Speaker 1: I speak openly about in the book because it's a
Speaker 1: huge part of of an athlete's career. And what what
Speaker 1: happened to me was I mean, it was very difficult.
Speaker 1: It's one of the toughest things that an athlete can
Speaker 1: go through. Um, I've had shoulder surgery, I went through that.
Speaker 1: I've been through my fair shares of ups and downs,
Speaker 1: but this was a big hit. Hi, everyone, just me again.
Speaker 1: I'm missing Brian too, but he will be back for
Speaker 1: our next episode. It's hard to believe it is our
Speaker 1: last show of two thousand and seventeen. I think a
Speaker 1: lot of people are ready to say goodbye to this year.
Speaker 1: I know I am. But one bright spot of my
Speaker 1: year was getting to interview tennis player Maria Sharapova. We
Speaker 1: take the Slide at the ninety Street Wye in New
Speaker 1: York City. Maria is a five time Grand Slam winner,
Speaker 1: and she's out with a new memoir called Unstoppable My
Speaker 1: life so Far, so clearly she's got another book in
Speaker 1: her with that title. She actually wrote her memoir during
Speaker 1: the fifteen months she recently spent off the court. That's
Speaker 1: how long she was suspended from tennis. I asked her
Speaker 1: to explain how that happened, and we actually started by
Speaker 1: talking about what it was like to come back. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: in August, I was in the crowd at Maria's first
Speaker 1: US Open match since her suspension was lifted, and I
Speaker 1: wanted to know what was that night like for her.
Speaker 1: How did it feel when she walked into Arthur Ash
Speaker 1: Stadium in Queen's to play for a sold out crowd.
Speaker 1: I walked into a lot of unknown that night, and
Speaker 1: it was very different to what I would usually feel
Speaker 1: going into a first round match at a tournament. I
Speaker 1: felt like there's a lot on the line and that
Speaker 1: match from the moment that the draw came out and
Speaker 1: I saw that I'd be facing as a wild card,
Speaker 1: the number two player in the world. Once I knew
Speaker 1: I'd be facing against her, not only was I playing
Speaker 1: in the US Open after not competing there for a
Speaker 1: few years, I was going to play against Simona Hallip
Speaker 1: and just feeling Arthur Ash Stadium kind of seeing pun
Speaker 1: played under like the roof environment, even though the roof
Speaker 1: was opened, but the new structure of the court, it
Speaker 1: just seemed like almost like a new tournament to me
Speaker 1: because it had been so long. It was very exciting.
Speaker 1: It was a long match. I was two hours and
Speaker 1: forty four minutes. But who's counting? I am, but I
Speaker 1: have to say it was I'm counting the day after
Speaker 1: when I'm like, oh, I feel as part of my body.
Speaker 1: I was supposed to finish that in two cents. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and you must you must have been exhausted. But I
Speaker 1: mean I know that after the match, and I was
Speaker 1: very excited to be there that night, so especially knowing
Speaker 1: I was going to interview you, So that was a
Speaker 1: real added extra for me. But if you told the
Speaker 1: crowd quote behind all these I always have a hard
Speaker 1: time saying that word. I think it's were thank you
Speaker 1: crystals and little black dresses. This earl has a lot
Speaker 1: of grit and she's not going anywhere. Was this redemption
Speaker 1: in many ways for you? It just felt like this
Speaker 1: is where I belonged, and I knew that I wanted
Speaker 1: to get back to that stage and it um remember
Speaker 1: leaving the courts and it was probably was past midnight
Speaker 1: at the time when I did the press conference after
Speaker 1: and I got back to the hotel room and I
Speaker 1: was I was in the room by one am. Had
Speaker 1: to go through a little massage um sports, massage, a
Speaker 1: few other things. So you end up going to bet
Speaker 1: at like three am. But I just I didn't want
Speaker 1: to sleep, like I didn't want that evening or that
Speaker 1: feeling to end. I didn't want to start another day
Speaker 1: because I feel like I had so many of those um,
Speaker 1: you know, match memories to relive. Still, you made it
Speaker 1: to the fourth round, you lost to Anastasia Sevastova vlat
Speaker 1: M three sets. I know you're uber competitive, duh, understatement
Speaker 1: of the century, but how upset were you with that
Speaker 1: loss and and the fact that you weren't going to
Speaker 1: go on. I certainly don't leave that court and say, oh,
Speaker 1: I'm okay with this. Definitely not. And you always have
Speaker 1: these expectations from yourself because you know what you're capable of,
Speaker 1: you know what you've the tennis that you've produced there
Speaker 1: over the years, and you know you can and you
Speaker 1: know everyone's watching and you want to and so it
Speaker 1: adds to that that extra pressure, which I love. But
Speaker 1: I wasn't. I wasn't satisfied, and I shouldn't be like
Speaker 1: that's I shouldn't be satisfied with a forethrown exit. And
Speaker 1: I guess before a match you must envision what. I
Speaker 1: don't know if you do this, but I would if
Speaker 1: I were you, what it would be like if you want,
Speaker 1: you know what that moment would feel like, because it
Speaker 1: gives you something to aspire to, and so when it
Speaker 1: doesn't happen, you really have to kind of do a
Speaker 1: serious formulive visualization. Yeah, I definitely do that. I prefer
Speaker 1: that to like setting certain goals for myself. I think
Speaker 1: it's just it's not about a particular ending, like that's
Speaker 1: not the way that I look at things. But I
Speaker 1: certainly visualize what success feels like to me, and I
Speaker 1: see it and I understand it and I feel it. Um.
Speaker 1: I think that's really important. And what does it feel
Speaker 1: like for you when you visualize? What do you say, though?
Speaker 1: What do you see? Do you see? Uh? You know?
Speaker 1: I mean, do you imagine something in your mind's eye? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I think for me, happiness is really internal. It's not
Speaker 1: something that is most of the time seen in photographs
Speaker 1: are told in words. I think there's something much deeper.
Speaker 1: It's not something that anyone will be able to say, oh, well,
Speaker 1: now I saw that that she was happy, of course,
Speaker 1: like the emotion of winning that match. That was amazing,
Speaker 1: and that was happiness, and that brought so much to
Speaker 1: I mean, I think you you can't act that out
Speaker 1: like that. That's the way I really felt in that moment.
Speaker 1: Let's let's talk about something that I know you've been
Speaker 1: asked about a lot, and certainly by journalists as you've
Speaker 1: been out promoting your book. Um, and it's it's really
Speaker 1: what you start off with in your prologue, the first sentences.
