WEBVTT - The Sit-Down with Jill Craybas 0:00:02.200 --> 0:00:04.880 Hi everyone, and welcome to another episode of the sit Down. 0:00:05.120 --> 0:00:07.880 I'm Matt Troloo, writer for ozopen dot com. 0:00:07.640 --> 0:00:10.879 And I'm viv Christie, Managing editor of Australian Tennis magazine 0:00:11.119 --> 0:00:13.040 and Matt, why are we sitting down this week with 0:00:13.160 --> 0:00:13.920 Jill Crabis. 0:00:14.080 --> 0:00:16.760 I actually got the idea almost by accident to chat 0:00:16.880 --> 0:00:19.279 with Jill because I was doing some research into the 0:00:19.360 --> 0:00:22.600 China Open and saw that she had taken part in 0:00:22.640 --> 0:00:25.440 the first China Opens mixed doubles tournament back in two 0:00:25.440 --> 0:00:27.560 thousand and four. When the event rejoined the calendar as 0:00:27.560 --> 0:00:29.400 a mixed event, I thought, that's really cool. It's not 0:00:29.640 --> 0:00:32.080 very common that there's mixed events outside of the Slams. 0:00:32.080 --> 0:00:34.400 And then I knew that, you know, since playing, she's 0:00:34.440 --> 0:00:36.400 gone on to become a commentator as part of the 0:00:36.400 --> 0:00:38.520 AO team in the World Feed, and I've always wanted 0:00:38.560 --> 0:00:40.280 to talk to her and she's got a great reputation 0:00:40.440 --> 0:00:42.600 in the sport. So we set up the interview and 0:00:42.640 --> 0:00:44.360 chatted to her just as she got back from her 0:00:44.360 --> 0:00:48.280 commentary duties in the Asian Swing and yeah, we covered 0:00:48.280 --> 0:00:53.840 a lot of ground. Thank you so much, Jill Crabis 0:00:53.840 --> 0:00:56.080 for joining us this week on the sit down. It's 0:00:56.080 --> 0:00:56.680 great to see you. 0:00:56.880 --> 0:00:58.760 It's very great to see you. Thanks for having me. 0:00:58.840 --> 0:01:01.720 Oh, you're absolutely welcome. What attracted you to the college pathway? 0:01:01.760 --> 0:01:04.600 So obviously you also applied like NCIA singles and couples. 0:01:04.640 --> 0:01:07.440 I did, Yeah, so cuting through that college pathway. What 0:01:07.840 --> 0:01:11.000 kind of attracted you to approaching your tennis Korea that way? 0:01:11.280 --> 0:01:14.560 I knew I always wanted to go pro to at 0:01:14.640 --> 0:01:18.160 least try it, and it was a tough decision to 0:01:18.200 --> 0:01:21.480 make out of high school because the coach that I 0:01:21.520 --> 0:01:23.160 was working with at the time really wanted me to 0:01:23.200 --> 0:01:25.840 go pro right away. And my parents didn't push me 0:01:25.880 --> 0:01:28.039 either way. Or my parents are amazing, They didn't push 0:01:28.120 --> 0:01:30.480 me in any sort of direction. But in the back 0:01:30.520 --> 0:01:33.280 of my mind, as you know, a young kid, I 0:01:33.319 --> 0:01:36.959 knew how important education was to my parents. So I 0:01:37.000 --> 0:01:39.240 think even though they didn't tell me you need to 0:01:39.280 --> 0:01:41.120 go to college, I think that was sort of stuck 0:01:41.120 --> 0:01:43.399 in my brain just growing up. My mom was a teacher, 0:01:44.880 --> 0:01:47.600 and so I knew that was an important part of everything. 0:01:47.680 --> 0:01:50.000 So I think that kind of steered me towards the 0:01:50.040 --> 0:01:52.880 college route instead of going pro. And I'm happy I 0:01:52.920 --> 0:01:54.680 did that because at the time I don't quite think 0:01:54.720 --> 0:01:59.520 I was ready maybe to go pro. And I think, 0:01:59.760 --> 0:02:01.320 you know a lot of parents ask me if they 0:02:01.360 --> 0:02:03.040 shouldn't go to college or should not go to college. 