Speaker 1: Is there a part of you as a player on
Speaker 1: the ATP Tour going into the French Open, going, you
Speaker 1: know what, this might be the year that I don't
Speaker 1: mind playing him because can you imagine.
Speaker 2: That you're the person that puts him into retirement.
Speaker 3: At I don't want to be that guy.
Speaker 4: I remember the one time I overlapped with Andrea Agassi
Speaker 4: in the tournament was the two thousand and six US Open,
Speaker 4: his last tournament, my first tournament, and I just remember thinking,
Speaker 4: I don't want to play him.
Speaker 3: I don't want to be the jerk that sends him
Speaker 3: off to the retirement. Maybe that's a that's a.
Speaker 4: Bad mindset, but I just I never wanted to be
Speaker 4: that guy. So other people might have a different thought
Speaker 4: process and want to be the guy that, Hey, I
Speaker 4: finally beat rombay on the doll on clay, But for me,
Speaker 4: it was like I just didn't want that field. I
Speaker 4: felt like everyone was gonna hate.
Speaker 3: Me, like, oh, that's the guy that beat him in
Speaker 3: his last match, that's jerk.
Speaker 1: Welcome everyone to the first episode of The French Connection,
Speaker 1: brought to you by NBC Sports and Racket. We are
Speaker 1: going to be covering everything from the French Open right
Speaker 1: through to the Olympics back at the same side at Rolling.
Speaker 2: Garowskin Paris weekend. Wait, we're going to be there throughout
Speaker 2: the whole thing.
Speaker 1: And I am joined, of course by the one and
Speaker 1: only Sam Query. Before we get to you, Sam, I
Speaker 1: am an a stub six times Grand Slam champion, and
Speaker 1: I am alongside the wonderful I got to go this
Speaker 1: way Sam Query, of course, former world number eleven in
Speaker 1: singles on the ATP Tour, winner of ten singles titles
Speaker 1: on the ATP. We were just bantering back and forth
Speaker 1: that apparently one ATP title is worth ten doubles titles,
Speaker 1: so technically you have one hundred and five titles and
Speaker 1: I have sixty, so we're doing pretty well.
Speaker 2: Sam. Welcome Sam, thanks for having me.
Speaker 3: And I got that.
Speaker 4: I got that reference from the Brian brother maybe the
Speaker 4: greatest doubles team of all time, so it feels valid.
Speaker 3: You know, one singles title, we're ten doubles pats.
Speaker 1: I did want to go into the fact that you're
Speaker 1: also a professional pickle ball player now, Sam, and so
Speaker 1: you know you are that, but you were a former
Speaker 1: tennis player, so I'm going to you know, still think
Speaker 1: that you are an expert in the in the field
Speaker 1: of the sport. Where are going to talk about through
Speaker 1: of course the French Open right to the Olympics.
Speaker 2: I just you know we're going.
Speaker 1: To have later on the show, we're going to talk
Speaker 1: to the one and only Mary Carillo, who of course
Speaker 1: has been to more Olympics than you and I can
Speaker 1: bind by tenfold. But Sam, just real quick, let's get
Speaker 1: to the burning questions of the French Open and what's
Speaker 1: coming up, et cetera. Rafael Nadal, We've got to talk
Speaker 1: about Raffah fourteen time champion at Roland Garross. It's insanity
Speaker 1: to even say those numbers. But just you know, your
Speaker 1: thoughts on him going.
Speaker 2: To the tournament, playing the tournament.
Speaker 1: The decisions are possibly not all to play the French
Speaker 1: Just give me thoughts on him.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that is the storyline at the French Open this year.
Speaker 4: You know, will Rafa play? Will if he plays, will
Speaker 4: it be his last event? And we're just kind of waiting.
Speaker 4: You know, the tournament starts in about a week and
Speaker 4: six days next Sunday, and everyone wants Raffa to play.
Speaker 4: I think you know, everyone wants to see him play
Speaker 4: at Roland Garrels one last time.
Speaker 3: We hope that he goes out there and plays well.
Speaker 3: We know he's gonna fight.
Speaker 4: He's the he's got great he's got what it takes
Speaker 4: to go out there. He's going to fight for every point.
Speaker 4: But you know, myself, along with the rest of the world,
Speaker 4: wants him to go out there one more time. So
Speaker 4: I hope he does.
Speaker 1: You played him, you know, you've actually had, you know,
Speaker 1: an unbelievable singles career in your own right. But just
Speaker 1: give me your thoughts on Rafa in general, just for
Speaker 1: the people at home that didn't get to experience having
Speaker 1: to play him. And did you play him on clay,
Speaker 1: because that's torture if you did.
Speaker 3: I did.
Speaker 4: I played him twice on clay shockingly lost both of those.
Speaker 4: But you know, right from the get go, you've seen it.
Speaker 4: When you're flipping the coin and you're up at the
Speaker 4: net with the referee, he's bouncing up and down, he's
Speaker 4: looking at you. You're intimidated right off the bat. You
Speaker 4: know that when you're up forty love, he's going to
Speaker 4: make you earn that next point to win the game,
Speaker 4: and you're going to go out there and you're going
Speaker 4: to battle for three four five hours and that's what
Speaker 4: made him win fourteen French Open titles. And even though
Speaker 4: this is his last event most likely and he's not
Speaker 4: playing great as an opponent, you don't want to play
Speaker 4: him with the French Open.
Speaker 3: I don't know you feel.
Speaker 4: But if I'm one of the other one hundred and
Speaker 4: twenty seven guys in the draw, the one person I
Speaker 4: don't want to see is Rothay on.
Speaker 2: The doll am I except for this year? Maybe? I mean?
Speaker 1: Is there is there if you were still playing on
Speaker 1: tour and you saw that he look, he's not playing
Speaker 1: great going into the French That's why the doubt is
Speaker 1: is he going to play? But is there a part
Speaker 1: of you as a player on the ATP Tour going
Speaker 1: into the French.
Speaker 2: Show Open going you know what? This might be the
Speaker 2: year that I don't mind playing him because can you
Speaker 2: imagine that you're the person that puts him into retirement
Speaker 2: at the French I don't want to.
Speaker 3: Be that guy.
Speaker 4: I remember the one time I overlapped with Andrea Agassi
Speaker 4: in the tournament was the two thousand and six US Open,
Speaker 4: his last tournament, my first tournament, and I just remember thinking,
Speaker 4: I don't want to play him. I don't want to
Speaker 4: be the jerk that sends him off to the retirement.
Speaker 4: Maybe that's a that's a bad mindset, but I just
Speaker 4: I never wanted to be that guy. So other people
Speaker 4: might have a different thought process and want to be
Speaker 4: the guy that, Hey, I finally beat Rothay on the
Speaker 4: doll on clay. But for me, it was like I
Speaker 4: just didn't want.
Speaker 5: That, you know.
Speaker 4: I felt like everyone was going to like, Oh, that's
Speaker 4: the guy that beat him in his last match, that jerk.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's interesting.
