Rennae Stubbs: One, two, one two. Okay, Hi everyone, welcome to the
Rennae Stubbs: Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast. We are in freezing, cold, rainy,
Rennae Stubbs: miserable spring in New York right now, Hi, Caitlin.
Caitlin Thompson: This is why I don't recognize spring as a season.
Rennae Stubbs: Because it's the only thing it's springing is your depression.
Caitlin Thompson: Yeah, it's a betrayal. Every year you get one seventy
Caitlin Thompson: degree day, the one seventy degree day.
Rennae Stubbs: Yeah.
Caitlin Thompson: Last week I played tennis outside, rode my bike around, wore the cutest
Caitlin Thompson: tennis outfit. I was like, finally I'm back, baby.
Rennae Stubbs: And then.
Rennae Stubbs: The one thing I will say about the spring that
Rennae Stubbs: I really like, yes, clay court season on my TV.
Rennae Stubbs: I know you love it. Listen. I love watching clay
Rennae Stubbs: court tennis as well. You know. The great thing about
Rennae Stubbs: tennis in general is like, you know, when you play
Rennae Stubbs: basketball or soccer or whatever, you know, do you pick
Rennae Stubbs: one of the great sports of the world. And let's
Rennae Stubbs: say soccer is one of the if not the biggest, right,
Rennae Stubbs: biggest playing on the same thing, right, the only difference
Rennae Stubbs: is AstroTurf to grass. Tennis is literally played on multiple surfaces. Cool,
Rennae Stubbs: So to be great, you have to be great flexible.
Rennae Stubbs: You've got to be able to slide. You've got to
Rennae Stubbs: be able to be patient. On clay, you have to
Rennae Stubbs: be able to be methodic. Methodical on hardcourt, you've got
Rennae Stubbs: to be a little bit more explosive. Your body takes
Rennae Stubbs: a bit more of a beating. On grass, you've got
Rennae Stubbs: to be sort of selective when you come to the
Rennae Stubbs: net or being aggressive, or you can't be patient, you
Rennae Stubbs: have to be aggressive. Like every single surface lends itself
Rennae Stubbs: to a different way of playing.
Caitlin Thompson: I like it so much because I like the different
Caitlin Thompson: stories that it gives us, not only in terms of
Caitlin Thompson: which players surge and which players sort of recede from
Caitlin Thompson: the main conversation, because as you noted, the best players
Caitlin Thompson: are at the front of the line on all this, sir,
Caitlin Thompson: because they've figured out how to do everything in the
Caitlin Thompson: toolkit that is required of it's great, but for me,
Caitlin Thompson: I just really like the various stories. This clay is
Caitlin Thompson: a little slippier than that clay, which we'll get into
Caitlin Thompson: because we were just watching some Charleston highlights and as
Caitlin Thompson: you noted, the clay of Charleston, which is made with a
Caitlin Thompson: mined clay from nearby South Carolina is slipperier than like,
Caitlin Thompson: sort of the sticky, muddier red clay, right, And I'm
Caitlin Thompson: willing to bet I have not played it on red
Caitlin Thompson: clay in Houston, but I'm willing to bet that their
Caitlin Thompson: clay is a little different than what you would find in.
Rennae Stubbs: Europe MonteCarlo. Yes, very different.
Caitlin Thompson: The tournament we were just watching in Romania, or the
Caitlin Thompson: one I spent a lot of time watching, which was Marrakesh.
Rennae Stubbs: You love Marrakesh.
Caitlin Thompson: I was just really I just really like the idea
Caitlin Thompson: of looking at something beautiful and sunny, especially on a
Caitlin Thompson: day like two day, when it is forty degrees and rainy.
Rennae Stubbs: I thought that would actually put you more into a depression.
Caitlin Thompson: No, I just am projecting that I'm there to go.
Rennae Stubbs: Wow, look at me. I could be there and not here.
Rennae Stubbs: So let's get into some of the results. We got
Rennae Stubbs: to talk about. Jessica Pegula jpeg. Hey clay court specialists.
Rennae Stubbs: Look at her.
Caitlin Thompson: I'm so impressed not only with her title run in
Caitlin Thompson: Charleston and the difficult draw she had to get there,
Caitlin Thompson: but also she just got to the finals of Miami.
Caitlin Thompson: Yeah yeah, and the two for is tough. I mean
Caitlin Thompson: Daniel Collins did it last year when she won both tournaments. Yeah, Miami,
Caitlin Thompson: JPEG fell a little short against Aryna Sabalenka. No, no, no,
Caitlin Thompson: you know, no small thing, Sabalenka is buy and away the
Caitlin Thompson: best player in the world right now. But to get
Caitlin Thompson: a final in Miami and then to win against a
Caitlin Thompson: pretty incredible field in Charleston was awesome to see.
Rennae Stubbs: Yeah, I mean, listen, I think it's funny when I
Rennae Stubbs: did see that Jess was going and playing in Charleston,
Rennae Stubbs: and she always is going to because she loves it
Rennae Stubbs: there and a lot of players, and I can tell
Rennae Stubbs: you it is truly one of the best tournaments to
Rennae Stubbs: play form a players perspective. They take care of you,
Rennae Stubbs: you know, a Bob and eleanor and the team there
Rennae Stubbs: in Charleston really take care of their players so well.
Rennae Stubbs: They're always giving little gifts. And the hotel's beautiful. Charleston's great.
Rennae Stubbs: It's one of my favorite cities in the in the country,
Rennae Stubbs: so it's it really is a great place to go to.
Rennae Stubbs: The only thing that sometimes can get you there is
Rennae Stubbs: the weather. But they had good weather, so that was
Rennae Stubbs: always a good thing. But you know what for me,
Rennae Stubbs: it's it's to show up to a tournament that you
Rennae Stubbs: have told you're going to go to, when you've gotten
Rennae Stubbs: to a final, like Danielle Collins did the previous year.
Rennae Stubbs: Like that's testament to Jessica as well to like turn
Rennae Stubbs: up and not only turn up, but actually play such
Rennae Stubbs: good tennis. I mean, beating Danielle Collins in the quarterfinals,
Rennae Stubbs: defending champion, and then you know, to see her win
Rennae Stubbs: against in a final. Yeah, it was a good match.
Rennae Stubbs: Kennan really should have taken it into the third set.
Rennae Stubbs: It would have been interesting to see how they both
Rennae Stubbs: reacted in the third Very different circumstances when you're playing
Rennae Stubbs: for a title with one one set up on the line.
Rennae Stubbs: But you know, jess came back from being down five
Rennae Stubbs: to two, and that was a little bit surprising that
Rennae Stubbs: Sophia Kenin sort of get the job done to get
Rennae Stubbs: into her third set. But just you know, a really
Rennae Stubbs: really great tournament for American tennis as well Amanda Annisimova.
