that. But you know, you're right, we need him a villainy as you like to say, we need we need somebody that has sort of like that hood spout in the court, who's not afraid to sort of put himself out there and be a little bit more like, hey, come and get me. And he's only going to be tougher to beat once it gets to the clay. Then we know he's going to go bye bye for a little time there. Even though he did win Rome once, so it's not like you can't win. One of the big stories. Seren Williams back practicing. Do you see you're hitting with Alicia Parks the other day? That Alisa Parks posted it looked pretty good. I mean, it's Serena Brian Williams. What do you make of this?

00:11:48
Speaker 2: You're the former coach.

00:11:49
Speaker 1: Well, I don't know. I'm waiting to see. I'm in the I'm in the wings hoping that she comes back. I mean, what a great story. What do you think there's chances of her watching Lindsay Vaughn and being like, why not me?

00:12:00
Speaker 2: Yeah?

00:12:00
Speaker 1: I mean, I mean, not crushing. That's not what I'm made.

00:12:03
Speaker 2: Not the part where she almost got her leg amputated. No, I think the exciting thing. And I think our friend Petco really laid this out for me in a really great way in her fabulous substack finite chest, which is what motivates the Lindsay Vaughns and the Serena Williams to look at the field and say, yeah, why not me? It doesn't matter that I'm in my forties. That is something that is different about them, that is in their DNA that most people don't have, because you know what, I'm forty four, I'm you are You're that old? No, I'm actually forty five, but I'm Serena's age however old, it is forty two forty three and I'm got one hundred but jillion dollars and I'm sleeping sound every night. I'm not thinking about any of this, not for one second. I'm playing tennis, maybe for myself, but I'm certainly not entering myself back into the drug testing pool and getting pumped to like be you know, matched by match. She's built different, truly. I mean, Nick Curious likes to say he is, but she actually is.

00:12:59
Speaker 1: And I think Nick's built different and way different ways.

00:13:01
Speaker 2: It's different in a way that is inconducive to being a pro athlete. And Serena Williams is nothing if not the quintessential pro athlete.

00:13:10
Speaker 1: Now let's talk, Well, we don't know what's happening. I don't know what's happening, so it's all a little speculation. But we'll we'll soon find out, I'm sure at some point because the drug testing thing now the pool is that she's now eligible. She's gone through the six months testing, and for people out there that don't understand that, it means you have to you can't just come back on the tour because let's let's say, let's say a player decides to leave the tour, for a year or two. They could be they could be ducing for like a year. Right, of course, they're not going to do that because they have to test for an entire six months to prove that they haven't had anything put in their system, or they haven't done this, or they haven't done that. So that's why a player has to go into that pool for a certain amount of time and they will get tested. She's probably being tested out the wa zoo right now when she's coming back, So hey listen, if she comes back, I think it's great for tennis. Speaking of people that are back in the draw, Wildcott's here on rescue, Slane Stevens and Venus Williams. Now, surely Serena is looking at Venus going, oh you were gonna play then. I'm younger than you one and I give it a go. But what do you think of those three Wildcotts? Your your go? Bbi's back in the in the in the main joy here because chuse you won the tournament here a whole forever ago. Slane Stevens won the US Open forever ago. What are your thoughts on that?

00:14:25
Speaker 2: I'm super pumped. I mean, I think for me, one of the reasons that it's such an important priority to come here every year is the players want to be here every year, And yeah, of course it's mandatory, and they want to be wherever there's money and sponsors in attention because that's how they make their living. But it really does hit different here and that's just the truth of the matter. We talk about it probably every time around this year, just why it's so special. Obviously, Andrescu won here a couple of years ago. Remember she beat Angelique Kerber and what turned out to be like sort of a tense tete a tete at the net there at the final, it was tense, tense and BB's got bde. You know pretty much everybody that you just listed, as does Stevens, as does Venus Williams, and certainly as does Serena Williams if she ends up coming back on the tour later this year. So I think, for me, if nothing else, what I love watching here is doubles, but I love watching here is practicing. And we saw Venus at this year's US Open obviously with Leila Fernandez. It light the crowds on fire. So not only am I looking to see how Venus does in singles, but I'm seeing how she does in doubles because I think if we're going to get a Serena Williams back to me, part of it feels like it's likely that she's going to make doubles part of that or maybe a big part of it. So to me, I am excited for all the different sort of flavors, let's say.

