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Speaker 1: We are in my apartment and we are all vaxed

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Speaker 1: and we.

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Speaker 2: Feel good about that. And this is the first.

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Speaker 3: Time that Caitlin and I have done a pod with

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Speaker 3: another human being in the same room.

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Speaker 2: Really definitely a long time.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, we've done some just the two of us, but

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Speaker 4: not any with us.

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Speaker 2: And I'm so delighted that you are. You are our

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Speaker 2: first in threesome.

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Speaker 4: No no, no, no, no, no, no no, that's not how

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Speaker 4: we're starting the part.

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Speaker 3: That's what I did in the house with Venus, and

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Speaker 3: I did one with Peak Wins.

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Speaker 2: But this is the first three people panel.

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Speaker 4: The great three people make first three.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, this is starting so well, so well.

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Speaker 4: Fania King, Welcome to the Magazine podcast.

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Speaker 2: It's so nice to see you again.

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Speaker 5: You and I have met before, uh for a WTA

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Speaker 5: event in which we talked about some of your work.

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Speaker 5: We're going to get into, but you and Renee actually

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Speaker 5: have a bit of a career history together and that

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Speaker 5: might be as good a place to start talking as any.

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Speaker 6: I played with Renee a couple of times and we

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Speaker 6: got together because of a mutual coach that we both

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Speaker 6: worked with, Ray Ruffles.

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Speaker 1: I still consider him as one of the best coaches

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Speaker 1: in the world.

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Speaker 6: You know, he really developed the foundation of my all

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Speaker 6: court game and definitely in double and because of that,

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Speaker 6: I would say I would not have had the successes

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Speaker 6: that I had in doubles without his influence.

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Speaker 1: So he also, you know, really pushed for me to

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Speaker 1: play with great.

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Speaker 6: Partners, and Renee was the best partner that I had

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Speaker 6: ever played with up to that point and probably up

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Speaker 6: to you know this point. And I had actually looked

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Speaker 6: up to you a lot, you know, prior to play

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Speaker 6: with you, So I was slightly intimidated because I had

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Speaker 6: heard that you were tough, But when I played with you,

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Speaker 6: I felt like you were really nice to me.

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Speaker 2: Oh that's that. I'm happy.

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Speaker 1: I remember you gave me a lot of information.

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Speaker 6: So for example, we were playing I remember we played

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Speaker 6: against Lisa, Lisa Raymond, and Sam Stozer, and it may

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Speaker 6: have been my first time playing against them, but don't

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Speaker 6: my first time playing against them together. And you had

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Speaker 6: known them obviously for years, especially Lisa for years. And

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Speaker 6: I remember you telling me, Okay, if Lisa hits a

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Speaker 6: low backhand folly, I want you to stay or across.

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Speaker 1: Or at the high back in follie. Then I want

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Speaker 1: you to say it was like the opposite, and then

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Speaker 1: if you have aforehand, if it's low, I want you

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Speaker 1: to cross, and then it hi, I want you to stay.

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Speaker 1: And I'm like, yeah, I just said yes the whole time,

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Speaker 1: and I'm like, oh my god, oh my god, just

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Speaker 1: do one or the others. So I either just stayed

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Speaker 1: or cross, and you never yelled at me. So I

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Speaker 1: was like, Okay, at least you did it okay enough

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Speaker 1: that she shouldn't et me.

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Speaker 6: You gave me so much information, but it was it

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Speaker 6: was amazing because like you really set the stage for

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Speaker 6: me to learn how to play, like how to be

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Speaker 6: professional and how to make decisions every strategic at the

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Speaker 6: highest level.

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Speaker 1: And so I learned so much from you.

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Speaker 5: So I'm going to let Renee tell me her version

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Speaker 5: of events, which does not in any way conflict with

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Speaker 5: that and blowing reports to say about how.

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Speaker 2: You get that.

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Speaker 5: But I just want to note this was you were

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Speaker 5: still in your teens when you're describing this tournament.

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Speaker 4: Was your first tournament, was Renee, and you guys made.

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Speaker 5: It to the finals in which you lost seven five

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Speaker 5: third to a very very hot established team.

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Speaker 2: We lost as Lisa and Sam and I thought we won.

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Speaker 3: No, we beat We lost to them in the final

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Speaker 3: seven five we beat the man who were the number

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Speaker 3: one scene.

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Speaker 4: You had a fantastic run out of the gate and.

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Speaker 6: Yeah, and it was one of the biggest events outside

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Speaker 6: of Slams at that time.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it was my biggest result today.

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Speaker 2: Yeaheah, that's incredible.

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Speaker 4: So, yeah, you tell me what you told me the

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Speaker 4: other day.

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Speaker 2: Well, it's a funny story.

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Speaker 3: I love telling this story because it tells me a

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Speaker 3: lot about Varnyer, but but a true story. So Ray Ruffles,

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Speaker 3: who Vannye is talking about, was also my coach back

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Speaker 3: in the day. We weren't working together at the time

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Speaker 3: because he was working for the USTA and helping great

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Speaker 3: young players like Varnya and so I had come off

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Speaker 3: of playing with Lisa and.

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Speaker 2: I was kind of partnerless.

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Speaker 3: I was sort of playing with random people and Ray

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Speaker 3: Ruffles came up to me in Sydney in the parking

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Speaker 3: lot and he said, Grubs.

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Speaker 2: He used to call me Grubs. He's like, Grubs, you

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Speaker 2: got to play with my player. And I was like

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Speaker 2: what who? And he's like this this young player of

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Speaker 2: got Vanya King.

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Speaker 3: She's good, she's good, and I was like, okay, Ray,

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Speaker 3: she's like a baby and no offense. But she's like,

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Speaker 3: how can a five foot like four little junior and

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Speaker 3: be a great doubles player? And he was literally like

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Speaker 3: touting Vanya like no, she's good, I'm Thomas.

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Speaker 2: She's just a great little doubles player. And I was

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Speaker 2: like okay. So finally I'm like, all right, Ray, I'll play.

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Speaker 3: So I get to Tokyo and I have never really

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Speaker 3: even seen Vanya play at all.

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Speaker 1: I don't ever see yet partner, and it was like

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Speaker 1: a last minute thing.

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Speaker 3: It was a last minute paying and I never seen

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Speaker 3: Varna hit the ball. And so we go to the

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Speaker 3: practice court and I said, oh, this is going to

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Speaker 3: be interesting.

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Speaker 2: You know, let's see how correct Ray is about this.

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Speaker 4: Right.

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Speaker 3: So I remember as soon as we started hitting and

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Speaker 3: I got to the net, Vanya started dipping the ball

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Speaker 3: at my feet hitting.

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Speaker 2: These lobs really.

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Speaker 3: Knew how to change the pace of the ball, and

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Speaker 3: it reminded me a lot of someone like a Martina

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Speaker 3: Hingis who didn't have a big game, who never had

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Speaker 3: a big serve, and Varnya fit exactly into that like

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Speaker 3: demographic of a player no big weapon, but my god.

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Speaker 3: She totally understood where to hit the ball, how hard

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Speaker 3: to hit the ball, when to hit a lob, when

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Speaker 3: to go for it, when to poach, and so straight

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Speaker 3: away after the practice session, I looked at Rough and

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Speaker 3: I go, oh, I see it. I see I see it.

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Speaker 3: You know, actually Ruff was in there, you were there

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Speaker 3: with your mum. But I remember thinking right away, like,

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Speaker 3: I get it.

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Speaker 2: I get it.

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Speaker 3: So we got on in the court and as Vunya

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Speaker 3: said anything, I told her she was willing to do.

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Speaker 2: Obviously didn't know that she was petrified to the sounds

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Speaker 2: like she didn't. But we had a blast. It was

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Speaker 2: like I was playing with my kid daughter.

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Speaker 3: I mean, I was like, I don't know how old

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Speaker 3: I was at the time, it was probably like thirty

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Speaker 3: three or something like that.

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Speaker 2: But but it was great because she was just so

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Speaker 2: willing to learn.

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Speaker 3: And then obviously subsequently from that moment on, when you

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Speaker 3: did quite well, well, that.

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Speaker 1: Was like the catalyst to me doing well in doubles.

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Speaker 3: Well, I mean, I'm glad that you think that, but

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Speaker 3: I think your talent took you to where you needed

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Speaker 3: to go.

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Speaker 2: But yeah, it sounds like you maybe would have gone

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Speaker 2: there anyway.

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Speaker 1: But you.

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Speaker 5: You know, I'm sitting here and looking at a two

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Speaker 5: ton Grand Slam winner, multiple Grand Slam finals, quarterfinals. You've

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Speaker 5: you had a fantastic, potactic career that has just officially

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Speaker 5: come to an official end a month ago. So it

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Speaker 5: is really fun to be able to sit with you

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Speaker 5: a month and I think it's exactly a month you

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Speaker 5: were announced your retirement after how many years on the tour?

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Speaker 1: Uh, fifteen? I would say officially about fifteen.

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Speaker 6: But I mean, obviously we played pro tournaments before. Yeah,

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Speaker 6: I played pro tournaments before I turned probe.

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Speaker 5: And now that we're catching you a month into your retirement,

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Speaker 5: what how has the last month gone for you? Are

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Speaker 5: you sort of slowly transitioning into a life of leisure

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Speaker 5: or like what.

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Speaker 1: Bring us into the data? I think I quickly ran

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Speaker 1: into or walked into the life of leisure. It's definitely

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Speaker 1: less stressful.

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Speaker 6: But I've been injured a lot over the past four

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Speaker 6: or five years, so I would say in the past

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Speaker 6: five years, I've only played about two because of.

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Speaker 1: Injuries, So that was it gave me one. It gave

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Speaker 1: me a lot of time off court to kind of

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Speaker 1: figure out what I enjoyed or trying to look for

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Speaker 1: things that might be fulfilling after tennis. But it also

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Speaker 1: made tennis very stressful because you know, I kept trying

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Speaker 1: to come back from injuries, and especially I had surgery

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Speaker 1: a few years ago, and never since my surgery, never

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Speaker 1: never recovered, so mentally, physically and emotionally, it was.

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Speaker 6: All kind of a wreck for a while because I've

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Speaker 6: just got to the point where I realized I wasn't

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Speaker 6: good enough, which is not kind of a pleasant admission.

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Speaker 6: But at the same time, because I had that time off,

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Speaker 6: I realized that there's.

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Speaker 1: Things outside of tennis that I really enjoyed.

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Speaker 6: And you know, like, well, we all know that to

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Speaker 6: be there, you have to sacrifice everything for tennis, and

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Speaker 6: now I wasn't willing to sacrifice, you know, everything else

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Speaker 6: for tennis.

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Speaker 1: I wanted to do other things.

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Speaker 7: And I wanted to sacrifice tennis for its So it

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Speaker 7: also gives me, well, I mean, I think after fifteen years,

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Speaker 7: it's only fair to sort of say, like, Okay, I'm

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Speaker 7: gonna if you can't compete in the level that you

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Speaker 7: feel like you want to give it.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and you've.

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Speaker 5: Been very outspoken and very impactful, I would say in

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Speaker 5: a couple of different ways, but especially your work with

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Speaker 5: serving up hope.

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Speaker 2: Tell us about that, because when we first.

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Speaker 5: Met, this was already I could tell something that had

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Speaker 5: sort of captured and your heart and your imagination, and

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Speaker 5: you know, involves a lot of travel, and it seems

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Speaker 5: to involve a lot.

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Speaker 1: Of yourself, which I think is really cool.

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Speaker 5: It's not just you putting your name on something, it's

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Speaker 5: your You're getting your hands starting.

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Speaker 2: Talk to us a little bit about that.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, so I've always been interested in the nonprofit sector.

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Speaker 1: I think that when I was on tour, it is

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Speaker 1: very lonely, and it's, you know, a very.

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Speaker 6: Selfish kind of life. You know, you have to put

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Speaker 6: yourself first all the time.

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Speaker 2: Don't worry. We mentioned that a lot of selfish I mean, well,

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Speaker 2: the time, don't worry.

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Speaker 6: We mentioned that a lot of I mean well, every

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Speaker 6: waking moment is to optimize your performance, so you just

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Speaker 6: can't think about anybody else or anything else. And it's

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Speaker 6: also difficult, you know that you can't really empathize with

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Speaker 6: other people or connect with other people in a positive way.

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Speaker 6: So for me giving back, obviously I loved that feeling.

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Speaker 1: I mean, I love being.

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Speaker 6: Able to help other people, but it also helped me

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Speaker 6: from a mental health standpoint, So in what way in that,

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Speaker 6: for example, like with self esteem that you know I

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Speaker 6: had value?

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Speaker 1: I mean ironically, even if we are great players, you know.

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Speaker 6: I felt like and I think a lot of other players,

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Speaker 6: even the top players, really struggle with self esteem. And

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Speaker 6: I think it's also just part of that lifestyle. If

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Speaker 6: you ever say I'm fine, I'm good enough, I'm complacent,

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Speaker 6: then you know you're kind of done because there's always

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Speaker 6: somebody gunning, you know, always someone pushing really hard. You

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Speaker 6: always have to really be super motivated to have something

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Speaker 6: else to do.

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Speaker 1: You can't ever say I'm good. You know, you can't

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Speaker 1: sit back and relax.

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Speaker 6: So I feel like just that, and then combined with

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Speaker 6: the fact that every week we're playing a tournament, and

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Speaker 6: unless you win every tournament, you're losing every week, so

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Speaker 6: you know, your self confidence takes a blow.

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Speaker 1: So you know, when you win.

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Speaker 6: A match, you're like on top of the world, and

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Speaker 6: you lose a match, you're just like everything is sucks.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. And combine that with long flights.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, and then support system, and you know, if you

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Speaker 5: don't have someone there that really loves you and it

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Speaker 5: gives you that immediate feedback of like it's okay.

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Speaker 3: You constantly are like questioning yourself as a person, and

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Speaker 3: it's a I mean, you know, I always say that

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Speaker 3: sports were playing professional sports is like.

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Speaker 2: You know, legal addiction. Right, You're so.

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Speaker 3: High and yet it's so low, and it's really hard

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Speaker 3: to find the middle because the middle, as you said,

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Speaker 3: is complacency, and that doesn't work.

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Speaker 1: I can't really have that. Yeah, I mean I used

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Speaker 1: to ask my sister.

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Speaker 6: You know, we've both had well, I don't know, I've

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Speaker 6: had these moments where I just break down for one

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Speaker 6: reason or another.

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Speaker 1: You know, I'm.

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Speaker 6: Training for a season and I just don't feel like

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Speaker 6: I'm good enough or you know, I'm not not prepared enough.

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Speaker 6: And then I call my sister and I'd be like,

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Speaker 6: what if I do bad, are you gonna still love me?

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Speaker 2: Oh my gosh.

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Speaker 1: Like now I look back and I'm like, wow, I

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Speaker 1: was childish, But no, in the moment.

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Speaker 6: I'm just you know, my self confidence, Like our self

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Speaker 6: confidence is so fragile being athletes, and because it's so

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Speaker 6: externally performance based, you know that it's one day it

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Speaker 6: can be great and one day, you know it can

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Speaker 6: be terrible.

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Speaker 1: So and yeah, going back to nonprofit.

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Speaker 6: It really gave me some stability that, Okay, one, the

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Speaker 6: work that I'm doing is consistent, that it, you know,

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Speaker 6: can continue to help people, and that's consistent, but also

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Speaker 6: you know, providing a little bit of validation for myself.

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Speaker 1: That hey, I'm making a difference.

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Speaker 6: I make a difference, and I'm I have value as

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Speaker 6: a person in myself, you know, and that if even

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Speaker 6: if my on court self esteem can be at zero,

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Speaker 6: you know, I still have this off court self esteem that.

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Speaker 1: Can be consistent.

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Speaker 6: So when we met a couple of years ago, I

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Speaker 6: hadn't actually officially started my nonprofit in terms of like

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Speaker 6: getting it as a taxis at organization, because just after

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Speaker 6: we saw each other. So we saw each other in

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Speaker 6: the end of twenty nineteen at US Open. So actually

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Speaker 6: the end of twenty nineteen I started the process of

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Speaker 6: really organizing US from a legal standpoint, and then early

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Speaker 6: last year hasn't been I mean, it feels like much longer.

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Speaker 6: Finally became our own five point c three tax exempt organization,

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Speaker 6: and I went to Uganda and established our program there.

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Speaker 1: So we work in a slum community.

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Speaker 6: When we had seen each other, I had gone there

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Speaker 6: and I had connected with Illegal Aid n CEO, and

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Speaker 6: that's how I got in touch with Uganda.

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Speaker 1: And actually the reason why I got in touch with

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Speaker 1: the Illegal to NGO is because I had gone to

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Speaker 1: afric a few times because I love wildlife and so anyways,

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Speaker 1: it was a very serendipitous, you know, cecuitous route to

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Speaker 1: getting there.

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Speaker 6: But yeah, I went to Uganda last year established our

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Speaker 6: nonprofit program there. At the same time connected with a

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Speaker 6: former player from Chile, Hanspeldlipnik.

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Speaker 1: I don't know if you guys remember him.

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Speaker 6: Yeah, So he retired last year and he had a

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Speaker 6: foundation in Chile that was also working in a slum

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Speaker 6: community in Santiago, and coincidentally, he also.

