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Speaker 1: Hi everyone, and welcome to the Renee Stubs, a tennis podcast.

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Speaker 1: I'm in Berlin, Caitlyn's in New York, but we managed

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Speaker 1: to bring this to you every week and thanks to

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Speaker 1: our producer Tari as well, we are finally on board

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Speaker 1: here and it's been quite a night for me, but

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Speaker 1: we'll get to that in a second. Hi, Caitlin, how's

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Speaker 1: it going. How's the euphoria in New York? Just give

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Speaker 1: it to me with the knicks. And I know because

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Speaker 1: your partner and wife is a big next fan, because

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Speaker 1: she is a life long, born and raised New Yorker.

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Speaker 2: I was extremely happy for her that this happened. I

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Speaker 2: couldn't get into it myself other than the general good

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Speaker 2: vibes which are undeniable, so many good vibes pulsing through

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Speaker 2: the city that in fact, there had been a lot

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Speaker 2: of chatter about the astrology community thinking that we are

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Speaker 2: back into the correct timeline after some Hadron Collider nonsense

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Speaker 2: at CERN, maybe a decade plus ago, you know, not.

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Speaker 1: To get oh wait, whit whit whit white? Oh wait,

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Speaker 1: hang on a second, no, no, but where where did

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Speaker 1: that come from?

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Speaker 2: The Internet?

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Speaker 1: Where does this whole story come from?

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Speaker 2: We live in an a post, you know, factual age.

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Speaker 2: We've rejected science now we're all sort of mystics looking

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Speaker 2: for explanations of the universe. And the last decade plus

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Speaker 2: in America has been so terrible arguably the world, that

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Speaker 2: there needed to be other explanations, and some have pointed

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Speaker 2: to the Swiss for bringing online a giant particle collider

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Speaker 2: that maybe jumped us into a terrible dystopian timeline which

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Speaker 2: has resulted in a loss of faith in any of

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Speaker 2: our institutions and even more corruption and ugliness than ever before.

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Speaker 2: I don't know what do I know nothing?

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Speaker 1: This is what apparently just hold on a second. This

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Speaker 1: is why everybody we don't talk about politics, well, we

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Speaker 1: don't get into it. This podcast was because you just

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Speaker 1: went on a tangent that is so above my capacity

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Speaker 1: to even focus, because I am on a lot of

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Speaker 1: I'm not on a lot of sleep, and you are

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Speaker 1: just what they know? Fuck are you talking about?

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Speaker 2: Nothing else makes sense? But you know what makes sense

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Speaker 2: the Knicks proving that teamwork and selflessness and getting each

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Speaker 2: other's backs and playing as champions in good moments and

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Speaker 2: bad is better than a starry, selfish you know, not

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Speaker 2: of solipsistic way of play playing a sport, and you

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Speaker 2: don't have to be a basketball fan, which I am

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Speaker 2: not to appreciate that. And maybe the world is healing.

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Speaker 2: That's what I'm suggesting. Maybe the world is healing. All

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Speaker 2: of that was nonsense, It was hocum. But again, we

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Speaker 2: don't live in an age where institutions have much credibility anymore,

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Speaker 2: at least in America, And so it's nice to sort

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Speaker 2: of point to something else we can all agree on

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Speaker 2: and say, hey, did the Knicks win fix the fabric

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Speaker 2: of time? Waife is thrilled, my son is thrilled. Everybody

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Speaker 2: here is vibing in good ways. The weather's been beautiful,

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Speaker 2: you know, some scumdrops and lollipops have returned. So maybe

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Speaker 2: maybe this is the beginning of the new face, the

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Speaker 2: age of Aquarius Renee. I don't know, nothing matters.

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Speaker 1: I feel like wherever I move, eventually the heartache of

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Speaker 1: sports teams is taken away. And may I just say,

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Speaker 1: because you know, I did move to Chicago for a

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Speaker 1: couple of years, just want everybody to know within the Jordan,

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Speaker 1: actually no, because I wasn't that was my team because

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Speaker 1: I knew a guy Luke Longley, who's Australian, actually played

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Speaker 1: on the balls team in those years. He and I

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Speaker 1: went to high school together. So I do feel an

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Speaker 1: affiliation with the Chicago Bulls and they were my team

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Speaker 1: for a very long time. But you know, I'm Australian,

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Speaker 1: so I can band hop right, but depending on where

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Speaker 1: I live. But also I lived in Chicago for two

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Speaker 1: years and guess what they did. They won a World Series.

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Speaker 1: And you know what the heartache of a hundred years

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Speaker 1: or whatever of the Cub's not winning, I find that

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Speaker 1: it was because of me. I have to be honest, Okay, sure.

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Speaker 1: Then the New York Liberty, who my team, were my

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Speaker 1: team when Sandy Brundello, who is my Australian speaking of

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Speaker 1: Soluke Longley went to the Australian Institute of Sport playing basketball.

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Speaker 1: Sandy Brondelo was on an Australian Institute Sport on a

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Speaker 1: basketball scholarship. We all went to school, we all lived together.

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Speaker 1: And then Sandy becomes the coach of the Liberty and

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Speaker 1: what do they do the first time in twenty eight

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Speaker 1: years they win the WNBA title. And then the first

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Speaker 1: time in how many years fifty three, fifty fifty something

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Speaker 1: as about as long as me, as old as me.

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Speaker 1: I moved to New York the next win.

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Speaker 2: I don't know.

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Speaker 1: I think that if you want your team to win,

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Speaker 1: I'm talking about you, Minnesota fans, I guess you got

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Speaker 1: to get me to move to your city. That's all

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Speaker 1: I'm going to say. Well this you're welcome.

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Speaker 2: It is a beautiful moment for a hard pivot. And

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Speaker 2: to talk about stra in the lamps. Don't you think

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Speaker 2: we've talked about basketball as bad as much as they

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Speaker 2: can handle energy portals and particle colliders. And also, you know,

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Speaker 2: people are listening to a tennis podcast, so the main

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Speaker 2: event is that we've got for tennis. I watched a

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Speaker 2: lot of Queens. I thought Queens was a great tournament.

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Speaker 2: I was really excited. I thought the final was excellent

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Speaker 2: between Donna Beckage. She got in as a lucky loser.

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Speaker 2: I thought Emarata kanuoc quitted herself. Well, this is the

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Speaker 2: part of the year that she really likes. You know,

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Speaker 2: I'm a longtime Emmorata Kanu believer, despite her many injuries

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Speaker 2: and her many coaches. She might have a glass body,

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Speaker 2: but she's got a great game for grass certainly, and

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Speaker 2: we had some interesting early grass court season results. It's

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Speaker 2: hard to know how indicative a lot of these results

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Speaker 2: out of the Netherlands at Ahalla are actually, Like does

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Speaker 2: Ben Shelton having one Halla beating Taylor Fritz in the

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Speaker 2: final have a better chance now of doing well at Wimbledon?

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Speaker 2: I mean, probably doesn't hurt, but like, yes, is he

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Speaker 2: a real contender for the title?

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Speaker 1: I don't know.

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Speaker 2: Those are the kind of questions we can and should

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Speaker 2: talk to before So we got to the most important

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Speaker 2: news in the sporting world, including basketball at this point,

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Speaker 2: which is now shifting into the women's season, which is

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Speaker 2: the Williams sisters playing together at Wimbledon on a wildcard

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Speaker 2: as a doubles team. So we can get to that later.

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Speaker 1: But yeah, let's take one big story at a time, Okay. So, yeah,

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Speaker 1: I'm back up to Queens, and I do want to

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Speaker 1: just say I took a car ride with because as

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Speaker 1: you all know, I was in Queens and as you know,

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Speaker 1: I've been out on this tour for a long time

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Speaker 1: and Donna Veckich is a good friend of mine. We've

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Speaker 1: seen each other through the years many many times. I

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Speaker 1: played against her in doubles when she was about twelve.

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Speaker 1: But you know, Donna, I saw her. We took a

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Speaker 1: car together. We shared a car together to the courts,

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Speaker 1: and true story, I was in there with one of

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Speaker 1: Serena's other coaches and hitting partners, and I said to

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Speaker 1: Donna when she sat in the car, because she was

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Speaker 1: going to play a match, I said, first round, I said,

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Speaker 1: because I saw that she got in as a lucky loser.

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Speaker 1: My first thing I said to her was, and I

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Speaker 1: am close enough to be able to say this to her,

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Speaker 1: I said, Donna, how the fuck did you lose in qualifying?

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Speaker 1: And the reason why I asked that question is because

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Speaker 1: I know how good she is on grass. And she said, oh,

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Speaker 1: I was so sick, she said, I was really sick

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Speaker 1: the day that I lost. I was not well, and

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Speaker 1: so that made sense to me, right, So I'm like,

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Speaker 1: and you could hear it. She was not sounding great,

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Speaker 1: and so I was like, oh, okay, great, Well, you know,

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Speaker 1: good for you that you were you got in, And

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Speaker 1: then of course we saw what she was capable of doing.

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Speaker 1: And I did run into Carolina Plishkova, who, as you know,

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Speaker 1: Caitlin and I coached for a little while and she

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Speaker 1: and I are still and friends, and I said, oh wow.

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Speaker 1: So you know when she lost, I saw her the

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Speaker 1: next day. She was going to Knightingham, I was going

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Speaker 1: off to Berlin and I said, oh, what happened against Donna?

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Speaker 1: And she said, oh, she played too good. She just

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Speaker 1: played really, really well. And they've played each other many,

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Speaker 1: many times, so I knew. When Carolina, who herself is

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Speaker 1: a very good play on grass, said that about Donna,

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Speaker 1: I said, well, she's going to be tough to be

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Speaker 1: I just I know that once Donna gets the train

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Speaker 1: on the track on grass, very tough player because she's

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Speaker 1: the incredibly flat, big first and second serve. It is

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Speaker 1: hard to attack her ball on grass. And I knew

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Speaker 1: that in the final is going to be a tough

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Speaker 1: one for Emma. But having said that, really happy for

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Speaker 1: Emma to get sort of good results in England because

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Speaker 1: the amount of shit that she takes, the amount of

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Speaker 1: crap that people write on Twitter or on you know,

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Speaker 1: any social media about her, and the stuff that they

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Speaker 1: say about her, and you know, we are both big

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Speaker 1: fans of Emma, and I just don't understand why people

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Speaker 1: feel the need to attack a player that's trying, you know,

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Speaker 1: And Okay, she's changed coaches here and there, and you know,

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Speaker 1: maybe people judge her on that, but I think it's

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Speaker 1: a lot of times because she's such a smart player

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Speaker 1: and such a smart person in general. I think she

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Speaker 1: probably hears some of the stuff that these coaches tell

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Speaker 1: her and she's probably like, what that doesn't make sense

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Speaker 1: to me? And sometimes players are great when they're dumb,

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Speaker 1: because you're going to tell them what to do and

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Speaker 1: they'll just be like, all right. But you know, the

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Speaker 1: bottom line is at Emma, and I would say Donna

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Speaker 1: is very similar to this. They don't They're not going

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Speaker 1: to listen to a coach after a month or two

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Speaker 1: and think they're going to to themselves. Probably I don't

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Speaker 1: agree with half of the stuff you're saying to me. Now,

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Speaker 1: whether that's it's the right thing or not, I don't know.

