Speaker 1: I don't remember you were screaming at the sidelines of
Speaker 1: the WNBA or something.
Speaker 2: No, no, I got a cold and I went to
Speaker 2: a Better Who concert, so I was singing to I
Speaker 2: waited out, and then next day I woke up. I
Speaker 2: was like done. Anyway, Helen, Welcome to the Renee Stuff
Speaker 2: Tennis podcast. What a week of tennis. I am in Spain.
Speaker 2: I actually watched the men's final in Majorca yesterday in Spanish,
Speaker 2: which was kind of great. But before we get to
Speaker 2: the men's final, we have to talk about the women's
Speaker 2: We got to talk about the tournament in general. Yes,
Speaker 2: I have a husky voice. No, it's because I didn't
Speaker 2: smoke a pack of cigarettes when I arrived in Spain.
Speaker 1: I s lifestyle just lends itself to you know, Gene
Speaker 1: Tonic and Sie and well, we are like ships in
Speaker 1: the European night. Because I just flew back from Athens
Speaker 1: and watched tennis on planes, trains and automobiles this past
Speaker 1: couple of days. We have so much to get into.
Speaker 1: Let's start with the women.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's kind of like the first time that
Speaker 2: we were like almost speechless going into a podcast because
Speaker 2: that match was just unhinged yesterday between Sinner and Alcarez.
Speaker 2: But yeah, let's let's start with the women because we've
Speaker 2: got so much to talk about. Normally it's the other
Speaker 2: way around. Normally we're like losing our minds about the
Speaker 2: women and we're like, all right, let's talk about the guys.
Speaker 2: But let's give both the finals their owed drama filled
Speaker 2: before we get to the finals. So I want to
Speaker 2: just touch upon the semi finals because there were things
Speaker 2: that happened in the semi finals that also need to
Speaker 2: be discussed. Let's talk about the eager Hiantech match with
Speaker 2: sable Anka, high intensity. From the get go of that match,
Speaker 2: sable Anka would have possibly played the best set of
Speaker 2: tennis I've seen from her. In the third set, she
Speaker 2: didn't make one error, and when you think about how
Speaker 2: many errors she made in the final, just think about
Speaker 2: that for a second. I do believe having the roof
Speaker 2: closed helped her a tremendous amount though, And you know,
Speaker 2: we've sort of talked about the roof being closed and
Speaker 2: how that helps her ability to be able to strike
Speaker 2: the ball a lot easier. It's just in the end,
Speaker 2: Sabalanka just a little bit too good.
Speaker 1: Can you talk a little bit more about the roof
Speaker 1: that is such an object of controversy, especially for people
Speaker 1: who correctly understand it as being an advantage for certain players.
Speaker 1: Obviously it came up earlier this tournament with Novak Djokovic.
Speaker 1: Hard to imagine that IgA loses that match or at
Speaker 1: least the third set that badly if the roof is open.
Speaker 2: Yeah, listen, so you know, when the roof is closed,
Speaker 2: there's no variables, there's no sun to deal where, there's
Speaker 2: no wind to deal with. And for me, Sabalanca is
Speaker 2: truly it helps her a lot. I think it's one
Speaker 2: of the reasons why she plays so well in Melbourne.
Speaker 2: It's also one of the reasons why I think Novak
Speaker 2: has played really well in Melbourne through the years, is
Speaker 2: that the Melbourne court is it feels quite interior. It
Speaker 2: feels quite like an indoor feel because of the way
Speaker 2: it's built. It has the roof that comes all the
Speaker 2: way over, so there's not a lot of wind that
Speaker 2: gets in there.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: The US Open used to be a horrible court to
Speaker 2: play on with wind. It now doesn't suffer from the wind.
Speaker 2: Even andre Agassi I remember him walking on the court
Speaker 2: the first time he saw the roof closer the US
Speaker 2: Open and he's like, oh, it's completely different. There's no wind,
Speaker 2: and that's why it gets so hot in there. That's
Speaker 2: why you talk about like it's better of sweating like
Speaker 2: so much during the US Open. So all these stadiums
Speaker 2: now have this roof, there's not a lot of wind.
Speaker 2: The French Open still gets quite a lot of wind
Speaker 2: when the roof is open. I don't know why. It's
Speaker 2: maybe the way the stairwells a belt. The wind gets
Speaker 2: in there differently, gets a bit swirly. And there's no question, Saballenka,
Speaker 2: it helps someone like her because she can throw that
Speaker 2: ball toss that brings rain. It's like twenty feet in
Speaker 2: the air. When you don't have to worry about wind,
Speaker 2: you can smash your sir, you can smash your ground strokes.
Speaker 2: The ball is going to be in the exact right position,
Speaker 2: and so variables do change when the roof closes, and
Speaker 2: that's why it and helps someone like her. I was
Speaker 2: surprised there was some pundit to like, oh, it's it's
Speaker 2: going to help eager because it's going to slow the
Speaker 2: conditions down. I'm like, Sablenka doesn't care if it's heavy.
Speaker 2: She can hit through that. So I think that really
Speaker 2: helped her with the roof close. Having said that, she
Speaker 2: still had to hit the ball perfectly, and she did
Speaker 2: that against the Eager in the third set, and that's
Speaker 2: why she got the wind.
Speaker 1: So just staying on the semifinal a little bit because
Speaker 1: the other one was quite lopsided. And obviously we'll give
Speaker 1: Coco her fair share of do for getting to the
Speaker 1: final and obviously what happened in the final. But you know,
Speaker 1: one thing that we talked about a lot coming into
Speaker 1: this tournament, titled an entire podcast episode the Worry Index,
Speaker 1: and put Ega at the top of it because she
Speaker 1: had had a rough start to the year and obviously
Speaker 1: a rough start to clay season, which was the most
Speaker 1: surprising probably part of all. I actually don't think this
Speaker 1: was such a terrible tournament for her, I think considering
Speaker 1: how she came into it, you know, losing to a surging,
Speaker 1: almost unbeatable Sebilenka in the semifinals. Yeah, I'm sure it's disappointing. Obviously,
Speaker 1: she's won the tournament a handful of times. She was
Speaker 1: by some accounts, the favorite, but actually she wasn't my
Speaker 1: favorite to win it because of the form that she had,
Speaker 1: So I actually think this was sort of a positive outcome,
Speaker 1: even though I'm sure she's disappointed. I'm sure she, you know,
Speaker 1: would have liked to have gotten through the final, which
Speaker 1: you know, maybe would have taken you know, a different
Speaker 1: a different narrative turn. But actually, for me, the Ega
Speaker 1: narrative is not so so dire as it was at
Speaker 1: the beginning of the of the Rilla and Guerra swing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, listen, I think she'd be highly disappointed.
