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Speaker 1: What I was dealing with at the time, feeling ashamed,

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Speaker 1: going against everything an athlete stood for. After I pulled

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Speaker 1: out of the French Open, I flew back home to

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Speaker 1: la and I just stayed in my house. But I

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Speaker 1: didn't want to see the outside world ranked.

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Speaker 2: As number one in the world and women's singles, say.

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Speaker 3: Four time Brand Slam tennis champ Mayomi Osaka, Your.

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Speaker 2: Dad wanted to train you because he was reading about

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Speaker 2: Richard Williams and what he'd done with the Williams sisters.

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Speaker 2: How aware were you of that when you were growing up.

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Speaker 1: Me and my sister and my dad on a tennis

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Speaker 1: court at least eight hours during the day. Yeah. I

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Speaker 1: began to think to myself, like, it would be very

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Speaker 1: weird if I didn't make it.

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Speaker 2: Your vulnerable sharing of your mental health journey. What does

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Speaker 2: it feel like looking back on that?

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Speaker 1: Honestly, I'm a little bit embarrassed on how I went

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Speaker 1: about it.

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Speaker 2: What was the process like going from giving birth to

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Speaker 2: then getting back on call.

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Speaker 1: Maybe seven to ten days I started training again. Wow,

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Speaker 1: my whole identity as I knew it was being a

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Speaker 1: tennis player. I would value what my value was as

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Speaker 1: a person on whether I won or lost?

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Speaker 2: What was the feeling like when you won your first

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Speaker 2: Grand Slam?

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Speaker 1: When I was growing up, I had dreams of playing Serena,

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Speaker 1: and in my first Grand Slam final, it felt like

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Speaker 1: a dream came true. I was just reading comments of

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Speaker 1: people saying that I didn't deserve to win.

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Speaker 2: The number one Health and Wellness podcast, Jay Setty Jay Chetty, Holy,

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Speaker 2: Hey everyone, Welcome back to On Purpose, the place you

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Speaker 2: come to become a happier, healthier, and more healed. Today's

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Speaker 2: guest is someone that I've been dying to talk to

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Speaker 2: for quite a few years now, ever since she opened

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Speaker 2: up about her own mental health journey. Today's guest is

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Speaker 2: Naomi Osaka, a four time I'm Grand Slam champion and

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Speaker 2: was the first Asian to hold the world number one

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Speaker 2: ranking for twenty one weeks. Beyond tennis, She's a global

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Speaker 2: advocate for mental health social justice and was named one

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Speaker 2: of Time's one hundred most Influential People twice and now

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Speaker 2: has her production company, Hannah Kuma, along with her skin

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Speaker 2: care line Kinlow. Please, welcome to the show, Naomi Asaka. Naomi,

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Speaker 2: It's wonderful to have you here.

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Speaker 1: Thank you. It's nice to be here.

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Speaker 2: I really meant it. I've been wanting to talk to

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Speaker 2: you for so long. I thought your open sharing and

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Speaker 2: vulnerable sharing of your mental health journey was so brave

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Speaker 2: and courageous. What does it feel like looking back on

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Speaker 2: that three years now?

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Speaker 1: Honestly, I'm a little bit embarrassed on how I went

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Speaker 1: about it, but I'm really glad that I did open up.

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Speaker 1: It created a pathway for more discussions to be had,

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Speaker 1: and I also feel like athletes were seen as more

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Speaker 1: then just I guess stone cold in a way.

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Speaker 2: So yeah, why embarrassed though?

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Speaker 1: Now I don't know, Like I just since I go

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Speaker 1: on things like I go about things on a whim

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Speaker 1: a little bit, I sometimes make decisions without fully thinking

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Speaker 1: them through all the way because it's such an emotional thing.

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Speaker 1: And when I was in that moment, like I was

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Speaker 1: living it and I think everyone could see that I

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Speaker 1: was clearly living it. But I feel like maybe I

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Speaker 1: could have been a little bit better with my words

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Speaker 1: or how I presented myself.

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Speaker 2: Well, I think it came across really beautifully, and for

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Speaker 2: whatever it's worth, I felt that it really gave so

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Speaker 2: many more athletes the permission to also open up to

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Speaker 2: also share how they were feeling. And you're so right.

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Speaker 2: I think it humanized a lot of athletes that are

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Speaker 2: often just seen as these high performing beings and then

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Speaker 2: you don't realize that they have a conversation in their mind.

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Speaker 2: You just said there, and you were saying earlier that

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Speaker 2: sometimes you do think on a whim or sometimes you

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Speaker 2: wing it. Where does that come from? Is that from

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Speaker 2: your childhood? Did that start early?

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Speaker 1: Maybe it's a personality thing, but people don't know. I'm

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Speaker 1: very impulsive actually, and I'm just very quick to like

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Speaker 1: want to get things done. So yeah, I do think

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Speaker 1: it's a childhood trait. And maybe my mom can tell

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Speaker 1: me more stories about that. I heard her tell a

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Speaker 1: story about how when we were younger, me and my sister,

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Speaker 1: she took us to a fountain and all of a sudden,

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Speaker 1: I just jumped in the fountain. So there's probably a

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Speaker 1: bunch more stories like that that she could tell me.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, And where has that trait kind of got you

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Speaker 2: in trouble? And when has it actually been a really

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Speaker 2: helpful trait.

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Speaker 1: The moments that it's gotten me in trouble, people know

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Speaker 1: about those moments, but I think in times that it's

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Speaker 1: really helped. I feel it's helped a lot on the

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Speaker 1: tennis court, just because I often do put a little

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Speaker 1: bit of pressure on myself to be I guess flashy

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Speaker 1: in a way, like I want to make it entertaining

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Speaker 1: for the people that watch, and sometimes in my mind,

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Speaker 1: I have this image of Mofie. He's like one of

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Speaker 1: my favorite tennis players, and I think, you know, maybe

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Speaker 1: I should do something like that. Some of those shots

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Speaker 1: work and some of them don't, but I think it's

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Speaker 1: fun to try regardless.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely. It's so interesting hearing about athletes speaking about

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Speaker 2: being impulsive and being you know, because I feel like

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Speaker 2: so much of the sport to us as outsiders, look

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Speaker 2: so strategic and intentional and focused. How do you balance

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Speaker 2: that creativity and impulsiveness with more focus and planning and intentionality.

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Speaker 1: It's something that I've just learned throughout playing the sport.

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Speaker 1: I've been playing since I was three, so it's kind

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Speaker 1: of ingrained in me. And I feel like every tennis

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Speaker 1: player has their own I guess signature or blueprint or

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Speaker 1: formula that they just grew up with. And some people

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Speaker 1: you see it a lot, like you can kind of

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Speaker 1: tell that they're the creative people like anstubbur and then

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Speaker 1: some other people you can just tell that they're focused on,

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Speaker 1: you know, the plays that will lead them to victory.

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Speaker 1: So I find myself being kind of a half and

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Speaker 1: half person.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, you moved from Japan to America when you're four

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Speaker 2: years old?

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Speaker 1: Three?

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Speaker 2: Three? Okay, what if anything do you remember from that time.

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Speaker 1: I remember my sister kicking me in the head.

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Speaker 2: Really wow, that's impressive.

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Speaker 1: And I also remember going to the park a lot.

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Speaker 1: I don't know if you're familiar with Japanese food, but

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Speaker 1: my mom used to get a sneakuman so they're like

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Speaker 1: steamed buns. And yeah, just just having a fun time

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Speaker 1: in Japan as a kid.

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Speaker 2: And then what was it like coming to America at

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Speaker 2: that time and settling in Does that feel like a

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Speaker 2: natural transition or were there certain learnings that you had

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Speaker 2: to have?

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Speaker 1: From my memories, like, it was pretty easy. I don't

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Speaker 1: think I was too attached to Japan. I wasn't too

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Speaker 1: thrilled to be in America either, but it's just the

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Speaker 1: life that I had. I heard that my sister had

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Speaker 1: a tougher time because she was older, and you know,

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Speaker 1: she only spoke Japanese. So at school, this is a

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Speaker 1: funny story, which is kind of makes me a little

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Speaker 1: mad now, but it's just something that happened. Apparently, me

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Speaker 1: and my sister we only spoke Japanese, and my teacher

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Speaker 1: told my mom to stop speaking to us in Japanese.

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Speaker 1: So that's kind of how I forgot most of it.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so you don't speak Japanese anymore.

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Speaker 1: I do, but like to people i'm comfortable with, right, yeah.

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Speaker 2: Right, So wait, your teacher told your mom not to

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Speaker 2: talk to you and your sister in Japanese so that

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Speaker 2: you get more comfortable with English, And why why does

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Speaker 2: that make you mad? Now?

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Speaker 1: I feel like being bilingual is such a good trade.

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Speaker 1: And also, we went to English school like Americans, so

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Speaker 1: they spoke English there anyway, so we would have eventually

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Speaker 1: gotten to learn how to speak English.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. And language is such a beautiful way to preserve culture. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: and it preserves an intimacy as well. Like you said that,

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Speaker 2: people you're close to you'll still speak in Japanese, and

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Speaker 2: I feel like there's an intimacy when you're speaking your

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Speaker 2: own language with someone, right. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: I also feel like there's a way to convey things

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Speaker 1: that sometimes I can't convey it in English, so I

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Speaker 1: have to say it in Japanese and there's like a

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Speaker 1: fluctuation or something like that that it can't be translated.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree with that. I feel like that way

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Speaker 2: about Hindi. So Hindi's obviously the national language of India,

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Speaker 2: and I feel like there are so many beautiful poetic

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Speaker 2: words in Hindi that if I try and say them

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Speaker 2: in English, they just sound basic. Yeah, but in Hindi

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Speaker 2: they're really spectacular. So no, I can relate to that.

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Speaker 2: Your dad, at least from what I read, your dad

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Speaker 2: wanted to train you because he was reading about Richard

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Speaker 2: Williams and what he'd done with the Williams sisters. And

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Speaker 2: I think at one point he even said that I

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Speaker 2: had a blueprint. I knew what I needed to do,

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Speaker 2: and I know I had to follow it. What was

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Speaker 2: it like living that blueprint and with your dad? How

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Speaker 2: aware were you of that when you were growing up?

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Speaker 1: I heard of that story later on also, But yeah,

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Speaker 1: I think living in that blueprint was something that I

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Speaker 1: just grew used to. It was kind of just me

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Speaker 1: and my sister and my dad on a tennis court

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Speaker 1: for like at least eight hours during every day. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: So it was kind of one of those things where

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Speaker 1: I began to think to myself, like it would be

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Speaker 1: very weird if I didn't make it. And I had

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Speaker 1: no choice too, because this was, you know, this was

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Speaker 1: my life and I was just so dedicated towards it.

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Speaker 1: But I find it really funny that he said that

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Speaker 1: there is an exact blueprint.

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Speaker 2: Have you ever asked him about any questions about that

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Speaker 2: time when he was training you for eight hours a

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Speaker 2: day and what was going through his mind and what

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Speaker 2: were his emotions.

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Speaker 1: My dad's kind of a stoic guy, so he doesn't

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Speaker 1: really talk as often, and when he does, it's like

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Speaker 1: to randomly crack a joke. The family all had a

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Speaker 1: dream and we all were trying our best to achieve it,

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Speaker 1: and it's kind of interesting to look back on it

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Speaker 1: because it wasn't that long ago.

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Speaker 2: Did you ever watch King Richard with your family?

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Speaker 1: I watched it by myself on the plane, and I

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Speaker 1: thought it was really fascinating because it did feel a

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Speaker 1: little familiar in some parts, and I think it's just

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Speaker 1: like the goal of the whole family just trying their best,

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Speaker 1: and it was really touching.

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Speaker 2: For me, was it something that really brought you all

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Speaker 2: closer together when you were young?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I think you know, But my family wasn't that big.

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Speaker 1: It was just me and my sister and my mom

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Speaker 1: and my dad, and growing up we lived in New York,

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Speaker 1: so I was around my grandma and my cousins at

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Speaker 1: the time. But then we moved to Florida when I

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Speaker 1: was like eight or so, and then we didn't have

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Speaker 1: any family members. I would definitely say we were extremely close.

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Speaker 2: Apart from your amazing fashion, how did Japan culture and

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Speaker 2: Haitian culture, how is it influenced and inspired you from

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Speaker 2: a mindset perspective or even from a lifestyle perspective. What

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Speaker 2: are the parts of it that still live and breathe

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Speaker 2: in your life today.

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Speaker 1: It's interesting to be asked questions like that because I

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Speaker 1: feel like it's so hard to explain. But I think

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Speaker 1: one of the biggest things that people may not know

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Speaker 1: about Haiti or Haitian culture, I don't even know if

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Speaker 1: it's a culture, just everyone's personality is like that, but

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Speaker 1: they'll give even though they have nothing to give. I

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Speaker 1: don't want to say it's one of my favorite parts,

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Speaker 1: but it's one of the most touching parts whenever I

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Speaker 1: go to Haiti, like everyone's just so excited to interact

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Speaker 1: and you know, v as hospitable as possible and just

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Speaker 1: show their love and appreciation for people coming to Haiti

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Speaker 1: and people that love Haiti. So I try to incorporate

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Speaker 1: that in my own way, in my own personality. And

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Speaker 1: then of course for the Japanese side, I think this

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Speaker 1: one's going to be a little funny, but I think

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Speaker 1: Japan's very like strict, not strict, but like very prompt.

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Speaker 1: And I think one of the funniest things was that

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Speaker 1: when one of my trainers said that, you know, it's

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Speaker 1: funny that you go to different countries and the bus

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Speaker 1: time is like ten, and the bus can leave at

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Speaker 1: ten or three, but in Japan, when it's at ten,

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Speaker 1: it leaves at ten. So yeah, trying to be very

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Speaker 1: on task.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, No, I love learning about different cultures or as

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Speaker 2: you said, communities, traits. And I mean that what you

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Speaker 2: just said about giving even when you don't have something

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Speaker 2: to give, I mean that's really powerful and really beautiful,

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Speaker 2: and it's tough as well. It's hard as well when

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Speaker 2: when someone's actually having to go through that and that

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Speaker 2: generosity It's so interesting, isn't it? Like I always think

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Speaker 2: we think when I have more than I'll give more,

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Speaker 2: and actually it's almost like, no, if I can give

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Speaker 2: what I have today, then I'll continue to give. And

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Speaker 2: I remember being exposed to that culture in India as well,

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Speaker 2: and I think Asian and South Asian places definitely places

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Speaker 2: I visited have some of that culture, and the orderly

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Speaker 2: and promptness and the discipline definitely makes sense. So you've

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Speaker 2: got that perfect ying and yang of being impulsive and disciplined.

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Speaker 2: What's the most disciplined thing you do every day? Right now?

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Speaker 1: This is going to sound a little unhinged. Not eating rice,

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Speaker 1: which is really difficult for me. I just feel like,

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Speaker 1: as an Asian and Caribbean person, like rice is such

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Speaker 1: as staple in both foods and both cultures. But I'm

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Speaker 1: trying to be really strict with myself and really disciplined,

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Speaker 1: and not eating any rice is definitely the most disciplined

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Speaker 1: thing that I have to do right now.

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Speaker 2: I love that. And is rice usually like a daily

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Speaker 2: like usually like a daily stable?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, like a couple spoonfuls here and there.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, So now, no rice? How long has it been.

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Speaker 1: It's honestly been a couple of weeks, so I'm hoping

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Speaker 1: to keep this up until Australia.

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Speaker 2: That's amazing, that's awsome. I know what that feels like

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Speaker 2: when you're like trying to swear off my big thing, sugar.

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Speaker 2: I'm just like constantly trying to stay up sugar, and

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Speaker 2: it's so hard because I've been addicted to sugar in

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Speaker 2: the past. Now, so you have a sweet tooth, I

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Speaker 2: have a big sweet teeth. Like you put anything with

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Speaker 2: chocolate in front of me and it will be devoured.

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Speaker 2: It's like my favorite thing in the world. But I've

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Speaker 2: been building a healthier relationship out with sugar. It's been

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Speaker 2: pretty tough, but I've got there as well. And what

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Speaker 2: about the other side. What's something that you kind of

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Speaker 2: get spontaneously the urge to do right now? What are

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Speaker 2: some of the more impulsive things you end up doing

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Speaker 2: right now?

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Speaker 1: One of my favorite things to do is like go

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Speaker 1: for a drive at night time. Sometimes when I do that,

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Speaker 1: people like to race, so sometimes I may or may

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Speaker 1: not potentially end up racing them as well. I don't know.

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Speaker 1: It's kind of one of my guilt pleasures because I

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Speaker 1: feel like you get to see a crowd of people

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Speaker 1: that you don't typically see, especially on the LA highways. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I would say that's probably one of the last impulsive

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Speaker 1: things I've done.

