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Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're trying

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Speaker 1: to figure out how to smuggle dogs into luggage. How

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Speaker 1: am I going to survive a two week trip without

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Speaker 1: my snuggle buddies.

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Speaker 2: It's Wednesday, February nineteenth.

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Speaker 1: Than on today's show, we'll be talking tennis with Katrina Adams,

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Speaker 1: former president and CEO of the United States Tennis Association,

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Speaker 1: and former South African pro Marian de Swart about the

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Speaker 1: upcoming ATX Open, the strong field of players who could

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Speaker 1: contend for a Slam this year, and working to make

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Speaker 1: the sport more inclusive. Plus, Cleveland basketball could be rocking

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Speaker 1: again soon. The PWHL standings are getting sticky, and our

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Speaker 1: show is a family affair. It's all coming up right

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Speaker 1: after this welcome back slices. Here's what you need to

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Speaker 1: know today in WNBA news, multiple sources told the Sports

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Speaker 1: Business Journal that Cleveland has a ninety percent chance of

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Speaker 1: becoming the league's next expansion team. Cleveland's bid is worth

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Speaker 1: a whopping league record two hundred and fifty million dollars,

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Speaker 1: per sbj's Tom Friend. That's twice what the two most

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Speaker 1: recent expansion teams, Toronto Tempo and WNBA Portland coughed up

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Speaker 1: to join the league. This could be a renaissance for

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Speaker 1: the Pro Women's soups franchise in the city. The Cleveland

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Speaker 1: Rockers were one of the WNBA's original teams in nineteen

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Speaker 1: ninety seven before folding in three An official announcement about

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Speaker 1: the league's sixteenth team is expected sometime in March, and

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Speaker 1: now SBJ is reporting that the w could actually add

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Speaker 1: two more teams by twenty thirty, bringing the total number

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Speaker 1: of squads to eighteen. We'll keep you updated in pro Vibes.

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Speaker 1: Love Houston is back in action tonight after winning the

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Speaker 1: n season tournament the Love Classic over the weekend. Shout

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Speaker 1: out to houston opposite hitter Jordan Thompson, who took home

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Speaker 1: MVP honors in that Classic. She led Houston with sixteen

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Speaker 1: kills and the match winner in the championship. It'll be

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Speaker 1: Love Houston versus Love Austin eight pm Easter and Love

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Speaker 1: Live and de Zone tonight tahckey one PWHL game to

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Speaker 1: live look forward to tonight the Toronto Scepters and the

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Speaker 1: New York Sirens facing off at seven pm Eastern. That'll

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Speaker 1: be streaming live on YouTube and After what felt like

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Speaker 1: a pretty consistent top two most of the season, with

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Speaker 1: the Montreal Victoire and the Minnesota Frost battling for supremacy.

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Speaker 1: Now Montreal stands alone at the top of the table

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Speaker 1: with a pretty healthy lead, and the Frost, Scepters and

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Speaker 1: Boston Fleet are bunched up behind them battling for second

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Speaker 1: through fourth. So all these games matter and in Hoops

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Speaker 1: Athletes Unlimited is an action tonight as well. Isabel Harrison's

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Speaker 1: Team Blue faces Matty Segris Team Orange at six pm Eastern.

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Speaker 1: Secrets is coming off a huge game on Friday, recording

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Speaker 1: thirty five points and twelve rebounds to set the AU

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Speaker 1: single game record in leader board points. Second game tonight

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Speaker 1: will be Odyssey Sims Team Gold playing Maya Caldwell's Team

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Speaker 1: Purple at eight thirty Eastern. Both of those games will

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Speaker 1: be available on the WNBA app and FanDuel Sports Network.

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Speaker 1: By the way, halfway through the AU Hoop season, Sims

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Speaker 1: sits atop the leaderboard with Secrest right behind her. Finally

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Speaker 1: get ready to root on our official show side the

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Speaker 1: Minnesota Aurora. Their schedule was released on Tuesday, with six

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Speaker 1: home games at TCO Stadium. In Egan, Minnesota and six

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Speaker 1: away games. The season opener will be at home versus

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Speaker 1: Rochester FC on May twenty second at seven pm. Y'all,

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Speaker 1: our squad is entering its fourth season, undefeated in all

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Speaker 1: regular season games and as Heartland Division champions in all

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Speaker 1: three seasons in the USLW. And don't worry, guys, Your

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Speaker 1: magical good game Times Aurora clab hats are on the

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Speaker 1: way to me right now, and when I get back

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Speaker 1: for my many travels, I'll be shipping them out to you.

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Speaker 1: Check out the season schedule for the Minnesota Aurora and

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Speaker 1: plan to attend a game or two, or you can

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Speaker 1: buy season tickets. They're on sale now at Mnaurora dot com.

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Speaker 2: Okay slices.

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Speaker 1: A quick note before the interview today that's going to

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Speaker 1: help you keep up with the conversation.

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Speaker 3: So.

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Speaker 1: The Women's Tennis Association Tour aka the WTA Tour has

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Speaker 1: several tournament levels Grand Slam, WTA one thousand, WTA five hundred,

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Speaker 1: and WTA two fifty. Now the level of a tournament

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Speaker 1: tell see how many ranking points are awarded to the winner,

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Speaker 1: with Grand Slam the highest level on the main tour,

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Speaker 1: and two fifty the lowest level. You'll hear us talking

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Speaker 1: in the conversation about how Madison Keys planned to play

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Speaker 1: in the upcoming WTA two to fifty tournament, the ATX Open,

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Speaker 1: but she's now ineligible. So Keys was ranked twenty first

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Speaker 1: when she agreed to play in the tournament, and was

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Speaker 1: ranked twenty at as recently as January sixth, but after

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Speaker 1: she won the Adelaide International and the Australian Open, she's

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Speaker 1: now ranked seventh in the world.

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Speaker 4: Now.

