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Speaker 1: Okay, so Renee episode two of this season, we've got

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Speaker 1: somebody incredible, Francis Tiafo big Foe on the come up

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Speaker 1: back from an injury, already storming the gates, playing for

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Speaker 1: some pretty good tennis and poised for more. But before

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Speaker 1: we get into your chat with him, I feel like

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Speaker 1: we should kind of do like a little bit of

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Speaker 1: a state of the Union Sunshine double check in. You know,

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Speaker 1: Miami is not quite over, but we've already seen between

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Speaker 1: Miami and Indian wells, just like I feel like we're

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Speaker 1: looking at the future at tennis. It's so exciting.

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Speaker 2: Totally agree with you.

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Speaker 3: I was thinking last night because I did watch the

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Speaker 3: Alcarez seven, six and a third against Kitchmanovich, and I'll

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Speaker 3: tell you what, man, the first thing I thought after

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Speaker 3: the match was, we just witnessed the future of men's tennis,

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Speaker 3: because for me, Alcoraz has everything you need to be

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Speaker 3: a world number one, to be a multiple Grand Slam winner.

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Speaker 3: I mean, obviously, look, Novak's still there, Rath is still there,

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Speaker 3: but at some point those guys are not going to

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Speaker 3: be there. I think Novak will be around for a

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Speaker 3: lot a lot longer, so he'll certainly be still knocking

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Speaker 3: on the board at door of winning Grand Slams.

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Speaker 2: But Alcaaz is just this great. He just fights.

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Speaker 3: He lost the first set yesterday and I thought, oh, yeah,

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Speaker 3: big deal, he's going to come back. And I actually

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Speaker 3: had to do something after his match last night. So

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Speaker 3: when he lost the first set, I.

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Speaker 2: Was like no, because I knew that he was going

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Speaker 2: to come back. So, you know, he has a locker

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Speaker 2: room reputation.

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Speaker 3: Now and he's starting to get one of being a

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Speaker 3: true fighter, being somebody who really wants this, and it's exciting.

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Speaker 2: He's so exciting for men's tennis.

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Speaker 3: And there was a visit. You know, we felt there

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Speaker 3: for a while, who's next on the men's tour because

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Speaker 3: you know Zverev, I mean, you know how we feel

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Speaker 3: about him.

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Speaker 2: I mean, since a.

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Speaker 3: Pass, he's still there, but he's not really having the

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Speaker 3: results that we thought maybe, but he obviously will see

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Speaker 3: how he does on the clay.

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Speaker 2: But Alcora is this kid.

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Speaker 3: This kid's come to play and he's come to take

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Speaker 3: over the men's too, and I love it.

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Speaker 1: I'm here for it. And what I like about Alchaz

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Speaker 1: so much is that he seems to combine a lot

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Speaker 1: of incredible components of what people and I don't talk

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Speaker 1: about the Big Three very much because I'm just sort

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Speaker 1: of over it generally as a concept, especially on the

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Speaker 1: men's side, when we've had all these great, you know,

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Speaker 1: versatile women to talk about for the last couple of years.

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Speaker 1: But he really does combine like the forward movement of Federer,

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Speaker 1: like he's really trying to close the net, close points,

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Speaker 1: finish aggressive. He's got obviously the tenacity of a Novak

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Speaker 1: or or you know, in the heart of an adult,

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Speaker 1: like he doesn't fade away, he fights to the very

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Speaker 1: last point. He's got this sort of gumby limbed Djokovic

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Speaker 1: ask ability to hang in points and make you beat

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Speaker 1: him with four or five six winners. So he really

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Speaker 1: kind of has this and nobody, you know, includes Nick

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Speaker 1: Kurios in the Big Three, but he's got this incredible

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Speaker 1: dazzling shot making ability that somebody like Nick Kurrios or

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Speaker 1: or frankly a Francis Tiafo, who we've been looking at

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Speaker 1: as somebody who's got a real, you know, presence on

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Speaker 1: the big stage. He's got that too. And so for me,

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Speaker 1: he kind of has it all like not to get

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Speaker 1: too excited about any one player because I'm really am

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Speaker 1: excited about this crop, like obviously watching Taylor Fritz, which

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Speaker 1: we did over up backgammon set at a club in

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Speaker 1: Miami last week, you know, win Indian Wells, and then

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Speaker 1: watching Carlos make this deep run Titsypas. As you said,

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Speaker 1: he's I think his time to shine is on clay.

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Speaker 1: But like this to me, to kind of announce the

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Speaker 1: cohort of a new generation, you really do need like

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Speaker 1: consistent results at the top, and I feel like al

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Speaker 1: Karez has the ability to do to do that and

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Speaker 1: to make it be a sustainable thing, you know.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: I mean, let's not forget that he is so young,

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Speaker 3: so we know that Tannis is now becoming very much

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Speaker 3: an older sport. You are peeking at thirty plus these days,

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Speaker 3: so he's a tremendous amount of time to still hone

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Speaker 3: so many skills. And like you said, I love that

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Speaker 3: he tries to come in I mean the I mean,

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Speaker 3: have you seen a faster kid around the court.

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Speaker 2: It's a joke.

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Speaker 3: So yeah, he does combine all the great things, the

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Speaker 3: great heart and sort of tenacity, and he loves getting

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Speaker 3: the crowd into its similar to its like Rougher at times,

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Speaker 3: and he has that flexibility like Novak. So yeah, we

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Speaker 3: don't want to harp on one. What a great effort

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Speaker 3: from Taylor Fritz to when in his basically in his backyard.

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Speaker 3: I mean, he grew up in southern California, so to

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Speaker 3: see him when that tournament would have been a dream

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Speaker 3: come true for him and his family.

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Speaker 2: And so yeah, really and a nice kid.

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Speaker 3: You know, he's sort of gone up through some ups

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Speaker 3: and downs over the last few years and a lot

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Speaker 3: of expectation on his shoulders.

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Speaker 2: So to see him win that tournament is great.

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Speaker 3: Let's see how he can translate that into Grand Slam

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Speaker 3: you know, Mojo now and can he go deep in

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Speaker 3: a Slam that?

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Speaker 2: Yeah? Does Taylor?

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Speaker 1: Does he have the same toolbag that somebody like Carlos A.

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Speaker 1: Karaz has where it's it's not just going to be

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Speaker 1: an occasional great run of two weeks, you know, Taylor Fitz.

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Speaker 1: It's hard to know with his game because he played

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Speaker 1: so well during that two week period in Indian Wells.

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Speaker 1: But then again, I don't know, just because we haven't

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Speaker 1: seen him at the highest highest stages of the game

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Speaker 1: on a consistent basis. If it's if it's a situation

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Speaker 1: where he just kind of needed to acclimate to play

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Speaker 1: his best tennis, or if it's more like, oh, he

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Speaker 1: doesn't quite have all the tools, but occasionally, you know,

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Speaker 1: things can kind of break his way and he can

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Speaker 1: have a great result.

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Speaker 3: I think he's improved so much of his weaknesses. You know,

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Speaker 3: he's improved his speed around the court. He's also always

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Speaker 3: had a massive served. He had some issues, he said,

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Speaker 3: even told me after he won that incredible round of sixteen.

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Speaker 3: I believe at the Straight and Open this year about

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Speaker 3: his forehand. How you know, when he's being aggressive and

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Speaker 3: he's and he's confident with his forehand, then he knows

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Speaker 3: that he can beat anyone. So so you know he's

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Speaker 3: back in is fantastic. The guy can come into the net.

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Speaker 2: So yeah, I mean he has all the tools. Now.

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Speaker 3: It's so much of this, Caitlin, from you know, being

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Speaker 3: number one in the world to number one hundred in

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Speaker 3: the world.

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Speaker 2: So much of it is also mental.

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Speaker 3: And so I think winning that tournament will help him

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Speaker 3: believe that he can win the biggest of tournaments. So,

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Speaker 3: as I said, we'll see if it translates, you know,

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Speaker 3: going deeper in grand slams he had that got to

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Speaker 3: the quarters. I believe it this stray and open, so

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Speaker 3: they're starting to come down. It was a hump to

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Speaker 3: get over there, get out of the round of sixteen.

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Speaker 3: So yeah, we'll see if he can continue to rise.

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Speaker 3: But it's great for American tennis.

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Speaker 1: It's great for American tennis to have a contender who

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Speaker 1: can go deep. The other thing I sort of want

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Speaker 1: to mention just because sometimes when we get into these

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Speaker 1: conversations about the pros, it's like leaping, you know, heeping

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Speaker 1: on one superlative after another, and somebody who plays recreational

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Speaker 1: tennis is probably like, yeah, of course there are all like,

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Speaker 1: you know, genetic freaks with access to the best training

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Speaker 1: and you know, practicing eight hours day. How does this

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Speaker 1: affect me? But I have to look at Taylor Fritz,

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Speaker 1: who at one point in the last year and a

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Speaker 1: half was in the hospital with his leg immobilized, coming

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Speaker 1: back having a period of deep, deep reflection that can

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Speaker 1: only happen when you're in a hospital bed, not able

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Speaker 1: to move, and then coming back very very quickly to

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Speaker 1: the game and seeming to come back to it with

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Speaker 1: a new mindset. It's like sometimes when you have that

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Speaker 1: moment to sort of say how much do I really

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Speaker 1: want this? What do I actually want to put on

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Speaker 1: the line that I actually think is very relatable. Whereas

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Speaker 1: you know, I'm never going to be a tennis player

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Speaker 1: like Taylor Fritz, but I can relate to the idea

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Speaker 1: of how am I spending my time, how am I

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Speaker 1: using my mentality, how am I bringing myself to this

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Speaker 1: moment to meet it? And I find that there's a

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Speaker 1: lot of real inspiration to take out of what you know,

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Speaker 1: Taylor's Taylor's journey and the fact that he, you know,

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Speaker 1: went from being in a hospital bed to lifting a

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Speaker 1: trophy months later is crazy. You know, that's that's such

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Speaker 1: a cool, cool arc.

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Speaker 3: I think so many tennis players, you know, they have

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Speaker 3: a major injury, come back in a bed for it

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Speaker 3: in a lot of ways. I mean, someone I want

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Speaker 3: to throw out here is you know Daria Gavlova, who's

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Speaker 3: now Daria Seville, who got married to Luke Savill, who

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Speaker 3: plays tennis as well. He's an Aussie double specialist. What

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Speaker 3: are tremendous two weeks for Dasher? I mean, incredible talk

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Speaker 3: about resiliency. My god, Caitlin, you have no idea what

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Speaker 3: this kid has gone through over the last I mean

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Speaker 3: ten years she's had.

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Speaker 2: She had, first of all, she had to recover.

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Speaker 3: From a massive knee you know, acl tear back in

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Speaker 3: the day. She came back from that, she came back

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Speaker 3: and played great, She got into the top forty in

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Speaker 3: the world. And then she's I mean the amount of

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Speaker 3: injuries that this kid has sustained and then had a

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Speaker 3: tremendously bad Achilles issue two years ago, rehabbed it, rehabbed it,

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Speaker 3: rehabbed it, bang, did the same thing, reheard it, rehabbed

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Speaker 3: again for basically another seven months. I mean, she last

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Speaker 3: two years of her career again this injury and basically

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Speaker 3: comes back in the last couple of months and has

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Speaker 3: just again like gotten herself. I don't know what her

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Speaker 3: ranking will be after this tournament, but what an awesome

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Speaker 3: couple of weeks of her.