00:15:37
Speaker 1: Yeah, And the thing that I'm excited about, particularly with Bianca is that she's not just like had time off and now once a while card back into the tournament. She's actually worked her way up. I think she's about one hundred and sixty in the world right now from a dramatic ranking blowout by playing challenges, by playing small tournaments and doing well in those. So that's a player who's willing to put the hard yards in at the smaller events get some matches under a belt. So look, nobody, she can still play. I mean she still hits the ball really, really well. The serve has always been a little bit of a question mark, but the second serve in particular, but overall, I mean, this is a player that can play and she's still so bloody young, so why not? And I love the fact that, as I said, she's grinding away and those lower echellonce of the tour and winning a lot of matches. Speaking of servs, obviously, look Coco's still battling, you know. And something I said on the Socials a couple of weeks ago when she lost her match, turning around to her crew and saying, I've been working on this for six months and i still can't do it. You know, that was really telling for me because that is a mental side of Coco we don't usually see. When she gets exasperated and she says things on the court, you're just like, whow that's that is a total window to somebody's mind, and that mind, to me, was a tough one to see and hear because she is obviously working so bloody hard to try and fix this incredibly big fault in her serve, and you know, Gavin's been working very hard to try and fix it. But man ah man, it's it's there's so many faults that are not good in the serve. I just don't know how much you can fix it. I don't even know what to say. But it's a bummer and it's going to plague her for the for her entire career unless she does a massive overhaul.

00:17:21
Speaker 2: I just kind of want to ask you because I don't have anything thoughtful to add to that, except, you know, kind of like the point you were making about Bianca and Drascu. It's so impressive and really necessary when you see a player go back to basics. I would suggest another player who's kind of done that, as Naomiosaka, who's come to this tournament looking fit. She had a good couple of results towards the end of last year. You know, it is so hard to do this, as you know, you're year in, year out, day in, day out, and when you rededicate yourself to something, get in the case of Andresco, down into the lower echelons of the sport to build yourself back up when you you know, get your fitness right, which is what Namasaka has done. She's posting videos of herself going on jogs before the day starts, just really really impressive kind of gut check stuff. And that leads me to Cocoa, which is, you know, she's had a lot of and we've talked ad nauseum about a lot of her technical shortcomings and why doesn't she just take time Why doesn't she just get the right team. Why doesn't she just address these things? Because everything else is Gangbusters and we love her and she's doing that. And so I can't say to you why because I don't know, but I do want to know what you think might be the issue. If you have somebody working on mechanics and it just isn't clicking, do you think that's a mismatch in terms of the technique. Do you think that's maybe it's too late and she's so ingrained with what she's doing physically. I kind of just want to ask somebody who, like is a biomechanics expert, like, why wouldn't that work? What has gone wrong?

00:18:55
Speaker 1: You know? It's as I said, the floors are so bad.

00:18:59
Speaker 2: You know.

00:18:59
Speaker 1: And I say that as somebody that did not even remotely do well in singles at a major title. Okay, so I am throwing stones in a glasshouse here, But you know, Coco has won two major titles. She's an incredible, incredible athlete. She's won so many titles. She's won so much based on the fact that she works incredibly hard. Everything in her game is great, with the back end, the movement. Arguably the two best things on tour. But you know, she has this glaring problem on the serve. And guess what, you start every point when you're serving with the serve, so she can't get away from it. You know, the forehand, she can kind of get away from it a little bit. She can play a shot that she knows is not probably going to go back to a forehand. She can play the point to get the ball on her back in a little bit more, or she can play the ball high on the forehand, which is a nightmare, by the way to have to play. So the variation of her back end and foehand is so difficult for players, and even Petco tells us that all the time when she played against her, she hated that. But the problem with the serve is you're starting the point if you can't get the serve in the or you're hitting a shit second serve that's just getting pounded. I don't care how good your movement is, it's always going to be in the back of her mind that that's a problem. I mean, we saw it so glaringly at this Strain Open in the one point million Dollar Challenge when Donnavekich won the toss and said, Coco, you can serve, because she was like, you have to serve a serve and under pressure. That was brutal and I was court sided and I was like, oh my god. And of course she hit in the bottom of the net, and I felt so badly for her because I'm like, you know, people don't realize like the work and the effort you put in. But you know, back to your original question about the technical side of it, it's just I mean, dude, that's why I wanted to Yes, she won the tournament in where it was Wuhan or whatever in China, and we were like, well, what do we know? But you know what, I think she should have taken the three months off and said, I need to take the three months off and break this down to a point where it I'm almost learning how to serve again completely from the start to the finish. Change the grip, get the elbow up, all the things that I would, you know, look into as well. And I've had conversations with the gavern about this, and he's a great guy, but man, there's only so much you can do when you're fucking playing a tournament the next week. So how are you supposed to get around this. I don't know, which is why I know she won the tournament, but I wish she'd taken the entire fall off last year, because when is she gonna get that time to really break it down down to the nitty gritty. She's not gonna be able to have time.