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Speaker 1: The ATX Open is the same week as the Marita

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Speaker 1: Open in Mexico, and per new WTA rules beginning this year, quote,

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Speaker 1: a WTA two to fifty tournament in the same week

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Speaker 1: as a WTA five hundred tournament may accept only one

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Speaker 1: player whose WTA singles ranking is one through ten at

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Speaker 1: the tournament's main draw entry deadline end quote. There is

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Speaker 1: one exception if the tournament's defending champion returns with a

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Speaker 1: top ten ranking. So if you're confused at all, basically

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Speaker 1: there can't be two players with top ten world rankings

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Speaker 1: in this ATX Open because there is another WTA tournament

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Speaker 1: happening at the same time at a higher level. So

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Speaker 1: since world number six Jessica Pagoula already committed to playing

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Speaker 1: in the ATX Open, she occupies the one available slot

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Speaker 1: of the tournament for a top ten player. Worth noting

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Speaker 1: the ATP the Men's Tour, which is organized and run separately,

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Speaker 1: has no such rule, so it's a bummer for Madison

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Speaker 1: Keys and for the fans at the ATX Open. But

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Speaker 1: the WTA obviously prioritizes balanced competition, So them's the rules.

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Speaker 2: All right.

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Speaker 1: Now that you're essentially at tennis pro, you're all set

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Speaker 1: for my conversation with Katrina and Marian. We're serving that

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Speaker 1: up after the break. Joining us now, She was President

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Speaker 1: and CEO of the United States Tennis Association and chair

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Speaker 1: of the US Open, as well as the chair of

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Speaker 1: the International Tennis Federation FED Cup and Gender Equality and

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Speaker 1: Tennis Committees. As a player, she had a career high

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Speaker 1: doubles ranking of number eight one twenty WTA titles and

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Speaker 1: reached the quarterfinal stage or further at all four Grand Slams.

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Speaker 1: A Northwestern grad and author, a p WHL fan and

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Speaker 1: fiercely fashionable. It's good Trina Adams, what's up, Katrina?

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Speaker 4: Well, what's up Sarah?

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Speaker 1: Thanks for joining me?

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Speaker 2: Joining her?

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Speaker 1: A former South African pro tennis player who twice represented

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Speaker 1: her country at the Summer Olympics. Won two Grand Slam

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Speaker 1: titles in mixed doubles competition, won four women's doubles titles,

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Speaker 1: a singles title, and reached its highest world number eleven

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Speaker 1: in the WTA doubles rankings. She's been a commentator or

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Speaker 1: coach and a tennis pro. She's an animal lover. It's

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Speaker 1: Marion de Swart. What's up.

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Speaker 4: Marion, Hi, Sarah, Hey, Katrina, Hey ladies.

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Speaker 2: I'm so excited to talk to both of y'all.

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Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us to get us ready for the

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Speaker 1: ATX Open in Austin. Help us get to know more

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Speaker 1: about the event, the field, and just the larger state

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Speaker 1: of tennis. So for this ATX Open, let's start their

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Speaker 1: qualifying starts February twenty second, the main draw on the

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Speaker 1: twenty fourth. Marion, this is occurring at your club. You're

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Speaker 1: the director of rackets at the Westwood Country Club, So

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Speaker 1: tell us about the ATX Open.

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Speaker 3: Well, you know, this will be my first one. This

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Speaker 3: is the third year that you know, Westwood Country Club

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Speaker 3: will be hosting the tournament, so this is my third

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Speaker 3: first one. So everything is kind of new for me.

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Speaker 3: So it's been really exciting to look at the process

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Speaker 3: and you know, the stadium is pretty much up, and

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Speaker 3: you know, this is the last few days before the

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Speaker 3: tournament starts, so there's a lot of hustle and bustle

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Speaker 3: going on. So it's super exciting and I can't wait

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Speaker 3: for the tournament to get started.

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Speaker 1: Director of Rackets makes it sound like I would bring

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Speaker 1: my racket in for you to restring it. I get

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Speaker 1: the idea that there's a little more to the job.

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Speaker 1: Can you tell us what a director of rackets does.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, you don't want me stringing your rackets. So director

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Speaker 3: of rackets, basically I'm in charge of, you know, overall

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Speaker 3: operations here at the club. You know, we offer tennis

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Speaker 3: pick a ball at the club and then obviously we

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Speaker 3: have a little stringing too.

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Speaker 1: To your earlier point, this is the third year of

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Speaker 1: the ATX Open. What's the process like trying to get

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Speaker 1: a new tournament up and running. That's considered you know,

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Speaker 1: a WTA two fifty.

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Speaker 3: With any tournament, any high level pro tournament, I mean,

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Speaker 3: you have to have the right facility. I mean, you know,

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Speaker 3: the lighting has to be right, you have to have

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Speaker 3: a certain amount of people that can are able to

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Speaker 3: come and watch the tournament. I mean, it's it's a

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Speaker 3: huge operation. I was involved with the ATB two fifty

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Speaker 3: in Houston for about thirteen years, and you know, coming

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Speaker 3: over here, it's kind of the same deal. I mean,

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Speaker 3: it's it's a huge operation. And I think every tournament

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Speaker 3: that goes up, you know, you go to five hundred

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Speaker 3: and you go to a thousand, you know, tournaments, I

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Speaker 3: think everyone gets better.

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Speaker 4: And I've learned.

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Speaker 3: You know, I thought I knew a lot, but I

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Speaker 3: learned a lot in the last couple of weeks since

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Speaker 3: I started preparing for the tournament. You know, that's what

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Speaker 3: we love as tennis players. You know, it's it's problem solving.

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Speaker 3: You know, every ball that you hit is a problem

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Speaker 3: that you have to solve. So, you know, like Katrina

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Speaker 3: being involved with tennis and being president of the USDA

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Speaker 3: and you know, all those speaking engagements and everything.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I wanted to ask.