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Speaker 1: But at the same time, having talked to Emma about

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Speaker 1: her tennis in some ways doesn't surprise me that she

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Speaker 1: sort of flicks her coaches after a couple of months,

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Speaker 1: and she doesn't put up with the I'm just going

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Speaker 1: to keep paying you, you know, five ten grand a

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Speaker 1: week or whatever she's getting she's paying her coaches to

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Speaker 1: tell me nonsense that I don't believe in. So unless

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Speaker 1: I'm with those coaches twenty four to seven to know

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Speaker 1: what they're saying to her, I'm fine with her getting

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Speaker 1: rid of her coaches after a few months if she

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Speaker 1: doesn't think that they're doing the right thing. Yeah, I mean,

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Speaker 1: I think.

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Speaker 2: For me, the body issues with her are the more

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Speaker 2: problematic ones. It seems to me like she, yes, she's

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Speaker 2: capable of taking bad losses, as is everybody on the tour,

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Speaker 2: but also when she gets on a good run, when

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Speaker 2: like she did last year in Miami, she's strung a

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Speaker 2: couple of really good matches together, and she's being the

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Speaker 2: kind of players she's capable of and playing the kind

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Speaker 2: of tennis we know she's capable of, and then you know,

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Speaker 2: the next ermam at Boom injured. That's to me the

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Speaker 2: bigger bummer. I don't know how you fix a body.

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Speaker 2: I think some players obviously have a huge amount of

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Speaker 2: luck either for or against them, with their body, and

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Speaker 2: she's somebody who I think has probably had an outsized

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Speaker 2: amount of bad luck. That said, like, I don't I

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Speaker 2: so to me, the coaching stuff isn't isn't. I don't

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Speaker 2: really care, Although you know, certainly I hope with her

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Speaker 2: current setup parkening back to the day that she you know,

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Speaker 2: race on the year, the qualifying then the main draw

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Speaker 2: to win the US Open. You know that team is

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Speaker 2: now is now back together and hopefully that portends well

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Speaker 2: to me. The thing, the reason I'm always an Emma

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Speaker 2: Ratikanu optimist, despite the fact that yes, she gets a

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Speaker 2: lot of flax, she's got seemingly a very injury prone body,

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Speaker 2: and you know, the British tabloid press is brutal, especially

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Speaker 2: I think on brutal. The way she plays tennis is

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Speaker 2: so exciting. It's clean, it's really aggressive. She's got great

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Speaker 2: hand and we saw it all on display at Queens.

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Speaker 2: I thought Donna played absolutely lights out to win that match.

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Speaker 2: Granted Emma helped her out a little bit in the

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Speaker 2: first set kind of not making her play as much.

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Speaker 2: But that second set of tennis that ended in Adnna

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Speaker 2: Beckage tiebreak win was about as good as it gets

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Speaker 2: to be on grass. And and I'm excited that even

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Speaker 2: the depth of the field again on the women's side,

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Speaker 2: and we'll see if the men's side is going to

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Speaker 2: deliberate for us, because it didn't in the last tournament.

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Speaker 2: But hopefully the depth of the field on grass with

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Speaker 2: women is you know, continues to be really high. So

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Speaker 2: for me, that was a standout match. And I was

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Speaker 2: also you know, excited to see Tatiana Maria compete. They

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Speaker 2: didn't give her a wild card at Queen's kind of

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Speaker 2: a controversial choice after she had won the tournament last year.

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Speaker 2: I can tell you, I can tell you she did

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Speaker 2: pretty well, you know, to win a couple of rounds

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Speaker 2: and obviously came through qualifying. But yeah, what insight do

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Speaker 2: you have on that one?

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Speaker 1: Well, I can tell you Laura Robson was a little

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Speaker 1: tight when it was a set. It was it was

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Speaker 1: very close to Tatiana Maria baiting Rabaki in two sets.

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Speaker 1: She was walking around the players area looking a little

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Speaker 1: nervous than sure, my god, if she beats Rebackna again

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Speaker 1: and then ends up winning this time, and I'm gonna

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Speaker 1: look like such an idiot.

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Speaker 2: Well yeah, obviously the former WTA player for the Brits

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Speaker 2: who now is the tournament director. I do wonder though,

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Speaker 2: what Elena Rebakins a grass court season is going to

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Speaker 2: look like. After losing in three to Katie Bolter, now granted,

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Speaker 2: Katie Bolter was a hometown favorite. There was a lot

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Speaker 2: of you know, excitement and cheering, and that was a

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Speaker 2: three set match. But I do wonder because if we

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Speaker 2: have anything close to a favorite on grass right now,

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Speaker 2: it's it's Elena Rabakia. What do you think about her

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Speaker 2: going out fairly early?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it was a bit of a surprise to me,

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Speaker 1: but she was also very close to losing to tatan Maria,

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Speaker 1: who beat her the previous year. And you know, one

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Speaker 1: of the things that I noticed in the match against Tatiana,

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Speaker 1: for example, is just how many forehands she's missing, you know,

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Speaker 1: and that outside of the serve. We know how big

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Speaker 1: the serve is, but outside of the serve, you know,

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Speaker 1: for me, it's all about the forehand. And if she's

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Speaker 1: hitting the forehand with confidence on any surface, that's when

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Speaker 1: she's at her very best because there's no really to

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Speaker 1: go on her. The back end is so good, the

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Speaker 1: service so good, and it's all about, you know, if

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Speaker 1: she's but she wasn't missing fourhands by a little bit,

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Speaker 1: she was missing them by a lot.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. It was so spraying every which way. It was

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Speaker 2: sort of a disaster, honestly.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, So this this tournament is going to be a

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Speaker 1: really good indicator to see as she she gets away

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Speaker 1: from playing Donna Vekege, because Veckage lost in straight sets

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Speaker 1: to Iyala. Donna's had a bit of a tough few

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Speaker 1: days since winning Queens because I did run into her

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Speaker 1: here at the hotel in Berlin, and uh, you know,

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Speaker 1: unfortunately for her, her fiance, her dad father passed away

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Speaker 1: literally the night that she won Queen. So she went

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Speaker 1: back to uh to her hometown and you know, to

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Speaker 1: console her her you know, soon to be husband, and

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Speaker 1: so it's been it's been a tough few days. So

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Speaker 1: I know that she was a little tired, So I

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Speaker 1: wasn't surprised to see her lose to Ialas. But I

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Speaker 1: think that that is an easier draw for Rebuccina in

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Speaker 1: this particular tournament in Berlin. But you know, Switzeleena is in.

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Speaker 1: They're nice to see Paula Badosa getting a win yesterday.

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Speaker 1: She's going to go up against Coca Golf, so there's look,

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Speaker 1: there's a bunch of players here. Obviously, Carolina Mukhova looked

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Speaker 1: really good yesterday. Unfortunately in the dubs, you know, didn't

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Speaker 1: get the job done. But there's there's some players that

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Speaker 1: I've pointed out that lost early at the French Open,

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Speaker 1: and I would put Saballenka into that category somewhat in Sabolenca,

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Speaker 1: Pugula and Rabakina as the three favorites for the for

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Speaker 1: the Wimbledon title, just because of the games that they play.

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Speaker 1: But also you know you're going to look at players

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Speaker 1: like Donoviket, who made the semi finals there a couple

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Speaker 1: of years ago and came oh so close to making

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Speaker 1: the final, losing that epic match to jas mcpalini. But

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Speaker 1: you know on grass, you I know myself when I

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Speaker 1: went on too grass, I just felt more comfortable. The

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Speaker 1: game made sense to me. It was simplified. So I

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Speaker 1: think players that have big games, big serves and and

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Speaker 1: see opportunities like inn Emma Radakanu, she loves to get

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Speaker 1: after the return, she loves to go. She's not a defender.

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Speaker 1: This is what I think the problem was with her

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Speaker 1: former coach that is now with Eager Sciontech in Francisco, royg.

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Speaker 1: I think he had her playing two defensively, and she's

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Speaker 1: not a defender. And there's some players that can't defend

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Speaker 1: well because they don't They don't hit the ball on

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Speaker 1: the end range well. Right, So someone like even like

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Speaker 1: a donnovekch because of her grip on her forehand and

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Speaker 1: because of the way that they actually hit the ball,

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Speaker 1: they can defend a lot easier than others. And for me, Emma,

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Speaker 1: the way she hits the ball, she can't really defend

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Speaker 1: that well. And it's hard for me to explain it

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Speaker 1: without visually showing you, but there are some players that

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Speaker 1: just don't defend very well. It's not because she can't

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Speaker 1: move well. She's quite fast all those things, but it's

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Speaker 1: end rain shots that she's not that great and getting

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Speaker 1: a lot of power on. So she has to be

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Speaker 1: dictating play like Jeannie Bouchard. She and Genie Bouchard remind

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Speaker 1: me a little bit of each other. They just didn't

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Speaker 1: defend well. But I'll tell you what, if they had

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Speaker 1: enough time, they would go after the ball. And I

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Speaker 1: think that's where Emma the court becomes simplified for her

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Speaker 1: on grass.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, totally. I mean, if you looked at where she

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Speaker 2: likes to finish, it's almost always moving forward or at

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Speaker 2: the netch. She's court positioning for me is kind of

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Speaker 2: the way to understand her game. And I think the

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Speaker 2: reason I like her game so much is because it

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Speaker 2: indicates intention and she's trying to She's an aggression based player,

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Speaker 2: even though she's not the biggest player on the tour

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Speaker 2: and people certainly have bigger groundstrokes. She takes the ball

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Speaker 2: really early, she's got a little bit of that classic

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Speaker 2: British kind of compact style, and she's really just trying

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Speaker 2: to move forward and cut off the angles and get

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Speaker 2: exactly an end. And that's to me like such a classic,

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Speaker 2: wonderful style of tennis that I like very much, And

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Speaker 2: you're right, it's because it's not defensive oriented, and it's

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Speaker 2: amazing to think that probably about half of the coaches

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Speaker 2: that she's had throughout her career kind of don't understand

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Speaker 2: her game, which I think that's probably to your point.

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Speaker 1: Well, I don't know if you read my sub steck

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Speaker 1: on women's coaches, but that was one of the things

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Speaker 1: I also talked about the point that I think women

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Speaker 1: coaches ask the question of what do you want? How

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Speaker 1: do you want to play, and also seeing it a

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Speaker 1: little bit more and asking I think women ask questions

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Speaker 1: of other women a little bit differently than what men do.

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Speaker 1: Men sort of see what they think you should be like,

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Speaker 1: and sometimes you know, you have to ask a question

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Speaker 1: of how you're feeling, what's going on in your life.

