WEBVTT - Sports Illustrated Executive Editor, Senior Writer Jon Wertheim Talks Tennis 0:00:00.400 --> 0:00:10.560 Pretty live tennis, all right, everybody. I got to say, 0:00:10.560 --> 0:00:12.640 when we think about the US Open, there are players 0:00:12.640 --> 0:00:15.280 that you know, There are players legends that are not 0:00:15.400 --> 0:00:17.439 here this year. There are also players that are up 0:00:17.480 --> 0:00:20.720 and coming, maybe not household names, but will be someone 0:00:20.760 --> 0:00:22.959 who knows them all has written about them, continues to 0:00:23.040 --> 0:00:26.160 as John Wertheim. He's executive editor senior writer at Sports 0:00:26.160 --> 0:00:29.920 Illustrated correspondent for the Tennis Channel, so this is a 0:00:29.920 --> 0:00:32.199 big time working event for him. He is covering the 0:00:32.280 --> 0:00:34.880 US Open for the Tennis Channel. He's also contributing correspondent 0:00:34.880 --> 0:00:37.320 for sixty Minutes. He's a busy dude, and he found 0:00:37.360 --> 0:00:39.320 some time once again to join us here on site 0:00:39.320 --> 0:00:40.200 at the US Open. 0:00:40.240 --> 0:00:42.960 How are you good? Pleasure to be here. Nice to 0:00:43.000 --> 0:00:44.879 see you guys. How are you doing good? Good week 0:00:44.920 --> 0:00:45.280 at tennis? 0:00:45.360 --> 0:00:47.680 Right, It's great, got a little cooler. We're kind of 0:00:47.680 --> 0:00:51.040 loving that coverage. What are you loving about it this year? 0:00:51.200 --> 0:00:52.080 What's interesting for you? 0:00:52.240 --> 0:00:55.080 Oh man? You know kind of s's this weird point 0:00:55.080 --> 0:00:59.600 where Roger Fetter is retired Titan player, everyone loved him. 0:00:59.640 --> 0:01:02.440 Not here, Serida Williams, Titan not here, rough on the doll, 0:01:02.440 --> 0:01:05.000 I'm not here. And I think everybody worried, oh man, 0:01:05.040 --> 0:01:07.800 after these legends retire, what does tennis look like? Is 0:01:07.800 --> 0:01:09.960 anyone going to care about the sport? And we've kind 0:01:10.000 --> 0:01:14.520 of made an uncharacteristically great, you know, graceful pivot for tennis. 0:01:14.560 --> 0:01:18.840 And the grounds are more filful than ever. The attendance 0:01:18.920 --> 0:01:20.440 is through the roof. It's going to set a record, 0:01:20.640 --> 0:01:23.840 and it's kind of strange because we have this deficit 0:01:23.920 --> 0:01:25.560 of stars compared to what we used to have. So 0:01:25.680 --> 0:01:27.200 that's that's a story I'm looking at. 0:01:27.319 --> 0:01:29.760 So do we have the deficit of stars or are 0:01:30.920 --> 0:01:33.880 is Cocoa Goff going to be there? Is Shelton going 0:01:33.959 --> 0:01:35.720 to be there? Is Alcaraz there? 0:01:37.160 --> 0:01:40.720 I mean Alcarez could have been there the last yeah, 0:01:40.840 --> 0:01:42.960 last he's not in the tournament. Yeah, I mean, I 0:01:43.000 --> 0:01:45.399 think they're bright prospects. I think they're fans that they're 0:01:45.400 --> 0:01:47.400 players that fans are starting to build relationships with. But 0:01:47.440 --> 0:01:50.600 you know, we're not talking about guys, you know, twenty majors. Yeah, 0:01:50.720 --> 0:01:54.160 Coco Goths wonderful, but just one. And I kind of 0:01:54.200 --> 0:01:58.160 feel like fans kind of like the unpredictability of it all, 0:01:58.400 --> 0:02:01.720 and they don't mind that any of twenty players could win, 0:02:01.840 --> 0:02:05.560 and they don't mind that Carlos Alcarez wins two tournaments 0:02:05.600 --> 0:02:06.960 and then loses in the second round here. 0:02:06.840 --> 0:02:08.239 So when its sense is that better for the sport? 