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Speaker 1: Went to Vanda, so we connected that way and his

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Speaker 1: mission with his foundation in Santiago was the same as

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Speaker 1: serving a pope's mission.

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Speaker 6: So we basically took that program under umbrella later last year.

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Speaker 6: So now we work in both areas of both countries,

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Speaker 6: and we actually are starting our domestic our first domestic

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Speaker 6: program in LA because I'm so cal at hearting with

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Speaker 6: the trained in Florida for the past ten twelve years,

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Speaker 6: but I'm always i always feel like a California so

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Speaker 6: we're starting our first program domestically in LA with our

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Speaker 6: partnership with the YMCA Metropolito La.

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Speaker 2: Oh that's so cool.

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Speaker 1: Yeah in July.

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Speaker 4: Oh can we yeah, yeah, of course and.

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Speaker 2: Do like cover it and commentation.

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Speaker 4: I'll do some stuff sure, yeah, seriously, Yeah, that's mission

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Speaker 4: for us.

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Speaker 1: Oh, that would be since it's our first domestic program.

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Speaker 1: I was trying.

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Speaker 6: I'm trying to start slowly, you know, really get that

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Speaker 6: one established first. But they have met, they had mentioned,

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Speaker 6: and I would all I would love obviously to be

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Speaker 6: able to grow that the domestic program to other branches

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Speaker 6: and have a stronger relationship.

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Speaker 2: We're about developing youth.

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Speaker 5: It's about getting rackets, instruction, access and participation among kids. Right,

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Speaker 5: that's the unifying principle. What's the ice group that you're

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Speaker 5: looking at? Mostly right now?

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Speaker 6: Overseas well, the Santiago program works.

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Speaker 1: It's basically under eighteen because they have kids as.

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Speaker 6: Young as two all the way up to like a

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Speaker 6: college pathway, but the bulk of the kids I would.

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Speaker 1: Say are between six and twelve years old. Cool.

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Speaker 6: Yeah, and yes, definitely focusing on kids, especially in our

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Speaker 6: international programs because.

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Speaker 1: You know, there's little to no infrastructure there, life is

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Speaker 1: very different. They have much much less than kids do

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Speaker 1: in first world countries.

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Speaker 6: You know, on a day to day basis, when I

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Speaker 6: first went there, you know, I felt bad.

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Speaker 1: You know, and it was just me being a foreigner

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Speaker 1: with my lens of judgment, like, oh, you know, you

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Speaker 1: should have what I have. But on a day to

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Speaker 1: day basis, they're they're happy, you know.

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Speaker 6: That's the life that they're used to, and it's fine. However,

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Speaker 6: the challenge there is there's no safety net, especially like

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Speaker 6: from a healthcare standpoint, so if anything happens, you know,

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Speaker 6: there's no one to go to, you know, they can't

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Speaker 6: go to the police because it's very corrupt. If they

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Speaker 6: get sick, you know, if they get malaria, which is

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Speaker 6: very very common. You know, fifty percent of kids get malaria,

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Speaker 6: I mean retality rates that that is, you know, fifteen

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Speaker 6: twenty percent. So things that would happen here, you know

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Speaker 6: that are very common and would not be life threatening

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Speaker 6: over there are. And then secondly, why I feel like

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Speaker 6: it's very important for us to be there and work

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Speaker 6: with kids is that there is a lot of corruption

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Speaker 6: and there's not a lot of opportunity for most people,

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Speaker 6: you know, ninety nine point nine percent live on less

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Speaker 6: than adult or a month, whereas you know, you know,

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Speaker 6: less than one percent of the population have hundreds of thousands,

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Speaker 6: millions of dollars, So the discrepancy there is incredibly high.

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Speaker 1: And I feel like, and it's so cliche, but you know,

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Speaker 1: the older generation is kind.

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Speaker 6: Of set in their ways, you know, in this survival

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Speaker 6: is mentality, and I really feel like educating the youth

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Speaker 6: is the only way forward for any society to grow

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Speaker 6: and progress, you know, to try to open the.

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Speaker 1: Minds of the young young people. Again, sounds so cliche, but.

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Speaker 2: Give them a chance.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, Look, I think about.

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Speaker 6: Opportunity to see that there's more than just surviving, that

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Speaker 6: they can do something, They can make a difference, you know.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, I think for me thinking a lot about mission

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Speaker 5: and tennis in particular really benefits from us opening it up,

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Speaker 5: opening up the doors, making the tent bigger, making it

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Speaker 5: not necessarily only about.

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Speaker 2: A group of stars at the.

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Speaker 5: Very top earning all the money in a professional context,

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Speaker 5: even yeah, it's can we make this sport accessible so

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Speaker 5: that it becomes like soccer is played in backyards and

398
00:18:07,119 --> 00:18:10,280
Speaker 5: alleys and empty fields, because tennis really truly shouldn't have

399
00:18:10,400 --> 00:18:12,240
Speaker 5: these barriers. You don't have to have a country club

400
00:18:12,520 --> 00:18:14,080
Speaker 5: to be able to enjoy this sport. And what I

401
00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:16,679
Speaker 5: like so much about this sport is it shows you

402
00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:20,520
Speaker 5: people from literally every part of the world, every gender,

403
00:18:20,760 --> 00:18:25,040
Speaker 5: every nation. There there's stories of a lot of rich

404
00:18:25,080 --> 00:18:26,720
Speaker 5: kids and tennis, but there's also stories a lot.

405
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Speaker 1: Of not rich kids in tennis.

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Speaker 4: And what I like about it so much is you

407
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Speaker 4: can see yourself.

408
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Speaker 5: In the tour in a way that you can't you

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Speaker 5: don't necessarily do if you're you know, watching another sport.

410
00:18:36,400 --> 00:18:36,840
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know.

411
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Speaker 5: And so to me, tennis really does have this opportunity

412
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Speaker 5: whatever it is, whether it's youth playing more or reaching

413
00:18:42,840 --> 00:18:45,320
Speaker 5: or just showing and getting kids participating and feeling good

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Speaker 5: about themselves.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean tennis.

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Speaker 6: Also, there's so many components involved with tennis that I

417
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Speaker 6: feel like it's I I'm sure studies would show that

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Speaker 6: it's like one of the most technically complex and physically

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Speaker 6: complex sports. So it does benefit you in all those ways,

420
00:19:02,160 --> 00:19:06,560
Speaker 6: of course, in addition to the social benefits, and you know,

421
00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:08,520
Speaker 6: the opportunities that it might provide.

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00:19:08,520 --> 00:19:11,560
Speaker 1: And I did read an article recently, I feel like.

423
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Speaker 6: It's an exaggeration or I also feel like being on

424
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Speaker 6: tour has stressed me out so much that I've.

425
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Speaker 1: Lost years of my life.

426
00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:23,320
Speaker 6: But it's said that, It's said that playing tennis, and

427
00:19:23,359 --> 00:19:25,800
Speaker 6: it really made the connection from the social aspect, but

428
00:19:25,840 --> 00:19:27,840
Speaker 6: playing tennis apparently gains you.

429
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Speaker 1: Like, yeah, just for like nine years, and I was like,

430
00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:31,560
Speaker 1: nine years sounds like a lot.

431
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Speaker 3: Well you're thinking it took nine years off of my life, yes, yeah, exactly.

432
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Speaker 2: Well good news you're back your break.

433
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Speaker 1: Even Yeah exactly.

434
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Speaker 6: So I mean I also did well in my undergrad

435
00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:45,440
Speaker 6: I studied well. I started psychology, but I did like

436
00:19:45,480 --> 00:19:47,960
Speaker 6: an exercise physiology class, and I remember them saying that,

437
00:19:48,119 --> 00:19:50,439
Speaker 6: you know, moderate exercise, it's like a bell curves, a

438
00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:55,200
Speaker 6: modern exercise increases your lifespan and your health. And then

439
00:19:55,600 --> 00:19:58,240
Speaker 6: obviously excessive exercise then you go back down to the

440
00:19:58,640 --> 00:19:59,160
Speaker 6: bottom of.

441
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Speaker 1: The bell curve.

442
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Speaker 6: And I'm like, oh, great, you know how far down

443
00:20:02,359 --> 00:20:04,960
Speaker 6: how many years or this impacted our heart that.

444
00:20:04,960 --> 00:20:07,760
Speaker 3: As many a steps in I don't think, No, probably not,

445
00:20:07,800 --> 00:20:10,320
Speaker 3: although I'm doing a lot less these days, so I'm

446
00:20:10,359 --> 00:20:11,359
Speaker 3: really happy about that.

447
00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:14,000
Speaker 2: So my bell curve is rising with the amount of

448
00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:16,640
Speaker 2: alcohol I'm drinking, but.

449
00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:19,800
Speaker 3: But so like, I love what you're doing now your mission.

450
00:20:19,800 --> 00:20:22,800
Speaker 3: It's so typical of someone like you who's like beyond educated.

451
00:20:22,840 --> 00:20:24,600
Speaker 3: It has always been one of the smartest tennis plays

452
00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:26,320
Speaker 3: out there that I could actually have a conversation with.

453
00:20:26,800 --> 00:20:30,639
Speaker 3: But let's go back to the stack of why tennis

454
00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:32,200
Speaker 3: for you? Yeah, and how.

455
00:20:32,040 --> 00:20:32,800
Speaker 2: You got into it.

456
00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:33,800
Speaker 1: Yeah.

457
00:20:33,840 --> 00:20:37,920
Speaker 6: So I'm in New York visiting my brother, and my

458
00:20:37,960 --> 00:20:40,200
Speaker 6: brother is the start of it all. So my brother

459
00:20:40,280 --> 00:20:44,639
Speaker 6: is eight years older, and he, at nine years old,

460
00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:45,359
Speaker 6: was very.

461
00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:46,240
Speaker 1: Naughty in school.

462
00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:48,439
Speaker 6: He would get like, I think he had a record

463
00:20:48,480 --> 00:20:49,920
Speaker 6: of forty pink slips.

464
00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:49,920
Speaker 1: In a week.

465
00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:51,560
Speaker 2: Wow. So he was just a little shit.

466
00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:55,879
Speaker 1: Yes, yes he was. I never got a pink slip

467
00:20:56,119 --> 00:20:59,679
Speaker 1: in my life, in my educ in my elementary, you know, career.

468
00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:02,239
Speaker 1: So it was very different from him.

469
00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:02,359
Speaker 5: I was.

470
00:21:02,480 --> 00:21:03,080
Speaker 1: I was obedient.

471
00:21:03,600 --> 00:21:07,400
Speaker 6: And so his teacher told my parents, Okay, you need

472
00:21:07,480 --> 00:21:08,560
Speaker 6: he's got a ton of energy.

473
00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:11,479
Speaker 1: You need to put him into a sport or you know,

474
00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:14,879
Speaker 1: into different activities. So they took that to heart. You know,

475
00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:20,400
Speaker 1: Pasians are typically very obedient. So they put him into

476
00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:22,359
Speaker 1: a sport and so they let him choose.

477
00:21:24,160 --> 00:21:27,440
Speaker 6: My dad wanted him to do an individual sport because

478
00:21:27,800 --> 00:21:30,719
Speaker 6: you know, my dad was very much into okay, how

479
00:21:30,720 --> 00:21:33,760
Speaker 6: could my kids become successful? And he felt like an

480
00:21:33,760 --> 00:21:36,639
Speaker 6: individual sport, you have more control over your destiny. And

481
00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:38,880
Speaker 6: so we grew up in Long Beach and he went

482
00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:41,960
Speaker 6: to Long Beach City College and there was a tournament

483
00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:44,439
Speaker 6: going on, like they passed by these courts and Janet

484
00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:48,000
Speaker 6: Lee was playing as a junior. And so Janet was

485
00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:52,800
Speaker 6: a Taiwanese American and she was top hundred and she

486
00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:54,879
Speaker 6: did really want doubles as well. I think top twenty

487
00:21:55,160 --> 00:22:03,160
Speaker 6: or okay, not to standard sign yet not a Grand

488
00:22:03,200 --> 00:22:04,359
Speaker 6: Slam champion.

489
00:22:04,080 --> 00:22:04,720
Speaker 1: Or maybe she was.

490
00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:05,359
Speaker 5: I don't know.

491
00:22:05,520 --> 00:22:10,840
Speaker 6: Oh sorry, but anyway, So she was also very impactful,

492
00:22:10,920 --> 00:22:13,679
Speaker 6: just as you know, Michael Ching like really mobilized the

493
00:22:13,680 --> 00:22:18,600
Speaker 6: Asian American community to place tennis. Janet's a smaller degree,

494
00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:21,480
Speaker 6: you know, really mobilized the Chamanese American community.

495
00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:24,560
Speaker 1: So my brother saw her and you know, you see

496
00:22:24,560 --> 00:22:29,240
Speaker 1: somebody that's like you and yeah, yeah, and.

497
00:22:29,200 --> 00:22:31,960
Speaker 6: So he chose tennis. And then he also they enrolled

498
00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:36,360
Speaker 6: him into piano. So he's also a good pianist. And

499
00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:39,399
Speaker 6: then my parents didn't have a lot of money, like honestly,

500
00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:41,560
Speaker 6: we were pretty poor when we were growing up, so

501
00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:44,040
Speaker 6: it wasn't like we had a lot of opportunities to

502
00:22:44,080 --> 00:22:47,000
Speaker 6: do a lot of different things. My parents, by the

503
00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:50,720
Speaker 6: time I came along, did enroll us into different classes,

504
00:22:50,800 --> 00:22:53,520
Speaker 6: but in terms of, you know, focusing on one sport,

505
00:22:53,560 --> 00:22:55,800
Speaker 6: it is very expensive the more you get involved in

506
00:22:56,200 --> 00:23:00,320
Speaker 6: any activity. So we just followed him. I remember, so

507
00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:02,680
Speaker 6: I have two sisters. So it's my brother, my two

508
00:23:02,720 --> 00:23:05,480
Speaker 6: sisters who are twins. They're two and a half years older.

509
00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:05,919
Speaker 1: Than me, and then me.

510
00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:08,520
Speaker 6: So my sisters and I just the three of us

511
00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:11,399
Speaker 6: were like little triplets following my brother. And my brother

512
00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:15,359
Speaker 6: was a really good junior and we were known as

513
00:23:15,680 --> 00:23:20,399
Speaker 6: Philip King's little sisters for so long, and yeah, that

514
00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:22,680
Speaker 6: was our claim to fame, you know, because my brother was.

515
00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:25,399
Speaker 1: He actually was super talented. He was the number one

516
00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:27,520
Speaker 1: junior in the US when he was seventeen eighteen. He

517
00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:28,520
Speaker 1: won column the Zoo twice.

518
00:23:28,560 --> 00:23:30,720
Speaker 2: That's insane. And he was All American at Duke. Yeah,

519
00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:31,399
Speaker 2: he was a legit.

520
00:23:31,600 --> 00:23:33,720
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean I only got to college, but like

521
00:23:33,840 --> 00:23:36,160
Speaker 5: for in my world.

522
00:23:35,800 --> 00:23:38,840
Speaker 6: He was a I mean I think I mean obviously

523
00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:41,080
Speaker 6: wasn't there, but I think that college hurt his tennis.

524
00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:46,000
Speaker 6: I think he may have wanted to get away from California, Like,

525
00:23:46,240 --> 00:23:47,120
Speaker 6: what's he doing now?

526
00:23:47,600 --> 00:23:49,960
Speaker 1: He's a trader, so he's doing plenty fine.

527
00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:55,000
Speaker 6: Now, yeah, yes, he's doing He's doing very fine fine.

528
00:23:56,280 --> 00:23:57,960
Speaker 2: So maybe I'm not the wrong decision.

529
00:23:58,160 --> 00:23:59,000
Speaker 1: No, I mean, for.

530
00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:02,080
Speaker 6: Tennis wise, I think that, like, I think he really

531
00:24:02,680 --> 00:24:04,119
Speaker 6: enjoyed the team aspect.

532
00:24:04,200 --> 00:24:06,640
Speaker 1: But you know, being the number one prospect, it's hard

533
00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:08,960
Speaker 1: to find competition.

534
00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:11,200
Speaker 6: Yeah, it's hard to find a college that would really

535
00:24:11,359 --> 00:24:14,800
Speaker 6: nurture one person's talent, you know, and that's not what

536
00:24:14,840 --> 00:24:17,080
Speaker 6: it's there for. So but I know he really loved

537
00:24:17,119 --> 00:24:19,240
Speaker 6: being a duke. He did his NBA there as well.

538
00:24:21,119 --> 00:24:23,679
Speaker 6: So anyways, long story short, Sorry, went on a tangent,

539
00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:24,880
Speaker 6: as I typically do.

540
00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:26,160
Speaker 1: But I started because with.

541
00:24:26,119 --> 00:24:28,479
Speaker 5: My brother and you saw him and you were excited

542
00:24:28,480 --> 00:24:29,840
Speaker 5: and you got into it. And so does that mean

543
00:24:29,880 --> 00:24:30,800
Speaker 5: your sisters played it?

544
00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:37,200
Speaker 6: Yes, so my sisters they were. It's nationally ranked, so both.

545
00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:38,399
Speaker 1: I think top fifty in the country.

546
00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:42,040
Speaker 6: My Yvana went to Princeton and then Midie went to

547
00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:43,800
Speaker 6: penn Very too smart cookies.