00:21:20
Speaker 2: You know, this year might be the best. And here's a radical idea, which is playing off what you're saying. You know, if the Alissa lose, the yeah bonds, the uh, you know, the examples we can draw in other sports when you just say, hey, I don't have many points to defend. I am not feeling it. I don't have a ton of sponsor obligations. I'm not you know, completely booked in a way that means I can't step away. Maybe that's the answer, And that's not the first time I've suggested that for Coco, And like, I don't know really how else to sort of put it. So maybe, you know, I guess we'll see. But it's just it is tough to see her muddling through because you obviously want her to, you know, be in the best mind frame and play her best tennis. And I think without that re jiggering of her structure as you suggest, Like I just don't know how it's gonna happen. And you know, the thing is, like we got Victorian Bocos, now, we got alex Yala's, now we got like the next gen is nipping on her heels. Like it's not it's not a it's not a forever situation that you're you know, necessarily going to stay on the top echelon. And so I think, you know, make the hard short term choice to benefit in the long term, you know, and maybe she'll actually be that sometimes.

00:22:39
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, you know, you're gonna, as you said, you're you're you're rocking up against these Vicky Mumbocco's who who's so young and who's not afraid and who's only going to get better because technically there are some things wrong about her a game that I would change. You know, you've got mir Andreva, who's defending champion here of course, You've got Rubach, you know who won these stray and open You've got you know, Egis Fiontek, who's so difficult and good and difficult to play here in Indian Wales, Maria Sakari is in her section of the draw, which is interesting because they had that battle in the Middle East where she got the better of her, which really might turn Sakary's year around indeed, but we of course we didn't have the pod for the last little bit. I just want to shout out Caroline mcova out, one of our favorites, stay injury free, wins a massive tournament in the Middle East and comes here if she can just keep going with new coach Van Grenfeld, who's had great success with many players through the years, and who is you know, I know who's so grateful to work with someone like Mucova because he just gets that game style. I'm sure he's just nipping at the heels because if there was one player that I would love to coach, would have been Caroline Mahova. But you know, there's all these players, as you said, so Coco's inn section and in this draw now with so many players that are just nipping her heels, and they know where there's those you know, breakdowns are going to happen and the serve is going to continue to really hurt her through her career. And as I said, mate, it's bloody hell. I just don't know how she mentally does it because eyes on her all the time, and if Bianca Andrescu wins, she will play Cocoa golf, So that will be a bucket, That will be a popcorn match.

00:24:17
Speaker 2: I would love to see that match, especially given the various dynamics. I also want to point out that bb Ardrescu is working with our friend Dushan Vemich and they've just as you said, been grinding and come in into this with a lot of confidence, which is kind of the opposite direction of where Coco has been going. Tennis is great because it's about matchups, because it's about who's in your draw. That's why everyone cares so much about it, because it matters. You know, maybe you love playing a certain style of player, but you don't get that certain style player, you get the style player you hate, and they may be ranked much below you, but it doesn't matter because at the end of the day, who wins the match.