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Speaker 2: That is brilliant. I'm so glad to ask the question,

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Speaker 2: do you have a really cool car? As well?

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Speaker 1: Potentially.

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Speaker 2: I love that I'm the person who avoids the race.

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Speaker 2: So I used to be like that my teenagers. I

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Speaker 2: loved it if someone wanted to race me. And it's

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Speaker 2: so funny because I have a much faster car today

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Speaker 2: than I did when I was a teenager. But I

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Speaker 2: remember when I was a teenager, I would race anyone,

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Speaker 2: even if I was driving my little Vauxhall Courser, which

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Speaker 2: is like if I showed you a picture of the

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Speaker 2: car later on, you'd laugh. It's like this really old model.

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Speaker 2: I'd race anyone. I don't care what they were driving.

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Speaker 2: Now I avoid the race. Do you usually win?

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Speaker 1: I tell myself I have no choice. So honestly though,

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Speaker 1: I do feel you on like avoiding the race now

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Speaker 1: because I think as I've gotten older, I've become a

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Speaker 1: lot more safe. Like for example, when I was young,

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Speaker 1: turbulence on airplanes used to excite me. I used to

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Speaker 1: think of them as like free roller coaster rides. But

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Speaker 1: now I do get a little worried sometimes because I

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Speaker 1: think of my daughter and all the things that I

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Speaker 1: want to do with her when she grows up. So yeah,

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Speaker 1: when people start driving past a certain level of crazy,

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Speaker 1: then I'm like, Okay, you got it.

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Speaker 2: Do these people know that they're racing against Naomasaka or no,

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Speaker 2: You're like tinted windows, they can't tell who they're racing.

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Speaker 1: My windows are very very tint so.

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Speaker 2: They have no idea that they just got beat by.

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Speaker 1: They wouldn't be able to see me, they would see

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Speaker 1: the dust.

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Speaker 2: So you're like, You're like, they're not even close. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: I love That's that's so funny. It's amazing how there's

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Speaker 2: certain things that we all need as an outlet and

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Speaker 2: to be impulsive about and just kind of let go.

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Speaker 2: And do you think that when you were working up

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Speaker 2: to win you know, the first us open that you

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Speaker 2: did it like twenty years old? Was your life very

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Speaker 2: different then? Like could you have impulse or was the

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Speaker 2: preparation for that so strategic and focused and develop? What

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Speaker 2: was that like.

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Speaker 1: Every day kind of looked the exact same, to the

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Speaker 1: point where I could predict where I'm going to be

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Speaker 1: at a certain minute. So in that regard, my life

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00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:23,520
Speaker 1: has definitely changed a lot. Preparation is pretty much the same,

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Speaker 1: the will to win is the same, and I would

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Speaker 1: think the impulses are also the same. The outlets are

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Speaker 1: just different.

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Speaker 2: Oh interesting, Yeah, how did you express your impulses at

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Speaker 2: that time? How did they come through? And how are

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Speaker 2: they alive?

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Speaker 1: I used to be chronically online, so I used to

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Speaker 1: play a lot of video games. I used to read

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00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:53,920
Speaker 1: a lot of manga or fake online shop. So I've

347
00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:56,160
Speaker 1: put things in my cart and just never buy them,

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Speaker 1: And I would say, yeah, I guess the impulse would

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00:17:59,080 --> 00:18:04,240
Speaker 1: be to like buy them, but yeah, I think you know. Now,

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Speaker 1: obviously I don't play games as much because I don't

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Speaker 1: have that much time for it. But yeah, how does.

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Speaker 2: That work when you fill your car up with stuff

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Speaker 2: and then don't buy it? Like, walk me through that.

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Speaker 1: It's like you go into a mall in your window shopping.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: So I find it funny sometimes because I like to

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Speaker 1: go to stores. I have like vintage or like one

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Speaker 1: of one items, and I get so mad when people

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00:18:29,760 --> 00:18:33,440
Speaker 1: buy what's in my cart, like, wow, how dare you?

360
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Speaker 2: But you weren't going to buy it anyway, No, but.

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Speaker 1: It's nice to know it's there in case I do

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Speaker 1: have an impulse.

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Speaker 2: I love that. What was the feeling like when you

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Speaker 2: won your first Grand Slam at the US Open such

365
00:18:50,040 --> 00:18:51,879
Speaker 2: a young age, Like, what was that feeling like? I

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Speaker 2: think I even have this picture like when you see that?

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Speaker 2: Can you see that? But I can sell what was

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00:19:01,080 --> 00:19:16,840
Speaker 2: that feeling like? You know, I.

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Speaker 1: Think when I was growing up, I had dreams of

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Speaker 1: playing Serena and in my first Grand Slam final, if

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00:19:22,920 --> 00:19:26,280
Speaker 1: even a Grand Slam final, so it felt like a

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00:19:26,359 --> 00:19:29,240
Speaker 1: dream came true. But at the same time, like all

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00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:33,520
Speaker 1: the circumstances surrounding that was not a dream come true.

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Speaker 1: And it was I don't know, like some people didn't

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Speaker 1: think it was like a clean victory, and I felt

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Speaker 1: like I had to constantly prove people wrong, and you know,

377
00:19:44,359 --> 00:19:47,720
Speaker 1: that situation was a little unfortunate. But I'm glad I

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00:19:47,760 --> 00:19:51,719
Speaker 1: won the Australian Open right after that. But in that moment,

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Speaker 1: it was a very very strange mixture of emotions.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's so hard when what was it? It was happening

381
00:20:01,160 --> 00:20:03,320
Speaker 2: recently actually, I don't know if you follow soccer at all,

382
00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:07,520
Speaker 2: And I'm a big soccer fan and Pep Guardiola who's

383
00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:11,040
Speaker 2: the manager of Manchester City and he's probably one of

384
00:20:11,080 --> 00:20:13,440
Speaker 2: the best managers of all time in the sport of

385
00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:17,520
Speaker 2: soccer internationally, and he's on his worst run ever. So

386
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Speaker 2: he's just lost seven games in a row and he's

387
00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:23,440
Speaker 2: never done that in his entire career. In his whole career,

388
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Speaker 2: he's never lost more than I think two games in

389
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Speaker 2: a row. He was the first time his team he's

390
00:20:28,119 --> 00:20:31,160
Speaker 2: a manager, has lost seven games in a row. And

391
00:20:31,320 --> 00:20:34,680
Speaker 2: the opposition on the weekend literally just this weekend that

392
00:20:34,800 --> 00:20:36,840
Speaker 2: just went by, they were shouting, you're going to get

393
00:20:36,880 --> 00:20:39,359
Speaker 2: sacked in the morning, and so you know, and he

394
00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:42,119
Speaker 2: was reacting to that. He's truly like he's in the

395
00:20:42,119 --> 00:20:45,080
Speaker 2: top two discussion of the best coaches in soccer of

396
00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:48,120
Speaker 2: all time, and he was receiving that treatment. And it's

397
00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:50,760
Speaker 2: really interesting because you watch even someone like again I'm

398
00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:53,360
Speaker 2: using soccer examples because that's a sport I know well,

399
00:20:53,440 --> 00:20:56,200
Speaker 2: but I mean even Novak, who you know is a

400
00:20:56,200 --> 00:20:58,760
Speaker 2: good friend, he's been on the show, Like the amount

401
00:20:58,840 --> 00:21:01,159
Speaker 2: of stress that he was from the fans and the

402
00:21:01,200 --> 00:21:03,920
Speaker 2: audience as well, like he hasn't had the easiest road.

403
00:21:04,760 --> 00:21:07,000
Speaker 2: What did you turn to in that moment? Because you've

404
00:21:07,040 --> 00:21:09,800
Speaker 2: just won something, but there's all that feeling. How do

405
00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:12,080
Speaker 2: you kind of reconcile that now when you're looking back?

406
00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:14,000
Speaker 2: How have you kind of processed that?

407
00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:16,560
Speaker 1: You know what's funny is if you asked me this

408
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Speaker 1: like three years ago, I definitely would have started crying.

409
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Speaker 2: Oh wow.

410
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Speaker 1: For a very long time, I didn't process it because

411
00:21:23,880 --> 00:21:27,840
Speaker 1: I didn't want to. Just I'm the type of person

412
00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:30,800
Speaker 1: that I'll keep my head down and just keep working

413
00:21:30,840 --> 00:21:32,919
Speaker 1: hard and you know, hopefully I'll get to where I

414
00:21:32,960 --> 00:21:36,320
Speaker 1: want to be. But for that being the first Grand

415
00:21:36,359 --> 00:21:39,280
Speaker 1: Slam and that kind of being the introduction into like

416
00:21:40,320 --> 00:21:44,600
Speaker 1: the world for non tennis fans, it was definitely really

417
00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:48,399
Speaker 1: difficult for me. And I think no amount of media

418
00:21:48,480 --> 00:21:52,320
Speaker 1: training could have like processed me for that.

419
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Speaker 2: Why would you have cried three years ago?

420
00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:59,080
Speaker 1: I just have this very vivid memory of winning, going

421
00:21:59,119 --> 00:22:02,040
Speaker 1: back to my hotel, and the US Open is special

422
00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:05,399
Speaker 1: because you kind of get back to your hotel if

423
00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:07,439
Speaker 1: you have a night match at like one am or

424
00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:08,160
Speaker 1: something like that.

425
00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:08,520
Speaker 2: Crazy.

426
00:22:08,600 --> 00:22:12,600
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, doing treatment because I was going to

427
00:22:12,640 --> 00:22:15,840
Speaker 1: go play a tournament in Tokyo right after that, and

428
00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:20,639
Speaker 1: I was just reading comments with people saying that I

429
00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:24,760
Speaker 1: didn't deserve to win, or like I didn't win fairly,

430
00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:29,240
Speaker 1: and I don't know, it just it just really sucked.

431
00:22:29,800 --> 00:22:32,720
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, no, that's really fair. I mean, I don't

432
00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:35,439
Speaker 2: think that would ever be a good feeling. It's the worst.

433
00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:37,400
Speaker 2: Did you speak to Serena after that as well?

434
00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:40,920
Speaker 1: Yeah, she's actually really kind and sent me a message

435
00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:44,760
Speaker 1: and I sent her a message back. But I always

436
00:22:44,800 --> 00:22:47,920
Speaker 1: get so starstruck by her, Like I wrote my third

437
00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:50,000
Speaker 1: grade report on her.

438
00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:50,560
Speaker 2: Wow.

439
00:22:50,800 --> 00:22:53,400
Speaker 1: I just remember getting the message and being like no way,

440
00:22:54,320 --> 00:22:57,600
Speaker 1: and then sending a response and immediately putting it on

441
00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:00,120
Speaker 1: mute because I just couldn't handle.

442
00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:02,440
Speaker 2: What was the report about.

443
00:23:02,560 --> 00:23:05,959
Speaker 1: I think the school was asking like who's your role model?

444
00:23:06,080 --> 00:23:08,960
Speaker 1: And why is the person your role model and stuff

445
00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:09,320
Speaker 1: like that.

446
00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:10,720
Speaker 2: What did you write? Do you remember?

447
00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:14,960
Speaker 1: I mean I think I wrote, like my role model Serena,

448
00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:17,159
Speaker 1: and then I had like cut out like a little

449
00:23:17,320 --> 00:23:21,159
Speaker 1: printed photo of her because she's the greatest tennis player

450
00:23:21,640 --> 00:23:26,240
Speaker 1: of all time and she know, she's like an amazing

451
00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:28,480
Speaker 1: role model figure for me and stuff like that.

452
00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:30,680
Speaker 2: I love that. And then did you guys have you

453
00:23:30,680 --> 00:23:32,720
Speaker 2: guys met since then and Spruke and since then as.

454
00:23:32,600 --> 00:23:36,200
Speaker 1: Well, we've met since then, we've also played since then.

455
00:23:36,760 --> 00:23:39,160
Speaker 2: What was that like playing her again and then meeting

456
00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:40,040
Speaker 2: her again after that?

457
00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:44,800
Speaker 1: I think I've played her like two or three times

458
00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:49,720
Speaker 1: after that, And the most recent time was like the

459
00:23:49,840 --> 00:23:53,159
Speaker 1: second Australian Open that I won. But prior to the

460
00:23:53,200 --> 00:23:59,360
Speaker 1: Australian Open, we were having like the COVID lockdown in Australia,

461
00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:02,000
Speaker 1: so I was a part of the same group she was,

462
00:24:02,440 --> 00:24:06,840
Speaker 1: and her daughter was there and I'm still super starstruck.

463
00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:09,600
Speaker 1: I think I'll always be starstruck by her. But she

464
00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:12,040
Speaker 1: asked me if I could take a photo with her daughter,

465
00:24:12,520 --> 00:24:15,199
Speaker 1: and I felt so honored. I was like, Wow, of

466
00:24:15,240 --> 00:24:15,960
Speaker 1: course I will.

467
00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:19,320
Speaker 2: That's awesome. Well, what a special feeling. I love that

468
00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:22,160
Speaker 2: for your hero to then be asking you to take

469
00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:24,920
Speaker 2: a picture of their daughter, that's pretty epic. How does

470
00:24:24,920 --> 00:24:27,760
Speaker 2: that feel to young Naomi?

471
00:24:28,119 --> 00:24:32,280
Speaker 1: Very unbelievable. But also now after having my daughter, I

472
00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:36,000
Speaker 1: realized how important it is to have good role models

473
00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:40,760
Speaker 1: and I'm I don't know, I'm glad that I potentially

474
00:24:40,800 --> 00:24:41,960
Speaker 1: am one to somebody.

475
00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:44,919
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you are to a lot of people.

476
00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:48,240
Speaker 2: Before we dive into the next moment, let's hear from

477
00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:52,240
Speaker 2: our sponsors. Thanks for taking a moment for that. Now

478
00:24:52,280 --> 00:24:55,119
Speaker 2: back to the discussion. I think it's the best feeling

479
00:24:55,119 --> 00:24:58,159
Speaker 2: in the world when your heroes live up to the

480
00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:00,680
Speaker 2: versions of them you had in your mind. I feel

481
00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:02,440
Speaker 2: like I've been so fortunate to meet so many of

482
00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:05,679
Speaker 2: my heroes, and you know, they've lived up to it.

483
00:25:05,720 --> 00:25:08,960
Speaker 2: And I feel like I'm always excited to meet my heroes. Now,

484
00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:11,760
Speaker 2: I know that old cliche of never meet your heroes,

485
00:25:12,760 --> 00:25:14,479
Speaker 2: I'm not sure. I think meeting some of them has

486
00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:17,400
Speaker 2: been one of the best experiences, some of the best

487
00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:20,200
Speaker 2: experiences of my life. At least sounds like yours too.

488
00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:25,880
Speaker 2: How's your life changed for you from the inside becoming

489
00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:29,800
Speaker 2: a mother? And you know, like you said, just living

490
00:25:29,840 --> 00:25:33,240
Speaker 2: this discipline focused every day kind of looks like the

491
00:25:33,320 --> 00:25:36,960
Speaker 2: same building up to win, you know, four Grand Slams,

492
00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:39,199
Speaker 2: and now you know, living a very different life. I'm

493
00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:42,359
Speaker 2: guessing every day is definitely not the same. Like, what's

494
00:25:42,480 --> 00:25:45,480
Speaker 2: changed for you? How's that affected your identity and even

495
00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:46,400
Speaker 2: self perception?

496
00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:51,320
Speaker 1: Becoming a mother has definitely changed my life a lot. Internally.

497
00:25:51,400 --> 00:25:55,560
Speaker 1: I feel I've become a lot more patient and also

498
00:25:55,640 --> 00:25:59,080
Speaker 1: in a weird way, more care free. I think there

499
00:25:59,160 --> 00:26:02,000
Speaker 1: is a lot of things that used to bother me

500
00:26:02,040 --> 00:26:04,040
Speaker 1: in the past, or I used to hold on to,

501
00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:07,679
Speaker 1: and now I just kind of see them as I

502
00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:11,240
Speaker 1: don't know, pointless. Maybe pointless is a little bit too

503
00:26:11,280 --> 00:26:12,000
Speaker 1: big of a word.

504
00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:13,880
Speaker 2: But like what.

505
00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:18,760
Speaker 3: You always put me on the spot, you said you

506
00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:21,680
Speaker 3: like winging it, So I'm giving you lots of Every

507
00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:23,199
Speaker 3: time I ask you one of these questions, you give

508
00:26:23,200 --> 00:26:27,520
Speaker 3: an amazing answers, so that I'm trying right now.

509
00:26:28,560 --> 00:26:30,440
Speaker 2: The hardest shot I give you, the better you give

510
00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:30,880
Speaker 2: it back.