548
00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:45,639
Speaker 2: Yes, they're all very smart.

549
00:24:45,640 --> 00:24:48,359
Speaker 3: Cookie So take me back to the period of time

550
00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:50,639
Speaker 3: where you started to be pro and playing. And do

551
00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:52,880
Speaker 3: you remember like the one match where you were like, oh, yeah,

552
00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:54,640
Speaker 3: I'm actually can I can do this for a living?

553
00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:55,080
Speaker 2: I can.

554
00:24:55,240 --> 00:24:59,360
Speaker 3: I'm I'm a player other than playing with me in toky.

555
00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:02,240
Speaker 3: Is there a time where you realize it, I can

556
00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:04,800
Speaker 3: actually play with the big guns on here.

557
00:25:06,520 --> 00:25:08,000
Speaker 1: Yes and no, Yes and no.

558
00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:11,600
Speaker 6: I mean my results. So I didn't turn pro until

559
00:25:11,600 --> 00:25:15,320
Speaker 6: I was seventy in the world. So I actually did.

560
00:25:15,119 --> 00:25:16,160
Speaker 1: Not want to play.

561
00:25:16,520 --> 00:25:18,159
Speaker 2: Why did you want to go to college?

562
00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:19,320
Speaker 1: I wanted to go to college.

563
00:25:20,119 --> 00:25:22,119
Speaker 2: This was a great lesson for people though gone young

564
00:25:22,359 --> 00:25:22,720
Speaker 2: to hear.

565
00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:27,360
Speaker 6: Yes, I mean, I don't regret any of the decisions,

566
00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:30,080
Speaker 6: you know. So I actually I was committed to Stanford

567
00:25:30,760 --> 00:25:36,480
Speaker 6: and sure in that off like that gap year, I

568
00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:38,679
Speaker 6: got a wild card when I was sixteen years old,

569
00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:40,480
Speaker 6: I got a wild card into the qualifying of the

570
00:25:40,560 --> 00:25:45,320
Speaker 6: US Open. I qualified. I played every match, three set match.

571
00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:47,439
Speaker 6: I was just again like the girl you saw me,

572
00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:49,240
Speaker 6: just like fighting, super.

573
00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:50,879
Speaker 1: Hard, you know, grinding. At that time.

574
00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:54,600
Speaker 6: My dad had changed my backhand and my back end

575
00:25:54,640 --> 00:25:56,800
Speaker 6: over the course of my career has been very solid.

576
00:25:57,119 --> 00:26:00,560
Speaker 1: But I have no backhand. I only sliced and loved it.

577
00:26:00,640 --> 00:26:01,040
Speaker 1: That's it.

578
00:26:01,359 --> 00:26:03,080
Speaker 6: And I sliced a love and tried to run around

579
00:26:03,080 --> 00:26:06,280
Speaker 6: every for him and if I could, and just fought

580
00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:06,920
Speaker 6: as hard as.

581
00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:10,280
Speaker 4: I could, battled through qualities. In your first slam, made

582
00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:11,040
Speaker 4: it to the main draw.

583
00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:13,720
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I won the first round against Clara.

584
00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:15,680
Speaker 6: At the time she was Kukolova, and then I think

585
00:26:15,680 --> 00:26:17,560
Speaker 6: she became exact with Love and then she back to Cuocoloba.

586
00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:21,199
Speaker 6: Clara is actually also very instrumental in my career because

587
00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:26,960
Speaker 6: at the time there were quality points and yeah, yeah,

588
00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:30,040
Speaker 6: I went from like eight hundred to or let's say

589
00:26:30,119 --> 00:26:33,960
Speaker 6: nine hundred to two fifty, which was a huge jump,

590
00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:37,119
Speaker 6: you know, in one tournament. And prior to that moment,

591
00:26:37,320 --> 00:26:38,879
Speaker 6: I mean I was committed to Stanford. I was like,

592
00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:41,760
Speaker 6: for sure, I'm going to college. You know, I couldn't

593
00:26:41,800 --> 00:26:44,520
Speaker 6: get into big events. I was just playing some futures.

594
00:26:45,800 --> 00:26:49,560
Speaker 6: And then because my ranking was good, then I started

595
00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:52,480
Speaker 6: getting into like challenger events. So I finished that year

596
00:26:52,520 --> 00:26:56,800
Speaker 6: playing challenger events ranked about one sixty, and then by

597
00:26:57,040 --> 00:26:59,359
Speaker 6: Indian Wells. By March, I was top hundred and then

598
00:26:59,440 --> 00:27:04,600
Speaker 6: by June I was seventy. So I remember having a

599
00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:08,639
Speaker 6: call with my parents. So actually I was coached for

600
00:27:08,760 --> 00:27:13,840
Speaker 6: my dad and at French Open, so I was I

601
00:27:13,920 --> 00:27:18,080
Speaker 6: was doing well with him, but I also really hated

602
00:27:18,119 --> 00:27:20,399
Speaker 6: playing because my dad was really hard on me and

603
00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:24,200
Speaker 6: my sisters. But he decided when I was about thirteen

604
00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:25,639
Speaker 6: that I was going to be the one that was

605
00:27:25,800 --> 00:27:27,919
Speaker 6: gonna make it, so he focused all of his attention

606
00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:31,080
Speaker 6: on me, which also I recognized later that was very

607
00:27:31,080 --> 00:27:33,880
Speaker 6: hard on my sisters. Could he basically like neglected them.

608
00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:35,679
Speaker 1: But it was very hard on me.

609
00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:39,840
Speaker 6: Yeah, it was not easy for everybody, and you know,

610
00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:43,000
Speaker 6: he puts so much pressure on me that I had

611
00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:43,320
Speaker 6: to win.

612
00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:46,000
Speaker 1: It was basically like I couldn't control if I want

613
00:27:46,080 --> 00:27:48,680
Speaker 1: or not. But as a junior was it was.

614
00:27:48,680 --> 00:27:53,640
Speaker 6: Okay because you know, fighting hard, you know, grinding it out,

615
00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:54,880
Speaker 6: putting balls on the court.

616
00:27:54,880 --> 00:27:56,400
Speaker 2: Makes a big difference for juniors.

617
00:27:56,720 --> 00:27:59,800
Speaker 6: But as a pro, you know, got to be more gutsy,

618
00:28:00,080 --> 00:28:02,040
Speaker 6: got to be able to rise up to the occasion.

619
00:28:02,080 --> 00:28:04,200
Speaker 1: And I think that that hurt me, like.

620
00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:06,280
Speaker 6: Having all of that pressure instilled in me and that

621
00:28:06,359 --> 00:28:08,320
Speaker 6: fear instilled in me as a kid, And one of

622
00:28:08,320 --> 00:28:10,520
Speaker 6: the reasons why I did do better in doubles because

623
00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:13,280
Speaker 6: he didn't care about doubles. I mean, obviously my game

624
00:28:13,359 --> 00:28:16,639
Speaker 6: kind of suited doubles a bit better. But yeah, so

625
00:28:16,960 --> 00:28:20,200
Speaker 6: at French Ope and I remember telling him, I'm sure

626
00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:22,480
Speaker 6: this also had a lot to do with the reason

627
00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:24,520
Speaker 6: why I wanted to go to colleges, because I just

628
00:28:24,680 --> 00:28:25,840
Speaker 6: was want to playing.

629
00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:28,719
Speaker 1: Yeah, and at French Ope and I basically said to him, like,

630
00:28:28,960 --> 00:28:30,280
Speaker 1: I can't work with you anymore.

631
00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:32,040
Speaker 6: I got to the point where it's like I quit

632
00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:33,920
Speaker 6: tennis or I quit you. And it was a huge

633
00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:36,200
Speaker 6: decision for me because I was under the most of

634
00:28:37,320 --> 00:28:39,239
Speaker 6: it was hard, but I was like, at my with end,

635
00:28:39,320 --> 00:28:41,520
Speaker 6: I just could not do it anymore. And that's actually

636
00:28:41,520 --> 00:28:44,200
Speaker 6: when I started working with Ray because at Wimbledon he

637
00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:48,120
Speaker 6: was floating with some of the US girls and kindly

638
00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:50,920
Speaker 6: because Ray was always that type of person, that's you know.

639
00:28:51,680 --> 00:28:52,720
Speaker 1: He always invited.

640
00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:54,440
Speaker 6: He knew me because you know, even if he was

641
00:28:54,480 --> 00:28:56,520
Speaker 6: working with some other players, he said, oh, wanna come

642
00:28:56,560 --> 00:28:59,120
Speaker 6: and join us. He was so like trying to give

643
00:28:59,160 --> 00:29:01,320
Speaker 6: me opportunities to play with better players.

644
00:29:01,480 --> 00:29:01,640
Speaker 5: You know.

645
00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:03,560
Speaker 6: That's how I got to play with you, and to

646
00:29:03,640 --> 00:29:05,840
Speaker 6: practice with them to see what, you know, pushed me

647
00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:09,120
Speaker 6: to my limits. And so anyway, I started working with

648
00:29:09,200 --> 00:29:13,440
Speaker 6: Ray at Wimbledon, but I called my parents in London

649
00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:15,160
Speaker 6: and said, Okay, I've made my decision, because that was

650
00:29:15,160 --> 00:29:15,760
Speaker 6: my deadline.

651
00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:16,920
Speaker 1: I said, I've made my decision.

652
00:29:16,920 --> 00:29:20,720
Speaker 6: I'm going to go to college and my parents said nope.

653
00:29:20,840 --> 00:29:22,880
Speaker 6: And it was actually my mom who was the one

654
00:29:22,960 --> 00:29:26,200
Speaker 6: because she my mom was smart, like she knew how to,

655
00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:29,400
Speaker 6: she knew how to. My dad in a way because

656
00:29:29,440 --> 00:29:31,880
Speaker 6: he was so tough in a way was helpful because

657
00:29:31,920 --> 00:29:34,240
Speaker 6: I was able to break away because it was so tough.

658
00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:37,240
Speaker 1: My mom was like, no, Banya, you know you were

659
00:29:37,280 --> 00:29:39,440
Speaker 1: going to regret this, like how well you're doing.

660
00:29:39,480 --> 00:29:41,480
Speaker 6: And I was seventeen and it was it was hard

661
00:29:41,520 --> 00:29:46,080
Speaker 6: for me. I still lived with my parents and had

662
00:29:46,080 --> 00:29:50,400
Speaker 6: all the teenage angst and insecurities and uncertainties, and so

663
00:29:50,680 --> 00:29:53,800
Speaker 6: they basically convinced me not to go to college and

664
00:29:53,840 --> 00:29:56,840
Speaker 6: to turn pro. So I turned pro at Wimbledon, and

665
00:29:56,880 --> 00:30:01,280
Speaker 6: I did well with Ray and for a out, I

666
00:30:01,320 --> 00:30:04,360
Speaker 6: would say, like up until the next year of February,

667
00:30:04,360 --> 00:30:07,080
Speaker 6: we finished. And there was also an issue with my dad,

668
00:30:07,120 --> 00:30:10,960
Speaker 6: like he got an confrontation with my dad.

669
00:30:10,960 --> 00:30:12,320
Speaker 1: He thought my dad was coaching.

670
00:30:12,080 --> 00:30:14,400
Speaker 6: Him from behind, and I was in the middle of

671
00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:16,120
Speaker 6: it and was It was hard for me as well.

672
00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:18,280
Speaker 6: You know back in the day, you remember I was

673
00:30:18,360 --> 00:30:22,200
Speaker 6: just like kind of very quiet, and you know, I

674
00:30:22,240 --> 00:30:24,080
Speaker 6: obviously I had a lot of opinions inside, but I

675
00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:27,240
Speaker 6: was taught don't say anything, just obey, and so.

676
00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:28,800
Speaker 1: It was really that was hard for me.

677
00:30:29,040 --> 00:30:32,280
Speaker 6: Losing Ray was hard, and years later I talked to

678
00:30:32,320 --> 00:30:34,040
Speaker 6: him about it and I said, hey, you know, because

679
00:30:34,040 --> 00:30:35,959
Speaker 6: he always thought my dad was coaching with me from behind,

680
00:30:36,560 --> 00:30:37,920
Speaker 6: and I think my dad kind of.

681
00:30:39,720 --> 00:30:42,280
Speaker 1: Kind of was trying to still maintain control. You know,

682
00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:44,160
Speaker 1: he was trying to get some other coaches to like

683
00:30:44,360 --> 00:30:45,280
Speaker 1: video my matches.

684
00:30:47,080 --> 00:30:50,520
Speaker 6: Oh of course, yeah, I mean, actually, my dad he

685
00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:53,360
Speaker 6: said to me at one point. You know, I think

686
00:30:53,440 --> 00:30:57,560
Speaker 6: that overall he had the best intentions for me, although

687
00:30:58,120 --> 00:30:59,840
Speaker 6: because I worked with him for so long, I can

688
00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:02,520
Speaker 6: very clearly say that intentions are not everything.

689
00:31:02,680 --> 00:31:03,880
Speaker 1: You know, it's it's not enough.

690
00:31:05,640 --> 00:31:07,360
Speaker 6: But you know, he got to the point where he

691
00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:10,360
Speaker 6: was his life are so intertwined with mine, and you know,

692
00:31:10,440 --> 00:31:13,080
Speaker 6: his success was my success. That he said to me,

693
00:31:13,280 --> 00:31:16,320
Speaker 6: I'd rather you fail without me than to work with

694
00:31:16,400 --> 00:31:16,880
Speaker 6: someone else.

695
00:31:26,800 --> 00:31:29,280
Speaker 3: I can tell you there's a player on to it

696
00:31:29,400 --> 00:31:32,200
Speaker 3: to this day that has a father exactly the same way.

697
00:31:32,320 --> 00:31:32,880
Speaker 4: I think I can.

698
00:31:33,080 --> 00:31:35,000
Speaker 2: It's very short list.

699
00:31:35,480 --> 00:31:39,760
Speaker 1: Well, I mean people are I mean I could probably guess,

700
00:31:39,880 --> 00:31:44,680
Speaker 1: but for and he actually admitted it. My dad is anything,

701
00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:45,280
Speaker 1: he's honest.

702
00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:50,240
Speaker 3: Well two journalists as well, So I mean there are

703
00:31:50,480 --> 00:31:53,360
Speaker 3: people just like that fathers, and I think this is.

704
00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:54,440
Speaker 2: A pretty common story.

705
00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:57,239
Speaker 5: What is uncommon for me hearing you say it, and

706
00:31:57,280 --> 00:31:59,320
Speaker 5: this is I mean, I was never talented enough to

707
00:31:59,360 --> 00:32:02,440
Speaker 5: go beyond getting a scholarship fifty one, but for which

708
00:32:02,480 --> 00:32:02,960
Speaker 5: is great.

709
00:32:02,840 --> 00:32:03,680
Speaker 4: It's okay.

710
00:32:04,360 --> 00:32:06,480
Speaker 2: But but what I really really.

711
00:32:06,240 --> 00:32:08,920
Speaker 5: Turned me off from junior tennis was just the idea

712
00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:13,959
Speaker 5: that kids were getting basically like emotionally manipulated, if not

713
00:32:14,040 --> 00:32:15,760
Speaker 5: worse traumatized.

714
00:32:15,400 --> 00:32:18,480
Speaker 1: Then they would turn in a lot of therapass I.

715
00:32:20,160 --> 00:32:22,520
Speaker 5: That that's actually what I'm getting to But but it

716
00:32:22,600 --> 00:32:25,440
Speaker 5: made competing against these kids so hard because they were

717
00:32:25,440 --> 00:32:28,120
Speaker 5: taught to win it all costs, which in turn made

718
00:32:28,120 --> 00:32:31,120
Speaker 5: them monsters. Sometimes not all the time, but they're playing

719
00:32:31,120 --> 00:32:32,760
Speaker 5: from a place of fear, they're playing from a place

720
00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:33,120
Speaker 5: of anger.

721
00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:36,040
Speaker 4: They know they're going to get screamed, punished.

722
00:32:36,320 --> 00:32:37,880
Speaker 2: Dad with a spreadsheet, And it's mostly dad.

723
00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:39,160
Speaker 5: I don't want to say it's never moms, but it's

724
00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:41,560
Speaker 5: mostly a dad with a clipboard being like, you missed

725
00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:44,000
Speaker 5: sixty percent of the second circuit turns in the net.

726
00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:45,760
Speaker 2: We're gonna practice that for five hours until.

727
00:32:45,600 --> 00:32:49,640
Speaker 5: Your feet bleed, and it's like, this is horrible and

728
00:32:49,680 --> 00:32:52,000
Speaker 5: I don't want any part of this. You came out

729
00:32:52,040 --> 00:32:54,240
Speaker 5: the other side. I'm assuming you still have a relationship

730
00:32:54,240 --> 00:32:55,440
Speaker 5: with your parents.

731
00:32:55,680 --> 00:32:58,560
Speaker 1: I do, but the therapy it's well.

732
00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:03,920
Speaker 6: But actually, therapy has actually really helped me in the

733
00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:05,120
Speaker 6: last few years.

734
00:33:05,120 --> 00:33:09,800
Speaker 1: Because you know, I it took a while to kind

735
00:33:09,840 --> 00:33:11,400
Speaker 1: of come It took a while to.