Speaker 2: I think when she got into the third said she
Speaker 2: probably thought she could win that map, and the quality
Speaker 2: was very, very good from her throughout, but that that
Speaker 2: was just I mean, for Arena Sabalanca to not make
Speaker 2: one unfour Sarah in that third set, that was I mean,
Speaker 2: that's unheard of, even for her standards. So I think
Speaker 2: she just got beaten in the end by a surging
Speaker 2: as you said, better player in the and I said
Speaker 2: it on you know, the social media's confidence is an
Speaker 2: extra arm right when when you go into a tournament
Speaker 2: with a lot of confidence, which she did and Eager
Speaker 2: did not. That's where it showed in that semi final
Speaker 2: now in the final, it was a completely different story,
Speaker 2: and we do want to give some flowers to Boss
Speaker 2: on that lucky lose, a French player who made it
Speaker 2: all the way the semifinals, which is pretty incredible. The
Speaker 2: difference is her heavy spin on the forehand, which hurt
Speaker 2: a lot of players in the tournament because you don't
Speaker 2: see that a lot on the w TA two. Most
Speaker 2: women have flatterer brown strokes. Boss Won's frehand top spin
Speaker 2: hurt a lot of players, you think about it, Jessica Pagoula,
Speaker 2: who likes the ball sort of more in her like
Speaker 2: hip area, not above her shoulders. It didn't hurt Coco
Speaker 2: because Coco loves Yeah.
Speaker 1: That's western forehand. That's like, you're exactly your strike zone.
Speaker 1: You want that in her back end, it's exactly so
Speaker 1: she I mean, and she just went out to lunch
Speaker 1: on that that game.
Speaker 2: So for Coco it was like, oh, great, you're not
Speaker 2: going to hit your fourhand flat to my forehand. Fine,
Speaker 2: I can handle the spin. I move better than you.
Speaker 2: My back ends ten times better than you. So it
Speaker 2: was just a terrible matchup for her in the end,
Speaker 2: and too good from Coco.
Speaker 1: When one thing about Boss just really quickly. She really
Speaker 1: reminded me. She really reminded Sam. Yeah, she looked exactly
Speaker 1: like Sam Stoser to me, she looked like Sam Stosser
Speaker 1: in like Jenny Brady's body.
Speaker 2: Actually, she reminded me a lot of Sam in a
Speaker 2: lot of ways, like the really strong, you know, muscle, biceps,
Speaker 2: storter and stature, but just that beautiful kick, serve, the
Speaker 2: heavy forehand, you know, back end is the weakest, but
Speaker 2: she can slice very similar to the way Sam plays.
Speaker 2: So I expect to do well on clay going forward
Speaker 2: in her career. I think he's going to give her
Speaker 2: a ton of confidence and that big kick surve on hardcourt.
Speaker 2: A lot of people like she should get a walkout
Speaker 2: into Wimbledon. I'm like, look, just because someone had one
Speaker 2: amazing tournament doesn't mean you necessarily give them a worldout,
Speaker 2: particularly on grass. Will her game be the same on grass? No,
Speaker 2: I don't think it will be. We'll see how she
Speaker 2: does going forward, but in the end, you don't just go, oh,
Speaker 2: let's give her a walkout right away. I didn't necessarily
Speaker 2: agree with that statement, but hey, listen, if she's great
Speaker 2: a player as we expect her to be, she'll make
Speaker 2: it there. In the future.
Speaker 1: I'll be watching for her during the hard court swing.
Speaker 1: I think, just like Sam stows her that, you know,
Speaker 1: the hard courts will be a little bit more favorable
Speaker 1: to her game style. But yeah, it was exciting to see. Okay,
Speaker 1: now let's get into the final. WHOA. This final had everything.
Speaker 1: It had everything. It had some extremely high moments, it
Speaker 1: had some extremely low moments, it had some gutsy moments,
Speaker 1: it had some gutless moments, It had some sort of
Speaker 1: ugly moments afterwards. But ultimately, I think a lot of us,
Speaker 1: especially you who called it and I was extremely dubious,
Speaker 1: so hats off to you. I think it made a
Speaker 1: lot of people very very very very happy, including me. Candidly,
Speaker 1: I really like both those players. But I think, you know,
Speaker 1: obviously the love we have for Cocoa Golf and some
Speaker 1: of the tough love we've had for her this year,
Speaker 1: I think was really, you know, amazing to experience watching
Speaker 1: that three set thriller. What are your I know you
Speaker 1: were very active about this on social media too, So
Speaker 1: please just give me everything from start to finish from
Speaker 1: your impressions, because I have very little dad.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you'll lit'll appreciate this. Our friend Daniel Crannon said,
Speaker 2: your Twitter feed was like an RSS feed, So I
Speaker 2: was like old days, like piping out like I was
Speaker 2: at war. Wow. All I can say is I did
Speaker 2: call it a little bit. I mean I did say
Speaker 2: on ESPN dot com that I picked sabalancat slightly and
Speaker 2: I mean slightly. But then during the match, what I
Speaker 2: noticed immediately in that first set when it was full
Speaker 2: one to sable Anca and she hit that serf to
Speaker 2: got five one I believe, and it was called a
Speaker 2: let and everything changed after that, and I saw her
Speaker 2: anxiety level hit the roof. I mean, I have not
Speaker 2: seen her lose her marbles like I saw it in
Speaker 2: this match from that moment on, and I saw Coco
Speaker 2: just calmly dig her way back into the match. And
Speaker 2: I knew even if she lost that first set, I
Speaker 2: felt like she knew that that arena was at her
Speaker 2: wits end. And I knew as soon as she broke
Speaker 2: in that first game the second set, I'm like, this
Speaker 2: is a completely different match. It's now coming down to
Speaker 2: then you hit winners against me because I Am not
Speaker 2: going to miss Coco goth And that's how she was
Speaker 2: when she won the US Open. When she won all
Speaker 2: those tournaments leading to the US Open a couple of
Speaker 2: years ago, she was in lockdown mode. She was not
Speaker 2: going to miss replyn She's not gonna hit winners on it,
Speaker 2: but she's not going to miss it. She wasn't double folding.
Speaker 2: She double folded nine times in the match, I think,
Speaker 2: but for her that's not too bad, particularly against Sabolenka,
Speaker 2: who one time she lost I think six, four, seven, five,
Speaker 2: and third hitting nineteen double folds. So I'm like nine
Speaker 2: is nothing for her. And I just felt the crowd
Speaker 2: was on her side. She was not missing. Sablenka was losing.
Speaker 2: I mean, it was like she was a crackhead. It
Speaker 2: was like not with control. How out of control she
Speaker 2: was with her players box in the final, it was
Speaker 2: I got interpreted what she was saying to them. She
Speaker 2: was yelling at them, why are you even effing here?