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Speaker 1: I think they were saying she's in the top hundred.

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Speaker 1: She went from being three h five into the top hundred,

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Speaker 1: and it seems like possibly even higher than that, like

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Speaker 1: two hundred spots in a week and a half.

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Speaker 2: Like that's crazy. What a cool, cool term events.

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Speaker 3: So you've got to have and someone like Dasha just

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Speaker 3: loves loves to compete. She talk about loving crowds and

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Speaker 3: competing and having a good time on the court. She's

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Speaker 3: a pain in the ass to play against because she

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Speaker 3: is such a little pain in the ass on the

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Speaker 3: court with her like antics.

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Speaker 1: And but but.

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Speaker 3: That wins for so many matches because players get so

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Speaker 3: annoyed against her because of her competitiveness. But I know

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Speaker 3: Dasha off the court, and she is the best human

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Speaker 3: being to be around. She is so much fun and

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Speaker 3: when she gets on the court, she just competes hard.

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Speaker 1: So well, that's actually this is a good segue because

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Speaker 1: one of the things I want a note, nobody is

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Speaker 1: going to accuse Daria Seville of nearly murdering an umpire

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Speaker 1: or a ball boy for all of her antics. She's

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Speaker 1: mostly positive and getting pumped up and refusing to go away.

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Speaker 1: She's not, you know, screaming in her crowd her box

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Speaker 1: and used to she used to, Yes, I remember, I

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Speaker 1: remember when she came out of the tour. But it

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Speaker 1: seems like it's sort of fueled by positive energy and

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Speaker 1: a refusal to sort of back down. We are having

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Speaker 1: a crisis in the world of teens right now with

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Speaker 1: the behavior of the men. There's a New York Times

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Speaker 1: article today by Matt Futterman out about how there's just

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Speaker 1: this epidemic of insane racket abuse that is leading to

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Speaker 1: a lot of calls for some of these guys to

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Speaker 1: be heavily, heavily penalized. And I think we have to

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Speaker 1: talk about it.

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Speaker 2: I didn't even know what to say, a complete ossory.

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Speaker 2: These guys. They're losing in mind.

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Speaker 3: And listen, ha pot Colin Kettle right, everybody knows that

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Speaker 3: watched me play. I was a little get a little

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Speaker 3: upset from time to time at the umpire or linesmen

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Speaker 3: or lines women, whatever it was. But I wasn't a

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Speaker 3: big racket thrower, and so that sort of always bothers me.

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Speaker 3: I'd throw it flat, like Andy Ruddick demonstrated on his

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Speaker 3: tutorial of how to throw a racket, which I thought

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Speaker 3: was kind of hilarious, but.

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Speaker 1: Which for anyone else thing should go and look up.

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Speaker 1: But the gist of it is you grab it by

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Speaker 1: the throat, you throw it straight down so it's landing

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Speaker 1: on its face. I don't believe in racket throwing at all.

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Speaker 1: I had a coach who just got on me, and

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Speaker 1: so I never ever do it. But if you're going

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Speaker 1: to do it, do not ever throw it or attempt

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Speaker 1: to hit any person whose job it is to be

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Speaker 1: on the court facilitating your match. I'm talking about umpires,

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Speaker 1: I'm talking about lines, people, I'm talking about ball kids.

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Speaker 1: And the fact that Jensen Brooksby actually did hit he

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Speaker 1: hit a person, which to me should have been automatic deef.

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Speaker 1: The way that Novak was an automatic deef. The fact

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Speaker 1: that Zverev got a suspended eight week sentence after nearly

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Speaker 1: taking the legs off of an umpire in Mexico, the

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Speaker 1: fact that Nick Curious actually did hit somebody after it

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Speaker 1: took an unfortunate bounce. As he said, enough, enough's enough.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely no tolerance for this behavior whatsoever.

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Speaker 3: I mean, listen, Nick, Yes, I mean, look, we know it.

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Speaker 3: Look I think that Brooksbury Brooksby didn't. I don't know.

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Speaker 3: I've looked at that video so many times, and I

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Speaker 3: think that he was just kind of trying to scrape

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Speaker 3: the ground, but then he lost the racket out of

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Speaker 3: his hand, and you know, but the bottom line is

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Speaker 3: it's the same as Novak. And I said this on

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Speaker 3: Twitter last week. I said Novak didn't mean to hit

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Speaker 3: the lines, the lines lad at all. I think he

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Speaker 3: actually tried to hit the hit a ball sort of

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Speaker 3: close to his player's box, because that's exactly where they

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Speaker 3: were sitting. And he's been known to do that in

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Speaker 3: the past. And I don't think he just anticipated her

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Speaker 3: walking accident. Okay, no problem, it doesn't matter. It doesn't

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Speaker 3: matter in tennis.

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Speaker 1: Match is not the point. The intention exactly irrelevant. The

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Speaker 1: outcome is what we look at. And if it hits

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Speaker 1: a person who's on staff and on the court in

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Speaker 1: any capacity, the rule is very clear automatic teeth. And

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Speaker 1: to be clear, Novak had spent several years throwing hitting

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Speaker 1: balls coming close and was constantly asked by media like,

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Speaker 1: hey you almost hit somebody. Hey you threw a racket

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Speaker 1: and it nearly took out somebody. And he would laugh

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Speaker 1: and say like, yeah, but it didn't and Samon, Sam,

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Speaker 1: it does hit somebody.

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Speaker 3: Well, Nick, Nick, you know, also got annoyed at press

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Speaker 3: asking him about that racket throw and he said, did

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Speaker 3: it hit You know, he was really rude to the

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Speaker 3: to the reporter, and you know, some people are like, well,

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Speaker 3: he's a reporter, that's his job is to ask those questions.

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Speaker 3: And the easiest way to answer that is, yeah, man,

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Speaker 3: I fucked up. I made a mistake. I clearly didn't

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Speaker 3: mean to hit anywhere near that kid. It was regrettable.

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Speaker 2: Blah blah blah. But you know, Nick, Nick.

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Speaker 3: Takes that switch and he just goes from zero to

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Speaker 3: one hundred in like three seconds. And we saw it

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Speaker 3: in Miami where he just completely lost his ship to

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Speaker 3: the umpire Carlos, and he was fine, really heavily. I

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Speaker 3: think the fine against him was really high. I don't

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Speaker 3: think it should have been that high, to be honest,

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Speaker 3: And I feel like the one thing about Nick is

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Speaker 3: I feel like he, of all people, is the one

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Speaker 3: that really gets He gets a lot of higher he gets.

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Speaker 2: His fines are higher, in my opinion, than a lot

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Speaker 2: of people.

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Speaker 3: But also at the same time, it's this problem of

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Speaker 3: accumulative shit, you know, and at some point you can't

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Speaker 3: keep trashing umpires, you can't keep saying this stuff.

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Speaker 2: You can't throw your racket after a match, like man,

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Speaker 2: I've seen so many players.

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Speaker 3: Carolinea Plischeber took every racket out of her bag in

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Speaker 3: Dubai a couple of years ago and smashed every single

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Speaker 3: one of them after losing a match, but it was

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Speaker 3: away from everybody.

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Speaker 2: Nobody saw it.

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Speaker 3: Like you to throw a racket and break a racket

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Speaker 3: immediately after a match on the court is just so friggin' childish.

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Speaker 3: So I mean what Nick did the other day in

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Speaker 3: Indian Wellsbury almost hit the ball kid, And then this Miami,

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Speaker 3: It's like, dude, my god, you have played such great

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Speaker 3: tennis over the last couple weeks. Can just control the

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Speaker 3: urges of anger like that. And it's such a shame

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Speaker 3: because he is so electric to be around and watch

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Speaker 3: on a tennis court.

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Speaker 1: Now plenty does tennis and he's seeming to care again,

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Speaker 1: which is so good for the sport. Everybody agrees that

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Speaker 1: having a healthy, engaged Nick Curious is good for the sport.

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Speaker 1: And I do have to say, and this is we're

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Speaker 1: having this conversation a week after there was a major

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Speaker 1: violent issue at the Oscars with Will Smith failing to

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Speaker 1: control himself and smacking Chris Rock across the face deserved

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Speaker 1: or not. You know, I feel like I have to

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Speaker 1: tell my eight year old, like, no hitting. There's just

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Speaker 1: no hitting. That's it. No hitting. I don't care anything else.

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Speaker 1: And to me, watching these men just control yourselves. This

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Speaker 1: is your job the same way that your job would

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Speaker 1: be to you know, show up prepared and take your lumps.

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Speaker 1: You know, I get it. There's a lot on the line.

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Speaker 1: It's your ego, it's fans, You're emotional, you're you're accessing

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Speaker 1: a competitive space. At the end of the day, I

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Speaker 1: want very much for the tour to just have an

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Speaker 1: absolutely no no tolerance policy, and there's going to be

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Speaker 1: some you know, some ramifications for that, and then the

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Speaker 1: culture will change because right now there's absolutely no real sense.

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Speaker 1: Occasionally there's fines obviously, but there's no real sense that

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Speaker 1: this has any uh you know, this has any impact.

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Speaker 1: It's getting worse, and so to me, it's like, no,

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Speaker 1: just nib it on the bird.

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Speaker 3: Absolutely not well, I said after the Jensen Brooksby thing,

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Speaker 3: I said, you cannot you cannot learn if you're not taught.

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Speaker 2: And I just felt like that was a teaching moment for.

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Speaker 3: Him because he does some random shit on the court too.

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Speaker 3: He does like get a little bit petulant as well.

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Speaker 3: And I said, the only way to nip it in

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Speaker 3: the button is literally stop it by finding these guys

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Speaker 3: immediately and defaulting them and like suspending them. Like the

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Speaker 3: fact that it's Pharaoh wasn't, in my opinion, suspended for

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Speaker 3: like a month from the tour is beyond me.

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Speaker 1: For what he did for me, it would have been

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Speaker 1: six months. I mean, get that guy obviously, especially in

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Speaker 1: the context of him being under active investigation for domestic violence.

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Speaker 1: Just you know, there's a credible amount of body of

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Speaker 1: evidence that this guy needs to be taught some lessons,

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Speaker 1: and I think there's no better way to handle that

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Speaker 1: than the governing bodies of the sport deciding what and

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Speaker 1: what isn't acceptable. And so actually, ironically, his outburst in

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Speaker 1: Mexico where he nearly took the feet off of that umpire,

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Speaker 1: ended up sort of retroactively restarting the domestic violence investigation

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Speaker 1: against him because everyone was like, is this guy already

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Speaker 1: under scrutiny, And the truth is he hadn't really been.

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Speaker 1: So it's sort of like, hey man, so like.

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Speaker 3: Maybe we should look into that domestic violence thing.

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Speaker 1: There's some weird anger issues this person has that they're

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Speaker 1: bringing onto the tennis court.

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Speaker 3: You know, that was some craig Craig Cray behavior from

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Speaker 3: somebody who's like like top three four or five in

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Speaker 3: the world in singles and losing his fucking mind over

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Speaker 3: a line call in Mexico in doubles, and I mean, listen,

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Speaker 3: nobody'd like to win doubles, and no one acted like

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Speaker 3: an ass sometimes on the court in doubles than me.

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Speaker 3: But that was absolutely the It was shocking when I

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Speaker 3: watched that. Like I have seen a lot of shitty

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Speaker 3: things on a tennis court done by players, that's got

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Speaker 3: to be up there with probably the worst I've ever seen.