736
00:33:13,120 --> 00:33:16,640
Speaker 6: Even be able to talk to my parents or to

737
00:33:16,640 --> 00:33:18,880
Speaker 6: address the issue because for a while I just couldn't.

738
00:33:18,920 --> 00:33:21,720
Speaker 1: I really actually I don't.

739
00:33:21,520 --> 00:33:24,960
Speaker 6: Remember much from like thirteen or twelve to thirteen to

740
00:33:25,040 --> 00:33:27,720
Speaker 6: nineteen when I was working with my dad, and I

741
00:33:27,720 --> 00:33:30,080
Speaker 6: think that was just my defense mechanism, where like I

742
00:33:30,120 --> 00:33:32,040
Speaker 6: was not enjoying a lot of it, which is now

743
00:33:32,040 --> 00:33:34,920
Speaker 6: I'm trying to get those memories back because.

744
00:33:34,680 --> 00:33:39,960
Speaker 1: I want to remember that it was part of my life. Yeah, exactly, but.

745
00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:41,840
Speaker 6: It's very hard because I think it's just, you know,

746
00:33:41,960 --> 00:33:43,840
Speaker 6: how I coped with it in the past. So that's

747
00:33:44,080 --> 00:33:46,800
Speaker 6: how therapy has kind of helped me more recently because

748
00:33:46,840 --> 00:33:49,320
Speaker 6: it took Yeah.

749
00:33:49,120 --> 00:33:49,960
Speaker 1: I mean it.

750
00:33:50,240 --> 00:33:52,080
Speaker 6: Yeah, you can't open it all at once. You got

751
00:33:52,080 --> 00:33:53,720
Speaker 6: to just open a little bit, let some out and

752
00:33:53,720 --> 00:33:54,880
Speaker 6: then deal with that, you know.

753
00:33:55,280 --> 00:33:57,760
Speaker 2: But I mean, look, I.

754
00:33:57,640 --> 00:34:01,480
Speaker 6: Know my parents had the best interest for me, luckily.

755
00:34:02,120 --> 00:34:03,680
Speaker 6: I mean, look, I know there's a lot of players

756
00:34:03,720 --> 00:34:05,520
Speaker 6: that have had it worse. I'm not saying that it's

757
00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:08,840
Speaker 6: justifying or anything, and but we're just you know, we

758
00:34:08,920 --> 00:34:09,480
Speaker 6: are just kids.

759
00:34:09,520 --> 00:34:12,280
Speaker 1: And you are very impacted by your parents.

760
00:34:13,760 --> 00:34:18,200
Speaker 6: You say, like their their outlook, but they're uh the

761
00:34:18,239 --> 00:34:22,080
Speaker 6: way that they taught you, Like their rooted behaviors become.

762
00:34:21,920 --> 00:34:23,160
Speaker 1: Your rooted behaviors, you know.

763
00:34:23,200 --> 00:34:28,560
Speaker 6: So anyways, yeah, my dad, he just got too into it.

764
00:34:28,719 --> 00:34:31,640
Speaker 6: And as I said, luckily, he was so hard on

765
00:34:31,719 --> 00:34:33,880
Speaker 6: me that I broke free and we talk about a

766
00:34:33,920 --> 00:34:34,680
Speaker 6: relationship with them.

767
00:34:34,719 --> 00:34:37,359
Speaker 1: So I didn't talk to him for two years, and

768
00:34:37,400 --> 00:34:42,120
Speaker 1: then I really had to say to myself, do I

769
00:34:42,120 --> 00:34:44,719
Speaker 1: want to have a relationship with him? And you know,

770
00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:46,160
Speaker 1: there was a period I didn't talk to my mom

771
00:34:46,200 --> 00:34:46,560
Speaker 1: for a year.

772
00:34:46,640 --> 00:34:49,400
Speaker 6: Like we're all very stubborn people, if anything. So my

773
00:34:49,480 --> 00:34:53,080
Speaker 6: family is very strong willed. And one thing I would

774
00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:57,520
Speaker 6: say that was I was lucky because they never belittled me,

775
00:34:57,680 --> 00:34:59,520
Speaker 6: like my dad would be.

776
00:34:59,719 --> 00:35:01,120
Speaker 1: We to be very upset if I lost.

777
00:35:01,120 --> 00:35:05,200
Speaker 6: But then he never said, you know, you're worthless your ship,

778
00:35:05,280 --> 00:35:07,879
Speaker 6: like because I feel like that was the worst thing

779
00:35:08,040 --> 00:35:10,279
Speaker 6: that you can do to somebody, because you're like, I

780
00:35:10,360 --> 00:35:12,680
Speaker 6: still my mom, Like both of them would say, you know,

781
00:35:12,960 --> 00:35:14,960
Speaker 6: my dad would say my daughter is gonna be number

782
00:35:14,960 --> 00:35:16,840
Speaker 6: one in the world, which is stressful in itself, but

783
00:35:17,840 --> 00:35:18,520
Speaker 6: high causation.

784
00:35:18,680 --> 00:35:18,840
Speaker 5: You know.

785
00:35:18,960 --> 00:35:21,480
Speaker 6: My mom was like, you're a fighter, You're tough. Like

786
00:35:21,520 --> 00:35:23,960
Speaker 6: it was also frustrating to also hear that because I

787
00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:26,200
Speaker 6: was like, man, I got to fight through everything, you know,

788
00:35:26,600 --> 00:35:27,760
Speaker 6: like when can I just relax?

789
00:35:27,840 --> 00:35:30,520
Speaker 1: And no, you can't. So in that part, I was.

790
00:35:30,440 --> 00:35:32,680
Speaker 6: A little bit lucky that at least they gave me

791
00:35:33,080 --> 00:35:34,440
Speaker 6: that part of the self confidence.

792
00:35:34,560 --> 00:35:37,040
Speaker 2: They gave you self esteem in a way.

793
00:35:37,200 --> 00:35:38,320
Speaker 1: But it was too hard.

794
00:35:38,400 --> 00:35:40,879
Speaker 4: But it was it was too the expectation was way

795
00:35:40,880 --> 00:35:41,319
Speaker 4: too much.

796
00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:44,840
Speaker 3: Yeah, when you get this tennis parent situation, it's it's

797
00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:47,520
Speaker 3: the if you're going to look at anyone, look at

798
00:35:47,560 --> 00:35:51,040
Speaker 3: that line from Venus saying it was about the process.

799
00:35:51,320 --> 00:35:53,759
Speaker 1: It wasn't about the result long term, you know, and

800
00:35:53,800 --> 00:35:54,000
Speaker 1: it was.

801
00:35:54,000 --> 00:35:54,960
Speaker 2: About the long term of.

802
00:35:57,080 --> 00:36:00,879
Speaker 3: Making a tennis player at their best, not worrying about

803
00:36:00,880 --> 00:36:02,759
Speaker 3: the wins and losses, and if they lost, it was like,

804
00:36:02,800 --> 00:36:04,239
Speaker 3: all right, what are we going to get better at it?

805
00:36:04,320 --> 00:36:06,200
Speaker 5: So you said something so interesting to me, which is

806
00:36:06,400 --> 00:36:08,080
Speaker 5: I had never really thought about that much before, but

807
00:36:08,120 --> 00:36:11,680
Speaker 5: like junior tennis a lot of times is uh, it's

808
00:36:11,800 --> 00:36:15,160
Speaker 5: less about risk taking and more about grinding out wins.

809
00:36:15,360 --> 00:36:18,239
Speaker 5: And I think that's a big reason that. And I

810
00:36:18,360 --> 00:36:20,239
Speaker 5: is like somebody who likes to serve and valley with

811
00:36:20,320 --> 00:36:25,120
Speaker 5: a high error rate, but like, oh no, coaches were like,

812
00:36:25,160 --> 00:36:28,000
Speaker 5: what are you doing, Like get your you're five to five,

813
00:36:28,120 --> 00:36:29,840
Speaker 5: Like you shouldn't be serving involving ever, And I was like,

814
00:36:29,840 --> 00:36:31,600
Speaker 5: but that's how I like to play. Yeah, But I

815
00:36:31,640 --> 00:36:34,719
Speaker 5: do think like you're having to embrace your courage to

816
00:36:34,760 --> 00:36:37,480
Speaker 5: be a pro athlete, both in terms of the game

817
00:36:37,600 --> 00:36:40,520
Speaker 5: that you're describing, hitting harder, taking bigger risks, but also

818
00:36:40,640 --> 00:36:42,400
Speaker 5: like it takes a lot of courage to do what

819
00:36:42,440 --> 00:36:45,800
Speaker 5: you just described, which is like confronting a situation that

820
00:36:45,840 --> 00:36:47,479
Speaker 5: you wanted to get out of, especially as a kid,

821
00:36:47,719 --> 00:36:49,600
Speaker 5: and then processing it and kind of coming out the

822
00:36:49,680 --> 00:36:51,879
Speaker 5: other side of it. And I can't help but think

823
00:36:51,920 --> 00:36:54,080
Speaker 5: that's probably set you up very well for the rest

824
00:36:54,080 --> 00:36:54,680
Speaker 5: of your life.

825
00:36:55,160 --> 00:36:58,560
Speaker 6: I think so now, I think so, you know, even

826
00:36:58,680 --> 00:37:01,680
Speaker 6: making that decision to turn pro, that wasn't really myice.

827
00:37:01,680 --> 00:37:04,319
Speaker 6: So I struggled for a few years because of that

828
00:37:04,360 --> 00:37:06,560
Speaker 6: decision because I didn't want to.

829
00:37:06,640 --> 00:37:07,680
Speaker 1: I didn't want to turn pro.

830
00:37:08,400 --> 00:37:09,839
Speaker 2: I have to party with your mom. Though, I think

831
00:37:09,840 --> 00:37:13,360
Speaker 2: it was the right decision. In the back, it's the

832
00:37:13,440 --> 00:37:14,000
Speaker 2: right decision.

833
00:37:14,040 --> 00:37:17,520
Speaker 1: Well, looking it was it was not the you know,

834
00:37:17,560 --> 00:37:19,520
Speaker 1: it wasn't the ranking. It was it was everything else.

835
00:37:19,960 --> 00:37:22,719
Speaker 1: I mean, looking back, obviously, I am.

836
00:37:23,560 --> 00:37:25,799
Speaker 6: I am so happy that I ended up playing, and

837
00:37:25,840 --> 00:37:28,439
Speaker 6: I went through a very difficult period for the first

838
00:37:28,440 --> 00:37:32,400
Speaker 6: few years, especially after I left Ray or we parted.

839
00:37:34,280 --> 00:37:36,600
Speaker 6: You know, I now it's kind of stuck because I

840
00:37:36,640 --> 00:37:39,600
Speaker 6: was under my dad's thumb for so long, and then

841
00:37:39,719 --> 00:37:41,719
Speaker 6: I had Ray, who was kind of this breath of

842
00:37:41,760 --> 00:37:44,440
Speaker 6: fresh air who really helped me develop my game, and

843
00:37:44,480 --> 00:37:46,120
Speaker 6: now he was gone, and now I didn't know where

844
00:37:46,160 --> 00:37:49,480
Speaker 6: to go because I was still living with my parents, especially,

845
00:37:49,520 --> 00:37:52,920
Speaker 6: you know, I was I was raised to you know,

846
00:37:52,960 --> 00:37:53,960
Speaker 6: I was very sheltered.

847
00:37:54,040 --> 00:37:56,759
Speaker 1: My parents, you know, were quite controlling of my.

848
00:37:56,760 --> 00:37:59,480
Speaker 6: Decisions, and so I was kind of I was, you know,

849
00:37:59,520 --> 00:38:00,560
Speaker 6: I was very lost.

850
00:38:00,840 --> 00:38:01,319
Speaker 1: I didn't know.

851
00:38:01,400 --> 00:38:03,160
Speaker 6: I was like, now I'm playing, and I don't want

852
00:38:03,200 --> 00:38:05,000
Speaker 6: to be playing. I don't know what to do with

853
00:38:05,040 --> 00:38:06,399
Speaker 6: my game. I don't know how to find a coach.

854
00:38:06,440 --> 00:38:08,160
Speaker 6: I obviously don't want to go back to my dad,

855
00:38:09,160 --> 00:38:11,520
Speaker 6: but I'm still living with my parents, not talking to

856
00:38:11,520 --> 00:38:14,000
Speaker 6: my dad while I'm at home, which is was weird.

857
00:38:15,280 --> 00:38:17,600
Speaker 1: And and my game suffered.

858
00:38:17,800 --> 00:38:20,320
Speaker 6: So I had to become I had to basically become

859
00:38:20,480 --> 00:38:23,280
Speaker 6: like a professional when I had never been one before

860
00:38:23,280 --> 00:38:27,680
Speaker 6: because I was always just what to do. Yeah, so

861
00:38:28,320 --> 00:38:30,319
Speaker 6: it was a And also all of my friends were

862
00:38:30,560 --> 00:38:33,160
Speaker 6: in college and having this life that I thought that

863
00:38:33,200 --> 00:38:36,680
Speaker 6: I wanted, you know, So that was it took me

864
00:38:37,120 --> 00:38:38,240
Speaker 6: two years.

865
00:38:39,480 --> 00:38:41,680
Speaker 1: Basically bottom with the ropes.

866
00:38:43,160 --> 00:38:45,959
Speaker 6: Well also, you know, I reached out at that same

867
00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:49,640
Speaker 6: time to like Usta and and now ust and I

868
00:38:49,719 --> 00:38:53,279
Speaker 6: are fine and I'm actually on the board now, but

869
00:38:53,719 --> 00:38:56,920
Speaker 6: you know, hopefully being able to utilize my experiences and

870
00:38:56,960 --> 00:39:01,520
Speaker 6: other players' experiences to help. But you know, at that time,

871
00:39:02,000 --> 00:39:04,719
Speaker 6: they were like, Nope, we can't help you. We can't

872
00:39:04,760 --> 00:39:07,960
Speaker 6: help you. They gave me kind of unrealistic conditions, like

873
00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:09,640
Speaker 6: you have to train with us, for twenty weeks of

874
00:39:09,680 --> 00:39:11,400
Speaker 6: the year, which is impossible.

875
00:39:11,600 --> 00:39:13,680
Speaker 1: You know, I was home maybe five weeks of the.

876
00:39:13,719 --> 00:39:16,759
Speaker 6: Year, and if you are working with us, then we'll

877
00:39:16,760 --> 00:39:19,319
Speaker 6: just bounce you around to whoever's there. And it was

878
00:39:19,360 --> 00:39:21,080
Speaker 6: basically like a slap in the face, like we have

879
00:39:21,160 --> 00:39:23,320
Speaker 6: to offer you something, but we know you can't accept

880
00:39:23,320 --> 00:39:27,319
Speaker 6: this offer. So yeah, I was really you know, at

881
00:39:27,320 --> 00:39:32,360
Speaker 6: the lowest and then I saw one of a coach.

882
00:39:32,400 --> 00:39:34,120
Speaker 6: So one of the things that my dad did really

883
00:39:34,160 --> 00:39:38,799
Speaker 6: great is there's a lot of great former players and

884
00:39:38,880 --> 00:39:39,640
Speaker 6: coaches in the.

885
00:39:39,600 --> 00:39:42,719
Speaker 1: So Cal area. The goal was to learn as much

886
00:39:42,719 --> 00:39:43,280
Speaker 1: as he could.

887
00:39:44,040 --> 00:39:49,440
Speaker 6: Tarique Manibelz is a French Algerian coach who took Roddick

888
00:39:49,480 --> 00:39:52,160
Speaker 6: from juniors to number two in the world. I felt

889
00:39:52,160 --> 00:39:53,520
Speaker 6: like he understood me as a player. He was a

890
00:39:53,560 --> 00:39:55,760
Speaker 6: player himself, not saying that because he was a player

891
00:39:56,160 --> 00:39:59,120
Speaker 6: he was, you know, epathetic, but it helps.

892
00:39:58,800 --> 00:40:01,400
Speaker 1: You know, you understand what players go through. And because

893
00:40:01,400 --> 00:40:02,920
Speaker 1: my dad was so hard on me, he was the

894
00:40:02,920 --> 00:40:03,719
Speaker 1: first person to be like.

895
00:40:03,719 --> 00:40:05,000
Speaker 2: Okay, today we're going to work hard.

896
00:40:05,400 --> 00:40:05,680
Speaker 1: Today.

897
00:40:05,719 --> 00:40:07,719
Speaker 6: You look like you're a little down, We're going to

898
00:40:07,719 --> 00:40:09,960
Speaker 6: back off a little bit. Let's do something different, which is.

899
00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:12,560
Speaker 2: Very important for coaches done, and not many.

900
00:40:12,520 --> 00:40:15,080
Speaker 1: I mean, not all coaches do that, you know, not

901
00:40:15,120 --> 00:40:15,680
Speaker 1: all coaches.

902
00:40:15,800 --> 00:40:19,799
Speaker 2: I think it's important for coaches to know when to

903
00:40:19,800 --> 00:40:21,040
Speaker 2: push and no one to pull back.

904
00:40:21,280 --> 00:40:22,759
Speaker 1: And yes, but not many do.

905
00:40:23,320 --> 00:40:26,200
Speaker 3: Yeah, and then that's a bad choice from them because

906
00:40:26,320 --> 00:40:29,360
Speaker 3: you've got to know the person, right. So as a coach,

907
00:40:29,440 --> 00:40:32,320
Speaker 3: you have to know is my player a self motivator?