Speaker 2: It was just like NonStop and that's just stress and
Speaker 2: her outward clear emotions got the better of her. But
Speaker 2: Coco was like steady Eddy and she was not going
Speaker 2: to miss under pressure and the key for her in
Speaker 2: the end, And I said it leading into the last
Speaker 2: game when she served for the match. Get your first
Speaker 2: serve in the court, no matter what. You don't need
Speaker 2: to get a free point on your serve. You're beating
Speaker 2: her in the rallies, the crowded behind you, stay in
Speaker 2: the moment, get the first serve in the court. And
Speaker 2: that's what she did in the last game, and that's
Speaker 2: what she hasn't done in a couple of big matches
Speaker 2: of late where she's double folded and she's given her
Speaker 2: opponent the win are basically and Sabalanca missed on that
Speaker 2: one break point in this four or five game. A
Speaker 2: second serve terrible era off of the return. That's where
Speaker 2: you have to make the return if you SABALANKI don't
Speaker 2: need to go for the winner there. And she went
Speaker 2: for the winner and missed it. And you could tell
Speaker 2: Kirker was like, oh, okay, you know what, she's not
Speaker 2: hitting the winners like she would normally because she's lost
Speaker 2: her mind. Let me get back to making my first serve,
Speaker 2: which he did and she ended up winning the match.
Speaker 2: And I mean, she hit that shank forehand on match
Speaker 2: point at landon on the line. But you know what,
Speaker 2: players hit balls, shank balls. They hit the line all
Speaker 2: the time. And you have to be able to handle yourself.
Speaker 2: And Sabalanca made an error on that backhand, and you
Speaker 2: know on Instagram and on Twitter and all these speeds,
Speaker 2: like she made seventy unforced eras she gave her the match.
Speaker 2: I'm like people, it's like when Steffie Graft used to
Speaker 2: lose to a rancher, Sanchez mccaria, a rancher had a
Speaker 2: losing record against Steffie, but when she beat her, it
Speaker 2: was because she made Steffie play one more ball and
Speaker 2: Steffie got a little bit nervous and she'd miss. And
Speaker 2: that's what Coco did to sabal Anka. Saballenka pressed because
Speaker 2: she's playing against the fastest player we've ever seen on tour,
Speaker 2: making more balls than anybody we've ever seen on tour.
Speaker 2: And on top of it, when the ball goes to
Speaker 2: her backhand, she can hit a winner on it. And
Speaker 2: her forehand was great and she mixes the different spins
Speaker 2: and Petko has talked about it on this podcast. She
Speaker 2: had those big heavy spins on the forehand and then
Speaker 2: she smashes the back end. Then she's chipping the forehand.
Speaker 2: She's not making an error and that made Sabalanka miss
Speaker 2: and that is all it comes down to. Tennis is
Speaker 2: about hitting the ball in between the lines and winning
Speaker 2: the point. And that's what she did better than Sablenka.
Speaker 1: I thank you for that. Soup to nuts, incredible sort
Speaker 1: of recap of a lot of different things, tactical, emotional, mental,
Speaker 1: I think the thing that is really stuck with me
Speaker 1: and something I don't give Coco enough credit for, because
Speaker 1: God knows, I've been critical of her game from time
Speaker 1: to time again out of love, because I love who
Speaker 1: she is. I love the the on and off court both.
Speaker 1: You know, she's a representative of the game, she's showing
Speaker 1: up at the things, she's political like, everything about her
Speaker 1: I can't help but love at times the game itself.
Speaker 1: It's so hard to for me to love a big, hitting, aggressive,
Speaker 1: you know, sort of alpha player. That is is just
Speaker 1: sort of my preference, which is why I have a
Speaker 1: lot of time, hard time appreciating the counterpunchers. But what
Speaker 1: I think I super super super am impressed by with
Speaker 1: Coco is everything you just talked about in terms of resilience,
Speaker 1: in terms of just extreme mental fortitude, the ability to
Speaker 1: commit and refuse to lose, and the ability to hang
Speaker 1: in even though you're going through you know what is uh,
Speaker 1: you know, sort of adversity, certainly with the first set
Speaker 1: with Arena getting up because as you said, when I
Speaker 1: saw that Coco had leveled the first set, I thought, okay,
Speaker 1: even if she loses this, now it's a match. The
Speaker 1: only way Arena wins it matches blows her off the court, and.
Speaker 2: Don't forget go was up full one in the tiebreak
Speaker 2: as well, so there was a little bit of oh damn,
Speaker 2: I could have won that set, but I think it
Speaker 2: set her to go, I can win this match.
Speaker 1: That's right. And I think one of the things that
Speaker 1: came out afterwards and shout out to New Balance and
Speaker 1: a couple of her other like sponsors and partners who
Speaker 1: work with her because they've done such a wonderful job
Speaker 1: obviously that they put her in Mew Mew, which later
Speaker 1: ended up not like adhering to the rules of the
Speaker 1: f FT, which honestly is probably its own podcast, because
Speaker 1: the f FT as much to love as I give
Speaker 1: this slam, like who man, you understand, Yeah, a lot
Speaker 1: of reasons, their digital content takedown requests for digital creators,
Speaker 1: their rules there, you know, as a good body. We
Speaker 1: have some notes, But for me, the fact that Coco
Speaker 1: Goff wrote not only to herself a manifestation letter saying,
Speaker 1: I will win the US, I will win the French Open,
Speaker 1: I will win Rollangaros, I will be victorious in Paris,
Speaker 1: and just reinforcing belief, the fact that she had like
Speaker 1: a dream about it three or four years ago and
Speaker 1: it was sort of like courageous and vulnerable enough to
Speaker 1: put it out there. Like I just feel from a
Speaker 1: human being perspective, you know, it's hard not to love Coco,
Speaker 1: but I think she's such an exemplary human because of
Speaker 1: how she gracefully and graciously and elegantly handles hardship, and
Speaker 1: how she gracefully and elegantly and I think really inspirationally
Speaker 1: handles victory and success. And she willed herself into that position,
Speaker 1: and I think there is something for all of us.
Speaker 1: I cannot hit like Arina Seblinka, and I never will,
Speaker 1: and I never could. I can't run as fast as
Speaker 1: Coco Goff, and I never can and I never will.
Speaker 1: But I can imagine going through things that are hard
Speaker 1: and having self belief and willing myself into a position
Speaker 1: by having unwavering sort of commitment, and I think that,
Speaker 1: to me is just unbelievably impressive. And I think every
Speaker 1: single person who saw that, whether they understood that what
Speaker 1: was happening or not, can take something away from that,
Speaker 1: including Arena Sbalanca. I don't think that was her takeaway,
Speaker 1: which we should also talk about, because she was salty
Speaker 1: in a way that was I don't think befitting a
Speaker 1: Grand Slam champion and a leader of our game, candidly,
Speaker 1: but just to stay in Coco for a second, I
Speaker 1: think for me, when you strip away all the tactics,
Speaker 1: when you strip away all the head to heads, when
Speaker 1: you strip away some of the stuff that you know,
Speaker 1: we tend to get caught up in from results, and
Speaker 1: you just focus on the fact that this is a
Speaker 1: person who committed. It's sort of staggering and it's so
Speaker 1: well deserved, and I'm really happy for her.