Speaker 1: At some point towards the end of the two thousand
Speaker 1: sixteen Australian Open, a nurse asked me to pee in
Speaker 1: a cup. That's a good thought. My first memoir would
Speaker 1: start with the words p and the cup. But but but,
Speaker 1: of course, of course that that leads to the whole
Speaker 1: story of your suspension and why you were taking meldonium,
Speaker 1: which has the trade name of Meldreny, on a daily
Speaker 1: basis for for ten years. It was put on the
Speaker 1: band's substance list in two thousand fift September, and when
Speaker 1: that band went into effect in January, of course you
Speaker 1: tested positive. You know, In preparing for this interview, I
Speaker 1: spoke with Billy jan King, who really admires you deeply,
Speaker 1: and she said, quote, you know, I'm still scratching my
Speaker 1: head over this. I just don't understand how this could happen.
Speaker 1: She described Maria as someone extremely exceedingly professional and exceedingly precise.
Speaker 1: And I know you've talked about this, but Billy Jing
Speaker 1: King still doesn't get it. So can you help her
Speaker 1: and us out and explain explain how this happened? Um,
Speaker 1: in so many ways, if I would, if it would
Speaker 1: feel like I would be going backwards and starting from
Speaker 1: from scratch. And I it's still a question that I
Speaker 1: occasionally do ask myself, and I asked myself for a
Speaker 1: long period of time after I received that notice. It
Speaker 1: wasn't I didn't want to go back. I didn't want
Speaker 1: to rewind. And I am I'm very much to talk
Speaker 1: about it when I do, and but I am someone
Speaker 1: that wants to learn for my mistakes. But in this situation, UM,
Speaker 1: when you're taking something legally for numerous amount of years,
Speaker 1: that is a common supplement in Russia, used by thousands
Speaker 1: of people and including my grandmother, which is I mean,
Speaker 1: I can laugh about it now. It wasn't funny at
Speaker 1: the time, but it's just such an odd and very
Speaker 1: odd thing that it all of a sudden becomes banned
Speaker 1: and I'm not aware of it, and no one around me,
Speaker 1: whether it's myself, my team, the organization's let me know.
Speaker 1: I think what was really frustrating was it could have
Speaker 1: been avoided so easily if I would have known. You know,
Speaker 1: it does seem surprising though by all accounts, you have
Speaker 1: this incredible team around you that are you know, people
Speaker 1: focused on your success as a professional athlete, and it
Speaker 1: does beg the question. I mean, did somebody literally drop
Speaker 1: the ball on this and if so, a who was responsible?
Speaker 1: Because you contend that your agents and trainers missed the
Speaker 1: various I t F notifications of this being added to
Speaker 1: the band A substance list, And if in fact someone
Speaker 1: did drop the ball, were there any repercussions for that?
Speaker 1: And because I know you kept your entire team around,
Speaker 1: I think the biggest um, the biggest problem was this
Speaker 1: sense of complacency in a system that I had for
Speaker 1: a long time. And I started that by saying from
Speaker 1: my end as well, because as I said, from the
Speaker 1: very beginning, as an athlete, you take responsibility. It's not
Speaker 1: your coach, it's not it's not a manager, it's not
Speaker 1: your your parents, it's your it's your career, it's your life,
Speaker 1: it's your body. And yeah, I was also interested in
Speaker 1: the fact that you didn't disclose this because I talked
Speaker 1: to some other players. We worked very hard preparing for interview,
Speaker 1: and one professional player said, you know their disclosure forms,
Speaker 1: and he said, I'm so paranoid or I was so
Speaker 1: paranoid when I played that I would even put violin
Speaker 1: c on that on that list, And and so why
Speaker 1: didn't you just write it down and claim a therapeutic exemption. Ye. So,
Speaker 1: for for all the years that I was doing these forms,
Speaker 1: I was writing down, as it's said in the instructions,
Speaker 1: the medicines are supplements that you were supposed to write
Speaker 1: down for the past seven days. So everything that I
Speaker 1: was taking continuously every single day for the past seven days,
Speaker 1: I would write down. And this was not something that
Speaker 1: I took every single day. So I know one of
Speaker 1: the benefits is increased exercise cardiovascular capacity. Now that you're
Speaker 1: not taking it, did you notice any ill effects on
Speaker 1: your performance, because it's at one point you said you
Speaker 1: would look for a substitute, a replacement that wasn't on
Speaker 1: the band list. Did you find that I constantly have
Speaker 1: to get check ups. I constantly have to go to
Speaker 1: the doctor. UM. I get regular e KG is a
Speaker 1: lot more than than other people would UM. As you
Speaker 1: can imagine, I'm very detail oriented. After this happened, and
Speaker 1: and so did you find a replacement? UM, it's something
Speaker 1: that I don't want to talk about. It's just not
Speaker 1: something when we speak about doctors. I think it will
Speaker 1: open up more conversation and more questions. And I think
Speaker 1: from the very beginning, I think it's important, UM, you know,
Speaker 1: to speak about what had happened openly and honestly, and
Speaker 1: to move on from it. Let's let's talk about your
Speaker 1: time away from tennis. That fifteen months down from the
Speaker 1: original two year verdict allowed you to do some things
Speaker 1: that you hadn't done before. I think you must have
Speaker 1: had a really interesting experience. You took summer classes at
Speaker 1: Harvard Business School, You interned for a few days at
Speaker 1: the NBA. You followed around a commissioner, Adam Silver through
Speaker 1: his daily activities. You wrote this book. Why did you
Speaker 1: want to do some of those things? I think because
Speaker 1: it was the first time really in my career where
Speaker 1: I had time. It just gave me time. It gave
Speaker 1: me the freedom to do what I wanted to do,
Speaker 1: to grow as a person, um, and also to take
Speaker 1: my mind off of what was going on. I went
Speaker 1: to school for a few weeks and just to be
Speaker 1: in an environment with people that I didn't really care
Speaker 1: about my problems, had problems of their own, but we
Speaker 1: all had a similar understanding of why we were there.
Speaker 1: We wanted to learn um doing the internships. UM. You know,
Speaker 1: as you said, dam Silver, I've always admired his work,
Speaker 1: just his professionalism and leadership, and I think the NBA
Speaker 1: has done, out of all sports, is just an incredible
Speaker 1: showcase of putting athletes and teams and business together and
Speaker 1: creating a great product. So I wanted to learn from him.
