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Speaker 1: I lost in the two thousand and nine I think

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Speaker 1: it was a US Open doubles semi final. Anyway, I

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Speaker 1: see Rafa He's doing like sixty five interviews for TV

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Speaker 1: after he lost, and I'm like, yeah, Rafa, because you know,

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Speaker 1: I've had a few, so I'm a little rashirty and

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Speaker 1: I go, hey, Rafah, sorry about your loss. And I

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Speaker 1: put my arm around him like this, like a bad

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Speaker 1: luck man. And he goes and he puts his arm

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Speaker 1: around me and he goes, see for you, doo no,

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Speaker 1: And I was like, yes, a loser today. All right, everybody,

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the French Connection, brought to you by NBC

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Speaker 1: Sports and Racket. We are covering the tennis from the

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Speaker 1: French Open all the way through to the Olympics in Paris,

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Speaker 1: and very excited to bring it to you and everything

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Speaker 1: in between. And of course it's not only me, but

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Speaker 1: it's your guy Sam Query as well. Sam. How's it going.

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Speaker 2: It's going well. At my friend's house recording today. I

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Speaker 2: got some construction at my house with Jack Camerson Trucks,

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Speaker 2: so I'm downstreet recording. It's a little different for me.

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Speaker 1: It's okay. I was going to forgive you for not

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Speaker 1: making your bed. But it's clearly not your bed, it's

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Speaker 1: your friend, so we'll give him a hard time. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: So all right, so Sam, let's get to the burning

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Speaker 1: questions my friend. Round one of a rolling Garris. The

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Speaker 1: French Open is over as of tonight. We just saw

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Speaker 1: Novak Djokovic win. But before we get to Novak, let's

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Speaker 1: talk about the biggest story really at the French Open

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Speaker 1: thus far. Is it the last match we are going

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Speaker 1: to see from Raphael and Nadal? He lost in straight

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Speaker 1: sets to a Zverev. Just, first of all, your thoughts

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Speaker 1: on what you saw from him, what you felt when

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Speaker 1: you were watching him, what you felt after the match.

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Speaker 1: Just give me all the details.

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Speaker 2: Thank it was played great as he lost as Verus,

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Speaker 2: who's one of the favorites to win this tournament rafa.

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Speaker 2: Although it straight sets, it was three competitive sets. He

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Speaker 2: was in there, He was up a break in the

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Speaker 2: second set, but you know at the end when he lost,

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Speaker 2: and we've still got that kind of question mark, is

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Speaker 2: he going to play again? Is he not going to

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Speaker 2: play again? Often doesn't know. As a fan, I want

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Speaker 2: the close. I kind of said that in the last podcast,

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Speaker 2: so I honestly don't know. I don't I'm not swaying

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Speaker 2: one way or the other. If he's going to play

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Speaker 2: the Olympics or play another tennis match. I hope he does.

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Speaker 2: At this point, I kind of I think last week

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Speaker 2: said I want him to finish it at the French Open,

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Speaker 2: but because he doesn't know, I do want him to

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Speaker 2: have that kind of final moment where he knows this

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Speaker 2: is the last match or the last tournament, and I

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Speaker 2: want the fans and the world to also have that

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Speaker 2: moment where they know, this is it. This is the

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Speaker 2: last time we're going to watch him play.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree. I mean, listening to him doing the

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Speaker 1: postmatch interview, it was kind of like, what's he going

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Speaker 1: to say? He did not get emotional, which I thought

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Speaker 1: gave a bit of a telltale sign that this is

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Speaker 1: not the end for him. I think also, Sam, I

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Speaker 1: don't know about how you feel, but I felt like

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Speaker 1: because he played so well. I mean, the dude was

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Speaker 1: up a break serving for the second set, he was

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Speaker 1: up a break in the third. I thought it was

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Speaker 1: the best tennis, without question, that I've seen him play

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Speaker 1: since he's come back from all these horrible injuries over

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Speaker 1: the last couple of years. I think that was part

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Speaker 1: of him during the match, going wait, I've still got

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Speaker 1: something in me. I know, I don't quite have it

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Speaker 1: quite enough yet to beat Literally, as you said, one

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Speaker 1: of the favorites to win the French Open in is

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Speaker 1: verif I having just won the tournament in Rome, he

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Speaker 1: probably is. I mean I already said it. I think

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Speaker 1: he can get to the final. I don't think he's

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Speaker 1: going to win, because I think he's going to you know,

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Speaker 1: I think he chokes like when it really counts. But

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Speaker 1: I just thought that Rufa was just outstanding in the match,

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Speaker 1: and I think it gave him a little bit of

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Speaker 1: life to think, Okay, I can come back for the Olympics.

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Speaker 1: He mentioned he would like to come back and play

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Speaker 1: the Olympics in Paris, which is great news for all

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Speaker 1: of us. But overall, I thought that the level of

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Speaker 1: tennis was fantastic from him.

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Speaker 2: No, you're You're absolutely right, And I think that level

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Speaker 2: is going to be seventy five maybe eighty five percent

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Speaker 2: of the players in that French Open field. And so

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Speaker 2: if he was going into that match thinking oh this

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Speaker 2: is maybe the last one. Maybe not. Even though he lost,

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Speaker 2: I did think it gave him some confidence to kind

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Speaker 2: of say, you know what, there is a little more

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Speaker 2: left in the tank. And moving forward to months of

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Speaker 2: the Olympics, it's two out of three sets. You know,

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Speaker 2: it's a little bit easier for a guy in his position.

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Speaker 2: So and he also might want to go out and

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Speaker 2: play some doubles with Altrez, who the you know, not

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Speaker 2: only one of his best friends, a fellow countryman, so

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Speaker 2: that that could be a special moment as well. So

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Speaker 2: I do think that match, having lost, it sparked a

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Speaker 2: little bit of a second win for him to keep going.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, because listen, I said, we all said that there's

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Speaker 1: no way he's been Zvera. For me, Very was just

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Speaker 1: playing too well over five sets to Rafa hasn't had

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Speaker 1: enough tennis. And as you know Sam a lot more

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Speaker 1: than I do, and playing best of five is not

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Speaker 1: only physically just so difficult, but mentally, you know you

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Speaker 1: have to go. And when he got down those two

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Speaker 1: sets of love, we saw him still try and fight.

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Speaker 1: He was up a break again in the third and

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Speaker 1: then sadly, you know he couldn't get the job done.

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Speaker 1: But you think with a little bit more tennis under

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Speaker 1: his belt, he wins a match like that, and I

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Speaker 1: would never have said that a week ago. So you know,

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Speaker 1: I think him going into Paris, like you said, being

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Speaker 1: best of three sets, I'm gonna say right now that

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Speaker 1: if he stays healthy and he keeps putting the work in,

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Speaker 1: I don't think he's going to play at Wimbledon. I

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Speaker 1: think he probably will stay on the clay. I think

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Speaker 1: it's better for his body, frankly in his foot. I

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Speaker 1: think he'll get enough tennis now hopefully you can play

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Speaker 1: some practice matches against really good players. I mean, what

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Speaker 1: are your thoughts about him maybe coming back in Paris

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Speaker 1: and actually doing really quite well.

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Speaker 2: You know, a little bit of it depends on the draw.

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Speaker 2: Can he avoid playing vera outcast center of these guys

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Speaker 2: in the first round. But if he gets this favorable draw, win's,

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Speaker 2: win's a couple of matches, gets a little confidence, And

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Speaker 2: like I said, it's two out of three. No one

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Speaker 2: wants to see Rafa on the clay. And I think

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Speaker 2: Rafat two at the French Ship and he lost as

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Speaker 2: a bear who's a little bit of a villain. You know,

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Speaker 2: I think if he wants to go out, I hope

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Speaker 2: I personally think he wants that last match to be

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Speaker 2: against v I think he would he would rather lose

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Speaker 2: that last match to someone else. And you know, at

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Speaker 2: this point, I think the world that everyone wants him

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Speaker 2: to be at the Olympics. It's back at Roland garyls

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Speaker 2: and we want to see one last little boost of

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Speaker 2: excitement on the clay from him, which which hopefully get Yeah.

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Speaker 1: I mean I tweeted out a couple of things and

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Speaker 1: one of the things I put on my Instagram was

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Speaker 1: when he did that great jump in the air and

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Speaker 1: he you know, big fist pump to his people. I

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Speaker 1: was like, oh, I'm gonna miss that so much because

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Speaker 1: the thing about Ruffa is that for me, I don't

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Speaker 1: know about you. I mean, it was probably a nightmare

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Speaker 1: playing against him when he was doing it, but I

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Speaker 1: always felt like every point mattered, you know, and you

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Speaker 1: saw the greatness of him with Look at the people

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Speaker 1: that were out there watching him play. I mean, Novak

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Speaker 1: was out there, Alcaraz was out there, Eagers, fion Tek

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Speaker 1: was out there. I mean, you know, Alcaraz and Jocovic.

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Speaker 1: I was surprised. I wasn't surprised to see Ega she

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Speaker 1: had just won. She said she wanted to go watch

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Speaker 1: him Eager's like his biggest fan, and he is her

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Speaker 1: Idol Alcaraz. You probably thought was going to be out there,

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Speaker 1: but I was surprised to see Novak out there.

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Speaker 2: Were you you know, I actually was it. I mean,

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Speaker 2: there've been such amazing rivals, and you know, I do

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Speaker 2: think they're friends as well, and I think he's just

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Speaker 2: showing respect to Ruffa. Novak is the same boat as

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Speaker 2: the rest of us. He doesn't know if that's his

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Speaker 2: last match or not. And if it was his last match,

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Speaker 2: I think Novak would have regretted not going out there

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Speaker 2: to watch one of his greatest rivals, if not his

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Speaker 2: greatest rival over the years. And so I think it

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Speaker 2: was a really kind of touching moment that that Novak

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Speaker 2: went out there and watched it. You know, we'll see

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Speaker 2: if the dog keeps playing and he's at the Olympics plane.

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Speaker 2: I don't know if Novak's going to go out and

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Speaker 2: watch him again. He's kind of now watched that final one.

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Speaker 2: But it was really saying something that that those three

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Speaker 2: players were out there watching. It's a pretty special moment.

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Speaker 1: I think Novak was probably saying, thank God it wasn't

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Speaker 1: me out there first round because he's not playing that

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Speaker 1: well and he didn't look great today, but you probably

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Speaker 1: think he's like, oh, having nightmares about the amount of

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Speaker 1: times that he's lost in Novak on that particular court.

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Speaker 1: So listen, I'm just hoping he comes back in Paris.

