Speaker 1: Hey, Renee Stubbs Senna's podcast listeners.
Speaker 2: This is our second of two interviews coming to live
Speaker 2: directly from the Racket B and P party by Aces
Speaker 2: for Trees tent during the incredible Indian Wells tournament known
Speaker 2: as the Fifth Slam. For good reason, I had a
Speaker 2: chance to sit down before Renee got to the desert
Speaker 2: with a fellow Assi, a fellow double specialist, and the
Speaker 2: other half.
Speaker 1: Of the Woodies.
Speaker 2: Keen listeners might remember we interviewed Todd Woodbridge in one
Speaker 2: of the early seasons of the show, and now we
Speaker 2: complete the collection with Mark Woodford, who in his own
Speaker 2: right was one of the greatest doubles players of all time.
Speaker 2: One every single Grand Slam has a gold medal, has
Speaker 2: a silver metal. We talk about all of it, including
Speaker 2: his daughter bringing his gold medal to school, which was awesome.
Speaker 2: He also lives out there in the desert, so it
Speaker 2: was really wonderful to get to talk to him and
Speaker 2: get some local perspective about what it's like to live
Speaker 2: near this incredible tournament and have access to it year round.
Speaker 2: I hope you enjoy, and our next episode will be
Speaker 2: with Renee's return. Thanks for listening and enjoy.
Speaker 1: Welcome to the podcast. It's so nice to have you on.
Speaker 1: We're gonna edit it. We're gonna edit it out most
Speaker 1: of that stuff. No, but it's truly a joy because
Speaker 1: now I have completed the Woodies collection. It is so
Speaker 1: nice to have you. Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 3: Thank you. I appreciate being having the invitation. And I
Speaker 3: mean it literally is tennis in Paradise and I had
Speaker 3: to tear myself away from watching Jordan Thompson.
Speaker 1: I'm going to keep this really brief so we can
Speaker 1: get back in there and watch Jordan Thompson, your fellow
Speaker 1: ASSI against Stefan Sisibas. That's a match.
Speaker 3: It's it's great to see him, you know, get out
Speaker 3: there against a marquee name SITSI pass and give it
Speaker 3: a shake.
Speaker 1: Come in.
Speaker 3: You know of no one Jordan, since he was sixteen
Speaker 3: years of age, actually was the junior Davis cupcaptain for Australia.
Speaker 1: I ask you all about that actually because Tom.
Speaker 3: I was a part of the team and just a
Speaker 3: neat kid. You know, look, generally teenagers that very impressionable.
Speaker 3: They're you know, a sponge for information and just it was.
Speaker 3: It was a good experience for me and I knew
Speaker 3: his dad. We played with it around.
Speaker 1: I didn't know his dad was a player.
Speaker 3: His dad used to play and kind of at the
Speaker 3: same time, when we were going through the early part
Speaker 3: of your journey, when you're just like traveling in Europe.
Speaker 1: And you're you know, it's your first time in your yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3: I mean you were. You try to all travel together
Speaker 3: because you know, you'd save a few.
Speaker 1: Butts on the breakfast buffet, load up so that you
Speaker 1: don't spend.
Speaker 3: More monde of Italian restaurants and wait for the families
Speaker 3: to leave their food when they left, you went over it.
Speaker 1: Wow, that's a scavenger level that I didn't realize. But
Speaker 1: it's good to know that that was it.
Speaker 3: That was what I was welcome to. But but yeah,
Speaker 3: his dad, so you know, you can look back with
Speaker 3: some fondness, but of course fondness seeing that his son
Speaker 3: is playing and he's just started to work with Marinko Matossovich,
Speaker 3: you I had worked with for a number of years. Amazing,
Speaker 3: So I've you know, I do take joy. I like
Speaker 3: to see Marinko do well. On the coaching side, he
Speaker 3: wasn't always the easiest of people to coach. When he
Speaker 3: was a player, din'd you say? And to see him
Speaker 3: working with Chris O'Connell and Jordan Thompson now, and and
Speaker 3: you know, luck, I think he's going to have a
Speaker 3: real positive impact on those guys. He has on Chris
Speaker 3: O'Connell already, he's just started with Jordan Thompson. And I
Speaker 3: think you know the way he blitzed mom Feasts the
Speaker 3: other night. Now, impressive, good shake.
Speaker 1: So you have won every title there is to win
Speaker 1: that really matters in sport. You've got twelve Grand Slams,
Speaker 1: you won the tour finals two times. Yes, you have
Speaker 1: a world number one next to your name. You also
Speaker 1: have a gold medal, which to me is one of
Speaker 1: the coolest things you could possibly I mean that that
Speaker 1: is such a cool thing. Just curious. Where do you
Speaker 1: keep your gold medal?
Speaker 3: It actually was out today out of the box.
