WEBVTT - Controversies Abound! 0:00:13.880 --> 0:00:19.079 Hi, everybody, Welcome to the Renee Stubbs Tennis Podcast. Caitlin, 0:00:19.840 --> 0:00:23.480 Happy birthday, my friend. Thank you, it is your birthday. 0:00:23.480 --> 0:00:24.320 How old are you today? 0:00:25.079 --> 0:00:27.440 Well, according to my wearable, I'm whoop. 0:00:27.480 --> 0:00:29.920 I'm a thirty ninety point seven year old, so I'm 0:00:29.920 --> 0:00:30.560 going to go with that. 0:00:31.480 --> 0:00:34.559 Okay, something tells me you are in your forties, but 0:00:34.960 --> 0:00:36.280 I'll let you have your whoop day. 0:00:36.680 --> 0:00:40.400 Well, listen, who's going to argue with biology. I've been 0:00:40.440 --> 0:00:42.479 getting into the gym and lifting weights so my bones 0:00:42.479 --> 0:00:46.080 don't disintegrate. I've been, you know, keeping my heart rate 0:00:46.159 --> 0:00:49.000 into his own five wow, walking a lot. 0:00:49.040 --> 0:00:49.400 I don't know. 0:00:49.440 --> 0:00:51.839 I'm trying my best, and that's according to my wearable, 0:00:51.840 --> 0:00:53.200 I'm thirty nine point seven. 0:00:53.360 --> 0:00:56.880 So I just want to argue with that, don't won. 0:00:57.040 --> 0:00:59.800 There's no there's no need to argue, all right. 0:00:59.840 --> 0:01:03.320 Well, Well, normally we start with questions, and they could 0:01:03.360 --> 0:01:05.679 be rolling in as this pod goes on, because I, 0:01:06.000 --> 0:01:09.480 as usual, left it a little late to ask the questions. 0:01:09.520 --> 0:01:12.360 But some people have sent in questions already, so we're 0:01:12.400 --> 0:01:14.199 going to start with them because we wanted to start 0:01:14.240 --> 0:01:16.240 with this topic and it was a question that was 0:01:16.319 --> 0:01:20.600 asked to me on the socials and it is from 0:01:20.840 --> 0:01:26.760 garum Hawa. Please address the recent WTA transphobic announcement around testing, etc. 0:01:27.160 --> 0:01:30.119 I suppose it's inevitable in this climate, but surely there 0:01:30.160 --> 0:01:33.680 has to be some pushback from players thoughts, even though 0:01:33.680 --> 0:01:38.920 we know that our major icons like Martina unfortunately support testing. 0:01:39.640 --> 0:01:40.000 Thank you. 0:01:40.560 --> 0:01:44.760 Let's ground this question in a news A news update. So, 0:01:45.200 --> 0:01:48.440 as of this weekend, it has been reported that the 0:01:48.600 --> 0:01:53.600 WTA will sex test players on the WTA tour, which 0:01:53.640 --> 0:01:57.400 means they will be testing players with a cheek swab, 0:01:57.880 --> 0:01:59.960 a blood test or a slab a sample to tell 0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:02.440 for the presence of the s R Y gene, which 0:02:02.480 --> 0:02:05.840 is part of the Y chromosome and causes male characteristics 0:02:05.880 --> 0:02:08.160 to develop. I'm reading this directly from the BBC, just 0:02:08.200 --> 0:02:11.200 in case anybody is worried that I'm editorializing. Players will 0:02:11.200 --> 0:02:13.840 be tested once in their lifetime and only in negative 0:02:13.840 --> 0:02:16.240 results showing no presence of the gene will permit them 0:02:16.240 --> 0:02:18.639 to compete on tour. If they test positive, players will 0:02:18.639 --> 0:02:21.080 face for their medical assessment before being allowed to play. 0:02:21.200 --> 0:02:24.360 The WTA's previously policy allowed transgender women to compete on 0:02:24.360 --> 0:02:26.400 the tour if they had lowered their testosterone levels to 0:02:26.400 --> 0:02:30.200 below two point five nano milli leaders continuously for the 0:02:30.200 --> 0:02:33.160 previous two years. There are no known transgender women currently 0:02:33.160 --> 0:02:35.320 playing on the WTA Tour. I want to start there 0:02:35.400 --> 0:02:37.760 because there are no known transgender women playing on the 0:02:37.840 --> 0:02:38.520 WTA Tour. 0:02:38.840 --> 0:02:40.840 And obviously we can get into