Speaker 1: I went to Nike for a few days in Portland
Speaker 1: to shadowed a few people, So it was a mix
Speaker 1: of things, but more importantly, it gave me a chance
Speaker 1: to to be around the people that I wanted, that
Speaker 1: I care about, and that I wanted to be with
Speaker 1: during that period of time. You still trained. When I
Speaker 1: talked to Billy Jean, she said, I'd like to drop
Speaker 1: Billy Jane King's name like Billy Jane and I, but
Speaker 1: we're like that, well that we should she's incredible. She's yeah,
Speaker 1: she's an amazing But she talked about how tough it
Speaker 1: was to go back and and to play at the
Speaker 1: US Open after not playing competitive tennis or you know
Speaker 1: that kind of tennis for that period of time. It's hard. Yeah,
Speaker 1: It's the one thing is you can never replicate a
Speaker 1: competitive match. It's just not. You can do all the
Speaker 1: training in the world, and I spend time doing yoga
Speaker 1: and boxing and hiking and all the things I really
Speaker 1: didn't have time for because my training was very different
Speaker 1: from that. And all of a sudden, I find myself
Speaker 1: in an indoor cycling class with music. I was like, oh,
Speaker 1: this is this is new. I was like, wow, I
Speaker 1: didn't know that the training could be like dancing and fun.
Speaker 1: And then you go into class and it's like you
Speaker 1: go from zero to like waking up, like coffee in hand.
Speaker 1: A lot of women would walk in with their coffees
Speaker 1: and then all of a sudden, their heart rates like
Speaker 1: one sixty. I was like, wait, where's the warm up?
Speaker 1: I was like, I'm like thinking, where they're going to
Speaker 1: hurt themselves? Um, But it was very actually impressive. I
Speaker 1: gained this whole new appreciation of this like work active
Speaker 1: family balance that people have. I mean, I'm fortunate enough
Speaker 1: to work out for a living, and while I was
Speaker 1: doing these internships and studying, I knew that I had to,
Speaker 1: like at least be in somewhat of a good shape.
Speaker 1: But I would come back. Let's talk about your workout routine,
Speaker 1: because you mentioned I mean, and I watched a documentary
Speaker 1: about you that some friends of mine did, Lisa and
Speaker 1: Nancy Lax and they're great, and uh, you know, it
Speaker 1: showed you working out and I thought, God, how how
Speaker 1: do you do that day in and day out? Take
Speaker 1: us through sort of quickly your routine and what you
Speaker 1: do and how you mix it up. It really depends
Speaker 1: on whether I'm getting ready for a tournament, or if
Speaker 1: I'm in the off season, or if I'm in a
Speaker 1: time and place where I just need to maintain UM.
Speaker 1: The off season is probably the toughest training block of
Speaker 1: the year for me, and it just it's physical, it's grueling,
Speaker 1: it's long hours I do. I spend probably three hours
Speaker 1: in the gym and on the track. UM. But a
Speaker 1: lot of the focus and what I've tried to focus
Speaker 1: on is be very ton of specific because you can't replicate.
Speaker 1: And I don't know what it's like in other sports,
Speaker 1: but you really can't replicate tennis in any their environment.
Speaker 1: So how many hours would you say you spend a day?
Speaker 1: Like five to six? Oh God, that sounds awful. I
Speaker 1: don't know, do you? I mean, do you ever? I
Speaker 1: will say, though, it is a lot better. As I've
Speaker 1: been doing this book during the last couple of days,
Speaker 1: that's been like fifteen hour days. I've I was like,
Speaker 1: I'd rather play tennis for twelve I'd rather made me
Speaker 1: run side to side for twelve hours. Like, I don't know,
Speaker 1: there's just something about talking endlessly that's very difficult, Like
Speaker 1: I'd rather just be playing and focused and running and
Speaker 1: physical because it's just what I know best. We finished
Speaker 1: our first set, so we're going to take a quick break.
Speaker 1: I'll be back with Maria Sharapova to talk more tennis
Speaker 1: and even a little Vladimir Putin. Now back to my
Speaker 1: conversation with Maria Scherifova. You know, I know that you
Speaker 1: write in your book that you were really never into
Speaker 1: making friends in the world of tennis, and in fact,
Speaker 1: you called friendships among competitors tour friendships and a phony
Speaker 1: show for the press. Do you ever feel as if
Speaker 1: Maria you missed out or is that just not your
Speaker 1: jam to kind of get to know people. I'm so
Speaker 1: hip to get to know you know. I saw using
Speaker 1: Instagram before we went on here. I was like, I'm
Speaker 1: really impressed with your skills. You can't teach an old
Speaker 1: doc Patrick. But I mean, do you feel in a
Speaker 1: way that, Gosh, when you see someone like like Sloan
Speaker 1: and Madison embracing and having that extraordinary bond, do you
Speaker 1: feel like, gee, I wish I could have had that?
Speaker 1: In some ways, yeah, I respect that it's not the
Speaker 1: way that I grew up because I I came to
Speaker 1: America as an immigrant, and I spent the first many
Speaker 1: years being you know, someone at the academy that was
Speaker 1: much younger than everyone else, that was really on a
Speaker 1: different mission than everyone else. Um that weren't as competitive,
Speaker 1: that weren't as driven as I was, had different goals
Speaker 1: and visions for their lives and um, and I was
Speaker 1: always someone that was beating girls and boys that were
Speaker 1: older than I was, so in a way, they didn't
Speaker 1: like me for that, and I felt that I felt
Speaker 1: that energy and um and I wanted to to beat
Speaker 1: them even more, and so I think, do you lose
Speaker 1: your edge a little when you do? Do you ever
Speaker 1: feel like you lose your edge if you get too
Speaker 1: close to your competitors. Yeah, I do, I really do,
Speaker 1: And I think I speak a lot about that in
Speaker 1: in the book. You know, I didn't have any siblings.
Speaker 1: It was just me, and I wasn't around my parents
Speaker 1: very often the first few years in America, so it
Speaker 1: was really me and the tennis racket and the ball
Speaker 1: and the coaches that were around me trying to make
Speaker 1: me a better tennis player. So it was an absolute
Speaker 1: lonely time and I had to I had to deal
Speaker 1: with that, and I had to, like, I really did
Speaker 1: feel isolated from from the rest. You know, a lot
Speaker 1: of attention has been given to some of the stuff
Speaker 1: that you wrote about Serena um who's been out of
Speaker 1: tennis herself for a few months. She just had a
Speaker 1: baby girl named Alexis So mozl mozzle Serena. I hear
Speaker 1: Eric the ninety street Wise say, mozle um. So your
Speaker 1: record against her is two wins and nineteen losses. But
Speaker 1: you beat her in the Wimbledon finals in July of
Speaker 1: two thousand four. Of course, as you remember, you were
Speaker 1: just seventeen years old at the time, was your first
Speaker 1: Grand Slam. And in the book you write about hearing
Speaker 1: quote guttural sobs when you came to the locker room
Speaker 1: after the awards ceremony. Serena Williams was bawling and she
Speaker 1: didn't see you, but you write that she knew you
Speaker 1: were there, and you continue, I'm going to read an excerpt.