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Speaker 1: And I think that also makes you understand why a

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Speaker 1: play is doing what they're doing or playing the way

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Speaker 1: they are, because you kind of know what's going on

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Speaker 1: in their life as well, you know, or are they tired,

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Speaker 1: or what's going physically, what's going on with them. I

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Speaker 1: think women tend to ask those questions a little bit

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Speaker 1: more of other women. They're not afraid to ask those questions.

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Speaker 1: So anyway, as far as I'm concerned, we can't have

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Speaker 1: a better situation of having someone like Emma Radakanu doing

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Speaker 1: well at the English tournaments and certainly going into Wimbledon

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Speaker 1: and she's going to have a lot of pressure on

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Speaker 1: her shoulders. But it's nice to see her get a

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Speaker 1: couple of really good wins in Queens. But I want

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Speaker 1: to give props, major props to Donovekech because that was

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Speaker 1: awesome what she did last week.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, like I said, I thought the quality of the match,

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Speaker 2: especially as the second set war on. The gets were amazing,

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Speaker 2: the hands, the touch, it was sort of like had

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Speaker 2: all the hallmarks of natural surface tennis, which I really liked.

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Speaker 1: Now, I don't know if you watched it. And she

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Speaker 1: went and she went back to her really old coach,

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Speaker 1: an English guy, and I thought that was a really

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Speaker 1: great move. David Felgate gave him a call and said, hey,

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Speaker 1: you know, I need some help, would you help me?

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Speaker 1: And boom, look at that, she wins a tournament. So

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Speaker 1: I love stories like that. It's sort of like how

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Speaker 1: I felt about, you know, Mira Andreva winning with Conchi.

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Speaker 1: It's like they went through the trenches for like three

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Speaker 1: years together. They didn't just like, oh, you know, it

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Speaker 1: wasn't just easy sailing. And then all of a sudden

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Speaker 1: giving David Felgate a call back, you know, who was

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Speaker 1: coaching her when she was like twelve and thirteen years

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Speaker 1: of age. I mean, that's just a great story for me.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. I love when we are able to see these

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Speaker 2: players look comfortable and stay stabilized, you know, over a

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Speaker 2: long period of time. And I think a lot of times,

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Speaker 2: you know, we forget that they're human and these relationships

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Speaker 2: really matter to them as well, and trust and confidence

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Speaker 2: in their game can also you know, can reflect a

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Speaker 2: comfort with a coach. I want to go back and

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Speaker 2: correct myself because a minute ago I said Halla, which

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Speaker 2: is a tournament that is happening currently in Germany. But

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Speaker 2: what I intended to say was Stuttgart, which is where

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Speaker 2: on grass Ben Shelton beat Taylor Fritz in a pretty

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Speaker 2: competitive three set match. I was very happy to see

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Speaker 2: Ben now when his second big natural surface tournament, which

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Speaker 2: you know I keep saying making a specific reference to that. Obviously,

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Speaker 2: the surfaces matter. They're a huge difference, and typically Americans,

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Speaker 2: at least in this current cohort, tend to really do

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Speaker 2: worse at them because of how over emphasized hardcourt training

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Speaker 2: is in this country and how a lot of men

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Speaker 2: in the American training system are frankly little more than

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Speaker 2: a fourhand and a serve. And so you could probably

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Speaker 2: say both of those descriptions for Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz.

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Speaker 2: And they didn't play the most sort of grass court

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Speaker 2: tennis final that I've ever seen by any stretch of

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Speaker 2: the imagination, you know. But there they were, the number

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Speaker 2: one and two seeds facing off in the finalist Juice Art,

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Speaker 2: and they had a really compelling match. It was great

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Speaker 2: to see Taylor Fritz back, he won his first match.

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Speaker 2: You know who runs first stretch of matches in a

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Speaker 2: very long time. Ben Shelton continued to do really well

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Speaker 2: in this stretch of the European the European season, which

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Speaker 2: you know, was I think really exciting.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, listen, I think that no one's going

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Speaker 1: to want to see Taylor or Ben at Wimbledon, you know,

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Speaker 1: with their serves, their fourhands. Like you said, they're both

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Speaker 1: very comfortable on the surface. I think Ben's a little

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Speaker 1: bit more comfortable coming forward certainly than Taylor. And you

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Speaker 1: know how I feel about that. I think if Taylor

428
00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:27,040
Speaker 1: improved that part of his game, he would be even better.

429
00:20:27,480 --> 00:20:30,479
Speaker 1: But nice to see him getting it. For Taylor, it's

430
00:20:30,520 --> 00:20:33,080
Speaker 1: about getting the fitness. It's about getting match fit again,

431
00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:35,680
Speaker 1: because one of the things that he was so well

432
00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:38,480
Speaker 1: known for. And I took umbrage with somebody on social

433
00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:42,399
Speaker 1: media recently who said something about Taylor being soft and

434
00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:44,720
Speaker 1: all this sort of stuff. I'm like you, I mean this, listen,

435
00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:48,919
Speaker 1: lock your room. Reputation is certainly not Taylor. Fritz is soft.

436
00:20:49,080 --> 00:20:52,000
Speaker 1: I mean, this guy could be on the court for

437
00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:54,520
Speaker 1: five hours. I mean, his fitness level was as good

438
00:20:54,560 --> 00:20:56,840
Speaker 1: as anyone's last year, which is why he did so well.

439
00:20:57,240 --> 00:20:59,960
Speaker 1: So for me, it's like he couldn't get the train

440
00:21:00,440 --> 00:21:02,480
Speaker 1: because his knee was all banged up, you know, at

441
00:21:02,520 --> 00:21:04,080
Speaker 1: the start of this year and the end of last year,

442
00:21:04,080 --> 00:21:06,359
Speaker 1: and that's what hurt him, getting the miles under his

443
00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:08,200
Speaker 1: belt to be able to do it. And you know, look,

444
00:21:08,240 --> 00:21:09,679
Speaker 1: I mean, no one really talks about it. They make

445
00:21:09,680 --> 00:21:11,080
Speaker 1: fun of it, but you know, he did break up

446
00:21:11,119 --> 00:21:15,040
Speaker 1: with his longtime girlfriend in Morgues, you know, and so

447
00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:18,000
Speaker 1: who knows what was going on there with him emotionally

448
00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:19,679
Speaker 1: and what was that taking out of him, And then

449
00:21:19,680 --> 00:21:22,600
Speaker 1: he's physically a little bit, you know, effed up. So

450
00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:25,040
Speaker 1: for me, I think maybe now everything's settling a little bit,

451
00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:27,640
Speaker 1: the relationship side of it settling. His body is back

452
00:21:27,640 --> 00:21:29,720
Speaker 1: to getting back to a position where he can be

453
00:21:29,800 --> 00:21:31,520
Speaker 1: on the court for three four hours and not have

454
00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:33,399
Speaker 1: any pain and be able to deal with it. And

455
00:21:33,440 --> 00:21:35,280
Speaker 1: so for me, that just bodes really well for him

456
00:21:35,320 --> 00:21:37,920
Speaker 1: maybe going into Wimbledon, but more importantly for him going

457
00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:40,520
Speaker 1: into the summer of the US swing, where we know

458
00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:42,680
Speaker 1: he's done really well making a finals at the US Open.

459
00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:45,159
Speaker 1: So I mean, listen, I really like Taylor. He's a

460
00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:47,800
Speaker 1: great guy, so is Ben's is really good for men's

461
00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:50,199
Speaker 1: tennis in the US and they need it because you know,

462
00:21:50,240 --> 00:21:53,439
Speaker 1: they're going to pull along the next generation and if

463
00:21:53,440 --> 00:21:56,119
Speaker 1: they're continually doing well. And I think the one player

464
00:21:56,119 --> 00:21:59,040
Speaker 1: that might still be ruining his match at the French

465
00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:02,080
Speaker 1: Open as Frances But look, they're all sort of getting

466
00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:03,920
Speaker 1: to the point the end of tournaments now and that's

467
00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:07,000
Speaker 1: and that's only good for certainly from American tennis anyway.

468
00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:09,800
Speaker 2: Yeah, I totally agree with you. One one thing that

469
00:22:09,840 --> 00:22:12,880
Speaker 2: the shut Guart Open also featured, and I don't want

470
00:22:12,920 --> 00:22:14,520
Speaker 2: to spend too much time on this if you don't,

471
00:22:14,800 --> 00:22:16,320
Speaker 2: but was the return of Ni Curios.

472
00:22:16,880 --> 00:22:21,480
Speaker 1: Hmm, yeah, well, you know, look at it's look. I mean,

473
00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:23,560
Speaker 1: you know how I feel about Nick. There's like the

474
00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:26,919
Speaker 1: things I've had personal moments with Nick where he's a

475
00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:28,960
Speaker 1: great guy. I will tell you this, he was a

476
00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:31,360
Speaker 1: pleasure to work with at ESPN. He was not one

477
00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:34,000
Speaker 1: of those guys that wanted to hear his own voice

478
00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:37,000
Speaker 1: more and thought his voice was more important and more

479
00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:39,359
Speaker 1: knowledgeable than yours. And let me tell you something that

480
00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:43,840
Speaker 1: is a rarity in television. It's definitely a rarity, you know,

481
00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:46,639
Speaker 1: when we're talking about you know, the best of the

482
00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:49,720
Speaker 1: best coming into to do commentary. And so I have

483
00:22:50,200 --> 00:22:54,360
Speaker 1: things about Nick that I really only have positives when

484
00:22:54,400 --> 00:22:57,760
Speaker 1: I talk about him. And then there's the other side,

485
00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:01,679
Speaker 1: the controversial side, the child like sort of you know,

486
00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:05,280
Speaker 1: pettiness that comes out of him, you know, the continuation

487
00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:10,280
Speaker 1: of ripping on sinner publicly to you know, wearing stupid

488
00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:12,680
Speaker 1: shit on the tennis court at Wimbledon with the red

489
00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:15,320
Speaker 1: hat and being petulant and all the little things that

490
00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:18,080
Speaker 1: sort of like, you know, and you'll come back, what's

491
00:23:18,119 --> 00:23:20,199
Speaker 1: the big deal? Stubs? He kind of attitude, you know.

492
00:23:20,240 --> 00:23:22,520
Speaker 1: I mean I see this like five year old to

493
00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:25,080
Speaker 1: ten year old boy who just wants to be controversial,

494
00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:27,320
Speaker 1: just to be important. You know, I just have people

495
00:23:27,320 --> 00:23:29,560
Speaker 1: talking about him. But you know, as far as his

496
00:23:29,600 --> 00:23:32,760
Speaker 1: tennis is concerned, we know that he's capable. You know,

497
00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:35,840
Speaker 1: it was just for people that had half of his talent.