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Speaker 1: I'm hoping. You cannot imagine that we see him and

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Speaker 1: Alcharez playing doubles together. If you had a choice, Sam,

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Speaker 1: of who would watch you in your last ever match,

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Speaker 1: who would you want sitting there watching it?

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Speaker 2: You know, I was we're talking tennis players. I'm not

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Speaker 2: going to say the obvious and havy like I want

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Speaker 2: Serena and Vondger all my friends. I'd want Steve Johnson.

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Speaker 2: John isn't the Brian Brothers, you know, Marty, James Blake,

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Speaker 2: Andy Roddick. I just want all those guys in the

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Speaker 2: box with me, all the guys that I was on

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Speaker 2: the tour with for a decade watching me cheer me on.

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Speaker 2: And that's that's how I'd want to go out. What

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Speaker 2: about you?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean that's a great point. I was trying

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Speaker 1: to think about who I want, and you're right, that's

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Speaker 1: exactly who I would want there as well. I would

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Speaker 1: want all my friends on the tour that I've you know,

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Speaker 1: had so much fun with and they become our friends.

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Speaker 1: And that's the thing, you know, as you know, you're

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Speaker 1: out there ten, fifteen, twenty years, including juniors, and these

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Speaker 1: are people that you get to know and you just

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Speaker 1: so happy to see them again. Although I did play

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Speaker 1: one match one time when Martina nav had Loovo was

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Speaker 1: down one end of the court and Chris Evott was

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Speaker 1: down the other a kid you not in Japan and

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Speaker 1: I was playing singles and I thought to myself, are

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Speaker 1: you kidding me? Right now? I am so nervous, and

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Speaker 1: thank god it's one match that I actually won. But

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Speaker 1: but you know, growing up they were like two of

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Speaker 1: my idols, so to like to have them sit watching

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Speaker 1: me play a match. Do you have a quick, a

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Speaker 1: rougher story that you want to put out to people.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I would say my favorite story, it's not so

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Speaker 2: much a story about Rafa. But the first time I

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Speaker 2: played him was the Cincinnati Master Series. This was two

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Speaker 2: thousand and six. I was eighteen, played in the first round.

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Speaker 2: I was in the locker room and I was I

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Speaker 2: was actually chatting with Andy Roddick and Andy like to

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Speaker 2: kind of joke around a lot when he was playing.

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Speaker 2: And remember he said, hey, if you win a set,

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Speaker 2: if you put your racket between your legs and do

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Speaker 2: like the bowl dance all the way to the chair,

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Speaker 2: I'll give you five hundred dollars. And so I'm playing Rafa,

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Speaker 2: and you know, eighteen year old me, I'm, of course

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Speaker 2: I'm not going to beat Rafa. But sure enough, I'm

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Speaker 2: playing Rafa and we're in the first set, we're in

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Speaker 2: a tiebreaker, and then all of a sudden, I'm serving

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Speaker 2: in the tiebreaker six ' five and I start thinking

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Speaker 2: in my head, like, oh, if I win this point,

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Speaker 2: should I do the bull dance? I get five hundred

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Speaker 2: bucks from Rodick. I end up winning the point, and

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Speaker 2: I chickened out doing the bowl dance. I think about

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Speaker 2: it every day since then, for fifteen years. But I

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Speaker 2: remember that was like the first time I played Raffa.

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Speaker 2: I actually won the first set offum, then quickly lost

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Speaker 2: the second, third set, but it was a it was

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Speaker 2: a really funny moment.

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Speaker 1: Oh Sam, that's a great story. I can't believe he

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Speaker 1: didn't do it. It's so unlike you. Come on, you're

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Speaker 1: a guy who's had a horsehead on his head. Come on,

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Speaker 1: this is like.

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Speaker 2: It was like my third tournament I'd ever played. I

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Speaker 2: didn't know what to do and I was I was scared,

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Speaker 2: but we don't want to do it.

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Speaker 1: You didn't want to go down like that.

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Speaker 2: I have.

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Speaker 1: My one story about Rafa. I love him so much.

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Speaker 1: But I lost in the two thousand and nine I

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Speaker 1: think it was a US Open doubles semi final. I

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Speaker 1: was up up a set and it was like two

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Speaker 1: all in the second. We had to come back because

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Speaker 1: it rains. We had to come back the next day

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Speaker 1: and end up losing. And Raffa also lost that same day.

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Speaker 1: And so as you know, after you lose, you got

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Speaker 1: to go into the bathroom and do the old p

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Speaker 1: tests right for the drugs through the drug tests, and

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Speaker 1: so I couldn't go. And I'd had a couple of beers,

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Speaker 1: and you know, I was out of the tournaments, the

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Speaker 1: last Grand Slam of the year, and I was just

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Speaker 1: chugging down beers with some friends and then you know,

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Speaker 1: and then all of a sudden, I was getting a

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Speaker 1: little wasted. I hadn't eaten anything, so I'd had like

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Speaker 1: two beers and I was already like, anyway, I see Rafa,

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Speaker 1: He's doing like sixty five interviews for TV after lost,

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Speaker 1: and then we got up at the same time to

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Speaker 1: walk to transportation at the US Open and I look

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Speaker 1: over and I look at him and I'm like, yeah,

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Speaker 1: raughau because you know, I've had a few so I'm

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Speaker 1: a little shirty, and I go, hey, Rafa, sorry about

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Speaker 1: your loss. And I put my arm around him, like

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Speaker 1: this bad luck man. And he goes and he puts

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Speaker 1: his arm around me and he goes, see for your tour, no,

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Speaker 1: And I was like, yes, I am a loser today.

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Speaker 1: It was just like it was just made It made

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Speaker 1: me love him so much because I'm like, wait, you

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Speaker 1: took an interest in knowing that me, little old me

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Speaker 1: lost a double semi final and you actually knew I lost,

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Speaker 1: And that to me told me so much about him

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Speaker 1: as a person. I just I just love him so much.

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Speaker 2: It's weird. You can have little moments like that in

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Speaker 2: your life and it'll make you a fan forever. A

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Speaker 2: smaller interaction with with whoever in life, and you're a

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Speaker 2: fan for for your lifetime.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. I was like, did you guys see that? I

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Speaker 1: was like drunk, like dribbling all over Rafa and He's

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Speaker 1: like see for your tool. No, and I'm like, yeah,

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Speaker 1: that you haven't had a drinks as I have. Just

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Speaker 1: like adorable, but also just real quick on him. It's

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Speaker 1: just an anecdote about him as a tennis player, just

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Speaker 1: real quick. The Austrain Open that he won against Medvedev.

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Speaker 1: I'll never forget this as long as I live. He

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Speaker 1: was down two sets of love. You were probably watching

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Speaker 1: the match, down two three, looking like he was down

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Speaker 1: and out dead gone take him to the neck, like,

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Speaker 1: put him out of his misery. He's down love forty.

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Speaker 1: On his serve. He wins one point and he pumps

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Speaker 1: his fist and he's like us And I was like,

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Speaker 1: as a player, you and I would have thought this, dude,

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Speaker 1: you're done, Like why are you getting so excited about

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Speaker 1: like winning one point? You're still down love forty. I

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Speaker 1: mean he was fired up, Sam, And guess what. He

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Speaker 1: wins the game, wins the set, comes back and wins

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Speaker 1: the match. And you know what that tells me about him?

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Speaker 1: That's what is rough on adult in a nutshell. He

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Speaker 1: never ever gave up on one point in his entire career,

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Speaker 1: and hopefully it's still not over. But that's what I

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Speaker 1: will always remember about him as a player grit No, I.

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Speaker 2: Believe, and I think everyone that played him remembers in

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Speaker 2: that way. If he played ten million points, he tried

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Speaker 2: hard for ten million points. Yeah, man, I could see there,

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Speaker 2: and you could probably say this too. There's plenty of

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Speaker 2: points where you're receiving the opponent's up five, two forty love,

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Speaker 2: I can miss his return second. That is not in

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Speaker 2: Rosie Dna No. I've said this for a while and

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Speaker 2: I truly believe this. I think Na Doll is maybe

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Speaker 2: the greatest warrior or fighter in all of sports.

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Speaker 1: Yep, yep, doctor.

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Speaker 2: Tennis, football, basketball, basketball. It's just incredible, the fighting spirit

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Speaker 2: he has every second he's on the court.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and I don't know if you ever practiced against him,

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Speaker 1: but that's the one thing that I always tell people.

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Speaker 1: If you want to see something, go watch Raffie on

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Speaker 1: Nadal practice because you've never seen a more intense He

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Speaker 1: reminded me so much of Steffie. STEFFI was the same

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Speaker 1: way from first point to the last point. It was

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Speaker 1: one hundred percent. It wasn't ninety five. It was one

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Speaker 1: hundred percent. And that's why they played the way they

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Speaker 1: did the same way from the first point to the

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Speaker 1: last point, and that to me, he just is the

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Speaker 1: greatest competitor I've ever seen, and he just never and

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Speaker 1: that Australian Open is the epitome of him, because there's

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Speaker 1: no way he had any business winning that match, and

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Speaker 1: he did. And even when he lost his serf serving

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Speaker 1: for the match. You remember, and he said in the

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Speaker 1: press conference afterwards, he said, you know, I thought, oh,

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Speaker 1: I'm going to lose another Australian Open upper break in

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Speaker 1: the fifth. He actually said this out loud, and he'd

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Speaker 1: done it twice. He did it once against Novak and

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Speaker 1: once against Rafa against Roger upper break in the fifth.

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Speaker 1: He lost the match both times, and he remembered in

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Speaker 1: the press conference he said, out loud, I thought I

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Speaker 1: was going to do it again. But I said to myself,

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Speaker 1: he threw the ball back. He double folded to lose

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Speaker 1: the game, and he threw the ball back and he

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Speaker 1: gave a little bit of a nod of his head

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Speaker 1: like this, and he said in the press conference, but

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Speaker 1: you know what I said. I said, I'm going to

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Speaker 1: try now for every point and he has to beat me.

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Speaker 1: And he ended up winning that match. He's just if

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Speaker 1: you could get in the head of a professional tennis

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Speaker 1: player like that, knowing you just think he's always positive,

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Speaker 1: but no, he's not. He actually thought, oh, I'm going

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Speaker 1: to lose again. You would never think he would take

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Speaker 1: it that way, and he does. But he never gives up.

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Speaker 1: And that's the difference.

