Tude

00:00:10
Speaker 1: Can you how unprofessional can you be? Okay? Are we recording? Okay? Good, I'm glad. Can we make sure you get that on the start of our podcast. Hi everybody, and welcome to the Renee Stubs Tennis Podcast. I am, of course with the Australian accent. Yes, i am Renee Stubbs, and I'm joined by the very American accent slash Canadian slash I don't even know. Sometimes it's Chinese, sometimes it's Spanish. Sometimes it's French. When she gets drunk, it is definitely French here French, yes, exactly. Time for the check people. Okay, So what a week of tennis we have had. But as you all have now learned to love and embrace about me, I watched my beloved New York Liberty when the second game of the WNBA Finals yesterday, and yes, I hope I'm converting some of you. Yes, of course, tennis is my first love, but basketball, particularly the WNBA is really starting to be my first love when there's no Grand Slams going on. And I sat next to your wife, Claire Caitlin yesterday in the victorious victory victory of game two after Game one when sadly my liberty just blew an eighteen point lead, eleven point lead with three minutes to go. Arguably one of the greatest players in the world, Brianna Stewart missed a free throw with point six seconds left on the game. I can't imagine she ruminated over that for twenty No thirty six hours, no forty eight hours. How many hours are in the day. But you know what, champions, as Billy Jean King says, a just and pressure is a privilege. And she came back yesterday Brown and Stewart and played a friggin great game with her sidekick Benija Laney, who also had a great game after having such a tough year this year with knee problems, injections in her knees, all kinds of things. So this is a team of fortitude. So I guess who's getting on a plane to Minnesota.

00:02:04
Speaker 2: You're doing it? Hell yeah, hell yeah. I think at this point the team needs me, need you.

00:02:11
Speaker 1: Yeah.

00:02:11
Speaker 2: Claire was describing the rituals that you guys go through, and I was like, Claire, I think you might have become part of Renee's ritual of this experience, the high fives, talking to the players, talking to the coach getting involved, watching the warm ups, and I do think, you know, even for people like me who do not care about basketball, there is something amazing to be said about watching other sports, watching the commonalities of pressure being a privilege, of champions adjusting, of shaking off an overtime loss that you were brutal winning with, you know, and you had your star player on the line to sink what is a you know, an asen the hole typically free throw shot, and just think, oh, sports is everything. Sports is common, Sports is relatable. And when I watch other sports, especially sports I'm not interested in, like basketball, I do try to think about, okay, well, what are the commonality, like where can I connect with this? And it's usually the people, the human the experience, the moving on from a bad moment, a bad call, you know, because there are so many commonalities, and then that's again where we can sort of take life lessons. So for me, that's what I look for in something that I you know, we're all just trying to connect, right And I think, you know, I couldn't curly. I was trying to participate in our group chat and I was like, well, I hope the chest passes are particularly crisped today and basically they just like voted me out of the group chat. They were like, you're They're like, no, you are the weakest link, You're the weakest like you. You are voted off the island. I was like, well, you guys put me on this group chat, so I.

00:03:44
Speaker 1: Don't know, you guys put me on this possible I don't know You're I don't want to be here.

00:03:47
Speaker 2: I want to be that.

00:03:48
Speaker 1: I want to be that person down the end of the band. She's just raw, rack, cheering and have no idea what's going on and coach, please don't put me in unless we're up by twenty or down by twenty in the last minute of the game.

00:03:58
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'll be a chaos agent and any sport if you need a chaos eaton.

00:04:02
Speaker 1: Can I just tell you though, on a personal note, with that, you know, Brianna Stewart of course missed the free throw, but she also missed a layup with about one second ago in overtime, something she makes she could probably.

00:04:13
Speaker 2: Make with her eyes closed, blindfolded.

00:04:16
Speaker 1: Most of the time, knowing where the basket was, knowing whether just and she had three defenders around her, she beat them and she probably couldn't. She said in the pros Game interview that she was almost surprised that, you know, no one failed her because it's a dumb fail to give. But also she probably couldn't believe how free she was because she's just guarded like crazy. She's double teamed all the time, all the things you know, which should be but the amount of vitriol. And this happens to tennis players, this happens to everybody in sports. And I put a tweet out and look, it's mean sometimes that you know, when I watched sporting events and I'll talk about it with my friends about he choked, and oh my god, how do you miss that layup? And oh how do you miss that throw? And older things. But I don't understand why people feel the need to go on Twitter, you know an x and just be so angry and you know, tell people how you know, what a bum and what a loser and all these things. It's like, have you ever You'll never see a professional athlete trash another professional athlete on a social media because we know what it feels like to choke. We've all done it. I've done it. I mean I've done it. And to imagine you know, you're playing for a team, you're playing for city, you're playing for owners. I was playing for myself. You know, I had to take all of that on myself. You know, the gamblers are going to be pissed off at me if they bat on me to win, right, Okay, I don't care about them. They can you know what. But when you go after your player that plays for your team, you know, or your favorite or even your opponents you know of your favorite player, I don't get it. I don't get the mentality of like sitting down and getting on your phone and being like, you know, even these people that hate Sinner or hate Novak or hate Rafa, And it's like, why do you feel the need to go on social media and put that out into the world, Like, I don't get it. Bitch about it to your friends, yeah, but and then you tag them so Paul Breonna Stuart for two days would if no one would have been harder on themselves than her, of course, And she's the one that loses sleep over it. She's the one that now feels responsible letting about her. Is a girl that's been through a lot in her life. She's openly talked about being sexually assaulted as a kid. She is a beautiful family, she's an incredible human being, and people don't know I know her, and I just you get your back up when people write stuff and you're just like they're like, oh, get over it. I'm just making a comment. It's like you are adding to the shit in the world.

00:06:41
Speaker 2: Yeah. Well. I also think the same with Coco, same with all these types, same with other sounds players. And I think one of the reasons that so many of these Internet neck beards are so keen is the anonymity of an outlet for their own own terrible interior. Right, Like, there was a meme that was sort of going around where it was like I take and I think it was a notable person who obviously got a lot of trash talk, although I'm not sure in which field this person was notable. And they would get like you should die, You're terrible, and they'd be like, oh, you look great in your profile picture. How do you get your teeth so white? And then all of a sudden you'd get like a response from somebody being like, oh, oh thanks, uh, but I go to the this dentist and hey, sorry, I was a Dick, and you're just like, you know, look, that's not going to work. And I'm not certainly suggesting that Breonna Stewart or Cocoa GoF or you know, one of these awful experiences that a player has with gamblers try that, especially after you know, being threats of you know, assault or murder that they're facing. But I do, I do sort of think that that reveals immediately the incredible smallness that it takes to go after somebody and trash them, especially somebody who's doing something exceptional. And if you're watching somebody on TV on a on a field of play at a professional level, if you're going to the opera, I don't care, Like, if you're watching somebody perform, what are you doing? Yeah, you're watching.

00:08:09
Speaker 1: Put yourself your situation? Have you ever put yourself in that situation?