0:02:03.040 --> 0:02:05.960 It's a very individual thing. And I think what the 0:02:06.040 --> 0:02:09.640 universities are offering now, especially in the States, is you know, 0:02:09.680 --> 0:02:13.360 you can just commit to a university, you can just 0:02:13.440 --> 0:02:16.120 play for a year, you can go pro, and then 0:02:16.120 --> 0:02:18.280 they'll guarantee you can come back and finish your education 0:02:18.400 --> 0:02:20.840 whatever you want to, which I wish they offered that 0:02:20.960 --> 0:02:22.359 when I was in Call. I mean, I think that's 0:02:22.360 --> 0:02:24.600 an amazing deal. I don't know how anyone doesn't just 0:02:24.639 --> 0:02:27.600 grab that, but I went the full four years. I 0:02:27.720 --> 0:02:28.239 loved it. 0:02:29.120 --> 0:02:32.040 Also, back when you went was if you left, you left, 0:02:32.280 --> 0:02:34.680 like you couldn't come back. You wasn't guaranteed come back. 0:02:34.919 --> 0:02:39.720 Exactly exactly, Yeah, because yeah, then if you wanted to 0:02:39.720 --> 0:02:41.520 come back, you would have to probably pay for your 0:02:41.639 --> 0:02:44.000 degree and all this and stuff. So it's kind of 0:02:44.000 --> 0:02:46.840 a new concept and relatively new. I think it's been 0:02:46.880 --> 0:02:51.120 offered now for seventy years something like that. So I 0:02:51.160 --> 0:02:55.680 think it's fantastic if these players can take advantage of it. 0:02:55.760 --> 0:02:57.960 But for me, like I went the whole four years. 0:02:58.040 --> 0:03:00.640 I loved it. I think it was an important time 0:03:02.000 --> 0:03:04.280 for any teenager growing up. I mean, normally it's your 0:03:04.280 --> 0:03:06.760 first time away from home. You're learning to be independent 0:03:06.880 --> 0:03:10.040 on your own. It is so hard to if you're 0:03:10.040 --> 0:03:13.440 playing a sport in college to manage the sport with studies, 0:03:14.560 --> 0:03:17.040 just timing wise, being able to and then you're on 0:03:17.080 --> 0:03:20.520 the road competing, and so it's it's a good it's 0:03:20.560 --> 0:03:22.480 a challenge, but it's a good challenge. I think it 0:03:22.600 --> 0:03:26.320 just made you sort of stronger and time management, I 0:03:26.320 --> 0:03:29.320 mean everything. I mean, I think just like sports teach 0:03:29.360 --> 0:03:31.480 you so much about life. I think that's that was 0:03:31.520 --> 0:03:34.200 such a good pathway for me, just to get a 0:03:34.200 --> 0:03:37.200 better understanding myself how to manage everything and prepare myself 0:03:37.240 --> 0:03:38.800 to turn pro after that for. 0:03:38.760 --> 0:03:42.240 Sure, And I reckon look anecdotally, at least it seems 0:03:42.240 --> 0:03:46.560 that more players are going through the college pathway. Well 0:03:46.680 --> 0:03:49.160 rather maybe we're seeing maybe the same number are, but 0:03:49.240 --> 0:03:51.880 we're seeing a lot more players go on to like 0:03:51.960 --> 0:03:55.800 have top ten careers like Danny Yeah, like Emminavara's one, 0:03:55.880 --> 0:03:57.920 John Easner was one. There was there were so many 0:03:58.080 --> 0:04:02.440 and they're just Americans, like James yeah, like them. Yeah 0:04:02.640 --> 0:04:05.320 there's hates, but now we're seeing Diana Schnader and we're 0:04:05.520 --> 0:04:08.080 we're seeing a Ben Shelter, and so many seem to 0:04:08.080 --> 0:04:10.560 be coming through the college pathway. Do you think all 0:04:10.600 --> 0:04:13.360 those things you said about its benefits and you know 0:04:13.480 --> 0:04:16.120 how it can help prepare you, do you think there's 0:04:17.040 --> 0:04:18.800 more players that are aware that hate this is like 0:04:18.839 --> 0:04:21.120 a really viable pathway. I don't have to turn pro 0:04:21.240 --> 0:04:24.000 at seventeen or eighteen, I hope. 0:04:24.040 --> 0:04:27.160 So I think you know, all of them are too, 0:04:27.200 --> 0:04:29.720 are great examples about how they conduct themselves, how they're 0:04:29.800 --> 0:04:32.400 able to compete so well because you play so many 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:35.520 matches in college