498
00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:38,840
Speaker 1: You know, it's annoying because we're like, dude, you could

499
00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:41,560
Speaker 1: have been so much better. So I think that for him,

500
00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:44,040
Speaker 1: you know, the sad part is that he started to

501
00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:45,800
Speaker 1: realize that over the last couple of years as that

502
00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:50,080
Speaker 1: shit like, injuries are bad, and I can't just come

503
00:23:50,119 --> 00:23:53,240
Speaker 1: back and on a whim and not be practicing hard

504
00:23:53,280 --> 00:23:54,919
Speaker 1: and not be working out hard in the gym and

505
00:23:55,040 --> 00:23:58,240
Speaker 1: expect to do well. And I think he probably, I

506
00:23:58,280 --> 00:24:00,800
Speaker 1: am convinced that intend to his time, he's going to

507
00:24:00,840 --> 00:24:02,800
Speaker 1: look back at his career and regret a lot of things.

508
00:24:03,280 --> 00:24:05,720
Speaker 1: So I'm happy that he's back playing. He you know,

509
00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:09,399
Speaker 1: he got a win. So it's like, I don't know,

510
00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:11,879
Speaker 1: we'll see, you know, I just I don't. I'm not

511
00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:13,720
Speaker 1: this type of person that just gives someone crap for

512
00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:14,679
Speaker 1: the for the sake of it.

513
00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:20,040
Speaker 2: You know, Well, that injury, that injury note is now

514
00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:22,440
Speaker 2: coming true because he won a match. He beat quarantine mate,

515
00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:24,560
Speaker 2: who we can talk about or not, depending on your

516
00:24:25,240 --> 00:24:28,520
Speaker 2: appetite for another bad boy of tennis, although I have

517
00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:33,440
Speaker 2: a lot more room for quarantine matey actually, And then

518
00:24:33,520 --> 00:24:37,160
Speaker 2: he lasted the next round to a qualifier and he

519
00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:40,199
Speaker 2: now is injured and withdrew from his mat with his

520
00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:43,240
Speaker 2: match from his match against Ben Shelton, which was supposed

521
00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:46,919
Speaker 2: to happen now, And I think, yeah, like I get that.

522
00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:50,840
Speaker 2: It's grass is the most sort of if you're a big,

523
00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:54,080
Speaker 2: offensive oriented player with big weapons, which he is, which,

524
00:24:54,119 --> 00:24:56,480
Speaker 2: by the way, so is Sreyn Williams. Grass is a

525
00:24:56,480 --> 00:24:59,879
Speaker 2: really smart surface to come back on because it's for

526
00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:02,120
Speaker 2: giving if you play that style of tennis, and they

527
00:25:02,119 --> 00:25:07,040
Speaker 2: both do. However, Serena looks like she's been training and

528
00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:09,520
Speaker 2: Nick Curious does not, And you know, you could sort

529
00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:11,520
Speaker 2: of draw that out and talk a lot more about it,

530
00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:13,120
Speaker 2: but like when it comes down to it, that's kind

531
00:25:13,119 --> 00:25:16,000
Speaker 2: of it. Like she looks like she's been training. She

532
00:25:16,040 --> 00:25:20,520
Speaker 2: looks like she's, you know, Rocky in Siberia, running up

533
00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:25,160
Speaker 2: the sides of hills doing you know, suspended abb crunches

534
00:25:25,200 --> 00:25:28,000
Speaker 2: over a roaring fireplace while Evan Drago is on a

535
00:25:28,040 --> 00:25:30,520
Speaker 2: treadmill and Nick Curious looks like he rolled out of bed.

536
00:25:30,840 --> 00:25:33,440
Speaker 2: And yeah, the results speak for themselves. So before we

537
00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:35,240
Speaker 2: get in, I don't want to get into Williams sisters yet,

538
00:25:35,280 --> 00:25:38,080
Speaker 2: but just as a as a note, I think what

539
00:25:38,119 --> 00:25:41,480
Speaker 2: you just said is now true, and of course he's.

540
00:25:41,320 --> 00:25:44,679
Speaker 1: Yeah out of all yeah means I think, you know,

541
00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:48,399
Speaker 1: Nick is an unfinished story still now the injury. Maybe

542
00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:51,200
Speaker 1: he thinks that winning one match it's enough for Wimbledon

543
00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:54,160
Speaker 1: to I don't know, we'll see, but there's a certainly

544
00:25:55,119 --> 00:25:57,240
Speaker 1: a lot more of that story maybe to come, but

545
00:25:57,480 --> 00:26:01,719
Speaker 1: we'll certainly keep talking about it until he's gone and retired.

546
00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:03,440
Speaker 1: But anyway, all right, well let's take a break, because

547
00:26:03,480 --> 00:26:04,879
Speaker 1: we got a lot more to talk about. Clearly, we

548
00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:07,280
Speaker 1: got to talk about the Williams sisters and what's happening

549
00:26:07,280 --> 00:26:10,480
Speaker 1: here in Berlin, etc. And what happened to me last

550
00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:13,640
Speaker 1: night and the entire draw of the Berlin tournament right

551
00:26:13,640 --> 00:26:32,880
Speaker 1: after the break. Okay, Caitlin, Well, as you know, I'm

552
00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:36,760
Speaker 1: in Berlin. Unfortunately, Serena lost her doubles matches today with

553
00:26:36,800 --> 00:26:42,359
Speaker 1: Carolina mcoba. But we also had a fire alarm that

554
00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:44,000
Speaker 1: decided to go off at four am in the morning

555
00:26:44,040 --> 00:26:47,000
Speaker 1: here at the hotel. And when I tell you that

556
00:26:47,119 --> 00:26:48,600
Speaker 1: this is two weeks in a row, this has happened

557
00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:52,919
Speaker 1: to me, it happened in London on that occasion. I

558
00:26:52,960 --> 00:26:57,439
Speaker 1: decided not to go downstairs because the fire alarm went

559
00:26:57,480 --> 00:27:00,600
Speaker 1: off three times in the day at this hotel. So

560
00:27:00,720 --> 00:27:05,480
Speaker 1: I did my own deduction at two in the morning

561
00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:09,479
Speaker 1: at that at that previous occasion and decided to not

562
00:27:10,720 --> 00:27:13,480
Speaker 1: go downstairs. In Now, I don't I'm not a proponent

563
00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:16,200
Speaker 1: if this happens to you in a hotel, you probably

564
00:27:16,200 --> 00:27:18,200
Speaker 1: should go downstairs just in case. You never know, but

565
00:27:18,200 --> 00:27:20,399
Speaker 1: we might be the one time the hotel's actually on fire.

566
00:27:21,119 --> 00:27:24,719
Speaker 1: But of course I did not go down in London

567
00:27:24,760 --> 00:27:28,040
Speaker 1: because I figured it's just a faulty something in the hotel.

568
00:27:28,119 --> 00:27:29,919
Speaker 1: So I decided not to go down. Some of the

569
00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:32,680
Speaker 1: team went down and texted me and I said, I'm

570
00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:36,199
Speaker 1: not coming down unless the hotel's on fire, come and

571
00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:39,680
Speaker 1: get me. Last night, and of course the fire alarm

572
00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:42,080
Speaker 1: went off in London and then and then it went off,

573
00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:44,239
Speaker 1: and then it went off if you know what I mean,

574
00:27:44,280 --> 00:27:46,679
Speaker 1: like it wasn't still going right. So I was like,

575
00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:48,200
Speaker 1: oh fine, I'm not gonna I'm just gonna go back

576
00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:50,679
Speaker 1: to sleep last night. Let me tell you something. The

577
00:27:50,720 --> 00:27:55,360
Speaker 1: Germans don't fuck around because the alarm actually you want

578
00:27:55,359 --> 00:27:57,560
Speaker 1: to hear it. Let me just let me just play

579
00:27:57,600 --> 00:28:00,439
Speaker 1: for everybody out there what this is.

580
00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:04,440
Speaker 2: My requires the audio of the alarm that went Yeah,

581
00:28:04,560 --> 00:28:06,240
Speaker 2: finally ze Inger can size.

582
00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:12,080
Speaker 1: The nosense he can hold to. Okay, I'm going to

583
00:28:12,119 --> 00:28:14,400
Speaker 1: get to the end because this is what was really

584
00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:22,560
Speaker 1: annoying about this. Okay, now that that might sound loud

585
00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:24,399
Speaker 1: in your ear. But let me tell you something, it

586
00:28:24,480 --> 00:28:28,240
Speaker 1: was five hundred times louder than in the room. So finally,

587
00:28:28,280 --> 00:28:30,320
Speaker 1: after about ten minutes of it going off, and I'm like,

588
00:28:30,440 --> 00:28:33,800
Speaker 1: I texted some of the team and I'm like, it

589
00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:36,920
Speaker 1: is the hotel on fire, because I don't think I'm

590
00:28:36,920 --> 00:28:40,080
Speaker 1: going to come down, And and then Derek said, everyone's downstairs.

591
00:28:40,120 --> 00:28:41,880
Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, for fox sake, I can't be the

592
00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:44,760
Speaker 1: only one that dies in this hotel. So I get up,

593
00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:47,600
Speaker 1: I put my robe on, I put my slippers on,

594
00:28:47,920 --> 00:28:51,280
Speaker 1: and I walked down the eight floors to the outside

595
00:28:51,280 --> 00:28:53,600
Speaker 1: of the hotel and I opened up the door and

596
00:28:53,800 --> 00:28:57,520
Speaker 1: everyone was standing out there. And not only was Serena

597
00:28:57,800 --> 00:29:00,480
Speaker 1: and her two kids. Can you imagine can you imagine

598
00:29:00,520 --> 00:29:01,880
Speaker 1: waking up two year old in the middle of the

599
00:29:02,160 --> 00:29:04,680
Speaker 1: at three thirty four o'clock in the morning, and like,

600
00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:07,080
Speaker 1: you know, good, good for Dera, she just was like,

601
00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:11,200
Speaker 1: what's going on? Not only got Andrea Pekovic, who's one

602
00:29:11,240 --> 00:29:13,280
Speaker 1: of our best friends, is standing over the other side

603
00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:16,160
Speaker 1: of the hallway area. We're all outside. It's where everyone

604
00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:19,280
Speaker 1: is outside. The entire tournament is outside. And then Petko

605
00:29:19,320 --> 00:29:21,080
Speaker 1: says to me, I said, where are you? And she said,

606
00:29:21,080 --> 00:29:22,560
Speaker 1: I'm over here next to Doja.

607
00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:26,640
Speaker 2: Cat and like, Doja Cat and no, that's cool.

608
00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:28,600
Speaker 1: No, but listen, it was four in the morning, so

609
00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:32,320
Speaker 1: I didn't really read the text. I just thought she

610
00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:35,160
Speaker 1: was being funny about something. And then and then I

611
00:29:35,200 --> 00:29:38,760
Speaker 1: saw Coco GoF this morning at breakfast and she goes, yeah, yeah,

612
00:29:38,760 --> 00:29:40,080
Speaker 1: and then Doja Cat and I got wait, wha wha

613
00:29:40,120 --> 00:29:42,080
Speaker 1: w She goes, yeah, I was walking right behind Doja

614
00:29:42,120 --> 00:29:44,239
Speaker 1: Cat in the in the in the hallway, I mean,

615
00:29:44,240 --> 00:29:46,240
Speaker 1: not the hallway, in the in the stairwell going down.