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Speaker 1: I don't know, Katrina, if you have a different perspective

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Speaker 1: from marian on introducing a new tournament, how is it

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Speaker 1: for a ven you or a place to suggest that

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Speaker 1: they want to be the host of a new one

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Speaker 1: that ends up qualifying as a WTA two fifty tournament.

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Speaker 4: Well, I'm sure it's it's probably been more difficult when

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Speaker 4: when you're starting the tournament. So, as she said, there's

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Speaker 4: a lot that goes into it. You know, having been

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Speaker 4: on the Grand Slam side, the enormous size of a

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Speaker 4: major event and then you're scaling down to a two

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Speaker 4: point fifty. The energy is the same because running a

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Speaker 4: tournament is running a tournament, so you know, from Marion's perspective,

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Speaker 4: and dealing with the ball people, the volunteers, the catering,

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Speaker 4: the ticketing, the hospitality, the parking, you know, the marketing, promotions,

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Speaker 4: you know, everything that goes into it. And then you

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Speaker 4: and then there are the players and the entourages and

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Speaker 4: broadcasting and you know what we're doing here. All of

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Speaker 4: that is the same. It's just on a different scale,

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Speaker 4: and so it's it's very busy. It's nerve wracking because

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Speaker 4: you want to have a fantastic event, a fantastic experience

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Speaker 4: for everyone that's involved, so that it can be successful

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Speaker 4: and so that people want to come back, you know,

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Speaker 4: they want to leave with a buzz and tell everyone

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Speaker 4: about it so that they not only come back tomorrow

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Speaker 4: and the next day and the next day during the week,

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Speaker 4: but then therefore so the tournament can be successful to

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Speaker 4: come back the next year.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: And the thing that makes that makes a tournament like

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Speaker 3: west you know, the tournament here at Westford Country Club

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Speaker 3: and say the at B tournament in Houston a little

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Speaker 3: different is because it is at a private It's done

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Speaker 3: at a private club, and we still have to take

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Speaker 3: care of members. Even though the membership here is crazy

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Speaker 3: about tennis, and the membership in Houston it's crazy about tennis,

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Speaker 3: we still have to take care of the members. So

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Speaker 3: that that kind of makes it makes it a little

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Speaker 3: bit trickier, you know, because they are members at the

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Speaker 3: club that they don't play tennis and they still want

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Speaker 3: to use their club. So we're trying to keep people

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Speaker 3: happy from you know, lift right and center. But you know,

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Speaker 3: so this you know hope hopefully it will be part

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Speaker 3: of it. It's part of it.

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Speaker 4: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Well, you're keeping a lot of different people happy, and

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Speaker 1: that includes the players that choose to come. Katrina, who

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Speaker 1: are some of the top names in the women's field

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Speaker 1: this year at the ATX Open.

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Speaker 4: Well, I mean it's gonna be uh, that's a very

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Speaker 4: good question. I'm coming there next week and the field

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Speaker 4: is changing. You know, we're hoping to have Madison Keys,

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Speaker 4: which would have been a huge player coming in. But

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Speaker 4: of course, after she won the Australian Open, you know,

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Speaker 4: her ranking went to the top and she was unable

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Speaker 4: to to participate because of the cutoff with the with

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Speaker 4: the top ten players. So she's not able to play

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Speaker 4: with her ranking moved up.

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Speaker 1: Tell me more about that.

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Speaker 4: Well, you know what, in twenty twenty five, everything changed

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Speaker 4: with the tours, with how many players in the top

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Speaker 4: ten can play in the two fifties and five hundreds,

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Speaker 4: et cetera.

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Speaker 3: I think only one top ten player can play in

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Speaker 3: the top and a two fifty.

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Speaker 1: Right, So is Jessica Pegoula already in the field and

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Speaker 1: she sort of got established as the world number six,

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Speaker 1: so she's in the place. Is it a matter of

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Speaker 1: Wood signs up first or how does it work?

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Speaker 4: Well, I think jesse was already in the top ten. Yes,

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Speaker 4: so she was that top ten player that was in

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Speaker 4: the draw. That's great. So she was that. So she's

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Speaker 4: their marquete player as they call as their name. So

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Speaker 4: Pogola is that top marquee player in the top ten

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Speaker 4: ten player coming in. So of course Madison Keys, having

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Speaker 4: just won the Grand Slam in Australia would have been that,

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Speaker 4: you know, other marquete player, great player to promote to

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Speaker 4: come in behind Pegoula, but because of the rules, she

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Speaker 4: wasn't able to play. She actually had out. But hey,

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Speaker 4: having Pogola is going to be huge.

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Speaker 1: And you've got Peyton Sterns, who's a former NCAA tournament

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Speaker 1: champ ranked as top fifty. You've got the defending champ

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Speaker 1: from last year.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, and we snagged pick Peva two tome Wimbledon champion,

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Speaker 3: former top ten. You know, she's coming back from maternity league,

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Speaker 3: so I'm super excited to see you play of the year.

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Speaker 3: So yeah, so that was a big that was a

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Speaker 3: big catch for us.

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Speaker 1: So just for those who aren't as familiar with the

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Speaker 1: tennis world, Katrina, can you explain why there are rules

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Speaker 1: around who can participate in slams versus two fifty versus

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Speaker 1: five hundred.

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Speaker 4: Well, obviously in the Slams, it's everybody, you know, the

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Speaker 4: all your top players. It's it's you're entered into the

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Speaker 4: tournaments by your ranking, and so your your top I

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Speaker 4: think ninety six ranked players get into the main draw,

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Speaker 4: and then they are your wild card entries, and then

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Speaker 4: your qualifiers they get into the main draw of the

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Speaker 4: Grand Slams, and then your your thousands are the top

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Speaker 4: twenty eight depending on the size of draw, because there's

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Speaker 4: rooms for your qualifiers and wild cards, et cetera, et

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Speaker 4: cetera down each group. But again twenty twenty five, there

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Speaker 4: are new rules, new standards for the events. But you know,

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Speaker 4: I think the two fifties, this one in particular in Austin,

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Speaker 4: is going to be fantastic as you just mentioned the

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Speaker 4: players that will be there, and I think it's also

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Speaker 4: an opportunity to see some of your up and coming champions.