908
00:40:32,760 --> 00:40:34,120
Speaker 2: Is my player a hard worker?

909
00:40:34,360 --> 00:40:36,279
Speaker 3: If you know those things and they are looking tired,

910
00:40:36,360 --> 00:40:38,120
Speaker 3: or they're a little bit sore, they're a little bit there.

911
00:40:38,200 --> 00:40:39,279
Speaker 2: That's when you have to pull back.

912
00:40:39,400 --> 00:40:41,680
Speaker 3: If you know your players a little bit of a bullshitter, yeah,

913
00:40:41,719 --> 00:40:43,640
Speaker 3: and a little bit of a whiner, you've got.

914
00:40:43,600 --> 00:40:44,560
Speaker 2: To constantly push them.

915
00:40:44,640 --> 00:40:46,920
Speaker 3: So you've got to know your player, and you, for example,

916
00:40:46,920 --> 00:40:50,000
Speaker 3: would have been somebody if you look tired to pull back. Yeah, right,

917
00:40:50,080 --> 00:40:52,520
Speaker 3: that's what you're in. Any coach out there that listens

918
00:40:52,560 --> 00:40:54,560
Speaker 3: to this pod, you have to know that about your

919
00:40:54,560 --> 00:40:55,360
Speaker 3: individual player.

920
00:40:55,480 --> 00:40:58,000
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean, and I would say that in general,

921
00:40:58,120 --> 00:40:59,759
Speaker 6: most of the coaches that I worked with did not

922
00:41:00,120 --> 00:41:04,920
Speaker 6: have that, you know, sense of to be flexible to

923
00:41:04,960 --> 00:41:08,080
Speaker 6: their players capabilities of that day.

924
00:41:08,120 --> 00:41:10,359
Speaker 3: But do you think that that's also important because that's

925
00:41:10,400 --> 00:41:13,080
Speaker 3: a trust value that when you are he's not.

926
00:41:12,960 --> 00:41:14,560
Speaker 2: Sort of pushing yourself and they push you.

927
00:41:14,880 --> 00:41:16,120
Speaker 1: Yeah, of course, you know.

928
00:41:16,040 --> 00:41:16,960
Speaker 2: It's for the best.

929
00:41:17,080 --> 00:41:19,880
Speaker 3: Whereas if they can pull back, you know, okay, sometimes

930
00:41:19,880 --> 00:41:20,560
Speaker 3: you need to pull back.

931
00:41:20,600 --> 00:41:22,000
Speaker 2: I mean I deal with that all the time with

932
00:41:22,080 --> 00:41:23,040
Speaker 2: some players that I work with.

933
00:41:23,120 --> 00:41:25,280
Speaker 1: It it is like a breach of trust.

934
00:41:25,400 --> 00:41:27,600
Speaker 6: You know, if they don't if they're doing something that

935
00:41:27,640 --> 00:41:29,880
Speaker 6: you don't feel comfortable with, and then it ends, it

936
00:41:29,920 --> 00:41:32,160
Speaker 6: will end up backfiring. You know, you lose motivation and

937
00:41:32,239 --> 00:41:35,719
Speaker 6: you get hurt. So you know, you do lose that

938
00:41:35,760 --> 00:41:38,120
Speaker 6: confidence in the relationship. And if you don't have confidence,

939
00:41:38,160 --> 00:41:40,920
Speaker 6: one hundred percent confidence in your coach, you cannot be.

940
00:41:40,880 --> 00:41:43,200
Speaker 1: Working with them, you know, because it's as you know,

941
00:41:43,239 --> 00:41:44,040
Speaker 1: it's it's so hard.

942
00:41:44,480 --> 00:41:48,440
Speaker 6: But what I was with Ray, you know, Ray was

943
00:41:48,600 --> 00:41:52,120
Speaker 6: very chill, but he was very confident that I must

944
00:41:52,160 --> 00:41:53,720
Speaker 6: do it, you know, a certain way. So I remember

945
00:41:53,800 --> 00:41:56,000
Speaker 6: him saying, you're going to do this. I don't care

946
00:41:56,040 --> 00:41:58,840
Speaker 6: if you double fault a thousand times. I remember I

947
00:41:58,880 --> 00:42:01,080
Speaker 6: played a series of three events in Asia and we

948
00:42:01,120 --> 00:42:03,080
Speaker 6: worked really hard on my SERF. We worked really hard

949
00:42:03,080 --> 00:42:05,759
Speaker 6: on my KICKSERF, which after I stopped with Ray.

950
00:42:05,760 --> 00:42:08,719
Speaker 1: I went just back to the slicer so.

951
00:42:09,120 --> 00:42:12,080
Speaker 6: And the first tournament, I remember I had like on

952
00:42:12,160 --> 00:42:14,000
Speaker 6: average because we looked at you know, how many app

953
00:42:14,000 --> 00:42:16,640
Speaker 6: how many double faults and versus aces have you do

954
00:42:16,680 --> 00:42:20,000
Speaker 6: you have on average, you know, first cerve percentage and

955
00:42:20,000 --> 00:42:23,480
Speaker 6: stuff like that, And I started at like twelve to

956
00:42:23,520 --> 00:42:26,120
Speaker 6: fifteen double faults in that first tournament on average. And

957
00:42:26,120 --> 00:42:28,200
Speaker 6: I remember losing the second round. He said, I don't care.

958
00:42:28,360 --> 00:42:30,960
Speaker 6: You're gonna keep it, keep going. You're gonna keep going

959
00:42:31,000 --> 00:42:32,759
Speaker 6: for that serve. That kicks are you gonna go for

960
00:42:32,800 --> 00:42:34,719
Speaker 6: it and go for it because he was also like,

961
00:42:35,040 --> 00:42:37,879
Speaker 6: not just gopher it and aim big targets. He was like, no,

962
00:42:37,960 --> 00:42:40,439
Speaker 6: that kicks are passed to hit in the super wide

963
00:42:40,520 --> 00:42:43,319
Speaker 6: corner and really curve off and get that person off

964
00:42:43,320 --> 00:42:45,840
Speaker 6: the court. Remember he was like, it's got to pass

965
00:42:46,040 --> 00:42:48,160
Speaker 6: the alley, it's got to go into the fence, it's

966
00:42:48,160 --> 00:42:49,759
Speaker 6: got to touch that side fence. And I was like, oh,

967
00:42:49,800 --> 00:42:51,359
Speaker 6: it's not just putting that serve in.

968
00:42:51,760 --> 00:42:54,799
Speaker 8: Like heavy, but it's you know, I mean again, like

969
00:42:54,880 --> 00:42:57,439
Speaker 8: you're saying stuff that is so important for people to hear,

970
00:42:57,800 --> 00:43:00,920
Speaker 8: right as especially as a seventeen old which is when

971
00:43:00,920 --> 00:43:02,840
Speaker 8: you started working with him.

972
00:43:02,719 --> 00:43:04,239
Speaker 2: That's the time to change it.

973
00:43:04,320 --> 00:43:06,160
Speaker 3: Like I look at some of these some of the

974
00:43:06,200 --> 00:43:08,879
Speaker 3: girls that are playing on tour now, and I said

975
00:43:08,880 --> 00:43:10,799
Speaker 3: on Twitter the other day, You're only as good as

976
00:43:10,800 --> 00:43:13,000
Speaker 3: your second serve. And I see so many players lose

977
00:43:13,000 --> 00:43:15,800
Speaker 3: matches because they just have a terrible second serve and

978
00:43:15,840 --> 00:43:17,680
Speaker 3: they have a big first serve and then they have

979
00:43:17,760 --> 00:43:20,839
Speaker 3: a very very predictable second serve. And what's the most

980
00:43:20,840 --> 00:43:23,479
Speaker 3: important what is the best shot most of the time

981
00:43:23,480 --> 00:43:26,960
Speaker 3: on the WTA Tour, it's women's returns of serve. So

982
00:43:27,000 --> 00:43:28,799
Speaker 3: if you're not getting your player off the court, there's

983
00:43:28,800 --> 00:43:31,680
Speaker 3: a reason why Ashbardy, who is by the way, only

984
00:43:31,760 --> 00:43:35,440
Speaker 3: like five seven on a good day, okay, can hit

985
00:43:35,480 --> 00:43:38,759
Speaker 3: an unbelievable kick serf and hit a second serve because

986
00:43:38,800 --> 00:43:40,359
Speaker 3: she's worked on it and worked on it. I mean

987
00:43:40,560 --> 00:43:44,360
Speaker 3: some of the great young you know, Justine and Attlok,

988
00:43:44,520 --> 00:43:46,560
Speaker 3: there are players that are five five, five six.

989
00:43:46,360 --> 00:43:48,320
Speaker 2: That have great second serves.

990
00:43:48,440 --> 00:43:52,800
Speaker 5: Well, the lesson I'm taking from that is it's applicability

991
00:43:52,800 --> 00:43:55,480
Speaker 5: to the current tour, although obviously that's there's very real

992
00:43:55,520 --> 00:43:58,279
Speaker 5: examples of that, but also just more like how having

993
00:43:58,280 --> 00:44:02,400
Speaker 5: somebody believe in you and give you the the yeah, no,

994
00:44:02,480 --> 00:44:05,239
Speaker 5: totally repeded affirmation, Like I know you're going to double

995
00:44:05,280 --> 00:44:06,680
Speaker 5: fault a lot, and I don't care.

996
00:44:06,560 --> 00:44:08,360
Speaker 4: Because we're doing going to click and we're doing the

997
00:44:08,440 --> 00:44:08,680
Speaker 4: right thing.

998
00:44:08,760 --> 00:44:09,840
Speaker 2: Like I played a lot of doubles.

999
00:44:09,840 --> 00:44:12,040
Speaker 5: It was my better event, and I remember telling a

1000
00:44:12,040 --> 00:44:15,080
Speaker 5: lot of the singles players I would play with, keep crossing.

1001
00:44:15,080 --> 00:44:16,440
Speaker 2: I don't care if you missed, just go for it.

1002
00:44:16,480 --> 00:44:18,680
Speaker 5: Go for a go for because I want to impress

1003
00:44:18,719 --> 00:44:20,480
Speaker 5: upon our opponents that we're always going to be looking

1004
00:44:20,520 --> 00:44:23,640
Speaker 5: across and even if you miss it, like and eventually

1005
00:44:23,719 --> 00:44:25,520
Speaker 5: they get over it and like they start making it.

1006
00:44:25,600 --> 00:44:29,400
Speaker 5: But it's the same concept, which is like process over results. Yes,

1007
00:44:29,960 --> 00:44:32,799
Speaker 5: the process kicks in, you will have the results, but

1008
00:44:32,840 --> 00:44:34,839
Speaker 5: you can't without the process. And it's such a that's

1009
00:44:34,880 --> 00:44:36,439
Speaker 5: applicable to literally everything in line.

1010
00:44:36,680 --> 00:44:40,640
Speaker 6: Yeah, I still you know the raised directives that he

1011
00:44:40,680 --> 00:44:43,120
Speaker 6: gave me, like return down the line right away, you know,

1012
00:44:44,200 --> 00:44:47,080
Speaker 6: serve and volley early or at thirty forty.

1013
00:44:47,080 --> 00:44:49,480
Speaker 1: You know, I still remember a lot of his directives.

1014
00:44:49,520 --> 00:44:52,120
Speaker 6: And again I if it wasn't for him, I would

1015
00:44:52,120 --> 00:44:54,240
Speaker 6: definitely not have had this success I had.

1016
00:44:55,719 --> 00:44:58,400
Speaker 1: In general, I had two great coaches that really believed

1017
00:44:58,400 --> 00:44:58,640
Speaker 1: in me.

1018
00:44:58,680 --> 00:45:03,680
Speaker 6: But yes, So that first Slam, it was I played

1019
00:45:03,719 --> 00:45:06,960
Speaker 6: with Slava Yar slavash Fedeva. We had only played two

1020
00:45:06,960 --> 00:45:10,279
Speaker 6: tournaments together because I was actually set that year with

1021
00:45:10,280 --> 00:45:15,080
Speaker 6: Annelena Groenefeldt and Anna got hurt at Indian Wells. She

1022
00:45:15,080 --> 00:45:17,520
Speaker 6: had a stress factor in her foot and she said

1023
00:45:17,520 --> 00:45:18,919
Speaker 6: to me, Okay, I'm gonna be out for a couple

1024
00:45:19,000 --> 00:45:22,840
Speaker 6: of months. And then so I sat with Manka Nikilesk,

1025
00:45:22,840 --> 00:45:24,640
Speaker 6: who's a good friend of mine. I mean, they're all

1026
00:45:24,640 --> 00:45:27,080
Speaker 6: good friends of mine at.

1027
00:45:26,960 --> 00:45:28,680
Speaker 1: French Open and then at Wimbledon.

1028
00:45:28,760 --> 00:45:31,840
Speaker 6: You know, girls start finding partners early and I and

1029
00:45:31,880 --> 00:45:33,600
Speaker 6: Ann was like, well, I hope you can wait for me,

1030
00:45:33,680 --> 00:45:35,399
Speaker 6: but I'm not really sure. I'm not one hundred percent,

1031
00:45:35,400 --> 00:45:37,600
Speaker 6: I said, you know, and I really got to find somebody.

1032
00:45:38,040 --> 00:45:40,200
Speaker 6: It's Wimbledon, you know, like getting late.

1033
00:45:42,960 --> 00:45:43,879
Speaker 1: And Slava and I.

1034
00:45:43,840 --> 00:45:47,480
Speaker 6: Had I knew Slava from juniors and we kind of bonded.

1035
00:45:47,480 --> 00:45:49,760
Speaker 6: We weren't like close friends or anything, but we bonded.

1036
00:45:49,880 --> 00:45:52,080
Speaker 6: And her English wasn't great, especially in juniors, you know,

1037
00:45:52,520 --> 00:45:55,439
Speaker 6: but we bonded because we both had fathers that were

1038
00:45:55,440 --> 00:45:57,480
Speaker 6: there and very tough on us and you know, there's

1039
00:45:57,520 --> 00:46:01,080
Speaker 6: that connection. You just understood each other because we understood

1040
00:46:01,360 --> 00:46:03,840
Speaker 6: suffering of overbearing father.

1041
00:46:05,239 --> 00:46:08,600
Speaker 1: And then on tour, I remember asking her.

1042
00:46:08,600 --> 00:46:10,040
Speaker 6: There was a couple of players that I wanted to

1043
00:46:10,040 --> 00:46:12,880
Speaker 6: play with that like you you know, you saw potential

1044
00:46:12,920 --> 00:46:15,600
Speaker 6: and certain partners. And then for me, you know, she

1045
00:46:15,719 --> 00:46:17,879
Speaker 6: was somebody that I saw potential and that I think

1046
00:46:17,920 --> 00:46:21,799
Speaker 6: we can match well together. And then this opportunity came

1047
00:46:21,880 --> 00:46:24,480
Speaker 6: up because I needed a partner for Wimbledon. So we

1048
00:46:24,640 --> 00:46:27,759
Speaker 6: just set for those three events, sorry, the two warm ups,

1049
00:46:27,760 --> 00:46:33,480
Speaker 6: which was Birmingham, Her togn Bosh, and then Wimbledon. So

1050
00:46:33,600 --> 00:46:36,839
Speaker 6: in Birmingham we lost in the semis, we lost to

1051
00:46:36,880 --> 00:46:40,680
Speaker 6: Bethany and Liesel, and we got handily beaten like four

1052
00:46:40,680 --> 00:46:44,080
Speaker 6: and one. Her Tokenbash, we lost in the finals to

1053
00:46:45,200 --> 00:46:48,719
Speaker 6: Rodia Nova and somebody. So, I mean, to men, is

1054
00:46:48,800 --> 00:46:51,439
Speaker 6: like the caliber of players that we were losing to, and.

1055
00:46:51,320 --> 00:46:53,640
Speaker 1: Plus we handily got beaten by Bethany and Lisel.

1056
00:46:53,640 --> 00:46:56,759
Speaker 6: I was like, you know, we need to well, I mean,

1057
00:46:57,600 --> 00:46:59,960
Speaker 6: I had never obviously won a Slam before, but you know,

1058
00:47:00,239 --> 00:47:02,200
Speaker 6: we weren't like, oh my god, we're gonna go win Wimbledon.

1059
00:47:03,040 --> 00:47:07,400
Speaker 1: However, we did joke that Okay. Now we played semis finals, okay,

1060
00:47:07,400 --> 00:47:09,120
Speaker 1: and we should win the next one. Ha ha, yeah,

1061
00:47:09,160 --> 00:47:10,600
Speaker 1: of course, you know.

1062
00:47:10,880 --> 00:47:16,279
Speaker 6: Jokingly, Slava did have her rackets stolen her tognbosh like

1063
00:47:16,320 --> 00:47:19,200
Speaker 6: at train stations, so she had to buy. This is

1064
00:47:19,200 --> 00:47:22,880
Speaker 6: how Slava works best anyways, is whatever whatever, Yeah.

1065
00:47:22,840 --> 00:47:24,960
Speaker 1: To be super relaxed. She plays the best she can

1066
00:47:25,040 --> 00:47:27,240
Speaker 1: be the best player in the world, Slava.