Speaker 1: I think Serena hated me for being the skinny kid
Speaker 1: who beat her against all odds at Wimbledon. I think
Speaker 1: she hate me for taking something that she believed belonged
Speaker 1: to her. I think she hated me for seeing her
Speaker 1: at her lowest moment. But mostly I think she hated
Speaker 1: me for seeing her cry. She's never forgiven me for it.
Speaker 1: End quote. Now, not long after the tournament, you also
Speaker 1: write someone told you they heard Serena say quote, I
Speaker 1: will never lose to that little bitch again. So just
Speaker 1: very much true. Yeah, so, so I guess she got her.
Speaker 1: So but why why do you think it was important
Speaker 1: for you to include that in your book, Because I
Speaker 1: know you've come under some criticism and the things that
Speaker 1: you've written about her well, I think it was important
Speaker 1: to share my experiences playing against her. And I've read
Speaker 1: a lot of memoirs written by athletes, and there are
Speaker 1: many instances where they don't speak about their rivals, and
Speaker 1: they don't speak about the matchups. And I think it
Speaker 1: would have been very odd if I did not include
Speaker 1: Serena in my book, because I mean, that is who
Speaker 1: I faced in my first Grand Slam final. And it
Speaker 1: didn't even begin there as I as I started before.
Speaker 1: It began as a thirteen year old girl practicing at
Speaker 1: the Nick Bolitary Academy and really witnessing her presence with
Speaker 1: her sister and her father, practicing in front of hundreds
Speaker 1: of kids that were looking at her um watching her
Speaker 1: every move, seeing her focus in her drive, and what
Speaker 1: she was able to to do on the tennis court.
Speaker 1: I mean, I was watching like the next twenty five
Speaker 1: years of my life, like just in front of my eyes.
Speaker 1: Later to find out that just in a few years
Speaker 1: and four years, almost as if someone took me and
Speaker 1: put me in the in my television screen and said,
Speaker 1: there you are, You're going to be facing Serena Williams
Speaker 1: and it's the Wimbledon final. And I didn't belong in
Speaker 1: that situation. I wasn't nearly ready to compete against her
Speaker 1: at that stage. It was it was really a miracle
Speaker 1: that I found myself playing against her then. And so
Speaker 1: when describing Serena Um and describing her physicality and how
Speaker 1: intimidating Um she was across the net, this is coming
Speaker 1: from someone that is seventeen years old, that was not
Speaker 1: as tall as I am today, that was far from
Speaker 1: being strong or experienced or ready to be in that position,
Speaker 1: and yet finding a way to win, and also noticing
Speaker 1: how I was the one that had nothing to lose
Speaker 1: in that match, and noticing that she had all the
Speaker 1: pressure to win that match where actually should be the
Speaker 1: other way around. I mean, she's already accomplished. She's a
Speaker 1: two time defending champion at Wimbledon that year. She's done it,
Speaker 1: she's been there. I'm the one that has to prove myself,
Speaker 1: and yet I find myself in a position where I
Speaker 1: feel that there was a lot more on the line
Speaker 1: for her. So it was important to share that in
Speaker 1: the In the moment that I speak about in the
Speaker 1: locker room, I mean that's it's an intimate moment that
Speaker 1: we share it's an individual sport. Towards the end of
Speaker 1: a tournament, I mean we're all sharing a locker room together.
Speaker 1: I mean you could be facing an opponent and have
Speaker 1: a locker room that's right next to each other. You're
Speaker 1: getting ready, you're changed. In an hour, you're supposed to
Speaker 1: go out and compete against each other and beat each other.
Speaker 1: And then it's the moment after we feel the energy
Speaker 1: between each other, like we feel that it's such a
Speaker 1: quiet moment that it's just us, and yet there are
Speaker 1: thousands of people waiting for arrival on the court. It's
Speaker 1: so personal though, it's so private. Do you think if
Speaker 1: if Serena had written a memoir and I think she
Speaker 1: has well, or if she had talked about that, or
Speaker 1: if she had said that she heard you cry, Um,
Speaker 1: do you think you would have felt, gee, that's a
Speaker 1: little intrusive, or do you think you would have understood
Speaker 1: her sharing that. I think if I wanted to write
Speaker 1: a memoir, and when I sat down to write this book, um,
Speaker 1: and as I said, I've read many memoirs of athletes.
Speaker 1: It was important for me to be open and honest
Speaker 1: about the way that I felt and the way that
Speaker 1: I mean I certainly felt the momentum shift in her attitude,
Speaker 1: the way that she carried herself playing against me following
Speaker 1: that final, there's no no doubt about very different. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean I definitely, I absolutely feel like she she
Speaker 1: plays like there's a chip on her shoulder. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: the way that she's able to raise her level, the
Speaker 1: confidence with which she portrays and plays. And I mean
Speaker 1: it's not me. I don't want to single myself out.
Speaker 1: You see that continuously. I mean, she's won the number
Speaker 1: of Grand Slams, she's one in a league of her own, um.
Speaker 1: But ultimately, yeah, there's definitely a level that's um that's
Speaker 1: much higher. So thirteen years later, would you say you
Speaker 1: like Serena Williams. I respect Serena. Okay, let's let's talk
Speaker 1: about and how can I say that I like someone
Speaker 1: that's being me nineteen times? I mean that would be
Speaker 1: so silly. Okay, No, don't you agree? I don't know.
Speaker 1: I guess that would be hard. I mean, I'm super
Speaker 1: competitive too, so it's hard for me to like people
Speaker 1: like I'm competitive with. On the other hand, I think
Speaker 1: like to me, respect is a very important word because
Speaker 1: I as an athlete I've been able to meet very famous,
Speaker 1: accomplished individuals in different fields, and the understanding that I
Speaker 1: have with with athletes is very different. It's on a
Speaker 1: very different level because you really from a physical from
Speaker 1: an emotional point of view, you really understand what it takes.
Speaker 1: And that's why I use the word respect when I
Speaker 1: speak about Serena, because I know, I know how much
Speaker 1: it takes. I know how much she had to work
Speaker 1: in her upbringing without coming from any money, with having
Speaker 1: a tough childhood and making it going against adversity and
Speaker 1: being in a position of where she is now. I think,
Speaker 1: I mean, it would be very wrong for me to
Speaker 1: sit here and say that I have no respect for her.
Speaker 1: I know what it's like, I know what it's like
Speaker 1: to be in a position of her power, to be
Speaker 1: as successful, to be known around the world, and all
Speaker 1: the intangibles that come with being a professional athletes. So
Speaker 1: from that point of view, there's a tremendous amount of respect.
Speaker 1: But that that doesn't make headlines. So I'm curious. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's funny when you watch players sort of shake hands
Speaker 1: and you wonder what's really going through their heads. And
Speaker 1: because you are pretty myopic, and focused on your tennis
Speaker 1: and haven't built a lot of friendships among other players.