511
00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:33,440
Speaker 1: So I thank you won this rally.

512
00:26:34,960 --> 00:26:36,200
Speaker 2: I'll take that. I'll take it.

513
00:26:36,359 --> 00:26:39,040
Speaker 1: One of the biggest things for me was that my

514
00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:42,439
Speaker 1: whole identity as I knew it, was being a tennis player.

515
00:26:43,040 --> 00:26:47,919
Speaker 1: So I would I guess value my life for what

516
00:26:48,119 --> 00:26:50,639
Speaker 1: my value was as a person on whether I won

517
00:26:50,800 --> 00:26:54,800
Speaker 1: or loss. And now I don't know. I'm not saying

518
00:26:54,840 --> 00:26:58,280
Speaker 1: being a mother is my entire being, but I see

519
00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:01,520
Speaker 1: that there's so much more to and there's so much

520
00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:04,919
Speaker 1: that I'm able to I guess give to another person

521
00:27:05,160 --> 00:27:08,199
Speaker 1: in regards to how they feel. Like my daughter, she

522
00:27:08,359 --> 00:27:10,679
Speaker 1: smiles so much when I'm around her, and it just

523
00:27:10,760 --> 00:27:14,359
Speaker 1: makes my day, so I no longer really feel like,

524
00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:16,840
Speaker 1: you know, my life is over if I lose a

525
00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:18,359
Speaker 1: tennis match or something like that.

526
00:27:18,560 --> 00:27:20,840
Speaker 2: It's actually quite profound to hear that, because I can

527
00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:24,199
Speaker 2: imagine that when you work that hard at something and

528
00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:27,000
Speaker 2: you become as good as you are at that thing,

529
00:27:27,840 --> 00:27:30,680
Speaker 2: it becomes really natural for you to put all your

530
00:27:30,680 --> 00:27:34,119
Speaker 2: self worth and all your self esteem into it, and

531
00:27:34,160 --> 00:27:36,480
Speaker 2: then now your whole life evolves around it. The way

532
00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:39,520
Speaker 2: people speak to you, the way people introduce you, the

533
00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:43,280
Speaker 2: way you know, every conversation becomes about that. How have

534
00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:47,120
Speaker 2: you detached from like being ranked number one and then

535
00:27:47,200 --> 00:27:50,080
Speaker 2: being like, well, now my life is moving, Like has

536
00:27:50,119 --> 00:27:52,359
Speaker 2: that been a part of that? How do you detach

537
00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:56,119
Speaker 2: and disconnect from that kind of strong identity and how

538
00:27:56,160 --> 00:27:56,840
Speaker 2: it was made.

539
00:27:57,080 --> 00:28:02,159
Speaker 1: I think it's been a series of learning and I

540
00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:06,640
Speaker 1: can't necessarily name to you what happened, because in some

541
00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:09,400
Speaker 1: ways I feel like I just woke up one day

542
00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:11,880
Speaker 1: and this clicked, or I just woke up another day

543
00:28:11,880 --> 00:28:15,399
Speaker 1: and another thought clicked. I feel like I've been really

544
00:28:15,440 --> 00:28:19,720
Speaker 1: fortunate to have, I guess, people that care about me,

545
00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:22,399
Speaker 1: and they've kind of reinforced the idea that you know,

546
00:28:23,280 --> 00:28:26,760
Speaker 1: this isn't the main factor of your life. Yes, this

547
00:28:26,800 --> 00:28:30,080
Speaker 1: has helped you, like be in positions like sitting here

548
00:28:30,119 --> 00:28:34,359
Speaker 1: right now talking to you, but it's not your entire

549
00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:35,000
Speaker 1: self worth.

550
00:28:35,280 --> 00:28:37,800
Speaker 2: Yeah. I think that's such a powerful message. And I

551
00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:40,080
Speaker 2: hope everyone here is that, you know, loud and clear.

552
00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:42,760
Speaker 2: I think it's so easy. You're reminding me of an

553
00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:45,680
Speaker 2: episode we did with Kevin Hart, and Kevin was talking

554
00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:48,760
Speaker 2: about how at one point he just thought he was

555
00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:53,440
Speaker 2: like unstoppable and unbeatable, and it led to him making

556
00:28:53,480 --> 00:28:55,880
Speaker 2: so many bad decisions. And he was talking about how

557
00:28:56,640 --> 00:28:59,960
Speaker 2: the best thing he did was not in these words

558
00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:04,120
Speaker 2: but paraphrasing, like embracing his own insignificance, like recognizing that

559
00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:08,720
Speaker 2: one day he wouldn't be who he is and that

560
00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:12,000
Speaker 2: that would be okay too. And it's so interesting because

561
00:29:12,040 --> 00:29:13,520
Speaker 2: I feel like we're all trying to get to that

562
00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:15,800
Speaker 2: place that we're all trying to get to this place

563
00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:19,440
Speaker 2: of like I'm already enough and I'm okay. And you

564
00:29:20,320 --> 00:29:23,560
Speaker 2: I feel like writing and journaling is such a big

565
00:29:23,560 --> 00:29:25,120
Speaker 2: part of who you are, Like even hearing about your

566
00:29:25,160 --> 00:29:27,720
Speaker 2: school report and then the post you put up like

567
00:29:27,760 --> 00:29:30,760
Speaker 2: three days ago, and when I read that, I just thought, Wow,

568
00:29:31,040 --> 00:29:33,400
Speaker 2: you're so reflective, You're so thoughtful, Like, is that a

569
00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:36,600
Speaker 2: habit that you've had. Obviously that was something you shared publicly,

570
00:29:36,680 --> 00:29:39,520
Speaker 2: but just that habit of being able to explain your

571
00:29:39,560 --> 00:29:42,600
Speaker 2: thoughts and connect them in that way, is that something

572
00:29:42,640 --> 00:29:44,720
Speaker 2: you do often? Is that a habit you've built over time?

573
00:29:45,160 --> 00:29:52,040
Speaker 1: I think it started when I was an early teenager maybe,

574
00:29:52,280 --> 00:29:56,840
Speaker 1: And ironically I used to hate writing because I remember

575
00:29:57,360 --> 00:30:01,200
Speaker 1: my English teachers kind of failing me almost because my

576
00:30:01,360 --> 00:30:05,760
Speaker 1: grammar was always incorrect. So I don't know. I used

577
00:30:05,800 --> 00:30:07,760
Speaker 1: to try to avoid things that I knew I wasn't

578
00:30:07,800 --> 00:30:10,200
Speaker 1: good at, and writing was one of them. But I

579
00:30:10,200 --> 00:30:13,240
Speaker 1: think one day I wanted to get my words out.

580
00:30:13,280 --> 00:30:17,320
Speaker 1: And I'm not, honestly not the greatest speaker. I kind

581
00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:20,280
Speaker 1: of title myself that. So I wanted to get my

582
00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:24,080
Speaker 1: words out in the way that I wanted to convey myself,

583
00:30:24,280 --> 00:30:28,160
Speaker 1: and writing was the easiest tool for that. So it

584
00:30:28,360 --> 00:30:30,160
Speaker 1: just kind of built up over the years.

585
00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:33,080
Speaker 2: Do you write daily? Is journaling like a daily practice?

586
00:30:33,200 --> 00:30:35,320
Speaker 1: Yeah? I try to write daily. I try to write

587
00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:38,400
Speaker 1: my thoughts, what I feel, or what I'm grateful for,

588
00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:39,840
Speaker 1: what I've learned this day.

589
00:30:40,160 --> 00:30:42,520
Speaker 2: Wow, did do you jenneal in the morning or the evenings?

590
00:30:42,560 --> 00:30:44,640
Speaker 2: Have you already jenneled today or it kind of.

591
00:30:44,640 --> 00:30:48,360
Speaker 1: Changes, like depending on my mood, depending if I'm running

592
00:30:48,360 --> 00:30:50,240
Speaker 1: out the door and I'm wait for practice.

593
00:30:50,560 --> 00:30:52,800
Speaker 2: Was what you shared three days ago part of your

594
00:30:52,840 --> 00:30:55,480
Speaker 2: journaling practice? And then how do you decide when you

595
00:30:55,520 --> 00:30:58,440
Speaker 2: write something whether to share it publicly or whether to

596
00:30:58,480 --> 00:30:59,520
Speaker 2: hold it in for yourself?

597
00:30:59,800 --> 00:31:02,240
Speaker 1: So what I wrote three days ago was like a

598
00:31:02,280 --> 00:31:05,720
Speaker 1: little snippet of a book that I'm writing that I

599
00:31:05,760 --> 00:31:08,920
Speaker 1: don't even know if I am doing a disservice to

600
00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:11,760
Speaker 1: books by calling it a book, but I would say

601
00:31:11,800 --> 00:31:18,280
Speaker 1: that's it's kind of my ramblings. I tend to think

602
00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:21,040
Speaker 1: things through in my own head a lot, and it's

603
00:31:21,840 --> 00:31:24,400
Speaker 1: definitely much clearer for me if I write it down

604
00:31:24,400 --> 00:31:26,480
Speaker 1: and see it, And I don't know. I think the

605
00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:29,080
Speaker 1: way I decide to post it publicly or share it

606
00:31:29,120 --> 00:31:32,960
Speaker 1: publicly is if I feel internally it would help someone.

607
00:31:33,640 --> 00:31:37,200
Speaker 2: You should definitely write that book. It definitely I found

608
00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:40,600
Speaker 2: it to be very introspective. But at the same time,

609
00:31:41,640 --> 00:31:45,160
Speaker 2: when you sometimes read someone's journal entry, it only makes

610
00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:48,800
Speaker 2: sense to them, but it made sense to me too,

611
00:31:49,600 --> 00:31:51,280
Speaker 2: and so I think being able to relate to it

612
00:31:51,280 --> 00:31:53,880
Speaker 2: in that way is what made it a dialogue. Like

613
00:31:53,920 --> 00:31:56,160
Speaker 2: I felt like I was invited into the conversation and

614
00:31:56,560 --> 00:31:59,360
Speaker 2: invited into what you were trying to share. And I

615
00:31:59,360 --> 00:32:01,960
Speaker 2: think the first line of what you said was you.

616
00:32:01,920 --> 00:32:03,280
Speaker 1: Know the cringe just coming.

617
00:32:04,600 --> 00:32:09,360
Speaker 2: There's no cringe. So you said, growing up, I never

618
00:32:09,400 --> 00:32:12,680
Speaker 2: really liked myself, and then you went on to say, well,

619
00:32:12,720 --> 00:32:15,520
Speaker 2: that statement is bold. I also wouldn't say I disliked

620
00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:18,400
Speaker 2: myself either, and I found that really interesting. I want

621
00:32:18,400 --> 00:32:21,040
Speaker 2: to hear your thoughts on that, because I never thought

622
00:32:21,040 --> 00:32:23,320
Speaker 2: my life was easy, but I never thought my life

623
00:32:23,360 --> 00:32:25,800
Speaker 2: was hard. I just knew it was my life. That's

624
00:32:25,800 --> 00:32:28,120
Speaker 2: how I've always felt growing up. So when you said that,

625
00:32:28,120 --> 00:32:30,440
Speaker 2: that's what I thought of. Why were you intrigued in

626
00:32:30,520 --> 00:32:32,320
Speaker 2: sharing that and what were you reflecting on there?

627
00:32:33,520 --> 00:32:36,360
Speaker 1: Honestly, I was kind of reflecting on what you just said,

628
00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:41,280
Speaker 1: Like growing up, we would be constantly on the tennis court,

629
00:32:41,320 --> 00:32:44,400
Speaker 1: and I would watch other kids go to summer vacation

630
00:32:44,760 --> 00:32:47,760
Speaker 1: or not have to shovel the snow off the court

631
00:32:47,800 --> 00:32:50,600
Speaker 1: to hit tennis falls, and I would always think, dang,

632
00:32:50,720 --> 00:32:54,400
Speaker 1: like I kind of want to be someone else, but

633
00:32:54,480 --> 00:32:56,760
Speaker 1: at the same time, like I love my mom, I

634
00:32:56,800 --> 00:33:00,000
Speaker 1: love my dad, I love my sister. I kind of

635
00:33:00,240 --> 00:33:04,560
Speaker 1: like my life, you know. I think it's a really

636
00:33:04,640 --> 00:33:09,440
Speaker 1: weird like thought process. And I think especially growing up

637
00:33:09,560 --> 00:33:15,920
Speaker 1: and seeing tabloids seeing pop singers, thinking wow, like their

638
00:33:15,960 --> 00:33:18,960
Speaker 1: life must be so perfect, I'd rather prefer to be

639
00:33:19,080 --> 00:33:22,000
Speaker 1: them than to be me right now, and then eventually

640
00:33:22,040 --> 00:33:24,440
Speaker 1: getting to the point where you like mature and you

641
00:33:24,480 --> 00:33:26,600
Speaker 1: grow up and you're so grateful for the life that

642
00:33:26,640 --> 00:33:31,160
Speaker 1: you have. So it was kind of accumulation of years.

643
00:33:31,760 --> 00:33:32,600
Speaker 2: Can you sing.

644
00:33:35,240 --> 00:33:37,080
Speaker 1: If we're doing karaoke and it has to be a

645
00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:40,959
Speaker 1: very specific song, Well, what's your karaoke sign? I really

646
00:33:41,040 --> 00:33:42,760
Speaker 1: love Bohemian rhap City.

647
00:33:42,920 --> 00:33:45,560
Speaker 3: Oh wow, Okay, that's not an easy one.

648
00:33:45,920 --> 00:33:47,479
Speaker 2: That Okay, we're gonna have to go karaoke.

649
00:33:48,840 --> 00:33:50,280
Speaker 1: Okay, only in Tokyo.

650
00:33:50,400 --> 00:33:53,160
Speaker 2: Though only in Tokyo. What are the karaoke places like

651
00:33:53,160 --> 00:33:53,680
Speaker 2: in Tokyo?

652
00:33:53,920 --> 00:33:57,440
Speaker 1: I think they're really fun, Like some people take it

653
00:33:57,560 --> 00:34:01,240
Speaker 1: very seriously, so I've seen videos on line of people

654
00:34:01,280 --> 00:34:05,240
Speaker 1: being in there for hours just practicing their vocal trainings.

655
00:34:05,520 --> 00:34:08,640
Speaker 2: I made a karaoke bar to hear this. I feel

656
00:34:08,640 --> 00:34:13,120
Speaker 2: like I'm mentally scarred from going to karaoke because I

657
00:34:13,239 --> 00:34:15,960
Speaker 2: worked at a company. After I worked at a company

658
00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:19,040
Speaker 2: in twenty thirteen and as part of the training, we

659
00:34:19,080 --> 00:34:21,440
Speaker 2: went to Chicago and we went to karaoke bar. So

660
00:34:21,480 --> 00:34:23,680
Speaker 2: there's a bunch of Brits in Chicago at this karaoke

661
00:34:23,800 --> 00:34:27,120
Speaker 2: bar and all the girls were doing karaoke. The guys

662
00:34:27,160 --> 00:34:29,080
Speaker 2: were kind of trying to act cool. I can't sing

663
00:34:29,120 --> 00:34:30,879
Speaker 2: to save my life, and none of my friends could either,

664
00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:33,800
Speaker 2: so we were trying not to, you know, get too involved.

665
00:34:34,120 --> 00:34:35,960
Speaker 2: And then one of our friends grow up shout out

666
00:34:35,960 --> 00:34:37,799
Speaker 2: to Oli, who I'm not friend. I'm not in touch

667
00:34:37,800 --> 00:34:40,200
Speaker 2: with him anymore. But anyway, this guy called Oli from

668
00:34:40,239 --> 00:34:44,520
Speaker 2: work turns up and he decides to sing a hound

669
00:34:44,520 --> 00:34:48,319
Speaker 2: Dog Elvis, and he's like dancing with the waitress. He's

670
00:34:48,320 --> 00:34:50,720
Speaker 2: like pulling the chair off, He's like doing all this stuff,

671
00:34:51,000 --> 00:34:52,680
Speaker 2: and all of the boys were scared, were like, we

672
00:34:52,719 --> 00:34:55,560
Speaker 2: can never go and do karaoke ever again, because he

673
00:34:55,640 --> 00:34:59,480
Speaker 2: was so good. Oli. If you're listening wherever you are,

674
00:34:59,480 --> 00:35:03,240
Speaker 2: you are amazed karaoke. What's so interesting about that reflection,

675
00:35:03,440 --> 00:35:05,040
Speaker 2: that's where it came from. We were talking about your

676
00:35:05,080 --> 00:35:09,880
Speaker 2: post is just the way there was one thing that

677
00:35:09,920 --> 00:35:11,400
Speaker 2: you said, I want to pick up another thing that

678
00:35:11,440 --> 00:35:14,400
Speaker 2: really that really stood out to me. In my mind,

679
00:35:14,600 --> 00:35:17,880
Speaker 2: everyone was on a racetrack and I had an immense

680
00:35:17,920 --> 00:35:22,080
Speaker 2: fear of being lapped or falling behind. And then you say,

681
00:35:22,120 --> 00:35:24,400
Speaker 2: strangely enough, there are still moments today where I feel

682
00:35:24,400 --> 00:35:28,840
Speaker 2: like I'm behind. That thought might never truly go away,

683
00:35:29,080 --> 00:35:31,840
Speaker 2: even though I know how upset it is. Have you

684
00:35:31,840 --> 00:35:33,839
Speaker 2: made peace with the idea that you don't think that

685
00:35:33,840 --> 00:35:34,880
Speaker 2: thought will ever go away?