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Speaker 2: No, And one more quick story. I remember I'm going

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Speaker 2: back maybe two eight and nine. I owed practice of

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Speaker 2: one time and it was at Miami. I remember my

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Speaker 2: coach David Nacoln at the time set up a practice

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Speaker 2: with Rafa for two hours, maybe the most miserable two

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Speaker 2: hours in my tennis career, sweating, everyone is hitting the

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Speaker 2: ball as hard as you can remember walking off the

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Speaker 2: court looking at David taint never book me a practice

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Speaker 2: on the dog end.

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Speaker 1: That was.

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Speaker 2: That was absolute hell. Right there. I've tired, I've adopted,

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Speaker 2: my body is crampy, and I probably went out lost

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Speaker 2: first round. It was just like overwhelmed after the practice

365
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Speaker 2: for two hours.

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Speaker 1: Well there you go. There's there's two or three or

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Speaker 1: four great stories about Ruffa Lndell and why you and

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Speaker 1: I respect and I think he has the respect of

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Speaker 1: one hundred percent of the tennis players in the world.

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Speaker 1: All Right, Let's talk about another player that should deserve

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Speaker 1: as much respects as Rafa has had, and that's Novak Jokovic.

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Speaker 1: He comes into this tournament playing the let's face it,

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Speaker 1: he's having the worst year of his career. He's never

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Speaker 1: hasn't won a tournament this year. He loses early in

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Speaker 1: a lead up two point fifty, coming into it to

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Speaker 1: Mashak win Sidai in strait sets, but still not looking great.

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Speaker 1: And on the opposite end, Janick Sinna looking great. Just

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Speaker 1: your thoughts on both of those two guys, You know, I.

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Speaker 2: Think I had mentioned it last week talking about Novak.

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Speaker 2: He hadn't won a bunch of matches, really had definitely

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Speaker 2: didn't win any tournaments, lost to the opener in Geneva

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Speaker 2: last week. I still thought he was the favorite. Before

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Speaker 2: the tournament started, I was like, I hope plays win it.

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Speaker 2: He his way in, he'll look great. But after watching

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Speaker 2: him today, I know he won in three sets, but

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Speaker 2: I don't think he looked particularly great. And now I'm

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Speaker 2: worried about him. Now I don't see him as one

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Speaker 2: of the top two or three favorites. He just looked

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Speaker 2: a little off. He looked a little slow mentally, he

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Speaker 2: kind of looked frustrated at times, and so he's if

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Speaker 2: he's going to win this tournament, he's got a week

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Speaker 2: here to kind of play two or three matches and

393
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Speaker 2: figure out a way to lock in with his game

394
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Speaker 2: mentally or whatever's going on. But you know, at the moment,

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Speaker 2: he's got some some things to figure out in his mind.

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Speaker 2: And then on the flip side, like you said, Sinner's

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Speaker 2: only played one match. You played Chris Eubanks, who's the

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Speaker 2: American you know, big serve, big ground, shows tough guy

399
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Speaker 2: to play, but took care of him in three sets.

400
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Speaker 2: And Center looks good. Center's the best player in the

401
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Speaker 2: world I think right now in twenty twenty four, and

402
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Speaker 2: he's you know, he's coming in with confidence. He's and

403
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Speaker 2: he's kind of he could be the guy to be

404
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Speaker 2: at the moment. At the French Ship.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean listen, someone asked me, yes, sir, who

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Speaker 1: do you think is gonna win? And honestly, I don't know.

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Speaker 1: It's the first time I can say in the men's

408
00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:33,080
Speaker 1: I really don't know who's gonna win. Look, Cinner is

409
00:17:33,119 --> 00:17:36,520
Speaker 1: not super loves the clay. He plays very well on it.

410
00:17:36,520 --> 00:17:39,399
Speaker 1: Because he plays well on every surface. But you know,

411
00:17:39,520 --> 00:17:42,200
Speaker 1: and Alcarez a little bit injured coming in here, a

412
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Speaker 1: little bit unknown. How's he going to do? He did

413
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Speaker 1: look very good though yesterday so or the day before.

414
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Speaker 1: But I'll tell you what, no, I don't know. I agree,

415
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Speaker 1: I don't think Novak looked well. He did not look

416
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Speaker 1: good today at all. He's got a whole entire new camp,

417
00:17:57,800 --> 00:18:00,440
Speaker 1: the new coaching. I don't even know who he's coaching

418
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Speaker 1: him right now. He's hitting partners now, he's managers, like

419
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Speaker 1: managers are gone, his coaching crew are gone. You look

420
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Speaker 1: up to his box and you're like, who are these guys? So,

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Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know. There's a lot of a

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Speaker 1: lot of questions certainly to be answered for Novak over

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Speaker 1: the next few days. But as look as we all know,

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Speaker 1: if he gets into the second set, a second second set,

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Speaker 1: if he gets into the second week, there's no question

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Speaker 1: that he's probably goes in as the favorite if he

427
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Speaker 1: gets there, because he just knows how to do it.

428
00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:30,560
Speaker 1: And what twenty four times come on ridiculous.

429
00:18:29,920 --> 00:18:32,080
Speaker 2: Right exactly? But the biggest story kind of like you said,

430
00:18:32,119 --> 00:18:33,920
Speaker 2: like on the men's side, I don't know who to

431
00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:37,040
Speaker 2: pick at this point, it's ten to fifteen guys. I

432
00:18:37,080 --> 00:18:39,840
Speaker 2: wouldn't be surprised that if the guy you know in

433
00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:42,440
Speaker 2: the seed it between ten and twenty kind of has

434
00:18:42,440 --> 00:18:45,160
Speaker 2: like a breakout tournament. And when's the French Open. It's

435
00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:47,720
Speaker 2: just it's such an open field right now on the

436
00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:51,200
Speaker 2: men's side, which we haven't had in honestly twenty years.

437
00:18:51,400 --> 00:18:53,399
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you know, Seno and al korizm in the

438
00:18:53,480 --> 00:18:57,560
Speaker 1: same half, so you know, he doesn't have to take

439
00:18:57,600 --> 00:18:59,199
Speaker 1: out both of those guys. And we know how that

440
00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:02,720
Speaker 1: was when it was like Rafa and Novak, or Rafa

441
00:19:02,760 --> 00:19:05,080
Speaker 1: and Roger, one of them had to you know, beat

442
00:19:05,119 --> 00:19:06,480
Speaker 1: each other up to get to the final.

443
00:19:06,560 --> 00:19:08,120
Speaker 2: So that's what's gonna happen, differ.

444
00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:11,200
Speaker 1: And you know, arguably you could say that Alcaz and

445
00:19:11,240 --> 00:19:13,760
Speaker 1: Cinner are the two favorites, you know, really just just

446
00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:15,280
Speaker 1: based on the year that they have and of course

447
00:19:15,320 --> 00:19:18,400
Speaker 1: how well they play on clay, especially Alchurez. But anyway,

448
00:19:18,680 --> 00:19:21,520
Speaker 1: somebody who doesn't necessarily play great on clay but had

449
00:19:21,560 --> 00:19:24,960
Speaker 1: a good, tough, tough three set went against the true

450
00:19:24,960 --> 00:19:29,040
Speaker 1: clay carder is Naomi Osaka. She beat Bronzetti. Bronzetti's had

451
00:19:29,040 --> 00:19:32,480
Speaker 1: some good results on Clay. Naomi comes back and wins

452
00:19:32,480 --> 00:19:34,760
Speaker 1: seven five and the third and now has to play

453
00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:37,600
Speaker 1: against the favorite of the women's draw, egishon Tech talk

454
00:19:37,640 --> 00:19:41,240
Speaker 1: about a popcorn match, but just Naomi Osaka. We remember

455
00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:43,320
Speaker 1: a couple of years ago she pulled the pin on

456
00:19:43,359 --> 00:19:45,080
Speaker 1: the French Open, because this is where all the mental

457
00:19:45,080 --> 00:19:48,399
Speaker 1: health start, you know, conversations started with her in the press.

458
00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:50,320
Speaker 1: But to get through this match, she's in a very

459
00:19:50,320 --> 00:19:53,719
Speaker 1: different place mentally now being a mom. But what are

460
00:19:53,720 --> 00:19:55,600
Speaker 1: you just your thoughts on Naomi.

461
00:19:56,640 --> 00:19:58,400
Speaker 2: It's great to see her back. I mean it's been

462
00:19:58,640 --> 00:20:01,440
Speaker 2: a couple of years now, and not only have her back,

463
00:20:01,480 --> 00:20:03,760
Speaker 2: but to like battle through that first round. It's cool

464
00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:06,760
Speaker 2: to see her fight through some adversity and pull out

465
00:20:06,760 --> 00:20:10,520
Speaker 2: a tough three setter. Unfortunately, she's rewarded with with egas

466
00:20:10,520 --> 00:20:14,080
Speaker 2: find c Tech uh guard in the next round, which

467
00:20:14,119 --> 00:20:16,560
Speaker 2: which is a little unfair. And I know you said

468
00:20:16,640 --> 00:20:19,359
Speaker 2: it's a popcor match. It's not a popcor match. EGA

469
00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:22,480
Speaker 2: is a heavy favorite in that, but it's still a

470
00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:24,919
Speaker 2: really cool match on paper. It's going to be an

471
00:20:24,920 --> 00:20:28,639
Speaker 2: awesome match for the fans to go watch tomorrow. You

472
00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:30,919
Speaker 2: know you've got You've got two huge names playing in

473
00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:34,160
Speaker 2: the second round, and I hope Naomi comes and plays well.

474
00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:36,840
Speaker 2: I hope it's a competitive match and we can all

475
00:20:36,920 --> 00:20:37,320
Speaker 2: enjoy it.

476
00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:40,919
Speaker 1: Listen, I I'm going to say that this is going

477
00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:43,560
Speaker 1: to be more competitive than we realize, and a lot

478
00:20:43,560 --> 00:20:45,399
Speaker 1: of reasons for it. I think is going to be

479
00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:47,480
Speaker 1: very nervous. She knows that this is probably going to

480
00:20:47,520 --> 00:20:49,160
Speaker 1: be her toughest match for a while because a lot

481
00:20:49,160 --> 00:20:51,040
Speaker 1: of the seeds in her section of the draw, some

482
00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:54,479
Speaker 1: that give her some issues are gone. They've lost, so

483
00:20:54,560 --> 00:20:56,560
Speaker 1: in her section of the draw it's become very wide

484
00:20:56,600 --> 00:21:01,680
Speaker 1: open for her. Even though technically links everybody she should win.

485
00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:06,360
Speaker 1: But Naomi's just then she's a little bit different. Right.