Speaker 1: That just proves that you're actually an empathetic, nice guy,
Speaker 1: because I think there are some guys in the locker
Speaker 1: room they'd be like, yeah, there would be nothing better
Speaker 1: than to say I beat him in Paris at the
Speaker 1: French Open on his best surface, and I'm the one
Speaker 1: that put him into retirement there.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 1: I think there's some I think there's some psychotic players
Speaker 1: out there that wouldn't mind doing that.
Speaker 4: Now, you're absolutely right, most of the players actually probably
Speaker 4: have that mindset. Give me, Rafa, this is the time.
Speaker 4: I haven't been able to beat him for the last
Speaker 4: fifteen sixteen years. This is my one opportunity. Let me
Speaker 4: get it.
Speaker 1: You don't think, you know, these guys in twenty thirty
Speaker 1: years time are going to be like, yeah, I.
Speaker 2: Beat Raffa in Paris, what's the big deal?
Speaker 1: Right?
Speaker 4: So he was honest with people have done it. You're
Speaker 4: going to be a group of four that has beat
Speaker 4: Rafa in Paris.
Speaker 1: I mean that number is absolute insanity. One hundred and
Speaker 1: twelve and three losses in the French Open. I mean,
Speaker 1: can you just explain to people at home how absolutely
Speaker 1: bonkers that is. I mean, Chris Ebbott had an incredible,
Speaker 1: incredible career. Her numbers, arguably as far as win percentage,
Speaker 1: are actually better than Raffers, but she also didn't play
Speaker 1: as many as he did. In the end, this is
Speaker 1: insanity what he has done here.
Speaker 3: Oh. I mean, you know how hard it is to
Speaker 3: win one match on the need to tour.
Speaker 4: I mean he's won one hundred and twelve matches at
Speaker 4: the French Open alone. There's a lot of very good
Speaker 4: players that haven't won one hundred and twelve matches on
Speaker 4: the tour of their career, and he's done it at
Speaker 4: one tournament.
Speaker 3: It's just incredible. It's one of the greatest feats in sports.
Speaker 4: And you know, I don't think we'll ever see that
Speaker 4: again in our lifetime. The dominance that one player has had,
Speaker 4: not only at one tennis tournament, but possibly in all
Speaker 4: of sports. It's it's truly impress like just one of
Speaker 4: the most impressive things I've ever seen.
Speaker 2: Yeah, for me, it's arguably the greatest feat in sports.
Speaker 1: I don't think anyone's ever going to do what he
Speaker 1: has done because not only are you having to beat
Speaker 1: the best players in the world over five sets, but
Speaker 1: also let's not forget about the fact that it's really
Speaker 1: hard to go injury free for that amount of time
Speaker 1: and be able to get away with like being healthy
Speaker 1: every year and was seeing Sadly, for him, that's the
Speaker 1: thing that's more than likely going to stop him from
Speaker 1: winning fifteen.
Speaker 2: Would you have given him a seed.
Speaker 1: At the French Open, because that's been a little bit
Speaker 1: of a controversial or topic, I guess would you have
Speaker 1: given him a seed?
Speaker 4: I would not have given him a seed even if
Speaker 4: he was ranked you know, they see the top thirty
Speaker 4: two at the French Open. Even if he was ranked
Speaker 4: thirty three right now, which he's not, he's ranked in
Speaker 4: the hundreds. I still wouldn't have given him a seed.
Speaker 4: I think if you're top thirty two in the world,
Speaker 4: you've done the work, you deserve a seed.
Speaker 3: Now, having said that, I am a fan of.
Speaker 4: What Wimbledon used to do, where they would take the
Speaker 4: top thirty two seeds and then they would shuffle him
Speaker 4: around based on a formula on their.
Speaker 3: Grass court results and seed based on that.
Speaker 4: But no, right now, in Rotha's current situation and the
Speaker 4: way he's playing, I don't think he deserves a seed.
Speaker 4: And the guys in the top thirty two have put
Speaker 4: in the work and they're there for a reason, and
Speaker 4: I would about that.
Speaker 1: I would arguably say that Rafa wouldn't have wanted a
Speaker 1: seat either, because I think he's very aware of the
Speaker 1: fact that he's going into this tournament that he's dominated,
Speaker 1: not playing good tennis, and not being one hundred percent.
Speaker 2: So I think you would probably agree with you.
Speaker 1: Part of him would want to because we could potentially
Speaker 1: have him playing Novak in.
Speaker 2: The first round.
Speaker 1: That's what people don't understand about the importance of having
Speaker 1: a seed in general, is that you don't play someone
Speaker 1: like Novak or sits a Pass or Zev or Sinner
Speaker 1: in the first round. So let's just hope he doesn't
Speaker 1: play somebody like that in the first round. We'll wait
Speaker 1: and see for the draw to come out. But speaking
Speaker 1: of the draw, what about the fact that Novak Djokovic,
Speaker 1: who was the most dominant player on the A Top
Speaker 1: Tour last year, has not won a tournament this year.
Speaker 1: I mean that, I don't know what's more out well,
Speaker 1: not outstanding weird is the fact that he's not won
Speaker 1: a tournament or rough as one fourteen. I mean, that's
Speaker 1: crazy going into the French Open.
Speaker 4: Exactly, they're both crazy and Rafa or sorry Novak not
Speaker 4: winning the VET and not even playing great all year.
Speaker 4: It's not like he's losing in semis and finals. He's
Speaker 4: going out early in event after event. So he's coming
Speaker 4: to the French Open with probably the least amount of
Speaker 4: confidence he's had in his entire career. The I guess
Speaker 4: silver lining that he has going for him is Rafa's
Speaker 4: not playing great, he doesn't have Roger Betder to deal with.
Speaker 4: Alcaraz and Center seem to have some injuries. We've got
Speaker 4: a different winner every week on the men's side for
Speaker 4: every clay court tournament, so there's really not one favorite
Speaker 4: that's going in there. Kind of with all the momentum
Speaker 4: behind him, Rafa or Novak has just as much of
Speaker 4: a chance to win the French Open as as ten
Speaker 4: to fifteen other guys, and so that's what's probably still
Speaker 4: giving him a little bit of a belief of saying,
Speaker 4: all right, I haven't had a great year, but no
Speaker 4: one else has and I can still go win this tournament.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, obviously we'll get into it a little
Speaker 1: bit more when the draw comes out, etc. Who we
Speaker 1: think is going to probably be the favorite, But right
Speaker 1: now there is no favorite. I mean, Alcaraz is the
Speaker 1: odds on favorite, but you know his injury issues and
Speaker 1: Janick Sinner has had an amazing year, but also he
Speaker 1: has a bit of a question mark. But as we said,
Speaker 1: once a draw comes out, we'll have a slightly better idea.