0:02:08.680 --> 0:02:10.519 It's funny because I think the conventional wisdom is you 0:02:10.600 --> 0:02:12.639 sort of need excellence to the top. But the NFL, 0:02:12.919 --> 0:02:15.520 which is the most successful sports league certainly in the US, 0:02:15.639 --> 0:02:18.280 how's this any given Sunday theory and parody is great 0:02:18.360 --> 0:02:20.560 and we want all fans to think their team could 0:02:20.560 --> 0:02:23.560 get to the super Bowl. It's kind of worked out 0:02:23.600 --> 0:02:25.560 for them. And I think tennis is sort of pleasantly 0:02:25.600 --> 0:02:29.640 surprised how well things are going in the absence of stars. 0:02:29.800 --> 0:02:31.120 Why do you think it is that way? You know, 0:02:31.280 --> 0:02:33.320 We've been talking with various folks from the USTA and 0:02:33.360 --> 0:02:36.919 they talk about the Zendaya movie Challengers and how much 0:02:37.000 --> 0:02:39.400 money it made, and you're rolling your eyes. 0:02:40.080 --> 0:02:41.680 I didn't see it. Actually, I need to. 0:02:44.080 --> 0:02:46.959 Das Sindaya's rate is quite high, so I don't know, 0:02:47.000 --> 0:02:48.959 you know how much it I made, But no, I 0:02:49.160 --> 0:02:50.600 think you're I think tennis is having a bit of 0:02:50.639 --> 0:02:53.359 a moment, and I think instead of tethering itself to 0:02:53.440 --> 0:02:56.440 these stars, to Reena, Williams, Rogers, thattter Rofando. I mean 0:02:56.480 --> 0:02:59.440 it's kind of it's about the culture, it's about the fashion, 0:02:59.560 --> 0:03:02.519 it's about the international aspects. I mean I think some 0:03:02.639 --> 0:03:04.840 of it too is just you and I could be 0:03:04.919 --> 0:03:06.679 playing and it would still be fun to come to 0:03:06.680 --> 0:03:09.360 the US Open and watch a tennis match. Yeah, I mean, 0:03:09.400 --> 0:03:12.880 this is such a big event. It's almost sort of, actually, John. 0:03:13.040 --> 0:03:15.200 And if I was playing, No, it wouldn't be if. 0:03:15.080 --> 0:03:18.160 They would have Honny deuces and they would have music, 0:03:18.320 --> 0:03:20.399 and it's I mean, it's almost sort of that they're 0:03:20.440 --> 0:03:22.840 not player dependent here the way they used to be. No, 0:03:23.160 --> 0:03:25.840 I think there's a lot to recommend about tennis. I 0:03:25.919 --> 0:03:28.720 mean I have pet theories about I think. I think 0:03:28.800 --> 0:03:31.320 pickleball maybe a bit of a help that all millions 0:03:31.320 --> 0:03:33.359 of millions of people are now sort of understanding what 0:03:33.480 --> 0:03:36.040 it means to hit a slice, or they have a 0:03:36.080 --> 0:03:38.920 more appreciation for tennis because they've been bopping around a 0:03:38.960 --> 0:03:40.480 whiffle ball in their in their yards. 0:03:41.200 --> 0:03:43.320 Our producer Sebastian and I were watching a match on 0:03:43.360 --> 0:03:45.320 the side courts here yesterday and we were sitting next 0:03:45.360 --> 0:03:49.040 to somebody and he was talking about his pickleball, playing pickleball. 0:03:48.840 --> 0:03:52.840 It's a thing. But I think that translates to tennis. Yeah, No, 0:03:53.000 --> 0:03:54.520 it's it's just straight. I mean tennis is sort of 0:03:54.560 --> 0:03:59.240 having this moment and whether it's exactly Zendaan movies or 0:03:59.440 --> 0:04:01.600 it's the I mean, I just and I don't think 0:04:01.640 --> 0:04:03.280 anyone saw this coming. I think there was a lot 0:04:03.320 --> 0:04:05.440 of handwringing about what would the sport look like. It's 0:04:05.440 --> 0:04:06.560 sort of a happy surprise. 0:04:06.720 --> 0:04:08.960 Yeah, it's been. It's been really awesome to watch and 0:04:09.120 --> 0:04:10.960 least be able to cover it over the last few years, 0:04:11.000 --> 0:04:13.120 and even in those that little bit of times see 0:04:13.160 --> 0:04:16.360 the growth. Any big stories so far this year at 0:04:16.400 --> 0:04:17.400 the US Open that are. 0:04:17.279 --> 0:04:20.480 Sticking out to you, well, I mean I think sometimes 0:04:20.520 --> 0:04:22.960 they're big stories in Week one and that's you know, 0:04:23.160 --> 0:04:25.640 you've got either controversy or you have big upsets, and 0:04:25.720 --> 0:04:28.000 then it kind of leads to a little bit of 0:04:28.040 --> 0:04:31.120 a fizzle in week two. I mean, this year we've 0:04:31.120 --> 0:04:33.520 had some upsets. I mean, Carlos Alcarez losing is obviously 0:04:33.800 --> 0:04:35.120 a big story, and I think a lot of people 0:04:35.120 --> 0:04:36.840 are sort of perplexed. This is supposed to be the 0:04:36.920 --> 0:04:39.760 new star. He won the Front Open, he won, wibledon 0:04:40.480 --> 0:04:42.919 and everyone thought, oh, could he pull the summer triple. 