486
00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:09,360
Speaker 1: We're talking at a huge server. So if she serves

487
00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:13,159
Speaker 1: well and gets her serving to hit her spots and

488
00:21:13,240 --> 00:21:16,159
Speaker 1: can crush the next ball, Eager's movement clearly is going

489
00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:18,160
Speaker 1: to run down a lot of those. But I don't

490
00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:21,119
Speaker 1: know if Ega doesn't serve well. If I'm Naomi, I'm

491
00:21:21,160 --> 00:21:23,800
Speaker 1: going into that with zero expectation. I'm going in with

492
00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:27,439
Speaker 1: zero pressure, and Eager is going in with all the pressure,

493
00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:30,240
Speaker 1: all of the expectation, So I don't know. I mean,

494
00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:33,560
Speaker 1: she doesn't play well enough on clay or move well

495
00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:36,679
Speaker 1: enough on clay to really threaten someone like Eager, but

496
00:21:36,800 --> 00:21:40,680
Speaker 1: you just never know, and she's beaten Eager before, so

497
00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:42,240
Speaker 1: I don't know. I think it's not going to be

498
00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:44,480
Speaker 1: as easy as everyone thinks. But look at this win

499
00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:48,800
Speaker 1: consecutive matches now just for Eagerson Tech. I mean, she's

500
00:21:49,119 --> 00:21:51,800
Speaker 1: starting to climb into that echellance of you know, justin

501
00:21:51,920 --> 00:21:55,159
Speaker 1: Ennan who was so dominant at the French Open and

502
00:21:55,240 --> 00:21:59,000
Speaker 1: many many years ago, but Easyontech as we've already mentioned,

503
00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:01,680
Speaker 1: just so good on the on the red dirt and Paris.

504
00:22:01,720 --> 00:22:03,480
Speaker 1: But this is going to be a more interesting match,

505
00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:04,880
Speaker 1: and I think I think.

506
00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:07,199
Speaker 2: You do, yeah, you know. I look, I'm still I

507
00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:09,440
Speaker 2: think he's going to win it. But it is one

508
00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:11,960
Speaker 2: of those weird times where we've got someone in Osaka

509
00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:15,399
Speaker 2: has been learning the world multiple Grand Stamps, and they're like,

510
00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:18,000
Speaker 2: there's no pressure on her, so she she can swing

511
00:22:18,040 --> 00:22:20,399
Speaker 2: out and swing free and connect on some early. It

512
00:22:21,160 --> 00:22:24,159
Speaker 2: could be a mess, but I'm definitely, you know, I

513
00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:26,719
Speaker 2: think he is the heavy favorite, and you see that

514
00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:29,000
Speaker 2: the stats were putting up here. She's trying to join

515
00:22:29,040 --> 00:22:31,960
Speaker 2: and take Monica Selle, who won three French Opens in

516
00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:34,240
Speaker 2: a row. We got Chris Everett who's won back to

517
00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:36,439
Speaker 2: back and then made the semi finals a couple of times,

518
00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:40,520
Speaker 2: and and up here with she's now high Justine Hennan

519
00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:44,679
Speaker 2: with her, with her matches, with her consecutive matches won

520
00:22:44,720 --> 00:22:47,200
Speaker 2: at Rolling Girl. So she is she is the rafi

521
00:22:47,280 --> 00:22:49,840
Speaker 2: on the doll on the female side right now. And uh,

522
00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:51,920
Speaker 2: she's playing incredible.

523
00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:56,239
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's uh. I remember Henan so well, and they

524
00:22:56,280 --> 00:22:57,840
Speaker 1: kind of remind me a little bit of each other.

525
00:22:57,880 --> 00:22:59,919
Speaker 1: They're a little introverted, little quiet, but my god, the

526
00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:04,200
Speaker 1: movement from Hennan on the clay court was so unreal,

527
00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:06,840
Speaker 1: very much like stephie Grapp. But one person that didn't

528
00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:09,879
Speaker 1: move like tremendously well on clay was Monica sell Us.

529
00:23:09,920 --> 00:23:13,200
Speaker 1: But Monica just dominated so much on that surface. So yeah,

530
00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:16,280
Speaker 1: you're right, we're talking about getting into the upper echelance

531
00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:20,880
Speaker 1: of Hennan, Sallas, Chrissy Evertt, like players that just love

532
00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:23,840
Speaker 1: and as you know, Sam, when you love a certain surface,

533
00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:26,040
Speaker 1: you just get to it and you just play so well.

534
00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:29,000
Speaker 1: Somebody that she might have to play up in the final,

535
00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:30,920
Speaker 1: and they've played each other a couple of big finals

536
00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:34,000
Speaker 1: this year, already clearly in Madrid and rome Is Arena,

537
00:23:34,040 --> 00:23:36,840
Speaker 1: Sabalanka and saba Anka had a pretty comfortable win over

538
00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:40,919
Speaker 1: the younger Andreva sister. I mean, I don't know. I mean,

539
00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:43,119
Speaker 1: we've talked about saba Anka. You know, I don't know

540
00:23:43,119 --> 00:23:45,360
Speaker 1: what you thought about her tennis, but she looked very

541
00:23:45,359 --> 00:23:48,720
Speaker 1: comfortable out there. I mean, do you think that she's

542
00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:50,479
Speaker 1: the player to beat on the bottom half of the draw.

543
00:23:52,040 --> 00:23:54,040
Speaker 2: I do. It's maybe a little you know, look, we're

544
00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:56,399
Speaker 2: one round into this event, so I need I need

545
00:23:56,440 --> 00:23:59,480
Speaker 2: to see another round and maybe maybe a third round,

546
00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:02,199
Speaker 2: but yeah, I think right now she's she deserves to

547
00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:04,000
Speaker 2: be the player to beat in the bottom half, and

548
00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:06,480
Speaker 2: coming in today it's the first round match. She looked

549
00:24:06,480 --> 00:24:09,560
Speaker 2: good six one, six two. Watching the match, she dominated

550
00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:11,800
Speaker 2: from both sides of the court, I mean, and the

551
00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:14,760
Speaker 2: three games she lost were games honestly she lost on

552
00:24:14,960 --> 00:24:19,320
Speaker 2: errors from herself. So she she's maybe the biggest hitter

553
00:24:19,400 --> 00:24:21,800
Speaker 2: on the on the woman's side, and uh, you know,

554
00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:23,639
Speaker 2: a match like this is going to give her a

555
00:24:23,640 --> 00:24:26,919
Speaker 2: little confidence going to the next round. And so you know,

556
00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:28,840
Speaker 2: I can't say yet, but I do think she is

557
00:24:28,840 --> 00:24:30,360
Speaker 2: the player to be on the bottom.

558
00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:32,760
Speaker 1: Half right now. Yeah, I think because of her just

559
00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:35,200
Speaker 1: her ability at grantsame level over the last couple of years.

560
00:24:35,200 --> 00:24:36,960
Speaker 1: She sort of stumbled at the semi finals for a

561
00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:39,440
Speaker 1: number of years and now she gets going. But let's

562
00:24:39,480 --> 00:24:47,000
Speaker 1: look at the average fourhand speed. That is really ridiculous. Okay,

563
00:24:47,119 --> 00:24:52,280
Speaker 1: because Janick Sinner smashes the forehand, we have to let's

564
00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:56,640
Speaker 1: let's give a little bit of you know, context here.

565
00:24:57,840 --> 00:25:01,040
Speaker 1: There's no question that Sabalanca doesn't pull anything back like

566
00:25:01,119 --> 00:25:03,560
Speaker 1: she hits it every time as hard as she can.

567
00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:06,800
Speaker 1: Where Sinners probably rolling if you rolling a few rolling

568
00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:10,080
Speaker 1: a few bang right, so explain to people at home.

569
00:25:10,119 --> 00:25:13,320
Speaker 1: Maybe that's part of this. But still that's incredible.

570
00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:16,600
Speaker 2: It's still a stat that you rarely ever see. And

571
00:25:16,600 --> 00:25:18,600
Speaker 2: I'd love to see this stat after the second round

572
00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:20,760
Speaker 2: and the third round to see if that, you know,

573
00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:23,760
Speaker 2: if that hole and even I'm sure over time Sinner

574
00:25:24,119 --> 00:25:26,639
Speaker 2: might increase his pace, Sablenca might come down. But if

575
00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:29,960
Speaker 2: she's within five to ten you know, miles an hour

576
00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:33,000
Speaker 2: or kilometers an hour, that's impressive. And she's hitting the

577
00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:35,680
Speaker 2: ball so much harder than her female counterparts right now,

578
00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:37,879
Speaker 2: and she just she can go out there and overpower

579
00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:38,680
Speaker 2: the rest of the field.

580
00:25:39,440 --> 00:25:41,640
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's sort of lived by the sword, die by

581
00:25:41,640 --> 00:25:45,240
Speaker 1: the sword. With Sablenka, it's sometimes I sit there watching her,

582
00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:47,240
Speaker 1: you know, I put my coach's head on her arms,

583
00:25:47,240 --> 00:25:51,120
Speaker 1: just like, oh, why why that shot? You don't need

584
00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:53,880
Speaker 1: to hit it one hundred miles an hour, like down

585
00:25:53,920 --> 00:25:55,720
Speaker 1: the line when you had the whole line open, you

586
00:25:55,760 --> 00:25:57,600
Speaker 1: could have just rolled it in. But she has to

587
00:25:57,680 --> 00:26:00,720
Speaker 1: smash it. And sometimes I'm like why, and then she'll miss,

588
00:26:00,760 --> 00:26:02,480
Speaker 1: and then she'll hit two or three back to back,

589
00:26:02,520 --> 00:26:06,760
Speaker 1: and I'm like, Okay, I get it. For me, that

590
00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:10,000
Speaker 1: would be a really hard one like to coach. But anyway,

591
00:26:10,119 --> 00:26:12,159
Speaker 1: all right, so somebody that was also a little bit

592
00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:14,000
Speaker 1: hard to coach right now, and she has had a

593
00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:20,200
Speaker 1: coaching change. A little backstory. I was, you know, contemplating

594
00:26:20,200 --> 00:26:23,840
Speaker 1: that situation and was us also to maybe work with

595
00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:28,240
Speaker 1: Maria Sakary, But she had a coaching change David Witt.

596
00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:31,159
Speaker 1: They had a great start Indian Wells made the final,

597
00:26:31,240 --> 00:26:34,119
Speaker 1: but she's struggled a little bit since then. And another

598
00:26:34,520 --> 00:26:39,040
Speaker 1: another I think this is her fourth in five Grand slams.