00:08:13
Speaker 2: So it's like, you know, I do think it's fair game to critique like, Okay, well what's Coco doing with her? Serve what's going on with you know the Center legal battle? And is that fair? You know, like these are legitimate questions that don't call into the like basic humanity and character and you know, existence and justification of existence of a human being. And so for me, part of it is the way that the Internet facilitates it, but also part of it is just like, cool, well, what are what are you doing?

00:08:40
Speaker 1: Yeah, what are you doing?

00:08:41
Speaker 2: You're doing You shouldn't talk about anybody unless you're doing something.

00:08:44
Speaker 1: Like imagine if you were going to work and you know you everyone fucked something up at work, right, and then someone's right behind you going, oh, you suck, suck, You're terrible.

00:08:52
Speaker 2: It's kind of like type in that email you kill yourself.

00:08:54
Speaker 1: Yeah, kill yourself. I hope your family dies. I mean, this is literally what people. I know it for a fact that Rihanna and her wife and her two young children have had vitriol, like really bad over the last few days, to the point that they've had to make sure that they have security and also off around them. That that is just so fucked up, you know, And in my opinion, so you know, if you guys are out there listening, and you know, look, we're all we've all said and done some things. But I'm acutely more aware of that now going forward. It's like just stop, just you don't need to put it out there on the internet. And I'm going to try my best, Caitlin too.

00:09:33
Speaker 2: I've seen here so much growths.

00:09:35
Speaker 1: Yeah all right, so let's get to the tennis. What a couple of great finals.

00:09:39
Speaker 2: Loved it, loved it, great tournament, loved the finals.

00:09:42
Speaker 1: I've got a few things to talk about, as you can imagine. Let's talk about the guys first, with Yanik and with mister Novak Djokovic in another final. But he's just struggling. Can't win a tournament. I mean, obviously the only thing he probably mattered to him was winning the gold this year, so he did that way to go. But I want to talk about not only the match, but the fact that you had Carlos Alcaraz and Roger Federer watching the.

00:10:06
Speaker 2: Match, just sitting there.

00:10:08
Speaker 1: So I wanted them to honestly wanted them to just at one point they showed them like six billion times on the coverage. It was like the conversation between one Carlos Ferrera, Roger Federer and Carlos Alcarez was more interesting than the match. It's like, guys, there's a match, like, we don't need to see Roger every time. It just so happened they were sitting right behind Sinner's group, so it was like a double perfect for the director to be like back the camera again, camera too. But it was like sitting there and watching them. I just I was hoping one of them, probably Roger because he's retired, or one Carlos because he's not playing, just to just to whack out a beer, just to go, you know.

00:10:46
Speaker 2: One time, just an ash BIRDI style.

00:10:48
Speaker 1: Yeah, well that's old time as party at the cricket. I didn't know if you're I was at the football chugging beer, just chugging a beer and prisoner. I was like that girl, that's cool as a sportsman, totally just like me. People send me videos like our friend Carolyn Mano sends me a video of me just chugging down a not a beer, a drink at the Liberty game the other day.

00:11:08
Speaker 2: Well, on one of my group chats the other day, actually last name that I'm not supposed to be on because I don't even like basketball, there was a video circulating of you and Clear on TV aggressively booing the ref.

00:11:18
Speaker 1: Well, I think your wife was booing and I was yelling at them, so there was a good combo there. Ah, the refs in the w's so bad.

00:11:25
Speaker 2: That's my girl.

00:11:25
Speaker 1: It's like it's like they pulled the challenger. People calling the challengers onto like sen the Wimbledon. That's why they're gone tired.

00:11:34
Speaker 2: Efficients get them in the air wnba get.

00:11:36
Speaker 1: Rid of them. If we can have electronic line calling in even the wnba oh touch of the elbow foul.

00:11:42
Speaker 2: I mean, maybe that's it as a job for the AI or something. Just get like an AI robot out there just scanning the court at all times.

00:11:48
Speaker 1: I saw the touch and they you know, you know when you get like a touch, it's like, oh, we see it, we see it's right there. In cricket, we do that in cricket. It's like it's called this the snickometer. If it touches the bat, what you here?

00:12:00
Speaker 2: Cool?

00:12:00
Speaker 1: They have a hearing now, so they have a little speaker on the lass stumps right the little things behind those three little things behind. If you ever seen cricket, and it picks up if the if the ball has sneaked or touched the bat, and then it's a glow. So you know, if it's glows, it's kind of like a.

00:12:18
Speaker 2: So it changes color.

00:12:19
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's like when you get an MRI. Yeah, yep.

00:12:21
Speaker 2: It's like radioactive.

00:12:22
Speaker 1: Yeah, like you're not hading that snick ometer would get that the foulo meter in basketball. Anyway, it was a great final. But Yannick Wool when it comes to tiebreaks, he is I believe, nineteen and one in the last twenty tie breaks, and that was the difference maker in that first set.

00:12:36
Speaker 2: Yeah, match and three prior matches. I mean, this is his third in a row. He's got Novac number I mean, no act to his great credit. We've talked about this all year, like he didn't make a final until Wimbledon.

00:12:49
Speaker 1: He made the Wimbledon final. That was his first final.

00:12:51
Speaker 2: That's right, he made it, just got destroyed, correct, So that's why you got. That's why I forgot because it was over in thirty minutes against outcrast. But he had a pretty bad year before the Olympics and now he's you know, he likes playing in Asia. Here obviously does it very well. It's great to see him in the final. By the way, the Lacaste taking over the Great Wall of China and putting Novac all over it, and like Novak all of a sudden is like looking cool. Look at it. Here come the French love it I'm here for it. I just a plus because you know, I care about what goes on off the court just as much as I do on court. And like Novak is in his last you know you and Eliza in the December of his in the December of his career, is like now coolah, yeah, finally, but I feel like something clicked and he just cannot get past Yenick center.

00:13:35
Speaker 1: Well, I'll tell you why he can't get by him.

00:13:36
Speaker 2: Tell me exactly what I think.

00:13:38
Speaker 1: It's because Yanick is just a little bit better.

00:13:41
Speaker 2: Well, that's sure, but.

00:13:42
Speaker 1: Why you know, because Novak's thirty seven, Yeah, he's you know, at some point you start to lose that that dominance, and Yanick has that feeling of dominance now. And so it's the confidence factor is huge in big moments, like particularly in the tie break in the first set, you could see that Yanick was like, yep, this is my time. Yeah, whereas three years ago when it got to a tie break, it was like, remember, Novak could not lose a tie break. And so many of these matches, Kaitlyn go down to the tie break because they were dominating on serve that both of them, the court.

00:14:12
Speaker 2: Was quick, so everybody takes care of business what they need to do.

00:14:16
Speaker 1: Yeah, and then almost untouchable.