Speaker 1: But also Sam, as you know, best of five sets,
Speaker 1: you can work your way into a tournament, and if
Speaker 1: Novak's in the second week, then he goes in as
Speaker 1: favorite to win the French Open in my opinion. Now,
Speaker 1: flip it around because the women's is a whole different story,
Speaker 1: because we have someone going into the French Open that
Speaker 1: is by far the overwhelming favorite.
Speaker 2: She's so good on the red clay.
Speaker 1: Clearly, she's already proven that by winning the two biggest
Speaker 1: lead up tournaments in Madrid and Rome, beating you know,
Speaker 1: obviously her biggest rival and Sabrilanca, but Eager she untagged. Wow,
Speaker 1: she has just been so dominating on this red surface.
Speaker 1: Just your thoughts on her and the women's side.
Speaker 3: Oh, Siontec's incredible right now.
Speaker 4: I mean, winning Madrid and that incredible final over sabrill
Speaker 4: Anca and then winning Rome relatively easy kind.
Speaker 3: Of along the way.
Speaker 4: She's won the French Open before. She's going into it
Speaker 4: as the heavy favorite. Like you said, her movement not
Speaker 4: only the clay, she moves well all the time, but
Speaker 4: her movement is incredible. I mean she's and she's not
Speaker 4: someone who's five foot five, she's you know, more of me,
Speaker 4: she's maybe five to ten five. Yeah, I mean she's
Speaker 4: an incredible mover. She's in perfect position for every ball
Speaker 4: that she hits, and that's what I think is the
Speaker 4: key to her success on the clay. And you know,
Speaker 4: if I was a betting person, which I'm not, it's
Speaker 4: it's tech versus the field right now, and I would
Speaker 4: take her going to the French.
Speaker 1: Open even though she's dominating, is in your opinion, the
Speaker 1: women's sort of.
Speaker 2: Game right now a little bit more interesting through the.
Speaker 1: Last six months than the men, just because we've gotten
Speaker 1: these great rivals playing against each other more like Sabalanca
Speaker 1: and Eager Chiante going into the French they've now played
Speaker 1: each other a bunch of Rebakina. Look, she's also played
Speaker 1: really well to this year, but this match in Madrid
Speaker 1: was just arguably the best match of the year. And
Speaker 1: then in the finals of Rome, Eager dominated. And there's
Speaker 1: a little difference because there's no altitude in Rome, and
Speaker 1: I think the condition suited Sheiontech a little more, which
Speaker 1: is why we had the blowout. But just this match
Speaker 1: in Madrid and just over all the women, do you
Speaker 1: think that they're a little bit more interesting this year
Speaker 1: going into the French Open.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 4: As a as a sports fan, I like when there's
Speaker 4: dominance in sports by one or two individuals or one
Speaker 4: or two teams. I think that is an interesting kind
Speaker 4: of outlook on what's going on. When the Patriots were
Speaker 4: dominating football, you either love the Patriots or you hated them,
Speaker 4: but you were going to watch and see what was
Speaker 4: going to happen. So I like that IgA and Sabalanca
Speaker 4: are creating and and Rabakina as well. The three of
Speaker 4: them are kind of separating themselves from the field and
Speaker 4: it's making it's making for great rivalries. It's making for
Speaker 4: some mu must watch matches and finals in these events,
Speaker 4: which is great.
Speaker 3: Where the men's side, you're going into these tournaments and
Speaker 3: it's a little.
Speaker 4: Bit of a free thro all. I have no idea
Speaker 4: who's going to be in the semis and the finals.
Speaker 4: Sometimes it's exciting, sometimes it's not. But the women, I
Speaker 4: feel like you're going into these tournaments now knowing you're
Speaker 4: going to get a really good semi final or final
Speaker 4: at the end of the event, which makes for kind
Speaker 4: of an exciting kind of culmination of the week.
Speaker 1: Gee, you know, outside of Rebakina, because we know how
Speaker 1: well she can play in any tournament, I think when
Speaker 1: she's at her very very best, I think there's I
Speaker 1: would put her equally to Eager, equally to saball Aanca
Speaker 1: just because she has it. But unfortunately for her, she
Speaker 1: just gets these random illnesses and injuries.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's part of the game.
Speaker 1: It's why the dominance of someone like Nadal at the
Speaker 1: French Open, or just even Novak and Rafa in general.
Speaker 2: Their ability to be able to the longevity of not
Speaker 2: getting you know, sick and injuries and things.
Speaker 1: I mean, but Rebakina, you have to put her in
Speaker 1: that category. But what about is there any other contenders
Speaker 1: out there in the women's that also sort of you know,
Speaker 1: we have to talk about Coco, like, throw throw a
Speaker 1: few more people out there that you think are interesting
Speaker 1: to watch going into the French.
Speaker 4: Right interesting to watch it could and could win it,
Speaker 4: or could make a run to the final if weird
Speaker 4: things happened. But yes, Coco obviously has won the US Open.
Speaker 4: She's a Grand Slam champion. She's got a big game.
Speaker 4: She can make a run. Danielle Collins right now, winning Miami,
Speaker 4: winning Charleston, semi finally in Rome last week. She's a fighter,
Speaker 4: she's exciting to watch. Those two particular girls I think
Speaker 4: are the the two to keep your eyes. But what
Speaker 4: about I mean, you have a better understanding of one
Speaker 4: game than I do. Who else is on that list?
Speaker 3: With that?
Speaker 2: I agree? I agree.
Speaker 1: I think Maria Sakari certainly has had a little bit
Speaker 1: of a better year. I mean, we've got former champions
Speaker 1: in the draw as well, so you know, the women's
Speaker 1: game for me, as you said, because of the rivalries
Speaker 1: and the interest, and we've had so many Grand Slam
Speaker 1: winners over.
Speaker 2: The last couple of years. There's some big names in
Speaker 2: the draw.
Speaker 1: That we haven't even spoken about, so we cannot wait.
Speaker 1: Of course, then they're going to all flip around and
Speaker 1: play the Olympics not soon long after that at the
Speaker 1: same place, so.
Speaker 2: It's going to be really interesting. It's very different when
Speaker 2: you represent your country.
Speaker 1: The nerves are different, but individually they're all going to
Speaker 1: be there in Paris and we cannot wait to continue
Speaker 1: to bring them all to you. Of course, the French
Speaker 1: Open is going to be on. It's starting on Sunday
Speaker 1: on Peacock. The coverage is going to be amazing opening
Speaker 1: night action from Rolling Garos beginning noon Eastern. Then one
Speaker 1: continues in full swing Monday the twenty seventh on NBC
Speaker 1: and Peacock eleven easton. I cannot wait. The French Open
Speaker 1: is literally my favorite. I love getting up early in
Speaker 1: the morning and watching it. And we have someone that's
Speaker 1: going to talk about how important it is to cover
Speaker 1: the French Open, and of course the Olympics with the
Speaker 1: one and only, of course NBC's own Mary Carillo.
Speaker 2: After we take a little short break.