Rennae Stubbs: Of course we know what happened there with her having
Rennae Stubbs: to pull out against Kenin. That was a bummer because
Rennae Stubbs: I kind of wanted to see that match. I wanted
Rennae Stubbs: to see those two go out.
Caitlin Thompson: Actually, yeah, those two peak performance. Also hip injury is
Caitlin Thompson: no bueno, Yeah, no point we pulled out of during
Caitlin Thompson: the first set.
Rennae Stubbs: We need Sophia Kenin sorry, we need Amanda Anissimova to stay healthy. Yeah,
Rennae Stubbs: I mean that's been her big issue.
Caitlin Thompson: Big issue.
Rennae Stubbs: Obviously, she took a lot of time away from tennis
Rennae Stubbs: for her mental health, just to sort of reevaluate her
Rennae Stubbs: her life and what she want to do and tennis.
Rennae Stubbs: And you know, we forget about Amanda Anissimova, who lost
Rennae Stubbs: her father not that long ago, you know, probably about
Rennae Stubbs: five years ago now, but you know, he was a
Rennae Stubbs: tremendous he was her coach. So, you know, battling back
Rennae Stubbs: from getting away from the sport now now having to
Rennae Stubbs: deal with these injuries, that's just it's not great. I mean,
Rennae Stubbs: clearly she played a great Miami, but then you know,
Rennae Stubbs: I ran into a sleep deprived to person the next
Rennae Stubbs: day herself. So but but really really great to see
Rennae Stubbs: all these American players doing really, really well.
Caitlin Thompson: Yeah, which actually gives us a nice segue into Houston,
Caitlin Thompson: which had an all American Semis lineup, which was you know,
Caitlin Thompson: clay is not typically the even if it's on you know,
Caitlin Thompson: sort of home soil, no pun intended, is not typically
Caitlin Thompson: something you see Americans, especially the men, succeed on. But
Caitlin Thompson: I have to say, you know, Tommy Paul, Francis Tiafoe,
Caitlin Thompson: Jenson Brooksby, grants to Jenson Brooksby and Brandon Nakashima making
Caitlin Thompson: the semifinals of Houston on red clay was really really
Caitlin Thompson: cool to see and I think really exciting for a
Caitlin Thompson: lot of people who, you know, maybe tune out a
Caitlin Thompson: little bit if they're fans of American men's tennis during
Caitlin Thompson: this time of the year. Okay, well maybe not. Maybe
Caitlin Thompson: there's a reason to set up and pay attention.
Rennae Stubbs: Well, you know, Francis has played while there in the
Rennae Stubbs: past clearly, and he certainly can play on clay. He
Rennae Stubbs: can move on clay. A lot of how do people
Rennae Stubbs: do well on clay and why don't they and why
Rennae Stubbs: some do, etc. Etc. Look a lot of it has
Rennae Stubbs: to do with movement, how you can slide on clay,
Rennae Stubbs: how you can slide in and out of shots. You
Rennae Stubbs: see some people play on clay, whether it be green
Rennae Stubbs: clay or red clay, and they look like they're sort
Rennae Stubbs: of running on ice, and they're just like, well, whoa,
Rennae Stubbs: whoa whoa, whoa, you know, instead of like sliding into
Rennae Stubbs: the shot, being able to hit the shot and then
Rennae Stubbs: get back immediately after that. And I always said to people,
Rennae Stubbs: whether I was coaching or playing, I was like, if
Rennae Stubbs: you see somebody that can't slide to the ball, just
Rennae Stubbs: hit drop shots all day long. So that's just a
Rennae Stubbs: little tip for everybody out there that plays on green clay,
Rennae Stubbs: especially in America or on clay in general. If you
Rennae Stubbs: see somebody not being able to slide, they cannot you
Rennae Stubbs: hit angles, so they're running off the court and then
Rennae Stubbs: they have to take four steps after the shot to
Rennae Stubbs: get back, or you hit drop shots. I love hitting it.
Caitlin Thompson: I love sliding.
Rennae Stubbs: Yeah, it's the one thing I could do really well
Rennae Stubbs: on play. It's like it's slide for days.
Caitlin Thompson: It's really really fun. As a matter of fact, my
Caitlin Thompson: favorite tennis court in New York City is red clay,
Caitlin Thompson: and you can slide decently well. They've maintained it really well.
Caitlin Thompson: It's beautiful and you know, but yes, you're right, where.
Rennae Stubbs: Is that the ninety six street courts up on Oh yeah, yeah, yeah,
Rennae Stubbs: of course we're.
Caitlin Thompson: It's a little bit tucked away and out of and
Caitlin Thompson: out of I say it so yeah, I thought the
Caitlin Thompson: tragedy of Tommy Paul, Oh my god, up the third
Caitlin Thompson: set on Jenson Brooksby in the semi finals, serving for the match
Caitlin Thompson: at five four.
Rennae Stubbs: Well, let's go back a little bit because Jensen was
Rennae Stubbs: actually up in that set for one good point, right,
Rennae Stubbs: So you could arguably say, well, Jensen Brooksby should have
Rennae Stubbs: won six, one, six and the third earlier, but he
Rennae Stubbs: didn't because clearly he wasn't expected to beat Tommy. And
Rennae Stubbs: then Tommy comes back and six five up in the
Rennae Stubbs: third and you're like, oh, of course this is how
Rennae Stubbs: it's going to end. He's going to serve it out,
Rennae Stubbs: doesn't serve it out, Oh no, no, no, ok, god,
Rennae Stubbs: we're going in a tide break, okay, match point, and
Rennae Stubbs: then he loses that match point. It's kind of like,
Rennae Stubbs: oh my god. It was a long day. There was
Rennae Stubbs: a lot of rain there. They had to you know,
Rennae Stubbs: they went from day to night playing that match. But
Rennae Stubbs: Jenson Brooksby going not only and beating Tommy Paul, but
Rennae Stubbs: then going and beating Francis Tiafoe again. He was up
Rennae Stubbs: quite large in the first set. It looked like Francis
Rennae Stubbs: was going to come back, and then he ends up
Rennae Stubbs: serving the setout and then winning the match. But I
Rennae Stubbs: got to give the kid a lot of credit. This
Rennae Stubbs: is somebody who was suspended because he missed his drug
Rennae Stubbs: tests and not only that in that time, and a
Rennae Stubbs: lot of that's an unfortunate thing. Yes, he has to
Rennae Stubbs: be better at obviously being at the places he's supposed
Rennae Stubbs: to be for his drug tests, but you know, look,
Rennae Stubbs: I had to miss drug tests as well myself one time,
Rennae Stubbs: and if I had missed another one just because I forgot,
Rennae Stubbs: I mean I was very diligent after getting the second
Rennae Stubbs: missed where I was supposed to be drug test, So
Rennae Stubbs: he should have been a little bit better with all
Rennae Stubbs: that sort of stuff. But having said that, you know,
Rennae Stubbs: it's really great to see him back and playing so well,
Rennae Stubbs: Like you know, he was playing so well when he
Rennae Stubbs: got that suspension, and and to come back and do
Rennae Stubbs: what he did and win this tournament. That's that's credit
Rennae Stubbs: to young man who also came out and told everyone
Rennae Stubbs: not only that he was on the spectrum, that he
Rennae Stubbs: had autism, and it's like wow, to see him doing
Rennae Stubbs: this is really amazing.