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Speaker 4: This is where they shine. This is where they have

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Speaker 4: an opportunity to go deep in a draw, get some

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Speaker 4: big wins, come up against some of these top players,

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Speaker 4: and make names for themselves.

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Speaker 1: And is that the intention there that in order for

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Speaker 1: some of these players to be able to make a

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Speaker 1: living and continue to play as they're working their way up,

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Speaker 1: they need to have tournaments where they can be closer

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Speaker 1: to the top and have an opportunity to win. Versus

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Speaker 1: if you let all the top tens play wherever they want.

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Speaker 4: It well, I think you have to start somewhere, right,

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Speaker 4: You have to you have to have an opportunity to

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Speaker 4: build and tend to, you know, earn the points that

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Speaker 4: are needed for you to move up in the rankings.

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Speaker 4: And I think that's what they're trying to do is

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Speaker 4: streamline the WTA Tour and also allow the top players

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Speaker 4: to rest where they're not playing week in and week

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Speaker 4: out and able to go down into the lower ranked tournaments.

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Speaker 4: Now if they're coming off injuries and things of that nature,

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Speaker 4: they do need to be able to come back. Someone

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Speaker 4: like Petro Kvitova who's coming off and she's coming back

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Speaker 4: with special ranking, you know, off coming off maternity leave.

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Speaker 4: You know, this is the second time she's going to

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Speaker 4: be coming off she came back with from an injury,

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Speaker 4: you know a few years ago when she had that

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Speaker 4: horrible incident of being slashed in her in her hand.

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Speaker 4: So still, so you're gonna have some big names there. Yeah,

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Speaker 4: it's exciting tennis.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think we, uh, we all watch challengers,

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Speaker 1: so we know what it's like when a player needs

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Speaker 1: to go play at a smaller tournament to work their

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Speaker 1: way back up after they've been entered I don't know

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Speaker 1: if you guys watched that movie, it was wild. If

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Speaker 1: people didn't watch Challengers yet, I had no idea what

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Speaker 1: to expect.

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Speaker 4: This was not I haven't watched it.

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Speaker 2: I think it is.

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Speaker 1: It's dark, it's sexy, it's weird, it's aggressive. Just set

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Speaker 1: aside some time and have a weird night with yourself

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Speaker 1: in that.

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Speaker 2: Moment, Marion. Let's talk state of the game, bigger picture.

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Speaker 1: We talked about Madison Keys won the first major of

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Speaker 1: the year one singles at the Australian Open. That's her

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Speaker 1: first major title. Does she seem prime to add more

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Speaker 1: to her trophy case this year? Does it feel like

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Speaker 1: the kind of tennis she's playing right now looks like

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Speaker 1: she's going to be able to carry that forward and

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Speaker 1: be one of the competitors at all the majors.

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Speaker 3: Yes. You know, I've always been rooting for Maddie, and

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Speaker 3: you know, this has been a long road for her.

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Speaker 3: I think it's been a fourteen year road for her

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Speaker 3: to win her first Slam, and I think she finally

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Speaker 3: got that monkey of her back maybe a little bit.

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Speaker 3: You know, she talked about, you know, how she went

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Speaker 3: to do therapy, extensive therapy and she had to really

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Speaker 3: dig down and you know, finally make peace with you know,

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Speaker 3: who she is, and didn't put so much pressure on

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Speaker 3: herself to win a slam and think, you know, if

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Speaker 3: I don't win a Slam, this is this is my

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Speaker 3: career is terrible. I think she, you know, with all

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Speaker 3: the work that she she she got done. I think

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Speaker 3: there's more slams for her in the future.

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Speaker 4: I really do.

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Speaker 3: I think she's got a huge game, she's got a

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Speaker 3: big serve, big fourhand, she's got great volleys, she moves

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Speaker 3: while obviously she's done an enormous amount of mental work.

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Speaker 3: So I'm really going to root for her, and I

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Speaker 3: think there's more slams in her future, you know. And

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Speaker 3: I think, you know, it's been proven over the last

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Speaker 3: few years that you know, just a lot of players

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Speaker 3: play the best tennis after thirty. I think there's there's

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Speaker 3: a few more for in store, and I'll be rooting

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Speaker 3: for her.

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Speaker 1: Katrina Madison beat world number two Egas Fontech in the

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Speaker 1: semis at the Australian Open, and then she upset two

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Speaker 1: time defending champ Arena Sabalnka in the final. Those two

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Speaker 1: women IgA and Arena, and then Barbara Krachikova were the

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Speaker 1: only players to win Grand Slams last year. How many

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Speaker 1: players deep do I have to give you in terms

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Speaker 1: of talent who you think are likely to win at

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Speaker 1: least as Slam this year? Is it more than those three.

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Speaker 4: Women's tennis is? I think it's deep. I think there

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Speaker 4: are probably a couple more that are going to have

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Speaker 4: a chance to win. If you look at how the

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Speaker 4: year started, there are several players that came out hot

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Speaker 4: and they're hungry, and the players that finished strong last

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Speaker 4: year are hungry. So the talent pool is there, and

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Speaker 4: I think with the restructuring of the tour this year,

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Speaker 4: I think it's going to be very interesting to see

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Speaker 4: how these players rebound, particularly with all the one thousands

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Speaker 4: now being over two weeks, things are different, So we

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Speaker 4: don't know how these players mentally and or physically are

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Speaker 4: going to perform this year. So it was great to

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Speaker 4: see Maddie do it. And like Marion said, I think

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Speaker 4: she says now really coming into her prime. Her life

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Speaker 4: is seemed her life seemed to be where she wants

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Speaker 4: it to be, where she's more relaxed. I think her

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Speaker 4: challenge has always been, you know, there's been the mental side.