686
00:35:35,840 --> 00:35:37,920
Speaker 1: Yeah?

687
00:35:37,960 --> 00:35:40,400
Speaker 2: How did you do that? I don't know.

688
00:35:40,480 --> 00:35:43,040
Speaker 1: It used to bother me a lot, Like I always

689
00:35:43,120 --> 00:35:46,920
Speaker 1: used to compare myself to people, and I think, especially

690
00:35:46,920 --> 00:35:51,040
Speaker 1: being a tennis player, you count titles, you count wins,

691
00:35:51,160 --> 00:35:54,200
Speaker 1: and you kind of size yourself up against other people

692
00:35:54,320 --> 00:35:58,720
Speaker 1: your age or in your division, and I'd always feel

693
00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:04,080
Speaker 1: like constantly on this race of like who's better, who's

694
00:36:04,120 --> 00:36:07,640
Speaker 1: going to be better, who's not doing as well? And

695
00:36:07,680 --> 00:36:11,560
Speaker 1: that's kind of transferred, I guess onto me as a person.

696
00:36:12,440 --> 00:36:16,400
Speaker 1: It's definitely gotten a lot better, but I feel like

697
00:36:16,840 --> 00:36:21,239
Speaker 1: for me it's kind of on the same line as

698
00:36:21,280 --> 00:36:25,040
Speaker 1: being very competitive. I'm a very competitive person, so I

699
00:36:25,040 --> 00:36:29,720
Speaker 1: don't think I'll ever truly not try to size myself

700
00:36:29,800 --> 00:36:30,920
Speaker 1: up against other people.

701
00:36:31,280 --> 00:36:33,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's that weird balance, isn't it. It's like,

702
00:36:33,800 --> 00:36:37,840
Speaker 2: how do you stay competitive and also be content because

703
00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:40,000
Speaker 2: you don't want to be lost being so competitive that

704
00:36:40,040 --> 00:36:45,319
Speaker 2: your competitiveness becomes constant comparison. And we always hear the

705
00:36:45,320 --> 00:36:48,680
Speaker 2: old cliche of well, compete against your old self. Do

706
00:36:48,719 --> 00:36:51,440
Speaker 2: you find that to be true now that you're playing

707
00:36:51,440 --> 00:36:54,800
Speaker 2: tennis again after being a mom, Like, is that something

708
00:36:54,880 --> 00:36:57,239
Speaker 2: you're having to do or do you disagree? And you

709
00:36:57,239 --> 00:36:59,960
Speaker 2: actually think it is still about being competitive on the court.

710
00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:02,720
Speaker 1: You know what's funny is I think I spent most

711
00:37:02,719 --> 00:37:06,880
Speaker 1: of this year chasing my old self or my former shadow,

712
00:37:07,000 --> 00:37:10,279
Speaker 1: And I don't necessarily think that's the way to go.

713
00:37:10,400 --> 00:37:13,879
Speaker 1: I think, you know, you were who you were, and

714
00:37:13,920 --> 00:37:18,040
Speaker 1: now you're a more beautiful, more mature version of that,

715
00:37:18,280 --> 00:37:20,880
Speaker 1: and it would kind of be doing your own self

716
00:37:20,880 --> 00:37:25,600
Speaker 1: a disservice to constantly compare. And I don't know. I

717
00:37:25,640 --> 00:37:29,200
Speaker 1: think there's beauty in stepping into the present and looking

718
00:37:29,760 --> 00:37:33,480
Speaker 1: towards the future. So I no longer compare myself to

719
00:37:33,560 --> 00:37:37,239
Speaker 1: my old version, And I don't know, I try to

720
00:37:37,280 --> 00:37:40,360
Speaker 1: find myself more excited for what I could be.

721
00:37:41,520 --> 00:37:43,480
Speaker 2: What does that look like? Sometimes when you kind of

722
00:37:43,920 --> 00:37:46,760
Speaker 2: get into that, what's pulling you, what vision comes to mind?

723
00:37:47,120 --> 00:37:50,320
Speaker 1: I think the vision that comes to mind isn't necessarily

724
00:37:50,440 --> 00:37:53,839
Speaker 1: like winning as many trophies as I can, which that

725
00:37:53,880 --> 00:37:56,319
Speaker 1: would be great, and I am hopeful that that will

726
00:37:56,320 --> 00:38:00,120
Speaker 1: happen in the future. But I guess being happy to

727
00:38:00,200 --> 00:38:05,160
Speaker 1: learn more, to meet new people, to learn from them,

728
00:38:05,560 --> 00:38:09,680
Speaker 1: and just learn more about myself throughout those journeys. I

729
00:38:09,760 --> 00:38:12,719
Speaker 1: find that as a tennis player, I'm quite stubborn, so

730
00:38:13,880 --> 00:38:16,400
Speaker 1: it's very hard for me to take advice from someone

731
00:38:16,440 --> 00:38:20,480
Speaker 1: that I don't trust. And in actuality, like talking to people,

732
00:38:20,560 --> 00:38:24,240
Speaker 1: I kind of learn new things or learn new tips

733
00:38:24,239 --> 00:38:24,760
Speaker 1: and tricks.

734
00:38:25,120 --> 00:38:27,680
Speaker 2: Yeah, what do you wish you knew about motherhood before

735
00:38:27,719 --> 00:38:28,479
Speaker 2: you became a mother?

736
00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:33,840
Speaker 1: You know, it's funny. I don't think there's really anything

737
00:38:34,440 --> 00:38:36,520
Speaker 1: that can prepare you for being a mom. Like I

738
00:38:36,600 --> 00:38:40,439
Speaker 1: read so many books and nothing really took me by

739
00:38:40,800 --> 00:38:42,840
Speaker 1: surprise because I read so many books.

740
00:38:42,880 --> 00:38:45,880
Speaker 2: Any good ones you recommend or any advice that really

741
00:38:46,160 --> 00:38:46,960
Speaker 2: stood true?

742
00:38:47,280 --> 00:38:50,120
Speaker 1: So something you wish to know. I wish to know

743
00:38:50,200 --> 00:38:54,439
Speaker 1: that after a certain age, the baby will just poo

744
00:38:54,520 --> 00:38:57,680
Speaker 1: in the tub and you're just gonna have to accept it.

745
00:38:57,960 --> 00:39:02,120
Speaker 1: And my daughter, I remember there was there was one

746
00:39:02,200 --> 00:39:05,839
Speaker 1: night she did a number two in the tub and

747
00:39:05,880 --> 00:39:09,919
Speaker 1: she looked at me, she screamed, she said yucky, and

748
00:39:09,960 --> 00:39:13,120
Speaker 1: she walked away from it while like expecting me to

749
00:39:13,160 --> 00:39:15,120
Speaker 1: pick it up. And I was like, Okay, I guess

750
00:39:15,160 --> 00:39:17,640
Speaker 1: that's fine, Like we're just going to clean this up

751
00:39:17,680 --> 00:39:20,960
Speaker 1: and restart the bat. So yeah, I guess that's something

752
00:39:20,960 --> 00:39:24,160
Speaker 1: I wish I knew. And then what was the other question?

753
00:39:24,480 --> 00:39:26,200
Speaker 2: No, no, I was saying, if there was a book or

754
00:39:26,239 --> 00:39:29,799
Speaker 2: something advice from a book that stood true and that

755
00:39:29,880 --> 00:39:30,879
Speaker 2: really helped.

756
00:39:30,960 --> 00:39:35,320
Speaker 1: Before you give birth, you could have like a birthing class.

757
00:39:35,360 --> 00:39:39,840
Speaker 1: So I did that, and while I was in labor,

758
00:39:39,960 --> 00:39:43,440
Speaker 1: I did absolutely none of those tips and trips. So

759
00:39:44,719 --> 00:39:47,920
Speaker 1: uh yeah, I feel like also with motherhood or with pregnancy,

760
00:39:47,960 --> 00:39:49,640
Speaker 1: everyone's journey is so different.

761
00:39:50,719 --> 00:39:53,759
Speaker 2: What was the process like going from giving birth to

762
00:39:53,840 --> 00:39:57,200
Speaker 2: then getting back on the court, even back to training,

763
00:39:57,239 --> 00:39:59,480
Speaker 2: not even a game, but like to get back to training.

764
00:39:59,480 --> 00:40:00,279
Speaker 2: What did that look like?

765
00:40:00,360 --> 00:40:05,319
Speaker 1: That it was really difficult just because for me with

766
00:40:05,360 --> 00:40:08,800
Speaker 1: my daughter, while I was pregnant, I was constantly sick

767
00:40:09,239 --> 00:40:12,239
Speaker 1: and the only way I could alleviate that is through

768
00:40:12,360 --> 00:40:17,200
Speaker 1: like eating stuff to like settle the stomach pain. So

769
00:40:17,280 --> 00:40:20,279
Speaker 1: I ended up gaining a lot of weight, so I

770
00:40:20,640 --> 00:40:23,560
Speaker 1: really needed to burn that off. And I'm the type

771
00:40:23,560 --> 00:40:26,880
Speaker 1: of person that i'll train during pregnancy even though people

772
00:40:28,040 --> 00:40:31,560
Speaker 1: have half and half opinions on that. So I ended

773
00:40:31,640 --> 00:40:36,280
Speaker 1: up training, I would say, almost up until she was born,

774
00:40:37,040 --> 00:40:40,960
Speaker 1: and then immediately after, like maybe seven to ten days,

775
00:40:41,200 --> 00:40:44,680
Speaker 1: I started training again. Wow, And I know that caused

776
00:40:44,719 --> 00:40:48,360
Speaker 1: a little bit of a stir online, but I don't know.

777
00:40:48,480 --> 00:40:51,400
Speaker 1: I think, you know, my body's used to training because

778
00:40:51,440 --> 00:40:54,759
Speaker 1: I've done that since I was super young, and I

779
00:40:54,760 --> 00:40:57,799
Speaker 1: wouldn't recommend it to I guess people that don't work

780
00:40:57,840 --> 00:40:58,400
Speaker 1: out often.

781
00:40:58,480 --> 00:41:00,480
Speaker 2: But what was the kind of start online?

782
00:41:00,719 --> 00:41:03,200
Speaker 1: It was just people saying that I need to heal

783
00:41:03,320 --> 00:41:06,719
Speaker 1: more and stuff like that. But actually, like after I

784
00:41:06,760 --> 00:41:10,279
Speaker 1: gave birth, I remember the nurse asking me if I

785
00:41:10,320 --> 00:41:13,920
Speaker 1: needed like a wheelchair to the bathroom and I had

786
00:41:13,960 --> 00:41:15,719
Speaker 1: to convince you that I was fine and I could

787
00:41:15,760 --> 00:41:18,440
Speaker 1: walk around by myself and stuff like that. So I

788
00:41:18,520 --> 00:41:20,480
Speaker 1: just feel like bodies are very different.

789
00:41:21,000 --> 00:41:23,480
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's so interesting. We still feel we can tell

790
00:41:23,520 --> 00:41:26,239
Speaker 2: people what to do and when it's right for us

791
00:41:26,280 --> 00:41:29,400
Speaker 2: to know what's right for them, and this kind of

792
00:41:29,640 --> 00:41:31,880
Speaker 2: view of like, oh, well, I know what's best for

793
00:41:31,920 --> 00:41:34,880
Speaker 2: you right now without living and walking in your shoes.

794
00:41:34,920 --> 00:41:37,160
Speaker 2: You've experienced a lot of that like kind of like

795
00:41:37,200 --> 00:41:41,799
Speaker 2: snapback culture and that feeling of like people kind of

796
00:41:42,160 --> 00:41:44,320
Speaker 2: you know, I've seen some interviews where I just felt

797
00:41:44,680 --> 00:41:46,600
Speaker 2: I felt embarrassed for the person asking you, but I

798
00:41:46,600 --> 00:41:49,000
Speaker 2: felt worse for you that someone would even ask you

799
00:41:49,080 --> 00:41:51,440
Speaker 2: questions like that. And you're awesome because you will just

800
00:41:51,480 --> 00:41:54,160
Speaker 2: call them out and you're not worried about, like, you know,

801
00:41:54,880 --> 00:41:58,080
Speaker 2: making it known. How have you got good at doing that?

802
00:41:58,120 --> 00:42:00,400
Speaker 2: Because I think so many people would get scared or

803
00:42:00,440 --> 00:42:02,480
Speaker 2: be shy or be but you know, you're okay with

804
00:42:02,520 --> 00:42:04,239
Speaker 2: the fact of like, hey, I don't think that's a

805
00:42:04,239 --> 00:42:06,240
Speaker 2: great question to ask, you know, which I respect.

806
00:42:06,520 --> 00:42:09,520
Speaker 1: I don't know. I feel like my personality type is

807
00:42:09,680 --> 00:42:13,160
Speaker 1: very honest, Like I pride myself on being very straightforward

808
00:42:13,200 --> 00:42:15,520
Speaker 1: and honest, and that's kind of what's gotten me in

809
00:42:15,520 --> 00:42:18,399
Speaker 1: trouble quite a couple of times. But I guess when

810
00:42:18,440 --> 00:42:20,799
Speaker 1: we're doing a press conference, I see the people on

811
00:42:20,840 --> 00:42:24,560
Speaker 1: the other side of the table as humans, and I

812
00:42:24,600 --> 00:42:28,719
Speaker 1: would say. That's also where the line started to get

813
00:42:28,719 --> 00:42:31,520
Speaker 1: blurred for me a little bit. Is because I've been

814
00:42:31,520 --> 00:42:37,279
Speaker 1: doing press conference since I was like sixteen seventeen, and

815
00:42:37,320 --> 00:42:41,480
Speaker 1: then obviously when I became to when I began to

816
00:42:41,560 --> 00:42:44,400
Speaker 1: become a little bit more known, more and more people

817
00:42:44,600 --> 00:42:47,600
Speaker 1: entered those press conferences, and I felt like they weren't

818
00:42:47,600 --> 00:42:50,239
Speaker 1: treating me like I was a human. It was more like,

819
00:42:51,040 --> 00:42:54,200
Speaker 1: let's ask her a question to get this like one

820
00:42:54,239 --> 00:42:57,960
Speaker 1: liner or this article grab. So that's kind of where

821
00:42:57,960 --> 00:43:00,719
Speaker 1: I started to become a little bit fearful. I think

822
00:43:00,800 --> 00:43:03,279
Speaker 1: people can see that I became a little bit more

823
00:43:03,280 --> 00:43:04,000
Speaker 1: closed off.

824
00:43:04,440 --> 00:43:07,319
Speaker 2: Yeah, which is natural. I mean, going back to what

825
00:43:07,320 --> 00:43:09,120
Speaker 2: we were talking about, King Richard, I still remember that

826
00:43:09,200 --> 00:43:12,080
Speaker 2: scene where like her dad has to stop the interviewer

827
00:43:12,080 --> 00:43:15,400
Speaker 2: from asking those questions because he's like, she's like fifteen

828
00:43:15,480 --> 00:43:19,120
Speaker 2: years old. And it's interesting, you know, the kind of

829
00:43:19,160 --> 00:43:22,320
Speaker 2: questions that I think a lot of, Like I said, athletes, managers,

830
00:43:22,320 --> 00:43:25,160
Speaker 2: coaches get asked, and we've seen a lot of athletes

831
00:43:25,160 --> 00:43:28,160
Speaker 2: in the past twelve months. I feel like, really there

832
00:43:28,239 --> 00:43:30,600
Speaker 2: was a Yannis who came out and he you know,

833
00:43:31,000 --> 00:43:32,440
Speaker 2: I think they were like, oh, well, what is it?