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Speaker 2: And that's a big statement because I've seen some really

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Speaker 2: craig craziest thing.

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Speaker 1: Around a minute, I just I want to spend time

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Speaker 1: talking about tennis playing. I want to spend time talking

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Speaker 1: about the sport. I don't want to talk about how

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Speaker 1: these well compensated athletes can't keep their emotions in check

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Speaker 1: enough not to behave like children Like this reminds me

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Speaker 1: of like juniors, but worse because nobody seems to have

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Speaker 1: any repercussions, you know what I'm saying. And it's like, yeah,

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Speaker 1: they together and.

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Speaker 3: They pay these fines like it's nobody's business because it's

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Speaker 3: like seven bucks to them seventy thousand. But you know,

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Speaker 3: just back on the Will Smith thing, and you know,

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Speaker 3: obviously him winning Best Actor for playing Richard. My favorite

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Speaker 3: line I think you and I talked about was Amy

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Speaker 3: Schumer saying, oh, isn't it great that we made a

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Speaker 3: movie about in that line.

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Speaker 1: Where we get to elebrate two incredible women's death.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly, I mean, it was just great. I mean,

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Speaker 3: but you know, he was phenomenal in that, but it

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Speaker 3: just it does remind me.

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Speaker 1: I glad he was pretty bad in that. I thought

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Speaker 1: he was miscast, and.

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Speaker 3: I thought he was pretty good. But anyway, that's that's

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Speaker 3: neither here nor there. What is appropriate in this situation

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Speaker 3: is that when I wrote about that situation on Twitter,

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Speaker 3: of course, a lot of the reaction from my fans

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Speaker 3: obviously and people out there in Tennis were will he

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Speaker 3: well something about what is the acting?

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Speaker 2: Like he's on the ATP tour.

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Speaker 3: So that's the reputation a tour is that, well, Will

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Speaker 3: Smith's going to get away with this because look at

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Speaker 3: the w look at the ATP two and what they're

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Speaker 3: getting away with.

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Speaker 2: So you get the bad reputation ATP two.

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Speaker 3: And ATP tour players when you're getting lumped in with

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Speaker 3: like what's the big deal? It was was just like

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Speaker 3: zev Or like Nick Currios or whatever. So, I mean,

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Speaker 3: you know it took away from that night for the

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Speaker 3: Williams sisters and stuff.

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Speaker 2: I thought that was really tragic.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it was a terrible turn of You know, if

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Speaker 3: you're gonna slap Chris Rock, do it in at the

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Speaker 3: Vanity fan party when no one's watching and everyone's hammered.

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Speaker 2: Okay, that's my that would be my plan.

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Speaker 3: Even though I agree with you, hitting is not the

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Speaker 3: option for anybody to do.

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Speaker 1: Just there's just no hiding, you know what, Take your lumps,

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Speaker 1: get up there and give an incredible speech about how

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Speaker 1: you know what, playing this role in this incredible you know,

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Speaker 1: complex figure gave you the opportunity to understand about the

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Speaker 1: world and yourself. That's the way to handle it. I mean, Jesus,

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Speaker 1: don't you know you're assaulting somebody at their place of work? Like,

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Speaker 1: get what is this the ATP tour? However, there you

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Speaker 1: got one thing that I do want to touch on

435
00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:46,280
Speaker 1: before we get into your great, great chat with Francis

436
00:20:46,800 --> 00:20:50,879
Speaker 1: is we have a new women's number one player in

437
00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:53,479
Speaker 1: the world. And regardless we would have had a new

438
00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:55,480
Speaker 1: woman's number one player in the world because ash party.

439
00:20:55,520 --> 00:20:58,040
Speaker 1: As we discussed last week on the Debut Pod with

440
00:20:58,119 --> 00:21:02,520
Speaker 1: a Rauncha has retired. But I think points wise, Eager's

441
00:21:02,760 --> 00:21:05,400
Speaker 1: winning Indian Wells and now into the finals in Miami

442
00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:08,000
Speaker 1: to play Naomi Osaka in what is going to be

443
00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:10,760
Speaker 1: a Gangbusters match, we would have had a new number

444
00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:11,360
Speaker 1: one anyway.

445
00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:15,280
Speaker 3: I think she has had to have won Miami to

446
00:21:15,840 --> 00:21:17,680
Speaker 3: take that spot from Ash.

447
00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:21,040
Speaker 2: I believe. So if she does win.

448
00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:23,680
Speaker 3: Miami and we are, you know, days away from that happening,

449
00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:27,200
Speaker 3: win or lose. If she wins, she would have taken

450
00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:29,840
Speaker 3: over that spot regardless of Ash pulling.

451
00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:33,680
Speaker 2: Her name off of the list. So look, but.

452
00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:35,680
Speaker 3: Either way, Eager will be number one in the world

453
00:21:36,119 --> 00:21:38,200
Speaker 3: come on Monday, and I think she's going to be

454
00:21:38,240 --> 00:21:40,440
Speaker 3: a great world number one. I have to say, I

455
00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:42,200
Speaker 3: think she has all the tools. I think the one

456
00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:45,560
Speaker 3: player that really gave her fits and problems was Ash

457
00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:47,919
Speaker 3: Party because I don't think she was a fan of

458
00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:52,120
Speaker 3: Ash's slice. I think she really really struggled with that shot.

459
00:21:52,200 --> 00:21:54,159
Speaker 3: But everybody else, I mean, this kid, when she's at

460
00:21:54,200 --> 00:21:56,080
Speaker 3: her very best, she can beat anybody.

461
00:21:56,160 --> 00:21:57,880
Speaker 2: She plays huge game.

462
00:21:58,280 --> 00:22:00,919
Speaker 3: I think Thomas Witkoreowski, her new coach, has really added

463
00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:03,919
Speaker 3: sort of that little bit of a nuance of understanding

464
00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:07,800
Speaker 3: how to play at the top echelant. Her former coach

465
00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:12,560
Speaker 3: Piatra was a great guy and he boy, I'm sure

466
00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:14,399
Speaker 3: he's a little bit like, oh what a bummer, you

467
00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:15,880
Speaker 3: know that I'm not a part of this still, because

468
00:22:16,040 --> 00:22:18,359
Speaker 3: he really was very influential over her, and he's a

469
00:22:18,359 --> 00:22:18,679
Speaker 3: great guy.

470
00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:20,840
Speaker 2: He's now coaching Shelby Rodgers.

471
00:22:21,440 --> 00:22:24,040
Speaker 3: But Thomas, I think has just added that little extra,

472
00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:27,600
Speaker 3: you know, understanding of what it takes to be really

473
00:22:27,640 --> 00:22:30,120
Speaker 3: really good on a consistent basis. Of course, former coach

474
00:22:30,160 --> 00:22:32,440
Speaker 3: of Agneshko Radvanska, so it must have been really great

475
00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:35,159
Speaker 3: for him to now coach somebody who did get to

476
00:22:35,359 --> 00:22:37,920
Speaker 3: number one in the world, because Aga was so close.

477
00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:38,160
Speaker 2: For so long.

478
00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:42,240
Speaker 3: So yeah, I just think she's a fantastic kid. She

479
00:22:42,400 --> 00:22:45,679
Speaker 3: works hard, she wants this really badly. You know, she

480
00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:48,399
Speaker 3: travels with Daria, her sports psychologist, and I think that

481
00:22:48,480 --> 00:22:50,400
Speaker 3: really does make a big difference for her just being

482
00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:51,680
Speaker 3: able to handle these moments.

483
00:22:52,359 --> 00:22:54,240
Speaker 2: So I could not be happier to.

484
00:22:54,200 --> 00:22:58,359
Speaker 3: See a really really good kid who loves this sport

485
00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:02,119
Speaker 3: and who's going to be a greatnumber one. And you know,

486
00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:04,560
Speaker 3: a part of me hopes she does win Miami, so

487
00:23:05,359 --> 00:23:07,920
Speaker 3: it's even a better story. But the flip side, he

488
00:23:08,119 --> 00:23:10,600
Speaker 3: is great to see Naomi in a final because you know,

489
00:23:10,640 --> 00:23:13,200
Speaker 3: we've obviously seen the trials and tribulations of her life.

490
00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:15,360
Speaker 3: I mean, she's ranked like seventy or something in the world.

491
00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:18,359
Speaker 3: What the fuck Like really, she won't be after this week.

492
00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:22,479
Speaker 3: But it's just nice to see Naomi in another big final.

493
00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:24,800
Speaker 3: And I would love to see these two. I don't

494
00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:26,520
Speaker 3: know who's going to win this match. I hope it's

495
00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:29,600
Speaker 3: going to be the match of the tournament. But having

496
00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:31,879
Speaker 3: said that, it's just these two could be one and

497
00:23:31,960 --> 00:23:33,600
Speaker 3: two in the world and going back and forth for

498
00:23:33,640 --> 00:23:36,000
Speaker 3: a long time. If they stay healthy and they stay

499
00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:39,760
Speaker 3: clearly happy, then hopefully that'll be a great rivalry.

500
00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:42,280
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think I couldn't. I couldn't. I have not

501
00:23:42,359 --> 00:23:44,800
Speaker 1: much to add to that other than I'm excited that

502
00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:47,240
Speaker 1: IgA is our number one. She feels very deserving. She's

503
00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:49,720
Speaker 1: won on a number of different services and has a

504
00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:52,480
Speaker 1: complete game in a way that's a very nice foil

505
00:23:52,560 --> 00:23:55,240
Speaker 1: for some of the bigger hitters like the sabal Ancas

506
00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:57,600
Speaker 1: or the Badosas or the Osakas, in a way that

507
00:23:57,680 --> 00:23:59,680
Speaker 1: it's always really nice to have a mix of styles.

508
00:23:59,840 --> 00:24:04,400
Speaker 1: And her approach is very, very heady, and it's very thoughtful,

509
00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:06,600
Speaker 1: and she's a big reader. She's an interesting person. I

510
00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:08,359
Speaker 1: think she's a complete person. Oni like a lot of

511
00:24:08,359 --> 00:24:11,480
Speaker 1: people who only hit balls and then you know, retire

512
00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:15,879
Speaker 1: to their their you know, hotel and don't talk to

513
00:24:16,359 --> 00:24:18,440
Speaker 1: you know, don't engage with culture. So I'm I'm really

514
00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:20,440
Speaker 1: excited because I think Ega is a very deserving number one,

515
00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:23,359
Speaker 1: And yeah, it'll be a great match. I hope it's

516
00:24:23,400 --> 00:24:25,920
Speaker 1: already great in the sense that it's a two you know,

517
00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:28,920
Speaker 1: headliner type players who are who are I think, as

518
00:24:28,960 --> 00:24:30,880
Speaker 1: to your point, gonna going to be a big part

519
00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:32,400
Speaker 1: of the future of tennis as long as they stay

520
00:24:32,480 --> 00:24:34,800
Speaker 1: healthy and happy. So all right, well we should get

521
00:24:34,840 --> 00:24:38,199
Speaker 1: to Francis. What an incredible personality he is. What a

522
00:24:38,240 --> 00:24:42,080
Speaker 1: great additive, joyous thing it is to have him back

523
00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:43,080
Speaker 1: healthy and competing.

524
00:24:43,119 --> 00:24:43,280
Speaker 4: Well.