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Speaker 4: It's been more so the physical side, right, and sometimes

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Speaker 4: when you're mentally stressed, it brings on some of the

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Speaker 4: physical challenges. We saw that she was doing really well

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Speaker 4: at Womblind last year, up a set in five to

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Speaker 4: two against Paulini and had the injury and then Paulini

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Speaker 4: went on to go to the finals. So hopefully she'll

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Speaker 4: do well. But I think Coco Gough is gonna rebound.

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Speaker 4: You know, she started off the year hot. She has

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Speaker 4: a great chance and Clay is it's a good circus

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Speaker 4: for her, so we'll see how she fares. Rolingd Garrels.

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Speaker 4: With the French Open coming up obviously, EGA and Arena,

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Speaker 4: you know, you can never count them out. Yeah. I'm

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Speaker 4: a huge Mahova fan. I love Carolyn and Mahova. I

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Speaker 4: love her.

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Speaker 1: Saw her at the US Open this year.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, I like it.

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Speaker 3: So she's fun to work.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, I think, isn't she Oh my goodness,

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Speaker 4: She's got a full court game, so you never you

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Speaker 4: never know what we're going to get from from the rest.

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Speaker 1: It's exciting, it's exciting.

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Speaker 2: There's a big field.

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Speaker 1: You actually mentioned two players I wanted to ask about

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Speaker 1: Marianne Jasmine Paulini thrilling player to watch, so fun, little bulldog.

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Speaker 1: She's tiny and she moves around and she has so

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Speaker 1: much power. I saw her in Spain at the Village

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Speaker 1: and King Cup. Do you think she'll be in the

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Speaker 1: mix first lamb this year?

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Speaker 3: You know, you can't count out. Obviously she she was

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Speaker 3: in two finals last year, right, two slam finals. I

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Speaker 3: mean so obviously. I mean she's she's got the game.

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Speaker 3: She she kind of reminds me of a little bit

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Speaker 3: like David Ferrer on the men's side. You know, she's

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Speaker 3: she's small, she doesn't have that. The only thing is

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Speaker 3: she doesn't have any weapons that can hurt you. Her

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Speaker 3: weapon is you know, her fight and her spurs, staying

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Speaker 3: in the game, staying in the game and you know,

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Speaker 3: more balls back. But she she does have some fire power.

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Speaker 3: But I don't know, you know, sometimes sometimes you need

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Speaker 3: a little bit of luck, and you know, players on

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Speaker 3: the main's side, on women's side, sometimes I've had a

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Speaker 3: little bit of the luck on they side, and you

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Speaker 3: never know what happens. You know, somebody loses, or a

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Speaker 3: couple of people lose. That's in your side of the

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Speaker 3: drawer opens up the drawer a little bit. You know,

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Speaker 3: anything's possible. You know, I really like to watch her place.

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Speaker 3: She's fun, fun, She's super fun to watch.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, Katrina, you mentioned Coco Goff, currently ranked number three

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Speaker 1: in the world. She looked to be unstoppable on that

435
00:21:25,440 --> 00:21:27,680
Speaker 1: run she had before the loss in Australia. What does

436
00:21:27,720 --> 00:21:31,639
Speaker 1: she need to do to compete for the majors this year?

437
00:21:31,680 --> 00:21:33,000
Speaker 1: What does she need to do to make sure she's

438
00:21:33,119 --> 00:21:33,480
Speaker 1: in it?

439
00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:37,280
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think, as I said, she started off on

440
00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:39,480
Speaker 4: fire this year, so I think much of the same

441
00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:43,159
Speaker 4: as the way she started and just stay positive. I

442
00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:47,760
Speaker 4: think she's made some corrections in her game in the

443
00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:50,480
Speaker 4: off season to be able to start the way that

444
00:21:50,520 --> 00:21:54,000
Speaker 4: she did. But just stay focused and not you know,

445
00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:57,600
Speaker 4: get down on herself and let all the negative comments

446
00:21:57,640 --> 00:22:00,560
Speaker 4: that are you know, don't listen to the negativity that's

447
00:22:00,560 --> 00:22:03,040
Speaker 4: out there. I think that's the biggest thing for all

448
00:22:03,040 --> 00:22:06,960
Speaker 4: the players really is listening to the negativity that can

449
00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:10,760
Speaker 4: creep in into their mindset when they're on the court.

450
00:22:10,840 --> 00:22:14,159
Speaker 4: And you know, as players, Marianna and I both know,

451
00:22:14,560 --> 00:22:15,960
Speaker 4: you know a lot of times when you get to

452
00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:17,760
Speaker 4: a certain point in the match and you start to

453
00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:20,960
Speaker 4: make errors. You know, you start to have flashbacks, and

454
00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:25,399
Speaker 4: it's just being able to overcome those personal doubts and

455
00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:28,240
Speaker 4: those self doubts and to move beyond the negativity.

456
00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:30,040
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I think that that kind of comes with

457
00:22:30,119 --> 00:22:32,920
Speaker 3: experience as well. I think we have to remember how

458
00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:36,120
Speaker 3: old Cocoa is. I think, is she even twenty one yet?

459
00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:39,520
Speaker 3: I mean she's super young. So we got to got

460
00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:41,960
Speaker 3: to give her a chance to grow. You know, you

461
00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:45,760
Speaker 3: you you know, you learn to turn off that noise eventually,

462
00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:49,840
Speaker 3: you know, Novak Rfa. I mean maybe maybe Rafa was

463
00:22:49,840 --> 00:22:51,760
Speaker 3: a little different. They seemed to have turned the noise

464
00:22:51,800 --> 00:22:53,160
Speaker 3: off when he was five, but.