00:14:18
Speaker 2: The reason that their matchup is so interesting to me as opposed to like Novak or Yannick versus Carlos is the style is so different. But Yannick and Novak play a very similar similar Yes, they move very similarly. They're both very flexible, and they both move extremely quickly and in a very fascile way around the court. So it's almost indistinguishable when you're watching them because they both play such good details. I noticed that yesterday that it's really hard to kind of distinguish you know, obviously they don't look alike, but it's hard to distinguish what one of them might be doing to the other. Whereas when one of them is playing, you know, Holgaruna or Carlos, who can beat both of them, whereas runa Cannad you can tell that there's a stylistic clash.

00:14:56
Speaker 1: Well, I think it's also Alchrois has that little bit more variety, you know, with the drop shots, with the unpredictability that's right, he's a shot maker. Yeah, it's unpredictability of Carlos that you so like, what's he gonna do.

00:15:06
Speaker 2: Here, whereas Novak and Center are more patterned players, and so it's very it looks razor thin tip to me watching them play. And so that's why I was like, well, yeah, sure you play better, but like, what actually is the difference? Besides maybe just confidence and the extra gear in that moment, I.

00:15:21
Speaker 1: Think it's also Carlos has a little bit more speed, a little bit more explosivity. You mean nivity? Did I just make up another word? No, that's right, that's a Novak, right, yeah, so he and I mean we're talking yeah, micro microseconds, right, but that does make a difference in your psyche when you have a shot right that you're like, shit, I have to hit this absolutely perfect or it is one hundred percent coming back, whereas with Novak, now it's I have to hit this absolutely perfect because it's eighty percent coming back. And that small little margins is the difference. And also Yannick's serve is so aggressive. He got down a couple of times or moments where he thought, oh is he gonna get broken and bomb he comes in with the big of the big plus one. He just is a little bit better than Novak in those moments and it's the smallest of margins, Caitland's smallest. I mean, well, that's fourhand that he hit down the line to break serve in the second was like what the fuck? Wow?

00:16:15
Speaker 2: Well, I think that actually speaks to movement in the microseconds, which is why the age stuff matters, because even as a recreational player, I can tell the difference between being perfectly set up for a shot and reaching and being off balance right, and good athlete makes it looking distinguishable. This is a topic you know very well because you've been one and you.

00:16:31
Speaker 1: Work all now.

00:16:33
Speaker 2: But also like no, but like just getting to the ball a microsecond earlier and having a second to prepare, and that I think oftentimes plays into confidence, and that plays into obviously the ability to hit a laser down the line in an incredibly crucial moment as opposed to being like, eh, this is a gamble, let's see, as opposed to like nope, I got this, I'm locked in. Yeah, And if you have that feeling of being locked in in those moments, which Novak did three years ago and now it's Yannik that that is, you know, in a game where what five ten points ultimately three could be two or three, and the outcome at the end of the at the end of the tally that those five ten points, maybe two or three actually end up being the ones that matter because you're beat early to the ball and you can set up properly and hit the crap out of it that we want to.

00:17:18
Speaker 1: And those small margins also are Novak making a few errors when he didn't make errors. Yeah, he never used to make like back and shank. It was a couple one or two times, and I was like, wow, he never gave anything free ever, Novak when he was locked in and playing at his best. Now he's making a couple of little mistakes from time to time, and that is all confidence. That is all confidence. He has not, as we said already this year's only made three finals this year, which is incredible. Three. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's only three. And he's only won one tournament this year, and so that those little moments of indecision or lack of confidence in those big moments are not coming naturally to him. Right now. He's having to convince himself that yes, I'm good, I'm good, whereas Yanik's like, oh, I'm good. Even though Yanick lost the one tie break in the last twenty to Alcaz when he was up three love, two breaks too. Mini breaks like that was unheard off. But that also shows you that Alchaaz spirit is no, no, I know I can beat you, right, whereas Novak now is like, I'm not sure if I can beat you. And those little subconscious, little moments make such.

00:18:30
Speaker 2: A difference, especially played out over sets, over matches, which is now why Iyanek is on a three match win streak. And I also will say it has been really fun watching Novak play this year, not because I like seeing him lose. There would have been a couple of years ago when I would have said something like that and maturing that's great growth. But what it is about him is that I don't get the sense that he's so enraged. I don't love watching players who play sort of from a place of negativity. I fully accept that that is, for no back, one of the things that helps him get into another year.

00:19:02
Speaker 1: You're a site that's actually one of the reasons maybe and he's.

00:19:05
Speaker 2: So good, And it is one of the reasons he has been so good because that fuel that rage even manufactured about you know, somebody in the crowd or some you know moment or the you know, chuck in the racket or like that allows him to get to another degree. But actually, I just I like watching players who look like they're having fun out there, which is why it's sort of tough to you know, get behind a a coca who's struggling or a player who looks like they're miserable, because that to me is, you know, do you're playing a sport at the end of the day. And that's not to say like, you know, oh my god, somebody. I was at a concert two days ago and somebody made one of the best jokes I've ever heard, and it's so mean, but I might I'm tempted to say it because it's it's pretty funny.

00:19:47
Speaker 1: Well, you get the choice of leaving on taking it out.

00:19:50
Speaker 2: I do ultimately being the editor of this. But you know, we were talking about Chapel Rone, who's you know, this sort of singer of the Summer and she's you know, having some you know, real ambivalent feelings about fame, which you know, fair enough for mental health issues. And somebody was like, well, yeah, she's like the Naomio Saka of pop music, and I was kind.

00:20:08
Speaker 1: Of like, you know, you're not wrong, that's not wrong.

00:20:11
Speaker 2: Like I get both sides of that, where it's like, well, this is a job and this is kind of part of it. But on the other hand, like no, nobody wants to walk, you know, watch you walk into traffic because you're having such a hard time being Yeah good.

00:20:21
Speaker 1: It's the same as what we were talking about before, like if someone says I need to step away, then let them step away. We've got way too many people that are sad in this world.

00:20:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I just need to add on to it. I certainly don't want to watch somebody out there miserable. And I think for me, the main point I was making about Novac is he looks happy playing, even if he's not having the results. And I really am happy that he got the gold medal. And I think if this is one of the last seasons we're watching him.

00:20:43
Speaker 1: Play and appreciate it.

00:20:45
Speaker 2: I'm appreciating it.

00:20:46
Speaker 1: As we're losing the great spot, we're moving them, they're dropping, Like, oh I cried watching that video. You cried, God I did. I was just like from the beginning, because I just felt it in his heart that he wants to keep going. You know, it's like Andy Murray made a great comment when someone said, you know about quitting and now retireing. He said, man, he goes, and I love Andy so much, and he said, I want to play forever. I want to play this sport forever. And I was like, oh god, you know, he said, but I just I can't anymore, you know, physically, and father time catches up with anyone. And when you love a sport as much as Ruffer and Andy and Novak and Roger, I mean Roger's same thing, right, I mean we saw the tears from him, the serenas like, it's really hard when you love it that much. When you've got someone like Steffi Graff, who retired at twenty nine, basically before her I think before she was even thirty. She didn't really love it. She loved playing, the competing, but everything that goes along with it was not really.