the politics of this. 0:02:41.000 --> 0:02:43.639 Martina is on one side, sort of pretty famously and 0:02:43.720 --> 0:02:45.680 a lot of people you know that I think we 0:02:45.960 --> 0:02:49.560 probably mutually admire a on the other But why, My 0:02:49.720 --> 0:02:52.840 question is why is this happening right now? What is 0:02:52.919 --> 0:02:55.880 causing this to be a priority. And as we've discussed 0:02:55.919 --> 0:02:59.359 with the WTA Tour, who is you know, facing budget shortfallows, 0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:02.720 They've had to change in leadership, They've undergone, you know, 0:03:02.800 --> 0:03:07.680 sort of a rebrand under Martina Rosati, the new WTA 0:03:07.960 --> 0:03:12.120 Venture's chair. What is making this a priority? 0:03:12.320 --> 0:03:16.080 Your answer question, your thoughts are as the same as mine. 0:03:16.280 --> 0:03:18.360 I don't know. I don't know why. 0:03:18.800 --> 0:03:21.320 As you already stated, the w TA, who is in 0:03:21.400 --> 0:03:25.560 all kinds of sort of like you know, problems financially 0:03:25.600 --> 0:03:29.200 as you already stated, amongst other things, decided that they're 0:03:29.200 --> 0:03:30.680 just going to throw this spanner in the works. 0:03:30.680 --> 0:03:33.400 As we like to say in Australia, it makes no 0:03:33.480 --> 0:03:33.960 sense to me. 0:03:34.720 --> 0:03:37.840 We had, of course, we've had a transgender player already 0:03:38.360 --> 0:03:40.200 play on the WTA too, a long long time ago. 0:03:40.280 --> 0:03:44.640 Of course, Renee Richards famously played during the Martine era 0:03:44.880 --> 0:03:49.280 and Billy Jin King and Renee Richards interestingly became one 0:03:49.280 --> 0:03:52.119 of Martina Nevralova's coaches back in the day. And from 0:03:52.120 --> 0:03:56.680 what I heard in the you know on the streets, 0:03:56.880 --> 0:04:00.560 is that Renee even she said that he doesn't think 0:04:00.560 --> 0:04:04.280 that there should be transgender players in the professional realm, 0:04:04.800 --> 0:04:09.440 but there aren't any, So why is this a problem? 0:04:09.640 --> 0:04:13.680 And for such a small percentage of people in the 0:04:13.720 --> 0:04:17.400 world that identify themselves as trans This is my biggest thing. 0:04:17.520 --> 0:04:19.520 I say this all the time, and yes I'm very 0:04:19.560 --> 0:04:22.240 on the opposite side of Martina and a lot of 0:04:22.240 --> 0:04:26.120 these former players because I don't see it as a problem, 0:04:26.160 --> 0:04:30.640 and no man is deciding at eighteen or twenty years 0:04:30.640 --> 0:04:32.600 of age. You know what, I think I can win 0:04:32.640 --> 0:04:35.240 Wimbledon if I just become a woman. I'm just going 0:04:35.320 --> 0:04:39.680 to start taking estrogen and do all these things to 0:04:39.720 --> 0:04:42.920 get myself a Wimbledon title. It just doesn't happen. And 0:04:43.000 --> 0:04:48.800 so we're taking away such a small, tiny minute section 0:04:49.040 --> 0:04:54.640 of the world to make a point right now, Why 0:04:54.960 --> 0:04:57.919 what has happened to make the WTA decide that this 0:04:58.080 --> 0:05:00.680 is part of an agenda that they want to pick 0:05:00.760 --> 0:05:02.640 up and run with in the middle of the year. 0:05:03.320 --> 0:05:06.960 It's so strange. And I actually interviewed Renana Richards. We 0:05:06.960 --> 0:05:08.720 were doing a project for A twenty four a couple 0:05:08.760 --> 0:05:11.520 of years ago about World Team Tennis, which she was 0:05:11.560 --> 0:05:14.719 a pioneering presence in and. 0:05:16.080 --> 0:05:17.320 Her presence on that tour. 0:05:17.480 --> 0:05:20.600 WTA World Team Tennis was the brainchild of Billy Jean 0:05:20.720 --> 0:05:24.080 King and Larry King, her late husband, who formed essentially 0:05:24.160 --> 0:05:30.440 the first team event that mixed genders, all of them 0:05:30.720 --> 0:05:36.000 and had mascots, and it was friends coming back and 0:05:36.040 --> 0:05:38.080 It's coming back, and it was really rivaling the tours 0:05:38.120 --> 0:05:39.919 for attention and player participation. 