Caitlin Thompson: I think it's it for me humanized him a lot
Caitlin Thompson: and made what beforehand I didn't really understand and behavior
Caitlin Thompson: maybe some sportsmanship issues. It made a little bit more
Caitlin Thompson: contextualized for me where I was like, oh, I see
Caitlin Thompson: he's neurodivergent. That's actually really helpful to be able to
Caitlin Thompson: understand that. You know, his on court behavior doesn't necessarily
Caitlin Thompson: look like deliberately Yeah, it doesn't feel like maybe he's
Caitlin Thompson: being deliberately you know, unsporting. So I feel like, yeah, no,
Caitlin Thompson: you're right. And again it's a testament to like having
Caitlin Thompson: some transparency and vulnerability to talk about something. But also
Caitlin Thompson: then it allows us to celebrate him and be like,
Caitlin Thompson: oh wow, in spite of being neurodivergent, it is something
Caitlin Thompson: that he has had to overcome, and now it makes
Caitlin Thompson: it a little easier to root for this guy. Yeah,
Caitlin Thompson: you know, because like with all these professional athletes, you know,
Caitlin Thompson: the tennis is elite. You know, obviously day in and
Caitlin Thompson: day out, you know, people have their ups and downs.
Caitlin Thompson: But I think in general, if there's a player who
Caitlin Thompson: can let us in on something like that, it becomes
Caitlin Thompson: a little bit more you know, it becomes sort of
Caitlin Thompson: like the rich tapestry of the tennis ecosystem as opposed
Caitlin Thompson: to like, oh I don't like this guy yeah.
Caitlin Thompson: I mean, look, Madison Key is talking about going to
Caitlin Thompson: therapy and not just sports therapy, actually going to therapy
Caitlin Thompson: to figure out why it was that she wasn't loving
Caitlin Thompson: and had a good relationship with tennis, and her being
Caitlin Thompson: able to work on that and figure that out made
Caitlin Thompson: it made her understand how her feelings were affecting her
Caitlin Thompson: on the court. And that's that's what we're talking about.
Caitlin Thompson: When players are a little bit more open about how
Caitlin Thompson: they feel and why they do the things they do,
Caitlin Thompson: that's a great thing. So I think Jensen has opened
Caitlin Thompson: up a lot of I have to say, I think
Caitlin Thompson: it's a lot of windows to a lot and for
Caitlin Thompson: a lot of kids out.
Caitlin Thompson: There, I hope, So I hope we continue. Somebody else
Caitlin Thompson: who we should celebrate on this podcast, who was also
Caitlin Thompson: playing in Charleston and who's been very open about, you know,
Caitlin Thompson: so the direction her life has taken and so much
Caitlin Thompson: so that she's created an incredibly entertaining and fun vlag
Caitlin Thompson: out of it. Is Daria Kasatikina, who is your new
Caitlin Thompson: country woman.
Rennae Stubbs: Yes this, I have to say, I was in Indian
Rennae Stubbs: Wells and there's a man that works for Tennis Australia
Rennae Stubbs: quite senior up in tennis Australia was I saw him
Rennae Stubbs: talking to John Morris and who is Daria Kasatkina's agent?
Rennae Stubbs: And they were having a very you know, intimate conversation
Rennae Stubbs: and I was like, what's going on over there? And
Rennae Stubbs: then I was like, wait a second, is she like
Rennae Stubbs: talking and thinking about becoming Australian? Sorry?
Caitlin Thompson: Did you just solve a case detective?
Rennae Stubbs: Yes? Life, I swear my life and Daria, we'll prove
Rennae Stubbs: it because I saw her a couple of minutes later
Rennae Stubbs: and I said to her, were recruiting you, We're recruiting you,
Rennae Stubbs: and she goes maybe, and then sure enough what it
Rennae Stubbs: was like a week after Indian wells, Yeah, it gets
Rennae Stubbs: announced and I was like, oh my god, I was right.
Caitlin Thompson: But a classic so great obviously for anybody who does
Caitlin Thompson: not know or not does not listen to this podcast
Caitlin Thompson: area because how can I Russian origin? Yes, openly gay, yes,
Caitlin Thompson: and in a relationship with her girlfriend and they do
Caitlin Thompson: have vlog and she's you know, I think one of
Caitlin Thompson: the tour's most delightful players. She's fun to watch, She's
Caitlin Thompson: got a lot of tools, she's obviously a great athlete,
Caitlin Thompson: and I think she's a fan favorite for a lot
Caitlin Thompson: of reasons, you know, being gay, in Vladimir Putin's Russia
Caitlin Thompson: well and speaking up about it. Bad news. She has
Caitlin Thompson: spoken up about it and being you know, very very
Caitlin Thompson: overtly political, you know, but this is one of the
Caitlin Thompson: countries that has like outlawed homosexuality.
Rennae Stubbs: G'day mate. So of course I texted her immediately when
Rennae Stubbs: I saw it, and I said I knew it. And
Rennae Stubbs: by the way, that yeah, so look, Daria Saville, Daria
Rennae Stubbs: Gavrilova former Gavrilova, is one of Daria's best friends. So
Rennae Stubbs: I can imagine the conversation has been had by them
Rennae Stubbs: over the months. I haven't spoken to Dasha about it, but
Rennae Stubbs: I would imagine that they had talked quite extensively about
Rennae Stubbs: living in Australia, about moving to Australia.
Caitlin Thompson: And how old was she? Quite young, she was sort
Caitlin Thompson: of converted, I guess from Russia.
Rennae Stubbs: Yeah, I believe in her early twenties. But she I'd
Rennae Stubbs: have to think about it. But look, she's she's been
Rennae Stubbs: a part of the Australian tapestry of tennis for so
Rennae Stubbs: long now, I would say a decade, and of course
Rennae Stubbs: married her husband, Luke Saville, who's in Australia. He's an
Rennae Stubbs: Australian tennis player, just retired and so look they live
Rennae Stubbs: in Melbourne. They you know, Dasha Gavrilova is or Saville
Rennae Stubbs: is very Australian, represents Australia in the Olympics and fed
Rennae Stubbs: Cup and you know, her Australian accent is pretty good now,
Rennae Stubbs: you know. So it's nice to see this from a standpoint.