00:21:44
Speaker 2: Her change Di's she ever had any regrets?

00:21:47
Speaker 1: I don't think so. Steffi's that type of person that doesn't have a regrets. She turns, she turns the page and moves on. Yeah, she wanted to have a family, want to have kids, and now her daughter just turned twenty one. She texted we were texting the other day and I was like, wait what because I was in Vegas at the same time, because I went to watch my Liberty beat the Aces. And she's like, yeah, Jazz is having your twenty first birthday to night. Yeah she's twenty one. Oh my god. I felt so old in that moment. But anyway, anyway, Sinner, after considering what he's going through still with this wider shit about you know, his uh the suspension and no suspension, he's handling this moment pretty damn well. And so I give him so much credit.

00:22:27
Speaker 2: And do we do? We need to try?

00:22:29
Speaker 1: And also can we add that Novak's old fitness trainer is now Sinner's fitness trainer.

00:22:35
Speaker 2: It's a merry go round.

00:22:36
Speaker 1: And I can only imagine because he was let go by Novak. I believe he's sitting there going it's.

00:22:42
Speaker 2: A real whim for set moment.

00:22:44
Speaker 1: Couldn't couldn't keep me on? Huh, you know, look at you now exactly.

00:22:47
Speaker 2: It's a it's a whim for set moment with you know, him jumping from chinuenda or a paraiba moment.

00:22:55
Speaker 1: Yea, where it's like were you watching? I was watching the match with Sablanca and Ginuin. I was just like, you know when said to sit there, like, damn, I just left a million dollars on the table.

00:23:05
Speaker 2: What an idiot's like when you go in the wrong line. It's security. You're like.

00:23:12
Speaker 1: Family of seven in front of me with their sixteen bags.

00:23:15
Speaker 2: They've never been to the airport bottles and.

00:23:17
Speaker 1: Do I take my shoes off? Yes, you're in the TSA line. Oh take your shoes off? Okay, so great. Let's talk a little bit about Coco Sabalanca before we get to Sabalanca. Chin win. Oh my god. Nineteen double faults.

00:23:37
Speaker 2: What a great Let's let's start with the positive. What a great start to the match.

00:23:41
Speaker 1: The match was you check out those double faults. Yeah, it was such high quality tennis.

00:23:46
Speaker 2: Yes, Coco is playing high quality tennis. Coco is playing so well, going out blazing six to one on that first set, just looking locked in and I was like, well, here she is here, all right, miss.

00:23:59
Speaker 1: A Maria, she's back.

00:24:00
Speaker 2: She's back baby.

00:24:01
Speaker 1: And then and then gets up a break in the second and you saw it. I think it was four to three. The first point was a double fault, and it was a shocking double fault.

00:24:10
Speaker 2: Shocking, that's what look, you're going for your serve, you hit it, you know, yeah, okay, But what was notable about it is that we all knew she knew. That was sort of what was sad about it, because it was such a it just tittle mind dragged her into a different headspace. And I think that is if I'm the coach, Yes, of course mechanics for whatever's happening, as we've talked about, but also the mental space of being like, okay, when that happens, what are we doing kind of like what we're talking about with basketball, right, what are we doing to just what are we doing to reset? What are we doing to get past that moment so that you can come out and win game two of your series if you're Brianna Stewart, or get back to the line after you've just hit a horrific double fault that you've seen and everybody seen in China, nation of billions of people, and just reset and actually it never happened before. But that's not what happened. So what does what should she have done? What could have been coached into her?

00:25:09
Speaker 1: Well, I think in those moments, you know, if I was in her coaching box prior to the match, or any time, not necessarily prior to the match, but just get this in her head during practice is when you know, and you know as a player. I knew as a player I used to get a little yippye on my serf from time to time. You just know it. So you've got to in practice put them into the mindset. Right. So I would say, Okay, a set, you just broke four to three, serving for the match, serving for the tournament, serving to If you hold serve, you win the tournament or win the match. I would say that right as she was about to serve, Okay, four to three, first point. So you you automatically, Ugh, you automatically, even in practice, get a little bit nervous because you suddenly put yourself into that mindset. So I would say, because I used to do this with Sam, Because Sam there was a period of time in the last couple of years of her career where she was really struggling on her own serve to get the serve in the court. This is one of the greatest servers of all times.

00:26:09
Speaker 2: Sam had such a great server, so much margin too with a kick.

00:26:12
Speaker 1: But she had and she will admit she had a little bit of a yip problem with the ball toss as well, and she started hitting on the right side of the ball and not underneath it like her perfect amazing kickserve that she always had, And so it became a mental problem, you know, And so we talked about and so I would yell that thing. Not yell it to her, but I would be like, as she's about to hit a serve, you know, in practice, I go thirty forty, break point down four, all on the third, and all of a sudden, you quickly go there. It's the only thing you can do to emulate what's going to happen on the court or put them in that position on it.

00:26:43
Speaker 2: And as a player, you really do have to. You have to you visualize it. You have to visualize, ye, right.

00:26:47
Speaker 1: So I would say do it in practice, put her in that moment in the practice, and then also say, if this starts happening, okay, because when she gets the first serve in, it's still a just humongous serve and winning a lot of points to the first serve. But babe, if you're not getting the first serve in, and you know, now, all of a sudden, you started getting very tight on the second serve because you know it yourself. I would say, take some off, take some off the first serve, get it in and get it in, because the last thing you can afford now is to give three points away. And also your second serve is so average. Even when you get it in, Sabolenka is smashing it.

00:27:26
Speaker 2: She's taking two feet forward towards the service.

00:27:29
Speaker 1: Notice that your opponent is standing still five feet behind the baseline right, so they're not going to technically attack it as easily off on it. So the first point of those games, when you're starting to shit yourself, you got to get the first serve in the court. I don't care if it's eighty miles an hour, get it in. Because Coco was winning the rallies from the back of the court when the point was getting started, she was the better player. She was frustrating Sabalanka. She was using her athleticism around the court to get one more ball back in the court. She was hitting her forehand well, her back end is always as unbelievable as any I've ever seen. So you are winning the rally from the back of the court, So don't try and win the point with the big first serve because your only vulnerability is your second serve, So just get your first in the court. Now. If you hit seventy, if you hit a ninety mile an hour first serve in and she crushes it, okay. And you hit another ninety mile an hour and she crushes it and you lose a point, you go, Okay, I gotta go for a little more. Adjust to them being more aggressive and better than you at that moment rather than you freebie giving them points.

00:28:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, because the message that Seblanca gets who's in an attacking mentality anyway, always, which is why she's so fun to watch the second she sniffs yeah with vulnerability, she's.

00:28:46
Speaker 1: A guess who knows more than her how that feels.