0:05:39.960 --> 0:05:40.919 All the greats played it. 0:05:41.240 --> 0:05:43.200 Everyone, I mean a lot of top of the place 0:05:43.279 --> 0:05:45.440 didn't even go to Australia. They played World Team Tennis. 0:05:45.440 --> 0:05:47.520 They didn't need to go and play a major title. 0:05:47.520 --> 0:05:50.120 Because of that. That's just why Margaret Courts twenty four 0:05:50.160 --> 0:05:50.800 shouldn't be. 0:05:51.040 --> 0:05:54.200 Well, among many reasons, Margaret Courts record shouldn't be taken seriously, 0:05:54.440 --> 0:05:57.680 but a lot of them are because players didn't play 0:05:57.720 --> 0:05:59.960 the Australian Open, they played World Team Tennis. They also 0:06:00.080 --> 0:06:02.600 skipped at times the European Majors to play just because 0:06:02.600 --> 0:06:04.880 they were getting money. So we interviewed Renee Richards as 0:06:04.880 --> 0:06:06.640 part of this. I interviewed to Renne Richards, and she 0:06:06.720 --> 0:06:08.760 was really thoughtful. She was a lovely human being who 0:06:08.880 --> 0:06:10.640 sort of talked about how wonderful it was to be 0:06:10.640 --> 0:06:12.760 seen and represented. And she played tennis with a man 0:06:12.800 --> 0:06:14.760 called John Lucas who had been an NBA player, and 0:06:14.800 --> 0:06:17.360 the two of them, you know, touring through the sort 0:06:17.400 --> 0:06:24.560 of recently Voting Rights Act transformed deep South, you know, 0:06:24.640 --> 0:06:29.039 post Jim Crow, and how she could sometimes go in 0:06:29.040 --> 0:06:31.640 and get a beer at a roadhouse but he couldn't 0:06:31.640 --> 0:06:33.840 because he was black, and sometimes she would get looked 0:06:33.839 --> 0:06:35.920 askance at, and he had kind of had her back, 0:06:35.920 --> 0:06:38.360 and they sort of formed this really indevilable on and 0:06:38.480 --> 0:06:40.800 off court duo, you know, And she said, yeah, I 0:06:40.839 --> 0:06:42.919 was just so much stronger than the other players. I 0:06:42.960 --> 0:06:45.200 get why the WTI didn't let me plan the tour. 0:06:45.240 --> 0:06:47.280 And it was really lovely to play in the World 0:06:47.320 --> 0:06:50.360 Team Tennis Tour. It wasn't out a spout malice or spite, 0:06:50.360 --> 0:06:52.560 but it was an interesting point, you know, And I 0:06:52.560 --> 0:06:55.719 think there's honestly some validity to it, Like I get why, 0:06:55.960 --> 0:06:58.200 you know, in college athletics and in high school athletics 0:06:58.600 --> 0:07:00.840 there are some dialogues going on. 0:07:01.080 --> 0:07:01.760 I do get it. 0:07:01.800 --> 0:07:05.600 I'm not insensitive to the idea that you know, there 0:07:05.600 --> 0:07:10.320 are genetic differences at the same time, why the WTA, 0:07:10.440 --> 0:07:13.400 why now? What is the point of this, and why 0:07:14.360 --> 0:07:18.120 at a time when people are feeling the most marginalized 0:07:18.160 --> 0:07:22.280 and hated probably in their entire existence, is because of 0:07:22.320 --> 0:07:24.200 how much of a culture war this is turned into. 0:07:24.280 --> 0:07:26.520 Do this the WTA decide to even wigh into it? 0:07:26.600 --> 0:07:29.160 That's more really my question. It's like, this doesn't come 0:07:29.200 --> 0:07:31.840 from an actual incident. This isn't related to any actual 0:07:31.840 --> 0:07:34.360 tennis player where we've had somebody come and say, hey, 0:07:34.400 --> 0:07:38.560 I have you know some genetic advantages here that has 0:07:38.640 --> 0:07:42.480 happened in high school and college sports. It hasn't happened 0:07:42.840 --> 0:07:45.160 at the WTA Tour level. And so it's really really 0:07:45.200 --> 0:07:48.680 baffling to me. And it's a good question from Garam. 