1067
00:47:27,280 --> 00:47:29,319
Speaker 6: I always felt like if she if it weren't for

1068
00:47:29,560 --> 00:47:33,400
Speaker 6: injuries and a bit of nerves, I always felt like

1069
00:47:33,440 --> 00:47:36,960
Speaker 6: she was top ten totally. Yeah, but she did struggle

1070
00:47:37,000 --> 00:47:40,279
Speaker 6: with a lot of injuries, and so yeah, she was

1071
00:47:40,400 --> 00:47:42,640
Speaker 6: using two generic rackets that she bought at a shop.

1072
00:47:43,800 --> 00:47:47,040
Speaker 6: I was on antibiotics because I had sinisitis. I had

1073
00:47:47,120 --> 00:47:49,120
Speaker 6: bronchitis early in the year. Was I was on like

1074
00:47:49,120 --> 00:47:52,279
Speaker 6: my fourth course of antibiotics by that time, like of

1075
00:47:52,320 --> 00:47:55,719
Speaker 6: that year. So just feeling really sorry for myself and

1076
00:47:55,960 --> 00:47:57,040
Speaker 6: not really being able to.

1077
00:47:57,760 --> 00:47:58,600
Speaker 2: Bad news bears.

1078
00:47:58,640 --> 00:48:00,920
Speaker 3: You're not, yeah, people to stand you don't just go

1079
00:48:01,000 --> 00:48:02,760
Speaker 3: buy a generic generic racket.

1080
00:48:02,800 --> 00:48:07,799
Speaker 6: I mean, you know, we get a rackets, can't customize.

1081
00:48:06,640 --> 00:48:11,560
Speaker 3: Customized and waited and strong and slav with the target.

1082
00:48:11,880 --> 00:48:14,840
Speaker 1: She's just so talented she's so talented that you know

1083
00:48:14,880 --> 00:48:15,680
Speaker 1: she could do it for me.

1084
00:48:15,719 --> 00:48:18,400
Speaker 6: I'm like, oh my gosh, my racket in the match

1085
00:48:18,480 --> 00:48:20,719
Speaker 6: drops like one pounds and I freak out.

1086
00:48:20,760 --> 00:48:21,879
Speaker 1: You know, I need a new racket.

1087
00:48:21,920 --> 00:48:24,239
Speaker 6: But then also I only played with one racket, the

1088
00:48:24,360 --> 00:48:26,440
Speaker 6: racket that I won with. I just kept that racket

1089
00:48:26,440 --> 00:48:26,839
Speaker 6: the whole time.

1090
00:48:26,840 --> 00:48:27,520
Speaker 1: So God forbid.

1091
00:48:27,760 --> 00:48:29,760
Speaker 2: The only person that wouldn't break a string though.

1092
00:48:32,160 --> 00:48:36,920
Speaker 6: I'm on antibiotics, Slava is you know, using generic rackets.

1093
00:48:36,960 --> 00:48:41,400
Speaker 6: It's the World Cup, so obviously we have like low expectations.

1094
00:48:41,440 --> 00:48:43,040
Speaker 6: We're just going to go out and have fun because

1095
00:48:43,040 --> 00:48:46,440
Speaker 6: we're you know, circumstances.

1096
00:48:45,640 --> 00:48:47,759
Speaker 1: And it was a World Cup. So we go every

1097
00:48:47,840 --> 00:48:49,759
Speaker 1: night to the pub and watch the World Cup.

1098
00:48:50,000 --> 00:48:52,360
Speaker 6: You know, the first two matches we thought, okay, you know,

1099
00:48:52,480 --> 00:48:56,000
Speaker 6: like our caliber at that point of who we've beaten probably.

1100
00:48:55,640 --> 00:48:56,640
Speaker 1: Like one or two matches.

1101
00:48:56,719 --> 00:48:59,640
Speaker 6: So however, we played Monicanicolescoans to harp here in the

1102
00:48:59,640 --> 00:49:02,160
Speaker 6: second round. It was a three and a half hour match.

1103
00:49:02,520 --> 00:49:04,759
Speaker 6: I mean it was tough, like we somehow got through

1104
00:49:04,800 --> 00:49:05,200
Speaker 6: that match.

1105
00:49:05,520 --> 00:49:06,640
Speaker 1: And then in the third.

1106
00:49:06,440 --> 00:49:09,480
Speaker 6: Round we played Sam and Native Drova and we're like,

1107
00:49:09,560 --> 00:49:11,680
Speaker 6: we're gonna lose, like I'd never beaten, not yet before

1108
00:49:11,840 --> 00:49:16,480
Speaker 6: in doubles, And for some reason we get on the

1109
00:49:16,520 --> 00:49:18,880
Speaker 6: court and Naughty's in a bad mood.

1110
00:49:18,920 --> 00:49:20,120
Speaker 1: But like really bad mood.

1111
00:49:20,160 --> 00:49:21,440
Speaker 6: Okay, I mean, I know she could be in a

1112
00:49:21,480 --> 00:49:23,640
Speaker 6: bad mood, but like really bad mood, like she threw

1113
00:49:23,640 --> 00:49:27,200
Speaker 6: her racket in a warm up and up through her racket.

1114
00:49:27,200 --> 00:49:30,239
Speaker 3: Another good thing to tell your kids, don't show any

1115
00:49:30,280 --> 00:49:32,839
Speaker 3: emotion that's negative because they can lose you a match.

1116
00:49:34,400 --> 00:49:35,920
Speaker 2: Finals are the French Open anyway?

1117
00:49:35,960 --> 00:49:36,200
Speaker 4: Go on?

1118
00:49:37,640 --> 00:49:40,120
Speaker 6: Yeah, So I was like, oh, so maybe we've got

1119
00:49:40,160 --> 00:49:43,000
Speaker 6: a shot because something's bothering her.

1120
00:49:43,080 --> 00:49:45,680
Speaker 1: I don't and then you know, Sam is Sam doesn't

1121
00:49:45,719 --> 00:49:46,399
Speaker 1: show a lot of them.

1122
00:49:46,520 --> 00:49:49,319
Speaker 6: She doesn't, but if her partner is like super stressed out,

1123
00:49:49,360 --> 00:49:51,920
Speaker 6: it manifest and sank because she's totally a little bit

1124
00:49:52,000 --> 00:49:55,879
Speaker 6: you know, more tight anyways, So obviously then Naddy can

1125
00:49:56,360 --> 00:49:59,000
Speaker 6: be very intense and if she's angry, then you're kind

1126
00:49:59,000 --> 00:50:01,799
Speaker 6: of scared. And so then Sam started not playing great.

1127
00:50:01,840 --> 00:50:04,239
Speaker 6: So they just played a really horrible match and then

1128
00:50:04,239 --> 00:50:07,160
Speaker 6: we won, like I think, kind of straight sets fairly easily,

1129
00:50:07,200 --> 00:50:09,000
Speaker 6: and I'm like, oh my god, you know, and.

1130
00:50:08,920 --> 00:50:13,720
Speaker 1: Then we played I think in the quarters. That's the quarters.

1131
00:50:13,760 --> 00:50:17,560
Speaker 6: Now we played Sorbotnik Peshke, who were the number one

1132
00:50:17,600 --> 00:50:20,480
Speaker 6: team in the world at the time, and again we're like, eh,

1133
00:50:20,920 --> 00:50:22,000
Speaker 6: no chance.

1134
00:50:22,040 --> 00:50:28,359
Speaker 1: They're super solid. I remember. So we lost the.

1135
00:50:28,280 --> 00:50:31,719
Speaker 6: First set, I mean with the break, but solidly losing

1136
00:50:31,719 --> 00:50:33,360
Speaker 6: the first set. We're down a break in a second,

1137
00:50:33,360 --> 00:50:35,719
Speaker 6: I think we're down a set. In like five two

1138
00:50:35,800 --> 00:50:36,800
Speaker 6: or five three, we're down.

1139
00:50:36,640 --> 00:50:38,719
Speaker 1: A break, and I'm like, you know, in my head,

1140
00:50:39,040 --> 00:50:45,279
Speaker 1: Kenny Curst, so literally in my head, I'm like, fuck it,

1141
00:50:45,520 --> 00:50:47,799
Speaker 1: I'm gonna hit every return as hard as I can,

1142
00:50:48,239 --> 00:50:51,280
Speaker 1: literally hurt every turn. And I was in the zone.

1143
00:50:51,480 --> 00:50:56,439
Speaker 6: The Semis, we play Bethany and Lizel and we had

1144
00:50:56,520 --> 00:50:58,080
Speaker 6: just lost in them two weeks before.

1145
00:50:59,719 --> 00:51:02,560
Speaker 1: They're handily, like they just beat us because they were better.

1146
00:51:03,160 --> 00:51:05,240
Speaker 1: And but now you know, we've had a few.

1147
00:51:05,120 --> 00:51:08,719
Speaker 6: Matches and like confidence and we're playing we've had more

1148
00:51:08,760 --> 00:51:11,120
Speaker 6: matches together, we know each other's games better.

1149
00:51:11,840 --> 00:51:20,040
Speaker 1: And so Liezel, you know, was notorious in like trying

1150
00:51:20,040 --> 00:51:21,000
Speaker 1: to get into your head.

1151
00:51:22,400 --> 00:51:25,640
Speaker 6: And and I told Slava before the match, I'm like,

1152
00:51:25,719 --> 00:51:27,320
Speaker 6: we're not letting her get into.

1153
00:51:27,200 --> 00:51:30,000
Speaker 1: Our head because you know we're at there, We're going to.

1154
00:51:30,040 --> 00:51:32,839
Speaker 6: Go guns blazing like and no matter what happens, we're

1155
00:51:32,840 --> 00:51:34,399
Speaker 6: gonna go ko back down.

1156
00:51:34,400 --> 00:51:35,399
Speaker 1: We're not going to back down.

1157
00:51:35,440 --> 00:51:37,160
Speaker 5: I just want to note for the listenership right now,

1158
00:51:37,200 --> 00:51:41,760
Speaker 5: Renee has gone very quiet.

1159
00:51:42,440 --> 00:51:42,640
Speaker 4: Well.

1160
00:51:42,719 --> 00:51:46,839
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, she was an incredibly tough competitor

1161
00:51:46,960 --> 00:51:51,839
Speaker 1: obviously and very successful, but she was also you know,

1162
00:51:53,440 --> 00:51:54,759
Speaker 1: she also that's.

1163
00:51:54,480 --> 00:51:56,959
Speaker 6: One of her tactics was, you know, to be fights,

1164
00:51:57,000 --> 00:51:58,799
Speaker 6: don't going to get into your head. And so I

1165
00:51:58,840 --> 00:52:01,120
Speaker 6: was like, we're not having you, We're not gonna And

1166
00:52:01,160 --> 00:52:04,520
Speaker 6: it was also like a little bit of intimidation, and

1167
00:52:04,719 --> 00:52:06,680
Speaker 6: I was like, we're not gonna, We're not gonna be in.

1168
00:52:07,040 --> 00:52:07,879
Speaker 1: We're not backing down.

1169
00:52:07,920 --> 00:52:11,440
Speaker 6: So we went guns are blazing and like just wailed

1170
00:52:11,440 --> 00:52:15,400
Speaker 6: on every single ball, did not back down physically.

1171
00:52:14,960 --> 00:52:17,759
Speaker 1: And mentally, and we won that match like two and two.

1172
00:52:18,000 --> 00:52:24,120
Speaker 6: Wow. I remember Slava going up and like they tried

1173
00:52:24,160 --> 00:52:25,520
Speaker 6: to lob her and slaves.

1174
00:52:25,200 --> 00:52:27,440
Speaker 1: Like eight foot ten and you know, so.

1175
00:52:27,520 --> 00:52:30,759
Speaker 6: Athletic running backwards. The lab would have landed like two

1176
00:52:30,840 --> 00:52:32,120
Speaker 6: feet in front of the baseline.

1177
00:52:32,239 --> 00:52:35,560
Speaker 1: But she's there, you know, jumping up in the air

1178
00:52:35,680 --> 00:52:37,799
Speaker 1: like six feet and hitting the ball as hard as

1179
00:52:37,800 --> 00:52:41,080
Speaker 1: she can and screaming at me, come on, and yeah,

1180
00:52:41,160 --> 00:52:43,600
Speaker 1: I mean it was it was intense, but that's what

1181
00:52:43,680 --> 00:52:45,239
Speaker 1: we had to do, you know, like to play the

1182
00:52:45,239 --> 00:52:46,400
Speaker 1: best players, you have to go.

1183
00:52:48,040 --> 00:52:49,880
Speaker 6: And you have to take it to them. You have

1184
00:52:49,960 --> 00:52:53,279
Speaker 6: to take it to them. And then in the finals.

1185
00:52:53,320 --> 00:52:55,520
Speaker 6: So in the other semis Serena and Venus were in

1186
00:52:55,520 --> 00:52:58,400
Speaker 6: the draw and or maybe they're in the quarters and lost,

1187
00:52:58,480 --> 00:53:00,400
Speaker 6: but they lost to Vesnina and.

1188
00:53:01,760 --> 00:53:05,239
Speaker 1: Its Vannareva, who was Vonareva.

1189
00:53:05,480 --> 00:53:07,239
Speaker 2: I never lost when I was bloody in the draw.

1190
00:53:08,239 --> 00:53:10,359
Speaker 6: I mean, it was very unusual because we thought for sure,

1191
00:53:10,440 --> 00:53:13,120
Speaker 6: you know, yeah, it was like the first time losing

1192
00:53:14,400 --> 00:53:18,759
Speaker 6: ever a final or something like that. And you know,

1193
00:53:18,880 --> 00:53:22,759
Speaker 6: Lena and we're incredibly talented players as well, so obviously

1194
00:53:23,000 --> 00:53:27,080
Speaker 6: like they took it to you. Yeah, but yeah, I

1195
00:53:27,120 --> 00:53:29,920
Speaker 6: mean we played them in the finals, but they had never.

1196
00:53:29,760 --> 00:53:31,720
Speaker 1: Been in the finals before, yes, and.

1197
00:53:31,960 --> 00:53:33,680
Speaker 2: So we all it's all four of you.

1198
00:53:34,400 --> 00:53:37,640
Speaker 6: Yeah, and I'm positive if we played you or you know,

1199
00:53:37,800 --> 00:53:40,040
Speaker 6: vinoson Serena who had already been in the finals, like,

1200
00:53:41,160 --> 00:53:43,759
Speaker 6: it would have been different, you know, because it's it

1201
00:53:43,840 --> 00:53:47,160
Speaker 6: makes a difference. There's no stress like Grand Slam final stress.

1202
00:53:47,239 --> 00:53:47,759
Speaker 2: Oh my god.

1203
00:53:47,840 --> 00:53:50,160
Speaker 6: You know, there was the only time I've ever dreamed

1204
00:53:50,160 --> 00:53:53,719
Speaker 6: about tennis was before the three times I played a

1205
00:53:53,760 --> 00:53:54,920
Speaker 6: Grand Slam final.

1206
00:53:55,239 --> 00:53:58,000
Speaker 1: And sadly for me, all of those dreams ended with

1207
00:53:58,040 --> 00:53:58,480
Speaker 1: me winning.

1208
00:53:58,520 --> 00:54:00,160
Speaker 6: And then I wake up and I'm like, shit, I

1209
00:54:00,160 --> 00:54:02,080
Speaker 6: haven't played yet.

1210
00:54:02,400 --> 00:54:04,960
Speaker 1: So it's horrible. But it's horrible because it's so well.

1211
00:54:04,960 --> 00:54:06,520
Speaker 4: The goodness is you won two of them.

1212
00:54:06,640 --> 00:54:09,279
Speaker 2: Yeah, but I did lose one of them.

1213
00:54:09,840 --> 00:54:11,960
Speaker 1: That was That was heartbreaking. Back who had a three

1214
00:54:11,960 --> 00:54:15,120
Speaker 1: eight bad? That's true, that's true. Yeah, that one you lost,

1215
00:54:15,160 --> 00:54:17,520
Speaker 1: that was I did.

1216
00:54:17,960 --> 00:54:20,480
Speaker 2: I'm going to blame that on your partner. As much

1217
00:54:20,520 --> 00:54:23,320
Speaker 2: as I love, that was her fault.

1218
00:54:23,680 --> 00:54:27,279
Speaker 6: Well, you know, I was also nervous and I did

1219
00:54:27,360 --> 00:54:31,279
Speaker 6: not like support her as much as I needed to.

1220
00:54:31,760 --> 00:54:33,600
Speaker 1: Let's say, you know that I needed to step it

1221
00:54:33,680 --> 00:54:35,520
Speaker 1: up and I couldn't do it as much as I needed.

1222
00:54:35,600 --> 00:54:39,319
Speaker 4: That is a very kind, diplomatic and empathetic thing to.

1223
00:54:39,320 --> 00:54:44,279
Speaker 3: Say, But it is true because you have to understand

1224
00:54:44,360 --> 00:54:44,920
Speaker 3: where you're like.

1225
00:54:44,960 --> 00:54:46,960
Speaker 2: It's the same as me saying about coaches need to

1226
00:54:47,000 --> 00:54:48,000
Speaker 2: understand their players.

1227
00:54:48,320 --> 00:54:50,600
Speaker 3: If the ones that are motivated self motivated, the ones

1228
00:54:50,640 --> 00:54:53,440
Speaker 3: that maybe overdo it, maybe over push themselves, when to

1229
00:54:53,440 --> 00:54:55,759
Speaker 3: pull them back, lazy when to push them.