too, and you know, it is about 0:04:35.600 --> 0:04:38.680 learning how to deal with all those failures because you're 0:04:38.720 --> 0:04:41.159 not going to obviously you're not going to win a lot, 0:04:42.480 --> 0:04:44.520 you know. I think if you have a player that 0:04:44.560 --> 0:04:47.880 wins like two to five tournaments in a year, it's 0:04:47.920 --> 0:04:50.360 considered exceptional year. So you're losing like twenty three to 0:04:50.440 --> 0:04:54.320 twenty five matches, and so you're just understanding that, Like 0:04:54.360 --> 0:04:56.680 I said, managing everything, I think being a part of 0:04:56.720 --> 0:05:00.120 a team, because that's not something you experience as much 0:05:00.240 --> 0:05:03.640 when you're on the professional tour unless you're playing Davis 0:05:03.680 --> 0:05:06.560 Cup or Bill Jean King Cup, but that happens. That 0:05:06.600 --> 0:05:10.120 doesn't happen very often, so being able to work together, teamwork. 0:05:10.240 --> 0:05:13.880 And the other thing that I think is so great 0:05:13.920 --> 0:05:17.600 is so many plans are playing longer now, and I 0:05:17.640 --> 0:05:20.039 almost feel like, oh, I hope that would relieve some 0:05:20.200 --> 0:05:22.599 pressure for these fourteen fifteen year olds that you don't 0:05:22.680 --> 0:05:25.280 have to be like number one in the world by 0:05:25.279 --> 0:05:28.080 the time you're seventeen eighteen, which was kind of I 0:05:28.160 --> 0:05:29.880 feel like a lot of kids felt that pressure to 0:05:29.920 --> 0:05:32.880 do that maybe fifteen twenty years ago, But now that 0:05:32.920 --> 0:05:35.680 everyone is having more of that longevity, I think it 0:05:35.800 --> 0:05:38.760 gives the opening for players to feel Okay, okay, maybe 0:05:38.760 --> 0:05:41.640 I can use that year and be okay going to 0:05:41.680 --> 0:05:44.680 college and I'm still only nineteen twenty by the time 0:05:44.720 --> 0:05:45.920 I get out. Even if you go for a year, 0:05:45.920 --> 0:05:47.560 if you go for four years, you're still young at 0:05:47.600 --> 0:05:49.560 twenty two going out in the tour. If you go 0:05:49.600 --> 0:05:52.960 four years and get a degree, So I hope they 0:05:53.000 --> 0:05:55.880 start feeling that that would be more of a viable option. 0:05:56.200 --> 0:05:58.240 Yeah, and you absolutely right. You there are people that 0:05:58.279 --> 0:06:01.240 are picking out twenty nine winning their first but like, yeah, 0:06:01.400 --> 0:06:03.359 there is, it's not you don't have to get it 0:06:03.400 --> 0:06:04.960 all done straight away. 0:06:04.800 --> 0:06:07.360 So yeah, there's time this time. 0:06:07.520 --> 0:06:11.680 Yeah. So when you left college, obviously you went on 0:06:11.920 --> 0:06:14.640 to have a great career yourself. You cracked the top forty, 0:06:14.720 --> 0:06:17.719 you won a WTA title, and you played on the 0:06:17.800 --> 0:06:20.720 WTAO Tour for more than a decade. How do you 0:06:20.800 --> 0:06:22.960 reflect on your career now when you think about it, 0:06:23.800 --> 0:06:26.520 if you think about it, I well, I. 0:06:26.520 --> 0:06:28.320 Get the question a lot, and I mean I do 0:06:28.400 --> 0:06:30.480 think about it. I think as a professional athlete, you 0:06:30.560 --> 0:06:32.800 always there's going to be that sense you always wish 0:06:32.839 --> 0:06:34.840 you could have done more. I mean, I don't think 0:06:34.839 --> 0:06:37.680 that's ever going to go away. So there's that reflection 0:06:37.880 --> 0:06:40.400 of I could have done better at this, and I 0:06:40.440 --> 0:06:43.640 think that's just a natural thing to feel and to 0:06:43.680 --> 0:06:48.240 think about. But you know, there's there's some coaches and 0:06:48.320 --> 0:06:50.279 other people I talked to you that feel like I 0:06:50.320 --> 0:06:53.240 definitely maxed out my career or went almost beyond what 0:06:53.520 --> 0:06:56.800 they thought I was capable of. So I could view 0:06:56.839 --> 0:06:59.920 it that way too. Because I wasn't the biggest player, 0:07:00.000 --> 0:07:02.400 I wasn't the most powerful. That's going to overpower. But 0:07:02.480 --> 0:07:05.000 when I mean only five foot three, and so it's 0:07:05.040 --> 0:07:07.960 not like I'm going to dominate as far as power. 