0:07:48.920 --> 0:07:52.760 I don't really get what it is that the WTA 0:07:52.840 --> 0:07:56.040 is focused on if this is it, and why it's 0:07:56.080 --> 0:07:59.520 not focused on regaining its place as the pre eminent 0:07:59.600 --> 0:08:02.320 league for women's sports, because, as we've sort of all agreed, 0:08:02.720 --> 0:08:05.800 it was out so far in front with fifty years 0:08:06.120 --> 0:08:10.640 of you know, really successful operation, and it's fallen behind 0:08:10.680 --> 0:08:12.840 the other sports. I don't think anybody would say that 0:08:13.160 --> 0:08:16.040 women's tennis is the most popular or most fan engaged 0:08:16.080 --> 0:08:18.280 women's sports, even though the athletes are getting paid the most. 0:08:18.320 --> 0:08:21.600 I think they would point to basketball or women's football. 0:08:21.640 --> 0:08:23.600 I think they would point to maybe even hockey. But 0:08:23.680 --> 0:08:26.320 tennis isn't isn't the top anymore, and I think that 0:08:26.480 --> 0:08:29.720 should be between that and financial stability should obviously be 0:08:29.760 --> 0:08:31.920 the focus. Maybe it will be, but it's really baffling. 0:08:31.960 --> 0:08:33.360 I've reached out to some friends of mine on the 0:08:33.760 --> 0:08:35.600 various boards, but I haven't hurt anything back. 0:08:35.800 --> 0:08:39.760 I suspect you won't hear anything back, really, because I 0:08:39.920 --> 0:08:41.920 just think that they think this is such a lightning 0:08:42.000 --> 0:08:45.640 rod conversation, which is why it's so baffling that they 0:08:45.640 --> 0:08:50.280 would even do this, Like why rock a boat that's 0:08:50.320 --> 0:08:52.960 not sinking at this point? You know the thing that 0:08:53.040 --> 0:08:55.840 might be sinking is you know, just the WTA financials 0:08:55.840 --> 0:08:59.120 in general. So why you going out and seeking sponsorship 0:08:59.160 --> 0:09:02.320 deals and going after like you said, I mean, they 0:09:02.360 --> 0:09:06.800 are falling behind the WNBA, the PWHL Women's Professional Hockey League, 0:09:07.080 --> 0:09:10.839 the NWSL, all the money that is flowing into the 0:09:11.600 --> 0:09:13.959 pre eminent sports here in the United States, for example, 0:09:14.080 --> 0:09:16.880 are getting more play. They're getting on TV more, you know, 0:09:16.920 --> 0:09:19.880 and not to bash tennis channel, but again, like even 0:09:20.040 --> 0:09:24.679 NWSL and the WNBA is currently a lot on ESPN 0:09:24.800 --> 0:09:27.240 on the weekends. I see it all the time, whether 0:09:27.280 --> 0:09:29.880 it be you know, at night it's Prime, It's on 0:09:30.320 --> 0:09:34.320 various different American networks. Whereas if you don't pay for 0:09:34.360 --> 0:09:36.520 a subscription of tennis channel, you're not really watching it. 0:09:36.640 --> 0:09:39.199 So that's why I think, you know, that's where we're 0:09:39.200 --> 0:09:41.480 falling behind. But yet here we are going after a 0:09:41.760 --> 0:09:45.560 social conversation that I just think it's so stupid, you know, 0:09:45.679 --> 0:09:47.800 you know, it's funny because this happened a lot started. 0:09:47.840 --> 0:09:50.760 The conversation started a lot around the Olympics, you know, 0:09:50.800 --> 0:09:54.080 when we had the female boxer from Tunisia and you know, 0:09:54.120 --> 0:09:59.800 there was controversy about you know, her sex, et cetera. 0:10:00.160 --> 0:10:03.400 And it's like, I know, because when I played the 0:10:03.520 --> 0:10:06.640 first Olympics in Atlanta, I had to actually do a 0:10:06.720 --> 0:10:09.600 sex test myself and we actually got given a card 0:10:09.840 --> 0:10:13.559 to basically say, oh, you're a woman, like you have 0:10:13.960 --> 0:10:17.640 the genes of a female, therefore you can participate. So 0:10:17.720 --> 0:10:19.960 I don't know where that went to and back. Clearly 0:10:20.000 --> 0:10:24.520 when I did it, I was like, this is weird, seriously, 0:10:24.960 --> 0:10:26.600 So I thought it was such an invasion of my 0:10:26.600 --> 0:10:29.120 own privacy back then, and now they're sort of like, 0:10:29.240 --> 0:10:31.600 I don't know if they're doing that for the Olympics anymore, 0:10:31.640 --> 0:10:33.160 So it's sort of a little bit weird. I did 0:10:33.160 --> 0:10:35.480 it back in, you know, for the eighty six Olympics. 