1230
00:54:56,160 --> 00:54:57,640
Speaker 2: And you also have to know your partner.

1231
00:54:58,080 --> 00:54:59,840
Speaker 3: And one of the conversations I always had with my

1232
00:55:00,040 --> 00:55:02,800
Speaker 3: partners before Grandsun finals was how are you feeling today?

1233
00:55:03,320 --> 00:55:05,759
Speaker 3: You know, and be honest, and I would. I would

1234
00:55:05,760 --> 00:55:09,160
Speaker 3: say I'm feeling really nervous today. And there were some

1235
00:55:09,239 --> 00:55:11,160
Speaker 3: days was like I feel really good today, Like I'm

1236
00:55:11,239 --> 00:55:14,160
Speaker 3: really fine. You're always nervous, but there's a level of nerves,

1237
00:55:14,600 --> 00:55:16,640
Speaker 3: you know, and I think it's super important for partners

1238
00:55:16,640 --> 00:55:18,520
Speaker 3: to say I actually feel really good.

1239
00:55:18,520 --> 00:55:20,000
Speaker 2: I mean, there were times where Lisa I would say

1240
00:55:20,000 --> 00:55:20,680
Speaker 2: I'm super nervous.

1241
00:55:20,680 --> 00:55:23,000
Speaker 3: I'm like, oh my god, I feel good, you know,

1242
00:55:23,080 --> 00:55:25,320
Speaker 3: or she'd say I feel good, I'm super nervous. And

1243
00:55:25,320 --> 00:55:26,560
Speaker 3: then there was one time when we were like, I'm

1244
00:55:26,600 --> 00:55:28,120
Speaker 3: super nervous here, I'm super nervous.

1245
00:55:28,000 --> 00:55:29,680
Speaker 2: It's like, what are we going to do?

1246
00:55:29,840 --> 00:55:32,440
Speaker 1: I mean, but if you're like, wegether, you know, so

1247
00:55:32,520 --> 00:55:35,720
Speaker 1: then you kind of just say, look, let's just start

1248
00:55:35,760 --> 00:55:37,919
Speaker 1: strong or try your best, or you know, at least

1249
00:55:37,960 --> 00:55:38,279
Speaker 1: you know.

1250
00:55:39,000 --> 00:55:41,160
Speaker 3: What would you have changed though in that time break

1251
00:55:41,320 --> 00:55:45,239
Speaker 3: in that match, I tried everything that's talking to her.

1252
00:55:45,400 --> 00:55:47,120
Speaker 2: What would you have changed to be, as you said,

1253
00:55:47,120 --> 00:55:47,800
Speaker 2: more supportive?

1254
00:55:47,920 --> 00:55:51,440
Speaker 6: Tried everything, So that was like the only thing I

1255
00:55:51,440 --> 00:55:53,279
Speaker 6: could have done, I felt.

1256
00:55:55,560 --> 00:55:58,080
Speaker 1: Because I tried. I tried. I tried being tough.

1257
00:55:58,160 --> 00:56:00,360
Speaker 6: You know, for me, I was always the one that

1258
00:56:00,480 --> 00:56:02,640
Speaker 6: was like the supporter on the court, you know, like

1259
00:56:02,680 --> 00:56:04,040
Speaker 6: trying to lift her up, trying to lift her up,

1260
00:56:04,080 --> 00:56:07,480
Speaker 6: and but you know, obviously trying to deal with my

1261
00:56:07,520 --> 00:56:10,480
Speaker 6: own nerves and try to prop her up. And I

1262
00:56:10,840 --> 00:56:13,920
Speaker 6: always start with like I'm always I feel like I

1263
00:56:13,960 --> 00:56:15,680
Speaker 6: want to be very positive on the court because I

1264
00:56:15,680 --> 00:56:17,480
Speaker 6: play my best when in her relaxed and I'm positive,

1265
00:56:17,719 --> 00:56:20,080
Speaker 6: and that's always my go to. So it started with that,

1266
00:56:20,600 --> 00:56:22,120
Speaker 6: you know, don't worry about it, go for it, go

1267
00:56:22,239 --> 00:56:27,799
Speaker 6: for it. You know, like I still remember the kick

1268
00:56:27,960 --> 00:56:30,239
Speaker 6: first serve in the middle of the court and to

1269
00:56:30,280 --> 00:56:33,960
Speaker 6: Lisa's backhand, and I'm like, what do I like, I want,

1270
00:56:34,040 --> 00:56:36,839
Speaker 6: I need to go. But then she's also not She's

1271
00:56:36,880 --> 00:56:38,320
Speaker 6: also a great player that she you know, if she

1272
00:56:38,360 --> 00:56:40,160
Speaker 6: sees me going, then she has enough time.

1273
00:56:40,040 --> 00:56:43,359
Speaker 1: To so you know, then I tried the tough love.

1274
00:56:43,800 --> 00:56:47,880
Speaker 6: Then I tried, you know, like okay, let's just like

1275
00:56:47,920 --> 00:56:50,080
Speaker 6: do some breathing exercises or then I you know, try

1276
00:56:50,120 --> 00:56:52,120
Speaker 6: to like Okay, let's pump ourselves up, you know, like

1277
00:56:52,280 --> 00:56:54,719
Speaker 6: slap yourself in the in the thigh and scream come on.

1278
00:56:54,760 --> 00:56:54,920
Speaker 1: You know.

1279
00:56:54,920 --> 00:56:58,160
Speaker 6: I tried everything that I could think of at that time. Yeah,

1280
00:56:58,800 --> 00:57:03,040
Speaker 6: and I'm like, nothing worked. So that's why I remember

1281
00:57:03,200 --> 00:57:07,040
Speaker 6: feeling in the third set of that match, I felt

1282
00:57:07,040 --> 00:57:09,040
Speaker 6: like we lost six out. But then I talked to

1283
00:57:09,120 --> 00:57:11,480
Speaker 6: Lisa like three years later and she goes, No, No, seven six,

1284
00:57:11,520 --> 00:57:13,680
Speaker 6: and I'm like, oh, I felt like it was a

1285
00:57:13,880 --> 00:57:17,400
Speaker 6: wash out because I just knew that you could only

1286
00:57:17,480 --> 00:57:20,040
Speaker 6: get far chances, and we actually had two. We were up,

1287
00:57:20,200 --> 00:57:24,240
Speaker 6: she was serving, she was serving up a set and

1288
00:57:24,280 --> 00:57:25,880
Speaker 6: a break, and then in we had a little mini

1289
00:57:25,880 --> 00:57:28,360
Speaker 6: break in the tiebreak, and then I just was like,

1290
00:57:28,960 --> 00:57:33,640
Speaker 6: if we get to that point again, if she can't

1291
00:57:33,680 --> 00:57:35,320
Speaker 6: step it up, or like, if we can't step it

1292
00:57:35,400 --> 00:57:37,600
Speaker 6: up together, then we're going to lose.

1293
00:57:37,640 --> 00:57:39,480
Speaker 2: And so I just felt like it was over.

1294
00:57:39,520 --> 00:57:41,360
Speaker 6: When it was, you know, after the second set, I

1295
00:57:41,360 --> 00:57:42,720
Speaker 6: was like, it's over, even though it.

1296
00:57:42,680 --> 00:57:47,040
Speaker 1: Was seven six then third, So but yeah, I mean.

1297
00:57:48,600 --> 00:57:53,040
Speaker 6: I think as well that looking back, I mean I

1298
00:57:53,160 --> 00:57:57,400
Speaker 6: was also judging her on my expectations, like you gotta

1299
00:57:57,480 --> 00:57:58,960
Speaker 6: keep trying things. You got to you know, and I

1300
00:57:59,000 --> 00:58:02,320
Speaker 6: also didn't realize Slava is a player that one of

1301
00:58:02,360 --> 00:58:03,520
Speaker 6: the like the way that.

1302
00:58:03,480 --> 00:58:04,880
Speaker 1: Stress manifests to her.

1303
00:58:05,360 --> 00:58:07,680
Speaker 6: And so now recognizing this in some players is that it

1304
00:58:07,640 --> 00:58:10,560
Speaker 6: looks like she's not trying, and I didn't realize that

1305
00:58:10,560 --> 00:58:13,680
Speaker 6: that's just a result of her stress and.

1306
00:58:13,640 --> 00:58:16,120
Speaker 1: It's not her not trying, And I'm like, yeah, and

1307
00:58:16,200 --> 00:58:17,080
Speaker 1: she just shuts down.

1308
00:58:17,120 --> 00:58:19,920
Speaker 6: And and for me, I don't work with like, I

1309
00:58:19,960 --> 00:58:22,360
Speaker 6: don't understand that because I'm just like, go, go, go,

1310
00:58:22,360 --> 00:58:24,400
Speaker 6: go go change it, try and try and try and try.

1311
00:58:24,480 --> 00:58:28,840
Speaker 6: Like for me, yes, I mean I love, yeah, I

1312
00:58:28,920 --> 00:58:31,920
Speaker 6: love playing with Lisa. I mean we were on the

1313
00:58:31,920 --> 00:58:34,640
Speaker 6: same wavelength. The only thing is that our games were

1314
00:58:35,000 --> 00:58:38,000
Speaker 6: not as obviously like fitting as yours did with hers

1315
00:58:38,040 --> 00:58:41,600
Speaker 6: and mine did with yours. But so yeah, I mean,

1316
00:58:42,480 --> 00:58:46,000
Speaker 6: you know, I just I think, looking back now, I

1317
00:58:46,000 --> 00:58:47,480
Speaker 6: don't know if only I could have been a bit

1318
00:58:47,480 --> 00:58:50,880
Speaker 6: more understanding or but I mean, at the moment, like

1319
00:58:51,000 --> 00:58:53,640
Speaker 6: I tried everything that I could think of, and the

1320
00:58:53,720 --> 00:58:57,240
Speaker 6: only thing that I could have done that I don't

1321
00:58:57,240 --> 00:58:59,640
Speaker 6: regret it because I've also had my own stresses.

1322
00:58:59,640 --> 00:59:02,400
Speaker 1: But I needed to step up more. I needed to

1323
00:59:02,520 --> 00:59:07,400
Speaker 1: be I needed to take more charge of the points.

1324
00:59:07,920 --> 00:59:11,960
Speaker 1: But I was also like I tried, but I didn't

1325
00:59:12,000 --> 00:59:12,480
Speaker 1: do it.

1326
00:59:12,880 --> 00:59:14,480
Speaker 2: It was going zone.

1327
00:59:14,840 --> 00:59:16,680
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I tried to go to my comfort zone,

1328
00:59:16,720 --> 00:59:16,920
Speaker 1: but I.

1329
00:59:16,880 --> 00:59:20,400
Speaker 6: Needed it wasn't enough, you know, I needed to do more. Well,

1330
00:59:20,400 --> 00:59:23,000
Speaker 6: I needed to like figure out a way too. Because

1331
00:59:23,400 --> 00:59:26,240
Speaker 6: also like Slava was going into patterns. When she gets nervous,

1332
00:59:26,240 --> 00:59:29,280
Speaker 6: she goes into patterns. And I should have, if anything,

1333
00:59:29,320 --> 00:59:31,680
Speaker 6: I should have said, no, let's break out it like

1334
00:59:31,720 --> 00:59:37,280
Speaker 6: we must.

1335
00:59:33,600 --> 00:59:38,040
Speaker 3: Because great teams also know someone's pah exactly so they

1336
00:59:38,080 --> 00:59:39,760
Speaker 3: can they can exploit that, yeah.

1337
00:59:39,600 --> 00:59:41,880
Speaker 6: Exactly, so they knew exactly what was coming under pressure

1338
00:59:41,880 --> 00:59:43,920
Speaker 6: and again no pressure like Grand Slam final pressure.

1339
00:59:43,960 --> 00:59:48,200
Speaker 5: So speaking about somebody who's aggressive, tell me, uh what

1340
00:59:48,240 --> 00:59:51,480
Speaker 5: it was like to face off against Justin gamil'stad, who

1341
00:59:52,000 --> 00:59:54,280
Speaker 5: who only won one Grand Slam on the back of

1342
00:59:54,360 --> 00:59:57,160
Speaker 5: Venis Williams, but will let never let anybody forget.

1343
00:59:57,040 --> 00:59:59,480
Speaker 2: About the fact that he won a Grand Slam championship.

1344
00:59:59,680 --> 01:00:02,440
Speaker 1: Oh, because he always one of the fans.

1345
01:00:02,560 --> 01:00:03,600
Speaker 2: Yeah, he always struck me as.

1346
01:00:03,480 --> 01:00:05,840
Speaker 4: One of the more Mania call players out there on

1347
01:00:05,840 --> 01:00:06,600
Speaker 4: the Niacle.

1348
01:00:07,720 --> 01:00:10,840
Speaker 6: Well, the I'll just say that the first time I

1349
01:00:10,880 --> 01:00:15,000
Speaker 6: met him, so he was coached by Elliott Tilcher, who

1350
01:00:15,040 --> 01:00:17,200
Speaker 6: actually coached my brother. And I'm good friends with Elliott

1351
01:00:17,200 --> 01:00:19,720
Speaker 6: and it's always been really nice to me. And I

1352
01:00:19,800 --> 01:00:24,760
Speaker 6: was sixteen, I got a wild card into mixed.

1353
01:00:26,000 --> 01:00:29,480
Speaker 1: Playing with Vince Spadia. Yeah, at the.

1354
01:00:30,960 --> 01:00:34,800
Speaker 6: Vince Spadia, who Anaphradia, and he had a hat with

1355
01:00:34,840 --> 01:00:37,400
Speaker 6: his logo on and signing his book on the side

1356
01:00:37,440 --> 01:00:38,200
Speaker 6: of the court.

1357
01:00:37,960 --> 01:00:39,160
Speaker 1: And I'm kind of I was sixteen.

1358
01:00:39,200 --> 01:00:40,480
Speaker 2: I'm like, I don't really know what's going on.

1359
01:00:40,560 --> 01:00:46,120
Speaker 6: You know, we're playing the semi finals. It's my first

1360
01:00:46,160 --> 01:00:48,880
Speaker 6: time playing mixed. It's my first time being in a

1361
01:00:48,880 --> 01:00:53,040
Speaker 6: semis We're playing against Megan Shaughnessy, great American player again,

1362
01:00:53,080 --> 01:00:57,600
Speaker 6: and she's playing with Justin and we're in the second

1363
01:00:57,600 --> 01:01:01,640
Speaker 6: set and Justin gets a ball. I think, like, you know, Vince,

1364
01:01:02,160 --> 01:01:04,600
Speaker 6: I don't flubbed a ball. And it was two feet

1365
01:01:04,600 --> 01:01:08,440
Speaker 6: in front of the net, a high ball and Justin

1366
01:01:08,800 --> 01:01:10,760
Speaker 6: I'm at the net. Justin's at the net. He lets

1367
01:01:10,720 --> 01:01:13,240
Speaker 6: a ball bounce and I see murder in his eyes.

1368
01:01:13,600 --> 01:01:16,600
Speaker 6: And I've never run off the court in my professional

1369
01:01:16,640 --> 01:01:19,920
Speaker 6: career except this one time. I literally I saw he

1370
01:01:20,040 --> 01:01:22,960
Speaker 6: was gonna kill me, and I ran off the court.

1371
01:01:24,120 --> 01:01:26,479
Speaker 1: And he missed it trying to hit me, but.

1372
01:01:26,400 --> 01:01:28,479
Speaker 4: He would rather miss by hitting trying.

1373
01:01:28,640 --> 01:01:30,280
Speaker 6: He was trying to hit me so bad that he

1374
01:01:30,320 --> 01:01:34,000
Speaker 6: missed it. And I was again, I was so young.

1375
01:01:34,000 --> 01:01:37,280
Speaker 6: I was just shocked, like everything. I was sixteen, like

1376
01:01:37,320 --> 01:01:38,200
Speaker 6: one hundred pounds.

1377
01:01:38,280 --> 01:01:39,800
Speaker 5: Yeah, you know.

1378
01:01:40,080 --> 01:01:43,400
Speaker 6: Not anyways, that doesn't mean anything in terms of like

1379
01:01:43,840 --> 01:01:45,080
Speaker 6: why are you trying to hit somebody?

1380
01:01:46,280 --> 01:01:46,480
Speaker 1: You know?

1381
01:01:46,560 --> 01:01:49,920
Speaker 6: And I was just so confused. Everything was so new,

1382
01:01:49,960 --> 01:01:52,400
Speaker 6: and I was like, what is wrong with him? And

1383
01:01:52,480 --> 01:01:55,600
Speaker 6: I remember Elliott because I was finding Elliott asked him,

1384
01:01:55,600 --> 01:01:58,880
Speaker 6: apparently asked him like, justin why did you do that?

1385
01:01:59,000 --> 01:02:02,200
Speaker 6: Like she's sixteen, and he goes, I just hate been

1386
01:02:02,320 --> 01:02:02,760
Speaker 6: so much.

1387
01:02:03,080 --> 01:02:06,360
Speaker 1: And it was like then I'm like, then hit Vince.