Speaker 1: You're like, Oh, I couldn't possibly prepare it. Oh, it's
Speaker 1: in my pocket. I just happen to carry it around
Speaker 1: a case.
Speaker 3: I almost I almost had it here today. I was
Speaker 3: this morning, was doing an appearance. I do some some
Speaker 3: work with the Harper for kids. So Peanut, Louis Harper
Speaker 3: and her husband Tim, they have this a charity that
Speaker 3: they work with. It's called Based on John Wooden's Pyramid
Speaker 3: of Success. She's written a book, and so it's just
Speaker 3: these attributes that that John Wooden, I guess, you know,
Speaker 3: carved his career out and probably lived exactly and and
Speaker 3: I think it is very relevant for tennis players, but
Speaker 3: also for I think for just kids in general and
Speaker 3: human beings. That's it. I have a copy of it
Speaker 3: on my desk deal I've enlarged a frame from daughters
Speaker 3: to have in their playroom in our in our house.
Speaker 3: But it's just something that I, you know, I do
Speaker 3: look at. And this morning I just happened to be
Speaker 3: we were doing an appearance at one of the elementary
Speaker 3: schools nearby.
Speaker 1: That's good.
Speaker 3: Part of it is taking my gold medal and the
Speaker 3: silver medal. You forgot the silver metal.
Speaker 1: I mean, yes, you won aggle medal in nineteen eighty
Speaker 1: six at Atlanta, and then you want a silver medal
Speaker 1: and a silver medal.
Speaker 3: Unfortunately that was the last match for the for the Woodies.
Speaker 3: Actually that the silver medal.
Speaker 1: That's a great way to end it was you already
Speaker 1: had a gold anyway, you need something else.
Speaker 3: A couple of minute it would have been nice to
Speaker 3: have if we could have got the trio as well
Speaker 3: with a bronze, but we only played two Olympics. But
Speaker 3: I so part of that is taking those medals. And
Speaker 3: we talk about success. What is success and it's it's
Speaker 3: it changes, It changes changes for me now.
Speaker 1: But is it a feeling? Is it a trophy? Is
Speaker 1: a relation?
Speaker 3: Kids? We were saying it and these are you know,
Speaker 3: seven eight year olds at their school and saying, you know,
Speaker 3: success for you is turning up every day. Success is,
Speaker 3: you know, walking home with a smile on your Maybe
Speaker 3: your parents might think success is when you come home
Speaker 3: and you give them a hug. I know that. I
Speaker 3: feel amazing as a as a dad when my daughters
Speaker 3: come in the door and say hi Dad. Just hearing
Speaker 3: dad to me that success.
Speaker 1: When my son can have a conversation with another adult
Speaker 1: without me moderating it. I think to myself, Okay, I've
Speaker 1: done something that is scrid. He can be out in
Speaker 1: the world a little bit. So I know what you mean.
Speaker 1: And there's something about a gold medal that is a
Speaker 1: little bit tangible as a marker of that age is everybody,
Speaker 1: I mean, they have to their eyes wide and Atlanta
Speaker 1: Olympics was a special I love it.
Speaker 3: I love and I know even at the time when
Speaker 3: we won the gold medal and traveling with it to
Speaker 3: it the next tournament, going through security leaving Atlanta even
Speaker 3: bypassed many security guards. I just it was almost like
Speaker 3: you could just take that and got well. I have
Speaker 3: told the story my daughter did over here that they
Speaker 3: went to school locally and they had a paper bag, Dad.
Speaker 3: They had to have three it was three personal effects
Speaker 3: that related to your your family. And so my wife
Speaker 3: is part Italian, her mother is Italian, and so there
Speaker 3: was something from her from her grandmother, and my wife
Speaker 3: gave her I think it was a birth certificate because
Speaker 3: she was also born in Ethiopia. And so my daughter
Speaker 3: came into the.
Speaker 1: Office because was part of Italy at the time, right
Speaker 1: of course, pretty cool.
Speaker 3: And so she said, Dad, I need to take I'd
Speaker 3: like to take a trophy of yours to say that
Speaker 3: you show that you were a tennis player. Sure, I said, okay,
Speaker 3: in my office on a bookcase there.
Speaker 1: Well, you're like, well, I've won every Grand Slam there is,
Speaker 1: so why don't you just take your back. I will
Speaker 1: brag for you. I can tell you're not going to to.
Speaker 3: The gold medal, and she said, can I take this?
Speaker 3: And of course that the Atlanta one is in a box,
Speaker 3: and I said, well, the box is not going to
Speaker 3: fit in the paper bag around, so she said, well
Speaker 3: I can just and she lifted it up and just
Speaker 3: placed it in there. And I kind of smiled to
Speaker 3: myself and thinking, I wonder what the effect is going
Speaker 3: to be with the kids and the teachers, as she says,
Speaker 3: you know, and by the way, my dad won this,
Speaker 3: and kind of like we've got a call from the
Speaker 3: school from the principal like an eleven am saying, mister
Speaker 3: and missus Wifford, your daughter a lovely presentation, but she
Speaker 3: brought something that we think is of too great a
Speaker 3: value to be here at the school. Could you come
Speaker 3: and clean we can? It was It was quite funny.