Speaker 1: As promised, the one the only Mary Carillo. Of course,
Speaker 1: thank you for coming on the French Connection. Mary, of
Speaker 1: course joining me and of course Sam nineteen seventy seven
Speaker 1: French Open mixed doubles champion with John McEnroe. Let's just
Speaker 1: put that out there. First of all, Mary, thank you
Speaker 1: so much for joining us today. We're going to talk
Speaker 1: all things French Open leading into the Olympics. But my friend,
Speaker 1: thank you for joining us today.
Speaker 6: It's nice for your and Sam.
Speaker 5: You may not know this, but the seventy seven French
Speaker 5: Open mixed levels was John McEnroe's first major title. It
Speaker 5: was my last. But let's not go into that. Yeah,
Speaker 5: how do you like that, my friend?
Speaker 4: That's impesome. That's an amazing little forever there. He kind
Speaker 4: of took Off's career. Without that win, there's no John McEnroe.
Speaker 6: That's that's what I'm saying. All right, what do you
Speaker 6: want to talk about?
Speaker 2: I want to know first of all, Mary, I just
Speaker 2: put this in the background. I don't know if you
Speaker 2: can see that. This is my mixed.
Speaker 1: Doubles runner up at the French Open. So you have
Speaker 1: that over me, my friend. I was a loser there
Speaker 1: and you were a winner. But let's get tell me.
Speaker 1: Tell me your favorite memories on and off the court,
Speaker 1: basically in Paris.
Speaker 6: I mean on the court.
Speaker 5: Obviously, the only thing I've ever done was standing next
Speaker 5: to John McEnroe when he won the French Roup mixles
Speaker 5: and I just, you know, tried not to gag all
Speaker 5: over the court.
Speaker 6: But i mean off the court.
Speaker 5: I've been in the booth and I tend to stay
Speaker 5: a lot longer at the French Open when I'm not playing,
Speaker 5: when I'm just talking about it. So I've gotten to
Speaker 5: see you Rafa's entire run, I've seen Serena and Sheriff,
Speaker 5: I've seen I've been doing this for a long long time.
Speaker 5: I've I've gotten to call a dozen of French Opens.
Speaker 5: It happened to be my favorite. I love clay. I
Speaker 5: love I loved watching people figure out how to play
Speaker 5: on clay. So I've been in Paris. I mean, come on,
Speaker 5: there's a couple of things you can do there, a
Speaker 5: couple of things to see.
Speaker 4: Absolutely, is there one match over the years You've called
Speaker 4: matches for decades now, is there a real match that
Speaker 4: stands out in your head as kind of the best
Speaker 4: match you've ever watched.
Speaker 5: Well, obviously, the Nadal Federer matches weren't always great. Actually,
Speaker 5: the one time that Roger Federer won in two thousand
Speaker 5: and nine, it wasn't a good match. I was in
Speaker 5: the booth with Ted Robinson and John McEnroe. But towards
Speaker 5: the end of the match, he was winning so easily, Roger,
Speaker 5: and he's finally going to win this one major that
Speaker 5: he wasn't ever sure he could win.
Speaker 6: And he starts jamming up, he starts crying, you know,
Speaker 6: like you could see that he's.
Speaker 5: So I I talked to my producer, you know, the
Speaker 5: bat the cough button, and I said, you know, John,
Speaker 5: I'm I'm gonna stop talking. You know, let's just you know,
Speaker 5: let's just show Raj, you know, going through all this.
Speaker 5: And then Ted got quiet, and then even John got quiet.
Speaker 5: And that was the best part of the whole match,
Speaker 5: was that Roger finally came good. On that surface, it
Speaker 5: wasn't a great match, but it was a great moment.
Speaker 5: If you have eat Robin Soderling in the final that year,
Speaker 5: exactly right, exactly right.
Speaker 1: That's right, and Robin was never to be seen again.
Speaker 1: So Mary, you know, when you sit up in the booth,
Speaker 1: like explain the importance of seeing tennis also on red clay.
Speaker 2: We don't get to see that very much.
Speaker 1: But the beauty of the French Open, you know, and
Speaker 1: and the beauty of playing on clay, and just explain
Speaker 1: to people why it's so different than playing on any
Speaker 1: other Grand Slam surface.
Speaker 5: I mean, to my mind, clay is the game's classroom.
Speaker 5: It's why so many Europeans have dominated tennis for so long.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 5: You learn how to to, you learn how to attack,
Speaker 5: you learn how to move, you learn how to go
Speaker 5: from offense to defense back to offense again. Points are complicated,
Speaker 5: you manage the court differently. It's for that reason I
Speaker 5: think clay court tennis and clay court tennis players are
Speaker 5: really special.
Speaker 1: What about you, Yeah, well, I mean I wanted to
Speaker 1: ask you on that. You know, you obviously very good
Speaker 1: friends with Chris Evertt. So you're talking about Chris Evertt
Speaker 1: and you're talking about Rafa, you know, so just compare
Speaker 1: those two because you have seen them both through the
Speaker 1: years compete and when the way that they have done
Speaker 1: so well on you know, the clay in Paris, So
Speaker 1: just you know your connection with both of those two
Speaker 1: great players at the French Open.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean Rafa is a beast, you know he Yeah,
Speaker 5: you see how physical he is, how mentally strong he is.
Speaker 5: Chrissy was much later on the court, but she managed
Speaker 5: the court again so well. She had so much concer
Speaker 5: tration and focus and drive, and clay allowed her to
Speaker 5: beat players who are bigger and stronger, right, who could
Speaker 5: hit harder. She would keep a rally going and she'd move,
Speaker 5: she'd move the ball around, manage the middle of the court,
Speaker 5: and then all of a sudden she might hit her
Speaker 5: forehand that that was just a little higher than the
Speaker 5: last one, you know, or dip her back hand just
Speaker 5: a little lower, and all of a sudden her opponent
Speaker 5: was slightly off balanced, perhaps without even knowing it, and
Speaker 5: that's when Chrissy would make her move. I mean, she was,
Speaker 5: she was something else. Rafa won twice as many French
Speaker 5: Opens as Chris. Wait a minute, remember when.
Speaker 6: We used to say Bjorn Borg was the greatest clay
Speaker 6: court player on the men's side. You know, he won
Speaker 6: six oer.
Speaker 5: And Rafa is just he is as remarkable. I don't
Speaker 5: know that that you can ever beat that feat.
Speaker 2: Never, It'll never be broken.
Speaker 4: The greatest feat in sports, in all of sports, with
Speaker 4: that record and that dominance. I think think of anything
Speaker 4: I'll tell of my head that's more impressive.
Speaker 6: No, I can't either say.
Speaker 1: So take me into the mindset of Rafa. Do you
Speaker 1: think that you know, Sam and I talked about this yesterday,
Speaker 1: what do you think that the French Open should be
Speaker 1: Raffa's last event?
Speaker 5: A friend of mine is actually working on an adal
Speaker 5: documentary and they've spent a lot of time, uh, talking
Speaker 5: to Rafa and his coaches and his family, his wife.