Caitlin Thompson: From an international competition standpoint. You know, Australia just gained
Caitlin Thompson: another top twenty player.
Rennae Stubbs: Hey, we'll take it. I think there's still a conversation
Rennae Stubbs: if she can represent Australia and when, But it'll be
Rennae Stubbs: really wonderful to see her out there, you know. So
Rennae Stubbs: we've recruited somebody good players Ajla Tomjlanovitch, Yeah, Darius Saville
Rennae Stubbs: of course. Now Kasatkina, so hey, way to go tennis Australia.
Caitlin Thompson: While we're talking about Daria Saville I sort of flagged
Caitlin Thompson: something that I thought was really interesting. Late last week
Caitlin Thompson: she went out on social media to talk about how
Caitlin Thompson: disappointed she found it that brands were keen to sponsor
Caitlin Thompson: the wives and girlfriends of tennis players sort of influencers
Caitlin Thompson: in the tennis space. You would say keen to be
Caitlin Thompson: involved in the tennis world, just not in the tennis
Caitlin Thompson: world way that you would hope, well, she would certainly hope
Caitlin Thompson: that the brands would I think pay female athletes instead
Caitlin Thompson: of paying wives and girlfriends. And the reaction to this
Caitlin Thompson: has been, you know, sort of predictably mixed. I'm curious
Caitlin Thompson: as to your reaction to it, because, yes, players on
Caitlin Thompson: the pro tour, especially women who are maybe not necessarily
Caitlin Thompson: in the top twenty all of those goes for men too,
Caitlin Thompson: don't often enjoy the preponderance of brand deals. And we
Caitlin Thompson: have seen in the last couple of years, especially an
Caitlin Thompson: uptick in brands, and by brands, I mean every brandy, brands,
Caitlin Thompson: liquor brands, media brands, creating a lot of content with influencers,
Caitlin Thompson: some of whom are sort of notable wives and girlfriends,
Caitlin Thompson: and we can talk about who they are and you know,
Caitlin Thompson: how they operate in the ecosystem. But this is relatively
Caitlin Thompson: new to tennis. I think it's probably been in other
Caitlin Thompson: sports for a long time. And I mean, yes, Daria
Caitlin Thompson: was very keen to sort of say, hey, I talked
Caitlin Thompson: to some of my friends who are influencers and I
Caitlin Thompson: asked them if this would be appropriate for me to
Caitlin Thompson: talk about and they said yes. So yeah, I wonder
Caitlin Thompson: she didn't name any names, so it sounded less of
Caitlin Thompson: a personal attack and more of just like a plead
Caitlin Thompson: to brands to work with female athletes.
Rennae Stubbs: Yeah, listen, this is a double edged sword right in
Rennae Stubbs: a lot of ways, because clearly some of the wives,
Rennae Stubbs: in particular Morgan...
Caitlin Thompson: Morgan's not a wife, and Ayan Bloomfield is dating Frances Tiafoe
Caitlin Thompson: and also was a Division one tennis player at UCLA. Yes,
Caitlin Thompson: and Morgan Riddle has probably gotten the most attention in
Caitlin Thompson: the the sort of wives and girlfriends influencer space. She
Caitlin Thompson: is dating Taylor Fritz. Yeah. There's another one, Paige Lorenze, who
Caitlin Thompson: is dating Temmy Paul, who's got her own brand. Yeah,
Caitlin Thompson: so there's a there's a handful here.
Rennae Stubbs: Yeah. So so I think, first of all, I want
Rennae Stubbs: to say, look the fact that those particular girlfriends of
Rennae Stubbs: those particular tennis players have gotten a lot of brands.
Rennae Stubbs: Look there, the three of them are beautiful, Let's just
Rennae Stubbs: put it out there, straight up, gorgeous women. They have
Rennae Stubbs: made an effort themselves to do the vlogs, do the instagrams,
Rennae Stubbs: meet the right people, talk to brands themselves. They're putting
Rennae Stubbs: themselves out there and they're doing the work, all right,
Rennae Stubbs: So they're not brands. Aren't just popping in and saying, hey, guys,
Rennae Stubbs: we see that you're the girlfriend of would you do
Rennae Stubbs: this now? Yeah? Sure, they're getting exposure because they're on television, right,
Rennae Stubbs: So when Francis Tiafoe is playing the US Open, or
Rennae Stubbs: Tommy Paul or Taylor Fitz, the wives are getting shown.
Rennae Stubbs: The girlfriends are getting shown on television a lot. Okay,
Rennae Stubbs: so they're getting their own They're getting attention because of
Rennae Stubbs: their boyfriends, for sure, but they have to put in
Rennae Stubbs: the work themselves, and both of them and all of
Rennae Stubbs: those women in particular, and any other influencer. You have
Rennae Stubbs: to put in the work. It's not like you just
Rennae Stubbs: put on the camera and be like blah blah blah.
Rennae Stubbs: They do the dress. I mean, I saw a Yan yesterday.
Rennae Stubbs: She'd put on this dress and she's talking about this,
Rennae Stubbs: and she's talking about her skincare, and people follow them.
Rennae Stubbs: And therefore, if you have a following, it's like when
Rennae Stubbs: you have the demand, you will get brands and so that.
Rennae Stubbs: So if you, as a tennis player, are gonna complain
Rennae Stubbs: about it or agree with Dasha Savile, you have to
Rennae Stubbs: put in the work as well. You have to get
Rennae Stubbs: dressed up, you have to you know. One of the
Rennae Stubbs: things that Dasha was saying, I guess a sweaty, sporty
Rennae Stubbs: woman is not going to get as much love as
Rennae Stubbs: a beautiful woman who's putting on hair and makeup and
Rennae Stubbs: a great outfit. Okay, yes, you know, supply and demand.
Rennae Stubbs: I don't know. I feel like both can be right
Rennae Stubbs: in the situation. That's how I feel about it.
Caitlin Thompson: Yeah, I would sort of add to me. The thing
Caitlin Thompson: that I really admire about the sort of conversation no,
Caitlin Thompson: the wives and girlfriends is that they've figured out as stories.
Caitlin Thompson: I mean, Morgan Riddle by far as the biggest one,
Caitlin Thompson: and she is by far the best storyteller. Yeah, she's
Caitlin Thompson: crafting not only sort of a persona, but also content
Caitlin Thompson: that these brands want. And so, yes, does it hurt
Caitlin Thompson: that these these folks are, you know, in full hair
Caitlin Thompson: and makeup as you mentioned earlier, Obviously they're very attractive
Caitlin Thompson: and there are you know, there are some realities of
Caitlin Thompson: the market that.
Rennae Stubbs: Uh, you know, sadly contour to that.
