Speaker 1: I'm going to make a prediction here. I think Rafa
Speaker 1: is going to surprise you at the Olympics, best of
Speaker 1: three sets at Roland Garros. Him losing the way he
Speaker 1: did it to Suev in the first round where we
Speaker 1: played very well. I think he feels like that guy
Speaker 1: got to the final and I played him tough. Don't
Speaker 1: be surprised if he's playing for a medal. Still, I'm saying,
Speaker 1: hi everyone, and welcome to the French Connection. Of course,
Speaker 1: I am Renee Starves and that guy over there is
Speaker 1: Sam Query. We're bringing you this, of course by NBC
Speaker 1: Sports and Racket. We're going to cover all the tennis
Speaker 1: as we've done and have done, of course, from the
Speaker 1: French Open right through it, of course the Olympics in
Speaker 1: Paris and everything in between. And of course what's in between.
Speaker 1: Well we know it's Wimbledon, of course, and I'm here
Speaker 1: in Weimbledon Village, in my little beautiful house here that
Speaker 1: I have, and of course Sam, you're back in California.
Speaker 1: But Sam, before we get to Wimbledon, it's nice to
Speaker 1: see you, my friend. How are you going.
Speaker 2: I'm good. I've got extreme fullmo that I'm not in Wimbledon.
Speaker 2: I was going to be playing the Legends this year,
Speaker 2: which you're playing now that we're like three days out
Speaker 2: and like all my I see all my friends there,
Speaker 2: I see like the draws out. I'm just like I wish,
Speaker 2: I wish I could hobble around on a torn achilles
Speaker 2: right now, because I would if I could.
Speaker 1: Now, Friend, you know what I'm going to say to
Speaker 1: that is that that's what happens when you play pickaball right,
Speaker 1: you could have been here on the hallow lawns of
Speaker 1: Wimbledon instead you chose to bust your achilles playing pickleball.
Speaker 1: But anyway, I don't want to get into that.
Speaker 2: What I'm going to get into.
Speaker 1: Okay, good, I'll let them know that you're coming back,
Speaker 1: Sam because I know you love the grass my friends.
Speaker 1: So we're going to get into that. But before we do,
Speaker 1: let's talk about the Roger Federer documentary Twelve Days. What
Speaker 1: did you think about it? I'm going to give you
Speaker 1: my thoughts. There was a lot of tears, I have
Speaker 1: to say, I admit it. I cried a lot. But
Speaker 1: what did you think about it?
Speaker 2: I liked it, I didn't love it. I mean, look,
Speaker 2: I was I'm a huge Roger fan, just like the
Speaker 2: rest of the world. I'd probably watch a documentary of
Speaker 2: him sleeping. But it's almost like I wanted, I wanted
Speaker 2: a documentary about his whole life of os and like
Speaker 2: going into these Wimbledon finals and things like that. Having
Speaker 2: said that, it was it was really cool to watch.
Speaker 2: I love the behind the scenes kind of footage in
Speaker 2: the locker room. But yeah, it was like an emotional
Speaker 2: roller coaster for ninety minutes. Everyone's He's crying, Rofers crying,
Speaker 2: Novak's crying, Mirka is crying. But it was a fun
Speaker 2: watch crying. Yeah, you were crying. But I wanted I
Speaker 2: want another documentary about like the twenty years of Roger's
Speaker 2: life on tour.
Speaker 1: Yeah. It's interesting, isn't it, Because you have to think
Speaker 1: that they, you know, thought about this at the last minute, like, Okay,
Speaker 1: we know you're going to retire, let's maybe start documenting it.
Speaker 1: So many great documentaries over the last couple of years
Speaker 1: that nothing was better in my opinion, obviously than the
Speaker 1: Michael Jordan one. I mean, because I don't know who
Speaker 1: thought about carrying a camcorder around back in the day,
Speaker 1: but they captured so much of that. So yeah, hopefully
Speaker 1: down the track we're going to see a more in
Speaker 1: depth history of his career and life because as you said,
Speaker 1: I mean, you wanted to live through so many of
Speaker 1: those moments. We got to see some glimpse of his
Speaker 1: past and all the things. But one of the things
Speaker 1: that I felt so interested in hearing was his discussion
Speaker 1: about Novak and how he didn't really respect him early
Speaker 1: on his career. And one of the things that I
Speaker 1: thought was really interesting was he talked about technically he
Speaker 1: wasn't a great player and you played him back young,
Speaker 1: you know, when he was a young guy. How much
Speaker 1: has he improved his technique along the years. And I
Speaker 1: loved that Roger said that because it was true, right, No.
Speaker 2: You're right, it was true. Like especially like on the serve,
Speaker 2: Novak's kind of always gone through like different serve motions,
Speaker 2: different tactics. You've seen him bounce the ball anywhere from
Speaker 2: one time to twenty times. But yeah, like I want
Speaker 2: to say, from two thousand and like six, seven, eight, nine, ten,
Speaker 2: Novak was great. There was some hitches in his in
Speaker 2: his game with the strokes, but Roger kind of hit
Speaker 2: the nail on the head the strokes are are so
Speaker 2: clean now, especially on the backhand, and that just kind
Speaker 2: of propelled him into what he is today. But it
Speaker 2: was fun to see Roger kind of give an honest,
Speaker 2: raw take on Novak, one of his greatest rivals.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and also I loved the conversation about matchups and
Speaker 1: we don't talk about it enough in tennis, and hopefully
Speaker 1: we'll do that a little bit more and get into
Speaker 1: the weeds of why matchups are so important. Like I'm
Speaker 1: sure you had somebody that was just a complete pigeon,
Speaker 1: you beat them all the time, but then that person
Speaker 1: would beat a guy that you could never beat, and
Speaker 1: I just you know, we don't talk about the matchups
Speaker 1: and why they are so important on grass, So it
Speaker 1: was on different surfaces and all the things, like you know,
Speaker 1: everyone says that the reason why I know Roger's backhand
Speaker 1: got so much better is because Rafa played it so
Speaker 1: much with the lefty and it made it so much
Speaker 1: better and so through the years. And I love that
Speaker 1: he talked about Novak's backhand. How everyone talks about how
Speaker 1: great novaks back end is, but he was like, even
Speaker 1: his back end wasn't real smooth. It was a little
Speaker 1: Dodgy and how to me. It also showed you the
Speaker 1: reason why Novak Djokovic has become the greatest player of
Speaker 1: all time, arguably because he improved every single year every
Speaker 1: little thing about his game. And it was really nice
Speaker 1: to hear that. And that's the thing about that we
Speaker 1: love about Roger. He's always been really honest, but he
Speaker 1: knows how to sort of massage it. I love the
Speaker 1: story where he put his pants on the wrong way
Speaker 1: when he beat Andy.
Speaker 2: So there's so many greats like Roger stories. But like
Speaker 2: you're saying, I think all three of those guys they
Speaker 2: improved their games to beat the other ones. You know,
Speaker 2: you hear in other sports. Oh, you know, the Boston
Speaker 2: Celtics are going to draft this player because they know
Speaker 2: they need to beat like the Philadelphia seventy six ers
Speaker 2: the other good teams, or the Mavericks need to do
Speaker 2: something to counteract the Denver Nuggets because they're the good teams.
Speaker 2: Those Roger Raffin wrote, And Roger Roffa and Novac weren't working.
Speaker 2: He wasn't working on his backhand to beat guys ranked
Speaker 2: fifty to one hundred. He knows he needs to work
Speaker 2: on that backhand to beat Rafa in major finals.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you know, obviously now with this next generation
Speaker 1: of Sinna and now Karez, they're going to be sort
Speaker 1: of the Roger and Rafa of this period of time.