834
00:43:32,480 --> 00:43:33,960
Speaker 2: Going to be like when you don't win the championship

835
00:43:34,000 --> 00:43:36,080
Speaker 2: this year, and he's like, well, do you get promoted

836
00:43:36,120 --> 00:43:38,319
Speaker 2: every year? He's like, you don't. So you know, we're

837
00:43:38,320 --> 00:43:40,040
Speaker 2: not going to win the championship every year, and that

838
00:43:40,120 --> 00:43:43,479
Speaker 2: doesn't mean we've failed. How have you We talked about

839
00:43:43,480 --> 00:43:46,200
Speaker 2: you comparing yourself to others, but when people from the

840
00:43:46,239 --> 00:43:48,920
Speaker 2: outside of comparing you to other people, how have you

841
00:43:48,960 --> 00:43:50,960
Speaker 2: dealt with that? Like? How have you kind of processed that?

842
00:43:51,320 --> 00:43:54,919
Speaker 1: It's easy to think about. Like for me, I can

843
00:43:55,040 --> 00:43:57,719
Speaker 1: brush that off quite easily because I know it's my

844
00:43:57,880 --> 00:44:01,040
Speaker 1: life and I'm living it. I know that the decisions

845
00:44:01,080 --> 00:44:04,400
Speaker 1: that I make are going to be very different to

846
00:44:04,800 --> 00:44:09,319
Speaker 1: other people's decisions, and I don't know. It's no one

847
00:44:09,360 --> 00:44:12,680
Speaker 1: can ever predict someone else's path. I just realized, like,

848
00:44:12,800 --> 00:44:15,640
Speaker 1: some people will understand that and some people won't, and

849
00:44:15,680 --> 00:44:19,120
Speaker 1: it's not my job to convince people of that. But

850
00:44:19,239 --> 00:44:22,960
Speaker 1: at the same time, I guess I'm seeing comparisons is

851
00:44:23,040 --> 00:44:27,680
Speaker 1: hard because you can wonder I guess. I think for me,

852
00:44:27,760 --> 00:44:32,200
Speaker 1: the most dangerous thing is the wonder I wonder if

853
00:44:32,200 --> 00:44:36,120
Speaker 1: they're right, or I wonder if you know, I wonder

854
00:44:36,160 --> 00:44:37,400
Speaker 1: how they're seeing things.

855
00:44:37,480 --> 00:44:40,719
Speaker 2: Like that, Yeah, yeah, that's it's so natural and so real.

856
00:44:40,760 --> 00:44:44,000
Speaker 2: I literally had a friend reach out to me yesterday

857
00:44:45,320 --> 00:44:47,480
Speaker 2: and she was just like, Jay, I've got this really

858
00:44:47,480 --> 00:44:50,440
Speaker 2: big launch coming up in my life, in her career.

859
00:44:51,280 --> 00:44:52,719
Speaker 2: And she was like, but I was watching one of

860
00:44:52,760 --> 00:44:55,799
Speaker 2: my friends and he had his big launch event and

861
00:44:55,800 --> 00:44:57,759
Speaker 2: then I was comparing mine to his, and you know,

862
00:44:58,200 --> 00:44:59,719
Speaker 2: and I think it's something we all do. I know

863
00:45:00,120 --> 00:45:03,080
Speaker 2: it too, Like it's such a natural thing. And I

864
00:45:03,080 --> 00:45:06,040
Speaker 2: loved what you said earlier that it's just a thought.

865
00:45:06,080 --> 00:45:07,799
Speaker 2: You have to make peace with that. The thought's going

866
00:45:07,840 --> 00:45:09,919
Speaker 2: to come up, like, we're not going to be able

867
00:45:09,920 --> 00:45:12,360
Speaker 2: to get away with that thought. We're not gonna be

868
00:45:12,360 --> 00:45:15,080
Speaker 2: able to avoid that thought. And it's what we do

869
00:45:15,120 --> 00:45:17,120
Speaker 2: with that thought, and it's how we respond to it

870
00:45:17,160 --> 00:45:19,920
Speaker 2: that makes all the difference. And this desire for that

871
00:45:19,960 --> 00:45:23,399
Speaker 2: thought to never appear and to never happen again, that's

872
00:45:23,440 --> 00:45:26,400
Speaker 2: what kind of causes us so much tension. It's almost

873
00:45:26,480 --> 00:45:29,680
Speaker 2: like the day we accept that you can't avoid a thought,

874
00:45:30,360 --> 00:45:32,399
Speaker 2: even if it's not peaceful, is the day you find

875
00:45:32,440 --> 00:45:36,360
Speaker 2: peace because you just realize that you can't keep resisting

876
00:45:36,400 --> 00:45:38,920
Speaker 2: it and you can't push it away. And then all

877
00:45:38,960 --> 00:45:40,799
Speaker 2: of a sudden, it loses its power on you. I

878
00:45:40,800 --> 00:45:43,200
Speaker 2: don't know if that resonates or makes sense at all.

879
00:45:43,520 --> 00:45:46,160
Speaker 1: Yeah, I would say it definitely makes sense. I think

880
00:45:46,920 --> 00:45:51,560
Speaker 1: even trying to avoid a thought makes it much stronger

881
00:45:51,920 --> 00:45:58,080
Speaker 1: for me. I found myself often trying to meditate when

882
00:45:58,080 --> 00:46:01,080
Speaker 1: I have a lot of thoughts. I I love listening

883
00:46:01,080 --> 00:46:04,000
Speaker 1: to ocean noises or rain. I think water has a

884
00:46:04,080 --> 00:46:07,239
Speaker 1: very powerful effect on me, and I don't try to

885
00:46:07,280 --> 00:46:10,839
Speaker 1: push thoughts away. I try to welcome them and not

886
00:46:11,200 --> 00:46:15,759
Speaker 1: solve them, but figure out why they're coming in in abundance.

887
00:46:16,280 --> 00:46:17,640
Speaker 2: When did you start meditating?

888
00:46:20,200 --> 00:46:23,560
Speaker 1: I think, honestly before my first US Open win.

889
00:46:24,200 --> 00:46:26,680
Speaker 2: Wow, how did you get introduced to it?

890
00:46:26,960 --> 00:46:30,719
Speaker 1: I didn't really get introduced to it. I just began noticing,

891
00:46:30,880 --> 00:46:35,080
Speaker 1: like I really enjoyed rainy days, and I began wondering

892
00:46:35,120 --> 00:46:37,279
Speaker 1: what was the cause of that and why did it

893
00:46:37,320 --> 00:46:40,880
Speaker 1: cause me so much peace? And I knew Grand slams

894
00:46:40,920 --> 00:46:45,560
Speaker 1: were particularly first rounds, they were very stressful, and so

895
00:46:46,200 --> 00:46:49,880
Speaker 1: I just started listening to rain noises. I guess the

896
00:46:50,000 --> 00:46:51,560
Speaker 1: night before matches.

897
00:46:51,400 --> 00:46:53,200
Speaker 2: How does it feel living in LA when we don't

898
00:46:53,239 --> 00:46:54,080
Speaker 2: get a lot of rain.

899
00:46:55,480 --> 00:46:58,200
Speaker 1: That doesn't bother me that much. I used to live

900
00:46:58,200 --> 00:47:01,560
Speaker 1: in Florida and we would get like them rainstorms, and

901
00:47:02,600 --> 00:47:04,720
Speaker 1: I don't know, it was fun, but it was also

902
00:47:04,760 --> 00:47:07,120
Speaker 1: a little bit chaotic for practice.

903
00:47:07,280 --> 00:47:10,480
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's I love that self awareness of being able

904
00:47:10,480 --> 00:47:14,280
Speaker 2: to connect for any days to water sounds and rain sounds.

905
00:47:14,320 --> 00:47:17,960
Speaker 2: I think, Yeah, it's so interesting. It's I love water

906
00:47:18,000 --> 00:47:21,320
Speaker 2: sound too. I find it so soothing and calming and beautiful,

907
00:47:21,360 --> 00:47:23,359
Speaker 2: and it's such an interesting thing. I was the fact

908
00:47:23,400 --> 00:47:26,360
Speaker 2: that you never got introduced to meditation, but we're able

909
00:47:26,400 --> 00:47:29,399
Speaker 2: to come to it of your own self. Of recognizing

910
00:47:29,440 --> 00:47:32,000
Speaker 2: what you you know, what connects with you and what

911
00:47:32,040 --> 00:47:34,719
Speaker 2: makes you feel calm. That's pretty awesome. Is this something

912
00:47:34,719 --> 00:47:36,719
Speaker 2: you still practice now or has it evolved at all?

913
00:47:37,000 --> 00:47:39,719
Speaker 1: No, it's definitely something I practice now. I have an

914
00:47:39,800 --> 00:47:43,560
Speaker 1: app on my phone that also does brain waves while

915
00:47:44,040 --> 00:47:48,040
Speaker 1: having the water noises, and I listen to it every night.

916
00:47:48,280 --> 00:47:51,040
Speaker 2: We've been talking a lot about like disconnecting and detaching

917
00:47:51,040 --> 00:47:54,759
Speaker 2: from previous versions of ourselves. You've talked about how like

918
00:47:55,520 --> 00:47:58,600
Speaker 2: getting your mom to like, you know, not work as

919
00:47:58,640 --> 00:48:01,200
Speaker 2: hard as such a big goal for wanting to become

920
00:48:01,200 --> 00:48:03,640
Speaker 2: a successful tennis player. What was it like when you

921
00:48:03,719 --> 00:48:06,360
Speaker 2: reach that goal when you could actually relieve her of

922
00:48:06,400 --> 00:48:07,160
Speaker 2: all that pressure.

923
00:48:07,440 --> 00:48:11,160
Speaker 1: It was a very joyful day, but at the same time,

924
00:48:12,080 --> 00:48:14,360
Speaker 1: it was a little difficult for me because it was

925
00:48:14,360 --> 00:48:17,040
Speaker 1: a goal that I've set for myself since I was

926
00:48:17,160 --> 00:48:20,759
Speaker 1: very young, and I almost felt a little lost, like

927
00:48:20,800 --> 00:48:23,840
Speaker 1: I had to immediately set a new goal for myself.

928
00:48:24,440 --> 00:48:27,000
Speaker 1: I mean, it was awesome to see her not work anymore,

929
00:48:27,560 --> 00:48:31,719
Speaker 1: but just that immediate race to set a new goal

930
00:48:31,760 --> 00:48:34,200
Speaker 1: for myself and to set a new standard was something

931
00:48:34,239 --> 00:48:38,440
Speaker 1: that I struggled with for maybe a couple of days.

932
00:48:38,680 --> 00:48:40,880
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I can imagine it being harder than that,

933
00:48:40,960 --> 00:48:44,040
Speaker 2: because I feel like that's such a strong why, like

934
00:48:44,080 --> 00:48:47,279
Speaker 2: such a strong purpose of wanting your mom not to

935
00:48:47,320 --> 00:48:49,600
Speaker 2: have to work that hard, and that has so much

936
00:48:49,640 --> 00:48:51,880
Speaker 2: meaning to it, It has so much gravitas to it.

937
00:48:52,080 --> 00:48:54,200
Speaker 2: Often goals are like, oh, I want to win something

938
00:48:54,280 --> 00:48:56,360
Speaker 2: or I want to get somewhere, and then when you

939
00:48:56,400 --> 00:48:59,560
Speaker 2: make it about service or helping your mother or helping

940
00:48:59,600 --> 00:49:02,799
Speaker 2: someone almost get so much deeper. I can imagine it's

941
00:49:02,880 --> 00:49:05,920
Speaker 2: really hard to find a goal that deep. Again, Have

942
00:49:06,080 --> 00:49:08,880
Speaker 2: you been able to find a new goal that feels

943
00:49:09,160 --> 00:49:10,440
Speaker 2: that deeply rooted? Again?

944
00:49:10,920 --> 00:49:16,000
Speaker 1: Not really? I think for me, most of my childhood

945
00:49:16,200 --> 00:49:20,680
Speaker 1: was wanting my mom to stop working because I rarely

946
00:49:20,920 --> 00:49:24,719
Speaker 1: saw her unless it was dinner time. It was, in

947
00:49:24,760 --> 00:49:27,560
Speaker 1: a way, I think, me trying to see my mother

948
00:49:27,640 --> 00:49:31,400
Speaker 1: more often, and once I accomplished that, then it became

949
00:49:31,520 --> 00:49:35,040
Speaker 1: more winning or making history or being the first Asian

950
00:49:35,160 --> 00:49:40,160
Speaker 1: number one, stuff like that, And obviously, yeah, they mean

951
00:49:40,440 --> 00:49:44,759
Speaker 1: a little more shallow but still meaningful. But yeah, I

952
00:49:44,760 --> 00:49:48,840
Speaker 1: think now you know, I do have meaningful goals. Maybe

953
00:49:48,840 --> 00:49:52,800
Speaker 1: they're just not as touching as you know, retiring my mom,

954
00:49:52,840 --> 00:49:55,959
Speaker 1: But I'd love for my daughter to reach an age

955
00:49:55,960 --> 00:49:58,719
Speaker 1: where she can see me play and kind of understand

956
00:49:58,800 --> 00:49:59,920
Speaker 1: everything what's going on.

957
00:50:00,239 --> 00:50:01,280
Speaker 2: You'll have to keep playing.

958
00:50:02,120 --> 00:50:04,840
Speaker 1: I definitely have to keep playing for a little while longer.

959
00:50:04,880 --> 00:50:07,720
Speaker 1: But I think, you know, I've learned so much throughout

960
00:50:07,760 --> 00:50:09,520
Speaker 1: the year, so I'm excited to learn more.

961
00:50:09,680 --> 00:50:11,200
Speaker 2: Are you excited for her to get on the court?

962
00:50:11,280 --> 00:50:12,279
Speaker 2: Would you like her to play?

963
00:50:12,320 --> 00:50:14,719
Speaker 1: As all people ask me this all the time, and

964
00:50:14,760 --> 00:50:17,960
Speaker 1: I think before I had her, I said definitely not.

965
00:50:19,520 --> 00:50:22,480
Speaker 1: But I think now, like you know, if she's interested

966
00:50:22,520 --> 00:50:25,440
Speaker 1: about the sport, i'd want her to learn. And she

967
00:50:25,600 --> 00:50:28,120
Speaker 1: has a racket that she loves to swing around.

968
00:50:28,680 --> 00:50:32,040
Speaker 2: I love that. But first, here's a quick word from

969
00:50:32,040 --> 00:50:35,680
Speaker 2: the brands that support the show. All right, thank you

970
00:50:35,680 --> 00:50:39,120
Speaker 2: to our sponsors. Now let's dive back in when you

971
00:50:39,160 --> 00:50:42,399
Speaker 2: were going through your when you announced that you weren't

972
00:50:42,440 --> 00:50:44,800
Speaker 2: going to play and you took your break from tennis

973
00:50:44,840 --> 00:50:48,600
Speaker 2: and competitive tennis for some time. What were you actually

974
00:50:48,640 --> 00:50:51,120
Speaker 2: dealing with? Like, what were you actually experiencing from a

975
00:50:51,160 --> 00:50:53,440
Speaker 2: mental health perspective, Like what did that look like for you?

976
00:50:53,920 --> 00:50:59,560
Speaker 1: I'd say the French Open break. What I was dealing

977
00:50:59,560 --> 00:51:03,359
Speaker 1: with that time, A lot of shame, which I talked

978
00:51:03,360 --> 00:51:07,320
Speaker 1: to you about, like feeling embarrassed, feeling ashamed, like going

979
00:51:07,360 --> 00:51:11,080
Speaker 1: against everything an athlete stood for, which is like you know,

980
00:51:11,680 --> 00:51:14,600
Speaker 1: fake it till you make it, or don't show the

981
00:51:14,640 --> 00:51:19,080
Speaker 1: other person, you know, any cracks in your armor. Honestly,

982
00:51:19,120 --> 00:51:22,440
Speaker 1: just feeling very alone. I think tennis. Of course, for me,

983
00:51:22,520 --> 00:51:24,920
Speaker 1: I don't play doubles, so it's a solo sport and

984
00:51:25,640 --> 00:51:28,959
Speaker 1: I don't necessarily have, you know, the most friends on tour,

985
00:51:29,120 --> 00:51:33,600
Speaker 1: so I didn't really know what public reaction or reaction

986
00:51:33,719 --> 00:51:38,040
Speaker 1: in general was. I remember after I pulled out of

987
00:51:38,040 --> 00:51:42,439
Speaker 1: the French Open, I flew back home to la and

988
00:51:42,520 --> 00:51:45,359
Speaker 1: I just stayed in my house for maybe a week

989
00:51:45,440 --> 00:51:48,200
Speaker 1: or two, and I didn't I just like instacarted and

990
00:51:48,320 --> 00:51:51,200
Speaker 1: uber eats everything because I didn't want to see that

991
00:51:51,239 --> 00:51:55,680
Speaker 1: outside world. So I would say going to the Olympics

992
00:51:55,719 --> 00:51:58,719
Speaker 1: after that changed my mindset a lot because there were

993
00:51:58,760 --> 00:52:03,200
Speaker 1: so many athletes that thanked me and I felt so

994
00:52:03,320 --> 00:52:08,320
Speaker 1: much shock because I didn't know that I was helping anyone.