Speaker 3: But but you know, to see even some of the
Speaker 3: teachers at the school today and I've been doing this
Speaker 3: for for years, they they hold it like it is.
Speaker 1: It is so special that it's like the treasure in
Speaker 1: Indiana Jones. There's something really special about that it is.
Speaker 3: And I think at the time I didn't I didn't
Speaker 3: really I mean, going through the throes of you know,
Speaker 3: match by match, you're marching towards.
Speaker 1: The jay is smaller, not everybody's there. It was only
Speaker 1: the third time that tennis was in.
Speaker 3: The Olympics, backs.
Speaker 1: Eighty eight and Saul and ninety two and Barcelona, so
Speaker 1: it was really not It's not always the biggest deal
Speaker 1: to tennis players, but it's the biggest deal to me
Speaker 1: because I love the Olympics so much and I love
Speaker 1: the fact that tennis is this global sport that participates
Speaker 1: in this thing.
Speaker 3: So that's why I was glad to hear it to me.
Speaker 3: I grew up watching all of the Olympics. I had
Speaker 3: those books that they would produce at the end. And
Speaker 3: you know, in Australia growing up, we have the Commonwealth Games,
Speaker 3: so every second year outside of the four year cycle,
Speaker 3: so I had, you know, the Olympic Games and then
Speaker 3: two years later the Commonwealth which Australia did even better
Speaker 3: at because they are less countries.
Speaker 1: And well also you beat the crap out of Canadians
Speaker 1: like me, very sportingly representative at the time. Now we're
Speaker 1: a little better, but at the time a.
Speaker 3: Much but it was a major part and for us
Speaker 3: to win, and I like I said this morning in
Speaker 3: front of the school that probably as they had a
Speaker 3: photo up on the screen, that probably the most difficult
Speaker 3: part of that day was for Todd and I not
Speaker 3: getting ahead of ourselves. We were we'd beaten the our
Speaker 3: longtime opponents. The toughest opponents for us were the Dutch
Speaker 3: pair Yaco Elting and Paul Purhouse. We've beaten them in
Speaker 3: the semi finals in the in the silver medal match
Speaker 3: and we had to play against a British pair, Tim
Speaker 3: Henman and abroad, so we really did start the favorites
Speaker 3: and all of a sudden, the Australian athletes so any
Speaker 3: I'm sure it happens people that when there's a gold
Speaker 3: medal match and all.
Speaker 1: Of a sudden, you're looking out in the crowd is
Speaker 1: yellow and green, and all of a sudden, this means
Speaker 1: a lot to everybody.
Speaker 3: And here hearing you know, you're seeing these great athletes
Speaker 3: that you've seen around the village and here they are.
Speaker 3: They're supporting you. And we were on the same floor
Speaker 3: as the basketball team who the Boomers, who were having
Speaker 3: a pretty good run at the games themselves. But I
Speaker 3: remember that these giants are standing there just so we
Speaker 3: felt ever so powerful because we had these giants you know,
Speaker 3: supporting us as well. But to actually remember the anthem,
Speaker 3: that was what we were conscious of that getting up
Speaker 3: onto the dais, I couldn't I couldn't wait to you know,
Speaker 3: you get the track suit on and the country colors,
Speaker 3: you see the dais being taken out. You know that,
Speaker 3: you know the anthem is going to be played in,
Speaker 3: the flag is going to go up, and you know,
Speaker 3: practically saying to Todd, how do we remember the anthem?
Speaker 3: You know, whilst we're kind of in tears breaking down
Speaker 3: because I just knew it was this is going to
Speaker 3: be emotional for course of us. So we had an
Speaker 3: agreement that I had remembered the first verse, Todd new
Speaker 3: the second verse. And there's our team work. That really
Speaker 3: is the epitome of Hoodies was that the team working
Speaker 3: had each other's back and singing not so gracefully. I
Speaker 3: just wanted to belt it out. See our flag share, uh,
Speaker 3: you know, kind of arm around, you know, my my
Speaker 3: best buddy, and just a huge achievement. And to see
Speaker 3: the other Australians singing along with.
Speaker 1: Us, Yeah, that's so cool.
Speaker 3: And then just trying to mouth it for the second verse,
Speaker 3: it's took over.
Speaker 1: Well, you've left me about four possible follow up questions
Speaker 1: because I want to ask you about a number of
Speaker 1: different things. Let's start with Australia. Australian tennis. We had
Speaker 1: a grade showing from de Monar this past two weeks.