0:04:43.080 --> 0:04:44.840 I mean, not even Roger Feeder or not even know 0:04:44.880 --> 0:04:47.160 about Djokovich ever did that. And then he comes out 0:04:47.200 --> 0:04:48.640 here and he loses in the second round to a 0:04:48.680 --> 0:04:52.760 guy outside fifty. That's been a strange story. I think, 0:04:52.839 --> 0:04:55.800 you know, we've had sort of the usual, the celebrities 0:04:55.839 --> 0:04:58.400 and Aaron Judge was here and Karen Washington. I mean, 0:04:58.440 --> 0:05:01.880 there hasn't been sort of that huge controversy, which I 0:05:01.920 --> 0:05:03.839 suspect the US Tennis of mine. We had the longest 0:05:03.920 --> 0:05:06.120 match in US Open history a few days ago, which 0:05:06.200 --> 0:05:08.280 was which was good fun. But I think, you know, 0:05:08.400 --> 0:05:13.159 sometimes week one and excitement and upsets sort of doesn't 0:05:13.240 --> 0:05:15.160 pay off in week two. So I think we're in 0:05:15.200 --> 0:05:17.800 a nice place right now on on first Friday as 0:05:17.839 --> 0:05:18.479 we make this turn. 0:05:18.600 --> 0:05:19.839 How many opens have you covered? 0:05:20.120 --> 0:05:22.600 Oh, I'm not trying, You're doing so well, and that 0:05:22.720 --> 0:05:26.280 you kind of us really depressing a lot. I mean, 0:05:26.400 --> 0:05:30.760 like since the nineties. Remember the nineties, I remember it was, but. 0:05:30.800 --> 0:05:33.080 That was a really important era for American men's tennis. 0:05:33.640 --> 0:05:36.440 Yeah, I mean I sort of caught the very very 0:05:36.520 --> 0:05:38.800 tail end of Sampress Agasy and that I sort of 0:05:38.880 --> 0:05:40.360 came up, you know, I came up with like I 0:05:40.560 --> 0:05:41.719 think mack and Roe. 0:05:41.680 --> 0:05:43.760 And Connors before, and they all looked at me like 0:05:43.800 --> 0:05:48.200 I was eve I know, nineties, Yeah exactly, Oh sorry, 0:05:48.200 --> 0:05:48.520 go ahead. 0:05:48.680 --> 0:05:50.640 No, it's just funny because the game sort of takes 0:05:50.680 --> 0:05:53.839 on different identities and and it was it was Tampras 0:05:53.960 --> 0:05:55.880 Agassy and then you had the Williams sisters and you 0:05:55.960 --> 0:05:58.200 sort of had this international. I mean, I was here 0:05:58.240 --> 0:05:59.880 when Andy Ronick won and you said, oh, this is 0:06:00.120 --> 0:06:03.880 fresh American champion. And then here comes Roger feder Rofnadal 0:06:04.080 --> 0:06:07.240 and Novak Djokovic that basically ate everyone else judge for 0:06:07.320 --> 0:06:10.000 twenty years, and now we're at this sort of I mean, 0:06:10.120 --> 0:06:12.680 obviously Djokovic is still here, he's a defending champion. He's 0:06:12.680 --> 0:06:15.360 somehow he's thirty seven years old. I would say, do 0:06:15.400 --> 0:06:18.000 you guys remember just sidebar, remember when Jimmy Connors had 0:06:18.040 --> 0:06:20.760 that crazy run in nineteen ninety one. He's thirty nine 0:06:20.839 --> 0:06:23.119 years old, and it was sort of, well, it's everybody drinking, 0:06:23.120 --> 0:06:25.080 they're jaratol, and there were a lot of jokes and 0:06:25.160 --> 0:06:26.880 he's gonna have to go to bed early and someone's 0:06:26.880 --> 0:06:29.080 gonna have to chop up his steak into bite sized pieces. 0:06:29.560 --> 0:06:32.840 Djokovic is only like eighteen months younger, and we haven't 0:06:32.880 --> 0:06:35.320 mentioned his age once. He's just a contender to win 0:06:35.400 --> 0:06:37.080 the title. Like, look how far we've come. So look 0:06:37.120 --> 0:06:38.599 how far we've but you knew it exactly. 