0:10:35.920 --> 0:10:37.680 Now I don't believe they're doing it now for the 0:10:37.760 --> 0:10:39.800 current Olympics. So I don't really know what's going on 0:10:39.800 --> 0:10:41.800 in that front. And so why the WTA needs to 0:10:42.320 --> 0:10:47.440 venture into this category of controversy, It's just bizarre to me. 0:10:48.040 --> 0:10:51.800 I am excited to see the WTA promote their new 0:10:52.400 --> 0:10:57.800 finals location, which is a tried and true tenni environment, 0:10:58.200 --> 0:11:02.320 tennis environment filled with fans, direct flights from you know, 0:11:02.720 --> 0:11:05.960 many many major cities I'm you know, and it'll be 0:11:05.960 --> 0:11:08.600 televised in a time that a lot of tennis fans 0:11:08.880 --> 0:11:13.480 are watching. I'm excited that the WTA has incredible players 0:11:13.480 --> 0:11:16.240 with incredible rivalries, and we just saw on you know, 0:11:16.280 --> 0:11:19.000 a new champion emerge. I'm excited for so many things 0:11:19.040 --> 0:11:21.400 about the WTA Tour. So, like, you know, again, whenever 0:11:21.400 --> 0:11:23.520 we talked abou the WTA, it's always like with a 0:11:23.559 --> 0:11:25.600 little bit of an air of bafflement, like, well. 0:11:25.440 --> 0:11:28.480 Why you guys have a great product, what are you doing? 0:11:28.679 --> 0:11:31.000 And this is sort of yeah, it's just so nuts 0:11:31.080 --> 0:11:34.280 to me that this is the priority and it's coming 0:11:34.440 --> 0:11:36.520 seemingly out of nowhere. There is I guess a chance 0:11:36.520 --> 0:11:39.120 and this is maybe like the journalist in me who's thinking, 0:11:39.240 --> 0:11:43.520 maybe there's an incident or there's a situation or a 0:11:43.520 --> 0:11:47.040 player that we don't know about, something's happened behind the 0:11:47.080 --> 0:11:50.840 scenes that we have no insight into that has has 0:11:51.160 --> 0:11:54.360 triggered a policy change, and then we could debate the 0:11:54.360 --> 0:11:57.319 policy and why it's being you know, why it's being 0:11:57.360 --> 0:11:59.760 updated and what it is about, you know, the way 0:11:59.800 --> 0:12:03.840 that women's sports in these in this time can or 0:12:03.920 --> 0:12:07.840 should be operating. But not knowing that it just comes 0:12:07.920 --> 0:12:10.880 across as extremely random when there are so so so 0:12:11.160 --> 0:12:12.400 many bigger fish to fry. 0:12:12.600 --> 0:12:14.760 Yeah, and there's so many bigger fish to fry, I 0:12:14.800 --> 0:12:17.679 mean even on our own tours, and you know the 0:12:17.840 --> 0:12:21.640 situations and we've seen, we've run the gamut of those 0:12:21.679 --> 0:12:24.240 over the last you know, fifteen twenty years that I've 0:12:24.240 --> 0:12:25.720 been a part of the thirty years that I've been 0:12:25.760 --> 0:12:27.600 out here on tour. And you know, whether it be 0:12:27.640 --> 0:12:34.200 coaches and inappropriate relationships, and you know, aggressive behavior, whether 0:12:34.200 --> 0:12:36.840 it be physical or emotional, and you know, we have 0:12:36.920 --> 0:12:39.920 safeguarding down to the WTA. Honestly, seriously, half the time 0:12:39.960 --> 0:12:43.200 wonder what they do because I never see them at tournaments, 0:12:43.200 --> 0:12:45.280 so how can they view things that are happening on 0:12:45.320 --> 0:12:49.199 the tour. But yet let's go after some you know, boogeyman, 0:12:51.000 --> 0:12:53.120 it's a amount for what reason? 0:12:53.440 --> 0:12:55.120 Yeah? It feels imaginary? Yeah, and you're right. 