525
00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:46,680
Speaker 1: He had a pretty good tournament both in Miami and

526
00:24:46,720 --> 00:24:49,879
Speaker 1: at Indian Wells, and I think it's only going to

527
00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:52,200
Speaker 1: get better from here because he's still finding his footing

528
00:24:52,240 --> 00:24:54,960
Speaker 1: after being off with that elbow injury. So yeah, any

529
00:24:55,280 --> 00:24:58,359
Speaker 1: any thoughts about Francis and where you see him fitting

530
00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:01,040
Speaker 1: into the future of tennis, because to me, it's very great.

531
00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:05,000
Speaker 3: Well, I just love this talk about loving. He could

532
00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:08,399
Speaker 3: not love somebody more than I do. Francis Tiava. He

533
00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:12,080
Speaker 3: is and he is our friend Liz Cully's favorite tennis

534
00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:13,000
Speaker 3: player of all time.

535
00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:17,480
Speaker 2: But he just he's just this constant.

536
00:25:17,119 --> 00:25:20,480
Speaker 3: Light of love. Like he's he's just a joy to

537
00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:24,600
Speaker 3: be around. He's constantly smiling, he's constantly happy. I'm sure

538
00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:27,080
Speaker 3: he has very dark days from time time like every

539
00:25:27,119 --> 00:25:29,480
Speaker 3: other person in the world, but he never shows that.

540
00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:33,719
Speaker 3: He is constantly just talking to everyone and being really

541
00:25:33,840 --> 00:25:36,680
Speaker 3: up and happy. And I think he's got some big

542
00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:39,560
Speaker 3: things in the future coming up, some of which you

543
00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:43,280
Speaker 3: and I know, but he he's just I think he's

544
00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:45,040
Speaker 3: really this is this is a year, and I think

545
00:25:45,040 --> 00:25:48,760
Speaker 3: Taylor winning Indian Wells is going to sort of catapult

546
00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:50,720
Speaker 3: him to thinking maybe I can do that as well,

547
00:25:50,760 --> 00:25:54,280
Speaker 3: because he knows he's he can play at Taylor's level.

548
00:25:54,640 --> 00:25:56,880
Speaker 3: And just one little thing that I wanted to make

549
00:25:56,880 --> 00:26:00,119
Speaker 3: sure I got into this episode was that he I

550
00:26:00,119 --> 00:26:02,960
Speaker 3: interviewed him along with when I did a ranch of

551
00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:06,879
Speaker 3: Sanchez for Courier at this Miami Mind event for mental health,

552
00:26:06,920 --> 00:26:10,280
Speaker 3: and they did a terrific job at Fisher Island. And

553
00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:15,040
Speaker 3: on when I was leaving that event and I was

554
00:26:15,080 --> 00:26:18,840
Speaker 3: talking to Rachel, who organized this event, I said, isn't

555
00:26:18,840 --> 00:26:21,000
Speaker 3: Francis great or something like that. We started talking about

556
00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:23,359
Speaker 3: Francis as I was leaving, and she said it and

557
00:26:23,400 --> 00:26:25,760
Speaker 3: you know what, we paid him X amount of dollars

558
00:26:25,760 --> 00:26:29,199
Speaker 3: for this event and he gave every single one of

559
00:26:29,240 --> 00:26:30,000
Speaker 3: that back to us.

560
00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:32,400
Speaker 2: And you know a lot of players get paid to.

561
00:26:32,359 --> 00:26:36,160
Speaker 3: Go and do some charity work, and that serens counterintuitive,

562
00:26:36,200 --> 00:26:39,399
Speaker 3: but you know, having the pros come and you know,

563
00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:41,680
Speaker 3: celebrities come gets a lot of people to come. So

564
00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:43,560
Speaker 3: the people that come paid a lot of money to

565
00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:46,560
Speaker 3: play with those players, So that's why they pay them.

566
00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:48,320
Speaker 3: So they make sure they're there so they get more money.

567
00:26:48,359 --> 00:26:51,160
Speaker 3: I mean, it's part of the business, right And some.

568
00:26:51,119 --> 00:26:53,320
Speaker 2: Charities you play for free and some you get paid.

569
00:26:53,880 --> 00:26:56,199
Speaker 3: Francis got paid to be there and he gave it

570
00:26:56,240 --> 00:27:00,359
Speaker 3: all back to Miami Mind. And I just that to

571
00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:03,359
Speaker 3: me showed so much about him as a as a

572
00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:04,040
Speaker 3: human being.

573
00:27:04,160 --> 00:27:06,080
Speaker 2: That's It's more about.

574
00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:08,439
Speaker 3: The bigger picture for Francis Tiafo and it was a

575
00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:11,600
Speaker 3: pleasure to interview in and he's just as I said,

576
00:27:11,640 --> 00:27:13,760
Speaker 3: he's just one of my favorite people in the world,

577
00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:15,520
Speaker 3: and he's certainly one of my favorite on the tour.

578
00:27:15,760 --> 00:27:16,600
Speaker 2: And I love the kid.

579
00:27:17,440 --> 00:27:20,200
Speaker 1: All right, let's hear from you and Francis until soon.

580
00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:24,040
Speaker 2: Renee, thank you, Hey, thank you, Caitlin. See you all soon.

581
00:27:49,760 --> 00:27:50,400
Speaker 4: Talk Rene.

582
00:27:50,680 --> 00:27:54,840
Speaker 3: All right, let's get this going. Okay, Hi, Francis, welcome

583
00:27:54,880 --> 00:27:58,560
Speaker 3: to It's now the Renee Stubbs Tennis Podcast, brought to

584
00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:02,000
Speaker 3: you by Racket Magazine. But Francis, okay, so I want

585
00:28:02,040 --> 00:28:04,560
Speaker 3: to get into a few things. I know you down

586
00:28:04,600 --> 00:28:07,040
Speaker 3: here playing Miami the tournament. You're actually out at an

587
00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:08,879
Speaker 3: event right now for charity. Want you to tell me

588
00:28:08,880 --> 00:28:09,679
Speaker 3: a little bit about that.

589
00:28:10,600 --> 00:28:14,200
Speaker 5: Yeah, you know, I was approached by the Miami Mind

590
00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:18,440
Speaker 5: Mental Health one, and I you know, I've had young

591
00:28:18,440 --> 00:28:21,000
Speaker 5: people in my family struggle with mental health, and so

592
00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:23,080
Speaker 5: I definitely want to be a part of it. I

593
00:28:23,119 --> 00:28:24,399
Speaker 5: knew I was going to have time. I knew I

594
00:28:24,440 --> 00:28:27,720
Speaker 5: wasn't gonna be so busy, so yeah, and also I've

595
00:28:27,720 --> 00:28:30,200
Speaker 5: never been here to Fisher Island, so it's also quite nice.

596
00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:33,040
Speaker 3: Yeah, we're in on Fisher Island right now, where there's

597
00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:36,240
Speaker 3: grass courts, hard courts, clay courts. I mean, it's unbelievable.

598
00:28:36,240 --> 00:28:38,480
Speaker 3: No wonder Caroline wasn't. Yaki has a court named after

599
00:28:38,480 --> 00:28:42,280
Speaker 3: her here. So Francis, everybody sort of knows how you

600
00:28:42,320 --> 00:28:44,480
Speaker 3: got into tennis was really because your dad was the

601
00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:48,600
Speaker 3: janitor at the tennis court courts in DC. I want

602
00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:51,240
Speaker 3: to know what made you sort of want to go

603
00:28:51,280 --> 00:28:53,640
Speaker 3: out in that's courts, because sometimes you know, kids when

604
00:28:53,640 --> 00:28:56,280
Speaker 3: they're around their parents or their work or something, they

605
00:28:56,280 --> 00:28:58,400
Speaker 3: don't really want to get involved with it. But what

606
00:28:58,520 --> 00:28:59,840
Speaker 3: made you want to get out into the tennis CA?

607
00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:03,760
Speaker 5: Yeah, obviously, you know, you know growing up, you know,

608
00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:07,520
Speaker 5: growing up, I mean especially at those times, you know,

609
00:29:07,920 --> 00:29:11,320
Speaker 5: pretty poor, and my dad knew that us being there,

610
00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:13,920
Speaker 5: me and my twin brother there was just being us

611
00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:16,080
Speaker 5: in a better environment after school and stuff like that.

612
00:29:16,160 --> 00:29:19,440
Speaker 5: And so when it came to actually playing, I generally

613
00:29:19,560 --> 00:29:21,120
Speaker 5: just liked it. It was school I found I was

614
00:29:21,160 --> 00:29:23,160
Speaker 5: playing with other kids and getting into other kids, creating

615
00:29:23,200 --> 00:29:26,440
Speaker 5: friendships and stuff like that. That's kind of how I

616
00:29:26,520 --> 00:29:28,400
Speaker 5: kind of fell in love with it.

617
00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:30,520
Speaker 3: Is that important because I've talked about that, like why

618
00:29:30,960 --> 00:29:33,880
Speaker 3: kids get into tennis. Often they get into basketball or

619
00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:36,720
Speaker 3: soccer or baseball because they want to be around their friends.

620
00:29:36,760 --> 00:29:40,200
Speaker 3: Would you advise that, like for anyone talking to want

621
00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:42,560
Speaker 3: to get their kids into tennis, especially if they're You're

622
00:29:42,600 --> 00:29:45,720
Speaker 3: a very social person, So is that important at a

623
00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:47,440
Speaker 3: young age to be around other kids?

624
00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:50,120
Speaker 5: I mean, I think for me it was vital how

625
00:29:50,120 --> 00:29:53,640
Speaker 5: my personality ended up being because I'm very I'm very social.

626
00:29:53,800 --> 00:29:55,000
Speaker 4: I like to be around a lot of people.

627
00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:56,960
Speaker 5: But I think being around your friends, especially at a

628
00:29:56,960 --> 00:29:58,760
Speaker 5: young age, it's all about having fun. You played a

629
00:29:58,800 --> 00:30:00,720
Speaker 5: game because it was fun, and then you know, I

630
00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:02,680
Speaker 5: fell in love with it because it was fun. Obviously,

631
00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:05,240
Speaker 5: as you get older, you know, business starts kicking in

632
00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:09,000
Speaker 5: and things start getting much more serious. But but yeah,

633
00:30:09,040 --> 00:30:11,000
Speaker 5: I mean that's why I love the game, and that's

634
00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:12,440
Speaker 5: why I continue to play the game.

635
00:30:13,280 --> 00:30:16,360
Speaker 3: So you have I mean, I've been around tennis a

636
00:30:16,360 --> 00:30:19,440
Speaker 3: long time and you sort of have a very unusual

637
00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:23,320
Speaker 3: style of playing, particularly on the forehand. So I had

638
00:30:23,320 --> 00:30:25,640
Speaker 3: a bit of a laugh this morning with Caitlin from

639
00:30:25,720 --> 00:30:27,800
Speaker 3: Racket magazine and I said, do you think that you know,

640
00:30:27,840 --> 00:30:30,320
Speaker 3: because he's such a what are you gen z? You

641
00:30:30,360 --> 00:30:32,320
Speaker 3: think he was like getting on YouTube and thought, I'm

642
00:30:32,320 --> 00:30:34,040
Speaker 3: gonna what is a tennis player looked at and you

643
00:30:34,080 --> 00:30:36,960
Speaker 3: think he discovered like Ernest Golbas's forehand is the one

644
00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:40,560
Speaker 3: to like emulate, like the technique? Where did it come from?