616
00:29:46,320 --> 00:29:49,600
Speaker 1: I was like, that looks like Doja Cat. And she

617
00:29:49,640 --> 00:29:51,600
Speaker 1: goes and she was really done up, like she had

618
00:29:51,640 --> 00:29:55,120
Speaker 1: gotten up with the alarm. And you know, she had

619
00:29:55,160 --> 00:29:56,680
Speaker 1: put on a little bit of makeup because she's like,

620
00:29:56,680 --> 00:29:58,160
Speaker 1: if anyone takes a photo of me, I need them

621
00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:00,920
Speaker 1: to at least have me looking decent. So she was

622
00:30:00,920 --> 00:30:04,800
Speaker 1: looking pretty decent. And I'm like, so it really was

623
00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:06,960
Speaker 1: Doja Cat. We just weren't standing. So you've got Serena

624
00:30:06,960 --> 00:30:09,160
Speaker 1: Williams down one side, you got Dojah Cat on the other,

625
00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:11,520
Speaker 1: you got all of us idiots standing around, and we

626
00:30:11,520 --> 00:30:14,800
Speaker 1: were out there for a good twenty five minutes and

627
00:30:14,880 --> 00:30:16,520
Speaker 1: finally they'd let us all in, and then it took

628
00:30:16,520 --> 00:30:18,600
Speaker 1: twenty minutes to get us all up the elevator up

629
00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:22,280
Speaker 1: to our rooms. And I'm like, anybody below floor four,

630
00:30:22,440 --> 00:30:25,760
Speaker 1: if you're not walking up the stairs, you're fired because

631
00:30:25,760 --> 00:30:27,680
Speaker 1: we all had to wait for the elevator to go

632
00:30:27,760 --> 00:30:33,160
Speaker 1: back up. So everybody playing today in matches is a

633
00:30:33,200 --> 00:30:35,840
Speaker 1: little sleep deprived here in Berlin. So if anyone had

634
00:30:35,840 --> 00:30:38,320
Speaker 1: these are any upsets, it might be because of that.

635
00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:39,040
Speaker 1: That's all I'm saying.

636
00:30:39,120 --> 00:30:42,600
Speaker 2: You're putting it out there. There's a built in excuse

637
00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:47,400
Speaker 2: we should talk a little bit about the Macova Serena match,

638
00:30:47,520 --> 00:30:51,840
Speaker 2: just because anytime Sriena Williams plays tennis right now, I'm

639
00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:56,880
Speaker 2: sure you can imagine what the broadcasts, news say. It's

640
00:30:57,520 --> 00:31:00,640
Speaker 2: you know, the media. This is the most incredible thing

641
00:31:00,640 --> 00:31:03,160
Speaker 2: that's happened to tennis media as far as the media

642
00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:08,160
Speaker 2: is concerned in several years to walk me through it.

643
00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:12,280
Speaker 2: Why why Mukova had they looked together? Obviously she was

644
00:31:14,400 --> 00:31:17,160
Speaker 2: looking amazing on court last week with Vickim Boco, who

645
00:31:17,240 --> 00:31:20,120
Speaker 2: sadly suffered a it looks like some kind of an

646
00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:22,120
Speaker 2: MCL injury that's going to happen out for the next

647
00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:24,440
Speaker 2: couple of weeks. Hopefully it's not very serious. But that

648
00:31:24,600 --> 00:31:27,560
Speaker 2: ended their sort of so far victorious partnership and then

649
00:31:27,640 --> 00:31:30,440
Speaker 2: Mukhova this this week in Berlin before we get to

650
00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:32,920
Speaker 2: venus In at Wimbledon. But talk me through some of

651
00:31:32,920 --> 00:31:34,880
Speaker 2: the strategy about how that pairing came to be and

652
00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:37,040
Speaker 2: what you found the court, what adjustments you guys are

653
00:31:37,080 --> 00:31:38,320
Speaker 2: going to make, like give me the give me the

654
00:31:38,320 --> 00:31:38,920
Speaker 2: whole scope.

655
00:31:39,360 --> 00:31:43,040
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, listen, I will say this that Carolina

656
00:31:43,120 --> 00:31:46,760
Speaker 1: and Serena practiced a couple of days in a row together.

657
00:31:47,560 --> 00:31:50,080
Speaker 1: Carolina was happy to obviously hit with Serena and like

658
00:31:50,120 --> 00:31:51,400
Speaker 1: it was a good hit for her, and she played

659
00:31:51,400 --> 00:31:54,200
Speaker 1: great in her singles in the in the in the morning,

660
00:31:55,320 --> 00:31:57,280
Speaker 1: but then in the day, you know, I think what

661
00:31:57,320 --> 00:31:59,600
Speaker 1: we saw was first of all, the opposing team of

662
00:31:59,640 --> 00:32:03,320
Speaker 1: Almost and rattlof who played probably one of their best

663
00:32:03,360 --> 00:32:05,520
Speaker 1: matches they've played. I mean, both of them were serving

664
00:32:05,560 --> 00:32:09,480
Speaker 1: really well, moving really well, playing like doubles players and

665
00:32:09,520 --> 00:32:13,160
Speaker 1: doubles teams together and you could tell that they'd played

666
00:32:13,160 --> 00:32:15,320
Speaker 1: together before, and it was like this. It was kind

667
00:32:15,320 --> 00:32:16,960
Speaker 1: of like you know, when you get riding on a bike,

668
00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:21,920
Speaker 1: whereas with Serena and with Carolina, both were actually playing

669
00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:24,760
Speaker 1: pretty well, but at times they weren't playing well together,

670
00:32:25,240 --> 00:32:27,480
Speaker 1: you know. And there was a few times where there

671
00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:29,760
Speaker 1: was miscommunication in the middle of the court, for example,

672
00:32:29,760 --> 00:32:32,080
Speaker 1: and it was only because Caroline was probably thinking I

673
00:32:32,120 --> 00:32:34,120
Speaker 1: probably should leave that for Serena, and Serena was probably

674
00:32:34,120 --> 00:32:36,800
Speaker 1: thinking I should leave that for Carolina. So it's like

675
00:32:36,840 --> 00:32:38,640
Speaker 1: you've got two really good players who sort of didn't

676
00:32:38,680 --> 00:32:40,640
Speaker 1: know who to take who was the alpha, you know,

677
00:32:40,720 --> 00:32:42,360
Speaker 1: and you have to know who the alpha is in

678
00:32:42,720 --> 00:32:46,680
Speaker 1: matches and playing doubles. And so they lost I think

679
00:32:46,720 --> 00:32:49,280
Speaker 1: like four or five three all points, right, And so

680
00:32:49,800 --> 00:32:53,200
Speaker 1: in the deciding juice type of tennis, they lost two

681
00:32:53,280 --> 00:32:55,560
Speaker 1: in the first set. They had break point two times

682
00:32:55,600 --> 00:32:57,240
Speaker 1: against their opponents, and then all of a sudden, when

683
00:32:57,240 --> 00:32:58,840
Speaker 1: they had a break point against them on serve, they

684
00:32:58,920 --> 00:33:01,560
Speaker 1: lost their serf Serena at four all on the first set.

685
00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:03,920
Speaker 1: So they were a little bit unlucky in some regards

686
00:33:03,960 --> 00:33:05,680
Speaker 1: because I think if they'd gotten that early break they

687
00:33:05,720 --> 00:33:08,640
Speaker 1: probably they would have I think they would have won

688
00:33:08,920 --> 00:33:11,560
Speaker 1: in straight sets. I think it would have been the opposite.

689
00:33:12,080 --> 00:33:14,920
Speaker 1: But I actually thought Serena played better this match than

690
00:33:14,920 --> 00:33:17,480
Speaker 1: she did in the last match. I think she felt

691
00:33:17,520 --> 00:33:20,680
Speaker 1: and looked much more comfortable on the grass. I thought

692
00:33:20,680 --> 00:33:23,880
Speaker 1: she looked better in her movement. I thought she looked

693
00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:27,280
Speaker 1: she was She had to played the backhand side and

694
00:33:27,320 --> 00:33:29,200
Speaker 1: doubles for the first time, and she said in she

695
00:33:29,240 --> 00:33:31,040
Speaker 1: can't even remember the last time she played doubles on

696
00:33:31,040 --> 00:33:33,040
Speaker 1: the backhand side, because she's usually a fourhand court player.

697
00:33:33,120 --> 00:33:34,920
Speaker 1: Certainly with Venus she's always on that side, and with

698
00:33:35,000 --> 00:33:37,200
Speaker 1: Vicky she was on the forehand side. And I know

699
00:33:37,240 --> 00:33:39,880
Speaker 1: when I've played with her, I was always on the

700
00:33:39,880 --> 00:33:41,440
Speaker 1: back end side, So you know, to play on the

701
00:33:41,440 --> 00:33:43,440
Speaker 1: other side is also a little bit different because you're

702
00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:47,040
Speaker 1: not The movement at the net is different when your

703
00:33:47,040 --> 00:33:50,240
Speaker 1: partner's returning. So there's all little things like that that

704
00:33:50,400 --> 00:33:52,400
Speaker 1: just looked like they were a little bit out of sync. Well,

705
00:33:52,480 --> 00:33:54,120
Speaker 1: it's a shame because I think if they get through

706
00:33:54,120 --> 00:33:56,720
Speaker 1: that match, their confidence together with a grind because they're

707
00:33:56,720 --> 00:34:00,280
Speaker 1: both such great individual players. But there was just a

708
00:34:00,280 --> 00:34:02,920
Speaker 1: better doubles team that beat them yesterday. But I was

709
00:34:02,960 --> 00:34:07,160
Speaker 1: pretty happy with the way that Serena looked on the

710
00:34:07,160 --> 00:34:10,160
Speaker 1: court yesterday. I thought she looked more confident on the

711
00:34:10,200 --> 00:34:15,279
Speaker 1: court with her feet and her stroke production than she

712
00:34:15,320 --> 00:34:17,440
Speaker 1: did the match before, and that's only good. The only

713
00:34:17,480 --> 00:34:20,680
Speaker 1: bummer is I wish she'd has gotten had gotten three

714
00:34:20,760 --> 00:34:23,120
Speaker 1: or four good doubles matches under her belt, you know,

715
00:34:23,160 --> 00:34:26,920
Speaker 1: going into Wimbledon. So we'll see, we'll see what happens.

716
00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:29,719
Speaker 1: And of course the news is that one of the

717
00:34:29,719 --> 00:34:31,920
Speaker 1: greatest partnerships of all time is going to be joining

718
00:34:31,960 --> 00:34:34,680
Speaker 1: back up for Wimbledon, with the two sisters playing together.

719
00:34:34,719 --> 00:34:36,520
Speaker 1: What a treat for the fans, Like, no matter what

720
00:34:36,600 --> 00:34:39,239
Speaker 1: and how they do. You know, there's so many people

721
00:34:39,280 --> 00:34:41,800
Speaker 1: that would never have seen Ben since Serena play live.