0:12:55.120 --> 0:12:56.920 I mean, the WTA is a ton of staff in 0:12:57.160 --> 0:13:00.760 at least two countries that are having board meetings all 0:13:00.760 --> 0:13:05.280 the time and toward end yeah this like, no. 0:13:05.160 --> 0:13:07.400 They're too busy getting upset at me for tweeting out 0:13:07.400 --> 0:13:09.640 stuff about the you know, the lack of humanity to 0:13:09.679 --> 0:13:12.079 a player after a final I Madrid. Then they are 0:13:12.200 --> 0:13:16.080 worried about, like actually worrying about things that absolutely matter, 0:13:16.440 --> 0:13:20.199 like go after more sponsorship. Don't bring up a subject 0:13:20.240 --> 0:13:21.520 that doesn't need to be talked about. 0:13:21.520 --> 0:13:25.120 It is there. And I just wonder from the players board. 0:13:25.200 --> 0:13:28.880 Perspective, because there is a player board, I would like 0:13:29.000 --> 0:13:31.559 to have comments from them in regards to that. 0:13:31.720 --> 0:13:34.320 It could be the guys, so it could be that 0:13:34.360 --> 0:13:35.959 the players are pushing for it. 0:13:36.280 --> 0:13:37.079 And that's my point. 0:13:37.160 --> 0:13:39.800 So if the players are pushing for this, if there 0:13:39.840 --> 0:13:41.800 is a majority of the board saying we should be 0:13:41.840 --> 0:13:45.160 sex testing our players, then I want to know who 0:13:45.200 --> 0:13:47.920 they are. And I want to know if the players 0:13:48.320 --> 0:13:50.800 are the ones that are pushing for this. If they're not, 0:13:51.440 --> 0:13:56.160 then that's even worse that the WTA higher ups decided, Yeah, 0:13:56.200 --> 0:13:58.600 this is a this is a hill we're gonna die on. 0:13:59.440 --> 0:14:00.640 It's a it's a good point. 0:14:00.679 --> 0:14:02.840 Well, I mean it sounds like something that we should definitely, 0:14:03.080 --> 0:14:05.520 like I said, I've texted a number of folks I 0:14:05.559 --> 0:14:08.560 am sure you can or have and so let's kind 0:14:08.600 --> 0:14:11.440 of keep the discussion a lot like to me, my 0:14:11.480 --> 0:14:14.440 favorite conversations on this show are when we talk about 0:14:14.760 --> 0:14:17.760 systemic stuff, just because there's so much to get into 0:14:17.880 --> 0:14:20.560 and again the product is so good. These players are upholding, 0:14:20.560 --> 0:14:23.120 they're part of the bargain. They're showing up weekend, week out, 0:14:23.240 --> 0:14:25.720 They've got an insane schedule. Their bodies are going through 0:14:25.760 --> 0:14:28.320 all sorts of wear and tear, and they're delivering in 0:14:28.360 --> 0:14:31.600 front of crowds large and small across the world, week in, 0:14:31.680 --> 0:14:33.960 week out, and I feel like, you know, it is 0:14:34.120 --> 0:14:36.480 up to the powers that be to make sure that 0:14:36.480 --> 0:14:38.760 they are well compensated, to make sure that they're protected. 0:14:39.000 --> 0:14:41.400 And in a strange way, it could be maybe a case. 0:14:41.240 --> 0:14:43.320 That again this is coming from a player that's coming 0:14:43.320 --> 0:14:45.800 from we don't know, And I kind of want us 0:14:45.800 --> 0:14:47.720 to stay on it because it's a systemic thing that 0:14:47.920 --> 0:14:53.080 definitely feels without context, you know, completely random and indicative 0:14:53.120 --> 0:14:55.160 of a lack of focus on the stuff that matters, 0:14:55.200 --> 0:14:58.080 which is make sure the tour is healthy, not losing money, 0:14:58.280 --> 0:15:01.400 and that these women have, you know, the representation and 0:15:01.440 --> 0:15:05.520 the safety and the security for their livelihoods, which. 0:15:05.360 --> 0:15:06.880 You know, we know that they depend on. 0:15:07.520 --> 0:15:12.280 Yeah, well, let's get to mister Scott Gayham again. He 0:15:12.400 --> 0:15:15.480 actually said the heaviness of the first question he wanted 0:15:15.560 --> 0:15:19.720 us to know, tell us a fantasy women's semi final 0:15:20.080 --> 0:15:22.440 at Wimble and any player from any era at their 0:15:22.440 --> 0:15:25.200 peak and predict who would win each match and final. 