Speaker 3: Ah.
Speaker 5: It sure seems like his team of family and coaches
Speaker 5: want the French Open to be his final, his final appearance.
Speaker 5: But Rafa is fighting that. You know, he's not ready
Speaker 5: to say yeah, I'm gonna this is the end for me.
Speaker 5: So that will It will be interesting to see if
Speaker 5: that changes in the coming in the coming weeks. We
Speaker 5: know that he's talking about playing doubles at the Olympics
Speaker 5: with Carlos Alcarez and that would be something to see.
Speaker 5: He's already said he's going to play the Labor Cup,
Speaker 5: which I still consider to be an exhibition. Uh after
Speaker 5: this it is because because it is, everyone seems to
Speaker 5: now want to retire at Labor Cup, you know, after
Speaker 5: Roger did. Now it sounds like Rafa wants to do that,
Speaker 5: you know when it's Uh, it would.
Speaker 6: Be something glorious.
Speaker 5: I think if he were to decide to put down
Speaker 5: his rackets in Paris, but who knows? What where are
Speaker 5: you guys landing on that?
Speaker 4: That's what I want as a tennis man. I touched
Speaker 4: on this the other day with Renee. I wanted to
Speaker 4: be at the Open, even if he doesn't go out
Speaker 4: and win or play Gray. That's where his legacy has built.
Speaker 4: Fetters was more at Wimbledon, in the Labor Cup. The
Speaker 4: world wants Rafa to end at the French Open, That's
Speaker 4: what That's what everyone wants. He wants that's where the
Speaker 4: goodbye should be. That's where his story needs to end.
Speaker 4: So I'm hoping for that to his last event.
Speaker 6: So it sounds like you guys don't think he's going
Speaker 6: to win the French Hope. Uh No, No.
Speaker 3: I guess yes.
Speaker 4: If I had to place a bet down, I wouldn't
Speaker 4: be on him unfortunately.
Speaker 3: Yeah, But no matter what happens this year.
Speaker 4: He's going down as the as the greatest clay quarter
Speaker 4: ever and that will probably be forever.
Speaker 5: Right and and and just so, just to go back
Speaker 5: to how Roger feder I mean, he he wanted Wimbledon
Speaker 5: was his was his great event. But the last time
Speaker 5: he played Wimbleman, he lost in straight says oh in
Speaker 5: the third.
Speaker 6: Remember that that's not how we wanted to go out.
Speaker 2: So yeah, I mean I don't want I don't.
Speaker 6: Want to see the Rafa go down like that.
Speaker 5: But h god, damn it, he was great.
Speaker 2: Poor old, poor old Herbie.
Speaker 1: Hercuts has put you know, he put basically Roger into
Speaker 1: uh into retirement. And then the other day I think
Speaker 1: he might have mentally put Rafa in retirement in Rome.
Speaker 2: So and he's the nicest guy on to us. So
Speaker 2: you know, that's it.
Speaker 1: But may you know, through the years, Roland Garros has
Speaker 1: certainly changed. I mean, Chatrier got an upgrade, The.
Speaker 2: Bull Ring is no more.
Speaker 1: We love the bull Ring court back in the day,
Speaker 1: even though I hated it because I always lost on
Speaker 1: that court. And now you know, Simone, but Matthieure now
Speaker 1: is like maybe one of the best courts in tenna.
Speaker 1: So es your thoughts also on the changing atmosphere at
Speaker 1: Roland Garrison and sort of through the years, you've seen
Speaker 1: the upgrades, You've seen what they've tried to do, because
Speaker 1: it's very small if you can't just expand it like
Speaker 1: the austral And Open. We get to expand it a
Speaker 1: little bit easier because we have the help of the government.
Speaker 2: But what about that from your.
Speaker 5: Perspective, continent of Australia gets to do whatever the hellp
Speaker 5: unlimited lay there. But the French Open has the smallest
Speaker 5: footprint of the four majors, so to make great advances
Speaker 5: is tricky and you got to get all kinds of Yeah,
Speaker 5: you have to go through the neighbors and there we
Speaker 5: don't want it.
Speaker 6: All that kind of stuff.
Speaker 5: But I'm so excited that the Olympics will be played
Speaker 5: will be played there because experiencing Roland Garros the years
Speaker 5: already know how special it is. And it's going to
Speaker 5: be a tricky maneuver for them to go from clay
Speaker 5: this clay court season to a couple of weeks of
Speaker 5: grass including Wimbledon, and then go back to clay because
Speaker 5: normally after Wimby it's all hard courts. So who who
Speaker 5: are the players who can pull that off the best?
Speaker 5: I mean we know Novak can do it. I mean
Speaker 5: we know that. Uh uh, sabal Anka is great at that.
Speaker 5: You know, it'll be interesting to see who that favors.
Speaker 5: You know how well everyone has paid themselves the heart.
Speaker 5: The tricky thing about this year's French Open. Uh, it's
Speaker 5: like it feels wide open, not because everyone's playing well,
Speaker 5: but because everyone seems injured exactly, and Shulde surfaces is
Speaker 5: a tricky deal.
Speaker 6: As you two know so well, it'll be.
Speaker 5: An interesting Uh, we got an interesting summer ahead, kids.
Speaker 4: I think for me, you see this Sheek or you know,
Speaker 4: in the current kind of play, especially on the men's side,
Speaker 4: we don't have these court specific players like.
Speaker 3: Rafa is a player Roger W. Warren grass.
Speaker 4: Even going prior to that with Sampras and Clareton on clay,
Speaker 4: it seems like all the guys kind of play a
Speaker 4: similar style and they do equally as well on clay
Speaker 4: courts and grass courts and hard courts, and that opens
Speaker 4: to I think even more players that can do well
Speaker 4: at the French Open and the Olympics.
Speaker 5: Absolutely true, Sam and I used to always be so
Speaker 5: pleased that the.
Speaker 6: Women, the great women champions could win on anything.
Speaker 5: You know, yeah, when you go back to and Chrissy
Speaker 5: and Martina and Serena and they could win on anything.
Speaker 5: And now it seems that the men can do the
Speaker 5: same thing again. Fitness seems to be such a big
Speaker 5: deal these days.
Speaker 6: It's hard to figure out.
Speaker 5: Do you guys already know in your heads who's going
Speaker 5: to win the French on both sides?
Speaker 1: Well, I mean you have to be not paying attention
Speaker 1: to anything in women's tennis if you don't think Euston
Speaker 1: Tech is by far the favorite, not only in Paris
Speaker 1: but of course coming back to Paris for the Olympics.
Speaker 1: She must be so pumped for the opportunity. I mean,
Speaker 1: Rafa sadly for him to not have had the opportunity
Speaker 1: to be at his very best to win a gold
Speaker 1: medal at the Olympics in Roland Garros is like so
Speaker 1: sad in a way, but also give somebody else an
Speaker 1: opportunity to win a gold medal. But you know, hey,
Speaker 1: listen to Novak on one Novak hasn't won one and
Speaker 1: a best of three though, I think it's for people
Speaker 1: out there not to understand and Sam and I have
Speaker 1: talked about this.