00:28:49
Speaker 2: Totally, which is truly There's so many positives that I constantly think about when I watch Arenasablanca play, But the biggest one for me is just the current because it's not fearlessness, the courage that it takes to in spite of fear, especially on that you know, twenty month journey she went on with her own serf. The courage it takes to be afraid of doing what had happened and happened to Coco during this match of hitting double digit double faults inly loss of the match, a stadium of people, and the courage to change it and to keep trying it and to do better and to adjust her mentality, like she worked her way through a very deep fear. It was like exposure therapy. It's like you're afraid of turbulence on a plane, so you're just going to go take a bunch of like plane rides through hurricanes. And then that's odd, that's bossy suggest that I wouldn't do it. But I'm just saying, I think nobody knows more about the specter of.

00:29:47
Speaker 1: Unless you're on those hurricane planes. I saw video of it with that tragedy that was happening down in North Carolina in Florida, and they were on that hurricane plane and they're they're not just like fun. Yeah, it's like a it's like the roads right now in New York. You know that they're redoing them. So if you're ever on a city bike driving down the riding on one.

00:30:05
Speaker 2: Of those right getting here this morning with those.

00:30:09
Speaker 1: Hurricane planes and they were like flying up and I'm like, God, man, God who chooses that as a profession Anyway? Back to you.

00:30:15
Speaker 2: You gotta love it. But I do think like the second that she sniff's weakness is when Arena Sabeleca is gonna step in there and crush it, and.

00:30:21
Speaker 1: That's a great white shot.

00:30:23
Speaker 2: She's a great white chirk. And that the match was turned. Yeah, the match turned.

00:30:26
Speaker 1: You could see it too, because she was like, Oh, been there, honey, in there. I've done nineteen double faults in a match myself.

00:30:33
Speaker 2: Yep.

00:30:34
Speaker 1: And so when she even talked about it in the postmatch, she's like, you know, I've been there, I know what it feels like. And once she gets that out of her system or figures a way to get the serve in the court, she's going to be the best player in the world.

00:30:46
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:30:47
Speaker 1: I mean, I thought that was really that was generous. If I'm Coco, I'm like, oh damn, okay. Yeah. If if this player who's arguably the best playing in the world right now thinks that about me and it's been in the same place as me, has been in that same place.

00:31:00
Speaker 2: Yeah, I thought that was an extraordinarily generous way.

00:31:02
Speaker 1: That was a really great moment in sports for being a generous opponent and a generous victor. For sable Anca. So but man, that's the thing I would tell it. Look, it's going to happen until it doesn't. It's going to keep happening. So let's work on it in practice. And then when you start to get that feeling, you have to understand you're winning the points from the back of the court. Now I would have said that to us from the sideline. Yeah, look at the positives are winning the points from the rallies, So just get the serve in the court.

00:31:34
Speaker 2: One thing I will say, because the last time we spoke about Coco, it was about the forehand as well as the serb, and I will say the forehand looked.

00:31:40
Speaker 1: Look great, great, great.

00:31:42
Speaker 2: So it feels like that rehabilitation is in progress, like it is working, her team is tackling it, and she sees simultaneously that a stroke can be in season in the middle of a tournament, you know intense period can go from a you know, absolute weakness to neutral too. I would say, even right now, it's oh, it's very good, it's above average into weapon territory. So like that's great, and I feel like that should give her a lot of confidence. And I really I just want to call out like one thing I like so much about the WT Tour for the most part. I mean, obviously you have your like outliers, like you know, Camilla Georgie, who seems to be on the run from tax authorities, who's like I don't watch tennis women tennis, you know, like sometimes they're not always nice to each other. But I will say, like at the top of the game, we have such a delightful, like truly good mix onto sport. Yeah the sportsman, what sports women? Billy would say, sportsmen, thank you, thank you well but well so so credit to Someding like it for being such a generous person. Not only that, but also in her speech after winning the tournament to Chinwan Jung, who lost in front of a crowd of hometown.

00:32:52
Speaker 1: Okay, diehard, Well do we want to talk about the final.

00:32:54
Speaker 2: In a great match? Yeah? I do. I love the match.

00:32:57
Speaker 1: Tiki Techi, Tiki teki, Dicky techie shit on that final. Well, First of all, I have played in front of fans in China and they allowed and very high pitched.

00:33:09
Speaker 2: There's a lot of screaming in right, And I will say I have lived in Beijing amongst the mainland Chinese.

00:33:17
Speaker 1: Yeah, and they're aggressive.

00:33:18
Speaker 2: I say they are aggressive, but as a language, it's a shouty one.

00:33:26
Speaker 1: So it's hilarious.

00:33:27
Speaker 2: Well, it just doesn't. It's not a language that has a lot of I mean, it's awesome, it's it's a really eat eat in a way easy language to learn. There's no verb conjugations, and it's everything's direct. It's like you yesterday, eat you tomorrow, eat you now, eat like everyone's just you're just always. It's declarative, right, And I feel like that kind of gives you some insight into the way that.

00:33:45
Speaker 1: Can you say that in Chinese? You eat me?

00:33:48
Speaker 2: Sure get yourue shansei?

00:33:52
Speaker 1: Okay, got it?

00:33:53
Speaker 2: Yeah?

00:33:53
Speaker 1: Thanks? Jing Chin attacked, will eat? I didn't eat much this morning, but.

00:33:57
Speaker 2: But it is sort of an attack. It's like you eat right now? Yeah, you know, got it? Well, So that maybe explained some of the mentality of like we're just going to scream in unison. Yeah, even if it's positive and we're happy, it feels like you are under attack.

00:34:12
Speaker 1: Sabalanca handle that final. She really did, Oh my god, I mean, going through that Coco final the US Open, I think has made her such a tougher player because she learned so much about dealing with the fans, dealing with adversity, dealing with noise, dealing with I mean she took a video immediately after the match and started filming the crowd and started going, yes, keep going, yeah, she's just an anomaly in it. I mean it's classic. But the tennis Sabalanca played way too good in the first set, she overwhelmed. I think chin Wuen was a little bit for sure, was nervous going to that final. It's yeah, She's played the Austrain Open Final, She's played some big matches. Of course, the gold medal has made her a better player in all aspects, but playing in front of your home crowd, that was an enormous moment for her to walk out there.

00:35:02
Speaker 2: Yes, playing in front of the home crowd as a gold medalist, gold medalist, as their star, as the person greasing the cover of boog China right now, Like there's a different level of stardom that maybe even Lena achieved. That. I'm not saying that, you know, chin Wen has the same Grand Slam title count as Lena, or she doesn't, because she doesn't.

00:35:22
Speaker 1: I mean she's saying the gold medal and that means more to that, and it might need more to them.

00:35:26
Speaker 2: So I do think like the amount of stuff on her shoulders, even if you couldn't call her the favorite in that match, nobody would. She for a nationalistic audience, was under a lot of pressure, yeah, pressure.

00:35:40
Speaker 1: So you know, and she'd never want a set against sabal Anka. So for her to come back and win that second set, I mean, there was some unbelievably dramatic moments in that second set, and then it went to the third, and the first game of the third was so pivotal, yeah, because it went back and forth and back and forth, and finally Arena played some unbelievably like not only aggressive tennis, but gutsy tennis, like she got some bald back and ended up winning that game and then got up three love, and then it was a bit of a wobble, and then the crowd started getting so loud and so into it, and Arena was just like, oh my god, why didn't I put this away?