Speaker 1: You've coached junior Davis Cup, You've coached Davis Cup, you've
Speaker 1: coached fed cup. Now that you've transitioned fully into coaching
Speaker 1: being a commentator, where is your head in terms of
Speaker 1: the Australian wave that's happening. It's so exciting to watch.
Speaker 1: I know Renee won't shut up about it on the
Speaker 1: podcast and she murdered me if if I did not
Speaker 1: mention it to you. So from where you sit, what's
Speaker 1: It's a breadth of talent. We were just talking about
Speaker 1: Jordan and Thompson. You know obviously Nick in Tanasi won
Speaker 1: the Australian Open last year. Just I mean it's a
Speaker 1: really really this year out of the Rinky Rinky and
Speaker 1: Jason Jason Coopler. What it's a really deep, deep field,
Speaker 1: especially on the men's after seeing you know, Ashberdy dominated.
Speaker 3: Finally, Yeah, you know it's and it's I think as
Speaker 3: as as any Australian that has has played in the
Speaker 3: last couple of decades. I mean you you you want
Speaker 3: to see that ongoing success and I think you know
Speaker 3: I was a part of along with Todd in a
Speaker 3: very successful era with Pat Rafter, Mark Philippusis. We had
Speaker 3: John Uke and Tony Roach as ou.
Speaker 1: Were your generational mentors.
Speaker 3: Right, yeah, there were, and I don't want to say
Speaker 3: fringe as in that they weren't up to our standard,
Speaker 3: but they were a part of the Davis Cups squad,
Speaker 3: So San and Stolly, Jason Stoltenberg. Whilelym Seu was hanging
Speaker 3: on there. He was a little older than the rest
Speaker 3: of us, and but it was such a fantastic era
Speaker 3: to be a part of. Of course, Late Surett was fast.
Speaker 1: Coming up, but he was young, he was the new
Speaker 1: He was around the corner, a.
Speaker 3: Little different from the way that generally we played as Australians.
Speaker 3: And then we went through a periods. As you said,
Speaker 3: I entered into some of the coaching arena. I first
Speaker 3: started out with the Fed Cup, which was the Fed
Speaker 3: Competition now the Billaging King Cup competition.
Speaker 1: Thank you for correcting.
Speaker 3: Probably probably look, I had to be introduced at some stage,
Speaker 3: whether you know, I felt like I could, I could
Speaker 3: do a good job coaching. I wasn't as confident. I
Speaker 3: think I was more assured of myself with being on
Speaker 3: the tennis court. Sure, but I had years under my belt.
Speaker 3: I mean I was going in fresher as a as
Speaker 3: a tennis coach. But you know, I had the luck
Speaker 3: of working with Evon girl Gone Cowley, one of my idols,
Speaker 3: and the girls on the team one of their idols
Speaker 3: as well. I wish I'd lasted a little longer. I
Speaker 3: would have liked it. It was I kind of I
Speaker 3: think when you're you're trying to be a leader and
Speaker 3: a guide, you know you're having to deal with all
Speaker 3: these personalities as well.
Speaker 1: And tennis players don't naturally convene around a team interest.
Speaker 1: And so that's why I asked you about it, just
Speaker 1: because you're so famously cohesive with TAD as a team,
Speaker 1: and then the FED and Davis Cup squads BJK Cup
Speaker 1: squads are it's a very different animal.
Speaker 3: And in our Davis Cup team, we were cohesive. We
Speaker 3: had our we had our moments like any team does.
Speaker 3: I'm not not here to say that we never none
Speaker 3: of us had an eye.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't believe you if you did, of course, so.
Speaker 3: But I think look overall, we worked well together. It
Speaker 3: was a team effort, so I was when I in
Speaker 3: in as as the coach of the fed Cup team
Speaker 3: at the time. It was just really different and having
Speaker 3: to actually I do have to pay attention to you know,
Speaker 3: how this person is waking up and what their needs are.
Speaker 1: And what's the chemistry today between these two and maybe
Speaker 1: they're not gelling or something. Yeah, you really have to
Speaker 1: be so much more externally focused, right.
Speaker 3: I had to be an open book and to be
Speaker 3: able to accept that everyone is a little different, but
Speaker 3: at the same time still hold everyone to a standard.
Speaker 3: I mean, to pride yourself as representing Australia and that
Speaker 3: you know, we could actually go deep in the competition.
Speaker 3: It was an experience. It's experience that I needed that
Speaker 3: I think I look back on and even though I
Speaker 3: would have liked to have stayed a little longer involved
Speaker 3: in it, it was it was. It was just a
Speaker 3: part of that pathway.
Speaker 1: I have to say, I think it's the toughest job
Speaker 1: in tennis. Maybe that's just me from where I said,
Speaker 1: which is kind of panned not having been in it,
Speaker 1: but the Davis Cup itself obviously, and I want to
Speaker 1: focus specifically on the Davis Cup just because you've played
Speaker 1: on it and also coached it. It's sort of in
Speaker 1: the wilderness at the moment, let's be honest, like it's
Speaker 1: a it's in a tough spot, and I think.