599
00:26:39,040 --> 00:26:41,280
Speaker 1: She's lost in the first round and this is not

600
00:26:41,480 --> 00:26:44,439
Speaker 1: a good loss. Good Chamber has moved on from being

601
00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:46,880
Speaker 1: Russian to French. She's been training in France for about

602
00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:49,919
Speaker 1: I think about seven years now, so she's kind of

603
00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:54,159
Speaker 1: feels very French and she's changed her flag to be French,

604
00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:57,520
Speaker 1: so she was playing a French player. But Sakari losing,

605
00:26:57,640 --> 00:27:00,320
Speaker 1: I mean, that's that's not a good loss. And just

606
00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:03,399
Speaker 1: she looks so, I don't know, anxious on the court.

607
00:27:03,480 --> 00:27:05,679
Speaker 1: I mean, Sam, listen, if you're opposite, you tell me this.

608
00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:08,600
Speaker 1: You're up a set, you go four all in the

609
00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:11,480
Speaker 1: second you're down fifteen thirty on your surf, she hits

610
00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:13,960
Speaker 1: a good serve down the tee. It's thirty all. Now

611
00:27:14,040 --> 00:27:16,320
Speaker 1: you are in control of that match, right, You're in

612
00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:18,800
Speaker 1: control of the game. You're in control of the match

613
00:27:18,800 --> 00:27:21,960
Speaker 1: at this point. And she screams after winning that point,

614
00:27:22,440 --> 00:27:25,560
Speaker 1: come on like as loud as like yeah, And I

615
00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:29,159
Speaker 1: was like, calm down. I was like, why are you

616
00:27:29,240 --> 00:27:32,480
Speaker 1: letting you? All I see there as an opponent or

617
00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:35,240
Speaker 1: as a coach is go, oh, there's anxiety there. I'm

618
00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:37,600
Speaker 1: still in this match. Like, would you ever in your

619
00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:38,800
Speaker 1: mind react like that?

620
00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:41,879
Speaker 2: No, you're absolutely right. It's almost like she's trying to

621
00:27:41,920 --> 00:27:44,879
Speaker 2: scream her way through the match or force some energy

622
00:27:44,920 --> 00:27:47,160
Speaker 2: that she doesn't have, and you're right, it's an anxiety

623
00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:50,159
Speaker 2: driven kind of come on, and she struggled. I think

624
00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:52,560
Speaker 2: I saw the Grand Slam. She's seven and nine in

625
00:27:52,600 --> 00:27:55,960
Speaker 2: the last nine Grand Slams. She's played it for someone

626
00:27:56,000 --> 00:27:58,680
Speaker 2: who's been in the top ten for a handful of year.

627
00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:01,160
Speaker 2: She's on the Netflix, so she's got a cool look.

628
00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:04,440
Speaker 2: She's so likable. You know, fans want her to do well.

629
00:28:04,440 --> 00:28:07,840
Speaker 2: They're cheering for, and it's you know, I feel for

630
00:28:08,040 --> 00:28:10,000
Speaker 2: right now because I know at this point it's probably

631
00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:12,800
Speaker 2: something she's thinking about as well. She knows her record

632
00:28:12,800 --> 00:28:14,840
Speaker 2: at the Grand Slam and how poorly she's done, and

633
00:28:15,280 --> 00:28:17,240
Speaker 2: the Slams is kind of where you make a name

634
00:28:17,280 --> 00:28:19,920
Speaker 2: for yourself. So you know, she's got to sit down

635
00:28:19,960 --> 00:28:22,159
Speaker 2: with David Witt and they've got to get her in

636
00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:25,040
Speaker 2: the right mental space for Wimbledon and the US Open

637
00:28:25,080 --> 00:28:27,760
Speaker 2: and then for twenty twenty five, because she's proved she

638
00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:30,920
Speaker 2: can play well and win tournaments at the levels below

639
00:28:30,960 --> 00:28:33,600
Speaker 2: the Slams, but she's got to step up and get

640
00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:36,040
Speaker 2: some big wins and make some runs to do Grand slams.

641
00:28:36,640 --> 00:28:39,480
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I mean I want people to understand, like saying,

642
00:28:39,560 --> 00:28:41,960
Speaker 1: come on, it's really important to let your opponents sort

643
00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:44,920
Speaker 1: of know that you're in this match your focus like

644
00:28:45,080 --> 00:28:47,920
Speaker 1: Rapha does you know? Or Novak or But you've got

645
00:28:47,960 --> 00:28:50,040
Speaker 1: to be selective when there's the time that you let

646
00:28:50,040 --> 00:28:52,840
Speaker 1: them know you are here to play, right, But when

647
00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:54,600
Speaker 1: you hit some down the te to go thirty all

648
00:28:54,640 --> 00:28:56,520
Speaker 1: ofp a set in four roll, it's just like, yeah, routine,

649
00:28:56,560 --> 00:28:57,840
Speaker 1: I'm going to win this game and I'm going to

650
00:28:57,880 --> 00:29:00,440
Speaker 1: break you. Like that's the way I would think mentally,

651
00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:03,880
Speaker 1: you might be you know, I can't say the word

652
00:29:03,880 --> 00:29:06,640
Speaker 1: on TV can crap in yourself basically, I mean, you

653
00:29:07,080 --> 00:29:08,920
Speaker 1: have to let everyone know that you're in control. And

654
00:29:08,960 --> 00:29:11,600
Speaker 1: that's what frustrates me about watching her is that she

655
00:29:11,800 --> 00:29:14,520
Speaker 1: just never looks like she's fully calm and in control

656
00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:17,080
Speaker 1: of the situation, much like I feel like Novak has

657
00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:18,600
Speaker 1: to get to. He doesn't look like he's sort of

658
00:29:18,600 --> 00:29:21,000
Speaker 1: walking out there with his shoulders back like, yeah, remember

659
00:29:21,040 --> 00:29:22,680
Speaker 1: who I am, I'm the best in the world. He's

660
00:29:22,720 --> 00:29:25,400
Speaker 1: looking a little bit like, oh gosh, I'm sure of himself.

661
00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:28,400
Speaker 1: So I don't know, we'll see where Marie Goes. But

662
00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:30,760
Speaker 1: if I was coaching her, I would implement more of

663
00:29:30,800 --> 00:29:33,479
Speaker 1: a slice backhand because she does not like hit her

664
00:29:33,520 --> 00:29:35,720
Speaker 1: back end down the line, and there's times where she's

665
00:29:35,720 --> 00:29:37,840
Speaker 1: in trouble and I can see she wants to change directions.

666
00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:39,280
Speaker 1: She tries to hit the back end two hand to

667
00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:41,960
Speaker 1: down the line on the dumbest times, and I'm like,

668
00:29:42,040 --> 00:29:43,960
Speaker 1: just slice it down there if you want to, if

669
00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:46,640
Speaker 1: you want to move the ball over the side, change

670
00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:48,640
Speaker 1: the direction with a slice. But anyway, that's a whole

671
00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:51,360
Speaker 1: different story. Two guys that you've probably played against more

672
00:29:51,360 --> 00:29:55,320
Speaker 1: times than definitely me a Stan Favrinka and Andy Murray

673
00:29:55,320 --> 00:29:57,600
Speaker 1: stand look great. He just crushed Andy out there. Just

674
00:29:58,200 --> 00:29:59,960
Speaker 1: you think there's a Do you think there's luck run

675
00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:02,960
Speaker 1: in Stan? No?

676
00:30:03,400 --> 00:30:05,000
Speaker 2: I mean I run and maybe we can make the

677
00:30:05,040 --> 00:30:08,360
Speaker 2: third round, fourth round. He looked great, I'll give you that,

678
00:30:08,960 --> 00:30:11,120
Speaker 2: But I think Murray made him look good too. You know,

679
00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:12,720
Speaker 2: Murray's one of those guys right now. He doesn't have

680
00:30:12,760 --> 00:30:14,720
Speaker 2: a lot of pop on his ball. He's just kind

681
00:30:14,720 --> 00:30:17,240
Speaker 2: of massauaging the ball around, and Stan is just stepping

682
00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:20,840
Speaker 2: in just going after these backhands like kind of Murray

683
00:30:20,840 --> 00:30:25,240
Speaker 2: made him look like twenty sixteen, Stan Wall Rinka. But

684
00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:27,400
Speaker 2: it is cool. It is cool to see him out

685
00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:29,440
Speaker 2: It's cool to see La Rinka and Murray. And you've

686
00:30:29,440 --> 00:30:32,160
Speaker 2: got Mulci and you've got gas Gay. You've got these

687
00:30:32,200 --> 00:30:34,920
Speaker 2: guys that have, like you know, been in the game

688
00:30:35,040 --> 00:30:40,280
Speaker 2: for seventeen eighteen years and they're still battling. But you know,

689
00:30:40,640 --> 00:30:43,200
Speaker 2: it's a tough first round. Both those guys are you know,

690
00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:45,200
Speaker 2: going to be in the Hall of Fame. Stan got

691
00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:47,640
Speaker 2: the best of Andy here. I hope he wins another

692
00:30:48,440 --> 00:30:50,320
Speaker 2: match or two. I hope he's competitive. I know he

693
00:30:50,360 --> 00:30:53,440
Speaker 2: loves the French Open, but I don't know what you thought.

694
00:30:53,520 --> 00:30:55,240
Speaker 2: I don't think he can make a run, but it

695
00:30:55,280 --> 00:30:56,240
Speaker 2: was fun to see him out there.

696
00:30:56,720 --> 00:30:58,960
Speaker 1: Yeah, come on, I just I love stand so much.

697
00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:00,960
Speaker 1: And I mean as a one handed back end player,

698
00:31:01,480 --> 00:31:03,160
Speaker 1: we just need to see that one hander for a

699
00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:05,960
Speaker 1: few just at least at least two or three more

700
00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:09,000
Speaker 1: matches and if he gets going, you know that. I

701
00:31:09,440 --> 00:31:11,720
Speaker 1: hope he preached you wrong too. I should have should

702
00:31:11,720 --> 00:31:13,240
Speaker 1: have looked to see who he played in the second round.

703
00:31:13,240 --> 00:31:15,320
Speaker 1: But maybe someone can tell us that. But let's hope

704
00:31:15,360 --> 00:31:16,440
Speaker 1: he can have a bit of a run for the

705
00:31:16,480 --> 00:31:18,360
Speaker 1: old guy because he's the oldest one in the tournament.