Speaker 1: And what do they have to do to beat each
Speaker 1: other because they know, given at most every day, that's
Speaker 1: who they're gonna have to play. And speaking of the drawers,
Speaker 1: we're going to get to Wimbledon. But I guess the
Speaker 1: biggest story coming in here, and you and I talked
Speaker 1: about it that remember when I said, well, Novak will
Speaker 1: be here and you're like, oh, he's not going to play,
Speaker 1: He's in the draw. I can not believe. I've had
Speaker 1: two meniscus surgeries and I can tell you six weeks
Speaker 1: was the minimum that I when I came back, and
Speaker 1: I still think that was too early for me. And
Speaker 1: I cannot imagine having surgery on my knee. And the
Speaker 1: first tournament I play is slippery grass, because you know,
Speaker 1: the first day, you know, Sam, you take one wrong
Speaker 1: stip and bang, your knee goes down. We've seen it
Speaker 1: over and over and over. We saw it with Von
Speaker 1: Drossebert last week, like it's a dangerous surface to play on.
Speaker 1: Early on because it's so slick, so I cannot believe
Speaker 1: that he's actually in the draw.
Speaker 2: Your thoughts, Sam, I mean, like you said, Wimbledon's slippery,
Speaker 2: and Novak relies a lot in his movement. He's an
Speaker 2: aggressive move where he slides on the grass. But you know,
Speaker 2: like I haven't had a meniscus surgery, but I I've
Speaker 2: had other little surgeries, and like you said, usually with
Speaker 2: the meniscus it's six weeks minimum, and it's gonna be
Speaker 2: will be four weeks for him kind of basically by
Speaker 2: the time he takes the court, we'll see. I'm sure
Speaker 2: he's had an incredible doctor, a great surgery he's doing.
Speaker 2: I'm sure he's spent every day the last four weeks
Speaker 2: rehabbing it. And he might look at things because he's
Speaker 2: so good and and you know, he might look at
Speaker 2: the first week of the draw and say, look, I
Speaker 2: think I think at eighty percent, I can maybe get
Speaker 2: by some of these players and hopefully the knee kind
Speaker 2: of heals and and then I'm and then I'm into
Speaker 2: week five.
Speaker 1: But to your point, wait five, not wake five.
Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying. After the first week he
Speaker 2: plays and then he's then he's kind of into the
Speaker 2: week five. But I'm just as shocked as you are.
Speaker 2: And look, we'll see what happened. He's in the draw now,
Speaker 2: we'll see if he plays. It seems like he's practicing.
Speaker 2: You're there, you've seen him on the courts hitting.
Speaker 1: Yet I have seen him. He's been on the courts
Speaker 1: every day. He hit with Janick Sinner. I believe yesterday
Speaker 1: he hit again today. I mean, look, he plays Kopriva.
Speaker 1: I gotta say it's a perfect great draw for him.
Speaker 1: Guy that will probably go out there absolutely, you know,
Speaker 1: you know whatding his pants playing arguably the second greatest
Speaker 1: player at Wimbledon behind Roger, I mean Novak. Nobody has
Speaker 1: won more titles other than Roger Federer on grass, so
Speaker 1: at Wimbledon. So for me, it's as crazy. I can't
Speaker 1: believe that he's wearing the sleeve on his knee every practice.
Speaker 1: He looks pretty good running for the ball. But it's
Speaker 1: more And as you know, Sam, it's not about practice.
Speaker 1: You are still in control. Even if you're practicing a
Speaker 1: practice set or playing points, you're still in control of
Speaker 1: I don't need to run for that. If you want
Speaker 1: to win, you have to run for that in a match,
Speaker 1: so and in best of five, I mean, physically, is
Speaker 1: he going to be able to get through it? It's
Speaker 1: mind blowing to me. Taylor Fritz had a similar surgery,
Speaker 1: I believe, and came back fairly quickly as well a
Speaker 1: couple of years ago at Wimbledon, And so I don't know.
Speaker 1: This is clearly the story of the early part of
Speaker 1: the men's tournament.
Speaker 2: Though, right, And I think maybe he might take He's
Speaker 2: gonna play the first round and like you said, he
Speaker 2: can control it and practice, he can't control it when
Speaker 2: the tournament starts. Play the first round and then see
Speaker 2: how he feels after After that it's like, oh my gosh,
Speaker 2: my knee is sore. Hey, maybe I'm gonna call it,
Speaker 2: but hey it feels pretty good. Let's keep going and
Speaker 2: see what I can do.
Speaker 1: Yeah. And of course the number one player in the world,
Speaker 1: Jannick Sinner, he was out practicing today. As I said,
Speaker 1: he hit with Novak yesterday and today he was on
Speaker 1: Court eighteen, of course, the famous court that John i
Speaker 1: Isna made famous with a match that went for felt
Speaker 1: like five years, and he was out there today hitting
Speaker 1: with stan vav Rinka and they will going at it,
Speaker 1: and of course they're in the same section again semi finals.
Speaker 1: It will be Alcaz and Sinner in the semis. Of
Speaker 1: of course if they make it there. We know that
Speaker 1: a lot of things could happen in the meantime, but
Speaker 1: what a bummer again that they're in the same half.
Speaker 1: Hopefully you know through the years. It's going to change,
Speaker 1: as we know once Novak g retires. But just you
Speaker 1: know him coming in here, he's got to feel really
Speaker 1: good winning Hulla, knowing he's playing great on grass, very
Speaker 1: similar to what Alcaraz did last year by winning Queens.
Speaker 1: And uh, you know, let's take a look at this draw.
Speaker 1: I've got to put these on now, Sam because I
Speaker 1: can't see this around. What are your thoughts on both
Speaker 1: of these guys, And.
Speaker 2: Look they're still young, like Center, you know, obviously Alcaze
Speaker 2: have won Wimbledon. Sinner doesn't have quite the experience in
Speaker 2: the grass, but he just won Holly. Like you said,
Speaker 2: he's coming into this Wimbledon feeling good. He beat good
Speaker 2: grass court players along the way, beat Huey hurt Cox
Speaker 2: in the final. Who's a Wimbledon that he beat him
Speaker 2: in the final of Halla and hirt Cox is a
Speaker 2: Wimbledon semi finalist in the past. So Sinner's coming in
Speaker 2: with confidence and look, he's he's kind of the Him
Speaker 2: and al karaz Are are the two men to bet
Speaker 2: right now. And so I you know, I like where
Speaker 2: Sinners kind of I like how Sinner's playing right now
Speaker 2: a little more than al Kraz. I know that Alcraz
Speaker 2: lost in Queen's early It's just it's a small sample size.
Speaker 2: But look, when you win a tournament going into a
Speaker 2: Slam the week before, like your confidence is high and
Speaker 2: you're feeling good, and that's where that's where Sinner is
Speaker 2: right now.
Speaker 1: I have to say, when we look at this draw
Speaker 1: in total, I think they both have pretty good draws.
Speaker 1: Like there's nobody in those sections of the draw where
Speaker 1: you're like, oh, that could be Jane just on grass, right,
Speaker 1: So if you look at Sinner's draw, clearly we know
Speaker 1: Mateo Bertini has the potential to beat anyone on grass.