0:15:25.280 --> 0:15:27.840 I hate predicting who would win, so I'm not. 0:15:27.760 --> 0:15:30.440 Going to do that. Don't you do it every single time? No? No, no, 0:15:30.440 --> 0:15:31.560 I do it every time. 0:15:31.680 --> 0:15:34.360 Yes, you know, I will do a prediction of players, 0:15:34.400 --> 0:15:36.800 but I will not do it from different eras because 0:15:36.960 --> 0:15:41.040 I just think it's so ridiculous to compare greats from 0:15:41.040 --> 0:15:45.760 every era and say who would win different strings, different rackets, 0:15:45.800 --> 0:15:51.240 different balls, different conditions, different training schedules, different everything, you know. 0:15:51.400 --> 0:15:54.200 I mean, it's kind of funny like watching that modern 0:15:54.280 --> 0:15:56.520 day players, for example, do warm ups. 0:15:56.840 --> 0:15:58.520 And I've had this discussion. 0:15:58.040 --> 0:15:59.800 With a couple of players over the last couple of 0:16:00.120 --> 0:16:02.840 decades and you know, no offense. But back in our day, 0:16:02.880 --> 0:16:06.720 I can't even remember anyone really quote unquote warming up 0:16:06.760 --> 0:16:09.400 for a match, right. I mean, we would go maybe 0:16:09.480 --> 0:16:12.520 run on the treadmill, you know, do some little ups 0:16:12.520 --> 0:16:14.360 and downs and get a bit of a sweat going 0:16:14.400 --> 0:16:16.080 and da dah, da da dah, and then go out 0:16:16.080 --> 0:16:19.280 and play. What I see now with these players is 0:16:19.280 --> 0:16:23.600 they're doing like twenty to thirty minute warm ups, like dynamic, stretching, 0:16:23.720 --> 0:16:26.080 dynamic this, and they're rolling the ball and they' dah 0:16:26.120 --> 0:16:28.480 dah da da da, And I'm like, and then they 0:16:28.480 --> 0:16:31.720 go out and I see them not be aggressive in 0:16:31.760 --> 0:16:34.040 the hit in the five minute warm up that they have, 0:16:34.120 --> 0:16:36.160 and they're kind of like lazing it about, and then 0:16:36.200 --> 0:16:38.000 they lose their Foe Service game because they're not really 0:16:38.080 --> 0:16:40.640 quite ready. And I go and I'm thinking to myself 0:16:40.800 --> 0:16:42.360 because this has happened to me with players that I've 0:16:42.360 --> 0:16:44.520 actually coached, and I'm like, how can you not have 0:16:44.560 --> 0:16:45.000 been ready? 0:16:45.040 --> 0:16:46.840 What the fuck was the point of the twenty minute 0:16:46.840 --> 0:16:47.240 warm up. 0:16:47.240 --> 0:16:49.000 That you did with the ball and the da da 0:16:49.080 --> 0:16:51.120 da dada and you weren't really moving? 0:16:51.200 --> 0:16:52.960 Were you nervous? I don't really get it. 0:16:53.040 --> 0:16:55.480 I mean, I remember back in the day with Steffie 0:16:55.600 --> 0:16:58.560 and you know, a ranch of Santas of Curry. They 0:16:58.560 --> 0:17:00.160 would do like a quick warm up and then they 0:17:00.200 --> 0:17:01.360 get on the court and do a five minute warm 0:17:01.400 --> 0:17:03.880 up and they were ready to go play. So it's 0:17:03.960 --> 0:17:05.920 kind of funny to me and I have laughed about 0:17:05.920 --> 0:17:08.119 this with certain players of certain ages where we're just 0:17:08.160 --> 0:17:10.959 like they're doing a twenty minute warm up and then 0:17:10.960 --> 0:17:13.000 they stand around for five minutes before they walk on 0:17:13.040 --> 0:17:16.720 the court, I'm like, well, now all that's gone to 0:17:16.800 --> 0:17:20.479 the shitter. So even like I don't know what players 0:17:20.520 --> 0:17:22.600 did prior back in the day and then go and 0:17:22.600 --> 0:17:25.399 play a match or not, and now picking an era 0:17:25.560 --> 0:17:27.880 of like the greatest semi final and trying to pick 0:17:27.880 --> 0:17:29.760 a winner of that is kind of impossible, but I 0:17:29.760 --> 0:17:32.240 would I would venture to say I would love to see, 0:17:33.000 --> 0:17:34.720 you know, Stephie in one. 0:17:36.119 --> 0:17:37.360 Semifinal at Wimbledon. 