Speaker 2: I just know what's at such a young age to
Speaker 2: be that mature and that graceful about things. And let's
Speaker 2: not forget this was a kid that came on to
Speaker 2: the to her with a big splash. Oh yeah, a
Speaker 2: lot of pressure on her shoulders. And the fact that
Speaker 2: she has now backed it up by winning two Grand
Speaker 2: Slams on two different surfaces. Is testament to her upbringing
Speaker 2: her parents her team. I got to give her credit for,
Speaker 2: you know, adding a couple of different people to her
Speaker 2: team in the last six months. It's just a fantastic
Speaker 2: display of resilience and just her as a person, and
Speaker 2: you know, knowing her the little bit that I do,
Speaker 2: what you get is what you see. And she is
Speaker 2: a special kid, and I'm We're so lucky to have
Speaker 2: her in the game. Let's talk about what afterwards. Let's
Speaker 2: talk about what happened afterwards. It was I immediately I
Speaker 2: when Arena got up and listen, I have not lost
Speaker 2: in the finals of a singles Grand Slam, but I've
Speaker 2: lost in a doubles Grand Slam on that very court.
Speaker 2: I have lost matches where I want to when I
Speaker 2: tell you, I want to leave court. I don't want
Speaker 2: to say anything notice about my opponent. I was a
Speaker 2: terrible loser. I'm saying it right out here in the open.
Speaker 2: But I can tell you I've never got on the
Speaker 2: mic as much as I've seeded my opponent or disliked
Speaker 2: the way I lost and said I played terrible. You're
Speaker 2: lucky to win. Essentially, I could not believe those world's
Speaker 2: words came out of her mouth, and you could tell
Speaker 2: immediately she started to cry the moment she got a
Speaker 2: mic and I was like, oh, my heart broke for her.
Speaker 2: The crowd were ready to put their arms around her
Speaker 2: and cheer her and give her a five minute standing
Speaker 2: ovation like they've done so many times through the years
Speaker 2: with so many great champions, and those words came out
Speaker 2: of her mouth and the crowd went get silent, and
Speaker 2: I was like, oh no, no, no, reel that back,
Speaker 2: reel that back, and she didn't reel her back. And
Speaker 2: then she went into press and she doubled down on it,
Speaker 2: and I was like, this is so bad. And I
Speaker 2: I talked to a couple of players about this and
Speaker 2: all of them said I was I gave her impossible
Speaker 2: what she said on the court, because.
Speaker 1: The seconds after losing, you got a microphone in your face,
Speaker 1: your brain has scrambled eggs, been there, and also you've
Speaker 1: been holding the microphone. I get why you are emotional
Speaker 1: and maybe say some less than charitable things. Fine, no way, yes,
Speaker 1: doubling down in the press conference and basically calling like
Speaker 1: let's just illuminate and elucidate some of the things that
Speaker 1: she said, which were, among other things, the match was
Speaker 1: lost because she played badly, no credit to Coco. The
Speaker 1: the semi final that she played and beat Ego would
Speaker 1: have beaten Coco, which like, maybe if that is true,
Speaker 1: maybe just does that need to be spoken out loud,
Speaker 1: not at all? Just doubling down, uh, and yeah, kind
Speaker 1: of throwing a tantrum in a way that I felt like,
Speaker 1: you know, now that you've had some time to reflect this,
Speaker 1: you've showered off, maybe you've debriefed with your box who,
Speaker 1: as you said, she was pretty salty to in a
Speaker 1: way that I didn't love. And again, you know, I
Speaker 1: hated the moment. And we've had a lot of you know,
Speaker 1: back and forth about various players getting motivated by various things.
Speaker 1: You know, people like Novak obviously like that sort of conflict.
Speaker 1: Other people, you know, need to hear constant support. You know,
Speaker 1: I'm willing to kind of give some leeway, although I
Speaker 1: wouldn't like to be talked to you like that if
Speaker 1: I were her coaching team. But yeah, the doubling down
Speaker 1: in the press and just the amount of text messages
Speaker 1: I got from casual fans over the weekend being like,
Speaker 1: ish this, I.
Speaker 2: Got a lot to I got a lot of I
Speaker 2: got a lot of Oh man, I loved sable Anca.
Speaker 2: But I don't know anymore, like you know, she she
Speaker 2: It took her twenty four hours after that to write
Speaker 2: a you know, an apology essentially on Instagram. But I'm like, girlfriend, no,
Speaker 2: that was so bad, and there's there's no excuses for it, Like,
Speaker 2: there's just none. And that's coming from me, who, as
Speaker 2: I said, I've said some stuff in press. I've said
Speaker 2: some like you never take it away from your opponent.
Speaker 1: Especially that a Grand sam final like that, especially with
Speaker 1: the player who has also beaten you in another Grand
Speaker 1: Sume final. It's not like she got lucky. And this
Speaker 1: was the first time anyone has ever heard of Coco.
Speaker 2: It's like and also, but Caitlin, you have to know
Speaker 2: as an opponent. You have to know as a player,
Speaker 2: what are you attributes that your opponent does well and
Speaker 2: frustrating the hell out of you and getting one more
Speaker 2: ball back in the court. Nobody onto I does it
Speaker 2: better than Poco well? And you know on clay you
Speaker 2: have to have controlled aggression and if you don't have
Speaker 2: controlled aggression, you are going to lose, and so you
Speaker 2: have to give credit to your opponent no matter what.
Speaker 2: And that's what happened in this match.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think what was sort of astonishing to me
Speaker 1: about it was not only was it kind of like,
Speaker 1: I get how it was salty, I get how it
Speaker 1: was you know, emotional and painful, but I also didn't
Speaker 1: think it was particularly self aware in a way that
Speaker 1: was like, you know, oh, you want to be able
Speaker 1: to take away something from the match. We'll get to
Speaker 1: this in a second, because I think there was some
Speaker 1: interesting insights similarly from Alcoriz and Center, although obviously opposite ones,
Speaker 1: which is just like, understand what happened. You got tight,
Speaker 1: you overhit, You were being out out maneuvered and out
Speaker 1: mentally mentally positioned by somebody who has your number in
Speaker 1: this way, like is your game possessing of more fireworks
Speaker 1: and more exciting? Certainly to me absolutely, that said, the
Speaker 1: tools don't count if you can't utilize them in the
Speaker 1: right way, in a smart way, and the best kind
Speaker 1: of player to play against you as somebody who can
Speaker 1: figure out how to neutralize your weapons and get one
Speaker 1: more ball back in the court, which clearly has not
Speaker 1: only worked in this match, but has worked in finals
Speaker 1: that you've played before, including at the US Open. So
Speaker 1: like I found it not only ungracious, I found the
Speaker 1: lack of self awareness, yes, sort of like And also,
Speaker 1: what do you think happened out there? Do you think
Speaker 1: she just got lucky for three sets? Like? No, you
Speaker 1: she did that on purpose against you, dummy.
Speaker 2: Yeah. And also on top of that, you have to
Speaker 2: also know that Caitlon Coco has one of, if not
Speaker 2: the best back end in the game. And your backhand,
Speaker 2: as good as Sabalanca's backhand is it can be, it
Speaker 2: is neutralized and then hit back with more by Coco.