Speaker 1: He made the finals here a bunch of years ago,
Speaker 1: but he hasn't had the success over the last couple
Speaker 1: of years due to injury. Greek sport, he can definitely
Speaker 1: push you on a grass court. Dennis Shapovalov is in
Speaker 1: that section playing Jarry. We know that that you know
Speaker 1: Dennis can play really well on grass, but again the
Speaker 1: confidence isn't really there. Somebody that I like to see
Speaker 1: is Harris through qualifying and he's dangerous on grass, and
Speaker 1: he clearly against an American who plays very well on
Speaker 1: grass himself in Michelson. But Ben Shelton is he the
Speaker 1: section of that bit that can he get through and
Speaker 1: you know, really push Sinner. We had a lot of
Speaker 1: expectation for him last year at when Bleerne he didn't
Speaker 1: have the success, but again he's playing a Balucci who
Speaker 1: go through qualities and as you know Sam, guys that
Speaker 1: come through qualies are playing really really good tennis on grass.
Speaker 1: So no given that Ben will get through. But I
Speaker 1: think for Sinner that looks really good. One player Dimetrov.
Speaker 1: We know he can play well on grass. He's been
Speaker 1: playing great this year. It's probably one of his best years,
Speaker 1: and I think he's the guy that will probably get
Speaker 1: through that section. If Sinner gets through, and I see
Speaker 1: them playing against each other in the I would say
Speaker 1: the quarter finals, right, Yeah, So that's my two guesses there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't think Center's path a little more than Alcoraz's.
Speaker 2: I feel like Carlos has a few more like maybe
Speaker 2: dangerous names in there. He's got Tommy Paul on his
Speaker 2: section there. It was just fresh off of Queen's titles Bear, Yeah,
Speaker 2: who was beating whom Bear won Hallay himself a few
Speaker 2: years ago. Who can be tricky? You know, I know
Speaker 2: Francis Tufo is not playing great, but France is a
Speaker 2: guy here that can kind of like, you know, feed
Speaker 2: off a crowd and get hot, and he's a showman
Speaker 2: and like he's going to get up for a match
Speaker 2: like that. So Carlos has you know, he's got some
Speaker 2: guys in there that are that are going to be tough.
Speaker 2: But I definitely if I had to pick one that
Speaker 2: I really think is going to go further at center
Speaker 2: right now.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree. If I were to pick over the drawer,
Speaker 1: certainly Alcaraz's draw, I think one play in that section
Speaker 1: that's sort of I know he's an Aussie, so maybe
Speaker 1: I'm a lib being a little bit biased, but I
Speaker 1: think Jordan Thompson, he's had a little bit of a
Speaker 1: tough year with injuries, but he played very well last week.
Speaker 1: He can play really well on grass, and as we know,
Speaker 1: Ozzie's sort of know how to make their way around
Speaker 1: a grass court. So I think I think that Jordan
Speaker 1: Thompson might be a bit of a sneaky one getting
Speaker 1: through there to play our Carez. I think that's my guess.
Speaker 1: And Annaldi is tough and he will play Tiafo really
Speaker 1: really well. But I think Tommy Paul. I think Tommy Paul,
Speaker 1: believe it or not, I think he can. Listen, he's
Speaker 1: beaten Alcarez before. We know how well he can play
Speaker 1: on grass, winning as you as you did winning Queens.
Speaker 1: He comes in here with tons of confidence and that
Speaker 1: could be a real threat for our Cirez if he
Speaker 1: is not to get through to play again Center. But look,
Speaker 1: some great storylines there overall. Indeed, can't wait, my god,
Speaker 1: I get I get so excited when the draw comes out.
Speaker 1: One guy, we need to talk about Andy, excuse me, sir,
Speaker 1: Andy Murray. He's in the tournament, he's decided to play.
Speaker 1: We're excited about this. He's going to play doubles with
Speaker 1: his brother Jamie, and he's in the singles and the doubles.
Speaker 1: Just your thoughts in total about you know, hoping that
Speaker 1: Andy takes the court. Who's more likely to not take
Speaker 1: the court, Novak or Andy.
Speaker 2: I'm just gonna say, it's like, it's almost like it's
Speaker 2: a it's a Novak Djokovic part two here with Andy.
Speaker 2: You know, he heard himself at Queen's. I guess, if
Speaker 2: I had to guess, I think Andy's maybe more likely
Speaker 2: to take the court, just because I truly feel like
Speaker 2: this is going to be Andy's last Wimbledon, you know,
Speaker 2: obviously being being from the UK. Uh, you know, it's
Speaker 2: a it's a huge deal, and I think he's gonna
Speaker 2: want to take that court one more time. It's really
Speaker 2: cool to see him play doubles with his brother, which
Speaker 2: I think that could be just like Venus and Serena
Speaker 2: or playing on center court at the US Open Serenas
Speaker 2: last year. I could see uh, you know, Murray Murray
Speaker 2: as a doubles team. I could see them throwing that
Speaker 2: on center court. But I just hope Andy's was it
Speaker 2: his ankle that was bugging him in Queens.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's so many it's a back all the things.
Speaker 1: I like that JD. Murray. I love that Judy Murray
Speaker 1: went to town on you know, releasing his medical forms
Speaker 1: and YadA YadA. You know, I gotta love Judy. She's
Speaker 1: gonna support her sons like to the end. But he
Speaker 1: had yeah, like his final final cord.
Speaker 2: I hope he can get whatever injection.
Speaker 1: That's pretty bad they release that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree. I hope he can get whatever he
Speaker 2: needs to take the court one more time because he
Speaker 2: actually has like somewhat of a decent draw at Wimbledon
Speaker 2: this year. But I hope he can go out there
Speaker 2: and fight, and I expect him to take the court.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Marshark is a good player. He played very well
Speaker 1: at the French and he pushed he you know so,
Speaker 1: But I think he's more a clay court player, so
Speaker 1: I think it's possible. But he's definitely a very good player,
Speaker 1: so not certainly not easy. Look, the guy's draw is stacked,
Speaker 1: as we said. I mean, I wrote down some classics.
Speaker 1: I think one player to watch also is Jack Draper.
Speaker 1: There's always a brit there's always a Brit that gets
Speaker 1: through somewhere. They get so much support here at Wimbledon,
Speaker 1: which is I got to tell you, it's as you know,
Speaker 1: it's so fun when the brig Brits are still going
Speaker 1: and you know the crowds are behind them and all
Speaker 1: the things. I mean, Zverev, what's he going to do.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna put these back on because I can't see
Speaker 1: it without it. But you know, when we look at
Speaker 1: this draw, Herbie Hercutch is certainly a player that is
Speaker 1: to be absolutely watched. There's no question that he is
Speaker 1: player that can get through. He's made the Semis before.
Speaker 1: He was clearly the last We know what he did
Speaker 1: to Roger his last match, as we saw on the documentary.
Speaker 1: He's the one that took out Roger six love in
Speaker 1: the fourth set. But look, I mean I think that
Speaker 1: her Cutch is probably the player to get through in
Speaker 1: that section. One player down there, Alex Demonor look out
Speaker 1: for Alex was going.
Speaker 2: To give your assie credit. Yep.
Speaker 1: I mean, I keep picking the assies. But look, Alex
Speaker 1: Demonol can play on every surface. We know he can
Speaker 1: play well on grass. He's one of the best movers
Speaker 1: in the game. And let's not forget, of course, how
Speaker 1: well can Chris U Banks do this year. We know
Speaker 1: what he did last year, right comes in playing a
Speaker 1: little bit better on the grass and Sam, you know,
Speaker 1: you know what it's like when you don't have a
Speaker 1: lot of confidence. But you get onto the grass, you
Speaker 1: win a few matches, which he did in Huller and
Speaker 1: he had a great win there. Can he get through
Speaker 1: this section of the drawer runa, We're a little bit unlike,
Speaker 1: how's he gonna do on gross He's been a bit
Speaker 1: of up and down this year. And I think that
Speaker 1: Chris Humbanks can get through that. Hutching Off is a
Speaker 1: very good player. I get it, and can play on
Speaker 1: every surface. But can Chris break through again in this tournament?