722
00:34:42,680 --> 00:34:44,880
Speaker 1: So for that fact, I'm just really happy for the

723
00:34:44,920 --> 00:34:46,640
Speaker 1: tennis public that they get to seed again.

724
00:34:47,480 --> 00:34:50,760
Speaker 2: Tell me everything about this because obviously these two sisters

725
00:34:50,800 --> 00:34:57,480
Speaker 2: have combined for titles, They've combined for gold medals, and

726
00:34:59,480 --> 00:35:01,360
Speaker 2: just on the face of it, even if neither of

727
00:35:01,360 --> 00:35:03,279
Speaker 2: them had had a singles career, which we both know

728
00:35:03,400 --> 00:35:10,120
Speaker 2: they both had incredible singles careers, doubles titles alone, it

729
00:35:10,200 --> 00:35:13,160
Speaker 2: feels like they would be you know, Hall of Fame contenders.

730
00:35:13,880 --> 00:35:17,560
Speaker 2: So tell me a little bit. You know, they have

731
00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:19,719
Speaker 2: fourteen titles together. That's bananas.

732
00:35:19,760 --> 00:35:21,880
Speaker 1: At fourteen mages together.

733
00:35:22,120 --> 00:35:25,759
Speaker 2: Grand Slam titles is fourteen, which is yeah, not a

734
00:35:25,800 --> 00:35:32,040
Speaker 2: walk in the park to achieve. What about that duo. Obviously,

735
00:35:32,080 --> 00:35:34,600
Speaker 2: we saw Venus play last year with a couple of

736
00:35:34,640 --> 00:35:36,759
Speaker 2: different partners. It was really exciting to see her go

737
00:35:36,800 --> 00:35:38,880
Speaker 2: deep at the US Open with Leeland Fernandez. Of course,

738
00:35:39,960 --> 00:35:41,960
Speaker 2: I do wonder a little bit, just given that they're

739
00:35:41,960 --> 00:35:46,480
Speaker 2: both in my age range of mid forties, wouldn't it

740
00:35:46,520 --> 00:35:48,799
Speaker 2: be nice to point at someone in their twenties and

741
00:35:48,840 --> 00:35:50,359
Speaker 2: say yours?

742
00:35:51,600 --> 00:35:55,799
Speaker 1: Yes, I think it would have been. But you know,

743
00:35:55,840 --> 00:35:58,600
Speaker 1: they obviously both of them talked about this. To be

744
00:35:59,280 --> 00:36:03,360
Speaker 1: one hundred percent and honest with you, I was not

745
00:36:03,440 --> 00:36:05,879
Speaker 1: a part of this decision making. This was solely them

746
00:36:05,960 --> 00:36:10,000
Speaker 1: talking together. We were all sort of like wondering who

747
00:36:10,040 --> 00:36:11,560
Speaker 1: she was going to play with at Wimbledon, and then

748
00:36:11,600 --> 00:36:14,480
Speaker 1: she made that decision. So as far as I'm concerned,

749
00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:16,920
Speaker 1: it comes down to what an opportunity for people to

750
00:36:16,960 --> 00:36:21,240
Speaker 1: watch them play. Clearly they are super comfortable playing together.

751
00:36:21,680 --> 00:36:24,359
Speaker 1: They'll be able to smack talk together. Because I think

752
00:36:24,520 --> 00:36:26,440
Speaker 1: one of the things that I've taken actually enjoyment in

753
00:36:28,120 --> 00:36:31,440
Speaker 1: is watching these players that look up to Serena so

754
00:36:31,640 --> 00:36:33,919
Speaker 1: much and you know, to have the opportunity of playing

755
00:36:33,920 --> 00:36:36,000
Speaker 1: doubles with her like VICKI did, and of course Carolina

756
00:36:36,040 --> 00:36:39,360
Speaker 1: did yesterday. The thing that I found the most joyant

757
00:36:39,520 --> 00:36:41,960
Speaker 1: is waiting for the first time Serena says something on

758
00:36:41,960 --> 00:36:45,640
Speaker 1: the court that makes them laugh. And it's happened every time,

759
00:36:45,719 --> 00:36:47,520
Speaker 1: and yesterday there was a lot of laughing going on.

760
00:36:47,560 --> 00:36:49,240
Speaker 1: There was a lot of laughing going on with Vicky

761
00:36:49,280 --> 00:36:51,000
Speaker 1: and Boco as well. But you know, Caroline is a

762
00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:52,560
Speaker 1: little bit older, and she was probably you know, in

763
00:36:52,880 --> 00:36:55,400
Speaker 1: check and didn't quite know. And I you know, I

764
00:36:55,400 --> 00:36:57,719
Speaker 1: spoke to Carolina before the match about Serena and her

765
00:36:58,239 --> 00:37:01,000
Speaker 1: tendencies and her personality and all this, and I said,

766
00:37:01,360 --> 00:37:03,280
Speaker 1: first of all, I said, Carolina, if you see anything

767
00:37:03,280 --> 00:37:05,000
Speaker 1: and you wanted to do anything, tell her. She's the

768
00:37:05,000 --> 00:37:08,000
Speaker 1: most coachable person you could ever talk to. Don't be

769
00:37:08,040 --> 00:37:10,000
Speaker 1: afraid to tell her anything. She was like, oh, okay.

770
00:37:10,560 --> 00:37:13,360
Speaker 1: You know, people have this set perception of what somebody's

771
00:37:13,480 --> 00:37:15,719
Speaker 1: like just because of their nature of who they and

772
00:37:15,760 --> 00:37:18,279
Speaker 1: how they, you know, are perceived on the tennis court

773
00:37:18,400 --> 00:37:21,240
Speaker 1: or in life. And I'm like, Serena is the easiest

774
00:37:21,239 --> 00:37:23,120
Speaker 1: person to tell, Like, if you said to her, I'm

775
00:37:23,120 --> 00:37:25,680
Speaker 1: going to do this, you should do that. She'd be like, okay,

776
00:37:26,880 --> 00:37:30,640
Speaker 1: But I've taken such it's fun for me to watch

777
00:37:30,719 --> 00:37:33,839
Speaker 1: them realize how funny Serena is like on the court,

778
00:37:33,920 --> 00:37:36,760
Speaker 1: she is. I've done it myself. I've dealt with playing

779
00:37:36,760 --> 00:37:38,920
Speaker 1: with her and doubles and the things that come out

780
00:37:38,920 --> 00:37:44,040
Speaker 1: of her mouth on the tennis court hilarious, sometimes poking

781
00:37:44,040 --> 00:37:48,320
Speaker 1: fun at herself and sometimes poking fun at other people

782
00:37:49,120 --> 00:37:53,279
Speaker 1: when it's appropriate to relax her partners, and it's just

783
00:37:53,680 --> 00:37:55,520
Speaker 1: that's what's been fun. So when you see Venus and

784
00:37:55,560 --> 00:37:59,680
Speaker 1: Serena out there, there's no having to get to know, right,

785
00:38:00,040 --> 00:38:01,239
Speaker 1: They're just going to walk on the court and be

786
00:38:01,360 --> 00:38:04,560
Speaker 1: so very very comfortable together. So we'll see what happens.

787
00:38:04,600 --> 00:38:06,759
Speaker 1: I mean, hopefully they have some kind of a run,

788
00:38:06,760 --> 00:38:08,000
Speaker 1: because what a story it'll be.

789
00:38:08,239 --> 00:38:10,080
Speaker 2: What a story will be. So last question about the

790
00:38:10,080 --> 00:38:14,280
Speaker 2: Williams sisters and Serena before we take a short break

791
00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:18,200
Speaker 2: and then get to reader questions. Now, there is one

792
00:38:18,480 --> 00:38:26,239
Speaker 2: Wimbledon singles wild card left that has been unassigned you.

793
00:38:27,560 --> 00:38:30,120
Speaker 2: It sounds like are not making the decisions on this.

794
00:38:30,280 --> 00:38:33,640
Speaker 2: You're here to advise, much like Congress is supposed to

795
00:38:33,640 --> 00:38:36,759
Speaker 2: do in this country before it stopped working, which is,

796
00:38:37,719 --> 00:38:43,040
Speaker 2: you know, boy, provide provide good, good steering. But it's yeah,

797
00:38:43,080 --> 00:38:46,760
Speaker 2: it's it's ultimately the athlete's choice here. That's clearly your dynamic.

798
00:38:47,040 --> 00:38:49,720
Speaker 2: If you had to say, if you had to guess,

799
00:38:49,840 --> 00:38:52,239
Speaker 2: if you had to say anything about it, what would

800
00:38:52,280 --> 00:38:52,480
Speaker 2: that be.

801
00:38:53,880 --> 00:38:59,239
Speaker 1: Again, she makes these decisions. I'm you know, look, it's

802
00:38:59,320 --> 00:39:02,040
Speaker 1: nice secret one left right or one or two left.

803
00:39:02,040 --> 00:39:05,239
Speaker 1: I don't know how many left. And I'm sure that

804
00:39:05,239 --> 00:39:09,880
Speaker 1: Wimbledon are hoping that she says yes. But again, Serena

805
00:39:09,880 --> 00:39:13,200
Speaker 1: makes those decisions and often says, you know, she'll write

806
00:39:13,280 --> 00:39:15,879
Speaker 1: us in a text, or she'll you know if we see.

807
00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:18,960
Speaker 1: She's currently on her way to London right now, and

808
00:39:18,960 --> 00:39:21,560
Speaker 1: I'll be on a plane in a couple hours myself

809
00:39:21,600 --> 00:39:25,000
Speaker 1: back to London. So she's going to make those decisions

810
00:39:25,200 --> 00:39:27,200
Speaker 1: in the next few days what she wants to do.

811
00:39:27,560 --> 00:39:31,080
Speaker 1: And I don't know, we obviously talked about it. It's

812
00:39:31,120 --> 00:39:33,560
Speaker 1: out there that it's still available if she wants to

813
00:39:33,560 --> 00:39:35,520
Speaker 1: do it or not, and it's going to be up

814
00:39:35,520 --> 00:39:39,320
Speaker 1: to her to make that decision, and she will be

815
00:39:39,360 --> 00:39:41,640
Speaker 1: supported by all of us either way. If it's just

816
00:39:41,640 --> 00:39:45,759
Speaker 1: playing doubles, and it's just playing doubles, and that's how

817
00:39:45,760 --> 00:39:50,040
Speaker 1: she feels. And listen, I have not talked to her

818
00:39:50,080 --> 00:39:51,960
Speaker 1: about this, but I think that there's part of her

819
00:39:51,960 --> 00:39:54,080
Speaker 1: that would love to play singles at Wimbledon. But she

820
00:39:54,120 --> 00:39:56,759
Speaker 1: also is very smart in knowing what she's capable of,

821
00:39:57,560 --> 00:40:01,239
Speaker 1: and when she chooses to decide not to play, it's

822
00:40:01,320 --> 00:40:03,799
Speaker 1: she's making that decision based on her own feelings. So

823
00:40:04,520 --> 00:40:06,680
Speaker 1: I don't know what the answer to that question is.