995
00:52:08,400 --> 00:52:11,759
Speaker 1: And I almost kind of went into the Olympics thinking, like,

996
00:52:12,440 --> 00:52:15,400
Speaker 1: people are gonna, you know, think that I'm like the

997
00:52:15,440 --> 00:52:16,800
Speaker 1: worst athlete of all time.

998
00:52:17,320 --> 00:52:19,120
Speaker 2: What was it that was weighing on you that even

999
00:52:19,160 --> 00:52:22,000
Speaker 2: made you want to share the decision? Like what were

1000
00:52:22,040 --> 00:52:24,640
Speaker 2: you going through that was so hard for you to

1001
00:52:24,640 --> 00:52:26,000
Speaker 2: play and perform at that time?

1002
00:52:26,520 --> 00:52:29,799
Speaker 1: The emotions at the time felt so heavy, and I'm

1003
00:52:29,840 --> 00:52:34,160
Speaker 1: trying to like recreate, you know, the exact emotions that

1004
00:52:34,239 --> 00:52:37,960
Speaker 1: led to the decision. But I remember I won the

1005
00:52:38,040 --> 00:52:41,439
Speaker 1: US Open one, the Australian Open, was trying my best

1006
00:52:41,520 --> 00:52:45,880
Speaker 1: to like win the French as well, and historically I

1007
00:52:45,920 --> 00:52:49,120
Speaker 1: don't have like the best clay records, so a lot

1008
00:52:49,160 --> 00:52:52,600
Speaker 1: of press were asking me about that and leading up

1009
00:52:52,640 --> 00:52:55,239
Speaker 1: into it, I wasn't doing amazing, but I wasn't doing

1010
00:52:55,320 --> 00:52:59,560
Speaker 1: terrible either, but I just was so stressed out going

1011
00:52:59,600 --> 00:53:03,840
Speaker 1: into the tournament that I didn't want to answer questions

1012
00:53:03,880 --> 00:53:06,560
Speaker 1: about it anymore because it was like a constant everyday

1013
00:53:06,600 --> 00:53:09,279
Speaker 1: thing and I just wanted to focus on, you know,

1014
00:53:09,400 --> 00:53:11,920
Speaker 1: what I could do. It just kind of got to

1015
00:53:11,960 --> 00:53:14,160
Speaker 1: a breaking point because I remember saying I wasn't going

1016
00:53:14,239 --> 00:53:16,719
Speaker 1: to do media, and then that kind of blew up

1017
00:53:16,800 --> 00:53:19,279
Speaker 1: in my face everywhere and it became such a big

1018
00:53:19,320 --> 00:53:22,480
Speaker 1: deal and I didn't know why. I just felt really

1019
00:53:22,560 --> 00:53:27,879
Speaker 1: bad because the tournament was very upset, and I kind

1020
00:53:27,880 --> 00:53:30,359
Speaker 1: of felt like, you know, like people weren't focusing on

1021
00:53:30,400 --> 00:53:34,640
Speaker 1: the tennis anymore. It was just focusing on who's not

1022
00:53:34,760 --> 00:53:37,239
Speaker 1: doing press, why she's not doing press, and so I

1023
00:53:37,360 --> 00:53:38,359
Speaker 1: just decided to leave.

1024
00:53:38,920 --> 00:53:40,879
Speaker 2: Wow. Yeah, thank you for sharing that, by the way,

1025
00:53:40,920 --> 00:53:44,960
Speaker 2: because I think it's Yeah, just as i'm listening to

1026
00:53:44,960 --> 00:53:46,680
Speaker 2: I'm thinking about it. Like when you look at movies.

1027
00:53:47,320 --> 00:53:49,240
Speaker 2: Actors make a movie and then they do a press

1028
00:53:49,320 --> 00:53:52,400
Speaker 2: run and you're talking about a movie that you recorded

1029
00:53:52,480 --> 00:53:54,360
Speaker 2: like in the past, or you filmed in the past.

1030
00:53:54,800 --> 00:53:56,960
Speaker 2: Music's the same. You record an album, then you go

1031
00:53:57,000 --> 00:53:59,319
Speaker 2: and talk about it. This is the opposite way like

1032
00:53:59,320 --> 00:54:01,680
Speaker 2: you're being asked about it before you go on the

1033
00:54:01,680 --> 00:54:04,440
Speaker 2: court and then obviously after as well, and I can

1034
00:54:04,480 --> 00:54:07,600
Speaker 2: imagine like you just want to be focused. And I mean,

1035
00:54:08,040 --> 00:54:10,840
Speaker 2: you know, I don't do anything of any similar pressure,

1036
00:54:10,840 --> 00:54:12,399
Speaker 2: but I can think about even when I'm just going

1037
00:54:12,400 --> 00:54:14,920
Speaker 2: on stage to give a talk or a presentation or

1038
00:54:14,960 --> 00:54:17,680
Speaker 2: even an interview like this, and I know how much

1039
00:54:17,680 --> 00:54:21,240
Speaker 2: I need my downtime and my personal time to prepare

1040
00:54:21,280 --> 00:54:23,840
Speaker 2: and get my mindset right. And this isn't a competition.

1041
00:54:23,920 --> 00:54:26,760
Speaker 2: It's not stressful in the way the games are physically

1042
00:54:26,840 --> 00:54:29,839
Speaker 2: or mentally or anything. And so I can imagine that

1043
00:54:29,840 --> 00:54:32,080
Speaker 2: that becomes really difficult. Were there's some athletes who are

1044
00:54:32,120 --> 00:54:35,439
Speaker 2: the athletes that came up to you and said something

1045
00:54:35,480 --> 00:54:37,080
Speaker 2: to you at the Olympics that made you feel a

1046
00:54:37,160 --> 00:54:39,319
Speaker 2: sense of I mean, I think you already knew you

1047
00:54:39,360 --> 00:54:42,000
Speaker 2: did the right thing, but people who came and reminded

1048
00:54:42,000 --> 00:54:44,399
Speaker 2: you that it was definitely a good decision, a.

1049
00:54:44,320 --> 00:54:50,080
Speaker 1: Lot of like female athletes. I got a really nice

1050
00:54:50,160 --> 00:54:55,240
Speaker 1: message from other tennis players as well, and I felt

1051
00:54:55,280 --> 00:54:59,000
Speaker 1: like I went from feeling very alone to not feeling

1052
00:54:59,400 --> 00:55:02,560
Speaker 1: so alone at all. So it was it was really nice.

1053
00:55:02,760 --> 00:55:05,160
Speaker 2: It would be your ideal doubles partner if you did play.

1054
00:55:05,560 --> 00:55:09,600
Speaker 1: If I had to have a male doubles partner, Andrea

1055
00:55:09,600 --> 00:55:14,400
Speaker 1: Agacy and then female, I would say Serena. But I

1056
00:55:14,440 --> 00:55:19,680
Speaker 1: would be very scared. Yeah, I would be apologizing all

1057
00:55:19,719 --> 00:55:24,120
Speaker 1: the time. So you know what, Venus, She's always been

1058
00:55:24,200 --> 00:55:25,440
Speaker 1: so incredibly kind.

1059
00:55:26,200 --> 00:55:28,399
Speaker 2: I love that. I love that. There must be some

1060
00:55:28,440 --> 00:55:32,520
Speaker 2: secret tennis society where you can make that happen watching right,

1061
00:55:32,640 --> 00:55:34,120
Speaker 2: like a private game.

1062
00:55:34,520 --> 00:55:37,920
Speaker 1: You know, potentially, But also I feel like everyone's just

1063
00:55:38,280 --> 00:55:39,520
Speaker 1: you know, living their lives.

1064
00:55:39,640 --> 00:55:42,400
Speaker 2: Yeah. I once got to play a private game against

1065
00:55:42,480 --> 00:55:44,719
Speaker 2: Novak droc of it and I got destroyed.

1066
00:55:45,320 --> 00:55:47,520
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, but I would have expected I.

1067
00:55:49,200 --> 00:55:52,160
Speaker 2: Couldn't return I couldn't even return a sev like I

1068
00:55:52,160 --> 00:55:54,600
Speaker 2: couldn't even get to it. Oh really, Yeah, that's how bad.

1069
00:55:55,000 --> 00:55:58,360
Speaker 2: And he was going easy too, probably, I imagine. So

1070
00:55:58,760 --> 00:56:00,719
Speaker 2: he's a nice guy. He was. He was like trying

1071
00:56:00,760 --> 00:56:03,000
Speaker 2: to coach me and help me out just for fun.

1072
00:56:03,080 --> 00:56:06,719
Speaker 2: But it was an embarrassing day. You're talking about loneliness

1073
00:56:06,719 --> 00:56:09,239
Speaker 2: and friendship, and I find any athlete who's on the

1074
00:56:09,360 --> 00:56:13,320
Speaker 2: road as much as a tennis player, Formula one races

1075
00:56:13,360 --> 00:56:17,880
Speaker 2: soccer players pretty much every sport, there's so much travel involved,

1076
00:56:17,920 --> 00:56:20,440
Speaker 2: Like how have you built friendships and how have you

1077
00:56:20,480 --> 00:56:23,440
Speaker 2: maintained friendships? As it isn't a team sport, and I

1078
00:56:23,440 --> 00:56:26,680
Speaker 2: think team sports we forget that there is a sense

1079
00:56:26,680 --> 00:56:28,800
Speaker 2: of camaraderie. At least you have two or three people

1080
00:56:28,880 --> 00:56:32,560
Speaker 2: that become close friends. But when you're playing a single sport,

1081
00:56:33,360 --> 00:56:36,520
Speaker 2: it's actually a lot more challenging to have that. What

1082
00:56:36,600 --> 00:56:38,600
Speaker 2: does your friends circle look like and how has it

1083
00:56:38,640 --> 00:56:39,560
Speaker 2: evolved over time?

1084
00:56:39,960 --> 00:56:43,520
Speaker 1: Honestly, I'm pretty lucky because even though I'm not playing

1085
00:56:43,520 --> 00:56:45,880
Speaker 1: a team sport, I still have a team around me,

1086
00:56:46,080 --> 00:56:51,840
Speaker 1: so you know, like my trainer, my physio, my coach,

1087
00:56:52,120 --> 00:56:55,600
Speaker 1: my hitting partner. We all travel the world together. And

1088
00:56:56,160 --> 00:56:58,200
Speaker 1: I'm the type of person that it does take a

1089
00:56:58,239 --> 00:57:01,360
Speaker 1: while to open up, but I don't know once I

1090
00:57:01,400 --> 00:57:05,080
Speaker 1: do open up, things might get a little crazy. For me,

1091
00:57:05,239 --> 00:57:08,839
Speaker 1: that relationship with my team is very important and it's

1092
00:57:08,920 --> 00:57:12,640
Speaker 1: helped me a lot over the years, and of course

1093
00:57:13,719 --> 00:57:17,880
Speaker 1: I guess talking to my mom, talking to my big sister,

1094
00:57:18,320 --> 00:57:20,800
Speaker 1: keeping those relationships it is super important.

1095
00:57:21,440 --> 00:57:23,800
Speaker 2: You've said before that Kobe was a mentor for you

1096
00:57:23,840 --> 00:57:26,480
Speaker 2: as well, right, Kobe Bryant, who I was so grateful

1097
00:57:26,480 --> 00:57:30,280
Speaker 2: and honored to have a conversation with around five years

1098
00:57:30,320 --> 00:57:34,760
Speaker 2: ago now sadly before his tragic passing. And what was

1099
00:57:34,800 --> 00:57:38,480
Speaker 2: that relationship like for you and why was it so

1100
00:57:38,560 --> 00:57:40,640
Speaker 2: important and powerful to you? How did you even meet.

1101
00:57:40,920 --> 00:57:45,240
Speaker 1: I met him because my agent we were I don't know,

1102
00:57:45,320 --> 00:57:49,040
Speaker 1: something had happened, and then we were talking about someone

1103
00:57:49,080 --> 00:57:52,040
Speaker 1: that would be a good mentor for me and he

1104
00:57:52,240 --> 00:57:56,200
Speaker 1: just was like, okay, Kobe, I don't in my head

1105
00:57:56,200 --> 00:57:58,160
Speaker 1: that's how it went. There was probably like very like

1106
00:57:58,320 --> 00:58:02,600
Speaker 1: multiple steps to get to co But yeah, one day

1107
00:58:02,600 --> 00:58:06,400
Speaker 1: we were at his office and me and him sat

1108
00:58:06,560 --> 00:58:09,720
Speaker 1: and talked for like two hours, and he's such a

1109
00:58:10,040 --> 00:58:13,280
Speaker 1: genuine guy and it was just so easy and pleasant

1110
00:58:13,320 --> 00:58:17,640
Speaker 1: to talk to him, and that relationship. Was this something

1111
00:58:17,640 --> 00:58:20,840
Speaker 1: that I treasure a lot because I felt like he

1112
00:58:21,000 --> 00:58:22,960
Speaker 1: was my big brother and I could talk to him

1113
00:58:22,960 --> 00:58:27,240
Speaker 1: about sports advice and life advice and just things that

1114
00:58:27,320 --> 00:58:28,000
Speaker 1: were in my head.

1115
00:58:28,720 --> 00:58:30,320
Speaker 2: Was there a piece of advice that he gave you

1116
00:58:30,360 --> 00:58:31,360
Speaker 2: that stayed with you?

1117
00:58:31,440 --> 00:58:34,480
Speaker 1: Basically? I remember asked him once like how does he

1118
00:58:35,640 --> 00:58:38,720
Speaker 1: not pay attention to people's opinions? And then he was

1119
00:58:38,840 --> 00:58:43,360
Speaker 1: like referencing Animal Planet and saying, like you have to

1120
00:58:43,360 --> 00:58:47,240
Speaker 1: be the lion, and the flies around your eyes are

1121
00:58:47,320 --> 00:58:50,120
Speaker 1: people's opinions and you just have to focus and keep

1122
00:58:50,160 --> 00:58:50,920
Speaker 1: your eyes straight.

1123
00:58:51,440 --> 00:58:54,640
Speaker 2: I love that. Do you find new mentors now? Is

1124
00:58:54,840 --> 00:58:57,200
Speaker 2: looking for mentorship a part of where you're at right

1125
00:58:57,240 --> 00:58:59,880
Speaker 2: now or is it no time whatsoever? Sir.

1126
00:59:00,200 --> 00:59:04,480
Speaker 1: I'm not necessarily sure. I would consider anyone my mentor

1127
00:59:04,560 --> 00:59:08,040
Speaker 1: after him, and I feel like the word mentor is

1128
00:59:08,080 --> 00:59:11,040
Speaker 1: such a big one. I would love to have people

1129
00:59:11,080 --> 00:59:14,920
Speaker 1: to converse with. And it's also weird because when I

1130
00:59:14,920 --> 00:59:17,560
Speaker 1: think of mentor, I think of someone that's like older

1131
00:59:17,600 --> 00:59:20,040
Speaker 1: than me, and I would love to have one. I

1132
00:59:20,120 --> 00:59:23,720
Speaker 1: just you know, I don't really know if how I

1133
00:59:23,720 --> 00:59:28,080
Speaker 1: would approach that. Yeah, maybe I would ask my he

1134
00:59:28,160 --> 00:59:33,840
Speaker 1: seems Yeah, I'm kind of more interested in like trying

1135
00:59:33,880 --> 00:59:36,680
Speaker 1: to be a mentor to someone. I know that, you know,

1136
00:59:37,280 --> 00:59:40,840
Speaker 1: my path wasn't exactly the smoothest, But I would hope

1137
00:59:41,000 --> 00:59:44,400
Speaker 1: that the younger generation could maybe learn a thing or two.

1138
00:59:44,800 --> 00:59:47,280
Speaker 2: If you were coaching someone or mentoring them, what would

1139
00:59:47,360 --> 00:59:49,680
Speaker 2: be a piece of advice that you'd want to pass

1140
00:59:49,720 --> 00:59:51,880
Speaker 2: on to them, or what's something that you feel you'd

1141
00:59:51,920 --> 00:59:53,200
Speaker 2: really want to instill in them.