0:06:38.760 --> 0:06:40.440 Think about that, just coming off the Olympics. I was 0:06:40.440 --> 0:06:42.560 a gymnast as a young kid, and I mean to 0:06:42.720 --> 0:06:46.760 look at Simone Biles, right, and normally you have a 0:06:46.880 --> 0:06:49.560 good season, maybe you're really young, but look at like, 0:06:49.640 --> 0:06:51.960 I just think there's is there something happening in sports 0:06:52.000 --> 0:06:54.200 where yeah, people can go the distance and why not? 0:06:54.800 --> 0:06:56.960 I have two theories you want him real quick. One 0:06:56.960 --> 0:06:59.760 of them is just it's that emolution. It's sports science, 0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:02.440 so they get appropriate for a Bloomberg audience. Tom Brady, 0:07:02.640 --> 0:07:05.280 it's commerce, it's money, it's I mean, these players have 0:07:05.480 --> 0:07:07.240 I mean, you know, Billy jan King used to come 0:07:07.240 --> 0:07:09.200 in the back of a station wagon. Now you've got players, 0:07:09.240 --> 0:07:11.560 they've got their own messuses, they've got their own teams. 0:07:11.560 --> 0:07:14.160 They're not standing in line waiting for the Hurts rental 0:07:14.200 --> 0:07:14.960 car counter. 0:07:14.800 --> 0:07:16.440 To Oh, they're getting private jets. 0:07:16.480 --> 0:07:18.480 I think exactly, and I think that has the extension 0:07:18.760 --> 0:07:19.440 it's a career. 0:07:19.560 --> 0:07:21.960 Partly because they have deals with private jet companies. 0:07:22.000 --> 0:07:23.960 Well that too. It doesn't doesn't hurt when you have 0:07:24.080 --> 0:07:24.640 that endorsement. 0:07:24.680 --> 0:07:26.600 But if they didn't play well, I mean they're playing 0:07:26.640 --> 0:07:27.120 well though. 0:07:27.760 --> 0:07:31.760 Yeah, science, they can avail themselves to all the cold 0:07:31.840 --> 0:07:34.280 plunges and the trainers and the physios and I mean 0:07:34.360 --> 0:07:37.080 all is Tom Brady similar? And I think Lebron James 0:07:37.160 --> 0:07:39.760 is still going strong and yeah, twenty years into this career, 0:07:39.800 --> 0:07:42.520 and I think it's because they can afford career extensis. 0:07:42.520 --> 0:07:44.120 This one's done a cold plunge by the way. 0:07:44.720 --> 0:07:47.120 Yeah, very popular, They're very popular. I I mean, who 0:07:47.160 --> 0:07:50.640 knows its scientists, But this might be a good time 0:07:50.680 --> 0:07:54.320 to talk doping might be all right, what's the deal? 0:07:55.960 --> 0:07:57.720 I don't in the sport. I mean, I. 0:07:59.240 --> 0:08:02.640 You want my honest Yeah. I believe that incentives explained 0:08:02.680 --> 0:08:05.960 an awful lot of human behavior. And I get why 0:08:06.040 --> 0:08:09.160 some athletes will dope. I get why some athletes who 0:08:09.280 --> 0:08:12.720 might be trying to, you know, have this career resurgence 0:08:12.800 --> 0:08:14.720 laid in their career with dope. I can see how 0:08:14.800 --> 0:08:17.800 young athletes. I just I don't think I mean obviously 0:08:18.000 --> 0:08:20.760 we're talking about Jon Ecenter and number one everyone given 0:08:20.800 --> 0:08:23.040 the tournament, and we have this sort of strange story 0:08:23.080 --> 0:08:26.040 where he had failed too doping tests from about five 0:08:26.080 --> 0:08:29.440 months ago, but was essentially exonerated and found no negligence, 0:08:29.520 --> 0:08:33.720 no fault because the trainer essentially was careless and used 0:08:33.760 --> 0:08:36.480 to us the substance that was legal in Italy but 0:08:36.600 --> 0:08:38.360 it is not is on the bad list. And I 0:08:38.559 --> 0:08:42.560 just I get the skepticism. I understand sort of whether 0:08:42.679 --> 0:08:45.000 there are a lot of players who are very suspicious 0:08:45.000 --> 0:08:48.320 about this. I just I'm I always look at incentives. 