Speaker 3: Not both the team competitions, you know, have been such
Speaker 3: a massive part of anyone's career, but I think it's
Speaker 3: it's lost a little bit of its luster, it's position.
Speaker 3: But I also think that's the success of the tours
Speaker 3: that have overtaken. You know, the Slams have have increased,
Speaker 3: and they're always going to be the you know, the
Speaker 3: exception and what everyone's striving for. But the w t
Speaker 3: A tour, the atp to it, the rich riches that
Speaker 3: are available there, the financial bounty that is on offer
Speaker 3: has increased from boy twenty thirty years ago, and so
Speaker 3: some players find it more important to establish their career
Speaker 3: as opposed to playing for their country.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I get the tension, and I think, you know,
Speaker 1: it's unfortunate just because I know Australia has such a
Speaker 1: strong sportl you guys are really a different orient completely,
Speaker 1: and I think there's something special every Australian I've met
Speaker 1: who's an athlete, there's something's more connected about the way
Speaker 1: that your sports culture gets into your blood. To me,
Speaker 1: that is so evident and obvious. But I also think
Speaker 1: you're right. I think it's the success of the Slams
Speaker 1: that has sort of dwarfed it. But I wanted to
Speaker 1: ask you a specific question because here we are in
Speaker 1: tennis Paradise, we're in very We're at the BNP party
Speaker 1: about Open. It's arguably the nicest tournament, certainly in America,
Speaker 1: but arguably maybe on the One of the things that
Speaker 1: I love about coming here every year is the doubles.
Speaker 1: Watching the incredible double specialists we just mentioned, you know,
Speaker 1: Jason Kobler and Rinky Jakarta who won the Australian Open
Speaker 1: this year. They play against people who are maybe not
Speaker 1: double specialists in a way that is so dynamic and exciting.
Speaker 1: And I want to sort of ask you why you
Speaker 1: think that is here. I mean, other than you know,
Speaker 1: Larry Ellison cutting them a giant check to as an
Speaker 1: appearance fee, which.
Speaker 3: I'd actually that he's doing, not an appearance fee. I
Speaker 3: think you know Historically it has been probably the strongest
Speaker 3: doubles tournament throughout the year, more so than the Slams,
Speaker 3: which is a different dynamic, and you know talk about
Speaker 3: that at some stage as well. The Slams really should
Speaker 3: be the pinnacle out sport, but it's not all. It's
Speaker 3: not quite the case right now because we're not having
Speaker 3: the marquee singles. Players play doubles, play doubles because they're
Speaker 3: worried about the effects if it's the best of five
Speaker 3: sets doubles like they do at Wimbledon, even though they've.
Speaker 1: Reduced their chances in the single stripe.
Speaker 3: For chances, and I think we I feel disappointed by that.
Speaker 3: Agains Tradia were brought up. You're a tennis player, you
Speaker 3: play singles, doubles and mixed.
Speaker 1: The best record in my mind in tennis is Martina
Speaker 1: nebradelow Is overall titles because they're comprised of three exceptional
Speaker 1: records in mixed, doubles and singles.
Speaker 3: To me, she's a player in all three.
Speaker 1: You could make the case that, and you can make
Speaker 1: all sorts of cases about tennis, which is why it's
Speaker 1: fun to have that conversation sometimes, like who's the best
Speaker 1: on play. But to me, the fact that she excelled
Speaker 1: at all three disciplines is a complete tennis player. That's
Speaker 1: what I would aspire to be.
Speaker 3: It's a as we say in the cricket it's a
Speaker 3: you know, you doff your hat is you got it?
Speaker 1: That's I mean, it's a staggering achievement and I wish
Speaker 1: we had more importance on this idea. Tennis is the
Speaker 1: only sport where men and women are on the same
Speaker 1: field of play, and we only really get to see
Speaker 1: it on a rare occasion.
Speaker 3: At the well at the Four Slams, we have the
Speaker 3: mixed doubles. We used to have it in the early
Speaker 3: stages of my career key Bist game when it was
Speaker 3: playing there, they used to have a mixed doubles event
Speaker 3: and it was just it was an unusual time of
Speaker 3: the year to have one, but they elected to, I
Speaker 3: guess drop it out. But you know, the success of
Speaker 3: the Eisenhower Cup.
Speaker 1: Here, Yeah, it was nice to see it this year,
Speaker 1: really nice to see.
Speaker 3: I think I hope that has legs.
Speaker 1: Also, I like the fact that it's you know, a
Speaker 1: lot of times the SEO players play mixed in the
Speaker 1: Olympics or in some of the international competitions wearing the flag.
Speaker 1: It was really cool to see them from different nations
Speaker 1: right this year. Arena Sabalanca, who's playing right now, want
Speaker 1: it with Taylor Fritz. That's a cool you know, that's
Speaker 1: a cool dynamic compass.