Speaker 2: Absolutely can? We saw it last year and like you said,
Speaker 2: like for me personally, I pretty much met my entire
Speaker 2: career playing like garbage on the clay courts, got to
Speaker 2: the grass court season, won a match or two and boom,
Speaker 2: your confidence is back, and you Banks kind of has
Speaker 2: that right now. He just he quarterfinaled in Halle. He'd
Speaker 2: beat Boob Lick along the way, who's a great grass
Speaker 2: court player. So you know, if he comes into Wimbledon
Speaker 2: here and he plays he plays hals hallays, I'm not
Speaker 2: sure if I'm pronouncing the name right. The qualifier that's
Speaker 2: that's tough. But I like you Banks there and you
Speaker 2: get a win under your belt. Then you're feeling you're
Speaker 2: feeling confident. And if he gets to serve going and
Speaker 2: he's one of those guys that kind of can he
Speaker 2: can still serve and volley. He's got great volleys. He
Speaker 2: can he hits the ball low, hard and flat. If
Speaker 2: things are working in his favor, you know, he can
Speaker 2: beat coach nov and then you know you would love
Speaker 2: to play Holder Rene in the in the third round
Speaker 2: of Wimbledon. That's that's a matchup that he can win.
Speaker 2: So if things aligned for you, Banks, I think he
Speaker 2: can do well. But going back to Demonar, he's a
Speaker 2: guy that I like a lot as well. And the
Speaker 2: matchup if it's him and hirk Cox, like, that's a
Speaker 2: coin flip to me. Demonar's crafty on the grass. He
Speaker 2: won hers Bogenbosch, you know, two weeks ago, and he
Speaker 2: just knows what he's doing out there. He's a great mover.
Speaker 2: So I've for me in this section, it's like it's
Speaker 2: Demonar Hirks her Cocks and it's like a fifty to
Speaker 2: fifty on who gets through that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree, I think I'd probably edge a little bit.
Speaker 1: It depends. Demonar's tough, but he's a little emotional too.
Speaker 1: You know, he doesn't look at but that that is
Speaker 1: going to be a toss up obviously, FAA Felix Asia Alizim,
Speaker 1: who's done very well here in the past, struggled last year,
Speaker 1: lost early on place. Kokanaka's first round not an easy
Speaker 1: first round at all, but for just you know, flipping
Speaker 1: over their Djokovic. It's a pretty good section of the
Speaker 1: draw for Novak. So he'd be looking at that going
Speaker 1: if I can get through, if I can manage the
Speaker 1: weight and you know, the knee. This he could not
Speaker 1: have got a better draw than what he has, There's
Speaker 1: no question. I mean, he's got two qualifiers and a
Speaker 1: wild card to get the third round, so that in
Speaker 1: and of itself, I would put my house on even
Speaker 1: with a bad knee. Let's slip over though ruby Lev
Speaker 1: it's been a wild year for him, just emotionally and
Speaker 1: all the stuff. I think that's a really good section though.
Speaker 1: I think he can get through. Can he make a
Speaker 1: quarter you know, can he get break through.
Speaker 2: A quarterfinals in quarterfinals or something?
Speaker 1: Right, But he's in it. Not a bad if he's
Speaker 1: going to do it, it might be this one, certainly
Speaker 1: with Novak. Not if you if normally you'd say no,
Speaker 1: because you know he's not breaking through against a lot
Speaker 1: of these players. But Zverev is a bit of an
Speaker 1: unknown at Wimbledon. He has never really done well here.
Speaker 1: He's in a pretty good section. But Jack Draper in
Speaker 1: that section is the player that I'm suggesting will get
Speaker 1: through there. And I've already talked about it. And up
Speaker 1: the top Taylor, Fritz. You think, okay, it's a pretty
Speaker 1: good drawer, right, Not so another Rosie O'Connell plays very
Speaker 1: well on grass. He comes into the net and for Taylor,
Speaker 1: this is not an easy first round because as you know,
Speaker 1: you don't want to play people that are good on
Speaker 1: grass in the first round. And Taylor plays very well
Speaker 1: on grass. But this is not an easy first round
Speaker 1: for him.
Speaker 2: It's not. But you know he's still playing an Eastbourne.
Speaker 2: I believe he's got his semi final later today. I
Speaker 2: like Taylor to get through that, even though you're like,
Speaker 2: you're saying O'Connell's tough, but that whole section you're it's like,
Speaker 2: you know you've got You've got Fritz, Draper, Zverev, like
Speaker 2: all three of those guys, I don't I don't know
Speaker 2: who's coming out of that section. They're all they're all
Speaker 2: playing well, they all have big games, they're all played
Speaker 2: pretty well on grass that none of you know, no
Speaker 2: one's like phenomenal on it. But I don't I don't
Speaker 2: know who I've got coming through that section. But on
Speaker 2: the other side, like you're saying, I do like rube
Speaker 2: Lev to get through that little that little part of
Speaker 2: the draw.
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna add a little Sebi Corter. This is
Speaker 1: not an easy first round, but you know, David for
Speaker 1: Kinne is usually a little bit better on clay, but
Speaker 1: not easy first round. And Kay Nishikori nice to see
Speaker 1: him in the draw. But I think that Sebbie Krter
Speaker 1: gets through there. I think he can beat sitz APAs
Speaker 1: sits a pass a little bit unknown, you never know
Speaker 1: on he plays well on grass, but much more comfortable
Speaker 1: on a hard court on certainly on clay. So I
Speaker 1: don't know. Sebbie Corter could sneak through there as well.
Speaker 1: So we've got a couple of Americans in that half.
Speaker 1: But we can't wait. It's starting real soon and we're
Speaker 1: going to figure it all out as it goes. But
Speaker 1: let's flipped to the ladies. And when you look at
Speaker 1: the draw, the first two names you see Eager Shion
Speaker 1: Tech playing against Sophia Canon. Now we cannot forget about
Speaker 1: the fact that Sophia Cannon took out Cocoa Gough in
Speaker 1: the first round at Wimbledon, so she likes doing this.
Speaker 1: She did it last year. She came through qualities, so
Speaker 1: she was playing really good tennis coming into Wonderland. She
Speaker 1: took out Cocoa Gough. And now she has the luck
Speaker 1: of playing the number one seed. And I'm telling you
Speaker 1: right now, if there's an upset, it could be this one.
Speaker 1: And I know Eager has beaten her both times. So
Speaker 1: they've played and they only play at Grand Slams, which
Speaker 1: is ridiculous. They played twice and Eager's won both matches
Speaker 1: in straight sets. Okay, but on grass, this is a
Speaker 1: nightmare for Eager. She on Tech first round because she
Speaker 1: hasn't done she has played no matches coming in here
Speaker 1: on grass, and to play on a really fast slow
Speaker 1: like the ball is going to stay low, Sophia Cannon
Speaker 1: is a nightmare first round for her. Give me your
Speaker 1: thoughts on that first round.
Speaker 2: It's like the plan Osaka early on in the French
Speaker 2: Open part you know the sequel look yet, like you said, Kennon, Look,
Speaker 2: she's a Grand Slam champion. She's crafty, and that's you know,
Speaker 2: when you're playing people on grass that are crafty, it's difficult.