Speaker 1: Have you ever had an occasion to chat with her
Speaker 1: about anything. We've talked about a few different things and
Speaker 1: very random subjects, kind of depend on which time of
Speaker 1: our career it was. And I mean there was a
Speaker 1: point in time where she where I was out with
Speaker 1: injury for a long time she was playing, and then
Speaker 1: she was out following. So there's a big chunk of
Speaker 1: time where we didn't face against each other and we
Speaker 1: didn't see each other a lot of the time, but
Speaker 1: we would, I mean, we would have friendly conversations in
Speaker 1: the locker room saying hello. And I mean there's we
Speaker 1: don't pass by each other very often, and we I
Speaker 1: mean we usually we practice, we play our match, we
Speaker 1: get our stuff. It's not like there's a you know,
Speaker 1: community party in there where you you hang out. I
Speaker 1: mean you only spending ten fifteen minutes at a time
Speaker 1: in a locker room. So it was cordial, I mean absolutely,
Speaker 1: but not no, No, there's never a time where we
Speaker 1: we don't say hello to each other. Let's let's go
Speaker 1: back and talk about your game a little bit more.
Speaker 1: I know in the book you talk about your greatest
Speaker 1: skill being probably my will I will not quit, and
Speaker 1: and and you hate losing, And you also say you're
Speaker 1: defining characteristic is that you're a ead. You've had this
Speaker 1: incredible career. You have won five Slams, including two French Opens,
Speaker 1: along with one Wimbledon, US Open Australian title, and you've
Speaker 1: won thirty five w t A titles and four I
Speaker 1: t F titles. John McEnroe called you one of the
Speaker 1: best the sport has ever seen, which is high praise
Speaker 1: coming from him. So where are your biggest strengths and weaknesses?
Speaker 1: What's so funny that's just that coming from him? What
Speaker 1: do you like? Do you like John? I do I
Speaker 1: think he's yeah? I mean yeah, I do know I
Speaker 1: very much. You like him even more now that you're
Speaker 1: reminded of that, But well, I do very much. What
Speaker 1: would you say are your greatest strengths and weaknesses out
Speaker 1: on the court? Um, I think my strengths are the
Speaker 1: things that are not measured and then that are not numbered.
Speaker 1: And I always joke with my coach about this. UM
Speaker 1: always tell him like, if you take me to the gym,
Speaker 1: if you take all the players in the draw and
Speaker 1: take us to the gym and make us run on
Speaker 1: the treadmill, or do like a competition with squats, or
Speaker 1: give us waits. I can guarantee you I would be
Speaker 1: on the bottom of each less like I did not
Speaker 1: grow up being the fastest or the strongest um or
Speaker 1: the quickest mover around the court. But there are other
Speaker 1: intangibles that made me the player that I became. And
Speaker 1: I think it was an understanding of those weaknesses and
Speaker 1: knowing what I had to do and that I could
Speaker 1: improve them, that if I worked harder, that if I
Speaker 1: set my mind on those weaknesses, that I could get better.
Speaker 1: I knew that there were players that could have been
Speaker 1: more talented than me, that could have been faster than me,
Speaker 1: that if that outnumbered me. But all that that that
Speaker 1: sometimes doesn't matter. You go out into the match and
Speaker 1: you don't need to be better than all the hundred
Speaker 1: and twenty players in the draw. It's only a matter
Speaker 1: of who's who you're playing against across the net that
Speaker 1: you have to be better than them. And so I
Speaker 1: think that's when I speak about will Um and the
Speaker 1: mindset that I that I had, I think that's what
Speaker 1: separated me from a lot of the players. Is that
Speaker 1: I realized that it was okay not to be the
Speaker 1: best at all those other things. When you talk about weaknesses,
Speaker 1: like is there something specific that you try to compensate
Speaker 1: for that you've had to really work on to improve
Speaker 1: through the years, I mean by moving forward, you know,
Speaker 1: getting myself to the net, finishing the point off at
Speaker 1: the net. Being at the net was not something that
Speaker 1: I practiced and my coaches didn't really include in the
Speaker 1: drills that I was doing for some of the reasons.
Speaker 1: I worked on other parts of my game, but never
Speaker 1: really coming forward to the net. And so that's something
Speaker 1: that I actually later in my career, like adding variety
Speaker 1: drop shots and lobs um and things like that is
Speaker 1: something that I feel like I've begun to work on
Speaker 1: sort of in my mid twenties. I guess let's talk
Speaker 1: about your grunting, which is really it's it's it's less
Speaker 1: grunting and more singing. I think I think that kind
Speaker 1: of go is them, right? Is that what you do?
Speaker 1: Though it's not what is that about? You're making it
Speaker 1: sound a lot better than it is, don't you think,
Speaker 1: I mean, didn't I say? It is kind of a
Speaker 1: little single thing, right, You do it. How do you think,
Speaker 1: you say, I, I don't even want to try. I
Speaker 1: think you did such a great job. You made me
Speaker 1: look really good doing that, So you all right, no,
Speaker 1: I UM. It's such an interesting thing that when you
Speaker 1: do something, and you start from a very young age,
Speaker 1: and that you continue doing that, you don't think twice about,
Speaker 1: but then you go into a press conference and then
Speaker 1: you get asked about it. A majority of the time,
Speaker 1: especially when I first came on tour, it's not a
Speaker 1: question that I get asked a lot about now, but
Speaker 1: so thank thank you for bringing it up. A majority
Speaker 1: of the time. It's when you go to England and
Speaker 1: they somehow get out these measuring sticks how loud you are,
Speaker 1: and I was like, how do you like compare me
Speaker 1: to an airplane? Like how could I take you? Seriously?
Speaker 1: You're a journalist. I mean that's when you just have
Speaker 1: to shake your head. But but but it has become
Speaker 1: pretty controversial. I know that. In two thousand nine, Martin
Speaker 1: and Avagelova said grunting has reached an unacceptable level. It's cheating,
Speaker 1: pure and simple. And I thought it was interesting that
Speaker 1: I saw a piece at the nick Military camp that
Speaker 1: they're starting to teach kids breathing techniques to avoid grunting.