0:07:08.000 --> 0:07:11.240 And you know, so I think when I reflect back 0:07:11.240 --> 0:07:15.160 on that and what I was able to produce and 0:07:15.200 --> 0:07:17.160 the success that I had, I mean, yes, I think 0:07:17.200 --> 0:07:19.640 it was a good career, but you know, you always 0:07:19.640 --> 0:07:21.960 wish you you could have done a little bit more. 0:07:22.160 --> 0:07:23.720 Well, what do you think you were capable of? 0:07:28.480 --> 0:07:30.480 That's a good question. I've never been asked that before. 0:07:30.760 --> 0:07:32.720 Well, just hearing you say that, like people thought that 0:07:32.760 --> 0:07:35.560 what you were capable of? In your own mind, what 0:07:35.640 --> 0:07:36.200 did you think? 0:07:38.200 --> 0:07:40.840 I mean, I think I My high was thirty nine, 0:07:40.880 --> 0:07:42.680 so I definitely feel like I could have crafted the 0:07:42.720 --> 0:07:43.320 top thirty. 0:07:45.960 --> 0:07:46.800 I don't pretty don't. 0:07:48.000 --> 0:07:49.960 Yeah, I know, I know, I don't. I don't know 0:07:50.680 --> 0:07:54.160 if I'm not quite sure if I believe deeply that 0:07:54.200 --> 0:07:56.080 I could have gotten too the top ten, top twenty. 0:07:56.680 --> 0:08:00.480 Maybe I think just you know, who I was competing 0:08:00.480 --> 0:08:04.000 against and what I had, like the arsenal that I 0:08:04.000 --> 0:08:08.720 had overall, So maybe that. But and I think I 0:08:08.760 --> 0:08:12.280 felt like I could have consistently got further in slams 0:08:12.280 --> 0:08:15.960 than I did. Yeah, so I feel like going deeper 0:08:15.960 --> 0:08:17.440 in the slams, I felt like I could have done 0:08:17.480 --> 0:08:18.760 that more often than I did. 0:08:19.400 --> 0:08:22.600 Yeah, you did that once, very famously in two thousand 0:08:22.640 --> 0:08:24.680 and five at Wimbledon, which is what I wanted to 0:08:24.680 --> 0:08:26.800 ask you about. Obviously, I'm speaking for you to get 0:08:26.840 --> 0:08:29.640 asked a lot. You're very famous for beating Serena in 0:08:29.680 --> 0:08:34.480 the third round of Wimbledon in five and reading back 0:08:34.520 --> 0:08:36.320 for this interview, it turned out that was her earliest 0:08:36.320 --> 0:08:39.280 Slam exit since nineteen ninety nine, which I didn't remember that, 0:08:39.360 --> 0:08:42.160 so that was quite notable. I never remember that, is right. Yeah, 0:08:42.320 --> 0:08:45.320 So do people still mention that match to you? 0:08:46.360 --> 0:08:49.400 Yes, of course they do. I thought it might have 0:08:49.480 --> 0:08:53.079 faded when she retired, but it hasn't. Yeah, No, I mean, 0:08:53.160 --> 0:08:57.360 I you know, in the beginning, in the beginning, it 0:08:57.400 --> 0:08:59.680 was great when it first happened because everyone was very 0:08:59.720 --> 0:09:01.760 excit for me. My fellow peers on the tour are 0:09:01.800 --> 0:09:05.160 very excited for me. And then ever since I retired, 0:09:05.200 --> 0:09:08.240 like it was taught, it's talked about a lot when 0:09:08.240 --> 0:09:10.720 I come into contact with friends or family or whatever. 0:09:10.800 --> 0:09:12.760 And then of course I now that I'm a commentator 0:09:14.360 --> 0:09:17.600 at Wimbledon one year because you mentioned it happened at Wimbland, 0:09:17.640 --> 0:09:20.000 so at Wimblanne one year. I work for Women in 0:09:20.120 --> 0:09:22.720 Radio Channel as a radio commentary there, and of course 0:09:23.080 --> 0:09:25.560 we had to do the five year anniversary of when 0:09:25.559 --> 0:09:29.040 the ten year anniversary of the So I don't think 0:09:29.040 --> 0:09:31.520 it's ever going to end, which is fine. I mean, 0:09:31.559 --> 0:09:33.559 it is one of my best ones of my career. 