00:36:13
Speaker 2: You know?

00:36:13
Speaker 1: And then it got more and more aggressive, and then I don't know what chin When was thinking when she ran back and started yelling at the linesman, like what's the umpire doing? Like honestly, He's like he was in the right position. He was. It was she he should have said, you cannot yell at the lines person because clearly she's yelling at the lines person in Chinese as well, So we don't even understand. You would, but I.

00:36:35
Speaker 2: Wouldn't unless it was a lot of cursing. I probably wouldn't understand. I know my Chinese. Okay, lar is very specific, oh to food and Chinese curse words. Oh well, you could have understood because she dropped the curse words. I can start and then the fate in Chinese. But I don't know if they can have an interview. Yeah, I don't know if I can have an intricate conversation about the rules, for example.

00:36:57
Speaker 1: Oh, okay, but but I'm sure she wasn't having a real conversation with with the linesman and the umpire I believe is French. But but she was so far away from that line's person trying to get that ball back in the court, and then she missed it, and then she turns around and she starts yelling at him. I'm like, dude, you weren't even close to him. Leave him alone. It's not the first time she's done this. Yeah, well then also there was part time in a match, and I know that I'm going to get so much hate. I can feel it already, bring it on Twitter. But also she told Sablenka had already hit a serve and she and it was such a pivotal I think it was three two in the third, thirty all. It was a massive point and Arena went to hit a serve or it was fifteen thirty. It was fifteen thirty, so this was to go fifteen forty possibly to get it back to three all on the third, like a very pivotal moment in the match. And she tells Arena, no, no, no, I'm not ready because the ball kid was moving behind her or something. But I'm sorry, that is bullshit from the umpire. Sabolenka had already.

00:38:02
Speaker 2: Hit the serve.

00:38:03
Speaker 1: I was watching, Yeah, chin Win did not put her racket up, did not even remotely say stop until until the serve was here to this and it was a great serve. And she's like, oh, I wasn't ready. Sorry, that's happened to me. If you don't put your racket up, and you don't even as she's even as she's hitting it, you go who wha, wha, wha, whoa. You have to say stop, stop, stop and put your hand up because maybe a ball kids dropped the ball or the umpire is not.

00:38:27
Speaker 2: I mean, Justinana is still getting shipped for doing that against Serena in a.

00:38:32
Speaker 1: I'm telling you that that was so bad. That was so bad.

00:38:35
Speaker 2: I mean I was actually going to bring up a different match in this same tournament, in one where Chinwin got into it with Leila Fernandez's dad. Oh yeah, and then Leila Fernandez comes over and I was like, stand this my dad, which like, and the umpire was like, don't talk to her dad, listen. I love chin Win. I know, I loved chin Win so much. I know I have so many positive things to say about this tournament, about where she is as a player, about how she's entered this hop elite group, and I will, but I do think we got to call her a little bit. What's gone, Like there's a little bit of.

00:39:07
Speaker 1: A dad's loud, but you go to the umpire saying stuff.

00:39:12
Speaker 2: And the same thing with alignsman, like the talk to the Empire. There's a there's a little bit of a an adjustment she could make. And again I'm not suggesting that I need her to be a locker room favorite. She doesn't have to make best friends, she doesn't have to do everything in the spirit of you know, conciliatory behavior. You know, these ladies are out there to win. Period. That said, there's a sort of a pattern emerging, and it makes me wonder about when Emma Navarro over the Olympics kind of intimated that like Chin one was a little bit of you know, had a little bit of a tude in a way that I regret. I regret saying that immediately. It dates me too.

00:39:55
Speaker 1: Name of the name of the podcast, God.

00:39:58
Speaker 2: I will have to name it the Tude the nineties is what that refers to, an era I lived through since I'm now in my mid forties. But anyway, my point is I something's going on with chin win and I just want to say, look at how gracious Arena Satelanka, somebody who is not known for always being completely in control of her own emotions, has presented herself as a sportsman or no Vakdjokovic when he's going ham and screaming at everybody. But at the end of the match, great loser in you know, it was again and to be clear chinwin that was a good loser as well. Well oh wait, but I just think maybe this could be something she adds to her arsenal of charm because it goes so much of a long way and it costs you nothing. It's like being graceful in life, right Like, all right, okay, you want to be a deck to me, I'm just gonna let it go. You want to come at me at the internet. Hey, your teeth look really white. I'm just gonna de escalate this, do you know what I mean? Like, there's a certain grace that I think you can sort of add to your person that just helps de escalate things. And it seems like right now there's a little bit of a along with the escalation of her game and her ability, because I loved the fact that she got a set off Sabalanca and competed so much better than she had in tournaments past, certainly at the Australian Open, which was kind of a boring, overwhelmed, one way seest match of her career for sure, and she had planned so much. I love the fact that she's gotten so much better, and as she does, I've also noticed a bit of an escalation in some so let's just let's just call.

00:41:32
Speaker 1: It what it is, okay. Also, I just want to not shout out, which is the opposite of being positive. Whoever is the world feed director of And you know, I work in television, so I know what they're yelling in the in the truck. You know, camera three, camera four, what's the most important thing to get? There was a situation where I'm pretty sure Sablanca walked to the umpire and was going to say something about something we'll never know, and they just cut off and they just put it on Chin Win and like all the crowd, I was like, what are you doing?

00:42:07
Speaker 2: This could be the most interesting I have gone up and said if you no, we didn't see it.

00:42:13
Speaker 1: And then at the end of the match, when they go to shake hands, we see the box. We didn't even see them shake hands. I'm moving away from the mic because I'm so angry. What are you doing? You have to see them shake hands, which was a bitter dude shaking hands.

00:42:29
Speaker 2: Well, that's why we had so much controversy about that Egoshiantek match. At I think it was the Olympics, or maybe it was the US Open. I forget who she was playing, but I was like they had some words. You were like, no, no, no, they're best friends. It's positive and other people are like they out each other.

00:42:44
Speaker 1: Oh that was at the Olympics.

00:42:45
Speaker 2: It was at the Olympics again either me, I.

00:42:47
Speaker 1: Was doing the commentary and I got always in that nice look at them. They just had a little chat at the net like they were like, hey, great match. Meanwhile we found out it.

00:42:54
Speaker 2: Was not a nice conversation, which I want to say I said on the podcast. I was like, no way, those guys that was beef either way, because the camera didn't stay on them, that those of us at home couldn't get some of the contexts.

00:43:07
Speaker 1: Of like I like knowing it just like heals me.

00:43:10
Speaker 2: Come on, guys, heads up.