Caitlin Thompson: Yeah, the contour to that, sure, But I also want
Caitlin Thompson: to call out, like the tremendous amount of work and storytelling.
Caitlin Thompson: And I think when we've seen athletes tell stories, especially
Caitlin Thompson: if it's sort of a continued effort as part of
Caitlin Thompson: an ongoing you know, persona or a performance that I
Caitlin Thompson: think is additive to their tennis. You know, we just
Caitlin Thompson: praise Daria Kasatakina for having a great vlog, but she
Caitlin Thompson: does regularly where she interviews other players. You know, Daria
Caitlin Thompson: Kasatkina is never going to be the spokesperson for Chanel
Caitlin Thompson: or Dior, that's not her brand and that's certainly not
Caitlin Thompson: something she seems interested in. But her relatability and her
Caitlin Thompson: humor and her ability to sort of be a locker
Caitlin Thompson: room favorite and get other players to interview like indicates
Caitlin Thompson: to me that the following she has is based on
Caitlin Thompson: work and effort and you know, something really authentic. And
Caitlin Thompson: you know, similarly, when we see Danielle Collins sort of
Caitlin Thompson: embrace her silliness and kind of you know, outside personality,
Caitlin Thompson: when we've seen Jess Pegula ride the subway to you know,
Caitlin Thompson: the US Open instead of taking a helicopter, not that
Caitlin Thompson: she was going to, but you get my point. Like
Caitlin Thompson: when players lean in a little bit, and it's kind of,
Caitlin Thompson: you know, I think similar to the Jenson Brooksby conversation
Caitlin Thompson: we were just having, which is the more players and I
Caitlin Thompson: get your point, it is a double edged sword, but
Caitlin Thompson: the more players sort of embrace the story, the transparency,
Caitlin Thompson: the vulnerability, the idea that they are, you know, human
Caitlin Thompson: beings who have stories to tell and can tell them,
Caitlin Thompson: I think the easier this will be.
Rennae Stubbs: Yeah, I mean, look, tennis players have a job. They
Rennae Stubbs: get up in the morning, they go train, they work out,
Rennae Stubbs: then they go to physio, then they do all of
Rennae Stubbs: that sort of stuff. And what's exciting about that till
Rennae Stubbs: brand you know what? I mean to show that, Okay,
Rennae Stubbs: they're going to practice for two days. Whereas you know,
Rennae Stubbs: you know, a wag can sort of like say, hi, guys,
Rennae Stubbs: I'm here at the thing. Here's my product placement, and
Rennae Stubbs: here's what we do, and here's the makeup I wear,
Rennae Stubbs: and here's the mascot or I wear. And this doesn't
Rennae Stubbs: run even when I'm watching my boyfriend play tennis, and
Rennae Stubbs: blah blah blah. I mean there's just waste to you
Rennae Stubbs: hit a certain demographic, they go, oh, I relate to that, right,
Rennae Stubbs: Whereas do you hit a certain demographic when you're like,
Rennae Stubbs: oh my god, I just went to the gym for
Rennae Stubbs: two hours, I went to physio. Here in my sweat marks,
Rennae Stubbs: it's like, do you who relates to that? Yeah, there's
Rennae Stubbs: plenty of people that kind of relate to that, So
Rennae Stubbs: how do you embrace that? I want to call out
Rennae Stubbs: I think the wt A trying in their right to
Rennae Stubbs: actually help along these lines a little bit more. When
Rennae Stubbs: they have that influencer lunch and dinners and things like that,
Rennae Stubbs: they're inviting that. They're inviting the influencers in, but then
Rennae Stubbs: they're they're having some of the players do a lot
Rennae Stubbs: of the vlogs, whether it be Darry Gavelova, Savil or not.
Rennae Stubbs: So they're trying, they're trying to integrate them in, but
Rennae Stubbs: the influencers, do you know how to do it better?
Caitlin Thompson: Also, the influencers come and go. I mean that's the
Caitlin Thompson: other thing is that influencer marketing generally has you know,
Caitlin Thompson: sort of ebbed and flowed. I don't know that it's
Caitlin Thompson: going to be here forever. If you're on the pro
Caitlin Thompson: tour and making a living as a pro tennis player, Like.
Rennae Stubbs: That's your main job and you can make a lot
Rennae Stubbs: of money, is this Yes, Yeah, you can make a
Rennae Stubbs: lot of money winning tennis matches, So that becomes way
Rennae Stubbs: more important than it does to maybe show what hairspray
Rennae Stubbs: you're using that day. That said, I would like to
Rennae Stubbs: use this big platform that we have to make a
Rennae Stubbs: call to Garbiñe Muguruza's husband, who is extremely attractive and
Rennae Stubbs: somebody we do not see enough on camera. I see
Rennae Stubbs: Garbiña all the time, who's now an ambassador for tennis, but.
Rennae Stubbs: She's not playing anymore.
Caitlin Thompson: I'm just saying I want more men, I want more boyfriends,
Caitlin Thompson: I want BAGs in my life.
Rennae Stubbs: I would have heard that. I just I want more men.
Caitlin Thompson: I want to see more dudes in the stands. And
Caitlin Thompson: what are they what's their fit for the day, what
Caitlin Thompson: are they wearing, what's their look?
Rennae Stubbs: Yeah, you're not going to see that, you know, gonna
Rennae Stubbs: see Jessie Pegula's husband getting dressed up. That's a great idea.
Caitlin Thompson: Jessica Pegula, if you're listening to this, I want to
Caitlin Thompson: see Taylor what is he wearing?
Rennae Stubbs: It's not happening. I mean maybe probably some Gap pants.
Caitlin Thompson: He's probably wearing some golf pants and a sweatproof shirt.
Caitlin Thompson: But I'm saying, if we call him out, then maybe
Caitlin Thompson: he can step it up.
Rennae Stubbs: Taylor, that's ever gonna happen. Taylor. No, Taylor, please Taylor,
Rennae Stubbs: just be yourself.
Caitlin Thompson: I think it's a great idea. No, So, I think
Caitlin Thompson: this is why not why not push for change? You're
Caitlin Thompson: always the one telling me nothing everything is impossible. Remember
Caitlin Thompson: when the French Open just decided to move to October
Caitlin Thompson: and didn't consult with anybody. You like, we're living in
Caitlin Thompson: the ages?
Rennae Stubbs: Is it in the October anymore for one year? Because
Rennae Stubbs: it was a pandemic?
Caitlin Thompson: Listen, but I'm just saying nothing is nothing is real.
Rennae Stubbs: You want Australia to move to South America. I get it.
Rennae Stubbs: Let's like not get any of the more controversial with
Rennae Stubbs: these takes.
Caitlin Thompson: I don't think he's wanting to see more husbands and
Caitlin Thompson: boyfriends is a controversial take.
Rennae Stubbs: Okay, that's fine.