645
00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:42,560
Speaker 5: I'll be honest with you. I used to have a

646
00:30:42,600 --> 00:30:45,720
Speaker 5: normal forehand, and then I'll never forget. I played this

647
00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:49,920
Speaker 5: terminent less petitors in France, and I came and I

648
00:30:49,960 --> 00:30:52,239
Speaker 5: came back, and then all of a sudden, I was like,

649
00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:54,880
Speaker 5: I was, It's funny because I was. I was joking

650
00:30:54,920 --> 00:30:56,320
Speaker 5: around and making fun of do his fourhands on the

651
00:30:56,320 --> 00:30:58,000
Speaker 5: tour like I would always go and do that. I'll

652
00:30:58,040 --> 00:30:59,680
Speaker 5: see you guys on the tour head and so I

653
00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:01,400
Speaker 5: was like hopping a bunch of guys and coaches like

654
00:31:01,440 --> 00:31:03,080
Speaker 5: you need to stop doing that because then your strokes

655
00:31:03,120 --> 00:31:04,640
Speaker 5: get messed up. I was like, nah, come on, man,

656
00:31:05,280 --> 00:31:07,080
Speaker 5: and then all of a sudden like I can't I

657
00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:10,240
Speaker 5: can't hit a forehand, and like so like I can't

658
00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:12,800
Speaker 5: you know tennis, so mentally get in your head and

659
00:31:12,840 --> 00:31:14,480
Speaker 5: then so I'm trying a bunch of things. I'm just

660
00:31:14,480 --> 00:31:16,080
Speaker 5: messing around. I'm hitting the balls on the wall for

661
00:31:16,080 --> 00:31:18,880
Speaker 5: like hours, hours and just kind of like like just

662
00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:20,120
Speaker 5: have like because I'm all.

663
00:31:20,080 --> 00:31:22,080
Speaker 4: A field player, Like it's like how it feels.

664
00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:24,520
Speaker 5: And then I was joking around swinging like that and

665
00:31:24,520 --> 00:31:26,920
Speaker 5: it felt nice and here you are, My.

666
00:31:26,800 --> 00:31:30,479
Speaker 3: God, that's a classic. So whatever works, I guess, I mean,

667
00:31:30,480 --> 00:31:32,760
Speaker 3: because that's really it. So the great thing about tennis

668
00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:36,040
Speaker 3: is that you can have such different strokes and still

669
00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:38,880
Speaker 3: be such a good player. And it's about finding what

670
00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:39,520
Speaker 3: works for you.

671
00:31:39,560 --> 00:31:40,480
Speaker 4: I guess absolutely.

672
00:31:40,520 --> 00:31:42,280
Speaker 5: I've been told to change up many times. You need

673
00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:45,600
Speaker 5: to go to traditional way then feel right. And everyone's different.

674
00:31:45,640 --> 00:31:47,720
Speaker 5: I mean that's just how life is. Everyone's totally different.

675
00:31:47,760 --> 00:31:50,320
Speaker 5: And you know, I found what definitely.

676
00:31:50,040 --> 00:31:50,480
Speaker 4: Works for me.

677
00:31:51,280 --> 00:31:53,520
Speaker 3: So you had a difficult sort of end of the

678
00:31:53,600 --> 00:31:57,200
Speaker 3: year injury. Why don't you give us a little background

679
00:31:57,200 --> 00:32:00,680
Speaker 3: on what happened and also sort of, you know, the

680
00:32:00,720 --> 00:32:02,760
Speaker 3: toughness of the last few years with the pandemic and

681
00:32:02,880 --> 00:32:04,080
Speaker 3: and and where you're at now.

682
00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:07,400
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean it was crazy because I was dealing

683
00:32:07,400 --> 00:32:09,560
Speaker 5: with the elbow problem right after since right after the

684
00:32:09,640 --> 00:32:10,080
Speaker 5: US Open.

685
00:32:10,280 --> 00:32:12,360
Speaker 3: You're not gonna blame that on the forehand, are you.

686
00:32:13,840 --> 00:32:17,160
Speaker 5: Uh yeah, So yeah, and then I was kind.

687
00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:17,959
Speaker 4: Of dealing with that masking.

688
00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:20,960
Speaker 5: I was taking you know, taking a bunch of bunch

689
00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:21,960
Speaker 5: of pills and things like that.

690
00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:23,000
Speaker 4: It kind of get me through the year.

691
00:32:23,040 --> 00:32:24,600
Speaker 5: I was playing great tennis at the end of the year,

692
00:32:25,640 --> 00:32:28,280
Speaker 5: but yeah, then it only started getting worse and worse,

693
00:32:28,400 --> 00:32:29,880
Speaker 5: and the off season tried to take care of it,

694
00:32:29,920 --> 00:32:33,080
Speaker 5: couldn't couldn't really happen until Australia wasn't prepared, So I

695
00:32:33,160 --> 00:32:35,280
Speaker 5: took a long time off and any Well was my

696
00:32:35,320 --> 00:32:37,640
Speaker 5: first tournament back, so it was It's good. I mean,

697
00:32:37,640 --> 00:32:39,680
Speaker 5: I feel in good place. I feel fait. I'm healthy now,

698
00:32:40,360 --> 00:32:42,520
Speaker 5: so that's good. But I mean how I feel a

699
00:32:42,560 --> 00:32:44,080
Speaker 5: role last couple of years was tough. I mean, the

700
00:32:44,080 --> 00:32:48,080
Speaker 5: pandemic was really tough for me because you know, playing

701
00:32:48,080 --> 00:32:50,960
Speaker 5: with no coming back and playing with no fans was tough. Also,

702
00:32:51,160 --> 00:32:52,640
Speaker 5: you know, seeing what the world was at at the

703
00:32:52,680 --> 00:32:56,000
Speaker 5: particular time, it's everything was so ensure. It was it was.

704
00:32:56,040 --> 00:32:58,560
Speaker 5: It was pretty tough. And I had a ton of family,

705
00:32:59,120 --> 00:33:02,560
Speaker 5: you know, passed because OVID, so it was rough. You know,

706
00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:05,280
Speaker 5: I wasn't in a good place at all. But you know,

707
00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:07,400
Speaker 5: then then I think, you know, last year, who women,

708
00:33:07,440 --> 00:33:09,120
Speaker 5: when you know fans are coming back, they're starting to

709
00:33:09,240 --> 00:33:11,880
Speaker 5: have a little more, a little more normality helped me

710
00:33:11,880 --> 00:33:13,840
Speaker 5: out a lot and just kind of like figure out

711
00:33:13,840 --> 00:33:15,280
Speaker 5: why I love the game, why I played the game,

712
00:33:15,880 --> 00:33:18,800
Speaker 5: and yeah, so I'm I'm in a better place now.

713
00:33:20,080 --> 00:33:22,840
Speaker 3: You have been working now with Wayne forever for a

714
00:33:22,840 --> 00:33:25,200
Speaker 3: couple of years? Was it about it a year and

715
00:33:25,240 --> 00:33:26,480
Speaker 3: a half approximately?

716
00:33:27,280 --> 00:33:27,400
Speaker 4: What?

717
00:33:28,200 --> 00:33:30,200
Speaker 3: Wayne's a very different person to you in a lot

718
00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:32,320
Speaker 3: of ways. I Mean when he played, he was very quiet,

719
00:33:32,400 --> 00:33:34,920
Speaker 3: he wasn't demonstrative. It sort of didn't really engage the

720
00:33:34,960 --> 00:33:38,040
Speaker 3: crowd all that much. So I eat completely different to you.

721
00:33:38,560 --> 00:33:40,520
Speaker 3: What is like some of the things and influencers that

722
00:33:40,560 --> 00:33:42,200
Speaker 3: he's had over you over the last little bit.

723
00:33:42,880 --> 00:33:44,640
Speaker 5: I think I think that it's a disciplined part, right.

724
00:33:44,640 --> 00:33:46,280
Speaker 5: I mean I feel like I'm, yeah, I'm very much

725
00:33:46,320 --> 00:33:47,800
Speaker 5: so flamboyant. I can do a lot of things in

726
00:33:47,840 --> 00:33:50,720
Speaker 5: the court. I'm you know, gift and whatever. But between

727
00:33:50,760 --> 00:33:53,240
Speaker 5: the years, how I approach the game, it's kind of

728
00:33:53,360 --> 00:33:57,680
Speaker 5: just you're tightening up the screws around you know, certain areas.

729
00:33:57,760 --> 00:33:59,920
Speaker 5: You know, it's being more professional on and off court,

730
00:34:00,040 --> 00:34:03,320
Speaker 5: making certain sacrifices, those kind of things. Because I mean

731
00:34:03,360 --> 00:34:05,400
Speaker 5: the stage, we're all at roll pros here. It's not

732
00:34:05,440 --> 00:34:06,920
Speaker 5: like yo, man, you need to do a little here,

733
00:34:07,040 --> 00:34:08,759
Speaker 5: or you know, your foot needs to be here. It's

734
00:34:08,840 --> 00:34:11,799
Speaker 5: not like you know, maybe those are some small things,

735
00:34:11,840 --> 00:34:14,120
Speaker 5: but the bigger things is just kind of my discipline.

736
00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:16,919
Speaker 5: And if you see as a lady, I'm staying more

737
00:34:17,200 --> 00:34:18,600
Speaker 5: with the matches for much longer.

738
00:34:18,680 --> 00:34:20,320
Speaker 4: I feel like I'm much more present.

739
00:34:20,640 --> 00:34:22,920
Speaker 5: I don't feel like the ebbs and flows are as

740
00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:25,680
Speaker 5: dramatic as they were, which he's helped me a lot,

741
00:34:25,880 --> 00:34:28,560
Speaker 5: and that's just been like he's doing things that just

742
00:34:28,560 --> 00:34:29,200
Speaker 5: don't want to do.

743
00:34:29,440 --> 00:34:31,479
Speaker 4: You know, I was allowing him to let me.

744
00:34:31,680 --> 00:34:34,640
Speaker 5: To get me in uncomfortable situations and being comfortable in

745
00:34:34,640 --> 00:34:38,480
Speaker 5: those uncomfortable situations. So I think because he's so different,

746
00:34:38,520 --> 00:34:40,080
Speaker 5: it's good for me. I think if I had someone

747
00:34:40,200 --> 00:34:44,000
Speaker 5: like me, it'd probably be not the grest thing. But

748
00:34:45,040 --> 00:34:47,400
Speaker 5: it's funny because he also likes me to be me.

749
00:34:47,480 --> 00:34:49,600
Speaker 5: He doesn't want me because I mean, I've been told that,

750
00:34:49,760 --> 00:34:51,680
Speaker 5: you know, Francis, you should be doing X, Y and

751
00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:53,799
Speaker 5: Z and this that and the other. You know, we

752
00:34:53,800 --> 00:34:55,359
Speaker 5: thought you would have made a break right now, which

753
00:34:55,400 --> 00:34:56,480
Speaker 5: is obviously always tough to hear.

754
00:34:56,480 --> 00:34:57,600
Speaker 4: You. People can say that they.

755
00:34:57,600 --> 00:35:00,000
Speaker 5: Don't that doesn't bother them, but it's always a tough

756
00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:10,320
Speaker 5: to a certain degree.