Speaker 2: He knows so well.
Speaker 1: Men's best of three is very different to best of five,
Speaker 1: which is why we've had some interesting people win the
Speaker 1: gold medal at the Olympics in the men's side as
Speaker 1: opposed to on the women's side. But I mean, look Eagerson,
Speaker 1: tek by father favorite, and I would say that Novak
Speaker 1: mentally has sort of made I think, I don't know
Speaker 1: about you, Sam, the Olympics his priority this year.
Speaker 4: Yeah, It's the one thing that Mary just said that's
Speaker 4: not on his resume. He has everything else but that
Speaker 4: gold medal at the Olympics. So even though he hasn't
Speaker 4: played great this year, I think at the beginning of
Speaker 4: the year, he brought up a calendar, he highlighted the
Speaker 4: Olympics and said like, let's let's peak right here.
Speaker 3: And so I think that is the main goal for
Speaker 3: him in twenty twenty four.
Speaker 5: But also, guys, Novak has once again after the Australian Open,
Speaker 5: he got rid of Gorani Venissovitch, who had helped him
Speaker 5: win a whole bunch of majors. He seemed it seems
Speaker 5: like there's a bit of chaos internally, you know, right,
Speaker 5: I mean I'm not sure where I'm Usually you know
Speaker 5: exactly how good Novak Djokovic is going to be, exactly
Speaker 5: how tough he's going to be, and what his goals
Speaker 5: are and how he plans to meet them.
Speaker 6: I'm not sure where he is right now.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree, Mary, I think him it's been a
Speaker 1: bit tumultuous. He got rid of his management team at
Speaker 1: the end of last year, He's changed his coaching crew,
Speaker 1: so it's been a very tumultuous start to the year.
Speaker 2: But you know, as Sam and Yet Stubbs, it's unheard of.
Speaker 1: And at the end of last year I actually thought
Speaker 1: he was going to have his best year ever and
Speaker 1: then sort of like be like.
Speaker 2: All right, I'm done.
Speaker 1: But age age does, in my opinion, and eventually take
Speaker 1: its toll, even on the greats.
Speaker 2: But let's flip Mary to the Olympics. Is we want
Speaker 2: to get to that.
Speaker 1: What are some of your favorite memories at the Olympic Games.
Speaker 1: I mean, you've had so many great ones. If you
Speaker 1: haven't seen her Rant in Badman, just go on to YouTube.
Speaker 1: It's one of the greatest live segments of TV. And
Speaker 1: when we say vamp vamp vamp, it means just keep talking, Mary, Well,
Speaker 1: you did a great job on the bad minute.
Speaker 5: But my badminton rant that was in Greece. That was
Speaker 5: the Athens Olympics. Yes, that is truly ridiculous and I'm
Speaker 5: very proud of that. Look, I'm elderly, this is this
Speaker 5: will be my sixteenth Olympic Games.
Speaker 6: But it makes me feel young to be at the Olympics.
Speaker 5: I've gotten to see Michael Phelps and you've seen balls
Speaker 5: and some mobiles. I mean, I've it's been I've been
Speaker 5: blessed and I've gotten to do features that have some
Speaker 5: of the favorite things I've ever done are the Olympics features.
Speaker 5: But I have to tell you my favorite thing about
Speaker 5: the Olympics, and it's happened the last couple is when
Speaker 5: the NBA players come to watch the w NBA players
Speaker 5: the women's basketball play. And obviously they've been ruling the
Speaker 5: games as have the men for many Olympics now, But
Speaker 5: to see those guys want to be there watching the
Speaker 5: women basketball players, it makes my heart sing.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I love that.
Speaker 6: I love that.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 4: Now, you could call a tennis match in your sleep.
Speaker 4: At the Olympics, We've got all sports. How do you
Speaker 4: prep for calling swimming, gymnastics, these other sports that maybe
Speaker 4: you're not as well versed in. Do you have to
Speaker 4: do extra homework or What's I mean?
Speaker 5: I tried to, you know, one hundred days out we
Speaker 5: usually start getting all kinds of research and stuff.
Speaker 6: I do the open Water Marathon, which is one.
Speaker 5: Of the most untelevisable events you can.
Speaker 6: And I've done the last three hope.
Speaker 5: The good news is I do it with Rowdy Gaines,
Speaker 5: and even Rowdy thinks it's a confusing thing.
Speaker 6: There's no number these guys.
Speaker 5: These guys are jumping the water, the women the next
Speaker 5: they there's like a hundred of them, and there's you.
Speaker 5: You don't know who the hell they are. There's no
Speaker 5: numbers on their backs. And they for a couple of
Speaker 5: hours they swim around, booize and stuff and and basically
Speaker 5: I try to do research on that. But I find
Speaker 5: myself for those couple of hours saying to Rowdy, now,
Speaker 5: what's going on?
Speaker 3: Now?
Speaker 6: Now, what's happening?
Speaker 2: Now?
Speaker 6: Now who's winning?
Speaker 5: And then and then in the final forty seconds of it,
Speaker 5: Rowdy starts going crazy and he's jumping up and down.
Speaker 5: There's all kinds of things happening under the and then
Speaker 5: that's over, and then I think I cannot believe I.
Speaker 6: Just got asked to call that event.
Speaker 2: I want to ask you, is it Sam? Is it difficult?
Speaker 1: Was it more difficult to call that knowing that you're
Speaker 1: basically picking a cap and trying to fire out who
Speaker 1: the person is, or or working on the dog.
Speaker 2: Shows where you're like, I don't know what's happening here.
Speaker 5: No, no, now, dogs, I have an affinity. I actually
Speaker 5: feel much better prepared calling the National dog show that
Speaker 5: airs every Thanksgiving. I've done that for a lot of years.
Speaker 5: I love dogs. I researched dogs. They you know, they
Speaker 5: are the friendliest athletes I've ever known. They let you
Speaker 5: scratch them, you know, they kiss you. I mean that's different.
Speaker 5: But open Water Marathon. I love the event.
Speaker 6: Because it's just the most delirious thing you can imagine.
Speaker 6: Trying to understand going into the Olympics.
Speaker 3: Do you ever get to hey, hey, you know what,
Speaker 3: this is a new Olympics for me. I'd like to
Speaker 3: call sport this.
Speaker 5: I feel fairly fluent in tennis. Okay, like that's that's
Speaker 5: my lane right there. You know, in any other sport
Speaker 5: I would do, I would be play by play or
Speaker 5: i'd be a reporter, and I've done plenty of that,
Speaker 5: and I feel very good. I love I care about
Speaker 5: it so much. I mean, if I can, if I
Speaker 5: can keep doing Olympics. It's just one of the great moments.
Speaker 5: You know, you grow up watching the Olympic Games. You
Speaker 5: grow up, you know, caring so much for a couple
Speaker 5: of weeks about sports that you've never cared about before.