0:09:33.600 --> 0:09:36.080 But yes, it was. I remember it actually really clearly. 0:09:36.160 --> 0:09:36.360 It was. 0:09:36.440 --> 0:09:38.400 It was such a big upset because Serena had won 0:09:38.480 --> 0:09:40.599 Wimbledon in two and o three and she'd made the 0:09:40.640 --> 0:09:43.240 finally No. Four, so she was she basically lost one 0:09:43.280 --> 0:09:45.120 match in four years at Wimbledon or something. 0:09:45.280 --> 0:09:46.600 I didn't even I don't even remember that. 0:09:46.840 --> 0:09:48.640 Yeah, like she was she was had such a good 0:09:48.679 --> 0:09:51.040 record at Wimbledon and I can't remember what she done 0:09:51.080 --> 0:09:52.760 and O one, but I know she went she had 0:09:52.800 --> 0:09:54.920 just years she was just constantly going deep at Wimbledon 0:09:55.040 --> 0:09:57.200 or winning it and we're so good on grass. Yeah 0:09:57.200 --> 0:09:59.480 what do you? How did how did you do it? Like? 0:09:59.520 --> 0:10:01.760 What what kind together for you that day that made 0:10:01.760 --> 0:10:02.679 that one of your best wins? 0:10:03.600 --> 0:10:06.560 You know, this is a great story. So this is 0:10:06.559 --> 0:10:07.840 the other thing I wish I would have done more 0:10:07.880 --> 0:10:10.600 in my career because I really believe that it works. 0:10:10.800 --> 0:10:13.840 Is First of all, I had played her before, because 0:10:13.880 --> 0:10:17.400 I played her two years prior first round at wimbled 0:10:17.440 --> 0:10:19.520 then on Center Court, and I had lost that one. 0:10:19.960 --> 0:10:21.880 But I had played her at Miami in the quarter 0:10:21.960 --> 0:10:25.319 finals as well, so Miami I got destroyed by her. 0:10:25.880 --> 0:10:27.640 But that was the first time I played her, and 0:10:27.679 --> 0:10:30.360 I think it just felt the first time just felt 0:10:30.360 --> 0:10:32.680 so intimidating, Like I looked across the court and this 0:10:32.760 --> 0:10:35.400 is someone obviously that you have looked up to. You know, 0:10:35.440 --> 0:10:37.800 they have so much success and they won so much. 0:10:37.840 --> 0:10:40.679 And so the first time I was across the court 0:10:40.679 --> 0:10:42.240 from where I was like, oh my god, like just 0:10:42.400 --> 0:10:46.000 had this presence and it just felt overwhelming. So then 0:10:46.080 --> 0:10:48.120 the second time I lost first round at Wimbledon on 0:10:48.160 --> 0:10:53.199 center court, and Center Court right away was like it 0:10:53.240 --> 0:10:55.640 was a dream come true. And I was like I walked, 0:10:55.760 --> 0:10:57.480 I walked out into the court, and I was like 0:10:57.679 --> 0:10:59.400 and I started like getting teary eyed, and that was like, 0:10:59.440 --> 0:11:01.760 oh my god, you're supposed to cry after the match 0:11:01.920 --> 0:11:05.640 up before, like getting so emotional. But this is what 0:11:05.720 --> 0:11:07.680 Claire's dream of is being able to make that walk 0:11:07.720 --> 0:11:10.880 out out into center court. It was so I played well. 0:11:10.960 --> 0:11:13.400 I lost in stresses, but I played well and it 0:11:13.480 --> 0:11:17.320 was good performance, so I felt like I hulled myself well. 0:11:17.360 --> 0:11:21.120 But when I played her in the start of round 0:11:21.120 --> 0:11:24.199 at Wimbland in two thousand and five, what I did 0:11:24.280 --> 0:11:27.120 that really stands out to me is I visualize so much, 0:11:27.360 --> 0:11:29.600 and I know there's so much studies and research on 0:11:29.679 --> 0:11:33.280 visualization and I cannot I can only express that. In 0:11:33.320 --> 0:11:36.720 this