757
00:35:10,360 --> 00:35:14,040
Speaker 3: This episode is supported by B and P Paribar and

758
00:35:14,120 --> 00:35:17,320
Speaker 3: their commitment to the future of tennis with a focus

759
00:35:17,360 --> 00:35:23,319
Speaker 3: on social equity, sustainability and community responsibility. Listen into a

760
00:35:23,360 --> 00:35:28,719
Speaker 3: conversation that I had with BNP Paribar USA CEO Jean E.

761
00:35:28,920 --> 00:35:33,240
Speaker 3: Filion and stay tuned for that episode later in this season.

762
00:35:34,120 --> 00:35:37,000
Speaker 6: I think the future of tennis point of the future

763
00:35:37,040 --> 00:35:40,680
Speaker 6: of anybody, that's how do we give back, but giving

764
00:35:40,680 --> 00:35:42,680
Speaker 6: back in a real way. Giving back you have to

765
00:35:42,680 --> 00:35:45,319
Speaker 6: believe in it. Otherwise your giving back is not really

766
00:35:45,360 --> 00:35:48,479
Speaker 6: sustainabolic's on. You're one off in time, and I think

767
00:35:48,640 --> 00:35:51,120
Speaker 6: these bankers manage and there's so much more we can

768
00:35:51,160 --> 00:35:54,520
Speaker 6: do to let wage tennis, including to love wete this tournament,

769
00:35:54,920 --> 00:35:57,880
Speaker 6: trying to really go beyond the tennis it's sad, and

770
00:35:58,520 --> 00:36:03,759
Speaker 6: really focus on committing to the community's equity, the social dimension,

771
00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:06,520
Speaker 6: equal access.

772
00:36:06,520 --> 00:36:10,000
Speaker 3: So it's really important to allow you still be happy,

773
00:36:10,080 --> 00:36:13,200
Speaker 3: because you play best when you're happy, when you when

774
00:36:13,200 --> 00:36:16,360
Speaker 3: you are actually showing this great attitude to the fans

775
00:36:16,400 --> 00:36:18,960
Speaker 3: and involving the crowd. Is there a time where he's

776
00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:20,520
Speaker 3: like Okay, this is the time to do it, but

777
00:36:20,560 --> 00:36:23,320
Speaker 3: maybe not now, Like has he ever said to you, okay,

778
00:36:24,120 --> 00:36:26,520
Speaker 3: that probably wasn't the best time to be like that.

779
00:36:27,320 --> 00:36:29,520
Speaker 3: Has he changed anything at all with that?

780
00:36:29,640 --> 00:36:32,560
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's like within reason, right. So it's like he's like,

781
00:36:32,600 --> 00:36:35,160
Speaker 5: pick your moments. He's like, there's definitely some moments of separation.

782
00:36:35,320 --> 00:36:40,640
Speaker 5: For example, like you know, if you if you just

783
00:36:40,680 --> 00:36:42,440
Speaker 5: get a big break, but it's not a break where

784
00:36:42,480 --> 00:36:44,960
Speaker 5: you then go to sit down, like if if it's

785
00:36:45,200 --> 00:36:47,200
Speaker 5: you break. So for example, I put it on Andrey Less,

786
00:36:47,200 --> 00:36:49,400
Speaker 5: you're in the US Open, I break in the fourth

787
00:36:49,440 --> 00:36:51,279
Speaker 5: set to go forward to up, I go huge, pump,

788
00:36:51,320 --> 00:36:53,399
Speaker 5: get the crowd into I get broken back at love.

789
00:36:53,920 --> 00:36:56,239
Speaker 4: So maybe if you're if it's two on, okay, you

790
00:36:56,239 --> 00:36:56,480
Speaker 4: get the.

791
00:36:56,440 --> 00:36:57,879
Speaker 5: Crowd into it and you have a minute to come

792
00:36:58,000 --> 00:37:00,480
Speaker 5: minute and a half whatever come down, you get back.

793
00:37:00,520 --> 00:37:01,840
Speaker 4: So those kind of things.

794
00:37:02,320 --> 00:37:04,040
Speaker 5: But yeah, he likes you know, if I had a

795
00:37:04,040 --> 00:37:06,080
Speaker 5: good shot, you know, you clapping hands around the fans

796
00:37:06,080 --> 00:37:08,440
Speaker 5: and stuff like that gets it gets me so to end,

797
00:37:08,480 --> 00:37:12,239
Speaker 5: because that's he found that That's why you know, I

798
00:37:12,280 --> 00:37:14,840
Speaker 5: end up playing my best and that's why that's just

799
00:37:14,880 --> 00:37:15,319
Speaker 5: who I am.

800
00:37:16,280 --> 00:37:18,360
Speaker 3: The joy that you show on the court, and I

801
00:37:18,400 --> 00:37:20,880
Speaker 3: love it because I mean I was not not like that,

802
00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:23,120
Speaker 3: but I was also pretty demonstrative as well, and I

803
00:37:23,160 --> 00:37:25,160
Speaker 3: sort of would get the crowd sometimes into it. But

804
00:37:26,080 --> 00:37:28,439
Speaker 3: I want to know, I mean, your parents come from

805
00:37:28,560 --> 00:37:31,840
Speaker 3: Sierra Leone. I mean, anybody who has any kind of

806
00:37:32,120 --> 00:37:35,319
Speaker 3: education or ability to read will know sort of the

807
00:37:35,400 --> 00:37:38,600
Speaker 3: trials and tribulations that that country has had over the

808
00:37:38,680 --> 00:37:40,520
Speaker 3: last twenty years. One of the reasons why your parents

809
00:37:40,560 --> 00:37:44,600
Speaker 3: are probably in the United States. Does that have a

810
00:37:44,640 --> 00:37:47,480
Speaker 3: bearing on you as a human being as well? And

811
00:37:47,480 --> 00:37:49,920
Speaker 3: seeing the joy and what you do, which is I mean,

812
00:37:50,239 --> 00:37:52,680
Speaker 3: tennis is tough. We all know it, travel, a lot

813
00:37:52,960 --> 00:37:55,120
Speaker 3: work you put in, but in the end, it's not

814
00:37:55,200 --> 00:37:59,160
Speaker 3: like the most difficult taxing job, right, So is that

815
00:37:59,640 --> 00:38:02,719
Speaker 3: something that you think about where your parents came from

816
00:38:02,760 --> 00:38:04,960
Speaker 3: and the will to work hard?

817
00:38:05,280 --> 00:38:08,720
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think I think people don't really understand, Like obviously,

818
00:38:08,719 --> 00:38:10,640
Speaker 5: you know, my mom being a nurse working two jobs,

819
00:38:10,640 --> 00:38:13,040
Speaker 5: working late, she would work overnight shifts. I'm staying at

820
00:38:13,120 --> 00:38:15,040
Speaker 5: tennis center, my dad being in janit and there's the

821
00:38:15,080 --> 00:38:17,520
Speaker 5: only way we can play the game for free, I mean,

822
00:38:17,520 --> 00:38:19,759
Speaker 5: because that wasn't the option I'm probably not playing the game. Well,

823
00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:22,960
Speaker 5: I'm definitely not playing the game of tennis. So you know,

824
00:38:23,080 --> 00:38:25,320
Speaker 5: Now you know, I was able at a young age

825
00:38:25,920 --> 00:38:26,719
Speaker 5: by my MoMA house.

826
00:38:26,760 --> 00:38:28,200
Speaker 4: My dad's good here in Florida.

827
00:38:28,280 --> 00:38:30,240
Speaker 5: So people don't understand, Like when I'm out there competing

828
00:38:30,280 --> 00:38:32,040
Speaker 5: and I'm getting the crowd into and I'm getting so

829
00:38:32,080 --> 00:38:35,239
Speaker 5: pumped up, They're like, oh, and they see me around like, oh, laughing, y'all.

830
00:38:35,280 --> 00:38:38,200
Speaker 5: It's kind of like it's a certain degree. I feel

831
00:38:38,239 --> 00:38:40,080
Speaker 5: like I succeeded in a lot of ways, you know,

832
00:38:40,120 --> 00:38:43,080
Speaker 5: like I used tennis was for me. Like once I

833
00:38:43,120 --> 00:38:44,399
Speaker 5: got to a certain age, I was like, I don't

834
00:38:44,400 --> 00:38:46,480
Speaker 5: want to go to college. I want to have tennis.

835
00:38:46,480 --> 00:38:48,320
Speaker 5: I love the game. I want to play at old slams,

836
00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:50,359
Speaker 5: and but I want to be able to financially take

837
00:38:50,400 --> 00:38:52,400
Speaker 5: care of my family because they they grind it for

838
00:38:52,960 --> 00:38:56,200
Speaker 5: twenty twenty thirty plus years just for me and my

839
00:38:56,239 --> 00:38:59,640
Speaker 5: brother to have an opportunity. So, you know, a lot

840
00:38:59,640 --> 00:39:02,600
Speaker 5: of people like perspective is drash performers, and I think

841
00:39:02,640 --> 00:39:05,839
Speaker 5: perspective is everything. People don't understand. Like, you know, I've

842
00:39:05,880 --> 00:39:07,520
Speaker 5: I've succeeded in a lot of ways. My parents can

843
00:39:07,560 --> 00:39:10,040
Speaker 5: sleep well at night knowing that I've grinded and I

844
00:39:10,040 --> 00:39:12,440
Speaker 5: still haven't got to where I want to be, but

845
00:39:12,480 --> 00:39:15,120
Speaker 5: the basic, the essence of what I was doing is

846
00:39:15,200 --> 00:39:16,000
Speaker 5: has been completed.

847
00:39:16,040 --> 00:39:16,239
Speaker 4: There.

848
00:39:16,640 --> 00:39:18,239
Speaker 3: Okay, Well, now that you said that, where do you

849
00:39:18,280 --> 00:39:20,600
Speaker 3: want to be? What is the goal? Man? Come on,

850
00:39:20,640 --> 00:39:21,760
Speaker 3: I'm going to put you on the spot.

851
00:39:21,880 --> 00:39:25,239
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, I mean, I mean, I think I'm very capable. Man.

852
00:39:25,280 --> 00:39:26,480
Speaker 5: I think I could be in the top ten. I

853
00:39:26,480 --> 00:39:28,560
Speaker 5: think can win Grand Slams. You know, I don't.

854
00:39:28,719 --> 00:39:31,440
Speaker 4: You know. I'm definitely a big time player I liked.

855
00:39:31,520 --> 00:39:33,000
Speaker 5: I mean, I've had a lot of great wins against

856
00:39:33,000 --> 00:39:35,520
Speaker 5: the top five, big big opponent opponents in the world.

857
00:39:35,560 --> 00:39:38,600
Speaker 5: But it's just about this one. How how what am

858
00:39:38,640 --> 00:39:39,920
Speaker 5: I willing to give to the game? What am I

859
00:39:39,920 --> 00:39:42,799
Speaker 5: willing to sacrifice to do it? And I think I'm

860
00:39:42,800 --> 00:39:44,759
Speaker 5: definitely there now. I've matured. Now I've been on tour

861
00:39:44,840 --> 00:39:48,000
Speaker 5: for seven years, eight years now, and I'm ready to

862
00:39:48,040 --> 00:39:48,399
Speaker 5: do so.

863
00:39:49,000 --> 00:39:52,640
Speaker 4: That doesn't mean it's going to happen tomorrow. What is it?