00:43:12
Speaker 1: The only thing I can think of pay attention is that whoever it may be, the world feed was coming from China, So because you don't know where, it's like who's so my guess is because this happens to us all the time at ESPN, people will write me and they're like, why didn't you show this and why didn't Why did we have to see it, and like we don't have to control of the cameras. They're not ESPN unless we are doing the match and we have the cameras and they're all ours, we have control over that.

00:43:39
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's not like you can call it like, hey, the.

00:43:41
Speaker 1: French open love to show a woman in the crowd licking an ice cream and we're like, what the fuck? Why do we have to keep seeing these women in the crowd. It's because you've got a dude in there, a French, the French Tennis TV, and he's loves to see women and whatever you can find on them. But like, for example, one hundred percent, they wanted to show Roger and Alcaz one hundred times because the Chinese are losing their mind that they're sitting there. So I think it came from the Chinese TV, who has ever had the rights in China, And they don't want to show controversy. Sure, right, So they don't want to show the shitty handshape because Chin went lost, right, They don't want to show the argument with sable Anca and the umpire. They just want to pretendverything's great.

00:44:26
Speaker 2: But the nice thing about sports, what is that it's all there? Yeah, it's all there.

00:44:33
Speaker 1: You can't someone's going to film it exactly, which is what they showed someone showed the handshake and it was frosty, so we finally got a cut of it. But oh my god, Like, honestly, it was so frustrating to watch. I'm like, you always know if they're a European dude, because you just see women and boobs throughout an attire match. And then in China, if they're not showing anything controversy, you go to Chinese TV and in Australia will find the guy with the beer sure, or the lady chugging to beer.

00:45:02
Speaker 2: Like there's just the Australians. Also, they call them girls girls. I hate that girls so much. Yeah, these two girls out on court seventeen. I did. I know it's a cultural thing.

00:45:11
Speaker 1: It's not cultural, it's just I hate it.

00:45:14
Speaker 2: I hate it.

00:45:14
Speaker 1: You hate it like ANSI.

00:45:16
Speaker 2: Well, that's one purpose because I was like, I can do your accent? Can you do not saying girls about women who.

00:45:21
Speaker 1: Are playing propecional ladies? Billy Jean King always hates me.

00:45:24
Speaker 2: Yeah, I do sometimes tweet about it and somebody will respond back.

00:45:28
Speaker 1: I'm not trying to I say girls sometimes, but I feel like I'm.

00:45:30
Speaker 2: Being a girl woman. I feel like you have a little bit more. No, no, no, I'm saying you have a little bit more leniency. If I hear it from a man, always I get mad.

00:45:38
Speaker 1: All right, So all the men out there, ladies, it's ladies or women women? All right?

00:45:44
Speaker 2: Okay, So so both finals done and dusted.

00:45:46
Speaker 1: Great, great matches. I want to know you had a lovely trip to Italy. Oh yeah, did you bring back the drugs?

00:45:54
Speaker 2: You know? I could. I could not find them in Porto Fino grocery stores. Hey, and I even looked at the airport. I didn't see any creams, some spor sprays. I saw neither creams nor sprays. God damn it, I don't. I'll tell you what I saw. Overpriced skincare. I saw I got some really nice Italian toothpaste because I ran a toothpaste. I looked, I asked. I had a lot of gesticulating conversations. No steroid cream. I was like, you know, make performance, and everyone is just very Italian. It's just like, get out of here. Well, I don't speak Italian. That's another reason that I don't travel to Italy very much, because I can plausibly speak some of the other languages Italian.

00:46:35
Speaker 1: I love the fact that you went to Italy and we've had this conversation.

00:46:38
Speaker 2: I really like that much.

00:46:39
Speaker 1: Yes, we've had this conversation. I'm like, what is wrong with you? You are the weirdest human, but you don't like dogs and you don't like Italy. There's something wrong with you.

00:46:46
Speaker 2: Can I think I'm gonna I actually was confronted by somebody about this, and I think it's because I count There's a really good reason I have in my older age trying to accept that my snobbishness is not a good look and I need to take it down a notch. And just because I think certain things are basic doesn't mean that I need to hate on them. And in fact, maybe.

00:47:12
Speaker 1: There's some things like how is Italy basic?

00:47:16
Speaker 2: Because everybody and their mom is like, oh, it's the Taylor Swift of European countries. Let's just be honest. Well it is. I just it's the Taylor Swift of European countries.

00:47:27
Speaker 1: Listen, there's some things that you say that a little have gotten me into trouble on this podcast. But please God, Italy Italians, don't come after me. You've got you so.

00:47:38
Speaker 2: Much less to worry about from the Italians than you do from Taylor.

00:47:41
Speaker 1: Swift, because you know that's true.

00:47:43
Speaker 2: You know, you know the Italians.

00:47:44
Speaker 1: Someone sitting there that is Italian listening to our podcast and the hand is moving like what get God's.

00:47:50
Speaker 2: Well, say, I had a fantastic time.

00:47:53
Speaker 1: Oh wait wait, let me let me finish my thought. You were having such a good time and you could not have been nicer. And oh my god, look at this and all the food la la la people and yet and I was like, ah, she's finally sniffed the glue. She finally realizes that is great.

00:48:12
Speaker 2: It was amazing. I had pesto. Say it again, what it was great? It was great. I had pesto pasta, but ben I had pesto pasta that I didn't think was possible in my mind, a flavor deliciousness for Katca that, oh my god. We did this further to photo shoot with Feliciana Lopez. It's going to be coming out in the beginning of next year, who, by the way, is as attractive as you think, somehow even more in photographs.

00:48:37
Speaker 1: And for you to say that that's something.

00:48:38
Speaker 2: I was like, am I strained?

00:48:41
Speaker 1: That's straight?

00:48:42
Speaker 2: What's happening?

00:48:44
Speaker 1: No, Caitlin, you might have been bisexual for me, I don't know, You're definitely never gonna be sure.

00:48:48
Speaker 2: I've seen that. But a twenty year did.

00:48:51
Speaker 1: You realize that National coming Out Day?

00:48:53
Speaker 2: It was National Coming Out Day. But I may have come out the other way came out. I came out the other side coming out to day. No. But it was really fun. And at one point we went back in, but I went back in. We took a picture of him in at the Focaccetti, Yeah, the famous port of Furia, which is run by this older woman who's been running it forever, and she very gently chewed all of the tourists out of the way so that we could take a picture of him for Liciana Lopez eating the facacia with her, and she just she couldn't bring him enough ficaca. I mean she was in every shot. She was like, oh what about this one, but this one has cheese, like oh, this one is fresh, like you must try and he must have eaten he was a really good sport. He must have eaten.

00:49:34
Speaker 1: Forty lives of ficasha because.

00:49:37
Speaker 2: This lady was she wouldn't. I mean, she was like, do you need more shots? Do you need to go?

00:49:41
Speaker 1: I'll take the Lemon.

00:49:43
Speaker 2: I think we're good. I think we're good. Nobody, Oh my god, he sure does so. Anyway, it was a really fun time we get to play a tennis tournament. The cease people who are part of the Laura Piano family could not have been more incredible hosts. The clothes are amazing. Everything was just so amazing and fun.