Speaker 2: Canon's going to head thirty drop shots. She's gonna bring
Speaker 2: Eager in where she's not overly comfortable egos. As great
Speaker 2: as she is, grass isn't her best surface. And to
Speaker 2: play someone like this right out of the chute when
Speaker 2: you're you know, you don't have your bearings, you don't
Speaker 2: know how the court's playing, it's gonna be difficult. And
Speaker 2: I'm I'm with you, like I'm not shocked if there's
Speaker 2: an upset here. I think it's gonna be. It's a
Speaker 2: juicy first round that everyone's gonna be glued to.
Speaker 1: It's a nightmare for her first round. I can tell
Speaker 1: you that because that court is gonna play perfectly for
Speaker 1: Sophia Kennon to as you said, hit the drop shots,
Speaker 1: hit the ball hard through the court with the forehand,
Speaker 1: like just nail it. So it's not gonna be easy
Speaker 1: for Eager. And I'm telling you going into that, she's
Speaker 1: gonna be very, very nervous, Okay, I mean it is
Speaker 1: a rough draw for Ega. I got to tell you.
Speaker 1: For her to even possibly get to the semi finals,
Speaker 1: she's got to go through a lot of people. We
Speaker 1: I really need the glasses on this because the WTA,
Speaker 1: this is the draw for the women's and in this
Speaker 1: section of the draw up the first half for her,
Speaker 1: even if she gets through into the fourth round, is
Speaker 1: her biggest nemesis in Olona Ostapenko, who beats Eager all
Speaker 1: the time and is a great grasscourt player. The one
Speaker 1: caveat is that she plays ailer. Tomlanovitch is coming back
Speaker 1: from an injury, but has played pretty well since coming
Speaker 1: back from the injury and has played well and plays
Speaker 1: well on grass, has made the quarters here I believe
Speaker 1: last year made the quarters again here. So this is
Speaker 1: a nightmare for Ostapenko first round. And if you remember,
Speaker 1: do you remember this the argument Sam that they had
Speaker 1: on the court a couple of years ago.
Speaker 2: It was a specific argument, but I remember them arguing.
Speaker 1: It was not pretty. Tom Lanovitch accused Ostapenko of faking
Speaker 1: her injuries and called her out on the court. They
Speaker 1: had the trainer on the court. It was viral if
Speaker 1: you haven't seen it, check it out. But that first
Speaker 1: round is one of those matches where you go take
Speaker 1: your popcorn because that will be a tough first round.
Speaker 1: But if Ostapenker gets through there and EGA is going no,
Speaker 1: not again, not this girl, because this is a nightmare
Speaker 1: the one of the drawer. I think the one player
Speaker 1: we need to highlight is Danielle Collins. Look, she's had
Speaker 1: an amazing year. She hasn't had a couple of great
Speaker 1: results of late, but if she can find her form
Speaker 1: on the grass early, not a bad section of the
Speaker 1: draw for her. Towson is a very good player and
Speaker 1: can be dangerous and hits the living daylights out of
Speaker 1: the ball, so it's not an easy first round. But
Speaker 1: Hadaj Maya's in that section. But that this, this section
Speaker 1: of the draw for Ega is really hard.
Speaker 2: I agree, And look I don't I don't know the
Speaker 2: woman's draw as well as you do. But like you're saying,
Speaker 2: Collins is a good player, uster Penko tom Janovic, you've
Speaker 2: got that. I see Kerber was in there as a
Speaker 2: wild card.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know.
Speaker 2: That's always tricky. That's always tricky as well. If he
Speaker 2: gets through her first round, there's a girl. Her last
Speaker 2: name is Jones, a wild card from from Great Britain. People. Yeah,
Speaker 2: the players, the men and women from Great Britain know
Speaker 2: how to play on grass.
Speaker 1: So there is and I will say, actually, actually I
Speaker 1: will say, I think Mark Titch wins that match and
Speaker 1: Mart Yeah, like they're all that's a tough section.
Speaker 2: There's hurdles everywhere in that section for Eager.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean Putinsuba who is in that section to
Speaker 1: play Kerber, which is a nightmare for Kerber just won
Speaker 1: a tournament on grass, beating Tom Lanovich. So you know,
Speaker 1: these are players that know how to play in grass.
Speaker 1: They're effective on the surface, and we talk about it
Speaker 1: all the time. Mattchuts are important, but grass and surfaces
Speaker 1: are huge, and Eager is not comfortable on grass at all,
Speaker 1: particularly early on when the court plays a little bit
Speaker 1: different in the first week than it does in the
Speaker 1: second week. And also just adding down the bottom half
Speaker 1: of the drawer, My pick to win the tournament is Rebarkiner. Now,
Speaker 1: poor old Rebekina though again pulls out of a tournament
Speaker 1: with an illness. All the things that are going on
Speaker 1: with her, so if she stays healthy, she's my pick
Speaker 1: to get through this, but now I have to add
Speaker 1: down the bottom half of the drawer. You've got Onibur
Speaker 1: and Jessica Pagoula. Now, if they get through, I mean
Speaker 1: they play in the fourth round to play probably Rebarkina.
Speaker 1: But Leila Fernandez is in there, and she's in the
Speaker 1: finals of Eastbourne, so you know she plays well on grass.
Speaker 1: So this whole section of the draw is the whole
Speaker 1: half of the draw. The women's is absolutely stacked with
Speaker 1: great grass court players who know how to win at Wimbledon.
Speaker 1: And this is a section that I would not want
Speaker 1: to be in.
Speaker 2: No, you're absolutely right, Like Joe Burro a finalist, You've
Speaker 2: got Pagoula who just won a tournament last week, Leila
Speaker 2: Fernandez in the final this week. Katie.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean they're all really this is the section
Speaker 1: of the drawer that you just go god, nightmare. I mean, skaya.
Speaker 2: Like the best kind of like, hey, who are the
Speaker 2: sixth best kind of grass court specific players and they
Speaker 2: put them all in that one section right there.
Speaker 1: Nightmare. Like. Actually, there's a thing on the WTA website
Speaker 1: right now where they do have the grass court power rankings,
Speaker 1: and you know, I'll go through them for you. It's
Speaker 1: Jabour first, Vondrosova second because she won Wimbledon last year, Alexandrova, Ostapenko, Sablenka, Pegoula,
Speaker 1: and then it goes Madison, keys, Plishkova, Bolta, this is
Speaker 1: the top ten and Hadaj Maya and most of those
Speaker 1: are in that section of the draw. So it's just
Speaker 1: a nightmare. Yeah, So I don't know who's going to
Speaker 1: get through here. I picked Rebakina to win the tournament,
Speaker 1: so I have to go with her. But I think
Speaker 1: Jessic Pagoula is a sneaky Okay. She comes in here,
Speaker 1: she knows she was so close to being in the
Speaker 1: final last year, up four one points to go five
Speaker 1: to one against Vondrosova, who then went on to win
Speaker 1: the tournament. So I think jess Pagoula comes in here
Speaker 1: fresh as a daisy. She barely has played this year
Speaker 1: with injuries, and she comes in here super healthy, super confident.
Speaker 1: And I don't know, but I can't change. I picked
Speaker 1: for Bakina, but if I.
Speaker 2: Had, I like Pegoula as well, and I also like
Speaker 2: like she's a friend, she's an American I'm cheering for,
Speaker 2: and like you said, she hasn't played a lot this year.
Speaker 2: She hasn't played great, but she just kind of came
Speaker 2: off of an injury and then won a tournament. So
Speaker 2: she's coming in with confidence. I think there's like that
Speaker 2: fine line of like the expectations for her aren't that
Speaker 2: high right now, so she's kind of playing with a
Speaker 2: little more lucy goosey attitude. And look, I'm cheering for her,
Speaker 2: and I think she's going to get through this.