Speaker 2: And so you know that her strength, her forehand is
Speaker 2: a weakness and she's not making error because she's hitting
Speaker 2: high tops of in for you, which is not where
Speaker 2: you like the ball. And then on top of it,
Speaker 2: when there's like a short ball, Coco doesn't try and
Speaker 2: hit the living shit out of it like you do.
Speaker 2: When it's in a low position in front of the
Speaker 2: service line, she'll tip it back, she'll get it into
Speaker 2: the court. Instead, Savallenka tries to hit the living daylights
Speaker 2: out of it and missus it and goes, oh, well,
Speaker 2: that's just unlucky. No, that's tennis. You put the ball
Speaker 2: back in the court. That's what you're supposed to do.
Speaker 2: And like a perfect example is when she had that
Speaker 2: easy volley on top of the net and tried to
Speaker 2: hit the living daylights out of it and smashed it
Speaker 2: into the net. It ended up not costing her in
Speaker 2: that occasion, but that's on you. You can just hit
Speaker 2: that into the open court and win it, but instead
Speaker 2: you tried to crush it and you missed it. There
Speaker 2: are just little nuances about playing tennis that are more important,
Speaker 2: and in the end, it's about hitting the ball over
Speaker 2: the net and in between the lines. And that's what
Speaker 2: Coco did, and she kept her shit together and that's
Speaker 2: why she's holding the trophy now and now a two
Speaker 2: time Grandsime champion. And it was great to see and
Speaker 2: she was gracious and she handled herself in pressed even
Speaker 2: after someone told her what Arena said in the press conference.
Speaker 2: She handled that with class. This kid is so special,
Speaker 2: so great to see. And I may have said it.
Speaker 2: I may have said it after Rhan look out Coco,
Speaker 2: look out for Coco at the French Open.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're right, now I do have to say, I
Speaker 1: think Arena's winning Wimbledon. I really do. We'll come back
Speaker 1: to this, but I think now she's she responds pretty
Speaker 1: well to this kind of thing, I think, and she
Speaker 1: we've seen it before where she goes back and gets
Speaker 1: extra fired up. What I would like to see is
Speaker 1: her be a little more self aware. This seems like
Speaker 1: a really good opening for a little graciousness. And I
Speaker 1: want out of my number one. I want chrisma, I
Speaker 1: want fireworks, I want all the stuff, but I also
Speaker 1: want a leader. And so there are ways that Arena
Speaker 1: Seblinka can improve on and off the court, and I
Speaker 1: you know, it's a challenge that I want her to
Speaker 1: do it, but absolutely fantastic from my viewpoint outcome from
Speaker 1: Coco you called it, uh, and yeah, it is wonderful
Speaker 1: that we have her now is a two time Grand
Speaker 1: Slam champion. One is not a fluke. Two is a statement.
Speaker 1: And you know, let's see where she goes from here,
Speaker 1: because I think this has to give her just a tremendous,
Speaker 1: tremendous amount of confidence, self belief, and you know, if
Speaker 1: it was lacking before, just the idea that fortitude and
Speaker 1: resilience is something that she has obviously an abundance of.
Speaker 2: Which we could only use, you know, all of us
Speaker 2: London to said it forever, if she was going to
Speaker 2: win a Slam, was going to be the French because
Speaker 2: they're aforehand. It gives them more time. YadA, YadA, YadA.
Speaker 2: It's the one the US Open, which surprised us of
Speaker 2: all the slams for her to win that one over
Speaker 2: the French. But now look out, like lookout, because her
Speaker 2: confidence going back to the French Open is going to
Speaker 2: be sky high and I cannot wait to see it
Speaker 2: because I think her and Eger and Sabolenca are going
Speaker 2: to be fighting for that spot for years to come.
Speaker 2: Let's get to the guys, speaking of world number ones,
Speaker 2: that are gracious, great role models. Oh my god, that
Speaker 2: final before we get to that, speaking of great role
Speaker 2: models in the sense of careers, had I think and
Speaker 2: I said it, I think that's the last we're going
Speaker 2: to see of Novak Djokovic at the French Open. That
Speaker 2: walk off is not what we normally see. But my god,
Speaker 2: even that semi final, the level of tennis in that
Speaker 2: match was so sky high. Alkoraz the course got the
Speaker 2: walk over default with Masseti MASSTI was playing great for
Speaker 2: one set and then sort of like he's going to
Speaker 2: have to work on his ability to play long five setters.
Speaker 2: We know that it's cost him a few times now,
Speaker 2: particularly at the French Open, But that semi final was unbelievable.
Speaker 2: Level was so good, and I just think that Novak
Speaker 2: sort of saw a little bit of the end of
Speaker 2: the road going. I played really well and I didn't
Speaker 2: win a set, And there's little things that Novak did
Speaker 2: in that semi final that also showed a little bit
Speaker 2: of his age and just his drop in level just
Speaker 2: ever so slightly, and Sinner's ability his level is just
Speaker 2: higher now on a consistent basis, is that Novak made
Speaker 2: errors at times you just don't normally see it in
Speaker 2: those moments of like years ago, and I saw the
Speaker 2: errors come, just basic errors, like an easy fourhand. He
Speaker 2: went for that one forehand on that set point and
Speaker 2: it missed by like, you know, a good two or
Speaker 2: three feet. Normally, if he's going to miss, it's like
Speaker 2: maybe an inch. You just see him missing balls that
Speaker 2: he doesn't miss usually. And I just think father time
Speaker 2: has caught up with him in that respect. And I
Speaker 2: think that's why he sees kind of the end of
Speaker 2: the road, because listen, no Vev Jocovitch doesn't want to
Speaker 2: lose in quarters and sent me to the Grand Slam.
Speaker 2: Sky's won twenty four of them, and so I just
Speaker 2: as much as I would like him to stick around
Speaker 2: because him against Sinner and Alcarez is always so mind blowing,
Speaker 2: but I think that's the last time we're going to
Speaker 2: see him at the French He kind of alluded to
Speaker 2: it almost in the press conference afterwards as well. I
Speaker 2: think he still is a huge chance at Wimbledon. I
Speaker 2: really do believe that for sure, and I think he's
Speaker 2: thinking about maybe this rain Open because he's won it
Speaker 2: so many times, that being his swan thong out of
Speaker 2: the tour. But that was the fabulos semi final, but
Speaker 2: also showed where Sinner's at, and so I don't know
Speaker 2: if you want to talk about that semi final, and
Speaker 2: then onto the final was.