case, I really felt like it was the difference 0:11:36.760 --> 0:11:40.439 for me to get through that match because my coach 0:11:41.400 --> 0:11:43.960 Raj was beside me and he was like, you know, 0:11:44.880 --> 0:11:47.520 he just like just picture yourself when he matchpoint over 0:11:47.720 --> 0:11:50.560 and over and over again, like NonStop. And from that 0:11:50.679 --> 0:11:53.839 moment on, well, first of all, I won my second 0:11:53.880 --> 0:11:58.360 round against Mortoli and then Serena hadn't played it and 0:11:58.440 --> 0:12:01.360 she was playing Santangoo. I remember just watching that match 0:12:01.440 --> 0:12:04.440 and the first good sign was I really wanted Serena 0:12:04.480 --> 0:12:06.960 to win because I really wanted to play her. So 0:12:07.040 --> 0:12:08.800 that's a good sign because you want to be able 0:12:08.840 --> 0:12:13.160 to play the best and you know, be able to 0:12:13.200 --> 0:12:16.240 push herself and get through that win. But from the 0:12:16.280 --> 0:12:18.800 moment my coach said that as soon as I was 0:12:18.800 --> 0:12:21.200 on the court, I VISUALIZEDELF winning match point as soon 0:12:21.200 --> 0:12:23.880 as I got in the transportation car. I saw myself 0:12:23.880 --> 0:12:26.000 waiting matchpoint as soon as I got to the hotel, 0:12:26.240 --> 0:12:28.760 like over I think I must have done it thousands 0:12:28.800 --> 0:12:32.000 thousands of times that by the time I walked out 0:12:32.040 --> 0:12:35.880 in the court, I was not thinking anything. And people 0:12:35.960 --> 0:12:38.120 asked me all the time, like, what were you thinking 0:12:38.120 --> 0:12:40.760 on match point? I was like, I was thinking nothing, 0:12:41.000 --> 0:12:45.559 Like it didn't even I wasn't nervous. I think literally 0:12:45.640 --> 0:12:49.120 I had internalized. I think from that visualization that it 0:12:49.320 --> 0:12:53.640 just became automatic and the only thing I thought was 0:12:53.720 --> 0:12:58.080 hit everything to reforehand that I thought. But I was 0:12:58.160 --> 0:13:01.920 just like and I just don't remember thinking anything or 0:13:01.960 --> 0:13:02.959 worrying about anything. 0:13:03.040 --> 0:13:04.720 And that's the dream stuff. 0:13:04.720 --> 0:13:08.719 One yeah, and one point during that match, it was 0:13:08.760 --> 0:13:12.000 a great match. It was a really long point. I 0:13:12.040 --> 0:13:14.200 came to the net and it was such a good point. 0:13:14.200 --> 0:13:16.120 We were going back and forth and she passed me 0:13:16.800 --> 0:13:19.640 down a line. She had a winner, and the crowd 0:13:19.760 --> 0:13:22.679 just erupted and I just remember thinking, I looked up 0:13:22.679 --> 0:13:24.920 at this guy and I just remember thinking, oh my gosh, 0:13:24.960 --> 0:13:26.960 this is what I played for because it was felt 0:13:27.080 --> 0:13:29.760 so amazing. And I lost the point and that's that's 0:13:29.760 --> 0:13:31.280 wuhtting you know where you're in a pretty good state. 0:13:31.360 --> 0:13:34.800 I think absolutely well. I have a question visualizing yourself 0:13:34.840 --> 0:13:36.679 winning match point. Did match point play out the way 0:13:36.679 --> 0:13:38.280 you visualized it? 0:13:38.360 --> 0:13:38.599 Did not? 0:13:41.160 --> 0:13:43.720 Was it? Was it similar character? No? I know exactly, 0:13:43.720 --> 0:13:46.000 But wouldn't that be wouldn't that be eerie if you'd 0:13:46.080 --> 0:13:48.520 visualize the match point and it's like, oh my god, 0:13:48.559 --> 0:13:50.199 it came true. This is what I did on the 0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:51.240 match point about you? 0:13:51.400 --> 0:13:52.319 That would be very euny. 0:13:52.520 --> 0:13:56.880 Yeah. Yeah. You also mentioned beating Bartoli in the round before, 0:13:56.920 --> 0:13:58.679 because even though at that point she hadn't gone on 0:13:58.720 --> 0:14:00.560 to do great things, she made the wind and final 0:14:00.720 --> 0:14:03.040 two years later and then she won it. So you 0:14:03.040 --> 0:14:05.800 actually bet too Wimbledon champions in that run and made 0:14:05.800 --> 0:14:08.600 the fourth round of a Slam for that was your 0:14:08.600 --> 0:14:10.720 deepest run at slam. You made the second week at Wimbledon. 