Speaker 1: And I just want to add, I agree with you,
Speaker 1: that's but I gotta stick with my person, right. But
Speaker 1: one little section in there, Caroline wasn't the ACCHI to
Speaker 1: play against Alisha Parks, and Alisha Parks got through qualifying
Speaker 1: and has the biggest serve and the biggest game, so
Speaker 1: she's confident that is going to be a really fun
Speaker 1: match between those two of the draw. So there's a
Speaker 1: lot of popcorn first rounds in that section and I,
Speaker 1: as we said, we can't wait for it. Let's flip
Speaker 1: to the other side or the bottom half of the draw.
Speaker 1: And Sablenka, you'd have to say, of all the draw,
Speaker 1: I think that you know, when you when we talk
Speaker 1: about all these players, there's still a lot of plays
Speaker 1: in this section of the draw that can do really well.
Speaker 1: One player obviously that's in the finals again of Eastbourne,
Speaker 1: who plays really well on grass is Derek Casakina. She's
Speaker 1: in that section of the draw. But but just you know,
Speaker 1: when you look at this section of the draw, any
Speaker 1: sort of matchups that stand out for you, any players
Speaker 1: that stand out for you. There's there's a lot and
Speaker 1: there's a couple of popcorn first rounds in this one too.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean for me it's it's Coco Goff. You know,
Speaker 2: you've got Osaka in there. Everyone's kind of like, you know,
Speaker 2: is she going to bring that game that she played
Speaker 2: at the French Open against Ega to Wimbledon. If she does,
Speaker 2: like she's a threat.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: For me, the most fun matchup is as a rank
Speaker 2: of her Sloan Stevens, assuming assuming Sloan's got her game
Speaker 2: together and she's playing well. Those are two big names
Speaker 2: and two players that have had like tremendous Grand Slam success.
Speaker 2: So you know, I we'll see what happens there. I
Speaker 2: hope Sloan can get through that as a rank is
Speaker 2: a phenomenal player, But I know I expect that one
Speaker 2: to be a fun match to watch.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean Chin Win Jang up the top there
Speaker 1: published in Cova. I was actually I actually hit some
Speaker 1: tennis balls today, Sam, because you know I'm playing in
Speaker 1: the oldies. I mean I'm playing with my I practiced
Speaker 1: with my old doubles partner Sam Stosa and my old
Speaker 1: player that I was coaching, and we had so much fun.
Speaker 1: We only hit for it half an hour because that's
Speaker 1: all we could do. And Sam actually said to me
Speaker 1: after that her glutes were hurting her about an hour later,
Speaker 1: so I did my job. I must heat miracle. But anyway,
Speaker 1: but it was so fun and we were hitting next
Speaker 1: to publoging Cover and just us being able to hit
Speaker 1: without pressure is as you know, it's so different. And
Speaker 1: being at Wimbledon be able to hit balls on that
Speaker 1: court and the courts are so perfect. I mean, I
Speaker 1: loved every second of it. But publonging Cover certainly can
Speaker 1: play on all surfaces, so we'll see who gets through
Speaker 1: that section. But yes, to play Taylor Townsend in the
Speaker 1: first round. So Taylor we know, very good on all
Speaker 1: surfaces as well. But Alexandrova, she's a threat. But guess
Speaker 1: who she plays. I did Carnu. He's had a couple
Speaker 1: of good wins. She beat Jessica Bogula last week. I
Speaker 1: saw Jessica today and she said, you know, I was
Speaker 1: because part of me was thinking did she want to
Speaker 1: get out of there and get to Wimbledon? And you
Speaker 1: know what it's like, you don't want to play too
Speaker 1: much tennis before, and she has no I was really trying.
Speaker 1: So obviously Radakanu is a threat. It'll be nice to see,
Speaker 1: but she has a nightmare draw first round. It'll be
Speaker 1: on center court or court one, so we'll see.
Speaker 2: But it's with some momentum and kind of getting herself
Speaker 2: back in the thicker things and playing regular bases, having
Speaker 2: consistent results. So you're right, that is a nightmare draw
Speaker 2: playing Alexandrova, but it's on center court. The crowd is
Speaker 2: going to behind Radakanu, and so that's a somewhat of
Speaker 2: a popcorn match for me.
Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure, it is for me, and there's no
Speaker 1: question it'll be fun. There's a couple of little popcornhills
Speaker 1: also in there. Bodoza playing Mukhova. Mukhova is back, thank goodness,
Speaker 1: but pulled out of Eastbourne after winning a couple of
Speaker 1: matches and on the advice of her team. Hopefully she's
Speaker 1: one hundred percent coming into the torn that we know
Speaker 1: how well she can do here at this Tournament's probably
Speaker 1: one of her favorite surfaces. But the winner of that
Speaker 1: match will then play the winner of Andreva and through Thetova,
Speaker 1: two young players that are going to be playing forever
Speaker 1: against one another. That's some popcorn tennis there with those
Speaker 1: two youngsters. So I'm looking forward to. I mean, mire Andreva.
Speaker 1: She can play on all surfaces, but I don't know,
Speaker 1: when you play someone about your age, it gets a
Speaker 1: little bit different. It becomes a little bit more of
Speaker 1: a junior mentality. So we'll see who gets through that
Speaker 1: section of the draw. But Sabalanca's got to feel pretty
Speaker 1: good about that section. But still there's some good players
Speaker 1: like Casaquina Andreva. Not an easy section for her to
Speaker 1: get through.
Speaker 2: No, But yeah, like you're saying, I like Sabalanca. Right
Speaker 2: below Sablanca, we've got your girl, Paulini off the French
Speaker 2: Open final heat. How does her game translate over to
Speaker 2: the grass?
Speaker 1: It good? She just you know, she did well in Eastbourne,
Speaker 1: lost a tough match to Casaquina, so she comes here
Speaker 1: feeling pretty confident. She plays against the player that she
Speaker 1: probably should beat on grass in Cereba's torn but she
Speaker 1: can play on grass too, likes to come into that.
Speaker 1: That'll be actually a fun match, I have to say.
Speaker 1: But Mattie Keys is in that section with Kostchuk, who
Speaker 1: can who can get through to the quarters there? Matti
Speaker 1: Keys has played really well through the years on grass,
Speaker 1: and certainly at Wimbledon, she knows how to play well here.
Speaker 1: She she lost a tough match to today, but look,
Speaker 1: the bottom line is, you've got as a ranker, you've
Speaker 1: got Emma Navarro. Hopefully she can figure out a way
Speaker 1: to do well on the grass, and I think she
Speaker 1: will probably get through that section. But someone in there
Speaker 1: is also Carolina Plischkova, who made the finals against Ash
Speaker 1: Barty a couple of years ago, who's not even seeded.
Speaker 1: So the women's draw is stacked with so many great players,
Speaker 1: and I have to say, not an easy first round
Speaker 1: for Coco Golf. She plays against Caroline Caroline doll Hyde,
Speaker 1: another American. Never fund to play an American, but massive game.
Speaker 2: She probably the biggest serves and this woman's drop door
Speaker 2: hide and she's gonna go out there. That question and
Speaker 2: swing away, and if things are laying it in, that's
Speaker 2: going to be a tough one for Coco. And like
Speaker 2: you said, like we were saying earlier, it's the first
Speaker 2: round match. No one comes out first round A lot
Speaker 2: of times it just plays lights out. So if I
Speaker 2: can kind of go swing for swing and hold her serve,
Speaker 2: the pressure kind of goes over to Coco. But if
Speaker 2: Coco gets through that, I like her to make a
Speaker 2: pretty deep run. I think she's going to be confident,
Speaker 2: going to play well, and I like her to kind of,
Speaker 2: you know, make a semi final or hopefully even more
Speaker 2: than that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I saw her practicing today. She was on
Speaker 1: eighteen as well and looking really relaxed and pretty happy.