Speaker 5: You think, I watched swimming, you know, for the for
Speaker 5: the four years leading up to the Olympics.
Speaker 6: No, do I watch mnastics?
Speaker 1: No?
Speaker 6: When when do I watch figure skating? No?
Speaker 5: And all of a sudden, the Olympics comes around, and
Speaker 5: I'm I'm absolutely enthralled.
Speaker 6: You know.
Speaker 4: You always want to watch the sports that anta's mainstream,
Speaker 4: you know, Yeah, well those aside sometimes for these other
Speaker 4: sports you're talking about, because you get them onths every
Speaker 4: four years.
Speaker 6: Yes, that's right.
Speaker 5: And and I especially love the Winter Games because they
Speaker 5: take you to places that tennis never.
Speaker 6: Takes you to.
Speaker 5: All of a sudden, you're up in the Italian Alps
Speaker 5: or you're there like you're in places, and the athletes
Speaker 5: winter athletes are different, you know. They they walk outside,
Speaker 5: you know, and look around and see what the wind
Speaker 5: is like with that, Like you're so much more aware
Speaker 5: of their.
Speaker 6: Environments than than tennis players. Everything about it. Can you
Speaker 6: tell me like covering the Olympics, I.
Speaker 1: Mean, I don't know, I'm feeling sensing that. I mean,
Speaker 1: I've had the joy Mary of calling the last three
Speaker 1: Olympics in tennis. And we had a special moment obviously
Speaker 1: being able to call the Olympics in London at Wimbledon,
Speaker 1: So you know, this moment is arguably the same where
Speaker 1: the Olympic tennis is going to be played at a
Speaker 1: Grand Slam, you know, uh stadium in venue in Roland, Garross,
Speaker 1: you know. And Sam and I sort of go back
Speaker 1: and forth about the importance of tennis in the Olympics.
Speaker 1: I want to know your thoughts. I know mine, but
Speaker 1: you know, what are your thoughts about having tennis in
Speaker 1: the Olympics and the importance of that.
Speaker 6: I'm delighted it, Sarah.
Speaker 5: I mean, can you imagine being a tennis player and
Speaker 5: you know, all your dreams are about winning Wimbledon or
Speaker 5: winning the U and all of a sudden, tennis becomes
Speaker 5: an Olympic event. Like I just remember when I happened
Speaker 5: to be with John McEnroe when that, you know, when
Speaker 5: it was announced and he said, oh, who the hell
Speaker 5: wouldn't want that? You know, it had been an exhibition sport.
Speaker 5: But now all of a sudden you get a medal.
Speaker 5: You know, you're playing for your country as well as
Speaker 5: for yourself. You know, you get to put a number
Speaker 5: up on the medals count. I don't I don't see
Speaker 5: the downside.
Speaker 6: I really don't. Of course, it clogs up. You have
Speaker 6: to be very fit. Obviously, you have to be very fit.
Speaker 2: Mary, that's this guy, us, this guy, that's this guy.
Speaker 4: I have a bit of a take ilypics. I had
Speaker 4: to play in the Beijing Olympics in two thousand and eight.
Speaker 4: It was incredible.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 4: I do feel like though, as a tennis player, as
Speaker 4: a golfer, as an NBA player, you would rather win Wimbledon,
Speaker 4: the French Open, the PG Championship, the Masters, an NBA
Speaker 4: title over an Olympic goal.
Speaker 6: All right?
Speaker 4: Actually, as an American I think that's the kind of
Speaker 4: I would think most of the players would feel that way.
Speaker 4: What do you think when it comes to those kind
Speaker 4: of few examples I gave, would you rather win the
Speaker 4: French Open or an Olympic gold.
Speaker 6: I'll tell you. I'll tell you what means more to
Speaker 6: most people.
Speaker 5: I remember this story Sam Xena Garrison won a gold
Speaker 5: medal in doubles, and she would always talk to kids
Speaker 5: and stuff, you know, go into classrooms and try to
Speaker 5: get kids.
Speaker 6: And she she would.
Speaker 5: Bring her gold Olympic gold medal in a baggie and
Speaker 5: show them, you know, she'd put it out there for kids.
Speaker 5: She'd take it out and they all were They couldn't
Speaker 5: believe that they were holding an Olympic gold medal. Xena
Speaker 5: understood the power of that. I think a lot of
Speaker 5: any athlete understands the power of an older And it
Speaker 5: doesn't even have to be gold, but that's obviously everyone's
Speaker 5: favorite color, right I think people understand that. So yes,
Speaker 5: in the world of ten, maybe those are at your goals.
Speaker 5: But I mean, I know that Novak sure wants to
Speaker 5: win an Olympic goal for Serbia. He has stated it,
Speaker 5: he means it. You know, there aren't that many things
Speaker 5: he hasn't done. I think, you know, he played at
Speaker 5: the Tokyo Games and it was damn hot.
Speaker 6: I was there.
Speaker 5: It was really really hot in Tokyo. A couple of
Speaker 5: years ago when he was trying to win. He wanted
Speaker 5: to win all four majors and Olympic gold, yep, and
Speaker 5: that that ruined his chances.
Speaker 3: Everyone knows what the Olympics.
Speaker 4: I go to my next neighbor and they might not
Speaker 4: know what the Australian Open is or the is.
Speaker 3: You know what the Olympics is.
Speaker 4: And I'll give you that is a valid point, like
Speaker 4: the world knows what an Olympic gold medal is.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Sam.
Speaker 1: Finally, finally we're bringing this guy around. I mean, listen,
Speaker 1: I know, for me personally, I played in four Olympics
Speaker 1: and I never came away with any.
Speaker 2: Medal at all, and it still irks me to this day.
Speaker 1: And I won a few tennis tournaments and a few
Speaker 1: Grand Slams and that's still bothers me to this day.
Speaker 2: I think the difference is just like you know.
Speaker 1: You know the World Cup in football, you know a
Speaker 1: lot of players or soccer players would say that means
Speaker 1: more to them, but also arguably the Olympic gold is
Speaker 1: as important in some respects for me. I think in
Speaker 1: tennis Grand slams at the level you want to get to,
Speaker 1: but if you win a gold that certainly means a
Speaker 1: lot to you as a tennis player. So I love
Speaker 1: that the tennis at tennis is in the Olympics. And
Speaker 1: like you said, it possibly ruined Novak Djokovic's attempt to
Speaker 1: win a calendar Grand Slam when he lost in the
Speaker 1: finals of the US Open because he was exhausted for
Speaker 1: that year.
Speaker 2: But it also shows you.
Speaker 1: How important it is to him. I mean, we've seen
Speaker 1: that guy cry leaving the court. We've seen del Potro
Speaker 1: cry and be hugged by Rafael Nadal at the Olympics.
Speaker 2: I mean, these guys, it means a lot to them.