1142
00:59:53,280 --> 00:59:55,400
Speaker 1: I think it would go back to like the Haitian,

1143
00:59:55,800 --> 00:59:59,440
Speaker 1: the Haitian way of like giving, even though you know

1144
00:59:59,720 --> 01:00:01,960
Speaker 1: I I think human nature a little bit is to

1145
01:00:02,000 --> 01:00:07,000
Speaker 1: be selfish. Recently, I've kind of dealt with or overcome

1146
01:00:07,040 --> 01:00:11,320
Speaker 1: the feeling of the fear of being forgotten, and I

1147
01:00:11,360 --> 01:00:14,360
Speaker 1: think in that way we kind of tend to keep

1148
01:00:14,400 --> 01:00:17,880
Speaker 1: things close to the vest, And for me, I think

1149
01:00:18,200 --> 01:00:20,960
Speaker 1: sharing is caring and just trying to make the world

1150
01:00:21,000 --> 01:00:23,840
Speaker 1: better for the kids that come after us.

1151
01:00:24,200 --> 01:00:28,360
Speaker 2: I really believe that we're wired for generosity but educated

1152
01:00:28,400 --> 01:00:33,640
Speaker 2: for greed, and that selfishness comes in because society encourages

1153
01:00:33,680 --> 01:00:38,960
Speaker 2: you to want to get, to achieve, to get somewhere,

1154
01:00:39,600 --> 01:00:44,240
Speaker 2: when actually your essence is trying to just be and

1155
01:00:44,320 --> 01:00:47,840
Speaker 2: live and experience and learn and heal. It's almost like

1156
01:00:48,600 --> 01:00:50,640
Speaker 2: there's two tracks, and I think we're on both of them,

1157
01:00:50,680 --> 01:00:52,280
Speaker 2: but I think often we just get onto one of

1158
01:00:52,320 --> 01:00:55,160
Speaker 2: them and it becomes about achieving and winning, which is important,

1159
01:00:55,760 --> 01:00:58,080
Speaker 2: but you get away from the being, living and experiencing,

1160
01:00:58,120 --> 01:01:00,680
Speaker 2: and it's like, how do you make sense of both

1161
01:01:00,720 --> 01:01:03,520
Speaker 2: of those? And you're right. Having mentors is such a

1162
01:01:03,840 --> 01:01:07,120
Speaker 2: beautiful way to kind of following the footsteps of someone

1163
01:01:07,160 --> 01:01:09,680
Speaker 2: who's been there. Done that and had to think about

1164
01:01:09,720 --> 01:01:12,320
Speaker 2: those things earlier than you. Yeah, but it seems like

1165
01:01:12,360 --> 01:01:15,000
Speaker 2: you still talk to your family a lot. Your team,

1166
01:01:15,040 --> 01:01:17,520
Speaker 2: as you said, you're surrounded by them a lot. Who's

1167
01:01:17,520 --> 01:01:19,200
Speaker 2: the person you spend the most time with right now

1168
01:01:19,240 --> 01:01:21,520
Speaker 2: when you're not on the court and not thinking about

1169
01:01:21,520 --> 01:01:24,480
Speaker 2: tennis and what's like, what's something you do when you're

1170
01:01:24,480 --> 01:01:27,680
Speaker 2: not playing or not preparing currently?

1171
01:01:27,720 --> 01:01:30,200
Speaker 1: The person I spend the most time with is my daughter.

1172
01:01:30,320 --> 01:01:34,200
Speaker 2: Yeah, of course you said she's one year in five months.

1173
01:01:34,280 --> 01:01:37,080
Speaker 1: Yes, and she's teaching me a lot how to put

1174
01:01:37,120 --> 01:01:39,840
Speaker 1: my foot down because she definitely puts her foot down.

1175
01:01:40,720 --> 01:01:43,880
Speaker 1: It's the person I spend the most time with maybe

1176
01:01:46,160 --> 01:01:49,400
Speaker 1: either my boyfriend or my trainer, because my trainer is

1177
01:01:49,520 --> 01:01:53,520
Speaker 1: with me like a very very long time out of

1178
01:01:53,560 --> 01:01:57,120
Speaker 1: the day. She's a funny guy, is it?

1179
01:01:57,440 --> 01:01:58,760
Speaker 2: Why is your training a funny guy?

1180
01:01:59,040 --> 01:02:01,320
Speaker 1: Can I ask you? What is your zodiacs?

1181
01:02:01,680 --> 01:02:02,640
Speaker 2: Yeah? I'm a Virgo.

1182
01:02:02,920 --> 01:02:04,120
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's a virgo too.

1183
01:02:04,200 --> 01:02:09,040
Speaker 2: Okay, all right, okay, so yeah, what dates is Beth?

1184
01:02:09,360 --> 01:02:09,560
Speaker 2: You know?

1185
01:02:10,360 --> 01:02:16,440
Speaker 1: I think August snow, September, September.

1186
01:02:16,000 --> 01:02:23,040
Speaker 2: Eighth, September sixth, Okay, okay, carry on now continue So yeah,

1187
01:02:23,160 --> 01:02:24,840
Speaker 2: I'm big skinned. It's all right, you can say what.

1188
01:02:25,520 --> 01:02:27,600
Speaker 1: I don't know. I feel like virgos are very like

1189
01:02:28,240 --> 01:02:32,040
Speaker 1: they want to be perfectionists or they are perfectionists, and

1190
01:02:32,080 --> 01:02:35,240
Speaker 1: it's just funny to interact with him, and you know,

1191
01:02:35,640 --> 01:02:38,720
Speaker 1: like I, when I get comfortable with people, I goof

1192
01:02:38,760 --> 01:02:42,520
Speaker 1: around a lot, and I love seeing him get frustrated

1193
01:02:42,520 --> 01:02:46,120
Speaker 1: about it a little bit. But yeah, it's it's just

1194
01:02:46,880 --> 01:02:50,360
Speaker 1: nice because I find virgos to be very knowledgeable in

1195
01:02:50,400 --> 01:02:51,160
Speaker 1: their fields.

1196
01:02:51,280 --> 01:02:54,960
Speaker 2: Well that's very kind, thank you. No, I've learned. I've

1197
01:02:54,960 --> 01:02:57,600
Speaker 2: definitely learned over the years to give up that perfectionism.

1198
01:02:58,080 --> 01:03:00,960
Speaker 2: I've learned that. And my wife's a big impact for that,

1199
01:03:01,040 --> 01:03:04,040
Speaker 2: for sure, because she's such a goofball. And so I've

1200
01:03:04,040 --> 01:03:05,959
Speaker 2: always said, like, I'm the kind of person that takes

1201
01:03:06,000 --> 01:03:08,880
Speaker 2: life too seriously and my wife doesn't take life seriously

1202
01:03:08,920 --> 01:03:11,560
Speaker 2: at all, and that's rubbed off on each other and

1203
01:03:11,640 --> 01:03:15,720
Speaker 2: it's been it's been good to lose that kind of yeah,

1204
01:03:15,760 --> 01:03:18,720
Speaker 2: but but I definitely still have moments of it, for sure,

1205
01:03:19,240 --> 01:03:21,440
Speaker 2: Like I can't be late. I have such a thing

1206
01:03:21,480 --> 01:03:24,440
Speaker 2: about being late. It upsets me so much. And definitely

1207
01:03:24,480 --> 01:03:26,280
Speaker 2: I like things in order and I like things to

1208
01:03:26,320 --> 01:03:29,040
Speaker 2: be in their place. And that's all very very true.

1209
01:03:29,280 --> 01:03:31,240
Speaker 2: So me and you, me and your training would get along.

1210
01:03:31,280 --> 01:03:34,440
Speaker 2: I guess I think maybe maybe when's your birthday?

1211
01:03:35,120 --> 01:03:35,760
Speaker 1: October?

1212
01:03:35,920 --> 01:03:38,480
Speaker 2: So Libra, okay? October? What day?

1213
01:03:38,680 --> 01:03:39,320
Speaker 1: Sixteenth?

1214
01:03:39,480 --> 01:03:41,840
Speaker 2: Okay? Do you have a special ritual that you'd like

1215
01:03:41,880 --> 01:03:44,760
Speaker 2: to celebrate your birthday with or anything that comes around

1216
01:03:44,840 --> 01:03:45,400
Speaker 2: or not? Really?

1217
01:03:45,680 --> 01:03:48,400
Speaker 1: Usually I'm in Tokyo around those dates, but if I'm

1218
01:03:48,440 --> 01:03:51,640
Speaker 1: not at a tournament, I prefer to be like on

1219
01:03:51,680 --> 01:03:56,760
Speaker 1: the beach somewhere, So I think that's my ritual, I

1220
01:03:56,800 --> 01:03:59,360
Speaker 1: think now obviously with the birth of my daughter, I'd

1221
01:03:59,360 --> 01:04:00,720
Speaker 1: love to always for around.

1222
01:04:00,960 --> 01:04:02,560
Speaker 2: Is a beach you a happy place or is that

1223
01:04:02,640 --> 01:04:03,240
Speaker 2: just vacation?

1224
01:04:03,560 --> 01:04:06,080
Speaker 1: It's my happy place, like I go there to think

1225
01:04:06,840 --> 01:04:11,280
Speaker 1: or write things down or just to I guess, have

1226
01:04:11,400 --> 01:04:11,960
Speaker 1: some joy.

1227
01:04:12,120 --> 01:04:14,480
Speaker 2: Do you still go regularly now? Like? Is that part of.

1228
01:04:14,640 --> 01:04:16,240
Speaker 1: That's where I race to my car?

1229
01:04:16,400 --> 01:04:16,600
Speaker 2: Oh?

1230
01:04:16,640 --> 01:04:16,960
Speaker 1: Really?

1231
01:04:17,040 --> 01:04:19,920
Speaker 2: Okay, got it all right, So look for a tinted

1232
01:04:20,840 --> 01:04:23,320
Speaker 2: car and go stand near a beach and you might

1233
01:04:23,360 --> 01:04:25,760
Speaker 2: get to race. Naomi. I love that. I love that

1234
01:04:26,120 --> 01:04:29,080
Speaker 2: you have such an endearing perssonalate, like I love when

1235
01:04:29,120 --> 01:04:30,800
Speaker 2: I love it when you think you're about to say

1236
01:04:30,840 --> 01:04:34,240
Speaker 2: something really like awkward or whatever it is that goes

1237
01:04:34,280 --> 01:04:36,440
Speaker 2: through your mind and then you laugh about it and

1238
01:04:36,480 --> 01:04:38,160
Speaker 2: then you share it, but it always turns out to

1239
01:04:38,160 --> 01:04:41,920
Speaker 2: be brilliant, Like it's it's always funny and interesting and entertaining.

1240
01:04:41,960 --> 01:04:48,000
Speaker 2: And what's allowed you to be comfortable in your own skin? Lately?

1241
01:04:48,520 --> 01:04:52,120
Speaker 1: I think I'm very lucky because I've kind of been

1242
01:04:52,360 --> 01:04:55,800
Speaker 1: forced to be comfortable in my own skin. And I

1243
01:04:55,840 --> 01:04:59,240
Speaker 1: think that's due to like being a little bit different,

1244
01:04:59,680 --> 01:05:04,240
Speaker 1: I guess in general, like I'm Japanese, but maybe presenting

1245
01:05:04,280 --> 01:05:07,080
Speaker 1: I don't look Japanese, so that's when I was younger,

1246
01:05:07,080 --> 01:05:10,360
Speaker 1: that often caught people off guard. But for me, this

1247
01:05:10,480 --> 01:05:12,080
Speaker 1: is just, you know, this is just how I look,

1248
01:05:12,120 --> 01:05:14,040
Speaker 1: This is how I know that I am, and I'm

1249
01:05:14,080 --> 01:05:19,000
Speaker 1: having both cultures is my way of life, and I've

1250
01:05:19,040 --> 01:05:23,680
Speaker 1: always felt very confident and comfortable with that, so I

1251
01:05:23,720 --> 01:05:27,960
Speaker 1: would say it's not necessarily something I've struggled with often.

1252
01:05:28,120 --> 01:05:32,360
Speaker 1: But I think also another phase of that is motherhood

1253
01:05:32,400 --> 01:05:37,080
Speaker 1: and trying to snap back with snap back culture, and

1254
01:05:37,760 --> 01:05:41,360
Speaker 1: I'm just yeah, I guess loving myself so self love.

1255
01:05:42,640 --> 01:05:46,280
Speaker 2: I'm always fascinated by high performing individuals, like you've played it,

1256
01:05:47,040 --> 01:05:52,080
Speaker 2: you know, in the top one percent of not only athletes,

1257
01:05:52,120 --> 01:05:55,200
Speaker 2: but then of your own sport. What does your routine

1258
01:05:55,240 --> 01:05:58,240
Speaker 2: look like on a game day? Like, how do you

1259
01:05:58,320 --> 01:06:00,040
Speaker 2: prep yourself? How do you get in the zone? What

1260
01:06:00,400 --> 01:06:03,160
Speaker 2: does that look like? You talked about meditation earlier and things,

1261
01:06:03,160 --> 01:06:05,280
Speaker 2: but what does an actual breakdown look like?

1262
01:06:05,600 --> 01:06:08,960
Speaker 1: This is where like the routine kicks in. So every

1263
01:06:09,040 --> 01:06:14,200
Speaker 1: day is kind of the exact same. I eat breakfast, well,

1264
01:06:14,280 --> 01:06:17,280
Speaker 1: I wake up, meditate, take a shower, eat.

1265
01:06:17,120 --> 01:06:19,000
Speaker 2: Breakfast specific breakfast.

1266
01:06:19,240 --> 01:06:22,360
Speaker 1: Yeah, always the same breakfast every time. Usually it'd be

1267
01:06:22,440 --> 01:06:25,120
Speaker 1: like smoked someone, But I'm kind of off that phase

1268
01:06:25,200 --> 01:06:29,400
Speaker 1: right now. So yeah, go to the tournament site, do

1269
01:06:29,560 --> 01:06:34,320
Speaker 1: like light hitting and then change into my outfit, listen

1270
01:06:34,360 --> 01:06:38,720
Speaker 1: to music, do like a game prep, and then warm

1271
01:06:38,760 --> 01:06:39,840
Speaker 1: up and play the match.

1272
01:06:40,520 --> 01:06:42,560
Speaker 2: Do you sleep well before a big game.

1273
01:06:43,120 --> 01:06:46,160
Speaker 1: Depends how big it is. Yeah, I know before all

1274
01:06:46,200 --> 01:06:52,520
Speaker 1: of my finals, I didn't sleep as well. I think, Yeah,

1275
01:06:52,720 --> 01:06:56,680
Speaker 1: I don't know. I just remember waking up sweating. I

1276
01:06:56,720 --> 01:06:59,640
Speaker 1: don't think you're really supposed to sleep well before moments

1277
01:06:59,680 --> 01:07:00,800
Speaker 1: like that.

1278
01:07:00,320 --> 01:07:04,240
Speaker 2: I asked because I remember, like even having like big

1279
01:07:04,280 --> 01:07:06,760
Speaker 2: interviews and things like that. When I say interviews, I mean,

1280
01:07:06,760 --> 01:07:09,600
Speaker 2: like when I was being interviewed for being at companies,

1281
01:07:09,600 --> 01:07:12,280
Speaker 2: which seemed like an important part of my career. At

1282
01:07:12,280 --> 01:07:15,600
Speaker 2: one point, I remember never sleeping well, like the adrenalines

1283
01:07:15,640 --> 01:07:18,320
Speaker 2: in my body and like rehearsing in my head. But

1284
01:07:18,560 --> 01:07:20,760
Speaker 2: it's so important to playing well the next day, to

1285
01:07:20,800 --> 01:07:23,439
Speaker 2: have rest and recovery and everything else. Was there any

1286
01:07:23,520 --> 01:07:26,600
Speaker 2: secret that you found to be able to sleep or

1287
01:07:26,600 --> 01:07:28,160
Speaker 2: at least be energetic the next day.

1288
01:07:28,880 --> 01:07:32,800
Speaker 1: Not really, But I found myself constantly playing the match

1289
01:07:32,840 --> 01:07:36,840
Speaker 1: in my head in my dreams the night before matches.

1290
01:07:37,120 --> 01:07:40,240
Speaker 1: So I felt like when the time actually came, I

1291
01:07:40,280 --> 01:07:43,920
Speaker 1: had already prepared myself for that, and it actually helped

1292
01:07:43,920 --> 01:07:44,880
Speaker 1: me out quite a lot.

1293
01:07:45,000 --> 01:07:48,600
Speaker 2: If someone right now was, you know, going through depression

1294
01:07:48,760 --> 01:07:53,400
Speaker 2: or suffering from a mental health condition, or experiencing something,

1295
01:07:53,400 --> 01:07:56,240
Speaker 2: and they're listening right now, and we know that our

1296
01:07:56,280 --> 01:07:59,720
Speaker 2: audience really turns to us in those times, and so

1297
01:07:59,800 --> 01:08:02,720
Speaker 2: many people have listened to episodes here that have helped

1298
01:08:02,760 --> 01:08:06,320
Speaker 2: them through really difficult times in their life. What would

1299
01:08:06,320 --> 01:08:08,040
Speaker 2: you say to them? What would you share with them?