0:08:48.880 --> 0:08:51.320 Why would a guy with a one hundred and fifty 0:08:51.320 --> 0:08:54.679 million dollars Nike deal starting his career in March when 0:08:54.720 --> 0:08:58.080 they're no major tournaments for months and months. The amount 0:08:58.200 --> 0:09:01.800 was so minuscule it wouldn't enhance its performance. It just 0:09:01.960 --> 0:09:05.360 doesn't make sense that he would intentionally dope. That may 0:09:05.480 --> 0:09:07.640 sound naive. I think they're probably means naive to say 0:09:07.679 --> 0:09:10.000 there's no doping in tennis, But I also think it's 0:09:10.040 --> 0:09:13.360 such a sport that depends on hand eye coordination and 0:09:13.440 --> 0:09:15.640 focus and mental toughness. It's not as though putting on 0:09:15.720 --> 0:09:18.880 five pounds of muscle is really where the action is. 0:09:18.920 --> 0:09:21.640 I think the doping probably might help with recovery and 0:09:21.720 --> 0:09:23.440 with some of the cardio. Again, I don't think it's 0:09:23.440 --> 0:09:25.240 one hundred percent clean. I don't think any sport is. 0:09:25.280 --> 0:09:28.040 But in this case, I just the facts of the 0:09:28.160 --> 0:09:31.199 case that the process is disturbing. It's very strange the 0:09:31.280 --> 0:09:33.679 usually you hear about this right away. Usually there's a 0:09:33.720 --> 0:09:36.839 strict liability standard where hey, we don't care what happened. 0:09:36.880 --> 0:09:39.280 It's in your system. You're the CEO of your system, right, 0:09:39.440 --> 0:09:41.360 You're guilty. That wasn't the case. I mean, I think 0:09:41.360 --> 0:09:42.840 there are a lot of process questions. 0:09:43.160 --> 0:09:46.680 Does that give you pause? The lack of process questions? 0:09:48.559 --> 0:09:50.880 Yeah, I mean, I think the way this handled, people 0:09:50.920 --> 0:09:53.000 are gonna have to go back and really pick this 0:09:53.120 --> 0:09:55.040 apart and figure out why it was that this guy 0:09:55.080 --> 0:09:57.079 played for five and a half months, which which is 0:09:57.160 --> 0:10:01.679 very rare in tennis. You mentioned why wasn't there the 0:10:01.760 --> 0:10:04.880 publicity that usually accompanies some of these announcements. There are 0:10:04.920 --> 0:10:06.439 a lot of players saying, boy, I wish you know. 0:10:06.640 --> 0:10:09.880 I tested positive too, and I also was eventually exonerated, 0:10:09.960 --> 0:10:12.959 but I had to take the reputational hit, yeah, or 0:10:13.040 --> 0:10:15.559 I couldn't play or I couldn't play. So I think 0:10:15.760 --> 0:10:18.240 the way this was handled raises a lot of questions. 0:10:18.320 --> 0:10:21.599 But I just, I mean, I guess everyone's speculating. I 0:10:21.760 --> 0:10:23.880 just don't think you don't. 0:10:23.960 --> 0:10:26.240 Your point about incentives is really interesting because I didn't 0:10:26.240 --> 0:10:29.719 think you were going to go exactly thought the other way. 0:10:29.840 --> 0:10:32.000 And I come from a world of cycling where you 0:10:32.080 --> 0:10:34.760 know doping is and has been rampant for years, and 0:10:35.080 --> 0:10:36.679 you know a tenth of a second or that much 0:10:36.720 --> 0:10:40.560 more power is what ends up mattering in the end 0:10:41.000 --> 0:10:44.200 of a race. And the idea when you said incentives, 0:10:44.200 --> 0:10:47.200 I thought, oh, incentives to win. But no, you're saying 0:10:47.240 --> 0:10:49.000 that there's too much to lose for these players. 