Speaker 1: So quick, let's do a little rapid five for you,
Speaker 1: my friend, who is going to go the furthest of
Speaker 1: all the Americans in the draw. We've got Coca Golf,
Speaker 1: of course, Jessica Pagoula, got Tommy Paul, Ben Shelton, give
Speaker 1: me your I'm going to go on.
Speaker 2: The on the women's side, I'm going to go with Pegoula.
Speaker 2: I think she's making a final. And on the men's side,
Speaker 2: I'm going to go with Fritz. I think, you know
Speaker 2: his section of the draw there, you know, it is
Speaker 2: a tough section, but it's with it's with Zverev, it's
Speaker 2: with Draper. You know, there's not any like you know,
Speaker 2: he's kind of avoiding Alcoraz centered Novak. So I like
Speaker 2: Fritz to kind of get through there, maybe make a quarter,
Speaker 2: maybe a semi something like that.
Speaker 1: Okay, well I have I did say Rebakina, but I
Speaker 1: do think Pagoula as well, and I think Tommy Paul.
Speaker 1: I'm going to throw an upset in and I'm going
Speaker 1: to say Tommy Paul. I saw Tommy today as well.
Speaker 1: He looks super happy, super relaxed. He loves playing on
Speaker 1: the courts. I love, as you know we've talked about.
Speaker 1: He's implemented this coming into the net and playing this
Speaker 1: sort of grass court style of play on hardcourt and
Speaker 1: on clay. It has to translate on grass. And I
Speaker 1: think that he's a real threat in this tournament. And
Speaker 1: so I'm gonna say Tommy Paul and Jess Pegoula, but hey,
Speaker 1: we've got some great plays. I think Sammy Korda can
Speaker 1: also do that, all right, So speaking of Americans, of course,
Speaker 1: let's do a little reminder hear, of course, the Olympics
Speaker 1: begins July twenty six, across all the networks of NBC,
Speaker 1: all the Olympic tennis matches streaming live on Peacock through
Speaker 1: the day. You'll hear my trusty voice during that time.
Speaker 1: I can't wait for it, but let's get to it.
Speaker 1: The American team, Shelton, Tiafo, sub quarter, Mattie Keys all
Speaker 1: have opted out in playing in Paris. And I know
Speaker 1: that you are not surprised by this.
Speaker 2: I'm not surprised by it. It just the Olympics. For
Speaker 2: the Americans, it's not on the same level as the majors.
Speaker 2: I think they care about their their summer leading up
Speaker 2: to the US Open a little more and a lot
Speaker 2: of the you know, Tfo, Shelton quarter, those three especially,
Speaker 2: they're so young. They're going to get more shots at
Speaker 2: the Olympics in their career. Madison Keys, I guess I'm
Speaker 2: a little surprised with that, not that she's old, but
Speaker 2: I would have thought that she would have played it.
Speaker 2: But you know, I think they just want to get up.
Speaker 2: They all love playing the summer hardcourt season and that's
Speaker 2: where their priority is over the Olympics right now, are
Speaker 2: you surprised, I mean surprised that they're out.
Speaker 1: I'm a little surprised by Madison. And the only reason
Speaker 1: I'm surprised by Madison is because on clay she plays
Speaker 1: very well. She's done well at the French Open before.
Speaker 1: So look, a lot of this has to do with
Speaker 1: the timing, clearly, but also the surface. Right, You're never
Speaker 1: going to see Ben's never going to win a Meldo
Speaker 1: medal on clay. Francis probably not on clay. Sub quarter
Speaker 1: also probably not on clay. If it was on hardcore,
Speaker 1: I would say that they would play. Actually, I would
Speaker 1: say if it was on hardcourt, they would have all played,
Speaker 1: because it's just going straight into the hardcourt season. I'm
Speaker 1: a little surprised by Maddie just because I think she
Speaker 1: can do really well and she came so close to
Speaker 1: winning a bronze medal previously, so I know it means
Speaker 1: a lot to it. But she has represented the United States,
Speaker 1: you know, before in the Olympics, but has as has Francis.
Speaker 1: So I don't know. We don't really know officially the
Speaker 1: team yet because we'll figure it out. But look, Tommy, Paul,
Speaker 1: these guys want to go back and play. It'll be
Speaker 1: interesting to see who ends up going. But I'm surprised,
Speaker 1: and I'm not surprised, but a little disappointed because it
Speaker 1: meant so much to me to play.
Speaker 2: I know it. I hate to see this. I think
Speaker 2: sometimes for the tennis players, the Olympics means more to
Speaker 2: players from other countries. I don't know why. I don't
Speaker 2: have an answer for it, but it's just, uh, that's
Speaker 2: just what it is.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, Australia, we are sending astronomers groups. We clearly
Speaker 1: are a little bit more patriotic than it. That's all
Speaker 1: I'm going to say. I'm just kidding. I'm kidding. I'm
Speaker 1: kidding everybody out there, all right. So the update of
Speaker 1: all updates, of course, is that Rafa chose not to
Speaker 1: play Wimbledon, and we suspected this, which is the way.
Speaker 1: I also surprised Novak's playing because I think Novak really
Speaker 1: wants that gold medal. But Rafa has decided no Wimbledon.
Speaker 1: All the focus is on the Olympics. You know how
Speaker 1: well he plays in Roland Garrison, and he's also decided
Speaker 1: to play doubles with Carlos Alcarez. Tell me that's not
Speaker 1: going to be the hottest ticket in tennis to have
Speaker 1: this summer.
Speaker 2: Oh, it's gonna be huge. And I think for Rafa, look,
Speaker 2: he's he's he's got some injuries, he's not as fast.
Speaker 2: He wants to cover fifty percent of a court now
Speaker 2: and that double so like he could really he can
Speaker 2: really get after it. I think we're going to see
Speaker 2: a lay at all the lie a lot of pressure
Speaker 2: in Alcaraz. They're like, hey, like carry carry your idol
Speaker 2: here for a little bit at the Olympics. But well,
Speaker 2: I hope they're you know, I don't. I'm not overly
Speaker 2: optimistic that Rafa is going to make a run to
Speaker 2: a medal in singles. But in doubles, Rafa's fantastic. I
Speaker 2: feel like Rafa's played about twenty doubles tournaments and won
Speaker 2: like fourteen of them.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so oh he want to go medal before listen,
Speaker 1: he want to go medal already in doubles. So he
Speaker 1: knows how to do it with a with a arguably
Speaker 1: a lesser player than al Chaaz, but he isn't he
Speaker 1: doesn't have to run. Alcarez covers the entire court by himself.
Speaker 1: The guy so fast, So I cannot wait to see
Speaker 1: those guys play. It will be as I said, must
Speaker 1: see TV and possibly depending on how Rafa plays. And
Speaker 1: I'm going to I'm going to make a prediction here.
Speaker 1: I think Rafa is going to surprise you at the Olympics,
Speaker 1: best of three sets at Roland Garros. I think he's
Speaker 1: training his butt off right now to do well there
Speaker 1: and it would not surprise me. And I think him
Speaker 1: losing the way he did it to Suveev in the
Speaker 1: first round where he played very well, I think he
Speaker 1: feels like that guy got to the final and I
Speaker 1: played him tough. He served for the second set, he
Speaker 1: was up a break in the third. I think he
Speaker 1: feels like he can play with these guys and hang
Speaker 1: with them over best of three on clay at Roland Garras.