Speaker 1: So do you think we're going to see a decrease
Speaker 1: in the future. And and I know you think people
Speaker 1: shouldn't make a big, big deal, but you know, every
Speaker 1: when I retire, I mean, I hope they don't implement
Speaker 1: that rule while I play, you know, But but I
Speaker 1: think for some people they do find it. Other players
Speaker 1: find it aggravating. I think a lot of players are
Speaker 1: are used to by now when I play against them,
Speaker 1: because I've been I feel like I've been around for
Speaker 1: many years and they know what to expect. But I
Speaker 1: don't know if it's going to change, not by some
Speaker 1: of the matches that I've I've seen recently, I don't
Speaker 1: I don't know if it's going away anytime soon. We've
Speaker 1: got a lot of good questions from the audience, a
Speaker 1: lot of big tennis fans here. What a shock. But
Speaker 1: before I want to ask you a couple of questions
Speaker 1: about your dad, because he brought you here from Russia
Speaker 1: when you were just six years old. I think Martin
Speaker 1: and average Alova discovered you in some ways are said, anyway,
Speaker 1: just this, this little girl is good. You need to
Speaker 1: get her to America, like five years old, I attended
Speaker 1: a tennis clinic and my father took me to Moscow.
Speaker 1: We took a flight to Moscow from Sochi, where we
Speaker 1: were living, and and she spotted me there are a
Speaker 1: couple of hundred kids out there. And looking back at
Speaker 1: that moment, I don't understand, or I can't understand. I
Speaker 1: haven't actually asked her this question, but it's like, what
Speaker 1: do you see in a five year old? At five
Speaker 1: years old? I mean, they're the rackets usually bigger than
Speaker 1: they are, like the balls are, you know, all over
Speaker 1: the place. And and she told my father that I
Speaker 1: had an opportunity to be a great tennis player. And
Speaker 1: so thank how that changed the trajectory of your life
Speaker 1: because I took her series sleep. They really did. And
Speaker 1: one of the things I say in the book and
Speaker 1: is we came across these people in our lives that
Speaker 1: literally shaped our path. And they were complete strangers to us,
Speaker 1: like we we knew maybe knew of them, such as Martina,
Speaker 1: or we didn't know them at all. And you know,
Speaker 1: when you're young, they say you have to stay away
Speaker 1: from strangers, But it's the strangers that really shaped our beginnings.
Speaker 1: And that led me to where I went. Your dad, UM,
Speaker 1: was your coach for a long time and manager, and
Speaker 1: of course your father, UM. What tell me about those
Speaker 1: early years with your dad and your mom stayed behind
Speaker 1: in Russia? UM initially? So what was that like for you?
Speaker 1: And how did that? It must have really forged an
Speaker 1: extraordinary relationship between the two of you. It really was.
Speaker 1: It was a special bond and I've come to appreciate
Speaker 1: it and understand it as I've gotten a little bit older. UM,
Speaker 1: more so because you hear a lot about an athlete,
Speaker 1: the relationship between an athlete and their parents, and how
Speaker 1: you know, when you get older, you want to distance
Speaker 1: yourself because there's so much dedication and so much influence
Speaker 1: coming from the parents. And as I look back at
Speaker 1: my experience with my father, especially those first two years
Speaker 1: in America, I the decisions that he made were were
Speaker 1: to make my dream come true. And he didn't know
Speaker 1: much about tennis, but he guided me in all these
Speaker 1: different directions that led me to where I am. And
Speaker 1: I don't know. I think I sometimes asked why he
Speaker 1: had They had a normal life and back home, and
Speaker 1: they could have you know, they didn't have a lot
Speaker 1: of money. He came to America with seven dollars. He
Speaker 1: almost had to not believe in this crazy story and
Speaker 1: not believe in this crazy dream. He just has to
Speaker 1: go with it. It's almost like he had to be
Speaker 1: a little bit stupid in order to live this dream. Um.
Speaker 1: I think he should write a book of his own.
Speaker 1: I mean I I no one would read it, probably,
Speaker 1: but poor dad. I would say that still, and he's
Speaker 1: still part of your team very much, yeah, very much. So.
Speaker 1: After I won my third Grand Slam, I think there's
Speaker 1: just there's a part of me that was like, I
Speaker 1: want to feel what it would be like to do
Speaker 1: this on my own. You know, I've had my father
Speaker 1: along this this whole ride, and I don't know, I
Speaker 1: thought it was important to have a coach, to not
Speaker 1: have my dad around, even though he's still calls my
Speaker 1: coach every single day. I mean, my coach's phone bill
Speaker 1: is like, I'm like, send me the check. But he's Um,
Speaker 1: he's still very much involved. So I'm going to do
Speaker 1: some audience questions and kind of intersperse them with a
Speaker 1: few more that I've come up with. But one person
Speaker 1: wants to know between the point when you look away
Speaker 1: from the player and say something to yourself, what do
Speaker 1: you say, oh, when I look at myself, So like,
Speaker 1: let's say you're you know you you? You play a point?
Speaker 1: And probably I think because I have this little routine
Speaker 1: where I go back and like I look like a robot.
Speaker 1: I go back, I like look at my strings and
Speaker 1: I fiddle with them and then I go back to
Speaker 1: go back to serve. So well, it depends on the map.
Speaker 1: I mean, it depends on the situation of the match.
Speaker 1: And the reason I developed that sort of habit is
Speaker 1: because I would like, my attention span was short, so
Speaker 1: I'd be looking around and I wouldn't have focused, and
Speaker 1: so from a young age, I was like, Okay, I
Speaker 1: need to focus on something. So it ended up being
Speaker 1: my strings, and I just started this little walk back
Speaker 1: and developed into a routine. So, but would you say
Speaker 1: something like I can't believe I did that. I'm an
Speaker 1: idiot or there or I use worse words than that.
Speaker 1: You're very kind if you could, okay, if you could
Speaker 1: go back in time, what advice would you give your
Speaker 1: seventeen year old self right after your first Grand Slam win.
Speaker 1: It's never going to be perfect, and that that victory
Speaker 1: it seemed like everything was perfect. Um, it seemed like
Speaker 1: a fairy tale, but none of it is. There's certainly
Speaker 1: it's a journey. A lot of people saw my victory
Speaker 1: and said it was an overnight success. But that takes
Speaker 1: hours and days and weeks and years to develop, and
Speaker 1: and it takes just as long to get your next
Speaker 1: one and the next one, whether that's a grand Slam,
Speaker 1: whether it's another ambition that you have, so you know,
Speaker 1: it's it's not always rainbows and butterflies, is what I'll
Speaker 1: tell myself. Well, that was a nice, profound answer. So
Speaker 1: I want to ask you a shallow question to follow up.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about your love life for a second. Thank you.
Speaker 1: I like how we took that interesting shortcut. What sort
Speaker 1: of man are you attracted to? This just turned into
Speaker 1: a Cosmo questionnaire? But I know you dated a number
Speaker 1: of professional athletes like Rigor Dimitro. Is that I'm pronouncing
Speaker 1: these names? Okay, Sasha buich Uh NBA player for the
Speaker 1: l A Lakers and a few other teams, Andy Roddick
Speaker 1: apparently Charlie Ever saw the son of Dick Ever saw
Speaker 1: who I know from NBC Sports, Adam, Should we just
Speaker 1: go through the whole listening. Well, I was going to
Speaker 1: ask you who I who? I think? Can we stop?