00:24:49
Speaker 1: So for me, yeah, it's like it's like Yostremska getting her in the first round of Wimbledon was a fucking nightmare for Coco because that is a player she just that's a player she would hate to play on a surface like grass, hitting the ball flat and hard, just last little thing. Emma Raducanu brought Mark Pecchi back into the coaching realm, thank god, because he is a great coach. And she's gone from Espanol, a Spanish coach who was trying to make her a Spanish player, and she's not a Spanish player. She's up the court, inside the baseline, very similar to Ejinie Bouchard. She's not a great mover. She needs to hit the ball, she needs to play big, she needs to not get pushed back, she needs to not be defending. And guess what, Mark Petchi will make sure that she's not going to be defending like a Spaniard twenty feet behind the base line. So that is a great move. She's already done really well. She's already, you know, got more matches under a belt. So and you know, possible a Nissimova match up there in round three if they get through. Anasimova's come on, pick it up, let's go. She got sick in the Middle East, so she'll be ready. When I look at the women's draw, I'm so excited because there are so many potentials that could win this tournament. Sablanca at the top obviously is the favorite, but you know, take your pick. Jess Pagoula wins in the Middle East rebakin to Winsley stray Open, Mokhova wins in the Middle East. You got bumbacco down there, You've got you know. It's I mean, if you can't love, if you don't love women's tennis, I don't know what's wrong with you. It's like saying you don't love the Olympics. Do you love the Olympics.

00:26:20
Speaker 2: Yeah, No, There's nothing I like more than the Olympics, truly, truly. Not only do I love the Olympics, I love the Winter Olympics. I love these people who play these sports that are crazy, that can kill them, and most of them are not full time athletes because they're like doing oil changes to pay for their Bob's led training. I can't emphasize enough how much I love the Olympics and the fact that I got to go down to Naples, Florida interview Mary Carillo for a project We have cooken up for our next issue. Who's getting inducted.

00:26:47
Speaker 1: Into the Hall of Fame?

00:26:48
Speaker 2: And give me the goods. Give me a look at her folder, her prep folder for the things, the details, the weird little asides, that she takes while calling these amazing live sports events. It was so cool. Not only is she my personal hero, but also just seeing how she prepares for something like that and why she's so good on the bag and on the call with tennis is because she prepares the living fuck out of it. And I think for me the Olympics, now we're getting into the Sunshine Double. It's just like this year has been such a gift sports wise, narrative wise, the stories, and I just wanted to keep going. And Frankly, and this is not the first time I've said this on this show. Frankly, I am ready for the dudes to pick up the slack.

00:27:32
Speaker 1: Yeah, pick the slack up. But who's gonna pick the slack up? No one's They're all no one's good enough. Alcoraz and Sina heads and shoulders. Although Sinna's got a few questions to answer here because it's not been a great time since he lost to Novak at the Stray and Open.

00:27:48
Speaker 2: I think no, I think Novak uh changed something in Sinner's mindset. I don't really side his head a little bit. I think Sinner was.

00:28:00
Speaker 1: Although come on, I mean, and it's not Novak got a walkover and he got he was down two sets. I'm just saying it was down two sets of love and against Marsetti, he gets the walk over, then he gets another walkover. So his legs were fresh playing Yanick. So if his legs weren't fresh, I didn't know, it would have been a little I don't know if it would have been the same outcome. But having said that, the guy at thirty eight years of age to literally outgrind Yanick. Even he had a very tough match against Zverev. We know that he had a very tough time at the Strain Open, but the fact that he actually did beat a guy that was like fourteen years younger than him, based on just the fact that he got more balls back in the court at the most ridiculous level was unbelievable. So yeah, Yanick has some questions to be answered here.

00:28:47
Speaker 2: I think his brain is a little bit broken maybe from that. And I don't think we've seen the same player since I think for me, I'm looking at again, I mean setting a sad Colas And you can't address the tennis men's eco system without addressing Carlos. So, like I don't even want to get into.

00:29:03
Speaker 1: It coun't wait for the kangaroo tattoo, by the way, I mean, let's see what's happening, he told me. Sure he did.

00:29:09
Speaker 2: I mean, you were part of the last one here at the US Open. I think for me, the I'm looking at the young young guns, like, let's see if any of these guys can sort of step up to the plate. Last year we had Jack Draper walking away with this.

00:29:23
Speaker 1: I mean, what's up that haircut.

00:29:25
Speaker 2: I'm actually kind of into it. I know, listen, the buzz cut worked for at the US Open. And then you know, we got Jacob Mensik who won Miami, and maybe there's some new fresh stuff. But somebody needs to step into that vacuum that currently is alone occupied by Carlos Augrez.

00:29:47
Speaker 1: Okay, guys, thanks for joining us and thanks for hanging in there with this. We love you guys so much for you know, getting on my ass about getting back into the studio together. So here we go. We are starting the sunshine. Thanks guys,