Caitlin Thompson: Whatever on the sidelines is particularly controversial. I think a
Caitlin Thompson: lot of listeners would agree with that.
Rennae Stubbs: You can have whatever you want. Speaking of good looking men,
Rennae Stubbs: now that you want more men, can we talk about
Rennae Stubbs: Rublev and Marat Safin.
Caitlin Thompson: Marat Safin largely widely considered to be the one of
Caitlin Thompson: the best looking men who'd ever played tennis one Grand Slam.
Caitlin Thompson: One story that Darren k Hill told on this podcast
Caitlin Thompson: during the first season was that he turned down an
Caitlin Thompson: opportunity to coach Merrett Saffin, instead choosing to coach under
Caitlin Thompson: Agassi because DarrenCahill's wife was too enthusiastic about him taking
Caitlin Thompson: the Marrat Safin coaching job.
Rennae Stubbs: May I say, a much better financial decision because Marrett
Rennae Stubbs: not really the guy that you're going to hope is
Rennae Stubbs: going to turn up for the day. But I think
Rennae Stubbs: this is kind of an interesting matchup because I think
Rennae Stubbs: people that were nuts and crazy on tennis court, which
Rennae Stubbs: Safin was, and I think they actually make great coaches.
Rennae Stubbs: And I'll tell you why. I'd love to know. I
Rennae Stubbs: think I was a little nuts on the court at
Rennae Stubbs: times as well myself. And I think you just get
Rennae Stubbs: it right. I think you get it, you understand what
Rennae Stubbs: someone's going through. Now, if you're like a Chris Evertt,
Rennae Stubbs: I think that Chris would have a hard time coaching
Rennae Stubbs: somebody who's a little bit nuts because you'd be like,
Rennae Stubbs: I don't understand how why you would act quick this yes,
Rennae Stubbs: you know, or Steffie Graff would be like, what are
Rennae Stubbs: you doing? Act look like an you know, Whereas somebody
Rennae Stubbs: who can relate a little bit to the crazy and
Rennae Stubbs: to the emotional ups and downs on the court actually
Rennae Stubbs: does make a good coach because they understand and they
Rennae Stubbs: feel for you. Like he can relate, he can relate
Rennae Stubbs: to don't fuck this up. Yes, it's okay to get
Rennae Stubbs: upset from time to time, but you're going to look
Rennae Stubbs: back in ten years and like really regret this. And
Rennae Stubbs: so it'll be interesting to see how Marat Safin can
Rennae Stubbs: can sort of get into the head of rube Lev
Rennae Stubbs: a little bit, Not that anyone wants to be in
Rennae Stubbs: Rublev's head, but to be able to go, look, man,
Rennae Stubbs: I get it. You want to smash a racket, you
Rennae Stubbs: want to take someone's head off, you want to rip
Rennae Stubbs: a ball out of the stadium. You want to get upset,
Rennae Stubbs: but in the end, that's not going to help you.
Rennae Stubbs: And work on it in practice, and work on sort
Rennae Stubbs: of joking about it a little bit. And like, I
Rennae Stubbs: just think being relatable is really important as a coach.
Rennae Stubbs: I think that Marat Safin is that is going to
Rennae Stubbs: be that for.
Caitlin Thompson: I think I've convinced me that's a very good take,
Caitlin Thompson: and I think you're right. They're definitely more able to
Caitlin Thompson: relate and probably coach.
Rennae Stubbs: I think time will tell.
Caitlin Thompson: Let's talk about Coco, Let's talk about Cocoa Gauff. Yeah,
Caitlin Thompson: the results haven't been happening on the court for her
Caitlin Thompson: so far this year, but I love this move that
Caitlin Thompson: she is starting her own agency backed by me that
Caitlin Thompson: will sort of unify her brand deals, which by all
Caitlin Thompson: accounts have been exemplary, especially what she's done with New
Caitlin Thompson: Balance to offer a lower price shoe for people who
Caitlin Thompson: maybe find the one hundred and thirty dollars price point
Caitlin Thompson: a little inaccessible. Obviously, her off court activism and her
Caitlin Thompson: playing all sort of into one unit that is going
Caitlin Thompson: to be led by her. I think this is really cool.
Caitlin Thompson: She was priorly with Team 8, which represented among others,
Caitlin Thompson: Alex Zverev for a time, Gregor Dimitrov for a time.
Caitlin Thompson: They're losing people left and right, obviously. Roger Federer was
Caitlin Thompson: a founder of the agency along with his former WME
Caitlin Thompson: agent Tony Godsick, who is also married to Mary Joe Fernandez,
Caitlin Thompson: So you know, there's a good reason to think that
Caitlin Thompson: Roger Federer will forever be involved in that agency. That said,
Caitlin Thompson: I don't know that they represent anybody at the moment
Caitlin Thompson: of note, because losing Coco is a pretty big deal.
Rennae Stubbs: Yeah, it is a big deal, and you sort of
Rennae Stubbs: wonder how and how it came about in a lot
Rennae Stubbs: of ways, like what was his discussion had with Team
Rennae Stubbs: eight that wasn't or more along the eyes, you wonder
Rennae Stubbs: what the discussion was with WME that wasn't being a
Rennae Stubbs: Team 8. Yeah, that to me is the one that's
Rennae Stubbs: kind of interesting because you go up and you say
Rennae Stubbs: I want to do this, and I want to do this,
Rennae Stubbs: and I want to do this, and they go, well,
Rennae Stubbs: that's not really our jam.
Caitlin Thompson: I think, honestly, it might be something. I mean, now
Caitlin Thompson: we're just totally speculating, but I do think that speculatoion,
Caitlin Thompson: we love it. I do think that one of the
Caitlin Thompson: things that makes Cocos so unique is her off court advocacy.
Caitlin Thompson: She is reliably a citizen of the world and she's
Caitlin Thompson: engaged politically.
Rennae Stubbs: Do you think that has something to do with it?
Caitlin Thompson: I do, and I actually think Roger Fededer is famously
Caitlin Thompson: famously apolitical and of course, he's Swiss.
Rennae Stubbs: He's Swiss—we said at the same time, but you know.
Caitlin Thompson: He's famously apolitical at a time when I would argue
Caitlin Thompson: sports could use some leadership. And you know, Tony Godsick,
Caitlin Thompson: I don't want to paint paint a picture. I don't
Caitlin Thompson: know his politics. Living in Ohio certainly is a choice,
Caitlin Thompson: but yeah, I do wonder if that's just not the Team 8
Caitlin Thompson: brand to get involved in the world and sort of
Caitlin Thompson: see the larger conversation.
Rennae Stubbs: Yeah, because you know, when you look, the problem is
Rennae Stubbs: you can't compare anyone to Roger because Roger Federer is
Rennae Stubbs: truly a worldwide brand. It is everybody knows him. You know.