Speaker 1: Who was the biggest jerk? I don't deserve this credit. No,
Speaker 1: that's not true. So I was gonna ask me all amazing, um,
Speaker 1: so why I'm not with them? I feel a little
Speaker 1: cheesy asking this. But are are you seeing anyone now?
Speaker 1: And that's a question from my husband, by the way,
Speaker 1: which makes me a little worried. But no, I am
Speaker 1: not seeing anyone, um consistently. But you're dating, having fun?
Speaker 1: You have time to date? I did, yeah, okay, and
Speaker 1: then I packed my bags in April, was like see you. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that didn't go well. He also wanted to know if
Speaker 1: you date Jewish men I have Okay, okay, good, that's good.
Speaker 1: Well it is someone available to someone. Well he does
Speaker 1: know some people, but we can talk about that. Okay,
Speaker 1: we might as well continue on that. It sounds like
Speaker 1: your husband wants to set me up. Yeah, well maybe,
Speaker 1: I hope. I hope. That's why he's so curious. I
Speaker 1: knew we were like alright, so I was trying to
Speaker 1: sell a few books and now I'm gonna have a boyfriend.
Speaker 1: You're not so bad? Um, So let me before I
Speaker 1: get to a couple of more audience questions. I know
Speaker 1: that you also wrote that you learned early on after
Speaker 1: signing on with Nike at age eleven, that tennis is
Speaker 1: a business as much as a sport, and I wanted
Speaker 1: to share this because I thought this was interesting. Until
Speaker 1: last year, you were the highest paid female athlete for
Speaker 1: more than a decade straight, breaking in two hundred and
Speaker 1: eighty five million dollars in commercial endorsements. See now you're
Speaker 1: going to get a lot the days you've got me.
Speaker 1: Suddenly you just got even more popular. But I feel
Speaker 1: like calling my financial manager right now and saying, where
Speaker 1: is that money? Where is this money that everyone is
Speaker 1: reporting on? Clearly, you know you're you're interested in business,
Speaker 1: and you're also very entrepreneurial. You you started a premium
Speaker 1: candy line called Sugar Pova in two thousand twelve. So
Speaker 1: what direction do you see yourself going after tennis when
Speaker 1: you're when you're through with your tennis career. Business is
Speaker 1: definitely something that I enjoy learning about, but more so
Speaker 1: about being UM, being a part of things that I'm
Speaker 1: passionate about and from a business perspective, UM, while starting
Speaker 1: my own business. And you know, I didn't know much
Speaker 1: about the food industry, didn't know much about sweets. But
Speaker 1: I hired people around me to really to help me
Speaker 1: understand to grow my business. I mean, although I was
Speaker 1: the one that was paying the checks, I wanted to
Speaker 1: gain information from them. And so know, there's there are
Speaker 1: elements of of learning and growth. And as I said, um,
Speaker 1: I'm still only thirty years old, and although I've been
Speaker 1: successful because I've done what I've done on the court,
Speaker 1: there's still a lot of potential for growth for me.
Speaker 1: Like I really believe that you can be a better
Speaker 1: you know, a better business person, you can be a
Speaker 1: better leader in all those things. It seems like you're
Speaker 1: interested in fashion. You're definitely very active on social media.
Speaker 1: You have a lot of Instagram followers. I follow you,
Speaker 1: and Um, given sort of the and your interest in
Speaker 1: and in business, it sounds to me you might have
Speaker 1: the makings of a of a quote unquote lifestyle brand.
Speaker 1: You know, somebody who talks about a lot of different
Speaker 1: things and wellness and fashion, etcetera. We've seen sort of
Speaker 1: people emerge in that space. Is that something that interests you.
Speaker 1: I've always had a difficult connection with the word brand
Speaker 1: because it's a very I don't know what you feel
Speaker 1: about the word brand, but it feels very like corporate
Speaker 1: and robotic and not very human to me, and it's
Speaker 1: very much the opposite of what I would want to portray.
Speaker 1: And I mean, I think a lot of you know,
Speaker 1: branding and marketing and those those tool words. Um, they
Speaker 1: stem from decisions, like decisions on where you see yourself
Speaker 1: what you want to do. Fortunately, I've been in a
Speaker 1: position where I can make those decisions of who I
Speaker 1: want to associate myself with, but that doesn't necessarily create
Speaker 1: my name into a brand. It's not the way that
Speaker 1: I see it. I know it's the way that it's portrayed,
Speaker 1: but the word itself is I don't know. I don't
Speaker 1: feel great about it. Okay, Um, for here's another audience
Speaker 1: question for US young tennis players. Do you have a
Speaker 1: message for us that you wish you knew when you
Speaker 1: were a kid? Besides don't do it? Really, you wouldn't
Speaker 1: tell that, No, I'm kidding. No. Sometimes I occasionally I
Speaker 1: feel like that I get off the court and I've
Speaker 1: lost a tough match and it's just it's brutal, and
Speaker 1: that's what I think, But then I get up the
Speaker 1: next day and I get back on the court, and
Speaker 1: I'm like, I want to continue doing this and I
Speaker 1: want to be great. But I think there comes in
Speaker 1: a point in our lives or we really have to
Speaker 1: dedicate ourselves if we're being if we want to get
Speaker 1: to that next level, and we want to dedicate ourselves
Speaker 1: to that one thing that we do. The one thing
Speaker 1: I noticed when I came to the United States were
Speaker 1: the amazing ability to have opportunities, which really helped me.
Speaker 1: But it's also a little bit of a distraction because
Speaker 1: you have you have a chance to be okay at
Speaker 1: one thing, to be good at something, to be social
Speaker 1: and another thing. And ultimately, if you have a real
Speaker 1: goal of where you want to go in one particular area,
Speaker 1: whether it's a sport or finance or another job and opportunity,
Speaker 1: ultimately you've got to make a decision on what it
Speaker 1: is that you love and what it is you want
Speaker 1: to grow with, because it requires ridiculous It takes, It
Speaker 1: takes commitment and and it and real and real repetition
Speaker 1: no matter what it is, so you better love it.
Speaker 1: I think it starts with finding something that you love
Speaker 1: and maybe Look, we all grow out of it as well,
Speaker 1: Like we we have a passion for it, and and
Speaker 1: there's something that happens within the process and we lose
Speaker 1: that that touch, and we lose that feel and love
Speaker 1: or what we were doing. But you still love tennis.