465
00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:55,320
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know there was no noise.

466
00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:56,080
Speaker 4: Yeah.

467
00:22:56,119 --> 00:22:59,240
Speaker 3: So but with everybody else, you know, everybody grows in

468
00:22:59,240 --> 00:23:02,439
Speaker 3: their own time. And just just give the give the

469
00:23:02,480 --> 00:23:05,240
Speaker 3: young lady a break. She'll get there. She just meets

470
00:23:05,240 --> 00:23:06,480
Speaker 3: a little bit more experience.

471
00:23:07,400 --> 00:23:10,440
Speaker 1: Gosh, I played ust and I just remember in Usta,

472
00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:12,879
Speaker 1: even at a young age, you you get up a

473
00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:14,560
Speaker 1: set and then you you have a lead in the

474
00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:16,440
Speaker 1: second set and you blow it and then you're tired

475
00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:18,359
Speaker 1: and you're thinking, man, I just if I won that

476
00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:20,400
Speaker 1: one game, I wouldn't even be in this third set,

477
00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:22,520
Speaker 1: and now I'm getting tired, and then all that thinking

478
00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:25,359
Speaker 1: contributes to whether you've got it down the stretch.

479
00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:26,000
Speaker 2: It's just hard.

480
00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:29,920
Speaker 4: I've never gone back before you Yeah, no, of course

481
00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:34,440
Speaker 4: not no, no, no singular problem for me, I guess uh,

482
00:23:35,400 --> 00:23:35,679
Speaker 4: all right.

483
00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:37,680
Speaker 1: Last person I want to talk about is Naomi Osaka,

484
00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:39,960
Speaker 1: who again, like it felt like was was getting on

485
00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:42,600
Speaker 1: a little run again and then the injury. And she's

486
00:23:42,600 --> 00:23:44,399
Speaker 1: someone who, of course has been very open about just

487
00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:47,120
Speaker 1: the struggles of the mental side of tennis. Katrina, what's

488
00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:49,280
Speaker 1: the future look like for Naomi in your opinion?

489
00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:53,040
Speaker 4: Hey, you can never count her out, right, you can

490
00:23:53,080 --> 00:23:56,200
Speaker 4: never count champions out. And again she's she's just come

491
00:23:56,240 --> 00:23:59,199
Speaker 4: into her prime age wise, right, and I think she

492
00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:05,000
Speaker 4: came back really fit. So that's she's another player you

493
00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:06,960
Speaker 4: just don't know what to expect for her. And I

494
00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:09,680
Speaker 4: think she's getting better and better every time she comes out.

495
00:24:10,040 --> 00:24:12,480
Speaker 4: I think last year was more about the lack of

496
00:24:12,560 --> 00:24:16,080
Speaker 4: matches under her belt. She got a lot more matches

497
00:24:16,119 --> 00:24:18,680
Speaker 4: in the first month of the year than she had

498
00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:23,320
Speaker 4: probably half the year last year. So I think she's

499
00:24:23,359 --> 00:24:26,439
Speaker 4: going to be a force to reckon with. You know,

500
00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:28,800
Speaker 4: she's got a lot of weapons in her game, and

501
00:24:28,840 --> 00:24:32,879
Speaker 4: again it's just more of the repetition and building that

502
00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:35,479
Speaker 4: confidence in her game. No one wants to see her

503
00:24:35,600 --> 00:24:38,680
Speaker 4: name on the other side of the draw when it

504
00:24:38,840 --> 00:24:39,360
Speaker 4: comes out.

505
00:24:39,560 --> 00:24:42,639
Speaker 3: I don't want to play a first round, that's for sure.

506
00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:45,800
Speaker 4: Right, So when that draw comes out, she's floater.

507
00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:49,600
Speaker 3: Dangerous floater. Yeah, I want to add as well. I mean,

508
00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:52,399
Speaker 3: Naomi Oska, how old is she is? She twenty six?

509
00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:54,920
Speaker 4: Yeah, so I'm saying she's still a baby twenty seven.

510
00:24:55,080 --> 00:24:56,560
Speaker 3: Yeah, she's still young.

511
00:24:56,680 --> 00:24:56,840
Speaker 4: You know.

512
00:24:57,000 --> 00:24:59,240
Speaker 3: I don't know if she's hit a prime yet, to

513
00:24:59,280 --> 00:25:01,200
Speaker 3: be honest, you know, and she just had a baby.

514
00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:04,480
Speaker 3: I know she's got she's had some personal issues going on.

515
00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:07,360
Speaker 3: I mean, the girl that's a lot. That's a lot

516
00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:11,800
Speaker 3: for anybody without being in the spotlight and without being

517
00:25:12,359 --> 00:25:15,440
Speaker 3: a top player and with high expectations. I think once

518
00:25:15,520 --> 00:25:18,120
Speaker 3: once everything settles down and she gets to a place

519
00:25:18,200 --> 00:25:21,639
Speaker 3: where she's happy and where she's settled again, and you know,

520
00:25:22,800 --> 00:25:26,840
Speaker 3: I think she's dangerous. You know, sound is there for sure, definitely, definitely.

521
00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:29,200
Speaker 3: I think we got to give her a chance as well.

522
00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:29,479
Speaker 3: You know.

523
00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:34,280
Speaker 1: Yeah, Katrina, Naomi, someone who's spoken a lot about diversity

524
00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:37,320
Speaker 1: in the sport and representation in tennis. And I remember

525
00:25:37,520 --> 00:25:39,960
Speaker 1: a year or two ago I interviewed Nicole Cankam, who's

526
00:25:39,960 --> 00:25:42,719
Speaker 1: head of Marketing and Entertainment at the US Open, and

527
00:25:43,040 --> 00:25:45,520
Speaker 1: talked to her about their efforts to be more inclusive

528
00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:48,280
Speaker 1: and their commitment to diversity, including some cool stuff like

529
00:25:48,320 --> 00:25:52,239
Speaker 1: the be Open Social Responsibility campaign, their HBCU Live at

530
00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:54,959
Speaker 1: the US Open, their Open Pride Day. I mean, it

531
00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:57,639
Speaker 1: is inarguably the right move to nudge tennis into a

532
00:25:57,680 --> 00:26:01,320
Speaker 1: better representation of America, a more day verse display of talent.