Rennae Stubbs: The collaboration with On has been incredibly successful, There's no
Rennae Stubbs: question about that. I would argue that the collaboration with
Rennae Stubbs: Uniqlo is not a great one. I don't see people
Rennae Stubbs: going I'm running into you know, On, sorry, into into
Rennae Stubbs: there and saying, yeah, I want those I want that
Rennae Stubbs: shirt because Roger Federer was wearing it, or you know,
Rennae Stubbs: Uniqlo is not is not really a brand that I
Rennae Stubbs: see people running to because of Roger Federer. Roger Federer
Rennae Stubbs: is upper class. He is Swiss, he is cleanly shaven,
Rennae Stubbs: he has behaved his whole life. He's not that is
Rennae Stubbs: On that makes sense, right, It's a Swiss company. It's
Rennae Stubbs: it's it's very methodical in its way of it's bringing
Rennae Stubbs: out even the growth of it has been very systematic,
Rennae Stubbs: very very Swiss, I think Uniqlo is kind of
Rennae Stubbs: like it's a cheap brand and it's a it's a
Rennae Stubbs: great brand for people that want to buy t shirt
Rennae Stubbs: that's fifteen dollars and not fifty five dollars, right, I.
Caitlin Thompson: Think what's the what the difference is? And you know,
Caitlin Thompson: Roger Federer has endorsed everything under the sun.
Rennae Stubbs: You know what I mean, even he's he's endorsed chocolate.
Caitlin Thompson: He's endorsed in espresso machines, which are not actually particularly fancy.
Caitlin Thompson: If you're actually a little high end coffee drinker, you're
Caitlin Thompson: buying a you know, three thousand dollars Italian espresso machine.
Caitlin Thompson: But I think Roger Fededer has been a brand, he's
Caitlin Thompson: been a product. Yes, he sells Barilla pasta, which is
Caitlin Thompson: also not particularly high end. I think it's less about
Caitlin Thompson: selling him and more he had stock in on he
Caitlin Thompson: was incentivized to pump the stock. Yep, because it got
Caitlin Thompson: all this investment from parties, a lot of venture capital
Caitlin Thompson: and a lot of private equity, on has been able
Caitlin Thompson: to buy their way into a good amount of prominence.
Caitlin Thompson: And they've done it, as you said, systematically, and that
Caitlin Thompson: said those and you're not ugly AF.
Rennae Stubbs: You don't love the clothes, ugly AF. You don't love
Rennae Stubbs: the clothes or the shoes. But from I have not
Rennae Stubbs: worn the shoes, but from every that has won the shoes,
Rennae Stubbs: they love the shoe. Sure, they love the shoe. So
Rennae Stubbs: for like the suburban, Yeah, I can't poo poo on
Rennae Stubbs: the shoe. And I don't have to say they have
Rennae Stubbs: done a better job with the shoe, because they really have.
Rennae Stubbs: They have broadened that that range.
Caitlin Thompson: Doing a collab with Loewe for a six hundred dollars is
Caitlin Thompson: bad bad move. No, My point is not that it's
Caitlin Thompson: good or bad. My point is that it's AstroTurf and
Caitlin Thompson: it's bought and paid for with a lot of money,
Caitlin Thompson: which is what Roger Federer's brand is. In contrast, getting
Caitlin Thompson: back to Coco, which is the more germane conversation is
Caitlin Thompson: that Coco is about, in my view, authenticity, Yes, and
Caitlin Thompson: I agree there's a there's some subtext there that you
Caitlin Thompson: could potentially read in again total speculation, but I think
Caitlin Thompson: the authenticity that that Coco sort of is looking to
Caitlin Thompson: embrace is hopefully going to be now empowered by the
Caitlin Thompson: agency that is powering her brand, because one thing we
Caitlin Thompson: need more of in tennis is actual leadership, actual outspokenness,
Caitlin Thompson: and the idea of you know, it's not just a
Caitlin Thompson: place to park a lot of money, it is, in
Caitlin Thompson: fact a vehicle for the better men of the world.
Rennae Stubbs: World. It feels like she's trying to take ownership of
Rennae Stubbs: her brand completely and sort of take it out of
Rennae Stubbs: the hands of teammate and say, look, no, this is
Rennae Stubbs: what I want, this is this is my thought process.
Rennae Stubbs: And clearly they sat down with her and said, yep, yep,
Rennae Stubbs: let's do it. Yep, yep, yep, We're on board with
Rennae Stubbs: all of it. And look, Coco is arguably the biggest
Rennae Stubbs: star in American sports. I mean when she won the
Rennae Stubbs: US Open. I know this for fact. A couple of
Rennae Stubbs: years ago, when ESPN Women's Summit was happening here in
Rennae Stubbs: New York, they played a video, and you know, we're
Rennae Stubbs: talking Mikaela Shiffrin to Katie Ladecki, to all the great American
Rennae Stubbs: champions that have either won at the Olympics or had
Rennae Stubbs: done something spectacular that year. And you know, everyone clapped
Rennae Stubbs: when they announced Mikaela Shiffrin a big deal. She just broke the
Rennae Stubbs: all time skiing World Cup record. Okay, clap yeah, and
Rennae Stubbs: then another great clap yeah. And then they showed Coco
Rennae Stubbs: winning the US Open, and the entire room went bonkers. Yeah,
Rennae Stubbs: And that's when I went, oh, tennis transforms way more
Rennae Stubbs: than I mean, it is massive compared to all these
Rennae Stubbs: other sports that are a little bit more niche. Skiing
Rennae Stubbs: is very niche, Swimming is very niche.
Caitlin Thompson: But I think even you know, compared to soccer and
Caitlin Thompson: basketball players. I mean, we'll see, like the WNBA obviously
Caitlin Thompson: has now minted yeah, probably a dozen superstars yes, with
Caitlin Thompson: more on the way.
Rennae Stubbs: Yeah, there's no question about that. You know, we'll look
Rennae Stubbs: at co co invested in the Unrivaled the event basketball
Rennae Stubbs: event in Miami. So I think co coach is so
Rennae Stubbs: big that her issue is going to be you gotta win,
Rennae Stubbs: though at some point look at Naomi Osaka. She is
Rennae Stubbs: being not dropped by Nike because she's clearly with Nike,
Rennae Stubbs: but they are not pushing her stuff anymore. They are
Rennae Stubbs: not you know, going out in the streets going yeah,
Rennae Stubbs: Naomi Osaka.
Rennae Stubbs: Is Let's also be honest. Most of it was hideous.
Rennae Stubbs: Yes it was hideous, but that was That's what Naomi.
Rennae Stubbs: That was her brand, that was Naomi's brand, that was
Rennae Stubbs: Naomi's look. It was you know, that very sort of
Rennae Stubbs: cultural feel blah blah blah. But the bottom line is
Rennae Stubbs: Nike and not pushing that out there anymore.