Speaker 1: I interviewed Andrea Agassi when he wrote his book, and
Speaker 1: I know you read it after you broke yours were
Speaker 1: you were afraid that I didn't want I I did
Speaker 1: want other memoirs to influence my I guess my writing
Speaker 1: or my ideas or the way that I wanted, um
Speaker 1: my thoughts to be on paper. But he told me
Speaker 1: that he hated tennis. That um, you know that he
Speaker 1: was playing it from such an early age that he
Speaker 1: started to hate it. But you never hated it. I
Speaker 1: never hated the game of tennis. I think they're definitely
Speaker 1: there are moments where there are a lot of things
Speaker 1: that come with tennis that I don't necessarily like. Hate
Speaker 1: is a very strong word. And um, the tennis aspect,
Speaker 1: like the feeling of being good and feeling like you
Speaker 1: can be better. I don't know. I've always said this,
Speaker 1: and like as a woman is just a very nice
Speaker 1: feeling and um, and I love that. Well, we're almost
Speaker 1: out of time, but we have We're going to do
Speaker 1: a quick lightning round because I thought it would be fun. Um,
Speaker 1: So I'm gonna scar Yeah, I know. So I'm just
Speaker 1: going to name some people and you can just tell
Speaker 1: me what it instantly comes to your head. Okay, this
Speaker 1: is skin Billy, Jen King, oh legend Martina Navratalova inspirational
Speaker 1: to me. Venus Williams, a pioneer for our sport, for
Speaker 1: the fight for equality. Roger Federer, oh legend um, just
Speaker 1: spool of class, elegance, rough and nadal um, grit, grit
Speaker 1: and desire and never stops fighting. My husband didn't think
Speaker 1: I should ask this, but you were going to say.
Speaker 1: Your husband is getting a lot of your getting a
Speaker 1: lot of shout out. I don't know, like this is
Speaker 1: getting awkward. He's here. No, he didn't think I should
Speaker 1: ask this, but I'm curious. I'm fascinated the dolls ritual.
Speaker 1: I mean what I wanted you to tell me what
Speaker 1: it is. You know what it is. It's he's pulling
Speaker 1: and touching and the hair and the when you see
Speaker 1: I mean, do a lot of players have these sort
Speaker 1: of thing that's like a superstition. Yes, have you ever
Speaker 1: asked him about it? Definitely not. Okay, if I'm going
Speaker 1: to have a conversation with Rafael Nadal, I don't think
Speaker 1: I'm going to ask him why he does that with
Speaker 1: his shorts. Okay, jim Jimmy Connors, would you? I might,
Speaker 1: Actually it wouldn't. It would not be my first thing
Speaker 1: out of the gate, But I cannot be it. Okay,
Speaker 1: I mean, how long have a conversation are you expecting
Speaker 1: to have I'm talking to him. I'm going to talk
Speaker 1: to him for a good long time. Yeah, okay, So
Speaker 1: Jimmy Connors, oh, for a short period of time. And
Speaker 1: it didn't work. It didn't work out. Um. He was
Speaker 1: an interesting character and someone that I admired. No, I
Speaker 1: really don't laugh, because I mean in a very genuine
Speaker 1: it's so sincere. Um. He I love listening to him speak,
Speaker 1: and I still do, I think. Um. I was mesmerized
Speaker 1: by his presence, like I didn't want to miss a ball.
Speaker 1: I love listening to every word he said. Um, so inspirational.
Speaker 1: When he became my my only coach was when I
Speaker 1: realized that it just wasn't a good fit. But from
Speaker 1: the things that he said, just based on his experience. UM,
Speaker 1: to me, that was valuable. John McEnroe, crazy Donald Trump?
Speaker 1: But did you who did you say Donald the President?
Speaker 1: I didn't hear you. Okay, real quick, waite, Who's next? Putin? Yes?
Speaker 1: I knew. Yeah, I just threw myself into that situation,
Speaker 1: didn't I. UM, do I need to answer? You brought
Speaker 1: it up? I know I did. Um. What do I
Speaker 1: think of him? Um? I see him? I think as
Speaker 1: everyone else, as as a character almost from a distance
Speaker 1: that um those born in Russian and spent the first
Speaker 1: few years of my life there. I feel like everything
Speaker 1: I know about the country, about its history, is very
Speaker 1: much from Afar, and so I think I see it
Speaker 1: also as an audience, you know, as this character that
Speaker 1: is being portrayed by by everyone else without knowing much.
Speaker 1: And last name Maria Sharapova, M. I mean your husband
Speaker 1: told me to say unstoppable. Um, Like, as we did
Speaker 1: a little little sixty second interview for for her Instagram
Speaker 1: and and then one of that was one of the
Speaker 1: last questions, and he's like, you didn't say unstoppable. Okay,
Speaker 1: I'll say it next time. So well, Maria Sharapova, it
Speaker 1: was so fun to talk to you. That's it for
Speaker 1: us in two thousand and seventeen, May old acquaintance be
Speaker 1: forgot and ever brought to mind something like that. Thanks
Speaker 1: so much to the team behind this podcast, Gianna Palmer,
Speaker 1: our producer, Gared O'Connell, our audio engineer, Nora Richie, our
Speaker 1: production assistant, Alison Bresnik, who captains our social media ship,
Speaker 1: Well done, captain, and Emily been A contributes to the
Speaker 1: pod from her steam post at Katie Kirk Media. Also
Speaker 1: Betamas for all her help in making sure that I
Speaker 1: get to the studio on time. Brian and I are
Speaker 1: the show's executive producers. Mark Phillips wrote our theme music.
Speaker 1: But last, but not least, thank you very much to
Speaker 1: my friends, and they are my friends at the Street
Speaker 1: Why Carrying. My daughter went to preschool there, and the
Speaker 1: y is a great New York institution. But thank you
Speaker 1: all for hosting and recording this conversation. Please feel free
Speaker 1: to email us with your guest ideas. Brian and I
Speaker 1: would love to hear from you, and so would Gianna
Speaker 1: and Jarrett and the rest of the aforementioned crew. You
Speaker 1: can ask questions, you can give us feedback at Comments
Speaker 1: at current podcast dot com, or please leave us a
Speaker 1: voicemail at nine to nine, two to four, four six
Speaker 1: three seven. You can find Brian on Twitter at Goldsmith
Speaker 1: b and if you search Katie Kuric. I am everywhere
Speaker 1: on social media people, So I'm very excited for what
Speaker 1: the new year has in store for our podcast. We
Speaker 1: have a lot of great guests and even some surprises
Speaker 1: in store for you. We've been working very hard find
Speaker 1: the scenes to make sure we kick off two thousand
Speaker 1: eighteen in style. Until then, Happy new everybody, and we'll
Speaker 1: see you next year.