0:10:49.080 --> 0:10:51.679 Yeah, exactly. I mean you think about how much of 0:10:51.760 --> 0:10:55.079 these players income and networks had nothing to do with 0:10:55.480 --> 0:10:59.199 prize money. It's image, it's reputation, it's what they represent, 0:10:59.320 --> 0:11:01.920 that's how they care themselves. You are jeopardizing all of 0:11:02.000 --> 0:11:05.320 that to win a couple of tennis matches in Indian Wells, 0:11:05.400 --> 0:11:08.360 California in March. I don't, I mean, I get. I 0:11:08.400 --> 0:11:11.120 don't want to be naive here. Everyone's one thing that's 0:11:11.160 --> 0:11:13.760 interesting about this to me is that some very credible, 0:11:13.880 --> 0:11:17.199 very knowledgeable, very reasonable former players agree with me and 0:11:17.320 --> 0:11:19.160 sort of say it doesn't make sense. The amount was 0:11:19.240 --> 0:11:23.800 so minuscule. Very credible, very reasonable, very educated former players say, 0:11:24.600 --> 0:11:27.839 something's really fishy here. The amount might just be that 0:11:27.920 --> 0:11:30.560 he was cycling off of it. Don't be seduced by 0:11:30.679 --> 0:11:33.640 sort of the fractional the sort of infinitesimally small amount. 0:11:34.320 --> 0:11:37.199 Don't be naive. And the guy got caught twice, what 0:11:37.320 --> 0:11:39.720 more do you need? So so, even within tennis, even 0:11:39.800 --> 0:11:43.160 in the sort of inner sanctum there, they're very divergent opinions. 0:11:44.160 --> 0:11:45.839 I just think, like, you get to a point with 0:11:46.000 --> 0:11:49.280 your reputation and your net worth and how much sponsorship 0:11:49.320 --> 0:11:51.439 you have. I mean, these players can make four or 0:11:51.480 --> 0:11:54.559 five million dollars for being a worldwide brand ambassador. That's 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:57.600 more than the US Open champion will make. Right, why 0:11:57.679 --> 0:12:02.360 would you jeopardize that? In March over this infant I 0:12:02.760 --> 0:12:05.960 again is a vanishingly small amount of banned substance. 0:12:06.000 --> 0:12:09.360 Well, but we see in our world very wealthy people, 0:12:10.120 --> 0:12:13.680 financiers who have tons of money and yet do something 0:12:14.080 --> 0:12:16.600 that breaks the law just to get a little bit 0:12:16.679 --> 0:12:19.600 more money, right, And you think, really, like, why did 0:12:19.679 --> 0:12:21.600 you do that. But but I hear what you said. 0:12:21.679 --> 0:12:23.400 Yeah, no, it's a fair point. I mean, the risk 0:12:23.480 --> 0:12:26.080 reward calculus is not always uh you know, so. 0:12:27.360 --> 0:12:29.920 You know, like could have been the like do you 0:12:29.960 --> 0:12:30.560 blame the coach? 0:12:30.679 --> 0:12:32.520 Yes, I mean that's sort of where this falls. Is 0:12:32.679 --> 0:12:36.960 essentially that the trainer and again the substances. It's legal 0:12:37.000 --> 0:12:40.360 in Italy, but on the box it says doping, so 0:12:40.600 --> 0:12:42.640 I'm not sure where And I mean someone else is Listen, 0:12:42.720 --> 0:12:44.440 your job as a trainer, what are your big jobs 0:12:44.440 --> 0:12:44.680 that you. 0:12:44.720 --> 0:12:47.599 Put it down, move it, actually get it away from me? 0:12:47.840 --> 0:12:48.120 You know what? 0:12:48.960 --> 0:12:52.160 You know, aspred works pretty well too. There are alternatives, 0:12:52.960 --> 0:12:55.480 but Bassett tracing will cover that that cut as well. 0:12:56.040 --> 0:12:58.320 It was a really strange set of circumstances and it's 0:12:58.320 --> 0:13:00.640 almost a look, if you're a trainer, your number one 0:13:00.760 --> 0:13:06.160 job basically is to get anything even potentially illegal or 0:13:06.240 --> 0:13:08.640 on the band list away from the athlete. And here's 0:13:08.679 --> 0:13:10.880 a guy putting it on his hand and then giving 0:13:10.920 --> 0:13:15.360 the athlete an ungloved massage. The flip side is, don't 0:13:15.440 --> 0:13:18.079 people do dumb things? I don't. I mean, I don't know. 0:13:18.200 --> 0:13:21.160 It's it's definitely it's been I mean inside these doors 0:13:21.200 --> 0:13:23.880 where we are now. It's still a weekend of this tournament, 0:13:24.880 --> 0:13:25.760 very much being discussed. 0:13:25.800 --> 0:13:27.200 You talk about that a little bit because what we're 0:13:27.200 --> 0:13:29.679 at the Bud Collins Media Center and you go inside here, 0:13:29.800 --> 0:13:32.360 this is where all the journalists are, right, what's the 0:13:32.640 --> 0:13:35.600 what's the vibe been like covering this with the other journalists? 