Caitlin Thompson: Right, Yeah, I mean I think I once had a
Caitlin Thompson: conversation with her team and they tried to to tell me that she
Caitlin Thompson: was bigger than Lebron James, and I was like, sorry,
Caitlin Thompson: Lebron James, who's won a whole bunch. Talk about worldwide,
Caitlin Thompson: like Lebron James is the greatest basketball player of several generations.
Rennae Stubbs: I was going to say, don't say of all the time,
Rennae Stubbs: I wouldn't.
Caitlin Thompson: My wife would murder me. Yeah, she also agrees that
Caitlin Thompson: Michael Jordan Michael Jordan, but but speaking over brand, do
Caitlin Thompson: you have to be the greatest of your of your
Caitlin Thompson: generation at least I think to sort of command. Yeah,
Caitlin Thompson: you know, and I would, frankly, and this is a
Caitlin Thompson: little bit of an off topic, but I would run.
Caitlin Thompson: I would love to see a lot of these sporting
Caitlin Thompson: brands actually make non signature clothing lines. Like, I don't
Caitlin Thompson: know that it's a good business proposition to throw your
Caitlin Thompson: weight behind a celebrity.
Rennae Stubbs: Well, yeah, I mean, having said that, Caitlin, like Sabrina Ionescu,
Rennae Stubbs: who is obviously one of the great women basketball players
Rennae Stubbs: in the world, would you put her in the top five? No,
Rennae Stubbs: I wouldn't. And I love Sabrina. She plays on my team,
Rennae Stubbs: the Liberty. One of the pure shooters in the game,
Rennae Stubbs: no question about that. There's not many that are better
Rennae Stubbs: than her. But having said that, her shoe is the
Rennae Stubbs: number two selling shoe in basketball.
Caitlin Thompson: Which is cool, men and women, men and men on
Caitlin Thompson: the in the W in the.
Rennae Stubbs: NBA wear her shoe. Yeah that's how So they've done
Rennae Stubbs: a great job at that.
Caitlin Thompson: And I give a lot of Where's Coco Shoes? Yeah,
Caitlin Thompson: I think you're but I'm talking about the clothing. I
Caitlin Thompson: think let's take a step back on what clothing. I
Caitlin Thompson: think the brands clothing for collaption.
Rennae Stubbs: Yeah, yeah, celebrity.
Caitlin Thompson: We saw this get out of hand with Virgil Abloh
Caitlin Thompson: and Serena Williams in the later years.
Rennae Stubbs: Yeah, but look at look at look at Naomi Sorry
Rennae Stubbs: not that Naomi Coco. I mean, I think New Balance
Rennae Stubbs: did such a good job of grabbing her. And I'll
Rennae Stubbs: give teammate a lot of credit there. They saw the
Rennae Stubbs: vision there that she could be one of one at
Rennae Stubbs: New New Balance and they and they have, They've done it.
Rennae Stubbs: They've done a really great job with that. And I
Rennae Stubbs: am I thought, oh, when a Nike going to steal her? Like,
Rennae Stubbs: at what point in Nike going to go we need this,
Rennae Stubbs: we need this tennis player, we need this, this young
Rennae Stubbs: woman on our staff. Considering Serena's retiring, all these great
Rennae Stubbs: Nike Roger's.
Caitlin Thompson: Got, it is sort of a miss that they don't
Caitlin Thompson: have her. To be honest, yeah, I think I just
Caitlin Thompson: all I'm calling for is not for them to stop
Caitlin Thompson: signing really good athletes. Just please don't make really inaccessible
Caitlin Thompson: one of like one outfit collaborations that then become unwearable
Caitlin Thompson: by everyone else.
Rennae Stubbs: Or if you're going to do it, make sure it's wearable.
Rennae Stubbs: But going back to Coco, she has to keep winning though.
Rennae Stubbs: That's an important part for her.
Caitlin Thompson: Many other parting shots. As we wrapped this first season
Caitlin Thompson: first episode of Click Word Season up, Ooh, I like this,
Caitlin Thompson: me too. I like this.
Rennae Stubbs: No Monte Carlo is going on right now? Man, man,
Rennae Stubbs: oh man, I tell you, wouldn't it be nice? It
Rennae Stubbs: would have been so nice to have a tournament for
Rennae Stubbs: the women in Monte Carlo. Big news yesterday from Ben
Rennae Stubbs: Navarro is that he is making the five hundred equivalent
Rennae Stubbs: money wise to the men's this is in Charleston. Yes, look,
Rennae Stubbs: Ben Navarro. Credit One is a tremendous sponsor of women's sports.
Rennae Stubbs: So I think that has a lot to do with Ben.
Rennae Stubbs: I think he's clearly with his daughter Emma. So you know,
Rennae Stubbs: for me, thanks to people like Ben Navarro, we have
Rennae Stubbs: opportunities to highlight more women's sports. And so I just
Rennae Stubbs: got back from Tampa from the women's final four down there,
Rennae Stubbs: which was a huge success. Oh my god, Tampa has
Rennae Stubbs: changed so much, dude, in the last six years. I
Rennae Stubbs: couldn't believe it.
Caitlin Thompson: Yeah, Ben Navarro, I think obviously he now owns Cincinnati
Caitlin Thompson: as well as Charleston. I would love to see him
Caitlin Thompson: make the tournament in Cincinnati give equal pay to the
Caitlin Thompson: men and the women, because that has been one of
Caitlin Thompson: the laggards between the men and the women on one
Caitlin Thompson: of pro tour's biggest stops.
Rennae Stubbs: I'll be safe to say if anyone's going to make
Rennae Stubbs: it happen, it'll be Ben because that's just I think
Rennae Stubbs: the influence that he has clearly in the game of
Rennae Stubbs: tennis at the moment and also with his own company
Rennae Stubbs: to make it right. So we'll see that. Yes, the
Rennae Stubbs: clay court season has begun. Hopefully the sun will come
Rennae Stubbs: out in New York at some point and we can
Rennae Stubbs: get to play outside on clay. But thanks for joining
Rennae Stubbs: me today, Caitlin. We've got a lot to go. French
Rennae Stubbs: Open is around the corner. We'll see what happens here
Rennae Stubbs: in Monte Carlo. Petko has left her She's in Europe.
Caitlin Thompson: Now. You don't blame her.
Rennae Stubbs: I don't blame her. Yeah, but there again, Germany has
Rennae Stubbs: some average weather.
Caitlin Thompson: If I were an EU citizen, I would be parked
Caitlin Thompson: at the Mediterranean right now playing tennis.
Rennae Stubbs: Yeah, me too. All right, all right, guys joining us.
Rennae Stubbs: We'll see you next week. Bye bye,