Speaker 1: So Mary, I mean, just to wrap it up with
Speaker 1: you just going back to Paris for the French Open
Speaker 1: and the Olympics. Just overall, how lucky do you feel
Speaker 1: to be able to do this job?
Speaker 2: I mean, really to explain to people at home how
Speaker 2: joyful it is for you.
Speaker 5: Look, I know it's a scam, Okay, I know how
Speaker 5: lucky I am. I mean it is, It's what I
Speaker 5: love to do. I'm very very passionate about it. I'm
Speaker 5: very committed to it.
Speaker 6: Ah.
Speaker 5: I love watching excellence in all forms, but when you
Speaker 5: see athletes at the height of their powers and and
Speaker 5: and in some of these events it's decided by a
Speaker 5: hundredth of it of a second whether they get on
Speaker 5: the podium or not, whether.
Speaker 6: It is just it is. I just feel gratitude.
Speaker 5: I just feel absolutely blessed that I can go from
Speaker 5: the French Open back to Paris for the Olympic Games.
Speaker 5: I uh, I'm very very grateful.
Speaker 1: Basically, it's gonna be there's gonna be a lot of
Speaker 1: croissants consumed by the one and only Mary Carilla through
Speaker 1: this summer, maybe in Paris for the French Open, of
Speaker 1: course for the umpteenth time as the nineteen seventy seven
Speaker 1: mixed doubles champion, and of course our gold medal champion
Speaker 1: in Paris again for the Olympics.
Speaker 2: All right, Mary, it's time for serve and volley, which
Speaker 2: I know you do so well. Okay, it's a quick,
Speaker 2: rapid question and I need you to answer as quickly
Speaker 2: as possible. So here we go.
Speaker 1: We're gonna start with the first one, I say, Rafael Nadal.
Speaker 1: First thing that comes to your mind is.
Speaker 6: How much he cares? How much he cares?
Speaker 3: Short and sweet? Yeah, Andy Murray's will be remembered for what.
Speaker 6: How much he cares this is easy.
Speaker 2: You're usually more creative than this.
Speaker 5: Come on, no, I'm saying that's my favorite part of
Speaker 5: both of those guys is how much it means to them.
Speaker 5: And again, we're gonna have a lot of these people
Speaker 5: going away soon, so you better I care as much
Speaker 5: about them as that he seemed to care about about
Speaker 5: their place in tennis history. So I don't think it's
Speaker 5: as those are two lousy answers.
Speaker 6: I think they're real.
Speaker 2: I Sam, I don't know about you, but I'm going
Speaker 2: to go back to the.
Speaker 1: First thing when I when Raphael and Nadal comes to mind,
Speaker 1: is just grit. I've never seen anyone dig so deep
Speaker 1: like Raphael and Nadal, and he does it.
Speaker 2: He shows the grit.
Speaker 1: I think that's why I'm going to remember it more
Speaker 1: so than anyone. And if I had to say about
Speaker 1: Andy Murray as well, his emotions and his vulnerability when
Speaker 1: he's won and lost, that is.
Speaker 2: What I'll remember about him.
Speaker 1: And I think that does come Marry to the same point,
Speaker 1: how much he cares?
Speaker 2: What about you, Sam?
Speaker 4: Yeah, same thing when he comes to Rafa and the grit.
Speaker 4: I think he's maybe the grittiest those fears competitor in
Speaker 4: all sports. I think there's an argument that he is
Speaker 4: the greatest competitor in all sports of since I've been
Speaker 4: watching sports at least. And Andy Murray just a fighter,
Speaker 4: I think. I mean, it's all kind of using the
Speaker 4: same words, but he just makes you earn every point.
Speaker 4: He's going to throw up sky lobs, He's going to
Speaker 4: do whatever he can to win. You see, he's still
Speaker 4: out there right now, playing playing challenges, trying to fight
Speaker 4: his way back.
Speaker 3: You don't get a lot of thirty seven year olds
Speaker 3: doing with.
Speaker 2: A metal hit.
Speaker 1: Let's not forget all right, So so what then, therefore,
Speaker 1: Mary said the same thing, we all said the same thing.
Speaker 1: I'm going to skip the next question because we've kind
Speaker 1: of answered it about what would Andy Murray be remembered for?
Speaker 2: Because I think we've already talked about that. But what
Speaker 2: about should Dominic team have received a walk card at
Speaker 2: the French Open?
Speaker 6: Yes?
Speaker 2: And why?
Speaker 6: Because Dominic Team?
Speaker 5: I mean that I think so many of us thought
Speaker 5: that if team were to win any major, it was
Speaker 5: going to be the French maybe after Nadals stopped, you know,
Speaker 5: being in charge of that particular. Yeah, Dominic Team deserves it.
Speaker 5: He's a great, great talking competitor, and he's aging and
Speaker 5: he's had a rough couple of years. The fact that
Speaker 5: he's my attitude about wildcards and I'm not crazy about them,
Speaker 5: but you give them to young kids, you know, give
Speaker 5: them a chance to or you give it to the
Speaker 5: older guys who really need it. You know, nobody needs
Speaker 5: a wildcard more than Dominic team into the French Open,
Speaker 5: and no one, to my mind, deserves it more.
Speaker 6: How about you?
Speaker 2: I agree?
Speaker 6: Wildcard?
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, I think everyone outside the French Tennis Federation
Speaker 4: wants dominiqu team to get a wildcard.
Speaker 6: Exactly right, exactly right. You should actually run him a
Speaker 6: wildcard exactly well.
Speaker 1: Thanks Mary for joining us on the quickest, longest two
Speaker 1: minute drop shot. You know that we could have done
Speaker 1: with you with rapid fire Servant Volley and we appreciate it,
Speaker 1: as always your thoughts on these players, and we can't wait,
Speaker 1: as we said, for the French Open to start. Okay, guys,
Speaker 1: so every single episode, we are going to post a
Speaker 1: new question on NBC's X account or Twitter, whatever you
Speaker 1: want to call it, and we want you to share
Speaker 1: your response during the following show.
Speaker 2: Here's the question Sam has it for.
Speaker 4: You should Rafa play his last doubles match with Novak
Speaker 4: at the Labor Cup to recreate Feederer's last match, Tweet
Speaker 4: your response to at NBC Sports and we'll share it
Speaker 4: with you guys on Thursday.
Speaker 2: We are going to definitely have answers to that. I
Speaker 2: have my own opinion. I'm sure Sam you have yours.
Speaker 1: But anyway, guys, thanks so much for joining us on
Speaker 1: the French Connection.
Speaker 2: Thanks for joining us for our first one. We love you.
Speaker 2: We hope you stick around and join us for more
Speaker 2: of this. It's brought to you by NBC Sports and.
Speaker 1: Brackett And as Sam already pointed out, this coming Thursday,
Speaker 1: the twenty third, right before the French Open, we're going
Speaker 1: to talk all things French Open through to the amazing
Speaker 1: Paris NBC Olympics.
Speaker 2: We can't wait. Thanks for joining us today