0:13:35.840 --> 0:13:37.040 Is the story in particular? 0:13:37.200 --> 0:13:37.360 Yeah? 0:13:37.400 --> 0:13:39.240 Well is that? I mean this story is still dominating. 0:13:39.360 --> 0:13:42.240 Yeah, I mean the players his initial press release and 0:13:42.320 --> 0:13:44.440 I you know, whatever we all have, we're all familiar 0:13:44.480 --> 0:13:46.720 with press releases. I look forward to putting this issue 0:13:46.760 --> 0:13:50.160 behind me. And you want to say, oh, that's oh 0:13:50.280 --> 0:13:52.319 do you Yeah, that's not really. 0:13:52.200 --> 0:13:55.000 How It's one way to keep the issue front and center. 0:13:55.200 --> 0:13:56.240 Yeah, exactly right. 0:13:56.760 --> 0:13:58.120 We know this is what you would like. 0:13:58.400 --> 0:13:59.160 I just want to move on. 0:13:59.360 --> 0:13:59.839 But that's you. 0:14:00.160 --> 0:14:01.880 But the other players have been really supportive of him. 0:14:01.880 --> 0:14:05.560 It sounds like some of them, some of them. Yeah, 0:14:06.120 --> 0:14:09.520 I'd say it's been very guarded. Actually, yeah, I mean 0:14:09.520 --> 0:14:11.400 I think given the range, I mean sometimes sort of 0:14:11.720 --> 0:14:15.600 my guilty pleasure is UFC is fixed martial arts. There 0:14:15.640 --> 0:14:19.000 anytime someone there's a doping violation, everybody piles on and 0:14:19.120 --> 0:14:21.320 sort of says, listen this, I knew this guy was cheating. 0:14:21.680 --> 0:14:24.080 This is much more guarded. But these are sort of 0:14:24.160 --> 0:14:28.040 these very sort of meticulously worded sense. Nobody is falling 0:14:28.080 --> 0:14:30.680 on the grenade, and no one's a couple of former players. 0:14:30.760 --> 0:14:32.560 Nick Curios is here, and he's made a number of 0:14:32.680 --> 0:14:37.400 sort of incendiary statements. It's been very I've sort of 0:14:37.480 --> 0:14:41.880 been surprised at how little support he's gone. There does 0:14:41.920 --> 0:14:45.640 seem to be real questions about the process. And everyone's 0:14:45.720 --> 0:14:48.640 got a friend, everyone's got a colleague who had a 0:14:48.680 --> 0:14:53.080 similar circumstance and didn't have the luxury of six or 0:14:53.120 --> 0:14:55.960 seven figures worth of legal representation, and sort of this 0:14:56.280 --> 0:14:59.360 this cakewalk just sort of get this thing buried five 0:14:59.400 --> 0:15:00.280 and a half months later. 0:15:01.200 --> 0:15:04.120 The money that continues to come into sports, good, bad 0:15:04.240 --> 0:15:05.920 and different, Like how do you feel about it? How 0:15:05.920 --> 0:15:07.160 do you think about it? Gambling? 0:15:07.240 --> 0:15:08.800 We'll talk about that. I mean, I think that, but 0:15:08.920 --> 0:15:10.480 I think that's it. I think it depends on the sort. 0:15:10.600 --> 0:15:13.760 Look any any industry, we like money coming in and 0:15:13.880 --> 0:15:16.840 we like we like more investment and not less. I mean, 0:15:16.880 --> 0:15:20.680 I think sports are a pretty robust sector. I think 0:15:20.720 --> 0:15:23.640 it depends what I mean, we can there's a sportswa 0:15:23.680 --> 0:15:25.720 washing component to this. Do we like money when it 0:15:25.760 --> 0:15:29.000 comes from the golf region, Well, that comes with some 0:15:29.440 --> 0:15:32.320 strings attached. Do we like money when it comes through 0:15:32.520 --> 0:15:35.720 sports gambling? And that's been a huge infusion of cash 0:15:35.840 --> 0:15:38.960 for teams and leagues and media, not so much for athletes. 