706
00:31:18,640 --> 00:31:21,600
Speaker 1: I believe on the men's side that's left, so that'd

707
00:31:21,600 --> 00:31:25,120
Speaker 1: be great. And you mentioned gas and Montfee. How great

708
00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:27,520
Speaker 1: was it to see those two French players just battling

709
00:31:27,520 --> 00:31:30,120
Speaker 1: it out. They're two great guys. I mean gas k

710
00:31:31,320 --> 00:31:33,280
Speaker 1: you know, talk about one of the great one handers.

711
00:31:33,320 --> 00:31:36,560
Speaker 1: And then Gaye Montfez. Montfez had a great win on

712
00:31:36,800 --> 00:31:40,760
Speaker 1: center court last night against Sivolf veg Or however you

713
00:31:40,800 --> 00:31:43,400
Speaker 1: say it. That was a really good win against him

714
00:31:43,400 --> 00:31:46,440
Speaker 1: because that guy can play, that's for sure, but he

715
00:31:46,480 --> 00:31:47,520
Speaker 1: gets to play center next.

716
00:31:47,640 --> 00:31:49,600
Speaker 2: Sorry, I know it was a great one. I was

717
00:31:49,640 --> 00:31:51,800
Speaker 2: actually looking up gas gayiels like I feel like gas

718
00:31:51,840 --> 00:31:54,440
Speaker 2: Gay played the French Open twenty times. I think I

719
00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:56,640
Speaker 2: saw he got a wild card in two thousand and two,

720
00:31:57,520 --> 00:31:59,640
Speaker 2: so he missed it two years, but I believe this

721
00:31:59,680 --> 00:32:03,600
Speaker 2: is his twentieth maybe twenty first French Open. But it's

722
00:32:03,640 --> 00:32:06,200
Speaker 2: especially fun to see gas Gay and want Fee because

723
00:32:06,200 --> 00:32:09,160
Speaker 2: they are guys that they're just the crowds love them forever.

724
00:32:09,680 --> 00:32:12,640
Speaker 2: They're French players, they act French, they play French, they

725
00:32:12,680 --> 00:32:16,960
Speaker 2: engage with the crowd's acting French. Main do you they hit.

726
00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:20,760
Speaker 2: You know, moste wants to, you know, play entertaining shots.

727
00:32:20,760 --> 00:32:23,600
Speaker 2: Sometimes I feel like he's willing to sacrifice games and

728
00:32:23,680 --> 00:32:27,360
Speaker 2: points to gain the crowd, and gas Gay on the

729
00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:29,520
Speaker 2: other side, on the other hand, doesn't necessarily do that.

730
00:32:29,680 --> 00:32:33,920
Speaker 2: But he's got that shoutiful one handed backhand. He kind

731
00:32:33,960 --> 00:32:35,720
Speaker 2: of plays in a style that I feel like the

732
00:32:35,800 --> 00:32:38,680
Speaker 2: French crowd like kind of relates to and likes to watch.

733
00:32:39,280 --> 00:32:41,200
Speaker 2: And so it's fun to see both of them kind

734
00:32:41,200 --> 00:32:42,880
Speaker 2: of have one. I don't know if it's one last run.

735
00:32:42,920 --> 00:32:45,040
Speaker 2: They have announced their retirement, but it's fun to see

736
00:32:45,080 --> 00:32:48,200
Speaker 2: him out there winning matches and he plays center, you know,

737
00:32:48,240 --> 00:32:49,800
Speaker 2: gas Gay plays center on the next round, which is

738
00:32:49,840 --> 00:32:52,320
Speaker 2: going to be tough. But gat Gabe played great at

739
00:32:52,320 --> 00:32:54,840
Speaker 2: the French Open for like I said, twenty years and

740
00:32:54,920 --> 00:32:57,040
Speaker 2: if he plays all right, he can't make that a

741
00:32:57,040 --> 00:32:57,520
Speaker 2: fun match.

742
00:32:57,960 --> 00:32:59,560
Speaker 1: Yeah, he'll make it a fun match, but he's going

743
00:32:59,600 --> 00:33:03,040
Speaker 1: down right, but mafis he let's you know, that guy

744
00:33:03,040 --> 00:33:05,880
Speaker 1: can beat anyone on any given day, if not the

745
00:33:05,880 --> 00:33:09,480
Speaker 1: best athlete we've ever seen play tennis. And just by

746
00:33:09,560 --> 00:33:12,800
Speaker 1: the way Stan plays stand plays Pavel Kotov.

747
00:33:14,160 --> 00:33:15,640
Speaker 2: That's all right. I've taken a stand in that.

748
00:33:16,200 --> 00:33:19,560
Speaker 1: There you go, see we still got it. Come on,

749
00:33:19,640 --> 00:33:23,040
Speaker 1: come on, another oldie. That's another oldie that finally that

750
00:33:23,200 --> 00:33:25,800
Speaker 1: won a match as well. On a surfer that's not

751
00:33:25,920 --> 00:33:29,320
Speaker 1: really known to win is Kay Nisher Kory. He won

752
00:33:29,400 --> 00:33:34,520
Speaker 1: his first Grand Slam in three years. I mean, that's insane.

753
00:33:34,560 --> 00:33:36,280
Speaker 1: We know he's been injured, he's had to deal with

754
00:33:36,400 --> 00:33:38,880
Speaker 1: all of that, but to win seven five in the

755
00:33:38,920 --> 00:33:43,400
Speaker 1: fifth set, talk about earning it. My gosh, way to go. Okay, no,

756
00:33:43,600 --> 00:33:44,040
Speaker 1: it's great.

757
00:33:44,080 --> 00:33:46,200
Speaker 2: Like you said, we haven't seen him in three years.

758
00:33:45,960 --> 00:33:49,400
Speaker 2: He's had some terrible luck with injuries. But to h

759
00:33:49,960 --> 00:33:51,640
Speaker 2: to come out the French Open. Have you not played

760
00:33:51,640 --> 00:33:53,400
Speaker 2: a you know, a Slam or a big match in

761
00:33:53,440 --> 00:33:55,720
Speaker 2: three years and went up seven to five and the fifth.

762
00:33:57,080 --> 00:33:59,280
Speaker 1: He feeling today? I wonder how he's feeling today.

763
00:33:59,680 --> 00:34:01,280
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'll see how he does him the next round.

764
00:34:01,320 --> 00:34:04,560
Speaker 2: But he's he's got an incredible five set record. He's

765
00:34:04,600 --> 00:34:07,840
Speaker 2: twenty eight and seven right now in five setters. It's

766
00:34:07,880 --> 00:34:11,360
Speaker 2: the best record amongst like active men that are playing.

767
00:34:11,400 --> 00:34:14,920
Speaker 2: So I don't know what it is that k can

768
00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:17,680
Speaker 2: do mentally in the fifth sets. Whatever he's doing, he's

769
00:34:17,680 --> 00:34:19,719
Speaker 2: done it incredibly well over his career, and he's got

770
00:34:19,719 --> 00:34:20,839
Speaker 2: a tremendous fit set record.

771
00:34:21,360 --> 00:34:23,120
Speaker 1: Yeah, how many times did you play k.

772
00:34:25,280 --> 00:34:27,480
Speaker 3: You know, I'm kind of guessing. I feel like I've

773
00:34:27,480 --> 00:34:30,839
Speaker 3: played him like six times, and I was probably tell

774
00:34:30,840 --> 00:34:33,200
Speaker 3: me his favorite, like the best thing that he does.

775
00:34:34,840 --> 00:34:38,160
Speaker 3: He just he can go fourhand to forehand or backhand

776
00:34:38,160 --> 00:34:40,399
Speaker 3: to backhand with anyone. He's the guy that can lock

777
00:34:40,480 --> 00:34:43,480
Speaker 3: in backhand cross courts. Oh, I need to make forty

778
00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:45,200
Speaker 3: in a row, I can do that. I need to

779
00:34:45,239 --> 00:34:47,640
Speaker 3: make forty four hands in a row, I can do that.

780
00:34:47,680 --> 00:34:50,360
Speaker 3: So we just kind of in a way like Raffie,

781
00:34:50,360 --> 00:34:50,880
Speaker 3: he makes.

782
00:34:50,680 --> 00:34:53,200
Speaker 2: You work really hard for every point, and he's just

783
00:34:53,239 --> 00:34:55,799
Speaker 2: such a clean ball striker and can just go toe

784
00:34:55,840 --> 00:34:58,520
Speaker 2: to toe. You know, it's pretty much anyone in the world.

785
00:34:59,160 --> 00:35:01,200
Speaker 1: Well, just so you know, you played him eleven times

786
00:35:01,600 --> 00:35:06,200
Speaker 1: and you lost. You won four and you lost seven.

787
00:35:07,960 --> 00:35:10,480
Speaker 2: Look, I wasn't prepared for that question. What did I say, sick,

788
00:35:10,520 --> 00:35:12,240
Speaker 2: those two and six, those four and seven.

789
00:35:12,719 --> 00:35:14,160
Speaker 1: I'll tell you what you did. You blocked out the

790
00:35:14,200 --> 00:35:17,960
Speaker 1: seven you lost, mate, That's what you did exactly. But hey,

791
00:35:17,960 --> 00:35:20,040
Speaker 1: it's not a bad record against a very good player,

792
00:35:20,040 --> 00:35:20,759
Speaker 1: and he was at his.

793
00:35:20,760 --> 00:35:23,560
Speaker 2: Prime and take that exactly.

794
00:35:23,920 --> 00:35:25,840
Speaker 1: All right, let's not laugh about this one, because the

795
00:35:25,880 --> 00:35:28,440
Speaker 1: Americans have been on fire, let's face it, especially the

796
00:35:28,440 --> 00:35:30,839
Speaker 1: guys over the clay court period. We've had some really

797
00:35:30,880 --> 00:35:34,080
Speaker 1: good results. But you know, all the I mean, the

798
00:35:34,120 --> 00:35:37,800
Speaker 1: women have always done well. Look Sloan Stevens, you know, Coco,

799
00:35:38,600 --> 00:35:42,200
Speaker 1: Maddie Keys, of course, Serena, all the players. You know

800
00:35:42,239 --> 00:35:45,000
Speaker 1: that we've had some really Cannon has made the final. Like,

801
00:35:45,040 --> 00:35:47,400
Speaker 1: we've had some really good runs in the women's But

802
00:35:47,440 --> 00:35:50,239
Speaker 1: the guys, I'm impressed. But let's start with number three.

803
00:35:50,360 --> 00:35:53,600
Speaker 1: Of course, Coco GoF she just absolutely thrashes her opponent.