533
00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:03,560
Speaker 1: But also it can be tough when you have a

534
00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:06,840
Speaker 1: sport that's so seeped in tradition, sometimes to a fault.

535
00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:09,600
Speaker 1: How did you navigate that balance when you were the

536
00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:12,560
Speaker 1: first African American to lead the USTA. How did you

537
00:26:12,640 --> 00:26:15,199
Speaker 1: find that let's move forward and let's address some of

538
00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:18,359
Speaker 1: the issues of exclusivity that exists in our sport while

539
00:26:18,359 --> 00:26:20,560
Speaker 1: not abandoning the tradition that so many people think is

540
00:26:20,600 --> 00:26:22,080
Speaker 1: so vital to its success.

541
00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:27,040
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, it wasn't so much about the exclusivity

542
00:26:27,359 --> 00:26:31,439
Speaker 4: of it, because that's looking at it from a negative perspective.

543
00:26:32,240 --> 00:26:34,880
Speaker 4: So you know, you turn a negative into a positive

544
00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:39,479
Speaker 4: and it's about being inclusive. I think, you know, my

545
00:26:39,680 --> 00:26:44,359
Speaker 4: favorite quote from Villaging King is you never know what

546
00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:50,280
Speaker 4: being inclusive is if you've never been excluded. And so

547
00:26:50,920 --> 00:26:52,960
Speaker 4: you know, and I know what that feels like, you know,

548
00:26:53,040 --> 00:26:56,400
Speaker 4: a person of color, a black woman, you know, when

549
00:26:56,440 --> 00:27:00,879
Speaker 4: you're automatically viewed differently just by the color of your skin.

550
00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:04,880
Speaker 4: And you know, in my sport and being in tennis

551
00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:07,280
Speaker 4: as a kid, I always tell the story. You know,

552
00:27:07,359 --> 00:27:09,960
Speaker 4: I started off in the public parks. I started off

553
00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:15,600
Speaker 4: in an all black program for two years. I didn't

554
00:27:15,640 --> 00:27:21,120
Speaker 4: know that the sport wasn't black, right, So how did

555
00:27:21,160 --> 00:27:24,639
Speaker 4: I know that it was quote unquote a white in

556
00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:29,560
Speaker 4: the seventies, right, so hey, quote good offense? And so

557
00:27:29,720 --> 00:27:32,520
Speaker 4: I started playing until I you know, my first tournament

558
00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:35,880
Speaker 4: was ATA Nationals. So how did I know that it

559
00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:40,280
Speaker 4: wasn't a black sport Until I started playing USCA tournaments

560
00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:42,440
Speaker 4: and I show up and I'm like, where is everybody else?

561
00:27:43,880 --> 00:27:47,119
Speaker 4: But over time you realize that it's a sport and

562
00:27:47,160 --> 00:27:50,200
Speaker 4: that's the beauty of sport because it brings everybody together.

563
00:27:50,920 --> 00:27:55,280
Speaker 4: And so when I was the president, you know, obviously

564
00:27:55,480 --> 00:27:58,720
Speaker 4: you know, however, many years later, that was and just

565
00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:03,200
Speaker 4: ten years ago now, it was about making sure that

566
00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:06,879
Speaker 4: it was for everyone. And the UCA over years have

567
00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:10,120
Speaker 4: done a great job, you know with our community Tennis

568
00:28:10,160 --> 00:28:13,960
Speaker 4: associations and our NJTL chapters, national Junior Tennis and Learning

569
00:28:14,480 --> 00:28:17,920
Speaker 4: networks of which I'm an executive director of one here

570
00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:21,320
Speaker 4: in New York, the Harlem Junior Tennis and Education Program,

571
00:28:21,359 --> 00:28:27,760
Speaker 4: providing tennis to inner city kids for know, to low costs,

572
00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:31,840
Speaker 4: you know, student athletes, and that's across the country. But

573
00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:36,760
Speaker 4: tennis is for everyone, right, you can go to public

574
00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:40,640
Speaker 4: park and play, but it's about the pathway of keeping

575
00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:45,600
Speaker 4: people in the sport, particularly as youth, if they want

576
00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:48,360
Speaker 4: to stay in the sport, make it affordable for them.

577
00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:51,760
Speaker 4: And you don't have to always go to the country

578
00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:55,200
Speaker 4: club route or through the country club route to be

579
00:28:55,640 --> 00:28:59,480
Speaker 4: a competitive player. And you know, the story of Venus

580
00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:02,840
Speaker 4: and Serena is the best one. Yeah, changed everything because

581
00:29:02,960 --> 00:29:05,760
Speaker 4: when they grew up in LA and they did try

582
00:29:05,800 --> 00:29:09,600
Speaker 4: to go through the country clubs to get coaching, et cetera,

583
00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:13,200
Speaker 4: the doors were shut, you know, on them time and

584
00:29:13,240 --> 00:29:18,000
Speaker 4: time again and trying to get coaching and hence Richard

585
00:29:18,080 --> 00:29:22,360
Speaker 4: and or saying doing it themselves and look what we

586
00:29:22,960 --> 00:29:25,520
Speaker 4: look what was born and you know, create it and

587
00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:29,600
Speaker 4: develop the greatest of all time in Serena Williams. So

588
00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:33,560
Speaker 4: there are opportunities and you just have to open open

589
00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:36,880
Speaker 4: your eyes and your heart and your mind. And so

590
00:29:36,960 --> 00:29:39,640
Speaker 4: the USC has done a great job. Nicole is done

591
00:29:39,640 --> 00:29:42,880
Speaker 4: a great job in marketing that and showing that the

592
00:29:42,920 --> 00:29:46,760
Speaker 4: sport is open to everyone. You just have to embrace it.