1388
01:02:06,440 --> 01:02:09,200
Speaker 6: Yeah, like take that ball and miss it, trying to

1389
01:02:09,280 --> 01:02:11,840
Speaker 6: hit Vince in the face, not trying to hit me

1390
01:02:11,840 --> 01:02:12,160
Speaker 6: in the face.

1391
01:02:12,200 --> 01:02:12,720
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh.

1392
01:02:12,720 --> 01:02:15,000
Speaker 1: So I never got on that. Well, it was an

1393
01:02:15,080 --> 01:02:16,040
Speaker 1: a memorable moment.

1394
01:02:16,200 --> 01:02:17,760
Speaker 5: I brought it up just in the context of like

1395
01:02:17,840 --> 01:02:19,320
Speaker 5: therapy being good for everyone.

1396
01:02:19,400 --> 01:02:20,760
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, it seems like that.

1397
01:02:21,080 --> 01:02:23,640
Speaker 5: When you told me that story, I thought, ah, you know,

1398
01:02:23,720 --> 01:02:24,960
Speaker 5: he never apologized.

1399
01:02:25,160 --> 01:02:26,440
Speaker 4: Oh that's such a shock.

1400
01:02:26,600 --> 01:02:34,680
Speaker 6: So not that I expect an apology based upon the

1401
01:02:34,760 --> 01:02:40,440
Speaker 6: experience itself, you know, but yeah, I mean it was

1402
01:02:40,480 --> 01:02:41,720
Speaker 6: not one of my better.

1403
01:02:41,480 --> 01:02:43,120
Speaker 1: Experiences with other players.

1404
01:02:43,320 --> 01:02:45,560
Speaker 5: Well, listen, you you stuck it out, you had a

1405
01:02:45,560 --> 01:02:49,760
Speaker 5: great fifteen year career, Grand slams to to take away,

1406
01:02:49,880 --> 01:02:53,560
Speaker 5: and you've got all these life lessons. To me, what's

1407
01:02:53,640 --> 01:02:55,960
Speaker 5: so interesting talking to you is just how much you've

1408
01:02:56,000 --> 01:02:56,880
Speaker 5: processed all of this.

1409
01:02:57,280 --> 01:02:59,840
Speaker 4: You know now that I know a few of these overthinkers.

1410
01:03:01,080 --> 01:03:02,920
Speaker 5: And it might be good for tennis or it might

1411
01:03:02,960 --> 01:03:05,080
Speaker 5: not be, But I definitely think it's good for life

1412
01:03:05,160 --> 01:03:06,680
Speaker 5: because I think a lot of people have a hard

1413
01:03:06,720 --> 01:03:09,280
Speaker 5: time decompressing and shifting into their next thing.

1414
01:03:09,360 --> 01:03:11,919
Speaker 4: Yeah, because there used to being one mode and you've

1415
01:03:11,920 --> 01:03:13,120
Speaker 4: been in your head a long time.

1416
01:03:13,680 --> 01:03:15,600
Speaker 5: But on the other hand, now that you're out in

1417
01:03:15,640 --> 01:03:18,360
Speaker 5: the you're let loose in the world. Yeah, what does

1418
01:03:18,360 --> 01:03:21,680
Speaker 5: that mean that you're gonna look to do? Obviously your

1419
01:03:21,720 --> 01:03:24,080
Speaker 5: work with serving up Hope, obviously you're working on the

1420
01:03:24,160 --> 01:03:26,440
Speaker 5: USTA board. Yeah, you know, I'm just curious, what are

1421
01:03:26,440 --> 01:03:28,240
Speaker 5: you about now and how does the next couple of

1422
01:03:28,320 --> 01:03:28,960
Speaker 5: years look for you?

1423
01:03:29,760 --> 01:03:33,520
Speaker 6: So for me, I want and in general I wanted

1424
01:03:33,600 --> 01:03:35,720
Speaker 6: and I want to find something that's fulfilling.

1425
01:03:35,960 --> 01:03:38,400
Speaker 1: You know, Tennis is so mentally engaging.

1426
01:03:40,200 --> 01:03:42,320
Speaker 6: Probably I don't want to find something as physically engaging

1427
01:03:42,360 --> 01:03:44,960
Speaker 6: as it, but mentally, you know, you're in the moment,

1428
01:03:45,040 --> 01:03:48,120
Speaker 6: You forget time, you just do what you gotta do.

1429
01:03:48,280 --> 01:03:51,040
Speaker 6: And that's what I wanted to find after tennis and

1430
01:03:51,080 --> 01:03:53,840
Speaker 6: I it. You know, in the process of realizing that

1431
01:03:53,920 --> 01:03:56,600
Speaker 6: I was going down the path of retirement, I was

1432
01:03:56,640 --> 01:03:58,720
Speaker 6: also trying to find something that was fulfilling.

1433
01:03:58,800 --> 01:04:01,480
Speaker 1: And it wasn't easy. I didn't really know for a

1434
01:04:01,520 --> 01:04:02,960
Speaker 1: little while what I wanted to do.

1435
01:04:04,440 --> 01:04:07,280
Speaker 6: I also work part time for WT Charities, so the

1436
01:04:07,360 --> 01:04:08,720
Speaker 6: charitable arm of WTA.

1437
01:04:09,520 --> 01:04:12,400
Speaker 1: It is separate from WTA, so I feel like I.

1438
01:04:12,280 --> 01:04:15,280
Speaker 6: Can make a difference there, and the goal is obviously

1439
01:04:15,280 --> 01:04:17,439
Speaker 6: to make a difference there, and I love the fact,

1440
01:04:17,600 --> 01:04:19,520
Speaker 6: like right, so I got involved.

1441
01:04:19,880 --> 01:04:23,520
Speaker 1: I got to know the woman who heads WT Charities.

1442
01:04:23,520 --> 01:04:27,760
Speaker 6: Her name's Anne Austin, and she's yeah, she's super sweet.

1443
01:04:27,760 --> 01:04:30,280
Speaker 6: And I actually did a master's in nonprofit management and

1444
01:04:30,280 --> 01:04:32,600
Speaker 6: we were classmates and we did some projects together.

1445
01:04:32,640 --> 01:04:34,000
Speaker 1: So that's how I kind of got to know her.

1446
01:04:34,960 --> 01:04:37,000
Speaker 6: And then I I actually reached out to her and

1447
01:04:37,040 --> 01:04:39,440
Speaker 6: I realized had an epiphany. I was like, Oh, I

1448
01:04:39,440 --> 01:04:42,480
Speaker 6: would love to work for you or with you, you know,

1449
01:04:42,760 --> 01:04:47,240
Speaker 6: getting players engaged. Basically how much the charitable side has

1450
01:04:47,320 --> 01:04:50,440
Speaker 6: helped me as a person, you know, not just from

1451
01:04:50,520 --> 01:04:51,160
Speaker 6: the mental.

1452
01:04:50,880 --> 01:04:52,840
Speaker 1: Health but growing and all the experiences that's given me.

1453
01:04:52,880 --> 01:04:55,200
Speaker 1: I would love to be able to get other players involved,

1454
01:04:55,360 --> 01:04:58,120
Speaker 1: you know, in whatever that they you know, not obviously

1455
01:04:58,160 --> 01:05:02,400
Speaker 1: with what I'm doing specifically, but just helping them I

1456
01:05:02,480 --> 01:05:03,720
Speaker 1: want to do yeah, exactly.

1457
01:05:03,800 --> 01:05:06,840
Speaker 6: And actually, I mean, especially during COVID, we had a

1458
01:05:06,880 --> 01:05:09,640
Speaker 6: great response. I mean a lot of players were giving back,

1459
01:05:09,680 --> 01:05:14,480
Speaker 6: you know, whether that's mentoring, zoom calls or you know,

1460
01:05:14,520 --> 01:05:19,320
Speaker 6: giving out masks or you know, bringing supplies, bringing like coffees.

1461
01:05:19,360 --> 01:05:22,680
Speaker 6: I know Carolina did that, and so, you know, I

1462
01:05:22,720 --> 01:05:27,240
Speaker 6: think that players want to get involved. They just haven't

1463
01:05:27,240 --> 01:05:30,440
Speaker 6: been able to have an easy enough platform to do it, you.

1464
01:05:30,400 --> 01:05:32,880
Speaker 1: Know, because again it is so difficult. You don't have

1465
01:05:32,960 --> 01:05:33,720
Speaker 1: much time at all.

1466
01:05:34,080 --> 01:05:36,240
Speaker 6: You can't be approaching players at tournaments and saying hey,

1467
01:05:36,320 --> 01:05:37,120
Speaker 6: we need this, this and this.

1468
01:05:37,160 --> 01:05:39,000
Speaker 1: You know, they're just focused on tournament finding at the

1469
01:05:39,120 --> 01:05:43,800
Speaker 1: right time with a cause that is meaningful to them.

1470
01:05:44,200 --> 01:05:47,120
Speaker 6: I mean, like player engagement is one that I really

1471
01:05:48,240 --> 01:05:49,640
Speaker 6: love getting involved in.

1472
01:05:49,760 --> 01:05:51,440
Speaker 1: And then I did.

1473
01:05:52,080 --> 01:05:53,920
Speaker 6: I'm now on the UST board and I applied for

1474
01:05:54,040 --> 01:05:57,240
Speaker 6: that originally because you know, I want to make a difference,

1475
01:05:57,240 --> 01:06:00,800
Speaker 6: but I you know, I've had a tumultuous relationship with USTs,

1476
01:06:00,840 --> 01:06:04,120
Speaker 6: many players have, so I didn't really know what to

1477
01:06:04,160 --> 01:06:04,920
Speaker 6: expect going into it.

1478
01:06:04,920 --> 01:06:06,520
Speaker 4: And it's honestly, it's been a really.

1479
01:06:06,320 --> 01:06:09,120
Speaker 1: Great learning experience, kind of getting.

1480
01:06:08,800 --> 01:06:13,520
Speaker 6: To know the organizational aspect of very large organization, kind

1481
01:06:13,560 --> 01:06:16,840
Speaker 6: of how they manage everything and and all the difficulties

1482
01:06:16,880 --> 01:06:18,840
Speaker 6: and the challenges that I didn't realize as a player

1483
01:06:18,880 --> 01:06:24,479
Speaker 6: that they face. Yeah, definitely, and why running US Open

1484
01:06:24,560 --> 01:06:27,160
Speaker 6: was such a big deal for them and all for

1485
01:06:27,520 --> 01:06:30,360
Speaker 6: all the Slams. And then you know, with my own nonprofit,

1486
01:06:30,480 --> 01:06:33,600
Speaker 6: so I really obviously I'm very passionate about doing things

1487
01:06:33,640 --> 01:06:35,160
Speaker 6: on the ground and really saying.

1488
01:06:34,880 --> 01:06:37,920
Speaker 1: That we're making a difference on the ground and we

1489
01:06:37,920 --> 01:06:41,840
Speaker 1: can see that. And right now, I really like that

1490
01:06:43,240 --> 01:06:43,600
Speaker 1: kind of.

1491
01:06:44,040 --> 01:06:46,520
Speaker 6: The lens, Like I've got three different lenses but in

1492
01:06:46,560 --> 01:06:50,360
Speaker 6: the same sphere of tennis and working with development because

1493
01:06:50,360 --> 01:06:52,560
Speaker 6: I've got you know, the high level organizational side, I've

1494
01:06:52,560 --> 01:06:55,760
Speaker 6: got the player like high level but player engagement, and

1495
01:06:55,840 --> 01:06:58,080
Speaker 6: then got grassroots, so right now.

1496
01:06:58,000 --> 01:06:59,800
Speaker 1: I really enjoy that, so hopefully I'll be able.

1497
01:06:59,600 --> 01:07:00,320
Speaker 2: To continue that.

1498
01:07:00,640 --> 01:07:03,520
Speaker 6: I put a like right now, I paused it because

1499
01:07:03,520 --> 01:07:07,400
Speaker 6: I had this you know, two month last hurrah of

1500
01:07:07,440 --> 01:07:11,000
Speaker 6: playing tournaments paused kind of my work there, but now

1501
01:07:11,080 --> 01:07:13,120
Speaker 6: back into a lot of my work is going to

1502
01:07:13,160 --> 01:07:14,919
Speaker 6: serve me a pope right now, really trying to grow

1503
01:07:14,920 --> 01:07:19,800
Speaker 6: the organization and hoping people will get involved and you know,

1504
01:07:19,960 --> 01:07:22,520
Speaker 6: want to reach out and we'd love to get more

1505
01:07:22,560 --> 01:07:24,000
Speaker 6: people involved in that as well.

1506
01:07:24,080 --> 01:07:25,600
Speaker 5: How can they find you if they want to, if

1507
01:07:25,600 --> 01:07:27,560
Speaker 5: they're listening to this and thinking like, oh this is great,

1508
01:07:27,560 --> 01:07:29,920
Speaker 5: I want to lean forward and help. Is what is

1509
01:07:30,200 --> 01:07:32,680
Speaker 5: going to the website sending.

1510
01:07:32,720 --> 01:07:36,200
Speaker 6: I mean I've been pretty much like CEO and all

1511
01:07:36,280 --> 01:07:37,120
Speaker 6: staff combined.

1512
01:07:37,200 --> 01:07:40,000
Speaker 1: So if you reach out to our website or if

1513
01:07:40,000 --> 01:07:40,760
Speaker 1: you reach out.

1514
01:07:40,600 --> 01:07:43,600
Speaker 6: To social media, I mean you will get me. Actually,

1515
01:07:43,680 --> 01:07:45,479
Speaker 6: so I'm the one that's responding to all of that.

1516
01:07:46,480 --> 01:07:49,240
Speaker 6: You know, we have been collecting equipment. We've got a

1517
01:07:49,240 --> 01:07:50,960
Speaker 6: lot of people that have been donating equipment.

1518
01:07:52,200 --> 01:07:55,479
Speaker 1: We are starting a STEM program in Uganda, so even

1519
01:07:55,480 --> 01:08:00,480
Speaker 1: collecting like old computers and tablets. Also starting a mentorship program,

1520
01:08:00,560 --> 01:08:02,920
Speaker 1: so that's how you know, people can also get involved

1521
01:08:03,320 --> 01:08:07,680
Speaker 1: with our with our kids, and you know, obviously if

1522
01:08:07,680 --> 01:08:10,640
Speaker 1: you want to donate, we do need finances to keep running,

1523
01:08:10,680 --> 01:08:13,160
Speaker 1: so that would be greatly appreciated.

1524
01:08:13,200 --> 01:08:16,200
Speaker 6: I hate likes listening for money, but we are doing

1525
01:08:16,240 --> 01:08:20,240
Speaker 6: something good, I think. Yeah, So you know, would definitely

1526
01:08:20,240 --> 01:08:22,640
Speaker 6: love to get people involved, and however they like to.

1527
01:08:22,600 --> 01:08:24,720
Speaker 5: Get involved, We'll promise us you will come back on

1528
01:08:24,760 --> 01:08:27,840
Speaker 5: the show and maybe as soon as the summer when

1529
01:08:27,840 --> 01:08:29,400
Speaker 5: you're doing it in LA But tell us how it's

1530
01:08:29,439 --> 01:08:33,040
Speaker 5: going and keep us work because we need people like

1531
01:08:33,080 --> 01:08:36,320
Speaker 5: you to make change in every way. Talk about the

1532
01:08:36,360 --> 01:08:39,439
Speaker 5: USTA like, there's lots of places, and I think somebody

1533
01:08:39,479 --> 01:08:42,439
Speaker 5: as thoughtful and empathetic as you can have a giant,

1534
01:08:42,479 --> 01:08:43,160
Speaker 5: giant impact.

1535
01:08:44,040 --> 01:08:48,360
Speaker 3: Yes, thanks Anya joining us, and we're going to get

1536
01:08:48,360 --> 01:08:51,040
Speaker 3: out all that that info to everybody on our on

1537
01:08:51,080 --> 01:08:54,479
Speaker 3: our website and on the pod, and we just wish

1538
01:08:54,479 --> 01:08:56,799
Speaker 3: you good luck. We know, I know that you've had

1539
01:08:56,520 --> 01:09:00,840
Speaker 3: a very interesting life so far, and all those lessons

1540
01:09:00,840 --> 01:09:02,479
Speaker 3: they're going to be taught to the young kids of

1541
01:09:02,520 --> 01:09:04,840
Speaker 3: the world and we're gonna make them not only better

1542
01:09:05,200 --> 01:09:07,840
Speaker 3: players tennis players, but better people thanks to you.

1543
01:09:08,000 --> 01:09:12,160
Speaker 5: So thanks for jetting us, and that's it. For this

1544
01:09:12,280 --> 01:09:15,639
Speaker 5: episode of the Racket Magazine podcast. Thanks for listening. Our

1545
01:09:15,680 --> 01:09:18,800
Speaker 5: host is Renee Stubbs. Our co host and producer is

1546
01:09:18,800 --> 01:09:22,839
Speaker 5: me Caitlin Thompson. Music by internationally renowned DJ Stretch Armstrong.

1547
01:09:23,320 --> 01:09:25,840
Speaker 2: Thanks to Tim Or Jerry and the team at ACAST.

1548
01:09:26,080 --> 01:09:29,560
Speaker 5: Find us at racketmag dot com, slash podcast, and subscribe

1549
01:09:29,600 --> 01:09:31,920
Speaker 5: to us at any of your favorite podcatchers.