804
00:35:53,680 --> 00:35:56,600
Speaker 1: Danielle Collins won in straight sets against another American, doll

805
00:35:56,719 --> 00:35:59,799
Speaker 1: Hide Taylor, fritz Onan, Tommy Paul One and they all

806
00:35:59,840 --> 00:36:03,280
Speaker 1: won pairly comfortably. Taylor lost the first set. Ben Shelton

807
00:36:03,320 --> 00:36:07,960
Speaker 1: had a really good win over Hugo Gaston and Francis Tiafo.

808
00:36:08,239 --> 00:36:11,800
Speaker 1: Wow that could that could that win over five sets

809
00:36:11,880 --> 00:36:14,120
Speaker 1: change his entire year.

810
00:36:15,360 --> 00:36:17,480
Speaker 2: Let's hope. So Like he's had a tough year, but

811
00:36:17,640 --> 00:36:19,680
Speaker 2: that sometimes all it is. It's one win that can

812
00:36:19,719 --> 00:36:22,640
Speaker 2: kind of like give you that spark to get you going. Uh,

813
00:36:22,719 --> 00:36:25,279
Speaker 2: but look, you're talking about all the all the Americans.

814
00:36:25,280 --> 00:36:28,080
Speaker 2: The men and the women are doing great. The women

815
00:36:28,120 --> 00:36:29,880
Speaker 2: have always done great. The men. I remember there was

816
00:36:29,880 --> 00:36:32,080
Speaker 2: some years I played the French Open, and you know,

817
00:36:32,160 --> 00:36:34,920
Speaker 2: the men we went one one for eleven in first round.

818
00:36:35,280 --> 00:36:37,120
Speaker 2: But that's tide kind of change. I feel like now

819
00:36:37,120 --> 00:36:39,840
Speaker 2: we're eleven and one and these these guys you have got, Taylor,

820
00:36:39,920 --> 00:36:44,800
Speaker 2: tell me Paul, Ben Shelton, TFO, I think we got

821
00:36:44,200 --> 00:36:48,000
Speaker 2: the best. Yeah, We've got a lot of great players now.

822
00:36:48,080 --> 00:36:50,839
Speaker 2: And these guys, you know they want in Masses City,

823
00:36:50,880 --> 00:36:52,680
Speaker 2: but they've been doing well on the clay for the

824
00:36:52,760 --> 00:36:56,319
Speaker 2: last two months. Shelton, Winnie Houston, Fritz making a semi final,

825
00:36:56,400 --> 00:36:59,080
Speaker 2: Massa cry Tommy Paul making a semifinal, and Massry. So

826
00:36:59,400 --> 00:37:01,759
Speaker 2: they're gonna start this pilot. Are more winds and we're

827
00:37:01,800 --> 00:37:04,160
Speaker 2: going to see one of these guys is going to

828
00:37:04,200 --> 00:37:06,920
Speaker 2: make a quarter finals here at least, and hopefully a

829
00:37:06,960 --> 00:37:07,520
Speaker 2: little more.

830
00:37:08,600 --> 00:37:11,680
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't disagree with you. I think that one

831
00:37:11,719 --> 00:37:14,360
Speaker 1: of these American guys I think can get to quarters

832
00:37:14,360 --> 00:37:16,440
Speaker 1: with Semis. I think they're playing well enough. I think

833
00:37:16,480 --> 00:37:18,439
Speaker 1: that Taylor has I think this court is a little

834
00:37:18,480 --> 00:37:20,920
Speaker 1: bit different too. I think the French open clay, as

835
00:37:20,960 --> 00:37:22,840
Speaker 1: you know, it is just so perfect and so great

836
00:37:23,360 --> 00:37:26,640
Speaker 1: that you don't have like, it's not super heavy conditions.

837
00:37:26,640 --> 00:37:29,279
Speaker 1: Although the conditions have been woful in the last couple

838
00:37:29,320 --> 00:37:31,400
Speaker 1: of days, it's been so cool. I mean, we have

839
00:37:31,560 --> 00:37:33,239
Speaker 1: done it right. We've been at the French where it's

840
00:37:33,280 --> 00:37:37,320
Speaker 1: like blazing hot and the clay is like super dry

841
00:37:37,440 --> 00:37:39,600
Speaker 1: and you have to water it like every five minutes

842
00:37:39,680 --> 00:37:41,600
Speaker 1: just to keep it like you know, without the dust

843
00:37:41,600 --> 00:37:44,000
Speaker 1: flying in your eyes. And then there's sometimes where it's

844
00:37:44,040 --> 00:37:47,319
Speaker 1: so heavy the balls get like a giant and that's

845
00:37:47,320 --> 00:37:49,520
Speaker 1: the way it's been. Really think that we've had so

846
00:37:49,640 --> 00:37:52,600
Speaker 1: much rain, so that certainly doesn't help the big hitting players.

847
00:37:53,440 --> 00:37:55,240
Speaker 1: And I thought that that's the one thing that sucked

848
00:37:55,280 --> 00:37:57,440
Speaker 1: really for Nadal when they closed the roof. That made

849
00:37:57,480 --> 00:37:59,399
Speaker 1: it even harder for him to play against perev Under

850
00:37:59,400 --> 00:38:02,640
Speaker 1: the roof conditions, I mean everything changes that it becomes

851
00:38:02,719 --> 00:38:06,279
Speaker 1: heavier indoors as well, so just the conditions and how

852
00:38:06,320 --> 00:38:09,600
Speaker 1: much is that is that hurting them? And then you know,

853
00:38:10,280 --> 00:38:12,520
Speaker 1: what chance do you give hopefully the guys if it

854
00:38:12,520 --> 00:38:13,520
Speaker 1: gets a little bit warmer.

855
00:38:14,360 --> 00:38:17,040
Speaker 2: Yeah, look, these guys want warmer weather. The Americans, we

856
00:38:17,080 --> 00:38:19,200
Speaker 2: want warmer weather where the clays a little faster and

857
00:38:19,200 --> 00:38:21,600
Speaker 2: the ball goes through the air. Having said that, you

858
00:38:21,600 --> 00:38:24,399
Speaker 2: know Tommy Paul or you know Taylor Fritz and Ben

859
00:38:24,440 --> 00:38:27,560
Speaker 2: Shelton and Francisilla Fo they're big, strong guys that can

860
00:38:27,640 --> 00:38:30,360
Speaker 2: hit the ball really hard. So they can, you know,

861
00:38:31,239 --> 00:38:33,920
Speaker 2: hit the ball through the clay if it's if it's

862
00:38:33,960 --> 00:38:36,759
Speaker 2: moist and wet. But you know, if they're gonna make

863
00:38:36,960 --> 00:38:39,520
Speaker 2: runs to the to the quarterfinals, to the semi finals,

864
00:38:39,640 --> 00:38:40,960
Speaker 2: we need the sun to come out. We need the

865
00:38:41,040 --> 00:38:43,920
Speaker 2: roofs open, we need the clay fast. So hopefully, you know,

866
00:38:44,440 --> 00:38:46,680
Speaker 2: I haven't looked at the weather forecast the next ten days,

867
00:38:46,680 --> 00:38:49,960
Speaker 2: but I'm hoping the sun's going to come out, and

868
00:38:50,040 --> 00:38:51,759
Speaker 2: you know, we're gonna we're gonna see what's gonna happen.

869
00:38:51,800 --> 00:38:54,000
Speaker 2: But I do see second round we've got Ben Shelton

870
00:38:54,120 --> 00:38:56,480
Speaker 2: versu Kaanie Shakory, which is going to be a fun

871
00:38:56,520 --> 00:38:59,920
Speaker 2: one because Shelton's an offensive guy, huge serve me. Shakory

872
00:39:00,200 --> 00:39:03,560
Speaker 2: a little bit more of a counterpuncher. So you know,

873
00:39:03,600 --> 00:39:04,840
Speaker 2: I don't know what the weather's going to be like,

874
00:39:04,880 --> 00:39:06,920
Speaker 2: Shelton's gonna want it, gonna want it hot, so we

875
00:39:06,960 --> 00:39:09,759
Speaker 2: can bring out the lefty one fifty serve. But that's

876
00:39:09,800 --> 00:39:10,959
Speaker 2: gonna be a fun match to watch.

877
00:39:11,520 --> 00:39:13,319
Speaker 1: I want to see Ben hit that kick serve on

878
00:39:13,360 --> 00:39:16,040
Speaker 1: the first court to the fourhand side, you know, that

879
00:39:16,080 --> 00:39:18,239
Speaker 1: one that will bounce away from k because K is

880
00:39:18,280 --> 00:39:20,440
Speaker 1: like my height. He's like five nine five ten. I'm

881
00:39:20,480 --> 00:39:22,720
Speaker 1: five ten. I think he's about round about my height.

882
00:39:22,920 --> 00:39:24,239
Speaker 1: I just want to see him trying to get back

883
00:39:24,280 --> 00:39:27,000
Speaker 1: that kicker, because I don't care who you are. If

884
00:39:27,040 --> 00:39:29,799
Speaker 1: you're five to ten and it's bouncing six foot five

885
00:39:29,880 --> 00:39:31,600
Speaker 1: over your head, you're not getting it back. So it'd

886
00:39:31,640 --> 00:39:34,560
Speaker 1: be interesting to see how he buries his serf against

887
00:39:34,600 --> 00:39:37,160
Speaker 1: K because Ka is a great returner, but you've got

888
00:39:37,160 --> 00:39:38,880
Speaker 1: to get out of his hitting zone. So that's a

889
00:39:38,880 --> 00:39:40,879
Speaker 1: good opportunity really for Ben, I think, to get through

890
00:39:40,880 --> 00:39:42,080
Speaker 1: that match and it'll be a fun match.

891
00:39:42,080 --> 00:39:44,520
Speaker 2: As you said, Yeah, no, absolutely, it's gonna be a

892
00:39:44,560 --> 00:39:46,120
Speaker 2: great one. And I'm sure him and his him and

893
00:39:46,120 --> 00:39:47,319
Speaker 2: his dad are going to come up with a great

894
00:39:47,320 --> 00:39:49,760
Speaker 2: game plan because like you said, Kay is an incredible returner.

895
00:39:49,760 --> 00:39:52,239
Speaker 2: He's going to have to mix that serve up quite

896
00:39:52,239 --> 00:39:54,120
Speaker 2: a bit. But that's that's gonna be one I'm tuned.

897
00:39:53,880 --> 00:39:57,640
Speaker 1: In for all right, everybody, Well, we are so excited

898
00:39:57,680 --> 00:40:00,200
Speaker 1: to of course bring you all of this action over

899
00:40:00,200 --> 00:40:03,279
Speaker 1: the next what we've got about twelve days left of

900
00:40:03,320 --> 00:40:06,880
Speaker 1: this whole thing. So the rolling Garris coverage continues across

901
00:40:06,880 --> 00:40:10,680
Speaker 1: and the networks of NBC, Peacock and the Tennis Channel.