0:17:37.560 --> 0:17:40.199 Clearly I would love to see Martina and Avilova, and 0:17:40.240 --> 0:17:42.119 of course I would probably like to see Venus and 0:17:42.160 --> 0:17:45.080 Serena Williams. I mean, really, those are the four greatest 0:17:45.359 --> 0:17:49.280 players at Wimbledon over the last couple of decades. So 0:17:49.880 --> 0:17:55.040 I would like to see Serena against Martina and Venus 0:17:55.040 --> 0:17:58.520 against Stephie, and then maybe Stephi against Serena in the final. 0:17:58.560 --> 0:18:00.600 But it's hard to peek against Martina, who won nine 0:18:00.600 --> 0:18:03.359 Wimbledon titles. But you can't compare the because you know, 0:18:03.400 --> 0:18:05.399 Martina was serving in volleying and it was the grass 0:18:05.440 --> 0:18:07.240 was different back then and now it's like a bloody 0:18:07.240 --> 0:18:09.360 hard court. We're looking at the players that have won 0:18:09.400 --> 0:18:11.320 over the last couple of years that really have been 0:18:11.720 --> 0:18:14.120 kind of more hardcourt sort of type of players and eager. 0:18:14.240 --> 0:18:16.600 She on tech probably wouldn't have won Wimbledon twenty years 0:18:16.600 --> 0:18:18.800 ago with the grass away there was but because of 0:18:18.880 --> 0:18:21.080 the weather, because the ball bounce is higher. Now we're 0:18:21.080 --> 0:18:23.760 getting players that actually feel very comfortable on a grass 0:18:23.800 --> 0:18:25.639 court because it is way different to what it was 0:18:25.640 --> 0:18:26.359 twenty years ago. 0:18:26.760 --> 0:18:30.600 May I add in a name, sure, Billy Jinking, no belly. 0:18:30.680 --> 0:18:32.480 Jan King won a ton of Wimbledon. She doesn't need 0:18:32.520 --> 0:18:33.280 twenty You know. 0:18:33.200 --> 0:18:36.240 Who I I think she won like six Wimbledon. She 0:18:36.320 --> 0:18:41.200 has like eleven slams, right, eleven or twelve? Justin Hannah, 0:18:42.000 --> 0:18:43.840 Justin Hannah should have won a Wimbledon. She got to 0:18:43.880 --> 0:18:46.720 two finals. She had the perfect game prograss. She had 0:18:46.840 --> 0:18:51.240 named Immaculate Slaice. She has an Olympic gold medal. She 0:18:51.280 --> 0:18:54.159 won the Athens Olympics in two thousand and four. She 0:18:54.840 --> 0:18:57.280 won the tour finals twice. She won the Australian Open, 0:18:57.359 --> 0:18:59.239 she won the French ship in four times. She won 0:18:59.240 --> 0:19:01.320 the O's Opened two two times. I was there for 0:19:01.359 --> 0:19:03.679 one of those times when she beat Venus and Serena 0:19:03.840 --> 0:19:07.440 in the same tournament. It was awesome to me Justine 0:19:07.440 --> 0:19:10.440 Hannah was the only person at her peak who had 0:19:10.440 --> 0:19:13.200 a good record against Serena Williams. She didn't have a 0:19:13.240 --> 0:19:15.159 winning record against Serena Williams. I believe it's eight and 0:19:15.280 --> 0:19:17.400 six or something like that, but it's close and they 0:19:17.400 --> 0:19:19.720 pushed each other. She to me, was the closest the 0:19:19.720 --> 0:19:22.399 Serena actually had to a real rivalry and I would 0:19:22.400 --> 0:19:25.480 love to see them play on Wimbledon, the two thousand's, 0:19:25.480 --> 0:19:29.160 early two thousand nineties Wimbledon where it's really grass. It's 0:19:29.160 --> 0:19:30.960 not a hard court now to your point, but to me, 0:19:31.119 --> 0:19:33.280 Justin Hannah should be part of the conversation because I 0:19:33.280 --> 0:19:38.760 feel like she could complete everything about her career. I 0:19:38.800 --> 0:19:41.840 know Scott Gaham's question was about the semifinals, but I 0:19:41.840 --> 0:19:43.200 am going to interpret it as I would like to 0:19:43.240 --> 0:19:46.440 see Justine Hannah play on grass and kind of take 0:19:46.480 --> 0:19:48.320 on all comers and see and see if she could 0:19:48.320 --> 0:19:49.240 get another shot at it. 0:19:49.400 --> 0:19:51.320