1300
01:08:08,440 --> 01:08:11,800
Speaker 1: I know I ever claimed to know answers, but I

1301
01:08:11,840 --> 01:08:15,080
Speaker 1: think when I was at really low moments of my life.

1302
01:08:15,160 --> 01:08:19,519
Speaker 1: I always felt like I was alone, So I would say,

1303
01:08:19,800 --> 01:08:23,360
Speaker 1: you're never alone. There's always going to be people that

1304
01:08:23,479 --> 01:08:27,840
Speaker 1: care about you way more than you think. And sometimes

1305
01:08:28,280 --> 01:08:31,400
Speaker 1: I think we hide it so well that we're struggling

1306
01:08:31,479 --> 01:08:35,080
Speaker 1: that they don't even know. So it's okay to ask

1307
01:08:35,200 --> 01:08:37,720
Speaker 1: for help and you shouldn't ever feel shame for that.

1308
01:08:38,840 --> 01:08:41,679
Speaker 2: I love that. Yeah, No, it's it's always helpful hearing

1309
01:08:41,680 --> 01:08:44,640
Speaker 2: it from someone who's been through it, and I know

1310
01:08:44,680 --> 01:08:47,480
Speaker 2: I already appreciates that a lot. Was there any specific

1311
01:08:48,840 --> 01:08:53,400
Speaker 2: healing method or technique or approach that really helped you,

1312
01:08:53,560 --> 01:08:56,840
Speaker 2: especially getting over that shame, that guilt, that feeling you

1313
01:08:56,880 --> 01:08:58,400
Speaker 2: were caring. Was there anything that helped?

1314
01:08:58,720 --> 01:09:02,680
Speaker 1: Honestly, I think just interacting with people. I tend to

1315
01:09:02,680 --> 01:09:06,519
Speaker 1: close myself off a lot, whether it's like being in

1316
01:09:06,520 --> 01:09:11,000
Speaker 1: my room by myself. So yeah, just interacting with people,

1317
01:09:11,160 --> 01:09:15,320
Speaker 1: talking to my sister, and just realizing that there's a

1318
01:09:15,320 --> 01:09:17,280
Speaker 1: lot more to life than I know.

1319
01:09:17,960 --> 01:09:19,720
Speaker 2: A few moments ago, you were talking about how like

1320
01:09:19,720 --> 01:09:24,599
Speaker 2: there was this feeling of, you know, being forgotten and

1321
01:09:24,640 --> 01:09:28,439
Speaker 2: then taking a break. So like having the courage to

1322
01:09:28,479 --> 01:09:30,160
Speaker 2: take a break when you have the fear of being

1323
01:09:30,200 --> 01:09:33,680
Speaker 2: forgotten is probably one of the most courageous acts for

1324
01:09:33,760 --> 01:09:36,600
Speaker 2: anyone in the world, whatever they do. How have you

1325
01:09:36,880 --> 01:09:40,240
Speaker 2: kind of been able to make that decision and been

1326
01:09:40,280 --> 01:09:42,240
Speaker 2: able to reconcile that for yourself.

1327
01:09:42,640 --> 01:09:45,320
Speaker 1: I think it's a process that's kind of been sped

1328
01:09:45,400 --> 01:09:48,600
Speaker 1: up by the events of my life. I feel like

1329
01:09:48,680 --> 01:09:51,640
Speaker 1: those two things are maybe something that should have been

1330
01:09:51,640 --> 01:09:54,760
Speaker 1: spread out throughout years, but I just happen to put

1331
01:09:54,800 --> 01:09:57,920
Speaker 1: it together. I don't know. I've won four Grand Slams,

1332
01:09:57,960 --> 01:10:01,120
Speaker 1: I've been very fortunate to light the Olympic. There's probably

1333
01:10:01,920 --> 01:10:03,840
Speaker 1: some more that my agent wants me to say, but

1334
01:10:04,080 --> 01:10:05,640
Speaker 1: I don't know. Those are the things that come to

1335
01:10:05,680 --> 01:10:09,040
Speaker 1: my mind. And I've in a way accomplished so much

1336
01:10:09,080 --> 01:10:11,080
Speaker 1: more than I thought I would, and I want to

1337
01:10:11,120 --> 01:10:14,400
Speaker 1: accomplish so much more. But at the same time, like

1338
01:10:14,600 --> 01:10:20,679
Speaker 1: I needed to separate myself as a person. I think

1339
01:10:21,439 --> 01:10:23,679
Speaker 1: I told you I've been playing tennis since I was three,

1340
01:10:23,720 --> 01:10:27,200
Speaker 1: so that's the only identity I know of myself, and

1341
01:10:27,280 --> 01:10:29,840
Speaker 1: I needed the break to figure out who I was

1342
01:10:29,880 --> 01:10:32,960
Speaker 1: as a person. And now I hope I do, and

1343
01:10:33,000 --> 01:10:35,479
Speaker 1: I think I do. But I'm able to stand tall

1344
01:10:35,560 --> 01:10:39,280
Speaker 1: and be confident, and I don't know be proud of

1345
01:10:39,280 --> 01:10:39,880
Speaker 1: myself for that.

1346
01:10:40,040 --> 01:10:43,320
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's the greatest accomplishment. I really do.

1347
01:10:43,400 --> 01:10:47,360
Speaker 2: I hearing you speak today, and I'm just so excited

1348
01:10:47,360 --> 01:10:51,000
Speaker 2: for everyone who's going to listen to recognize that the

1349
01:10:51,080 --> 01:10:54,280
Speaker 2: day we're not defined by our careers is It's so

1350
01:10:54,360 --> 01:10:57,680
Speaker 2: interesting how society became defined by what we do at

1351
01:10:57,680 --> 01:11:00,200
Speaker 2: one point, and the question became what do you do?

1352
01:11:00,479 --> 01:11:03,920
Speaker 2: And then that's how we introduced ourselves. And even if

1353
01:11:03,920 --> 01:11:06,720
Speaker 2: you look at last names, at one point, they all

1354
01:11:06,760 --> 01:11:11,439
Speaker 2: became about a career, like Baker and Blacksmith and whatever.

1355
01:11:11,479 --> 01:11:14,400
Speaker 2: All these names became our last names because they were

1356
01:11:14,439 --> 01:11:18,080
Speaker 2: our occupation, and so they became our total identity. And

1357
01:11:18,120 --> 01:11:21,360
Speaker 2: it's so interesting to think about how even in today's society,

1358
01:11:21,479 --> 01:11:25,240
Speaker 2: our worth, our everything is defined by what you do

1359
01:11:25,280 --> 01:11:27,680
Speaker 2: for a living, and so to be able to go

1360
01:11:27,720 --> 01:11:30,400
Speaker 2: beyond that, as young as you are and as early

1361
01:11:30,479 --> 01:11:32,400
Speaker 2: as you are, it's I think it's a really powerful

1362
01:11:32,400 --> 01:11:34,800
Speaker 2: place to be and only good can come from it.

1363
01:11:34,880 --> 01:11:38,000
Speaker 2: So it's pretty remarkable. I love hearing that.

1364
01:11:38,040 --> 01:11:39,200
Speaker 1: Thanks for saying, I'm young.

1365
01:11:41,400 --> 01:11:44,360
Speaker 2: Young. Whereas people making you feel old.

1366
01:11:44,479 --> 01:11:48,800
Speaker 1: You know, maybe I'm making myself feel old. I think

1367
01:11:48,840 --> 01:11:49,360
Speaker 1: that's it.

1368
01:11:49,560 --> 01:11:51,479
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't think, how are you old?

1369
01:11:51,760 --> 01:11:54,240
Speaker 1: I think it's also like growing up in the tennis world,

1370
01:11:54,280 --> 01:11:57,280
Speaker 1: there's always constantly young people coming up, so I start

1371
01:11:57,320 --> 01:11:58,400
Speaker 1: feeling like a grandma.

1372
01:11:58,880 --> 01:12:00,880
Speaker 2: That's a great point. It makes a lot of sense.

1373
01:12:00,920 --> 01:12:03,160
Speaker 2: I feel like, if you're in an industry where everyone's

1374
01:12:03,200 --> 01:12:06,280
Speaker 2: eighteen or nineteen, or I guess in tennis cases like

1375
01:12:06,360 --> 01:12:10,559
Speaker 2: three three, I was like, of course you're gonna feel

1376
01:12:10,600 --> 01:12:13,479
Speaker 2: ancient if everyone's starting at three years old. Name me.

1377
01:12:13,600 --> 01:12:16,120
Speaker 2: It's been such a joy to talk to you today. Honestly,

1378
01:12:16,200 --> 01:12:18,519
Speaker 2: I've loved every moment of it, and I appreciate you

1379
01:12:18,560 --> 01:12:23,000
Speaker 2: being so open and funny and like this conversation was

1380
01:12:23,240 --> 01:12:25,720
Speaker 2: as playful as it was profound, and I loved that.

1381
01:12:25,800 --> 01:12:28,000
Speaker 2: When I felt like we were playing tennis, I was like,

1382
01:12:28,080 --> 01:12:31,040
Speaker 2: you know, I hope so you said I won one rally,

1383
01:12:31,080 --> 01:12:33,640
Speaker 2: So I think you won that one, Okay, all right?

1384
01:12:33,720 --> 01:12:36,880
Speaker 2: On the set, I'm gonna say, I want the set? Yeah, no,

1385
01:12:37,000 --> 01:12:39,559
Speaker 2: I think you won the set. Oh really? Yeahah, I

1386
01:12:39,560 --> 01:12:40,320
Speaker 2: think you won the set.

1387
01:12:40,400 --> 01:12:41,559
Speaker 1: What do you think the score was?

1388
01:12:41,760 --> 01:12:44,559
Speaker 2: Oh? Oh gosh, all right, you know you told me

1389
01:12:44,600 --> 01:12:45,640
Speaker 2: what you think this care was.

1390
01:12:46,479 --> 01:12:49,800
Speaker 1: Let's let's get it really close. Seven to six.

1391
01:12:49,680 --> 01:12:51,400
Speaker 2: Seven six, All right, so you're gonna let me go

1392
01:12:51,600 --> 01:12:53,920
Speaker 2: that far? I like that? Like that. Well, we end

1393
01:12:54,360 --> 01:12:57,160
Speaker 2: every episode with a final five. These questions have to

1394
01:12:57,200 --> 01:13:00,439
Speaker 2: be answered in one word to one sentence maximum, and

1395
01:13:00,479 --> 01:13:03,800
Speaker 2: so Naomi Osaka, these are your final five. The first

1396
01:13:03,840 --> 01:13:06,879
Speaker 2: question is what's the best advice you've ever heard or received?

1397
01:13:07,360 --> 01:13:08,320
Speaker 1: Ah?

1398
01:13:08,600 --> 01:13:09,040
Speaker 2: Wow?

1399
01:13:09,560 --> 01:13:14,120
Speaker 1: Does that count as my answering.

1400
01:13:14,760 --> 01:13:15,080
Speaker 2: Advice?

1401
01:13:15,360 --> 01:13:18,160
Speaker 1: First advice I've ever heard? Just be yourself?

1402
01:13:18,680 --> 01:13:21,160
Speaker 2: Question number two, what's the worst advice you've ever heard

1403
01:13:21,240 --> 01:13:21,759
Speaker 2: or received?

1404
01:13:21,920 --> 01:13:26,479
Speaker 1: Just be yourself? What's the worst advice I've ever heard?

1405
01:13:27,080 --> 01:13:30,640
Speaker 1: It's like when people say just smile, but you know,

1406
01:13:30,760 --> 01:13:35,520
Speaker 1: sometimes I don't want to smile. Sorry, that was no.

1407
01:13:35,040 --> 01:13:38,360
Speaker 2: No, no, I get it. No, it's I understand. It's

1408
01:13:38,479 --> 01:13:41,080
Speaker 2: it's a forced it's a forced emotion. It doesn't work.

1409
01:13:41,120 --> 01:13:44,400
Speaker 2: You can't force either. Question number three, what's something you

1410
01:13:44,520 --> 01:13:46,759
Speaker 2: used to value that you don't value anymore?

1411
01:13:47,439 --> 01:13:51,760
Speaker 1: People's opinions because I think I I don't know. I

1412
01:13:51,880 --> 01:13:56,760
Speaker 1: value my own opinion more, and I think I I

1413
01:13:56,880 --> 01:13:59,960
Speaker 1: might have a better opinion because I'm living my life.

1414
01:14:00,200 --> 01:14:03,200
Speaker 2: So question number four, what are you most excited for

1415
01:14:03,240 --> 01:14:04,320
Speaker 2: in the next twelve months?

1416
01:14:04,520 --> 01:14:08,200
Speaker 1: Seeing my daughter grow and returning and playing on tour

1417
01:14:08,320 --> 01:14:09,560
Speaker 1: to play more tournaments.

1418
01:14:09,960 --> 01:14:12,080
Speaker 2: Which tournament do you get most excited about?

1419
01:14:12,360 --> 01:14:17,120
Speaker 1: Oh? Always the Slams. I feel like they're so special.

1420
01:14:17,360 --> 01:14:19,599
Speaker 2: Yeah, I need to come watch you you Shore, Yeah,

1421
01:14:19,640 --> 01:14:22,679
Speaker 2: I'd love that. That would be awesome. Fifth and final

1422
01:14:22,800 --> 01:14:25,080
Speaker 2: question we asked this to every guest who's ever been

1423
01:14:25,080 --> 01:14:27,880
Speaker 2: on the show. If you could create one law that

1424
01:14:27,960 --> 01:14:29,880
Speaker 2: everyone had to follow, what would it be.

1425
01:14:30,640 --> 01:14:36,600
Speaker 1: Do something good for I guess the younger generation, or

1426
01:14:36,720 --> 01:14:39,200
Speaker 1: do something good for the person coming up after you.

1427
01:14:39,600 --> 01:14:41,840
Speaker 2: That's a great law. I love that. I think you've

1428
01:14:41,880 --> 01:14:47,160
Speaker 2: definitely done that. You've genuinely I ever since I readio

1429
01:14:47,200 --> 01:14:49,840
Speaker 2: op ed and learned about what you were doing to

1430
01:14:49,920 --> 01:14:52,080
Speaker 2: open up about mental health, I was like, I need

1431
01:14:52,120 --> 01:14:54,720
Speaker 2: to meet this human. I was in awe of what

1432
01:14:54,760 --> 01:14:57,519
Speaker 2: you used your platform to do. I think it's been

1433
01:14:58,720 --> 01:15:01,760
Speaker 2: incredible how it's given so many people permission, so many

1434
01:15:01,760 --> 01:15:05,160
Speaker 2: people the opportunity to actually not just smile and share

1435
01:15:05,200 --> 01:15:09,520
Speaker 2: how they actually feel. And I think it's sent ripples

1436
01:15:09,520 --> 01:15:12,479
Speaker 2: into not just the sports world, but beyond. And so

1437
01:15:12,520 --> 01:15:14,920
Speaker 2: I thank you so much for your service and what

1438
01:15:14,920 --> 01:15:16,920
Speaker 2: you've done for so many And I'm so grateful that

1439
01:15:17,520 --> 01:15:20,960
Speaker 2: you allowed me to interview today and thank you so much. Yeah,

1440
01:15:21,479 --> 01:15:24,599
Speaker 2: really appreciate it. If you love this episode, I need

1441
01:15:24,640 --> 01:15:27,439
Speaker 2: you to listen to one of my favorite conversations ever.

1442
01:15:27,840 --> 01:15:30,760
Speaker 2: It's with the one and only Tom Holland on how

1443
01:15:30,800 --> 01:15:35,320
Speaker 2: to overcome your social anxiety, especially in situations where you're

1444
01:15:35,320 --> 01:15:38,800
Speaker 2: not drinking and everyone else is. We talk about his

1445
01:15:38,840 --> 01:15:42,599
Speaker 2: sobriety journey and so much more. He gets really personal.

1446
01:15:42,920 --> 01:15:44,600
Speaker 2: I can't wait for you to hear it. It's going

1447
01:15:44,680 --> 01:15:47,120
Speaker 2: to blow your mind. The quote is, if you have

1448
01:15:47,160 --> 01:15:49,200
Speaker 2: a problem with me, text me. And if you don't

1449
01:15:49,200 --> 01:15:51,200
Speaker 2: have my number, you don't know me well enough to

1450
01:15:51,240 --> 01:15:52,000
Speaker 2: have a problem with me.