Speaker 1: Don't be surprised if he's playing for a medal. It's
Speaker 1: all I'm saying.
Speaker 2: I'm I'm I'm with you on that a little bit.
Speaker 2: And because not every players playing, you know what I mean,
Speaker 2: We've we've seen some of the Americans opt out. Who
Speaker 2: knows if Novak plays, you know, we just the draws.
Speaker 2: It's not the French Open draw. You there we've got.
Speaker 2: There's gonna be a few more soft spots in there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so you heard it here first. All right, So
Speaker 1: let's build your ultimate tennis player using parts from any
Speaker 1: tennis player past or present. All right, so send us
Speaker 1: your your answers. I guess we should probably let's play tennis,
Speaker 1: Franganci and build your ultimate tennis player using parts from
Speaker 1: any tennis player past the present. Roger Federer, that's all
Speaker 1: I need.
Speaker 2: I think that's what I want for everything.
Speaker 1: I mean, I mean, seriously, he has every single shot,
Speaker 1: and I agree that's probably it. But uh, we're going
Speaker 1: to answer it. I guess when that time comes. Roddick Serf,
Speaker 1: Djokovic returns a Rinker's backhand, Federer's forehand and composure and
Speaker 1: Nadal's drive to win my answers. Wow, let's stay there,
Speaker 1: all right.
Speaker 2: So I'll give you the shot and then you give
Speaker 2: me the player. So let's go. Let's start with let's
Speaker 2: start with serve.
Speaker 1: I'll take John Isner and Serena Williams forehand, stephie Graff
Speaker 1: and Roger Federer backhand. This is a tough one on
Speaker 1: the women's side. This is really I think I at
Speaker 1: her peak. I will go with Venus Williams. And on
Speaker 1: the men's side, Oh, this is hard, I'll go with Novak.
Speaker 2: We'll go with Speed, Speed, I'd.
Speaker 1: Say right now, I'd say Carlos al Qurez. I've never
Speaker 1: seen anything like it in my life. And on the
Speaker 1: women's side, that's a toss up. You know, Stephie Graff
Speaker 1: was one of the greatest movies I've ever seen, so
Speaker 1: I would probably say Steffie with a little bit maybe
Speaker 1: of Serena at her peak as well.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and we'll go last category, we go like, you know, mentality,
Speaker 2: I guess the mental side of it.
Speaker 1: I would peak Rafa and because I never saw the
Speaker 1: guy quit on a point or ever in or shot ever,
Speaker 1: so I would say him, and I would say mentality.
Speaker 1: In the women's game, Oh that's so hard, boy. I
Speaker 1: think peak Monica sellis just tough as nails. Yeah, toughest names. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Uh so, yeah, that's my favorite. What about you. Let's go, sir.
Speaker 2: It's that it's too obvious. On the women's side, I
Speaker 2: can pick myself for the serve, but I'm going is
Speaker 2: their serve On the women's side, Serena all right, forehand, fourhand,
Speaker 2: I'm gonna go Gosh, it's Rogers. And for the women,
Speaker 2: I mean Serena again. Backhand backhand, I'm gonna go Novak.
Speaker 2: And on the women's side, I always like as a
Speaker 2: rankers backhand. I don't really know. I just like love
Speaker 2: watching your back just like.
Speaker 1: You could pick ten women on the back end. You
Speaker 1: pick sure a Poe, but you could pick as a
Speaker 1: ranker you could. You can even pick Eager. Now you
Speaker 1: can pick Cocoa Golf's backhand like I like it. I
Speaker 1: like it all right.
Speaker 2: Mentality, Oh, we got speed speed, I'm gonna go with.
Speaker 2: On the men's side, I'm gonna go with mole Fee
Speaker 2: and he might not be as fast. I got fun speed,
Speaker 2: you know. Like it's just like I got them walking
Speaker 2: around slide and on the women's side, ega and I'm
Speaker 2: kind of combining like speed and movement.
Speaker 1: I did.
Speaker 2: I love watching her move around the court.
Speaker 1: I agree, And I think she added the slide in
Speaker 1: that we haven't seen too many do all right. One
Speaker 1: thing that you didn't add because clearly it didn't matter
Speaker 1: to you as much and it should have and you
Speaker 1: should is what about volleys? Man volleys?
Speaker 2: I mean, everyone back in the day had good volleys, right,
Speaker 2: And I didn't watch a ton of tennis then, so
Speaker 2: it's hard for me to say like Roger because like
Speaker 2: in my era, he was like the only guy that
Speaker 2: had perfect bolly.
Speaker 1: Roger's vollies were not that they were good. Don't don't
Speaker 1: at me.
Speaker 2: They were have like a like a sixty year old
Speaker 2: Aussie that had good volleys.
Speaker 1: You're not going to answer this question. I would go
Speaker 1: with John McEnroe.
Speaker 2: Yeah, these were good. I'm taking Roger.
Speaker 1: And on the women's no way, I would pick Edinburgh
Speaker 1: and Pat Rafter over. Raffa's over, sorry over Roger's volley's
Speaker 1: for sure, Raptor.
Speaker 2: I didn't watch a lot of Edinburgh. Or I'll give
Speaker 2: you Rafter all right.
Speaker 1: And on the women's side for volley's, I'll take Martina
Speaker 1: nav attelover and I probably mind taking and listen, I'll
Speaker 1: take mine. I'm just kidding. You took your serve.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I'll take never to love.
Speaker 1: To other woman's side, yeah, I mean Martina and John Tortow.
Speaker 2: She was fifty years old.
Speaker 1: Yeah, she was winning mixed doubles Grand slams at fifty
Speaker 1: what anyway, So we thank everyone for their answers the
Speaker 1: Frankistein of tennis. There's so many to choose from. It
Speaker 1: was really hard. And listen, any of those people we mentioned,
Speaker 1: you can't go wrong with any of them. And if
Speaker 1: you want to just put Roger Federer, that's fine. And
Speaker 1: Serena Williams right.
Speaker 2: Serena down the line and you've got a great player.
Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly, all right, everyone, We cannot wait. Of course,
Speaker 1: Wimbledon is around the corner. I am here covering it.
Speaker 1: Sam will be home watching it and opining over the
Speaker 1: fact that if he didn't play pickleball he would still
Speaker 1: he would be here playing. But we'll save your spot
Speaker 1: for you. Sam. Don't worry. The grass still will work
Speaker 1: for you. With your serve. It's going to be okay.
Speaker 1: Join us every day. We can't wait to show it
Speaker 1: to you. Thanks everyone, of course for joining us here
Speaker 1: again on the French Connection, brought to you by NBC
Speaker 1: Sports and Racket. The next episode drops July tenth. We'll
Speaker 1: see you then and hopefully we'll get a little surprised,
Speaker 1: maybe a guest for you to talk about all things
Speaker 1: that happened at Wimbledon, and of course going into the
Speaker 1: NBC I just call him the NBC Olympics, because really
Speaker 1: that the music just playing in my head already. You
Speaker 1: know I won't sing because I can't sing, but Sam
Speaker 1: can't wait. These two weeks are going to be great
Speaker 1: and then we get to talk about all of this again.
Speaker 1: July tenth. Thanks for joining us today, everyone say goodbye, Sam,
Speaker 1: you're over here. Let's go the wrong way and don't
Speaker 1: worry everyone. Sam will be available on his Instagram doing
Speaker 1: all kinds of fun things, so follow him on Instagram.
Speaker 1: And if you don't, you miss an out, you miss
Speaker 1: it out. That's all I can say. All right, guys,
Speaker 1: thanks and joining us today. We'll see you next time.