0:15:38.960 --> 0:15:40.600 We can talk about that. That's been a big topic 0:15:40.640 --> 0:15:43.400 among the players and the players lounge is a sports 0:15:43.480 --> 0:15:45.880 gambling we can we can talk about that. I think 0:15:45.960 --> 0:15:48.080 media money, you know, great if if ESPN wants to 0:15:48.120 --> 0:15:51.240 re up here. I mean, very few properties are actually 0:15:51.320 --> 0:15:53.440 going to come up for renewal anytime soon. But look, 0:15:53.480 --> 0:15:56.960 if the NBA can make billion dollars a season from 0:15:57.000 --> 0:16:00.000 its media rights deal, like that's great, especially when they're 0:16:00.120 --> 0:16:03.000 fifty to fifty split with the players. So right, Yeah, 0:16:03.040 --> 0:16:05.280 I think it depends. I think in the rule of thumb, 0:16:05.480 --> 0:16:08.960 you know, commerce good h But I think it depends 0:16:09.000 --> 0:16:09.400 on the source. 0:16:09.480 --> 0:16:12.200 Tell us about the conversations that players are that's being 0:16:12.240 --> 0:16:14.560 talked in terms of gambling, because they don't necessarily get 0:16:14.560 --> 0:16:15.280 a piece of it, do they? 0:16:15.440 --> 0:16:18.560 No? I mean, in this sport, it's really problematic and 0:16:18.600 --> 0:16:21.120 team sports. Look, it says fifty to fifty revenue split. Right, 0:16:21.200 --> 0:16:24.400 So if the NFL does a billion dollars with DraftKings, 0:16:24.800 --> 0:16:26.920 that's half of that and theory goes to the players. 0:16:27.000 --> 0:16:29.560 Tennis does not have revenue sharing like that. They also 0:16:29.840 --> 0:16:33.240 forbid the athletes from using the product, which is standard 0:16:33.280 --> 0:16:35.280 for most sports. And what happens to tennis is that 0:16:35.840 --> 0:16:38.080 the play a big gambling sport. I mean, tennis is 0:16:38.120 --> 0:16:40.400 like the third most gambled on sport. There are millions 0:16:40.440 --> 0:16:43.040 of matches they're eli inventory all over the world. I mean, 0:16:43.080 --> 0:16:45.040 it's crazy using there are two guys playing in a 0:16:45.120 --> 0:16:47.680 parking lot and there are three fans. Wi We're not 0:16:47.720 --> 0:16:49.200 talking about the US Open here. I mean there are 0:16:49.200 --> 0:16:51.680 all these low level events and they're you know, three 0:16:51.800 --> 0:16:54.800 fans watching, but they're tens of thousands of dollars being 0:16:54.840 --> 0:16:59.040 wagered on this match. It is ripe for corruption. But 0:16:59.200 --> 0:17:02.080 the what's really problematic to the players is that they 0:17:02.160 --> 0:17:05.840 get a lot of abuse from losing. Gambo. You cow, 0:17:05.960 --> 0:17:08.160 I just lost one hundred dollars because you can't hold 0:17:08.160 --> 0:17:10.560 your serve. And the players are saying, wait a second, 0:17:11.040 --> 0:17:13.880 we don't get the revenue, we can't even use the product. 0:17:13.960 --> 0:17:15.920 That's a little problematic. I mean, you guys are getting 0:17:15.920 --> 0:17:17.600 all this endorsement money in the problem, you know, the 0:17:17.880 --> 0:17:21.719 product itself we are forbidden from using. You guys can 0:17:21.800 --> 0:17:24.200 sell the signage and you can get the data rights deal, 0:17:24.200 --> 0:17:27.600 which basically just means selling data to bookies. And not 0:17:27.720 --> 0:17:30.080 only do we not get any revenue, we open up 0:17:30.080 --> 0:17:33.080 our phone and we have a stream of messages that 0:17:33.200 --> 0:17:35.280 are just the most vile thing you've ever heard from, 0:17:35.920 --> 0:17:37.960 you know, from aggrieved gamblers. 0:17:38.119 --> 0:17:39.720 Right, this seems very problematic. 0:17:40.000 --> 0:17:41.199 It's really problematic. 0:17:41.359 --> 0:17:42.159 You've tweeted on this. 0:17:42.359 --> 0:17:44.720 Yeah, I mean it's it's really I mean, tennis needs 0:17:44.840 --> 0:17:47.760 a lot more player representation. It's probably I mean, I 0:17:47.760 --> 0:17:49.560 think it's problematic across the board for any of a 0:17:49.640 --> 0:17:52.520 hundred reasons, but at least football players and basketball players 0:17:52.520 --> 0:17:55.679 are seeing some of that money. These players get all 0:17:55.760 --> 0:17:58.719 the downside, you know, they open their phone and they 0:17:58.720 --> 0:18:01.760