Speaker 1: Just I have very little to add obviously, Mussetti fitness
Speaker 1: and injuries not kind of how you want that match
Speaker 1: to end. But I think it was Alcoraz's match no
Speaker 1: matter how you slice it. I do love the season
Speaker 1: on clay that Lorenzo Mussetti has had. And I think,
Speaker 1: you know, if for nothing else than the esthetics of
Speaker 1: the game, the one hit a backhand, the fits, Yeah,
Speaker 1: the cuteness. I mean, it's just such a good you know,
Speaker 1: it's such a good and potent sort of I don't
Speaker 1: want to say counter narrative, but you know, it is
Speaker 1: starting to feel a little bit like Sinner and Alcoraz
Speaker 1: have a lot of the oxygen. So having interesting compelling
Speaker 1: characters with alternate game styles into late stages of matches,
Speaker 1: like a drag japer with the big lefty, fourhanded serve
Speaker 1: or Lorenzo with the one hit backhand. You know, you
Speaker 1: want the you don't want it to just be a
Speaker 1: two person show. I don't anyway. That always sort of
Speaker 1: bummed me out about the like Nadal Federer years, although
Speaker 1: I mean, you could do worse, you could do worse
Speaker 1: than those two. But yeah, just quickly on the semifinals,
Speaker 1: it did feel like, especially the way he talked about it,
Speaker 1: maybe no backs last and I think he knows he's
Speaker 1: not on the level and I think he sees how
Speaker 1: hard it is to get there Wimbledon yet let's see.
Speaker 1: But yeah, onto the final I mean what, I don't
Speaker 1: have a lot of words for what. This is just
Speaker 1: about as good as our sport gets. I think it's
Speaker 1: just about as good as the sport gets. I think
Speaker 1: before we say anything about the final, I want to
Speaker 1: talk about what he didn't have. It didn't have anybody
Speaker 1: bitching to the umpire or being a baby about the
Speaker 1: weather or the conditions or the umpires or the ball kids.
Speaker 1: It didn't have any like dodgy medical timeouts that take forever.
Speaker 1: It didn't have any moments where you're kind of like,
Speaker 1: oh God, this guy again with this thing. It had
Speaker 1: two incredible respected, equally certainly equally competitive and equally interesting
Speaker 1: narratives coming together. But it didn't have on any of
Speaker 1: that like kind of drama like a lot of times
Speaker 1: when Americans and I don't relish being an American all
Speaker 1: the time for previous reasons, but you know, when we
Speaker 1: watch European football and everyone's like diving all the time
Speaker 1: and appealing to the umpire for a card, it sort
Speaker 1: of reminds me sometimes of the men in late stage
Speaker 1: of the tournament where they just get a little in
Speaker 1: their feelings, you know, and I just want to call
Speaker 1: out the refreshing lack of that. In this match. There
Speaker 1: was no drama. The only drama was between the net
Speaker 1: and the two baselines. And I think for me, that
Speaker 1: is about as pure an advertisement for tennis as you
Speaker 1: can possibly have. And I just want to say how
Speaker 1: much I like that.
Speaker 2: I think the most contrary seal thing was seeing from
Speaker 2: you Onixina was when he questioned the call was it
Speaker 2: like Bible or something in a fifth set when the
Speaker 2: serv was clearly out thirty all a massive point in
Speaker 2: the match. I can't remember exactly the game, but it
Speaker 2: was and he looks at as Raki and he's like
Speaker 2: it was out like and he goes and he shows
Speaker 2: the mark and that was the most the angriest you'll
Speaker 2: aver see yn ex center on the tennis court. And
Speaker 2: he let it go. And then afterwards, even if in
Speaker 2: the worst speech of his life, he thanks the umpires
Speaker 2: and the Luttons people. I'm like this guy, oh my god.
Speaker 2: But that's sidebar the match. You know, when you we
Speaker 2: kind of I nitpick at things, and he did this
Speaker 2: and there's nothing you can say. There's nothing you can say.
Speaker 2: Who sets the love playing unbelievable tennis? Yannick hitting the
Speaker 2: ball so hard. At the beginning of this match, coming
Speaker 2: out with this purpose of I know I've lost you
Speaker 2: a lot. I know this is Clay, I know you
Speaker 2: the defending champion. I know you just beat me a
Speaker 2: couple of weeks ago. I am coming out to win
Speaker 2: this match. And he was striking the ball so big.
Speaker 2: It was insane how well he was hitting the ball.
Speaker 2: Carlos was looking up like, I can't, how am I
Speaker 2: going to deal with this? And he just hung in there,
Speaker 2: down two sets to love, one love and a break
Speaker 2: and that sort of turned the tide a little bit, right.
Speaker 2: Carlos got the break back and I was like, okay,
Speaker 2: and then the crowd started getting into it. The momentum
Speaker 2: started getting by Carlos. Carlos started feeding the crowd. And
Speaker 2: there's one I guess there's only one critique, but you
Speaker 2: really it's really hard for a player that's not like
Speaker 2: this to get the crowd on their side. Yannick is
Speaker 2: not an outwardly emotional human being. He's very stoic. He's
Speaker 2: very quiet, and so the crowd don't gravitate to him
Speaker 2: like they do Carlos. Carlos's game is a lot more
Speaker 2: flair and a lot more bummus and getting the and
Speaker 2: begging the crowd to help him, and they loved it,
Speaker 2: and they stayed with him through the entire match. And
Speaker 2: Yanick is kind of just like you. Just he's like
Speaker 2: that kid where you just feel sorry for it because
Speaker 2: you like just get a little bit more emotional on
Speaker 2: the crowd get behind you too. It's just like there
Speaker 2: was just nothing in this match that you could critique. Nothing.
Speaker 2: I mean, yes, could Yanick have served a little better
Speaker 2: when it counted when he was serving for the match. Sure,
Speaker 2: he didn't get a lot of first serves in that
Speaker 2: hurt him at love forty. I don't think he could
Speaker 2: have been more aggressive. Carlos played an incredible three points
Speaker 2: to get back to juice. It's like it was just
Speaker 2: it was just tennis at another level. It was just
Speaker 2: the fact that John McEnroe even said that these two
Speaker 2: at their peak could beat Yanick, could beat Ruffi on
Speaker 2: the daling play. I don't know about that, but I mean,
Speaker 2: this is where they have taken the sport to a
Speaker 2: level that I actually didn't think was possible, which is
Speaker 2: hard to imagine. They moved better than anyone I've ever
Speaker 2: seen on the court. I mean, you Onix Sinner is
Speaker 2: six foot four, he moves like he's five ten. He's slid.
Speaker 2: He got to that one drop shot and to rebreak
Speaker 2: at five to four in the fifth set, to go
Speaker 2: fifteen forty on Carlos a serve and he put his
Speaker 2: arms in the air and he was like finally getting
Speaker 2: the crowd on his side a little bit. It was
Speaker 2: just it had everything. And then you have Alcoraz stepping
Speaker 2: into that fifth set tiebreak, playing that tie break better
Speaker 2: than I've ever seen anyone play tennis. And one of
Speaker 2: the things that you Nix Inner is known for is
Speaker 2: how well he plays tiebreaks because he's usually the more
Speaker 2: aggressive player, and he got a hand at the Carlos
Speaker 2: because he's the one that ended up being the more
Speaker 2: aggressive early on in that tie break, and that's what
Speaker 2: got him the wind. It was. It was just mind
Speaker 2: blowing how good it was. And then the speeches afterwards,
Speaker 2: everything was just I couldn't agree more with you. It's
Speaker 2: the most one of the most exceptional five and a
Speaker 2: half hours of tennis I've ever seen.