824
00:40:06,719 --> 00:40:10,040
Speaker 1: Nobody does. And so yeah, I mean, it was news

825
00:40:10,120 --> 00:40:12,279
Speaker 1: to me how many wildcards were left, and it was

826
00:40:12,360 --> 00:40:14,640
Speaker 1: news to me that, you know, that was even asked

827
00:40:14,640 --> 00:40:18,560
Speaker 1: of her, impress And so because there's one left, I'm

828
00:40:18,600 --> 00:40:21,320
Speaker 1: sure she's maybe holding those cards a little bit closer

829
00:40:21,320 --> 00:40:24,920
Speaker 1: to her chest than telling us or not. But that'll

830
00:40:24,960 --> 00:40:26,759
Speaker 1: be her decision in the next I would say, in

831
00:40:26,800 --> 00:40:28,600
Speaker 1: the next few days that Wimbledon would have to know

832
00:40:28,640 --> 00:40:29,479
Speaker 1: in the next few days.

833
00:40:29,560 --> 00:40:31,400
Speaker 2: All right, well, Wimbledon, you're unnoticed.

834
00:40:32,040 --> 00:40:33,760
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're on noticed. I mean, I think they already

835
00:40:33,760 --> 00:40:35,279
Speaker 1: know they're un notice because they're hanging on to it.

836
00:40:35,520 --> 00:40:38,560
Speaker 1: They're hanging on that one wildcard until qualifying starts. As

837
00:40:38,560 --> 00:40:39,400
Speaker 1: long as possible.

838
00:40:39,480 --> 00:40:44,279
Speaker 2: It's between Serena Williams and Tatiana Maria. Just kidding. Let's

839
00:40:44,320 --> 00:40:46,040
Speaker 2: take a quick break and then we've got a few

840
00:40:46,200 --> 00:40:47,320
Speaker 2: We've got a few questions.

841
00:40:47,800 --> 00:40:49,080
Speaker 1: Yeah, we'll were back after the break.

842
00:41:04,880 --> 00:41:08,680
Speaker 2: All right, Renee, you've been busy. We've been running around.

843
00:41:08,880 --> 00:41:12,120
Speaker 2: Only a few questions today, but they're all important ones.

844
00:41:13,320 --> 00:41:15,839
Speaker 2: The first one continues the topic we were just talking about,

845
00:41:15,840 --> 00:41:18,200
Speaker 2: which is, of course, the Williams sisters. This is from

846
00:41:18,239 --> 00:41:22,360
Speaker 2: Scott Gayham. It could be pronounced Gayham, which is appropriate

847
00:41:22,360 --> 00:41:25,040
Speaker 2: for Pride month. Scott. If I've butchered your name for us,

848
00:41:26,840 --> 00:41:30,520
Speaker 2: I'm sorry, Scott Gayham gay.

849
00:41:31,040 --> 00:41:34,080
Speaker 1: Listen, listen, listen. Let's just say Scott because scouting by

850
00:41:34,080 --> 00:41:36,800
Speaker 1: Scott's photos, I don't think photo that he posted on

851
00:41:36,920 --> 00:41:40,800
Speaker 1: his question, I don't think he really cares and I

852
00:41:40,840 --> 00:41:42,800
Speaker 1: think he's probably having a laugh at you trying to

853
00:41:42,800 --> 00:41:43,560
Speaker 1: even say his name.

854
00:41:43,680 --> 00:41:46,960
Speaker 2: Well, the shirt he's wearing has the words over the chest.

855
00:41:47,040 --> 00:41:50,880
Speaker 2: Are you looking at my titles? Okay, big question? But

856
00:41:51,000 --> 00:41:53,760
Speaker 2: what is it tennis is missing when the Williams sisters

857
00:41:53,760 --> 00:41:55,960
Speaker 2: aren't playing? And how is it being a coach on

858
00:41:56,000 --> 00:41:58,080
Speaker 2: this team around for Serena?

859
00:41:58,680 --> 00:42:03,520
Speaker 1: Well, I think not having Serena and you know around

860
00:42:03,600 --> 00:42:05,759
Speaker 1: and the Williams sisters around is it just lacks that

861
00:42:05,800 --> 00:42:08,479
Speaker 1: sort of like massive star power. Right, it's the same

862
00:42:08,520 --> 00:42:11,799
Speaker 1: as Roger and Rafa. And it's particularly Roger and Raffa

863
00:42:11,840 --> 00:42:13,759
Speaker 1: because they're the ones that really blew it up, you know,

864
00:42:13,800 --> 00:42:16,759
Speaker 1: in the men's game twenty years ago. So it's just

865
00:42:16,800 --> 00:42:19,319
Speaker 1: that huge star power. You know, she walks into a room,

866
00:42:19,480 --> 00:42:23,760
Speaker 1: she walks into her onto the tennis, into the tennis courts,

867
00:42:23,760 --> 00:42:26,560
Speaker 1: and it's just like it's like just it's just on

868
00:42:26,600 --> 00:42:29,279
Speaker 1: a different level compared to everybody else's. So I would

869
00:42:29,360 --> 00:42:32,080
Speaker 1: just say a super like an like a above and

870
00:42:32,160 --> 00:42:35,360
Speaker 1: beyond superstar, and that's what they they are. They just

871
00:42:35,400 --> 00:42:38,719
Speaker 1: have this presence about them that's just unmistakable. And as

872
00:42:38,760 --> 00:42:40,680
Speaker 1: far as being on the team, it's a privilege. It's

873
00:42:40,680 --> 00:42:42,680
Speaker 1: always a privilege. It's a privilege to be around her.

874
00:42:42,719 --> 00:42:46,480
Speaker 1: She works so hard. She listens to every word either

875
00:42:46,520 --> 00:42:52,640
Speaker 1: myself or Jamir Jenkins tells her. She's never ever talks back.

876
00:42:52,800 --> 00:42:55,560
Speaker 1: She just is a she's a true model student of

877
00:42:55,600 --> 00:42:58,120
Speaker 1: the game. And you know, you'll say something to her

878
00:42:58,120 --> 00:42:59,560
Speaker 1: and she'll just like nod her head a little bit.

879
00:42:59,640 --> 00:43:02,120
Speaker 1: I mean, she's just you know, she's honestly, she's a

880
00:43:02,120 --> 00:43:06,440
Speaker 1: pleasure to coach, like every day. And she's funny. I mean,

881
00:43:06,520 --> 00:43:08,880
Speaker 1: she is funny. I was telling her something about a

882
00:43:08,960 --> 00:43:11,279
Speaker 1: high backend volley and she said something so funny to me,

883
00:43:11,760 --> 00:43:13,319
Speaker 1: and then she did a couple of those high one

884
00:43:13,360 --> 00:43:16,160
Speaker 1: handed back end volleys yesterday in the doubles. And you know,

885
00:43:16,200 --> 00:43:18,520
Speaker 1: it's just like little sort of personal things that I

886
00:43:18,600 --> 00:43:20,200
Speaker 1: might tell you what she said to me because it's

887
00:43:20,200 --> 00:43:23,200
Speaker 1: sort of our joke. But she's just a constant, like

888
00:43:24,080 --> 00:43:25,840
Speaker 1: it's a constant laugh with her on the court, and

889
00:43:25,840 --> 00:43:27,719
Speaker 1: then all of a sudden she goes very serious. So

890
00:43:27,760 --> 00:43:31,319
Speaker 1: it's like she knows she's that perfect balance on the court.

891
00:43:31,640 --> 00:43:33,400
Speaker 1: But one thing she did say to me, Yesda, she

892
00:43:33,440 --> 00:43:36,160
Speaker 1: hates losing, And I said, well, that has it so

893
00:43:36,280 --> 00:43:38,879
Speaker 1: to watch losing. I hate losing. We're in the locker

894
00:43:38,960 --> 00:43:41,520
Speaker 1: room together, like hate losing. She's like hate losing. So

895
00:43:42,200 --> 00:43:43,680
Speaker 1: she might look like she's having a little more fun

896
00:43:43,680 --> 00:43:45,800
Speaker 1: out there than she was when she was losing singles.

897
00:43:45,800 --> 00:43:48,520
Speaker 1: But let me tell you something. Girl hates losing.

898
00:43:48,880 --> 00:43:52,400
Speaker 2: She hates to lose. Okay, ag Rates, how do you

899
00:43:52,520 --> 00:43:56,200
Speaker 2: feel about Mirror Andreva being a top three favorite to

900
00:43:56,200 --> 00:43:58,600
Speaker 2: win Wimbledon. First of all, is Mira Andreva a top

901
00:43:58,640 --> 00:44:01,520
Speaker 2: three favorite to win Wimbledon? I think maybe that's plausible,

902
00:44:01,520 --> 00:44:04,600
Speaker 2: but I have I don't know that that's necessarily conventional wisdom.

903
00:44:04,960 --> 00:44:06,880
Speaker 2: Do you think that's true? A? And B? How do

904
00:44:06,920 --> 00:44:08,520
Speaker 2: you feel about it? If you do think it's true.

905
00:44:09,080 --> 00:44:11,719
Speaker 1: I think she's top five. I don't think she's top three.

906
00:44:11,960 --> 00:44:14,799
Speaker 1: I think I would put even Pagoula ahead of her,

907
00:44:15,400 --> 00:44:19,520
Speaker 1: just on grass. But you know, the thing with Mirror

908
00:44:19,600 --> 00:44:21,680
Speaker 1: is that she's very tricky and she knows how to

909
00:44:22,239 --> 00:44:25,319
Speaker 1: maneuver her racket face on any surface. And by that

910
00:44:25,440 --> 00:44:28,560
Speaker 1: I mean she's able to adapt on the court surface

911
00:44:28,600 --> 00:44:31,560
Speaker 1: that she's playing on. She has a great serve first

912
00:44:31,600 --> 00:44:34,400
Speaker 1: and second serve. She can hit the spots, and on grass,

913
00:44:34,440 --> 00:44:36,839
Speaker 1: you have to serve well because if you don't, you're

914
00:44:36,840 --> 00:44:39,400
Speaker 1: going to get crushed. People will take advantage of a

915
00:44:39,400 --> 00:44:43,359
Speaker 1: shitty second serve, especially the Sabalancas, the rebarkin As, even

916
00:44:43,360 --> 00:44:47,239
Speaker 1: the Pagoulas, people that hit the ball big. So I think, look,

917
00:44:47,280 --> 00:44:50,359
Speaker 1: she has beautiful hands, she's great follier when she comes

918
00:44:50,400 --> 00:44:52,839
Speaker 1: into the net. She knows how to move forward. So

919
00:44:53,239 --> 00:44:55,080
Speaker 1: you know, as far as if she plays at her best,

920
00:44:55,560 --> 00:44:57,799
Speaker 1: could she win Wimbledon? Absolutely, because I would have said

921
00:44:57,800 --> 00:44:59,799
Speaker 1: the same thing about her winning the French So there's

922
00:44:59,800 --> 00:45:02,160
Speaker 1: no way I'm going to discount her on any surface.