00:49:58
Speaker 1: Thank God. And I really am if I could, like, if I had like drums or a drum kid or something, I would be like, thank god, Caitlein's finally realize how amazing Italy truly is.

00:50:09
Speaker 2: I would go back.

00:50:12
Speaker 1: Great. Well, I'm go to Spain to Malaga so jealous, and I might have to stay now for Rafa I think you do?

00:50:19
Speaker 2: I think can you get him on this podcast? Listen as I want to talk.

00:50:26
Speaker 1: I love you. Yeah, I'm so sad.

00:50:28
Speaker 2: But do we have anything? So much else to add to that?

00:50:31
Speaker 1: Well, the one thing I want to say is I want to tell you one story. I did it on my on my inter on my social Instagram, but I did tell some stories. And the one story that I love that I'll tell you all again is at the US Open when I lost my semi final of doubles very disappointingly. Upper set came back the next day because of rain that wouldn't have happened now with the roof closed at you know, we had to come back the next day and we lost in three sets. Sam does and I and I had a couple of beers because we had to you know, I had to do drug testing, got a pee, you know, So I had a few beers and without food, get a little tipsy. And Ruffa lost that day as well. And he had been dominating that year and he lost in I believe the Semis as well. I may have been the final, I don't know. And he was doing a million press, you know, interviews after the match, which I thought was so nice of him in the player's garden, and that we happened to get up at the same time and go to transportation, and I was a little tipsy and I walked over him, over to him, and I put my hand on his shoulder and I said, bad luck today, Rufa, and he put his arm around me and he goes, see for you too, No, No, And I was like, I had no intention of like having him be like you're amazing too.

00:51:44
Speaker 2: No.

00:51:45
Speaker 1: I was just literally and I was a little drunk and he just goes see for you to no, and I was like, yes, Ruffa, I am also a loser. And it was just that moment where I was like, Wow, this guy was clearly sitting in the locker room waiting to play his match, and you know, we all sit in there in the locker and all the matches are going on on the TVs in front of us. So he obviously took and he was obviously watching, just waiting for his match, and he had seen that I had lost. I just thought it was such a nice, poignant moment that this great champion, he clearly had a tough day himself, took it upon himself to actually say to me, yeah, but you had a tough day as well.

00:52:18
Speaker 2: Yeah. He wasn't that he was not the only protagonist in his own universe. There was other people existing having experiences simultaneously. And that's to me always what has been so impressive about him, which is that he is a extremely thoughtful, magnanimous person who also happens to be an incredible champion, the likes of which who will probably not see you again in our lifetime. But I think he's always been so sort of broad thinking in his press conference responses, he thinks about the sport in like a much larger way, and he.

00:52:56
Speaker 1: Never broke a racket.

00:52:57
Speaker 2: He never broke a racket.

00:52:58
Speaker 1: Got me think about that, right, Like I was not a racket breaker, but I have broken rackets.

00:53:03
Speaker 2: It speaks to some belief, maybe even like a religious belief, a core belief and a core tenet of who he is as a person, that he would always be sort of thinking about the bigger picture. That's what it feels like. And I think for me watching him transition to some sort of elder statesman of the game, which he no doubt will do because he is beloved everywhere, I'm excited to watch Because I was not always the biggest RAFA fan. He won me over and I feel like I'm going to love him a lot more than I ended up loving Roger, to be honest.

00:53:39
Speaker 1: Yeah, I And the other story I told was when he won his lost Australian Open and down two sets to love, two three love forty on serve And it is to me the epitome of his career, and it is also the epitome of what kids or anyone needs to understand about adversity, how to be a champion, and all the things is down two sets of love two three, love forty, and in my brain, I'm watching this match going it's over. He looked like he was going to die. He was sweating more than I've ever seen. He was fatigued like I'd never seen. Medvedev was arguably the best player on the hard court. He just won the US Open. He came in with all this confidence and it looked like there's no way he's losing this match. And he lost the second set seven to six, and it was like, oh my god, he's done. Now, two sets of love down. Mentally, you're like, that's hard to imagine fighting back. And he wins the point at love forty and he goes Vamus and I'm like, I thought it's still This guy would let everyone in the crowd and everyone on TV and go no, no, no, But I can still I'm still going to try and win this match. I'm like, yeah, but dude, you have no chance, like you're getting killed. And he goes Bammus and God knows, he wins the game, and it might have been the most important game in his career. He wins the game, goes three, all comes back wins the set, wins the fourth set, gets up five to four in the fifth and I'm like, well, I'm watching this going I cannot believe he's going to serve for the match now. And he plays a horrific game. He double faults twice in the game. He double faults on the first point, and I believe the last point of that game, turns around, takes the ball out of his pocket, throws back to the ball kid, shakes his head a little bit and it's like, oh god. And then wins the next game, wins the match. But it was in the postmatch interview in press that is what changed me and my thinking towards him. He said. Someone asked him about and he said, yes, when I lost the game at five to four, serving for the match, because it was a terrible game, he choked, he said, in his own mind, he said, oh my god, I'm going to lose another Australian open upper break in the fifth and he said, but I said to myself at that moment, but he has to beat me. Now, I'm going to give one hundred percent still and we'll see what happens. And sure enough, Medvedev played a horrible game and Ruffa ended a winning But my first thought when I read that transcript and I saw that was to say, oh my god, even Rafa is negative. Even Rafa thinks negatively. Even Rafa doubts that he can do it. Even Rafa thinks about the shit that happened two seven years ago. Years he still has that scar tissue, right, Every tennis player, every sports athlete has scar tissue. But he says, but I'm not going to give into it, and I'm not going to now walk away from the challenge. I'm going to keep trying. And he did anyone his you know, twenty second I think, uh or twenty first Grand Slam, because all three of them were on twenty.

00:56:23
Speaker 2: At that's right.

00:56:24
Speaker 1: He went ahead, And I thought, oh my god. That's the lesson this is every kid, is that everyone thinks negatively. It's how you then respond to it. And that is the epitome of Raffia on Nadal.

00:56:34
Speaker 2: Propose we end this podcast how we began it, which is that champions adjust and pressure is a privilege. And pressure is a privilege. Nobody taught us that better than Rafa Nadal and I will miss him something crazy, and I hope I see a photo of him daving AFA yacht in the coast of Majorca at least once a week because that is where he belongs.

00:56:55
Speaker 1: Me too. We love you, Rafa. Thank you for giving us twenty years of the most amazing guts, sportsmanship, class, everything. And I hope Spain win the Davis Cup would be a varmous moment, wouldn't it, even though Australia is playing in the US.

00:57:10
Speaker 2: But still no, no, I'm going through Spain me too, all.

00:57:13
Speaker 1: Right, varmos. Thank you everyone for joining us again today.

00:57:17
Speaker 2: Next week babe.

00:57:22
Speaker 1: Thanks Matt.

00:57:30
Speaker 2: H h m hm