593
00:29:47,640 --> 00:29:49,680
Speaker 1: Well, we'll be looking for some of those up and

594
00:29:49,680 --> 00:29:51,920
Speaker 1: coming players, some of those names we don't yet know,

595
00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:53,720
Speaker 1: but might be on the road to some of those

596
00:29:54,080 --> 00:29:56,800
Speaker 1: big Slam wins in the future at the ATX Open.

597
00:29:56,880 --> 00:29:59,840
Speaker 1: It starts February twenty second for qualifying maindraw on the

598
00:29:59,840 --> 00:30:02,560
Speaker 1: tour twenty fourth. Thanks so much for joining us and

599
00:30:02,600 --> 00:30:04,840
Speaker 1: give us a little look inside the tournament and the

600
00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:05,880
Speaker 1: state of tennis right now.

601
00:30:06,040 --> 00:30:06,920
Speaker 3: Thank you so much.

602
00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:08,800
Speaker 4: It's awesome. Thanks for having us.

603
00:30:11,280 --> 00:30:13,960
Speaker 1: Thanks again to Katrina and Marion for joining us. We

604
00:30:14,040 --> 00:30:15,400
Speaker 1: got to take another break. We'll see you on the

605
00:30:15,440 --> 00:30:26,560
Speaker 1: other side.

606
00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:27,720
Speaker 2: You're back.

607
00:30:28,120 --> 00:30:31,000
Speaker 1: We're back to love that for us. We also love

608
00:30:31,040 --> 00:30:32,520
Speaker 1: to hear from you, so hit us up on email,

609
00:30:32,560 --> 00:30:35,040
Speaker 1: good game at wondermedianetwork dot com or leave us a

610
00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:38,840
Speaker 1: voicemail at eight seven two two four fifty seventy, and

611
00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:42,120
Speaker 1: we love it when you subscribe, rate and review, like

612
00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:45,280
Speaker 1: Liz Pipa, Abby Grace, who gave us five stars and said,

613
00:30:45,280 --> 00:30:47,640
Speaker 1: in part quote, my eleven year old twin daughters and

614
00:30:47,680 --> 00:30:49,560
Speaker 1: I listened a good game together on the way to

615
00:30:49,720 --> 00:30:52,240
Speaker 1: and from school thanks to what we've heard on your podcast.

616
00:30:52,280 --> 00:30:55,000
Speaker 1: We tell everyone we know about the Boston Fleet Guard,

617
00:30:55,160 --> 00:30:58,600
Speaker 1: Banshee's Renegades, and Boss Nation. We listen right to the

618
00:30:58,680 --> 00:31:01,360
Speaker 1: very end, and then we laugh hysterically when Sarah says

619
00:31:01,400 --> 00:31:02,280
Speaker 1: good game, good game.

620
00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:02,760
Speaker 2: Bleep you.

621
00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:08,040
Speaker 1: It's mother daughter bonding at its best end quote cute ty, Liz, Pipa,

622
00:31:08,040 --> 00:31:10,640
Speaker 1: Abby and Grease. See how easy it is, y'all.

623
00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:11,959
Speaker 2: Even I can do a review.

624
00:31:12,120 --> 00:31:16,200
Speaker 1: Watch Planes Landing Safely rating five out of five would

625
00:31:16,280 --> 00:31:19,960
Speaker 1: recommend review. If plans could just go ahead and land

626
00:31:20,040 --> 00:31:23,440
Speaker 1: right side up, stay right side up, and pull into

627
00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:26,000
Speaker 1: their assigned gate without any incident, that would be great.

628
00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:27,840
Speaker 1: I'm not trying to leave for this long ass trip

629
00:31:27,880 --> 00:31:30,360
Speaker 1: involving multiple flights, wondering whether or not air travel is

630
00:31:30,400 --> 00:31:31,840
Speaker 1: still safe in this country.

631
00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:35,720
Speaker 2: Damn. Now it's your turn. Rate and review, Go do

632
00:31:35,840 --> 00:31:38,520
Speaker 2: it now, right now, do it? Thanks for listening.

633
00:31:38,760 --> 00:31:41,800
Speaker 1: See you tomorrow when I Talk nwsl USWNT and more

634
00:31:41,800 --> 00:31:44,360
Speaker 1: acronyms with broadcaster and former player Laurie Lindsay.

635
00:31:44,680 --> 00:31:49,520
Speaker 2: Good game, Katrina, good game, Marion. You to my horrible

636
00:31:49,560 --> 00:31:50,200
Speaker 2: tennis serve.

637
00:31:50,640 --> 00:31:53,960
Speaker 4: WTA players make it look so easy, but mine is

638
00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:56,600
Speaker 4: nothing but net and uh that's not a good thing.

639
00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:02,000
Speaker 1: Good The Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's

640
00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:05,280
Speaker 1: sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.

641
00:32:05,480 --> 00:32:08,320
Speaker 1: You can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

642
00:32:08,400 --> 00:32:11,840
Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network,

643
00:32:11,960 --> 00:32:15,080
Speaker 1: our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive

644
00:32:15,080 --> 00:32:18,720
Speaker 1: producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rutterer.

645
00:32:18,920 --> 00:32:22,000
Speaker 1: Our editors are Emily Rutterer, Britney Martinez, and Grace Lynch.

646
00:32:22,280 --> 00:32:25,200
Speaker 1: Our associate producer is Lucy Jones and I'm your host

647
00:32:25,480 --> 00:32:26,120
Speaker 1: Sarah Spain