Speaker 1: Similarly, for those of us who can't contemplate hitting as
Speaker 1: hard and moving as well and being as present as
Speaker 1: a Yannick Center or somebody who can have the variety
Speaker 1: and the bag of tricks and the incredible guts and
Speaker 1: hutzba to to play the way that Alkaz played even
Speaker 1: when his back was against the wall, especially when his
Speaker 1: back was against the wall. You know, I struggle to
Speaker 1: like look for ways that people can kind of get
Speaker 1: their minds around it who don't understand just how high
Speaker 1: the level of this tennis is, because hopefully it speaks
Speaker 1: for itself and when you watch it, you know, I
Speaker 1: think when you hear which is why I brought up,
Speaker 1: you know, Coco's note to herself and just the self
Speaker 1: belief and the willingness to ride through tough times on
Speaker 1: the court to get to a place where you're now winning.
Speaker 1: The thing that I want to make make sort of
Speaker 1: an example of is how Alcarez talked about being down
Speaker 1: not only two sets, but in that fourth set having
Speaker 1: three match points on you know what otherwise would have been,
Speaker 1: you know, the remaining seconds of the match, you know,
Speaker 1: and he just says, when the situations are against you,
Speaker 1: you have to keep fighting. It's a Grand Slam final.
Speaker 1: It's no time to be tired. It's no time to
Speaker 1: give up. It's time to keep fighting. Try to find
Speaker 1: your moment, just go for it. You know, these champions
Speaker 1: are made in these moments, and there's a reason it
Speaker 1: ends up on T shirts and mugs and you know,
Speaker 1: on plaques on the entrances to Grand Slams because it's
Speaker 1: so trite seeming, but when you see somebody do it
Speaker 1: in action, you were reminded as to the bravery it takes,
Speaker 1: I think, to not lose your shit, to not stop
Speaker 1: being courageous to you know, Yannick plays maybe one of
Speaker 1: those points slightly differently or some you know, gust of
Speaker 1: Wind carries one of Alkaaz's balls out, who knows, and
Speaker 1: you know he would be the gracious, you know, celebratory
Speaker 1: runner up. And the fact that Yannick, to his incredible credit,
Speaker 1: obviously went out gave an incredible performance, was stunned in
Speaker 1: the aftermath and just said, you know, I'm not sure
Speaker 1: what the takeaway here is. It's just this happens. Sometimes
Speaker 1: I left everything I could out there. You just have to,
Speaker 1: you know, put this match in the past and keep
Speaker 1: moving forward. All of that is true. All of those
Speaker 1: things are true, you know, the skill, the bravery, the luck,
Speaker 1: the you know, the toss of the coin a little bit,
Speaker 1: and this is kind of how that felt to me,
Speaker 1: which is not again not to take anything away from
Speaker 1: two people just absolutely playing at their top level, but
Speaker 1: rather just like an acknowledgment of how special that was.
Speaker 1: And you know, there there's I think, nothing but amazing
Speaker 1: things to expect from them both. So I couldn't be
Speaker 1: happier with to me, honestly, both finals I thought were
Speaker 1: very different, but the outcomes were both very, very great,
Speaker 1: and I think they illustrated just how good the sport
Speaker 1: can be, how interesting it can be, what the content
Speaker 1: as to characters and tactics and styles is, you know.
Speaker 1: And I think the fact that everyone involved was in
Speaker 1: their twenties is an indication for me, which especially on
Speaker 1: the men's side, it's been a long time since we
Speaker 1: had somebody in a in a you know, position of
Speaker 1: winning in Carlos's case, their fifth Grand Slam when they're
Speaker 1: in their early twenties. The last time somebody did that
Speaker 1: was literally rough at it all. So for me, the
Speaker 1: fact that it is just the beginning for so many
Speaker 1: of these players is a really really, really exciting prospect.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and you think about that Sinner was about to
Speaker 2: was one point away from winning his fourth, so they
Speaker 2: would have been four each.
Speaker 1: Yep.
Speaker 2: Right, So these two we never thought, you know, we
Speaker 2: talk about this all the time. No one's gonna win
Speaker 2: twenty again, There's no way. And I'm like, these two quids,
Speaker 2: which is crazy, right, They're gonna have to beat each
Speaker 2: other to do it. But as you were telling me,
Speaker 2: you know, your sort of take on the bigger picture
Speaker 2: of that final, I couldn't help but think about the
Speaker 2: reason these two are where they are and how good
Speaker 2: they are as tennis waz is because the interesting part
Speaker 2: of the footprint on that court that is indelible and
Speaker 2: going to be there for the rest of history of
Speaker 2: Rafael Nadal, his footprint on that court, of the ultimate
Speaker 2: warrior on clay, on that court as a sportsman, as
Speaker 2: a competitor, as the guy that he is, and the
Speaker 2: fact that those two young men would have looked up
Speaker 2: to him for twenty years, I mean ten fifteen years
Speaker 2: of their young tennis career as the person to be like.
Speaker 2: And then on top of it, you had Novak Djokovic
Speaker 2: still pushing the number one player every set six four, seven, seven, six,
Speaker 2: and being so close to going into the fort set
Speaker 2: and sending, you know, the goodbye to the French crowd there.
Speaker 2: It's just remarkable when you think about the footprint on
Speaker 2: the court and the guy that one of them beat
Speaker 2: in the semifinals at thirty seven years of age, that
Speaker 2: the reason they are at the highest of levels our
Speaker 2: Carezence Inner is because they had to jump and equate
Speaker 2: themselves to Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic and the Roger Federers,
Speaker 2: but more importantly Novak and Rafa because they've been around
Speaker 2: the last couple of years. It's just so poignant and
Speaker 2: perfect that that longest final in French Open history was
Speaker 2: that match yesterday, and then you had this incredible young woman,
Speaker 2: Cocoa Goff, achieving what she did against a player that
Speaker 2: has been virtually almost unstoppable this year. It was just
Speaker 2: as you said, two incredible finals that and just a
Speaker 2: tournament that I will not forget for a long a
Speaker 2: long long time.
Speaker 1: I couldn't be I think happier with how both of
Speaker 1: the slams have gone this year, having Maddi Keys victorious
Speaker 1: after real real nail biter, especially the final and the
Speaker 1: semifinal against Eager, having Sinner just so beautifully and confidently
Speaker 1: step into the sort of inner circle of greatness. I
Speaker 1: think you probably argue, who is already there?
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: I just I'm really happy with how tennis.