864
00:39:52,680 --> 00:39:55,400
Speaker 3: What does it say to you when you see Dominique

865
00:39:55,400 --> 00:39:58,480
Speaker 3: team and sort of some of the other Look, let's

866
00:39:58,480 --> 00:40:01,359
Speaker 3: say they're not the Big three winning some events now

867
00:40:01,360 --> 00:40:05,120
Speaker 3: at Medvedev and you compete with these guys, does it

868
00:40:05,160 --> 00:40:07,360
Speaker 3: give you the impotence to think why not? Why not me?

869
00:40:08,040 --> 00:40:08,439
Speaker 4: For sure?

870
00:40:08,560 --> 00:40:10,080
Speaker 5: Like, you know, I'm beating Stephan I was a woman

871
00:40:10,120 --> 00:40:12,440
Speaker 5: and beat them twice last year week Rublev, like you

872
00:40:12,480 --> 00:40:13,760
Speaker 5: know what I mean, beat a lot of these guys.

873
00:40:13,800 --> 00:40:16,000
Speaker 5: And it's like, it's funny because I grew up with

874
00:40:16,040 --> 00:40:18,080
Speaker 5: the play juniors with these guys, know these guys forever,

875
00:40:18,239 --> 00:40:22,000
Speaker 5: She's Frisks win yesterday. So you kind of look at

876
00:40:22,040 --> 00:40:24,160
Speaker 5: it and you're like you look at yourself in the mirror.

877
00:40:24,160 --> 00:40:26,680
Speaker 4: You're like, well, why why isn't that you? Right? Like

878
00:40:26,840 --> 00:40:27,360
Speaker 4: you know so.

879
00:40:28,080 --> 00:40:30,239
Speaker 5: But at the same time, it's kind of like, you know,

880
00:40:30,280 --> 00:40:32,600
Speaker 5: I'm not I'm not envious anyone. I'm always I'm the

881
00:40:32,600 --> 00:40:35,560
Speaker 5: first person in your congrats. And you know, I feel

882
00:40:35,560 --> 00:40:37,319
Speaker 5: like your path is your own path. You know, it's

883
00:40:37,360 --> 00:40:38,880
Speaker 5: the worst thing you can do is compare yourself to

884
00:40:38,880 --> 00:40:43,200
Speaker 5: other people. But in the same talking, I'm just like, well,

885
00:40:43,200 --> 00:40:46,879
Speaker 5: if they're doing it, why not? And and so I'm

886
00:40:46,920 --> 00:40:49,200
Speaker 5: definitely on that why not path right now? And I

887
00:40:49,239 --> 00:40:51,320
Speaker 5: was ready to put the head down and try to

888
00:40:51,360 --> 00:40:53,000
Speaker 5: do some good things. I think the better I do.

889
00:40:53,480 --> 00:40:54,520
Speaker 5: It's only good for the game.

890
00:40:54,840 --> 00:40:57,080
Speaker 3: Now, speaking of the Williams sisters, what about playing mixed

891
00:40:57,080 --> 00:41:00,880
Speaker 3: doubles with both of those two through the years and

892
00:41:01,040 --> 00:41:04,400
Speaker 3: particularly Venus at Wimbledon. It looked like you're a bit

893
00:41:04,440 --> 00:41:06,279
Speaker 3: of a fish out of water playing mixed doubles. But

894
00:41:06,320 --> 00:41:07,040
Speaker 3: how fun was that?

895
00:41:07,520 --> 00:41:08,279
Speaker 4: Hard? Playing mix?

896
00:41:08,480 --> 00:41:12,880
Speaker 5: Because I'm playing and I'm like, you know, like, well obviously,

897
00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:14,160
Speaker 5: like it's not like you're playing with a friend that

898
00:41:14,160 --> 00:41:16,040
Speaker 5: I'm playing with someone I really look up to. So hey,

899
00:41:16,080 --> 00:41:18,040
Speaker 5: I'm nervous as ship Like every ball I miss. I'm like,

900
00:41:18,040 --> 00:41:20,680
Speaker 5: he probably thinks I suck, so.

901
00:41:20,920 --> 00:41:22,359
Speaker 3: But yeah, yeah, she probably did.

902
00:41:22,440 --> 00:41:25,480
Speaker 5: Yeah, So like I was like, I was pretty nervous.

903
00:41:25,480 --> 00:41:28,680
Speaker 5: But then I mean yeah, and our first in our

904
00:41:28,680 --> 00:41:30,239
Speaker 5: first actually with them, we got into good Rider.

905
00:41:30,239 --> 00:41:30,560
Speaker 4: I was second.

906
00:41:30,600 --> 00:41:32,800
Speaker 5: Actually I killed, and I'm like, this is what's embarrassing

907
00:41:32,800 --> 00:41:33,600
Speaker 5: thing I was texting.

908
00:41:33,640 --> 00:41:36,239
Speaker 4: I was like, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. She's like, no,

909
00:41:36,360 --> 00:41:36,960
Speaker 4: that's all good.

910
00:41:37,040 --> 00:41:39,839
Speaker 5: And then playing with Serena Hartman Cup playing against Roger,

911
00:41:39,920 --> 00:41:42,920
Speaker 5: I mean I was I feel like I've had experiences

912
00:41:42,920 --> 00:41:45,799
Speaker 5: in my career that you know, get priceless, like like

913
00:41:45,920 --> 00:41:48,600
Speaker 5: a million slams on one court, like two absolute legends

914
00:41:48,600 --> 00:41:50,080
Speaker 5: like me and Belinda are like, bro, why were we

915
00:41:50,080 --> 00:41:50,799
Speaker 5: even on this court?

916
00:41:50,880 --> 00:41:51,760
Speaker 4: Like this is insane.

917
00:41:52,440 --> 00:41:55,319
Speaker 5: But being able to build relationships with them and knowing

918
00:41:55,320 --> 00:41:58,040
Speaker 5: them and actually being able to call them friends is crazy.

919
00:41:58,480 --> 00:42:00,560
Speaker 4: And I'm really blessed for.

920
00:42:03,440 --> 00:42:06,240
Speaker 3: What is for you. For someone who is quite social,

921
00:42:06,360 --> 00:42:08,440
Speaker 3: I mean, I see you. You are the most social

922
00:42:08,560 --> 00:42:12,239
Speaker 3: human being on tour. I mean you smiling everybody. As

923
00:42:12,320 --> 00:42:14,839
Speaker 3: you said, You're not a jealous person. You totally love

924
00:42:14,920 --> 00:42:18,120
Speaker 3: when people do well, especially Americans. But what's the toughest

925
00:42:18,160 --> 00:42:20,080
Speaker 3: thing on tour for you?

926
00:42:21,760 --> 00:42:24,080
Speaker 5: I mean, to be honest with you, as as nice

927
00:42:24,080 --> 00:42:28,920
Speaker 5: as I am, I just feel like it's tough just

928
00:42:29,000 --> 00:42:31,319
Speaker 5: knowing how many genuine people they are, Like I mean,

929
00:42:31,360 --> 00:42:34,520
Speaker 5: because it's got throat out here, I mean, playing for

930
00:42:34,640 --> 00:42:37,920
Speaker 5: keeps bro, Like I mean, you know what I'm saying.

931
00:42:37,960 --> 00:42:40,440
Speaker 5: So as much as I'm not to go to see

932
00:42:40,440 --> 00:42:42,200
Speaker 5: the type, I feel like, you know this, a decent

933
00:42:42,239 --> 00:42:44,360
Speaker 5: amount of people are and people like just looking for themselves,

934
00:42:44,360 --> 00:42:46,239
Speaker 5: which is totally fine. I'm not you know, coming at

935
00:42:46,239 --> 00:42:48,319
Speaker 5: them in any way, but it's just the name of

936
00:42:48,320 --> 00:42:52,439
Speaker 5: the game. But you know, but I feel like not

937
00:42:52,440 --> 00:42:54,480
Speaker 5: not falling into that and still being you, Like, you know,

938
00:42:54,680 --> 00:42:56,319
Speaker 5: just because you know other people feel a certain way

939
00:42:56,400 --> 00:42:58,440
Speaker 5: or act certain way, you still can be you and

940
00:42:58,480 --> 00:43:00,839
Speaker 5: be true to you because being a good person and

941
00:43:00,960 --> 00:43:02,799
Speaker 5: being a good dude carries a lot of value as

942
00:43:02,840 --> 00:43:04,520
Speaker 5: an individual, not just an athlete.

943
00:43:06,480 --> 00:43:09,279
Speaker 3: A little bit about rackets down. You won the Arthur

944
00:43:09,320 --> 00:43:11,799
Speaker 3: ash Humanitarian Award a couple of was it last year

945
00:43:12,320 --> 00:43:14,719
Speaker 3: from the ATP What did that mean to you and

946
00:43:15,280 --> 00:43:19,560
Speaker 3: that entire period of your life and what you came

947
00:43:19,640 --> 00:43:22,040
Speaker 3: up with there with your girlfriend played tennis at UCLA?

948
00:43:22,560 --> 00:43:25,040
Speaker 3: What was the impotence behind that? And who came up

949
00:43:25,080 --> 00:43:26,440
Speaker 3: with that inspirational idea?

950
00:43:26,960 --> 00:43:28,600
Speaker 5: Well, I mean she was just like, look man, like

951
00:43:28,719 --> 00:43:29,960
Speaker 5: the world's going crazy right now.

952
00:43:29,960 --> 00:43:30,560
Speaker 4: What are you gonna do?

953
00:43:31,880 --> 00:43:33,560
Speaker 3: She really said, like what are you gonna do?

954
00:43:33,640 --> 00:43:34,160
Speaker 4: You're gonna do?

955
00:43:34,600 --> 00:43:36,960
Speaker 5: And okay, you have the platform because I do it

956
00:43:37,000 --> 00:43:39,880
Speaker 5: without your ass, You got the platform. And I said,

957
00:43:40,680 --> 00:43:43,440
Speaker 5: I mean, I don't know, like she said, look like

958
00:43:44,080 --> 00:43:45,239
Speaker 5: so she said it one day, he said, the two

959
00:43:45,320 --> 00:43:46,880
Speaker 5: days she said, look, everyone's coming out, this is the

960
00:43:46,880 --> 00:43:49,319
Speaker 5: perfect time to do it. Rand's gonna get behind you,

961
00:43:49,360 --> 00:43:52,680
Speaker 5: like you gotta do something. So I was like, Okay,

962
00:43:52,680 --> 00:43:54,239
Speaker 5: how do we do someone getting a bunch of people

963
00:43:54,320 --> 00:43:57,160
Speaker 5: involved with them not saying anything because people are people

964
00:43:57,160 --> 00:43:59,239
Speaker 5: are worried about you know, they say something, someone may

965
00:43:59,280 --> 00:44:02,880
Speaker 5: get upset whatever, blah blah blah. And so you know

966
00:44:02,960 --> 00:44:05,320
Speaker 5: what happened with Michael Brown twenty fourteen when he was

967
00:44:05,400 --> 00:44:07,000
Speaker 5: told to you know, lift his hands up and still

968
00:44:07,000 --> 00:44:09,960
Speaker 5: got shot and killed anyway, So.

969
00:44:10,400 --> 00:44:12,239
Speaker 4: We were like, okay, like why don't we just do that?