Speaker 3: It is, it is, and so I think it is
Speaker 3: a look a reflection of players love coming here to
Speaker 3: the desert. I think they this really is the start
Speaker 3: of the season. It feels that season. Yes, the most
Speaker 3: of the players, after being in Australia, they're traveling, some
Speaker 3: go through the Middle East, some are back in Europe
Speaker 3: playing really cold climates, indoors, indoors. This is really like
Speaker 3: the welcome to outdoors and the summer season is about
Speaker 3: to begin. From here they move to Miami and then
Speaker 3: really they are playing outdoors. So I think players are
Speaker 3: really looking for matches still that this is a ten
Speaker 3: day event. Next week is a ten day event as well,
Speaker 3: so you know, if you do happen to lose early
Speaker 3: in singles, it's a bit of a wait until you
Speaker 3: actually play your next match. If you just playing.
Speaker 1: Maybe at the same point I said, this is why
Speaker 1: maybe they're incentivized to they.
Speaker 3: Well, I think generally The atmosphere here is one of
Speaker 3: it's relaxed. I don't want to say that it's it's
Speaker 3: fun party time, but it is a very relaxed environment
Speaker 3: atmosphere in the desert, and generally we have great weather.
Speaker 3: And I think the longer the players, they know they're
Speaker 3: going to be well looked after Red Larry overseeing the tournament.
Speaker 3: So why race off and head to Miami, Because if
Speaker 3: they're anticipating doing well, they're going to be there for
Speaker 3: almost ten days way, So you know, sometimes being at
Speaker 3: a tournament site for longer than say ten days, you
Speaker 3: know you're pushing it. If you're at a Grand Slam
Speaker 3: to be there for the full fourteen days, why not
Speaker 3: stay here and enjoy it. May as well play doubles
Speaker 3: and keep my hospitality going.
Speaker 1: And for sure and have crowds who are appreciating watching
Speaker 1: you play in all lives. The longest cues I've ever
Speaker 1: seen at a match here, I've only been coming here
Speaker 1: maybe seven years. The longest cues I've ever seen were
Speaker 1: they put Arena Sablanca Victoria Azarenka playing against Lund Stephens
Speaker 1: and Eugenie Bouchard on a court that was too small
Speaker 1: for decent names for personalities.
Speaker 3: Their lines were super long.
Speaker 1: It was right before Sabalanca kind of was a no
Speaker 1: known and you'd only really know who she was if
Speaker 1: you watched her play fed Cup sorry BJK Cup and
Speaker 1: get Belarus to the finals against US against the US,
Speaker 1: and the lines were out and they put them on
Speaker 1: too small a court because they didn't even appreciate how
Speaker 1: much people here appreciate doubles. And I feel like one
Speaker 1: thing that's so amazing about tennis is you play doubles
Speaker 1: for whole life and I would love so much for
Speaker 1: the sport to be embracing all of its forums more
Speaker 1: in a little bit more of a marketing sort of sound.
Speaker 3: But you see here it's they do a pretty good
Speaker 3: job and of of I think welcoming and enticing and
Speaker 3: embracing the guys that do that. There are some big
Speaker 3: names that are that are in the doubles and look,
Speaker 3: you could you know Rafa and Adal. I know that
Speaker 3: he's a big friend, close friend of Larry Ellison, and
Speaker 3: you know, I mean I'm not shying in saying that
Speaker 3: he quite possibly could be the best doubles player when
Speaker 3: he's out there playing.
Speaker 1: Coming from you, that is a that is a meaningful standment.
Speaker 3: He I would not want to be on his section
Speaker 3: of the drawer, but he plays here. You know, he
Speaker 3: is a heck of a player, full stop. I just
Speaker 3: wish you that he'd play more doubles, you know, year round.
Speaker 3: But yeah, look at to it is a marquee event
Speaker 3: here and I think back, you know, Todd and I
Speaker 3: we only were victorious here once and that was on
Speaker 3: the old side. I think it was a kind of
Speaker 3: a tough conditions for us as well. I'm not saying
Speaker 3: I mean I lived here and practice here, but it's
Speaker 3: not that we weren't through lack of trying. I mean,
Speaker 3: we were competitive here, but it just seemed we started
Speaker 3: to hit form once we got to key Biscain. Now
Speaker 3: win rate at Key bisc Gain was was quite phenomenal.
Speaker 1: But sometimes as a player, you feel like there.
Speaker 3: And I don't know whether I mean, look, I was
Speaker 3: never shy about playing in front of friends and family.
Speaker 3: I mean, I I think, you know, looking back my
Speaker 3: record playing at home in Australia, I won two singles
Speaker 3: titles in Adelaide and a few other events along the way.