0:14:10.840 --> 0:14:11.200 Is that ye? 0:14:11.520 --> 0:14:13.760 Do you consider that your greatest moment as a player 0:14:13.840 --> 0:14:15.640 or is there another moment in your career that you 0:14:15.640 --> 0:14:16.600 think about more fondly? 0:14:18.240 --> 0:14:21.000 Stepped at the top and I have just actually played 0:14:21.040 --> 0:14:23.440 better against for a toy that Serena like the bar 0:14:23.520 --> 0:14:25.720 toy match. I just I felt like I probably closed 0:14:25.760 --> 0:14:28.720 my eyes and everything was just doing what I wanted 0:14:28.760 --> 0:14:29.000 to do. 0:14:29.720 --> 0:14:30.040 Good. 0:14:30.880 --> 0:14:33.680 It was just a good run. I mean, I think 0:14:33.760 --> 0:14:38.360 also at the time it was called fed Cup, so 0:14:38.440 --> 0:14:40.720 Billy Jing King Cup now but playing for fed Cup, 0:14:40.760 --> 0:14:43.760 playing for my country for fed Cup and for the 0:14:43.800 --> 0:14:50.200 Olympics also is way at the top two, which Beijing. 0:14:51.800 --> 0:14:55.960 Yeah yeah, And then you know, I had a lot 0:14:55.960 --> 0:14:59.400 of other good Wednesday cloisters and you know Dementieva Yankevich, 0:14:59.440 --> 0:15:01.720 So I had had a lot of good wins. And 0:15:01.760 --> 0:15:05.160 that's probably the other thing that I would have loved 0:15:05.240 --> 0:15:09.840 is if I could continue that consistently, having those having 0:15:09.840 --> 0:15:11.120 those wins consistently. 0:15:11.280 --> 0:15:16.160 But yeah, yeah, what ultimately decided what ultimately soul? You 0:15:16.200 --> 0:15:17.200 stopped playing tennis. 0:15:19.800 --> 0:15:22.560 So I probably should have retired a year earlier than 0:15:22.560 --> 0:15:26.600 I did, But it was it was very but the 0:15:26.640 --> 0:15:29.320 reason I did it was very hard for me to 0:15:29.360 --> 0:15:32.720 give it up. I love tennis so much and if 0:15:32.840 --> 0:15:34.640 if you asked me, if I mean, I would do 0:15:34.680 --> 0:15:37.000 my whole career over and a heartbeat. I just loved it. 0:15:37.960 --> 0:15:39.800 So it's a very hard decision for me to come to. 0:15:40.000 --> 0:15:42.160 I think it was my coach that was the one 0:15:42.200 --> 0:15:47.560 that first started recognizing that, you know, my competitiveness started 0:15:47.680 --> 0:15:49.640 going down. He felt like I didn't look like I 0:15:49.680 --> 0:15:53.560 was enjoying myself as much. So, but I got caught 0:15:53.640 --> 0:16:00.200 up in this sort of weird year where I I 0:16:00.240 --> 0:16:02.640 loved being on the practice court and I all I 0:16:02.640 --> 0:16:04.920 wanted to do was train and get better. But then 0:16:04.960 --> 0:16:07.600 when I woke up for a match, I was tired. 0:16:08.000 --> 0:16:12.520 I was not as excited, and he recognized that way 0:16:12.520 --> 0:16:15.560 earlier than I did, and I was getting very confused 0:16:15.600 --> 0:16:18.720 because I was like, yeah, but I love training like 0:16:18.920 --> 0:16:22.040 I'm still loving it to some degree, and so that 0:16:22.160 --> 0:16:24.400 confused me a lot, and I just it took me 0:16:24.440 --> 0:16:27.880 a while to realize that I wasn't enjoying like the 0:16:27.920 --> 0:16:30.920 stress of getting ready for a match, the stress of competing, 0:16:32.120 --> 0:16:34.800 the stress of just going through matches was what I 0:16:34.800 --> 0:16:39.480 didn't recognize right away. And so I mean, I wouldn't 0:16:39.600 --> 0:16:42.160 of