970
00:44:12,360 --> 00:44:15,080
Speaker 5: And then I called a bunch of people I was

971
00:44:15,280 --> 00:44:19,920
Speaker 5: nervous calling, like Serena and you know, soccer because you know,

972
00:44:19,920 --> 00:44:22,120
Speaker 5: everyone's asking him to do stuff, not not like that

973
00:44:22,239 --> 00:44:24,720
Speaker 5: kind of stuff, but get stuff on the irregular basis

974
00:44:24,719 --> 00:44:27,600
Speaker 5: every day. So I was like, we'll see and even

975
00:44:27,640 --> 00:44:30,439
Speaker 5: like Isle and Joe, like I was like that it's tough,

976
00:44:30,520 --> 00:44:33,160
Speaker 5: but it was cool to see, like you like how

977
00:44:33,160 --> 00:44:34,799
Speaker 5: many people got behind it and how many people want

978
00:44:34,800 --> 00:44:36,279
Speaker 5: to do it, Like you had some ogs you had,

979
00:44:36,280 --> 00:44:39,040
Speaker 5: Shanda you had and Xena Garrison like that was cool.

980
00:44:39,239 --> 00:44:41,080
Speaker 5: Like Mault Washington, that was the first time I ever

981
00:44:41,120 --> 00:44:44,920
Speaker 5: spoke to him, which was cool, like you know, obviously

982
00:44:44,960 --> 00:44:47,080
Speaker 5: asking him to do the video, but it's like getting

983
00:44:47,080 --> 00:44:49,600
Speaker 5: close to the OG's that were playing tennis. James Blake

984
00:44:49,680 --> 00:44:51,960
Speaker 5: obviously a good friend of mine, but it was it

985
00:44:52,000 --> 00:44:52,319
Speaker 5: was cool.

986
00:44:52,320 --> 00:44:53,840
Speaker 4: And then to see how what it turned.

987
00:44:53,600 --> 00:44:56,279
Speaker 5: Out to be, you know, it's it was unbelievable. And

988
00:44:56,360 --> 00:44:58,400
Speaker 5: to be able to win that award for Arthur and

989
00:44:58,880 --> 00:45:01,880
Speaker 5: you know, it was great and I was cruly.

990
00:45:01,640 --> 00:45:05,960
Speaker 3: Boss, thanks for doing this. I know you're super busy

991
00:45:06,000 --> 00:45:08,840
Speaker 3: today and you know Miami is just around the corner.

992
00:45:09,560 --> 00:45:12,120
Speaker 3: I want to know, like just from your standpoint, what

993
00:45:12,120 --> 00:45:13,640
Speaker 3: what the goal is for the rest of the year

994
00:45:13,760 --> 00:45:16,400
Speaker 3: and also what you really think and truly believe in

995
00:45:16,440 --> 00:45:18,160
Speaker 3: your heart that you can do as a tennis player.

996
00:45:18,320 --> 00:45:21,040
Speaker 5: Yeah no, I mean yeah, I mean for the rest

997
00:45:21,160 --> 00:45:22,359
Speaker 5: I mean for the rest of the year. I mean

998
00:45:22,400 --> 00:45:24,200
Speaker 5: these I mean obviously first couple of tournaments. He was

999
00:45:24,200 --> 00:45:28,560
Speaker 5: trying to get your feedback back into it. But I

1000
00:45:28,600 --> 00:45:30,040
Speaker 5: mean again, I mean I want to.

1001
00:45:30,080 --> 00:45:30,440
Speaker 4: I want to.

1002
00:45:30,640 --> 00:45:32,280
Speaker 5: I want to try, and like, you know, top twenty,

1003
00:45:32,280 --> 00:45:34,480
Speaker 5: top fifteen finished, why not talk ten if you're there.

1004
00:45:35,000 --> 00:45:36,440
Speaker 5: That's like kind of been the goal with you know,

1005
00:45:36,440 --> 00:45:38,759
Speaker 5: whinning and I always spoke about building how.

1006
00:45:38,719 --> 00:45:40,719
Speaker 3: Much how much? Just to interrupt you, how much did

1007
00:45:41,120 --> 00:45:43,399
Speaker 3: Taylor winning that tournament yesterday? I mean how much does

1008
00:45:43,440 --> 00:45:45,640
Speaker 3: that help someone like you really believe even more on

1009
00:45:45,719 --> 00:45:47,360
Speaker 3: your own ability to win a tournament like that.

1010
00:45:48,280 --> 00:45:49,840
Speaker 5: For sure, it definitely helps, you know, guy that we

1011
00:45:49,880 --> 00:45:52,120
Speaker 5: grew up with man and we battled so many times

1012
00:45:52,160 --> 00:45:55,080
Speaker 5: and played and for sure, for sure, that definitely helps.

1013
00:45:55,160 --> 00:45:58,000
Speaker 5: I mean I've thought about that kind of mindset for

1014
00:45:58,000 --> 00:45:59,279
Speaker 5: for a little bit of time now.

1015
00:45:59,800 --> 00:46:02,480
Speaker 4: Like I mean, even seeing Cam Nord win it last.

1016
00:46:02,400 --> 00:46:04,040
Speaker 5: Year, it was kind of crazy, Like you're like, well,

1017
00:46:04,120 --> 00:46:06,400
Speaker 5: like it's not like a you know, two fifties of

1018
00:46:06,480 --> 00:46:08,680
Speaker 5: Mass series as wild and you know, the bunch of

1019
00:46:08,680 --> 00:46:12,279
Speaker 5: different faces, but Taylor, especially men being an American is like

1020
00:46:12,480 --> 00:46:14,560
Speaker 5: it's definitely it's definitely wild to see you know, Riley

1021
00:46:14,600 --> 00:46:16,760
Speaker 5: making fun in Toronto last year. So I mean, guys

1022
00:46:16,760 --> 00:46:18,600
Speaker 5: are doing it, so it's just a matter of time.

1023
00:46:18,680 --> 00:46:21,680
Speaker 5: But yeah, I mean I just you know, I really,

1024
00:46:21,719 --> 00:46:24,440
Speaker 5: I really think I can do some great things this year.

1025
00:46:24,440 --> 00:46:25,840
Speaker 5: I mean, I would love to have a top fifteen,

1026
00:46:25,960 --> 00:46:28,160
Speaker 5: top ten finish, but that's that's kind of the goal

1027
00:46:28,200 --> 00:46:31,120
Speaker 5: with me and Wayne had going deep in some slams.

1028
00:46:32,080 --> 00:46:34,080
Speaker 5: You know, I've made some quarters and some around sixteens,

1029
00:46:34,080 --> 00:46:37,440
Speaker 5: but like, you know, really pushing the envelope Semis especially,

1030
00:46:37,719 --> 00:46:39,839
Speaker 5: I'm really looking forward to wimbling the US Open. Those

1031
00:46:39,840 --> 00:46:42,640
Speaker 5: are like well outside of Ausralia. Unfortunately I was hurt,

1032
00:46:42,640 --> 00:46:45,439
Speaker 5: but like wimbling Australia and then the open of my

1033
00:46:45,640 --> 00:46:49,840
Speaker 5: favorite three Paris. We haven't had the best relationship but

1034
00:46:50,000 --> 00:46:52,200
Speaker 5: those three. I mean with my game playing on grass,

1035
00:46:52,239 --> 00:46:54,279
Speaker 5: like I like to come to the net guys don't

1036
00:46:54,320 --> 00:46:56,919
Speaker 5: really come in much anymore and pass well. But then

1037
00:46:56,960 --> 00:46:59,880
Speaker 5: at the open the night, it's crazy like Stacey. Stacy's

1038
00:46:59,880 --> 00:47:01,319
Speaker 5: gat would always put me at the open at night.

1039
00:47:01,360 --> 00:47:04,520
Speaker 5: So I'm I'm excited and and I and I just

1040
00:47:04,960 --> 00:47:09,360
Speaker 5: I want to do some great things and we'll see see.

1041
00:47:09,600 --> 00:47:12,120
Speaker 3: Okay, last couple of questions real quick, who's your favorite

1042
00:47:12,160 --> 00:47:17,600
Speaker 3: all time player? Who's your favorite all time player that

1043
00:47:17,640 --> 00:47:22,560
Speaker 3: you're not still playing against.

1044
00:47:23,160 --> 00:47:24,440
Speaker 4: I mean, I guess he was crazy.

1045
00:47:24,640 --> 00:47:27,480
Speaker 5: I guess he was unbelievable, like because for me, that's

1046
00:47:27,480 --> 00:47:30,080
Speaker 5: what it's about, Like it's not about yeah, obviously he

1047
00:47:30,120 --> 00:47:32,640
Speaker 5: was an unbelievable player, but like you know, like people

1048
00:47:32,800 --> 00:47:35,600
Speaker 5: just like like worshiping the like the brown. This guy

1049
00:47:35,640 --> 00:47:37,440
Speaker 5: walks like you know what I'm saying, Like like he was,

1050
00:47:38,160 --> 00:47:39,919
Speaker 5: you know, with the long hair with the Genes show.

1051
00:47:39,960 --> 00:47:41,200
Speaker 4: I mean the guy was a legend man.

1052
00:47:42,200 --> 00:47:44,840
Speaker 5: Yeah yeah, yeah, like the but seeing the different phases

1053
00:47:44,920 --> 00:47:47,480
Speaker 5: like drop down came back up, but the story like

1054
00:47:48,120 --> 00:47:49,920
Speaker 5: you know, like people are gonna get behind that.

1055
00:47:50,280 --> 00:47:51,479
Speaker 4: I think you know what I'm saying.

1056
00:47:51,520 --> 00:47:57,120
Speaker 5: And yeah, so I definitely loved him, loved Deanic, Noah

1057
00:47:57,520 --> 00:47:58,400
Speaker 5: thought he was crazy.

1058
00:47:59,480 --> 00:48:01,520
Speaker 4: And then on a women's side, obviously.

1059
00:48:02,560 --> 00:48:05,840
Speaker 5: I mean, obviously, sir, the Williams sisters there are pretty

1060
00:48:05,960 --> 00:48:08,360
Speaker 5: pretty legendary, so those are probably my favorite, but my

1061
00:48:08,400 --> 00:48:10,200
Speaker 5: favorite player of all time is actually Double Porto. To

1062
00:48:10,239 --> 00:48:13,320
Speaker 5: be honest with you, I made a big yeah that

1063
00:48:13,360 --> 00:48:15,120
Speaker 5: won't hurt me a lot, like he was the first

1064
00:48:15,120 --> 00:48:17,120
Speaker 5: person ever signed my ball and stuff like that, So

1065
00:48:18,440 --> 00:48:19,640
Speaker 5: that's actually my favorite player.

1066
00:48:20,160 --> 00:48:22,520
Speaker 3: All right. So, Francis, thanks for joining me. I knew

1067
00:48:22,520 --> 00:48:25,640
Speaker 3: this wouldn't be difficult with you, so, and also to

1068
00:48:25,680 --> 00:48:28,719
Speaker 3: everyone out there whoever signs your tennis ball first as

1069
00:48:28,760 --> 00:48:30,520
Speaker 3: a kid, that becomes your favorite.

1070
00:48:30,280 --> 00:48:32,359
Speaker 5: Player exactly automatically.

1071
00:48:33,320 --> 00:48:34,719
Speaker 3: All right, Francis, good luck this year.

1072
00:48:34,800 --> 00:48:35,040
Speaker 4: Huh.

1073
00:48:35,280 --> 00:49:01,080
Speaker 3: Thanks for joining me, appreciate Okay,