Speaker 3: So I wasn't one that got nervous playing in front
Speaker 3: of it. But and here I don't think I got
Speaker 3: you know, nervous, but obviously you know, just have the
Speaker 3: same success on the doubles court at least here at
Speaker 3: this tournament, which is I would have loved to have
Speaker 3: one of you.
Speaker 1: Well, it's amazing because you live here, so you chose
Speaker 1: to live here, and I keep a skin right, And
Speaker 1: so what is it like living here? And what made
Speaker 1: you sort of command? I mean you're raising your family here,
Speaker 1: Like what is it about this place to feel so
Speaker 1: magical for you? I mean it's magical, so I get it.
Speaker 1: The light, the energy of the mountains.
Speaker 3: When I started to have some success, and time off
Speaker 3: was a commodity and a commodity that I needed to
Speaker 3: be able to maximize to fly back to Australia. If
Speaker 3: you had two weeks off, forget it catches up when
Speaker 3: you're young, you know, green rookie, make those mistakes a
Speaker 3: little older and you have good people around you.
Speaker 1: Four days of travel out of fourteen is a lot.
Speaker 3: Maybe it's going to build up if you do it
Speaker 3: a few times. So that was my a goal really
Speaker 3: was so that It's not that I didn't want to
Speaker 3: go back to Australia. But I wanted to conserve play
Speaker 3: the whole year without being too fatigued, so I came here.
Speaker 3: I looked at Florida first, but you know, as we're
Speaker 3: talking live, i' mean red hair, freckles, fair skin, you know,
Speaker 3: me and the sun and humidity just do not go well.
Speaker 3: I wilted in those conditions. But dry heat where I'm
Speaker 3: from in Adelaide, I'm very similar. So after having a
Speaker 3: look at Orlando, having a look at around Miami, different
Speaker 3: parts of Florida, thinking wow, I just don't think that's
Speaker 3: for me. Next stop was coming here to play the tournament.
Speaker 3: From the moment that I arrived and I saw the
Speaker 3: mountains snow capped as clearly, I mean, you really do
Speaker 3: feel like you can just reach out and touch them.
Speaker 3: I was really starting to get into golf. Todd loved
Speaker 3: his golf. Our coach at the time, loved his golf
Speaker 3: as well. Ray Ruffles. You go, and all I saw
Speaker 3: was this oasis of golf course.
Speaker 1: It's pretty magic.
Speaker 3: What got me over the line, though, was Rod Labor.
Speaker 3: He was a member of Mission Hills where I've I've
Speaker 3: had maintained a home there for the length of time.
Speaker 3: When I first purchased a property here. He worked out
Speaker 3: of there, and I'm thinking, well, rocket.
Speaker 1: Rocket Rod Lavers got pretty red.
Speaker 3: Hair, freckles left handed if it's working for him and
Speaker 3: working from at Woodford. Besides the fact that Mission Hills
Speaker 3: it was home to Martina Navradlova. Yeah, Chris Evett, Lloyd,
Speaker 3: Michael Chang, Pete Sam Press.
Speaker 1: Got some building practice, buddies. You got to check a
Speaker 1: few boxes, a few nuds, familiar nuds at the bar
Speaker 1: at the country club. Yeah, not a.
Speaker 3: Body close to La. A lot closer to La than
Speaker 3: where Florida was when I.
Speaker 1: Was LA means close to Australia.
Speaker 3: I mean, that's all. I didn't want to I didn't
Speaker 3: want to have to travel the thirty that it wasn't
Speaker 3: exciting to travel thirteen hour was to get to LA
Speaker 3: or San Francisco and then travel another five over to Florida. Yeah,
Speaker 3: you know, I just get into La, hire a car,
Speaker 3: drive out are and I was home. So yeah, I
Speaker 3: just I loved the conditions. I wasn't. I wasn't wilting
Speaker 3: in the hot.
Speaker 1: You don't seem to be wilthy, you seem to be thrown.
Speaker 3: And look. Eventually, you know, met my wife, and when
Speaker 3: I decided to, you know, call it a day, we
Speaker 3: had probably the choices of, you know, whether to make
Speaker 3: the base here Australia was an option. I did have
Speaker 3: a base in Europe at the time, and you know
Speaker 3: her family was was around here as well. When so
Speaker 3: we elected to. I mean, and I haven't lived I
Speaker 3: never felt like I've lived anywhere full time since I
Speaker 3: was seventeen. I mean, that is the life of touring professional.
Speaker 3: It's year round. I didn't take a whole lot of
Speaker 3: time off. Again when I had a place in Europe,
Speaker 3: a place here, place in Australia. If I had three
Speaker 3: or four weeks off, I would travel back home. But
Speaker 3: you know I had my hat laying here as well
Speaker 3: as Europe. But my wife in the end said, you know,
Speaker 3: if you're giving me the choice, then I would love to,
Speaker 3: you know, be able to raise our kids here. And
Speaker 3: I love the desert and it's looked. I mean, I
Speaker 3: go back to Australia every year, sure, of course, but
Speaker 3: this is this is our home.