Speaker 2: Is shaping up this here. Yeah, and one thing I
Speaker 2: wanted to add, to see Sinner stand there the way
Speaker 2: he did, and the way he spoke in that speech
Speaker 2: after the match was so incredible. I mean, it kind
Speaker 2: of makes me emotional thinking about it because I can
Speaker 2: only imagine how incredibly the only thing he let on
Speaker 2: when it's going to be tough to sleep tonight. And
Speaker 2: let me tell you something, He's going to ruminate over
Speaker 2: those match points. Not today, not tomorrow, not next week,
Speaker 2: He's going to ruminate over those for the rest of
Speaker 2: his life. Trust me, He's going to think about that
Speaker 2: at some point in his day for the rest of
Speaker 2: his life. And all I could think about watching that
Speaker 2: match as well. One thing that did come out of
Speaker 2: it is that thank God, Hey, I don't have kids,
Speaker 2: but be that I don't have kids that play professional sports,
Speaker 2: because to sit there and watch those parents go through
Speaker 2: what they went through yesterday, especially Janik Sinner's mom, she
Speaker 2: looked like she literally, I mean, she was had tears
Speaker 2: in her eyes when he had three match points right,
Speaker 2: and then you think an hour and a half later,
Speaker 2: she's still out there begging and hoping and praying that
Speaker 2: he wins. Then you've got al Choriz's parents sitting there
Speaker 2: like you know, it's okay no matter what. You can
Speaker 2: see where both of these kids get, like their capacity
Speaker 2: to be good people because the parents and of themselves
Speaker 2: so well, Coco's mom raying her joy when Coco won.
Speaker 2: I mean, just you know the stress that the parents
Speaker 2: and I did think about Sabalanka who lost her father
Speaker 2: years ago, who got her into tennis, Like there's so
Speaker 2: many backstories that people don't know, Like, you know, she
Speaker 2: lost her dad. That has to weigh on her and
Speaker 2: way emotionally on the tennis court as well. You just wonder,
Speaker 2: you know where that comes from. Is that part of
Speaker 2: her being upset on the court thinking about those things
Speaker 2: Maybe that her dad would tell her in those times.
Speaker 2: I don't know, but like I just think about these parents,
Speaker 2: My God. Love to all the parents out there that
Speaker 2: have kids play sports and professional sports and that live
Speaker 2: in those moments, my God, Like kudos to you guys,
Speaker 2: because wow, I mean the camera shots The one thing
Speaker 2: about the FFP too, I hope they're directors and their
Speaker 2: producers work a little bit better on not showing the
Speaker 2: crowd every single point which they do. Their camera work
Speaker 2: is not great. That's all I'm going to say. They
Speaker 2: cut off the men's doubles hugging each other and went
Speaker 2: to their box. That was one moment where I was like,
Speaker 2: are you joking? So when people like yell at T
Speaker 2: and T or Tennis channel or ESPN days, we don't
Speaker 2: have control sometimes of the camera. The only control we
Speaker 2: have is over American produced tennis matches, like at the
Speaker 2: US Open. Esp AND controls that feed. But like and
Speaker 2: you know the American television, where is it the French?
Speaker 2: We don't control that. So don't yell at Tea and
Speaker 2: Tea or you know, ESPN at Wimbledon if if you
Speaker 2: don't get the shot you want, because it's not really
Speaker 2: up to us. But you know, the shots of the
Speaker 2: parents yesterday was just like I just kept thinking, how
Speaker 2: did they do this? How did they do this? Well?
Speaker 1: I can only speak as a parent watching your kid
Speaker 1: do something low stakes, but it is hard not to
Speaker 1: have your heart in your throat. And I think the
Speaker 1: fact that uh uh, certainly for Cocoa and the two men.
Speaker 1: Everyone comported themselves extremely well and played extremely well. And
Speaker 1: I think what you want is your kid to you know,
Speaker 1: be a good human being. And yeah, I just so much,
Speaker 1: so much to say about how fantastic this Calay season
Speaker 1: ended up. I hate to say it because I'm sort
Speaker 1: of you know, this is my favorite time of the year.
Speaker 1: I'm ready for change. I'm ready for a visual change.
Speaker 1: I'm ready for grass. I'm ready for you know. I
Speaker 1: love the grit, I love the I was playing on
Speaker 1: some beautiful clay courts over the weekend in Lefada, a
Speaker 1: suburb of Athens, which was amazing. But I'm ready for
Speaker 1: something else. I just want a visual reset. I need
Speaker 1: the pristine, you know, manicured line part of the season,
Speaker 1: which is now already upon us. I turned on the
Speaker 1: TV this morning and people are already playing in Queens,
Speaker 1: They're already playing at the HSBC, They're already playing a
Speaker 1: couple of different locations. So I'm ready for it. I'm excited.
Speaker 1: The Boss Open is well underway. They're playing in the Netherlands.
Speaker 2: You know, like, let's go me too, you know, the
Speaker 2: beauty of clay was displayed so incredibly well in these finals.
Speaker 2: Getting one more ball back in the court makes a
Speaker 2: big difference on clay variety. I think that's where Yannick
Speaker 2: if there's one thing you can take away from it
Speaker 2: just getting a little bit more variety. Maybe he can
Speaker 2: implement a drop shot, because I think that's what Carlos
Speaker 2: did really well on some big occasions. Yesterday he threw
Speaker 2: in that exceptional bourhand drop shot at times where I
Speaker 2: was like, are you kidding me? You know, Yani doesn't
Speaker 2: hit it as much. Maybe that something you can implement
Speaker 2: on clay. If he wants to beat Carlos. On hard court,
Speaker 2: it's a little bit harder to implement that, which is
Speaker 2: why Sin is so good on hardcourt. But going into
Speaker 2: the grass, look, who's going to win Wimbledon. I don't know.
Speaker 2: I did sort of mention that I think Rebarking is
Speaker 2: one to watch wombledon as well, because her game lens
Speaker 2: itself so beautifully on grass and she composes herself so
Speaker 2: well on the court. But look, I'm looking forward to
Speaker 2: the nuances and the differences of grasses. You have to
Speaker 2: be attacking, you have to be creative, and you have
Speaker 2: to be more aggressive. So we'll see who comes out
Speaker 2: on top at Wimbledon. But as far as I'm concerned,
Speaker 2: I'm still getting over of the clay, which is opposite
Speaker 2: because normally I'm not for the clay, for the grass,
Speaker 2: and You're like, still, well, we're still playing on clay.
Speaker 2: But Caitlin, we're usually lost for work. I'm usually not
Speaker 2: lost for words, but I have to say this last
Speaker 2: twenty four hours was lost. Forty eight hours has been
Speaker 2: really amazing. And yeah, I can't wait for the grass
Speaker 2: to start, but I'm going to I'm going to save
Speaker 2: for those two matches, particularly that men's final, for a
Speaker 2: couple more days.
Speaker 1: All right, let's check in in a week's time. Who
Speaker 1: knows where our travels will take us, but we'll have
Speaker 1: lots to discuss. Queens has women for the first time
Speaker 1: in a long time. Uh, and yeah, we'll leave everyone
Speaker 1: on a high note. Chef's kiss for the two finals.
Speaker 2: Chef's kiss, and my voice will not sound like this
Speaker 2: next week, hopefully unless I do a little too much
Speaker 2: parting here in Spain. But anyway, guys, thanks for joining
Speaker 2: us today. What a memorable, memorable a couple of days
Speaker 2: and I hope you enjoyed this episode. Thanks guys, to
Speaker 2: see you next week. Show adios,