902
00:40:10,920 --> 00:40:14,239
Speaker 1: The full TV schedule is on NBC dot com and

903
00:40:14,280 --> 00:40:17,959
Speaker 1: it's right there for you to see right now, all

904
00:40:18,040 --> 00:40:20,879
Speaker 1: day every day. I feel like the French Open never

905
00:40:20,960 --> 00:40:22,719
Speaker 1: ends right now with the night sessions, I feel like

906
00:40:22,800 --> 00:40:24,399
Speaker 1: I'm watching it at four in the morning and I'm

907
00:40:24,400 --> 00:40:27,640
Speaker 1: watching it at like seven o'clock at night. Poor old Medvedev.

908
00:40:27,680 --> 00:40:31,000
Speaker 1: We didn't even mention Medvedev again, finishes after midnight. That

909
00:40:31,040 --> 00:40:34,000
Speaker 1: guy gets the worst draws, Sam, I'm telling you, look

910
00:40:34,040 --> 00:40:37,239
Speaker 1: at all his draws, and our friend Andrea Pekovich has

911
00:40:37,239 --> 00:40:40,480
Speaker 1: a theory of it. It's because he's the third rank player,

912
00:40:40,560 --> 00:40:42,839
Speaker 1: and the third rank player always gets the worst draw

913
00:40:42,840 --> 00:40:46,800
Speaker 1: because they always play after the top woman player often,

914
00:40:47,080 --> 00:40:49,120
Speaker 1: you know, so that he always gets second on So

915
00:40:49,160 --> 00:40:51,600
Speaker 1: poor ol Medvedev. But he won in four sets last

916
00:40:51,680 --> 00:40:56,040
Speaker 1: night and it looked really cold. Okay, guys. Let's last show,

917
00:40:56,160 --> 00:40:59,080
Speaker 1: we asked you folks a question on the old X

918
00:40:59,280 --> 00:41:02,279
Speaker 1: or Twitter. If Serena came back to the tour this year,

919
00:41:02,640 --> 00:41:05,080
Speaker 1: where would you rank her on the WTA. This is

920
00:41:05,120 --> 00:41:07,040
Speaker 1: after she put out a tweet and said I'm ready

921
00:41:07,040 --> 00:41:09,160
Speaker 1: to hit some balls. And if you want to rate

922
00:41:09,239 --> 00:41:12,359
Speaker 1: some of these responses, Sam, I would appreciate it.

923
00:41:13,480 --> 00:41:16,880
Speaker 2: Look, I've got still top twenty five or fitness is

924
00:41:16,920 --> 00:41:19,760
Speaker 2: there top twenty five? The top fifty? I think everyone's

925
00:41:19,840 --> 00:41:22,120
Speaker 2: kind of there's more to the question. Does that mean

926
00:41:22,239 --> 00:41:24,399
Speaker 2: she just steps on the court right now and has

927
00:41:24,760 --> 00:41:26,160
Speaker 2: never hit a ball where we should be? Or are

928
00:41:26,160 --> 00:41:28,520
Speaker 2: we giving her six months of practice time? You know,

929
00:41:28,640 --> 00:41:30,920
Speaker 2: I'm going into this question and kind of saying, all right,

930
00:41:31,000 --> 00:41:33,319
Speaker 2: let's assume you gave her five or six months of

931
00:41:33,400 --> 00:41:36,359
Speaker 2: practice and training. If that was the case, I'm going

932
00:41:36,400 --> 00:41:38,239
Speaker 2: to put her at fifty in the world, give or take.

933
00:41:38,280 --> 00:41:40,239
Speaker 2: So I'm kind of agreen here with all three of

934
00:41:40,280 --> 00:41:44,400
Speaker 2: these these answers we see on the screen, minus the

935
00:41:44,480 --> 00:41:47,040
Speaker 2: last one. But yeah, I kind of like it.

936
00:41:47,080 --> 00:41:51,200
Speaker 1: One fifty, Yeah, I agree, I like that one. I

937
00:41:51,200 --> 00:41:53,880
Speaker 1: think it'd be I think she would be probably probably that.

938
00:41:53,920 --> 00:41:56,040
Speaker 1: But as you said, she'd have to have a little

939
00:41:56,040 --> 00:41:58,000
Speaker 1: bit of time to put in to be back on tour.

940
00:41:58,239 --> 00:42:01,520
Speaker 1: But I liked Matt his love Serena, but no ranking

941
00:42:01,600 --> 00:42:04,080
Speaker 1: with or all respect. Her posts looks like it's in

942
00:42:04,120 --> 00:42:06,799
Speaker 1: reference to a new business venture rather than a return.

943
00:42:06,520 --> 00:42:06,959
Speaker 2: Of the court.

944
00:42:07,480 --> 00:42:09,479
Speaker 1: And Matt, I think you're right because I get asked

945
00:42:09,480 --> 00:42:11,399
Speaker 1: clearly this question a lot. Is she going to come back?

946
00:42:11,400 --> 00:42:13,879
Speaker 1: And I'm like, hell no, she's not coming back. Yeah,

947
00:42:15,400 --> 00:42:18,400
Speaker 1: she says, doing her thing, being a mom, and you know,

948
00:42:18,560 --> 00:42:21,960
Speaker 1: dealing with her Serena Williams ventures, which is making a

949
00:42:21,960 --> 00:42:24,640
Speaker 1: lot of money. All right, guys, very excited about this.

950
00:42:24,800 --> 00:42:27,279
Speaker 1: Andy Roddick is going to join us on Thursday. You're

951
00:42:27,360 --> 00:42:29,760
Speaker 1: old mate, Sam. I'm sure you've had lots of stories

952
00:42:29,800 --> 00:42:31,680
Speaker 1: to tell us about Andy. I can't wait, So send

953
00:42:31,760 --> 00:42:34,800
Speaker 1: us your questions for Andy and we'll get them answered.

954
00:42:34,920 --> 00:42:37,720
Speaker 1: Of course, here you can tweet at me Renee Stubbs

955
00:42:37,840 --> 00:42:39,760
Speaker 1: or Sam. You don't have Twitter? Do you have Twitter?

956
00:42:40,440 --> 00:42:42,480
Speaker 2: I don't have Twitter. I'm Instagram guy.

957
00:42:42,719 --> 00:42:47,080
Speaker 1: You're smart, okay, or at NBC Sports. Guys, thanks so

958
00:42:47,200 --> 00:42:49,000
Speaker 1: much for joining us once again here on the French

959
00:42:49,040 --> 00:42:52,360
Speaker 1: Connection today. Brought to you, of course by Racket and

960
00:42:53,080 --> 00:42:56,160
Speaker 1: NBC Sports. As I already said, next episodes, we can't

961
00:42:56,200 --> 00:42:58,839
Speaker 1: wait to drop next Thursday. Before we head out, here's

962
00:42:58,840 --> 00:43:01,399
Speaker 1: a question though for you, Sam, before we head out

963
00:43:01,400 --> 00:43:05,080
Speaker 1: of here. Wow, Djokovic loses to mar Shark four six

964
00:43:05,200 --> 00:43:09,920
Speaker 1: six love. Sorry he was I'm I say differently. I

965
00:43:09,920 --> 00:43:13,160
Speaker 1: would have said four six six love one six. But anyway,

966
00:43:13,440 --> 00:43:15,879
Speaker 1: in the semi finals of Geneva in the two point

967
00:43:15,880 --> 00:43:18,680
Speaker 1: fifty there it looked physically off throughout the match, only

968
00:43:18,719 --> 00:43:22,160
Speaker 1: the second time that he's bageled his opponents and lost

969
00:43:22,600 --> 00:43:26,640
Speaker 1: the match. Sam, the question was supposed to not have

970
00:43:26,680 --> 00:43:28,920
Speaker 1: the answer in it, but do you know who the

971
00:43:29,000 --> 00:43:29,600
Speaker 1: last person?

972
00:43:29,760 --> 00:43:29,880
Speaker 2: Was?

973
00:43:30,520 --> 00:43:30,600
Speaker 1: It?

974
00:43:30,640 --> 00:43:34,520
Speaker 2: What I beat him in bearsee twenty twelve. I remember

975
00:43:34,640 --> 00:43:36,160
Speaker 2: I was his last term of the year. I was

976
00:43:36,160 --> 00:43:38,640
Speaker 2: down six to oh two zero. I looked at my

977
00:43:39,040 --> 00:43:41,439
Speaker 2: coach at the time. I was like, I want one name,

978
00:43:42,239 --> 00:43:43,799
Speaker 2: I want one game when I want to go home.

979
00:43:44,400 --> 00:43:47,080
Speaker 2: And then next thing, you know, I Novak. I mean,

980
00:43:47,120 --> 00:43:49,120
Speaker 2: I'm not going to give myself the credit. Novak probably

981
00:43:49,160 --> 00:43:51,839
Speaker 2: disengagementally and somehow let me back into the second set

982
00:43:52,200 --> 00:43:54,839
Speaker 2: I wanted somehow, and then won the third. So yeah,

983
00:43:54,840 --> 00:43:58,040
Speaker 2: I guess myself and Machek were part of an elite

984
00:43:58,080 --> 00:44:01,000
Speaker 2: group there that lose a set still against Novak and

985
00:44:01,040 --> 00:44:01,640
Speaker 2: still beat him.

986
00:44:02,080 --> 00:44:03,960
Speaker 1: I'm so pumped for you. I know you lost in

987
00:44:04,040 --> 00:44:07,600
Speaker 1: Nadal earlier on in the conversation that we had, but

988
00:44:07,680 --> 00:44:11,160
Speaker 1: you got that win over Novak Djokovic arguably the greatest

989
00:44:11,239 --> 00:44:13,440
Speaker 1: player of all time. All right, guys, thanks for joining

990
00:44:13,440 --> 00:44:15,600
Speaker 1: Sam and I again today here on the French Connection.

991
00:44:15,680 --> 00:44:18,240
Speaker 1: We can't wait to of course see you again on Thursday.

992
00:44:18,320 --> 00:44:19,960
Speaker 1: We've got a lot more tennis to talk about with

993
00:44:20,000 --> 00:44:22,359
Speaker 1: the one and only Andy Erotic, So get us your

994
00:44:22,400 --> 00:44:25,400
Speaker 1: questions and we'll get him, not asked, get him to

995
00:44:25,400 --> 00:44:30,360
Speaker 1: answer them. So thanks again for joining us today, Bay