Speaker 1: Well, I have one more question that I'm going to
Speaker 1: let you go because I know you want to see
Speaker 1: what ended up happening with that Tomo TITTI pass match, Yeah,
Speaker 1: we're here. Racket is about making culture, art, history connect
Speaker 1: with tennis a little bit more. That's kind of what
Speaker 1: we missioned number one for us and making it feel
Speaker 1: a little bit more accessible and for me seeing how
Speaker 1: much the support has changed, seeing how much more inclusive
Speaker 1: it's gotten, how much more diverse it's gotten, yes, and
Speaker 1: how much it's really embraced sustainability. You know, I'm just
Speaker 1: kind of curious from you, who has been for thirty
Speaker 1: years a stalwart in the sport in various facets, what
Speaker 1: do you see that's sort of encouraging about the sport
Speaker 1: and maybe what's one or two things you feel like
Speaker 1: we still have a lot of ways to go.
Speaker 3: Well. I think for me firsthand is you know, just
Speaker 3: being here in the desert in the Coachella Valley, and
Speaker 3: you know, I live at one of the nicest clubs
Speaker 3: I think in the area, Mission Hills Country Club. It's
Speaker 3: been home to one of the golf majors. They've had
Speaker 3: a number of tennis events that have held Davis Cup.
Speaker 3: They used to one of the early showings of the
Speaker 3: tournament here that is now at Indy Wells was actually
Speaker 3: played at Mission Hills.
Speaker 1: Of course, before this was Tennis Paradise.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so I'm you know, I love the fact that
Speaker 3: tennis has been you say about being inclusive. Our next
Speaker 3: door neighbors are a gay couple and he runs some
Speaker 3: tournaments for for people in the desert.
Speaker 1: It's real gay out here. I'll say that market. As
Speaker 1: a gay person, I feel like it's always coming home.
Speaker 3: It's a it's a raw rainbow city. But the fact
Speaker 3: that you know, Mission Hills and some of the other
Speaker 3: country clubs here, I'm not frightened of actually holding events
Speaker 3: for a variety of people, but they're you know, open
Speaker 3: arms and it's something that I've noticed certainly over the
Speaker 3: last ten years, those barriers are starting to come down,
Speaker 3: and I think it's fantastic. Even in Australia this year
Speaker 3: there was a particular day.
Speaker 1: That they did a great I have to say Tennis
Speaker 1: Australia has been on the forefront and a lot of ways,
Speaker 1: not only in terms of inclusivity, but just seeing their
Speaker 1: innovations for the tournament, for the Slams, for the connection
Speaker 1: to the city of Melbourne. I wish the US Open
Speaker 1: would take notes from them because it's so important.
Speaker 3: The four slams work together, and I think they do
Speaker 3: take a leaf out of each other's book. But you
Speaker 3: know the way that these tournaments are now evolved even here.
Speaker 3: Gone are the times where you would just come, buy
Speaker 3: your ticket and go watch the tennis. Now it is
Speaker 3: an event. It is about entertainment, and you know, we
Speaker 3: have tournaments that pride themselves on restaurants. On the eateries
Speaker 3: that they that they provide here is not too shabby.
Speaker 1: There's a number of bad but it's a whole experience.
Speaker 3: It's it's like a concert has been played at certain times,
Speaker 3: So tennis it's not just going out and playing our
Speaker 3: sport these days. Or you know, if you're if you're
Speaker 3: thinking that you're just buying your ticket, boy, there's a
Speaker 3: whole lot more that comes and buying a ticket when
Speaker 3: you come to these great events. So kind of feel,
Speaker 3: you know, you know, really part part of that scene
Speaker 3: that I'm commentating at some of the majors and I
Speaker 3: get a buzz out of that and just seeing the
Speaker 3: building process of these events that are putting out so
Speaker 3: much for the fan to actually have one of the
Speaker 3: great experiences of watching some marquee players. But hang on,
Speaker 3: I can get a good feed, you know, in between
Speaker 3: as I'm waiting for my next favorite player.
Speaker 1: That was such an Australian where freezing that I can
Speaker 1: get a good feed that was fucking like a true assic.
Speaker 1: All right, well, Mark, it has been a delight to
Speaker 1: have you. Now the collection of the Woodies is completed
Speaker 1: on this podcast. Thank you, thank you, thank you so
Speaker 1: much for making time. And let's let's get back in
Speaker 1: there and watching tennis.
Speaker 3: I'm looking for it. Come on, Tom, he's got to
Speaker 3: take on.
Speaker 1: As a as a sharer of the Thompson last name.
Speaker 1: I am rooting for the tom O's of the world.
Speaker 1: There going one. All right, a pleasure, Mark, thank you
Speaker 1: so much