course, I don't want to retire earlier, but I 0:16:42.200 --> 0:16:44.680 think that and that it was happening for longer than 0:16:44.720 --> 0:16:47.200 I thought. But it was just because I was confused, okay, 0:16:47.640 --> 0:16:49.560 And so I decided to retire at the US Open, 0:16:49.600 --> 0:16:51.560 where all my friends are and my family could come 0:16:51.640 --> 0:16:52.480 and yeah. 0:16:52.240 --> 0:16:54.640 Okay, because from the outside it seems that like what 0:16:54.680 --> 0:16:56.400 you've gone on to do in your career, like you 0:16:56.440 --> 0:16:58.680 picked up you moved into the broadcasting space or I 0:16:58.680 --> 0:17:01.040 think that same year for the WATA in twenty thirteen, 0:17:01.160 --> 0:17:03.280 I did any yeah, yeah, and obviously you had the 0:17:03.520 --> 0:17:05.479 college degree to fall back on. So like a lot 0:17:05.960 --> 0:17:08.399 of players talk about and professional athletes talk about the 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:11.879 difficulty of transitioning, like what am I without my sport 0:17:11.960 --> 0:17:14.320 or what do I do next? But you seemed to 0:17:14.359 --> 0:17:16.600 have options, so like did that make it easier for 0:17:16.680 --> 0:17:19.240 you to transition or like was that always your plan 0:17:19.320 --> 0:17:21.840 to go into the media afterwards? It was not. 0:17:22.520 --> 0:17:27.240 Its actually happened by accident. But well so, as a 0:17:27.240 --> 0:17:29.200 player get asked to do media stuff all the time, 0:17:29.280 --> 0:17:33.280 especially in the United States. They usually asked the American 0:17:33.480 --> 0:17:36.160 because to do the sponsors and stuff and then sorry 0:17:36.160 --> 0:17:40.160 about that. And then one year, one year at Indian 0:17:40.200 --> 0:17:42.639 well or that year at any Wells, I don't know 0:17:42.680 --> 0:17:45.480 if it was that year. Anyway, one year at Annia Wells, 0:17:46.119 --> 0:17:47.600 you know, the media came and they're like, do you 0:17:47.640 --> 0:17:50.760 mind just doing a visit to a radio booth up 0:17:50.920 --> 0:17:52.920 top of the stadium? And I was like, yeah, sure, 0:17:52.960 --> 0:17:54.679 and I was just said yes, I did a lot 0:17:54.720 --> 0:17:57.119 of that stuff. And so I went into the radio 0:17:57.160 --> 0:17:59.560 booths at any Wells and just sat with them for 0:18:00.040 --> 0:18:02.600 maybe a set of whatever match was playing on stadium 0:18:02.640 --> 0:18:05.800 court and then they just and then all of a sudden, 0:18:05.800 --> 0:18:08.440 they just kept asking me to do a couple of things. 0:18:08.480 --> 0:18:11.280 And then I got connected with the BBC Radio because 0:18:11.320 --> 0:18:14.680 they were on site as well, and then it ended 0:18:14.720 --> 0:18:18.480 up being just networking stuff because then BBC Radio, the 0:18:18.520 --> 0:18:21.879 woman there recommended me to the ATP Radio and then 0:18:21.960 --> 0:18:25.560 did a lot with ATP Radio. And then ATP Radio 0:18:25.640 --> 0:18:27.639 noticed that I was really enjoying the interviews, so then 0:18:27.640 --> 0:18:29.720 he was like, would you be interested in doing interviews 0:18:29.840 --> 0:18:31.639 on court? And I was like sure. So I just 0:18:31.680 --> 0:18:35.240 started trying everything and it just happened that I had 0:18:35.640 --> 0:18:40.000 a communications degree. I was not like thinking about anything 0:18:40.119 --> 0:18:43.640 at the time, and my communications degree was completely different. 0:18:43.680 --> 0:18:47.080 It was TV and film production, which, funnily enough, I'm 0:18:47.080 --> 0:18:49.280 now starting to ask all questions about the production, which 0:18:49.320 --> 0:18:50.800 I'm finding fascinating, which I loved. 0:18:50.880 --> 0:18:54.359 Anyway, Yeah, you could move into that space to deliver 0:18:54.359 --> 0:18:56.520