923
00:45:02,480 --> 00:45:05,280
Speaker 1: And depending on who's still at the end of ay

924
00:45:05,400 --> 00:45:07,759
Speaker 1: end of a tournament, Miro Andreven now is a Grand

925
00:45:07,760 --> 00:45:09,880
Speaker 1: Slam champion, knows that she can do it. So I

926
00:45:09,920 --> 00:45:12,480
Speaker 1: mean top three, I'm not sure because I'd put Saberlanca

927
00:45:12,560 --> 00:45:15,440
Speaker 1: rebackin and I would even put Pagoula in front of her.

928
00:45:16,400 --> 00:45:19,279
Speaker 2: What about defending champion Eagos Fiante.

929
00:45:18,960 --> 00:45:21,239
Speaker 1: Well, an Eager. You know, no one's talking about her,

930
00:45:21,239 --> 00:45:23,759
Speaker 1: but she's not even playing like so you know, it

931
00:45:23,840 --> 00:45:25,680
Speaker 1: is funny that you say that, Caitline, because you know

932
00:45:25,760 --> 00:45:29,239
Speaker 1: I don't put Eager in tide the top three just

933
00:45:29,280 --> 00:45:29,759
Speaker 1: I don't either.

934
00:45:29,800 --> 00:45:31,839
Speaker 2: But she won it. She's got a ton of points

935
00:45:31,840 --> 00:45:33,640
Speaker 2: to defend and she sure does.

936
00:45:33,920 --> 00:45:36,000
Speaker 1: Well. We'll see, we'll see, we'll see. I like this

937
00:45:36,080 --> 00:45:39,160
Speaker 1: first question from and Tony, and Tony, I don't know

938
00:45:39,160 --> 00:45:40,120
Speaker 1: if you got that one, but.

939
00:45:40,560 --> 00:45:42,359
Speaker 2: I was about to ask you that now. Okay, well

940
00:45:42,400 --> 00:45:44,480
Speaker 2: go ahead, okay, what do you think Coco could do

941
00:45:44,560 --> 00:45:47,040
Speaker 2: more of or do better to have more success. Ungrassed,

942
00:45:47,040 --> 00:45:48,840
Speaker 2: should she look to come to the network. To me,

943
00:45:48,920 --> 00:45:50,160
Speaker 2: it's not the fact that she's not of that at

944
00:45:50,200 --> 00:45:52,719
Speaker 2: she vows very well, she plays great doubles. It's that

945
00:45:52,920 --> 00:45:55,120
Speaker 2: her groundstrokes don't let her necessarily get there. Is that

946
00:45:55,200 --> 00:45:56,520
Speaker 2: an accurate take?

947
00:45:56,760 --> 00:45:59,480
Speaker 1: Yeah? I think the bottom line is with Coco is

948
00:45:59,520 --> 00:46:01,800
Speaker 1: that her four one hand grip is always going to

949
00:46:01,800 --> 00:46:05,120
Speaker 1: be a problem on grass. As you know, Caitlin, a

950
00:46:05,400 --> 00:46:09,240
Speaker 1: very extreme Western grip on a fast surface is not ideal.

951
00:46:09,840 --> 00:46:12,359
Speaker 1: And if she plays a Yes Stremsker who she lost

952
00:46:12,360 --> 00:46:14,440
Speaker 1: in the first round of women last year, or a big,

953
00:46:14,520 --> 00:46:18,120
Speaker 1: flat hitting ball striker on grass, it is a shot

954
00:46:18,160 --> 00:46:21,120
Speaker 1: that is going to get taken advantage off because on grass,

955
00:46:21,760 --> 00:46:23,480
Speaker 1: like a Donna Vickage, you have to hit the ball

956
00:46:23,480 --> 00:46:25,799
Speaker 1: flat and hard, and if you don't, you better have

957
00:46:26,200 --> 00:46:30,319
Speaker 1: like Egerscontech, very quick fast hands through the ball, and

958
00:46:30,360 --> 00:46:31,560
Speaker 1: you have to be able to get down and you

959
00:46:31,600 --> 00:46:33,360
Speaker 1: have to release the racket heead and you've got to

960
00:46:33,360 --> 00:46:36,600
Speaker 1: get it through the ball on grass. And maybe a suggestion,

961
00:46:36,960 --> 00:46:39,640
Speaker 1: you know, is she has to work out a way

962
00:46:39,680 --> 00:46:41,520
Speaker 1: to get the back end of back and rally and

963
00:46:41,560 --> 00:46:43,759
Speaker 1: if the ball's on her forehand and it's deep, she

964
00:46:43,880 --> 00:46:46,879
Speaker 1: has to really accelerate, and if she doesn't, she has

965
00:46:46,880 --> 00:46:49,000
Speaker 1: to try and get to the net on you know,

966
00:46:49,040 --> 00:46:51,000
Speaker 1: as many occasions as she can, so people that are

967
00:46:51,040 --> 00:46:55,839
Speaker 1: taking advantage of her forehand can't. And so, you know, look,

968
00:46:55,880 --> 00:46:58,439
Speaker 1: she's had some good wins on grass, but she has

969
00:46:58,520 --> 00:47:01,759
Speaker 1: to serve very well, and the first serve is very good,

970
00:47:01,960 --> 00:47:04,600
Speaker 1: but the second serve tends to sit there, and so

971
00:47:04,760 --> 00:47:08,319
Speaker 1: her unfortunately, her weaknesses on grass are exposed a lot

972
00:47:08,360 --> 00:47:10,000
Speaker 1: more than they are on a hard court or on

973
00:47:10,040 --> 00:47:13,279
Speaker 1: a clay court. So listen, more power to her. I

974
00:47:13,280 --> 00:47:15,320
Speaker 1: hope she can get through some of these bigger matches

975
00:47:15,320 --> 00:47:18,480
Speaker 1: against be hitting players, but certainly grass is going to

976
00:47:18,480 --> 00:47:19,279
Speaker 1: be a test for her.

977
00:47:19,640 --> 00:47:22,000
Speaker 2: I am actually going to go play some grass court

978
00:47:22,040 --> 00:47:25,800
Speaker 2: tennis right now, Renee. I have changed my extreme Western

979
00:47:25,880 --> 00:47:27,840
Speaker 2: for ahand grip, thank god, after so many years, and

980
00:47:27,840 --> 00:47:31,000
Speaker 2: I'm now playing with a functional semi Western, which helps

981
00:47:31,000 --> 00:47:32,600
Speaker 2: me a lot on grass because I like to move

982
00:47:32,640 --> 00:47:34,520
Speaker 2: forward and get to the net. So maybe, you know,

983
00:47:34,560 --> 00:47:36,080
Speaker 2: Coco could take a page out of my book and

984
00:47:36,080 --> 00:47:37,720
Speaker 2: at least play with a new grip for a short

985
00:47:37,719 --> 00:47:40,680
Speaker 2: part of the season, just some unconventional advase there.

986
00:47:40,719 --> 00:47:43,680
Speaker 1: Coke, Well, it's pretty hard to change your grip mid

987
00:47:43,719 --> 00:47:46,319
Speaker 1: season or at all in any life. But you know what,

988
00:47:46,440 --> 00:47:48,240
Speaker 1: if you can do it, Caitlin, so can Coco.

989
00:47:48,480 --> 00:47:49,439
Speaker 2: That's what I always say.

990
00:47:50,040 --> 00:47:53,680
Speaker 1: Listen, there's a ton of tennis to go. I suspect

991
00:47:53,800 --> 00:47:56,240
Speaker 1: some of these players that win these tournaments Leny leading

992
00:47:56,320 --> 00:47:59,759
Speaker 1: into Wimbledon will certainly be the ones to watch in

993
00:47:59,760 --> 00:48:03,080
Speaker 1: the tournament, because there's only a couple of tournaments on

994
00:48:03,120 --> 00:48:05,239
Speaker 1: grass every year, and so the ones that come to

995
00:48:05,320 --> 00:48:08,160
Speaker 1: the fore, make the finals, win these tournaments are certainly

996
00:48:08,200 --> 00:48:10,200
Speaker 1: the ones to watch. So I'll be watching for rebak In,

997
00:48:10,239 --> 00:48:13,120
Speaker 1: I'll be watching for Sablenka, we be watching for Pagoula,

998
00:48:13,600 --> 00:48:15,960
Speaker 1: and I'll be watching for Coco, and we'll see who

999
00:48:15,960 --> 00:48:18,120
Speaker 1: comes out on the end, and certainly for the men,

1000
00:48:18,760 --> 00:48:21,000
Speaker 1: we'll see where Janick Sinner ends up, because you know

1001
00:48:21,040 --> 00:48:23,520
Speaker 1: he's not playing. We saw him going to the hospital

1002
00:48:23,520 --> 00:48:25,880
Speaker 1: getting all these tests blah blah blah to figure out

1003
00:48:25,920 --> 00:48:28,080
Speaker 1: what's happening with his body. But certainly, you know the

1004
00:48:28,120 --> 00:48:30,960
Speaker 1: Ben Sheltons of Taylor Fritz, they've got to feel like

1005
00:48:30,960 --> 00:48:33,799
Speaker 1: they have a chance at least after what happened to

1006
00:48:33,840 --> 00:48:36,600
Speaker 1: him at the French and that only makes it better

1007
00:48:36,640 --> 00:48:38,840
Speaker 1: for tennis in general, is that people actually think that

1008
00:48:38,880 --> 00:48:41,520
Speaker 1: they can win, as opposed to going in thinking I've

1009
00:48:41,560 --> 00:48:43,880
Speaker 1: got no chance of beating this guy, particularly on grass.

1010
00:48:44,040 --> 00:48:47,480
Speaker 1: And slight good news is that apparently al KaAZ maybe

1011
00:48:47,880 --> 00:48:51,000
Speaker 1: better news coming out of sort of things about his wrist.

1012
00:48:51,320 --> 00:48:53,640
Speaker 1: Hopefully we have him back on the hardcourt. But in

1013
00:48:53,719 --> 00:48:56,920
Speaker 1: the meantime, everybody, thanks to the questions. We gotta let

1014
00:48:56,960 --> 00:48:59,319
Speaker 1: Caitlin go because she's gone to play grass and I've

1015
00:48:59,320 --> 00:49:01,000
Speaker 1: got to go actually because we've got a pack to

1016
00:49:01,040 --> 00:49:02,920
Speaker 1: get back to London to get back on the grass

1017
00:49:02,960 --> 00:49:07,839
Speaker 1: and practice with a certain someone. But anyway, it's been

1018
00:49:07,880 --> 00:49:09,640
Speaker 1: a pleasure to have you again this week, so thanks

1019
00:49:09,640 --> 00:49:12,320
Speaker 1: for joining us and we'll see you next week. By Caitlin,

1020
00:49:12,400 --> 00:49:15,200
Speaker 1: have fun on the grass, I always do, all right,

1021
00:49:15,640 --> 00:49:29,480
Speaker 1: Bye everybody,